Chapter Text
Bonesbourgh, The Boiling Isles
Eight Years Later…
“Macey! Breakfast!”
Macey Noceda-Blight heard her mother’s voice coming from downstairs. The fifteen-year-old human girl stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom.
She was looking into the mirror at how she looked today. Her dark hair was worn down, her dyed green curtains covering her ears. She ran her hand over her colorful multi-track Hexside uniform.
She snapped her head up as she heard her mother call her again. “In a minute, Mamí!”
She heard a knock on her door as her step-mother, Amity, passed. “It’s not prom. You don’t wanna be late on your last day, do you?”
Macey gave one last glance at herself in the mirror before sighing. “I suppose not”.
She opened the door to Amity, who was dressed in a purple sundress. She liked to be comfortable when she went to her job at the library as Master Librarian. She put her hands on her hips. “You look great. Now get downstairs before your sister eats all the pancakes!”
Macey widened her eyes. “Pancakes?”
Amity chuckled. “Yes. Your favorite. Though, your mother did make them. They might be a little burnt-“.
“Hey!” Luz barked from downstairs. “I can hear you, you know!”
Amity leaned over the upstairs railing to see into the kitchen to see her wife standing in the middle of the kitchen, frying pan in hand. Over the years, she had grown out her natural hair. She now had brown hair with faded purple streaks. “I love you, Luz, every part of you. Even your burnt pancakes”.
Luz wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, yeah, love you too, Hermosa”.
Amity winked. “Right back at you”.
Macey groaned. She poked her mother in the shoulder. “ Mom! You’re blocking my way. Can you stop flirting for one second?”
Amity rolled her eyes and followed Macey as she trotted down the stairs. There, Macey’s older sister, Luíca sat at the counter, staring down at her Scroll, mindlessly shoveling bites of pancakes into her mouth.
“I don’t get it”, Macey went on. “How you can you possibly be so happy and flirty this morning?”
Amity dramatically threw her arms out. “It’s called love! You’ll understand when you get a partner one day, dear”.
“Yeah. Sure”, Macey turned to her sister. “Isn’t it gross, Luíca?”
“Yeah”, Luíca said without even looking up. “Gross”.
“You’re not even paying attention!”
Now, Luíca looked up. “Huh?”
“What are you even doing?” Macey tried to catch a glance at Luíca’s screen. “Ooh, are you looking at pictures of your girlfriend?”
Luíca slapped it shut. “ She’s not my girlfriend!”
“You’re blushing!”
“Am not!”
Amity raised a brow and her and Luz exchanged a glance. Luz put a plate of pancakes in front of Macey. “What’s her name?”
“Vivian”, Luíca mumbled. “But she is not my girlfriend”.
“Noted”.
Luz was chewing on a piece of pancake when Amity swept by. She gave her wife a kiss on the cheek. “I gotta get to work! I have to get more barcodes sorted and then read to the kids”.
Even after all these years and with her busy schedule, Amity still found a way to read to little kids during her shifts. She made them happy. Macey thought it was adorable. (Macey had even asked if it meant her and Luz could give her another sibling. Their answer was no)
“Calm down”, Luz said to Amity. “You will have time to get everything done. You’re a superstar!”
“Yeah, right”, Amity said, turning to her kids, book bag swinging on her shoulder. “Bye! I love you!”
“Love you too, Mom”.
Luíca just waved her mother off. “Bye”.
“Have a great last day!”
Macey smiled. It was her last day of her freshman year at Hexside and Luíca’s last day of her sophomore year.
“ Ten un buen día también, mi amor”, Luz whispered to Amity, their foreheads touching.
“ Si, si. Te amo”.
Luz smiled and watched her wife scramble to the front door. “ Te amo”.
Even since they have been married, Luz has been teaching their family Spanish. Macey was fluent, and Amity and Luíca were getting there.
Luz turned back to the two girls, wiping her hands on her black blouse. Luz worked as Human ambassador, representing the Human Realm. She was also a researcher of Wild Magic and Glyphs. She worked for Lilith and was a proud member of the Council, along with Amity.
For the last eight years, Lilith and Hunter had been working hard to make the Isles a better place for all people. They had made several changes to the laws. First of all, Covens were now optional, and Sigils were gone altogether. Covens were seen as a way to grow your magic, not contain it. No one would ever be forced to join a Coven against their will ever again.
You could now practice Wild Magic. If you did so, you could register as a Wild Witch, which was no longer seen as a bad thing. You would be given a permit to ensure you used Wild Magic safely.
Now, students could take multiple tracks, Macey doing that herself. They also added Glyphs as an elective. Luz had been happy to teach a few classes. They were slowly bringing the ancient way of magic back from the dead.
With changes to the government, came changes to the family. Three months after the end of Belo’s reign, Raine and Eda were married. They now resided together in the Owl House. A few months after their marriage, Luz proposed to Amity and they were married following summer. They bought a townhouse together shortly after and merged their families. That was the day Macey had gotten a sister.
Talia and Julia were still a part of their lives. Luíca went to see mom every weekend and Talia still remained a family friend. She and Julia eventually married after their daughter was born.
Their daughter was a bright eight-year-old Witchling with tan skin, a perfect mixture of both her mothers’ skin tones, and dark ginger hair. Her name was Asha.
Macey still remembered the day she was born. A few months after Lilith’s ruling, riots broke out in demand for the Isles to turn back to the Coven system. Things got crazy, people were divided and a Civil War almost broke out.
Lilith and Hunter put a stop to it right away. Asha was born after one of the last riots, right as the Isles was entering an era of peace and unity. Her name meant hope. And she truly was hope for the future of the next generation.
Macey was snapped back into reality as Luz snatched the plate from her as she finished her last bite of pancake. She threw it in the sink with a slam. “You girls gotta go! You’re gonna be late!”
Luíca jumped out of her chair, her Scroll long forgotten. Her purple and green uniform, abominations and plants, moved as she leaned forward to grab Macey’s wrist. “Let’s go!”
They moved to the front door as Luz called after them. “Have a great day! I wanna hear all about it!”
“Yeah, sure, Mom”, Macey muttered under her breath as she struggled to put her sneaker on. “Can’t wait”.
“Don’t forget we’re going to see Grandma Camila tonight!”
Speaking of that, the portal was still working. Luz had gone home a few days after the fall of Belos to assure her family she was safe. But she had decided she wanted to stay for good this time. They had lived in the Owl House for the first several months and Macey started at Hexside.
Camila and Aunt Vee still came to visit, or vice versa. Aunt Vee and Zoe had finally gotten married a few years back too. Camila had been introduced to Luz’s friends on the Boiling Isle.
Her and Raine had hit it off, though Eda and Camila still seemed to have battles of who was the better mother to Luz. Camila also adored Amity, even with Luz’s complaining that Amity was becoming the favorite daughter.
Macey finally got her shoe on with one last tug. “Yeah! Bye Mamí!”
“Bye!”
Macey followed Luíca through the door and slammed it shut. They started running down the cobblestone street, dodging other predustians.
The nice thing about living in the middle of town was they were only a few blocks from school. They ran the whole way there and stopped to catch their breath.
On the wooden bench outside the entrance, sat a familiar face. Talia rose from her spot and exchanged a greeting. She usually waited for them there to help Amity out by making sure they made it to school, especially after Luíca tried to cut class last year, and by having Luíca walk her sister into class with the younger kids.
Talia gave Asha one last hug and ruffled her hair. “Have a good day”.
“Bye, Mama!”
Asha scampered over to her older sister’s side and hugged her by the waist. “Hey Lucy!”
“Hey Asha!”
Talia waved them off. “Bye! And thank you! I gotta get to work”.
After the arrest of Odalia Blight, Blight Industries had gone downhill. Alador had finally divorced Odalia and moved out of Blight Manor. He had gotten his own place outside of Bonesbourgh, right on the cusp of the country with lots of land. He was trying hard to a part of his children’s and grandchildren’s lives again.
Talia had helped shut the business down for good. A few months later, her, Ari and Sage opened their own business downtown. Julia continued her work at the local theater. Things were going well for them.
Luíca and Macey watched Talia walk off and then took Asha to her class on the other side of the school. She took Bard and Abominations classes, just like her moms. They said their goodbyes and would see each other again at pick up. Asha often came over to their house to be babysat by either Luz or Amity.
They walked over to the main entrance of the school just a few minutes before the bell rang. “Oh, crap, I have Abominations today”.
Macey absolutely hated Abominations class. It was kind of ironic considering her mom and sister were so good at them.
Luíca just winked at her. “You know you can just come to come to me for help”.
Macey raised her eyebrows.
“I know I’m like the best sister ever”.
“Yeah, I’d rather not get in trouble for cheating. Ms. Reely is scary”.
“But she's hot”, Luíca grinned. “And so is Ms. B”.
Macey blinked. “Your Grudgeby coach? Oh my Titan. She used to bully Aunt Willow, remember?”
“Love knows no boundaries, Macey”.
Macey giggled. “Just stop having crushes on our teachers please”.
Luíca paused and tilted her head in the direction of a group of Witches. Macey saw who she was looking at. A pretty Witch with dark brown skin and dark, twisted braids running down her nape, dressed in the yellow of the potions track. Vivian Wetlock, the girl Luíca totally wasn’t in love with.
“Oh. My. Titan”, Macey exclaimed. “Stop staring like some creeper! Go up and talk to her!”
Luíca jumped. “ What? I’m not staring!”
“Yes you are! Argh, just ask her out already!”
“It’s not that easy”.
“Ha, watch and learn”.
Luíca tried to grab Macey’s arm. “Macey, wait-“.
“HEY, VIVIAN!”
Vivian turned from talking to a Witch that looked like her. Macey assumed that was her brother. “What?”
“Are you free this Sunday?”
“Uh, yeah. Why?”
Luíca covered her burning face with her hands.
“Wanna go see a movie with me and my sister?!”
Vivian raised her brows.“Sure?”
“Cool!” Macey turned back. “See?”
“I hate youuu”, Luíca whined. “I wish my mom never signed those adoption papers”.
Macey punched her lightly on the shoulder. “Love you too, Lucy”.
Macey watched as Luíca stalked away, up the stairs and into school before the bell rang. She was still blushing.
Wow, what a good sister I am.
—
After school, a group of Hexside students met downtown to get Ice Scream from a local cafè.
Luíca was invited to go from a group of seniors, Griffin, a red-head Healer and Aria, a blue-haired Bard. Macey decided to tag along. Dani and Jasper also tagged along, keeping an eye on Storm and William. All of the cousins were there to celebrate the end of the school year.
Macey sat away from the group as they all ordered at the window. Asha, the youngest of them at eight, was short for her age and kept bouncing up to try to see the menu. Dani ended up boosting her up to see better.
“Lucy! Lucy!” Aska kept shouting. “I want that one!”
“I think she gets it”, William said gruffly. He looked just like his father with his dark green hair and glasses. “You’ve only said one thousand times”.
“Shut up!”
“You both shut it”, Jasper, the oldest of the cousins at eighteen, snapped. She was usually nice like her mother Willow, but was easily annoyed by the antics of her little cousins.
Macey snorted as she watched Luíca struggle to order as Asha pulled on her arm and the others shouted their orders at her. She should probably go help her sister.
But she was too lazy. She stayed at the white table under the shade of the umbrella, her backpack on her lap. She watched as Griffin and Aria took a seat a few tables away from her.
Finally, Luíca turned to her. “Macey? What flavor do you want?!”
Macey scrunched up her nose. “Bubblegum”, she replied after a moment.
Luíca nodded and concluded her order. The poor guy working there was struggling to scoop up all those cones of Ice Scream.
Macey only turned her head when she heard a shuffling a few feet away. She turned and saw a boy about her age sitting on the floor, the contents of his bag scattered around him. He must have tripped and fell.
She hopped off the bench of the table. “Hey! Are you okay?”
He looked up at her, surprised. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine”.
He scrambled to pick up his things. Macey kneeled down besides him. “Here. Let me help”.
“Oh, you don’t have to-“.
Macey met his eyes. “Let me”.
He looked surprised again. “Oh. Okay”.
Macey tilted her head as she looked at him. He had pale white skin and light brown, almost blonde hair. It was longer than most boys and he looked like he needed a haircut. He had weird colored eyes, a pinkish color Macey had never seen before.
She shook her head and reached out to pick up the object nearest to her. She did a double take when she realized it was shining. A blade.
Macey held it in her hands. It was a knife. Macey had held a knife before when she helped her moms chop up vegetables for dinner. But this wasn’t just a knife. It was a dagger, meant to hurt people. Or worse, kill them.
Macey ran her thumb over the hilt of the dagger and then looked back up at the boy. What kind of kid needed a weapon when he was just walking in the market?
He had wide eyes as he realized she had it, clutching his backpack so hard his palms were turning a ghostly white. “Uh…”.
Macey swallowed. “Why do you have this?”
The boy looked down. “Uh, it was my dad’s”.
Was.
“Oh. I’m sorry-“.
“No, no. My dad’s still alive”, he sent Macey a grin. “It just isn’t his anymore because I stole it”.
Macey just raised one brow, not sure what to say.
“I am not making a good first impression, am I?”
“Not really…”, Macey trailed off. “What are you doing here?”
“I ran away”, he blurted suddenly. “From my dad”.
“Oh”.
“Yeah. That’s why I have the knife. Self defense, you know. The Isles is full of creeps”.
Macey was still confused. “Yeah. I guess”.
He caught her staring.
“What?”
“Are you.. okay?”
He took in a sharp breath. “My dad isn’t really my dad”.
“Is.. is that why why you ran away?”
“He found me stuck in the boiling rain when I was six. He took me home and took care of me. But he refuses to tell me anymore about the day he found me or where I came from”, he squeezed his eyes shut. “I.. don’t remember much. But I can’t handle it. He’s lying to me. I just want to find out the truth..”.
Macey stared at him again.
He shrugged. “So, I left”.
“Oh”.
He dropped his shoulders. “Yeah”.
Macey looked more closely at him. He was young with a skinny build. His clothes were ruffled and a bit of dirt rested in his right cheek. He looked like he had had a long day. She looked back before her, to where the others were still waiting for the Icd Scream. “Uh, are you hungry?”
“Famished, actually”.
Macey laughed, then nodded. “Want some Ice Scream? It’ll be on me”.
“Aw, how’d you know I need that?”
“You look like you do”.
He smiled at her. “I’ll take that as a compliment”.
Macey held her hand out to him. “I’m Macey. Macey Noceda-Blight”.
He seemed to pause a moment after hearing her name, but then reached out his hand and shook hers. “I’m Philip”.
He withdrew his hand after a few seconds. He was smiling again, but this one seemed more strange than the others. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Macey”.