Chapter Text
Chapter One: Denial
A small cellular device wedged between a cluttered nightstand and a messy bed vibrated profusely, ringing and chirping while lighting up the otherwise dark room. Luz was lazily sprawled out across the bed with drool trailing from her agape mouth to her pillowcase, unintentionally ignoring the relentless sounds from her abandoned phone. As the chime of ringing got louder, her much less peaceful palisman wriggled into the crevice and fished out the disturbingly noisy device. Stringbean dropped the flat shaking object on Luz's face and floated back to its resting spot on top of Luz's dirty sock pile. Luz jolted awake at the impact of the smack and lurched forward, tossing the blinding tech into her lap. She sleepily blinked and wiped her slobbery mouth before picking up the call.
"... Whoizit..?" She mumbled while wavering between sleep and awareness. The tone of the voice answering caused her to sober up from her delirious state.
"Luz, mija, I need to talk to you."
"Mm... About what? Are you alright?" Luz responded and rubbed her eyes with her free hand.
"I... Have you looked at the news over here recently?"
"Ahh... No, I mean- I know I should, I've just been super busy with school and stuff."
Camila went quiet on the other end of the line, carefully contemplating her next words.
"All you need to know is that I don't think it's safe here anymore. For you, or your friends, or Vee, or... I just... want you to tell me that if something happened, could Vee stay with you?"
Luz sat up straight and stared at her phone with a growing terror in her eyes.
"What do you mean-? Mamá, what's going on over there?" Luz asked with increasing concern. She began to pull up the most recent news stories she could find, and her stomach grew sick with the putrid sight of the headlines. Camila stayed quiet as a final act of denial about the environment she was trapped in.
"Mom..?"
"Luz- please, answer the question."
"Mamá, of course Vee can stay here- but, don't you want to be safe-."
"I'll talk to you later Luz, sorry for waking you up mija. I love you."
The call quickly cut off, leaving Luz alone with hair raising fear for her family. Although the sun hadn't graced her windows with its presence, she could waste no time with sleeping if she ever wanted to feel peace again. She stumbled out of bed in a tangle of sheets and woke up her barely sleeping palisman who had buried itself in stinky socks on the floor. Stringbean squeaked in protest until it realized the visible distress on its human's face. It floated up and grew to staff form without another sound.
"Okay- just gotta get to Eda's and ask her how the HECK I'm supposed to convince my mom to move to The Boiling Isles-." She monologued to herself while opening up the window. Creeping beams of early dawn guided her out from the redecorated Owl House and towards the Whispers cottage. Despite being drowsy just minutes before, her heart was racing with fervid determination. Luz hopped off of her palisman and hurriedly knocked despite the ungodly hour.
"Eda! EEEDDAAAAAA! I need your old witchy wisdom!!" She yelled while impatiently squirming. After a few moments of continual noisemaking, the door creaked open to reveal a bard without their usual glasses.
"Luz- I know I said that you could come over whenever you need me, and of course I meant it, but- isn't it a little early for your usual chaotic shenanigans?" Raine asked and peered past her to see what horrible disaster had driven her to scream so loudly.
"Oh- Sorry Raine, I really need to talk to Eda. She's here right?"
"She's here- just knocked out because she snuck into my wine cabinet while I was teaching guitar lessons earlier tonight." Raine explained and stepped back to allow their new houseguest in. Luz sighed and crossed her arms while coming in.
"I thought she wasn't drinking more than a glass a day? Also- how knocked out-?" Luz asked while affectionately rubbing on the sweet snakeshifter perched atop her shoulder. Raine shut their door and leaned against it before mustering an answer.
"Yes, she has been drinking one glass with dinner- however, I have this really lovely bloodberry plum wine that I was saving for our anniversary. She wanted to try some, and so while I was distracted with lessons she tasted it and got carried away." They explained with various hand gestures included. Luz squinted in disbelief and sighed in annoyance.
"Okay, pretend you're Eda for the sake of this major issue." Luz said and followed Raine into their living room. Raine sat down on their couch and lightly patted the leather seating beside them. Luz eagerly took the seat and placed Stringbean in her lap for rubs.
"Got it."
"Good- so, I need to get my mom to come and live here for her own safety."
"But I thought she was happy in the human world? I mean- I can't imagine why, with what you've told me about it, but shouldn't you respect her wishes?"
"Raine, Eda impression please-."
"Right- sure Luz, I'll help you drag your mom here because she's hot and we can drink wine together." Raine retorted and snickered at their own remarks. Luz seemed much less amused, and slightly grossed out by the idea of her mom being called hot.
"Perfect. But How-?"
"Hmm- show her a bunch of shiny things and lure her through the portal-?"
"Less Eda, more logical."
"Bring her here on a day that she isn't working and show her how much safer it is than whatever is going on in the human world-?"
"That's a start- thank you Eda stand-in." Luz said and scratched under Stringbean's chin while thinking about how to go forward. Raine yawned and stretched out their back to get some semblence of energy for this impromptu brainstorming session.
"I'm getting some tea sweetheart, would you care for some?"
"Yes please! Thanks Raine." Luz chirped and sat up with a sweet smile. Her nerves had significantly calmed now that she wasn't alone, but her mind still raced with ways to protect her mom. While sounds of water boiling eminated from the kitchen, she thought to herself in an uncomfortable silence. Her hands fidgeted with the sleepy little chaos noodle drifting off in her lap as she mumbled half-baked ideas.
After a few minutes of quiet meditation, a warm cup of steeping tea was set beside her on the mahogany coffee table. Raine rejoined her presence with a similar steaming cup and lightly blew on the surface to magically cool it.
"Think of anything yet?" They asked and glanced over while slowly stirring their tea. Luz sighed once more and shook her head.
"I mean, bringing her here on a non-Belos infested day when there is also not a terrifying mind controlling gas haze, poisonous plant infestation, siren takeover, or whatEVER crazy stuff usually happens when I bring her over is a start, but to make a good impression I really don't know how I can make it appealing to her." She explained and nervously fidgeted with her necklace. Raine reached over and gently rubbed her back to ease her discomfort.
"Well, what made you decide that you would stay here?" They asked, hoping to inspire her further. Luz let go of her necklace and smiled slightly.
'"Oh, everything about this place drew me to it. The adventure, my friends, my found family, the vibrancy and diversity, and obviously the magic. But I don't think my mom really cares about any of that. I mean- she just wants to stay in the house that we've had for years because of the memories we made in it, and I guess that's fair... If none of that stuff pulls her in, I just don't think there's any way I can help her in the way that she needs. I'm so... scared. For her." Luz spoke with an increasingly desperate tone of voice. Raine nodded and slowly guided their hand into her tense twitchy hand.
"I don't know her very well myself, but if you'd like I could take the day off of work to help you try your best. I believe in you." Raine offered and smiled reassuringly. Their viridian green eyes held a soothing warmth coupled with lingering exhaustion. Luz smiled in return with much less conviction, although she tried her best to express gratitude.
"I'd really appreciate that. Luckily, today is the start of the weekend, so tomorrow should be perfect for me. mom might be off too, depends on her schedule though. Oooo, ooo, could you write down a list of the best things we can do together while I go check in with mamá?" Luz asked and excitedly scooped up her sleeping palisman.
"Oh- won't you finish your tea hun-?" Raine barely got to finish their sentence before she had dashed out of the front door, leaving an untouched cooling teacup. Raine hummed and shook their head while lightly blowing on their tea in newfound peace.
Luz gently awoke her sleepy palisman and fed it a treat from her coat pocket (one of the benefits of leaving clothes on from the day before). Stringbean cooed affectionately and licked her nose before transforming into its staff form once more.
"Alright, off to mamá's, where your faaaavorite basilisk is." Luz said and got comfy on her staff before it sped off eagerly. She laughed as the intensely impatient swiftness of her pet companion. The wind blew through her unkempt bed head, unfurling each tangle into an array of luscious dark curls. The sky had begun glowing with the blazing warmth of the early morning sun, which enabled the breathtaking view of nature's many hues. Leaves of all tones across the land were touched by the star's beam as it climbed the sky towards another eventful day. A world of possibilities where anything could happen lit up within seconds, quickly followed by the sounds of life stirring for a taste of its brilliance. As Luz soared across the open sky far above the gorgeous landscape emerging, she took in a deep breath and smelled the wonderful (and painfully pungent) perfumes of the forest below. If she could show her mom all of this beauty, maybe her half-baked barely a plan could really work.
As she continued to admire the environment, her palisman descended into the dense treeline. They landed in front of the fixed up portal to the human world, and Stringbean wiggled out from under Luz before even touching the ground to race through the swirling gateway. Luz followed her pet with a happy grin as they entered into their familiar clubhouse. Years of memories dotted every inch of the refurbished old home, which added a new painful feeling to Luz's array of mixed emotions. If Camila moved, she would also be losing one of her most cherished times when both her family and friends came together under one roof. But, none of that could stop her from protecting her family in the present. "Alright Stringbean, just act casual. We're gonna ask mom if she'll come hang out tomorrow for funnnnn, and make the best possible impression ever so that when I ask her to come live there, she'll be totally convinced. Got it?"
Stringbean squeaked in reply and happily nuzzled her cheek. It then tugged on the doorhandle leading out into the world while looking back at her happily. Luz smiled and took a centering breath before turning the knob. As she approached her childhood home, she was pleased to see her mom's van still in the driveway. She unlocked the front door and grunted when a familiar person bumped into her.
"Oh-! Hey Luz, it's nice to see you. I've really gotta get to school though, early morning class. You know how it is." Vee said and smiled nicely while dusting themself off.
"No problem- you might have a harder time convincing Stringbean though." Luz pointed out while her palisman affectionately licked her adopted sibling. Vee giggled and gave the sweet creature a tight hug.
"I could never say no to this cutie pie. Look what I have for you!" They exclaimed and carried the squeaking snakeshifter towards their room. Luz followed behind them with her hands clasped behind her back, trailing along until she stopped before her mother's room. She lightly knocked and waited for a quiet "come in" to slip into the room. Camila was unusually behind on her usual duties of making breakfast or getting dressed for work, and instead held some small object in her hand that Luz couldn't quite see. She walked over and sat beside her mom, gently leaning on her shoulder and smiling sweetly.
"Good morning mamá, I wanted to come check in on you after our call. Are you alright?" Luz asked while leaning forward to look her mom in the eyes. Camilla mustered a half smile in return and gently pushed back the hair dangling in her daughter's face.
"Hi baby, I appreciate you being so sweet. You really didn't have to come all the way over here, I'm okay."
"But you didn't get ready for work?"
"I'm taking my vacation days because I feel ah.. a bit uncomfortable going outside of the house at the moment. But I'm just fine amorcita." Camila insisted and tucked away whatever she was holding. Luz seemed unconvinced, but she pivoted the conversation to keep it flowing smoothly.
"Well- if you're going to be off work tomorrow anyway, why don't you take your mind off things by spending the day with me in The Isles?" Luz offered with a hopeful smile. She folded her hands together and attempted the cutest puppy eyes she had ever pulled on her mom. Camila stared at her with an unimpressed look and a raised brow.
"I would love to mija, but every time I've gone there some mythical creature or cosmic horror has tried to kill me. I don't find that quite... relaxing, like you seem to."
"Oh mamá, I promise that nothing crazy or scary will happen this time. All of those other times were just freak accidents. I even have someone else who's going to stick with us all day to make sure that you're comfortable! It can't go wrong." Luz insisted and eagerly grabbed her mom's hands. Camila awkwardly smiled and tried her best to go along with it.
"Ahhhh.. Alright, if that's really what you'd want us to do together. We haven't had a whole day to ourselves in a while, and that's really what's important to me." Camila conceded and looked her happily shaking daughter in the eyes.
"Oh thank you mommmm, you won't regret it, I promise!" Luz exclaimed and hugged her mom tightly. Camila sighed quietly and leaned on her daughter while staring at the ground.
"Okay- I have classes too, lots of them, so I'll come here at the crack of dawn for a whole day of calm uneventful fun. I love you mamá!" Luz continued and gave her mom a quick kiss before racing out to fetch her palisman. Camila forced a smile and waved as she was left alone once more. Stringbean was patiently perched on the arm rest of the couch, adorned with a hand-knit snakeshifter size sweater. Luz practically squealed with delight and scooped up her sweet pet for a better look. It was a simple little plum purple sweater with a heart pattern dotted around.
"You are the cutest. I don't care of it's inconvenient for staff form- you're wearing this forever!" Luz chirped and gave it a few loving kisses before walking out of the house, making sure to lock it behind her.
Later in the evening, Luz had finished up her last class of the day and tossed her heavy sling backpack over her shoulder. Some students lingered by the professor to review study subjects, but she had no such time to devote to her work. Instead, she booked it towards the headmaster's office to hopefully walk Eda home. The door was already open to let in a breeze, so she simply peeked in and waved at the graying witch filling out paperwork. Eda looked up and grinned.
"There she is! I heard that you came crawling to our doorstep this morning?" Eda mentioned and chucked her pen aside. Luz awkwardly smiled and took a seat.
"Yeah- and i heard that youuuu had too much to drink."
"Whaaaaaaat? I would never. And if I did, you're lucky that you didn't wake me up." Eda teased and slouched onto her hand. Luz stuck her tongue out and pretended to feel threatened before excitedly folding her hands togther.
"Would you like to continue our silly talk on the way to your house?" She asked and stared hopefully. Eda chuckled and slowly got up from her seat.
"Luz, I've told you before that the owl house is yours. You don't need to call it my house anymore."
"Wellll, if it was really my house, it would be called the Luz House or something."
"Hmmm- good luck with that one. I would go, but I actually have a date with Raine tonight. Mind hanging out there for a little while instead?" Eda counter offered while raising her arm to catch Owlbert. Luz got up as well to join her and pushed open the other door to the office.
"That sounds good to me! When did you and Raine talk anyway? I thought Raine is usually meditating when you leave." Luz asked and smiled at Eda as she passed by. Both of the doors were pulled shut as they began strolling out of the magical institution.
"We had lunch together, that's always our norm on Fridays. Raine cooks for Thursday and we eat the leftovers together, sometimes King comes with too if he's not busy. Today he's learning about plant magic from Willow, that lunch oughta be good." Eda explained while fiddling with the base of her hook attachment. Luz hummed in response and yawned a little.
"Speaking of learning, can I ask you a few questions about my homework?"
"Sure thing, fire at will."
They both discussed a potion that she was having a difficult time with, as well as catching up on each other's busy lives from the past few weeks.
As they approached Raine's cottage, Eda fished her keychain out to open the door. The door opened up on its own to reveal an energetic titan waiting for the two of them. He first trapped Luz in a restricting affectionate squeeze, and then similarly hugged Eda but with more excited squirming involved.
"Guys you HAVE to see what I made all by myself. It's sooo cool!" King insisted and dragged the two of them through the house and out the back door towards a well cared for garden. A fully bloomed fruiting tomato plant had been freshly grown in the front, with a generous helping of magical fertilizer surrounding the base.
"I did this all by myself. It's that seed you brought me from the human world, remember Luz?" King said and lightly poked the plumping tomato beside his head. Luz smiled and made sure to pay close attention to the small plant.
"It looks great, I'm sure they'll taste great too. When do you think they'll be ready?" She asked and copied King's poking.
"Hmmm, I think Willow said they would be fully ripe next week. Then she's going to come over and take one for herself, to grow them in her garden and sell at the market." King explained and looked up at Eda. She smiled as well and knelt down to better examine the fruits of King's labor.
"I can't wait to try one, these things are in all sorts of dishes in the human world."
"Hmmm- this is one of those times when I wish I learned how to cook-." Luz commented and cringed a little.
"Girly you have all the time in the world for that, besides your girlfriend has that base covered. Hasn't she been learning recipes from your mom?" Eda asked while playfully scooping up her adorable titan son. King squirmed and fought against her before settling down to accept his fate.
"Right! Amity's cooking has gotten so good." Luz said and perked up when she heard someone new open up the back door. Raine walked over to join in on the unscheduled group meeting in their flowerbed. They couldn't help but laugh and smile wholeheartedly at the unexpected scene.
"Eda, we were supposed to be on our way to dinner already." They reminded the feminine witch and swiped the little titan from her arms. King seemed a lot more eager to hug them and sit in their arms.
"You just couldn't hide the surprise any longer, huh?" They said and lightly kissed King's forehead.
"I'm not sorry, those tomatoes are my little plant babies." He doubled down and giggled when Raine smothered him in more kisses.
"Ohhh, I've finally got grandchildren! Why don't you come up with some names for your kids while Eda and I go on our date?" They played along and set him down on the ground. Eda took the opportunity to lead Raine towards the house and smooth talk her way out of the trouble she was in.
"I was just so intimidated by your beauty that I had to postpone our date, don't worry I'm over it."
Instead of this alleviating the wrath of her patient partner, Raine lightly smacked the back of her head and scoffed.
Luz looked down at King and tilted her head a little to pose a question.
"You wanna hang out while they're giving each other cooties?" She joked and laughed when his tail started to instinctually wag. The two of them began to catch up while sitting in the cozy backyard, but as the air chilled and the sun set they moved indoors to raid Raine's cookie jar. With a cookie still in her mouth, Luz grunted and tried to speak because she suddenly remembered what she was doing here.
"Oh-! King, do you know if Raine happened to make a list while I was at school? I was asking them earlier today about fun things to do in The Boiling Isles." Luz asked while choking on a few delicious sugary crumbs.
"Weh-?" King responded with a cookie of his own half devoured in his hands.
"Hmm... I think Raine put something on the coffee table when they came home from lunch. That's when Willow came over with some goat-head soup and checked on my tomato plant." He suggested and scarfed down the rest of his stolen cookie. Luz thanked the helpful cutie and set down Stringbean to enjoy its own cookie before leaving to retrieve the aforementioned note. King shortly followed suit with three entire cookies greedily tucked into his paws.
"These are all pretty cool ideas, but I don't know if my mom can ice skate. And also not to menion it's summer... Does Raine expect us to travel that far just for skating-?" Luz questioned and squinted with clear confusion over the matter. King sat down beside her on the couch and set his spoils down on the table.
"Why would your mom be in The Boiling Isles?"
"Oh haha- Raine and I are going to try and give my mom the perfect day here to try and convince her to stay. Y'know, forever."
"...They don't have ice in the human world-?"
"Well, we do, but I guess Raine wanted to make sure that whatever we did was less dangerous-? I don't know, I'll definitely have to ask them some questions once they get back." Luz said and shrugged before setting down the paper. King leaned on her side and swayed his legs while looking up at her.
"Do you wanna play hexes hold'em until they get back?" He asked and licked the frosting on the oatmeal raisin cookie in his hand.
"Only if you're ready to taste the sweet taste of bitter defeat!" Luz said as she rushed to fetch the cards from the closet.
After a few games of Luz unfortunately losing every single time despite her initial cockiness, the front door unlocked and a pair of lighthearted partners rejoined the household. Eda had gotten dressed up in a classically charming dark red velvet dress that squeezed her curves, unlike her partner who had opted for a loose embroidered blouse paired with midnight blue bellbottoms. Eda had grown quite cold in her showy outfit, and as a result she sported the cushy jacket intended for Raine.
"Babe, I told you, you look super sexy but you should have brought a sweater."
"I'm gonna look a lot sexier when I choke you out for telling me that." Eda scoffed and tossed the jacket in their face. Raine chased after her into the house while laughing and stumbled on the carpet, which cause them both to be a giggling mess on the floor. King got up from his current won game and leapt onto the pile, while Luz stood above with a curious smile.
"Did you guys have a good date?"
"We sure did, Eda was a sweetheart the whole time." Raine hummed and patted the ground beside them to try and find their lost glasses. They sighed and quickly admitted defeat in favor of laying on the pretty lady under them.
"Oh I was not, they tell liesss. I did horrible heinous things like- ahh- Raine was gonna kiss me but I got a hairball and coughed it up all over their lap." Eda insisted while dangling their secretly stolen glasses above their unsuspecting head to pass to King. King got the message and snatched them up before scampering off to hide them somewhere upstairs.
"That's right- these are my favorite pair of jeans, I expect you to clean them."
"Expect away sunshine, unlike you I have work tomorrow and I need to finish some chores before then." Eda countered and aggressively ruffled Raine's neat hair, thoroughly messing it up as a result. Raine stared up at her with an unimpressed glare before affectionately kissing her cheek.
"I understand, why don't I do your chores to free up your schedule?" They offered and leaned into her touch as she rubbed their cheek.
"It's a done deal." Eda agreed and gave them a wholesome smooch before sitting up. They both got into standing positions after some struggle, and Raine promptly peeled off their dirty pants to hand to Eda.
"Oh- I hope I'm not exposing myself too much for you Luz, I just really don't like the gross feeling of slobbery puke-y mess on my pants." Raine quickly apologized after turning to speak to their singular witness.
"No problem, nice underwear by the way." Luz responded and snickered slightly. Raine looked down and lightly tugged on the lacey black boxer shorts they had on.
"Thank you. Anything you need me for before I go do the dishes hun?" They asked and squinted to try and search for their glasses with their foot.
"Can we go over some of the ideas for tomorrow on that list of yours?"
"Of course, let me put on some tea first if you don't mind."
The rest of their evening was calm but cohesive, with each person mostly keeping to their own devices minus some small talk. As the household settled to rest, Luz said her goodbyes with hugs included and flew off with her sugar buzzed palisman. Tomorrow could be one of the most important days of her life, and it was reassuring to know she had such loving people there to support her. She settled down in her cozy Owl House bed and fell asleep after some mandatory overthinking, which bridged the gap between today and tomorrow.