A/N: Hello. I actually managed to get the last chapter for episode three written in time. I got a bit of a head start since the first part of this chapter was originally written for Chapter 8, but I decided not to put it in until now. Turns out that was the right decision, given the word length this came out at. I did want to add an extra scene to the end of this chapter that was a little longer than the one I decided to include, but given that most of the things that occur between Eda, Luz, King, and Lizzie are pretty much wrapped up nicely in the scenes they're given, it seemed silly of me to drag it out longer than necessary. Plus, when we get into the fourth episode, I plan on expanding a little more on Lizzie's and King's relationship anyway, so... yeah. But I will say that Lizzie's actions at the end of the chapter were put in there for a reason, aside from exposing some more secrets... XD With episode three now complete, I'm once again planning on taking a little break to update another fanfic. Depending on my real life circumstances and how I feel though, I might come straight back to this fic instead. I usually switch fanfics so I don't burn myself out, but if I don't feel like updating other fics, I won't force myself to do it. Even still, expect a longer delay for Chapter 10.
Thank you to those who have been favouriting, following, reviewing and reading this fanfic. Your support is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy the ending of 'Plot B' despite the lack of action. Maybe the bonding between Eda and Lizzie here will be enough.
Chapter 9: Liar, Liar, Slugs and Ire
Eda had continued the rest of the way to the Owl House with a scowl on her brow and her arms folded, clearly unhappy by the developments that had unfolded back at Hexside. But rather than push her anger towards Luz or Lizzie, she found her anger mostly going towards herself. And why not? She knew her own vanity had put her into this mess, and now she was paying the price. She'd overestimated her abilities as a teacher, leading to Luz going elsewhere for her magic knowledge and Lizzie getting upset because she was struggling to learn a new spell that she herself didn't know how to cast. And now she felt awful about it, along with the fact she had to look her jerky companion in the eye and admit that he was right all along.
She stomped up to the cottage with her gaze to the ground, only coming to a stop at seeing King just within the corner of her vision. He was stood close to the house with the box of dog biscuits still in his grasp and was tossing small handfuls of them into the open mouth of Prince Jr, who at this point was larger than its caretaker. The trash slug had grown so much within the span of time that Eda had spent looking for Luz that it looked to be around the Owl Lady's height, with its skin turned a dark green. It was a small version of its mother in appearance.
King paused in what he was doing when he noticed Eda nearby, slowly approaching her with a hint of a smirk. "Hey there, Eda! Did you eventually find your runaway student?"
Eda didn't answer. She kept her arms crossed and her gaze to the ground, refusing to even look King in the eyes. She couldn't bring herself to do it. It felt so humiliating for her amid the anger she was already feeling, and King could tell. King fished around in the box for another biscuit as he continued.
"I can tell by your expression and your missing charge that things didn't work out as planned." He tapped the treat against his chin. "I'm guessing Luz found someone else to teach her magic and Lizzie failed to learn a new spell and was too embarrassed to show herself. Which means…" King threw his arms up in the air, tossing the treat in his hand and the treats inside the box upwards like it was confetti. "…I have won!"
King tumbled backwards onto his bottom when Prince Jr swooped behind him and caught all the airborne biscuits into its open maw, with Eda rolling her eyes and responding with a slight growl and sarcasm in her tone.
"Yes. Great. You win. You have a giant soldier thing, while I have a runaway apprentice and an upset charge. Congrats."
As King put the biscuit box on the ground and threw some more biscuits to the side for Prince Jr to chase after (which it did), it was around this time that Lizzie began approaching the Owl House, having a bit of her spring in her step because of her earlier accomplishment. The moment she spotted Eda's back ahead of her the blonde witch had been ready to yell out to her with a big grin on her face. But she was quick to halt a small distance away at taking in the scene before her. No one had noticed her presence yet, so she decided to listen to what was going on at being drawn to King standing up with his paws behind his back and Prince Jr munching on the biscuits; her eye twitched at the latter of the pair.
'Yikes. What has King been feeding that thing?!'
"Oh, Eda," King replied mockingly, taking a couple of steps towards the witch with his tail wagging. "You don't need to be so hard on yourself." King squinted and tilted his head, bringing his paws forward to present Eda with white paper folded into a cone with 'SHAME' written on the front with red pen and in capitals. "Because at least you still have the shame hat!"
As King cackled loudly, Eda groaned and snatched the paper hat from his paws. She stomped off to the shed with her hands balled into fists and her posture slumped, gripping the hat so hard it crinkled under the pressure. Lizzie, meanwhile, folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes, keeping her gaze locked on King the whole time.
King continued to laugh with his head tilted back and his paws on his belly, watching Eda enter the shed (a small stone structure positioned under the left side of the cottage's roof) and then slam the wooden door behind her. It wasn't like he could help it. This was the first time he'd won a bet between him and Eda, let alone prove her wrong in anything. It was a moment he wanted to enjoy, savour, and then remember for the rest of his life, because he didn't know when something like this was ever going to come up again.
King eventually calmed down with a contented sigh at hearing Prince Jr slither up behind him, holding his fists above his head as he faced his trash slug companion.
"Yes! I am hilarious!"
"No. You're a selfish jerk."
"Weh?"
King leaned round Prince Jr to see Lizzie marching her way over to him with her arms still folded, her face scrunched up so much her nostrils were flaring. "Eda's already feeling bad about herself, and you just had to go and rub salt into her wounds!"
"I didn't rub salt into anyone's wounds!" King held up his paws. "See? My paws are clean!"
Lizzie pointed a finger accusingly at the little demon, raising her voice a bit. "You know what I mean!"
King raised a brow. "And since when did you care about our bet? You didn't want to be a part of it."
Lizzie briefly pointed at her chest, scowling. "I'm taking your advice from this morning by being more assertive, starting with what I should have said to you when you called on this stupid bet."
King shrugged his shoulders and held his arms out, shaking his head. "Hey, you can't blame me for being a sore winner. It's not my fault Eda can't teach."
"She can teach, King!" Lizzie leaned close into King's face, causing the little demon's eyes to widen as he moved back a step. "This bet doesn't prove anything! Everything Eda did was purely down to pressure to prove you wrong,"—She jabbed King in the chest—"and the only thing you did was stuff a trash slug with food to make it grow! No one won."
King let out an overexaggerated gasp and placed a paw to his chest. "How dare you! I gave Prince Jr positive reinforcement! It works so much better than what Eda did with you!"
"Is that right," Lizzie replied with a sneer. She righted her posture and placing her hands on her hips. "I'd like to remind you, King, that despite Eda's unorthodox teaching methods, I have mastered the light and levitation spells." She tilted her head towards Prince Jr. "But what about you? What can Prince Jr do now that you've increased its size?"
"I'll show you!" King shouted with determination, pointing at Lizzie as he turned to address Prince Jr. "Prince Jr, attack!"
Prince Jr showed no reaction, its gaze fixed solely on the box King had dropped on the ground. King moved closer to Prince Jr's side and clicked his claws as close to its face as he could get (compared to before, King was considerably shorter than his trash slug charge).
"Hey, are you listening?!" King pointed at Lizzie again, who remained unfazed by what was happening. "I order you to attack!"
His actions had little effect on Prince Jr's concentration. The trash slug stayed focused on the box, making King growl and Lizzie hold her head high as she moved past them.
"See? Your win was a fluke."
King watched Lizzie go on ahead with a wide blink. "Wait! Where are you going?"
"To comfort Eda. She shouldn't have to stay in the shed alone."
King stomped his feet and flared his nostrils. "Hey! I demand you stay here and praise me! The King of Demons deserves praise!"
Lizzie responded to that by looking back over her shoulder and blowing King a raspberry, causing King to grit his teeth when she turned away and headed to the shed.
"Fine! I don't need you anyway!" King shouted after Lizzie as she entered the shed and closed the door behind her. He lowered his voice and waved a paw about dismissively. "Pha! It's her loss."
King put his paws to his hips and frowned, straightening out his back as he took on a posture similar to that of a general addressing their soldier.
"Well, Prince Jr, your training is complete! Go forth! Make the Boiling Isles tremble at your feet!" King scratched at his head and quickly glanced at the bottom half of Prince Jr's body at remembering the trash slug didn't have any feet. "Or rather… worm stumps."
Yet Prince Jr showed no reaction to King's command. The trash slug stood still and stared blankly down at its caretaker, giving a single blink as its response. The little demon couldn't quite put his claw on it, but he swore that Prince Jr had a certain… ravenous glint behind its eyes all of a sudden, especially now that it had become so big.
King felt himself shrink under Prince Jr's gaze with hunched shoulders, raising a claw to point at the forest. His next command came out a little quieter and weaker than before. "Uh… Go forth?"
But Prince Jr continued to stare, once again responding with a blink and silence. The little demon gave a nervous laugh and turned to the biscuit box just behind him. "Ah, right! Your reward!"
King picked up the box and held it upside down, shaking it slightly to dump out its contents. But all that fell out of the opened lid was a cluster of biscuit crumbs. Prince Jr slithered close to King until the latter saw the former's shadow towering over him, causing the little demon's fur to stand on end as he slowly raised his head, his eyes bulged.
He didn't want to turn around, but he knew he was going to have to at some point.
So, with a quiet gulp, King cowered and slowly glanced back over his shoulder to see Prince Jr standing over him. The trash slug let out a breathy grunt, causing King to let out a quiet squeak and shrink further under its blank stare.
"Weh…!"
He knew he was in big trouble now.
Having entered through the outside door at the front of the cottage, Lizzie immediately spied Eda huddled on the floor against the wooden door at the other end of the shed, the one which led out to the back of the cottage. The Owl Lady was glaring at the floor with the cone hat drooping on her head, having raised her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, while resting her chin on top. Her staff was leaning against the wall beside her, hidden behind a nearby barrel. Eda showed no reaction or acknowledgement to Lizzie's entrance, which the young witch took as her cue to make her way over to the older witch, giving the inside of the shed a quick glance in passing.
From the outside, the shed that was attached to the side of the cottage didn't look all that much. But the same thing couldn't be said for the inside. When Lizzie had seen the inside of the shed for the first time, she was convinced it was just a long, narrow, stone cupboard that Eda used to further encourage her hoarder ways and never cleaned (if the hanging cobwebs from the ceiling were any indication). Two wooden shelves that stretched along either wall, supported by wooden beams underneath, housed a variety of unusual items on top and below concealed by white sheets, making it fairly similar to the storage cupboards inside the home. Yet unlike the storage cupboards inside the cottage, there were a few items that stood out which had proven to Lizzie that Eda initially used this shed to store specific supplies, such as the round barrels that Lizzie knew housed potion ingredients, or the piles of rope that hung from the back wall by hooks, or the logs of wood that were stacked on the floor, and so on. There was still the odd item in there that had thrown her off, though, like the gigantic skull on the left shelf (she still didn't know which creature that had come from, and apparently neither did Eda), or the yellow mattress stuck on the floor close to the wooden ladder Eda used to reach the higher shelves (this was also where Lizzie had gotten her mattress from). But compared to the storage cupboards, Lizzie could say that the shed was the least cluttered part of the cottage.
Eda didn't look up by the time Lizzie reached her and knelt in front of her. Although she did choose to speak up with a hint of annoyance.
"I'm not looking for a pity party, Redwood."
"Good. Because I'm not here to pity you. I'm here to confess."
That got Eda's attention. The Owl Lady raised her head with a wide blink. "Confess? Confess to what?"
"To lying."
Eda tilted her head and watched Lizzie adjust herself into a sitting position, with her back resting against a nearby barrel and her knees bent. The young witch caught her hand trembling slightly, feeling the faint palpitations building up in her chest. She couldn't blame herself for her nerves. What she was about to admit was only known by a select few people, all of whom were there as witnesses when the incident occurred. This was the first time she'd ever admitted this to anyone, so her nervousness was understandable. Yet she knew she didn't need to fear Eda. The Owl Lady had had her fair share of embarrassing moments throughout her life, most of which were probably worse than what she'd done. She didn't need to fear any judgement.
With her gaze on the floor, Lizzie took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "… I never dropped out of Hexside." She lifted her eyes to Eda, her next words coming out quietly yet still loud enough for Eda to hear. "I was expelled."
Eda's reaction was delayed due to needing a moment to properly process the words that left Lizzie's mouth. But when it passed, the Owl Lady reacted exactly how Lizzie had expected her to; she started chuckling.
"What?" Eda said as her chuckles slowly grew into mild laughter. She ducked her head down with a loud snort and slapped her knee with a hand, prompting Lizzie to frown. "You? Expelled?"
"Is it really that shocking?"
Eda eventually calmed down, still smiling in amusement. "You're not a troublemaker. And ol' Bumpikins can be quite the softie. What in Titan's name did you do to get yourself kicked out?"
Lizzie avoided eye contact and raised her hand to her face to hide it. "I'd rather not say. It was pretty bad." She cleared her throat to pull herself together. "But that's not important." The young witch scooted closer to Eda, putting a hand to her chest. "Even if I didn't leave school willingly, it doesn't mean I didn't hate it. Most of the time I got into trouble, it was because I wasn't allowed to be creative or learn other spells outside of my chosen magic track. I learnt very little from Hexside." She smiled slightly. "But I've learnt plenty from you."
"Ugh." Eda cringed and crinkled her nose, making Lizzie scowl. "Are you getting cheesy with me now?"
"I'm serious." Lizzie's expression softened, her tone staying stern yet even. "You've beaten yourself up all day over what King said, but it isn't true and you know it." She shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, during the time we've been together, you haven't taught me much magic. That's probably because it hasn't been necessary. I don't leave the Owl House often or get into much trouble, so learning magic for defence wasn't needed back then. Still, when I started working for you, you taught me things you thought was necessary for me to know anyway."
Eda frowned. "Like what?"
Lizzie counted off on her fingers. "Like how to avoid getting scammed, where the best escape routes in Bonesborough are, what to do if a guard tries to arrest me…" She stopped counting. "That's just three of them off the top of my head, but they worked. It's because of you I recognised Adegast as a threat. It's also because of you I managed to get away from that guard. And I didn't need magic for that outside of what I already knew."
"That might have worked for you, but it didn't work for Luz." Eda slumped against the door behind her, her eyes drooping. "She still got scammed by Adegast and you saw how she acted when I tried to give her further advice this morning."
"That's not a reflection of your teaching abilities, Eda." Lizzie reached forward to hold the Owl Lady's closest shoulder. "You're dealing with a teenage human who's in a world she doesn't know much about and has had fantasy propaganda shoved down her throat. It's going to be a while before your words get through to her. Plus, you don't have much experience teaching magic to someone else, let alone to a human. Of course it's not going to be easy."
Eda didn't say anything as she turned her gaze to the floor again. But she didn't need to for Lizzie to know how she was feeling. She could see the doubt glistening in her golden eyes.
Lizzie let out a quiet sigh before tightening her grip on Eda's shoulder. "Look, I'm going to say something to you that I should have said this morning, and I need you to listen to me when I do, because I don't want to repeat myself."
Eda looked up with a raised brow. "Since when did you go stealing my lines?"
Lizzie smirked. "Since now." But it soon faded before she continued. "There's nothing wrong with how you were approaching things before. But since Luz's arrival, our situation has changed. Despite how difficult it's been to accept having a human around, I've started taking steps to adapt. That's what you need to do, too. If you're serious about teaching Luz magic, then you need to step up and find a way to keep her as your apprentice, not sit in a shed wallowing in self-pity. You might have made some mistakes in your approaches with Luz, but that doesn't mean it's too late to fix them."
Lizzie's last words caused Eda's eyes to widen for a few seconds, making her look like she'd just been slapped in the face. "Yeah. You're right." She scowled and hit her fist off her palm. "I shouldn't be letting some prissy magic school steal my apprentice away! At least not without a good fight!"
"There you go!" Lizzie patted Eda's shoulder and pulled away, smiling a little. "Also, don't forget Luz doesn't know about the whole 'one magic track' rule. And if she's as enthusiastic about magic as you are, she'll probably bail once she realises just how restrictive the school system is. So, try not to worry too much, okay?"
Eda blinked widely at that. "Huh. That never crossed my mind." The Owl Lady grinned and raised a fist to lightly punch Lizzie's closest shoulder. "Look who's becoming wise."
Lizzie's smile widened. "Well, I did learn from the best. And if it helps…" Her smile quickly stretched into a smirk. "…you did win the bet, after all."
Eda gaped and straightened up. "Wait. Did you actually learn the—?"
"Not the plant spell," Lizzie corrected. "But your technique did help me learn an earth spell similar to the one you know."
Eda stared at the young witch for a solid five seconds before she broke out into a wide smile, letting out a triumphant laugh while patting Lizzie on the head. "Aha! Way to go, kiddo! I knew I was the better teacher! I can't wait to rub that in King's adorable little face!"
The blonde witch closed an eye at the head pat, but soon found herself giggling at Eda's reaction. Not just because it was amusing, but because she was glad to see the Owl Lady back to her old self again.
'It's good to have you back, Eda.'
However, the two witches' tender moment was interrupted by the muffled and panicked voice of King coming from outside the shed.
"Eda! Lizzie! Help me!"
Lizzie and Eda faced the front door of the shed just as it violently swung open, the pair witnessing King dashing inside before slamming it shut again. Before either Eda or Lizzie could question him on what was happening, the little demon whimpered and darted straight for Eda, leaping into her lap. The Owl Lady instinctively wrapped her arms round King as he curled up like a spooked cat with his eyes closed, shaking uncontrollably in Eda's hold. It wasn't until three loud thumps against the shed door started that Eda and Lizzie caught on to what was happening, with the two witches exchanging glances before switching to King.
"Is someone having a little trouble controlling their student?" Eda asked with a sly smile, prompting King to nod his head repeatedly.
"Yes, yes! Prince Jr's gone rogue!"
"Totally didn't see that coming…" Lizzie muttered and looked back at the door when another loud thump followed, the force being strong enough to briefly bend it from its hinges. The blonde witch could only assume that trash slug was either headbutting the door or throwing its whole body against it.
'I'm still wondering what King actually fed that thing.'
Eda responded to King sarcastically. "Are you sure you want my help? Maybe Prince Jr wants more of your brilliant lessons~."
King opened an eye and looked up at the Owl Lady. "This isn't the time for an ego boost, Eda!"
It took one more thud before the door of the shed splintered into chunks and scattered off across either side of the shed's room, revealing a narrow-eyed and aggressive looking Prince Jr looming in the doorway. Lizzie scrambled backwards to Eda's side as the trash slug roared and slithered its way towards them, exposing its pointed teeth for all three residents to see. Lizzie didn't know if it was her eyes playing tricks on her, but she swore Prince Jr looked like it had grown a bit more since she'd last seen it.
Lizzie and Eda watched with wide eyes and gapes when the trash slug grabbed King's tail with its feelers and yanked him free from the Owl Lady's hold, causing the little demon to cry out while he was being dragged backwards along the floor. As King desperately clawed at the stone to stop himself from being pulled outside, Lizzie flung herself forward on her front and grabbed King's paws tightly. The blonde witch got to her knees and tugged as hard as she could to free the little demon, but despite managing to briefly freeze Prince Jr in its tracks, the trash slug proved to be stronger and kept a good grip on King, slowly resuming its dragging with Lizzie now being pulled along.
"King, what have you been feeding this creature?!"
"Never mind that! Just help me! Please!"
Lizzie pushed herself to stand and leaned back as far as she could to fight against Prince Jr's strength, speaking through gritted teeth. She managed to slow Prince Jr down a bit by digging her heels into the stone, yet that didn't stop her or King from being pulled closer to the shed's entrance.
"Then apologise, King!"
"What?!
"Grr!" Lizzie grunted and continued to fight against the trash slug, even despite her heels sliding around due to the lack of grip. "Apologise to Eda for what you said!"
King peeked at Eda behind Lizzie, who was watching everything unfolding with a faint smirk. The little demon turned to Lizzie with a glare, looking ready to protest. But when he saw Lizzie fall backwards and release him, he shut his eyes tight and yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Okay! I'm sorry, Eda! You are the better teacher! You can call me 'Mr Wiggles'! Just please help me!"
Eda's smirk became a cocky smile as she threw off the 'shame' hat and grabbed her staff. She got to her feet and strolled forward when Prince Jr was close to dragging King out of the shed, harshly poking the end of her staff against the middle of its face. Prince Jr grunted in pain and released King, hastening its retreat while Lizzie sat herself up and King dashed straight for Eda. King hid behind Eda's leg and watched his rogue soldier disappear outside once more, with the Owl Lady taking on a wide stance with her staff held in both hands. Lizzie got to her feet when Eda addressed her.
"Lizzie, do you still have enough magic to cast a large spell circle?"
"Um…" The blonde witch tapped her chest with her hand before answering, taking a moment to assess how she currently felt. "I think I still have enough."
"Good. We're going to put that new spell of yours to use."
"New spell?!" King shrieked, turning to Lizzie with a wide blink. "You learned a new spell?!"
"She did. Which is why you're officially Mr Wiggles." Lizzie quietly snickered at this, while King pouted. But neither of them commented on the matter aloud, allowing Eda to continue as she focused on the younger witch. "All right, here's what we're going to do: I'll keep the trash slug distracted while you grab one of the barrels of salt we have from the Owl House. Bring it to the front door and use your earth spell to raise the barrel and Mr Wiggles onto the canopy roof."
Lizzie frowned. "But those barrels are heavy. Wouldn't it be easier to use a levitation spell?"
"Save that in case Mr Wiggles or the barrel fall off."
Lizzie nodded to that. "Fair enough."
"Wait, wait!" King moved from behind Eda with his paws to his chest. "Why do I have to go with the barrel?"
"Because you're the one who's going to push it onto the trash slug," Eda answered, causing King's eyes to widen.
"I'm what?!"
"Salt is toxic to trash slugs, King," Lizzie explained. "If they consume it, they lose body mass."
"Which is how we're going to beat it," Eda added, using the end of her staff to lightly poke King in the middle of his forehead. "You're the only one small enough to stand on the canopy. That's why you're going to be the one to do it."
"But…" King began, holding up his paws so he could stare at them. "Prince Jr is like a son to me. I don't wanna hurt him."
Eda shrugged her shoulders and headed for the shed's entrance. "You asked for my help. I've given you a solution. If you'd rather be that trash slug's lunch, that's up to you. But if you don't, then I'll be outside if you need me."
King silently watched Eda leave the confines of the shed with a furrowed brow, clearly looking conflicted with the situation. But once Lizzie headed to the opposite door and addressed the little demon, he became temporarily distracted from his thoughts.
"C'mon, King. Eda can only distract that slug for so long."
"Yeah… Right…" King quietly replied, hurrying after Lizzie as she opened the door and went through it.
Eda's plan went underway the moment the two teams split up to enact their assigned parts. While Lizzie and King retrieved the barrel of salt and brought it to the front of the Owl House, Eda fought Prince Jr to keep it from escaping or eating anything to increase its size. The Owl Lady knew she was powerful enough to use her magic to simply destroy this creature, but out of respect for King and her own morals, she knew better than to kill it for simply doing what it was born to do. The trash slug was a wild animal, and it was merely acting on instinct for survival. It couldn't be blamed for that. But this meant that her attacks were quite tame in comparison to what she would normally do, where she focused on merely smacking Prince Jr around with the ends of her staff and occasionally maintaining her distance. The trash slug couldn't attack from long distances, after all; well, outside of its ability to spew burning liquid from its mouth. Although Eda was usually heavily reliant on her magic most of the time, she had strong enough battle skills to hold her own through dodges and occasional whacks, especially against a creature like the trash slug, so she knew she'd be fine. And if anything did go wrong, she still had her magic properly in reserve for defence.
Thankfully for Eda, though, it didn't take long for Lizzie and King to bring out the barrel of salt (and not just because said barrel was conveniently labelled 'SALT' in black, capital writing). The demon and witch pairing both pushed the barrel round so that it was positioned to the left side of the canopy roof, with King standing behind the barrel ready to push it once Lizzie enacted her spell. Despite her slow reaction time to casting this new spell, Lizzie knew it didn't matter in this instance. She'd have plenty of time to practice improving her casting time later.
After making sure King was in the right place, Lizzie backed up before igniting her index finger and drawing a large spell circle underneath King and the barrel. "Hang on tight, King! We don't need you or the barrel falling off from the movement!"
King nodded and gripped the side of the barrel tightly when the spell circle was completed, bringing forth slight rumbling and the circular earth platform rising from inside. The moment she felt the rumbling, Eda (who had just leapt backwards to dodge a spew of burning liquid fired in her direction) dared to look behind her when she deemed it safe to do so, watching with a slight gape as the earth platform rose to meet the edge of the canopy with King clinging to the barrel for dear life.
A proud smile appeared on the older witch's face, yet it was fleeting, disappearing as soon as she heard the crackling of Prince Jr preparing to fire another blast of burning liquid. Eda flung herself to the left to dodge the blast, running forward with her staff clutched in both hands while the ground behind her earned another orange scorch mark. Lizzie's eyes flitted between King and Eda in case either of them needed her assistance, observing the former as he pushed the open barrel up the arched canopy and the latter as she swung the top of her staff to smack Prince Jr in the side of its face and then flip it round to jab it in the face with the bottom end. Both times Prince Jr let out a pained grunt and flinched, yet that didn't stop it from moving towards Eda.
As Eda started to back away towards the house with her staff held across her chest, King started to slip down with the barrel. Lizzie's breathing hitched at seeing this, and she raised her finger in case she needed to cast a levitation spell. Luckily, King regained the upper hand when he crouched a little and dug his feet into the tiles, giving him enough strength to shove the barrel back up to the middle of the roof. He positioned himself and the barrel close to the middle's edge right as Eda closed in on the front door. The Owl Lady slowly backed up to the right and looked up at King, calling out to him to give him the signal.
"Pour the salt!"
But King hesitated when Prince Jr followed Eda's gaze and made eye contact with him, prompting the little demon to frown and his tail to droop. Lizzie could understand King's hesitance. He had raised Prince Jr from an egg, after all. He'd basically been the trash slug's adopted father for the small amount of time they'd been together. Yet King had to do this. Prince Jr needed to be stopped, and King was the only one who could do it.
After a few seconds of silence, Lizzie also called out to King. "Prince Jr will be fine, King! Just do it!"
King's jaw quivered, his voice shaky as he and Prince Jr kept their gazes locked. "Baby boy…"
Prince Jr's aggressive expression softened for a moment, and Lizzie wondered if King was somehow getting through to the creature. But it didn't take long before its primal instincts took over again. The trash slug squinted and roared loudly at King, making the little demon glare.
He'd created this monster, and now he needed to stop it.
King placed his paws on the back of the barrel and took on a wide stance, speaking coldly to Prince Jr while Eda moved to Lizzie's side to get out of the way. "… Fine. Then I don't have a son. Eat salt!"
Lizzie assumed the moment King shoved that barrel over the roof's edge that everything was playing out in slow motion for him. The blonde witch silently watched the barrel plummet to the ground and tip upside down, pouring out the salt straight into the open maw of Prince Jr. And, like the simple-minded creature it was, Prince Jr assumed it was food and immediately gulped it down in one go, with the barrel crashing on its side by Lizzie's feet. Prince Jr didn't realise its mistake until it felt its body violently tremble, causing it to let out a loud roar at the pain that Lizzie could only imagine was engulfing it. Within a few seconds, the trash slug suddenly shrank from its massive size back down to its tiny, light green infant form in mid-air. The now tiny trash slug dropped to the ground on its front and wasted no time sticking around, slithering off towards the forest with defeated whimpers.
Lizzie and Eda watched Prince Jr go until it was out of sight, allowing the former to sigh heavily in relief with a hand to her chest.
'Thank the Titan! It's over!'
Meanwhile, King (who was still standing on the canopy) relaxed his stance and held his clenched paws above his head, beginning to jump back and forth on his feet. "Yes! I did it! I'm amazing!"
One of his feet eventually slipped on the canopy's tiles, cutting King's victory dance short and sending him over the edge. "AH!"
Luckily, Eda was standing ready to catch him with an amused smile, allowing King to drop straight into her arms safe and sound. King let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed at the back of his head when Lizzie smirked and loudly cleared her throat.
"Ahem."
"Heh. And, of course, you and Lizzie helped too." He looked up at Eda with a slight smile. "Thanks, Eda. You really are a good teacher."
Eda's smile faded at that as she glanced between King and Lizzie. "I'm glad you two think that." She turned her gaze to the sky with a soft sigh. "I just wish Luz thought so too…"
Lizzie opened her mouth ready to refute Eda, until she was stopped by hurried footsteps approaching the Owl House from the forest. The trio turned to see Luz sprinting towards them with her eyes closed and her hands balled into fists, covered in patches of abomination gunk on her skin, clothes, and even in her hair.
'And speaking of Luz…'
"EDAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Luz shouted the witch's name when she closed in, jumping up to wrap the trio in a tight hug.
Lizzie remained indifferent despite being squished against Eda's side, while poor King found himself wedged between Luz's and Eda's front. Eda was the only one who complained and wriggled around to try to break free though, frowning down at the teenage human as she held onto them.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is this?!"
"It's called a hug, Eda," Lizzie answered with drooped eyes. "You should know what one is, surely."
"Well, whatever it is, I never understand why she does it!"
Lizzie quietly groaned and shook her head as Luz eventually let them go, prompting the blonde witch to address the young wide-eyed human. 'Yeesh. Eda wasn't kidding. She really did sneak in as an abomination.' "But anyway, where have you been? You disappeared on us and didn't leave a note!"
Luz's words came out as a rushed mess, yet it was still intelligible enough for the trio to understand what she was saying. "It's a long story! But guess what: Eda's lesson actually worked!" Lizzie's and Eda's brows raised at this. "Keeping that slime ball in my pocket saved my life!" But then Luz gasped loudly and slapped her cheeks. "Oh, wait! My new friends! They're in danger! Eda, I need your—"
An unfamiliar feminine voice sounded from the forest and interrupted Luz, causing the group to turn around as she shouted the human's name.
"LUUUUUUUUUZ!"
Lizzie saw a chubby, teenage witch around Luz's age with short, turquoise-blue hair and green eyes hidden behind a pair of round glasses charging at them in the same manner Luz had done. Just behind her was a shorter male witch with dark skin, dark eyes, and short, dark brown hair close to his ears; he looked to be a couple of years younger than Luz. Lizzie recognised them to be students of Hexside, based on the dark grey tunic, cowl, belt and boots they wore. The witch girl had purple sleeves and leggings, suggesting she was in the Abominations Magic Track, while the witch boy wore cyan sleeves and leggings, which belonged to the Illusions Magic Track.
'Ah… She must be the witch Luz pretended to be the abomination of…'
"Willow! Gus!" Luz cried out happily as the pair approached her and pulled her into a hug.
Eda looked to Lizzie and held out her hand to the trio with a frown. "See? Seriously, what is that?"
Lizzie squinted. "Did your parents ever show you any physical affection?"
The Owl Lady shrugged her shoulders, prompting the younger witch to smack her forehead and return her focus to Luz and her new friends as they pulled away. Luz and the teenage witch (who Lizzie assumed was 'Willow') still held onto each other's shoulders, with the latter speaking up excitedly with a bright smile.
"Luz, you won't believe it! Principal Bump was so impressed by my plant work that he's decided to switch me to the Plant Track! Look!" Willow stepped back from Luz, clicked her fingers, and did a brief twirl. A faint green light covered the outline of her uniform, only dispersing once the sleeves and leggings of her uniform turned from purple to green.
As Willow stretched her arms out, Luz cheered and leapt forward, wrapping her arms around the shorter witch and spinning her round while Willow laughed. Lizzie was struggling to understand what was going on because she hadn't been there yet decided to keep her thoughts to herself and not disrupt their conversation.
'A witch who was placed into a specific track when they were better at a different one? I forgot how common that was back in my school days, too. Thank the Titan I was allowed to choose.'
Luz let Willow go and put her fists above her head, until a sudden thought had her frowning and turning to the younger witch 'Gus'. "Oh, what about Amity? What happened to her?"
Gus smiled and tapped his chin with a finger, briefly looking up. "Last we saw, she was busy asking Bump if what she did today could count as 'extra credit'."
"Who's 'Amity'?" Lizzie mumbled, yet Luz still heard her and answered.
"Another student in the Abominations Track." She jabbed a thumb at Willow. "She spent the whole day trying to get Willow in trouble."
"Ah. Gotcha."
Luz smiled and clapped her hands together. "Still, I'm glad everything worked out. I can't wait to see you guys in action the next time I sneak in."
"You're planning on doing it again?!" Lizzie questioned with a slight shriek, while Luz shrugged. The blonde witch pointed between her and Eda as the latter put a hand to her hip and raised a brow. "Do you honestly think we'd let you?"
Luz was about to answer, until Willow gritted her teeth and made a breathy sucking noise. The teenage human faced her friend with a wide blink. "What?"
Gus cleared his throat and reached into his tunic pockets. "You technically couldn't even if you wanted to. See…" He pulled out a scroll and started to unravel it, revealing it in full for Luz's benefit. "…you've been kinda sorta banned."
"What?!" Luz yelled and gaped at the poster, prompting Lizzie to move beside her to get a look at the scroll.
Underneath the bold, red words of 'BANNED' in capitals was a picture of Luz with an opened-mouth grin while she waved, still covered in abomination gunk. The sight had Lizzie muffling giggles behind her hands.
"Geez, Luz! What did you do?"
Luz rubbed at the back of her neck and avoided eye contact. "I'll tell you later. But I didn't think what I did was that bad!"
Eda (who had since put King back on his feet) moved closer to Gus with her fists in the air. "Aha! That's my girl! And I thought Lizzie getting expelled was the best thing I'd heard today!"
Lizzie stopped laughing and stared at Eda in horror, with Luz putting her palm close to her mouth. "Expelled?! Didn't you drop out?!"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you later." She repeated what Luz had said in a muffled tone, looking away at feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.
'Way to go exposing me, Eda!'
Willow gave a small smile and approached Luz from behind, putting a hand to her closest shoulder. "It's okay. If you want, we can come here and show you what we've learnt."
Luz looked back at Willow and mirrored her smile. "Aw. That's so nice of you." Then she focused on Eda, her smile widening into a proud one. "But I already have a pretty great teacher."
Eda let her shock slip as her mouth fell open and blinked out of disbelief. But once her gaze locked with a grinning Lizzie with an 'I-told-you-so' look in her eyes, she was quick to regain her confident air.
The Owl Lady grinned smugly and stood up straight. "Yeah. That's right! Luz is my student!" She snatched the poster from Gus and moved to stand by Lizzie and Luz, pointing accusingly at the youngest witch while he, Willow and Luz laughed at her antics, with the former of the trio backing up with his hands raised. "You may have already lost Lizzie, but you're not stealing Luz! So, back off, academy twerps!"
Lizzie quietly chuckled until Eda turned to her and Luz with the poster held up between her hands, her grin returning to a smile while she admired it. "Ah, baby's first wanted poster…" Focusing on Luz, she lowered the poster and patted Luz gently on the head, with the latter closing her eyes and accepting it with a smile of her own. "Good job, kid." She briefly exchanged looks with Lizzie. "Looks like I've taught you both something today."
Lizzie nodded in acknowledgement and decided to leave Luz and Eda to it, heading back inside the Owl House just as she heard Gus interrupt their little moment.
"Er… You high-five with your hands, not your head."
She didn't know what he was talking about but decided not to question it.
'At least Eda is back to normal and King and Luz have learnt their lessons. Hopefully it stays like that for a while.'
Just as she reached the front door and opened it, she heard King whisper to her from behind.
"Hey, where are you going?"
She peeked over her shoulder as she stepped inside. "I forgot to tidy something away. I'll be back in a second."
She quickly closed the door behind her and jogged upstairs to the second-floor bedroom, her hands clenching into loose fists.
'I should have waited to do this later, but it's probably better to do it now while Luz is distracted.'
When she entered the room, she headed straight for the large chest on Luz's side of the room, carefully removing all the stuff on top of it and opening it up with the padlock removed before going to her side of the room to retrieve the key to the lock. Eda had given her that chest to use for storage shortly after she'd moved in, and while she hadn't bothered to place anything of importance in there yet, she thought now was a good time to make use of it.
She took the tiny key out of one of her boxes and moved to grab the box she'd placed her magic potions in, carrying them both to Luz's side of the room. After placing the box inside, the blonde witch closed the lid and put the padlock back on, locking it with the retrieved key.
'Luz can be trusted not to touch anything. Though today has reminded me that I should still take precautions to account for any mishaps. After all…' Lizzie's eyes drooped as she went about returning the moved objects back to the top of the chest and then slipping the key in its original storage box before leaving the room. '…we can't have another repeat of the incident.'
