Another chapter done everyone, and it's out sooner than expected.
Enjoy.
"Azura", Hecate began." Luz said as she stood on top of the couch. "Our paths have crossed only in battle. But today I stand before you seeking an ally." She continued to narrate the fifth Good Witch Azura book to King, who sat as he listened to her. She gave out a sigh as she looked up in wonder.
"Luz, you're getting all swoon-y again." King said.
"She gets like this everytime she reads this scene." Hunter said.
"I can't help it. Azura is able to befriend everyone. Even her biggest rival. I wish I had that kind of power." Luz lamented as she sat back down.
"Rivals are meant to be annihilated, not befriended. Now keep reading. I've been sucked into your awful fandom." King said.
"Alright, Alright my little fuzz peach." She patted his head. "Suddenly the door swung open." She continued to narrate but was interrupted as the front door… suddenly swung open.
"Ding-dong. Ding. Hoot! Hoot!" Hooty greeted the surprised trio.
"The book has come to life! Burn it!" King yelled as he pointed at Hooty.
"Calm down King." Hunter said as he and Luz approached the door. They looked down and saw a basket on the ground.
"Hmm, what this?" Luz said as she picked it up and took it inside before putting it on the kitchen table, where Eda was taking a sip of her apple blood.
"Hey Eda, you got a package. It looks like a gift basket." She said.
"What do you think it is?" Hunter asked.
"Probably an offering. Ah! Being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles has its perks." Eda said as she continued to drink.
"Well since you're busy at the moment, Eda. I'll check to see what it is. Please be food." King said as he climbed on top of the table and put on a bib. He removed the blanket, revealing a sleeping baby bat. "Mmm. Fresh meat." He said as he rubbed his paws together, However, Luz stopped him before he could grab the baby.
"No, not eating that." She said, much to King's annoyance.
"Witches eating babies is so 1693. What is this?" Eda said, slightly offended.
"Hey, there's a note." Hunter said as he pulled out a piece of paper. "Take care of my child till morning. Yi Yi." He read out.
"Nope. Babies are awful. Not happening." Eda said as she turned away.
"You will be handsomely rewarded. X-O-X-O-X-O-X. Bat Queen." Hunter finished reading the note.
"Bat Queen?" Eda asked with a renewed interest upon hearing that name.
"There's a small bag here too." King said as he pulled it out, which contained dozens of snail coins.
"Reward?" Eda said, now fully interested as her eyes glimmered with delight. She rubbed her hands together, no doubt at the prospect of a large monetary pay.
"Who's the Bat Queen?" Luz asked.
"She's the wealthiest demon on the Boiling Isles. Get in with her and you're set for life." She answered before taking a couple of snails out from the bag. "So, we keep this thing alive for a few hours and we get paid. Pfft. Easy."
"This will be our greatest adventure yet! Learning about love and life through a child's eyes." Luz said in awe.
"Not looking forward to changing its diaper." Hunter said.
"You two won't have to worry about doing anything. You guys have to return the books I checked out from the library." Eda said as she summoned two book stacks, one for each teen as they appeared in their hands, before pushing them out of the kitchen. "I don't want her getting a cut of the loot." She whispered to King.
"Good thinking." He quietly commented.
"Now, let's take a look at this little darling." Eda said as she removed the blanket, causing the baby to wake up and begin screeching. "Aaargh!" She said in shock.
"Oh, boy" King said as he covered his head.
"On second thought, maybe we could use your help!" Eda said to the teens, who were halfway out the door.
"Sorry, we have our hands full at the moment! Good luck though!" Hunter said.
"Well, we better get to the library before it gets late! Gotta go! Bye~!" Luz said as the two quickly closed the door and left. The bat baby continued to screech as Eda and King winced in pain.
"We got this, right?" Eda said with uncertainty as the baby quickly flew out of the basket and latched onto her face. "Whoaa! Get it off!" She said as she stumbled to the floor.
Luz and Hunter were walking through Bonesborough in search of the library, with the former struggling to carry her stack of books.
"How much longer 'til we get there?" Luz asked.
"According to the locals, it should be around…" Hunter said as the two turned a corner and stopped. "Here." He finished as they stood in front of it. The library was a large two story parisian building that was reddish brown, with a large two door entrance on top of a wide stairway, a tower with a stained glass mural depicting a shooting star on the top level at the center, two small domes stood to the left and right of it. Both teens stood in awe before continuing to deliver eda's books. They entered the library and watched as their stacks emitted a green glow and began to fly towards the front desk through a red spell circle.
"Late. Late. Late." The librarian said in a monotone voice as he marked them down on a list. He grabbed the last one and inspected it as the teens walked to the desk. "Coffee, grass and… bloodstains? These are Eda's, aren't they?" He sarcastically said to them.
"Yup." Hunter replied.
The librarian sighed. "I'll put them on her tab." He said as he summoned a long scroll and wrote on it. "By the way, we're closing early for the Wailing Star meteor shower. So I recommend checking your books out to avoid any unnecessary hassle." He said as he pointed to a poster showing a crying shooting star.
"Ooh. What's that?" Luz asked.
"You're in a library. Read a book." The librarian said dismissively as his scroll disappeared.
"I am in a library. I will read a book." She said.
"Yeah. Plus a book will tell us more about this Wailing Star thing better than this boring chump." Hunter said, causing the librarian to pout.
The siblings ran off to check out what the library had to offer. They approached a sentient locker catalog underneath a banner reading "Demon Decimal System DO NOT FEED." Luz cheekily fed one of them a piece of candy, causing it to barf up a bunch of note cards which covered Hunter, much to his annoyance. Later, the two were at a large study area where several witches and demons were reading their books or taking notes. Hunter was on the first floor checking out the genres available while Luz was on the second floor watching a line of books flying in the air. She reached out to grab one but the magic that was carrying the books was too strong, dragging her off the floor and into the air.
"Whoa! Whoa! Help!" She yelled out, catching Hunter's attention.
"Luz, hold on!" He yelled as he gave chase.
"Shh!" The residents said.
"Sorry!" Luz apologized loudly.
The two were then at the crystal ball section of the library, looking at several witches watching videos on their crystal balls with the exception of one, who's ball had trouble connecting. They left and began to walk around.
"This place is amazing." Luz said.
"Really? Because it's just a magical version of a library back home." Hunter said.
"What do you think you're doing?" They heard a girl's voice shout. The two froze in place, with Luz gasping in surprise.
"I've been caught. Pretend to be a book." She said as she struck a pose. However, the sound of kids giggling left them confused. "Wait a minute." She said as they began to walk towards the voice.
"We're your friends and we wanna help," said the Tin Boy with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. "I've never had real friends before." The voice continued.
"That voice sounds familiar." Hunter said as they turned a corner and saw Amity reading a book to a group of baby class students. "Well this is unexpected." He said.
"Amity reading to kids?" Luz said in confusion. She then snuck in and hid behind a small bookshelf, with Hunter following suit. They watched Amity hold up the book, depicting a page that held the image of a small pink rabbit character holding a needle and thread.
"Then we'll be your first," the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin, surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship and that's the end." Amity finished as she closed the book, with the children applauding with joy.
"Amity seems so...nice and smiley." Luz said before gasping as an idea came to her. "Maybe I can befriend her like Azura befriended her rival." She said with excitement.
Hunter groaned at her naivety. "Luz, sometimes I think you might be too pure for this world." He said. They both quickly ducked down as the group of kids began to leave, but not before thanking the green haired witch.
"Thank you Miss Amity."
"Thank you so much."
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Miss Amity. Thank you." One red demon with a large mouth, similar to Warden Wrath's, said with a deep voice.
"Thank you, Braxas. See you next time." She said as she patted his head.
"Yay!" Braxas cheered as he left. Amity watched on with a small smile, but that disappeared as soon as she noticed the Noceda siblings. "Ugh! You two again." She said with a scowl.
"Good to see you too, wicked witch." Hunter taunted.
"Hi Amity" Luz said as she leaned onto a book, making it fall. "Whoops. Reading to kids. Wow. Looks like this sour lemon drop has a hidden sweet center." She said.
"It's for extra credit and nothing more. Don't get your leggings in a bunch." She explained as she picked up the fallen book.
"Hey, We could help with the kids. All of us could take turns reading. And do voices. I do the best monster voice." She said. "Hello there witch, take me to your leader. Bzzzt." She said in a robotic tone. "Come on Hunter, you try."
"No." He said bluntly in a monotone voice.
"That's the spirit." She said cheerfully.
"Hey! Do you see me going to the Mystery Owl Shack and bugging you two while you... fry up owls?" She snapped before scoffing. "Okay, I don't really know what you do there, but every time both of you come near me, I get in trouble. So just remember what I told you back at the Covention, stay out of my business." She said.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Luz said as she backed away from her.
"Come on, Luz. We gotta go." Hunter said as he took her away by her shoulder. Amity turned away, but gave a quick glance at the two of them as they left before sighing. Luz groaned as her attempt to befriend the Hexside student failed and felt that she had made things worse.
"So much for befriending rivals." Luz said somberly.
"There, there, manita. Sometimes you can't win someone over as easily as your books make it." Hunter said to her.
"You gonna let her get to you like that?" A male voice called out from behind the two. They turned and saw a pair of twins, one male and one female, standing by a bookshelf. They both had pale skin, emerald green hair, thick black eyebrows, and golden eyes. The boy's hair was styled in a short quiff, had a mole under his right eye, wore a dark gray long sleeve tunic under a sleeveless burgundy shirt with a black belt tied around it, gray pants that were tucked into a pair of black boots with burgundy cuffs. The girl's hair was tied into a long braided ponytail, had a mole under her left eye, wore the same top clothing as the boy except her shirt had a green diamond shape stone in the center of her chest, gold spherical earrings, gray shorts with burgundy cuffs, and black flat shoes. They approached the siblings, with the boy holding a rabbit designed lunch bag.
"Who are you two?" Hunter asked.
"Well-wishers on a mission." The boy responded.
"A noble quest." The girl said.
"Watch this. Hey, Mittens." The boy called out to Amity, causing her grunt as her face turned red. "Mom says stop forgetting your lunch. And stop being a jerk to your friends." He said as he held up the bag. Amity turned and began to walk towards him before swiftly grabbing the bag.
"They're not my friends." She said, causing Luz to look down in disappointment and Hunter to glare at her before the girl put her arms around their shoulders, much to their confusion.
"Yeah, makes sense. They seem too cool for you." She said.
"We are?" Luz asked.
"You can leave now. All of you." Amity said before walking back to the kid's reading room. The boy and the girl chuckled before winking at Luz and Hunter respectively, causing them to blush and look away. The twins guided the Noceda siblings around the library.
"So, you're the human girl and the witch brother we've heard so much about." The boy said.
"Okay first off, who are you two and how do you know of us?" Hunter asked.
"I'm Emira. And this is Edric. We're Amity's older siblings." The girl said as she pointed to herself and the boy. "We heard how both of you embarrassed her at the school and at the Covention last week. No wonder she hates you guys." She explained.
"I know. But, uh, We didn't mean any of it. I thought we were as cool as cucumbers. But we're as sour as pickles." Luz said.
"That didn't make any sense." Hunter commented. "Plus, why are you two interested in hanging out with us? Since, you know, our history with your younger sister." He asked the twins, who just smiled.
"We just think you guys are way more fun to be with." Edric explained.
"Besides, don't waste your time with Mittens. Me and Ed, we're way more fun. Follow us." Emira said as the Blight twins led the Noceda siblings throughout the library. Their first stop was a sign that read "- Fiction Non-Fiction -". Edric chuckles as he wipes away the "Non" and the group hides as a second librarian named Gary walks up, giving patrons a guide around the library.
"And here we go towards our nonfiction section." He said before gasping as he looked at the vandalized sign. "Fiction? Fiction?! Is our world but fiction?! Then what in my life is real anymore?!" He said as he wept.
Later on, Gary and the head librarian were shelving books, with the former on a ladder and the latter on the ground floor reading a book. As he puts one on the shelf, it glows blue and flies back onto the reshelving cart, resulting in him putting away the same book again. This happens several times, which was caused by Emira as she, Edric, Hunter, and Luz all laugh. Edric switches the places of the two librarians, which caught the attention of Gary.
"Huh? No! Not again!" He said before crying, while the head librarian fell off the ladder.
The group went to the demon decimal system, where Edric held up a dust-covered book and blew on it, causing all the dust to fly towards the decimal system. They all sneeze, causing them to shoot out a large amount of notecards at the group.
"Whoo!" Luz cheered as she danced while the twins high fived each other.
"Really, again?" Hunter groaned.
"Hey!" The group turned to face the source of the voice, which turned out to be Amity as she stood beside the head librarian, both with stern looks on their faces.
"Wait. Where's Gary?" The librarian asked as he looked around.
"Coming." Gary said as he joined them. "Nooo!" He cried out as he fell to his knees and sobbed. The head librarian took control as he forced Luz, Hunter, Edric, and Emira out the library.
"You've made reading far too fun. Now, stay out!" He said as he shut the door. The group stood there for a moment before everyone, except Hunter, laughed.
"Well it looks like that's another place we're banned from." He said.
"Aw dang. Amity's even madder at me now. I didn't think that was possible." Luz said.
"No, when Mittens gets mad, she looks like this." Edric said as he took a large inhale and made a grouching look, with his face turning red as he held his breath before exhaling. "Whoa, I almost passed out." He said.
"You're pretty fun, human. Your brother might need to relax a little more, but I can help with that." Emira said as she gave Hunter a flirty look, catching him off guard. "So, hey, we're coming back tonight. There's a certain book we forgot to... check out." She said to them.
"And bonus, rumor has it the Wailing Star's supposed to unlock some rare magical event. You in, friends?" Edric asked. Hunter was about to respond but Luz interrupted him.
"Sure." She said.
"Great. Meet back here at midnight. See you guys later." Edric said as he and Emira left to go home, waving goodbye at the siblings.
"Bye you two." Emira said as she winked at Hunter.
"Bye. This is great. First, I befriend the siblings then I befriend the Amity." Luz cheered.
"Luz, are you sure we could trust them?" Hunter asked. "Those two give me some bad vibes, especially the girl." He said.
"Hermano, you need to take her advice and relax." She said, causing Hunter to give her an annoyed look. "Besides, I'm sure we're not gonna get into too much trouble." She said as she began to walk back to the Owl House.
"Don't jinx it." Hunter said as he followed her. Unbeknownst to them, Amity was hidden behind the corner of the stairway and overheard the whole thing. There was no doubt in her mind that her twin siblings were planning something devious and were using Luz and Hunter in their plot. She grouched, much like Edric did earlier, and held her breath as her face turned red before exhaling.
"Phew! Almost passed out." She said.
Back at the Owl House, Eda and King were struggling to calm the bat baby down as it continued to scream. King had tied pillows around his head while Eda had detached her hands and plugged them onto her ears.
"It's been hours. How can it keep screaming?" King complained as he clutched his head.
"Ugh. I hate it too, pipsqueak." Eda groaned as she reattached her hands to her arms. "But think about the money." She said in an effort to keep him motivated. The baby let out a high pitched wail, which caused several glass cups and bottles to shatter, along with cracking the glass from the picture frame of Eda's wanted poster.
"No amount of snails is worth this torture! Make it stop!" King complained as he clutched his head tighter.
Eda let out a sigh. "I can't believe I'm about to do this." She said as she picked up the baby bat and sat back down on the couch. It immediately stopped crying, causing the two to look at it with disbelief as Eda began to cradle it. "Rock, rock. Maternal gesture." She said as the baby cooed and went to sleep, but she was still weary of it crying again. Luz and Hunter entered the house.
"I just had the best day. Cool teens like me. Call me a library book 'cause they were checking me out." She said.
"I still have my doubts about them." Hunter said. The two turned and looked at the elderly witch on the couch holding the bat baby. "Hello, I hope we're not interrupting something." Hunter smirked.
"Aw, Eda, you look so motherly." Luz complimented.
"Say that again and I steal your tongue." Eda warned as she gave them a stern look.
"Geez, calm down lady." Hunter replied.
"Aw. How can you say that around this cute little baby?" Luz said as she walked up and patted it on its head. The baby woke up and barfed out a smaller version of itself, as does that version. The three babies all chirp and flap their wings, much to the shock of everyone. "Whoa!" Luz said as she backed away.
"Well… that was… something." Hunter said as he watched in disgust. One of them began to breathe fire. Eda, King, Hunter, and Luz all scream and run away from the couch, which was the unfortunate target of the baby's fire breath. "That's our cue. Come on Luz." He said as they ran for the door, but not before collecting their backpack and messenger bag.
"Parenting sure looks rewarding. E-Enjoy your life lessons. Byeeeee." Luz said as they left. The babies continued to wreak havoc around the house as Eda and King took cover from their magical attacks.
"Uh, for, for the money?" King asked with uncertainty. Eda took a glance at the living room. The sheer chaos caused by the babies was enough to make any person quit, just to make it stop. But the Owl Lady wasn't just any person, she had faced a lot more difficult adversaries, and these babies would prove no different to her.
"For the money." She said before gulping.
Later that night, the siblings were walking down an empty street towards the library. Hunter had a look of doubt while Luz was smiling as she did a light skip.
"Okay, it looks like I brought everything I need for tonight." She said as she finished checking her bag. "Oh I'm so excited. Are you Hunter?." She said.
"I still don't trust them. We just met them and then they invited us out like we've been friends for years, I sense something is up." Hunter said.
"You're just saying that because Emira might have a thing for you." Luz said as she gave him a cheeky look.
"Like I said, something is up." He said as they approached the library and waited for them by a pillar near the entrance. Several minutes passed as both of them didn't see any sign of the Blight twins anywhere.
"Gotta be cool. Is this cool?" She asked herself as rested her arm against it. "No. Cool?" She said as she knelt down and threw a peace sign. "No." She grunted as her face dropped.
"Well it looks like they're a no show." Hunter said as he looked at his phone before putting it away. "Let's go Luz."
"Guess I have to cut my cool posing short." She said.
"No, keep going, it's fun to watch." The voice of Emira called out. The siblings immediately looked around, but didn't find them anywhere.
"Huh?" Luz said.
"Over here." Edric's voice called out as the twins stepped out from behind the pillar. "You guys ready to bring this whole, uh, whatever you're doing, inside?" He said.
"Mm-hmm-mm-hmm." Luz responded excitedly
"How did you even get behind there with us noticing?" Hunter asked.
"We have our ways, I can tell you if you want to know." Emira giggled as the blond teen gave her a puzzled look before the group approached the door.
"It says no trespassing but I'm allergic to the rules." Edric said as he pulled out a large piece of paper and handed it over to Emira.
"And dairy." She said.
"Wow, okay. Just expose me." He said in annoyance as his sister placed the paper on the door's lock. It began to glow before crumbling into dust. Immediately after, the lock grew to the size of a doorway to walk though. The twins smiled as Luz and Hunter stood in surprise at what happened. "Come on, let's go." Edric said as he and Emira walked into it. The Noceda siblings quickly looked at each other before joining them. The lock shrunk back down once everyone was inside.
"Standing in a dimly lit lobby. You guys know how to party." Luz said as she looked around.
"I wouldn't call this partying, more like breaking and entering." Hunter said.
"Hey, it's not against the rules if we don't get caught." Emira joked.
"Look. It's the Wailing Star!" Edric said as he pointed at the glass mural. Everyone looked up as they saw the Wailing Star pass by as it cried, shining the library in the process. The group looked around as they expected a magical event to occur, but no such thing did. "Hmm. Nothing happened." He said.
"So I guess this whole thing was one big waste of time then?" Hunter asked. However, Luz noticed that the books began to emit a green light.
"Hey everyone, the books are all glowy." She said as she grabbed a book titled Extinct Birds of the Boiling Isles. She opened it and almost immediately, a screech roared out as the birds in the book came to life. Everyone watched in awe as the mythical birds flew around the lobby.
"Wow. The Wailing Star magicked the books to life." Edric said. Luz closed the book, causing the birds to disappear.
"Looks like it's effective as long the book stays opened." Hunter observed.
"That is so cool." Luz said. "Let's open some more." She said as she ran towards a bookshelf, but was stopped by her brother.
"I don't think that's a good idea Luz, we might end up creating more trouble if we do that." Hunter argued.
"So what I'm hearing is that you want to play it safe and boring, huh?" Edric joked.
"No. I'm saying we need to be careful what we're doing here, especially with this kind of magic." He clarified.
"Come on Hunter, let's just have a little fun here. The Wailing Star's effect only works as long as a book remains open from what we saw, so we just close them in case things become too much." Luz said.
"Yeah, your sister has a point. Learn to have fun. Besides, you're starting to sound like Mittens with all that talk." Emira said, causing Hunter to give the group a sour look.
"I know how to have fun!" Hunter retorted.
"Your mood says otherwise." She quipped.
"You know what? I'm in. Lead the way you two." Hunter said. The other three shared a look, before grinning. Cut to a magazine stand as Edric opened one named Regal Couture. A green light shined upon the twins, which dressed them in fancy clothing as a peacock flew out of it. Luz grabs Witch Wares Weekly and gets a giant sword, among other things. Luz yelps as she falls over by the weight of it. Hunter opened up one named The Wildlife of The Boiling Isles, which decorated him in a safari outfit along with giving him binoculars, a notebook, and a scoped lever action rifle. Later, the group were standing next to the graphic novel section. Luz opened one and looked around.
"Nothing happened." Luz said as her words appeared in a dialogue bubble. They all gasp when it appears, the twins took a couple steps back as Hunter stood with his jaw dropped.
"Wow!" They said.
That too comes out in a word bubble. Both pop when Luz closes the book, a "THUMP" sound bubble appearing as she does. A while later, Luz held a book named Snowballs, a History. She looked around a corner and saw Edric, holding the same book.
"Ha!" she yelled as she opened her book, pelting him with a rapid fire of snowballs. Edric fell to the floor before opening his snowball book and returning fire. He quickly got up and ran around a corner for cover. Luz laughed, but failed to notice Hunter sneaking up behind her with his book.
"Surprise manita!" Hunter yelled as he opened his book to attack Luz, catching her completely off guard. The younger Noceda yelped as a barrage of snowballs rained down on her, forcing her to find cover by jumping behind a bookshelf. Hunter chuckled as he turned around to find a better position, only for a chill to run up his spine as he came face to face with Emira.
"Hiiiiii~" She said with a flirty look before opening her book in front of his shocked face. Hunter yelled as he was quickly pelted by snowballs as Emira laughed at his misfortune. The group continued to run around the library as they opened up new books to play with. Luz stood in front of a shelf in the kid's corner and noticed "Otabin the Bookmaker", the book Amity had read to the kids earlier that day, glowing on the table. She picked and opened it up, and Otabin rose out of the pages holding a needle and a thread roll. She smiles at the rabbit creature as it ties a string through the needle's eye.
Meanwhile at the Owl House, chaos continued to reign as the babies roamed around freely. One baby bat held a mace in its claws as it flew. Another poured a green potion out on the floor. The last one jumped on the turned-over couch, under which Eda and King were hiding.
"What silences children?" King asked as he gasped as an empty potion bottle shattered near him. "What if we invent a TV network for ages six to eleven-"
"That's insane. How about we show them a head popping out of a toilet saying random gibberish." Eda interrupted as a fire breath attack flew close to the couch. "Aah, there's only one way out of this." She said as she pulled out a knife from her hair, causing King to gasp. However, his worries were put to rest as she pulled out an apple, a plate, and a copy of Otabin the Bookmaker. "Apple slices and story time." She said as she got out and fixed the couch before sitting on it. "All right, brats. Let's do this. Ugh. Being parental is making me sick." The baby bats all sit on the floor with King joining them, holding the plate of apple slices. Eda opened the book and began to read. "Otabin spent his days alone amongst the many books he'd sewn. With needle and thread..."
"...the pages he'd mend. But all the while he longed for a friend." Luz read the book back at the library as Otabin looked up at her.
"Friend?" Otabin asked, However, they were soon joined by Hunter and the Blight twins.
"There you are Luz." Hunter said.
"Guys, check this out." Edric said.
"Look what we discovered." Emira said as she pulled out a book called Quacks Eats Snacks. A green duck popped out and began to swim around the floor as if it was a pool of water, quacking happily.
"Aw. Cute little quackster." Luz said. Emira then held the book out to Edric, who pulled out a pencil. He drew two large muscular human legs on the duck in the book. Shortly after, a green glow surrounded the duck, and the same pair of legs appeared beneath it. It quacked and flapped its wings hysterically over its newfound limbs.
"Now he's extra cute." Emira said as she and Edric laughed before closing the book, while the Noceda siblings watched with discomfort.
"I find that rather cruel than cute." Hunter said.
"Your turn, Luz." Emira said.
"Uh, I don't know guys." Luz said as she backed away.
"Come on. Don't stop the fun." Edric said as he offered her the pencil. Luz took it with hesitation as she opened the Otabin the Bookmaker book. She looked at the illustration of him as the pencil shook in her hand before sighing.
"I can't do it." She said.
"Let me help." Edric said as he took both the book and pencil from her. He drew a pair of angry eyebrows, a sharp-toothed frown, and claws on Otabin. The book glowed as a pink claw began to rise out of the pages, but Hunter slammed it shut.
"I don't think it's a good idea to see it." He said.
"Whatever. We didn't come here just to doodle. Come on." Emira said as she grabbed both of the siblings' hands and lead the way, with Edric dropping the book and following them. Unfortunately, it landed face down, allowing the same pink claw to emerge which was followed by a low growl.
The group arrived at the romance section, leaving Luz and Hunter confused on why the twins brought them here.
"I'm wondering why you guys brought us here." Hunter said as he looked at them. Emira looked back at him and gave him a wink, causing Hunter to swiftly shift away from her.
"Oh, wow. Boiling Isles romance. That's totally lame. I mean, unless you guys are into it?" Luz said.
"I think I'm into this one." Edric said as he pulled a book titled The Lone Witch & Secret Room. A mechanism inside the bookshelf clicked, causing it to sink back and slide away, revealing a secret room.
"Wow! That's a good book." Luz said as she and Hunter walked inside and looked around. "Your clubhouse is like my ultimate secret hideaway."
"Not gonna lie, this is pretty cool." Hunter said.
Edric sighed. "We don't hang out in a library. "Uh, teacher, I'm in love with a dictionary." It's kinda lame if you ask me." He said.
"Yeah. "I'm studying the dork arts." This is Amity's secret hideaway." Emira explained, causing the siblings to look at them in slight shock.
"Mittens has gotten too... full of herself. She keeps tattling on us when we cut class." Edric said as he entered the room.
"She needs to learn not to mess with people like that. So, we're going to find her diary." Emira said.
"And then post the pages all around school for everyone to see." Edric finished for her, with them laughing at their plan.
"What? Isn't that taking it a bit too far?" Luz reasoned.
"No. See, we're her family. It's tough love and totally okay. She needs to learn to lighten up." Emira said as the twins began to look around.
"Wait. So you two brought us here so that you can expose your sister's private thoughts, just because she snitched on you two for skipping school?" Hunter said in frustration.
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Edric said nonchalantly, which irritated the blond teen.
"Hmm. Well, I-I don't see any diaries in here." Luz said as she looked around half-heartedly. "Nope, nothin'. Let's just leave-" She said before something caught her eye. "Wait, are those…" She said before squealing in delight at what she saw. "The Good Witch Azura books one through four! You get these on the Boiling Isles?" She said excitedly before grabbing a book from the shelf. "So majestic. Is this cover hand-drawn?" The book had a drawing of Amity dressed up as Azura. Luz opened it and a small version of Amity rose from the pages.
"Dear diary, you wouldn't believe what happened at school today." The mini Amity said.
Luz gasped. "The diary." She said.
"Wait what?" Hunter said as he walked up next to her.
"There was this girl and boy who helped Willow cheat on her abomination to get her an A+. I tried to expose them to Principal Bump but they escaped thanks to Willow's plant magic, and worse, the boy injured me before he escaped." The mini Amity recounted the events at Hexside two weeks ago.
"That was well deserved, by the way." Hunter quipped.
"I don't know who they are or why they're here, but I'm keeping my distance from them." She said. Luz flipped to another page. "Ugh, today was the worst day of my life. I saw... those two again at the Covention and I got involved in a witch's duel with the human girl. It was a no contest, but my mentor, Miss Clawthorne, put a power glyph on me without my knowledge." The mini Amity groaned. "If my own teacher doesn't believe in my abilities, then what chance do I have in joining the Emperor's Coven." She finished. Luz began to feel sorry for unknowingly causing grief to the Blight prodigy, even Hunter began to feel sympathy for her.
"What've you got there, Luz?" Edric asked. Luz quickly closed the diary and hid it behind her as she and Hunter turned to look at Edric.
"Oh. N-Nothing. Just a Good Witch Azura 5 where she goes through her Goth phase." Luz lied.
"We, uhh, couldn't find any diary here. So let's just cut our losses and get out of here." Hunter said. Edric smirked as he drew a spell circle, causing the diary to fly out of Luz's hands and towards him.
"No, wait." Luz said as she watched Emira grab it and hand it over to Edric. He opened it up as a mini Amity rose from the page.
"It's not fair. I'm the only one who knows Ed and Em aren't perfect. Why do they keep getting away with things?" She said as the Blight twins smiled.
"This is it." The two giggled as Emira looked at the Noceda siblings. "Guys, were you hiding this from us?" She asked.
"You see how she treats people. How she treats you two." Edric said.
"I know Amity can be kind of cold but this is going too far." Luz argued. "These are private thoughts. Let's put it back." She said as she reached out to grab it, but Edric pulled it away.
"She needs this. Trust us, it's for her own good." Emira said, which angered Hunter as he found their reasoning to be a flimsy excuse to embarrass Amity.
"That's it, give me that!" The blond teen said as he reached out to grab the diary. However, Edric held him back as he kept it out of his reach.
"Hey man, don't step into someone else's business!" Edric yelled.
"That's real rich coming from you!" Hunter retorted as he struggled to get the diary. "Luz! Help!"
"I don't think Amity deserves this!" Luz said as she grabbed it, causing Edric to grip it with both hands.
"It's called tough love." Emira said as she joined her twin brother.
"It's called bullying." Hunter said as he joined his younger sister. Both groups struggled in a tug of war with the diary as neither of them let up. However, one swift pull caused the diary to fly up into the air, spilling most of the pages out. All four gasped as they watched it land on the ground as various Amitys appeared. "Oh no." Hunter said.
"I wish I had somewhere to go." "Why won't the human and her witch brother leave me alone?" "Called my teacher mom again." "Sorry I haven't written for a while. Wait, why am I apologizing?" They said.
"The diary!" Luz said as she quickly knelt and began to pick up the pages.
"What's going on here?"
Everyone turned to the secret room entrance and saw the real Amity standing there. She became furious as she saw Luz holding the pages from her diary. "Really?!" She said in frustration.
"It's not what it looks like." Luz tried to explain but Amity wasn't willing to hear her out.
"Argh! You two are the worst." She said to her twin siblings, who giggled in response before turning towards Luz and Hunter. "But you two... I've been trying to figure out what your deal is. I keep telling you to leave me alone and you still bother me." She said as she grabbed her diary from Luz, with the siblings slowly backing away. "Why? Who do you think you guys are? Are you posers? Nerds? I know. You two are nothing but bullies. So let me hammer this through your thick skulls. Leave. Me. Alone!" She yelled as she ran off as her twin siblings laughed.
"Amity, Wait!" Luz cried out as she ran after her.
"Luz!" Hunter said.
"Looks like Mittens killed the fun." Edric complained.
"Again. Oh, well. We're headed out to go Tabapuan‐tipping. Wanna come?" Edric asked Hunter.
"You're just gonna leave?" He asked.
"Yeah, with you." She said as she grabbed his wrist. "Let's go, it'll be fun."
"No." Hunter said as he pulled his hand back from her. "I'm going to find my sister and sort this whole thing out. I suggest you join so that you can apologize to your sister." He said.
"That doesn't sound like fun, but you do you. See you around, cutie." She said, giving him a wink before she and her brother turned to walk away.
"Oh no! You two are going to help us fix this mess!" Hunter said as he blocked the Blight twins from leaving.
"Come on, it's just a harmless prank. I'm sure Mittens will get over it." Emira said as she began to walk around him. Hunter quickly grabbed her arm and pinned it against her back. "Ow! Ow! Hey, let me go! Oww!" She yelled.
"You two tricked us into being a part of your little "prank" against Amity. So you're not leaving here until you guys apologize to us about what you did. Understand?" He said as Emira refused to answer. "Say something." He said sternly.
"Harder daddy." She jokingly responded, causing Hunter to let go and reel back in shock. The twins laughed at his reaction as Emira dusted herself off. "Hey, you put me in a perfect situation for it. So you got yourself to blame." She said before continuing. "But you make a fair point, we'll help you in clearing the air with our sister. Right Edric?"
"Yeah, plus we wouldn't want to get into any more trouble with our mom." He said. Hunter glared at the twins before grabbing their wrists.
"Let's go." He said as he began to drag the two as he went to find Luz.
Meanwhile, Amity walked in a somber mood near the main hall in the library as she held her diary. Her mind went back to the events at Hexside, the Covention, and now her secret room. She couldn't understand why the Noceda siblings were getting involved in her affairs, especially the human girl. What did they want from her; knowledge? Money? Spell? A target to torment? She nearly reached the main exit when she heard a voice cry out.
"Amity, wait." Luz yelled as she turned a corner. Amity grimaced as she watched her come to a stop in front of her.
"First you embarrass me. Then you wanna be my friend? I don't get you. Pick a side." She angrily said.
Luz caught her breath before speaking. "Please, just listen to me. I-"
"Just stop. Go away before things somehow get worse." She interrupted before turning around to walk away before another voice cried out.
"Luz. There you are." Hunter said, causing the green haired witch to groan. She turned and, to her surprise, saw Edric and Emira being dragged by the blond teen. "Hi there, Amity." He said in a mundane tone, causing her to leer at him. "I've got two people here who want to say something to you. Come one you two." He said as he pushed the Blight twins forward. However, before anyone could speak, a series of loud footsteps caused the ground to tremble. Everyone shook in place as they looked around to see what was causing it.
"Huh?" Luz said.
"What's happening? What did you guys do?" Hunter asked the twins.
"We didn't do anything, aside from planning to steal our sister's diary." Edric said.
"What?!" Amity said. The footsteps grew louder until the monstrous form of Otabin, that was created by Edric's drawing, snarls as it steps into view. His heart beats loudly, with his book pulsing with it. "Otabin?" She asked in complete shock.
"With claws and fangs and breaking bones, I found a friend to make my own." Otabin said in a deep voice before dashing towards Amity and grabbing her.
"Ahh! Otabin! Stop!" She cried out as she tried to free herself.
"Hey! Let our sister go, you ugly freak!" Emira said as she and Edric got into a fighting stance. Otabin turned around. "It appears that someone granted my wish, for I have more friends to play with." He smiled as he made a lunge towards them. The twins quickly tried to cast their spells, but Otabin caught them before they could finish and ran off.
"Luz! Hunter!" Amity cried out.
"Help us!" The twins screamed as Otabin disappeared around a corner.
"Amity!" Luz yelled as she began to give chase, only for Hunter to stop him.
"Luz, what are you doing? Didn't you see that thing?" He said.
"We have to do something. We can't just leave them with whatever that was." She objected.
"Well what can we do? We don't have any of our glyphs at the moment." He said. Luz groaned as he did bring up a good point. She looked at the floor in frustration, until she saw Amity's diary. She picked it up as an idea came to her head.
"Wait." She said as she reached into her messenger bag and pulled out her Good Witch Azura book. "Maybe we can do something. Remember the effects of the Wailing Star? We can use its power to fight back against that creature." She explained.
"You know… that might not be a bad idea. Only problem is what books do we use?" He said.
"Well…" Luz said as she looked at her Azura book.
Otabin ran through the Library halls as he clutched the Blight children in his hands. He reached the kiddie room where slammed them up against an open book before grabbing a needle with a thread. The Blights braced themselves as they watched Otabin drive it towards them, only for him to sew their arms onto the page.
"Why are you doing this? I've been reading you since I was a kid. I know you're not like this. Someone changed you." Amity pleaded.
"Yeah, this might have been my doing. And also Emira helped me out." Edric winced.
"Edric!" Emira groaned.
"You two are the worst." Amity said.
"But friends are what I've always sought. And now, new friends my claws have caught." Otabin said as he readied the needle. But before he could continue, A rumbling caught their attention. A purple cloud rolled in, and a figure in white robes and hat stood within it. The cloud blinded Otabin for a moment as Amity looked at the figure in shock.
"Azura?" She gasped.
"Close." The figure said, revealing to be Luz holding her Azura book while dressed in her outfit. "Is it drawn okay? I kind of interpreted the descriptions." She said as she pulled at her robes.
"Luz!" Amity yelled.
"Ah, right. The good witch, Luzura, grabs her trusty staff." She read out her written line. A white staff with a large blue teardrop-shaped crystal at the top and dark gray handle emerged from the book. "But that's not all, for I have brought an ally by my side." She said. Behind her, another figure emerged wearing a black and yellow long-sleeved shirt with a planet symbol on it, a utility belt with a gun holster, black pants with yellow edges that were bloused on a pair of black boots with a yellow tongue, and a robotic eye attachment. It was Hunter who was holding his Cosmic Frontier book.
'I can't believe I'm doing this.' Hunter thought before he spoke. "Greetings everyone. My readings told me that there was an unruly foe wrecking havoc inside this library, and it seems that this battle will be over, for you are no match for Chief O'Bailey and his trusty blaster, The Peacekeeper." He read out dramatically as a silver scoped laser pistol appeared on his holster. He drew it out and held it at the ready position.
"All right, beloved work of children's fiction. Let go of them." Luz said before charging at Otabin. Hunter immediately opened fire, making Otabin shield himself to avoid any of the lasers from hitting his chest. The blond teen stopped as Luz jumped up and swung her staff, hitting the creature in the face before doing a somersault back to her brother. Otabin growled and roared as he charged at the two with his needle in hand.
"Flak around him!" Hunter yelled as the two split up and ran beside him, confusing him in the process before stopping behind him. "Open fire!" He yelled as he let out a series of laser bursts as Luz shot out light beams from her staff. Otabin yelled in pain as he ran towards a bookshelf to use as a cover. "Cover me, I'm reloading." Hunter said as he changed the magazine in his pistol. Seeing his chance, Otabin quickly charged at the two again, but Luz was ready for him.
"Close your eyes." She warned her brother, who covered his face. "Blinding light!" She yelled as she aimed her staff at the pink creature before a large flash exploded from the crystal. Otabin screamed as he was blinded by it. "Keep him away while I free Amity and the twins." She said as she ran towards the Blights.
"Make it quick! I don't want to be left alone with this guy!" Hunter said as he opened fire. Luz ran over to the Blight kids and tried to break the thread that was bounding them, but to no avail.
"Come on, come on. Break, you lousy thread." She grunted as she tugged on it.
"Please free us Luz." Edric cheered her on.
"It's too strong, I need help." She said.
"Luz, please get us out of here! We're sorry that we dragged you and your brother into this!" Emira pleaded.
"I can't believe you two would do something like this." Amity said as she glared at her twin siblings, who winced. "I'm telling mom about this once we're free."
"No, please don't. We're sorry about causing all of this." Edric pleaded.
"We promise not to do anything like this ever again." Emira said.
"As long as you don't cause any more trouble or do any of your sneaky activities after this, I'll keep this whole thing a secret." Amity proposed.
"Deal!" The twins said in unison as Luz continued to try and break them free.
"Hold on, let me use my staff." She said.
Meanwhile, Hunter continued to lay down fire on Otabin. He kept the pink rabbit beast at bay, but was beginning to feel worried about the amount of time Luz was taking. "Luz, what's taking so long?!" He shouted.
"I'll get them out, just give me a minute!" She replied. Otabin looked up and saw Luz aim her staff at the threading. He grabbed his needle and threw it like a spear at the human girl. It struck the staff, knocking it out of Luz's hand as she recoiled in shock. Hunter quickly returned fire but ran out of ammo.
"Damn it." He said as he turned to his book to summon more. However, Otabin used another thread to lasso both Luz and Hunter and pulled them towards him. They grunted as the pink beast grabbed both of their books and closed them, causing the siblings to return back to normal. "Oh no." Hunter said.
"Not a fan of Azura or Cosmic Frontier, are you?" Luz joked nervously. Otabin grabbed them and slammed them against the opposite page where the Blight kids were at. He got his needle and began to sew them into the page.
"Making friends, taking friends, never be without my friends." He growled before turning away to grab more thread.
"You fiend. You can't rhyme friends with friends." Luz said.
"Great work, Luzura and O'Bailey." Amity scoffed.
"Oye! We were trying to save you." Hunter retorted.
"Well, it doesn't matter. We're gonna be stuck together forever." Amity said. Luz looked at her sewn arm and managed to move it, an idea came to her.
"No, we aren't. Everyone, follow my lead." She said as she slammed her feet against the book. "One."
"What are you doing?" Amity asked as Luz continued.
"Two. Three." She said as her last kick caused the book to fall over, striking Otabin in the head and stunning him for a moment. Everyone yelled as the book landed on the ground before getting up and running away from the kiddie room. Otabin recovered and saw that the room was now empty before catching a glimpse of the group.
"Come back!" He roared as he gave chase. The group ran through a random hallway before ducking behind a small bookshelf.
"I think we lost him." Hunter huffed.
"Okay Luz, now what?" Amity asked.
"I… don't know." Luz answered, much to the shock of everyone.
"What?!" Amity said.
"I didn't even think that would work. I was all like "roaaar" and after that I was just running by instinct." She explained.
"So you're saying that you have no real plan to get us out of here?!" Edric frantically asked, to which Luz shook her head. "Oh no! We're finished! Game over man! Game over!" He freaked out.
"Edric, calm down! At least we're free from Otabin." Emira reassured him. Shortly after saying that, the pink monster's needle pierced through the book, surprising everyone. "Me and my big mouth." She muttered.
"Friends." Otabin growled as he pulled the thread like a fishing line, bringing the book closer to him. The group began to tug at their threading in a desperate attempt to break free, but it wasn't doing anything. Amity saw a ladder nearby and grabbed it before locking her legs around it. She grunted as she struggled to hold on. Her perseverance paid through as her thread broke, freeing her before running towards a library cart nearby.
"Guys!" She said.
"Amity!" The four teens cried out as Otabin pulled them closer before grabbing the book. He turned it around to look at them, who began to kick at him in a desperate attempt to escape. Otabin pulled the needle through before continuing to sew the group onto the book.
"You squirm and fight, and scream and shout. But friendship always will win out." He said as he readied his needle for the final threading. The group whimpered as they embraced their fate. However, Otabin's attention was drawn away as he heard the sound of wheels barrelling down the hall. "Huh?" He said as he looked up. It was Amity pushing the cart with all her might as she let out a war cry. She gave one last push, sending it towards the pink monster with such speed, he couldn't dodge it in time as it struck him and sent him flying towards a large bookshelf, making it fall on top of him. Amity quickly drew a spell circle, summoning a large magic scissor which cut through the threads and freeing the teens.
"Oh, third dimension, how I've missed you." Luz said as she inspected her arm.
"Alright, let's go before that thing catches us again." Hunter said. Otabin let out a roar as he got up, causing everyone to freeze in fear.
"Welp, we're doomed." Emira said
"Gulp." Luz said.
"We must stay friends until the end. There is no tear I cannot mend." Otabin said as he grabbed both Hunter and Luz, who yelped in terror. Amity watched on before gasping as an idea came to her.
"Luz has to right a wrong." She wrote down on the giant book, making a giant eraser appear in her arms. "Luz, quick." She said as she tossed it to the human girl. Luz caught it and quickly erased Edric's drawings from Otabin's book. A bright green glow consumed him as he reverted back to normal as she caught him in her hands before placing him on his feet. Amity and the twins walked over to them, with the former picking up and cradling the pink rabbit in her arms.
"I don't know what came over me but let me say I'm sorry, I hope I didn't bring harm to anybody." Otabin apologized.
"Hey, it's okay. We're still friends." Amity assured him before nodding to Luz. She picked up his book and closed it, making him disappear.
The sun began to rise from the horizon as the group walked out of the library, but not after cleaning it up. The Noceda siblings made sure that they got everything before closing the door while the Blight kids talked amongst themselves.
"Well, nothing gets you more pumped up than escaping certain doom from a giant pink rabbit." Hunter said sarcastically.
"What an adventure. Thanks for helping clean up." Luz said to the Blight kids.
"This never happened. Come on you two, let's go home." Amity said coldly as she and her twin siblings began to leave.
"Bye you guys. Hope to see you around soon." Edric said.
"Wait. It doesn't make up for reading your diary but would you wanna borrow this?" Luz said as she presented Amity with her Good Witch Azura book. "I noticed you only had up to four, but I have the 5th installment." She said.
"Umm, thank you." She said hesitantly before sighing. "Maybe you and your brother aren't troublemakers. I know I haven't been the friendliest witch either… I'll think on that." She said as she walked away.
"Bye Luz. Byeeee~ Hunter." Emira chuckled as she gave a finger wave to the blond teen. Hunter waved back with an unnerved look as the Blight kids walked around a street corner.
"Remind me to never be alone with that girl, Luz." Hunter said, causing her to chuckle. "I genuinely mean it."
"Let's go home, hermano." She said as the two began to walk back to the Owl House. "You didn't tell me you had your Cosmic Frontier book in your backpack. Did you bring that for our stay at summer camp? I thought you stopped reading it." She asked.
"I mean, I did but… Eh, I figured I bring it in order to kill the time at camp. Which never happened since we went here instead." He explained.
"Aw, it's good to see you reading it again. Makes me happy." She said as she hugged her brother.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go home. I want to get some well needed sleep." He said as the siblings continued.
"Hi, guys. We're… home?" Luz said in confusion as the two entered and looked at the living room before closing the door. The whole place was a mess, with several burn marks covering the floor and walls, the rug crumpled up, the coffee table flipped over, and several wall pictures scattered all around. But the most shocking sight was Eda sleeping on the couch, while cradling the three baby bats and King, who were also asleep. Luz smiled at them while Hunter continued to look around the room.
"Dios mío, it looks like a tornado ripped through here." He commented. A loud bang caught their attention as the door swung open.
"Ding-dong!" Hooty said before a large female head with purple bat wings, with claws atop them, and legs with talons connected to it walked in. She had long unkempt dark hair with a widow's peak, small pointed brows, dark purple lips with fangs, and pink eyes. The siblings stood there in surprise.
"Whoa. You must be mama." Luz said.
"Yi Yi. Mama is I. And I is the Bat Queen." The Bat Queen said before whistling. Her babies woke up and flew towards her, happily gurgling as they landed and snuggled in her hair. "Aah! Snuggle dumplings." She said before coughing up a large treasure chest full of golden snail coins and an ancient Aztec death whistle. "For troubles. Eda is owed one. Farewell." She said before leaving and flying away in the sky, with Luz closing the door.
"...Because why not. What better way to end our night than with what just happened. I'm going to bed, Luz. Goodnight." Hunter groaned as he walked up the stairs to their room.
"But it's morning." Luz corrected.
"Ah. Sweet babies." Eda said in her sleep as she gently squeezed her hands, only to wake up and look around when she felt nothing. "Babies? Where are the babies?" She asked. Luz used her hands to mimic a flying motion, with Eda realizing what she was trying to say. "Oh. And I just taught Junior how to pick locks too." She groaned.
"Your night looks very successful. Look at all that money you made. And look at this cool whistle that scary woman gave you." Luz said as she held it out, with spit still dripping off it. "...I'd wash it before you use it." She said as she put it down on the couch.
"Yeah… we did it all for the money." The elderly witch said somberly.
"I miss my babies." King cried as he hugged Eda.
"I actually got you something from the library." Luz said as she presented to Eda a book titled Coping with Empty Nest Syndrome, causing her to chuckle.
"Thanks, kid. So, how was your night? Also where's your brother?" Eda asked.
"Good. Then bad. Then, maybe good? I think? And Hunter went upstairs to sleep." Luz explained before the door opened up.
"Hey, you wanna hear about my night?" Hooty asked, much to the annoyance of the Owl House gang.
"Ugh. No!" Luz said.
"No!" Eda said.
"That's not a thing anyone ever wants." King said as everyone left the room.
Mando Whisky: That's a major spoiler for my story, but I will conform that the Golden Guard will appear. That's all I'll say.
Remember to leave a review and I'll see you guys next time.