A/N: Hello, everyone. Formerly Kagaminelover657 here. Welcome back to The Owlcast. We are now officially four episodes away from Episode 18 and while I should be happy about that... recent events have really gotten me down, not gonna lie. If you want to see me talk about anything I've included in this chapter, I'll leave an author's note at the bottom, but what I'm going to say next needs to be said as it's important.
This past week has been hell for me, and not just because I've been ill with multiple ailments. I've once again become a victim of trolling, as you guys can probably see from the reviews section of this fanfic and my other ones. Same troll as last time, but with a newly made account. I won't even bother to mention them by name at this point, because I am just sick and tired of their annoying antics. But as you guys can probably tell from my changed username and the removal of the cover from this fanfic, I've had to do a bit of damage control outside of emailing the admins yet again, including closing my PMs and deleting my old stories. It's annoying that they still haven't done anything to help despite my constant pleas and the pleas of others, and it's made me have a really long think about things. Which now begs the question... what does this mean for my account and its current stories?
Ultimately, I've decided to take my current work and cross-post it elsewhere, maybe on a site that actually takes its complaints seriously. Does this mean I'm abandoning updates here? Far from it. I'm still going to be active here in terms of reading and writing. Am I going to reupload this story and others to remove the troll reviews? No. Because while I want to say this is probably the last time this is going to happen, it seems this troll has decided to make me a frequent target for trying to avoid them. So, there's little point in deleting all the good reviews already here just to get rid of the bad ones and then be flooded with further triggering and distressing content. I'm still going to be going about my time on this site as normal, but this will be the last time I address this issue here. In which case, all I can do is warn you all to stay away from the reviews section. You're better off not seeing the kinds of things they've spammed me with, or the kinds of spam they'll likely do in the future.
In any case, I'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone else who has been reading, favouriting, following and reviewing this story. Your continued support is greatly appreciated, truly. Every time I find myself with writer's block or feel down about my writing, going back and reading all your lovely comments, or seeing my favourites and follows rise a little brings a smile to my face. It's people like you that are the reason why I'm willing to stay and continue writing. So, you don't have to worry about me going anywhere. I'm standing firm.
Now, with that said, I hope you enjoy the first chapter to introduce Episode 14.
Chapter 41: Fun Times or Porky Pies?
From within the kitchen of the Owl House, Eda stood slouched before the oven with a large black pot placed on the stove filled almost all the way with a green sludge-like substance, her drooped eyes blinking heavily and focusing on her slow, anti-clockwise stirring of the unknown contents. The Owl Lady paid little heed to her surroundings all the while, including not indulging in the animated discussion Luz was having at the kitchen table behind her with Gus and Willow using the crystal ball, not bothering to acknowledge King (who was also seated at the table and observing Luz's conversation with the young witches) and not even paying a glance towards Lizzie… who was stood just to the right of her in front of the chopping board with the kitchen knife in her right hand (from where she'd paused in her own task of chopping up various food that needed to be added to Eda's sludge) and watching her stirring with a slight squint.
Lizzie had suspected from the moment Luz began attending Hexside that her school routine was bound to cause changes to the routines of the others who resided in the Owl House. For Lizzie and Hooty, who were naturally up early for differing reasons, it hadn't meddled with their schedules too much. The young witch and house demon went about their morning as they usually would with no complaints. King was occasionally disgruntled by being disturbed from his sleep earlier than usual, yet he was quick to pacify once he found out what he was going to be getting for breakfast. But out of the four of them, Lizzie never anticipated that Eda's altered routine would be the strangest to watch. It was no secret to the rest of the house that the Owl Lady wasn't an early bird like they were (which they all now suspected was due, in part, to the strange effects of her curse keeping her up during the night, if King's claims of seeing Eda chasing voles and shrews was anything to be believed), often sleeping in until the late morning before finally managing to shift herself to head downstairs and get her daily morning apple blood from the fridge to wake herself up. If Eda needed to be awake before a certain time, then she was reliant on the others (more so Lizzie) to act as her alarm clock, usually receiving a splash of water to the face to rouse her. Yet while in the past these instances had been rare, Luz needing Eda to sometimes drop her off at Hexside (even though the school was in walking distance of the Owl House) had increased these instances, much to Lizzie's amusement. And this particular early morning on the Boiling Isles was no different.
As per the usual, Lizzie had woken up the same time as Luz had and left the bedroom to disturb Eda while the teenage human got ready for school. Eda often moved at a snail's pace when it came to waking herself up, so Lizzie had tried to plan to make sure the Owl Lady was ready before Luz was due to leave, including getting dressed so she could get to the kitchen to make the breakfast. However, when the two witches eventually made it to the kitchen, they were surprised to find Luz already seated at the kitchen table by the window, with King occupying the stool to the right of her. Various magical textbooks were opened to Luz's left, with the clear crystal ball belonging to Eda in front of her and a plate of human food just beside that (which Lizzie recalled Luz calling a 'sandwich', consisting of slices of 'tomato', 'lettuce' and other human fillings between two slices of 'bread', in this case). Luz then promptly informed the pair that she needed to speak with Gus and Willow via the crystal ball to complete her homework before she was going to walk to Hexside to meet up with them, leaving Lizzie muffling her snorts behind her hands at seeing Eda's face freeze with a shocked expression upon realising she no longer had a valid reason for being woken up early. Still, that hadn't deterred the resident Owl Lady from at least bothering to make breakfast for the others, with Lizzie even volunteering to help.
And needless to say, Lizzie was glad she had, because it didn't matter how many times she blinked at the 'wooden tool' Eda currently had gripped tightly in her right hand. It didn't change the fact that the blonde was certain Eda's sleep deprived state had convinced her to use her staff to stir the food and not the wooden spoon they had for this specific task. And how was she so certain when she'd been focusing on her own task prior to this moment? Because it didn't take a genius to see that what Eda was holding was a smooth, wooden cylinder that resembled the bottom end of her staff, which didn't match up with the flat top of the wooden spoon with the circular hole used to hang it on the hooks on the wall.
'Oh my Titan…'
Lizzie watched for a little while longer, mentally debating if she should speak up and say something or just leave the Owl Lady to her own devices. She soon got the answer to her internal question the moment Eda's head began to droop forward, looking about ready to dunk itself into the contents of the pot.
"Eda," Lizzie addressed the Owl Lady in a low voice to avoid disturbing Luz's conversation with her friends still going on behind her (which Lizzie had pretty much also tuned out at this point). "wake up."
Eda stopped stirring and snapped her head up at registering Lizzie's voice, blinking widely to snap herself out of her momentary daze. "Wha—?" The older witch shook her head and turned to look at Lizzie, reaching her knuckles up to her eyes to give them a rub. "Sorry, kid. Did you say something?"
"No," she replied sarcastically and pointed the tip of the knife towards the sludge filled pot, her eyes drooping. "But I'm sure if Owlbert could, he'd be telling you he's done having a dip in today's breakfast."
"Huh?" Eda questioned with a furrowed brow, her eyes eventually turning to the bottom end of her staff still clutched in her hand. It took a few seconds of staring before the Owl Lady realised what Lizzie was getting at, her eyes briefly flicking between the pot and the staff while widening. "… Wuh-oh."
"Yup."
Without having to think it through, Eda stepped back from the pot and yanked her staff free of the sludge with both hands, quickly tipping it upright at her side with Lizzie silently watching with an amused smile.
'And I thought I struggled to function on little sleep. Compared to Eda, I can apparently deal with it better.'
With Owlbert covered head to toe in green sludge, the Owl Lady cringed and then proceeded to unscrew the owl palisman from the top of the staff, allowing Owlbert to come alive and stretch his wings out. He released a discontented 'hoo' upon feeling he was covered in sludge and shook his wings and body to fling it off, staring at Eda with narrowed eyes while she forced a smile and shrugged.
"Sorry about that, Owlbert."
Owlbert responded with a low 'hoo' before flapping his wings and causing his feathery body to hover. He glided over towards the other side of the kitchen where Eda hung some of the cutlery, prompting Lizzie to look away and focus on the Owl Lady while she set her staff to lean against the table edge.
"How much sleep did you get last night?" the blonde witch questioned, briefly breaking her gaze away when Owlbert returned and dropped the wooden spoon on the worktop beside the chopping board. "If I hadn't said anything, you probably would have joined Owlbert inside that pot."
"Not enough to function, apparently," Eda grumbled and collected the wooden spoon into her hand. "I swear, it was bad enough when I had to wake up early for that dweebus factory. Never thought I'd have to be doing it for someone else."
"You wanted to sign her up for magic school, don't forget. That's what happens when you don't teach your apprentice properly."
Eda snorted and gave Lizzie a light elbow in the ribs. "But if that were true, wouldn't you have also followed in Luz's footsteps?"
Lizzie smirked and rolled her eyes in response as she returned to her chopping, with Eda resuming her stirring of the sludge in the pot in the meantime. Owlbert remained on the worktop, tucking his wings close to his body and occasionally turning his eyes between the two witches as they conversed.
"Like I could. Age aside, what magic school would want a witch who got expelled from her last one for mixing magic?"
Eda chuckled and shook her head. "Good point."
"Luuuuuuuz!" King's whining caused both witches to stop what they were doing to peek behind them when the little demon interrupted Luz's conversation, spying him lying flat on the kitchen table for a few seconds before he sat up with a pout. "Are you nearly done yet?! You've been talking to them all morning and this is usually when we do the 'Luz and King Comedy Hour'!"
Lizzie's and Eda's eyes widened the moment they processed the words that had left King's mouth.
'Oh no.'
Lizzie couldn't remember when it had actually started, but this had become a routine thing for King and Luz to do in the morning before she left for Hexside. She had a feeling it was Luz's way of compensating for the time she could no longer spend with the little demon due to other commitments, as the others had noticed King's developing attachment to the teenage human during the time she'd spent at the Owl House. It was strange for Lizzie to see, considering she remembered King's lack of interest in Luz's safety and how often he'd use her in the name of being pampered or for his own mischief. Now he seemed to be taking an interest in some of the things she did, which Lizzie thought was cute at first, but she was now beginning to think the opposite ever since Luz had introduced King to the world of 'puns'…
Luz remained oblivious to the disdained reactions of the Owl Lady and her technical roommate as she shifted on her stool to face King with a small smile.
"Aw. I'm sorry, little buddy. We've got some time now if you want to show me your material."
King's eyes lit up as he jumped to his feet with a childish giggle, clenching his tiny paws into fists while bouncing on the soles of his feet. "Great! Because I've recently started working with props! I think you'll like it!"
"Please no," Eda mumbled under her breath when she resumed her stirring, her shoulders hunching and her empty left hand recoiling its fingers towards her palm out of disgust. "Anything but the comedy hour."
"I can only just about put up with Luz's corny puns," Lizzie whispered as she picked up the chopping board and leaned over towards the pot, scraping the chopped-up food she'd had onto it into the sludge with help of the knife. "But King and Luz?" She shuddered and pulled away to return the chopping board to the worktop, making sure to be mindful of Owlbert still perched there. "It's cliché central."
"For a whole hour? Tell me about it."
Right after Eda replied, the two witches heard King speaking in an overly exaggerated voice behind them, prompting the pair to cringe at being forced to listen to the ensuing jokes without looking back.
"Oh dear, Luz! I've gotten a tube stuck on my nose! Will I ever eat again?" There was a brief pause that prompted Lizzie to dare to peek behind her out of concern, which she immediately regretted. Her left eye twitched at seeing King kneeling before Luz's sandwich with a cardboard tube on his nose, only for him to then proceed to pick up the top slice of bread and… shove his face through it, pushing it enough of the way that he'd created a head-like hole that allowed the bread to encompass the sides of his head. "Looks like I'm toast~!"
King dropped onto his back and started giggling along with Luz, kicking his legs while wrapping his arms around his abdomen. Meanwhile, Lizzie and Eda simultaneously cringed as they turned away, with the former hiding her face behind her hand when Luz replied to King in kind.
'Why must we be subjected to this every single day for an hour?! I swear, Luz is the one who introduced this to King!'
"Hey! Quit loafing around, doughboy!"
"Why don't you bake me?" King joked, once again causing the human and demon to break out into cheery chuckles.
"Ugh!" Eda groaned and reached her empty hand up to pull at the skin underneath her eyelids, eventually turning to Lizzie with slumped shoulders. "Seriously, Lizzie, knock me out with that sleep spell! I don't care if you haven't made much progress with it! I'll take anything that'll let me sleep through this!"
Lizzie's head snapped upward with a wide blink upon registering Eda's words, mentally picturing a lightbulb flicking on above her.
'Aha. That could work. After all, I still don't know if what Xander said to me that day is actually the reason behind my struggle.'
"Oh, I think I can do one better," she quietly responded with a smirk over King's and Luz's continued tuned out chatter in the background, causing the Owl Lady to raise a brow.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know how I told you the other day that I suspected the reason I couldn't cast that spell was down to me being incompatible with the magic type you were using?"
'Without mentioning Xander being the reason why I came to that conclusion…'
Eda squinted and pursed her lips, seeming to be suspicious of what she was about to say next. "Yeah…?"
Lizzie slyly jabbed her thumb in the direction of the kitchen table, specifically where Luz's open school textbooks still were. "Well, after scouring through some of Luz's magical textbooks for reference, I think I may have figured out the magic type I'm compatible with to cast the spell."
Eda's brows raised at this. "No kidding?"
Lizzie shook her head. "No kidding. I haven't had a chance to test my theory out yet…" The blonde gave the Owl Lady a wink and held up her right hand, putting her middle and index fingers together and slyly pointing them towards King. "So, maybe now might be the time to give it a try, wouldn't you agree~?"
Lizzie didn't need to explain herself to her employer, nor did said employer need to say anything in return to confirm it. The moment Eda gave Luz and King a brief sideways glance and then returned Lizzie's smirk, even pausing with her stirring to rub her palms together, the blonde witch knew she was on board even as the words left her mouth.
"If it means it'll stop their cheesy antics, I'm all in!"
With Eda's confirmation, Lizzie turned to face the teenage human and little demon at the kitchen table with her smirk fading, her eyes focusing on King. The pair were still too focused on their own conversation to be completely aware of what Lizzie was planning, so she knew she'd have time to act it before anyone realised what she was doing. Since Luz needed to go to school, King was better for 'target practice'.
'Xander reminded me of the many times I saw my mother cast this spell as a child alongside Caprice, and I know I have natural talent when it comes to her specific magic type. So, if I'm right… I should be able to cast the sleep spell her way instead of Eda's. I just hope I can remember what she did correctly…'
Seeing Eda watching her intently from within her peripheral vision, Lizzie sucked in a quick breath through her nostrils and placed her two fingers to her lips, faintly frowning while she recollected her mother's movements as closely as she could. After a couple of seconds of silent staring, Lizzie closed her eyes and released a high-pitched whistle, attempting to imitate the birdsong usually heard by a nightingale. She opened her eyes again when she heard Luz and King stop talking and Eda gasp loudly beside her, just in time for the four to witness a small green spell circle suddenly appear in a flash in front of Lizzie's hand. Next thing they knew, the spell circle was propelled forward and growing in size until it was as big as King, passing through the little demon in a literal blink and then quickly dispersing in a small puff.
Eyes widened amongst Luz, King, Lizzie and Eda as they all attempted to process what had just happened. Yet, it didn't take long before King began to sway towards the left and then the right, his eyes drooping and his head lowering a little.
"Whoo… I suddenly feel so…"
King trailed off the moment his body fell forward and crashed to the table with a loud thump, quickly followed by his eyes closing. What came afterwards from his sprawled body was loud snoring, giving further indication that Lizzie's spell had actually worked.
Luz's, Lizzie's and Eda's jaws dropped, with the trio looking between each other with wide blinks and passing glances to make sure this was all real. Eventually, Lizzie was the first to snap out of her shock, laughing loudly and throwing her fists above her head, her voice going up an octave the more she cheered.
"Aha! Yes! It worked! I can't believe it actually worked!"
"Holy Titan…" were the only words to leave Eda's mouth as she glanced back and forth between King and Lizzie with repeated blinks, only just about managing to bring herself to say anything.
Luz, meanwhile, squealed loudly and leapt from her stool without a second thought, smacking her hands to her cheeks with glistening.
"No way! That was so cool!" She put her hands back on the table and turned to the older witch with a wide grin, briefly bouncing on her heels. "What magic type was that?!"
Lizzie lowered her hands to her sides and opened her mouth in preparation to answer Luz, but Eda soon beat her to it.
"Bard magic…" The Owl Lady uttered with her current expression still frozen in shock. Lizzie and Luz turned to the older witch when she finally brought her hands to her eyes to give them a rub, slowly easing herself into talking again. "That was Bard magic…"
Lizzie wasn't sure if it was the lighting in the kitchen or her eyes playing tricks on her, but she swore Eda was looking a little paler than usual, with her golden eyes having a glassy look to them. She was acting like what Lizzie had just done reminded her of something from her past, and it wasn't just noticed by the blonde witch either.
Luz and Lizzie furrowed their brows at Eda's reaction, with the latter even stepping towards the older witch and placing a hand to her shoulder.
"Eda, are you—?"
"Hey, Luz?" Lizzie was cut off by Willow's concerned voice speaking up from the crystal ball, which immediately brought Luz back to reality with a wide blink. "What's going on?"
"Yeah, is everything okay?" Gus' voice added.
"Oh, shoot! Forgot they were here!" Luz leapt back onto the stool and forced a smile when she was facing the crystal ball, waving her hands about as she did so. "Sorry, guys! Got a little side-tracked. Lizzie just—"
Lizzie didn't get to hear the rest of Luz's explanation to Gus and Willow, because she soon became distracted herself by Eda's hands gripping tightly at her shoulders and turning her to face her, her shoulders stiffening at the unexpected contact. Lizzie was met with the sight of the Owl Lady's face literally only an inch away from her nose, her wide golden eyes staring intently into Lizzie's green ones.
"Where did you see the sleep spell being cast like that?" Eda asked in a low and rushed tone, making Lizzie blink and raise a brow out of confusion at the question.
"Huh?"
"C'mon, kid. Don't play dumb. I'm being serious here!"
Lizzie frowned and gave Eda a quick look over from head to toe, eventually squinting as she scrutinised the older witch's face. She couldn't help but notice that Eda was acting… very desperate. Like she was holding the key to a secret she'd been searching for over countless years.
"Eda, what's gotten into you?" Lizzie eventually asked. "You're interrogating me like I'm a criminal here."
"Just answer the question," Eda pressed as she shook Lizzie by the shoulders, prompting the blonde witch to lean back and hold her palms up out of surrender.
"I saw my mother cast it like that!" she answered hastily, causing Eda's brows to raise and her eyes to widen.
Eda's shaking of her shoulders ceased after that, the tight grip she'd had gradually loosening.
"Your mom?" Eda repeated quietly and with the slight tilt of her head, which Lizzie nodded to.
"Yes."
There were a few seconds of pause before Eda took that as her cue to let the blonde witch go and take a step back, with Lizzie pulling a bit on the wool of her vest to straighten the material out near her shoulders.
"My parents are bards," Lizzie clarified while she straightened herself out again. She saw Eda's expression relax a little, so she continued. "I used to see my mother cast that spell a lot as a kid. And since she and my father taught me how to use Bard magic—"
"You know how to do Bard magic?" Eda questioned with a raised brow, only to then place a hand under her chin and give it a brief stroke with her claw-like nails. "But you said your folks taught you about potion making. And I've never seen you use any magic spells related to Bard magic…"
Lizzie forced a smile at feeling the heat rising to her face, placing a hand to the back of her neck and giving it a rub the moment her cheeks flushed a faint pink. "Ah… Well… That might be because my old man used to be a potionist but then he gave it up sometime before I was born. And I've only ever used Bard magic with instruments…"
Eda's eyes narrowed. "Why did he give it up?"
Lizzie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. He never told me why and I never bothered to ask."
"Huh…" Eda allowed her gaze to wander towards the doorway of the kitchen, her eyes narrowing a little further with her hand still cupping her chin. "And you learned that spell technique from your mom, you said?"
"Yes," Lizzie confirmed, tilting her head a bit as she followed Eda's gaze to the doorway. "Why? Is something wrong?"
The Owl Lady didn't answer straight away, yet after another round of silence between employer and employee, Eda huffed and ran her fingers through the side of her hair.
"It's nothing," she said quietly. "Just reminded me of someone I know…"
'Someone she knows?'
Lizzie was tempted to question Eda further on that. But before she had the chance to even open her mouth, Eda turned to her with a small smile and gave the shorter witch a gentle pat on the head, making her flinch.
"Still, nice work, kiddo! At least now we have a better idea of what you're capable of!"
"Yeah…"
'Good thing Luz didn't hear any of that. If she heard anything more about my past, she'd probably break out into a squealing fit.'
And speaking of Luz…
Loud beeping from the kitchen table drew Lizzie's and Eda's attention, with the sound also managing to force King's eyes open and have him leap to his feet with a loud 'Weh!', his fur standing on end. The crystal ball had turned red and was emitting the alarm-like sound, making Luz grin.
"Oh, hey! Looks like it's time for school!" Luz raised a hand to give Gus and Willow a wave, oblivious to King falling onto his bottom and rubbing at his skull with a paw, his eyes narrowed towards Lizzie. "I'll see you guys there!"
"What did you do to me, you traitor?!"
Lizzie merely responded with a shrug and a lopsided smile, hearing Willow bidding Luz 'goodbye' and Gus yelling something about her thumb before Luz placed her hand atop the crystal ball. At this action, the glass lost its red glow and was silenced once more, slowly dimming down to its original clear and reflective surface.
"I just let you have a short nap, King. Nothing to worry about."
King released a loud sigh with his paws in his lap as Luz stood from the stool and started packing her textbooks into her backpack on the floor beside it, his eyes closing and his shoulders slumping.
"But Luz and I never got to do our comedy hour…" he said dejectedly.
Luz finished packing her books away and swung her backpack onto her back with a small smile towards King, adjusting the straps against her front with a quick and rough yank.
"Hey, don't worry, little buddy!" She stepped closer to King and placed a hand to the back of his head, prompting the little demon to open his eyes and turn to the teenage human with a blink. "I promise we'll finish our comedy hour when I get home from school, okay?" When King nodded once, Luz leaned close to give the top of King's skull a gentle kiss, prompting him to briefly squint after she'd pulled away. "Be good for Eda and Liz."
King let out a little giggle and muffled it behind his paws in response, which Luz took as her cue to pull away and move quickly round the table to the two witches in front of the oven. Without warning, Luz leapt up between Lizzie and Eda and hooked an arm each around their shoulders, causing the pair to cry out in surprise when they were pulled close to Luz's sides with a tight squeeze.
"See you guys after school!" Luz said cheerily before she released the two and allowed them to stand upright again, barely giving them time to process her previous action.
"Easy, kid!" Eda exclaimed once she was free, giving the worktop and floor a quick glance to make sure she hadn't knocked any of her sludge anywhere. "I can't have food flying everywhere!"
"Sorry, Eda!" Luz called out as she jogged for the backdoor of the kitchen.
"You sure would be if I made you clean it up!" She retorted, prompting Lizzie to snort in amusement before turning her focus back to Luz.
"See you later, Luz!" Lizzie eventually replied while using her hands to tug her hat down and keep it secure on her head.
Taking hold of the round, metal handle in her right hand, Luz peeked over her shoulder with a wide smile as she yanked the wooden door open, speaking in a singsong tone the moment she began stepping outside.
"Try not to miss me while I'm gone, guys~!"
The moment the wooden door slammed shut behind her, King jumped to his feet with a loud 'Nyeh!', keeping the bread round his face and the tube on his nose as he dashed to the edge of the table. He leapt down and made excited panting noises once he was in front of the door, wagging his tail and placing two of his paws against the wood.
Lizzie and Eda silently observed King staying in that position for a solid five seconds before he peeked back at them and furrowed his brow, his next words coming out quietly and hesitantly.
"She… She will come back, right?"
Eda rolled her eyes and placed her empty hand to her hip. "Of course she will, you goofball! Luz always comes back!" The older witch smirked as she turned back to face the pot on the stove and resumed her stirring, briefly looking back at King with a snort. "Still, it's cute you miss her~."
King scowled and spread his legs apart, pointing a claw at Eda's back in an accusing manner. "The King of Demons—" The little demon cut himself off and raised his brows when his eyes trailed to the 'props' still round and on his face. With a frustrated 'Nyeh!', he shoved the bread and cardboard tube off his face and to the wooden floor, repeating his earlier actions when he continued talking. "As I was saying, the King of Demons doesn't miss anybody!"
"We both know that's not true, King," Lizzie replied with a teasing smile, prompting Eda's smirk to widen.
"Yeah." She momentarily paused her stirring again and jabbed a thumb in Lizzie's direction. "Remember when you used to do the same thing every time Lizzie left the Owl House for her potion runs?"
"The second I walked through the door, you'd cling to my ankle and never let go," Lizzie answered in King's stead, folding her arms and leaning forward a bit at the wide blink King gave. "Admit it, little guy: Luz has grown on you~."
"No, she hasn't!" King cried out in objection and balled his paws into fists with the stomp of his foot. He folded his arms and turned away from the two witches currently sharing smirks between themselves. "I don't care about Luz and I don't care about whether she comes back or not!" He closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the ceiling. "And that would still stand even if she came through this door right now!"
After a few seconds of silence, King dared to open an eye and peek at the back door, as if having expected Luz to actually come back through because of what he'd said. When it was obvious to both parties that hadn't happened, though, King pouted and allowed his shoulders to slump, which both Eda and Lizzie took as their cue to resume their original tasks and leave the little demon to his current antics.
'Eh. He'll get over it once he decides to take a nap.'
Lizzie reached a hand over towards the remainder of the vegetables and various other ingredients lying on the right side of the chopping board. Eda's hand taking a firm grip on her shoulder, however, made her arm freeze just as her hand hovered over the food pile.
"By the way," the Owl Lady started, with Lizzie turning her head to the older witch when she lowered her voice for the rest of what she had to say, plus her golden eyes briefly looking towards King to make sure he wasn't earwigging (he was now sat on the floor, based off what Lizzie could see from her peripheral vision). "how've you been doing since… the talk?"
Lizzie squinted at Eda's question, struggling to understand what it was her employer was talking about. "Uh…" She tilted her head and pointed in the direction of the living room. "You mean the one about the Bat Queen startling Hooty when she dumped that bag of gold for my potions in front of the Owl House the other day?"
"No." Eda's eyes briefly narrowed to slits. "Although you're lucky I'm only on board with what you're doing because you're giving me half the profits. And that I know the Bat Queen wouldn't have just taken in a basilisk without a good reason…"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "You are technically my boss, Eda, and the witch supplying me with the ingredients. Of course you're going to get a cut." The blonde witch scratched the side of her head. "But then… what were you referring to?"
"You know…" Eda gave Lizzie's shoulder a gentle shove as she went to clarify the younger blonde's confusion. "That talk you and Luz had the other day, remember?"
Lizzie gasped and gaped a bit the moment the recollections of the mentioned conversation came flooding into her mind like overflowing water, causing her to respond to Eda with slightly widened eyes.
"Oh… You mean when Luz asked about the school potion incident with Xander and then told me about that thing Principal Bump said?" When Eda nodded to confirm that's what she meant, Lizzie waved the grey-haired witch off with a hand and a small smile. "Psh! Yeah! Of course I've been okay!"
Eda tilted her head a bit with a slight squint, keeping her hand firmly clasped on Lizzie's shoulder. "Are you sure? The explanation about Tool-bag to Luz I can believe, but what Bumpikins told Luz about you and Tool-bag was huge."
Lizzie's eyes drooped as she rubbed a hand at her forehead, recalling the moment Luz had told her about what she'd heard about her and Xander from Principal Bump. Poor girl had been stood in front of her nervously twiddling her thumbs, speaking in a jumbled mess during her explanation while stringing in apologies about supposedly breaching Lizzie's privacy (and apparently a comment about how pretty her hair had looked in that low ponytail, which the blonde witch had naturally blushed at). Lizzie recalled she'd spent a lot of time trying to calm the girl down and reassure her that everything was fine; however, she could admit the news had shocked her a little bit.
"Yeah… I'll admit it was," she eventually replied and shrugged her shoulders slightly, giving Eda a lopsided smile. "But I'll be honest, it's not that surprising."
"It's not?" Eda repeated with a raised brow, prompting Lizzie to nod as the older witch pulled away.
"I don't really remember knowing much about any extended family as a kid, let alone meeting them." Lizzie placed a finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling, her brow furrowing. "I vaguely remember seeing my grandparents on my mother's side when I was really young before they passed on. But my father's side I never met…" She trailed off and lowered her head, her brow furrowing further. "Huh…"
"What's the matter?" Eda asked at seeing the thoughtful look on her employee's face.
"It's just that… now that I'm thinking about it…" Lizzie squinted while she slowly got her words off her tongue. "I don't remember him mentioning he had any family still alive. In fact, the one time I asked him about it, he—"
Creak.
"Weh!"
Lizzie's and Eda's head whipped towards the backdoor the moment the noise and King's yelp interrupted the former, their eyes widening simultaneously at the sight of Luz standing in the now open doorway and King on his feet and recoiled off to the right side where he'd managed to avoid the door opening.
"Luz?" Lizzie questioned with a blink, with Eda finishing the rest with a blink of her own and a hand to her hip.
"What are you—?"
"You're back!" King interrupted with a loud yell and wag of his tail, with Lizzie biting her lip to hold back a snort as he threw his arms over his head and ran towards her with excited panting.
'You don't miss anyone, huh, King?'
King wrapped himself around Luz's shin and clung to it with all four of his limbs, looking up at the Latina human when she glanced at him with a raised brow.
"I know how this looks, but I swear I didn't miss you!"
"Is everything okay, Luz?" Lizzie finally asked when she was sure King wasn't going to interrupt again at choosing to ignore his comment, her eyes giving the kitchen table a quick glance as Luz stepped into the kitchen and started to slip her backpack off her back. "Did you forget something?"
"No," Luz answered with a shrug, placing her backpack on top of the closest stool to the door. "But apparently, school's been cancelled for the day."
Lizzie and Eda both shared narrowed eyed looks before the latter spoke after removing the spoon from the pot to put on the worktop.
"Cancelled? For what?"
"A pixie infestation."
Both Eda and Lizzie winced and hunched their shoulders simultaneously, with the latter hissing through her teeth for extra emphasis.
"Ooooh…" Lizzie commented under her breath, her eye twitching a bit. "Pixies are savages. I remember a similar thing happening when I was still in school." Her shoulders slumped. "The Blight Twins brought one in for a prank they wanted to pull off and Edric accidentally dropped the cage." She twirled her index finger in a circle in front of her face with a smile and a snort. "Idiot ended up with multiple pixie bites all over his face and forced the school to close until they could get it out. Serves them right, though."
"Pfft!" Eda said dismissively, shaking her head and waving a hand about. "What an amateur! Everybody knows you need to stick a muffle and chains on those things before you let 'em loose!" She grinned, tilted her head up a bit and jabbed a thumb into her puffed out chest with her eyes closed. "That's what I did when I pulled off the same trick!"
Lizzie and King turned to the Owl Lady with raised brows at the confession, with Luz blinking widely and gaping slightly.
"Wait," the Latina replied with a slight squint. "You caused a pixie infestation and forced the school to close when you were still going there?"
Eda's eyes shot open at realising what she'd said, prompting her head to lower and look between both Lizzie and Luz with sweat visibly gathering on her forehead. "I-I mean…" She started to stutter, her next words coming out in a weak voice. "that's what I would have done if I'd pulled off the same trick."
"Nice try, Eda," Lizzie replied sarcastically with a faint smirk, prompting the Owl Lady to roll her eyes at her.
The blonde witch knew Eda didn't feel ashamed at what she'd said. Her reaction was likely because she was just trying to be a better influence on Luz, something Lizzie had noticed since the pair of witches had returned to Hexside to get her enrolled.
'At least Eda's trying to make the effort…'
"Ahem!" King cleared his throat to get Luz to glance down at him, his jaw morphing into the hint of a smile. "Either way, you could say those were… crumby situations. Get it?"
A few seconds passed before Luz processed King's 'joke', causing the pair to once again break out into amused giggles. Lizzie and Eda, on the other hand, both groaned quietly and looked away, with Eda running a hand down her face and slumping forward a bit.
"Ugh! Is this morning going to get any worse?"
And then, as if on cue to Eda's words, Hooty was seen stretching his way into the kitchen, with Lizzie squinting at the sight of his partially puffed cheeks.
"Hoot hoot!" The house demon greeted in his usual, jovial voice, pausing in front of Eda and tilting his head to the side. "Anybody wanna guess what's been in my mouth this whole time before I throw it up?"
"Hooty," Lizzie addressed the owl demon sternly, already getting an idea as to what he was probably about to do. She scowled and pointed a finger towards his beak as she stepped closer to Eda's side. "We've talked about this. If you're going to spit something up, do it in the hallway."
Hooty stared straight into Lizzie's eyes with his beady own as he tilted his body downwards and started gagging, causing Eda's and King's eyes to droop and Luz's nose to crinkle with the curl of her mouth. Lizzie, however, narrowed her eyes and stomped a foot, wanting to stand firm.
"Don't make me get the broom again, Hooty! You remember what happened last time, don't you?"
That seemed to do the trick. After a moment of contemplation, the house demon, still coughing and gagging, quickly retreated backwards into the hallway and disappearing behind the wall. All the while, the group still gathered in the kitchen could hear his disgusting retching, followed by what sounded like a rush of crinkling paper. That didn't stop Eda from glancing at her oldest charge with a raised brow.
"What happened last time?"
"Hooty threw up in the living room and Lizzie whacked him in the face with the broom from the cupboard," King explained from where he was still clutching onto Luz's ankle, with Lizzie nodding at seeing Eda's wide blink.
"Water isn't working on him anymore. I had to kick it up a notch."
Eventually Hooty's gagging sounds and the rustling paper stopped when it was ended by a muffled thump. The owl demon soon reappeared pushing a small pile of saliva drenched white and brown envelopes and a large soggy rectangular brown package on top with the top of his head, his own face currently dripping with sweat. The group of four all cringed with a shared chorus of 'Bleh!' once Hooty had placed the pile in front of Eda's feet, raising his head with a wide semblance of a smile.
"It was the mail!" he proudly announced.
"Of course it was…" Lizzie grumbled while Eda bent down to gather all the envelopes into a pile.
'I still don't understand why he insists on eating the mail, though. What drives Hooty to do these things? Seriously!'
The Owl Lady lightly kicked the package to one side with her heel as she stood up straight again and sifted through the pile of envelopes in her hands, mumbling to herself as she went.
"Junk, junk, death hex." She paused to toss the brown envelope over her shoulder, with Lizzie side-stepping towards the right when it fell into the small metal bin close to the oven.
The blonde's eyes widened alongside Luz's and King's at witnessing the bin become engulfed in a purple light and suddenly shrink itself into a tiny ball, eventually disappearing in a bright flash. A trickle of sweat rolled down the side of Lizzie's face when she dared to glance back at Eda, her own eyes drooping at seeing the Owl Lady continuing to go through the envelopes as if what had just happened was completely normal.
'I often forget Eda has a lot of enemies…'
"Junk, junk, more junk— Ooooh." Eda's eyes grew big with a wide smile as she halted her shuffling, turning to face Lizzie, Luz and King while holding up a flyer in her right hand for the trio to see. "It looks like there's a carnival in town today!"
The flyer in question depicted a white silhouette version of Bonesborough against a yellow backdrop at the top, while the rest of it contained the following text written in medieval-styled, purple writing and all capitals: 'BONESBOROUGH CARNIVAL, 1 DAY ONLY'.
"A carnival?" Luz repeated with a hint of excitement in tone, a wide smile slipping onto her face. "You have carnivals here?!"
"You have them in your realm too?" Lizzie questioned with a raised brow, with Luz nodding as she reached for King and collected the little demon under his arms to hold him up in front of her. "Well, what do you know."
"This is perfect! I've been so busy with school lately that you and I could use a day just for the two of us." Her smile morphed into a bright grin. "What do you think, buddy? Should we take this comedy hour on tour?"
King balled his paws into fists and wagged his tail eagerly, giving his answer immediately. It wasn't anything he needed to think through. "Yes, we should! A 'Luz and King' day is my kind of day!"
"And why just stop at us?" Luz continued and slid over to where Eda and Lizzie were, getting in between them and hooking her arms round both of their shoulders (after letting King climb onto Lizzie's left shoulder). "All four of us should go!"
Eda smiled smugly and rolled up the flyer once Luz had released her and Lizzie, collecting her staff into her other hand. "I'm all in! Carnivals bring in crowds of suckers!" The Owl Lady slotted the flyer into her hair and held the staff upright so Owlbert could fly off the worktop and settle atop it, allowing her to screw him back on. "This is the perfect chance to try out my new get-witch-quick scheme!"
"Enough with the puns!" Lizzie complained while briefly flinging her head back to look up at the ceiling, prompting Luz to tilt her head at her.
"What about you, Liz? Don't you think it sounds fun?"
The blonde witch's shoulders slumped as she lowered her head again, rubbing at the back of her neck with a hand. "I don't know, Luz." She rolled her eyes to the side a bit. "Carnivals have never really been my thing."
Lizzie flinched when Luz lightly nudged her in the ribs. "C'mon! You've been working hard on your magic lately! You deserve a day to goof off!"
Lizzie furrowed her brow and scratched a fingernail against her cheek, contemplating Luz's words for a moment. But that moment of reflection was soon disturbed by Hooty stretching himself close to where the four were gathered.
"Oh!" Hooty cried out with a sparkle entering his beady eyes, his beak morphing into the semblance of what was likely supposed to be a wide grin. "If Lizzie doesn't want to go, I'll join you! I'm always down for an adventure with friends!" The group's eyes drooped as they watched Hooty retract himself out of the kitchen again, disappearing behind the wall and yelling out to them despite his voice fading the further away he got. "I'll go pack my stuff! I have a knapsack full of games!"
"When is that bird brain going to realise he can't leave the Owl House?" Eda muttered under her breath before turning to face her oldest charge. "Luz does have a point, though. That last day out you took did wonders. So, who knows what'll happen to your brain if you take another one?" She winked. "And there's no way Mister Tool's gonna be scouting out that place for ya. The carnies won't let any guards or scouts near them!"
"Because they're scammers too?" Lizzie asked.
"Eh…" Eda tilted her head and moved a hand back and forth slightly. "Kind of…"
"Pleeeease, Lizzie!" King begged with a quivering jaw and his paws held to his furry chest, his pink eyes tearing up a little from where he was still standing on her shoulder. "We don't get to do much together anymore either!"
Between Eda's smirking, Luz's grin and King's attempt at the puppy-dog look, Lizzie didn't have it in her heart to decline them. With a loud huff and the quick run of her fingers through her fringe, the young witch replied in a low voice and the slump of her shoulders, giving in fairly quickly compared to usual.
"Okay, fine, I'll go!"
"Hooray!" Luz and King both cheered with their fists held above their heads, prompting Lizzie to frown and point an index finger at Eda.
"But only on the condition that Eda helps me retrieve my satchel from upstairs by hoisting me up to the second-floor window."
Luz looked down at her school uniform and tugged on the front of her tunic. "And I should probably get changed into my other clothes before we go."
Eda grinned and clicked her fingers. "Done! Guess it's settled then!" The Owl Lady stood up straight, puffed her chest out and pointed a finger in the direction of the door, proudly declaring: "We're going to the carnival!"
"To the carnival!" Luz and King shouted excitedly in sync, with the former copying Eda and the latter holding his feet out and his clenched paws in the air with his eyes squeezed shut.
Lizzie chuckled and shook her head as she watched the trio dash towards the backdoor of the kitchen and fling it open. She eventually followed them outside once they'd run off, reaching for her cloak and the door handle to close it on the way out.
'I swear, since Luz arrived, she's started making me less of a hermit. I don't know if that's a good thing, to be honest...'
The blonde witch had to admit that the last couple of times had given her mixed messages in that regard. But today? She was hoping she was going to be proven it was a good thing, even if that was likely wishful thinking.
Once Eda had helped Lizzie grab her satchel and made sure they were properly stocked with her necessary potions (along with King insisting he bring along a blue and purple patterned fanny pack which he'd strapped to his waist and Luz changing into the casual clothes she usually wore), the four leapt onto Eda's staff and headed straight for Bonesborough. While the flyer they were sent didn't give any directions as to where the carnival was being held within Bonesborough, it didn't take much for the group to spy the candle lights attached to rope strewn between colourful and oddly shaped stands and massive tents lining the sides (most of which included the addition of monster-like decoration, such as eyes or teeth) and far end of one of the streets under the right ribs of the Titan's bones, even without the directions from the colourful signs that had been stuck throughout Bonesborough's other streets.
When the four of them finally landed and dismounted from the staff, they were met with a black metal fence and castle-shaped arch with 'Bonesborough Carnival' painted upon it in bright lettering, which while looked intimidating to Lizzie seemed to have the opposite effect on the bright colours and attractions in view on the other side. Even as they dared to walk underneath the arch and admire the crowded and busy streets and carnival vendors from their current vantage point, they could see just how well the carnival was attracting the town's residents with their various stands, such as in the case of one large green stand (run by a blue skinned creature with blue skin, three eyes and a beak, dressed in a purple and yellow squared patterned cap and purple outfit with yellow stripes on the trousers and sleeves and a red, pointed collar) that appeared to be handing out prizes that included a green monster head with pointed teeth, pointy ears and closed eyes inside a bag of water, or the giant pink starfish shaped Ferris Wheel at the back of the carnival with black cauldron seats attached to each of its limbs.
"Whoa…" Luz eventually said after a moment of silent admiration, turning to Lizzie beside her with wide eyes. "This is almost like the carnivals back home! Except the monster decoration makes it ten times more awesome!"
Lizzie smiled down at the shorter girl and gave her hair a quick ruffle. "Yeah, I had a feeling you'd say something like that. Sounds like you have a thing for the macabre, huh?"
"Do I!" Luz gave a small smile and scratched a finger against her cheek. "Well, to an extent."
Rattling from Eda's staff prompted Lizzie and Luz to look towards the Owl Lady in question, where they could see Owlbert out of his wooden state and manually twisting himself anti-clockwise to get off the staff. Luz let out a quiet gasp just as the little owl palisman stretched his wings and prepared to fly, only for Eda to smirk and stop him with the simple tapping of her fingertip against his head.
"Sorry, Owlbert. No games for you," she said, prompting Owlbert to furrow his brow and curl his wings close to his body. "I need your help with the scams I'm running."
Owlbert responded by lowering his head and releasing a low sounding 'hoo', causing the blonde witch to frown at how sad the little owl looked. Eventually Owlbert's eyes flashed a bright yellow, returning him to his wooden state atop Eda's staff.
'I didn't realise Owlbert liked carnival games.'
"Scams?!" King shrieked while stomping his foot and tugging on the hem of Eda's dress. "But I want to see what cool stuff I can get from those stands!"
"And what about the rides?" Luz added with a pout. "I want to at least go on one ride altogether!"
"Hang on!" Lizzie interjected with the raise of her hands, causing all three heads to turn to her with wide blinks. "I think we're all getting a little carried away here."
"What do you mean?" King asked with the tilt of his head.
Lizzie raised a finger as she responded. "I know we all have different agendas for today, but it's important in a big place like this that we establish some kind of schedule. Just to make it fair for everyone."
"That's quite right, Madam," a familiar friendly yet posh male voice sounded from behind Lizzie before any of the others could respond, causing hers, Eda's and King's eyes to widen simultaneously. "Because you can't have 'fun' without being 'fair', am I right?"
The blonde witch felt her hairs stand on end as she spied Eda and King staring at the ground behind her with dropped jaws, to which she instinctively whipped her body round to follow where they were looking. She was certain she knew that voice, and that statement came to be fact the moment her green eyes fell upon a familiar looking bespectacled pig dressed in a red jacket lined with black, a yellow vest and red bowtie while holding a golden baton in his right hand.
Lizzie froze in place alongside Eda, King and Luz as the pig held out his arms on either side of him and closed his eyes, giving the group of four a wide smile.
"Ah, hello again, friends! Welcome!"
It took a few seconds before Eda found the will to react, scowling and reaching out the arm clutching her staff to wrap around Lizzie's front and pull her close to her side. King and Luz wasted no time in ducking behind the Owl Lady for protection then as the blonde witch remained frozen against her employer's side, even as Eda pointed her staff head in the newcomer's direction. Luz remained quiet from where she was peeking out from behind Lizzie's right side, but Lizzie, King and Eda weren't able to stop themselves from yelling the name of the pig in sync, two out of shock and one out of anger.
"Tibbles?!"
A/N: I was originally going to stop this chapter a little further into the carnival, but I honestly found leaving it on a cliffhanger at this part a little funnier. XD But yeah, Lizzie finally learnt the sleep spell, but this version of the spell isn't canon. I based it on the tricks that Raine uses and inspired it on the birdsong of nightingales, which you guys probably realised when Marigold was brought into it. Yup, Lizzie's parents are bards, if you hadn't already guessed. Aside from Caprice purposely being a nightingale to foreshadow this, her name and Nocturne's are musical terms. 'Caprice' is Italian for Capriccio, which means a lively piece of music usually free and short in form, while 'Nocturne'... well, it is as the name says: music with a nocturnal mood. XD But yeah, bet you guys weren't expecting Lizzie to know a bit of bard magic, huh? You'll get to see more of that in later chapters, I promise. In the meantime, while this chapter wasn't very eventful, I hope the revelations surrounding Lizzie's family that were dropped were enough to intrigue you. Also, for those of you who don't understand the chapter title: 'Porky Pies' is the British saying for 'lies'. Seemed relevant here. XD
