A/N: Hello, hello! Welcome back to The Owlcast, where we start our journey into the second half of Season 1! I would have had this chapter out a bit sooner, but there were so many different routes I wanted to go with it that I just couldn't quite make up my mind. But with the recent airings of O Titan, Where Art Thou? and then Clouds on the Horizon, I decided that I needed to be considerate about giving my OCs the necessary attention during Season 1B to compensate for future events (more on this at the end of the chapter). And so... this is how Episode 11 is going to open up. As mentioned in the last author's note, Lizzie is going to be involved in Plot B for this one, meaning she'll be going after Eda and Lilith during their little race for the Bloom of Eternal Youth. Although this episode is one that is greatly disliked in the fandom, I found some very good use for it where Eda's curse is concerned, while also bringing some friction to crop up between Eda and Lizzie as a result of last chapter's events. So, I do hope that you'll enjoy it. This chapter mostly focuses on build-up and some interesting character interactions (among other little surprises), so don't expect much to happen at this point. Even so, I think you'll like it.

Before I get into answering reviews however, I'd just like to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been supporting this fanfic from the get-go. I didn't know when I was going to get this chapter published, but next Monday will officially mark one year since this fanfic was first published. I can't even begin to tell you how shocked I am at how much attention this story has gotten since day one, with the current view count skyrocketing to over 20,000. I never expected this story to be one of my popular, especially considering that I decided to base it on an OC that went against the others in a very common trope. Lizzie's story is one that I've been enjoying telling you guys and I am so happy at getting to witness just how invested some of you are in her. It's nice to know she's grabbed your interest as a character and seeing some of you trying to theorise about her past and such in the reviews is lovely. You don't know how much it means to me to see readers getting just as excited about Lizzie as I am despite my long chapters and my focus being on an OC not related to Lumity or being a human following Luz around, so thank you to everyone who has favourited, followed, read and reviewed this story, from the bottom of my heart. And I do hope you stick around for more. I'd also like to remind readers that my poll for which trio of chapters you've enjoyed so far in Season 1A is currently still up on my profile, so please do feel free to cast your vote whenever you can. I would love to know which retellings you've most enjoyed seeing Lizzie in. Now, without further ado, onto answering reviews.

Gry25: Rest assured, she won't die. And that isn't a spoiler either. Lizzie is the star of this story. She isn't going anywhere. XD As for your other question... she won't be finding that in this fanfic, I'm afraid. Outside of the fact that I don't write romance into my stories, Lizzie is currently a traumatised witch working through a lot of baggage right now. She needs to get her head straight before she even thinks of getting involved in anything romantic, unfortunately. ^^'

Here's the first official chapter for Season 1B. I hope you guys like it.


Chapter 31: Facts and Friction

For most residents of the town of Bonesborough, today was just like any other day. The late morning sun shone over the town's medieval and monster-like structures and bones, bathing it in a warm glow that suggested this day was going to be a good one. Beings of all shapes, sizes and appearances filled the streets with lively chatter, happy faces and laughter. Vendors were pocketing snails left, right and centre from the cliental that lined the marketplace to spend what they had on their wares. Yes, it seemed like the majority of the town's residents were having a great day.

And then we have Luz Noceda...

"Ow!"

who was not, as evidenced by the hiss and wince she gave at the cotton ball covered partially in a dark blue liquid touching the skin on her left arm.

"Sorry," Lizzie apologised from where she was sat opposite the younger girl on the pavement of the street corner they were on, who was also the culprit currently dabbing the cotton ball lightly against Luz's wound. "The cut should disappear in a minute. Try not to move too much, okay?"

Luz nodded stiffly and pressed her quivering lips together to resist the urge to recoil, closing an eye as she felt her other one water at the stinging attacking her skin. She sucked in a quick breath and allowed her gaze to trail to the crowds passing them by without so much as a glance of acknowledgement, with most of them having books tucked under their arms or in their hands (or whatever other body parts these creatures had that were either missing or had been added).

"Man, I knew books could be brought to life, but…"—she paused and focused on the tiny, red line on her skin that stretched along her arm to her elbow—"I never imagined it would hurt."

Lizzie snorted and shook her head at Luz's comment from under the hood of her cloak. "I did warn you everything in this realm is dangerous despite not looking it, Luz."

"And it wasn't even an enchanted book!" Luz threw her other hand up into the air and waved it around as she went on her animated rant, frowning. "It was a blank book, with paper teeth, that literally leapt at me from under someone's arm!"

"Just be glad the only thing it gave you was a paper cut…" Lizzie mumbled, prompting Luz to chuckle when the older witch pulled away.

"Yeah…" Luz smiled and rubbed the back of her head with a hand, eventually tilting it at watching the blonde witch pick up the potion vial placed beside her and Lizzie, filled three quarters of the way with a dark blue glowing liquid. "At least we know your 'all-in-one' healing potion definitely works! I can't believe it only took you one try to get it right."

Lizzie let a small smile slip onto her face at seeing Luz's injury become enveloped in a faint dark blue glow, which Luz became drawn to with a wide blink and a slight gape. "Well, I've been doing this long enough now that I can properly calculate the correct amounts of magic and ingredients without causing a lot of mess." Her eyes drooped when she dared to give her satchel a quick sideways glance, being reminded of the items Bump had listed off in her school record. "Can't say the same for fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, though…"

"Still, it's impressive!" Luz raised her arm closer to her face while Lizzie corked her potion vial and slipped it into her satchel, watching her paper cut slowly start to shrink and grow transparent amidst the glow emitting from her skin. "And well timed too!"

Lizzie slowly nodded in agreement and adjusted herself to sit with her legs crossed, leaning a little away from Luz. "Agreed. Now Eda can save snails on purchasing medical supplies for us and put it towards her elixir instead. She's caught a lucky break."

"And not just Eda."

Lizzie raised a brow at that, caught off guard for the moment. "Huh?"

Luz dared to peek at her from over her arm with a grin. "You don't leave the Owl House often. So, aside from it being lucky you were here to heal me, it's nice we get to spend time together when you're not busy during the week."

Lizzie lips twitched for a moment with the urge to say something, yet she couldn't bring the words to life from her tongue in that moment. All she managed was a muttered "Ah…" at first, followed by a blink upon realising what the younger human meant. Eventually, Lizzie forced a smile, trying her best to sound happy even despite the slight crack in her voice. "Well, yeah, it is. Even though I'm here as a stand-in for selling Eda's food samples, considering how exhausted she's been lately…"

Luckily for Lizzie, Luz was too occupied staring at her arm to properly process her reactions, indicated by the nod she gave as her eyes returned to the dying blue glow, along with her cut. Which was why the blonde witch was able to release a quiet sigh and close her eyes for a few seconds.

'Whew. That was close!' When she opened her eyes, though, she felt her body shudder at the bitter taste that had now spread to her tongue. 'I just wish I didn't have to lie about this.'

As Lizzie turned her eyes down to her lap, her mind once again propelled her thoughts back to the previous conversation she'd had with Eda a couple of days ago, her arm subconsciously wrapping round her stomach at feeling it drop at the dreaded reminder. She recalled Eda had sent Luz and King out on an errand to fetch her some elixir that morning and given Hooty a pair of headphones (an item from the Human Realm that Luz identified, apparently) to listen to music on full blast from his spot on the door. Little did Lizzie know that it was Eda's preparation for the moment she asked to speak with her privately in the top floor bedroom, making sure the trio weren't around or in earshot for the news the older witch had broken to her oldest ward, once the latter was prompted to reveal what she'd found in the logbook first…


Two days earlier…

With her eyes growing wide and her hands flying to cover her mouth, Lizzie took two steps away from Eda while she shook her head back and forth repeatedly, struggling to process the words that had just left the Owl Lady's mouth.

"No…" she said with a muffled crack in her voice, already feeling her hands trembling against her face. "Please, no… You've— You've got to be playing a sick joke, right? You've got to be…"

Eda, who was currently staring at the ground with a hand tightly gripped at her elbow, forced her gaze to lock with Lizzie's and allowed her eyes to soften. She indicated her other hand towards the empty elixir vial next to her nest—the one she'd coughed up the previous day—as her voice became low and unsteady with her response.

"… I'm not." At seeing Lizzie squeeze her eyes shut and turn her head away with loud breathing, Eda returned her eyes to the floor and let them droop. "What you've recorded in that logbook proved you were right, Redwood. The elixir is wearing off."

Lizzie dared to open her eyes at feeling them water and shook her head more quickly and more violent than before with her hands now placed on either side of her forehead.

"No, no, no!" She yelled and hiccupped at the sob that jolted her body, digging her fingers into her scalp. "You're lying!"

"I'm not," Eda repeated more forcefully this time, making Lizzie's nostrils flare when she pulled her hands away from her head and clenched them into shaking fists.

"Then I won't let it!" Ignoring her blurred vision caused by the tears streaming down her face, Lizzie stomped straight for Eda and grabbed the older witch by the shoulders. "What's the recipe for that elixir?! If I make it from scratch—"

"You don't think I've already tried that route?" Eda interrupted calmly without lifting her gaze from the floor, keeping her eyes focused solely on her shoes. "If I'd been successful, I wouldn't still be buying it from Morton."

"W-Well…" Lizzie faltered for a moment before scrunching her nose and scowling. "I don't need the recipe then! If I can find a compatible spell, I can make the elixir stronger and—"

"There isn't one and you know it."

"Anything is possible!" Eda briefly closed her eyes at the spit that flew into her face from Lizzie's mouth, yet she showed no reaction other than to wipe it off with the back of her hand as Lizzie continued to shout, her voice rising. "We thought Luz couldn't perform magic and yet she did! Who's to say there isn't a curse countering spell?!" When Eda didn't say anything and refused to look Lizzie in the eyes, she tried to continue shouting further while roughly shaking the older witch back and forth, only for her voice to go brittle. "C'mon, Eda! Don't tell me you're just accepting this!" Lizzie loosened her grip on the Owl Lady and stopped her shaking with the duck of her head, her last words fading out into a whimper. "Because I can't! I can't accept the thought of losing you for good…"

Lizzie's arms violently shook as she shut her eyes and forced the tears lingering to slip free and splat against the wooden floor, with loud sniffles being the only noise to leave her now. That was the prompt Eda needed to release a heavy sigh and gently grab at Lizzie's wrists to lift her hands from her shoulders.

"… You done?" Lizzie nodded a couple of times. "Good. Because I'd hate to have to repeat myself again, so pay close attention to what I'm about to say this time." It was Eda's turn to place her hands on Lizzie's shoulders, prompting the younger witch to raise her tear-stained face to meet the golden eyes of her technical employer with her watery green ones. "You're not going to lose me for good." Eda frowned and turned her eyes to the ceiling for a few seconds. "I mean, sure, I'll kind of, sort of, turn into that beast forever if we don't do anything, which is a fate worse than death if you think about it…" She briefly trailed off when she caught Lizzie's lip quivering and fresh tears forming in her eyes, to which Eda's frown deepened as she roughly patted the blonde's shoulders. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna let that happen."

Lizzie swallowed thickly and wiped at her nose with her arm, sniffling again before she dared to respond. "How long do you have until the curse takes over?"

Eda's body slumped at that, her grip on Lizzie loosening as a result. "I don't know, but I don't want you spending whatever's left fraught with worry. That's supposed to be my job." Lizzie hunched her shoulders when Eda let her go and reached her thumbs up to wipe at her eyes. "There are other ways I can limit the effects of the curse to buy us time, so all I need you to focus on is keeping Luz and King safe and in the dark, okay?"

Lizzie blinked a couple of times to rid herself of the remaining tears in her eyes, yet she also did it as a response to Eda's just now, as evidenced by her raised brows. "You're not telling Luz and King about this?"

Eda stood straight and turned her eyes to the ground again before looking away elsewhere, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I don't want them worrying over me. Luz is just a kid. She doesn't need that kind of pressure on her at her age. And King… well…"

The Owl Lady trailed off and rubbed at the back of her neck, prompting Lizzie to brush her cheeks with her fingers to remove the traces of tearstains she'd likely left on her face with a faint frown.

"So, why did you think it was a good idea to tell me?" She placed a hand to her chest. "I'm a fountain of paranoia and stress!"

"Because you're the only one I can trust," Eda mumbled, causing Lizzie to blink widely. "I'll admit it—I'm not the responsible or organised type. And I sure as heck never bother with contingency plans. But you…" Their gazes locked again as the older witch reached out to place her hand on Lizzie's head, making the younger witch's body stiffen. "As much as I hate to say it, you're exactly the kind of witch I need right now, Lizzie."

"A witch like me?" Lizzie snorted at that and shook her head, a twitch of smile forming on her face with drooped eyes. "Don't try and flatter me, Owl Lady. I'm a train wreck."

"You're still better than me! During my last transformations, you protected King and Luz with everything you had. Not to mention since finding out about my curse, you've been on top of my elixir supply and recognising the symptoms of my curse faster than it takes King to sneak through the kitchen cupboards."

"Eda…" Lizzie could only bring herself to say the Owl Lady's name in response, causing Eda to force a smile and ruffle Lizzie's hair, to which the blonde witch closed her eyes at.

"You're a smart and strong witch in your own right, so I know I'm right to place my faith in you for my sake and theirs." Lizzie opened her eyes to see Eda's smile fade, a finger lifting to her lips. "I know it's a lot to ask, but if we're going to get through this, I need you to let me worry about the curse. Just promise me you won't tell Luz or the goofball and focus on keeping them safe, all right?"


Present…

Lizzie raised a hand to her forehead and groaned, giving the former a quick rub with her knuckles to dispel the recollection. She couldn't help smacking her lips at the bitter taste that had sprung to her tongue from when she'd somehow managed to force the words 'I promise' out of her mouth, but it wasn't like she could take those words back now.

'It hasn't been easy, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. But the fact that she was honest with me is enough for me to trust her word.' The hand rubbing at her forehead clenched a little tighter. 'All I can do is just keep quiet and don't draw attention to Eda, just like I promised.'

"Lizzie!" Lizzie flinched when she heard Luz call her name and had leaned over to poke both of her cheeks with her fingers, prompting the older witch to turn to the young Latina with a wide blink. "Did you hear what I said?"

Luz sat back as Lizzie shook her head and cleared her throat with a harsh pat against her chest, with the older witch responding at feeling the heat rise to her cheeks out of embarrassment. "No. Sorry. Went off into my own little world for a moment."

Luz chuckled at that and held up her formerly injured arm, which Lizzie could now see had healed completely with no sign of the glow or the cut. "I said my arm's healed. We should go find Eda and King to tell them we lost the food samples…"

"Ah, right. The lost samples…" Lizzie mumbled, shuddering at remembering the sight of that bloodthirsty book practically leaping from its owner's hold and launching itself at Luz. "I forgot that was the reason the book attacked you in the first place."

"Yeah…" Luz quietly agreed and copied Lizzie's shudder, with the pair standing up simultaneously. "It acted like it was starving. You could even say that it was…" She briefly trailed off to smirk and wiggle her eyebrows at the older witch. "…hungry for knowledge~."

Lizzie's shoulders immediately slumped at Luz's attempt at a joke, turning around and walking off up the street with a deadpan-like expression. "Nope."

Luz pouted for a few seconds and jogged after the older blonde, but she was soon smiling out of amusement at Lizzie's reaction. "Aw, c'mon! It's not my fault that book had no shelf-control!"

Lizzie stuck her fingers in her ears and threw her head back. "Ugh. Stop. Your puns are so corny!"

Luz grinned at reaching Lizzie's side and walking beside her through the crowds moving in the opposite direction to them, showing no hesitation in elbowing her in the ribs. "Hey, I thought that was a good one! Maybe you should take a leaf out of my book!"

Lizzie sucked in a deep breath through her nose and released it with her eyes closed, doing her best to resist the urge to laugh. And no, she did not find the jokes funny. Luz's persistence, though? She could admit that was.

"Luz, I swear to the Titan…"

She heard Luz laugh loudly at her response, which prompted the witch to let a small smile slip when she opened an eye and peeked at the younger human with a sideways glance.

'At least Luz is all right now, despite almost becoming sustenance for a book…'

"Although, jokes aside," Luz stroked her chin with a hand and turned her eyes to the few beings passing them by with books in their hold. "there are a lot of people in the marketplace with books today." She faced Lizzie again with a faint frown and the tilt of her head. "Is there supposed to be something big going on?"

"Not since I last checked…"

'It is weird, though…' Lizzie allowed her own gaze to wander to observe the beings passing her by and lock on the books they were carrying, whether in piles or on their own. 'It's not normal for so many residents to be walking around with books anyways. But since we arrived this morning, there weren't crowds flooding the streets with books. Something must be up.'

And Lizzie soon found her suspicions to be correct the moment she and Luz turned into the adjoining street of the marketplace, where the crowds seemed to lessen and allowed them to get a good view of their destination.

Eda's stand was placed in its usual spot close to their end of the street, with nothing out of the ordinary from what Lizzie could tell from when she and Luz had last seen it. The Owl Lady herself was rocking a pair of purple sunglasses and leaning back against the yellow chair she was seated on behind the table with her arms folded behind her head (there was no doubt in Lizzie's mind that the older witch was taking the time to nap her exhaustion off, even though it irked her that the Owl Lady wasn't even wearing her cloak to hide her appearance today). King was stood beside her on the table with a wooden plank on one of his paws that was supposed to be a tray for the… 'strange delicacies' he was holding above his head, which consisted of strange items Lizzie knew were from the Human Realm (such as a black ball with an '8' on it, a strange green, rectangle with a white bearded man's head atop it with a red bobble hat, three pink and white striped strips and rotten food that looked close to a 'Not-Dog', but with something oval shaped in between the buns and decorated with a green condiment that reminded Lizzie of toothpaste).

'Yeesh. They haven't sold any of the food samples either? Not that I should be surprised…'

Lizzie had opened her mouth in preparation to call out to the pair. However, she was stopped by Luz taking a grip on her arm so tight she could feel the young human's fingernails pierce her skin, which was soon followed up by a loud and high-pitched gasp.

'Oh, Titan! Since when did Luz get so strong?! What has she been eating?!'

"Lizzie! Look!" Luz squealed and pointed towards the sight at the end of the street, all the while remaining oblivious to Lizzie's cringing at the pressured pain to the point where she was about ready to crumple to the ground. "It's a book fair!"

The blonde witch let out a relieved sigh and rubbed at her arm the moment Luz let her go and sped on ahead, yet that didn't stop her brows from raising at catching sight of where Luz was heading to. Cloth covered tables and large wooden bookcases lined either side of the street in place of where other stands usually would be, with some of the tables and all the bookcases being chock full of books. A green banner hung in front of this display, depicting a long, green snake stretched from end to the other with a small brown book by its tail and head, all of which was hidden behind the capital yellow lettering of 'Book Fair' printed onto the banner.

'Holy Mother of the Titan…' The blonde raised a hand to rub at her chest upon feeling a dull ache attack her chest, a painful reminder of the warmth and giddiness she felt wash over her upon staring at the banner. 'The book fair! I forgot Bonesborough held these things!'

Lizzie slowly followed Luz as the young human skidded to a stop in the middle of the tables and swirled round with a wide grin on her face, holding her hands above head while yelling cheerily at the older witch.

"Are you seeing this, Lizzie?! The Demon Realm also has a place where books come to life!" She balled her hands into fists and squealed again, eventually bringing them close to her chest and hopping around on the spot like a rabbit. "I feel like I've died and gone to heaven!" She frowned and halted her jumping, scratching at the side of her head. "Wait, does heaven exist here?"

Lizzie chuckled as she caught up to the Latina girl, unable to contain a smile at how excited Luz was getting; considering her love of that fictional series she would talk about non-stop, the witch was not surprised that Luz was a lover of books. "Bit of a book nerd, huh?"

"Of course!" Luz jabbed a thumb into her chest as she puffed it out, her grin remaining intact. "It's one of the best kind of nerds!" Luz relaxed and tilted her head to the side with a blink then. "What about you, Liz?"

Lizzie's smile faded with a wide blink at the question. "What about me?"

"Are you a lover of fiction? You seem like the bookworm type, even though you've never showed an interest in 'The Good Witch Azura' series." Luz closed her eyes and chuckled. "Although, I'm guessing that's because, like Eda, you think its language is 'an insult to witches'." She quoted the last bit by bending her middle and index fingers on both hands.

Lizzie huffed loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "Yes. I agree with Eda on that one: the book is a fictitious insult to our world and culture. However…" Lizzie trailed off and quickly peeked over her shoulder, her eyes looking from left to right to make sure Eda and King weren't present before facing Luz again and lowering her voice at feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. "…I used to read a bit of fiction when I was younger that wasn't as flowery."

Luz let out a gasp so loud it sounded like she was attempting to gather oxygen into her lungs. She rushed forward and grabbed Lizzie's lone hand, clasping it between both of her own with her hazel eyes widened and glistening.

"Something in common!" Luz's next words came out as a rushed mess, leaving Lizzie to raise a brow at how cheery the human had suddenly become. "What's your favourite genre?! Are stories in the Demon Realm different to the Human Realm?! What about—?!"

"Whoa, there," Lizzie interrupted and placed her other hand on Luz's head, prompting Luz to fall quiet and try to catch her breath at her face flushing a faint pink. "One thing at a time, Luz."

Luz closed her eyes and giggled, causing her cheeks to take on a faint red blush as she released Lizzie's hands to scratch at her face with a finger. "Sorry. I got a little carried away. I'm not used to people liking the same stuff as me." She opened an eye. "Plus, this is the first thing you and I both like."

Lizzie blinked widely and leaned back a bit. "Wait? Is it?"

"I think so." Luz nodded and turned her gaze to the sky. "You've never showed an interest in anything I've wanted to do outside of magic. You also spend much more time with King and Eda than you do with me, or in our room making potions." The girl raised her shoulders and smiled as she lowered her gaze back to Lizzie's. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. You did say you frequented the library a lot and liked to read up on things. Fiction stories were bound to come up in that."

'… Huh.' Lizzie furrowed her brow and looked down at her boots, folding her arms across her front. 'She does have a point. She and I aren't into the same things and I haven't spent much time with Luz outside of magic training and that one incident at the library.' She raised her gaze again with a slight gape, her shoulders slumping. 'Oh, geez. She's right. Up until now, magic is the one thing we've bonded over. Reading as a whole, though? Not once.'

"I have noticed you only have spell books in our room, though," Luz continued when her smile vanished, tilting her head with a blink. "It's no wonder it wasn't obvious."

Lizzie avoided eye contact with Luz as her cheeks flushed a brighter shade of red, keeping her focus fixed on the nearby wall. "Well, uh…" Her voice lowered a little more in volume at the next thing she said. "…that's probably because I haven't really picked up a fiction book since I got obsessed with mixing magic and potions. Heh." She smiled and rubbed a hand against the back of her neck. "I have been meaning to get back to it though…"

"Then why haven't you?"

Lizzie's smile faded as she grumbled the next part of her sentence, returning her eye contact to Luz. "Because I still need to find a way to do it without Eda or King knowing."

Luz squinted at this. "Why can't they know?"

Lizzie glanced up at the sky and briefly hissed through her teeth, trying to think of the best way to explain this so Luz would understand. "Well—"

"Ugh!" Eda's noise of disgust caused Lizzie to cut herself off with a flinch, prompting both her and Luz to whip their heads in the direction of the voice. "I was wondering why it reeked of nerd instead of snails today…"

Eda was stood with King nearby a covered table where a potion student from Hexside (who was a humanoid being with short dark hair whose face was a large pink eye with a red pupil) was in front of a large white sign with red lettering that said 'Hot Romance' scrawled on it with the addition of a red border round the latter word and an orange flame colouring the former word, along with the words 'Intrigue!' and 'Passion!' added underneath. The Owl Lady had her hands to her hips, the frown on her face and drooped eyes clearly exposing how unimpressed she was with everything. King, on the other hand, had his brow raised, his gaze wandering round like he was attempting to process what he was seeing.

"Why's it called a 'fair'? Fairs have rides!"

"So does this one!" Luz replied with a smile and the tapping of her finger against her temple. "In your mind!"

King narrowed his eyes and forced a blink, his expression now mimicking Eda's current one as he raised a paw to his mouth. "Yawn."

"Yawn, indeed," Eda agreed, prompting Luz to slouch and pout at the reactions by the little demon and the Owl Lady. "But do you know what's more interesting?" A smirk came to her face as she locked eyes with Lizzie. "That you're a closeted book nerd."

The blonde witch sucked in a breath through her nostrils at feeling her cheeks heat up as they flushed a bright pink, her hands immediately flying to her face to try to cover it up while leaning back a bit, to no avail. "Y-You heard that?!"

Eda's smirk widened. "Oh, yeah."

King laughed loudly and held his stomach with one paw, pointing the other one at Lizzie when he spoke in a sing-song tone. "Ha! Lizzie's a book nerd~!"

"I am not!" Lizzie shouted back with her nose scrunching up, her body briefly trembling with anger. "I mostly read fiction when I was a kid."

"Doesn't change the fact you still read them and just admitted you'd been meaning to get back into it!" King teased with a little giggle, holding up a claw with a smirk and slight lean of his body towards the older witch. "Once a book nerd, always a book nerd."

Lizzie scowled at the red flush that overtook her face, her nostrils flaring when she raised her right index finger with a slight twirl. A small spell circle formed in front of her that released a spurt of water in King's direction, hitting the little demon in the face so hard he stumbled backwards onto his bottom, causing Eda's smirk to fade with a wide blink.

"Weh!"

"Oof," Eda commented with a cringe and the closing of an eye. "Struck a nerve there, huh?"

"Hey! Don't make fun of Lizzie!" Luz interjected with a pout, approaching Lizzie's side and taking a gentle grip on her closest arm, an action that caused said witch to take a deep breath and allow her embarrassed flush to drain from her face. "There's nothing wrong with being a book nerd!"

"Sure," Eda replied sarcastically and folded her arms across her chest, already preparing to walk past Lizzie and Luz without a single glance. "Well, you two dorks have fun with your books. I'm gonna go pickpocket some unsuspecting sap in the meanwhile, seeing as this place is driving away my business…"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and didn't bother watching Eda leave, leaving Luz's shoulders to slump with a faint frown as she turned to look after the Owl Lady while stretching out a hand as if to stop her.

"No! Don't go! I was hoping we could look at all the books together!" Luz pointed a finger towards Lizzie's satchel while Eda continued walking away. "I finally have something I can spend my snails on!"

"Forget it, Luz," Lizzie said with a huff, turning to face the Latina girl slightly and placing a hand on her closest shoulder, the touch causing Luz to relax her posture and whine. "Eda's never been the type to be interested in reading unless it's related to magic. You're wasting your breath."

"You're probably right," Luz mumbled, only to swirl round on her heels and clasp her hands together at her chest, her eyes glistening with a pleading glint. "Will you come with me? This could be your chance to get back into reading fiction!"

"Gee, Luz. That's a nice offer and all…" Lizzie trailed off to suck in a breath through her teeth and look off randomly at a nearby table with an egg-like creature with the top of its head cracked, blue eyes, pink lips and a large and pointed nose stood behind it, rubbing at the back of her head with a hand. "But it's been a while since I last read any fiction and—" She interrupted herself with a loud gasp when her gaze locked with a green covered book on top of the pile on the table, a hand quickly flying to her mouth to muffle her next words. "… No way."

Without a second thought, Lizzie strode round Luz and over towards the table with a slight spring to her step, leaving the young human looking after her with a faint frown and the tilt of her head. "Liz? What's wrong?"

But Lizzie didn't answer, causing even King to blink and raise his brows at Lizzie's reaction. So, when Luz walked after the blonde witch, he jogged to her side and climbed up her back to sit inside her hood. The moment Lizzie reached the table, she took the book into both hands and raised it closer to her to get a better look at it, a wide smile stretching onto her face.

"I don't believe it! They actually have it!"

Luz and King leaned over Lizzie's shoulder (or Luz's, in King's case) to peek at the small book's cover, prompting the former's brows to raise while the latter's furrowed at what they saw. The book's cover depicted a watercolour styled illustration of a forest, with a couple large trees in the background and small stretch of grass that went down to the bottom of the cover. A red fox could be seen bounding across this stretch of grass, while a tawny owl soared just above it. An eagle, along with at least four crows, could also be seen on one of the branches of the trees in the background, watching the fox and the owl from where they were perched. The title of the book was placed above the forest in the sky in white cloud styled writing, which King chose to read aloud with a squint.

"'The Tricky Tale of Todd and Tawny'?" King focused his gaze on Lizzie with a forced blink. "This sounds like a book for kids."

"That's because it is, King," Lizzie replied, her eyes appearing to lighten up without her removing them from the front cover, which she gently ran a hand over. "It's about an owl who saves a fox cub from an eagle and their army of crows. The owl looks after the fox into adulthood, only for the fox to return the favour and save the owl when the eagle captures it."

"Aw," Luz cooed as she gave the cover of the book a light poke. "So, it's almost like an animal version of an adventure story, with the addition of drama and a familial theme."

"Exactly."

"The Demon Realm has cooler children's books." Luz pulled away with a pout. "I wish I'd had stories like this when I was a kid."

"It sounds boring to me," King commented as he crossed his arms and sat back into Luz's hood. "Not enough violence and gore for my tastes."

"Well, it is a children's book, King," Lizzie said that without breaking eye contact, prompting the little demon to close his eyes and tilt his chin up.

"Point still stands."

Lizzie rolled her eyes at King's remarks, while Luz found herself unable to contain a smile as she listened to Lizzie go on and try to defend this published work.

"You really love that book, huh?"

"It was my favourite book growing up." The blonde witch felt the heat rush to her face at that, practically beaming at Luz's and her own words as the faint pink flush overtook her cheeks. "I used to badger my parents to read it to me every night before I'd go to sleep. I kept my copy even when I became too old for it." Her smile dimmed down a little with a small sigh, her eyes drooping while she traced her fingers against the cover, her voice lowering to a mutter. "It's a shame I couldn't have taken it the night I was…" She purposely trailed off and shook her head to prevent herself from finishing her sentence, causing Luz's brow to furrow and her smile to fade. Lizzie's eyes seemed to dull, as if they'd lost their light. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter now."

As Lizzie went to place the book back on the pile, however, Luz reached out and gripped at her elbow.

"Hey, don't put it back!" Lizzie turned to Luz with a raised brow, prompting Luz to grin and point towards the piece of paper stuck to the table in front of the book pile that had '10 snails per book' scribbled on it in red pen. "Why don't you buy it? You can have a copy to keep at the Owl House to look at whenever you want!"

Lizzie briefly followed Luz's finger and stared at the handmade sign for a moment, appearing to ponder her suggestion when her brows knitted together. But then Lizzie forced a smile and a small chuckle when the silence passed, causing Luz's expression to morph into a frown.

"I appreciate the suggestion, Luz, but…" She turned to the younger human and patted the front of her satchel. "…I'm afraid I don't have anything to buy it."

"You don't?" Luz repeated with a wide blink, stepping back to stare at the satchel and scratch at her head. "But what about those snails you got from winning that bet with Eda and King?"

"She already spent it," King answered with drooped eyes while resting his chin on his arms as he placed them on Luz's closest shoulder, causing Luz's brows to raise when she looked at him. "And not on herself either."

"She didn't?" Luz questioned, whipping her head to Lizzie and gesturing towards her clothes and satchel. "But you said you were going to spend those on new clothes and potion ingredients."

Lizzie huffed and shook her head, shrugging her shoulders as she did so. "Yeah, well, I didn't." She took a hand from the book and raised a finger for each item she verbally listed off. "Eda was twenty snails short on her recent elixir supply, François needed new stuffing and thread after Hooty ripped him to pieces—"

"I'm still mad about that!" King interrupted from Luz's hoody as he shook a clenched paw above his head and scowled. "François almost died because Hooty saw a bug on him!" His next words fell to a grumble when he clenched his jaw. "That traitorous bird tube, injuring my most loyal soldier…!"

"And—" Lizzie continued, turning to Luz to indicate towards her leggings, which Luz glanced down at after raising one of her knees to get a closer look. "—we also needed thread to patch up your clothes after you had that little tumble down the stairs the other day…"

Luz's cheeks flushed a faint pink at this, prompting her to look away and rub at her arm with a hand. "I-I was just trying to make an Azura outfit out of Eda's stuff!"

"Then you probably should have done that downstairs," King quipped, to which Luz pursed her lips at.

"It's not my fault Azura was drawn with long, flowing robes! Still," Luz focused her gaze back to Lizzie to see her returning the book to the pile with slow movements, her shoulders drooped. "I get what the deal is with mine and King's stuff, but why did you help out Eda?" She held her hands above her head. "She had all that gold from the Bat Queen! She could have used that, couldn't she?"

"Who says she already hasn't?" Lizzie replied, making Luz gawk when her shoulders stiffened and straightened out. "Outside of the essentials, Eda's put a lot of that gold towards her elixirs." Luz frowned and exchanged a glance with King, who too frowned at Lizzie's words. The blonde witch caught this out of the corner of her eyes and immediately swivelled on her heels to face the pair, holding her palms up in surrender with a slight stutter. "B-But it's nothing to worry about, obviously! She's just trying to be more on top of things, because of my nagging!"

Lizzie didn't need to look at her reflection to know she was sweating. She could practically feel it sticking to her forehead as she spoke, even despite King's and Luz's expressions relaxing a bit at her words, showing that they'd bought her excuse.

'Whew! Need to watch my wording in future!'

"So, you never spent a single snail on yourself?" Luz eventually said, her eyes drooping as they went to the book pile. A hand held her elbow when she broke her gaze away and turned to her shoes instead, rubbing the sides of her shoes together as she lowered her voice. "That's not right."

Lizzie's shoulders slumped at seeing how disheartened Luz had become; although she couldn't deny she didn't feel the same, as evidenced by the ache she found herself wincing at when it attacked her chest. That didn't stop her from lowering her hands and putting on the best smile she could muster, though.

"Hey," Lizzie said sternly, raising a hand to place on Luz's head; an action of which caused the young Latina to lift her eyes to the older witch's. "Your needs, along with King's and Eda's, are more important than some old book." She ruffled Luz's hair, causing the human girl to close an eye and raise her shoulders a bit. "So, don't feel bad, okay?" But try as she might to be convincing, Lizzie failed to hide the shift of her voice rising an octave or two, something that Luz squinted a bit at when the older witch righted herself and reached a hand into her satchel. "Anyway, you and King go enjoy the book fair. Don't let me ruin your fun! Ha ha…"

At seeing Lizzie pull out a small brown, string-tied sack from her satchel and toss it to her, Luz blinked widely and instinctively held out both palms flat, managing to catch it between her palms and secure it after jiggling it about to stop it toppling from her hands to the ground. She knew Lizzie had just given her share of the snails to her.

"You're not coming with?" She asked in a small voice, her bottom lip jutting out a little like it was ready to start quivering.

"Sorry, Luz." Lizzie shrugged her shoulders and started to walk backwards. "There's no point browsing with you if I can't buy anything." She looked away for a moment to peek over her shoulder. "Plus, I should check on Eda and make sure she hasn't been arrested. She is wandering round without her cloak, after all!" At seeing Luz hold the sack of snails close to her abdomen and bow her head, the blonde witch quickly continued with a forced cheery tone. "But hey! If you get any books, let me know. Maybe we can read them together later."

That was enough to have Luz lift her head again and give Lizzie a small smile, prompting her to hug the sack of snails closer to her person. "I'd like that."

Lizzie mirrored Luz's smile and gave her a salute, glad to see she'd brought the young human back to good spirits. "Great! You two have fun!"

King and Luz both waved as they watched Lizzie turn round and walk off in the direction Eda had previously left in, with the latter dropping her arm and smile once the older witch had gotten ahead a little. Luz turned to the table and locked eyes with the children's book on top of the pile, her fingers subconsciously fiddling with the string of the sack resting in her other hand.

As a result, the little demon and human remained unaware of a tall, thin, humanoid being hidden under a brown cloak strolling in the opposite direction just off to the side of where Lizzie was walking, their clunky shin-high black boots thumping against the cobbled road. When the stranger and Lizzie passed by each other, the latter paid them no mind and kept walking; however, seconds after the shorter witch walked on by, the stranger came to a sudden halt at the hiss they heard from inside their hood.

A familiar red snake with two protruding tusks (with its formerly broken left one now mended) from its maw poked its head out from the stranger's hood and bent its neck round to watch Lizzie's retreating back, prompting the stranger to turn their body slightly to follow the palisman's eyes when it began to hiss again.

"… That's her? The witch who saved you?" A young male voice asked the palisman from underneath the shadows of the hood, to which the snake responded with another hiss as it slithered its way back round its partner's neck. "Huh…" The stranger hummed and reached a hand to his face, grabbing at the circular pair of glasses his green eyes hid behind to push them up the bridge of his nose. "So, Foxwick's sightings of her in Bonesborough have finally paid off."

As Lizzie began to get further away from the stranger, he adjusted his cloak hood and yanked it further over his face, already walking after her with long strides.


It was hard for Lizzie to admit that seeing one of her old childhood books had left a sour taste in her mouth she couldn't quite get rid of. Yet as she wandered through the crowds browsing through the maze of cloth covered tables and bookshelves stacked with books of all colours, sizes and genres, she found herself ready to admit defeat each time she smacked her lips together, her eyes downcast to avoid the urge to stare at all the books she'd probably be interested in.

'It's just my luck that the book fair would be around on a day where I don't have a single snail to my name.' The blonde witch slowed her pace to kick at a small rock in her path with the toe of her boot, watching it skip two leaps ahead before she repeated her earlier actions once she'd caught up to it, with her hands gripping at her satchel strap. 'I suppose if I wanted to, I could have simply borrowed a copy of that book from the library. But a borrowed book isn't the same as holding one that's yours. That's why I only ever used the library for free magic research. And while I do already own a copy…' Her lips quivered as she trailed off, her grip on her satchel strap tightening a little. 'Well, it's not like I can go home and get it, can I? The guards wouldn't have let my family stay there after the mess I caused. I bet most of my belongings were confiscated and taken to the precinct when I was arrested...'

After kicking the stone for another time, Lizzie finally stopped and observed it bounce to a halt into a dead ended area, a small sigh escaping her as she did so. She raised her head to the cloud scattered sky, her green eyes glistening with the tears that wanted to fall.

'I wonder how they're doing. No doubt they're worrying about me, especially with the news that's now going around…' Lizzie closed her eyes tight to try to suppress her tears from falling, doing the best to ignore the dread she could feel swirling in her gut. 'It's been three years since that night. I have no idea what happened to them after I was thrown into that carriage. But given I'm the criminal, there's no way they wound up in the Conformatorium. I just hope that—'

"Redwood?" Eda's concerned voice sounding in front of her caused Lizzie to open her eyes and lower her head with a wide blink, finding herself coming face to face with the Owl Lady stood beside the stone she'd kicked earlier. The older witch's raised brow was bathed in a light blue glow coming from the scroll she was holding close to her face. "You okay?"

Lizzie's eyes widened at realising there were tears streaking down her face. She blinked widely and wiped at her arms at them with a quiet sniffle.

"Ahem!" She loudly cleared her throat before answering Eda, especially when the Owl Lady approached her with a furrowed brow. "Yeah, yeah! I-I'm fine! I just—" Lizzie cut herself off the moment her eyes locked with the glowing scroll in Eda's hands, her brows raising. "Uh…" She lifted a finger slightly to point and prod at the edge of the parchment. "Whatcha got there, Eda?"

It was Eda's turn to have her eyes widen out of realisation, her gaze flitting between the scroll and Lizzie's face at least once. "Oh, this?" She closed the scroll and cut off its faint glowing, rolling it up and then using her hand to shove it inside the bush she called her hair. "Nothing important! Just some junk I swiped off some unsuspecting sap!"

Lizzie would have believed Eda's words had she just left it at that. But when the Owl Lady gave her a grin that stretched so wide her cheeks looked like they were about to pop, that was more than enough for the blonde witch to fold her arms and furrow her brow a bit.

"Right… Well, as I was saying, I was just looking for you to make sure you were okay. You know…" She gave the area around them a quick sideways glance before leaning in and covering her mouth with the back of her hand at lowering her voice. "Because of the curse."

"Pfft!" Eda waved Lizzie off with a hand and rolled her eyes, turning her head towards the right to look at a random bookstand nearby. "I feel fine! Fit as a fiddle! Can't say the same for the poor dorks gathered here! They're even paler than me!"

She forced out a snort, avoiding eye contact with Lizzie as much as she could even despite the sweat Lizzie could see gathering on her forehead. The younger witch opened her mouth, ready to question Eda on why she was acting so strange… until her green eyes caught sight of a wrinkle under Eda's visible eye.

Eda didn't realise what was happening until she caught the blonde leaning closer with a squint towards her face, only for her lips to briefly press together and her eyes to bulge at the next words that left her mouth.

"Wait, have you gained another wrinkle—?"

"Whoa there!" Eda backed up a couple of steps and held her palms up in front of her chest with a faint scowl, causing Lizzie to retract and move back herself with a slight gap. "Way to go making a woman feel self-conscious about her age, Redwood!"

Lizzie partially raised a hand of her own and looked off to the side, even despite her deepened frown and her sarcastic response. "Yeesh. Sorry. Wasn't looking to strike a nerve."

But from an internal standpoint, even she could tell that something wasn't right with Eda's behaviour.

'What in the Boiling Isles has gotten into Eda?'

Movement from Eda brought the blonde's gaze back to her technical employer, who was already walking backwards away from her in the direction she'd just walked in.

"Anyways, I'm fine! So, don't worry your little blonde head about it!" She pointed her index fingers towards Lizzie and bent them with the click of her tongue. "If you need me, I'll be off pickpocketing some more dorks! See you back at the stand!"

Eda eventually turned to face the way she was heading and ran off without another word, leaving Lizzie to stare after her with a crinkled nose and narrowed eyes.

"… What in the Titan was all that about?" She mumbled.

A high-pitched chuckle sounded behind Lizzie, followed by a matching male voice speaking up.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind your friend's behaviour. She's just being competitive with her sister."

Lizzie whirled round to face the speaker, finding herself staring at a bare wooden table and green armchair that stood before a large, shelved wooden case with monster-like antiques hidden behind double doored glass. A brown, hairy skinned creature—the one whom had spoken, Lizzie guessed—was standing just to the right side of the chair with his hands clasped behind his back, dressed in blue and white robes with a small blue hat atop his head and a small sack tied round his neck. His smile stretched wide enough to expose his two fangs jutting from his top jaw, but not enough to reach the brown, furry sideburns that encompassed either side of his face, partially hiding his pointed ears.

One quick glance over his stand immediately told Lizzie that this creature was likely the proprietor of this particular stand, and that unlike the rest he wasn't here to sell books (even though she could see a couple of books scattered on the ground to the right of the table).

"Competitive with her sister?" Lizzie repeated, daring to step closer to the merchant when he nodded at her. "I don't understand."

The merchant's smile widened as he held out a hand to the side. "She overheard me talking with the leader of the Emperor's Coven about a map to the Bloom of Eternal Youth, and she became quite fired up when she was called 'frail'." The merchant closed his eyes and chuckled lowly (which Lizzie noted was rather… sinister), covering a hand over his mouth. "It looks like those two will be having quite the race, won't they?"

'So, Lilith was here, huh? And she insulted Eda within earshot? No wonder she was acting strangely—' Lizzie's brows raised after she'd finished processing the merchant's words, however, her mind flitting back to the glowing scroll Eda had previously been holding. 'Wait…'

"Is that what she was holding?" Lizzie asked.

"Oh, yes!" The merchant stepped towards his table and reached down to open the top drawer attached from behind, prompting Lizzie to lean over to get a peek at his long, brown claw-like nails going for a scroll from the scrolls almost spilling out of the drawer. "I can show you it if you'd like."

Lizzie got a quick glimpse of the merchant's orange and pointy shoes seconds before she righted herself at seeing him retract and raise his hands, opening out the scroll towards her. The blonde witch squinted and held her arm to shield her eyes from the faint blue glow, allowing her to get a better look at the intricately drawn forest and the little landmarks scattered about it (such as a minotaur statue, as one example).

"The Bloom of Eternal Youth is a flower that only grows in this area once every millennium, granting eternal youth to whomever holds it," the merchant explained, eventually rolling up the map and letting Lizzie lower her arm away when the glow dissipated. "The emperor has taken an interest in the flower and has sent the leader of the Emperor's Coven to retrieve it, which has apparently prompted your friend to decide she wants to retrieve it for herself…"

'Is that right.' The blonde released a loud sigh and rubbed a hand at her forehead, turning her gaze to her boots. 'Oh, Eda. Is this why you were being so secretive? Although, it is strange for Eda to suddenly care about her age and appearance. She's never been bothered by it as far as I know. It might just be because Lilith took a dig at her, but even still…'

She couldn't put her finger on it but based on the uncomfortable gurgling she could feel within the confines of her gut… something was definitely off about all of this, that much she knew. Her 'sixth sense', as Eda called it, was tingling, and she didn't like it one bit.

The merchant's chuckles brought the young witch back to reality with a wide blink, returning her focus to him as he took a hand from the scroll and scratched one of his nails against his cheek.

"I can tell by the look on your face you're worried about your friend. Here." Lizzie leaned back a little when the merchant held the scroll out towards her. "If you're going after her, you're going to need a map."

"Uh…" Lizzie gripped at her satchel strap with both hands, her head tilting to the side at the item being offered to her. "Don't I need to pay you?"

"Not at all!" The merchant beamed, stretching the scroll further towards her. "Where's the fun in preventing people from seeking out something that only blooms every thousand years? After all," The merchant licked his lips, his smile seeming to widen ever so slightly at this. "the more the merrier, am I right?"

Lizzie involuntarily shuddered at the action, but it didn't stop her from taking a hand from her satchel strap and to grab the scroll being held out to her. "Sure. Thanks."

The merchant clasped his hands together and nodded, which Lizzie took as her cue to turn away and start walking off the way she'd previously come. She failed to see the merchant's smile morph into a smirk when she slipped the rolled-up scroll into her satchel.

'I should probably meet back up with the others at Eda's stand. I can give that map a good look later.'

From behind a pink cloth covered table, the brown cloaked stranger dared to poke his head over it to watch Lizzie leave, eventually focusing his spectacled gaze towards the merchant at the loud cackle that left his mouth.

"Ohohoho~! How delightful~!" He said chirpily, wringing his hands together as he turned to face his wooden case. "I thought the leader of the Emperor's Coven and the Owl Lady were going to make great appetisers, but that young witch…" The merchant licked his lips as his mouth began to water. "…I could practically smell the pain and suffering wafting off her!" He gripped at the sack around his neck and squealed with glee, hopping from one foot to the other on the spot repeatedly. "She will definitely be a delectable meal! Ahahaha!"

The stranger's green eyes narrowed at this as he lowered himself behind the table again, twisting his body round so he was sitting with his back pressing against it.

"Not if I can help it…" He whispered with a smirk, shooting his red snake palisman a glance as he dug a hand into his robes and pulled out a pen and a piece of blank parchment. "You said she doesn't have a palisman, didn't you, Sigmund?" 'Sigmund' hissed and nodded his head in response, prompting the stranger to hold the parchment flat on the ground with one hand while writing on it with the pen in the other. "In that case, she's going to need a lift if she's planning on pursuing the Owl Lady. I was hoping to get the chance to speak to her in person. But I guess that'll have to wait for another time."

Sigmund watched the stranger write everything down on the parchment before he proceeded to roll it up and return the pen to his cloak, only to pull out a thin, red ribbon which he tied round the parchment.

"For now, this will be my way of thanking her for saving you and my family's palismen." The stranger fixed the ribbon with a knot and held out the parchment to Sigmund, who slithered forward and took it in his mouth. "The Bat Queen already gave us directions to the Owl Lady's residence should we need them. That's where she'll be." The stranger gave the parchment a light poke with his finger, reaching his other hand up to his forehead to run his fingers through his left-swept, messy, red fringe. "Make sure she gets that and that you help her out however you can, okay?"

Sigmund nodded and turned to slither after Lizzie without a second thought, prompting the stranger to watch while giving his partner a small wave, even if the snake palisman wouldn't see it.

"Good luck, Sigmund," he muttered, lowering his head with a small huff. "Here's to the Titan that you don't wind up getting damaged again…"


A/N: A lot of you have probably noticed since Chapter 29 that I've started introducing further characters aside from Lizzie and Xander. My current plan (not counting palismen, of course) is to introduce at least five original characters for Lizzie to interact with where she can't be included in canon events, or where there are moments where she can learn about certain things without being included in canon events. Chapter 29 introduced one (whom you may remember was the one talking to Xander on the crow phone, with their palisman 'Brutus' chasing Bandit), while this chapter has introduced another OC who happens to be the owner of the red snake palisman formerly under the care of the Bat Queen, which leaves three remaining. Two of them you guys can probably already guess the identities of. But the third one? Well, that one will be a surprise~. XD Still, I have dropped a lot of info in this chapter for the second new OC of mine, so I suggest you pay very close attention to him, as this links back to the events of the last trio of chapters and the ones in Episode 6. I wonder if anyone will notice...~ Also, that children's book I've mentioned is fictitious. But I think you guys can probably guess with what I did with it that it wasn't just put there to explain what happened to those snails Lizzie won from that bet. XD