Chapter Text
The first whisps of a cloudy night covered up the waning moon in patches and strips, the skeletal face of it all but hidden. Under its lunar light, in a clearing on the boiling isles, a throng of shapes and peoples, demons and witches moved about, pitching tents and stocking shelves and tables. The night market would be opening soon. The ground was still a little slick from last nights rainstorm, the ground damp and uneven, the smell of wet earth and the isles bones wafting in the air. For one particular shop-keep, stall freshly placed into order by grizzled green hands, the night was already dragging on too long. Yellow eyes drooping and a muffled yawn coming from under his tusks showing any who were there to notice the exhaustion working its way over him. So it was that he could easily be forgiven for never seeing the flash of light, never hearing the faint crackling of eldritch magics as the veil between worlds tore. The bustle and shouts of the night market were quite loud that night after all. A crumpled heap of pages, crimson ink gleaming like rubies suddenly added to a pile of other mismatched oddities, hexed items and charms. The shopkeeper never noticed, and because of that, lives were forever changed, destinies diverted and yet the world spun on.
“Luz why did we have to sneak out? Not complaining, I’m just happy your finally embracing your inner criminal!” King called up towards the young witch with a happy wag of his tail, as he carefully side stepped a rather ominous puddle. The milk white eyes floating in it certainly made it ominous at the least, King thought with a shudder.
“I’m not a criminal King. I just didn’t want to worry her. She has been pretty busy figuring out glyph combos with Lilith. I just didn’t want to bother her.” Luz finished weakly, scratching at the back of her neck. She quickly cleared her throat when she felt Kings concerned gaze on her, eager to change the topic. “Were looking for something that could help get me home, some kind of magical artifact or scroll, anything!” Throwing her arms out in exasperation. She didn’t regret destroying the portal, but her mom was out there somewhere and didn’t know. Didn’t know that she finally had friends, that she was actually excited to get up each day and learn new things. She just disappeared and she couldn’t let her mom think that something horrible had happened, that she didn’t love her. Kings paw patting her leg grounded her and she looked down and saw the expression, the slight nod and smile that told her he was with her. Her heart warmed at that, her first real friend.
“Alright! Come minion, let the hunt begin!” King called as he quickly scaled her leg, ever mindful of his claws and stood on her shoulder balancing his front paws on her head to look around at the swirling mass of people. Luz chuckled at his antics and grabbed his legs to steady him as the two walked through the stalls, hoping to see something. The skull lamps casting an eerie light across the mishmash of dark and foreboding tents. The smell of fried goods at least made the atmosphere less oppressive. The occasional laugh, (maniacal cackle to anyone other than Luz) was also comforting in its own way.
Her eyes skimmed over the rows of trinkets and frankly horrifying objects, the nature of the night market making her briefly regret not brining Eda. Giving Kings paw a quick squeeze she straightened her back and steeled herself. She was a witch on a mission and no spooky market was going to dissuade her! The time passed quickly for the pair as they hurried from stall to stall, asking for any trace of human objects, portal spells, anything that might lead her home. An hour passed, then another and still they were seeing nothing and getting nowhere by asking the vendors, disappointment slowly gaining weight on the young witches shoulders.
“Uhhh, this is hopeless! I don’t even know what I’m looking for! I’m…” Luz quickly wipes at her eyes and takes a deep breath. She can’t give up, she won’t. King’s upside down face quickly fills her vision as he leans his body on top of her head to look her in the eye. Expression serious as his yellow and purple eyes bore into her own.
“Bap.” Luz brain takes a second to address the quick face pat and the goofy look on King’s face. Luz can’t help but chuckle at the silliness of it.
“Alright, thank you, you little goober.” Luz chuckled. “Let’s hit one more stall and then head back home. Thanks King.” Luz added in a small voice. King gave a gentle head bump in response, rough bone meeting soft hair, Luz smiling just a little brighter before he hopped down and started walking beside her. Luz set about scanning the few stalls they hadn’t hit yet. Brown eyes falling on a small grey canvas tent near the markets edge, the two quickly heading over.
The scattered oddities on the table were not too interesting, much to Luz’s disappointment. The flail that looked to made out of some three horned skull was neat though, she cursed the price tag, her bag of snails light. The large green skinned proprietor looked bored, giving the pair sharp looks as they browsed. A few other assorted weapons, a strange orange crystal, and a few scattered books were all that really caught Luz’s eye. The books largely being about history, with a small primer on potions filling out the mix. With a large sigh she turned to leave casting a quick look down to make sure King was still with her. Her heart quickly shuddered as she saw he wasn’t there and whipped around quickly letting out a relieved sigh as she spotted him atop the table, claws holding a loose collection of papers.
“What do you have there?” Luz asked as she moved to look over his shoulder at the papers. The yellowed paper was odd, thick and closer to leather than parchment. The ink red as the pools that sometimes formed across the isles, the smell, Luz recalled it with an uncomfortable shudder. She couldn’t make out what any of it said, if it wasn’t in code then it wasn’t any language she’d come across yet. Just looking at it made her shudder, a faint sense of unease creeping off the page like a thick fog.
“I’m not sure. It feels…familiar? Hey, market peasant! How much for this?” The uncaring glare of the owners yellow eyes as he looked down at the loose handful of papers was scathing, not that King cared.
“100 snails” He didn’t know where it came from or what it was. Still, a quick buck from an annoying demon was never a bad thing. King rubbed at his chin in deep thought, letting out a hmmm as Luz looked on confusedly. Before King grabbed the mass of papers in his paws and started sprinting away.
“Nyheh! Come on!” King shouted as Luz quickly started sprinting after him, not giving it a moments thought, sadly used to this exact scenario from spending so much time with King and Eda. “Ups Luz, my stubby legs are weakening!” King shouted neither having noticed the owner not bothering to give chase as they sprinted away.
“King we really need…huff...to talk…about the stealing! Whew, I am getting scary good at running from crime scenes.” Luz panted out, Kings earlier words on embracing crime coming back to haunt her. Just because she was an accomplice to a few…dozen crimes and incited a riot and prison escape. Ok, not touching that Luz thought with a sense of exhaustion, focusing instead on the young demon and not her rapidly eroding morals.
“Come on Luz, we got it for freeee.” King cheered happily as they both slid down the tree trunk in the nearby forest. King scanned the pages again, he knew, somewhere, somehow that it was important. The language wasn’t anything he had seen before, but it felt right, like something was starting to click into place. Then he saw it, about way through the page, a symbol he’d spent the last few nights staring at. His name, or at least the symbol on his collar. “Luz, Luz! Look!” He frantically started poking the page and Luz craned her neck to see what he was pointing at.
“Woah, is that what I think it is? King this is huge! Maybe that has info about where you come from! Come on, let’s go back and see if Eda can help read it.” Luz quickly picked herself back up and King quickly scurried up onto her shoulder as he started reading. He felt like he could, or at least should be able to read this. It felt so familiar, eyes focused on the page with a fierce stare. They continued on, the path back to the owl house weaving through the woods that Luz had spent plenty of time in over her months on the isles.
“Do you have any idea what it says” Luz asked as she stooped under a low hanging branch, holding it away from where Kings head was buried in his loose pages.
“I…maybe? I can’t read it, not exactly, but it feels familiar. Do you think…do you think this has something about my dad on it?” Kings voice was small, so small and Luz felt her heart ache. She stopped walking and knelt down putting a gentle hand on the small demons shoulder. The hurt in his eyes was unmistakable, she knew she would do whatever she needed to do, to make it go away.
“I don’t know buddy. Maybe it does, but even if it doesn’t you have me and Eda right there with you. We’ll figure it out. Together.” Luz gave King a smile that he slowly returned before throwing himself into a quick hug, drawing a oof from her. King pulled back and gave a smile, brushing his fur down and drawing himself up taller. A quick nod shared between the two, eyes bright and determination set they head off, back towards the Owl House, ready for whatever came next.