"Whispers are more powerful than screams
A truth is more valuable when the sound is only yours to hear
And a lie is more venomous... when the voice that tells it is sweet"
Luz was in the middle of the arena again, her body was aching, again, and Amity was about to get crushed by a giant fire owl… again.
And yet, it all hit her like the first time.
"No… No… stop, stop it!" she screamed, pulling with all her strength.
The owl turned in her direction, the non-existent eyes pierced through her and Luz saw it move its peak.
…
She woke up sweating bullets and holding her face. Her breathing uneven and her mind not processing where she was. She couldn't see more than fire, nothing more but flames, and dust, and ash, and…
"Luz? Luz!"
Was that King?
"Luz, look at me, it's not real, look at me! Look at me titan damn it!" The voice repeated and Luz felt two little paws on her cheeks.
Luz's eyes focused on him, the little cute face making her relax. There was no fire, there was no heat either. She was in her room, in the 'Owl House'. Not in the arena, Amity was safe; she wasn't going out of control.
She was OK…
"T-Thanks King…" Luz whispered, hugging him.
King sighed and patted her on the back. "Is happening more…"
Luz nodded while wiping her face and she looked at the floor. Almost a week had passed since 'Covention', and she was getting the exact same dream-nightmare each night; always the fire, the heat, the hopeless feeling…
"I'm tired…" Luz said, separating herself from King.
"I know, I know… let's talk to Eda again, maybe she can give you something for it?"
"I doubt she'll have something today…"
Luz stood up, the sleepiness keeping an iron grip over her actions. She wanted to fall unconscious and just sleep! But her head wouldn't allow her that, all her unconscious time was spent dealing with the memories of what could've happened
Tormenting her with 'what ifs'.
Luz changed fast, her hoodie and shorts, and leggings, all in its place, she didn't feel like putting shoes on, yet.
"Just… just roll with it!" Luz thought, slapping her cheeks lightly and smiling.
She walked down the stairs to find Eda downing a bottle of elixir, the woman had four books and a deck of cards occupying the coffee table in the living room... also; she looked exhausted.
"Eda?" Luz asked, getting closer.
The woman jumped and pointed her with her hand; which to be fair, in the 'Boiling Isles', was like pointing a gun at her.
"Hey, is me, is me!" Luz said while raising both hands. "Are you OK?"
"Luz?" Eda asked, lowering her arm and sighing. "Yeah, yeah, I… I'm just a bit tired."
"That makes two of us," Luz joked with a small smile, Eda smirked back at her. "I thought you stopped reading when I did."
Eda mumble something and Luz sighed, she didn't catch what she meant, but she was pretty sure it wasn't something very nice. Luz turned her head and looked at the books on the shelf.
Eda had taken a night reading habit that last week. Luz had joined her out of spite after her first nightmare. Not brave enough to go back to sleep and risk facing that scene once again.
"Did you find out who the murderer was?" Luz asked, moving a bit closer.
"No, I did stop with you…" Eda yawned. "I just had to take another book."
"So that's why you are so tired?"
"Yeah…"
"You should try to sleep more," Luz said and turned to the books on the table. "What is all this anyway?"
Eda stretched and took one of the books. "I went and got some stuff from the library… might as well start to help you if I got you back here."
"Help me?"
Eda looked at her while closing the book and placing it aside, she stood up and walked up to her, taking her hands and making her palms look upwards.
"Kiddo, I'm pretty sure you haven't tried, so you are now."
"Ah?"
"Luz." Eda left her hands go. "Make light. A small one."
Luz cocked her head to the side and looked away from the woman.
She saw her bracelet resting on top of the fireplace, just where she had left the thing after her second night back in the 'Owl House', having it with her made her shiver, uneasy…
It made the nightmares felt more realistic when she woke up to find it glowing.
She didn't want to, but the seriousness on Eda's voice made her move. Luz walked up to it and took it, placing it on her forearm, she went back to stand in front of Eda and did as she told her.
Luz ran magic to her bracelet and concentrated on the light glyph. The spell forming as it usually did… until...
"Wha-? Wait!" Luz said when the magic stopped listening to her.
She pulled back almost violently, the magic flow stopped but the spell already projected itself. Instead of the small light Eda had asked her to do, Luz made a huge sphere, said thing separated into multiple smaller ones.
"So I was right," Eda said, crossing her arms.
"You were?" Luz asked and lowered her hands. "About what?"
"Listen, kiddo, this is some real basic stuff…" Eda groaned and dropped herself on the sofa. "A witch usually has their bills sack to power their spells, and that's natural, you know this much."
"Yeah…"
"Well, you are an exception," Eda took the book from before, passing it to her. "I've been looking into wild magic, the type I wanted to learn but couldn't, and I think I've found a somewhat explanation."
Luz took the book, looking over it, it didn't have a title, nor an author name…
And she was pretty sure those pages weren't made out of paper.
She opened it, looking at blocks of runes talking about the isles and their magic, the power that surged from them and how to talk to it to get the power to help you.
"This seems like…"
"Bull-crap? Yeah, a little." Eda took another book. "But is pretty much what you do."
"What I do?"
"Your glyphs," Eda said while pointing at her bracelet, "you told me those glyphs just appeared to you in things, things you felt different."
"I never said…"
"I'm making deductions here, please," Eda cut her, Luz nodded at her. "So, you got them from the world around you, and you told me that the things you got them from were from here, or at least, you supposed they were from here."
"Yeah…"
Eda nodded, placing the book aside and crossing her arms. "I think is safe to assume those were from here, I mean, magic in the human realm comes from here anyway…"
"OK, but what does-?"
"Kid, you said that before your magic was barely working at all," Eda cut her off, "so I was thinking, 'what could it be that makes her so powerful'? And it came to me as easy as looking outside."
Luz stared at Eda before doing just that, she watched through the window.
And it clicked.
"The isles…"
" Correct! " Eda said, clapping at her. "Glad I didn't have to spell it for ya!"
Luz shook her head. "So, you are telling that by being here, my magic got stronger?"
"Is the only explanation I have, and it fits."
Eda stood up and walked to the door, getting Owlbert to fly her staff to her, she exited the house. Luz took two seconds before going after her and watched the older witch move her staff around, and the space next to the cellar—how Eda had insisted on calling it—transformed into a small clear with a hole in the middle, it was filled with water the very next second of its appearance.
"…What are you doing?" Luz asked once the little… garden, was done.
"We are giving ya your so-called 'magic training'," Eda said, walking to the clear. "So come on."
"My… training?"
"Yeah."
Eda dropped herself on the ground and waited for her, Luz moved slowly, taking a seat in front of her, and Eda smiled while she got her hands to her knees, closing her eyes. Luz looked at her for a few minutes, Eda didn't move an inch.
"Am… Eda?"
"This is the training," she responded.
"What? But you aren't doing anything!"
Eda opened an eye and smirked, motioning with her head to the side. Luz followed the indication.
And saw light. Around them, hundreds of small lights floated, almost imperceptibly.
"How..? You didn't make a spell circle…"
"I sure did, you just didn't see it," Eda said, closing her eye again. "When I put my hands where they are, I drew the spell circle then, and I've kept it working until now."
Luz stared at the woman, looking with more care, she finally noticed the small—minuscule—spell circle atop her hand.
"Your magic is hijacked," Eda said, "you went all out for the first time since you stepped on the isles, and now you can't control your output."
Luz nodded, remembering then that Eda couldn't see her. "Yeah, right…"
"You've been using all you got, all your life; that made your magic develop a type of muscular memory, or is what I think." Eda opened both eyes, her gaze was stern. "The coven system works by sealing the magic a person can use, is a physical block of the magic… you have an opposite problem."
"Opposite?"
"Ya also seem like a repeating demon now, stop it," Eda told her, making Luz nod. "As I was saying, you have the opposite problem, you don't know how to limit yourself, the magic got used to go all out since ya never tried to go small. So that's what we are going to focus."
"On… going small?"
"Yep!" Eda smiled, moving her hand so her palm was facing the spell circle.
She made it bigger, a normal-sized, and then a huge one, both times, a new light appeared, both the same size as the spell.
"You can go all out and still be amazing, but I think you don't want that," Eda said while making all the lights disappear, "all the power you have… I don't know where it comes from, but I do know is more than what you expected… or wanted."
Luz looked at Eda before the nightmares flashed through her mind; she lowered her head, nodding slowly.
"So kid, ya need to go slow, small, and take care of it." Luz looked up and found Eda smiling at her. "Once you get the hang of it, you won't have to worry about anything."
"… I thought you said the magic was unpredictable," Luz said.
"The magic maybe, but you aren't, not to yourself at least," Eda responded, "so just, relax kid, I know you can do this."
"…Thanks Eda, I'll give it my all!" Luz said fist-pumping the air.
"That's actually the contrary of what you should do, but I like the spirit."
….
Taking photos, talking nonsense, and having to put up with snarky remarks, what a great way of passing her day.
"Thanks, mom…" Amity thought, sighing and standing from her seat.
"Oh, Amity, where are you going?" Boscha asked, leaning back on her chair. "We were just about to point out the 'half-a-witch' last mess on penstagram!"
Amity looked back and took in the image. Boscha was the same as always, smirking and trying to look way too cool, way too hard, and Cat, Amelia along with Skara were looking at their scrolls. Skara left out a small sigh with a smile before looking up at her. Amity raised an eyebrow at the bard witch before turning her back on them while biting her tongue avoiding to spat a bad response.
"I forgot a book in my locker."
"This was the last class," Skara pointed out, hiding her scroll.
She turned her head back to look at them. "So?"
Walking out of the classroom helped her, but the tension still built up in her shoulders. She sighed, looking at the sky through the windows of the hallway.
That night she wouldn't be getting time to read… or rest.
"Stupid moonlight conjuring…"
Amity did love the idea, like any other girl. Having people coming over and talking about stupid stuff while they bonded? Count her in, she had dreamed of doing so when she was younger, she had even planned the night countless times.
And then she had separated from... it didn't matter, not anymore.
All the plans Amity made in her childhood went straight to the trash can.
So in the present, Amity was trapped with self-centered Boscha and all pleasant Skara—along with other girls—going to her house to try to animate some object, just to go taking photos and posting them on penstagram. Spending the rest of the night with their faces stuck on their scrolls?
Why did they need to go over for that? They could do it anywhere else!
"So the conjuring will be tonight?"
"Yeah, though I don't think we can do it this year neither."
Amity stopped walking and hid by pure instinct. She looked over the corner and found Gus and Willow next to the first locker.
"Yeah, that sucks, but being honest, I don't feel like staying over anyone's house at the moment," Willow said, "I just got Luz out of mine a week ago."
"Right, how is that going?" Gus asked, getting a few books out of the mouth of his locker.
"I finally managed to sleep on time." Willow sighed. "Still, I miss her on breakfast."
"That bad?"
"My dads were happy with her help, now all they talk is about if Luz would want to work part-time now that she is not staying over."
"Your dads like Luz more than you then?"
"Don't think it goes that far, but they did like her a lot."
Amity stopped hearing them fast enough. They moved away from the locker and she was left with the conversation hanging on thin air.
She did know that Luz was staying at Willow's, but she didn't have any idea of her moving out, let alone it had already been a week.
A week…
Amity shivered, the fight came back to her like it had happened many times already. Boscha and Skara had let it be after a few threats and dry comments about them not being able to even be recognized by a teacher except during special times.
Boscha took it the worst, but she stopped, and Amity treated it like a win.
"So… Luz is back to her parents?" Amity whispered, leaning on the wall.
She had… expected something to change, sure, but not like that. Luz had talked about staying with Willow, and she had then run off with a criminal witch that just tried to kill Amity!
But still, she wasn't really mad; she did try to end Luz…
"Why am I thinking about this?" She groaned, separating from the wall and restarted her walk to her locker.
She'll have her stupid conjuring, she'll please her mother and get her away from her life for the next few months, she wouldn't think about Luz for the next twelve hours, and she'll be a perfect 'Blight', as always.
…As always…
…...
"I can't do this!"
"Yes, you can!"
"Eda!"
"We are not moving until you do it!"
Eda heard Luz groan and the teen closed her eyes again, the bracelet lit up and the light spell started to form. The older witch smiled at the kid when the small sphere of light appeared.
Sadly, it didn't last.
Eda sighed when Luz magic went over the top, again , and turned the small spell into a huge one, not even medium size! She dropped herself on her back, the little place she made didn't provide enough shadow, and the sun was starting to bother her.
"I failed again, didn't I?" Luz said.
Eda sighed. "Yeah, I guess we can't have you controlling yourself that easily."
Eda sat, looking at the teen who was sulking at the big light she had just made. She couldn't hide the little smile on her face, a kid sulking about having too much talent?
That was for laughs.
"OK, this is enough for today!" Eda said, standing up, "fix yourself, we are going to the market."
"We are?"
"Yeah, duh, kiddo you can't keep yourself inside the house, as much as I asked you to come back, I wasn't expecting you to just stay inside a whole week!" Eda made a spell and got Luz to stand upright there. "Have you even used the scroll I got ya?"
That damn thing had been the less stupid idea King had while looking for a gift to give to Luz.
"I… I have tried…" Luz said, looking away, "but is kinda…"
"Kinda… what?"
"…Kinda… bright?"
"Uh? Now, what are you blabbering about?"
"Is… It's easier if I show you."
Luz got her hand in her pocket, taking out her phone and the folded scroll. She then proceeded to use the thing, running magic through it…
…Running magic through it….
Eda's mind made the connection too late.
She was faced with the thing shining brighter than any of the lights they had made the entire day, and boy it was bright!
"I got it, I got it, turn the damn thing off!" Eda screamed.
Luz was panicking. "I'm trying!"
After two minutes the light was finally off and the two women sighed, the scroll on the ground between them.
"I should've suspected it…" Eda muttered, "of course, you got it after this thing with your magic started, it was a logical outcome."
"Apparently I don't have this part of being a witch…" Luz sighed. "I mean, I can't even just… summon it. I don't know the glyph."
Eda laughed and pated Luz's head. "That just means you'll have to learn it! You'll get it in no time!"
"…Thanks, Eda," Luz said, "but that's not the only reason we are going to the market, right?"
Eda's smile turned into a smirk. "You sure ya aren't my child? Seems like my thinking it's rubbing on ya!"
"Eda," Luz pressured.
"Yeah, yeah," Eda shook her head. "Truth be told, I ran out of elixir this morning, the one I took was the last, I need to get a refill."
Luz smiled at her, and Eda looked the other way, being all… open and sharing her problems was still awkward. But the smile on the kid's face made it all pretty much worth it.
"Then to the market!" Luz said, raising both hands.
"Market?!" King said, poking his head from a window, "I'm gonna steal all that's not nailed to the ground!"
Eda snickered and watched Luz go back to the house. The kid was smart, strong, and resourceful for what Eda had seen so far, the thing with the bracelet and her fight against Lilith's student…
Luz would get the hang of her powers in no time.
Her thought got cut when she heard a little scream and looked at the teen, who was jumping on one foot in front of Hooty.
"What's wrong?" Eda asked.
Luz looked at her with a tearing eye. "I… I forgot I don't have shoes on…"
… OK, she never said the kid was perfect, either.
….
Contrary to her possible attitude the last week, Luz loved to go to the market. It was one of the few guilty pleasures she had taken from having grown up in the human world, she was fascinated by every new thing she learned…
"You can't do this to me, Daryl!" A huge slug demon screamed, "you are the one who ate my not dog!"
"Not for that I'm marrying you Denisse!" screamed a giant butterfly one, spitting acid at the other one, which puked in its direction.
… She also got grossed to no human possible level of comprehension. But hey! Perks and cons, she could cope.
"Is there anything better than people watching on the demon realm?" Luz asked, looking to her side and helping a struggling King to get on the bench.
She looked back to front and saw what she supposed was a bus stop… to where an egg got, letting out a really slimy, giant, mucus-covered creature, and the people waiting in there passed to get inside the egg's shell.
The punchline of that joke of a scene was looking at Tiny Nose—she had presented herself once while buying groceries on Aaron's store—failing to get in the thing.
"The curse of tiny legs," Luz said, shaking her head a little.
"I know the pain…" King sighed next to her.
Luz giggled a little and looked away. There was a group of people walking with a cart and she almost immediately went stiff.
"Demon Hunters," King voiced her thoughts.
"Yeah, not a pretty sight today either…"
Luz remembered them; they were by far her less favorite group of people. She had gone to the market one day with Aaron, finding the group selling 'exotic' meat. It has turned out to be a talking demon who was a bit too big for its size.
She was so glad she didn't take that bite they offered her.
"Stop glaring at them," King said, pushing her. "Look, there are your dumb friends."
Luz followed the little paw King just raised and found Willow and Gus. She smiled and stood up, the week of enclosing had proven hard by the bittersweet sensation of not seeing her friends.
Now she had people to miss if she ever went into a full self-imprisonment, that was different from back on earth.
"Willow! Gus!" She said while jogging and walking up to them. "Hey, friends!"
"Hey, Luz," they both replied.
Her good mood got a hit and she lowered the hand she had just raised.
"Hey, what's wrong? Who hurt my babies?!" Luz asked.
"They did," Willow said, and her voice was more irritated than sad.
Luz looked at the direction Willow just pointed to and found a group of people. She recognized most of them by the stories Willow and Gus had told her, but the only face she actually did recognize was Amity's.
She looked… bored, even distant for someone in the middle of group of people.
"Amity's having a moonlight conjuring and invited everyone but us," Willow said, crossing her arms.
Gus took that as his cue. "And she keeps posting about in her penstagram account!"
He showed her a photo and Luz saw the selfie with curiosity until she read the message of 'No dorks allowed'.
"What?" Luz stared at the group of girls again, and her eyes met Amity's.
The teal-haired girl seemed to be about to raise her hand and wave at her, but she stopped almost immediately, looking back to the bottle in her hand. Luz bit her lip at the scene.
"I'm sure something is wrong with her."
"Yeah, well, she is just a jerk if you ask me," Gus said, crossing his arms.
And Luz just said that out loud, great.
She needed to change the subject, fast. "What's a moon light conjuring?"
That did the trick.
Willow smiled. "You spend the night at someone's house, playing games, telling stories…"
"Like a slumber party!" Luz said, "I've heard of those… and Willow, haven't we already done that? Like, a lot? And it was just last week, too."
"Well, yeah, but this has the added value of you using moon magic to bring something lo life!" Willow said, making a spell and showing her an open book with said spell on it.
"…So is like a weird slumber party..."
"I guess. Point is, Gus and I have never been to one, you need at least three people…"
"I'm three people, I mean, we are three people! And frankly, we are way better than them." Luz added, looking at the group of girls.
Who… just so happened to be passing next to them. Did they hear her?
"Sorry, you couldn't get an invite to the conjuring Willow," Boscha said, "only real witches allowed."
OK, Luz was happy she wasn't heard, but also, frustrated she wasn't heard.
Also, she wanted to punch Boscha, hard.
"Leave her alone," Amity said next, "she did get the recognition of the principal, didn't she? And even haves a place on the wall of excellence with you and me." Amity restarted her walk after that. "She does have at least a bit of talent."
"She does have something going," another girl said, Luz stared at the dark-skinned girl with red selves.
"Shut up, Skara," Boscha said, "let's go, the 'half-a-witch' and her weird pal can eat dirt."
While the group moved away, Luz had to rush and hold Willow's hands before she went mad, well, madder . The vines were already growing!
"Hey, hey, don't waste your time getting sore over them," Luz said, getting her arm over Willow's shoulders. "We are going to have our own moonlight conjuring."
"Are you serious? It's on my bucket list!" Gus said, jumping closer and showing them said list. "Right under owning a human bucket!"
"That's a weird thing to want, but I appreciate your enthusiasm!"
"While I'm all in to stick this to Amity, are you sure you want, Luz?" Willow asked, "I, myself, am happy with recovering a bit of my personal space after you moved out."
"You make it sound like it was hell…"
"Well…."
"Willow!"
That got her laughing. "You know I loved having you around, but really, are you up to it?"
Luz smiled. "Of course, anything for my best friend squad!" she said, hugging them both. " And besides, I'll do anything to avoid nightmares tonight." She thought before separating from them.
"OK, then I guess we should try it!" Willow said once they were apart. "Is Eda going to be OK with it?"
"I don't think she'll mind it, I'll talk to her now anyway."
Luz turned and saw Eda cornering the poor alchemist. She stopped for a second, hearing the words. 'Night Market' and 'Grimm hammer' coming from them.
Maybe it was a bad idea to make the conjuring…
Amity's face and the flames flashed her memory and Luz closed her eyes.
"I need this…" she whispered, closing the final distance. "Eda! Gus, Willow and I are gonna make a moonlight conjuring tonight, can we do it on the 'Owl House'?!"
Eda raised an eyebrow at her. "A moonlight conjuring? Are you sure kiddo?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"I think you are forgetting what we were doing all this morning."
"Morning?"
Oh, right, magic overflowing.
"Listen, Kid, I don't know what you planned, but your magic already out of control and a moonlight conjuring is a type of magic that receives a boost already. What do you think would happen?"
"… Something cool?"
Eda hit her on the head.
"Please, Eda! They want to do it!"
"It doesn't seem to be really that important though," King commented then, "I mean, I heard you talking, and you are making it sound more desperate then it needs to be."
Curse King and his adorably sharp senses!
"So, tell ya this, kid," Eda said, "you tell me why this is so important, and I'll give permission."
Luz looked at her, considering if lying was an option there.
But lies had caused enough problems; she didn't felt like lying anyway.
"I… I just don't want to have nightmares tonight…"
"…Oh, Luz…" Eda said, placing a hand in her head. "So those haven't stopped?"
"…Not a single night…"
"I wished you had told me sooner," Eda said, "OK, you can have your conjuring, but I need you to be extra careful and try not to use any magic on the spell… my house is full of many valuables artifacts that need protection."
"Like me!" King said.
"You are coming with me." Eda then held him by the collar. "I need an extra pair of eyes to watch out for pick-pockets." She leaned closer to Luz with a smirk. "And an extra pair of hands in case I want to pick-pocket."
"Yeah, pick-pocket!" Both Eda and King said.
Luz smiled at Eda, turning to see Gus and Willow and show them her thumbs up. They got the message immediately and waved her goodbye.
"So, better get going, you need to prepare the house," Eda said, pulling her along. "Who knows? Maybe by doing magic with people who know how to control themselves, you'll get the hang of it."
"Yeah… maybe…"
Luz watched over her shoulder. Willow and Gus ran the opposite direction after sending her one last wave with a smile.
She sighed and turned to look ahead.
Just as Eda said, she needed to prepare the house… she needed to prepare herself!
"Yeah, I'm not gonna screw this up!" Luz said, closing her fist and getting it to her heart.
….
She was going to screw up.
There was no way in hell she would be able to not mess up the conjuring. Willow and Gus were already on their way, Eda had given her permission to use the 'Owl House' and was out with King to get the elixir.
And Luz was panicking with the idea of using magic again when she couldn't control the output.
"No, no, no, Willow is counting on you… to get back at Amity…" Luz thought, lowering her head.
She didn't like the attitude her friend had while talking about her. There was something, that little story Willow and Amity weren't telling her. She didn't know what it was, but Luz did know something.
It was rotting, poisoning both of them.
"… What should I do…?" Luz sighed, looking at her feet.
"Luz! Your guests are here, Hoot-Hoot!" Hooty's voice came with a punch when the door opened.
"Luz!" Willow said, running at her and hugging her. "Hey!"
"Hello!" Luz said, returning the gesture and looking at Gus at the door. "Why are you both covered in leaves?"
Willow smiled at her. "Let's say I'm a sneaky sneakster!"
"And I! Have leaves in my pants!" Gus said, "And I like it."
"Finally! Someone to hear my stories!" Hooty said, "There once was me and this little bird that flew into my-"
Luz kicked a ball on the ground, and the door closed with a single bounce of the toy.
"Sorry not sorry, Hooty," Luz said, and the three teens laughed. "Anyway, welcome, to the living room!" She turned to show them the place. "We call it that because is technically living. The walls are breathing."
Willow got closer to the one wall that seemed to have asthma those last days. "Enchanting!"
Luz smiled and walked to get the things Eda left for them.
"We have snacks! We have weird music!" she said, showing both things to her friends.
Gus popped out from behind her. "We have a bucket!"
"My man!" Luz said while dropping the things she had on a table and doing finger guns at him.
"And we have friends to do the conjuring!" Willow added, jumping in her place. "This is so exciting!"
"How can she be so cute?!" Luz thought, hugging her and rubbing their cheeks together.
"L…L-Luz!" Willow whined getting away from her. "Weird human stuff?"
"Weird human stuff," she said, smiling.
"Human stuff?!" Gus asked and got between them, maybe a bit too excited. "Me too! Me too!"
Luz complied and did the same with him. Gus jumped away.
"That was so weird!" he screamed, "Why would you do that?"
"Weird stuff from an old TV show, though they just smashed their cheeks together," she responded before looking at Willow. "So, how does this 'conjuring' thing go?"
"Well, first we should choose something to animate." Willow said, looking around. "Since is our first time, we should choose something meaningful, something beautiful."
Luz grinned at the look Willow was giving to the flower pot she had set earlier.
But Gus had other ideas.
"Like this weird little buff man!" He showed it to Willow, pressing the middle of its body.
"I'm half beef, half bob!" Was what came out of the toy.
Luz moved closer. "Yes, he is perfect!"
"That's, not exactly what I meant with beautiful…" Willow said looking away.
"Oh, I know friend". Luz thought. " But Gus deserves it…"
Also, Luz's eyes went to her bracelet, she had taken it off and placed it on the couch, too afraid to use her glyphs while doing the spell. Working on flowers as Willow wanted was way too risky…
Besides, the little buff guy couldn't make much damage if she didn't manage to control herself, which was a plus.
"OK, buff boy it is," Willow said after Gus looked at her big teary eyes.
Luz moved, hugging Willow again. "Yes!"
"Tonight he shall be risen! And it's buff guy, Willow." Gus said.
The plant witch crossed her arms and smirked. "Is he, thou?"
Luz smiled and shook her head. "I'll be right back, do we need anything in special?"
"Just a few candles!" Willow said, walking to a wall. "And we're covered."
"Gottcha!"
Luz walked into the kitchen and went for the sink, taking a glass she filled it with water before downing it in a single swung.
She was trembling.
"Relax, this is easy, you won't lose control of it, you got this," She whispered, raising her head and catching her reflection on the window. "I got this!"
….
"Amity! We are here to party!"
"It's open, Boscha!"
Amity sighed, closing her book and looking at the door, the whole 'Boscha gang' came through. Amity had never really been 'friends' with any of them beside Boscha and Skara, and if she was being frank?
She hasn't invited that many people.
"Tonight we'll do that dumb stuff of 'conjuring'," Boscha said, leaving her bag on the ground, "I wanna tell you all about this super weird and ridiculous thing that happened!"
"Is about Willow being a good student again?" Amity asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not this time!"
That got Amity's attention.
Boscha had been extremely aggressive lately, it has been since Willow had stopped being a 'half-a-witch' to be the best student in their year on the plant track, to be exact. Amity had tried to ignore it, her talks with Luz being enough torture while thinking about the other witch.
But Boscha didn't make it easy.
"Some jerk demon house gave me a lecture!"
"…What?"
"Are you OK, Boscha?" Skara asked, rubbing the back of her neck. "That sounds a bit…"
"Stupid," Amity finished.
"I'm telling you the truth!" Boscha said, "It was a weird talking house and when I was about to get rid of it, the damn thing stood up!"
Amity chuckled. "Really? And how did it 'stood up', if it was a house demon?"
"It had legs!"
"Like, witch legs?"
"Bird legs!"
"Oh right! Because that makes so much sense!" Skara said, laughing, "Boscha you are so funny!"
"Shut it, Skara," Boscha growled, "I know what I saw!"
"And we know what you didn't," Amity said, walking to the door, "I'll get some snacks."
She left the room and after closing the door she giggled. Whoever had played Boscha had done it right!
"That would teach her something… hopefully…" She thought, walking downstairs.
Amity passed through her dad's studio and stopped for a second. They weren't home, like many other nights. But he had been the one who convinced her mother to let her have the conjuring to begin with. Some talk about her relating better with her friends for the future.
"I'm sorry, dad," Amity whispered, "I don't think I can relate with them that much…"
"Amity!" Boscha's voice came from upstairs. "Get some drinks while you are down there, could you?!"
"Sure!"
Amity sighed and resumed her walk, she could maybe avoid the personal, get the things herself, and stay out of her room as long as possible.
She did manage to avoid any personal, it was her lucky day on that, at least.
She took her time getting the things, some candles from a counter along with chips, and a bottle of 'devilish break soda' her siblings had left hidden for some special occasion behind a few things on the fridge. She smiled at her little recollection and started her way back after getting some glasses.
She could at least stuff herself with junk food to pass the night and have an excuse.
"Hey, I have this-" She said, getting inside the room.
"Amity! We are going to animate this ugly doll! You don't have a problem right?" Boscha said, holding a toy in her hand. "I mean, is so gross!"
Amity stared at the thing Boscha's hands and almost dropped the trail where she had placed all the things from before.
"Where did you get that?" she asked, placing the trail in the middle of the group.
She had to keep her cool, she couldn't show Boscha anything but a cold stare at that moment.
"From that shelf over there!" Boscha said, throwing the stuffed animal up and catching it. "It was hidden behind the rest of the things."
"Yeah, so you wouldn't take it ." Amity thought, crossing her arms. "I don't have a problem with enchanting it, but please don't look through my stuff."
"But that's what friends are for, aren't we?" Boscha said, throwing the old small, pink and ragged, stuffed bunny to Amity's bed. "Hey Skara, leave me some soda!"
Amity looked at the stuffed bunny for a while, before turning to the group of girls. She just needed to resist for the night, just the night.
"Ugh, can't believe that this one guy tried to ask me out," Boscha said, "like, hey peasant, I'm over your league, every single day of my life!"
…Just the night. She just needed to resist the night.
….
Luz's night could have gone worse.
Being trapped by demon hunters, having a slight discussion with Willow about how unnecessary was to get back at Amity and probably breaking half of the things in the house.
Eda was going to kill her.
And yet, her night wasn't so bad. A least she wasn't dead, and she wasn't facing her recurring nightmares. She also wasn't explaining anything human to Gus. The last time she had tried, Luz hadn't been able to explain what an 'AMV' was and she was still frustrated about it.
Of course, none of those little things erased the fact that the demon hunters tied them up and took Hooty with them.
"Hooty, you have to wake up!" Luz screamed, kicking the door.
Being tied up there wasn't leaving any options left, though Gus' efforts in trying to bit them free from the ropes were looking a lot more appealing than dealing with the house demon.
"If you want this to end as you say! Three must hold hands, it's the only way!"
Luz glared at Hooty's response. "Hooty, no me hables así!" She groaned and looked back. "Willow, could you help me out with Hooty?"
"I'm sorry, Luz," came her friend's voice, and it was weak… sad. "You shouldn't ask me to help with anything…"
"Willow…"
The house shook and stopped its movement. The three of them rolled away from the door.
"Why did we stop moving?" Luz asked.
"Don't know, but my insides didn't," Gus said.
You know someone is messed up when they laugh while taking you out of your own house, say they'll rip it off and sell it to a restaurant, and then proceeded to have this weird looking and behaving guy throw you off a cliff.
…There were probably other signs, but Luz concentrated on those.
"All right kids, this is the end of your short little lives!" The guy said, and Luz cringed at the happiness on his tone.
Why did she have to leave her bracelet inside the house?!
"Wait, wait, wait!" Gus said, turning them around, "Is this really what you wanna do with your life? Throwing kids from cliffs?"
"That's a good question, Gus! Connect with him! Show him the light!" Luz thought, fidgeting against the ropes.
"Actually yeah! Is been my dream since I was a boy!"
Luz stared at him, and she was sure Gus and Willow did the same.
"I was a strange child." He pouted, and then he pushed them. "Whee!"
"That guy is the bad kind of weirdo!" Luz thought, closing her eyes.
Their fall was stopped in a moment; Luz felt how all the air left her lungs. The roar of the waves crashing against the peak made her look down, the sea was still a few meters down them.
"If we are not killed now, we will be when Eda finds out about the house!" Luz whined.
Willow sighed. "I'm so sorry, Luz. You wanted to turn back but I just had to show off to Amity."
"Willow…"
"The truth is… she and I used to be friends."
"What?!" Luz said, her mind going back to all the times Amity's actions didn't seem to match her behavior. " So that's what was happening with them!" She thought, looking down.
And at that moment the branch holding them cracked, what a great timing 'Boiling isles'!
"We used to play together when kids, but, when she got her magic powers and I didn't… we stopped hanging out."
"Gals, is now really the best time?!" Gus said and the branch cracked again.
Willow sighed. "I just wanted to prove I was a powerful witch too."
Luz gaped, she couldn't-No! She wouldn't stop herself from talking.
"That's ridiculous!"
"Ah?"
"You helped bring a house to life!" Luz said rolling her eyes. "Those jerks don't know what they are talking about! Willow, next to Eda, you are the strongest witch I know." Luz smiled at her. "No offense, Gus."
"No, not at all, I know what I'm about," he said, the branch gave in again, breaking a bit more. "This tree can't hold us much longer!"
For Luz, the next five minutes of her life were so incredibly cool and ridiculous that those would be part of a story she would write on fanfiction.
Willow reached for a root, the root grew and saved them, the plant that came out of the root practically obliterated the demon hunters. All in the spawn of three minutes or less, before she was able to even think of winning, the moon was hiding.
So they ran, well, made Hooty ran.
"You think we can reach the place?" Willow asked, looking through a window.
Gus was the one who answered. "I think we have a chance if Hooty doesn't stop!"
Luz nodded at that. If they could just pull that off...
"Don't you think you can run away from us!"
Luz shivered and moved closer to the window. The leader of the demon hunters and two more of them were running after them, and they were getting close!
"Dang it, Willow, think you can push them off?" Luz asked.
"I don't have any plants to use! If I try conjuring some here it might hurt Hooty!" She responded.
"Gus?"
"I'm just good with illusions!" He shouted.
Luz panicked, looking around. The time wasn't on their side, the place, the people… all was against them!
Then she felt something hitting her foot.
Looking down and found her bracelet. The piece of metal shined with a dim light of the spell covering them. She could use it, the fire owl surely could easily get rid of the demon hunters! She could save Willow and Gus' lives!
By killing the hunters…
Luz's mind went back to the fight against Amity, the flames, the fear…
There was an explosion. "Come back here, you stupid worms!"
Gus dropped to the ground. "I'm no worm!"
"Luz! What do we do?" Willow asked, holding her by the shoulders.
Luz stared at her, what was she doing? She couldn't think of that!
She could use ice, but the power going wild could destroy the forest, she could use the plants, but the vines might hit Hooty too… the light glyph could win them time, but then they would know where to find the house!
"I have to use fire…" Luz thought, closing her eyes.
She couldn't only use fire if she wanted to escape... If she wanted to save them! If she wanted to save herself!
"Luz, they are almost here!" Gus said.
Willow was next. "What do we do?!"
Luz opened her eyes. She didn't know, she was so lost, so scared, so alone…!
…But she wasn't…
Luz felt it then, the shaking.
She looked at her hands. She was shaking, but it wasn't that what she felt, she felt Gus and Willow's hands, both of them were terrified, so scared… maybe even more than her.
"They… They need me…" Luz thought, her heart pounding faster. "They need me…" She whispered and bit her lip. "Hooty, keep moving until you reach your spot and once there, you sit and wait, got it?!"
"As the order of the three may say, I shall accomplish my mission this day!" he responded.
"OK, guys, I'm fixing this," Luz said, letting their hands go and bending down, taking her bracelet.
"You are what?!" Both of them asked.
Luz smiled at them, closing the bracelet over her forearm. "Guys, no matter what, don't come out of the house."
"What? Luz, wait!" She heard Willow say when she crossed the door.
"Luz, this is suicide!" Gus said next.
"I really hope you are wrong, buddy!" Luz then ran to the back of the house, looking at the demon hunters, they were practically over them.
"You won't get away worm!" the leader screamed, "you'll pay for this humiliation!"
"You, my friend need to chill!" Luz shouted back, raising her hand.
She couldn't go all out, she needed to focus! A big flame, enough to hurt them but not kill them, so flashy that it may distract them enough for it to hit.
"Going smaller doesn't seem to work anyway!" Luz's hands shook, her jaw clenched with all her strength. " Don't mess this up, don't mess this up… don't be a pain for them!" Luz thought, closing her eyes.
"You are our friend, our pal!"
"We like hanging out with you!"
Luz's eyes snapped open.
What was she thinking? Gus and Willow had already told her they liked her that they cared about her as friends.
"…I'm just being stupid." Luz sighed, looking at the demon hunters again, they were practically on them. "Not anymore…"
She concentrated, the fire glyph lit up brighter than the others. Luz felt the magic flowing. How it ran through her body, the huge amount that threatened to crush her and take her away, how it dug itself in her ribcage like claws.
"You are not controlling me." Luz thought, taking a deep breath. "I'm not controlling you, either, no… magic is wild and unpredictable… that's what makes it beautiful, isn't it?"
There was a change, not like a physical one... But, but something changed, the flow wasn't that furious anymore, it wasn't that crushing sensation from before, and she wasn't feeling breathless. Luz looked to the front, her mind going back to the owl, to the flames… to Amity and her fear, to herself and desperation that lurked in the back of her head.
"Not this time," Luz whispered, "this time… please, listen to me."
Her plea was followed by her the magic flow stopping all at once.
The spell circle appeared, and from it, the flames came to life with a powerful screech. She saw how the fire danced, twisting itself until it took the form that had haunted so many nights.
The owl left out a screech and dived towards the demons hunters.
"What?" the leader screamed, making a spell circle, a barrier, "you were supposed to be just a bunch of worms!"
"Sorry, but this is the 'Owl House'!" Luz shouted, lowering her hands. "We are birds of prey! Not worms!"
The owl screeched again, bating its wings and using its peak to take the leader of the hunters flying after the other retreating two.
Luz smiled and fist-pumped the air. "Yes!"
She turned around and moved to run back inside the house. But her strength left her at that moment, her legs gave-in under her, and she prepared herself to meet the ground face first.
When two pairs of hands caught her.
"Wow, girl! That was amazing!" Gus shouted, his eyes sparkling.
Willow pulled her up, passing Luz's arm over her shoulders. "You may say I'm the other must powerful witch you know, but Luz, I think leaving yourself out of that scale is a bit unfair."
"Maybe… But thing is, I can't control it pretty well…" Luz said, "that wasn't supposed to be that big…"
"You can tell us about it when we are back to where Hooty is supposed to be," Gus offered, "'cause we need to cross a long distance."
Luz smiled and nodded, pushing herself inside the house.
Their night still hasn't ended.
….
"Can't believe you almost lost me in a game of cards!"
"I already said I was sorry!"
"Not enough!"
Eda sighed and passed a hand over her face. She couldn't believe her curse started to kick once she was inside the night market.
And that she got scammed by a pig, either.
But having her house walking over his stand and saving the day? Eda could count the number of times she got that surprised with her hands, and now she needed more fingers.
"What are you going to do with Luz?" King asked when they spotted the house. "She did make Hooty walk out of his place…"
"I know, I know, I'm thinking." Eda sighed. "And I did tell her to keep her power on check."
"Wasn't she not being able to do that the whole problem?"
Huh, King could think when he wanted.
Eda got her hand to her chin; Luz did have that problem, to begin with. And Eda had given her the permission being conscious about it… what happened was partially her fault, right?
Ugh, having a kid was worse than she expected.
At least the house was in its place, thankfully. She walked up to the door, still considering how to react at all… that. She could be mad about Luz moving her house, right? She didn't have to, but she could.
"Sorry, Luz!" That was nitwit number two… Gus, was it? "Your mom is going to be so mad…"
"Eda would understand… I think." And that was nitwit number one, Willow.
"I hope she does…" And there was Luz.
At least the three kids were OK.
"You sure you are OK? We can clean up." Gus again.
Luz's voice came out like a whine. "I'm OK, it was just a little drowsiness."
"Yet, you used a lot of magic," Willow said, "That fire thing was huge Luz!"
"Magic? Fire?!" Eda thought and froze.
"I told you guys, it was nothing!" Luz shouted and something fell.
Willow's voice came after a 'click' sound. "Luz, you almost passed out after blasting that thing!"
"I know Willow, I was there."
"You should rest-"
"No, not until we at least finish with the living room."
Eda opened the door at the moment. The living room was a mess, but not something she couldn't have done on her own. The three teens froze at her appearance and Eda went straight for the cause of it all.
Luz started to shiver and got her hoodie up. "Eda! Hey, l-look, funny things happened and-"
"Are you OK?" she asked, holding her by the shoulders.
"Ah?"
"Are you OK? How comes you did magic? I told you not to!"
"I…I'm OK Eda, nothing's wrong!"
"And why were dingus one and two talking about you passing out?!"
"You are exaggerating!"
Luz looked away and Eda stopped. She looked at her own hands.
She was trembling.
"…Sorry, Kiddo…" Eda sighed, letting her go. "What happened here? How comes you animated my house?!"
"Well… I kinda left my bracelet out of the spell and didn't want to place magic on the spell… but it went in anyway?" Luz explained, pulling her hoodie down. "To be fair, Willow's powers are strong, really strong!"
"Hey! Don't blame me for the spell!" Willow said, getting next to Luz. "But… It was our fault that the house went that far away… Miss. Eda, please don't get mad at Luz."
"If you are going to eat me, do it now!" Gus said, getting between her and Luz. "Do it now!"
Eda stared at them and sighed, she needed to be… responsible .
"Ugh, never thought I'll have to do this!" Eda thought and made a spell. "Well, you are all guilty so y'all be punished, with cleaning my house from top to bottom!" She ordered. "And one more thing!"
"I won't play with King in your room anymore!" Luz screamed.
"What? You did…? No, no!" Eda said, shaking her head. "That was totally amazing magic Kiddo, I'm definitely joining you for the next year conjuring… now get to work!"
Eda smiled when the three of them moved around, starting to clean.
It took them all night but the kids did manage to get Hooty in a decent state before sitting on the couch along with her. Luz was looking at the photos Gus had taken that night with his scroll.
"Oh man, I wish I could use mind, this is so nice…" Eda heard Luz whisper.
"Why don't you try?" She asked.
"Ah? Did you forget what happened when I tried?"
"No, but, for what you told me, now you have a little more control over your magic, don't ya?" Eda took Luz's scroll from the table and offered it to her. "Maybe you can actually use this without blinding us now."
Luz looked at the thing as if it'll bite her and sighed before taking it in her hands. Gus and Willow were far too busy sleeping on the floor to notice her struggle.
"You sure about this, Eda?"
"No, but I trust you kiddo," she responded, placing a hand on her shoulder, "just go easy."
Luz nodded and closed her eyes. Eda saw the bracelet shine and then the scroll; it was a small light, almost fading when appearing.
"She did manage to go low…" Eda thought, looking at the scroll.
Luz stayed with her eyes closed a few seconds before she spoke. "Is it super bright?"
"No, kiddo, you are doing great," Eda said and bit back a laugh. "Just push a bit more."
"O…O-OK…"
Eda saw the thing shine, and it was really bright, but not at the level of the morning. She also saw, well, heard Luz muttering something so low that she couldn't catch it.
And the scroll was working.
"Wow, Kid! You did it!"
Luz opened one eye to look down at the scroll. "I…I did?"
"Yes, would you look at that?!" Eda patted her on the head. "Seems like you are learning faster than I thought!"
"I… I did it!" Luz shouted, raising her hands.
And her bracelet went into overdrive; making a huge light spell.
"Ah! My eyes, my eyes!" Eda heard Gus scream.
"Is the end?! Is it the end of the 'Boiling isles'?!" That was Willow.
King just had to get the last word. "Who dares to attack the King of demons?! Show yourself!"
"Well… just one step at time…" Eda thought, covering her eyes and turning down.
Luz was going one step at a time, apparently.
…...
Not being able to make the actual conjuring got Amity in a bad mood. So bad that she just went and moved away from the group to stare out the window.
She was a prodigy, wasn't she? Something like a moonlight conjuring should've been easy!
"Hey, look at this!" Skara called them.
Amity looked at them, her eyes landed on Boscha, the incredulous face was more than enough to make her walk up to them and looked at the scroll.
Was that… Willow's account?
"She did a conjuring?" Boscha said, and the surprise in her voice seemed to be mixed with something else Amity couldn't recognize.
It didn't matter; it was gone as soon as it came.
"Yeah, as if, this has to be a fake… moreover, that house was the one that messed up with me!" Boscha added, scrolling down the photos. "There's no way that loser could've been on that!"
"Yeah, you are right, it's obviously a lie!" Skara said, though her eyes never left the ground and… why was she gripping her robe so hard?
Whatever, Amity was just so… irritated. Willow had proven to have immense potential as a witch many times already, and Boscha still tried to sell her a 'half-a-witch' just to feel superior? There had to be a limit, but apparently, Boscha wasn't at hers yet.
But even though Amity would recognize Willow's talent, she knew the girl couldn't pull off something like that… alone.
And she also knew that Willow did have help.
"This is true, same as the fact that we couldn't even move a doll." Amity thought with a frown.
"The 'half-a-witch' is just so lame!" Boscha said and broke into a fit of laugher. "Animating a house? Really? Who would believe such a lie?" She started to move the stuffed animal they had tried to enchant.
Amity almost growled at her. It was one of the few things she had left from…
"Yeah!" Skara said then, cutting her thoughts short. "Who would…?" the bard witch added in a small whisper, looking at her scroll. "Who would…?"
Amity closed her fists at those words, and her jaw clenched to a point where her teeth hurt her.
"Shut up…" She thought, her shoulders shivering.
"How sad is that she even got the little kid and that weirdo on it with her?" Boscha went again. "She can't even get normal friends!" Boscha said, throwing the stuffed animal out by the window.
And Amity had moved before she registered it, there must have been three, four, maybe five seconds before she was conscious of the fact that all the girls were gaping, all but one, that's it.
"Wha… What?" Boscha said, getting a hand up to her face.
Amity was sure she was glaring at her, and her hand raised made everything easier to comprehend, she stood there, in silence, nobody daring to move a muscle.
"…Amity…?" Boscha said.
She couldn't take it anymore. "Get out."
"Eh?"
"Get, out."
"Of… of the room?"
Amity snapped at the question. "Get out of my house! "
There was a sudden movement in the entire room, and not even twenty seconds later all the girls were out. Amity walked to her window and looked outside, the small stuffed bunny had fallen on the counter yard. She summoned her abomination and got it to take the bunny, throwing it back at her.
"You are OK, don't worry…" She hugged it once it was back in her hands. "Sorry for that, Daisy…"
The toy was special, too special. She still remembered the day she got it, the day she got the last thing Willow ever gave her. That small bunny was the only physical memory of their friendship she could still keep with her.
Amity placed the toy in its place, behind all the things her parents bought the following years, extravagant stuffed animals and dolls that served to divert the attention from the only thing she really cared about on the whole shelf.
Her life was just like that, full of useless things covering the real ones.
Amity's scroll buzzed.
She looked at the thing. It could be Boscha looking for an explanation, or Skara just concerned about her… and what Boscha would do to her. Maybe it was her mother wanting to know how the reunion had gone, or maybe, just maybe, those were her siblings who just so happened to have gone out that night to cause mischief in some poor place.
Anyway, she should at the very least look at it.
She wasn't expecting the notification of a new follower on Penstagram, thought, even less the name that appeared in it.
"Lucelyn… Clawthorne?" she read.
The only Clawthorne she knew was Lilith, and the other was…
Eda the 'Owl lady'...
Feeling how the cold sweat rolled down her spine and the blood ran away from her. Amity pressed the name, the time charging to see the profile felt like an eternity. She closed her eyes when it did charge, too afraid to face what could be there… but in the end, her curiosity got the best of her.
And she saw… Luz.
"…What?" she whispered, looking at the profile picture of the girl and the small demon along with a small owl.
She scrolled through the posts. She faced a lot of photos of Willow, Gus, and Luz, all of them laughing, smiling, or scolding. She even found a video where they were cleaning what she supposed was the 'Owl House'.
"What the hell?" Amity said, smiling awkwardly.
They looked stupid! Ridiculous! Dumb! Like morons! They looked… they looked…!
They looked… free, young … happy…
All she wasn't feeling that night with all her 'friends'.
"…Lucelyn, is a weird name," Amity said, sitting on her bed, "…but… it suits her, I think."
She followed her back.
….
Kikimora walked around the castle of the emperor's coven with calm steps, her boiling cup of apple blood in hand.
The night shifts for the guards were her favorites, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be tired of them every now and then.
"Wow, that can't be real!"
"It is my cousin from the construction coven sent it to me!"
She stopped to look at the newest recruits who were facing a scroll and sighed. Making a spiel she took over the control of the device. Both guards panicked when catching sight of her.
"You shall consider your position when doing something like this," she said, "Emperor Belos would…"
She saw the image on the scroll and froze; her cup almost fell out of her grip.
"…Miss. Kikimora?" one of the guards talked. "Could I get my scroll back…?"
"No," she said, turning her back on them. "Consider it your punishment."
She dashed away from them with that. She had to go with the emperor immediately, there was no time left to lose. She turned all the corners and practically burst through the door.
"Kikimora…" Emperor Belos greeted, "what's the matter?"
"My lord, I had come to show you something." She kneeled, showing the scroll.
"You are aware, Kiki, that I don't concern myself with this… 'fashion' most witches use."
"Is about the Clawthorne offspring."
"...Oh…?"
The emperor took the scroll, his eyes surely looking at the same picture she had seen when she took the device.
She saw Clawthorne girl, at least a girl with the description she had gathered so far, using the moon magic to animated a whole house.
"Her friends don't seem to appear on the image," Emperor Belos commented, "and is a lovely shade of red the one that covers her…"
"I could look into them if it's your wish, my lord."
"No need," he said, throwing the scroll back at her. "The friends are not relevant… the girl, she is growing… getting ready each day that passes."
"My lord?"
"Be ready Kiki," he said, and his voice almost sounded…
Happy.
"For the Titan had spoken to me again…" he continued, "this kid… the Titan had told me what this, 'Clawthorne', shall become…"