✰
[A/n: I should probably mention something so this chapter doesn't get confusing! This story is set before Season 2B, so Y/n doesn't know any lore past the episode 'Yesterdays Lie'. I thought it would add a little spice to the story if she gets to experience some parts of the story first hand without knowing beforehand! So if anything in Y/n's inner monologue sounds outdated, then that is the reason! Anyway have fun!]
[Should I go back now?
I probably should, by now the episode is over..
Well.. I-I don't really want to..
𝐈'𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐧.]
➶-͙˚ ༘✶
➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶
𝐌𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝.
Your head hurt. Not an unbearable pain, just a lingering one that would occasionally spike. You tried not to think anything of it, maybe it would just go away.
You snapped out of your haze when you see Luz filming King close up on her phone, seemingly trying to make one of those National Geographic documentaries.
"Here we have the most fearsome creature of the Boiling Isles.. The King Of Demons!" Luz narrates.
King is too preoccupied to care, one of your extra socks is stuck on his nose.
"Facing his natural enemy, Y/ns ducky sock!" She exclaims.
King eventually pops the sock off his nose and starts punching it mercilessly, thankfully not tearing the fabric.
"So, why did you call us here again?" Luz asks the demon.
"Oh yeah!" King climbs up onto a table to be eyelevel with the two of you sitting on the ground. "Human Luz, Human Y/n, the two of you have been so obsessed with witchcraft, but barely know anything about my kind! Prepare yourself for.."
King rips a small curtain off a corkboard, the board is covered with various demon propaganda. Legends, wives tales, and some pretty official looking information.
"Boom! Demons 101. Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone! Beings made to bring terror and deceit to all they invoke their indignation on!" King exclaims.
"With cute lil paws!" Luz adds in playfully.
"..And cute little paws." King sighs "We live only to create chaos and misery! Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive‐aggressive comments. Sometimes." He mutters the last part defensively, signifying that it was indeed a weakness for him at least.
You made a mental note to praise his efforts more. It was nice to see him so excited to teach you and Luz something new. It seemed genuinely interesting too! Back in your Current Reality, you had good grades, but weren't super interested in any particular subject. To simplify, you were an exceptional student, but school was still a drag. However, that all seemed to fly out the window here. Maybe it was because you were shifting here by choice, or because you were influenced by Luz, but you were so eager to learn about the history here.
Is the Titan the Boiling Isles is residing on the only one in this vast steaming ocean?
You know from a certain character that hasn't been introduced yet that Witches can indeed be born without magic, does that mean those Witches are basically human? What's the difference? The ears?
Why doesn't magic work in the Human Realm? What is the deciding the factor as to when or when it doesn't work? Is it in the air? Or maybe it has something to do with auras?
Glyphs! They are so interesting to you! You cant wait to experiment with them once they've been introduced! There is Light, Ice, Fire, Plants, and Invisibility, but are there more? is it possible to create more? You can combine elements like Fire and Ice to create steam, but what happens if you combine elements that don't have relation to each other, like Plants and Invisibility? Do you get invisible plants? or would it just not work?
Before you knew it, your headache spiked again. making you snap out of your inner monologue.
"No! I promise I was paying attention! see? this is my paying attention face!" Luz exclaims to the demon in front of the two of you.
Ah, well so much for learning about Demons 101.
"Y/n, you were listening right?" King asks, well more like pleads you.
"Uh-! Yes of course! The- Uhm.. Snaggleback!" You sputtered.
King sighs. "I guess that's good enough."
Suddenly, the sound of thunder can be heard, making you flinch.
You aren't necessarily afraid of thunder, it just caught you off guard, and it certainly wasn't great for your headache.
"Looks like it's gonna rain." King comments.
"I love the rain!" Luz gasps
She stands up and scrambles to the door looking at the cloudy sky.
You trail behind her and join her under the doorframe.
"I love the first few drops in my hair. Remember when mamá and [Mothers Name] would take us to that pond by the woods when we were younger, Y/n? One time when we were pretending to fish with those sticks we found on the ground, it started raining and instead of trying to find some cover, or wanting to leave; You convinced them to let us run around for a little while. we both ended up getting sick from the cold afterwards, but that didn't matter." Luz chuckles lightly.
You had a fuzzy memory of that event, it was a little jarring to hear Luz say your mothers real name.
"I've loved the rain ever since that day, it's always fun to think about how silly you and I were as small little greasy toddler babies."
You laughed at her way of speaking, but winced shortly afterward.
"Hey are you okay?" Luz asks you, slight concern lacing her features.
"Ah, yeah sorry, I-I just have a small headache." You smile at her warmly.
"Aw I'm sorry, maybe we can convince Eda to 'borrow' some Advil from the convenience store?" She offers.
"Oh, no it's okay! I don't want to make Eda use her portal more than she has to!" You scratch the back of your neck nervously.
"Hm, if you say so." Luz sneakily replies.
She starts to walk out into the sparse rain before you stop her.
"M-Maybe we shouldn't go out there, we don't know what the rain is like here, I mean it is called the Boiling Isles.." You trail off.
Before Luz can respond, she's interrupted by Eda running into the house screaming about boiling rain.
As she runs inside, she crashes into both you and Luz who were still standing in the doorway.
"Oh boy! That was close! Good thing no one got hurt!" Eda says, relieved.
Meanwhile you and Luz lay on the floor painfully, both groaning in pain.
✰
King puts a colorful Band-Aid on your shoulder where an already forming bruise can be seen.
He puts another one on Luz's forearm before putting one on his nose. "Now we're boo boo buddies!" King exclaims happily.
Luz has a meltdown over how cute King is while you turn your attention to Eda, who is just outside the door, under a forcefield.
"The weather here is kinda cool!" You comment to the older witch as you approach the door frame.
"Yeah, we don't really have weather, more like plagues, gorenados, shale hail, and painbows. Sometimes all of 'em at once! That was a weird Summer."
"A Painbow is like a rainbow, but looking at it turns you inside out!" King chimes in.
"Okay everyone, until the rain stops, there will be no nocturnal adventures tonight, so don't even think about sneakin' out you scamps!" Eda calls to the others inside the house.
"And if the rain doesn't get you, the Snaggleback will!" King exclaims, holding up a picture of the weird snail monkey from the cork board. "They wander the rain! feeding on boiled tourists!"
"Well, whatever the case, this force field spell should protect the house from boiling rains and made‐up demons." Eda states confidently.
"Hoot! Well hurry it up! This rain is ruining my precious antique shingling!" Hooty cries.
"Yeah yeah, I get it."
Eda finishes her forcefield spell with her staff while Luz looks amazed.
"Wow! Someday I'd like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady. Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age. Hey, why do they call you the Owl Lady, anyway?" She questions frantically.
"'Cause I'm so wise." Eda smirks.
"She coughs up rat bones!" Hooty's distant voice can be heard from another part of the house.
"She gets distracted by shiny objects!" King adds.
"I do not!" She turns away defensively.
King takes out one of those clicky pens with lights on the top of them.
Eda lunges for the pen while muttering something about needing it for her 'nest'.
"You have a nest?! I want a nest! Nest party!" Luz exclaims excitedly
Eda stands up tiredly "Ugh, that forcefield took a lot outta me." She groans.
"Uh‐oh. Moving a little slow. Age finally catching up to ya?" King snarks to the witch.
"You aren't old enough to know vowels, don't try and trash talk me, young man." Eda demands playfully.
Luz nudges you excitedly "This is perfect, Y/n! Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach us a spell or two!"
King turns around to face the two of you.
"B-But.. don't you want to finish the lesson? I was going to let you scratch a demons tummy! Me!" King mutters sadly.
"Oh- Uh- Sorry King, but.. magic!" Luz brushes him off and giddily strides over to The Owl Lady.
King slumps over, visibly upset.
You kneel down to the demon.
"We can continue our lesson as soon as Eda teaches us something, one spell max. Is that alright?"
"But.. who knows how long that's gonna take? I thought you and Luz were interested in my culture..." King looks away sadly.
"We are! I promise we are, it's just there are a lot of things to explore in the Boiling Isles, and the two of us are so eager to learn about it all! Though, the way we maneuver between each topic may seem hectic, I promise we are just as interested to learn about your culture as everything else!"
King hugs you tightly "Thanks, Y/n. I appreciate it."
"Anytime, bud.".
You direct your attention to Eda and Luz, with King still in your lap.
"..And your hair is like-Girlll!"
"I'm not teaching you guys magic tonight, I'm sleepy. I'm a sleepy little owl." The older witch groans as she hides herself in her blanket.
"But Eda! How am I supposed to earn my witch's staff if I don't know any spells?" Luz whines.
"Sleepy, Sleepy."
Luz looks dejected for a moment before her face morphs into that of a mischievous one.
She takes the sparkle clicky pen out of her pocket and starts taunting the sleeping witch.
"Sparkle thing." Eda whispers, her eyes full of stars.
"Oh? This?" Luz asks innocently.
Eda swipes for it, but promptly misses and falls off the couch.
"Teach me one- hear it, one spell, and I'll give you the sparkle pen." Luz smiles cheekily.
"I respect your cunning, but I also hate you for it." Eda mutters.
✰
"Now.." Eda begins.
You and Luz sit criss cross in front of The Owl Lady as she lectures.
"If you want a witch's staff like mine, don't make me repeat myself. Witch's staffs have power embedded into them."
She holds up Owlbert for the two of you to examine.
"But before one is earned, each witch must know how to cast spells on their own. Now.." She throws her staff on the couch behind her. "Tonight I will show you how to create.. Light!"
Eda draws a circle in the air with her finger, a thin, bright line following her movements. As she finishes the circle, it merges together to make a large ball of light.
Looking at it almost hurt, it was bright, but definitely not at bright as say, the sun.
The ball disappears as fast as it appears, quietly exploding into small particles of confetti that disintegrate shortly afterwards.
You look at Luz, seeing the small particles land in her short hair, she was just as amazed as you were. You wanted to take a picture of her like this, too bad your camera was upstairs.
"Yawn!" King ruins the ethereal moment as he holds up a crude drawing. "Who needs another spell lesson when you could be learning about all the silly ways a demon could kill you?! Look how teethy! Bite bite!"
"Shh, I need to focus, King." Luz brushes him off.
"Some silly humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that's stupid. Everything comes from something. Let me ask you, kids. Where do you think magic comes from?" She asks either of you.
"The heart?" Luz asks hesitantly.
"....."
"...."
"....."
"Actually, you're right!" Eda exclaims.
"Huh?!" Luz gasps, a little surprised that something in this world is as mystical and wonderful as she hoped.
"No really!" Eda reaches into her big, poofy hair and pulls out an old piece of parchment.
"It comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch's heart." She points to the weird growth next to the drawing of the heart.
"Oh nasty! ..Can I keep that?" Luz asks.
"No!" Eda shoves the parchment back into her dumpster of hair. "Anyway, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell."
Luz's smile deflates. "But how can I, lil ol' Luz, do magic if I don't have a magic ball- I mean, bile sack?"
You snort suddenly, only to see Eda and Luz staring at you, a playful smile tugging at the corners of Luz's mouth.
"Sorry, sorry. Continue" You shamefully look down and fiddle with your fingers in your lap, a little embarrassed.
"Actually, I'm not sure." Eda replies, referring to Luz's previous question.
"What?"
"I know witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how." Eda laughs to herself.
"Eda!" You and Luz scold in unison.
"Don't worry! Y/n is smart, you'll figure it out!" Eda cracks her back "I need to lie down."
"That's it? Wait! I need to see you do the circle thingy again! I'll record it on my phone this time!" Luz pleads.
✰
"Smile! You're on camera! One more spell won't kill you right?" Luz persuades.
"Luz.. maybe we should give Eda a break."
"No, I'm fine. Now you see..." Eda draws a shaky circle as she starts to fall asleep. "Spell circle is key because...---" The circle disappears as she passes out from exhaustion.
"Looks like 'one more spell' killed Eda." King brushes off.
Luz yelps in surprise as you gasp, of course you knew it would happen, it was just a little jarring to see, you hoped Eda didn't bonk her head too hard or something.
"W-We should get help- right?!" Luz asks you.
"Um, boiling rains?" King asks rhetorically.
"Let them try, it'll be funny" Hooty appears spontaneously and whispers to King.
"W-What if she's dead?! What if I killed her?!" Luz panics before she's interrupted by the sounds of Eda's incoherent mumbling.
All four of you collectively sigh in relief.
"Remember when her head got cut off last week? That woman can survive anything. She's probably just tired from staying up all night chasing shrews and voles." King tries to act like he wasn't worried, but you could tell he was a bit concerned when she passed out.
"We can't just leave her on the ground, Y/n, get her other arm?" Luz asks you and you oblige.
Luz grabs her left arm, and you grab her right. King helps by dragging her feet.
It was very hard getting her up the stairs, but eventually you three made it.
When you enter Eda's room, you take a good look around, it was probably one of the few times you'd be able to see it.
There was a big nest on the left side of her room, which was obviously her bed, it looked quite uncomfortable, but whatever floats The Owl Lady's boat. The nest was perched next to a small window with plants and chimes in the frame. The room was quite empty, actually. There wasn't anything in the center of the room, more so near the walls, minus the wall in the back of the room, with the large, striking, stained glass window that was the main focal point from the outside of the house.
You had to hand it to Hooty, he was indeed a very pretty house.
As you and Luz set the tires Owl Lady into her nest, a loud noise of thunder strikes, making you wince. The thunder here seemed a lot more intense. Well, obviously.
"Sorry for pushing you, Miss Eda. Please don't hurt me when you wake up!" Luz whispers frantically.
"Should I bap her?" King asks.
"Just let her sleep, you goober. We should probably go downstairs and stop loitering in her room." Luz pats Kings head.
Luz gently grabs your hand as she walks out of Eda's room.
Luz pulls out her phone and stands in the middle of the living room.
You and King sit down on the couch as Luz tries to replicate Eda's light spell. King is busy scribbling away in a notebook.
"This is all she does! Why are you so cryptic, Owl Lady?" Luz groans.
King stands up from the couch and turns to you "Hey, you know what's really cryptish? Let me tell you about the most spine‐chilling demon!" He shoves his notebook in your face. "Smoochy‐pie the Sweetie Baby! He's... Well, he's a lot more threatening than his name implies.." King explains as you examine the weird fish drawing.
"Not now, King. We have to concentrate." Luz brushes off.
You noticed Luz was being awfully dismissive today towards King.
"..Why do you want to learn magic so bad anyway..?" King pipes up after a moment of silence.
Luz is quiet for a moment before she sighs and sits down next to King, him being in the middle of either of you two.
"I.. was a nobody back home. Becoming a witch is my chance to finally prove that I'm not just some weird screwup. Do you know how it feels to not be taken seriously?" Luz vents.
"Y/n, I know you felt that way a bit too.. I'm sorry if hanging out with me ruined your reputation. I hope I'm not holding you back from making new friends." Luz turns away from you sadly.
"What? No Luz! I never felt like you were holding me back! I-I like being with you! I promise!" You stutter.
Did I make her feel like a burden?
Isn't that the story of my life.
I really just bring everyone down. Everywhere I go.
I always have to make things about myself.
Why am I so self centered?
Why am I so selfish?
Maybe I don't deserve to be here.
"Well that's nice to hear, but don't hesitate to take some time for yourself if you need. Okay?" Luz smiles warmly.
"Of course!"
You had to start masking your emotions better. You were bringing everyone down. You had to do better.
You need to do better.
You glance at King. He was already looking at you, he looked a bit concerned. You brushed it off for now.
He changes the subject suddenly.
"I-I have a theory on how to make your magic work.. Everyday, I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this elixir, then she always gets a boost of energy. I think that's where she gets her powers, and I know where to get some." Kings tone started off as meek, but gradually became more confident.
"Really!?" Luz smiles in excitement.
"Sí."
Luz pulls the demon into a hug.
"Thank you so much! You're a prince!"
King pulls away from the hug to correct her. "King. I'm King."
✰
King leads the both of you into Eda's dark room, where she lays in her nest sleeping deeply.
King yoinks the elixir off her nightstand and prompts you and Luz to drink it.
"Let's drink it downstairs, I don't want to wake her up." Luz states as the three of you make your way back down the stairs.
You get yourself settled in the kitchen, sitting next to a window to check on the storm.
As Luz was monologuing you started to space out.
You hoped Willow and Gus were doing okay in the rain. You wondered what they were doing right now, probably having family time or something.
You always had a tendency to wonder what side characters were doing when they weren't present in the episode. It probably wasn't all that interesting though. There wasn't much you could do in this rain.
You were harshly brought out of your inner monologue by the sound of glass breaking.
"Oh god! Oh no! No no no!" Luz exclaims. She dropped the potion after a clap of thunder decided to strike.
"I-I'm sorry, Y/n! I ruined our chance!"
"It's okay! I'm sure we could ask Eda for more when she wakes up!" You rub her back comfortingly.
Luz takes a few deep breaths and smiles at you.
"Yeah! Who even needs a light spell when we have a ton of lamps?" King tries to reassure her.
Suddenly, the lights cut.
You mentally braced yourself for this episode, you assumed it would be a lot more terrifying than the Disney version. You're getting more anxious by the second, the feeling of dread fills your body as you know what's about to come.
King sighs. "Hooty controls the house lights, he was probably just calling my bluff." King groans out.
You jump at the sound of a sudden crash somewhere in the house, followed by Hootys distressed screaming.
Luz grabs your hand instinctively, probably more for her reassurance than yours.
The three of you slowly tip toe out of the kitchen and peer into the living room. Its pitch black other than the light from the storm outside pouring into the room from the wide gaping hole that used to be the front door.
Hooty is seen on the ground, he seems to be fine, just a little rattled.
You search around for the beast that made this mess, only to figure that it must have fled upon seeing the three of you.
Luz runs to Hooty to make sure he's okay.
"Hooty! are you okay? what was that? Whatever did this escaped into the rain.. how could it survive that..?" Luz ponders.
"Oh my gosh. The Snaggleback! It feeds during the rains! It must have stumbled across our house and seen us inside!" King squeals.
You hear the beast break into another park of the house with its shrilled cry.
"T-This is terrifying.. Why do you look so happy?!" Luz questions King.
"Because this could be a lesson! This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close and personal!" King squeals.
"What!? We can't go towards those creepy sounds! No way!" Luz exclaims.
"What if Eda gets eaten? She's upstairs and defenseless because you knocked her out!" King accuses.
"King, that's manipulative." You tell him quietly.
"Sorry."
✰
So here you were, wearing a pillow on your chest, and wielding a hockey stick, ready to defend yourself from the Owl Beast.
Luz was in similar attire to you, leading the way to Eda's room.
As you reach her room, you take note of the scratch marks along the wood grain of the floor.
Much to Luz's dismay, Eda's nest was completely empty. Scratch marks decorating her belongings.
"You guys stay here! I-I'll go get my demon book!" Before you could respond, King was already running out of the room.
Luz takes a second to relax as King leaves.
She's about to say something to you, but you urge her to whisper.
"How did that thing get past the forcefield?" Luz whispers to you.
"I don't know.. Maybe the forcefield weakened after Eda went to sleep?" You pondered, though you already knew the answer.
"Maybe, I just don't see Eda's magic working that way though.."
You open your mouth to respond but get cut off by the rapid footsteps of a huge animal.
The Owl Beast breaks down the door to Eda's room, forcing you and Luz to hide in the dark. There wasn't really anywhere to hide, you just had to hope the beast didn't see you in the dark.
The green hue from the boiling rainclouds reflected off of the giant animal, her black eyes searching the darkness for any sort of heat signature.
As she started to approach your figure hiding aimlessly in the dark, your breathing started to quicken.
No..
No, no, no
I can't be doing this now..
I can't!
As The Owl Beast veered closer to you, your vision was getting slightly blurry. Her deep black eyes were piercing into your soul, her bared teeth were slowly becoming more and more visible.
"I-I.." You quietly heaved, hating yourself for not being able to remain quiet.
"I.. can't.. I can't I-" You were breathing so heavily that you couldn't move.
You couldn't do this right now.
This was too much..
Your headache was pounding, you felt like you were going to pass out.
The Owl Beasts expression seemed to falter for just a moment.. she seemed... disturbed...?
"..(Safe-word).." You gasped suddenly.
✰
You sat up in a cold sweat, you were in your bed.
Your bed.
You felt like it had been forever since you had been back in your bed, but it had only been a night. A long night.
Your headache felt better, it was almost completely gone.
You slowly laid back down on your bed, feeling the soft fabric beneath you. It was a weird change of environment. One moment your life is in danger, and the next you're reminiscing over how much on an adrenaline rush that experience gave you.
Your shift almost made you forget about your day with Ainsley.
Almost.
Your heart ached, thinking about how you must have done something to spark her sudden outburst.
You didn't really know how to handle this, she is your best friend.. your only friend. You didn't know how to talk to people, Ainsley usually did all that for you.
Whenever you did make friends, Ainsley would eventually open up about things they said to her, they were usually really cruel, so you would cut them off. Usually without confronting them. You didn't know why you seemed to attract these kinds of people. They were clearly only there to get something out of you, and they hurt Ainsley in the process. Maybe she needed a break from you.. but why wouldn't she discuss that with you? Were you that unbearable to be around?
You sighed, you knew most of that inner monologue was probably just you overthinking. You would deal with that problem when the time comes.
Now that you were in a clearer state of mind, you figured you were ready to finish the episode now, after all, what's the worst that can happen? You can't be hurt, you can't die, so you are basically out scot free!
You cleared your mind and started counting up to 100.
✰
When you regained consciousness, your headache also returned. Though it was definitely less intense.
You looked at your surroundings, your nerves spiked once you saw the Owl Beast enter your line of vision, though, she seemed different. She wasn't actively trying to attack you or anything, it was almost like Eda was in control for a moment..
Before you could examine her further, Luz took the chance to bap her with her hockey stick harshly and grab your arm to run the both of you out of the room.
The Owl Beast snaps out of her trance, letting out an enraged cry in pain before barreling after the two of you.
As you almost reach the door, Luz trips on one of the deeper scratch marks in the floor, her shoe flying off as she falls to the ground.
You grab both of her wrists in a panic and drag her out the door so she could get on her feet. The both of you run out into the hallway to find a place to hide.
You run around the hallways, trying the give the animal misdirection.
After throwing the beast for a loop, you end up back inside Eda's room. Hopefully she doesn't return.
As you and Luz finally get the chance to relax, you hear Kings quiet pitter patter in the hallway.
Luz scoops him up from outside the room and shuts the door quietly.
"L-Luz..? Y/n..?" King looks relieved as he tries to calm down.
"King! We're so glad you're safe!" Luz hugs him tightly.
"Where did you guys go?!" King questions frantically.
"While we were waiting for you, that owl- beast- thing- nearly killed us! I ended up losing my shoe.." Luz explains.
King gives Luz her shoe back, but sees something on the bottom of her foot.
Its a small tag, it reads 'Keeps the Curse at Bay'
"Oh my Titan!" King pulls out the other half of the tag.
"An Elixir a Day Keeps the Curse at Bay!" King shows you the full tag.
"What?.. does that mean..?" Luz trails off.
"I-I was wrong the whole time! That's no Snaggleback.. That creature is-"
A giant clawed hand breaks down the door, entering the room you're in.
"..Eda?" Luz asks to no one in particular.
You didn't blame them for not knowing it was her, She looked very different, the only iconic features she had was her poofy hair and her small gold fang.
Eda roars at Luz, seemingly still ticked off after getting beaten. She gets ready to pounce, getting on her hind legs while screaming loudly.
Luz jerks back harshly to get out of her wingspan, but her phone falls out of her pocket, setting off a bright flash.
That bright flash promptly blinds the Owl Beast, giving Luz enough time to drag both you and King out of the room and into a random broom closet.
"Oh man. Did you see her eyes? Terrifying." Luz remarks.
"Don't you see? The elixir I gave you doesn't give Eda powers. It prevents her from turning into that thing. She's turned into a nightmare and it's all my fault. I'm so sorry, guys... I‐I just wanted you to be into demons like you're into magic. I don't have many friends, and no one even pays that much attention to me. I-I thought maybe if I taught you, finally someone would care about creatures like me..." King looks dejected as he hides his face in his hands.
You pull the small demon into a hug as he sits in your lap.
"Well.. Let's finish our lesson then!" Luz smiles warmly.
"...huh?"
"Well, Eda turned out to be a horrifying demon! Whom we desperately need to save, and who knows more about demons than the best teacher in the world?" You smile down at him.
He instantly brightens up at your statement.
Luz hands him a pen and he quickly gets to work on some loose parchment in the closet.
"Hmmm, lets see..." King starts doodling on the parchment. "She was definitely bigger.. covered in feathers, and had gigantic black eyes. Demons with black eyes are usually sensitive to light because their pupils can only process little bits at a time, and because of how difficult it is for light to enter their eyes naturally.."
"Wow, you really know your stuff! I've never heard you use such big words before!" Luz exclaims.
"Thank you, thank you.. Wait a minute, That's it! Luz! use your human wonder rectangle!"
"I can't, my camera is all blasted. Do you have yours on you, Y/n?" She asks.
You feel around your pockets but can't find anything.
"No, sorry. I must have left it in our room.."
"hmm.. then what about a light spell?" King ponders.
"You saw me, I can't draw circles in the air like Eda.." Luz sighs as she plays the spell video again.
She peers down to her cracked phone and gasps.
"What is it?" You ask, though you already knew the answer.
"T-There's a pattern in the spell circle!" Luz snatches a small piece of parchment and places it over her phone, tracing the glyph pattern.
"Here, look.." She's about to show you the pattern before the parchment folds in on itself and forms into a small ball of light.
"Woah," You gape, it was just as beautiful as when Eda did it.
Luz was looking at the ball of light, until she saw the longing look in your eye as you gaze at the light, it reflects off your hair and illuminates your face. It makes the color of your eyes illuminate in the light. That's when she really realizes something about you.
You're..
"Pretty.." Luz mutters.
"Yeah.. it is.." You smile warmly.
Her face flushes after she realized she said that out loud, thankfully you were oblivious enough not to notice it.
"Could.. I try?" You ask quietly. For some reason you thought she would say no, which is silly to worry about in the first place.
"Of course!" She hands you the parchment as well as the pen.
This was it, your first glyph!
You hesitantly drew the symbol on the paper. Hopefully Luz didn't notice you drawing it from memory.
You tapped the paper and as expected, it formed into that same glowing ball.
You made that! You just did magic!
Your excitement is halted by the sound of Eda letting out another shrill cry in the distance.
"What do we do now?" King looks up at the two of you expectantly.
Luz thinks for a moment.
"I think I know how we get Eda back. Will you boo boo buddies help me?" She asks either of you.
"Sure!" You giggle.
"I'm kind of over that nickname, but okay." King acts like he isn't amused, but you could tell he was happy to be included.
✰
"Okay quickly Y/n! She'll be here any second!" Luz directs you. You were in charge of drawing a giant light glyph on the wall while Luz kept lookout for Eda.
You heard another cry from Eda in the distance.
"Done!" You exclaimed as you drew the last line.
"Ahhh! Okay here she comes!" Luz runs over to you
King comes running into the hallway, with Eda following shortly behind him.
As Eda comes barreling down the hallway towards you, her fierce snarl threatening to tear your face off, You and Luz touch the glyph, making it light up the entire house from how big it was.
You could barley see anything, the only indicator of the glyph working was Eda's scream of agony.
When the light finally calmed down, The Owl Beast was unconscious on the floor, presumably from the sensory overload because of the light.
"So.. What do we do now..? Do we drag her back to the nest..?" King asks.
"King, go check if she has any more elixir in her room. Luz and I can start dragging her." You direct.
Luz was surprised to see you taking action, but she was proud of you for it, you seemed to do well under pressure. Well.. in some circumstances. If only she knew.
King runs off to Eda's room while you and Luz try your best to push Eda in the same direction.
"Be careful, she might wake up if we are too rough." You explain.
"Guys! She has so many!" King calls from the end of the hall.
"How did you know she would have more, Y/n?" Luz asks curiously.
"Ah-! W-Well II just thought if she's been drinking that elixir for a while.. there were probably more for her to keep the demon down..?" You rambled, hoping Luz would buy your excuse.
"You're so smart, slug! What would I do without you?" Luz gushes.
"Eheh.." You could think of a few things..
King comes back with a couple small bottles of the golden elixir.
"Hmm, okay. King, give Eda that bottle. It'll be easier to bring her back to her room while she's... well not human... but.. smaller?"
✰
"Ugh.. What happened..? My mouth tastes like roadkill.." Eda groans as she sits up in her nest.
"We found some extra potions in your closet." King explains.
"King? King! You stole my potion? Why I oughta--" "Shh! Over there!" King shushes Eda and points over to the corner of the room.
You ended up grabbing your camera from your room after you put Eda in her nest.
You and Luz were taking turns making glyphs, tens of small balls of light float around the two of you.
"Could I take a picture of you..? This lighting is really pretty." You ask quietly.
"'Course ya can! I like that you're getting into photography, you're getting pretty good at it."
"Oh stop, you flatter me." You smile playfully.
"Its true!" Luz smiles warmly as you take the picture.
"You look nice in this one!" You show Luz the polaroid.
Eda walks over and kneel next to the two of you on the floor.
"You're back!" Luz exclaims.
"Hey, squirts. I know I haven't been completely honest with you guys." Eda starts.
"That's okay! You have a right to privacy!" You smile at the older witch.
"Well thanks for being so understanding." Eda smiles and ruffles your hair.
"I should probably let you in on what happened though, just to give you context." Eda clears her throat. "When I was younger, about your age, I was cursed. I don't know exactly how it happened, or who did it.. All I know is if I don't take this elixir.. well.. I'm called The Owl Lady for a reason. Nobody likes having a curse, but I'm grateful mine is at least manageable." Eda finishes.
"Wow.. So are you okay?" Luz asks.
"It's nothing for you to worry about. It's all under control, and as long as no one steals my elixir -King- Then I'll be fine. But hey! Look what you two figured out. In all my 45-ish years of living, I've never seen a human actually succeed at doing magic. Good on you kids, you might just be able to do this thing." Eda smiles at the two of you.
"Well, it wasn't all us. We did have a great teacher." You look at King who made his way over to the rest of you.
"Oh you!" King flicks his wrist playfully.
"How did you do that- that light spell thing anyway..?" Eda asks curiously.
"We found this symbol thing, wanna try it out?" Luz explains.
"Yeah sure, why not?" She takes the ben and copies down one of the symbols.
"Could I try?" King asks excitedly.
"Of course you can!" Luz hands him a piece of paper from her small notebook.
✰
This sure was a weird night, you almost got maimed by Owl Eda, and finally got to try out a glyph!
You and Luz were getting ready for bed, both of you in the bathroom brushing your teeth.
"Guys! Look who I found in the closet!" King exclaims.
"phoo?" Luz talks with her mouth full of toothpaste.
"The Snaggleback!"
"Aw! They're cute!" Luz exclaims.
"I know, what a letdown." King scoffs.
"I am severely traumatized.." The poor Snaggleback uttered out.
You let Luz and King mingle while you go downstairs to check on Hooty, he did take a pretty hard blow.
Eda was sitting on the couch, doodling in some sort of notebook.
"Hi!" You greet her.
"Hey kid, are you heading to bed?" Eda greets back as she quickly hides the notebook.
"Yeah, I think so. What were you writing?" You ask.
"Writing?"
"Yeah, in your notebook..?"
"What notebook?"
She clearly didn't want to comment on it, so you didn't pry.
"Sorry, my mind must have been playing tricks on me." You roll your eyes playfully.
Eda chuckles. "Thanks kid, uh.. could we keep this between us? I don't think I'm really ready to share that part of me yet." Eda scratches the back of her head bashfully.
"Of course! Your secret is safe with me, Owl Lady!"
Eda smiles at you.
"So.. A little birdie told me you were pretty brave today." Eda says suddenly.
"What? No.. I-I wasn't really all that great.."
"Give yourself a break, kid. You faced life or death with a terrifying Owl Beast, and you remained calm enough to keep you and your friends safe. Sounds pretty great to me."
You turn away and smile shyly.
"Another, separate birdie also told me you needed some of this:" Eda snaps her fingers and a bottle of Advil teleports into her hand.
"Oh jeez, when did she get to you..?" You asked embarrassed.
"While you were changing into your pajamas. Now, kid. I know over exhaustion when I see it, I suggest you get a good night of sleep tonight. We can take it easy tomorrow if you need. It's good to get into the habit of giving yourself a break every once in a while." Eda lectures as she hands you the Advil.
"It's kinda silly seeing a criminal be so adamant on self care." You chuckled.
"Hey now, just because I don't follow the law, doesn't mean I'm cruel!" Eda exclaims playfully.
"Goodnight Eda!" You chuckle.
"Night, kid." She waves you off as you scramble up the stairs.
"Hmm? Where did you get that?? What a coincidence!" Luz gives you a cheeky smile, referring to the Advil.
"Thanks for thinking of me. Night Luz."
"Anytime. Night, Slug."
As the two of you got into your sleeping bags, you took what Eda said into consideration. You should definitely head home now. Clearly your headache was from over exhausting your brain. You can't run away from your problems anymore.
You took a deep breath, in a better state of mind.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐲.
➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶
[Somewhere, deep in the emperors castle]
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐇𝐦... 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬. 𝐊𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚, 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤."
"𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐬𝐢𝐫."
"𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧."
"...𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞.. 𝐬𝐢𝐫."
[✰✰✰]
➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶
➶-͙˚ ༘✶
[A/n: Hi there! Welcome to the end of the chapter! I like how the picture turned out, though I think it looks a bit stiff. I also really like writing those small moments where its just like playful banter and stuff, I feel it adds a little something something to the characters relationships. Anyways, till next time!]
[Word count: 6778]