A/N: ... Hello. I realise it's been... *checks calendar* ... nearly two months since my last update?! Wow. Didn't realise it had been that long. I'm sorry for the late update. Unfortunately, I had issues cropping up in my life that knocked my muse out of whack and left me unable to write anything for what felt like weeks. But thanks to a bit of perseverance and the new episodes for The Owl House S2B airing, I managed to push myself to start the next trio of chapters for episode nine. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up in updating as quickly as I was before, but I will try my best to keep my updates for this fanfic under a month at least.

Between episodes nine and ten, this fanfic has officially reached the halfway point for Season 1, and luckily for you guys I have special plans for this one. As mentioned in previous chapters, Lizzie is an adult witch who was expelled from Hexside in her teens, so she obviously can't follow Luz's plot with Gus during this episode. Instead, she's going to be tagging along with Eda when she goes for Luz, where you will not only get to learn more about her past, but also about the incident which occurred between her and Xander in a little bit more detail. So, that's something for you to look forward to at least.

Thank you to everyone who has been favouriting, following, reviewing and reading this fanfic. Your continued support (even during my unintentional hiatus) is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy the beginning of Episode 9's introduction.


Chapter 25: Back to School

Quiet afternoons were rare for the inhabitants of the Owl House. But whenever they did occur, it was very rarely for a good reason either, as Lizzie had learnt the hard way. Whenever the cottage and its surrounding area was quiet, it was usually for three reasons: either King was up to something he shouldn't be, Hooty was up to something he shouldn't be, or both King and Hooty were up to something they shouldn't be, usually together. Eda never factored into the equation because the silence usually occurred when she was out on errands or up to something herself, with Lizzie left babysitting the two demons. And while this particular afternoon had everybody present in the cottage for a change, the reason for its peace and silence wasn't any different to the norm.

Outside, a small distance away from the front of the cottage, Lizzie stood stock-still, facing the cliff overlooking the Boiling Sea. She was holding both of her palms behind her ears and keeping her eyes closed without a word. She was currently alone, as Eda was occupied with sorting through some boxes she needed unpacking inside the cottage. What for? Lizzie didn't know. She never bothered to ask, especially when it turned out that Eda only needed Luz's and King's help with it. Lizzie was surprised that she'd been left out this time around, especially considering she'd gotten pulled into Eda's last errands in Bonesborough not too long ago. And while she briefly wondered why this was so, the reason became clear when Eda pulled her aside and said what was on her mind when she'd questioned her for an answer:

'You've still got a lot on your mind from the other day. You should clear your head.'

Lizzie couldn't deny that Eda had been right. The events from 'the-day-that-they-agreed-not-to-discuss' (as coined by Lizzie since Eda had made all four of them swear never to bring it up again) had thrown her through quite a loop as well as the others, without having experienced the direct cause of their hijinks. And while she knew there was still a lot for her to process, she wasn't exactly sure of where to start. So, instead of actually taking the time to sift through the crazy thoughts going round in her head like a whirlpool, she'd decided to put herself in Eda's shoes and do exactly what the infamous Owl Lady would do in her situation: seek out another distraction. Of course, this didn't include imitating the older witch by drowning out her thoughts with apple blood. Instead, she'd chosen to brush up on some much-needed training where her battle skills and magic were concerned, bringing us back to our present scenario.

Lizzie concentrated on the area surrounding the Owl House and its ruins, listening to the sounds of life that existed on the bones of the isles they resided on as closely as she could: the chirps of the birds, the faint rustling of the leaves as a small breeze blew through the area (with the added bonus of feeling the chilly air brush against her skin and swipe at her hair and clothes), and even the sounds of the waves as they rolled into the cliff below. As unorthodox as Eda could be at times with her teaching techniques, Lizzie couldn't deny that the Owl Lady was on to something with how in touch her magic and skills were with the nature of the Boiling Isles.

All seemed calm, all seemed quiet. And then… her ears twitched when she finally heard what she was looking for: the sound of something whizzing at her from right behind.

'Aha.'

The blonde witch didn't move straight away. She purposely waited for the approaching obstacle to get closer. And when she was sure it was within a close enough range, she held out her right hand and swiftly twirled her index finger.

Her eyes opened at the ground beginning to tremble behind her feet, giving her the cue to leap towards the right and witness a cylindrical pillar of earth erupt from the dirt from the spell circle that had formed. She heard a high-pitched 'hoot!' exclaim in shock at this action, her right index finger already raising in preparation to fire another spell by the time a brown, tube-like neck abruptly manoeuvred towards the left, dodging the pillar before its face made best friends with it.

"Peek-a-hoot!"

Hooty shouted in his usual jovial, high-pitched voice as he charged headfirst at the blonde witch. In response, Lizzie quickly retaliated with the sharp movement of her finger in a circular motion, conjuring up a spell circle that soon flashed up a transparent green forcefield in front of her. Hooty's face headbutted against the forcefield with an echoey thump, causing instant cracks to form that shattered the forcefield apart like broken glass. But that didn't stop Lizzie from trying again.

The young witch backstepped with a growl and repeated the same actions with the lifting motion of her left index finger, conjuring a second forcefield as Hooty went to charge at her again. She was met with the same results as the house demon collided with the forcefield, cracking and shattering it like it was flimsy paper. Yet the blonde witch refused to give up. Each time Hooty retracted, she backstepped and summoned another forcefield with her opposite finger, allowing the demon to break it before repeating the same actions again.

This continued for a while, with both Hooty and Lizzie going with the same back and forth with neither seeming intent on stopping. It wasn't until Hooty retracted and she backstepped for yet another time that Lizzie saw his neck bending a little instead of straightening out, causing her eyes to widen slightly.

'He's switching tactics!'

Lizzie spread her legs apart and raised her right index finger to draw a spell circle and summon another forcefield, her eyes never leaving Hooty as the house demon suddenly swung his neck back towards the left and then swiftly brought it forward, like his body was a giant bat. The forcefield sprung up seconds before Hooty got within close range of Lizzie, thumping loudly off the front of it as she held both palms out to keep it steady.

Hooty raised his head and glanced down at the forcefield, seeing no sign of a single crack or dent. The house demon squinted and morphed his beak into a slight smirk; Lizzie failed to suppress a shudder at how creepy it looked on Hooty's usual cheery and innocent face.

"You saw that, huh?" Lizzie didn't respond, prompting Hooty to retract his neck and swung it back towards the left. "Guess it's time I 'upped the Hooty'! Get it?!"

Lizzie quietly groaned at Hooty's attempt at a joke, bending her knees a bit while continuing to keep her gaze locked on the house demon ready for his next attack. Swinging his neck forward like it was a long and giant bat, Hooty smacked the left side of his face against the forcefield releasing another echoey thump and a loud 'hoot!' along with it. Lizzie could see there was still no sign of a crack or dent, but she also knew that Hooty wasn't going to stop there. He repeated his actions towards the right and went for a second swing with the right side of his face, prompting Lizzie's eyes to narrow and her fingers to bend ever so slightly, concentrating on keeping the transparent semi-sphere intact when there was still no sign of damage on the forcefield.

Before long, Hooty proceeded to break out into a flurry of whacks using the sides of his neck, continuously smacking at the barrier without any intent of stopping. And through it all, Lizzie stood firm. She kept her eyes locked on the forcefield in front of her, determined to keep her temporary safety net from breaking. But the longer Hooty's onslaught went on, the more she felt her arms beginning to violently tremble from the strain. And all the while, Lizzie could hear Xander's voice taunting her from inside her head, her mind replaying sections of their conversation from the other day on repeat.

'Have you got anything to say for yourself? Or are you still intent on interfering in my life yet again?'

The sound and sight of a thin crack slowly stretching diagonally across the front of the barrier caused her teeth to grit.

'Was getting me suspended from Hexside with your stupid potion stunt not enough for you?!'

Her shoulders hunched as she attempted to keep her concentration, trying to ignore both the voice and the aches sprouting up in her limbs to signal her weakening stance.

'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!'

'Come on, Elisabeth!' Her eye twitched slightly at the sweat she felt trickling down the sides of her face. 'Just a little longer! Just hold out a little longer!'

But her conscious efforts to cheer herself on were broken when two more whacks from Hooty formed further splintering cracks in the forcefield, forcing her body to slouch with a deep, heaving breath. Knowing that he was inevitably going to come out as the victor of their little standoff, Hooty let out a defiant 'hoot!' and assaulted the forcefield with one more slower swing, finally breaking it into tiny pieces that flew off in all directions. The force of the attack sent Lizzie reeling backwards through the air with a startled cry, her hat flying off her head somewhere during the process.

She let out a small grunt when she felt her back hit the ground just in front of the cottage's canopy, but all it took was one quick intake of air to immediately knock her back to her senses. Meanwhile, she could hear Hooty celebrating his little victory from some distance away.

"Hoot hoot! Better luck next time, Lizzie! I'm an unstoppable hooting machine!"

For some reason, she immediately pictured him swaying his neck from side-to-side in some sort of victory dance. Probably because that was the most common thing Lizzie had witnessed the demon do with his tube-like body.

'Curses!' The blonde witch screeched inside her head, while outwardly, she closed her eyes and whined, tilting her head so her face pointed up at the sky. 'I still couldn't hold out for long enough! Why is it so hard for me to improve this one spell?!'

Lizzie found her thoughts flitting to the night she, King and Luz had learned about Eda's curse. She'd used the moment she'd witnessed Eda cast the forcefield spell to shield the cottage from the boiling rain as a point of reference each time she cast the spell herself, especially during this instance because of how long the Owl Lady had managed to keep the forcefield up. And that was with the knowledge that Eda's curse was also affecting her magic.

'Eda makes it look so easy whenever she casts a forcefield. And once she casts it, she can even keep it up without magical support.' Lizzie curled her hands into tight fists and lightly thumped them against the dirt, flushing her knuckles a bright white. 'How is she able to hold it for a single night, but I can't even hold it until my opponent gets tired?! Is she on a level that I'm never going to reach?!'

She couldn't stop thinking about how helpless she was during her confrontation with Xander, when she'd failed to protect Eda and was left at the mercy of her relative due to shock and confusion at everything he'd said to her and what was uncovered about him. Despite being stuck in King's body at the time, Eda had managed to overcome everything the coven scout had inflicted on her to give Lizzie the opening to attack. And she hadn't even needed her magic for it!

'This is all my fault.' Lizzie closed her eyes tighter at feeling something wet beginning to prick at them, trying her hardest not to burst into tears. 'If only I'd bothered to improve my magic over the last three years. Maybe then I could have stood a better chance against him…'

However, at feeling something round and soft drop directly onto her face, her silent fuming stopped with the opening of her eyes and the relaxing of her fingers. She was met with the darkness hiding under the black fabric of her cap, followed by Hooty's annoyingly high-pitched and cheery voice sounding behind it.

"Hey, why do you look so down?"—Lizzie reached a hand to the hat and pulled it away from her face, causing her to lock eyes with the beady ones of the resident house demon looming mere inches away from the tip of her nose—"You held that one for longer than last time! Hoot!"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lizzie responded in a low and dreary tone, clutching her hat against her abdomen for now. She had no intentions of getting up from the ground just yet.

"Aw, c'mon!" Hooty pouted and gave the side of Lizzie's face a gentle nudge with his beak, causing one of the witch's eyes to twitch at the close contact. "Tell Uncle Hooty what the problem is! You can talk to me!"

Lizzie gently pushed her other hand against Hooty to move him away, her eyes drooping at his wording. "First of all, don't ever say that again. —"

"I'm not making any promises! Hoot!"

"—And secondly, it's none of your business. So, just drop it, okay?"

Hooty tilted his head, staring at Lizzie in silence as the young witch huffed and rubbed a hand against her forehead. For a moment, Lizzie thought he'd actually listened to her for once. But after a minute or so, he proceeded to break the silence in typical Hooty fashion.

"Does this have something to do with you seeing Xander in Bonesborough the other day?"

The question had barely been spoken and yet Lizzie found herself immediately sitting up with a start and whipping her head towards Hooty with wide eyes, forcing the house demon to edge away a bit with a wide blink of his own. Lizzie knew she shouldn't have been too surprised, given that Hooty was the heart and soul of the Owl House and probably would have heard something from eavesdropping at some point. But she couldn't help her startled reaction nonetheless. It was practically instinct at this point.

"How did you know that was his name?!"

"A little birdie told me."

Lizzie raised a brow. "And was this little birdie something you ate afterwards?"

Hooty's eyes briefly darted to the side before he slowly turned his head off elsewhere, pretending to admire a gathering of trees close to the cottage. "… Maybe."

Lizzie huffed and allowed her shoulders to slump.

'Note to self: keep a better eye out for Hooty in future.'

"It doesn't matter." Lizzie proceeded to place her hat back on her head and pull it down, tilting her chin up a little and looking off to the side with pursed lips. "And even if that were true, that still doesn't mean I'm going to tell you—"

Muffled clattering from inside the cottage interrupted Lizzie, with Luz's muffled voice prompting Hooty's and Lizzie's heads to move simultaneously in the direction of the door.

"It's better than unpacking boxes in the Eda Coven!"

Lizzie blinked widely at the anger she could hear in Luz's tone, with Hooty making his comment after squinting slightly at the wooden door.

"Oooh. I hear trouble brewing. Literally."

Rolling her eyes at the house demon, Lizzie pushed herself up from the ground and approached the right window of the cottage (as compared to the window on the left, it was lower), deciding to peek inside to make sure everything was okay. After all, it was unusual for Luz to raise her voice like that. And based on what she'd heard, she had a good inkling as to what the young Latina was yelling about.

'Oh dear. Don't tell me she's started that discussion again…'

Positioning her hands around her eyes like she was staring through a pair of binoculars, Lizzie peeked through the colour-stained glass window, ignoring Hooty even when the demon dared to stretch himself over to join her with narrowed eyes.

Among the piles of opened and closed boxes littering the middle of the living room between the two sofas stood Luz, with a glare on her brow and her arms folded. In front of her was Eda with her hands to her hips and her back to the window, along with King's back as he stood on a nearby box pile close to the height of Eda's shoulders. But the trio weren't alone, as Lizzie could see Gus in his Hexside uniform standing just to the left of Luz with a hand on his elbow, occasionally glancing between the human and Owl Lady as they spoke. Lizzie recalled seeing Gus arrive to the Owl House earlier to speak to Luz (about what? She never bothered to ask, as it was normal for Gus and Willow to visit occasionally since Luz's ban), so she wasn't surprised to see he was in there.

Although she couldn't see Eda's and King's faces, their body language was enough of a clue for Lizzie to see the tension from a mile away, especially when King spread his legs apart and proceeded to punch his tiny fists at the air, hollering loudly enough for her to hear what was going on.

"Ooooh! Fight, fight, fight!"

"Can it, King!" Lizzie heard Eda snap at King as she briefly tilted her head in his direction, causing the young witch to flinch and the little demon to fall silent. It was rare Lizzie ever heard Eda raise her voice, but when she needed to it certainly made enough of an impact on her, even if she wasn't the one in trouble.

'Oooh boy…'

Lizzie saw Eda direct her attention back towards Luz, her brow furrowing at the strict tone of voice she heard being used when the Owl Lady held up a finger to point at the Latina girl. "Firstly, it's the Bad Girl Coven. If you're gonna insult it, at least get the name right. And secondly, I guess that means you don't want in on the t-shirt order, then?"

Luz's glare deepened as she held her hands out palm up towards the older witch, looking like she wanted to faceplant the nearest wall while shouting louder. "I don't care about t-shirts, Eda! I want to learn magic! And you haven't taught me any since I've stayed here!"

"That's not true! I taught you that light spell!"

Luz placed a hand to her chest. "I taught myself that!"

Eda waved a hand around in a circle, quickly looking up at the ceiling. "Well…"—she paused her movement and focused on Luz again—"what about potions? Didn't I teach you something about potions?"

Luz's nose crinkled, her eyes drooping. "Lizzie taught me that."

Eda blinked widely at this (not that Lizzie could see), yet after a few seconds she allowed her posture to droop. "Oh yeah. She did."

Luz shook her head and placed a hand to her forehead, seeming to struggle to believe they were actually having this conversation. "You said you'd teach me magic if I worked for you. But Lizzie is the only reason I've learnt anything about magic in the first place."

"Is that right." Eda balled her hands into fists and dropped them to her sides, leaning forward to yell at the top of her lungs. "If you like Lizzie so much, then maybe you should ask her to be your teacher!"

Luz went ahead to copy Eda's actions with the narrowing of her eyes, causing Gus' eyes to briefly widen and scoot away to the left a bit to increase the space between them. "I would if she didn't already have a lot on her plate right now!"

It was here where Lizzie chose to stop eavesdropping. Letting out a heavy sigh and closing her eyes, she turned her body away from the window and proceeded to rest her back against the wall of the cottage, placing both of her palms to her forehead and ignoring Hooty as he retracted his neck to avoid her when she moved. She could still hear Luz's and Eda's audible and muffled arguing from inside, but she was no longer paying attention to what was actually being said.

'Yup. They're at it again.'

"Yeesh!" Hooty hunched his neck and faced Lizzie with a slight squint. "They're still arguing over Luz wanting Eda to teach her magic?"

"Of course they are," Lizzie replied in a 'matter-of-fact' tone, daring to peek at the house demon through the gaps between her hands. "Considering Gus is in there in his Hexside uniform, it was bound to crop up eventually."

"I thought Luz was focusing on improving her light spell and magic technique."

Lizzie slouched against the wall and dropped her arms so they rested limply in her front. "She was. But she's exhausted every lead and idea she has right now. And because she has yet to find anything new and Eda still hasn't found a way to teach her magic, she's getting impatient." She jerked her head in the direction of the cottage behind her. "This is the third time this week they've had this conversation."

Hooty frowned and turned himself to face the cottage, briefly pressing his beak together as if to contemplate his next words. "So, why doesn't Eda let Luz go to that magic school? Won't it help to fill Luz's darling little head up with knowledge?"

"How much time have you got?" Lizzie responded sarcastically, turning her gaze to her boots and giving the ground a light kick. "But in all seriousness, Eda won't say. And even if Luz was given permission, she can't anyway. She was banned by Principal Bump for what happened last time, remember?"

Luz had kindly filled Eda and Lizzie on why the ban had come into place after she'd returned to the Owl House the day she'd attempted to sneak into Hexside, which was revealed to be because her disguise as an abomination got uncovered and she ended up causing a school-wide lockdown. Eda had found the whole situation hilarious, while Lizzie hadn't due to the danger Luz had put herself in. Either way, Lizzie now understood why Bump would have banned Luz over her antics, considering how serious the situation had turned out to be.

Before Hooty had a chance to let his next words leave his beak, Eda's muffled shouting and her shoes' loud stomping closed in on the door of the Owl House, making both Hooty and Lizzie straighten themselves out and jerk forward.

"I don't want to hear another word about Hexside unless it's that it's on fire!"

Hooty wasted no time in stretching his neck all the way back into the door, managing to get himself there just as it swung wide open. This proved to be the right decision, as the moment the door moved, Hooty soon found his beak making best friends with the nearby wall. Although had he still been stretched away, he would have probably suffered worse.

"Ouch!"

Despite wincing at Hooty's cry of pain, Lizzie closed an eye and stumbled to the side to avoid the Owl Lady storming her way outside without paying attention to what was going on around her, narrowly escaping their shoulders touching. Seeing a scowl on her brow and her jaw twitching, Lizzie watched Eda shove the door shut with a loud slam and stomp off away from the cottage. The blonde straightened out as her eyes followed the older witch's retreating back, just about hearing Eda inaudibly grumbling to herself while her fists visibly shook at her sides.

It was clearly obvious Eda was upset by what had just occurred.

At first Lizzie stayed still and silent, observing the Owl Lady as she stormed off beyond the treelines. But then the obnoxious voice of the cottage's house demon brought her attention elsewhere.

"Aw, geez! I think I've got something on my face! Hoot!"

Lizzie turned around to see Hooty scrunching his beak up, where a reddish tint twice the size of her thumb had begun to form just above it. The sight caused Lizzie's eyes to droop.

'And he's earned another bruise. Sheesh.'

Choosing not to respond to Hooty for the time being, Lizzie approached him and bent her right index finger to bring forth a faint green glow to her fingertip.

'As much as I want to go after Eda, she probably needs time to cool off. It's better I leave her be for now.'

Lizzie drew a small spell circle close to Hooty's bruise and proceeded to place her index finger in the middle of it, closing her eyes and holding it still to activate her healing spell.

"Oooooh…"

Lizzie heard Hooty mumble in awe, yet she refused to open her eyes. She had to keep her focus on the mental picture in her head, while mentally counting down from sixty to determine when to open her eyes.

'This is where I'm glad Hooty and King are both accident-prone. It's because of them I've had the opportunity to practice this spell as much as I have. It's starting to become second nature to me now.'

Once her countdown had ended, Lizzie opened her eyes to the sight of the bruise having disappeared from Hooty's face, to which she took as her cue to pull her finger away and allow her spell circle to vanish in a small flash. Hooty stared cross-eyed at the spot where his bruise used to be.

"Wow! I can't feel anything on my face anymore! You've become a natural with that healing spell! Hoot!"

"Mhm," Lizzie mumbled, lifting her palm close to her face and wriggling her fingers a little. "I've still got a long way to go, though. I've been successful learning those other two healing spells. So, once I've had enough practice with them, I can hopefully get started on making and testing my healing potion."

"And yet here you were beating yourself up earlier!" With tears immediately springing to his eyes, Hooty stretched close to Lizzie's face and shoved his cheek against hers, making her shoulders tense up with an eye twitch, especially at the snotty sniffle that followed. "Our lil' Lizzie is growing up so fast!"

Lizzie lightly shoved Hooty away from her with her hand and gave the house demon a dagger-eyed glare, watching him return to his place on the front door. "Cut it out, Hooty."

They were interrupted by the front door slowly creaking open, revealing Gus slipping his way through the small gap. The younger witch's back was currently facing Lizzie and Hooty as he gently pushed the door closed behind him, so he obviously couldn't see they were there. That became very evident to Lizzie when he leapt away from the door while lifting his fists into the air.

"Yes!" Gus exclaimed excitedly, pulling his fists into his chest. "You did it, Gus! You've convinced Luz to help you!"

Lizzie initially raised a brow at Gus' words, but then that brow was raised further when the male witch began swaying his hips from side to side and throwing weak punches at the air, breaking out into a singsong-like tone while appearing to be doing a little dance of sorts.

"You did it, Gus~! You're the smartest, you're the best~!"

It was only when Gus paused that Hooty chose it as his moment to finally burst the illusion witch's bubble.

"Sweet moves you got there, little dude."

Lizzie failed to suppress a snort from escaping at Hooty's comment when she saw Gus' shoulders stiffen, a hand going to her mouth at his head whipping towards Hooty and herself. Lizzie saw Gus' eyes widen for a few seconds before he cried out and leaned his body back, remaining indifferent as his gaze flitted between her and Hooty until he could muster up the courage to speak.

"I forgot you two were out here!"

"That's okay!" Hooty replied, slowly rotating his head towards the left while keeping his eyes locked on Gus as he spoke slowly. "Sometimes I forget I'm out here too."

Gus' and Lizzie's eyes simultaneously drooped at the house demon's antics as the former's stance relaxed again, with the latter eventually clearing her throat and focusing her attention on the shorter witch.

"Dance moves aside…" She frowned faintly at Gus. "I could hear Luz's and Eda's argument from out here. I'm sorry you were put in the middle of that."

Gus smiled a little and held his hands palm-up in a surrender-like gesture. "It's okay. Luz already apologised."

Lizzie briefly looked to the cottage at that, her frown deepening at remembering the young Latina was still in there. "Is she okay? It sounded like Eda was a little too harsh on her."

Gus followed Lizzie's gaze as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well, she seemed a little down at first. But she was in a better mood after agreeing to come with me to—" Gus stopped the moment he realised what he was saying, placing a fist close to his mouth at forcing himself to cough. "I-I mean, she's fine now!"

Lizzie narrowed her eyes at the young illusionist and placed her hands to her hips, immediately recognising that he was hiding something from her. "Does it have something to do with why you broke out into song and dance just now?"

"Uh…" Gus straightened out and forced a chuckle, which only forced Lizzie's eyes to narrow into slits. After a silent stare down with neither witch saying a word (and Hooty occasionally darting his eyes between the pair), he clasped his hands behind his back while slowly stepping backwards, stuttering as he tried to form a coherent reply through the sweat Lizzie could see springing up on his forehead. "I-I'd better get going! T-Thanks for having me!"

Lizzie's eyes never left Gus' back the whole time she watched him swirl on his heels and dash away from the Owl House. But she did eventually shake her head and huff loudly.

'What is with these teenagers and thinking they can hide stuff from me and Eda?' The blonde closed her eyes. 'Then again, didn't we all think that way once upon a time?'

"Hoot hoot! His moves weren't bad." Lizzie opened an eye at hearing Hooty speak, spying the demon lift his head up to the sky a bit with his neck partly straightened out. "But I can do better!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and relaxed her stance. "Says the demon whose body is nothing but an endless tube."

Hooty lowered his head and directed a scowl at the blonde witch. "Hey! At least I can find a way to make it work for a demon with a tube body!"

Lizzie ignored the house demon and approached the front door without further acknowledgement, reaching to grab the handle. As curious as she was about what Gus and Luz were up to, too much had happened in a short span of time for her mind to process it.

"I think I'm gonna call it a day. I'm tuckered out."

"What about Eda?"

Lizzie paused at Hooty's reminder and took a quick peek over her shoulder at the trees behind her, as if expecting Eda to miraculously make an appearance between the bark and shrubbery.

'I've seen Eda get mad before. But I don't think I've ever seen her react like this. Luz must have struck a nerve, and it does make me worry about her. But…'

After a moment of staring, though, the blonde turned away and resumed opening the door, answering in a lowered voice.

"I think she still needs time to cool off, Hooty." She momentarily glanced at the house demon with a small and forced smile. "I'm sure she'll be fine and come back soon enough."

Hooty blinked a couple of times at the blonde witch as she continued walking past him, puffing out his cheeks a little as he did so. "You don't sound so sure."

Lizzie didn't answer Hooty out loud, proceeding to push the door closed without another word. Yet that didn't stop her from answering the house demon inside of her head, rubbing at her forehead with her palm while taking in the sight of the scattered and opened boxes with no sign of Luz or King amongst them.

'… That's because I'm not, Hooty.'


By the time evening had rolled around on the Boiling Isles, Eda hadn't returned to the Owl House, with Luz having hid herself away in the bedroom, according to King. King was the only resident of the cottage Lizzie saw during the time she'd settled in the kitchen, and that was only because he'd come to ask her where Eda was so he could rub Luz's words in her face (to which Lizzie had very sternly told him to 'butt out'). The young witch spent the remainder of her time throughout that day sitting at the table and staring off into space out the window with her face cradled in her palm, watching the darkness of the night slowly creep and cover the landscape while trying to ignore her toxic thoughts surrounding her earlier training with Hooty. She knew she stood no chance against the house demon regardless of how powerful she was, as Hooty was just naturally stronger than any of the residents of the household put together. Yet that hadn't stopped her from beating herself up over her failure to hold her spell for as long as she'd wanted, with Xander's words still playing on repeat in her head, as well as Eda's.

'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.'

And Lizzie knew Eda had been right: it wasn't normal to forget something like that. But why had she? She'd struggled to find the answer since mulling those words over and over when her mind found the opportunity to do so. Yet it didn't matter how many times she did. Her mind remained blank on the topic.

'It doesn't make any sense. Since encountering him in Bonesborough that day, I've felt familiarity towards him. Yet despite finding out his name, that he's related to me, and that he is the same as my Hexside bully, nothing's changed. I still see him as a stranger, even with the few flashes of memory I've had. It's like… something's stopping me from remembering.'

Lizzie placed her fingers to her temples and massaged them between her fingertips, lowering her head a little towards the table as she processed her last words.

'You know… now that I think about it, this isn't the first time I've had problems with my memory. It's been three years and yet I still can't remember much of what happened after the carriage crashed.' Lizzie briefly closed her eyes, one of her hands subconsciously moving to comb her fingers through large strands of her hair towards the back of her head. 'I didn't suffer any head injuries according to Eda, but she did say the whole thing must have traumatised me, given I was in a shellshocked and scared state following the accident. Maybe the trauma I endured that night did something to my memory…'

In the end, when she could see that the land outside was hidden under a veil of black and the lights in the Owl House had sprung on to illuminate the rooms, she hauled herself up from her chair and headed out of the kitchen with her body drooped forward, her arms hanging limp at her front, and heavy steps, acting like her body was suddenly too heavy for her to support.

'Oh, well. I suppose that's something I can run by Eda when she's in a better mood.'

Speaking of the devil, as Lizzie started passing the doorway to the living room, she halted when the Owl Lady's voice resounded loud and clear from inside it in the form of a groan.

"Ugh!"

Lizzie's head whipped towards the front door to find it was wide open, with Eda pacing back and forth with her hands covered over her forehead, looking up towards the darkened sky with her eyes squeezed shut.

'Ah. There she is. And she's still mad, I see.'

Hooty was silently watching Eda's pacing with his eyes following her every move, prompting Lizzie to approach the door while listening to Eda vent away to the empty darkness outside. Getting closer revealed that Hooty was beginning to attract a small circle of moths around him that had likely become attracted to the light seeping out of the cottage, but Lizzie paid it no heed for now.

"Why can't she see that I'm just trying to protect her from that dweebus factory?! Hexside is no different to the Emperor's Coven! They'll just force Luz to become a mindless drone!"

Neither Hooty nor Lizzie dared to speak a word, with the pair only exchanging sideways glances when the latter slowed to a stop beside the former. But eventually the silence was about to be broken when Eda lowered her hands away from her face and turning to the cottage at hearing Lizzie's approaching footsteps stop close by, her gaze eventually locking with the green eyes of the other witch who lived with her.

Technical employer and employee stared each other down silently for a few seconds before Eda's eyes drooped at Lizzie's brow furrowing, her voice returning to normal volume when she finally spoke. All it took was one look for the Owl Lady to figure out why Lizzie would be standing there and not asking questions about her current mood or words.

"… You heard our argument earlier, didn't you?"

Lizzie's only response was a forced smile, prompting Eda to groan again and shake her head. The white-haired witch plopped to the ground on her bottom just underneath the canopy, bringing her knees to her chest and turning her gaze downward with the tensing of her shoulders. Eda's actions caused Lizzie's smile to disappear. She approached the Owl Lady's left side and lightly tugged at the bottom of her skirt to adjust it, only to sit down beside the older witch with her legs crossed.

Neither witch breathed a word as they lingered on the edge of the light streaming from inside and blending in with the darkness lingering outside, allowing Lizzie a moment of silence to study Eda's sullen face. It was hard to tell from where she'd previously been stood, but now that she was up close and personal, Lizzie could see the fire burning behind Eda's golden eyes despite them being downcast. It was a similar look to the one she recalled Eda showing at Covention, when Lilith had made her appearance on stage during the panel showcasing the Emperor's Coven. That alone was enough for Lizzie to guess what Eda was probably thinking about.

"… Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?" Lizzie asked in a gentle tone.

Eda responded with the slight shaking of her head without glancing the younger witch's way, prompting Lizzie to retreat into her thoughts for the moment.

'Eda's never really gone into detail about why she dislikes Hexside so much. But knowing how she feels about the coven system, and going off my own experiences at that place, I can take a pretty good guess why she's reacting so strongly to this. And honestly… I don't blame her.'

As the silence between them dragged on, Lizzie slowly raised a hand to place on Eda's closest shoulder, giving it a light pat with a faint frown forming. She didn't say anything until she saw Eda reach out for a blue flower close to her feet and tug it free from its roots by snapping its stalk.

"Don't be too mad at Luz, Eda. It's not her fault she doesn't understand."

Eda sighed heavily and twirled the flower between her fingers, refraining from looking Lizzie's way as she eventually brought herself to speak in a quiet voice. "I'm not mad at Luz."

Lizzie's brows raised at this, prompting her to lift her hand away. "You're not?"

"No." Eda scowled and paused her movement. "You're right: she doesn't get it. But that's why I'm mad."

"What do you mean?"

Eda slowly turned her golden eyes to Lizzie, pointing at her slightly with a claw-nail finger. "Do you remember when you told me you didn't like being at Hexside because you weren't allowed to practice magic the way you wanted to?" Lizzie nodded stiffly out of confirmation, to which Eda let out a small huff. "Well, that's the reason I hated being there too."

'I thought so.'

Lizzie kept that to herself, continuing to listen to the Owl Lady as she raised her other hand to grasp her fingers tightly round the head of the flower. "Hexside has a reputation of chewing up anything unique and spitting out bland mush."

"Hoot! I chew insects and turn them into mush, so me and this Hexside place aren't so different!"

Lizzie shot Hooty a glare to silence him while Eda continued talking.

"Luz… is something. Definitely unique, both as a human and with her magic." She tore the petals off with one harsh tug and crushed them between her palm, eventually relaxing her hands to watch the torn flower and its stem plummet to the ground. "And I can't stop worrying that if she ever got into Hexside..."

"…she'll lose that uniqueness," Lizzie finished, prompting Eda to nod and close her eyes.

"Exactly."—She opened her eyes and furrowed her brow, folding her arms across her knees and leaning forward—"But that's just how I feel. It's my beef, not Luz's. And I know I wouldn't have even come to that conclusion if I hadn't attended Hexside in the first place."

"Hoot! My beef is insects. Because that's what I eat!"

Lizzie once again glared at the house demon when he made his unnecessary comments, deciding to address him in a stern tone even if she knew it was futile given Hooty's history of not listening. "Hooty."

Hooty responded to the stern reprimanding with a blink. "What? It's true!"

The blonde witch shook her head and returned her attention to Eda, who had since tilted her head towards Lizzie, her eyes glistening with sincerity. "Be honest with me, Redwood: am I wrong for not letting Luz draw her own conclusions? Do you think she'd get anything out of attending magic school?"

Lizzie leaned back a bit with a wide blink, bringing her hands close to her body. "Why are you asking me that? I agree with you. My response is going to be biased, especially because I was initially against you keeping her here and teaching Luz magic to begin with."

"That's true." A smile appeared on Eda's face when she raised a finger to the middle of Lizzie's forehead, giving it a light poke. "But compared to me, you've got a better head on your shoulders. You've been against Luz being here since day one, yet you've made more of an effort to help and teach her than I have. I know you can give me an answer that'll set my head straight."

Lizzie relaxed her posture at this and focused her gaze to the looming darkness ahead of them, eventually clasping her hands together in her lap.

'I suppose she makes a point. Despite vocally opposing a lot of Luz's requests, I've made the effort to help her learn and accommodate her in the Owl House. No matter what, I've found a way to adapt to the craziness she continually brings. So, this time shouldn't be any different, should it?'

There was a long pause before Lizzie prepared to offer Eda her two cents, straightening out her posture and arms as she did so.

"As much as I agree that Hexside is not the most accommodating place for someone like Luz… I don't think her going there would be a terrible idea." Out of the corner of her eye, Lizzie thought she saw Eda's brows raise, but she didn't stop or break her gaze away from the landscape. She could see Eda was still willing to listen to her due to her own eye contact remaining. "You've said it yourself, Eda: Luz doesn't understand. And the only way she will is if she experiences these things first-hand." She finally turned back to Eda, lifting a finger to poke at the side of her own head. "Luz has been misled about our world because of the flowery garbage from those books she reads and being a teenager has only made those illusions twice as worse. Which is why Hexside is the perfect place for her to face reality without putting her into any danger. Plus…" Lizzie smirked slightly. "…try as hard as we might to deny it, Hexside taught us the basics of our magic. That's knowledge that Luz needs to help her progress with her own magic. Don't you agree?"

Eda's surprise was finally broken by the smirk that mirrored Lizzie's own and the snort of amusement she failed to suppress, causing her to stretch out an elbow to lightly knock the younger witch's closest shoulder.

"Spoken like a witch wise beyond her years!" The older witch straightened up and leaned back a bit, crossing one leg over the other and supporting herself with a hand behind her. "As usual, you're right, Redwood. Aside from other things occupying my time, I still haven't found a way to actually teach someone like Luz magic. I can't deny I haven't been the best teacher. Maybe those stuffy educators can teach Luz something that I can't."

Lizzie opened her mouth in preparation to say something, but she was immediately cut off by Hooty's cheerful voice, causing the two witches' gazes to face the house demon staring at them from the door.

"Don't beat yourself up, Eda. You taught me and I turned out fine!"

Hooty tilted his head to the right at catching sight of a moth who had landed on the door and was walking down it close to his face, prompting the demon to stick his tongue out and make loud gagging noises as he tried to grab it despite it being out of his reach. Lizzie and Eda observed this scene with creased brows and wide eyes for a few seconds before the latter dared to speak.

"… Yeah. I've gotta get that girl into school."

"Agreed," Lizzie mumbled, finally breaking her gaze away from the house demon's antics when she saw Eda prepare to stand.

"I'll head to Hexside tomorrow." Lizzie gaped a bit at this, proceeding to stand as Eda swatted the dirt off the ends of her dress' skirt. "The sooner we enrol Luz, the better."

"In that case…" Lizzie trailed off at feeling the heat rising to her cheeks, momentarily hesitating and scratching her cheek with a finger. "… do you mind if I come with you?"

Eda faced Lizzie with wide eyes and a single step backwards, even going so far as to stick her finger in her ear and twist to make sure her hearing was working. Lizzie raised a brow at Eda's actions, folding her arms.

"What? You're acting like I just announced I was going to join the Emperor's Coven!"

Eda placed one hand to her hip and then the other to Lizzie's closest shoulder, her eyes drooping. "No offence, kid, but the last time you came with me to Hexside, you couldn't even make it past the gate."

"… So?"

"So," Eda leaned forward with a bit of a squint. "what's changed, hm?"

Lizzie quickly looked off to the side at recalling her earlier conversation with herself, her shoulders slumping at realising she was going to have to come clean. Her next words were uttered quietly as she dared to peek back at her employer, who was expectantly waiting for her to answer her question.

"… Do you remember during 'the-day-that-we-agreed-not-to-discuss' when you asked me about why I couldn't remember…"—She trailed off and pursed her lips at finding herself unable to say Xander's name aloud; she still found it strange to give a name to his face after all this time—"… Xander?" When Eda's face appeared to fall blank for a moment, Lizzie's eyes drooped with a small sigh. "…My bully?"

The Owl Lady's eyes lit up then. "Oh, yeah." She tilted her head skyward with a wide blink. "Mister tool." She chuckled and shook her head as she lowered it again. "I forgot he had a name now." Lizzie briefly scowled at that, but that scowl was quick to dissipate when Eda turned serious again. "But what about what I said?"

Lizzie hadn't even spoken her thoughts yet and already she was reaching for her throat at feeling a lump forming. She massaged it with her fingers to try to ease her words out slowly. "Well… I've been thinking about it and…" She chewed on her lip for a few seconds, feeling the doubt of what she was going to say settling in the pit of her stomach. "I-I believe the reason I don't remember is… because of what happened on the night we met…"

Eda's hand limply fell from Lizzie's shoulder the moment the words left the young witch's mouth, forcing her back a step and her posture to straighten out. She stared at Lizzie as if the witch had just backhanded her across the face. "You mean… the night of the crash?"

Lizzie nodded multiple times, her hand moving away from her throat and to the elbow of her other arm, which she took a tight grip on. "I'm aware I've had difficulty remembering that night as a whole since the accident. I recall you claiming I was traumatised during the time I was healing. And since that bully was the reason I was in that carriage to begin with, and Xander confirmed he is that bully, it got me wondering if…"

Lizzie purposely trailed off and hunched her shoulders, struggling to finish her thoughts. But Eda's expression was quick to relax at following what her employee was getting at, a scowl soon gracing her brow.

"You think the accident made you forget about him." Lizzie nodded stiffly, causing Eda to huff and scratch at the back of her head. "Well, that would explain it."

"Hoot! She could have brain fog."

Both Eda and Lizzie turned to Hooty with frowns at this, with the former being the one to speak.

"If she had brain fog, Hooty, she'd be showing visible symptoms." She held out a hand towards Lizzie's head, her tone becoming sarcastic. "Do you see her head shrouded in a thick white fog? Because I sure don't!"

Hooty rolled his eyes and looked off to the side. "Well, gee! Sorry for trying to help!"

Lizzie and Eda smacked a palm against their foreheads at this, yet they were soon quick to recover as the former of the witches resumed the conversation.

"Anyway… the last time I was outside of Hexside, I experienced a rush of negative feelings and thoughts flooding back that I'd since pushed out of my head. It got me thinking that maybe returning to the scene of the incident might help jog some of those memories." Lizzie shrugged her shoulders. "And if that fails, I can at least use the experience to find out more about Xander. I'm sure Principal Bump knows what happened to him after my expulsion."

Eda squinted and tilted her head to the side at this, crossing her arms while giving Lizzie a glance from head to toe. "And you're sure you're ready for that?"

"… Honestly? No." Lizzie smiled a little and wrapped her arms round her middle, turning her eyes to her boots. "But at this point, I have nothing to lose by trying."

There was a moment of silence between both witches before Lizzie heard Eda step closer to her.

"Good point. In that case, Redwood…" Lizzie met Eda's gaze when she felt the Owl Lady hold her by both of her shoulders, seeing the older witch's lips curl at the next words that were to leave her mouth. "…it looks we're both heading back to school in the morning."