Witches, Demons, and Heroes (The Owl House x MHA)

In a humbly sized room, a few books were scattered about. One on a bed, two on a nearby desk, and one was on the floor, held inside a chipped cauldron.

"Fire magic test number one," Izuku muttered. After another sheet had almost burned his main notebook, he switched to a smaller one for experiments. "When drawn and activated on paper, the paper gets consumed, so what if-" he inspected his handiwork, a bit shaky given it was on the slightly curved surface of a wooden spoon. "I use something a little bit sturdier?" But he was sure the lines were mostly straight.

He took a deep breath, holding out the spoon and tentatively poking it.

fwoom!

He realized a second too late he may have wanted to have the spoon pointing away from his face but thankfully only the top had engulfed itself in flames, leaving him with something akin to a torch.

"Aha!" Izuku held the spoon-torch in one hand while scribbling notes before the next sudden realization hit him: he was holding a wooden object currently on fire. "Oh-uhhh-uh oh-!"

"Oh student!" Miss Lilith's voice called, heeled footsteps approaching the door.

The teen tried not to yelp, frantically trying to snuff the flames, quickly using his pillow to smother it just as Miss Lilith entered.

"Ah, you're up." Miss Lilith smiled, seeing Izuku was seemingly just laying casually on the floor with some books. "I hope you're ready to see your spectaluar mentor at work today." She said with a swoosh of her hair.

"Yep!" Izuku strained a smile, hoping the smell of burning wood was too faint but the jury was still out on witches having enhanced senses compared to humans. "I'm just so excited to see all of the covens!"

"Oh-ho-ho," Miss Lilith chuckled and waved that off. "Don't worry about any of those." She clapped her hands. "As my student, you're guaranteed a spot in the Emperor's Coven with me!" she paused. "Sort of. You'll have to work extra hard, being a human and unable to perform magic."

Izuku gathered his things and followed her. Miss Lilith's home was picture perfect white, off white-cream, and gold. In the kitchen, he grabbed a, hopefully not at all magical or monstrous, apple from the fruit basket-

"Ow!" Izuku flinched as something pecked his hand. "Hey!" He sighed but noticed Miss Lilith petting the dopey bird. "So, theoretically speaking," Izuku waved his apple around. "What if, I don't know, if a human was able to use magic?"

"Impossible, really," Miss Lilith, with her magic, grabbed the apple, splitting it into pieces. With more magic, she had gotten some slices of screaming bread, smothered its screaming with peanut butter, then put the apple slices. One serving of this simple breakfast went to Izuku, while she took the other. "You don't have a bile sac."

"Well, yeah, but is it possible tooo-" he quickly flipped through the pages of his small notebook, each bearing the fire symbol. "Have an outside source?"

Miss Lilith hummed, finishing her bite. "Like a wand?"

"Something like that," Izuku looked to her palisman. "Or like your bird?"

"That is a...complicated topic." She smoothed out her hair. "Palistrom wood is getting harder and harder to come by. Not to mention that palismen are products of wild magic, which is forbidden by the Emperor."

"But you have a palisman...?" Izuku looked to the bird.

"We'll-!" Miss Lilith suddenly spoke loudly. "Get you a training wand." Then back to normal volume. "The sooner you start your training the better, seeing as you have quite a lot to catch up on. Witches your age are usually in the process of picking their future Covens."

"Right." Izuku nodded, hiding the symbol in his notebook and continuing to eat his breakfast.

At the convention center, where any remnants of the potion incident had mostly been cleaned up, save for some damage to a booth or two, Izuku followed Miss Lilith to where the Emperor's Coven would be presenting themselves.

"How did you join the Emperor's Coven, Miss Lilith?" Izuku asked.

Miss Lilith had been donning her Coven uniform, holding her raven mask in her hands. "To be great, you have to make sacrifices." She put her mask on. "I'll try to keep the presentation brief, and after that, we can look around the covention, if you'd like." She was about to move, her palisman in his more elegant staff form in her hand before she suddenly moved her mask back up and looked at Izuku with a pointed glare. "You are not allowed to leave unless you are with a scout in uniform, understood?"

Izuku gulped, looking to Steve next to him, who offered a friendly wave. "Yes, ma'am."

Miss Lilith adjusted her mask, making a 'watching-you gesture before disappearing. The distant noise of the MC in the auditorium announced Miss Lilith's arrival, leaving Izuku and Steve in the dressing room.

Izuku sighed, opening his notebook, absentmindedly doodling the fire symbol on the paper scraps.

"Ah chin up, kid." Steve lightly punched his shoulder. "Not everyone can be as talented as Amity Blight."

Every muscle in Izuku clenched at that name.

"Besides, it's not like you're missing much." Steve looked around the dressing room, rifling through a nearby rack of clothes. "It's the same thing every year. Every coven is trying to recruit someone, and if it's one of the main Nine, the lucky witch gets a brand. Oh! Look!" He held up a bundle of items, including a cloak almost identical to his own. "A coven scout costume! It even has the gloves and mask! Ah, but it's not witch's wool. Still, pretty accurate."

'Idea.' Izuku blinked, trying not to audibly gasp.

"Anyways, kid," Steve pulled up a chair and sat comfortably, kicking his feet up onto an ottoman. "Just sit back and relax." It sounded like he yawned.

Izuku looked to the door, then to Steve, his notebook, then swallowed what little pride he had.

"Hey, Steve-!" IZuku began, startling the scout. "Quick question, or five." He muttered under his breath.

"Shoot." Steve settled in again.

Izuku took a deep breath. "How exactly did the Main Nine covens come to be? How long ago were they established? How were they even picked from all of the potential magic specialties? If another specialty niche was discovered, could that coven apply to become part of the Main set of covens? Or does that go against the Titan's will? What even is a Titan? How do we know what its will is? That being said, is Emperor Belos really acting to the Titan's will or is he just using that to enact his own plans, whatever they may be? How did Emperor Belos come to power in the first place? What if-?"

For another minute, Izuku just rambled. Question after question, making conclusions even if there were logic leaps rivalling Pre-Quirk era Olympians, and kept going until he heard the tell-tale snore.

He looked over, seeing Steve had gone somewhat limp in sleep.

"Two for two," Izuku half-sighed in relief, and half-groaned from exasperation of that trick working again. Though with how much work the scouts have been doing, it was no surprise one would eventually be out like a light in no time.

As quietly as he could, he grabbed the costume and fled out the room, using another chair to keep Steve in.

"Sorry," Izuku put on the cloak, mask, and gloves.

He could attend the Emperor's coven's panel, but he had heard enough of Miss Lilith's rehearsing he could recite it himself word for word. So instead, he made his way out to the rest of the covention.

So many people, er, witches?, wandering about. So many covens to consider, each with their own charm. There were broad categories, such as cooking, history, fashion, and plenty of covens dedicated to various sized pets, along with more specific covens that may have been offshoots of each other, such as ones focusing on carnivorous plants or succulents.

"Wow," Izuku was making notes, now thankful he packed the smaller notebook. "This is amazing!"

"He's a very good boy and the king of demons!"

Izuku froze, hearing a familiar voice rocking him to his core. A few steps back, around a corner of booths, kneeling and coddling a canine-like being with a skull-like mask-

"Luz?" Izuku whispered, getting closer, seeing she was speaking to another girl with green hair.

"I'll tell you what, Amity," Luz stood up now, a fierce look in her eye as she spoke to the green haired girl. "It's one thing to say I can't be a witch-"

"'Cuz you can't." So that was Amity Blight.

"But it's another thing to bully my friends!" She stood taller. "Just like the Good Witch Azura said when facing down her rival Hekate at the Bog of Immediate Regret-"

No no no-!' Izuku ran forward, hoping his voice did not catch in his throat. "Amity Blight!" He got their attention, seeing Luz was already dramatically pointing too. "I challenge you to a Witch's Duel!"

The crowd around them gasped, Luz was confused, but Amity just walked over to him with a stony face.

"I accept." She leaned in close to his thankfully masked face because girl. "What's your name, scout?"

"I-" Izuku cleared his throat, hoping Luz was not recognizing his voice. "I am-er-Gilder! From, um-" he paused to stammer again. "Gravesfield!"

Oh no! Was there even a place with that name here!? He can see Luz recognizing the name, what next? His voice?

"Never heard of it." Amity was just so fascinated by her nails now.

"It's a-" Izuku's voice lowered, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck. "Small...town."

"Hm." Amity smiled, tilting her head before looking to Luz again. "Watch closely, human, because I'm going to prove that you will never be able to use magic like I do." She looked to Izuku one more time. "Meet me in the theater in five minutes."

"Five minutes." Izuku could feel the sweat down his back.

Amity walked away, a group of younger kids following her around.

"Hey!" Luz flagged him down. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Uh, nope! Bye!" Izuku quickly ran off. Could he run back to the dressing room? No, he had to follow through or Luz would be in even more danger. Amity was Lilith's top student. There was no telling how powerful she was even at this age. If she was like Kacchan...

Five minutes passed by and he was in the pit, taking deep breaths under the mask.

"Beloved citizens, the Emperor's Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the sort of witch we seek every year. Introducing," with a gentle hand on her back, Miss Lilith had her top student step forward. "Amity Blight!"

The crowd cheered.

"Versus-" Miss Lilith gestured to him. "Scout Gilder from-" she leaned to Amity. "Where did he say he was from again?"

"Some small town."

"Some small town!"

The crowd was less cheerful.

At the screaming ringing of the bell, the two were now face to face.

Amity began with an abomination. A large one.

"Whoa." Its size surprised her too. But why-? "Show me what you got!"

"Haha," Izuku chuckled a little. "I'm in danger."

He ran from the abomination, hearing the awful wet goopy footsteps stomping after him. Wait no, it just threw its own head at him, just barely missing but still caught his foot. He looked up at the headless mass recreating another head, stuck in what was once its other head. He looked up at the crowd, seeing Luz, her eyes filled with worry, fingers crossed on both hands while the Owl Lady next to her was casually playing with a ball of fire.

Fire!

Quickly, Izuku drew the symbol onto the goopy remains of a head, activating it just as the rest of it was about to step on him.

FWOOOM!

Taking the time to run, Izuku grabbed his small notebook, tearing out page after page, the abomination stepping onto each one and exploding upon contact.

"What the-!?" Amity growled.

"Uhhh, gotcha?"

The abomination groaned, pulling itself back together, now mad more than ever.

'Now would be a good time for some help, Kacchan!' Izuku thought as he tore out another page and held it symbol-out in his palm. He ran towards the abomination, reeling his hand back, his old friend's voice in his head. He reflexively shuddered feeling the goop on him because EW EW EW-

BOOOOM!

And was flung back by the force of the explosion.

"Ow ow ow," Izuku groaned as he fumbled around. "My notebook-!" He shot up, feeling a weight come off and the crowd gasping.

"A human?"/"But humans can't do magic!"/"But how did he do those spells?"

"MIDORI!?" Luz's voice spoke the loudest.

He then looked to Miss Lilith, seeing the furious expression on her face.

Izuku smiled nervously. "I'm dead."

"Whoa!" The Owl Lady hopped down next to him. "How the heck did you pull that off, green kid?" She picked him up and dusted him off.

"It doesn't matter because this match is over." Miss Lilith went to Amity's side quickly. "I thought I told you-"

"Now hold on there, Lily." The Owl La-...Miss Eda stepped forward, putting Izuku behind her. "Weren't you just telling me how your beloved and top student was going to mop the floor with someone so obviously outmatched?"

"I-" she seemed flustered. "Well-"

"Midori!" Luz had scrambled over the wall and down to the arena. "Oh my gosh! How are you here!? I thought you-didn't you-HOW did you do that!?"

"Urgh!" Amity's face was tomato red in fury. "Now there's two of you!?" She began to walk off.

"Wait, Amity-!" Luz tried to follow her, but looked back to Izuku, obviously conflicted.

"Hold it there," Miss Eda narrowed her eyes, going over to Amity, lifting her hair and pulled something from the back of her neck.

"Hey-!" That villain was going to hurt Amity-!

The huge abomination shrunk and crumbled, much to the shock of everyone present.

"A power glyph! From the Construction Coven!" Eda presented it as if it was a smoking gun. She then turned to Miss Lilith, glowing with glee and dancing. "Haha! Yes yes yes! Youcheated! Perfect prissy Lilith stooped down to my level!"

Cheated...? Lilith...rigged the duel? But she was the Headwitch! Why would she-?

Lilith growled. "I only cheated because Amity had to win! If it had been anyone else-"

"Like an 'inferior' human who, in your words, 'wouldn't stand a chance'?" Miss Eda used air quotes, tilting her head and wiggling her eyebrows.

Lilith said that? His supposed mentor looked to Amity first, and the girl looked absolutely crushed, rubbing her neck.

"I-" Amity turned heel and ran out of the arena.

"Amity!" Luz reached out.

"Let's go!" Izuku grabbed her wrist, hearing the argument growing in intensity behind them because right now, in front of him, someone needed help.

Outside the arena, in the main and large area of the covention, Izuku looked around.

"I just can't believe you're still here-!" Luz was rambling. "I-I-I thought for sure you-!" She gasped, an uneasy smile on her face. "Wait! You know magic! This is going to be awesome!" And then right back down to absolute fear. "Our moms are so gonna kill us." She gasped again. "How did you use fire like that? It isn't your Quirk, right?"

"I wish," Izuku sighed. "But no, it's magic! I think? I-" he reached for his notebook, but his hand came up empty, he looked up, seeing Amity. "There she is!" He saw her sulking in the dark by the-...oh no. "Um," he looked over to Luz, his face heating up. "I think you should handle this one."

"What? Why-?" Luz took a second glance, then noticed what he noticed. "Oh." She puffed herself well. "Well, now's a good as chance as any to learn how to 'girl talk', hehe." She deflated after taking a few steps, but then hugged Izuku. "I missed you."

Izuku froze, but practically melted into the hug. "I missed you too."

Luz went off to talk to Amity, and Izuku hung back, hearing booms behind him and people running out terrified.

He went back into the arena, seeing what he could only guess to be the true power of a witch. Eda was controlling a giant Hooty-like wooden pillars to attack Lilith. Lilith was easily dodging the pillars, destroying three with one blow while also attacking Eda. The Owl Lady blocked with an orange shield of magic. Lilith might have broken through, but her concentration had been interrupted by the palisman flying into her face. The little owl continued to pull her hair, while Eda spun her staff, creating another huge Hooty-face to capture Lilith.

"No!"

boom!

Eda was suddenly flung into the wall of the arena with a burst of fiery blue magic.

"Lilith!" Izuku called out and hopped over the wall, landing on his face. "Ow."

"Stand aside, human." Lilith spun her staff.

"No, please-" Eda sounded so exhausted. "Lily. The curse."

Both Izuku and Lilith stopped. Curse? What curse?

"Look at me," she held her face. "I can't keep up with it. I don't know how much longer I have left."

Izuku steeled himself. "Lilith, she's just saying that. She's a villain-"

"She's my sister." Lilith interrupted, stepping forward and holding out her hand. "Edalyn, I-"

A plastic bag suddenly hit Lilith in the face and heeled boots began to run away.

"Let's call it a draw-niceseeingyaGreenKidbyyyeee!" Eda was quick for her old age and left the arena while Lilith snarled in frustration.

"Stop!" Izuku began to run after her until a white staff stopped in front of him.

Lilith cleared her throat. Izuku squeaked, slowly looking to her and big trouble was the nice version of his predicament.

"You-" Lilith took one step and tripped, letting out a shriek.

"Lilith!" Steve ran into the arena, holding a compact mirror. "It's for you-!" He tripped, and the mirror flew into the air.

Izuku reached for it, seeing the symbol of the Emperor's Coven, and after some fumbling, managed to hold it steady towards the very angry witch who snatched it out of his hand.

"We are not done talking about this." She practically growled under her breath.

"I know." Izuku slinked back.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Steve led Izuku away.

...

...

Back at the Owl House, Luz had just finished doodling Midori along with some fire and a bunch of question marks. All the while, humming and hawing.

"Ugh," Eda had changed into her pajamas and settled onto the couch with a mug of apple blood. "Whatcha thinkin' there, Luz?"

"Midori used fire back there," Luz doodled some more. "He said it was magic, but he didn't tell me how."

"Maybe he's half witch!" King had found a notepad of his own to doodle in. "The King of Artists shall rise again!"

"Maybe," Luz sighed, facepalming. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he got his Quirk."

"Hey," Eda had just finished another big gulp. "You keep mentioning that."

"Midori?"

"No, the other thing." Eda yawned. "I mean, I know I'm a kooky old lady with some quirks, but you say it like it's something different."

"Well yeah," Luz looked to her doodles. "Back in the human realm, most humans have a power called a Quirk. Buuut, some of us...don't." She flipped to another page in her notepad. "It's mostly genetics. My mom can talk to birds," she paused, memories coming to her mind but shaking them off. "As for Midori, his mom can pull small objects to her, and his dad can breathe fire, so if Midori had one it would probably be one, the other, or some mix of both."

No. No? No. But could it? Quirks manifested anytime between birth and kindergarten. Sure, figuring out specifics about a Quirk or a Quirk getting stronger were not unheard of, like that one hero some decades ago whose float Quirk became flying, but for one to manifest in teen years? Was that even possible?

"Huh, no foolin'?" Eda sat up a bit more. "All those magazines make a bit more sense now. I just thought you humans were bored and made all that stuff up." She snorted a laugh.

Luz looked at her other doodles, noting Lilith's angry expression.

"Is Midori going to be okay? With your sister?" She asked.

"Yeah sure." Eda swirled her half full mug, then stopped, and shrugged. "But if he ever gets bored of all those stuffy rules, he has a place here to learn real magic."

"You mean doing a bunch of chores?" Luz chuckled, doodling a grumpy Amity.

"Yeah-hey!" Eda realized what she agreed to, making Luz laugh. "Laugh all you want, but a little possibility of death taught you a thing or two, didn't it?"

"All I've learned is how to get you to take your elixir without turning into owl beast food. I haven't learned even one spell. I'll be your age by the time I do!"

"And what's so bad about that? More time you get to spend here, right?"

Luz stayed silent, doodling herself, Midori, and Amity together.

"Well, if you'll excuse me," Eda set her mug down and fixed a pillow with an exhausted huff. "I need a nap."

"And I need offerings!" King demanded, getting on the coffee table and interrupting Luz.

"Okay okay," Luz picked up King. "How about some peanut butter sandwiches?"

"That will be acceptable."

Luz smiled and kissed his forehead.

Midori was on the Boiling Isles too, both learning from the Clawthorne sisters, one a rebel, one the picture-perfect leader-wait.

Did that make them rivals now?