A/N: Hello and welcome back to the Owlcast! Sorry this one took so long. There was a lot of stuff I was trying to make sure I set up to prepare for later chapters. But at last, I have the first chapter for episode 12 complete. As mentioned in previous author's notes, Lizzie will be accompanying Eda and Luz to the Knee for this one, where you will get to see our young witch interact with the Blights again while undergoing her own magic training with Eda, which I have special plans for as you will find out in the next chapter... But more importantly, you'll get to see Luz and Lizzie once again butt heads like they did in episode 7, only this time it won't be Lizzie being the source of the conflict, but rather Luz. While re-watching this episode, it occurred to me that Luz would have held a bit of jealousy towards Amity for what she was able to do in comparison to her because of Eda's teaching methods and her own insecurities, and while it wasn't palpable because Luz was Eda's only student, it made me wonder if Lizzie's presence would be more likely to give rise to those feelings, especially given Eda would subconsciously prioritise Lizzie due to her bond with the younger witch in comparison to Luz. And given Lizzie's past circumstances with 'jealous people', I thought it would make sense for this to play out here. I'm not sure if anyone agrees, but we'll see how it works out in the next two chapters.
Thank you to everyone who has been favouriting, following, reviewing and reading this story. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. I'd once again like to remind you that the poll for which chapters from Season 1A you enjoyed seeing Lizzie in is still up on my profile. I'm interested to know what you guys think of Lizzie in these retellings, so feel free to take your time to vote on it.
Chapter 34: Eda's Magic Bootcamp
Another day in the Demon Realm found the residents of the Boiling Isles waking up this morning to cloudless purple skies and sunlight so bright staring at it would likely cook their eyeballs. Given the Demon Realm's history of terrible weather yielding nothing but catastrophes despite how rare they were, days like this were greatly appreciated by the realm's inhabitants for the periods of safety it offered them to go about their daily lives. This fact rang true especially for our group of outcasts on the outskirts of the Boiling Isles, who were taking the opportunity while the weather was nice to go about their business as usual. Although, 'business as usual' is a term Lizzie found herself using loosely, because as expected of the outcasts gathered under their little cottage roof, their version of 'business' was not like others, or what many would have expected.
Said Lizzie was currently seated in the living room of the Owl House, slouched against the back of the red sofa with her arms folded across her chest in the middle seat, still and silent as anything. Luz was seated to her left side, resting her head against the older witch's shoulder with her squinted gaze fixated on a small pile of papers in her hands, her brows pressed almost into a thin line as if she was lost in silent thought. Curled up on her right side was a napping King, who was resting his back against her thigh and calmly snoozing away, if his slow and heavy breathing and occasional soft snoring was any indication. Eda was currently nowhere to be found, with Lizzie last recalling her mentioning she was going to be outside in front of the cottage doing something, but not what. Had it not been for both King and Luz resting against her right now, Lizzie would have tried to peek outside through the window to see what Eda was up to. And as for Hooty… well, he was in the front door as always, but Lizzie couldn't help wondering if he was just being quiet because everyone else was. And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that King was sleeping right now. He'd just gotten bored because Luz was too busy concentrating on the pieces of paper in her palms, with Lizzie observing her with a sideways glance as she had been for a while now.
"Luz," Lizzie finally said to break the silence, giving the young Latina a gentle nudge in the shoulder with her own. "you've been staring at those light glyph notes for ages. I think it's time to call it quits."
"But it's the only spell I know!" Luz replied in a whiny tone, pouting and breaking her gaze at last to stare up at the older blonde she was leaning against. "There has to be something else I can do with it that'll be cool enough to impress the students of Hexside!"
Lizzie smiled faintly and gently poked Luz in the middle of her forehead with a finger, earning a flinch from the human. "I hate to be the one to tell you, Luz, but I think you've exhausted every last thing you can do with that glyph."
"I wish it wasn't…" Luz groaned and threw her head back with her eyes squeezed shut, allowing the papers to slip from her fingers and gather in her lap. "Apparently, even a kid can cast a light spell. That means it must be a basic spell for babies…"
Lizzie furrowed her brows at that and briefly glanced at the ceiling, recalling Luz mentioning Amity had said something along those lines to her at Covention. "Well… you're not wrong. It is a basic spell." She glanced at the younger girl with a slight smile. "But you are a beginner, Luz. So, it's nothing to be disheartened over."
But it seemed like Lizzie's words did little to change Luz's current demeanour. With a heavy sigh, Luz sat up and reached over to the round wooden table just beside the sofa they were sitting on, collecting a blue and yellow leaflet from it.
"But it's not fair," she said in a low voice, her tone gloomy. "You've learnt five new spells since you started taking your magic training more seriously. The only progress I've made is finding one spell and then finding out what my magic abilities are." Luz held the leaflet close to her face and stared at it with drooped eyes. "There's no information on glyphs anywhere and I still haven't found any other glyphs. How am I supposed to be a student at a magic school if I can't even learn magic outside of one spell?"
Lizzie's smile faded as her gaze trailed to the leaflet, a quiet sigh escaping her. Said leaflet had a yellow front titled 'Hexside Facts and Trivia' written in Old English styled blue writing, while its back was dark blue and contained random text with the accompaniment of a picture of a smiling, droopy eyed Bump with his hands clasped together and the quote 'Education is the real magic' in yellow writing captioned underneath along with his name (which she realised was misspelled as 'Principle Bump'; that gave her something to chuckle at the first time she'd seen it, considering the irony). A sudden warmth sprung to her chest at finding herself staring at the leaflet for the second time that day, prompting her to scratch at her chest with a hand subconsciously.
To say the past week or so hadn't been rough on Lizzie was quite the understatement. Despite her and Eda reconciling over the matter regarding her curse and the tensions between them having improved since the scam incident, the young witch was still wary of Eda's curse acting up and transforming her at any given time. And as if that wasn't bad enough, then trying to keep Luz and King from finding out about Eda's declining condition was just as tricky. Lizzie had had no issues with King, as he was typically easy to distract. Luz, on the other hand, was a completely different story.
Because both she and Luz had started tracking Eda's elixirs in that logbook, Lizzie wasn't surprised that Luz had naturally noticed the increase in doses and started to question them. At first, Lizzie played clueless on the matter to divert suspicion, which initially worked. But after a couple of days of this, it reached the point where she was struggling to trick Luz into believing what they'd recorded before was just a fluke. Lizzie couldn't deny that Luz was sharper than she looked when she could really focus. She'd needed a good distraction, and luckily for the young witch, that distraction had come today in the form of the informational leaflet from Hexside that Luz currently held in her hands (which Hooty, in typical Hooty fashion, had regurgitated along with the rest of the post he'd devoured into the middle of the living room floor—much to the disgust of Luz, Lizzie and King, despite the latter two being used to such antics).
Staring at Luz now however, Lizzie was beginning to question if this distraction was actually a good thing after all. And that was outside of the fact that focusing on that leaflet was intensifying the warm feeling in her chest due to the nostalgia she was getting, recalling the first time she'd entered Hexside's high school portion and reading the same leaflet (with or without the misspelling, she didn't know. She couldn't quite remember).
'I need to say something, don't I? This is the second time she's made comparisons between us, with the first being when she started training with the light glyph.' Lizzie pulled her hand away from her chest to give her palm a brief glance over. 'I know it's not my fault that I'm learning faster than she is. But knowing Luz's teenage mind, jealousy is bound to sprout up sooner rather than later, especially when she goes to Hexside. She'll be surrounded by witches with natural talent and that probably won't help.' She clenched her hand into a loose fist. 'Luz needs to stop being so hard on herself, so it's best I tell her that now than when it's too late… right?'
After a moment of silence lingered between them, Lizzie sighed heavily and focused her gaze to the mirror above the fireplace opposite them, setting her sights on Luz's despondent reflection.
"Luz, you—"
The front door of the Owl House suddenly flew open with a loud bang, cutting Lizzie off and forcing King awake with a wide blink as he jumped into the air with a shriek, his fur standing up on end.
"WEH!"
The little demon instinctively dived headfirst into Lizzie's lap as she and Luz immediately looked towards the doorway with tensed shoulders; however, they quickly relaxed when a familiar red high-heeled boot and pair of grey leggings appeared in their line of sight, soon followed by a grinning Eda.
"Hey, freeloaders!" She loudly announced, bending round the doorframe she was clutching with one hand, her other one holding the handle of the brown suitcase with the yellow eye on it which the trio knew was the portal in its 'closed' form. "Can one of you guess what today is?"
Eda's little 'brainteaser' seemed to bring Luz out of her foul mood for the moment, an assumption Lizzie came to when she saw the human perk up and smile, putting the leaflet on the sofa arm for the time being.
"Oh!" Luz held her hand up and waved it about a bit, giving her answer in an excited tone. "It's your birthday, isn't it?!"
Eda's brow raised at this, her grin dimming down to a smile. "No."
"Oooh!" King cried out as he stood up on Lizzie's lap and held his arms out on either side of him, his tail wagging. "Is it my birthday?"
Eda's smile disappeared at King's answer, her eyes drooping while she straightened out again and responded bluntly. "No."
King's tail stopped its movement and drooped the moment Eda's response washed away his momentary excitement. "Aw…" He mumbled and lowered his head a little, only to close an eye when Lizzie gave his skull head a sympathetic pat.
"It's my birthday!" Hooty cheerily declared, his beak morphed into a semblance of a smile. "Did you plan a surprise party?! I love surprises! Hoot!"
Eda's shoulders slouched as she slapped her palm to her forehead and briefly squeezed her eyes shut, leaving Lizzie and King to exchange wide-eyed blinks at this supposed revelation.
"You remember when you were born?" Lizzie questioned.
"I didn't think Hooty was even born," King commented. "I always thought he poofed into existence one day."
"Ugh, forget it!" Eda groaned, prompting attention to return to her as she shook her head. "You're terrible guessers. I shouldn't have asked."
"Yes, you shouldn't have," Lizzie agreed sarcastically, only to smirk when Eda glared at her from across the room.
"Be thankful I'm in a good mood right now, Redwood." Eda stepped inside the cottage and held the portal door behind her, ready to toss it forward with a cheery tone. "It's that time of the week, chumps!" With a grin and the 'graceful' pose of balancing on one leg with her head held high, she swung the suitcase towards the middle of the room, only for it to halt suddenly in mid-air and hover in front of the fireplace with a golden glowing outline. "Human Treasure Day!"
As if on cue with Eda's words, the trio on the sofa watched the portal door unfold from its suitcase state into the wooden door Lizzie and King were used to seeing. The door opened itself away from its glowing doorway with a loud creak, exposing a wooden canopy and porch with trees and a pathway on the other side. Or at least the plants that Lizzie thought were trees. There was very little Lizzie could see of Luz's realm from where she was sat, yet she couldn't help being momentarily distracted by the familiar looking foliage on the outskirts of whichever part of the Human Realm Eda's door seemed to lead to, a quiet gasp escaping her at the sight of their green colour. Naturally, this was the first time she'd seen such a thing, prompting her mind to recall the questions Luz had asked her during her first day in the Demon Realm, specifically the one about why their trees and ground were red and not green.
'Holy Mother of the Titan… They are green.'
Her surprise was soon mitigated by the sudden appearance of Owlbert lugging a brown sack that looked close to bursting from one side of the door to the other, with his eyes shut tight and wings flapping double time. The poor palisman appeared to be struggling, which soon became evident to the blonde witch when the little owl stopped as the sack was dragged halfway through the portal and then dropped back-first towards the carpet, somehow managing to flip the sack in the air along with him (maybe it was adrenaline, Lizzie thought).
Luz and Lizzie sat up the moment Owlbert collapsed on his back on the ground with the sack landing just above his head, the opening still clutched in his beak. When it touched the ground, the sack shredded into tiny pieces and broke apart like tissue paper, scattering around a towering pile of random items of varying sizes, shapes and colours. The portal door swung shut after this and automatically folded itself upwards back into a suitcase to hover off the ground, prompting Eda to dart towards the pile of 'human treasures' as she'd dubbed it and dive on top of it with her arms spread wide, a smile stretched across her face and a grunt of effort.
"Ah…" Eda sighed out of satisfaction as her front collided with the top of the pile of garbage, her eyes closing when her body went limp. "Come to Mama!"
King put his paws to his cheeks with his eyes widening at the large pile now in the middle of the living room, his jaw briefly slacking.
"Ooooh…" His eyes fell upon the top of a cream, fuzzy head and a pair of round ears with a dark shade of brown in its interior near the bottom of the pile, prompting him to leap from Lizzie's lap onto the carpet and dash towards it, holding his paws out while mimicking repeated grabbing motions. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"
Lizzie took the opportunity to stand and approach Owlbert with King distracted for the time being, wasting no time in crouching and collecting the little owl palisman into her palms.
"Aw, Owlbert, are you okay?" Lizzie asked with a furrowed brow, to which the little palisman opened one of his yellow eyes and responded with a low and elongated 'Hooooo…'. "You poor thing…"
Meanwhile, King had fished the item that had caught his eye out of the pile under its arms, revealing it to be a teddy bear a few sizes smaller than him with cream fur on its body, with the colour brown on its tummy and snout, and then a darker shade of brown on the tips of its stubby hands and feet. The little demon held the toy up in front of him like he was admiring a baby, his back straightening and his chin raising.
"Oh, yes!" He exclaimed with pride, staring intently into the teddy bear's glassy blue buttoned eyes. "You will be a worthy addition to my army of terror!"
As Lizzie stood from the floor and cradled Owlbert in her arms, King raised a brow when his gaze caught a tiny white ring attached with string hanging off the back of the toy, prompting him to move one of his paws to grab it and pull it as far as the string would go. Upon releasing the string and watching it stretch back inside the toy, a high-pitched voice sounded from inside the teddy bear.
"I love cuddles and kisses," it said, causing King to giggle and stomp from side-to-side a couple of times.
"Hehehe! It's truly horrifying!"
Lizzie slowly shook her head and huffed at King's antics. But when Eda pushed herself to sit up and start digging her hands through the items at the top of the pile, the younger witch moved round so she was staring up at Eda's front with a scowl.
"Eda, look at what you've done to Owlbert! That pile was way too big for him to pull through the portal!"
Eda paused in her rummaging to glance at her palisman companion, who proceeded to squeeze his eyes shut and nuzzle his head against Lizzie's vest, a sight that made the Owl Lady squint and point at him accusingly. Meanwhile, the two witches remained oblivious to King slipping his new 'minion' under one of his arms and then proceeding to dig his way into the pile of human items, making little excited panting noises as he did so.
"Quit playing on her sympathy! You know it wasn't as bad as you're making it out to be!"
Owlbert buried his head further into Lizzie's vest with a muffled 'hoo!', causing Lizzie to snort and smirk up at her squinting employer.
"Hey, you taught him to be manipulative. This is your fault."
Eda rolled her eyes in response at that, only to catch sight of Luz still sitting on the sofa with her papers back in her hands. The Owl Lady tilted her head to the side with a raised brow at this.
"Yo, kid," Lizzie followed Eda's gaze when she addressed Luz. "what's the holdup? Your trash pile is getting cold."
Luz waved Eda off with a hand, her gaze remaining fixated on her notes. "I'm good. You can have my trash."
Eda furrowed her brow and turned to Lizzie with a wide blink, shifting her body to lie on her front and then jab a thumb in Luz's direction. "What's gotten into her?"
Lizzie sighed as Owlbert put himself upright and proceeded to flap from her arms up onto her left shoulder, keeping her voice low as she responded. "She's been obsessing over her lack of spells because her Hexside leaflet came in the mail today."
"Ah…" Eda slowly nodded in understanding, focusing her eyes on the despondent Luz with a hand slipping under her chin, lightly kicking her feet back and forth in the air. "I forgot she was supposed to be starting at that dweebus factory soon. I thought she'd be a little more excited."
"Yeah. She was at first, but…" Lizzie gave Luz a quick glance before leaning towards Eda with the back of her hand close to her mouth, whispering at the Owl Lady. "I think she's a little nervous. Considering what witches like Willow, Gus and even Amity can do in comparison to her."
Lizzie still didn't know what the deal between Amity and Luz was, as the latter had mentioned very little of her since the incident at the library. However, during the times she had brought the youngest Blight up, it was always to compare their magic skills, which wasn't a surprise to Lizzie. The Blights were a talented bunch, as she'd come to know from Edric and Emira during her Hexside days with them. Although lately, Lizzie did recall Luz telling her that she'd been going to see Amity at the library, and that the green-haired witch had acted a little more cordial and polite in comparison to their previous encounters.
'I guess Luz has started to grow on her, after all. I'm still not thrilled that she's making the poor girl self-conscious about her magical abilities, but as long as she's not hurting or insulting her on purpose, that's fine.'
Despite how quiet she'd attempted to be however, Lizzie wasn't able to hide the names from the sharp eared human, whose head perked up with a wide blink at hearing Amity's name.
"Amity…" Luz mumbled, quickly followed by a loud gasp that had Lizzie's and Eda's eyes turning to her just as she dropped the papers onto the carpet. "Amity! Oh, cra—mity! I forgot I was supposed to meet her today at the market to get my Azura book back!" Balling her hands into fists, Luz wasted no time and darted for the opened front door, addressing Lizzie on the way out without giving her a chance to answer. "Lizzie, could you put that back in our room? Thanks!"
The blonde allowed her shoulders to slump as Luz grabbed the handle of the door during her run and called to the trio inside without looking back.
"Love you guys!"
"And I love you too, L—" Hooty began to respond, only to be cut off by Luz yanking the door shut behind her with a loud slam. "Ow!"
Lizzie and Eda stared at the door for a few seconds, then shared a glance. But it was the latter who broke the silence first, crossing her arms and shrugging her shoulders.
"Eh, it's her loss."
Lizzie merely sighed in response and headed over to the pile of papers on the carpet, deciding there was no use in saying anything now. She crouched (slowly, mind, since Owlbert was still on her shoulder) and used her palms to brush the papers into a small pile in front of her, eventually pausing to look over Luz's scribbles and detailed little drawings of herself doing different poses she'd come up with once they were gathered into her hands.
'But it's not fair. You've learnt five new spells since you started taking your magic training more seriously.'
Luz's earlier words sprung to mind when Lizzie stood and started walking out of the living room, unable to stop herself from wincing and closing an eye at the ache pain that briefly shot through her chest at the recollection. Those words were rubbing her the wrong way, and she couldn't quite pinpoint why. Meanwhile, Owlbert blinked at Lizzie when she winced, prompting the little palisman to shuffle closer to her face and nuzzle her cheek with the top of his head. Lizzie doubted Owlbert knew what the problem was; however, that didn't mean the little owl hadn't sensed that something was wrong. Animals, even palismen, tended to be sensitive to shifts in emotion, she knew that.
'Oh, Luz… Why do you have to be so hard on yourself?'
"Redwood." Eda's stern voice broke through Lizzie's thoughts and forced her to a stop just as she entered the hallway. She peeked over her shoulder at the Owl Lady, who was now sitting up on the pile of items and preparing to push herself off, a faint frown on her face. "When you're done, meet me in the kitchen. We need to talk."
Lizzie gaped slightly for a few seconds, but she was soon shaking her head to regain her composure, following it up with a small nod. "Okay. I'll be right there."
As Lizzie turned into the hallway and headed towards the stairs, she heard the clattering of items, as if they were falling from the pile to the floor due to being disturbed by movement. Next thing she knew, she heard King shouting after her in a mocking tone.
"Ooooh~! Someone's in trouble~!"
Lizzie rolled her eyes at the comment, knowing King was joking. But it didn't stop her from furrowing her brows at focusing on the look and tone of Eda's face when she'd addressed her just now.
'I wonder why she'd want to talk to me. I hope it has nothing to do with the curse. That's all we seem to talk about lately.'
By the time Lizzie had been upstairs and put Luz's notes away, Eda had already moved herself to the kitchen and gone about her business as usual. With Owlbert still on her shoulder, the blonde witch walked into the room to the sight of Eda stood behind the table in front of the window, with a big grey pot of boiling water placed on a portable stove. To the stove's left were two thin necked and two stout potion vials coloured purple, red, green and blue, filled partially with some liquid. To the stove's far right there laid four vegetables, specifically a tomato, a squash, a leek and an onion. Just to the right of the stove was an opened grey covered book titled 'Bending Ingredients to Your Will' in black, square capital print, being held up from the table by Eda's dismembered right hand supporting it from below (which also conveniently blocked the image depicted on the book's cover; although Lizzie thought she could see an onion on there with a surprised face).
Although Lizzie already knew what Eda was up to due to having witnessed a similar scene before, it wouldn't have taken a genius unaware of Eda's antics to work out the context of the situation because of the book and the potion vials next to the pot.
'Here we go.'
As Owlbert flew away from her shoulder to perch on the back of the chair King usually sat in at the head of the table, Lizzie slowed to a stop at seeing Eda grab the blue vial of liquid and preparing to pour it over the vegetables.
"Eda," Lizzie started with a loud sigh and drooped eyes, prompting the Owl Lady to pause and give her a sideways glance. "I get your laziness knows no bounds, but even you should know from past experience that you aren't going to make those vegetables cook themselves."
Eda responded with the roll of her eyes and the aversion of her gaze to return her focus to the task at hand, proceeding to empty the contents of the vial over all four vegetables. "Pfft! We'll see about that!"
The liquid instantly melded into a blue glow that outlined the vegetables and then disappeared the second all four of them suddenly sprouted tiny legs and arms that matched their colour. Eda set the vial down as the vegetables, who were now alive based on the slight movements Lizzie could see from their bodies (since it appeared they didn't have any way of physically being able to see, talk, smell, or hear), turned to face their creator, with Eda smiling and gesturing with the repeated waving of her left hand towards the pot of boiling water.
"All right! Into the pot!"
Lizzie still couldn't comprehend how this spell made inanimate objects sentient nor capable of certain actions when they were never given the proper features needed to perceive their surroundings, and yet she showed no reaction to the vegetables collectively releasing high-pitched screaming and fleeing off towards the right side of the table, all the while Eda's gaze followed them with a wide blink that wiped her smile from her face.
After a few seconds of delay at failing to see where the vegetables got to once they'd leapt off the table together (but guessing they'd fled towards the hallway out of the kitchen at hearing their scampering steps dying away), Eda dared to lock eyes with the younger witch on the other side of the kitchen, an action that left Lizzie unable to hold back her amusement. She loudly snorted and covered her mouth with her hands too late to muffle it, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
"Not a word," was all Eda chose to sternly respond with, pointing a finger at her technical charge with a slight squint.
Lizzie managed a nod in between her attempt to keep her laughter contained, her cheeks briefly flushing a faint pink as she ducked her head with the continued trembling of her shoulders. It didn't stop her from making comments in her thoughts, however…
'I'm sorry, Eda. But it's stupid that you keep thinking it's going to turn out differently every time.'
Eda waited with her hand to her hip until Lizzie took a deep breath in and then released it through her nose to calm down, her body relaxing with drooped shoulders.
"Okay, okay." She paused when a stray snort escaped her, waiting a moment to continue talking and hold up a hand. "I'm done. What was it you wanted to speak to me about?"
Eda's brows raised with a blink at remembering what Lizzie was referring to. "Oh, yeah. I forgot I'd called you in here." Eda took the book resting against her right hand and dropped it into the frothing, scalding water without breaking eye contact with the younger witch, subtly jerking her head towards the stool to Lizzie's right with a green and tassel cushion on it. Lizzie flinched a bit at the loud splash and moved to the seat while Eda continued talking. "It's about your magic training."
Lizzie sat on the stool and tilted her head at this, watching Eda collect her hand from the table and reattach it to her wrist with a sharp twist. "My magic training?"
"Uh-huh." Eda gave the doorway to the kitchen a quick glance to make sure Hooty and King weren't nearby, resuming talking and returning her gaze to Lizzie when she didn't hear either of them with a faint frown. "As you know, I've been researching my texts on wild magic for Luz, just to make sure I can uphold my end of our deal in case of…" Eda trailed off and tapped her fingers against her gemstone. "You know…"
Lizzie slowly nodded in understanding, bringing her arms close to her to wrap round her middle while briefly observing the gemstone on her employer's sternum. "Yep. Even though I'd like to think that won't happen."
"And it won't," Eda replied defiantly, ceasing her tapping. "But anyway, while I was doing that, it got me thinking about you."
"About me?"
"Yeah." With a quiet huff, Eda stepped closer to Lizzie and put a hand to her closest shoulder. "You've been making steady progress on your own lately, and I've taught you pretty much everything I know when it comes to dealing with scammers, guards, and the like. But in terms of spells and potions, you're lacking in variety."
"And… is that a bad thing?" Lizzie asked, speaking slowly and with a slight squint.
Eda's answer was delayed, with Lizzie observing the Owl Lady when she turned her eyes to the ceiling and tilted her hand back and forth a couple of times. "Eh… Not really." The older witch moved her hand from Lizzie's shoulder to lightly tap the top of her head a couple of times, prompting Lizzie's shoulders to stiffen. "But if recent events with Luz and 'Tool-bag' have proven anything, it's that your lack of spells puts you at a heavy disadvantage when it comes to fights."
Lizzie quietly snorted at the new nickname for Xander, but she made the wise decision not to comment on it. "Because I don't have the skills to hold out long enough, you mean?"
"Exactly!" Eda grinned and pulled her hand away. "From the little I've seen of you using your magic and your potions, it's obvious you're a strategic fighter." She tapped her temple with a finger. "What you lack in power you make up for with your brain, which is fine. However," Eda's smile fell as she glanced at her gemstone again with drooped eyes, her voice lowering. "it's not good for you to be reliant on the same spells all the while. Whether because of my curse or not, I can't guarantee that I'll always be around to protect you. So, it's time I did something that I should have probably done during your first year under my roof…"
Lizzie narrowed her eyes and leaned forward across the table with her arms placed flat on the wooden surface, her mind already having an idea of where Eda was going with this yet still questioning her for confirmation anyway. "Which is…?"
"Be more proactive in teaching you more spells." Eda shoved a hand into the side of her bushy hair, sticking her tongue out to the corner of her mouth while her hand rummaged through her white and grey strands for the item she was looking for. "I've taught you two useful spells already, and you've managed to master five more on your own—"
"Technically four," Lizzie quietly corrected, turning her eyes to the window of the kitchen and rubbing at the back of her neck with a hand. "I'm still struggling to hold the forcefield spell for long periods of time."
Eda rolled her eyes as she pulled out a thin piece of paper from her hair. "Okay. Four then. Still, it's high time I taught you something new, starting by giving you this."
The Owl Lady smacked the paper flat onto the table in front of the younger witch, causing the blonde to recoil a bit at the action. Lizzie momentarily pressed her lips together into a thin line, turning her eyes to the paper to scan through the various words she recognised to be spell names in Eda's handwriting. And there were a lot of them, so much so there were two separate lists on either side, as Lizzie discovered when she dared to lift a corner to peek at the paper's back.
"Uh…" She began, letting the paper corner go and pointing towards it as her green eyes returned to the Owl Lady's golden own. "What is it?"
"A list of all the spells I know." Lizzie's jaw dropped, her hands abruptly snatching the list from the table to bring it closer to her face. Her eyes scanned the paper from side-to-side with repeated blinks, to which Eda smirked and puffed her chest out in response with the crossing of her arms. "Impressive, right?"
"Holy Titan, that's a lot of spells…" Lizzie mumbled in awe, briefly pausing to move her face closer and narrow her eyes at seeing the word 'teleportation' in one of the spell names. "I don't think I've seen you use most of these."
Eda jabbed her thumb into her chest with a raised chin. "Well, they don't call me 'the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles' for nothing!"
"You mean you, right?" Lizzie returned her gaze to Eda with a slight smirk; however, it was gone as quickly as it appeared when Eda waved her off with a hand. "But why are you giving me this?"
"In the past, you've come to me when you've seen me use a spell and wanted to learn it. Now, you don't have to do that." She gave the top of the paper a couple of light taps. "I want you to look at this list, and if any spells catch your eye that you feel like you can learn—whether they're compatible with potions or not—let me know. Unlike Luz, you can learn spells the regular way." Eda reached out to ruffle Lizzie's hair a bit and wink. "So, once I show you the ropes, you'll have no problem practising on your own."
Lizzie's eyes widened for a few seconds, her surprise at Eda's offer clearly apparent. Yet despite how grateful she was, that ache from earlier returned to her chest at being reminded of Luz, coupled with a sudden onset of dread from the recollection of her earlier words that made her stomach drop. It was difficult for her to describe, yet she couldn't help feeling like she'd been in this situation before, as if she wasn't supposed to be happy about the progress she'd been making.
'There's that feeling again.'
The blonde witch visibly winced and dropped the list onto the table to wrap an arm across her chest and stomach, a sight that caused Eda's own eyes to widen. Owlbert perked up and flapped over to the other side of the table at noticing Lizzie's discomfort, landing in front of her with a furrowed brow and a quiet 'Hoo…' to show his concern for her wellbeing.
"Kid, are you okay?" Eda asked as she dared to step closer to the younger witch, raising the back of her hand to place to her forehead to hold there for a second or two without waiting for Lizzie to answer. She could see Lizzie wasn't visibly sweating or paling, yet she still felt it was necessary to be sure the blonde was fine. "You're not getting sick, are you?"
Lizzie quickly shook her head as the ache in her chest started to dull, allowing Eda to pull away when it was clear she didn't feel warm. "No, no! I-I'm fine! I just…" She trailed off and averted her gaze to the wooden surface of the table, prompting Owlbert to cock his head to the side out of confusion. "Uh…"
"Just what?" Eda pressed, placing her hand to her hip.
"Just…" Lizzie mumbled, pausing to suck in a quick breath through her nose to give her the courage to raise her gaze to Eda's once more, with her hands subconsciously rubbing at her vest. "Just remembered something that Luz said to me earlier, that's all."
"What's she said?"
Lizzie's mouth twitched, hesitating for a moment until she could bring herself to answer. "Well—"
A door slamming from the direction of the living room cut Lizzie off as it resounded throughout the first floor of the cottage, quickly followed by Luz's panicked shout of the Owl Lady's name.
"EDAAAAAAAAA!"
Lizzie and Eda immediately turned their heads to the kitchen doorway at the hurried footsteps approaching, with both the former's eyes and shoulders drooping when she muttered under her breath.
"And speaking of Luz…"
The Latina human was eventually seen dashing into the kitchen with her arms flailing above her head, still shouting Eda's name as she went.
"Eda, Eda! Eda— Whoa!" Luz was cut off when she dug her heel into the floor to bring herself to a stop with a squeak, only to twirl instead and then collapse sprawled out onto her front with a small thump. "Oof!" Lizzie flinched a bit at the fall, watching Luz quickly bounce back when she raised her head in Eda's direction. "I need you to teach me a new spell right now!"
'Yeesh. Has she already seen Amity? That was fast.'
"Easy, kid. Slow down," Eda said with her hand raised palm-up. "What's the rush?"
Luz crawled her way over to the table and used the edge to pull herself to her feet, grabbing at tufts of her hair as she spluttered her explanation out. "I've just found out from Amity I need to know a minimum of two spells to get into decent classes at Hexside, but all I know is the light glyph!"
"You've just found out?" Lizzie questioned with a raised brow, to which a wide-eyed Luz nodded at her. "That information was in the leaflet Hexside sent you. Didn't you read all of it?"
"It doesn't matter if I did!" Luz yelled as she moved to Lizzie's side and grabbed the older witch by the shoulders, causing her body to stiffen in response. "If I don't learn a second spell, I'll end up in the baby class! I don't belong in there!" Luz whined and buried her face into Lizzie's left shoulder, her next words becoming muffled by the wool of her vest yet still audible enough for Lizzie to make out. "But the light spell is the only spell I knoooow!"
Lizzie gave Luz a pitying smile (even if she couldn't see it right now) and reached up to gently pat the back of the younger girl's head, allowing her body to relax while she attempted to comfort her. She decided to give Luz a moment to calm down and gather herself, keeping her thoughts to herself for now.
'I'll admit I completely forgot about those entry requirements. Although I suppose it didn't really concern me, considering I was already equipped with two spells by the time I enrolled.' Lizzie shared a glance with Eda, who merely shrugged her shoulders and hummed in confusion at Luz's behaviour. 'And I can bet the same applied to Eda too…'
"It's bad enough I only know one spell anyway!" Luz continued despite her words still being muffled. "But now I won't be able to study with Willow, Gus or Amity! I'll be separated from my friends, which is even worse!"
Lizzie furrowed her brow at the last thing Luz said. "Er… I wouldn't call Amity a friend yet, Luz. At best, she's probably a friendly acquaintance…"
Lizzie trailed off when Luz eventually lifted her head to look her in the eyes with quivering lips and wide eyes, making her resemble a puppy who was acting like it had just been abandoned. "Lizzie, what am I going to doooooo?!"
"Hey," Eda said with an annoyed tone, scowling and jabbing a thumb into her own chest. "What about me? I am your teacher."
Lizzie stared at Eda with a raised brow, her mouth twisting slightly. "No offence, Eda, but you are kind of the reason she's in this mess in the first place. Do I need to remind you who's been actively teaching Luz about magic since she's gotten here?"
There was a brief pause before Eda huffed and turned around to stare at the opposite end of the kitchen, placing one hand to her forehead while flicking the fingers of her other one in Lizzie's direction. "All right. You have me there."
Returning her attention to the human clinging to her clothes, Lizzie sighed and gently pried Luz from her front, straightening her out beside the stool. "Sorry, Luz. As much as I agree you don't belong in the baby class, the method of magic you have requires you to learn glyphs to use spells. But we don't know anything about the glyphs or where to find them."
"There's got to be something!" Luz pouted and moved round the table to stand opposite where Eda was stood, placing her palms flat on the table's surface and leaning forward to get as close to the Owl Lady as possible (without scalding herself on the boiling pot in between them, of course). "Eda's the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles! Surely, you've got something you can teach me, right, Eda?!"
"Hm…" Eda hummed in thought and stroked her chin with a hand, her gaze turning to the forest outside. Although Lizzie couldn't see Eda's current expression, it didn't take much for the blonde to conclude Eda was mulling something over, especially when the older witch spoke up after a moment of silence. "Well, I don't have anything I can teach you. However…" Eda faced Luz with a small smile and held up a finger. "I do remember reading about a place on the Boiling Isles where the earliest witches would go to develop their magic."
Lizzie swore Luz's eyes looked ready to bulge from their sockets the second she processed Eda's words, her shoulders hunching out of anticipation.
"Where?" Luz questioned in an excited whisper, digging her fingernails into the wood of the table. "Where is this place and how do we get to it?"
Eda smirked and tapped the side of her nose, answering in an exaggerated voice Lizzie assumed was her attempt of sounding wise. "You'll get your answers soon, young apprentice. For now, though,"—her smirk dimmed to a smile as she glanced between Luz and Lizzie while rubbing her hands together—"I can tell you it'll be a perfect opportunity for both of you to learn a new spell."
Luz straightened up with an exaggerated gasp, her mouth slowly morphing into a wide-open smile. Meanwhile, Lizzie's brows raised with a wide blink, not quite following what Eda was getting at. "Wait, what are you saying?"
"Pack your bags, girls!" Eda exclaimed with a widened smile as she smacked a fist against her palm. "Because you're joining Eda's magic boot camp!"
Lizzie narrowed her eyes while trying to process the Owl Lady's words. "Eda's magic-what-now—?"
"Yes!" Lizzie was interrupted by Luz's excited yell as she jumped up from the table and pumped her fists above her head, spreading her legs and arms out into a starfish-like pose. "Magic boot camp!"
"And why are you involving me in this?" Lizzie questioned Eda, the latter of whom put her hands on her hips with a shrug.
"You wanted me to teach you new spells too. Makes sense you should tag along, right?"
Lizzie opened her mouth to object with her finger raised at the ready, but after a couple of seconds she was quick to close it and droop her finger, the realisation that her employer made a point dawning on her.
'She's right. I did accept her offer to teach me some more magic. And while up until now she's taken a bit of a backseat with only a little guidance here and there, it would be helpful to learn something when she can actually pay attention to me.'
The tiny pitter-pattering of feet approaching the kitchen had Eda, Luz, and Lizzie turning their heads to the doorway, where they were witness to the noises halting the moment a certain cream-furred teddy bear being held by a pair of paws was revealed peeking from the left hallway.
"I heard 'boot camp'!" King declared as he scampered into the room and stopped in the entranceway. He tucked his teddy bear under his right arm and held his chin up with his eyes closed, a paw going to his chest. "And I'd be honoured to run it!" Eda's and Lizzie's eyes drooped at this, the pair sharing a glance as King went on with a squint and his paw outstretched in front of him. "As your commander, I suggest you rise at dawn, carrying me on your back while I insult your performance—"
"You won't be partaking in this," Eda butted in, prompting King to relax his stance as the Owl Lady frowned down at him and held her hand out to indicate between Luz and Lizzie. "The girls need to focus, and if you're around, you'll make Luz go all weird with your adorable antics and set off a bickering war with Lizzie."
"Take that back, witch!" King demanded and scrunched his face up, balling his paws into fists and loudly emphasising his next words while stomping his foot in time with it. "I. Am not. Adorable!"
Luz balled her hands up and lightly knocked her knuckles together in front of her chest with a wide smile and glistening eyes, immediately proving Eda to be correct.
"Aw," she cooed. "Did you see that? He stamped his widdle foot!"
Lizzie, meanwhile, was left turning her head towards the window and covering her mouth at the chorus of snorts that escaped her. "Sure! That totally helped your case, King!"
These reactions prompted King to release a high-pitched screech with his fists raised above his head, the screech itself sounding fairly similar to his 'squeak of rage', but just a little lower in frequency. Without warning, King charged towards the backdoor, flung it open, ran outside and then swirled round to yank the door shut with a slam.
"Nyeh!"
A few seconds later, the door slowly creaked open again, revealing King still standing there with two blinks in a statue-like state, with Luz remaining unfazed by this and Eda and Lizzie briefly looking at each other with raised brows. Apparently, he hadn't gathered enough strength to slam the door shut properly, Lizzie guessed, a fact that was proven when King scowled and reached out for the door again, proceeding to repeat his earlier attempt.
"Nyeh!"
Another slam followed, only for the door to creak open for a second time. King locked eyes with Lizzie when she ducked her head down and pressed her palms to her mouth to try to muffle her giggles, failing miserably.
"N-Now you're just embarrassing yourself!" She stuttered through her laughter, making King briefly clench his jaw.
"S-Shut up!" He shouted and grabbed the side of the door for a third time, slamming it harder this time with an aggressive 'Nyah!' to follow.
Lizzie's laughter died down when the door remained still and King had seemingly fallen silent on the other side, prompting Eda to smack her palm to her forehead and slowly shake it out of disapproval.
"And once again, he proves my point. That little goofball never learns."
Lizzie sighed heavily to regain her composure and eventually turned to Eda with a creased brow. "But seriously, are you sure it'll be okay to leave King and Hooty on their own? I usually don't trust those two together…"
The Owl Lady flicked her hand at the younger witch out of dismissal and shrugged her shoulders. "Eh. We'll only be gone for a day. It shouldn't hurt." Eda turned her gaze back to Lizzie and Luz as she placed a hand to the table, a smile spreading across her face. "Now, there's no time to waste. Go pack what you need and meet me in the living room. I'll hunt down some winter clothes." Eda scratched at the side of her head and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sure I've got something like that in one of my cupboards upstairs…"
"Yes!" Luz cried out with a grin, failing to process the last things Eda said as she legged it from the kitchen into the hallway with her fists in the air. "Magic boot camp!"
Meanwhile, Lizzie was left narrowing her eyes at the Owl Lady, a faint frown gracing her face.
"Winter clothes?" She repeated. "Where exactly are you taking us?"
In response to Lizzie's question, Eda smirked while reaching over to turn the stove off, briefly watching the frothing water simmer down.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She tapped the top of the paper with her claw-like nail. "You just focus on choosing a spell to learn, all right?"
Lizzie huffed and swiped the paper off the table with the shake of her head, brushing off Eda's secrecy and standing up to leave. "Whatever. Just make sure you pack enough elixir."
"You got it."
Lizzie gave the list a quick glance as she headed out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, her mind already going over what she needed to pack in her satchel.
'And speaking of elixirs, I'd better stock up on potions. We can never be too careful, after all…' A small smile appeared at recalling Luz's reaction to everything a moment ago, prompting her to bring the spell list close to her person as she went upstairs. 'At least Luz is finally in a good mood. Maybe this trip will help her finally come around.'
With their necessities packed and armed with the 'winter clothes' that Eda managed to dig out of her cupboards, the Owl Lady, her apprentice and her employee bid Hooty and King farewell and set off on Eda's staff (with Eda at the head, Luz in the middle and Lizzie at the rear) across the skies of the Boiling Isles. They travelled above numerous towns, vast forests and rippling rivers, with Luz excitedly chatting to the two witches the whole way as she tried to guess and goad Eda into revealing where they were heading, with the Owl Lady rebuffing her at every turn. Of course, Lizzie wasn't paying any attention to what was spewing from the younger human's mouth, having instead chosen to focus her attention on the attire the three of them now wore as they continued their flight to their destination.
Over her usual clothes, Eda had donned a long, light brown coat that stretched as far as her shins, the bottom of which was split into evenly sectioned tassels while the inner parts of the coat were lined with dark, brown fur-like material. Red gloves covered her hands, black heeled boots covered her feet and a round, light brown, furry hat with three blue eyeballs and slit pupils clung to the Owl Lady's head (literally, as the two pairs of tiny brown claws clinging to Eda's forehead indicated) to further equip her against the cold they were supposedly about to face, naturally failing to encompass the bush she called 'hair'. Lizzie recalled seeing Eda wearing this outfit a few times in the past when she'd run errands she refused to tell her about, making her wonder if this destination had anything to do with said 'errands'.
Luz wore a coat that was similar in colour and style, but unlike Eda's, it was shorter and furrier, lacking the tassels and with the inner parts lined with black material instead of dark brown. Her usual leggings had been switched out for a red and thicker pair, donning black fingerless clothes on her hands, black boots on her feet and a furry hat that covered the back of her head with two flaps over her ears that resembled arms and claws. The outfit was surprisingly snug on the young human, a fact that left Lizzie wondering why Eda owned it in the first place when it clearly didn't fit her, seeing as she was at least a foot taller than Luz and had longer limbs. It was possible it was something the Owl Lady had worn when she was younger and hadn't bothered to throw away, given her hoarding habits. But it wasn't like Lizzie was ever going to find out if her guess was correct.
And then there was her outfit, which consisted of a black hooded cloak that resembled a dress with white fur trim lining the inside of the hood and coat itself (of which she currently had pulled over her head, without her usual hat) and black fingerless gloves (chosen on purpose, as it was Lizzie's way of ensuring she could cast spells and grip her potion vials properly to avoid any unnecessary accidents). She'd also replaced her usual black laced boots with boots similar in style and colour to Luz's, as they were better equipped to deal with the conditions of where they were going, according to Eda anyway. Her satchel was hooked around her shoulders as per the usual, yet was exposed against her side since she couldn't hide it inside her coat like she could do with her cloak. As with Luz, Lizzie's coat turned out to fit her exactly; although, unlike with Luz's and Eda's, Lizzie actually got an explanation as to why this was so: Eda admitted to apparently purchasing this item of clothing for Lizzie a short time ago and had been meaning to give it to her whenever she'd needed warmer clothing outside of her cloak, yet she'd wound up forgetting about it and shoving it in a cupboard somewhere in the Owl House. Lizzie had been surprised by this revelation, but at the same time she couldn't help feeling touched at the gesture, further proven at the faint smile that appeared as she gave one of the sleeves of the garment a light tug, a brief warmth blossoming within her chest as she kept her other hand gripping at the staff.
'And I thought it was weird that Luz bought that book for me. Now I've got Eda buying clothes for me. Although, I'll admit, it's actually nice to be on the receiving end of kindness for once…'
The blonde's train of thought was disrupted by a sudden shift in the air's temperature, her body shuddering at the icy chill that seemed to blow straight through her, as if she'd just been under brief possession by a ghost (which was more common in the Boiling Isles than most would think, the blonde witch mentally reminded herself). Lizzie was quick to catch on to their intended destination the moment she'd raised her gaze ahead to see where they were, being the first out of her and Luz to see the sight of their approach towards the snowy and mountain covered terrain that rested upon the bent leg of the former Titan. Lizzie was unable to see Luz's reaction to this scene due to their current seating positions meaning she could only see the back of the human's head; however, it didn't take much for her to assume the young Latina was likely in awe about where they were.
'Wait… isn't this…?'
But it was Eda who confirmed everything when they slowly descended and hovered at the top of a snow-covered path that lowered in a swirl along the rocky walls of the Titan's bone, decorated with chains and occasional skulls with two large fangs in between evened sections. The Owl Lady was the first to climb off her staff and straighten out her posture as she took in the view of the snow-covered stone remnants of what was probably a grand building in times past. She waited until both Lizzie and Luz had hopped off and joined her on her right before collecting her staff into her left hand.
"Welcome to the Knee!" Eda declared with a wide smile, holding her staff upright while resting her other hand against her hip.
Luz let out a loud gasp as her eyes darted around the scattered and broken pillars, while Lizzie was left silently gaping at the ruins of what appeared to be a high-arched window; it made her wonder if perhaps the ruined structure used to be a castle, given the intricate patterns and shapes of the stone.
'My parents used to talk about the times they'd visited the Knee when I was little. But I never imagined I would actually find myself standing here one day.'
"Whoa…" Luz mumbled, staying as still as a statue. "This is more beautiful than I imagined."
"Ditto," Lizzie muttered in agreement without breaking her gaze, causing Eda to quietly chuckle at the two girls before continuing.
"It's said the earliest witches would come here to develop their magic due to the natural power that lingered, so it makes sense this would be the perfect spot for someone like Luz to learn a new spell in. Her technique is connected to the Savage Ages, after all." Eda gave the area to her left a quick sweep, only for her eyes to lock with something white and furry in the area below the cliff path the trio currently stood on. Her eyes squinted as she lowered her voice with her next words. "Though, I will warn you that it's not without its dangers…"
Luz's and Lizzie's gazes pried away from their surroundings and focused on Eda at hearing the warning, only for the pair to immediately catch sight of the four legged and seemingly eyeless creature a small distance away from them, who was using its four purple claws upon its paws to hold a wooden log still so it could dig its yellow fang-like teeth into the bark. Lizzie let out a quiet gasp and covered her mouth with her hand at realising what she was staring at, while Luz screeched and recoiled an arm and leg towards her body, stumbling closer to the older blonde witch so she was partly hiding behind her.
"Eda…" Lizzie began with a strained squeak, raising a shaky finger to point at the creature when the Owl Lady peeked over her shoulder at her oldest charge. "Is that…?"
"A Slitherbeast?" Eda finished in a low voice with a faint smirk, to which Lizzie nodded to show that was what she was going to say. "I didn't think you were aware of them."
"My parents told me a story when I was little about their encounter with one once," Lizzie answered without removing her gaze from the oblivious Slitherbeast below them, pausing to gulp thickly and tug at the side of her hood at feeling the sweat gathering on her face. "Apparently, they're very dangerous."
"But did they also tell you that they won't attack as long as they're left alone?" Lizzie nodded again, prompting Eda's smirk to widen when she reached a hand up to the younger witch's head and give it two slow pats. "Then you have nothing to worry about. It'll leave us alone if we leave it alone." The older witch shot Luz a quick glance at seeing her peeking at her from behind Lizzie's right side. "You both got that?"
"Yes, Eda," Lizzie and Luz answered in sync, prompting the Owl Lady to pull away and begin strolling up towards the ruined structure ahead.
"Great! Then it's time we make a move! We'll need to find somewhere to set up shop!"
Luz was the first of the pair to run after Eda with her arms stretched out on either side of her, appearing to act like she was soaring through the air as she got ahead of the Owl Lady and circled or twirled on her heels while approaching the ruins. Meanwhile, Lizzie lingered back for a moment to observe the Slitherbeast, her hands instinctively gripping her satchel strap when the creature chomped down hard on the log and managed to snap it clean in half.
'For a creature who won't bother those who leave it alone, it certainly has a lot of strength and carnivore-like tendencies, doesn't it?'
"Watch out!"
Eda's panicked cry brought Lizzie out of her trance with a sharp shake of her head, her gaze whipping to the area ahead of her. The blonde's eyes widened at witnessing Eda dive toward Luz and shove her down behind the remnants of a ruined wall, narrowly avoiding the purple flame crackling in their direction and dispersing the instant it collided with the ruins behind them.
"Eda! Luz!"
Lizzie called out to the pair and dashed her way up the path towards them, already bringing her right hand close to her chest to prepare to fire a spell if needed. However, just as she saw Luz poke her head over the wall and Eda rise with a scowl and her staff held vertically at her front ready for attack herself, the blonde witch skidded to a stop at the sound of a familiar female voice she hadn't heard in a while shouting at them.
"Sorry, whoever that was!"
Lizzie slowly turned her head in the direction of a large green and golden pillar-like structure on the opposite of the area they were in, where she saw a gathering of three familiar green-haired, golden-eyed siblings just in front of it. Upon recognising who they were, Lizzie's shoulders slumped and her mouth twisted, the sudden urge to smack her face into the snowy ground sprouting up out of nowhere.
'Oh, Titan. The Blights.'
A/N: By the way (forgot to mention this initially, so adding it here), fun fact about the Hexside leaflet: it does actually have a misspelling on the back of it. It's supposed to say 'Principal Bump' but instead is written as 'Principle Bump'. I don't know if this was done on purpose because of the word's meanings or the crew just didn't spot their mistake during the production, but I didn't notice it until I re-watched this episode for this fic and it had me laughing. XD I can't fault them if they didn't notice. Humans make mistakes. If you don't believe me, go back to the beginning of episode 12 and pause it at the point where Luz has the leaflet opened out. You'll see what I mean. ;) XD
