The Owl House: A Witch Among Us

Sense and Insensitivity

Esper sits at Eda's Human Collectibles stand in the market, bored out of her mind. She watches lazily as King walks to multiple people while holding a tray of inedible human things.

King holds up the tray with a smile, "Partake of my free snack samples! Take them! I demand it as your ruler, the King of Demons!"

When he sees several people walk by him and not even look at him, he throws the tray onto the ground. The tiny demon pouts, "Nyeh! Why isn't anyone paying attention to me? I'm their rightful overlord! Intellectually and such!"

Eda almost laughs before getting offended, "Yeah... Hey!" She grabs a passerby by the cowl and sniffs, "It reeks more of nerd than money today."

Esper gags before Luz runs up to the three, "Guys!" Her shout makes Eda let go of the passerby's cowl.

Luz raises her arms in excitement, "You will not believe what's going on!" She poses under a banner, "It's a book fair! Where books come to life!"

A book jumps off one of the stands next to her, "Hello."

Luz screams in surprise and kicks it.

Esper picks up the book and puts it back on the stand, "Honestly, I think I'm getting used to all the weird stuff happening around me."

King tilts his head at Luz, "So wait... A fair without rides?"

A random boy witch smiles happily at the young demon, "Who needs rides when this-" He shoves a book in King's face, "-can take you anywhere?"

The young demon shakes his head, "Nyeh!" He then throws a strip of bacon on the boy's head. A winged demon flies by and picks him up. The boy screams as he is carried away.

Eda frowns, "A, ew." She throws book on the ground, "B, I'm bored. C, I feel like pickpocketing some dork while they browse!" She then walks off.

Esper starts to inch away from Luz, "Yeaaaaah... I'm gonna make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. Bye!" She turns in the direction where her mentor walked away in, "Hey, Eda! Wait up!"

Luz shouts, "No, wait! Guys!"

But it was too late, Esper had already disappeared into the crowd. She pushed past various demons and witches as she tried to get closer to the old witch. Including walking through a sort of slime creature, which causes Esper to shudder. She turns to the slime demon after walking through the being, "Oh... Oh my gosh, I am so sorry... Ew..."

Meanwhile Eda grabs books and tosses it, "Boring," She knocks books onto a child's head, "Boring," She grabs another book, "Boring." She then gasps as she looks in a mirror, "Another wrinkle! The curse is quickening!"

Esper finally caught up to the old witch, "There you are! I had to walk through some guy-" She shook off the rest of the slime from her jean jacket.

Lilith's voice was then heard in the distance, "You, lackey."

Eda grabs the young witch by the back of her hood and ducks them both behind a banner that says "READ OR... DIE". She lifts the banner and glares at her sister, "Lilith..."

Esper holds her throat after the older witch let her go, "Uh, ow. Did you have to yank so hard?" Eda quickly shushed her and they both leaned in to spy on Lilith.

The dark witch glared at the merchant, "Do you have the item we discussed?"

The animal-like demon smiled and handed her a map, "Oh! Yes, right here."

Lilith opens the map, "This is excellent. A map to the Bloom of Eternal Youth! I think the emperor will be very pleased."

A coven guard walks up to her, "Ma'am, shouldn't we be searching for the Owl Lady to join the coven? Remember that whole plan?"

The dark witch laughed, "My sister's curse has left her frail. She'll still be here when we get back."

Esper shrugged, whispering, "Dang, she got you with that jab." Eda groans and taps the back of the young witch's head in a chopping motion.

Lilith smiles evilly, "This comes first, it's for the emperor after all."

The guard cheers, "Yeah!" He then knocks over the merchant's books, "All hail the emperor!"

Lilith pats his shoulder before walking away, "Very good, Steve!"

The coven guard now known as Steve pats his own shoulder, "Shoulder pats for Steve!" He then walks away.

Eda jumps a table to get to the merchant's stand, "Hey bub, what'd you sell my prissy sister?"

The merchant rubs his hands together, "Oh! It's a map to the Bloom of Eternal Youth. A rare flower that only grows once a millennia. Like the name says, it gives eternal youth to whomever holds it."

Esper's eyebrows widen, "Really? Wow! I mean! We can't let Lilith get that flower!"

Eda pats the young witch on the head, "Yeah, you're right... Interesting... So Lilith wants to nab this power for the emperor, huh. Well, won't she be surprised when I get there first and get it for myself! Hah! That'll show her who's frail!"

The redheaded witch pouts at her mentor, "Yeah because that's totally what's at stake here."

The merchant grins maliciously, "Well, we'll see won't we." He opens a drawer to reveal dozens of maps, unbeknownst to Eda and Esper, "Can't go without a map of course."

He hands Eda one. She takes it and opens it, grinning. She turns to the young witch, "Come on, Esper, we got a flower to find!"

Esper points in the air, "Yeah! Oh wait, shouldn't we tell Luz and King what we're doing first?"

Eda nodded before pointing a finger gun at her, "Oh yeah, you're right. Dang you, responsibilities!"

Later at The Owl House, Luz and King are working together to try and write their own book. However, their differing opinions seem to be leading to... creative differences in their writing. They were arguing so loudly that neither heard Eda or Esper call for them from downstairs. So the pair decided to walk upstairs to see what all the fuss is about.

Luz points at King, "Don't you dare insult shipping in my presence!"

Esper picks up King and giggles, "Oooh, did you try to make fun of shipping in front of Luz? The last time I even suggested shipping Azura with any other character than Hecate, she trapped me in a headlock. We were giggling, but it was not pleasant. Gosh forbid Azura likes Lazuli or Auburn the Conqueror."

Luz waves her arms in the air, "Auburn the Conqueror literally tried to murder Azura multiple times until the last book! And Azura and Lazuli totally have a more sibling-coded relationship."

The redhead puts King down and waves her arms back at her, "But they're not... Unless they actually call each other... Okay you know what, I'm not having this argument with you right now." Esper then crossed her arms, looking at Eda for her to start her announcement.

Luz sticks her tongue out at her friend before looking at Eda, "What's up, boss lady?"

Eda grins, "Esper and I are popping out for a few days to an undisclosed place to do undisclosed things. You're in charge while we're gone."

The redheaded witch's smile turns into a smile, "Yeah! ...Wait days?"

Luz smiles back at her, "Great!"

The older witch begins to drag Esper by the hood outside the door, "No questions!"

The human follows them to the front door, "Okay!"

The owl witch grins, "I said no questions!" She then closes the door.

Esper shrugged as she jumped on Owlbert, "You know she didn't ask any questions, right?"
The older witch snorts before hopping onto Owlbert as well, "Hehe, I know. I just like to be funny."

...

Later in the forest, Eda walks into a clearing and consults her map. Meanwhile Esper rips vines off a statue of a minotaur-looking creature called a 'Minitaur.'

Eda raises an eyebrow at her map, "Okay, from the Minitaur, we head due north, and with luck, we'll get to the Bloom of Eternal Youth before Lilith!" She laughs, snorts, "Who's frail now, emperor dorks?"

The young witch waves her arms, "Once again, that is NOT what's at stake here!"

The older witch laughs at her before hearing a branch crack behind her.

Eda gasps, "Someone's following us. Esper, get behind the statue. Now."

Esper quickly does as she's told before Eda follows her. With a snap, Eda summons a blue sword. Lilith walks into the clearing, with her hair a mess and leaves on her. The redheaded witch tries to poke out her head to see what it is before Eda summons a fireball and runs out from behind the statue.

The old witch then throws the fireball, "Spicy toss!"

The dark witch ducks underneath the fireball, "Aah!"

Eda raises an eyebrow, "Lilly?"

Lilith narrows her eyes at her, "Edalyn?"

Esper steps out from behind the statue, "Esperanza! Is here too." The two older witches stare at her as Eda makes both of her weapons disappear.

Lilith then sighs, "And of course you would be here just to be a nuisance. Why don't you go home and rest? Maybe let the kid do this instead? Wouldn't want you breaking a hip."

The old witch frowns at her, "Sorry, sister, I'm stronger than you think. I'm here to save the Bloom of Eternal Youth from the likes of you." She runs off with a sing-songy voice, "And I'm gonna get there before you! Come on, Esper!" She grabs Esper by her hood and runs, lifting the young witch off her feet.

The dark witch gasps and runs after the pair, "Aah! No you won't!"

...

Even later in the forest, it is now night time. The full moon shining in the sky over them. Eda, Lilith and Esper both run by, panting. A shadow follows the three.

Eda laughs while out of breath, "Ha! Doesn't this remind you of how we used to race to the kitchen, Lilly? Lilly?"

The old and young witches stop and look around. Esper looks up and points above her, "Eda, look!"

The two look up and see Lilith, wrapped up in a web, being held by a crab-like monster. The monster growls as Lilith tries to free herself.

Lilith struggles within the web, "Mmm! Mmm!"

Eda shouts, "Lilly!"

The old witch summons a large fireball at the monster. The crab monster goes flying into the distance. Lilith falls into a bush with a muffled yell. Esper runs over to help rip the webs off the older witch.

Lilith raises an eyebrow at her, "Thank you... Esperanza." She was a bit confused.

The young witch rubs the back of her neck, "You can call me 'Esper' actually."

Lilith hums before Eda helps her up, "Alley-Oop!"

The raven witch sighs, "Ugh, thank you, Edalyn! I wasn't certain that you'd save me."

Eda scoffs at her, "Stow it! Ugh, we might fight, but you're still my sister. And besides, if someone's gonna be putting you down, it's gonna be me. Ha!" She then slaps Lilith's back.
Lilith chuckles and looks to the side. She gasps, "Is that?"

Eda presses her face into Lilith's and Esper's head pops up below them. Through the trees, a glowing pink flower looms.

The old witch smiles widely, "The Bloom of Eternal Youth!" She pushes Lilith to the side, "Alright back off, that baby's mine."

Lilith growls at her sister, "Why are you always like this?" She then turns to look at Esper.

The small witch quickly shrugs before Eda catches both their attention.

Eda smirks, "Because Lilith, you think I'm just some tired old biddy. Ah, but I'm more than that." She uses magic to cut the flower, "And with the Bloom of Eternal Youth's power, I'll show you!"

But then the magic flower disappears from her hand!

The owl lady frowns, "What the-"

The merchant's maniac laugh can be heard throughout the air. His shadow falls over Eda as he stands atop the stone that held the flower. Lilith walks up next to Eda as Esper walks to the other side of her mentor.

The merchant from earlier still laughs, "I know you must be confused! The Bloom of Eternal Youth, dead? What if I told you the Bloom never existed at all! And now that I have led you to my nest, I'll suck all the life out of you to satisfy my unending hunger!"

Lilith scoffs and rubs her forehead, "He scammed us." She turned to her sister, "Can you believe he scammed us?"

Eda smirks, "I thought there was a 50/50 chance going in. Hard not to admire the tenacity though."

Esper waves her arms, "What? You thought he scammed us and you didn't tell me?! You had me out here thinking we had to race against time to stop the emperor from getting a flower that would give him eternal life!"

Lilith pat the young witch on the head to calm her down, "Calm yourself, young one." She turns to her sister, "Good entrance, but that outfit? Ha!"

The owl lady laughs, "Look at his little shoes!"

The raven witch starts laughing as well, "Pfffft... Stop it. Pfffft."

The young witch laughs with them, pointing at the merchant, "Yeah, dude, you're dumb!"

Eda quickly stops laughing, "Aaaand you ruined it, Esper."

Lilith stops her laughter as well, "Maybe next time, think about what you say."