Our Wild Family

by Littleladybaker

Ten years after their daughter went missing, Luz Noceda stumbled into the owl house and into their lives. But is there more to this human girl than meets the eye? Who IS Evan? And what exactly is the Day of Unity? Basically a retelling of the series but with a few twists and every one is a little bit younger. Amber is there as well but she doesn't have a character tag.

10. Back to School

Back to School

Eda carefully bottled up the last of the potion. As much as she enjoyed teaching Evan and Luz her craft, she was itching to get out of the lab. They had been in there to long already.

"And that's the last of it." She shoved the cork in the bottle, "Now, let's get out of here. I don't care about the mess. There's nothing volatile in here and we can clean tomorrow."

She turned back to her students and froze. Evan had his hands clamped over his mouth as his shoulders shook. Luz's hair, it seamed, did not love the humidity in the lab and had frizzed out more than even Lilith's did.

"What?" She blinked up at her.

"You've got hair like Ma," Evan giggled.

Eda shook her head, "I don't think Lily's ever puffed up like that…"

Luz tried to flatten the frizz, "I can try to straighten it again."

"Absolutely not," Eda ushered her and Evan towards the stairs, "I know you've been trying to grow out the curls. Don't worry. I know someone who knows what to do."

Luz followed Eda's gentle pull on her shoulders through the kitchen and into the living room. Amber was sitting in front of her music stand by the window, rehearsing a new flute piece. Raine was hunched over the coffee table which was littered with work they needed to grade. King was curled up on the sofa beside the sofa, Francois tucked into his arm.

"Rainestorm?" Eda called, "I think someone might need your assistance."

"One moment, Calamity. I'm almost done with this one."

Amber looked up from her sheet music.

*SQUACK!*

She choked into her flute and lowered it into her lap. King startled awake and looked around. He stared at Luz for a moment before rolling off the sofa laughing.

"You have hair like Gran!" Amber laughed.

Raine looked up and gasped, eyes wide.

"Is it really that bad?" Luz tried to flatten it again.

"Yeah. I should have braided it before we started brewing." Eda grabbed her hands and lowered them.

"Mine's braided," Evan pushed past.

"emYouem can go home," Eda told him, "We're done for the day and your folks will be home soon."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved over his shoulder and summoned Flapjack, "See you tomorrow."

Raine took a deep breath and stacked their papers. Then, they smiled.

"Don't worry, Luz," They told her, "Just because my hair isn't as curly doesn't mean that I don't know how to take care of it. Go grab your Azura book and meet me in the kitchen. Ok?"

"Mm-kay…"

"And put on your jamies," Eda twirled her finger and changed her own clothes.

"Really?" Luz looked up at the clock, "But it's still early."

"Yeah. We're not going anywhere today," Eda shrugged, "Hey, Am-bam, go get your basket."

Amber gasped, wings quivering, before bolting up the stairs. Luz watched her go before following at a much slower pace. She heard Amber messing around in her own room and running back down the stairs while she was still changing into her Azura pajamas. She grabbed her book and went to the kitchen.

Raine was standing by the sink in their own pajamas, fiddling with their scroll. Luz's glanced down at the worn out old teddy bear slippers they were wearing. A pillow sat on one side of the sink and an assortment of potions on the other.

"I'm here."

They looked up from their scroll and smiled, "Alright then. Come on over."

Luz stepped up to the counter. She gasped as Raine picked her up under the arms and sat her on the counter.

"Sorry. Now," They put one hand on the tap, "Has anyone ever washed your hair before?"

"Um, Tia Camilla did a couple of times," She said, looking at the sink, "But never like this."

Raine nodded, "I thought so. It might take a little while. That's why I asked you to bring your book. Ok?"

Luz nodded back. Raine held the back of her head and lay her back against the pillow with her head hanging back into the sink. They gently pulled her hair out into the sink.

"You let me know if the water is to hot or cold," They told her.

Luz nodded and tried to read her book. Raine used a cup to pour warm water over her hair from her scalp.

"Raine?"

"Yes, Luz?"

She lay her book on her belly, "What did Amber mean when she said I have hair like her Gran?"

Raine smiled, "She was referring to the way my mother's hair frizzes in the humidity." They reached for one of the potion bottles, "You're hair is kind of between hers and Aunt Lily's. Curlier than mine is but nowhere near as curly as, say, Uncle Darius'."

"I though you and Uncle Darius weren't blood relatives?"

They shrugged and booped her nose, "The comparison still stands."

Luz closed her eyes as Raine began to hum. They carefully worked each of the potions into her hair, rinsing in between. Then, they turned off the tap and dried her hair with an old shirt.

"Almost done, Mia Stella." They whispered, "Luz?"

She hummed quietly. They chuckled.

"Luz? Wake up, Starshine."

"Hmm?" She blinked blearily up at them.

"We're all done in here." Raine explained gently. "We're going to do the rest in the living room."

"Mm-kay."

Her voice was fuzzy with sleep as she tried to sit up. She swayed dangerously an Raine wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

"Alright. Looks like I'm going to carry you."

"Mm-kay..."

Raine slipped their other arm under her knees and rest her against their chest. Luz hummed again and tucked her head against their shoulder.

In the living room, Amber was seated on the floor in front of Eda. Eda sat on the sofa with Amber's basket of hair supplies and styling her daughter's long, thick blond hair in whatever she wanted. King was curled up in Amber's lap, half asleep and playing with Francois.

Amber looked up and smiled, "Did she fall asleep?"

"Just a little."

"That can happen," Eda nodded sagely, "I fall asleep when Zaza does my hair, too."

"M' not asleep," Luz mumbled.

"Sure you're not, Pumpkin."

Raine rolled their eyes and sat Luz next to Amber. Then, they sat behind her and pulled out a comb.

"I think I'm just going to comb it out and pop a bonnet on it tonight." They told her, "Then you can head to bed."

Luz nodded and relaxed as Raine pulled a wide toothed comb through her hair. Raine tried their best to be gentle and not pull when they came across the tangles. King yawned and crawled into her lap.

*BAM!*

"Luz!" Gus shouted as he burst through the door, "I need your help!"

Luz sat up so fast King rolled off her lap and she pulled the comb out of Raine's hand.

"I'm awake!"

"Sorry," Gus hung his head, "Looks like I interrupted hair wash day."

"It sounded like an emergency," Raine took the comb from Luz's hair and gently guided her back to her seat.

"It is!" Gus leaned on the coffee table, "I need your help! There's a new kid in the Human Appreciation Society and he's trying to get me removed as President of the club! He said all of my human stuff was fake and then brought out a bunch of fake human stuff himself! They were touching things!"

"Hey," Eda crossed her arms, "I sold you most of that junk! It make be junk but it's real junk. I can't keep a reputation selling knock offs."

"Ok." Luz tilted her head back as Raine pulled the bonnet over her hair, "But how can I help?"

"You're human right? You've lived your whole life in the human realm!" Gus grinned, "You could come in as a special speaker!"

"Well, I have lived most of my life in the human realm," She looked over at Amber then up at Eda and Raine, "Can I go? I promise I'll stay out of trouble."

"Don't promise that," Raine told her, "Cause as much trouble as you can without us having to do paperwork or pay for anything."

"I still don't know why you want to go to school when I can teach you everything right here." Eda rolled her eyes.

"Amber goes to school." Gus pointed out.

"No. emIem go to a special school for bards and am tutored by family friends that specialize in my specific talents." Amber lay one hand on her chest and held her head high before looking up at her parents, "But can I go tomorrow too? I wanna see the chaos and I'll show Luz and her friends how to cause special chaos."

Raine and Eda exchanged a look. Raine shrugged. Eda sighed.

"Fine. But I'm sending Evan too. No point in only keeping one of you rugrats around."

"What about meeee?" King wined.

"You get to stay with meeee!" Raine teased, "We can work on your sonic shout."

"The king is appeased," King crossed his arms and turned back to Gus.

"Great!" Gus lit up, "I'll meet you three outside the school before class tomorrow!"

"Yay!" Luz cheared, "Maybe this time I'll get to go to the bard class with Skara! Oh! Or the healing class with Viney! She was wearing the healing track uniform when we saw her at her mom's clinic."

Raine shuttered but smiled, "You kids have fun tomorrow. But, for now, Gus, I think you need to be heading home. It's almost dark. Do you want me to walk you home?"

"No thanks. It's not far from town so I won't be in the forest after dark."

"Then I'm going to start dinner," Raine nodded and cracked their back as they stood, "Oof. Don't get old kids."

LLB

Eda sat on the stoop as Amber, Luz, and Evan made their way down the path to Hexside.

"You're sulking," Raine sat next to her, "Talk to me, Calamity."

"I just...I'm trying to protect her. You know what Hexside is like." She insisted, "It chews up anything unique and spits out bland mush. I mean, just look at our siblings."

"Hey, I think Dari and I turned out alright. All things considered." They crossed their arms, "And, if she's going to stay in the demon realm, whatever family she ends up with will probably send her to school anyway. I'd rather it be Hexside than St. Epiderm or, Titan forbid, Glandus."

"All I know is, you taught me and I turned out just fine," Hooty chirped and tried to eat a bug without leaving his window.

Raine turned back to Eda, "He's a bad example."

"We gotta get that kid into school." Eda couldn't take her eyes off their house demon.

"What about Evan?" Raine asked, "How do you think he'll react to being the only one in his entire friend group not going to school?"

"That one's not ours," Eda looked at them, "It's not actually our decision weather or not he goes to school."

"You're right," Lilith said, "It's ours."

"When did you get here?!" Eda jumped and turned.

"When you weren't looking," Darius shrugged, "Very perceptive, Owl Lady."

"You abomaported in," Raine deadpanned.

"I abomaported us in," Darius admitted, "It's harder to track us if I do that and, at this point, we really don't want Belos finding out that we're still in contact."

"Then what are you doing here?" Eda crossed her arms.

"We figured we should talk since all the kids would be at Hexside today." Lilith looked over her shoulder.

"Actually, King is still inside studying his runes."

"Most of the kids then." Lilith rolled her eyes, "If you two were really talking about enrolling that human of yours at Hexside, maybe it emisem about time we enroll Evan."

"What's wrong with what I've been teaching him?" Eda asked, "Heck, he even has Luz to practice Glyphs with now."

"All true," Darius agreed, "But Belos, somehow, found out that Evan isn't at a proper school. If he starts snooping around or sends someone to investigate, it could put our investigation emandem Evan in danger."

"We can't risk either at this point." Lilith insisted, "We've been able to keep him out of the limelight so far and we're so close to figuring out the "Day of Unity"."

Eda groaned, "I'm not winning this am I? We're going to have to actually go back to that place."

"I can just go if you'd rather stay here with King and Hooty," Raine offered, "But I think one of us has to go and fill out the paperwork."

"No. I'll go. He needed both of our signatures for Amber. He'll probably need both for Luz. Just...don't make me stay longer than I have too."

LLB

Luz skipped ahead of her sister and cousin as they wandered the path to Hexside, thick curls bouncing around her shoulders.

"Hey, why don't either of you go to Hexside?" She turned and walked backwards.

Evan shrugged, "You have to know two spells to get enroll in more than the baby classes since that's what they teach there. When I was old enough to enroll, we already knew I couldn't do proper magic and I didn't even have two glyphs at the time, let alone actual spells. We decided I would be home schooled to learn what I could."

"And I was enrolled at Hexside," Amber admitted, "But I got expelled on my first day."

"Expelled!?" Luz gasped and stumbled, "How!?"

"The teacher had asked us all to demonstrate one of our spells and I decided to show off my sonic screech." She grinned, "I accidentally blew out all the windows in the Bard wing. Zaza was fixing them for weeks and they, Mama, and Aunt Rosie decided it would be best if I worked on my vocal magic for a while."

Luz just stared at her sister for a while, bumping into Amity as they arrived at the school.

"Sorry, Amity," She said, facing forward.

"It's fine, Luz." Amity waved her off. "Gus was just telling us that you were coming to talk to the HAS today."

"Yup! I figured I'd take a look at the other tracks while I'm here. Skara did promise me a bard class after all."

"And, now that Willow's in the Plant track she can show you a plant class," Gus waved them along toward the school.

"Yeah!" Luz grinned, "Where is Willow?"

"Not sure," Amity shrugged, "She's running a little late today. Why did you two come here today?"

"I haven't been here in years and I don't have any classes today," Amber explained, "I figured I'd tag along and take a look around."

"I'm just along for the ride," Evan shrugged.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Willow burst out of the trees, "Hey, Luz. Guys! Guess what!"

"What?"

"Why are you shouting?"

"Why are you late?"

"DaddyandPapajustgavemetheoktotellyou! I'mgoingtobeabigsister!"

Everyone blinked.

"Can we get that one more time, Will?" Amber held up her hand, "But in an understandable language?"

"I'm gonna be a big sister!" Willow cheered, "Papa's gonna have a baby!"

"No way!"

"Congratulations!"

"Do they have a due date yet?"

"In a few months is all they told me," Willow shrugged, "Or maybe they did? I don't know. I was too excited to listen."

Her friends laughed. Then, a screech came from the school.

"That's the warning bell. Come one, we still have to get you guys signed in." Gus said and led the way up to the school.

Amber started to follow but stopped and looked back, "Luz? Is something wrong?"

Luz tilted her head, "Where do magic babies come from? I never really thought about it but when Willow said her Papa was pregnant...I just...I'd never heard that before."

Amber thought for a moment and shrugged, "Magic. When two people love each other a whole lot they may decide to have a baby and the magic helps them."(1)

Luz shook her head, "It can't be that simple. That's emnotem how Mrs. Hopkins explained it…"

Amber wrinkled her nose, "I'm not going into more detail. That is above my pay grade."

LLB

Principle Bump looked up as his office door opened once more. He smiled when he saw the four witches and little demon that had come to see him and conjured more chairs.

"Well now. To what do I owe this pleasure? You know, I just had the rest of your children in here a moment ago to fill out visitor passes."

"And that is why we're here," Lilith sat in one chair.

"We would like to enroll our son, Evan, at Hexside." Darius explained.

"Wonderful!" Bump grinned, "The son of two coven heads will be an excellent addition to our student body." He handed them the paperwork and turned to Raine and Eda, "And what can I do for the two of you?"

Eda took a deep breath and Raine put a hand on her knee. King looked up at her.

"We would like to enroll our human, Luz, at Hexside." She said, "And before you get all judgy-"

"That's not a bad idea."

Lilith snorted.

"What?"

"I believe young Augustus made an excellent point when he explained her visit today." Bump stood from his chair and went over to his file cabinet, "It would be good for Hexisde to have such a student that knows so much about the human realm. She's bright, eager to learn as you are no doubt aware. There's just a little mess we need to get squared away before she can enroll."

"I thought Zaza took care Amber's mess." King leaned forward in Eda's lap.

"I wasn't referring to that mess," He slammed a large stack of papers down on the desk. "I'm talking about the necrotic experiments, the graffiti, the scams, the cheating, emMiss. Jenkinmeyer's teethem. All the trouble em you twoem caused when emyouem were here."

Darius and Lilith hunched more over their paperwork and tried to control their laughter.

"You didn't make us do this when we enrolled Amber!" Eda complained, "And Terra wiped my record after the IFWAT."

"Yes, she did," Bump put a hand on each stack of papers, "These are all from emafterem the IFWAT. The messes you embothem made."

"Alright. But you know those two were in on at emleastem half of that crap!" Raine insisted, pointing at Darius and Lilith.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Raine," Darius smirked.

Bump smirked himself, "And Amber was enrolled under Principal Faust's rule. If you want to enroll emLuzem at Hexside, you'll have to clean it all up." With another twirl of his finger, the pens flew from Darius and Lilith's hands, "And if emyouem want to enroll your son, you'll be helping them."

They elder siblings glared at him for a moment before turning to the younger two. King giggled.

LLB

Amber followed Luz and Skara towards the bard classrooms. Despite the 'No running in the halls' signs posted around the hall, the younger girls dashed around another corner hand-in-hand. They jolted to a stop just before the next hall.

Two tall, thin demons stood in the hallway holding twisted shepard's hooks. Both sniffed the air and crept along. Luz tightened her grip on Skara's hand and took a step back towards Amber.

"What are those?" she whispered.

"Trouble Wraiths," Skara explained, "They smell trouble. Principal Bump says someone from one of the covens sent the. To prep for an Emperor's Coven visit."

"The Emperor's Coven doesn't usually employ Trouble Wraiths," Amber watched them go, "They treat all crimes as equal and they've been known to turn on their employers if they make any perceived crime."

Luz swallowed thickly. They wait for the Trouble Wraiths to move on before they continued, walking this time. Skara led the rest of the way and into the classroom. Several other students were tuning their instruments and warming up.

"There you are, Skara." The teacher smiled down at them, "Oh. Who's your friend?"

"Ms. Aria, this is my new friend Luz. She's here to speak at the HAS and wanted to look at the tracks while she's here."

"Hey, Ms. Aria." Amber waved over their heads.

"Amber?" The teacher lift her eyebrow, "And what brings emyouem back to Hexside?"

"My family is hosting Luz this summer," She hugged Luz from behind, "So I'm visiting with her."

Ms. Aria smiled and nodded, "And have you gotten a better hand on that screech of yours?"

"Of course I have." Amber crossed her arms.

"Well, Luz. Has Raine given you an instrument yet?" Aria asked her.

"Yup!" She fished her flute out of her bag.

"Alright, why don't you warm up while Skara tunes her harp before we begin class."

Luz nodded and pulled a chair up next to Skara's. Amber took the opportunity to talk to her old teacher and help some of the other students warm up. Luz enjoyed her Bard class even though it was different trying to learn with other students around. When the bell screamed again Skara packed up her harp and Luz tucked her flute away. Skara's next class was a general education and Luz would be looking at another track.

Luz bounced as they left the bard classroom.

"That was emamazingem!" She cheered, "I thought it was fun when Zaza was teaching but I really liked getting to play with you and the others."

Amber lift an eyebrow and nodded, "Yeah, that is a definite advantage to a traditional classroom over the way we learn at home."

"I'm glad you liked it," Skara grinned and hugged Luz tightly, "Maybe you'll consider the Bard track if you get to enroll. But I need to get to my next class. See you at lunch."

"See you at lunch!" Luz squeezed her once more and waved her off before taking Amber's hand.

"So, what track do you want to look at next?" She asked.

Luz hummed and looked around. She looked at the banners on the wall. She frowned.

"There isn't a track for the Emperor's Coven?"

"Nope." Amber shook her head, "In real school, you have to chose one track to study. That way only the best of the best can get into the Emperor's Coven."

Luz hummed again and ducked her head. She perked up as soon as they rounded the corner.

"Viney!"

Viney was trudging her way down the hall to her next class but straightened when she heard her name. She looked around and lit up when she saw the sisters.

"Hey, Luz! Hey, Amber! Evan said you guys would be here today," she gave Luz a one armed hug, "Speaking of, where is he?"

"He went to a plant class with Willow," Luz shrugged, "I went to a Bard class with Skara so I'll check out Plant after lunch. Can I came with you to a Healing class?"

Viney deflated and wrinkled her nose, "You don't want to do that."

Luz frowned, "What."

Viney shook her head, "Don't get me wrong! I love studying Healing. But the teacher is a bit…"

"Awful?" Another girl in a blue healing uniform said.

"Yeah. That."

"Oh." Luz hung her head.

Viney bit her lip and shrugged, "Tell you what. I have usually visit Puddles in the Beast Keeping barn during lunch. Do you wanna come?"

"Yes!" Luz lit up. "Yes, please!"

Viney laughed and Amber put a hand on Luz's shoulder to keep her from bouncing away.

"That isn't going to interfere with your meeting?" She asked. "And I thought you were going to eat with Skara."

"Nope!" Luz grinned up at her, "The HAS meeting is embeforeem lunch."

"Skara's welcome to come too, if she wants." Viney shrugged, "Her cousin, Cat, is in class with us so I can ask if they want to come.

"You're going to the HAS meeting?" The other healing student asked.

"Yup!" Luz chirped, "But it's a surprise. So don't tell anyone I told you."

"Cool! We've never had a visitor before!" She held out her hand, "I'm Bo."

"Luz." She shook the offered hand.

The bell screamed again.

"Oops. Gotta go to class." Viney took off down the hall.

"It was nice to meet you, Luz." Bo waved as she ran.

"Byeee!"

Amber grinned and ruffled Luz's hair, "Aww! Look at you makin' friends!"

Luz shrieked and bat her hand away.

LLB

A few halls away, Lilith ad Eda were faced with the girls locker room.

"I don't want to do this!" Eda wined between her teeth.

"There's whiny, teenage rebel I remember." Bump pat her on the back.

Lilith shook her head and took a deep breath, "We are the strongest witches on the Boiling Isles. We just need to put on our big girl pants and round up a bunch of ghosts we released when we were teenagers."

Eda glared at her, "When was the last time emyouem used beast keeping magic?"

"We just need to put on our big girl pants and round up a bunch of ghosts we released when we were teenagers."

Eda groaned and pushed through the door.

LLB

"Alright. So you've seen Abomination, Bard, and Illusion; you have Plant and Beast Keeping planned; and we've vetoed Healing for now." Amber counted on her fingers, "That leaves Potion, Construction, and Orical. Which one were you thinking next?"

Luz looked around the hall at the students still changing classes. Some were leaving track classes for general education; others were leaving general education for tracks; and still others were heading to study halls and free periods or clubs. She spotted Gus down the hall. With all the different uniforms and people, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. Then, she spotted Gus down the hall, talking to a girl in an Orical uniform. She smiled and hurried down to them.

"Hey! Gus!"

He turned and grinned, "Luz! Amber! Oh!" He gestured to the student he was talking to, "Celeste, these are my friends Luz and Amber. Guys, this is my neighbor Celeste."

"Hi." Celeste waved cheerfully, hands covered by the long purple sleeves of her uniform.

"Hi," Luz waved back, "Hey, Gus. I know we still have a while before the HAS meeting but I can't decide what class to look at next. Any suggestions?"

Gus blinked; then looked at Celeste; then back at Luz.

"Have you tried Orical yet?" She offered, "I could show you my class."

"Really?" Luz turned to the younger girl.

"Yeah. Orical is a lot of fun." Celeste assured her.

"Celeste is in the broadcast club," Gus said, "She's one of the best."

"Oh! You!" Celeste flapped her sleeve at him, "You just have to say that because I live next door."

"Hey, Celeste," Another boy stepped up, arms crossed smugly over his chest. "Hello, emMr. Presidentem."

Celeste sighed and turned to the boy, "Hello, Matt."

'Matt' smirked and looked at Luz and Amber, "Who are your friends? Is this the "human" you mentioned? Looks like a normal witchlet to me."

"Human?" Celeste looked back at Luz.

"Um?" Luz looked at Gus.

He pulled frantically at his ears and hissed, "Dazzle! Dazzle!"

"Oh!" She grinned and tossed back her hair, "Tada! Gus asked me to come to the HAS as a special guest because I grew up in the human realm."

Matt and Celeste's eyes grew wide. Matt's face turned ashen but Celeste leaned forward and rubbed at her eye. Amber chuckled.

"What!? But how?" Matt choked, "Where did you find a human?"

"Luz is staying with my family," Amber put a hand on Luz's shoulder, "And Gus met her because his best friend, Evan, is my little cousin. So he gets to be friends with her, too."

"Yeah! And since I'm already here for the day, I thought I would look at all the tracks." Luz told him, "Do you mind if I follow you to a...construction? class later?"

Matt blinked and recrossed his arms, "But that's mixing magic? You can't do that."

Luz frowned but Celeste stepped forward.

"Luz isn't actually a student at Hexside right now. She can go to whatever classes she wants." She grabbed Luz's wrist, "Speaking of, we need to get to class. Come on. Luz."

"Oh. Ok. Bye, Matt! Bye, Gus!" Luz waved, "Amber? Are you coming?"

"Nah. You have fun," Amber waved back, "I'm going to track down Evan."

"Kay!"

Luz stumbled as Celeste tugged on her wrist again. After turning a few corners, Celeste slowed down let go of her.

"Sorry about that." She whispered, "Matt just grinds my gears."

"How do you know him?" Luz asked, "Does he live near you and Gus?"

"Not really. He and his brother just moved here from Latissa since his dad got custody. But is dad works with my parents so we've known each other for a really long time. He's basically that annoying cousin that you just have to deal with."

"Oh." Luz hung her head, "I wouldn't know much about that. Evan is the first cousin I've ever really had. So, your parents are construction witches? How did you end up in the Orical track?"

"No. My mom is a healer and my Nini is a potioner." Celeste giggled, "I got into Orical as an alternate form of visual aid."

"...What?"

"I'm legaly blind because there's something wrong with my eye." Celeste tapped a stone on her chest and a little spirit slithered out and onto her shoulder, "So, I have an assistant Spirit to help me see. I can see through his eyes when my own eye isn't enough. This is Rufus."

"Coo!"

"Right! Mr. Porter taught me how to use him when I was still little so I figured I would learn Orical magic and find out what else I could see."

"And your parents were ok with that? You not going into either of their fields?"

"Of course. They just wanted me to be sure that this is what I wanted. And it is. I emloveem learning Orical magic and there's so much to see!" She tilted her head and looked at Luz, "Like the fact that you're wearing an illusion stone."

Luz froze, "What?"

"Don't worry. Rufus and I can't see through it or anything. No one can. But Rufus can see a sort of haze around you that lets us know you're wearing on," Celeste explained, "Gus and some of the teachers can probably see it too. But, unless there's a medical necessity, no one should ask about it."

Luz nodded but didn't make to follow her. Celeste stopped and turned back. She tilted her head.

"How about this: Are you hiding an injury?"

Luz shook her head. Celeste smiled.

"Then don't worry about it. A lot of people use illusion stones to just avoid getting ready in the morning." She turned and pointed to Amity's older siblings, "Even the Blyte twins are wearing them. I bet they're not even wearing their uniforms."

Luz nodded and chuckled weakly. "They're the ones who gave me mine. I guess they're really good at making cosmetic illusions?"

"Oh, yeah. It's kind of their thing. But I bet even Gus could make one if you wanted to change your hair color or something."

Luz smiled and followed Celeste down the hall, "Orical magic is an assisted magic right? Viney's mom said that I can only do assisted magic right now."

"Not all but a lot if it is. I'll show you when we get to the classroom but I bet my teacher could help you with some accommodations if you really wanted."

LLB

Just around the corner from the girls, Raine set down their mop and bucket and faced the wall. They blew their damp bangs off their forehead.

"Alright. emYouem are the last of it." They told the graffiti, "Let's not make this any more difficult than it has to be."

They adjusted their grip on the mop and attacked. The graffiti jumped out of the way.

'Nobi! No!'

Their boots slid on the wet floor and they tumbled to the ground. Pushing their wet hair out of their eyes, they growled.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way."

LLB

No sooner had Luz and Celeste left the classroom than Gus and Evan grabbed Luz and hurried off.

"Bye, Celeste! Thanks for letting me come to class with you!" Luz shouted over her shoulder.

"Bye, Luz. Be careful! Watch out for Trouble Wraiths!"

"We will!" Gus waved over his shoulder.

"Where's Amber?" Luz asked.

"She's why we're running," Evan gasped, "She came to find me when I was in an Abomination class with Amity and I emmayem have hit her with a bunch of abomination slime…"

"Gross! Evan, you know how long that stuff takes to wash out of hair!"

"Why do you think we are running!"

They slowed as they approached the club room and Gus took a deep breath. He pulled his crown out of his pocket and strapped it onto his head. Luz giggled but Evan yelped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Amber yanked him back.

"How did you catch up to us so fast?" He gasped.

"I have my ways and boy are you lucky Andy and Amity knew how to get that gunk out of my hair." She hissed, "Otherwise you would have been in for a world of hurt when we get home."

Evan chuckled and swallowed as he turned to watch Gus open the door. Luz had to wonder why he was playing with a paperclip but to each their own. The other students stilled and watched expectantly as he marched in.

"Human Appreciation Society! It is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you...Luz, the human!"

Something churned in her stomach at that but she danced right into the room none the less. Amber and Evan dancing in right behind her.

"Tada!" She cheered.

"And her host family." Gus shrugged, "Luz, would you care to inspect the artifacts."

"Of course, Mr. President."

She stepped up to the desk, waving at Bo as she went, and inspected the artifacts. She hummed and tilted her head. Then she looked over at Gus's artifacts and at the board.

"Actually, they aren't bad."

"Wait!" Matt stood up and froze, "Wait. What?"

"They aren't bad," Luz shrugged, "They're defiantly fake but they're labeled correctly. That looks like a phone, that looks like a shoe. Gus's stuff is real but a lot of them are labeled wrong."

"But I got it all from Evan's aunt! This is what she said they are!" Gus insisted.

"Mama labels things wrong on purpose so that more people will buy them," Amber explained. "They're real but not always accurate."

Gus looked horrified and the other club members began to whisper among themselves. Matt simply stared at them, baffled. Luz hummed again and looked at the artifacts again.

"I think I have an idea." She said and began to move the artifacts around, tossing Matt's fakes in the trash and labeling Gus's real ones correctly, "In the human realm, we have different people who help run a club. The president runs it, makes plans, and organizes for guest speakers like myself; then we have a emviceem president who helps them and steps in if the president is absent. There can also be a treasurer who's in charge of the money and finances and a secretary who keeps track of what happens so there's not to much repetition. If Gus is president then Matt can be vice president and you two can work together and make the club even better. Two heads are better than one, after all."

They all starred at her before Gus sighed and turned to Matt.

"Maybe she has a point." He conceded, "What do you say, Mr. Vice President? Or would you rather we put it to a vote?"

Matt grumbled and looked around the room.

"I nominate Mattholomule as Vice President," Bo raised her hand, "All in favor?"

"Aye!" The other two students raised their hands as well.

Matt's cheeks darkened, "E-Even though I lied and everything was fake?"

"Sure, Matt." Eileen signed, "Like Luz said, they were good fakes. You know your stuff."

"I know how hard it can be to be the new kid," Luz put a hand on his shoulder, "I've been the new kid a lot over the years and, to be honest, I've lied a few times too to fit in. Just try to be honest from here out and I think we'll be ok."

He smiled and nodded, "Alright. Then, I will be honored to be the vice president of the Human Appreciation Society."

"Well, there's still a lot of club time left," Gus gestured to the rest of the artifacts, "Luz, would you like to tell us more about the human realm? None of us have ever been there before."

Luz grinned, "Sure thing. First of all, it's ok to touch most of this. It'll be pretty easy to get replacements if you need to since most of this is just every day stuff…"

Amber sat back at a desk and put her feet on the table, watching her little sister happily talk about the world she had grown up in. Evan butted in from time to time with something from one of the books he had read, making Luz laugh as she corrected him.

LLB

Eda and Lilith grumbled as they hauled their bags of ghosts to Principal Bump and slammed them down in front of him. Their hair dripped with ectoplasm and their clothes were wet from the showers the ghosts had turned on.

"There!" Eda huffed, "The girls locker room is now ghost free."

"Well, then." Bump grinned, "Let's see what we have next for you."

The door on the other side of the cafeteria slammed open and Raine trudged forward. Thier clothed and hair dripped as they dragged themself forward and thrust the mop into Bumps hands. They then stepped up next to Eda and rest their head on her shoulder.

"Oh. And...you've finished as well," Bump watched them, "In that case—"

*Slam!*

Darius snarled as he entered the room. Abomination stained his clothed and skin, his shoes squished as he walked, and even the abomination on his head seamed to be trying to make itself smaller as he stomped forward.

"Dari? You alright there?" Lilith reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.

He held up one hand, glove now stained purple, "No touching. The abominations are clean and, let me tell you, those were not mine."

"Wait. Do you just have us doing the school's maintenance at this point?" Eda growled.

"And where is King?" Raine lift their head.

"No I am not," Bump crossed his arms, "Those abominations have been there for thirty years I assumed they were his. And you son is just fine. I just put him in one of the baby classes for now."

"Well, I don't hear screaming so I guess he hasn't started a fight yet," Raine shrugged.

"Are we sure we want to send the kids here?" Eda groaned, "I don't know how much more of this I can take…"

The bell screamed and students began to flood the room.

"Ms. Lilith! Mr. Dari...us…" Amity slid to a halt in front of her mentors, "Oof. Um...Have you been messing with Dad's abomination matter? It's the only one I've ever seen stain like that…"

Darius snarled again, "I'm going to kill that hack the next time I see him…"

Lilith sighed through her teeth and turned back to Amity, "Um, Principal Bump just asked us to help with some things around the school."

"Oh. O—"

"Amity!"

Three other girls ran up to her, two grabbing each of her arms.

"Come on! Let's eat!" One in a blue Healing uniform insisted, glancing at Raine and tugging Amity's arm.

"Yeah!" The one in a red Bard uniform chirped, "Viney said she'd let us play with Puddles in the Beast Keeping barn after we're done!"

"Ugh! I don't know why you would want to be anywhere near that stinky place," Grumbled the last one in a bright yellow Potions uniform.

"You run along, Amity," Lilith waved her off, "We'll have Evan invite you over over the weekend if you'd like to talk."

"Ok!" She let her friends drag her off, "Bye! See you later!"

The four adults watched them run off wistfully and groaned. Bump smiled sadly and nodded.

Darius rubbed his forehead with his arm, "That boy is lucky we love him."

"Luz would love it here," Eda agreed, "Alright. What next, Bumpy Poo?"

Bump held up a plunger but cringed when he heard a scream from down the baby class wing.

"That'll be King," Raine snatched the plunger from Bump's hand and ran, "Your turn, Eda."

LLB

Luz was practically vibrating as she followed Willow, Gus, and Mat to the Beast Keeping Barn. Amber chuckled and shook her head.

"Luz, Amber, Evan!" Viney leaned out the door and waved, " and friends...Over here!"

In her corner of the barn was Puddles and a small collection of other young critters. Viney leaned in and heft the baby Griffon out of the pen. He shrieked and thrashed in her arms for a moment before relaxing and cooing.

"Alright, you can pet him now," She set him down, "He's just a little feisty at first. We're working on it."

"He's so cute!" Luz cooed, "Almost as cute as King! You're really going to train him to be a service animal?"

"Therapy animal," Viney corrected, joining her on the floor, "And only if I can get my teacher's approval. She insists that that would be Beast Keeping magic but I think it can be both."

"Amber?" A boy in an orange Beast Keeping uniform leaned in from the next pen, "What are you doing here?"

"Tobey!" She grinned, "I'm visiting with Luz and Evan. Why aren't you at lunch?"

Tobey hopped up onto the rail between the pens and waved over his giant spider, "May and I have a big exam coming up so I figured I would eat with her so we can work on some things."

Luz squealed and scrambled to her feet, "She's so cute and fuzzy! Can I pet her?"

"Sure. This is May. She's my silk spider," Tobey showed her how to pet the spider safely.

"A silk spider?" Luz gently pet May behind her mandibles.

"Yeah," Viney looked up, "They use the ones at the school to make the silk for some uniforms."

"That's right."

"This is Luz," Amber introduced, "She's the one I told you about at the college last week."

Tobey nodded and stepped back. Luz and her friends pet May and played with Puddles. Tobey shuffled over to Amber and watched for a moment.

"So...Since I have you here…" He looked down and shuffled his feet, "There's this thing coming up at the school and...we...we're allowed to invite people so…"(2)

Luz looked over her shoulder at the teens then back at Viney, "What's that all about?"

Viney leaned back then looked at Even. They both snickered.

"I think Tobey is trying to ask Amber to Grom," Evan whispered, "And mostly failing."

Luz's eyebrows shot up but she didn't get to ask what Grom was before the door to the barn opened again. Skara and Amity led the rest of their friends in and joined in the fawning over the animals.

"What took you guys so long?" She asked.

"Bascha insisted we eat embeforeem we come," Amity rolled her eyes, "But I guess it's better than having to wash our hands 2000 times to eat."

"I didn't want to come at all," Bascha insisted, "But there was no way I was eating alone."

"Oh, come on," Luz held up Puddles's paws and made him wave at her, "Look at how cute he is!"

"Yeah!" Viney grinned, "He's to young to even have spider breath. But, on the topic of food, we should wash up and eat soon if we want to finish before lunch period is over."

Luz's shoulders sagged but she nodded.

"Wait," Matt stood and stepped back towards the doors, "Before we go I wanna say something…"

"What is it, Matt?" Amber stepped up.

The doors burst open again the Trouble Wraiths marched in.

"It was her!" Matt shouted, pointing at Luz, "She's the outsider who encouraged everyone to mix magic!"

"What!?" Luz gasped and tried to scramble away.

One of the Trouble Wraith's hooked her with it's shepherd's hook but Amber pounced forward and unhooked it.

"What the Hells is going on here?" She snarled, "Luz has permission to be here and no one is mixing magic."

"Oh, really?" Matt gestured around the barn, "Than what do you call this? Only one kid here is a Beast Keeping student. Viney even admitted that she doesn't have permission to be working with Puddles."

"But I emdoem have permission to be here with my pet when I'm not in class!"

The Wraiths looked around.

"Luz is just here to look at what classes she might like to join," Amber snapped, "emIem was the one who encouraged her to look at more classes."

"And emyouem were the one who falsely called the Trouble Wraiths," Gus pointed out shoving Matt's hand out of the way, "And for what? Just to try and get Luz in trouble?"

The Wraiths hooked both boys and Amber.

"Wait! What?" Amber wiggled and tried to unhook herself.

"No! No!" Matt wriggled and turned, "I wasn't doing anything wrong! I honestly thought they were causing trouble!"

"I'm not even a student here!" Amber shouted.

"Amber!" Luz started to run after them but Evan grabbed her around the middle.

"No!" He told her, "The Trouble Wraiths will only take you, too. We have to find out where they're going and save them there."

"They should be headed to the detention pit," Amity stood and brushed off her uniform, "But I don't know where that is. Guys?"

The other students started shaking their heads. Viney looked down at her feet.

"I know where it is. I've been there before," She admited, "But you won't be able to get in. That's kind of the point. Only the adults can get in because only they have the spell. We need to find a teacher who'd be willing to open it for us. Tobey? Where's Mr. Kenai?"

"On lunch," The older student said, "Like most of the rest of the faculty."

"Then we'll just have to look around until we find someone." Evan let go of Luz, "Boscha, Amity, and Tobey, you three look down the Beast Keeping, Construction, and Potion halls; Luz, Skara, and Cat, you three search the Healing and Bard halls; Willow and Viney, you two are with me, we're going to search the Orical, Illusion, and Plant halls. Who ever finds an adult first, head straight to the Detention Pit. Let's go!"

LLB

Amber groaned as she was tossed into the detention pit.

"Great. Just great. Blow up a wing? Expelled. Bring my sister to school? Detention death sentence. So glad I don't actually go here."

"No! No! No!" Gus wined, scratching at the door, "I can't get detention! My dad will kill me!"

"You're both a bunch of drama queens," Matt rolled his eyes, "I was in detention loads of times at Glandus."

"Not surprising considering how much of a little shit you're being about all of this." Amber rounded on him, "And for what? Luz proved you were right at the HAS and got you elected Vice President. What the Hells is wrong with you?"

"You think I would settle for emviceem president?" Matt sneered, "No way! It's a deamon-eat-deamon world out there. If you're not on top then you're on the bottom. People will walk all over you."

"What happened to working together to make the HAS even better?" Gus turned and snarled.

"Matt," Amber sighed and relaxed, "This isn't Glandus. I'm not even a student here and I know that Hexside doesn't work that way."

The ground started to shake and a massive mouth opened below them.

"You sure?" Matt shouted, "Because this sure looks the same."

Amber tossed both boys over her shoulders and leapt out of the way of the mouth.

"Listen, I don't really want to die today." She told them, "I kind of have a family I want to get back to. So, if we want to make it out of here than we're going to have to work together. Understood?"

"Why should I help you?" Matt snarled.

"Because you don't want to get eaten by those things?" Gus pointed over his shoulder at the demons looking for them.

"I don't need your help. I get do this on my own!"

A glowing blue tung grabbed his ankle and began to drag him away. He screamed but Amber dug her heal into it and it let go.

"You sure about that?"

Matt growled, "Fine. But don't think this makes us friends or anything."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Gus growled back.

Amber nodded and looked around. "Alright then. I think I can get through the door. However, it's on the other side of the pit and all of those demons are between us and it. Thoughts?"

She pulled out her flute and sent a demon flying back into the pit. Matt hummed as he looked down.

"I might be able to close off part of the pit but it's way to big for me to cover it all."

"Even part of it is better than none of it," Amber kicked another demon to keep it away from the boys, "Gus, any ideas?"

He looked around and formed a small spell circle. Little copies of each of them appeared in their hiding place.

"I think I can make a distraction."

"Good. You first. Then, Matt, you cover part of the pit. I'll cross and use my shriek to open the door." She looked down at them, "Ready?"

They nodded.

"Go!"

Gus created a larger spell circle and spread it around the room. Duplicates of each of them appeared and started running around. Matt dived forward and created a spell circle of his own. A strip of constructed stone spread over the pit. With one last look at the younger two, Amber dashed out and ran across the new bridge.

*Crash!*

One of the demons leapt up and shattered the bridge. Amber was thrown to the side and tumbled into the pit. She screamed and latched onto the nearest glowing blue tendril.

"Get me out of here!" She shouted.

"Just fly up!" Matt shouted back, trying to repair the bridge.

"I can't!"

"What do you mean you can't? You have wings, don't you?"

"My wings don't work!"

"What?"

"Her wings were broken when she was little, Dingus!" Gus shouted, "Just save her and hurry! I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!"

Matt looked at Gus, then back at Amber. With a groan, he made another spell circle. Another demon slithered up to Amber.

"Um. Hi?"

A stone pillar hit her from below and she rocketed upwards. She screamed again and threw herself off before she was crushed against the ceiling. She tumbled to the floor and groaned.

"Thanks for the save but did you have to nearly kill me?" She asked running towards the door, "Boys! get over here and cover your ears!"

LLB

Principal Bump led his four helpers through the halls of Hexside on the way back to his office. Lilith rubbed at the small of her back, trying to ease the tension from bending down to scrape bum off the underside of the old desks. Darius was still trying to get the last of the abomination slime out of his clothes, his gloves having long since been thrown away. Raine cracked their neck and stretched their wrists, working in the bathrooms having done their carpel tunnel no favors.(3) Eda rolled her shoulders and adjusted King on her hip.

"Alright, Bump," Raine groaned, "We took care of everything on that list of yours. We even talked to Mrs. Jenkenmyer. Who, by the way, I'm amazed is still teaching."

Bump smiled and turned, "Then I think we're all clear to start that paperwork. It will be interesting to see how Hexside does with such students as your children."

A strange sound reached their ears. Starting as a quiet wine and escalating to a shriek. The thunder of footsteps rained down around them. Raine gasped and turned.

"Cover your ears!"

The doors of the nearby detention pit burst off their hinges and Amber stumbled forward, Gus under one arm and Matt under the other. She stumbled slightly and dropped to her knees.

"Don't tell Zaza I did that."

Raine lowered their hands and stepped forward, "Oh, Zaza saw everything, Baby Bat."

"oh."

"Amber!" Luz rounded the corner with Skara, Cat, and the Illusion teacher, Madam Romana, hot on her heals.

She rushed past the adults and skittered to a halt in front of her sister and friends. Gus and Matt leapt to their feet and cheered.

"We're alive."

"Guys!" Tobey shouted as he, Amity, and Bascha ran in.

"What on Titan is going on here?" Principal Bump demanded.

"Run! Run!" Evan shouted as he, Willow, and Viney arrived, "They're after us! They're after us!"

Lilith grabbed her son and held him against her chest, "Who, Evan."

"Them." He pointed.

Two Trouble Wraiths came into view just as two of the detention demons slithered out of the pit. Raine dived forward and put themself between the detention demons and the kids. Bump snapped his fingers and both the Wraiths and the demons stopped in their tracks.

"Alright. Now, someone is going to explain what is going on here before emeveryoneem gets detention." He ordered.

Luz started. "Matt tried to get me sent to detention for mixing magic. Then Amber said I was only doing it because she wanted me to see all the different kinds of magic. Then Gus and Matt started fighting and the Trouble Wraiths took all of them away."

"We all went to find an adult to let them out." Willow continued.

"But the Trouble Wraiths saw us running and—"

"I'm sorry," Darius interrupted, "Trouble Wraiths? Since when do you employ Trouble Wraiths, Bump?"

"I know we were little shits but we can't have actually been emthatem bad." Eda handed King to Luz and held them both in front of her.

Bump turned to face him, "The Emperor's Coven sent them to prepare for an upcoming visit."

"We did no such thing," Lilith told him, protectively holding her son away from the Wraiths, "As the head of the Emperor's Coven I can assure you that."

"That is what I was told when they arrived on the school doorstep, Ms. Clawthorn," Bump insisted, "However, if the head of the Emperor's Coven insists that they weren't sent by them, then I have no reason not to expel them from the premises."

"With pleasure," Darius twirled his finger and a puddle of abomination matter swallowed both Trouble Wraiths.

Bump then took a deep breath and looked around at the mess that used to be the detention pit. Matt and Gus stopped celebrating and shuffled their feet.

"Well, this is quite the mess." He said, "It's a good thing Amber isn't the one you were looking to enroll for the next semester."

"What?" Luz looked up at her mother.

"Rainestorm and I put a lot of effort in to get you a place here," Eda told her, "I can't believe I'm saying this but thank emyouem for not blowing anything up while we were going that."

"I'll have the Construction Coven in to fix the detention pit, Principal Bump," Lilith offered, "Free of charge. Provided you don't tell anyone who your newest two students are."

"Of course." He shook her hand, "I'm a principal, not a stooge. Anyone deserves an education." Then he rounded on Gus and Matt, "Now, what to do with the two of you?"

Gus swallowed thickly and shuffled his feet. Matt sighed.

"It wasn't Gus's fault." He admitted, "I was trying to get him in trouble so I could be president of the HAS."

Bump hummed, "If that is the case, I believe you could do with some time away from the club. I'll let the proctor know and you can return to the club next term provided your attitude about the situation has straightened out. And I'll be writing to your father about this."

Matt swallowed thickly but nodded. Bump put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think it might be in everyone's best interest to close early today," Bump looked around at the other students, "Part of the school exploded and classes are nearly done for the day anyway."

The group of children burst into cheers. Raine rolled their eyes and carefully scooped Amber into their arms. Tobey helped them to their feet.

"I'm really tired," Amber mumbled.

"Yeah? I'm not surprised," Raine said, "I'm actually surprised you didn't burn anything."

"I think we'll have to come in another day to fill out that paperwork," Eda told Bump.

"I think that can be arranged," He agreed, still looking around the demolished detention pit.

Evan hugged his parents but leapt away, "Oof, Pa! Why do you smell like Amity after she's been spending time in her dad's lab?"

Darius growled and Lilith quickly ushered her family out the door.

LLB

1) My headcannon is that anyone on the Boiling Isles can get pregnant because of magic. Boiling Isles babies also come from intention. Kind of like in Sims where you actually have to try to have a baby. So Amber's explanation isn't actually wrong or even really immature on the BI. It's just undetailed since they still have to have sex to make the baby and she's not exactly down to explain the whole thing to her nine-year-old sister.

2) I wasn't planning on having any parings between the kids in this fic except for, maybe, Amber since she's older than all the others but, originally, it was going to be a sort of 'unnamed extra' situation. Then I added the Octavius family as a joke and made Rosie Amber's bog-mother. Then I thought, "Why not?" and set her up with Tobey AKA Peter 2 because I couldn't think of a good enough reason not to. Also, I needed someone to invite her to Grom for the Grom chapter anyway. And Amber needed more friends that aren't her siblings and cousin.

3) As a violin player who works with their hands, I speak from experience. Our hands are fucked.