Chapter Text
“Am… you don’t have to do this…”
Red trees.
Someone in the forest.
We’re… playing?
Someone says something.
I can’t make it out.
She pushes me.
I fall in the water.
It’s cold.
That’s not right.
Why is it not right?
It’s not even water.
Someone shouts my name.
“Luz!”
It’s the one that pushed me.
She sounds scared.
Everything blacks out.
I woke up from my dream and shot up from my bed. I reach out, trying to feel for my- I’m not in my room , I realized as I looked around the forest. Then I realized what must’ve happened. I must’ve tripped on a root and passed out when I hit my head.
I looked up at the sky. It was a nice blue color.
Not purple.
The trees were green.
Not red.
As I looked up, I realized the sun was starting to set.
I should get home soon, Mami will get worried . I thought.
Then I saw a tiny owl staring at me. Right in front of me. It looked… strangely familiar. It hooted and somehow I could tell it wanted me to follow it. I debated with myself and eventually I got up and followed the owl. Just followed a strange little owl. You know, as you do.
The little owl led me deeper into the woods, and it got a little chilly so I put my hood up. Eventually we stopped at a rundown old shack.
“Is this where you were leading me?” I asked the owl, not expecting a response.
So, of course, it gave me one.
It shook its head and hopped up to the door.
“You want me to go in?”
It nodded.
I looked up at the sky and sighed. “Alright.” Just a few minutes.
I twisted the doorknob and stepped inside. There was a bright white light, and when I opened my eyes I realized I wasn’t in the shack. I was in a tent. I followed the owl outside of the tent and realized I wasn’t in the forest either. I was in some kind of market. I looked up at the sky again.
…
This time it was purple.
Where am I? I thought. The Boiling Isles, another part of me answered.
The Boiling Isles.
I tried to remember how I knew that… but I couldn’t.
Lost in thought, I didn’t realize that the little owl had wandered over to a woman a few feet away from me. The woman was tall, with pale white skin, a mane of silver hair covered in a green cloth, a red dress and golden eyes.
“Ah, Owlbert! There you are! Where’d you get off to, huh?” The owl hooted and looked towards me. “You found someone you thought was interesting?” The owl hooted affirmatively, and the woman followed its gaze and saw me.
I shyly smiled and put my hand up in a small wave, “uh… hi.” I said nervously.
“Where’d you come from, kid?”
“Uh, the doorway in your tent?
The woman turned towards the owl. “You brought a human over?”
Before the owl had the time to answer, I asked, “are you not human?”
Then the woman smiled at me. “Oh, dear child, I’m not like you!” She pulled off the cloth covering her ears. “I am Eda the Owl Lady! The most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles! I am respected! Feared-”
“Busted!” Someone in a gray tunic and pants, with a black belt, boots, and plague doctor mask slammed their his on the table.
But I wasn’t really paying much attention to him. All I was paying attention to was the Owl Lady’s ears.
They were pointed.
She was like me.
I was pulled back to reality when the plague doctor grabbed me.
“Hey! What’s-”
“You’re under arrest, too, for fraternizing with a criminal!”
Criminal? Under arrest?
“What? That’s not cool!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll come. I just gotta-” she swung a wooden staff- that had a figure on top that looked suspiciously like the tiny owl I followed- at the plague doctor- police?- and he dropped me with a grunt.
Then Eda’s stuff all packed up into a neat little hitchhikers pack, she pulled a key out from her hair, she pushed the button that looked like a yellow eye, a suitcase came zooming out of the tent, and she grabbed me as she started running. She jumped onto her staff, pulling me on, and suddenly we were in the air, flying on her staff.
“WHAT IS THIS PLACE? AND WHO WAS THAT?” I screamed over the wind.
She waited to answer until we slowed down, so we wouldn’t have to yell.
“That was one the Conformatorium Guards. Don’t worry, he won’t be able to get us anymore.”
“Okay, but back to my first question, where in the world are we?”
We landed in a forest. The Owl Lady got off her staff, and smiled at me. “Kid, we’re not in your world. We’re in a place called the Boiling Isles, in the Demon Realm.” She started walking, and I followed.
The Boiling Isles. How had I known that?
“Oh. Ok.”
She looked at me curiously, like that wasn’t the answer she was expecting. I looked back at her, and realized just how familiar she felt. Though, I didn’t know why.
I also didn’t know I looked familiar to her.
Her eyes widened as she stifled a gasp.
“What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t. My name’s Luz.”
She paused before shaking her head and walking on, muttering something that sounded like “impossible” under her breath.
We walked to a clearing with a house in it. The house was made of white bricks, with a few small stained glass windows here and there, and one huge window in the middle near the top that looked like an eye. The door was carved with what looked like an owl’s face.
“You’re not worried about the guards finding us?” I asked.
She smiled. “Don’t worry about that! I have a state-of-the-art defense system.”
Then the carved owl head woke up. “Oh, heyyyyy, Eda! And who are youuuu? Hoot!” It asked as it stretched towards me. WHY IS THIS FAMILIAR?
“Hooty, we don’t have time for this. Open up!” She poked it in the eyes.
“Okay, okay, sheesh. Hoot. You never want to play! Hoot!” Then its mouth stretched over the entire door.
Eda shook her head, grumbled something, and stepped inside. “Sorry about him.” She told me as I came in.
I shrugged.
She frowned. That was definitely not the reaction she was looking for. “Well, anyway, welcome to the Owl House!”
“You sure do have a thing for owls, don’t you?”
“Sure do.”
“Huh. Do you live here alone?”
There was a big thump from above.
“Actually, I have a roommate.”
“Who dares interrupt I,” a deep voice said, “the King of Demons!'' The deep voice turned squeaky and cute as a little black demon that looked kinda like a dog with a white skull on its head. It had a red collar-necklace with a gold circle hanging from it. It also had two horns, one cracked, that reached up to my chin.
More familiarity.
“Hello,” I said, “what’s your name?”
It looked up at me suspiciously.
“His name is King.” Eda told me.
“Who is this?” He asked Eda.
“This is Luz. The human. She’s gonna help with our little problem.”
“Oh. Hooray!” He cheered.
Problem?
“Wait- you need a human?” I asked.
They both nodded.
“Then I’m not sure I can help.”
“What do you mean, kid?”
“I mean,” I said, pulling off my hood, “I’m not sure if I’m human.”
They both gasped as they looked at my ears.
They were pointed.
Like Eda’s.
Not round.
Like humans.
“Kid, is your name short for something? Like a nickname?”
I shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t remember. Anything. But everything here seems so familiar and it's so frustrating that I don’t know why!”
“Everything… here?” She asked cautiously.
“Yes! Even Hooty seemed familiar!”
“Eda? How does Hooty seem familiar to her?”
But I don’t think Eda was listening. She was just looking at me, shocked, as if she realized something.
“L-Lucelyn?”
I paused.
I nodded.
“Yeah. I think that’s my name.”
Then she was hugging me.
Tighter than I’d ever been hugged before.
“What-”
“Kid, what did you mean by ‘you don’t remember?’”
“Well, when I was six, I woke up by a lake, with no memory, except for someone shouting ‘Luz.’ Why?”
“‘Cause, kid, my daughter disappeared around eight and a half years ago, when she was six, her name was Lucelyn, she had dark skin, dark orange hair, and her left eye was golden-orange, while her right was emerald.”
That described me.
Perfectly.
“Oh…”
“One last question kid, think you can tell me your last name?”
I thought back. Back before I was found. Back before I lost my memory. I tried to remember. And I did. “Clawthorne.”
She looked at me like I had just said the most amazing thing in the world. “That’s my last name, kid.”
I smiled.
“Oh. So, you’re my-” Then Eda- my mom - hugged me again.
“Well, I’m just gonna-” King started to say something and walk away. Eda grabbed him.
“King, this is a family hug, that means you, and Owlbert, and- unfortunately- Hooty, too.”
The little owl I followed hooted and flew up to us, while Hooty hooted with joy and wrapped around all of us.
“Yay! Lucelyn’s home! Hoot!”
——
“Alright, kid, you sure you wanna do this?” Eda asked.
“Yup!”
I had told her I still wanted to help her and King get his crown back from Warden Wrath. Even though we probably wouldn’t even be able to get through the force-field to the crown. I still wanted to help in any way I could.
Plus, breaking into a high-security prison? Sounds kind of fun!
Eda was proud when I told her that.
She sent me and King up to the top of the tower to find our way to the contraband room while she made sure the Warden was distracted.
I jumped in the window and helped King over.
We walked out of the room we were in and when I looked around, all I saw was cells. Hundreds and hundreds of cells, lining the walls.
“Hey, kid, how’d you get outta your cell?” Someone asked from a cell.
I turned to her. “Oh, no, I’m not a criminal, at least, not yet .”
“Yeah, give it a few days.” King said.
“Isn’t doing this making me a criminal?”
I looked back at the person in the cell as he thought about that. She had tan skin, dark hair, and green eyes, with a purple dress.
“Well, we’re not criminals either! Warden Wrath just likes to lock up people who don’t fit in!”
What kind of corrupt government is this? “So, why are you here?”
She opened a book. “I like to write fanfiction about food falling in love! I like food, I like love, just let me write about it!”
“I’m in here ‘cause I like eating my own eyes.” I looked to the cell next to hers, and saw a light-blue person with five eyes.
“We are agents of fwee esspwession! They will never siwence us!” Another person, who was a little shorter than King with her nose taking up her whole body, shouted.
“Yeah,” the first said, rolling her eyes, “she’s really into conspiracy theories.”
None of those are crimes.
It just means that these people are different.
They were locked up for being different.
“Alright. I’m gonna get you guys out.”
Before I could move to lift up the lever to open the door, we heard footsteps coming from a nearby room.
“It’s the Warden! Hide!”
I grabbed King and ducked into an empty cell, pulling the door down enough so that it looks closed, but not enough to actually lock us in.
“I can hear you.” The Warden said as he walked through the door. “What are you fools whispering about?” He looked down and saw a poster of Eda. “Ah, the Owl Lady.” He grunted, his hand turning into a hammer and slamming into the bars of our cell, bending them. “I’ll have her soon enough.”
“Fight against the oppwessor! We wiwl wesist. We will conquer! We will never be afraid of you, you old cweep!'' The conspiracy theorist yelled.
Warden Wrath pulled the lever and opened her cell. “Hooway! I’m fwee!” She said. Oh, no you’re not , I thought. Then, the Warden grabbed her and she squeaked.
“Let this be a warning to you all.” He warned. “There’s now place in society for you if you can’t fit in.” He squeezed her tighter, and she squeaked again. Then he left with her back through the same door.
I opened our cell back up and went to free the other prisoners.
“No, kid, just go enjoy freedom for us.” The fanfiction lady said.
“But-”
“She’s right, Luz,” King said, a little sadly, “we should go before we get caught.”
I sighed. “Okay, but we’ll be back!” We turned and ran to a long hall, with a door at the end that said “CONTRABAND” in big black letters.
Eda caught up to us as we were about halfway through the hallway.
“Hey. I just checked. The Warden is distracted, tormenting some tiny creature. He won’t be coming back around here anytime soon.”
I hummed and walked up to the door. “It’s not fair that they’re in here. I mean, they were just being themselves.”
“I know, kid.”
I looked up at her. “I mean, what’s so wrong about being different? Looking different? Liking different things?”
King walked up and held my hand. “Were you bullied about that in the Human Realm?”
Huh. He’s more observant than I thought.
I nodded.
“Well, kid, we won’t judge you.” Eda told me, with a comforting pat on my shoulder.
I smiled up at her.
“Now let’s go get my crown!” King shouted, excited.
“Yeah!” I agreed, equalling his excitement.
Eda laughed at us and opened the door.
In the middle of the huge room was a large, cylindrical force-field.
“Is that where the crown is being held?” I asked.
Eda nodded.
“Alright, how are we gonna do this?”
“I’ma charge into it!” King shouted, and before we could stop him, he went ahead and did just that. “Ow! That hurt!”
“King, you adorable idiot,” I started, “we can’t get through! That’s why you guys wanted a human in the first place!”
“Oh, right. But you’re not human! So how are we gonna do this?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” Eda said.
I hummed in thought and looked around the room. Something in the corner- wait, it’s a circle- something on the wall opposite of us caught my eye. I walked over and found a button.
“Hey, guys!” I shouted to the other side. “I found a button! I’m gonna press it!”
I did.
And the force-field went down.
“Yes!” King said, running up the pile of junk to the top to get a Burger Queen crown. “I can feel my power returning!”
“He’s just playing, right? Or does he actually believe that?”
“No, kid, he doesn’t. The crown is just really important to him, so it’s important to me, ‘cause, neither of us have anyone else, y’know?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“Cool, now let’s get outta here before the Warden finds us and loses his head.”
“Too late.” The Warden’s hand morphed into a blade and he swung, cutting off Eda’s head.
I screamed as I caught her head.
“Ow!” Eda’s head said. “Oh, I hate it when that happens.”
I screamed louder.
“Eda! Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, “this just happens when you get older.”
“Does it?” I asked, a little terrified.
“Finally, I have you, Eda the Owl Lady.” Warden Wrath started walking towards us, taking King’s crown as he got closer. He ignored King, who was jumping up and trying to get his crown back, and stopped when he was a few feet in front of us. “My guards could never get you, but I knew if I took your pets toy, you’d come running.” He crushed the crown.
“NO!” King cried. “My power!”
“What do you want with me? I’ve never actually broken any of your stupid laws, in front of you.”
“I want you… to go out with me.” He pulled out flowers and got down on one knee.
“Wha…” Eda asked.
“What?” I was so confused.
“Go, boss!” Two guards shouted and gave him a thumbs-up.
He gave a thumbs-up back, and turned back to us. “You’ve always eluded our capture. You’ve always been the one who got away. I found that alluring.”
“I hate everything you're saying right now.” I told him, and King just looked at him like he was crazy.
“You stay out of this!” He threw the flowers behind him, his arm stretching and grabbing me. I dropped Eda’s head as he picked me up. “So how about it, Owl Lady?” He asked as he picked her up by her hair. “The most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles and the feared Warden Wrath. We’d be the strongest power couple ever. I mean, it’s not like you can say no right now.”
Eda sighed. “Alright, Warden. You win. I’d just like to say something first. Come closer. No. Just come a little bit closer. Just… Yeah, that's good.” Her face was just a few inches from his and she spit at him.
He grunted and dropped me so he could wipe his face.
Eda was chuckling.
“Impudent wench.” He said. “Don’t you know how many germs are in your mouth? Yuck.”
“Get over it!” Eda told him. “You had your guards stalk me and then you cut off my head. I am not going out with you.”
“If you don’t accept, then I have no choice but to-”
We didn’t get to hear the rest of his threat because I hit him on the head with Owlbert and knocked him out.
“Nice.” Eda chuckled.
The two guards walked to where the Warden dropped Eda’s head, she glared at them, and her body went over and pulled their hoods over their masks.
“Okay, we’re going now!” I said, grabbing everyone. I got on Owlbert. “Alright. How do you make this work?”
“Gun it, magic stick.” Eda said, making the staff start flying.
As we were flying away, Warden Wrath got up. “Owl Lady, I won’t let you get away again!” He started chasing after us.
We were flying by the cells of the three prisoners King and I talked to earlier. I flipped the levers and opened their cells.
After we crashed out of the big double-doors to the Conformatorium, the Warden hit the staff and we crashed onto the ground.
“Ow, my bones!” King shouted.
“Okay, how are we gonna do it this time?” Eda asked.
“I dunno- wait, you’ve done this multiple times?”
“Well, not exactly this, but-”
“If you think this guy is bad, you should’ve seen her last boyfriend!” King said.
“Not my boyfriend.” Eda said as she picked up King and dodged the Warden's blade-hand.
I looked around and spotted something near the doors and got on Owlbert to go check it out.
The Warden took off his mask to reveal that he didn’t really have a face, just a huge mouth, and shot fire at Eda. She drew two circles, one the fire went into, and the other the fire came out of. The Warden was hit by his own blast of fire and was thrown into the wall.
I made it to the doorway to the three prisoners that I had seen.
“Why are you guys just standing there? This is your chance to escape!”
“The Warden will catch us,” the eye-demon said, “he always does.”
“We belong here.” Fanfiction girl said.
“Self doubt is a pwison you can never escape fwom.” The little nose-demon said.
I recognized those looks on their faces. The looks of those who had given up. The stupid fake smiles that meant you were lying, even to yourself.
I had seen these looks too many times to give up.
“So you have a different way of doing things, a different way of seeing things. That may make you ‘weird’, but it also makes you awesome. Don’t you see?”
“Why are you helping us?” Fanfiction girl asked.
“Because us weirdos have to stick together!” I got back on Owlbert. “And nobody should be punished for who they are!”
“Yeah!” The prisoners cheered.
“Now let’s get them!”
We rushed over to the Warden, who was standing over Eda and King.
“Go, go, go!” I shouted, getting something from the bag that Eda had given me.
Wrath looked over at us right before the three tackled him.
“I eat my own eyes!” He pushed the Warden.
“I think the world is a twiangle!” She tripped the Warden.
“And I practice the ancient art of fanfiction!” The three of them tied his arms together and turned him so he was laying on his stomach.
He grunted. “You. Who do you think you are?” He asked me as I landed and got off of Owlbert.”
I remembered the last lines of the first book of my favorite series. “Do not underestimate me, Warden Wrath,” I said, pointing at him, “for I am Lucelyn Clawthorne, daughter of the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!” I took out the fireworks that Eda just had lying around. It was a bundle of big ones, and I was kind of sad to see it go, thinking of all the things I could do with it. I tossed them in the air. “Now eat this, sucker!” I hit the bundle with the staff and it went right into his mouth, and, since his mouth was spewing fire, they exploded.
The prisoners started cheering as he ran back inside, arms still tied together.
“That was actually one of her better breakups.” King commented from atop Eda’s shoulder as she walked over to me.
“Not a breakup. Anyway, let’s bounce before any more monsters fall in love with me.”
“I told you the fireworks were a good idea.” I said as we were flying back.
“Yeah, that was pretty cool.” Eda agreed.
“Cool? That was awesome!” King said.
I smiled.
When we got back, Eda turned to me. “Well, kid, I don’t wanna force you to do anything you don’t wanna do, and you’ve seen my life, it’s not exactly safe, so do you wanna stay here or go back to the Human Realm?”
I just stood there, surprised. “Really?”
Eda frowned. “‘Course, kid, it’s your life.”
I hugged her. “Thanks, Eda. I wanna stay.”
She smiled and hugged me back. “‘Course, kid.”