A/N: Apologies for this update being later than planned. I've had quite a bit going on over the last couple of weeks which has delayed me a little. But after a lot of rewrites and editing, I've managed to get the second chapter out, even if it is longer than I thought it would be... ^^' Sorry about that. I see people have already begun to guess what the deal is between Lizzie and the Blights, but I can't help cackling with glee because it isn't what some of you are probably going to be expecting. Chapter 21 is going to have a big reveal regarding Lizzie's past, but in the meantime, Chapter 20 is going to act as the setup. Unlike in canon, Lizzie is not present for what happens with Luz, so most of what I've written is quite original. It's a different approach to what other fanfics have done for this episode, and the same is going to apply to Chapter 21 too. But it was necessary for the sake of plot and Lizzie's character, so I hope people like it either way. Also, I do mention in this chapter that the twins are supposedly shorter than Lizzie. I'm aware that only Eda's canon height has been revealed because of 'Once Upon A Swap', so what I've done here is guesswork. Lizzie is 5"7, while Luz is estimated to be at least a foot shorter than Eda, so I've guessed that Edric and Emira are probably at least a couple of inches shorter than Lizzie. I could be wrong, but at least I tried. For clarification though, please know my estimates aren't canon. Thank you to everyone who has been reading, favouriting, following, and reviewing this fanfic. Your support is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy what I've got in store, and I'll try to get Chapter 21 out as soon as I can.


Chapter 20: Twin Terrors

With Luz now occupied with her new mission of attempting to befriend Amity Blight, Lizzie decided to continue the business they'd originally come from and headed straight for the history section of the library. Per Eda's 'reassurance' that her stalker wouldn't try and look for her in a 'building full of books', the young witch decided to keep the hood of her cloak off her head for now. As far as she was concerned, she didn't need to fear anyone recognising her in the history section, let alone finding her in the history section.

It didn't take long for the blonde to reach her destination and round the corner to face the bookcase that housed the history books of the Demon Realm and the Boiling Isles. Lizzie took a moment to stand there and give the covers of the books a quick scan, her eyes jumping between documentation of different eras of their realm and the land they live on. The bookcase itself was fairly large and tall, so it managed to store a good number of books without the need for another bookcase opposite it.

'Yeesh. If I was in the magic section of the library, I could have skim read these books in seconds. But it looks like I'm going to have to do this the old-fashioned way…'

Letting out a quiet huff and adjusting the strap of her satchel, Lizzie walked at a slow pace alongside the bookcase, her eyes locking with each sign with the labelled subsection associated with the historical era until she found the one labelled for the 'Savage Ages'. Of course, due to the realm and the isles having quite a vast history by this point, it was probably going to take a while for her to reach that section. Yet she kept going, her green eyes searching up and down each row and column. This was a perfect distraction and she intended to use it as much as she could.

'It's doubtful I'm going to find anything in these books. Eda owns that one book that gives an unauthorised version of the Boiling Isles' history, and despite it exposing a lot of information and views that contradict what I was taught in school, it never mentioned anything about the ways of 'wild magic'. Still, these books are about brainwashing the populace, so you'd think something would be included about said magic to deter anyone from trying to use it. It's not like the Emperor could—'

Lizzie's train of thought stopped when her gaze located the section she was looking for, coming to an immediate halt at having the section appear at her eye level. However, she quickly noticed that the section was very slim and only housed one book with a dark brown cover appropriately titled 'The Savage Ages', causing her brow to raise.

'Are you kidding me? Is this it?'

The blonde took a step back from the bookcase and gave its shelves another quick look, not only reading the different subsections but also checking to make sure someone hadn't accidentally placed any books in the wrong place. But at seeing that everything was in order and that this section did, indeed, only house one book on the Savage Ages, the young witch allowed her shoulders and arms to droop towards the floor, looking about ready to drop to her knees like a rag doll.

'I shouldn't be surprised and yet I still am. I suppose that's because everything I learnt about the Savage Ages either came from the brainwashed version at school or dissident versions given to me by my parents and Eda. If I was trying to brainwash the populace into thinking wild magic was bad, I'd probably condense everything into one book too.' Pausing to run her hands through her fringe and straighten out, Lizzie eventually reached out to grab the book off the shelf. 'But it's all I've got to work with, so it's better than nothing. I just hope I don't have to break into the 'Forbidden Stacks' section of the library, because I suspect that's where the 'unclean' and 'unedited' versions of this era are…'

Taking the book into her hands, she noticed it wasn't very thick, and she became tempted to smack herself in the head with it. But she refrained from doing so after a sharp inhale and exhale of breath through her nostrils, knowing that damaging anything would result in her having to pay for it. With that in mind, the blonde witch moved away from the shelves and towards one of the tables nearby, opening out the book and placing it flat while she looked through it.

Squeak.

The sounds of shoes squeaking against the non-carpeted floor of the library sounded from somewhere behind her, prompting the blonde's head to snap up with a wide blink and a flinch.

'Oh, Titan. Is someone there?' Lizzie shot a quick look over her shoulder and spent a moment scanning her surroundings and listening for further noises, her mind already jumping to the possibility that she was being followed. 'The last thing I need is to be caught reading this book when I'm already in enough trouble as is.'

However, she couldn't see hide or tail of any creature lingering around, let alone hear any follow up noises, causing her to take a shaky breath and shake her head. She focused back on the pages of the book she was reading after giving her forehead a light slap with her palm.

'Get it together, Elisabeth. Remember what Eda said.'

Getting through the book itself was a simple task, as it lacked images and displayed clumps of text that Lizzie could easily read in under a minute per two pages. However, upon reading its contents, Lizzie soon discovered that her suspicions were correct. With each page she scanned, she quickly realised the information presented was regurgitated similar to what she'd been told over the years, with nothing new coming to light. In fact, after getting a couple of pages in, she ended up pausing to yawn and cover her mouth with a hand, blinking a couple of times in attempt to keep herself awake.

'Geez. This is almost word for word. Has everybody in the Boiling Isles been relying on this one book for propaganda?' The blonde used both hands to rub at her eyes and lightly smack her cheeks, trying her best to keep herself alert. 'I need to keep going. There has to be something in here about Luz's magical abilities.'

Her brief pause was interrupted by small childish giggles from behind, once again forcing Lizzie to glance over her shoulder, her eyes darting from side-to-side in search of the culprit. She was tempted to call out whoever was there since she could easily tell that whoever it was sounded nothing like her stalker, but she quickly remembered she was in a library and thus huffed when she couldn't see or hear anything else.

'Seriously, Elisabeth, stop it. Now you're just being ridiculous. It's not him. Just focus on helping Luz.'

The blonde witch rubbed at her forehead and turned back to the book, narrowing her eyes slightly as she returned to reading. The further Lizzie read, though, the more she found herself wondering if she was just wasting her time. Her mind flitted back to the night when Luz first uncovered that symbol in Eda's spell circle; a symbol she'd never seen before. It had risen a lot of questions surrounding the current techniques of magic, questions that Lizzie found herself asking again while she flipped to the next page.

'Have those symbols always been there? Does that mean they're invisible to the eyes of witches? If that's true, what does that say about our bile sacs and current methods of spell casting? Have witches evolved so we can no longer use the old ways, seeing as Luz doesn't even need a bile sac to use those symbols—?'

"Found you!"

"Ah—"

The childlike shout had Lizzie jump and shriek out of her train of thought. She dropped the book she was holding back onto the table pages first with a loud thump as her hands flew to her mouth to cut herself off, once again reminding herself she was in a library. The blonde witch whipped around with her heart hammering away in her chest and heavy breaths, her gaze locking with the right corner of the history section bookshelf when childish laughter came into play. She saw the backs of two tiny figures emerge from behind it dressed in Hexside uniforms, resembling some of the toddlers she'd recalled seeing back at Kid's Corner. They appeared to be chasing each other, with the first child shouting back to the second child as they ran away from the area.

"Told ya I'd find you!"

"No fair! You always beat me at 'Hide 'n Seek'!"

Lizzie let out a loud sigh past her hands and allowed her body to slump forward, her eyes closing at processing the situation properly and giving her heart time to slow down. She wasn't being followed. It was just a pair of kids playing.

'Titan. Spooked by a pair of children. Is my paranoia really that bad?'

The blonde witch stood there and continued to take deep breaths until she felt it was safe to open her eyes and lower her hands from her face. She slowly faced the book she'd dropped on the table and went to pick it up, turning it upright again with drooped eyes.

'I can't stay here if I'm going to be spooked like this. Maybe I should check this book out so I can read this back at the Owl House, even if none of this is making any…'

Her thoughts trailed off when Lizzie's eyes caught a word in the book she hadn't seen before on the page she was currently on. She let out a quiet gasp and picked the book up between her hands, bringing it close to her face so she could mumble the small passage of text aloud to herself.

"'Although it is unknown how the earliest witches used wild magic during the Savage Ages, some historians speculate it was done through a glyph-based technique that drew power from their connection to their environment.'"

Lizzie slowly pulled the book away from her face and gaped slightly, her grip tightening on the sides of the cover.

'Glyph? That symbol is a glyph?' Lizzie's mind immediately recalled the Construction Coven glyph from Covention, causing her to stroke her chin in thought. 'I suppose that makes sense. That tiny creature had her strength increased because of that glyph, so Luz being able to use a light spell because of a glyph adds up. And apparently it was done by drawing power from their surroundings… Isn't that similar to how Eda has had me learn spells?'

Supporting the book's cover and spine against one hand, Lizzie used her other one to flick through the remaining pages of the book in search of anything mentioning the word 'glyph' or magic techniques. Yet when she reached the end, she came up empty handed, prompting the blonde to slam the book shut.

'This is big. This proves that Luz's techniques aren't much different from ours and that there are other symbols out there. If she can find them, she can enhance her spell repertoire and have Eda teach her the basics. Finding them will be another issue, but it doesn't change the fact that she finally has a lead in her magic training.'

Lizzie did a little jump and landed with a small stomp, raising her voice a bit when she cried out. "Yes!"

"Ssh!"

The unknown person who shushed her (probably someone who was nearby, Lizzie thought) brought Lizzie back to reality, prompting her to slap her hand over her mouth at remembering where she was.

'Oops. Right. In a library.'

She briefly looked left, then right and then over her shoulder to make sure she was alone, and upon seeing she was, she swirled round on her heels and speed walked back towards the history section, slotting the book in its original place. She didn't need it anymore, after all. She'd gotten what she'd needed.

With the book returned to its rightful place, Lizzie jogged away from the history section and in the direction of the Kid's Corner. She wasn't able to suppress a wide smile from slipping onto her face, moving with her chin up and her shoulders back.

'I need to find Luz and tell her. She'll be thrilled.'


When Lizzie returned to the Kid's Corner, she expected to find Luz waiting for her either full of excitement because of her successful mission or looking glum because she'd failed. So, the moment Lizzie skidded to a stop in the entryway and excitedly began to talk, she had yet to process that it was neither of these outcomes.

"Luz, you'll never guess what—!"

Lizzie cut herself off at realising Luz wasn't in the room, her smile fading at seeing Amity sat on her chair at the far end beside a round, wooden table with a pink bag depicting a grey dog face with its tongue stuck out and a pair of floppy ear accessories sticking off its sides. She appeared to be alone, with the children formerly in the room nowhere to be found either.

Amity had turned to face Lizzie with a wide blink at hearing her speak, but the second she'd processed the older witch's presence, the teen witch's eyes drooped, a slight frown resting upon her brow.

"Oh, it's you," Amity said in a tight tone, giving Lizzie a quick look up and down before crossing her arms. "You were with the human at Covention. 'Redwood', as the Owl Lady called you."

Lizzie returned the frown and placed a hand to her hip, responding in kind at sensing the coldness radiating off the younger witch. Yet, without even asking Luz, Lizzie was already starting to get an idea of what might have gone down in her absence.

'Amity must have rejected Luz's attempts to make friends. She's still referring to Luz as 'the human' and is obviously annoyed to see me. I hope Luz didn't wander off because she's upset.' "It's Elisabeth, actually. Redwood is my surname."

"Sure," Amity replied dismissively, standing up and ignoring Lizzie's eye twitching at her response. "I assume you're looking for the human?"

Lizzie nodded and gripped at her satchel strap tightly, deciding to repress whatever anger she felt at being in the presence of this snobby Blight in favour of getting her answers. She needed to find Luz, so she had to hold out until then.

'Easy, Elisabeth. Stay calm.' "Do you know where she is?"

Amity's expression seemed to soften for a few seconds, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. The green-haired witch scowled and turned her head away, closing her eyes and tilting her nose up to the air. "Why would I? It's not like I care what she does."

Lizzie scowled and clenched her jaw slightly, losing her composure when her next words came out in a low tone with a hint of a growl. "Just answer the question."

Amity opened an eye with a loud huff, eventually shaking her head. "I don't. Last I saw, she left to go somewhere else in the library with my siblings."

Lizzie felt a cold chill instantly run through her body at the last thing Amity said, suddenly feeling like she'd been hit with a petrification spell. Amity noticed the shift in behaviour and faced Lizzie with narrowed eyes, obviously not understanding what was going on.

'Siblings?' Lizzie whipped her head behind her with wide eyes, the grip on her satchel strap tightening so much her knuckles were shaking and flushing white. 'The twins are here? And Luz is…?'

The thought made her stomach flip. She knew exactly who Amity was talking about, and the idea of Luz being in the presence of those troublesome twins caused her to breathe heavily. Her mouth twitched, her face slowly started to take on a red flush, and Lizzie swore she could feel her heart throbbing in her ears—

"Hey." Amity's voice abruptly sliced through Lizzie's thoughts, bringing her back to reality with a heavy blink. "What's your problem?"

But the older witch never answered her. Instead she twisted her body round and started stomping off out of the Kid's Corner, causing Amity's brows to raise as she watched her go.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Amity shouted after Lizzie. But when the blonde witch continued ahead without responding, the teen witch scrunched her face up and grunted out of frustration, making to follow Lizzie further into the library. "Honestly, why is everyone acting so strange today?!"

Lizzie's body shook as she stomped her way through each section of the library, her eyes scanning every nook and cranny for any sign of Luz or the aforementioned 'siblings'.

'Great. As if dealing with one Blight wasn't already bad enough. Now those two have reared their heads and taken Luz off to Titan knows where.'

The witch recalled the first two days of Luz's arrival on the Boiling Isles, where she'd admitted to Lizzie and Eda that she'd never 'fit in' back in the Human Realm, and later admitted to the former she'd never had a roommate either. Lizzie had always been suspicious of the fact that Luz hadn't had friends before coming to the Owl House, but Luz's earlier insistence of wanting to befriend Amity was now beginning to solidify that, making Lizzie squint.

'I don't know what those two are up to this time, especially because I don't recall them ever wanting to frequent the library as a hangout spot, but knowing how their minds work, they've likely caught on to Luz's desperation for friends and have started to manipulate it to their advantage. I have to find them before they appeal to Luz's loneliness too much…'

Lizzie was moving slow enough for Amity to catch up in no time, with the older witch unaware of her presence until the young teen addressed her, her expression unchanged from a moment ago.

"It's rude to ignore people, you know."

Lizzie stopped abruptly and faced Amity with dagger-eyes, causing the younger witch to halt and take a step back with a wide blink, especially when the older blonde hissed at her. "Are you really going to lecture me on being rude when you're probably the reason Luz ran off with those two in the first place?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Blight." Lizzie dared to lean close to Amity's face, making her tilt her head away with a wince. "I know why Luz wanted to talk to you, and based on how you're talking about her now, I can guess you upset her and chased her straight into the waiting arms of your mischievous siblings."

Amity's eye twitched at this, her hands balling into fists. "It's not my fault she won't leave me alone!" She raised a finger and jabbed it into Lizzie's chest, her cheeks flushing red. "If you and the Owl Lady did a better job at keeping an eye on your human pet—"

Amity couldn't finish her sentence before she found the front of her uniform being grabbed by Lizzie's hands, the shock forcing her to cut herself off with a breathless gasp as she was harshly pulled forward. Amity's golden eyes widened at finding herself staring in the blazing green eyes of the older witch now only a nose's inch from her face. Amity hadn't been bothered by Lizzie's first display of anger in front of her when she'd confronted Lilith at Covention, but seeing that anger being directed at her was probably changing her tune, Lizzie assumed based on how quickly the colour drained from the young Blight's face.

Tense silence briefly hung between the pair before Lizzie's low and threatening tone broke it, exposing her attempts to keep her anger in check. "Luz is not a pet. She's an independent, living being. Don't ever call her that again."

There was a few seconds of delay in reaction for Amity, but eventually the shellshocked teen vigorously nodded, showing she'd gotten the message. Lizzie slowly released Amity at this and sucked in a deep breath through her nostrils, closing her eyes when she exhaled.

'Not here, Elisabeth. You're directing your anger at the wrong Blight.'

The blonde witch took the opportunity to turn away and resume her walking when she opened her eyes, allowing Amity time to straighten out the front of her uniform before following after her. She took slow and cautious steps while staying behind the fuming older witch, loudly clearing her throat before she attempted to speak again, even at the risk of striking another nerve.

"You still haven't given me my answers."

Lizzie snorted and rolled her eyes, refraining from glancing back at the younger witch or stop walking. "I'm not obligated to give you any."

"You kind of are," Amity replied with a bit of a growl, regaining her former courage enough to put her shoulders back and pick up the pace enough to return to the blonde witch's side. "I don't recall my siblings having friends, yet you're acting like you know them. What's up with that?"

Lizzie's pace slowed down a little at this, her hands subconsciously reaching for her satchel strap to grip at it. Her lips momentarily pressed together, but it didn't stop her from quietly responding to Amity's question. "That's none of your business. But I can assure you we're not friends."

Amity's brows furrowed at detecting the slight venom in Lizzie's tone. However, before she had a chance to even attempt to question what the older witch meant, loud wailing brought the pair to an immediate stop.

Lizzie recognised the staff member from the reception desk standing in front of a large pillar with a green arrowed sign just ahead of them, with the sign reading 'Fiction' in white, chalk-like lettering beside an arrow on the left side and 'Fiction' beside an arrow on the right side. There were white smudges in the middle of these words, suggesting something had been rubbed out. While the staff member stood there staring at the sign with a hand to his chin, the two witches could see a second staff member with shaved brown hair, three eyes and pointed ears dressed in the same uniform beside him. He was currently on his knees and crying loudly into his arms, with both Lizzie and Amity just about making out what he was yelling in between his wails of despair.

"I don't know what's real anymore! I was so sure the non-fiction section was supposed to be over here!"

It only took a moment of staring for Lizzie and Amity to put two-and-two together, prompting the two witches to glance at each other with narrowed eyes and folded arms. To a mere outsider, this just seemed like a harmless prank caused by a culprit they couldn't identify. But to the pair who knew the Blights as well as they did, they could easily figure out they had something to do with this.

"You wanna bet your siblings had something to do with that?" Lizzie asked sarcastically, causing Amity to roll her eyes as she went to walk off towards the left of the library.

"I don't need to. It has them scribbled all over it. But at least they've given us a trail to follow."

Lizzie followed Amity without complaint, deciding to walk beside the younger witch when a sudden thought popped into her head.

"I don't ever recall your siblings being interested in the library. Do you know why they're here?"

Lizzie thought she saw Amity's jaw briefly tense as she turned her head off to the side to avoid making eye contact with the older witch. Yet after a moment of silence, the green-haired teen breathed deeply through her nostrils and allowed her mouth to relax enough to speak.

"Maybe I do. But let me ask you something before I answer." Amity stopped walking and faced Lizzie with a frown, prompting the older blonde to stop in turn. "What's the human's deal?"

"… Pardon?"

"Why won't she leave me alone? Why does she want to be my friend even after embarrassing me at school and Covention?"

Lizzie blinked in surprise, having not expected Amity to go about asking such a thing. But it only lasted a few seconds before she tilted her head up to the ceiling, rubbing a hand against the back of her neck.

"To be honest, I don't know. Luz isn't an easy read. But she did mention she felt bad about what happened between you."

"She did?" Lizzie heard the guilt and surprise in Amity's tone, prompting her to look at the younger witch and see her wide-eyed, her frown having deepened.

"Yeah." Lizzie chuckled and gave a small smile at recalling some of their past interactions. "I haven't known Luz that long; however, I know she isn't a bad person. She usually means well. But I think she sometimes has trouble making those intentions clear because she doesn't think things through before she does them. At Covention, she only tried to win to escape a dangerous situation. And with the school incident, she was only trying to help Willow." She shrugged her shoulders at the younger witch. "Yet she obviously didn't think about the consequences of her actions, so of course you wound up getting caught up in her mess by chance."

At first, the green-haired teen didn't say anything. She stared at Lizzie as if she'd grown a second head. But once Lizzie raised a brow after a round of silence, Amity snorted and resumed her walking, crossing her arms and turning her gaze to the floor. Lizzie followed suit immediately. "If only my siblings were like that…" She pressed her lips together, her next words coming out as a grumble. "My mom sent them because I forgot my lunch. But once they saw the human, they used her as another opportunity to embarrass me. They're probably taking advantage of her and getting up to all sorts of trouble, especially because they know she's caused me problems."

Lizzie huffed loudly and ran a hand through her fringe. "Of course. They haven't changed at all, have they?" But then Amity's last words registered in her head, making her brows raise with a wide blink when she remembered Amity had been reading to children earlier. "Wait. Does that mean you work here by reading books to children?"

Amity's face scrunched up at this, her head lowering at the faint flush of pink that sprouted to her cheeks. "Don't get any ideas. It's just for extra credit."

Lizzie placed a hand to her mouth to muffle the chuckles she failed to hide, quickly turning her gaze elsewhere when Amity heard her and directed a glare her way. "Calm down, Blight. I promise to keep your little secret."

Amity squinted at Lizzie's sarcasm and opened her mouth to make a retort. However, she was instantly cut off by familiar laughter sounding close by, forcing the two witches to an abrupt halt with wide blinks. Their heads whipped in the direction of a corridor off to the left of the library, where green, square drawers with a single brow, a single red eye, and mouths were placed off to the left side of the corridor's entryway inside a wooden cabinet in rows of five. Hanging above them was a green flag-like sign with yellow text that read 'Demon Decimal System' and white text underneath it that added 'Do Not Feed'. Lizzie and Amity already knew what it said, yet anyone unfamiliar with the library wouldn't have been able to find out at that moment in time. Why, I hear you ask? Because of the rectangle paper currently falling towards the floor like snow.

Amidst the paper blizzard was Luz, who was spinning around in a circle with her arms outstretched, laughing like she was having the time of her life. Beside her was the green-haired male witch in Hexside's Illusionist Magic Track uniform, and close to him was the green-haired female witch in the same uniform who looked identical to him. While it was obvious for Lizzie that the two resembled Amity closely, their differences were obvious as well, including their darker shade of hair which contrasted Amity's lighter tones. The pair of witches were laughing along with Luz, with the male puffing his chest out with his hands to his hips and the female sitting on a small stack of large library books she'd placed on the floor.

Lizzie's gaze initially focused on the two witches as they went to high-five one another, a hand reaching to rub at her throat when she felt a lump form. It had been a couple of years since she'd last seen those two, but their trademark hair and eyes easily gave them away even after all this time.

'She wasn't kidding. They're really—'

"Hey!"

Lizzie briefly flinched when Amity's shout sliced through her thoughts, causing the trio at the other end of the library to lose their mirth and turn towards the young Blight with simultaneous blinks, their smiles instantly fading at the frown on Amity's face as she stared at them with crossed arms. However, Luz's attention quickly switched to Lizzie at spying the older blonde standing beside Amity, prompting a brow to raise as she started making her way over to them.

"Liz?" Luz's gaze briefly switched to Amity when she got closer, with the latter reacting by looking away and side-stepping a bit from Lizzie's side to create some distance between them. Lizzie noted when Luz stopped before her that her mouth quivered for a few seconds at the other teen's reaction, but she didn't say anything when Luz focused her attention back on her. "Why are you with Amity?"

The blonde gave Amity a sideways glance before waving off Luz's question with a hand, noting the younger witch was avoiding eye contact and keeping her gaze on her feet. "She followed me when I came to look for you. Don't worry about it." Lizzie placed a hand to her hip and crinkled her nose. "But you've got some nerve asking me questions. I should be the one asking what you're doing and why you left after—"

Lizzie was interrupted by an elbow being placed on her left shoulder, which happened to belong to the female witch (who was a bit shorter in height than Lizzie was) now grinning at her.

"Lizzie? No way!" The greenette gave Lizzie's forehead a light flick, causing the latter's eye and mouth to twitch slightly at the contact. "I almost didn't recognise you without your Hexside uniform."

The older witch opened her mouth to speak, but she was delayed when a second elbow was placed on her right shoulder, causing her gaze to turn to the male witch (who was also a bit shorter than Lizzie in height, but a little taller than his 'female counterpart') as he mimicked the female witch's grin.

"Looks like the rumours we've been hearing about your return are true. It's good to see ya."

'Drat. They've recognised me. This is the last thing I wanted…'

Luz quietly gasped as her eyes darted between the trio of witches, while Amity dared to focus her attention on them again with a sideways glance, the anger briefly slipping from her face. Lizzie lowered her head slightly and clenching her hands at her sides underneath her cloak, initially resisting the urge to shove the pair off her.

'Rumours, huh? Looks like someone has started making a fuss over my presence at the night market…'

Eventually Lizzie brought herself to lock eyes with the female witch and then the male witch after a few seconds, addressing the Blight siblings respectively through gritted teeth.

"Emira. Edric."

"You know Lizzie?" Luz questioned and placed her hands on her cheeks, prompting 'Emira' to nod and move her arm so it was stretched around Lizzie's shoulders.

"Ed and I hung out with her all the time when she attended Hexside."

"We knew her before she became a wanted outlaw," 'Edric' said, giving Lizzie a poke in the cheek with a finger, his grin dimming to a smile. "We were the best of buds!"

Amity's brows raised at this yet said nothing as Lizzie snorted and subconsciously wrapped an arm over her satchel, the former watching the latter pull it underneath her cloak.

"Huh. Is that how you two remember it?" Lizzie replied sarcastically, not even attempting to hide the disdain for them in her tone. "Because I remember it as two middle school witches who wouldn't leave me alone and insisted on following me in between classes."

"Eek." Edric copied Lizzie's sarcasm as he and Emira pulled away from the older blonde, faking a shudder. "Can anyone else feel that cold blast of air or is it just me?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and chose not to say anything else for now, turning to her thoughts to avoid locking eyes with Luz, who was staring at her with a furrowed brow; she was probably confused by Lizzie's iciness towards the twins, she guessed.

'Titan. These two haven't changed at all.' She briefly fixed her gaze towards the demon decimals, whose eyes were drooped from being forced to spit out the paper now scattered on the floor, no doubt. 'Not that I should be surprised…'

Despite Lizzie's attitude towards them, it didn't deter either of the siblings from keeping the conversation going, as proven when Emira moved to Luz's side and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"We didn't know you were acquainted with the human too. But I suppose it makes sense." Emira gave Luz a wink. "The cool ones have to stick together, don't they?"

Lizzie noticed Luz's cheeks flush a little at the compliment, making the older witch huff. "Flattery won't get you anywhere, Blight."

"Doesn't mean it isn't true," Edric commented, stepping past Lizzie to stand on Luz's other side opposite his twin. "We thought you were already a rebel just by mixing magic with potions. But getting expelled and then going on the run from the law? You gotta admit that's on a whole other level, even for us."

The blonde witch clicked her tongue at this, wrapping her arms across her middle. "I don't appreciate being lumped in with the likes of you." She scowled, tilting her head in the direction of the Demon Decimal System. "And I certainly don't appreciate you dragging Luz into your little antics, either."

"What antics?" Edric asked with the shrug of his shoulders, a hint of a smirk dancing on his lips. "We were just having a little fun with the human, is all."

Lizzie raised a brow, naturally not believing a word the younger witch said. "You mean by forcing the Demon Decimal System to make it snow paper?"

"Don't forget messing with the librarians by switching books and signs around," Luz added, causing Lizzie to blink widely.

'They did what?!'

"Tch," Lizzie heard Amity click her tongue, briefly glancing her way as she put her hands to her hips. "You just can't help messing things up, can you?"

Emira let out a sigh and shook her head, unfazed by her younger sister's comments. "Oh, Mittens, you need to learn to lighten up."

"Yeah, Mittens," Edric chimed in, mimicking his twin's actions. "Stop being a buzzkill."

Lizzie frowned and tilted her head at the nickname, while Amity pressed her lips together tightly at the heat flaring to her face and flushing it as red as Eda's dress. "Mittens?"

"Ugh!" Amity grunted and swirled on her heels, clenching her hands into fists while stomping off somewhere else. "You two are insufferable! I'm leaving!"

The older witch silently watched Amity storm off with drooped eyes, quietly huffing as she did so.

'Well, at least that's one Blight out of my hair.'

Out of the corner of her eyes, Lizzie thought she saw Luz observing Amity's leave with a faint frown. Yet that quickly seemed to fade when Emira gave Luz's shoulders a gentle pat.

"Don't mind Mittens. She doesn't know the meaning of the word 'fun'. Not like us four."

"Three," Lizzie corrected, giving Emira a sideways squint. "Don't associate me with your mischievous ways."

Edric rubbed the back of his neck with raised brows, looking Lizzie up and down once. "Yeesh. Has your time on the run made you boring, Redwood?"

Lizzie directed her squint at the younger witch. "Not boring. Just sensible."

Edric waved her off with a hand. "Call it whatever you like. But you used to be so much more fun back at Hexside, what with your exploding potions and all." Lizzie spotted Edric's eyes lighting up when they locked with her satchel strap, causing her face to scrunch up as he wriggled the fingers of his right hand around and went to reach for it. "Speaking of which, are you still making them—?"

Lizzie's hand immediately swatted down upon the back of Edric's with a resounding slap when it got within inches of her front, which both Emira and Luz winced and leaned back at. The blonde witch scowled as Edric retracted and clutched his hand to his chest, hissing her answer back at him with a hint of venom. "Yes. Not that it's any of your business."

"Ow…" Edric mumbled and looked down at his hurt hand with a closed eye. "Still not willing to give up the goods, huh?"

"I'm never planning to." Lizzie switched her focus to Luz then, reigniting her sarcasm as she continued to address the twins. "Anyway, it was a pleasure to see you two, but we've finished what we came here to do." Lizzie stepped between the twins and gently placed her hands on the young human's shoulders, pulling her free from Emira's grip and turning her around so she was against her own front. "So, we'll be going now."

Luz blinked widely and looked up at the older witch with a slight gape. "Really? Does that mean you've found something?"

"Yes. But we can discuss it after we get out of here."

Lizzie started walking forward while guiding Luz with her, yet she was forced to stop when Emira stepped in their path, a pout on her face.

"Aw. Must you leave so soon?"

Edric joined Emira on the other side of Lizzie's path with his arms folded. "Yeah. We've barely had any fun with the human. And we really need to catch up with you, Liz."

Lizzie's hands twitched at the nickname; however, she refrained from reacting until Luz went to speak.

"Well, actually, we could—"

Lizzie covered Luz's mouth with her hand to stop the Latina from saying anything more, forcing a smile as she continued for her with forced guilt. "Unfortunately, we must. You know how it is for outlaws. Can't risk staying in one place for too long." The blonde witch dared to peek over her shoulder to look for Amity, only to find that the youngest Blight was still nowhere to be found. "Also, I think your sister is about to get you kicked out."

Lizzie didn't know if that was the actual reason why Amity was missing, but she was just going off the little she remembered Luz mentioning about her antics from Hexside, where she recalled mention that Amity had apparently set Principal Bump on her, Gus and Willow.

Emira's and Edric's response was delayed. But when Lizzie saw the twins exchange smiles and stiff nods, her eyes narrowed a little. They were up to something; she could feel it in her gut.

"That's a shame," Emira finally said, keeping her smile on her face as she directed it towards Luz. "We should really hang out some other time though." She quickly looked left and right to make sure no one else was around before lowering her voice and leaning in close to the pair, resting her chin on the back of her hand. "Ed and I were actually thinking of coming back here tonight. There's a certain book we wanted to…"—she winked—"check out. But we probably won't get the chance to if Mittens tattles on us."

Edric copied Emira's actions to stand on the other side, making the pair close to mirror images of each other. "And as a bonus, rumour has it the Wailing Star will unlock some special magical event here when it passes over."

"If you two feel up to it, you're welcome to join us at midnight to witness it."

"Special magical event?" Luz repeated in a whisper with wide eyes, prompting the twins to nod in sync.

The young Latina opened her mouth and clenched her hands to her chest in preparation to squeal, but she was quickly cut off from doing so by Lizzie's abrupt interruption.

"We'll pass, thanks." Lizzie shoved Luz forward to slice a path between the siblings, allowing the older witch to walk ahead without further obstacles while briefly causing Luz's heels to skid against the floor. "C'mon, Luz. Let's go."

Edric and Emira straightened out and watched the pair make their leave of the library, the pair waving after them as Luz dared to peek back at them from over Lizzie's shoulder.

"It was nice catching up with you, Liz!"

"See you later, Luz!"

Unbeknownst to Lizzie, the siblings gave Luz a simultaneous wink, causing the young human to grin and wave back while bidding them farewell.

"Bye!"

Lizzie, on the other hand, didn't acknowledge the two Blights any further. She kept her hands on Luz's shoulders and continued to guide the younger girl out of the library, all the while keeping her gaze on the creatures and staff they passed on the way to the doors. None of them were looking their way or making eye contact with them, much to Lizzie's relief. That meant Luz hadn't caused enough of a ruckus to bring any attention to them.

'Good riddance. We've had enough trouble lately without those two dragging Luz into anything. Although I should check with Luz to make sure they didn't make her do anything too bad…'

Once outside Lizzie ushered Luz away from the building until had reached the bottom of the library's steps. Luz gasped as Lizzie suddenly swirled her round to face her, briefly flinching when the older blonde tightened her hands' grip ever so slightly on her while bending down to be on eye level.

"All right, Luz, explain."

"Huh?"

"Why were you with Edric and Emira? What happened to trying to befriend Amity?"

Luz hunched her shoulders at the question and turned her gaze to her shoes, her voice quiet as she rubbed a hand against her upper arm. "Amity rejected the idea of us being friends. She wanted nothing to do with me."

"…" Lizzie sighed at this and folded her arms, her eyes drooping. She didn't need Luz to say anything more. She could put two-and-two together. "And let me guess: Edric and Emira were there when it happened?"

Luz nodded, raising her head as her sad demeanour quickly shifted into a wide smile and her clenched hands went underneath her cheeks, followed by a chirpy tone. "They said I was 'too cool' for Amity. Me. No one has ever said I'm too cool for someone before!"

Lizzie momentarily clenched her jaw to prevent herself from saying something she was probably going to regret. But that didn't stop her from voicing these thoughts to herself. 'Of course they took advantage of Luz's emotions. Same ol' twin terrors. Although I don't understand why they'd want someone lonely and desperate for friends to break into the library with them…'

But before Lizzie had a chance to respond to Luz, the girl beat her to it when she scooted closer to the older blonde and gently poked her in the middle of the forehead, reaching up while briefly balancing on one foot. "And what are the odds they're Amity's siblings! This works well into my favour!"

Lizzie raised a brow at this. "It does?"

"Oh, yeah!" Luz grinned and rubbed her hands together. "First, I befriend the siblings. And then, I befriend the Amity!" She clasped her hands and wrung them together. "It's the perfect plan!"

Lizzie's mouth twisted downward, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "You're still going on about that? Even though Amity rejected you?" Luz shrugged in response, making Lizzie groan and run a hand through her fringe.

'I knew Luz was persistent, but sheesh…'

"It's okay, though!" Luz scooted up to Lizzie's front and took her hands in her own, her hazel eyes lighting up. "You're friends with the siblings, right? You can get me in their good books!"

"Absolutely not." The blonde stepped back and pulled her hands free, prompting Luz to retract her own to her chest at the growl in the older witch's tone. Lizzie crossed her arms and turned her head away, scowling. "We're not friends. And I'm in enough hot water already thanks to what happened at the night market. I'm not going anywhere near them again and getting into even more trouble; the twins or Amity."

Luz raised a brow at Lizzie's words, giving the library's entrance a quick sideways glance. "But Edric and Emira don't seem so bad. Everything we did was harmless fun. And they seem to think highly of you."

"Ha!" Lizzie forced out and threw her head back, causing Luz to flinch and whip her gaze to the blonde with a wide blink. "More like they think highly of how useful I am to their pranks. Wouldn't be surprised if their so called 'midnight invite' back here turned out to be just that."

When Luz didn't say anything, Lizzie dared to glance over, only to see the young Latina narrowing her eyes at her slightly. The blonde witch couldn't blame her. It wasn't often that Lizzie expressed her disdain for things, not like Eda. Luz eventually spoke again after a moment of silence, her voice quiet.

"You've been acting really icy towards the siblings since seeing them, even though they've been nice. Why do you seem to hate them so much?"

Lizzie didn't answer at first, choosing instead to focus on her boots and bring her satchel close to her front. The air around them felt a little suffocating, prompting a hand to go to her chest as she swallowed thickly.

'I'm not surprised she clocked on to that so quickly. I haven't exactly tried to hide my dislike for them, have I?'

When Lizzie did finally respond, she didn't look Luz in the eyes. She kept her gaze on her feet and hugged her arms against the front of her satchel, her voice low.

"I don't want to talk about it." The older blonde turned away from Luz and quickly flipped the hood of her cloak over her head again, missing the latter frowning faintly at her words as she gave the surrounding area a brief look. "We should get going. We've lingered out in the open longer than necessary. And I'm sure you're eager to hear what I found out about your glyphs."

"Glyphs?" Luz repeated, her expression relaxing with a blink. The young human jogged after Lizzie when the older witch started to walk away, soon reaching her side and engaging in the change in topic. "Is that what they are?"

Lizzie let out a quiet sigh out of relief that Luz had taken the bait, allowing her demeanour to shift as she walked and talked. "Apparently, yeah. I wasn't able to find much, because as it turns out there's only one book on it in the history section. However, from what I did find—"

As the pair left the library's premises deep in conversation, they remained unaware of Amity lurking in the shadows behind the right pillar at the top of the steps, watching them leave with dagger-eyes and her fists clenched at her sides.


The walk back to the Owl House was a good distraction for both Lizzie and Luz, as the former's partially successful search allowed them to take their minds off the events that had occurred in the library. It was a nice sight for Lizzie to see Luz squeal and jump around at knowing there were other spells she could potentially learn with a bit of searching, so much so that she wasn't able to suppress an amused smile from slipping onto her face. And yet, the blonde witch could still feel her paranoid thoughts gnawing away in the dark crevices of her head, hungry for her time, attention and her anxiety. Lizzie couldn't deny that encountering Edric and Emira had once again stirred up her paranoia over her stalker, and while she was doing her best to ignore it as Luz went on about how she was going to try to track down the other glyphs to increase her magic arsenal, she didn't know how much longer she could resist them. In fact, she was already beginning to dwell on them the closer they got to home.

'I can't believe there are already rumours going around about me. I mean, I expected it to happen years ago when I started becoming proactive in deliveries for Eda and running errands. But I guess I got too comfortable at the idea I wasn't much of a threat in the eyes of the town… And as if to add insult to injury, those two wanted me to join in on something illegal without being considerate of my current circumstances. I shouldn't be surprised, since they've never been considerate of the consequences or concerns of others, but still…'

Lizzie dared to peek at Luz as the young human prattled on and moved her hands about in an animated manner, her eyes drooping slightly as she continued to block out what Luz was saying.

'Still, inviting Luz to break into the library with them to mess with the Wailing Star's magic and get a book is a little strange. The fact those two were even in the library to begin with was strange. But them wanting a lonely and desperate human teen? What use would they get out of Luz when she technically can't use magic our way?'

Fortunately for Lizzie, another distraction was on the horizon the moment she and Luz entered the Owl House (once Hooty swung the door open for them), causing the pair to freeze in their tracks at realising the former crying of the infant bat was no longer sounding, their gazes landing on the sight of Eda and King by the sofa. King was peeking from behind it with two blue pillows tied on either side of his skull with rope stretching across the top at the front and the back at the bottom. As for Eda, she was seated on the far-left seat of the sofa, cradling the infant bat in her arms as it cuddled up to her front with its wings curled round itself. The Owl Lady's back was straight and she was furrowing her brow at the sleeping bat while slowly rocking her arms back and forth, suggesting to Lizzie that she was uncomfortable with what she was currently doing. That still didn't change the fact that Lizzie couldn't believe what she was seeing.

The arrival of Luz and Lizzie ultimately caused Eda's gaze to flit to them and stop her rocking of the baby bat. The second Eda and Lizzie locked eyes, the latter couldn't hold her amusement back. With her hands flying to cover her mouth, the younger witch ducked her head down and broke out into muffled chuckles, leaving Luz to breathlessly gasp and hold her hands against her chest, a wide smile appearing.

"Aw, Eda! You look so maternal!"

Eda's eyes narrowed as she watched Lizzie continue to laugh into her hands, obviously not amused by her reaction in the slightest.

'Oh, gosh! I'm glad they managed to get the baby to stop crying, but seeing Eda being so affectionate is hilarious!'

"You two had better knock it off with the laughing and comments before I steal your tongues," Eda grumbled, finally prompting Lizzie to take a deep breath and drop her hands away from her face.

"Pretty sure I can still laugh without a tongue, Eda," she quipped as she wiped her brow with her sleeves, with Eda rolling her eyes and slouching her back against the sofa.

"Whatever." She kept her voice low to avoid disturbing the sleeping baby in her arms, attempting to move the topic along while King climbed back over the top of the sofa to plop into the seat beside her. "So, how were things with you two? You looked like you'd struck gold when you walked in here."

Luz grinned and rested an elbow against Lizzie's closest shoulder, leaning against her and standing on the tips of her toes due to their height difference. "We finally have a lead about my magic technique! And…" The young Latina raised her chin and pointed a thumb into her chest. "…cool teens like me! Call me a library book, 'cause I'm sure they were checking me out!"

Lizzie shuddered at the last thing Luz said and turned her head away from her, which didn't go unnoticed by Eda or King, the pair each raising a brow at her reaction. However, neither of them bothered to comment on it, prompting the former of the two to reply when it looked like Lizzie wasn't going to add anything on.

"Well, good for you. Hopefully that means you'll stop pestering me to teach you stuff now."

Lizzie snorted and smirked in Eda's direction. "Oh, she won't. The technique isn't much different from ours."

Eda groaned and threw her head back, prompting Luz to skip her way over to the sofa.

"Aw, c'mon, Eda! It's not my fault you're such a natural at magic." She crouched before the baby bat and tickled its cheek with a finger. "And at mothering this widdle cutie."

Lizzie frowned at this action and went to step forward, a brief recollection of what happened earlier that day popping into her head immediately. "Luz, I wouldn't do that. Remember earlier?"

But Lizzie's warning fell on deaf ears. A few seconds later, Lizzie saw the baby's eyes snap open, exposing wide, red pupils. The baby bat abruptly sat up, its jerk reaction causing Luz and Lizzie to back away and Eda to let it go, all of them blinking widely as it hovered above Eda's lap. A loud gagging sound followed from the infant, leaving the four in the living room gaping when something round rolled out of its mouth, soon revealed to be a smaller version of the baby bat when it stopped itself in mid-air with the flap of its wings. Yet it didn't stop there, as the smaller bat soon copied its bigger counterpart, gagging up a much smaller baby bat from its mouth in turn.

Luz and Lizzie cringed and squinted at the trio of babies as they flew up to the ceiling, naturally speechless. This wasn't the first time Lizzie had ever seen one being coming out of another. She lived in the Demon Realm, after all. It was a common thing to witness. This just hadn't been expected.

'Oh, Titan! There's three?!'

Everyone remained as still as statues until the biggest bat baby opened its mouth and released a stream of fire towards the sofa, snapping the group of four out of their shock instantly. King dived over the sofa while Eda jumping to her feet to avoid the orange and yellow flames, the former leaping into the Owl Lady's arms and the latter instinctively holding him close to her chest. With Lizzie and Luz, however, they wasted no time in making themselves scarce from the living room, darting for the hallway to escape further into the Owl House while they shouted towards Eda and King.

"You two look like you've got this covered, so we'll be going now! Good luck with your life lessons!"

"Yeah! We'll tell you more about what we found when you're not busy! Bye!"

"Hey! Don't abandon your king, you traitors!" Lizzie heard King yell after them, but she and Luz didn't dare look back.

The pair headed for the kitchen and didn't stop running until they'd passed the threshold, all the while the sounds of smashing and screeching (probably caused by the baby bats) echoed from further down the hallway at a muffled volume. Halting in the middle of the kitchen, Luz peeked back over her shoulder at the hallway as the noises continued, her brow furrowed.

"I feel bad for abandoning them again."

Lizzie, on the other hand, shrugged her shoulders and slowed down to walk towards the back door of the kitchen. "Well, it's karma for their greed. Maybe Eda will think twice before trying to hoard the reward all to herself." The blonde witch grabbed the back door's handle and turned to Luz, preparing to open it while taking a quick sideways glance at the window. "But hey, since it's still light out, how about we go for another walk round the forest? We could try and see if we can find another glyph to add to your collection. Unless you'd rather train with your current one a little more."

"Or…" Luz forced a smile and twirled round to face Lizzie, tilting her head to the side slightly. "…we could take the Blights up on their offer and sneak into the library."

Lizzie's shoulders slumped at this, her nose crinkling. "Really, Luz? Are you serious?"

Luz dropped her smile and straightened out her head. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" When Luz responded with a blink, Lizzie huffed and smacked a hand to her forehead. "You're breaking into a building you are not supposed to go into for a certain period of time. Last I checked you weren't a rule breaker."

"I'm not! But they're my ticket to befriending Amity. And with your help, I can make the twins my friends in order for that to happen."

Lizzie immediately shook her head and turned her back to Luz, her grip tightening on the door handle. "I've already said 'no', Luz. I'm not changing my mind."

"Pleeeeeeeease?" Luz begged, clasping her hands together and moving closer to Lizzie even though the latter couldn't see her. "These two actually like me. No one back home ever wanted to be my friend, but they do! This could be my only chance to make more friends outside of Gus and Willow!"

Lizzie could feel the heat rising to her face the more Luz went on, yet she used Luz's blind spot to her advantage and sucked in a quick breath through her nose. She was trying so hard to keep calm, but even when she spoke, the tremble in her voice gave way to her frustration over the topic.

"Well, forget it. I'm not helping you break into the library just so you can make friends. And I'm certainly not returning to Bonesborough after dark. Not again."

Luz's brows raised at Lizzie's words, a hand reaching up to scratch the side of her head at detecting the anger in her tone. "Why are you getting so frustrated?"

Lizzie clenched her teeth and lowered her head, unable to stop herself from hissing her answer. "I'm not."

"You are, though." Luz furrowed her brow and moved closer to the older witch, all the while Lizzie kept herself facing forward. "Is there something bothering you?"

Lizzie felt her body beginning to tremble, which in turn shook the door handle. "No."

Luz stopped behind Lizzie, her eyes momentarily flitting to the latter's hand gripping the door. "Are you sure? You're shaking."

"I'm not." Lizzie's trembling got worse, prompting her chest to heave with heavy breaths at feeling her pulse beginning to pound in her ears. "I'm fine."

Luz raised a hand and slowly reached it out towards Lizzie's closest shoulder, her brow furrowing further. "Liz—"

"Just drop it already, Luz!" Lizzie finally yelled before she had the chance to stop herself, causing Luz to take a step back and retract with hunched shoulders when the older blonde whipped round with a scowl, her free hand balling into a fist. "The last thing I need is to get into even more trouble because of those two twin terrors!"

Luz gaped and tried to speak, but she couldn't stop stuttering as she tried to find her words. "W-What are you—?"

"And I can't believe you're actually falling for their nonsense!" Lizzie interjected, her hands flying to her temples as she continued to shout; her voice was so loud she was managing to drown out the screeches from the trio of bats in the living room. "They don't want to be your friend, Luz! Can't you see they're just using you for whatever crazy plan they're concocting?!"

Luz placed a hand to her chest and stared at Lizzie with wide eyes for a moment, obviously struggling to believe what the older witch was saying. "What? That's not true!"

"Isn't it?" Lizzie placed her fist against her chest and narrowed her eyes, her voice continuing to tremble despite lowering a little in volume. "You don't know them like I do, Luz. They always have an ulterior motive. They go around making others' lives miserable for their own entertainment and never think about the consequences or who they hurt. That's just how they are."

Luz's lips quivered for a few seconds before the young Latina pressed them together, lowering her eyebrows and shaking her head as she resisted the urge to cry. "No way. I don't believe you."

"You don't, huh? Then answer this." Lizzie leaned forward and jabbed a finger into Luz's chest. "They don't like their sister. So why do you think they're trying to convince you to dislike her?"

Outside of the ruckus being made from the living room, a tense silence fell between the two girls as they retained eye contact, Luz appearing to freeze up at Lizzie's question. The younger girl's mouth twitched with the urge to answer, and yet all that left her mouth was stutters and other random noises. She was struggling to form the words she needed to say.

"W-Well… M-Maybe they just… U-Uh…"

"See?" Lizzie pulled away and crossed her arms, puffing out her chest. "I'm right, aren't I?"

It took a few seconds for Lizzie's words to process, but the moment they did, the shock on Luz's face melted into anger, her face flushing a faint red when she pointed accusingly at the older witch. "How can I know if you're right when you won't even tell me what the problem is?!" Lizzie leaned back with a slight gape, yet that didn't stop Luz from continuing with her rant. "You've been keeping secrets and acting strange since we met them at the library! You clearly have a problem with them, but you won't tell me why!"

Lizzie made the mistake of keeping eye contact with Luz when her expression softened, her voice falling quiet and strained at the next words that left her mouth. "I know you didn't want me to stay here in the Demon Realm, Liz. But I thought you and I were finally becoming friends. Is it really that hard for you to open up to me?"

Lizzie pressed her lips together and turned her gaze towards her shoes, still choosing not to speak and dragging out the silence. She wanted to say something, but her mouth refused to open. It was like her lips had been sewn shut.

'I'm just trying to protect you, Luz. I don't want you to become another victim of theirs.' That's what she wanted to say, yet try as she might her lips refused to budge. They just kept twitching and quivering, the action prompting her eyes to shut. 'Titan! Why must I be so cowardly?!'

When she was sure the older witch wasn't going to respond, Luz straightened out her shoulders and scowled, her voice returning to normal volume. "You know what? I don't need you to hang out with them. I'm gonna go to the library by myself."

"… Fine then," Lizzie finally hissed and faced away from Luz, yanking the back door open. "If you want to go to the library and kiss up to those two, I won't stop you. But don't come crying to me when they discard you like the vole bones Eda throws up."

The older witch stormed out of the house and slammed the back door behind her, leaving Luz standing alone in the kitchen and watching the blonde from the window as she stomped her way towards the forest round the back of the Owl House. Once Lizzie took a few steps away from the cottage, Luz raised her hands to either side of her mouth, shouting back with a frown even if it was unlikely Lizzie would hear her.

"I will! And I'll show you you're wrong!"

But Lizzie heard her loud and clear, yet the blonde witch didn't dare look back. She growled and continued walking away despite her trembling, ignoring the tears that started to well up in her eyes. She knew she'd messed up, but it was too late for her to do anything about it. The damage had been done.