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"Luz tells me this tastes like your human 'chocolate milk'," Eda said as she set a glass of a blue-black liquid in front of Camila. She barely suppressed a shudder as the woman went around to the other side of the table, clutching an old glass bottle. Eda flopped into the seat with a long sigh, struggling to right herself missing an arm.
Still new, Camila noted. It seems silly to wonder when it happened, what with all the craziness, but it wasn't like she'd thought to ask her daughter if her mentor had two arms. "Is that that Apple Blood the kids won't stop raving about?"
"Huh? Heh, nah." Eda snorts when she laughs. Camila makes another note. She knew the woman's face, her voice, from Luz's videos, but most of them had been training tapes on magic. Nothing so casual. Or maybe this was formal? It was hard to tell here. "This is my elixir. Keeps me from, uh..."
"The curse?" Camila interrupted. Eda raised an eyebrow. "Luz told me the basics. You need that to stay... you?"
Eda made a chink-chink noise, complete with finger guns, and took a long slug. She stuck her tongue out. "Ulgh, gross. Luz described it as, uh... it was a human word. Chromic issues?"
"Chronic illness?" she asked, and Eda shrugged. "It's like a symptom that doesn't go away."
"Yeah, that's the one. The bird-brain is feelin' pretty tired from all the rampaging we did against Belos. It's probably why I could walk here without blowing my top."
"It's... sentient?"
"Yeah, pretty much. I pay it off in voles."
Is this a normal Demon Realm conversation? Camila couldn't help but wonder. She'd never had one like it with the kids. "So. What's our next move?"
"Lotta rebuildin' to do. Knowing Luz, she'll wanna help. I dunno what kind of human stuff you both need to get back to, though."
"I meant more like. Custody."
Eda blinked at her for a long minute. Camila risked a sip of the cup in front of her. It tasted remarkably like Nesquik. "Whattaya mean? You're her mom."
"From what I've been told, so are you."
The witch sat back, face melting into something soft and pleased. Relief. "For what it's worth, I didn't intend for this to happen." Eda ran her fingers through her hair. "I might not look it, but I'm in my forties."
Camila let out a low whistle.
"'Xactly. My curse has a time limit, Cammy. I dunno how much time I have now, but when Luz first came... I was close to going away forever. I didn't expect her to get attached. I didn't want her to get attached. I knew she had a family back home. I thought... I thought I'd just make her life harder, y'know?"
She sighed, shaking her head. "You gave her what she needed. What I couldn't give her. I was trying to save her from bullying, but all I did was turn into one of the enemies she had to avoid."
"Bullies are my strong suit. By which I mean I have a strong right hook to their faces, and Luz learned from me." Eda raised her stump with a snort. "Good thing she did when she did, huh? But you were never her enemy."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because you don't cry for a bully. You don't spend days researching a way home to a bully. I can't tell ya how many times I dragged her butt to bed by force. Ah, but she kept researching. I couldn't stop her. So I took over for her a lot. It wasn't perfect- I'm not very good at being good for kids- but I did my best, and so did she. Luz loves you, Cammy. More than you'll ever know."
Eda's voice is so soothing. Camila hadn't expected great comfort in the woman with a gold tooth and a sharp tongue she'd heard legends of. She chuckles and wipes away some tears. "For someone who says she's bad with kids, you sure are good at pep talks."
"I'm quite an inspiration, you know," she replied, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Not every cursed witch becomes the most powerful on the Boiling Isles. It wasn't easy. Couldn't finish school. Couldn't join the covens- even if I wanted to. Couldn't ask for help. But I got King outta the whole ordeal, and now we got Luz, so... I'd say I've done pretty good."
Her fingers clenched around the cup. Camila hadn't regretted her asking Luz to stay with her that day. She still didn't. But the warmth in which Eda spoke about her made her regret how her daughter had taken it. How she'd failed to explain, or compromise.
"I'm sorry," she blurts out. "For almost taking her from you."
Eda waves it off with gold-tipped nails. "You were scared. I get it."
"That's not an excuse."
"Who said it was? It's a reason. I've let Luz down so many times, I'm shocked she even wants to be in my life sometimes. I can't change it. You can't change it. We just gotta figure out how to be better people. For her."
"For her," she agrees.
"For who?"
Speak of the Titan. Luz stumbles into the kitchen with bags heavier than Camila had all throughout college. Her white clothes are wrinkled and covered in patches of dirt. Her fingers were shaky as they gripped onto Stringbean's staff.
Eda and Camila share a look. The witch pulls a chair out between them. "Siddown, kiddo. You're gonna fall over."
Luz sleepily nods and flops into her seat. She sets her elbows on the table, then her chin, and Camila had a moment to realize just how familiar and comfortable this table was to her. This house. It was home to her.
"What're we talking about?" she asks, but she was slurring so heavily it was obvious she was halfway gone. Stringbean had helpfully slithered down from the staff, curling up in the crook of Luz's elbow.
Eda clucks her tongue and ruffles the girl's hair. "How big you've gotten since I saw you last. Won't be long now and you'll have to carry me to my nest."
"Nooooo," Luz whines, grinning ear to ear. "Jus' go harpy mode and carry me."
Camila swallows down a million questions about nests. She'd seen them in one earlier, but was it wrong of her to have assumed it was just... making the most out of a ransacked home? She lifts her cup in silent cheers.
Eda grins wide and returns it.
They'll talk about the rest of it in the morning.
"Sure thing, kiddo," she promises, and Camila know they'll be okay.