A/N: Well, my friends, as of the posting of this chapter, The Owl House has officially come to an end. There was fun, laughter, a lot of feels and trauma, but in the words of Dana Terrace 'Nothing lasts forever'. Even though I think we can /all/ agree this ended way too soon because of one selfish- /No, no/. I'm kidding. XD

But seriously, despite the fact there was a lot left unsaid and the pacing of the story was disrupted because of their restricted content, I think Dana and the crew produced a great finale with what they had. Of course it could have been better and more epic, and I don't blame Dana for that in the slightest. Yet all things considered, it was still good, and the effort they put into it really shined through. Hopefully, Disney will allow Dana to find another way to expand more on the Owl House verse one day. However, rest assured that while the show has come to a close, The Owlcast series is going to be sticking around for a /long while/ yet, and I still have a lot to give. /Literally/. Though I will say that the finale /did/ ruin what I thought was going to be an original idea I had for Lizzie that has apparently been given to another witch. Not gonna expose what that is; however, I will say that I'm not too upset by this, because it also sort of works in my favour, both as a plot device and for humour purposes. XD

With that being said, I've finally released the ending chapter for episode sixteen, meaning we are now /one episode/ away from eighteen. Not gonna lie, it's making /me/ scared, and yet I'm the one writing this damn thing and knows what's coming! XD I'll be honest though, I ended up exposing a lot more in this chapter than I originally thought I was going to, and while I have left some hints in ready for expansion in episode seventeen, I will say that those of you who have been patient regarding two certain OCs of mine will finally get that patience paid off. What do I mean by this, you ask? Well, you'll have to read on to find out. XD

In any case, /thank you/ so much for the recent follows, favourites and reviews. I was not expecting this fic to blow up like it has over here and on AO3 after the finale, and yet here we are. Expect the start of episode seventeen to take a while, because I still have to plan out a few more surprises for that. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the conclusion to 'Enchanting Grom Fright'.


Chapter 53: I'm Okay

There was something strangely ominous about being in Principal Bump's office when there was moonlight streaking through the curtainless windows and dim, orange candlelight being cast into the darkened gloom from the principal's desk and cabinets, Lizzie thought. Maybe this feeling was due to the fact this was the first time she'd ever set foot into his office in the evening. Or perhaps it was the way the candlelight projected shadows onto the aging face of Principal Bump sat opposite her with his chin rested upon the backs of his clasped hands, giving the current stoic look he wore a more menacing glare than what was likely intended. Whatever the reason, though, it didn't stop Lizzie from feeling like she was that same intimidated teenager who had been called in for a stern scolding after causing some kind of property damage with her potions, making her regret not having asked Eda to come with her as emotional support.

With the faint echo of rockabilly music blasting through the empty corridors of the school from the gymnasium helping to fill the awkward silence between the two witches, Lizzie sat huddled in the chair before Principal Bump's desk like a puppy about to be scolded by its owner, crossing her legs at her ankles, keeping her head lowered and clutching both hands onto her satchel strap so tightly her knuckles flushed white, as if her bones were close to piercing through her skin. She purposely avoided Bump's gaze from across the desk and made no effort to initiate the conversation whatsoever, even though she was the one who had originally tried to breach it back by the large tree Luz and Amity recently made. She would have been happy to stay there to discuss everything while the students and Eda returned to the school, yet Bump's responsibility as principal (even with Eda keeping an eye on things) insisted they talk things out in the privacy of his office, especially because he claimed to have items in there he felt could be of use to her if she wanted them. Nerves had already clamped their hands upon her tongue from the topic she wished to broach, yet the creepy ambience of the office certainly wasn't giving her any additional courage.

Luckily for the blonde witch, however, the loud clearing of Bump's throat broke through the awkwardness for her, forcing her to finally lift her green eyes from her lap.

"So, Elisabeth," Bump started as he sat back a little bit in his chair and righted his posture, his expression unchanged. "What do you wish to know?"

'… Good question,' Lizzie thought, her brows furrowing at the recollected argument between her and Xander she'd recently had and the specific things that had stood out to her at the time. 'So much occurred in that memory that I don't even know where to start.'

Lizzie delayed her answer for a moment longer before relaxing her expression and tapping a finger against her cheek, her shoulders dropping as she shuffled backwards on her chair.

"… I'm not sure, honestly. Aside from knowing he's my uncle, he's related to me through my father and that he used to be in the PCA, there's not a lot of knowledge I currently have about him."

"Didn't your father ever talk about Ulritch?"

Lizzie shook her head and paused her finger to give her cheek a light scratch. "I vaguely recall during an argument I had with Xander that Father supposedly said something to me about them, so it's possible he—" She interrupted herself and frowned when the unfamiliar name registered in her ears, making them twitch. "Wait. Ul…ritch?" she repeated slowly, prompting Bump to hum and close his eyes for a few seconds.

"Your uncle," Bump confirmed. He opened his eyes lowered his hands to the desk, loudly scraped his wooden chair legs against the stone floor while pushing the chair back far enough to rise from it. "And your father's older twin brother."

Lizzie's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, her joints freezing as Bump walked towards the bookcase behind his desk with his hands clasped against his back. The blonde witch's reaction was delayed while her brain attempted to process the new information being fed to her, her thoughts doing literal gymnastics upon recalling Eda's comment from the last time they were in here together looking at Xander's yearbook photo.

'Gotta admit, though: the resemblance between you is creepy. If it wasn't for the different surname, I'd have thought you two were long lost siblings or something!'

Lizzie practically jumped to her feet with the resounding slap of her palms to the top of her head, causing her chair to wobble about for several seconds before falling still again. Meanwhile, Bump remained unfazed by Lizzie's sudden outburst, continuing to browse the shelf of books just above his head and lightly tracing his long fingernail across their spines in search of what he needed.

"Holy Titan!" Lizzie shrieked an octave too shrill once she was able to find the will to speak. She stayed like that for several seconds before her body slowly lowered itself onto the chair once more, her eyes still wide and her fingers digging into the roots of her hair. "Our close resemblance makes so much sense now!" she commented breathlessly.

'No wonder Edric thought we were siblings!'

A low and amused chuckle from the aging principal by the bookcase returned Lizzie to the real world with a forced blink, drawing her attention to Bump approaching his desk with a small smile and a big, thick, purple, leatherbound book opened in his palms.

"You sound just as shocked as you were the first time," Bump jested, making Lizzie pout and purse her lips a little with a slight squint to match.

"Yeah, Luz told me about that." She forced a snort and smirked a little, continuing to try to make light of the situation. "Can't believe it's happened twice."

Her expression eased when the principal placed the book in front of her and twisted it round to face her properly, revealing two pages of photographs and names of former students that Lizzie didn't recognise.

"I don't have any recent pictures of your uncle I can show you," he clarified. "But perhaps their yearbook photos might help to shed some light on the subject."

Lizzie gripped both hands on either side of her chair and scooted closer to the desk, leaning forward with a loud creak from the wood to get a closer look. Green eyes skimmed over the alphabetised surnames until they caught the name 'Allard Blackwood' somewhere in the middle of the third row from the bottom of the right page, pausing their movement to look up at the photograph of a sixteen-year-old male Potions Magic Track student shyly smiling back at her. The first name had already given away his identity for Lizzie, yet his short and messy blonde hair exposing his pointy ears, his thin bunched up fringe dangling above his nose and matching but sunken green eyes further confirmed her suspicions.

'Father…'

To the right of Allard's photograph was another photograph of a sixteen-year-old male witch also wearing the Potions Magic Track uniform, with the name underneath reading 'Ulritch Blackwood'. He had matching green eyes and short, neat blonde hair tied into a low ponytail, looking up at Lizzie with a smug smile, his arms crossed and his nose tilted upward, giving off a more arrogant air than her father. Yet it didn't change how closely she could see Ulritch resembled not just her father but also Xander in terms of appearance. Father and son were the spitting image of each other, which only helped to confirm Bump's words.

Ulritch Blackwood was her uncle.

Despite the revelation, however, Lizzie's gaze drifted to the photograph of her father once more, her stomach churning uncomfortably from the mix of emotions that washed over her in that moment. A lump formed in the blonde witch's throat the longer she stared at the photograph, her lips quivering at the realisation that dawned upon her: had it really been three years since she'd last seen her father's face? And not only that…

'He looks sad.'

Lizzie could see by how small his smile was in comparison to Ulritch's that it was forced, alongside the blank glint reflected in his eyes. It was a stark contrast to the light and cheerful man she often saw around herself and her mother growing up, especially because her father had spoken happily of his days as a student of Hexside whenever she'd coaxed him into telling her stories about his childhood. But then again…

'He only ever told me about his time with Mother. And she obviously made him happy...'

Lizzie swallowed loudly and raised her knuckles to press to her mouth to make her trembling lips fall still, sounds and an action that prompted Bump to return to his seat and give the young witch a moment to herself undisturbed.

She still couldn't remember what she already knew about her uncle and what her father had told her prior to her memory loss, yet she could imagine based on what she'd seen and heard so far, alongside her own suspicions and the way her uncle's teenage self smugly stared up at her from that picture, that he was probably the reason why her father looked like that. Lizzie wasn't sure why she assumed this, though maybe it had something to do with her own experiences with Xander, plus 'her sixth sense', as Eda called it. Not to mention her mother, who Lizzie was well aware was the reason why her father was the man he was today, as she recalled him saying many times.

Though speaking of her mother…

'I wonder if she's also in here.' She slowly lowered her hand from her face to the book and lifted the pages a little to start flicking through them without losing her current place, searching for the surnames beginning with 'R'. 'I remember being told they graduated around the same time.'

Lizzie was supposed to be here about her uncle, but she knew this was likely an opportunity she might not get again. After all, she hadn't seen her mother's face in three years either! Surely, getting a quick glimpse of her teenage self wouldn't hurt, would it?

It took a lot of page flicking before Lizzie found her mother's name on the middle of the left page she'd currently stopped on, being met with a sixteen-year-old female witch wearing the uniform for the Bard Magic Track under the name 'Marigold Redwood'. She had long and straight blonde hair with single strands covering her pointed ears and a fringe that swept to the right of her forehead, grinning cheekily back at Lizzie with sparkling brown eyes and both sets of her middle and index fingers raised to the camera. The sight of her mother's teenage self caused Lizzie's shoulders to twitch with suppressed laughter, a snort managing to slip past her lips as they curled into a slight smile, even through the somersaults in her stomach and the stinging in her eyes at the sadness trying to take its hold over her.

"I see Mother hasn't changed a bit, huh?" Lizzie remarked in a weak but jovial voice, lifting her gaze to Bump's after blinking back the tears threatening to fall. "Though I'm not surprised. I was told I take a lot after her from her youth! Heh!"

"By myself especially," Bump replied jokingly, a fond smile of his own making itself known as he glanced the blonde witch up and down. "Though seeing you three years on, I'd argue you've mellowed out and become more like Allard."

The mention of her father's name instantly wiped the smile from Lizzie's face, her moment of happiness extinguished like a candle flame flickering out after being assaulted by a gentle gust.

'Blame the trauma I've endured,' Lizzie thought bitterly. She put the pages of the book down so that the page with her father's and uncle's photographs was visible once more, her eyes fixed on the lack of life she glimpsed behind her father's. 'But that does make me wonder…'

"From the little I can remember, it seems Xander was horrible to me because my uncle had a problem with my family," Lizzie explained, daring to return her gaze to Bump's with a furrowed brow and the cock of her head to the side. "Do you know if that's true?"

"Indeed, I do," Bump answered bluntly, making Lizzie recoil in her chair with a wide blink. "Ulritch and Allard have always had a rocky relationship, even during their time as students at this school." Lizzie relaxed her stance as Bump tilted his head back to fix his gaze upon the ceiling, tapping a finger to his chin. "Your father was always the more proficient potionist out of the two of them, which I think your uncle was jealous of. He developed a one-sided and jealous rivalry with your father that was similar to the one Xander had with you, often going out of his way to try to one-up Allard or get him into trouble for even the slightest mistake."

"Get him into trouble, you say…" Lizzie repeated in a mutter, reaching a hand to her chin to give it multiple strokes with her fingers and turning her eyes to the table. "That behaviour does match with Xander's, both then and now." She looked up again briefly and squinted. "But my uncle was on the PCA while Xander attended Hexside, wasn't he?"

"He was."

"And you said the PCA pressured you to expel me, which means he was the one who pushed for it to happen."

Bump nodded slightly, his eyes drooping as he rested his chin upon the backs of his hands. "That is also true."

"So, then…" Lizzie trailed off as her eyes relaxed again and wandered to the photograph of her teenage uncle. "… is jealousy really the reason why he's gone to so much trouble to ruin my family's lives?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that," Bump admitted with the reluctant shake of his head, his gaze downcast to his desk. "I can only tell you what I saw and heard while they were on school grounds. Anything else beyond that is out of my knowledge."

A faint frown made itself known upon Lizzie's brow, her attempt at humour from a moment ago causing the imaginary lightbulb above her head to flicker on. "Well, what about when I first found out Xander and I were related?"

Bump perked up with a couple of wide blinks, acting as if he'd just had one of Luz's light glyphs flashed in his face.

"Ah, that's right! You don't remember how that revelation came about." Bump righted his posture and clasped his hands together on his desk. "Though Edalyn mentioned during our crow phone conversation that you'd remembered you and Xander were friends…"

One forced blink came from the blonde witch, joined by a second blink while that last sentence rung within her ears, and then a third shortly after. Of course, it didn't matter how many times Lizzie attempted to blink away the confirmation, nor how long she rubbed at her eyes for. It didn't change the fact that she'd just received an answer to one of the questions she'd never intended to ask.

"Hold on," Lizzie eventually brought herself to say after letting the silence drag on uncomfortably longer than necessary, leaning close to the desk's edge with the jarring creak of the chair courtesy of her movement. "We were friends?"

"Yes," Bump answered dryly, remaining unfazed by Lizzie's obvious shock and surprise as he steepled his fingers under his chin, gently tapping his fingertips together and briefly looking towards the yearbook opened in front of the blonde witch. "The two of you met during middle school, if I recall, and for a time you were quite close."

Lizzie's reaction was delayed for several seconds. But eventually, she pinched herself harshly on the arm and then waited a couple seconds more following her involuntary wince to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Of course, nothing changed once that time was up. She was not dreaming. She and Xander had once been friends and were close? Mentally saying that fact to herself despite her recollection already outright saying it made her nose crinkle.

"And we didn't know we were related?" Lizzie eventually willed herself to ask, to which Bump shook his head in response.

"Not until the end of Xander's time in middle school." Bump closed his eyes. "Your uncle somehow found out and flew into a rage upon learning of your surname, resulting in a confrontation between him and your parents in my office." The principal groaned and placed his fingers to his temples, carefully massaging them. "I'm getting a headache just remembering all the yelling…"

Lizzie cringed and closed an eye at seeing Bump's reaction, already mentally picturing the times she'd witnessed her mother get red in the face and unleash a tirade of insults and shouts while her father held her back. "Was my mother really that bad with my uncle?"

"Your mother wasn't the problem." Lizzie gaped a bit at Bump's clarification. "Your uncle was the only one who had a problem with you two being near each other." The aging principal opened his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "I didn't understand why it was an issue until it was relayed that Allard had been estranged from his family since he graduated from Hexside."

"Estranged?" Lizzie repeated with a quizzical raise of her brow.

"The two of them hadn't spoken or seen each other in years, apparently." Bump gave an open-armed shrug. "Unfortunately, I was never told the details as to why. But your uncle was insistent on trying to get the school to keep you two separated from each other, even though there was nothing I could do about that under the current circumstances. After all, you two weren't misbehaving or causing harm to anyone or yourselves." Bump huffed and shook his head. "Well, until high school, that is."

'That actually explains so much,' Lizzie pondered as the imaginary cogs in her head began to turn, slumping back against her chair with a hand cupping her chin and one leg crossed over the other one. 'My father's reluctance to talk about his family, why Xander and I didn't know we were related, why my uncle seems to hate us so much… It was never just about jealousy. Something big must have caused the rift in their relationship and made my uncle act the way he has been, not just with me but also with Xander. Based off what Principal Bump is saying, my uncle basically forced Xander to do to me what he did to my father, seemingly in retaliation for the school not keeping us apart. And yet the question still remains: why? Why is he doing all of this? What is he getting out of it?'

"And you're sure you don't know why they've been estranged from each other?" Lizzie asked after the silence between her and Principal Bump had gone on long enough, to which Bump responded with a stiff nod while straightening up and clasping his hands together upon his desk.

"That will be a matter you'd have to discuss with your parents," he answered calmly, causing Lizzie's gaze to lower to the opened yearbook.

"My parents, huh…" she mumbled, her green eyes lingering on the matching ones in the photograph of her father.

'If only that was possible…' A sharp twinge struck her chest as her conversation with Luz from this morning replayed in her head, a hand subconsciously reaching out to try to rub it away. 'But it's like I told Luz: they don't know where I am and I don't know where they are, and it has to stay that way. Otherwise, I'll just get them into even more trouble than I already have.'

During this time, Lizzie was oblivious to Bump staring at her with a pitying frown upon his brow, his lips pressing together slightly. He stayed this way for a moment longer, eventually clearing his throat to bring the young witch back to reality with a flinch.

"Elisabeth," he began carefully, waiting for Lizzie to raise her head at being addressed before continuing. "Are you aware of what happened to your parents on the night you were arrested?"

Lizzie straightened up suddenly in her chair with a wide blink, momentarily taken off guard by the 'out of the blue' enquiry thrown her way. Yet after a few seconds passed, she relaxed her posture and responded with the shake of her head, causing Bump to lift his hands from his desk and repeatedly tap his fingertips together.

"I see…" he replied quietly, pausing to briefly sideways glance the darkened windows to his right, as though he was mentally debating with himself. "During the time your accident and escape was publicised across Bonesborough, the outcome that had befallen your parents was mentioned." Bump returned his attention to Lizzie when the blonde witch loudly gasped and then clasped her hands together over her mouth with a delayed attempt to silence it, his fingers' tapping finally halting. "I don't know where they are, but if you would like to know what became of them following the carriage accident, you should be able to figure out their location for yourself." Bump paused to hold up his palms on either side of him. "Of course, the decision is entirely yours to make."

'He knows what happened to my parents?' Lizzie slowly lowered her hands from her mouth and focused on the photograph of her father once more, her mouth remaining open with the hitching of her breath in her throat. 'And he thinks I could use it to find out where they are?'

Naturally, this was something Lizzie had not been expecting to encounter upon entering Bump's office. Her intentions had been to find out the answers she needed about her uncle, and yet here she was, presented with an opportunity to learn the answer to a question she'd been wondering about for the last three years. But did she want to know? That was a question that soon gave rise to the incessant palpitations in her chest, forcing her to take a shaky and tight grip on the front of her dress in attempt to silence her inner turmoil.

Yes, of course, she wanted to know! Who wouldn't want to know if their parents were safe after not seeing them for three years?! And yet she knew it would only tempt her to try to see her parents again if she figured out where they were, and who knew what trouble that was going to cause for herself and them. And yet, as she sat there staring into her teenage father's sunken green eyes, her own words to Luz during the confrontation with Grom resurfaced from the depths of her mind, somehow calming her furiously beating heart and washing away her panic like the waves of the Boiling Sea drowning an unsuspecting ship.

'I've spent the last three years hiding away in the Owl House from my fears. If you hadn't come along and forced me to face them, I wouldn't be standing here right now.'

'That's right.' Lizzie closed her eyes and raised her head with a deep inhale through her nostrils, her hands loosening their grip on her clothes and dropping to her lap. 'I knew from this morning that by choosing to speak to Principal Bump about my uncle, I was going to learn about my parents' fates in turn. It was the reason why I spent the whole day trying to avoid this, but I realise I can't do that anymore. I won't get this opportunity again, so I'll take the information I can get and then decide what I'm going to do with it later.'

The blonde witch released a loud exhale through her mouth and lifted her eyes to Bump's with a determined frown, squaring her shoulders back and puffing her chest out as she prepared to give her answer in an even tone. "Please tell me everything you know."

'No more running away, Elisabeth. It's time to face your fears.'


Inside the gymnasium of Hexside School, the after party of the evening was underway. Rockabilly music filled the wide and high-ceiled room and students of all species were gathered before the stage and under the gymnasium's bright lights to dance the rest of the night away, either as couples, small groups or on their own. In one specific corner of the gymnasium, a green curtain decorated in yellow stars and a crescent moon had been hung in front of a camera setup, with various students lined up looking to get Grom photos, including Luz, Gus, Willow and Amity.

From where she was leaning against one of the flower arches, Eda watched with an amused smile and crossed arms as the four teenagers posed together for the photographer. Willow (stood off to the left) gave an open-mouthed smile and held up both of her middle and index fingers. Luz and Amity had removed their crowns and were stood off to the right and middle respectively with Luz copying Willow's open-mouthed smile as she slung an arm round Amity's shoulders and pulled her close, lifting her other hand into the air and closing her eyes. She remained oblivious to Amity's sideways glance towards her and the light blush on her cheeks as she mimicked that same smile, with Gus (standing behind the three girls) timing his pose just right and leaping into the air as the camera flashed, keeping his eyes closed and a wide smile on his face as he yelled into his microphone.

Eda snorted quietly as the group prepared to move out of the way and let the next set of students hog the camera, only for her eyes to dart to the doorway of the gymnasium within her peripheral vision. The Owl Lady's mirth vanished instantly as golden irises met the empty corridor covered in darkness staring back, prompting her to lift her left arm into her view line and pull down the sleeves of her jacket and shirt to expose the brown strap, golden watch round her wrist. Her eyes drooped at the time it displayed, releasing a small, exasperated sigh while watching the second hand slowly tick away. Had it really been that long already?

The light pitter-patter of a pair of footsteps approaching her brought Eda's attention ahead again, her arm lowering to her side with the quick yank of her sleeves back up to her wrist at seeing King making his way over.

"Hey, witchy!" he greeted in a jovial tone, closing the distance between the two of them with a wink and his claws raised in the 'finger-gun' gesture. "What's got you all twitchy?" Eda responded with a blank stare at the little demon's attempt at humour, causing King's shoulders to slump and his paws to drop limply to his front. "Wow. Tough crowd."

"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Eda remarked sarcastically, making King glare and stomp his foot with the balling of his paws into fists.

"Well, excuse me for trying to cheer you up!" he retorted tautly. However, when Eda pressed her lips together and averted her gaze to the wall, King allowed his stance and expression to relax, his tone shifting to one of concern. "But seriously, are you okay? You look as worried as you did when Luz was about to face Grom."

Eda delayed her answer when she dared to raise her eyes to the entrance of the gymnasium once more, as if she was chancing for the one witch she was hoping to walk through that doorway to appear any second and rid her of her worries. But after a solid ten seconds passed and nothing changed, the criminal witch quietly groaned and closed her eyes, running a hand through her bushy mane of hair from front to back.

"Lizzie's still in Bumpy's office," she finally murmured, prompting King to glance to the doorway himself for a few seconds. "They've been in there a while now..."

"So?" King faced Eda again with the tilt of his head and an open-armed shrug, with Eda opening her eyes and furrowing her brows while avoiding eye contact. "She's probably just trying to get all the information she can. Doesn't mean anything bad's happened." King saw the Owl Lady's expression deepen when her eyes drifted back to the gymnasium entrance, which he took as his cue to move closer to her and reach out a paw to pat at her knee, since he was too small to reach her shoulders. "I'm sure she's okay, Eda. You need to stop worrying so much and give Lizzie and Luz some slack."

"Easy for you to say," Eda grumbled, only for the last thing King said to cause the older witch to perk up with a quick blink and the raise of her brows. "But you're right…" She briefly sideways glanced Luz still standing with Willow, Gus and Amity off to the side of the camera. The three girls burst out into laughter at Gus sticking his tongue out, scrunching up his nose, and putting his thumbs in his ears while wiggling his fingers about, the context of him pulling the strange expression completely lost on Eda as she kept her attention on Luz. "When did I start worrying about Redwood and Luz so much?"

A hint of red and black within her peripheral vision had Eda immediately whipping her head towards the gymnasium doors once more, where Lizzie could be seen entering through the room and clutching a small piece of square parchment between her hands. The moment green eyes locked with gold, the blonde witch slipped the parchment into her satchel and made her way over to where Eda and King were, keeping up a poker-face the whole time even when King wagged his tail happily and Eda pushed herself to stand and unfold her arms.

"Lizzie!" King called out and waved, the name grabbing Luz's attention with a wide blink.

The Latina looked to where Eda and King were and gaped at spotting Lizzie, quickly turning to her friends to say something inaudibly to them. When the trio of witches smiled and nodded in understanding, Luz took that as her cue to sprint over to the flower arch, skidding to a stop beside King just as Lizzie closed the distance.

"How'd it go?" Eda asked without even giving Lizzie the chance to initiate the conversation first, her eyes lowering to Lizzie's satchel.

The blonde witch fidgeted her feet uncomfortably and averted her gaze to her satchel while pulling it close to her side, a bad sign that made Eda's and Luz's brows furrow out of concern.

"Was it bad?" Luz asked lowly, her voice still being heard above the ongoing music blaring from the stage.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Lizzie mumbled. She swallowed thickly and returned her gaze to Eda, focusing specifically on the two-toned grey and white streaked hair upon Eda's head. "Though I was wondering if I could ask a favour of you and Owlbert…"

"Owlbert?" Eda repeated with a raised brow, subconsciously patting at the top of her hair with a hand.

"I need you to take me to see Xenia," Lizzie quietly clarified, causing Eda, King and Luz to blink widely out of surprise. "There's something I need Owlbert to deliver for me, but Xenia's the only one who knows the delivery address."

"What is it?" King asked with the tilt of his head, causing Lizzie to pull her satchel closer to her person with the bite of her lip.

"Just a note," she answered hesitantly, purposely avoiding looking Eda in the eyes by briefly closing them. "I know it's a lot to ask, with you being a criminal and all—"

"Oh, stow it!" Eda interrupted playfully and gave Lizzie a light shove in the shoulder, making her flinch with a forced blink at the unexpected answer. "You don't need to explain yourself, kid. You always scratch my back, so I have no issues scratching yours."

Lizzie stared at Eda as if she'd grown a second head, her grip on her satchel loosening in an instant when the Owl Lady smiled. "Really?"

"Sure! Besides,"—she gave the younger witch a sly wink—"how often do you make selfish requests, huh?"

Lizzie allowed a grateful smile to slip onto her face at this, her eyes stinging with the urge to cry. "Thank you, Eda. That really means a lot."

The Owl Lady gaped a little at Lizzie's response, yet it was soon replaced with a wide smirk, followed by a light nudge in the side with her elbow.

"Don't sweat it. Just let me know when you're ready and we'll go."

Luz clasped her hands together under her chin and leaned to the side on her toes to get as closely as she could to Eda's side, widening her eyes as much as she could.

"You mean after we get our Grom picture taken together, right?" she enquired, the query instantly shifting Eda's mood with an exasperated sigh and roll her eyes.

"Right after we deal with Luz's silly request, yeah," she grumbled in reluctant agreement, leaving Luz to straighten up with a wide grin and a fist punching at the air.

"Yes!" the Latina teen cheered and swirled on her heels, running off towards the photography setup without waiting for anyone else. "Let's go!"

"A photo to commemorate my triumph this night," King commented as he watched Luz leave, only to ball his paws into fists and throw them above his head. "I approve of this plan! Let's do it!"

Lizzie watched with an amused smile as King dashed off after Luz, eventually following her technical employer over towards the photographer when the Owl Lady's body drooped forward in the same way a rag doll's would.

"Not a fan of the camera, Eda?" Lizzie teased, earning herself a narrow-eyed glare from the Owl Lady from over her shoulder.

"Be thankful I'm currently seeing your cheeky quips as a sign that you're okay," the Owl Lady retorted playfully, further widening Lizzie's smile.

Luz and King were already in front of the green curtained backdrop by the time Eda and Lizzie joined them, with neither Lizzie or Eda daring to object to Luz taking charge when she started handing out instructions over who was standing where. This led to Eda standing to the left side with her arms folded and her eyes drooped, Lizzie stood to the right side with her hands on her satchel strap, Luz standing in the middle of the two witches with her arms stretched round their shoulders and King positioned at Luz's front. Of course, this didn't last the moment the teen caught the two witches off guard by pulling them close to her sides with an open-mouthed smile and closed eyes, resulting in Eda's right cheek getting squashed against Luz's forehead and Lizzie closing her right eye.

"Everybody say 'Grom'!" Luz shouted jokingly, making King throw his arms above his head with wide and glistening pink eyes.

"Grom!" he said as instructed, causing Lizzie to snicker to herself at the little demon's enthusiasm.

In the seconds before the flash went off, Lizzie couldn't help giving the trio of the little demon, human and older witch a brief sideways glance, a grin appearing on her face upon catching sight of the faint blush that had overtaken the Owl Lady's cheeks.

Lizzie couldn't deny that learning what she had now about her family, tonight had left her wondering what her life would have been like if her uncle hadn't gotten her arrested that night. But it had also made her realise that despite her terrible circumstances, she was surrounded by supportive and loyal allies who, in their own ways, had encouraged her to break free of her shackles and face her fears, helping her become a changed witch for the better. Many in her position would have considered themselves unlucky for what she'd lost, though Lizzie liked to believe that she was actually lucky when she considered what she'd gained in return.

Luz, King and Eda, even Hooty—she was lucky to have found them.

This was the reason why her grin remained even after she'd returned her gaze to the camera and the flash momentarily blinded her, the current expressions of the four Owl House residents now forever immortalised in the picture they'd just taken.


Just like the rest of Bonesborough, the upper levels of the town laid still and quiet in the evening darkness that had descended upon, the windows of the two-story homes that lined the cobbled streets reflecting the same darkness and stillness from inside. However, while to the unsuspecting outsider this was supposed to act as a sign that the homes' inhabitants were currently asleep, this didn't hold true for everyone currently housed in the Blackwood residence.

Behind the window located to the front-left of the building was a wide and box-like bedroom with barren walls and wooden floors, its furniture consisting of a double bed whose headboard was pushed against the left wall with plain pillows and a matching quilt, box shelves built into the right wall filled with assorted books of varying thickness and a large wooden wardrobe placed in the top left corner of the room against the back wall opposite the door. Within the faint and silvery glow from the moonlight streaking into the restricted space, Allard Redwood sat upon the bed's edge opposite the window, green eyes staring intently at his right ankle concealed by his long, black trousers and shin-high black boots. He had neglected to change into his evening attire, still wearing the long-sleeved white shirt, black sleeveless vest and red tie that usually made up his daytime attire. Nocturne laid curled up behind his owner with his eyes closed and his head between his paws, his back resting against Allard's.

After a moment longer of staring, the blonde-haired witch released a heavy sigh and twisted his head a bit to look over his shoulder, looking towards the opened doorway of the bedroom with drooped eyes. He was currently alone with Nocturne, his wife and her palisman having briefly popped downstairs to get something before retiring for the night. Really, he should have gotten ready for bed ages ago, and yet as always, that dreaded sinking feeling in his stomach stopped him, the reminder of its presence prompting the blonde-haired witch to rub at it despite knowing his actions made little difference. He knew this was the effect of being back inside of the cage he'd burst free from all those years ago, so there was little point in trying to fight it off. Still, for the sake of Marigold, he always tried. He knew she worried about him, probably more than she should.

Raising a hand to his bunched-up fringe and stroking his fingers through its strands a couple of times, Allard faced forward again and prepared to stand, placing his palms atop the quilt to hoist himself to his feet. Three light taps on the window's glass, however, halted him in his tracks halfway, drawing his attention to the tiny silhouette perched on the window ledge outside. The noises also caused Nocturne's eyes to snap open with the straightening of his ears, his head shooting up as it turned in the direction of the noises.

Lifting a hand above his eyes and squinting against the silvery light of the moon, Allard could make out the sight of a tiny brown owl standing on the window ledge, seemingly clutching a small and square-like object in its beak while staring inside with beady eyes. At first, the middle-aged witch thought he was seeing things, prompting him to blink a couple of times just to be sure. But that thought was soon challenged when Nocturne leapt onto the floor and approached the window with cautious steps, crouching close to the floor with a low growl.

"Easy, boy," Allard reassured in a whisper, reaching a hand down to lightly stroke his fingers across the white wolf palisman's head and back. "It's okay. It's probably from Raine." He frowned at his own words. "Even though that isn't their palisman…"

Nocturne went quiet and relaxed his tense joints at this, yet his amber eyes remained intently fixed on the owl still upon the ledge, refusing to budge from his current stance. Once he was sure Nocturne was calm and wasn't going to move (as shown by his lowered ears and tail), Allard righted himself and walked over to the window, quickly glimpsing over his shoulder at the opened doorway to make sure neither his brother or his nephew were up and about. The last thing he needed was to be caught by either of them for fear of getting himself and his wife in further trouble.

Once he was certain the coast was clear, Allard took hold of the window's handle and yanked it down slowly, pushing the window open wide enough for the owl palisman to stick its head through. With a beady-eyed blink and a soft 'hoo', the owl dropped what it was holding onto the windowsill inside and then swiftly turned away, flapping its small wings to rise into the air and glide off into the night without further acknowledgement. Allard didn't question the owl's behaviour as he collected the item off the windowsill and pulled the window closed with a small click, naturally chalking its behaviour down to it making itself scarce to avoid getting caught.

He raised the object close to his face to see it better against the moonlight outside, finally recognising it was a piece of square parchment with neat and cursive handwriting. But the moment he instinctively read the writing's short contents, his green eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, a breathless gasp escaping him. Nocturne (who had since straightened up and resorted to silently observing Allard) watched with a noise of confusion and tilt of the head as his owner rubbed his other hand over his eyes and then leaning in close to the note with a narrow-eyed gaze, skimming over the contents a second time to be sure if he was reading it correctly. Although now that he was getting a closer look… didn't he know this handwriting from somewhere—?

Allard didn't know if his lack of sleep was getting to him at this stage, or maybe he'd somehow fallen asleep and was conjuring up a crazy dream. Yet it didn't matter how many times he read the contents of the note. The style and what it said never changed once. The more he continued to read it over and over, the more his body began to tremble, his hands violently shaking, his knees wobbling about so much they were almost knocking into each other. Before he knew it, he was staggering backwards towards the bed and blindingly feeling around behind him for the furniture's edge, his eyes never once leaving the note as he eventually sat down again. Nocturne cautiously approached Allard and sat at his feet when the blonde-haired witch started to breathe heavily and erratically, his empty hand clutching at his chest with a shaky grip.

Was what he was seeing and reading real?

The door to the bedroom closed shut behind him with a gentle click, a familiar female voice following as a concerned whisper.

"Allard?"

It took Allard a few seconds to will himself to turn round and face the owner of the voice, his wide green eyes meeting the quizzical brown that belonged to Marigold Redwood standing before the bedroom door within the lingering moonlight, her palisman perched upon her left shoulder. Much like her husband, she had yet to change out of her daytime attire, still wearing her long and puffy sleeved, high-collared white shirt, shin-length black skirt, black tights and shin-high matching boots.

The moment she saw the shell-shocked look upon her husband's face, the blonde-haired witch furrowed her brows and took steady steps round the bed, taking note of his visible trembling and Nocturne's presence at his feet. Under different circumstances, she would have teased him about his jitteriness. But it was obvious that this wasn't just ordinary nerves. Something had really shaken him up.

"What's wrong?" she eventually asked, coming to pause beside the bed.

Allard opened his mouth to respond, but no matter how much his jaw twitched with the urge to speak, no sound left his lips. He was completely speechless, feeling as though the shock had literally tied his tongue into knots. And why wouldn't it, after what he'd just seen with his own two eyes? How exactly was he supposed to put this into words when he couldn't even believe it to begin with?

Allard and Marigold were left silently staring at one another for a solid minute, and when it became obvious to the former that he wasn't going to be giving a verbal reply anytime soon, he held up the quivering hand with the note still in its grasp, stretching it close to his wife. At first, Marigold raised a brow at the note, her gaze flitting between the item and Allard out of confusion. In the end, though, she took the note into both her hands and held it close to her face, copying her husband's initial reaction and instinctively reading its contents.

Her jaw dropped once she'd reached the end of the note, her body recoiling out of shock. Her sudden movement startled Caprice, causing the nightingale palisman to tweet loudly and hover off her owner's shoulder. The blonde-haired witch forced a few blinks and skimmed over the note again, this time squinting to scrutinise the handwriting. All the while Allard watched his wife's reactions without saying a word, his shock gradually wearing off enough for his shaking to cease and his mouth to close.

Marigold read through the note a few times before Allard's infectious shaking took over her own legs, forcing her to slowly lower her body to the bed to sit beside her husband, gaze fixed upon the note in her grasp. It felt like forever before Marigold finally broke away and turned her wide brown eyes to her husband's, the two witches staring at one another without saying a word, locked in their shell-shocked trance.

However, words were unnecessary between the married couple. Marigold's reaction had confirmed everything for Allard, and that fact alone made his eyes sting and water. Seconds after, Marigold's own welled with tears, her lips quivering with the urge to hold them back. Next thing they knew, the female witch was throwing her arms around her husband's shoulders and releasing a muffled sob into the shoulder of his vest, with Allard pulling her close with a loud sniffle while keeping a tight hold on the back of her head and her shoulders.

The note slipped from Marigold's fingers and gently floated to the quilt behind Allard, exposing the following written message:

I can't tell you where I am. I can't tell you what I've been doing. But just know that I'm safe and I'm okay.

—Love you both always, Elisabeth


A/N: And there you have it. After /52/ chapters, vague debuts and hint drops, I present to you Lizzie's parents, Allard and Marigold. Some of you are probably mad that I didn't reveal what's going on with their current living situation, but fear not! You will know of what it is in the next episode, I promise. But yes, I have dropped quite a few hints in the last scene there surrounding Allard and Marigold and with Bump's and Lizzie's conversation surrounding Ulritch and Xander, so you guys now have a clearer picture of what is going on between Allard and Ulritch too. Also, in case someone questions it: Allard's surname change. /It is intentional/. /I assure you/, /it is not a mistake/. I'm not gonna say why I did it, though, because I am hoping it is something that is obvious without context. It might get addressed in episode seventeen, but I haven't completely decided on that yet. But now you guys can hopefully understand why I didn't end up glossing over these scenes in the last chapter and wanted to expand more on them.

And then we have the infamous Grom photo. Yes, I put it in. XD Obviously we don't see this get taken in the show and it isn't revealed until Season 2, so I naturally felt there should have been a moment where it was included. Although I was originally going to just skim over it too, I realised while writing it out that it acted as a nice moment of reflection for Lizzie after her talk with Bump.

I'm also glad to see that people have been taking my expansion on Amity's fears well in the last chapter, because I was a little worried about that, honestly… But yeah, but regarding Luz's glyph issues, which I forgot to expand on in the last chapter's author's notes, I initially based it on the lines that Belos says to Luz during their fight in 'King's Tide'. You know, when he mentions how hard it was for him to look for the glyphs while Luz had it easier? Because of the finale, we know now it was because of the Titan, but /I/ initially based it off the premise of the characters' individual motives (which, against the canon reasons, was actually very close. XD), which connected back to Luz's fears surrounding her mom. From the moment she entered the isles, Luz accepted the world around her and gained a desire to protect it, while Belos intended to destroy it right from the start. I always thought that was why Luz found it easy to use the glyphs, and that the line about her 'feeling like she doesn't belong here' could potentially cause her to lose this desire and have it conflict with Camila's perceived one, resulting in her losing the ability to activate the glyphs for a short period of time. I mean, most of my explanations surrounding magic aren't canon anyways, but… it seemed close enough. XD As for Eda's reaction to the dance... that was meant to be foreshadowing. I'm sure you guys can guess what for. ;) XD