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Luz sat at the bed, arms wrapped tightly around King. "She'll be alright, King."
King sighed. "I hope so, Luz. That blow... she could have died."
"And she didn't. I know she hasn't woken yet and there's still a chance she won't but right now she's alive."
King leaned over and put his hand on Eda's. "I miss my mom," he whispered. "I missed all of you so much. And now... now we wait and you're going to have to go back to the human realm and..."
"Hey buddy, breathe," Luz assured him. "It will be okay. Everyone is working on rebuilding. And your only job is to rest."
"I don't want to. It's my mess. I'm the one who let the Collector escape."
"It may not have been the best decision but it kept everyone on the Boiling Isles who were in covens, just about everyone, from dying. And now they have a chance at life."
Luz rubbed his head. "Yeah, sure there's still some deaths and people have to live and a lot of people are so traumatized they can't hear the word game without curling up and crying, but it worked out in the end, ya know? You didn't know why your dad or any titan had the Collector locked up and I feel like even knowing that, I would have made that same choice."
King sighed and curled into her. "I just wish the nightmare was totally over and we could go back to normal. You at school, me figuring things out, Hooty being Hooty..."
"Did someone say Hooty?" Hooty slid into the room.
"...okay yeah that was never going to change," King conceded. "It just feels a bit different now after everything. I don't know."
Luz sighed. "I know, King. Everything is different. It started out feeling like being here was a big game, and then things started unraveling. It's been worth it though. I've found who I am thanks to all of you. And I wouldn't trade any memory for the world."
"You're going to have to go back to the human world, aren't you?"
Luz could only nod. "I promised my mom I would. I feel like I belong here, but I am just a human and my mom needs me. If I stay... I don't know that she really has... anyone. Well, aside from Vee."
"Isn't it weird that you have a basilisk for a sister now?"
"Isn't it weird that Hunter and I are somehow both your siblings along with Hooty, Eda is your mom making her entire family, your family? Plus Raine is your other parent. AND Lilith is dating Steve!"
"...sometimes you annoy me with your logic." King threw his hands in the air then hissed at the pain, curling back up with a whimper.
Luz giggled. "Go on King, you can rest now. Take one of those long naps you love."
"Mmm nap time... could use a sleep spell..." King yawned, finally letting the exhaustion creep up on him so he could sleep. He didn't entirely fall asleep right away, but he was definitely on the way to sleep
Raine sat down with a heavy sigh next to them. They leaned forward and put their head on their hands.
"Long day?" Luz asked.
"You have no idea." Raine sighed, then leaned back. "But we seem to be getting back on track. We just need Eda back on her feet. Or, well, I do." Their cheeks went a bit pink.
Luz resisted the urge to squeal. "Me too. I don't like seeing her like this. She always bounces back."
Raine nodded, smiling fondly. "You should have seen her when we were fighting while you were gone. Never gave up. Not on any of her kids. And not on Hunter either. How did she end up basically adopting him when she had barely even met him anyways?"
"Hunter is very adoptable," Luz replied, snickering. "Mama adopted him practically right away, though he didn't realize it at first, then we got back here and Darius hugged him immediately and scolded him just like my mom would and Hunter was like 'Dad stop!' and they both froze so like. It's not just you and Eda."
"I. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Uh-huh, that's why you tucked Hunter into bed that first night when he passed out."
"You saw that?"
"I was awake for it. Kind of." Hunter said from directly behind them.
Raine yelped and spun.
Luz wasn't as surprised; she'd lived with him for months in the human realm before they figured out how to get back.
Hunter wasn't quite looking at Raine. "I, uh, I never really knew parental love before meeting others and now I seem to be collecting parents and I don't mind if you're one of them. It was nice. And maybe I'd like to try bard magic. But that's not why I'm here." He held out a tray. "Mama sent me to give you food. Said you're skinny enough and don't make her get out la chancla," he said very seriously.
Luz shuddered.
"La chan-cla?" Raine said slowly. "I don't think I've heard her use that word before."
"Trust me, you don't want her to get it out." Hunter said. "It is... a terrifyingly effective way to get people to do something."
At Raine's confused and concerned face, Luz hastened to clarify. "It's not really that bad. But like... if you don't like disappointing people it's a surefire way of knowing you did, accompanied by a little pain and yeah." Luz shook her head and cuddled King again.
"Right. Just eat and you'll be fine."
"It's not my fault I'm skinny," Raine muttered, picking at their food. It had been a long few months under the Collector. A lot of people had lost weight.
Luz smiled. "Mama just wants to make sure everyone is alright. She's feeling a bit out of place and taking care of everyone is the one thing she can do, especially with all of us taking turns to help sort things out and working rebuilding and all that."
"She's not wrong either." Hunter smiled. "We do need someone who can take care of us. That's what's getting us to actually get things done." He leaned on Luz's chair. "How's King doing?"
"He's... not taking it well, but I think we're slowly getting through to him that it's not his fault. But the only thing that would really help is Eda waking up and there's no change there."
"That sucks." Hunter sighed. "Let me know if someone needs to sit with her. I'll happily give him a break."
"I think she'd appreciate you staying. She's been fighting with Darius over who gets to adopt you ever since you went missing."
Hunter blushed. "Well. I think I just want to be adopted by everyone, not sure how that'd work legally, but I got four parents and I don't want to change that. And I'm helping Mama out right now so... I want to get back to doing that."
"Alright, Hunter. If you need anything..."
"I know, I'll call you. Um. Could I get some singing lessons or something? I've been trying to start learning music. It seems relaxing but I'm not sure I get that."
"How about right after breakfast?"
"That sounds amazing, thank you." Hunter hesitated then hugged Raine, then Luz before leaving, cheeks still red.
He found Camila watching from the door.
"How are they?" she asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Tired, worried, I think. King still feels guilty but... They're all going to be alright."
"And so are you. Now, let's go clean up the kitchen, if you want to keep helping?"
"It's either that or sleep and I'm not quite ready for that."
Camila didn't push. She knew Hunter struggled with insomnia after years of being required to push his limits.
"Are you alright?" Hunter asked her.
"Still struggling with all of this. Especially with Luz."
"Luz?" Hunter asked, glancing back to where Luz was now leaning on Raine, who had their arm wrapped around her.
"She hasn't told you much about how she came to this realm, has she? Or some of our arguments over the last few months."
"Uh... no, she hasn't."
Camila sighed. "I think you should know if you want to be a part of our family. Vee already knows and well. That was that big argument between them actually."
"Okay... can you start from the beginning?" Hunter asked hesitantly.
Camila sighed. "It's not a very good story. Luz was... She didn't fit in. She struggled with a lot of things teens her age should not and was nearly expelled from her school for some of her poor choices. It was like she did not think about the consequences. I was sending her to accounting camp, thinking it would settle her like something helped me at a similar age, but I didn't account for our differences, and that's when she ran off and Vee took her place. I can't believe I thought it worked, that Luz would just change so easily and I accepted Vee as her without noticing."
"You wanted what you thought was best for her, and she changed the way you wanted her to, so why would you look any further?"
Camila sighed and nodded. "Regardless... my world was turned upside down when I learned the truth. Vee and I worked out her part in the deception long before Luz came home and when she did..."
"It was with us." Hunter winced. "So there were bigger things to worry about."
"There were." Hunter nodded. "But Luz still had to go to school and act like everything was normal."
"Yes. We talked some of it out right away. I was upset she did not return right away. Luz had thought she could stay in the Demon realm, returning at the end of camp and pretend she'd been there all along... until the portal was no longer an option. I'm still not happy, but it makes unfortunate sense why that happened."
Hunter nodded, focusing on sweeping.
"I thought maybe she had changed. She stopped fighting me on some things, and wasn't doing such dangerous things at school anymore. But then she'd get into things with the rest of you that seemed incredibly dangerous by human standards and it was like she had never changed at all."
"You were right to be mad, though. The standards for parents between the realms are actually kind of similar. It's just... I only ever had Belos, I didn't really have Darius until I started questioning everything. And Amity had a strict mother and a father who kept his silence until it was violently shoved in his face what her mom was doing. But Gus and Willow? Their parents would've been just as upset. ...with probably different safety concerns, but yeah."
"That's good to know, thank you. Remind me to meet up with Gus and Willow's parents. I need a better idea of what is normal."
"Uh, alright. But what about this is the problem?"
"The problem is I see why Luz fit in so well here. Why she acted the way she did when she got back. Everything you did had a reason, and you were reasonably safe with it, I think. I just didn't understand. But seeing her here, seeing the life she built, how much everyone here loves her... I know I was doing something wrong. I failed her."
"Nah. Amity's parents failed her. Belos doesn't even count. You? You were doing your best and now she's figured out a lot of stuff that helps her not be crazy to humans."
"I think I'm going to have to let her stay." Camila sighed. She didn't know why she was confiding in Hunter.
"She loves you, you know. Always talks highly of you. If she could have both worlds she would."
"With the life she built here, and how out of place she still is in ours... I'm not sure she would ever be happy if she had to leave this place."
"Maybe let her make that choice? I don't know. I'm still new to this and I know I would want both worlds too if I could. If... if we can't have a portal between worlds, I'm going to miss you horribly."
Camila stopped what she was doing to give Hunter a big hug. "Oh, mijo. You will always have a place with us, okay? No matter what. I just want all of my kids to be happy, healthy, and safe. And don't worry about me and Luz. It's not your problem to solve."
Hunter nodded slowly. "Alright... I'm glad you told me though. I wanted to understand."
Camila kissed his forehead. "You are very sweet. Now, let's finish cleaning up and hopefully the tube bird doesn't come talk to us anytime soon."
"Hellooooo~!" Hooty sang as he wrapped himself around them. "How are my new favorite people?"
"How many favorite people do you even have?" Hunter asked, exasperated.
"Only those I consider my family, that's Eda, Lilith, King, Luz, you, Raine..." Hooty did not move as he listed off more people.
Hunter was amused that Darius was in fact on the list. He'd have to tell his dad. Once he escaped.
.
It was around midnight. Camila could not sleep. She had just checked on Hunter. He was sprawled out underneath Luz and King, with Vee sleeping near by. At least they were getting sleep.
She checked on Eda and found Raine asleep. They had fallen asleep with their head on their hands on the bed, one of their hands still holding Eda's.
Camila smiled softly and moved them onto the bed, on Eda's other side so that they could rest properly, then she sat down with a mug of hot chocolate. She was still grateful Luz took her aside and told her to pack some of the things she was used to if she was going to come along. That she was going to need something normal.
Nothing was normal here. But that suited Luz.
Camila was curious about the woman who had taken care of Luz. By all accounts, before Luz she was a criminal with questionable morals, not someone anyone would trust with a child. Everyone had viewed King as a pet rather than his own person with a growing personality. So he did not count, at least not back then. Now he was Eda's adopted son.
But after Luz came into her life, she went back and did all the detentions she had skipped out on so that Luz could be unbanned and go to magic school. She chaperoned the school dance (though it did not sound like much of a dance). She protected Luz, tried to keep Luz from jumping into danger, and when she could not, she minimized the risks as much as she could.
Whatever Eda had been doing, she had been doing right. Camila wanted to know her secrets. She had tried so hard with Luz, but she didn't know exactly where she had gone wrong. She didn't know how to fix it.
There was a distance between them these days. A distance partially caused by the fights they had after Luz's return. But there was something more. Camila thought maybe Eda had been a better mom and Luz was thinking she was a failure. Or maybe they just would never be close because Camila could not be what Luz needed to grow into herself.
Luz had grown so much when she was away, and had grown depressed in the human realm, upset about losing magic, and worried about everyone they left behind.
Camila sighed, and sipped at her hot chocolate.
"I'll have whatever you're having," a hoarse voice startled her out of her thoughts. "Wait, do I know you? You look familiar."
Camila stared at Eda, who was awake, and grimacing in pain, but entirely lucid for just waking up for the first time in days. "I'll go get some more. I'm Camila Noceda. Luz is my daughter."
"Oh. Oh! Well what do ya know, you're actually here. She wasn't sure that would ever happen even if we did get the portal working you know."
"I see." Camila did not know how to handle that information. "Let me go get you a hot chocolate first, and then we can talk, if you're up for it?"
"I'm certainly not getting more sleep any time soon, though it seems like it is in the middle of the night... so what are you doing up?"
Camila waved her off and left. When she came back, Eda was sitting up, looking down at Raine fondly, stroking their hair.
"Here is some hot chocolate. I couldn't sleep and someone should be sitting with you in case you woke up, which is what happened."
Eda accepted the mug and hummed appreciatively. "Good stuff. Not as good as apple blood but it's pretty good. Oh yeah... I guess it was a good thing you're still up, isn't it? I don't like waking Raine, they don't always get enough sleep."
"That is true." Camila sipped at her hot chocolate. "Thank you for taking care of Luz. Why did she think I would never come here?"
"Eh, well, she said you weren't super comfortable with the stuff she's interested in and she freaked out a lot when she got here so she thought you'd handle it worse."
"I see..." Camila frowned. "I wish I knew what I had done wrong."
"Nothing as far as I can tell. You raised a good kid. Luz and I... we just get along so well because we both know what it's like to be outcasts, only I am long past the part where I constantly tried to conform to everyone's wants instead of staying true to myself. Exploring my own boundaries helped me, so I let Luz do the same. I hate school, you know."
"But you still got her in so she could make her own choice."
"Precisely. With someone like Luz, or I, you can't exactly force us into a mold. We'll try to fit but eventually we outgrow it again and again, and trying to hide the bad parts of ourselves doesn't really teach us right from wrong or how to be people or the consequences of our actions. It just teaches us we're wrong for being who we are. Oh, this is really good, I need this recipe."
Camila blinked. "I'll give it to you but it's uh, made with stuff from the human realm. Nothing like you got here."
"I'll adapt it, or maybe I won't. Might change the flavor too much."
"Right..." Camila stared at her, all questions and thoughts fleeing her. She had so many things to say to Eda and now that Eda was awake... it was all gone.
"So... I shouldn't have given her something that forced her into a mold, but rather given her a proper outlet for exploring those urges and they would stop spilling over elsewhere."
"Probably. I mean, everyone is different, and sometimes it doesn't really work or it's still a lot. But like. Then at least you tried and she knows you appreciate her for her. Words don't mean a whole lot. You can say you do that but your actions might not always line up with the right message."
Camila considered that. Put herself in Luz's shoes.
Luz was likely autistic or had ADHD. Camila hadn't gotten testing done because Luz fit in well enough when she was younger and as she got older, Luz vehemently refused to get tested. She didn't want to have something wrong with her. Especially after her dad died.
Maybe Camila should have tried to research raising a kid with something like that anyways. It might have helped. Luz always did seem to be so confident with her logic until the moment that things went wrong. And even then, sometimes she struggled to understand why it went wrong, and why she was in trouble. She saw the consequences, saw how it affected people but still didn't understand why that happened.
Regardless... knowing her daughter... There was no way her decision went over well. She said she appreciated her daughter's creativity but then went and sent her to something opposite of that. Art camps did have rules in place... There was the risk of Luz going overboard and getting in trouble...
But yes, her own actions did not say she actually loves her daughter for who she is.
Camila sighed. "I really made a big mess. I don't know how to fix it."
"Luz is a good kid. She loves you and hated disappointing you. You have plenty of room to make up for it. If Lilith and I can make up with our mom you and Luz can definitely sort things out between you."
"Okay." Camila thought it over some more and let out a breath. "If we cannot find a way to make the portal work continuously, I'm going to give Luz the option of staying here. If she chooses here, will you keep taking care of her?"
"Of course, but why wouldn't you stay here too, then? Is there anything you want in the human realm?"
Camila had to stop. There really wasn't much left for her. But... "We'll see. I am far older and more resistant to change than Luz is."
"You seem to be doing just fine."
"I suppose, although your house bird or whatever he is wrapping himself around me and Hunter to list off his favorite people earlier was a bit much."
"Oh, that's just Hooty. You get used to him."
Hooty appeared in the window, yawning. "Did someone say- EDA! You're awake! EVERYONE EDA IS AWAKE!" Hooty yelled, leaving to wake everyone up.
Eda groaned. "So much for everyone getting sleep. Seriously, stop being so hard on yourself. If you hadn't raised Luz so well, she would not have handled herself nearly so well here. Be proud of what you have done."
Camila smiled. "Thank you, Eda." She finished her hot chocolate. "I'm going to get hot chocolate. I think everyone will want some."
"Refill please!" Eda held out her mug.
Raine groaned. "Eda," they whined. "Tell Hooty to shut up."
"Aw, come on, let him be excited."
"Eda!" they shot up and stared at her. "You're awake!"
"Yes, and apparently everyone's been waiting for me to wake up?"
Raine blushed. "Yeah, we were all worried. Even Darius stopped by."
"Give me a kiss."