Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Would you stop squirming or we'll both fall." Jett told Luz, trying to fly his staff in a straight line.

Luz muttered apology, but continued to grinning and squirming with excitement.

Jett pointed to the tree on which creppy bird creature hung and said: "Luz, I swear, if you don't stop squirming, I'm going to left you up that tree." 

"Luz, welcome to the Spectral Valley." Jett emphasized with the sweeping movement of the hand.

"Does Katrina and her parents really live here?"

The place was beautiful, but honestly, Luz was expecting something else. In her opinion the valley looked looked exactly like the sort of place where people would expect to find a spiritual recluse than someone related with the Owl Lady.

"Lilith's hubby like privacy, which is why they chose this place." Eda said as they approached a large house.

The porch was hung with a few shaman talismans - Luz only recognized one of them, meant to invite benevolent spirits. There was also this strange lightness about building, like this place can emanated a friendly aura.

Luz wasn't sure if it was the fact in few moments she will be meeting her mentor's sister and she really wanted both of Katrina's parents to like her, or the fact said witch was leader one of the most important organizations in the Boiling Isles that made her exhilarated and bit jittery.

The witch raised her hand to turn the handle. Before her hand could make contact against the metal, the door opened.

The front of the mansion opened into a large foyer with a huge grayish staircase directly ahead of the entrance. The hall was decorated with elegant red and black furnishings all over in a tasteful, yet not overpowering way. It's also sparkling clean, and has a slight smell of herbs to it.

"Finally we are here." King said as he popped out of Luz's hood.

"King?!" she said in shock.

"Yep yep! Boop." he said as he poked Luz's nose.

"What are you doing here? And why were you in my hood?" Luz asked as King climbed out. The last they saw him, the demon stated that he stays at home to have a "strategy meeting with the minions". 

"Francois said he'd cover me on meeting. Plus king of the demons never misses a chance for a free meal. Especially Lilith's cooking." He said happily, tail wagging.

"Do you think aunt L make those green cookie bars again?" Jett asked, "Those were the best!”

"Let's find out!" King shouted, running on all fours to stairs.

"King, wait for me!" Jett yelled, following the demon.

"I'll make sure they won’t cleaned out an entire kitchen." Michael said as they heard King's excited squeals and Jett's steps fade the further away they got from the hallway.

The angel disappeared and Eda turned to Luz.

"Okay, kiddo, I'll go find my sis and her hubby and you wait here." The Owl Lady turned without waiting for an answer and walked away.

Luz was eagerly awaiting the return of her mentor. Enjoying the paintings on the wall until she felt a someone's eyes on her.

The human teen slowly turned her head.

In the shadows of the foyer, she saw the glow of red eye watching her.

Meanwhile, Lilith and Harlow were resting on the sofa in the living room.

The witch rested in between her husband's legs, her back against his chest, head snuggled beneath his chin as they silently read separate books. His arm was slung around her stomach, one of her hands on top of his, and, as Harlow had to shift to turn his page, he kissed the side of Lilith's forehead, earning him a dazzling smile in return.

"How's your book?" He asked, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

En lieu of answering, she extracted her hand from his and guided his face towards hers.

"Come here," they didn't kiss, simply resting together with their foreheads touching, enjoying the intimacy, and the silence that came with.

It was a quick moment, though.

"Ughhh! Can’t I walk in the room without seeing this?" the familiar voice of the Owl Lady piped up. 

Instantaneously, Eda smirked at them, and the two lovebirds quickly separated apart, not out of embarrassment, but because of the shock and the atmosphere of suprise that now filled the air.

"Sister?" Lilith asked suprised.

"In the flesh and blood. Miss me?" Eda asked, still smirking. She already knows the answer. It's just a week and a half since Clawthorne sisters saw each other. And Lilith called her last Tuesday.

"Mm, a bit," Lilith said, rising from the couch. Her husband have decided to follow her example and get up.

"Don't take this the wrong way but what you doing here, Eda?" Harlow asked.

"Today is the fam dinner night." Eda said, walking over.

"You made it with an hour to spare." He pointed out. That was a disturbing thing.

She shrugged, "Well, there's a first time for everything." 

"Edalyn." Lilith said her full name, shooting her a look that was half annoyed and half ‘remember-I-am-your-sister-and-I-can -tell-when-you-are-hiding-something.'

"Fine. I have important news I wanted to share with you both." Eda flashed a smile that Lilith knew all too well.

"Titan, give me strength," the older witch mumbled as she sighed. "What did you do?"

"No, no, it’s great!" Eda insisted.

Lilith and Harlow were wary. When Eda was delighted it usually meant she was up to something extraordinarily illegal and frivolous. And Lilith had enough of her sister surprises in this year.

"I have found a purpose in life besides being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles."

"I’m already worried," Lilith said, crossing her arms and raising a brow.

"Don't be, sis." Eda told her and Harlow rised an eyebrow as he saw a change in her aura. "You keep sayin' I'm waste my magic on "not exactly legal thing" and "immature funn" while you are teaching the next generation of witches. So you'll be happy to hear I, Eda the Owl Lady, got herself an apprentice."

Lilith blinked a couple of times with her eyes, as if she wasn’t sure she had heard that correctly. Her husband reaction was very similar to hers.

"You? Of all witches? Become a mentor?" Lilith asked slowly, her eyebrows pinched as if the idea was completely impossible.

"That's right, Lily." Eda said casually.

"Aren’t the kid's parents worried?" Harlow asked, watching her look become one of false ingénue, "They doesn't know yet, does they?"

"Complicated story," Eda waved her hand.

Lilith gave her a skeptical stare. "Eda, what do you mean by complicated?"

"Chilax, I promise it's not what you think. Just let me bring the kid here and we'll explain everything."

"Wait. You mean the apprentice is here?" She asked in a voice filled with an emotion the older witch couldn't quite place.

"You thought I would miss a chance to show her off?"

The expression on Lilith's face said, "No."

"Anyway, I'll warn you now, Lily. I told her you're part White Shield, and she's very excited to meet you. So be ready for the bunch of questions. Both of you." Eda walked to the door but then turned around, "Oh. By the way, Hooty says ‘hi’."

With that, she left the room.

Lilith exchanged a look with Harlow, "I have a feeling it's going to be a very interesting dinner."

"Me too, dear."

The hallway was exceptionally quiet.

Once Eda got there she were met with one of the most ridiculously scenes she had ever seen. Luz was sitting cross-legged on the floor giving an intense look to Tinsel - Katrina's pet cat with one eye and three tails - who was lying on on its stomach two feet in front of her.

"Eda, help me! He's holding me hostage." Luz said, trying to keep perfectly still.

Eda looked at her in a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

"He really is holding me hostage!" Luz exclaimed and she started to stand up but Tinsel made the disturbing sound the second she did, so Luz sat back down. "See?! I can't get up!"

"Kiddo, Tinsel couldn't hurt a fly." 

The cat much to Luz's great surprise, turned its head at the sound of Eda’s voice, and got up and walked over to the witch.

"Looks like your captor has decided to release you." Eda said with an amused smirk as she gave the back of Tinsel's ear a nice rubbing, and the cat purred contentedly. 

When it had had enough Tinsel rubbed up against Eda's leg and then walked back toward the shadow, like a tiny patch of moonlight in the midnight.

Luz feel safe enough to get up and stepped to her mentor, "Why he doesn't like me?" 

"I have no idea but a few treats make this cat love you. Now come on." Eda said as she motioned for Luz to follow her. "You came to meet Gingersnap's parents."

Lilith and Harlow were standing exactly in the same place where Eda left them.

Lilith's eyes and mouth opened wide, first in shock, then surprise at seeing human.  Harlow, on the other hand - don't seem too surprised that Luz is a human being.

"Luz, this is my sister Lilith." Eda said with a smirk.

Luz's first thought was that the witch in front of her must have been Eda's sister, as both had the same pale skin, the same pointed chins and the same height.

But on the other hand, it was hard to believe that the witch in front of her is Eda's sister.

If Luz had to describe the Owl Lady in one phrase she'd probably say "the bright ball of chaotic energy".

Lilith...Well, she seemed intimidating and the exact opposite of chaotic. She also had typical fantasy villain vibes; the long dark hair that made the teal eyes stand out against the pale skin, black lipstick, dark gray claw-like nails and an inverted kite-shaped sky blue gem necklace.

The witch was dressed in the elegant dark robe dress. And a white gold band with an half moon-cut diamond and a pair of small sapphire on either side of it, softly gleaming on her left hand. 

"And this is a dweebus who decided to stuck with her for the rest of his life - Harlow."

Then Luz looked at Harlow and studied his features. She had to admit that he was quite handsome, his face rather sharp and defined. He was well put together too, wearing darker clothing with blue-silver accents that complimented his purplish colored skin. His facial markings were very subtle, but intense color attract the attention of the human. The man's violet-like blue eyes were kind - and sharp, almost exactly like Katrina's.

'So, Katrina's dad is a shaman. Guess that explains why the place's draped with a shaman talismans everywhere. I wonder if t-'

"... my apprentice, Luz!" Eda exclaimed and a hand being brought onto the teen's shoulder snapped her back to reality and from her thoughts.

"Um, hi!" The teenager smiled and tried to act as if she hadn't spaced out. 

Harlow looked at Luz from the top down and then his face scrunching up as if the shaman were piecing something together.

His eyes shined a bit with soft magic before he offered her a soft smile. "A pleasure."

He accepted that surprised news with a great deal of calm.

But Eda's sister....

Emotions, too fast for Luz to see all of them cascaded through Lilith's face, but she could make out a few, bewilderment, disbelief, thoughtfulness, anger-especially the anger. It was the last one and it settled over her features like a blanket, highlighting all the sharp edges of her face.

"Sister, her ears are round."

"It was very observant, as always, Lily."

The black hair witch let out a sigh and rubbed her temples with one hand, "So you're saying that human teen is your apprentice?" 

"Yes." Eda still smirking at her.

Lilith was silent for a bit after that. Eventually however, Luz noticed her shake, and at that instant, she realized the witch was trying not to laugh.

But she couldn't control herself and burst a gut laughing.

Luz blinked in surprise. She's never seen someone do a complete 180 as fast as Lilith did. 

"Good joke, sister. Really orginal one." Lilith wiped at the single tear that come out from her laugh, "You almost had me going there for a second. Now you can take off the cloaking stone, Luz."

"There is no cloaking stone or illusion spell on her, dear." Harlow decided to join a conversation, "I'm not sensing their magic energy in her aura."

"But Luz's ears are round." Lilith pointed out, brushing a hand pass her own pointy ears.

"Because she is a human." Eda speak as you might to a young child, "Check the kiddo if you don't believe me." She added as she noticed her sister's expression.

"I will." Lilith said as she aimed a detection spell at Luz. Her blue spell circle flew over the human and spun around girl a few times before dissipating without sensing so much as a schoolyard hex. "She is a real human."

"Told ya." Eda commented, rather triumphantly at that.

"And I really am Eda's apprentice." Luz added.

"Luz, I don't know what my sister has offered you, but you don't need to pretend. This will all be over soon. And I'm making it my personal responsibility to make sure that you get home safely." Lilith emphasized, place her right hand on Luz’s shoulder.

"This is not a joke, for Titan's sake." Eda groaned.

"Eda, you expect me to believe that a human girl is your apprentice?" Lilith looked at her with typical 'older sister' glare, this was a purely rhetorical question. "How naive do you think I am?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" Eda raised an eyebrow with smirk, "Usually a solid 7."

Lilith was about to say something, but then Jett shuffled into the room with King on his shoulder. Michael was standing right behind his boys. He shot Lilith and Harlow a small enthusiastic wave.

"I see you've met Eda’s apprentice." The angel said, giving a toothy smile to the shaman and the witch.

"Why am I not surprised you are part of this?" Lilith looked at him as she crossed her arms.

"Part of what?" Michael tilted his head a little bit.

"Lilith thinks it's a joke." Amusement and frustration creeping through Eda's tone.

"Look auntie, I know how it sounds, but this is truth. Luz also joined the Order with me and Katrina." Jett pointed at Luz's necklace.

"Well, firstly, I'm not falling for this, Dareowl." Lilith retorted before she sent a glare at her nephew, "And secondly how many times have I told you not to enter the kitchen."

The witchling and the demon realized that their hands were still full of cookies. 

"Boys, put cookies back where they belongs." Lilith suggested to her nephews, sounding more like an order.

Kind and Jett just sticked all cookies in their mouth as quickly as possible.

"What cookies?" Jett asked with a mouthful of it.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Jett." Lilith said, but the irritation was betrayed by the small amused smile on her face.

"Returning to the topic, how it was possible that the human teen, without magic power,  became a student of the Owl Lady?" To the annoyance of Lilith, Harlow asked Eda about it.

"Titan, give me strength," the older Clawthorne mumbled as she sighed again. "Are you a part of this joke as well?"

"No, dear." her husband repeated, "But I don't think they were lying."

"It's true." Eda noticed Lilith rolled her eyes. "Come now, Lily, have I ever given you reason not to believe me?"

"Do you want me to list them alphabetically or chronologically?" Lilith told her matter-of-factly, without noticing another person just walked into the room.

"Kat, would you please tell aunt L that we're serious."

At the sound of Jett's voice, the rest of the family turned their attention to her, prompting a tiny smile from her.

"First, I'm sorry I'm late. Fencing practice went long," Katrina come closer to them, "Second, I think a bit of context here might help."

"Eda introduced Luz to your parents. Harlow is open-minded in the face of unusual news, but your mother think this is a joke." Michael seemed incredibly nonchalant as he explained situation.

"Oh, good. Context." Katrina nodded as if she understood, then she moved her gaze to her parents, "Look, mom, I know it's hard to believe, but Luz is aunt Eda's apprentice. She is also the new friend I told you and dad about."

Lilith raised an eyebrow as Harlow gave Katrina a bit skeptical look. Luz can't be the friend they heard about.

"And before you ask, no, aunt Eda nor Jett making me to say this. I swear on Twinkle Spot."

Now Harlow and Lilith can be sure that their daughter means it. Twinkle Spot was Katrina's favorite stuffed animal that her grandpa bought her for her sixth birthday.

"So, it's true..." Lilith said slowly. Her face had such genuine shock on it.

"That is what I've been telling you for the last five minutes, but you don't listen." Eda said.

The raven witch seemingly ignored the comment, focusing her attention on the human girl.

"So, you're human, Luz." Lilith's voice would be described as calm and neutral.

"Yes." Luz was intimidated by the witch full attention.

"And you are part of the Team of Light."

"Yes."

"And just to be sure, you came willingly to this place. Also you want to be my sister's apprentice?"

"Yes," Luz answered, with no hesitation in her reply whatsoever.

"In that case, it's so nice to meet you." Lilith offered her a soft smile. Then she turned back to the Owl Lady, "And congratulations, sister. You found yourself a very special apprentice."

"...thanks." Eda blinked in surprise. "To be honest, I was expecting a lecture."

"I have time to lecture you later this evening." Lilith waved off her younger sister's confusion as turned head to Luz, "First I want to hear how you met my daughter and nephew, Luz."

"And how you become a part of the Keepers Order." Harlow looked at her necklace. Curiosity in his eyes.

"Well, it's an interesting story." The teenager almost exclaimed as she smiled brightly.

"And a bit long. So you may want to take a seat." Michael added.

"You can tell them everything so after dinner," King interject, "Right now, my stomach is the main priority."

"This is more importantly than the food, King." Lilith shrugged off the demon's irritation with a 'aunt glare'.

"Well, actually, I'm hungry, too. Mom." Katrina said, kind of shyly.

The room erupts into chuckles, especially when both King and Katrina's stomachs rumbled at the same time

"You kidnapped a child," Lilith sighed as she rubbed her temples. They had just finished eating, and dinner mainly consisted of Luz's storytelling with bits and pieces being filled in by Jett, Katrina and Eda.

"It’s not kidnapping if it was with consent." Eda said matter of factly. 

"Sister, you literally slung Luz over your shoulder, carrying her through the camp to our realm." The older witch reasoned.

"Your point?" the Owl Lady responded unfazed. 

"Need I remind you the Mystery Shack Incident?" Lilith asked.

Eda rolled her eyes with annoyance,  "You abduct one bus load of tourists, and she never let's you live it down." 

"What is the Mystery Shack Incident?" Luz asked, and they heard a hot spark of interest in her voice, probably wondering what exactly happened during that incident.

"In a nutshell, baby King accidentally fell in crack and got lost in the strange city in Oregon. Some cunning salesman found him and tried to use him as a tourist attraction. We come to save him, and everything snowballed from there." Jett told her.

"I liked Stan when we met." Eda smiled at the memory of old fella, "He was charismatic and know how to cheat naive people.

Lilith sighed, "Edalyn, he tried to sell your son." 

"Wait!" Luz gasped in surprise as she looked back and forth between Eda and Lilith. "WAIT, WAIT!"

"Luz, are you ok?" Jett stared at her in confusion as the human girl's eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened.

"Your real name is Edalyn?" Luz was practically vibrating, "NEW SECRET BACKSTORY SCORE!"

"She reminds me of you." Lilith scoffed lightly in amusement.

"I wasn't that jumpy." Eda protested. "My name isn't a big secrets, kiddo. You want a good backstory?" her yellow eyes landed mischievously on her sister before turning back to her apprentice. "Lily's actually a redhead."

"What?!" was Luz reaction.

"Why you're so surprised? I'm redhead." Katrina pointed out.

"Well, honestly  I thought you're dyeing your hair." Luz admitted, making Jett and Harlow giggled.

"Gingersnap is natural." Eda said and then explained, "Lilith dyed her hair darker and styled it differently upon became big shot because she thought it made her look more intimidating. But before that she looked like a nerd; red curly hair and the biggest glasses ever."

"It is hard to imagine her like this."

"Let me help you with that, kiddo." Eda drew her spell circle. Immediately, a wave of yellowish light consumed the older witch. It slouched off down her head, and spilled down her face - revealing Lilith's an old look. Her ginger curls pushed up.

"Edalyn!" Lilith fixed her with a glare that could have turned a civilian to stone. Eda, however, simply laughed.

"You should be proud of your Clawthorne mane."

"I'm the head of the White Shield. I can't show my face in public looking like this."

"I think you look beautiful just as you are." Harlow twirled one of her curls around his finger. "This mane is wild and untamed. The colour is deep, full of warm and power, like the flame of a candle."

"Smooth-talker, aren't you?" Lilith said, as she noticed that her husband watching her with that steady smile he always reserved just for her.

"I'm only telling you the truth as I see it, my love." His hand cupped her cheek and he pressed a kiss to her opposite jaw bone.

A soft blush rose into Lilith's cheeks as she smiled, resting her hand on top of his. Harlow smiled back, and lovingly brushed the tips of their noses together.

It was a quick moment, though.

"Get a room!" the familiar voice of the Owl Lady piped up. 

"This is our home." Lilith retorted. 

Eda smirked, "Then use a room. This never gets any less gross the more I see it."

"This coming from a witch who's been thrown out of The Whiskey Gorgon for public displays of affection." Harlow argued.

"I still remember that date night." Michael looked at Eda with love. "It was a lot of fun."

"We have broke some rules and bones." Eda smiled as she stroked his short beard, "You looked so handsome throwing barstools at that large goblin."

"And you were so beautiful when you torched their boss that I just wanted to  hold you tight." Michael leaned down and kissed her on the lips. 

"Would you two stop playing tonsil hockey already? I'm eating here!" King said, hitting his chest to digest the bite that had gone wrong.

The angel pulled away from his wife. "Sorry, my boy. It's hard to keep the hands to myself." He said, with an aside look towards the skull-wearing demon.

"Especially when you're married to the women of the Clawthorne family." Harlow agreed with him and kissed Lilith briefly on the lips.

"Ugh. There's too much kissing in this family." Jett groaned. Michael chuckled form his son's protests.

"I disagree. I don't think there's enough kiddo." Michael swooped in and planted a big kiss on of Jett's head.

"Dad!" Jett complained despite the small smile on his face. They both looked so much alike with their silly smiles.

"Your behavior makes me sick." King loudly declared, brandishing his fork at the angel and witchling.

"No need to be jealous, King." Michael said, smiling when both he and Jett leaned in to kiss King's cheeks. 

High-pitched, and a bit scraping sound temporarily assaulted everybody’s eardrums after this show of family love, as King grabbed some food and then ran along the table to hidden into Eda's mane-like hair.

They all remained quiet for a moment, very amused by the demon's quite childish  behavior.

"Now that we've got all that fill you in part mostly behind us. I think it's time for a bit of magic." Michael turned head towards the human teen, "What do you say, Luz?"

"It’s show time!" Luz said before pulling out a few the light glyphs.

"Prepare to be amazed!" Jett added with a toothy smile.

"This'll be a new trick, right?" Katrina asked her cousin, while she still watching her human friend.

"Yes, you gonna love it." Jett replied, his voice strong with confidence as Luz slammed her hand down on the page, magic beginning to form at her palm as the paper dissipated.

The glyphs suddenly transformed, beams of light bursting out of the center. A few golden orbs of light slipped out from the sides.

In the center of the room, a bright galaxy had emerged from the spell, a small window into space. Bright purple and black lights swirling and mixing against each other. Speck of white had been dotted around it. Stars. It was a stunning site to behold.

"Wow..." Katrina was impressed with the glyph stars. Lilith and Harlow was somehow impressed by this very new trick.

Luz was beaming, very proud of how her new glyph trick work, whispering something about all long hours of exercise paying off.

"I was aware humans once could do magic, differently then how it's used by witches and demons." Lilith said when the effect of the glyph faded, "But by drawing it on paper. I've never seen it like that before. Tell me how did you discover this glyph? If this really is the ancient way humans used magic, it must be confirmed."

"Well, there's actually a cool story behind that. I..." Luz then looked to Katrina, who rapidly crossed her hands over her neck and made a zipping motion over her lip to shut her friend up before she tell to much. The redhead obviously didn't want her parents to know too much details of their adventure. "Which I will tell you about on some other occasion. In short - I saw glyph in Jett's spell circle when he had a glitch attack."

"Glitch." the witch was quite confused.

"Luz called my problem with a sac of magic "glitch," the name has stuck." Jett explained quickly.

Lilith's left ear twitched a bit at the answer she received, and she responded with this little head-nod.

"So... How's the Boiling Isles?" Harlow changed the subject when he sensed  a little tense. "I'm guessing it's just hard getting used to literally a new reality."

"First day was very exciting full of thrills and chills. And - I like it here." Luz replied, "It kind of feels like I'm in Disney Land."

Harlow blinked. "I don't know what that is."

"Ah. Well, it's uh... The important thing is that everything feels unreal. Nothing is as I thought it would be. But I love the Boiling Isles' odds a lot."

"Kind of like how Earth feels to us."

"I assume so." Luz said, rubbing the back of her head bashfully. "To be frank, however, I'm still getting used to how inhabitants of the isles acting and what magic beings really look like ."

"Well, then, I guess in your realm history remembers magic society different than they were." 

"Kinda." The teen take a second and think about what explained this, "In the fairytales the witches are more like the colorful people with the superpowers. And the shamans are more... creepy type of magic users."

"Elaborate." That was a little confusing.

"To many people, shamans and spirits are mainly associated with voodoo."

"Hm." Harlow frowned his eyebrows trying to understand. He know the word, but no one use it in the context of the shamanism.

"Rituals, prayers, sacrifices and creating dolls that can possess people. This kind of things." Luz said as she guessed he was confused.

"This is how we are represented? The shaman scowled, "Unbelievable."

"It's nothing compared to a human's definition of vampire and werewolf." Eda pulled from her hair a black book with an apple-shaped symbol. "Here, take this, see for yourself."

Harlow grabbed the novel and flipped through a few pages then burst out laughing. "I had never read such ridiculous comedy."

"Every vampire and werewolf in the Boiling Isles would have decide to sue author for defamation, if she show this book in our realm." Lilith agreed with her husband. Her eyebrow raised as she looked at the back of a book. "They made 3 of those?"

"And movies." Luz timidly said. She feel a little shame for the human race's idea of magic users and mythical creatures.

"I shall reiterate myself; unbelievable." Harlow's facial expression was a mix of amusement and incredulity. "Please tell me that at least chanuls were remembered as a more realistic kind of magic being."

"I've never heard about chanul before coming to the magic realm." Luz said frankly, "I didn't even get a chance to meet one."

"Well, would you like to meet my chanul?"

Luz lit up like a Christmas tree. "Yes!"

"Lupine, I call on you." Harlow touched his tambourine. A flash of bluish white made it's way into his eyes as the shaman's forefinger tapped the tambourine.

A streak of blue shot out of tambourine and around their heads before coming to rest in front of Luz.

The blue ball of light vanished a chanul appeared looking at the girl. 

It looked like a wolf with a little blue body, a long fluffy tail, a yellow eyes, cute tiny ears, and paws with a white claws.

When Luz saw the chanul looking at her in the eyes, she immediately hugged it. "¡Ay, que lindo!" 

The poor being, who was not used to be treated like that, thought it was weird. When Luz finally stopped, and let Lupine go, chanul tried to catch its breath.

"I'm sorry, it's just… you're really cute." Luz said as Lupin was just floating in the air.

The chanul flew down to sat on Harlow's shoulder then the swirling pattern on its body lighting up for a few moments.

"Lupine wanted me to tell you something, and I quote: 'Cute? I'm not cute! I'm ferocious, bold, courageous… and a little fluffy, I admit. But I'm not cute!'."

"Okay, okay, I won't call you cute… but you are soooo adorable!!" Luz eyes shined a bit.

Lupin make a sound which sounded like a growl and a wind pushing the sails of a boat.

"Lupin's very sensitive about her look." Harlow stroked Lupine's back like this to calm chanul.

"Do they all look like that? I mean chanul and spirits." Luz was frankly curious as keep looking at the wolf-like chanul.

"Do you want to find out?"

Luz looked at garden with stars in her eyes, everything were so magical and mythical.

She didn’t even notice when or where Harlow stopped until she bumped into him. She was far too busy looking at the plants.

"Oh sorry." she quickly apologized

Harlow just made a small gesture that meant nothing happened. He then invited the ground to follow the narrow garden path of large flat stones.

"So, where are the spirits?" asked Luz once they reached the heart of the garden.

"There's a several dozen spirits all over the place." Katrina emphasized with grandeur hand motions. "You just need to see what we see."

"How?"

Harlow smiled, his eyes has a natural magic lenses that let him see all kind of spirits here. "With a bit help of "voodoo" magic."

His tambourine emitted a pulse of magic across the garden and in a second's lifespan the same sort of lenses had formed over Luz's eyes. The spirits visible to the shaman became visible to her too and she immediately blinked in surprise.

Looking around, Luz found spirits everywhere enjoying the sund and atmosphere of the garden. 

"You can now accurately see spirits and  touch them." To prove this, gingerly, Harlow rose the tiny spirit from the ground and placed it in Luz's hand.

It a bulky, armored beetle/turtle-like spirit with white skin. It had a bluish-green armored shell on its back and tail, with a black stripe going down the middle. It had gold plating on its arms, lower leg, and stomach, with a purplish core in the center of its belly.  

"It’s so adorable!" Luz gushed like a child being given a kitten.

The shaman watched as she looked at it with childlike wonder and he remembered how he felt watching the spirits growing up. 

"You’re an interesting girl, Luz."

"I’ve heard that before. Well, not so much interesting as unusual…odd…freaky…"

"You know none of those things are true, right?" Harlow said with a gentle tone, choosing his words carefully. 

"Oh, they’re not wrong. I’m a girl with a wild imagination, only played with strange animals and had hobbies that people considered weird. I’m very unusual." She turned head to smiled at Jett and Katrina. 

"But that’s not a bad thing be a freak." The trio finished in unison. 

"Because we are awesome freaks!" Jett said little louder than it needed to be, pulling both girls to a side hug, "Seriously, I'd much rather be called odd than boring or plain." 

"A little tranquillity is healthy for your body and your mind, Jett." Lilith said, knowing how wild and "not boring" her nephew can be.

"Don't listen to her, kids." Eda said, coming to stand next to the teenagers, "Lily's favorite hobby is watching the ink dry."

"You know, once you get in the flow, it's actually kind of relaxing." Harlow defend his wife's hobby.

Eda just made a snide comment about what love does to people. And pretty soon all adults fell into hilarious discussion.

Jett and King watched them with a mounting amusement, eating popcorn.

Katrina pulled Luz aside to show her a pond.

"I'd like you to meet my favorite spirit." The witchling was crouched down, and picked up a pebble. She put a spell on it then throwed it in the water.

For a few seconds, a pebble floats on the surface of water before it sank.

A moment later, the surface of the pond stirred and numerous ripples appeared. With a giant splash, spirit burst from the water, planting its hooves on the pond's surface as it landed

This spirit was a red eyes horse, the mane, tail and wings looked like to be made of a cold mist. Its body was grey as a winter sea, and also amazingly its hoof may be either transparent or opaque.

Upon noticing Katrina, spirit whinnied and trotted over to her, the drops of water on its half translucent body glistening. When it reached her, horse lowered its head as she took its muzzle in her hands. She pressed a little kiss against its head. 

With a gentle push, she turned its face towards Luz.

"This is Ceffyl Dŵr, spirit that often lives near mountain pools and waterfalls. They can be dangerous for people who come into first contact with them." Katrina explained as she draw spell circle to summoned a small fruit basket, "But Hadrianus's gentle and harmless. Here give him some snacks." 

Luz picked up the fruit first, plucking a few ripe berries from the vine then holding them out.

Its great head dipped to sniff at the food she presented, eyes still locked on her face, then its nose followed the line up her arm to the curve of her shoulder and then her throat and hair. The warm puffs of air against her face made her giggle.

"Is it all right if I pet him?" Luz asked as a long black tongue licked the tart berry into its mouth. 

The redhead took one of her hands and guided it to fondle spirit's head. "Here. This is his favorite petting spot."

"It's like petting a gummy bear." Luz said, following her direction. Hadrianus leaned into her touch, momentarily closing its eyes as it enjoyed her petting, then nudged a nose to cheek.

She giggled, "That tickles." 

After that Ceffyl Dŵr rubbed both girls cheeks and returned to the pond, but a few spirits approached the girls.

As time went by, more spirits took a keen interest in Luz. The human teen was thrilled that she could meet and play with other spirits. Katrina very willingly answered all questions, helped Luz to understand more about them.

And when Jett and King joined the girls, the spirit became even wilder and eager to play.

It was a way to having a good time. But then King thought it was a good idea to steal food from one spirit.

The spirit did not take it kindly. It landed on him, sounds almost like a banshee from hell.

King take off screaming, runs through the trees, down a comfortable stone path. The spirits went after him.

Michael exchanged a look with Harlow and then booth followed the spirits and the little demon, leaving three teenagers with the Clawthorne sisters.

"Will King be okay?" Luz's tone carries genuine concern.

"He will. To be honest, it's not the first time when King made spirits mad." Lilith've seen that happen too many times to worry about him. "Now excuse me. I'll go make some tea."

Eda don't seem too concerned by the situation, too. "Have you nothing stronger?"

Lilith narrowed her eyes. "It's too early to Apple Blood, Edalyn." 

"It's never too early or late to Apple Blood." Eda smirked, following her.

"Since our folks are busy, let's take this opportunity to look for Aurai. I love this spirit!" Jett suggested playing with the most troublemaker spirit.

"I think I have a better idea." Katrina said as she walked up to a blossoming tree and she stopped at the tree and draw a spell circle. A dirt swirled around her feet and she put one foot on the tree and then the other and began to effortlessly walk up the tree. And Luz stare.

The witchling found her way to the bottom of a branch and looked down at them as she hung upside down. "Come on, what you waiting for?

"Coming!" Jett quickly cast spell on his and Luz's boots then walked over to a tree and started walking up it only using his feet.

He made his way up the long tree like it was a casual walk, before reaching Katrina's level. He sat on the branch of tree with a grin. 

"Join us. It's quite a view, Sunbeam." the male witch said, motioning to Luz to join them.

Luz walked to the tree, before very slowly  placing a foot on the tree. The weight on her body drastically decreased at once.

'It's weirder than flying.'

She placed another foot on the tree afterwards, until she was parallel with the tree.

"Luz, are you okay?" Katrina asked as Luz just stand still.

"I feel like a ninja!" Luz grinned at Katrina and Jett, who were confused and grinned back.

"What's ninja?" Jett whispered.

"I have no idea." Katrina whispered back as the cousins watching their human friend.

She took took one more step.

Then another. 

And one more. 

And then she ran up the tree with speed,  tucking in slightly and pushing her hands behind.

In a few moments... she took one more final step.

Luz puffed and panted standing on the apex of the tallest tree in the garden. The dense bundle of leaves and flowers made a convenient platform for her to stand on, as she stood and observed the bright sun and the rest of garden.

"Wow." She took photographs before she returned to her friends.

Then they all sit on branches on the trees.

"So, what's so special about this tree?" Jett asked curiously.

"This." Katrina slide her fingers over the tree bark.

All at once, little spirites that looked like flower petals floated from the flowers, dancing around the teenagers. Luz was transfixed by how carefree they were, how they seemed to have all the time in the world to float around.

"They are so cute!" Luz's eyes shining.

Eda smirked, watching the kids from her place at the arbour. Her sister made that same face the first time she saw little spirits.

The Owl Lady keep watching the teenagers.

Katrina made a gesture to calls a group of sprites with a classic disney princess style, Jett mockingly copies her only for a spirit to land on his hand and he just looked confused.

One of the spirits floated over to Luz, giving her a yellow flower. She took it, and in return, the spirit some little red berries. More spirit floated over to the teen and was about to give her flowers. Her hand was outstretched, ready to receive.

'At this rate, she buried beneath the flowers. But I wonder if she'll...' Eda was suddenly quite literally jolted from her thoughts by Lilith's voice.

"Luz enjoys this more than I expected." Lilith took a sip from the mug she had designated as hers and offered Eda the other.

"You should have seen the look in her eyes when I told her griffin can puke cascades of spiders."

"No wonder she gets along so well with our kids." Lilith announced as she took a sip of a warm drink. When she spoke again, her voice was light. "It's still so hard for me to believe that you have the apprentice."

"To be honest, me too." The Owl Lady answered.

The other Clawthorne tilted her head and looked at her with squinted eyes. Her lips were pursed in a way Eda had seen often, when her sister was trying to solve the tricky puzzle some potions could pose.

"You didn't want to be the mentor." Lilith said, not asking, just stating.

"When Whiskers said that the Council of Four wanted me to take human teen under my wing to teach her to be a witch, I totally laughed in his face." Eda states, as matter of fact as possible.

"So, can I ask what changed your mind?"

"Jett and Kat admitted it was their idea. And brought me up to Luz's life situation." Eda looked towards kids, "A girl with a wild imagination and a love of fantasy novels. She is a social outcast among the othe humans. Luz don't fit in at home."

The Owl Lady’s quiet for a moment. Then she take a hearty swallow from her mug which will give Lilith time to absorbed the information.

"I think she could fit ours realm." The older Clawthorne watched the petals-like spirits  put a crown of flowers teenagers' heads. Luz's expression said this is the greatest gift ever.

"Yeah, and she truly want to be the witch." Eda took another sip of drink and her face worked, "But she need a someone to keep an eye on her. So if someone has to learn this little weirdo how the be a true witch in this realm it might as well be me... because I get "don't fit in" thing."

Lilith looked at Eda with an expression she couldn't decipher.

"What?" the younger witch asked, "Something on my face?"

"I'm just proud of you, sister."

Eda blinked at her, then grimaced. "Eh, Just don’t let that get out. I have a reputation to uphold, you know."

Lilith offered a flash of a half-smile as she met Eda’s gaze again. "Who'd believe me? I am sure that everyone who saw you with Luz, they just assumed you going to eat her."

"Witches eating kids is so 1693." Eda commented and then both Clawthorne chuckled.