Boscha had set up a hoop outside and was practicing her basketball skill, she'll be damned if she lets herself get rusty over the summer.
"Alright, Luz, ready to help?" Boscha asked, picking up a ball that looked very familiar.
'Ready, Boscha!' Luz thought.
What had happened, was Eda tried hitting Boscha with the spell, but Luz had been walking and got hit by accident, and that's when Boscha had an idea, and here we are. Boscha began dribbling Luz and ran to the hoop. She jumped up and slammed Luz into the hoop. She then picked up Luz and began to throw her from several different spots. After a good 20 minutes, Boscha held Luz against her side and drank from her water bottle.
"Phew, thanks for the help, Luz." Boscha said, "Now just to find Eda and fix you."
Right as she said that, Eda kicked the door open, all excited.
"Ooo, today is a great day!" Eda said, grabbing Boscha and putting her on the staff, "King, hurry up!"
"I'm coming." King said, running as fast as his little legs could carry.
'Aw!' Luz thought.
"AW!" Boscha said.
Eda took off and flew as fast as possible to the beach. They landed and Boscha got off.
"So, why are we here?" Boscha asked, spinning Luz on her finger.
"Because of this!" Eda said, motioning to the item they had come here for.
Boscha stopped spinning Luz, and pointed her towards the thing they were looking at. Both sisters were looking at it in shock.
"Eda this is a rotting fucking corpse!" Boscha said.
"I know!" Eda said, happily, "This is a trash slug, it lives it's life eating all the junk that people throw out, until BAM... it get hit by a wave and dies from the salt!"
"Yeah, cool... can you turn Luz back to normal now?"
Boscha held Luz up, and quickly pulled her away, as Eda threw a pickaxe at Boscha.
"Watch it, don't need you popping my sister!" Boscha said.
Eda rolled her eyes and turned Luz back to normal.
"There, now come help." Eda said.
"Uh, I'd rather not." Luz said, "While I don't have any problem being a ball, I am not crawling inside a monster's stomach."
"Yeah, we're going to go do something else." Boscha said, starting to walk away, before tripping over big pile of garbage, "Ow."
"Hey, here's an idea, why don't you teach us some witchy stuff?" Luz suggested.
"Like how to not fall for a scam?" Eda asked, making Luz look down in shame, "Hey, listen Kid."
Eda got on her knee and held Luz's shoulders.
"I know, you wanted some kind of cool quest, to prove yourself, but the truth is... everyone wants to believe they're a chosen one, but if everyone waited for a prophecy to come for them, we'd all die waiting... that's why you need to pick yourself." Eda said, "Come on, let me teach you something important."
Eda brought Luz over to the pile Boscha tripped over
"Reach in and pick something at random." Eda said, "A true witch is resourceful, able to use what they find to help them."
Luz raised an eyebrow and reached in, pulling out some strange spike ball thing. Luz didn't know how'd she use it, but... she trusted Eda... against her better judgement.
"Uh, thanks?" Luz said, "Come on, Boscha, let's go."
"No... the sand gods have taken me." Boscha said, still laying face first in the sand.
Luz grabbed Boscha's arm and began pulling her away, struggling a bit... nerd arms, remember? Eda watched them leave before going back to the trash slug.
"I have to say, that was some pretty solid advice." King said, laying on a towel, tanning, "I didn't think you had it in you."
"Hey, I can actually be a good teacher when I want." Eda said.
Boscha had finally stood up and was walking next to Luz.
"Hey, think I picked up some things when you were tossing me around?" Luz asked.
"You... like being a ball a little TOO much." Boscha said, "... No, you still have the coordination of a newborn deer."
Luz playfully shoved Boscha.
"Do not!"
Boscha just chuckled and pulled Luz into a noogie.
"Boscha stop!" Luz said, hating it when she does this.
The two suddenly heard laughter and stopped. They went to investigate, and saw two girls, roughly their age, talking. One was thin, pale-skinned witch, with bright golden eyes and pointed ears. Her hair is chin-length, with a ponytail pulling the front hair out of her face, and a mostly covered undercut visible at the temples. Her hair is also a two-toned, dyed aquamarine-green with brown hair visible at the roots. She wore a uniform with pink sleeves and pants. The other was a shorter-than-average, plus-sized, stocky fair-skinned girl who had pointed ears, olive-green eyes and short, neat navy-blue hair with a few loose strands. Her uniform matched the other girls, and she wore glasses. The shorter girl looked around before making a spell circle and making a flower crown for the other girl. The taller girl took it and put it on her head with a smile.
"Aw, sweet little witch kids." Luz whispered as she and her sister watched the interaction from behind a nearby bush.
"I know." Boscha quietly replied. "Any more of this, and I might go into diabetic shock."
"I wonder what kind of magic that pretty green-haired witch can do."
"'Pretty', you say?" Boscha teased.
"What? You don't think so?"
"She's okay. The one with the glasses is super-cute, though."
Suddenly, more voices could be heard in the distance. The green-haired witch immediately tossed the flower crown, which happened to land in front of the bush that the Nocedas were using for cover. The witch with glasses ran to a giant pot behind her and knocked it over, spilling some purple slime on the ground. Just then, more witches their age walked by, wearing the same kind of outfits, but with different colored sleeves and leggings. They looked with interest at the mess the other two had made. The green-haired witch assumed a more posh stance.
"Ohhhh, poor Willow. You don't HAVE anything to show, DO you? You KNOW that THIS is why people call you... "Half-A-Witch Willow.""
"Yeah, suck it, Half-A-Witch!" One of the other kids shouted.
"NOOOOO! AMITY, WHYYYYYY!" Willow fell to her knees, pretending to cry.
Luz and Boscha watched in stunned silence from their hiding spot. They looked at each other, each not knowing what to say. The other giant urn behind Amity started to shake. The sisters both decided to save their commentary for later.
"Oh MY..." Amity mugged. "It SOUNDS like SOMEONE wants to SAY something. Abomination, RISE."
The lid slid off of the urn, and a strange, large globule of purple slime emerged. As it touched down on the ground, it assumed a more humanoid form. It stumbled towards Willow and drew a small star on her forehead with its finger.
"Uuuuurrrggh" The abomination struggled to speak. "You'rrrrre... aaaaa... staaaarrrr..."
"Aw, it is just like MINE..." Amity showed off her shiny, star-shaped badge. "...only SMALLER and MEANINGless."
"OOOHHHH, I'M SO EMBARRASSED!" Willow wept.
"Abomination, COWER." At Amity's command, the creature slinked back into its chamber.
"EEEEUUGGHHHOOHOOOO!"
The other kids appeared to have had their fill of the incessant crying and walked away.
"DON'T give UP, though. With ENOUGH practice, even YOU could get your own BADGE. So I'll...see you...at... Okay, they're gone." Amity sighed.
"Aaaaaand SCENE." Willow giggled as she hopped back to her feet.
"I'm so sorry for that, Willow."
"And for the millionth time, I understand, Amity."
"Oh, about your... abomination..." The green-haired witch pointed to the purple puddle at Willow's feet. "...did you want some help with that?"
"Nah. Last week was too close a call. I don't want to get you busted for helping me cheat again. Speaking of, is your wrist-?"
"It's almost healed." Amity covered said bandage covered wrist with her other hand. "Don't worry about me, It wasn't exactly my first Blight Industries showcase."
Boscha kept watching. "You have any idea what all this is about, Luz... Luz?"
She noticed her sister reaching through the bush.
"Luz, what the shit are you doing?" Boscha whispered through gritted teeth."
"Imma get me that crown." Luz replied. "I wanna see if it has any magic powers I can-WWWAAAAAUUUUGH!"
"LUZ?!" Boscha freaked out when her sister appeared to have been dragged through the bush.
But before she could do anything about it, a purple tendril had already ensnared her. She was pulled up to Amity and Willow and suspended in midair next to Luz, who was likewise hanging from a thorny vine.
"Hi!" Luz did her level best to extend an olive branch. "I'm L-"
"HOW MUCH DID YOU SEE?!" Amity didn't quite accept that branch.
"Huh?"
"Why the hell were you two spying on us?!" Amity continued. "Did Mom send you?!"
"No!" Luz panicked. "We don't even know you guys."
"Exactly the kind of thing a spy would say." Willow contended as she stared the Nocedas down. "Now, I believe my friend asked you a question. How much did you see?"
"Enough to know you two need acting lessons." Boscha's snark earned her a slam into the ground, courtesy of Amity.
"BOSCHA!" Luz cried out. "Are you okay?!"
"Uuuuuugggghhhh..." The one time Boscha actually wished she WERE a ball.
"They look about our age, but if they were going to sneak into Hexside to monitor us, they'd have to have the uniforms." Amity pondered as she examined the Nocedas. "What do you think, Willow?"
"They might be from another school, but I can't quite place the clothes." Willow remarked. "Too shabby for St. Epiderm."
"But not shabby enough for Glandus."
"WHAT?! I refuse to take fashion critique from a couple of ren faire rejects." And Boscha's attitude gained her another slam into the ground.
"HEY!" Luz yelled. "I know she can be a bit much, but quit bodyslamming my sister!"
"Sister?" The two witches were stunned.
Amity decided to go for an even closer look. She held Luz's face in her hand, carefully observing its features. From the soft cheeks to the cute little button nose to the slightly curled yet smooth hair to those deep, caramel-colored eyes that shimmered with light and wonder. So deep, in fact, that to stare into them too long would irrevocably trap her for all ete-
"AMITY!"
"Huh?! What... what happened?"
"You looked kinda hypnotized." Willow worried. "And why are you blushing?"
"HUH? I'm not! I mean... it's... it's a little muggy outside today. That's all." Amity took another look at her captive, who was also blushing. "See, she's feeling it!"
"Yeah, she is." Willow jested.
The green-haired witch tried to pay her no mind when she noticed something else about Luz. "Her ears! They're round! But that would mean... she's human?!"
"Oh, so the pink girl's family adopted a human." Willow marveled. "That's really progressive. I like it."
Luz had to chuckle at that remark. "Actually Boscha's adopted. We grew up together in the Human Realm. We're also keeping an eye out for her birth family. You... Amity was it? Maybe you're her sister. You two seem to share the same short fuse."
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Boscha and Amity simultaneously yelled.
Willow laughed as she set Luz free. "Well, that checks out. No way someone with her temper could work for Odalia, even if they wanted to."
Amity gawked at Boscha before letting her go. For a moment, there was a brief but jarring pang of recognition in the back of her mind.
"Yep... pretty sure my spine just shattered." Boscha said, groaning in pain, "Yeah, I think I'm going to head back to the Owl House."
"Wait!" Amity caught up with her. "I'm really sorry for attacking you earlier. It may not be much, but I can fix some of that damage."
With the spin of her finger, a deep blue spell circle washed over Boscha. Her pain wasn't completely gone, but was noticeably alleviated.
"Hey, that's the spell that Eda cast on you the other day when you blacked out." Luz noted as she turned to Amity. "That was so cool! Was that some kind of healing spell?!"
Amity nervously backed up. "It wasn't that cool. It's just a basic healing spell. My specialty is abomination magic."
"Yup! She's the top student in the abomination track at Hexside." Willow practically showed her off.
"'Student'?!" Luz shook with excitement. "As in 'school'? A MAGIC school? For witches?!"
Boscha rolled her eyes. "And here we go."
"I've wanted to go to a magic school since I was seven." Luz strode up to Amity with the widest grin and her vintage puppy-dog eyes. "Is there a way to get a day pass or something? Maybe an independent study?!"
"Easy there, uhhhh..." Willow managed to tear Luz away, much to Amity's solace. "Come to think of it, we never did get your names."
"Oh, right! I'm Luz. Luz Noceda. This is my sister, Boscha."
"S'up." Boscha groaned.
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Willow Park, and you of course know Amity." Willow gave a sly grin.
"Er, yes. I am Amity Blight." She extended her hand to the human. "It is nice to meet you."
Willow tried her best to not laugh at the awkward handshake. It seemed to last a while, but the sound of screaming in the distance caught everyone's attention.
"Oh no! That's the bell!" Amity panicked.
"THAT'S the bell?" Boscha sputtered.
The green-haired witch didn't bother to answer. She used her abomination magic to scoop up most of Willow's abomination and put it back in its urn. With another spell, she animated the carriage holding her abomination urn and hopped on it as it sped away. If the others weren't blinded by the cloud of dust that carriage left behind, they'd notice Amity giving a small wave.
"It was nice meeting you!" Luz called out to her.
"You'll have to excuse her." Willow told the Noceda sisters. "Amity's parents are really... strict about her attendance record, among other things. Anyway, I hope we can meet again under better circumstances. If you'll excuse me, I have an abomination test to fail."
"Wait!" Luz ran up to her. "I have an idea that could help us both out!"
Before Willow could ask what that was, Luz had already picked up handfuls of the remains of her abomination and slathered it all over herself. Boscha facepalmed at what she knew her sister was up to.
"Don't tell me YOU'RE going to pose as her abomination thing."
"She's WHAT?!" Willow was flummoxed at the notion.
"What?" Luz contested. "I saw Amity's creature. It's just chunks of stuff that talks weird. I'm chunks of stuff, AND I talk weird!"
Boscha shrugged. "Can't argue with that."
Willow couldn't help but laugh at their antics. Her mind was made up. "You know what? Let's do it! But are you sure you're okay with this, Boscha?"
"Not in the least." She was quick to reply. "But, Luz's fate was sealed when she learned about magic school. No matter what Mom, Eda or I say now, she'll find a way to get in, so might as well embrace the inevitable. It's a method I affectionately call "The Controlled Crash.""
"That's why you're my favorite sister." Luz had already hopped inside Willow's urn.
"In spite of the fierce competition." Boscha cracked.
Willow slipped the lid on her urn and started to push the carriage away. "I'll be sure to bring her back in one piece! See you after school!"
Boscha waved as the two took off.
"What could possibly go wrong?"
"Welcome to Hexside School for Magic and Demonics!"
Luz gazed in absolute wonder at the building in front of her. She would have sworn it was as if a palace and a library had a baby.
"This place is amaaaziiiing!" She shook in excitement to the point where she almost tipped over the urn she was hiding in. Good thing Willow was there to catch it.
"I didn't think you'd be this excited for school." The young witch remarked as they entered the building.
"Are you kidding?! I am so living the dream right now. My old school was super dull, and I wasn't really popular there, either."
"Now that I can understand." Willow's mood dropped slightly.
"Hey yeah, I was wondering why you and Amity were putting up that whole bullying act."
"Amity..." Willow's mood plummeted further. "...her mom doesn't approve of our friendship. Of me, specifically. She wanted Amity to have more "high-end" friends, but nobody in Hexside seemed to meet her standards. Except for Skara, of course, but everyone likes her. It's a miracle Odalia made an exception for the Grudgby team."
"That's awful! What makes her mom think she's such a big deal?"
"Probably the fact that she's rich and owns the most successful company in the Boiling Isles."
"Wow. That is a pretty big deal."
"Yup. So we try to continue our friendship in secret, using the bullying ruse as a cover in case we're ever seen together. The only other person who knows about us is-"
"WILLOW!" A younger witch with a light blue variation of the school uniform ran up to her holding up a decades-old magazine that apparently came from the Human Realm. "Did you know that humans nail barbed wire to their kids' teeth? But why? Maybe to make them magnetic."
"Actually, it's for storing treats."
The small witch looked confused as he looked around for the mysterious voice. Willow decided that holding out on him any longer was a fool's errand. "Okay, Augustus, I'm going to tell you something, but you need to be cool."
"I can be spool... er, cool" He stammered.
"Okay... Abomination, rise!"
By Willow's command, Luz emerged from the urn.
"TA-DA! I'm an abomination!"
Willow just shook her head. "And your sister thinks I need acting lessons."
Augustus was awestruck at what had just unfolded before him. He absent-mindedly played with his ears while looking at Luz's. "No... no, it can't be!"
"He's the president of the Human Appreciation Society." Willow explained to her new friend. "Most witches wouldn't be able to recognize a human right away. But Augustus is an expert."
'I'd say Boscha is more of an expert on Humans to be honest, but it's nice to have fans here.' Luz thought.
"Where are your gills?" He asked, putting his expertise on display.
"I knew an Augustus back in the Human Realm. We called him Gus." Luz responded.
"Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus? Call me it. Wow. Gus! This is the best day of my life!" Gus' excitement was cut short with another scream of the bell. "Shoot, gotta get to Spelling class. See you-."
"NOOOOOOO! WHYYYYYYY! SCHOOOOOLLLLL!"
Luz recognized that voice crying throughout the Isles. "Was that...? Nah, couldn't be."
"Amity, I cannot abide this tardiness."
"What are you talking about, Mom?" Amity whispered into a glowing pink jewel attached to her necklace. "I still made it to school on time. And who told you about this?"
"My usual source."
"Hermonculus..." Amity growled.
"Please don't make a scene, dear." Odalia communicated. "And I've told you before, "on time" is dangerously close to being late. Anything less than ten minutes early is unacceptable! You'd better be ready for your presentation."
"I'm sure your "source" will be happy to tell you all about it." Amity took off her necklace before her anger could get the better of her.
She stewed in her desk while the rest of the class joined her and took their own seats. Willow was seated in front of her, looking curiously anxious. What exactly did she have to be nervous about? Her dads were never ones to pressure her, even in spite of her poor grades. As Amity pondered the situation, the class was already underway. The abomination teacher wasn't shy about berating students when their attempts at creating their own golems didn't meet his lofty standards.
"Too many toenails in unexpected places! FAIL! Pathetic."
And he already failed poor Mary. She had been working so hard to improve her abomination recipe over the last few weeks and came so far in her technique. But in the end, it didn't even matter to Hermonculus. Even if her grades were consistently excellent, Amity could never stand her abomination teacher. Such a high and mighty attitude from such a little prick. It was especially disgusting how he treated Willow.
"The biggest abominations are all of you!" Hermonculus groused. "If the next abomination is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for a month!"
Amity immediately noticed that jerk giving Willow the side eye. She could already deduce that he would call on her friend, expecting her to fail and assign extra homework just to spite the class. But Amity would be damned if she would sit idle and let that happen.
"Excuse me, sir, but I am ready to present my abomination. Rise!" She effortlessly commanded the attention of the class with her own project.
Hermonculus merely laughed her off. "I've always saved the best for last, Amity. You'll have to wait your turn. How about... Willow!"
Amity was so livid, her face turned red. She had to catch herself before she passed out. The rest of the class weren't happy with the decision, either. But their ire was misdirected at Willow herself. What could Amity do to save her?
"Don't listen to them, Willow. We can do this."
"Huh?" Maybe it was the blood rushing to her brain, but Amity could have sworn she heard that human talking. But she wasn't around anywhere. She couldn't be. Not unless she was hiding in Willow's urn, but that would be plain stupid.
"Abomination, rise."
In Amity's confusion, she failed to notice that her friend was already on the teacher's platform. A fist punched the lid right off her pot, and out jumped Luz, covered in abomination sludge.
"TA-DA! Bleh."
The human's appearance caused Amity to seize up. There was no way those two could pull off such a blatant stunt, much less get a good grade out of it.
"Abomination, bow!"
"Blaaahhh!" Luz followed Willow's instruction in her own inimitable fashion. And to Amity's further surprise, everyone was applauding. This shit was actually working? Would Hermonculus fall for it as well
"Fascinating! But can it speak?"
Un-fucking-believable.
Luz looked a little confused before she thought of something. "Uh, I may be your abomination, but you're my a-mom-ination!"
Hermonculus was quite pleased. ""A-mom-ination!" Splendid wordplay. A-plus! In fact, I think we've found ourselves a new top student."
Were Amity not still frozen in shock, she would have tried to stop her teacher from taking her badge and giving it to Willow. How would she explain this to her mom?
Back at the beach, Eda had acquired a large knapsack full of eggs and tied it to her staff. "Damn, what a haul." She praised herself for her work. "That oviduct was loaded."
"Ah, lose apprentices, gain garbage eggs. Fair trade." King sniped from his beach blanket.
"I didn't lose shit!" Eda argued, at which point she noticed that Boscha had just come back. "See? I've still got one."
"Hey, guys." Boscha moaned.
"Huh?" Eda noticed that she looked somewhat ragged. "Hey, Triclops, you okay? You look like you went ten rounds with a slitherbeast."
"I have no idea what that is, but that somehow sounds appropriate. Luz and I saw some witches our age, and one of them kinda kicked my ass... when I wasn't looking."
"They'd have to be good to get one over on you and- wait, where's Luz?!"
"She's okay." Boscha smiled as she started to cry a little. "She actually... heh... she actually made friends with them. Luz made friends. I don't know if I should text Mom or let Luz do it."
"Wow. So she's hanging out with them now?"
"Yeah, they took her to their school."
"THEY DID WHAT?!"
"They took her to the school, why?" Boscha asked.
Eda tossed the bag to Boscha and took off towards the school. Boscha just looked at King.
"What did I miss?" Boscha asked.
"Something about her not liking school or something." King said, picking up an egg, "Eda collected a bunch of these... wonder if they'll hatch."
"Oh, I remember when Littles was an egg." Boscha said, getting nostalgic about her snake, "I wonder if they'll be as small as him and Snowflake."
"Let's find out!" King was about to give the egg a "bap" with his paw.
"AHHH! No!" Boscha swiped the egg from him, but its surface was slick with mucous. A fact Boscha learned too late as it slipped out of her own hands and shattered atop King's skull. Her heart stopped at that instant, but to her relief, the infant slug was unharmed.
"Omigosh, that was close." Boscha panted. "You okay there, little guy?"
"A little sticky, but I'm fine." King replied.
"Not you." Boscha took the young mollusk in her hands. "Poor thing doesn't have a mom. We gotta take care of him."
"I wonder if Eda will mind?"
"NOOOOOOO! WHYYYYYYY! SCHOOOOOLLLLL!"
Eda's cries rang throughout the Isles.
"Sounds like she found Luz." Boscha noticed, "Why don't we head back to the Owl House and find this little cutie something to eat. This will be so fun, it's like when Littles was a hatchling! So small and cute, and vulnerable... except now he doesn't have to worry about Snowflake trying to bite him."
"Yeah! We'll show Eda that we're better at teaching than her by raising this thing!" King said.
The two took the baby slug with them to the Owl House, where surely nothing could go wrong.
At the school, Willow was wheeling Luz to the lunch room, when Amity stopped her.
"Willow, do you have any idea how risky this was?" Amity whispered, "You realize what will happen if you get caught?"
"I know, but hey, I was able to get a good grade." Willow whispered.
"And you took the top student badge. What are you going to do tomorrow? Bring her in again?" Amity whispered, "Look, you know I don't care about some dumb badge, but I don't want you to get in trouble."
"I appreciate that, Amity, but I- Someone's coming!" Willow whispered.
Amity got her gay-I mean- mean face on.
"You better watch it half-a-witch, because I'm watching you." Amity said, walking backwards and knocking a couple students back, "I'm watching you."
(Line Break)
Willow arrived at the lunch table and parked her cart next to the table.
"Today is... surprisingly going well." Willow said, eating her lunch.
"Willow!" Gus practically leapt to the opposite side of the table. "What did you do?!"
"Did...? What are you talking about?"
"The abomination class!" Gus continued. "There's rumors going around that you cheated on your presentation."
Willow glanced away nervously. ""Cheating" is a... strong word. Though not entirely inaccurate. Heh heh."
"Well, a bunch of students are pressuring Amity to do something about it."
"What's this abo-?!"
*CLUNK*
Luz made sure this time to slide the lid off the pot before she poked her head out. "What's this about Amity?"
"She's being pushed to report you guys to Principal Bump! It's really getting to her, too. She's been roaming the halls looking like she just saw a giraffe!"
"That's no big deal." Luz boasted. "I've seen giraffes lots of times."
"Hardcore..." Gus marveled as he took out his lunch. "Hey, do humans eat PB & J's?"
"Augustus, don't!"
The three looked around for where that mysterious whisper came from. Willow peeked under the table to see Amity huddled underneath.
"Amity, what are you doing under there?"
"Never mind." The green-haired witch muttered. "You can't feed your human out in the open like that."
"Why not?" Gus joined the underside conversation. "Will she cocoon herself and metamorphose into some kind of scaly monster?!"
Amity needed a moment to shrug of her confusion. "What? No, it's just that abominations don't eat."
"Oh, well that's a relief, because I already gave her some of my sandwich."
"Augustus, I'm serious. If somebody saw that-"
"I SAW THAT!"
Willow and Gus sat back up, whereas Amity reacted out of shock and banged her head against the bottom of the table. The group found themselves partially surrounded by an angry posse of students.
"You think you can pull a fast one on us, Half-a-Witch?!" A student with dirty blonde hair and a wool cap chided. "We know you cheated. There's no way a dunce like you could get a good grade, let alone an A+!"
"HEY! Watch it!" Amity couldn't take that talk about her friend and without realizing it, she rose from under the table to confront the other students.
"Amity?"
They were shocked to see what they just saw. As she finally realized what she had done, Amity froze in place. Her improvisational skills were dodgy at best and nowhere near sufficient to get her out of this situation. Maybe if she put her mind to it, she could explain her way out.
"AMITY BLIGHT!"
Hermonculus was an entirely different matter.
"What is the meaning of this?" The teacher bellowed.
"Uhh... you know... I... uhh... one thing I should-"
"Amity realized that Willow was cheating!" One of the students spoke up on her supposed behalf.
Hermonculus shook his head in disappointment. "I suspected a twinge of jealousy, but this... this is just pathetic. Report to Principal Bump's office."
Amity did her best to get a word in edgewise. "But-"
"NOW!" He wouldn't hear any excuses.
"Yeah! We're gonna take this all the way to the top!"
"We got your back, Amity"
"Half-a-Witch won't get away with this!"
The student mob marched Amity away, not allowing her to even look back at Luz, Gus or Willow. The three could only watch and worry.
At the Owl House, Boscha was coddling the baby trash slug.
'Oh, it's just like Littles!' Boscha thought, 'I love it so much!'
"What do Trash Slugs eat?" Boscha asked.
"Uh... what about... these!" King said, pulling out a box of pet treats.
"Uh, I'm not so sure-"
Boscha was cut off when Eda walked inside, looking very annoyed.
'Don't ball me. Don't ball me. Don't ball me.' Boscha thought, knowing that making Eda happy was just hitting her with that spell.
Fortunately for her, Eda walked by her completely and flopped on the couch. As relieved as she was, Boscha was slightly concerned for her keeper.
"Hey, are you okay?" Boscha had a sudden thought. "Is Luz okay?!"
"Ehh, she's still in one piece at any rate." Eda grumbled. "Though I wouldn't categorize being in Hexside as "okay.""
"Is she still with Minty and the Cute One?"
"I think so. There was a girl with glasses and a shortstack who likes magazines or something. He seems to be a human fanatic."
""He?"" Boscha was overcome with joy. "Luz made ANOTHER friend? Oh, this is such a momentous occasion! I gotta text Mom and..."
She saw Eda sulking on the couch. Apparently, Luz meant more to her than she let on. The young witch held up her trash slug. "Hey, you wanna pet Little Littles? It might make you feel better."
"I thought we settled on "Prince Jr.!"" King interrupted.
"Wha-? You never even brought up that name!"
"If you two are going to argue, can you take it outside?" Eda asked, "I'd like to sulk in peace."
"Spill it, Fowl Lady." Boscha kept a calm and even tone for Little Littles' sake. "What's your problem with Luz going to a school with people who like her? Were YOU bullied at this Hex-side or something?"
"Me? Bullied?" Eda had a good laugh at that question for about half a minute.
"So-"
Eda cackled for another twenty seconds before Boscha could get a word in.
"... Are y-?"
Eda roared with laughter to the point where she fell off the couch.
"... You done?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Eda crawled back onto the couch. "But no, I don't have anything against your sister having friends. It's that school that's the problem. It hinders a witch's growth by forcing them to only study a single track of magic, insisting it's the "proper" way. But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable and that's why it's so beautiful."
"Huh." Boscha had developed a newfound sense of respect for the Owl Lady.
"At least I didn't lose the both of you." Eda smiled nicely at Boscha. "Maybe you are too cool for school."
"PFFT! School? In the summertime? Fuck that." Boscha said, "Besides, you guys don't have basketball so I have no reason to care."
"Hmmm... have I ever told you about a sport called Grudgby?" Eda asked.
Boscha looked at Eda with a bit of curiosity.
"... Go on."
"Why talk about it... when I can show you." Eda said, standing up, "King, Hooty, I need you to set up some stuff for me!"
"Why can't she do it?" King asked, pointing at Boscha.
"Cause she's going to be the ball." Eda said, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
'God damn it.' Boscha thought, not even bothering to run and hide at this point, 'Worst part is I'm actually getting used to it.'
"King, I'm going to need you to watch over this little guy while Eda tosses me around." Boscha said, handing the trash slug to King, "And DON'T feed him those treats."
Willow had brought her cauldron into the abomination classroom, so it was just her, Gus, and Luz talking.
"I have to say, today has been a pretty fun day." Willow said, "Apart from everyone in the abomination class plotting my downfall."
"Aw, they're just jealous." Luz crawled out of the urn to stretch her legs. "Whew, I am a sweaty little abomination. Anyway, I'd say that "Operation: Get a Good Grade for Willow" was a rousing success. High five!"
Luz held out her hand awaiting reciprocation. But since neither Gus nor Willow knew what she was talking about, they'd have to leave her hanging.
Luz realized she needed to elaborate. "Slap my hand. It's a human thing."
Hearing that it was a "human thing" was all the motivation Gus needed to give it a try, albeit with the greatest of caution. The first high five was pleasant enough. The next dozen were exhilarating.
"Oh, man, what a rush!"
Suddenly, a familiar witch burst into the room.
"Amity!" Luz was relieved to see her again. Amity, on the other hand, was making a shushing motion to the others. She then stood aside as a much older witch entered the room. His flowing, regal robes emanated an aura of utmost authority and wisdom. The strange little demon latched onto his head less so.
"Good afternoon, students."
"Principal Bump!"
Willow's exclamation was all the prompting Luz needed to resume her abomination act and fell to her knees. Bump approached her for a closer look. A few uncomfortable twists of her neck later, he stood back to issue commands.
"Abomination, rise." And so she did.
"Abomination, lie."
Luz reacted quickly. "Uh, viral fame is a worthy pursuit. Your cat would never eat you if it got the chance. Chemtrails are real-"
"Oh, abomination, no." Bump cut her off. "How strange for it to get the command wrong. I meant lie down."
He gestured to a table for Luz to lie down on. Reluctantly, she complied. Bump looked over her once more. "How very lifelike. When Ms. Blight told me about your abomination, I just had to see it for myself, find out what it's made of."
"I have a list of her ingredients right here, sir." Willow held out the aforementioned list.
"No. We were hoping for a... closer look" Principal Bump held out a damn knife.
"We... we were?!" Amity was losing what little composure she had left.
"Willow, I will allow you the first cut."
Willow wasn't feeling too calm herself after Bump handed her the knife. She leaned in closer to whisper to Luz. "You, uh, can't cut open a human, can you?"
"It's putting us back together that's the issue." Luz whispered back.
"Willow, go ahead and make the first incision." The principal urged.
Gus and Amity looked at each other, unsure of what to do until Gus had a sudden burst of inspiration.
"Principal Bump! High five!" He shouted out as he knocked over three more giant pots and releasing the abominations within. As Bump turned to face them, Amity surreptitiously used her magic to make the abominations spread out and smother him. While he struggled, Amity gestured to everyone else to get out of the room, which they did. She then sat down against the wall, feigning getting knocked over just as Bump freed himself.
"Amity, are you all right?"
"I'm fine." She replied. "But they got away."
"No. The intruder won't get far." Bump drew a glowing red spell circle against the wall. When he placed his hand in the middle, the light from the circle bled out across the walls and floor forming patterns along the way.
Amity didn't know what to do. Things went from normal to massively chaotic in the short time she met that cute human and her somewhat abrasive sister. Since then, she had lost her top student badge, gotten in trouble with the faculty, watched helplessly as her best friend became a fugitive and an even bigger social pariah and almost became an accessory to murder. She wasn't about to tempt fate by asking how this day could get any worse.
"Amity Blight, what in Titan's name is going on here?!"
Because fate didn't need tempting.
A strange apparition resembling a mummy holding a mirror appeared before her and Bump. Inside the mirror was no reflection, but the visage of a witch bearing a strong resemblance to Amity. And that visage looked tremendously displeased.
"MOM?!"
"With all due respect, Mrs. Blight, we have an emergency on our hands at the moment." The principal told her.
"I'll say we do!" Odalia wasn't going to be deterred. "I was notified of Amity being displaced as top student of her class, as well as the scene she made at lunchtime. I would have been here in person, but I have business matters to attend to."
"Hermonculus, you piece of shit." Amity grumbled under her breath.
Bump had no time for petty grievances. "As it happens, Odalia, Amity has notified me that one of her classmates may have acquired a higher grade through dishonest means. We're working to rectify the situation as we speak."
Amity breathed a sigh of relief. Principal Bump was not unaware of her situation with Willow, and wouldn't disclose her involvement with situations like these to Odalia.
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Odalia sniped. "And Amity, why are you idling there? Go get your badge back! Or are you saving your energy for our company's next showcase?"
The young witch acquiesced, hoping that Willow and the others managed to escape in time.
At the Owl House, Boscha was punching the trash slug, who was slowly getting bigger then the house.
"KING, WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT FEEDING THIS THING TREATS!" Boscha yelled.
The trash slug tried to bite her, but Eda pulled her out of the way.
"I didn't want to, but who could say no to that cute face?" King mewled before the slug's tooth-filled, drooling maw took a bite at him. Fortunately, Boscha distracted it with a fireball to the side of it's head, allowing the little demon to scurry away.
"I don't suppose we have a huge bucket of salt for this guy, do we?" The young witch asked Eda.
"A barrel of salt, actually." The Owl Lady informed her.
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah, but getting that thing to take it won't be easy. We'll need to stun it somehow."
"Good luck with that. Little Littles has taken everything I could throw at him."
"Prince Jr.!" King yelled from his hiding spot.
"Well, not everything." Eda grinned as she summoned a patchwork ball with an eye. "Care for some more grudgby practice?"
Boscha was confused and borderline furious. "You had a ball this WHOLE TIME?!"
"It's more fun to throw you around." Eda said, "Now are you going to help or are you going to complain?"
As much as she wanted to get angry, there was more important things to worry about, such as the house being attacked by her slimy child.
"Okay, so how can grudgby help us out?"
"Thought you'd never ask." Eda cracked. "So, we went over some of the basics and the sport's similarity to this "basketsball" of yours, but the grudgby ball has one big advantage that human sports don't."
"And that is...?"
"The ability to channel one's magic into the ball." Eda drew a spell circle which ignited the ball. She then passed it to Boscha, who could only stare in complete reverence at what she beheld.
"This is so much like my dreams, it's scary." The young Noceda spoke in an awed hush.
Eda smiled at how her ward reacted. "Thought you'd like it. Now give'em hell, kid!"
Boscha ran and threw the ball with all her strength.
'Luz has no idea what she's missing.' Boscha thought.
Luz and Willow ran through the halls as fast as possible. Gus did his best to keep up, but his smaller legs left him trailing behind. Lucky for him that the girls stopped, allowing him to catch up.
"I'm so sorry Willow." Luz panted. "I never meant for all this to happen. I just wanted to see a magic school up close."
"Well, what did you think?" Willow asked.
"It's lovely." Luz answered before the two shared a good laugh.
"And hey, don't beat yourself up over it." Willow reassured her. "Who could've seen all this coming?"
"But it was my idea."
"I didn't exactly say "no" to it."
"That's right!" Gus chimed in. "You're both equally guilty."
"Thanks, Gus." Willow mumbled. "In any case, we need to get you out of here before..."
The crimson bands of magic the principal conjured up snaked their way across the halls. When they reached the doors, they formed intricate sigils that held them closed.
"...Bump seals us in."
"Hey, Amity!" Luz waved over the green-haired witch who was running across the halls.
"No no no no no!" Amity sprinted towards the others while checking over her shoulder. "You guys didn't escape yet? You need to find a way out, like right now!"
"You know what? That does it. I should just come clean about Luz." Willow declared. "No grade is worth this. And I'm sure Bump will take it easy on her if he knew."
Amity looked ready to break down. "It's worse than you think now, Willow. We have more to worry about than just Bump."
"What more could we-?"
"There you are, Amity!"
Willow went pale at the sound of that voice. Sure enough, the phantom serving as Odalia's proxy had managed to find them. The elder Blight looked at the three runaways, then focused on Luz. "So, this is the abomination that caused you to lose your top student badge?"
"Hello." Luz nervously waved at her.
"This is what Hermonculus gave an A+ to?" Odalia scoffed. "Doesn't look like much."
"WATCH IT!" Amity snapped at her mother.
"Excuse me?"
Amity seemed to have forgotten herself in defending Luz. How could she slip up like that? And all for the sake of someone she had just met? Look at her, covered in abomination sludge with that irritating, obliviously cute expression like a lost kitten. Well, cute in a strictly descriptive sense. Facts are facts, after all. And she only looks like a kitten to Amity merely due to her desire to pick Luz up and let her nuzzle her face and... and her mother is still looking at her. She'd have to think fast.
"WATCH it... Half-a-WITCH, for I... shall put an END to this pitiful charADE!"
Luz and Gus winced at that performance. Fortunately, it was convincing enough for Odalia, who stared intensely at Willow. "Oh, if it isn't Park."
"Odalia." Willow responded with a one-fingered salute.
"Charming as ever, I see." She then addressed her daughter. "Well, Amity, you've certainly done well to expose this cheat and her pretend abomination. Speaking of, destroy that thing and we can put this little incident behind us."
"WHAT?! NO!" Once again, Amity was too quick to stand up to her mother.
"Oh? Then I suppose I can count on your help with Blight Industries' upcoming showcase. This week's theme is crossbows."
Luz heard Willow gasp at that remark. She also noticed the fearful look on her new friend's face. Whatever this "Blight" business is about, it didn't sound good. Amity sported a similar expression, confirming her suspicions. No matter what, Luz would not allow anyone to pay for her mistakes. She stepped forward, assuming one of Boscha's Karate stances to the best of her memory.
"PRE-PARE-TO-BE-DE-STROYED-A-MI-TY!" Luz exclaimed in her patented "Monster Voice."
Amity shook her head, reluctant to attack the human. Luz responded with a firm nod. The witch once again found herself given no choice. She used her magic to summon the abominations from the classroom.
"Abominations... seize." Amity teared up giving the command.
"Grr. Argh."
Luz lunged at the creatures. To everyone's surprise, especially her own, she took out one of the abominations with a punch. Perhaps she did learn a thing or two from watching Boscha's Karate classes after all. Looking at the slime on her fist, Luz had a burst of inspiration. She attacked the other two abominations and beat them down into mush. She then scooped up a clump of that mush, looked at the mirror through which Odalia glowered at her, and with a cry of "Hadoken," launched the sludge at the mirror. It was completely covered, and the wraith holding it tried to wipe it off, but only ended up smudging it. When Amity noticed her mother couldn't see them, she immediately used her magic to render the abominations inert.
"Boom, baby!" Luz celebrated. "Now we just gotta bust out of here, somehow."
Gus looked over the symbols covering the walls. "Well, unless one of you has a strong enough spell to bust down that door, the only way out is through Principal Bump. You might as well just jump into the detention pit if it comes to that."
"Detention...pit?" Luz didn't much care for the sound of that.
Amity shook her head. "It's hard enough to control abominations that aren't mine, let alone coordinate their efforts to bust through this level of enchantment."
"I might be able to whip up something if I had any plants to use." Willow looked around. "But I need to be near plants to use their magic, and Bump's spell is only cutting me off from them more."
"I wish I had something that could help." Luz rummaged through her pockets and pulled out the small spiky thing that Eda gave her that morning. "All I really have is this."
Willow ran right up to her. "Oh my gosh, Luz, that's a seed! This is perfect. Good thing you had that on you."
"Yeah." Luz smiled warmly. "Good thing someone encouraged me to take it with me."
Willow placed the seed on the ground. As she concentrated her magic, her eyes glowed with a green light. "Okaaaaayyyy... GROW!"
With her adjuration, the seed erupted into a tidal wave of vines. Luz, Gus and Amity had to jump behind Willow to avoid them. Odalia's wraith had finally cleaned the gunk from her mirror, only for it to be shattered by the onslaught of plants.
Meanwhile, Principal Bump was searching the halls for the runaways. The ground beneath him... rather, the entire building shook around him. Before he knew it, he was blindsided by the vines as they pinned him to the ceiling. When the shaking stopped, he opened his eyes to see the entire school covered in plant life. Petals fluttered through the air as if for effect. Everything else became secondary to him as he marveled at the magic at play.
"Remarkable."
Bump's incapacitation had broken the enchantment sealing the exits to the school. As Luz took notice, she swung the door wide open. "This way, comrades! To freedom!"
To her surprise, the other three hadn't budged. "Comrades? Freedom?"
"All things considered, I think we'd be in deeper trouble if we cut class." Gus informed her. "We still have to go here."
"But Willow-"
"It's okay, Luz." Willow replied. "Like I said, I'm going to confess what I did to Principal Bump. This is my mess, and I'm owning up to it."
"But it's mine too, I should-"
"Hey, I might get detention, but you might get dissected."
"Actually, the proper term is "vivisected."" Gus' interjection earned him a stern look from Willow.
"But, Amity, what abo-"
Before Luz could finish, Amity was already guiding her out the door. "Luz, it was nice to meet you and all, but for your own sake, you should probably stay away from me."
"What?"
"It... it's not safe to be around me. Not with Mom always breathing down my neck. She has it out for Willow and Gus enough that it makes no difference for them. But you? I... I couldn't stand to see you get dragged into this. Please, just... don't come back. I'm not worth the trouble."
"Amity...!"
"Goodbye, Luz." Amity closed the door, shutting Luz out in more ways than one.
"There has to be something..." Luz had to keep herself from panicking. "Boscha? Eda? Maybe they can help? I'm sure I can use their destructive powers for good!"
With that, Luz dashed to the Owl House.
Boscha was knocked into the air by the trash slug. Eda was quick to catch her.
"I gotcha Kid." Eda said, "King, hurry up!"
On the roof, King was pushing a barrel of salt, why Eda has that, she'll never know. King looked down at the Trash Slug, feeling guilty about this, before it roared at him.
"I have no son." He said, before pushing the salt over the edge and into the slugs mouth.
The barrel of salt proved too much for the slug as it died fairly quickly. Eda put Boscha down and Boscha picked up the grudgby ball.
"Thanks." Boscha said, handing the ball to Eda.
"Hey, the only one allowed to torment you is me." Eda said, ruffling Boscha's hair.
"Pretty sure that's Luz's job." Boscha said, "Speaking of, I wonder how-"
"EDA!"
Luz ran up and hugged Eda... much to the witches confusion.
"Wha-what is this? What are you doing?" Eda asked.
"Eda, oh my gosh, you were right! That weird spiky thing did come in handy! It saved the day and-"
"Luz!" Boscha interrupted her sister. "You. Would. Not. BELIEVE the day we've had! King and I found this baby slug, but King overfed it and it grew to the size of this house! So we had to kill it before it killed us and-"
At that moment, the shriveled slug twitched, coughed up a pile of salt and scurried back to the beach.
"Hey, it's alive!" King rejoiced. "We're not the worst parents ever!"
Boscha didn't seem too concerned. "Yeah, cool. Anyway, I don't wanna disappoint Dad, but I think I've found my most favorite sport ever. It's called Grudgby and it's like basketball, except it's a full-contact sport! And Luz? Luz? LUZ... you can set the ball on FIRE."
"You do remember me saying you can channel any kind of magic into the ball, right?" Eda reminded her protégé.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, how was your trip to school? I heard you made a third friend."
"How did...? Never mind." Luz got herself back on track. "Willow, Gus and Amity are in trouble. We got busted by the principal and they need our help."
Boscha tried to think of what Luz meant until she recalled her plan. "Oh, right! You were going to pose as that girl's abomination thingy."
"Ahem!" Eda gave Luz a stern look. "Do you mean to tell me that you pretended to be an abomination to help someone cheat in class?"
Luz meekly nodded.
"That's my girl!" Eda applauded. "Looks like I taught you something after all."
"LUZ!"
Everyone looked to see Willow and Gus running up to them.
"Luz, you're not gonna believe it!" Willow was oddly excited. "Something wonderful has happened!"
"You're right, I don't believe it!" Luz responded.
"Principal Bump was so impressed with my plant magic, he's letting me switch tracks! Check it!" Willow twirled as she cast a spell circle on herself, changing the sleeves and leggings of her uniform from abomination puse to plant green. Luz rejoiced with her friends for a moment. After which, Boscha approached the shorter witch.
"Hi, I'm Boscha, Luz's sister." She held out her hand. "And you must be Gus."
"Oh wow, it's catching on." Gus was enraptured that others knew his human nickname.
Luz had suddenly remembered something. "Wait! What about Amity?!"
"She'll be okay." Willow assured her. "Bump smoothed everything over with Hermonculus and she got her badge back, so that should placate her mom."
"That's a relief." Luz sighed. "Maybe I'll get to see her again the next time I sneak into school."
The two witches shared a look.
"Uh... about that... you're... maybe... sorta... banned." Gus said, pulling out a Banned poster with Luz covered in abomination goo on it.
"... I don't remember taking that picture." Luz said.
"THAT'S MY GIRL!" Eda said, incredibly proud of Luz.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised." Boscha said, looking over Luz's shoulder at the poster, "Seems like you had an eventful day. Learn any magic at the school?"
"No." Luz said, dejectedly.
"Hey, don't worry, Luz." Willow said, "We'll... come here after school and teach you what we know."
Luz thought about it and then looked at Eda.
"Thanks but... I already have a pretty cool teacher."
Eda felt that dark hole that replaced her heart brighten up a little at that.
"She is a pretty cool teacher." Boscha said quietly.
Eda grabbed the banned poster.
"Yeah, that's right, these are MY students!" Eda said, before looking at it, "Aw, babies first wanted poster. You did good kid."
"Yeah, no one else I want to be my little sister." Boscha said, pulling Luz close and giving her a noogie.
"Boscha stop!" Luz said, "You know I hate this!"
"That just makes it all the more fun to do!" Boscha said.
"What kind of human greeting is this?" Gus wondered, making everyone look at him for his lack of human knowledge.
'Wow, he really doesn't know much about humans.' Boscha thought.
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