It didn't take them long to reach the BATTs' camp; it was still in the same spot, but after what happened with the Titan Trappers its inhabitants had built a fence, small and apparently harmless but which contained many traps and alarm systems, some very complex ones that Darius had suggested. Everyone was surprised by the projects proposed by the djinn, but he had confessed that they had actually been given to him by a friend with whom he often met at the tavern to have a drink together, but he had never revealed his name or face of that person.
When they arrived, they were greeted by Katya who ushered them in with a broad smile, and who very quickly called Raine who, judging by the rather shrill note that emerged from their tent, must have been busy cleaning their lute before the half-vampire shouted to them that some guests had arrived. The poor bard came out of their tent with their hair half disheveled and their gaze a little grim, and looking at them it seemed that their ears were still ringing, but nevertheless they gave them a smile: "Hello, guys! What a pleasure to see you, what does it bring you here?"
The kids bit their tongues to keep from laughing, unlike Katya who didn't even try to hold back. "Um... sorry for coming unannounced, Raine, but we were hoping you could help us with something" Luz replied trying to dispel some of the awkwardness.
"Sure, just tell me" Raine told her encouragingly, trying to fix their hair and rubbing their ears as if trying to regain normal hearing.
Luz pointed to Amity, who scratched her head a little sheepishly and explained. "Um... you see, Raine, in nine days I will become a full-fledged witch... and Luz... ehm, I mean... and everyone would like to see me dressed as a witch that day... but my mother doesn't have any clothes in my size, and I don't want to use a costume, so I was wondering, since you've traveled all over the world and have a lot of interesting stuff, don't you have something that would fit a witch... ?"
"Of course, you don't even have to ask!" Raine replied. "Please come to the tent! We'll find something!"
Raine ushered them into their tent, which as usual was filled with objects from all over the world. Despite the obvious disorder, however, Luz immediately noticed a missing detail. "Darius isn't there?" she asked since the lamp was not present.
"No, he went out to do something" Raine replied, but even if they pretended that it didn't matter much it actually interested them quite a bit. Lately Darius had been disappearing often, even leaving for hours and without giving any explanation for his return, and even when he returned he spent a lot of time alone and it seemed like he was working on something very important to him. Raine had tried to talk to him, but Darius had simply replied that it was a personal matter and asked them not to get involved, and Raine had respected their friend's wishes; however, after more than a month of continuing this behavior, they were starting to get worried. Maybe they should try to talk to him when he returned, at least to make sure that there were no problems on the horizon: they had rarely seen Darius tense about anything (being a djinn he could do almost everything without any effort), so the fact that he was often lost in thought and he had a strange expression on his face which worried them a little. "Your blond friend... Hunter... isn't with you too?"
"No, he spends a lot of time on his own lately" Willow replied, and then she tried to come up with a plausible excuse: "It's probably because of his job. He's a monster hunter after all"
"Yeah... he seems very tired lately. He's almost certainly back in activity" Gus added, but he didn't do it just to give his friend support: in fact, even though Hunter probably showed up less because he wanted to avoid forcing Willow to being around him after he rejected her, you couldn't even deny that he didn't seem very tired lately... or better said, nervous. It was as if there was something that was bothering him a lot. Gus wasn't sure how wise it was to investigate this: it took a lot to worry Hunter, who faced monsters and armies in cold blood, so whatever was gripping the blond boy couldn't be easy to handle. He hoped it wasn't a harbinger of a new trouble ahead, because from his point of view they had already experienced enough misfortunes and didn't need any more.
"So, witchy things..." Raine muttered as they looked at that pile of strange objects, which were piled up in an order only they knew. "We could start with this!"
And with that they pulled from the pile of objects a pointed white hat that seemed to end in a tiara, followed by two white and blue heeled boots, two long dark tight pants, and a pearly white dress with a blue collar on which was embroidered a five-pointed golden star. "So, what do you think? I'd say it's very witchy!" Raine said.
The kids looked at the dress in amazement; Amity tried putting on the big hat, but she didn't seem very comfortable with it. "I don't know... it's not really my style. I'm not much for hats, that's all" she confessed. "I'd rather have something simpler... who did these clothes belong to, by the way?"
"Oh, they were from an evil witch who had enslaved an entire region causing famine and drought" Raine replied, realizing too late that they shouldn't have said that. "Er... but she had taste in dressing!"
Amity handed them the hat back. "Sorry, Raine, but… I don't feel like wearing something that belonged to a dark witch. It's… not a good omen, that's all" she said. "Don't you have something that belonged to a white witch?"
Raine thought about it. "Well... it's not easy to meet a white witch, not because they are rare but because they hide very well, and are not very friendly to those who discover their secret" they said, and no one could blame them, not even Amity, since that was her mother's exact description. "Let me check, I'll see if I can find anything"
Raine went back to rummaging through their stuff, and they slowly pulled out some clothes. They brought a new outfit to Amity and revealed that it was a beautiful blue dress complete with a skirt decorated with gold trim and a gold belt, and with white crescents embroidered on the drapes of the skirt, all combined with brown trousers and shoes with a very low heel in white and blue, also with golden finishes. "Here you are!" Raine said as she handed it to Amity. "It belonged to a white witch we met by chance in a tundra near the frozen arctic... well, initially she tried to kill us because she thought we were dangerous intruders who wanted to attack her village and she unleashed a snow golem on us, but when we cleared up the misunderstanding she was very happy to host us in her house. When she learned that I collected souvenirs from all over the world she gave me this, the dress she used to wear when she was your age; it no longer suited her a piece, so she said we could keep it"
Amity thought she liked that outfit much more than the previous one, so she decided to try it on. She discovered that it was decidedly comfortable, and indeed it adapted perfectly to her body; she definitely felt good wearing it. "It's... nice" she admitted. "What do you think?"
"You look beautiful, Amity!" Luz exclaimed with her eyes shining. "Oh, I can't wait to see you in witch form in that! That dress combined with the glowing hair and eyes will be phenomenal!"
Amity blushed. "Thank you, Luz... but can I get the opinion of someone who didn't tell me I looked beautiful even while I was eating with my mouth open?"
That statement made Luz and the others burst out laughing. "Amity, you look great" Willow assured her. "And you can trust me, you know I always tell things like they are"
"Yeah. When I tried to go out wearing socks and sandals she absolutely devastated me" Gus chuckled.
"Sorry, but you were offending the aesthetic sense" Willow said back to him. "Anyway, Amity, I think it's the perfect dress for you. Anyone have a contrary opinion?"
"No. I find it very beautiful" Skara said.
"Same" was Boscha's reply.
"Not that I care, but yeah, it's cute" Matt admitted.
Amity did a pirouette on herself, as if she wanted to admire herself from every angle. "Well... in this case, I'll take it! Thanks, Raine!"
"Don't thank me. By the way, there's still one last piece missing to complete everything" the bard told her, and without warning they placed a golden earring that seemed to end in a shell in her ear. "It's a magical amulet that goes very well with this outfit. The magic it contains will prevent the dress from getting ruined... or rather, it will instantly repair it if it gets ruined"
"Wow, cool!" Amity exclaimed, and she looked at the bard with eyes full of gratitude. "Raine... you shouldn't have bothered so much"
"Don't thank me. I'm always ready to help you all" Raine replied with a broad smile.
Amity smiled back, but then Luz caught her attention: "Um... Amity... would you be offended if I tried on this dress here?" she said pointing to the previous outfit Raine had given them.
"Huh? Why, do you like it?" Amity asked her.
"Well, yeah. I mean... it's cute, I'd really like to wear it" Luz admitted. "But if you don't want it because it's a bad omen, I understand... but I don't think we should judge this dress by whoever wore it before... it didn't ask to belong to an evil witch..."
"Hey, hey, you don't need to try to convince me" Amity stopped her immediately. "If you want to wear something, you certainly don't need my permission. I don't like that dress, but if it's to your taste, go ahead and wear it"
"Yay! Thanks, Amity!" Luz exclaimed, pressing a kiss on her cheek, then she ran to put on the dress; she returned shortly after having completely worn the outfit, with the hat taking up almost all of her head. "Wow, it's so comfortable! I love it!"
"You can keep it if you want" Raine told her. "I don't know what to do with it, and clothes should be worn, not get dust among all these objects"
"Yes!" Luz exclaimed. "Amity, I'll be wearing this in nine days! Given the occasion, dressing up as a witch is a must!"
"Ha ha! That would be nice" Amity admitted. Even though she didn't really like that outfit, she had to admit that Luz looked really cute wearing it. "Anyway, I didn't make you so empathetic for a dress"
"Well, I just thought if I were a dress I'd hate to be grossed out just because it belonged to someone evil" Luz replied. "I mean... I'm technically an object too, and I wouldn't like to be judged at all for the people I hung out with in the past"
Amity didn't know whether to smile or grimace; on the one hand she was touched by the simplicity and sweetness of the puppet, on the other she didn't like it at all that she defined herself as an object. "Well... I'm glad you like it" she said simply at the end.
"Luz, you're really cute" Willow told her as she waved her big pointy hat at her. "I'm jealous, I want some weird clothes now too!"
"Okay, I'll see if I can find some for you too" Raine told her.
"Hey! Why only her? We're here too, you know?" Gus snapped in mock offense. "If we're going to start a parade of absurd dresses, we might as well find one for everyone!"
And so Raine was almost forced to look for new clothes for everyone; fortunately they had a lot of stuff, so it wasn't difficult for them to find something that everyone liked. In the end Willow received a dark dress with a zigzag skirt, black heels and long black and green striped stockings, and with a strange decoration resembling a devil's tail running down her back; Gus got a red and black dress with gold decorations and dark trim, and even a gold earring with a sapphire in the center that he wore on his right ear; Matt received an outfit that looked like it belonged to some barbarian warrior, consisting of brown trousers, blue shoes with a spur decoration on the top, gray shirt, black fingerless gloves, an off-white cape that fell down his shoulders, and a green handkerchief held attached to his cloak by a brown stud decorated with another spur, and to top it all he had smeared a little black powder on his chin to make it look like he had a powerful beard; Boscha in turn had a warrior outfit, made up of very short black and white trousers with a golden belt and a blue shirt with a small decoration in the shape of a pink gem in the center of the chest, long black stockings that were a little shredded on the left leg and a simple blue knee cap on the right, two black boots with two spurs each, and a short blue cloak that fell to her waist supported by a matching stud with a spur, and also had a golden collar and medal decoration above the heart, and to make everything more beautiful she had let her hair down, letting it fall along her shoulders and tying it with a black lace only after it had passed her neck, and using only a clip in the shape of crab claws to prevent it from some hair fell into her face and then into her eyes, giving her a decidedly wild look that suited her very well; finally, Skara had worn a dress made up of a gray shirt and red trousers and sleeves and green fingerless gloves on her hands, and in turn had worn a rather voluminous blue cloak.
"Wow! Looks like we're actually having a costume party!" Boscha commented as she looked at herself. "How do I look? Am I cool enough?"
"You're perfect! Oh, wait, add this!" Skara told her, and with a little black paint she drew some lines under her eyes in the shape of drops similar to the ones they normally painted when playing rugby. "Now you look even more badass!"
"I have to admit, I kind of like it. I feel pretty cool" Matt said as he moved his arms as if he were massaging his muscles, then he turned back to Raine: "Where did you find all this stuff?"
"Oh, well, that's the classic very long and uninteresting story, I'm glad you asked!" Raine replied. "So, it all started when my companions and I were walking through a snowy forest. After twelve hours spent walking in the snow, with absolutely nothing happening around us, not even by accident, we..."
"Okay, get it over with, I already fell asleep at 'story', it's not worth continuing" Matt stopped him, making everyone else giggle.
Gus gave his friend a small shove, then he pointed to one of the leftover outfits, consisting of a black t-shirt with decorations embroidered on it, a yellow sweatshirt and some black and yellow trousers and shoes: "Do you mind if I take that too? I'd like to take it to Hunter, I'm sure he'll like it"
"Of course, after all if you intend to wear them on the day of... what can I call it? Initiation? Ceremony? Well, whatever Amity has to do, it would be unfair to leave your friends without a themed outfit" Raine replied. "After all, I don't know what to do with them. Knowing that at least you will use them to have fun just makes me happy"
"In this case, I'll take these for Edric and Emira" Amity said picking up a small pile of clothing.
"We'd better bring Cat and Amelia some too" Skara said as she grabbed the last remaining outfits.
Raine nodded. "Very good. I wish you good luck, Amity, with whatever you need to do to become a witch"
Amity nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Raine. It means a lot to me" she replied, then she said: "I think it's time for us to leave. The sun will set soon, our parents will be angry if we will come back too late"
"Yeah, I don't want to risk getting yelled at" Boscha agreed, and everyone else agreed.
They were about to leave the tent when Luz said to them: "Um... do you mind if I stay here a little longer? There's something I'd like to tell Raine"
"Huh? Sure, we'll wait for you outside the camp" Amity replied, and they left her alone with the bard.
As soon as they were sure no one could hear them, Raine asked her: "So, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Luz was silent for a moment, shaking the large pointed hat she now had on her head, then she replied: "Well... it's about you and Eda" she said, and she wasn't at all surprised to see the bard blush. "Look, Raine... I'm not stupid, I know you both want something more than just friendship. I can see it clearly every time you talk to each other, and it's happening more and more often since you come to the Owl House all the time. I'm not saying that I enjoy it, but... now I know what it means to be in love... so if I'm the problem, I wanted to tell you that I'm fine with you being together..."
"Hey, don't say that. It's not your fault at all" Raine was quick to stop her. "Listen, Luz, the situation between me and Eda is… complicated. But it's not because you didn't like she and I being together that she's holding back… and by the way, I totally understand why until recently you didn't even want to leave us alone in a room together"
Luz grimaced. "What Darius explained to me was a little... unsettling, but even if I don't like it at all, I can understand that it's... well... normal in an adult relationship, I assume...?"
Raine sighed as they saw Luz's red face. "Sooner or later I will kill that djinn" they grumbled, then they became serious again: "Luz, I assure you that you are not a problem in the relationship between me and Eda"
"Then why do you continue to refrain from loving each other?" Luz asked them. "I mean... I'm in a relationship with Amity, and it's the greatest thing in the universe! Why don't you guys get together?"
"It's not that simple, Luz" Raine sighed. "For a fairy... it's not so simple to love a human being. There are consequences, and you don't always have the courage or confidence to face them. There's a reason why love between fairies and humans has happened very few times in history and almost always ended in tragedy"
Luz raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I understand" she admitted.
Raine nodded. "Yes, I guess I wasn't very clear. But in any case it's not my place to explain this to you" they told her. "It's Eda who should tell you. She's the one directly involved"
Luz bit her lip. She loved Eda, but she knew how stubborn the fairy was and often avoided talking about things she didn't like, often if they were related to herself. But she still didn't want to push and nag Raine, since it wouldn't be right. "Okay. Then... I'll consider talking about it with her" she said, and then she added: "Anyway... just know that, strange obstacles that I'm not aware of aside, I wouldn't mind welcoming you into the family at all. You're a good person and you have always been very nice to me, and I'm sure you would make Eda happy. So... if you ever manage to overcome those obstacles that I don't know about, remember that I approve. Even if I still feel like throwing up at the thought of you two that you do the things Darius explained to me"
Raine slammed a hand over their face. Seriously, they would never leave Darius alone with a young girl again. "Well... thank you, Luz. I'm happy to know that you would like me in your family"
"Of course. The more, the better, right?" Luz responded with a smile, then she said: "Well, I better get to the others. I don't want Eda scolding me for being late home either!" and having said that she bade farewell to the bard and ran away.
Raine couldn't help but smile. Knowing that Luz, who was almost a daughter to Eda, would be happy to welcome them into the family made them feel very happy. They were so lost in thought that they almost didn't notice a mass of purple liquid that entered the tent and thickened within Darius in a few moments. "Hey, buddy, why are you looking the tent's wall?"
Raine shook themselves. "I was just thinking about something. What about you? Where have you been?"
"Oh, nothing important" the djinn replied with a smirk. "I just went out for a coffee with a couple of friends"
The outfits that the protagonists wear are the same costumes that are shown in episode 1 of the third season, while the clothes of Matt, Skara and Boscha are those worn by them in episode 2 of the third season