Chapter 5: Messy Recipe

At the convention center, in the large auditorium, Izuku sat with his backpack and notebook, sketching the symbol of the Emperor's coven in a blank corner. A few days had passed, and while he was happy he was not skinned and eaten alive or anything like that, this did nothing to alleviate his boredom.

"Come on people," Miss Lilith clapped impatiently. "We have a lot of work to do today."

Some of the scouts under moving boxes and banners around groaned.

"And for the Coven Day Parade."

More groans.

"And the Day of Unity."

Even more groans disguised as excited whoops.

"But!" Miss Lilith used her staff to fly up, creating a raven of blue light with her magic. "We cannot show any weakness! We of the Emperor's Coven didn't work hard to quit when we're so close to our goal! We are the enforcers of the Emperor's will! So give it your very best!"

The blue raven exploded into bubbles of light, scattering and dissipating.

Izuku beamed, hurriedly scribbling down in his notebook.

"Telekinesis, elemental manipulation, illusions, verbal translation," Izuku muttered as he added to the list of known magical feats. "Is there anything magic can't do?"

"Give us a break," a scout set down a box next to Izuku, who was quickly fluffing up the hair around his ears to conceal them. "Apple Blood or Ghoul Aide?" He held out a couple juice boxes.

"No thanks." Izuku respectfully declined.

Steve shrugged, poking the straw through the top of the purple box as he sat down. "Hey, what coven you lookin' to join anyways?"

"Oh, um-" Izuku flipped through his notebook. "I'm not sure. I, uh, don't have a lot of magical ability...?" 'None' is still 'not a lot', right?

"No worries." Steven patted his head. "My younger brother's pretty good with construction magic. Well, more specifically, he can make a good statue of himself, but hey, gotta start somewhere, right?"

"Right." Izuku nodded, hearing Steve take a loud first sip.

"Erg," Steve shuddered and gave the box a shake. "Well if you end up in the Potions Coven, maybe try convincing Headwitch Vitimir to add more sugar to these drinks."

"Ahem." Miss Lilith was right behind Steve. "No unauthorized breaks."

"Just checking up on the little guy!" Steven set down the half empty juice box and stood. "See ya 'round, kid!"

Miss Lilith smoothed out her hair, she always seemed to do that, and smiled at Izuku. "A studious one you are, human." She leaned down a bit to see his notebook better. "Such a shame you aren't a witch, though. I'm sure you could have honed a great magical ability."

"Thanks, Miss Lilith." Izuku smiled. "Oh, speaking of studying, what magic can I learn from you?"

"Not much," Miss Lilith sighed. "Even the least powerful witch on the Isles can at least do a simple levitation spell."

"What about working with magical things?" Izuku asked. "Like plants? I don't need magic for gardening, do I?"

"The plants and animals on the Boiling Isles are far more dangerous than anything you have in the Human Realm. You'd be eaten by Slitherbeast or get caught in a wild patch of sleeping nettle without magic."

"O-oh, I see." Izuku sighed, looking at his notebook and crossed out those from his list of potential subjects to learn, which was already quite sparse, as he had little confidence in his sleight of hand, he was simply not built for construction, and his musical ability left much to be desired. There was only one item left. "What about potions?"

"Potions?" Miss Lilith echoed in some confusion before gasping in delight. "Oh, it's perfect! You know, my sister may be gifted with magic, but it makes those like us work smarter." She gestured for his notebook and began to neatly add to it. "We can start with a simple recipe. Stir some water, ice thistle, and fire bee honey together, and you get a fog brew. I'm sure we can procure these materials from the other booths-"

crash!

Miss Lilith cringed and quickly stood up. "What was that?"

The scouts all pointed at each other, causing Miss Lilith to sigh.

"Must I do everything myself?" She handed Izuku back his things. "Go get some materials while I clean this up.."

Izuku waited until her attention had been elsewhere before he hightailed it out of the auditorium, though had to make a quick turn back to grab the apple blood.

"Water, iceberry thistle, and fire bee honey." Izuku repeated to himself. "That doesn't sound too hard." He found a large booth decorated with the gleaming yellow banner of the Potions Coven. There, a tall gray figure with a large box on their back was talking to some scouts and referring to a scroll while others brought in a large cauldron. "Excuse me!" He came up to them. "I've been asked by Miss Lilith to get some materials for a potion."

They ignored him.

"Um," Izuku took half a step forward, speaking a little louder and fidgeting with the crystal ball necklace the Owl Lady had given him. "Is this thing working? I said I needed to get some things for Miss Lilith? The headwitch of the Emperor's Coven?"

The tall figure in black narrowed his eyes at him, waving him off, physically shoving him back.

"Eep!" Izuku was surprised by how much strength this lanky figure had and bumped into something much sturdier.

"Careful there, human." A deep voice surprised him. "Don't want to get into any trouble."

Izuku looked, seeing a man in fine purple with freely flowing goop-like hair. "H-Headwitch Darius!? What are you doing here?"

"Lost a round of Hexes Hold'Em," Darius shrugged. "You do know it's dangerous for a human to be wandering around the Boiling Isles, right?"

"Well, yeah, but Miss Lilith is going to teach me potions!" Izuku beamed. "Just as soon as I can find fire bee honey and ice thistle."

"Here." Darius traced a circle, tendrils of purple muck spawning from the spell and opening the box on the other person's back. When the tendrils came out, they now held a small cauldron, a wooden spoon, and a bundle of pale blue flowers. "You're going have to get the fire bee honey from Eberwolf." He paid no attention to the other person's clearly irritated grumblings as they began to reorganize the box's contents. "Though I'm surprised Lilith is even humoring this nonsense. Even a child can whip up a fog brew."

"Nonsense?" Izuku cringed. "J-just because a human hasn't learned magic before doesn't mean it's impossible, right?"

Darius shrugged. "She already has a top student in Amity Blight. Any witch can stir some leaves in water," a tendril had shut the box closed on the owner's hand. "But if you think you can make something special, be my guest."

The other witch made a gurgling growl.

"Figure of speech, Vitimir." Darius rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows once you get your coven brand, you're cut off from other types of magic."

Coven brand? The Golden Guard mentioned something like that before.

"I'll let you get back to your," Darius gestured to the materials in Izuku's arms, "tea time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find some dog food."

Darius made his leave, and Izuku, seeing the now named Vitimir glaring daggers at him, quickly turned on his heels and left, finding the booth for the Beast Keeping Coven rather quickly.

"Excuse me," Izuku found the Headwitch of the coven curled up in a large nest. "Darius said I could find some fire bee honey here?"

Headwitch Eberwolf merely opened an eye before closing it again, casting a spell. At first, no obvious effect appeared, but then a jar levitated into view.

"Oh, thanks!" Izuku caught the jar in his hands, surprised by the warmth of it. He saw Headwitch Eberwolf give a sleepy thumbs up, rolling over into a new sleeping position. With all his materials in hand, now was the time to go back towards the auditorium and start brewing with Miss Lilith. Each step forward though brought back some doubt.

Miss Lilith already had a student. Top student, Amity Blight, and had no reason to teach Izuku anything. A fog brew was simple, of course it should be on the first things he should learn if he was going to learn how to make potions, right? And if he could get even the simplest one right, it would mean it was possible for humans to learn magic. If a human can learn magic, it meant Izuku can find a way back to the Human Realm, without relying on the Owl Lady.

With this plan in mind, Izuku found an out of the way corner by the bathrooms and began to set up the materials there. While he did not know the exact instructions, Darius said it himself. Anyone can mix some water and leaves around and make a potion. He was somewhat surprised by a modern looking water fountain, but shook it off as he filled up the cauldron. The ice thistle was cold to the touch, almost like actual ice, which should have been obvious given its name. Next, fire bee honey. He grabbed the jar, opening it to reveal the honey was on fire. Quickly adding the fiery goo, he closed the container, set it as far away from him as he could reach, and began to stir. After a few moments, he opened the apple blood box, and took a sip.

"Hm-!" Izuku smiled. "Tastes like apple juice." And took another sip.

graaak!

The drink got caught mid-sip. Izuku felt something on his head, and when he regained his breath, he saw a shaggy white raven with a dopey smile perched on the edge of the cauldron.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Izuku tried to shoo away the bird.

Instead of answering, the bird just gave him a peck.

"Stop!" Izuku brushed off what looked like white dust. "This potion is my only chance to impress Miss Lilith! Magic bird dandruff is not part of the recipe!"

The bird made another noise and tilted his head.

"Because I'm a human!" Izuku showed his round and not-pointy ears. "If I can't prove myself to her, if I can't be better than her top student, then-" and saw the cauldron was overflowing with ice chunks, so he quickly tried to correct it with more fire bee honey. "Then I can't save Luz and get us home!"

sploosh!

The cauldron suddenly exploded with liquid and steam, knocking Izuku away. When he got up, the fog had taken the form of a monstrous bird, its wings spreading wide.

SKREEEEE!

Everyone was now in a panic, Izuku included, keeping the bird close-

"Ow!" It was then he noticed a burn on his arm.

With just one swipe of its wings, booths were reduced to splinters. Some witches tried to wrap it using their magic, but the vines, magic goop, and stone just went right through.

Someone had summoned a sort of purple ghost, getting in a good punch to its center. All this did was make the monster bird angry, letting out another scream.

"What is going on here!?" Miss Lilith's voice spoke over the commotion, coming out of the auditorium with a small army of scouts.

"Miss Lilith!" Izuku called out to her, wincing.

The witch narrowed her eyes, reaching out to Izuku with a glowing hand. This glow extended to the bird in his arms. Its body became more elegant, streamlined where its dopey smile replaced with an ominously focused unblinking gaze, flying out of Izuku's hands and towards Miss Lilith's with a twirl.

A few magical fiery blasts did little to nothing, the fire hissing when making contact with the ever-shifting form of the monster. Some of the embers scattered, setting most anything flammable ablaze. Which, with most of the materials around being made of cloth and wood, was anything and everything.

"Ah!" Izuku narrowly avoided getting hit. Instead, he was now in a blue bubble, zooming out of the danger zone. "Miss Lilith, wait-!"

"Hush, human!" Using her light raven trick again, the steam monster got pushed around a bit, but a fire erupted from the monster's chest, overpowering the raven until it burst into light bubbles.

'Fire?' Izuku gasped but saw the cauldron in its chest. "Miss Lilith! I have an idea-!"

"I said hush!" Miss Lilith made a larger circle with her staff and shot out a larger blast of fire. The fire missed, as did some bottles of whatever tossed by the tall figure from the Potions coven. The steam monster was more agile than it looked.

"I know what it's made of!"

"And what would that be!?" Miss Lilith brought the bubble forward, her eyes wide, eyebrows furrowed, and fire in her hand.

"It's supposed to be the fog brew!" Izuku finally got his words out. "I know you said we were going to make it together, but I wanted to try it by myself! I think I put too much fire bee honey, some apple blood got into it, or-or-or your bird's dandruff-?"

"Dandruff?" Miss Lilith sounded confused.

Izuku just pointed to her staff, much to her further bewilderment.

SKREEEEE!

Another burst of fire cast the convention room into more hot and humid fog, the blast strong enough to pop Izuku's bubble, and he landed on his burned arm.

"Ow!"

Miss Lilith got in front of him, twirling her staff first then swinging it, the arc of light becoming large icicles now shooting towards the monster.

The monster raised the temperature of its steam, melting the icicles and adding it to its own body.

"Hmph," Miss Lilith smirked. "No wonder it's so strong," she pulled her staff back like a spear, enveloping herself in blue light.

With a boom of cold, she had went flying towards the monster, aiming for the cauldron inside. The ice enveloped the monster's core, the monster itself dissipating. What once was a loud scream was now a fading squawk, before light exploded.

There, Miss Lilith floated elegantly amidst the bubbles of light and sparkling ice crystals, landing on the ground with barely a click of her heeled boots.

People began clapping and cheering, and for a moment, she seemed to be basking in the atmosphere before suddenly slamming her staff down.

"Get back to work! A little accident is not going to delay the Covention!" She was also holding the cauldron and gave it a wave for emphasis.

Witches and demons alike were quick to scurry around, cleaning any rubble, fixing what could be broken, and other such tasks.

"I see your new student is bit of a troublemaker, Clawthorne." Headwitch Darius was dusting off some soot from his cape as he approached. "Though I do believe that runs in the family." He said with a smirk.

"And what business do you have here, Darius? I thought these events were beneath your precious time." Miss Lilith stood as formally as she could, but her scowl was anything but.

"I owe the mutt a lunch." Darius nodded towards the Beast Keeping Coven, where a giant rat-eared worm had appeared and was pushing around debris. "Unfortunately, I don't carry dog food with me. But I hear witches of the Deadwardian era were fond of humans," he leaned down a bit towards Izuku, who now hid behind Miss Lilith. "Kidding." He stood upright. "You truly have your work cut out for you." He swished his cape and walked away. "Hopefully the Emperor will overlook your little pet project."

Izuku gulped. He was joking about being eaten, right?

"You." Miss Lilith grabbed his shoulder. "You are in big trouble."

In what he assumed to be a dressing room of sorts, Izuku now sat sheepishly on a stool.

"Endangering the public, property damage, embarrassing me in front of the other coven heads-!" She waved the broken cauldron around as she spoke. "For a potion a five-year-oldcan brew for-for-" she stammered, "an afternoon prank!? What were you possibly even thinking to accomplish with this?"

"I-!" Izuku rubbed his arm and winced at the burned skin. "I wanted to get your attention."

Miss Lilith's eyebrows practically flew up to her hairline in response, and he looked away.

"I know I'm a human and I don't have magic, but-" he tried to focus on anything, but his eyes were becoming blurry. "I just wanted to prove I can work hard like you-!" He looked up at her, her face unreadable, eyebrows furrowed, mouth in a frown. "I'm sorry. I'll..." he looked back down. "I'll stay out of your way from now on."

She was right. He risked so much, and people almost got hurt just because he wanted to feel good about himself. So much for being a hero, this incident alone would land him in jail until he was an adult and then some. What if Lilith sent him to the Conformitorium? What if he was petrified? What if-?

clunk

The cauldron was put on the vanity table.

Then, he felt her forehead on his.

"With this spell declared, let the pain be shared."

A sudden blue light erupted from his arm, a similar one appearing on Miss Lilith's. She winced but smiled.

"Wha-what!?" Izuku had no idea what just happened, but Miss Lilith was hurt somehow!

"It's a simple spell," Miss Lilith began to explain. "It heals any ailment by sharing it with another. It's not very practical, a standard healing glyph works just fine." She traced a circle of light, and from it, two papers with a symbol of a blue hand appeared. "But I find its best used to know someone's pain." One paper went to Izuku's arm, the other to hers, and she sighed. "I should take being your mentor more seriously, especially with such an earnest desire to learn something that shouldn't even be possible for humans. If you want to study magic, I'll do my best to teach you what I can."

Izuku smiled hopefully.

She smiled back, clapping. "Now! I will be busy with the Covention tomorrow but know that we will be working hard as soon as possible. I'll get you some new materials, and we can begin with a few simple elixirs. Remember, brewing is the easy part. Sometimes. Gathering ingredients is another story. Unless we already have it in stock, do not attempt to go out on your own until you have learned how to better navigate the Demon Realm. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Lilith." Izuku bowed his head but looked at cauldron. "Can I still keep that one?"

"Hm?" Miss Lilith looked to it, picking it up. "It's mostly busted but I don't see the harm in having a little memento. Let it be a reminder to the both of us, not to repeat our failures."

"Right." Izuku nodded, but was he looking too deep into her tone? It almost sounded as if she knew from experience.

She patted his head. "I'll send Steve to keep an eye on you. He has a little brother not much younger than you, I'm sure you two will get along." She turned and let out a snorting laugh. "'Palisman dandruff', ha! Ahh, I wonder how dad is doing..."

Her voice trailed off and Izuku let out a breath.

"She's not mad at me." He practically heaved out relief.

A small glow got his attention.

Reddish yellow, like a flame, coming from the cauldron.

"Whoa-!" Izuku almost tossed it, holding it out and waiting for the inevitable return of the steam bird.

But...

Nothing.

"Huh?" Izuku blinked. The cauldron was not even hot anymore.

He looked inside, seeing a sort of...symbol...? There, in the bottom of the cauldron. One large circle with two more inside, one bigger, the smaller sitting on top, both with curved triangles overlapping each other, almost shaped like teardrops.

Opening his notebook to the next page, Izuku copied the symbol.

"I wonder..." What was this symbol? Where did it come from? What did it-?

fwoom!

"Ah!" Izuku's pencil flew out of his hand in surprise. He quickly tried to pat out the fire, using the cauldron to snuff the flames with a loud clunk. After an agonizing moment of almost burning himself again, he carefully lifted the cauldron and checked for damage.

The page was gone, but thankfully the others were no worse for wear, at least no more than they already were burned from Kacchan's Quirk.

Izuku just sat in shock for a moment before beaming.

"Fire magic!"