A/N: Well... this chapter wound up packed with a lot of revelations and other things I wasn't expecting to add. My original plan with this was just to focus on Lizzie, Xander and also my new OC as the centre of the next few chapters... But when I was rewatching 'The First Day', I realised that there were some scenes with Luz which I thought I could include in as a 'Plot B/C' sort of thing, not just to help with revealing things pertaining to Lizzie's past, but also because I've had little chance to actually show how Lizzie has impacted Luz's behaviour and attitude. Since starting this fic, my goal was to focus mostly on Lizzie, but in a way that ensured I balanced her out with Luz so the pair developed together, with their relationship slowly helping the other grow as people as well. It made sense that the scene where Luz is made to choose a coven track at Hexside would be different because of Lizzie's presence and magical abilities, hence why I added it in aside from to expose... other things. I plan to do so with more scenes from episode 13, so hopefully you'll enjoy that. Speaking of the thirteenth episode though: did anyone notice during the beginning scene when Eda and Luz are hiding backstage that Luz is already in the multi-track uniform, even though she doesn't get it until the end? I wonder how no one noticed that during editing...

Also, speaking my new OC, I just need to clarify something, because I know people may ask or misinterpret what I've done here: my new OC is not non-binary. I've purposely used they/them pronouns to conceal their identity. They do have a set gender and it will be revealed in due course. Chapter 37 acted as a bit of an introductory chapter, but this chapter is where things start to build-up and get chaotic, so I hope it does tide you over until I'm able to get the next chapter out. I will forewarn you that the extra content and me wanting to properly expand on events occurring between my trio of OCs may wind up taking the chapters covering the episode from three to four, naturally because they are the main focus of the episode and thus need more exposure than what the past trio of chapters had.

Thank you to everyone who has been favouriting, following and reading this fic. Your support is greatly appreciated. Still no reviews this time around; although that does remind me that I need to give my readers and anyone else who happens upon this fanfic a heads up before entering the reviews section. A copycat troll under the name of MrGooolyTwoShoes attempted to spam my reviews on my stories before I caught and blocked them, this fanfic included. While the other two reviews are just vulgar and offensive dribble, however, the one posted on this story is one I need to give a heads up about. This troll, unfortunately, had the gall to copy and paste another troll's fanfic detailing sexual abuse of Amity into my reviews under their account so I can't remove it. I have reported the reviews and emailed the admins of the site for help, but I fear it may be a while before anything is done. So, all I can do for now is just issue a warning to you all: please be cautious if you go into the reviews section of this story, because that review is vile and contains content I know is bound to trigger or distress some of you, especially any minors. If any of you could help by reporting the review or helping to push it onto the next page of my reviews so that it can be hidden until the admins get involved, I will be very grateful.

Sorry to end this note so sourly, but I needed to issue the warning. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Chapter 38.


Chapter 38: Seeing Double

Within the confines of Bonesborough's Marketplace, the now humanoid blue cloaked figure strolled through the bustling crowds gathered in the streets with their hooded head lowered, their shoulders hunched. A lone green eye peered out from underneath the cloaked hood and darted between the many passing faces, looking out for any sign of white or black uniforms and pointed grey or black masks. They were doing their best to avoid drawing attention to themselves, yet their accidental eye contact with the occasional passer-by only seemed to quicken their breathing and increase the flow of sweat already gathering along their forehead, prompting them to reach their now pale skinned and scale-less hands to the sides of their hood to pull it further over their face. Why did it feel like there were so many eyes on them? Was it paranoia from the fact they were sneaking around? Was it the adrenaline pumping in their ears at the thought they would be found out despite their new disguise? They weren't sure anymore; that seemed to be the answer to most of their questions lately.

They'd lost track of how long it had been since they'd started wandering aimlessly through the Boiling Isles, constantly living with the fear and anxiety that they were going to be caught. It hadn't been as big of a deal when they were lingering in the forests. They were away from civilisation there and they'd had the luxury of preserving what little magic they'd had stored since their escape. But then things went belly-up when they showed up, forcing them to flee and mingle within the walls of this town after being driven out of the safety of the foliage. They'd purposely taken on various images of different citizens they'd come across to avoid detection, but overtime the constant magic use had depleted their supply. They couldn't keep this up: a thought that was soon acknowledged by a sudden wave of dizziness crashing into them, sending them stumbling off to the side of the cobbled streets with a quiet gasp.

Wobbling from side-to-side with a hand clutching at their forehead, the hooded figure held out their other arm in a desperate attempt to stop themselves from dropping to the ground, managing to make thudded contact with a nearby wall. They released a weak groan in a voice that resembled Xander's, their body slumping against the bricked wall as they tried to keep themselves upright. Their visible eye trailed its gaze down to their arm hanging limply at their side, only for it to widen at the sight of it briefly shifting from its current image to their original dark-green and scaled arm and claw-like nails on their humanoid hand, changing back to the illusion just as quickly.

They were running out of time. They needed to find a source to resupply their magic and fast.

The hooded stranger squeezed their eye shut and shook their head back and forth a couple of times to get rid of their dizzy spell, eventually releasing a grunt as they went to push their body off the wall. Wasn't the one whose form they'd taken a witch? They had started to follow his direction after shapeshifting, but they currently had no idea where he was or where he went. Maybe he had something they could use to resupply themselves with.

Around the same time, two familiar humanoid figures of two demon hunters in brown cloaks and cowls happened to be strolling side by side in the opposite direction, with one possessing more height than the other. The pair currently had their hoods over their faces, concealing their identities for the moment.

"Did you hear about the incident at Glandus High?" the short, cloaked demon hunter asked in a deep and chipper voice, looking up at his partner. "Coven Scouts found the teachers and students unconscious and drained of magic, apparently. Sounds like a job we could get hired for, don't you think?"

"I doubt it…" the taller, cloaked demon hunter answered in his deep and gruff voice, focusing his gaze on the piece of parchment he currently gripped in his hands. "After what happened with that twerp of a coven scout, I ain't accepting any jobs handed down by them again. In any case,"—he lightly hit the side of his hand off the parchment—"we have this one from our boss to deal with first."

The shorter demon leaned over a little to get a glance at the parchment, his purple eyes skim-reading its contents from underneath his hood. "You mean the one with that serpent-like creature that's been sighted?"

"Yup. Our comrades managed to chase it out of hiding in the forests, but they've claimed the last time they saw it, it was loitering around Bonesborough." The taller demon hunter rolled the parchment up again and tucked inside his cloak. "According to reliable sources, this creature can shapeshift into anyone, so keep your— Oof!"

The tall demon hunter grunted and flinched at feeling his shoulder collide with someone else's around the same height, with the 'assaulter' releasing a startled cry while stumbling to the side away from him.

"Ah!"

The two demon hunters halted and whipped their heads in the direction of the deep and gentle voice, being met with the sight of their blue cloak hood falling from their head to reveal a witch who resembled Xander.

"Hey, watch where you're—" the taller demon hunter began to shout, only to cut himself off after taking a moment to process the familiarity of the voice. As 'Xander' regained their balance, the demon hunter narrowed his yellow pupiled eyes from underneath the hood of his cloak. "Wait a second."

Next thing 'Xander' knew, a black gloved hand was gripping tightly at their vest and yanking them forward, making them elicit a loud yelp as they were brought inches away from the demon hunter's hood. The demon hunter jabbed a finger harshly into their chest, causing them to wince and close their visible eye.

"You're the little punk who hired us to capture those palismen!" He hissed, prompting 'Xander's' eye to widen and hold their palms up in surrender with an exclamation of shock and confusion.

"H-Huh?!"

"I thought I recognised your voice!" 'Xander' turned their head from left to right with heaving breaths, desperately looking for a way out of this. "What's the big idea, huh?!"

They didn't know who these people were, but they didn't like what was going on. They needed to get away.

"Oi!" The shorter demon hunter said while reaching out a hand to place on his partner's shoulder, trying to defuse the situation as best as he could. "Easy! Don't go starting anything!"

But the taller demon hunter didn't listen. Instead, he tightened his grip on 'Xander' and brought them closer to his face. 'Xander's' nose twitched at feeling the moist and warm breath of their assaulter against their skin, which became the last straw along with the demon hunter raising his other index finger in preparation for casting a spell circle.

"You've got some nerve—"

The demon hunter never got to finish his sentence. Within a split second, 'Xander' was lowering their head and opening their mouth wide to lunge straight for the demon hunter's wrist of the hand that held them by the clothes. Two rows of tiny fangs tore through fabric and dug deep into the demon hunter's skin, forcing the demon hunter to release a cry of pain and loosen his grip.

"Augh!"

'Xander' released the demon hunter and stumbled backwards a couple of steps the moment they were free, briefly observing the taller demon hunter clutching his injured wrist against his chest, with his partner retracting his hand and moving round to his side. But 'Xander' didn't risk sticking around to find out the aftermath of their actions. Ignoring the lingering taste of iron in their mouth, 'Xander' took off running down the street while pulling the sides of their hood over their head, not looking back even when they heard the angry shouts of the taller demon hunter sounding behind them, along with his and his partner's footsteps dashing after them.

"OI! You're gonna pay for that, you little brat!"

"What are you doing?! What happened to 'keeping our eyes peeled'?!"


From the other end of the street in the direction the fake Xander was heading in, the real Xander happened to be passing by, strolling with his hands in the pockets of his trousers and his cloak hood down, all while Bandit rode on his shoulder.

"I can't remember the last time you and I had a stroll without me being in uniform or on duty," Xander commented to Bandit with his head turned upward. He briefly closed his eye to suck in a deep breath through his nostrils, opening it again when he exhaled loudly through his mouth. "I don't know about you, Bandit, but it feels like the air is fresher today. Maybe that's what happens when you don't have unnecessary stress on your back…"

Bandit squeaked in response and wagged his tail, going ahead to copy his owner by twitching his nose at the air, an action that Xander caught and released a light chuckle at.

"Well, glad to know you agree! So then— Ah!"

Xander cut himself off with a shocked gasp at feeling something hard ram between his shoulder blades, causing him to stumble forwards. Bandit screamed and managed to stop himself from tumbling off his owner's shoulder by digging his claws into the front of his vest, with Xander holding out his arms on either side of him and lifting his upper body to stop himself from landing on his front and regain his balance. A loud thud and familiar sounding 'Oof!' came from behind him, prompting Xander to swirl round while scrunching up his nose.

"Oi! What in Titan's name are you—?!"

Xander fell silent the moment his visible green eye locked with the same green of the visible eye belonging to his 'attacker' sat on the ground, the pair freezing in sync like two demons caught in the line of sight of a demon hunter.

"What…?" was all Xander could bring himself to quietly utter, leaving the two to keep locking eyes as if they were in a trance.

The blonde witch briefly wondered if he was staring at his reflection for a second, because this person—rather this witch, as indicated by their pointed ears—looked exactly like him, sans the different coloured cloak. From their clothing, to their hairstyle and hair colour, even their facial features, eye colour and the medical patch… This couldn't have been a coincidence, surely? Even Bandit couldn't believe what he was seeing, with the ferret palisman rubbing at his eyes with his paws and then glancing back and forth between the two continuously.

It felt like a while before the sounds of hurried footsteps approaching 'Xander' aroused the fake from their statue-like state with a breathless gasp. The real Xander, on the other hand, ended up raising a brow at sighting two brown cloaked figures in the distance charging towards them like rogue beasts, with the taller one being a good distance ahead of the shorter one.

"What in the…?" Xander trailed off at catching movement from the corner of his eye.

He still hadn't had chance to process what was going on, and yet before he knew it, 'Xander' was scrambling to their feet and bolting past him in a blur, causing the blonde witch to raise his shoulders and gape.

"Hey!" Xander yelled and twisted himself round sharply, wasting no time in darting after his apparent doppelganger as they started to get a little ahead of him. "I'm not done with you! Get back—!" A harsh tug on his cloak hood brought Xander's cloak to press against his throat, cutting the young blonde witch off with a strangled cry. "—Ack!"

Xander was forced backwards two steps as two hands grabbed at his shoulders and abruptly twirled him round, causing Bandit to shriek and fall towards Xander's cloak hood until his little paws managed to grip at his owner's ponytail.

"Gotcha!" the familiar deep and gruff voice exclaimed in triumph, with Xander's shoulders stiffening at being met with the sight of the brown cloaked figure who had grabbed him. "Nice try, punk! But it's gonna take more than you magically changing the colour of your cloak to fool the likes of me!"

It took a few seconds for Xander to bring himself back to his senses with the quick shake of his head. The blonde witch scowled and proceeded to shove his palms into the familiar assailant's chest, harshly pushing him backwards a step or two and forcing him to be released. Meanwhile, Bandit clambered his way back to Xander's shoulders, squinting towards the one who had just grabbed his owner.

"What in Titan is wrong with you?!" Xander snapped as he straightened out, reaching his hands up to his cloak to dust it off. "Who do you think you are, going around and grabbing total strangers like that?!"

"Strangers?!" The assailant shrieked, just as his partner came dashing up to his side with heaving breaths. "Why you pompous—!"

"W-Would… Would you stop…? Oof…" The familiar deep and chipper voice tried to say in between ragged breaths, eventually trailing off as he slowed down and hunched forward with his hands on his thighs. "G-Give… Give me a second…!"

Xander squinted at the newcomer's arrival, deciding to take this moment to look between the two cloaked figures and process the familiarity of their appearances as well as their voices at the wave of déjà vu that washed over him. Hadn't he come across a scene between similar beings once before?

'Why you—'

'Cut it out! You'll get into trouble with the boss again if you attack another client!'

The familiar scenario playing out inside his head soon left Xander's eyes widening out of realisation, a finger raising to point between the pair of cloaked figures around the same time the shorter one straightened up again.

"Hold on. Don't I know you two from somewhere?"

The taller demon hunter did not like that answer, as proven when he released a low growl and started to visibly tremble.

"Are you kidding me?!" He shouted, raising a fist to shake about and forcing Xander to back with a wide blink. "As if that whole mess with the palismen wasn't bad enough! Now you're playing mind games?! And after you bit me!"

"Bit you?" Xander repeated with the tilt of his head, his brow furrowing. "You're the one who grabbed me. I haven't done anything to you!"

"Oh, yeah?!" The tall demon hunter pulled down the sleeve of his cloak to expose his injured wrist, showing Xander two tiny red fang-like markings on his purple skin. It didn't seem to be bleeding anymore, but there was dried blood streaking down his forearm from where the punctures in the skin were. "Then what's this?"

Xander's visible eye twitched as his nose crinkled at the sight he was being presented with. He really couldn't believe this was happening right now.

"… That doesn't prove anything."

Without warning, the demon hunter released a ferocious growl and lurched forward, both of his hands taking hold of the front of Xander's vest before he could even process what was happening. With a breathless gasp, the blonde witch was hoisted off the ground and held a few inches off the ground, his entire body freezing at the aggressive contact.

"Would you drop the stupid charade already?! This isn't a game, you know!"

Xander winced at feeling a sudden ache spring to life in his chest, prompting a hand to reach for it out of instinct. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this exchange was giving him a second wave of déjà vu. Why did he feel like he'd experienced a similar conversation with someone else before? And why was he getting so much déjà vu today anyway?!

A flash of memory sprung forth to his mind the second he dared to blink; the day he cornered Lizzie in that dead-end alleyway, the way Lizzie had continued to play dumb until he'd lost his temper and launched himself at her like a python ready to devour his prey, followed by his shouts to quit the theatrics—

The taller demon hunter's snarl brought him back to reality fast, but before he could react, his partner was finally stepping in and resuming clutching at his closest arm.

"Can you just please let this go?!" He managed to pull his partner backwards with one sharp tug to get him to release Xander, with the latter sighing quietly in relief at feeling the soles of his shoes touch the floor. "It's not worth it!"

"I don't care! I've had enough of this!" The taller demon hunter yanked himself free of his friend's grip and smacked his fist into his palm, making Xander's shoulders hunch and Bandit's fur shoot up on end with a whimper. "This little punk needs a good beating!"

Xander swallowed thickly and clenched his jaw with a scowl, already raising his index finger and alighting his fingertip with a green glow. He didn't know what was going on anymore, yet he refused to hang around to find out the answer. Although he did have an inkling it had something to do with the doppelgänger of him running around…

Before either demon hunter could even think of launching an attack, the blonde-haired witch drew a large spell circle and shot a large flaming ball of fire from inside of it.

"Watch out!"

"Yah-!"

As the two demon hunters shrieked and leapt off to the sides to avoid the attack, Xander took that as his cue to turn round and run off in the direction his doppelganger had not long fled in, reaching up a hand to grab Bandit around the middle (prompting the poor ferret palisman to shriek out of surprise at the action).

"Get ready, Bandit! If we can't outrun them, you'll have to fly me out of range!"

Quickly recovering with the shake of their heads, the two demon hunters exchanged brief glances before the taller one released a low chuckle, wasting no time in giving chase once he managed to catch sight of where Xander had gone.

"Oho! It's on! That witch is dead meat!"

The shorter demon hunter heaved a sigh and dropped his shoulders, delaying his reaction for a few seconds until he eventually started to run after his partner.

"Things just aren't going my way today…"


From the moment Eda had dropped her off at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics and let her go on her way, Luz was beginning to wonder if her worries had actually been unwarranted.

Aside from King surprising her by unexpectedly jumping out of her backpack and admitting he'd used her as a free ride to the 'best buffet in town' (a.k.a. Hexside's trash cans), her first day as a new student had gone fairly well so far. Eda had reassured her she'd be fine as long as she didn't act like a 'Goody-Luz-Shoes' (in her words, of course); she'd gotten a warm (and abomination gooped) congratulations from Amity in the form of a high-five (had she taught Amity what that was? She couldn't remember) and her abomination helping to carry her books; she'd also received a warm welcome from her friends Willow and Gus on her way inside (even if Gus had a bit of a blip with his illusion messages when he accidentally mixed them up, with his claim being he was only trying to 'cover his bases'). The encouragement from her mentor and her friends was more than enough to boost her confidence as she'd strolled through the hallowed halls of Hexside's castle-like decoration and structure, heading straight to Principal Bump's office for her induction into the new semester and sort out her lesson schedule. Maybe Lizzie was right, after all: she could do this. She was going to be fine.

… Oh, how wrong she'd been.

From the moment she entered the principal's office and given him a friendly greeting, Bump had proceeded to keep up a professional and stern barrier between them with an indifferent expression on his face from behind his desk; that was fine. She'd expected some resistance because of his position and their past encounters (and also, as she'd come to learn from him, that they were supposed to be having an inspector from the Emperor's Coven visiting and he wanted to make sure it went well to be approved for the funding they needed to fix the damages she'd caused the last two times she was here—that probably wasn't helping him relax). He was going to be a tough nut to crack, but she could wait for her to grow on him, she thought.

However, things only escalated when the topic of conversation switched to Luz choosing which coven track to join.

"In order to impress the Emperor's Coven, you'll need to have joined a coven magic track before the inspector arrives," Bump explained from where he was sat up straight behind his desk, his hands resting atop each other as he eyed Luz from where she stood before him. "I trust you've already given the matter a lot of thought?"

Luz grinned and nodded vigorously, struggling to contain her excitement. "You betcha!" The Latina slipped a hand to where her backpack was still on her back and grabbed at the chunky scroll sticking out of the top. "I couldn't choose just one. So, I went ahead and made my own schedule to study classes from each one."

Luz unravelled the scroll above Bump's desk so it stretched out towards him, forcing him to lift his hands away from the book he'd been resting them on. The principal blinked widely and leaned forward to collect the bottom half of the scroll into his palms, giving himself a moment to skim read. After a few seconds, though, he heartily laughed and straightened out again.

"Oh my… I appreciate your enthusiasm, Luz, but unfortunately, no student here can study multiple magic tracks at once."

Luz remained undeterred, her grin dimming down to a wide smile as she rolled her scroll back up and returned it to her backpack. "That'll make me the first then."

Bump's amused expression fell, a frown overtaking his face.

"No, you won't," he said sternly, prompting Luz's shoulders to slump and her smile to disappear. He jabbed a long nailed and bony finger into the cover of the book he had on his desk, which was a blue covered book with a golden spine, accompanied by the sigil for the Emperor's Coven with 'RULE BOOK' in gold, capital lettering underneath it. "The rules clearly state that a witch needs to 'hocus-focus'; in other words, stick to one magic track. I'm sure Edalyn and Elisabeth have already told you that."

Luz lowered her gaze to her shoes when her eyes drooped, recalling Lizzie's and Eda's constant warnings about the coven system and their influence on the education system as a result. "Y-Yeah, but—"

"The rules are the rules, unfortunately," Bump interrupted before Luz could protest further, prompting her gaze to return to him as he pointed a finger towards the small nine colourful banners for each coven on the wall above his desk, each of which matched the colour of their respective covens and sigils, just like Luz recalled seeing at Covention and from the large banners outside of Hexside's entrance. "You need to choose from one of the nine coven tracks available."

Luz's brows furrowed as her eyes scanned the banners from left to right: potions, abominations, plants, healing, construction, beast-keeping, illusions, bard and oracle.

"But they all sound so cool," she said quietly, gripping at one of her elbows as she turned her gaze towards the wall on her right. "How can I possibly— Huh?"

The teenage human's attention was drawn to a rectangular wooden board placed close to the office's entrance, her body straightening up and turning to it with raised brows. She was quick to recognise the familiar parchment posters pinned to the board that she recalled she'd received at one time, which depicted multiple pictures of various creatures' faces and their shoulders with the bold, red text 'BANNED' in capitals under them. But it was the poster close to the bottom of the board that showed a witch who looked a year older than Luz and was dressed in the uniform for the Potions Magic Track that prompted the young human to approach.

Luz's head tilted with a slight squint when she stopped at taking in the witch's blonde hair, mentally noting that while it was styled into a low ponytail via a white ribbon that kept most of it draped in long, flowing strands against her left shoulder, the witch's fringe was bunched up and dangling above her nose, reminding her of a certain witch she knew. The witch's green eyes were drooped and held a certain sunken-like look to them, as if she'd had all the life sucked out of her. But that did little to stop Luz from gaping and swirling on her heels to glance back at Bump with wide eyes, a finger pointing straight at the poster.

"Is that Liz?" She asked in a hushed tone, prompting Bump to nod and rise from his seat.

"It is."

As Bump approached her with his hands clasped behind his back, Luz focused on the poster again with a wide blink, a finger going to her chin.

"Huh. Her hair looks pretty in a ponytail," Luz commented with a brief smile, which soon faded when she narrowed her eyes again. "But why is she on the poster? Wasn't she expelled?"

"She was," Bump confirmed quietly, only to close his eyes for a moment. "But by default, any student expelled from Hexside is automatically banned from school grounds. It's our way of protecting the school in case any ex-students try to target it for revenge." Luz raised a brow at seeing Bump shudder and bring his arms round to his chest. "Those were surely terrible times…"

Luz's gaze wandered back to the poster to focus on Lizzie's eyes, her brow furrowing at their sunken glint. The Lizzie she knew seemed full of life despite initially coming off as distant and detached from their first meeting. Yet seeing her in this picture looking like her entire world had just been ripped out from under her… Luz couldn't help shuddering herself and gripping a hand gently at her throat.

"Why does she look so sad?" Luz questioned quietly, unable to keep her thoughts to herself as she looked to Bump once more for an answer.

Bump didn't answer at first, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the poster for a moment while returning his hands behind his back. But eventually, after a brief sideways glance at his office door, he heaved a loud sigh and slowly shook his head.

"Well, it was taken shortly after the incident involving her cousin."

"Her cousin?" Luz's frown deepened. "Do you mean 'Xander'?"

Bump's brows raised with a forced blink at the young human. "Oh, do you know of him?"

"A little bit. But Liz hasn't told me much." Luz turned her gaze to the floor as she twiddled with her thumbs. "I don't think she likes to talk about him or what happened, or at least… what she remembers."

Luz recalled the way Lizzie had practically turned into a statue when Emira had announced the reason for her expulsion. It had shaken the blonde witch to her very core, and yet she still remembered how hard Lizzie had tried to hide it, somehow facing her with a stoic look and addressing her in even tones of voice with only the slight tears glistening in her eyes giving her away. After everything was over, Luz had found herself tempted to ask Lizzie why she did what she did, but she'd purposely held back because of Lizzie's reassurance that she would try to be more open with her in future. Even now the urge to ask Bump about it danced on the tip of her tongue. But she was quick to shake her head and press her lips together to resist the temptation. Lizzie had stuck to her word since their trip to the Knee, and she had made a deal with Luz to answer anything personal she wanted to ask about. She had to respect her wishes and hold out until the end of the day.

"I'm not surprised," Bump eventually replied, his eyes trailing to the set of drawers where he'd stored Lizzie's school record after she refused to take them. "Both she and Edalyn mentioned memory problems when she was last in my office. She was just as shocked to learn he was her cousin as she was the first time she found out."

Luz had wanted to be shocked by the fact that Lizzie had found out her true relation to her stalker relative, yet instead she lifted her head and tilted it at the last thing Bump had said. "The first time? What do you mean by that?"

It took a couple of seconds before Bump's eyes widened at realising he'd just slipped, prompting him to force a cough and hide his mouth behind his fist.

"But enough of that." Her lowered his hand away to point at Luz. "You still need to choose a magic track to join, don't you?"

The reminder soon soured Luz's mood, causing her to groan and hide her face behind her hands. "But how can I possibly choose one?! They all sound so fun and exciting!"

A momentary sideways glance at Lizzie's poster caused Bump to hum in thought and cup his chin with a hand, his head turning to face the coven banners as his gaze lingered on the potions coven banner.

"Why don't you give the Potions Magic Track a try?" he eventually suggested, prompting Luz to perk up and lower her hands from her face. "As you're only able to cast magic through paper, I'm unsure if you'd manage to excel at the other eight tracks without a bile sac. And since potions doesn't require magic, I feel it would be suited to someone of your abilities for the time being. Plus," Bump turned to Luz with a shrug of his shoulders. "you humans are full of liquids, right?"

"I guess I do like pouring things into other things," Luz mumbled and scratched at the side of her head, allowing her eyes to momentarily stare at Lizzie's poster. "And even though I can't mix magic with potions like Liz can, knowing how to make them might come in handy. I could use it to help Lizzie with Eda's business."

Bump grinned and turned to face Luz with the loud clap of his hands in front of his chest. "Excellent! Then it's decided!"

Bump held out his left index finger towards Luz and drew a small, green spell circle between them, conjuring a larger one to flash into existence underneath Luz. The teenage human looked down with a blink when the glowing of the spell circle underneath her intensified, bringing forth thin green strips that swirled around her the moment the spell circle slowly rose from her feet to her head. Luz's jaw dropped at witnessing her light grey leggings turning yellow as the spell circle passed over her, followed by her grey tunic and cowl turning black to match Hexside's current uniform, with her light grey sleeves being the last thing to turn yellow by the time the spell circle went over her head and disappeared with a small burst of light. She noted, though, that the only part of her uniform that hadn't changed was her slip-on shoes, which she was still wearing instead of the boots that she'd seen on the school's uniform.

"Whoa…" Luz muttered in awe, stretching and twisting her arms out to get a better look at the colour that had been added to her uniform.

"Now remember," Bump stated sternly, grabbing Luz's attention again and making her pause with her 'admiration' of her new uniform. "I expect you to be on your best behaviour." He leaned forward close to Luz with a scowl, waggling a bony finger close to her face. "That means no mixing magic. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Luz straightened up and smiled widely, giving the aging principal a small salute. "You count on me, Principal Bump!"

"Good." He returned the smile and raised his chin a little before putting his hands on Luz's shoulders, slowly turning her round to face the door to his office and giving her a light shove forward. "Now, off to class. Don't want to be late on your first day."

Luz stumbled a little towards the door, but she eventually aligned her body to regain her footing, resuming her walk towards the office door to open it and step out into the corridor. The second she pulled the door shut behind her, though, Luz was sucking in a deep breath through her nostrils and then exhaling through her mouth, balling her hands close to her chest with a faint frown and a determined smile on her face.

"You've got this, Luz. This is a chance to discover your true magical potential."

But as Luz stepped away from the principal's office and began her stroll down the corridor towards her classroom, she found herself frowning and scratching at her cheek at recalling Bump's words about Lizzie's reaction to finding out Xander was her cousin. Lizzie had mentioned very little to her and Eda about her family outside of her parents, so she couldn't help feeling there was something suspicious about it considering Bump's attempt to avoid the topic, hence why she was narrowing her eyes during her walk and mumbling under her breath.

"I wonder what Principal Bump meant by that…"


Meanwhile, back in Bonesborough, 'Xander' had gotten a good distance down the street during the confrontation their pursuers had had with the real Xander, despite constantly wobbling from side to side due to dizziness. However, it didn't take long before they lost their footing and stumbled forward, collapsing onto the cobbled road with a small grunt. Their sudden collapse managed to startle some random onlookers who had been passing by or standing around, but despite their brief flinches at watching this cloaked individual drop suddenly to the ground, they paid them no heed, eventually resuming what they were previously doing and ignoring them entirely.

The stinging impact forced 'Xander' to squeeze their eye shut for a few seconds, only for it to open at feeling their stretched-out hands beginning to tremble. From underneath the hood of their cloak, their visible eye went wide at the sight of their arms and hands shifting briefly to their original green and scaly form before shifting back again, causing them to let out a shaky gasp.

They had to find a magic source and fast.

A sickly-sweet scent wafted into 'Xander's' nostrils before they could even think of what their next move was going to be, causing their head to snap towards the air and their nose to twitch with loud sniffing. They knew that smell, didn't they?

'Xander's' gaze darted desperately around the street as they pushed themselves to their knees, ignoring the visible shaking from their limbs from the strain of exerting their body through the dull aches throbbing repeatedly there. Their nose greedily breathed in the intoxicating scent with short and light breaths, the realisation that the smell was in fact a very familiar one making their shoulders slump in relief.

It was a strong source and it was close by, a fact they soon discovered when their one-eyed gaze caught a shorter figure wearing a black cloak walking by from the opposite end of the street, traversing through the crowded street with strands of blonde hair and matching green eyes just about visible from underneath the hood attempting to cover their face. But it was the concealed lump against their left side that had caught 'Xander's' attention the most, which the cloaked person's arm was subconsciously snaked round.

That was where the source was coming from. They were sure of it.

'Xander' gave the area around them a glance from left to right before they slunk their way into the crowd, doing well to keep their distance as their visible eye remained locked on to the cloaked back of their target.


'It just doesn't make any sense.'

With her right hand cupping her chin and her other arm wrapped around her satchel hidden under her cloak, Lizzie strode through the streets of Bonesborough in the direction of the town's library lost in thought, her gaze downcast. She knew the whole point of coming to Bonesborough was to stop dwelling in her thoughts, yet it was a habit she was struggling to break, especially as this was something naturally frustrating and hard to ignore.

'I followed every instruction given correctly and the spell circle stayed intact throughout. So, in theory it should have worked. But why didn't it? Am I missing something?'

The blonde frowned at finding herself thinking back to Luz's magic training on the Knee, recalling specifically about the progress she'd made with her forcefield spell. Occasionally, her gaze broke away from the ground, but it was just so she could see where she was going and to make sure she didn't bump into anyone.

'I want to believe that this is another 'comfort zone' issue. But at the same time, that issue happened with the forcefield spell after I'd successfully cast it. And the only difference it made was with the length and the power of the spell anyways.' She rubbed her thumb against her chin and squinted, slowing to a stop in the middle of the street. 'What else could it be, though?'

A panicked shout broke Lizzie from her thoughts with a wide blink and a flinch, followed by the resounding echo of something being smacked.

'Eh?'

By the time her head was whipping toward the direction the noises had come from, Lizzie caught sight of a tiny black dot flying at her, gradually growing in size the closer it got with accompanied high-pitched shrieking.

'What in Titan?!'

Reacting out of instinct, Lizzie raised her index finger and drew a spell circle in front of her face, conjuring part of a transparent green forcefield to flash up when she spread her legs apart and kept her right palm held up to keep it in place. Seconds after, the black object collided with the forcefield with a loud thump, cutting off the shrieking entirely and allowing Lizzie to get a proper look at what had been heading her way.

'Oof.' Lizzie's left eye briefly closed when she hissed through her teeth. 'That sounded like it hurt…'

Her eyes soon grew wide, though, upon recognising the furry, black stomach of a certain ferret sprawled out against the forcefield, her jaw slacking until she used her other hand to rub at her eyes and blink repeatedly to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Bandit?" Lizzie spoke the name with emphasis out of disbelief.

Hearing Bandit's muffled squeak in response and seeing his tiny head tilt at recognising her voice quickly confirmed her suspicions, prompting her to lower her hand and cause the forcefield to disappear again in another flash.

'Yup. It's Bandit.'

Bandit screamed at the sudden drop he experienced as a result of his temporary stability literally being ripped out from under him, but luckily, Lizzie held her hand out in time to grab him by the scruff of his neck.

"What are you doing out here?" She continued to ask as she brought the ferret palisman close to her chest, allowing Bandit to climb free from her hold onto her left shoulder. She gave the crowded street a glance with a faint frown to see if Xander was around, to no avail. "Did you get separated from Xander again?"

It was the only conclusion she could come to, given that this was what had happened the last time she'd encountered the little guy on his own.

Lizzie turned back to Bandit when the ferret palisman started squeaking incessantly and shook his head twice, repeatedly jerking his head and swishing his tail in a way that made the young witch think he was trying to point at something. But what?

"Hey, hey, easy!" Lizzie interjected, raising a hand to gently pat Bandit on the head to silence him. "I can't understand you, Bandit. I don't have a palisman, remember?"

Bandit whimpered and reached his paws to his ears to give them a gentle tug, his beady eyes darting from side to side while he tried to think of how he could get Lizzie to understand him. In the end, he didn't have to, because the familiar cry from further ahead soon answered for him.

"Ack! Get off me, you wretch!" The familiar voice breathlessly bellowed, prompting Lizzie and Bandit to look further up the street with wide blinks.

Close to the middle of the street, the young witch spied Xander with his front pressing against the ground, his arms pinned to his back. Her shoulders immediately slumped at recognising him, her mind spiralling back to the conversation she'd not long had with Luz, Eda and King this morning.

'And what do you know. I'm right again. I need to start keeping count so I can rub this in Eda's face, because it seems like I'm not the only one who has things go through one ear and out the other…'

Lizzie squinted at seeing the culprit restraining his arms and pinning him down with their knee was a tall figure in a brown cloak, their face concealed underneath their hood. A shorter figure in a matching cloak was stood beside them with their hands to their cheeks, with their face also concealed by their hood. For a fleeting moment, Lizzie couldn't help wondering why these figures seemed so familiar…

until she heard the tall figure speak in a deep, gruff voice that caused her shoulders to stiffen.

"You're gonna wish you never messed with our ilk, you prissy, one-eyed, law-enforcer!"

'Oh, Titan…' Lizzie felt her face grow moist the moment her jaw dropped, her thoughts returning her to the night she went with Eda and King to the night market and had stalked Xander out to the forests on the edge of the town. 'Don't tell me that's—'

Bandit's panicked scream right next to her ear acted as Lizzie's reminder of where she was and what was currently happening, making her wince and stick a finger in her ear.

'Right. Not the time for that.'

Lizzie darted through the crowds of ignorant creatures passing by ('How are they just ignoring all of this like it's normal?!') with a scowl coming to her face, raising her index finger and already drawing a medium-sized spell circle underneath the taller demon hunter before she even got close enough to the trio. Next thing the tall demon hunter knew, he was surrounded in a green outline and slowly lifted into the air, causing him to kick his legs out and wave his arms about. His partner took a step back and moved his hands to his mouth, with Xander managing to twist his neck enough towards the shorter demon hunter in an attempt to peek at what was happening behind him.

"W-What—?!" That was all the levitating demon hunter managed to croak out, because he was soon cutting himself off with a loud cry at being flung swiftly towards the right when Lizzie flicked her finger. "AAAAAAAH!"

Xander rolled over onto his back with a wide blink and watched the demon hunter fly through the air after the spell's outline disappeared, his visible eye following him until he dropped behind a crowd of creatures further up the street. The shorter demon hunter, meanwhile, released a yelp and darted after his partner the moment he made his descent, flailing his arms around in a panic as he did so.

"Oh, Titan! This is why I was telling you to let it go! Why couldn't you have just listened to me for once?!"

The blonde witch allowed a snort to slip past before covering his mouth with a hand, muffling the small round of chuckles that followed as the shorter demon hunter vanished into the crowds after his partner.

Okay, he could admit it: that was pretty funny to watch.

Lizzie slowed to a stop a small distance from her cousin with a slight gape at hearing the light-hearted chuckles, causing her to blink a few times to make sure she wasn't hearing things. In contrast to the cold tone that always sent an uncomfortable tingle down her spine without fail, this Xander sounded… friendlier, like a completely different witch. And for a moment, the young blonde was left standing there as still as a statue, until the sight of Bandit leaping off her shoulder and onto the ground brought her back to reality.

Xander's mirth was interrupted by excited squeaking from behind as Lizzie silently watched the little ferret palisman bounding for his owner. He twisted his body round in time to catch Bandit when the little ferret launched forward and landed into his lap on all-fours, making Xander laugh.

"I'm all right, little buddy," he reassured with a smile, reaching out a finger to stroke Bandit's back as he shuffled closer to him. "That demon hunter got what was coming to him."

'Am I dreaming?' She gave her a harsh pinch under her cloak just to be sure, her eye twitching at the sharp pain that followed. 'Nope. This is real.'

Lizzie's gaze fixed onto Xander's beaming face while he interacted with Bandit, furrowing her brow and gripping at her satchel strap underneath her cloak with both hands. She realised this was the first time she'd seen her cousin without his uniform in person, and it was making her feel a little nauseous, like her insides had been flipped inside out.

Maybe it was because their attire was similar and she didn't like the fact it further spelled out their blood relation? Maybe it was because this was the first time she'd been in the vicinity with him since that heated conversation she'd seen him having on the crow phone? Perhaps it had something to do with the fact this was the first time she'd seen his injured eye in person? She wasn't quite sure. Either way, she couldn't deny that her gut was juggling her emotions about like she was in a circus, and she didn't like that.

'It's strange to not see him in uniform, though. Perhaps he's having a day off. I think I heard from Eda once that the coven scouts get at least one day off a year…'

Although she did note that she could feel an unusual warmth spreading throughout her chest, followed by a dull ache which she was eventually forced to rub at from over the top of her shirt and vest.

'Why do I get the feeling I've encountered him acting like this in the past, prior to my disappearance?'

He was supposed to be her enemy, and he clearly shared the same sentiment with her, so why did she feel like she was supposed to be pitying him?

Xander eventually broke eye contact with Bandit and happened to glance in Lizzie's direction upon speaking again, rendering Lizzie's internal question rhetorical.

"I wonder who—" His visible eye met Lizzie's just as the latter's grew wide, rooting her to the spot before she had the chance to move herself. A sour expression appeared on the older blonde's face the second he recognised the younger witch, prompting his eyes to narrow and his mouth to twist downward at his sarcastic response. "… Oh. Of course, it had to be you."

Lizzie's expression relaxed with the scrunch of her lips and her nose, the ache and warmth quickly extinguishing like a fire that had had a bucket of water dumped all over it.

'And that pity is gone.'

The urge to send a ranting retort danced on the tip of the tongue, yet she soon chose to squeeze some of her frustrations out through her tightening grip on her satchel strap, flushing her knuckles as white as Eda's usually pale skin.

'Don't bother, Elisabeth. Restrain yourself.'

After a quick intake and release of breath through her nostrils, the young witch made the decision to follow her own advice… by being snarky instead.

"Huh. Weird way of saying thank you. But you're welcome, Xander." 'But at least he seems to be moving okay. I obviously intervened at the right time.'

Xander rolled his eye in response and stood up, collecting Bandit from his lap with one hand to hoist him onto his shoulder.

"Oh? You knew it was me without my mask?" he asked with fake surprise while proceeding to flick the dust off his front and trousers. "What happened to who are you, hmmm?"

Lizzie's left eye twitched, with one hand going to her hip while the other raised and pointed an index finger at the older witch. "First of all, I know what your voice sounds like and how to recognise your palisman, so nice try."—she raised another finger with a squint—"And second of all, considering you've said we're related, it's easy for me to see why." She turned her two fingers towards her own eyes. "I'm not blind." It took a few seconds and seeing Xander's mouth twitch before it dawned upon Lizzie what she'd said, prompting her to blink widely and wince with the slight clenching of her fingers; it was taking all of her willpower not to look at his eyepatch. "S-Sorry. I-I didn't mean for it to—"

"Whatever," Xander interrupted her in a low tone, making Lizzie flinch at detecting the slight growl mixed in there. She sensed she'd hit a nerve. "Not that I am blind. I can still see, for your information." Lizzie furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to say something, but Xander soon huffed and crossed his arms before his chest, briefly closing his visible eye and turning his head away. "Look, I'm not in the mood for your amnesiac games and jeers today, Elisabeth. So do me a favour and let me get back to enjoying my day off."

The younger blonde was more than happy to welcome the change in topic, acknowledged by the ghost of a sly smile appearing. "And by enjoying," Lizzie tilted her head to the side, turning her gaze in the direction she flung that demon hunter off to. "does that include getting your bones crushed underneath that angry creature in the brown cloak~?"

Lizzie's smile widened into a smirk at watching Xander's shoulders stiffen and his face flush a light pink in the cheeks. She wasn't sure what had come over her, but she could at least admit she was enjoying watching her usually composed enemy break his mask and freak out for once.

With flaring nostrils, the older blonde spun round to face his younger cousin and ball his hands into fists at his sides, looking like one of Lizzie's fire potions on the verge of exploding after being shook around too much.

"If that idiot hadn't knocked Bandit out of my hand before he could shift into his staff, I would have escaped from that scuffle just fine!" he yelled, which Lizzie calmly blinked at.

"Sure," she replied through a snort, making Xander growl and suck in a sharp breath through his teeth. "I've seen what those demon hunters can do. Had I not intervened, he'd have pinned you under a glowing net!"

Xander's brows raised at the mention of 'demon hunter'. "Oh…" he said with a hint of realisation, smacking a palm against his forehead. "That's why they seemed so familiar! They were the demon hunters I hired to— Hey…" Xander scowled and turned to Lizzie with the slight raise of his voice. "So, it was you who rescued those palismen!"

Lizzie's eyes drooped out of disbelief, her brow creasing. She even thought she saw Bandit shaking his little head and then hiding his face at his owner's antics. "You're kidding, right? You had the evidence. I just never admitted to it."

"Until now," he hissed, waggling a finger her way. "You are very lucky I'm not on duty. Because if I was—so Titan help me—I'd have had you carted off to the Conformatorium by now."

"For insulting you?" Lizzie questioned with a teasing tone. She released a loud laugh while leaning her head back. "Wow. Someone's pride's been hurt." The blonde witch looked back just in time to see Xander violently trembling and Bandit scooting closer to the older witch's face to give his cheek a gentle nudge, which prompted him to take a deep breath to calm down.

'… Yeah. I should probably cut him some slack. He looks like he's about to explode.'

Although she did find herself frowning at the mention of the palismen, prompting the young witch face him with a hand to her hip. She recalled the words written in that letter to her from 'V.S.'.

'That wild witch claimed the palismen were going to the emperor, yet Xander told the demon hunters to take them to the Conformatorium. But seeing as that phone call revealed he's been acting under someone else's orders, I do wonder if he can tell me what he was planning on doing with those palismen…'

It didn't seem likely he'd cooperate, but she thought it was worth a shot, whilst she was here. What could she lose by trying, after all?

"By the way," she started, getting Xander's attention enough that he tilted his head to the side a bit. "about those palismen… why were you—?"

Lizzie never got the chance to finish her sentence.

A blue blur moved within her peripheral vision from her right, getting close to her front and reaching out a hand towards her left side. Next thing she knew, one palm was being shoved into her chest and forcing her backwards while another hand slipped under her cloak and into her satchel.

"Whoa!"

Lizzie let out a startled cry and wobbled towards the right, waving her arms about to try to keep her balance. Clinking vials echoed in a chorus from inside her satchel as the blue cloaked and hooded culprit took her stumble as their chance to retract with a flash of bubbling red emerging from underneath her cloak (along with the sound of glass rolling along the ground somewhere near her feet), but not before Lizzie was left blinking widely at the white blur that suddenly moved in towards them.

"Oi, fake!"

Xander's taut shout was soon followed by a dull thud, with Lizzie's confusion furthering at feeling an arm wrap around her lower back. Lizzie managed to catch the aftermath of what had happened with a quick sideways glance once she was steady on her feet, which was the culprit stumbling sideways with an explosive potion vial clutched tightly in their hand and Xander on her right side with his right fist held out in front of him and his other arm round her lower back, almost like he'd just punched the assaulter in the face and then stopped her from falling over—

Wait.

Lizzie's head whipped to Xander's narrow-eyed gaze and curling lip with raised brows and another wide blink, attempting to process if she was imagining things right now. But then her eyes flitted to her assaulter at catching them righting themselves and rubbing their palm against their left cheek, their hood having dropped from their head to expose their face.

Lizzie's jaw nearly dropped upon finding herself staring into the wide, teary eye supposedly belonging to 'Xander' staring right back at her. There was so much she wanted to question, but in the end, the one thing she found stood out to her the most was that look on their face: that look of pain and shock, like they were struggling to register what had just happened. Why was it so familiar to her? Why did she feel like she'd seen that look on Xander's face somewhere in the past?

A dull ache immediately attacked her chest at the hurtful look on their face and within a blink, her surroundings warped.

The medieval-monster-like homes and cobbled streets of Bonesborough were literally washed away like a paintbrush stroke, replaced with high-glass windows, towering stone walls and a stone floor with long, wooden desks and blue cushioned stools that seated two people littered about the room. 'Xander' was replaced in a similar fashion, now exposing Lizzie to a sixteen-year-old Xander Blackwood bearing Hexside's uniform for the Potions Magic Track. That same look of pain and shock was still plastered on his face, only now both of his hands were covering his left eye, his right one still wide and teary. Remnants of hot red liquid lay as an acidic puddle at his feet, drowning and melting jagged glass shards that once belonged to the vial that housed it.

Everything came flooding back like Hooty ramming himself into a tree trunk chasing a sparrow, and she was beginning to regret ever acknowledging her internal questions. It was a memory her brain had refused to let her forget, yet apparently learning of her cousin's identity had finally removed the shroud that used to surround the bully she could never remember the image of.

'No… No, no!' Rapid and shallow breaths escaped Lizzie as the young witch squeezed her eyes shut and grasped at her fringe, attempting to shut out the intensifying ache as it slinked its way into her head, throbbing against her temples. 'Don't remind me of this! Anything but this!'

"Elisabeth." Xander's stern tone broke through the illusion, allowing her to use a shaky breath to slow her breathing and even it out.

She opened her eyes at a hand gently grasping at one of her own on her head, the pain instantly vanishing like it had never been there to begin with. She ended up seeing Xander standing in front of her with a faint frown and slipping a glowing yellow vial back into her satchel— Wait, did more than one vial get pulled out?

"Snap out of it. They're getting away," Xander continued when Lizzie didn't reply, moving out of the way of her view (and his hand from her head) in time for her to catch the blue cloak of her attacker swaying as they dashed off towards the end of the street she'd just come from. "Come on."

Lizzie's eyes trailed to her right wrist at feeling Xander take a gentle grip on it, only for them to widen as she was pulled forward when the older witch started running after the culprit. Her legs moved of their own accord despite a slight wobble in the beginning, eventually running in time with her cousin. And yet throughout it all, Lizzie's eyes never left the hand on her wrist, her mind struggling to grasp if what she was seeing was real. She didn't feel as if she was… completely there, like her mind had disconnected from her body and she was instead an observer to what was going on.

But if only Lizzie and Xander had had the mind to keep their attention on the demon hunters. Because unbeknownst to the pair of witches, they had seen everything from where they'd been silently stood amongst the crowds still walking around. And as their eyes remained locked on the retreating backs of the cousins, the taller one snarled and smacked his fist against his palm, while his partner kept his shaking fists close to his chest, listening to the venomous words that left the other's mouth.

"Well, partner, looks like our assignment will have to wait." The taller demon hunter enclosed his palm around his fist and cracked his knuckles, exposing uneven and jagged teeth in a tooth-bearing grin from underneath his hood. "'Cause there's two little witchlets who need a little karma served to 'em cold."


A/N: Ahaha! Things are really heating up now, aren't they? I'll be honest, I wasn't really planning on bringing those demon hunters back. They were supposed to be a one-off for episode 6. But whilst I was writing this out, I figured it wouldn't hurt. Saves me having to make stuff up if I'm able to reuse previous characters, right? And then we have the new OC... I can guess some of you have probably guessed what creature they are by now. But if you haven't, all will be revealed over the next couple of chapters. But that's all I'm willing to say for now regarding that.