The Emperor Strikes Back
Spoiler: This chapter will have a montage scene showing Luz doing various different things with her friends in the demon realm, as well as showing a little bit of Vee's character development.
Learning More
It was a bright and sunny Monday morning and everyone in the Owl House was having breakfast in the kitchen. Hunter and Luz were wearing their Hexside uniforms as they sat and talked with Vee about coming with them to school.
Luz smiled at Vee as she happily said, "Trust me Vee, you'll like Hexside. The classes are fun, the teachers are great, and Principal Bump is pretty cool."
Vee looked uncertain as she asked, "What about the other students?"
Luz hesitantly glanced to the side before she honestly admitted, "Some of them are really nice, but some can be pretty mean."
Vee was reluctant to go through with it as she said, "Maybe I should just stay here."
Luz smiled reassuringly as she put her hand on Vee's shoulder and said, "Don't worry Vee. It'll be okay. We got your back."
Hunter had a supportive smile as he said, "Yeah, and Willow, Gus, and Amity will be there too."
Vee smiled as she turned from Hunter to Luz and gratefully said, "Thanks guys. It helps that you'll be there too."
Eda smiled as she pointed at Vee and said, "And if you have to you can use my old secret tunnels to escape."
Raine smiled admiringly at Eda as they said, "Those tunnels did help out a lot when Faust was still in charge."
Lilith smiled in agreement as she said, "And they were useful in my studies. I still used them to sneak around a bit after you left Hexside."
Eda smiled proudly as she bragged, "I always did have a talent for instigating rebellion in others."
Raine smiled lovingly as they complimented, "You also have a talent for inspiring others."
Eda looked away with a flattered smile as she blushed while Luz smiled adoringly and Vee also smiled sweetly. Just then a clock started screaming to mark what time it was, then Hooty ate it with a smile on his face.
Luz smiled at Vee and Hunter as she happily said, "Time for school! Come on let's go!"
The three of them got out of their seats while Hunter grabbed a backpack and Vee morphed into her human disguise. Stringbean flew in front of Luz and changed to her staff form as Luz held her in her hand and the three of them went out the front door. They waved goodbye to all the others before they sat on Luz's staff and rode it all the way to Hexside at highspeed. They landed in front of the school and got off of Luz's staff while Stringbean changed and rested on her shoulder.
They stared at the school for a moment as Vee smiled and said, "So this is Hexside. It does look nice."
Vee followed Hunter and Luz into the school and smiled as she looked around and saw the other witches and demons walking the halls and socializing.
Luz suddenly noticed something as she nervously pointed and said, "Oh boy, here come the Trouble Sniffers."
The school guards approached them and behind them walked Principal Bump as they came toward the three teens. Vee became nervous as she grabbed Luz's arm in fear and Hunter put his hand on her shoulder for support.
Bump and the guards stood in front of them as Bump smiled and said, "Welcome back Luz. I see you brought a friend to visit."
Luz smiled as she respectfully said, "Yes Principal Bump. This is Vee."
Bump smiled as he said, "Ah, the young basilisk."
Vee was surprised as she said, "You know?"
Bump smiled calmly before showing a serious expression while he said, "Yes. Willow, Amity, and Agustus told me about you when asking if a friend could visit. And while I agreed I am still wary about letting a basilisk into my school."
The guards moved closer as Luz and Hunter stepped aside and they leaned toward Vee as they sniffed her while she recoiled in fear.
They stopped sniffing her and looked at Bump as one of them said, "No trouble."
Vee calmed down as Hunter and Luz rejoined her, then Bump smiled as he said, "Well the guards don't smell any trouble on you so you are welcome here, but I ask that you behave."
Bump walked away with the guards and Vee smiled happily as she said, "So far so good."
She started walking down the hallway with Hunter and Luz when suddenly they heard three familiar voices shout, "Guys!"
They saw Willow, Gus, and Amity smiling and waving at them before they happily ran to greet their friends. Amity ran and hugged Luz while Gus and Hunter happily high-fived before Willow hugged Hunter, who blushed brightly.
The three of them turned to Vee while she happily said, "Hi guys."
Willow smiled as she honestly said, "We saw Bump and the guards check you out. I was a little worried they wouldn't let you in."
Vee showed a bit of an anxious expression as she said, "Yeah, I hope I don't do anything to mess it up."
Luz smiled reassuringly at Vee as she said, "Don't worry. You're off to a way better start than I did when I first came here."
Amity had a friendly smile as she turned from Luz to Vee and said, "No argument there. I'm glad you came Vee. I wasn't sure you would show after what happened at the library yesterday."
Vee smiled as she glanced at Luz and Hunter while she said, "I was thinking about backing out but Luz and Hunter talked me out of it."
Gus was thrilled as he turned from Vee and pointed at Hunter while he said, "Great! The club meeting is gonna be great with you as our guest! Hunter, did you bring all the stuff we talked about?"
Hunter smiled smugly as he pulled out a book and said, "Oh yeah! The HAS will be amazed when they read Cosmic Frontier."
He and Gus both simultaneously cheered, "Beam us up!"
Suddenly the bell rang and Luz said, "Time for class."
She and Amity held hands as they hurried to class while Willow ran off to her class while waving to all her friends.
Hunter smiled at Vee and Gus as he said, "I'll see you guys at the meeting."
He hurried to his class, then Gus smiled with his hand out toward Vee as he said, "Why don't you come with me until it's time for the club meeting?"
Vee smiled as she took his hand and said, "Okay."
Gus smiled happily as he held her hand and led Vee to his Illusion class, where she met the Illusion teacher and some other students. Vee stayed in her human form for the whole class but did enjoy watching the other kids use their magic. She especially liked watching Gus perform illusions as he was very good at it and she enjoyed his showmanship. Meanwhile Hunter went to his potion class and mixed together a transformation potion that turned a flower into a carnivorous plant. The students and teacher were impressed, and Hunter wished he could show it to Willow because he knew she would like it. Amity and Luz went to the Abomination Class where Professor Hermonculus taught them about Abominations. Amity made a powerful Abomination and Luz could help but watch and Amity made her Abomination pick Luz up and give her a ride. After a couple more classes it was time for the HAS meeting as Matt and the others were waiting for Hunter and Gus. Matt was wearing the crown that read "president" as he and the other three members sat at the table waiting for the others to show up.
Hunter and Gus walked in as Hunter smiled a bit conceitedly holding up the Cosmic Frontier books as he said, "Fellow HAS members, we bring treasures and knowledge from the human realm."
Gus walked in and smiled as he happily said, "We also bring a special guest from the human realm."
Vee walked in as she smiled and waved as she said, "Hi."
Matt looked skeptical while the others screamed in excitement while Matt said, "You brought another human?"
Gus smiled as he said, "Actually…"
Vee was nervous as she looked at Hunter and Gus and they both smiled sincerely as they nodded for her to do it. She trusted them as she shapeshifted into her natural form as she smiled awkwardly; then the members of the HAS gasped in shock.
Matt stared at her as he softly said, "A basilisk?!"
Hunter smiled respectfully as he held his hand out toward Vee and said, "Yes, meet Vee the basilisk."
Eileen stared with her wide open in shock while Bo smiled and said, "Amazing!"
The unicorn cyclops boy was shocked as he said, "She's terrifying!"
Vee kept smiling nervously as she said, "Yeah, I've been told that."
Matt glared at Vee suspiciously before looking at Gus as he said, "You brought a basilisk here?! Are you nuts?! They're vicious deceitful beasts!"
Vee looked hurt and then Hunter defensively said, "Hey! Vee's not dangerous! She's our friend!"
Matt folded his arms as he glared at Hunter and cynically said, "Says the Golden Guard."
Hunter showed a bit of a hurt expression and then Gus defended them as he asserted, "Hunter has changed and helped us prepare for the Day of Unity, and we can trust Vee!"
Matt remained suspicious as he said, "Did you forget about the last basilisk that came to Hexside?"
Vee quickly became curious as she softly said, "Last basilisk?"
Gus remained loyal as he raised his left finger and asserted, "Vee's not like that! Hunter and I lived with her for a month before we came back to the demon realm. We know we can trust her!"
Matt's expression softened as he looked at the other members as Bo happily said, "Meeting an extinct species is even cooler than meeting a human!"
The cyclops unicorn boy looked cautiously optimistic as he said, "She hasn't tried to drain us of our magic yet."
Eileen said something that the others seemed to understand, prompting Vee to say, "Thanks."
Matt folded his arms with a skeptical expression as he said, "Okay, but as president of the HAS I must ask, what makes this basilisk qualified to teach us about the human realm?"
Gus smiled proudly as he pointed his thumb at Vee and said, "She's lived in the human realm since the day Luz first came to the Boiling Isles. She knows everything about the human realm."
Vee was flattered as she smiled humbly and said, "Well, I don't know about everything."
The others became interested as Matt moved his hands to refer to the human world items and said, "Okay, teach us."
Vee smiled as she started explaining things about the items they had and the members of the HAS were very interested. Soon enough, Matt became fascinated as well as Vee explained what a phone was and told them about some movies and videogames. Hunter and Gus also shared the Cosmic Frontier books with the others and they started reading them and already enjoyed them. Vee, Gus, and Hunter also told the others about some animals in the human realm, including possums, which the others were shocked to learn were actually real. They also showed them a zoology book and showed the others pictures of some animals, ending with a picture of a whale.
The cyclops unicorn boy stared at the picture with a horrified expression as he said, "It looks like something from a nightmare!"
Vee smiled as she held her finger up and said, "Actually they're not bad. Whales are gentle giants. They're kind of like the selkidomus."
The others were amazed as Bo happily raised her fists and said, "This is the best club meeting ever!"
Matt smiled respectfully as he said, "Yeah, I have to admit this was pretty cool."
Hunter smiled proudly as he held his hand to refer to Vee as he said, "And it's all thanks to Vee."
The members of the HAS smiled as they happily cheered, "Basilisk! Basilisk! Basilisk!"
Vee showed a flattered smile as she said, "Thanks everyone."
The bell then rang and Gus smiled as he started packing up things and said, "Okay, that's all for today. We'll see you guys tomorrow."
The others smiled and said "goodbye" to them while they started leaving, but Vee stopped when Matt said, "Hey, thanks for coming, Vee."
Vee was surprised that he called her by her name and smiled back at him before she left with Hunter and Gus. Later they went to the cafeteria for lunch and they sat down at a table with Amity, Luz, and Willow and ate while talking. Willow got an extra tray for Vee, which she appreciated as she happily ate between Hunter and Gus while the girls sat across from them. Vee spent the rest of the day in her natural form, which drew the attention of many other students who couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. Some would shoot her ugly looks while others stared at her with awe and wonder, this made Vee feel flattered at times but also insecure at other times. She, Gus, and Hunter told the others about what they did in the club meeting and Vee expressed happiness.
Amity smiled as she said, "Sounds like your club meeting went well."
Vee smiled as she happily said, "Yeah, the Human Appreciation Society are pretty cool."
Luz smiled with interest as she asked, "Any chance I could join one of your meetings?"
Gus had a happy smile as he replied, "Sure! They'd love to hear from you again!"
They stopped talking when Boscha came up behind them with a tray of food and glared at Vee as she said, "So it's true. There is a basilisk at school today."
Vee looked at Boscha nervously while she said, "Hi, I'm Vee."
Boscha kept glaring at Vee as she rudely said, "Shouldn't you be extinct?"
Vee looked hurt when Willow glared at Boscha and asserted, "Leave her alone Boscha! She's with us!"
Boscha shut her eyes and walked away as she shrewdly said, "Fine. But make sure she doesn't cause trouble like the last one."
Vee let out a sad sigh and Willow empathized before glaring at Boscha while she sincerely said, "Don't let her get to you Vee. Boscha's a jerk. She's been mean to me since the day I met her."
Vee sadly stared down at her food as she said, "But she's right. My kind were extinct until Belos brought us back. Technically I shouldn't exist."
Hunter empathized as he placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Well, I guess that's something you and I have in common."
Vee was surprised as she looked at Hunter and asked, "Because you're a Grimwalker?"
Hunter frantically glanced around before shushing her as he said, "Not so loud!"
Vee apologized as she said, "Sorry."
Willow looked at Hunter as she sincerely said, "It's okay Hunter. We all like you even if you are a Grimwalker."
Hunter looked at Willow as he asked, "How did you feel when you first found out?"
Willow spoke honestly before smiling sweetly while she said, "It freaked me out a little at first but it doesn't change how I feel about you."
Hunter smiled at her before Gus spoke up and said, "And I've known since the Day of Unity but I never stopped being your friend."
Luz then curiously asked, "How did you find out anyway, Gus?"
Gus glanced around at the others as he answered, "I found out when we fought Belos at the Titan's skull. I used the magic amplifier show Belos some of his painful memories, and I saw some of them myself."
The others were amazed as they said, "Whoa."
Amity pointed at Gus as she said, "You looked inside his mind?"
Gus briefly glanced to the side before looking at the others while he said, "Yeah, I've been thinking of multi-tracking. Maybe study illusions and oracle magic. Anyway, I saw a few of Belos' memories and that's how I learned Hunter was a Grimwalker."
Hunter stared at Gus as he curiously asked, "What did you see?"
Gus showed a disturbed expression as he honestly said, "I saw short memories of him killing Caleb and him raising Grimwalkers."
The others looked frightened and Hunter reluctantly asked, "Did you learn anything about Caleb?"
Gus showed a bit of regret as he said, "Not really. I only saw one other short memory of him with some witch lady."
Luz's eyes widened in realization as she said, "That must've been Evelyn."
Gus looked at Hunter as he honestly said, "Sorry Hunter. That's all I know, but that's how I found out that you're a Grimwalker."
Hunter showed a bit of disappointment as Vee held his hand, then Luz smiled as she sincerely said, "Well, I'm glad you two exist even if you weren't supposed to. It doesn't matter how you were born, it's what you do with your lives that makes you who you are."
Amity smiled in agreement as she said, "She's right. It's not important what others think of you, all that matters what you choose to be."
Hunter smiled at them and so did Vee as she said, "Thanks guys, that's kind of you to say."
Willow smiled optimistically as she said, "So don't listen to Boscha."
Vee then curiously said, "Actually there is one thing. She and Matt mentioned another basilisk that caused trouble here. What happened?"
Luz held her palm up as she answered, "Oh, well you see, on my first day here a basilisk came pretending to be an inspector from the Emperor's Coven. She tried to drain all the students and teachers of their magic and apparently she did that to the other schools. I teamed up with some of the other students to stop her and returned all the magic she drained."
Vee looked nervous as she asked, "What happened to her?"
Amity held her palm up as she answered, "Some Coven Guards came and took her to the Conformatorium, we're not sure where she is now."
Vee looked nervous as she thought about where all the other basilisks were hiding and Luz asked, "Vee, are you okay?"
Vee smiled as she denied, "Yeah! I'm fine!"
Suddenly the bell rang and she said, "Time to go."
She got up and slithered away as Gus walked with her and Luz became more curious, but she walked away with the others. Vee attended a couple of more classes and met some other students at Hexside, and she did not bother changing to her human form. Some of the students mistreated her while others were kind to her, and all of the teachers treated her fairly. At the end of the day she met Luz and the others outside on the front steps of the school as they talked about their day.
Vee smiled at her friends as she happily said, "School is really different in the demon realm from the human realm, but it's just as fun."
Luz smiled as she held her palms up and suggested, "Maybe one day you could become a student at Hexside."
Vee smiled as she reluctantly said, "Maybe, but for now I'll just settle for visiting every now and again."
Suddenly they were joined by Jerbo, Barkus, Viney, and her griffin Puddles as Luz happily said, "Jerbo! Barkus! Viney! Hey!"
They walked past her as Viney politely said, "Hi Luz."
They went to Vee as Jerbo happily said, "Hey Vee, we were hoping you might want to hang out a bit."
Vee was surprised as she smiled with glee and said, "Really? I'd love to!"
Viney smiled as she happily said, "Yes!"
Luz smiled as she pointed her finger and asked, "Hey, okay if we tag along?"
Viney smiled as she happily said, "Sure! Come on!"
They all pulled out their staffs and prepared to fly while Barkus climbed on Puddles' back and smiled as he barked at Vee.
She smiled politely and said, "No thanks. I'll fly myself."
Everyone except Luz was amazed as Vee transformed her arms into wings, then they all took flight as Viney and Jerbo led the way.
Hunter rode with Willow as they flew next to Vee when Willow happily said, "Vee that's amazing! I didn't know you could fly!"
Vee kept flapping her wings as she smiled and said, "Neither did I! Eda helped me learn that I could do more!"
Jerbo, Viney, and Barkus lead them all to a certain part of the forest where showed them some animals they were healing. Vee liked this and Willow started growing beautiful flowers that made the area look very lovely and peaceful.
At one point Viney excitedly leaned toward Vee as she said, "I have so many questions about basilisks! I've read about them but now that you're here I can learn even more about them!"
Vee happily answered her questions about basilisks, then she demonstrated her shapeshifting abilities and amazed Jerbo, Barkus, and Viney. After an hour they all finally went their separate ways and flew home; Hunter rode with Luz while Vee happily flew beside them.
When they walked into the Owl House Eda smiled as she said, "You're back late."
King ran to them and happily climbed up Luz's body and laid on her head while she smiled lovingly while Hunter and Vee watched.
Eda smiled at Vee as she asked, "So, how was it?"
Vee smiled as she happily said, "It was great! I had a lot of fun and made some new friends! Some of the kids were mean to me but some were really nice."
Eda smiled sassily as she commented, "Sounds like my days at the stand."
Luz smiled as she held her palms up and said, "Well, I think this week's off to a great start."
Over the next four days Luz did many fun things with her friends both in and outside of school as they all had great times. One day Luz visited the HAS and told them a little about the human realm, then she made it look like she removed her thumb, which shocked everyone except Gus and Hunter. On another day Vee came to visit again Luz showed her the secret tunnels that Eda created when she was a student at Hexside. Then Vee demonstrated her shapeshifting abilities to the Illusion class; she turned into Emira, then Edric, then Gus. They were delighted by her powers and the Illusion teacher also commended her shapeshifting abilities with respect. After school was the Flyer Derby game, as Luz joined the Emerald Entrails and wore a similar outfit with green face paint that looked like cat whiskers. Eda, Hunter, Amity, Vee, and King were in the crowd as they sat on the bleachers and watched the game while cheering for Luz and the others. King sat on Vee's tail as he happily cheered for Luz; with her help the Emerald Entrails won the game for Hexside. The next day Luz joined Hunter in the Potion class as she helped him create an elixir like the ones that Eda and Lilith would drink.
Each day while they were at school, Eda would open up her stand and sell human items; business was booming as people wanted things to help rebuild their homes. Eda also helped Vee learn more about herself as she and King helped show her some other stuff she could do. Vee learned how to use her shapeshifting abilities for combat as she learned to give herself sharp claws and teeth. Lilith also helped Hunter learn more about himself as she helped him discover other things he could do with his new powers. He learned how to use powerful yellow blasts of magical energy from his fingers, he also learned to construct objects out of earth and create small yellow force-fields. After school one day, Luz and her friends went out into the Boiling Isles to help people rebuild their homes and businesses. Luz still ran into some people who did not like what she did or blamed her for what happened to the Boiling Isles, and Vee also met some other people who did not like her. But their friends had their backs and helped them through these tough times as they reminded them of all the good they had done.
On Friday evening they were in Eda's room as she held four vials of King's blood as she said, "Okay, four vials of Titan Blood. Two for you so you can get there and back, and two for us in case we need to come to you."
She gave two to Luz, who looked up at Eda and said, "Thanks Eda. You sure you don't want to come."
Eda smiled respectfully as she held her hand up and said, "Thanks kids, but I need to stay here and sell stuff to put food on the table."
King climbed on Luz's back as he happily said, "Well I'm coming! I'm ready for more human adventure!"
Luz smiled at him before looking at Vee as she said, "What about you Vee?"
Vee smiled politely as she said, "You know, it's tempting but I think I'll stay here at the Owl House. Tell Camila I said hi."
Luz nodded as she agreed to do so, then Hunter reluctantly asked, "Luz, while you're there… Do you think you could try to learn anything about…"
Luz knew what he was going to say as she smiled and sincerely said, "Sure Hunter, I'll see if I can find out anything more about Caleb."
Eda then walked out of the room as she said, "Okay, now that that's taken care of us let's get dinner ready."
The kids watched her leave before looking back at each other as Vee commented, "So tomorrow it's back to the human realm for another week."
Luz started walking while she said, "Yeah, but there's something I want to try first."
The four of them went to their room and managed to get the Echo Mouse to project a video from Philip's diary.
They watched the black and white video showing Philip's silhouette as he said, "Gathering the ingredients needed to construct the portal door has been most difficult. Many of the ingredients are hare to find and those who have the easier ingredients are very reluctant to share them with me."
Luz glared as she angrily said, "Probably because they knew not to trust you."
They kept watching the video as they heard Philip say, "Still I must not give up. I must acquire these ingredients and construct my portal back to the human realm. No matter how long it takes."
The video stopped and the Echo Mouse fell asleep as Hunter bitterly said, "It took a lot longer than he thought it would."
Eda walked in and said, "Hey kids, dinner's ready."
Luz smiled as she said, "Hey Eda, we've been going through Philip's diary and we may have found some things that might help us."
Eda showed a bit of concern before narrowing her eyes while she said, "Luz, I don't like that you're still trying to learn from Belos' journal."
Luz narrowed her eyes with disdain as she said, "Neither do I, but I need it to figure out how to make a working portal door so we don't have to keep drawing blood from King."
King held his tail in discomfort as he said, "That does sound good to me."
Hunter folded his arms as he admitted, "Belos may have been evil, but we can still use his knowledge for good."
Vee expressed confusion as she said, "I don't get it. If Belos created the old Portal Door why did he need it back?"
The others all looked at her as Luz curiously asked, "What do you mean?"
Vee glanced at the others as she explained, "Well, you said he wanted the Portal Door from you when you saved Eda from the Petrification Ceramony."
Luz nodded as she said, "Yeah, so I destroyed it."
Hunter held his hand up as he added, "And he had me help rebuild it for the Day of Unity."
Vee nodded but showed confusion as she said, "Yeah but he's the one who built it in the first place."
King pointed at Eda as he replied, "Yeah, then Eda found it around where that really old portal is."
Eda nodded as she theorized, "That's right. Belos must have lost it a long time ago, or someone stole it from him."
Vee understood but still showed confusion as she held her palms up and asked, "Maybe, but if he made the original Portal Door, why did he need it back so badly? Why didn't he just build another one from scratch?"
Seeing her point, they all looked up in thought before Luz guessed, "Maybe he forgot how he made the old one. He built it over three hundred years ago, maybe he forgot how he did it. I'd probably forget how I did if it was that old, that's why you write it down."
Vee then held her palms up as she asked, "Then why did he give it to the library?"
Luz suddenly froze in fear as she stared forward and remembered her nightmare of Belos in the human realm. She remembered him telling her how he donated his diary to the library so that Luz would find it as part of his plan.
Luz then smiled nervously as she said, "Who knows? Belos wasn't just evil, he was crazy. Who knows what went on in his mind?"
Eda smiled as she brushed it off and said, "Yeah, good point. Come on. Let's get some food in those stomachs of yours."
She walked out and they smiled as they followed her as they prepared to eat dinner; after they left Belos' spirit appeared in the bedroom. He stared at the door they all went out before looking down at the Echo Mouse, who looked up at him before recoiling in fear. He then flew through the wall and flew toward the forest near the Owl House and landed in front of his new servant. Standing before him was someone around the same height as Luz, and they were dressed almost exactly like Belos in his Emperor clothes. However, the person wore a mask that looked like that of the Golden Guard, but the mask also went over and covered the back of the person's head.
The person silently looked up at Belos as he pointed at them and ordered, "Our moment draws near. Tell Odalia to gather the loyalists."
The mysterious person nodded and turned and left without a word, then Belos turned back to the Owl House with an evil smile. Later, after dinner, everyone in the Owl House was getting ready for bed; the kids went to their bedroom as Hunter and Luz changed to their sleep clothes. Hunter sat on his bed while Raine sat on her sleeping bag and King joined her as he yawned with a tired expression.
King had his eyes half-open as he said, "Guess we should get some rest for tomorrow."
Luz smiled as he held her hand out and then held up Eda's bell cittern while she said, "Wait, before bed I want to share something with you guys. Eda's been teaching me bards. She can't play as good as she used to but Raine's been helping and they taught me a few. So I want to play one for you guys, so far this one's my favorite."
She closed her eyes and played the instrument and put her heart into her work as she played "Raine's Rhapsody". Hunter and Vee smiled as they watched her play while King had an interested look in her eyes, but Luz kept her eyes shut while she smiled tenderly. While she kept playing a light pink hue covered the walls and little dim lights appeared around her while some objects in the room started to float. Hunter and Vee's jaws dropped while theirs and King's eyes widened and they all looked around in shock. Luz kept playing with her eyes closed, not knowing what was going on around her, then she finished playing and the lights vanished and the floating objects softly landed without a sound.
Luz opened her eyes and smiled at them as they stared at her and King said, "Luz, that was amazing!"
She showed a flattered expression as she said, "Aww, thanks King."
Hunter shook his head in shock as he said, "No that's not what he means! How did you do that?!"
Luz was confused as she said, "Do what?"
Vee pointed at Luz as she said, "You did Bard Magic! When you played that there were lights everywhere and things were floating!"
Luz was confused but smiled as she brushed it off while she said, "Huh? Aww thanks guys, but you don't have lie to make me feel good about myself."
Hunter shook his head as he said, "No seriously! You were really doing Bard Magic!"
Luz smiled as she brushed it off again and said, "Guys, I haven't been able to do magic by myself since we beat Belos. My glyphs don't work now that the Titan is finally dead, but I've grown to accept that. I'll find another way to do magic someday."
King stood up and pointed at her as he said, "But Luz, you can do magic now! You can do it when you play that instrument!"
Hunter nodded and expressed curiosity as he said, "Yeah, and if you can do that who knows what else you can do?"
Luz put the cittern away and laid down on her bed with her blanket over her as she said, "I appreciate what you're doing guys. But I'm still just a human, and until I learn another way I'll settle for doing magic with Stringbean. Goodnight."
She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep while the others stared at her, shocked that she was not listening to them. The three of them turned to each other with baffled expressions but soon they decided to let it go and then they went to sleep.
Author's note: Things are looking good for the Owl House gang, but there is still trouble coming toward them. They are learning more about each other and about themselves as they seek answers on each of their journeys. We see some character development and a little bit of foreshadowing of future events. They all remain loyal to each other and that will help when the time comes. Please review.
