A/N: Hello... Yes, I am well aware this update is coming over a month late and there are two reasons for this. 1) Life issues caused my muse to flitter, and 2) I kept rewriting a lot of this because I was getting too indecisive about what I wanted to reveal in this chapter. But at last, I've finally gotten around to finishing it. And god... is there going to be a bit for you to unpack here. Some of you may have noticed in previous chapters that Lizzie's been having some memory issues, and there has been a specific reason for this. This chapter finally starts to hint at that, and you'll be pleased to know that the issue is going to be properly addressed when I get around to starting writing for Episode 9, because I have some big surprises for that. And if any of you have noticed the clue I dropped in the last chapter, then you've probably guessed that this chapter is going to contain some big revelations regarding Lizzie's stalker too (and then some for a specific topic I shall not mention, for those who have been wondering about Lizzie's other family... XD). And that will also cross over into Episode 9's chapters, so consider yourselves in for a treat then too. I don't know when I'll be getting around to doing Chapter 25, as I might take a break from this fanfic and focus on another one for a chapter. But I'll have to see how I feel and how life is going to treat me next. Thank you to everyone who has been favouriting, following, reviewing and reading this story. I hope you enjoy the conclusion to 'Once Upon A Swap', despite this episode being one of the fandoms' least favourite episodes.


Chapter 24: Lizzie's Chaotic Errand (Part 2)

If Lizzie had been asked earlier what her plans for the day were, the answer wouldn't include running for her life from two crazy old ladies through the streets of Bonesborough with her technical employer's conscience inside a little demon's body clinging to her shoulder. And yet… here she was.

Despite feeling the current weight of her satchel tugging her back down, Lizzie kept her eyes ahead and ran up the familiar street like her life depended on it, which she was pretty sure it did at this point. The young witch still didn't know what was up with the elderly woman named 'Dottie', but considering she could hear her galloping and loud breathing behind her over the thudding of her pulse in her ears and her own gasps for air, she was having second thoughts of stopping to find out. Luckily, she didn't need to, as she had the infamous Owl Lady stuck in King's body acting as the eyes and voice of encouragement in the back of her head.

"Pick up the pace, Redwood! She's gaining on us!"

"Hey— Huff!"—Lizzie paused for breath, clutching at her chest with a hand and a slight squint at feeling her limbs' aches screaming through the pumping of her adrenaline—"You try running with a satchel full of potion vials dangling off your back! Huff! I've been doing it for most of the afternoon!"

'King' let out a low chuckle at this and shook 'his' head. "Sheesh. Even in a situation like this, you're snarky! Wonder where you got that from…"

"Huff! Take a guess!"

But that wasn't an understatement. Lizzie could slowly feel her adrenaline high wearing off as she slowed down and skidded in preparation to dart into the adjoining street, which she suspected had something to do with the running she'd already done. She hadn't stopped for proper rest, and because she wasn't used to doing things like this, she knew she was in trouble.

That thought was soon fortified by the next words 'King' shouted her way.

"Duck!"

The blonde obeyed her employer without question, reacting just in time to dodge a scrunched-up net whizzing over her head (which she saw a little above her vision). The movement caused 'King' to go forward over Lizzie's shoulder, but luckily the witch saw and moved her arms to catch the little demon securely in her hold, stumbling a little yet managing to regain her footing. She straightened up and resumed running at her original pace, keeping 'King' against her chest so 'he' could climb back up onto her shoulder.

"What's the problem with these ladies?!"

'King' clutched Lizzie's satchel strap between 'his' claws. "I've been asking that since they kidnapped me. Pair of creepy weirdos."

"I can't keep this pace up, Eda…!" Lizzie wheezed, feeling her body slump forward at her persistent running down the next street; she sounded like someone had punched the air right out of her gut, her words only just about easy enough to make out. "We need to get them off our tail…!"

At Lizzie's words, 'King' tilted 'his' head at Lizzie's satchel, the mouth of 'his' jaw pressing together at the metaphorical lightbulb lighting up in 'his' head.

"You're right…" 'He' replied with forced emphasis, sliding down the satchel strap to get closer to the satchel before reaching a paw to flip it open, wriggling 'his' claws around while scanning the pile of potion vials, 'his' eyes lighting up at the sight of the small vial of glowing yellow liquid 'he' knew was Lizzie's light potion. "Let's start by lightening your load…"

Lizzie frowned with a blink when she'd properly processed what 'King' had said, resisting the urge to look back at feeling the little demon climbing back up to her shoulder, one of her light potion vials now clutched in one of 'his' paws. "Wait. What are you doing in my—?"

"Hey, creeps!" 'King' interrupted Lizzie after standing on two feet on her shoulder, with Lizzie finally daring to glance the little demon's way just in time to catch the potion vial being held back ready to throw forward. "I told you I wasn't above disrespecting my elders! Take this!"

Time seemed to slow down for the young witch as her eyes trailed after her potion as far as they could go, leaving it to disappear from her sight as it descended towards the floor. The next thing Lizzie knew, she was turning her head away at the sudden explosion of light erupting close behind them, forcing the blonde to lower her head at the harsh yellow glow threatening to blind her. The footsteps chasing them died out almost immediately, indicating their pursuers had been caught off guard.

'King' whipped 'his' head to the side too quickly to avert 'his' gaze, the movement causing 'him' to wobble and tumble off Lizzie's shoulder with a shocked cry, which mingled with the roar of pain that came from Dottie and the loud gasp from her partner. Luckily 'he' landed in Lizzie's arms when the blonde witch raised them in time to catch 'him' again. Lizzie breathed heavily and held 'King' close to her chest as she tried to pull herself together, but she didn't stop running even when 'King' piped up and raised 'his' bunched-up fists above 'his' head.

"Aha! Who needs babying now?!"

'Good thinking, Eda! Wish I'd thought of that…'

As much as Lizzie had wanted to say that out loud, she currently didn't have the breath to do it. So, instead, she gave the street in front of her a quick glance until her eyes landed on an alleyway coming up on their right. Using the five second window they'd been given, Lizzie breathed heavily and pushed herself forward against her aching body, practically diving into the overcast shadow when she was close enough.

The young witch landed on her knees by the time the charging footsteps resumed, sighing heavily and briefly closing her eyes at the chance to finally rest her aching limbs, even with her heart still beating against her chest like someone was using it as a bongo drum.

'Oh, thank the Titan!'

It wasn't until the footsteps got closer that Lizzie shuffled to the left wall to press her back against it as much as she could, attempting to blend in to her surroundings. 'King' sat in her lap and listened out alongside Lizzie for their pursuers, even amidst Lizzie's loud and heavy breathing and thudding heart as she tried to catch her breath.

"Don't let them get away, Dottie!" Lizzie heard the tall lady screech, she and 'King' witnessing the backs of the two women dashing by without so much as a glance in their direction. "We can't let that rotten brat steal our precious baby!"

Neither Lizzie nor 'King' said a word, the pair staying still and silent until the two elderly ladies disappeared from their sight, with their footsteps slowly dying out soon after. The moment they were both met with silence, the witch and demon simultaneously released the breaths they hadn't realised they'd been holding in, wiping their brows with their arms in sync (even though Lizzie was the only one who had been sweating).

"Whew!"

'King' snorted and climbed off Lizzie's lap to wander over close to the alley's entrance, allowing her to drop her body to the side and collapse onto the ground with a light thud. The blonde rolled over onto her back and laid on the dirty floor to stare up at the cloud scattered sky, her chest quickly rising and falling in time with her greedy gasps for the oxygen she needed to reclaim through her gaping mouth. The palpitations were beginning to dull enough to bring forth the thumping aches in their full force, and her clothes had soaked up so much sweat that her shirt clung to her body the same way a terrified child would cling to their mother. That didn't stop her from closing her eyes again and basking in the moment though, finally glad to be getting proper rest.

'King' stretched 'his' arms above 'his' head before moving 'his' paws to 'his' hips, taking on a wide stance while getting a good look at the street in front of them.

"I have to say, out of my fair share of chases, this has to be the wackiest one I've ever had. … Well, above the ones involving my exes at least." 'He' snorted and sighed contentedly before making 'his' way over to Lizzie still on the ground, plopping down on 'his' bottom beside her head. 'King' lightly prodded Lizzie's closest cheek with a claw, resulting in a tiny flinch from the blonde witch. "Now then, are you gonna clue me in or not?"

Lizzie responded without breaking her current eye contact with the sky, her breathing falling quiet and her chest levelling out once more. "The guards know about the incident at the night market. I've heard from Morton they're looking for us."

"Wuh-oh." 'King' focused on 'his' feet and wriggled 'his' toes around, mumbling under 'his' breath. "Guess that's another charge being added to my already long list of offences…"

"He claimed they'd been doing searches throughout town lately. They supposedly hadn't done any yet today, so I didn't think we were in any real danger… until Luz told me about your body swap nonsense." Lizzie rolled her eyes and turned her gaze to the wall opposite her. "She's still with your stand, but we need to find King before we can go back to her. I was briefly on his tail." She narrowed her eyes and grumbled. "And then that guard just had to get in my way…"

"Yeah, there's no way we're finding that pipsqueak wandering these streets. That's about as hopeless as trying to keep Hooty clean." 'King' rubbed 'his' chin with a paw and peeked over 'his' shoulder at the alley entrance. "And with those old ladies and the guards knocking around, we're bound to get caught out in the open sooner or later."

Lizzie tilted her head towards 'King' with drooped eyes. "Then what do we do? We can't pinpoint King's exact location."

There was a moment of pause before 'King' faced the younger witch with a claw raised. "We'll have to find Luz, grab my staff and look for King from the air. We can make a quick getaway, cover more ground in a short span of time and avoid being spotted." 'He' winked and did a 'thumbs-up' with the claws on both paws. "Easy-peasy!"

Lizzie's brows raised with a wide blink, acting like she'd just been hit in the face with one of King's toys. "Your staff! Of course! Ugh!" The blonde laid her head back and smacked her palm against her forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

"'Cause your brain turns to mush when you're under pressure, kiddo." 'King' tapped the side of 'his' head with a claw. "You're smart, but not street smart."

Lizzie's eyes drooped at this, her arms moving to rest against her middle. "That's true. Although, I think it's gotten worse since Xander re-entered my life."

When 'King' didn't respond, Lizzie gave the little demon a sideways glance, seeing 'him' tilting 'his' head at her with a frown.

"Who?"

It took a few seconds of silent staring before the witch realised her slipup, causing her eyes to widen slightly. However, her face quickly relaxed, followed soon after by a small huff and the closing of her eyes.

"… My stalker."

Silence flooded the air between employer and employee for yet another time, with neither daring to make an attempt to break it. That moment soon passed when 'King' threw 'his' head back and started cackling with 'his' arms wrapped round 'his' middle, 'his' body shaking with mirth.

"Ha! What kind of— Pfft!"—'he' briefly cut 'himself' off with another laugh, failing to suppress 'his' amusement—"What kind of name is that?!"

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders and opened her eyes. "That's what the guard said. Morton said an Emperor's Coven scout was leading the search, so I assumed it was him."

Lizzie heard 'King's' laughter stop then, remaining oblivious to the wide blink 'he' gave off. "Wait, what?" The question prompted the young witch to properly turn her head to 'King'. "You didn't know that was his name?"

Lizzie furrowed her brow a little at 'King's' surprise. "I don't even know how he's related to me. How am I supposed to know his name?"

'King' pointed at Lizzie with a claw. "But you told me you thought you knew him."

Lizzie nodded once. "I did. Our conversation at Covention made me suspect he was my bully from Hexside, because I couldn't think of anyone else and no matter what I can't seem to recognise anything from him. It wasn't until the incident at the library that I found out I was right. That was it."

'King' blinked three times, eventually squinting a little and retracting 'his' claw. "So… you never remembered who your bully actually was?" Lizzie shook her head. "You just guessed they were the same witch?"

She nodded, prompting 'King's' brow to furrow. Lizzie mimicked 'him' at spying a glint of concern. "What?"

"Kid, don't you think that's strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"You told me specific information about this bully without batting an eye. Yet each time you've seen him, you've recognised nothing about him aside from his voice."

Lizzie slowly pushed herself into a sitting position and deepened her frown, being mindful of her satchel as she did so. "What are you trying to get at?"

"How can you remember what your bully did to you, but can't remember who that bully was? It's not normal to forget something like that."

Lizzie turned her gaze to the ground and narrowed her eyes, reaching her arms for her middle at feeling her gut drop at 'King's' words. It was slowly dawning on her that her employer was right; it wasn't normal.

'Eda's right. I think he's my bully because of what Edric and Emira said. But the truth is, I can't recall anything about that bully. Not his face, not his name, not even the fact he's related to me. The only thing I recognised was his voice, and even then I didn't know it was my bully's until the incident at the library, when I heard it in my head…'

Lizzie eventually raised her head and stared silently at 'King', the answer to 'his' question on the tip of her tongue. And yet it went unspoken, because no matter how much her mouth and jaw twitch, she couldn't give them physical substance. She didn't know what was causing it, but she knew there was probably a reason why her mind had ended up this way.

When the silence prevailed, 'King' prepared to stand and approach the young witch. However, 'he' halted at a glowing green outline suddenly encompassing 'his' body, causing 'him' to glance down at 'his' feet.

"What the—?! Whoa!"

'King' cried out as 'he' was suddenly hoisted in the air, forcing Lizzie to her feet with wide eyes when 'he' was abruptly flung towards the back of the alley.

"Eda!"

Lizzie yelled for her employer and automatically reached out a hand to grab 'him'. But, of course, it was useless. The blonde witch helplessly watched as 'King' stopped inches away from the wall before 'he' could crash into it, now levitating off the ground at Lizzie's eye level. 'He' scowled and flailed 'his' arms around, leaving Lizzie blinking widely at recognising the spell.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!"

'A levitation spell? But who…?'

A thin, humanoid silhouette stretched over the spot on the wall where 'King' was being kept in the air, blocking the little remnants of light from the street from the alley's entrance. Yet Lizzie didn't dare to acknowledge it until a familiar deep, cold tone of the voice that belonged to it seethed in her ears.

"Hello, Elisabeth."

Lizzie shuddered at the tingle that immediately shot down her spine, her body slowly turning to see the newcomer for herself. Her shoulders instinctively stiffened at the sight of the masked Emperor's Coven scout standing there with his black staff without its palisman held in his right hand, his left one lowering to his side while his feet remained spread apart in a wide stance. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell by his tone that he was holding back anger.

'Oh, Titan.'

Lizzie briefly shot 'King' a glance to see 'his' reaction to the situation, but 'he' was too busy rolling around in mid-air while kicking and waving 'his' limbs about.

"Apologies for meeting you in this manner," he continued sarcastically, straightening himself out and smacking his staff against his gloved palm. "but I had a feeling you wouldn't have taken too kindly to seeing me in person, given our last encounter…"

Lizzie's hands went straight to her chest as she backed up towards the wall of the alleyway where 'King' was, her eyes never leaving the scout blocking her only route for escape. That didn't stop 'King' from sending a sassy remark the scout's way.

"Apology not accepted." 'King' flipped 'himself' onto 'his' stomach, balling 'his' paws into tiny fists. "Now put me down before I make you!"

The scout forced a laugh and tilted his head back a bit, a gloved hand going to his stomach. "Ha! That's cute! But you're nothing but the Owl Lady's pet. I'm just doing you a favour by keeping you out of harm's way~."

'King' clenched 'his' jaw a bit at this, 'his' shoulders slumping. "Geez. King really does have it rough. No one's taking me seriously when I'm like this."

But Lizzie wasn't listening. She couldn't bring herself to look away from the coven scout, his presence and entrapment causing her body to physically tremble.

'Where did he come from?! How did he even know I was here?! There have been no guard patrols today, according to Morton and Luz anyway! Did that guard report to him about seeing me?!'

The blonde's question was answered when she saw a certain ferret climb up the back of the scout's clothes and settle on his left shoulder on its hind legs, finally bringing her to gasp loudly. The scout turned his head slightly towards his palisman, reaching up a gloved finger to stroke the ferret under the chin, his tone briefly shifting to smug.

"You remember Bandit, don't you? My palisman. He's been doing a little spy work for me today."

Lizzie's brow raised at the name, momentarily taken off guard when her gaze darted between the witch and his palisman.

'Bandit? Isn't that name a little too on the nose?'

'King' snorted and rolled 'his' eyes. "Yeesh. And I thought King's name was too simple…"

"I'd heard chatter of the Owl Lady frequenting the marketplace on the weekends, and Bandit here didn't disappoint me when he reported you were with her." The scout chuckled lowly and pulled away from Bandit, with Lizzie practically hearing the smirk in his voice. "What a stroke of luck that was."

Despite her hunched shoulders and shaking hands, Lizzie forced herself to scowl and balled her hands into fists, attempting to look aggressive and intimidating to hide how scared she was. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see 'King' also scowling, clearly not happy with the recent revelation…

'Drat. Of course he was using his palisman to stalk Eda. That thought never crossed my mind…'

"What do you want?" Lizzie hissed, her eyes quickly darting back and forth between the dark brick walls on either side of her. They appeared to be alone at the moment, which only raised more questions than answers for her. "Still planning to ship me off to the Conformatorium?"

The scout's eyes followed Lizzie's terrified gaze towards the alleyway they were in, causing him to raise his head and expose his green eyes hiding just behind the mask. "Oh. Don't worry. It's just you, me and the three walls at the moment. Because while that is still the end goal…"—his tone turned venomous when his eyes narrowed to slits—"… I have a bone to pick with you first."

Lizzie's brows furrowed at this, staying silent in favour of watching the scout reach into the inside of his cloak and fish his hand through it, like he was looking for something.

'A bone to pick with me? What's that supposed to mean—?'

Eventually his gloved hand re-emerged and opened out to reveal glass shards covered in the glistening remnants of yellow liquid, causing Lizzie's jaw to drop and the colour to drain from her face. Her own words to Eda the other day was quick to jump back into her head, prompting the blonde to visibly gulp and grip at her throat at slowly feeling her face growing damp.

'My stalker knows how to recognise my potion vials. I never picked up the evidence after I freed the palismen, so if he finds it, he's going to know I'm the one who attacked those hunters.'

"I know it was you who attacked those demon hunters the other night," he hissed between his teeth, tossing the shards towards the left.

Lizzie would have turned to 'King' to give 'him' an 'I-told-you-so' kind of look, she instead flinched at hearing the glass make contact with the wall, with 'King' cringing and closing an eye.

"Oof. Proven me wrong again, haven't you, Redwood?"

'At least Eda's verbally acknowledged I was right… again.'

Lizzie would have made a sarcastic retort to her companion had their current situation not been so dire. She knew he'd caught her out, yet she chose not to say anything. She recalled Eda once telling her that if she was ever accused of something by the guards, she just had to keep her mouth shut and not respond. Apparently, it was a good way of ensuring she didn't give them a reason to arrest her (such as unintentionally admitting to said accusation), even though Lizzie knew Eda didn't always follow her own advice…

The silence drew on until the coven scout held out the end of his staff towards Bandit, with the ferret proceeding to curl its body round the staff's head and place its chin on the tip, slowly reverting to its wooden state.

"What's the matter, Elisabeth?" he practically spat, his tone dripping heavily with sarcasm. "Have you got anything to say for yourself? Or are you still intent on interfering in my life yet again?"

Lizzie raised a brow at the last question, as did 'King' (whose confusion was surprisingly keeping 'him' quiet).

'Again? What does he mean by 'again'?'

"What are you talking about?"

The words left Lizzie's mouth before she had chance to stop them, her mistake only realised when she saw the scout's grip tighten on his staff, his gloved fist violently trembling from the added pressure.

"How can you continue to play dumb?!" He shouted, forcing Lizzie to recoil with a step back closer to the wall. "Was getting me suspended from Hexside with your stupid potion stunt not enough for you?!"

The young witch raised both hands palm-up at hearing the venom in his tone, only for her to gape a little at the latter words. 'King' turned 'his' head to Lizzie with a wide blink, as if having remembered something. She'd already had her suspicions prior thanks to Edric and Emira, but now that she had verbal confirmation from the victim himself…

'The reason you got expelled. Remember? You blew up a potion in your relative's face!'

"… It was you. You're the one I attacked."

That was the last straw for the coven scout. Before either Lizzie or 'King' could comprehend what was happening, he released a ferocious growl and stomped forward towards the other witch, dropping his staff with a loud clatter on the ground as he did so. His hands grabbed the front of Lizzie's vest and harshly pulled her toward him, causing her whole body to freeze up on impulse with a breathless gasp. Lizzie's terrified green eyes stared into the flaring anger emitting from the matching green hiding behind the mask, their faces now only a nose's inch away from each other. The two witches were close to eye level, with Lizzie mentally noting there was a couple of inches difference between them.

"Enough with the theatrics!"

"Get your mitts off her!" 'King' hissed despite being incapacitated, kicking 'his' arms and legs around in attempt to move 'himself' over to where 'his' technical charge was.

The coven scout released Lizzie's clothing with one hand and whipped his head towards the little demon with narrowed eyes, swiftly swiping his arm to send 'King' backwards through the air. "And enough with your chatter, mongrel!"

'King's' back collided with the opposite wall, prompting a small grunt to escape 'him' before 'he' limply dropped to the floor face-first.

"Eda!" Lizzie desperately cried out and went to move forward, but she was roughly tugged to a stop by both of her stalker's hands gripping at her front once more.

"I'm not playing games anymore, Elisabeth." Lizzie hunched her shoulders as she was pulled closer to him for a second time, turning her head away slightly when his mask moved close to her ear, his voice lowered to threatening whispers. "You may have had the upper hand back at Covention because of that naïve coven leader protecting you, but it's just me here now with full authority."

Lizzie's eyes briefly widened at this, with 'King' slowly raising 'his' head and blinking repeatedly as it limply rolled from side to side, thankfully appearing too dazed to have heard this scout insult 'his' sister. The coven scout's words to Lilith at Covention rung loud and clear in the young witch's head, clicking on as if someone had just switched on a lightbulb above her.

'Wait. Did he just admit he lied to Lilith?'

But the coven scout didn't stop there, with Lizzie flinching at both his grip tightening on her clothes and at feeling his moist breath against her skin. "I'm going to make sure you suffer, not just for what you did today, but also for three years ago!"

Lizzie quietly gasped and focused her gaze on the pointed mask breaking through her personal space, her wide green eyes once again finding themselves staring at the flames burning brightly behind her stalker's own. Amidst his hands' violent shaking, Lizzie could feel the pure hatred for her radiating from his being.

'Three years ago…'

Her right hand instinctively stretched towards her satchel, her movements as slow as a snail's pace.

"Does that mean everything you said to Lilith back then was a lie?" Lizzie asked despite the tremble in her tone, breaking eye contact briefly at managing to slip her hand inside to make sure she grabbed the right potion vial. "Are you only trying to arrest me as payback?"

A loud and bitter laugh escaped the coven scout, prompting his grip on her to slip a little bit; she took that as her chance to pull out her potion vial. "Duh! Do you honestly think I care you're a criminal now? All that's done is give me ammo to ruin your life like you ruined mine!"

Lizzie's lips pressed together and twisted them slightly for a few seconds, her earlier fear suddenly becoming drowned out by a wave of anger, as evidenced by her tightening tone. "I've been on the run for the last three years! You're a coven guard for the Emperor's Coven! How is that ruining your life?!"

The coven scout responded by shoving her forward and forcing her back to hit the wall, causing Lizzie's eyes to widen with a loud and greedy gasp at feeling the oxygen momentarily leave her lungs.

"You know what you did! Stop faking just to get under my skin—! Ah—!"

A black blur shot into Lizzie's view line and grabbed the back of the coven scout's cowl hood, eventually revealing themselves to be 'King' standing upright on the scout's shoulders with a scowl. 'King' yanked the scout's hood off and leaned so far back 'he' ended up dangling in mid-air, bringing the front of the cowl to press against the scout's throat. Ignoring the fact his short blonde hair and low hanging ponytail had been exposed, the coven scout released Lizzie's clothing and stumbled backwards away from her, his gloved fingers helplessly clawing at his throat with loud and heavy breathing.

Lizzie briefly fell back into the wall before she managed to place her hands flat against it to catch herself, breathing loudly and heavily as she watched the coven scout's feet fumble around while 'King' swung back and forth from the movement from where 'he' was dangling.

"Let go!" he cried out in a breathy tone, clearly struggling to get his words out as he tried to grab at his cowl to free himself.

'Yeesh. Talk about holding a meaningless grudge…'

"Lizzie, if you have a plan, do it now!" 'King' yelled from where 'he' was dangling, bringing the other blonde back to reality with a wide blink. "There's no time like the present!"

The young witch straightened out and raised the potion vial behind her, making sure the red liquid in it was visible for the coven scout to see. She felt her hand start to shake, yet she chose to ignore it with the quick shake of her head.

"Hey, Xander,"—'King' released the hood and allowed 'himself' to drop towards the floor, leaving the coven scout to suck in a deep breath and look to Lizzie with a gloved hand gripping his throat—"Think fast!"

Lizzie saw the scout's green eyes shrink and widen when they turned to the object she held behind her head, maintaining eye contact even as she flung her arm forward like she was about to throw the potion vial at him. The movement had the coven scout screaming and instinctively ducking his head down, his arms crossing in front of his mask.

"AH! NOT THE FACE!"

But Lizzie never released the potion vial. The second the scout averted his gaze, the blonde witch placed the vial back into her satchel and dashed towards where 'King' was now standing, scooping the little demon into her arms and making a run for the alleyway's entrance. With 'King' pressed against her chest, Lizzie dashed away from the alley without glancing behind her, darting off down the street once more back in the direction she'd formerly come from. She swore she could hear the coven scout's inaudible shrieking from behind her, but she didn't pay it any heed.

"Aha!" 'King' laughed loudly and clutched 'his' stomach. "He actually thought you were going to throw that potion in his face!" But then 'he' frowned at 'his' own wording, glancing up at the blonde witch with a squint. "Wait… Didn't he say—?"

"Not the time, Eda!" Lizzie abruptly interrupted, her eyes never leaving her surroundings as she dashed towards the centre of the marketplace. "Let's just find Luz so we can—"

"Nyeh!"

Luz's voice suddenly cut Lizzie off from somewhere to her right, forcing the blonde witch to a halt. Her head whipped towards the other side of the street with a wide blink, where 'Luz' lay collapsed on 'her' front on the ground in front of Mr. Elixir (whose metal shutters had since been pulled down). Of course, Lizzie immediately knew who it was, because outside of her knowledge on the body swap, who else did she know who would make a noise like that?

"King!"

'Luz's' head instantly raised at hearing the familiar voice call 'her' name, 'her' eyes lighting up at seeing Lizzie and 'King' on the other side of the street.

"Lizzie! Eda!" 'Luz' leapt to 'her' feet and ran for the older witch with open arms and wide eyes, eventually getting close enough to grab Lizzie by the front of her vest and shake her back and forth a bit. "You and Luz were right! I can't handle the complexities of teenage life! I just want my body back!"

Lizzie's eyes drooped when 'Luz' stopped and let her go, struggling to comprehend hearing King's vocabulary being spoke in the Latina's voice. "Good thing I'm aware you're King in Luz's body at this point. Otherwise I'd be so confused."

"Same here, pipsqueak," 'King' replied to 'Luz' with a single pat on the top of the head. "But until we find Luz and my staff, we can't switch back."

Luckily for the trio, they wouldn't have to look any longer. Because just as those words left 'King's' mouth, 'Eda's' voice shouted from somewhere behind them.

"Lizzie! Eda! King!"

"And speaking of the devil…"

Lizzie and 'Luz' turned to the sight of a dishevelled 'Eda' charging her way towards them, gripping her staff in between her black oven gloved covered hands—

'Wait a minute. What?'

Lizzie narrowed her eyes at the oven gloves as 'Eda' slowed to a stop before them with a relieved huff and smile, especially at the holes where her index fingers were poking through.

"Whoo! Am I glad to see you guys!" She jabbed a thumb behind her. "You would not believe the mess I got myself into!"

'Eda's' smile quickly faded, however, when Lizzie raised a brow her way, seeing she wasn't pleased.

"… You used Eda's magic after I told you not to, didn't you?"

And in response, 'Eda' forced out a chuckle and lifted her shoulders, bringing her staff close to her chest.

"… Maybe." 'Eda' twisted the staff between her hands, her brow furrowing as her gaze darted between Lizzie and 'King'. "But I owe you both an apology. I never realised just how complicated your lives were, Eda especially!"

"Ditto!" 'Luz' replied with the raise of 'her' hand, prompting Lizzie to smirk at the trio.

"So, does that mean all three of you have learnt a valuable lesson about each other's hardships?"

'Eda', 'Luz' and 'King' lowered their heads and dropped their shoulders, answering simultaneously with quiet huffs.

"… Yes."

"Good." Lizzie's smile widened as she placed 'King' back on 'his' feet. "In that case, Eda, you wanna do the honours?"

"Do I." 'King' faced 'Eda' and made a 'grabbing' motion with 'his' raised paws, indicating for 'Eda' to hand over the staff, which 'Eda' did without complaint. "Time to end this nightmare!"

Lizzie took that as her cue to take enough steps backwards to create a bit of space between her and the trio, being mindful of the fact she didn't want to complicate things by being close by when 'King' undid the spell.

'Good thing the magic stored in a staff isn't connected to the user needing a bile sac. Otherwise, we'd be in deep trouble.'

With Lizzie watching from a safe distance, 'King' bent 'his' knees and held the staff upright, shouting loudly towards the sky.

"Body swap!"

'King' tossed the staff upwards as high as 'he' could into the air, causing it to tilt vertically and spin around above the trio. A golden spell circle was formed from the head of the staff, which quickly stretched downwards until it surrounded 'King', 'Eda' and 'Luz' in a blinding light. Lizzie was forced to look away and shield her eyes with her arms for a few seconds, but she was soon peeking back when she was sure it was over, her brows raising at the sight she was met with.

A scowling Eda stood with her staff clutched in her right hand above her head, the bee costume formerly on King's body now being worn over her red dress. King stood just beside her looking as he normally did, patting at the fur on his chest with wide eyes. And as for Luz… well, she was staring down at herself with a relieved smile, the oven gloves still over her hands. The switching of outfits was more than enough indication for Lizzie that the spell had worked: the trio were back to themselves again.

"Yes! It worked!" King exclaimed, hugging his little arms to his chest and closing his eyes. "Oh, my glorious little body! How I've missed you!"

Eda remained as still as a statue for a few seconds longer, waiting until the costume she was wearing suddenly ripped apart and landed on the ground around her in tatters. She smiled proudly while Luz slipped the oven gloves off her hands, turning to Lizzie as the younger witch made her approach and joined the trio again.

"Ah! Much better!" Eda's smile widened as she reached out to pat Lizzie on the top of her head, prompting the blonde's eyes to droop. "See, Redwood? What'd I tell ya? It was easy-peasy!"

Lizzie opened her mouth in preparation for a retort, but before the words could even leave her tongue, a certain monstrous roar sounded behind them. The group's head whipped round to the right to the sight of the tall elderly lady from the café and Dottie stood in the middle of the street with wide stances, the pair scowling and Dottie clutching the net between her hands. Whereas Luz and King raised their brows at the entrance of the two ladies, Eda and Lizzie were hunching their shoulders and already moving to back up.

"There you are, you little delinquent!" The tall elderly woman hissed, pointing an index finger at King. "You give us back our precious baby this instant!"

"… Weh?" King said with the tilt of his head, obviously not understanding what was going on.

"No time to explain!" Eda said for his benefit, already swirling on her heels and preparing to run off in the opposite direction, with the trio with her preparing to follow suit. "We've gotta go!"

The four started to flee towards the opposite side of the street, but they were soon stumbling to a stop when two guards rounded into the street with a snarling, spotted dog with pale fur and four heads leading the charge, alongside a certain raven-haired witch who the group were quick to identify as Lilith.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Lizzie saw Luz hunch her shoulders and scoot closer to her side while muttering something in Spanish, only for her attention to return to Lilith at hearing the older witch speak with her hands balled into fists.

"There she is…"

The group of four all raised their palms to their chests and slowly started to walk backwards, with Eda turning to Luz with a squint.

"Luz, what did you get my body into?"

The sound of fluttering wings from above distracted the group and had them lifting their gazes to the sky, allowing them to witness the approach of four teenage witches dressed in Hexside uniforms hovering in the air thanks to the red boots with black bat wings they wore on their feet. Lizzie immediately recognised two of them as the pink-haired girl with three eyes from Hexside's Potions Magic Track and the witch with pinkish-grey hair from the Bard Magic Track who she'd seen hanging around with Amity that one time. However, the other two teenagers with them (who Lizzie didn't pay much attention to aside from noting they were from the Plant Magic and the Healing Magic Tracks) she didn't know of, not that it mattered in this instance.

The pink-haired girl hovered at the head of the little group with her hands on her hips and her back as straight as a tree, and while her 'allies' were all wearing scowls, she was dressed with a smug smile as her three eyed-gaze locked on Luz.

"There you are, human! Looks like your weird human legs couldn't outrun us, huh?"

King loudly gulped from where he stood between Lizzie and Luz, prompting the latter to stare down at him with drooped eyes.

"I could ask King the same question, Eda."

King chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, holding out his paws on either side of him.

"Well, it's not like this situation can get any worse, right?"

If only poor King had been aware of how wrong he was about to be, because right after the words had left his mouth, a familiar deep and menacing voice shouted ahead of them, causing Lizzie's shoulders to stiffen and Eda's to slump.

"You're dead, Elisabeth!"

Lizzie's eyes widened at spying the masked coven scout (still with his hood down) stomping his way towards them to stand underneath where the teenagers were in the air with shaking fists, causing her and the others to slowly back up towards where Mr. Elixir's shop window was. Luz and King turned to the older witch with raised brows at hearing her speak with a small squeak in her voice, blinking widely at seeing the colour practically drained from Lizzie's face.

"Oh, Titan…"

Meanwhile, Eda's eyes drooped, not looking impressed with the scout's appearance at all. "Ah. Forgot about him."

The other parties took the entrance of the newcomer as their cue to slowly start to move forward and close in on the cornered group, forcing the four to shuffle together until they were touching shoulders (well, in Eda's, Luz's and Lizzie's cases anyway). King cringed and wedged himself between Lizzie's and Luz's legs at seeing Dottie swinging the net around in her hands like she was wielding nunchucks, with the others refraining from drawing any weapons of their own just yet.

"Anyone got any bright ideas on how to get out of this one? 'Cause we could really use one right now!"

Lizzie's eyes lowered towards her satchel at feeling the weight pressing against her side, a faint frown appearing on her face as Eda's original plan popped back into her head.

'We can make a quick getaway on Eda's staff. We just need an opening in order to do it.'

"… I do." Heads turned to Lizzie as the blonde sighed heavily and lifted the lid of her satchel, exposing her collection of potions and elixirs inside. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this… but all of you grab a vial of my light potion and prepare to throw it at them."

Luz's mouth dropped open with a loud gasp at this, her hands flying to her cheeks while Eda and King stared at the young witch with multiple blinks.

"Wait. Are you actually letting us—?"

"Only because it's an emergency," Lizzie snapped and cut Luz off, raising her satchel higher and turning her head away at feeling the heat rise to her face. "J-Just hurry up and grab one! We don't have time to debate this!"

The trio took that as their cue to do as instructed. Eda and Luz both reached a hand into Lizzie's satchel and took out a vial of Lizzie's light potion each, with Luz grabbing two so she could pass it to King (who naturally couldn't reach because of how short he was). Lizzie waited until Eda and Luz had finished before taking a vial for herself and dropping the lid, joining the trio in taking on a wide stance and holding the vial behind her head, all of them preparing to throw them forward as their enemy parties continued to close in. They each positioned themselves so they were facing one enemy party, with Eda facing Lilith and the guards, Lizzie and Luz facing the coven scout and teenagers, and King facing the two elderly women.

"All right," Eda began with a frown, with the trio mimicking her expression. "on the count of three." The blonde witch, Latina human, and little demon all nodded to acknowledge the Owl Lady's order, keeping their gazes locked on the approaching crowd to wait for the signal. It was only when Eda heard the coven scout release a snarl and start to run forward that she yelled, seeing that he wasn't intent on falling for the same trick from Covention twice. "Three!"

All four vials were thrown simultaneously, flying towards the feet of the approaching parties just as our group of misfits shielded their eyes with their arms in preparation for the oncoming flash. The three groups on the ground immediately halted when the vials closed in, with the elderly women's, coven scout's and Lilith's eyes widening at realising what was about to happen. A chorus of delayed smashing glass rang out before they could recover and react accordingly, causing an eruption of bright light around them.

Screams and shrieks of pain escaped from the large flash that ultimately hid the Owl Lady and her motley crew from view, forcing them all to look away and rub at their eyes with the fear they'd lost their sight. It didn't take long for the coven scout to become the first to recover with the shake of his head, turning to face the spot where he'd last seen Lizzie and company standing just as the blinding light dispersed. The other parties eventually followed suit, all of them being met with their four targets having seemingly vanished into thin air. While the other groups looked around simultaneously for any sign of the missing group, the coven scout growled and stomped both feet hard against the ground, turning to look at the sky while yelling at the top of his lungs.

"ELISABETH!"

Had the parties down below been a few seconds sooner, they would have caught the group of four gliding away on Eda's staff away from the town, with King sitting forward at the helm and Luz copying him from behind, while Lizzie and Eda sat sideways respectively at the back.

The group of four dared to glance behind them at hearing the coven scout's shout, with Luz eventually speaking up as she and King cringed and closed an eye.

"Yeesh, Liz! What mess did you get into?"

Lizzie quickly turned her gaze to the ground and quietly swallowed, rubbing at her chest subconsciously with a hand. "… I'd rather not talk about it."

The blonde flinched when she felt a pair of knuckles gently brush against the back of her shoulders, prompting her to raise her head to see Eda smiling faintly at her.

"Pha! Don't sweat it, kid." The Owl Lady gave a sly wink. "Doesn't mean we won't be here for you when you decide you want to, though."

Lizzie's brows raised at this with a blink, mentally noting that Eda's words were also in reference to the incident she'd been witness to between them earlier (which she suspected the wink was hinting at). But soon the blonde found herself mustering up a bashful smile in return, nodding slightly to show her acknowledgement.

"… Thanks."

"And speaking of not speaking of things…" Eda continued, her eyes drooping towards the trio sat in front of her while lifting a finger. "… let's agree to never speak of this day again."

King, Luz and Lizzie all nodded at the same time, speaking the same response in sync.

"Agreed."

"But wait," Luz interjected with a wide blink, a hand going to her chin. "who's going to clean Hooty? None of us actually won the bet."

There was a brief pause before Luz, King and Eda all turned their heads towards Lizzie, who immediately read their minds the moment she locked eyes with the trio. The blonde witch stubbornly shook her head and crossed her arms with the scowl.

"No way. I am not doing it because you three tied in a stupid bet." She held her chin up and closed her eyes. "Hooty is twenty percent mucus. The mud is the least disgusting thing about that demon."

Eda shrugged her shoulders and smirked. "Eh. It was worth a shot."

Luz looked up to the sky with a finger held up and a wide smile on her face. "Well, then maybe the three of us could work together and—"

"Not 'it'," Eda and King said in unison with drooped eyes, causing Luz's posture to slump and her smile to fade.

"Dang it."

Lizzie chuckled as the town of Bonesborough disappeared from beneath them to be replaced by the stretches of forest that covered its outskirts, reaching out a hand to give Luz's closest shoulder a gentle pat.

"Should have seen that coming, Luz."

"Yeah…" Luz grumbled in response, making Lizzie's chuckles worse.


After the day they'd had, our group of Owl House residents were more than happy to welcome the sight of the cottage when it came into view past the scattered trees. However, that didn't include the disgusting sight of a certain house demon curled up in a pile in front of the door, covered from head to… uh… body in mud along with the front of the cottage. If the group weren't already aware of Hooty's behaviour and why the mess was there, they would have assumed with a single glance that the house demon had gotten into a wrestling match with another creature. The moment they landed, Eda, King and Lizzie were more than happy to 'nope' out of that situation, leaving a disgusted Luz alone to take care of the mess for herself. From there, the trio splintered off to do their own things, with Lizzie giving Eda the elixirs she'd purchased before returning to her room to prepare the notes she needed for her new potion.

That was where Lizzie remained by the time the orange sky of the Boiling Isles shifted to a darker shade, signalling the approach of dusk. She was knelt beside her boxes and returning a black, leatherbound notebook and pen to one of them, feeling satisfied that despite today's hectic events, she'd still managed to get something done in relation to what she'd started the day focusing on. And while her mind had wanted to focus on the entire mess with 'Xander' (she still found it strange to call her stalker by an actual name now), she was too mentally drained to even entertain the idea, deciding to actually take Eda's advice in stride and seek out a distraction to occupy her for now. After all, she could focus on him and his pathetic antics later.

But as Lizzie was closing her boxes up and considering getting ready for bed a little earlier than planned, three tiny taps on the doorframe of her room brought her attention to the door, where she saw Luz leaning in with a small smile. Lizzie internally noted that Luz was clean despite being given the gruelling task of cleaning Hooty, but she assumed it was because Eda had lent her something to keep the mud off her clothes.

"Knock knock."

"Hey, Luz," Lizzie greeted the younger human with a small smile of her own as she stepped into the room and stopped close to the doorway. "Glad to see you came out of that horrific ordeal unscathed."

Luz chuckled at the comment and rubbed a hand against the back of her neck, giving herself a quick look over from head to toe. "Well, someone had to do it. It was getting dire." She shuddered and lifted her head to look at the older blonde with a curled lip. "You weren't kidding about Hooty being made up of mucus. I was close to throwing up a few times."

Lizzie slowly nodded and snorted out of amusement. "He once told me that fact when it was my turn to clean him. Good thing Eda is a hoarder. She had a lot of items that made the task bearable."

"Yeah…"

Luz trailed off and lowered her eyes to her feet, which she fidgeted while twiddling her thumbs. The quick shift in demeanour had Lizzie raising a brow at the human, prompting her to turn around fully to face her.

"… Are you okay?"

Luz didn't respond, causing a brief silence to engulf the room. Eventually, though, she mustered up the courage to raise her head once more, visibly swallowing before making an enquiry of her own.

"How well do you know Eda?"

Lizzie's eyes widened slightly at the question, naturally taken aback by it. That wasn't something she'd expected to leave Luz's mouth. It took a few seconds for the witch find the words to reply, squinting a bit as she did so.

"Whoa. Where's this coming from?"

Luz tapped her fingers together and leaned to the left a little to peek into the corridor, as if she was checking to make sure no one else was around to hear them. She straightened out and answered when she thought it was safe to do so, walking over to Lizzie's mattress with careful steps.

"Well…" She began slowly, plopping down onto the mattress on her bottom. "when I was in Eda's body, I…"—she hunched her shoulders—"… kinda got arrested."

"I gathered that," Lizzie muttered, standing up and walking over to sit beside Luz with the shake of her head. "Lilith wouldn't have been there if Eda hadn't been caught."

"Heh…" Luz forced a chuckle before turning to her lap, where she rested her hands clasped together. "Anyway, while she was interrogating me, Lilith revealed something about Eda and… I don't know how to feel about it."

Lizzie's brow furrowed towards Luz, feeling her stomach drop at the sudden sense of dread that had dared to spring to life.

'Wuh-oh. Not that I should be surprised given the circumstances, but still…'

"What did she say?"

A tense silence fell between them, only broken when Luz closed her eyes and sucked in a tiny deep breath, her answer coming out quietly but still loud enough for Lizzie to hear.

"… Apparently Eda once wanted to be in the Emperor's Coven."

Lizzie's reaction was delayed by a few seconds, but when Luz dared to glance her way at failing to hear a verbal response, she saw the witch staring at her with two wide blinks, her shock evident yet strangely tamed.

"She did?" Lizzie eventually said, briefly turning her gaze to the ceiling with a hand stroking at her chin. "… Huh."

Luz tilted her head to the side with a frown. "You're not surprised?"

"Not really. Eda and I don't know much about each other's pasts. We've never felt the need to pry since we're just acquainted out of convenience. But I've known Eda long enough that what Lilith said makes sense."

Luz narrowed her eyes. "Really? But Eda's against joining a coven. She said so herself."

"Now she is, but that doesn't mean she was always like that, Luz." Lizzie faced the young human with a hand to her cheek and her elbow resting against her knee when her brows raised with a wide blink. "Eda's the type of witch who wants to have control of all forms of magic. It'd make sense that she would have wanted to pursue it the legal way by getting into the Emperor's Coven, as they allow witches access to all magic even when branded."

"So… what changed her mind?"

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? People change all the time. Although if I was to guess…" She closed her eyes. "…it was probably something to do with the emperor."

There was a pause as Luz pressed her lips together and stared at Lizzie in silence, copying the older witch's actions by resting her cheek against her palm.

"… Is that what happened to you too?"

Lizzie opened an eye and gave Luz a sideways glance. "Hm?"

"Did you once want to join a coven?"

The blonde slowly straightened out and rested her arms against her thighs, letting out a heavy sigh as she did so.

'Well, I walked right into that one, didn't I?'

But as much as Lizzie wanted to avoid the topic, she recalled she had told Luz she'd make the effort to be more open and honest with her. So, she felt she owed her a little bit of an explanation.

"I didn't want to. I expected I was going to have to. It's the law. But all I've ever wanted was to learn about magic and use it in my own way. And… that's how it's stayed since." Lizzie brought her arms closer to her body, her head lowering with the slightest hint of a quivering smile as her tone turned solemn. "I suppose it's my parents' influence, really. They were supportive of me no matter what I did." The blonde's eyes drooped. "Well, as long as I was careful."

Luz's body drooped at this, frowning and turning her gaze to her shoes, which she lightly dragged back and forth against the floor. "They sound just like Mami…" Lizzie glanced at Luz with a blink at detecting the sadness in her tone too, seeing a small smile of her own slip onto her face in reminiscence. "She always supports me, even if she doesn't understand what I'm doing a lot of the time."

'Mami?' Lizzie peeked over to Luz's side of the room, her eyes immediately locking with picture the human kept beside her bed. 'I don't know who that is, but could she be referring to…?'

The blonde was quick to shake her head at remembering what they were talking about, her hand twitching as she resisted the urge to smack her forehead.

'No, Elisabeth. This is not the place or the time.'

"Ahem!" Lizzie placed a fist close to her mouth and loudly cleared her throat, making Luz flinch and straighten up. "Anyway, Luz, the point is life throws unexpected things at you all the time. But despite that, I still found a way to make it work." She reached over to give Luz a rough pat on the head, causing Luz to hunch as she ruffled her hair a bit between her fingers. "And the same goes for Eda. What she did in the past doesn't matter. She's currently doing what makes her happy, and that's what matters. So don't worry about it, okay?"

Luz smiled widely as Lizzie pulled away, prompting her to nod a couple of times.

"Okay. Thanks."

Lizzie found herself returning the smile, glad to see that she'd succeeded in cheering the younger girl up. But that moment was soon ruined by the annoying high-pitched voice of Hooty ringing throughout the cottage from the front door.

"LUUUUUZ! IT'S YOUR LUCKY DAY! YOU MISSED A SPOT! HOOT!"

Lizzie and Luz locked gazes with a blink before the latter of the pair shuddered and stuck her tongue out.

"Bleh. I don't even want to know where it is." Luz brought herself to stand and dusted off the back of her shorts with her hands. "But it looks like I'm gonna find out whether I like it or not."

Lizzie quietly giggled to herself as she watched Luz make her leave, deciding to spare her any further embarrassment by not remarking on the subject anymore. But once she'd seen Luz leave the room, Lizzie tugged at her ear and pressed her lips together, her gaze switching to the window of the room.

'Eda wanted to join the Emperor's Coven, huh? And here I thought my secret with Xander was going to be the most shocking.'

The blonde closed her eyes and allowed her back to drop down onto her mattress with a small thud, a quiet sigh leaving her as she spread her arms out.

'Xander…' Eda's words from earlier that day popped back into her head, subconsciously causing her hands to clench into fists. 'Why can't I remember you?'