Chapter Text
The Boiling Isles, home to seemingly mythical creatures and other creatures that are insane. Also, home to many witches and witchlings, a few demons, and a single human.
Luz Noceda stared down at her phone. A black screen that shown her reflection was all that looked back at her. It didn't make sense. She was able to communicate with her mother before through text, so why hadn't she heard anything in the last two days.
'Has it really only been that long?' Luz thought to herself. It had only been two days since everything happened. She'd saved Eda from petrifaction, but she sacrificed her only way to return to the human world, her true home, in the process. Surprisingly, she hadn't heard anything from Emperor Belos. She figured he'd be all over her, trying to make her conform to some twisted rule or torture her for destroying what he sought. After all, anyone who opposed the mighty Emperor Belos faced the worst of punishments.
It was also two days ago that Luz had recorded herself telling everything, from skipping out on camp to training as a witch, all the way to standing up to the Emperor. She'd sent the video to her mother, but had yet to hear back. Since then, a lot of her time was spent alone in her room in the Owl House. Eda and King tried to get her to open up, but she remained quiet and isolated.
A knock on her door drew her out of her thoughts. "It's open," she called, expecting either Eda or King.
Instead, her friend Willow Park opened the door instead. "Hey, Luz."
Luz's face suddenly lit up like a lightbulb. "Friend!" She got up and gave Willow a big hug.
Willow laughed and returned the hug. "How've you been?"
"Oh, you know... not great, but I don't really wanna talk about it," Luz replied with a sigh.
"Well that's fine because I'm not here to talk," Willow said, pulling out a flyer. "I'm actually here to get you outside. Eda says you've been cooped up in here since the whole petrification incident. There's a new pool opening up not too far from here, and the weather's perfect for a swim."
Luz smiled. "Thanks, but I think I'm good. I'm just... not ready, you know?"
"Oh come on, please? It'll only be me if you don't go," Willow pleaded, putting her arm around Luz's shoulder.
"What about Gus? And Amity?" Luz asked.
Willow shrugged. "Well, Gus would go, but he doesn't know how to swim. And Amity's leg is still in a cast, so she can't get it wet. Please? I really don't wanna go alone."
Luz sighed again and rolled her eyes. "Alright, let me get my swimsuit."
Willow hugged Luz again. "Thank you! I promise this will make you feel better!"
As Luz dug through her closet, Willow added under her breath, "Besides, Amity wouldn't be able to stand up straight if she saw you in a bathing suit."
"What was that?" Luz asked as she came back out of the closet.
"Nothing!" Willow replied with a smile.
"Oh, okay!" Luz said as they descended the stairs together.
Downstairs in the living room, Eda and Lilith were having a conversation and a game of Hexus Holdem. Eda's attention was instantly drawn to Luz when she got to the bottom of the stairs.
"Luz! You're up! How are you feeling?" she asked anxiously.
"I'm fine, Eda," Luz answered nonchalantly. "Willow and I are just going for a swim, if that's alright with you."
Eda backed up a little and smiled. "That's alright with me. I'm just glad to see you getting out again."
Luz simply nodded and left the Owl House, Willow close behind her. Eda sighed and sat back down across from her sister.
"Anything the matter, Edalyn?" Lilith asked.
Eda sighed. "Well, other than being a little jealous Willow got her out of her room instead of me, I'm just worried about Luz. Ever since she destroyed the portal, she's been... different. She used to be so bright, so optimistic, so... happy. It couldn't have been easy, doing what she did, to Belos of all people."
"I know what you mean," Lilith agreed. "I never would've had the confidence to stand up to him like that, especially given the stakes. And when we had out discussion in the human realm, I could tell a part of her wished to stay there. I blame myself for her current state."
"Hey, what did I say about assigning blame anymore?" Eda asked sarcastically. "I told you, I forgive you. Either way, we should probably get started on setting up."
"Agreed. Though are you sure this is the best course of action, sister?" Lilith asked.
Eda shrugged. "Even if it doesn't bring Luz out of her funk, it's still worth a shot."
"If you are sure."
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"Sir, we have located the source of energy," Kikimora said with a bow.
Emperor Belos took a deep breath and looked down at his head servant. "And the cause of it, Kikimora?"
"Actually, he came peacefully," she replied with a slight shiver. "He said he wished to speak with you. However, I must warn you, he is not what he seems."
Belos chuckled condescendingly. "I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle. Send him in and leave us be. After what happened, I'd like to have a word with him myself."
Kikimora bowed once again and left the throne room. Before the doors closed entirely, a new presence entered. Belos was admittedly shocked at the appearance of the creature before him. He wore a formal suit and tie, and had white hair, but looked young despite it. But what really shocked Belos was the ears: they were round.
"Why, you're human!" Belos exclaimed.
The man chuckled in front of him. "I'm afraid you are mistaken, your grace. I do believe your servant told you there was more to me than meets the eye."
Belos tilted his head to the side. "And that would be?"
The man simply looked back at the doors. They burst open, guards having somehow been defeated. More figures followed them in, all human teenagers, and all seemingly lifeless.
"And the best part is, they're all under my complete control," the man answered. "For example, men, remove the weakest of your numbers!"
The humans all turned on a single one of their ranks, beating him down without question and throwing him forcefully out of the room.
"You're a..." Belos began.
"A siren, yes, I am. And I'm guessing you're the infamous Emperor Belos I've heard so much about," the man finished, pacing around the throne room. "And it's also my understanding you have a plan to invade and dominate the human world."
"And how do you know that?" Belos asked, raising his staff.
"Simple. Sirens may be known to control minds, but there are a select few, which includes myself, that can read minds," the siren answered.
"Alright, and why are you here? What do you want from me?" Belos continued to press.
The siren stopped pacing and faced Belos. "Well, as you can see, I prefer to control humans, specifically teenagers. They have a natural strength and intelligence that witches seem to lack. I want in on your plan, and I have a way to... accelerate the process."
"Go on," Belos allowed, lowering his weapon.
"You see, I am the last of my kind in the realm of the living, but I'm sure you already knew that," the siren explained. "You see, every other siren in existence has been banished to what is widely known as the Cursed Realm, where one's powers are completely suppressed, and those who are banished their face eternal punishment for having been banished there."
"I'm aware of what the Cursed Realm is, but what does it have to do with me? Surely, you don't intend to open it," Belos said.
"Well, I plan to do something similar to that," the siren continued. "You see, me trying to conquer the humans now would be impossible. They may have no magical or telekinetic ability, outside of a very, very select few, but there are still much too many of them for me to conquer alone. In fact, by my latest count, humans in the human world outnumber witches here in the Boiling Isles nearly one hundred to one."
"And you want my help in conquering the human world, I'm assuming," Belos guessed.
The siren smiled. "That would be correct. However, even though there is a chance of alliance between us, there is no way for us to go to the human realm without immense magical power, telekinetic power, and enough human blood."
"I'm guessing you would like me to supply to the magical power. Where would you come up with the other two?" Belos asked.
"Let's just say I have my sources. I do, in fact, have an army of humans at my disposal. And I do have a way of obtaining telekinetic power," the siren answered. "So what say you? Shall we work together to rule over the humans?"
Belos turned away for a moment to think. After a moment of silent contemplation, he replied, "You have a deal, sir..."
"If you must call me by a name, refer to me as Shrike," the siren answered.
"Well, Mr. Shrike, I will aid you. However, due to your recent actions, I have been severely drained of my magic. It will be a few moons until I am fully capable in performing what you require of me. Until then, I would like this meeting to remain between us. A small number of inhabitants of the Boiling Isles have recently become oddly fond of humans and would likely revolt if they heard of what we were planning."
Shrike nodded. "Agreed. Word of this agreement will reach no unauthorized ears. And if it does, I shall deal with it personally. And take all the time you need; that surge of energy that caused your magic to disperse came from my army and I simply arriving here. You'll need to be at a hundred percent to pull this off. Besides, once you do, and once we arrive in the human realm, the humans will have no chance in dealing with the both of us."
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"So magic just disappeared for an hour?" Luz asked Willow on their way back to the Owl House.
Willow nodded. "Yeah, and no one's really sure how. It just kinda poofed away while I was in the middle of performing a plant spell."
"I probably didn't notice because... you know," Luz said.
Apparently, the pool was still under construction, and Willow had the opening date wrong by a month. They were forced to turn back immediately, stopping only for Willow to pick up some supplies for a school project. Or at least, that's what she told Luz.
"Hey, I know you're probably tired of hearing it, but I'm sorry about what happened. And I know you don't wanna talk either, but I'm here if you wanna do that too," Willow consoled.
"Thanks, but I'm fine, really. It's just gonna take time to get used to is all," Luz assured her.
"Well, maybe, but I'm doing this anyhow," Willow said, reaching into her bag.
"Doing what?" Luz asked right before Willow pulled out a bandanna and wrapped it around Luz's head and over her eyes. "Willow! What are you doing?!"
"Don't worry, Luz, it'll all make sense in a minute," Willow simply replied, tying the bandanna in place. "Now just follow me and accept what's about to happen to you."
"What?! What is about to happen to me? Am I being initiated into some sort of cult? Is the emperor taking me away?! Please tell me the emperor's not taking me away!" Luz cried, holding onto Willow by the shoulders.
"Relax, Luz. It's nothing bad. In fact, I think you might like this," Willow told her, opening a door. "Okay, now I'm gonna pull the blindfold off, so prepare your eyes."
Holding her breath, Luz forced herself to keep her eyes open and her tears from falling. Willow did as she said she would and removed the bandanna from Luz's head. After the brief flash of light, Luz saw the living room of the Owl House, completely decorated, and all of her friends, Eda, King, Lilith, Gus, Willow, and Amity, who still wore a cast and carried a crutch.
"Surprise!" they all yelled in unison.
Luz's lungs burned with oxygen, wanting to be let out, and her eyes began to sting of tears. She felt her chest beating faster and faster as her stomach began to twist and turn and flip.
"I... I can't do this!" Luz cried, running back out of the Owl House and into the woods.
Everyone else was left and awkward silence.
"Well that didn't go as well as I thought it would," Eda admitted, breaking the silence.
"One of us should probably go talk to her," Willow said, getting nods from everyone else. "So... who's gonna do it?"
Eda stood up to volunteer, only for Amity to yell, "I'll do it!"
Amity's face turned completely red as she corrected herself. "I-I mean... I'm pretty sure I know where she's going, so I could, you know, see what's wrong, and... I'm just gonna go."
"Are you sure you're up for it, kid?" Eda asked. "That foot still doesn't look too good."
"Oh I'll be fine," Amity assured. "Besides, we're all here for Luz aren't we?"
As Amity left, Willow chuckled to herself and shook her head in amusement. "I'm not sure what's more adorable, Amity's constant panic whenever Luz is anywhere near her, or the fact that Luz is completely oblivious to all of it."
Amity limped through the woods, keeping an eye out for Luz or any clues to indicate where she might have gone. Truth be told, Amity thought the whole surprise party idea from Eda was a bad one, especially so soon after everything that had happened. Still, Amity hated seeing Luz, who was usually so upbeat and energetic, depressed and isolated. She also felt bad that she had to stay home while everything was happening due to her injury, which was taking an annoying amount of time to heal.
Eventually, Amity heard sobbing and saw Luz huddled up against a tree. With a bit of difficulty, Amity managed to limp next to her and sit down. "Everything okay?"
Luz looked up, tears all over her face. "Y-Y-Yeah, just... got a little ahead of myself back there is all."
"Luz, please, talk to me," Amity gently pleaded after a brief moment of silence. "I hate seeing you like this."
"There's nothing to say, Amity. I just need a minute to calm down," Luz assured, taking a few deep breaths.
"And what happens next time you freak out like that? Especially if it's in class or something?" Amity pressed. "Trust me, this won't go away until you..."
Luz cut Amity off by leaning into her and wrapping her arms around her. Amity flushed as she usually did whenever she interacted with Luz one on one, grateful Luz didn't see her face. Luz simply buried her face in Amity's shoulder and continued to cry. All Amity could do was simply put her arms around Luz as well, after her face stopped burning of course.
After a few minutes, they separated. Luz wiped away a few tears as her breaths began to steady. "Th-Thanks... I needed that."
Amity nodded. "Anytime, that's what friends do. What do you say we go back and call the whole thing off?"
"I-I think I'd like that," Luz agreed. They both stood up and slowly made their way back to the Owl House.
When they got there, Amity stepped ahead of Luz and said, "I'll go inside first and tell everyone what's going on. You can come in whenever you're ready."
Luz took a deep breath and shook her head. "Actually, I think I'll be okay now. I just needed a minute."
"Are you sure?" Amity asked.
"As I'll ever be," Luz replied with a nod.
Amity smiled and shrugged as she opened the door. Almost as soon as Luz stepped inside, everyone stood up anxiously and started bombarding her with questions.
"Guys! I'm alright! I just... wasn't ready for, you know, all this," Luz yelled over everyone.
"Oh. Well in that case, we can call this whole thing off if you want," Eda told her as everyone backed away.
"Actually, it's fine. It's really thoughtful, and I appreciate that," Luz replied. "Besides, it looks like you guys spent a lot of time setting this up. It'd be a shame not to go through with it it."
Eda shrugged. "Well, if you're sure. Just..."
She was cut off as the lights suddenly began to flicker violently. Hooty could be heard outside hooting and screaming at the top of his lungs. Inside, as the lights went completely out, a blinding golden light appeared from the door, causing everyone to recoil and cover their eyes.
"What's going on? Is that Hooty?" Gus yelled.
"I don't know, kid. Nothing like this has ever happened before," Eda replied.
They then had to cover their ears as the voice of a little kid screeched throughout the entire house.
"Joshua! Joshua Leon, get your ass over here, now!"
Luz looked up when she heard that name.
"What do you want now?" another voice, a bit less mature, shouted back. "I already cleaned your damn car!"
"What did I tell you about talking back to me?"
"Whatever, just, what?!"
After a brief moment of silence, the second voice shouted in disbelief, "You don't actually think that's mine!"
"After all the shit I've seen you pull, I wouldn't be surprised if you had an entire stash," the first voice responded condescendingly. "Hey! Don't walk away from your father while he's talking to you!"
The second voice mumbled something no one could here, but made the first voice furious. "What was that, boy?!"
"I said you're not my fucking dad!"
A sudden wave of force shot everyone in the Owl House down to the ground. The door's light went away, and the lights all turned back on. However, there lie in the middle of the room that wasn't there before.
"Is that a human?!" Gus asked with shock.
Eda and Lilith turned the unconscious body onto its back. Sure enough, its ears were round, and it seemed to be male. He wore a jean jacket with a green shirt with a logo no one recognized, and he had short, blonde hair. His skin seemed to be red from sweating, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly despite him being unconscious.
However, only one thought ran through Luz's mind when she saw the fellow human.
"I know him!"