A/N: Hello. Well, this chapter was quicker for me to write than I thought it would be, considering it's mostly original dribble. But here I am, back again, with the start of the Owl House's tenth episode 'Escape of the Palisman'. Now, this one was hard for me, because I couldn't decide which plot to include Lizzie in here. Both were very tempting and at one point I even debated whether I should do a crossover between the two plots. But eventually, it was decided that Lizzie would be better off in Plot B for two reasons: one, Luz's plot focuses on her friendship with Gus and Willow as well as her development with Owlbert, so I felt Lizzie would have been an awkward third wheel here. And two, given Lizzie's character, it made more sense for her to stick with Eda and King on this one, especially as the nature of Plot B focuses on Eda's curse. Episode 10 officially marks the start of Eda's declining condition, and given Lizzie is the second oldest resident of the household and adult resident, it made sense that she'd be the first to clock on to this. This is why this chapter has started off with an original scene exploring this concept, which should feed nicely into Episode 11 (yes, I plan to use it. I'm sorry). I have some interesting plans for the themes being explored between the next trio of chapters, with the main one being the relationship between Lizzie and Eda. And, as promised in Chapter 18's author notes, the palismen will be coming back at some point, despite Lizzie not going anywhere with Plot A. So, I do hope you enjoy what I have in store. Also, you will probably see in the second part of this chapter that I had way too much fun with the conversation between Lizzie, King and Luz (and also the chapter title... which is another Macbeth quote). It wasn't originally going to be added, but I thought it was quite good considering it was a spontaneous idea. XD

Thank you to everyone who has been favouriting, following, reviewing and reading this fanfiction. Your continued support is greatly appreciated and it's nice to see that people are enjoying Lizzie and her role in this retelling. I'll now take this opportunity to respond to review (please note that these responses only apply to reviews posted on recent updates):

KaseyKay17: Thank you so much for your kind words. It really does mean a lot. I admit it was a risk choosing a witch OC for this story, especially as The Owl House is still ongoing and so much about the Demon Realm has yet to be properly established. But seeing as there were very few fics who explored these kinds of OCs and focused more on their relationship with Luz rather than on the relationships of the Owl House residents, I thought I'd give it a shot anyways. It's interesting to try to work out what it would have been like to see Luz's arrival from the other perspective and it's certainly been fun to write. But I do hope you enjoy the next trio of chapters, especially as you will definitely be seeing a certain palisman popping up again later.


Chapter 28: Fire Burn and Elixir Bubble

Under the veil of darkness that had covered itself over the Boiling Isles, the forests outside of Bonesborough stood tall and quiet amidst the mingled overcast and little light offered by the moon. Not a single creature rustled the shrubbery, not a single bird chirped. It was just heavy silence and stillness hanging in the cool evening air… at least, for the surrounding forest. For if one were to tread deeper into the woods and follow the winding path towards the crumbling tower and cottage situated close to a nearby cliff edge, they would eventually hear soft snoring filling the empty darkness.

Like the rest of the inhabitants of the Boiling Isles, those who resided under the roof of the Owl House had turned in for the night, as indicated by the darkness that lay behind the cottage's colour-stained glass windows seen from the cottage's exterior. The snoring in question happened to be coming from the cottage's resident house demon, who was happily slumbering away underneath the switched off canopy light in his hole on the door with a green and blue striped sleep cap atop his head. With each snore, a quiet chorus of 'hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot' would follow, with the cycle continuing as the owl demon slept peacefully, seemingly unaware of its surroundings. This proved true even when the large circular window of the top floor room belonging to the Owl Lady creaked open a tad, with the gap wide enough for a tiny bird-like silhouette to slip through.

A small 'hoo!' escaped the bird as it spread its wings and took flight, flapping them to circle its way round the front of the cottage and towards the back from the right side. The moonlight that caught the shadow as it reached the back of the cottage eventually exposed the small, brown feathered body of Owlbert, who came to a stop and hovered before the loose-hinged window of the room that he knew belonged to the other resident witch and human inside the cottage. At seeing the window was open wide enough for him to squeeze through, Owlbert wasted no time in lowering himself to the windowsill and landing without making a sound, curling his wings against his little body while taking in the view of the partially lit room.

Being an owl, the little guy had no issue seeing through the darkness, even with the moonlight streaking across the box-like room in a diagonal-like fashion. Looking down at the area just under the windowsill, Owlbert spied Luz tucked up on her right side in her sleeping bag, her chest steadily rising and falling while she slept and kept one hand slotted underneath her pillow. King was curled up at the foot of Luz's sleeping bag with his eyes closed, softly snoring and occasionally twitching his head and tail with inaudible muttering. But Owlbert didn't focus his beady little gaze on them for long, immediately switching to the opposite side of the room where his initial target slept.

At seeing Lizzie sleeping flat on her back atop her mattress with her blanket draped over her and an arm slung across her eyes, Owlbert hopped from the windowsill and flapped his way over to her, gently bringing himself to hover beside her head. Without missing a beat, the little owl palisman took a strand of Lizzie's hair in his beak and tugged as hard as he could; he knew Lizzie was a light sleeper, so it wouldn't take much to rouse her from her sleeping state.

Unfortunately for Owlbert, one tug alone turned out to fail when the blonde showed no reaction whatsoever, her breathing remaining steady all the while. The little owl frowned at this, yet he was determined not to give up, deciding to continue tugging at the witch's hair in the hopes that one of his repeated attempts would end up being successful. And lo and behold, it was the sixth tug that provided the strength needed to force Lizzie's eyes to blink open and have her drop her arm away from her face.

"Ugh…" Lizzie quietly groaned and blinked a couple of times to adjust her vision to the limited lighting. She continued to mumble while reaching both palms to rub at her eyes to rouse herself from her sleepy state. "What's happening…?"

"Hoo!"

The loud hoot above her head caused Lizzie to jolt up into a sitting position with a breathless gasp, forcing her hands to drop from her face so she could get a look at her surroundings. It took a few seconds for the young witch to catch sight of the owl palisman now hovering in front of her face, a strand of her hair still gripped in his beak. Beings unfamiliar with Eda wouldn't have recognised Owlbert at a mere glance, especially in a mostly darkened environment. But Lizzie had lived with the Owl Lady long enough to recognise the palisman companion the older witch was bonded with without much effort.

"Owlbert?" Lizzie said in a groggy whisper.

'What's going on here? Am I dreaming or hallucinating?'

She went to give her eyes another rub, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. And who could blame her, when it was very rare for Owlbert to be away from Eda or her staff by himself. But when she felt a tiny sharp tug from her head, her brief questioning of whether she was dreaming or seeing things quickly flew out of her mind; the pain was real enough.

"Ow…!" The blonde quietly hissed and lightly swiped the back of her hand in Owlbert's direction, causing the little owl to release her hair and back up a bit to avoid the reflex action.

Lizzie quickly gave the opposite side of the room a glance at remembering Luz and King were in here, wanting to make sure her little slip up hadn't disturbed the pair from their slumbering. However, when her few seconds of staring showed that neither the young human or demon had moved (with the pair's breathing and noises appearing to sound undisturbed as well), she turned her attention back to Owlbert with a faint frown, whisper-shouting her response.

"Cut it out. What's gotten into you?"

"Hoo!" Owlbert responded by circling Lizzie in the air above her head repeatedly, continuing to hoot at her as if he was trying to talk to her. "Hoo, hoo!"

Lizzie furrowed her brow the entire time she spent observing Owlbert's actions, taking a moment to shake her head at the small feeling of light-headedness she got watching the owl go round in a circle. It was obvious he was trying to tell her something, but because Owlbert wasn't her palisman, she naturally couldn't understand what he was saying.

"I don't understand you, Owlbert. What are you trying to tell me?"

"Hoo!"

Lizzie's question forced Owlbert to give up his circling and instead fly over to the bedroom door, where he proceeded to hover and jerk his head towards it multiple times. This action had Lizzie's brows raising, with the metaphorical cogs inside her head turning to show she was coming out of her groggy state.

"Are you trying to get me to follow you?"

"Hoo!"

When Owlbert stopped pointing at the door to give Lizzie a small nod, she let out a heavy sigh and flung her blanket off her, rubbing a hand at her forehead once she brought herself to her feet.

'I don't know what's gotten into him. But I should probably see what he wants. For all I know, Eda might have sent him down to get me for something.'

Lizzie knew Eda was the type to be lazy, and there were times where she would sometimes send Owlbert in her stead whenever she needed the younger witch for something and couldn't be bothered to come and get her herself. She admitted that those instances were rare, but that didn't mean it wasn't a possibility to her anyways.

Owlbert's flapping quickened when the witch walked over and went to slip her feet into her boots (which she left close to the door in case she needed them), giving Luz and King one more glance from over her shoulder to make sure the two of them were still asleep. She didn't know where Owlbert planned to take her, but if it involved heading outside, she wanted to make sure she at least wasn't doing it barefoot, even though her nightgown and cardigan wouldn't have offered her much protection from the outside elements anyways.

"All right, all right. Hold your feathers. I'm coming."

In the least, she got a quiet chuckle at seeing King adjust his position so he was stretched out on his side, only to make little 'nyeh!' sounds while waving his tiny paws in a running motion, likely because he was dreaming about chasing something.

'Heh. He really does act like a dog sometimes.'

After pulling her boots on and momentarily crouching to tie the laces properly, Lizzie gently turned the handle of the door and pulled it open halfway slowly to prevent it from creaking. Owlbert wasted no time in flying out into the darkness of the second-floor hallway first, with Lizzie purposely stretching her leg in a long stride to follow after the palisman without creaking the floorboards too much, gently pulling the door closed after her with a small click once she was out of the room.

Lizzie drew a small spell circle with her right index finger to bring forth a small ball of light in a tiny flash, holding it in her palm and turning to face the hallway at seeing Owlbert glide on ahead to give the area some illumination. She raised a brow when Owlbert headed towards and up the stairs that led to the top floor of the cottage, with the little owl briefly glancing back at her with a loud 'hoo!' to make sure she knew where he was heading.

'He wants me to follow him upstairs?' Lizzie frowned and started to walk in the direction the owl palisman had headed in, holding up the palm that shouldered the only source of bright light she'd conjured. 'I wonder why he…'

The blonde's thoughts trailed off at hearing familiar muffled groans and moans from the floor above as she closed in on the stairs, bringing her to a brief halt. Given there was only one person who slept on the top floor, it didn't take much for Lizzie to take a stab at who she thought was making those noises, even with the knowledge of how faint they sounded from where she was currently standing.

'… Is that Eda?'

The young witch took two steps forward up the stairs and cupped her left ear with her free hand, tilting her head a bit to strain to listen a little closer. The chorus of groans and moans continued, causing Lizzie to frown when she was certain it was Eda's voice she was hearing despite it being muffled some. The confirmation prompted Lizzie to jog up the rest of the stairs, attempting to hurry without making too much noise for Luz's and King's sake.

'Well, that explains why Owlbert woke me up. Something must be wrong with Eda if—'

But then, right as Lizzie's foot met the top of the stairs, a muffled high-pitched roar interrupted her thoughts for the second time that night and mingled in with the groans and moans, forcing her to freeze in place when she realised that Eda's voice sounded… strained, like she was in pain. A chill trickled down her spine and made her shoulders shudder at the momentary recollection she got of the last time she'd heard that shriek, a quiet gasp escaping her.

'Oh Titan… It can't be…'

Without a second thought, the young witch raced down the hallway of the third floor towards Eda's room, spurred on by the sudden rush of adrenaline pumping through her limbs. The thuds her feet made as her boots thudded against the carpet were partially muffled, allowing her the freedom to be as loud as she wanted without disturbing the other two residents on the floor below. If this was what she thought it was, then the last thing she needed was to involve Luz and King, unless there came a situation where she needed to wake them up.

Eda's groans and moans only seemed to get louder the closer she got, even over the persistent thudding of her pulse in her ears. Her sudden burst of speed helped her catch up to Owlbert, who had since reached the closed double doors of the Owl Lady's room and was currently circling them while waiting for Lizzie's arrival. Another muffled high-pitched roar rang from behind the wood the moment the blonde witch reached the double doors, prompting her to waste no time in grabbing the handle of the left door and flinging it open, even despite her shaking hands making the task more difficult than usual.

'Please don't be too late. Please don't be too late.'

Owlbert swooped inside the moonlit room without warning when the opportunity arose, with Lizzie's body stiffening in the doorway and her jaw dropping with a loud gasp at the sight she was met with.

With her ball of light giving the area at the front of the room some illumination, Lizzie could easily spy Eda among the darkness and streaks of moonlight shining in from the window at the back of the room. The Owl Lady was sprawled out on her back in her nightwear with her legs resting against the side of her nest, her body convulsing violently from where she was lying. She was breathing abnormally with her chest rising and falling in a rapid motion, like she was struggling to fight off an intense pain attacking her system. But that wasn't what Lizzie had initially gasped at. The left side of Eda's face had partly transformed into the Owl Beast, with her left eye being nothing but an enlarged black pupil and her left ear's point having stretched farther than the average witch's ears were supposed to.

The familiar features caused Lizzie's blood to run cold, with the puzzle pieces in her head finally slotting together.

'Oh no. The curse…'

The poor blonde remained silent and rooted to the spot as she stared at the helpless older witch writhing on the floor in agony, feeling as if her tongue had tied itself into a knot inside her mouth. This was the first time Lizzie had actually seen Eda properly transforming because of her curse beyond a bunch of feathers sprouting up on her body, so the fact she was as still as a statue at the moment was completely understandable. She hated how she was acting just like she had done when Warden Wrath had snuck up on Eda that day in the Conformatorium and decapitated her, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't bring her body to move. It was as if she was disassociated from her surroundings, being a third-party observer to something she wasn't present for.

However, at seeing Owlbert fly over to Eda's nest and perch on the side closest to his master, Lizzie finally found the will to speak.

"E-Eda…?!" Lizzie just about managed to force her technical employer's name past her lips in a shaky voice, grabbing said Owl Lady's attention and causing the witch's head to tilt towards the door. This gave Lizzie a better look at Eda's gem on her sternum, which had become a swirled liquid mix of gold and black sloshing around within its interior.

"L-Liz— Argh!" Eda attempted to speak to her young employee through heavy breaths, only to be cut off by a cry of pain.

This was enough to prompt Lizzie to finally will herself to move, making a beeline for the closet where she knew Eda's elixir supply was, all the while keeping her orb of light beside her to see where she was going.

'It's a good thing Luz, King and I came up with a plan and memorised where Eda keeps her supply. It makes handling these emergencies a little easier.'

Meanwhile, Eda squeezed her eyes shut and hissed while rolling onto her right side, reaching out a trembling arm in the direction of her closet while attempting to speak again between gasps for breath. "E-Elixir…! Q-Quick…!"

The blonde witch didn't need to be told twice, immediately dropping to her knees in front of the green and silver outlined chest that had been positioned at the front of the clutter and clothes Eda usually kept in her closet. Lizzie's brows briefly raised as her light illuminated the already open lid, which exposed multiple empty elixir bottles glistening under the light that had caught their glass, barring three or four that still contained the glowing golden liquid.

'What the…? Why is there so little left? There should be—'

Eda shrieked loudly in pain behind her and brought Lizzie out of her thoughts with the violent shaking of her head, reminding her why she was kneeling there to begin with. Snatching a full bottle of elixir with her free hand, the blonde witch quickly stood up and headed over towards where Eda was, who had now rolled onto her back and had her shaking arms covering her face.

'I can worry about the supply later. Right now, I need to focus on Eda.'

Owlbert watched with a furrowed brow as Lizzie knelt beside Eda's head and settled the orb of light atop Eda's nest for the time being. Yanking the cork from the elixir vial and placing it on the floor for the moment, Lizzie slipped an arm under Eda's upper back and coaxed the Owl Lady to sit up, her own body beginning to tremble at seeing the sweat stains on Eda's clothes; she could feel the tears beginning to prick at her eyes at seeing how much pain the poor witch was currently in right now, especially as Eda's trembling had yet to cease.

'Deep breaths, Elisabeth. You have to stay calm. Just give Eda her elixir and everything will be fine.'

Following her own words of encouragement by sucking in a deep breath through her nostrils, Lizzie pulled Eda's arms away from her face before reaching for the elixir vial, preparing to bring the mouth of the vial to Eda's lips. She had a bit of trouble at first due to failing to keep her hand steady as well as Eda, but once she'd tilted Eda's head back a little, it made it easier for the golden liquid to trickle past her lips, with Eda attempting to help by opening her mouth a bit wider.

Once Eda loudly swallowed the first bit of elixir with a short cough, it took effect almost immediately, visibly proven by her tremors gradually easing off, her breathing evening out and her usually pale skin gaining a tint of colour that made her look a little healthier than she'd previously looked. By the second gulp of elixir, Eda's ear was shrinking down to its regular size, with the blackness in her eye retreating until the white of her eyeball and her usual golden colour were visible. The sight allowed Lizzie's body to fall still as she released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, feeling her shoulders droop at watching the elixir work its magic.

'It's working. Thank the Titan…'

When the last trickles of elixir escaped the vial and entered Eda's mouth, Lizzie moved the now empty vial away and put it on the table beside Eda's nest for the time being with a shaky sigh, watching Eda's gem wash away the black swirls and solidify its usual golden colour. Eda was okay now. She didn't have to worry anymore.

With one last gulp to down the remainder of the golden liquid, the Owl Lady smacked her lips and rolled her head back with a small groan, her body automatically slumping against Lizzie's arm for support. The blonde steadied Eda by curling her arm further around her upper body and brought her closer to her front, her brow furrowing as she went to brush some strands of hair out of her face.

"Eda, are you okay?" Her voice cracked despite knowing the danger had been averted, which Eda picked up on even in her disorientated state.

The Owl Lady raised a sleeve to her face to wipe away at the sweat she could feel sticking to her skin, her eyes drooping as she focused on the younger witch.

"I've been better," she answered sarcastically, stretching her hand to the back of her head to give it a rub with an eye closed. "Doesn't help that I hit my head when I collapsed…"

The blonde's brow furrowed further as she held Eda's shoulders and helped the older witch to sit up properly without her support. "What happened? Why was your curse acting up?"

Eda responded by frowning and lightly prodding the younger witch in the forehead, causing the latter to flinch and rub at the spot where she was poked. "Shouldn't it be me asking you what you're doing up? I know you're a light sleeper, but there's no way you—"

"Hoo!"

Eda was cut off by a loud hoot from Owlbert, whom the Owl Lady turned to when the little owl flew from his spot on the nest and into her lap. The tiny palisman gave a quiet hoot and nuzzled the side of his head against Eda's front, the sight prompting the older witch's frown to melt away and turn into a small smile.

"Aw, Owlbert," she said softly, collecting her feathery companion into her palm and lifting him so they were at eye level. "Did you wake Lizzie up because you were worrying about me?" Owlbert answered with an elongated 'hoo' and spread his wings out a little, making the Owl Lady chuckle while raising a finger to gently scratch at his chest. "What would I do without you?"

Owlbert responded by closing his eyes and leaning his head back with the slight raise of his left wing, clearly basking in the attention and praise Eda was giving him. Meanwhile, Lizzie was narrowing her eyes at her technical employer, a slight scowl gracing her face.

"Of course Owlbert was worried! He clearly understood you needed someone to give you your elixir!" The younger witch leaned forward so her face was a nose's inch from Eda's, prompting the grey-haired witch to blink widely and shift back a bit to increase the space between them. "Which you should have taken."

Eda released an exaggerated gasp and placed a hand to her chest, with Owlbert hopping up onto her closest shoulder. "Excuse me?" She squinted slightly and waggled a finger close to Lizzie's face. "I'll have you know I've been managing this curse long before you were born, missy! I do take my elixir every day as the bottle says!"

Lizzie raised a brow and folded her arms, straightening out her back with a squint of her own. "You didn't last time."

"That's because King took it."

"I meant after that, remember?" Lizzie tilted her head. "When you gained an addiction to Hexes Hold'em?"

"…" Eda's confidence faltered, as evidenced by the slight bending of her finger and drooping of her body. Her eyes quickly darted to the side before she made her response, stuttering a bit as she tried to get her words out. "Y-Yeah, well, that's not the case this time!" She copied Lizzie's stance and crossed her arms, turning to look towards her opened chest inside of her closet. "I did take my elixir. If you don't believe me, check that logbook you and Luz made. You marked today's dose off, didn't you?"

Lizzie found her stance relaxing at mention of this, a hand going to her chin as she briefly glanced at the darkened ceiling partially illuminated by the orb of light still settled on Eda's nest.

Outside of the other residents of the cottage memorising where Eda kept her elixirs for emergency purposes, Lizzie and Luz had formed a written log after the last incident with Eda's curse to keep track of Eda's elixir supply so they could inform the Owl Lady when it needed topping up, naturally as a way to avoid a repeat of the previous incident. This log included timestamps of when Eda took her daily doses and how many full vials were there at the end of each day. Lizzie did recall that both she and Luz had checked Eda's supply earlier that day (they both did it just to make sure they'd counted correctly) and they'd counted one missing elixir.

So, she knew Eda was right.

"Fine," Lizzie said through a huff, raising her palms up in surrender. "You're right. Although…" The blonde witch looked Eda over from head-to-toe, a faint frown forming on his face. "… if you took your elixir, then why did you almost transform into that creature?"

Eda didn't say anything in response to that question, instead giving a shrug of her shoulders to indicate her own confusion on the matter. This didn't help Lizzie, who immediately found herself trailing off into her thoughts regarding the matter.

It hadn't really clicked at first due to how tired she was, but now that Lizzie thought about it… it was strange that Eda had been close to transforming when she had taken her daily dose. And with that realisation in mind, a nasty thought jumped into her head, causing her to grip at her throat at trying to swallow the lump that had formed there.

"Oh, Titan…" The high-pitched squeak in Lizzie's voice forced Eda to return her focus to her charge, her eyes widening slightly at seeing the tears beginning to well in Lizzie's eyes from the little light given from her orb. "Don't tell me… the elixir's no longer working—"

"No," Eda sternly interrupted Lizzie as the blonde witch started to take heavy breaths, causing poor Owlbert to briefly jump on Eda's shoulder with a wide blink and slight flap of his wings. "That's not what's happening here, kid. I just needed a stronger dose this time, that's all."

"B-But what if it's not?!" Lizzie's voice went up an octave and cracked, the failure to keep her worry hidden palpable. She ducked her head down, her grip tightening on her throat when she started to visibly shake. "W-What if the elixirs are becoming ineffective?! If they no longer work, you could wind up turning into that creature permanently and—"

Lizzie couldn't finish her sentence, instead cutting herself off with a strained gasp for air and the closing of her eyes to prevent her tears from falling. The Owl Lady shuffled closer to Lizzie with a scowl when it was clear the younger witch was about to burst into tears. The Owl Lady took both sides of Lizzie's face with her hands and lifted it, forcing the witch's eyes open with a wide blink that sent her tears cascading down her cheeks. Her breathing quickened as she and Eda locked eyes, but that didn't stop the Owl Lady from scowling and speaking sternly.

"Listen to me. The elixir is still working. It just seems that I need more than one a day now." She raised her thumbs to Lizzie's eyes to gently wipe away her tears, her scowl deepening some as Lizzie swallowed thickly and dropped her hands away from her throat. "I'm okay, Redwood. I'm not going to transform into that creature for the rest of my life. So, don't get upset, okay?"

It took a few seconds before Lizzie mustered up a nod, giving a small sniffle and taking in a deep breath to try to calm herself down.

'Eda's right. I was jumping the gun. The elixir's still working. Eda isn't going to turn into that creature for good. She's not going anywhere. Everything's okay.'

When Lizzie quietened down and wiped at her eyes with her cardigan sleeves, Eda took that as her cue to let her go, but not before giving her cheeks a light pat out of reassurance.

"There, see? Nothing to worry about, kid." Eda gave the doorway of her room a brief glance before she loudly cleared her throat, lowering her voice as she addressed the younger witch again. "Although, I'd appreciate it if you kept this between us. Don't want to go worrying Luz and the goofball over nothing."

Lizzie let out a small huff and straightened herself out, catching the brief sight of her reflection in the empty vial partly illuminated by the orb of her light on the nest. The skin around her eyes had reddened a bit because of her previous actions and her cheeks were obviously stained with tears. She looked like a right mess.

'I'm not really keen on keeping secrets from Luz and King, especially at what Eda perceives as 'nothing'. But she does have a point. They'll both worry if they find out I had to come to her aid in the middle of the night…'

Eventually, Lizzie huffed and turned to Eda with drooped eyes. "I promise I won't say a word."

Eda smiled slightly at that and reached out to quickly ruffle and pat Lizzie's hair, making the younger witch's eye twitch. "Thanks, Redwood. I knew I could count on you."

"Whatever," Lizzie grumbled, watching Eda stand up and Owlbert flying off her shoulder with a small flap to settle on Lizzie's left one instead. The young witch cringed and closed an eye at the loud crack that came from Eda arching her back out.

"Whoo! Boy, am I beat!" Allowing her body to hang forward like a limp rag doll and her eyes to droop, Eda scratched at her bushy head of hair and shuffled her way back towards her nest. "Guess that's our cue to go back to bed."

Lizzie raised her brows and scoffed while Eda slipped back into the human shaped hole inside her nest, lying amongst her various treasures and knickknacks flat on her back. "Are you kidding?"

Eda raised a brow of her own the blonde's way. "What?"

"Do you really expect me to leave you alone after what just happened? No way." Lizzie collected the cork she'd left on the floor and the light orb from Eda's nest and stood up, placing the former on the table while clutching the latter in her palm. "I'm staying here for tonight," She emphasised the next part when Eda frowned and opened her mouth to speak, quickly cutting her off. "just to make sure you're fine."

Eda momentarily scrunched her face up at this, but she eventually relented with a small huff and slight roll of the eyes, causing Lizzie to smirk faintly at how fast Eda gave in. She didn't know if it was because she was tired and couldn't be bothered to argue, but she didn't care. She was just glad Eda wasn't going to push this any further than necessary.

"All right. Do whatever you want." She limply raised a hand to point to her closet for a few seconds before letting it drop again. "But at least get yourself a blanket. You're gonna catch a chill."

Lizzie shook her head to this and did as Eda instructed, walking over to the closet with Owlbert still perched on her shoulder and the light orb still in her one hand.

'I remember where the blanket is, considering it's the same one we used to capture Eda while she was transformed.'

As Lizzie leaned over to nab the blanket from the back of the closet, her gaze wandered to the opened chest close to her feet, her brow furrowing at the number of empty elixir vials that were in there. An ache attacked her chest at the recollection she got of what happened not too long ago, with the elixir log popping back into her head again.

'As much as I don't want to believe Eda's lying… why can't I shake the feeling that this might not be the first time she's taken more than one elixir a day? Maybe because she's already hidden the reason why she's taken her elixirs from us, perhaps?'

After a moment of staring, Lizzie pulled the blanket free from the mess in Eda's closet and wrapped it round her shoulders, prompting Owlbert to fly back over to where Eda was as Lizzie went to follow, once she was able to break her gaze away.

'I think I need to check the elixir log tomorrow, just to make sure this isn't an isolated incident. It'll help to put my mind at ease.'

By the time Lizzie had made it over to Eda's nest again, Owlbert was nowhere to be seen, yet it didn't take much for Lizzie to figure out that the palisman had likely returned to his place on Eda's staff. As Lizzie raised the hand holding the orb ready to disperse it, she caught Eda smiling slyly at her from the corner of her eyes, prompting the blonde to stare at her technical employer with a slight squint when she heard her chuckle.

"… What?"

Eda waved a hand dismissively and leaned her head back, her smile remaining despite the odds. "Nothing. I just find it funny."

"Find what funny?"

"That our roles have switched." The Owl Lady closed her eyes and yawned, her voice becoming groggy as Lizzie closed her palm to rid the room of her light while plopping down beside the nest.

"Our roles have switched?" Lizzie repeated, leaning against the nest with her arms folded atop the mess of twigs and other bits bundled together. She rested her chin on her arms so she could peer at Eda in her nest, the partial streaks of lighting from the moon outside helping her to see despite the odds. "What do you mean by that?"

Eda snorted and rolled over onto her side with her back facing the younger witch, tucking her hands under her face as she started to mumble. "Last I recall, I was the one taking care of you. Where have those three years gone…?"

Lizzie raised her head slightly at this and blinked widely, opening her mouth to make a comment on how tired the Owl Lady must have been to openly admit something like that. However, she was soon interrupted by a loud snore from said Owl Lady, prompting Lizzie's shoulders to slump and her eyes to droop at seeing Eda had fallen asleep straight away.

'Sheesh. Someone's tired.'

Lizzie allowed a faint smile to slip onto her face before she went about closing her own eyes, stretching out her body so she could rest the side of her head against her arms. She decided not to disturb Eda now, allowing the Owl Lady to get her rest after everything she'd just endured.

'Goodnight, Eda. I hope you sleep better now…'


By the time the sun was rising over the Boiling Isles and bathing it in its warm glow, it turned out Eda slept like a log, as if what had happened the last night was just a terrible nightmare. And how did Lizzie know this? Well, because she didn't sleep a wink. The young witch was disturbed from her slumber periodically out of concern for her employer, constantly peeking at her to make sure she was still okay before nodding off to sleep again, eventually being disturbed for good at the sunrise blinding her from Eda's window. For Lizzie, it was a rough night, one filled with nothing but anxiety. So, it wasn't a surprise when she'd emerged from Eda's room (leaving a still snoozing Eda to sleep in as she usually did) and found herself staring at a messy haired blonde witch in the bathroom mirror with baggy dark circles under her green eyes (with one or two twigs from Eda's nest somehow managing to wedge themselves in her hair). Still, Lizzie did her best to make herself look presentable (which meant combing her fingers through her hair and pulling out any twigs and bits she did find stuck in it) and like she hadn't spent the night sleeping against a giant bird's nest, more or less succeeding outside of the visible circles on her face. She mentally hoped that they wouldn't be noticeable, but that thought was short lived when the young witch made her way downstairs and entered the kitchen.

King and Luz were apparently already up and ready for the day, as Lizzie observed. King was sat in his highchair at the head of the table with an empty plate and bits of food round his mouth, while Luz was sat beside him on a stool in front of the window, dressed in her usual outfit. The two were originally in conversation about something when Lizzie had first come in, but that soon stopped when their attention was turned to her entrance. Luz blinked widely at the older witch at seeing the state she was in, with King copying her but with the addition of a slight head tilt.

"Gosh, Liz! You look terrible!"

"You look like someone's sucked your soul right out of your body!"

Lizzie stared at the little demon with narrowed eyes, grumbling her response while pointing to her mouth. "Says the demon who has food crumb whiskers."

King straightened out and patted his paws against his cheeks as the blonde witch resumed her walk to the fridge. "Weh?"

Luz picked up a napkin from the table and leaned over to King to wipe the crumbs from his face, her brow furrowing as she focused her gaze on Lizzie's back. "Had a rough night?"

"Oh, you have no idea…" Lizzie replied with a sigh and quick rub of her eye with a hand, proceeding to open the fridge and briefly crouch to pull out a transparent carton of white liquid that Luz thought looked like milk, but which she suspected probably wasn't. "I don't know what noises I was hearing in the forest last night, but I'm surprised you and King managed to sleep through it."

King swivelled round on his highchair so fast he almost fell over, forcing Luz to pull away from cleaning him up. "Noises?" He stood up and gripped his tiny paws against the back of his seat, swishing his tail back and forth as his voice took on an excited tone. "What kind of noises?"

"I'm not sure. It was like…" She trailed off when Eda's owl beast roar sounded inside her head, causing Lizzie to instinctively grip her forehead; she swore she could feel a headache coming on at the horrible recollection. "… high-pitched screeching."

The little demon's shoulders slumped. "That's it?" He turned round and plopped down again with his arms folded, remaining oblivious to Lizzie shuddering as the lie she told left a bitter taste on her tongue, which she stuck out with a quiet 'bleh'. "That's not intimidating at all!"

'I don't think brushing my teeth a second time is gonna get rid of that…'

Lizzie shut the fridge with the gentle nudge of her foot and moved over to the worktop as Luz spoke with King, only just about paying attention to their conversation.

"What were you expecting Lizzie to have heard, King?"

"You know, like— uh…" King trailed off before scowling and raising his paws up on either side of him, bending his claws as he growled as angrily as he could muster. "Grrr!"

Lizzie didn't need to look back to guess how Luz was going to react. The moment she heard a high-pitched squeal from the young Latina, the blonde witch peeked back with a smirk and watched Luz ball her hands against her cheeks, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"That was so cute! You almost sounded like a baby grizzly bear!"

King dropped his pose and narrowed his eyes, banging his tiny fists against his highchair out of frustration. "I don't know what a 'grizzly bear' is, but that wasn't supposed to be cute!"

Lizzie quietly snickered and turned away to continue making her beverage, only to hear Luz speak to her from behind in a low and gloomy tone.

"Noises aside, I guess that means you won't be doing any potion making today, huh, Liz?"

"Nope," Lizzie answered with a scowl and rubbed her knuckles against her eyes again, remembering what her original plans for today had been. "I am too tired to trust myself with spell casting and potion mixing today."

'Besides, I have other plans in mind, not that you need to know them…'

"Aw." Luz pouted and rested her chin on her hands, which she steadied with her elbows on the table. "I was hoping today was the day I was finally going to see what potions taste like."

Lizzie glanced back over her shoulder at Luz with a raised brow, a hand going to her hip. "I've already told you my potions aren't for drinking, Luz. Especially not a potion intended for healing surface wounds."

"But if you wanna know what Lizzie's potions taste like that badly," King continued, jabbing a claw in the direction of the kitchen doorway. "just ask Hooty. He's drank Lizzie's explosive potion before."

Luz's brows raised as she straightened up with a blink and turned back to Lizzie. "He has?"

Before Lizzie could respond, Hooty was heard shouting from the living room in his usual jovial tone. "It tasted like spicy acid! I thought my insides were burning! Hoot!"

When Luz's eyes went wide at Hooty's answer and her hands immediately flew to her stomach, Lizzie chose to respond with a small smile and a shrug. "And there you have it: straight from the house demon's beak."

"I never would have guessed that." Luz relaxed and turned her gaze to the ceiling with the tilt of her head. "Although, the spicy part sounds accurate to what I imagined it would taste like."

Lizzie squinted a bit at this. "Really?"

Luz lowered her gaze again and nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh! I mean, I know they probably wouldn't taste like anything I have back home, but the colours and effects reminded me of human food." She smiled and started counting off on her fingers. "I imagined the explosive potion would be close to hot and spicy food, like a chili pepper! And the light potion would have either a sour or mild fruity taste, like a lemon or a banana—" Luz stopped at spying Lizzie and King blinking widely and exchanging brief glances with furrowed brows, prompting her smile to fade and her eyes droop. "You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

The witch and demon both shook their heads simultaneously, causing Luz to sigh heavily at this realisation. However, before she could even open her mouth to explain anything, Hooty once again shouted from the living room.

"Lizzie's light potion reminds me of mucus! Because that's what I'm made of!"

The trio in the kitchen all cringed and exchanged glances with gagging motions at the collective mental image Hooty's input had likely put into their heads. Luckily for them, that was quickly dispelled by the voice of the Owl Lady shouting back at the house demon from the hallway, sounding close to the kitchen.

"Would you pipe down, Hooty?! It's still too early for me to deal with your nonsense!"

Seconds after Eda's yell, the grey-haired witch herself soon appeared in the doorway with her body drooped forward and her arms hanging limply at her front, her mug loosely clutched in her left hand by the handle. She was still in her nightwear and her usual long and bushy hair was stuck up in places, clearly indicating she'd just woken up. But other than that, Lizzie could see that Eda had managed to get some rest despite the events of last night.

In typical Eda fashion, the Owl Lady failed to acknowledge anyone as she dragged herself towards the fridge, only raising a hand to her mouth to muffle the loud yawn that escaped, tearing her eyes a little. But that didn't stop Luz from abruptly standing up with a gape, causing her stool to wobble a bit from side to side while the oblivious older witch went about opening the fridge door and reaching in for her apple blood to pour into her mug.

"Eda, you're not dressed yet?!"

Eda cringed at Luz's screech and returned the apple blood to the fridge, waving the young human off with a hand as she stood again and kicked the door closed with a heel. "Lay off me, will ya, kid? I've just woken up."

Luz gestured her hands towards King, her eyes growing wide. "But we're supposed to be taking King to the slayground today! You promised we'd be there bright and early!"

"Yeah!" King chimed in, standing up in his highchair and raising his fists above his head while watching Eda take a swig of her beverage. "I need to secure my throne before one of those cretins usurps it from me!

"And you will," Eda replied with emphasis as she leaned her back against the fridge, raising her other hand to her forehead to give it a rub. "Just give me a minute to wake myself up and we'll go. Mama had a rough night…"

Luz and King both blinked at that and exchanged glances, with Lizzie observing the pair out of the corner of her eyes as she finished up making her beverage for the morning.

"You too, huh?" Luz commented as she turned to look at Lizzie, an amused smile slipping onto her face. "It must run in the family."

Luz's joke caused both Lizzie and Eda to raise their brows, the pair blinking widely at Luz and speaking at the same time to express their confusion.

"Huh?"

Luz's smile widened at the two witches' reactions, taking that chance to move over to King and pick him up under his arms. "Nothing~." She held King in her arms and jogged towards the kitchen doorway to prevent any follow up questions from her mentor and roommate. "C'mon, King. Let's get you ready for the slayground."

King responded by scowling and holding his arms above his head, shouting at the top of his lungs as he was taken into the hallway. "Yes! Let's prepare for battle, loyal servant, for today is the day the King of Demons shall become 'King of the Slayground'!"

Lizzie and Eda said nothing as they watched the pair leave with slight squints (especially at the little triumphant laugh that King let out), their confusion from a moment ago still apparent. Yet Eda soon became the first of the two to break out of her momentary trance, taking another sip of her apple blood as she went to face the younger witch.

"What was Luz going on abou—?"

The moment Lizzie locked eyes with the Owl Lady, the latter cut herself off with a disgusted noise through gritted teeth and cringed, with Lizzie's eyes drooping at her reaction. After giving Lizzie a quick look up and down, Eda straightened out and shook her head. "Yikes. What happened to you?"

It took a few seconds of Lizzie not saying anything and choosing to silently stare at her before something clicked in the back of Eda's head, making her hunch her shoulders slightly and suck in a quick breath through her teeth. "Oh, right. Sorry."

Lizzie quietly sighed and briefly closed her eyes. "Don't be. I'd rather lose sleep than lose you."

Eda crinkled her nose at the blonde's comment. "You must be real tired if you're making cheesy quips."

The younger witch rolled her eyes as she finished up making her drink. "Doesn't mean it isn't true. Speaking of which…" Lizzie trailed off to take a sip of her drink as she turned her body to lean her back against the worktop, her newly made beverage now being held between both of her hands. "Are you sure it's a good idea to go with King and Luz to the slayground?"

"What do you mean?"

The blonde witch turned her gaze to her reflection in her drink, her brow creasing at her exhausted and baggy-eyed self staring back at her. "Don't you think you should be taking it easy considering what happened last night? I still need to check the elixir logbook to make sure—"

"Lizzie," Lizzie was interrupted by Eda, who proceeded to smack a palm against her forehead before dragging it down her face and stretching her skin with a loud huff. "it's too early for the paranoia."

"I can't help it," she said in protest, her grip tightening on her mug as she closed her eyes. "What you have is serious and should be treated as such."

"I do treat it seriously," Eda replied sternly, jabbing a finger into her own chest. "I've been managing this curse for a long time. I know what the signs are."

"So you say,"—Lizzie gave the Owl Lady a narrow-eyed sideways glance—"but it's hard to believe you when you've tried to hide the fact you've got it from us. Who's to say you won't do the same and pretend you're fine while you're out?"

Eda's jaw momentarily slacked at Lizzie's latter remark. After a few seconds, she frowned and placed a hand to her hip. "Are you accusing me of lying?"

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders and traced a finger along the mouth of her mug, turning her gaze towards the window when her voice went quiet. "I don't want to believe you are. But how do I know this isn't the first time you've had to take more than one vial of elixir, huh?"

Tense silence filled the air between the two witches, but it wasn't enough to make Lizzie look back at Eda to see the older witch's reaction. In fact, she didn't bother until she heard the Owl Lady give a low whistle, watching her put her mug on the worktop so she could stroke her fingers through large strands of her hair (while also giving some areas a quick scratch).

"I forget you lose your filter when you're tired," she grumbled. She gritted her teeth and growled in frustration to rigorously scratch at an area close to the back of her head, which lasted for a couple of seconds before she continued with slumped shoulders. "Though I can't deny it—you have every right not to believe what comes out of my mouth sometimes. And not just because there are some things inside my head that don't always stick around." Lizzie tilted her head at the hint of a crack she heard in Eda's voice, but she didn't dare question it, especially when she saw the older witch's eyes stare in the direction of her lower back. "But I've learnt my lesson about hiding my curse from you, Lizzie, that I can tell you, at least."

"So, you haven't had days where you've taken more than one elixir?"

Lizzie saw Eda's brow furrow as her gaze flitted to the kitchen ceiling, but it only lasted for a few seconds before she focused back to her. "No." She gave the faintest hint of a smile and shrugged her shoulders. "As far as I know anyway." When she saw Lizzie squint at her, Eda's smile widened a bit, prompting her to step to the blonde's side and give her a light nudge with her elbow. "But hey, don't just take my word for it." She winked and collected her mug from the worktop. "That's why you started that logbook, right?"

Lizzie failed to stop herself from chuckling and tried to hide it by raising her own mug to her mouth. "Is that your subtle way of giving me the go-ahead to investigate this for you?"

Eda's smile morphed into a grin as she shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows. Just make sure to tell me what you've found out when I get back with Luz and King." Eda scratched a finger against her cheek and briefly looked to the doorway. "If I recall, Luz has plans with Tweedledum and Twerpledee today, so we shouldn't be too long."

Lizzie raised a brow at the unfamiliar nicknames, already having an inkling as to who Eda was referring to. "… You mean Gus and Willow."

Eda lazily waved her hand about. "Yeah, sure."

Lizzie slowly shook her head at this, but she chose not to say anything more out loud.

'Eda really can't deal with names, can she?'

"And speaking of Luz and the goofball..." She began heading to the entrance to the kitchen, apple blood in hand. "I should get ready before I have them on my case again."

"Just promise me you'll come back to the Owl House the moment you sense something's wrong."

"Not to worry, Redwood. This curse is second nature to me now." Eda twirled round in the doorway and did a 'finger-gun' motion with her empty hand, clicking her tongue and winking as she did so. "If something goes wrong, I'll hightail it back here with Luz and King in tow."

"You'd better," Lizzie replied with a small smile as she watched Eda turn around and disappear into the hallway, listening to her footsteps slowly dying out along with the snort she made at her response.

'And I mean that, Eda. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you're not hiding anything from me.'

She did the right thing in keeping that to herself.

When she couldn't hear the Owl Lady anymore, the blonde witch allowed her smile to fade with a heavy sigh, going about gulping down the rest of her drink with the slight raise of her head.

'Had it not been for Xander, I probably would have offered to go with them to keep an eye on Eda. But for their safety, I think it's better I stay away. Still… at least now I can help Eda another way, and hopefully settle my paranoia…'

With her drink finished off, Lizzie lowered the mug from her mouth and focused her gaze on the streaks of sunlight peeking through the trees from outside the kitchen window, closing her eyes with a small huff. The events of last night replayed in her mind like a record on repeat, causing her to raise a hand to her chest at feeling an ache beginning to gnaw at it.

'I just hope I don't find anything to confirm my fears.'