Luz stuck out her tongue in concentration as she sewed, finishing up the final stitch. Viola landed on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging chirp.
"You got that right!" Luz held it up proudly. "Good as new!"
Good as new may have been an understatement. She'd managed to sew the patch on, but the stitches were uneven, she'd switched up methods multiple times, and there were some parts that she'd just resorted to taping on.
She sucked in a breath through her teeth. "It's... it's not that bad."
A brisk knocking came at her door. Viola instantly fluttered under her bed.
"Coming, Papa, you don't need to be so impatient," Luz said, getting up and opening the door. "I already apologized for teasing you about the Coven Day Pa—"
A guard pressed a letter into her hands, then left. She cracked it open, furrowing her brow.
"'My duties are keeping me busy,'" she read aloud, imitating her father's accent. "'I entrust you to lead the Coven Heads today. Consider this a test. P.S—I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not because I am on a date. I have no time for that.'"
Viola poked her head out from under the bed, giving Luz a little tweet.
Luz laughed. "Yeah, I can handle this."
After getting into her full Golden-Guard regalia (with the exception of the mask—she'd decided to take that human kid's advice about wearing it less frequently so people would recognize her), she headed down to the throne room, where seven out of nine of the Heads were filing out.
"Great! You're all here!" She clapped her hands. "Okay, gang, let's get—"
They all brushed past her as if she wasn't even there, Raine being the only one who actually acknowledged her. Before they could say anything, Terra just led them away.
Letting out a growl, Luz threw open the doors to the throne room, where the two remaining Coven Heads were looking over some papers.
"DARI!" she shouted.
Darius let out a massive sigh, turning around. "And good morning to you, too, little princess."
Eberwolf rushed over and gave Luz a hug around her legs, tail wagging furiously.
"Oh! Hi! Eber! Good to see you!" she said, giving them a scratch on the chin.
"For Titan's sake, Eberwolf, don't encourage her," Darius hissed. Eber scampered back over to him and stuck out their tongue.
Luz put a hand on her hip. "Dari! Hi. Care to explain why I just saw everyone leaving? We're having a recruitment meeting today, after all."
"We decided to reschedule the meeting, so..." He waved a hand. "Go play arts and crafts, or whatever it is you do." He noticed Luz's cloak and smirked. "Oh, looks like you've already started."
The Abomination goo on his head snaked over and snatched her cloak off of her shoulders, causing her to let out an indignant squeak.
Darius laughed as he held it up. "Oh, this is impressively bad—wait." He squinted. "Is this the old Golden Guard sigil?"
"Brilliant observation, Dari," Luz said sarcastically. "Maybe you should change your tune? I mean, I don't think this is any way to treat the Emperor's—"
"Daughter?" he finished, raising an eyebrow. "I know who you are. I have to say, I expected some sort of family resemblance between you and the Emperor, but now that the whole of the Isles has seen his face..."
"Of course there's no 'family resemblance,' dillweed, I'm adopted," Luz told him. "He's been wearing that dumb mask for, what, fifty-odd years and you think he'd have biological kids?" She snorted. "As if. Though, I have been trying to get him into dating, I think a lot of guys might be interested—you're single, right? You have to be, with your attitude—"
"Oh, for the love of the Titan," Darius groaned. "You can't even concentrate in a simple conversation and you think you deserve to wear this?" He held the cape up. "I knew your predecessor, you know. He was my mentor, one of the strongest witches I'd ever known. But you..."
Luz felt her cheeks heat up. "I don't need natural magic to serve the Coven, Dari, or do you remember how I earned my mask in the first place?" she retorted, her tone darkening. "I'd watch your tongue before I rip it out of your smug little mouth, you stuck-up germaphobe—"
"I remember an irresponsible little girl turning a small prison riot into the near-massacre of nearly a thousand convicts, and being rewarded for her recklessness." Darius brushed past her. "If you want my opinion, I don't think you deserve to wear that patch."
Don't listen to him, Luz told herself, balling her fists. You don't need to pay attention to him, he doesn't matter—Papa matters, Amity matters, Raine matters, I don't need approval from that snob—
Can't mess up can't mess up can't ever mess up can't ignore what he says can't ignore what he says I NEED TO DO BETTER—
"Well, how do I earn it?" she burst, spinning around.
Darius rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Sweet mother of Titan—I don't know, find new recruits for the Emperor's Coven? The best and the brightest witches in all the land, or whatever. Then maybe, you can get your cloak back."
Luz narrowed her lips. "I'll do it. Just watch me."
"Of course you will," Darius said airily. "After all..." He gave her a look over his shoulder as he left the room. "You're very good at doing exactly what you're told."
..............
"FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK SHIT FUCKING GODDAMNIT!" Hunter yelled, running at near lightspeed through the halls. "KILL IT! KILL THE MONSTER! KILL IT!"
"ICE GLYPH!" Gus shouted, nearly tripping over his own feet. "TRY AN ICE GLYPH!"
"I ALREADY DID! IT'S NOT STOPPING FOR ANYTHING!"
The locker roared as it closed in on them, skidding around the corner after them. Hunter spotted Willow and instantly ducked behind her, Gus following suit.
Willow quickly drew a spell circle and summoned a few vines, pulling the locker down onto the floor.
"Ohhhhhhh thank god," Hunter sighed, hugging her. "You're a lifesaver, Wilsy."
"And that's why we try not to store our lunches in our lockers," Gus said, sitting down on the vanquished locker.
Hunter gave Willow's new hairstyle—two little pigtails with a bright green streak in the front—a little ruffle. "So, you ready for the club fair? Me and Edric need some new members for the Casey Cane Book Club, if you wanna give it a shot—"
She laughed. "Thanks, but I'm interested in something with a little more drama, flair, and face paint."
He inhaled sharply. "I am so excited to hear the next words out of your mouth."
Willow pulled out her scroll. "Flyer Derby!"
Hunter squinted at the clip of a punk-rock witch and a big-shouldered demon flying around on brooms, playing something that looked like Capture the Flag.
"Ever since our Grudgby match, I've been playing it at home," Willow explained, tucking her scroll back into her pocket. "And today, I'm starting Hexside's first team!"
"Let's gooooo!" Gus cheered, tossing some confetti into the air.
"That's sick as hell." Hunter looked to the side. "I'd join, but, well, I haven't started carving yet, and I can only borrow Owlbert so many times, so..."
"You've got your own club to worry about," Willow reminded him. "It'll hopefully get more traction than that time Amity tried to start an Azura book club."
"Oh, it for sure will."
It wasn't long before classes finished up for the day and the club fair got into swing, with seemingly every other student manning a booth of their own. Willow and Gus—who was definitely joining—got their Flyer Derby booth up and running in no time, and Hunter and Edric got into the swing of things with their own booth.
"Calling all lovers of horror, history, queerness, and mystery!" Edric announced, holding up the first book triumphantly in his hands. "Are you interested in vampires embroiled in dark conspiracies? Secrets that are as deadly as they are intriguing? Love blossoming between two rivals? Then join the Casey Cane Book Club today!"
"And we also do creative writing!" Hunter added. "Bonus points for good fanfictions!"
Boscha wandered up to the booth, taking the first book from Edric's hands—and all three of her eyes widening. "Who's the blonde girl in the green dress and glasses?"
"Ah, you've been taken in by the allure of Annabel Ashton," Edric said with a grin. "She's Quincy's twin sister—a whiz with a needle, deadly precise with a sword, and has memorized every book in the library of the Ashton estate."
"I need to know everything about her, like, immediately." She handed him back the first book, actually smiling. "Sign me up."
Hunter added her name to the list. "Guess we'll see you there?"
"If I can get around Grudgby practice? Absolutely." Boscha walked off to another booth.
Edric leaned back onto the booth. "Wow, we're getting a lot of takers. Didn't think it'd be this big of a hit."
"Wellllll," Hunter said, drawing out his words, "we do have a smooth-talking, charismatic twink running the stand, so that might have something to do with it." He flashed a grin at him.
"Really?" Edric gave him a small smirk. "Didn't take you for the conceited type, Hun."
Ah, shit, this boy.
"I—uh—I—" Hunter stuttered, feeling a blush come to his cheeks. "I meant you, so—"
"I know you did." Edric gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "You're cute when you're flustered, is all."
"Well, don't sell yourself short," Hunter told him. "You're muy guapo, after all."
"Is... is that a good thing?"
"Very."
Amity let out a grunt as she passed by their booth. "Flirts."
Edric raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Are you jealous or something, Mittens?"
"Jealous of what, exactly?"
"Of the fact that I actually have taste," he said casually, intertwining his fingers with Hunter's. "That's something to be jealous of."
Her face turned bright red. "And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean, Ricky—"
Edric blinked at her innocently. "What? I'm just talking about your taste in books."
"Fishboy, don't start something," Hunter said under his breath.
Amity's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with my taste in books?"
"Ah, nothing," Edric said, shrugging. "I was just trying to remember how many people joined your Azura Book Club when you started it." He gasped. "Oh my gosh, that's right! Nobody joined at all! And meanwhile, we've already got seven people!"
"Just because nobody else was interested in Azura doesn't mean it's bad," Amity retorted. "They're aimed at younger kids, is all, and I got into them late. It's not my fault that your vampire detective series is actually aimed at teens."
"I mean, I started reading them when I was nine, but go off, I guess," Hunter muttered.
"Yeah, that explains a—" Amity let out an indignant gasp. "Hey! You're siding with him on this!"
Hunter raised his hands. "I'm not siding with anybody. I refuse to get caught up in your brother-sister drama again."
"Oh, come on, we both know that you're on the side of Casey—"
"I am not on the side of anyone—"
"Mittens, could you stop hounding our booth? You're driving away potential recruits here—"
..............
On the other side of the fair, Luz adjusted the cowl of the Potion Track uniform she was able to snag. She'd had to do some digging in order to get it, but hopefully, it would all be worth it.
"All these potential recruits, so little time," she said under her breath, a grin dancing across her face.
Viola gave her a questioning chirp.
"Okay, yeah, Amity's the only person my age I've actually spoken to, but it's fine!" Luz assured her, waving a hand. "Teens are probably into the same stuff as I am! Like creepy biology facts, and obscure novels, and eradicating evil!"
She spotted a batlike Bard student and made a beeline for him, putting on her best smile.
"Helloooooo, classmate!" she sang, kneeling down. "I know we've never met before, but what if I told you that all of your dreams could come true? You'd just have to leave your home, family, and friends forever! Easy-peasy!"
He stared at her for a full five seconds before walking away.
Okay, that was a bust, but I still gotta try.
Luz went up to some Oracle kids (well, one of them was also wearing Potion track colors, for some reason) playing a game Hexes Hold 'Em, deciding to switch tactics.
"How's it going, guys?" she asked, propping her elbows up on the table. "Mind if I join you?"
They gave her a blank look.
"Hey, what do you guys think about the Emperor's Coven?" Luz said casually, fiddling with her gloves. "I hear you get to sleep in until, like, 6am. Pretty sweet deal, wouldn't you say?"
The Potion-Oracle kid—who looked like a dog—spat a Banish card right into her face.
"Rude," she muttered as she walked off, then perked up when she spotted another kid wearing two different track colors. Maybe he'd be willing to give it a shot!
"Hey! Plant-Abomination kid!" Luz called, running up to him. "How come you're studying two tracks? Is it because you wanna join the Emperor's Coven? Because—"
"Nah."
She paused. "Um... what?"
"I mean, yeah, I wanna study different kinds of magic," the kid said with a shrug. "But why is joining the Emperor's Coven my only option? When I get older, I'm going to give this system a long-overdue update."
Luz started to back away, eye twitching. "You're—you're clearly insane, so I think I'll take my—"
She stepped on the tail of a baby griffin. A baby griffin that was very angry at her.
"It's okay, Puddles!" yet another two-track kid (Healing and Beast-Keeping) yelped, holding it back. "She didn't mean it! No, Puddles, no!"
The girl lost her grip and all hell broke loose.
A/N: So! Announcement!
I just got an AO3 account... and I'm gonna be posting something there! Owl-House related!
I'll be letting y'all in on the details as soon as Tas finishes up that cover for the Owl House extras book, but it's a What We Do In The Shadows AU (if you haven't seen the show, it's on Hulu, go check it out, it's a bunch of idiot queer vampires being idiot queer vampires and it's amazing), and I've been having a lot of fun with it. My username is "wrongpedaldamnit," if you wanna check it out.