At the Owl House, Eda was sitting in her room as she looked at a to-do list she made.
"Luz needs a new coat. King needs to be checked for fleas. Cruz needs a new pair of boots. Am I missing anything?"
Eda looked up at her mirror to see her reflection before chuckling. "Oh, you've changed, Owl Lady." Eda picked up a photo of herself, Luz, Cruz, and King at Grom that she had hanging in her mirror.
"It's worth it." Eda then heard Luz and King from outside in the front of the house.
"And three, and four…" Eda opened her window to see Luz and King doing sit-ups using Owlbert as a bar.
"and five, and six, and seven, and eight, and nine, and ten!" Luz said
"And weh, and weh, and weh, and weh, and weh, and weh, and weh, and weh!" King said simultaneously to her.
"Not a bad start. Almost done fixing this up for you," Cruz said as he sat in front of the house while making adjustments to the mechanical staff.
"Yes! Alright, King. What's the first thing you're going to do when you meet your dad?"
"And 10,000!" King said as he pulled himself up. Cruz shook his head in amusement at King's antic.
"Well, once we're done training, I'm gonna move out of that closet, that's for sure." Eda's eyes widened when she heard this feeling her heart clench a bit.
"Then, I'm going to ugly cry. Hard!"
"Have you told Eda about your decision to le—"
"Shh!" King shushed her as they heard a sound from above. When they look up, they see Eda's window is closed.
"I-I'm not ready yet. I'm not sure how she'll react," King said
"It's a pretty big decision you're making here, King," Cruz said
"Everyone's leaving, huh? Even King," Eda said sadly as she picked up the photo before kneeling in front of a chest. "I guess I'm no substitute for the real thing."
As she opened the chest to put the photo back in, Eda noticed a bell cittern that had a rain cloud with a bolt carved into it. She put the photo back into her hair before picking up the cittern.
"Welp, nothing like a good distraction." Eda begins to play the cittern as the room seems to be filled with an orange glow as objects in her room start to float all around her.
Eda gasped when she noticed the objects floating. "Has my magic returned?" When she stopped playing, all of the objects fell onto the ground.
"Oh, guess not. Stupid curse." Eda put the cittern back into the trunk before she went back to her desk. From behind her one of the plants seemed to turn black as it began to corrode.
Outside of the Owl House, Luz was standing over the cliff while holding Owlbert as King was holding onto her shoulder.
"Go!" Cruz yelled as they jumped off the cliff, as Owlbert unfurled his wings and Luz and King flew over the water. They maneuvered around multiple rocks as they flew up into the air.
Inside the Owl House, Eda got herself dressed as she was looking over a book with a bowl of small tentacles lying on the coffee table. She had her scroll floating near her as it reported a live coverage.
"And we're back at the Emperor's Castle."
"Hmm?"
"In light of Scooter Crane's retirement, today's ceremony will confirm Raine Whispers as the next head of the Bard coven."
"Do I have to be on camera?" Raine asked as their face was obscured with a hood.
"For Titan's sake, just say something," Darius said in irritation
Rained pulled down their hood as they faced the camera. "Uh, I am honored to work with Emperor Belos in preparation for the Day of Uni-bee." They blushed realizing they'd messed up.
"Uh, I mean, Uni-ly! I mean, uh—oh no, this is going all wrong. Get me outta here!" They ran off the stage feeling flustered.
"Just cut the feed," Darius said as the transmission ended.
"How are you going to be Head Bard with stage fright?" Eda mocked jokingly
The front door opened as Luz, Cruz, and King walked in. Luz was holding a backpack at arm's length while King was holding his stomach.
"I'm sorry, Luz," King apologized
"It's okay, buddy. Hey, Eda. Got another backpack I can borrow? This one got a little thrown up in," Luz said
"Closet," Eda said as Luz ran out of the room
"How did your stomach even hold that much in?" Cruz asked as he sat on the couch
"So why are you suddenly so interested in flying? Did you give up on returning to the human realm? I mean, I suppose you two could stay here a little longer."
Cruz looked at her in confusion.
"Oh, no. We're still going home, but we keep running into some… setbacks."
"Come on, little buddy. You got portal info that we need." Luz said as she pulled out a carrot and offered it to the echo mouse, who'd hidden under her bed.
"You want a carrot? Does baby like carrots?"
The echo mouse comes out from under the bed and it starts to eat the carrot while sitting on Luz's lap.
"Here we go. It's okay. See, you're safe."
Hooty suddenly swooped in and swallowed the echo mouse whole.
"Fear not, maiden! Hooty, the guardian owl of Ga'Hoot, has protected you once more!" Luz glared at him.
"Ga'Hoot!"
"Cruz and I were able to get the mouse back safely, but he needs to recover."
"Now I'm not the only one who's traumatized by Hooty. And besides, I haven't been able to make any progress on figuring out how to make a portal. It's been… frustrating," Cruz added in
"In the meantime, this weekend is the Gland Prix!" King said as he showed Eda a pamphlet for it.
" Hexside, Glandus, and St. Epiderm students race to win glory, honor, and—" Luz began to explain
"Fame!" King interrupted. "Winners also get an interview with the Boiling Isles news! Do you realize what this means?"
"We are going to enter the competition and get King on camera to send a message to his dad!" Luz said excitedly
"Oh, that's… great," Eda said as she put on a strained smile
"But, uh... there's something I'd like to talk to you about first. You see, I think it's time for me to le—"
"Leave… the talkin' for later. If you want to win, there's no time for talk. You gotta go practice. Now," Eda said matter of factly.
"Wanna head out while your tummy's empty?" Luz asked
"Okay!" King said happily
"Let's go!" Luz and King laughed happily as they ran outside to continue their training.
Eda sighed before she noticed that Cruz hadn't moved from the couch.
"Aren't you going with them?" Eda asked
"Nah, Luz and King don't need my help with that. I know they can handle themselves just fine without me. But what about you? I can tell something's bothering you."
"It's nothing to worry about, kid. Why don't you go and work on another one of your projects." Eda said
"You can always talk to me about it."
"You don't have to worry about me, Cruz."
"Would you be willing to talk about it over some Apple Blood? In talking top top-shelf stuff here."
"Let's go, kid! You're about to get some backstory while we're at it!" Eda said as she dragged Cruz off toward a bar that she frequented a lot.
"I just… don't want to hear him say it, you know?" Eda said as she and Cruz sat at the counter at Grimgrub's Pub.
"I was finally getting used to having people in the house, then whoosh! Rug's ripped out from underneath me." Cruz looked at her with worry as he drank his nonalcoholic Apple Blood.
"Sure. I get it," the bartender deadpanned. "It's like every time you come in here, I think, 'maybe she'll pay her tab this time'."
Eda glared at him as she sipped from the Apple Blood she'd gotten. Cruz rolled his eyes at the bartender before turning to Eda.
"You can just talk to them you know. I know for a fact Luz would want to know if that's how you were feeling about this whole thing."
"I can't say that to her. If I did then that would mean you two are just staying here because I'm being selfish."
Cruz looked at his cup as he contemplated her words. "What's wrong with being selfish? Everyone deserves to be selfish every once in a while. And besides, I'm not too sure I'll be able to stay in the human realm permanently anymore."
Eda looked at Cruz in surprise.
"When I was younger, I had to grow up pretty fast. Focusing on my projects and chemistry helped me and my family out. But because of that, I had to forget about being a kid. Being here has been great. I could work on my projects like I always wanted to, and I could still have all the things I've been missing out on. Staying here is honestly something I wouldn't mind in the least."
Eda looked at Cruz in surprise before she smiled warmly at him as she ruffled his hair.
They suddenly heard someone shouting from outside. "Hey! Back off!"
Cruz and Eda turned to see a coven guard and scout dragging the female demon Hunter away toward the entrance.
"Don't fret, citizens!" the scout said to the other people in the bar. "We are helping this wild witch find her place in society!"
"No! I don't want to join a coven!" the woman said as they dragged her out of the bar.
Eda slammed her on the counter in annoyance.
"Throw it on my tab, Kevin," Eda said as she got up from the bar and walked out of the bar.
Kevin groaned in annoyance as Eda walked out.
"I was paying for this," Cruz said as he handed Kevin a few snails before readying his gauntlets.
"Let her go!" Eda shouted
"Back off, Owl Lady," the scout said
"Yeah. No coven wants a powerless witch," the guard said before Eda punched him in the face hard enough to make his mask spin.
"How's that for powerless?"
The crowd around them oohed as the guard adjusted his helmet. Cruz began to get a spell ready as the guard aimed a spell towards Eda.
Suddenly, a violinist pulled the string on their violin causing the guard's spell to fail. The crowd all turned towards the statue of Belos to see a group of four with instruments and masks playing music as magic began to spread throughout the square.
Multiple objects and Tiny Nose began to float all around them before they floated down to the ground as the music stopped being played.
"Look at the Emperor's lackeys! Trying to, uh… Do I really have to say this?" the violinist asked
"We all agreed on the script," the tambourine player said to them
"Trying to… mute the music of our hearts?" The violinist groans in embarrassment. "And weaken magic, by forcing witches into covens against their will."
"Blasphemy!" the coven scout shouted
"Blashem-you!"
"See, you're a natural," the recorder player said to them.
"That's right Bonesborough." The violinist pulled on a string causing the guard and scout to fall to their knees. "They take your magic." Another pull on the string makes the guards stand up.
"They restrict your knowledge." The guards start to march in place. "They say to do it in the name of unity, but what they really want is control. You know what we say to that, folks? Shove off!"
The guards start to march off around the square before they march into trash cans.
"Stop! No, not the trash! Oh, not the trash!" Both of them groan as they march straight through the cans before marching away.
"Who are you hewoes?" Tiny Nose asked
"We are the Bards Against the Throne, AKA..."
"Surrounded!" A guard said as he put on a pair of earmuffs as more guards surrounded the group.
"Psst!" Eda signaled to them from under a manhole.
The bassoonist of the group created a smokescreen as the group escaped into the sewers. The guard threw his earmuffs down in frustration.
Cruz and Eda led the group out of the sewers outside of the city. Cruz kicked a bar from the sewers off as they all exited the pipe.
"End of the line, folks. Word of advice. Next time you put on a performance like that, make sure you have an exit strategy," Eda said as she helped them down.
"I know bard magic is great, but have some backup plans in case they start blocking the sound," Cruz advised
"Thank you. How can we ever repay you?" The tambourine player asked
"Well… you could let us join your little team," Eda said as the three members gasped.
"Hey, I may not have magic, but I am an agent of chaos."
"It's true, she kind of proved that when she punched that guard. And besides, I can make stuff to help you guys out when you need to escape," Cruz added in
"Sorry. We're not accepting new members," the violinist said as they dropped in front of Eda.
"Is that any way to treat an old friend…" Eda flicked off the leader's mask; "Raine Whispers."
Raine looked back at Eda with a glare before they turned to face Eda face to face.
"So, the Head witch of the Bard Coven likes pretending to be a rebel. Too bad they're not very good at it."
"Eda! You're embarrassing me in front of my crew," Raine said softly as a blush was visible on their face.
"Huh?" The rest of the group and Cruz looked at the two in confusion
Raine let out a defeated sigh. "Hey, it's alright, everyone. The Owl Lady is an old friend."
Eda blushed as they introduced her.
"Wait, you know Raine Whispers?" Cruz asked
"Who's this?" Raine asked with a smile
"This is Cruz. He's been helping me out with my potion business for a while now," Eda said as she put a hand on Cruz's shoulder.
"Nice to see you again," the tambourine player said as she and the rest of the group lifted their masks.
"Hey! You're that fanfic writer that we met at the Conformatorium," Cruz said in surprise.
"Are they going to join our group?" The bassoon player asked with a smile
"They don't seem like a good fit to me," the recorder player said skeptically as she looked away.
Eda and Cruz looked at her in annoyance.
"Actually, she's the one that inspired me to make the group," Raine said as Eda looked at them in surprise.
"Huh?"
"It was… a while ago."
A young Eda smiled at a young Raine as they sat on a hill. Eda had her original orange hair held up in a ponytail.
"Raine… I know why you're really here," Eda said as she smiled at Raine.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Raine denied
"Uh-huh." Eda held up a finger as she created a spell circle and burned a lightning bolt over a cloud that was on the cittern.
"Who cares about a stupid performance? This is more fun." Raine looked at Eda with clear love evident in their eyes.
"Whatever you say," Eda said with a smile
Rained adjusted Eda's position on the cittern. "See? You'd be a mess without me."
Raine removed their hand from Eda as they looked away feeling flustered.
"Alright. Raine's Rhapsody." Eda begins to play the cittern as the flowers on the hill and her hair begin to be enchanted by the music as they begin to float.
"You know… you can't run from your fears forever. Which is why you've gotta get the jump on them. Give 'em a good whack right in the face." Rained looked at Eda in confusion. Years later they understood what she'd meant.
"I thought you were just joking around. I only learned what it meant when I started teaching for the Bard Coven," Raine said as they looked over multiple documents in their office in the Bard Coven.
"The emperor prioritized recruitment through force. And anyone who refused to fall in line *disappeared*. Well, I wasn't going to stand for that!" Young Raine grew angry before calming down. "So I took matters into my own hands."
"I moved up the ranks, and I found people who wanted to change things, like me. And that's when we formed the Bards Against the Throne, AKA..."
"The BATs!" The group all hissed as their battle cry. The shadow of a guard began to approach them from above. Eda pointed away as they all began to climb away.
"Hey. If you've got nothing to lose, we could use the help," Raine said as they extended their hand out to Eda.
Eda blushed as she took their hand. Cruz saw the blush on Eda's face and smirked.
Back at the Owl House, Luz and King were doing pushups while using Owlbert as a bar. Hooty was helping King by pulling on his tail.
Luz collapsed on the ground before she picked herself up. "All right, King, the Gland Prix is the day after tomorrow. Are you ready?"
"I, uh, got the jitters." King yelped as Hooty pulled him up. "And I still haven't been able to talk to Eda."
"Don't worry. She's just been busy," Luz said. She'd also noticed that whenever Eda had gone out, Cruz had been joining her.
"You've always got Uncle Hooty's shoulder to lean on," Hooty said as he pressed himself up to King
"You don't have any shoulders!" King shouted as he ran away
"Lean on me!" Hooty yelled as he chased after King
Eda then opened the front door as she and Cruz walked out. Eda had her hair tied in a ponytail as she and Cruz were wearing cloaks. They both were holding scrolls.
Luz flew over to them while standing on Owlbert's staff. "Eda, King's still waiting to talk to you."
"Uh, maybe later," Eda said as she tried to avoid that particular conversation
"O-Okay. Well, maybe at the Gland Prix?"
"We'll be there. I promise," Eda said as she and Cruz left
"Stay away from me!" King yelled as he was still being chased by Hooty
"Let me be your emotional support!" Hooty yelled as she chased after him
"You know you can't avoid King forever," Cruz reminded her
"I know. I'll… talk to him after the Gland Prix."
"Alright, I won't ask about it anymore then."
"Appreciate it, kid."
"So… you and Raine, huh?"
"You don't have any room to talk with you and that bard girl talking for hours at night," Eda said with a smirk as Cruz blushed.
"How'd you even-" Eda snickered at his reaction.
As Eda and Cruz got to the BATs' base, she laid out a map in front of the group.
"Well, there you have it. Homemade maps of every nook and cranny in the city."
"Okay. Here's the situation," Raine began as they placed their hands on the table. "Emperor Belos wants every wild witch in a coven before the Day of Unity."
"He's trying to steal as much magic as possible. We don't know why," the bassoonist, Derwin, said.
"Right now, we're just focused on helping those he's captured. And the next raids take place here, here and here." Raine pointed to three different locations on the map that Eda had brought.
"At the same time? What do we do?" The tambourine player, Katya asked
"Don't worry, kids. Mama's got a plan," Eda said with confidence
"You're not our mom," the recorder player, Amber argued.
"It's easier if you just go with it," Cruz told her.
"As the first team is rounding up witches on Hexan Road, Amber and Cruz will sneak in and take 'em out."
"Ugh, fine." Amber and Cruz had snuck behind a pair of pillars as a group of coven scouts and a guard captain were rounding up witches into an Emperor's Coven carriage.
Amber begins to play her recorder as she puts the scouts to sleep while Cruz opens up the carriage and leads the witches away.
"Before anyone calls for help, Derwin and Katya will distract the second team by Skinford Avenue."
"That we can do." Derwin and Katya jump onto a pillar as they play their instruments and have a pair of scouts chase them.
"And… the captain?" Amber asked
"That's where Raine comes in," Eda said as Raine pulled a string on their violin. The guard captain's cloak wrapped around them as they fell onto the ground.
"As long as I don't have to make any more speeches," Raine said as they stepped forward toward the fallen captain and removed their mask.
Rained looked up towards Eda as they gave her a thumbs up.
"And if everything goes well, I'll be guiding the escapees outside Bonesborough. Belos… has less reach outside the cities." Eda led the witches out towards the sewers as Katya and Derwin led them out of the city through the pipe.
As Eda and Raine look at the escaping witches, they look at each other before blushing as they look away.
"Ugh. I can't believe it's already morning," Eda said as they all passed by an alley back to their base. Derwin was sleeping as Katya was carrying him on her back.
"I'm not tired yet!" Amber said full of energy
"Amber… you've gotta calm down," Katya said
"I still can't believe she's older than me," Cruz said in exasperation as they all chuckled as they walked into the base.
"We did it! Eda, Cruz, you two are amazing!" Amber said happily
"We actually helped people this time," Katya said
"I feel like that's concerning for a rebel group," Cruz said as he noticed a map with multiple points marked.
"What's this stuff?" Cruz asked. "More raids?"
"No those are places that we have to be careful at," Katya explained
"Too much security?"
"Nope! There's these weird abomination things that show up at night," Amber explained. "We went there once for a raid to try and help out the wild witches but when we got there those abomination things were already attacking the guards and freeing the witches."
"When they noticed us, they attacked us too," Katya said. "Seemed like they were more focused on protecting the wild witches more than anything."
"What'd they look like?" Cruz asked having a feeling he already knew what they were.
"Here, we got a picture of one of them," Amber said as she handed Cruz a picture of the creature.
When Cruz saw the photo he sighed seeing that the creature was one of the J-Units that he'd sent out on patrol.
"Yeah… sorry about that. I'm the one that sent those guys out there," Cruz said surprising the two.
"Wait! You made those things?" Katya asked in surprise
"Not made them. More like reprogramed them. Me and my sister found them in a weird tower on an island and turn out they listen to what I say. So I reprogramed them a bit and I sent them out so they'd be patrolling Bonesborough. I gave them the order to protect wild witches and to make sure they're not seen."
"Oh wow. I guess as long as we don't mess with them, then they won't attack us," Amber said as she sat down on a couch they had.
"Actually… these might help solve that problem." Cruz pulled out four metal medallions from his bag. They were a polished silver color around an inch and a half thick with the same symbol that King put on his collar.
"These will send out a signal automatically to the J-Unit's receivers I put in them. That way they'll know that you guys aren't a threat and will work with you. It's not going to let you give them any orders but at least they won't attack you anymore."
"This will help out a lot!" Katya said as she took the medallions.
"Hey, weird question. Do you think Raine would mind if I asked them for their autograph?"
"You want the teach's autograph?" Amber asked
"You a fan?" Katya asked with a smile
"Not really for me. It's more like for my… friend," Cruz said as he scratched the back of his head
"Oh-ho. A friend, huh?" Katya said with a knowing smirk
Cruz blushed feeling like he'd been caught in a headlight. "She's a good friend of mine. And I know she's also a pretty big fan of Raine's music."
"I'm sure the teach wouldn't mind giving your girlfriend an autograph," Amber said with a smirk
"Seriously. How are you older than me!"
"Cruz! We're heading out!" Eda called out to him from the entrance.
"Coming!"
"Here," Katya said as she handed Cruz a piece of blank paper. "Have Raine sign this. I'm sure they wouldn't mind a quick sign before you leave."
"Thanks, Katya. Appreciate it," Cruz said with a smile as he walked towards Raine.
"Hey, Raine," Cruz called out gaining their attention. "Would you mind giving me your autograph on this?" Cruz handed Raine the piece of paper.
Raine blinked in surprise as they looked at the paper. "You want my autograph?" Raine asked
"It's more for my friend. She's a huge fan of yours and it would mean a lot to her."
"It's for his girlfriend!" Katya yelled out from across the room
"Shut up!"
Raine laughed as they grabbed a nearby pen. "It's not a problem. What's her name?"
"It's Skara. Skara Crane." Rained looked at him in surprise.
"You mean Scooter Crane's granddaughter?"
"Yep. That's her alright."
"I'm surprised. She seemed so shy the last time I saw her with her grandfather."
"I'm sure she was just nervous when she saw you. She said that she's always thought your music was the best."
"I haven't had much of an opportunity to hear her music but I'm sure that it's just as great as her grandfather's," Raine said as they finished signing their autograph.
"Yeah. Her music is always so beautiful. I've never heard anything like it before."
Raine noticed the look on Cruz's face. It was the same look they had when they'd spent time with Eda. Raine handed the signed paper back to Cruz with a warm smile.
"I'm glad you think so highly of her. I'm sure she thinks the same way about you too."
Cruz blinked in surprise as he blushed in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head.
"Come on, Cruz! We're burning daylight here. Don't think I won't leave you behind!" Eda called out to him.
"I've got Gizmo to fly me home. And besides, I know you won't ditch me!" Cruz yelled as he followed after Eda.
"Bye, mama Eda and Cruz!" Amber yelled out to them as she waved from the entrance. Cruz waved back as he and Eda left.
The next day, students were lining up for the Gland Prix. Principal Bump walked up to his fellow principals as Eda and Cruz walked in they began to look around for Luz and King.
"Eda! Cruz! I'm so glad you guys made it!" Luz said as she hugged the two. She'd changed into her uniform from when she played Grudgby.
King walked up to her while holding her staff before handing it to Luz. "I, uh, would really like to tell you something before the race starts."
"Well, if it's so important, we can talk about it after the race... when you win, okay?" Eda said
"Uh, yeah, yeah. Okay," King said with a nervous smile
"Good luck out there, hermana. I know you've got this," Cruz said
"Are you going to tell me where you've been going lately? Seems like you disappear whenever Eda leaves the house."
"I'll tell you later. Right now just focus on the race," Cruz said with a smile
"Welcome, everyone, to the Gland Prix!" Perry Porter said as he stood in front of a giant crystal ball with Gus.
"Contestants will fly down the right arm to the Cubital Valley. They use speed, cunning, and magic, to race to the checkpoint and back to the finish line!" Perry explained as Gus creature multiple illusions to show the crowd what the competitors would be dealing with.
"Winners get their names etched on the Cup of Ephemeral Glory!" He held up an old wrinkly cup that seemed to be made out of flesh.
"All victory is fleeting," the cup said with a groan.
"And, an on-camera interview, seen by everyone watching across the Isles!" Luz nudged King who still looked nervous. She then hopped onto Owlbert's staff as King climbed on her shoulder.
"On your marks, get set—"
The cup screamed as the racers all took off.
"Go, baby, go!" A sea creature-looking mother said as she turned to look at Eda. "Which one is yours? This is so exhilarating!" The mom lightly slapped Eda's arm as she was shoved to the side slightly.
"Cruz…"
"I'm not switching with you," Cruz said shooting down her request immediately. Suddenly, Eda's crow phone started to ring in her hair.
"Raine?" Cruz leaned in a bit to try and listen to the conversation.
"We got a tip about another raid. I know you two are busy, but—"
"No, it's fine. I'm on my way," Eda said as she hung up the phone
"Eda…" Cruz looked at her with worry
"It's fine. Stay here. I'll be back before they win the race."
"Alright. In case you're not back, I'll just tell them you were out pickpocketing," Cruz said with a smile
"That a boy," Eda said as she ruffled his hair before going to meet the BATs.
Eda had joined up with the BATs at a broken bridge out in the forest. Amber, Derwin, and Katya all jumped to the other side of the bridge as Eda and Raine looked around.
"This should be the spot," Raine said as they summoned their violin. Raine sent out a sound wave throughout the forest as they looked around.
"Something isn't right," Raine said suspiciously.
Suddenly, Katya, Amber, and Derwin were waist-deep in abomination goo as it trapped the three removing their masks. Eda and Raine ran as Darius rose from the ground coming out of abomination goo.
"That… feels better," Darius said as he frowned out of the goo. Next to him, Eberwolf popped out of the ground as he tunneled his way out.
"Looks like we missed a few," Darius said as he approached the three.
Raine gasped when they saw who had appeared. "It's… head witches Darius and Eberwolf."
"So that means…"
"We fell for their trap."
Back at the race, a student from St. Epiderm was flying when Luz suddenly turned visible startling him as he flew back through two more students.
"Haha! St. Epiderm? More like Stank Epiderm!" King taunted.
As Luz and a sea-creature-looking student approach the halfway point, the student gets startled as they pull back but Luz keeps going.
"Might wanna slow down for that turn, Luz. We're gonna crash!" King yelled as he covered his eyes.
Luz flies through the post as she sticks a plant glyph onto it before slingshotting the two around.
The crowd cheered as Principal Bump looked smug as he looked back at the other Principals.
"Wooo! Go, hermana!" Cruz cheered as Gizmo hopped happily on his head from equal excitement. Cruz then thought back to the raid before he took out J.J. from his bag.
"Send out a signal to the nearest J-Unit. Tell them to head to the forest and back up Eda and the others. Give the order to not kill any of the witches."
J.J. nodded as they started to shake, sending out the signal for the J-Unit to pick up.
Back in the forest, Darius looked down at the ground in annoyance. "This place is disgusting. Figure out which one's the turn cloak so we can leave."
Eberwolf sniffed all three of the BATs before shaking his head at Darius.
Darius sighed as he put a finger to his forehead. "Just my luck." Darius snapped his fingers as the goo lifted the three before teleporting them away.
Eda and Raine gasped when they saw their friends being taken away.
Amber, Katya, and Derwin all landed in a cell inside the Conformatorium. "No. No! Not again!" Katya yelled out as she grabbed the prison bars.
"I was scheduled for some me time today, so hand yourself over before things get nasty," Darius yelled out into the forest.
Darius groaned in annoyance when no one showed up. "I know they can hear me. I know you can hear me!"
Darius then turned to Eberwolf. "Eber, help me out here."
Eberwolf drew a spell circle on his forehead. His eyes began to glow as they revealed footprints leading into the forest.
"I'm not going in there," Darius protested
Eberwolf simply threw dirt at him which he managed to avoid. "Agh! What do you think you're doing?" Eberwolf climbed all over him before heading into the forest.
"You'll regret that, mutt." Darius followed him into the forest after turning into abomination goo.
Up on a tree branch, Raine and Eda turned visible again as took a breath. Raine is holding Eda up bridal style since she was missing both of her shoes.
"I am glad I remembered how to do that," Eda said as they landed back on the ground. Since Eda was missing her shoes, she landed on the mud with her socks.
"Ew. Gross," Eda said in disgust
"Eda, Belos' plans are a lot more dangerous than I let on," Raine told her. "He's preparing some big spell for the Day of Unity, but he can't do it without every head witch. If we can take out Darius and Eberwolf..."
"Say no more, Rainestorm. What's the plan?"
Raine summoned Eda's cittern as it fell into her hands. "You say your curse messes with magic. I think I can make that work in our favor."
Darius and Eberwolf catch up to Eda's boots which were enchanted to leave footprints for them to follow.
"Looks like our traitor is a clever little songbird," Darius said in slight admiration. It quickly died when the boots turned around and kicked mud up to his face.
As Darius became angry, Eberwolf whimpered in fear. Darius summoned multiple spikes of abomination goo as they destroyed the boots.
"Alright. No more playing around!" Darius yelled enraged as he looked around the bridge they'd started at. Darius opened his eyes as they turned into the same color as abominations before his entire body began to morph into abomination goo.
He became much larger as he summoned an abomination sword with a growl.
Eberwolf also growled as he began to turn more feral with his fangs and claws growing sharp. He then summoned a rat worm mount and climbed on top of it.
From nearby, Eda and Raine watch as they both leave. Eda noticed how close she was to Raine before blushing and looking away.
Raine then summoned their violin before they started to play the song from when Eda and they were younger, "Raine's Rhapsody".
Eda looked around as music and magic began to fill the area. Stones and other debris began to float into the air. They watched the entire forest seem to light up as she looked back at Raine with a smile as they smiled back at her.
Eda closed her eyes as she began to play the cittern in tandem with them. More and more stones and debris began to glow and float into the air before Eda's gem began to glow black. Suddenly, the ground at Eda's feet began to turn black as it began to wither away.
Eberwolf noticed the black energy coming towards him. As he was about to turn the rat worm around, he noticed with a panic that it wouldn't move.
Darius was looking around when he heard the music and saw the black energy coming towards him.
"There you are," he said smugly before the energy began to cover him as searing pain shot out throughout his body.
"It's working," Eda said as she noticed the energy. "Keep playing."
Rained looked down and saw the energy starting to consume them too. "Look. We may not make it out ourselves."
Eda knew that King, Luz, and Cruz were planning to leave so they would be fine even if she wasn't around for them anymore. Cruz might've wanted to stay but he'd find someone else that would matter more to him at some point. "But it'll stop the Emperor, right?"
Raine nodded in confirmation.
"Then we play on!" Eda yelled as she turned around. The photo from Grom that she'd saved in her hair fell out. As Raine noticed it, their eyes widened in surprise.
"Eda, do you have kids?! And Cruz is one of them?!" Raine asked in surprise as they stopped playing.
Eda was startled as stopped playing. "Uh, they're not mine-mine," Eda said as her voice began to break.
"Well, it doesn't matter. They all have real families to return to." Eda began to start playing again but Raine made her instrument disappear along with the black energy.
"I don't know what you're running from, but a great witch once told me... something about punching fears in the face?" Raine said skeptically as they made their violin disappear.
"What I'm trying to say is don't give up so easily." They handed Eda the photo back to her as Eda took it and looked at her new family.
"They probably need you more than you realize." Raine extended their hand to Eda as she smiled and took it before being pulled up.
"We can find another way to stop Belos together." Suddenly, they were surrounded by abomination goo as it began to pull the startled witches away.
"Found you, songbird," Darius said as he began to pull the two towards him from the air. Eda grabbed a branch as she tried to pull the two away from Darius but it wouldn't hold for long. She sees that Raine is planning to let go of her hand.
"Raine, don't," Eda said tearfully
"Go. You know I can't stand an audience," Raine said as they let go of Eda's hand before summoning their violin and cutting the abomination goo holding them.
Darius pulled his hand back in pain before looking back at the witch.
"Hello, Darius. Eber," Raine said as they landed in front of the two head witches
"Raine Whispers. You'll regret what you did to my cloak!" Darius said with venom in his voice.
Eberwolf growled something at him.
"And your treachery, whatever." Darius began to grow in size as Raine stared down the two head witches and began to prepare for a fight.
Eda watches them fight with tears in her eyes before she runs away from the forest and heads back to the Gland Prix. Eda wipes away her tears as she looks back at the crystal ball to see Luz racing the sea-creature student.
"Luz of Hexside and Ukla of Glandus are barreling towards the finish line!" Perry said as Luz and King managed to pass the finish line first.
"And there you have it! Luz over Ukla!" The crowd cheers as Eda clapped for the two.
"For fifth place." Eda stopped clapping in confusion
"Huh?"
"And now, let's give a hearty applause to our actual winner!" Perry said as three other students walked up onto the stage.
"Hey, Eda," Luz said as she walked up to her covered in leaves while King was covered in mud. Cruz was next to them as placed a comforting hand on their heads.
"You were flying like the dang wind. What happened?"
"We were winning for a while, but…"
Luz and King were flying in the lead as King began to groan as he was about to vomit again. "Luz…"
"King, try to hold it in," Luz said being weary
"I can't!" King warned
"King!" King gagged before vomiting.
"And then we crashed," Luz said
"I'm still wondering how you can throw up so much," Cruz added in
"It's okay. I'll just throw my message into the garbage where it belongs," King said sadly as he held up a piece of paper.
"No. This isn't over," Eda said as she took out her scroll before she started to record King.
"Eda, who's even gonna watch this?" King questioned
"No one watches crystal balls anymore. It's all about streaming."
"Alright," King agreed as Eda zoomed into him as he cleared his throat.
"Hi, Dad. If you're out there watching this, I uh, want to introduce myself." As King is talking, Willow is watching from her room with Clover sitting on her head.
"I like cheesy foods and conquering kingdoms. Though I haven't conquered any of my own yet."
At Blight Manor, Amity, Edric, and Emira are watching the stream with a smile. "But maybe you have, and we can compare notes."
"I'd love to meet you. We could do parent kid stuff, toss a ball, burn some cookies, catch me going on weird websites or something. Also, I found a symbol in the tower I hatched in."
Somewhere on the island, a demon that looked eerily similar to King watched the stream. He looked off into the distance when he saw the symbol.
"Maybe you can teach me to read it. I live with my favorite humans and a cranky old witch."
"Hey!" Eda protested from behind the scroll.
"But cranky or not, she's the one who raised me, which is why… I am leeegally changing my name King Clawthorne!" King yelled happily as he pulled out papers to change his name.
King laughed as he looked at Eda. "Surprise, Eda! Now we're connected for life, and there's nothing you can do about it!"
"Is that… what you wanted to tell me this whole time?" Eda asked as her voice was becoming shaky.
"And… if you sign here, it'll be official!" Luz said as she handed Eda a pen.
Eda then begins to tear up as she looked at the camera. "Eda, are you okay?" Luz asked as Eda began to cry tears of joy.
In the forest, Eberwolf was watching the stream as Raine was being held up by abomination goo.
"Eda, if you keep doing that… I'm gonna cry too!" Luz said as she began to cry along with Eda.
Cruz chuckled at the two. "It's okay. No reason to cry," Cruz said
"You knew about this too? Why didn't you tell me?" Eda questioned
"You didn't ask," Cruz simply stated
"Would you shut that off? We're supposed to be tormenting Raine, not me," Darius said in annoyance.
Eberwolf turned up the volume to maximum just to annoy him.
"Why are you like this?" Darius asked in exasperation
They then hear a splash as they turn around to see that Raine managed to escape from the goo.
As Raine runs, they look to see if Darius and Eberwolf are chasing them but as they turn around, they're startled to see Kikimora walk up to them while sitting on the shoulder of an Abomaton.
"Leaving so soon?" Kikimora asked as Raine tried to run again. They're quickly captured by the Abomaton.
"I told you we didn't need help! So, get that ugly thing out of my face. And tell Alador he's a hack, while you're at it," Darius said as he and Eberwolf walked up to Kikimora.
"Emperor Belos was rather upset to learn that you had a hand in the recent raid incidents," Kikimora said as she pulled rained up towards her face.
"Guess I can look forward to my own petrification, huh?" Raine said defiantly
"No," Kikimora stated as of her hair claws lifted into the air. "It'd be too much of a hassle to find a replacement."
The Coven sigil on Raine's arm started to glow as the sigil started to encase them.
"The Emperor needs you alive and well the Day of Unity. But until then, night-night." Kikimora waved at them as their vision went black.
"Now then, I'll be taking them back to the castle to be… disciplined," Kikimora said.
"You may interrogate the others that you captured."
"That's not our job," Darius said in annoyance. "We captured them, so now I'm going to enjoy some me-time."
"The Emperor wants them—"
Kikimora was interrupted when she heard clicking noises from above them. When she looked up, she saw one of the J-Units hanging from a branch as it looked down at them.
"What is that thing?" Kikimora asked in surprise
"It's hideous, is what it is," Darius said as Eberwolf growled at it.
The J-unit turned its head sideways before leaping towards Kikimora and the Abomaton.
The Abomaton launched its arm at the J-Unit. The J-Unit slithered out of the way as it latched onto the Abomaton before turning its right arm into a blade and slicing through the Abomaton's arms.
"Alright that's enough!" Darius yelled as he grew in size before attacking the J-Unit. It dodged out of the way of his blade before turning its left arm into a hammer and smashing Darius into a tree.
Darius quickly righted himself before impaling the J-Unit in the stomach.
Eberwolf jumped on the J-Unit's head as he started to bite on its neck and pushed it down further into the spike.
Eberwolf stepped on a wind glyph that Cruz had placed on the J-Unit's back blowing him away.
As the J-Unit was about to free its self from the spikes, Darius raised a large hammer into the air before smashing down on it.
The J-Unit tried to stand up again but couldn't move before shutting down.
As Darius and Eberwolf turned back to normal they both panted in exhaustion.
"I don't know what that thing was… but it's dangerous," Darius said as looked at the J-Unit.
"We'll need to move now to make sure no more are on their way," Kikimora said as the Abomaton began to reform as it picked Raine back up.
"For once, I agree with you," Darius said as he and the others all left the forest. From on top of the trees, another J-Unit was sitting on top as it observed the fight recording everything so that Cruz would later analyze it before leaving the forest and heading towards the Owl House.