The Angel of the Owl House

by OwlHouseAngel

Luz Noceda is a young half-angel girl living with her angel mother in the Human Realm. Her attempts to be good always backfire, and after one too many mistakes, her mother sends her to Camp Reality Check. But a chance event leaves Luz in the Demon Realm, where she meets the Owl Lady, who teaches her that in a chaotic world like the Boiling Isles, Luz might be the perfect angel.

4. EP 4: Mandragora Madness

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 1: The Demon Realm

Chapter 4: Mandragora Madness

For the first time in her life, Luz found herself actually disappointed that her day at school was over. Her time at Hexside had been the most fun she'd ever had at school, and the first time she'd ever felt like she wasn't either bored, losing focus, or out of her depth. Luz wasn't a stupid child by any means; she just had difficulty focusing on anything that didn't keep her interest, and if she found those things easy, she became bored, and if she found them difficult, she quickly began to feel like she was drowning in an attempt to keep up. All of this was combined with her less than stellar reputation among her peers for her chaotic attempts to help others, and the resultant bullying, which lead to Luz hating normal school.

But here in the Boiling Isles? Everything was interesting and new, so Luz was able to focus easily and really work hard at something she cared about. She'd impressed many of the Hexside teachers with her efforts; Luz was no genius or secret prodigy, but for a girl with no formal education in casting magic (at least before a few days ago), she achieved impressive results with hard work and genuine enthusiasm. It also helped that no one at Hexside seemed to find her weird; she looked like a regular witch to them, and since everyone seemed to have some kind of quirky personality trait, Luz fit right in! Even her unconventional ways of helping her partners during class had been well-received! It was a dream come true as far as school was concerned!

Luz's only concern was Eda; the Owl Lady hadn't mentioned magic schools on the isles, and Luz doubted she'd be cool with letting her go to Hexside on top of learning from her and doing chores for her apprenticeship.

The disguised angel decided to cross that bridge when she came to it, and eagerly ran to meet up with Willow and Gus on the front steps of the school. She arrived to find Gus telling Willow about something in his human magazine, while Willow had her abomination holding her books beside her.

"Hey guys!" Luz greeted cheerfully, "How did the rest of your day go?"

"Hey Luz." Willow smiled, "It went pretty well. I was worried at one point, since Professor Hermanculus had us dissect our abominations to show those who failed how we can improve them. I thought the seed would get exposed, but I just retracted the vines and hid the seed, then put it back when we were done"

"Good job! I can't wait to tell Eda! I bet she'll be proud that I helped someone trick their teacher!" Luz giggled, "What about you, Gus?"

"Same old, same old. We're near the end of the semester, so it's just review work." Gus shrugged, barely looking up from his magazine; "Hey Luz, do humans really torture their hair to make it straight!?"

"I'm gonna need some context on that, Gus…" Luz said, puzzled.

The boy showed her his magazine, which was open to an advertisement for a hair straightener. "This says they crush their hair inside burning iron clamps!"

"Oh yeah, technically that's true. They're called hair straighteners. My Mami uses them; she says straight hair is easier to keep tidy and out of the way at her job." Luz said, smiling as she remembered her Mami having to wrestle a kitten out of her curls back when Luz was only 6. She then gave Gus an impish grin; "We have hair curlers too; they're like red hot metal rods that we wrap our hair around to force it to be curly."

Gus gasped while Willow looked mildly horrified, much to Luz's amusement. "I wouldn't call either of them torture though; humans can't feel things through their hair, so it doesn't hurt."

"Huh, that's actually the same as witches and most hairy demons too." Gus said, "Hey Luz, I was wondering if you'd want to come by the HAS some time; a visit from a real half-human would be amazing!"

Luz considered it for a moment, before shrugging. She didn't mind helping out her new friend, and opened her mouth to say so, but she was interrupted by another's voice.

"Hey, Newbie!"

Luz blinked as she noticed both Willow and Gus freeze at the familiar voice. They cringed before joining Luz in turning to the person who'd called to her.

It was Boscha, and she wasn't alone. She had an entire gang of six other students with her; all of whom Luz recognised from her classes with the various tracks. There was Skara, the dark skinned, white haired girl from the bard track, Bo, a plain looking girl with long brown hair from the healing track, Cat, another girl from the healing track, with glasses, dark skin and wavy black hair, Amelia, a tall, pale girl from the plant track, who had lime green hair, Jeb, a scarecrow-like biped demon from the oracle track, and lastly; Amity Blight.

Despite being in a class with all of them today, Luz didn't really know them beyond their names. None had spoken to her besides Amity and Boscha, and Luz hadn't been partnered with them and so hadn't tried to get to know them yet. However, considering they were all following Boscha and the three-eyed girl was smirking unpleasantly, Luz had a feeling she wasn't going to want to get to know them any time soon.

"Oh, hi Boscha." Luz said casually, "Did you need something?"

"I've got some stuff to say to you, Newbie." Boscha walked forward, before sneering at Gus and Willow. "Half-a-Witch and the Dweeb can take a hike."

Willow and Gus both flushed at the nicknames and the snickers they'd gotten from Boscha's gang (sans Amity). However neither made a move to leave; they weren't going to leave Luz alone and at Boscha's mercy.

"My friends can stay. Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them." Luz said evenly, already feeling magic thrumming beneath her skin. She really didn't want this to devolve into a fight, but with an entire gang of mean kids bearing down on them, Luz worried she wouldn't have a choice.

"Ugh, seriously? I'm trying to give you a way to rise out of the social mud, newbie." Boscha groaned.

"My name is Luz."

"Whatever. Just ditch them already so we can talk like real witches. No Half-a-Witches allowed." Boscha smirked at Willow, who looked down in shame.

"I told you earlier not to call her that!" Luz snapped, fists clenching at her sides.

"Or else what?" Boscha challenged, "She's earned that nickname. Today was the first time she ever got a good grade, and from what I heard, it was only because of you."

"Willow is awesome! And so is Gus!" Luz defended, making her friends smile.

"They're the bottom rung of the social ladder, and if you stick with them, you'll be down there too." Boscha countered, stepping a bit closer to Luz; "Normally I'd just let you wallow down there with them, but you actually have the potential to be useful, Newbie."

"Useful?" Luz asked, ears wiggling a bit upon hearing the word. She couldn't help it; the idea of being useful to someone would always catch her attention.

"That's right. You helped make Half-a-Witch into something almost decent, at least for that one class. I also heard that you're immune to oracle magic, can identify injuries fast, and have a decent set of pipes on you." Boscha smirked, remembering how excited Skara had been when she'd met up with her for this. She then scowled as she added; "And you actually managed to outdo me in potions class. Put all that together, and you would make a decent Grudgby player. Maybe not a starting player, but someone worth keeping around."

Luz blinked, then looked to Willow and Gus, who were just as shocked as she was; "You want me to join your Grudgby team?"

Luz had learned a bit about the sport from Eda, as well as from her tour with Willow that morning, but she didn't fully understand the rules. It seemed like a combination of magic duelling, football, and soccer.

"At the moment, no. But I could whip you into shape and make you a decent utility player. Being immune to oracle magic would be a massive advantage; St. Epiderm's star player this year is in the oracle track. And you may suck at actually healing, but Bo and Cat said you identified injuries faster than they could, so you could tell Cat what needs doing and let her do the actual work. Plus, there's no player with more versatility than a potions or bard magic user like me and Skara. If you can get good at either of those, you could be a great back-up for us." Boscha said, actually sounding complimentary.

"Uh, I'm flattered?" Luz said, completely thrown off by the direction this conversation had taken.

Boscha sneered; "Don't let it go to your head, newbie. You have a chance; join my team and do a good job, and you might just get to hang out with us; the cream of Hexside's crop. Assuming you also ditch the dead weight, of course."

Luz blinked again; "So you want me to ditch Willow and Gus to come hang out with you and your friends?"

"That's the gist of it. Come on, it's not like it's a hard choice." Boscha said with a smirk towards Willow.

Luz frowned for a moment, then nodded; "You're right, it isn't a hard choice."

Willow and Gus looked briefly heartbroken, before Luz continued; "I can either stick with my new friends, who've been nice to me and who I enjoy hanging out with…" she raised one palm, "or I can ditch those nice friends to hang out with a bully and her gang, who literally just want to use me for their game." she raised the other palm, then moved them up and down like they were the sides of a set of scales and she was weighing her options; "Yeah, I think I'll stick with Willow and Gus, thanks."

Boscha fumed while her gang gasped in surprise, except for Amity who just looked intrigued. Willow and Gus broke out into big smiles and stepped a little closer to Luz.

"Y-You're giving up on being one of the popular kids… for us?" Willow asked with disbelief.

"Of course I am! You didn't really think I'd ditch you, did you?" Luz asked with a smile.

"Everybody else did…" Gus muttered, "Once I stopped letting people use me to do their work in class, no one wanted to hang out with the "little kid" any more."

"Or Half-a-Witch Willow…" Willow added.

Luz huffed and put her arms around their shoulders; "Well I happen to like that "little kid" and "Half-a-Witch" a lot more than some school bully!" She then began to steer them away so they could continue their walk home, completely ignoring Boscha and her gang.

Boscha was going red in the face with anger; "Don't you dare walk away from me, Luz-er!"

"Real original, Boscha." Luz rolled her eyes, having heard that a lot since she started school. "I'm not ditching my friends, and that's the end of it. But if you still need my help at Grudgby, then I'd be happy to help."

The three-eyed witch growled and stalked forward, grabbing the hood of Luz's hooded shirt to yank her back. "Listen here, Luz-er! I am Boscha Alembic, captain of the Banshees and top dog of this school! If you think you can just say no and walk away from me without consequences…!"

Willow, feeling a surge of confidence, reached back to swat Boscha's hand away, much to the girl's shock and rage; "Luz already made her choice, Boscha. Now leave us alone."

Boscha stood their, stunned for several seconds as Luz, Willow, and Gus continued their walk home. They had almost made it beyond the school grounds when Boscha finally lost her temper entirely. It was one thing to be outshone by the new girl in class, then publicly refused by her in front of her gang, but it was a whole other issue when the lowest of the low started standing up to her! Boscha wouldn't let them get away with it!

"You think you can talk down to me, Half-a-Witch!? Well let's see how you like talking down to this!" she roared, summoning a Grudgby ball before throwing it as hard as she could right at the back of Willow's head.

Her target turned, eyes growing wide as she saw the ball coming at her far too fast for her to dodge. She braced for impact, only for her to be suddenly shoved aside.

"Willow, look out!" Luz yelled, pushing Willow off the path and onto the soft grass that flanked it. This saved Willow, but unfortunately it left Luz right in the ball's trajectory and the angel girl didn't have a chance to dodge. It slammed into her face with brutal force, making Luz yelp in pain as she was knocked on her backside.

Boscha smirked while everyone else gasped, especially when they saw the state Luz was left in. Luz cringed at the pain in her face; Boscha's ball had split her lip, given her a nose bleed, and the beginnings of a nasty black-eye. Not only that, but the feeling of getting whacked so hard in the nose had made her eyes water.

"Agh, that sucks…" Luz groaned, her voice sounding stuffy as she tried to stem the bleeding of her nose.

"Luz! Are you okay!?" Gus fretted, kneeling down to try and help. He tore a few pages from his human magazine to help clean up the blood on Luz's face. Poor Willow just sat where she'd fallen on the grass, staring in wide-eyed horror at the injuries Luz had taken for her.

"Ha! That's what you get for picking the wrong side!" Boscha boasted. Her gang shifted nervously behind her, none of them laughing or looking pleased. They all appeared uncomfortable, except for Amity, who looked angry.

"Boscha! That was going too far!" Amity yelled, stalking forward to check on Luz. "Bo, Cat; come help me."

The two healing track girls flinched and scurried to obey Amity's order, kneeling beside Luz to cast healing spells on her.

"Ugh, thanks guys." Luz said, smiling through slightly bloodstained teeth.

Boscha just rolled her eyes at Amity, then turned to smirk at Willow, who was still catatonic where she'd been pushed. "Can't even save yourself, can you Half-a-Witch?"

Willow flinched, then slowly stood up and looked over at Luz. She was bleeding, because she'd helped her… Willow's eyes zeroed in on Luz's amber eyes, which were pained and watery from tears. Luz had gotten hurt… she was crying… all because of Willow.

"No." Willow thought. Not because of her… She looked towards Boscha; "Because of HER"

Willow's eyes began to glow green as she glared at Boscha, who actually looked mildly concerned by the demure girl's anger. "You did this… I'm going to make you pay!"

Willow's abomination, having been trundling along behind them the entire time, suddenly lurched forward towards Boscha, it's own eyes glowing green like its master's. Boscha's eyes widened as she was forced to dodge a sudden swing from the creature's fist, only to end up slapped aside when the abomination's arm whipped around unnaturally, sending Boscha tumbling to the ground a few feet away.

"Ugh… you wanna play Half-a-Witch!? Then let's play!" Boscha yelled, summoning a trio of Grudgby balls and igniting them all with a fire spell before tossing them at Willow's abomination. The abomination didn't even try to avoid the, instead letting them hit it and slowly sink into its slimy body, sizzling softly as they did. The tree-sap infused slime acted like a non-Newtonian fluid, becoming solid whenever force was applied to it, allowing it to move fluidly at Willow's command while also shrugging off any blows launched at it.

The abomination then shifted the Grudgby balls inside itself and loaded them into its arm, before firing them back at Boscha with the force of a cannon. Boscha screamed in panic as she ducked the first one, then narrowly dived to the ground again to the avoid the second, before realising that her now prone position made dodging the third impossible. It slammed into her gut with incredible force, knocking the wind out of her and making her slide several feet away. Boscha looked pale and ready to lose her lunch in the aftermath of the blow, and her friends quickly stepped in to help.

"Willow, stop! You've made your point!" Skara yelled, summoning her harp and playing a few notes to send blades of magic at the abomination. They successfully sliced the creature's arm to ribbons, but the abomination just casually picked the pieces up and jammed them back into itself, reforming the arm.

Jeb then pulled out a crystal ball and summoned a spectre from it. It darted towards the abomination, then phased through its chest to attack Willow behind it, aiming to knock her out to stop her creation. Willow had no defence against this, but as much as Luz hated the fighting, she wasn't going to let Willow be hurt!

"Stay away from Willow!" she yelled, firing a light blast at the spectre.

The spectre wasn't able to phase through the blast and was struck in the head, knocking it away from Willow. When it recovered, it took one look at the one who had hit it, then shrieked in terror and retreated to Jeb's crystal ball.

Bo and Cat, who had almost healed Luz's injuries, grabbed the girl's arms and held them down so Luz wouldn't get involved any more. Luz struggled against them, only to be surprised when Gus took over holding her for Bo, so the girl could keep healing.

"Gus? What are you doing!?" Luz cried.

"Luz, I know how you feel, but we need to stop Willow. She's gone out of control; can't you see her eyes?" Gus said.

Luz just looked confused; "You mean the glow? I saw her do the same thing this morning after we ran into Amity on the way to school. She went a little crazy, but she calmed down really fast when she almost hurt me." she explained, pointing to the holes that were still in her leggings.

Amity paled; "I made Willow that upset…!?"

"Okay, I feel like I'm missing something here." Luz frowned, while Willow's abomination was slapping Boscha, Skara, and Jeb around.

"Didn't your witch parent ever explain a Bile Overload?" Gus asked. Upon getting a blank look from Luz (who obviously didn't have a witch parent), he quickly explained; "Some witches, especially kids and teens, will produce way more bile in their bile sac than they can handle when feeling strong emotions. Our bodies automatically burn off the excess, making our magic way stronger but also making it hard to control ourselves. It can happen in reverse too; if something else causes us to overload, like if we try to force out too much magic, then it can make our emotions go haywire! Willow got so mad that she's overloading, making her super strong but also super crazy! She's really gonna hurt Boscha if this keeps up."

Luz began to panic; "C-Can't we stop her without hurting her though?"

"I'll see what I can do. I just need to stop her abomination!" Amity said, running into the fray. She summoned her own abomination and sent it at Willow's, tackling it just as it was about to swat at an increasingly battered looking Boscha again.

Willow growled; "Now the "Top Student" wants to play too? Fine! I'll make all you bullies pay!"

The usually timid girl's magic pulsed and her abomination punched at Amity's, but Amity had more experience and could more easily reduce her creation to a puddle and reform it, so she melted her abomination and made it slide under the legs of Willow's, before reforming behind it and grabbing it, lifting it into the air. Willow's abomination struggled a bit but couldn't break free of the other abomination's grasp. Amity smirked, thinking she'd won, only to gasp as something unexpected happened.

Her abomination stopped responding to her commands.

"W-What's going on!? Why can't I move it!?" she cried, trying as hard as she could. Unbeknownst to her, Willow had manipulated the vines inside her own abomination into worming through to Amity's, using the points of contact between the two. This allowed her to give Amity's abomination a skeleton of its own, taking control of it. Willow then manipulated the vines to force the two abominations to twist together, becoming a much larger, four armed and two headed version that was controlled almost fully by Willow. Amity was able to slow the creature down by manipulating the slime she'd made, but Willow's was thicker and more viscous thanks to the tree sap, making it hard for Amity to do even that much.

Seeing the abomination get bigger and more violent, Skara and Jeb ran for their lives, while Gus, Bo, and Cat dragged a reluctant Luz a bit further from the danger zone. Boscha, now with only Amity as back up, began to panic and throw whatever potions she had at the abomination in hopes of stopping it. However the abomination just absorbed the bottles instead of letting them break against it, then shot them back at Boscha, increasing the chaos as they exploded around the girl.

"Alright already, I'm sorry! Just cut it out!" Boscha cried, whilst coughing on the fumes from a fog brew.

"You made my friend bleed, so I'll bleed you too!" Willow roared, her voice carrying an unnatural echo thanks to the overload.

The abomination stomped towards Boscha, its new arms moulding into blades that had all the teens paling. Those things would cleave Boscha in two!

"Willow, please stop! I'm okay!" Luz yelled, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Amity continued to struggle to keep her hold on the abomination with her magic, then groaned; "Ugh, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but it looks like I'll have to destroy BOTH our projects!" she said, before drawing a new spell circle.

One of the first spells taught in the abomination track was how to destroy one's own abominations if needed; it was a spell that caused any slime with their magic mixed in to rapidly break down, rendering it inert. However, Amity's father was a genius when it came to abominations and had taught her a variation… one that caused the magic mixed into her creations to explode rather than break down, destroying everything around it.

The moment Amity cast her spell, all the parts of the abomination made from her own slime began to glow a brilliant lilac, before violently exploding. The abomination roared as it was blown apart, sending chunks of Willow's slime in all directions, splattering Amity and Boscha, and making a massive hole in the stone path.

"A bit more violent than I'd hoped, but at least the problem is… solved…" Amity's words trailed off as the smoke of the explosion cleared and revealed the abomination was still standing. Or rather, the vine skeleton was still standing. A thick, vaguely humanoid mass of thorny vines stood where the abomination had, severely damaged by the explosion but still functioning. In fact, it was still working so well that the burnt vines were swiftly discarded and new ones grown in to replace them, while the thorns on its fists began to grow longer and more dangerous.

One vine tendril swiped at Amity, forcing her to dive out of the way. "So that's how she improved so much! She stuck a plant inside! But who knew she was so good at plant magic!?" Amity yelped.

"I did! I said she was awesome, she's just in the wrong track!" Luz yelled. The angel girl was now fully healed and feeling much better (though she knew the blood on her shirt, combined with the holes in her leggings was gonna make Eda flip when she saw them).

"You see? Luz believed in me…" Willow growled, "…and you hurt her! Let's see whose Half-a-Witch when I'm done with you two!"

The vine construct began attacking both Amity and Boscha, forcing both girls to dodge and run around in a panic. Both were kept so busy that neither had a chance to cast any spells, and Willow was being clever with her attacks, forcing them to dodge in specific ways so she could corral them together. After a moment, Willow sent out a pair of simultaneous attacks, forcing Amity and Boscha to dodge in such a way that they slammed into each other and fell to the ground with a groan. Then, before they could get up or escape, a massive thorny tendril came slamming down on top of them.

They cried out in fear, but the tendril was vaporised by a sudden ray of light from Luz. Upon seeing this, Willow hesitated and Luz ran to stand between her plant golem and the two fallen girls.

"Willow, you need to stop! I'm not hurt any more, and this is going too far! I know you're upset, but we can work this out! You just need to calm down." Luz begged.

Willow looked to be at war with herself; "I-I can't! After all they've done to me… after what Boscha did to you… I can't just forgive them!"

"You don't need to forgive them, but you don't need to hurt them either!" Luz said, giving Willow a gentle smile; "Look at them; they're terrified and powerless! You've made them feel how they made you feel with their bullying. But it's over now; if you go any further, then you'll be the bad guy. You don't want that, right?"

"N-No… I don't want to be like them. I don't want to be a bully…" Willow said softly, the glow in her eyes getting duller.

Luz smiled, sure that she had it. But then things took a turn for the worse…

While the rest of Boscha's friends had been either healing Luz or had run off after they were beaten, one had remained hidden behind a tree near the path. Amelia, the plant track girl, had been hiding because she was terrified and helpless, not believing her plant magic would help against an abomination. But now that she saw the abomination was actually a plant golem, and Willow seemed distracted? Well that was the perfect chance to help and even be the hero who saved her team captain!

And so Amelia crept out of the trees and used her plant magic to try and wrest control of the vines from Willow. She gasped as her magic actually struggled against Willow's, and paled as the bespectacled girl glared at her. Luz, Amity, and Boscha all looked shocked, though for different reasons.

"What are you doing!? Luz has this handled!" Amity yelled.

Amelia, trying to look cool in front of Boscha, smiled shakily; "I can handle this! There's no way I'll lose at magic to Half-a-Witch!"

This was the exact worst thing to say, and if Luz wasn't so shocked, she would have facepalmed at the sheer stupidity of it. Willow, as expected, took the comment extremely badly and her temper skyrocketed once again, her eyes glowing as brightly as they had before.

"Even after all this, you still act like I'm some weakling!? Well if I'm Half-a-Witch; then you're all plant food! AAAGGGGHHHHH!"

Willow let loose a blood-curdling scream of rage, and her plant golem leapt into the hole in the ground made by Amity's explosion. A rumbling shook the earth beneath their feet, and before anyone could do anything or move anywhere, a massive number of vines burst from the hole and under their feet, wrapping around everyone. They caught Amity, Boscha, and Amelia, as well as Luz and even Willow herself, while only Gus, Bo, and Cat escaped their grasp by being too far from the epicentre of the chaos. The captured teens were carried high into the air, and Luz struggled to get a hand free so she could blast some of the vines and escape, but just as she succeeded and was preparing a blast, all the vines suddenly retreated underground, dragging their captives with them. Luz cried out, right before everything went dark and silent.

For a while, Luz wasn't sure if she was truly conscious or not; the world around her had gone pitch black and she couldn't hear anything but her own breathing. She eventually tried to move, and could feel vines still wrapped around her, but thanks to her struggling before, she had an arm free to cast a light spell. The spell illuminated her surroundings, revealing that Luz was wrapped in vines on the floor of a room covered floor to ceiling with different types of foliage, only some of which were from the Greater Thornivine that Willow had grown. The light also revealed that Luz wasn't alone; both Amity and Boscha were in the room with her, but they were tied up far more tightly and had their mouths covered, gagging them. Amity was bound to the wall above Luz, while Boscha was hanging upside down in the corner, facing the wall in some strange, plant enforced time out. Unlike the vines binding Luz, theirs had short thorns that dug into their captives if they struggled, so both girls had gone very still.

"Hold on a second guys, I'll get you out of there!" Luz said, casting some weak light blasts to sever the vines binding herself, then getting back to her feet and freeing Amity, who gasped with relief as she was lowered to the ground.

"Well that wasn't fun…" the green-haired girl snarked shakily as Luz carefully freed Boscha.

"You can say that again." Boscha scowled once she was freed; "When I get out of here, I'll show Half-a-Witch whose boss!"

Luz and Amity both gave Boscha an unimpressed look; "That "Half-a-Witch" just kicked your butt then dragged us all down to who knows where! Picking another fight with her is suicide!" Amity spat.

"I kept telling you both that she was awesome." Luz added. "Besides, you started this by attacking her!"

Boscha scoffed; "Whatever! We need to get out of here and since I don't have any more potions, and using fire when surrounded by some much flammable stuff would be stupid, I'm stuck relying on you two."

"Actually, we're both relying on you, Luz. My abomination was destroyed and I don't have enough strength left to make a new one with just magic." Amity frowned. If this had happened before school, she might have had enough, but after a full day of learning AND the brief fight with Willow, Amity was pretty tapped.

Luz just smiled and nodded; "That's fine; I'm always happy to help! Speaking of, are you both okay? Those thorns aren't fun to deal with; trust me, I know."

"I got a few pricks and scratches, but I'm otherwise fine." Amity replied.

"I'm kinda beat up, but I've had worse from Grudgby games, so I'll live." Boscha said.

Luz looked the girls up and down, then began casting her single healing spell on them both. It was a struggle to cast and only closed the smallest scratches and soothed the faintest bruises, but it helped take the edge off. Boscha pretended like nothing had happened, while Amity at least gave a grateful nod. Luz wasn't sure if it was the situation or the realisation that she'd almost caused the same thing to happen that morning, but Amity seemed rather subdued.

Once the brief healing was over, the three girls looked around the room for a way out. There was no obvious entrance, but they had to have gotten in somehow. After a moment of searching, Boscha found the solution.

"Hey Newbie, I think I see a hole in the wall behind these vines. Wanna blast them so we can get out?" she said.

"My name is Luz." the young angel replied. She still cut the vines away though, focusing her light magic into a long beam from her finger that she could use like a lightsaber. She'd had a lot of fun coming up with new ways to use her light magic while on the Boiling Isles.

Once the vines fell away, they found a perfect doorway leading out of the room. Passing through it, the girls found themselves in a long hallway lined with lockers and partially overrun with plants. The bones of dead beasts were also scattered about, though none looked to have come from an intelligent demon.

"Is this some old part of the school?" Luz murmured, casting a few more light spells to illuminate their path.

"I think… this is Fibul Academy." Amity said in amazement. Luz gave her a curious look, so she explained; "About fifty years ago, around the time that Emperor Belos appeared, there used to be another school called Fibul Academy here. Old Hexside was originally built in the West Rib Valley, but then students from Fibul Academy destroyed it, so the Hexside students at the time banded together to destroy Fibul Academy completely. The new Hexside was build on top of the ruins."

Luz looked around in awe; "Whoa… witches really have no chill, huh?"

Amity and Boscha gave her a strange look; "Uh, hello? You're a witch too, right?"

Luz flinched, making Amity frown; "Come to think of it, you didn't know about Bile Overload either, even though that's one of the first things young witches get taught… who are you really? Where are you from?"

"I'm Half-Human. I was born and raised in the Human Realm." Luz confessed, letting the other girls assume the other half was witch; "I've only been on the Boiling Isles for few days; not even a week."

Amity and Boscha exchanged surprised looks; "Huh, no wonder that little Dweeb was so interested in you." Boscha said.

"His name is Gus." Luz scowled, beginning to lose her patience with the three-eyed girl. "But forget all that for now; we need to get out of here and find Willow."

"And Amelia. I saw her get dragged down here too." Amity said, eyeing Luz curiously.

The three girls continued down the plant-filled halls of the buried school, Luz lighting the way, and explored every room they passed. Most were just old classrooms, locker rooms, bathrooms, and other things that one would expect from a school, and what little they found in the way of items were old and broken. The usable equipment must have been taken by Hexside when they built over the place. Both Luz and Amity were a little disappointed by the lack of things to find, as despite the seriousness of the situation, this felt like an adventure and a dungeon crawl to them.

"This place is annoying." Boscha complained, definitely not enjoying the trip. "We have to blast our way into half the rooms, and I swear all these plants are watching us somehow. Who knew Half-A-" Boscha paused as Luz turned to glare at her, then corrected herself; "Who knew Park could pull off magic like this?"

"I don't think all of this was Willow." Luz replied; "Those thornivines came from a seed I gave her this morning, but the rest of these plants look older. There's also a bunch of withered leaves and flowers down here. These must have been here before today."

"It would be pitch black if it weren't for your light spells, Luz, so how did these plants grow down here? I recognise a few of these species and they definitely need sunlight… unless they're feeding on something magical." Amity said, before adding; "Maybe something powerful was left behind here after all… should we look for it?"

"Exploring down here would be pretty fun… maybe once we find Willow and Amelia, plus a way out." Luz replied.

Amity smiled at that; the idea of exploring these ruins with Luz was kind of appealing… it sounded like a real adventure, like the ones in her favourite books. Boscha just rolled her eyes and they kept moving. After a few more minutes of exploring, they found their way to a staircase, which unfortunately only went down. Luz had no idea how they could be underground, yet on the top floor, but she didn't bother questioning it; this was a world of chaos and magic after all. They'd explored everywhere else on the floor they'd woken up on, and short of Luz blasting a hole through the ceiling and risking a cave-in, the stairs were their only way forward.

So they descended deeper into the ruins, and the plants became thicker, older, and more dangerous. Some were even more like fauna than flora, and attacked the girls on sight. Plant monsters that looked like purple Venus Fly Traps on legs, as well as a vaguely lion-like plant with a sunflower for a head, all attacked but were quickly felled by Luz's light blasts, though Boscha ended up very nearly eaten by one of them.

"That sucks…" she complained, now covered in slime from the Venus Fly Trap-like things, which Amity identified as Sneaking Snapdragons. "Why is everything bad happening to me today!?"

"It's probably karma." Luz smiled coyly, making Boscha's eye twitch as she struggled to hold in her temper.

"Luz, I've been meaning to ask… what is that strange light magic? You can cast simple light spells without a spell circle, and those light lasers and bolts are unlike anything I've ever seen." Amity asked, her curiosity finally getting the best of her.

Luz frowned; "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. I just sort of awakened it after making a connection with my magic. My teacher and I have a few theories, but we're not certain."

"Maybe it's because you're half-human. Humans don't have any magical ability of their own, but who knows what human DNA could do to your bile sac?" Amity theorised.

"Y-Yeah, who knows?" Luz smiled nervously. She needed to change the subject fast, before she had to actually start lying. "Oh hey, the plants look thicker over there! Maybe that's where Willow and Amelia are?"

Amity and Boscha looked and as Luz said, the next hallway was far more densely covered in foliage than the others. Considering their missing friends were plant magic users, it would make sense for them to be there, so the girls began hacking their way through. They eventually came to a massive door at the end of the hall, which looked to have belonged to a greenhouse. The door was sealed shut by tree roots, but the glass was broken so they slip in without too much difficulty (though Boscha managed to cut herself on the sole piece of glass still sticking out of the window frames).

Once inside, they found what must have been the Fibul Academy plant track home room. It was constructed like Hexside's, but the outer walls were all glass like a greenhouse. These glass walls were broken too, but revealed walls of earth and stone beyond them, confirming that the ruins had sunk under the ground at some point and buried the place. The room itself was full of trees, giant mushrooms, and plants of all kinds, but the ones that stood out the most were a group of softly glowing purple flowers. Each flower was massive, being large enough to swallow any of the girls whole if they closed their petals, and the petals themselves were sharp and stiff, like flexible plastic, and gave off a faint purple glow. The centre of each flower was a pool of glowing green liquid, and the flowers smelled incredibly strong, but also otherworldly. There were four of these flowers; three arranged into a triangle with a fourth, slightly smaller one in the centre.

"Whoa… what are these?" Luz asked, eyes wide with wonder as she absent-mindedly tried to close Boscha's cut. It didn't work, but it at least stopped the bleeding.

"Who cares!?" Boscha spat, "Amelia and Half- I mean, Park aren't here, so let's go!"

"Hold on Boscha. There's something weird about these." Amity said, slowly approaching the massive blooms. Luz followed a step behind her, partly so she could save the other girl if needed and partly out of her own curiosity.

They both crouched beside the smaller flower in the middle, and Amity peered closer; "I think… oh no."

"What is it?" Luz asked.

"I'm not completely sure, but I think these are Mandragora flowers!" Amity said, looking pale.

"WHAT!?" Boscha cried.

"What's a Mandragora?" Luz asked.

"They're a kind of plant demon. They're intelligent and can use magic, but they're also violent predators! They capture witches or other demons and use their DNA to grow baby Mandragoras, then dissolve the victims and feed them to their children! They're extremely dangerous!" Amity explained urgently.

"So are these flowers their babies!? Or their food storage?" Luz asked, turning green as she looked at the ominous green fluid inside the flower's centre.

"No, Mandragora flowers are failed children. Basically like unfertilised eggs. They didn't have another creature's DNA to grow into a full Mandragora, so they bloom into these flowers instead. Then when a real Mandragora baby is born, they use these as cradles and the nectar helps them grow."

"That's kind of cool… terrifying and murderous, but cool." Luz said nervously; "So is there any chance the Mandragora that made these is gone?"

"They should be all gone!" Boscha snapped, "Mandragora were supposed to be extinct on the Boiling Isles! They were wiped out when Emperor Belos came into power."

"But one must have survived. Mandragora flowers wilt immediately if the one who made them dies. Maybe a Mandragora seed was being grown at Fibul Academy, and it got some DNA from a student or teacher, then ended up forgotten down here when the school was buried under Hexside. That also explains why there is so much foliage down here without sunlight; Mandragoras are incredibly powerful plant magic users." Amity explained, sounding both terrified and excited.

Luz picked up on that quickly, especially since she was feeling something similar; "Well now we know what the boss of this dungeon is. But is it just me, or are you kind of having fun with this, Amity?"

Amity blushed, her whole face turning a tomato red which made Luz's heart skip a beat; "I… I don't like being in danger, or knowing other people are in danger. And I don't like that I'm partly to blame because of how I treated Willow… but exploring a long forgotten ruin and finding mysterious things nobody knew existed? It feels like an adventure, you know? Like the Good Witch Azura."

Luz's eyes almost popped out of her head; "You know about the Good Witch Azura!?"

"Of course, they're my favourite books!" Amity smiled excitedly; "Azura is a great witch who goes on adventures to lost and forgotten places, and finds amazing things! Her life is so interesting, I couldn't help but love reading about it!"

"Oh my gosh, me too! I have all five books in the series! I love Azura's adventures; she's always going out of her way and helping people, being a hero to the weak and downtrodden but still offering help to anyone who needs it! Her working to redeem her rival Hecate in Book 2 was my favourite part!" Luz gushed.

Boscha watched, bewildered, as the two girls jabbered on about their favourite book series for a few minutes. She'd never seen Amity so… animated. Even when she'd been on the Grudgby team, she'd been the cool, confident type. It was weird to see her like this, and the fact it was the new girl who had caused it made Boscha scowl and cross her arms.

"If you two are done with your nerd out, we still need to get out of here." she said with an annoyed frown, then added; "Oh, and people to save. I guess."

Amity blushed again, but nodded in agreement; "She's right. If a Mandragora is down here, I bet it grabbed Willow and Amelia. Plant users are the best for making a Mandragora child, and are the tastiest food for them. If we hurry, we should be able to save them."

"Got it." Luz said, "I wonder if there's a way to use these flowers to find the Mandragora… the plants were thickest around here, so maybe they'll be thicker around it too."

The half-angel girl peered into the central Mandragora flower, noticing her reflection in the green nectar, as well as the reflection of one of her light balls. Suddenly, the light ball seemed to sink into the nectar, like it was being sucked in, and the green glow intensified massively. Amity and Boscha shielded their eyes, but Luz was too close and was blinded by the sudden green flash.

"Yeowch! Dang it, the Demon Realm is not gentle on my eyes…" Luz whined, rubbing at them. She paused in her rubbing as a glyph appeared to be burned into her eyes, just as what happened at the Conformatorium. The glyph was different from the light glyph, but it was still embedded in Luz's mind. Even after the symbol was gone from her eyes, Luz could recall it perfectly.

"Luz? Are you okay? What was that flash?" Amity asked with concern.

"I'm not sure, but I'm fine. Let's go." Luz said, getting back up. She wished she could try the new glyph out, but she didn't feel any change in her magic and whenever she tried to summon it like the light glyph, she'd just end up with the light glyph again. The image was in her head, but she couldn't get it to come out with magic and she didn't have anything to write it out with like King did. 'I'll have to try it later.' she thought.

The three girls left the old plant home room, with Boscha and Amity picking up a few old gardening tools to use as weapons beforehand. They were rusty and falling apart (likely having been in bad condition even before being abandoned) but they were better than nothing. Now that they had some clue as to where to go, the three ventured deeper into the school ruins, following the paths that had the thickest foliage. Eventually, they found themselves emerging into the upper levels of a massive atrium completely overtaken by a huge tree. Amity looked down to the ground floor and gasped softly.

"I think I see Willow and Amelia!" she whispered urgently, gesturing for Luz and Boscha to creep over and take a look.

Luz did so and immediately saw the two missing girls. Amelia was gagged by thorny vines, hanging upside down from one of the huge tree's branches like Boscha was, and whimpering in fear. In front of the massive tree, trapped in some kind of giant, transparent flower bud, was Willow. Her eyes were still glowing from the Bile Overload, but they were dimmer now, and she was desperately trying to control the plants around her to make them release her. Off to the side was the plant golem made from the seed Luz had given her, and it was watching its creator struggle without moving a single tendril.

"I don't see the Mandragora." Luz whispered.

"I wonder where it is…" Amity replied.

"Who cares!? Let's just get down there, get those two, and then bust our way out of here!" Boscha said impatiently. Before the others could stop her, she leapt over the railing of the upper floor and began to climb down the ivy creeping up the walls. Luz and Amity rolled their eyes, then smirked when they each saw the other do the same thing. They then began following Boscha before she could mess things up any more. They got down to the ground floor, then Amity followed Boscha over to Amelia, who began to cry with relief upon seeing them. Luz blasted the vines she was hanging by and let the girl's friends catch and unwrap her, then hurried over to Willow.

"Willow! Are you alright?" Luz asked quietly.

"L-Luz! You're okay! I'm so sorry, this is all my fault! I caused all of this!" Willow cried, beginning to sob as she saw her friend; "You need to get out of here before it comes back! There's a Mandragora here!"

"I know, Willow. Don't worry, I'll bust you out then we can all find a way out." Luz said confidently, giving Willow a smile to try and sooth her.

She then stepped back and created a short beam of continuous light from her finger, which she used to cut the bud around Willow and pull the other girl out. As soon as Willow was free from the bud, her eyes stopped glowing, revealing they were red from crying.

"Oh Willow… It's okay now." Luz said, hugging her.

Willow accepted the hug, but shook her head; "No Luz, it won't be okay until we get out of here! The Mandragora is-!"

"Right here."

The group of girls all flinched at the sudden voice, and spun around in time to see the Mandragora itself emerging from the trunk of the massive tree, sending magical ripples through its bark as if the demon was stepping out of a pool of water. The Mandragora itself looked a lot like a female witch, wearing a simple gown of leaves and petals, and with vines and petals for hair. Her skin was a very pale green, while her eyes were a more vivid emerald, making her beautiful face all the more appealing.

"Well well, what have we got here? I go to fight back against those slimy monstrosities trying to invade my home, and I return to find my new little seedling being uprooted, and my next meal being stolen along with her…" the Mandragora said, casually waving her hand and causing a thick wall of vines to creep up the edges of the atrium and completely block all entrances and exits. "… by a pair of naughty little weeds…" she looked over at Amity and Boscha, who shuddered, then to Luz; "…and my little seedling's sunny little friend."

Luz stepped between her friend and the Mandragora, while Amity dragged Boscha and Amelia behind her too, so they were all grouped together. "Willow isn't your seedling, and Amelia isn't your food!" Luz yelled. "Look, we don't want to fight or cause you any trouble; just let us go and we can all forget this ever happened."

The Mandragora chuckled; "You're a funny one, Sunflower. You're also quite wrong. I've been living peacefully down here for decades, until my seedling's magic lashed out so close and drew my attention. It's true she isn't a Mandragora like myself, but she has the potential to become one. A steady diet of nectar from my flowers, and some liquified witches…" she grinned manically at Amelia, who shrieked and hid her face behind Amity, "…and she'll grow into a fine member of my species."

Luz shuddered; so Willow's Bile Overload and massive use of plant magic had caught the demon's attention. It must have been her and not Willow that dragged them all down into the ruins!

"She told us this before, when she stuck me in that bud." Willow said quietly, not taking her eyes off the creature; "She also said that she put the "other people who hurt me" into a larder for later. I'm just glad you escaped."

"Oh yes, I admit to being surprised about that myself." the Mandragora said. She suddenly flicked her finger and a vine shot out and grabbed Luz, yanking the girl over so she was right in front of the Demon. Willow and Amity moved to try and stop her, but the Thornivine Golem extended its own vines to tie up all four of the other girls.

"Don't hurt them!" Luz cried, wriggling in the thornless vines.

"I shan't, for now at least. My seedling needs to start her nectar diet before I begin adding chunks of bratty witch. But you're not one of them. Oh no, I learned all about you from my little friends on the surface. All the plants in that "school" up above are my eyes and ears, and I can understand the feelings that power plant magic. Thanks to them and my seedling's magic, I know exactly who is plant food…" the Thornivine Golem squeezed Amity, Boscha, and Amelia enough to make them whine and groan in pain, "… and who is a potential friend."

Luz winced at the other girls' discomfort, and Willow began to cry softly, whimpering "I'm sorry!" over and over again. Luz tried to cast some light magic to break free, but her hands were bound tightly to her body and she couldn't wiggle them enough to get a good angle for a shot.

"Why are you doing this!?" Luz yelled, trying to think of a way out of this.

The Mandragora grinned viciously; "I've been plotting my revenge against the witches for a long time now. They wiped my kin from the Boiling Isles, with me only surviving as a lab rat for this pathetic school's plant track. I played the role of the mindless plant for a few years, then while the school was being destroyed, I slipped away and later took the ruins of the school as my home. Then I waited and tried to rebuild my species; alas my attempts to produce children just created mindless flowers, so I decided to instead capture useful plant magic users from the new school up above. I've waited years for someone of my Seedling's strength to come along, and once I've turned her into one of my people, we'll be strong enough to expand beyond these ruins and capture more to add to our numbers. And once our numbers have been restored, we shall do to the witches what was done to us!"

All five girls paled; the Mandragora was planning a war and genocide on the surface world! Luckily, the Mandragora had been taken while she was still young, so she didn't have anyone to teach her that her species needed DNA from a witch to produce another Mandragora. If she had known that, the girls all suspected that she'd have kidnapped numerous students over the years and used them to breed an army of her kind.

Luz actually found herself feeling kind of sorry for the Mandragora… her species had been wiped out and she'd been forced to live all alone after being used as a teaching aide while still just a child. If her desires weren't so evil and genocidal, the young angel might have been willing to help her!

The Mandragora then leaned close to Luz, examining her face far too closely for her comfort, as well as sniffing the blood that was now dried onto her shirt from earlier. "Hmm, I can't smell much in the way of plant magic from you, so you'd make a poor Mandragora. However, your blood smells positively radiant. Oh yes, something about you is quite different, little sunflower. I saw that light magic you used earlier too." the Demon pulled away from Luz, letting the girl breath a bit easier, "You'd be a waste as food, so perhaps I can use you as my own little sun. Fuelling the growth of all my plants with just my magic and no sunlight has become tiresome."

Luz gulped; the Mandragora could smell something was different about her, so it was probably only a matter of time before she was outed. She knew she could trust Willow, and maybe even Amity with her secret, but there was no way she'd trust Boscha! Luz wiggled a bit more, hoping to loosen the vines enough to get a decent firing angle for her light magic, but the Mandragora noticed and kept a tight grip with her vines.

"Can't move my arms or legs… think Luz, what would Eda do in this situation?" Luz thought desperately. The other girls couldn't do anything to help here; Amity had no abomination slime, Boscha had no potions, and neither Willow nor Amelia could match a Mandragora in plant magic, so Luz was the only one who could act! "Only my head is free… dang it, if only I could shoot spells from my mouth!"

That desperate thought made Luz pause; could she do that? She'd only ever seen spells cast with hands, staves, or occasionally, legs. She'd also seen her Mami cast a spell by using her wing to draw a spell circle once… if all that was possible, couldn't she use her eyes or nose or something like it?

Focusing carefully, Luz tried to channel her magic into her head and felt the familiar tingle of it on her tongue. A smile bloomed across her face, catching the Mandragora's attention.

"That's a nice smile. Does the idea of using your light to feed my little friends please you, little sunflower?"

Luz shook her head; "Nah, I have a much better user for it… like this! MLEH!"

The angel girl stuck her tongue out at the Mandragora, briefly making both the demon and the trapped girls blink in surprise, before a light glyph appeared on the end of Luz's tongue and a blast of light magic shot out. The blast struck the Mandragora in the face, making her scream in agony and rear back. Luz used the distraction to shoot another blast at the vine holding her, severing it and dropping her to the ground, where she unravelled herself from them and shot a much larger beam of light at the Thornivine Golem. The beam tore through the creature's chest, vaporising the seed at its core and causing the golem to fall apart into a pile of rapidly withering vines.

"Sorry, Slimy Seed." Luz said as the other girls, now free, ran to join her. She then turned to the other girls and said; "The hole we were dragged down here through has to be up on the top floor somewhere. Let's climb the tree and see if we can't find it!"

"Uh Luz, I don't think she is gonna let us go that easily!" Willow yelled, pointing to the Mandragora who was now glaring at them in rage, the side of her face badly burned.

"You evil little weeds! I'll choke the life from you!" she roared, sending a wave of thorny vines that had the girls scrambling to avoid them while Luz tried to blast them away.

"Why didn't you blast her head off when you had the chance, new girl!?" Boscha screamed as she ducked under a dangerously large thorn. She was getting really sick of having to dodge plants!

"I didn't want to kill her!" Luz yelled back.

"Too bad she doesn't return the feeling!" cried Amity as she shoved Willow out of the way of particularly nasty looking mass of vines.

The Mandragora just shrieked like a banshee as she summoned more and more tendrils, her rage and the pain in her face making her less effective but also less predictable. Poor Amelia almost got her head taken off by a vine, but Boscha slammed into her at the last second, saving her but suffering a nasty welt to the back of her legs in the process.

"Okay, that is it!" Boscha finally roared, completely losing her temper; "I don't care if this place goes up in flames! I'm taking this thing down!"

The three-eyed girl summoned up a pair of fireballs and began tossing them at the Mandragora. They were blocked by vines, but they also ignited all the dry foliage around the point of impact, starting a fire that quickly began to spread. In seconds, the room was practically an inferno, filling the room with fire and smoke.

"Damn it Boscha, you're going to kill us before the Mandragora does!" Amity coughed, covering her face with her arm to try and keep the smoke out of her lungs.

"It's working, isn't it!?" Boscha snapped back, watching with cruel satisfaction as the Mandragora shrieked and writhed to try and avoid the flames, even as the plants she grew to lift her out of the way became additional kindling.

"If the fire or Mandragora doesn't get us, the smoke will! There's no ventilation down here!" Amelia cried, working with Willow to create their own plant platforms to get the young witches to safety.

Willow looked around desperately for a way out, before finally yelling to Luz; "Luz, blast a hole through the top of the atrium! That's the highest point of these ruins, and we can't be that far below Hexside! We should be able to escape from there, or at least vent out the smoke!"

"Got it!" Luz yelled back, quickly clambering up the vines Willow was growing for her, then onto the massive tree. She climbed to the top as quickly as she could, sorely wishing her wings were strong enough to fly, then once she reached the top she began preparing the biggest light blast she could manage. "I really hope no one's right above us!" she muttered to herself, then unleashed the blast.

Her spell came out as a massive pillar of light about as wide as Luz was tall, and vaporised a chunk of the ruins ceiling above her, as well as everything else between Luz and the sky high above. Once her spell subsided, Luz breathed a sigh of relief as the feel of fresh air brushed over her skin, and the smoke in the room began to billow out. Luz reached the highest branch of the tree and was able to jump and grab onto the edge of the hole she'd made, climbing out and onto the surface. She found herself in the middle of the school Grudgby field, and sighed with relief that no one had been around to get hurt.

"Guys, we have a way out!" Luz yelled back into the hole.

"I'll get us out!" Willow yelled back. Channelling the last of her magic and pushing herself as hard as she could, she took control of the huge tree itself (easily done with the Mandragora distracted) and manipulated its branches to grab Boscha, Amity, and Amelia, as well as herself, then lifted them all out of the hole.

As she was being lifted, Boscha laughed maniacally and threw more fireballs down at the Mandragora; "Ha ha! Take this you freaky plant monster! That's what you get for trying to eat me!"

The Mandragora continued to scream in pain and rage, until the girls were all out of the ruins and back on the surface, whereupon it suddenly went silent.

"Good riddance." Amity said, taking deep breathes of the fresh air. "Thank you for saving us, Luz, Willow."

"As adventures go, I think Azura would have been proud." Luz tiredly replied with a wink, making Amity blush.

"Willow, I'm so sorry about all of this!" Amelia cried, hugging the other plant user; "I never should have helped Boscha pick on you! I won't ever do it again!"

"It's okay… well, no it's not, but I don't really want any more confrontations today. Let's just… forget this happened." Willow replied, still a bit upset over what Boscha and her friends had done whilst also feeling ashamed for helping cause this whole mess by losing control.

"I'll gladly forget all about today." Boscha said, sitting on the ground beside Amity. The green-haired girl lightly elbowed the three-eyed potions user and gave her an expectant look, making Boscha roll her eyes and add; "And thanks for saving us Park. And you too, new girl." she said, not sounding totally insincere for once.

Luz smiled, feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside. While it hadn't happened how she'd wanted, at least Willow's bullies had seen how amazing the girl really was, and (mostly) come to regret their actions. Amelia still looked ready to throw herself at Willow's feet, while Amity was clearly ashamed of her part in all of this. If only Boscha did, then it would be a perfect result.

"I can't wait to tell Eda about all this; I wonder if she'll be proud or mad at me?"

"I'm more worried about what Principal Bump will say when he sees the hole we made in the Grudgby field… or the still burning ruins down below… or the hole we made in the front path of the school…" Amity said, growing paler as she realised how much trouble they could be in.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Little Weed!"

The girls all gasped and spun around to find the Mandragora crawling out of the smoking hole, badly burned but very much alive. "You won't be living long enough to regret this!"

The Mandragora then ran at the girls, summoning a wave of thorns as she went, ready to skewer all of them.

Luz and Boscha immediately prepared spells to fight back, while Willow and Amelia summoned up some plants to protect them and Amity. Before they needed to use them however, a pair of fire blasts suddenly came flying at the Mandragora; one purple and one gold, and blasted the Mandragora aside.

"Stay away from my apprentice!" yelled Eda, flying towards them atop her staff.

"And my students!" Principal Bump added, his face a mask of fury as he marched forward with an army of Abominations at his back, and Gus, Bo, and Cat hurrying along beside him.

With a wave of his hand, his small army of Abominations went marching forward, to either pick up and protect the girls or melt into the smoking hole to put out the fires still raging in the ruins below the school. The Mandragora growled at the sight; "The one behind those slimy monstrosities…" she hissed, "You burned my home! Mark my words, witch; I'll return and burn yours in recompense!"

Before Eda or Bump could stop it, the Mandragora summoned a giant flower from the ground and allowed it to swallow her, before it retreated back into the earth and vanished. Principal Bump scowled at the demon's escape.

"It escaped. I doubt it'll go back to the ruins of old Fibul… oh well, it's the Emperor's Coven's problem now." he muttered before turning back to the girls. "I have been made aware of everything that has happened. I think a trip to the nurse's office is in order, then a trip to my office."

All five girls nodded nervously, knowing they were likely in trouble now. Even Luz, who wasn't technically a student, was sure she wouldn't be totally spared. Eda flew down to join them, and glared at the bloody stain on the front of Luz's shirt for a moment, before giving her apprentice a once over and confirming she was okay. Once she was satisifed that Luz was fine, she grinned; "Well kid, you go to my old school for a day and manage to get in a fight with a previously extinct species and discover lost ruins; I'd say you had a good day!"

Luz giggled; "Thanks, Eda. I hope Principal Bump sees it that way…"

"Oh don't worry about old Bumpikins; I'll handle him."

Bump cleared his throat irritably, making Eda chuckle again; "But we really should get you and the others to the nurse's office for a check up. That was a lot of smoke and fire I saw."

Luz nodded and followed Eda back to the school building, while the others followed along with them. Gus stuck close to Willow, making sure she was okay, while Bo and Cat did the same for Boscha, Amity, and Amelia. There was a lot of hugging and relief, and after the near-death experience they'd all just had, going to the Principal's office didn't seem so bad.

They got to the school nurse and were examined one by one while Principal Bump called the girls' parents to discuss what had happened. Luz was the first to be checked on, with Eda watching the nurse like a hawk to make sure she didn't discover her apprentice's secret. Luz only had a few scratches from the thorns and some minor side effects from smoke inhalation, both of which were cleared up immediately with a spell and a potion. Once she was done, Luz left the nurse and went down the hall with Eda so they could talk.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue again, Eda. But how did you know I was here?" Luz asked.

The Owl Lady gave an awkward grin; "That's a bit of a long story…"

As it turned out, after Luz left Eda and King at the beach that morning, King had teased Eda that she'd traded her apprentice for garbage when she'd chosen to send Luz off on her own rather than give up the Trash Slug to train her, and when Eda had protested, King had proclaimed he'd make the angel girl his apprentice instead. After some banter/arguing, the two had made a bet over who was the better teacher. King had to train a baby trash slug into a loyal soldier, and Eda had to find Luz and help her master a brand new spell, with the winner being the first one to succeed.

With Hooty's and Owlbert's help, Eda had tracked Luz down to Hexside and spied on her during a few classes, initially becoming worried that she really wasn't a good teacher, since Luz seemed to be having so much fun at school. She'd gone back home depressed and ready to admit defeat, when the bet was essentially rendered a draw by King's trash slug rebelling after he ran out of treats to feed it, forcing Eda and King to defeat it with some salt.

"And that was the end of Prince Jr, or whatever King called that thing." Eda finished, smiling as Luz giggled at the ridiculous story.

The girl felt a little bad that her running off to Hexside had made Eda feel inadequate, especially since the woman really had taught her a lot, so she made sure to say; "You're a great teacher, Eda. While I'd love to attend Hexside, I wouldn't want it to be instead of learning from you."

Eda blinked owlishly, then smiled a bit wider; "Aw, are you trying to butter me up for extra credit? Because it's working!" she joked. "Thanks Luz. But continuing what I was saying; I used to attend Hexside too, so I knew when school ended and came to pick you up, only to get to talking with Ol' Bumpapotamas. The next thing I know, there's the sound of fighting, then some rumbling, and me and Bump run outside to find a massive hole in front of the school and a whole bunch of plant creatures trying to kidnap students! I helped fight 'em off, then that illusion track kid told me that you and a bunch of other girls got dragged underground! I tried to go after you, along with Bump, but the Mandragora showed up and sealed the hole with vines and tree roots, and Bump wouldn't let me "destroy school property" by burning 'em!"

"Principal Bump's abominations must have been the "slimy monstrosities" the Mandragora mentioned." Luz realised.

"Probably. It sucks that it got away; I have a feeling we'll run into it again. Mandragoras are vengeful demons." Eda frowned. "Anyway, you pretty much know the rest. Me and Bump were trying to find a way to get underground without causing more property damage, when we suddenly saw your massive light beam blasting out from the Grudgby field, then a ton of smoke. We showed up, kicked butt, and here we are."

"It sounds like both our days have been crazy." Luz grinned.

Eda nodded and ruffled her apprentice's hair, then sighed as she saw Principal Bump returning, followed by several adult witches and demons, plus a chastised looking Skara and Jeb. "Look alive kid; the crazy has passed, but the day ain't over yet!"

The two were asked to join the Principal and the called parents, and followed them back to the nurse's office to collect the others. The nurse reported only mild injuries and smoke inhalation, as well as a strained Bile Sac for Willow, all of which had been treated. The teens were then dragged off to the Principal's office, were the teens were sat on chairs around Bump's desk with their parents stood behind them.

Luz watched them all closely; Willow had two dads, Gus only had his dad while Boscha only had her mother (both parents looking just like older versions of their kids), Amelia, Bo, Cat, Skara and Jeb all had their mothers and fathers, and strangely, Amity didn't have anyone.

"Now, I've called you all here to discuss the events that occurred after school today. Specifically the confrontation between you all that led to the hole in the school's front path, the appearance of a Mandragora, and the re-discovery of the old Fibul Academy ruins." he said sternly, "So, who would like to go first?"

Eda grinned; "How about Luz here. As my apprentice, I made her take a vow to never lie to me. She'll tell us what happened."

Obviously that was a lie, but since no one else knew she was an angel, it was a way of making them believe her. Bump's mouth briefly lifted into a small smile before returning to a stern frown as he gestured for Luz to begin.

So Luz told them everything; from the moment she first saw Willow in the woods near the Owl House all the way up to Eda and Bump saving them from the Mandragora. She omitted only details that would reveal her angelic nature, and the discovery of a new glyph, which she wanted to keep as a surprise for Eda and King. The reactions to her story was mixed; Boscha's mother didn't seem to care what her daughter had gotten up to, only showing annoyance when hearing how Boscha had been smacked around easily by Willow's plant abomination. Amelia's parents held their daughter, terrified of what nearly became of her, while the parents of the rest of Boscha's gang looked annoyed that they'd been involved in the situation at all. Gus's father was glad that he was safe and didn't get involved in the fight, and Willow's dads looked torn between relieved, furious, and mildly disappointed.

Bump listened with a blank expression, and Luz could feel Eda practically vibrating behind her, desperate to make some comment but wisely choosing to keep it in. Once Luz was done talking, Principal Bump was silent for a long moment, then asked; "Do any of you dispute Young Luz's story?"

None of them did, so Bump nodded; "Very well. Then I shall pass judgement. Boscha, Amity, Amelia, Skara, Jeb, Bo, and Cat; since the lot of you grouped together to bully another student, your punishment will be to spend one hour before and after school every day helping the teachers with the repairs from this misadventure. Boscha, you will help until the work is done. Amity, Amelia, Skara, and Jeb; you will help for a week, since you didn't start fighting until Willow's Bile Overload drove her wild. Bo and Cat, you will each help for three days, since you assisted in healing Luz. Willow, Luz, and Gus; you will not be punished for this incident, as you were either uninvolved or the victims, and I won't punish someone for actions committed when overloaded."

Boscha scoffed quietly, while Skara and Jeb whined, though none of them dared protest. All things considered, Bump was going easy on them because of the hell they'd just gone through. Amity and the others just meekly nodded their heads; "Good. Now you are dismissed. Willow and Luz, I would like you to remain; we need to discuss this abomination issue."

Luz winced while Willow sank into her a chair a little more. Gus, Amity, and Boscha's gang left with their parents, the former two giving small waves to Luz and Willow as they went.

Once they were gone, Eda and Willow's fathers took some of the vacated chairs as Bump spoke; "Now Willow, based purely on a technicality in wording, your trick with the Thornivine seed in your abomination doesn't count as cheating in your exam. You were still using your own magic to make the abomination move, so your grade has not been rescinded. However, you have broken the rules about mixing magic. Something you assisted her in, Luz."

"It was all my idea!" Luz quickly jumped to Willow's defence; "Please Principal Bump, I'm the one who came up with it, so don't punish Willow. She just wanted to pass one test; she hates being in the abomination track, and everyone bullies her because she doesn't have a talent for it. She shouldn't be punished on top of that!" she defended passionately.

Willow looked touched, while her dads seemed both surprised and pleased by Luz's defence. They then looked sadly at Willow.

"Is this true, Willow? Do you hate the abomination track?" asked Willow's Papa; Harvey Park. He was a burly darker skinned man with a thick beard, little hair on top of his head, and purple eyes, while his husband shared a much stronger resemblance with their daughter, having the same colour eyes and hair, the same skin tone, and the need for glasses.

Willow nodded, refusing to meet her Papa's eyes. Harvey gasped, sounding heartbroken; "Oh Willow… why didn't you tell us?"

"I thought you'd be disappointed. You had your heart set on me following in your footsteps, and you were looking out for my future. I thought I just had to try harder… but nothing worked until I met Luz." Willow said softly.

Willow's Dad, Gilbert Park, pulled both his daughter and husband into a hug; "Neither of us could be disappointed in you for having different skills. If we had known… no, we're your parents, we should have let you choose for yourself even if we didn't. We're sorry, Willow."

Willow sniffled and hugged her fathers tightly, making Luz feel a bit misty eyed. Eda saw this and ruffled her hair again, giving the girl a smile. Principal Bump allowed them to have a moment, then cleared his throat; "Luz, your defence of Willow is admirable, but you are both to blame. Willow for mixing magic, and you for suggesting and enabling it. In light of this, Willow; you will join Amity and the others in spending a week helping to repair the damage done by today's misadventure."

"I understand, Principal Bump." Willow said softly.

"We'll talk about this at home too, darling. It seems we've all done things we shouldn't have." Harvey added. Willow accepted with a nod; she wasn't in more trouble, but she and her dads needed to clear the air a bit.

Bump then turned to Luz; "Officially, you are not a student here Luz, so I can't punish you. I can ban you from the premises, but I suspect you would rather be allowed to come here from time to time, if not eventually enrol. So instead, I suggest that you volunteer to assist Willow in her own work for a week."

Luz nodded quickly; "Yes sir, I'll help! I don't want to give up being Eda's apprentice, but I still want to come here."

"Well, that is something to discuss another time. For now, I have more work to do. I will see you all at a later date." Bump said, dismissing them all. The Parks stood to leave, then Bump suddenly raised a finger; "Oh, and one more thing." he drew a spell circle and in a flash, the accents of Willow's uniform transformed from the pink of the abomination track to the green of the plant track.

"Report to the plant home room tomorrow morning. You will receive your new schedule then."

Willow gasped, then smiled brightly; "Thank you so much sir!"

"Think nothing of it. I am a teacher who can spot talent is all. Now be off with you." Bump smiled.

Willow smiled again and left the office with her fathers, Luz and Eda following shortly behind them. Before Eda left the office, Bump called to her; "If you want to enrol your apprentice here, I'd be happy to allow it… in return for a favour." he grinned expectantly.

Eda just blew a raspberry; "I ain't giving up my apprentice to you just yet, Bumpikins. I'll be back once Luz starts asking."

Bump chuckled; "I suspected as much. You are no doubt quite proud of the trouble your apprentice helped cause."

"Dang right I am!"

"But you should be careful she doesn't cause too much. It could draw attention." he said ominously.

Eda narrowed her eyes; "You know something I don't, Bump?"

The Principal gave Eda a serious look; "Young Luz is not the first angel to come to the Boiling Isles since Belos arrived." he said, making Eda go pale.

"You know…"

"I do. Once you've known an angel, the rest become easier to spot. Keep her safe, Edalyn Clawthorne; a fate worse than death awaits if Belos gets a hold of her. And not just for her."

Eda scowled, then turned on her heel and marched out. She needed to think.

Meanwhile, Luz accompanied Willow and her dads out of the school, chatting as they went.

"My husband and I would like to thank you for what you did today, Luz. Standing up for our daughter, helping her, and saving her from the Mandragora." Gilbert smiled.

Luz blushed; "Aw, it was nothing. Willow is sort of the first friend I've ever made. The first around my own age anyway. I was happy to help!"

"Well, you're always welcome to come by our home if you want to visit." Harvey said.

Luz nodded eagerly; hanging out with friends, going to each other's houses, having sleepovers, and other things like it were things Luz had always wanted to do. She was sort of doing that now with King and Eda, but they weren't exactly friends; Eda was her mentor, and King was rapidly becoming more like a little brother.

As Luz and the Parks walked off of the school grounds (wincing at the sight of the hole in the path), they noticed Amity waiting by the gates, looking nervous.

"Hey, Amity! Are you okay?" Luz called out.

Amity flinched, then blushed upon seeing who was talking to her. She quickly forced her face into a neutral expression and nodded; "I'm fine, Luz. I just wanted to talk to you and Willow for a moment."

"Oh? What's on your mind?" Luz asked as Willow eyed Amity curiously, her fathers opting to keep their distance and leave the girls some privacy.

"I wanted to say thank you. For saving me, and Boscha. After the way we acted, I wouldn't have blamed you if you chose to let us get crushed; by Willow or by the Mandragora." Amity said, eyes downcast with shame.

"I could never do that! The Good Witch Azura would never leave someone to be hurt when she could stop it, so I won't either!" Luz declared, smiling brightly.

Amity stared at her for a moment, her blush returning full force, before she shook it off and turned to Willow. "Willow… I'm sorry for how I acted this morning, and before today. It wasn't fair to you… you're not Half-a-Witch, you're just powerful in a different way. I'm sorry I didn't see that sooner… a lot sooner."

Willow's gaze hardened for a second, then she smiled; "Thanks, Amity. Will I see you around?" she asked. Her smile turned sly as she slung an arm around Luz; "I'm sure Luz here would love to see more of you too."

Luz nodded happily; "Of course! You seem a lot cooler when you're being nice; I'd love to hang out with you Amity!"

Amity couldn't hold in her blush any more, so she just nodded shakily and ran away, shouting; "Sure, later! Bye Willow, Bye L-Luz!"

Willow giggled as she watched Amity go, while her fathers had knowing smiles. Luz just blinked, wondering if she was missing something.

"By the way, do you know why Amity's parents didn't come? Are they…" Luz trailed off.

Willow grimaced while her fathers frowned; "No, the Blights are still alive. It's just that they're on the Parent Creature Association, and involving them in anything is always a massive pain." Gilbert said.

"They're not the easiest people to get along with. Her father Alador is a reclusive eccentric, and her mother Odalia is…" Harvey hesitated as he tried to find an appropriate descriptor; "… numerous things not suitable for saying in polite company."

Willow snorted and said; "Trust me Luz, you don't want to deal with them. Even at her worst, Amity was like a cuddly kitten compared to her parents."

Luz blinked, detecting a hint of bitterness in her friend's voice. She wanted to ask more, but after seeing the Park family's discomfort with the topic, she opted to just drop it.

Shortly thereafter, Eda caught up with them again (poorly hiding the bad mood Bump had put her in) and Luz parted ways with Willow and her fathers, promising to meet up with her again the next school day so she could help volunteer with the repairs. Luz and Eda then began the walk back home, taking a leisurely pace and enjoying the dusk-coloured sky.

"Another day, another adventure. You did good today, kid. I honestly wasn't expecting you to find a way to help someone with that slime ball, but I guess it never pays to bet against you, does it?" Eda said, forcing a grin on her face as she shoved Bump's warning from her mind.

"Yeah! I was worried for a while that it had backfired again, but now I've made friends and Willow is in the class she wants!" Luz said happily.

"So you helped and managed to cause chaos at the same time! That's my girl!" Eda ruffled her hair again. She really enjoyed playing with Luz's silky curls.

They arrived at the Owl House just as the sun was about to fall below the horizon, and found King waiting outside, surrounded by balls of light (some of which Hooty was attempting to eat).

"Luz, you're finally back! You were gone forever! You won't believe what happened today! I raised a trash slug into a formidable soldier in my dark army, but it betrayed me! So Eda and I had to vanquish it! I blinded it with a light glyph then dumped salt down it's throat! Ha!" King said, speaking a mile a minute as he eagerly ran up to Luz and hugged her legs.

"Wow King, sounds like you had a fun day! You're really getting used to that light glyph, huh?" Luz grinned, kneeling down so he could hug her properly.

"Luz here had an adventure too. She'll tell you over dinner." Eda said.

She prepared to take the kids inside, but Luz stopped her; "Actually, I have a little something to reveal first. See, I kept one little detail of my adventure a secret from Principal Bump and the others." she said coyly.

King looked confused, but excited, while Eda smirked; "Oh really? Tricky, my apprentice. So, what is this secret detail?"

Luz just grinned wider and borrowed King's notepad and pencil to draw out the new glyph she'd found. King and Eda both gasped; "A new glyph!? What does it do!? What does it do!?" King exclaimed, shaking Luz.

"I have no idea! I couldn't cast it with my magic like the light glyph, and I didn't have anything to draw it with before now. This is an entirely new and unknown glyph! You can do the honours and cast it first!" Luz said.

King let out a squeal of joy, almost making Luz's heart combust with the cuteness. He then eagerly slapped the drawn glyph, activating it. It glowed green, then reacted to King's inner desire for something big and impressive. In a rush of green magic, a massive tree taller than the Owl House shot up from the ground in front of King and Luz, making them and Eda gasp in amazement.

"A tree glyph!?" King yelled, before quickly drawing the glyph again. This time it produced thorny vines (which briefly made Luz panic); something King was very happy with. Luz then tried it herself, imagining a sunflower, and as she expected, a sunflower grew.

"Not just a tree glyph; a plant glyph!" Luz beamed.

Eda was overjoyed; now her kids could instantly grow any plant they wanted, including plants she could sell or use as potions ingredients! With this, the snails would be rolling in! "Kids, forget cooking dinner; I'm taking us out to eat tonight! We've gotta celebrate!"

Luz and King cheered, and the night air was filled with the sounds of laughter. Luz's first experience with a real magic school had come to an end.