Chapter Text
"King, King! Oh my god! Do you know what day tomorrow is?" Luz screeched in excitement as she jogged energetically in place, eyes brimming with stars while she shook her fists in front of her pink coated, puffed up cheeks, practically shaking the unsteady floorboards of the spacious room below.
Unhinging his jaw with a high pitched yawn, King drowsily lifted his head from the now scratched and creased surface of Luz's sleeping bag with what should have been an aggravated expression, the opposite occurring as sleep softened his features into what could only be described in Luz's eyes as an adorable annoyance. Similar to how a cat would look if their owner were to suddenly wake them up from a well-needed nap. "Is it Luz will go back to giving King ear scratches and not scream obnoxiously loud for the rest of the morning day?"
"No, silly! It's All Hallow's Eve!" Luz cooed gently as she pinched King's fluffy cheeks endearingly, smile widening as the demon squirmed away from her, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Today is Halloween Eve to be precise!"
"What's All Hallow's Eve? Is it some conjuring of witches and demons?"
"Actually, you're close!" Luz chirped as she plopped down next to the furry beast with an exaggerated huff escaping from her nose, fetching the roughly handled phone sitting beside her outstretched ankle, turning it on with the flick of a wrist. "It's a day when humans dress up as anything they can imagine and go out to party together! You can watch scary movies, carve pumpkins, and oh! You can also go out to cornfields or go on a haunted hayride with your friends! There's also this thing called Trick or Treating!"
Scrunching up his nose at the onslaught of information that was suddenly thrown in his direction, King clumsily scrambled up from his seat as he climbed on top of Luz's shoulder, craning his next to get a peek of her phone screen, eyes widening in bewilderment. "Is trick or treating a dangerous game where children fight amongst one another in a battle of the death to win some sort of valuable price! Can I watch?"
"Man, you have some gruesome thoughts for a baby demon. But, you're not wrong. Children dress up in costumes and visit houses to get free candy! I used to do it when I was little with-," Luz started, voice falling off as she was pronouncing her next words, mouth-drying abruptly as she paused midsentence, a sudden tightness twisting around her lungs. "My...mom."
"Your mom?"
"Yeah, we would go trick or treating every year, even after my dad left when I was five. This is the first year I won't be going with... her."
Hesitating, King glanced over at Luz out of the corner of his eye as he studied her melancholy expression, smoothly sliding his paw down to meet her hand. Patting the inside of her palm firmly, the empathetic creature gripped the ends of her fingers in an attempt to ground the distressed teenager, understanding the silent pain of separation from a loved one.
They both had temporary lost Eda not too long ago.
As usual, words seemed to fail the two friends miserably, both sitting wordlessly next to each other in the basking, soothing glow of the ascending morning sun, the island's hideous yet mysterious presence seems to make the tender moment even more intimate, the distant prickle of magic sizzling underneath their fingertips.
"Just so you know, Luz, if Eda and I ever run into your father in the future, we'll make sure to eat him on the spot," King stated as he leaned into the safe nook of Luz's shoulder, the faint shudder of bubbly laughter shooting through his body, engulfing him an unusual feeling of warmth and contemplate.
"Thanks, King, I appreciate that," Luz snorted as she titled her head to the side to brush her lips against his forehead, the edges of her mouth tipping up at the high pitched squeal that thanked her in return, King's tailing waving happily at the extra attention. "But, I believe I have a better idea of how to cheer myself up."
"Putting orange dye into Lilith's shampoo again?"
"As much as I wish, no. Instead, why don't we celebrate Halloween here at the Owl House!"
Jumping up onto the top of the young Latina's head, King swiftly balanced on the back of his hind legs as he anchored himself into Luz's curly locks, bending forward until his skull covered nose brushed against Luz's, avoiding poking out her eyes with his pointy horns that seemed to be more of a nuisance than a safety precaution.
"HERE?"
"Yeah! I don't know if the Boiling Isles have a version of the holiday tomorrow, so I thought why not start it now! We can have a party tonight to celebrate it, and go out and spread spooky cheer tomorrow!" Luz explained, typing frantically on the keyboard of her phone screen as she took notes of what they would need, checking off the list of supplies in her head. "Do you think Eda would be cool with that?"
"Let's find out!"
"King, no!"
Unable to grab the slinky creature, the young witch grabbed blindly in the air as King breezily bounced out of her reach, a swift gust of air and a flash of silvery colored fur being the only indication that King had left, Luz jumping to her feet as she twisted around, running towards the direction of the kitchen.
"KING!"
Carelessly hopping down two flights of stairs at a time, then proceeding to lose her balance halfway down and tumbling down the rest of the steps, Luz crash-landed roughly flat on her back as she groaned up at the ceiling in defeat, cursing the very name of Azura for her trip-up.
"Did you just fall straight down the stairs?" A snarky voice remarked as they leaned over her sprawled out body across the faded carpet floor, glossy lips twisting into a devious smirk as a single, gold speckled tooth stuck out beneath the inky red flesh, mocking Luz with its bare awe-struck existence.
"No?" Luz answered timidly, crossing her now sore arms stubbornly as she turned away from the amused stare, promptly noticing another figure not too far behind the one above her, snow-white skin contrasting against the burgundy interior design of the sun-lit hallway.
"Edayln, I recommend it would be an excellent idea to begin baby-proofing your house for your human. She appears to get injured a lot," Lilith suggested as she stood stiffly next to her sister, Eda, faint orange residue from King and her's recent prank still sticking to the roots and ends of her hair, mingling in with the now streaking grey after-effects of the now spreading curse. "Hi, human."
"Hey Lilith," Luz greeted back, a sour taste tickling the back of her mouth as she grimaced slightly towards Lilith, her past actions playing on a continuous record in the back of her mind, salting her blood with vengeance intertwined with undoubtedly shame for still feeling resentment for the former coven leader witch. "Also, Eda you better not think of baby proofing the house!"
"Wasn't thinking of it, kid! I know you can handle a bit of roughhousing!" Eda smiled playfully as she pulled Luz easily up by her shoulder's, patting down the front of her hoodie as she plucked out a stray glossy feather that had gotten stuck at the end of the Latina's hair, most likely belonging to the loudmouthed owl nearby. "Besides, what was the hurry that you ended up falling down a flight of stairs?"
"Well I was looking for King, and-"
"We wanted to ask if we could celebrate Halloween tonight!"
"I was going to tell her that!" Luz groaned, facepalming dramatically for a second before pivoting her glare towards King, the demon shaking his tiny shoulders mischievously as he crawled on top of Eda's head, becoming half consumed by the puffy mess of her owl-like mane.
"Halloween? Isn't that the holiday humans celebrate where they dress up in ridiculous costumes and go out stealing candy or whatever?" Eda answered quizzingly, tapping the end of her pointy chin as she snapped her fingers suddenly, face lightening up almost as if it had been ignited by magic. "AH! You mean the one represented by pumpkins, magic, black cats, and most importantly, witches!"
"We have a holiday dedicated to us?" Lilith questioned as she burrowed her eyebrows, confusion, and a hint of pride painting across the beautiful yet intriguing canvas of her narrowly sharp facial features.
"Indeed, sister. For some reason, they see us as a symbol of the holiday and in order to show their gratitude for us they end up performing interesting rituals and dressing up in our ancestor attire." Eda responded, shaking her head at the human's unbelievable traditions that somehow managed to last longer then what she had first expected. "In my opinion, their outfits are a bit outdated, however, they still believe we own pointy hats and fly on magic brooms. That was so last century!"
"I'm embarrassed I ever believed those folk tales, but besides that point, would you be willing to host a party here at the Owl House tonight! I think it would be a good bonding activity for witches here!" Luz pleaded, making sure to use her best puppy dog eyes when debating with Eda, knowing that even the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles was seldom unable to resist her charm.
"I mean, I don't see why not, I'm always up for a little celebration!" Eda concluded, slyly leaning towards her older sister as she held up her bony hand to block out her next sentence from Luz's innocent ears, adjusting her voice to a lower level. "Especially when there's alcohol involved!"
"Really! Thank you so much, Eda!" Luz squealed excitedly as she threw herself spontaneously into Eda's already expecting arms, the infamous Owl Lady gratefully hugging back as her expression melted into one of motherly happiness, an unusual feeling bubbling inside her chest, swelling her heart up with compassion.
"Don't mention it, kid. But, you should probably get started if you want to have guests arrive at this supposed party."
"Right! C'mon, King! Let's go get us some guests!" Luz yelled as she took an instinctive step forward as King leaped immediately out of Eda's hair, crashing into Luz's arms with a short meep before the two took off for the door, footsteps trampling over the newly cleaned floor. "Hooty, you can help Eda and Lilith decorate for the party!"
"Me? You want ME to help! I can't wait to be apart of this!" Hooty hollered back, neck stretching out after Luz as the three-headed towards the thick maze of trees surrounding the house, the Boiling Isles earthy yet pungent smell of rotten onions filling their noses, a pinch of morning dew mixing in with the fresh scent of adventure.
"Edayln! You're not actually thinking of giving children alcohol!" Lilith hissed sternly as the two elder witches watched in entertainment while Luz, King, and Hooty dashed into the thicket of the forest, the owl demon's malleable neck curving between the distant tree line.
"Don't be dramatic, sister! I'm just going to spike our individual cups of apple blood! I'll make sure to keep it out of their hands!"
"I hope so, even though I know the human, Luz, doesn't like me, I don't want anything terrible happening to her."
"Aw, Lily! Look at you getting a soft spot for humans!" Eda teased evilly as she elbowed her sister narrowly in the side, dodging a reflective attack to her upper leg, the Owl Beast's curse reducing it affects on her physical body than it had before.
"Now you're making me regret leaving the Emperor's Coven!"
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"Ok, King! Who do you think we should invite first?" Luz suggested breathlessly, hopping frantically over a sudden, rigid moss-covered log, ankle kissing the scratchy surface of the bark as she barely missed a sprouting flower on her impact of the ground, it's tender baby blue petals contrasting with the drab color palette around it, a fragile source of new wildlife. "Willow? Gus? Amity?"
"Invite all of them! You should also make sure to invite the Blight siblings since I heard from Willow that they took an unusual liking to you! In my opinion, I always thought they were too cool for you !"
"King!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that! Anyway, you should also invite the Detention track and some of those witches from the Rugby team!"
"Ugh, if I invite them, I'll be forced to invite their team captain, Boscha, as well!" Luz whined loudly as she kicked a stray pebble across the dirt-covered path, the once inanimate object opening it's pupil slit eyes, growling back as tiny hands came into view, clawing at Luz's foot as she flinched at the impact, face contorting with startlement. "Is everything here alive on the Isles?"
"The cons of living amongst pure, uncontrollable magic!"
"The sacrifices one has to make!" Luz declared throwing the back of her hand over her forehead as she posed up to the skeleton tree stained sky, the oak and unnamed species known to the human world twisting and turning together into a dangly hypnotizing mess, stray streaks of sunlight filtering into the lively forest, painting across Luz's upturned face.
"Next time Hexside has Theatre tryouts, make sure to audition, I'm sure they would love to have you as their main role!"
"I just might! Anyway, I think we might be coming up to Amity's House soon! I texted Willow and Gus ahead of time to make sure they know I'm coming since I know Willow's dads have been wanting to meet me for a while!" Luz laughed, feeling jittery with excitement at getting to meet Willow's fathers, an unsaid feeling of curiosity crawling underneath her skin. "Apparently, one of Willow's dads is an excellent chef, and will be serving us some unique isles cuisine!"
"Well, now I'm intrigued!"
"Who wouldn't be!"
Vividly chatting amongst one another for the rest of the journey to the divine awaited Blight Manor, the blossoming Harvest sun tipped it's charismatic hat to the world below as it made it's climactic approach to the brilliantly colored stage in the sky, bowing to its expressive audience with a seductive wink as clouds whispered and clapped around the performer, intrigued for the show to begin.
Feeling the slow crunch of twigs and rocks turn to the silky, glossy pavement, Luz shifted her head up to address the breath-taking view of the tale old house of the sophisticated Blight family, it's iron stripped gates beckoning her in while at the same time highly judging and escorting her out of the premise far away from the prestigious occupation, labeling her unfit for entering for her down to Earth, energetic personality.
Blight Manor
Where flaws simply don't exist.
That was one way for an introduction.
Gripping onto one of King's paw securely, Luz skipped up the freshly paved brick stairs, avoiding the occasional crack or two as she approached the grand front door, subconsciously fiddling with her forefinger and thumb nervously.
Staring up at the huge magical doorbell inches away from the tip of her nose, Luz anxiously rubbed the side of her ankle with the rubbery heel of her sneaker, winching at the spark of pain that flamed up her leg, the coloring bruise from her trip down the creaky stairs and wooden log flashing behind her eyes for a second before being folded back into the back of her memory for this day, the clutter of memories all folded together into one box.
Pressing the tip of her finger into the doorbell hesitantly, a long, clanging noise of bells against bells banged through out the porch, smashing against Luz and King's eardrums, echoing through what could be imagined as a spacious room behind the front massive doors.
It didn't take long for the pitter-patter of footsteps to arrive.
Quick and fast approaching as a fox, careless like a bunny.
Magically yanking the door open with a perfectly drawn pink circle, a young wild-looking witch stormed out onto the door frame, flushed and half asleep, hair down and frazzled with static.
"Who is it?"
"Hi Amity, It's Luz and King!"
"What! LUZ?"