The angel of the owl house

For a while, Luz wasn't sure if she was truly conscious or not; the world around her had gone pitch black and she couldn't hear anything but her own breathing. She eventually tried to move, and could feel vines still wrapped around her, but thanks to her struggling before, she had an arm free to cast a light spell. The spell illuminated her surroundings, revealing that Luz was wrapped in vines on the floor of a room covered floor to ceiling with different types of foliage, only some of which were from the Greater Thornivine that Willow had grown. The light also revealed that Luz wasn't alone; both Amity and Boscha were in the room with her, but they were tied up far more tightly and had their mouths covered, gagging them. Amity was bound to the wall above Luz, while Boscha was hanging upside down in the corner, facing the wall in some strange, plant enforced time out. Unlike the vines binding Luz, theirs had short thorns that dug into their captives if they struggled, so both girls had gone very still.

"Hold on a second guys, I'll get you out of there!" Luz said, casting some weak light blasts to sever the vines binding herself, then getting back to her feet and freeing Amity, who gasped with relief as she was lowered to the ground.

"Well that wasn't fun…" the green-haired girl snarked shakily as Luz carefully freed Boscha.

"You can say that again." Boscha scowled once she was freed; "When I get out of here, I'll show Half-a-Witch whose boss!"

Luz and Amity both gave Boscha an unimpressed look; "That "Half-a-Witch" just kicked your butt then dragged us all down to who knows where! Picking another fight with her is suicide!" Amity spat.

"I kept telling you both that she was awesome." Luz added. "Besides, you started this by attacking her!"

Boscha scoffed; "Whatever! We need to get out of here and since I don't have any more potions, and using fire when surrounded by some much flammable stuff would be stupid, I'm stuck relying on you two."

"Actually, we're both relying on you, Luz. My abomination was destroyed and I don't have enough strength left to make a new one with just magic." Amity frowned. If this had happened before school, she might have had enough, but after a full day of learning AND the brief fight with Willow, Amity was pretty tapped.

Luz just smiled and nodded; "That's fine; I'm always happy to help! Speaking of, are you both okay? Those thorns aren't fun to deal with; trust me, I know."

"I got a few pricks and scratches, but I'm otherwise fine." Amity replied.

"I'm kinda beat up, but I've had worse from Grudgby games, so I'll live." Boscha said.

Luz looked the girls up and down, then began casting her single healing spell on them both. It was a struggle to cast and only closed the smallest scratches and soothed the faintest bruises, but it helped take the edge off. Boscha pretended like nothing had happened, while Amity at least gave a grateful nod. Luz wasn't sure if it was the situation or the realisation that she'd almost caused the same thing to happen that morning, but Amity seemed rather subdued.

Once the brief healing was over, the three girls looked around the room for a way out. There was no obvious entrance, but they had to have gotten in somehow. After a moment of searching, Boscha found the solution.

"Hey Newbie, I think I see a hole in the wall behind these vines. Wanna blast them so we can get out?" she said.

"My name is Luz." the young angel replied. She still cut the vines away though, focusing her light magic into a long beam from her finger that she could use like a lightsaber. She'd had a lot of fun coming up with new ways to use her light magic while on the Boiling Isles.

Once the vines fell away, they found a perfect doorway leading out of the room. Passing through it, the girls found themselves in a long hallway lined with lockers and partially overrun with plants. The bones of dead beasts were also scattered about, though none looked to have come from an intelligent demon.

"Is this some old part of the school?" Luz murmured, casting a few more light spells to illuminate their path.

"I think… this is Fibul Academy." Amity said in amazement. Luz gave her a curious look, so she explained; "About fifty years ago, around the time that Emperor Belos appeared, there used to be another school called Fibul Academy here. Old Hexside was originally built in the West Rib Valley, but then students from Fibul Academy destroyed it, so the Hexside students at the time banded together to destroy Fibul Academy completely. The new Hexside was build on top of the ruins."

Luz looked around in awe; "Whoa… witches really have no chill, huh?"

Amity and Boscha gave her a strange look; "Uh, hello? You're a witch too, right?"

Luz flinched, making Amity frown; "Come to think of it, you didn't know about Bile Overload either, even though that's one of the first things young witches get taught… who are you really? Where are you from?"

"I'm Half-Human. I was born and raised in the Human Realm." Luz confessed, letting the other girls assume the other half was witch; "I've only been on the Boiling Isles for few days; not even a week."

Amity and Boscha exchanged surprised looks; "Huh, no wonder that little Dweeb was so interested in you." Boscha said.

"His name is Gus." Luz scowled, beginning to lose her patience with the three-eyed girl. "But forget all that for now; we need to get out of here and find Willow."

"And Amelia. I saw her get dragged down here too." Amity said, eyeing Luz curiously.

The three girls continued down the plant-filled halls of the buried school, Luz lighting the way, and explored every room they passed. Most were just old classrooms, locker rooms, bathrooms, and other things that one would expect from a school, and what little they found in the way of items were old and broken. The usable equipment must have been taken by Hexside when they built over the place. Both Luz and Amity were a little disappointed by the lack of things to find, as despite the seriousness of the situation, this felt like an adventure and a dungeon crawl to them.

"This place is annoying." Boscha complained, definitely not enjoying the trip. "We have to blast our way into half the rooms, and I swear all these plants are watching us somehow. Who knew Half-A-" Boscha paused as Luz turned to glare at her, then corrected herself; "Who knew Park could pull off magic like this?"

"I don't think all of this was Willow." Luz replied; "Those thornivines came from a seed I gave her this morning, but the rest of these plants look older. There's also a bunch of withered leaves and flowers down here. These must have been here before today."

"It would be pitch black if it weren't for your light spells, Luz, so how did these plants grow down here? I recognise a few of these species and they definitely need sunlight… unless they're feeding on something magical." Amity said, before adding; "Maybe something powerful was left behind here after all… should we look for it?"

"Exploring down here would be pretty fun… maybe once we find Willow and Amelia, plus a way out." Luz replied.

Amity smiled at that; the idea of exploring these ruins with Luz was kind of appealing… it sounded like a real adventure, like the ones in her favourite books. Boscha just rolled her eyes and they kept moving. After a few more minutes of exploring, they found their way to a staircase, which unfortunately only went down. Luz had no idea how they could be underground, yet on the top floor, but she didn't bother questioning it; this was a world of chaos and magic after all. They'd explored everywhere else on the floor they'd woken up on, and short of Luz blasting a hole through the ceiling and risking a cave-in, the stairs were their only way forward.

So they descended deeper into the ruins, and the plants became thicker, older, and more dangerous. Some were even more like fauna than flora, and attacked the girls on sight. Plant monsters that looked like purple Venus Fly Traps on legs, as well as a vaguely lion-like plant with a sunflower for a head, all attacked but were quickly felled by Luz's light blasts, though Boscha ended up very nearly eaten by one of them.

"That sucks…" she complained, now covered in slime from the Venus Fly Trap-like things, which Amity identified as Sneaking Snapdragons. "Why is everything bad happening to me today!?"

"It's probably karma." Luz smiled coyly, making Boscha's eye twitch as she struggled to hold in her temper.

"Luz, I've been meaning to ask… what is that strange light magic? You can cast simple light spells without a spell circle, and those light lasers and bolts are unlike anything I've ever seen." Amity asked, her curiosity finally getting the best of her.

Luz frowned; "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. I just sort of awakened it after making a connection with my magic. My teacher and I have a few theories, but we're not certain."

"Maybe it's because you're half-human. Humans don't have any magical ability of their own, but who knows what human DNA could do to your bile sac?" Amity theorised.

"Y-Yeah, who knows?" Luz smiled nervously. She needed to change the subject fast, before she had to actually start lying. "Oh hey, the plants look thicker over there! Maybe that's where Willow and Amelia are?"

Amity and Boscha looked and as Luz said, the next hallway was far more densely covered in foliage than the others. Considering their missing friends were plant magic users, it would make sense for them to be there, so the girls began hacking their way through. They eventually came to a massive door at the end of the hall, which looked to have belonged to a greenhouse. The door was sealed shut by tree roots, but the glass was broken so they slip in without too much difficulty (though Boscha managed to cut herself on the sole piece of glass still sticking out of the window frames).

Once inside, they found what must have been the Fibul Academy plant track home room. It was constructed like Hexside's, but the outer walls were all glass like a greenhouse. These glass walls were broken too, but revealed walls of earth and stone beyond them, confirming that the ruins had sunk under the ground at some point and buried the place. The room itself was full of trees, giant mushrooms, and plants of all kinds, but the ones that stood out the most were a group of softly glowing purple flowers. Each flower was massive, being large enough to swallow any of the girls whole if they closed their petals, and the petals themselves were sharp and stiff, like flexible plastic, and gave off a faint purple glow. The centre of each flower was a pool of glowing green liquid, and the flowers smelled incredibly strong, but also otherworldly. There were four of these flowers; three arranged into a triangle with a fourth, slightly smaller one in the centre.

"Whoa… what are these?" Luz asked, eyes wide with wonder as she absent-mindedly tried to close Boscha's cut. It didn't work, but it at least stopped the bleeding.

"Who cares!?" Boscha spat, "Amelia and Half- I mean, Park aren't here, so let's go!"

"Hold on Boscha. There's something weird about these." Amity said, slowly approaching the massive blooms. Luz followed a step behind her, partly so she could save the other girl if needed and partly out of her own curiosity.

They both crouched beside the smaller flower in the middle, and Amity peered closer; "I think… oh no."

"What is it?" Luz asked.

"I'm not completely sure, but I think these are Mandragora flowers!" Amity said, looking pale.

"WHAT!?" Boscha cried.

"What's a Mandragora?" Luz asked.

"They're a kind of plant demon. They're intelligent and can use magic, but they're also violent predators! They capture witches or other demons and use their DNA to grow baby Mandragoras, then dissolve the victims and feed them to their children! They're extremely dangerous!" Amity explained urgently.

"So are these flowers their babies!? Or their food storage?" Luz asked, turning green as she looked at the ominous green fluid inside the flower's centre.

"No, Mandragora flowers are failed children. Basically like unfertilised eggs. They didn't have another creature's DNA to grow into a full Mandragora, so they bloom into these flowers instead. Then when a real Mandragora baby is born, they use these as cradles and the nectar helps them grow."

"That's kind of cool… terrifying and murderous, but cool." Luz said nervously; "So is there any chance the Mandragora that made these is gone?"

"They should be all gone!" Boscha snapped, "Mandragora were supposed to be extinct on the Boiling Isles! They were wiped out when Emperor Belos came into power."

"But one must have survived. Mandragora flowers wilt immediately if the one who made them dies. Maybe a Mandragora seed was being grown at Fibul Academy, and it got some DNA from a student or teacher, then ended up forgotten down here when the school was buried under Hexside. That also explains why there is so much foliage down here without sunlight; Mandragoras are incredibly powerful plant magic users." Amity explained, sounding both terrified and excited.

"Mandragora were supposed to be extinct on the Boiling Isles! They were wiped out when Emperor Belos came into power."

"But one must have survived. Mandragora flowers wilt immediately if the one who made them dies. Maybe a Mandragora seed was being grown at Fibul Academy, and it got some DNA from a student or teacher, then ended up forgotten down here when the school was buried under Hexside. That also explains why there is so much foliage down here without sunlight; Mandragoras are incredibly powerful plant magic users." Amity explained, sounding both terrified and excited.

Luz picked up on that quickly, especially since she was feeling something similar; "Well now we know what the boss of this dungeon is. But is it just me, or are you kind of having fun with this, Amity?"

Amity blushed, her whole face turning a tomato red which made Luz's heart skip a beat; "I… I don't like being in danger, or knowing other people are in danger. And I don't like that I'm partly to blame because of how I treated Willow… but exploring a long forgotten ruin and finding mysterious things nobody knew existed? It feels like an adventure, you know? Like the Good Witch Azura."

Luz's eyes almost popped out of her head; "You know about the Good Witch Azura!?"

"Of course, they're my favourite books!" Amity smiled excitedly; "Azura is a great witch who goes on adventures to lost and forgotten places, and finds amazing things! Her life is so interesting, I couldn't help but love reading about it!"

"Oh my gosh, me too! I have all five books in the series! I love Azura's adventures; she's always going out of her way and helping people, being a hero to the weak and downtrodden but still offering help to anyone who needs it! Her working to redeem her rival Hecate in Book 2 was my favourite part!" Luz gushed.

Boscha watched, bewildered, as the two girls jabbered on about their favourite book series for a few minutes. She'd never seen Amity so… animated. Even when she'd been on the Grudgby team, she'd been the cool, confident type. It was weird to see her like this, and the fact it was the new girl who had caused it made Boscha scowl and cross her arms.

"If you two are done with your nerd out, we still need to get out of here." she said with an annoyed frown, then added; "Oh, and people to save. I guess."

Amity blushed again, but nodded in agreement; "She's right. If a Mandragora is down here, I bet it grabbed Willow and Amelia. Plant users are the best for making a Mandragora child, and are the tastiest food for them. If we hurry, we should be able to save them."

"Got it." Luz said, "I wonder if there's a way to use these flowers to find the Mandragora… the plants were thickest around here, so maybe they'll be thicker around it too."

The half-angel girl peered into the central Mandragora flower, noticing her reflection in the green nectar, as well as the reflection of one of her light balls. Suddenly, the light ball seemed to sink into the nectar, like it was being sucked in, and the green glow intensified massively. Amity and Boscha shielded their eyes, but Luz was too close and was blinded by the sudden green flash.

"Yeowch! Dang it, the Demon Realm is not gentle on my eyes…" Luz whined, rubbing at them. She paused in her rubbing as a glyph appeared to be burned into her eyes, just as what happened at the Conformatorium. The glyph was different from the light glyph, but it was still embedded in Luz's mind. Even after the symbol was gone from her eyes, Luz could recall it perfectly.

"Luz? Are you okay? What was that flash?" Amity asked with concern.

"I'm not sure, but I'm fine. Let's go." Luz said, getting back up. She wished she could try the new glyph out, but she didn't feel any change in her magic and whenever she tried to summon it like the light glyph, she'd just end up with the light glyph again. The image was in her head, but she couldn't get it to come out with magic and she didn't have anything to write it out with like King did. 'I'll have to try it later.' she thought.

The three girls left the old plant home room, with Boscha and Amity picking up a few old gardening tools to use as weapons beforehand. They were rusty and falling apart (likely having been in bad condition even before being abandoned) but they were better than nothing. Now that they had some clue as to where to go, the three ventured deeper into the school ruins, following the paths that had the thickest foliage. Eventually, they found themselves emerging into the upper levels of a massive atrium completely overtaken by a huge tree. Amity looked down to the ground floor and gasped softly.

"I think I see Willow and Amelia!" she whispered urgently, gesturing for Luz and Boscha to creep over and take a look.

Luz did so and immediately saw the two missing girls. Amelia was gagged by thorny vines, hanging upside down from one of the huge tree's branches like Boscha was, and whimpering in fear. In front of the massive tree, trapped in some kind of giant, transparent flower bud, was Willow. Her eyes were still glowing from the Bile Overload, but they were dimmer now, and she was desperately trying to control the plants around her to make them release her. Off to the side was the plant golem made from the seed Luz had given her, and it was watching its creator struggle without moving a single tendril.

"I don't see the Mandragora." Luz whispered.

"I wonder where it is…" Amity replied.

"Who cares!? Let's just get down there, get those two, and then bust our way out of here!" Boscha said impatiently. Before the others could stop her, she leapt over the railing of the upper floor and began to climb down the ivy creeping up the walls. Luz and Amity rolled their eyes, then smirked when they each saw the other do the same thing. They then began following Boscha before she could mess things up any more. They got down to the ground floor, then Amity followed Boscha over to Amelia, who began to cry with relief upon seeing them. Luz blasted the vines she was hanging by and let the girl's friends catch and unwrap her, then hurried over to Willow.

"Willow! Are you alright?" Luz asked quietly.

"L-Luz! You're okay! I'm so sorry, this is all my fault! I caused all of this!" Willow cried, beginning to sob as she saw her friend; "You need to get out of here before it comes back! There's a Mandragora here!"

"I know, Willow. Don't worry, I'll bust you out then we can all find a way out." Luz said confidently, giving Willow a smile to try and sooth her.

She then stepped back and created a short beam of continuous light from her finger, which she used to cut the bud around Willow and pull the other girl out. As soon as Willow was free from the bud, her eyes stopped glowing, revealing they were red from crying.

"Oh Willow… It's okay now." Luz said, hugging her.

Willow accepted the hug, but shook her head; "No Luz, it won't be okay until we get out of here! The Mandragora is-!"

"Right here."

The group of girls all flinched at the sudden voice, and spun around in time to see the Mandragora itself emerging from the trunk of the massive tree, sending magical ripples through its bark as if the demon was stepping out of a pool of water. The Mandragora itself looked a lot like a female witch, wearing a simple gown of leaves and petals, and with vines and petals for hair. Her skin was a very pale green, while her eyes were a more vivid emerald, making her beautiful face all the more appealing.

"Well well, what have we got here? I go to fight back against those slimy monstrosities trying to invade my home, and I return to find my new little seedling being uprooted, and my next meal being stolen along with her…" the Mandragora said, casually waving her hand and causing a thick wall of vines to creep up the edges of the atrium and completely block all entrances and exits. "… by a pair of naughty little weeds…" she looked over at Amity and Boscha, who shuddered, then to Luz; "…and my little seedling's sunny little friend."

Luz stepped between her friend and the Mandragora, while Amity dragged Boscha and Amelia behind her too, so they were all grouped together. "Willow isn't your seedling, and Amelia isn't your food!" Luz yelled. "Look, we don't want to fight or cause you any trouble; just let us go and we can all forget this ever happened."

The Mandragora chuckled; "You're a funny one, Sunflower. You're also quite wrong. I've been living peacefully down here for decades, until my seedling's magic lashed out so close and drew my attention. It's true she isn't a Mandragora like myself, but she has the potential to become one. A steady diet of nectar from my flowers, and some liquified witches…" she grinned manically at Amelia, who shrieked and hid her face behind Amity, "…and she'll grow into a fine member of my species."

Luz shuddered; so Willow's Bile Overload and massive use of plant magic had caught the demon's attention. It must have been her and not Willow that dragged them all down into the ruins!

"She told us this before, when she stuck me in that bud." Willow said quietly, not taking her eyes off the creature; "She also said that she put the "other people who hurt me" into a larder for later. I'm just glad you escaped."

"Oh yes, I admit to being surprised about that myself." the Mandragora said. She suddenly flicked her finger and a vine shot out and grabbed Luz, yanking the girl over so she was right in front of the Demon. Willow and Amity moved to try and stop her, but the Thornivine Golem extended its own vines to tie up all four of the other girls.

"Don't hurt them!" Luz cried, wriggling in the thornless vines.

"I shan't, for now at least. My seedling needs to start her nectar diet before I begin adding chunks of bratty witch. But you're not one of them. Oh no, I learned all about you from my little friends on the surface. All the plants in that "school" up above are my eyes and ears, and I can understand the feelings that power plant magic. Thanks to them and my seedling's magic, I know exactly who is plant food…" the Thornivine Golem squeezed Amity, Boscha, and Amelia enough to make them whine and groan in pain, "… and who is a potential friend."

Luz winced at the other girls' discomfort, and Willow began to cry softly, whimpering "I'm sorry!" over and over again. Luz tried to cast some light magic to break free, but her hands were bound tightly to her body and she couldn't wiggle them enough to get a good angle for a shot.

"Why are you doing this!?" Luz yelled, trying to think of a way out of this.

The Mandragora grinned viciously; "I've been plotting my revenge against the witches for a long time now. They wiped my kin from the Boiling Isles, with me only surviving as a lab rat for this pathetic school's plant track. I played the role of the mindless plant for a few years, then while the school was being destroyed, I slipped away and later took the ruins of the school as my home. Then I waited and tried to rebuild my species; alas my attempts to produce children just created mindless flowers, so I decided to instead capture useful plant magic users from the new school up above. I've waited years for someone of my Seedling's strength to come along, and once I've turned her into one of my people, we'll be strong enough to expand beyond these ruins and capture more to add to our numbers. And once our numbers have been restored, we shall do to the witches what was done to us!"

All five girls paled; the Mandragora was planning a war and genocide on the surface world! Luckily, the Mandragora had been taken while she was still young, so she didn't have anyone to teach her that her species needed DNA from a witch to produce another Mandragora. If she had known that, the girls all suspected that she'd have kidnapped numerous students over the years and used them to breed an army of her kind.

Luz actually found herself feeling kind of sorry for the Mandragora… her species had been wiped out and she'd been forced to live all alone after being used as a teaching aide while still just a child. If her desires weren't so evil and genocidal, the young angel might have been willing to help her!

The Mandragora then leaned close to Luz, examining her face far too closely for her comfort, as well as sniffing the blood that was now dried onto her shirt from earlier. "Hmm, I can't smell much in the way of plant magic from you, so you'd make a poor Mandragora. However, your blood smells positively radiant. Oh yes, something about you is quite different, little sunflower. I saw that light magic you used earlier too." the Demon pulled away from Luz, letting the girl breath a bit easier, "You'd be a waste as food, so perhaps I can use you as my own little sun. Fuelling the growth of all my plants with just my magic and no sunlight has become tiresome."

Luz gulped; the Mandragora could smell something was different about her, so it was probably only a matter of time before she was outed. She knew she could trust Willow, and maybe even Amity with her secret, but there was no way she'd trust Boscha! Luz wiggled a bit more, hoping to loosen the vines enough to get a decent firing angle for her light magic, but the Mandragora noticed and kept a tight grip with her vines.

"Can't move my arms or legs… think Luz, what would Eda do in this situation?" Luz thought desperately. The other girls couldn't do anything to help here; Amity had no abomination slime, Boscha had no potions, and neither Willow nor Amelia could match a Mandragora in plant magic, so Luz was the only one who could act! "Only my head is free… dang it, if only I could shoot spells from my mouth!"

That desperate thought made Luz pause; could she do that? She'd only ever seen spells cast with hands, staves, or occasionally, legs. She'd also seen her Mami cast a spell by using her wing to draw a spell circle once… if all that was possible, couldn't she use her eyes or nose or something like it?

Focusing carefully, Luz tried to channel her magic into her head and felt the familiar tingle of it on her tongue. A smile bloomed across her face, catching the Mandragora's attention.

"That's a nice smile. Does the idea of using your light to feed my little friends please you, little sunflower?"

Luz shook her head; "Nah, I have a much better user for it… like this! MLEH!"

The angel girl stuck her tongue out at the Mandragora, briefly making both the demon and the trapped girls blink in surprise, before a light glyph appeared on the end of Luz's tongue and a blast of light magic shot out. The blast struck the Mandragora in the face, making her scream in agony and rear back. Luz used the distraction to shoot another blast at the vine holding her, severing it and dropping her to the ground, where she unravelled herself from them and shot a much larger beam of light at the Thornivine Golem. The beam tore through the creature's chest, vaporising the seed at its core and causing the golem to fall apart into a pile of rapidly withering vines.

"Sorry, Slimy Seed." Luz said as the other girls, now free, ran to join her. She then turned to the other girls and said; "The hole we were dragged down here through has to be up on the top floor somewhere. Let's climb the tree and see if we can't find it!"

"Uh Luz, I don't think she is gonna let us go that easily!" Willow yelled, pointing to the Mandragora who was now glaring at them in rage, the side of her face badly burned.

"You evil little weeds! I'll choke the life from you!" she roared, sending a wave of thorny vines that had the girls scrambling to avoid them while Luz tried to blast them away.

"Why didn't you blast her head off when you had the chance, new girl!?" Boscha screamed as she ducked under a dangerously large thorn. She was getting really sick of having to dodge plants!

"I didn't want to kill her!" Luz yelled back.

"Too bad she doesn't return the feeling!" cried Amity as she shoved Willow out of the way of particularly nasty looking mass of vines.

The Mandragora just shrieked like a banshee as she summoned more and more tendrils, her rage and the pain in her face making her less effective but also less predictable. Poor Amelia almost got her head taken off by a vine, but Boscha slammed into her at the last second, saving her but suffering a nasty welt to the back of her legs in the process.

"Okay, that is it!" Boscha finally roared, completely losing her temper; "I don't care if this place goes up in flames! I'm taking this thing down!"

The three-eyed girl summoned up a pair of fireballs and began tossing them at the Mandragora. They were blocked by vines, but they also ignited all the dry foliage around the point of impact, starting a fire that quickly began to spread. In seconds, the room was practically an inferno, filling the room with fire and smoke.

"Damn it Boscha, you're going to kill us before the Mandragora does!" Amity coughed, covering her face with her arm to try and keep the smoke out of her lungs.

"It's working, isn't it!?" Boscha snapped back, watching with cruel satisfaction as the Mandragora shrieked and writhed to try and avoid the flames, even as the plants she grew to lift her out of the way became additional kindling.

"If the fire or Mandragora doesn't get us, the smoke will! There's no ventilation down here!" Amelia cried, working with Willow to create their own plant platforms to get the young witches to safety.

Willow looked around desperately for a way out, before finally yelling to Luz; "Luz, blast a hole through the top of the atrium! That's the highest point of these ruins, and we can't be that far below Hexside! We should be able to escape from there, or at least vent out the smoke!"

"Got it!" Luz yelled back, quickly clambering up the vines Willow was growing for her, then onto the massive tree. She climbed to the top as quickly as she could, sorely wishing her wings were strong enough to fly, then once she reached the top she began preparing the biggest light blast she could manage. "I really hope no one's right above us!" she muttered to herself, then unleashed the blast.

Her spell came out as a massive pillar of light about as wide as Luz was tall, and vaporised a chunk of the ruins ceiling above her, as well as everything else between Luz and the sky high above. Once her spell subsided, Luz breathed a sigh of relief as the feel of fresh air brushed over her skin, and the smoke in the room began to billow out. Luz reached the highest branch of the tree and was able to jump and grab onto the edge of the hole she'd made, climbing out and onto the surface. She found herself in the middle of the school Grudgby field, and sighed with relief that no one had been around to get hurt.

"Guys, we have a way out!" Luz yelled back into the hole.

"I'll get us out!" Willow yelled back. Channelling the last of her magic and pushing herself as hard as she could, she took control of the huge tree itself (easily done with the Mandragora distracted) and manipulated its branches to grab Boscha, Amity, and Amelia, as well as herself, then lifted them all out of the hole.

As she was being lifted, Boscha laughed maniacally and threw more fireballs down at the Mandragora; "Ha ha! Take this you freaky plant monster! That's what you get for trying to eat me!"

The Mandragora continued to scream in pain and rage, until the girls were all out of the ruins and back on the surface, whereupon it suddenly went silent.

"Good riddance." Amity said, taking deep breathes of the fresh air. "Thank you for saving us, Luz, Willow."

"As adventures go, I think Azura would have been proud." Luz tiredly replied with a wink, making Amity blush.

"Willow, I'm so sorry about all of this!" Amelia cried, hugging the other plant user; "I never should have helped Boscha pick on you! I won't ever do it again!"

"It's okay… well, no it's not, but I don't really want any more confrontations today. Let's just… forget this happened." Willow replied, still a bit upset over what Boscha and her friends had done whilst also feeling ashamed for helping cause this whole mess by losing control.

"I'll gladly forget all about today." Boscha said, sitting on the ground beside Amity. The green-haired girl lightly elbowed the three-eyed potions user and gave her an expectant look, making Boscha roll her eyes and add; "And thanks for saving us Park. And you too, new girl." she said, not sounding totally insincere for once.

Luz smiled, feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside. While it hadn't happened how she'd wanted, at least Willow's bullies had seen how amazing the girl really was, and (mostly) come to regret their actions. Amelia still looked ready to throw herself at Willow's feet, while Amity was clearly ashamed of her part in all of this. If only Boscha did, then it would be a perfect result.

"I can't wait to tell Eda about all this; I wonder if she'll be proud or mad at me?"

"I'm more worried about what Principal Bump will say when he sees the hole we made in the Grudgby field… or the still burning ruins down below… or the hole we made in the front path of the school…" Amity said, growing paler as she realised how much trouble they could be in.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Little Weed!"

The girls all gasped and spun around to find the Mandragora crawling out of the smoking hole, badly burned but very much alive. "You won't be living long enough to regret this!"

The Mandragora then ran at the girls, summoning a wave of thorns as she went, ready to skewer all of them.

Luz and Boscha immediately prepared spells to fight back, while Willow and Amelia summoned up some plants to protect them and Amity. Before they needed to use them however, a pair of fire blasts suddenly came flying at the Mandragora; one purple and one gold, and blasted the Mandragora aside.

"Stay away from my apprentice!" yelled Eda, flying towards them atop her staff.

"And my students!" Principal Bump added, his face a mask of fury as he marched forward with an army of Abominations at his back, and Gus, Bo, and Cat hurrying along beside him.

With a wave of his hand, his small army of Abominations went marching forward, to either pick up and protect the girls or melt into the smoking hole to put out the fires still raging in the ruins below the school. The Mandragora growled at the sight; "The one behind those slimy monstrosities…" she hissed, "You burned my home! Mark my words, witch; I'll return and burn yours in recompense!"

Before Eda or Bump could stop it, the Mandragora summoned a giant flower from the ground and allowed it to swallow her, before it retreated back into the earth and vanished. Principal Bump scowled at the demon's escape.

"It escaped. I doubt it'll go back to the ruins of old Fibul… oh well, it's the Emperor's Coven's problem now." he muttered before turning back to the girls. "I have been made aware of everything that has happened. I think a trip to the nurse's office is in order, then a trip to my office."

All five girls nodded nervously, knowing they were likely in trouble now. Even Luz, who wasn't technically a student, was sure she wouldn't be totally spared. Eda flew down to join them, and glared at the bloody stain on the front of Luz's shirt for a moment, before giving her apprentice a once over and confirming she was okay. Once she was satisifed that Luz was fine, she grinned; "Well kid, you go to my old school for a day and manage to get in a fight with a previously extinct species and discover lost ruins; I'd say you had a good day!"

Luz giggled; "Thanks, Eda. I hope Principal Bump sees it that way…"

"Oh don't worry about old Bumpikins; I'll handle him."

Bump cleared his throat irritably, making Eda chuckle again; "But we really should get you and the others to the nurse's office for a check up. That was a lot of smoke and fire I saw."

Luz nodded and followed Eda back to the school building, while the others followed along with them. Gus stuck close to Willow, making sure she was okay, while Bo and Cat did the same for Boscha, Amity, and Amelia. There was a lot of hugging and relief, and after the near-death experience they'd all just had, going to the Principal's office didn't seem so bad.

They got to the school nurse and were examined one by one while Principal Bump called the girls' parents to discuss what had happened. Luz was the first to be checked on, with Eda watching the nurse like a hawk to make sure she didn't discover her apprentice's secret. Luz only had a few scratches from the thorns and some minor side effects from smoke inhalation, both of which were cleared up immediately with a spell and a potion. Once she was done, Luz left the nurse and went down the hall with Eda so they could talk.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue again, Eda. But how did you know I was here?" Luz asked.

The Owl Lady gave an awkward grin; "That's a bit of a long story…"

As it turned out, after Luz left Eda and King at the beach that morning, King had teased Eda that she'd traded her apprentice for garbage when she'd chosen to send Luz off on her own rather than give up the Trash Slug to train her, and when Eda had protested, King had proclaimed he'd make the angel girl his apprentice instead. After some banter/arguing, the two had made a bet over who was the better teacher. King had to train a baby trash slug into a loyal soldier, and Eda had to find Luz and help her master a brand new spell, with the winner being the first one to succeed.

With Hooty's and Owlbert's help, Eda had tracked Luz down to Hexside and spied on her during a few classes, initially becoming worried that she really wasn't a good teacher, since Luz seemed to be having so much fun at school. She'd gone back home depressed and ready to admit defeat, when the bet was essentially rendered a draw by King's trash slug rebelling after he ran out of treats to feed it, forcing Eda and King to defeat it with some salt.

"And that was the end of Prince Jr, or whatever King called that thing." Eda finished, smiling as Luz giggled at the ridiculous story.

The girl felt a little bad that her running off to Hexside had made Eda feel inadequate, especially since the woman really had taught her a lot, so she made sure to say; "You're a great teacher, Eda. While I'd love to attend Hexside, I wouldn't want it to be instead of learning from you."

Eda blinked owlishly, then smiled a bit wider; "Aw, are you trying to butter me up for extra credit? Because it's working!" she joked. "Thanks Luz. But continuing what I was saying; I used to attend Hexside too, so I knew when school ended and came to pick you up, only to get to talking with Ol' Bumpapotamas. The next thing I know, there's the sound of fighting, then some rumbling, and me and Bump run outside to find a massive hole in front of the school and a whole bunch of plant creatures trying to kidnap students! I helped fight 'em off, then that illusion track kid told me that you and a bunch of other girls got dragged underground! I tried to go after you, along with Bump, but the Mandragora showed up and sealed the hole with vines and tree roots, and Bump wouldn't let me "destroy school property" by burning 'em!"

"Principal Bump's abominations must have been the "slimy monstrosities" the Mandragora mentioned." Luz realised.

"Probably. It sucks that it got away; I have a feeling we'll run into it again. Mandragoras are vengeful demons." Eda frowned. "Anyway, you pretty much know the rest. Me and Bump were trying to find a way to get underground without causing more property damage, when we suddenly saw your massive light beam blasting out from the Grudgby field, then a ton of smoke. We showed up, kicked butt, and here we are."

"It sounds like both our days have been crazy." Luz grinned.

Eda nodded and ruffled her apprentice's hair, then sighed as she saw Principal Bump returning, followed by several adult witches and demons, plus a chastised looking Skara and Jeb. "Look alive kid; the crazy has passed, but the day ain't over yet!"

The two were asked to join the Principal and the called parents, and followed them back to the nurse's office to collect the others. The nurse reported only mild injuries and smoke inhalation, as well as a strained Bile Sac for Willow, all of which had been treated. The teens were then dragged off to the Principal's office, were the teens were sat on chairs around Bump's desk with their parents stood behind them.

Luz watched them all closely; Willow had two dads, Gus only had his dad while Boscha only had her mother (both parents looking just like older versions of their kids), Amelia, Bo, Cat, Skara and Jeb all had their mothers and fathers, and strangely, Amity didn't have anyone.

"Now, I've called you all here to discuss the events that occurred after school today. Specifically the confrontation between you all that led to the hole in the school's front path, the appearance of a Mandragora, and the re-discovery of the old Fibul Academy ruins." he said sternly, "So, who would like to go first?"

Eda grinned; "How about Luz here. As my apprentice, I made her take a vow to never lie to me. She'll tell us what happened."

Obviously that was a lie, but since no one else knew she was an angel, it was a way of making them believe her. Bump's mouth briefly lifted into a small smile before returning to a stern frown as he gestured for Luz to begin.

So Luz told them everything; from the moment she first saw Willow in the woods near the Owl House all the way up to Eda and Bump saving them from the Mandragora. She omitted only details that would reveal her angelic nature, and the discovery of a new glyph, which she wanted to keep as a surprise for Eda and King. The reactions to her story was mixed; Boscha's mother didn't seem to care what her daughter had gotten up to, only showing annoyance when hearing how Boscha had been smacked around easily by Willow's plant abomination. Amelia's parents held their daughter, terrified of what nearly became of her, while the parents of the rest of Boscha's gang looked annoyed that they'd been involved in the situation at all. Gus's father was glad that he was safe and didn't get involved in the fight, and Willow's dads looked torn between relieved, furious, and mildly disappointed.

Bump listened with a blank expression, and Luz could feel Eda practically vibrating behind her, desperate to make some comment but wisely choosing to keep it in. Once Luz was done talking, Principal Bump was silent for a long moment, then asked; "Do any of you dispute Young Luz's story?"

None of them did, so Bump nodded; "Very well. Then I shall pass judgement. Boscha, Amity, Amelia, Skara, Jeb, Bo, and Cat; since the lot of you grouped together to bully another student, your punishment will be to spend one hour before and after school every day helping the teachers with the repairs from this misadventure. Boscha, you will help until the work is done. Amity, Amelia, Skara, and Jeb; you will help for a week, since you didn't start fighting until Willow's Bile Overload drove her wild. Bo and Cat, you will each help for three days, since you assisted in healing Luz. Willow, Luz, and Gus; you will not be punished for this incident, as you were either uninvolved or the victims, and I won't punish someone for actions committed when overloaded."

Boscha scoffed quietly, while Skara and Jeb whined, though none of them dared protest. All things considered, Bump was going easy on them because of the hell they'd just gone through. Amity and the others just meekly nodded their heads; "Good. Now you are dismissed. Willow and Luz, I would like you to remain; we need to discuss this abomination issue."

Luz winced while Willow sank into her a chair a little more. Gus, Amity, and Boscha's gang left with their parents, the former two giving small waves to Luz and Willow as they went.

Once they were gone, Eda and Willow's fathers took some of the vacated chairs as Bump spoke; "Now Willow, based purely on a technicality in wording, your trick with the Thornivine seed in your abomination doesn't count as cheating in your exam. You were still using your own magic to make the abomination move, so your grade has not been rescinded. However, you have broken the rules about mixing magic. Something you assisted her in, Luz."

"It was all my idea!" Luz quickly jumped to Willow's defence; "Please Principal Bump, I'm the one who came up with it, so don't punish Willow. She just wanted to pass one test; she hates being in the abomination track, and everyone bullies her because she doesn't have a talent for it. She shouldn't be punished on top of that!" she defended passionately.

Willow looked touched, while her dads seemed both surprised and pleased by Luz's defence. They then looked sadly at Willow.

"Is this true, Willow? Do you hate the abomination track?" asked Willow's Papa; Harvey Park. He was a burly darker skinned man with a thick beard, little hair on top of his head, and purple eyes, while his husband shared a much stronger resemblance with their daughter, having the same colour eyes and hair, the same skin tone, and the need for glasses.

Willow nodded, refusing to meet her Papa's eyes. Harvey gasped, sounding heartbroken; "Oh Willow… why didn't you tell us?"

"I thought you'd be disappointed. You had your heart set on me following in your footsteps, and you were looking out for my future. I thought I just had to try harder… but nothing worked until I met Luz." Willow said softly.

Willow's Dad, Gilbert Park, pulled both his daughter and husband into a hug; "Neither of us could be disappointed in you for having different skills. If we had known… no, we're your parents, we should have let you choose for yourself even if we didn't. We're sorry, Willow."

Willow sniffled and hugged her fathers tightly, making Luz feel a bit misty eyed. Eda saw this and ruffled her hair again, giving the girl a smile. Principal Bump allowed them to have a moment, then cleared his throat; "Luz, your defence of Willow is admirable, but you are both to blame. Willow for mixing magic, and you for suggesting and enabling it. In light of this, Willow; you will join Amity and the others in spending a week helping to repair the damage done by today's misadventure."

"I understand, Principal Bump." Willow said softly.

"We'll talk about this at home too, darling. It seems we've all done things we shouldn't have." Harvey added. Willow accepted with a nod; she wasn't in more trouble, but she and her dads needed to clear the air a bit.

Bump then turned to Luz; "Officially, you are not a student here Luz, so I can't punish you. I can ban you from the premises, but I suspect you would rather be allowed to come here from time to time, if not eventually enrol. So instead, I suggest that you volunteer to assist Willow in her own work for a week."

Luz nodded quickly; "Yes sir, I'll help! I don't want to give up being Eda's apprentice, but I still want to come here."

"Well, that is something to discuss another time. For now, I have more work to do. I will see you all at a later date." Bump said, dismissing them all. The Parks stood to leave, then Bump suddenly raised a finger; "Oh, and one more thing." he drew a spell circle and in a flash, the accents of Willow's uniform transformed from the pink of the abomination track to the green of the plant track.

"Report to the plant home room tomorrow morning. You will receive your new schedule then."

Willow gasped, then smiled brightly; "Thank you so much sir!"

"Think nothing of it. I am a teacher who can spot talent is all. Now be off with you." Bump smiled.

Willow smiled again and left the office with her fathers, Luz and Eda following shortly behind them. Before Eda left the office, Bump called to her; "If you want to enrol your apprentice here, I'd be happy to allow it… in return for a favour." he grinned expectantly.

Eda just blew a raspberry; "I ain't giving up my apprentice to you just yet, Bumpikins. I'll be back once Luz starts asking."

Bump chuckled; "I suspected as much. You are no doubt quite proud of the trouble your apprentice helped cause."

"Dang right I am!"

"But you should be careful she doesn't cause too much. It could draw attention." he said ominously.

Eda narrowed her eyes; "You know something I don't, Bump?"

The Principal gave Eda a serious look; "Young Luz is not the first angel to come to the Boiling Isles since Belos arrived." he said, making Eda go pale.

"You know…"

"I do. Once you've known an angel, the rest become easier to spot. Keep her safe, Edalyn Clawthorne; a fate worse than death awaits if Belos gets a hold of her. And not just for her."

Eda scowled, then turned on her heel and marched out. She needed to think.

Meanwhile, Luz accompanied Willow and her dads out of the school, chatting as they went.

"My husband and I would like to thank you for what you did today, Luz. Standing up for our daughter, helping her, and saving her from the Mandragora." Gilbert smiled.

Luz blushed; "Aw, it was nothing. Willow is sort of the first friend I've ever made. The first around my own age anyway. I was happy to help!"

"Well, you're always welcome to come by our home if you want to visit." Harvey said.

Luz nodded eagerly; hanging out with friends, going to each other's houses, having sleepovers, and other things like it were things Luz had always wanted to do. She was sort of doing that now with King and Eda, but they weren't exactly friends; Eda was her mentor, and King was rapidly becoming more like a little brother.

As Luz and the Parks walked off of the school grounds (wincing at the sight of the hole in the path), they noticed Amity waiting by the gates, looking nervous.

"Hey, Amity! Are you okay?" Luz called out.

Amity flinched, then blushed upon seeing who was talking to her. She quickly forced her face into a neutral expression and nodded; "I'm fine, Luz. I just wanted to talk to you and Willow for a moment."

"Oh? What's on your mind?" Luz asked as Willow eyed Amity curiously, her fathers opting to keep their distance and leave the girls some privacy.

"I wanted to say thank you. For saving me, and Boscha. After the way we acted, I wouldn't have blamed you if you chose to let us get crushed; by Willow or by the Mandragora." Amity said, eyes downcast with shame.

"I could never do that! The Good Witch Azura would never leave someone to be hurt when she could stop it, so I won't either!" Luz declared, smiling brightly.

Amity stared at her for a moment, her blush returning full force, before she shook it off and turned to Willow. "Willow… I'm sorry for how I acted this morning, and before today. It wasn't fair to you… you're not Half-a-Witch, you're just powerful in a different way. I'm sorry I didn't see that sooner… a lot sooner."

Willow's gaze hardened for a second, then she smiled; "Thanks, Amity. Will I see you around?" she asked. Her smile turned sly as she slung an arm around Luz; "I'm sure Luz here would love to see more of you too."

Luz nodded happily; "Of course! You seem a lot cooler when you're being nice; I'd love to hang out with you Amity!"

Amity couldn't hold in her blush any more, so she just nodded shakily and ran away, shouting; "Sure, later! Bye Willow, Bye L-Luz!"

Willow giggled as she watched Amity go, while her fathers had knowing smiles. Luz just blinked, wondering if she was missing something.

"By the way, do you know why Amity's parents didn't come? Are they…" Luz trailed off.

Willow grimaced while her fathers frowned; "No, the Blights are still alive. It's just that they're on the Parent Creature Association, and involving them in anything is always a massive pain." Gilbert said.

"They're not the easiest people to get along with. Her father Alador is a reclusive eccentric, and her mother Odalia is…" Harvey hesitated as he tried to find an appropriate descriptor; "… numerous things not suitable for saying in polite company."

Willow snorted and said; "Trust me Luz, you don't want to deal with them. Even at her worst, Amity was like a cuddly kitten compared to her parents."

Luz blinked, detecting a hint of bitterness in her friend's voice. She wanted to ask more, but after seeing the Park family's discomfort with the topic, she opted to just drop it.

Shortly thereafter, Eda caught up with them again (poorly hiding the bad mood Bump had put her in) and Luz parted ways with Willow and her fathers, promising to meet up with her again the next school day so she could help volunteer with the repairs. Luz and Eda then began the walk back home, taking a leisurely pace and enjoying the dusk-coloured sky.

"Another day, another adventure. You did good today, kid. I honestly wasn't expecting you to find a way to help someone with that slime ball, but I guess it never pays to bet against you, does it?" Eda said, forcing a grin on her face as she shoved Bump's warning from her mind.

"Yeah! I was worried for a while that it had backfired again, but now I've made friends and Willow is in the class she wants!" Luz said happily.

"So you helped and managed to cause chaos at the same time! That's my girl!" Eda ruffled her hair again. She really enjoyed playing with Luz's silky curls.

They arrived at the Owl House just as the sun was about to fall below the horizon, and found King waiting outside, surrounded by balls of light (some of which Hooty was attempting to eat).

"Luz, you're finally back! You were gone forever! You won't believe what happened today! I raised a trash slug into a formidable soldier in my dark army, but it betrayed me! So Eda and I had to vanquish it! I blinded it with a light glyph then dumped salt down it's throat! Ha!" King said, speaking a mile a minute as he eagerly ran up to Luz and hugged her legs.

"Wow King, sounds like you had a fun day! You're really getting used to that light glyph, huh?" Luz grinned, kneeling down so he could hug her properly.

"Luz here had an adventure too. She'll tell you over dinner." Eda said.

She prepared to take the kids inside, but Luz stopped her; "Actually, I have a little something to reveal first. See, I kept one little detail of my adventure a secret from Principal Bump and the others." she said coyly.

King looked confused, but excited, while Eda smirked; "Oh really? Tricky, my apprentice. So, what is this secret detail?"

Luz just grinned wider and borrowed King's notepad and pencil to draw out the new glyph she'd found. King and Eda both gasped; "A new glyph!? What does it do!? What does it do!?" King exclaimed, shaking Luz.

"I have no idea! I couldn't cast it with my magic like the light glyph, and I didn't have anything to draw it with before now. This is an entirely new and unknown glyph! You can do the honours and cast it first!" Luz said.

King let out a squeal of joy, almost making Luz's heart combust with the cuteness. He then eagerly slapped the drawn glyph, activating it. It glowed green, then reacted to King's inner desire for something big and impressive. In a rush of green magic, a massive tree taller than the Owl House shot up from the ground in front of King and Luz, making them and Eda gasp in amazement.

"A tree glyph!?" King yelled, before quickly drawing the glyph again. This time it produced thorny vines (which briefly made Luz panic); something King was very happy with. Luz then tried it herself, imagining a sunflower, and as she expected, a sunflower grew.

"Not just a tree glyph; a plant glyph!" Luz beamed.

Eda was overjoyed; now her kids could instantly grow any plant they wanted, including plants she could sell or use as potions ingredients! With this, the snails would be rolling in! "Kids, forget cooking dinner; I'm taking us out to eat tonight! We've gotta celebrate!"

Luz and King cheered, and the night air was filled with the sounds of laughter. Luz's first experience with a real magic school had come to an end.