The Owl House: Emperors and Thorns

I Was a Teenage Abomination

"Well, girls!" Eda elbows the two teens, who were just staring in utter confusion, "Did you ever in your lives think you'd see something as breathtaking as this?" she gestures to the corpse of a trash slug that was towering over the group. Flies could be heard buzzing around it.

Luz shakes her head, plugging her nose, "I don't like this."

"That is a strong smell." Cerise adds, covering her mouth and nose.

Eda walks over to the trash slug, "Yes, it doesn't get much more inspiring than the trash slug. It makes a home, a life from what others have thrown by the wayside." she pulls a rubber chicken from it's mouth, tossing it aside, "Until, blam, it gets blasted by a wave one day and croaks from all the salt. And then we get to sell the stuff it ate." she pulls out a pickaxe.

"Please don't make us." Luz cringes, cowering behind Cerise.

"I second that motion. I'm not selling anything from that." Cerise adds in disgust.

King walks away from them, unfurling a towel and setting it down, "Aw, come on. It's not every day you get to go to the dump and pick apart a garbage carcass."

"Ah, nuts to you all." Eda swings the pickaxe at the trash slug.

"Well...go ahead." Cerise nudges Luz forward.

"So, Eda..." Luz flinches as glass could be heard shattering, "What if we tried some new lessons for our apprenticeship? Like..." she flinches again when something crashes, "Read ancient scrolls or mix together potions, or‐"

Eda tosses things from the trash slug's mouth, "Ugh. That sounds like a bunch of magic school stuff."

"But there is a magic school." Cerise says.

"Wait...is there? Like, winding towers, cute uniforms, dark plots that threaten your life kind of magic school?" Luz asks in excitement.

"Come on, Luz. This isn't Hogwarts...or is it?" Cerise thinks to herself as she tries to compare the two.

"Mm‐hmm. What's worse, they force you to learn magic the "proper" way. But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable. And that's why it's so beautiful. I didn't finish school, and look at me!" Eda gestures to herself as flies fly around the pile of trash she was currently standing in, "Who wouldn't envy where I am right now?" she frowns for a moment when she watches their expressions fall, "Uh...Hey, here's a lesson." she drops her pickaxe, "A great witch is resourceful, like this." she takes their hands and stick them in a puddle of trash slug bile, dragging them back and forth before letting go.

Luz and Cerise continue digging until they pull out two things.

"Oh, hey. Greasy slime balls." Luz says.

Cerise raises an eyebrow, "It kinda looks like something else."

Eda closes the girls' hands around the slime balls, "Use your slime balls wisely, young witches." she stands up and heads back for the trash slug, "Back at it! We'll hit the stink nodes first."

"Actually, if it's okay," Luz starts backing away, "I think I'll head home and look at pictures of animals that are still...alive."

"And I'll read more about the flora and fauna of the Boiling Isles." Cerise follows after her, "You can never be too informed."