Schlimmtag 2, Sixth Lunar Disappearance, 50 CE | Terror Vortex Field at Glandus High

"GORGONS WIN! GORGONS WIN!" the PA demon screamed. The clock read all zeroes on the fifth and final game of the series. While Luz was sad that Hexside lost the series, it was still super close the entire way through. After the double doink in game one, the Banshees had taken control for the remaining 8 minutes and change. Game two also went to the Banshees in a much more convincing win than the previous one, with Skara and Amelia alone putting up more points than all of the Gorgons combined. The Gorgons bounced back in game three, though, and kept the Banshees from sweeping them. Then the Gorgons won again to tie the series at 2 wins a piece.

When the final game had started, Luz's voice was already gone, having screamed herself until she was sore in the throat. All eight players looked exhausted when the ball launched to kick off the final game, being powered solely by their spite for the other team. As such, neither team could muster the energy to score (or play defense, for that matter), with the final minutes looking more like a brawl than an actual sport. As the clock was winding down, though, Senna punted the ball through the Banshees goalhoop, earning Glandus a 1-0 victory, as well as winning them the series. Luz actually felt happy for Senna, believe it or not. The girl had rallied her team back from a 2 game deficit, and that was commendable, even if Luz was cheering for Hexside and not Glandus. Of course, she would have liked the game more if her team had won, but she still thought that it was overall really fun.

As Luz, Willow and Gus slowly descended the steps of the Terror Dome, the basilisk rubbed at her throat. Man, she was probably going to have to gargle some salt for a couple hours once she got back to the Owl House. Luz sighed. That wasn't gonna be fun. But then, an idea struck her. She was a basilisk, which meant she could shapeshift any part of her body. What if she just… shapeshifted her throat to not be sore? Pondering that thought, she stopped in her tracks. Back when she was helping Eda and King deal with the Bat Queen's babies, she had morphed her ears away, so maybe it wasn't too much of a stretch that she could morph her throat to not feel like sandpaper? It was worth a shot, but whether it would work was yet to be seen. Scrunching her face up, Luz closed her eyes and focused.

If Luz had to be completely honest, it was super weird feeling her throat heal itself, but that meant it was actually working, so she wasn't going to complain. Then, the implications of Luz's newfound healing ability struck here. How far did her powers extend? Could she regrow a severed limb if she had enough magic in her system? Shaking her head, Luz dispelled that thought. She did not want to test that out, not even risking thinking it into existence.

Running to catch up with Willow and Gus, Luz joined the line to hop on the bus. Though Luz was a little sad that riding the bus meant she wasn't going to get a chance to catch any of those sweet, sweet thermal updrafts as a dragon, it also meant that she could conserve both magic and energy, which was probably a good idea. Stepping onto the bus, Luz instinctively headed towards the back, hoping to get a seat by herself, only snapping out of autopilot when Willow and Gus squeezed into the bench with her.

"So, what did you think of your first grudgby game?" Gus asked, turning to Luz.

"Hmm?" Luz asked, caught off guard by the question. "Oh, that was awesome! Are all the grudgby games that intense?"

"Yeah, they can get pretty vicious," Willow responded. "That's why I prefer flyer derby, honestly. Less of a chance to get flattened, sliced in half, or set on fire."

Luz nodded. "That's reasonable."

Suddenly, the bus jerked into motion, and they were off.


As Luz opened the door to the Owl House, she was surprised to find the house empty. Well, Hooty was still there, but he was deep in conversation with a fly that Luz didn't want to interrupt. After checking Eda's room, the roof, and even the basement, Luz determined that it really was just her, Hooty, and the fly. (Never mind, Hooty just swallowed the fly.) Deciding she could use this rare opportunity to relax, Luz reclined on the couch, kicking her feet up on the coffee table and flipping on the CB.

As she perused her options of channels, she came to the conclusion that there was nothing good on.

A shopping channel? No thank you. Next channel.

Emperor's Coven propaganda? Double no. Next channel.

A static shot of a bag of sticks? Could be worse. Next channel.

A news story about the Owl Beast terrorizing a slayground? Boring. Nex – Wait what.

Going back to the previous channel, Luz yanked her feet off the coffee table and leaned forward so she could get a closer look at the screen.

Yup, that was Eda in her Owl Beast form, and it looked like King was riding on her back like he was at a rodeo. Eda had something hanging from her mouth, but the camera was too far away for Luz to see what exactly it was. According to the chyron scrolling across the screen, King had shown up with the Owl Beast and had essentially taken the slayground hostage, and they were currently in a standoff with animal control, the leader of the group trying to talk King into giving up his "throne" and letting the other kids go.

Groaning, Luz knew what she had to do. She was pretty sure that she knew where that particular slayground was, based on the surrounding buildings she could see. Dashing out the front door, she needed to get to the slayground fast, which meant she would have to take to the air once again. Running through her mental catalogue of animals, Luz needed something that could fly but also wouldn't draw too much attention to herself. Finally, she decided on the common red-tailed hawk. Good ole Buteo jamaicensis . (Why Luz knew the scientific name, she wasn't quite sure. It had just stuck in her mind from all those years back when Mamí had taken in a red-tailed hawk at the vet clinic.)

Speeding through the morph, Luz finished in record time and took to the air as soon as she could. Now that she had a birds-eye view (literally, in this case), she could make a beeline straight to the slayground. As the wind flowed over her wings, Luz realized how lucky she had been when she had been a dragon flying to Glandus. That path had mainly been over the Boiling Sea, which offered plenty of updrafts to allow for easy gliding, but now she was flying over the city, where the thermals were few and far between in comparison. Translation: her wings were getting tired.

Luz didn't have time to worry about thermals, though. She had a tiny demon to talk down from a power trip and an Owl Beast that needed an elixir like she needed air to breathe. Spotting the slayground was pretty easy, thanks to all the giant eyeball-camera demons that were floating in a ring around the perimeter.

Circling down and landing on a very convenient flat roof, Luz quickly demorphed back into witch-ears up here, she could clearly see Eda, King, and all the other children in the slayground. Then Luz realized her blunder. The roof she had landed on had no way down to ground level. Unless, of course, she wanted to risk jumping down and praying that she didn't break her leg on landing, but Luz wasn't that stupid.

Rats , she thought. Looking around, the basilisk tried to see if there was another way down other than jumping, but nothing turned up. Whelp, if this was her only option, then she was going to need to do it as something non-human. As Luz remorphed into a red-tailed hawk, she concocted a plan to get down to the ground that didn't involve breaking any bones.

Hopping over to the edge of the roof on her talons, Luz looked down at the long drop before her and did the sign of the cross as best she could with her wings. Geronimo! Luz thought to herself before jumping over the edge. Keeping her wings folded to her side, she fell like a rock, only flaring her wings out at the last second so that she didn't go splat, slowly floating the last few feet until she softly touched down.

Now that she was on the ground, Luz demorphed (for real this time) and ran over to the slayground, where King and Eda were still in a standoff with animal control. Forcing her way through the crowd that had gathered, Luz approached the leader of the animal control, tapping him on the shoulder.

"What do you want, girly? Can't you see I'm busy here?" the demon asked in a gruff voice.

Crossing her arms, Luz gave him a disappointing stare. "Let me through."

The demon laughed. "Fat chance of that happening, kid. Now scram. Us adults have work to do."

While he did that, Luz just walked past him, stopping him mid-laugh as he tried to grab her and pull her back to safety. "King, what the fudge are you doing?!" she admonished the tiny demon, clambering up the jungle gym to be face to face with the wannabe tyrant.

"I'm having fun!" King answered with a happy look on his face.

"Well, you may be, but are any of the other kids having fun? Is Eda having any fun? Look at her!" Luz motioned to the young children who were currently huddled in the corner of the little tower, quivering in their boots at the scary owl thing that was eating the slayground equipment. As if to hammer home Luz's point, Eda barfed up a swing and whimpered sadly.

Looking around at his so-called "kingdom", King frowned. "No," he said softly.

"So, are you gonna let the other kids go?" Luz asked.

"I guess so," King replied. Slowly, he and Eda descended the slayground tower as Luz hopped down to the ground.

"Ready to head home?" Luz asked.

"Uh huh!" King said. Eda apparently agreed, as she nodded so aggressively that King started bouncing up and down on her back like he was riding a bucking bronco.

"Oi, don't think you're getting off that easy!" the leader of the animal control shouted. "That's a wild demon that damaged public property, so it's going to the pound!"

"Eda is not a wild demon!" Luz yelled back.

"Yeah, look!" King added, reaching into his fanny pack and pulling out an elixir. Uncorking it, he offered it out to Eda, who grabbed it in her teeth and flipped her head up to chug the potion.

Nothing happened.

"Well, that ain't good," Luz commented.


The doors to Emperor Belos' throne room slowly creaked open, and in walked the Head Witch of the Healing Coven, Hettie Cutburn. Coming to a stop before her great emperor, she knelt down in genuflection to the Titan's Blessed Leader.

"Rise, Head Witch," came the Emperor's voice, filling the hall, causing Hettie's stomach to twist itself into knots. As she got to her feet, her eyes flitted over to the Golden Guard, who it seemed was also affected by the Emperor's proclamation, his so-called "Right Hand" shaking at the sound of his all-encompassing voice. Once Hettie was standing, Lord Belos continued. "Lilith informed me that you bring news of grave importance. What is it?"

Swallowing the ball that had formed in her throat, Hettie took a cautious step forward, noting out of the corner of her eye the Golden Guard's hand drifting ever closer to his stave. "My Lord, the Warden has finally recovered from that heinous attack a few weeks back."

Belos slowly nodded. "Ahh, yes. Wrath. His presence has been sorely missed at the Conformatorium. Did he manage to identify who or what attacked him?"

"That's where there are some… questions, my Lord. Wrath said that the creature that attacked him was a basilisk, but they are supposed to be an extinct species, are they not?" Hettie asked.

From behind his mask, Philip Wittebane raised an eyebrow. It looked as if one of those miserable creatures had tried to finish the job they started when they had initially broken out of the Conformatorium. "Whether the Warden's assailant is supposed to be extinct or not is of little importance, Head Witch. There are far more pressing matters to be dealt with."

"Yes, I – I agree, my Lord," Hettie replied, slowly shifting from foot to foot as the Emperor's eyes stared at her.

"Beyond its species, did the Warden describe his attacker in any further detail? Were there any distinctive markings or disfigurements?" Belos inquired. He wondered which of those miscreants thought it a good idea to assault a member of his coven in such a brash manner.

"Wrath said that the creature had brown scales with a white spotted underbelly," Hettie answered. "That was all he could make out before he succumbed to hypothaumosis, unfortunately."

Only one basilisk matched that description. Number Five, you foolish child , Philip thought. "Thank you, Head Witch. Was there anything else the Warden told you that could be of use?"

"There is, my Lord," Hettie responded. "If what Wrath has said is to be trusted, then the basilisk wasn't working alone."

"Who would be so bold as to ally themselves with a basilisk?" Belos asked. Whoever it was that would willingly travel alongside one of those infernal beasts must not be right in the head.

"If Wrath's memory serves him correctly," Hettie said, "then the witch working with the basilisk was none other than the Owl Lady, Edalyn Clawthorne."