The Owl House of Amphibia

by Iron117Prime

Four human girls, so different and so alike, find themsleves thrown into new worlds of magic, danger, wonder, and horror. As they explore their new surroundings, they not only meet new friends and new enemies, but also discover more about themselves than what they felt before. All it took was a box and a door to change their lives, and the lives of all those around them, forever.

10. Intimate Stakeout

Hi everyone, welcome back. I'm so glad that the previous and first chapter to the main story of "The Owl House of Amphibia" was so well-received. Up next we got another rather heartwarming chapter in which we see three different people coming closer together. Along with a special surprise at the end.

With that being said, let's get started.

Intimate Stakeout

The inside of the Plantar house was relatively quiet, due mostly to everyone currently being outside. Because of that, nobody noticed that their house had an unexpected visitor.

A certain multi-colored salamander Palisman had emerged from a small hole in the brick wall in the back of the fireplace before crawling across the floor to the wall on the other side of the family room. It crawled up the wall to a nearby window to observe what was going on outside; where Luz and Sprig were sitting together, reading a book, and King and Polly appeared to be in a mud-wrestling match with Anne recording it all on her phone.

"Oh yeah! The tadpole has the little demon on the ropes!" Anne narrated as Polly splashed King face first in the mud, only for King to roll over and grab her. "But what's this? The little tyrant makes a surprise come back with a chokehold!"

"Ha! Winner! I am king of the mud pit!" King announced.

"Think again, buddy!" Polly spun her body rapidly to escape King's grasp and fall to the ground. "Nobody gets a hold of this muddy tadpole!" She rolled into King's feet to knock him back into the mud before hopping up proudly on his back. "The king has fallen! Make way for the queen!"

"I demand a rematch!" King protested.

"Awe. Cute little muddy buddies." Anne gushed as she continued to record them.

"…Now eat this, sucka!" Luz read a passage of her Azura book aloud to Sprig. "No! My only weakness! Dying!" She made a dying-like sound as she fell backwards dramatically.

"Take that, you stupid snake!" Sprig pointed into the book. "Next time I'll give you a taste of Hop Pop's Pain Peppers!"

"Pain Peppers?" Luz brought herself back up. "Never heard of those. What do they taste like?"

"They're so hot, they'll make you wish you were dead." Sprig said, causing Luz to blink in surprise before both laughed. "Seriously, this book is awesome! Azura is so hard core!"

"Heck yeah, she is." Luz said as took her book back before sitting back down. "I'm really glad you like it. Not a lot of people where I'm from really appreciate this kind of stuff."

"Really? Anne doesn't even like it?" Sprig asked as he hopped next to Luz.

"She's not a big fantasy fan, and neither was Sasha." The girl said as she looked to Luz who decided to join in on the mud wrestling with King and Polly. "But Marcy? Oh, she loved this kind of stuff. The two of would talk about Azura, War of the Warlocks, and War of Thrones, for hours on end." She pulled out her BFF picture, specifically looking to Marcy before a sad and concerned look formed on her face. "I hope she and Sasha are okay."

"Hey, we promised we'd help you and Anne find your friends and that's exactly what we're gonna do." Sprig said firmly as he put a hand on Luz's shoulder.

"Thanks, Sprig." She smiled. "It's nice to have some new friends though. Anne and the others were the only ones I ever really had. Pretty much everyone else back home thinks I'm too weird for them."

That caused the pink frog's eyes to widen somewhat before looking down. "Heh… same here." That caught Luz's attention as she saw Sprig hold his arm slightly. "Not a lot of the other kids in town really get me either."

Luz looked to the frog sympathetically before she smiled. "Well, hey… I don't fit in where I'm from, Eda and King don't fit in where they're from, and you don't fit in where you're from, why don't we all not fit in together? Cause us wierdos gotta stick together. So, what do you say Sprig? Up for more not fitting in?"

Sprig smiled before he hopped up onto Luz's head and pointed dramatically up in the sky. "Weirdos against the world!"

That caused Luz to laugh as she and King both fell back on the ground laughing. "Weirdos against the world."

"Huh, that's a nice catchphrase." Looking up at a shadow looming over them, they, as well as Anne, King, and Polly, looked to see Eda descending on her staff, both she and her living staff were covered in a great deal of snow before the Owl Lady set down, Owlbert perching himself on her shoulder. "Could really trademark that."

"Eda… where have you been all morning?" Luz asked. "And why so frosty?"

The witch spun her fingers to create a red magic circle, which went up over her body with a heat spell to melt the snow before it went back down to dry herself. "Went to scout those mountains. See if I could find a way to punch through."

"Seriously?" Sprig questioned. "But didn't you hear how dangerous those mountains are this time of year?"

"Yep, but danger's my middle name." Eda said proudly.

"I thought your middle name was Marylin." King recalled.

"That's my human alias." Eda corrected. "But yeah, those mountains have never faced the most powerful witch before." She pointed both of her thumbs towards herself. "Figured I could see if I could find a way to punch a hole through it all and see about getting you guys through."

"Well? Did you find a way to get through?" Anne asked with hope and excitement.

Eda shrugged. "Meh. I could probably get through on my own just fine. But having a few extra passengers with me? Most that probably wouldn't handle that kind of thing anyway? Yeah… no."

That caused Anne to frown and sulk. "Aren't you always going on about being the 'most powerful witch who ever lived'? Can't you just snap your fingers and teleport us to the other side?"

"Doesn't work that way, kid." Eda pointed out.

"Well, where I'm from, people always try to find a shortcut." Anne argued, causing Luz, King, Sprig, and Polly to look somewhat uncomfortable.

"And in my experience, people who always take shortcuts only end up causing more problems." Eda put in, getting a bit irritated by Anne's tone.

"And back in my day…" Hop Pop stepped in, carrying a wheelbarrow full of dirt for his crops. "…People listen to their elders. I told ya'll to wait until those mountains clear up, but does anyone listen to the old and experienced frog? No siree." He rolled his eyes.

"Old? Yeah. Experienced? Doubt it." Eda commented, earning an annoyed grumble from Hop Pop.

---

An hour later, after everyone had some lunch inside, Luz was helping Sprig and Polly with the dishes as King curled up in the corner before they all heard a disagreement between three certain people.

"Look dude, all I'm saying is that where I'm from, you could get arrested for having a couch this firm." Anne said to Hop Pop as they both sat on the couch.

"Back in my day, we didn't have furniture." The old frog retorted. "We sat on rocks. Sharp ones."

"And in my experience, not having something soft to sit on only causes back problems." Eda said as she brought in some leaves before spinning a green magic circle, causing all the leaves to grow and merge and create a sofa chair for her to sit on with a relaxing sigh. "Ah, that's nice."

"Hey, got room for one more?" Anne asked.

"Sorry, kid. But you didn't spend most of your morning scouring through mountains. Mama did the exercise, so mama needs rest." Eda said.

"Alright, but if I get butt blisters, I'm blaming you two." Anne said with crossed arms.

"Back in my day, we called those character." Hop Pop said as he grabbed one leg and crossed it over his other.

---

One hour later, Sprig was raking leaves outside as Hop Pop opened the door for Anne to step out, carrying a box of radishes.

"Ugh… ugh… so… heavy…" Anne said as she struggled carrying the box.

"Mind the flagstone." Hop Pop warned, but Anne didn't see it in time and ended up tripping on said flagstone, causing the box to fall and all the radishes to spill all over the ground. "Back in my day, kids spent less time complaining and more time watching their step." He said as he tried to collect all the scattered vegetables.

Only for all the radishes, and the box they were in, to magically float away and hover above Eda before she set them radishes in the box and put it all with the other boxes of veggies. "And in my experience, you'd be better off asking someone more capable for help, instead of just dumping it all on some kid with noodles for arms and zero work ethic."

Anne rubbed her sore leg. "Yeah? Well, we're I'm from, people offer to help right away!" She said to Eda. "And they fix their crummy house too!" She said to Hop Pop.

The old frog gasped. "This house is like family! You apologize!"

"To a house?!" Anne questioned.

"You'd better not take that attitude with my house!" Eda warned, causing the nearby Sprig to look uncomfortable.

---

Thirty minutes later, Luz was at the table in the family room, looking at a map of Amphibia, trying to get a better idea of the new world where she was in, when Anne and Eda both came in arguing.

"Hey, in my experience, people listen to those who know what they're talking about." Eda said. "Since when are you the magic expert?"

"All I'm saying is, that where I'm from, people always try to find an easier way!" Anne argued.

"There's the easy way, and there's the right way." Eda countered.

"Didn't you take your pet and my friend to break into a max security prison just to get a lowsy Burger Queen crown when you could have just bought another one for like a dollar?!" Anne argued.

"Yeah, and none of that was easy!" Eda argued back as they butted their heads together.

"And back in my day, people who do big stuff like that always get into big trouble." Hop Pop said as he came in-between to separate them.

"Since when does a goody-to-shoes like you do anything big?" Eda argued, as Luz walked out of the room, looking more than a little worried.

---

Two hours later, Luz and Polly were playing with some cards at the table, while Sprig and King were both laying on the sofa, with the former reading the Azura book that Luz let him borrow, when they heard a loud banging noise coming from upstairs.

"Where I'm from, we didn't rush people in the bathroom!" Anne complained.

"Well, back in my day, we didn't have a bathroom!" Hop Pop argued as another bang was heard.

"And in my experience, when someone wants to take a crap and the can's occupied, they find somewhere else to do it!" Eda shouted. "Go outside if you gotta! And stop making all that noise! I'm trying to take a nap!"

"Back in my day, we didn't take naps! We slept when we slept!" Hop Pop shouted back as there was another bang, complete with some rubble falling from the ceiling on top of everyone.

"Stop hitting the door with a battering ram!" Anne yelled as Sprig pulled on his cap, King held his head, and Luz sunk deeper in her spot while Polly just went back to her cards.

"It's been two hours!" Hop Pop exclaimed.

"Ugh! I can't take this anymore!" Sprig hopped up from the couch.

"Yeah! What is wrong with them?!" King exclaimed.

"I was kinda hoping everyone would be getting along by now." Luz said nervously.

"They're just getting used to each other. It's not a big deal." Polly put in.

"Not a big deal?!" Sprig hopped over to his sister. "Do you remember the Hendersons, next door?!"

"Who?" Luz asked.

"The frog family across the street. They used to argue all the time. And look what happened to them!" Sprig pointed out the window, revealing an old, barren, and boarded up tree-stump house with a for-sale sing in the front yard, but it was clear that nobody wanted the house.

One-Eyed Wally soon came out and put some plates and silverware in the wheelbarrow he had. "Nothing like scavenging the remains of a broken frog family." He said before grabbing the back end of the wheelbarrow and pulling it away.

"Oh my god…" Luz put a hand over her mouth in clear shock.

"Exactly!" Sprig began to pace around in a circle. "If we don't do something now, it won't be long before their bickering tears this family apart!"

"I… don't think we're at that level quite yet." Luz said cautiously with a wincing smile, hoping that was indeed the case.

"Well, I refuse to let it reach that point!" King got up on the table. "What kind of king would I be if I let my subjects tear my palace apart?! Something must be done!"

"I still think we should just give them time." Polly said. "Not like we have a lot of options, you can't force people to get along."

That caused King and Sprig to look like they each came with an idea. The two exchanged eye-contact before the former stepped off the table and the latter, in a disturbingly calm manner, collected the Azura book.

"Of course not, Polly." Sprig said in that tone.

"Of course not." King said just as disturbingly calm as they both backed out towards the door.

Luz looked worried, while Polly just looked more annoyed, especially as both King and Sprig poked their heads back in.

"Of course, no…" They both began.

"Just go already!" She told them, causing the door to close shut.

"I'm… gonna go make sure they don't do something bad." Luz said as she got up and went after them.

"Good luck with that, lady." Polly replied as she went back to her cards.

---

Luz stepped through the corn stalks, following the trail of tiny footsteps that belonged to her little friends, coming out at the end of the corn field and gasped at what she saw. Sprig had used a hand-held garden scythe, one made from a bug's wing, to cut down several corn stalks while King gathered it all and put it into a large bag.

"What are you two doing?!" She exclaimed.

"Saving this family!" Sprig proclaimed.

"How is ruining your own family's farm gonna save anything?!" Luz questioned.

"We're not ruining it! We're setting up a situation that will force Eda, Anne, and Hop Pop to work together!" King said.

"Huh?" Luz looked in confusion.

"I actually got the idea from your book, Luz." Sprig explained as he showed her the Azura book. "Azura and Hecate are rivals, right? But the Gildersnake proves to be a big enough threat that the two have to put their differences aside and work together. Hecate even gives Azura the opening to confront him while holding off all his minions."

"Yeah, I remember that." Luz recalled.

"Well, we're doing something similar." Sprig continued. "We're gonna give a common goal to Hop Pop, Anne, and Eda that only the three of them can accomplish together. This will give them a chance to bond and connect. No more arguing and all will be right with the world."

"Yep, nothing like bringing people together by facing a common enemy." King added with an approving nod.

"But… you're still ruining your crops…" Luz looked to the corn.

"Meh, the stalks can be replanted, it's not like we're cutting off someone's arm." Sprig shrugged.

"And we'll put it back when it's all done anyway." King said. "So, wanna join us, Luz?"

"What? Why me?" The girl questioned.

"Come on. You helped me and Eda steal my crown back from Warden Wrath, and even busted out every prisoner in the Conformatorium." King said. "This is nothing compared to that."

"And if it helps keep everyone together, then it's for the greater good, right?" Sprig added. "So… Weirdos against the world?" He offered his hand to her.

Luz thought for a moment. While she didn't like the idea of stealing from Hop Pop, they could at least replant all the corn at the end of it. She also didn't think that the tension between Eda, Anne, and Hop Pop was bad enough that it required an intervention. But then again, that moment with Azura and Hecate putting their differences aside to stop the Gildersnake was the moment that would soon lead to them forming a friendship, one of her favorite moments in the whole series if she was being honest. And King wasn't wrong, compared to a large-scale prison riot, this was pretty small. And it didn't seem like anybody was getting hurt… Come to think of it, this did seem like an idea that Sasha might approve of. Maybe even Marcy. So, she shook the pink frog's hand and shook it with acceptance.

"Alright… let's hear the details of this plan of yours." She kneeled to their level

"Yes! Luz, welcome to Operation: Corn Thief!" King declared. "Subject Sprig, please fill in our new recruit on our plan!"

"Right away, your majesty." Sprig saluted, causing Luz to giggle somewhat.

---

Meanwhile, things seemed relatively peaceful as everyone else was relaxing at the back of the house on the deck in front of the pond. Anne sat on a log, reading her magazine with Polly next to her. Eda just stared up aimlessly at the sky with Owlbert on her shoulder, and Hop Pop gave a small sigh as he took in all the peace and quiet while it lasted.

"WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!" Luz, Sprig, and King all ran onto the scene, screaming.

"SAYWHA!?" Hop Pop stood up from his spot in surprise.

Anne and Eda happened to chuckle at that, causing everyone to look at them. "Sorry, sorry." Anne apologized. "It's just that Hop Pop delivered the perfect sit-com catchphrase."

"Actually, yeah. That is good." Luz commented.

"I just laughed cause his reaction was hilarious." Eda said bluntly.

"Must be painful to make so little sense all the time." Hop Pop muttered.

---

Luz, King, and Sprig led the rest of the group through the farm to the site of the robbery, revealing all the cut down stalks with the missing corn, causing Hop Pop to gasp.

"My prize-winning corn!"

"You've won prizes?" Anne asked teasingly as she carried Polly in her arms.

"It's an expression, Anne." Hop Pop retorted.

"Right. Remember all the times he lost that Pot Lock?" Eda reminded with a grin. "This guy wouldn't know prize winning quality if it bit him in the rear."

"Hardy har." Hop Pop said sarcastically.

"The injustice…!" Luz announced dramatically.

"The outrage…!" Sprig went on in the same manner.

"The hubris! We must catch the thief who dared to steal from us!" King declared.

"Agreed." Hop Pop smiled. "So nice to see all of you so passionate about produce. Especially you, Sprig."

"Yes. Very odd." Polly narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Now, the thief didn't steal all the corn, but they may come back tonight for the rest." Luz began as she stood in front of the group before Sprig hopped onto her shoulder.

"So, the only to catch this monster is with a stakeout!" The pink frog said.

"Good idea." Hop Pop approved.

"Makes sense." Eda said.

"Okay." Anne nodded.

"I like stakes." Polly said.

King crawled to the top of a turned over wheelbarrow, standing tall above everyone else. "And as King, I hereby declare the stakeout team for tonight are… Eda, Anne, and Hop Pop!" He pointed to the aforementioned trio.

"Huh?" Hop Pop looked in surprise.

"Saywha?" Anne repeated the line the elder frog said before.

"And the reason for that...?" Eda put her hands on her hips suspiciously.

"Well, obviously I can't, cause I got the attention-span of a…" Sprig began, but caught notice of a butterfly passing by, which caught his attention immediately. "Oh, look at that."

Luz looked at him for a second before speaking herself. "And I don't do long nights very well. When the sun sets, I'm lights out."

"And Eda here is the most powerful witch who ever lived." King said, referring to his guardian.

"Got that right." She said proudly.

"Hop Pop is head of the farm. So, he probably knows this place like the back of his hand." King pointed to the elder frog.

"That I am, and that I do." He said with hands on his hips.

"And Anne is one of the toughest girls I know." Luz added.

"Thanks, dude." Anne smiled and nodded.

"A trio like you would be unbeatable! You'd catch the corn thief and stop his reign of terror permanently!" Luz said excitedly.

"I get Eda and Hop Pop, but how about Polly instead of me?" Anne asked. "Seems like a winning combo to me. And let's throw King in there too."

"Polly and King are both tiny, Anne." Eda told her.

"You gonna dump your workload on those smaller than you?" Hop Pop glared somewhat.

"Just. Asking. Guys." Anne practically gritted her teeth before setting Polly down.

Hop Pop sighed reluctantly. "Very well. Let's be honest though, Anne and Eda would probably both fall asleep so it'll just be me." He said before walking away.

"Us? You're more likely to sleep and keel over than we are, old timer!" The witch said as she left too.

"And why would I fall asleep first?" Anne questioned as she also left. "Aren't you're both a hundred years old?"

"I'm a crisp sixty-eight!" Hop Pop replied.

"And I'm forty-one, you little brat!" Eda added.

"With that hair?! You're not fooling anybody, grandma!" Anne put in.

Once everyone was gone, Polly looked to the three by her side. "You guys stole the corn, didn't you?"

"Oh absolutely." Sprig all but confirmed.

"And we didn't steal it, we put it all in the tool shed. It's all still here." Luz said.

"Yeah, and I'll just order everyone to replant it later." King put in.

"These two, I get." Polly said, referring to her brother and the tiny demon. "But you?" She looked at Luz in genuine surprise. "I never took you for the manipulating type." She smiled. "You surprise me. Never knew you had it in you."

Luz winced. "It's not… manipulating, per say. We're just… putting them in a situation where they can get together and bond."

"Oh, we totally manipulated them." King said bluntly, causing Luz to wince even further.

"Yep, and it's gonna save this family!" Sprig proclaimed.

---

It was almost sundown as Luz, King, Sprig, and Polly had all gathered in the frog boy's room, Sprig hummed a confident tune as he pulled out a telescope, spun it around with just as much confidence, and gazed through it out the window to see Anne, Eda, and Hop Pop gathering together on the little hilltop that overlooked the whole farm.

"Are they there?" King asked.

Sprig laughed as he let King look through the telescope to see for himself. "Yeah… just look at em."

King laughed next. "My master plan is working."

"And now to watch the flowers of friendship bloom." Sprig smiled menacingly while Polly rolled her eyes.

'Yeah, let's hope so.' Luz thought to herself nervously. A part of her still didn't like lying to them like this, but if this does mean the three of them get closer together… than maybe it's worth it. A common enemy brought Azura and Hecate together, after all.

However, none of them seemed to notice that the salamander Palisman was also present, perching himself on the sill of the window in the family room, keeping a close eye on Anne, Hop Pop, and Eda as they got settled.

---

Night had fallen as Hop Pop was keeping a close eye on his produce, looking over the cobblestone while Anne was reading a magazine with a candle light beside her. Eda, had her back turned to them as she pulled out a certain potion from her hair and quickly drank the contents of it.

'Okay, I've got two more left for two more days.' Eda thought to herself, looking towards Owlbert. 'Either we find that slippery little salamander soon, or I might have to make a potion from some of the stuff here.'

"For goodness sakes Anne, put that lamp out." Hop Pop told the girl. "We're trying to catch the thief, not scare them away." Anne narrowed her eyes but blew the candle out before Hop Pop looked to Eda. "Now Eda, why not have that owl-thing of yours prove itself useful and be our eyes in the sky. Have it call to us if it spots anything."

"His name is Owlbert." Eda glared at him. "And would it kill you to ask nicely?"

Hop Pop rolled his eyes. "Owlbert, would you please keep an eye on things from above?"

"Do what he says." Eda told her Palisman.

"Hoot." Owlbert flew from Eda's shoulder and began to circle around the area of the farm from well above the top of the house.

Anne then gave a rather loud yawn, causing the two adults to chuckle. "Feeling tired, sleepyhead?" Eda teased.

"Yeah, had a feeling you'd be the first to go." Hop Pop winked.

"You two worry about yourselves, I'll be fine." Anne said as she lightly smacked her knee before reaching into her backpack. "I just need a little boost is all." She pulled out an unopened bottle of red soda with the words 'Blam Berry Blitz' written on it.

"'Blam Berry Blitz'." Eda read aloud. "'The drink that punches you in the face and doesn't stop'." She gave a slight laugh. "Oh please, that's got nothing on this bad boy." She put her hand into her own hair to bring out a canned drink that had the image of an apple with muscular arms, the name of this drink being 'Hard Apple Blood'.

"'Hard Apple Blood'?" Hop Pop questioned. "Don't ya mean apple juice?"

"No." Eda shook her head. "This stuff can put even the strongest beasts in the ground. It is not for the feint witch."

"Heh, those silly drinks won't keep you up." Hop Pop brought out a drink he had brought himself. "Now this will keep you up." What he showed seemed like a mixture of a teapot, with a green gourd, with a screaming face. He opened the top, letting a sickly green vapor into the air.

The girl and the witch sniffed the air before they plugged their noses. "Oh Titan… what is that…?!" Eda complained.

"It smells like poison…!" Anne struggled to breathe.

"Mama's old gourde tea recipe." Hop Pop answered.

"Ah, another traditional recipe. That explains the stench." Eda commented.

"I'm not surprised you don't like the smell. It's way too strong for you folks." He said challengingly to the pair.

"Hah, no way it's stronger than my Berry Blitz." Anne replied in the same manner.

"Oh please, I could chug down both of those things and it still wouldn't compare to my Hard Apple Blood." Eda grinned.

In that moment, all three narrowed their eyes at one another. "Give me that!" They each reached for one of the other drinks. Anne took the gourde tea and began to chug it down. Eda swiped the Berry Blitz and drank about half of its contents in a second. Hop Pop grabbed the Hard Apple Blood and drank that as well.

Once they drank their fill, Anne's face turned green as she struggled to hold back the incoming vomit. Eda's own face went straight like a robot as her pupils shrunk and she gave a slight gasp. Hop Pop's face almost caved in of itself, like he had tasted the sourest thing in his life.

Yet again, the three looked to each other, before they all coughed in opposite directions. Anne had to wipe some tears from her eyes, Eda almost threw herself over the cobble stone hacking as she smacked her own chest, while Hop Pop fell on his side, rubbing his tongue. But soon, their coughing turned into laughing.

"You guys should have seen your face! You were dying!" Anne laughed.

"And what about you? I didn't even know you could turn that color!" Hop Pop laughed. "What you got chameleon in your blood?"

"That had way too much sugar in it." Eda said before laughing. "It's little wonder you're always running around. Do human kids really drink that stuff?"

The situation calmed down before all three smiled as they laid back, with Anne finding herself gazing up at the starry night sky above her. She even saw a shooting star.

"You know, where I'm from… we don't see so many stars." Anne said, getting their attention. "Marcy always said its cause of light pollution in big cities. But I guess there aren't any here."

"Yeah, I see stuff like that whenever I'm on Earth too." Eda added. "But the sky in the Isles? Now that is a thing of beauty. You should see it."

"Still can't believe you folks live on a giant corpse." Hop Pop pointed out. "Ain't you worried about germs or something?"

"Nah, we've been on that thing before you were even born." Eda cracked somewhat before looking to Anne as her own smile faded. "Hey, sorry I… haven't been able to get that portal going. I know you probably feel trapped here. I certainly know the feeling."

"Yeah, you got my hopes up for a bit." Anne said. "Now… I wonder if I'll ever get home."

"I know what it's like to miss something." Hop Pop admitted. "I find myself pinning about the 'good ol' days' way too much."

"I think get that." Eda said deeply. "When I was young, things were way simpler. It felt like I really knew the people around me, and I usually lived in the moment. But as time passed… certain things… happened. They changed... and not exactly in the way that I hoped. I barely even recognize many of those people now."

"Yeah… we're kinda similar that way." Anne seemed to get it. "You two are always going on about what things were like in your prime, I'm always going on about back home."

"Deep down, the three of us are just a bunch of softies, ain't we?" Hop Pop said as all three gazed up at the sky above them.

---

"It's working! It's working!" King said excitedly.

"Yes, they're connecting!" Sprig said in the same tone.

"Huh, looks like it might have worked after all." Luz said with a hopeful smile.

'Wait for it…' Polly thought.

---

"Of course, my situation is way worse than what you two got." Anne commented.

Eda and Hop Pop both looked annoyed at that. "Kid, what you got ain't easy, but have no idea how bad things are for me right now." The witch said.

"Now there's something you two have in common, always making it about yourselves." Hop Pop listed. "Oh, look at me! I'm Anne, and my life is way worse than everyone else's!" He put on an impression of the girl before doing one of the witch. "And look at me, I use magic all nilly willy, and I don't give a damn about the consequences!"

"Well, at least my head isn't a teakettle!" Eda said to Hop Pop before blinking in surprise, briefly rubbing her own eyes. "Wha…?"

It was true. From her perspective, Hop Pop's head had turned into an orange teapot. "Oh yeah… well, at least my hair isn't rainbow stardust!" He pointed to Anne, before looking in surprise to see tea leaking out of the sprout on his teapot head.

"Wait what…?" Anne felt her own hair as it was somehow shinning and changing between various colors from red to green to yellow, and finally settled on a bright and glowing blue. She then happened to look towards the other adult present. "Uh Eda… do you have feathers growing out of you?"

"What?!" Eda felt her own body, looking down in terror as she saw feathers growing from her person, notably her arms as the turned into bird-like wings. "No… No! I just took my dose!" She tried to scrape it all off, only to look in confusion as bubbles popped up from the ground around her, with Anne and Hop Pop looking just as confused.

All three fell back as they saw the environment around them change. The grass turned a bright pink, the sky was neon colored. They even looked up in the sky to see a swarm of flying fish flapping over them.

Hop Pop gasped in terror. "What's happening?!"

"I got no idea!" Eda exclaimed.

"Seriously, what is even… Ooooooh!" Anne somehow saw her Berry Blitz, Hop Pop's gourde tea, and Eda's Hard Apple Blood, fly in front of her before she realized it. "The drinks! Our respective body chemistries must be so different that we're having crazy reactions to each other's extreme beverage!" She blinked in surprise. "Okay, that was the smartest sounding thing I've ever said." She muttered, sounding disturbed herself.

"This is terrible!" Hop Pop screamed. "I should never have let you two trick me into trying something new!"

"Us?!" Eda questioned in disbelief. "You reached for my drink first!" She pointed to the frog.

"Yeah, your gross mama's tea did this to me!" Anne gestured to herself, causing Hop Pop to gasp in overly dramatic offense.

"You take that back! Nobody disrespects my Mama!" Hop Pop got up in her face.

"What are you, a travel agent Hop Pop?! Cause you just sent us on a drug trip!" Anne argued back.

"Oh, don't you play innocent, kid!" Eda pointed to her. "I've had human drinks before, even your gross booze, but they never did this to me!"

"My gross booze?! I'm fourteen! I don't drink that crap!" Anne argued. "And this whole thing was your idea in the first place!"

---

Despite not knowing what exactly was going on, Sprig and King could clearly see through the telescope that the three of them were arguing through the telescope.

"No! No! This can't be!" Sprig cried out.

"They're fighting again?!" King exclaimed before Luz grabbed the telescope to see for herself.

"Oh no. What a surprise." Polly said in clear sarcasm.

"I can't read lips, so I don't know what they're fighting about… but it looks like it all fell apart. Maybe this wasn't a good idea." Luz said.

"Hey, you went along with us!" King pointed to her.

"Yeah, I did! But it didn't work!" Luz replied before sighing. "Let's just go out and tell them the truth."

"No! We can still fix this!" Sprig argued, hopping on the table and looking into Luz's eyes.

"What more can we do, Sprig?" Luz questioned. "The common enemy thing didn't work. But if we're honest and just say that we wanted them to get along better… maybe it might help."

"Or… we can take matters into our own hands!" King suggested as he put on a hooded robe.

Polly gasped. "Wait… you're not."

"Oh yes we are!" Sprig was already in on it as he put on a dark cape and a pointed hat. "We're going to steal more corn! Right under their noses!"

"What?!" Luz exclaimed. "How is that going to help?!"

"Because they'll have to do another stakeout and spend more time together again!" King stated.

"And if that doesn't work, then we'll just do it again, so they spend the next night together!" Sprig added as he and King leaned in on each other with narrowed eyes and sinister grins.

"And the next night!" King added.

"And the next night!" Sprig repeated.

"Until they're the bestest friends…!" King began.

"Who are ever friends…" Sprig continued.

"And then the family will be saved!" Both of them declared with howling laughs.

"No! This is way too far!" Luz said desperately.

"You two have gone mad!" Polly exclaimed.

"Try and stop us!" Sprig said as he picked up King and dashed to the window.

"If you dare!" King warned before the pink frog leapt out of the window, carrying the little demon with him as they laughed.

Luz and Polly both stared out the window with panicked looks. "I've unleashed a pair of terrible monsters." The Latina girl muttered.

"Yes, you did." The tadpole confirmed.

As Sprig landed on the ground with King, the two immediately dashed for the corn stalks. Despite the ongoing argument of the trio who are supposed to be on stakeout, Owlbert had spotted them while flying around from above.

"Hoot, hoot! Hoot, hoot! Hoot, hoot!" The magic owl sounded loudly in alarm before flying down himself, the unfolding situation not going unnoticed by the still-observing salamander Palisman.

---

"You have magic! Can't you fix our brains or something?!" Anne exclaimed to Eda as they and Hop Pop were still hallucinating.

"I told you that it doesn't work like that!" Eda argued. "What is it with you kids thinking that magic can solve everything!?"

"That's literally what it is!" Anne argued back.

"It was your magic drink that did to us in the first place!" Hop Pop pointed to Eda.

"None of this is my fault!" She exclaimed.

"It sure as hell wasn't mine!" Anne shouted.

"It wasn't mine either!" Hop Pop added.

"Wait… both of you shut it!" Eda put her hands over both Anne and Hop Pop's mouth as she heard a familiar sound.

"Hoot, hoot! Hoot, hoot!" The owl call echoed through the air as everyone looked down towards the field where they spotted a black blur moving across the neon-lit ground.

Hop Pop and Anne both gasped. "The corn thief!"

"The corn thief…?!" Eda questioned. "It's real…?!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anne asked in confusion.

"It doesn't matter! We gotta go down there and stop it!" Hop Pop told the pair, only for a cloud of steam to shoot out of his tea sprout and into Eda's face.

"Watch where you point that thing." She said to him.

"Sorry." Hop Pop apologized.

---

King and Sprig were at the corn stalks, the latter pulling out a hand-held garden scythe and the former getting a bag, ready to steal more corn.

"Hoot, hoot! Hoot, hoot!" Owlbert sounded off as he hovered directly above them.

"Wha… Owlbert?! Get out of here!" King waved his bag to shoo him away, only for Luz and Polly to quickly come in and tackle both him and Sprig to the ground.

"Guys! This has to stop!" Luz struggled to hold both Sprig and King in her arms while Polly pulled on Sprig's head and Owlbert flew over them.

"Let go!" King try to wrench himself free as they all wrestled on the ground.

"You two have lost your minds!" Polly exclaimed.

"A small price for saving this family!" Sprig argued.

"Hey!"

All five of them stopped to look and see Eda, Anne, and Hop Pop were directly in front of them.

"Busted!" Eda pointed forward.

"Stop right there you… you… thief…?" Anne looked confused for a second, that confusion spreading to the old frog and witch next to her as the girl rubbed her own tired eyes for a second. "Huh…?"

---

From their hallucinatory perspective, the three looked to see some form of mass shifting and changing, as if whatever was in front of them was molting into something more grotesque.

"Whoa…" All three muttered as they looked with bloodshot eyes.

What they saw was nothing short of the stuff of nightmares. It had a large body made from black feathers, one that crawled on all fours like a reptilian with lizard-like legs. It had enormous bird-like wings on its back… but even that paled in comparison to what was at its front.

Five heads! It had five heads! All of which were shaped like corn as each of those heads glowing green eyes with green fire burning in the back of each of the five mouths.

Anne and Hop Pop both screamed with steam coming from the latter's kettle-head, with Eda quickly putting herself in front of the pair just as all five of the monster's heads roared and unleashed streams of green fire at them. Eda was quick to spin a magic circle to deflect all of the flames, only for said flames to spread around them and trap all three in a ring of fire.

"The corn thief!" Hop Pop screamed.

"That's no corn thief! It's a corn beast!" Eda exclaimed. "And it might be the scariest thing I've ever seen!"

"Finally, something we agree on!" Anne shouted.

"You two stay back, I'll handle this!" Eda was more than ready to put up a fight against this monster.

"No! This is my farm, my family, and I'm gonna defend it!" Hop Pop stepped forward first. "Steam cloud!" A powerful gust of steam shot out from the top of his pothead in a circular wave to blow away all of the green flames surrounding them. "Tea kettle beam, fire!" He shot his hands forward to shoot a beam of blue energy at the corn beast, only for the beast to take the blast like it was nothing and give a mocking laugh. "No effect!"

"Let me have a go!" Anne stepped up. "You took me in, so I'm gonna fight to!" She leapt high into the air for dramatic purposes as her hands began to glow multi-colored. "Rainbow magic!" She clapped her hands together and threw them at the corn beast, which was seemingly engulfed in a bright and multi-colored explosion.

Eda could only look in surprise as the colors reflected in her own eyes… right before an impressed smile formed on her face.

---

Luz, King, Sprig, Polly, and Owlbert could only stare blankly as Anne and Hop Pop were kneeling in front of them, pointing their hands forward toward them and making odd noises, like how little children would play pretend.

"Welp, they're broken." Polly summed up.

"It must be immune to magic!" Hop Pop exclaimed towards Anne.

"Your magic, but not mine!" Eda stepped up and conjured a massive fire ball over her head, much to everyone's shock and horror as they all screamed.

"Run! Run! Run!" King shouted as Owlbert quickly formed his staff mode directly under Luz and Sprig, with King and Polly holding on as they all flew up to avoid the devastating fiery explosion from Eda's fireball.

"It can fly!?" Hop Pop exclaimed.

"Duh! It's got wings!" Anne shouted.

"I'll knock it down! You two come in when it hits the ground, and I'll meet you there!" Eda said as she continued to blast various forms of magic straight up.

"Quick, Hop Pop, grab those power-ups!" Anne pointed to a nearby pitchfork and a garden scythe. "We'll move in when Eda shoots it down!"

"Right!" The elder frog agreed as they ran to grab the tools while Eda continued to shoot blasts of fire, ice, and energy upwards.

Luz, and the others all screamed as they did their best to avoid all the blasts, while Luz and Sprig struggled to hold onto Owlbert's staff form with King and Polly clinging tightly onto them. But they could barely hold it together in the air with the staff bouncing up and down as magical blasts were shot upwards in their direction.

"Don't you know how to fly this thing?!" Polly shouted.

"Not really! Eda didn't teach me yet!" Luz screamed. "Come on, Owlbert… AHH!"

All four screamed as one blast of golden magic did graze the back and send them tumbling down towards the other side of the garden, where they all rolled across the ground and smashed into the side of the house… just directly below where the salamander Palisman was perched.

They tried to pick themselves up, Luz and Sprig being first, only to gasp as Eda, Anne, and Hop Pop all dashed directly at them with battle cries. Anne wielded the pitchfork, Hop Pop holding the garden scythe, and Eda conjuring a blade of ice in one hand and a fireball in the other.

"Guys! No wait! Stop!" Luz cried out as she put herself in front of the terrified Sprig, King, and Polly. But when it looked like they were about to be blasted and skewered…

The salamander Palisman leapt from its spot on the roof as its body was quickly coated in rainbow-colored flames, which quickly grew in enormous size just as it landed directly in-between the two parties. The resulting shockwave knocked Anne, Eda, and Hop Pop back as Anne, Sprig, King, Polly, and even Owlbert all looked in shock at what was now directly in front of them.

The flames cleared away to reveal the salamander Palisman had now undergone some kind of transformation. What was once so small it could fit onto one's hand, was now enormous. It was now roughly the size of a large dog, and over ten feet in length. His body was bigger and bulkier, while still maintain His colorful exterior. It also had a neck flap that appeared to be made from white flames as his face became something more reptilian in nature, like something akin to a dragon!

The transformed Palisman stood protectively in front of the children and fellow Palisman, growling and hissing at the recovering Eda, Anne, and Hop Pop.

While Sprig and Polly's jaws fell to the ground at the sight of it, Luz and King recognized this creature instantly.

"L-Luz… is that…?" The little demon stuttered.

"The salamander…? I-I think it is…" Luz muttered, not believing it herself. "But now… it looks more like a… Komodo dragon… or an… actual dragon…" But she also noticed how Eda, Hop Pop, and Anne were quickly recovered and looked ready to keep going, and she quickly leapt over their savior. "Eda! Anne! Hop Pop! It's us!"

Sprig and King both began to cry and beg as they hung safely behind the giant transformed Palisman, as well as Luz.

"Please, listen to us! We've learned our lesson!" Sprig cried.

"We promise to never manipulate people again!" King cried too.

---

Eda, Anne, and Hop Pop narrowed their eyes as they heard the same pleading tone coming from the five-headed monster in front of them, one that sounded very similar to people that they knew.

"Hey… does the corn beast… kinda sound like Luz, Sprig, and King to you guys…?" Anne asked.

"Actually… now that you mention it…" Eda begun.

Their visions began to change as the corn beast's form melted away to reveal Luz holding out her arms with a terrified look on her face, while in front of the giant transformed salamander, and the sobbing Sprig and King holding onto both.

"Don't kill us! Please!" The pink frog and little demon cried.

"Huh…?!" All three said as everything around them turned back to normal, as the 'transformations' they each had all vanished, and their hallucinations all wore off.

"Wait… wha…? Hop Pop felt his face. "None of that was real!? But it was so terrifying! I thought we were goners!"

"Me too and you guys… protected me…" Anne said in a surprised tone, like she was surprised that the two adults would actually risk their life for her.

"Course I did." Eda said seriously. "I might be a con artist, but I'm not letting a kid get hurt on my watch." She smirked. "Especially someone who is willing to stand her ground against something like that. Same for you, Hop Pop." She said to the old frog. "Glad you didn't have a heart attack."

Hop Pop stood firmly. "Like I said, this is my farm, my family. And you both stuck by my side like true warriors."

Anne and Eda both sat down next to him with smiles as the girl put her arm around the old frog. "You know Hop Pop, where I'm from, we call that having a friend's back." Anne said.

"And in my experience, the best kind of people, are the ones who stick by each other no matter what." Eda added as she put both her arms around the Anne and Hop Pop, with the latter putting his hand on Eda's shoulder.

"Well, back in my day, we call that pulling a Stinky Maguire." Hop Pop said. "But if you don't know Stinky, the saying don't mean much, so let's just stick with yours."

All three laughed before Eda yawned. "And… I'm done." She spoke for all of them as she, Anne, and Hop Pop fell to the ground, completely exhausted and were immediately snoring.

Luz, Sprig, and King were completely dumbstruck, not believing what just happened, even as Polly rolled over to them alongside a hopping Owlbert. "Wow… I owe you guys an apology…" The tadpole said in disbelief. "You're… dumb old plan actually…kinda… worked…"

"Yeah… I don't believe it either…" Luz muttered.

"Thanks… but maybe we'll just do it your way…" Sprig said, still sweating and clearly traumatized.

"The less… manipulating way…" King added, looking just as traumatized as Sprig before they both fainted and fell asleep on the ground.

Luz let herself relaxed as she leaned back on the transformed salamander, only for another aura of rainbow flames to cover its body as it shrunk back down to its previous form, causing Luz to yelp as she fell flat on her back. She looked in surprise to see the salamander crawl up on her chest.

"You came back… and you protected us…" She looked to the little creature as it blinked and smiled at her. Luz smiled back as she gently held the creature. "Thank you…" With that, she too fell on her back, falling asleep with everyone else.

Polly stared at all of them before signing in annoyance. "Guess it's up to me to drag everyone inside. But first… I'm parched."

Owlbert flew in with the half-drunk bottle of Blam Berry Blitz in his talons and dropped next to her. "Hoot."

"Huh, thanks Owlbert." Polly said before taking a swig of the drink herself. Her eyes quickly became heavy as she too ended up hallucinating. The sky turned black as the ground turned neon colored. "Alright Owlbert, you ready to roll?"

From her perspective, Owlbert was now the size of a giant with glowing pink eyes as he stood beside her. "Always, my queen!"

"Good man, Owlbert. Good man."

---

The Next Day

After sleeping everything off, King and Sprig both spent the morning replanting all of the stalks of the corn they had stolen the previous day. King dug the holes, while Sprig stuck in the stalks before King covered it up. All while being watched by everyone else.

"A king doing peasant work…" King muttered. "That is unacceptable!"

"You should have thought of that before you decided to get us in on your little scheme." Hop Pop told him.

"Don't waste your time, King." Sprig advised as he stuck in another stalk. "Trust me, you'll never win an argument against Hop Pop." King grumbled in response as he put the dirt back in.

'Sorry guys.' Luz winced. She tried to take responsibility for them, only for Hop Pop to see right through it, with Polly confirming that it was all Sprig and King's idea, so only they would be the ones punished.

"Yeah, I knew it was those two all along." Eda admitted.

"Wait…what?!" Sprig looked up in shock. "How'd you know it was us?!"

"You pretty much spelled it out when you laid your stakeout plan." Eda said. "Try as you might, you can't con the queen of cons." She smiled proudly with hands on her hips.

"Would have been nice if you said all that before we went through all that craziness last night." Hop Pop told Eda in a somewhat disapproving manner.

"What? And miss out on our bonding?" Eda teased. "That, and I was curious to see where it led to anyway."

"Yeah, it was actually kinda fun." Anne admitted. "Not that I'm gonna go through a trip like that again." She said before they all laughed somewhat, which caused Luz to smile. Despite things getting out of control for them, it was nice to see that the three of them were starting to get along now.

"And it wasn't all bad." Luz said with Polly on her right shoulder as she held out her left arm, revealing the salamander Palisman as it crawled from out of her shirt and onto the palm of her hand, much to everyone's surprise, particularly Eda's.

"Is that…?"

"Yep, it's the salamander that brought us here." Luz confirmed. "And it can transform too! Here, watch! Go on, show em!" She said to the rainbow colored magical creature.

The salamander leapt from Luz's hand and was covered in multi-colored fire once more to transform into its larger dragon-like appearance from the previous night as it landed on the ground, causing everyone to gasp.

"No… freaking… way!" Anne was in awe.

"I know? Right! It's like a mix of a Komodo dragon with an actual dragon!" Luz said excitedly as she grappled with Anne. "Pretty awesome, huh?!"

"Oh, heck yeah! I especially like how it lights itself on fire!" Polly smiled widely. "That'll be great for leading angry mobs!"

"And it saved us last night, too!" Luz added.

"Yeah, it did." Sprig said as he and King replanted the last of the corn before the two walked up to the transformed Palisman. "Thanks for your help."

"Yeah… I, the King of Demons, humbly thank you for your assistance, mighty Palisman." King bowed, leading to the large multi-colored creature to smile. "Now you are under my command!" Right as he said that, the giant salamander's tail came in to flick King on the forehead and knock him down. "Ow!"

Everyone else laughed while Hop Pop and Eda, both still rather surprised, came closer to the creature to inspect it as flames formed around it again, leading to shrink back to its normal salamander form. Eda kneeled down and allowed the creature to climb into her hands as she got a closer look at it.

"That is mighty impressive." Hop Pop admitted. "So, that little salamander's like Owlbert?" He asked, referring to the aforementioned owl who was still on Eda's shoulder.

"It's supposed to be but… I've never seen a Palisman transform like that." Eda said seriously. "True, some might change a little bit, depending on their designs and even use magic independently, but nothing like this. This little guy here is unlike any Palisman I've ever seen before."

"A weird Palisman…?" Sprig muttered before his own eyes widened. "Another weirdo!"

"What?" Eda looked down.

"Well… Luz said that she's weird, you guys are weird…" She pointed to Eda and King. "I'm weird and Anne's weird to the rest of the town… no offense, Anne."

"Hey, this whole town is weird to me!" Anne replied, gesturing all around her.

"And this little guy is weird compared to other Palismen… so that's another weirdo." Sprig continued. "And us weirdo gotta stick together. Weirdos against the world! Right Luz?"

Luz herself looked in surprise. That honestly didn't occur to her until now. They had an unusual Palisman… so that did make the salamander weird compared to the others, at least according to Eda. Yeah… it was a weirdo too.

"You're right Sprig… yeah. A weird Palisman for the weird group." Luz said as she came over. "Welcome to the weirdo club little guy." She smiled at the Salamander, who perked up as he wagged his tail at the complement.

"And since you're here, think you can take us all back to my place?" Eda asked to which the salamander nodded. "Great! So what do you say, Hop Pop? You and the kids wanna see my home, since I've seen yours?"

Sprig and Polly both gasped in excitement at that. "Can we go Hop Pop!?" The two pleaded with their grandfather. "Please, please, please!" They said with big eyes and smiles.

"Hmm… I'm not sure…" Hop Pop thought for a moment, looking away somewhat.

"My portal's back at my place. Gotta go there anyway to get Anne home." Eda reminded.

"Wait… really…?" Anne asked, looking towards Luz as she was already getting emotional.

"Yeah… I just realized that!" Luz herself said. "We can get you home! Get you back to your parents to let them know you're okay!" That alone caused Anne to look in emotional excitement. Did she really have a way back home?

And that was what did it for Hop Pop. He took Anne in, so the girl was his responsibility. If there was a way to get her back to her own home and family, he would take it. And from the sound of it, the portal that Eda had sounded different from that dreaded music box he read about. Maybe this portal was safer. And if it was safe, that was all he needed to hear.

"Alright, let's do it." He nodded.

"Yes!" Sprig cheered, throwing both his fists out.

"Demon Realm, here we come!" Polly hopped up and down with excitement.

"Well, you heard em, little guy! Let's go!" Eda told the salamander.

The multi-colored Palisman then leapt to the ground and began to run around in a circle around the conjoined group. As he did, fire emerged from his back which became a blur of fire as the salamander rapidly picked up speed. Everyone got close together as the flames grew and expanded well above and over them. The flames would soon condense and vanish, leaving not a single human, frog, witch, demon, or Palisman present on the Plantar family farm.

---

The Boiling Isles

Things have been relatively peaceful around the Owl House for the past few days. So much so that Hooty had been sleeping the entire time. But that silence was interrupted by a sudden flash of multi-colored fire, stirring Hooty awake from his slumber.

"What the hoot?!"

The fire quickly subsided as Eda, Luz, Anne, King, Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop, and Owlbert all stumbled out on the ground, the salamander Palisman appearing in front of them.

"Hoot! You're back!" Hooty stretched out from the doorway in front of the group. "And you brought new friends? Who are you? My name's Hooty."

When they set their eyes on him, Anne and the Plantars all screamed as the stumbled backwards. "Oh god, what is that thing?!" Anne yelled.

"Hooty, back up! Now!" Eda brought Owlbert's staff form up and used it to pull Hooty's elongate face upwards and away from Anne and the Plantars. "Give em space!"

"Okay, okay! Just got a little excited." Hooty said before he eyed Anne and the Plantars ominously. "We'll talk later." That sent shivers down all of their spines as Hooty retracted back into the doorway.

"Everyone okay?" Luz asked as she, Eda, and King helped the others to stand back up.

"Yeah, we're good." Sprig said.

"Still in one piece." Hop Pop added.

"That was awesome! Let's do it again!" Polly bounced. Just then, she, Anne, Sprig, and Hop Pop all found themselves gazing at the newfound surroundings of the demon realm.

They saw the orange sky, where various flying creatures soared; the red plants and trees, where several smaller creatures scurried up and down; and on their side, they saw the boiling sea, as well as a giant multi-armed serpent coming up before diving back down.

"Whoa…" All four of them looked in awe.

"Yep, this is the Demon Realm." Eda said proudly.

Sprig hopped over to the closest tree and up on the nearest branch. "Red trees?!" He then hopped up even higher to the very top to get a broader view, even catching a view of the Titan's skull. "Orange sky?! Giant bones?!" He quickly made his way back down to his family and friends with an excited look on his face. "This place is incredible! There's so much I wanna see and touch!" He happened to spot a fairy floating by. "Oh! Demon Realm bug!" He quickly stretched his tongue out to catch and devour it, pulling it into his mouth. Only for his cheeks to bulge with heat before he opened his mouth as fire breath came out while he screamed with the fairy flying out with fire in her hands.

"Eat me again and I'll tear your skin off from the inside!" The fairy warned, only to be blown away by some magical wind conjured by Eda, which only made Polly laugh.

"Yep, Boiling Isles are pretty fantastic, eh Sprig?" Luz said as she came over to him, alongside King.

"You're in my kingdom now! I shall show you all the greatest sights to see, primarily where I am the most worshiped and feared!" The little demon declared in dramatic fashion.

"Whoa." Anne found herself gazing up at a certain building, with Hop Pop, Polly, and Sprig doing the same. Luz walked up to them with an excited smile, very eager to show them the inside. She looked to Eda with an excited squee, the witch playfully rolling her eyes with a smile as she snapped her fingers, allowing the door to open.

"Welcome to… the Owl House!" Eda announced.

The minute they stepped inside, Anne and the Plantars were in even more awe as they saw the inside of Eda's living room and were even more amazed at all the tools and materials that moved on their own thanks to a magic aura, including a broom that kept the place relatively clean.

"This… this is beautiful…" Anne couldn't help but smile.

"I love it!" Polly shouted.

"A whole new house for me to explore… I can't wait to get started!" Sprig was beyond excited, jumping up and down the whole time.

"I gotta admit, this here is a nice place you got." Hop Pop smiled to Eda.

"Glad I met your approval, old timer." The witch smirked.

"And here I thought you were living in a dump, what with your lackluster style of living." Hop Pop cracked, earning a chuckle from Eda.

"Oh I am anything but lackluster." She leaned down with a knowing grin. "Just you wait, Hopediah Plantar. Cause now that you're here, things are gonna get wild. Think you can handle it?"

"I accept your challenge." Hop Pop grinned.

"Really, this place is incredible! And you've been living here this whole time, Luz?" Anne asked her friend.

"Yeah, got my stuff all upstairs. Oh, that reminds me… we got let everyone back home know that you're okay." Luz said. "Eda?"

"On it." She reached into her hair to pull out her key and pressed the button at the base. Just then, a certain brief case appeared in front of the group, which folded out to take the form of a doorway, the door opening to reveal a while light. "Behold, my ticket to the Human Realm!"

"I can't believe it…" Anne looked beyond emotional, covering her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. "I… I can get home… Guys! I-I can…" When she turned around, her smile faded as she saw the Plantars, primarily Sprig, looking down. In that instant, Anne went up to him. "Hey, Sprig. I told you, this isn't goodbye. I still wanna find Sasha and Marcy, and… I wanna keep seeing you."

"Really? You mean that…?" Sprig looked up to her.

"Of course, I do. We're friends." Anne reaffirmed.

"All of us." Luz pulled Anne and Sprig in. "We just… gotta let Anne's parents know she's okay. And once that's taken care of, we'll come back here and look for everyone else. Plus, we got a way to go back-and-forth between the Isles and Amphibia. Right little guy?" She looked to the salamander Palisman as he crawled up on the arm of Eda's couch and gave a nod.

"Yeah, nobody's breaking up this team. So don't go crying on me, kay bro?" Anne lightly punched Sprig's arm, causing him to laugh.

Sprig then smiled, albeit it was a slightly sad one, but he still smiled. "Okay. Friend punch!" He punched Anne in the cheek.

"Ow!" Anne rubbed her cheek but laughed anyway.

"Friend punch?" Luz looked to Anne in confusion.

"I'll explain later." The Thai girl brushed off before looking to the other Plantars. "Hop Pop, thanks for taking me in. I appreciate it."

Hop Pop sighed slightly. "And here I was now getting used to ya. Now you go on home and let your folks know you're okay. I'll be sure to whip up a nice warm dinner for when you get back."

"Yeah… I think I'll pass on that." Anne joked, which did cause Hop Pop to laugh before she looked to the youngest Plantar. "Polly, keep Sprig alive until I get back, okay?"

"No promises." The little tadpole grinned.

"Hey Eda…" Anne spoke to the Owl Lady next. "Thanks for looking after Luz. You're probably the coolest adult I've ever met."

"Thanks, kid. You're pretty tough yourself." Eda ruffled Anne's hair. "And don't get all sappy-goodbye on me. I promised Luz that I'd help her find your other friends and I'll know you'll be back for that. So don't keep me waiting."

"If I'm not grounded first." Anne joked.

"If your parents ground you, then I shall have them banished for eternity!" King declared. "You are my subject and I'm not sharing with anyone!"

The Thai girl laughed before she hugged King. "You are just the cutest little tyrant."

"I am not cute!" He struggled in her grip before she set him down.

Anne then turned around to face the still-open portal. She took a deep breath and turned around to all her newfound friends and gave one final wave as she stepped forward…

Only to walk smack dab into what felt like a wall! "Ah! Ow!" Anne fell on her back, much to everyone's surprise. "The hell…?!" She stood back up and faced the portal again before trying to walk in, only to hit the white light as if it were a solid wall and fell back once again.

"Uh… Eda…?" Luz looked to the witch, who seemed just as confused as she was.

"That's… never happened before…"

Anne rubbed her face with an annoyed growl as she tried to reach her hand through. But as she did, her hand touched the light like it was solid, not noticing a small blue light appearing on the surface of her skin that had made contact. She then pressed both her hands and tried to push herself through, grunting the whole way. But nothing she did ever made headway. Even as she tried to press her back against it, she was unable to get through.

With an annoyed sigh, Anne took a few steps back, making her way to the other side of the room, before sprinting. "CHARGE!" She yelled as she tried to smash her way through, elbow first… only to slam into whatever invisible force was keeping her from entering, leading her to slide down on her side. She looked to everyone else, who appeared just as surprised. "A little help here?!"

---

Luz and Eda were able to step through the portal just fine, and were now back on Earth, standing just outside the old house that was some distance away from Luz's own home. Both held a long rope in their hands, with one end leading into the open doorway with the white light shinning through, indicating the portal was open on the other side.

"Ready?" Luz asked. Eda tugged on the rope two times, which was then tugged in the opposite direction in response.

"Ready." Eda confirmed as Owlbert grabbed the rope with his talons. "One, two, three… Pull!" She, Luz, and Owlbert all pulled on the rope as hard as they could.

---

On the other side of the portal, in the family room of the Owl House, Anne had the other end of the rope tied around her waist as she was being pulled into the open portal, with Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop, and King all trying to push her through on the other side, with her back against the doorway.

But despite all of their efforts, Anne's body was unable to get through whatever invisible barrier was keeping her from going through with absolutely no sign of caving in. Even as she and her friends on this side pushed with all their strength, and her friends on the other side pulled as hard as they could, with the salamander Palisman watching the whole thing.

Even as she felt a tight grip around her waist that only squeezed harder the longer this went on. It got so tight that it was getting hard for her to breathe. "Stop! Stop! It feels like I'm being squeezed in half!"

She ended up tripping on her own feet, causing her to stumble down… leading to King and the Plantars to stumble directly into the portal themselves, while Anne's backpack flipped open, with all of its contents stumbling across the floor of the room, including the music box.

---

Luz and Eda gasped as the little demon and trio frogs all stumbled outside and onto them, piling on each other on the ground as they groaned.

"Did it work…?" Sprig moaned.

"Does it look like it worked?" Polly questioned.

---

Everyone stepped back through the portal and into the Demon Realm to rejoin Anne as she untied herself before Eda closed it back up and got a good look at it in its brief-case form.

"Hmmm… we can get through just fine… and it doesn't look broken…" She looked at it from every angle and even licked the surface.

"But it's your portal. Shouldn't you know how to fix it?" Anne questioned.

Eda winched. "Funny enough, I didn't build this thing."

That got everyone's attention, even Luz and King. "Wait… what?" The Latina girl questioned.

"Yeah. In fact, I found it when I was around your age." She said to Luz and Anne specifically. "Never found out where it came from or even who made it."

"You never said that before…" King said.

"You never asked." Eda replied.

"Well, something's clearly wrong with it if I can't even get through!" Anne complained as she threw away the rope that was tied around her.

"Or maybe something's wrong with you." Polly said bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Anne questioned.

"All of us went through that thing. All of us except you." Polly explained. "And according to Eda, that's never happened before with anyone else. So maybe the problem is you."

"But why would it be with just Anne?" Luz wondered. "Why would…?" That's when she noticed the music box lying on the floor outside of Anne's open backpack and that's when it came to her. "The music box!"

"Huh?" Anne muttered in surprise as Luz got the aforementioned and put it on the table as everyone else gathered around.

"Think about it." Luz began. "I came to the Demon Realm through the portal door, and Eda's been coming and going to Earth with it, no problem. But… Anne ended up in Amphibia because of the music box. And we know the music box had magic in it… but now it's drained. Maybe… that's the reason. What if… the music box put a spell on Anne…? Or even a curse…?"

'A curse…?' Hop Pop and Eda both thought at the same time as they looked rather serious, for their own specific reasons.

"Curse?!" Anne questioned. "That thing cursed me?!"

"I-I don't know for sure but… you're the only one here who got sent to Amphibia with the box, and the only one here who can't get through the portal." Luz said. "I… don't really see any other reason." She looked to the salamander again. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" She showed the salamander the music box.

The salamander shook his head, indicating he knew nothing.

"Oh… well, thanks anyway." Luz said somewhat dejectedly.

Anne thought for a moment as she looked at the box that was responsible for her current predicament as Luz put it on the table in front of all of them. On one hand, it could be the key to finding Marcy and Sasha since they were with her when she opened it. But on the other… she's now trapped here because of it. And if what Luz guessed was true… would that mean that Sasha and Marcy are also trapped in the same way? Even if she found them in Amphibia and brought them into the Eda's house… they wouldn't be able to get through the portal and back home.

And she was the one who opened the box in the first place.

A sudden feeling of dread filled Anne's being… were she and her friends trapped… because of her?

"Anne." Sprig put a firm hand on her shoulder. "I told you, we'd find a way to get you home." He looked towards the Owl Lady. "Eda, you're the magic-expert. Got any way to uncurse Anne?"

"We don't even know if she is cursed." Eda explained. "It might be just some kind of weird magic that has an unusual effect on the portal. And even if it is a curse, it's not so simple to lift one. Depending on what type of curse it is… removing it can be… difficult…" She said that last part rather softly. "But… that doesn't mean that there isn't an answer. If we find the right kind of spell, maybe we can fix it."

"Maybe there might be something in Amphibia." Sprig guessed. "I mean… Anne ended up in our world with the box… maybe there's a connection?"

"That is a possibility..." Hop Pop looked away somewhat, with Eda looking at him somewhat suspiciously.

"Look, the bottom-line is, we're with you to the end, Anne." Sprig told his friend. "We're gonna find a way to get you home."

Anne smiled emotionally as she was once again reminded that she wasn't alone in this. She had Sprig, Luz, Eda, Hop Pop, Polly, and King. She had friends, and a place to rest. Two places in fact, if Eda would let her stay in this place that is.

"So… can Anne and the Plantars stay here too?" Luz asked Eda.

"Sure, why not." Eda shrugged.

"Really?!" Anne and Sprig looked to her excitedly.

"I'll have to clear out some space in the tower so there's room for everyone to bunk, but we can make it work." Eda said. "It's the least I can do since you guys let me stay at your place."

Hop Pop smiled. "Thank you, Eda. Mighty kinda of ya."

"Alright, let me show you guys around." Luz took Anne's hand and led her and the Plantars out of the room to give them the full tour of the Owl House, leaving Eda and King behind.

"Is it just me, or is everything getting weird… even for us?" King asked.

"A little bit. But hey, at least we got company now." Eda said.

"Yeah, that's true. More subjects for me to command!" King said as he ran off to join everyone else.

Eda shook her head somewhat as she let all this sink in. It was nice that she was back in her own home again. She was fortunate that she got through with the potions she had on hand in Amphibia. If anything there happened… she'd have no way to turn back… and a lot of people could have gotten hurt or even killed. But… that didn't happen. If she was going to be spending some time in Amphibia, researching more info on the music box, she would have to bring some of her potions to store at the Plantar house just in case. Maybe even see if she can make her own with some of local ingredients she could find there. If she could make her own potion, it would certainly save her some money in buying anymore from Bonesborough.

That also brought up some new possibilities. While she had no idea what kind of government was present in Amphibia, she at least knew there were no Covens there. Meaning, while in Amphibia, she was outside Belos' jurisdiction. That would be much less of a headache for her. She may even sell some of her human junk there too, maybe even some of her plant magic could help Hop Pop with his own vegetable stand and get some extra money in that regard.

Who knows? Hop Pop did say that there was magic in Amphibia… maybe other forms of magic that she never even knew about. And maybe even a way that could remove her own curse! She could finally be free of it! Free of the thing that almost destroyed her life!

'Whoa, whoa, don't get too excited there.' She reined herself in mentally. While there were many possibilities to explore in Amphibia, there were a lot of unknowns in there too since she didn't get much time to really explore that world outside of Wartwood. She had to be careful or else all of the kids under her care could get hurt. And there was no guarantee that any magic Amphibia had could indeed remove Eda's own curse and she might still be stuck with it the rest of her life. Who knows?

But despite that though… things were certainly looking more interesting here. And she was facing it all with a lot more people by her side.

All of a sudden… she didn't feel so alone anymore.

And that made her smile.

---

Later that evening, with the tower having been cleared out, Eda had used her magic to erect a living space suitable enough for the Plantars. All around, there were two beds, one that was on the ground floor and one in the upper room above. Hop Pop would be taking the bed down below, with Sprig in the one above. Polly would sleep in her bucket by Hop Pop's bed.

"Why does Sprig get his own room, but I'm stuck with Hop Pop?" Polly whined.

"Eda said she'd build a wall tomorrow, so it's only temporary." Hop Pop said as he got settled in his bed.

"No way I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight! I'm too excited!" Sprig hopped across the large chamber and towards a nearby window, where he got a good view of the forest outside. "There's a whole world of magic to explore! I can't wait to see every inch of it!"

"Now, hold on there!" Hop Pop pulled his grandson back. "We're going to be taking baby steps while we're here."

"But Hop Pop…!" Sprig whined.

"No, buts!" The patriarch of the Plantar family insisted. "We know next to nothing of this world. For all we know, whatever step we take could mean the difference between life and death. So nobody is wondering off on their own. You stick close to either me or Eda, got that?"

"Got it." Sprig said reluctantly.

"That goes for you too, Polly!" Hop Pop pointed to his granddaughter, who only groaned in annoyance. "Now then, everyone get some shut eye." He said as he got into his bed, while Sprig hopped his way up the stairs and into his own room that was set up just for him.

All it really was just a single bed, not that he really needed that much anyway. But maybe he could decorate it once he brings some of his own stuff over from his house in Wartwood. As the pink frog laid on his own bed, he looked out the window with an awe-struck expression.

"Another world…" A shadow loomed over him, causing him to look up and see the salamander crawling his way in. "Oh, look who it is. Wanna stay with me tonight?" The salamander nodded. "Great." He laid down in his bed with the salamander curling up next to his head, causing him to smile.

This was the same salamander that brought Anne's friend, Luz, to Amphibia. Luz then became his friend quickly enough, alongside King and Eda. This little magical creature with incredible powers had brought three more friends into his life and had introduced him to a whole new world that was full of danger and excitement, and he couldn't wait to see it all.

"Look out Demon Realm, cause Sprig Plantar is in the house! The Owl House!" The pink frog declared.

---

At the same time, Anne had her sleeping bag set up next to Luz's in the closet that served as her living space.

"It might be a little cramped here, but at least were together, right?" Luz said for the sake of enthusiasm.

"Right…" Anne replied dejectedly as she sat down, causing Luz to look at her with sympathy. She knew how excited Anne was to go home, only to be disappointed at how complicated her situation turned out to be. And Luz shared in that frustration. Why did this have to become complicated? And it all happened on Anne's birthday no less…

Wait… her birthday! Her eyes widened as she just remembered!

"Oh, Anne…!" Luz rummaged through the bag that she had left behind in this room since her, Eda, and King had unexpectedly been sent to Amphibia, the only reason she didn't give it to her until now. "I almost forgot…! Surprise!"

Luz handed her the doll of a certain cat that Anne recognized instantly.

"Is that… Domino…?" She asked in surprise.

"Yeah… I made it myself." Luz revealed with a smile, much to Anne's further surprise.

"You… made this…?" Anne muttered as she took the doll in her hands.

"It was supposed to be your birthday present." Luz explained. "I wanted to give to you on the actual day… but everything happened with you and the music box… and me in the Demon Realm… but hey… better late than never! So… happy late birthday, Anne!"

Anne couldn't believe it. Luz made her this? She made her a doll of her beloved cat? It was no secret just how much Anne loved her precious Domino… and Luz just happened to make a doll of her? Luz was always artistic… but she'd only ever seen her draw, she'd never seen her sew or do anything like this. But this was good! It looked almost exactly like her!

Almost like Domino… her baby precious… who was on Earth… with her parents… who were probably worried sick about her...

Tears were forming in Anne's eyes, which only caused Luz to gasp. "Oh… you don't like it? I'm sorry! Maybe I shouldn't…" She was caught off guard when Anne leapt at her, wrapping her arms around Luz tightly, crying the whole time.

"I love it…! Luz… I love this…!" Anne sobbed as Luz looked towards her with surprise. "Thank you… but everything…. I feel so close… but so far away…! Domino… my parents… Sasha… Marcy… it's all… just so much…!" She cried. "Will I… Will I ever get home…?"

Luz immediately embraced her friend as tightly as she could. "We'll find a way. We're in this together. We'll figure it out. I promise… I won't rest until you and the rest of our friends find a way home."

"Thank you… Luz…" Anne pulled away as she smiled emotionally at her. "And this… this is beautiful…" She looked to her gift, the doll of her precious baby Domino. "Thank you for this amazing gift. I love it."

"You really mean that?" Luz rubbed her arm nervously. She put her heart and soul into making that, so she hoped Anne would like it. It was one thing for Eda to say that it was good… but for the one she had made it for to actually like it… that made her warm up inside.

"I mean it. Thank you." Anne said sincerely, which only caused Luz to smile.

With that, the two curled up in their respective sleeping bags, with Anne holding the Domino doll close to her person before drifting off to sleep herself. Luz turned over in her bag, looking toward the framed pick of herself and her mom first, before setting the BFF picture of herself and all her friends next to it. Though she did find one friend, their situation was more complicated than she thought. But she at least knew for sure that Anne was safe and sound. Now all that was left was to find Marcy, then Sasha, then learn magic and everything they could about the music box.

Luz didn't know what was going to happen going forward, but she had a feeling that it was only just beginning. And for the sake of her friends, includes her new ones with Sprig, King, Eda, Hop Pop, and Polly…. She'll face it head on.

'Weirdos against the world?' Sprig's voice echoed in her head.

"Weirdos against the world." Luz affirmed to herself before falling asleep.

Done.

Now this was a fun episode.

We had a nice three-way bonding moment with Anne, Eda, and Hop Pop, along with a crazy drug trip (LOL). But seriously, don't do drugs. That stuff will seriously mess you up.

We also had a moment between Luz and Sprig, both who are weird in their own way with not a lot of people in their own homes getting them, so just like with Eda and King, Luz and Sprig will 'not fit in' together.

Weirdos against the world. :)

And we got a major surprise from the salamander Palisman… it can transform into a larger dragon-like creature and seems capable of fighting, more than ready to throw down with a hallucinatory Eda, who is a true force to be reckoned with.

The mystery around that particular thing has gotten deeper, hasn't it?
Oh, how I've got plans for it and I can't wait for you to see more of what's in store.

But the most surprising of all… Anne can't pass through the portal door! I'm sure you can all take a guess why… the energy from the Calamity Box inside her is preventing her from leaving. Two clashing inter-dimensional energies. So, Anne's homecoming is not gonna happen anytime soon. But at least she's not alone. The Plantars, Eda, King, and Luz are all with her.

And Luz was able to provide her with some solace and emotional support with the Domino doll she made for her, and this is only the beginning of the deepening of their friendship. They will be facing bumps in the road certainly, but as said before, I can't wait to write their growing friendship and just how much it's going to impact them going forward.

Now that the Plantars are in the Demon Realm… expect some more crazy shenanigans to unfold in the next chapter… as we meet other major characters and go to a certain location that will have a big role in the future.

Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Love you guys.