Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Of all the stupid, boneheaded things–!

Luz leaned her head on the closed portal door, silently fuming at herself. Willow and Gus sat nearby on the splintery steps, giving what comfort they could to the distraught girl.

I can’t believe I got myself into this mess!

King, meanwhile, had crawled into her lap, resting his head on her chest, his surprising warmth providing a little relief for the ache in her heart. Meanwhile Eda was still examining the barrier with Oracle magic, hoping to find some way to get the human through.

The trapped human looked out at her mami. After making her phone call, Camila was now nervously pacing just outside the magic wall, chewing on her thumbnail, something Luz hadn’t seen her mom do in almost a decade.

The girl briefly thought about getting up and trying to force her way through again, but a twinge in her hand stopped her. She looked down and flexed it, feeling the stiffness in her fingers and seeing her bloodied knuckles.

“Hey, Luz, are you alright? Do you need me to go get the Healer’s kit?”

She looked down at King, his concerned gaze focused on her injured hand.

“No, I’ll be fine,” she answered, then gave a joyless laugh. “Turns out that hitting a magical wall with enough strength to toss a semi around isn’t good for your hand. Luckily I heal pretty quick.”

“Oh, thank God you’re here!” Camila’s voice brought Luz’s attention back to the world outside the wall. She saw someone floating down, their red cape, which had a very distinctive pointed collar, was billowing in the air, even though she didn’t feel any wind. As the figure got closer, Luz saw that they were dressed in blue robes with a large, golden eye pendant. The whole ensemble looked more like something she’d see in the Bonesborough market than on one of Earth’s superheroes. The person and her mom had a quiet conversation, and they placed a gloved hand on her shoulder, which seemed to relieve at least some of the woman’s stress. They even seemed to greet Vee (who, although they supposedly came from the Boiling Isles, looked suspiciously human to Luz) before stepping toward the entrapped house alongside Camila.

“Luz, honey,” her mami said when the two came up to the barrier. “This is Dr. Strange. He’s one of the people Vee and I met on Avenger’s Island.”

“Hi.” Luz’s voice felt raw, like she’d been crying, but she hadn’t. Had she? “These are my friends: Gus, Willow, and King, and my mentor, Eda.”

“Charmed.” The man bowed his head to each of the witches and the demon in turn, his easy smile valiantly failing to brighten the mood in the glade.

“He’s, well,” Camila continued, “it’s kind of hard to believe, but he’s, well, a sorcerer. A human one.”

Luz blinked. “Um, what?” She blinked, trying to understand what her mom had just said. “A…sorcerer? You mean he’s like an alien or a mutant whose powers just happen to look like magic?”

“No, Luz. I am a sorcerer, trained by the Ancient One in the hidden city of Kamar-Taj.” The man’s odd accent had a bizarre timbre that both seemed to calm Luz but also draw her attention. “Perhaps a demonstration is in order.”

With that, Dr. Strange took a few steps back and then, to Luz’s amazement, took the lotus position in mid-air, his hands intricately positioned in front of his pendent.

As the sorcerer’s hands moved away from the pendent, the golden eye blinked and glanced around before closing fully. That same moment, another eye, larger and bulgier than any eye should be, popped open on Dr. Strange’s forehead. Camila stumbled back in horror, eyes wide and locked onto the spectacle. Gus gaped, his mouth frozen halfway between terror and surprise. Willow wrenched her eyes shut and clung closely to Luz. King dry heaved and clutched his stomach, valiantly trying to keep today’s breakfast down. Even Eda took a step backwards, a small gasp escaping her lips. Luz herself sat entranced, her mind drawn back to a passage in The Good Witch Azura 3: Trials of the Living Tribunal:

The only person who wasn’t taken aback by the sudden change in the doctor’s face was Vee, who merely looked around in confusion at everyone else.

Moments later, golden magical energy shot from Dr. Strange’s hands, which were held vertically facing outward from the sorcerer with the ring and middle fingers curled inwards to the palm, to his new third eye. The eye then sent out a brilliant pulse of light, momentarily blinding everyone. When her vision cleared, Luz saw that the doctor now sported only two (normal, human) eyes, both of which were studying the now-visible barrier, its translucent red symbols marching chaotically in the air, Norse runes, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian cuneiform, and other, less recognizable characters all jumbled together in the limited space between the two groups.

“Fascinating.” The man’s eyebrow raised as he floated out of sight around the house, coming into view again when he rounded the opposite corner moments later.

Luz felt her mouth move, but it took a few seconds for sounds to come out. “Wh-bu-hu-guh?” She took a deep breath and tried again, this time using actual words. “What? But how? Humans can’t do magic. I mean, if we could, why aren’t there magic schools everywhere? How come sorcerers and magicians aren’t out there beside the Avengers or…or the Fantastic Four?”

He looked over at her, bemused at her confusion. “Oh, we are there. Or did you think The Scarlet Witch was just a clever name Ms. Maximoff came up for herself? And the reason you don’t hear more about us is the same reason that the general public doesn’t know the details of each and every supervillain encounter: if more people knew either how close we came to losing or exactly what the villain’s plan was there’d be a lot more panic and unrest.” He grew serious. “And that goes double for the various mystical foes I and Earth’s other magic users have had to face. Be glad that you do not know of the evils of Agammon of the Purple Dimension, or the menace of Yandroth, or know the horrors of the Dread Dormammu.”

Luz felt her resolve wilt under the sorcerer’s powerful gaze. His posture softened, as did his voice. “As for why more people don’t know about magic, the reason is simple: Even the simplest of spells, at least on Earth, use mind-staggering power to literally reshape reality as we know it. Therefore, most sorcerers don’t tend to reveal themselves unless they absolutely need to – if someone is under the effects of a magical malady,” He turned to look at Vee, who shrunk under his gaze, “or if an extradimensional magical visitor is found on a highly secure facility impersonating one of its guests.”

Luz huffed. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Still a bit miffed that I had to stumble into it bass-ackwards like this.”

“Believe me, Luz,” the sorcerer said off-handedly, having turned back to studying the barrier, “despite the circumstances, you are one of the better off cases I’ve had to deal with. Remind me to tell you the story of how I met my assistant Zelma Stanton.”

“Maybe we should focus on getting this thing down?” Eda spoke up, having been studying the magic wall while Luz and the doctor talked. “I sure hope you can recognize some of this stuff, cuz I’m stumped.”

The doctor landed near Camila and Vee, but kept his eyes on the patchwork barricade, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Yes, most of them.” He pointed to different sections of the spell. “Asgardian binding runes, Egyptian kinetic energy absorption spells, Mesopotamian shielding charms, Chaos magic, Vishanti magic…And, of course, barrier magic in everything from Klingonese and Aurebesh to Old English and Brazilian.” He let out a slow breath as he stepped back to get a more complete look at the whole thing. “And that’s just the things I recognize. I’d have to do a lot of research to find out all of the spells present. And how to safely disenchant them.”

“Does…” Camila worked up the nerve to ask the question Luz dreaded the answer to. “Does that mean you can’t…” The woman’s breath hitched, and Luz felt her heart drop. “Can’t…”

“Can I dispel the enchantment?” Dr. Strange finished. “Well, I could, by simply overwhelming the binding spells with enough magical energy.” He turned to Camila, his expression serious. “However, the amount of energy it would require would severely drain, or even kill me. Also, it would most likely shunt everything on the other side of the barrier, including your daughter, back into the Demon Realm. Forcefully. Lastly, the reactions between all these enchantments without the binding spells would most likely be explosive, and, were I to survive, I’d be able to shield you, me, and Vee, I doubt the people in Dover would appreciate losing half of their city.”

“Wait,” Vee looked thoughtful. “Isn’t Dover in Delaware, like, 30 miles away? How … could…” The mystery girl’s face fell, eyes wide at her sudden realization.

“Indeed.”

Eda cleared her throat, drawing the sorcerer’s attention. “Sorry to burst your bubble, doc, but even that may not work.” She pointed at a series of circles and lines that looked vaguely familiar to Luz. “These are etched spell circles. Witches use them to permanently enchant stuff like buildings. If I’m not mistaken, this is a heavily modified lightning conduction spell, but made to channel magic instead.” She pointed at the ground, where evenly spaced lines lead from the circles. “So all you’d do is pour all of your power harmlessly into the ground.”

The man scratched his chin thoughtfully, humming. “I hadn’t even thought of that. Though, truthfully, your way of magic is new to me.” He gave a curt nod. “Thank you for warning me.”

“No prob, doc,” Eda waved it off casually. “Though I’m wondering, with all the trouble whoever made this went to keep people from getting in, how exactly did the kid here,” she thumbed at Luz, “do it.”

“Yes, it is quite the conundrum.” He went back to sitting cross-legged in the air before turning to the wayward girl. “Why don’t you tell us the story, Luz, and maybe I can deduce what allowed you to get past the barrier.”

“Uh…” Luz blinked, caught off guard at being suddenly brought into the conversation. “Well, I was waiting for the bus to take me to the airport where’d we board the Quinjets to get to the academy. I went to check my bags when I noticed one was open and when I looked inside I noticed that my Good Witch Azura book was missing. I looked around and saw this cute, little owl carrying it away into the woods. So I grabbed my stuff, chased after him, ran in this house,” she indicated the building behind her, “and, poof, I was in the back of Eda’s stand in the Boiling Isles. I didn’t notice this wall thing at all.”

“Nothing?” the sorcerer asked. “Not even a tingle of your Spider Sense?”

The girl shook her head.

“Hmmmmm.” He turned over to Vee. “And you? How’d you come over?”

“Eep!” The other girl started, clearly thinking she’d been forgotten in all the chaos up until now. “Well, I was passing through the Bonesborough marketplace when I saw a bunch of people over at Ms. Eda’s stand. When I took a closer look I saw Luz and immediately recognized her as human. I thought that, well, if she got to the Isles, maybe I could find a way out? So I took a taste of the magic in the air and, sure enough, I sensed some powerful transportation magic, so I snuck into Ms. Eda’s tent and found that door,” she pointed to the partially open portal, “and went through. That’s when the bus picked me up, and, well…”

“So you didn’t cross over at the same time?”

“I… guess not,” Vee shrugged.

A thought occurred to Luz. “Wait, Eda, don’t you sell Human Realm stuff from your stand? How have you been able to get through?”

“Eh,” the witch answered. “I used to go scavenging myself, but about a decade or so ago my potions business started to get busy - there was an outbreak of Vermillion Fever and the Emperor turned a blind to any wild witches who were able to cook up the cure. And, naturally, once the public got a taste of my potions, demand skyrocketed. Of course, making high-quality potions on demand takes a lot of time and effort, and demand fluctuates, so when I needed to supplement my income I sent Owlbert to go… scavenging…”

The witch took on a distant look for a moment. “I’ll be right back.” And she quickly retreated through the door.

“Wh-Who is this ‘Owlbert’, mija?” It hurt Luz to hear her mother’s voice so strained. “Is he another witch?”

At that, the gray-haired witch came back, staff in hand, grumbling and muttering under her breath. She gave the palisman on top a spin, freeing Owlbert from his perch.

“Alright you,” she pointed at the owl, “while I am mad that you stole from Luz - something we’ll definitely talk about later - we need to ask you some questions about the barrier.”

“Hoot-hoot?”

“What do you mean ‘What barrier?’ This barrier right here!” She rapped her knuckles against the magic wall, causing the nearby runes to briefly light up.

Owlbert gave a confused look at where Eda’s knuckles had hit, then shook his head at the witch.

“You don’t see it? How?”

“Hoo.”

“I am not lying!” Eda pointed to Camila. “Look, if you just fly out to her you’ll bonk right into it!”

“Hoo-hoo.” Owlbert crossed his wings indignantly, clearly not believing the witch.

Eda pinched her nose and sighed. “Listen, if nothing happens to you, I’ll give you some of those booberries you love so much.”

The palisman immediately perked up and took off…

Flying right through the barrier and landing on Camila’s shoulder.

Everyone stopped and stared at the tiny owl (except for Camila, whose shoulder he was confusedly perched on).

“Well, I guess that answers that,” Eda spoke after a stunned minute, then huffed. “Great. Now I gotta go find and pick some booberries.”

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Dr. Strange stepped closer to Camila and her passenger and held out a gloved finger. After a moment’s hesitation, Owlbert hopped over, letting the Master of the Mystic Arts examine him. “Eda, what exactly is Owlbert? Is he something like a familiar, or…?”

“Sort of? He’s my palisman. Carved him myself from palistrom wood. Palismen are …” Eda looked thoughtful for a moment. “They’re kinda both a witch’s best friend and a powerful tool. After carving, a witch and their palisman bond for life, and using a palisman a witch can cast more powerful spells using less bile.”

“So, they aren’t naturally created creatures?” The sorcerer asked. “Interesting.”

Camila watched as Dr. Strange and Eda began experimenting with the barrier. First, they tried the simple things - closing the door, retracting it into a briefcase. Sadly, it looked like the magic wasn’t tied to the door but to the house itself, and both Eda and Dr. Strange advised against trying to tear it down as that would also result in a catastrophic explosion.

Then they went on to test what Owlbert could do. The little owl demonstrated the ability to hop across the barrier several times, both alone and while carrying various small objects. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring people across, whether dragging them or being ridden in staff form (as poor Eda found out). Then Dr. Strange summoned several mystical creatures from across the multiverse (some of which Camila had to bribe with cheap store-bought cookies). The ones who were purely magical creatures, like will-o-wisps and faerie dragons, were able to pass through with no problem. The ‘natural’ creatures, like a Kirin who spoke perfect Spanish (and seemed to know Camila for some reason), were stymied in their efforts, though no one was seriously hurt. Except for, again, Eda, though she, Luz, and King assured her that her legs popping off, while not exactly natural, was the result of a curse - which Luz likened to a chronic disease - and the older witch was perfectly fine.

“Alright, magic man,” Eda said, giving a disturbingly deep stretch that had the woman fear that the witch’s limbs would fly off again, “you’ve had your fun. Now let’s see what a little Wild Witchery can do!” She spun her index fingers in little glowy circles, and two of the planks on the house rose up before sprouting cute, little bat wings and a single eye.

“Beast-keeping magic!” Luz gawked at the sight, and another pain ripped through Camila’s heart.

Was I really going to rip mi vida away from something she so clearly loves?

The bat-planks easily passed through the barrier, circling around the human-side trio a few times before Eda cut the magic, letting the planks fall harmlessly on the ground.

“Alright, so now we know palismen and enchanted objects can pass through,” Eda surmised. “And we know witches can’t, so…” She sing-songed, “Ohhhh, Ki-ing!”

Camila watched as the demon-dog, who had fallen asleep in Luz’s lap, peeped an eye open. “Am I gonna get some booberries out of this?”

“No. You know booberries make you sick, and I am not cleaning up another round of vomit this week.”

Camila noticed that Eda subtly glanced over at her daughter, whose expression turned sheepish.

“Luz?” the woman asked. “Did you drink milk again?”

The girl at least had the decency to look apologetic. “How was I supposed to know that I’d have the same issues with sphinx milk as cow milk?” she shrugged.

King groaned from his perch in Luz’s lap. “Can we please stop talking about vomit?”

“How about this, King,” Eda said, “you get to skip potion delivery this weekend.”

The demon stood up and stretched. “Make it two and you got yourself a deal, sister.”

Eda slumped. “Ugh. Fine.”

“Hooray!” He jumped up and ran to the barrier, cautiously putting one little paw on it. He pushed a little, his tiny legs digging small divots in the ground. He turned and shrugged at Eda, “Whelp, I tried.” He trotted back over to Luz and promptly plopped down in her lap, falling asleep almost immediately.

The older witch pinched her nose in exasperation. “I guess that’s about all I could have expected from him.” After a deep breath she looked right at Camila. “Sorry. Wish I could be of more help, but looks like we’re SoL on both sides.” She turned to question the sorcerer, “Unless you got something else up your sleeves, doc.”

The Master of Black Magic looked lost in thought for a moment. “Hmmm? Oh, I can ask around the superhero community, maybe some of the teleporters or portal creators can bypass the barrier.” He returned to looking at the magic wall, staring intently at where it met the ground. “Curious.”

“Is there something you see, Doctor?” Camila asked, hope creeping into her voice.

“Maybe,” he replied neutrally as he kneeled down.

Curiosity piqued, Camila kneeled as well, mirrored by both Luz and Eda on the other side.

“What’s up, doc?” The witch asked.

“Grass.”

The other three looked at each other.

“Grass?” Luz asked, voice mirroring Camila’s confusion.

“Specifically this piece of grass.” The sorcerer reached out one gloved finger, lightly brushing a single blade that was piercing through the barrier, gently pushing it back through before letting it spring back, wobbling through the magical wall as if it weren’t even there..

“O…kay?” Eda questioned. “I don’t see how that helps the kid get back home.”

The Master of Mystic Arts stood back up. “Not directly, it doesn’t. But, it may help us in another way.” He walked over and grabbed one of the planks Eda had enchanted earlier. He gave it a casual toss, and the wood obligingly sailed through the barrier, landing catty-corner on the steps.

“Again, not seeing how this helps us.” Eda crossed her arms, glaring at Dr. Strange.

He smiled back serenely. “I’m testing a hypothesis. We’re learning what can pass through the barrier - constructs like your Owlbert, enchanted objects, and now normal objects. In fact, artificial life like palismen may be a loophole we can exploit later” He turned to Luz. “But, turning back to my original point, I’m guessing that you didn’t pack enough clothes or toiletries for a multiple month stay in another realm?”

“M-months?” Luz and Camila’s voices mirror each other, as does the heartbreak evident on their faces. The woman’s vision blurred and wobbled; she felt both lightheaded and incredibly heavy and her legs felt strangely wobbly and also too tight and the Earth tilted…

“-ami! Mami!” A familiar voice? Her daughter? Yes, Luz had been there…

“Look, I think she’s waking up!” A young boy? A king – No, King. That’s right, Luz had a little demon friend…

Camila’s eyes shot open as the events of the last few hours came flooding back to her. The first thing she saw was the fuzzy visage of Dr. Strange, who was currently checking her pulse like a normal, non-sorcerer, doctor would.

“Easy, Ms. Noceda,” his calm voice seemed oddly echoey, though the woman chalked that up to her recent fainting spell. “Your heart rate is still elevated, and your breathing is a little quicker than I’d like. I’d like you to sit up and take deep, calming breaths.”

She took the offered gloved hand and slowly eased into a sitting position, noticing that she (thankfully) hadn’t hit the ground but was now seated on a large, and rather springy, flower.

“Your glasses, Ms. Noceda.” Vee dutifully handed the eyewear over.

“Gracias, Vee, and gracias, doctor,” she patted the flower, “I don’t think anyone needs to deal with a concussion right now.” After putting her glasses back on, she gave a more serious look to the sorcerer. “Now, what was this about ‘months’?”

He sighed. “It will take a long time – months or even years – for me to unravel the various spells and enchantments that make up the barrier – not to mention figure out why Luz and Vee were allowed through the one time. And that’s with the help of Earth’s other magic users and assuming some big apocalyptic disaster doesn’t come along that I have to go help deal with.” He sighed again and muttered under his breath. “On another, hopefully friendlier note: it wasn’t me that provided you with your cushion, but young Willow.” He pointed over at the young witch with the glasses who shyly waved.

“Oh, uh, thank you, Willow,” she gave what she hoped was a friendly smile to the witchling. “You must be quite powerful to be able to grow something this big.”

The girl blushed bashfully and scratched the back of her head. “N-not really. I actually only just transferred to the Plant Track. In fact, it was thanks to Luz that I even got transferred!” The witchling brightened up at the last bit. “In fact, I think the day I met Luz was one of the best days of my life.”

“Oh, really. Mi bebé did that for you?” The woman looked over at Luz, who looked like she was about five seconds from crying again. “Luz, cariño, are you going to be okay with this – being away from Earth for so long?”

Luz nodded and wiped her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, pienso que si. I… I just have to think about it like my latest Azura book – The Good Witch Azura 5: Lost in the Lands of the Faltine.”

Camila couldn’t help but notice that Dr. Strange started a little when Luz said that, but decided to shelve that for later. Instead, she asked her daughter. “Well, one of our initial reasons for meeting in person was to tell our stories in person. Why don’t you start by telling me about how you met Willow and got her transferred into the – como lo dijiste – planting track?”

“Plant Track, but yeah, I’d like that.”

Dr. Strange clapped his hands, face back to neutral. “I think that’s an excellent idea! Come over here, Vee. I’m sure that Willow would be glad to provide us another seat, if it’s not a problem?”

The basilisk girl jumped in surprise. “Oh, uh, no, uh, th-that won’t be necessary. I’ll, uh, just sit on the ground.”

The witchling giggled. “Oh, it's no problem! In fact, my teachers all told me to practice my plant magic as much as I can since I, well, entered the track about a year behind everyone else.” She spun a small circle like Eda had, although this one was green, and another flower sprang up right next to Camila’s. Vee sat down nervously, wobbling a bit as she adjusted to the springy seat.

Luz took a deep breath, probably more to calm herself than anything, then began her tale.

“W-well, it all started last Wednesday morning, wh-wh-, -snf-, when Eda had taken King and I out to salvage a trash slug corpse…”

“...and, well, and that’s when you called.”

Eda had carefully watched Ms. Noceda’s face as the girl finished the winding tale of her adventures in the Boiling Isles (the girl had wisely gotten the older witch’s permission to tell them about her curse). Throughout the story the human woman had kept silent, but Eda saw the horror, terror, but, more importantly, the awe at Luz’s heroics – fighting off Warden Wrath and freeing those prisoners, defeating Adaghast (Goops and Willow were astonished that Luz did that since the guy was apparently a notorious child abductor), tackling the Owl Beast (she hated how nearly every eye looked to her in sympathy), even knocking out those bounty hunters.

Afterwards the woman was too stunned to talk, her pride in her daughter warring with her motherly instincts.

The human sorcerer, however, was not as conflicted. “Most impressive. It seems you’ve already made a big impact in the lives of the people on the Boiling Isles in your two weeks there, probably more so than you think.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “And you say you were able to learn a magic spell?”

“Yeah,” Luz sighed. “Even though it's just a little light spell, I thought it would be a little more impressive. A human doing magic, I mean.” The girl pulled out one of her glyph papers and tapped it, the luminescent ball she’d been so proud of earlier rising slowly into the air.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Luz,” the human man said, an enigmatic smile playing across his features. “You, all by yourself, more or less, discovered how to cast a spell using a type of magic that no human sorcerer has ever heard of before, while fighting for your life. You’ve shown quick thinking, bravery, and ingenuity – all the qualities of a true hero, and I’d be proud to stand by your side in any disaster - provided you get a little more training in, of course. Though, I don’t think my opinion is the one you really want.”

He, and everyone else, turned to look at the girl’s mother, whose eyes were locked in wonderment at the luminous orb before her. “Que ... hermosa.” She turned to Luz. “And you … discovered this?”

Eda felt the need to step in now. “More like re-discovered. I’d heard that witches used to cast spells differently a long time ago, but I never really researched further, since, y’know…” She spun a circle and conjured her own light ball. “But since Luz’s little stunt last week I’ve been trying to do some more reading on it, but I don’t have much in the way of texts that old in my personal library.” The elder witch sighed and felt a thoughtful frown tug at her mouth. “Guess I’m gonna have to bone up if I’m to help the kid here learn any other spells.”

Luz’s head dropped into her hands. “Ugh. I can’t believe I got myself into this mess!”

“Hey! Don’t sweat it, girly!” Eda put what she hoped was a reassuring hand on the teen’s shoulder. “Nobody knew about this, or that you’d only be able to make a one-way trip. But, remember, you’ve always got a room at my place, even if you do prefer sleeping in a web instead of that sleep tube you brought.” She inadvertently smiled as, out of the corner of her eye, she caught Goops mouthing ‘web’ to himself as his face scrunched in confusion.

The girl’s mother turned to the Owl Lady. “You… You mean that? You’ll take care of my baby girl, mi vida, and keep her safe until this is over?”

The Wild Witch blinked confusedly. “Well, yeah. I mean, it’s kinda my fault – well, more Owlbert’s fault, but I’m responsible for the little guy – and I offered the room before we even knew we were in this mess. And I don’t think that Willow nor Goops’ families can take on another mouth to feed.” Unbidden, a warm smile spread across the elder witch’s face. “Besides, I’ve already started to get used to having her around the house – been nice to have someone around to talk magic with, and she’s a damn sight more helpful around the house than King is.” She glanced at the little demon, snoozing peacefully in Willow’s lap now.

That, at least, got a laugh out of Camila. “Si. I’m going to miss having the cleanest ceilings in Connecticut.” The woman wiped the tears from her eyes, her relieved expression tugging at something within Eda. “Thank you, Eda. If there’s any way I can help, maybe with some food or…”

“Eh, there are some things on the Isles that she can’t handle, but as long as Luz isn’t too picky she should be fine. And the kid didn’t bring a whole lot of clothes with her…” The Owl Lady hummed thoughtfully before turning to the wayward human. “Hey, Luz! How would you feel about rocking some Boiling Isles fashion? My treat.”

“O-oh, Eda, you don’t need to do that,” The human woman protested. “I can at least send over some of Luz’s clothes. No need for you to spend so much money–”

“Nuh-uh,” the wild witch countered. “I welcomed her into my home, agreed to train her in magic, she’s my responsibility now – I might as well accept it.” A thoughtful look crossed her face. “And if you lend me some spider-powered help, Luz, I should be able to supercharge my potion making. Should give us a boost to our income, especially since I’m not gonna be able to do any salvaging any time soon, and poor Owlbert’s probably not gonna be able to bring over any big ticket items – at least by himself.” She turned back to Camila. “Uh, with your permission of course, Mama Noceda.”

The other woman sighed. “I guess,” she suddenly turned serious, “but no more loco prison breaks, or hiding vital information that could hurt mi bebe, okay?”

The pale witch raised her right hand. “Junior Woodchuck’s honor. Though I will reiterate that the so-called ‘prison break’ only started out as retrieving King’s stolen crown and it was your daughter that freed the prisoners.”

“Political prisoners, Eda,” the human girl retorted. “And they have Junior Woodchucks in the Demon Realm?”

“No, but Owlbert did find one of those books of theirs in the garbage a few years ago. Surprisingly a lot of the info in there is pretty decent, so I’ve kept the book around, y’know, just in case.” Eda smiled, then turned to the girl’s mother. “And anyway, I’ll most likely be too busy teaching Luz here and ramping up my potions business to get into anything too illegal.”

“And this potions business, it is legítimo?” The other woman asked. “No shady alleyways or under the table dealings?”

“Yep. While I didn’t graduate from Hexside, I’m still technically a part of the Potions Track, so I can sell potions. I just can’t run a stand in the market like everyone else since I don’t have a Coven tattoo.” The older woman shook her bare wrists for emphasis.

“Hmmmm.” The sorcerer’s piercing gaze turned back to Luz. “And you say that you witnessed someone get one of these marks, Luz? And it felt off to your Spider Sense?”

“Y-yeah.” The girl answered. “It was weird. I’d never really felt something like that before. Like… Almost like I was sensing a threat to my soul. If that even makes any sense.”

The mysterious man stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Well, in the few times I’ve worked with P-,er, Spider-Man, he’s also expressed that he often felt that his Spider Sense was something … more than could be explained by science alone. And now, this…” He stood up from his levitating position. “I’m afraid I have a lot of studying to do if I’m going to crack this, and I’ve got a bad feeling that I should get started ASAP. Also,” he glanced at his watch, “it is well past lunchtime, and I don’t know about you all but I tend to think, and feel, better on a full stomach.” He turned around and, with an almost lazy turning of his arm, produced a large, sparking yellow hole in reality. He paused, turned back, and smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, Luz. I promise to get you home as soon as I can. I’ll be in touch if I have any news. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” With a snap of his fingers, the portal closed.

Show off.

Still, Eda couldn’t worry about mysterious human magic right now. The human magician had been right, they’d sailed right past lunch.

And she had an idea.

“Y’know, if it weren’t for this damned barrier,” she rapped her knuckles against the runed wall for emphasis, “this little glade wouldn’t be too bad a spot for a picnic.”

Six disbelieving stares turned to the wild witch. Even King looked incredulous at her suggestion.

“Seriously, Eda?” the diminutive demon asked. “A picnic? Now?”

“Why not? Listen, we’re all hungry, Luz and her mom are upset, so I thought that maybe a nice picnic would cheer everyone up.” The elder witch smiled widely. “And it’d give Ms. Noceda here a chance to tell her story while we ate.”

The girl called ‘V’ (seriously, who names their kid a letter?) had been mostly silent for the entire exchange, probably preferring to blend into the background in the middle of a family emergency. “W-well,” she spoke slowly at first, “I think this is a good idea. T-to give everyone here a chance to, um, calm down?”

“You’re right, Vee,” Camila agreed. “But it's going to take a while for the two of us to go back home and get picnic stuff. Why don’t you all start without us and we’ll be back…”

“Nope!” Eda interrupted. “Y’see, remember what the doc said: while people can’t pass through, objects can. Palismen, like Owlbert, are obviously a kind of edge case since they’re crafted life, but I think a sandwich or two shouldn’t pose a problem. I got some beholder bologna the other day since Luz seemed to like it.”

“Yeah, Eda and Vee are right, mom.” The human teen gave a strained, though genuine, smile. “A Boiling Isles-style picnic sounds great right about now. Beholder bologna has a nice zing to it that I think you’d really like.”

The woman returned a teary smile. “Alright, mija, I’ll try some.”

“Great!” Eda shot the two a double thumbs up. “Willow, Goops, you’re with me on kitchen duty. Luz, I think I got some folding tables in one of these closets, think you can handle those?”

“Eda, I can literally lift your fridge over my head with one hand without breaking a sweat.” The girl’s chuckle at least meant she was feeling better.

“Oh, good! I’ve actually found a whole bunch of human appliances that I haven’t bothered trying to get ready to sell since moving them would be such a hassle…”

All in all, it took only about 20 minutes for the picnic to be prepared and everyone to start eating. It was nice and peaceful, so much so that Eda could almost forget that Luz and her mom were separated from each other by a mystical veil that still shimmered translucently between the two groups.

“Ugh.” Luz wiped a bit of mousetard from her lips. “Too bad we can’t do this every week.”

“Why can’t you?” Goops asked. “Is there some human prohibition against picnics? Oh, are they actually some sacred ritual? Oh no! We aren’t performing sacrilege, are we?” The poor kid jumped up, spilling his sandwich and ghoul-aide everywhere, looking like he was about to panic before the spider-powered teen grabbed him.

“Relax, Gus, I just meant with the barrier in the way…”

Willow finished the last bits of her cesium salami before speaking. “Why would the barrier keep you from meeting your mom here? I mean, we can talk through it, and see through it.”

“Yeah! And since we can pass food through, maybe one day we can have a human picnic!” Wow, Goops’s emotional turnaround was quick, at least.

“Well, I just… With the… I mean…” The teen gave an exasperated sigh and hung her head. “I got so caught up in the ‘can’t go to the human realm’ stuff I forgot about that. Thanks, Willow. Thanks, Gus.”

Ms. Noceda gave a short chuckle. “Don’t worry, mi vida. Today’s been so emotionally draining that it’s only 3 and I’m exhausted. But, yes, I think it’s a good idea for us to meet at least once a week, even if we only just chat.”

“And, uh,” V’s quiet, raspy voice broke through again. “Maybe, if it’s not too much trouble, Luz,we could maybe meet, just the two of us, for some study sessions…? If it’s not too much to ask, that is.”

“I think I’d like that, Vee. Give us a chance to get to know each other.” Luz smiled at her counterpart, who reflected a nervous smile back. “In fact,” the girl side-eyed her male friend, “we could make it a ‘Human Studies’ day, get some of these misconceptions taken care of once and for all.”

Despite the obvious chiding, the boy was starry-eyed. “Ooh! Maybe I can invite the rest of the Human Appreciation Society! Make it a club activity!”

“Hey, squirt,” Eda said in between sips of apple blood, “How, exactly, are you going to get your little friends over here through my portal?”

At least he had the wherewithal to look abashed. “With your permission and grace, oh Great and Powerful Owl Lady?”

“And?”

“Annnnnnnnnd… a small travel surcharge?”

“Bingo.” The wild witch stood up a little straighter as everyone laughed. Still, the thought had sincerely crossed her mind for a moment. For all her bluster and bravado earlier, she knew she’d have to step her game up a lot if she was going to be feeding a third mouth.

“One thing I’m curious about,” Willow asked, the girl thankfully distracting Eda from dark, financial thoughts, “is what your story is, Vee. You say you’re from the Demon Realm, but you’ve got round ears like a human. And did I hear you say earlier something about ‘smelling magic’?”

“Now that you mention it,” Eda leaned forward on the railing, “I did hear you say that you ‘didn’t smell any magic’ when you came through the portal. And you look a little too much like Luz for it to just be a coincidence…”

The demon girl, and Eda was sure the runaway was a demon of some sort now, merely ‘eep’ed and tried, vainly, to hide behind her sandwich. Thankfully Luz’s mom came to her rescue.

“I guess I should start the tale. Like I said, it was a few days after you left when I got a call…”

Gus’s mind was reeling as he stepped through the portal door back into the Owl House. He’d actually made it to the Human Realm! Sort of. He’d made contact with actual human authorities! Sort of.

Okay, he didn’t know if that ‘Dr. Strange’ person was involved in the human’s government, but if he was one of those ‘superheroes’ Luz often spoke of, he had to be someone of importance.

And Luz’s mom seemed nice.

The illusionist couldn’t help but feel sorry for his human friend, trapped so close to him and yet also so far away. The witchling just wished there was some way he could help, but illusion magic wasn’t really the best for dispelling enchantments, and counter-magics were a bit above a second year’s education.

“Hey, Luz,” he heard the Owl Lady say over the ethereal click of the portal shutting. “I, uh, I think you’d better hang on to this.” He watched as the older witch took what looked like an old-timey key out from her hair (ew) and press the key’s serpentine eye. With the sound of bending glass and folding wood the portal compressed down into its portable form, the large, broken eye staring dumbly at the room. The gray-haired woman then picked up the collapsed portal, and handed both the key and door to the stunned girl.

“Wha-buh? Eda, this is… I can’t…” The tongue-tied teen stared at offered items, the only link to her homeworld.

“Well, I can’t really use it to go scavenging now, can I?” The wild witch offered a cheeky smile that quickly turned sincere. “Hey. You need these a whole lot more than I do, kid.”

The human stared at the key and portal door for a few more seconds before taking them from the witch. “Thanks, Eda,” the girl gave a slight but tired smile. “I think I’m gonna go put these in my room. And probably take a nap until dinner because … Wow, today was draining.”

“Sure thing, girlie. I’ll send Owlbert up to get you when it’s ready.”

As the human went upstairs, and King firebeelined straight for the couch (presumably to nap), the older witch turned to Gus and Willow. “At least I can get you squirts home. C’mon, I’ll bet this is the first time either of you’ve ridden on a palisman, right?”

Willow looked back at the stairs before answering. “Ms.Eda? Is it alright if I stay over tonight? With my dads’ permission, of course.”

“Huh?” The woman blinked owlishly at the plump girl.

The dark-haired girl turned to face her elder. “It’s just, with this weird wall situation and her not being able to go home, I just…” she paused, face scrunched up as she tried to find the right words. “I just want to make sure that Luz is okay. And to be there for her, at least for today.”

A wide smile grew across the Owl Lady’s face. “Heh. You’re alright, kid. Sure, Owlbert and I’ll zip you on home to talk with your parents and grab some overnight stuff.” The woman turned to Gus. “And what about you?”

“Uh…sure. Maybe a regular, human-style sleepover will help cheer Luz up,” he ventured.

“Well, alright kids,” the wild witch summoned her palisman with a brilliant flash of yellow. “Hop on.”

It turns out that flying on a palisman was much faster than walking. It took only about 30 minutes for the trio to make the round trip around Bonesburough. It hadn’t even been that hard to convince the kids’ fathers to grant permission for a real sleepover this time (though Gus was surprised to find out that his dad had gone to Hexside with Ms. Eda; the boy would have to try and get some interesting stories later). Willow’s dads had even given them some dire goat stew to have for supper (although Eda did mention that she wasn’t sure if Luz could even eat it given the differences between human and witch diets).

Once they were back at the Owl House, the two witchlings climbed the stairs while the elder started dinner. Willow knocked on the door that was helpfully labeled with “Luz & King” and received a muffled response. She opened the door, but the only thing revealed was some sort of … cushioned sleeping tube? But, no sign of their human friend.

Gus cautiously peeked his head in and looked around. “Luz?”

“Gus? Willow?” came the answer from … above?

The two witchlings looked up, and up…

And up…

And up…

Wow, this room is a lot taller than it looks from the outside.

Sitting about 15 or 20 feet above the floor was, exactly as Eda had said, an enormous spider web upon which Luz lay, body mostly in shadow except for the harsh light coming from her human scroll.

“What are you guys doing here?” Her confused voice filtered down. “I thought Eda’d taken you home already.”

“Uh, we wanted to make sure you were okay after today,” Willow answered, “and Ms. Eda agreed to let us have an actual sleepover tonight.”

“Awwwwwww! You guys!” Faster than he thought possible the human teen had scrambled down the wall and had grabbed her two friends in a bone-crushing hug that lifted the two witchlings off their feet as the enhanced girl spun them around.

Stumbling a little as she released him, Gus glanced (way) up at the hanging web. “Wow. You really do sleep in a web.” He looked back at the Latina. “Is this a … spider power thing?”

“Uh-huh!” She nodded. “It’s actually really comfy. Kinda like a big ol’ hammock.” She paused. “You wanna come up and see?”

Gus’s eyes went wide. “Uhhhhh. It’s a little high up, isn’t it?” He grimaced as he glanced back (way) up at the web. “Are you sure that can hold all three of us?”

“What do you mean, Gus, it’s perfectly … safe.” She looked up at her web, taking in the frayed threads and limp, hanging strands. “Hmmm… Guess it has been a bit since I made it. And I’ve never really used that type of webbing for this long before.” She sighed. “Probably time to tear it down anyway. What else can go wrong today?”

“It’s alright, Luz,” Willow placed a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder. “You can show us how you made it now.”

The human gave a tired smile to her friend. “Thanks, Willow.” She sighed. “Guess I’d better get started before it gets too late.” She slouched toward the wall and had placed a hand and foot on the wall when a series of short, sharp knocks caught the trio’s attention.

“Before you go putting more hand- and footprints all over my walls,” the Owl Lady’s almost casual attitude towards Luz’s odd powers belied how much she had come to care for her unexpected boarder. “Let’s set some ground rules for you munchkins.

“First off, absolutely no animating my house without permission. I had to spend a lot of magic fixing some load-bearing walls and do not want to do that again. Got me?”

All three teens nodded, terrifying visions of what the self-proclaimed ‘Most Powerful Witch on the Boiling Isles’ would do to them running through their heads.

“Second, and I know you know this, Luz, but I’m just gonna reiterate for Tweedleglasses and Tweedlegoops here: Don’t go wandering around the house unless someone who lives here is with you or has told you exactly where to go. This is an old House, and Hooty is an old Demon, and there have been a lot of old Magicks done here. That means that the insides can be a bit, er, screwy – rooms and halls can be larger than they have any right to be, or be in different places than they were last time. Sometimes a room will appear – or disappear – when you haven’t used them in a while … or sometimes when you just turn your head. Lost the linen closet that way about a month ago, only reappeared a day or so after Luz arrived. I’m not even sure what’s in some of these rooms, so unless a door has a sign on it, like mine, Luz’s, or the bathroom, don’t open it. Already got one parent on my case, don’t need any more.”

Gus glanced up again at the improbably high ceiling of the room they were in. “Makes sense. My grandma’s house is real old too – the only way into the cellar for a long while was a door in the attic.”

“You said there were three rules, Ms. Eda?” Willow asked.

The wild witch’s face turned serious. “This is more a general request, but… I really don’t think we should be going around and talking about what’s going on in the human realm or the thing with the barrier. We don’t know who or what is behind it, and we can’t really trust anyone out there, at least not right now.” She kneeled down, getting eye-level with the teens. “I don’t know what kind of heat, if any, we could bring down by letting on we know about this stuff, but better safe than sorry – especially for you two,” she pointed at Gus and Willow, “No need to worry your parents or get them in trouble.”

Given that the only witch Gus could think of that was powerful enough to erect a magical barrier between worlds was Emperor Belos himself, and Gus had no desire to go against the all-powerful Emperor of the Boiling Isles, he readily agreed. Willow and Luz did too, although it took the human a moment of silent deliberation.

The older witch’s attitude immediately took a 180. “Great! Glad we got all that out of the way. Now you kids have fun! Dinner’ll be ready in about a half hour or so.” She gave a flippant wave as she left the room.

“Well, that was kinda heavy,” Willow said after a pregnant pause.

“So, uh, anyone wanna see me make a new web-bed?” Luz asked. “The offer to sleep on it tonight is still open.”

“Sure,” Gus answered. “But, can we make it a little lower to the ground? Just for safety’s sake!”

The human laughed as she began climbing up the wall. “Sure, Gus. Probably taking a risk with it being so high up anyway.”

“So, Luz,” Willow began as she watched their friend tear down her high-flying hammock. “You said you can make different sorts of web, right? Do you … mind showing us what you can make? And how you make it?” She nervously adjusted her glasses. “If it’s not too much trouble, that is.”

“Huh?” The tanned girl looked down (up?) at the two witches as she gathered up the last bit of webbing. “Oh, sure! No trouble at all.” She hopped down, turning a quick somersault in the air to land on her feet before her friends. “I’m just surprised you two are so interested in my powers. I’d’ve thought you’d seen a lot weirder stuff, given, y’know, demons and all.”

“Not on a witch, or anything close to a witch.” Willow took the opportunity to get a closer look at Luz’s webbing as the other girl finished wadding the mess up into a Grudgeby-ball sized clump.

“And most spider demons are kinda hostile,” Gus added, “Something about an incident during the Savage Ages?” He shrugged. “I’m not sure, history’s not really my thing.”

The human gave a non-committal ‘hm’ as she digested that. “Well, let me go put this in the compost and we can talk while I make my new web.”

“Sounds good.”

Thankfully that night’s sleepover was bounty hunter free, although if Gus never had to see Luz’s pedipalps again it would be too soon.

The web hammock/bed was really comfortable though.