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“…And in the forecast for tonight, there will be boiling rain and lots of it. The storm will last throughout the night and wrap up in the early hours tomorrow morning” said a voice on the crystal ball. Luz and King had been scrolling through the channels while Eda was in the kitchen putting the final touches on that evening’s dinner when they caught the weather segment of the evening news.
“Did they just say ‘boiling rain’?” Eda asked as she brought out three simple meals. Instead of sitting around the dinner table, the trio planned to eat in the living room. “Yeah, it’s supposed to last until early tomorrow morning” Luz replied as she took her plate. “I guess we’ll have to take a rain check on our post-dinner walk,” King said with a chuckle. “That would be best. After all, the boiling rain hurts like hail.” Luz and King both giggled at that pun.
“Alright you two, that’s enough cheesy puns. You had your comedy hour earlier. Eat up” Eda said with a fond smile as she sat next to Luz with her plate. She loved Luz and King as if they were her own kids but there were still only so many puns she could handle in one day. After flipping through a few more channels, the trio found an interesting movie to watch as they ate their dinner.
Late that night, the rainfall had become quite heavy as loud rumbles of thunder filled the cool air and flashes of lightning lit up the sky. All but one of the residents of the Owl House had been sleeping peacefully since they had all gone up to bed after their evening meal. King, who started off sleeping peacefully like usual, had been tossing and turning in his sleep for the last half-hour. He had begun to whimper and cry softly in his sleep. As a result of the more frequent tossing and turning, Luz began to stir.
“King?” she questioned as she sat up, only half-awake. As the girl’s eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room and she became more awake, she heard King’s soft crying and saw his movements. A nightmare, that was the cause of King’s distress. Luz gently tried to shake the small demon’s shoulder to wake him up. “King? Buddy, wake up. It’s only a nightmare, you’re ok.”
As the rain continued to pelt the window outside, the gentle attempts to wake King failed. The small demon only seemed to become more frightened and upset. A particularly loud roar of thunder did the trick as King was startled awake by the sound, letting out a scared yelp as he jumped to his feet.
“Woah, easy King, it’s ok. That was just the thunder. Take a few deep breaths.” Luz said in a calming voice.
“Th-the thunder?...” King looked around the room as he took a few deep breaths. Once he realized he wasn’t in danger, he began to calm down.
“Wanna talk about your nightmare? It might help. Talking to Mami about my nightmares always helped me when I was little.” King nodded as he sat down and hugged his stuffed bunny, Francois.
“I was going to bed one night during a boiling rainstorm. You had already gone home so it was just Eda and I again. I wasn’t used to having my own room again yet so the thunder and heavy rain was…kinda scary to me. I tried to ignore it because it never bothered me before and I didn’t want to be a baby about it. The storm just kept getting worse and I got more scared. Some lightning struck with a loud BOOM of thunder and for a moment in the window…I saw Belos…” King hugged Francois tighter as he finished explaining his nightmare.
“It sounds like you had a pretty scary nightmare. It’s ok to be scared. You don’t need to worry though. Even after I go home, you’ll be safe. I’m sure of it” Luz said confidently with a smile.
King felt reassured by Luz’s words and started to relax when another loud crash of thunder came from outside, accompanied by a flash of lightning. King jumped and hugged Luz, nearly dropping Francois. Luz hugged back then got an idea.
“Hey, why don’t we go see Eda? Maybe she’ll let us stay in her nest for the night.” King thought about it. “I don’t know…Won’t she be a bit upset that we’d be waking her up in the middle of the night?” Luz shook her head, “I doubt it. Once she hears why I’m sure she’ll understand. When I was little and had nightmares, Mami would let me sleep in her room with her if I was still scared after talking about them.” After hearing that, King thought for a moment then agreed to go see Eda.
A few minutes later, Luz was standing outside Eda’s bedroom holding King as he held Francois. She knocked three times before carefully pushing open one of the large doors and stepping into the room. “Eda? Are you up?” She set King down then turned to close the door.
King approached the nest then climbed in, gently tapping Eda’s shoulder. Eda yawned and sat up as Luz walked over and took a spot in the nest next to King. “Luz? King? Is everything alright? It’s the middle of the night.” King looked up at Eda, “I…had a nightmare. Luz suggested talking to you.” Judging by how the small demon was still clinging to his rabbit and how some of his fur stood on end as more thunder passed, Eda knew that whatever nightmare King had must’ve really spooked him.
“Must’ve been one scary nightmare if it’s got you coming to me like this. Go ahead, tell me about it” Eda said as she wrapped some of her blanket around King’s shoulders.
For the next couple of minutes, Luz and Eda stayed silent as King told Eda about his nightmare. Once King finished, Eda spoke. “Yeah, seeing Emperor Bonehead’s face in your window at night during a boiling rainstorm would be a terrifying sight. Don’t worry, he can’t get you, not while I’m here. He definitely can’t get you while Hooty’s here, nothing beats him” she said with a chuckle, hoping the joke would help King feel better. Luz and King giggled, imagining that just five minutes with Hooty would send Belos running back to his castle.
King yawned, feeling more relaxed as he leaned against Eda’s side. “Would you mind if we stayed with you for the night?” Luz asked with a yawn. “Not at all. I’ll get an extra blanket and a couple of extra pillows.” Eda carefully got out of the nest and went to her closet. A minute later she returned with two pillows and an extra blanket, giving them to Luz.
As everyone settled into the nest and drifted off to sleep, King curled up against Eda’s side and let out a small yawn. “Night, Mom…” came a quiet, half-asleep voice, followed by soft snores.
Mom. Eda took a minute to process the fact that King had just called her “Mom”. It made sense that he would see her as a mother figure. She raised him, cared for him, and he surprised her by legally changing his name to King Clawthorne not too long ago. In all but blood, King was her son. She felt pride well up in her chest and happy tears pricking the corners of her eyes. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she smiled and drifted off to sleep a few minutes later. No more nightmares were had that night.