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Chapter Text

Lilith Clawthorne was tired. More tired that she’d been in her entire life. Nothing could compare to this, not the broken bones she’d gotten in pursuit of grugby glory, not the emperor’s coven field training, not even dueling Eda. It was a bone deep exhaustion, even breathing hurt. Was this what the owl curse felt like? Had she really doomed her little sister to a lifetime of this? And it didn’t end with the exhaustion, there was also the feathers everywhere, the joint pain, the limbs falling off. More and more she felt like the worst sister ever to walk the isles. How did Eda manage? She ran her potion business and her household like it was no big deal, chasing after ingredients and wayward children with a smile on her face. She even found the energy to raise hell on her own. And she’d been carrying this weight for over thirty years. Lilith wondered if the curse got easier to deal with with time or if her sister had just gotten used to it. The elixirs helped, sure, but they were not the panacea she had imagined, sure, they kept her from not turning into a feathery threat and made her not want to keel over; while they certainly kept the owl beast -raven beast?- down they tasted as bitter as every bad decision she’d ever made and settled on her stomach like lead.

Today was even worse, she’d woken up with a headache the size of the isles and a fever, to boot. Lilith got up slowly, for the past week she’d been sleeping in one of Edalyn’s spare rooms, on what the human called a “sleeping bag”; it was more comfortable than sleeping on the floor, she had to admit, but she still would have preferred a real bed. As she got dressed, Lilith contemplated the changes in her sister. She and Eda hadn’t lived together since they were teenagers, a lifetime ago it seemed. In many ways her sister was still the same. Incurably messy for one, except this time her mess wasn’t just constricted to her bedroom, taking over the entire house instead. Anywhere in the Owl House Lilith went there was a mess, clothes and shoes strewn about, paper, pens, stuffed animals, potion ingredients… it was driving her crazy. And yet she knew she couldn’t say anything. Edalyn’s house, Edalyn’s rules, she guessed. She wondered if her sister had a medicine cabinet around, it was probably a long shot but she’d kill for a vial of EZ-cold right now.

She made her way down, taking the stairs one at a time. She could hear voices from the kitchen. Was Eda up already? She couldn’t recall her sister ever being up before ten except for grugby training, she peeked from the doorway and was treated to a very strange sight. Edalyn was standing at the table, a steaming mug in front of her and the small demon she called King held at her hip like a toddler. She was packing a lunchbox with her free hand.

A cat shaped lunchbox.

Lilith pinched herself, hard.

Was she still sleeping? Was this a feverish delusion? The Edalyn she knew would never pack anyone a lunch (well, with one notable exception but that was another matter entirely). The Edalyn she knew would openly mock the woman right in front of her, the one wearing bunny slippers and, Titan, bagging carrot sticks?! But the Edalyn she knew was thirty years gone, wasn’t she? Lilith settled behind the doorway and listened in.

“-and one last thing, no more staying behind, got it? You get back on that bus as soon as the field trip is over. If I get one more panicked crow from Bump about how he seems to have misplaced my kid I’ll lose it”

“Got it Eda. No joining a coven just because my girlfriend is planning on it, no heckling the guards and no straying from the group”- the human girl her sister had taken in answered- “anything else?”

“Yeah, steal me something cool” Eda reached out and ruffled the human’s hair.

The human girl was the most obvious change. She’d never pegged Edalyn as the maternal type yet here she was, playing mother to that kid and the small demon. Lilith had heard Eda call herself “mama” on multiple occasions but she’d chalked it up to her sister’s eccentricities, not really thinking of the demon as more than a spoiled house pet. She hadn’t even known it could talk. Or him, she supposed. And now here was Eda, packing lunches and giving out cuddles. What had the world come to?

“And me! King wants present!”-The ruckus the demon made brought her back to the present moment.

“Hey, if I bring you back something cool enough… will that get me a new coven badge?”

“You betcha, the pickpocket badge almost has your name on it, kid”- The child beamed- “And I might get a Busybody one for my sister. You coming in anytime soon, Lily?” Lilith’s blood ran cold. How long had Edalyn known she was there? She stepped into the kitchen where the girl was packing a school bag and her sister was eating… something, the little demon cuddled up in her lap.

“I’m here”

“Man, you look awful”

“Why, thank you”- Lilith replied drily.

“Not looking for trouble sis, just stating the facts. You want breakfast?”

“Yes, please; and since when do you cook?”

“Since I’ve been living on my own for decades. What, you think being the Owl Lady comes with daily take out money?”- Eda snarked good naturedly- “Sit, we’re having pancakes, I’ll get you a plate”- She made her way to the stove, placing the demon on the table.

“I’m leaving now Eda, see you later! Bye Lilith, feel better, bye King! “

“Don’t leave me here, I wanna go too!” The small… King cried out, jumping onto Luz’s back who took it in stride and kept on walking. Lilith supposed she might as well start using the children’s names since her sister was so attached. The moment both witches were left alone in the kitchen a heavy feeling settled on Lilith. The last time she had been alone with Eda had been at the castle. There was an awkward silence as her sister fixed her a plate.

“So, uh, what exactly are those pancakes?”

Eda set a plate with a stack of fluffy disks in front of her- “These are pancakes, they are a human realm food. Luz is very fond of them, try them, they’re pretty good. You want coffee?”

“Yes, please. Also, would you happen to have a somewhat stocked medicine cabinet around? I really need something to bring down this fever”

“Sure do, you eat, I’ll get it for you”- She handed Lilith a mug full of coffee, it read 30 and flirty. Well, it could’ve been worse she guessed.

Eda stepped out of the kitchen and Lilith began eating. The pancakes were good. Now that she thought about it, as skilled as Edalyn was at potion making, it made sense that she would be a good cook. Even when making food from another realm. She ate in silence. Add that to the list of things she was just finding out about her own sister. Lilith sighed, pushing her empty plate away. Surely Eda wouldn’t hold not doing her dishes against her when she was sick. Speaking of the devil, her sister came back with a bright purple vial.

“Here you go, one fever reducing potion. Take it and go crash on the couch, Hooty’ll keep an eye on you. I’m going to the market, you want anything?”

Lilith stared at the vial.

“Lily? Hello, you there?”- Eda waved a hand in front of her.

“What is this? Fever reducing potions aren’t supposed to be eye-searing purple”

“Well this one is. Sorry, it’s all I got on short notice; it’s the only one the kids will take. Try it, it tastes like grape”

“It. Tastes. Like. Grape”

“Yeah, that’s what I said; apparently human realm grapes and demon realm grapes taste the same. Who knew?”- Edalyn puttered around the kitchen, spooning all of the leftovers into a big wooden bowl and putting dishes in the sink.

Deciding beggars couldn’t be choosers, Lilith quickly downed the potion. It indeed tasted like grapes.

“Edalyn?”

“Yeah? Hang on a sec. Hooty, breakfast!”

“Pancakes? Oh hoot! Good morning Lulu”- her sister’s truly disturbing house demon poked in from the window and settled on top the table practically face diving into the bowl. Lilith decided to ignore it.

“After you’re done with that do the dishes, and keep an eye on Lily, got it?” Hooty lifted his face from the bowl, crumbs around his beak. His eyes glowed a disturbing shade of orange.

“In a friendly sort of way!”- Eda hurried to say- “not an eat her way, she’s got a cold or something”

Hooty’s eyes dimmed- “Got it” - he sang out and dove into his bowl again.

“You were saying?”- Eda turned back to her.

“Yes. Why do you have grape flavored medicine? And are you packing lunches for field trips now? What’s going on?”

“Well, let me see. I found out a way to make cold medicine less sucky about twenty years ago…”

Lilith raised an eyebrow.

Eda collapsed onto the nearest chair “Hey! Don’t give me that look”-she took on a secretive tone- “You didn’t hear this from me but a certain bard hates the Healing Coven branded stuff, and I just hung on to the recipe? It's too expensive to actually consider selling it with the rest of my stuff but when I got King, he refused to take anything that didn’t taste like pure sugar so I started making it again. I keep a stock of it because let me tell you… the sniffles and the common mold make the rounds at Hexside like clockwork” Eda shuddered “As for the lunch thing, what, you expect me to send my kid off to the Knee without so much as a sandwich?”

“Your kid” Lilith said.

“Yeah”

“Edalyn, that’s a human!”

“So? She’s just a child, she’s stuck in the demon realm and needs someone to take care of her, I’m not casting her out!”

“That’s not what I’m saying, I’m just… you can’t just adopt a child!”

“Why not? Who’s gonna stop me?” Eda got a defiant look on her face, like she did on the very rare occasions when they were kids and she wrestled Lilith down into the carpet or more commonly when she took on Lilith’s bullies “I took King in and I took Luz in, too. She’s family, even if she goes back to the human realm, to her real mother” The look on her face went from fierce to maudlin “For as long as they need me, want me, they have me, even if they stop needing or wanting me…” Eda slumped on the table.

Oh, this was bad. Lilith had only meant to… to what? Question her sister’s chosen family? Looking back, she certainly could have managed the subject more carefully. Eda was drinking morosely from her cup. How to fix this?

Well, in for a shell in for a snail, she supposed and decided to do away with tact.

“You know, sister, the first time I saw the human”

“Luz”- Eda corrected her.

“Yes, the first time I saw Luz with you I had to take a moment to compose myself, if it weren’t for the round ears I really would have thought you took the time out of your busy outlaw schedule to give me a niece”

Eda chocked on her drink, which Lilith could see now was not coffee but apple blood. She switched their cups.

“You what”

“What? It was a logical supposition, the plucky can-do attitude, the keeping Bump on his toes, trying to study every single track, getting into trouble every five minutes. You both are so alike! How old did you say she is?”

“Fourteen, why?”

“Well, because she also happens to look a lot like a certain bard”

“No she doesn’t!” Edalyn looked so scandalized Lilith had to laugh. Hah, she still had it. Sure, Eda knew how to push her buttons but that also worked the other way around. Being the eldest sibling meant she knew all the best ways to tease her little sister. Lilith took comfort in the fact that at least one thing hadn’t changed about her sister in all those years apart: all one had to do was mention Raine Whispers and Edalyn Clawthorne lost her cool.

“No? Are you sure? I’m glad I didn’t see Luz before the big coven mixer or I might have gone up to them and asked about the kid hanging around in my sister’s house, the one who is fourteen, plays grugby, and is the current enfant terrible of Hexside; please don’t tell me Luz plays an instrument as well, or I might actually have to chase them down and start demanding answers” Lilith was, perhaps, having too much fun with this.

“Don’t you dare! And you’re in luck, Luz may have many talents but music certainly is not one of them”

“Shame. I would have loved the chance to terrorize your bard”

“First of all, they’re not my bard anymore, and second, please, terrorize them? Hah! They may look all sweet and innocent but trust me, you wouldn’t last five minutes”

“I’ll take your word for it. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll take up your offer of crashing on the couch”

“You do that”- Eda took both their empty cups and set them on the counter- “I’m going to the market, you want anything? fruit or your nerdy tea?

“A box of my nerdy tea, if you can find it”

“Got it. Make sure to ask Hooty if you need an elixir and if King comes back tell him to wait for me”

Lilith got up, the potion had worked its magic by now, she still felt sore all over but the headache had gone from blinding to almost negligible and she felt cool for the first time she woke up.

“I will… and I wouldn’t be so sure”

“So sure of what?” Eda asked.

“Of Raine not being your bard anymore. I clearly recall them admiring your latest wanted poster. And you certainly heard this from me: when they thought no one was looking they snapped a picture of it with their scroll”

Eda walked into the table. 

Lilith suppressed the urge to cackle and left her blushing mess of a sister on the kitchen, wandering into the living room to claim the comfy couch before King could return from pestering Luz.

Chapter Text

It was late and everyone in the Owl House was asleep, but Lilith tossed and turned in her sleeping bag. She’d woken up a few minutes earlier and she was still reeling from her dreams, or nightmares at it were. She’d been at her sister’s place for a week; for the first few nights she had fallen asleep with no trouble, the exhaustion of the events at the Emperor’s Castle and the near petrification still wearing her down, but as her body processed the shock her mid began to dwell on days past. She kept going back to that damned witches-duel. Eda had been right; she had spent thirty years of her life as lapdog to a tyrant. How could she had been so blind? She had thrown her sister’s daughter off a bridge into a spine moat. Her sister’s kid. Her niece. It was a hard pill to swallow. A few months ago, she hadn’t even known the girl existed, a few days ago and she thought of Luz as nothing more than a nuisance. Some quirk of Eda’s, a new hobby perhaps, a new way to waste time away instead of taking her proper place by Lilith’s side.  

She felt sick to her stomach, the words she had said that day rattled in her skull.

What’s Eda’s weakness? she has no attachments, no friends…

Why if isn’t it Eda’s human pet?

Leave, human. Edalyn is finally with her family, her real family

Behind her eyelids flashed the image of Luz being pushed by her blue tinged magic, and her sister’s desperate face as she tried to save the girl, features contorted in pain as her magic conflicted with the curse. The curse Lilith herself had placed on Eda. She turned again, her hair was a tangled mess as she pushed it out of the way, twisting it into an improvised bun. Her roots were entirely dampened with sweat and it was beginning to run down her back, she felt sick. Deciding sleep was out of the question for the night she got up. Lilith walked out of her room, making towards the kitchen, she passed Luz’s room and then King’s. The thought of the small demon brought a new wave of guilt. She had also dismissed him as not Eda’s real family. Another pet. Titan, she had really been cruel.

She felt like nothing without her job. Who was Lilith Clawthorne without the Emperor’s Coven? Lost. That’s what she was. Her little expedition to the market with Eda and her kids that morning had proved it. Seeing all of her recruitment posters being replaced by the image of the Golden Guard had hit a soft spot in her armored heart. Lilith had given the last thirty years of her life for that coven, bleed and slayed and almost died for it, over and over. Every trial, every boot camp, training, regime and exercise she had endured in name of the Emperor. She had even fashioned her palisman in the coven’s colors. Decades of rank climbing had been for nothing, it seemed. She had been replaced without a second thought, and the idea rankled.

Lilith had always thought that her life was so much better than her sister’s, better than her parent’s, better than most of the people who had made fun of her at Hexside. She was doubting it now. Maybe Eda didn’t have a coven, but she had a family. As the days passed and everyone in the owl house settled down, Lilith discovered she couldn’t have been more wrong about her sister having no attachments. Even when not counting the kids Eda had friends, she was discovering the bird tube demon was not only the name-sake of the house and part of her sister’s family, as weird as it sounded. Hooty was disturbing to say the least, she had thought she knew him, having faced him on occasions while trying to bring Eda to the Emperor, she’d pegged him as a disturbed and disturbing demon. She’d seem him drag coven scouts to the brink of breaking with his tea parties and playdates. But now Lilith realized he was also guardian, not only of the property but of the people inside of it as well.

She had almost choked on her breakfast when she found out it had been Hooty who made it. Why a house demon could bake and how he could manage when he had no hands were things absolutely did not want to know. The muffins were amazing and she didn’t want to ruin that by finding out how they were made. And he didn’t only cook. Hooty kept King from falling on his face at least once a day, propped up books for Luz and Eda, took notes and pointed them to what they needed. Hell, just last night he’d pushed Edalyn out of the way of a tipped cauldron, taking the spilled potion for her. Finally in the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of water and sat at the table. She really wished she had some appleblood right now, or some of that dodgy night market ice cream Eda bought on occasion, alas, money was tight and so they were making do with tea and coffee. Lilith never thought she’d see the day Edalyn gave up appleblood.

Ever since one mint haired bard introduced her to it, it had been Eda’s comfort drink, both the soft, juice box kind and the hard variety. Lilith had brushed Eda off one day during lunch and come back home to find her sister bugging dad to keep the fridge stocked with appleblood and did he know how to carve any instruments as well as palismen? Was the wood used the same? What spells were involved? Would he show her? It was funny how some things never changed. Lilith had come down to the kitchen the first day to find Eda, Luz and King in their pajamas, each buried in their own cup of appleblood. She briefly wondered if Whispers had any idea of the fiend they’d created. She meant what she’d told her sister, if she didn’t know for a fact that the girl was human she really would’ve thought Luz was her blood relation.

That just made her feel even worse. She hadn’t even apologized for that stunt. Her mind went back to the nightmare that had woken her in the first place. In her dream, she succeeded, there was blood staining Luz’s school uniform and she kept calling for her “Lily, Lily, Lily!” as her impossibly young face morphed into Raine Whisper’s, then into Eda’s and Luz again. In the manner of dreams, the world shifted and Lilith found herself in the throne room, delivering her sister to a tyrant, who took Owlbert and cracked him in half.

Owlbert.

The first in Eda’s own family.

Her sister had been so proud the day he came to life. She’d disappeared into the woods with dad for an afternoon and when she came back she had a long gash in one of her hands and a beautifully carved wooden owl in the other. Eda had placed him on her night table and played the songs she learned from her partner on the mandolin every night before bed. That had been the last summer Lilith spent home. The emperor’s coven had dorms for all its new recruits, and she wondered now if that was by some sinister design. Recruiting kids right out of Hexside and throwing them all together, away from their friends and family, fighting for scraps of their instructors' attention and chasing after the holy prize of the Emperor’s favor.

At the time Lilith had been glad to get away, to put mom’s infinite parade of healers behind her. To have someone pay attention to her instead of Eda. To get away from dad’s scarred face. To get away from Eda’s big golden eyes and the way she still followed her around. She missed it now, her best friend all thorough school, her biggest grugby partner, the red headed kid who used to look at her like she hung the moon, who used to toddle after Lilith holding her stuffed eagled by the wing, dragging it after her as she asked a million questions. Much like King held onto his stuffed rabbit, now that she thought of it. Lilith gave a bitter laugh; she would have left the fate of those two kids up to the mercy of the Isles if her plan had succeeded. Titan, what had she done with her life? Covenhead Clawthorne, what a joke.

Lilith couldn’t take it anymore; without thinking she got up and made a beeline for Eda’s room. She tried to get in. but the door was stuck and it wouldn’t give so she banged on the wall. On the third try the door opened to reveal her sister wielding her staff and looking like she expected war.

“Oh. It’s you” Eda put Owlbert down.

“Yes. Who were you expecting?”

“I don’t know, a coven scout? You knock like a cop”

“I… don’t?”

“Yeah, you do. Hang on” Eda turned away and called into the hallway “False alarm Hooty”

“Okay” came the demon’s sing song voice, from the depts of the shadows Lilith caught a flash of light “Back to bed, good night!” And then the sound of something heavy slithering away.

“What was that?”

“Like I said, you knock like a cop, I told Hooty to get the kids”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” In hindsight waking up a woman who had spent years on the run by banging on her walls in the middle of the night hadn’t been her brightest idea.

“Eh, what’s done ‘s done. Come on in, why are you up at this hour anyways?”

Lilith stepped into Eda’s bedroom. It was as messy as she would have expected though the actual bird’s nest in the middle she did not see coming.

“Just sticking to the theme. Got an image to uphold, y’know?” Eda joked, catching her staring “come sit”

Lilith did, it was surprisingly comfortable, her sister must have piled at least a dozen blankets and Titan knew how many pillows.

“I couldn’t sleep”

“Care to elaborate on that, sis?”

“I had a nightmare” Lilith felt embarrassed, she had woken Edalyn up for this? But Eda just made a go-on motion with her hand “about what happened at the palace and… and about how I treated Luz that day”

Her sister’s face was devoid of emotion and that more than anything sent a shiver up Lilith’s spine. Eda wasn’t one for restraint. Shouting, cursing, in both senses, hair pulling even but not this. Not this blank stare. She carried on “I thought she was just a weakness to exploit and yes, I know how awful that sounds. I can’t believe how blinded I was by the Emperor, and I don’t know…”

“What, thirty years of realizations hitting you all of a sudden?”

“You could say that”

“Hey, don’t apologize to me. Or well, yes apologize to me, you damn near killed my kid dearest sister, but also, apologize to Luz”

“I will. I have so much to apologize to both of you for but, Eda” Lilith fought the urge to bolt, it was now or never and she had already hurt her sister so much “back in the palace I said to her that she wasn’t your real family. I told Luz that she was just your pet, and at the moment I meant it. It hadn’t occurred to me that she was more than just your student, let alone that you’d taken her in as yours. I… it just hit me tonight that I all I have outside of the Emperor’s Coven is you, and mom and dad. I don’t have anyone else. Anything else, I mean sure, I have an apartment but I’m never in, I have no friends who aren’t work friends, I don’t even own clothes that don’t double as mission wear! And you have this house and it’s an actual home and you and your kids are a package deal and I love you Eda, and I don’t care if it sounds corny or nerdy or whatever, you’re my sister and I love you. I failed you so much, not even just the curse, you said you didn’t want to join a coven and I spent decades trying to force you into one because I thought I knew better than you how you should live your life but it turns out I don’t know so much about you. I don’t even know what you like anymore, who am I to go around saying you where you belong?” Lilith ran out of breath “I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry I didn’t see it earlier that your real family is with them” She added, finishing her tirade and chancing a look at Eda.

Her sister blinked at her “Wow, okay, that’s a pretty good reason for waking me”

Lilith gave a short laugh and allowed herself to flop back on the nest.

“Look” Eda began “Lils, I said it before and I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it: I forgive you, the curse is… something I have to live with and now so do you, and I won’t pretend it’s easy or that it hasn’t affected my life, because it has, but it also has made me who I am. I’m not crazy about how I got here but I am pretty happy with my life right now, even if I don’t have magic, I have King and Luz, my crazy house, and you. I love you to, you know?”

“Even after everything?”

“Yes, you dork. You are my sister, I’ll always love you”

Lilith launched herself at Eda, enveloping her in a crushing hug.

“Okay, okay, I get it” said Eda, sounding a tad breathless.

“Sorry” Lilith let go

“You are as bad as Luz, serial hugger that one”

“Like you mind”

“Fine, I don’t, but don’t tell her”

“I won’t. It’s moot anyway, since she already knows”

“No she doesn’t!”

“Eda, I caught you napping on the couch with King in your arms just today, Luz knows you like to cuddle”

“Sut up!” Eda smacked her on the arm.

“I don’t think I will, consider it payback for all the times I had to witness your own serial hugging tendencies”

“Lies! Lies and slander”

“Says the witch who used to use her partner as a sweater” Lilith watched gleefully as her sister got tongue tied trying to dispute the claim “and a scarf, and… well, also you used to hug Hawksley so much his palisman form is worn out at the wings”

“I was a kid!”

“I’m surprised you don’t have Owlbert here right now”

Eda looked away

“Ha!”

“He’s cuddly. Where’s your palisman, anyways?”

“He stayed in the spare room, he’s not awfully fond of Hooty”

“He’s an acquired taste”

“That’s one way to put it”

“And you know, it doesn’t have to be the spare room. I mean, it could be your room, if you wanted” Eda ran her hands through her hair, tossing it over one shoulder "It's been nice... having you around again"

Oh. Lilith felt something warm spreading in her chest. She’d thought Eda was just putting up with having her in her home.

“Really?”

“Really-really, think about it. Now how about we go to sleep? It’s late”

“Aren’t owls supposed to be nocturnal?”

“Owls are, Eda isn’t. Good night sis”

“Good night, Edalyn” said Lilith, stealing a pillow and blanket before closing her eyes.

Chapter Text

Lilith woke up slowly. She was warm and comfy, as her eyes fluttered open, she watched the light dancing across the ceiling. Time to wake up she guessed. Eda was probably still asleep but it wouldn’t hurt to check

“Eda, are you up yet? I’m making cofee”

“Already? It’s Saturday. Sleep, we have to go to the market but later”

An idea formed in Lilith’s mind.

“You sleep in, I’ll go”

“Huh?”

“Yes, you go back to sleep, I’ll do the shopping, the list is on the fridge and I’ll swing by my apartment, get money and some stuff and stop by the market” Eda was clearly on board as she made no attempt to get up, she was in fact, burrowed deeper in the blankets and clearly fighting to keep her eyes open.

“But what about the kids?”

“What about them?”

“They like market day. It’s fun or something”

“Well… I…”

Shoot, what now? Maybe she could take them? Lilith could manage, probably. Luz was warming up to her, following Eda’s lead she had at least stopped glaring at her and had in fact begun to ask her cautious questions about the politics of the Boiling Isles, hair dye and Eda’s past. That last subject, at least Lilith could answer in detail. King, however, was another subject entirely, not quite as forgiving, perhaps due to the fact that as long as he’d been aware Eda had been running away from Lilith. Suddenly having her in his home, taking attention away from him, hovering around Eda had him on edge. He behaved, mostly, when she was around but when it was just Lilith, Titan help her, while the tiny demon could not actually do more harm than a sharp bite or a cat scratch, she didn’t much fancy trying to corral him while on a crowded marketplace, specially since she was planning to make a rather private stop along the way. Luz could, with proper motivation, be trusted to keep a secret from her mentor, and oh Lilith had quite the motivation for her: Edalyn’s dating history.

“How about I take Luz and you and King stay in?”

“Scared of the little guy?”

“More like scared of losing him in the crowd” Lilith deflected.

“Suuuuure”

“Whatever.  I’ll be leaving now, go to sleep witchlet”

Lilith ducked as Eda halfheartedly threw a pillow in her general direction and made a beeline for the guestroom, or her room now, she guessed.

Showered, dressed and with her eyeliner done, Lilith stood in front of Luz’s door, knocking, this time slower and quieter than she had last night.

“Mh?” Luz answered the door, still in her pajamas, hair sticking up everywhere.

“Luz, good morning!”

“Morning”

“Listen, I was talking with Eda and she said something about it being market day? And I have a couple errands to run in the city so I thought I’d do the shopping this time, would you like to come along?”.

The human stared perplexed at her.

“Errands?”

“Yes, I want to stop by my place, get some clothes, my pens, stuff like that and well, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you, something about” knowing Hooty was an absolute eavesdropper she mouthed silently “Eda’s ex”

Luz’s reservation shifted to delight, her eyes sparkled and she stood up straighter. “Really?”

“Yes. I’ll take it you’re interested in accompanying me then”

“Give me five minutes!” Luz answered and slammed the door on Lilith’s face.

Teenagers.

“I’ll wait for you in the kitchen” She retorted and made her way down for a cup of apple-blood.

Twenty minutes later she and Luz were making their way through the streets of Bonesborough, the human keeping up a steady stream of chatter about everything and nothing all at once. It had taken Lilith by surprise, how much Luz’s character resembled a young Eda’s and she found herself enjoying the company, allowing Hexside’s latest gossip to wash over her.

“Here we are” she announced, stopping in front of her own door. Her house seemed the same as it ever was, it was just a small place, really, mostly unused, not really hers, it had been her mother’s, still was, on paper. A tiny, second story flat in the outskirts of the city with flowerboxes in the windows and the bathroom done in a frankly garish shade of pink. It was where Lilith retreated to whenever she had had too much of the palace’s schemes or whenever Kikimora was being particularly difficult. She’d once dreamt of sharing this place with Eda, hazy fantasies of sisters sharing a cramped apartment as they studied and earned their place in the Emperor’s Coven. Before she knew there was only one available place, before the curse, before she had started resenting Eda’s talent. And before she realized being part of the Isle’s Elite meant spending her early twenties in an assortment of tents, cabins and barracks.

Fishing the key from her purse Lilith let Luz in the closest thing she had to a home.

“This is it; it may not be as interactive as Edalyn’s house but it’s home. Sit” She motioned to the couch “I’m afraid I don’t have anything to offer you other than water or maybe tea”

“Don’t worry, water is just fine” Luz waved her worries away as she sat in the middle of the big, overstuffed couch.  Lilith quickly filled a cup and handed it to the teen. “So, now that we’re out of earshot… what was it about Eda’s ex” the girl “who is it? Do I know them? What’s going on?”

Lilith sighed, she hadn’t thought this through, she’d hoped to at least make it to the shop before broaching the subject. Titan knew if Luz got too deep in the subject they’d stay here chatting until dinner time.

“Let’s see, you don’t know them, but I do, quite well actually, though you may have heard of them, Raine Whispers. They’re pretty high up on the bard coven”

Luz held her hands up to her face and drew a deep breath “Mint hair, plays a violin, wears an earring?”

“Oh, so you do know them”

“Let’s say I have insider info” Lilith knew that face well and it spelled trouble “Information I’m willing to disclose, for a prize”

“Name it” The ex-coven leader drew herself up to her full height.

“I want ice-cream”

“Wait, that’s it?”

“Ice-cream for me and King for this whole week, oh and some for Eda, the ehem, night market kind”

Lilith did the mental math, that would cost a pretty snail but then again, building a rapport with her sister’s kid was worth it. And if it helped her accomplish her self-appointed mission even better. She made a show of considering the offer “Five days’ worth of ice cream for you and King plus a tub of Boo-berry for Edalyn”

“I’ll take the five days but make it Boo-berry and Key-slime pie”

“Deal”

“Pleasure making business with you” Luz held her hand out.

Lilith shook it “Now, the information”

Luz motioned for Lilith to come closer, she took a seat next to the girl and moved her hair out of the way as if to listen better.

“You didn’t hear it from me but… you know the music player in the living room? Eda has a ton of records she puts on sometimes and there may or may not be a stack of Raine Whisper records hidden at the bottom of the music cupboard”

Oh, this was good. Also, who knew Edalyn kept a music cupboard?

“And I thought it was weird because it’s all classical and instrumental, doesn’t really scream Eda but the best part is…” Luz put a hand on Lilith’s shoulder and looked her straight in the eye “I saw Eda pay for one of those records. She walked into a store and got it, walked up to the counter and paid. Full price”

Yes. This was worth the ice cream price and so much more.

“I see”

“So, if Eda’s ex is a big shot musician and you’re asking about them… what’s going on? Are they having a concert? Have you been talking to them? Do they miss Eda? Are we being matchmakers?”

“No, no, absolutely yes and maybe” Luz looked like she was two seconds away from passing out from excitement “But not today, today we’re making plans and actually doing the shopping, can you wait out here for a minute while I get my stuff?”

The girl looked slightly disappointed but nodded.

“Good. The crystal ball is over there if you want to watch something, I won’t be long”

.-.-.-.

Leaving Luz to her own devices Lilith stepped into the bedroom and quickly gathered her stuff. It was just odds and ends she’d slowly stashed over the years, most of her stuff was in a bedroom in the palace, if her replacement hadn’t tossed it all out. No use worrying about it she guessed. Packing everything tight into her bag she tried not to giggle at the thought of Eda hoarding Raine’s records. Sap.

“Alright that’s everything. My palisman can take this to the owl house while we do the shopping, are you ready?”

“Yeah” The girl tore her eyes from what looked like a soap opera.

“Should you be watching that?”

“Dunno. Should we be meddling in Eda’s love life?”

“Touché” It wasn’t like Eda and herself hadn’t watched their own share of trashy romance at that age. Besides it was Saturday morning TV. It wasn’t like there was a great choice of quality programming “How about this? We get the groceries and then we can stop by a café I know and get started on our planning”

“Sounds good to me”

Lunchtime found them sitting on a corner booth huddled over a mess of scribbled napkins, the salt shaker playing the part of Eda and the sugar dispenser Raine. Luz had made them a little matching veil and bowtie out of the surviving napkins.

“Are the accesories necessary?” Lilith protested.

“No but they’re fun and don’t you want them together?”

“I do, and I’ll admit, they’re cute. You’ve got a knack for crafts”

“Flattery and food will get you everywhere”

“Good to know. Wouldn’t Edalyn love this, us spending time together?”

“I know right? She plays it so cool but she’s quite the softy”

“She is. Edalyn is not wildly fond of feelings or talking about them but Titan knows she’s a sap. That’s why I asked for your help. She may play her cards close to her chest but I know she misses Raine. I asked her about them and she kept saying they’re over her but I know for a fact they’re not, so…”

“So, they both think the other has moved on but they’re secretly pining and we’re getting them back together?”

“More or less”

“I’m all in. And don’t get me wrong, I’m always, always down to learning more about Eda but I’m also doing this because Eda always looks so melancholy when she plays those records. She was listening to it while knitting the other day and she kind of spaced out, mucked up her project and got this really sad look on her face and wow was it wrong, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eda so sad. But when I asked, she just said it reminded her of a lost friend”

“That’s just so her” Lilith sighed “And whatever your motives I’m glad you agreed to help me, today’s been nice”

“It has been, you know? You’re fun to hang out with when you’re not trying to impress people”

“Oh, am I?”

“Yup, you know a lot about a ton of subjects, I’ve never met anyone as skilled in sarcasm and girl, that eyeliner is flawless, you have to give me some tips”

Lilith preened.

“It’s a Clawthorne talent, I’ll show you back home, after all, you’re practically a Clawthorne now”

Luz beamed.

They made their way back to the Owl House in a comfortable silence. It had been a long day even if it was still relatively early. Eda greeted them from her usual spot on the couch, she had a book on one hand and a cup of apple-blood in the other “There you are, you took your sweet time in the market”

“Worried, were you?”

“I was about to send Owlbert to look for you” Eda drawled. The little owl palisman chirped from where he was nesting in a throw pillow.

“We stopped for lunch, we brought you guys some” Luz intervened, passing Eda two take out bags “I think I’ll be in my room now, maybe take a nap” The girl patted King on the head, scratching between his horns before making her way up the stairs.

“What’s up with her?” The demon asked, grabbing a handful of fries.

“We just had a long day” Lilith explained, passing Eda the regular ice cream part of the bribe “Here” Her sister took it, a suspicious look passing over her face

“Do I want to know?” Eda asked.

“Maybe later”

“Well then” She dug in.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

True to her word Lilith waited until the kids had gone to bed to talk to Eda. As much as she wanted to plot an elaborate scheme, she had learned the hard way it was better to not surprise Eda too much and springing her ex on her after a decade of no contact definitely fell in that category. But that didn’t mean she was just going to tell her the entire plan Luz and her had concocted, rather she wanted to test the waters, so to speak.

“Eda, I have something for you” She intercepted the silver haired witch in the kitchen.

“More ice cream?”

“Night market ice cream”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s going on? I know you and Luz are in on something”

“What makes you think that, sister?

“First off, the kid has zero subtility, second, you look like the cat that got the cream. Spill” Eda went rummaging for two spoons, passing one to Lilith and opening the Boo-berry carton before taking a seat at the table.

“Well, if you insists, I just thought we could have a nice chat, maybe over some music, perhaps one of those relaxing Whispers records”

“Titan” Eda hid her face in her hands.

Lilith took a bite of the ice cream, appreciating the way it burned as it went down.

“I hear they’re very nice, totally worth the price tag”

“Sold out, for ice cream! I don’t know whether to be angry or proud”

“I’d go with proud. This is just part one of five”

“Damn, Luz worked you good”

“I let her win but don’t tell her. I think we’re… bonding”

“Look at you being all aunt like”

“Oh hush”

“What? It suits you. So, are you Aunt Lilith now?”

“I don’t know, have you drawn up the adoption papers yet?”

Eda looked like a deer in the headlights. Lilith fought back a laugh.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask you something”

“Shoot”

“Are you really sure you don’t want to talk to Raine”

“Well, someone is being straightforward today”

“It’s the ice cream”

“Uh hu”

“You didn’t answer my question”

“It was on purpose”

“Look, Eda” Lilith reached across the table “As much as I like to tease you about them, I’m being serious, I’ve noticed that you miss them, hell, Luz has noticed”

“IIIIIII  have noticeeeeeed too!” Came a high pitched voice from the door

“Damn it Hooty”

“I just think Lulu’s right on this Eda”

“Go back to the door”

“Fine, no need to be so mean. You could at least share” Hooty pouted but left for his post.

“So even my house is on your side then, Lulu?”

“He is. But I mean it, I’ll back down if you want me to, but at least consider the offer”

“The offer of having you and Luz play matchmaker”

“Yes, also known as the offer of letting your family help you”

Eda considered her for a long minute. Her gaze was heavy and Lilith tried not to flinch, her sister’s attention was usually scattered in five different things at once but when she singled something or someone out, Titan, it was almost unnerving, even if her pupils were slightly unfocused it was like she was reading her mind, staring through layers and layers to see straight to her heart.

“Okay”

“Okay?”

“Yes, I’ll let you help. I won’t deny I miss Raine, even if the matchmaking doesn’t work out it’d be nice to be able to talk to them again, I have a lot I want to tell them”

“I’ll tell Luz!” Lilith tried to stand up but the floor felt like it was tilting “Tomorrow”

“Good call. You wanna open the other carton?”

“Why not. Oh! Did I tell you what who I ran into? Freaking Flora, bad girl historian, ugh I can’t stand her”

“No way!”

“Eda, you don’t even know her!”

“Well, no, but gossip’s gossip and besides it’s the principle of the thing, you’re my sister, you hate her Ihate her” Eda motioned with her spoon as she talked, large and animated gestured and something in Lilith felt like maybe whether her plan worked or not, this right here was more than enough.

“Well then, just wait until I tell you everything…”

Chapter Text

Lilith took a deep breath. She was about to enact part one of “Luz and Lilith’s Get Eda and Raine Back Together and Score Luz Bard Lessons Super-Secret Fun Plan” the name had not been her idea, alas Luz was stubborn and cute and so Lilith had relented, even if “Operation Songbird” still sounded classier and more discreet to her. So here she was standing, right outside of the Bonesborough conservatorium where she knew Raine taught a couple of classes a week. The last time Lilith had stood here had been in her official capacity as the emperor’s coven leader meeting Scooter Crane to discuss funding and recruitment numbers; back then everyone had bent over backwards to accommodate her, and now she was a coven-less wild witch. The change was sobering even if most of the students milling about paid her no mind and the few who did gave her a wide berth instead of the more open stares and comments she got everywhere else. Thankfully the furor of her being demoted was dying down, replaced with excitement for the day of unity. 
She looked around, spotting a familiar head of mint hair. 

“Raine!”

“Lilith! Fancy seeing you here” Came the frosty reply from the bard.

That threw her off. She and Raine had always been friendly if not friends, she had left for the castle and thrown herself into her studies while Raine ran around with Eda, but the bard was always perfectly polite and they had a warm open disposition that never failed to make her feel welcome. That disposition was nowhere to be found now. They regarded her coolly and Lilith could feel a chill go down her spine. Was this what Eda meant when she said Whisper was not as soft as they first appeared? Their gaze was unnerving, but Lilith pushed forward.

“I was looking for you actually”

“Well, here you have me. How can I help you?” they slung their violin case over their shoulder.

“I was wondering if I could ask for a favor, I know I am not in the best position to ask but I remember you used to give private lessons and I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me in that regard?”

“Are you looking to become a bard?” Raine seemed unimpressed.

“Not exactly. The lessons wouldn’t be for me, you see, after that whole business with the petrification ceremony” if possible Raine’s stare hardened ever more “I’ve been staying with Eda”

Hook.

“Oh”

“We were able to get her back to herself, no more beast form, she’s fine but her magic and mine has taken a hit, else she’d be the one handling the bard lessons, you know my sister. Jack of all trades” Lilith laughed.

“That she is” Raine had at least stopped glaring at her like they were trying to hex her with their mind alone. Instead, they seemed two seconds away from slipping into gooey love eyes. Good, good. 

“But like I said, Eda can’t do this and I unfortunately know nothing about bard magic, however we have a very insistent child on our hands. My niece has, for better or worse, the patented Clawthorne stubborn streak”

Line.

“Your niece?” Lilith was pretty sure she could knock Raine over with a feather. Call that payback for all the study sessions she had to witness in her youth. And that one prank when she was twenty. Eda may have taken the blame but Lilith knew the Whispers brand when she saw it, the careful planning, the subtle execution. So now…

“Indeed, Luz is fourteen and she has taken a sudden interest in music. I blame Eda, she keeps blasting those records day and night. Titan help me I can’t tell one from the other but she insists there’s a method to it, something about blossoms bringing luck? I couldn’t tell you, all I know is they’re nice and at least classical is not as offensive as her glam rock phase”

Sinker.

Like Lilith didn’t know that Raine Whisper’s “Blossoms” had been both a best-selling album and on repeat for a week straight in the house, so much so that Hooty still hummed it from time to time. A blush spread across Raine’s face, high on their cheekbones and across the bridge of their nose.

“I see, and what instrument would… Luz?” Lilith nodded “be interested in learning?” 

Lilith didn’t even have to fake a sigh. Her adopted niece was ambitious to say the least and had given her a long list of her musical aspirations.

“Too many. I believe my sister suggested she start by learning guitar or piano but Luz is… enthusiastic, to say the least”

“Piano is a good starting point. How old is she?”

“Fourteen, why?”

She thought she could see the gears of Raine’s mind turning, trying to match the age of the girl to Eda’s known partners. Lilith couldn’t judge them; she’d done so herself. She could pinpoint the second it dawned on them that it was about when they’d been dating Eda. Should Lilith have opened with the fact that Luz was both a human and adopted? Perhaps, but she’d get to it in a minute and she liked to see Whispers squirm, call that the big sister tax. She liked them and was absolutely trying to get them to at least talk to Eda again but also, how dare they date her baby sister.

“Well, I take students from all ages and skill ranges, and in your niece’s case since she seems to be a total beginner and doesn’t have a real preference, I’d like to talk to her if at all possible? Have her take a look around the music room and see what instrument she’s drawn to, maybe have her learn piano and something else, it would be up to Luz, of course”

“That’s a good idea, I think she’d like that. I’d drink a gallon of coffee before-hand though if I were you, it’s hard to keep up with Luz on a regular day, let alone when she gets to try new stuff”

“That’s okay, I prefer enthusiastic students”

“Hah, think more along the lines of Eda before a match”

“Then at least I have tons of practice already” They gave her a wink, the last of the frost melting away, and they were left with Raine Whispers, her sister’s bestest friend.

“I suppose you do, when could we drop by?”

“Tomorrow’s good, since it’s a Saturday it will be mostly empty”

“Sounds great, but I don’t think I can make it. Would you have a problem with just Luz stopping by?”

“Not at all, but…” there it was, Lilith could see the way they were trying to play it casual, they were good, but it took a lot to get past her “Eda could come too, the bard coven doesn’t really care about wild witches or well, most laws to be honest, and for the most part we keep to ourselves, or if Eda can’t then her partner is more than welcome, just text me the time you’d be available to have the classroom ready”

Oh, oh they were bold. Lilith hadn’t been expecting it but she welcomed it nonetheless, it was clear they were open to talking to her sister all the while fishing for information, nice. She decided to skip the romcom shenanigans, or at least part of them, it wouldn’t do to have Raine mopping around making up scenarios about Eda’s partner.

“Oh no, my sister’s single, that’s also why I’m here, someone had to stay home to watch those gremlins of her and poor Hooty refused, not that I blame him”

“Eda has… kids?”

“Well, one of them is an actual demon and Luz is”

“Fourteen”

“Well, yes. But also human and, today, very much determined to find out what is and isn’t poisonous to humans, thus supervision needed”

Raine seemed slightly dazed and like they were holding on to this spirit plane by sheer will alone. She supposed hearing from your ex after fifteen years to find her child wanted lessons from you would do that to a witch. Add that to the list of reasons Lilith didn’t date, besides her general lack of interest, of course. Thankfully Eda had enough love-life drama for both sisters, and she had to admit, sometimes it was nice to sit back with a glass of wine and listen to her sister’s tales.

“I never thought I’d see the day Eda was the one supervising and not the one needing supervision”

“Trust me, she still needs plenty supervision herself”

“Now, that I’ll believe”

“So, would tomorrow at around four work for you?”

“Sure”

“Great. I’ll give you my number” Lilith took out her scroll “and you can just text me if anything comes up, oh and your fees, schedules and such”

Raine saved her number while waving away her words “No need, it’s all good”

Their attempt at chivalry was noted and appreciated, even endearing but Lilith wasn’t having it. Fair was fair and she knew they were one of the most sought-after music tutors on Bonesborough, balancing a full schedule while pursuing the Head Witch post, plus she had a feeling the music room would never be the same after the Clawthorne children set foot on it, thus Lilith put on her Coven Leader voice and said “Listen to me Whispers, I’ll pay your full rate, and if you don’t believe me, just let one lesson pass and you’ll see. Luz is a sweetheart but also a chaos magnet and I cannot guarantee that at least one of your instruments won’t be kindling by the end of the week”

“…okay?”

“Excellent, I’ll tell Eda! Thank you so much for this, I’ll see you soon”

“See you around, say hello to Hooty for me”

“I will, take care Raine”

With that, both witches parted ways, with Lilith fighting back a smile all the way back to the Owl House.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

If fate and the will of the Titan were real, then Raine wanted to have a couple of words with both of them, while playing their violin, preferably. They’d wrapped up their last lesson at the conservatorium with the sole thought of getting home and crashing on the couch for at least two hours, the kids could handle dinner on their own. Probably. They had not been expecting to find Lilith Clawthorne of all people to be waiting for them. And they had certainly not expected the rollercoaster of emotions that came with that conversation. Setting their instrument down with care, Raine then sat heavily on the couch. No, that wasn’t right. Confident in the fact that they were home alone they sprawled on the living room carpet, a throw pillow pressed firmly to their face. Lilith showing up was weird enough, they’d been entertaining the notion of cursing her, just mildly but still, they knew she had been the one to capture Eda and surrender her to Belos, who then almost petrified her. They’d been living under the impression that she was the owl beast now, that’s what people had been saying, after all, she wasn’t a witch when she fled the petrification ceremony. But no, here was Lily telling them Eda was better now, also single, with kids, and seeking music lessons. And they were meeting her tomorrow. It was all too much for one day. 

Groaning, they got up. Their back protested but in all fairness an episode of floor drama was the least of their worries right now. They needed to plan. They wrote a quick note to their kids and left for their favorite café. Once seated on the farthest booth they lit a cigarette (an old, old habit, and one that Eda liked and despised in equal measures if memory served, hazy memories of their wild twenties, Eda coaxing them into one bar or another “How can you smoke that?” “Makes the apple-blood taste better, Calamity” smoke-and-apple-tinged kisses “Guess it does after all”) and began plotting. Lilith may have thought she was good but Raine was sharp, they knew when they were being played, even if it was with good intentions, and dropping the fact that Eda was single and free tomorrow was a blatant neon sign. They knew Lilith could be discreet when she wanted so either she was slipping or she was giving them an out. Bur Raine didn’t want an out. 

They’d ended their relationship with Eda not because they didn’t care anymore but because they cared too much and the constant rejection hurt like a knife between their ribs. Moving on had been so hard but they’d done it even if they’d also spent the last fifteen years keeping an eye out for news on the Owl Lady, the petrification ceremony had been the last straw. They’d been debating whether or not to pay a visit to the Owl House themselves but kept talking themself out of it, and here Lilith was, giving them the perfect excuse to reconnect with Eda. Thank the Titan. Whatever Lilith’s motives were, her objectives aligned with Raine for the time being, and who knew? Maybe she was back to her senses after spending half her life in the castle. Maybe she wanted to reconnect with Eda herself. Maybe she really was hardcore invested in her niece’s education. Raine didn’t really care, as long as they got to actually talk to Eda (and to confirm with their own two eyes that she was alive and healthy and as okay as could be under the circumstances) and so they got to work on designing a lesson plan for an enthusiastic fourteen year old, just one session, they didn’t want to get ahead of themself, but a quick modification to their usual lesson plan wouldn’t hurt, Eda or no, professional pride dictated they at least give Luz a proper introduction to bard magic. And if they also happened to plan a nicer than usual outfit, well, no one had to know. 

Chapter Text

By the time Lilith got back to the Owl House she was feeling pretty good about herself, she’d completed step one without a hitch, which meant tomorrow afternoon would find her sister and Whispers together again and she’d gotten Luz bard lessons. Titan help all of them. She clearly remembered way back when, the summer Eda decided she wanted to learn bard magic herself, it had been a trying few weeks, even for Dad who was barely around. It had ended in a little corner of the den being soundproofed with the strongest spells the Clawthorne parents could find so that Eda could practice and everyone else could sleep, since her sister’s weird habit of doing stuff in the middle of the night apparently extended to practicing scales. Lilith shuddered, realizing she had doomed herself to another summer of badly played scales and dropped notes, unless of course Luz decided to follow in Eda’s footsteps once more and tried jumping straight to rock music. She’d have to invest in some earplugs. Idly she wondered if Raine would be willing to soundproof a room in the house.

“Eda, I’m back!”

“Eda’s busy” Luz was sitting upside down on the couch, watching the crystal ball.

“I see, and what are you doing?”

“I found this really good cooking show” the girl pointed at the crystal ball where a demon was pulling a cookie sheet out of an oven “and I was considering talking Eda into baking. Don’t worry, she’s just in the shower. King splashed her with mud while they were gardening, and then himself… and also Hooty so they’ll be a while. How’d everything go?” Luz rolled over and sat up “Wow, dizzy”

“Maybe sitting normally would help” Lilith pointed out and received a skeptic face in return “But back to business, it went well, you’ll be glad to know that, as of today, you are officially one of Raine Whispers’ students, you have class tomorrow at four. You said Saturdays were fine, right?”

“They are! So, we’re really doing this, huh?”

“Indeed. All that’s left is to add Eda, she’s supposed to go with you. Do you think we should tell her she’s meeting Raine?”

“Probably, I mean, you already told her you want to help them get back together, or at least talking, and springing something like that on her might make the situation… feathery”

“Good point, we’ll sit her down and tell her tonight”

“Why not during dinner?”

“Because I also want cookies and if she’s freaking out about her -sweetheart- we won’t be able to talk her into snickerdoodles”

“Fair enough” Luz scooted over and patted the space next to her and Lilith went.

“Now, next step is on you, you’ll be our man on the inside, you have to pay attention to what Edalyn and Raine say, how they behave and then we’ll work from there, got it?”

“Yes, ma’am” Luz nodded seriously.

Logically, Lilith knew her sister and the bard were both autonomous adults and infamous wild cards, if they chose to desecrate the Bonesborough Fine Arts Conservatorium be it by fighting in the middle of the courtyard or by making out in the supply closet then they would and no amount of planning could stop them from doing so, but as it turned out hanging out with Luz was, well, fun. Whether it was conspiring about Eda’s love life or trips to the library, she understood now her sister’s fondness for the girl, she was a ray of sunshine, sharp and stupidly kind but also scrapy, reminding her a lot of a certain witch upstairs; Titan help her she herself was rather fond of Luz herself now.

“Hey, do you like scary movies?” The question brought her out of her musings.

“I like them well enough, but I find they’re never as scary as they make themselves out to be, why?”

“There’s a classics marathon going on” Luz wagged the crystal ball remote “you up for it?”

“I’m in”

“I’ll get the popcorn!”

Just then a high-pitched squeal came from around the corner, growing louder by the second. A dripping wet King crossed the living room; slipping all over the floor he made a “shhh” motion and dove under the couch. Not a moment later came Eda, wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe and brandishing the hairdryer.

“Where is he?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” Luz answered nervously earning herself a raised eyebrow. Lilith just pointed downwards; without a word Hooty appeared and plucked King from his hiding place, dropping him in Eda’s arms.

“Put me down, the king of demons will not suffer these indignities! I hate the hairdryer!”

“Well, you’ll hate it more if you catch a cold from running around like this” Eda said, sitting on the floor right there and producing a comb from her pocket. With a practiced hand, she began untangling the demon’s fur “What are you two doing?”

“We’re watching scary movies, wanna join?”

“Luz was just about to make popcorn” Lilith added.

“Sure, I’ll be in my room, we’ll join you when I’m done” Eda motioned to King who was now a puddle of demon under the dryer, his eyes closed as the comb ran back and forth.

“How?”

“Because he’s an entire child, that’s how, also a lot like a cat, he likes the warm air and being brushed, but he also likes to make a scene” King didn’t even protest, Eda scooped him up and made for the stairs “Start, we’ll be back”

Lilith turned to Luz “Want to get to the good snacks before they’re back?”

“I call dibs on the fairy chips!” The girl answered and ran to the kitchen before Lilith even had a chance to get up.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-<3

Raine took one last look in the mirror and smiled, they looked good, a simple pair of black pants, a poet’s shirt with sheer sleeves, shiny knee-high boots and to top it off a grey short brimmed felt hat. No jewelry except for their single earring, and of course, their violin case, anything else they could need was in their office. They were off to the conservatorium to meet Eda and her daughter. Everything had gone smoothly so far, Lilith had made a deposit to her account for the semester, which was rather ambitious of her, most kids only stuck out one or two months before realizing music was hard work and involved a lot of math before quitting. Then again Clawthornes were stubborn and Luz may last longer than the rest.

Titan only knew what they were in for, Eda had quite the troublemaker in her youth (they had been, as well, just better at hiding it) and even if Lilith had cleared up the fact that Luz was adopted, they were sure any child living under Eda’s care was bound to pick up on her ways, Raine just hoped it wasn’t the artistic tendencies, coming up with the spell for the magical graffiti had been fun and a great time but their instruments were innocent and deserved no such treatment. As they walked, they wished they’d brought something to fiddle with, or a cup of coffee, something to do with their hands. Turning the corner, they recognized a familiar mane of wild silver hair; they’d seen it every day on her wanted posters. Eda’s back was to Raine and next to her was a girl dressed in shorts and a purple shirt with cat ears on the hood. Luz, they assumed, was bouncing slightly on her soles.

“Eda!” They called out and the wild witch turned to face them.

“Raine! Hi” The tension that had been building on their shoulders for months loosened as they took her in. Still too pale, even thinner now but just as pretty. The woman in front of them was dressed in a red shirt and denim shorts with heeled sandals making her even taller. When they looked at her face, they noted one of her eyes was silver now, contrasting with her natural gold and giving her a fae appearance; but then she smiled and she was Eda.

“Hey Calamity, fancy meeting you here”

“Mhm, I’d say, especially since I was banned from this place in ‘02”

“Thankfully we don’t take bans as seriously as Hexside or you’d be in trouble”

“How do you know I’m not in trouble right now?” Eda looked at them through her lashes and smirked. Titan, was she flirting? Because they were falling for it with no resistance. They hadn’t thought this through. The plan had been

• Confirm Eda is

1. 1. Not the Owl Beast anymore
   2. alive, healthy, and doing fine

• Help her out by giving her kid music lessons
• Maybe establish an acquaintance-ish relationship making occasional small talk when she dropped said kid off
•  ???????
•  Friendship?
• ???????

Raine was keenly aware they still had feelings for her but after they’d been the one to call things off and joined a coven immediately after they assumed she didn’t. They’d seen Eda hold a grudge before and the less said about that the better; but even if they were ninety eight percent (the other two percent came from those dark thoughts anxiety liked to throw at them at three am) sure she didn’t actively dislike them, they sure weren’t expecting her to still like them (like-like them? was that to childish??) it’s not like Raine expected her to pine after them or anything of the sort. Eda was outgoing, extremely caring and incredibly talented, not to mention the prettiest witch this side of the Isles, and whipsmart to boot, they’d assumed she had gotten over them even if they hoped it hadn’t been fast, but maybe… maybe this was the reason Lilith had tried to set them up. Perhaps her motives weren’t so mysterious after all. They shook those thoughts away for now, they were here for something. To teach a class.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that” Raine laughed “You are plenty trouble yourself”

Banter with Eda came as easy as breathing. Easier even. Wait were they flirting back?

“I am a handful” Eda snorted “and this is Luz” Eda motioned to the girl next to her who was watching their conversation like one would a tennis match.

“Luz Noceda, pleased to meet you” She had quite the energetic handshake “I love your music Mx. Whispers”

“Raine is fine” They said.

“Great!” Luz gave them a wide grin “Eda says you’re the best bard on the entire Boiling Isles and I’m so excited to learn” They noticed a blush beginning to form on Eda’s face

“Well, I wouldn’t say the best but I am pretty good” they smiled, drumming a quick beat on the wall and causing a small breeze to pick up around Luz, throwing her hood down. Even knowing she was human beforehand the round ears seemed strange. The girl’s eyes sparkled.

“How’d you do that?! Wait, can I learn how to do that?”

“I don’t think so sweetheart” Eda said, placing a gentle hand on Luz’s shoulder “At least not without a palisman, bard magic doesn’t come with spell circles, it comes from pure intent, the instruments just amplify it like a staff would for other witches”

Raine wanted to melt into the ground in a gooey puddle. They always loved witnessing Eda’s softer side, and the fact that she remembered that from her time sneaking into the bard course and later sitting in on Raine’s own lessons…

“Eda’s right. I can teach you music theory and how to play an instrument, but bards, we aren’t all music. It’s just a conduit, we also tell stories, poems… we deal in emotion, I’m not sure how many spells I can teach you but if you want to learn I’m sure we can find out”

“Yes, I want to!”

“Great, now, we’ve got an hour today and we’ll be going over the basics. I won’t lie, it might be a bit of a drag at first but then you get to choose your instrument. So, Luz Noceda, are you ready?”

“I was born ready” Luz answered in a serious whisper, her face set like she was facing a fight and not a lesson. Eda’s daughter through and through. They laughed.

“Excellent, I’ll show you to the classroom in a sec, Eda? Are you staying?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know, wouldn’t I get in the way?” She seemed so unsure. Oh no, not on their watch.

“Not at all!”

“Well, it’s all up to Luz, it’s her time, I don’t want to hover; either way I’ll be in the neighborhood since we flew here. It’s a bit too far from home to walk”

“Well, you can wait in the library if you want, we have tons of volumes and the librarian is out today” They could see Eda’s eyes gloss over with the promise of unrestricted access to the library and no one to hush her or stop her from stacking book after book in her purse. Some of them may not make their way back to the Conservatorium but that was a price Raine was willing to pay. They remembered the month or so Eda had spent fixated on music theory and composing. Good times. They still played that lullaby, from time to time.

“Sounds great. I think I remember the way. I’ll see you in an hour kid” She ruffled Luz’s hair “try not to make too much trouble, just come and get me when you’re done”

“I will!” Luz gave Eda a quick hug and turned back to them “Now, where do we start?”

Raine waved goodbye to Eda who mouthed “Good luck” before turning to take the path to the library. They, themselves continued on, showing Luz the way to their office.

“Here we are! Please sit” They motioned to the couch next to the window “Before we get started, I want you to tell me everything you know about bards and music, just to get a sense of where we are and then we’ll go over the lesson plan” They sat on the opposite couch “Bard history, the coven structure and such. Sounds good?” Luz nodded “After that comes the fun stuff, your aunt said you have no experience playing but you want to experience different instruments, right?” A funny look crossed over the girl’s face for a second and then it was gone.

“Basically, I may have talked Lilith’s ear off going on about human bands” Ah “I like a lot of music but I’ve never played anything, well, the recorder, in elementary school but just for two weeks because our music teacher said I wasn’t supposed to be making up songs for my stories and… well, long story short I was banned from the music room. But I won’t this time! I hope” that last part seemed to be mostly aimed at herself.

“Don’t worry about that, I don’t mind creativity and I don’t believe in banning either, so long as you want to learn, I’m willing to teach, whether you decide you want to learn ten instruments or if you want to quit them all, as long as it’s the best choice for you”

Luz muffled a squeal “Thank you! I’ll try my best. Wait, ten instruments? How many can you play?”

“A lot” They chuckled “I also sing and compose”

“You sing? But your albums are all instrumental!”

“The newer ones, yes, only the first two had vocals, ask Eda, she actually cameos in one” they winked “but we’re getting off track, can you tell me what you know about bards?”

“Well, it’s probably silly, humans we don’t have bards anymore? All I know comes from fantasy novels and such, oh there’s this game, it’s called Dungeons and Dragons, right?…”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-<3

Eda was in heaven. A dusty, moldy and too quiet version of it anyways. The Bard Coven had quite the book collection, she was glad she had brought her tote bag, and even then, she might need to stuff a tome or two in her hair, they wouldn’t miss them. She could tell by the dust on the shelves some of these books hadn’t been checked out in forever. Their loss. There was some truly fascinating stuff in here, like the early years of the coven; nowadays the bard coven may basically be the orchestra coven, a bunch of bores (with a one notable exception) competing over who had the best technique but it hadn’t been always so, when the coven system had been put in place it had been a place to corral the storytellers, the ones who knew the real history of the Isles, more a guild than a true coven but it had slowly been defanged, very little of its essence remaining and so history was lost, piece by piece, replaced by the official version. Even so, now and then bards returned to their roots, crafting epic poems and long ballads. Eda remembered Raine had a fondness for poetry, idly she wondered if they still wrote, before dogearing the page she was reading, she’d had to come back to it later, right now there were a lot more books vying for her attention.

After what seemed like the world’s shortest hour the library door opened, and there was Raine, they had looked so good earlier, they still did but they also seemed like they’d lost a fight with a jungle.

“Having fun?” They asked, offering a hand. Eda took it gladly and they helped her up from where she was sprawled in the middle of a book circle.

“Me? No, psh, I’m not a nerd”

“Uhu, that’s why you are surrounded by an entire forest worth of paper”

“Fine, I am” She admitted “Thank you for letting me in here”

“There’s nothing to thank me for”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. How about, thank you for teaching Luz. How’d class go? Because I, uh, have questions” She motioned to Raine’s green stained shirt.

“It went great! She’s very enthusiastic, I wonder who she reminds me of?

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you know my mom always said I’d understand when I had kids but I sure wasn’t expecting it to be so literal. So, spill, what is it with the fashion statement?”

“It’s on me honestly, you’ll love this, I thought drums would be a great outlet for all of that energy”

“O…kay, sounds logic so far”

“And then Luz wanted to show me some glyphs”

“Ah”

“Yeah, and how they might mesh with bard magic?”

“Well, fuck” Eda began laughing, she needed no more explanation, she could see Luz’s thought process clear as her own. Drums. Glyphs. Tap to activate. Consequences whomst?

“Fuck indeed” Raine joined in the laughter and soon it was just the two of them smiling at each other. Eda reached over to straighten their hat, her touch feather light. In a sobering moment she realized how close they were. 

"Eda"

"Raine"

They reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Listen, I was wondering if we could get coffee sometime and talk? I know this was all set up by Lilith" Eda felt her mouth go dry "and I know, I'm the one who called things off but... I was so worried after all that petrification scare, I wanted to check up on you but I kept walking halfway there and turning back, I wasn't sure you were you and i was also scared I suppose, of getting turned away and well, I've missed you. "

"Yes" Eda answered, with as much conviction as she could muster "I feel like I have to disclose I knew we were being set up but I've missed you too" 

"Don't worry, I knew too. Lily's not too good at subterfuge is she?"

"And for our sake let's keep it that way" Eda had to get this through "look, I know I didn't always handle things gracefully but you are always welcome at the Owl House, for anything you need, a potion, a place to crash, a chat with Hooty, always, any time" Raine's hand was still on her shoulder, they were so warm. Eda never wanted them to let go, but all good things must come to an end, and so did this moment as a muffled crash could be heard from down the hallway followed by a yelp. Raine winced.

"Soooo, how much do I owe you for the property damage?"

"Let's check the damage first" Raine suggested.

"Lead the way" And they did, holding her hand all the way to their classroom.

Chapter Text

Raine tried to keep a calm demeanor, a feat difficult to achieve since they were currently holding Eda’s hand in a deserted hallway. Add to that the fact that she had just agreed to coffee and confessed that she had been missing them too. It was turning out to be a pretty good day. With the possible exception of broken instruments but they couldn’t say they hadn’t been warned, so. They opened the door to find Luz looking like a deer in headlights, her hands hidden behind her back in the middle of the room.

“You’re back!” The girl exclaimed “I thought you’d be longer… Hey Eda” Luz stared at the floor instead of her mentor.

“Kid” Eda sighed “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“Just a couple scrapes, no biggie” 

“Lemme see” Eda walked over and Luz put her hands out, she had a small cut on her forearm and scraped palms, as well as being covered in plant matter with a few leaves still stuck in her hair, Eda turned to Raine “I, um, I’m gonna need my hand back for this?”

They looked down. They were still holding her hand. Raine yelped. The hand gave a reassuring squeeze and they hesitantly squeezed back before catching up with Eda and offering the limb which she took with an apologetic face.

“Sorry! It’s a curse side effect, it can be funny sometimes” She explained, attaching the hand with practiced nonchalance “But I should’ve warned you, it’s just been so long I’m used to it”

“A little warning would’ve been nice but then you wouldn’t be you” They hopped on the nearest bench and pulled their legs up beneath them as Eda produced a small first aid kit from seemingly thin air and began tending to her kid “Hey Luz, did you know the first time I saw Eda she was faking her death?”

“Really?”

“Yes” Said witch had the decency to blush at least as Raine recounted the story “The short of it is we were at a boring school event, it was my third year there, same boring activities and same boring kids, every time”

“Until widdle old me showed up?” Eda volunteered.

“Until a redheaded menace showed up, yes, and pretended to fall through her partner during trust falls, leaving a fake skeleton and a room full of screaming kids. It was hilarious”

 “Hah! I knew you liked it!”

“Of course I did! That was one heck of an illusion and it was fun”

“And was that when you decided you just had to talk to me?” Eda finished her work by putting a couple of brightly colored band-aids over the larger cuts “All done, pumpkin. Now” She turned to Raine “Property damage?”

“No, I decided I had to talk to you the second I saw you storm into the convention hall like you were storming a castle and no just looking for a blue ribbon; and not a single snail, it’s all a quick fix” Raine cast a large spell circle and the instruments and papers scattered around the room went back to their proper places. They addressed Luz “You did a pretty good job putting stuff back together but here” they motioned “You got the cymbals mixed up” a sharp snap of their fingers sent them to the proper place.

“Oh. I knew something was off. I’m sorry, I wasn’t even experimenting or anything I just got distracted looking around and tripped and sort of took the whole thing down with me” Luz looked at the floor instead of facing them.

“It’s okay. We’ve all been there” Raine soothed “I can’t tell you the amount of time Amber has taken down my displays, and this are all beginner’s instruments so they can take a hit or two. Next week we’ll go over the parts of a drum set and how to assemble it, so if this happens again you’ll be able to fix it, how about that?”

“Yeah, okay” Luz smiled at them “And I’ll hold back on the sigils”

“Luz Noceda, don’t you dare. Maybe experimenting on a drum set wasn’t the best idea but I’m sure there’s potential there, we’ll think of something”

“I second that” Eda volunteered “Maybe if you practiced outdoors or started smaller, a tambourine?”

“Or a triangle” Raine mused “Something small and manageable”

“And portable”

“That too”

“So, you’re not mad I covered your classroom in vines?” Luz looked like the two adults had just told her the sky was green.

“Not at all, I told you, I value creativity”

“And they used to hang out with me, you’re in the clear there, nothing a Clawthorne could do that would shock Raine”

“That too” they laughed “Besides, it was an honest accident and now I know vines like smooth jazz, there was no harm done and it was fun improvising like that; now we just need to find a way to channel those glyphs of yours to work with music in a more controlled way”

“And I’m getting in on that, kid, don’t think you have the market cornered on glyphs”

“Okay then, we can work together. Same time next week?” Luz asked Raine.

“I’ll be here”

Luz smiled.

“Though I feel I should warn you” Eda cut in “Luz also knows how to cast a fire glyph” Raine could feel their blood pressure drop “So I wouldn’t leave her unsupervised in the future if I were you”

“Eda!” Luz looked so offended it was funny “I don’t need supervision! Besides didn’t you have to chase down the vegetables you gave sentience to because they didn’t want to become soup this morning?”

“I… yes I did, but at least I didn’t dye Hooty green”

Raine looked on in amusement as the family argument carried on, a warmth spreading from their heart to the tip of their fingers. While the Clawthornes were distracted they took a moment to write something, folding the scrap of parchment into a tiny crane.

“What is it about a green Hooty?” they broke the argument.

“You know Hooty?” Luz seemed surprised.

“Sure do, him and I are old pals”

“It was Luz’s turn to wash him but she thought she’d rather take a shortcut”

“But I misread the potion labels” Luz admitted “Turns out purple shampoo mixed with Hooty’s feathers turns grass green”

“Please tell me you took pictures!”

“I did, they’re in Eda’s scroll”

“Come on, Rainestorm, walk us out and I’ll show them to you”

“Alright then, but before we go, I’ve got some homework for you, Luz. I want you to think about what instruments you want to learn. We’ll start with one and work from there, drums, guitar, you let me know so I can give you the paper work to borrow one from the school to practice”

“Okay, I’ll think about it”

“Great, now let’s go. I don’t want to keep you any longer”

As they walked out Eda came up beside them, so close they could feel how cold she was, and pulled out her scroll, showing them a picture of a disgruntled Hooty.

“He looks like a parrot!” Raine stifled their laughter with a hand, but it was true, the house demon was dyed a lime green except for his beak and eyes and was glaring at the camera.

“He does, and he was so mad about it all the curtains and rugs stayed green for a solid month”

“How’d you get him to change everything back?”

“Ladybugs”

“Of course”

“Yeah well, Hooty is mostly predictable. Hey, you want a ride home? I brought Owlbert”

As tempting as it sounded to go home flying on Eda’s staff holding on to her waist they had to decline.

“Not today but I appreciate the offer, I can walk from here and I have to stop to buy some stuff for dinner. I told the kids I’d try to cook tonight”

“The kids?” Eda asked, with an odd look in her face, somewhere behind her they could hear a gasp while the witch herself had frozen in front of them.

“Yeah. They’re kind of mine? Well, no, I took them in. They chose to stay” Titan have mercy, this was coming out all wrong “They were my students and now they live with me” There. Short and to the point.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Amber, Derwin and Katya. All from the track bard, you’re not the only one who can take in apprentices, you know” they looked into her eyes

“Gotcha” Eda agreed, meeting their gaze, and they knew then, she got it “Luz, do you think you can coerce Owlbert from the nest he made in my bag?” She asked, handing her tote to the girl who seemed affronted by the subtle request to give the adults space, but she took it nonetheless cooing the palisman’s name. Eda took advantage of her distraction to pull Raine aside.

“So, I’ll see you around?” They asked nervously.

“You will. Wait” From somewhere in the mess of her hair Eda produced an eyeliner pen and uncapped it with her mouth as she took Raine’s arm, writting her number in bold black ink signing with star “Now, this is spelled to be waterproof but I’d save it in your scroll anyways”

“How waterproof are we talking?”

The only answer was a smirk and a music note added to the marks in their arm.

“Marking your territory already Calamity?”

“Only if that’s what you want” she answered softly “It’ll come right out with oil”

Raine pretended to think for a second before striking out and grabbing Eda’s hand, swiping the pen from her and scrawling a quick music note on her wrist “I think I’ll leave it be for a while, actually” they said, before pressing the small paper crane in her palm, their heart beating wildly in their chest.

“Pretty” she admired it “And the crane, too”

“Eda!” Raine laughed.

“What? Can’t take a compliment?”

“Neither can you!” Ah, their bickering. It came as easily as their banter and could be just as fun.

“Eda?” Luz called.

“Shoot, now I really gotta go. But call me”

“I will, you too, open it when you get home”

“Open what?” Luz materialized at Eda’s elbow.

“Penstagram, obviously, Raine hasn’t seen all my fabulous selfies yet; now say goodbye Luz”

“Bye Raine, see you next week”

“Bye Luz, bye Eda” both Clawthornes climbed onto their staff and took off, waving at them.

Smiling they took their own leave.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lilith was dying for her sister to get back home. The house was a total mess, stuffed animals in every available seat and an air of foreboding hanging in the air. The kitchen was the worse of it, Lilith had seen tidier battlegrounds, there was batter on the counters, the ceiling and her hair with the windows open as far as they would go and Eda’s favorite wooden spoon and sporting a brand new burn mark. At this rate Lilith would gladly take her sister’s retaliation over messing up her kitchen if she could get her demon child to take a nap already. Alas, Edalyn was nowhere to be found and Hooty had retreated to the safety of his post long ago. Meanwhile, King was still wreaking havoc in the living room having grown tired of his cooking experiment.

Lilith sighed and rested her head in her hands, she had chosen to stay back to give Eda an actual chance to talk to Raine without feeling like her matchmaking big sister was looking over her shoulder but in all her plans she had not considered that meant she’d have to be the one in charge at home. The woman wracked her brain, how to turn this around? It was easier with Luz, the human girl was fascinated with magic and loved to experiment but she also liked cheesy romance novels and writing her own stories; Lilith wouldn’t ever admit it to Eda but she was quite interested to find out what happened next in the Azura story. King on the other hand…

She could hear him talking to himself on the other room, narrating his make-believe play, a battle? No, a siege. And a badly planned one at that. She snorted; it was so bad it rivaled Kikimora’s plans. Of course, Lilith had always been quite the strategist, she hadn’t been coven head for nothing, she could out maneuver almost anyone… Now there was an idea, Eda might not like it but she had been the one who insisted Lilith needed to bond with everyone, right?

By the time the Owl Lady and her charge got home King knew three ways to set up an ambush, the house was in even worse shape and Lilith was using Luz’s teaching chalkboard to draw a battleplan with a step-by-step guide to conquering the storage room. Eda took a good long look around the room until finally her gaze landed on Lilith.

“You are a bad influence, sis. I approve” She declared, before dropping her bag onto the nearest couch and walking up to King who proceeded to climb over her. She absentmindedly scratched between his horns.

“Did you bring me anything?” He asked.

“Not today but I’m making fairy pie for dinner” Eda answered “And you’re still cleaning this up” She added, addressing both of them.

“I figured. How did everything go?” Lilith resigned herself to a long night of cleaning.

“It went well”

“It went more than well” Luz cut in “Raine’s great, thank you for the lessons, Lilith”

“That well, huh?”

“Yeah” Luz carved a spot for herself in the midst of the fluffy chaos “They let me try my hand at playing drums”

“Good in theory, better in practice” Eda added “Luz put a couple glyphs on the drums”

“Did you, now?”

“Yeah, it was great, for a while, at first I just summoned a small aloe but then it got a bit out of control, but Raine handled it. And they didn’t even mind when one of the vines tried to grab them, they just cut it down and then played this really cool improv on the piano”

“I think someone has a new favorite teacher” Lilith teased.

“Nah, Raine may be cool but Eda is always my number one” Luz smiled at Eda and got up to examine Lilith’s scrawling on the board

She could practically hear her sister’s internal monologue going *don’tcrydon’tcrydon’tcry* as she answered “Of course I am, kid, and you’re mine” though said in a lighthearted manner there was such a strong river of sincerity rushing beneath those words Lilith could almost feel it. Eda reached over to pull her hair over her shoulder, one of her nervous ticks and then Lilith spotted something.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Her sister clutched her wrist.

“Whatever it is you’re trying to hide”

“I think it’s Raine’s number” Luz said.

“It’s not!”

“It’s not? Really Eda. We go through all this trouble to set you up and you don’t even get their number? I must admit I’m disappointed”

“I wouldn’t be, you should’ve seen both of them” Luz said “There was some serious flirting going on, like, straight out of a rom-com. Hey, Eda…do you guys always banter like that? Because that was so smooth, do you ever practice your phrases?”

“I’ll have you know I don’t, I’m just that smart and witty. It’s part of my charm. And for the record, I gave them my number; now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get started on dinner” With that, her sister turned on her heel and walked away. Lilith considered running for the hills.

“Titanhelpme”

“What?”

Three. Two. One.

“What the HELL happened to my kitchen?!”

Chapter Text

Lilith was confused to say the least, it was Thursday, middle of the day and the house was quiet, way too quiet. Somewhere in the months she had been staying at her sister’s she had grown used to the chaos and noise of the household, it was nice, familiar even, a muffled explosion here and there followed by a swearword, muffled conversations, the sounds of two children chasing each other around in a high stakes game of tag, or Luz talking to the Blight girl on a crow. But Luz was at school and King had tagged along, and Hooty was not at the door but most worryingly, her sister was not in her lab or on the couch. She supposed Eda could have left to make a quick delivery or on a supply run, or perhaps she had popped over at Raine’s. Titan knew they seemed to have made up pretty quickly but something on the back of Lilith’s mind told her it was not something so harmless. She, herself was not supposed to be home at this hour, she had just gotten a job at the Bonesborough museum and was supposed to be in the archives, however a small fire, courtesy of Linda two desks over and her scented candle obsession had sent the entire office home early, and so Lilith had arrived to an empty house and an empty door. Silently she made her way up the stairs, all the lights were off but something called to her. She slowly opened Eda’s door and peeked inside, there was a figure on the nest.

“Eda?” She called.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The only answer was a low moan. The room was pitch dark, the curtains drawn and the air hung warm and heavy, scented with the unmistakable stench of alcohol and something herbal and bitter.

“Edalyn are you drunk?”

“Not exactly but I do have enough potions in me to knock out an elephant, so what”

“What do you mean so what? What about the kids? Do you want Luz and King to see you like this?”

“It’ll pass before they’re here”

“And you’re so sure”

“Yes, I am. King has never seen me drunk, for all that I do drink, Luz has, once or twice and it sure as fuck wasn’t my proudest moment but it was when she had just arrived and it hasn’t happened since”

“Well, it’s about to happen now!” Lilith tried to control the tone of her voice but she failed and it sparked something in her sister.

“Don’t you judge me Lily, don’t you dare. I make the best with what I have. I like to get sloshed for fun, sure, I won’t deny it, I’m an adult and it’s well within my rights. So do you, by the way, so I wouldn’t get so judgy. But this is not for fun”

“I’m not a mother” Lilith wanted to answer back “What does it matter what I do, I don’t have two dependent and impressionable kids who look up to me with stars in their eyes!” It was a weird role reversal, this conversation; she held her tongue though, fixing on that last sentence instead.

“What do you mean?”

“Turn on the bedside lamp, I can’t do this in the dark, it’s too cliché”

Lilith did and sat at the edge of the nest. With the soft light making everything clearer she took her sister in, Eda had deep purple bruises under her bloodshot eyes and fading red scratches all over her neck and arms. She could see the bottles littering the floor, potion bottles, suddenly the bitter smell made sense. In all her time at the Owl House she had not seen her sister in such a state, Eda was clad in a camisole and shorts, barefoot and bed-headed looking to the world like she had gone ten rounds with a trash slug. She was also curled up around Hooty, the house demon quiet for once.

“It’s the curse” Lilith realized.

“It is, chronic pain and all that. Fun times, started slow and with a migraine, hence the dark room, the potions help but they’re not a miracle cure”

“I’ve noticed”

“Ha, consider yourself lucky, I’ve been at it for so long I don’t remember what a pain free day feels like, but today was worse, everything felt on fire, like if I stood up every bone in my body would collapse. That’s why Hooty’s here” Eda ran a lazy hand along Hooty’s body who cuddled closer, seemingly asleep.

“I worried when I didn’t see him at the door”

“He helps me on days like this, brings me stuff, keeps the kids out of too much trouble”

“He’s a good friend”

“Even better, he’s family”

“But the, um,”

“You don’t have to tiptoe around it sis, the potions? Look, mixing them like that, not exactly safe but it’s the only thing that’ll take the edge off for a few hours. When you’ve dealt with this as long as I have sometimes you want the fast way out and well, it does the trick. Pain masking potions are well and good but eventually the body builds up tolerance, and I’ve been downing them for thirty years. Elixirs tame the curse but not the symptoms, and I got the sucky end of the symptoms deal”

Lilith opened her mouth.

“Don’t apologize. Not your fault and I’ll get that through your thick skull one of these days. No way you could’ve known it came with chronic pain, if anything I’m glad you don’t have it as bad. This house with both adults out of commission? That would really be big trouble… but like I said, I’m self-aware enough and believe it or not, responsible enough not to overdo it, if there’s anything I know by now it’s potions and doses”

“But why? Why deal with it all alone? I could take you to a healer-”

“Lily, no healer will see me. At least no non-night market one. Wanted by Belos, remember? And you’ve helped me more than you know. It’s the first bad day I’ve had since I almost became a garden decoration”

“Eda!”

“Just trying to lighten the mood. And I’m serious, I’ve been doing a lot better since we split the curse, this used to happen at least once every month, at the end. But now it’s been what? Six months? I’d call that an improvement”

Lilith took a second to process that information. The fact that her sister was so cavalier about mixing sensitive potions did not exactly sit right with her but she had a point. Who was she to judge when Eda had been put through the paces at least once a month for who knows how many years? She began to comb her hand through Eda’s hair who seemed to melt under the touch.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“I won’t say I’m thrilled but I’m glad you found something that works for you” She said at last “I’m also happy to see somethings haven’t changed. Scooch over, will you?”

“Can’t”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I may be high as a kite on pain meds…”

“Edalyn, really”

“…but I’m still not a hundred percent fine with the sitting, or the moving really... Hang on” Her sister tapped Hooty’s beak “Hey, Hoots, help me up a bit won’tcha?”

Hooty woke up and blinked owlishly, nuzzling Eda before snaking around her propping her up in a sitting position “Hey Lulu, you’re home early” he whispered.

“Hello Hootcifer, I’ll tell you all about it later, I can take it from here if you want” To her surprise the demon hesitated.

“I can go for a bit but it’s my job to help Eda”

“It’s fine, Feathers, go catch worms or something, but remember our agreement”

“I’m just a scream away” Hooty said, before slithering away.

Lilith climbed in on the now empty spot.

“Agreement?”

“As soon as he feels the kids come near the property, he lets me know so I can take that” Eda pointed vaguely to a vial propped up on the nightstand “Detox potion” Ah “Not pretty but leaves a witch stone cold sober, for better or for worse… What?”

“What what?”

“You’re looking at me funny”

“Yes, because this whole conversation has been so normal”

“I mean it”

“Never heard of that potion before; your invention?”

“Yup, could make bank with it but I do have some semblance of morals”

“Good to know”

“Well, I wouldn’t want the kids to see me like this” Eda rolled her eyes “I’m pretty sure my pupils are the size of plates”

“Just about” Lilith resumed combing through her sister’s hair.

“Feels nice”

“You’ve always liked people playing with your hair. Especially when you’re sick”

“Oh, come on! don’t kick a witch while she’s down! Childhood stories?”

“Yes” Lilith began making a series of tiny braids on Eda’s silver locks “When you were a toddler you used to cry until I gave in and did your hair even if I was terrible at it, ended up being more knots than braids but you were happy” Eda looked away, clearly embarrassed “Of course, then you wanted to learn how to do braids yourself and decided Dad’s beard was a perfect place to practice” Lilith took the braids she had made and began wounding them around Eda’s mane, creating a slapdash ponytail.

 “Okay, okay, enough”

“Fine, I’ll stop” Lilith relented “for now, at least. You know, I could take care of the kids for the day, if you want. Keep them downstairs until bedtime”

Eda looked incredulous.

“I can’t promise the living room will survive but this way you don’t have to get up when they get here”

“I’ll take you up on that, I love them but I so do not want to chase around after the two hellions today”

“So, the living room is an acceptable casualty?”

“Anything but the kitchen is fair play”

“Gotcha. So, takeout it is”

“Fine by me”

“I’ll get on that, you go back to sleep, see you tonight?”

“We’ll see, maybe tomorrow”

“Okay, anything else you want?”

“Send Hooty up?”

“Serial cuddler” Lilith said with no real heat

“Yup”

Lilith made her way out of her sister’s bed and down the stairs, the silence still felt odd in the usually crowded house but it was less oppressive than when she had first arrived. As she sent Hooty up she couldn’t help but wonder just how much Luz and King knew about Eda’s curse flare ups, but that was a conversation for another day. The time she had spent upstairs had been emotionally draining, not because of her sister no, but because of the guilt. She had never seen Eda so out of it, ragdoll limp and wide eyed, tongue loose and emotions skin deep. Bottles littering the floor. She was present enough for their talk, but that didn’t mean much when she couldn’t even sit up by herself. Lilith took comfort in the fact that splitting the curse had apparently lessened the frequency of these events.

She took a deep breath, this would pass soon, she hoped, and then they could talk some more, go back to their usual routine, maybe she would get to tease Eda about Raine before Luz’s next class. But for now, all she had to do was order dinner, she could do that. A quick glance at the clock told her it was four o’clock, the kids would be home soon, and just when had the two troublemakers gone from “the human and the demon” to “the kids” she didn’t know but they had and she knew Luz couldn’t handle dairy and King was going through a spicy phase. This was all Eda’s fault, Eda and her stupid, giant heart and tendency to adopt anything in her sightline. Lilith couldn’t be happier about it. Living in the Owl House had made her face a lot of her decisions but it also had somehow made everything slowly slot into place; her relationship with Eda had slowly been knit back, the act of living together, getting to know each other all over again, it made her feel like part of a family again, and even on the worse days she wouldn’t trade it for the world. Calmer now, she summoned a crow and began dialing.

It turned out to be a rather lowkey night after all, both King and Luz kept as quiet as they could when she explained to them that Eda was indisposed, it was still loud but there was a noticeable difference from other nights, marked by but not constricted to the empty chair at the table during dinner; King, especially seemed crestfallen, attacking his food with less vigor than usual, only cheering up when Luz suggested they play Uno, Lilith had never heard of the game but then again, cards against a teenager was easy, even if Luz seemed to be well-versed in the game Lilith had grown up playing against Eda and later against other Emperor Coven recruits as they gambled everything from care packages to socks (highly valued during winter boot camp). Neither kid stood a chance. Eventually she bowed out, watching them play against each other instead. Hooty had come down at some point and joined them for a round before Lilith had to play responsible adult and herded everyone to bed. After all three menaces were sound asleep in their rooms, or door in Hooty’s case, Lilith made her way back to the living room only to find Eda already there.

“Hey sis, fancy meeting you here”

“Right back at you” Lilith took subtle stock of Eda, noting she seemed much more present now.

“Relax, I’m all better now, you can stop with the x-ray stare”

“Well, excuse me for worrying”

“Nah, it’s nice. It’s nice to have another grown up here. It can be hard” Eda admitted “trying to manage everything by myself. I don’t want to lie to King and Luz, but they’re young. It wouldn’t be fair to put this on them”

“I get that, and I’m happy to help”

“Thank you”

“You don’t have to thank me, that’s what sisters are for” Lilith sat next to Eda, who immediately rested her head on the older woman’s shoulder.

“Hey Lily?” She asked after a while.

“Yes”

“Can you put a record on?”

“Sure, one of Raine’s?” She teased.

“Yeah, they’re on the right-side drawer” Well, that wasn’t what she had expected, blushing perhaps, or denial but she did as she was asked and pulled out a record at random, the cover was a twilight sky with Raine’s name embossed in gold cursive. She carefully placed the needle turned up the volume, gentle notes came from the speaker and Eda sighed in contentment.

“So, can I ask now?” Eda didn’t even ask for clarification on what subject

“Ask away”

“How did it go between you and Raine?”

“What, is Luz not a good spy?”

“She’s great” Lilith defended “but she was too excited about music lessons, and I want to hear about it first-hand”

“It went great, we’re going for coffee on Sunday, they gave me their number and I gave them mine, we’ve been texting and, dunno, it’s just nice. I hadn’t realized how much I missed them but talking to Raine is just… easy, and well they’re great with Luz, oh and they let me steal so many books”

“Glad to hear that, so you two are friends now?”

“For now”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, well, I’m hoping for a relationship but if they want to be friends that’s great too, a couple weeks ago I didn’t even think I’d ever talk to them again and now” Eda pulled a creased piece of paper from her hair, turning it over in her hands, from her seat Lilith could make out Raine’s careful hand “Thank you for getting us talking again... So, are we good?"

"We are" Was Lilith’s answer as she cuddled closer, picking up her book and resuming where she left off, Eda did the same and for once, the silence in the house felt like home.

BONUS: 

Raine sighed as they tried to take notes, Luz's use of glyph magic was fascinating. They supposed if anyone was going to resurrect an arcane and nigh forgotten way of casting spells it was fitting that it was a Clawthorne, that family seemed to have adventure bestowed upon them by the Titan as other witches had magic, and of course Eda's daughter was going to take what had been an ancient practice and slap it on a drum set. They hadn't been lying to Luz when they told her they'd had fun during her lesson but they'd been trying -and failing- to come up with a safer way to mix the two disciplines for the better part of the evening, mainly because Amber hadn't stopped giggling since she spotted Eda's number on their wrist the day before. They had to admit it was hard to miss but they still refused to wash it off, it was nice, to be able to look down and have the reminder that she wanted to talk to them as much as they wanted to talk to her. Bud Eda hadn't been messing around when she said the eyeliner was waterproof, it had been a whole day and still the ink refused to budge, not even a smear, much to Katya's delight, the young witch had been so exited to learn it had been Raine's new student and her mentor who had busted her out of the Conformatorium, and when she learned said mentor was Raine's ex? She was already planning to drop by one of these Saturdays, Titan help them all, they had a hunch Luz and Katya would get on like a house on fire, thought not literally (they hoped, please) sighing, they got back to their planning while they waited for their kids to come home so they could start movie night.  

Chapter Text

Luz was having a great day, not only did she get to have class with Raine and witness Eda have what could only be described as a teen drama moment in the morning as she argued with Lilith over what outfit to wear, since her lesson had been moved up to noon to make the of of the still warm weather and avoid flying home in the rain. Lilith was adamant they take each a witch’s cloak anyways while Eda whined and complained that it clashed with her novelty human’s shirt, it was all for show anyway, as Luz knew Eda cared more about protecting her form the boiling rain than “showing of her ‘fit” but she couldn’t deny it was fun seeing her drive Lilith up the wall. Especially since Raine had let it drop the ex-coven head had been referring to Luz as her niece. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask Eda to not be mean to her aunt. Both women’s faces had been priceless and Luz was still riding the high of striking Eda speechless. It was a rare accomplishment and one she’d cherish even if it left her with some questions to mull over in the privacy of her own head.

If Lilith was her adopted, found family aunt, what did that make Eda? Even thinking about that answer sent Luz into a spiral; she knew perfectly well what Eda was to her and she was pretty sure it was reciprocal. At the very least it went beyond their initial arrangement of just a mentor and a student, but she couldn’t get herself to admit it. Even in thought, it felt too much like a betrayal to her mother waiting for her in another realm, who probably thought Luz was missing, and yet it felt like the most natural thing ever. Eda was her family, Eda was… well, she was. Luz supposed if there was one upside to her adopted mo mentor’s reluctance to acknowledge feelings was that for a while more, at least, they could coast on this unspoken arrangement, where Eda made her food, knit her clothes and flew her to music lessons and Luz did her homework on the living room and helped Eda make dinner, learning how to cook while telling the older woman about school and her friends, with one little brother roommate and one aunt(?) setting the table in the next room.

But that was a sad train of thought meant for another time, for today she was focusing on the fact that she had a new friend. Katya was awesome. She’d dropped by as her lesson was halfway done looking for Raine, they’d told her about their newest student and her mentor and apparently Katya was dying to meet them (again) under calmer circumstances. She’d snuck into the classroom trying to get the jump on Raine who just sighed and side stepped.

“How do you always do that?” Said Katya, catching herself on their shoulder.

“Practice” Raine answered “Not that I’m not happy to see you, love, but what are you doing here? I thought you were going to the library”

“Well, I was but then I remembered someone was meeting the Owl Lady today”

Raine sighed “I’m not meeting Eda, I’m teaching Luz, say hi to her; manners”

“Whoops, sorry. Hey kid, nice to see you again!”

“Hi! I remember you, you’re the girl from the Conformatorium who writes food fic. I’m Luz”

“That’s me alright, Name’s Katya”

“I didn’t know you guys knew each other” Raine said.

“Yeah, we met that one time I told you about, when the Owl Lady and Luz bust me out and set those fireworks off”

“Ah, that time”

“Yup. So, Luz… have you orchestrated any more breakouts lately?”

“No, but I snuck into the castle and back out again!”

“Damn” Katya looked impressed

“Yea it was something, lemme tell you, life on the Owl House is never dull”

“I can tell. So, do you mind if I sit in on your class for a bit? I really did come here looking for your mentor. I wanna ask her something”

“Oh, um, sure. As long as Raine doesn’t mind either”

“Not at all, take a seat, I’m teaching Luz the basics of music reading today”

“Oh, nice! I’ll just be over here”

With that, the girl sat on the chair next to Luz and took out a battered paperback, Luz stared at the cover, it was one she knew well. She tried to focus on Raine’s voice but the words were forming in her head, coming up her throat and before she could help it, she was blurting out a question.

“Oh my god, is that Ruler’s Reach?!”

“Yeah, have you read it too?”

“Read it? I co-wrote it!”

“No way! So, can you tell me all about the cancelled sequel?”

“I’d love to”

“Cool!”

“Wait, no”

“No?”

“I’m in class?” Luz chanced a glance at Raine who was leaning on their desk with a put upon look on their face. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to get sidetracked”

“It’s my fault” Katya cut in “I’m the one who dropped in unannounced”

Raine sighed “Hey, it’s okay both of you. I was letting you talk, I have only one student Luz, I noticed the moment you shifted gears and I lost you. But right now it’s your time, so let’s go back to where we were; okay? And Kat, you weren’t being disruptive, it’s just a matter of a coincidence. I’m glad to see you two have stuff in common but let’s do something. Luz and I have twenty more minutes to go, why don’t you wait in my office and when we’re done you can come with us to get Eda?”

“Okay” said Katya “hey, can I use your fancy coffeemaker?” she asked, taking her book and bag and walking towards the door.

“Only if you make enough for me too”

“Great! See you in a bit Luz”

“See you”

With that Raine picked up where they’d let off and Luz turned back to the board. Time passed quickly and before she knew it she was walking down the hall with Katya, Raine following close behind.

“So… what instruments do you play?”

“I focus on percussion, I do a lot of tambourine, drums, some cymbals”

“The xylophone” Raine cut in.

“Raine!” Katya whined “Don’t tell people that, playing the xylophone is so not cool”

“I play the xylophone”

“Case in point”

“Is that so? Because I remember someone here also plays the triangle”

“So do you! You taught me the triangle!”

“We’re here” Luz chimed, before what seemed like a well-trodden argument could start “Eda!”

“Over here” came the answer from bellow a nearby table. Luz peeked under. The woman in front of her was sitting cross-legged with a book that probably weighed as much as her on her lap and she was taking notes with one of the glitter gel pens she’d stolen from Luz bag. It was Halloween themed. “Hey kid, how’d nerd lessons go?”

“Eda, you’re the one who spent the whole time in the library”

“Yeah, but I was committing vandalism” she pointed to the nearest shelf. It took Luz a moment to realize what it was, and then she laughed; the spines of books now spelled out a rather rude word “Why?”

“Trust me, they had it coming it’s all coven propaganda stuff” Eda crawled out from under the table “Hey, I know you”

“I’m Katya”

“She’s one of my bards”

“

Well, look at that, one of Raine’s kids. Good to see you again. Been in trouble recently?”

“Of course”

“She likes to keep my blood pressure high” Raine said.

“No, that’s Amber. I just want to express my creativity. Which is why I was looking for you” She said to Eda “I heard Raine say you had given vegetables sentience?”

Eda’s eyes gleamed “You’re damn right I did”

“Can you teach me how?”

“Huh?”

“For my fanfic! I write stories about food in love and…”

“I get it. Sure, I’ll do it”

“Yes!”

“It’s a fairly complex potion but you can make a big batch and it’ll keep for a year so it’s a good deal, though it’s not full sentience mind you. And you need a firm hand, else whatever you’re animating can and will rebel” Katya was nodding enthusiastically “Wait. You’re out of Hexside, right?”

“Yeah. I’m twenty. Why?”

“’cause you have to harvest some of the ingredients yourself and that might take a day or two in the forest”

“Oh okay, I can arrange that”

“And I’ll have to find someone to watch my kids, and my house. And oh… hang on. Hey Rainestorm!” Eda called to the bard who was now sitting with Luz as they watched something on their scroll “I’m taking your girl on a fieldtrip to the forest, is that fine”

“As long as you both have fun and come back in one piece” Raine answered absentmindedly.

“Well, that’s cleared”

“There, we’re set. You can ask Raine for my number and we’ll make a plan, okay?” Eda began gathering her stuff and putting books back.

“Awesome. So, do you guys have to leave now?”

“Yeah Eda, do we have to leave now?” Luz materialized at the older woman’s elbow “Katya and I wanted to talk books. She’s read the one I wrote with King”

Eda looked over at Raine and something unspoken passed between them.

“I guess we can stay a bit longer. It’s still early. Why don’t you two hang out while I call Lily and check everyone back at the house is still breathing?”

“Actually” Raine cut in “I have an idea”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-<3

Eda had not come here for this. She had tagged along with Luz for her music lesson because she had asked, and maybe because she wanted to smuggle a couple more books for her collection but that was it. She may have spent the past week bold facedly flirting with Raine over texts but she drew the line at making out in a supply closet… again, or so she had thought. But Raine had a way of getting under her skin and other things if the hand teasing the hem of her shirt was any indication. They pressed closer, winding one hand through her hair while the other grasped at their hip possessively, Eda went willingly, letting the wall behind her hold her up as her knees buckled. She ran her tongue along the seam of their mouth and they obliged, taking the lead.

Eda didn’t even bother muffling the small moan that escaped her. For a precious, few minutes more they had the entire building to themselves before they’d had to straighten up and walk back out and away from each other. Eda shifted to deepen the kiss and wound her arms around Raine who sighed into her mouth before moving down to her neck.

“Playing dirty there, Dewdrop” she rasped, breathless.

“Don’t you like it, Calamity?”

“Yeah, keep going” She ran an encouraging hand along the nape of their neck before remembering she was allowed to touch and letting her hands run through mint locks being rewarded with a soft kiss to the spot where her jaw met her neck before Raine moved to nuzzle her hair. Unfortunately, that meant the sharp frame of the cat-eye glasses they were wearing that day scratched her cheek in a swift move. Too caught up in the moment Eda couldn’t react fast enough to mask the hiss of pain that escaped her. Raine stepped back immediately.

“What is it?”

“Nothing” Eda answered quickly, purely on reflex and used to playing things down, before catching herself “You just scratched me a little. Glasses. It’s okay” She tried to close the distance between them but Raine stopped her gently with one hand as they cast a light spell with the other. In the dim light they inspected her face gently.

“I’m sorry” They apologized.

“Don’t worry about it”

“Do you want to stop?”

“Only if you want to, it was an accident. Remember that time I bit too hard after I got my gold fang?” Eda teased, mission accomplished, they laughed. It had been a mess.

“Do I? Titan, I don’t know what was worse, the bleeding or the fact you were so put out that it meant you couldn’t just randomly sneak up to me and bite me anymore”

“I think the worst part was that you were disappointed too”

“I’ll neither confirm nor deny. So, everything fine?”

“Absolutely. It’s nothing you can’t kiss better” This time Raine let her put her arms around them “But I’m confiscating this safety hazard” Eda took Raine’s glasses and put them on her head, pushing her hair back with them “Get the light?”

They did, and Eda let her hands return their waist as Raine kissed her softly on the mouth, pressing their closed lips to hers once before kissing her cheek and starting a trail of butterfly kisses all over her face. Eda could feel herself blushing as they cradled her face in their hands.

“Close your eyes” They murmured, before kissing one eyelid ever so gently, then the other and finally her brow, only then returning to her lips. Never one to be outdone Eda reached one hand to the hollow of their back where she knew lay a sensitive spot. She ran her fingers up and down relishing the soft satin feel of Raine’s blouse and the shiver that ran up their spine that signaled she hadn’t lost her touch during all their time apart. After what felt like eternity and a minute came a sharp taptaptap from the other side of the door. The disappointment was palpable in the small space. Reluctantly Eda opened her eyes and caressed Raine’s cheek.

“So…”

“So”

“Do you wanna talk about it orrrr” Eda couldn’t help the rocking back on her heels nervously as she avoided the bard’s gaze

“Yeah?” Raine was blushing a deep crimson and she wished she didn’t find it half as adorable as she did.

Eda cocked her head to the side “Owlbert says we have about ten minutes, and that he can’t believe he’s stuck playing lookout, again”

Raine maneuvered around a bit before finding the doorknob and opening the closet door. Both witches were momentarily blinded by the light streaming in from the courtyard. Owlbert fluttered around Eda’s hair before landing on Raine who took Eda’s hand and led her to the library. Once back on the bench that had started it all they cast a quick spell that had their clothes and hair sorted, or as sorted as Eda’s bird nest would allow.

“You have a little… uh” they motioned at her neck.

Eda rummaged through her tote bag and took out a compact mirror to inspect Raine’s handiwork “Damn, nice work” if possible, they blushed even more “you’re just lucky I never clean out my bag” she added, as she went through her bag again, fishing out a half empty tube of foundation, it was completely covered in stickers and varicolored lipstick smudges. There was a 50/50 chance it had expired in the last year but she’d take it. She eyed Raine over the rim of the mirror as she worked; with quick and deft movements the evidence of their escapade was erased and replaced with smooth porcelain tones.

“I´m not covering up the ones my shirt hides” She teased.

“Eda!” They whined “Stop! You’re making me blush”

“Me? Weren’t you just recently and enthusiastically getting reacquainted with my tonsils? And more?”

“Yeah, but don’t say it like that!” They were so scandalized it was adorable. Eda had always found it fascinating how Raine could be both the most confident, direct witch one second and yet a blushing mess the next. It was her favorite contradiction along with the fact that they kept a messy house but a spotless studio, or how for all their classic musician fame they had had quite the rockstar phase in their twenties or… okay, she was getting sidetracked.

“How should I say it then?”

“Like I just had the privilege of kissing the most breathtaking witch in the isles”

It was Eda’s turn to blush now “Why are you like that?” She bemoaned.

“It’s a gift”

“An annoying one” She retorted, not bothering to disguise the affection in her voice “Not to cut romance short or whatever but we have like five minutes before we’re assaulted by a pair of sugar high monsters”

“Mmmm at least they’re getting along” Raine hopped onto the table Eda had claimed earlier that day “Though on hindsight maybe we should’ve supervised. I just hope there wasn’t any more glyph experiments going on”

“Hah! I’m flattered you think I would’ve been the voice of reason and not the one egging them on. Plus, you’re the one who gave them spending money and pointed them to an ice cream shop” Eda said, bypassing the bench entirely and sitting right next to them.

“And it was worth every cent and then more. Plus, it bought us more time, didn’t it?” Eda had to admit they were probably right there “Okay, business then” Raine straightened up a little “Do you want to go on a date?”

“Yes” Eda answered “Tomorrow like we talked over the week?”

“Actually, I was thinking we could just hang out tomorrow and have dinner on Friday? Don’t get me wrong, this was very nice but I want to talk to you more, I’ve missed your company; and I want some more time to plan an actual date”

Eda felt something warm bloom in her chest. For many of her past relationships her partners had wanted to move hard and fast without much consideration for her as a person or for her feelings, caring more about what they could get from her, from the most obvious down to stealing from her supply cupboard; Eda wasn’t about false modesty; she knew despite the curse she was still fairly good looking and her wild magic had been a draw, however her personality was not what people sought her out for. In fact, it had been oft cited as the reason for the breakup whenever she wasn’t the one to walk away first. She was too loud, too brash, too much. Someone you met with at one bar or another, not exactly date material. And here was Raine, who apologized for the small things and wanted to spend time with her. A part of Eda was still not clear on the why; she understood the reason of her liking them but the fact that it went both ways still baffled her.

“Raine, you’ve seen me in curlers and egg facemasks, hell you’ve seen me the morning after; you don’t have to get all fancy-schmancy for me”

“Maybe I don’t have to, but I want to. You deserve it” Eda was about to protest but before she could get a word out Raine cut her off “Indulge me, at least, let me put my dramatic bard skills to good use” And who was she to deny them, when they were looking at her like that? With stars their eyes and a smile so sweet she had their time together chasing after it and the years after dreaming of it.

“Alright. Plan to your heart’s content” She relented.

“Yes!” Raine cheered.

“Dork”

“Right back at you”

“But I’m cooking for us tomorrow. My place. Well, more like the bit of forest behind my place, overlooking the sea? Cookies, conversation, we could take Owlbert for a joyride” Eda wagged her eyebrows.

“I’m not sure it counts as a joyride when we’re both grown and the palisman is yours” They laughed, bumping shoulders with her “but sure, I’d love to”

“Great. And don’t remind me. How’d we get to be old?”

“Speak for yourself. I’m still hip”

“Oh yeah, you’re so cool huh?” Eda got a gleam in her eye, the one that heralded chaos and had caused more than one Hexside professor to resign on the spot. Before Raine could protest she had leapt and pinned them to the table using her legs to hold them in place while she attacked that one ticklish spot that got them every time.

“Nooo, stop! Stop! Okay you’re cool too! I give”

Satisfied, Eda let up and helped Raine up. They were still holding hands as the library door opened and the sound of exited chatter filled the room.

“You back already kid?”

“We’re back!” Luz answered. Eda noticed Katya try to discreetly nudge Luz and point towards her and Raine’s clasped hands but she let it slide for now, though she knew Luz would run to aunt Lily with the update that Eda and Raine had been sitting together and even (gasp!) holding hands. She wondered if Lilith would notice if she wore turtlenecks for the next couple of days.

Chapter Text

Eda was drunk, Eda was very, very drunk and very, very giddy. Everything was pleasantly rose colored hazy, she felt warm and liquid like, almost weightless as she moved about, the aches and pains that came with her curse long forgotten as she danced through the kitchen. She could feel her lips going numb which was her cue to start slowing down, she was not going for a blackout, only a good time while she got everything ready for tomorrow. She had come down to make a batch of gingerbread cookies for Raine. The kids had been in bed for hours and Lilith had gone out and not come back (which, good for her, she had called to avoid sending Eda into a panic and apparently, she was over at some coworker’s house, the details were fuzzy but apparently there was wine and some ancient text involved) and Titan knew if she had tried to get started while Luz and King were around she wouldn’t have gotten very far at all; for all Luz had grown in her time with her she still tried to eat cookie dough and lick spoons when she though Eda wasn’t looking (and look, Eda did as well but this was for Raine) and King was just… no.

She missed his cute toddler stage when he had wanted to help her with anything and everything under the sun instead of doing stuff like drinking molasses on a dare and then spitting them out because of course he did. Eda loved her kids and any other time she would have indulged their chaotic messy tendencies but she’d prefer to keep this at least semi-hygienic (and she was making a double batch and saving them some so there, best mom mentor roomie, caretaker) as she scraped bits of dough off of the counter, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander to a certain witch. Eda suppressed a giggle as best as she could as she remembered their little escapade in the supply closet. She still had it and so did Raine who, for all their blushing and demurring, had done a real number on her neck and she was wearing it like a badge of pride.

Lilith had been rather suspicious of her when she had returned with a semi-conscious Luz in tow, but she had managed to slip by under the excuse of helping the girl to her room. The teen had apparently had a bit too much fun with Katya and was falling asleep on the flight home, she was just lucky Owlbert and Eda were as good flying as they were. She was glad to see Luz getting along so well with Raine’s own little family, it warmed her cold, shriveled heart and lit up hazy dreams of a far ahead future. As hard as it was, she could be honest with herself, she loved Luz as much as she loved King, she thought of her like a daughter and of the small demon like a son.  They both had wormed their way into her heart and her home. Hell, even Lilith could see it. But she was still afraid to tell them, there was always the threat of change.

King wanted to know where he came from, he had run to that abandoned island and as much as he tried to hide it from her, she knew he wanted to find his father. And Luz. Brave, smart, heart-of-gold Luz who had somehow managed to turn Eda’s life upside down. Luz, who had a mother back in the human realm. Luz who Eda would do anything to protect. She seemed to tear the older witch’s heart, she wanted her to be happy, to reunite with Camila… and yet, a voice in the back of her head asked Eda: ”would it really be so bad if she stayed?” and she knew it wouldn’t, if she allowed herself to indulge in visions of the future she saw Raine and herself, cozied up in the Owl House, while their kids ran helter-skelter through Bonesborough; all of them, Katya, Amber, Derwin, King and Luz, with Lilith trying to enforce some semblance of order and Hooty always having someone to annoy… it was a nice thought. She knew she and Raine hadn’t even been back together for a month yet but she knew there was no other witch she wanted to share her life with. One-night stands and short tryst were all well and good when she felt the need for companionship but for all she had lived, and she had lived a lot, she had never met anyone who resonated with her like Raine did.

She finished taking the last of the cookie sheets out of the oven, she hoped her bard would get a kick out of it. Traditional gingerbread people seemed too boring for her and well, blame the alcohol, she had gotten experimental. Carving out music notes had been tricky but Eda had never been one to back down from a challenge. While she watched the minutes tick by on the kitchen timer someone knocked on the door. Eda glanced at the clock; it was almost midnight. It couldn’t be Lilith, she had her own key, and while she had a set of customers who came to her for certain potions late at night it was the wrong moon phase, unless it was an emergency, or a raid; she doubted the later, Hooty would’ve warned her but she couldn’t be too careful. Eda summoned Owlbert and crept towards the door peeking through the window; spotting familiar mint locks she put her palisman down and opened the door.

“Raine?”

“Eda. Hi”

“Hi yourself. Why are you here? Wait, no, that came out wrong. Come in”

“Thanks”

She stepped back to allow the bard to enter, there was something off about them. Their greeting was lacking their usual cheer, instead she could almost see the dark cloud hanging over their head. She led them to the living room and collapsed onto the big couch, patting the empty spot next to her.

“Sit. Is everything alright? You look… concerned”

“Sorta. I just needed to talk to you. I’m not concerned, exactly, more like…”

“Anxious, worried, preoccupied?” Eda sounded that last word out carefully, mindful of the junction between syllables. Raine stared at her.

“Are you drunk?”

“A little bit, yes, I was baking, having some fun, high in spirits, on spirits.” she giggled again.

“Can I have some?”

“Shoot. Yes, of course. Sorry I didn’t offer, let’s go to the kitchen” She held on to the crook of their elbow and walked them over to the kitchen, despite knowing they knew the lay of the house almost as well as her, once there she pointed them towards a chair and cleared the table as well as she could, taking a plate from the cupboard and loading it with still cooling cookies she chanced a look at her visitor; they were still wearing that downcast expression, and it just wouldn’t do. She grabbed a glass and passed behind them to get to the sink, pressing a kiss to the crown of their head on her way, just because she could. Glass filled with water Eda then procured a pair of pretty shot glasses and poured a measure of clear spirits into each of them “It ain’t appleblood, hun, so take it slow” she broke the silence “Now, drink up and tell Eda what’s wrong.”

Raine sipped at it, pulling a face “Strong.”

“Sure is.”

They sat in awkward silence for a second. Eda had a thousand thoughts racing through her head. Raine was here to tell her she was too much, or not the witch she used to be. They had second thoughts. The bard coven wanted them to stop associating with her and her kid. Luz had managed to set one of their priceless instruments on fire. Her thoughts chased each other in circles.

“Eda. I to tell you something important. It’s about me… and you.”

Cold waves of fear lapped at her feet, crashing her hazy state and turning it to cold, blue dread.

“…I see.”

“I don’t know how to say it. I should have told you earlier but it’s just, hard. I like you Eda, I like you a lot, more than that, I don’t think I ever stopped loving you. But it’s complicated. Fuck, I don’t know how to say it. It’s not as easy as it was.”

“No, don’t worry I get it” Eda tried to swallow the disappointment creeping up her throat “I won’t lie, I want this. I want you to know I want this but I want you in my life even more, if not as partners, then as friends, I know I can be too much, I know we’re not kids anymore but I can try, after everything that happened since the last time I can try, but please…. don’t leave again?”

Raine went very still, eyes wide.

“Leave? No! Eda I’m not breaking up with you. Titan I’m messing this up. No, I want this too but I have to tell you something, before you make up your mind there’s things you have to know” They downed the rest of their drink in one go, grimacing as it went down. They’d never been as fond of the burning sensation as she was “Can I?” they pulled a silver case from their pocket. Eda nodded.

“Go ahead”

“Is here private?”

“As private as it gets in this house. Hooty is keeping an eye on the kids and Lily’s out”

“Okay, here goes... First of all, I have to apologize. You were right, all those years ago, about covens. I found out the hard way and I’m sorry I dismissed your concerns”

“You don’t have to apologize for that, I understand it sounds very well, paranoid is one way to put it. When almost everyone is doing something, I guess it seems pretty normal. But what do you mean find out?”

“I started teaching. And I was good, as soon as people in charge figured that out, they started pushing me to get my students into the coven, never mind that it was too fast, that it as the wrong fit. They just wanted me to push people to enlist, to the point of threatening my job when I refused. That’s when I realized something was wrong. I’d had my doubts about covens before but this was when it hit me. I don’t know… I should’ve listened to you earlier or paid more attention but I started piecing everything together then, and after, when Belos tried to petrify you… Eda I was so scared but also angry, angrier than I had ever been, I had already reached out, tried to find people who also thought this whole thing was wrong and then we decided to do something. We’ve been helping people get away from the Emperor’s Coven, organizing raids but it’s not enough, I don’t think anything we can do will be enough…” they trailed off, taking a long drag from their cigarette. Eda absentmindedly reached over and emptied the cookies onto the table, pushing the now deserted plate in front of them. They put out their cigarette on the makeshift ashtray and pulled another one from their case, Eda waited until it was lit to reach over, Raine let her take it without protest. She took a drag.

“I’m not sure what Belos is planning” They continued “but it’s getting closer, they’re pushing for every wild witch to be placed in a coven by the Day of Unity, and not only that, he’s going after everything that’s got the slightest drop of magic. Beasts, palismen… anything that has some power is getting carted off to the castle but what worries me is this… according to Scooter Crane latest orders are to induct students. Any age, as soon as they choose a track, they get their sigil.”

“That’s… that’s a lot. I don’t even know what to say.” Eda reached over to the liquor bottle and poured herself another drink, she looked at Raine who pushed their glass in her direction. She topped them off and drank as they continued.

“You don’t have to say anything right now but I wanted to tell you. Needed to tell you. We heard there was another raid happening tomorrow and I thought, wait I have to meet Eda tomorrow. And then I thought about how unfair it would be to drag you into this mess. I considered not telling you but that felt worse, somehow.”

“Thank you for telling me. And, you’re not dragging me into anything, you know that, right?”

“I know but I don’t want to put you in danger! It seems like you’re finally happy, you have Luz and King and Lilith and I don’t want you to be-”

“Be what?” Eda cut them off gently “Chased by coven scouts? Personally singled out by Belos? More like Boo-los, really. Raine. I’m the infamous Owl Lady”

“Stop” they sounded so tired “Don’t speak like that. Like it’s just a joke. I couldn’t stand to see you hurt”

“I’m sorry. I know it’s not a joke, believe me, I spend a lot of time being afraid for my kids for it to be a joke but what I want you to know is this: I am already in danger and I did it to myself. I’m grown enough to admit it, I chose to live wild, and this are the consequences but I don’t regret it, I’m in the emperor’s radar, we all are… and there’s nothing I can do about it but keep on scraping by and try my best to protect my family. And you. I want you in my life, Raine. I’m not letting you go again, unless it’s because you want to. Not because you’re afraid of me getting hurt, or because we’re living under some unpredictable tyrant’s rule. I’m an adult, I make my own decisions, and I decide I want to be with you. Come hell or high water. Okay?”

“Okay”

“The Day of Unity is pretty soon. We’ll see if we can figure out what’s going on later, I’ll help you, I may not have magic but I am a master of potions and an agent of chaos” Raine smiled. It was a small, fragile smile, like the flickering of a candle flame.

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes.” They admitted.

“Good. We can talk more about all of this later, right now how about you take a break, you look exhausted.”

“I am, I spent all evening thinking about whether I should tell you or not, and how to tell you.”

Eda nodded “Well, you told me now, and it turned out pretty fine.”

“I think so.”

“So, Raine Whispers, rebellion leader, who would’ve thought? Do you guys have a cool name?”

“…maybe”

“Well, c’me on! Share with the class.”

“We’re the Bards Against the Throne.” they answered with a straight face.

“Bards Against the Throne” Eda mouthed silently, counting initials on her fingers “BATS!” she crowed, Raine answered with a hiss before dissolving into giggles.

“We’re the bats, alright.”

“Did the kids come up with the name?”

“How’d you know?”

“Oh, please, I know you’re a dork but the name screams kids.”

“Yeah, but they were pretty proud of it and I think it’s cute, plus Amber loves bats and now she and Derwin hiss at each other while Katya pretends she’s all embarrassed.”

“Nothing like family, huh?” She raised her glass and tipped it at them. They clicked their cup with hers and downed it down in one go.

“Nope. Also, I'm sorry to have stopped by so late, by the way, I just remember you’ve always been pretty nocturnal and if I didn’t tell you everything the moment I made up my mind I might’ve backed out.”

“It’s alright. I meant it when I said you can stop by anytime. And I’m still a night owl if you’ll excuse the comparison”

“Glad to see somethings never change, but it really is late, I should get going.”

“Only if you want, I ain’t kicking you out.”

“Well then, can I stay a while longer?”

“You can stay the whole night.”

“Eda Clawthorne, are you propositioning me?”

“Hah, you’re lucky but not that lucky… yet” She snorted “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

“You” they pointed at her with their free hand “are a menace.”

“And what does that make you then?”

“A very lucky witch.” They answered in their best performer’s voice.

Eda laughed “Well, come on then, fortunatum, Float the crystal ball over to my room won’tcha?”

Ten minutes later the crystal ball was strategically placed in the recently moved bedside table and Eda was tossing Raine a pair of her nicest pajamas, which in her case meant “the ones Lilith got her for solstice last year” they were plain, but also clean and soft. She turned around and ducked behind her screen to put her own night shirt.

“Are you going shy on me now?” Raine asked.

“No” Eda answered “Maybe? I don’t know, I don’t know where lines are anymore with you.” She emerged, now dressed in a fuzzy nightshirt that hit her mid-thigh.

“Talk to me?”

“It’s like, look, we’ve known each other for ages, we were friends and partners and lovers and you saw me, you knew me and then we lived together and you have seen me in well, nothing, and everything but then we weren’t anymore and now we’re back together and I don’t want to push. I know me, okay? Too much, too brash, always too something. And this is too new, I don’t know what boundaries to push and what’s appropriate anymore. I just… don’t want to mess this up” Eda sat at the edge of the nest, looking up at Raine, who walked over; they looked ridiculous in their borrowed pajamas, pant legs cuffed, the bright red clashing horribly with their hair. In that moment Eda had not loved anyone more.

“Thank you for telling me. And hey, I’m scared too, but you have to trust me, if anything is ever making me uncomfortable I’ll tell you, and I trust you to do the same, and then we can talk things over and find a solution, yeah?” They took her hand and rubbed small circles with their thumb “This may feel too early, or maybe not, but I love you”

“I love you, too. And I trust you. Talking, for me it’s not easy, it never has been, but I’ve been getting better and I’ll try, I promise you I’ll try, and I’ll listen, just… be patient with me?”

“Always”

In lieu of an answer Eda leaned over and placed a feather light kiss on their lips, ever so slightly brushing her lips against theirs before throwing herself down onto the mess of blankets and pillows she called a bed, dragging them down with her.

"Look at us, being all emotionally mature and shit, discussing stuff."

"I'm very proud of us"

She passed them the remote.

“You choose, all this being mature worn me out.” They rolled their eyes at her.

Eda busied herself observing Raine as they fiddled with the crystal ball, they finally settled on a rerun of an old romcom before joining her. They watched the screen in silence for a few minutes.

“Hey, Eda?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you… I mean… will you, would you mind holding me?” They asked, hesitance coloring their voice.

“I’d love to” She answered.

It was an odd role reversal, she thought, as Raine settled in her arms, for as much as they were shorter they were usually the big spoon in this partnership, it was something she loved about them, Eda always felt safe in their arms and she hoped that now, as they cuddled against her they felt the same. Secure and protected, and above all, so, so loved. Slowly, Eda felt their breath even out into sleep and she barely had the presence of mind to turn the crystal ball off before following into slumber, feeling like the luckiest witch in the world. 

BONUS:

Lilith was at her wits end. She was hungover, sleep deprived and hungry, And Eda wasn’t up yet but her kids were and they were restless. And ruthless. As much as she may try her own cooking was passable, edible but bland, and King refused it so the plate of scrambled eggs sat ignored as he grumbled on the couch. Normally she would just turn on the crystal ball to distract him but it was missing and so she had no answer to his increasingly high-pitched complaints other than to go and look for her sister. Thankfully Luz was more understanding, she had eaten breakfast without complaint and offered to take King to play in the garden while Lilith scraped Eda off of her nest. Not bothering with pleasantries, she threw her sister’s door open and stalked up to her bed, ripping the covers back as she talked.

"Edalyn, take that crystal ball and yourself downstairs now, or I swear.."

Lilith trailed off and stared for a second before realizing she had fucked up, for there was Eda, dead to the world and snuggled up to Eda like the most natural place in the world was Raine Whispers clad in the red pajamas she had gotten her sisters last year. As soon as the cold air hit her, Eda opened her eyes and reached over trying to find the covers. Spotting her she asked:  “What, you don’t knock?”

“Eda?” Whispers asked, their voice rough and muffled by Eda’s hair, they managed to peel their head from her sister’s shoulder and nearly jumped out of their skin as they saw her “Lilith?!”

“Did you need something?” Eda asked, clearly embarrassed. She did, in fact, need her to come downstairs and calm King down but at the moment Lilith had only one question running through her mind as she focused on the fading bruises on Eda’s neck.

“What are you doing in my sister’s room?!”

Chapter Text

The kids were acting weird and Lilith was concerned. More than once she’d caught them huddled close, whispering to each other in hushed, secretive tones, jumping apart whenever she entered the room. Eda had picked up on it too, and she seemed to be taking it less than well. She might not have said anything to any of them but Lilith could see it in her eyes, especially when King kept finding excuses to run out of the room. She was running out of reassurances that the two disasters her sister called children were most likely just trying to hide mischief gone wrong. Truth be told she was worried herself. Not that the kids were planning to up and leave the Owl House like Eda thought, but that there really was something wrong that they weren’t telling the adults. Luz, especially worried her. The teenager was not her usual sunny self. She had spent the last week or so shut in her room, avoiding herself, Eda and most worryingly, King. It was highly concerning, and while Eda had done some questioning and eventually fallen on the side of giving them some space Lilith had, for better or for worse, inherited Wendolyn’s stubborn streak and so, when Luz had come home from school and rejected Eda’s offer of a staff ride, she had then banished her sister and nephew to the playground and pinned Luz to the couch via Hooty; the excitable house demon playing lap cat. Thus, Lilith found herself here.

“Luz” the girl seemed resigned as she flopped over the couch arm, avoiding her gaze and petting Hooty’s feathers with one hand “I’ve let this whole angsty teenager act slide for a week now but you’re worrying Eda and me; now, I won’t force you to talk, though I could. I just need to know something. Are you in trouble?”

Luz shook her head no.

“Well, that’s something. Moving on, is someone giving you trouble? Someone tried to hurt you?”

Again no.

“Did we, Eda or I, do something to upset you?”

A very energetic headshake, so no then. Okay, that was a relief. Silly though it may be she had worried perhaps she had messed up.

“Are you… homesick?”

Luz extended her hand in a more or less gesture.

“Okay, that’s progress” Homesickness, she could work with that “You miss your parents”

“Mom” Luz finally spoke “Extraño a mi mamá. Mi papá ya no esta. She must be so worried about me. I was only supposed to be gone eight weeks” the girl buried her face in one of the many throw pillows scattered about.

“And you’re feeling worried about her” Lilith deduced, shooing Hooty out of the way and sitting next to Luz. Placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder she came closer “I’m sorry, Luz. I don’t know how to make that better, I can only offer you some support and say that my sister and I are here for you. If there was a way to fix the portal believe me, Eda would have gotten it for you ages ago. I know you’re trying your best, and we can help too, if you’ll let us, yes?” She reached out to smooth the girl’s hair and Luz leaned into her touch and opened her mouth as if to say something but failed to make a sound, she tried again to no avail and slumped over. At a loss, Lilith defaulted to what she would do if this was Eda, a strategy that had come surprisingly handy with Luz, and guided the girl to rest against her with her head on Lilith’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Luz, I can wait. We have the house to ourselves, and if you don’t want to talk about it today, I’m always here, and so is Eda; whatever you want to talk about”

Lilith was getting the hang of this, sort of. While this “guiding the conversation” still felt out of her depth she was starting to understand. It felt odd, having to drag out words of the usually chatty girl. She looked around the room… now there was a thought. She motioned Hooty over and asked him for a pen; while he retrieved one, she snagged one of Luz’s abandoned notebooks off of the coffee table.

“Here” She said, as kindly as she could “You always say that drawing makes you feel better. You can show me what’s bothering you. Or just sketch. Or tell me to buzz off” Luz held onto Lilith’s skirt with one hand instead, the fabric bunched tightly in her fist.

“Okay, I’m staying”

Luz took the pen waiting in Hooty’s beak and opened the notebook to a blank page. Wordlessly, she began to sketch. Lilith settled in to wait. Eventually, Luz broke the silence

“Eda”

“Do you want me to get her?”

No.

“Is this about is about her?”

Yes. Pointing to the page.

There, in black ink and spindly lettering was a family tree. She and Eda, with the later connected to King in a downward line and Luz’s name floating off to the side, connected to a single other name “Camila”. The teen’s name was punctuated by a single question mark.

“Is she your mom?”

Yes.

“Camila Noceda. And us” Something connected in Lilith’s mind, an offhand comment made weeks ago “Edaaa, leave aunt Lily alone” Aunt. As in, mother’s sister. Family tree. Oh hell, now she really wished her sister was here. Somewhere underneath the mounting panic there was warmth blossoming at the thought of being thought of as family. Aunt Lily.

“You are worried about your mom and thinking about how you fit in in this weird family?”

Nod.

“Well. Just between us, Eda already thinks of you as her daughter, even if she won’t out right say it”

Tears.

Fuck, fuck fuck. Had she said something wrong? Before she knew it, Lilith was being hugged by a sobbing teenager. Sticking to her big sister handbook she simply hugged back and muttered the comforting sort of nonsense one does in these circumstances, projecting a calm she didn’t feel. On the inside she was dreading the moment her sister came home and realized she had somehow broken her kid.

Somewhere between her litany of “there, there” and “it’s alright” Luz had managed to calm down.

“Thank you” She spoke, at last.

“Oh hey, look who’s feeling better”

“Yeah, sorry” The kid rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously “It’s a thing that happens sometimes. Words just… don’t come out”

“It’s alright. We managed, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, we did. Thank you for that, by the way. Most people just walk away or get angry…”

Lilith felt a surge of anger that rarely surfaced in her at someone getting angry at a kid in emotional turmoil.

“Never, at least in this house, will anyone get angry at you for that, I can promise. And if it’s someone outside we’ll sick Hooty on them”

That earned her a laugh.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course”

“It’s supposed to be a secret but you know how King and I are doing something? It’s because… he wants to change his name. To King Clawthorne. I helped him get the papers”

“I see. Well, I’d tell my sister as soon as possible. Between all the hush-hush skittering about the two of you have got going on and the portal business she’s convinced the two of you are leaving. King specially, after that whole island mishap”

“Oh”

“Yes, oh, honestly I’m running out of ways to tell her there’s no way you’d just up and leave her, so hurry, won’t you?”

“I will”

“Can I ask you something now?”

“Sure”

“What do you mean you were only supposed to be here eight weeks?”

“Oh, that… I suppose you don’t really know how I got here. My mom sent me to summer camp, but the day I was supposed to leave I came here. Owlbert stole my book and I followed him through the portal door. I just thought I’d go right back home after my time was up, and the portal let me send messages to my mom. So… I lied to her, told her I was at camp and set up on Eda’s spare room instead”

“So, now that the portal’s gone”

“I can’t reach her anymore”

“And she doesn’t know where you are”

“No. That’s why I’m working so hard to make another door”

“To get home”

Silence

“No?”

“To get to my mom”

Something nagged at the back of her mind

“But not home?”

“It’s complicated” Luz replied “She’s all I got there. Dad passed away when I was little, and well, I never really… fit in. That’s the reason why I got sent to camp. Camp -Reality Check- meant to fix me. Because I brought snakes to school and didn’t have any non-imaginary friends”

“You’ve lost me, you’re the single most social person I’ve met, you make friends with the freaking carnivorous plants your pal Willow brings over”

“Yeah, here, but in the human realm? I had no one, people at school avoided me like the plague, weirdo Luz with her head in some lame fantasy book. The freak who spent lunch period haunting the art room, the one who no one ever picks for team sports”

There was a bitter note in the girl’s tone, a harsh, critical tone that Lilith just knew, from personal experience, came from uppity playground bullies, but at least she had had her sister. The picture Luz painted did not at all match the bright, cheerful girl who looked at the world in wonder, who was fascinated by fairies and painbows and who had charmed Principal Bump into studying all tracks. The one who played grugby with her friends on weekends and who, on occasion, snuck into Lilith’s room to steal her eyeliner. The kid who brought her friends over for sleepovers and who liked to play Romeo to the Blight’s girl Juliet, picking flowers and making intricate ink Azura drawings that she sent over Penstagram DM’s (oh yeah, Lilith knew about those. Hootcifer saw all in the Owl house, after all)

“Hey now… don’t talk about my niece like that”

Luz looked up to her with watery eyes.

“That’s the problem” Huh? “I feel more at home here that I ever did back in the human realm! Here is home, and King is like a little brother, annoying and cute and fun, we play together and write terrible fanfic and steal snacks from the kitchen and I started to think of you as family, but if you’re my aunt what does that make Eda?! I love her” Tears began to spill down Luz’s cheeks “And I’ve caused so much trouble for her, she lost her magic because of me! And I miss my mom. I miss my mom so much, every day, but, no matter how bad it gets here, how much Belos threatens us or if times are hard… this is home to me now, and I don’t wanna go back. I want to talk to my mom but I don’t miss school, or my town, I had no friends, no girlfriend, boyfriend, nothing but fictional characters for comfort. Here may be dangerous but it’s real. For the first time ever… I feel like, like, I could belong as myself”

What was Lilith supposed to answer to that? She, herself, had left home and not glanced back, though her circumstances had been wildly different. It was a tough spot for sure. The Luz from the human realm and the one sitting in front of her seemed impossible to reconcile. If she was being honest, and perhaps a bit selfish, she wanted the human to stay here. She and Eda could see to it that she had everything she needed. Food, books, clothes. A bed frame, sooner rather than later; but also her music lessons, college, if she so chose, training as a healer, or a potioneer, shelter and a loving home to come to every night. Cookies and night market runs once she was old enough. A witch’s staff, palistrom wood for one and carving lessons from Dad.  

Without word to answer she instead hugged Luz close; the girl continued in halting sentences

“And now, when you said Eda thought of me as her daughter… it hurts. Because, I want her to. And it feels right? So right. But I feel so guilty, like I’m betraying my mom, and I know, I know that she didn’t send me to camp to be mean. She wanted me to make friends and not get expelled and to have a better future, to… I don’t know, talk to kids my age and experience the world. The school threatened to expulse me. If I didn’t go, to the camp, I mean” The girl untangled herself from Lilith’s arms “But I didn’t wanna. I get why mom wanted me to go but I was just being me. I don’t… I want to have Mom in my life, but I don’t want to be stuck in a place where just being how I am is wrong, and I keep feeling… Torn. Like I have to pick a side”

“I see. Thank you for telling me, Luz. I can’t imagine, what it must be like. For better or for worse, Eda and I always had each other when we were kids. I’m glad, that you’ve found friends here, and I’m very happy that you think of Eda and I as family. I can’t emphasize enough how much Eda loves you, and I do, too. You have a way of growing on people, you know? And, I may not be a mother but if I were your mom… well, I’d be glad you found some place where you can be you, that you have friends and you are safe and happy and cared for and loved”

Luz nodded along “Really?”

“Yes, really. Now, you were saying King wants to be a Clawthorne?”

“Uh-hu”

“Have you thought about joining in, too? I mean, Edalyn and myself would be absolutely thrilled. Of course, you haven’t met mom and dad yet but I’d wager they’d be all for it. And it would only be valid in the Boiling Isles, so you know, no trouble at all on the human side of things. What do you say? Luz Noceda-Clawthorne? We can surprise Eda with the paperwork on her birthday. Think about it”

“I will, I promise”

“And one more thing. Please talk to Eda about this? She’s worried about you. You don’t have to talk, you can write her a letter, or record a message on her scroll, but tell her. As much as she may try not to show it, she’s really worried”

“Okay” Luz agreed.

With that sorted out Lilith let the teen choose a movie and settle in next to her on the couch while they waited for Eda and King to come home.

Chapter Text

Eda was worried, about a lot of things but the one that sat at the front of her mind at the moment was Raine; after their impromptu sleepover and even impromptu-er flight (and really, Lilith had taken far too much joy in tossing her partner out the window) they’d stayed for brunch (and since when did Eda even cook brunch? Titan, she was turning into her mother) all prim and proper and wearing a shirt out of the depths of Eda’s closet, a sheer, frilly number that could pass off as one of their poet’s shirts in a pinch. Thinking about it, it may have actually been theirs to begin with. Eda had a bit of a thieving habit after all and other people’s clothes were some of her favorite things to collect. They had sat there, answering Luz’s questions about what a professional bard did and King’s questions about whether or not they were going to take attention away from him, all the while Lilith glared at them in between sips of too strong coffee. It had all been surprisingly domestic.

But that had all a while ago, and though she had seen Raine while dropping Luz off and had absolutely been texting them continuously (and could their penstagram be any dorkier?; Titan, she loved them) she wanted to see them. They’d sounded rather distracted on their last crow call and call her dramatic but she wanted to check up on them. Raine had said she was free to drop by anytime, after all, and had all but drawn her a map to their place. So, here Eda was, flying over. This was fine, wasn’t it? Just her and Raine and potentially their kids. Which was fair, they had had their fair share of the owl flock so far, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t slightly nervous about meeting the baby bards. Of course she was a catch but Eda knew first-hand how kids got about partners, even if said kids were in their twenties. Well, at least Katya liked her just fine. Big was her surprise then, when she got to their place and found the lights off. Hesitating slightly, she knocked.

“Coming” rang Raine’s voice; a minute later they showed up, in all their disheveled glory, messy haired and wearing mismatched pajamas. Their top had little music notes, she noted while the pants were ghost themed. Cute.

 “Eda! Hi, did I know you were coming over?”

“Nope”

“Well, come on in And Owlbert, too” Her little traitor palisman hopped off his place at her staff and fluttered over, settling on their shoulder.

“I swear he likes you better”

“Maybe, maybe he just likes playing with my earrings” they laughed, grabbing her by the arm and leading her over to the living room. Eda wasted no time squishing the both of them on the tiny loveseat.

“So, what brings you over?”

“Not much, I just wanted to see you, preferably somewhere my sister can’t toss you out of a second story floor”

“And aren’t I glad? I swear I saw her laugh”

“Mmmm I’m pretty sure she had been waiting for an opening like that for like twenty years”

“So, what were you up to before I so graciously interrupted? I almost thought there was no one home”

“Oh, you know, not much… practicing” They cracked their knuckles.

“Uh-uh, not much, so basically, getting ready to turn the music world upside down?”

“Not exactly, more like trying to get something right” They rubbed their face rather harshly, before moving up to run their hands through their hair, tugging at the mint locks; alarm bells Eda had thought long gone began ringing in her head. Without hesitating she reached out and snatched one of Raine’s hands, as she suspected the nails were cracked and some of them had begun to bleed. They tried to get away but she hadn’t been the grudgy champion of her generation in vain. Before either of them knew how she had them pinned to the couch.

“Not much, you said?”

Raine sighed

“The music won’t come out right, it’s all tangled and nothing is behaving today” They explained. To anyone else it may have been nonsense but she knew better.

Eda could tell they were reaching the end of their rope. She had seen this happen more times than she cared to admit. Everyone always thought that music came as easily as breathing to her bard (her bard!!) but that wasn’t true. Nothing that skillful and complex happened by coincidence or divine gift. Their music was a trade, a skill they had worked hard at, day in and day out since they were five and picked up their first instrument. Sure, they had natural talent, no one could deny it, Raine had an almost preternatural ability to create beautiful things but it came at a cost. Talent that wasn’t practiced, studied and built upon was as good as nothing. And it had a downside, one she didn’t think many people knew about. Their genius (and it was genius, she would fight them about it) played against them. Their thoughts came too fast, too jumbled for anyone to keep up, even their own hands, they had long ago confided in her that they felt like having a physical body just slowed everything down; more than once she’d found them staring blankly at a wall, eyes glazed over and fingers playing a ghostly instrument. Other times, like this, they got an idea so grand that they had to keep at it, over and over, even when it hurt them.  

“Did I interrupt something big?” Eda asked, she wasn’t sorry if it meant she had torn them away from destroying their hands on the piano but that didn’t mean she liked to rip them away from their creative zone.

“Not really, I’ve been at it all day”

Something occurred to her.

“Raine, are these your last night pajamas?”

“…Maybe” The blush gave them away.

“And where are your kids?”

“Over at the Bard Coven’s game night”

“You guys have game night?”

“Yeah”

“Okay then, so, you’re missing game night to glare a stanza into submission?”

“Not exactly but I could be persuaded to-”

“Do not even finish that sentence”

They pouted but she didn’t care. As much as Eda avoided self-care she refused to let Raine do the same. Her mind was working at top speed trying to remember all her tricks.

“So, you bailed on dork night and are wearing last night clothes. Have you eaten?”

“Not really, I wasn’t hungry”

“Well, you’re in luck ‘cuz I haven’t either, so why don’t you go change into a new pair of pajamas and I order us a pizza?” She suggested.

They hesitated.

“No?”

“I don’t know, I’m too… ugh. I know playing more is a bad idea but…” They picked at their sleeves. Yeah, this called for something more. She knew them, she knew they would keep on playing until their fingernails gave, and then they’d find something else. Writing music probably, until they passed out at their desk.

“Hey, it’s okay”

Raine liked repetition when they were like this. Slow, controlled, deliberate movement that went in circles the same as their thoughts. Today seemed like one of those times.

“I have an idea” She twisted around to grab at her purse and produced a hairbrush from it “Here, brush”

“Since when do you brush your hair?”

“Since never but that hasn’t stopped you before” She shot back.

They took the brush from her hands and she untangled herself from them before snagging the nearest cushion and throwing it onto the floor and setting down. Raine took the hint and walked over; sitting behind her they began running their hands through her hair, slowly working out the worse of the tangles with their fingers, it was an old routine of theirs, comforting in its familiarity, they’d been in this position many times before and were likely to be so again. There had been a time when it was part of a nightly routine and a piece of Eda’s heart had been longing for it for over twenty years, but right now it was not about her.

As Raine slowly untangled her hair she began humming, it was nothing impressive, just old folk songs and lullabies, soft and intimate. Soon enough Raine was joining her and they were singing snippets of verses at each other. Eda couldn’t tell how long they stayed like that, encased in a golden bubble of peace. Eventually Raine put the brush down and Eda fought the disappointment building in her chest.

“All done?”

“Not yet, turn back around”

“Okay then”

Their hands settled warm and solid on her shoulders for a second and the part of her mind that housed the Owl Beast wanted nothing more than to curl up and chirp happily, she couldn’t tell exactly what they were doing other than some sort of braid but then again, she didn’t particularly care so long as they didn’t stop. Absentmindedly she wondered if she could get them to do this again anytime soon. Eventually they tapped on her shoulder and she turned around to see them looking rather proud of themself.

“You look pretty”

“All thanks to you” Eda reached over and pulled the braid over her shoulder to see. It was an elaborate fishtail tied off with the most ridiculous, obnoxious pompom hair tie; she loved it.  It was pink and fuzzy and she couldn’t resist the temptation to put the silly thing up and rub it gently on her face, it tickled. When she looked over she could see Raine’s amused expression. They probably thought they were so funny.

“So, where did this” she flicked them with the end of her braid “come from? Because if it’s yours then I have to tell you, it clashes horribly with your hair”

They laughed.

“It’s Amber’s, she really loves pink”

“Cute, as long as the pipsqueak doesn’t get mad that I’m borrowing her stuff”

“I think not. And anyways, she’s been teasing me senseless about the other day, plus these are scattered everywhere. I step on a bobby pin at least once a day”

“Oh please, like you are Mx. Order yourself; wait, the other day…”

“Yeah, the kids realized I didn’t come home”

Eda felt a smile spreading on her face

“No, don’t you even think about it, I’ve heard enough already” They were blushing, a deep crimson going down their neck.

“Raine” she drawled out “where did you spend the night? Tell us Raine, where did you get that shirt? Did the Owl Lady kidnap you and lure-”

 They threw a cushion at her and Eda laughed.

“Okay, okay, no luring”

“You’re just lucky your kids had no idea, otherwise you’d be in the same position”

“Yeah, ‘cause my sister chucked you out the window!”

They both dissolved into laughter.

“So”

“So?”

“Is that offer of pizza still good?” Raine asked.

“Yeah, but my earlier point stands, at least switch pajamas”

“That’s… not a bad idea. You order while I go shower?”

“You got it”

Thirty minutes later she had a shower-warm bard cuddled up to her, they had switched shampoo at some point, their hair smelled like something citrus-y and bright, dripping steadily into the towel wrapped around their shoulders. They were sitting on the floor against the couch with the half-eaten pizza on the coffee table while the news played softly on the crystal ball.

“Thank you” Raine said softly.

“Nothing to thank me for”

They snuggled closer.

“So, anything else you want? Speak now Rainstorm I’m feeling generous”

“Nah, this is pretty great”

“Agree, but think about it, how often does an offer like this come around? Action movies, videogames, puzzles?”

They turned to stare at her head on. She had struck a chord.

“Puzzles?”

She had them; Eda couldn’t quite get the why but puzzles were like catnip to the bard. It probably had something to do with the fact that their mind rarely sat still and it gave them something concrete to focus on. And their love of games, too. Thinking about it, they said they were missing game night right now. She steeled herself.

“Yes. Puzzles”

A quick second and a spell later the food was gone and in its place was a box. Eda peered over. At least it was pretty. A greenhouse in deep jewel tones and gold accents. Raine reached over and dumped all the pieces on the table, she could practically see them vibrating with excitement. She reached for the remote.

“But I get to choose the movie”

“Fair enough” They were already looking for the corners, yep, she had lost them. Confident that Raine was entertained and happy, Eda settled in more comfortably and began scrolling through the channels, picking out a period romance movie, it had been a favorite if her youth. So sue her, she occasionally, very rarely liked to indulge in fluff (and anything that Lilith said about her having bi-weekly movie marathons or crying during them was a lie) Raine was more of a thriller and popcorn action themself but she had a feeling they were not going to be paying much attention anyways. Turning the volume up, Eda then began to look for edge pieces amongst the pile, handing them over to the bard. They were halfway through the movie when she heard movement outside and then the door opening.

“Raine?” Called Amber, she assumed, she knew Katya’s voice well already.

“We’re in here” They answered absentmindedly.

“Who’s we?” Asked a third.

“Eda and I”

“You better not be desecrating the couch” The first voice screeched. All at once three people were crowding the doorway. Eda and Raine turned to stare from their seats across the coffee table. They each had a cup of cocoa with eyeballs and had a good portion of the puzzle done.

“Hi” Eda said simply.

“Hey E” Katya said back, making her way over. The other two followed suit. Katya claimed the single armchair.

“Is that one of my hair ties?” Ah, Amber.

“Raine thought they were being funny”

“You know I’m hilarious” They answered.

Amber stared at her. Eda stared back.

“So you’re the one they keep talking about”

“Yep”

“I’m Amber”

“Eda”

The girl stared. Eda stared back. The girl seemed to be scanning her for something. Eda mentally shrugged and put a stray blue piece in the blue pile before turning her gaze to the remaining kid.

“Hi there”

“Hi” He walked over to shake her hand “I’m Derwin”

“Nice to meet you”

He and Katya took the couch.

“Don’t you want to join?” Raine asked Derwin.

He hesitated “Wouldn’t I interrupt anything?”

“Not at all” Raine rushed.

“Hey, the more the merrier” Eda added “see if you can help Raine with that pink camelia, it’s giving me a headache” she added.

Derwin claimed a side of the coffee table and Eda pushed her pile of pieces towards him.

“Not having fun?” Amber asked. Eda sensed the real question was more along the lines of “do you not value Raine’s interests?” but let it slide.

“Nah, I like puzzles fine kid, I did live with Raine for like, four years, I learned to appreciate them, just don’t have the greatest attention span or the best track record at sitting still for a long time”

“Ah”

“Yup”

“Eda was actually the one who offered to have a quiet night in” Raine offered, taking one of her hands “She also got pizza” That was apparently the magic word as both girls snapped their attention to her.

“Go for it, you gremlins”

“It’s in the kitchen” Raine stage whispered.

“Race you” Amber shouted before shooting off, Katya hot on her heels. Derwin, she noted, did not move an inch, choosing instead to steal Raine’s cocoa. Eda laughed for a second, it was nice for once to not be the one whose kids stole their food, then she wordlessly passed her mug off to them. From the kitchen came laughter and indistinct conversation. Eda turned to the screen to give her eyes a break from the mess of color on the table.

“So, you knew Raine when they were a kid?” Derwin asked after a while.

“Sure did”

“Do you have any embarrassing stories about them?”

“Do I?” Eda answered, she had so many, though being honest a good part were really her doing something dumb and pulling Raine along with her. In her defense, they always went with a smile. Raine groaned in the background, probably remembering she had seen all of their questionable fashion choices “I have a few and I’m willing to share, eventually, but nothing comes for free. Especially not for cocoa thieves, so, do you play Hexes Hold ‘em?”

Derwin laughed “I do, actually”

“So, what do you say. I lose, I tell you a story, you lose, you cough up one of your own, because I’ve missed out on a lot of Raine lore, I gotta catch up. I can’t just keep teasing them over stuff that happened twenty years ago”

“Eda!” Raine whined.

“I like you” Derwin declared, slotting three pieces into place, one after another “You should hang out here more often”

“As you should, I’m a delight” Eda returned her attention to the puzzle pieces in front of her “I like you too, and hopefully; we’ll see”

“Katya likes you too and Amber will come around, she just needs more time, she’s the youngest and it takes time to win her over”

“Don’t worry about it, I get it. You should meet my kids” Eda snorted “they make her look like a kitten”

“They worry too, and they’re younger” Raine said.

“Eight and fourteen” Eda answered before Derwin could ask. He nodded.

“They’re babies”

“All of you are” Eda answered, light hearted.

Raine made light conversation with Derwin about the kid’s night, Eda was happy to hang back and listen, splitting her attention between the screen and the tangled net of bard relationship drama, occasionally adding commentary.

Eventually, Katya peeked in “Hey Raine, we’re going upstairs now” she announced.

“Behave” Amber added from behind the taller girl “and, um, thanks for the food, you can keep my hair tie” she said before turning around and pulling Katya with her.

Progress?

“Goodnight you two” Raine said.

For a while, the three remaining witches remained at the table, Derwin eventually getting caught up in the drama Eda had chosen.

“But if she knows the sister-in-law is the one who committed the fraud why doesn’t she say anything?”

“Because she’s being blackmailed”

“When?”

“A few episodes ago”

“I’m going to have to watch this from the beginning to understand it, won’t i?”

Eda’s only answer was a smile.

“That’s it. I’m going to bed. But don’t think this is over, after I catch up we’re watching the next episode. Night Eda, Raine”

Both adults bade him goodnight.

Raine moved to sit next to her and Eda took the chance to put her arms around them.

“How are you doing?” They asked.

“I’m good”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I had fun. Spending time with you and getting to catch up on my soaps? The dream”

“Be serious” The slapped her arm lightly.

“I am. Look, I may have been a little nervous about meeting your kids, but as far as first meetings go, I think everything turned out well. And I like spending time with you”

Raine kissed her cheek “It did go well, even if you somehow managed to convert Derwin to your show”

“Clearly, he has great taste” Eda cut in.

“And” They continued “I’m glad you dropped by. It was nice”

Eda agreed. They stayed together like that for a few minutes just enjoying each other’s presence.

“It’s getting late” She said eventually.

Raine’s only response was to throw one leg over hers. She looked over and raised an eyebrow. That got her both legs. Well, someone was feeling bold. Truth be told she wanted to stay but she knew Lilith would have her hide (feathers?) if she left her alone for the night without any warming. “Okay, five more minutes”

Those five more minutes turned into half an hour, both witches reluctant to let go but in the end it was Raine who extricated themselves first and Eda followed suit. They parted at the door with one last hug.

“Sorry I have to go”

“It’s okay, I understand. And you being here was more than enough”

“I really want to stay” Eda admitted.

“I know, but we’ll have more chances. Besides I remember what you say happened the last time you left King and Lilith together for too long…but maybe, over the week? You, me, scary movies?”

“I’d love to”

“Call me tomorrow?”

“I will” She promised.

Bonus:

It had been almost half past eleven when Eda got home, both kids were in bed and Lilith had passed out on the couch. She considered waking her sister but decided against it. A half-asleep Lilith was not something she wanted to deal with. She made her way upstairs and barely managed to change into her sleep clothes before promptly collapsing onto her bed.

The next morning found her rummaging through the fridge looking for the apple blood she was sure she’d stashed in the vegetable drawer when Luz came in.

“Morning Eda”

“Hey kid” She gave up, coffee would have to do this morning. “We’re out of apple blood”

Luz stared at her.

“What?”

The kid simply pointed at her.

“What is it?”

“LILITH” She yelled and her sister came running in.

“So, that’s why you were gone so long”

“Huh?”

“The hair” Luz clarified “I didn’t know your hair could do that”

Eda reached over. Right, she had forgotten to take off the braid last night.

“Her hair can’t, that was Raine” Lilith said, far too cheerful.

Eda was about to make a rather crass comment before catching herself and remembering Luz didn’t deserve to be scarred for life over a sisterly squabble.

“Yeah, I dropped by their house yesterday” She said instead “Sorry I got home late kid”

“It’s okay, we were fine. Did you have fun?”

“Yes Edalyn, did you have fun?”

What to do, what to do…

“I did actually, but I also fell behind on some potion orders so I was thinking Luz, you could help me catch up. You can brew some of the simpler ones and come with me to deliver them”

“But today’s library day and we’re supposed to take King to the playground and I said I’d get back to Willow about the whole derby thing”

“Lilith can do it, right? Don’t tell me you can’t handle one day with the little guy”

She could see her sister’s frustration rising to the surface before striking the last blow.

“Anyways, you’d be helping Luz, too. I can drop her off at Willow’s house on the way back from deliveries so they can go play flyer derby, she can borrow Owlbert for a while”

That was it.

“I can? Please Lilith? Can you take King today?”

Her sister glared at her from across the kitchen table

“Fine”

Chapter Text

The wind kicked up, messing up her hair and with it came a flock of birds. Crows. It amused Luz that crows were the same in either realm, she liked them, Eda had taught her how to read their flight patterns. Sprawled on her back on the field behind the house Luz extended her hands up towards the sky and followed the crow’s flight with her fingertips, this way and that way in waves; there would be boiling rain soon, what with the way the entire flock seemed to be booking it to the safety of the forest and their nests, which meant she’d have to go inside shortly but for now she contented herself with birdwatching, hearing the birds call out for each other.

A shadow appeared over her; it was Eda’s

“Kid”

She sat up. Lilith had warned her. She had told Luz Eda was antsy, worried even, about her and King. That she felt like they were pulling away and it was weighing on her. And while King had sworn her to secrecy about wanting to be adopted, her own intent was not subject to any oath, which was good because she felt like she might crack any minute, and something deep inside her told her it would be very soon.

“Hi Eda!”

“Room enough for me in here?”

“Of course!” Luz scooted over despite the fact that there was plenty of grass available. Eda sat next to her, near enough that Luz could reach out to her but still giving her enough space.

“It’s gonna rain soon, you coming inside any time now? I’m making spider pot pie” The older woman said. Luz knew it was a last-ditch effort; Eda was pulling out the big guns. Why demon realm spider tasted like chicken Luz did not want to know but taste like chicken it did and it was nice, comforting. Very different from her mom’s cooking but there was something in the way Eda had pulled her into the kitchen one day and told her to grab an apron, guiding her through the steps, the warm kitchen filled with spices and one small, runaway spider that had been allowed to make its way to the ceiling beams “That’s a feisty one, let it go, spiders are good for pest control” The older woman had told her.

“So, are you going to help me knead the pastry or am I going to have to ask my sister to help?”

Luz shuddered, Lilith may have many talents but cooking wasn’t one of them.

“No, I’m coming. I just got distracted by the crows”

Eda hummed and laid back on the grass herself, Luz followed suit.

“Look at those” The girl followed Eda’s pointing. It was a group of stragglers. Black feathers fell near the pair as the last crows passed over. Eda snatched them up, stuffing them in her hair “These are good. You want one?” She offered.

“It’s pretty” Luz took the offered feather, turning it over her hands “What do I do with it?”

“You’ll figure something out, I trust you”

Eda took a package of Hexmix from her hair and tore it open, upturning in on the spot where the feathers had been and tossing the wrapper before pulling herself up.

“Come on, kid, let’s go inside”

“Okay”

They were only a few steps away before Luz asked “Hey, what was with the Hexmix?”

“Well, you can’t just take from crows like that, you know? One good turn for another and all that. Those were good feathers, I’ll probably use mine for scrying potions, so I had to pay”

“But I thought paying was for chumps!”

“Look” Eda sighed “I may steal from witches… and humans… and some demons, okay, most demons. But there are things that have to be done a certain way. Older things. Important things. It’s the old ways”

“Well, that sounds ominous”

“Hah! It is actually, wild magic can be like that. But that’s what makes it fascinating. I may love to break the rules but all witches have to follow certain ways” Eda added theatrically.

“Like paying for feathers with trail mix”

“Exactly, trail mix, birdseed, flowers, all that good stuff. Counting magpies and crows. Ringing bells, the works. Did you count them?”

Luz faltered

"They were eight. Eight for..?"

"That's for silver?"

"Try again"

Luz muttered under her breath. "One sorrow, no, five silver. A wish, it was a wish"

"That's more like it" Eda beamed.

“What other ways are there? Ones that are not rhymes” Luz asked.

“Are you looking for a magic lesson?”

“Always”

“Welp, not today pumpkin. Today’s cooking. Don’t rush it, you’ll find them, in time”

“That’s not cryptic at all”

“It’s all part of the fun”

“Fun” Luz parroted.

“Like greeting cats even when they’re being assholes and never harvesting on a new moon. Look, home. Let’s get cracking” she winked. Clearly, Luz thought, she had been spending way too much time with Raine.

“Eda!” Luz whined, following her mentor to the kitchen. As soon as she crossed the threshold she took an apron to the face, at least it was a clean one; fastening it, she took her usual spot at Eda’s left side.

“Stir” The woman instructed, motioning to a large pot simmering on the stove.

Luz didn’t know how they’d come to this little ritual of theirs but at some point during her stay in the demon realm she’d come to be the Owl House sous chef. At first, what it seemed like a life time ago, she’d assumed it was only Eda wanting to make sure Luz earned her keep in a safer, more supervised way after the fiasco with the fake wizard and the way she’d failed spectacularly as a delivery girl, but weeks kept passing by and as Luz enrolled in school and learned her way around Bonesborough they kept at it, even when Eda allowed Luz to start doing deliveries again, on Owlbert, even (and if she mentally nicknamed those days as Luz’s Delivery Service, well… no one in this realm knew the movie anyways). It dawned on her, eventually, that Eda was actually teaching her how to cook. And how to identify poisonous foodstuff, along with some wild witch history, but she did it in such a subtle way it took Luz almost a month to notice.

It had started with Eda calling her to sit on the table and peel what seemed to be potatoes, being horrified when Luz asked for a peeler instead of taking a knife from the drawer and it had  evolved into the older woman criticizing Belo’s latest law or the way her potion business’s patrons were apparently interested in buying herbs straight from her, while giving Luz menial tasks. In between her monologues, Eda would ask Luz to chop, stir, to grab this or that spice from the rack because her hands were too busy trying to get some semblance of food ready. When Luz noted that the jars weren’t labelled, Eda just rolled her eyes and told her that labels were overrated. By the time she convinced the older woman to label her stuff, Luz could identify all thirty odd jars by sight and smell. She also learned that Eda did label her entire potion cabinet meticulously, including harvest day and moon phase. She wanted to feel betrayed but then she remembered Eda’s proud face when she could tell all the kinds of red chili without hesitating and let it go.

Eventually Eda trusted Luz enough to let her mix ingredients while she handled stuff like pastry, poisonous-if-cut-wrong ingredients and King’s plate; the fact that she was allowing Luz to do the pastry was a sign that she was getting way better. It hadn’t even dawned on her how big a deal that had been until Lilith had moved in. Eda loved her kitchen, cooking and potion making, identifying plants and curing herbs. Luz had assumed the older woman was just extending that passion by teaching her, and that perhaps she considered King a bit too young to help and so made-do with Luz. Until she had kicked Lilith out screeching about the Solstice Dinner Disaster of ’85. When Luz had asked her why she was allowed to help while Lilith got banned to the garden Eda had answered uncharacteristically seriously “Lily is good at potions, following instructions but she sucks at cooking. Whatever she makes will be bland. At best. Great at baking I’ll give her that. But you want to learn, you pay attention and… I need you to know what you can eat safely, how it looks like, not just when it’s done but freshly foraged. It’s an important skill. You have to be able to take care of yourself” Before deflecting with a joke but it had stuck with Luz. Back home she had never really cared much for cooking, sure she had helped her mom out when she was small and could handle quick stuff with human kitchen appliances, but she had never made bread from scratch or ran out to the backyard for lemons. She had to admit it was nice.  It made her feel her grown-up, self-reliant, knowing that when Eda went out with Raine or to the night market she could do more than just dialing for pizza. And she liked hanging out with the older witch, Eda was fun, she was nice too, when you got past the prickly exterior. The fact that she had duped Luz into being her helper was proof enough; she had to laugh, here she was, fourteen almost fifteen, almost at her quinces, having been tricked into playing kitchen helper. She glanced at the pot she was stirring and removed it from the flame.

“Hey Eda? This is done”

“Okay, scoop it in here. You get to do the crust this time, I have to pop to the basement real quick to check on some potions. Dough’s over here and the oven’s preheated already, I won’t be long. Scream if you need help!” And that was that. Eda disappeared down the stairs and Luz was left at the counter. The first time this had happened she had freaked out for a second before remembering how she had listened to Eda narrate the process many times before and had watched her complete everything so many times Luz herself had memorized it and could recreate the entire process by heart as easily if not as neatly; that had been when Eda’s sneaky teaching process had truly hit her. Right now, she didn’t panic, instead she just rolled the dough out pondering which shape to do today while she considered if Eda truly had potions to check on or if she was just sneaking a call to Raine, it was a fifty-fifty chance, really. But her mentor came up the stairs as quickly as she went so Luz was pretty sure the potions thing was true. Mostly. Eda peeked over her shoulder.

“Ha! That’s a good one”

“I was inspired”

“I can tell, hey, do me a favor. Take a picture of Lily with your phone when she sees that, yes?”

“Okay”

The silver haired witch took the plate from her and placed it in the oven. Luz knew it would be a good half an hour before they could eat but everything else was done already. Usually, Eda would start on one of her rambles by now as they cleaned up, leaving the dishes to Lilith but Luz thought back to the week before.

“Hey Eda”

“Yeah?”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Shoot”

“It’s about this week” Was Luz imagining things or did fear flash across Eda’s features? She continued. “I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, I didn’t mean to”

“I see Lily ratted me out”

“A little, but it was out of concern”

“It’s okay kid, I mean, I’d prefer it if you’d talk to me about stuff but everyone needs some privacy now and then, especially at your age. Besides, my sister already questioned you and said there’s nothing wrong. Did she use her interrogation techniques on you?”

“She told me she might try. But, um, it’s nothing bad. I was just missing home”

“I figured”

“How?”

“Kid. You’re a kid. You might be happy to be here, but it’s been a while and the way you talk about your mom and your grom fear? It had to come up eventually”

“Oh”

“I know it’s been hard” Eda spoke like the words were being dragged out of her by demon hunters “for you, and that I’m not exactly anyone’s first pick as far as guardians go but if you ever want to talk I’m here… I tried to make that clear and I’m sorry if I failed. I know I can be hard to approach but I care a lot about you and if I need to change something to show you that, please, tell me and I’ll do my best to do it. Luz, I’m always here, and so are Lilith and Hooty and hell add Raine to the mix, we all care. Even if… when… you go back home. You can always come here, if you want to”

Words were failing her. Luz had thought that Eda might find her lacking as a mentee, that maybe she would reject her own offer to add herself to Eda’s family. The thought never crossed her mind that Eda would think herself lacking as a guardian or that she believed Luz would just walk away from her. This was home now, as much as her own house had been. Maybe more, as she knew, deep deep down that if it wasn’t for her mom she wouldn’t be looking for a way back to the human realm. With no words to express the maelstrom of feelings ragind in her chest Luz did let actions speak and launched herself at Eda, wrapping her arms around the woman’s waist. It was a testament to the worry she had experienced that the witch didn’t protest the “parallel arm thing” hugging back instead.

After letting go, Luz spoke “Hey Eda?”

“Yeah?”

“This was supposed to be a surprise for your birthday but… I was wondering if I could, maybe, have you as my legal guardian in the demon realm? I know we don’t exactly do things the legal way but think about it? It’s not like an adoption-adoption but I really like living with you and I mean I feel like it could work, for like Hexside and stuff; Bump didn’t actually write you in as my guardian for Emperor Coven reasons but it can just be between us and-“

Luz found herself cut off as Eda hugged her. She couldn’t remember that ever happening before. Tears dampened her t-shirt and she realized with horror she had somehow managed to make the Owl Lady cry.

“Eda?”

“Yes”

“Yes?”

“Of course, I like you living with me too, you know? I may not show it but it’s like… you liven things up here kid, you got me talking to my sister again, you got me talking to Raine, you love King, hell, you let Hooty babble for hours about the bugs he catches but it’s not just that, I like spending time with you. I never… I mean, I took King in, and I thought that was it but. I never thought I’d have a witchlet I thought you would get bored of this realm, or scared but you fit in so well with us, I just want to keep you safe and I can’t picture a future without you here” Tears kept coming, from both of them now. Witchlet. Luz wanted to argue that she was both too old for that and that she was just a human who got lucky and found a really good place to call home but it comforted her to hear it from Eda that the relationship wasn’t one sided, that the older witch considered her family, too.

From the counter, the kitchen timer chimed, signaling their emotional moment was done and that it was time to get stuff out of the oven and the table set.

“So” Eda broke the silence “Do I have to fill out paperwork? Because let me tell you, Bump worked me over good with the enrollment documents”

“Some stuff, Lilith got it for me”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“You have to admit, she’s great at bureaucracy”

“Hmmm” Eda discreetly wiped her eyes “Speaking of which, why don’t you go get her? I’ll get everything set”

“Okay” Luz agreed before darting back for one last hug, muttering a quiet love you to Eda before running for Lilith’s room. She could already feel the raven haired witches smugness at being proved right but she’d let it go, for now at least. And she’d earned it. Maybe she’d give the crow’s feather to Lilith, her aunt could definitely fashion it into a lovely quill.

Chapter Text

Raine’s scroll kept buzzing. It was late at night and they were in the middle of grading essays. They hated assigning homework on principle but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided. Absentmindedly they wondered if anyone would even notice if they just scrawled “Good job!” on every paper. Deciding it would be unfair to the students who had actually done the reading they tried to keep at it. Their eyes were going blurry; all their kids were asleep by now and they were in their very cozy, very soundproofed home office, it would be so easy to doze off here. They finally picked up their scroll, slightly annoyed. It was too late for any kind of social call.

Eda’s name flashed on the screen “u up? not that kinda call just need 2 talk can i go over?”

They decided to call rather than text.

“Eda? I got your message. Is everything alright?

“Yes. I just. I had A Day and I wanted to talk to you. Is it too late?”

“Nah, I was awake anyways, you can drop by”

“Good. Be there in five”

Before they knew it there was a knock on their window. Eda looked almost normal, but they could see that her eyes were rimmed in red and she was fighting back a smile. They opened the window all the way and extended a hand to help her.

“What’s going on?” They asked as she climbed in.

“Luz asked me to be her legal guardian. And I said yes” Without warning she hugged them tight. They stumbled a little, arms full of exited witch. It had been ages since they had seen her so happy and swept up in her giddiness, they twirled her once before parting.

“Congratulations are in order then”

“Yeah” Eda leaned back against their desk “I guess so. I’m still getting used to the idea”

Raine ducked to retrieve a bottle of wine from a filing cabinet. They offered it to Eda who took the cork off with her teeth. “Please, I’ve known you two were meant for each other since I first saw you together. You want a glass?”

“Since when do we use glasses? What are we, responsible adults?”

“Of course not” Raine sighed, and kissed Eda’s cheek, savoring the woman’s expression. Eda had always been such an open book, for them at least.

“Nice office”

“Thank you, and don’t change the subject”

“What subject?”

“The one where you are now officially a mom” They hopped onto the thankfully clear desk and leaned against her.

“Oh Titan, I am. How’d that happen?”

“Well, you see” They teased “when a witch- Ouch! What was that for?”

“You know vey well what” Eda was glaring daggers at them but they could see the corner of her mouth twitching. They stuck their tongue out at her.

“Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long. You have a tendency to adopt everything that crosses your path”

“I do not”

“Uh-hu. Did we, or did we not have our very own adopted tarantula at the ripe old age of seventeen”

“That doesn’t count”

“We had shared custody. There was a schedule”

“Only for a while”

“Because we moved in together! I can’t believe you’re disrespecting out spider’s memory this way” They stage fainted back onto the desk.

“Fine I have a tendency to take in strays” Eda finally broke out in laughter “And that spider had a name, Mx. Show some respect” Eda laid back so they were face to face.

“Miss Kitty Fantastico is not a good name for a tarantula!”

“It was a cute name for a cute spider!”

“You’re bad at names” Raine accused.

“So are you”

“Yeah, thankfully all my kids had names already when they moved in”

“I hear ya. Titan only knows what I would have named a kid. Probably something ending in -lyn. But I mean… I named King and he’s fine”

“Fair enough. Moratorium on the name subject?”

“Done. You wanna get out of here?”

“Yes please”

“Tonight’s been boring, huh?”

“Grading. So much grading” They answered. Eda shuddered.

“Geez. I take it it’s still as bad as when you TA’ed?”

“It’s worse. So much worse”

“Well, hop on then” Owlbert flashed in his staff form and hovered right outside the window.

“You do know we could just walk downstairs and walk out the front door, right?”

“Where’s the fun in that? Come on, we’ll catch you” With that Eda was out the window and onto her staff and Raine was right beside her. After a split second of terror while being airborne they settled behind Eda, arms tight around her waist.

“I’m out of practice at flying” Raine confessed.

“It’s alright. We won’t let you fall. Where do you wanna go?” Raine thought about it for a second before giving Eda instructions. Soon enough they were on a sandy stretch of beach, isolated and quiet but beautiful. They landed softly. Eda let Owlbert back to his owl form and surveyed the view.

“It’s beautiful”

“I know. I thought we could use some quiet. For a while at least”

“Why Raine, do you have further plans?”

“Not really” They laughed “I just wanted to get out for a bit and thought you’d appreciate it here”

“I do. I’ve been near a couple times but I don’t think I’ve stopped to just be here”

“I like to come here to practice sometimes, not a lot of people know this place is here”

Eda sat down and Raine followed.

“How are you feeling? Honest” They asked her.

“Happy, terrified, confused. All that mixed together. But mostly happy”

“You’ll do great. You’re already doing great”

“You sound like Lily”

“Well, she’s right for once. I’ve seen a lot from you but I’d never seen you so at ease until now. It grounds you, I think, having family around”

“Me. A family witch, who’d have thought? But I get it. Don’t get me wrong. I love my freedom, maybe a little too much but I like having this, too. A home to come back to”

“It suits you”

“You know it includes you, too. Right?”

“I do. I like it that way”

“Good. We’re a package deal now”

“Are we?”

“Yes. Do you like it that way?”

“Yes”

They sat in silence for a moment. It was strange to see Eda so still. She was usually a force of nature. Her eyes reflected the moon.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You can always ask me anything you want. I can’t promise I’ll always answer but I’m trying to get better at honesty so I’ll at least give it a try”

“It’s about your eyes. How’d that happen?”

“Oh. That. It was the curse” The words had a forced levity to them. Raine wondered if the night would end soon. Eda’s curse had always been a touchy subject but before they could take the question back the woman carried on. “When I was… at the petrification ceremony and I got away I couldn’t turn back to myself. The Owl Beast’s eyes are silver… but Lilith offered to help, so… that’s why she has one grey eye and no magic. She got her share of the curse, I was back being me and we’re both learning glyphs”

“That’s-”

“A lot to take in, I get it”

“I never would’ve thought Lilith would do that after her time in the emperor’s coven but I’m happy you two are getting along again. You used to be so close”

“I know. It’s not the same but I like living with her again. Even if she’s still so prissy and proper. I missed her”

“Luz really likes her”

“I know! You should see them study together, it’s hilarious”

“I can imagine, Luz talks about Lilith a lot, it’s kinda funny, it reminds me a lot of you when you were younger”

Eda blew a raspberry at them “Luz has good people instincts. She just needs to learn how to listen to them instead of getting swept up, anyways she was a bit hesitant of Lily at first what with the curse business and all but they’re friends now.”

“I bet that was harsh”

“You have no idea. King and Hooty took it hard also. I won’t lie, it still makes me feel some kind of way knowing it was my sister who cursed me. I don’t hold it against her, she was a kid, we both were… but the fact that she felt she had to do something like that…”

Was the ocean getting louder? It had to be. There was a roaring in their ears reaching an almost deafening level slowly evening out to a high-pitched whine.

“…Raine? Rainestorm? You there?”

“I’m fine” They answered mechanically.

“You don’t seem so fine, talk to me?”

“I, um, did you just say your sister cursed you?”

“Oh fuck”

They took that as confirmation.

“…I was planning to tell you anyways? I just wanted to find a more tactful way but I guess I got carried away right now”

“Lilith”

“Yeah. You could’ve knocked me over with one of my own feathers when she told me. It all happened so fast I still feel it was almost like a nightmare… anyways, she said she thought it would only last a day, the day of the duel”

Their memory stirred “The duel to get into the Emperor’s Coven” the one Eda had planned to throw so she wouldn’t stand in the way of her sister’s dream. The last drop that solidified her distrust of the coven system as a whole.

“That very same” She gave a forced laugh.

“The one that had you knocking on my window because it was wrong to make people fight each other over some stupid job opening and who needs a coven anyways because you’d rather have your sister than a fancy title and anyways you’d rather be wild and free than have all your magic but be bossed around by a jerk in a mask?”

“Yup”

“I think I need to sit down”

“You are sitting down”

“Oh”

“It’s okay, I didn’t take it very well either”

“You shouldn’t have to take it well at all!” Raine was feeling more than a little hysterical “You! Lilith cursed you and I get that she’s cursed now too but ugh! How are you so calm about this?”

Deep down they knew why. Eda had always had a blind spot the size of the Titan when it came to Lilith. Even when the older witch brushed her off for greener social pastures, when she ignored her in favor of advancing her career, chased her through the forest time and time again to hand her over to the emperor, it seemed Eda never held it against Lilith, oh she teased and embarrassed her in public as much as possible, called her out on her bullshit and hexed her now and then but it was all in the hopes of getting the raven-haired witch to open her eyes and be her true self instead of blindly following along.

“It was almost thirty years ago, seemed useless to try and hold a grudge over it” Eda gave shrug.

“You could always give it the old college try”

“Excuse you, I’m a high-school dropout”

“Eda…” They sighed. They knew they could never see eye to eye on this. To them, finding out someone so close had hurt the witch they loved the most was a betrayal but to Eda it was her big sister “Thank you for telling me”

“Thank you for not running off to curse my sister”

“Oh, I want to. But it’s up to you, as much as it pains me… it’s not my place”

“Well, thank you anyways”

“I try my best. But if you ever want to talk about it”

“I’ll tell you. Trust me, I do. It’s not easy” Eda tossed her hair over one shoulder and began running her fingers through, pulling out random items “And at the same time it’s the easiest thing in the world, you know?”

Raine really didn’t but they could imagine “I know, I know how important your sister is to you”

“It’s like. I remember when she levitated my toys and made them dance around the room, how she covered for me when I tried to make weird experiments at home and they went wrong and Lily would lie to mom to spare me the lecture or she’d sneak me her dessert when I got grounded. That stupid rhyme” She tugged at her hair, hard. Raine reached over and took her hands “With this spell declared… and she was willing to lose that. For a dictator. I know how deep propaganda runs on the Isles but she’s my big sister. She was supposed to protect me” They couldn’t hold back any longer and hugged the witch in front of them, like this, they were one in front of the other. Eda laid her head on their shoulder and carried on “But that was then. I see it now and all I can think of is how young she was. I was a wild child. But Lily was always so serious about her future and she fell so hard for the promise of prestige they sell. I remember her room was all covered in posters and she glazed her palisman all white and gold. I think not getting in on the EC would have broken her. Even now” Eda’s voice got lower “She thinks I can’t see it but I can. She’s better but she was so sad at first. Aimless. But having family around seems to help her too”

Raine was glad Eda couldn’t see their face. They remembered too, Lilith had been all in for the Emperor’s Coven, and they had to agree that not getting in would have shattered something in her but then again, they remembered how broken up Eda herself had been when Lilith had swapped her for her study group. When the older woman had dropped out of the grudgby team and rejected even casual games in fear of seeming unrefined but most of all when she had stopped being a bright sunny “Eda!” called with love and sparkling eyes and instead became a dry, ashamed “Edalyn, my younger sister, please do excuse her lack of manners, she’s wild but I’m working on it”

They ran their hands up and down their partner’s back in a soothing manner. This was Eda’s battle, and she had chosen not to fight it, instead welcoming her wayward sister into her family with a grin and open arms. It was something so completely, so purely Eda they had to admire it, even if they didn’t agree, it was good. Eda was happy, Luz was happy, Lilith was getting better, even King was getting used to the raven haired woman. “I’m happy” They murmured “That your family is complete again”

“It’s complete with you, too”

“I know”

They drew back and so did Eda, her forehead coming to rest against theirs, they closed their eyes on instinct but they didn’t kiss her, instead just leaned slightly forward, sharing in her space. Breath to breath they stayed there, in a suspended moment of potential, with just the sound of waves crashing reminding the pair that they still were part of the outside world. Eventually they shivered, the cold getting to them.

“Oh shit, sorry” Eda pulled back “I forgot I basically abducted you in your pajamas”

“Eh, I was enjoying it”

“I’m still sorry” The silver haired witch pulled off her cape and draped it around their shoulders, it was warm and heavy and smelled like Eda, a combination of heady cologne and smoke, with just the barest hint of wet earth. They snuggled in.

“You” They declared “Are never getting this back”

“Come on! Stealing clothes is my thing”

“Nope, mine now” They pulled the hood on, fully enveloping themself.

“Want me to take you home now?”

“…Maybe”

“Your home or my home?” She called Owlbert, who had been busy collecting seashells and dropped quite the loot between the couple. Possibilities flashed in their mind.

“Do I have to choose?”

“Sadly, yes”

“Yours then”

“Nice”

“But promise me you’ll lock the door this time”

“Oh, absolutely”

Chapter Text

Lilith knew something was up the minute she woke up. It was early and the house was still quiet, Hooty was peacefully snoring in his post and the walls rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Moonlight crept through the window and a cold chill hung in the air. She sprawled on her bed, purchased only a short few weeks earlier; glad to be out of a sleeping bag, Lilith stretched, her hands reaching for the edge of the mattress. She took a minute to enjoy the quiet before peeling off the covers and reaching for the light switch. An angry coo came from the bookshelf her palisman had claimed as his nest. Aurum cracked an eye and glared at her, clearly upset at being woken at such an ungodly hour but she ignored him in favor of investigating what was it that had woken her. In the hallway, all bedroom doors were closed, passing Luz’s and King’s room everything seemed in order. Her sister’s room was closed too, Lilith tried to knock but her fist made no noise against the door, puzzled, she tried the door and found resistance. Frustrated she kicked at the door and stood there as her foot failed to make contact. Putting two and two together she rolled her eyes and walked back to bed. There was no use standing in the hall in her pajamas while her sister and Raine couldn’t even hear her. Back in her room she slipped back under the covers and reached for her scroll. There on the screen was a message from Eda “dont disturb. raines here. u toss them out the window again your dictionary gets it, c ya at noon. byeeee ;)”

Well, she could afford to sleep in for a day. Setting her alarm for noon, Lilith dozed off.

When she woke up again it was eleven forty-ish and she saw no use in going back to sleep, instead she rolled over and headed to the kitchen. Setting the coffee maker on she then slinked towards the couch and promptly collapsed. She reached under the couch for the remote, feeling around until she found it and closed her eyes to listen to the news.

“Lilith?” Luz called.

“Couch”

“Hey girl, wow, you’re looking… well?”

“I’m fine, just slept too much. Still groggy”

“Is that a thing that can happen?”

“To me, yes. Why are you still in pajamas?”

“Oh, I got a text from Eda that we were staying in today and I don’t have to meet Raine today, so pajamas it is… and I haven’t done laundry yet”

“Same”

“The text or the laundry?”

“The text”

“Oh, so can I use the washing machine?”

“Knock yourself out”

“Okay, but after breakfast”

“Who’s making breakfast?”

“Not it” “Not it”

“Cereal?” Lilith suggested.

“Or” Lilith startles as Eda cut in “you could both wait for me to make some eggs. Scrambled, with sausage and some toast?” Her sister was leaning on the doorway, also in pajamas and her usual messy hair, crumbled mascara in flakes around her eyes an extremely self-satisfied smile sat on her lips “Actually, I’m feeling generous. Hot cocoa anyone?”

Luz perked up at that, her eyes practically sparkling “Me!”

“You disgust me” Lilith said to Eda, who just flipped her off.

“What’s going on?” Raine cut in, snaking their arm around her sister. They were also in pajamas. Lilith was beginning to feel overdressed.

“Hot cocoa on offer. You buying?”

“Depends, what’s the price?”

“For you? My cloak back”

“Never” Her sister pulled the bard closer and kissed them on the cheek.

“There’s children here!” Lilith called out. The couple jumped apart.

“I don’t mind” Luz cut in. Lilith shushed her.

“I’m doing this for you”

“But-” She glared at the kid.

“Relax, we’re keeping this PG-13” Eda said.

“You better”

“Anyways, I’m making breakfast, you all better choose who has to do the dishes and someone go wake King up” Her sister sauntered off, leaving a mused bard behind.

“You’re not going with Eda?” Luz asked.

“In a minute. I know better than to get between her and her apple-blood first thing in the morning” They sat down on the rug in front of her.

“It’s noon” Lilith deadpanned.

“Technicalities”

“Soooo” Luz drawled out “How come you’re here? In pajamas?” Lilith had tried to avoid this kind of questions in the first place when she kicked them out the other day, sure, she may have taken a bit too much glee in seeing their terrified face as they dropped to the floor but she had also been thinking of Luz and King “Did you stay over?”

Well, let Raine find their own way out of this mess.

“I did, actually”

Wait, what?

“Eda stopped by my place last night” They carried on “She had some very important news to share”

“She told you?” Luz looked surprised.

“Told you what?” Lilith asked.

“Not my news to share. But good news and then we hung out for a bit. It got pretty late and I asked her if I could crash here. So here I am, I hope you don’t mind”

“Never” Luz shook her head “I like it when you hang out with us outside of class”

“Really?” They asked.

“Really”

Lilith sighed mentally. She knew, as soon as her sister and the music-mess sitting in front of her got back together, that this day would come. It was hard to not love Raine. They were open, easy going and fun. Charming, to boot. And a whole lot better at the whole kid thing. Lilith had no doubt that had they and Eda settled down that the Owl House would be full of children, and demons, and pets. She still remembered the rabbit they had shared in their twenties, the spider, or rather spiders, the many named plants. But why, when she had just found her footing as part of this weird household, did they decide to join in too? She wasn’t jealous, was she? No. But maybe just the tiniest bit… insecure.

“Good. I like hanging out with you guys too. Why don’t you go get King and I help Eda so we can have breakfast soon? Then we can figure out what to do today”

“Okay” Luz agreed and went to find the little demon.

Raine got up and occupied the small space left behind by the girl.

“Her loss, but my back can’t take the floor for so long” They smiled at her, there seemed to be an edge to it.

Lilith smiled back at them hesitantly.

“So, um, how are things going with… everything?”

“Good, it’s all going well, swamped with grading but it’s all good. Thankfully the school year is almost out, I need a break. How about you?”

“You know, same old, same old. I’m working at the museum”

“I remember you loved history” They said “Sounds like a great fit for you”

“It is” A minute in and she had run out of things to say. The silence stretched awkward.

“Lilith, I have to tell you something” She turned “You know, when I was talking with Eda last night, she told me about the curse. How you split it with her”

“I see”

“She also told me where it came from”

There it was.

“And I suppose you want to what? Get even? Give me a talk down?”

“Not really. As much as it would make me feel better… It’s not about me, it’s Eda’s choice and she’s made it very clear she’s not looking for payback. And I’ve seen you with her, and Luz, you all seem to be getting along pretty well. I wouldn’t want to break that up. And I don’t think I really have a say on something that you did twenty years ago”

“You’ve hurt Eda too, you know?” Lilith threw back at them.

“I do, believe me, I know, it’s not something I’ve forgotten. But I’ve made amends and I’m working on it”

“So am I”

“I’d say we’re both doing a pretty good job of patching things up and moving forward. Eda has been hurt so much and she can be too forgiving” They faced her head on “I’m doing my best to make sure she doesn’t get hurt like that again”

Was this..?

“Are you trying to give me the shovel talk, Whispers?”

“Of course not! I’m succeeding, because if you hurt Eda again I do not simply *have a shovel*” They rolled their eyes “I have my magic, accomplices and a spotless reputation to back me up. Plus, a shovel. You remember Hexside” They smiled sweetly “and those kids who kept making fun of Eda even after she dropped out”

She did. A bunch of annoying brats who had been at the duel and took great delight in retelling the story of that day, over and over, calling her sister some awful stuff she avoided thinking about. Lilith had evaded them as much as possible, shame burning bright in her whenever she overheard them, just waiting for things to die down. Instead, one day they had all been skipped class at the same time, apparently. They were found, eventually, at last bell in the furthest corner of the detention hall, who refused to let them go easily.  

“That was you?!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” They were doing that wide eyed looked that almost sold it “I’m gonna go help Eda with breakfast”

With that, the bard sauntered off towards the kitchen and Lilith was left alone with her thoughts. She felt dizzy. Everyone at Hexside had learned either first hand or by rumors what happened to people who messed with Edalyn Clawthorne; most of the incidents, as Bump called them, had been instigated by her sister herself, but after she had dropped out of school anyone who made fun of the Owl Lady had been slowly taken down a peg or two. No one had pinned down the culprit, there had been no evidence and even if people had suspects nothing had been proved. Lilith had been pointed at once or twice but consensus was she was too much of a goody-goody to break rules like that, wouldn’t risk her Emperor Coven spot for something so trivial as her sister’s feelings, and while some had suspected Raine they were so quiet and academically outstanding nothing had come of it. Her mind was putting together the image of the person in the house wearing Eda’s bunny slippers and the one who had rigged the sprinkler system to douse only certain students at random intervals for a month.

In short, she was fucked.

A part of her was glad that Eda had not actually sought payback after she confessed to the curse. The fact that her sister had asked her to move in to her house with her kids made her so happy, but a small voice at the back of her head had kept telling her she had gotten off too easy, and here it was. Was it too late to change her name and leave the Isles? No, she was overreacting. Eda wouldn’t want Raine to mess with her, so they wouldn’t. Most likely. Calmer now, she got up to find the kids, they were taking too long and that was another kind of worry altogether.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Having fun?” Eda asked from her place in front of the stove where she was stirring something.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t give me that face, Mx., I know you”

“Fine” They relented “Just a little. How much did you hear?”

“Not much. I was trying to give you some privacy. As much as one can have in this house, anyways. Come here” Eda asked, turning the flame off. They went towards her and she wrapped her arms around them. They hugged back “Thanks for defending my non-existent honor”

“Always” They answered “I know you can take care of yourself. You’re great at it. But let me take care of you? At least sometimes?”

“Careful there. I’ll get too spoiled and never leave”

“That’s the plan”

“Is it?”

“Part of it”

“What’s the rest?”

“Right now, this” They leaned forward to kiss her, short and sweet. They wanted to laugh as they tasted the apple-blood on her.

“And later?” She looked at them through her lashes and their heart skipped a beat.

“How much fun would it be if I told you? I have to keep up some of the mystery”

“Fine” Eda rolled her eyes, fighting to keep a smile off her lips, giving them a gentle slap on the arm “Put these on the table and get some plates? I’m almost done with the food”

Raine took the cocoa mugs from the counter and got started. It had been years since they had shared a morning like this with Eda and they were happy to note that it still felt like home.

“And I know you are planning something! I know that face!” Eda called out

“I’ll fill you in on the details later”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lilith had found Luz and King up in the girl’s room trying to find a pair of pajamas that would fit the demon, everything was too big and he kept tripping apparently. When questioned on the why, King simply stated that he didn’t want to feel left out. Deciding that she wasn’t getting one upped by an eight-year-old, Lilith swapped her outfit for a sweater that was probably her sister’s and a soft pair of leggings before helping Luz pin a pair of her pajamas so the little demon could keep up with the theme of the day. He looked more than a little ridiculous but both kids were happy and more importantly, finally willing to go back downstairs. Raine and Eda were already sitting at the table, looking disgustingly in love, if they were playing footsie under the table she was going to hurl.

“You took your sweet time. Sit down, it’s getting cold” Her sister motioned at the cup that had become hers, full to the brim with steaming coffee. Lilith took a sip. Forgiven then, her sister and Raine were so forgiven. It was the best coffee she had tasted, they could both serenade each other for all she cared as long as they kept refills coming. This was definitely not the coffee pot she had made earlier. Idly she wondered where Eda had kept this stashed but didn’t particularly care at the moment. She made a mental note to ask later, before remembering the question.

“King wanted pajamas” Lilith finally explained, and the demon gave a little twirl to show off before jumping on his usual chair.

“I’m the King of fashion!”

“Hi King” Raine said.

“Hey Raine. Luz said you were here. Did you bring me anything?” After an initial bout of shyness upon meeting Raine, King had realized the same as Luz. That they were an adult figure here to stay, Eda’s soft spot, and vice versa, and had a great time trying to rope them into his schemes. It certainly helped that they had access to the loudest, most obnoxious instruments, Lilith thought privately.

“Not today”

“Aw man” His shoulders dropped.

“Don’t worry” Eda said “We’ll find something fun to do”

“Monopoly?” Luz suggested, giving Eda the big, baby eyes that never failed; as much as her sister may deny it “Me and King can team up”

“I like that idea” Eda said as Lilith whined out “Come on, not Monopoly?”

King turned to look at the bard, paws clasped under his chin, trying his best at the puppy-dog eyes. It was an interesting look given his skull.

“I… have no idea what Monopoly is?”

“You don’t?!” Both kids seemed scandalized.

“Human realm board game” Eda explained “It turned up in Owlbert’s loot one day. Come on, you can team up with me for the first round” Eda wheedled, giving her partner a look, and they caved immediately.

“Okay, let’s play then”

“I’m not being the only one playing alone” Lilith protested.

“Probably for the best. You’ve never played against Raine”

“Eda!” They blushed “I’m not that bad”

“They are, so why don’t you go with the kids and we go three against two, yes?”

“You are so losing”

“I don’t know Eda, it doesn’t seem fair” Luz said.

“Luz, sweet Luz. Let this be a piece of advice you remember. Never, ever mess with a bard and a board game. Especially this bard” She shook the mint haired bard by the shoulders as if to make her point cleared. Raine just hid their face in their hands and sighed.

“Can I finish my cocoa now?” They interrupted.

“Yes baby” Eda pushed their mug closer “If it makes you feel better” She said, addressing Luz again “Owlbert can be on my team too”

“I guess?” The girl answered.

“Good. That’s settled” Eda grinned “Now, would anyone care to make things… interesting”

“Interesting how?” King asked.

“Let’s see… how about we decide who has to wash Hooty for the next, say, two weeks?”

.-.-.-.-.-.-

Eda was having a great time, and not only because Lily was currently losing the most infuriating human game ever created. Her sister’s face was getting redder by the second while Raine and Owlbert were each cuddled up to one of her sides. As King moved their little token up to jail, she could tell what was coming up. Even Luz was ready to call it quits.

“How?” Lily asked.

“I told you not to mess with a bard”

“She even offered to be just the two of us” They added

Owlbert hooted his contribution *You played them for suckers, and you know it. The three of us are cheating*

“All’s fair in love and war” She petted his fluffy head “And this is war” Eda felt kind of bad that everyone else missed out on Owlbert’s commentary, he was truly a delight. More for her, she guessed. Even if Raine had always had an uncanny ability to read him. Right now she was glad, though. She didn’t fancy anyone knowing Owlbert was as big of a cheat as her.

“So” Raine cut her train of thought “do you give up?”

The three sitting in front of them huddled together to discuss their options. Meanwhile Eda took advantage of the pause to stretch and revel in the colorful mess scattered all over the living room table. Colorful pieces of paper were strewn about, tiny houses and dice here and there. Eventually, her sister turned around and solemnly knocked her team’s token over. What was this? Chess?

“We yield”

“Yes!” Eda cheered, her palisman hooting in delight next to her while Raine laughed.

“I demand a rematch” Lilith said.

“Nope. Losers weepers sis, you are stuck. And one of you three still has to do the dishes”

They all turned on each other, her children and her sister attempting to get out of chores like it was the worse fate on the Isles, and Eda sat back, content to watch as Raine toyed with her hair and Owlbert hopped around. "Happy?" He twitted. Yes, yes she was.  

Chapter Text

Eda was dreaming, she had to be because she could feel the warm glow of her magic thrumming in her veins, flowing gold and bright in her in time with her heart, a steady drumming as she lay on the sand. She seemed to be on a deserted stretch of beach, not a witch or demon in sight. As far as dreams went, this was pretty nice so she allowed herself to relax, the sky was beautiful, stars shinning in a way they never did in real life. Hours could have passed by as she admired the sky. The peace was shattered when, from behind her came a screech like a wounded animal and something big and undefined flew over her head and dove into the ocean. Deciding to follow, she got up and started walking towards the shore. From behind her came a net trying to capture whatever it was that preferred the boiling sea over capture, in the distance the creature kept trashing about making an ungodly, bird like sound, as it tried to swim away.

She had a good idea of what it was, even if she couldn’t see it clearly and it was clearly hurt and in distress; Eda turned around only to see a hooded figure on the cliff wielding a bow. A hunter then. And a shitty one at that. Well, not while she was here. Even if she couldn’t see the animal properly, courtesy of her subconscious she guessed, it was obvious this was not someone hunting for meat, either to eat or sell, or even for fur. For one, the poor thing wasn’t big enough to be game, and the pelt was more than likely ruined by the scorching water as it kept whining and chirping desperately; it was obviously in distress and wouldn’t last long in the boiling waters. Eda understood hunting for sustenance, and this was not it. Anyone with an ounce of decency would have gotten it over and done with as quick as painlessly as possible, leaving something to offer where the prey fell. Whoever it was up there was just being cruel. Trophy hunting or just a sadistic idiot? It didn’t matter. She had made up her mind.

“Hey! Leave it alone!” She called out. Dream or not, she had always been good in a fight.

The figure startled, dropping the bow and reaching to pull its hood off.

That’s when she awoke and immediately wished she hadn’t. Eda had spent countless nights tossing and turning, unable to sleep, until she had, in a fit of exhausted anger shouted at the beast in her head to “pipe the fuck down or I’m getting out of this nest and into a damn down mattress stuffed with your own feathers”. It had somehow worked because she had felt something flitting about in her chest before passing out for almost half a day. After that, it was a matter of experimenting. The Owl Beast didn’t take kindly to yelling or threats, but seemed to respond well to bribes of food and naps, and would answer to her with purrs and chirps when happy, the problem was that, once it realized she was no longer actively fighting it, it was now trying to communicate. Which for Eda meant weird dreams and a body burdened with someone else’s phantom pains.

She could feel every single part of her body and it was burning.  She groaned. Worse than that was the cold absence of her magic. She closed her eyes again and focused her attention inwards; working from the tip of her fingers she focused until she reached the region of her heart. The part where her bile sac was sat useless and cold, though it had been less cold in later weeks as it had shown a spark or two, nothing that would hold a spell circle but it at least helped her feel more collected to the Isles. That, in turn, settled Eda. Living without magic had been hard, and even though Eda would take this to her grave she thought it hit her harder than Lilith. Her sister had never felt true wild magic. It had nothing on Hexside baby spells or whatever crap the Emperor’s Coven was peddling as proper magic.

Wild magic thrummed in the air and lingered on the tip of your fingers, it felt like static, electricity, lightning. And it was always there. Nudging her in the right direction, pointing overseen paths, connecting her to the Titan. The glimmers that had taken up residence in her heart comforted her more than she could tell. Even if her magic never came back fully, or came back at all, those little sparks helped ground her and remind her of her place in this world. Content that the sparks were still there, Eda stopped the meditation exercise, deeming that she had used up her introspection quota for the day. She had started this little routine out of some sense of idle curiosity and a healthy dose of spite. She scraped herself up from her nest slowly, it was still dark outside and the house was quiet. Eda was at a loss, she didn’t usually get time to herself, especially this early. What to do?

She surveyed her room. Her mandolin was out, she wasn’t risking waking anyone up. She may love her family but her nest was hers (and Raine’s on occasion, as her Owl Beast roommate like to remind her with purrs of prettymate whynotinnest? look for them) and she’d like a morning to herself. The kids wouldn’t be up for ages and Lilith had not barged into her room since her and Raine’s last sleepover. Penstagram would be nice, she guessed. Perhaps a long shower. No. Pride and Prejudice and her secret chocolate stash. Yes. But later, right now an idea had come up in her mind to put those sparks of her to the test. Worse came to worse this was a kind of magic that her curse couldn’t corrupt and thus wouldn’t catch on fire, probably. And since when was Eda Clawthorne afraid of a little fire anyways? Eda dug around beneath her pillows. It should be here somewhere. There. She clutched the small red bundle and set it aside before diving beneath her vanity and pulling up the loose floorboard where she kept important stuff. Luz’s guardianship papers, all done and ready to be filed, her diary, a plastic bag full of snacks and a small, plain wooden chest. She took the chest and the food and with creaking joints, settled in on the floor in front of her nest. Biting into a candy bar, she got started.

Divination had never appealed to her when she was younger, it seemed like a waste of time, she was Edalyn Clawthorne after all, she did whatever she felt like, she controlled her own future, not a bunch of crystals. In time, though, she had warmed up to the practice, if not the coven. It had been all so… stripped of bite. But then again, that was what she was here for. Taking a deck out of the chest at random, Eda got busy shuffling. Most witches saw tarot as a quaint leftover art from the past, a relic of older times, even oracles tended to treat it as a flashcard memorization game. Their loss, it was not the deck’s fault that most witches sucked at reading it, after all. Eda herself had always found it very useful, though, and right now she was hopping that she still could work it. After all, this was not her doing magic, she was just a conduit, getting stuff in place, the deck would do the rest.

Many spreads later, Eda glared at the cards in front of her as they mocked her with their meanings. Try as she might she was just one witch and what lay in front of her was fate, or at least the titan’s awareness of current events and the threads of destiny yet to be knit into the bigger picture, either way… not encouraging. It was plain as day in front of her. The high priestess and the tower on one side; the fool in the middle; the world and death on the other side. She left them there and reached for another deck, drawing a deep breath. She had this. Some people claimed you needed to still your mind in order to delve into divination, but her mind was never still, Eda had a mind that thrived on chaos, and so she let every thought pass, one after the other, faster and faster, until she arrived where she wanted to be: her kids, the isles and herself. She cut the deck and laid the cards. Sending a quick prayer up to the Titan she turned them.

Again, there was the emperor, the world and death. That much was already clear. Seven of swords. She turned the last one. Page of wands reversed. That one confused her. And the back of the deck: king of cups. Reversed. Whatever it was would happen soon, then. No shock there, the Day of Unity was at the turn of the corner, in a few months they would all know what Belos had in store and it would be bad. The fact that they still had some time failed to comfort her. Cups meant months. Maybe seasons, if she was lucky. There was just one last question for today, and frankly she was scared shitless of the answer but she had to check, had to know. She would always rather know. Knowledge was, after all, power; slowly she reached for the red bundle that she had retrieved earlier and carefully unknotted the fabric to reveal a traditional deck. The colors that greeted her were dull and fading and the card stock had softened over the years, it was older than the others, full of old-fashioned illustrations, no gilded edges or fancy engravings. As tradition dictated it had been stolen and was now kept wrapped in cloth and always close to her.

Eda held it to her forehead softly before knocking on it thrice with her right hand. She focused on her question, green hair and green eyes, bats and violins and love. “Speak to me” She whispered. Whispering wasn’t exactly necessary. She didn’t usually stand for so much ceremony. In fact, there were faint splotches on some cards from where she had on occasions spilled spirits and the alcohol had blurred the ink, it smelled faintly of cigarette smoke, more than once she had lost this particular deck in the mess of clothes and blankets that resided in her nest, and on one memorable occasion, dropped it in the tub. Still, this was important and so it had to be done right “Tell me, are they safe? What’s coming soon? How can I protect them?” There were too many questions and she was no true oracle, lacked the second sight needed, besides the fact that she had never had the patience for the finer points of this craft but she had had a time. While she would never make prophecies, have dream revelations or see auras, she could read and interpret omens and use some tools of divination just fine, more than fine really, and she had sharp instincts, they had saved her ass from the Emperor’s Coven more than once and she fervently hoped the combination of all of the above would do so now.

“Eda?” Her sister’s voice startled her.

“What?”

“Oh good, you’re up. Listen, I need you over here”

“Not now Lily”

“Is Raine there?”

“No. I’ll be down soon, go”

“Well, if they’re not here” Her door opened. She really needed a new lock “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” Eda snarked.

“Like you’re reading the cards?”

“Exactly, now go please, I’m almost done”

“Not to interrupt your hobby but every witch in the Isles knows tarot is fake, there are no true readers left”

Ouch. She had a hundred comebacks to that comment in the tip of her tongue but instead settled on “Well, if it’s fake then what’s the harm?”

“Come on, Eda, you can keep playing later, we miss you downstairs”

Playing. Right. Like her craft, the one she had perfected for over twenty years was just a silly pastime. From the rafters Owlbert hooted angrily.

“Fine, I’m going”

“Great!” Come on, Hooty was telling me-” Eda let her sister’s voice fade into background noise. Lily had always had an annoying tendency to think herself the biggest authority on anything magic and apparently years of HeadWitchery had only exacerbated it. More like HeadBitchery, hah. She usually let it wash over her but right now, in pain and worried about Raine, Eda was feeling more irritated about it than usual.

“Edalyn, really, are you even listening?”

“Nope”

“I was saying that King wants to find out what kind of demon he is”

“Oh boy” Well, at least it was a good reason for interrupting her.

“I’d say so”

“Well, let me get some coffee first and then I’ll get on that”

Sure enough, when they got to the living room King was in a tizzy, screaming at poor Hooty who was doing his best impression of a scratching pole. Luz was nowhere to be seen. So much for coffee. Eda eyed the pair and decided to take the shortest route. She snuck up behind King and scooped him up by the scruff before twisting him around so that she was holding him like a baby. The demon kept trashing about, hitting her with little fists and nearly stabbing her with one horn before settling.

“I’m too old for this”

“No you’re not”

“Yes, I am”

“Nope. As long as you fit in my arms, you’re not too old. Now, why are you mauling Hooty?”

“He tried to give me a health class”

“O-kay. Out of the blue?”

“No”

“Elaborate then” Eda stumbled back to the couch, settling down.

“I asked if he knew what kind of demon I am. I know I’m not the king of demons but I still want to know what I’ll look like when I’m grown. When will I be grown?”

Ah, that was a good question and one Eda herself would like to avoid. Different kinds of demons matured at different rates, some lived only ten or so years, some could live two hundred years, most fell somewhere in between. Fairy species were only around for five-ish years. Fae were still young in their tricentennial. Where did King fall on the scale? He had been with her for eight years and was still a child. Barely came up past her knee, but was that because his kind were small? Or would he one day be taller than her?

“I don’t know” She held him closer for a moment before sitting him on her lap “All I can tell you is stuff you already know. I found you alone, and we have that engraving from the island but that’s it. I’ve never seen any demon like you”

“Then what am I?” King looked so sad. All the anger had gone out of him, and he sat defeated.

“Well, you’re mine”

“Weh?”

“Only if you want to, of course, but I mean, let’s be honest kid, for all I call you my roommate I did raise you. And we do make a pretty good family, if I may say so myself” She asked, heart in her throat. She had already adopted Luz, what was one more? King may be the youngest but he was also her first and she hoped so hard he would say yes “It may not be as good as knowing where you came from but you have me, kid. Always. So?”

King turned so he could meet her eyes. Slowly his tail started wagging.

“You’re mine” He said. She’d take it.

“Yes kid, that’s what family is” He finally relaxed against her and Eda pet him gently, his fur was matted but she’d let it slide, it wasn’t like she was a paragon of cleanliness. King’s breaths began to slow down into sleep. Hang on a second.

“Hey Hooty? Where’d Lily go?” She whispered

“She’s upstairs”

“Coward” Eda scoffed, big covenness running away from a meltdown. Insulting practices she knew nothing about. Whatever, she let it go and focused on the demon in her lap. She started humming, a pretty tune she had come up with years and years ago, when she and Raine were still living together. In the back of her mind, she had entertained singing it to their own babies, in a far-off future. It had been a pipe dream. She knew even back then that her curse had taken that away not only from her but also from Raine and the guilt used to drive her crazy. Now though, it seemed the both of them had had their own children. She even had her own baby right here; she carried on singing, her voice fading “could I be the one you’re seeking, will I be the one you choose?..” And he was out. Eda checked the clock, it was barely nine and it was the beginning of summer, she supposed she could let King nap on the couch for a while, carefully she rolled him over and covered him with her robe before making her way to the kitchen, focused only making the strongest coffee known to witchkind. While it brewed, she fiddled with her scroll. There were potion orders from long-time customers, texts from Derwin and Katya asking her to come over and drag Raine away from work, more texts from Derwin asking her for her opinion on their soaps’ newest drama and the usual news of Belos making grand preparations, Golden Guard sightings, and most notably rumors of Scooter Crane retiring soon, which would thrust Raine further into the spotlight. Raine. She would have to finish her reading soon. Away from the judgy gaze of her sister, of course.

“Eda?”

“Hey kid” Luz was all dressed and ready for the day it seemed “You want breakfast?”

“No thanks, I’m going over to Willow’s, her dads are taking us to that cute tarantula café downtown”

“Riiiiight, that was today. Okay, have fun and remember to sneak stuff into a napkin for King”

“You mean for you and King”

“Whatever” She rolled her eyes, but there was no fooling Luz. The girl hugged her quickly before darting out, clearly enticed by the idea of spiders and pastries. Once the door had shut Eda allowed herself to collapse on the nearest chair, her back was killing her and carrying King hadn’t done it any favors. The curse side effects may have subdued since Lily split it with her, truly bad days were fewer and more far between but they still came. And right now, her joints were giving the kind of pins-and-needles that forebode being bedridden. Not before she got her potions orders done, hopefully. She could get by with some willow bark, probably. Her scroll lit up. “Hey love, I’m stopping by in a few minutes, I have the drum kit I promised Luz I’d get her for home practice and I have the feeling you’re going to need a couple of soundproofing spells ;)”

Any other time Eda would have laughed and asked Raine exactly what they intended with such spells, right now though she was panicking, because for as better as things were going this second time around, Raine had never seen them on a bad curse day. She had never let them, not even before. She could always hide away in the basement, tell Hooty to cover for them and work on her potions until she passed out or they left. She could text them back and ask them to come back another day. Tell Lily to help them instead. But damn it all, she was tired, every bit of her hurt and the thought of Raine being there for her sounded heavenly. They wouldn’t hold it against her if she couldn’t help much, right? Maybe… they’d stay for a bit? When had she gone so soft? Time was she would slam back a double dose of painkillers and carry on with her day as usual. She still did that, from time to time, but having Lilith living with her meant she could actually take time off now. She had gotten used to relying on people, and the realization didn’t scare her as much as it would have a year ago. Eda steeled herself. Raine had left once because she had not let them in, and after having them back in her life she knew she wanted them to stay for as long as possible. Forever, even. And if that meant sharing the vulnerable parts of herself then so be it, there was no one else in this world she trusted as much as Raine to treat her with care.

“sure thing hot stuff, just a heads up im not feeling too hot myself, might not be too much help setting stuff up”

There. Short and simple.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and Hooty’s chipper voice and before she knew it Raine was standing in front of her.

“Hey love” Raine greeted.

“Rainestorm. You want some coffee?”

“Titan yes. Everything okay?”

“Right as Raine”

“Come on, that’s so bad!”

“I know. That’s the point” Eda laughed “Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just… a not so good pain day, y’know… curse side effects may include chronic pain and a propensity to eat voles. Consult your healer if your Owl Beast does not molt all over the furniture” Raine looked at her and Eda squirmed. She hated admitting she was at anything less than a hundred percent, it felt like she was failing, and vulnerable, and humor had always been her way od deflecting those feelings, but her partner wasn’t disgusted or backing away yet so it was fine, right? this was fine.

“I see” They came closer “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to it”

“Still, if there’s anything I can do. Just ask” They were wearing that expression, the one that meant they were being so serious. Well, Eda had already had one important conversation today. What was one more?

“It’s… not that bad yet. It’s gonna get worse later, right now it’s manageable”

“We don’t have to work today, you know? I’m sure Luz would understand if her drums are a little late. Maybe I can just stay here with you for a bit”

“You’re sweet” Eda gave them a peck on the cheek “but I do kinda have to work today. Potion orders aren’t going to pack themselves”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I know my limits pretty well by now but maybe…” they stroked her arm gently, encouraged she continued “maybe, you could stay for a bit later? After I’m done? If you don’t have anything going on I mean”

“What about” Raine asked “I set up Luz’s drums while you pack orders and then we just cuddle?”

“Fuck yes”

“Alright. I’m glad you’re into it” They laughed “Is there anything I should know before?”

“Yeah, Luz has an Echo mouse in the living room, call me if it starts projecting?”

“I meant about… your pain”

“Ah. Sorry, I wasn’t deflecting, believe it or not. Not really, it’s kinda like I’m running a fever? Actually scratch that. I usually end up running a fever, woozy, and really out of it from the potions. I’m not much fun to be around. Not up to my usual performance standard. Mostly I just sleep. You’ll probably be very bored”

“Eda, you don’t have to entertain me. I’m your partner not a spectator. I’m just glad you’re being open with me”

“Mhm, you say that now”

“I’ll keep saying it, I know it’s scary for you to be so open about it”

Eda wanted to deny it but there was no use. “Yeah, that’s me. Healthily communicating and stuff. Now, let’s go Rainstorm, the faster we’re done with everything the faster we can cuddle. And don’t blame me when you get a sore back from sleeping in my nest”

Raine winced “About that. I know you’re happy with your nest but how about a memory foam topper. At least for my side?” They were giving her puppy eyes. Fuck it.

“Fine. I’ll consider it”

Chapter Text

Hello. This is not Ana, I am sorry to say. For now please consider this series and everything they have pending in a hiatus. I may post more at their request but it’s a long shot. My dear friend won’t be able to update themself in a long while due to mental health issues and a long battle with depression. Whilst they seek treatment and recover they ask me to thank all of you who have stuck by this series and wish for me to tell you “you are so loved and you have helped me so much more than you know; have a lovely day. K, Kay (sp?) I am sooo sorry I didn’t mssg back, happy belated birthday (I remember it was in April like mine but not the day, sorry) and thanks for trying to keep in touch, and trying to include me, it means so much” Their previously shared social media accounts are all private, in hiatus or deleted, they apologize but they are limiting contact for a while, however I will be passing on comments once they are up to it. 

As per their request, here’s their incomplete outline of this story so far: 

• Raine and Eda have a heart to heart; R gets promoted to coven head and Eda wants to help them with the rebellion (scene takes place in their nest, it’s short and bittersweet. R doesn’t want to endanger E and kids but they have an agreement E: ( We have a deal, Rainestorm, I open up. You learn to ask for help. No witch is an island. We are family now) I know you. I know that you have a plan but remember what we said. I let you in and you let me help. You don’t have to do this alone”

“But your kids-” 

“Will be fine, they have Lily, and Hooty, and so help me Titan also my mother. And don’t make me turn this around Whispers. What about your own kids? Besides… Belos already has his sight on Luz after the whole petrification business” 

“I don’t like it. Putting you and your family at risk”

“Babe. We’re already at risk”

“I know. I still wish you weren’t”

“Trust me, me too”

“So, I’m hooking up with a coven head now? Does that come with any perks?

“I’m not a coven head yet”

• Gwendolyn and Lilith have a heart to heart, it gets messssyyyyy, Lily tears Gwen a new one with Eda’s help. G stomps out but is pulled back by King and Luz (wym she has had grandbabbies for almost a decade and no one told her?? through the power of cuteness they reel her back and get her to sit her down with E “I never needed a cure, I needed my mom! I’m fine! I am cursed, so what?! I’m still me, ever since I was fourteen you stopped seeing me; you only saw a problem to solve. Well, guess what? I’m the problem and the problem is me, there’s no curing this curse and if you can’t accept that then stop coming here! I don’t want you near my kids. They are both different and great. King is a demon and a baby and Luz is a human, no bile sac, just her wits and too much courage and if you even think about them as anything less than… well, Hooty knows how to make sure you never step foot near my house again” Gwen is shook but ultimately understanding. 

• Cut to scene with Lily

(Why have you never cared? 

(I did, but you were always so independent

Because you were never around! Eda this and that, you missed my coven initiation? My send off? My swearing in ceremony! 

I did, and I won’t make excuses, but what about all I was there for? All your grudgy matches and drop offs and pick ups from training and camps and sleepovers? Schoolplay costumes? I worked so hard to give you girls everything, I did my best! I wasn’t perfect, Titan knows (yea, Titan knows, King has sat through way too many E&L bitching seshs) but I tried, maybe I lost my way but I almost lost my husband, do you have any idea what that’s like? I had to find a job and support four people and keep the source of his injuries quiet and he nearly died (sobs) and your sister was cursed with no one knowing what to do and I lost sight of you. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry (complete emotional breakdown) 

       (In my headcanon Gwen is also neurospicy and Dell helps ground her, v.important explains but not excuses her obsession w/E’s curse (if I can fix my daughter I can fix everything else tunnel vision) (she also worked to pay for L’s stay as an apprentice in the EC, L has no idea. She thought it was a scholarship kinda deal, still… whenever L went home (gave it two tries) it was awkward and she felt v ignored (Dell had to undergo A Lot of surgery and physical therapy and Eda was well, both traumatized and missing) so L gave up, instead she sent reports home to brag about her rank climbing. 

• Quoting Gilmore girls “don’t be sorry be here” loooong chat abt how come Eda has kids, Lily pulls the same trick abt Raine being Luz’s other parent (G has a damn heart attack over missing Eda’s pregnancy “I could have gotten you over morning sickness in no time, there’s this potion I took with both of you…” Eventually she remembers Luz is a human (she isn’t amused. fine, she’s a little amused but only if her girls pulled this on R too (and maybe Dell, he always wanted grandkids) she always knew they and Eda were soulmates) 

• The Bats meet Luz and King, Eda is proud, Raine is also proud but slightly singed, Scooter Craine is just happy to be retiring (the return of the drum glyphs babey) (the kids fuck up Scooter’s last parade (folleys at the coven day parade ep AU) as coven head

• Them’s the breaks, parallel bedtime story for a restless Luz ft special guests Lily and Raine / Raine tells Hunter a story over lunch (1st part they’re all in the living room that Luz has turned into a glyph lab. Hooty gets the worse of it. 2nd part NO ECLIPSE LAKE. Hunter and Darius bond off camera. Since D and R are work acquaintances/reluctant friends (they’re friends D just likes to be dramatic) Hunter gets used to having R around (why do you even know the Owl Lady, she’s weird) (well, she and I go way back) (skeptical stare) (cue what H will deny to his dying day was also a bedtime story. He calls it gathering intel. He also fell asleep face first into his sandwich, sooo…) 

• Yesterday’s lie (wild witch basilisks lore time!! Honestly I have no clue, but all species have their raison d’etre right?? maybe basilisk help keep everything in check like hadestown “if no one takes too much there will always be enough” see, the Belos basilisk (Besilisk?) just took magic helter skelter bu Vee just takes enough to keep her disguise so What If… in nature, they are just vibing along. Same diet as a witch, but if a big concentration of magic comes along well, basilisk buffet time baby, they digest it, and everything they don’t use to live, camouflage, protect themselves, keep themselves healthy gets passed, like sweat or whatever back into the Boiling Isles atmosphere and boom, balance once again. IDK it’s just a thought. Anyway Vee is here and she’s her sweetheart self and she and Luz have a talk about belonging in a place vs just happenings to have been born there (Luz and Vee the OG changeling siblings

• How’d Luz make the portal if no Eclipse Lake? idk to be worked out later

• Luz doesn’t promise to stay in the human realm tho (Mom, I have to go now the portal is collapsing) (Luz don’t! Don’t leave again) (I’m trying but -to E, don't take me back yet, I have her here,not yet ma, please) (Camila gets a glimpse of Eda and Lily “who are they?”) (mom, they have been taking such good care of me, I want you to meet them but I have to go now) (just get back to me safe soon, I’ll be here, I’ll always be here) (where else is Camila supposed to go? her husband is buried here, now her daughter went missing here, here is another lost girl who needs her) (and if Luz is calling another woman Ma, well... she must be pretty special. Luz never did that, not to teachers, babysitters or daycare workers, not Camila’s friends who might as well be her aunties or even Manny’s sister. Whoever this silver haired ma is, Camila can’t wait to meet her)

That’s all they had drafted, I hope Ana will be back writing soon. Until then, per their request I’ll let you know.