A/N: Hi there and welcome back! With episodes one and two of the first season done, we're now moving into episode three, where things are going to turn out a little differently compared to the first six chapters. Episode three's 'Plot A', as everybody already knows, is focused on Luz and her antics at Hexside. However, since Lizzie is an adult (and also for specific reasons pertaining to the plot that I can't mention), she obviously can't be involved in that. Plot-wise and character-wise, it makes no sense. So, instead, the focus of the next couple of chapters will be on 'Plot B', involving Eda's and King's antics. I did contemplate writing something completely original for Lizzie that happened during this episode, since not much happens between the transitions from 'Plot A'. But after looking through the scenes, I thought this was a good opportunity to further explore the dynamic between Eda, Lizzie, and King, as well as use this plot to dig a little deeper into Lizzie's past ever so slightly. You guys have had a taster of both over the last six chapters, but I think this should go into more depth and hopefully bring out something wholesome towards the trio's relationships with each other (more so Lizzie and Eda).

I should preface this chapter by saying that I do make mention as to how witches supposedly learn spells here, but that what I've had my character say isn't canon. The show has yet to fully expand on witches and their current use of magic outside of the spell circles and the bile sacs, and Season 2 has so far implied that witches aren't aware of the glyph symbols and which spell type they represent. So, what I've written here is simply my educated guess on how I think it works (mostly because of episode twelve and Eda explaining about wild witches learning spells through their environment). If Season 2 does disprove me at any point, I will come back and amend this chapter and inform you in my author's notes. In the meantime, this is what I'm sticking with. Although I do have my doubts that the mechanics behind spell casting beyond spell circles and staffs will be expanded on, since the focus is currently on glyphs because of Luz and the Clawthorne sisters. But we'll have to see.

Thank you again to those who have been favouriting, following, reviewing, and reading this fanfic. Your support is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy the next couple of chapters, even though what happens in 'Plot B' isn't all that interesting and wild.


Chapter 7: Caught in the Middle

For the residents of the Boiling Isles, the crack of dawn peeking over the horizon was the sign that their day was about to begin and they needed to prepare for it. But when it came to our youngest residential witch and human apprentice, they were going about their business as if their day had already begun.

In the room they both currently shared, Luz knelt on the floor where her bed usually was with her arms resting on her thighs. Opposite her was Lizzie, who sat cross-legged on her mattress surrounded by empty beakers, barring her largest beaker and a small vial beside it which were both filled with a bright yellow liquid Luz recognised as Lizzie's light potion. Or at least the light potion without the addition of magic. Luz had already witnessed Lizzie making the potion using ingredients prior to this moment, hence why she knew that.

Luz watched with her fists pressing into her legs as Lizzie adjusted the goggles on her face with both hands, with the blonde witch eventually addressing her.

"Now, watch closely, Luz. I can only do this once."

Luz nodded stiffly and frowned, focusing on the large beaker while straightening her posture in preparation.

Normally, Lizzie didn't allow others into the room when she was making her potions. Mixing potions—especially with magic—was a dangerous game. She needed to be focused and have the proper safety gear to conduct these activities safely, leading to her taking extra precautions so she didn't injure anyone or cause damage. However, there were times where she made exceptions, like in the case of King when he was down in the dumps the other day, and now with Luz. She'd noticed the human had been sulking today, probably because once again Eda hadn't tried to teach her anything about magic yet. So, she thought this was a good opportunity for Luz to witness and learn a little about her own magic while cheering her up at the same time, even if she couldn't use it herself yet. Luz had gotten better at being mindful of her surroundings and following instructions, so Lizzie was sure she could trust the human around her concoctions now, especially after making her promise to keep her distance, be quiet when told to, and not touch anything without permission.

Lizzie slipped her index finger into the opening of the beaker, with her fingertip glowing green. She drew a tiny spell circle and produced a ball of light within it. Luz let out a quiet gasp and leaned forward a little as the ball merged with the surface of the liquid and made it bubble, keeping her eyes on it until the light fizzled.

"Whoa…" She looked up and relaxed as Lizzie corked the top of the beaker and held it by its neck to swish the liquid around, waiting for the potion to darken. "So, you have to cast magic from the circle thingy—"

"Spell circle."

"Right, right." Luz twirled her index finger once. "You have to cast magic from the spell circle to mix it with the liquid. And that's what adds magic to the potion."

Lizzie nodded stiffly. "That's right."

Luz scratched the back of her head. "How exactly does that work, though?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've noticed you and Eda don't say spell names when you cast them. You just draw the circle. So, how do you know which spells to cast? Do you have to say it in your head?"

The blonde witch tapped her chin with a finger and frowned. "No. But it does involve memorisation."

"Memorisation?"

"Yup. In order for a witch to cast a spell, they first have to memorise how the spell functions visually. This is so that when we draw upon our magic, we use the mental picture to activate the desired spell along with its effects." Lizzie briefly held the beaker still and tapped the side of it with her fingernail. "This is how I'm able to fuse the spells with potions."

"That's so cool!" Luz eyed the beaker in Lizzie's hold, recalling the few times she'd witnessed the witch using her potions against Warden Wrath and Adegast. "You're basically carrying a secret magic supply in your bag that only you can use!"

"If only that were true." Lizzie focused on the beaker as the potion turned a darker shade of yellow. "There are downsides to using my magic this way, which is why I only rely on it during emergencies."

"Really? Like what?"

Lizzie counted off on her fingers using her other hand. "Well, for one thing, not all spells are compatible with potions. You also can't manually control the spell inside the potion, so the effects and damage it causes can vary depending on spell type. And it's accessible to anyone since, aside from when I access it through my own magic, the spells can be activated by simply smashing the vial or pouring the potion. You don't have to have magic to use it, which makes it dangerous." Lizzie saw Luz's eyes widen at this, prompting her eyes to narrow. "Don't you start getting any funny ideas."

"I wasn't," Luz said with a chuckle. She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. "But thanks for letting me sit in and watch you. I appreciate it."

Lizzie smiled a little. "You're welcome." She scratched her cheek with a finger. "Although, compared to other magic types, potion making isn't as exciting to watch. Sorry."

"It's all right! I'm just glad I'm finally learning something!" Luz adjusted her position so she was sitting with her legs crossed, her gaze briefly flitting between the beaker and the vial on the floor. "Like what potions need to be made to be compatible with certain spells. And that you can recognise potions without magic because they're lighter in colour."

Lizzie blinked widely at this, her smile widening. "Look at you and your observation skills! Good job!"

Luz returned Lizzie's smile with flushed cheeks as she looked away. "Thanks."

As Lizzie put her beaker down and removed her goggles, she noticed Luz's expression drop and her body slump, having quickly gone from proud to disappointed in a matter of seconds. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Luz gripped at her elbow but didn't lift her gaze from the floor. "When do you think Eda is going to teach me magic?"

"Huh?"

"I was hoping Eda would have tried to teach me my first spell by now." She rubbed at her arm with drooped eyes. "Yet every time I've brought it up, she's always too busy, or too sleepy, or she's still trying to look into how to teach me." As Lizzie stood up and collected the vial of magicless potion from the floor, Luz sighed heavily and moved her other hand to cup her cheek. "I feel like she's not taking this as seriously as I am."

"Well, you're not wrong there." Lizzie carefully stepped through the empty beakers on the floor to plop down beside Luz, keeping the vial held between her palms. "Eda is good at many things and winging everything happens to be one of them." The blonde witch reached a hand up to pat Luz on her closest shoulder. "But it's like I've said to you before: you and Eda made a deal, and she will hold up her end of it."

Luz looked up with a blink. "Really?"

Lizzie nodded. "This is new to her too. She doesn't have much experience teaching someone else magic, let alone a human." Lizzie nudged Luz gently with her shoulder, prompting the latter to smile a little. "So, try not to worry too much, okay? She'll come around eventually."

"I'll try."

Lizzie quickly glanced down at the vial in her hands, an idea popping into her head. A faint smirk appeared as her voice took on a playful tone. "You know, I can't let you use one of my magic potions. But if you wanted to…" Her smirk widened as she raised the vial for Luz to see. "…I could let you throw the magicless potion out the window~."

Luz gasped and smacked her palms to her cheeks. "Can I?!"

"Sure." She moved the vial closer. "It's not as strong without magic. As long as it's thrown from a distance, it shouldn't hurt you."

Luz squealed and carefully took the vial into her palms, immediately jumping to her feet and rushing for the window. "I'm about to use a magic potion! My first act of magic!"

Lizzie followed Luz to the window and leaned against the opposite wall, observing the young human push the window open and take a moment to stare at the scenery. Because their room was at the back of the cottage, there were very few places Luz could throw the vial to. So, the blonde wasn't surprised when Luz focused on the roof of the kitchen and jumped back a step, raising the vial behind her with a big grin.

"Should I use a cool catchphrase when I throw it?" She briefly frowned. "Are there any cool catchphrases for light magic? I don't think there are."

"Don't overthink it, Luz. Just throw it."

Luz's expression relaxed. "You're right."

After taking a deep breath in and out, Luz held her arm back and threw the vial out of the window, yet at the same time—unbeknownst to Lizzie and Luz—Hooty had stretched his neck round to the back of the cottage. So, by the time the vial was flying outside, the house demon was pausing above the roof and facing the window at seeing Luz and Lizzie. "Hi— Ack!"

Luz and Lizzie froze at witnessing the vial fall straight into Hooty's mouth, the pair's eyes widening at the house demon proceeding to cough and gag. After a few seconds of this, Hooty's neck jerked upwards, prompting him to let out a sharp cough that forced the vial out of his mouth. Luz shrieked and recoiled as the vial shot straight towards her, but she was soon pulled to the side by Lizzie and into her front when the potion closed in, thankfully missing her. The witch and human watched the vial soar through the window and across the room, heading towards the door just as it was opened by Eda.

"Hey, you're never going to guess what—" Eda cut herself off and stopped in the doorway as she spotted the vial whizz past her from her right, missing her by a couple of inches.

The Owl Lady didn't dare look back, yet quickly deduced what had happened by the smashing of glass against the wall and the brief and weak flash she saw light up the inside of the room. Eda immediately focused on the wide green eyes of her charge clutching tightly onto the gaping human against her front for her answers.

"Should I ask?"

Lizzie slowly shook her head and relaxed at processing the lack of injury and damage, releasing Luz. "You should not."

"Got it." Eda rubbed her hands together and grinned. "As I was saying: you're never going to guess what day it is."

Luz glanced at the ceiling and scratched her chin. "Uh… Friday?"

"I don't think she meant it literally, Luz," Lizzie muttered.

"Oh…" Luz shrugged. "Then I give up."

Eda held her arms above her head, still grinning. "It's 'Trash Slug Day'!"

Whereas Luz raised a brow at the answer, Lizzie's lips curled. She knew exactly what Eda was talking about.

'Oh, no…'

Eda was already disappearing from the room and heading down the hallway by the time she called out to Lizzie. "Grab your pickaxes, girls! We're digging for treasure!"

"Wait. Girls?!" Lizzie shrieked. "You mean me too?!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Ugh!" Lizzie groaned loudly and stomped her way to the door, shouting after Eda at coming to a stop in the doorway. "Do I have to come with you?!"

"If you want your potion ingredients restocked, then yes!"

"Can't Luz take my place this once?!"

"Nope!"

"That's not fair!"

"We have a deal, Redwood! You work for me, remember? This is part of the job!"

Lizzie whined and slumped her shoulders, tilting her head to the ceiling as she listened to Eda's footsteps slowly die out.

'Why does she always force me to go?!'

A tap on her shoulder and a query from Luz brought Lizzie back to reality. "Is this some weird holiday in the Boiling Isles?"

"Only for Eda…" Lizzie grumbled, walking back into the room so she could put her stuff away. "If I was you, I'd find something to plug your nose with."

Luz frowned. "Why would I—?"

"You'll see."

And that was all Lizzie was prepared to say on the matter.


After gathering King to join their little 'party' (and in Lizzie's case, her satchel emptied of her current potion supply), Eda led her three charges down to the pale sands of a beach that bordered the Boiling Isles, which was abandoned. It didn't take much of a walk before the group found themselves gathered close to the shore on a specific corner of the beach, where they came face-to-face with the giant, cylindrical, dark green carcass of the creature Lizzie loathed with a passion: the trash slug. The sight of the deceased worm with leech-like characteristics rolled onto its side in the sand, surrounded by sludge and other rubbish that had washed up from the sea, with its mouth wide open and exposing its pointed teeth in the middle of its five stubby feelers was one the young witch had seen many times before. But, of course, the same couldn't be said for poor Luz…

Lizzie gave Luz a sideways glance from where she stood to her right, seeing the young human pinching her nose in her palm with her lips pressed tightly together, as if she was resisting the urge to hurl. Frankly, Lizzie couldn't blame her. The rotting smell coming from the trash slug's carcass was strong. Even she found herself squinting and pinching her nose at feeling the tears building up in her eyes, and she was very familiar with the stench due to the amount of times she'd been exposed to it.

Luz leaned close to Lizzie and lowered her voice. "I see what you meant now."

"Good."

But in comparison to them, Eda and King seemed unfazed by the sight and the smell. In fact, Eda was practically grinning from ear-to-ear, even as she bent down to elbow Luz repeatedly in the arm.

"Well, Luz,"—She wrapped an arm around Luz's shoulders and pulled her close to her side, while holding her other arm out to the trash slug—"have you ever seen something as breath-taking as this?"

"Uh…" That was all Luz could say in response, prompting Lizzie's eyes to droop at the poor girl's loss for words.

"If you're referring to the fact this stinky thing is literally stealing our oxygen, then no, I don't think she has." That pinch of sarcasm earned a quiet snort from Luz, a loud "Ha!" from King, and a brief glare from Eda, prompting Lizzie to smile widely at the latter and shrug. "There's no part of our deal that says I can't make jokes."

"You just don't appreciate the inspiration of the trash slug," Eda replied as she let Luz go and approached the creature, putting on a soft-spoken voice. "It makes a home and a life from what others have thrown by the wayside." She paused to give the slug a gentle pat on one of its feelers before suddenly swirling to face the group and shout. "And then blam!" Eda smacked her fist against her palm, causing Luz to cringe and lean back. "It gets blasted by a wave and croaks from the salt, allowing us to sell the stuff it ate!"

Lizzie watched Eda take out her pickaxe and hold it out to Luz. "Here, Luz. I'll give you first whack."

Luz swallowed thickly and brought her fists to her chest, slowly shuffling behind Lizzie while replying in a small voice. "Please don't make me…"

Lizzie smirked at this and peeked at Luz with the tilt of her head, all while King walked off to the white towel he'd laid out nearby, which was patterned with a big, yellow duck silhouette in the middle. "Hey, come on, Luz! What's more inspiring than hacking apart a carcass filled with junk?"

King snickered and looked back at stopping by the towel with drooped eyes, happily adding onto the sarcasm train. "Yeah, Luz! It's not every day you get to come to the dump to hunt for garbage inside a giant slug!"

Eda rolled her eyes and waved the pickaxe around dismissingly. "Ah, nuts to all of you! Mama's getting first whack then!"

As the Owl Lady trudged her way closer to the trash slug and King laid on his front on top of the towel, Luz stepped out from behind Lizzie with a frown.

"I'm surprised you're out here." Luz cringed at hearing Eda's pickaxe strike the trash slug's teeth. "I thought you only left the Owl House for potion deliveries." She cringed again following another strike of Eda's pickaxe.

Meanwhile, Lizzie stood still with her arms folded, undeterred at seeing her employer attacking the trash slug carcass. "There are exceptions." She paused at seeing Luz cringe for a third time. "The only time I leave the Owl House is if it's related to Eda's potions business. Deliveries falls under that, but so does ingredient scavenging. Since most of the ingredients are found outside of Bonesborough, I'm usually comfortable accompanying Eda to find them."

"I see. So, it's the town you try to avoid."

"Exactly. The guards aren't going to be looking for Eda in a forest or at a beach, and she isn't up to anything illegal right now. It's all good." Her eyes narrowed. "Except for today. I hate trash slugs, both dead and alive."

Eda eventually stopped swinging her pickaxe after finally smashing through the pointed teeth blocking complete entry to its mouth, rubbing her hands together with a faint clap. "Aha! Jackpot!"

Luz watched Eda stick her hands inside the trash slug's mouth before turning to Lizzie with both thumbs up. "I'm gonna try talking to Eda again about my magic lessons. Wish me luck."

Lizzie responded with a nod and a small smile as a form of encouragement, prompting Luz to jog to Eda while the Owl Lady was still rooting around inside the trash slug's maw.

'She's gonna need it. Eda only taught me those two spells because she's a fan of experimenting. If Luz manages to get her to teach her anything, it'll be a miracle.'

"So, Eda…" Luz started, putting on her biggest smile as she stood behind her mentor with some distance between them. "have you had a chance to come up with a magic lesson plan for me yet? 'Cause if not, I've got some ideas we could do for my apprenticeship." She counted off her fingers. "Like reading ancient scrolls, or mixing together potions, or—"

"Ugh…" Eda interrupted Luz with a groan, becoming momentarily distracted by an object she pulled out that Luz recognised as a phone. "That sounds like magic school stuff." She chucked the phone behind her and continued fishing around.

Luz's brows raised, her smile briefly disappearing. "Wait…" The young teen stepped closer to the Owl Lady. "Is there actually a magic school here?"

"Tons," Eda grumbled. "I'm sure I mentioned it to you before…"

Lizzie took that as her cue to intervene. "You did, when Luz wanted a magic staff."

"Oh, yeah. Before she ran into Adegast…" Eda muttered the last part under her breath.

Luz's eyes widened with a quiet gasp. "Are they like the 'winding towers', 'cute uniforms', and 'dark plots that threaten your life' kind of magic schools?"

Lizzie raised a brow at that. "… Maybe not that last part. But everything else is kind of on point."

Eda scoffed as she stood up and dropped a small chunk of sludge from her palms onto the sand. "You forgot the part where they force you to learn magic 'the proper way'." She imitated quotation marks with her fingers with a scowl, turning to face Luz and Lizzie. "But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable! And that's what makes it so beautiful." Lizzie felt a grin creep onto her face, which Eda immediately caught. "See! Lizzie gets it!"

"Heck yeah."

Luz looked between the two witches with a furrowed brow. "Did you guys seriously hate school that much?"

"Hate it?" Eda slung the pickaxe over her shoulder and raised her head high. "We didn't even finish it!" She nodded towards Lizzie. "Isn't that right, Lizzie?"

Lizzie forced a blink as her grin faded, suddenly feeling her face growing damp from sweat. "Huh?"

"You dropped out of school too, right?"

The blonde witch pulled at the collar of her shirt and looked away to stare at the Boiling Sea, her answer coming out quiet. "Yep. Dropped out three years ago."

Her eye twitched out of discomfort, but thankfully neither Luz nor Eda noticed, especially the latter, who took Lizzie's answer as a win. "There you go, Luz! Neither of us finished school and look!" She held out her hand towards all the rubbish and buzzing flies she was currently surrounded by. "Who wouldn't envy where we are right now?"

'No one. Because digging through trash isn't a brag.'

Lizzie understood Eda's point, but even she knew that it was a little sad of the Owl Lady to wear her current situation like a badge. And apparently Luz also agreed, judging by the crestfallen look she caught on the young human's face when she resumed staring at her.

As Luz chose not to answer and turn her head away with drooped eyes, Eda's smile fell, prompting her and Lizzie to lock gazes. The young witch gave the older one a pointed look, and Eda immediately knew what Lizzie was trying to convey without the need for her to speak. The Owl Lady loudly cleared her throat to get Luz's attention and put her pickaxe down, wading her way through the rubbish to reach her human apprentice.

"Hey, here's a lesson for you." Lizzie watched Eda gently grab Luz's left hand and pull her over to a small gathering of slime. "All great witches are resourceful. Like this."

Eda made Luz kneel alongside her before shoving her entire hand into the slime. Luz shuddered and gritted her teeth, but once the Owl Lady let her go, the teen closed an eye and fished her hand around until she felt something against her palm. She eventually pulled out her hand and opened it out to reveal a small, round, brown item covered in green slime. She held the item in both palms, her next words sounding forced.

"Oh, hey. Look at that: a greasy slime ball."

Eda held her hands together in her own and closed her eyes, trying to imitate a wise-sounding tone. "Use your slime ball wisely, young witch." There was a small pause before the Owl Lady released Luz and quickly stood up, collecting her pickaxe as she turned to the trash slug. "Now, back at it. We're hitting the stink nodes first."

Lizzie could only shake her head and smack her forehead, seeing Luz's shoulders slump as she focused her gaze to the ground and went to stand up.

'C'mon, Eda. I'm glad you're trying, but you could have put in more effort than that.'

"Actually," Luz began, slipping the slime ball into her jean shorts' pocket. Eda stopped walking and looked back. "if it's okay, I'm gonna head back and look at pictures of animals that are…" She gave the trash slug a quick glance. "…still alive."

Eda was silent as Luz turned to walk off the beach towards the forest, prompting Lizzie to respond on her behalf after a quiet huff. "All right. Be careful on your way back."

"I will." Luz stopped by King on her way out, who she noticed was now wearing a pair of rectangular, blue sunglasses with two slit-like holes on the front while lying on his back on the towel. She knelt on one knee beside the little demon and rubbed his belly with a smile, causing King to giggle and close his eyes. "Love you, King! My little beach peach!"

When Luz pulled away and left the beach, King rolled over onto his front and rested his head on his paws, letting out a contented sigh while swinging his legs and wagging his tail. Eda and Lizzie silently observed until Luz was out of sight, eventually prompting the former to shrug her shoulders.

"I guess it's more for me then!"

As Eda continued her way towards the trash slug and crawled through its mouth, Lizzie sighed loudly and decided she'd be better off joining King instead of following her employer or Luz. As far as Lizzie was concerned, Luz would be fine. And in regards to Eda… well, Lizzie knew she wasn't needed to help hack away at a trash slug. The only thing Eda expected her to do during times like this was help sort through the rubbish she found.

Lizzie removed her satchel from her person before lying down on the towel behind King on her back, placing the item beside her head for now. King looked back when he realised the blonde witch was there, adjusting his position enough so he faced the water. "Aren't you going to talk to her?"

Lizzie responded to King while keeping her gaze on the sky, resting an arm across her middle. "Who? Eda?"

"Yeah."

"Why would I do that?"

"'Cause I'm not the only one who's noticed Eda mixing up her priorities. Also, weren't you supposed to be learning magic from her now?"

"Uh-huh."

"So why haven't you said anything?"

"There's no use talking to Eda when she's like this. Plus, I have already tried."

"And?"

"She said she hasn't gotten around to looking into how witches used to do magic in the past. Although she claims she will." Lizzie's eyes drooped as she rested her other arm atop her forehead. "Eventually."

King shook his head and closed his eyes. "I get Eda is busy and has to take care of a lot of things. But if she keeps this up, Luz is gonna run off to someone else."

"I know. I've already made attempts to pacify Luz to give Eda more time. Yet it's not a permanent fix. Eda needs to teach Luz something soon. Otherwise we'll end up in a similar situation to Adegast."

"Then maybe," King sat up and adjusted his sunglasses, facing Lizzie with folded arms. "you should try being more assertive."

Lizzie tilted her head towards King and raised a brow. "Assertive?"

"Yeah. Since Luz showed up, you've been acting as the voice of reason. Eda usually listens to you. You could trick her into teaching you and Luz some magic."

Lizzie frowned and looked away. "I'm not tricking her, King."

"Suit yourself." King wagged his tail and jabbed a claw into his chest. "If you won't try and Eda chases Luz away, I'll come in and take her under my wing."

Lizzie loudly snorted and covered her eyes over with her arm, her tone becoming playful. "Sure. I'd pay to see that happen."

'Although, King does make a good point. Maybe I should try talking to Eda again. If I don't try, she will end up driving Luz away…'

"Ow!"

King's cry of pain followed by a clang had Lizzie peeking over at the little demon, only for her eyes to widen when she saw a golden tuba stuck over King's head which he was trying to pull off. From inside the trash slug, Eda's muffled voice could be heard shouting.

"This is awesome!"


The day drew on and brightened up the isles once Eda had finished scouting through the innards of the trash slug, with Lizzie left to sort through the various items the Owl Lady had tossed from the creature's mouth and stomach. Usually when Lizzie accompanied Eda on little expeditions like this, she would be instructed to only pack up the items that were either ingredients for potions or any human treasures that could be sold at Eda's stand. This time, however, Eda didn't seem interested in finding human items to sell. In fact, her focus was currently on the unhatched and fertilised eggs she'd found in the trash slug's oviduct (yup, turns out the trash slug was a female and pregnant, much to Lizzie's horror). So, while Lizzie was tasked with compiling potion ingredients, she also found herself collecting any stray slug eggs Eda had dropped as she attempted to keep them bound together in a makeshift sack tied to her staff, which she was using her magic on to keep it levitated vertically. Meanwhile, King was watching this from atop the pile of rubbish Eda had made from everything else the creature had apparently ingested, having abandoned both his towel and sunglasses.

While Eda went about making sure the sack of eggs were tied tightly to her staff, Lizzie collected one of the orange, ball shaped eggs from the sand that was next to her foot. It fit nicely into her palm, and what made it worse was the fact the eggs were transparent, so she was able to see the light green baby trash slug wiggling round inside, innocently staring at her with four orange eyes on top of its head (the inside of the egg made them look black). She couldn't deny that the baby was kind of cute, and despite her dislike at being forced to deal with the carcasses of the trash slugs, she couldn't help feeling sorry for the fate that had befallen this particular slug.

"Sorry about your mother," Lizzie mumbled, holding the egg up at eye level. "If it wasn't for the fact you grow each time you eat, I'd have probably kept you as a pet."

The thought was tempting, but even Lizzie knew she was no expert at dealing with these creatures, not like the members of the Beast Keeping Coven. The trash slug was very simple minded and always focused on food, often getting feral if someone denied it a meal. Even if she'd gone about raising this little thing from its hatching, Lizzie was certain this creature would attack her the first chance it got, and that it wouldn't stop growing even despite a restricted diet. It was a shame, but she knew her limitations.

The blonde witch flinched when the egg was snatched from her hand by Eda, who proceeded to drop it on top of the pile inside the sack before dusting her hands off.

"Well, that wasn't a bad haul. That oviduct was loaded."

"Oh, sure," King replied from where he was sat on top of a square item in the rubbish pile, placing a paw on his knee. "Lose apprentice, gain garbage eggs. Sounds like a fair trade."

Eda glanced at King with a raised brow. "What? I didn't lose anything."

"If you don't teach Luz right, you will." King stood up. "She's been here for some time now and you haven't taught her any magic."

"King's right, you know," Lizzie said as she fiddled with the strap of her satchel. "Luz has been getting bored of all the jobs you've made her do over the last few days. She's tried to respect your decisions, but I think it's getting to the point where you're not really holding up your end of the bargain, Eda."

Eda went back to adjusting the sack of eggs. "That may be true, but it doesn't mean I haven't been teaching her right."

King snorted. "Oh, yeah?" He jabbed a claw in Lizzie's direction. "Then what about Lizzie?"

Eda stopped and turned to glance at the mentioned witch, with Lizzie blinking widely and tilting her head. "What about Lizzie?"

"She's been with us for three years and only knows four spells, two of which she already knew before meeting you. Your track record isn't looking too good."

Lizzie raised a finger and cleared her throat. "That's not entirely on Eda, King. I haven't shown much interest in learning other spells until now. She only taught me spells I asked her to."

"But still," King jumped down from the pile and made his way over to stand beside Lizzie. "you'd think an employer would be responsible enough to train her employee, let alone her human apprentice, to combat against her own enemies. You two have gotten into danger a lot already and you barely handled it."

Lizzie frowned at that, placing a hand to her chin. The blonde witch remained oblivious to Eda turning her gaze away with drooped eyes. "Well, that's a valid point. But—"

"And even when she did teach you spells, she didn't do much teaching at all. Like the time you learnt the light spell." He pointed at the sky. "Didn't she make you stare at the stars all night?"

"Yeah, but I still learnt the—"

"And when you learnt the levitation spell." He then pointed at the sand. "She made you lie down on the floor with your eyes closed for ages, right?"

"She did. But again, I still—"

"Then it's settled." Lizzie's body slumped at getting interrupted for the second time by King. "Eda can't teach. Frankly," King puffed out his chest and jabbed a claw into it. "I'd be more suitable to teach Luz!"

Eda's head whipped to look at King with a clenched jaw, which Lizzie caught out of the corner of her eyes.

'Uh oh.'

"Are you implying you could teach Luz better than me?" Eda questioned; her tone was underlined with a hint of a snarl.

"I'm not saying it." King scowled and placed his paws to his hips. "I know it. If Luz was my apprentice, I'd teach her about demons—how to identify them, talk to them, raise an army with them and then…"—He held his paws above his head bunched up into fists—"…tear the world apart!"

"Ha!" Eda leaned her back and elbows against her staff with a smirk. "You can't even get your head out of a sweater arm after getting it stuck!"

"That only happened once!"

King's shriek and following eye twitch was Lizzie's cue to intervene while holding out her arms between them. Things were getting ugly now, and she knew it. "Guys! Calm down!"

"No!" King yelled defiantly and stomped his feet. "I will not calm down! Eda always thinks she's so smart! Well…" He dropped his fists to his sides with a scowl. "…why don't we make a bet, where I can prove I'm the better teacher?!"

Eda's smirk widened at this, while the colour drained from Lizzie's face. This was a concept that both were greatly familiar with, and while Eda couldn't care less about it and even enjoyed it, Lizzie felt like she was about to head into a warzone with the dread she could feel building in her gut.

'Oh, no. No, no, no. No. Not a bet! Anything but a bet!'

"Okay," Eda answered as she stood up straight, approaching King while fishing into her hair to pull out a dark green book titled 'Eda + King One Sided Wagers' in yellow lettering above a picture of a handshake. "But I'm obligated to remind you that I only use our bets to utterly humiliate you." She crouched on Lizzie's other side opposite King and opened the book, revealing two pages with funny and tiny drawings of Eda's and King's faces at the top above three boxes each to show him. In Eda's column, she had three star stickers on both pages, whereas in King's columns, it was stamped with 'FAIL' in red lettering. "And that you've never won." She dared to lean towards King. "You still want to try me?"

King stared at the pages with a menacing glare, with Lizzie glancing between the older witch and little demon while biting her lip. She was very familiar with Eda's and King's little 'wagers'. It was common for the two of them to make silly bets and then try to outdo each other, only for King to fail each time because he shouldn't have challenged Eda to begin with. Eda was very vain, but King was often no better, and while Lizzie usually stayed out of their bets and avoided getting involved…

'This one's going to end badly. I can feel it. The other arguments were downright silly, but this topic is going to cause serious repercussions. Especially since it's clear Eda's upset. I'd better say something—'

"I like those odds," King said with a stomp of his foot. "You have a bet! What are the terms?!"

Lizzie smacked her forehead as Eda had a quick look around her feet, the latter's gaze eventually landing on a stray trash slug egg.

'Drat. I need to learn to react quicker.'

"How about this?" Eda collected the egg from the sand and held it out to the little demon. "Teach this trash slug to become your loyal soldier by the end of the day. Prove you can be a better teacher than me, and Luz is all yours." Her face fell serious. "But if you fail, then I'll change your name to…" She briefly trailed off to think before giving a sly smile. "Mr Wiggles."

King narrowed his eyes. "All right. But don't think you're gonna get out of this easily." He tilted his head to indicate to Lizzie standing to his right. "Because you have to teach Lizzie a new spell by the end of the day in order to win!"

"Wait, what?!" Lizzie shouted and waved her arms around. "No way! Don't involve me in your petty squabbles!"

But she was promptly ignored as King continued. "And if you lose, you'll have to…" He trailed off and relaxed his expression, tapping his chin with a claw and staring at the ground for a few seconds. Eventually he narrowed his eyes again and pointed at Eda. "…wear a shame hat! And sleep in the shed! And never come into the Owl House again!"

Lizzie covered her hands over her mouth and repeatedly shook her head. For a moment, she thought she saw a brief look of shock appear on Eda's face, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Even she knew that King's side of the deal was way too harsh.

"King, no! This is going too far! You both need to—"

"Deal," Eda interrupted Lizzie with a slight snarl, turning the book around to write down the new bet on a blank page before signing her name.

Lizzie groaned and grabbed at her fringe, ignoring Eda and King while the latter was given the opportunity to sign the bet using a paw print. She was so close to pulling her hair out at this point. As much as she wanted to argue the matter further, she knew Eda and King were just going to ignore her.

Eda stood up and closed the book, slipping it back into her thick mane of hair before tossing the egg at King. It landed on his head and cracked upon contact, releasing the little green slug. King watched the baby slide down the middle of his forehead and nose before it flipped off his face. He held his paws up to catch the tiny slug in between them, ignoring the thin trail of orange slime the little fella had left on his head. The slug, meanwhile, showed no reaction at seeing King aside from with a blink, seeming content to remain in the little demon's hold.

With the egg now with King, Eda slung her staff over her right shoulder and approached her young charge. Lizzie squealed when she felt Eda's arm wrap itself round her shoulders, feeling herself get pulled to the older witch's side.

"Come along, Redwood. We have work to do."

Lizzie's only response was a quiet whine as she let Eda lead her away from the trash slug carcass, daring to peek at her employer with a furrowed brow. The blonde witch noticed the tight grip Eda had on her staff and the fact she was striding with a bit of a stomp, which was a clear sign that King had already gone too far.

'Yup. This is going to end badly. And I've been cast in the thick of it.'