Chapter Text
The end of the afternoon was spent as usual in the Owl House.
Eda was slumped on the sofa, a magazine placed over her face to hide her closed eyes from the strong sunlight and soon preparing to go to bed. The witch was not just protecting herself from the brightness, but also from annoying noises, loud voices more precisely which had been bickering for a good hour now.
King was sitting on the floor, a red pencil in his hand, had his gaze previously laid on those scribbled papers which straightened up at Hooty, this one having left the door of the house wide open to be able to sneak more easily into the living room.
« I don't have time to listen to you! » The demon stated, pointing his pencil towards the face of the owl threateningly.
Hooty turned his head to the side almost blankly:
« Mhhhhhh ... Why ! »
King put down his pencil with a deep sigh, indeed the owl had answered him this way several times, and the demon was losing patience. He put those two adorable little paws on his skull, gently letting them descend to his jaw.
« I NEED TO FOCUS ON MY CONQUEST! » He squealed before shaking his paws and emitting a small cry of rage that had the effect of making the witch installed on the sofa laugh and sniffle, her face still covered by the magazine.
« So tiny, so angry. » Eda exclaimed, continuing to laugh and sniffle.
The demon continued to gesticulate, exhausted until he stopped when his gaze fell on the house clock. He had a brief absent, before turning his eyes to the owl woman:
« Eda? Luz still hasn't come home ? » The so-called Demon King pointed out as he stood up on his little hind legs, picking up one by one the papers on the floor to put them in order.
Eda lifted one of her crooked, age-scratched hands slowly over the magazine, which she gently lifted. Her gaze narrowed as she had to readjust to the light, emitting a slight, annoyed squeal. Those eyes slowly turned to the clock that King must have seen before, then her golden gaze surveyed the gradually setting sun.
The demon scored a point : Luz, her apprentice who had just joined Hexcide a short time ago to deepen her learning on her magic (on what exactly, Eda did not really know) had not yet done her appearance at the doorstep which would have definitely been followed with laughter filled with cheerfulness.
The woman lifted her head towards the ceiling, the back of her head settled into the bottom of her soft pillow, she tried to recall some information that might put her on the trail of the little human's current activities at this time.Then after what seemed like an eternity of thought for King in his eyes, she stared at this one, giving a lazy wave with her hand while completing her movement with a yawn:
« Erf, she certainly is in her secret Asura Book Club with Miss « protégé » of my sister...I think... »
King was half-convinced, usually, if Luz had something planned, she always said it out loud before she left. Plus, she was supposed to tell her Boo-Boo Buddy everything, so how could it be that he didn't know about this club thing. Did Luz really have a secret that even King was not aware of? This had the effect of making the little demon nervous, who insisted:
"I think we should pick her up from Hexside anyway, just in case." He stammered under Hooty's tilted gaze, who was a little confused, which had the effect of annoying the little king of demons a bit.
With a deep breath and then with a long sigh, the owl woman straightened up from the worn couch, stretching her back by repeatedly cracking those bones before standing on both legs. Her lips shivered before emitting a sleepy yawn:
« Alright King, if that'll reassure you and allow me to take a nap after I bring her back, » she completed, taking a few steps towards the demon to pat him twice on the head. « Don't say I didn't warn you. »
King jerked back slightly, stunned, what was she implying? That Luz had secrets he didn't even know about? Meh, nonsense.
« All that's missing is Owlber and we can take off. » The witch went on after changing, stretching out her arm, waiting a moment, yawning again, her staff quickly hitting it in the face, which immediately had the effect of waking it further and staggering back. Hooty gave a little « hoot hoot! » Amused, before being struck with a stick between the two eyes by Eda who had just stood up, in an annoying hiss. « HOOTCH! It hurts ! » Complained the house owl, who slowly returned to her seat at the door, seemingly offended.
The demon, who was still silently waiting, watched the hostess casually come out, stick still in hand. He trots behind her, the door of the house closing behind him with Hooty exclaiming a little sulky, « See you later! »
The owl woman grabbed the little demon after settling on her staff, patting the handle and declaring, « Owlbert we're off ! » To give the start to the Palisman who took a dash before unhooking from the ground and ending up flying over the trees of the forest. King could more clearly see the sun above the trees, the sun almost half engulfed in the ground and soon being replaced by the moon. Decidedly, time continued to flow, without any news from Luz yet. The demon's gaze leaned below their position out of curiosity, trying to see what might be going on below, but with the dense trees it was hard to see anything. An idea crossed King's mind for a moment, what if he was worried about nothing? Maybe Luz was fine and was on her way home, and would notice their absence. The demon did not know what to think anymore and almost capsized the handle.
« Be careful ! » Eda exclaimed, noticing the demon that almost fell head first if she hadn't slowed down with her staff a little. The witch could see that her passenger had been agitated since their departure. But even she didn't want to admit out loud that she was just as intrigued. And there were several reasons for this:
The first was that she didn't want to worry the demon any more, if she told King these uncertain fears he was sure he would panic even more, when maybe there was no reason to worry ?
The second was that she trusted her apprentice, after all, the human had been able to pull herself through a lot of times without sometimes the help of her mentor. But we can only think about this if Luz had in fact a real problem, although there was maybe no reason to be afraid ?
The third was a little easier, Eda didn't want to go too far with her wacky assumptions when it was very likely that Luz had no troubles and was just busier than expected at Hexside. So maybe there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.
But deep down, the witch didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was still worried about the kid.
She was pulled of those thoughts when King leaned over again, the witch made a movement to hold his necklace so it wouldn't fall further, about to lecture him, but he explained to himself:
« Down there! Are they not Luz's friends ? »
Eda raised an eyebrow, looking downwards. They had left the dense forest to reach the city, at the level of the square where Eda used to go to sell human objects at her stall. Her golden gaze fell on the two students who were walking happily on the cobblestone, apparently checking each of the remaining stands. The owl lady started a descent, which called out to them when they noticed something had overshadowed them. With their feet on the ground, Willow and Guz walked over to greet her:
« Hello Mrs Eda ! » Gus exclaimed before Willow giving him a light shoulder hit to remind her that he had to avoid shouting the wanted witch's name.
« Hey ! Where's Luz ? She's not with you! » King said, gesturing in Eda's arms.
The two students looked at each other, quite astonished as Eda calmly completed:
« It's getting late, we thought maybe she was going to go have fun with you, or do something else. » The owl woman, hadn't talked about these assumptions that Luz could have been with the green haired miss still in Hexcide for their Secret Club, since, it was a secret.
Willow raised her hand and placed it under her chin thoughtfully, as she searched for the good words to express herself appropriately to her elder:
«Well, she was with us before we left the classroom, We suggested that she go for a walk in the market after class. She declined the offer and just told us that she had something still planned on the school and that she would see us tomorrow ... But ...»
« But ? Because there is a but? » King grumbled as he watched Gus speak again before the other witch apprentice.
« Luz was not as usual. » Gus explained, Willow nodding her head, « Yeah, that's probably an impression but something in her behavior was not as usual. » Then she raised her hands in an awkward shrug, quite intrigued. « I couldn't explain it further, but it's been a some days already since this feeling has become constant. With Gus, we thought maybe it was related to this thing to stay later in Hexcide ... »
« But we didn't dare to follow her, and we're supposed to come out when classes are over, there are only some students who have the option to stay later for some reasons.» Gus completed with a little movement of his hands, looking a little nervous.
Eda had listened to them in silence, with special attention as King shifted in her arms, getting ready to lecture them somewhat for not having followed the human but unlike him, Eda answered them in a voice that she tried to keep it as natural as possible:
« You did well not following her, she surely had things planned. And then if you had followed her without her consent who knows how she would have reacted..» The witch said with a shrug of her shoulders.
Willow and Guz looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes again, then noticed with astonishment, the companion demon, protesting:
« WHAT ? BUT THEY SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED HER ! AND IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO HER!! »
But King suddenly stopped when he met the witch's stern gaze, the demon then remembered Eda's previous guess about a secret club from Azura books. Thinking about it while looking at Eda, it had the effect of calming him without adding a comment. Surely Eda had to make sure that the potential secrets Luz was keeping was kept a secret. So it was likely that the witch assumption was correct and that Luz was fine. However, he listened to his owner address the children, who were feeling guilty:
« Don't blame him, He is angry because he is very afraid for Luz, forget this the kids. You should go home now, it's getting late. » Eda expressed as she settled back onto her staff, watching the students nod and greet her as she began to lift herself off the ground to resume their flight paths.
King would have thought that the witch would have turned back home after hearing the children, but to his surprise, they still continued on to Luz's school. Eda took a breath as she squeezed her staff with her hands before looking at the demon out of the corner of her eye with her look of astonishment, she's justifying herself:
« What ? We might as well go all the way to get her and then bring her back from school ourselves.» Sighed the witch, looking ahead again while sinking back into her thoughts.
Again, Eda couldn't help but wonder about some new details that Luz's friends had brought:
“Yeah, that's probably an impression but something in her behavior was not as usual."
What did he mean by "not as usual”? Luz was of a jovial nature and even unpredictable in these actions. If her friends had a different impression of behavior, the witch tried to pinpoint what might make Luz's behavior different.
Then she remembered a moment when she had vaguely caught sight of the conversations between Luz and the young Blight, remembering with certainty that Luz had a much more strange demeanor. Maybe it was this feeling the two young students were trying to explain to her. Which could conclude with a little thought from the witch that the human was probably afraid that one of her friends would find her in the company of the other serious young student. And more precisely, that they would discover their secret club ...
« EDA ! WATCH OUT ! » King cried, a small high-pitched yell.
The witch was out of those thoughts in an instant and had the instinct to regain enough altitude by pulling aside to the left to narrowly avoid a building that King had pointed in terror.
Once back on a safer flight route, the two emitted a sigh of relief before the particularly irritated King patted this paws:
« You could be careful! » The little demon barked, hanging onto of Eda's witch's staff for safety.
The latter huffed her nose before emitting a small snort and then a sneer:
«It's okay, it wouldn't be the first time I've hit something in flight.» The witch explained, vaguely remembering her first catastrophic attempts at her young age.
King arrange his spiky fur to tidy it up. Really, even Eda was acting a little differently than usual.
After a few minutes of flights, they finally arrived at the level of Hexcide. Beginning a gentle descent, Eda got to her feet, swinging her long gray hair behind her. She get down of her staff and took it in her hand while setting King down on the ground. He put himself for a moment on these four legs to shake off her fur, enjoying again the contact of the ground under his legs.
Eda walked bitterly towards the school entrance, when she was suddenly cut off by a voice that called out to them:
«Hey, you’re coming to get Luz, am I wrong?»
The witch turned her gaze around her before her eyes fell on a figure leaning against one of the school's pillars in front of the huge main doors. The young student, who had just addressed them, tilted her head slightly to the side to remove a strand of green hair that was tickling her cheek. King recognized the teenage witch who had dared to crush his cupcake at the convention, but also the one who seemed to constantly catch Luz's attention whenever she was present:
« It's you! » The little demon exclaimed as he walked angrily towards Amity. «You are going to explain to me why you are hiding a secret club with my Boo-Boo Buddy without me knowing! »
However, before the demon came any closer, Eda had already caught him by the collar, with jaded face, before subsequently declaring:
«That’s not the reason that brings us here, and I don’t care about the secret club. »
Eda took a breath and sighed, looking up at her:
« I want to know where Luz is. »
At first, Amity, who had not been intimidated by the little demon, however, looked surprised by these exclamations. Those cheeks took on a slight color tint in spite of herself, surely because she hadn't expected him to know about this Club, although in theory that was normal for the owl witch, since she was present when Luz and she decided to create it. The young witch raised a hand to rub her left cheek while returning her attention to the woman's question:
«Well...I don't know, she's gone. » Replied the student, shrugging her shoulders as she stepped back from the pillar she was leaning against
« SHE’S GONE ? BUT WHERE ?! » The little demon panicked, jumping several times.
« Isn’t she back on your home ? Didn't you notice her on the way? » Amity wondered again, raising an eyebrow, running a hand through her hair as she looked up at the older witch.
There was silence until Eda sighed, not knowing if it was a sigh with dismayed or some with relief. She took King by the skin of the neck, King made a surprised little noise as the witch got back on her staff, looking at him:
« See, there was nothing to worry about, she just took longer than expected. When I think that I could have started my nap if Mr hadn't started begging me by not wanting to believe me. » The witch completed with some mockery, listening to King grumble and emit an annoyed little scream while shake off this paws, which had the effect of making the witch laugh.
It was sure, King was really attached to Luz, and also very jealous of this Secret Club now. Eda laughed for a moment, wiping a tear of salty joy out in her corner of her eye with one of her long fingernails before turning back, she heard Amity exclaim:
«Wait!» She said as she raised a hand as she slowly brought it down, seeing that she had finally caught the lady's attention as she was about to leave. «To be honest, that's not all I have to say.» The girl confessed, sighing softly, then attracting the attention of the demon.
«What exactly do you want to tell me?» The older witch asked, raising an eyebrow as she straightened her back a little, watching the studious student swing from one leg to the other with a sudden uneasy look.
«That is to say, I felt like Luz was not as usual. To be honest, I ran into her in the halls sometime after class was over but she asked if we could move club to another day so she could come home. So, I accepted and she left and I stayed in Hexcide to study a bit more like I usually do .. » she explained. She rubbing her wrist, gradually rising her gaze that was fixed on the ground during her explanations. « I thought you would know something about this, she's seemed ... Troubled, even tired. Yet I asked her if she was okay, and insisted, but Luz assured me that everything was fine before she left quickly.»
After that, Eda and King each turned their gazes to each other with a intrigued look. Amity watched their exchange of looks, realizing that even they didn't quite understand what was going on. Seeing their growing concern, she said:
«Afterwards, I must say that the lessons are quite exhausting, I can get some ideas ...» she said. « Well, I won't hold you back anymore, I have to get home quickly for exams ... And she is surely waiting for you at home while you look for her.» She completed, as if the student was trying to reassure herself of her suspicions.
King looked up at Eda who made no comment, just a wave of his hand to greet her before taking off, causing King to stagger and hung on even more. The demon watched the ground recede and the distant figure of Amity greeted them before moving away into the decor.
During the flight, dusk had almost fallen. There was a long silence during the ride, until King broke it:
«Do you think she's home?» He asked, lifting himself up a bit on the staff to observe the witch in front of him who shrugged, only seeing her back.
«Let's hope so.» She replied simply as she nibbled her lower lip, that was all she could answer to the demon as she concentrated on looking down every now and then. Luz was maybe still on the way home ...
Anyway, Eda hoped she had come home, because otherwise she didn't know if her body would still have the strength to search for her further. She knew that deep inside her, the curse she possessed was exhausting her body every day, and that she needed rest. But she had no choice but to get used to it, as she has done for a long time. However, that didn't stop him from complaining, muttering softly under her breath.
The owl lady wrinkled her gaze softly as she noticed that they was crossing the forest again, she noticed that King had the same reflex to look below them. Nothing to do, the foliage was particularly dense in the corner there. We could discern a deep sigh from King who was just waiting for one thing, to be able to jump into the human's arms.
It was starting to get particularly dark when the witch and the demon came toward the house. King clung to the witch in front of her as she lowered her staff to land in front of the Owl House. King shook himself once on earth for the umpteenth time that day. Eda grabbed her staff, hoping not to use it again tonight.
The two calmly walked up to the door and were greeted by a Hooty who had regain its good humor by the time they were left from the house. It slowly turned his head to the side, hooting:
«Ah, you've come home! We were waiting for you, you took a long time ...!» The house owl warned, continuing to hoot happily, watching the two lift up their heads in amazement.
« We ? » King articulated with wide eyes starting to marvel.
«Yes ! Me and Luz, wh- HOOTCH.» exclaimed the owl in the door before being abruptly opened by the little demon who tumbled into the living room. Eda walked in and stretched further, letting out a long moan, then a sigh. Her whole skeleton could be heard cracking again before she looked up to hear King scampering around the living room, finding that Luz wasn't there. The witch settled down heavily on the couch before hearing the creaking of the stairs that made her slowly lift her exhausted gaze.
At the top of the stairs, she could finally notice the person they had been looking for for some hour:
«Luz !» the little demon exclaimed as he waited for her to descend the stairs one by one, stamping his feet before throwing himself into the arms of the Latina. She welcomed him with a small laugh before hugging him, the human seemed beaming with happiness as usual, having simply released a brief little grimace in these sneers when she received in these arms the little demon mad with joy. She gently stroked his head, giving him a big smile again. The apprentice looked up to notice Eda sitting on the couch watching them, giving a slight reassuring smile. King quickly regained Luz's attention by asking, «Where have you been?»
Luz tilted her head to the side, beginning to scratch the jaw of the little demon who wiggled one of its hind legs.
«I stayed a little while at Hexcide before going back, then I got a little lost on the way back.» Luz admitted with a small laugh, scratching the back of his head before observing the two with a shameful expression «Sorry, I'm sure you were worried, I should have warned you that I was going to take more time today.»
«That to be worried ...» Eda yawned softly, stretching out on the sofa, « King didn't stop panicking on the whole path.»
King turned to her and lifted his paws, having almost nudged Luz on the cheek, «I was not the only one worried! You were too!» completed the little demon who only had a slight "Phew." in response from the owl lady. Luz thought her heart would melt like ice as she smirked even more as she watched her mentor «Haw, you worried…!»
Eda closed her eyes for a moment without answering before opening them again to find Luz hunched over her with King in her arms, both wearing huge grins.
«Alright, alright!» The witch confessed, sitting up to stare at the two and sigh, «I worried a little.»
King retorted with a mocking laugh, «A little? And when we almost hit the…»
«Ok Ok alright, I worried, is it okay?» The owl lady conceded, making a slight movement of her hands to accentuate her annoyance before lying back down on her back, letting out a small growl as she listened to the two snicker.
«It's much better !» King replied with a happy sound, proud that he had been able to make the witch confess her growing attachment for her apprentice, in front of the latter who was laughing softly. As they laughed, Eda looked up to notice a detail she hadn't taken into account when they arrived, and which she could see more clearly when she saw the human squirming in her giggles. The Latina's mentor slowly raised her arm and then came to point her index finger at the girl's wrist. «What is that ? A bandage ?»
Sure enough, when Luz suddenly stopped laughing, she lifted her forearm and let what looked like a makeshift bandage around her wrist. The human looked up at King and Eda and shook his other hand, still smiling, «That? Yeah, It was during class and I bumped, I was in too much of a hurry to go and learn new things so I didn't care.» she sneered, rubbing the back of her head again.
«Mh ...» the older woman simply blurted out, narrowing her gaze as she scanned the younger's face, then sighed. «Good ... and school went well ? » She asked as she settled down, watching Luz cuddle King before she exclaimed «Yes!" I learned a lot ...! »
The demon she was carrying in her arms raised her head, pointing at the latter, « Speaking of learning things, you're hiding secrets from me Luz!» He chirped unhappily.
Luz looked pale for a moment and stammered with a small laugh: « ”Hiding secrets from you?" »
Eda watched Luz's demeanor for a moment as King continued:
«Yes, you hid from me that you had a secret club with that girl, from me! I'm supposed to be your best friend!»
The human hadchanged colors on her cheeks, it's seems to be colored red, to tell the truth, Luz suddenly thought about Amity's face, which was the cause of her cheeks blushing. The image of the girl gave a slight shiver down the Latina's spine before she returned to her attention to King, who was still awaiting an explanation.
The human gently lowered toward the ground, leaning down to pat him on the head, « Sorry King, but Amity really didn't want me to tell anyone about it.»
Seeing him still with his arms crossed and his back to her, she scratches his cheek again to get his attention:
«I didn't want you to be angry, I'm sorry King ... I promise to hide nothing more to my Boo-Boo Buddy ! » she said, reaching out to him.
« Promised ? » the demon said after a moment timidly, raising puppy eyes to Luz who greeted him with the most tender smile. « I promise you King. » she said, letting him reach out, the two shaking off their hands before letting go.
Then Luz straightened up calmly noticing Eda getting up, the witch going towards the kitchen to get something to hydrate, calling out to her apprentice: «In any case, she seemed very disappointed that you were not participated in your club today.» the witch explained, taking a sip of the liquid in her glass.
The Latina looked surprised and looked down for a moment, stammering for a moment: «Sh-She was..? Wait. Did you meet her? » Luz asked, trying to hide some surprise, suddenly shy.
«Yes, and if not, if you weren't with her, what did you go to do after school before you got home ? » the witch asked, putting her glass down calmly. Luz rubbed the back of her head again and answered shyly again, letting out another nervous little laugh: « Actually, I had to go see a teacher for a homework assignment… Oh mierda ! » she exclaimed, raising her head. « I have to return this assignment tomorrow! I have to go to work !.»
. . .
His mentor sighed: « Luz, your language. »
Luz tryed to smile innocently when she's answered with a: « Sorry Eda »
Eda stared at the girl turning around towards the stairs, picking up her bag:
« Luz ! » the witch declared as she watched her apprentice stop on the stairs, tensing up, to turn to her mentor.
« One more thing ...» the owl lady began, settling herself against the kitchen table, crossing her arms. «If you need to talk about anything, know I'm here. » She mumbled before sighing when she saw the joyful gaze staring at him.
« Thanks Eda. » the human replied softly with a big smile, being particularly touched.
The Latina turned again towards the stairs to go up to her room under the gaze of the witch who settles back down on the sofa after her apprentice has left the living room. King joined the witch to sit in a corner of the sofa , stamping and circling for a moment before settling down. At the moment, the demon knew her friend needed to concentrate on her homework and that he was a cute distraction for her. Eda watched him take a nap, before resting her gaze on the ceiling, seeming to dive into deep thought before dozing off, her eyes slowly widening shut to give way to a good well-deserved rest.
Upstairs, Luz had gently let her bag slip off her shoulder with a long sigh. She looked at her sleeping bag and sat down slowly, smiling softly as she thought back to Eda's word as she pulled the things out of her bag ... She paused, her smile fading as her gaze again noticed the bandage on his wrist. The Latina seemed to have lost her smile at the sight of the injury, pulling her forearm towards her while clenching her fist and clenching her teeth. She managed to hold back some tears that might appear at the corner of her eyes. The young human seemed frustrated, starting to nibbled that lower lip, still staring at her wrist, deep in thought.
Suddenly, Luz abruptly closed her eyes, frowning. The Latina felt a sudden sensation of burning tingling. She then applies her hand to his neck, capsizing back into her sleeping bag. The human began to shrug for a moment, gritting her teeth and stifling some painful moan until the sensation stopped. Once the pain subsided, Luz slowly stood up, massaging her neck carefully, a grimace on her face. Her gaze turned to an old mirror placed in the bazaar around her. Stepping over to her reflection, she slowly gripped the collar of her sweatshirt to pull it gently.
The more her collar was pulled, the more she noticed the huge black spot that ran through her neck. She held out her other hand to touch this strange task, touching with her fingertips this dark, hairy, almost throbbing skin. It gave her a slight discharge in the neck and she shuddered suddenly, withdrawing her fingers sharply before huffing for a moment, swallowing in anguish.
« It wasn't big like this before… Looks like it's spreading…» the human observed as she released the grip on her collar to hide the strange brand again.
The human pulled back to sit down heavily on her sleeping bag, pulling her knees up to rest her head against them before coming over to pat her cheeks, shaking her head lightly. Raising both hands to apply those index fingers to each corner of her lips and form a smile. It was a movement that mother often made to comfort her. Luz turned her gaze to her bag and regained courage, after all, she had a real duty to render ...She had to keep learning if she wanted to become a witch…
And nothing, and no one, will stop her from becoming a witch.