Luz activated a light glyph in the dark holding between herself, Eda, and Cruz. "I-I'm not ready for this Eda," Luz told the witch. "Maybe we should go back."
"Nah, kid, you've got this. Just do what we practiced," Eda said reassuring the girl.
"But what if...what if I mess something up? Or what if I do something wrong?" Luz asked before letting out a gasp, "What if I die?"
"Hey calm down, calm down. I had to do the same thing when I was a witchling. It's like a rite of passage. Granted, I was a little more skilled," Eda said smugly
"That's not really a good pep talk, Eda," Cruz said as he organized his glyphs.
"Eda!"
"Right, right. Sorry, sorry. Now, get pumped."
"Pumped!"
"Get ready!"
"Ready!" Luz said pulling up her hood
"You've got this, sis" Cruz said, giving her a thumbs up.
"Now, go!" Eda said, pushing Luz onto the stage.
On the stage, a spotlight points at the center of a pair of curtains with the sign Hexside school: Entrance exam hanging above. The curtains open as Luz jumps on stage wearing a dark cloak.
"From the humblest of beginnings, a hero will rise. I have traveled from another realm and trained with a powerful witch to master dark and forbidden magic. I am…." Luz began as she took off the cloak with a twirl, "Luz Noceda!"
In front of her, principal Bump sat, with the rest of the auditorium being empty, giving her an unimpressed look.
Seeing his reaction, Luz could only give a nervous chuckle. "Confetti," she said, throwing some confetti she kept on her into the air.
"Right. One of the humans that wants to be a witch. Against my better judgment, I've allowed you to take this exam into Hexside. But can you even do magic with all your...human parts?" Bump asked skeptically
"I sure can," Luz said confidently as she opened her Fanny pack, taking out a pair of papers with her glyphs on them, placing them on the ground. "It's said that humans can't do magic, but I've discovered a lost technique that changes everything."
"Hmm?" Bump leaned forward with curiosity
From the backstage, Eda gives Luz two thumbs up as she activates the light glyphs. As the ball of light rises into the air, Luz moves the paper with the ice glyph underneath it before activating it too, making a small pillar of ice rise under it. She gives Bump a big grin and waves her hands in glee.
"Spells cast with paper? I've never heard of such a thing. But is it enough to pass the exam?" Bump inquired to himself out loud.
"Uhh…" Luz began to look around slightly nervous
"Improvise," Eda whisper-yelled from backstage before Cruz popped his head from next to her.
"That's a terrible idea. Use that new glyph combo I showed you," he whisper-yelled as well hoping she would take his advice and not Eda's.
"Oh, right!" From her fanny pack, Luz pulled out a new glyph combo. It was three small fire glyphs moving in a circular movement, looking like a circuit, with a large ice glyph in the center, along with a light glyph on the outer border of the combo.
When Luz tapped the glyph combo, from the center of the paper, a medium sized tornado rose up and began to swirl around on stage. Bump looked at the tornado with an impressed look evident on his face as it disappeared.
"I must say, Miss Noceda, I am truly impressed with your wind spell. It's not an easy spell to control. So with that I must simply state. Welcome, Luz, to Hexside school of Magic and Demonics," he said, giving her a pamphlet.
Luz beamed, as Bump handed her the pamphlet before jumping for joy. "Now, with that, we shall move on to the other human," Bump said with a smile seeing Luz's reaction.
Soon after Luz headed backstage, Cruz came out for his own exam. "How's it going, I'll try not to blow anything up," Cruz said jokingly, trying to hide his slight nerves.
"I would hope you don't follow Edalyn's example in regards to her...habits," Bump said remembering Eda's pranks when she was still a student.
"Well, let me just start by saying, I'm going to be using one of the same spells that Luz did," Cruz said as took out two glyphs. As he tapped on the light glyph, the paper crumpled up and the ball of light floated into the air. "The next spell is one that Luz didn't use, so at least with this one, it won't be a repeat." As Cruz tapped on the fire glyph a fireball erupted from the paper and was held in his hand.
Bump leaned forward in interest, noting that both Noceda siblings favored elemental magic. "I must say that both of you have impressed me with your control over your spells. Now I must assume, that just like your sister, you have another spell that you're able to use."
"You've got that right," Cruz said with a smile as he activated his gauntlets, gaining Bump's attention again. "To use my next spell I have to use these to be able to have better control, I hope that won't take away from any score I might be getting to pass." Bump shook his head and signaled for Cruz to proceed.
Cruz took a deep breath before clapping both of his palms together. As he slowly pulled away both hands, blue streaks of lightning began to form, and dance around, on his palms. As he pulled his hands further apart, the streaks of lightning grew larger before Cruz pointed both hands upward as the lightning shot straight up and hit the roof.
"Whoops," Cruz said as he placed his palms together again, deactivating the glyph. "Hitting the roof wasn't intentional, sorry about that," Cruz said sheepishly, returning his gauntlets back to their bracelet form.
"Surprisingly, I've seen worse," Bump said as one of the stage lights fell onto the floor. "I must say, your control over the lightning is remarkably high. Just like the wind spell your sister used, It's not an easy spell to use. Which is why I can understand why you've used those gloves of yours to better control it."
"Now then Cruz, just like your sister, welcome to Hexside school of Magic and Demonics." He handed Cruz the same pamphlet he'd handed Luz before Cruz walked over to Luz and Eda and the two twins began to celebrate.
The next day, Eda was flying towards Hexside with a nervous looking Luz riding on her staff with Cruz following next to her.
Both Noceda siblings were wearing their new Hexside uniforms. The usual uniform was a gray color with the sleeves and legging being white.
"We gotta go back. This was a mistake! I'm gonna mess things up again, and everyone will see, and-" Luz began to say in a quick nervous rant before Eda interrupted her.
"Right, you've gotta calm down. What are you nervous about? You've been to school before," Eda pointed out.
"That's why I'm nervous! At my human school, I didn't make a good first impression. This is a chance to be seen as something other than a screw-up," Luz protested
"Personally, I wasn't seen as a screw-up and more of….someone that would probably blow up part of the school on accident," Cruz admitted
"I can believe that," Eda said with a slight laugh. "But, you two shouldn't worry about what those dorks think. If you want my advice, walk into class and punch the first kid you see. To establish dominance."
"Aw, I won't be doing that. But thanks," Luz said as they landed at Hexside
"I don't know, that's how mom and dad met," Cruz said as put his staff away.
"You see, it worked out for your parents," Eda pointed out. "Last chance to back out, and earn a new Bad Girl Coven patch." Eda held up a badge that said 'Quitter Badge'. "Quitting: it's like trying, but easier."
"Nah, I'll just earn that when I quit showering. Bye!" Luz said as she began to run off
"You are so not quitting when it comes to taking showers," Cruz called out following after her.
"Hold up!" Eda called to them as she threw her hand, which landed on Luz's head making her turn around.
"Just try not to be too much of a goody Luz shoes. You've both got this," Eda said as she screwed her hand back into place.
"Thanks Eda, in fact I've written a heartfelt sonnet to commemorate this occasion," Luz said as she pulled a pair of sock puppets of her and Eda.
"Whoops! A gust of wind just got me. See you after school! Bye!~" Eda called out as she flew away.
"You're gonna do great, kid," Luz said, holding up the Eda puppet. "Thanks puppet Eda."
"Alright, Luz. Let's go start our new magic school," Cruz called out as Luz beamed.
As the twins headed towards the school, there was a banner that read "Welcome to The New Semester". On the side, there were nine banners each with a different witch on it for each of the covens. As multiple students were walking around, the Noceda twins noticed Amity walking up towards them with her abomination holding a book.
"Hey, Luz, Cruz. Congrats on getting in. I heard that you two really impressed principal Bump during your exam," Amity said with her abomination mirroring her movements
"Thanks, Amity! Up top!" Luz said, holding a hand up for a high-five. As Amity high fived her, the abomination, still mirroring her, slaps Luz's face leaving gunk on it. As Luz cleans off the gunk, Cruz snickers at her as Amity leaves.
"Blegh! Wow, our first day at Hexside. A chance to discover our true magical potential. And maybe meet a hot yet vulnerable upperclassman," Luz said deviously.
"Oh come on, we both know that you're going to be more focused on magic than anything else," Cruz said, rolling his eyes.
"He's right, so dream on!" King called out surprising the twins
"King?" Luz questioned as King popped out of her backpack
"Boop!" King poked her cheek before jumping onto the ground.
"Why are you in my bag?" Luz asked skeptically
"When did you even get the chance to sneak into her bag?" Cruz asked
"You're a free ride to the best buffet in town!" King said as he jumped into a trash can. "Nyah! The trash cans here are filled with half-eaten gold." He popped back up from the trash can holding a half eaten doughnut.
"Okay, but if anyone asks, you don't know us," Luz said as she and Cruz began to walk away.
"Have a wonderful school day, person I don't know," King called out to them. As he looked up he noticed an abomination student with slight spiky skin.
"I really needed to hear that," the student said.
Outside of the main staircase of Hexside, Luz and Cruz met up with Willow and Gus. "Luz, Cruz!" they called out excitedly.
"Hello, fellow Hexoleos!" Luz said
"Oh good, you finally settled on one," Cruz commented.
"Hello, classmates," Willow said with a wink
"You did it, you two," Gus said as he summoned letters that read "Better Luck Next Time!". Willow gave him a disapproving look. "Sorry, I was, uh, covering all my bases."
"I can understand that," Cruz said, still feeling slightly annoyed.
"So, do you know who those witches are?" Willow asked, gesturing towards the banners of the nine covens. "Those are the heads of the main nine covens. Each one excelled at a magic school like Glandus, St. Epiderm, and, of course, Hexside. Are you prepared to enter these hallowed halls?"
"Hmm, that's what I'm gonna figure out right now," Luz said as she and Cruz began to go up the stairs. "See you on the other side, friends."
"See you guys!" Cruz called out with a wave.
"See you later, you guys!" Gus called out as he summoned letter that read "Goodbye Forever!" causing Willow to give him another disapproving look. "You know what? I'm uh, I'ma just get rid of these," he said sheepishly.
In principal Bump's office, he is sitting at his desk watching a news report on his crystal ball.
"A terrible development at Glandus High School. Students and teachers were found unconscious and without magic. The cause remains unknown," said the news reporter.
"Ha! Take that, Glandus! Looks like this year's Grudgby match is going to be a forfeit," Bump said smugly before his door opened as Luz and Cruz walked in.
"Hiya, Princy-B! Can I call you that?" Luz said, giving him finger guns.
"Absolutely not," Bump said firmly. "Now, today we'll be visited by the Emperor's coven for a routine inspection. If we want to impress them, you'll need to join a coven track before they arrive."
"Actually, principal Bump, I've made my own schedule," Luz said
"When did you have time to do that?" Cruz asked as Luz unfurled a scroll.
"First, Vet Care for Mythical Beasts, then Healing and Dealing, and then after lunch-"
Bump looked at the scroll for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Studying multiple tracks at once? No one does that."
"Then we'll be the first," Luz stated firmly gesturing towards Cruz and herself
"No, you won't," Bump said seriously before holding up a rule book with the Emperor's coven symbol on it. "According to the rules, a good witch needs to hocus-focus. You can only pick one of the nine tracks." Bump pointed up above his desk towards the nine coven banners. "And you do not want to embarrass me in front of the inspector."
"But all the tracks are so cool! Isn't there some sort of enchanted article of clothing that could sort this out for us?" Luz asked in dismay
"Well there used to be, but…" Bump began as he started to remember.
Bump held up a brown classic witch hat over a young student's head. "Oh, I'm so excited!" the student said as the hat is placed on top of his head.
As soon as the hat is placed on his head it began to turn around, with a scarecrow-like face on the pointed part. "And now….I feed!" The brim of the hat grows teeth and closes on the student's head causing him to scream.
Back at his office Bump shuddered remembering the incident with the choosy hat. "I don't know if I can choose just one," Luz said.
"Personally, I know which two I want to study," Cruz commented
"Then I'll choose one for you two," Bump said as he pointed towards the coven track banners. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Ah, yes! The Potions track. You humans are filled with liquids, right?" Bump spun a spell circle changing Luz and Cruz's uniforms from white to yellow.
"Oh, I guess I have always liked pouring things into other things," Luz said admitted to herself
"Wait, so we're both in the potions track?" Cruz asked since Bump hadn't done anything different for his own coven track.
"Normally, I would place you and your sister in different tracks. However, I've been informed by Edalyn that you have quite the talent for potions. And I've seen your potion abilities first hand," Bump said gesturing towards the abomination report on his board.
"Oh right, I remember that. So I guess we're both gonna be in potions together," Cruz said, turning to Luz with a smile.
"Actually, due to your prior knowledge, I've decided that you can be placed in our advanced class for the potion track. However, I still expect both of you to be on your best behavior," Bump said looking towards the incidents from the twin's previous times at Hexside.
"Based on the costly repairs from recent behaviors, we could really use a donation from the Emperor's coven. Now, off to class, both of you." Bump spun a spell circle making both twins float out of his office. Suddenly a scream was heard coming from the hallway. "The Choosy Hat! It broke free!" Bump yelled looking out the window.
As Cruz walked into his potions class, he noticed all of the tables had a pair of cauldrons sitting on them. When he looked towards the walls, he saw cabinets full of different ingredients all being labeled. "I've gotta admit, this is pretty exciting," Cruz said to himself with a smile.
"Oh good, you must be the new student for the semester." When Cruz turned towards the voice, he saw a fair skinned witch with aquamarine hair and magenta eyes behind a pair of black rimmed glasses.
"Yeah that's me. Nice to meet you, I'm Cruz Noceda."
"It's nice to meet you as well, I've heard about you from principal Bump. My name is Ewart Drabek. Although, you can just call me Mx. Drabek," they said introducing themselves.
"It's good to be here. I just hope I can live up to your expectations."
"I'm sure you'll do fine, take a seat at that desk over there," Drabek said pointing towards a table next to the window. "Your partner for this lesson will be here shortly. I've paired you up with our best student, that way you can see how the lessons go and hopefully be able to show off your skills."
As Cruz made it to his table, he saw multiple ingredients already laid out in front of him, along with a recipe list for the potion that they were going to make in class. "Looks like we're going to be making the, "Fire Breath Potion". I wonder if it's something safe for me to drink. Oh well, only one real way to figure that out," Cruz said to himself.
"Oh, Titan. What are you doing here?" Cruz turned and saw that standing at his desk was Boscha.
"Oh….good, it's you. What did I do to get so lucky?" Cruz asked sarcastically. "Let me guess, you're the best student in this class?"
"That's right," Boscha said proudly pointing towards her top student badge. "The teacher said I had to help out the new student. Just try not to get in my way and drag down my grade."
"I really don't think I'll be dragging you down, if anything I'll probably end up helping your grade out," Cruz said with a smirk. He remembered how Skara had told him that Boscha was the best potion student at Hexside. He was hoping this class would give him an opportunity to show her up.
As class began, multiple students began to filter in taking their places at the desks as the teacher began to write on the chalkboard.
"Now then, class. Today we're going to be working on the fire breath potion. This is one of the potions that is activated once a witch or demon has drunk it. When the potion is done, it'll be a nice crimson color. You have the ingredients in front of you along with the recipe. Let's get to stirring," Drabek said.
"Alright, let's see what we've got here," Cruz said as he began to read the recipe. "Three petals of the flare flower, one and a half pinches of boiling salt, and a quarter of a cup of sulfuric powder." Cruz began to look over the ingredients and saw how all the pieces fit together for the fire breath potion.
"Please tell me you actually understand what we're doing with the ingredients. I don't want to have to explain it to you," Boscha said.
"I know what I'm doing, I've made lots of potions before. Some of them harder than this fire breath potion," Cruz said, rolling his eyes as he prepared all of the ingredients before putting them in his cauldron.
"Looks like it's a pretty easy recipe. This one should come in handy in case I need to burn some trees down or if we go to the knee again. I'll just have to keep them in smaller flasks to store them better," Cruz thought to himself as he was stirring the potion.
After around fifteen minutes of stirring the potion, it had turned the crimson color that the teacher had told the class and Cruz began to pour it into the flasks that were given to each table.
"There, it's done. And no problems whatsoever. Told you I knew what I was doing," Cruz told Boscha smugly.
"Oh, good at least you're not totally useless. You can do the bare minimum that anyone in this class can," Boscha said, rolling her eyes.
As Cruz looked at the completed potion an idea began to form. "Hold on, if the potion works with just this little amount of ingredients….what would happen if I doubled the amount?" He looked at the caldron before looking back towards the fresh unused ingredients.
"Let's see if this works," Cruz said as he grabbed the six petals from the flare flower, three pinches of the boiling salt, and the half cup of sulfuric powder and placed them all into the caldron along with the water provided.
"What are you doing?" Boscha asked in bewilderment.
"I'm just making a new potion. I've already made the regular fire breath potion. Now I'm just making a new batch."
"If you put in that much then the potion isn't going to come out right."
"No, it's just going to come out differently. I'm just curious to see how it comes out. After all, experimentation is the key to innovation," Cruz said as he began to stir his new batch.
"If that blows up in your face don't blame me."
"If it blows up in my face, then I can't really blame anyone but myself. Plus, it'll be a lesson on what happens if I double the recipe."After stirring the potion for five minutes it had become the same color crimson that the original potion had become before it started to turn a darker shade of red.
"That's interesting, it looks like it got darker. I wonder if that means that it worked or if it failed. Oh well, only one real way to find out." Before Cruz could drink the potion from the caldron Mx. Drabek grabbed the flask that Cruz had put the potion in.
"Mr. Noceda, when it comes to potions, especially experimental ones, we do not test them on ourselves. The plant track grows special plants that react the same way that a witch would react when a potion is ingested. I know you are new to Hexside, so information like that isn't commonly known. Ms. Vandran, I know that you know this." Mx. Drabek turned to Boscha. "I expected you to at least inform him of this," they said, giving Boscha a look of disappointment.
"Sorry, Mx. Drabek. I really didn't think that he didn't know," Boscha said apologizing
"That's alright Ms. Vandran, I should have informed him as well."
"Not to be rude or anything Mx. Drabek, but can we please test out the potion? I'm really curious what'll happen once someone drinks it," Cruz said
"You're right, let's see what happens," Drabek said as they grabbed a potted plant that looked like a small Venus fly trap.
As they took the plant towards the window, they poured Cruz's potion into the soil. After a few seconds, the plant turned slightly red before the flytrap opened its mouth and it began to spray a large torrent of fire out of the window.
"I've gotta say, that worked out better than I could've hoped for," Cruz said with a grin.
"You're right," Drabek said in thought. "Your potion was certainly much more effective than I would have expected. I must say, I'm truly impressed. But how did you do with your regular assignment?"
As Drabek walked towards Cruz and Boscha's desk, they held up the flask containing Boscha's potion before tracing a spell circle and examining it.
"Excellent work as usual Ms. Vandran. This potion has been made perfectly, as expected of my top student," they said before grabbing Cruz's potion and examining as well.
After examining for a few moments, Drabek's eyes widened slightly in surprise as they placed the potion down. "Mr. Noceda, I must say...I am truly impressed with this potion. The quality and purity of this potion is quite different from anything I've seen from any of the other students in my class," Drabek said, surprising Boscha.
"Wait Mx. Drabek, are you saying that his potion is actually better than mine?"
"Indeed, Ms. Vandran. As you well know, a potion's purity can drastically affect how effective the potion can be. And Mr. Noceda's potion is of a higher quality than even yours. I just have to say, if you can continue to make potions of this quality, then you will certainly be earning the spot of top student in no time," Drabek said with a proud smile before the bell rang.
"And that would be the end of class," Drabek said before turning towards the rest of the class. "As you all know, any potion you've made can be taken home. Be responsible with this potion, we don't want anyone starting any fires outside of school."
As Cruz was about to head out of the classroom Boscha stood in front of him blocking his way out with an angry expression on her face.
"You mind moving? I've got people to meet up with," Cruz said
"I do mind. You really think you're that great just because you made one little potion?"
"Considering I made it better quality than yours...yeah I do think I'm good. Or at least, better than you," Cruz said smugly.
"Well, you're not. I just wasn't trying today. I'll show you that I'm the better witch any time."
"And how exactly are you planning that?"
Before Boscha could answer a voice called out from the door catching both of their attentions.
"Cruz! I didn't know you were in this class too," Skara called out happily as Cruz and Boscha both turned towards the bard.
"Oh hey, Skara. Principal Bump assigned me here since I already had some knowledge for potion making," Cruz said happy to see the bard
"That's great! How did your first class go?" Skara asked
"Um, excuse me, I'm still here," Boscha said, interrupting the two. "Oh I'm sorry, Boscha. I didn't mean to ignore you. It's just that since Cruz is my friend I just wanted to catch up with him," Skara said sheepishly.
"Wait, you're actually friends with this human? You do remember that it was his loser sister that broke the treasure shack?" Boscha asked
"Hey, my sister isn't a loser. And besides, it was King that broke it, not Luz. It's just a pain to explain what was going on that day."
"You're not making any sense. And besides, it doesn't change the fact that your sister is a loser and so are you," Boscha said
"Then it's gotta sting that this loser made a potion that was better than yours," Cruz said proudly, surprising Skara.
"Whoa, seriously? You made a potion that was better than Boscha's? That's so cool!" Skara said, earning a pointed look from Boscha causing her to shrink a bit.
"You made one potion that impressed the teacher. That doesn't mean you're better than me and I can prove it."
"You said that before. But how exactly are you planning to prove it, Boscha?"
"Simple, after school today, you and I will have a witches duel. That way I can beat you in front of everyone and prove I'm the better witch," Boscha said, surprising Skara.
"Alright, you're on. We only use potions in the duel, that way we can prove who's the better potion maker. If I win, you apologize for calling my sister a loser and don't bother her again, and you admit I'm the better potion maker."
"Alright deal, and when I win, you admit that you and your sister are nothing but losers and you follow me around and carry all of my things as my lackey."
"Deal"
"Then let's shake on it," Boscha said, extending her hand out.
Before Cruz could reach his hand out, they heard someone scream in the hallway before a thud was heard.
As the three went into the hallway, they saw a large pale yellow serpentine creature with green eyes. Its ears looked web-like with razor sharp claws at the end of its hands.
"What is that thing?" Skara asked
"Nothing good that's for sure," Cruz said as he reached for his staff before extending it. "Get out of here, I'll try and distract it."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Boscha said as she got ready to run.
"I can't just leave you with that thing," Skara protested. "I'll help you out too." Skara summoned her harp and got ready to cast a spell.
As the creature looked at the staff, she narrowed her eyes before hissing. "I know that staff. I won't go back. You can't make me," she said before lunging at Cruz.
"No time to argue! Move!" Cruz spun his staff as electricity began to crackle on the gem. As the creature lunged at Cruz, he shot off the electricity, shocking the creature sending her back as Skara strummed her harp, firing off magic in the shape of arrows to pin her down.
"Let's go, it's pinned. We have to find principal Bump," Skara said as she began to pull on Cruz's sleeve leading him away.
As the two ran, the creature began to pull herself away as she ripped out an arrow that was pinning her down. She opened her mouth but before she could eat the arrow, it dematerialized, angering the creature.
"Still hungry, need magic," she said, slithering away before spotting a teacher at the end of the hall and lunging towards them.
As Cruz and Skara rounded the corner looking for principal Bump, they ended up crashing into Luz, Willow, and Gus.
"Cruz? What are you running for?" Luz asked
"Luz? Good you guys are safe," Cruz said in relief
"Safe from what?" Willow asked as she looked towards Skara with a slight frown at seeing her
"Something's in the school! And it's dangerous," Skara said in a slight panic
"What's in the school?" Luz asked
"I think it's that!" Gus said in a surprised panic pointing behind them as the creature was fighting the oracle teacher, a bipedal demon with little horns at the top of their head.
As the teacher shot a wave of magic towards the creature, she opened her mouth absorbing it like spaghetti before the teacher fell onto the ground looking terrified and drained.
"More cute morsels, and the two that escaped me earlier," the creature said with a chuckle.
"We may be cute, but we're nobody's morsels," Willow said as she summoned a carnivorous plant with four eyes and teeth from the ground.
"Time for a power up," Gus said as he jumped in front of the plant for a moment, giving it buff arms using his magic. The plant jumped towards the creature before she grabbed it using her tail before eating it whole.
Willow and Gus both fell onto the ground looking much paler. "I feel…so weak," Willow said as she tried to make another spell circle that disappeared without doing anything.
"Oh no!" Skara cried out as she spun a spell circle.
"Skara, wait!" Cruz called out but it was too late as the creature sucked in air, sucking in the spell circle causing Skara to fall onto the ground pale as well.
"You are so not getting away with that!" Cruz said angrily as he activated and threw an ice glyph towards the creature.
As the creature ate the glyph, it exploded in her mouth causing her to scream and spew it out of her mouth. "It burns! It burns!"
"Come on, we have to get them somewhere safe," Luz said as she picked up Gus and dragged Willow, while Cruz picked Skara up and they all ran off.
"I hope you know where to hide them, because I'm coming up blank," Cruz said
"I know one place," Luz said as she kicked open a door from the wall. "Guys! I need your help!" Luz said to a duo of witches and a demon that looks like a dog.
"Oh. You're back," grumbled the witch girl
"I'm sorry for your feelings, Viney, but please listen!" Luz pleaded as she dropped onto the ground with a groan dropping Willow. "Willow!"
The three witches all gasped as they saw how pale Willow, Gus, and Skara were. "What happened to them?" Viney asked with concern.
"Something horrible is loose in the school," Luz said as she opened a door, on the other side of the door the creature was sucking up magic from multiple students leaving them pale and unconscious.
"Don't let it see us," Viney said, quickly shutting the door. "I think that's a greater basilisk. I heard about them in a class. My cousin at St. Epiderm said she saw one, but those things should be extinct."
"Why are things that are supposed to be extinct coming out of nowhere to kill us," Cruz lamented as put Skara down.
"Well it's real and it must've attacked the other schools, and now it's come for us. We have to do something," Luz said in determination.
"But, if Bump catches us mixing magic again," the male witch began
"He'd kick us out of school," Viney said looking down.
"If the basilisk drains everyone in school, there won't be a school to be kicked out of. And I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going to let that happen," Cruz said
"He's right," Luz said jumping down towards Willow, Gus, and Skara. "Hexoleos are out there gettin' hurt, and we're the only ones who can save them. We're troublemakers, right? So let's go out there and make some trouble."
"I'm with you hermana. Let's show this basilisk that Hexside isn't a school to mess with," Cruz said, joining Luz.
The three witches all share a look before smiling to each other, then towards the Noceda twins.
Back in the hallway, the basilisk was draining another student before leaving them unconscious on the ground.
"Hungry! Still hungry!" the basilisk says slithering through the halls. In front of her, a glyph combo lands on the floor. When it activates, a tornado launches her back making her slam on her back.
Luz lands in the hall wearing her cloak. "From the humblest of beginnings, a hero will rise. I've trained with a secret society to discover the power of mixing magic! I am-"
"Dinner!" The basilisk lunges at Luz interrupting Luz's monologue
"Wah!" Luz threw her cloak away as she dodged the basilisk. Before the basilisk could reach Luz, a pillar of ice rose up making her slam into it.
"Monologuing is going to get you killed one of these days! It's never a good idea!" Cruz said as he joined his sister's side.
Luz and Cruz looked over their shoulder to see the basilisk had righted itself up after slamming into the pillar and was chasing after them.
"Viney! Do the thing, do the thing!" Luz pleaded.
A griffin flew into the hallway tackling the basilisk onto the ground holding her down.
"Attagirl, Puddles!" Viney said as she ran in holding a spell circle. "Jerbo, now!"
"On it!" The male witch, Jerbo, called out from inside of the secret room as an abomination held open a door. He spun a spell circle summoning multiple vines that latch onto a door on the roof. A door underneath the basilisk opens up as she scratches, and throws away, the griffin Puddles.
The door opens completely underneath her, causing her to fall through as Luz follows after and kicking her through the door that Jerbo's abomination had opened earlier.
In the auditorium, Bump, having been drained of his magic, looks up weakly towards the stage. "Must find help," he says as the basilisk falls onto the stage with Luz landing safely on top of her before jumping off.
"It's all you, Barcus," Luz says as the demon, Barcus, barked in confirmation before grabbing the basilisk's palm before pouring a purple potion on top.
"Where am I?" the basilisk asks, regaining consciousness.
Barcus' eyes begin to glow purple as he starts to bark multiple times. "What's he doing? What'd he say?"
"He's reading your palm," Luz says as Jerbo and Viney are standing next to her. "And your future is going to be pretty shocking." Luz and the others all look up as Cruz falls through the door above the basilisk as electricity is covering his gauntlets.
"Spit it all out, culebra (snake)," he called out as he punched the basilisk on the stomach, forcing her to spit out all of the magic that she'd eaten, having it return to Bump and Amity in the auditorium. Back in the secret room, magic flows back into Willow, Gus, and Skara returning them back to normal.
In the auditorium, Viney uses her magic to heal Puddles of her scratch. Puddles coos nuzzling into Viney before flying off.
"Ah! You did it!" Luz says as she hugs Viney. "You were amazing! You guys-"
"Are in so much trouble," Bump interrupts angrily. "Leaving your homeroom, mixing magic and-is that a secret hideout?" Bump pointed towards the secret room as Willow, Gus, and Skara all rolled away from the door.
"Yeah, it is. But let's think about this, Principal Bump. Why would kids in the detention track need a secret hideout?" Luz argues crossing her arms
"I don't care to know the ins and outs of rascality," Bump said as he pulled out the rule book, "But if the Emperor's coven can send an actual inspector this time-"
"Okay, you need coven money. But if you have to hurt your students to get it, what's the point? They saved Hexside. They should be allowed to study what they want," Luz argued.
"She's right, if it wasn't for the 'trouble makers' then I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be a school right now. How about instead of punishing them," Cruz said gesturing towards the detention trio, "You reward them by letting them study the tracks they want. From what I saw, they're pretty talented witches. It wouldn't be right to cut their talents short."
"B-but," Bump stammered as he hugged the rule book
"Do the right thing, ya dingus," Gus called out from the secret room.
"Alright, I'm smart enough to know when I've made a mistake,"Bump said with a smile, "Which tracks would you like to be in?"
Viney gasped happily as Barcus and Jerbo smiled.
"Healing and Beast Keeping!" Viney said
"Plants and Abominations!" Jerbo responded while Barcus simply barked.
"Then so be it," Bump said as he changed their uniforms to reflect their new multi tracks. "But if any of you cause more property damage, I'm feeding you to the choosy hat."
Bump turned towards the Noceda twins, "And what about you two?"
"I'll take Potions and Healing," Cruz said happily as mixing the two would be similar to making and improving medicine. It would also be a way for him to make up for what he'd failed from years ago.
"Oh, I still can't choose. Maybe it's crazy but I wish I could study a little bit of everything," Luz lamented before she felt her uniform begin to change. "What's going on? What is this? Whoa-ho! This is so cool." Luz's uniform began to change to have a different color to reflect each of the tracks. "Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna study everything!"
"Every track huh, Eda really is rubbing off on us," Cruz said with a bright smile.
"You know, only one other student wanted to study every track," Bump said as he summoned a mural that was covered in paint. "Unfortunately, she was never given the opportunity." Bump waved his hand over the mural to remove all the paint and graffiti, revealing a younger Eda wearing a Potions uniform and a smug smile.
Luz and Cruz gasped seeing the mural before chuckling. "I should've guessed," Luz said.
"Cruz!" Skara called out as she jumped down from the secret room.
"Skara! You're okay, I'm so glad!" Cruz said happily
"You know that you acted dumb for trying to fight that basilisk alone, right? I was so worried about you" she said
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry," Cruz said, scratching the back of his head. "I swear I was going to just try and distract the basilisk. I didn't really want to worry you or anything."
"Just….next time try and ask for my help, okay?"
"You got it, Skara," Cruz said before snapping his fingers. "I just remembered something, what about my duel with Boscha."
"You've got a duel with Boscha? How'd that happen?" Luz asked as she walked up to Cruz along with Willow and Gus
"She's mad I was better than her at making potions, so she challenged me to a witches duel. But I guess since this whole thing with the basilisk happened, the duel got canceled," Cruz explained
"I'm sure that if you had dueled, then you would've won it," Skara said happily
"I'm surprised you took his side, I would've thought you'd say that Boscha would have won," Willow commented
"Well I'm sure that Boscha would do well, but I'm still sure that Cruz would win. And besides, I do want to support my friend, even if Boscha is also my friend," Skara said looking down in contemplation.
"Willow….can we-" Skara began before Bump walked up towards the group
"As much as I'd like for all of you to return to class, I'm afraid that the rest of the school day will have to be canceled due to this incident and for the student and faculty to recover," Bump said as he gently gestured for them to leave the auditorium
"Guess we've got a lot to tell Eda once we get back home right,Luz?" Cruz asked as he began to leave with everyone else
"You're right about that, I'm sure she'll be surprised," Luz said happily as followed him out of the auditorium with Willow and Gus following after her.
Skara stayed behind for a moment as she watched the retreating back of Willow before she followed after them, determined to talk with her the next chance she had.
As Bump was walking down a hall, he was writing down on a book. "The coven denies knowing about the basilisk, but that won't stop me from writing a very stern letter," he said, hearing something from a nearby classroom.
"Alright. Read chapters three to five on the right way to scratch yourself in public. Spoiler alert: There's no wrong way!" King said to the students as they left before sighing fondly as he held up a mug with the words "World's Best Me" written on it. "Days like these make being a teacher all worth it."
"You're not a teacher," Bump said gaining his attention
"Weh?" King looks up to see Bump looking at him disapprovingly. "Maybe not, but I care about these kids, and nothing can change that," he says as he splashed Bump in the face with the coffee from his mug. The result of splashing Bump in the face is him getting promptly kicked out as Bump chases him out using a broom.