Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A cloaked figure steps through a portal door, holding a basket. The figure glances back, making sure no one followed it before closing the door. The human realm’s rain pelts down, a distant sound of thunder echoing through the night.

It ran through the green forest, holding the basket close as a road came into view. It huffs, darting back into the forest and coming across a human house.

The figure runs across the yard and walks up to the porch, glancing around once more before setting the basket down. It ignores the sound of crying from the basket as it knocks on the door, sparing one more glance at the baby in the basket before leaving quickly, heading back into the forest and disappearing.

--- POV SWITCH ---

Rain pours down outside of the Noceda household, Manny and Camila sit in the living room. The atmosphere is quite tense.

Camila sighs. “Manny, what are we going to do?” The man - or Manny - puts a hand on her shoulder.

“...We can always adopt.” He suggests hopefully. Camila nods, still looking dejected. “I guess...”

A loud clap of thunder is heard from the outside, followed by a rather bright lightning strike. A knock is heard at the door, interrupting them.

Manny stands up, “I’ll get it.” He says as he walks over to the door, opening it slowly. He notices no one is there. “Hello?” Manny calls out.

Suddenly, a cry from a baby gets his attention. He looks down, eyes widening at the sight. A baby is wrapped up in a basket on the porch, crying. Their skin is divided into two colors, the left being a pale peach and the right being a light shade of blue.

Manny picks the basket up, confusion in his gaze as he brings the basket baby inside.

“Camila? We have a uh... situation.” Manny calls his wife.

He steps into the living room, Camila staring at him, her gaze going to the crying basket. Seeing his wife’s own confusion, Manny sets the basket onto the table, grabbing the baby out of it and holding them warily.

Camila stands up and gasps. “A baby? How?” She looks up at Manny.

He shrugs. “Should we keep them?” Manny asks his wife.

“Of course we should! We’re not leaving an innocent child alone out there.” She replies, gently grabbing the child from Manny’s arms. The baby settles down once Camila starts gently rocking them.

Manny puts an arm over his wife’s shoulder. “What should we name them then?”

Camila thinks for a moment. Luz is a pretty name. “Luz. Luz Noceda.” She answers.

Her husband chuckles. “I like it.”

Something dawns on him though. ‘Where did this kid even come from?’ He asks himself. ‘It’s weird for a baby to show up like that out of nowhere. We don’t even know anybody who recently had a baby.’

Maybe he’ll find out sooner or later. For now, he’ll focus on what’s important.

They have Luz to take care of now!

Chapter Text

Luz stared down at the sidewalk, dejected and disappointed. It wasn’t her fault those string sausages looked like actual intestines! It wasn’t her fault those kids got scared of her griffin project! It wasn’t her fault those kids didn’t like her eyelid trick! It wasn't her fault those snakes got loose! okay the last one might be her fault but still- She was getting sent to summer camp to 'fix her ways' because of it. 

Luz heard the door to her home close and footsteps. “Oh, my baby.” Camila walked up to Luz, hugging her. 

“Now don’t worry, summer camp is only for 3 months. You’ll be so busy balancing checkbooks and learning to… appreciate public radio, the time will fly by!” Her mamá sounded a bit uncertain. 

Luz spoke up. “But.. I don’t like any of that stuff! I like editing anime clips to music an-and reading fantasy books with convoluted backstories.” She pulled out her The Good Witch Azura book and held it up. 

“Mija, your fantasy world is holding you back. Do you have any friends? Real ones, not imagined or drawn or reptilian?” 

Luz stared at her book before walking over to the trash bin. 

“Summer camp is a chance to make some friends, but you have to try.” Camila told her. 

She sighed. “Yes mom.” Luz placed her Azura book in the trash bin, staring at it. 

Camilas phone buzzed, she checked it immediately. “Oh, I gotta go to work.” Camila kissed Luz’s forehead. “Your bus is coming soon. Text me when you get there. Cuídate mucho, mi hija. ¡Qué te vaya bien!” 

“Bye mom.” 

When her mom was out of sight she instantly turned back to the trash and dug for her Azura book, her sleeves getting some slimy stuff on them but she didn’t care. “Where is it? Where is it??” 

She paused when she heard a hoot. Luz looked up and saw a little owl, a large bag filled with stuff in its beak, her Azura book peaking out. It turned and hopped away when it noticed she was staring. 

“Tiny trash thief!!” Luz yelled as she chased the adorable little trash thief. 

They eventually came upon the abandoned old house near her home. She paused for a moment, this place always felt.. weird when she walked past it finding snakes and stuff. She watched as the small owl went through the door, she shook away the doubts of following it from her head and followed it, the door closing behind her as she entered.

—

“Stop adorably hopping away you−huh??” Luz looked around the strange place, the black inky floor rippling every time she steps. Balls of light floated around, some falling into the water, not returning. 

‘Where am I?’ 

She looked down, suddenly seeing she was in some weirdly familar pajamas(?). She shoved this to the side as she felt a warmth in her chest. Luz looked in a certain direction, not sure which, she followed the feeling in her chest as it grew stronger the longer she walked. 

Luz stopped walking when she saw a large sphere, stones floating around it as a shadow creature moved around inside. 

"I wonder if Philip wants to play... It's been at least a few weeks and it's getting really boring..."

She took a step forward, the water underneath her feet making a plip sound, alerting the shadow creature. The shadow turned and pressed it's face against the sphere.

“Huh!? Who’s there??” 

Luz stepped back, startled by the sudden voice. She fell onto her bottom and got dragged into the depths below.

—

Luz opened her eyes, sitting up. She shook her head, realizing she was somewhere else now and looked down, relieved to see solid ground underneath her. She heard scuffling and watched as the owl from earlier−Did it always have a magical orb looking thing inside it?−waddled out of the tent she was now in. She stood up and looked around, noticing all the stuff.

“Whoa. And I thought I had a lot of weird stuff.” She picked up a weird looking chimera doll with a hanger through its head. “But this? This is impressive.” 

“Finally, you’re back.” 

Luz drops to the ground and pushes the doll away, peeking up only when she realized the voice wasn’t talking to her. She crawls towards the entrance to the tent and looks through. 

“Now let’s see what we got here.” The voice was a woman with long, thick gray hair. The owl landed on the staff next to the woman. She turned it around, and it became a wooden fixture of the staff. 

Luz noticed another magical orb looking thing in the woman, it was a bit dimmer than the one in the owl, but it was still bright. 

The woman took a phone out of the bag the little owl had brought in. “Garbage.” She took out a ring. “Garbage.” She took out a golden shining chalice. “Garbage.” - She took out a pair of joke glasses and put them on. “Now this… this will make me rich!” 

She took out the Azura book. “And this… oh, it’ll make good kindling.” She puts the book over a candle. 

Luz gasps and runs out of the tent, grabbing her book. “Excusemesorrythatsminethankyou!” 

Luz runs back into the tent and heads for the glowing door, only for it to fold up into a suitcase with an eye on it before she can go through. She turns to see the lady behind her, holding a key with the same yellow eye on it. 

The woman takes off her glasses and narrows her eyes. “You’re not going anywhere.” 

Luz shoves the Azura book back into her bag and turns back around, ducking out of the back of the tent. She runs and skids to a stop at the edge of the cliff, just now seeing the giant bones and weird creatures this realm has to offer. Luz steps back a little.

That warm feeling she felt in her chest when she was in that weird place comes back, but this time, it spreads all over her body. She can see the small flecks of magic in the air and it feels… rather comforting. 

She’s interrupted by a pink skinned fairy coming up to her. “Oh, hello little fairy. Do you know where I am??” 

“Give me your skin!” The fairy shrieks. Luz screams and slaps it. - That’s when she notices specks of magic around her hand. She stares at it for a moment before someone suddenly picks her up by her hoodie. 

She’s set down on a stool. 

“I’m sorry! I just wanted my book! If you’re gonna eat my skin, make it quick! Just do it now!” Luz holds up her arm and closes her eyes. 

“Eat you? Now why would I eat… a potential customer!” The woman says, making jazz hands. Luz opens her eyes. 

The woman grabs a green croc. “Can I offer you a human foot filled with holes?” She puts it down and grabs a bar of deodorant. “A bar of green human candy? Oh, oh! How about this black shadow box that reflects only sadness?” She holds up a portable TV into Luz’s face, the black TV screen reflecting her face. 

Luz laughs, pushing the TV away slightly before getting up. “That’s not all it can do. Here, let me see it.” She takes the TV and grabs two batteries from the bowl labelled ‘Human Candy! (????)’ She opens the battery compartment and shoves them inside, hitting the power button. A jazzercise video starts playing, catching multiple other customers’ attention. 

Demons crowd around, talking over one another until one starts a bid. The woman turns to Luz as she takes their money. 

“What did you say your name was?” 

Luz smiles. “I’m Luz, Luz Noceda.” 

“Well Luz, that was pretty clever for a human.” 

“That’s kind of a weird thing for another human to say.” Luz raises an eyebrow, not exactly getting why she said that. Isn’t she human as well? Minus the weird orb- and her pale skin… okay wait-

“Oh, dear child,” The woman takes off the bandana that was covering her pointed ears. “I’m not like you.” She climbs onto the table. “I am Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!” 

“A witch…” Luz mutters, staring wide-eyed at the newly introduced ‘Eda the Owl Lady’.

Eda continued on, “I am a respected, feared−” 

“BUSTED!” A demon in a gray bird mask interrupted Eda, smashing the TV. Luz notices the orb in the guard is way too dim and small, almost as if being suppressed by something. 

“Run! It’s a guard!” Someone yells, causing the customers to scatter, screaming. 

The guard holds up a wanted poster of Eda and a small animal, the bounty being ‘1,000,000,000’. “Eda the Owl Lady, you are wanted for misuse of magic and demonic misdemeanors.” 

Luz peeked over the edge of the table, eyes widening further. “Whoa! Witch criminal.” She muttered. Luz swears she saw Eda smirk. 

The guard grabs Eda’s arm. “You are hereby ordered to come with me to the conformatorium.” 

Eda forced her arm out of the guard’s hand. “Would you guys quit following me around?” She spat, rubbing her arm. “I haven’t done squat.”

The guard reached over and picked Luz up by her hood. ‘That’s the second time someone’s done that!’ “And you’re coming too, for fraternizing with a criminal.” Luz glanced at Eda, noticing the glint in the witches' eyes. “Oh, all right, all right, you win. Just let me get my stuff.” 

Eda reached under the table… only to grab her staff and wack it at the guard, catching him off guard (see what I did there), causing him to drop Luz and fall to the ground. 

Eda spins her staff and taps the bottom of it on the table, casting a spell to make her books fly mid air. Luz picks herself up and watches in wonder. “Whoops can’t forget this.” Eda says as she pulls the door key out of her hair, clicking on the eye to summon the door. 

She then closes her hand into a fist and the tablecloth gathers all the stuff, tying itself into a bundle. Eda sticks the staff through the bundle and hangs it on the edge of it and starts running. 

“Follow me, human.”

Luz snaps out of her trance and quickly follows Eda. “Wow! I can’t believe I met a real witch!” The human says excitedly.

Eda chuckles, getting onto her staff and pulling Luz on aswell. Luz holds tightly onto Eda, her eyes closed. “You can open your eyes now, human.” Eda calmly says. Luz opens her eyes cautiously. 

‘Wow. It’s way more beautiful up here.’ 

“What is this place?” She asks. 

Eda glances back at Luz. The human’s taking this better than she expected. She thought she’d be screaming and crying or something. “This is the boiling isles. Every myth you humans have is caused by a little of our world leaking into yours.” 

Now that Eda thought about it, this girl didn’t exactly look human anyway. The half and half skin, the yellow and red eyes… The only thing that’s human-like is her ears 

A couple winged creatures fly around them as Eda talks, a griffin that looked EXTREMELY similar to Luz’s project at school flies next to them and screeches. “A griffin..." She mutters. The griffin spits out spiders. “I knew it!”

“Yep. Griffins, vampires, giraffes…” Eda continues. 

“Giraffes?” 

Eda shivers. “Oh, yeah, we banished those guys. Bunch of freaks.” The staff lands and Eda hops off, her hand stays behind though. Luz sees it and jumps off the staff. “WOAH!” 

“Oops.” She grabs her hand and screws it back on. “Happens sometimes.” they start walking in a direction. 

“So…” Luz starts. “How do I get back home?” 

Eda pauses for a moment before continuing to walk forward. “Well, if you help me first, I’ll gladly bring you home.” Eda says. Luz nods. “Sounds fair.” This was probably not fair.

They arrive at a home with a tower, an eye window in the tower part of it. Kind of reminds Luz of a church. 

Eda walks up to the door and drops the bundle of items. Luz notices the owl thing in the door. What even is that?? “Hoot hoot password please- OW!” The owl thing is cut off as it gets poked in the eyes by Eda.

“We got no time for this, Hooty. Let us in.” Eda says sternly. 

The owl thing−or Hooty−huffed. “Alright alright geez! You never want to have any fun! Ow! Hoot!” Hooty opens his mouth wide enough to cover the whole door. Luz wonders how he did that as they walk in. 

“Welcome to…” Eda snaps her fingers, causing the place to come alive. “The Owl House.” She announces. 

Every candle ignites, a fire in the fireplace starts, a cauldron starts stirring itself, and a broom starts sweeping the floor. Luz looks around in awe, not listening to what Eda is currently saying as she stares up at the creature carved into the ceiling, it glowing as the walls screech.

“...Where I hide away from the pressures of modern life. Also the cops. And ex-boyfriends.” 

“Woah…” Luz mutters. “Do you live here alone?” Eda thinks for a moment. 

“Actually, I have a roommate.” Stomping is suddenly heard as a shadow appears in the hallway ahead of her. 

A deep voice is heard. “Who dares intrude upon I,” His voice becomes normal once he enters. “The king of demons!” Luz stares, confused. Is it the floating bathrobe? Eda notices this after a hot second of awkward silence. 

“Can you… not see him?” Eda asks Luz. Luz looks over at Eda and shakes her head. 

The invisible guy in the bathrobe blinks. He hears a whirring sound and looks down at his collar medallion. It’s glowing. “Huh.” He mutters. 

The little guy takes his collar off. 

Luz gasps as the cute little guy suddenly appears. “¡Ay, que lindo!” She runs forward and scoops the little guy up. Now she can see him! 

The collar falls onto the floor with a clink. Eda goes over to pick it up, inspecting it. That was.. Weird. Never happened before. 

“Eda, he’s so cute!” She nuzzles against his skull head. That’s when she stops and thinks for a moment. “How come I couldn’t see him before?” Luz asks before she notices the medallion in Eda’s hand. The little guy is curious as well, but first, he needs to escape Luz’s grasp. He wiggles out of her arms and falls to the floor. 

“No idea, human. I think it was King’s collar.” Eda replies. Luz walks up to Eda, her yellow and red eyes glowing slightly as she stares at the collar. She reaches to touch it, but before she can it’s like an invisible force stops her hand a little faraway. 

“Woah.” She’s said that word like 5 times since she got here. 

Eda shakes her head and puts the collar down on a shelf. “Kid, I’m starting to think you’re not human at all.” Luz blinks. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m human, I mean, look at my ears!” She pointed at her rounded ears. 

“Just because you have round ears doesn’t mean you’re human.” - Luz stared at Eda, dumbfounded. She looked down at her hands. She was told she was human her whole life! Mami is human! Papi was human! She’s… She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. 

“Nevermind. What’d you want me to help you with?” Luz asked as King walked over to stand next to her, holding onto her pant leg. 

Eda summoned a spell circle. “King was once a mighty king of demons,” An illusion showed King as a king, a crown on his head. “Until his crown was stolen and he lost all his power.” 

King looked down, saddened. 

“The crown is being held by the evil Warden Wrath, and is locked away by a magical force field only a human can break through.” She breaks the spell circle, causing the illusion to disappear. Luz looks down, thinking. 

Eda began again. “But, you don’t seem human, so I don’t actually know if you could help us or not.” - Luz looked back up, a smile on her half pale peach and half light blue face. 

“I’ll try to help!” She announced. King made a noise of happiness. 

Eda sighed. Who knows if Luz could do this? Well, it’s worth a try.

—

Luz, Eda, and King, stood in front of a large prison structure. “The Conformatorium, a place for those considered unsuitable for society.” Eda said, pointing to the structure. Luz noticed a bounty poster on the wall. “Wow these guys really have the hots for you, don’t they?” 

“Yep. But we were never caught because we’re too slippery.” Eda said proudly.

King got onto Luz’s head. 

“Try to catch me when I’m covered in grease. I’m a squirmy little fella.” He suddenly slipped off of Luz’s head. “Weh!” He huffed, pointing at Luz. “You and I will sneak up to the top of the tower, where they’re holding my crown.” 

Eda smirked. “And I’m gonna make sure the warden’s distracted.”

Luz gasps. “Am I gonna need a disguise?? I’ve been wanting to use this!” She pulls her hood up, flicking up the cat ears. “Meow meow!” Her eyes glowed slightly, adding to the disguise. 

“It’s hideous.” King commented. 

“Oh, you’ll fit right in.” Eda tapped the butt of her staff against the ground, creating a round glowing platform. She stepped away, leaving King and Luz on it together. “Hang on tight.” 

The platform rose, floating all the way up to an open window in the tower. Luz grabbed King and grabbed the window sill. Just then, the platform disappeared. Eda sat down on her staff and rose to meet with them. “Meet you guys at the top of the tower.” She said before she flew off. 

Luz watched as Eda flew off before pulling herself and King into the tower, King wiggled out of her grip when she slipped and fell on her face. 

“Ha-ha! Cats don’t do that.” King taunted her as she sat up. 

Luz looked around the cells, noticing the different demons and witches in each cell. She got up, King climbing onto her shoulders as she did. 

A voice makes her jump. “Hey cat lady, how’d you get out of your cell?” Luz turned to the dark haired witch. “Oh, no, no, no. I’m not a cat.” She shook her head as she pulled down her hood. “Also, I’m not a criminal.” 

“Not yet you’re not.” King commented. 

“Neither are we. The stupid warden likes to lock people up who don’t fit in. Like, I write fanfics of food falling in love.” She pulls out a book of said fanfiction and put her arm up. “I like food, I like love… just let me write about it!”

“I’m here because I like eating my own eyes.” Luz looks over at the white demon with multiple eyes. He takes out an eyeball and eats it as he talks, the eye going back into place. 

“We awe agwents of fwee expwession! They will never siwence us!” A tiny white demon with her entire body as a nose spoke next, holding her fist up. The orbs in all their bodies were bright, like Eda’s.

“Yeah, she’s really big into conspiracy theories.” The witch explained. “The wowld is a simuwation! We awe but pwaythings for a higher being!” The tiny demon yelled. 

Luz paced. “But, these aren’t crimes. None of you actually did anything wrong.” Luz pulled out Eda’s wanted poster. “You’re all just a bunch of weirdos. Like me.” She remembered what Eda told her earlier, and remembered how her mami was sending her to summer camp. King curled around her shoulder. 

Heavy footsteps were heard. 

“It’s Warden Wrath! Hide!” The witch whisper-yelled. Luz ran into an open cell, dropping the bounty poster in the process. She pulled the cell door down quickly. 

The footsteps stop and the door to the room is opened. “I can hear you.” Wrath says. 

“Just what are you fools blabbering about now?” He stops In front of the cell Luz and King are in, picking up Eda’s bounty poster. “Ah, Eda the Owl Lady.” He crumples the poster, turning his fist into a hammer and slamming it into the cell door.

“Fwight against the oppwessor! We will wesist! We will conquer! We will never be afwaid of you, you old cweep!” Wrath walks to the tiny demon's cell, opening it. 

She stares at the open door. “Hooway! I’m fwee!” Her freedom was short-lived as Wrath grabbed her, his fist fitting around her entire body. She squeaks like a squeaky toy as he holds her up and points at the other two prisoners. 

“Let this be a lesson to all of you. There's no place in society for you if you can't fit in.” He tightens his grip, the little demon squeaking again. Wrath stomps away, crushing the crumpled up wanted poster on his way out. He slams the door behind him. 

Luz opens her cell, running to the witch's cell. “Just get out of here while you still can, kid. Enjoy freedom for us.” The witch said as she noticed Luz’s struggle. Luz pulled the lever, the lever creaking. She could feel the warmth she felt from earlier going to her arms, and with some newfound strength, she opened the witch’s cell. The witch looked surprised for a moment.

Luz smiled, staring at her arms and went to open the multiple eyed demon’s cell. “Weh!? How’d you do that!?” King asked from her shoulders. Luz shrugged. “I don’t know.” She honestly didn’t care how, she was just glad she was able to help! 

When she opened the multiple eyed demon’s cell, she ran to where Eda said to meet.

Luz felt Eda’s presence−Since when could she do that?−and kept walking. “Hey, I just checked.” Eda hopped off her staff. “The warden is distracted, tormenting some tiny creature. He won't be coming around here anytime soon.” 

Must be that tiny nose demon.

They approached a towering door reading, ‘CONTRABAND’ on the front. 

King jumped off of Luz’s shoulders. “My crown! It’s close! I can sense its power!” He ran up to the door and fiddled with the giant doorknob. “Aw, he gets so cute when he’s thirsty for power.” Eda chuckles. Luz feels something from inside the room as King throws the doorknob off and pushes open the door, cackling as he runs through. 

“Come on, before he hurts himself.” Eda walked into the room, Luz following suit.

They hear a zap and King yelling “ow” 

A giant glowing pillar is in the center of the room, King rubs his skull before charging at the pillar headfirst, succeeding in only launching himself backwards. “King, we have a human, remember?” Eda reminds King. Well, she doesn’t know if Luz is actually a human or not. Guess they’ll find out now.

“Oh, yeah.” King stops ramming himself into the pillar and steps back. 

Luz walks forward and puts a hand on the pillar, the warmth in her arm growing tremendously. She sees a couple sparks between her hand and the glowing pillar before suddenly… 

BOOM

The pillar short circuits, the glowing growing dull until it flickers and dies, the pillar disappearing entirely. The pile of junk flows down, drowning Eda, King, and Luz. They manage to get up and search for the crown, King finds it a second later and puts it on. 

“Yes! Yes! I can feel my powers returning!” He points to a plush bunny with one button eye. “You, there. Nightmare critter. I shall call you Francois, and you shall be a minion in my army of darkness. Ha-ha!”

Eda and Luz stand off to the side. Luz, looking absolutely bewildered by what just happened and the fact that the ‘crown of power’ is a Burger Queen crown. 

“That crown doesn't give him any powers, does it?” Luz asked. 

“Uh, no.” When Luz glared at her, she sighed. “Oh, look at us, Luz. King and I don't have much in this world. We only have each other.“ 

“So if that dumb crown is important to him, it's important to me. And besides, us weirdos have to stick together, you know?” 

Luz chuckled at Eda’s words and grinned. Eda put her hands on her hips and held her staff. “Well, we owe you one. Now, lets get out of here before the warden loses his head.” 

“Too late.” 

Wrath approaches and his hand morphs into a blade, and with an easy swing he cuts Eda’s head off. Luz catches her head and screams. 

Eda’s head stuck her tongue out, looking like a bad fake corpse. She blinked and her face went back to normal. “Ow! Oh, I hate it when that happens.” Eda’s head spoke. Luz’s screams faded after a minute and her horrified expression was replaced with worry. 

“Eda! Are you okay??” She asks. 

“Yeah. This just happens when you get older.” Eda replies casually. “...Does it?” Luz mutters. 

Wrath transforms his hand back into a hand and speaks up. “Finally, I have you cornered Owl Lady.” He takes King’s crown. 

“Weh!” 

Wrath walks closer to Eda and King follows him, his arms up and trying to reach for his crown. The little dude was too short. “My guards could never get to you, but I know if I took your pet’s toy you’d come running.” Wrath crumples the crown. 

“No! My power!” King whines. Luz frowns. 

Eda looks up at Wrath, an angry expression on her face. “What do you want with me? I’ve never actually broken any of your stupid laws… in front of you.” 

Wrath gets on his knees. “I want you…” He then pulls out a bouquet of flowers. “to go out with me.”

“Wha…??” Eda is confused. Luz is disgusted. 

The guards cheer. “Go, boss!”

Wrath shoots the guards a thumbs-up. “You’ve always eluded our capture. You've always been the one who got away. I found that alluring.” 

Luz cringed. “I hate literally everything you’re saying right now.” 

“You stay out of this!!” Wrath tosses the bouquet and changes his arm into tentacles to grab Luz and hold her above the ground. King gasped and ran over to Eda, but not before a guard grabs him. The Warden picks up Eda’s head by the hair. “So, how about it, Owl La−” Suddenly, he stops talking, his grip on Eda’s hair loosens and her head falls to the ground. “Huh?” Eda looks around. That’s when she notices Luz. 

Luz had dug her nails into Wrath’s arm, forming stars on his tentacle arm. Eda looked back at Wrath. He’s a puppet now…? 

Luz was loosened from Wrath's grip and fell to the ground. She looked up, her eyes glowing as she stared at the now puppet Warden Wrath. The guards around them froze in fear. King wiggled from one of the guards' grip and ran over to Eda’s head. 

“H-Huh?” Luz was confused and shocked.

Eda’s body ran over to her head and put it back on. She called for Owlbert and summoned the staff, grabbing King and Luz as she flew out of there.

—

“That was a bust.” Eda sighed as they walked into the Owl House. “Well kid, a deal's a deal.” She fished the portal key out of her hair, clicking the eye and summoning the door. Luz stepped forward, staring into the portal. She sighed and turned back, grabbing the crown from an Azura toy she'd taken and giving it to King. 

"A king shouldn't be without a crown." Luz said as she placed the crown in King's paws. King put it on his head. "This.. shall suffice." He turned to a plant. "You there, plant! You are now under my command!" He walked away.

Luz turned to Eda. She suddenly hugged the old witch. "Uhm- what- what is this?" 

"It's a hug." Luz explained. 

Eda hesitantly raised her arms to hug Luz back. After a second, Luz released Eda and stepped back. She turned to the portal, staring at it for a few moments before shaking her head. "Hey Eda? Can I actually... stay?" Eda had a surprised look on her face when Luz looked back.

"Damnit kiddo, of course you can stay." Eda clicked the key, closing the portal. Luz smiled and hugged Eda again. Eda didn't hesitate this time. 

After some settling in, Luz sat on the sleeping bag in the storage room, she heard a buzz from her phone and checked it. 

Mom❤: "How's summer camp?"

Luz stares at the message from her mami. Oh boy. That was when she heard the door open. King stepped in, holding Francois. "Your sleep cocoon looks fluffy."

Luz smiles and pats the sleeping bag. King's expression brightens−funny how she can't see the orb inside him yet she can see everyone elses−and walks over, curling up below her feet. She looks back at her phone and replies.

"I think i'm gonna like it here."

—

The shadow creature stared as the person who they’d just heard disappeared under the black liquid. They sighed. Another friend gone. Philip was getting boring, and that person they’d seen was just staring. They seemed super familiar too. They noticed movement in the mirror. 

“Oh, Philip! He’s back! Maybe we can play this time!” 

The shadow looks towards the mirror, staring at it for a few moments before entering. They emerge from the other side, dancing around the room until Philip acknowledges him. 

“Hello, Collector.” Philip says, his eyes focused on the unfinished portal in front of him. 

The Collector giggles. “You caught me again! Hehe.” 

Philip, in his robes, turns to the Collector’s shadow form, that stupid smile on his face. He always tries so hard to look calm. It’s kinda funny. 

“Hey, Philip, when are you gonna do this draining spell thing? It’s been for-everr…” 

The Collector complains, moving around the room. Philip’s fake smile doesn’t falter. 

“Soon, Collector. Soon. I’m just waiting for someone.” He grabs a cloth. 

“Who?” The Collector asks, but then they notice the cloth. “Hey, what’re you doing with that?” The shadow questions, following Philip. 

Philip reaches the Collectors mirror. He brushes his hand over the tablet. “This is just for now, Collector. I need more guards to help with the portal, so you must hide.” he told them. The Collector pouts. 

“Okay. But please come back soon! I wanna play and it’s so lonely he−” Philip put the cloth over the mirror, cutting The Collector off. 

The Collector was back in the orb. “Oh… okay. I’ll wait for you then, Philip! Then we can play some games!” They giggled, circling around their cage. 

They wondered who that person was, and how they got here. Maybe it was a human like Philip, or a witch! So many possibilities! But one thing is for sure, they swear they saw Archivist clothes on them.

Maybe one of their siblings is coming back for them. They have been stuck here for like what... centuries? They really hope that's the case.

It's so lonely here.