The Owl House

Inside the Owl House's shed, Eda placed a bundle of branches on the floor for her new bed. She was about halfway done before she sat on a nearby stool, sulking in the shame hat. Eda picked up a couple of twigs and started forming the foundation. It was only a few minutes in when she heard banging against the door before it opened.

"Help me, help me, help me!"

Looking up, she saw King run in and slam the door shut.

The little demon ran up to her and dove into her arms, whimpering. The door shuddered from what she assumed to be Prince Jr."

Eda smirked. "Trouble with your student?"

"Yes, yes!"

The banging on the door continued."

Eda held King to eye level. "I don't know, King. I lost the bet fair and square. You are the superior teacher who doesn't need my help? Perhaps you need to discipline this misbehaving student.

Before he could answer, Prince Jr., burst through the now-shattered door and roared. A tentacle grabbed King by the tail and dragged him out of Eda's arms, much to her immediate shock.

King squealed in fear. "Please help me! I'll cancel the bet. You can even call me Mr. Wiggles!"

Eda stood up. The time for joking had passed. After removing the shame hat, she grabbed her staff. With a firm swing, she smacked Prince Jr. in the face with the butt of her staff, making it release King.

Feeling pain for the first time, Prince Jr. retreated, but Eda knew it would return.

Free again, King clung onto Eda's leg. "I'm sorry..." he whimpered, back in the safety of his guardian.

Eda's expression softened as she picked up the kid and scratched his chin. "Don't worry about it, Mr. Wiggles. Junior will be back, and I have just the plan."

Meanwhile, Outside

When the pain receded, the Trash Slug reassessed itself. The white-haired woman was keeping him from his food. Prince Jr. decided to wait him out because his former provider was no longer in sight. The little demon would come out eventually. He scoured the front yard for anything else of substance. Soon, his eyes laid on a small white creature basking in the sun on its side. With the easy prey in sight, the slug crawled over. Despite his rather large size, the strange prey paid him no mind.

Just as his mouth opened, Fou growled at the Trash Slug. While the average mortal would see the cute animal, the same could not be said for other animals. Deep within the Trash Slug, primal instincts flared. An aura of despair and domination washed over him. The situation had flipped on its head. Prince Jr. felt so small under Fou's glare. Such killing intent signaled that he was insignificant in Fou's eyes.

Prince Jr's head quickly pressed against the ground in a sign of subservience.

Seeing this, Fou's expression relaxed before mimicking an eye roll. With a wave of its paw, Fou dismissed the worm who slithered into a bush near the shack.

The friendly owl creature named Hooty extended itself over to Fou. "Wow. You showed Junior who's in charge. Though, why didn't you tell him to go back to the ocean."

"Fou."

Hooty nodded. "Yeah. I see what you mean. King needs to clean up the mess he made. In any case, I got the cleaning stuff ready."

"Fou."

"Aw, thanks. Besides you and Shirou, I barely get any respect around here."

"Fou?"

"I know, but I love them anyway." Hooty slowly retracted back to his door, ready for the next step.

Hexside

Main Office

Principal Bump breathed a sigh of relief when he finished signing the last of the forms for the next semester's budget. The older man leaned back against his chair and lifted a mug of coffee to his mouth. The warm liquid soothed his dry throat, and he could already feel the earlier sips work their magic as drowsiness slowly faded. His mind drifted to more recent events.

'Perhaps it would be nice for Eda's apprentice to attend our school. She has that same wide-eyed fascination I used to have in my younger years.'

Suddenly, the room became a few shades darker. He safely assumed it was a stray cloud blocking the sun, but then he heard creaking. Principal bump looked over his shoulder and gasped. "What the?!"

Thorny vines had grown over his windows, threatening to break through. As fast as his old bones could move, he ran to the nearest wall and traced a large spell circle before slamming the center of it. Red light formed circular patterns on the walls and floor, spreading from the spell circle. They quickly spread throughout the entire building, initiating lockdown procedures. Windows and doors were reinforced as the plants continued to grow.

Before Bump could act further, he had to wait for the spell to reach its end, signaled by the stillness of the growth. He traced another circle, blasting away his window and the vines blocking it. Hopping on his palisman, he flew out to get an idea of what was happening. "Remarkable."

As he viewed the effects of the spell, he was astonished. Vines covered the entire school, including the Grudgby field. They curled around pillars and spires, reaching their peaks. Throughout it all, pink petals fell from flowers that blossomed.

Principal Bump shook his head. The first thing he needed to do was find the source. Judging by the thickness of the vines, the proverbial trunk and roots originated from the field.

As he got closer, he saw Coach Bloodgood on his knees, crying tears of joy.

The Professor gestured to the jungle and yelled with a passion. "This is what I wanted to see. The flames of youth burn bright in the face of adversity, bringing out the full potential of us all. Willow fought for victory at the last moment. For the first time this semester, Rebels Win!"

Bloodgood was acting like usual, so that was a good sign.

From various points on the field, students from both teams were caught in vines, restraining and eliminating them from the game. On the bleachers, a drenched Bo sat with a cheering Luz. Shirou gave an awkward chuckle and waved at the approaching Principle. He didn't fail to notice the sheer amount of shredded plant fibers around them. Questions for another time.

The man shook his head and continued to the epicenter. Thankfully, it wasn't their fault for this incident. He soon found the young Willow panting while kneeling on the petals of a large flower. Right next to her was a half-lidded and exhausted Amity.

"I'm gonna win..." muttered the mint-haired witch.

Nearby, Skara and Jerbo looked at each other in their plant restraints.

Jerbo pulled against the vine to no avail. "Not gonna lie. That was pretty cool."

Skara did the same but laughed anyway. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure you guys won. Willow team-wiped everyone. After seeing all this, I can't see why she is on the abomination track."

"I know. I've seen other plant track students work their magic, but nothing like this."

Soon, the students, still awake, noticed their principal approaching and gulped in hesitation.

A bit frazzled, Willow stood back up and attempted to fix her hair and uniform. She let out an awkward laugh at the stern-looking man. "Principal Bump, what brings you here?"

The man gestured to the rest of the campus.

Upon seeing how much her spell did, she went a bit pale. "I may have gone overboard."

Bump didn't seem angry, just curious. He looked at her abomination track color and back at the vines covering the campus. "Let's clean up this mess, and we can discuss the future of your education in my office after school."

Willow slumped, expecting the worst. "Understood, sir."

At the stands, Shirou and Luz looked at their friend with a hint of concern and confusion. They would have to follow up with her later.

Later

The Owl House

After affirming the hierarchy with Fou at the top, Prince Junior returned to the shack to feed on King.

Sadly, Eda wouldn't let that happen without a fight. It spat lava at her, but she easily dodged it. She smacked it in the face with her staff twice, making it back toward the front door.

On the roof, King pushed a wooden barrel into position.

Eda pushed back against another tendril. "Pour the salt, now!"

King looked down at the one he raised this morning. "I'm sorry, my Baby boy!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Prince Jr. looked up at King, whimpering. Then its feral instincts kicked in and roared in anger. Junior was hungry!

King took a breath. "No love, No son. Eat salt!" He shoved the entire barrel full of salt into Prince Jr.'s mouth.

It shivered and wretched in pain. Slowly, the salt reacted with its natural secretions, expelling pounds of foam. The once large Trash Slug was reduced to its original size of a few inches. Feeling the disparity in strength, it whimpered before running off toward the beach.

From the roof, Fou yawned in contentment. This is the first step, but King will get there in the end.

King danced in victory. "Yes, I did it! I'm amazing! Ahh!" The little guy fell off the roof, but Eda caught him. He chuckled "You helped too. I suppose you can be a teacher too."

Eda chuckled. "I hope to show that to Luz too."

Hooty slithered up to them, dropping a broom. "Now that the moment of terror is over, start cleaning."

"Yeah. Yeah." There were still wood splinters and piles of salt scattered everywhere.

As if on cue, the girl came running home with a bright smile, Shirou and another pair of kids walking not far behind. "Eda!"

Eda's mood brightened. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is this?" Luz hugged her and King. "Ugh! I never understand when you do this."

Luz smiled. "I'm ready to learn whatever I can from you about magic at your own pace!"

"That's good to hear." Eda's lips curled upward. "I may be the most powerful witch on the boiling isles, but I'm willing to give this teaching thing a shot for you!"

Hearing the tail end of the conversation, Shirou raised a brow. "What happened to that bet of yours? I thought you had to wear the hat and whatnot."

Luz looked between her teachers, confused.

"After some... discussion, King and I reached a compromise."

The hero placed his hands on his hips. "Oho? Does this mean you aren't getting the food and drinks I offered?"

Eda froze in her tracks. She had forgotten about that. "Hehe. I don't suppose you could continue helping in the kitchen. I'll admit that you have some skill."

Shirou rolled his eyes in amusement. "I'm sure we can arrange something."

Meanwhile, Willow and Gus ran up to their new friend. "Luz!" Both hugged her, who happily returned it.

Eda huffed at the scene "What's going on?"

Releasing the hug, Willow and Gus gave a short bow. "It's good to finally meet you, Miss Owl Lady."

The elder witch waved it off. "I'm fine without the formal crud. Who are you guys?"

Luz introduced them. "They are Willow and Gus, some friends I made at Hexside. Just wait till you hear the news."

Willow jumped in glee. "Everything is perfect now! Thanks to Luz's support and that seed you gave her, Principal Bump was so impressed by my plant magic, he's switching me to the plant track! Look!" She backed away and snapped her fingers. With a glow of green magic and a twirl, her sleeves and leggings went from magenta to green.

Luz hugged Willow and cheered. "Woohoo! You should have seen her in the War Games. She wiped out both teams. This mean girl named Amity and the others are getting checked up in the Nurse's office."

Eda had to whistle at that accomplishment. Even she wasn't that ruthless in her games.

Luz pumped a fist. "Principal Bump said we're welcome to come back for future games. I can't wait to see her in action next time."

Shirou came over and ruffled Willow's hair. "While we're preparing Luz for enrollment, Willow and a pair of twins offered to stop by from time to time for pointers and help out."

Eda didn't seem to mind. "I'll handle the hands-on stuff while you deal with the bookwork."

The redhead grabbed her hand and gave it a good shake. "This looks like the start of a wonderful partnership."

Later

Willow excitedly opened the front door to her home. "Dad! Papa! You're not gonna believe it. Principal Bump switched me to the plant magic track!"

Gilbert and Harvey Park stared back from the kitchen sink with wide eyes.

That wasn't the response she was expecting. "Is there something wrong? I know you wanted me in the Abomination track, but I feel at home doing plant magic."

Harvey put up placating hands. "Oh, it's nothing, sweetie."

Gilbert smiled at his daughter. "That's good news. We're so happy for you."

"Oh, okay!" She brushed off her initial worry. "I'll be in my room. I'm so excited for tomorrow's classes!"

Harvey waved her off. "Okay! Dinner's at seven!"

The two sighed as soon as Willow was out of sight and upstairs. "So, what now?" asked Gilbert.

"I don't know. We shouldn't have encouraged our daughter to be in the abomination track in the first place, but Titan knows we were trying to protect her." Harvey pulled out a small key.

"Maybe this will be good for her. She'll finally have people to guide her innate magic. It could work out in the end."

Harvey opened a locked drawer, pulled out a glass display case, and removed the object bound in magical chains and a lock seal. "I hope so, but what if it happens again?" The parents look solemnly at a photo of a young willow with glowing green eyes attacking several children with vines she grew herself.

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