Hexside Halls

Following her presentation, the little witch girl walked with a pep to her next class along with her friends.

Luz beamed and nudged her. "You did great up there, Willow. You even got a nice pin."

Willow smiled. "Thanks. This is the first time I've felt like this at school."

The servant grinned at Willow. "Aren't you glad that you didn't cheat?" He turned to his master. "With a fake abomination?"

The two girls looked away in embarrassment. "Yeah..."

Willow perked up. "I couldn't have done it without you guys' help. It means a lot."

Luz pulled the three of them into a group hug. "What are friends for?"

The hero ruffled their heads with a smile, causing them to split up laughing.

Hearing the sincere words brought a warm feeling in her that she hadn't felt in years. "Yeah. We are." She turned to Shirou. "If it's okay, can I also learn from you with Luz? Hearing all these things about foreign magic makes me excited."

The hero chuckled. "I don't mind having you around. I have questions, but that would mean balancing your time in and out of school."

Thinking about it more, she pouted. "You're right. Maybe I can come on the weekend? Where are you guys staying?"

"My other teacher's house in the woods. We'll show you sometime," answered Luz before pausing. "Whatever you do, don't surprise the security demon."

The witch blinked at the warning but nodded.

"So, what classes do you have next, Willow?" asked Shirou. "I recall Gus saying he had a spelling class."

Her eyes widened as she checked her watch. "We better get moving. I have Numerology."

"Ooh." Luz jumped up behind her. "What's that about?"

Shirou rubbed his chin. "It's where number patterns and magic meet. I'm familiar with one or two systems, but they may differ here."

Willow thought for a moment before nodding. "Something like that."

"Magic math?!" cheered Luz. "If I had this at my old school, I would have tried harder. I hated algebra."

"Contrary to the name, it's less math and more history." Willow led them down another hallway to her next classroom.

"Less awesome, but still cool." As the trio went inside. The visitors showed their passes to the snake-like professor and took their seats together.

Looking around the room, Shirou noticed some posters hung on the wall and the text being used.

Luz followed his eyes. "Huh. I wonder what they mean."

Willow raised a brow at the two. "You guys can't read runes?"

Thinking about the enrollment requirements, Luz turned away in a bit of embarrassment. "No, I need to if I want to study here."

The hero shrugged. "They remind me of Cyrillic script, but nothing deeper than that." Seeing the girl's confused looks, he went on. "It's a writing system on Earth derived from the Greeks, but I'm more familiar with the Germanic ones."

Soon, a plan instantly formed in Willow's head. "Oh my gosh. I get to teach you too! I mean, it's elementary stuff, but still." She faced her friend and potential classmate. "You'll be ready for school in no time."

Shirou nodded in thought. "That's a pretty good idea. I don't take Eda as one to teach someone a language patiently."

Luz laughed awkwardly. "Sorry if I'm making you teach something from the baby classes."

The witch waved it off. "You're literally from another world. I can understand that."

The two girls beamed in excitement. Maybe this wouldn't be too hard after all.

Shirou crossed his arms with a satisfied look. "Well, you had to learn a new language in high school anyways."

His master laughed. "Honestly, I was going to do Spanish for an easy A, but this is even better."

Once the class was settled, the Professor stepped to the board. "Alright, class. It's Heximal system time! Let's get memorizin'!"

Luz listened intently, taking a few notes during the lecture with Shirou. He had to agree that their system had merit regarding the efficiency of number patterns and magical conduits. About halfway through, the servant's heightened senses heard a faint but familiar yell from outside. "No! Pointless busywork!"

Glancing out the window, Shirou blinked at the mess of white hair passing by. Having a good guess as to what was happening, he politely excused himself. A minor dash outside brought him to Eda, and he couldn't help but frown at her current state.

"No! Why! School!" A downcast Eda pressed her back against a nearby tree, head resting on her knees and arms wrapped around her legs. Hearing the crunch of grass, she looked up to see the servant walking in her direction. Similar to her, he took a seat on the opposite side of the tree. "Hey..."

"Hey..." The teen didn't say anything more, the two sitting in a brief silence.

About a minute passed before Eda decided to end it. "I thought you guys said you were returning to the house."

"We did, and we got a bit distracted. Made a new friend, and she brought us here."

"I see..."

"I'm surprised to see you here, though," added Shirou. "I thought the salvage job would have taken the rest of the morning till after lunch."

A sigh escaped her mouth. "I ended it early. After sifting through the junk, I settled on a haul of trash slug eggs."

"I see..."

Her eyes drifted back to the metaphorical prison of her younger years. "Luz seemed happy there."

He nodded. "She is, but what student wouldn't be when learning more about their passions? As the most infamous witch of the isles, I would think magic would be your passion too."

Eda opened her mouth to answer, only to say nothing. "Probably best for her anyways. The first time I got a student, I failed her on the first few days."

Shirou scoffed. "You didn't fail her, Eda. Perhaps it seemed you were leading her to keep doing chores, but we still hoped you would come around. You are adjusting to it, so we decided to find stuff on her own until you were ready."

"I don't know." She gestured to Hexside."With school and you helping her, what use am I?"

He shook his head. "First, Luz can't enroll here without getting sent to the child classes. Someone has to teach her about runes and spells. A new friend offered to help with learning runes, but that's in her free time. "

Eda blinked at the fact. "Oh, right. You and Luz don't know about the local magic script."

"Yeah, and I'm as much in the dark about magic here as Luz. I won't be able to help her with any spells without learning more about the isles. Luz isn't like me." With a traced staff, he drew a small circle in the dirt by them. "Whenever I see someone cast a spell here, I see them draw a circle of light in the air. That's as far as I've gotten. Frankly, it's up to you to help her now."

"My... sister was always better with the theoretical side of magic." She traced a small circle, making a ball of light. "To me, it's just instinct."

"We all have to start somewhere." He stood up and moved closer. "You know, when we talked to Principal Bump earlier, we mentioned you."

"He's still here? What did he say? That I was a terror to his school and a stain on his educational career?"

"While he had his fair share of complaints, he thought the opposite of you."

His answer caught the Owl Lady off guard, catching her full attention now. "Really?"

A smirk grew. "Not to my surprise, you were a troublemaker. Ghosts in the locker room? I'm told some are still around."

"Heh. Heh. Heh. That brings me back." Her mood lighted. "Did he mention the giant worms and the accidental Abomination revolution?" She received confused blinks for a moment.

"No, but now I have more questions for later. In any case, despite your track record, he never lost faith in you. He considered you not graduating a failure on his part instead."

Eda slumped further against the tree, hearing about her Vice Principal. Fingers rubbed against the gem on her chest. "While my final days here were more complicated than that, I'm surprised he thought that about me?"

Shirou nodded. "Yeah, and he had the same thoughts you are having about Luz. If you want to know more, ask him yourself. He's sincere about caring about his students, old or not. Won't turn you in."

"Explains why I never got expelled." She pondered the thought for a moment. "I'll consider visiting him. Anyways, I'll say something to Luz when you two get back home. I guess I owe her that much."

"Good to hear."

She pushed herself to her feet, and a weight eased off her shoulders. "Well, I better get going. As much as I hate to admit it, I lost a bet to King since Luz went here."

"What did he win?"

Eda crossed her arms with a frown. "I must wear a paper hat and live in the shed from now on."

The hero was skeptical. "King doesn't seem like the type to lord that over you forever. A week, maybe, at most a month."

"Maybe, but he's lost all the time till now and took his punishments. He at least deserves to see mine this once."

"In that case, I'll cook you proper meals while you're in the shed. You won't be disappointed."

Eda's expression softened, and she chuckled. "I'd like that. Don't suppose you know how to mix drinks?"

He gave her a coy smile. "I have experience thanks to a tiger I knew."

Later

By the time Shirou returned to Luz, the class was almost over. When asked about what took him so long, he answered that he was checking out the grounds. It was technically true. Not thinking too much about it, the trio made their way to the cafeteria for lunch, meeting up with Gus.

It was only after finding a table that Luz and Shirou realized they didn't bring any food, unable to purchase any either.

Out of curiosity, Gus asked Luz, "Hey. Do humans eat PB&J's?"

She accepted it wholeheartedly. "Definitely. Hunger is the enemy, and I will defeat it!" Her servant withheld a chuckle.

Gus broke the PB&J in half and gave Luz one.

She took a large bite out of it and sighed in satisfaction. "Just like home."

He turned to his older friend. "I noticed your new pin. Can't believe you were able to get it from Hermonculus."

She smiled. "Thanks. I'm getting used to having it. I got it for the most improvement, but I must do more if I want to keep it."

"Still, it was so cool to see your magic in action! Can't wait to see more." Luz raised an open hand. "High five!"

Willow and Gus stared at her hand, then shared a confused look. Gus answered with a shrug.

Not one to leave his master hanging, he responded kindly, slapping her hand.

"Thanks." Luz looked back at the two. "Try it. It's a human thing."

Gus hesitantly gave her a high five. Then he did it several more times with growing confidence. "Oh. Oh, my. Oh, man, what a rush!"

Seeing the young man enjoy himself with friends brought a warm feeling to the servant.

Willow was about to try it, but approaching footsteps cut her off.

Amity glared. "Last time I saw you, your abomination was mush. What did you do?"

Willow returned the expression. It's as I told the professor. I got help from new friends." She gestured to the duo, who gave a small wave. "They helped me realize my potential, thinking about magic from a new perspective.

The jealous witch sneered. "I bet you did. I've got my eyes on you, Half-a-Witch. That badge will be mine."

The servant couldn't help but raise a brow at the animosity.

Amity turned to Willow's new 'friends.' "So... you're Lowes and Shera?"

The two corrected her. "Luz." "Shirou."

"Whatever." Amity stared them down. "How did you two meet her?"

Luz ignored the hostility. "We were walking home and stumbled across her on her way to school. As you said, she was having trouble with her project."

Shirou nodded. "I gave her some advice regarding the theory of Abominations and her talents, but it was all her in the end."

"Sure." The mint-haired girl leaned closer. "What did you say? Some secret or cheat about the assignment."

He frowned. "Cheat? I don't like that tone of yours. If Willow wanted to cheat, she would have gotten Luz to cover herself in goo and impersonate an Abomination." The two girls looked away at something more interesting in the room. "Perhaps, I won't be sharing anything."

Amity's glare seemed to sharpen at the older teen. "Who are you to say that? I have worked too hard just for some half-witch to get lucky and upend my reputation. I want answers!"

Feeling the tension rise, Luz got up in his defense. "Come on, Amity. Just calm down. It's just a badge."

'It's not just a badge.' Amity shook away memories from before. She knew her goal, and nothing was going to get in her way.

Seemingly ignoring her for a moment, Shirou and Luz waved to someone behind her, but she wasn't done with the conversation. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

A familiar pair of voices spoke over her shoulder. "Hey, Mittens, what are you doing here?"

Amity's pupils shrank to pinpricks. "Dear Titan, no..."

Outside of the Owl House

King tossed handfuls of dog treats to Prince Jr, the now giant Trash Slug. "Roll over! Yes! Heel!" Prince Jr. did neither command, focused only on the treats, simply towering over King. "Yes, yes!"

Nearby, Fou and Hooty watched the young one 'train' the creature. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked the House Demon.

"Of course I do. Look at him. He's following my every move." King moves left and right rapidly, showing the worm's eyes training him.

Hooty turned to Fou. "It's going downhill as soon as he runs out of food, right?"

The Cath Palug simply nodded. "Fou..."

Hooty started to retreat back to his door. "I'll get the brooms and salt ready. Hoot. Hoot."

Fou got up and walked up to King, snatching one of the biscuits for itself.

"Hey!" King pulled the box away from the white beast. "Get your own. This is for training."

Briefly satisfied with the dog treat, Fou poked him in the stomach, inciting a giggle before scampering off again.

"Just you wait, Fou." He waved an arm in defiance. "You won't make a fool out of me again. I'll have you eating out of my claws." Nearby, Prince Jr. roared. Turning around, King noticed Eda returning alone. "So, did you find your runaway student and her servant?"

Despite her chat with Shirou, it was always hard to admit failure, looking away from the roommate with crossed arms.

"By your expression, I can tell Luz might have gone to that school you bad-mouthed. Which means I won!" Prince Jr. roared as he caught more treats.

Eda sighed. It was out in the open now. "Yeah. Yeah. You won."

King threw a handful of treats to the side, and Prince Jr. chased them.

After taking a breath, Eda continued. "She won't be enrolling anytime soon, but a loss is a loss. Congrats! You have a giant Trash pet, and I have a disappointed student coming home tonight."

King smirked. "Oh, Eda. Don't say that. At least you have this!" He pulled out a shame cone and cackled.

Eda rolled her eyes at the punishment. "Ugh. Just make sure your new minion doesn't break anything. I'll see you at dinner." She snatched the hat up and stalked off to the shed to prepare her bed for the foreseeable week.

King laughed as Eda went inside. "Victory is mine!" He turned to his 'subordinate.' "Prince, Jr. training is complete. Go forth! Make the world tremble in my name." Prince Jr. didn't move. "Go forth?" Prince still didn't move. King's eyes fell on the box of treats. "Oh. Right." King picked up the dog treat box and shook it, but it was empty. Sensing a lack of food, Prince Jr. moved closer, growling. "This is treason!" With the approaching Slug, King did what he did best, run. "Ah!"

Meanwhile, Fou watched from the sidelines with a deadpan expression. King has a lot of work to do before living up to his namesake and birthright in this realm.

---

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