Trouble in the Moonlight

Luz held King tightly in her lap while she watched Eda play Hexas Hold 'em with Owlbert. As a Saturday, no one had anywhere they needed to be today. Hooty was draped lazily through the window and Amber was practicing with her ocarina. Raine was in the kitchen finishing off the dishes from lunch.

"Hah! In your adorable little owl face!" Eda declared as her cards ripped apart her palisman's, "Yes! I love the feeling of victory! It feels…fluffy?"

Luz laughed while Eda danced. Until thick grey feathers sprouted out of Eda's face and arms. Amber lowered her ocarina and shuffled closer to the sofa.

"Zaza!" King shouted, "It's happening again!"

Raine poked their head into the room and gasped. Hooty slithered out the window and stretched up to the second floor. Eda sat heavily on the sofa and looked down at her arms. Raine knelt beside her, running their hand over the feathers and glancing at Eda's bile monitor.

"I took it this morning, Rainestorm." Eda promised, "I swear. Not taking it ain't worth it."

"I know, Eda. It's ok."

"Um, guys? We have a small problem," Hooty slithered back in through the window, "THE ELIXIRS ARE ALL GONE!"

"What!?"

Everyone turned to face the house demon. Amber stepped over and put a hand on Luz's shoulder. King wiggled out of her arms and crawled into Eda's lap.

"That can't be possible!" Eda insisted.

"How many were left when you took it this morning?" Raine asked.

"I don't know. I just took the one that was on the table by the bed." Eda hugged King and tugged at her feathers, more growing in as she fret, "I took an extra one after that fight with Lily yesterday and…Oh, Titan! The extra!"

"I thought you had some stashed around the house in case of emergencies?" Amber said.

"Yeah. But Mama's real bad at refillin' her stashes."

Raine sighed, "Alright. Looks like we're going into town after all. We need to refill that prescription."

Amber and Luz nodded. Eda reached for her pack of Hexas Hold 'em cards. Raine grabbed her wrist.

"Nope. Not this time, Calamity." They told her, draping her red cloak around her shoulders, "Elixirs first. You can kick everyone's butt at cards later."

They dragged her out the door and followed Luz and Amber down the path to town.

Ping!

Amber reached for her scroll and grinned, "Oh! Is that today? Hey, Luz, how would you feel about joining in on a group spell?"

"A group spell?" Luz looked up at her, "Those exist?"

"Yup. Tonight is the blue moon. It only happens once a year and it's the only time we can do a Moonlight Conjuring." Amber explained, "Willow, Evan, Amity, and Gus are all getting ready for it and wanted to know if we wanted in. It's a group spell so it shouldn't cause any problems with your…magic problem."

Luz hummed and looked up at where Raine and Eda were whispering, trying to keep King from overhearing.

"I'd love to! If Raine and Eda are alright with it."

Amber began typing on her scroll, "I can't see why they wouldn't. We'll meet the squad in town and finish up all the plans."

Luz nodded and turned her attention back to the adults. Did they really not have to ask before making plans with their friends? She looked around the forested path. Once they got closer to the town, Amber took Luz's hand to keep her from wandering into the streets.

"It's rude to stair, Luz." She teased.

"Sorry. There's just nothing better than people watching in the Demon Realm!"

Amber chuckled and sat on a bench closer to Mr. Elixir. She turned and watched as Tinella just missed her carriage.

"Ah, the curse of tiny legs," Luz shook her head and sat beside Amber, swinging her legs as they didn't quite reach the ground yet.

"I know the pain…" King grumbled wiggling out of Raine's arms and scurrying over to sit with his sisters.

"Morton! Open up!" Eda demanded, banging on the window and paying no heed to Raine trying to stop her.

The window creaked open and Morton, the fresh out of school potion's witch that manned the stall, leaned on the sill.(1)

"Sorry to bother you, Morton," Raine tried to keep Eda at bay, "We just need a refill on the elixir and we'll be right out of your hair."

"Sorry, guys. I was up late last night poison tasting." Morton rubbed his head.

Amber and Luz frowned as they watched their parents haggle and argue with Morton. King remained oblivious to the problems and pointed down the street.

"Amber! Luz! Look!"

They both turned and grinned. Evan, Amity, Willow, and Gus were all walking towards them, heads down as they whispered.

"Yay! Friends." Luz slid off the bench and leaned back for King.

Amber followed them over to the rest of the group. Luz frowned.

"Ok. What's with all the long faces?" She asked.

"Trouble with the Moonlight Conjuring plans?" Amber guessed.

"Yeah." Willow said, "We can't figure out where to actually do it. There's not enough space at my house to do it there."

"Papa's going to be at work so we can't do it at my house." Gus explained.

"And Pa said we weren't allowed to do it at our house again after the…mess last year." Evan chuckled dryly.

Amity rolled her eyes, "And you all know why we can't do it at my house."

"Back that up one," Luz held up her hand, "What exactly is a Moonlight Conjuring?"

"We all get together at one person's house," Willow explained, "And we eat snacks and goof around."

"That sounds like a slumber party!" Luz lit back up, "I've never actually been to one before!"

"And then we use ancient moon magic to bring something to life." Amity crossed her arms.

Luz stared at them all for a moment, smile never wavering," …Like a weird slumber party… But, what kind of mess could you all make that would make Uncle Darius ban them in your house?"

"We animated the entire kitchen." Amber grinned.

"Seriously!" Luz gaped.

The four older children held their heads high. Gus was practically vibrating with excitement. Amber put a hand on Luz's shoulder and looked back at her friends.

"Don't worry guys," She assured them, "I'll ask Mama and Zaza if we can do it at our house."

"Really?" Willow grinned.

"Yeah. Why not. It's Luz and Gus's first contouring." Amber pat her head and led the way over to Raine, Eda, and Morton.

"And the refill won't be ready for a couple more days. Didn't you just refill it?"

"Yes." Eda growled, more feathers sprouting, "I'm thinking we might need to up the count."

Morton sighed, "That'll take even longer to fill! Why did you wait so long to let me know you were going to need more early?"

Amber hesitated for a moment as she watched her parents argue with the potions vendor. Then she tapped Raine on the shoulder. They turned.

"What is it, Mia Piquena?" They asked.

Amber shuffled her feet and looked over at Eda, "Would it be alright if we did the Moonlight Conjuring at our house tonight? We can't do it at anyone else's."

Raine hummed, looked back over their shoulder at Eda, and looked over at the kids before turning back to Amber, "I don't know. Morton doesn't have Mama's prescription and I heard about what happened last year."

Amber nodded and hung her head, "I figured something was going on with the elixir."

"We promise we won't animate another room!" Evan pleaded, "And we'll stay out of you and Aunt Eda's hair."

"Not going to be a problem," Eda growled, grabbing Raine's arm and turning them away from Mr. Elixir, "I'm going to the Night Market."

"In this condition?" Raine crossed their arms and plucked another feather from her arm.

"Yes," Eda crossed her arms back, "Morton says there's a guy there who should have some of my elixir. It should at least tide me over until my actual refill is ready."

"I can watch the littles!" Amber offered, "I mean, I've done it before."

"We're not that much younger than you!" Evan shouted back.

"I know that, Amber." Raine smiled down at her, "What I'm worried about is the Moonlight Conjuring."

"Eh, you stay home with the big kids, Rainestorm," Eda smiled and put a hand on their shoulder, "I'll take King to the Night Market with me."

"Are you sure about that?" Raine held up yet another feather that had fallen.

"Yes, I'm sure," Eda snatched the feather out of their hand, "He can be my extra eyes out for pickpockets and my extra hands in case I want to pickpocket. Besides, he needs the practice."

"Pickpocketing!" King cheered and climbed into his mother's hair.

Raine sighed and smiled, "Alright. You win. I guess someone needs to make sure you kids don't animate the house or something."

Amber cheered and spun around on her toes, "We got the all clear guys!"

The younger children cheered and huddled together to finish their plans.

LLB

Luz kept one hand on the wall as she made her way down the stairs, sleeping bag in her hand. She leaned into the kitchen for a moment to see what Raine and Amber were making. Whatever they were making smelled absolutely amazing.

"Have you taught Luz the words for the spell yet?" Raine asked.

"Yup. She learned it really fast but I wrote them down for her so she can keep up just in case." Amber handed them the bowl she had been working with, "It should be ok. It's Gus's first conjuring as well."

Raine nodded and added the filling to what they were baking. Amber tossed a packet of human realm pop corn into the microwave beast and pulled a bowl of tentacles from the refrigerator. Luz smiled and continued into the living room. She tossed her sleeping bag down by the coffee table. She head over to the gramophone beast and flipped through the records in Raine and Eda's box. She pulled one out. With a gasp and a grin, she dashed back into the kitchen.

"Raine! You have an album!?" She squealed.

Raine winced but Amber laughed. Eda stepped up behind Luz.

"Damn. I almost forgot we had that thing," She said, tying on her cloak and brushing off more feathers.

"Please put that back, Luz," Raine begged, "I had it made when Eda and I were just out of school and, honestly, it's embarrassing."

"You should put it on," Amber encouraged.

Luz looked back and forth between her parent and sister. Eda chuckled.

"Go put it on, Pumpkin. They're just being shy."

Luz hesitated for a moment longer. Then she grinned again.

"Two beats one!" She ran back to the living room and put the record on the gramophone beast.

For a moment she sat in front of it and wait for the music to begin. Her chest vibrated as the first song played and she closed her eyes, humming along. The easy, gentle violin music almost seemed to lull her to sleep. Then, it crescendoed. It built seed and volume before it began to fade out once more. When it finally finished, she looked up to find Amber, Eda, and Raine staring down at her.

"Luz," Raine whispered, "How do you know that song?"

"What?"

"How do you know that song?" Eda repeated, taking a step forward.

Luz glanced at Amber. The older girl gave her a slightly panicked but nearly imperceivable shake of the head. Her blood ran cold and she tugged her hat further down over her hair.

"I-I don't know. I must have heard it in the human realm somewhere." She insisted.

"That shouldn't be possible," Raine explained, "I wrote that song for Eda when we were still in school."

Luz swallowed and looked around. Her eyes landed on a pile of human trash in the corner.

"But, if human stuff can end up here, then wouldn't stuff from here be able to end up in the human realm?" She tilted her head, "Like the giraffes?"

Raine and Eda exchanged a look and hung their heads.

"Right. Of course. That must be where you heard it." Raine's smile didn't quite reach their eyes as they stepped forward and lifted the needle off the record, "But I really don't think violin music is what your friends are expecting tonight. Why don't you pick out something a little more upbeat?"

Luz nodded and took the record from them. Eda took a deep breath and summoned Owlbert.

"On that note, I should be heading out," She said.

"Right. And the other kids should be here soon," Raine walked her to the door.

Luz looked up at Amber but she just shook her head.

"I'll tell you later." She whispered.

Luz nodded and followed her to the door, "Hang on. I thought you were taking King?"

Eda grinned and turned back, "Oh, I am. He's right here." She opened her cloak to reveal him sound asleep against her chest in a bright pink baby carrier. "His little body just conks out when he's weightless."

Luz and Amber squealed and Raine rolled their eyes.

"Be careful. Have fun." They kissed Eda's cheek, "Take the elixir as soon as you get it."

"I will," She kissed them back, "Don't let the kids animate any rooms."

"I won't."

"We won't!"

No sooner had Eda flown away than the bush beside the door exploded and Willow, Gus, Evan, and Amity tumbled out.

Raine chuckled and shook their head, "You all know that you don't need to sneak in, right?"

"I like being a sneaky sneakster," Willow proclaimed, forcing Amity off her and stumbling to her feet.

"I have leaves in my pants!" Gus shouted, dancing around as he tried to expel them.

"I do," Amity shrugged, "If my mom found out that I'm here…"

"You're fine as long as she knows that you're with me," Evan reassured her.

Raine frowned but nodded and led the kids the rest of the way into the house, "Well, you're all here now. What do you want to do? It's still a while until it's time for the Moonlight Conjuring."

"Yeah!" Luz grinned, "We have snacks, and games, and the crystal ball, and records. Did you know that Raine has an album they made for Eda?"

Raine groaned and sat back on the sofa. Leaning on the arm, they tucked their legs up to watch as the children scrambled around. Before long, Luz and Amber were bringing the snacks in from the kitchen, Evan and Amity were arguing over what music to play, and Gus had a bucket on his head. They had learned not to question that boy and his love for human things. Luz came back from the kitchen and handed them a mug of tea. Sure, it was in Eda's "Thirty and Flirty" apple blood mug but that was fine.

"Guys! Guys!" Willow pointed out the window, "It's almost time!"

"What should we animate?" Evan asked, looking around the room.

"How about something beautiful?" Willow asked, looking at one of the plants sitting in the window.

"Or we can try to bring an abomination to full sentiance," Amity pulled a bottle of abomination slime from her bag.

"How about this little buff guy," Gus offered.

He squeezed the doll.

"A real man never takes accountability!"

Raine saw Luz shy away from the doll and made a mental note to take the batteries out of that one. They never liked it much anyway but they and Eda had had it lying around since they were in school. How the batteries had lasted this long was still a mystery.

"I-I have an idea," She whispered and reached into her sleeping bag, "How about we compromise and bring Trix to life."

Raine sat forward to look at the stuffed fox. If they hadn't known any better, they'd have thought it was Fiddlesticks. But she was safely curled up in their violin and this doll was old; her fur thin and her stuffing worn out. She had clearly seen many years of love from Luz. The rest of the kids looked at Trix before looking at each other. They shrugged.

"Ok. We can try that," Gus put Beefy Bob back on the mantel place.

Raine had Hooty turn out the lights and all six children sat around in a circle. Luz lay Trix gently in the middle and they all held hands. As the blue moonlight filled the room, they closed their eyes and began to recite.

"Moonlight, we call, we sing.
Moonlight, take this chance.
Moonlight, come tie the string.
Moonlight, start the dance!"

Luz and Gus were slightly behind the others but only just and a bright blue glow filled the room. Raine felt their stomach turn. Even moon magic didn't usually do that.

As they finished their chant, the children opened their eyes and looked down at Trix expectantly. The doll didn't so much as twitch.

"Did it work?" Luz asked.

Before she could let go of Amity and Amber's hands, the whole house lurched. Raine lurched forward on the sofa, feet landing hard on the floor. The children stumbled, landing on their hands and knees.

"Um, guys?" Amity stumbled over to the window, "I don't think we animated the doll…"

Raine marched over and opened the door. The ground almost immediately dropped out from under them. They yelped, scrambling to hold on and not fall off. Amber and Luz grabbed their arms and struggled to pull them back into the house.

"We animated the house!?" Evan balked, looking down at the massive bird legs.

"You animated the house," Raine gasped, flopping onto their back with Amber and Luz on either side, "You. Animated. The. HOUSE!...Don't tell Eda…"

"I don't think we're going to get the chance!" Gus gasped, "There's the cliff!"

"The WHAT!?"

"Hooty! Stop!" Raine ordered.

"By the power of moonlight I have risen. Hoot hoot."

Luz felt her stomach drop. Monotone was not a good sound for Hooty and the emptiness of his voice alone made her want to hide. The house lurched again and she stumbled, grabbing Amber's hand for balance. Their hands started glowing again.

"Guys! I have an idea. Grab on!" She held her free hand out to Willow.

As soon as the other children were holding on, Luz turned her attention back to the door.

"Hooty! Stop!"

The house lurched to a stop, right at the edge of the cliff. Everyone heaved a sigh and the children sank to their knees. Raine sagged against the doorframe.

"Good thinking, Luz. Now, let's get this thing turned around and back where it belongs." They said, "Before something else happens."

"Aw. Can we take it on a joyride first?" Gus pleaded, "It's not everyday we have a giant walking house to use."

"I vote with Gus!" Evan raised a hand.

Raine shook their head, "Not this time, guys. This one isn't up for vote."

They turned away so they wouldn't have to see the six pairs of puppy eyes aimed at them. Amber groaned.

"I don't think they're budging, guys." She said, "Let's just go back. Besides, we don't want Moonlight Conjuring banned at our house, too."

Raine smiled and watched as the six children rejoined hands.

"Yes, Mom. I'm going to a Moonlight Conjuring. No, Mom. You can't come."

Raine frowned. That didn't sound like one of their kids.

"Who was that?" They asked, looking round the room.

"That sounded like Boscha." Amity leaned out the window and squinted through the trees, "She's in our grade at Hexside."

Raine leaned out the window to look down at the girl.

"Oh! Can we prank her before we go back?" Gus begged.

Raine fixed him with a look.

"Please? Just a little prank?" Evan joined in, "I've heard the stories about here. We won't give her any worse than what she does."

"Evan, two wrongs do-"

"Was she the one that was making fun of Willow and Gus for being specialty witches?" Luz leaned out the door.

Raine looked down at her for a moment and sighed. "Alright. One small prank. But, if it gets out of hand I will not hesitate to ground all of you." They crossed their arms, "I don't care if half of you aren't mine."

"Yes, Zaza!" All six children shouted.

They huddled back together and directed Hooty behind a small hill closer to the road. Then, Amber twirled a spell circle and a glowing red megaphone appeared. Luz grabbed it and darted over to the door.

"Hey. H-Hey you! You should stop being so mean to people," She called, "You're kind of a jerk."

The other kids started giggling but Raine just gave Luz a thumbs up.

"Ew. Why should I listen to a talking house?" Boscha's voice drifted up to them. "I can just TP you like all the others."

"Oh, don't you see? I am no mear house," Luz continued, handing the megaphone to Raine and taking everyone else's hands again, "I am… The Baba Yaga!"

With that, the kids guided the house over the hill. Boscha screamed and ran off down the road. Even Raine couldn't resist chuckling.

"Alright. You all had your fun." They turned back, "Now we need to head back."

"Ok," The kids were appeased, for now, and rejoiced hands once more.

The house stamped through the forest and Raine closed the door. They started cleaning up the things that had fallen off the shelves during the initial animation. The house gave another lurch and most of it fell right back off.

"What was that?" They turned.

Amity looked out the window and yelped, "Demon Trappers!"

Raine groaned and flung open the door. A massive arrow was buried into the dirt on the bottom of the house.

"Shit!" They turned and summoned their violin, "Kids, hold hands and be ready to go. I'll hold them off."

"Zaza?"

Raine looked back at the children behind them. Amber pulled Luz closer and their heart skipped a beat when their eyes met Luz's. When was the last time they had seen a pair of gold eyes hold that much fear?

"It'll be alright. Amber, you're in charge until I get home." They leaped out the door.

They slid down the rope attached to the arrow and landed deftly on the ground. A single swipe of their bow and the rope was cut. The house lurched forward once more as Amber directed the rest of the children and the house back to its lot.

"But, Amber!" Luz begged, "What about-"

"Zaza will be fine, Luz." She promised, "Remember last week at the Covention? How they whooped Uncle Darius's butt? That was them holding back. They can handle some demon trappers."

She tried to ignore Luz's hand shaking in hers as they neared the hole in the ground where the house belonged. They set the house back down and, for one blissful moment, the house was silent. Then the door swung open.

"Is the house spinning or is it just me?" Hooty teased, "Ha. Just a little house humor."

No one laughed. Evan stood and leaned against the door.

"Sorry about all of that, Hooty. Are you ok?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm just fine. I'm just happy to be included."

Amber huffed a laugh and looked around the room. "Right. Let's…Let's get some of this cleaned up. That way we won't be up all night doing it."

"But, Amber…" Luz trailed off, looking out the still open door.

"Hey, look at me, Luz." Amber knelt back beside her sister and put a hand on her shoulder, "They're going to be ok. Hooty, can you leave the door open so we can see when Zaza gets home?"

"Of course I can! Hoot Hoot!"

Luz forced a smiled and nodded. Amber smiled back.

"Alright. We'll take it all in teams. Luz and Willow, you two get the living room. Amity, you and I are upstairs. Evan and Gus, you two get the kitchen. The sooner we get this mess cleaned up the sooner we get to enjoying the moonlight."

They all hurried around, cleaning as much of the house as they could as fast as they could. And if Willow caught Luz staring out the door more than a few times, what did it matter. They had nearly finished cleaning when someone stepped out of the trees.

"Raine!" Luz bolted across the yard and latched onto them.

Raine stumbled back with the force, "Oof. It's ok, Luz. I'm back. It's all taken care of and it's all ok now."

Luz nodded, face still pressed into their belly. Amber approached at a much slower pace and hugged them around the ribs.

"Hey, that's enough moping." They smiled and gave the girls one more squeeze, "We gotta get the house clean and-"

"House is clean," Evan insisted, "Or, at least as clean as it was when we arrived."

"Oh. In that case, you all have more moonlight to enjoy." They pushed Luz and Amber away from their body, "But, any more spells are going to have to be done outside."

With a cheer, the children rushed back into the house, Luz dragging Raine along behind her.

LLB

Eda groaned as she pushed the door open and marched over to the sofa. The crystal ball was still playing some kids show even though all the children had clearly fallen asleep long ago. Raine looked up and smiled up at her.

"Hey. How was the Night Market?" They whispered.

"Mama ate a guy!" King chirped.

"SHH!"

"What!?"

Eda groaned, "They guy Morton sent me to get the elixir from. He tried to markup the price over ten times the usual amount so I offered to wager it in a game of Hexas Hold'em. It sounded like a good idea at the time until he told me that if he won he wanted King."

"What?!" Raine sat up, "Wait, he tried to trade our SON for your medication?"

"Yup. At that point, I couldn't control it anymore and the Owl Beast took over." Eda shrugged, "I don't know what all King saw but when I came too, he was hiding in my hair and my mouth tasted like bacon."

"That's horrible, Eda."

"Eh, what are ya gonna do," She shrugged and tucked King between Luz and Amber. "How did the moonlight conjuring go?"

"It could have gone worse…They possessed Hooty."

"What!?"

"And I had to fight off some demon trappers who wanted to turn him into exotic food."

"What!?"

"But it's fine. We got it all taken care of and the demon trappers know better than to mess with this house again."

Eda looked around the room, "Ok, next time, you get to go out and deal with overpriced creeps, I'll stay home and cause chaos with the kids."

"Hey, I still had to fight the demon trappers." Raine defended, "Can you believe one of them wanted to catch up to the house just so he could push the kids into the boiling sea?"

"What is it with creeps and wanting to do things to our kids?"

"Hells if i know," Raine rolled over and rest their head on her shoulder. "I'm just glad it's over for this year. Now we just have to hope our siblings don't find out."

A crow flew in through the open window, "Caw-Caw-Call from Lilith Clawthorn."

"You just had to tempt fate, didn't you," Eda rolled her head to look down at them.

LLB

1) Morton seemed young in the show and, since everyone is a bit younger in this, he'll have to be even younger.