It was nightfall by the time they made it to the Conformatorium, a place for those considered unsuitable for society. As Eda had put it, Luz noticed a wanted poster for Eda. "These guys really have the hots for you." She commented, "Yep. But we were never caught because we're too slippery." Eda winked, King climbed up onto Luz's head, to which Luz was uncomfortable with the contact "Try to catch me when I'm covered in grease. I'm a squirmy little fella. Aah!" King then fell off and landed on the ground.

"You and I will sneak up to the top of the tower, where they're holding my crown." King explained, pointing at the top of the crumbling tower. "And I'll make sure the Warden is distracted." Eda said, she tapped the butt of her staff against the ground, creating a round glowing platform. She stepped away from it "hang on tight." She commented before the platform lifted Luz and King into the air and close to one of the tower windows.

It disappeared suddenly, forcing Luz to grab the edge of the window sill and King to cling to her feet. Eda casually sat down on her staff and flew to the top of the tower "meet you at the top!" She shouted as she passed. King grunted as he climbed up Luz and hopped through the window, Luz followed soon after, crawling through the window.

Luz stiffened as King climbed up onto her shoulder. There were a lot of prison cells before them, all of them occupied by shadowy beasts of varying shapes and sizes. "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Luz jumped and spun around to face a witch in one of the cells.

"You've probably seen me on all the wanted posters." King replied, the witch shook her head "not you... her." She pointed at Luz, Luz shook her head quickly "you probably have me mixed up with someone else, I've only been here for a day." She lied, shrugging.

"I'm pretty sur-" the witch was cut off by thudding footsteps that echoed from down the hall. Luz gasped in fear "it's Warden Wrath! Hide!" Someone shouted. Luz quickly looked around, finding an open cell to hide in, she pulled the door down and hid in the corner of the cell.

Luz noticed the claw marks on the floor and walls, and the stained blood that dotted the floor. She inhaled sharply, realizing this wasn't just any old cell... this was her cell. A door slammed open and she nearly went into a panic attack, she hugged King closer to her then she already was. She shouldn't have agreed to come here, this was a mistake, what if the Warden didn't know she was on a mission for the Emperor and captured her?

"I can hear you." A voice growled, Luz's breath hitched and she held it. "Just what are you fools whispering about?" He looked down at Eda's wanted poster that Luz had dropped "Ah. The Owl Lady." He picked up the poster and crumpled it, turning his fist into a hammer and slamming it into the door of Luz's cell. Luz jumped and tried to scoot further away from Warden Wrath. "I'll get my hands on her soon enough."

Warden Wrath looked into the cell, where Luz and King were huddled in the corner. Their eyes locked, Luz's eyes widened, he stared at her for a moment before giving a stiff nod that only she noticed. He turned away from the cell, and Luz let out a breath she forgot she was holding. Was he informed of her mission?

"Fight against the oppwessor! We will wesist! We will conquer! We will never be afwaid of you, you old cweep!" A high pitched voice called, Warden Wrath walked over to the cell the voice came from. He opened the cell door and grabbed the small white creature, he lifted her up and pointed at the other prisoners "Let this be a lesson to all of you. There's no place in society for you if you can't fit in." The Warden growled, squeezing the prisoner in his hand, who squeaked.

Warden Wrath stomped away, crushing the crumpled up wanted poster under his foot on his way out. A door slammed shut, and Luz opened her cell, taking a few deep calming breaths. "Ha!" King laughed "he didn't even see us! Now let's go get my crown!" Luz didn't reply, she glanced back at the witch that spoke to her earlier, the witch staring at her with a neutral expression. Luz continued forward, running through the door and leaving the cells behind, maybe she could help the prisoners, they were just a bunch of weirdos like her, but now wasn't the right time.

"I can smell my crown!" King exclaimed, leaping off of Luz and running off eagerly. "Wait!" Luz called, she sighed and continued walking after the demon. She walked past a door and paused, looking back at it. It was slightly ajar, and a bright orange glow came from within.

Curious, she lightly pushed the door open and peaked inside. Potion bottles with a glowing orange-gold liquid sat on a desk. She looked back at the hallway for a moment before entering the room fully. She picked up a bottle and read the tag attached to it.

"A potion drained, will keep the wolf tamed."

Luz's eyes widened, these must be her elixirs for her curse. "Go ahead and take them." Luz jumped, almost dropping the elixir, she turned to face Warden Wrath, "I know about your mission, I just wanna ask. Why are you here?" He watched her, waiting for a reply. Luz took a deep breath before replying "I-I have to gain the the trust of the Owl Lady, s-so far she thinks I'm some random human that came through her portal by accident. She wanted me to help her with something here and in exchange she will send me back to the Human Realm." Luz explained, looking down at the elixir bottle in her hand.

"However, after I help her retrieve her companion's Crown of Power, I hope to convince her to let me stay at the Owl House." She finished, finally looking up at the Warden, she couldn't tell his expression through his mask, but he nodded. "Very well human, I will play a part in this trust mission you're pursuing. I will not go easy on you though, but go ahead and take those elixirs I don't need them here." And with that Warden Wrath left the room, leaving Luz to gather the ten bottles of elixir to place in her bag for safekeeping.

After awhile Luz walked down the hall, following the sounds of King's frustrated screeching. Once King came into sight, Eda caught up to Luz, dismounting her staff and walking beside the cursed human.

"Hey, I just checked. The warden is distracted, tormenting some tiny creature. He won't be coming around here anytime soon." Eda said confidently, Luz didn't say anything, to busy thinking about... Well, everything. Eda watched her, confused. They reached a towering door reading "CONTRABAND"

"My crown! It's close! I can sense its power!" King exclaimed jumping to fiddle with the doorknob that was as big as he was. "Aw, he gets so cute when he's thirsty for power." Eda chuckled, glancing at Luz, who sighed "It's not fair that they're all in here. They just want to be themselves. Why does everyone think that being a weirdo is so bad?" She clutched the strap of her bag tighter, thinking back to how much the Warden belittled her for being a human, how much pain he caused her, and how it only got worse when Belos cursed her.

King grunted the doorknob being thrown to the ground with a clink. King pushed open the door, cackling, and running through. "Come on, before he hurts himself." Eda said, there was a zapping sound followed by King yelping, Luz flinched at the sound, but continued to follow the Owl Lady through the door.

The room was empty save for a giant glowing pillar in the center. King rubbed his skull before charging at the pillar headfirst, succeeding only in launching himself backwards. "We have a human, remember?" Eda chuckled, "oh yeah!" King climbed up onto Eda's shoulder.

Luz took a deep breath and walked over to the pillar of green light. She looked up at it for a moment, putting a hand against the pillar before walking through it. Inside were piles of what can only be described as junk: everything from books to skulls to a dead fish in a tank. Atop the central one is a glowing crown, she climbed up the junk and grabbed the crown, feeling the cardboard texture.

"It's fake!" Luz said to herself, looking at the Burger Queen crown. She climbed down the junk pile and went through the pillar of light once more. She was incredibly frustrated, they risked their lives and sanity for a paper crown.

"My crown!" King exclaimed he jumped in place before taking the crown from Luz and placing it on his head. "Yes. Yes! I can feel my powers returning! You, there. Nightmare critter." He pointed to a stuffed rabbit with one button eye falling out of a box. "I shall call you Francois, and you shall be a minion in my army of darkness. Ha‐ha!" He picked up the rabbit and clutched it close, fixing the crown on his head.

Luz crossed her arms as she watched, "that crown doesn't give him any powers, does it?" Luz asked the Owl Lady, already knowing the answer. "Uh, no." Eda replied, Luz glared at her and Eda sighed "Oh, look at us, Luz. King and I don't have much in this world. We only have each other. So if that dumb crown is important to him, it's important to me. And besides, us weirdos have to stick together, you know?" She winked at the human, a warm feeling bubbled up in Luz's chest and she grinned.

"Well, we owe you one. Now, let's get out of here before the warden finds us and loses his head." Eda said, "too late." The Warden replied, his arm shapeshifting into a blade, and with an easy swing he decapitated Eda. Luz caught the Owl Lady's head and yelled in surprise.

"Ow! Oh, I hate it when that happens." Eda deadpanned, "how are you alive!?" Luz asked "Yeah. This just happens when you get older." Eda simply replied. "Finally..." Warden Wrath transformed his blade hand back into a normal hand "I have you cornered, Eda the Owl Lady." He took King's crown. "Weh?" King asked, looking to see who took his crown.

Warden Wrath walked closer to Eda and Luz. King followed him, jumping with his arms up and reaching for his crown. "My guards could never get you, but I knew if I took your pet's toy, you'd come running." He crushed King's crown in his fist "No! My power!" King yelled.

"What do you want with me? I've never actually broken any of your stupid laws... in front of you." Eda said, her head still being held in Luz's arms. "I want you..." he then pulled out a bouquet of flowers "to go out with me." He finished. "Wha.."

"What?" Luz finished Eda's sentence, out of all the things the Warden could have said, that was something truly unexpected... and gross. "You've always eluded our capture. You've always been the one who got away. I found that alluring." The Warden leaned slightly closer to Eda, "I hate everything you're saying right now." Luz stated bluntly.

"You stay out of this!" The Warden yelled angrily, tossing the bouquet over his shoulder, and turning his now free hand into tentacles to grab Luz, who dropped Eda's head, and held her above the ground. Luz panicked and kicked her legs trying to break free of Warden Wrath's grip.

"So how about it, Owl Lady?" He picked Eda's head up by the hair "The most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles and the feared Warden Wrath. We'd be the strongest power couple ever. I mean, it's‐‐ it's not like you can say no right now." He added.

Eda looked up at Luz, who was struggling to free herself from the warden's grasp and was in a full out panic, tears in the corners of her eyes as bad memories resurfaced. She looked to King, who got picked up by one of the guards and also struggled for freedom.

"Alright, Warden. You win. I'd just like to say something first. Come closer." Eda said, the Warden pulling her a bit closer "No. Just come a little bit closer. Just... Yeah, that's good." Eda then spat in his face, causing him to drop Luz, who yelled in a mix of surprise and fear. He wiped Eda's spit from his mask while Eda laughed, "Impudent wench! Don't you know how many germs are in your mouth? Blegh!" He gagged.

"Get over it. You had your guards stalk me, and then you cut off my head. I am not going out with you!" Eda yelled at him. "If you don't accept, then I have no choice but to des‐ Oh!" He was cut off as Luz whacked him on the head with Eda's staff, Luz watched in satisfaction as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Eda chuckled "Nice, kid!"

The two guards stepped up next to Eda's head. She glared at them as her body walked up behind them and dragged their hoods over their eyes. "Okay, we're going now." Luz ran forward, grabbing Eda's head. Eda's body frees King of the guard's grasp, and Luz grabs her by the waist and they all mount the staff. The owl at the head of the staff hoots and unfurls its wings.

"How do you activate this thing?" Luz questioned, Warden Wrath grunted as he started to get up. "Gun it, magic stick!" Eda yelled, the staff took off as Warden Wrath clamored to his feet "Owl Lady, I won't let you get away again!" He yelled.

His arms transformed into bundles of tentacles, which he used to chase after the staff. They flew past prison cells, Warden Wrath in hot pursuit. Luz had an idea, eyes brightening "Eda give me a hand!" She yelled over the wind, together they freed a few of the prisoners by lifting the levers as they flew by.

They burst through an outer door high in the center of the Conformatorium with a yell from Luz, they plummet. Warden Wrath exited right behind them, front flipping off the pillar. The staff and Warden Wrath fall toward the ground. Warden Wrath extends one of his tentacles, hitting the very back of the staff and launching Eda, Luz, and King off of it. They roll when they hit the ground, and Warden Wrath steps in front of them, his hand shifting into a blade again.

"Ow, my bones..." King complained, sitting up after the fall. Eda reattaches her head back onto her body, she reached into her hair and pulled out the key to the portal door "Luz... go back to the human world." Eda handed her the key before standing up from the ground and running towards Warden Wrath.

"But what about you guys?" Luz asked, slipping the key into her bag as she stood up. King stood up and ran to follow Eda "If you think this guy is bad, you shoulda seen her last boyfriend!" He quipped. "Not my boyfriend." Eda grabbed King and jumped back towards Luz, avoiding Wrath's blade-hands that slammed into the ground instead. "Go! Go!" She put Luz onto her staff, Eda slapped the bottom of the staff, sending it into the air. Luz yelled as she was lifted from the ground and into the air.

Warden Wrath took off his mask to reveal a face that's mostly mouth, which opened to breathe fire. Eda expertly drew two spell circles, one that caught the fire and one that launched it right back. The Warden slammed into the wall of the Conformatorium, creating a hole in the wall as debris fell on him.

Wrath stood up, brandishing his blade-hands and running at Eda again. The three prisoners peek out of the hole that he left in the wall. Luz flew down to talk to them. "Why are you guys just standing there? This is your chance to escape!" Luz said.

"The warden'll catch us. He always does." One prisoner, with many eyes, said dejectedly. "We belong here." The witch from before spoke, "Self‐doubt is a pwison you can never escape fwom." The small white prisoner, now sporting a black eye, finished, the others nodded in agreement.

"I know how you feel, maybe even more so. After being belittled and abused for who you are, you feel like nothing and no matter what you do it won't change. So, you have a different way of doing things, a different way of seeing things. That might make you weird, but it also makes you awesome. And weirdos should stick together, nobody should be punished for who they are, right?" Luz finished her speech.

They cheered but the witch had to ask "I've definitely seen you here before, why were you trying to hide that?" Luz sighed "I had to keep up appearances." She glanced back at Eda, King, and the Warden, spells and flames being cast as Eda and the Warden fought.

"You were cursed, right?" Luz turned back to the witch "whatever deal you made with the Emperor, he's not going to follow though. You know that, right?" She continued. Luz chose to ignore her, mounting the staff "let's kick some Warden butt."

She took off, the three prisoners following after her. Eda was thrown against the ground, and King being thrown into her arms a second later. Warden Wrath loomed over them, "No more running away, Owl Lady. Today I capture you once and for all!" He declared, before he was barrelled into by the prisoners and Luz.

"Luz?" Eda questioned as she watched the human join the prisoners in toppling over Warden Wrath. Each prisoner shouting something they were proud of themselves for.

"I eat my own eyes!"

"I think the world is a twiangle!"

"And I practice the ancient art of fanfiction!"

Tiny Nose, the small white prisoner, joins Katya the fanfic writing witch in holding Warden Wrath down while the Eye-Eating Prisoner grabs his arms and ties them together. He then flips Wrath onto his stomach, so he can see Luz descending on Eda's staff.

Luz touched the ground, standing a few feet from the Warden. "And I'm glad that I'm human, and I hate everything you've done to innocent people." Luz let the venom drip into her tone as she glared at her tormentor. Pulling a bunch of fireworks tied together from her bag, she threw it into the air and whacked it with Eda's staff, straight into Wrath's flaming mouth and goes off, sending fireworks into the air. He runs away, humiliated, fireworks still going off in his mouth, while the prisoners cheer.

Luz winced at the loud popping of the fireworks, sensitive hearing has it's ups and downs. She covered her ears with her hands and backed up towards Eda.

Eda, with King on her shoulder, walked closer to Luz, putting a hand on the human's shoulder. Luz looked up at the Owl Lady, taking her hands off of her ears for a moment. "That was actually one of her better breakups." King said, watching the fireworks. "Not a breakup, Anyway, let's bounce before any more monsters fall in love with me." Eda took her staff back from Luz and they all hopped on and took off into the sky and back to the Owl House.