Chapter Text
"Luz! What are some human foods you serve on Halloween?" The Owl Lady called from the comfortable nook of her kitchen, searching through the various cupboards stacked high with unusual jars and inhumane objects that were suspected to be used for spells and/or if the witch was feeling particularly hungry that day.
Eda was known for her strange cravings.
Peaking her head into the wide room, Luz quickly spotted the Clawthorne sisters sitting close to one another, Eda half perched on the countertop in search of materials to cook with while Lilith sat quietly at a crooked wooden table, hands trembling as she attempted to carve into an off-colored squash, the creature desperately trying to move away from the double-edged kitchen knife.
"Edayln, can you help me cut this damn squash?" Lilith huffed, slamming the knife into the table in anger, Eda squawking maniacally as she jumped over the countertop, pulling the knife out of the cracked wooden top.
"Lily, this isn't the Emperor's Coven! My tables will break if you do that."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh." Eda spat, copying her sister's voice with a high pitched screech, shifting her eyes towards Luz as the young human awkwardly walked into the room, unsure of whether she should leave or hold the sisters back from clawing at each other's highlights. "Hey, kiddo! Did you get your invitations sent out?"
"I did," Luz chirped as she threw herself onto a spare chair, the uneven distribution of her weight throwing the stool off balance, tipping backward before a blue-tinted pale hand caught the back of it, righting Luz back in place. "Thanks, Lilith."
"No problem, hu- I mean Luz," Lilith correctly herself as she looked away, a pink hue covering the pale skin of her cheeks while she grimaced embarrassingly, the new name still not clicking in her mind, tugging at the loose ends of her hair absentmindedly.
"Do you think kids would enjoy eating bat wings?" Eda contemplated out loud as she tossed the jar of inky, ridged wings, between her hands, a ripped black material similar to ribbon flapping loosely in front of Luz's face.
"From personal experience, no," Luz grumbled, sticking her tongue out at the ingredients stuffed into the jar, shuffling over to the cabinets near the edge of the kitchen, sitting on the back of her legs as she opened the mysterious doors, eyes widening.
"I found some cooking materials in here!"
"Ah-ha! I knew I had regular human food somewhere in this house!" Eda cried as she fist-pumped the air, reeling in Luz by the tops of her shoulders, crushing the human into the tender muscle above her hip, ruffling her hair roughly. "I will be needing it now since I have my own, fragile human daughter to feed!"
"Daughter?" Luz sputtered as she half-choked on her spit, coughing anxiously into the crook of her elbow while she pounded on her chest twice, gawking up at the Owl Lady in shock, eyes practically bulging out of her head.
"Yes, daughter. I have officially adopted you!"
"Is that even possible here?"
"Anything is possible when you are apart of the Bad Girl Coven, Luz!"
"Coincidentally," Lilith butted in as she perked up in her spot at the table, carrying out an elegantly patterned yet poorly conditioned book that seemed to have been stored away for centuries at a time, grasping the bind with the gentle graze of her fingertips, the silky material barely denting. "In the book of the Boiling Isles Covens, it says that the rules of the coven will be determined by the leader or leaders. Basically, anything within that coven can go,"
"Yes, and since I am the lead witch, I hereby declare that I adopt you, Luz Noceda, as my human daughter and first-ever known witch apprentice!"
"Eda," Luz sniffed, eyes glassing over as she cupped the front of her mouth, lips quivering behind the sanctuary of her twitchy hands, gratitude flushing over the speckled surface of her cheeks, freckles littering the bridge of her nose and beneath her eyes, blending in with the warm tones of her skin. "When did you become so motherly?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, it's when you forced me to babysit the Bat Queen's demonic children,"
"You babysat the Bat Queen's children?" Lilith gasped, shutting the book at once as her face glittered with amazement, the first time an expression so filled with lost childhood wonder erupted across the former coven leader's face, a noticeable pang of interest coaxing the back of Luz's mind, her dislike for the once evil sister lessening just a notch.
"Ah sister, there are plenty of harrowing adventures I have yet to tell you at your stay here, including how Luz and I met!"
"I fear it might be just as chaotic as the others."
Half-listening to Eda retell her sister of their unfathomable journeys of close encounters, pointless life lessons, and of course the traditional nearly escaping death stories the inhabitants of the Owl House had experienced, Luz cordially snatched up the several condiments that laid half tipped over on the wooden shelves, stuffing them into her crop-top jacket.
Heaving them onto the table with an exhausted exhale of air, grimacing sleepily as Lilith side-eyed her from the other side of the table, a look of worry pinching the sides of her eyebrows.
Pretending to be engrossed in putting the pieces of food types into separate neat categories, Luz impatiently waited until Lilith focused back on the task at hand, hands shaking as she once again tried to plunge into the screaming squash, the vegetable aggressively smacking away the now dulled kitchen knife.
"If you want to carve something, maybe the very much alive squash isn't the best idea?" Luz hinted, feeling the built-up anger of Lilith plunge around her, the older witch plunging the already abused weapon onto the table, throwing an insulted and similar aggravated look to when Luz and she had been fighting over Eda only a few weeks ago, the uncertainty of the witch apprentice's next words poisoning her tongue, inflaming the inside of her throat.
"And what would you suggest, human?"
"Uh, here, let me show you."
Picking up the shivering squash in before her, Luz held out the screaming vegetable away from her chest as she planted it on the ground near the door, Hooty swinging inward to allow the creature to leave, the alien-like plant providing vulgar signs toward the navy blue-haired witch, Luz biting the inside of her cheek to avoid laughing while the witch stuck out her tongue in return, rolling her eyes as Hooty obnoxiously cawed, smacking his face into the fertile soil.
Skipping back to the table planted firmly in the middle of the room, Luz carefully picked up a pipeful, glossy, scarlet painted apple, tossing it into the air once before catching it in her right hand, proving her case that it wasn't hollow.
"Try cutting into this it won't hurt it."
Pursing her night shaded lips, the older witch seized the apple in one hand on the table as she plucked up the knife in the other, cautiously pressing the tip into the fruit before reluctantly breaking through the thin layer of skin, making her first slit into the awaiting sculpture in need of chipping.
"Lilith, you did! You're making your first pumpkin-apple jack-o-lantern!" Luz squealed, flinging herself towards the unsuspecting adult as she wrapped her arms around her back, Lilith practically tossing the knife to the other side of the room to avoid scratching the Latina girl. "I'm such a proud Halloween mama!"
Tensing her upper body at the unusual contact, the former coven witch stared down at the human in her reach, the young teenager pressing her cheek above her chest, near her collarbone, the faint twinkle of light bouncing off the corners of her eyes, water glistening up at her.
Deliberately losing up her back, Lilith gradually wrapped her arms around the child in front of her, the once overprotectiveness that came along with being an older sister slithering back into the cracks of her brain, a quick look over to her younger sister poking around in the kitchen, exchanging a word or two with her owl palisman reminding her of the new journey that lay ahead.
"Thank you, Luz, for being patient with me," Lilith finally answered watery, the urge to suddenly cry filling up the narrow space of her chest, pushing against the back of her lungs, and freezing her tongue. "I understand how stubborn I can be from time to time."
"I haven't been the best towards you either with the whole you kidnapping me and then almost killing Eda thing. But I'm sure we can make things work!"
"I now see why Eda enjoys your company greatly."
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"Eda! Did you finish carving those pumpkins!" Luz exclaimed from the top of the rickety old stairs, a bundle of poufy clothes in one arm and a box of accessories in the other, a faded purple hairbrush tangled harshly into her hair, sticking out on the top of her head.
"Yes, kid! You're lucky I was able to find some in my hair!" Eda yelled back, launching a freshly carved pumpkin up to Luz, the Latina swiftly catching it as she inspected the carving, the sharp-toothed witch's face staring back at her, reminding Luz of a certain influential witch. "Put that in your room, courtesy of your local Owl Lady!"
Rolling her eyes, Luz trotted back to her room wasting no time to close the wooden door behind her with the heel of her foot, spotting King in his usual spot perched upon the lid of the trunk on the left side of the room, paws covering the two similar holes in the skull he was sporting around, blocking out the lulling gleam of fairy lights that hung hazardously across the beams towards the ceiling, giving everything a warm, summer afternoon daze.
"Luz, can I open my eyes now?" King complained as he thumped his tail impatiently against the wall behind him, the back of his ankles bumping against the wooden chest as he swung his feet, reminding Luz more of an energetic toddler and less of a ferocious demon.
"Just a second, King! I have to get into my costume!" Luz pleaded, abandoning everything in the crooks of her arms onto the floor, leaping into her costume before hastily finishing her final touches, letting out a fleet cry at the jolt of pain that shot down her scalp as she ripped out the hairbrush, rubbing the tender spot. "Ok! Now you can look!"
Snatching away his paws, King sprung up from his spot on the chest, nearly falling off the container before balancing himself, head tilting to the side.
"You're an otter? Didn't you wear that to Grom?"
"No! I'm a witch otter, with a good side!"
"Where's your hat?"
"Oh."
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"Luz!"
Barreling forward into the house, the two teenage witches threw themselves forward onto the otter witch, the three friends hugging each other desperately as if they hadn't seen each other for years, Luz eagerly giving each of them a high five.
"Ahh, I love it when we do that!" Gus gushed as he ran in place, Willow and Luz laughing alongside his antics.
"Ugh, I hate to be the witch of bad news, but my dads couldn't make it! They ended up getting an emergency call at their blacksmith company!" Willow sighed, taking hold of Luz's hand as she squeezed it gently, removing her other hand that had been unnoticeably hiding behind her backside to reveal a plate of cookies, a faint haze of steam rising from the pastries. "But, as promised, they made some treats for us as an apology!"
"I can't believe we're all matching!" Luz gasped as she thanked Willow greatly for the cookies, huddling the plate under her free arm, securely clutching it in place. Double-checking to make sure she wouldn't drop the plate, Luz grabbed both of the other witches' hands, one by one twirling them around so she could get a better look at their costumes, smile widening. "I didn't think you would keep the animal onesies I gave you!"
"Luz, why do you think so little of us! Of course, we would! I think the axolotl onesie is dope!" Willow chuckled as she took hold of Luz's shoulders, pulling down the top of her hood, fixing the disproportioned witch hat on top of her head. "We're not like the humans back in your world!"
"Yeah, plus, my seal onesie makes me feel more human!" Guz screeched, sticking his miniature free hands into the hidden side pockets of his bright blue onesie, smiling to himself. "And it's warm, too!"
"Were we supposed to all dress up in cutesy animal onesies or was this just a coincidence?"
"I guess there was a dress code since Amity also came in one,"
"Edric, Emria, and Amity! Hi!" Luz greeted as she pushed up the exterior of her otter hoody, piloting on her feet to meet the Blight siblings who had miraculously shown up at the main door of Luz's temporary home, Hooty already interrogating Edric as the outspoken house demon stuck his face into Edric's forehead, the two seeming to be having an actual engaging argument to everyone else's surprise. "I'm so happy you came!"
"Sorry we're late, Edric and Emira couldn't decide on what matching costumes to wear!" Amity breathed as she followed Luz into the house, avoiding a few pointed punches to her upper arms, ducking forward as she narrowly missed their next attack, the taller siblings crashing into one another, yelping in sync. "Where is Eda?"
"Right here!" Eda cawed as she spontaneously jumped out from behind the somewhat closed kitchen door, covered in a bucketful of grey feathers, arms extended outward into a t-pose, Lilith timidly coming out into the open as well, waving awkwardly towards the group of teenagers. "But, we are now known as the Owl Sisters, proud members of the Bad Girl Coven!"
"Did you, did you two really go as owl beasts?" Luz questioned, covering the front of her eyes as the rest of the guests gaped at the two elder witches, Amity being the only one with a crooked smile, understanding the irony of the situation.
"Eh, I think this is a major fuck you to Emperor Belos for not removing the curse from Eda," Amity applauded, giving the sisters a slow clap as she snickered into the back of her hand, tugging up the sunset pink hoody away from her eyes.
"Amity! What did Mom say about your language!" Emira gasped as she waved a finger in front of her younger sister's nose, burrowing her brows in an attempt to copy her mother's signature disapproving glare, Amity raising a judgmental eyebrow, ears suddenly flapping forward as a continuous sound of footsteps approached the house, the green-haired witch curiously looking back at the open main door.
"What up, dorks, your Halloween queens has arrived!" A loud, intimidating shout convened from the head of the house, everyone peaking their head out of the door, including Hooty, desperately striving to get a glimpse at the intruder's identity, faces plummeting instantly at the voice's owner.
"Boscha."
"And us!" Viney grinned restlessly, the Detention track's unofficial leader walking behind the Grugby captain while giving a friendly, yet awkward peace sign to the party going group, Emira frantically elbowing Edric in the arm, ear flapping uncontrollably. "I guess we all showed up late?"
"I would've been late if you, whatever you call yourselves, didn't slow me down!" Boscha grunted, pausing in front of the door smirking menacingly at the group, Luz practically feeling the burn of Eda's glare in the back of her costume. "What are you guys even supposed to be? Bat twins, babies dressed up in animal onesies, owl freaks, a demon, and zombie hybrids?"
"Never would I have thought you would be able to guess all of our costumes!" Viney fought back, placing her hands on her hips as the rest of the Detention track moved cautiously toward the door, away from the oncoming witch duel. "What are you supposed to be, Boscha? A drama queen?"
"No, I'm a human!"
"Doesn't seem accurate, humans aren't that hideous."
"Ok! Why doesn't everyone come in, and we can eat the food Eda, Lilith, and I prepared!" Luz beckoned out as she tumbled out of the door, trying to extinguish the tense situation. "Willow's dad's brought cookies!"
"Fine."
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"Amity!!! I can't believe you went in the pastel pink bunny onesie I gave you!" Luz gushed as she examined the star student's costume, rubbing the material between her fingertips. "You look adorable in it!"
"I-uh, bunnies?" Amity blanked as she held in place, refusing to move away from Luz's comforting touch while the two Hexcide students stood off to the side from the rest of the party, a glass of murky purple punch in each of their hands, Amity unconsciousness taking a sip, Luz bringing her face close to the witch, eyes sparkling with her usual bubbliness. "I mean, yeah! You did mention you wanted to match for the party!"
"Indeed I did, Blight!" Luz responded as she flipped the front of her hair, taking a dramatic pose, the latter giggling into the side of her arm, an unreadable expression painting across her face. "Thanks for coming to the party, it means a lot."
"Hey, don't start getting serious on me, Noceda!" Amity soothed as she hesitantly grasped her wrist, thumb following the indentations of the bones running up and down the back of her hand in gentle strokes. "I know how much you miss your mom on tonight especially, but I promise you, I will discover a way to get you back to her. C'mon, Luz, you owe me a dance from Grom!"
Dragging her towards the makeshift dance floor that Eda had set up earlier with a few strands of fairy lights from Luz's room and applying some of her magic cards on a grugby ball hung from a thick, piece of rope from the top of the ceiling to create a colorful, exquisite looking disco ball, the two witches standing right under it.
Dancing along to the upbeat, energetic music that blasted out of the Latina's charging phone from a bundle of light glyphs, Luz secretly eyed the groups of people that were spread across the decently sized room, leaning in to whisper a snark remark or giggly comment every other second to Amity, the witch laughing along with her as she joined in on Luz's snooping, the two students watching the oblivious scene around them.
Sitting across from one another on the couch, the Detention track and the Blight siblings found themselves taking up most of the couch space, Edric seeming to be chatting with everyone except Viney, leaving her all in the attention of Emira as the witches gossiped about the different tracks at school, taking up the seats on the opposite end of the couch from her brother and his new friends.
On the other side of the room near the snack table, Eda and Lilith leaned against the countertop while they took long, thoughtful sips from their glasses, Eda silently mouthing words that Luz could closely interpret to her challenging her sister to a drinking game, the other regretfully agreeing.
Laying near Amity and her's feet, Willow and Gus shared pieces of candy amongst one another, Gus writing down each of their reactions to the strange, human candy down on a piece of paper Hooty was holding in his beak, giving an occasional piece to Hooty as an award for helping them out.
To Luz's astonishment, Boscha quietly joined the trio not long after Luz noticed them, the pink-haired witch appearing to not know how to interact with people outside of her mother's hooded image, sitting weirdly before Willow kindly offered her a lollipop, it's cotton candy-colored wrapper reminding Luz of Boscha herself as the grugby captain shyly took it, unwrapping it before popping in her mouth, expression morphing into unsuppressed wonder.
"Did Boscha just smile?" Luz snorted, lifting her head up to meet Amity's eyes as she was dipped, taking the opportunity to exaggeratedly pretend to swoon, knowing how to annoying her dance partner in all of the right ways.
"I think you somehow cursed her with those cookies Willow's dad's baked!" Amity concluded, eyeing Boscha before bringing Luz back up to her feet, the latter twirling her around in the air. "Or she's finally coming around."
"Wait, what time is it?" Luz asked as she brought Amity back to the ground, peaking outside the closest window to catch a whiff of the obscure, star-filled night, the Boiling Isles' moon especially full that night. "Let's go trick or treating, everyone!"
Gathering everyone outside of the Owl House, Luz handed each guest an empty cloth sack and a bag of candy, sending each group of guests into different directions towards the town, jumping onto Eda's staff alongside King and Lilith as they shot up into the sky, flying high above the glittering caverns below, releasing candy onto naïve citizens below.
"Happy Halloween, Boiling Isles!"