In the wizarding school of Hexside, Gus was standing in front of one of the classrooms, holding a meeting for the Human Appreciation Society. It was a very small club with at least four members. As president of the club, he had various human items, incorrectly labeled, on the desk. Among them was a cheese grater labeled as "nail clippers," a bag of chips closed with a flip phone labeled "whoopie cushion," an upside-down umbrella filled with leaves labeled "food bowl," a Rubik's Cube labeled "weapon?", and a paper clip labeled "pay-per-clorp."
"Behold. The wonders of the human realm." Gus said, presenting the objects. First, he picked up the paper clip. "This little fella's one of their most valued objects. It aids in the compiling of printed wisdom, the scratching of gunk from under your nails, and my favorite... It even mimics the sounds of the human ocean."
He proceeded to twang it multiple times. It sounded nothing like the ocean, but Gus didn't care. "Aah! The human realm. So beautiful." Gus said dreamingly before walking over to the chalkboard. "It's safe to say that the pay-per-clorp is a stunning testament to human ingenuity. Any questions?"
He turned around to face the rest of the club, only to see that Eileen, Bo, and the unicorn Bard track student had all fallen asleep. Even the newest member of the club, Mattholomule, looked thoroughly bored.
Mattholomule was a teenage boy with beige skin, dark brown eyes, and straight brown hair, which was shaved at the sides. He wore the 'Construction track' school uniform, which consisted of brown sleeves and leggings, which was covered by the school's gray tunic and a small darker gray cowl over it. He typically left his cowl on as a hood.
He raised his hand, gaining Gus' attention. "Ah! Our newest member: Mattholomule."
"Ah, Augustus, is this what the president of the Human Appreciation Society thinks passes as 'Human Artifacts'?" Mattholomule asked, using air quotes.
Gus looked confused and taken aback by the question. With a smug look on his face, Mattholomule walked over to the table.
"Because at my old school…" He pushed aside Gus's stuff, much to the smaller mage's panic. Gus rushed over and grabbed the treasure, narrowing his eyes at the new member. "We had real treasures."
Mattholomule emptied his bag onto the desk, dumping out clearly fake and crudely made items. One was a rock painted to look like a cell phone, another was an egg with a skull painted on it, and the last was a shoe made out of mud, leaves, and twigs. However, unlike Gus' items, they were labeled properly for what they were supposed to be. They were labeled "cellular phone," "human skull," and "sports footwear," respectively.
However, it was enough to fool the other club members, who gasped and leaned closer to them.
"So real."
"Wow!"
"I wanna touch them!"
"Go ahead. In my club, we didn't have any dumb rules," said Mattholomule, pointing at Gus with his thumb.
Gus gasped in shock and turned to his list of rules. "Shh. He didn't mean that." He said, gently caressing it like a baby. Gus glared at everyone touching Mattholomule's objects, then marched over and took them away, much to his club members' displeasure.
"Well, this isn't your club." Gus reminded his fellow wizard. "Thankfully."
"Exactly, who thinks I should be president?"
"I do!" said Eileen in a muffled voice since her head was a giant eyeball.
"Mattholomule for prez," said Bo.
"I'm an undecided voter. I wanna touch all the objects first," the Cyclops unicorn said as he, Eileen, and Bo started talking over each other.
Gus started to panic. If he didn't do something to regain control, he would be voted out. He picked up the "phone" and took a closer look at it.
"These are fakes!" He said boldly.
The other club members gasped, shocked by these allegations, which made Mattholomule freak out and stammer. "Y-Y-Y-You can't prove that!" He exclaimed before inhaling and smirking again. "You're just trying to distract these human appreciators. You're afraid of getting kicked out of office. It's your word versus mine."
As the other members started mumbling to each other about who they should believe in, Gus started to become very worried. While smart, he didn't have much of a backbone and slowly walked backward into the chalkboard. Turning his head, he looked at a newspaper clip with a picture of Luz and Booker on it.
That's when an idea started to form in his head.
"What if I brought in an expert?" He asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, right. Who can you find that's a bigger human expert than any of us?" Matt rolled his eyes.
"How about a real human and a human-witch hybrid?" Gus said confidently. Hearing that piqued everyone's interest, and most of the club members were more than excited to hear more.
Matt, on the other hand, wasn't.
"Yeah. Uh-huh. A-And you've never brought your friend here. Why?" Mattholomule asked.
"Well, they're busy. They've got a job. But I'll bring them in tomorrow. They'll prove I'm right," assured Gus
Mattholomule scoffed and sat back down in his chair. "Ah, sure you will, Augustus. Sure you will." He mocked the smaller boy, making Gus grow visibly nervous.
{Play music: Into the Badlands theme}
As the portal gate opens and the camera zooms in on it, Booker and Luz are seen to be in the sky. They open their eyes, only to realize they are falling, which causes them to freak out before something zooms past them and catches them. Booker and Luz opened their eyes, with Luz behind Booker and holding his arm while Booker held onto the staff to stay on. The two kids saw they were saved by Eda, who smirked at the duo as they flew to her house on her Palisman staff.
The door where Hooty was opened as Luz and Booker stepped outside. Luz twirled and posed with Eda's staff while Booker drew his Dragon's Bite sword he had recently received and did his own pose. But then Eda took her staff back with an amused grin while Luz gave a sheepish smile, and Booker looked somewhat amused, too. King popped up in front of them in a pose.
A Boiling Isle mural was seen briefly as Gus, Willow, and Amity were seen before it burned away to show King commanding an army of stuffed toys, which all fell on him. The scene burned away again, showing Booker standing under a spotlight with grief written on his face as the fire was seen all around him. Silhouettes appear as they take the shape of a man with pointed ears, a human woman, and six children with slightly pointy ears. The fire consumed them.
Now Booker and Luz were on Eda's staff, with Luz riding up front like she was driving and Booker standing behind like he was surfing on a surfboard. They zoom down the Boiling Isles, past many friends and foes alike, until Eda and King join in on the ride.... then they hang on for dear life as a massive, monstrous worm-like monster, mouth wide open, lunges at them. Everyone, minus Booker, screamed in horror. The latter looked brave and defiant towards the monster, and he pointed his sword towards it.
Then the scene changes back to the Owl House, where it's nighttime and stars twinkle in the sky as the four are on the roof and looking up into the sky. Luz opens her hands to reveal a ball of light as Booker's hands glow, and a glyph-like symbol appears on the back of his hands.
He grinned and slammed his hands together, causing light magic to burst from his hands. That's when the title appeared.
THE SEVENTH SON
After school, Gus immediately raced over to the Owl House, where Booker and Luz were helping Eda sort out some boxes that held all sorts of items from the human world, trying to find things that would be good for selling. King was lying on the couch, and Gus was standing in front of the two friends, having finished explaining to them what his trouble was.
"Let me get this straight," said Booker as he fished out a Furby from one of the boxes. By the looks of it, someone had smashed it to pieces. "You need us to come to Hexside because someone's trying to overthrow you in the Human Appreciation Society. So, You told them that you'd bring Luz and me in to prove that you know a human and a hybrid and to verify if some of the items you have are real?"
"Yes." Gus nodded.
Booker and Luz looked at one another with guilty looks before turning back to their friend.
"Sorry, man. We can't help you with that," he replied.
"Ah, come on!" Gus yelled in a panic. "Why not!?"
"Gus, we'd love to go to school with you, but I don't know how we can," Luz said, pointing to hers and her friend's banned poster. They were tapped onto Eda's framed wanted poster. "Principal Bump banned me and Booker from Hexside."
"But nothing." Eda interrupted, pulling out a coffee mug from her box. "Bump did you a favor. There ain't nothing for you at that dweebus factory." She turned to Gus. "No offense, dweebus."
"Eda!" Booker scolded.
"No, it's okay. I come from a long line of dweebuses." Gus said, placing his hand on his chest.
However, it didn't stop Luz from slamming the box she was holding down in frustration, making it clatter. "Well, I would love to go someday!" she declared, standing and looking at Eda as she gestured to the junk all around them. "Better than unpacking boxes in the Eda Coven."
"Oh, you think you're clever, huh?" Eda questioned, standing up and facing Luz with her hands on her hips.
"Ooh! Fight, fight, fight!" King chanted, jumping over to a nearby stack of boxes.
"Can it, King!" Eda snapped at him before turning back to her students. "First off, it's the 'Bad Girl Coven', and second off, I guess you don't want in on the T-shirt order, huh?"
She pulled out a piece of paper with a T-shirt drawn on it. On that T-shirt, she was riding on a skateboard, and the words 'Bad Girl Coven' were on it.
How would that even work if Booker was a boy?
"We don't care about T-shirts, and personally, I don't care if it's a Dweebus factory or not," Booker said, joining in the argument as he sided with Luz, naturally. "I want to learn magic, Aunt Eda. Luz wants to learn magic. We're barely learning anything here! Do you even know how to teach magic?"
Eda paused for a moment and averted her eyes. "Well, no…"
"That's right," Booker said, gesturing to Gus. "They have professionals who can teach us at Hexside!"
"I mean, yeah, well…" the Owl Lady grunted in frustration before leaving the front door. "I don't want to hear another word about Hexside unless it's 'Hexside is on fire' and 'let's grab front-row seats'!"
The door slammed behind her, leaving Booker, Luz, Gus, and King inside.
"Aw, look what you did. I'm gonna rub it in. Nyeh!" King laughed as he jumped off the box and went after Eda.
Luz sighed and sat on the couch, frustrated with her teacher. She then felt an arm wrap around her. It was Booker who gave her a smile. Luz returned the smile. Whenever she was around him, she felt so much better. However, she started to blush because of how close they were to each other. But as she looked at him, Luz couldn't help but notice something about Booker.
Sure, she considered him a cute-looking boy, but now, he seemed very handsome.
As he sat and held his crush, Booker was also frustrated with his teacher. Nothing she's taught them amounted to anything that would help them learn magic. They've only learned the light spell together and then the power spell.
"Sorry, Gus," Booker said.
"A-Actually, a-about the ban," said Gus, nervously. "I, uh, used my H. A. S. presidential authority to pull some strings. You've been given a full pardon!"
This surprised Booker and got Luz's attention. She turned to him with widening eyes. "You mean…"
"I got the ban lifted!"
"Oh my gosh!" Luz leaped over Booker, grabbed Gus by his collar, and started shaking the poor boy. "Yes, yes, yes!"
"Wait, how is that even possible?" Booker asked, cutting the excitement short. "I thought your club wasn't that popular. How were you able to convince the school to lift the ban?"
Gus sweated nervously as he tried to think of a lie and think of it quickly. "I...My dad works for the news, and I...explained that I could tell him about the monsters eating kids in the bathroom."
"Hmm...blackmailing your school by exposing a very real problem," Booker said. He then smirked slyly. "Now that's pretty awesome, Gus. Alright, I'm in!"
"We'll be there tomorrow! Gus, this will be great!" Luz exclaimed, jumping up and down on the couch. "We get to see the school and save the president."
"Yeah!" Booker cheered, fist-pumping.
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow!" Gus said before leaving. Once he closed the door, he started dancing and singing to himself. "Yes! You did it, Gus! You did it, Gus~! You did it, Gus~! You're the smartest, you're the best ~!"
"Sweet moves, little dude."
Gus yelped when he turned and saw Hooty. "I always forget you're there!"
"I forget I'm here too….Boop."
Gus stared at Hooty for a moment before smiling again. "This is gonna work out after all."
"This isn't gonna work out at all!" Willow disagreed worriedly, paling. The two friends were standing outside of Hexside the next day. Gus explained what he had done and his plan to re-establish his position as president of the HAS. Willow was not happy with what he had done.
"Well, I feel like I took care of any potential problems," Gus said, nervously rubbing the back of his head.
"You lied to our best friends and told them you got the ban lifted. That seems like a potential problem to me," Willow said angrily. "What's going to happen if Booker finds out you lied to him and his crush?"
"I- Wait? What do you mean a crush?" Gus asked, confused.
"Hello, Booker's got a massive crush on Luz!" Willow exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "He doesn't exactly hide it all too well."
"Aw~"
"I know. They're adorable together," Willow said with a smile before quickly getting back to the situation at hand. "But just think, Gus! When Booker finds out that you lied to him about the ban, who knows what he's going to do?"
Gus could already imagine what Booker would be like, with his dark silhouette in front of a wall of fire and his gold glowing eyes glaring at him. After gulping nervously, the young wizard said, "You don't understand! The members were going mad. They were bloodthirsty. They were touching objects! I had no choice!"
"Really? What about all the wanted posters around school?"
With a smirk, Gus reached down and pulled all of Booker and Luz's wanted posters out of his bag.
"What wanted posters? I also got these." Gus then pulled out two cowls. "To keep them undercover."
"Undercover from what?" Luz asked as she and Booker already arrived.
Startled by their sudden entrance, Gus slammed one of the cowls backward over her head. Luz squeaked, having no time to react while
Booker looked confused. "Gus, what's with the cowl?"
"Uh, behold your new cowl!" Gus said.
"Whoa. I love it," Luz said. Booker sighed with a soft smile as he turned the cowl around and pulled the hood down. This again brought the two best friends close to each other, and quickly, Booker pulled away with a visible blush.
Willow leaned towards Gus with a smirk. "Told you."
Wanting to distract herself from the odd feeling in her chest, Luz smelled something odd. She grabbed the cowl and sniffed it, realizing that the smell was coming from it. "On the Boiling Isles, new things smell old."
"Yep, and here's yours, Booker." Gus handed him the other cowl. "Put it on and hide your ears." He instructed them with a nervous chuckle.
"Is that really necessary?" Booker asked, pointing to his ears. "I'm a half-witch already."
"Yeah, because I want to keep you two under wraps 'till the big reveal."
Willow frowned at the sight of her friends being used in Gus's little plan.
"Oh, a showman. I totally get it," Luz said, buying into the lie. She pulled the hood back up.
"You bring the razzle," Booker started with a grin
"We'll bring the dazzle!" Luz randomly threw handfuls of confetti from her hands, much to the confusion of Willow and Gus.
"Do you always have confetti on you?" Willow asked.
"Seven years of friendship, and I still don't know where she hides them," Booker said, picking some out of his hair.
Suddenly, there was a screaming sound that made Gus jolt and winch before pulling up his sleeve. This revealed that it was a small purple demon with a single clock eye biting his arm. He poked it in the eye to make it stop.
"What the hell is that?" Booker asked, shocked, as Gus pulled his sleeve back down.
"That's my alarm. Uh, we better get going." Gus quickly dragged Booker and Luz away. "See you after school, Willow."
"Bye, friend. Be safe. Make good choices," Luz said as they ran.
"Bye, Willow!" Booker called out before they were too far away.
"Oh, Gus. I hope you know what you're doing." Willow sighed.
"Why do they want to go to school so badly?" Eda asked no in particular, moping on the stone steps outside the Owl House. For the past few minutes, with her knees up against her chest, the Owl Lady had been thinking hard about what was best for her students. Kings were nowhere to be seen, so all she had to talk to was Hooty.
"I may not be the best teacher, but I'm trying to protect him and Luz. Hexside chews up anything unique and spits out bland mush," Eda grumbled, ripping apart a blue rose's petals.
"I chew insects. I turn them into mush," Hooty said as flies buzzed all around him.
"But that's my beef. Malcolm was the only good thing to come from Hexside, and look at what I did with him. And now his son's trying to learn magic. His magic and Luz's are so different from how I do it. Do they need to draw their own conclusions?"
"My beef is insects. They're what I eat."
"You're just gonna be unhelpful, huh?" Eda raised an eyebrow at the house's guardian.
"All I know is that you taught me, and I turned out just fine," Hooty said. Spotting a fly walking next to his head, he stuck out his tongue in an attempt to get it, making a gagging sound.
Eda watched in concern. Good Titan, Booker was right. She's a dropout that didn't know a damn thing about teaching magic. The last thing she wanted was for them to end up like Hooty. So, understanding just what had to happen for the good of her apprentices, Eda knew what she had to do.
"I gotta get those two into school."
As Booker and Luz walked through the hallways of Hexside, everything seemed normal, like a normal human school. Students were grabbing their books from their lockers and then walking off to class. Some walked alone, while others walked with friends.
"Hey! Give that back!"
And it sounded like the bullies were at it again. Booker looked and saw two students playing monkey-in-the-middle with a smaller student's backpack. They laughed while floating the backpack between them.
Feeling the need to intervene and stop them, Booker was about to do so when something stopped him. He watched with wide eyes as one of the bullies got hooked by a shepherd's crook and dragged away. He was pulled over to two rather unsettling creatures. The creatures were humanoids with pale brown skin and pointed ears. They wore black suits with blue robes and gray boots. However, the most noticeable feature was their upside-down, skull-like faces.
The creature that had him in its hook leaned towards the student and sniffed him. "Trouble…" it said in a creepy voice.
The bullied student's backpack fell to the ground as the second bully backed away nervously. He was about to run away when a hook also caught him. "No! Detention!" He cried while being dragged off with the other student.
"The only thing I'm guilty of is being too real!" the other bully yelled. All while Booker, Luz, and Gus watched.
"That's new," Luz said.
"Well, they kinda showed up after your last visit. They smell trouble—literally," Gus explained to the two friends.
"Jeez, who's running this school?" Booker exclaimed.
Gus was confused. "Principle Bump, remember? He the one with—"
"That was a figure of speech, Gus!"
One of the guards turned towards them. "Trouble…"
Seeing this, Gus gulped and grew more nervous. "Okay, time to run for no particular reason," he said, grabbing their hands and dragging them away as he ran. However, he ended up bumping into someone. As a result, all of Booker and Luz wanted posters, and his presidential crown fell out of his bag. He quickly collected the posters.
However, he wasn't able to get them all when he realized that the student he had just run into was Mattholomule. "Augustus, you should really watch where you're going," the new kid said sarcastically as he picked up the crown and wiped it off, all while having a very smug look on his face. "Don't want the president of the H. A. S. getting hurt on his last day in office."
He then walked over to Luz and Booker with the same smug look that made Booker uncomfortable. "This must be your human. Hmm. It looks like another witchling to me," he said before looking at Booker. And this must be the hybrid, right? Nah, he couldn't be. He's too much of a shrimp."
He laughed while Booker quickly got angry. "I'M NOT A SHRIMP!" he yelled, launching the smaller boy but being held back by Luz and Gus.
"Quick, Luz. Dazzle," Gus quietly said, struggling to prevent Booker from killing Matt.
"Right!" Luz quickly pulled Booker back and set him behind her as he continued to growl. She imitated a trumpet sound and then pulled hers and Booker's hood down. "Ta-da!"
Mattholomule gasped when he saw their ears. "A human!"
"And this is only something a hybrid can do. Bam!" Booker slapped his hands together, creating a light spell and turning it into a hand. The hand stretched out towards Mattholomule, pulling his hood down over his face.
He leaned towards Luz. "I learned how to do that yesterday," he whispers, making her giggle.
"Not just any human or hybrid. But experts," said Gus as Matt pulled his hood up.
"Yeah. We've been doing this for years," Booker said, snatching the crown out of Mattholomule's hand. "Back during the womb!"
"They're here to authenticate your treasures," Gus said as his friend placed the crown back on his head. Booker and Luz put their hoods back on as the trio walked past Mattholomule. "See you at the meeting."
The once big-mouthed, confident boy started to panic as he backed up against the lockers. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" He said, sinking to the floor. "They can't know I lied. Then they'll never make me president. Huh?"
Matt stopped when he saw two pieces of paper on the floor. He picked them up and saw they were Booker and Luz's wanted posters that Gus didn't pick up. This made Mattholomule laugh evilly as an idea popped into his head. "Ooh, Gus, I have you now."
Meanwhile, Gus continued to lead Booker and Luz through the school, saying, "As president of the H. A. S., I should feel bad about dunking on one of our own members. But as a Gus, I feel like doing this: Oh, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, what, oh." Gus danced as Luz walked over to a trophy case.
"Wow! Who got the trophy for the most bones?" Luz asked, pointing at one of the trophies. She then spotted another one. "Hey, Booker! This one has your dad's name on it."
"Whoa, really?" Booker rushed over and saw that his father had indeed won a trophy. "Wow! An award for Bravery in the Face of Danger? That's awesome!"
However, as they were looking at the trophies, one of the school guards came around the corner. It turned towards her and sniffed the air.
Seeing this, Gus ran in and dragged Booker and Luz away. They ran away down another hallway. "We don't have time for this right now. We gotta get to the clubroom," Gus said urgently. Panting as he guided them to the room.
However, they stopped when Booker did and pulled his arm back. "Alright, Gus. What's going on, man?" He asked, looking at him with a look of suspicion. "You've been acting weird all day."
"Nothing, nothing's wrong at all," Gus said nervously.
"Then why are you sweating?" Booker raised an eyebrow.
Gus was indeed sweating. "Oh, no reason. It's pretty hot in here," he said, trying to shrug off his anxiety.
Booker narrowed his eyes at him and was about to say more when Luz interrupted him when she saw the abomination professor. "Ooh. It's the abomination professor. I should introduce myself. I apologize for the incident," she said, much to Gus's panic. Luz stepped away from him and Booker and waved at the teacher. "Hey, Mr. Abomination Professor. The abominominator. Remember me?" She did her best impression of an abomination. The professor just raised an eyebrow at her.
"Maybe he'll recognize me," Booker said.
That's when Gus knew he needed to act. "Oh, wouldn't you know? We suddenly have time for a full tour of Hexside," he said, grabbing them and pushing the two friends away.
Never in a million years did Eda think she'd be here again. She's had nightmares of being dragged back to this room in her older years, but now she was sitting in the principal's office of her own will. Facing Bump himself as the outlaw witch sat in the chair she was all too familiar with.
She took a pencil out of a fleshy mug. "It's been quite a while since I've sat here, huh?" she asked jokingly. She put the pencil on her top lip and reclined in the chair, propping her leg up and crossing her feet next to Principal Bump's nameplate. He stared at her shoes and then back at her, unamused with his former student's attitude. "I gotta admit it's extra weird without you yelling at me for picking fights or stealing."
"I can easily change that," Principal Bump said in a flat tone.
He then used his magic to shove Eda over, making her fall to the ground. Bump moved his nameplate back to its original place.
"What are you doing here, Edalyn?" the principal asked, genuinely curious why the Owl Lady would return after all these years.
Getting back up, Eda sat down and inhaled as she fixed her hair. "I want to–Prft!" She blew a single strand of hair back into place. "I want to enroll my human and nephew, Luz and Booker, at Hexside. And before you get all judgy—"
"That's not a bad idea."
"You no-good son of a bi–" Eda stopped, completely taken aback by his approval. "Wait, really?"
"Malcolm Bridges was one of the best students that had ever come from this school. It'll be wonderful to have his son here. And I think the student body could learn a lot from having such exchange students," Principal Bump said, getting up and walking over to a file cabinet. "Especially if one of them is a Seventh Son of the Seventh Son."
Eda's eyes widened. "You…You know?"
"I'm a principal, Edalyn. I've read some of the most forbidden texts in all the lands. Not to mention, young Malcolm was a Seventh Son himself."
"Then what does it mean?" Eda asked, wanting to know why Booker was so special and why the Emperor wanted him.
"The information I have on the subject is limiting. There are only a few sources that speak of the Seventh Born. Trust me, when I saw the golden eyes and hair, I knew he was a Seventh Son. But you don't have to worry about me turning him into the Emperor's Coven."
Eda sighed in relief. One of her biggest worries was that if Booker did attend Hexside, the Emperor's Coven would be notified and take him away, especially after Booker lost control of his powers during the convention. Whatever information about the Seventh Born could wait for another day. Knowing that Bump wouldn't turn him in took a lot of weight off her shoulders, and Eda reclined on the desk again.
"But before I even consider that, there's a lot to be answered."
Principal Bump magically turned her upside down without looking. Placing her back down in her chair, he pulled a stack of files out of the cabinet.
"Oh, right. Yeah," said Eda, righting herself in the chair as Bump walked back over to the desk. "I heard all about that abomination incident."
"Oh, I'm not talking about Booker and Luz. I'm talking about the necrotic experiments, the graffiti, the scams, the cheating, Miss Jenkinmeyer's teeth," Bump went, glaring at Eda as the woman sank down in the chair. "The trouble you caused when you were here, Eda!"
He dropped the pile of paper and books onto the desk. Eda looked at the page on top.
PERMANENT RECORD
--~--
EDALYN CLAWTHORNE
"Huh. I thought there'd be more," Eda confessed.
"Oh, trust me, there is ."
Ede gulped nervously.
Gus first showed Booker and Luz on the tour of the Grudgby pitch. The pitch's layout was similar to a basketball court, with basketball hoops on either side. Skara was on the pitch while Gus, Booker, and Luz were in the stands.
"This is where we play the sport," Gus said.
"So it's like basketball?" Booker asked, curious.
"What is…basketball?" Gus asked, confused.
Skara ran at the ball but was picked up by a griffin that came out of nowhere. The witch screamed as she was carried up into the air.
"I hate this game!" she screamed. The griffin roared before dropping her into one of the basketball hoops, blaring an air horn through the speakers.
Gus, Booker, and Luz applauded, though it was only for a short moment. Gus paled when he saw another school guard sniffing around. He quickly grabbed Booker and Luz and dragged them away. This made the Seventh Son arch his eyebrow at his behavior. He knew that Gus was hiding something; however, he didn't want to pester him about it.
Inside the school, the three of them walked past a door until Luz doubled back to look through a window. "Ooh. What's in here?" she asked as Booker looked inside too.
"Whoa…"
"The Plant Homeroom," said Gus.
Inside, various students in Plant uniforms tend to the greenery surrounding the room. The homeroom was filled with trees stretching as tall as the roof. Plants growing on the Boiling Isles produce fruits that can only be found in the demon realm.
One of the students of the Plants track was Amelia, who had been standing next to it with a clipboard. Suddenly, a carnivorous plant next to her opened its jaws and ate her. She screamed and struggled to remove herself from its mouth, but luckily, there was someone to help her. Willow ran over and tickled the plant's stem. It laughed and spat Amelia back up, covering her in yellow saliva. Traumatized, she gave Willow a shaky thumbs-up.
"Willow, hey," Luz called out.
"Hi, Willow!" Booker smiled and waved at the plant witch.
Willow turned around and waved at Booker and Luz. But then Gus looked through the window. "Hi."
Willow's face fell into a frown, and she shook her head.
"Bye." Gus dragged Booker and Luz away again.
Later on, Gus showed them a room full of mirrors, various cages for birds or other pets, and books about showmanship and illusions.
"And this is where I spend my time. The Illusion Track Homeroom," Gus said as they watched the professor evaluate three students' illusions.
The first up was Emira, who doubled the length of her legs. Edric was second, and he changed his face, outfit, and hairstyle to look like a princess. Both of the twins got the professor's approval. However, the third student was rather shaky as she drew her spell circle, causing her to remove their facial features accidentally. She dropped her book and panicked, whimpering while trying to feel her face. The professor smiled, drew a spell circle, and returned to the student's face. She inhaled deeply, relieved to be able to breathe again.
"Wait, if you're here, who is that?" Luz asked, pointing across the hall to where another Gus was sitting in a class, writing on a piece of paper.
Booker blinded and raised his eyebrow. "Is that…"
"Yep, that's one of my illusions. He takes notes for me when I'm not around," Gus explained. His double picked up the paper with 'I'm not paying attention' on it. He fake gasped and laughed as he pointed to it. This made Gus mad, however. "He doesn't always do what he's told."
He marched out of the classroom with Booker and Luz following him. "Wow, Gus. You're good," said the human girl, impressed with her friend's abilities.
"Yeah. I moved up a couple of grades," Gus said, smiling proudly.
"Booker?" said a familiar voice. The blonde boy looked to his right to see Amity walking towards him and the others, surprised.
"Amity!" Booker smiled and waved at her.
"Hi, Amity!" Luz happily waved at her. Booker had finally formed a small friendship with the green-haired witch, and she had been eager to join in.
"Uh...hi, Luz," Amity said, blushing for some reason.
"How's it going?" Booker asked, pointing back at Edric and Emira. "Everything going well with your siblings?"
"Yeah, however...they did mention something about you punching them in the face and almost scaring them to death," Amity said, narrowing her eyes at Booker.
Luz then crossed her arms and looked at Booker disapprovingly. "Is that right?"
"Heh...eh, sorry about that. Are you mad at me?" Booker asked nervously.
"I should be, but it's not like they didn't deserve it. At least they'll now know what'll happen if they try something like that again," Amity said with a confident and wicked smile. Oh, if only she could have seen Booker put them in their place for herself.
Booker and Luz stared at her with wide eyes. "You're a scary girl," he said.
"Aw, thank you. That's so sweet." Amity playfully patted him on the head, irking him. Her attitude then changed to being concerned. "But what are you two doing here? You two were banned from school property."
"It's okay. Gus was able to give us a full pardance," Luz said, gesturing to Gus.
This made Gus extremely nervous as the top student of Hexside turned her attention to him.
"You? You were able to get the ban lifted, Augustus?" She asked, extremely skeptical and suspicious that the president of a club that hardly anyone even heard or cared about was able to convince the principal to lift the ban.
Gus gulped nervously before jolting when his watch started screaming again.
"Dude, seriously, you've got to get a watch that doesn't hurt you, man," Booker said as Gus poked the eye and shut off the alarm.
"Later! Time for the H. A. S. meeting!" Gus exclaimed before he, Booker, and Luz left Amity and ran off. Gus's illusion watched them leave with a smug smile. However, he grew nervous when Gus rushed back to glare at him. The small mage then slid his finger along his neck, mimicking a decapitation, and casually walked away. Now scared of what he might do, the illusion started paying attention to class.
However, Amity was still suspicious of Gus and frowned at him as he ran back to Luz and Booker.
In the H.A.S. room, the members were starting to grow restless. With the exception of Mattholomule, all of them were eager for Gus to show up and present the human and hybrid to them.
"Human, hybrid! Human, hybrid!" The members chanted repeatedly while waiting.
The door opened, and Gus greeted the members with a grin and a crown on his head. "Human Appreciation Society…" he twanged the paper clip. "It is my distinct pleasure to introduce you…"
Luz moonwalked into the doorway, spinning around and almost falling if Booker hadn't caught her. Both of them then pulled back their hoods and revealed their ears to the H.A.S.
"Luz, the Human, and Booker, the Hybrid!"
"Hey, y'all. How's it going?"
Eileen squealed.
"Such showmanship," said Bo
"They're horrifying," said the unicorn.
"You're one to talk!" Booker snapped as he, Luz, and Gus approached the desk. Gus then presented them with the items displayed on the table. Mattholomule started to grow nervous.
"Booker, Luz, will you inspect the items?"
"Of course, Mr. President," Luz said as Booker looked at the table, already raising an eyebrow at all of the items. "Allow us to determine if they're truly of my realm's origin."
"Is that a shoe made out of mud?" He reached out to grab it
"STOP!" Much to everyone's surprise, Mattholomule knocks his fake items off the table with a grunt. Everyone else gasped when he jumped onto the table. "Don't make another move, humans!"
Booker pulled Luz and placed her behind him. Mattholomule calmed down and said, "I... have something to say. I'm new here at Hexside. Making friends has been hard, so I lied. They're all fakes."
Everyone gasped while Booker said, "Yeah, I pretty much figured that out." He held up the mud shoe before dropping it back onto the table.
"I thought if I was important enough, people would like me. But I've caused enough drama," Mattolomule sighed. Booker, Luz, and Gus shared a look. At that moment, the young mage knew what he had to do. "So, I'll go. I'm sorry," Mattolomule said, getting off the table.
Before he could start walking to the door, Luz said, "Hey, man. It's okay. You're only human….Well, you know what I mean."
"We all know a thing or two about not fitting in," Booker said, placing his hand on Luz's shoulder.
"Mattholomule, you aren't alone. You have a place here in the H. A. S.," Gus told him with a smile.
"You're not alone," said the unicorn boy. "You're one of us."
"We admire your honesty," Bo said.
Having heard all of this, Mattholomule smiled thankfully. "Thanks, guys. I knew you'd understand."
However, while it might seem like Booker was being supportive, he couldn't help but feel suspicious about Mattholomule. He's had to deal with bullies all his life. Booker knew that they didn't just have a change of heart this quick. But for now, he decided to play along.
Meanwhile, down the hallway, Eda groaned in agony and whined. "I don't wanna do this!"
Bump patted her on the shoulder. "There's the whiny rebel teen I remember. You'll need this…" He handed her a mop before gesturing to the graffiti that covered the lockers. "...to clean up all the hexed graffiti you left us. Good luck."
He then left the owl lady to her task. Eda stuck her tongue out at him before putting the mop in the bucket and then attempted to wipe away graffiti on lockers that read "EDA RULES BUMP EATS STINK." The graffiti, however, moved away from her mop head. Avoiding her attempts to wipe it away as she tried again and again. Eda tried moving slowly towards it, and the graffiti moved away at the same speed. Already fed up with it, Eda tried to wipe the entire row of lockers, only succeeding in combining all the graffiti. Now, read, "MOTHER, NOOOO!!!" She slammed at that, and it moved again. Making Eda groan.
It was going to be a long day for her.
Back in the H.A.S. room, the meeting was a complete success. Together, Booker and Luz looked over the items that the group had and gave them some proper information on what they really were. For example, Booker made sure Gus understood that the sea didn't sound like a paper clip. Once the meeting was done, everyone took their leave with smiles on their faces. Waving to Booker and Luz, who waved back at them.
"Thanks for coming," Bo said as Booker, Luz, Gus, and Mattholomule stayed behind.
"Come back soon," said the unicorn boy.
Eileen walked up to them and said in her muffled voice, "Thank you." She then giggled and ran off.
Booker leaned towards Gus. "How does Eileen eat without a mouth?"
"You don't wanna know," Gus whispered.
Mattholomule turned to them while rubbing the back of his head. "Hey, Augustus, Booker, Luz, thank you for being so forgiving," he said with a smile.
"It's no big deal, Matt," Booker said with his hands in his pockets.
"We've all been the new kid before," Luz said, looking at Gus. "Right, Gus?"
Gus smiled. "Yeah."
Mattholomule nodded. "Well, I just have one thing to say…"
All of a sudden, the door banged open, and two school guards stepped in.
While the others were surprised by this, Mattholomule smirked and pointed at Luz and Booker. "There they are!" he yelled, pulling out their wanted poster. "They're the intruders!"
One of the school guards sniffed the air and looked at the two friends. "Trouble."
Booker stepped back nervously, but Luz placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, it's fine. The ban's been lifted, remember? Tell 'em, Gus," she said, gesturing to Gus.
However, Gus didn't say anything and looked panicked.
Booker frowned slightly. "Gus?"
Suddenly, he and Luz screamed when the guards hooked both of them. Dragging them away. "Gus! Tell them!" Luz yelled before she was yanked into the hallway.
However, Booker held onto the doorway but struggled to do so as he was being pulled away. "Gus, you did get the ban lifted, right?!"
"I…I…" Gus couldn't come up with an excuse, leading Booker to realize that he lied to him and Luz.
"Oh, you're so dead when I get my hands on you!" Booker was then pulled away.
Mattholomule smirked as Gus looked at him. "Oh, who's the liar now, Augustus?" He asked with his arms folded.
Meanwhile, down in the Plant homeroom, Willow cast a water spell to water the carnivorous plant. However, as she did so, the young witch couldn't help but wonder to herself. "Maybe I've been too hard on Gus. I mean, what trouble could they get into?"
"Help!" Willow and even the carnivorous plant were startled by the cry and turned to the door. Through the window, they can see Booker and Luz being dragged off by the guards
"We don't even learn here!" Luz cried out.
Willow paled. "Booker! Luz!"
At the same time, Amity was walking to her next class when she heard their cries for help. Running down the hall, she quickly ducked behind a corner and watched as the guards dragged Booker and Luz.
"Hey, stop! You've got to believe us!" Booker yelled. "We didn't know the ban wasn't lifted!"
"Liar…" Said one of the guards. "Short liar…"
"Hey, I'm average height, you jerk!" He snapped angrily at them. "Where are you taking us?!"
"Detention," the other guard said.
Luz smiled nervously. "Oh, that won't be so bad, right?" she asked before they stopped in front of a hallway.
The two teens looked down and saw a giant door at the end of the hall. All of a sudden, the door opened up with three red and yellow eyes, and the bottom of the door lifted up to reveal a mouth filled with sharp teeth.
Booker and Luz screamed as they were dragged towards it.
Never before in his life had Gus felt so much fury towards one person. Shaking with anger, he glared daggers at Mattholomule as the other boy mocked him. "I can't believe you three fell for that. Like I'd actually apologize."
"What. Did you? Do?" He growled.
Mattholomule mockingly looked innocently at Gus and gave him a big-eyed look. "Ah, boo–hoo. I'm sorry. 'I am the new kid.' 'I want friends.' He then returned to his normal voice and laughed out loud mockingly. "Ha! No. I want power. And I want drama. And I got one of those right now." He then got right up into Gus's face, making him back up to the wall. "So, what are you gonna do, Mr. President?"
Gus glared at him and pulled back his fist, preparing to punch him. "Executive action!" He yelled, and then grabbed the bell's tongue and gave it a hard pull. The bell screamed and rang, shooting out water from its mouth and soaking Gus and Mattholomule.
Soon, the two of them were being dragged away by a school guard.
As he dragged across the ground, Mattholomule wouldn't stop shouting and protesting. "But I didn't pull the alarm! It was Augustus! Are you even listening to me? I demand justice!"
Willow peeked around a corner as they passed.
When the guard dragged them to the door to detention, it growled and opened its mouth again. The guard threw Gus and Mattholomule inside the chamber, both grunting as they landed. The detention chamber had large slash marks on the walls and columns, as well as large pieces of rubble on the ground.
"Wait!" Mattholomule protested, but once they were inside, the door growled and closed itself. Mattholomule got off of Gus and ran towards the door, banging on it while pleading. "Get me outta here! Open up!"
Gus sat up and saw his friends. "Booker! Luz!"
Both Booker and Luz were hiding behind some rocks. "Gus! You said the ban was lifted!" The girl said, looking at him hurt.
"Yeah! Why did you lie to us?!" Booker yelled.
"Well, I–" Gus tried to explain himself, but before he could, the ground started to shake.
That's when the floor cracked open at their feet. The crack widened until nearly the whole room was a massive hole, making them put their backs to the wall to stay away from it. Inside the hole were rolls of razor-sharp teeth, eyes everywhere on the walls, and blue tendrils and pods, inside of which were the students from before and many more. And down at the bottom was a skeleton of a formerly alive student.
Staring down into the Lovecraftian horror, Luz and Booker hugged each other and screamed in terror.
The doors opened in the cafeteria, and a large cloud of fog rolled in. Eda entered, covered in purple slime and carrying a huge sack filled with ghosts struggling to break free. Some of the ghosts fell onto the floor behind her (just like real ghosts, lol) as she walked over to Principal Bump and dumped the sack at his feet.
"There. The girls' changing room is ghost-free," she strained out, clearly not having a good time.
"Are you ready to give up?" Bump asked in an amused tone, picking a ghost out of Eda's hair. "You've barely scratched the surface."
Eda growled in annoyance and turned away, only to see Bo helping Skara with a spell at a table. "No, like this," Bo said, summoning a ball of fire, which turned into a snowball that splattered onto the table.
Skara gasped. "Oh." She did the same, summoning a ball of fire that turned into a larger snowball. She then hugged her friend, who hugged her back. "Wow. Friendship is the real magic."
"Yes, but not as powerful as love," Bo said, looking at her girlfriend lovingly. The two girls kissed.
Eda scoffed. "Gross, they're getting their coodies all over each other," she said. "Just like…me and Mal used to."
Eda sighed sadly.
"We were just as bad as your son and Luz, Mal. They'd love it here," she said, smirking. And those two making out definitely reminded the Owl Lady of herself and Mal. She then turned back to Principal Bump. "All right. What's next, Bumpikins?"
Principal Bump grinned and held up a plunger, causing Eda to groan while still smiling.
"This is detection in Hexside?! This is nothing like detention on Earth!" Booker shouted as he and everyone backed up against the wall in horror. He was expecting just to be sent to a room where he'd have to stay for a certain amount of time—you know, just like normal detention—not fight a horrifying monster!
"How is this detention? This is a death sentence!" Luz exclaimed
Gus gulped and fearfully said, "I don't know! I've never been in detention before!"
Mattholomule scooted up next to him. "Welcome to my world. Believe it or not, at my old school, I was in detention plenty of times," he bragged as everyone looked at him with glares.
"That isn't hard to believe," Luz commented.
"Yeah, you're kind of a piece of shit, kid," Booker added.
"Well, down in detention, this piece of shit is king . So, if you wanna get out, you better do exactly what I say," Mattholomule said, smirking as he walked forward. "But first, before anything else, we gotta–"
He was cut off when a snake with a humanoid face rose out of the hole and turned to the bully. It spat out a slimy blue tendril from its mouth and wrapped it around Mattholomule's ankle, making the boy pale as he yelped, "Already?"
Mattholomule screamed as he was dragged down to the bottom. Booker looked down and saw him being engulfed by the slime before being formed into a pod.
Luz looked at Gus with a hurt expression. "You lied to us! You lied about the ban! Why?"
"I was afraid. I acted stupid," Gus said shamefully.
"Yes, you did!" Booker yelled.
"Being younger than everyone is hard," Gus said as he made his way over to the humans and hybrids, scooting to them while keeping his back up against the wall. "You're overlooked. Ignored. But at the H. A. S., I mattered. I could make sure no one would ever get left behind. I didn't wanna lose that. I'm sorry."
Booker and Luz looked at one another. In a way, they could understand. After all, they were outsiders themselves. They never fit in back home, even at their school.
Luz placed a hand on his shoulder. "We get it. I just wish you told us the truth," she said with a smile.
"We're your friends, man. You don't have to lie to us," Booker said.
Gus smiled at them.
"But for the record, I might kick your ass when we're done here."
"That's fair," Gus replied. The three of them heard the hissing snake monster and saw several of them slithering up the hole. "We've gotta get out of here, but we've got to save Mattholomule."
Some of the snakes shot out of the hole and attacked. Luz kicked one in the face, and Booker cut the head off another with Dragon's Bite. "Alright, I've got an idea! Gus, do you have an Illusionist Coven glyph?"
Gus reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled paper with the glyph on it. Booker took it, tore off the plastic piece, and placed his hand on the sign. When his magical powers copied the glyph, he stepped forward, but Luz grabbed his hand.
"Wait, what are you gonna do?" She asked worriedly.
Booker grinned. "Even the odds," he said, gently taking her hand on his. Their touching hands made the two blush before quickly turning away from each other. Gus smiled when he saw this.
Oh yeah, now he definitely saw it.
Booker turned back to the hole and clapped his hands together, then jumped into the hole, much to the shock of the others. But in the air, before gravity took hold of him, many smaller circles appeared around him.
And those rings turned into many clones of Booker!
"No particular reference!" Booker and his clones shouted as Gus and Luz watched in astonishment. The clones all attacked the snakes and held them off as Booker landed on one of the squishy eyes before landing on the ground.
"Come on down, you guys!" He yelled up at the two.
"You've got it!" With newfound bravery, Gus grabbed Luz's hand and leaped down into the hole with her while she screamed. They landed on an eye and bounced, both grunting when they hit the ground. They regrouped with Booker, and the three of them scanned the area while the clones held off the snakes.
They found Mattholomule in his pod and rushed over to him. They pulled it down to the ground and looked inside. Inside, the pod spoke to him in a deep voice. "You will be a good student."
"I will be a good student," Mattholomule said in a trance-like state, with his eyes blank and empty.
Booker blinked at that. "You know, this is pretty creepy, but maybe we should leave him in there for a little longer," he suggested.
Luz looked at him unamused.
"You know, just to make sure," Booker said.
Luz suddenly tried to bite the pod to rip the blue material open, but stopped when it was no use. "You know, it didn't taste as bad as I thought it would," she admitted.
Booker pulled out Dragon's Bite and cut the pod. The Seventh Son and Gus pulled the opening apart, freeing Mattholomule, who was still in a trance.
"Am I a good student?" He groaned.
"Hmm…no," Booker said, and Luz giggled.
Luz strained as she tossed Mattholomule over her shoulder. However, she was surprised. "Oh, gosh. He's so little," she said.
The Booker clones continued to hold off the snakes but were starting to be killed off one by one. Seeing that they didn't have much time left, Gus picked up a giant bone, and the three climbed out of the hole.
The snakes, having killed off the last clone, hissed as they followed. Gus reached the top first, taking Mattholomule from Luz as she and Booker climbed out of the hole. Booker turned back and saw a snake about to attack Luz, but he quickly protected her and slashed at the snake. Cutting its head off before killing another one. Gus hit a third with the bone, then ran.
"We're gonna have to bust down the door," Gus exclaimed.
"Right behind you," Luz said, picking up Mattholomule. She and Booker followed him. Three snakes followed them out of the hole, hissing.
Luz took hold of the bone as Booker clapped his hand and cast a power spell. Together, they ran for the door, screaming a battle cry as the snakes chased after them.
Outside of detention, Willow nervously looked around as she approached the detention door. She was about to reach out for the crossbar when suddenly…
"Hold it right there!"
"Eeep!" Willow yelped, turning around to see Amity.
"Willow? What are you doing here?" Amity asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Uh…nothing?" Willow said nervously. "Wait, what are you doing here, Amity?"
"I have my reasons. And you're going to need help if you want to get that off the door." Amity walked over to the crossbar and placed her hands on it.
"You…you want to help Booker and Luz? Why?" Willow asked, joining her.
"What? Is it so hard for me to want to help other people?"
Willow glared at her and turned away. "As a matter of fact, yes."
Amity glanced at her former friend sadly for only a brief moment before the two started straining to lift the crossbar off the door. They managed to get it half off before freezing when they heard a voice, making them turn to see Eda talking with Bump.
"I washed off all the graffiti, apologized to Jenkinmeyer for stealing her teeth, and caught all the wild celebs," Eda said as she and the principal rounded the corner. "Ah, we should be good."
"It will be very exciting to have a real human exchange student, along with a… talented hybrid from the Bridges family," Principal Bump said as he shook her hand.
"And you won't tell the Emperor's Coven about this, will you?" Eda asked, still concerned.
"No. Hexside School is safe for you three. I'm the principal, not a stooge. Consider your pupil and nephew our pupils," said Bump, especially after what happened to the Bridges family.
The sounds of banging interrupted them, and they both turned towards the detention door. Amity and Willow backed away from the door as it was hit again from the inside, causing the eyes of the door to flash open.
A third hit shattered the door, and Booker, Gus, and Luz burst through. They were out of breath but relieved to be out of danger.
"Eda?" Luz asked.
"Willow? Amity?" Booker asked.
"Guess who got you into Hexside!" Eda smiled.
"Uh, what?" Booker said in surprise. Before he could get an answer, the snakes caught up with them and hissed out. They were ready to strike at the kids, who screamed in terror. However, they didn't attack, as Bump snapped his fingers. This made the snakes stop and blink, and their teeth and eyes became normal.
"Uh, sorry, Principal Bump. Sir…" one of the snakes said quickly before they all slithered back into the door and into the hole, which closed shut.
"What did you do?" Principal Bump asked, glaring at Booker and Luz.
"Ugh, kids." Eda groaned and facepalmed.
"To think that any student of yours would be capable of doing anything but creating chaos, as well as dragging what is perhaps the last Bridges into the trouble they caused, just like you did with Malcolm... Eda, take your students and leave! You are both banned from this campus!"
Eda grunted in annoyance. All that work for nothing. "Come on, you two. Let's go."
Booker and Luz looked at one another sadly before starting to leave with Eda.
"Wait, Principal Bump," Gus said, stepping and making them all stop. "Don't blame Booker and Luz. I told them the ban was lifted. We were fighting over the Human Appreciation Society. I brought them in because I wanted to win. This is all my fault."
Principal Bump approached his student. "If that's so, Augustus, would you be willing to accept their punishment as your own?"
Gus nodded firmly. "Yes, Principal Bump. I would."
"Huh. Damn, dweebus," Eda said, getting another nudge from Booker. "What?! It was meant as a compliment."
"Very well." Bump turned to Booker and Luz. with a smile. "In light of that, barring any more trouble, you both shall officially be enrolled in Hexside School next semester."
"R-Really?" Booker asked as Luz gasped.
"Uh, hold on. Hold on." Eda said, walking over to them.
She placed a hand on Luz and on Booker before glaring at Principal Bump and gesturing for him to step back. He took exactly two steps back. With privacy to talk to them, Eda knelt down in front of the two.
"I'm only doing this because I have faith in you both. And I know you're too smart to fall for that One-Witch, One-Coven nonsense. You can learn a lot from the witches here." Eda looked over her shoulder and smirked. "And maybe teach them some of that Bad Girl Coven magic, too."
"I didn't hear that," Bump said as he walked away to confront Gus. "As for you, I would be saying detention right now, but that seems to be out of order. So, as of now, I'm removing you from the Human Appreciation Society." He took Gus's crown off his head.
Mattholomule regained consciousness and moaned, "Does that make me president?"
Principal Bump smirked. "Impressive. Still alive. Yes, I suppose you are," he said, throwing the crown on Mattholomule's head.
"Yes!" Mattholomule cheered weakly.
"Now, with that accomplished, Eda, we have some paperwork to fill out," Bump said with his hands behind his back.
"Wait! I gotta do more stuff? Ugh!" Eda groaned before turning to her students. "You better enjoy this place, kids."
Eda patted their heads and followed Bump to his office.
Amity walked over to the two with her arms crossed. "It looks like you caused trouble, destroyed property, and managed to save the day somehow and get away with it all…again."
"It's what we do," Booker said with a smirk.
"This is going to be exciting!" Luz said with a grin. "We're going actually to be classmates!"
"We'll see. Just try not to get in any more trouble," Amity said, walking away with a small smirk and flustered cheeks.
As Amity walked away, Booker and Luz turned over their friends. "Do you want to finish off that tour?" Gus asked.
"I can show you guys what plants not to touch in the greenhouse, and then I can let you touch them," Willow smirked.
"Yeah! Let's go." Luz cheered as the four of them joined hands and laughed as they ran off. Leaving Mattholomule on the floor in pain.
"Hey! Wait. Take me. I'm your president. Oh. Come on."
When Booker, Luz, and Eda returned home, they sat on the couch while Eda looked over her permanent record. This showed the kids just what kind of trouble the Owl Lady got into and dragged Malcolm into that same trouble.
Her record includes letting loose a pack of feral ghosts in the girls' locker room and almost leading a full takeover.
The next incident was starting an abomination food fight at lunch when Lilith's lunch money was stolen. But then the abominations gained sentience and revolted against Eda, leading to her, Malcolm, Lilith, and the other Bridges brothers forming an alliance and taking on the army.
Then she hexed the school bells to play the famous pop song 'SINCE U BEEN CONNED', which lasted for 5 hours. It was only stopped when the bells fought against one another over what songs they liked.
Another time, Eda and Malcolm found these "two giant bug-things," and she brought them to school, and they destroyed classrooms.
She even fed the school griffin spicy snacks until it threw up over the Grudgby field. Malcolm, even though he wasn't involved, was forced to clean up the mess while Bump ate a donut.
Those were just one of the thousands of incidents that she caused, and Eda couldn't help but smile. She looked through the pages, remembering the good times she had while Booker and Luz watched.
"Wow! Bump was not exaggerating. You were a terrible student," Luz exclaimed.
"Yeah. And I thought the snake incident we caused was bad," Booker said with a smirk.
Eda chuckled. "I might have been a bad student, but at least I was myself. And it wasn't all that bad. Whenever I wasn't with Lilith, I still had Malcolm." Setting the stack of papers to the side, she reached into her hair and pulled out a binder full of photos.
"Do you always keep things in your hair?"
Eda paused. "....yes." She opened the book, revealing pictures of Eda in her younger years doing various activities, many of which included Mal and her.
However, one photo stood out to Booker. "Wait, what's that?"
Eda looked and saw a photo of not only Malcolm but also all of his older brothers. With the exception of Malcolm, all of them stood at attention with their staffs in hand in front of a banner of a green banner with a white falcon-like bird that had its wings spread out.
"Those are your uncles," Eda said with a smile.
"They're all Booker's uncles?!" Luz exclaimed, shocked to see them all together. "But wait, what's with the banner?"
"That's the banner of the Bridges Family, one of the most powerful families in the Boiling Isles," Eda said.
"Wait, really? My family was once a powerful family?" Booker asked, completely stunned by this revelation.
"That's right," Eda said, taking out the photo and handing it to her nephew. "For many years, the Bridges were once seen as strong, noble, and inspiring leaders throughout the Realm. But if you think that's impressive, wait until I tell you about the time I and Mal caused a tsunami in school."
As Luz listened to the admittedly hilarious tale about the first time Mal got in trouble with Eda, Booker looked at his father and his uncles. It was strange to think, but they all reminded him of his own brothers. Just by looking at them, he could tell what their personalities were like, even though they all had brown hair, and Malcolm had his golden hair. However, there was one uncle who stood out from the others.
This was the middle child and the fourth uncle. He had pale skin with curly hair. But it was his staff that got Booker's attention, and as he looked closer at it, his eyes widened, and he saw a familiar sight.
The Palisman of his fourth uncle was a crow.