A/N: I was originally going to make this chapter a little longer and stop it after the Emperor's Coven panel, but I was mindful of the word count and the fact that quite a lot had already happened in this chapter, so... yeah. That'll appear in the next one. Because I've set up Lizzie to be the 'hermit' character who doesn't leave the Owl House unless it's for specific reasons, I kinda struggled to figure out how she'd wind up at the Covention, especially since I'd previously stated that she never accompanied Eda to help with her stand in Bonesborough. I went through many ideas, but in the end I decided to go with the one currently in this fic. 'Eda's Requiem' canonically proved that Eda owns a 'crow phone' (I don't know if that's the canon name, but I'm rolling with it anyways) and since there is nothing confirming how long she's had it for, I've made use of it as a clever plot device. Keep in mind, though, that I've only had 'Eda's Requiem' and 'Escaping Expulsion' as references regarding how the 'crow phone' works. Also, the bold writing is supposed to indicate when Eda is speaking over the phone. This has been done for distinction in speech and will be used in future chapters, so I'm making sure you know now to avoid confusion further down the line. And regarding the 'nickname' Eda calls Willow... it's not official. The wiki didn't provide any official 'nicknames' for Willow under Eda unlike with Gus, so I made one up. Just want to clarify that's not canon. But the one for Gus is.

Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, favouriting, following, and reading this fanfic. Your continued support is greatly appreciated, and it's nice to see that people enjoyed what I had in store for last chapter with Lizzie and King. I don't know when I'll have Chapter 14 out, because I am going to be pretty busy for the next two weeks. But hopefully it shouldn't take too long. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the beginning of the fifth episode and the little teasers I've thrown in there.


Chapter 13: Covenless Criminals

The mid-morning sun hung high above the Boiling Isles, bathing the land in a bright, cheery glow as the inhabitants went about their daily lives. The Owl House was one of many buildings on the isles bathed under the sun's rays, standing tall and proud in its restored glory. The windows on the front of the cottage were no longer smashed and the front door had been reattached to its hinges, looking as good as new. Aside from the residents inside the Owl House, no one would have guessed the cottage had been previously ravaged by a giant owl beast not too long ago, which also accounted for the inside as well as the outside.

But unlike most days, the Owl House was unusually quiet and still, with very little activity about. In fact, the only ones currently occupying the cottage were the 'residential hermit' standing before the front door open inside the living room with her hands on her hips, and of course the troublemaking house demon who guarded the place, staring calmly back at the young witch with a red bruise just above his eyes. It was no bigger than Lizzie's thumb and looked like it had developed fairly recently.

"Let me get this straight, Hooty: you saw a sparrow, gave chase, then headbutted a tree and got knocked unconscious."

Hooty scowled and shook his head. "No. I saw the sparrow and chased it into a tree. Weren't you listening?!"

"…" Lizzie paused to pinch the bridge of her nose and deeply inhale and exhale.

'And here I thought Hooty wouldn't get up to any nonsense with just the two of us around…'

Eda had left the Owl House a little while ago to tend to her human collectibles stand, with Luz and King having volunteered to help as an excuse for the pair to get out of the cottage. This had left Lizzie in charge while the three were out, and while she had expected to use this time to create a new potion, apparently Hooty had other ideas…

She counted to 'five' in her head before letting go, counting an extra 'five' before she started talking again. "I'm trying, but it's so hard to not judge you right now."

Hooty's eyes narrowed. "Hey! I'd like to see you eat a bird perfectly on the first try!"

Lizzie leaned back with wide eyes, her voice rising an octave. "You ate it?!"

"Duh."

"Oh, Titan…" Lizzie mumbled under her breath and turned away, glancing at the fixed coffee table behind her, specifically where she'd put the book Eda had given her not too long ago. "And you want me to heal your injury?"

"Yep!" Hooty attempted to squint at his bruise, even though he wouldn't see it from his angle. "I'm sick of feeling the stinging whenever I headbutt stuff!"

Lizzie's eyes drooped. "Then maybe stop headbutting stuff?"

Hooty glared at the young witch. "I don't tell you how to live your life! Hoot!"

Lizzie let out a defeated groan and slumped forward, deciding that arguing with Hooty was pointless. "Whatever."

The blonde strolled over to the table and picked up the book, returning to Hooty while quickly skimming through its pages. The book wasn't that thick, so she found the pages she was looking for in no time, which she stopped on with a finger.

"Here we are. Healing bruises." Lizzie furrowed her brow at looking up from the book. "Are you sure you want me to do this? I doubt I'll be able to heal it entirely."

Hooty smiled and gave a stiff nod. "I don't mind! I'm just glad I can help!"

"Really?"

"Yep!" Hooty closed his eyes and raised his head a little. "I'm all for encouraging personal growth! Hoot hoot!"

Lizzie raised a brow at this, but soon shook her head and let it go. 'I'm not even going to question it…'

The blonde witch placed the book open on the floor and stepped closer to Hooty, raising her index finger as she scanned over the instructions.

'In order to heal a bruise, all I've got to do is imagine it's not there. That sounds easy enough. But it'll require me to focus for a long period of time…'

Lizzie rolled her shoulders and focused on Hooty's bruise, bending her index finger to bring forth the green glow to her fingertip. "All right, Hooty. I need you to stay still and quiet for me, okay? It won't work properly unless I can focus."

Hooty morphed his break into some semblance of a grin. "Sure! 'Still and quiet' are my middle names!"

"… You don't have middle names."

"I do now! Hoot!"

Lizzie shook her head and pressed her lips together to resist the urge to counter, turning her focus back to the task at hand. She took a deep breath and placed her finger close to Hooty's head, with the house demon following it with his eyes.

'Now draw the spell circle and hold it still with your finger until the bruise is gone.'

The witch did as she instructed herself to do, drawing a spell circle the size of the bruise and then holding it still by putting her finger flat in the middle of it. A faint green glow overtook the bruise, which was Lizzie's indication that the spell was working. She closed her eyes and mentally pictured Hooty without the bruise, occasionally opening one of them to check on her progress before closing it again. Surprisingly, she didn't hear a peep out of Hooty, who remained still and quiet, as she'd requested.

'Huh. Maybe this is going to work, after all—'

"Caw!"

"AH!"

"HOOT!"

Lizzie was interrupted by something cawing loudly and a black blur darting between her and Hooty from outside, startling them both and breaking the witch's concentration. The spell cut off as the blonde opened her eyes and stumbled backwards a couple of steps, causing the spell circle and green glow to vanish and reveal Hooty's now purple bruise. The blonde's eyes widened at this, brief surprise overtaking her.

'Well. It was actually working.'

"Caw!"

At hearing the cawing for the second time, Lizzie faced the sofa in the living room. She spied a crow with an orange-brown beak and claws settled on the arm closest to her, staring at her with a tilted head and tiny black eyes. At a single glance, anyone could have easily mistaken this crow for an ordinary one. But Lizzie could see the tiny holes on the bird's chest, which only meant one thing…

'Crow phone!'

Her thought was proven further when she heard a familiar and partially muffled voice call her name, with the crow opening its beak at the same time, like it was actually talking.

"Lizzie!"

'Eda?'

The blonde jogged over to the crow and took it into her palm by grabbing it around its back. In response, the crow bent its legs into its body and tucked its wings to its sides, appearing to look closer to a phone sculpted to look like a bird. Lizzie held it up to her ear and spoke close to the crow's chest with a frown.

"Eda? Is something wrong?"

"Why are you assuming something's wrong?"

"Because you never use your crow phone unless there's a problem." Lizzie's frown deepened as she placed her hand to her hip. "Are you stuck in jail again?"

"What? No!"

"Good, because we're out of snails from the last time you had to be bailed out…"

"We are? Huh." There was a brief pause. "I should probably make a note of that."

Lizzie rolled her eyes at this yet resumed the conversation. "If you're not calling for that, then what's the—?"

A loud gasp from Hooty cut Lizzie off and made her flinch. "Is that Eda?!" The house demon stretched his neck over towards where Lizzie was and tried to shout down the phone. "Hi, Eda! It's me! Your old pal, H—" Lizzie interrupted Hooty by purposely poking his bruise, forcing him to close his eyes and pull back to the front door. "Ow! My bruise! I thought it was healed!"

"One moment, Eda. I need to go somewhere quiet," Lizzie grumbled as she walked out of the living room, leaving Hooty to stretch over to the nearby window and stare at his reflection in the glass.

"Oh, hey! My bruise is purple now!"

"Take your time." Lizzie heard familiar high-pitched squealing coming from the other end of the line, which gradually grew fainter. "I need to find my own quiet spot away from Luz's squealing."

"Why's she so happy?"

"You'll find out soon." There was a pause before Eda continued. "What was that all about with Hooty?"

"Hooty headbutted a tree. Nothing to worry about," Lizzie answered as she kept walking through the first floor of the Owl House, eventually arriving at the kitchen.

"Why did he headbutt a tree?"

"He was chasing a sparrow."

There was silence on the line for a few seconds. "Did he eat it?"

"What do you think?" When Eda fell silent, Lizzie sighed and plopped down on a nearby stool. "Anyway, what's up?"

"I need you to come down to Bonesborough. I'm shorthanded."

"Shorthanded?" Lizzie leaned her elbow against the table. "Weren't Luz and King supposed to help you with the stand?"

"It's not for the stand." Lizzie's brows raised at this, hearing Eda huff loudly on the other end of the line. "Apparently, I didn't get the memo that something big was going on in Bonesborough today. And that 'something' is 'Covention'."

Lizzie's shoulders stiffened at the latter part, a faint feeling of dread appearing at the name that swirled around in her stomach. 'Covention? Gosh. When did I last hear that said?' She ran a hand through her hair. "That doesn't explain why you need me."

Lizzie heard Eda sigh heavily, her tone sounding a little annoyed. "Well, Luz heard about it from Dweebus and… Glasses."

Lizzie snorted at the nicknames, ducking her head down slightly. "You mean 'Gus' and 'Willow'? Luz's Hexside friends?"

"Yes. They've brainwashed Luz into wanting to go and now she won't stop pestering me to take her. She got so desperate, she made King read from that insulting and flowery book of hers!"

"The Good Witch Azura book?"

Lizzie leaned away from the crow when Eda raised her voice a little. "How do you keep remembering all of this stuff?!"

Lizzie smirked and leaned back a little in her seat. "I'd like to remind you that your apprentice is also my roommate. She talks to me a lot."

"Sure. Anyway, I need your help keeping an eye on Luz and King while we're in there. It's a big place and one of 'em is bound to get lost or do something stupid. Maybe both."

Lizzie furrowed her brow, balling her hand into a fist against the table. "I don't know, Eda. I don't mind helping you out, but…" She hesitated, her voice growing quiet when she continued. "…what about my stalker?"

Lizzie shuddered the moment the last sentence left her mouth, a bitter taste lingering on her tongue. Since that incident in Bonesborough a while back, the blonde witch hadn't experienced anything out of the ordinary when she'd gone with Luz and King on her usual potion deliveries. No more guards had been after them, and there was no sign of anyone from the Emperor's Coven either. At that point, she'd started to believe that everything Eda had told her before had been right. And yet, Lizzie didn't want to tempt fate. Things had been going too well, and usually that was a sign that something bad was on the horizon. Maybe it was just her paranoia talking, but… she couldn't be sure.

Yet Eda sounded like she didn't share the same thoughts, as indicated by her next enquiry.

"What about 'em?"

Lizzie stared down at her feet under the table, lightly dragging her heels against the floor. "Well, what if they've been assigned to guard the Covention? What if they stalk me there when I enter Bonesborough? What if they hire another guard to keep tabs on me again?"

Silence fell on the other end of the line. But Eda was quick to bounce back after at least ten seconds, her voice stern. "Kid, I understand how you feel. But think about it for a moment. Covention is gonna be flooded with crowds of witches and demons and other beings alike. Don't you think it'd be a stupid move on their part to do anything where there's gonna be a ton of witnesses?"

Lizzie's frown deepened at this, prompting her to tap her fingers against the table as she gave it a brief think. "… That's a good point."

"Plus, the most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles will be at your side. If that tool wants you, they're going to have to go through me first!"

Lizzie muffled a chuckle behind her hand before she responded, a smile slipping onto her face. It didn't take much for Lizzie to cave in. She trusted her employer's words enough, after all. "All right. You've convinced me."

"Great! You know where to go, right?"

"I think so. They'll probably have signs about anyway, but they hold Covention in the same place every year as far as I know. I can find my way there."

"I'll take your word for it. We'll be waiting outside for you. See you soon."

Lizzie smirked a little at the switch in roles regarding their farewells, deciding to roll with it. "Not if I see you first."

The blonde witch heard Eda snort before the dial tone kicked in, prompting her to pull the crow away from her ear and set it on its legs atop the table. 'I suppose Eda's right. I'm at the age where I should be choosing a coven to join, so it wouldn't look odd for me to be there.'

She watched the bird stand up, ruffle its feathers around as it stretched out its wings, and then proceed to take flight out of the kitchen with a loud "Caw!". 'I'm sure everything will be okay. And who knows?' Once the crow was gone, Lizzie got up from the table and headed out of the kitchen herself, going upstairs to her room to collect her potions and cloak. 'Maybe Luz will finally wise up and realise why Eda and I are the way we are.'


After tidying up, grabbing her cloak and satchel, and bidding goodbye to Hooty, Lizzie made the long trek from the Owl House to the city of Bonesborough, keeping her hood up over her head to conceal her face. She knew she would have gotten there quicker if she had a staff or Eda to transport her, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it now. Plus, as Lizzie reasoned with herself, a little exercise wouldn't hurt. She rarely left the Owl House, so getting out to Bonesborough for some fresh air and a change of scenery when she wasn't working would do her some good.

And yet, when she actually reached Bonesborough, she was surprised at how… abandoned it looked. Aside from occasional litter blowing through the streets she walked through, Lizzie couldn't help noticing that there was no one around. No stands in the marketplace, no creatures going about their business, not even any guards on the lookout for rule breakers and criminals alike. Everything was still and quiet, like a spell had been cast that magically poofed everyone away. At one point the silence and stillness made her shudder; it was just too strange and creepy for her liking.

Luckily, Lizzie didn't have to walk long before she reached her destination, which was a towering, long, semi-circled shaped, predominately white building with a red roof, high glass windows of varying shapes across the front and a red roofed canopy above the entranceway, which had multiple doors. For a moment, the young witch stood on the opposite side of the street and stared up at the large building with wide eyes, swallowing thickly at the lump she could feel poking inside her throat.

'Gosh. This building hasn't changed since I last saw it. I feel like I'm fourteen again.'

A familiar voice shouting in the distance broke through Lizzie's train of thought, bringing her back to reality. "Liz, over here!"

The blonde witch took a step back and focused on the entrance of the building, where she spied a familiar group of five gathered together. There was Luz (standing on her tiptoes in the middle of the cluster and waving her arm above her head while grinning, having kept her hood down instead of hiding her ears), Eda (standing to Luz's right with a scowl on her face as she tried to pull a red cowl over her bushy hair), King (clinging to the back of Eda's cowl while trying to help her move it over her head), and Willow and Gus (standing on Luz's left, still dressed in their Hexside uniforms).

Lizzie gave a slight wave as she made her approach, her focus initially going to Eda at hearing the older witch grunting while playing 'tug of war' with her cowl.

"Dang it, King! Gr! Are you even trying to help me?!"

King paused and peeked at Eda from the side with narrowed eyes. "Maybe it'd fit better if you trimmed your bush of a head every once in a while!"

Lizzie lightly smacked her forehead with a hand and stopped beside Eda to help her and King out. She proceeded to grab the large tufts of Eda's hair that hung past her shoulders and shove it inside the cowl, allowing King to push it all the way over the back of her head and Eda to pull it the rest of the way. "You need to stop storing the stuff you steal inside your cowl. It'd make this process so much easier."

Eda glanced at Lizzie with the roll of her eyes while straightening out the front of the cowl. "Please. I'm not a petty thief." Seconds after she said that, a collection of small items suddenly slipped past her cowl and fell onto the floor in front of her feet, forcing Lizzie to step away to avoid getting hit by them. At seeing the blonde witch raise a brow and fold her arms, Eda squinted and held up a finger. "Don't."

Lizzie gave Eda an amused smile and ran her thumb and index finger across her lips to imitate the action of 'zipping her lips', prompting the Owl Lady to shake her head and grumble something inaudible before getting down on one knee to collect her pile. King remained clung to the back of Eda's cowl, having no difficulty doing so since Eda's hair accumulated under the cowl formed a large spherical shape. To an outsider, it looked like Eda had a massive head hidden under the cowl.

While Eda gathered her stolen items, Luz turned to Lizzie and held out her hands towards Willow and Gus still standing beside her. "Lizzie, you remember Willow and Gus."

Willow smiled slightly at Lizzie and gave a small wave. "Hello again."

Lizzie nodded to Willow in acknowledgement. But her attention soon switched to Gus when the young male witch approached her and held up his right palm towards her, causing her to tilt her head as she stared at it. "Uh…"

"You're supposed to slap my hand with yours," Gus explained with a grin, stretching his palm a little closer to the older blonde. "It's called a 'high-five'. Luz says it's a human thing."

Lizzie's gaze briefly went to Luz then, who shrugged her shoulders with a quiet chuckle. "Sorry, Liz. Gus is obsessed with the Human Realm. I think I've gotten him addicted to high-fives."

Deciding to do it at seeing Gus bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, Lizzie quietly huffed and slowly reached out her right hand towards Gus', gently placing her palm against his. The young boy stepped back to Willow's side with his fists raised over his head, his eyes wide.

"This is awesome!"

"So, Liz," Luz began as she scooted over to Lizzie's side and gently elbowed her in the ribs. "have you ever attended this 'Covention' before?"

Lizzie nodded, briefly watching Eda stand upright again with her items returned to her cowl. "Oh, yeah. I first attended Covention four years ago, when I was around your age."

Willow adjusted her glasses with a hand and leaned forward a little, narrowing her eyes towards Lizzie's exposed wrists. "That makes you of coven-choosing age, but… I don't see a coven brand on you."

Lizzie's brows raised at this, prompting her to slip her arms underneath her cloak.

'Ah. Forgot about that. That little witch is a sharp one.'

Luz frowned at the blonde witch's actions, tilting her head slightly. "What's a 'coven brand'?"

"It's a form of identification given to witches when they join a coven to show proof of allegiance," Gus explained, rubbing his chin with a hand as he looked Lizzie up and down, only to then turn his gaze behind Eda, where one of her wanted posters was stuck to the pillar of the canopy. "By law, all adult witches are required to join a coven. That's why we have events like 'Covention' every year."

Luz turned to Lizzie with a quiet gasp, looking as if she'd just managed to find a missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. "Wait. So, if you haven't joined a coven… is that why you're a…?"

The young Latina trailed off, unable to bring herself to say the word. But Lizzie knew she'd meant to say 'witch criminal'. She recalled their brief conversation outside the Contraband Room of the Conformatorium, where she'd used the term when asking Lizzie if she was like Eda. The blonde witch didn't speak at first. Yet as she went to open her mouth to say something, she paused at feeling Eda rest her elbow on her shoulder and slouch against her. Lizzie watched the Owl Lady quickly glance left, then right, then behind them before she spoke in a lowered voice, holding the back of her hand close to her mouth.

"It's a stupid law, but it's true. Lizzie and I are covenless by choice, which is why we have to keep a low profile." Eda jabbed a thumb towards her wanted poster. "Well, mostly I have to keep a low profile. Lizzie has no problem doing that. But it doesn't change the fact that if either of us are recognised, we'll wind up in jail."

"Hence the cowl and the cloak," Lizzie added with a tiny tug of her cloak hood, prompting Willow to step toward the pair with a small smile, her hands now clasped together.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that if this event changes your mind."

Lizzie and Eda exchanged looks at this, staring at each other in silence with straight faces. But after a few seconds, their expressions cracked. Willow's smile dropped as she watched the two adult witches shake with loud laughter, with Lizzie hunching forward and holding her middle and Eda slapping her thigh and tilting her head back. The pair were laughing so hard that tears sprung to their eyes.

It was a while before the pair eventually calmed down, wiping their tears away and taking heavy breaths to slowly disperse their laughing fits. At catching the sight of Willow, Gus, and Luz staring at them with tilted heads and forced blinks, Lizzie waved the trio off with a hand.

"Sorry. We thought you were joking."

Luz furrowed her brows at this. "Are you two really that opposed to covens?"

Lizzie and Eda spoke at the same time. "Yes."

"Why?"

The Owl Lady moved past Luz. "You'll find out once we get in there." Eda cleared her throat and began to walk inside the building, folding her arms across her chest. "All right. Let's get this over and done with. I can't afford to stay in one place for too long."

With King climbing off Eda's cowl and onto the floor, the group of five followed Eda through the doors, with Lizzie and King joining Eda on her left and Luz, Willow, and Gus joining her on her right. During this time, Lizzie leaned over to whisper to Luz.

"Luz, shouldn't you put your hood up? You know,"—she pointed at her own ears underneath her hood—"to hide your ears?"

Luz waved Lizzie off, prompting the blonde witch to right her posture. "It's all cool. Willow says most witches don't know how to recognise a human. I'll be fine."

'I beg to differ, but I suppose she makes a point…'

Lizzie recalled the first time she'd encountered Luz in the Owl House, having failed to recognise what she was until Eda clarified she was a human. She knew she couldn't make an argument against the girl when she'd done exactly what Willow said, so she decided to keep her mouth shut for now.

The group of six found themselves entering a large, high-ceiling, open-spaced room at the entrance, supported by white pillars and decorated with brick-patterned floors and white walls. As Eda had already told Lizzie, crowds of witches, demonic creatures and other beings alike wandered or flew on broomsticks between a maze of stands for various covens aligning random parts of the room. Hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room were nine banners which she recognised belonged to the nine main and well-known covens, with five hung on the left and four hung on the right. Each banner was decorated with golden lining on top of the colour associated with the coven and surrounding the coven's associated brand.

The order of the coven banners on the left side of the hall from front to back went as follows based on how Lizzie saw them: The Healing Coven (a blue banner that depicted a five-fingered, blue hand draped in a single bandage around its palm as its sigil), the Plant Coven (a green banner that depicted a round, green flower surrounded by dark green leaves and a zigzag split down its middle as its sigil), the Beast Keeping Coven (a orange banner that depicted a round, orange bird-like creature hatching from an egg in a nest as its sigil), the Oracle Coven (a purple banner that depicted a purple eye as its sigil), and the Construction Coven (a brown banner that depicted a brown fist with a lightning bolt like split diagonally across the knuckles as its sigil). Meanwhile, the order of the coven banners on the right side of the hall (also from front to back) went as follows on how Lizzie saw them: The Potions Coven (a yellow banner depicting a round, yellow potions bottle with its contents bursting from it as its sigil), the Abominations Coven (an orchid coloured banner that depicted the head of an abomination as its sigil), the Illusions Coven (a light blue banner depicting a silver handheld mirror and its silhouetted clone behind it as its sigil), and the Bard Coven (a red banner depicting a red lyre as its sigil).

It might have been a while since she'd last stepped foot inside this building, but Lizzie hadn't forgotten how many covens there actually were outside of the popular ones. When she'd first stood here, she remembered reacting the same way she could see Luz was right now, looking around with wide eyes and a slacked jaw at getting to see different types of magic mixing in one place. However, four years on and standing in the same spot made her feel like gripping at her throat because she felt as though she was about to throw up her heart and bile sac. It was easy for her to see how much her perspective had changed.

And it wasn't just her own reaction she could see the differences between either. Eda was observing everything with folded arms, drooped eyes, and a scowl, while Willow and Gus were beaming at their surroundings. The Owl Lady's disdain for the covens was clear as day, and knowing what she did now, Lizzie couldn't blame her for it.

"Whoa…" Luz mumbled, tilting her gaze up to the banners draped above them before pointing at them. "What are those?"

Gus stepped in front of Luz and held up a finger. "Those banners represent the nine main covens in the Boiling Isles. But there are plenty of others you can join that are smaller and not as popular."

Willow took the lead as the group started to walk through the middle of the stands, hooking her arm around Luz's so they were walking side-by-side. Gus walked beside King (who already looked bored to Lizzie based on his drooped eyes and slumped posture) while Lizzie stayed beside Eda. Neither witch paid attention to their surroundings, being forced to listen to Willow as she began to list coven names off the top of her head, even though they did their best not to by choosing instead to stare ahead.

"There's the 'Flower Coven', the 'Artist Coven', the 'Big Dog Coven', the 'Small Cat Coven', the 'Tiniest Cat Coven'—"

"Ugh."

The group stopped walking when Willow was interrupted by Eda's groan, watching as the Owl Lady slumped forward and glanced up at the ceiling, probably wishing she was somewhere else right now, Lizzie suspected. However, the silence didn't last long, as Lizzie quickly found out when she saw Willow move closer to Luz with her hand covering her slight smirk, lowering her voice.

"And also the 'Grumpy Coven'."

Gus quietly snorted at hearing Willow's joke and tried to muffle it with his hands. But it was already too late. Eda was already taking on a wide stance and a glare directed towards Willow, shaking a fist above her head as the children and King recoiled at the action with wide blinks.

"What was that?!"

Willow let out a quiet squeak as she, Luz, Gus, and King turned around and ran off further into the Covention, leaving Lizzie to huff and shake her head at watching them go. She faced Eda when the Owl Lady straightened herself out.

"Don't take it so personally, Eda. They're just kids."

"I know, I know," Eda grumbled, running a hand through her hair that was peeking from under her cowl. "But being surrounded by all these coven-loving tools makes me want to barf…"

Lizzie could only smile slightly out of pity and pat Eda's closest shoulder. "I know. But this might be good for Luz. She's had to learn the hard way that the Boiling Isles is nothing like her fantasy books. At least this way she can do it without getting into life-threatening danger."

Eda sighed and briefly closed her eyes. "Good point. I doubt I would have come to the conclusion I have now without attending Covention first…"

"And I can easily say the same for myself."

Before Eda had the chance to say anything else, there was a tap on her other shoulder, followed by a curious male voice Lizzie didn't recognise. "Excuse me, ma'am." Eda and Lizzie turned to face the bald, male witch standing behind the former, who was dressed in black robes and matching cowl with a square, blue Covention bag in hand. He was staring at Eda with a slight squint and a finger tapping his chin. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Eda raised a brow and crossed her arms, giving the stranger a quick glance from head to toe. "I don't think so."

"Are you sure? You seem rather familiar…"

It was then that Lizzie saw the witch's eyes dart to the right, prompting Lizzie and Eda to follow his gaze immediately. Their eyes widened simultaneously when they both saw one of Eda's wanted posters stuck to the pillar beside them.

'Uh oh.'

The trio's wide-eyed gazes locked again, leaving them to have a silent staring contest as both sides attempted to plan their next move. Lizzie ended up being the one to act first, forcing out a gasp and pointing behind the witch with forced emphasis in her tone.

"Is that the Owl Lady over there?!"

The witch fell for it and immediately whipped his head round to look behind him, giving Lizzie the distraction she was looking for. "Where?!"

The blonde witch quickly approached the stranger and pulled his cowl all the way over his head, causing him to let out a muffled shriek of surprise and drop his bag. With the witch now reaching up to try to pull his cowl off his face, Lizzie showed no hesitation in reaching for Eda's wrist and tugging her along as she dashed off, with the Owl Lady showing no resistance while chuckling and snorting to herself.

"Ha! Not bad, Redwood!"

"Laugh later! Let's just find Luz and her friends before you wind up getting arrested!"

Thankfully for Lizzie, it didn't take long for them to find Luz, Willow, Gus, and King. By the time the two witches caught up to them and Lizzie had released Eda, they found Luz had become distracted by a stand where a long, wooden stage had been set up against a blue backdrop. On the right side of the stage was a yellow bulldozer with monster teeth on its front, while on the left side were two large stacks of bricks, with one being white and the other reddish-brown. Standing in front of these stacks was the tiny creature Lizzie recognised from the Conformatorium and a grey, bushy bearded and moustached witch in a yellow hardhat, grey clothes, black boots and gloves, with a toolbelt around his waist.

Lizzie could immediately guess which coven they were looking at but stayed quiet even when she heard Luz speak up.

"Oooh, what's that?"

"That's the Construction Coven," Willow answered as the group watched the witch approach both stacks of bricks and crouch between them.

The Construction witch slipped his hands under the wooden supports the bricks were piled on and suddenly threw them up into the air with a loud grunt. As the witch straightened himself out again and stood back in his original spot, the bricks quickly descended beside the bulldozer and stacked themselves into a perfect formation of a house, accompanied by windows, a door, and a roof to go on top. From the outside, it looked to be fully functional.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Lizzie saw Luz gape with her hands close to her mouth, her eyes glistening with awe. It made her sigh quietly.

'I remember reacting like that when I first saw the Construction Coven. Even now, I still admit their magic is impressive…'

"That was so cool!"

"The Construction Coven are part of the main nine," Willow explained while the group continued to watch the Construction witch lift up his hardhat and remove a tiny piece of paper from the stack apparently hidden on top of his bald head. "They use power glyphs to enhance their strength."

The Construction witch placed the glyph on the tiny creature's nose, causing her pupils to suddenly shrink and her eyes to widen. She closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists when a glowing, yellow circle rose underneath her. The glow soon brightened and stretched around the tiny creature, causing her eyes to shoot open as she let out a loud battle cry. The Construction witch closed his eyes and nodded in approval with his arms folded. But then, without warning, the creature dashed for the Construction witch and tossed him up into the air without any effort whatsoever, balancing the witch on his side between her palms.

The group watched with wide blinks and raised brows as the tiny creature threw the witch high into the air, keeping her arms held above her head while dashing towards the yellow sign for the Construction Coven stuck to the backdrop. "I am the destroyer of worlds!" She yelled, tossing the sign aside and then continuing her rampage by charging towards a large, round, wooden hammer and picking it up.

'Yeesh…' Lizzie observed two younger male witches in hardhats run over to the creature to try to stop her destruction, only to wince as the tiny creature swung the hammer down towards the witch in front of her, which he managed to block with both of his hands. 'And I thought she was a terror even without the glyph…'

"Yowza-wowza…" Luz muttered out of disbelief while watching the carnage unfolding before them, remaining unaware of a blue, transparent copy of herself appearing to split from her as it leaned to the side. She didn't realise it was there until she heard her own voice parrot her last words back to her.

"Yowza-wowza…"

Luz whipped her head towards the clone and let out a loud gasp at seeing the replica smile and walk away from her. The young teen stumbled backwards into Lizzie's front at this, prompting Lizzie to laugh as she caught the shorter girl by the shoulders.

"Looks like the Illusions Coven got you, Luz," she commented, prompting Luz to look up at her with a raised brow.

"The what?"

Lizzie pointed towards a stand hidden inside a tent with dark-coloured curtains on either side, which Luz followed. She saw her blue illusion jog over to where two students in the Illusions Track Hexside uniform were stood in front of a pink banner with the coven's sigil on it. The student knelt on one knee on the floor was a witch with short, light blue hair styled into a long curl across their head, while the other student standing opposite them was a pink-skinned creature with a purple mouse-like tail, mouse-like ears, and with an open mouth atop their head whose purple tongue hung across their left eye, obviously styled to resemble hair. The students had their hands held out towards Luz's illusion as she stopped between them and waved her original's way, eventually disappearing into light blue dust into the air.

"Oooh…" Luz righted herself and stared at the display with an open-mouth smile, watching the student on the left stand up again and join their partner in crossing their hands in front of their faces a couple of times before stopping them on either side, smiling confidently the group's way.

"Ah!" Gus grinned and stepped close to the tent with a hand to his chest. "I see you've been taken in by the Illusionist Coven! We like to use magic with a hint…" He trailed off and drew a small light blue spell circle, briefly disappearing into thin air. Luz gaped and whirled round to the side when Gus suddenly reappeared in a puff of light blue smoke a little distance away from the tent, only to then take a bow with his arm across his middle. "…of showmanship!"

Luz squealed and twirled round on the spot. "Wow! Acceptance, comradery, and a sense of belonging?!" She turned to Lizzie and Eda with a grin. "I can't believe you two don't like the sound of that."

Lizzie saw a short and young-looking illusionist student from Hexside approach the tent and hold his hand out palm up for the student with light blue hair to take, prompting the blonde witch to cross gazes with her employer and the pair to nod at each other in sync. Luz's grin dropped when Lizzie and Eda placed a hand on one of her shoulders and slowly turned her to face the students, with the latter being the one to speak as she bent close to the teen and lowered her voice.

"Watch closely, Luz. You're about to see the reality of the coven system."

Luz frowned at Eda's words, until she saw the light blue haired student place the brand of the Illusions Coven on the wrist of the younger student. Her brows raised at seeing thin, glowing, light blue streaks stretch down the student's arm and up towards their face, causing their face to grow pale as the lines vanished shortly after.

"What was that?" She whispered, prompting Lizzie to answer in a low voice of her own, her face scrunching up slightly.

"The coven brand. As Gus told you earlier, they're placed on witches when they join a coven. But that's not all they do." Lizzie released Luz and rubbed at one of her wrists subconsciously, a hint of a growl entering her tone. "They're used to seal away most of a witch's magic, excluding the magic associated with the coven they've joined." Luz placed a hand over her mouth as Lizzie nodded her head towards the Illusions Coven tent. "From now on, all that kid will be able to do is cast illusions."

Luz turned to Eda with a wide blink. "Is that true?"

Eda nodded, righting her posture and placing a hand to her hip. "Yep. That's the law of the Boiling Isles, Luz. You're only allowed to know one type of magic." The Owl Lady strolled over to Lizzie and hooked an arm around her shoulders, causing the younger witch to flinch. "That's why I never joined a coven and why Lizzie chooses not to." She pointed to herself. "I wanted the freedom to do all kinds of magic," She then pointed to Lizzie. "while Lizzie wanted to combine all kinds of spells with potions. Had we joined a coven, we wouldn't have been able to do any of it."

"And yet you two are classed as criminals just for that? That isn't fair."

Eda shrugged her shoulders, letting Lizzie go. "Well, kid, life isn't fair. But on the bright side," Eda smiled widely and twirled the index fingers of both hands around, summoning forth a flaming ball to her left palm and a water ball to her right palm. "it makes me the most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles by default!"

The Owl Lady swiped her hands down to make the magic disappear in flurries of water and flame, causing Luz's, Willow's, and Gus' eyes to widen. The trio gasped as Eda turned and made her leave of the area, prompting them to run after her. Lizzie prepared to follow the four but came to a halt at the chill that shot down her spine, making her shoulders hunch. She wrapped an arm around her stomach at feeling it drop, not wanting to look back. She couldn't explain why, but she couldn't shake the idea that someone was watching her…

On instinct, the blonde witch swirled round and placed a hand on top of her satchel, getting ready to open it for her potions if it was necessary. However, she found herself staring at nothing out of the ordinary, faced with only the same stands already there and very few beings walking round. Lizzie huffed and pulled her hood further of her face, quickly turning back around and speed walking away to catch up to the others.

'I need to stop being so paranoid…'

She failed to see an Emperor's Coven guard poke their head from behind the curtains of the Illusions Coven tent, silently watching her retreating back from behind their bird mask.


Eda, Luz, Willow, and Gus had already gone way ahead of her by the time Lizzie had chosen to follow them. Luckily, she didn't need to go far to catch up, because they'd stopped outside of the entrance of one of the halls hidden at the back of the building. However, the blonde witch didn't get far before she found her gaze locking with the brown banner hanging over the doorway, depicting the familiar golden winged sword and shield in a pyramid sigil. Lizzie halted a small distance away from the group and instinctively gripped at her satchel strap as she watched a couple of Hexside students walk between two lines of rope on either side of the doorway, guarded by three Emperor's Coven guards on both sides standing tall with their hands behind their backs in wide stances, unmoving like statues. They were dressed in dark grey, long-sleeved shirts and trousers hidden under their white cowls with brown gloves and pointed boots. Her green eyes fixed on their grey masks, prompting that chill from earlier to trail down her back.

'Oh no. I didn't think the Emperor's Coven were going to have a panel this year…'

Eventually the blonde couldn't keep it up and turned her gaze elsewhere, her hands now tightly clutching the sides of her hood. But unlike Lizzie, the others didn't appear to share her discomfort or take notice of her. Instead, Luz drew attention to the panel by asking about it, with Eda having returned to her scowling and arms crossing from before.

"What's going on here? This looks popular."

"Aw!" Gus exclaimed with a grin, balling his hands into fists. "That's a panel for the Emperor's Coven: the highest ranked coven under the Emperor of the Boiling Isles!" He turned to Willow and smoothed his hair away from his forehead. "Do you think one of the lower ranking guards will sign my forehead if I ask?"

Willow smiled and hunched as she copied Gus and balled her hands into fists. "Only one way to find out! C'mon!"

The two young witches sped ahead side-by-side when Gus let out an excited squeal, with Luz grinning and beginning to run after them. But when she realised that she couldn't hear Lizzie or Eda following behind, she came to an abrupt stop halfway to the entrance and turned to the former, jabbing a thumb at the entrance with the tilt of her head.

"Aren't you coming in, Eda?"

Eda waved Luz off with a hand and turned her back on her, deepening her scowl. "No way!" She shot the Emperor's Coven guard beside her a sideways glance before lowering her voice a bit, wafting a hand in front of her nose. "Of all the covens here, these guys are the worst. I'll wait out here."

Luz nodded and raised her hands. "I get it, Eda. Covens equals bad, individualism equals good. But I'm still gonna go in there to learn more about the Boiling Isles, okay?"

"Sure."

Luz then switched her focus to Lizzie still standing a little bit away from them. "What about you, Liz? Are you coming?" The blonde witch immediately responded by shaking her head and pulling her hood further over her face, causing Eda and Luz to raise a brow. But the latter didn't dwell on it for long, choosing to slowly back up to the hall's entrance. "Okay. I'll see you both when I get out of there."

Eda briefly watched Luz turn around and walk inside before loudly sighing and heading over to stand beside Lizzie, who continued to hide her face underneath her hood with her back to the Emperor's Coven guards. Her hands were starting to shake and rub against the material of her cloak, initially because she could feel her palms growing clammy.

"Hey," Eda said to avoid startling Lizzie, pulling the young witch's hands away from her cloak and allowing her face to be partially exposed. The Owl Lady could see the colour had drained from her face; she looked paler than she did. "They're not staring at you, you know."

Lizzie didn't answer. She just lowered her arms and wrapped them round her middle, her body continuing to shake slightly. Eda stared at her charge with drooped eyes and a hand to her hip, huffing quietly. "Kid, I doubt that tool is among those guards over there."

"And how can you be so sure?" Lizzie questioned quietly, quickly darting her eyes over to the entrance of the panel. "I only know them by voice. As long as those guards don't speak or react to my presence, I'm not going to know. So, neither will you."

Eda shoved Lizzie's shoulder with a hand and slumped her shoulders. "C'mon. I keep telling you you're a nobody to those guys. The only one of us who's technically in danger here is me. I'm practically a walking target!"

When Lizzie failed to answer her for a second time and not budge from her current position, Eda rolled her eyes and focused on the guards standing by the entrance and narrowed her eyes, taking note that none of them appeared to have moved from when she'd last looked their way. "You know what I think?"

Lizzie dared to lock eyes with the Owl Lady, her response coming out quiet. "What?"

"I think the only reason you're getting so hung up on this is 'cause you can't figure out who's hiding behind that mask. And it's driving you nuts."

"You're not wrong there…" Lizzie mumbled, prompting Eda to lightly flick her forehead and made her flinch a bit.

"So, maybe you should give your brain another shake. Are you sure you can't think of anyone from your past who could have wound up joining the Emperor's Coven? Anyone at all?"

This would have been the part where the young blonde would have taken a minute or two to give Eda's question a good think over. Instead, Lizzie immediately shook her head, keeping her gaze locked on her boots and remaining oblivious to Eda's wide-eyed blink. "I really can't. Believe me, I've tried to think it over many times since I encountered them that day. But I've got nothing."

After a few seconds of silence, Eda crinkled her nose and placed a hand to her hip, shaking her head. "Nu-uh. I'm not buying it. Everybody has at least one person who hates their guts."—She jabbed a finger into Lizzie's chest—"Even you. They're usually the ones behind these silly charades."

Lizzie stepped back and huffed loudly, raising her head as she did so. "We don't have time for this, Eda."

"Please! That panel's going to be a while. We've got plenty of time." The Owl Lady rested her arm against Lizzie's closest shoulder, a sly smile gracing her lips. "So, spill."

Lizzie held both of her hands up, her next words coming out sarcastically. "Look, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but everybody I knew was either already associated with one of the main nine covens or had plans to join one, and they didn't have a problem with me." Shortly after speaking those words, however, the blonde's brow furrowed as she broke out into muttering. "Well, maybe except this one witch…"

Having been close enough to hear the latter words, Eda smirked and wriggled her eyebrows. "Oh? So, you do have someone who hates you~…"

Lizzie scrunched her face up and glared the Owl Lady's way, lightly shoving her away with both hands. "I can tell you right now that there's no way they would have joined the Emperor's Coven." She pursed her lips and lowered her voice to a mumble. "They couldn't even get through school without cheating at magic. There's no way they would last a day working under the Emperor."

"They cheated at magic?" The Owl Lady scratched at her cowl and looked off to the side. "I've never heard of that before…"

Lizzie had been prepared to clear Eda's confusion. But as she opened her mouth, she paused at seeing Eda's eyes widen at something behind her. The blonde turned her body slightly to see the familiar bald stranger they had fled from before standing by the 'Debate Coven' stand. He was frowning and talking to a regular guard, holding one of Eda's wanted posters in hand. They were too far away from the pair of witches to hear what was being said, but the two of them could easily guess based on context alone.

'Oh boy…'

It wasn't until the witch and the guard turned to them and the former pointed at Eda that the Owl Lady chose to react, grabbing Lizzie by the wrist and yanking her in the direction of the Emperor's Coven panel. The blonde witch did squeak a bit out of surprise.

"Never mind, Redwood. You were right. Let's go."

Lizzie didn't speak up out of objection, allowing Eda to pull her along without looking back at the pair. And yet that didn't stop her from keeping her gaze focused on the floor as they passed by the standing Emperor's Coven guards, gripping at her throat at the nausea creeping up on her. She couldn't bring herself to look at them, and not just because of her original fears...

'Eda's being silly. There's no way he would have joined the Emperor's Coven as a lowly guard.' Lizzie dared to peek back over her shoulder at the backs of the guards, none of them having moved an inch since they'd passed by. '… Right?'