A/N: Hello and welcome back. Not gonna lie, this chapter was fairly difficult for me to write. Outside of the fact I got a little indecisive about what I thought I should have Lizzie do here before Grom happened, the site screwing up the stats system and then breaking it further did not help. Literally can't see anything now on the properties page, which sucks, especially as I postponed AO3 editing for another fic this week to focus on some of my fic updates too. Wouldn't be so bad if I got frequent follows, favourites and reviews because I could just use those to gauge reception in the meantime, but I don't, so... yeah. Hopefully, this isn't affecting you guys being able to read new updates, so at least you can still look forward to something until the admins fix things. Anyway, I'll be honest in saying that I am shocked that no one has yet to say anything about my 'For the Future' easter egg that I dropped into Chapter 49. Did anybody see it? Like, I forgot to mention it in the author's notes by accident and I was going to mention it here, but I'm tempted to keep my lips sealed for longer to see if anyone can guess it before Chapter 51 comes out... I might do that, actually. Wonder if anybody will bother to say anything with that little incentive. XD

In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has favourited, followed, reviewed and read (even though I cannot see stats at this time) this fic. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. As usual, you'll find comments on the creative decisions made in this chapter at the bottom, so do stick around for that. I have made some minor changes again for Amity as well, so it's best you see what I have to say to that, because this will affect the Grom fight a little. I do hope you enjoy this chapter though, despite it focusing more on Luz's and Lizzie's relationship rather than on any actual action. You will be getting that with Grom coming up in the next chapter, though! I promise!


Chapter 50: Doubts and Decisions

By the time the middle of the afternoon rolled around on the Boiling Isles, the residents of the Owl House were reaching the end of their necessary preparations for the evening events that awaited them. Or at least, Eda and King had, last time Lizzie checked. The pair had retreated to Eda's bedroom to sort out the Owl Lady's Grom attire (with King expressing his frustration and confusion over why he needed to be there to help, since he didn't even wear clothes to begin with) and Hooty had been left to his usual devices in the doorway (the details of which Lizzie wasn't aware of). In the meantime, Lizzie, per Eda's instructions, had gone to her own bedroom to try on the dress, still grappling over the decision she had to make. She'd weighed out the pros and cons inside of her head many times already, but she still couldn't seem to make up her mind about what she wanted to do. After all, while she knew she'd be better off uncovering the information about her uncle now knowing she'd likely come across it at some point in the future anyways, the talk she'd had with Luz this morning was continually filling her with doubt.

Eda had suggested seeing how she looked in the dress to help her resolve her inner conflict, leading to our young blonde witch currently standing before a tall, rectangular mirror with a wooden frame that the Owl Lady had hauled out of one of her cupboards for her young employee, scrutinising her reflection now wearing the dress from the Human Realm. The dress itself was a perfect fit, leaving Lizzie mentally commenting on how well Eda seemed to know her clothes size. However, Lizzie couldn't help squinting as she twisted her body at the hips to peek at the dress's shoulders, trying to get a proper look at how the fancy attire went with her black tights and usual pair of laced boots (and without her hat, which she'd had to take off). She didn't have anything nice to pair it with, so she thought using something familiar would help her feel more comfortable. She'd even gone as far as to roll up the dress's sleeves to her elbows, something she commonly did with the long-sleeved shirts she usually wore. But no matter how many times she adjusted her style or looked her reflection over from back to front, she just couldn't decide, a fact that eventually made the young witch droop her body forward and allow her arms to fall limp, looking like a rag doll about to tumble off the stool it was propped upon.

'It's no use. I'm as indecisive about this dress as I am about whether or not I want to attend Grom.' With a defeated huff, Lizzie straightened up with the roll of her shoulders and brushed strands of her hair out of her face with one hand, stroking at the back of her head where her hat usually was with the other—Titan, it felt wrong for her to not have it on! 'Maybe it'll help getting a second opinion from Eda and King. I might be biased because I've always worn skirts.'

And so, the blonde witch dared to venture from the bedroom to seek out the Owl Lady and the little demon in question, her shoulders slouched and her eyes drooped at the inevitable teasing she was certain she was going to get. Yet she'd barely taken two steps into the hallway before she was stopping at the sound of footsteps jogging up the first-floor stairs, accompanied by the cheery voice of Luz shouting out as she came up onto the second floor.

"Hey, guys! I'm—" The Latina dug her heels into the wooden floor the second hazel eyes locked with green, her body as stiff as a board when she stopped and cut herself off with a gawk. "Whoa…" Luz eventually remarked breathlessly, seemingly speechless as she looked the outfit the older witch wore up and down with long blinks.

Meanwhile, Lizzie hastily broke eye contact and turned her head away at feeling the heat rush to her cheeks and flush them a bright scarlet, attempting to hide her face behind one of her hands. "Yeah, I know! I look stupid!" she replied abruptly, prompting Luz to snap out of her trance with a forced blink.

"Are you kidding?! You look great!" she exclaimed with an open-mouthed smile, leaving Lizzie lowering her arm and blinking widely as the embarrassed blush on her face darkened. "Loving the nature theme you've got going on too!" The teenage human stepped closer to the older witch and bent down with her hands on her knees, pointing at the silhouette images on the dress's skirt. "Who knew deer shadows could be both majestic and mysterious against a snowy backdrop!"

"Is that what they're called?" Lizzie questioned with a cocked brow and followed Luz's gaze, daring to grab at the hem of her skirt between her fingers and lift it a bit to get a better look at the design. "I assumed they were demons with antlers until Eda mentioned she'd gotten this from the Human Realm."

"Eda got this from the Human Realm?" Lizzie nodded stiffly in response to the younger girl's enquiry. Luz stood upright again with raised brows. "Why?"

"Because she has a hoarding problem," was Lizzie's sarcastic response. "Though Eda claims it was because I could be another use for it."

"And where is Eda?"

"In her room with King." Lizzie walked off towards the stairs to the top floor, with Luz immediately following and sticking close to her side on the way. The extra colour drained from her face in turn, her earlier embarrassment vanishing with the welcomed change in topic. "Principal Bump asked us to chaperone Grom, so she's busy getting ready."

Luz looked up at Lizzie with a wide blink and slight gape, her query spoken in a surprised tone. "You're going to Grom?"

Lizzie quickly shook her head. "I'm not sure yet. Still making up my mind." The blonde witch turned to Luz with folded arms. "Though it sounds like I don't have to give you the rundown. Did Willow and Gus fill you in?"

Luz smiled bashfully and rubbed a hand against the back of her neck. "Amity did, actually." Her smile morphed into a grin. "Still, I'm excited for it! It'll be great to experience the Boiling Isles' version of prom and not get kicked out of a school dance for wearing an otter outfit!"

"… A-what-now?" Lizzie questioned under her breath and squinted after a short delay, attempting to process the words that left Luz's mouth.

But she never got the chance to enquire further. Because right as the pair were approaching the wooden double doors of the attic room that was Eda's bedroom, a loud cry of pain came from the other side courtesy of the Owl Lady herself, forcing Lizzie and Luz to stop in their tracks.

"Ow! Watch where you're poking those pins, King!" Eda's chiding coaxed Lizzie and Luz to move for the slightly ajar doors with wide blinks, especially when King's defiant shout followed.

"Cut me some slack! I don't wear clothes! You can't expect me to know how this works!"

Luz and Lizzie each took a door and gently shoved them open wide enough for the two of them to step through, where they were met with Eda stood before her dresser and King stood upon it with his paws to his hips, the Owl Lady and little demon both locked in a glaring match. Eda was wearing a brown tuxedo with a red shirt underneath and black dress shoes, while King was wearing a green apron with a pocket on the stomach, housing a pair of scissors and a small cluster of clothes pins.

The witch and demon were brought out of their silent stare down the moment they heard Luz release a low whistle.

"Sweet duds you got there, Owl Lady!" she commented, walking to Eda's nest. She raised her index fingers and thumbs and did the 'finger-gun' motion with an overexaggerated wink, plopping down on the nest's edge shortly after. "You're just radiating responsibility!"

"Good to know," Eda replied with a smirk and flipped some of her bushy hair over her shoulder with her hand, her chin tilted up. "Never thought I'd ever be the one enforcing the rules, but at least I know I'll look sharp doing it!"

"Lizzie's outfit looks awesome too!" King cried and leapt off the dresser onto the floor, scurrying over to where the blonde witch was still stood. "You got this from the Human Realm, Eda?" He got up close to the dress's skirt and marvelled at the design, pointing a claw towards it. "I didn't know humans had clothes with shadows of demons bathed in blood on them!"

Lizzie's mouth twisted with narrowed eyes, doing her best to ignore her cheeks once again heating up with a faint pink flush. "They're not demons, King," she corrected.

"Still appropriate for the upcoming bloodbath!" King retorted with the wag of his tail as he righted himself, only to let out a giddy giggle and tap his paws together. "Though with me and Gus emceeing, we'll turn it into a fun-bath! Get it?"

Lizzie gawked at the little demon with a wide blink, almost shrieking her follow-up response. "You're going too?!"

"Of course!" King jabbed a claw into his chest and puffed his chest out. "The King of Demons is not passing up the opportunity to have dumb teenagers hanging on to my every word!" He spread his legs apart and held out his paws on either side of him, bending his claws. "Just you wait! I'll have them eating out of my paws!"

Eda's and Lizzie's eyes drooped simultaneously, with the former witch placing a hand to her hip and shaking her head.

"Looks like someone still hasn't learnt their lesson from the last time they tried to control a bunch of teenagers," she grumbled. She returned her focus to Luz still observing everything quietly from the edge of her nest. "Has Bumpy chosen the victim to fight Grom yet?"

Luz's happiness dissipated in an instant at the question, her eyes drooping as she gripped a hand at her elbow. "It's Amity," she answered through a sigh.

"Amity?" Lizzie clarified with a forced blink. But then the blonde cupped a hand under her chin at briefly recalling the times she'd witnessed Amity's magic capabilities at both Covention and the Knee. "I suppose it does make sense she'd be picked. Amity's a Blight, a very gifted and talented one at that. She'd have no problem facing Grom with what she can do."

"Doesn't change the fact she's freaking out," Luz replied despondently and turned her eyes to her shoes. "She's worried about Grom revealing a fear of hers that she says is embarrassing."

Lizzie slowly nodded in understanding and briefly closed her eyes. "I get that. She'd probably have nothing to worry about if it wasn't for Principal Bump insisting on the fighter getting an audience." She cracked open an eye and tilted her head to the side a bit. "Still, did she speak to Principal Bump about it? I'm sure he's understanding enough to let her back out if she's not comfortable."

"She did." Luz raised her head with a scowl and her hands balled into fists. "But he won't let her back out unless she finds a replacement."

"Really?" Lizzie said with a slight gape, prompting Luz to nod stiffly and deepen her scowl while the blonde witch crinkled her nose. "Though I'm not too surprised he said that…"

"Well, that isn't going to happen!" Eda said through a snort. "Who would want to switch places with someone to fight off a monster who can turn into your worst fears?!"

"Ha ha…" Luz forced a laugh and relaxed her hands to grab at the hood of her cowl, which she slowly pulled over her face as her voice gradually grew quieter the more she spoke. "Yeah, who'd be stupid enough to do that…?"

Luz's uneasiness did not go unnoticed by Eda and Lizzie, who shared a droopy eyed glance between each other at recognising Luz's odd behaviour. Luz only ever retreated to the confines of her hood whenever she was hiding something, as the Owl Lady and 'resident hermit' of the household recalled especially from the night of the moonlight conjuring. Put that together with the current topic of conversation, and you have two witches focusing back on the young Latina human with their arms folded across their chests.

"You took Amity's place as Grom Queen, didn't you?" Lizzie questioned after a short delay, causing Luz to raise her shoulders and shoot an overly wide grin towards the blonde witch.

"… Maybe?" she eventually answered with her voice rising an octave or two.

Eda groaned and threw her head back to the ceiling at the confirmation to her suspicions. "And here I thought I was gonna have a fun night out watching a kid get eaten by a monster!" She lowered her head again and gestured towards Luz again with a frown. "But where's the fun when it's your kid and you're probably gonna have to bail 'em out?!"

Luz's shoulders stiffened with a scowl of her own wiping her former expression off her face in an instant, prompting her to stand up from the nest and remove her hood from her head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she enquired lowly, making Lizzie loudly clear her throat to intervene into the conversation.

'I can see where this is going and I need to put a stop to it now.'

"Easy, Luz," she hastily said as she moved forward to stand beside the shorter human and placed a hand to her shoulder. She directed her narrow-eyed gaze at the Owl Lady with her next words, adding emphasis for good measure. "What Eda is probably trying to say is that she's just worried that Grom is a little out of your league considering what it can do."

"Exactly!" Eda agreed with a smirk and a stiff nod. "I mean, it's a noble sentiment, but I think you forget that you're fragile as a human, and that sometimes you tend to go a little overboard."

Lizzie's eyes widened at the last sentence that left the older witch's mouth, especially when she saw the faint red flush that sprung to Luz's cheeks with the scrunching up of the human's mouth and nose; the déjà vu that hit the blonde witch in that moment made her left eye twitch.

"Eda!" Lizzie addressed the grey-haired witch sternly, her hands reaching for her head and her fingers digging into the top of her scalp at her nearly shrieked and sarcastic follow-up question. "Are you trying to dig a bigger hole after I literally just dropped you a ladder to climb out of it?!"

Eda's smirk disappeared with the raise of her brow. "What?"

"She's saying you're being too harsh," King chimed in while he clambered back up the dresser, eventually sitting down on top of two thick leather-bound books with his knees to his chest. "Luz has saved you from multiple monsters, remember?"

"That's right!" Luz stated with the tilt of her chin, puffing her chest out and smacking her fist into it with a resounding thump. "I know how to cast magic now, I've been learning new spells,"—she paused to lean closer to the Owl Lady—"and Amity is coming over to help me train for tonight!"

"Does that mean you've finally activated the plant glyph?" Eda asked with a slight squint.

The question immediately caused Luz's shoulders to slump and her arm to drop limply to her side, her momentary boost in confidence deflating like a balloon losing air; that was all Lizzie and Eda needed to know the answer, prompting the Owl Lady to shake her head and place two fingers to the middle of her forehead, while Lizzie was left cocking a brow for a moment with a wide blink.

'She still hasn't managed to get the plant glyph working? How odd.'

"But it's not like I need the plant glyph anyway!" Luz asserted as she raised her head and balled her hands close to her chest with a faint frown. "I can fight Grom just as easily with my light glyph and ice glyph!"

"Luz, you're missing the point," Eda replied through a huff and stepped closer to the shorter human, placing both of her hands on her shoulders and allowing gold eyes to stare directly into hazel. "No amount of training is going to help you defeat Grom." She gave Luz a rough poke in the middle of her forehead, making the Latina girl flinch and hunch her shoulders for several seconds with a brief squint. "Facing Grom means you have to face your worst fear. And I don't think you understand what that means yet."

Lizzie's brows raised at Luz's shoulders tensing and her lips pursing, already taking a step or two forward in preparation for what she assumed was going to be a full-on outburst of rage. Instead, she came to a stop when the Latina teen took a sharp intake of breath through her nostrils and lifted her palm up, giving Eda a gentle shove in the chest and forcing the older witch to let her go with a step back and a wide blink.

"Then you don't know me as well as you think you do, Eda," Luz muttered lowly as she turned away, her eyes drooping. "So, if you'll excuse me, Amity will be here soon."

Before Lizzie, King or Eda could even think of saying anything else, Luz was marching out of the room and out of the double doors, not once looking back or saying anything else towards the other residents of the Owl House. Lizzie watched her go with a furrowed brow, mentally noting that the sudden shift from anger to calm in Luz's demeanour was almost like how it had been during the issues with Adegast.

She definitely didn't like where this was going.

'Good thing I know better this time.'

Shortly after Luz disappeared behind the doors, the blonde witch released a loud sigh and stroked a hand through her fringe, already making her way forward to follow the Latina human.

"I'll go talk to her," she stated through a small sigh, briefly pausing at the doors and gripping the side of the right one as she peeked back at Eda over her shoulder. "She's wiser than before, but I don't want to risk her—" Lizzie cut herself at seeing Eda's golden eyes slightly wide and focused intently on her outfit, but what prompted the young witch to raise her brows was the sight of them glistening, as though she was being enveloped by a distant memory she'd recalled from long ago. "Something wrong?" she eventually questioned with the tilt of her head, bringing Eda out of her trance with three forced blinks.

"What—? No—!" the Owl Lady hastily answered. She reached her hands to her eyes and gave them a rub, shaking her head to restore her sense of reality. "I just…" She trailed off and lowered her hands from her face, momentarily pressing her lips together to ponder her next words carefully, which came out quieter than she intended them to. "I just forget how grownup you are sometimes." Eda's words left Lizzie blinking widely out of surprise. Yet it was dispelled just as quickly as it appeared with the older witch's smirk spreading across her lips and a wink to accompany it. "Loving the outfit, by the way! I knew I had good taste!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue in response, deciding a verbal reply wasn't needed.

'Typical old Eda!'

Lizzie resumed her leave and jogged down to the second floor to catch up to Luz, getting to the bottom of the stairs just in time to see her round the corner into their shared bedroom, holding something between her hands. It seemed like the Latina human wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon, but Lizzie wanted to be sure.

A quick stride later and Lizzie was poking her head round the doorframe just as Luz knelt before the large chest on her side of the room, which had been opened and was filled to the brim with the clothes she'd removed from her bag, along with some other clothes Eda had acquired from Owlbert's trips to the Human Realm. The item she was holding in her hands was revealed to be her phone, which the teenage human was currently staring at with drooped eyes and pressed lips. Lizzie didn't need to see the screen to guess what Luz was looking at, because there was only one reason why Luz would be making that expression at her phone screen. Her suspicion was proven at hearing the clicking of the electrical keyboard and the raise of the girl's thumbs to tap at the screen for several seconds, prompting the blonde witch to slouch against the doorframe with a quiet huff.

'Her mom must have sent her another message.'

Lizzie waited until that high-pitched 'whoosh!' noise sounded to indicate Luz had sent her reply to announce her presence, pushing her body from the wall and giving the wooden frame three loud knocks.

"Knock, knock," she said in a low voice while stepping into the room, with Luz's expression and demeanour remaining unchanged at the older witch's presence.

"Let me guess: you're here to talk me out of fighting Grom too," Luz responded glumly.

The assumption did nothing to break Lizzie's walk over to the younger human, instead making her smile in amusement and snort as she closed the distance between them.

"That probably would have been the case pre-Adegast." She bent at the waist to give Luz a light poke in the nose with her finger, her smile widening into a smirk. "But I think you've surprised me enough times now that I know better than to underestimate you."

Lizzie's smirk dimmed back to a smile at seeing a faint one make itself known on Luz's face, followed by a gentle chuckle from the teenage human. "At least someone doesn't think I'm 'fragile'."

The blonde witch crouched before Luz and rested her elbows on her thighs, folding her arms loosely over each other with a furrowed brow. Silence lingered between the two until Luz's smile disappeared upon locking eyes with her phone screen, which Lizzie took as her cue to speak up.

"So, Willow couldn't help you with your plant glyph problem, huh?"

Luz slowly shook her head without lifting her gaze, releasing a huff before she placed her phone down next to her pillows underneath the window.

"She gave me some reasons why a witch can't cast a spell, but they didn't really apply to my technique." Luz finally locked eyes with Lizzie and shrugged her shoulders a bit. "The only one that I thought made sense was emotional problems."

"Yeah, that does make the most sense," Lizzie agreed with a slow nod, cupping a hand underneath her chin. "A lot of the reasons why spells go wrong usually affect the power and strength rather than the casting. And since you don't have a bile sac and cast spells by touching drawings, things like stress and exhaustion wouldn't have the same effect as they would do on our organs."

"Willow said that too!" Luz narrowed her eyes and ruffled at the sides of her hair with her hands. "But no matter how hard I think about it, nothing comes to mind! I honestly don't know anything that could be emotionally affecting my ability to activate the plant glyph!"

'Are you sure about that, Luz?' Lizzie furrowed her brows and dared to give Luz's phone on the floor a brief sideways glance. 'Because I have a pretty good idea of something that might be connected…'

Lizzie recalled the times Eda had emphasised the strong connection between magic and the land that birthed it, along with that library book she'd found emphasising a similar sentiment. It also made her consider the times her own emotions had caused issues with her spell casting, giving birth to musings that she decided not to reveal to Luz for now.

"And is that another reason why you think fighting Grom is a good idea?" Lizzie queried after a moment of silence, prompting Luz's expression to relax with a stiff nod and the lowering of her hands.

"Exactly!" Luz answered excitedly and snapped her fingers with a smile. "I think this is like what happened with your forcefield spell at the Knee." She chuckled and rubbed a hand at the back of her neck. "I'm glad you're thinking along the same lines."

Lizzie straightened up and folded her arms close to her middle. "So, you're putting yourself into an uncomfortable situation to see if that triggers the plant glyph to work?"

"That's right!" Luz squared her shoulders and held up two fingers. "Not only will I be a good friend by helping Amity, but maybe I'll finally unlock my third spell by getting out of my comfort zone!" She closed an eye and widened her smile. "Not a bad plan, huh?"

Lizzie couldn't give a verbal answer. She understood Luz's logic perfectly, outside of the fact that she wasn't surprised by this declaration, since it was something the teenage human would do. But the more she stared at the ball of sunshine that was 'Luz Noceda' with a poker-face, the stronger the dread swirling in the pits of her stomach became, making her feel like her insides were the Boiling Sea's rocky waves attempting to drown the vessel passing through its waters. It didn't take long for Eda's words to echo from the crevices of her mind, only intensifying the suspicions she hid and forcing her gaze to once again sideways glance the phone on the floor.

'Facing Grom means you have to face your worst fear. And I don't think you understand what that means yet.'

A brown and circular-like object leisurely stretching into view from her right brought Lizzie back to reality with a wide blink, prompting her to recoil away from Luz a little upon processing the sight of Hooty sneaking his way up to Luz's face—

Wait a second. When did he—?

"Luuuuz…" Hooty drawled in his overly high pitched and jovial voice, making the Latina human widen her eyes and give him a sideways look at feeling one of his cheeks squished against her own. "You have a guest here to see you!"

Several seconds of processing later and Luz was springing into action with a scowl, whirling round to the owl demon in a blur and widely swatting a hand close to his face. Non-surprisingly, Hooty's quick reflexes kicked in and forced him back in time to dodge the attempted swipe, watching it pass inches away from his face before retracting his body to the opened window of the bedroom (how did he manage to open it quietly enough for them not to hear, Lizzie wondered).

"Hooty!" Luz cried out while watching the house demon duck past the windowsill out of sight. "We've talked about respecting boundaries!"

Lizzie chuckled at the reaction and stood up, brushing her hands against the skirt of her dress with the shake of her head. "You're wasting your breath, Luz. Hooty does as Hooty pleases."

Luz got to her feet and pouted at the older blonde. "I know, but—"

She was interrupted by three light raps on the bedroom door and a familiar voice of a certain youngest Blight loudly clearing her throat, diverting Luz's attention and Lizzie's to the doorway. Sure enough, Amity Blight in her school uniform was revealed to be standing there with a furrowed brow, a small cluster of brown feathers on the top of her head.

"Am I interrupting?" she questioned, her golden eyes darting between Luz and Lizzie for a moment.

"Amity!" Luz exclaimed with a wide smile. She shook her head and waved her hands about as she stepped round Lizzie. "No, no! Come in!"

Amity did as Luz instructed and walked to where the other teen was standing, giving Lizzie and her outfit a quick look from head-to-toe as she did so.

"Elisabeth," she addressed the older witch out of acknowledgement. "Nice outfit."

"Amity," Lizzie responded in kind, allowing a small smirk to slip while eyeing the feather cluster still in her hair. "Nice feathers."

Amity's eyes drooped at this, a small huff following. "Blame your bird-tube," she grumbled and combed her fingers through her two-toned green strands, freeing the feathers and watching them float towards the floor. "If it had stayed in my personal space any longer, I would have destroyed it."

"Oh, I don't doubt that one bit," Lizzie remarked sarcastically, prompting the young Blight to roll her eyes and place a hand to her hip.

"I think I'm starting to see why my siblings used to like hanging out with you at Hexside. Though, speaking of Ed and Em…" Amity jabbed a thumb in the direction of the doorway behind her. "They're waiting for you downstairs."

Lizzie's brows raised as she followed Amity's thumb to the door. "They are?"

"I brought them along to help Luz with her Grom training, but they also wanted to talk to you. Something about you collapsing outside of Hexside the other day and wanting to check in."

Both Luz and Lizzie gaped and blinked widely upon sharing the same realisation, with the latter smacking a hand over her mouth. The Blight twins had been there when she'd collapsed, hadn't they?

"Oh! I forgot about that!" the blonde witch muttered, jogging her way over to the doorway. "I'll leave you two to it then. I need to sort this out."

"Good luck, Liz!" Luz called after her as she disappeared round the doorframe, with Lizzie soon hearing Amity ask if she was ready to train the further she got away from the room.

'I never got the chance to speak to Edric and Emira after my fainting spell. It's only fair I let them know I'm okay.'

Prior to Lizzie's arrival to the living room, Edric and Emira Blight had been standing together in the open doorway of the cottage, dressed in the casual clothes Lizzie had last seen them in from the incident at the library. Emira had her hands clasped behind her back while Edric had a hand to his hip, the pair locked in random conversation. That all changed the moment their golden eyes caught Lizzie entering and make her way over to them, prompting the twins to smile and greet the older witch in sync, as they sometimes tended to do.

"Hi, Liz!"

Edric's gaze flitted to the mentioned witch's current outfit at her approach and stiff wave, a low whistle slipping past his lips. "Neat outfit!" he complimented with a cheeky grin. "First time I've seen you in a dress. You should wear them more often!"

Lizzie's eyes drooped with the crossing of her arms, doing her best to ignore the brief flash of heat she felt against her cheeks. "And it'll be the last time if you give me an excuse to blind you with my light potion," she quipped sarcastically, prompting Edric to raise his palms in surrender.

"Reading you loud and clear!"

"Doesn't mean it isn't true that you're a real cutie in them," Emira remarked through a chuckle and closed an eye, ignoring Lizzie's nose scrunching up at the faint flush that took over her cheeks for a few seconds. "Good to see you're doing well despite your fainting spell the other day."

Lizzie smiled weakly and frowned at the topic switch. "Yeah…" she replied with forced emphasis and turned her eyes to her right, her next words spoken quieter. "I'm sorry you two had to see that." She reached a hand round to the back of her neck to give it a rub. "Our conversation triggered a headache so bad I passed out from the pain; first time I've had that happen."

Emira waved Lizzie off with a hand. "No need to apologise. Luz told us everything when she returned the book I lent you." The younger greenette winked. "You're welcome, by the way! Though, I might have to start charging you for my services in the future."

Lizzie rolled her eyes to this, yet her smile widened as she returned her gaze to the oldest Blight. "I know you're only joking, but I really do appreciate you helping Luz with that, so thanks." She pointed an index finger to the ceiling. "Same thing with the Grom training."

"Well, our magic is the closest to mimicking what Grom can do." Emira smirked widely and tapped a finger to her temple. "Makes sense Amity would seek our guidance on this one!"

"And it's no sweat off our backs!" Edric added. "She's doing us a huge favour by taking our baby sis's place!" He winked and clicked his tongue, raising both of his index fingers and thumbs to imitate the 'finger-gun' motion. "Now we can enjoy our dates without having to worry about babysitting her!"

Lizzie's brow creased with the crinkle of her nose at the wave of déjà vu she felt crash into her, her current expression freezing for a few seconds with the slight twitch of her lips.

'Yeesh! He's sounding a lot like Eda!' Though it took several seconds for the last thing Edric said to register properly in Lizzie's mind. 'Wait a sec…'

"Babysitting her?" Lizzie eventually repeated with the cock of her brow. When Edric nodded to confirm his words, the blonde witch forced a chuckle. "Why would you need to do that? Amity's capable of handling herself against Grom, surely!"

"She is…" Emira started slowly and then trailed off, only to pause and sideways glance her brother, as if she was telepathically indicating for him to continue for her. But Edric instead gave his sister an open-armed shrug and a noise of confusion, prompting her to groan quietly and shake her head before continuing herself. "…But because of what's at stake, it's best she doesn't face Grom."

Lizzie narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side a little. "Because her worst fear is embarrassing?"

"Embarrassing?" Edric quoted with a wide blink, making Lizzie shrug her shoulders.

"That's the reason Luz gave: Amity doesn't want to face Grom because she has a fear that's embarrassing." Lizzie paused to glance over her shoulder to make sure she couldn't hear or see anyone coming, returning her gaze to the Blight twins at the confirmation she was fine to go on. "You two don't happen to know anything about that, do you?" Lizzie's shoulders slumped. "And I'm not just asking because you snooped through her diary that one time."

Edric hummed and tilted his head to the ceiling with the repeated tapping of his finger against his chin, while Emira looked off to the side with a frown and a hand stroking at the hair behind her ear. A hush descended between the trio as Lizzie waited for the brother and sister duo to think over her words, the sight itself making the blonde witch ponder if those two were secretly conversing telepathically or something with how focused they seemed to be.

'I wouldn't be surprised if they did know a spell for mind communication, going off their past antics.'

Several minutes passed by the time Edric and Emira freed themselves from their separate train of thoughts, the pair shaking their heads and answering aloud simultaneously.

"Nope! We don't have a clue!"

"But if I was to take a guess," Emira continued as she slipped her hands behind her back and quickly looked from left to right, eventually leaning close enough to Lizzie to lower her voice to a whisper. "I'd say her 'embarrassing fear' is only part of the reason why she doesn't want to take on Grom."

"Part of it?" Lizzie questioned in kind and raised her brows. "Are you saying Amity is hiding something?"

"Obviously! I mean…" Emira trailed off for several seconds to purse her lips and scowl at the older blonde. "…you know how our mom is. How do you think she'd react if Grom unearthed something she didn't want the whole of Hexside to know?"

Emira's words clicked a piece of the mental puzzle in the back of Lizzie's mind into place that left the blonde witch's eyes widening, bringing forth something she remembered Luz saying to her about Amity and Willow during the conversation about her last recollection.

'They used to be best friends until Amity's parents told Amity to break it off. They threatened to stop Willow getting into Hexside if she didn't, so Amity did it to protect her.'

'Hang on. Is Emira trying to hint that the main reason for Amity not wanting to fight Grom is because of—?'

Amity's voice sounding from the living room doorway stopped Lizzie from finishing that thought. "Sorry for taking so long." Emira straightened up as Lizzie peeked over her shoulder, observing Amity walking over with a piece of paper in hand and Luz grinning and trailing behind her. "We're ready to start now."

"Great!" Edric commented and clapped his hands together, directing his follow-up question to Lizzie with the cock of his head. "Are you gonna join us, Liz? Always room for one more!"

Luz immediately swirled round to the older blonde with clenched fists and an open-mouthed smile of her own, bouncing slightly on the soles of her feet like she was a rocket ready to take off. However, Lizzie reacted fast enough to stop the Latina from saying anything on the matter, raising a palm up and shaking her head once.

"Thanks, but no." Lizzie saw Luz plop her feet flat against the floor with a pout and slumped shoulders from within her peripheral vision. "I need to talk with Eda about something." The blonde witch sideways glanced Luz and reached her hand over to ruffle her hair a bit, to which Luz closed her eyes at. "Good luck with your training, though, Luz. You're in good hands."

Luz's smile returned as Lizzie pulled away, prompting her to frown with determination and give a stiff nod. "Thanks, Liz."

Emira proceeded to give Lizzie's closest shoulder a rough knock with her knuckles, making the blonde witch flinch a little and turn to her just in time to catch her closing an eye and smirking. "It was great catching up with you, Liz. Guess we'll see you around?"

Lizzie mimicked the same smirk as she turned to leave, her response spoken sarcastically. "Guess you will."

"See you, Liz!" Edric added with a slight wave, which Lizzie returned without looking back.

As she left the living room, though, Lizzie's mind continued to swarm with the conversations she'd had with the Blight twins and Luz, daring the young witch to look back at the doorway to the Owl House while rounding into the hallway as the three Blights and Luz filed outside together.

'Luz isn't the only one with secrets to hide then. Even Amity seems to be having a hard time with it.' Despite getting lost in thought, Lizzie trekked up the stairs and allowed her body to move of its own accord, walking through the upper floors of the cottage with no real destination in mind. All the while, her hand subconsciously rubbed at her stomach, attempting to dispel the dread she could feel bubbling away like a strange mixture being formed in a witch's cauldron. 'I understand where Luz is coming from with her logic, but why do I feel like her problem goes deeper than her simply being in her comfort zone? And then there's poor Amity, whose fear of embarrassment of exposing her secret fear might not just be her own, but rather the fear of embarrassment that could ruin her family's reputation…'

The more Lizzie thought about the emotional turmoil these two teenagers could be experiencing, the more she found the recent revelations between her and Xander stacking up. After all, hadn't he screeched at her during that flashback about her embarrassing him in front of his father? And then there was Luz, whose issues Lizzie was sure could be connected to what had been happening with her mother recently. That sounded like what she was currently going through too, right? And yet just like they had, Luz and Amity were attempting to handle it all on their own, and Lizzie hated that thought. It only made the dread in her stomach intensify.

But what was she to do about it? Luz could drop out of the fight without repercussions, but she knew that would force Amity back into the limelight. And there was no way anyone else was going to be brave enough to face Grom, especially on such short notice. Not to mention she didn't want to discourage Luz after everything that had happened with Adegast. So, what other options were there?

The next time Lizzie came to register her current surroundings and break free from her train of thought, she was slowing to a stop in the doorway to Eda's room, catching the Owl Lady herself sat before her mirror and tugging at the ends of the yellow bowtie she'd wrapped round her shirt collar. Lizzie lingered there and stared at Eda in a trance-like state until the older witch took notice of her from the corner of her eyes.

"Redwood?" Eda addressed the younger witch quizzically and turned round on her seat to face her, forcing a blink and raising her brows. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah…" Lizzie replied in a low voice and furrowed her brows. She nodded a couple of times and went to repeat herself a little louder and more firmly, as if to reaffirm her own response to herself. "Yeah." She sniffed and stood up straighter with the roll of her shoulders. "I just came to tell you that I'm coming to Grom, so you can let Principal Bump know to expect my attendance."

Eda's jaw dropped upon processing Lizzie's reply, blinking widely a couple of times and then rubbing at her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "You are?" she enquired after several seconds, making Lizzie nod stiffly and fold her arms across her chest.

"I am," she answered bluntly, an action that suddenly dispelled the dread within.

"… Huh," Eda uttered as she rested her elbow against her dresser and her fist against her cheek, her brow creasing at giving the blonde witch a look up and down. "What made you finally come around?"

Lizzie's initial answer was wanting to speak to Principal Bump about her uncle and finally get some answers to her past. Yet despite that still being a priority of hers, she realised it was no longer the only or main reason for agreeing to go.

An overdramatic wail of 'Noooooooooo!' from Luz resounded from outside of Eda's window and ended up giving the Owl Lady her answer, prompting both Lizzie and Eda to look towards it for a few seconds. When Eda returned her focus to Lizzie, however, the blonde witch forced a smile and raised her shoulders, jerking her head at the window and answering the older witch despite Luz technically having done it for her.

"Take a guess."


A/N: I know, I know. You were probably expecting Lizzie to be there for Luz's Grom training. I did consider this, but in the end I felt this was the better decision. Lizzie is being plagued by her own problems, after all, and part of her is also against Luz taking on Grom. So, I wanted the main focus of this particular chapter to be on how Lizzie ends up deciding she's gonna go, and Luz was who ultimately made up Lizzie's mind. Plus, the Grom training thing was more so for Luz and Amity, and I felt Lizzie would have been an awkward third wheel there (even though the twins are themselves, in a way), so... yeah. I figured the best thing for Lizzie and Luz was for the two to just discuss things beforehand, because then at least Lizzie could still give Luz some support.

And then speaking of Amity... let me just clarify this in case anyone is confused: no, I have not changed Amity's worst fear. It's still related to her Grom date rejecting her. But I've also added on to that using Odalia, seeing as Luz's main fear is connected to Camilla. I can understand for a teenager that a date rejection is a big deal, but Amity also comes from an abusive household, so I can imagine one of her worst fears would centre around Odalia, meaning if she did face Grom and Grom exposed Odalia's abuse to the student body, it could cause issues with the Blights' image, which Odalia, I imagine, would not appreciate. It makes sense that Amity's worries would revolve around this as well and thus she feels it's better to claim her worst fear is related to the 'embarrassing rejection' rather than the fear of the embarrassment of her mother. So, basically, Amity's worst fear is still the same, I've just expanded on it a bit further.