Previously on Calamitous Intervention

Anne and King had been debating whether he was really the self-titled 'King of Demons', which led King to bring her to a distant, seemingly abandoned island that he claimed was his home. As Eda realized what was happening and made it there as well, the two discovered some very unusual secrets, including a mystical bicolored deity sprouting wings, aggressively surrounded by various dark blue figures.

After they encountered a rock-made creature and briefly fought it, Eda realized King seriously believed in his 'King of Demons' fantasy and had no choice but to tell him the truth, which temporarily sent him into an existential crisis. However, Anne approached him and comforted him, realizing how great of a friend he was. With all of his questions about the island and his past sorta answered, the three returned home, and King forever changed.

Chapter Twenty-Six - Adventures In The Elements

"Alright, King, I think it's time that I taught you how to be strong like your big sister!" Anne declared to a confused King, who was initially curious as to why she had brought him outside.

"Uh, sure, but how are you gonna do that?" King replied. "I mean, I'm pretty weak and can't really hurt anything more than a fly."

"Oh, don't be like that," Anne said, chuckling. "You just need to get the right techniques down. Maybe your species is secretly super strong when they train a bit! Like those Zaiyuns from Dragonclaw Z. Maybe you have a super form!"

"Zai-what?" King replied, thinking whatever she said was super farfetched, but Anne didn't answer his question, instead continuing her explanation.

"I'm gonna teach you the art of... Muay Thai!" Anne dramatically revealed, getting into a fighting stance. "My mom used to make me take classes for it since I was nine. Said I needed to defend myself. It's kinda paid off so far."

King blinked, tilting his head curiously. "You're… gonna teach me martial arts?" he asked. "You're teaching me." He gestured to his tiny body. "How is that even gonna work? You know I'm not actually the King of Demons."

Anne grimaced a bit at his words but then forced a smile on her face. "Well, anybody can learn Muay Thai. Besides, you need a big confidence boost. You never know what you may face in the future."

King knew he wouldn't get far with martial arts, but he decided to go along, anyway. Little did he know, he would be in for a pretty fun experience. Anne began his first lesson—how to throw a proper punch. He first got into a defensive stance, one arm forward and one wound back, preparing to throw his fist. He had not yet properly thrown his punch, but Anne's exasperated expressions never failed to get at least a chuckle out of him.

After half an hour of their antics, Anne had finally managed to get King into a proper stance for himself, so he could at least throw a punch without falling on his face or butt. "Alright, I think this should work," the human said, kneeling before him. "Try it and remember what I taught you. Imagine that I'm that Cynder Brown guy."

Winding back his little fist, King made a high-pitched grunt as he swung it forward, his hand striking Anne's face. Of course, it did absolutely nothing, which disappointed him a bit, but she then decided to cheer him up by letting out a fake, dramatic scream and falling backward. "Gahh! Mercy! Mercy!" King's confused expression was priceless, which made Anne burst into a fit of laughter, and he followed shortly after. After getting back up from the grass, Anne suddenly had a mischievous idea.

"Hey, King, why don't you try using this?" she suggested, handing the power glyph stored in her pocket over to the little demon. "Maybe you'll actually be able to do some damage with this."

King's eyes lit up at the idea. He had seen Anne using that glyph before, and from what he had seen, it had made her much stronger. With no hesitation, King swiped the power glyph from her hands and placed it down, tapping his foot on it. Immediately, he felt different, as if he could actually do damage.

Getting back into the same stance, King wound his fist back and threw it forward toward Anne. The human wasn't expecting much of anything to happen, but when it hit her in the stomach, her eyes widened as she stumbled back, almost falling on her back. "Whoa! That actually hurt!"

King was briefly thrilled about his strength boost but then felt guilty when he heard her last words. "Sorry, Anne. Are you okay?"

Anne chuckled, rubbing her stomach. "Yeah, I'm good. Might bruise a bit, but it was totally worth it. Maybe I could get you your own power glyph. It would at least help you stop yourself from nearly getting eaten by birds."

King pouted at her last sentence. "You're still holding that against me? That happened over a month ago!"

Before Anne could respond or process that thought, Eda suddenly barged into the scene by kicking the front door open, startling the two. "Hey, freeloaders!" she yelled. "Guess what today is?"

"Umm, I dunno," Anne responded, alarmed. "Some special day for you?"

"Is it your anniversary?" King inquisitively peeked in.

"What? No!" the witch reacted, rather startled and confused. "It's human treasure day!" She promptly tossed the portal door into the air, and it magically opened by itself. From within, Owlbert flew out of the door, carrying a giant sack of who knows what was inside. He couldn't hold it much longer as he let it drop onto the grass. With impeccable timing, the bag tore itself into shreds, no longer able to hold its contents.

Anne and King peeked into the now-torn open bag, and as it turned out, it had a lot of random garbage and crap Anne had always seen around the streets of LA and in overflowing recycling bins. Some stuff she recognized right away, such as an old batting trophy, a handheld brick game knockoff, a clothes wire hanger, a VCR, a Spudsy's fast food bag, and more.

"Ahh, fresh garbage," Eda sighed in relaxation as she hopped onto the top of the pile. The first thing she laid her eyes on was a thin clothing wire hanger.

"How old are these?" Anne asked as she grabbed a teddy bear from the pile that happened to have a pull string. Almost without thinking about it, she pulled it.

"I love cuddles and kisses!" the speaker from within the teddy bear said as it sounded clearly pixelated and worn, not from a phonograph, but from a digital speaker. Having no interest in the plushie, she tossed it behind her toward King, who caught it, happily taking it for himself. "I dub thee… Snuggles Junior!" he proclaimed, ready to add this plushie to his massive collection.

"Look, kid," Eda said to Anne. "It doesn't matter. What matters is how valuable and priceless these human relics are! Check out this sacred box!" she finished as she held up a VCR that was dark gray and had its front flap missing.

"You sure it's sacred, Eda?" Anne asked as she kept sifting through the random objects. "Back home, we ditched those for DVD and Blu-Ray like… twenty years ago."

"What's Blu-Ray?" Eda asked, still a bit clueless about how human stuff works. Anne still tried to convince her from time to time that wearing clothes hangers as earrings wasn't a good fashion choice, but Eda was having none of it.

"This stuff really isn't that impressive," Anne said, a bit disappointed. Every day, she missed being home more and more, and while she sometimes thought about using Eda's portal and just going home, she wouldn't feel right returning without her friends.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Anne looked through the garbage a bit more, surprised to find a Skipman player. It was out of battery, but if she could find some spares, it would be fully usable. Other than that, the only things of note she found were some old tennis balls she could use as backups and some pieces of paper with writing on them—likely some old school worksheets. At least she could use those for glyphs.

"Well, that was actually a pretty good haul," the human admitted, satisfied, not bothering to dig through any more of the pile. "I'm bored. I'm probably gonna head out for a bit."

"But what about our May Te.. uh… however you pronounce it... What about the lessons?" King whined. "I wanna punch like a human again!" He threw his fist forward, but then tripped and fell on his stomach, grunting in annoyance.

Anne rolled her eyes and approached him, patting his head. "We'll do more lessons later, King. Why don't you spend some time with your new companion?" she suggested, pointing to the stuffed teddy bear he was holding.

In response, King looked down at the bear and pulled the string on its back to hear what it would say, and its next words made Anne feel uneasy. "Being without you is just unbearable."

"Yeah, uh, you have fun with that," Anne said quickly, slowly backing away, not taking her eyes off the teddy bear until she was far enough away to feel safe.

Upon entering Bonesborough, Anne saw that it was just as busy as it always was—strange creatures eating unlucky pedestrians as if it were normal. Of course, in a world like this, it probably was. Anne was considering heading back to the library to do some research so she could finally get out of the baby class and actually start learning something interesting in Hexside.

As Anne passed by the market, her gaze shifted to the various stands selling the most outlandish things she had ever seen. Despite being in this world for months, she wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to being in Bonesborough. Every time Anne thought she knew what to expect from the town, some whack-job demon hunters would try to capture her again, or a rogue griffin would try to eat her.

So lost in her thoughts, Anne didn't realize that somebody was in front of her until she bumped into them, almost causing the two of them to fall. Surprised, Anne looked up to see none other than Amity turning toward her with an enraged expression.

"Hey! Watch where you're—" Amity began, but then paused, her eyes widening at the sight of the last person she had expected to run into that day. "Oh, uh, Anne. What are you doing?"

"Sorry 'bout that," Anne replied, blinking the stars out of her eyes. "Uh, it's been a while since we last saw each other. How've you been?" she asked.

"Oh, you know, just… fine," Amity murmured, starting to feel awkward. "And yes, it's been a while since you ran off on me before the entrance exam," she added semi-sarcastically.

"Well, the whole pressure did kinda get to me," Anne said. "Anyway, I came to Bonesborough 'cause I was bored. Up to hang out?"

Amity's lips twitched up into a smile before it dropped, and she sighed. "Can't today. Mom's having me run some errands for her because she can't take two seconds to do them herself. Not like I don't already have enough on my plate."

Anne winced sympathetically. "Yikes. Well, I guess we'll talk later then. Sound good?"

Amity nodded, and with that, they separated for the time being. Anne continued heading through Bonesborough, and right as she was starting to consider going back to the Owl House and watching some trash cop shows, she spotted three familiar figures sitting at a nearby table, playing Hexes Hold'em—Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus.

"Hey, guys!" Anne called out, running up to them excitedly. Maybe her day wasn't going to be so boring after all.

Viney glanced up at her, confused, before her face lit up in recognition, a wide smile forming on her face. "Anne! Didn't expect you to be out here already."

"Well, I kinda got bored, which isn't really new," Anne replied, shrugging. "Baby class sucks as usual, and now that the secret hideout got sealed off by Principal Bump, I haven't even gotten the chance to study as you guys did. No new spells."

"You're still in the baby class?" Viney asked incredulously. "Well, dang. Maybe Jerbo or I could help you out."

"Yeah! Barcus is actually a pretty good teacher," Jerbo added, and Barcus barked in confirmation.

"Thanks, but I can't really do magic naturally like you guys," Anne replied, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "Only spell I can do is an ice glyph, and even then, glyphs aren't like spell circles. I have to have them pre-drawn and ready to go. Do you guys know any other glyphs?"

Barcus let out another bark, which Jerbo translated. "Barcus says that none of us have ever seen a spell cast like that, and that's saying a lot because we've studied every track in the school."

Anne stared at Jerbo and Barcus incredulously, her mouth agape, wondering how Jerbo got all of that from a single bark. "How did you even...? Nevermind…"

"How did you learn about the ice glyph, anyway?" Viney asked curiously, just now realizing that Anne had used it out of nowhere.

"I think it was when we were fighting the basilisk," Anne replied, recalling the events of her first day at Hexside. "I just… saw it on the floor. It was really weird."

"Wait, you're telling me that it just… showed itself to you?" Viney asked disbelievingly, an eyebrow raised. "That doesn't make any sense, Anne."

The human just shrugged. "What can I say? This world's weird. Well, I guess if you guys have no clue about it, then maybe I should go ask Eda," she said. "We'll catch up later."

"Oh, before you go, we should give you our scroll numbers," Viney suggested, taking out a piece of paper. "Just so you can talk to us."

"Thanks. I don't have my own scroll yet, but I'm sure Eda wouldn't mind me using hers," Anne replied, pocketing the piece of paper after each of the former detention trio had written their contact information on it.

Seeing as she had no further business in Bonesborough, Anne decided to head back toward the Owl House, determined to get Eda to actually train her finally. Thinking about it, Eda had not once trained her since she started living there. Sure, Anne had a power glyph and martial arts, but that could only get her so far in a world filled with freaking magic users.

Back in the Owl House, Eda was in the kitchen, boiling a pot of water while reading a cookbook resting on her detached hand labeled, "Bending Ingredients to Your Will."

"Wow, a surprisingly peaceful domestic moment," Eda muttered, feeling the familiar sensation of dread building in the pit of her stomach. "When will it be ruined?"

As if the universe hated her, the front door slammed open, and Anne stormed into the kitchen, her gaze piercing Eda's.

"There it is," Eda grumbled, watching as the human approached her. Anne slammed her hands on the table, making it shake.

"Eda, you've got to train me!" Anne demanded. "I've been in the baby class for wayyy longer than I should've. I've just got to learn one more spell, and I can leave!"

"Sorry, Anne! These vegetables won't cook themselves... yet," Eda said, picking up an elixir filled with cyan liquid. She poured it onto a bundle of vegetables, which immediately sprouted arms and legs, making Anne flinch. "Alright, everybody in the pot!" Eda ordered.

Obviously, instead of following her order, the sentient vegetables shrieked, running off, leaving a disappointed Eda. "Why do I always think that's gonna work?" she murmured.

Anne groaned loudly. "Yeah, you have time to grow a vegetable army, but you don't have time to teach me at least one spell?"

Eda sighed, relenting as she reattached her other hand. "Alright, fine, fine. Sheesh, you're almost as stubborn as Lilith. Guess this looks like a job for a magic boot camp!"

Just then, King sauntered into the room, a curious expression on his face. "What's this about boot camps?" he asked, overhearing part of their conversation, a small part of his old self in the back of his mind wanting to be in charge of one.

"I'm taking Anne to train, so she stops bothering me," Eda told him, and she turned back to Anne. "Speaking of which, if you're truly serious about this, we're going somewhere special."

"And that would be?" the human inquired.

"We're going to the knee of the Titan," the Owl Lady replied with a smirk. "A place where magic energy just flows."

"Ooh, ooh! Can I come?" King asked excitedly, never having gone to that part of the Isles before.

"Nope. You'll have no part in this," Eda declined. "Anne needs to focus, and I can't have her go all weird when you do something adorable."

"I'm sure it'll be fine if he goes," Anne chimed in. "Would make this trip a lot more bearable. Plus…" She inched closer to Eda, speaking in a volume that only the two of them could hear. "I really don't want him to be alone, especially not after… y'know…"

Still feeling lingering guilt from breaking King's heart that day, Eda's expression softened, and she nodded. Turning toward King, she smiled. "Alright, fine. You can go, kiddo."

King squealed in excitement, his tail wagging. "Yes!"

"Hey, maybe I should get my friends to come along too," Anne suggested. "Remember the former detention trio I told you about? Maybe they can help me train."

Eda looked confused for a moment before her face lit up in realization. "Oh, those kids." She snorted in amusement. "Still surprised the hideout lasted that long. Alright, fine. If King's coming along, then why not bring the whole squad? You better promise not to goof off, though. If you mess this up, I will not be taking you again."

"Sounds like a deal," Anne agreed, grinning. "Mind if I borrow your scroll?"

Eda shrugged, handing her scroll to Anne. The human took the piece of paper Viney had given her, adding each of the three to Eda's contact list. After doing so, she messaged all three of them to meet her at the Titan's knee for training. Seeing as they were playing Hexes Hold'em earlier, Anne figured they had free time.

"Guess I've gotta get you a scroll, huh?" Eda asked. "Eh, just use mine for now. I never really got the appeal, but you could get something outta that."

Anne's eyes lit up, a smile breaking out on her face. "Wait, really? That's awesome! Thanks!"

Eda waved her off, smirking. "Don't mention it. I barely use that thing anyway these days. Let's get ready to go."

Before Anne knew it, the three of them were decked in layers of winter gear. She immediately could tell why once they had reached the Knee via flying on Eda's staff. She was not prepared to deal with cold temperatures like this, considering she lived in LA. Even with the layers of clothing, she could still feel the cold air stinging her skin. King was riding on her shoulder, faring much better because of his fur. Lucky him.

"The earliest witches came to the Knee to develop their magic, drawn to its natural power," Eda explained as they finally reached the top. Anne looked around in surprise, seeing many old ruins covered in snow littered across the place.

"Huh, so nobody lives up here?" Anne asked, confused as to why it was so barren.

"Pretty much. The Emperor's Coven made sure of that," Eda grumbled, scowling at the ruins. "They like to keep all of us where they can see us…"

King rolled his eyes. "She's gonna go on a tangent again."

Eda lightly smacked him on the top of his head, glaring at him halfheartedly, then looked to the side of where they were standing. "Then again, maybe they aren't the only reason this place is vacant."

Anne's eyes followed where she was looking and was shocked to see a huge four-legged beast covered in snow-white fur. It hadn't seemed to notice them, instead gnawing on a tree trunk it had gotten its claws on. "What the heck is that?!" she whispered loudly to Eda.

"It's gonna eat us!" King panicked, hugging Anne's head tightly.

"Relax. It's just the slitherbeast," Eda replied nonchalantly. "Don't worry, if you don't mess with him, he won't mess with you."

"Noted. Let's, uh, keep going before it tries to eat King," Anne suggested, much to said demon's displeasure.

"Hey!" King whined, but begrudgingly agreed, riding on Anne's shoulder as they headed further through the ruins. Right as Anne was starting to worry, she saw three familiar figures waiting for her, also wearing winter gear.

"Hey, Anne!" Viney greeted her, waving to her. "We got your message. We were actually already going to head here, anyway."

"Wait, why?" Anne asked, curious.

"We came here to check out some of these ancient ruins," Jerbo explained, gesturing to Barcus. "Barcus has been asking nonstop for us to go. He's really interested in learning more about history."

"Well, I guess this works out for all of us then," Anne replied. Eda joined the conversation, sizing up the three newcomers.

"So you're those detention kids, huh?" Eda grinned. "Anne told me a lot about you guys and the hideout."

"Wait," Viney started in realization, her eyes widening. "Anne told us that you were the one who founded the hideout! That's so cool! We were able to learn so much while in detention."

Eda snorted. "That's the point. Stupid Bump didn't allow anybody to study under multiple tracks back then. Anyway, guess we should get started. We'll set up shop here."

"How are we gonna start this?" the human asked, getting pumped up, only to falter at Eda's next words.

"First off, I will teach you how to identify different types of snow... by taste!" Eda exclaimed, scooping up a handful of snow with her hand and shoving it into Anne's face. "Go on, eat the snow."

Anne, not sure what to do, glanced at her friends, hoping they would understand what the point of it was. Much to her dismay, Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus looked as equally confused as her. "Uh, Eda, is this a joke you're playing on me?"

Eda pulled back her hand, scrunching her eyebrows. "Of course not. I thought you were serious about this, Anne."

"You call this serious?!" Anne exclaimed, gesturing to the snowball in Eda's hand. "I thought I was gonna undergo some crazy magic training, maybe awaken my inner power like in anime, not eating snow."

"I am being serious," Eda insisted. "I'm showing you how I learned wild magic in my youth. Go taste snow without my guidance; see where it gets you."

Anne felt like she wanted to argue, but Viney placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just give it a chance, Anne. She's not called the Owl Lady for no reason. I'll join you and see what I can do to help you out."

"Sure. Guess you being here will make it a lot more bearable," Anne replied, a smile creeping up on her face. Before the human could react, she felt a clump of snow shoved in her mouth. Her eyes watered as she spit it out, coughing. "Eda, are you trying to kill me?!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist," Eda replied, cackling. "So, how did it taste? Focus on the memory."

"It tasted like nothing," Anne said with a blank expression. "It literally nearly froze my teeth off."

"Fair enough," the Owl Lady said, shrugging. "Now that you've remembered the taste of snow, it's on to smelling moss." She pulled out a small clump of moss from her pocket, demonstrating what she meant… by shoving the moss up her nose. "Now the trick is, you really gotta get it up in there."

Already getting bored of their antics, King leapt off Anne's shoulder, instead going to do something more productive. He had brought his demon notebook with him since he was going to a part of the Isles he had never been to, so he figured he could find demons he hadn't already researched. Luckily for King, it had paid off. While he was scared of the slitherbeast, he also really wanted to do some research on it. With that in mind, King scurried off through the snow, heading to where they last saw the monster.

Meanwhile, Anne and Viney were put through what could possibly be one of the most uncomfortable experiences of their lives. They had to smell lots of moss, lick different rocks, and do other strange tasks. Anne was getting fed up with Eda's teachings, thinking this was some kind of elaborate prank. If she had a choice to redo that entire day, she probably would've just rather created a vegetable army with Eda to take over the Isles.

As they were taking a break, Anne sat down on a nearby rock, frustrated. "No way they actually teach you stuff like this in Hexside, right?" she inquired to Viney, who was next to her.

"Not like the Owl Lady does," Viney replied with a chuckle. "But you really need to lighten up, Anne. I think I know what she's trying to get us to understand. After all, it's no surprise that humans learning magic is different from witches. Sure, her lessons are pretty… outlandish, but she probably wants us to connect with nature."

Anne sighed. "Well, this is still better than sitting through the baby class, but I'm tired of feeling like I'm accomplishing nothing by being here."

"Maybe we should take a break," Viney suggested, seeing Anne was frustrated. "I'll tell Eda, maybe distract her with some stories from our time in the hideout."

Anne let out a breath of relief, grateful for the time off. "Thanks, Viney. I owe you one." Getting up, she headed away toward a nearby cliff to think.

King had been walking through the snow, with his paws absorbing all the roughness and snow that pretty much blanketed the whole area. Carrying his notebook, he stayed determined, ready to study this odd slitherbeast that, according to Eda, shouldn't be too much of a danger—as long as he didn't bother it.

Right as he started to get really cold in the snow, he finally spotted the mythical creature near a bunch of red trees. The four-legged beast had no discernible eyes and was completely covered in nearly white fur. It had an enormous mouth that was peacefully gnawing on a giant tree trunk, the size of which certainly made up a very huge tree.

"Well, this will be extremely valuable for my priceless demon research!" King spoke aloud as he grabbed his notebook and an old pen he stole from some random drawer. Clenching his paw and ready to write, he began to write some stuff from the perspective of his bizarre little mind.

He stopped writing for a moment before looking back up at the beast, having stopped gnawing but still tightly holding the log in its mouth.

"You almost remind me of those... whaddya call them, buffaloes?" King suddenly said, remembering the photos of different animals from the Human Realm that Anne had shown him one time.

As Anne approached the cliff, looking for a place to calm her thoughts, she found a lone rock next to the edge of the cliff and sat on it, looking at the landscape overlooking it.

What she saw was truly breathtaking. As the sun slowly set beyond the horizon, she could see a perfect view of the Isles, its large ribs jutting out of the earth, some of them going even higher than where she was perched. On the other side of the island was the Titan's skull, and it almost seemed as if it were gazing at her. The view was beautiful, strangely enough.

As Anne settled, allowing her muscles to relax, she allowed her mind to wander once again, at first wondering how she was going to finish the training. Sure, Anne knew she could be impatient, but smelling moss and eating snow wasn't exactly magic training in her eyes.

Anne was pulled out of her thoughts as Viney approached the rock she was sitting on, sitting next to her. "Hey, just wanted to make sure you're okay. Are you?" Viney asked, concern in her voice.

"I… don't really know," Anne replied honestly, not tearing her gaze from the Isles. "I'm just… frustrated with trying to learn a new spell, and when I get frustrated, I get angry." She sighed. "Viney, am I a bad person?"

Viney blinked at her, taken aback by her question. "Uh, why do you ask?"

"Because of how I acted back there," Anne elaborated, tapping her fingers on the rock she was sitting on nervously. "The way I was acting toward Eda."

"I probably would also be a bit frustrated if I were in your place," Viney replied, shrugging as she leaned back, using her hands to support her weight. "No human has ever learned magic here before, so you've gotta cut her some slack. I'm sure she understands what you're feeling."

"But this isn't the only time," Anne continued. "I've been like this before. Not too long ago, I made my little brother cry for something as stupid as stealing a song we both worked on. I've yelled at Eda numerous times for her mistakes, and she still is so nice to me. I feel like I've turned into a bully."

Viney was silent for a moment before placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Anne, the fact that you regret what you've done doesn't make you a bad person. Far from it. It's not like you haven't been doing well either. Heck, if it weren't for you, Jerbo, Barcus, and I would still be in that hideout and probably eventually be discovered, and you helped save the entire school on top of that. You've probably done more that I don't know about, knowing you."

"Thanks, Viney," Anne replied, cracking a small smile. "The friends I've made here are… a lot different from the friends I've made back home. Well, mainly one of them."

Viney's eyes lit up. "Oh, right! You told me once about you looking for your friends who went missing. I'm guessing no luck?"

The human shook her head sadly. "No… Even in all this time, I haven't even heard from them, much less about them at all. I'm worried, Viney… I'm starting to wonder if they're even out there at all. Maybe they aren't in the Isles... Are there other places in the Demon Realm? They could be in another world, or dead for all I know!"

Viney placed a hand on her shoulder again as Anne quickly rambled. "Breathe. It's okay. If they're anything like you, I'm sure they're doing fine for themselves."

"I know, I just can't help but worry," Anne said, and with that, the two fell into an uncomfortable silence for five agonizingly long minutes.

Finally, Viney spoke up. "What did you mean by the friends here being different from one of yours?" she asked, hoping to distract Anne from her worries.

"Oh, well, that friend's name is Sasha," Anne explained. "She's a good friend. She always looks out for me and Marcy when we get picked on by the others. In exchange, she expects us to do what she wants, no matter what."

Viney's smile slowly melted away as she heard Anne say this. Something about what she had said didn't seem right, as if there were more to their dynamic than that. Before she could ask the human about it, Anne continued her explanation.

"She's had me break up her relationships for her and Marcy," Anne continued as if there was nothing wrong with that. "In fact, that's why they call me the 'Breakup Queen'." She smiled briefly before it dropped. "If she wants a pencil case, I get it for her. If she likes my new shoes, I take them off, give them to her, and walk home in my socks. And if she wants me to steal a crazy music box from a thrift store, even if I don't really want to, I do it, because if I don't, she might not want to be my friend anymore…"

"Anne…" Viney muttered, her teeth slightly clenching. She had seen similar things happening at Hexside, with students being manipulated by others, most notably Boscha. She had a good feeling Amity was also being manipulated by her, even if most didn't realize it. Boscha was the one who started the teasing on Willow, and pretty much everyone else went along with it.

Viney took a deep breath, knowing that she had to give Anne a reality check. "Anne, I'm going to be frank with you. Sasha isn't a real friend."

Anne flinched at her words. Her eyes widened as she sat up, her expression briefly showing anger before morphing into confusion. "Sasha isn't? But we've been friends since kindergarten. She's done so much for Marcy and me—"

"She's been manipulating you, Anne," Viney interrupted her, a stern expression on her face. "Getting you to do her bidding and pressuring you into doing things you aren't comfortable with for what? Protection against bullies? You couldn't protect yourself because she never let you build your own confidence to stand up to her or your bullies."

Anne's face froze in confusion and disbelief. As she let Viney's words sink in over and over again, it felt as if she got a reality check on her life. Was it true? Was she influenced so much by Sasha that she had a twisted view of friendship and standing up to others? But once she thought of what exactly Sasha made her do and compared it to the friends she made in this world, she quickly realized none of them had treated her like Sasha.

"I… I guess you're right," Anne replied in a low voice, looking down at her lap. "I've known Sasha for so long that I thought that's how friends are supposed to be…"

Viney's expression softened, as she could almost see the gears turning in Anne's head. She was happy to get through to her friend, even if it was hard for Anne to process. Viney silently got up and walked off, wanting to give Anne some time to think, having a feeling that was best for her.

King had continued examining the slitherbeast, having filled out two pages of his notebook with a rather crude drawing and notes with valuable tips like "loves tree logs" and "DO NOT DISTURB AT ALL COSTS". He had gotten comfortable by this point, looking at the beast. Too comfortable, in fact, as his small body had let him stealthily crawl on top of the slitherbeast without it noticing.

As he was perching on the beast's head, slightly losing his balance as the beast quietly nodded around, he sighed and pulled the notebook back out, briefly glancing at earlier pages that were all filled out with random notes and comments, none of which he could've done at the level he did without Anne's help.

"Just how deep does all this lore go?" King thought briefly before hearing a faint rolling sound. Out of instinct, he glanced down to notice the pen was rolling down quickly toward the front of the beast, threatening to fall to the ground.

King's pupils dramatically shrank as he realized he was gonna be screwed if the pen clinked or made some loud noise. And if he moved to try to pick it back up, he would probably disturb the beast more.

The pen rolled off the head and bumped against the log the slitherbeast still had in its mouth. It made a quiet tapping noise, but enough to make the beast notice. It briefly moved its head in a moment of lucidity, but chose to ignore it and went back to sleep.

King sighed in relief. Everything was seemingly fine now.

With nothing to write about anymore, he went back to reading older pages in the notebook before suddenly the beast began snoring and vibrating. King tried to keep his balance at first, but the fur began shaking more and more wildly, making him yelp as he slipped off and landed right in front of the beast, instantly snapping it awake.

The slitherbeast abruptly stood up and glared at King, who had thankfully held on to his notebook even as he fell.

King very nervously looked up at the beast, who was now in an aggressive stance on all fours, its shadow completely dwarfing him.

"Ehh… you know I smell pretty bad… right?" King painfully quipped in a feeble attempt to dissuade the beast.

The slitherbeast either didn't understand him or ignored him as it roared loudly before suddenly accelerating and moving toward King's direction.

"Ueueueegghhhhhhhhh!" King cried as he ran as fast as he could toward where he last knew Eda and the gang were.

Back at the cliff overlooking the Isles, Anne sat there silently, her hair rustling in the wind as she thought over Viney's words again and again, mulling over how she would confront Sasha if or when they eventually met again. Would it be at all possible for Sasha to change? If Anne confronted Sasha and told her she no longer wanted to be treated that way, would she respect her wishes? Why did Sasha act that way? The strangest thought was that Anne still wanted to be friends with Sasha. She still wanted to hang out and do things with her as she honestly had fun in the past. She just wanted their friendship to change and be like the ones she made in the Demon Realm.

Before Anne knew it, the sky had darkened, leaving thousands of stars illuminating the night sky. It had been more than thirty minutes, and a part of her wondered why Eda hadn't come to get her, but she figured Viney had told her how she was feeling. Anne looked into the hollow eyes of the Titan's skull, disappointed not only in herself but in Sasha. Today seemed as if she wasn't going to make much progress in learning a new glyph, but at least she had come to a revelation about her friend. Anne smiled as she was glad to have had that talk with Viney. Suddenly, she noticed it had begun to snow, a breeze of cold air hitting her, making her shiver.

Anne looked up at the night sky, about to go find Eda, when she suddenly noticed something strange about the stars. A constellation formed in the same pattern as the ice glyph she had learned back at Hexside. Her eyes widened, confused. "The ice glyph? But how?"

Before Anne could get up to tell somebody about it, a snowflake landed on the back of her hand, but something about it caught her eye. It didn't look like an ordinary snowflake, but that pattern... Could it be? It quickly dissolved in her hand, and just as she was about to try drawing it, she heard a familiar, shrill voice desperately calling out to her. "ANNNEE!"

As if on instinct, Anne instantly shot up from her seat, spinning around to see none other than King running away from, of course, the freakin' slitherbeast of all things. She really had jinxed it earlier, and now it really was going to eat King. Not on her watch. Anne was not in the mood to deal with this right now.

Eda ran in and stopped her from rushing in. "Anne, don't. That thing's powerful. You aren't gonna take it down with strength alone."

"We'll handle this!" Viney called out, rushing toward the slitherbeast, followed by Jerbo and Barcus. Viney and Jerbo went to distract the beast, while Barcus ran in, picking up King by his collar using his mouth, rushing him to safety.

Jerbo drew a spell circle, causing plant roots to shoot out, attempting to ensnare the slitherbeast, but it struggled, breaking them with ease. Seeing this, he used abomination goo as well, hoping to trap it but barely being able to hold it at bay. "Viney, do it!" he called out, grunting in exertion.

Situations like this were right up Viney's alley, considering she had Beast Keeping magic. Running forward, she drew a spell circle, trying to concentrate on calming it down. Slowly, the slitherbeast's struggling ceased, but only briefly. When it spotted King hiding behind Anne, its anger renewed as it let out a deep roar, freeing itself and knocking Viney and Jerbo back.

Anne was scared but didn't show it as it charged toward her. She applied a power glyph to herself and swung her tennis racket at full strength, nailing it on the side of its face. Unfortunately, it only managed to anger it even more as it went to grab Anne.

Right at the last second, Eda put herself in front of Anne, causing her to be grasped by the beast. Despite being helpless and unable to move, she succeeded in protecting her, at least for now. "Anne, King, get your friends and run!" she called out, wincing in pain as she felt the pressure on her ribs.

"No way that's happening!" Anne defiantly replied, wanting to save Eda. The slitherbeast was momentarily distracted by Jerbo and Viney, who had once again tried to subdue it. But before the two young witches could act further, the beast pounced on them, grabbing them and holding them hostage with the same hand that held Eda.

Barcus barked in alarm, terrified to see his friends taken, but he had no way of fighting the beast. He had no potions, and oracle magic would be useless in this fight. King didn't know what to do either. His mother figure had been taken right in front of him, yet he was powerless to do anything, as he always was.

Satisfied with its findings, the slitherbeast started heading back toward its lair, but Anne wasn't having it. "HEY, UGLY!" she yelled, getting its attention.

The slitherbeast spun around, growling menacingly at her and slowly pacing toward her. Despite the coldness, Anne felt beads of sweat on her face, knowing she had only one chance. As it approached her, she closed her eyes, somehow remembering the glyph she had seen in the snowflake. She wasn't sure if it was the right one, but she knew she had to try, at least.

Anne started drawing it on the snow as the slitherbeast picked up its pace, charging at her. If it didn't take the thing down, she, Barcus, and King would be in serious trouble.

However, seeing as the beast was still carrying her friends, she didn't want them to suffer too. She took out one of her tennis balls and used her tennis racket to send it flying toward the beast's hand, praying to whatever deity was watching over her that it would hit.

The ball spun and soared through the air, and luckily, it landed on the beast's hand with just enough force to release the three witches. It didn't pay much attention, though, as its primary target was still Anne.

As it lunged at her, she tapped the mysterious glyph under her and dove out of the way, the adrenaline in her legs taking her far enough to not be affected by what was going to happen next.

As the slitherbeast landed on the glowing glyph, a massive plume of fire shot up, hitting it straight on and knocking it back. It cried out in pain, rolling around to put out the flames. After the snow had snuffed the fire out, it lay there, dazed and injured, unable to get up.

"Holy crap…" Anne was stunned. "A fire glyph? A freaking fire glyph?! That was insane!"

Eda and the others were all knocked into the snow, exhausted from what happened, but all had observed Anne's actions of bravery.

"Eda, you're okay!" King cried out as he ran towards a rather confused but still smiling Eda, who, after a brief hesitation, hugged him back.

Anne walked closer to them, clearly looking a bit tired and rather confrontational, and as King saw her shadow, he turned around and, expecting the worst, apologized rather overwrought. "Anne, look, I'm so sorry for letting that beast loose! I didn't wanna hurt you guys!"

"Uhh, King," Anne reassured him. "You're fine. I got to try out a new fire glyph, and if it weren't for you, I would still be stuck in the baby class! You're a lifesaver!"

"And speaking of lifesaving," Viney added, who glanced at Jerbo to make sure he was fine as well, "we should really do something about that creature." She brought out her right hand and formed a large circle as she stood in front of the beast.

The circle flashed a neon orange outline before fading away with a hiss. In just a few seconds, the injured slitherbeast began twitching some more before relaxing all of its muscles and becoming virtually unconscious.

"Slitherbeasts are mysterious creatures, but I believe each one deserves a healthy and fulfilling life," the witch added as she performed her healing ritual. "Who knows? Maybe I could train one myself one day."

"Ooh, you mean like Hiccough from How To Tame Your Fire-Breather?" Anne suddenly blurted out, without thinking twice about what she was really saying.

"Uh, well, whoever that Hiccough thing is," Viney broke the silence with a nervous chuckle, "I'm sure there are stories of beastkeepers who have done incredible things long ago. You looked really cool saving us, Anne." Jerbo and Barcus expressed their agreement, impressed by Anne's quick thinking.

"Yeah, yeah, but we gotta get things moving!" Eda chimed in as she was still lying in the pile with King, feeling like it was time to start leaving.

Anne turned around and, with a bit of skepticism, walked up to the elder witch.

"Dang, kid, that was pretty impressive," Eda said with a smile after a brief sigh. "I was getting worried I'd end up going back on my word. You learned a new fire glyph, so you're all but guaranteed to leave the baby class, and those random witch teens... As much as I hate to say it, they're pretty nice people. You have some good friends."

"Yeah…" Anne agreed as she brushed her hair with her hand. "I think I finally clicked with the right people who also made me realize some things about myself and my old friend…"

Anne paused before continuing, "Eda, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier about your training. I was just so frustrated that it didn't seem to be working."

Eda came up to Anne and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, Kid, you aren't a terrible person. Sure, you've made mistakes, but then again, so have all of us. I'm glad to have you around," she reassured her with a warm smile.

"Yeah, you're pretty awesome, Anne," King chimed in. "A pretty awesome older sister, that is!"

Anne was surprised, not realizing a few tears had leaked from her eyes until Eda wiped them with her finger. "Ready to head back?" the older witch offered. "The sooner we make sure Hooty didn't obliterate the house, the better," Eda said snarkily as right away, King perched up onto her shoulder.

"Guess Jerbo, Barcus, and I should go get going," Viney cut in. "We're probably gonna end up getting in trouble for staying out so late, but I'd say it was worth it. I'll see you at Hexside tomorrow, Anne," she finished, pointing finger guns at Anne. The former detention trio waved at the residents of the Owl House before parting and walking down the cliff.

Anne watched them leave, a smile on her face, and turned toward Eda and King. "Yeah. Let's go. It's freezing out here, and it's snowing." With that, the three of them took off on Eda's staff, leaving the Titan's knee. As they headed through the Isles, the stars shone from above, slightly illuminating the landscape.

Despite Anne's time at the Knee having a rough start, she was glad she went and would do it all over again. It felt as if being there had changed her. Talking to Viney about Sasha had been therapeutic and had given her a new perspective on her old "friend."

When they headed back to the cliff on which the Owl House was perched, right off the bat, as Anne, King, and Eda disembarked and headed inside, they both noticed Hooty had, in his boredom, set up a huge pile of plushies and random stuff from Eda's human trips in the hallway.

Anne was about to ask him what had happened, but this was Hooty, so there was no telling what was going through that mind of his. Deciding it was better not to know, Anne headed upstairs with King, ready to sleep this whole day off. For the first time ever, she was actually excited to go to Hexside. She could finally start learning stuff. Eda, on the other hand, was parched, so she naturally turned to look for enough apple blood to knock her out.

As Eda was preparing to head to the kitchen, she noticed something had fallen out of the massive human trash heap she had yet to clean up. It looked to be a poster. Upon picking it up, she read it, seeing a photo of a random human girl she had never seen before. The kid had tan skin, brown hair, and golden-brown eyes, smiling up at her. Whoever this was, Eda had no clue, but it wasn't her problem to deal with.

Dropping the poster, Eda walked away. As the poster slowly fell to the ground, the words "MISSING" and the name "Luz Noceda" were below it. Details of her age, residence, and where she was last seen were described, and below that, a phone number to call.

To Be Continued in Chapter Twenty-Seven

Once again, thank you for tuning in for this chapter! Both Rob and I have had a lot of fun writing it. Special thanks to ChampionElCid for helping us with some revisions as well. Season one has nine chapters left! I'm happy with how things turned out, and after this season is finished, we plan to go back to the earlier chapters and revise some of them.

See you next time!

~ Scruffy