A/N: Hello again. As expected, I came back to this fic instead of updating my other one. I wrote two pages for its next chapter and couldn't bring myself to go any further, so it looks like you guys didn't have to wait too long for this update, after all. I will be honest in saying that I really enjoyed writing this chapter out, just because of the fun I had with Lizzie, King, and Hooty collectively teasing Eda together. And also with the chapter's title too. Fun fact: Chapter 10's title is a parody on the song title 'Blame It on the Rain' by 'Milli Vanilli'. Never heard the song before, but the title was just too relevant for this chapter to not spoof. XD Before I do get into this chapter though, I feel like there is one thing I need to clarify first. One person has already brought attention to this in the reviews, and while originally I was going to let this chapter answer it, I realised that there might be others who will still ask or think the question by the end, maybe out of lack of understanding despite my attempts to make it as clear as possible. I want to make sure everybody is on the same page, so I will answer it since this technically isn't a spoiler:

Does Lizzie know about Eda's curse prior to episode four? She doesn't. And there are two reasons for this: 1) If Lizzie did know, then episode four wouldn't play out as it was supposed to. And 2) it would be out of character for Eda to have told her, given that she has gone to great lengths to keep it from King and other people in her life. It wouldn't make sense for Lizzie to know, even if she somehow found out without Eda being aware. However, Lizzie does know as much as King does on the subject and then some, which is that Eda takes elixir in secret, but not what for. Being a witch who dabbles in potions and elixirs for a living, it's natural that Lizzie would recognise Eda was taking elixir (as it's classed as 'medicine' and is more likely to be drunk for that reason, unlike potions), yet she has her own theories surrounding why Eda has it, since the labels on the bottles are torn. Unlike King, who... well, most of you have seen 'The Intruder', so you know why King thinks she takes it. XD Still, I thought this little bit of knowledge of Lizzie's would come in handy as a conflict issue in the next chapter. Plus, if King managed to find out that Eda takes it in secret, it wouldn't be surprising for Lizzie to have also found it out at some point either. But yeah... simply put: Lizzie doesn't know about Eda's curse or why she drinks the elixir at this stage, but she is aware she does take it and is sneaky about it. And hopefully you can tell that when you read this chapter.

I'll also briefly mention that, once again, I have followed on my non-canon explanations about magic from Chapter 7. Season 2 has yet to disprove me on how the concept of spell casting works outside of the spell circles, so for the time being I am sticking with it. Although I will edit it when/if it ever does. Still, please be mindful of that.

Thank you to everyone has been favouriting, following, reviewing, and reading this fanfic. Your support is greatly appreciated. I don't know when I'll have Chapter 11 out, so until then please enjoy Chapter 10's introduction to the fourth episode.


Chapter 10: Blame It on the Boiling Rain

Although it was close to evening time in the Demon Realm, the darkened overcast sky currently lingering made it difficult for the Boiling Isles' inhabitants to see that. Black clouds loomed menacingly over Bonesborough and its surrounding areas, casting the land into a gloomy darkness with the threat of foul weather on the way. While to an outsider it looked like a great evil was slowly descending upon the Isles from the Conformatorium (as regardless of the weather conditions, they always had darkened skies swirling round there), the residents of the Demon Realm were no strangers to this change in atmosphere, especially for the outcasts hiding away in the Owl House.

Within the confines of the cottage, Lizzie was stood by one of the living room windows, having originally been observing the turn in conditions outside. But now she was leaning beside the window with her arms folded, watching King lying on his back on the carpet while Luz knelt nearby with her rectangle device (which she apparently referred to as a 'phone') held in her hands, which she pointed at him. Lizzie wasn't sure how (because she hadn't been paying much attention), but the little demon had managed to get a white sock with yellow duck silhouettes patterned on it stuck to his nose and was currently trying to claw it off with all four of his paws. Meanwhile, Luz had found it adorable and decided to take out her 'phone' to 'record' it. Lizzie still didn't understand what that meant but based on what she was seeing, she assumed Luz's phone worked similar to a 'scroll' (not the paper type of scrolls).

As Lizzie silently watched King rolling from side-to-side with the veins on his eyeballs practically bulging at his struggle, she listened to Luz narrating the event in a strange accent (it sounded Australian, but Lizzie obviously didn't know that).

"And here we have the most fearsome creature in the Boiling Isles, the King of Demons, facing off with his natural enemy: the 'ducky sock'."

Eda wasn't in the Owl House at the moment, having stepped out for a quick errand. She'd left Lizzie in charge until she returned, which is why the young witch was in the living room and not in her bedroom where she'd normally hide herself away. It was her way of making sure that King and Hooty stayed out of trouble, as they tended to get up to mischief when Eda wasn't there to keep them in line. Yet with Luz now in the mix, Lizzie didn't feel comfortable leaving the human in the hands (or 'paws') of the little demon wrestling with the sock on his nose. Hooty wasn't that big of a problem, as Luz didn't seem that comfortable with the house demon anyway. Yet with Luz being very impressionable, and King being a known troublemaker, she knew putting those two together wasn't going to end well.

After trying to use his front paws to yank the sock off his nose and failing, King kicked up his back paws and repeatedly scratched at it until he tore the front of the sock into shreds. He stood up with a grunt and ripped the remains of the sock on his nose in half. He then proceeded to stomp on the torn pieces and drop to his knees, yelling while smacking his fists against the carpet.

"Where are you now, ducky sock?! Where are you?!"

As Luz stopped recording, Lizzie shook her head at the little demon's overly dramatic antics. "I can't understand how you keep getting yourself stuck in things."

King glanced at the blonde witch with narrowed eyes. "Hey! The King of Demons doesn't get stuck in things!"

"Oh, really? What about that incident with the sweater arm?"

King pouted. "I already told you: that happened once."

"Then what about when you fell into that sack and stumbled down the stairs with it over your head?"

"… That also happened once."

"And what about the time you got your leg stuck in the toilet?"

The last incident Lizzie listed left Luz raising a brow at King, but she didn't say anything as the little demon leapt to his feet and pointed accusingly at Lizzie. "I slipped and fell!"

Lizzie smirked and tilted her head. "Because you were standing on the open seat."

"Mr Ducky was on top of the tank!"

"Then why didn't you close the seat first?"

There was a pause as King scratched the back of his head, trying to think of a response. But when nothing came to mind, he attempted a rebuttal despite stuttering. "J-Just… S-Shut up!"

Luz quickly stood up and held her hands out between the witch and demon, even though they were both on opposite sides of the room. "Guys, guys! That's enough!" She turned to King. "Shouldn't you be focusing on why you called me into the living room in the first place, King?"

That caused King's body to relax, his former anger and humiliation subsiding in a matter of seconds. "Oh, yeah. One second."

As Luz sat cross-legged on the floor again with her phone resuming recording, King climbed up the right side of the large, rectangular, maroon coloured trunk with golden outlining he'd set up by the entrance to the hallway, which had a big, square-like object propped atop it hidden underneath a red sheet. This was where Lizzie returned to staring out of the window, yet she kept an ear out when King began talking.

"Human Luz," King said as he pointed towards the mentioned human with a straightened back. "you've been so obsessed with witchcraft that you haven't learnt anything about my kind yet. So, since Eda and Lizzie have started covering magic with you, it's time I stepped in to impart my knowledge." He turned to the red sheet and gripped at it with both paws. "Prepare yourself…"—King pulled away the sheet to reveal a board with various pictures of demonic beings pinned to it, along with a banner in the top right corner that said 'DEMONS 101' in red lettering—"…for 'Demons 101'!"

"Whoa…" Luz mumbled as her eyes scanned the pictures on the board, with King seemingly bringing forth a puffy, blue cap with a rope tassel to wear on his head. "Did you put all of this together before calling me here?"

"He did not," Lizzie answered, with Luz watching over her shoulder as she finally moved away from the window to sit down on the red sofa. "He's had that thing since I've been here."

"He has?"

"Who do you think his first 'student' was?"

It took a few seconds for the realisation to smack Luz in the face, causing her to let out a quiet "Oooooh…" before King loudly cleared his throat to get the teen's attention again.

"Yes, yes. Lizzie was my first student. But that's a story for another time." King put his paws behind his back and walked from one end of the trunk to the other with his head held high. "Demons are grim tricksters of the twilight." He stopped and held his paws out on either side of him. "They're creatures of sulphur and bone!"

"Don't forget they also have cute widdle paws!" Luz gushed, prompting King to stare at his paws for a moment while Lizzie snorted and turned her head away.

The little demon's eyes drooped, letting out a quiet sigh as he returned his paws behind his back and looked off elsewhere. He repeated what Luz said with slight annoyance in his tone. "They also have cute little paws, yes." Picking up a blue pen with a pink diamond on top, King pointed it towards the pictures on the board, which Luz moved her phone across to catch it all on film. "Demons live to create chaos and misery across the Demon Realm, with our only weaknesses being purified water and passive-aggressive comments… sometimes."

As King walked over to stand beside a picture of two teenagers appearing to be laughing and pointing at a supposed demon (with one resembling a witch in Hexside's uniform with yellow leggings—which Lizzie recognised to be for the Potions Magic Track—and the other looking like an egg with a cracked head), Lizzie smiled slyly and leaned back against the sofa.

"Are you sure you aren't describing yourself, King?"

"Of course not!" King looked away elsewhere and narrowed his eyes, purposely avoiding eye contact as he put on a deep voice. "Even demons have inner demons…"

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Ignoring how undeterred Lizzie was by his answer, the little demon grabbed the picture and tossed it aside, revealing a torn poster of a pink, humanoid skeleton-like creature with jagged teeth, hole-like eyes, and long nails crouching with a large, spiked shell on its back behind it.

King frowned and took on an epee-like fencing stance beside the poster, keeping his legs bent and spread apart while holding out the top end of the pen towards it as if he was wielding a sword. He looked like he was about to engage in a fencing battle. "The most powerful demon of them all is 'the Snaggleback'. He's a—"

"Bad boy!" Luz interrupted with a grin.

King's body relaxed as he watched Luz lower her phone and tap her thumbs against the screen, prompting a couple of high-pitched sound effects to emit from the device. King and Lizzie exchanged glances at this, with the former holding his hands out towards Luz while the latter shrugged her shoulders. Eventually, King addressed Luz when she refused to pull herself away from her phone.

"Luz, pay attention! This information could save your life someday!"

But of course, Luz didn't respond and kept tapping at her phone, prompting Lizzie to stand and approach the young human while responding to King.

"Don't feel bad, King. This is one of the reasons why Eda has trouble mentoring Luz in the first place: she has the same attention span as Hooty." She stopped behind Luz and bent down, yanking the phone from her hands in one fell swoop. "Yoink!"

"Hey!" Luz cried out and swirled round as Lizzie righted herself and dangled the phone above her head. She jumped to her feet and reached out to grab it with both hands but was stopped by Lizzie placing her other palm against her forehead. "Give that back!"

Lizzie shook her head and moved the phone further out of the young Latina's reach, smiling in amusement as she forced a stern tone. "You'll get it back when you start paying attention to King. You need to know this stuff, Luz."

Luz paused and peeked round Lizzie's hand. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"But you were teasing King about it."

"Doesn't mean I don't respect him for it." Lizzie briefly glanced at King (who was silently observing the interaction from atop the trunk). "King and I tease each other all the time, but we still help each other in our specialty areas when it counts. And when it comes to demons, King does know his stuff."

King put his paws to his hips and tilted his chin up. "That's right!"

"You have to remember that the Boiling Isles isn't just full of magical beings. Demonic beings are also about." Lizzie lightly poked Luz's nose. "Eda and I might not be there to save you when it really counts. So, with or without magic, you need to remember what he's telling you."

Luz jabbed a thumb into her chest. "I can do that! Watch!" She plonked herself on the floor and furrowed her brows, resting one hand under her chin and stretching her other one out. "See?" She said with the slight movement of her mouth. "This is my paying attention face."

Just as Lizzie was about to make a snarky response, a brief flash of lightning from outside lit up the living room, quickly followed by loud, booming thunder. The trio immediately turned their attention to the front door, with King being the first to speak.

"Uh-oh. Looks like we have rain incoming. Is Eda still not back yet?"

Lizzie walked to the closest window and peeked outside, squinting to try to see through the darkness caused by the overcast.

"Doesn't look like it. But she has that forcefield spell, so she should be fine."

Luz gasped loudly and stood up. "Wait, did you say rain? I love the rain!"

Lizzie's shoulders stiffened at seeing Luz jog past her and straight for the front door, flinging it open and stepping outside despite King calling out for her to stop with an outstretched paw.

"Luz, wait!"

Lizzie watched with wide eyes as Luz twirled around away from the safety of the canopy with a wide smile on her face and a contented exhale, all while she talked to herself.

"I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair…"

The blonde witch moved for the coffee table at hearing the quiet rumble of thunder in the distance, knowing exactly what was coming. All the while, King watched Luz and scratched at his head.

"Do you think the rain isn't harmful in the Human Realm?"

"I'm assuming not. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone outside."

By the time Lizzie had put Luz's phone down and sprinted to the door, Luz was crouching before a pink flower at her feet and resting her arms on her knees. "I bet you do too, little buddy!"

"Hooty, why didn't you try and stop her?!" Lizzie yelled at the house demon as she passed by.

"It's funnier if she finds out for herself."

"No, it's not!"

Luz saw the first raindrop fall onto the flower, only for her eyes to widen when the flower suddenly shrivelled up and died while emitting a tiny bit of steam. "… What?"

And that was Eda's cue to make her appearance, yelling at Luz and Lizzie while trying to shield her head with her left arm as more steaming raindrops began to fall, sizzling loudly as it scorched the ground.

"Boiling rain! Everybody inside now!"

Unfortunately for Lizzie, she hadn't been fast enough to reach Luz. So, by the time she'd grabbed her arm and started pulling her to her feet, she found herself caught in the heavy downpour. The blonde witch hissed and ducked her head at feeling the boiling water droplets hit her skin, with Luz wincing and looking down at her exposed arms in surprise at feeling the steaming water burning her.

But thankfully, it was only for a few seconds, because Eda got to the pair quickly and shoved them both through the front door. Lizzie and Luz screeched as the older witch dived towards the floor and brought them with her, sending the two girls crashing headfirst into King's board when they failed to regain their footing. The little demon shrieked when he was sent tumbling off the trunk along with the board, crashing off to the side behind his collapsed display and scattered pictures. Luz collapsed on the floor among the scattered books with her arms and legs in an almost mangled-like pose, with Lizzie beside her faceplanting the carpet, her hat thrown elsewhere. Her arms and nose stung from the impact of the crash and the burns inflicted by the boiling rain, which she weakly groaned at.

Eda was the only one who was all right (aside from a brief bout of pain in her head, which she gripped for a few seconds), having landed on her bottom in the middle of the living room. After making sure she was okay, the Owl Lady sighed in relief as she surveyed the boiling rain now pouring down outside, resting an arm on her bent knee.

"Phew! That was a close one, huh?" She turned to look behind her. "You two almost got hurt."

The words left her mouth before she had the chance to process the current scene and mess in front of her. She didn't realise the problem until King tried to pull himself up while gripping his head, accidentally pushing Eda's mug off with his paw (which had somehow wound up on top of the board during the fiasco). Eda cringed as Luz cried out and flinched when the mug bounced off the side of her head, only to roll away along the floor.

"… Looks like I spoke too soon."

Lizzie slowly raised her head and narrowed her eyes towards Eda after giving herself a moment to get her bearings again. "You think?"

Even when she was in her current state, Lizzie managed to retort with sarcasm.


After helping Luz and Lizzie off the floor, Eda headed outside to the front of the Owl House while casting a forcefield spell to protect herself from the boiling rain. Lizzie and King were already aware of what the Owl Lady planned to do, but because Luz was still confused by the weather conditions here and was curious to witness what Eda was up to, the pair decided it was best to stick by her in case she wandered out into the rain again. So, while the trio of Luz (who had her hood up), King (who had kept his cap on), and Lizzie (who eventually found her hat and returned it to her head) sat (in that order) underneath the canopy, they watched Eda as she stood a small distance from the cottage, rolling a medium sized ball of light around in between her palms while her staff floated upright at her right side. A golden, transparent forcefield was formed over the top half of her body, created to comfortably encompass it without leaving too much extra space.

In the meantime, King went about treating Luz's and Lizzie's wounds using the plasters he'd stored in his teacher's cap, since they hadn't quite come out unscathed from the boiling rain despite not getting hurt from their collision with his board. He prioritised Lizzie first, placing a total of four different coloured plasters with funny faces on them along her upper-arms and forearms where the boiling rain had struck her. Yet when it came down to Luz, all he needed to do was stick one green plaster on her left forearm, which depicted a close-eyed, wide-mouthed smiling face with a tiny blush. Rubbing at the plasters on her arms, Lizzie silently observed as King carefully applied the plaster to Luz's arm, only to slowly step back with his paws outstretched to make sure it would stay stuck down. After a few seconds of staring, King righted himself and reached under his cap, taking out a plaster and sticking it to the bridge of his nose, even though he didn't have any injuries.

"There!" King took hold of Luz's and Lizzie's closest wrists and held them up. "Now we're all 'boo-boo buddies'!"

Lizzie's eyes drooped as she gently pulled her wrist away. "Boo-boo buddies? But you weren't even—"

She was cut off by Luz squealing and putting her hands to her face, her eyes growing wide to the point where they glistened, as if she ready to cry. King backed up into Lizzie to avoid Luz when she dropped onto her left side and stared up at the little demon.

"Oh my gosh, I love you so much!" But then Luz caught sight of Eda and her forcefield, prompting the teen to sit up again and look out at the steaming rain coming down. "Still… boiling rain on the Boiling Isles? I knew the weather conditions back in the Human Realm could be bad, but the weather here is on a whole other level."

Eda glanced back over her shoulder at hearing Luz talk. "Yeah. We technically don't have weather." She turned to face the trio while counting off on her fingers. "We get plagues…"

"Gorenados," Lizzie added, which Eda counted.

"Shale-hail."

"Painbows."

Luz looked to Lizzie with a blink. "Painbows?"

King nodded and wagged his tail, answering in an overly cheery tone. "It's like a rainbow but looking at it turns you inside out!" Luz pulled on the strings of her hood to tighten it around her head and brought her knees to her chest at this, with King remaining oblivious as he turned to Lizzie with a frown. "Wait, do humans have rainbows?"

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders in response, reaching out to give Luz a comforting couple of pats on the head. "Bottom line, Luz: the weather here is just as deadly as everything else."

"Exactly," Eda said in agreement, having returned to holding the ball of light between her palms. "Which is why until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight."

King slipped his paws under his cap to take out a small book that had faded corners on the cover and a green, snake-like pattern depicted in the middle. "And if the rain doesn't get you…" He faced Luz and opened the book to one specific set of pages, which Lizzie couldn't see because he was facing away from her. "…the Snaggleback will! They wander the rains feeding on boiled tourists!"

Lizzie smirked and flicked the back of King's cap, causing him to shriek as it dropped over his eyes. "Well, either way, Eda's forcefield will be enough to keep the rain and demons at bay. So, stop trying to scare Luz."

"Hoot!" Lizzie, Luz, and King (who straightened his cap and put his now closed book under his arm) briefly glanced up at Hooty frowning on the front door, who had been surprisingly quiet until now. "Then could she hurry it up? I can feel the rain getting close to my precious stucco!"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Hold your non-existent feathers," Eda replied as she cupped the ball of light in her right hand while grabbing her staff with her left one.

Shoving the ball of light onto the top of the staff, Eda closed her eyes and spun the staff around in her hands twice before slamming the bottom end against the ground. When she stuck out her right hand, a second forcefield broke away from the one around her, slowly expanding across the area until the Owl House and the stone tower behind it had become engulfed and encompassed by it.

Whereas Lizzie, King, and Hooty had remained indifferent to what Eda had just done, Luz was grinning from ear-to-ear. It wasn't until Eda started walking back towards the cottage with a confident smile and the flick of the white mane she called 'hair' behind her shoulders (with her staff in hand and her own forcefield still intact) that Luz got to her feet and loosened her hood.

"Wow! I hope I can be as cool as Eda someday!" Luz dropped her hood. "Magical, sassy, and surprisingly foxy for her age; that's the Owl Lady!" As Eda joined them under the canopy and let her forcefield disappear, Luz tilted her head. "Say… why do they call you the 'Owl Lady' anyway?"

Eda smirked and stood up straight against her staff, tapping the side of her forehead with a finger. "It's because I'm so wise."

A loud snort escaped Lizzie as she went to stand up, with King snickering and ducking his head down with Hooty letting out a chuckle or two. The blonde witch quickly covered her mouth when Eda glanced their way and dropped her smirk, with Luz raising a brow at them. "Something funny?"

Lizzie's shoulders shook as she suppressed the urge to laugh. "Eda, you're not fooling anyone."

"Huh?"

"I'll concede that you're wise. But we all know you're not called the Owl Lady because of it."

Eda narrowed her eyes and glanced between the younger witch and two demons. "Oh yeah? Then why do you three think they call me that?"

Lizzie took a deep breath to calm down and pointed at an inactive Owlbert atop Eda's staff with a smirk. "'Cause you have an owl palisman on your staff."

King looked up at Hooty with a paw to his hip and his eyes drooped. "You have a demonic owl as a doorknocker."

"That's me! Hoot!"

"You're a hoarder."

"You go through garbage."

"I once saw you cough up rat bones!"

"Your bed is a giant nest."

"And you get distracted by shiny objects."

Eda looked down at King with a scowl. "No, I don't."

"Oh, really?" King replied as he slipped his paw under his cap and took out his pen with the diamond on it from earlier.

He pressed a tiny button on the side of the pen, causing the diamond to light up with a pink glow. Within seconds, the four watched as Eda's mouth fell open with a gasp and morphed into a wide smile, her eyes widening so much that her pupils grew. The Owl Lady immediately dropped her staff and placed her hands close to her mouth, appearing mesmerised by the light as she started talking to herself.

"It sparkles and shimmers. It shines and delights."—Lizzie stepped around King to stand beside Luz when Eda crouched and looked ready to pounce on the pen, already knowing exactly what was about to happen—"I must have it for my nest…"

Lizzie pushed Luz back with her arm the moment Eda dived forward for the pen, with the girls watching King whip the item behind his back seconds before the Owl Lady could grab it, causing her to crash to the ground on her front with a loud "Oof!".

Luz cringed at seeing Eda land on her front. "Oooooh…"

"Yeah," Lizzie said with a sigh as she moved to Eda's side. "This isn't the first time she's done that." The blonde witch crouched beside the Owl Lady and grabbed her under the arm with one hand, using the other one to support her back as she gently helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Ugh…" Eda groaned, holding her head and her hip with both hands. "I think so."

King jogged forward to join the pair and squinted slightly, talking sarcastically. "Uh-oh. Looks like someone is moving a little slow. Is your age finally catching up?" Eda glared at King and yanked on his cap, pulling it down over his face and making him shriek. "AH! Darkness!"

As King scrambled to free himself from the clutches of the cap, Eda returned her hand to her forehead and rubbed at it. "It's not that. I feel exhausted. That forcefield must have really took it out of me."

Lizzie's brows furrowed at this, prompting her to give the forcefield around the Owl House a brief glance. "I agree. It must have taken a lot of magic for you to cast and sustain two forcefields at once." She approached Eda's staff and picked it up for her, handing it to the Owl Lady as the latter opened the front door to go inside. "Maybe you should lie down."

"Good idea. I could use a nap. Also," The Owl Lady waved her staff. "about the name thing: you're one to talk considering yours, Lizzie."

Lizzie gave Eda's side a slight nudge with her elbow. "Firstly, you only call me that because I hate it. And secondly, I've long since stopped caring if you do because you, King, and Hooty refuse to listen to my complaints."

Eda's body slumped forward a bit as she walked into the living room, with Lizzie following close behind her. She could see the weariness beginning to visibly show on the Owl Lady, with her heavy blinks and drooped eyes being further indication. It was all fun and jokes earlier, but even Lizzie knew when it was time to call it quits, hence her next enquiry.

"Do you want me to get you anything?"

Eda hummed in thought for a moment before she caught sight of her mug still resting on the floor while passing it by. "… A cup of apple blood would be nice."

"On it."

Lizzie collected the mug from the floor and jogged off towards the kitchen, with Eda tiredly nodding as she watched the younger witch leave.

"Thanks, Lizzie. I appreciate that."

With Lizzie heading off to the kitchen and Eda walking off to change into her pyjamas, the two witches remained unaware of Luz and King still standing under the canopy and the conversation Luz started once the latter had managed to push his cap out of his eyes.

"This is perfect!" Luz said excitedly as she knelt next to King, placing a hand on his shoulder with a wide smile. "We're stuck in the house all night. That means Eda will have to teach me a spell!"

Luz started to walk off with her fists brought to her chest, almost walking on her tiptoes because of how excited she was. But King gave a wide blink at Luz's plans, only to furrow his brow as he called out to her.

"But what about our lesson? I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy!" He placed a paw to his chest. "Which is mine!"

Luz immediately stopped and slowly turned to face King with a frown. "Aw, I'm sorry, King, but…" She forced a smile and shrugged. "…magic. Maybe we can do it some other time."

King's body slumped as he watched the young Latina dash off after Eda, narrowing his eyes out of annoyance. He stayed that way even as a stray drop of rain got under the canopy and landed on top of his cap, causing it to deflate and his still intact horn to pierce a hole through it.


Lizzie stood over the sink in the kitchen under the glaring brightness provided by the lamps on the walls, going about scrubbing at Eda's mug with soap and a sponge while hearing the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance. Despite having lived in the Owl House for a considerable amount of time now, it still baffled Lizzie how Hooty managed to control the majority of the cottage's functions, although it wasn't just her. Eda and King had said they were also still baffled by it, and they'd been living here longer than she had. But, as with everything else that went on in the cottage, the pair had just accepted it and moved on. Lizzie had also done the same, even if the thought still occasionally crossed her mind from time to time.

As the blonde finished cleaning the mug and went about drying it, a sudden thought crossed her mind.

'Wait. Isn't this usually the time that Eda takes that elixir of hers?' She paused with her movement and glanced at the doorway to the kitchen. 'She seemed pretty out of it when I left her. Maybe I should check to see if she's had it yet.'

After a few seconds, though, Lizzie shook her head to rid herself of the thought, focusing back on the task at hand. 'I'd better not. Eda doesn't know that I know she's taking it. And given how hard she's tried to sneak drinks of it in the past, she clearly doesn't want anyone to know she's taking it.'

Lizzie frowned. 'Although… that does make me wonder why she's trying so hard to hide it. She's obviously taking it for some sort of medical condition. That's what elixirs are for. But she's never told me about having any illnesses.' The blonde's movements slowed to a stop again, her frown deepening. 'In fact… she hasn't told King either. He said Eda's been taking that elixir for as long as he's been in the Owl House, yet she's always been sneaky around him with it too. I've never confronted her directly about it because I'm not one to pry into her personal life. But I still feel it's important for us to be aware she needs it in case something happens—"

Thump.

Lizzie heard something drop to the floor from the living room, immediately stopping her last train of thought.

'What was that?'

Putting the mug by the sink for now, Lizzie jogged from the kitchen to the living room to make sure everything was all right. When she got there, she was met with the sight of Luz standing by the window close to the red sofa with a sly smile, her hand to her hip, and King's pen grasped in her other hand, while Eda (who had changed into her pyjamas) laid on her front on the floor with her legs pushed up against the side of the sofa's arm.

"Eda!" Lizzie called out to the Owl Lady while running over, moving around King (who had since come inside, removed his cap, and sat in front of the table with blank papers surrounding him) to crouch by Eda's side. "Are you okay?"

Eda adjusted her head so she could glance up at Lizzie, blinking heavily. "I'm fine. I've got to work on my aim though…"

Luz's smile dropped when Lizzie turned her way, recoiling at seeing the blonde witch glare at the pen in her hand. "Luz, are you taunting Eda with the pen?"

"Pfft! No!" Luz answered with a forced grin, hiding the pen behind her back. "Of course not! What reason would I have to do that?!"

"She's trying to bribe Eda into teaching her a magic spell," King said without looking up from the paper he was drawing on, causing Luz's eyes to widen and Lizzie's eyes to narrow.

"King!"

"Why am I not surprised…" Lizzie grumbled as she helped Eda to her feet and beckoned for Luz to hand over the pen, which the teen did with a small sigh. "Luz, Eda needs to rest. Can't you see how exhausted she is?"

"But you've already learnt a new spell! Eda hasn't taught me anything yet and this is the perfect time for it."

Lizzie held up a finger and put a hand to her hip. "Okay. First of all, that was an accident. Second of all, while I understand your logic, Eda is very tired. She's in no state of mind to teach you anything." The blonde witch looked to King, who was still scribbling something on a piece of paper with his back to them. "Why don't you continue your lessons with King? He still has a lot to teach you about demons."

"Because this is a rare opportunity for Eda not to get distracted." Luz put her hands together in front of her chest and widened her eyes a little, trying to give Lizzie the 'puppy-dog' look. "Please just let her teach me one spell! After that, I promise I'll let her sleep!"

"Luz—"

"No, no," Eda interrupted as she swayed a bit and leaned against Lizzie, patting her shoulder while using the younger witch to steady herself. "It's fine. I'll teach her a spell." Lizzie turned to Eda with raised brows, while Luz squealed and tapped her fists together. "As much as I hate her for her cunning behaviour… I also respect her for being crafty."

The blonde witch groaned and gently lifted Eda from her shoulder, clutching her under the arm for support. 'I think this is a terrible idea. But if Eda insists on teaching Luz, I won't stop her. Giving her a spell to learn would be a good distraction for the night…'

"Fine. I won't stand in your way if you want to. But,"—Lizzie lightly poked Eda in the middle of the forehead—"I'll do the spell demonstrations. That way you won't have to use the remainder of your magic up. Most of the spells I know are fairly basic anyway."

"Deal," Eda said as she straightened out and slowly walked to the opposite side of the living room, with Luz and Lizzie following (after returning the pen to Luz for her to keep).

With Luz sitting cross-legged in front of her and Lizzie standing to her left, Eda put her hands behind her back with her head held high, attempting to appear confident despite how tired she was.

"All right, Luz. If you want a witch's staff, don't make me…" Eda trailed off and began to droop forward, her head loosely rolling as she kept speaking. "…repeat…myself…" Lizzie clicked her fingers repeatedly in front of Eda's face, causing the Owl Lady to blink widely and let out a breathy gasp. Eda gave Lizzie a nod of acknowledgement before straightening up again. "A witch's staff has power embedded that allows the caster to use magic. But before a witch earns their staff, they must first learn how to cast spells on their own, just like Lizzie and I."

Eda stepped to the side to create some space between her and the younger witch, indicating a hand towards her. "Now, since this is your first time learning magic, we'll start off with a basic spell to avoid any accidents. Meaning tonight… we'll be showing you how to create light." Eda waved her hand round and glanced towards her older charge. "Lizzie, if you would."

Alighting her index finger in a green glow, Lizzie drew a spell circle in the air the size of her hand. Once the spell circle was completed, a tiny flash of white light appeared in the centre and quickly grew until it became a ball that filled the circle's length, making the circle disperse. Luz brought her knees to her chest and watched with a slacked jaw as the ball of light floated downwards and stopped just in front of her face, only to pop like a bubble after a few seconds.

"Wow…" Luz muttered in awe, only to close her mouth when King (who was watching from over his shoulder) sarcastically commented after standing up and flicking his paw dismissively.

"Yawn. Who needs a boring spell lesson when I can teach you all the fun ways a demon could kill you!" King held up one of his drawings as Luz briefly peeked at him, which depicted a large, round demon with big teeth trapping the head of a human in its jaws, while the rest of their body hung out of its mouth. It had a cartoon-like style to it, especially because of how bulged the eyes and pupils were. "Like this one!" King peeked over the side. "Look how teethy it is!"

Lizzie smiled in amusement at the drawing. "Hey, that's not bad, King."

"Thank you!"

Luz turned away and frowned. "Please be quiet, King. I'm trying to focus."

Lizzie blinked in surprise at this, only to furrow her brow when she saw King lower the drawing and turn his gaze away, his head lowering. It didn't take much to figure out that King's feelings were hurt by Luz's dismissive behaviour.

'What's going on with those two?'

She didn't dwell on her question for long when Eda loudly cleared her throat to regain attention, twirling her finger beside her head. "Humans think witches make magic out of thin air, but to us that's obviously stupid. Everything comes from something. Tell me, kid," Eda faced Luz and bent down to poke the tip of her nose, causing Luz to briefly close her eyes and hunch her shoulders. "where do you think magic comes from?"

"Uh…" Luz quickly looked off to the side before resuming eye contact and clasping her hands together with a slight smile. "… From the heart?"

Eda's and Lizzie's reaction was delayed, yet after a few seconds the two witches exchanged shocked blinks. The former broke the silence. "Did you tell her that?"

Lizzie slowly shook her head. "Nu-uh. She figured that one out on her own."

Luz's brows raised. "Wait…" She pointed at her chest. "Am I actually right?"

"You are," Lizzie confirmed, causing Luz to let out an exaggerated gasp.

"No, really," Eda added as she reached into her hair to pull out a rolled-up scroll, which she unravelled for Luz to see. There was a detailed image of an ordinary heart like the one that humans were known to have but attached to the side of it was a giant, green sac of flesh that stemmed from the heart muscle. "It comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch's heart."

"Augh!" Luz cried out in disgust and gripped at the chest of her hoodie with both hands, her gaze flitting between both adult witches. "That's gross! Do you actually have that?!"

"Yes, we do," Lizzie answered with drooped eyes, rubbing at her own chest with a hand while Eda returned the scroll to her hair. "Believe me, I'm not a fan of looking at it either."

"But the fact is, a witch can't do magic on their own without that bile sac. And also spell circles," Eda continued, indicating towards Lizzie with a hand. "Lizzie has already told you some things about spell circles, hasn't she?"

Luz nodded to that, holding a finger up. "I know that magic comes from the spell circle and that memorisation is needed to cast the right spell."

Eda smirked at Lizzie then, who quickly looked away. "That's right. But it's not just memorisation that's key. Everything depends on the spell circle, especially when it comes to size; the bigger the spell circle, the more powerful the spell."

Lizzie returned her attention to Eda when the Owl Lady cleared her throat, taking that as her cue to step away from the pair and reignite her finger. Raising her finger above her head, Lizzie drew a large spell circle as wide as her head, producing a ball of light a little bigger than the last one she'd cast. However, her eyes widened when she caught Eda copying her actions, drawing a golden spell circle above her head double the size of hers and bringing forth a large ball of light that jiggled about because of how big it was.

"Eda!"

"What?" The Owl Lady held her hands out towards her creation. "I thought the kid could use a comparison."

"We agreed I'd be doing the demonstrations. That was way too much magic."

Both balls of light popped and scattered smaller orbs until they faded in the air. Eda raised her palms in surrender. "Would you relax? I'm—" She was cut off by a loud yawn, which she covered with her hand. "—fine…"

Lizzie folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, obviously not convinced. "Sure."

"Ahem." Luz clearing her throat drew Eda's and Lizzie's attention once more. "I appreciate the demonstrations, but…" The Latina girl tapped her index fingers together and turned her gaze to her lap. "…if I—little ol' Luz—wanted to do magic too, how would I do that without a magic…" She squinted as she tried to remember the right words for the organ. "…bile… sac?"

Eda and Lizzie exchanged glances at this, with the latter being the one to speak. "Well, there once was a time in the history of the Boiling Isles where witches performed magic differently. Which Eda was supposed to look into."

Luz expectantly turned her gaze to Eda, who placed a hand to her hip and looked up at the ceiling, stroking her chin. "Yeah… I still haven't done that."

"Eda…" Luz whined, prompting Eda to crouch down and ruffle the teenager's hair with a hand.

"Don't worry. You'll figure it out. Trust me: it's more rewarding that way." Luz pouted as Eda pulled away and stretched her back out, causing Lizzie to cringe at the loud crack of her bones that followed. "Okay. Lesson's over." The Owl Lady slumped forward and let her arms dangle limply, walking over to the red sofa. "Mama needs to lie down…"

"That's it?!" Luz exclaimed as she watched Eda pass her by, swivelling round on her bottom while reaching into her jean shorts pocket. "But I need to see the spell circle again."

Lizzie walked to Luz's side and frowned sternly at the younger girl. "Luz, you and Eda had a deal, and she's lived up to her end of it as much as she can. You need to give her a break."

"I know, I know! But can I at least record it on my phone?" Luz pulled her phone out and held it up for Lizzie to see, her lip quivering. "That way you and Eda don't have to keep using your magic! One more spell won't kill her, surely!"

"Luz—"

"It's all right, Lizzie," Eda interrupted, having stopped walking and turned around to face the pair despite her slumped posture and grumpy expression. "I can handle one more spell. You can't argue with her logic."

"Are you sure? Because if Luz needs someone else to cast it—"

"Don't worry about me, kiddo. As the most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles, I can handle anything."

Lizzie huffed out of frustration and looked away, yet she didn't say anything more to protest Eda's decision. But even as Luz turned on the video and held her phone so the camera was pointed at Eda, the blonde witch could feel it swirling in her gut: that familiar feeling of dread.

"Smile, Eda! You're on camera!"

Lizzie gave the Owl Lady a sideways glance when she heard Luz speak, seeing more than just the older witch's lack of change in her grumpy demeanour as she raised her left index finger. The younger witch observed the growing bags under Eda's eyes and the paler complexion in her face, knowing they were more obvious signs of exhaustion.

'This might not be a dangerous situation. But I just can't shake the feeling that something bad will happen if she uses one more spell…'

It was when Eda started to draw the spell circle that Lizzie knew her gut was right. Instead of the usual neat and thick line that was drawn whenever a witch used a spell circle, Eda's was thin and wobbly, especially compared to her last spell circles. Yet the Owl Lady didn't notice, droning on while Luz continued to record and Lizzie watched with a breathless gasp.

"Now, you see, the spell circle is really key, because…" Eda's voice became groggy as she faded off, her body swaying slightly as she finished the spell circle; however, the latter popped the moment it was completed, with Eda loudly yawning as she leaned back. "Ooh boy…"

Lizzie reacted quickly at this, dashing forward the moment the older witch lost her balance and managing to catch her by the shoulders front first before she had chance to hit the floor. Luz and King stayed glued to their spots as Eda's weight triumphed over Lizzie's physical strength (or lack thereof), forcing the blonde witch to the carpet on her knees when her knees buckled. Eda collapsed against Lizzie's right shoulder with her head tilted enough that the younger witch could see the Owl Lady's face. Her eyes were closed and her body was limp, leaving the horrified trio frozen like statues for a solid minute until King broke the shocked silence with a snarky remark and Luz screeched out of panic.

"Well, looks like one more spell did kill Eda."

"AH!"