A/N: Hello! Happy belated New Year and welcome back to the Owlcast! First official update of 2023 and... it's not as exciting as some of you might have been expecting. XD Sorry. Like the previous chapter, this is mostly just build up for what's going to come in the next chapter; although, I think you'll enjoy the interactions that occur between Lizzie and the two characters who make their appearance. Not gonna lie... one of them was really hard to keep in character. But seeing what happens in Season 2, Episode 8, I think it's clear that a certain someone does have more of a brain outside of comedy relief... when they're allowed to use it. XD I'll explain more on my creative decisions at the bottom, alongside review responses (saves me cluttering up the top and unintentionally spoiling others until the end. XD). I'd also like to mention that The Owlcast is almost caught up with its FF counterpart on chapter updates over on AO3. I plan on uploading Chapters 45 and 46 later on this week, so if any of you have AO3 accounts (or are having issues with notifications because of the new 'opt-in' thing the admins have introduced here), I highly recommend following it over there for alerts on updates. After Chapter 46, updates on AO3 will be in tandem with the ones on FF, so I would do it.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has been favouriting, following, reviewing and reading. I currently can't see the view counter because of the site's yearly glitch, but your support is greatly appreciated. Also, some good news: the admins have finally removed the troll reviews from my stories, so a big thank you to anyone who helped by reporting or pushing the troll reviews into the abyss. I don't think this will be the last time that troll strikes though, so please be wary in future when going into the reviews. This is officially the last time I will be addressing this as I don't want to give this troll any more attention, hence why I've felt this needs to be said.


Chapter 46: Pondering Puzzle Pieces

When Lizzie next opened her eyes, she was greeted by the mid-morning sun shining into her bedroom; she assumed that due to how high the sunlight had stretched up the wall, alongside how bright it was.

'It's morning already?'

Lizzie blinked a couple of times and rubbed at her eyes with her hands to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Moving them away revealed she definitely wasn't.

'… Did I sleep in? That's a first.'

She stretched her arms above her head for a few seconds and yawned before rolling over onto her back and sitting. A skim of the room revealed no sign of Luz, King or Hooty, making the blonde witch raise a brow.

'Huh. That's weird. Maybe they're already downstairs.'

Lizzie ran her fingers through her dishevelled blonde locks and rose from her mattress, briefly swallowing and licking her lips at noting how dry her mouth was.

'I'll get myself a drink and figure out where everybody is on the way.'

Judging by how late into the morning it was, Lizzie assumed that Luz was probably already on her way to school, and that unless Eda had dropped her off, she and King were likely still in the Owl House with Hooty. These were the thoughts that lingered as she left the bedroom and then headed downstairs after a quick trip to the bathroom, where she was met with silence upon entering the hallway at the bottom.

'I wonder why nobody has woken me up. I know what happened last night was worrying, but I'm supposed to be on potion deliveries today—'

"Mornin', Lizzie! Hoot!" Hooty's cheery voice interrupted her thought as his neck suddenly arched round the doorway to the living room, causing the blonde witch to yelp and stumble back a couple of steps.

Luckily, Lizzie had gotten used to Hooty's antics enough that she didn't immediately launch a spell the moment she was startled—she'd had a nasty track record of doing that during her first year at the Owl House, before she was used to Hooty's presence. She regained her balance with a wide stance and a hand to her chest, with Hooty blinking at her reaction.

"Oops! Sorry!" he hastily apologised.

"Hooty," Lizzie addressed the owl demon through a sigh, straightening up with slumped shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"I heard you coming and wanted to make sure you were okay. Eda asked me to check on you before she and King left," Hooty explained with the tilt of his head, stretching a little closer to the witch as he did so. "She also told me to tell you something, but I can't remember what it was. Hoot hoot!"

"Eda and King left the Owl House?" Lizzie questioned with a wide blink, prompting Hooty to nod in confirmation. "Have they taken Luz to school?"

"Nope!" Hooty lowered his voice to a whisper when he turned his head in the direction of the doorway. "They wouldn't tell me where they were going."

"Why?"

"Because it was for you and they think I can't keep a secret," he drawled, scowling and tilting his beak up to the ceiling. "The nerve! Hoot! I'm an expert at keeping my beak shut!"

Lizzie placed a hand to her hip and squinted. "Weren't you the one to tell Eda about my self-doubt issues surrounding my magic behind my back?"

There was a moment of pause before Hooty lowered his head again and shifted his eyes from left to right, with tiny beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face.

"… Noooo?" he replied with hesitation, making Lizzie huff and shake her head.

"Never mind," she mumbled and walked past Hooty to the kitchen; she expected the house demon to follow her, which she soon heard him do. "So, you have no idea where they could have gone?"

"Nope!" Hooty answered enthusiastically, stopping in the doorway to the kitchen while Lizzie continued inside. "Though it probably had something to do with their plan to help you last night! Hoot!"

Hooty's next words prompted Lizzie to stop and glance back at the house demon over her shoulder with a slight gape, her own response delayed by several seconds.

"Help me? With what?"

"Your memory problems!" Lizzie's eyes widened at this, with Hooty remaining oblivious as he turned his gaze to the ceiling and squinted. "They didn't come up with a plan until this morning—which they never let me join in—but everybody wanted to do something to make sure you were going to be okay."

Lizzie didn't need to look in a mirror to know the colour had likely drained from her face; the sweat she could feel sticking to the skin of her forehead was more than enough, along with the slight trembling of her hands.

'They what—?' Lizzie cut off her thought with the shake of the head upon realising something. 'Wait. Luz said she had photo class today, didn't she? No wonder. That's related to memory, isn't it?' The blonde reached a shaking hand to rub at one of her ears, closing an eye. 'I really hope part of their plan isn't going to involve sticking those tweezers in my ear.'

"But speaking of which," Hooty cut Lizzie's thought off and brought her back to reality, lowering his head and stretched himself closer to her. "are you okay?" A semblance of a frown made itself known upon his brow, alongside the slight pursing of his beak. "When we checked up on you last night, you looked like you were about to burst into tears. Hoot."

Lizzie turned her head away then with hunched shoulders, partially hiding her face behind her cardigan sleeve while wiping the sweat away.

'They saw that too?!' Her eyes drooped. 'Oh, of course they did! Why else would they have attempted to comfort me with hugs?!'

Lizzie swallowed thickly and lowered her arm before responding, making her way over to the fridge. Her hands were still shaking, yet she tried to ignore it by taking a tight grip on the fridge door and yanking it open, switching her focus on collecting what she needed.

"… I'm fine," she eventually answered quietly, even despite the tremble in tone giving her away.

"Are you sure?" Hooty pressed as Lizzie closed the fridge and placed what she'd taken from the fridge onto the counter beside it. Lizzie remained unaware of the owl demon's beady eyes focusing on her shaking hands. "It still seems like something's bothering you."

Lizzie didn't answer straight away, instead forcing herself to go about making her usual morning beverage with deep breaths through her nostrils, despite her grip on everything being visibly unsteady. She didn't know if it was just Hooty's annoying voice or the new information she'd just come upon, but something was making her feel on edge.

"Nothing's bothering me," she said through gritted teeth, prompting Hooty's brows (or what resembled 'brows' on his face) to raise.

"But you're shaking—"

Lizzie slammed her hands down so hard against the counter her palms instantly began to sting, forcing Hooty to cut himself off and recoil.

"I said I'm fine!" she snapped as she whipped round to glare at the owl demon, her hands having since fallen still because of her actions. "So, could you please just accept that answer and drop it already?!"

It wasn't until she saw Hooty's eyes widen and his beak drop open in a way that made it seem he'd broken his jaw bone that Lizzie realised what she'd done. Her own eyes widened when a wave of déjà vu washed over her, her body stiffening the second she remembered. Wasn't this like the time she'd snapped at Luz about Edric and Emira?

'Oh, Titan…'

A lump formed in Lizzie's throat at witnessed Hooty's eyes begin to fill with tears, his beak closing and visibly quivering. Lizzie admitted that Hooty could be a pain sometimes, but the last thing anyone in the Owl House would ever want to do is make him upset, let alone cry (and not just because he was known to go into a full-on sob-fest).

'I can't repeat the same mistake I made with Luz…'

"I-I'm sorry, Hooty," Lizzie suddenly stuttered with a cracked voice. Her brow creased as she slowly stepped towards the house demon and reached out a trembling hand, giving him a gentle pat on the head. "I-I shouldn't have shouted at you. You didn't deserve that."

The blonde witch retracted with a cringe when Hooty released a snotty-like snort through the nostrils in his beak, which she squinted her eyes shut at with a shudder.

"It's okay!" Hooty replied in a brittle tone, shaking his head to remove his tears from his eyes. "I was being too pushy!"

"No!" Lizzie objected with the wave of her hands, her brow creasing further with the drop of her shoulders. "You were right, Hooty." The blonde witch brushed her fingers through her hair and faced the counter, eventually massaging her temples. "I think I'm still wound up from last night…"

"But why?" Hooty questioned as Lizzie went about stirring the brown liquid in the black mug she'd been mixing her beverage in. Hooty arched his body and neck round the table to peer at the blonde witch from her right side, blinking multiple times while scrutinising her face. "I thought you wanted to know what was wrong with you. Hoot."

"So did I," Lizzie said with a sigh. She removed the spoon from the mug and tapped it against the side before discarding it on the counter, turning away to lean her back against it with the steaming mug clasped between both hands. "Turns out I wasn't as ready as I thought I was."

She couldn't believe she was actually having this conversation with Hooty of all creatures, but there was a first for everything.

"Because you're scared that Luz could be right?"

The blonde witch nodded as she locked eyes with the distorted green ones of her reflection, her own drooping the quieter her voice grew. "Ever since finding out Xander's name, it's been pointed out to me that my memory loss isn't normal." She tightened her grip on her mug, flushing her knuckles a ghostly white. "But I just assumed it was trauma. I didn't think it was because of an actual medical condition." She paused to quickly blow on her drink and take a sip, her brow furrowing a bit as she tilted her head towards Hooty. "And if it is what Luz suspects it is… then just how bad is it? How much of my life do I actually remember correctly?" She paused to swallow thickly. "I mean, in that memory, I sounded like I knew what Eda might have wanted to mention to me last night, which isn't good. That makes me seem like a bad person!"

"… What do you mean?" Hooty asked after a slight delay, causing the blonde witch's eyes to briefly widen and prompt her to loudly clear her throat.

"Nothing," she muttered hastily and turned her gaze to the floor, lifting a hand from her mug to briefly brush back her fringe with quivering lips. "Point is, finding out that everything you remember is a lie is a scary thought. I don't know if I could handle a reality like that…"

"But don't you think that's all the more reason to find out what's wrong?" Hooty said matter-of-factly, prompting Lizzie to raise her gaze and a brow. "I don't understand your problem, but it seems to me that you not knowing what's causing your brain to block things out or change them is the reason why you're worrying. And until you know the answer, you don't know even know what you're worrying about. It's all just imaginary." Lizzie's jaw dropped as Hooty smiled and closed his eyes. "Also, your memory issues only go to Xander. So, that means everything else you remember without him is probably fine."

The blonde witch delayed her response by a few seconds as she processed Hooty's words with multiple blinks, slowly turning her gaze to the reflection in her beverage.

"… Holy Titan, Hooty, you're right!" she exclaimed. "I've been worrying over something that I don't even know is true yet! Finding out what's wrong with me isn't going to give me my answers! I won't know that until I start triggering my memories to return, and even then it'd just be related to Xander!" Lizzie tilted her head back with a groan, smacking a palm against her forehead. "Titan, I feel so stupid! Why didn't my brain realise this before?!"

"Well, you hadn't gotten enough sleep," Hooty suggested with the slight roll of the head from side to side. "Could have been because of that! Hoot!"

"Could have been," Lizzie agreed through a chuckle. She shook her head and took another swig of her beverage before continuing, reaching out a hand to give Hooty a pat on the side of his face with a small smile. "Thank you, Hooty. You knocked some common sense back into me."

"I'm happy to help! Hoot!" he chirped, only to frown once Lizzie pulled away and guzzled down the rest of her beverage. "But what are you going to do about the others' plan?"

"Nothing," Lizzie answered after wiping her mouth on her cardigan sleeve, moving over to the sink to place her now empty mug in there. "I'll let them look into things and then make my decision when they've presented their findings." Lizzie paused to stretch her arms above her head. "In the meantime, I should get ready before I eat. I'm late for my potion deliveries."

"Oh!" Hooty cried out suddenly, causing Lizzie to flinch and blink widely. "I remember what Eda wanted me to tell you!" Lizzie partially faced Hooty with another blink until he continued. "She's already taken care of the potion deliveries in Bonesborough!"

Lizzie's eyes widened as she dropped her arms back to her side. "She has?"

"Mhm!" Hooty answered with multiple nods of the head, slowly retracting his neck towards the kitchen doorway. "She thought you could use the rest and didn't want to stress you out. She's left the delivery to the Bat Queen to you." Lizzie's shoulders slumped as she watched Hooty disappear behind the wall and head back towards the front door. "But you didn't hear it from me! Hoot!"

Lizzie smirked as a chuckle slipped past her lips.

'So much for being a good secret keeper, Hooty. But dang it, Eda!' The blonde shook her head as she went to leave the kitchen and head back upstairs, her smirk dimming down to a smile. 'You're really intent on trying to hide your good deeds from others, aren't you?'


Finding her way back to the Bat Queen's home hadn't been as easy as Lizzie thought it would have been. Despite her last trip there, the whole situation with the basilisk and Xander had ultimately erased the directions from her memory, which is why she was glad Luz had a better memory and had been more than glad to write the directions down for her after getting Owlbert's input (translated by Eda, of course, since both Lizzie and Luz couldn't understand him). Now armed with the parchment Luz had scrawled the directions onto, alongside her cloak, satchel, and the small sack of her own healing potions she'd made slung over her right shoulder, Lizzie ventured from the Owl House and through the woods, wandering amongst the vibrant trees and flat landscape bathed in the afternoon sunlight in search of the grim surroundings she recalled stumbling upon with Xander. All the while, her own mind remained occupied with the conversation from the previous night, her focus this time being on Eda.

Due to the situation and how exhausted she'd been throughout last night's conversation, Lizzie hadn't given Eda's questions about her family and Xander's palisman much thought outside of knowing her answer to her own question was suspicious. But after talking with Hooty this morning to clear her head a bit, she was able to ponder on Eda's words a little more. That, coupled with her suspicions of Bandit's injuries and also with what she observed with Xander's previous behaviour during that crow phone conversation, made her form a suspicion regarding what Eda had likely been getting at.

'I wasn't sure what kind of relationship Xander has with this 'sir' before, but it was obvious from the way he reacted that he was scared of him, especially if he was the one who hurt Bandit.' Lizzie's grip tightened on the sack as she kept her gaze on the parchment in her other hand, skimming over the directions again just to make sure she was going the right way. 'I did consider them to be a 'boss' or 'mentor' of sorts, like with Amity and Lilith. After going over what I witnessed in my dream, however… I'm beginning to wonder if there's something more, especially because I don't really know anything about the Blackwood family outside of Xander, assuming it's not just him…'

The red terrain underfoot was gradually disappearing and being replaced with hardened dirt covered by the overcast, indicating she was heading the right way.

'Xander has been confirmed to be my cousin, but I know—or at least as far as I'm aware—he isn't from my mother's side. My mother was an only child and the little I remember of my grandparents showed they were sweet and loving and certainly not the type to harm palismen. Which just leaves my father…' The blonde witch sighed heavily and glanced towards the snapped and finger-like branches stretching overhead, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. 'I always wondered why he never mentioned them. And that one time I asked… he played dumb and claimed he didn't have any family outside of me and my mother. Yet if Xander is my paternal cousin… doesn't that mean he lied to me?'

Lizzie frowned and lowered her gaze then, suddenly being reminded of something she'd said to Eda on the morning on the carnival.

'Wait a second. Xander was in the Potions Magic Track like I was. His surname is Blackwood. My father used to be a potionist, but he gave it up before I was born for reasons unknown to me. And Eda told me she once knew a Blackwood who was in the Potions Magic Track too when she was at school!' Lizzie came to a sudden stop and released a quiet gasp, bringing the hand still holding the parchment close to her mouth. 'Holy Titan. It's probably just a coincidence, and yet… why do I get the feeling these things might be linked—?'

A chorus of three tiny and high-pitched chirps from the ground disrupted Lizzie's train of thought. Blinking widely, the blonde witch looked down, her eyes widening and her brows raising at seeing three, round and pale-skinned baby bodied creatures with black bat wings staring up at her with matching red eyes and tufts of black hair, each one smaller than the next. It took several seconds of staring before Lizzie realised what she was staring at, or rather who.

"Oh boy…" she squeaked, her eyes darting between the baby bats as brief recollections of the moments she'd glimpsed of Eda's and King's babysitting rose to the fore of her mind; how could she forget the horrors she'd witnessed then, after all? "You're the Bat Queen's babies."

The babies collectively responded with more chirps before the tiniest of the brood dared to waddle closer to Lizzie's feet. Sweat gathered on her forehead when Lizzie took a slow step back and shoved the parchment into her satchel, daring to break eye contact temporarily to give the area a quick glance. She could see she had arrived at the familiar gigantic tree with the arched hole in the middle of its base which she recognised to be the den of the Bat Queen she and Xander had stumbled upon last time; however, she couldn't see any sign of the Bat Queen, prompting Lizzie to return her gaze to the bat babies with a faint frown.

"Are you guys out here on your own?" she asked gently, her voice cracking when the babies didn't answer and instead stared at her without blinking. She couldn't help it; it was unsettling! "Where's your mama?"

A stare down ensued, with only the occasional blink from either party to show they were still alive. Eventually, though, the bat babies broke eye contact first. With simultaneous chirps, they flapped their little bat wings and rose from the floor towards Lizzie, with the first and second biggest bat babies landing on Lizzie's left and right shoulders respectively and the littlest baby perching itself atop her head.

"Ah!" Lizzie yelped and hunched her shoulders with a wide blink, her body freezing in place shortly after they'd landed on her. She didn't want to make any sudden movements and wind up in the same mess Eda and King had gotten themselves into, hence why she stayed still and merely glanced between all three bat babies with sweat trickling down her face. "… Oh, Titan," she muttered.

'What am I supposed to do?!'

Soft whistling from by the tree caught Lizzie's attention and the bat babies' as well. The blonde witch's brows raised when all three babies turned to face the tree and flapped their wings, taking off and gliding away from her to where an unfamiliar blonde human-like figure with pointy ears emerged from the shadows of its entrance.

Lizzie's jaw dropped as she took in the sight of the newcomer, noting they were a female witch whom looked around her age, her height and… even a little like her in appearance and facial features (which was why Lizzie couldn't help running her fingers along the top of her nose), possessing similar coloured blonde hair and the same bunched up fringe she usually had (which, again, had her running her other hand through said fringe with a squint). However, outside of their differing outfits (with the newcomer's consisting of a long-sleeved, white coloured cuffed and collared, black dress that went past her knees, with matching tights and boots), her hair was styled into a long ponytail, and her amber eyes were hidden behind a pair of black glasses that lacked lenses. On top of that, Lizzie swore she could see two fangs peeking out from under her upper lip.

Lizzie silently observed the bat babies approaching the newcomer and landing in the same formation they had on her, prompting the unknown witch to smile and reach a hand up to the second biggest bat baby to give its hair a gentle ruffle. But the longer she stared at the witch's amber eyes, the more she found herself squinting at them.

'Wait a second… Why do those eyes seem so familiar?'

It didn't click until she heard the soft-spoken and feminine voice converse with the bat babies.

"There you are!" she said, the familiarity of the voice making Lizzie's eyes widen with a quiet gasp. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to for a second—" She stopped upon catching sight of Lizzie within her peripheral vision, her smile widening at recognising the blonde witch and turning her head to her. "Oh, hello again!" She squinted a bit and raised a hand to her chin. "… Elisabeth, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…" Lizzie started and trailed off as she slowly walked over to where the unknown witch was, being mindful to take slow and steady steps to avoid startling the bat babies silently watching her approach. "You're the basilisk we helped, right?"

"Mhm!" she replied and briefly closed her eyes, clasping her hands behind her back as she did so. "Though I go by Xenia now."

Lizzie raised a brow as she slowed to a stop and slipped the sack of healing vials off her shoulder, gently plopping them down on the ground beside her feet. "Oh? Didn't you have a name before?"

"No," 'Xenia' answered in a low tone, her smile dimming down a little when she rubbed a hand at one of her upper arms and averted her gaze to her shoes. "Until now, everyone's called me Number 10 or Subject 10." She gently shrugged her shoulders (being mindful of the two bat babies still perched on them) and tilted her head to the side a little. "The Bat Queen suggested the name. I quite like it."

"I see…" Lizzie remarked. She glanced Xenia from head to toe, pursing her lips. "And the disguise?"

Xenia blinked and stared down at the front of her dress. "This?" Her cheeks flushed a light pink when she lifted her gaze back to Lizzie's, forcing out a chuckle and covering her cheeks with her knuckles. "Heh! S-Sorry! I was trying to make a new disguise for myself not copying anyone, and… I used you as one of the references." Lizzie's eyes widened at this, prompting Xenia to squeak and squeeze her eyes shut. "I-I hope you don't mind!"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Lizzie quickly reassured as she lifted her palms and waved them about. "On the contrary, I was just… surprised." She gestured her hands to Xenia with a small smile. "It looks good."

Xenia gave a short gasp and lowered her hands a bit from her face with the opening of her eyes. "You think so?"

"Sure!"

Lizzie's confirmation caused Xenia to relax her body and release a small sigh, her arms falling limp at her front. "Oh, thank the Titan for that!"

Lizzie found herself chuckling at that, choosing to stay silent for the moment while taking in Xenia's appearance for a second time.

'She doesn't seem as timid and jumpy as she was last time. Maybe she was just too scared with everything that was going on.'

Still, Lizzie was glad to admit that it was nice to see Xenia in her element. It was better than having her at the mercy of the demon hunters, after all. She was tempted to enquire about the whole 'subject/number' thing too, but… she quickly decided not to, recalling Vance's words from before.

Luckily, Lizzie was distracted by Xenia's nose twitching with a loud sniff, her amber eyes immediately going to the sack lying beside her feet.

"Are those for me?" she asked while pointing, making Lizzie blink widely upon remembering why she was here in the first place.

"… Oh, yes!" she exclaimed and lightly nudged the sack with her heel, rubbing a hand against the back of her neck. "It's just healing potions in there. Figured you and the Bat Queen could still get use out of them for the palismen or yourselves even without the magic." The blonde witch's eyes drifted to the bat babies still on Xenia, briefly breaking away to look at the hole in the tree trunk behind her. "Where is the Bat Queen, by the way?"

"She had to leave on an errand," Xenia explained with a small smile. She held out a hand palm up in front of her, prompting the biggest bat baby to chirp loudly and hop onto it with the slight flap of its wings. "I'm babysitting for her. It's the least I can do to thank her for letting me stay in her home."

"Ah…" Lizzie uttered in understanding and slowly nodded, allowing her green-eyed gaze to lock with the beady red ones of the baby boring holes through her soul with the tilt of its head.

'I suppose that makes sense for the Bat Queen to do, though. It's a similar deal to the one Eda and I have; one of convenience.'

"My employer recently babysat for the Bat Queen too." Lizzie saw the bat baby narrow its eyes at her, prompting her to squint at it in return. "I'm surprised they're behaving for you…"

"Really?" Xenia questioned with a wide blink, allowing her gaze to wander between the three bat babies (who were all now staring slit-eyed at Lizzie, might I add; and she thought Hooty's staring was uncomfortable!). "They've been okay with me so far."

'Lucky you.'

Lizzie decided to keep that thought to herself. However, seconds after, she noticed the bat baby on Xenia's hand flap its wings and relax its expression. Before she knew it, it launched itself into the air and glided straight onto her right shoulder, making the blonde witch press her lips together with a muffled squeal, her eye twitching out of discomfort.

Wasn't this the baby bat she recalled breathed fire that one time?

Sweat gathered on Lizzie's forehead as she watched the bat baby shuffle closer to her head with a tiny chirp from within her peripheral vision, prompting her to suck in a deep breath through her nostrils and close her eyes.

'Please don't roast me alive!'

But then… she felt something small and soft rubbing against her cheek, daring her to open an eye and peek at what was going on. Her brows raised at seeing the bat baby nuzzling the top of its head against her face, leaving her speechless for several seconds.

'Wha…?'

"Aw!" Xenia remarked, which was quickly followed by a giggle as she scratched a finger at her cheek. "Looks like the little one noticed how distracted you were!"

"Distracted?" Lizzie repeated quietly. It took several seconds for the gald piece to drop though, by which time she could feel the heat beginning to rise to her cheeks—unless that was the bat baby's fault. She straightened up and stared at Xenia with a raised brow. "It was that noticeable, huh?"

Xenia gave a small smile and closed her eyes, lightly shrugging her shoulders. "You have been falling in and out of thought a lot." She opened her eyes and frowned faintly, her smile soon fading. "Is everything okay?"

Lizzie's shoulders slumped as she momentarily sideways glanced the bat baby on her shoulder, who had since stopped nuzzling her and had side-stepped away a bit to give her some space.

"Honestly?" Lizzie began, giving pause to huff loudly and then shake her head. "It could be better."

"Is it something I could help with?" Xenia enquired with a hand to her chest and the tilt of her head, causing the bat baby still on her head to hop down onto her empty shoulder. "Considering everything you've done for me, I'd gladly return the favour."

Lizzie chuckled lowly and pointed two fingers to her temples. "Unless you can use your magic absorption to suck my suppressed memories out of my head, I don't think you can," she joked. But when she saw Xenia's frown deepen and the basilisk blink widely multiple times, Lizzie waved her off with a hand and plopped down beside the sack on the ground with a heavy sigh, crossing her legs to support her elbows and cupping her cheeks with her palms. "Never mind. Just trying to make a joke."

A hush fell around the forest as a gentle gust manoeuvred its way between the leafless trees, whipping at the clothes of the witch and basilisk to fill in the silence. Xenia slowly lowered herself to the ground to sit opposite Lizzie with her legs crossed and her back straight, placing her palms flat between her thighs for support. Amidst the bat babies' low coos and chirps, the basilisk leaned forward a bit to anticipate Lizzie's clarification, eventually getting it the moment the other blonde's eyes drooped and she focused her gaze on her lap.

"You remember the other witch I was with the last time I was here, don't you?"

"The one I shapeshifted into?" Xenia asked. "Your frie—" She cut herself off with a snort. "Sorry, acquaintance. He didn't like being called your 'friend', did he?"

Lizzie nodded stiffly and closed her eyes. "Yeah, him. I won't waste your time with the details, but it's been recently brought to my attention that the memories I have connecting to him are… either missing or wrong." The blonde witch opened an eye to peek at the other blonde, making to continue and rub a hand at her forehead at seeing Xenia lean back with raised brows. "One of those memories has been giving me headaches. My friends seem to think it's related to this person who is connected to my acquaintance and that if I can remember who they are… the headaches will stop." Lizzie's eyes drooped, briefly sideways glancing the bat baby on her shoulder when it cooed at her. "They're currently looking into my memory issues in case there's a medical reason behind it, but I won't lie: this whole thing is bothering me, mainly at how messed up this person must have been for me to forget them."

"Messed up?" Xenia questioned with a furrowed brow. "I don't understand."

Lizzie pressed her lips together and steepled her fingers in front of her chin, lightly tapping them together with a slight squint. "How do I put this as simply as possible?" she mused for several seconds, eventually clicking her tongue and bringing her tapping to a standstill. "To cut a long story short, Xander—my acquaintance—and I aren't on good terms. He's been trying to get me arrested and sent to the Conformatorium for a while now, which I thought was just him being petty for what I did to his face." She sucked a quick breath in through her teeth at seeing Xenia's frown deepen, mentally deciding to not elaborate on that incident for now. "But I recently discovered that this person has been forcing him to do it, amongst other things. The little I know about them makes them appear controlling and horrible and…" Lizzie trailed off and shuddered, rubbing a hand at her throat with a quiet gulp. "I just can't help wondering why I forgot, or why this person wants Xander to come after me…"

'Because it wouldn't have just been the one, would it?!'

Isn't that what she remembered hearing her teenage self say to Xander in her dream?

'I mean, it's not something I've given much thought. But comparing what I saw in the dream to what I overheard during that crow phone conversation… this person really has it out for me, even in the past. But why? What does it mean?'

"Have you tried asking your acquaintance about it?" Xenia suggested, prompting Lizzie's eyes to widen with the quick shake of her head.

"Oh, Titan, no! I'm not doing that!" She held up her palms and waved her hands about. "For one, Xander thinks I'm faking my memory loss, and two… he'd probably try to arrest me the second I get in sight of him."

Xenia squinted. "But he didn't try last time he was with you."

"That's because he wasn't in uniform," Lizzie replied sarcastically, remaining oblivious to Xenia's confused head tilt as she continued in kind with the roll of her eyes. "The only time I could probably speak to him safely is in the comfort of his own home, and that certainly isn't happening! Especially as I don't even know where he lives!"

"I do," Xenia suddenly blurted out, causing Lizzie to turn to the basilisk with a wide blink and raised brows.

"Excuse me?"

"I know where your acquaintance lives," she clarified, prompting Lizzie to slowly lean back and look at Xenia like she was speaking gibberish.

A few seconds passed before the blonde witch could muster up a response.

"… You know that was sarcasm, right?"

"What's sarcasm?"

Lizzie found herself gaping at that, immediately realising by Xenia's question and follow up blink that she was being serious.

"You know where he lives?"

Xenia nodded and tapped a finger against her chin, looking up at the little sunlight managing to streak through the overcast canopy of branches. "I think it was the first house you see when you go up the slope to the higher ground of Bonesborough. I remember seeing him exit it right before I shapeshifted into him."

"Are you talking about the upper levels of Bonesborough?" Lizzie questioned, prompting Xenia to drop her gaze back to hers.

"Uh-huh."

'That's where a lot of the wealthy families live.' Lizzie scowled and scratched a hand at the side of her head. 'Yeesh. Now I have more questions than I did before.'

"Well, anyway, I don't think actually going to his home is a great idea," Lizzie eventually said with the slight raise of her hand. "It's too risky."

"Hm…" Xenia hummed in thought and placed a hand to her chin, patting her knee with her other hand and a faint frown. "Isn't there anyone else you can ask who might know who this person is? Surely there's someone who could give you an idea."

Xenia's words caused Lizzie to lean back and tilt her head to the sky then, her own frown deepening as she thought back on the past ways she'd gained information up until this point.

'She does make a point. I know from my experiences with Xander that talking about certain things hasn't jogged my memory before, yet it's been a good way to inform me of what I didn't know before. It's possible the same could work for this person and help me make up my mind about whether I want to jog my memory or not… but who would actually know about them?'

The blonde witch suddenly snapped her head down with a loud gasp the second an idea popped into her head, causing the bat baby on her shoulder to release a startled squeak and hop further away from her head with a slight flap. Xenia also ended up recoiling a bit with a wide blink, making the two bat babies still on her shriek a little.

"That's it!" she cried breathlessly, a wide grin slipping onto her face as she smacked her fist against her palm. "Principal Bump! He knew we were cousins, so he must know something about the person behind Xander!" Without another second to waste, Lizzie reached for the bat baby on her and gently scooped it into her palms, moving forward to place it atop Xenia's closest knee. "Sorry, Xenia, but I've got to go. Thank you for the help, though."

"… Huh?" That was Xenia could say as Lizzie sprung to her feet and began to sprint away from the area as fast as her legs would allow, shouting back to the basilisk as she did so.

"Enjoy the magic in those potions!"

Xenia and the bat babies silently watched Lizzie speed off with repeated blinks and head tilts (in the case of the bat babies), none of them saying anything for the time being. Yet once the blonde witch was out of sight, Xenia broke her gaze away to the biggest bat baby when it chirped and held its wings up like they were a pair of hands, prompting the basilisk to give a light, open-armed shrug and small smile.

"I have no idea what that was all about. But at least we helped her with her problem!"


Lizzie didn't know how she'd managed it, but by the time she found herself reaching the clearing for the Owl House, she'd gotten there in record time. However, she barely took a step past the shrubbery before a brown blur suddenly blocked her path and forced her to dig her heels into the hardened ground with a loud screech, followed by the familiar jovial voice of Hooty yelling at her.

"HALT!" Lizzie yelped when she lost her balance and tumbled onto her bottom with a cringe, looking up with a scowl to see Hooty hovering over her… with sweat literally dripping down his face?

"Hooty!" she said sternly, causing Hooty to furrow his brow and shake his head.

"Sorry, Lizzie! I heard you coming and had to stop you. Eda's orders. Hoot!"

"Eda's orders?" Lizzie repeated. She leaned round to the left a bit to try to peek at the Owl House, her scowl deepening. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really," Hooty answered with the slight droop of his body, watching Lizzie slowly stand up again and dust herself off before he continued. "Eda and the others haven't gotten what they needed for their plan to help you with your memory loss because something urgent has come up, so she asked me to keep you away." But then the house demon's eyes widened when he realised what he said, causing him to tilt his neck up and wave it around in a panic. "HOOT! I wasn't supposed to tell you that! Forget I said anything!"

Lizzie smacked a palm to her forehead then with a huff and the roll of her eyes. "It's okay, Hooty. I only came back to let Eda know I was heading to Hexside for something."

"Whew!" Hooty cried out through a sigh and whipped his head to the side a bit to flick the sweat off his face. "Good!"

Lizzie raised a brow as she peeked back at the Owl House though. "What is going on in there?"

Hooty slowly shook his head from side to side. "Trust me, Lizzie! You don't want to know! Hoot!"

Lizzie chuckled to that and nodded, adjusting the sides of her cloak hood with both hands. "Thanks for the heads up then." The blonde witch gave the owl demon a slight wave before she turned to walk off again. "Please make sure to pass that message onto Eda, though."

"Will do!" Hooty replied chirpily as he watched Lizzie go, eventually calling after her when she was almost disappearing into the shrubbery. "Good luck with whatever it is you're doing! Hoot!"

"Same to you, Hooty!" Lizzie shouted back with a small smile, falling into her thoughts again when she didn't get a response in return.

'I just hope whatever mess Eda's gotten into isn't going to make me regret not asking any follow up questions…'


A/N: HA! Bet you all thought Xenia wasn't going to be making a comeback and was just a plot device- Nah. I kid. XD Yes, Xenia is a recurring character. She has a name and her own appearance, just like with Vee. I was originally going to have the Bat Queen speak with Lizzie here because of her own memory issues, but... the bat baby interaction seemed funnier in my head. XD Plus, this was the chapter where I wanted to establish what Xenia was currently doing before further events came into play. She will be appearing in Season 2 and also later chapters, but I thought it made sense to make sure you guys knew what she was up to now so I didn't have to awkwardly squeeze it in somewhere else. Also, interesting fact: in Greek, 'Xenia' is another word for 'hospitality', apparently. I did not know this when I chose the name, so... that was a funny coincidence. XD

And then Hooty... Well... The talk was supposed to be with Eda, but I realised that there are very few moments in this fic where Lizzie and Hooty interact together. I mean, there have been small ones here and there, but... they're mostly comical. And I wanted to expand a little more on Lizzie's relationship with Hooty and show Hooty's smart side. Because let's be honest, as oblivious as he seems to things, he's more perceptive than most give him credit for. And compared to the other residents of the house, Lizzie is the most cordial with him and the least violent (... excluding-that-one-time-she-supposedly-whacked-him-with-a-broom-). Which makes sense, considering she is the only resident who has spent almost all of her daily time in the Owl House compared to Eda and King.

Ahem. Anyway, time to answer reviews:

heart: I'm actually glad you've asked this, because I've been trying to figure out when I was going to bring it up in the author's notes. XD Because the rules surrounding 'series' on FF is fairly vague, I'm not sure if I could get away with uploading Seasons 2 and 3 as separate stories. The guidelines claim you can't post chapters, series, or segments of a story as separate entries, so I'm assuming I can't. So, I was going to keep it altogether in this fanfic just to be safe (even if the word count skyrockets more than it already has. XD) and also because it's more convenient for everybody already following this fic alerts-wise. However, as I am now cross-posting this on AO3 as well, Season 2 will be posted separately as part of a series over there, just so people have the option if they'd rather read it separately. So, to summarise: FF's version will have Seasons 2 and 3 included in this fic, whereas AO3's version will have Seasons 2 and 3 linked as separate fics in a series.

hoothoot: Oh, I am so glad you picked up on that, because the remaining episodes of Season 1 might shine a light on it at some point~. XD Though I will say that 'family honour' is part of it.