The sun shone brightly on a beach, where the Owl House gang were standing along the shoreline. It had been two days since the fight against Adegast and Eda decided a visit to the beach would be a nice change of pace. Luz and Hunter were excited, thinking they would have some fun until Eda explained that they would go scavenging for loot. The teens still held some optimism on the trip until they arrived at the beach.
"Well, Luz! Did you ever in your life think you'd see something as breathtaking as this? ' Eda said as she showed the group the corpse of a giant dark green slug with a light green underbelly. Large black spikes that were between the pair of eyes on its head and lower part of the slug body. It had a jawless mouth that had teeth lined around it along with five stubby tentacles that covered the mouth. By all accounts, it looked both disgusting and dead, evidenced by the amount of trash and flies surrounding it.
"I don't like this." Luz said as she covered her nose.
"My day would've been so much better if I never found out something like this existed." Hunter said as he covered his lower face with his black shirt.
Eda walked towards it, ignoring the two teens' comments. "Yup, it doesn't get much more inspiring than the trash slug. It makes a home, a life from what others have thrown by the wayside." She said as she pulled out a rubber chicken from its mouth and tossed it away. "Until, blam, it gets blasted by a wave one day and croaks from all the salt. And then we get to sell the stuff it ate." She said as she pulled out three pickaxes and gave one to Hunter and Luz. "Come on, let's get started."
"Please don't make me." Luz whimpered.
"I am not touching that thing." Hunter said.
"Come on, you guys." King said as he set down a towel on the sand and laid on it. "It's not every day you get to go to the dump and pick apart a garbage carcass." He said, but the teens shook their heads.
"Ah, nuts to you both." Eda said as she took her pickaxe and swung at the slug's corpse, opening it up. She climbed inside and proceeded to scavenge the items inside, taking out anything that was valuable for her and throwing away the rest. The teens watched on, slightly disgusted. Luz decided to talk to Eda about her witch training, considering that she hadn't made much progress in learning magic.
"So Eda…" Luz began as Eda continued to scavenge inside the slug's corpse. "I was wondering if we tried some new lessons for my apprenticeship? Like read ancient scrolls or mix together potions, or-" Luz said before the elderly witch interrupted her.
"Ugh. That sounds like a bunch of magic school stuff." She said as she threw away items she saw as junk. However, her answer sparked interest in the two teens, especially Luz.
"Wait. Is there a magic school here? Like, winding towers, cute uniforms, dark plots that threaten your life kind of magic school?" She said as her eyes widened in wonder as walked closer to Eda.
""I'm not surprised that a magic school exists, just that it took us this long to know about it." Hunter said as he carefully walked over the junk to join Luz.
"Yep. What's worse, they force you to learn magic the "proper" way. But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable. And that's why it's so beautiful." Eda explained her disdain of institutional magic and her preference to wild magic. "You can learn to be resourceful using things around you in any environment." She said as she picked up a slimeball from a slime pit and tossed it to Luz. She caught it, much to her disgust. "It's what separates the best from the rest. I didn't finish school and look at me! Who wouldn't envy where I am right now?" She said as she stood in front of the corpse as files flew around her and the junkpile on the beach.
"Yeah, you're living the high life. What do you think, sis?" Hunter asked sarcastically while Luz's expression fell as she pocketed the slimeball.
"Actually, if it's okay with you. I think I'll head home and look at pictures of animals that are still... alive." She said as she began to walk back home but stopped by King. "Love you, King. You little beach peach." She said as she rubbed his belly before leaving.
"You're missing out kid." Eda said before continuing to search inside the corpse. "Come on Hunter, help me clear out this section near the intestines. Pass me my pickaxe." She said, but heard no response from the teenage boy. She turned around and looked outside at the beach. "Hunter?" She said.
"Yeah, he just left right now." King said as he pulled down his sunglasses and pointed at the treeline. Eda looked and caught a glimpse of Hunter running into the woods, trying to catch up with Luz.
Eda shrugged. "More for me, then." She said before returning back in.
Luz walked through the woods, her mind was on the magic school Eda mentioned earlier. Even though Eda had been a good caretaker, despite all the trouble she caused or got herself into, she hadn't taught Luz anything about magic. However, with the new knowledge about a magic school in this world, Luz had found new hope in becoming a witch. She smiled as she imagined herself learning all kinds of magic and becoming as powerful as her heroine, Azura.
"Oye manita, wait up!" Hunter yelled as he caught up with Luz, snapping her out of her little daydream.
"Hey Hunter." She greeted him. "Didn't want to stay back at the beach with Eda?" She asked him.
"More like I didn't want to climb inside the body of a dead slug and pickout garbage." Hunter said as he shivered in disgust at the thought. "I swear, that woman knows no limit."
"Eda's cool in her own way, no matter how weird she might get." she said, before her mood fell a bit. "I just wish she would teach me more about magic, I really want to become a witch like her."
"Does that include living alone and rummaging through garbage?" He chuckled as his sister gave her an annoyed glare. He patted her back. "I'm just joking, I know you're better than that." He said as both of them continued to walk through the woods.
"Well at least I know there's a magic school here, I could finally learn some magic." Luz said in an excited mood.
"Well for one, you need to find out where it is." Hunter said. "That could take days, if not weeks. So it's not like a clue is going to appear out of nowhere."
"You can do it! You can!"
The two stopped as they heard the voice of a teenage girl nearby. They looked at the direction where it came from, which was covered in bushes and foliage. Hunter stood still, wondering whether they should investigate or continue on their way home. However, Luz's curiosity took the better of her. "Mysterious voice of encouragement?" She said before heading towards the bushes to see who was there.
"Luz wait." Hunter said as he followed her, hoping to stop her before revealing their presence.
Luz Looked through the bushes and gasped at what she saw in a cleared area within the woods, a female teenage witch pacing around in a worried state with a large pot in a wooden wagon. "No! Little witch girl." She whispered.
Hunter joined her, he was about to scold her until he saw the teenage witch. She was a slightly short, slightly chubby and stocky girl who had light skin, olive green eyes, and dark navy-blue hair in a short and neat style. She wore a pair of round gold-framed glasses, a gray tunic and a dark gray cowl with a gold pin, a belt and black short-heeled shoes. Her sleeves and leggings were colored a light purple. He stayed quiet as the girl continued to pace around the clearing.
"You can do it. Even if you get a bad grade, it's not a reflection of you as a witch. And my parents are right." She said with an unsure tone in her voice as she stopped moving. "There are better opportunities on this track. Now, get to school!" She said with a new found confidence and began to walk, until she stepped on a flower. The girl immediately stopped and knelt beside the flower. "Oh, no! Oh, little friend! I'm so sorry!" She apologized in a worried tone. She traced a spell circle, which caused the flower to stand back up and fully bloom. The Noceda siblings gasp at what happened. The girl's ear wiggles as something rumbles nearby. She turns as another wagon, being moved by magic, rolls to a stop in front of her, carrying a pot and a girl reading a book. The girl on the wagon stopped reading her book, looked at the other girl on the ground and hopped off. The new girl was also a witch but was skinnier, had golden eyes, and dyed two tone light green hair, as evidenced by her front brown roots, which was cut to a chin length. She wore the same clothing as the first girl and had her fingernails painted black. Luz and Hunter continued to watch the scene in front of them.
"Willow! Wow. You're so unnoticeable I almost rolled into ya." The girl taunted as she chuckled.
"Hi Amity." Willow said as she got up, with the healed flowering wilting.
"Uh, shouldn't you get to class early to prep your…" Amity began to say before a rattling sound interrupted her. She looked at Willow's wagon and saw her pot shaking before tipping over, spilling a purple goo substance along with an eyeball which somehow groaned. She chuckled, causing Willow to pull her hood up in embarrassment. "Oh, Willow. You don't have anything to show, do you?"
"Witch drama." Luz whispered.
"Shh." Hunter quietly said, hoping not to get caught as the two continued to watch.
"This is why people call you "Half-a-Witch Willow." Amity said before noticing her pot beginning to rattle. "Oh, looks like someone wants to say something to you." She said as she took the lid off her pot. "Abomination, rise." She said as she snapped her fingers. A large humanoid figure composed of the same purple substance, known as an abomination, rose up from the pot. It groaned as it bent out of the pot to poke Willow's forehead, leaving behind a purple goo in the shape of a star.
"You're a... star." The abomination groaned out.
"Aw. It's like mine." Amity said as she pointed to her star badge on her chest. "But much smaller and meaningless." She put her arm around Willow as she continued to talk. "As top student, it's my duty to tell you to keep at it. Even you could get a passing grade someday." She said before Amity went back to her wagon. "Abomination, cower." She commanded as the abomination minion retreated back into the pot. She put the lid back on and grabbed the wagon's handles as she pushed it. "See you in class, superstar." She mocked as she walked away. The two siblings watched the whole thing with disdain, with Luz giving Amity a raspberry as she left and Hunter glaring at her.
"Geez, that witch knows how to be a bitch." Hunter said.
"Ooohh." Luz quietly whooped at his rhyming insult.
Meanwhile, Willow removed her hood from her head. She was in an angry mood as she watched Amity leave the area. "I hate it when she does that." She said with a grunt. "I hate making abominations. I hate getting bad grades. Ugh! I can't stand this anymore!" She said in frustration as a green outline glowed around her body. It spread to the ground around her and transformed the small flower from before into a pair of giant thorny roots that shot up to the air. More thorny roots sprouted from the ground, spreading around and covering other trees and bushes. One root sprouted near the Noceda siblings and grabbed Hunter by his leg, pulling him towards Willow.
"Aaahh, Luz help!" He yelled out as was dragged away at a fast pace.
"Hunter!" She yelled as she ran towards him. The root dragged Hunter just behind Willow, who turned and glared at him, her eyes glowing bright green. Hunter gasped in fear as he crawled backwards away from her. Willow dropped her menacing glare as her magic outburst died down, she leaned forward worriedly, letting the roots fall to the ground.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I'm so sorry!" She said as she removed the root that was still wrapped around Hunter's leg.
"What was all that about?!" He asked in an angry tone.
"I didn't mean it! It was an accident, please don't hate me!" She continued to apologize.
"Hunter, are you okay?!" Luz said as she reached the two.
"I'm fine." He said as he looked at his leg. "Looks like the thorns only went through a few layers of skin. I'll be okay." He looked up and saw Willow staring at him with a curious face, which caused him to give her a confused look. "Uh… hi?" He said.
"Your eyes… there…" She said before she snapped back to her senses. "Oh! Sorry for staring. It's just that I've never seen you here before. Are you new?" She asked.
"You could say that." He said as he got to his feet. "My name's Hunter and this is-" He said as he stepped aside to introduce Luz, but was interrupted as Willow ran to get close to her.
"So... circlely" She said as she looked at Luz's ears, causing her to cover them with her hands. Willow gasped. "You're a human! This is amazing!" She said in excitement as she grabbed Luz's face. "A human on the Boiling Isles! How'd you get here? What are you doing here?" She said as she walked around to get a better look at Luz. She was stopped by Hunter as he pulled her away from his sister.
"Hey! I don't know what your deal is, but no one is going to treat my sister like that when I'm around." He said sternly. Willow was surprised by what he said, she looked at Luz and back at Hunter.
"Wait, she's your sister?" She asked in confusion.
"Yes, she is." He said.
"But how… unless…" She gasped again as she grabbed his shoulders. "You're from the human realm too?!" She said in excitement again. "Wow! This is even more amazing! An actual human and a witch with first hand knowledge about the human realm!" She said as she grabbed Hunter's face, which caused him to look at her in slight fear. "Do you realize how important this is?!" She said smiling.
"Okay, I think it's best we introduce ourselves." Luz said as she separated Willow from her brother. "I'm Luz Noceda and this is my brother, Hunter Noceda." She said.
"My name is Willow Park." Willow said before the group heard the sound of a bell ringing in the distance. "Oh, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I have to go and disappoint my teacher again." She said in a sad tone. "It was nice meeting you two." She began to walk towards her wagon.
"Wait." Luz said as she walked towards Willow. "What you did with that flower and those plants, it was... wow." Luz said in amazement.
"Yeah, that was actually impressive." Hunter chimed in.
"Thanks, but... I'm not even supposed to be doing plant magic. My parents put me in the abomination track at school." Willow explained.
Luz squealed in delight. "Like, magic school?" She asked, Willow nodded in response.
Hunter stepped in. "Forgive her, she's very passionate about magic. She wants to become a powerful witch." He explained to Willow.
"That's so cool! I'm so jealous. I have a teacher, but her lessons are a bit... untraditional." Luz said with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "I bet she wouldn't even let me enroll. But I wish I could spend one day there." She lamented.
"I wish I could get a passing grade for once. Then people would stop calling me 'Half-a-Witch Willow'." Willow lamented as well as she looked down at her abomination puddle. This gave Luz an idea.
"Hey, wait. I know how we can both get what we want." Luz said as she picked up a handful of abomination goo and splashed it on herself. "Make me your abomination. I'll get you a good grade, and you can get me into magic school. It's fiendishly clever." She explained her idea.
"Luz, what did we talk about doing dangerous things?" Hunter said.
"Don't worry Hunter. I'm just doing this to sneak into magic school. What's the worst that could happen?" She said.
"How do you know if this will work?" Willow asked her.
"I saw that girl's thing. It's just chunks of stuff that talks weird. I'm chunks of stuff, and I talk weird!" Luz explained to her.
"That's true." Willow said before giggling. "Okay. It's a deal Luz." She said as the two girls shook their hands. They try to pull them apart, but the abomination goo on Luz's hand leaves them stuck together. "Oops. Abomination goo." Willow said as the two struggled to free themselves.
"Do you girls need any help?" Hunter asked.
"It's okay, we got this." Luz said as she tried to use her foot to create enough force to break them apart. It worked but she ended up falling into the abomination puddle.
"This is a great plan." Luz said in a cherry manner. Hunter, however, groaned.
The three teens walked to the school with Willow pushing her wagon with Luz hidden inside the pot, while Hunter walked beside it. They reached the building, which was based around Greek architecture that consisted of off white stone and bluish gray roofing. The building was a circular temple in the center, two towers on its left and right side that were connected with two rectangular structures, a large entrance stairway that was in front of the temple with a large bell tower in the center. Hunter and Luz, who peeked from the pot, stared at the school in awe, it looked more like a castle rather than a school.
"Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Remember Hunter, you're a new student who transferred here. So pretend to act new." Willow said as the group entered inside.
"I mean, technically you're not wrong about me being new here." Hunter said as Willow turned to the pot.
"Remember to stay hidden, okay Luz?" She said. Luz gave a thumbs up before retreating back inside the pot. Hunter looked around at the interior, even though it reminded him a lot of his high school back home, the magical elements made it foreign to him. Willow stops at a locker, tickling it to make it open its mouth and give her her books.
"I'll never get used to that." Hunter said. He didn't notice a shorter witch reading a magazine bumping into his back. "Oye watch out." He said as he turned around. He saw a male witch with brown skin and black short hair with a side fade. His upper lip was curved, similar to his sister, and had dark blue eyes. His clothing was the same as Willow's, except his sleeves and leggings were light blue. The new witch didn't take notice as he talked to Willow.
"Hey Willow, you would not believe humans." He said as he read the magazine.
"Humans? Psh. I haven't seen any. Heh, whaaaat?" She said, failing in not acting suspicious but thankfully he didn't notice.
The witch boy showed her a dentist page that the magazine had. "Did you know that humans nail barbed wire to their kids' teeth? But why? Maybe to make them magnetic." He said.
"Actually, it's for storing treats." Luz said from inside the pot, causing the boy to give a confused look at Willow.
"Ignore the taking pot, but that 'barbed wire' is actually called braces. It helps straighten teeth." Hunter explained, which only caused the boy to give him a confused look too.
Willow sighed. "Okay, Augustus. I'm gonna tell you something. But you have to be cool." She said to him.
"I can be spool. I-I-I mean, cool." Augustus stuttered.
"Okay. Abomination, rise." Willow said, Luz removed the lid and stood out from the pot.
"Ta-da! I'm an abomination." She said, causing Willow to groan and Hunter to facepalm.
"Luz, that's not how abominations act." Willow said as Augustus dropped his magazine in shock. That wasn't an abomination, it was a human, an actual human.
"No. No, it-it couldn't be." He said as he approached Luz.
"He's the president of the Human Appreciation Society. Most witches wouldn't be able to recognize a human right away. But Augustus is an expert." Willow whispered to Luz.
"Where are your gills?" Augustus said in excitement, causing Hunter to laugh. "What's so funny?" He asked.
Hunter finished laughing as he caught his breath. "I'm sorry, but I think a human expert would know that humans don't have gills." He said.
"And how would you know?" Augustus asked, a bit peeved at Hunter.
"Because I lived in the human realm and that human girl is my sister." Hunter explained.
"It's true, he's my brother." Luz said, which caused Augustus to drop his jaw in shock. He approached and grabbed Hunter by his shoulders.
"Tell. Me. Everything." He said with stars in his eyes and excitement in his voice.
"Dude. Personal space." He said as he removed Augustus' arms from his shoulders and stepped back.
"I knew an Augustus back in the human world. We called him Gus." Luz said, giving Augustus his new nickname.
"Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus? Call me it." Gus said happily. "Wow. I'm meeting with a human and a witch who lived in the human realm! This is the best day of my life!" He said cheerfully. However, the group's meeting was interrupted by the sound of a bell screaming, literally.
"Oh, I've gotta get to spelling class." Gus said as he grabbed his magazine and ran off to his classroom. "See you guys at lunch!" He said.
Willow waved goodbye at him before turning back to Luz. "All right. Into the darkness you go again." She said as Luz hissed as she sank back in the pot. "Okay Hunter, follow me to class."
"Let's hope this plan doesn't backfire." Hunter said as he followed Willow. 'Though I get the feeling it's going to.' He thought.
The group entered a classroom called 'Abomination 101'. The students inside muttered amongst themselves as a female student with ram horns stood at the front of the room. She had a wagon with an abomination in it, which had several feet sticking out of it in various places. A stubby and short elderly witch professor, with a round beak-like mouth with two fangs on the top row of his teeth, and two claws on each foot, judged the student's abomination. He had green, chin-length hair with a large bald spot on the top of his head and small green beard. He wore orange-tinted circular glasses, a black shirt and pants with an oversized purple coat, and a light silver bow tie around his neck. The most notable thing about him was that he was being carried by a light orange-colored abomination.
"Hmm. Too many toenails in unexpected places. Fail. Pathetic!" He said angrily. The student groaned sadly as she wheeled her wagon back to her desk. Amity smirked as the student walked past her. "The biggest abominations are all of YOU! If the next abomination is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for a month!" The professor angrily announced, causing all the students to grumble at the punishment.
"Wow, he's really mad today." Willow said nervously.
"I mean, he does have a point about that abomination being a fail." Hunter said, sitting next to Willow. She turned and gave him a stern look. "But yeah, you're right. He's being too tough on the class."
The professor looked around the class, thinking about which student to pick next. "And the next one to come up is…"
"Excuse me, Professor Hermonculus," Amity said as she stood up from her desk. "but I am ready to present my abomination. Rise!" She commanded as her abomination rose up, performing a ballerina pose for flair.
Professor Hermonculus chuckled at the display. "I've always saved the best for last, Amity. You'll have to wait your turn." He said as Amity sat back down, with a look of pride on her face. "How about... Willow." The professor said as he chose the next presenter. The students groaned, knowing her abomination would fail, which would give Hermonculus the perfect excuse to assign extra homework.
Luz peeked out of the pot. "Don't listen to them, Willow. We can do this." She said, trying to lift her spirits.
"Good luck you two." Hunter said to them as Willow pushed her wagon to the front of the class. She nervously took a breath as she stopped.
"Uh... Abomination, rise." She said. Once she finished her command, Luz punched the lid off and jumped out of the pot in a dramatic fashion before landing on her feet.
"Ta-da." She said in a low voice. The entire class gasped in shock at her "abomination", especially Amity, who saw it being a literal puddle of goo earlier this morning. Hunter watched on, surprised that the other students and the professor were buying the charade. Willow, seeing the reactions, gained her confidence back. 'I can't believe this is working.' She thought before continuing. "Abomination, bow." She said. Luz let out a grunt before following the command.
Professor Hermonculus was actually impressed at the turn of events. "Very impressive. But does it speak?" He asked.
Luz and Willow looked at each other before the human girl spoke. "Uh, I may be your abomination, but you're my a-mom-ination." She said as she hugged Willow, the two girls giggling. The class aww'd at the display, except for Amity, who was still in shock.
The professor laughed at the pun. ""A-mom-ination!" Splendid wordplay. A plus!" He cheered as he drew an A+ on Luz's forehead. The class cheered, knowing they wouldn't get extra homework. Hunter clapped at the two girls for their plan succeeding, but Amity huffed, suspicious at Willow's "abomination".
The bell screamed, signaling the end of the class period. As the students left the room, with Willow pushing her wagon out and accompanied by Hunter, Hermonculus stepped out to talk to her. "Wonderful work today, Willow. Looks like we have a new top student." He said to her, unaware that Amity just walked out and gasped at what he said. "Oh there you are Amity." He said as he approached her and took her star badge.
"B-but…" She said as she watched the professor pin her badge on Willow's cowl, growling.
"Oh uh-thank you, sir." Willow said, surprised at his praise. He nodded as his abomination carried him away. Willow turned to leave, but Amity stood in front of her.
"Hey." She said, surprising both Willow and Hunter. The two teens turned around and looked at the spot she was standing before, confused on how she managed to move without them noticing her. "Last time I saw you, your abomination was mush. What did you do?" She asked sternly.
"I, uh, took your pep talk to heart, Amity." Willow said.
"Yeah, that talk really helped her out. You should be proud that she passed." Hunter said.
Amity turned to look at him. "And who are you? I've never seen you here before."
"Uh, I'm a transfer student. Today is my first day here. Pleased to meet you. "He said in an uninterested tone.
"I didn't hear anything about a new student." She said, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Then you probably weren't important enough to know about it." He retorted.
Amity scoffed, 'Whatever, I've got my eyes on you two, especially you, Half-a-Witch. That badge is mine." She said as she walked backwards and turned at a corner, bumping into another student in the process.
"Uh-oh. I think Amity is onto us." Willow said worryingly.
"She doesn't look that menacing." Hunter said.
"But still, you don't want to be on her bad side." She said, the two, with the wagon, walked to the next class period.
Meanwhile at the Owl House, Eda abruptly opened the front door, smashing Hooty's face to the wall.
"Ow!" He said, annoyed at Eda for that.
"Have you seen Luz and Hunter? I haven't seen them since morning at the beach." She asked.
"I heard their tiny mouse feet walking close by. Or that might've been some mice. Anyway, someone started moving in that direction. Hoot, Hoo-Hoot, Hoot." He said while trying to point at the direction with his head. Unfortunately, this confused Eda.
"Are you trying to point, or-" She said before Hooty interrupted her.
"Look at the weather vane!" He said. Eda stepped out and saw the vane pointing in the direction of Hexside.
"But the only thing that way is the…" Eda suddenly gasped, realizing the location. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She said as she quickly ran towards the school. It took a couple of minutes for her to arrive. She looked inside a classroom window, hoping to find the two teens. However the room was a kindergarten class. She watched as the toddlers recited their runes.
"No. Blind obedience." She said as she looked inside another window, This time, it was a higher grade classroom as the teacher taught the Heximal system to the class.
"No! Pointless busywork!" She said in horror. She looked inside another classroom, finally finding the two teens, who were taking notes with Willow.
"No! Why! School!" Eda yelled out, horrified that Luz and Hunter were learning magic in Hexside.
Later at lunch, the group, now accompanied by Gus, sat together at a table. Luz was still in the pot while Hunter sat beside Gus, who was asking him about human culture and trivia.
"So the human realm has more than one language?" He asked.
"Yeah, some humans can speak more than one. My sister and I are bilingual, we speak two languages." Hunter explained, which caused Gus to wow in wonder.
"Can you show me." He asked.
Hunter cleared his throat and began to speak. "Así es como suena español. Es completamente diferente al inglés, aunque usa las mismas letras del idioma." He explained.
"Es cierto" Luz said as she peeked out of the pot.
"Wow, that's so cool." Gus squealed in delight.
"I agree with Gus, that's pretty neat, especially since everyone here only speaks Common."
"Common? Is that what English is called here." Hunter asked, Willow nodded as she began to eat, though she was curious about one thing.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up in the human realm?" She asked him.
"What do you mean, I was probably born there." He responded.
"No offense, but I find that very unlikely." Willow explained as Hunter looked at her with a confused look. "Throughout our history, there has been no case where a witch ventured and made a life in the human realm. The ones who traveled there usually returned after a while." Willow explained.
"It's true." Gus said.
"But I lived there my whole life and I'm a witch. Well, I discovered I am one." Hunter argued.
"Maybe you got sent there by your parents." Gus said, unknowingly bringing up an uncomfortable subject to Hunter.
"Are you saying I was abandoned there?" Hunter said in a mildly offended tone. Willow and Luz looked at him in worry.
"Oh no no no no. It was just a theory, I didn't mean it like that." He said, trying to ease the tension. Though Hunter still gave him a glare.
"Hunter, he didn't mean to offend you." Luz said, which caused Hunter to relax.
Gus got out his lunch bag and took out a PB&J sandwich, he wanted to move onto a different subject.
"Hey. Do humans eat PB&J's?" He said as he presented the sandwich to Luz, who popped out of the pot.
"Oh my God, I haven't eaten real food in so long, please give me some." She said. Gus broke the sandwich in half and gave one of them to her.
"Hey, give me some. I'm hungry too." Hunter said. Luz broke it half and gave it to his brother before sinking back into the pot. Hunter quickly scarfed down the sandwich, it didn't fill his hunger but it was better than nothing.
"You don't eat the food here Hunter?" Gus asked.
"I've spent all of my life in the human world, I can't eat the food here without gagging or throwing up." He explained.
"I don't know if that was a good move, Gus." Willow said as she nervously looked around the cafeteria. "If Amity saw that…"
She was interrupted as Amity suddenly jumped onto the table, catching everyone off guard.
"I saw that! Abominations don't eat!" She said with an accusing voice.
"How did you even do that?!" Gus asked, though his question would go unanswered.
"Hey, back off you crazy witch!" Hunter yelled.
"You stay out of this!" She said to him as she approached the pot and kicked the lid off. "I know you're in there! You can't hide from me." She said as she grabbed Luz by the collar of her hoodie and shook her violently, while Luz played dead. The whole commotion caught the attention of the other students as they looked on. "What are you?! Who are you?! I want answers!" Hunter was about to intervene, but a voice caught the group's attention.
"Amity Blight!" Professor Hermonculus yelled out.
"Huh?" Amity said as she stopped shaking Luz and looked at the professor, along with the rest of the group at the table.
"I suspected a twinge of jealousy, but this? This is just sad." The professor said, thinking that Amity was envious of Willow performing better than her.
"But I- No! Look at it." Amity said as she showed Luz, who groaned as she kept up the act. Thankfully, Hermonculus bought it.
"Report to Principal Bump's office. Now!" He said as he pointed to the direction of the principal's office. Amity let go of Luz and ran off, with Professor Hermonculus leaving shortly after. Luz pops back out, sharing a concerned look with Willow, Hunter, and Gus.
Later that day, the group gathered around an empty classroom. The school day just finished and they were recounting today's events. Luz was standing outside the pot, still covered in abomination goo.
"Whoo! I'm a sweaty little abomination. But now we don't have to worry about Amity. High five!" She said as he held out her hand. Willow and Gus stare at her hand, then share a confused look with each other.
"Slap her hand. It's a human thing." Hunter said as he demonstrated it. Gus slowly approached her and hesitantly gave her a high five. Then he does it several more times with growing confidence.
"Oh. Oh, my. Oh, man, what a rush!" He said as he continued before Hunter stepped in.
"Okay I think that's enough." He said as he separated Gus from Luz. He then turned and looked at her. "Well manita, looks like our visit to magic school went well with little trouble. How do you feel?" He asked.
Luz giggled. "I feel amazing. Today I learned more about magic than what Eda has told us. Oh I can't wait to come back here tomorrow." She said.
"I don't think that's possible. We barely made it through the day without getting caught, but we had a few close calls." He said.
"Don't worry bro, I'll find a way to do it." Luz assured her brother. "And like you said, we made it without getting caught."
The classroom door suddenly opened, revealing Amity. She smirks and steps aside, allowing an older man with light-beige skin to enter the room. His upper face was covered by an imp-like devil creature with a maroon skin color and sea green eyes. He wore a long black gown with a gold yoke, a black cape, gold trim at the sleeves and cape hem, plus a blue stole draped over his shoulders and black pointed shoes.
"Speak of the devil." Hunter quietly muttered as he looked at the man.
"Good afternoon, students." The man said.
"Principal Bump." Willow said as the rest watched, as Luz dropped to the floor, playing her abomination role. Principal Bump steps closer to her, with Willow and Gus backing away. He knelt down, grabbed her head and began to inspect her, causing Luz to become nervous.
"Hmm. Abomination, rise." Principal Bump commanded. Luz got on her feet. "Abomination, lie down." He said as he pointed at a nearby table. Luz gulped as she went to it and laid down, Bump would then stand next to her as he continued his observation. The group looked on nervously while Amity continued to smirk, knowing that Luz would eventually be exposed. "So very lifelike. When Miss Blight told me about your abomination, I had to come by, see what she's made of." Principal Bump said.
"Oh, I have her list of ingredients right here." Willow said as she prepared to pull out the list but Bump stopped her.
"No. We were hoping for a closer look." He said as he pulled out a sharp dagger from his sleeve, scaring Luz and the group. "Willow, I'll allow you the first cut." He said as he gave the dagger to her. Willow approached the table and looked at Luz with worry, she really didn't want to do this.
"Uh, you can't just cut open a human, can you?" She whispered quietly to her. Luz shook her head with an extremely worried look on her face. Hunter began to walk towards the girls, wanting to stop this whole ordeal before her sister got hurt or, even worse, killed. However, he was stopped by Gus, who put his hand on his shoulder to grab his attention.
"Wait." He said. His response caused Hunter to give him a glare.
"What do you mean wait? My sister is about to be dissected. I need to help her." He angrily whispered.
"Hold on, I have a plan." Gus whispered back. He quickly ran over to three pots nearby. "Principal Bump!" He called out, catching everyone's attention. "Uh, high five!" He said before knocking over the three pots with his hands, revealing to be filled with abomination goo as three abominations quickly rose and walked towards them. Seizing the opportunity, Hunter quickly ran towards Luz, pushing Bump aside, and grabbed her arm.
"Come on!" He said before he and Luz ran outside of the classroom and into the hallway, with Willow following them.
"They're getting away!" Amity yelled as she pointed at the fleeing trio.
"No, they won't get far." Principal Bump said. He approached a wall and traced a large green spell circle, then slammed it in the center of it. The circle emitted a bright green light as various patterns of red light appeared on the walls and floor, spreading from the spell circle and throughout the school.
The three teens ran through the halls, trying to find an exit from the school. They stopped as they rounded a corner to the central atrium to catch their breath.
"This is all my fault, Willow." Luz said worryingly. "I just wanted to see what a real magic school was like." She groaned.
"Yeah you brought this on yourself, manita." Hunter said.
"¡Ay, ya cállate por favor, me estás dando más nervios!" Luz responded, having enough of his big brother's snide remarks. Hunter threw his hands up as a sign of backing off, but quickly patted her sister's back to comfort her.
"I know it's a bad time to ask, but what do you guys think about it?" Willow asked the siblings.
"It's lovely, actually." Luz responded in a happy tone.
"I'll be honest, I enjoyed learning a little more about magic here." Hunter responded as well. The three giggled before Willow began to speak.
"Okay, we should get out of here before-" She said before the red light patterns converged on the walls and roof around them. A red shield blocked off a doorway in front of them, along with several more nearby and throughout the school. "...Bump seals us in." Willow finished.
"We should've just ran when we had the chance!" Hunter said, looking around for any exit still available. The three noticed a shadow covering them. They turned around and saw Principal Bump directing his abomination minions towards them. The group ran and hid behind a pillar.
"Oh, this is awful." Willow said as she sank to the ground. "I don't know what to do. Amity's right. I'm just Half-a-Witch Willow." She said as she cradled herself.
"Don't say that about yourself." Hunter said as he raised her head to look at her face. "You are amazing at magic, that thing you did with those roots this morning was impressive." He said. "If anything, it showed that you can use the environment and resources around you like a great witch."
"Wait, using the resources around you." Luz said as she thought back on Eda's words. She pulled out the slimeball and held it in her hand. Willow and Hunter looked at it, with the former gasping in delight as soon as she saw it.
"That's it! It's a seed! Thank goodness you had it on you, Luz." She happily said as she took and put it in her hand. "Please grow." She said as she drew a magic plant circle over it.
A bright green light glowed around the seed. Shortly after, thorny vines grew from it, reaching to the ceiling. They stabbed through the abominations and eventually targeted Principal Bump, sending him to the ceiling and pinning him there. Principal Bump gasped at what he saw in front of him. Long and large vines covered the entire atrium, curled around pillars and reaching from the bottom most floor to the top of the ceiling. Pink petals fell from above, and several of the vines had flowers on them. The whole scene looked majestic.
"Remarkable." He said in awe. Soon, the red lights sealing the doorway disappear, alerting the group.
"There's the exit!" Luz yelled as she pointed to the school entrance down the hall.
"Let's get out of here before that red barrier pops up again!" Hunter said as the group began to run towards it. However, as they ran down the hall, Amity jumped in and blocked their path. She had a vine around her neck, several cuts on her uniform and was vividly angry at the group.
"Not so fast! I'm not letting you three get away so easily." She said as she removed the vine on her and threw it on the ground. "I want my badge!" She yelled.
"Oh come on! Are you still hung up about that?!" Hunter yelled, mad that Amity was angry about losing her badge.
"Shut up! I worked hard to earn it and become the best in abomination magic, and you two show up to help Willow steal it from me! So give it back!" She yelled as she readied herself to summon her abomination minions. The three stood still, wondering what to do. Hunter was the first to act, taking the badge off of Willow's cowl and stepped forward, holding it out in front of him.
"You want your badge, here take it." He said. Amity relaxed a little and slowly walked towards him. However, once she was half way there, Hunter took it back and crushed it in his hand. He then threw the crumpled up badge at Amity's feet. Amity was shocked and left speechless as she knelt down and picked it up.
"Noooo!" She wailed as she tried to fix it, only to break one of the star points off.
"Huh, didn't guess it would break so easily. Guess it was all show but no substance… like you." Hunter mocked. Amity glared at him in fury as she got back on her feet. She quickly summoned a couple of abominations around them in order to capture the group and avenge her wounded pride.
"Abominations, seize!" She commanded as they approached the group. One comes up from behind them but Luz punches it through the chest. Another approaches Hunter but he manages to kick the legs off it, basically crippling it. Seeing an opening, Luz grabbed Willow's wrist and ran, with Hunter following close by. Amity reforms the legless abomination and sends it after them again. Noticing this, Hunter ran towards her. Amity saw him and tried to summon another abomination but wasn't fast enough, because Hunter managed to sweep kick her off her feet and land on the ground on her back. He then quickly performed an elbow dive on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She groaned in pain as she clutched her stomach.
"What's wrong with you, didn't your parents tell you not to hit girls?" She groaned.
"What girl? The only thing I see is an arrogant bitch on the floor." Hunter said mockingly, earning another angry groan from Amity. He turned around and rejoined the two girls running towards the exit. The group now seem to have a clear path to freedom, but another abomination forms in front of them, causing Willow to scream.
"Stay close." Hunter warned as he prepared to fight it. The abomination staggered forward, but Willow traces out a large spell circle, causing vines to trap the abominations and Amity. She began to struggle since she wasn't used to using this amount of magic.
"Get outta here!" She said, but Luz and Hunter ran to her side.
"We can all escape together." Hunter said.
"I'll stay and hold them back while you guys go." Willow responded.
"No! we're not leaving you." Luz said.
"I may get detention, but you'll get dissected. I don't think your brother will like that." Willow argued. The abominations slipped through the vines, reformed, and began to approach them. Seeing that the Noceda siblings weren't going to leave her and risk getting captured, she summoned two large vines. "So go!" She said as the vines grabbed the two teens and carried them outside the school. The doors slammed shut after the vines retreated inside.
"No Willow!" Luz cried.
"Wait, Eda can help us! Come on Luz, let's get her!" Hunter said as the two ran back to the Owl House to get her. The two arrived shortly, seeing Eda carrying King in her hands.
"Eda!" Luz said as she ran towards them.
"Eda, you gotta help us!" Hunter said
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is this?" Eda questioned before Luz hugged her. "Ugh! I never understand when you do this." She said, confused at the gesture. "What's going on?" She asked Hunter.
"It was crazy! We got caught and got sealed in- then our friend Willow summoned vines- but another student created these abomination creatures- then Willow summoned more vines to help us escape- but she's still inside and we need your help." Hunter explained in a rapid session, which confused Eda.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! Calm down! Say that again but more slowly." Eda said.
"Luz! Hunter!" A female voice yelled out from behind. Everyone looked and saw Willow and Gus running towards them. They hugged both Luz and Hunter, who returned the gesture.
"Seriously, what is that?" Eda said, who was still confused.
"You guys are okay." Luz said happily.
"You two won't believe it. Everything is perfect now!" Willow said with Gus nodding.
"It's true. I don't believe it." Hunter said.
"Principal Bump was so impressed by my plant work he's switching me to the plant magic track!" She explained. "Look." She stepped back and snapped her fingers. A green light glowed around as she spun around, changing the color of her sleeves and leggings to green.
"Yes! Woohoo!" Luz cheered as she hugged Willow, the two girls jumped around in excitement. Though Hunter was curious about one thing.
"What about Amity?" He asked.
"Last we saw, she was asking Bump if today could count as extra credit. Though I noticed she was clutching her stomach, like was in pain." Gus explained to him.
"Figures." Hunter replied, with a small smirk on his face.
"Well, I can't wait to see you in action next time I sneak in." Luz said excitedly, but noticed Willow's expression fell. "What?" She said.
"Uh, about that. You guys are kinda, sorta... banned." Gus explained as he pulled out and unfurled two posters reading "BANNED", one with a picture of Luz covered in abomination goo and another with an angry Hunter under the lettering.
"That's the way kids! If the two of you were related to me, I'd be proud to call you my son and daughter." Eda cheered, happy that the two teens were following in her footsteps, though the same couldn't be said about Luz and Hunter.
"But we could come here and teach you two what we learned." Willow said in order to cheer them up.
Luz smiled. "Aw. That would be nice." She said as she turned to look at Eda. "But I have a pretty great teacher already." She finished. Eda smiled at the complement.
"Yeah, that's right. Luz and Hunter are my students." Eda said before snatching the two posters from Gus. "Back off, academy twerps." She said, causing everyone to laugh.
"Ah, babies' first wanted poster. Good job, kids. Looks like I taught you two something after all." Eda said as she patted Luz's head and ruffled Hunter's hair.
"Uh, you high five with your hands, not your head." Gus said, causing the three Owl House residents to stare at him.
"Alright time to head inside, thanks you two for keeping them safe." Eda said to Gus and Willow.
"No problem, miss… uh." Willow said, trying to figure out her name.
"Eda, you can call me Eda." She said.
"Oh okay." Willow said.
"Come on you two, let's head inside." Eda said as she opened the door and walked inside along with Luz. Hunter was about to join them but Gus caught his attention.
"Hey Hunter, I hope you're not mad at me for what I said back at lunch." He said, apologizing for offending him.
"Hey man, you were just curious and you didn't know. It's all cool now, just be more careful." Hunter said, which caused Gus to smile. "I'll see you two next time, whenever that is." He said.
"It was nice meeting you Hunter. Bye." Willow said as she waved goodbye before leaving.
"Bye." Gus said as he followed her.
Hunter waved back before going inside the Owl House. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands and face. He looked himself in the mirror and sighed, it was a secret that he was bothered about his origins. Once he noticed the difference between him and his family, he was curious about who he really was and his real parents. The discovery about him being a witch only bothered him more. If he really was from the Demon Realm, then how did he end up on Earth? Where are his parents? Who are his parents? What even happened that led him to end up with his adoptive family? He pondered in his thoughts, his curiosity was starting to eat at him. On one hand, he wanted some answers about his origins. But on the other, he had his doubts on whether he would even get closure. He sighed and left the bathroom to go to the room he and his sister were staying in, only time will tell what awaits him in the Boiling Isles.
Well this one took a bit longer, but now it's finished. Hopefully I didn't make you guys wait too long. Also added a cover art by Omychan2.
Going to start on the next one, but after that I'm going to try something different: writing an original chapter, mostly about Eda actually training Luz and Hunter to be witches. I'll be honest, it was kind of a bummer that Eda wasn't much of a teacher in the show. So I wanted to explore that aspect in this story.
Why I'm telling you guys this is that I want to hear your opinion on it, should I do it or just stick to the original story?
Leave a review to let me know.