"The only thing we are destined for; is the moment to choose."
Eda's first reaction was to reach out for Luz, and she almost had her hand in hers, there was just a few inches between them, a few inches keeping her away.
But the spell pulled them apart, and Luz vanished into the darkness.
She opened her eyes in a snap motion and pushed against the restrictions. The shadow chains were too strong, too hot.
Too horrible.
"Damn this shit…" Eda whispered, pushing again, the backslash worse than before.
"Edalyn?"
"What do you want, traitor?"
Eda didn't need to look at Lilith to know she just flinched.
"Edalyn, you have to believe me. I didn't know he was following me!"
"And him thanking you was he just being nice?! Don't try to fool me!"
"Edalyn!"
"You couldn't bear her to be with me, could you?!"
"That doesn't have anything to do with this!"
"It has everything to do with it!"
Eda moved her head, Lilith was immobilized next to her, the same chains, same shackles, same shadows.
Same despair.
"Edalyn, I never wanted this to happen!"
"And what did ya want, then?!"
"I…I…"
"I'll tell ya what you wanted. You wanted my kid!" Eda said, and looked away. "You thought I was a bad mother! That I didn't deserve to have her with me!"
Silence.
"You just wanted to take her away!"
"I wanted to give her a better life!" Lilith screamed back. "You are a criminal, Edalyn! You can't even give her a proper place to sleep!"
"She has a roof!"
"In your demon house?! What kind of roof is that? That stupid thing is full of parasites!"
"Don't you insult Hooty! Only we can do that!"
"Well then! Let's talk about the other things, shall we?!"
"What are ya blabbering about now?!"
Lilith laughed at her. "I'm talking about the lack of full study in your baggage! The fact that all your acquaintances have doubtful backgrounds! Or maybe the fact that you're cursed! Or maybe even the astonishing truth of you not caring at all about her future!"
Eda bit back her reaction, the pain running through all her body with every word. She closed her eyes and after a few seconds, she looked at Lilith.
"I may have been like that, but that's not the case anymore."
"People doesn't change that easily-"
"It wasn't easy!" Eda shouted. "It was hard and painful, and simply stupid and unnecessary, but I did it none the less!"
Lilith scoffed. "I won't be fooled by you."
"I got money from The 'Bat Queen'!"
"Hardly worthy…"
"I sold all the human things I found! I hit the books of the library again, I even read maternity books! I have two friends from my school years that have a nice life and keep themselves out of trouble-!" Eda looked down. "I got supplies for a year to deal with my curse…"
She felt like crying all of the sudden.
"I even got the kid into school today…" Eda whispered, "… I even cleaned all my graffiti… I apologized... So why…?"
"…Edalyn?" Lilith talked again.
"I did it all, Lily… All I could… So why? Why?"
"Why… what?"
Eda looked up, facing Lilith with a face that must've been covered in tears.
"Why do you try to take her away from me?"
…..
Tree branches and bird sounds were the first things Luz registered.
She stood up, slowly and carefully. Her surroundings were calm, but that was far too creepy in the isles.
Luz placed her hand to her face. "What just happened…?"
Her mind went back to Lilith, to Eda, the house… and then darkness. Shadows creeping around her and… holding her, pulling her, making it impossible to move her hand or even concentrate enough to run magic through her bracelet.
And then… then there was nothing, nothing but a voice whispering in her ear.
"Time to make a choice."
"This is a mess…" Luz said, shivering. "I gotta go back to the house…"
She stared at the multiple directions before giving up and running magic through the ice glyph. The ice pillar rose fast and steady until she was over the treetops.
"What…?"
Luz saw in all directions, a huge and thick mist—or maybe those were clouds?—was covering all the possible landscape, making it impossible for her to see where to go.
She was lost in the 'Boiling Isles', and she was alone.
Great.
"Better move…better move before it gets dark…" she said, using her glyph again and making some rough steps out of the pillar.
She walked once her feet touched the ground, moving in the direction that seemed to be the clearest. All the forest had gone silent, even the birds from before had stopped singing and Luz felt completely…
…Alone…
"Don't worry, Eda will find you…" Luz thought, crossing past a tree. "Just keep moving…"
She walked for hours, or at least it felt like it, her legs started to get tired and her mind was becoming fuzzier with every step. Was she still walking in a straight line?
There was a noise and she stopped, looking to the side. She saw an antler.
"Hey, there little buddy…" Luz whispered, closing the distance.
She saw other animals then, she saw birds, and bunnies, she also saw deer, all animals she had seen once on earth. She closed the distance with them, making sure not to scare them.
But one of them noticed her and ran.
The animals were alerted by that and started to turn towards her, all of them. Luz stared helplessly at how they sprinted away from her, a sense of dread building inside her and she suddenly wanted to cry, deeply from her heart, and with all she got, she just wanted to break into tears.
"Why do you run away from, too…?" Luz whispered, and her voice was a lot higher than before.
She looked down, her hands were smaller, her bracelet was gone and she was wearing a sweater!
"What…?"
Luz touched her face, it was rounder, meatier… her hair was longer, too.
"What's happening here?" she said, looking around.
Luz saw a little puddle and ran to it, stopping when she was about to step on it, she looked at her reflection.
...She was seven years old, again.
The forest, the animals, the silence, the loneliness, the fear…
Just like the day she discovered her powers.
"No, no, no… this can't be real…" Luz whispered, closing her eyes. "This can't be real, this can't be real…"
A voice whispered in her ear. "But what if it is…?"
"It can't!"
"But what if…?" the voice repeated.
"It can't!"
"But…"
" It can't! " Luz screamed and opened her eyes.
Something in her left arm stung her and she raised her hands. A blast of flames came out of them, the mist around her—when had that thing appeared?—dispersed with the explosive wave.
Luz looked down again, the puddle was shivering, but she could see herself again, her actual self.
"That was impressive," the voice from before said.
But that time it wasn't a whisper, it came from behind her.
Luz ran energy on the ice glyph, sending a wave of ice spikes behind her and turning to face the person who had just played with her.
She didn't expect to see emperor Belos there, just for him to banish.
"Lucelyn, hello," Belos said, appearing out of thin air, closer to her, "or would you prefer? Luz, perhaps?"
"Where am I?"
He stopped a few steps away from her. "It's really curious, the fact, of that being your first question."
"Answer me."
"You are in the deep woods of the 'Boiling Isles'."
"Why did you bring me here?"
"I think the theme we have to discuss is fairly important," he said, making a move with his hand, "and it would require some… discretion."
"What…What was that from before?"
Belos made a sound that she supposed was a chuckle. "A projection spell, it allows me to see the memories from others."
"Memories?!" Luz thought, backing off.
"Do not worry, it's not like I can see what I wish, no. This technique just allows me to see incredibly powerful and emotionally charged moments… just as that one, when you felt so… alone? That seems to be adequate."
Luz was shivering. Belos' prescience had something to it that made her body go stiff. Her heart was racing and all her instincts were screaming for her to run .
And yet, she was frozen in her place.
"What do you want from me?" Luz asked.
Belos made a sound but didn't talk. He, instead, walked closer and closer. Luz tensed more and more with each step, her senses going into overdrive.
Another step closer, and her heart was about to burst outside her chest, her pulse pumping in her ears.
Another step closer, and her bracelet started to vibrate on her arm, the heat in her limb was hurting her, the scorching sensation increasing.
Another step closer, and she felt like her breath got cut off, she couldn't breathe, her eyes flew from Belos approaching figure to any possible escape route, but she couldn't see any.
Belos passed next to her. "Walk with me, and I shall reveal your future to you."
"…What?" Luz asked; the shivering getting worse. "What could you know about my future?"
"I'm the Emperor. I listen to the Titan's voice… I, and only I," he said, looking at her, "know all. Now come, Luz, I have what you are looking for."
Luz stared after him, her body reacted before she did.
Step, step, step. Luz was following him at a steady pace, her mind still trying to figure out what was happening. Her body screamed 'danger' and begged her to run, but her head was fuzzy, mixed, and ordered her to stay… to listen.
"I do know of you, Luz," Belos said, "of your abilities… and their origins."
He stopped in a clear and turned to face her.
"I know all about your magic… and the rest of you."
Luz clenched her jaw, closed her fists, and glared at him. "What happened to Eda?"
"Ah?"
"What happened to Eda?" she repeated.
Belos seemed to think about it, he studied her and Luz caught sight of blue light coming out of his mask's eyes.
"She should be dead by now," he said.
"…What?"
"She should be dead. I threw quite a killing spell, but yet, I haven't received the response I expected… she might survive if she was as cunning as the rumors say."
Luz glared, he had tried to kill Eda… he had attacked her to kill her… he could've…
"Why would you care? She is just a wild beast at this point anyway," Belos asked.
And Luz blasted fire at him.
….
"Edalyn, stop!"
"Never!"
Eda crashed her head against the chains again. The blood ran down the spell chains and her face—if the wet feeling was anything to go by—the pain taking away the drowsiness.
"Edalyn, you are just hurting yourself!" Lilith shouted.
"And while I'm here, that bastard is hurting Luz!"
"You don't know that!"
Eda turned her head to Lilith. "Then why would he possibly need to restrain you if he wasn't doing something bad to Luz?!"
Lilith didn't respond to that.
"I have to get out of here!" Eda said, glaring at her chains. "I have to save her!"
Eda hit the chains one more time, her strength leaving her right after it.
"…I have to go with Luz…" she whispered, looking at the chains.
That spell was complex, strange, and powerful. Not something anyone could do… heck, she wasn't even sure she could build something like that! The spell was shifting, the chains were seemingly unbreakable and the shadows around her made her feel tired.
"Just what in the hell is this…?"
"…It's the 'Black Prison'," Lilith said, "one of Emperor Belos original spells."
Eda's eyes snapped open, and she turned to her sister again. Lilith was looking down at her hands. For the first time, Eda saw how worn out Lilith was, her eyes were hardly open, and she was shivering.
"What do ya mean with 'original'?"
"Emperor Belos has the will of the Titan with him, he knows it all… including the right ways to fuse magic."
"Fuse magic?! But that's all that the coven system goes against!"
Lilith let out a small laugh. "Only he has the right…"
Eda stared, gaping. How dared that bastard to build an entire system on how mixing magic was wild and dangerous when he spent his time doing the same?!
"That bastard is a hypocrite!" Eda screamed, "I'm going to break his stupid bones when I get out of this!"
"We can't," Lilith muttered.
"What was that?!"
"We can't get out of this, Edalyn." Lilith raised her head, looking at her. "This spell is the 'perfect prison' he worked on, to capture the most powerful and daring witches."
"Who cares? I'm just going to break it! All magic has a weak spot!"
"Not this one," Lilith said, and she let out a broken laugh. "He mixed illusion, bard, and plant magic with power glyphs for this… he makes the illusion change, making chains that go over vines to hold you, while the bard magic makes you feel more and more tired…"
Eda glared at the spell, fighting the chains again, she concentrated and was able to feel the vine texture. At least Lilith knew what she was talking about.
"The Emperor has the most powerful magic of all witches…" Lilith whispered. "We are… done for…"
There was silence after that, and Eda looked at her sister.
Lilith was laying on the ground.
"Lily?!" she shouted, but there was no response. "Come on Lily! You have to wake up!"
But she didn't, Eda was alone.
Just as always.
Eda closed her eyes and bit her lip, keeping herself from crying and screaming.
Caring about people was hurting her so much lately. Why was she doing all that again? Why was she picking a fight she wasn't sure she could win? Why in hell did she make all of the things she did lately?!
She hated kids! But still talked about Luz with Morton with a peace she hadn't felt in years!
She hated honest work! But she kept the stand for human curiosities up just because she liked to work with Luz—she had never told her that—around and seeing the kid smile when their sales were good, and then talk while buying groceries on their way back home!
She hated Hexside! And yet, for the love of Titan! Eda had enrolled Luz, fixed all the things that made her proud when she was a kid!
What was wrong with her? She was Edalyn Clawthorne!
Eda shook her head, and screamed, the sound pierced her ears, and Titan it hurt! But she couldn't stop it.
And then something fell from her hair.
Eda looked down, finding a small, folded paper sheet. She took it up slowly; her hands were already shaking, her eyelids heavy and her mind becoming blurrier and blurrier.
"Eda the 'Owl Lady', her apprentice Luz the 'Wandering Witch' and King 'The King of Demons'!"
Luz's drawing, but it was… different.
Eda passed a hand over the paper. She felt the difference in it, new traces, and new colors on it. She stared at it for maybe a minute, or maybe an hour. But she felt her mind wonder, going back to all those stupid moments in the house.
Eda waking up to find Luz in the living room looking at her magic books, the two of them cooking until King got to the kitchen asking for food, the walks to the stand, her work making potions while Luz practiced her runes in a chair close to her cauldron, they talking nonsense about human things and discussing over the stupidest of things.
Eda couldn't believe how her life now had all to do with Luz.
Doing house chores in the morning together, working on the stand on the afternoons with any weird adventure they could find, and cooking something together on the night just to go to the living room to read until none of them could stay up any longer.
Eda didn't want to lose that… she didn't want to lose her family again!
"Family…?" Eda whispered, "Luz is… my…"
Eda closed her eyes.
And there was a roar in the back of her mind.
The 'Owl Beast' appeared in front of her. And she snapped awake, her magic going more and more powerful inside her.
"That bastard…" Eda growled, standing slowly, the chains kept pulling her down. "That un-happy little piece of a half-man… is not… taking… my family! "
Eda moved her hand and Owlbert materialized there, she spun her staff making three spells. Belos wanted to play the great witch?
Two could play that game!
Eda stopped her staff and glared at the three spell circles, raising her free hand. She blasted the first spell, making a wave of fire tongues that covered the chains, she blasted the second one, a series of light blades cut through the darkness, and at last, she activated the third spell, a huge mass of pure light shone over the place.
"You can't stop me!" Eda screamed, closing her eyes. "And you aren't. Taking. Luz!"
There was a movement, and then a shattering sound. Eda closed her eyes and waited until the pressure from the chains was gone. When she opened them again, she found herself standing in the middle of a cove. Lilith was unconscious on the ground next to her with the water covering half her face.
"That bastard moved us…" Eda whispered, moving closer to Lilith.
She took her sister out of the water and walked out of the damn place. She recognized too little of her surroundings, but the smell told her she was away from the coast, so Eda guessed they were land-in.
And Belos couldn't have taken Luz far.
Eda looked at Lilith, the unconscious body of her sister should be fine in the small cave she had found the cove. She would love to take her or wake her at the very least. But time was not on her side.
"Wait for me, Kiddo," Eda whispered, getting on Owlbert. "I'm coming for ya."
….
"You are not telling me anything, are you?" Luz asks at the end of fifteen minutes of silence.
She had counted the seconds after attacking him. They had run, Belos disappearing into thin air every time Luz tried to burn him, freeze him or just trap him, all that while they moved, getting into the woods, Luz had finally given up in trying to hurt the witch and was now walking after him… again.
Belos laughed, stopping in another small clear. Luz was really surprised by the quantity of those.
"Are you ready to listen?"
"Would you let me go if I said no?"
"Certainly not."
"Then I guess I'm ready."
He seemed amused enough with that answer.
"Haven't you ever considered, asked yourself? Why can you do what you do?" Belos asked, "Why is it that you can do magic so powerful? Why can you manage to bring real power into your will?"
"What would you know about it?!" Luz screamed while blasting a new wave of fire against him.
Belos banished it with a move of his head. "Oh, but I do know more than you think, little witch. Or should I say? Half-a-witch?"
Luz froze in her place; her hand still extended in the direction of the man, his mask was perfectly covering his face, but somehow Luz knew, she knew, he was smiling.
"How did you know?" She asked, her voice trembling.
"I'm the emperor; I listen to the Titan's will, so, why wouldn't I know?" He asked back, "I'm wise enough to provide the answers you seek, Lucelyn Clawthorne… or, should I perhaps call you, Luz Noceda? I think we covered all of this with my presentation earlier."
It was official, Luz had never been so scared in her life.
She blasted a new wave of fire, getting a bit of a distance she started to run, the woods should give her enough advantage. She used her plants' glyph to get the trees to cover after her.
She needed to run, she needed to escape…
"Running is useless against me, child…"
Belos' voice came like a whisper but Luz heard it like a shout. She was about to jump over a fallen tree when a hand shot through the ground, holding her in the middle of the air. Luz fought against the thing, but her force was being… taken away from her?!
"My child, you shouldn't be fighting me, I just want to help you," Belos said, materializing in front of her.
Luz glared at him. "You tried to take Eda down, now I'll do the same to you!"
Luz raised her left hand, the fire glyph lit up right away and the torrent of flames got out immediately.
"Enough games," Belos said.
And she felt how something covered her arm and twisted .
Her scream must have been really horrible, but she couldn't hear it.
Luz looked at her arm, the bracelet had stopped shining, her hand was the wrong way and there was blood coming from her elbow.
"I was careful not to damage the bone, so it'll heal fast enough," he said, "I can't have you out of the sight so long."
Luz glared at him, swallowing the pain. "W…W-What's your problem?"
"Problem?" Belos repeated, walking up to her, the ground making a staircase for him until he was eye to eye with Luz. "I don't have a problem… more like a… situation, if you will, and you are helping me fix it."
"I…I prefer to… die than... helping you…"
"Why such an extreme?"
"You… you hurt… Eda…"
Belos got a hand to his—Luz supposed he had it there—chin. "Ah, the 'Owl Lady'… yes, she has the effect of getting under the skin of pretty important people, if you may say it like that."
Luz greeted her teeth, she wouldn't have another chance to prepare, she needed to concentrate.
"I'm really disappointed in her choice to not join my Coven, really, she haves such a… power that could help the isles…" He then sighed and shook his head. "Is so sad she decided to embrace her wild ways."
"What would you know about… her?"
Belos was… surprised?
"What…? I know more than anyone the risks of wild magic, that's why the Titan asked me to give the witch folk a way of doing magic right, to be what they are meant to be!"
"Some sheep under your control?"
"Being the ruler is a duty that I've come to charge with…"
Yeah. Luz knew all that talk, the martyr that did everything for the people when the only thing they cared about was the power, the control. She glared at Belos, her magic slowly, painfully, and unevenly got to her bracelet.
Just a little more…
"…And is a weight that would be on your shoulders someday."
Luz stopped charging magic to her arm and her eyes went wide, looking directly into Belos'.
"W…What?"
The man let out a laugh.
"You really never thought about it?" He asked, moving around her. "How can you use such powerful magic? How you don't run out of power? Please, you must have suspected something when all those creatures ran away from you minutes ago, just as they did with me…"
"They ran from me…?" Luz repeated, her mind getting numb. "How would you…?"
"Please, I think I already explained that part… I-"
"Know all…" Luz finished.
"…Good, you are learning."
"So… all this time, you've been looking at me?"
Belos got his hand on her face, cupping her cheek.
"But of course, since the moment Lilith informed me about you after the Covention, I've been praying to the titan for your safety."
"Why?"
Luz was already guessing the answer, she was terrified of it. She stared at the eyes of the man, the perfect blue more threatening than ever.
"Because you, Luz. You were born in an era of chaos, an era when the entire world is being held together just by me and my Coven and the Titan's power. You came back from beyond the barriers of our realm… all to face your destiny!"
"My… destiny…?"
Belos left go of her, his hand was soon holding a staff that Luz could swear had metal and wires on it.
"You, Luz Noceda, the half-human," Belos said, "are my daughter."
Luz stopped breathing at that moment.
"No… no…" she whispered.
"You were given a gift! The power to use the isles magic!" Belos continued, "I was bestowed with the duty of sharing the isles will, but you, you have the isles magic! More than using your magic, or the isles magic, you fuse them, you turn the isles magic into your own!"
Luz's mind rushed back to her memories of using magic. She always felt so drained while on earth. But coming to the isles and feeling so strong, stronger than ever…
"I see you already remember. How the isles blessed you, how they shared their power with you."
Luz shook her head. "What 'bout it? That's not proof of anything!"
"Oh dear," Belos said, holding her face again. "It's proof of everything."
Belos then moved his staff, changing the entire layout; Luz wasn't in the forest anymore, but in a palace. The place was golden and white, with black carpets and plants at just the right distance between them.
"This is your future… your destiny," Belos voice came from nowhere and everywhere. "The palace… the glory of being the new herald of the Titan's will. You were born special; your destiny already chose you before you even set a foot on the isles…"
"I… was born special?" Luz though.
Her mind was getting dizzy.
"You are destined to serve a great purpose, greater than yourself, greater than even me." Belos voice echoed in her head. "Follow, your path…"
"My… path…" Luz thought, her eyelids were getting too heavy.
"That's why you have to choose yourself."
"Eda?" Luz thought, the flash in her mind of the woman with the falling sun and stars shining behind her…
"Her name is Lucelyn Clawthorne, and she is my kid, Lily."
Covention after the incident flashed in her head, Eda's arms were… so, so warm…
"You´ll never let me live that down, will ya?"
Leaving the owl house without knowing if she could make friends with Amity, without knowing if her parents even were on the register in the library, when she didn't know if she could find the truth…
"I'm happy you are here kiddo."
"Ya are my responsibility."
"We'll find the answers together."
"I'm here for you Luz, if you need me."
Luz's eyes snapped open and she groaned, pushing away the dizziness with her will.
"I'm not falling for your tricks!" she screamed and the whole image shattered.
Luz fell to her knees, looking around. She was back in the woods, the hand that held her before gone and the tree that had kept her arm in the wrong angle was back to normal.
But Belos was still in front of her.
"Most impressive," he said, "you freed yourself, just what I would expect from my daughter…"
"Stop!"
Luz raised her head, standing slowly she never stopped glaring at the man.
"I don't care what you say… I don't care if the blood in my veins is the same as yours; I am not your daughter!"
Belos scoffed. "How can you deny what you are?"
"I don't care what I am!" Luz shouted. "The only thing that matters is who I am!"
"And who are you, then?!" Belos screamed at her. "Are you Luz, the human? Or Lucelyn the witch? Which one are you?!"
Luz smiled at the furious man, and that seemed to be all she had to do. That was all she needed.
"I am, Lucelyn Clawthorne, apprentice and daughter of Edalyn Clawthorne, and I'm also Luz Noceda, daughter of Camila Noceda, a half-human, half-witch!" Luz said raising her arm, forcing her magic through the bracelet, the pain shot through her right away. "And I'll never! Join you…! Now eat this suckka!"
Luz's fire glyph shined stronger than ever, the blast wasn't a ball, nor a single ray. Not even the owl. No, she made an incinerator.
Belos blocked her attack with his staff. "This is useless, your resistance only brings you pain! Accept your destiny, come with me!"
Luz pushed more power through her glyphs, the bracelet shined stronger and the flames got wilder, bigger, and brighter, the heat starting to burn away the grass and flowers. Luz kept pushing, feeling like something entered her body, and then went the way she wanted to go.
"I'll never stop fighting you!" Luz screamed, and her eyes started to burn. "Newsflash old man, I'm making my own destiny!"
Luz closed her eyes and opened them. Her Bracelet shook and she caught by the rear of her eye how the light glyph illuminated too, the flames changed with that. The orange almost red torrent of fire transformed into a yellow-orange mass of energy that pushed like a laser through all in its way.
Luz saw Belos being pushed back, and she also saw how his barrier cracked.
"I can do this!" Luz thought, smiling.
"…I've grown tired of these games."
Belos voice came from behind her. And before Luz could react something smashed her left arm.
"Maybe now you'll be willing to listen to me…"
Luz was screaming, her throat hurt enough for it to go numb, her voice must have cracked, it most certainly did, but she couldn't hear it. She couldn't focus on anything.
Just on the pain and on the blood…
"Small child… I'm sorry you have to suffer like this," Belos said, his voice devoid of any emotion. "But you wouldn't listen to me by the proper ways… it's sad to have to destroy your handy work, it was a good start."
Luz's eyes were glued to her arm. Where before was her bracelet; now was a dark purple limb full of cuts and shards of metal. A part of it was twisted downwards, her bone broken and a bit of it was exposed out of the flesh.
"The bone will take some time to heal, sadly, but I'm sure we can make use of the time out of the public eye," Belos continued, "would you like me to numb your pain?"
Luz wanted to beg him to make it stop. But she bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood.
She was not giving him the pleasure.
"Well, I guess you don't." The man sighed. "Then, we must depart for the palace… after all, you need to be educated properly."
He leaned closer to her, and even with his mask in the middle, Luz knew he was smiling.
"You are nothing without me," he whispered, "never, ever forget that."
"Get your gross hands off my kid!" Another voice came, and there was a small explosion.
Luz's vision was a blur, but she could make out that silver hair and orange magic everywhere.
"E…Eda…" she managed to say.
And then she fainted.
…
"You are surprisingly cunning, aren't you, 'Owl Lady'?"
Eda growled at him. Her body tense and magic already casted, she glanced back at Luz, the kid was unconscious but she looked fine enough.
She tried to ignore her left arm.
"I must thank you for taking care of Luz while I couldn't," Belos said, "you've proven to be a great teacher, I must say."
"Your praise is rubbish!" Eda said. "Save it and scram, would ya?"
Belos laughed at her. "Oh, but is not only my praise what I offer you. I've heard of your… condition, from your sister, a pretty nasty curse, if I recall."
Eda tensed.
"You turn into a beast, without any control over yourself, and worst, each time you become weaker, magic slipping between your fingers…"
"That doesn't have anything to do with Luz, you, me, or this moment!" She blasted a lightning bolt against him.
Belos blocked it with his staff. "You are right, but what if I told you I can fix it?"
"In exchange for joining your Coven? No thanks," Eda said, attacking again, the result was the same. "You don't care about me, or my curse, you just want to catch me so your precious system is not threatened!"
Belos laughed again. "You are indeed more cunning than your sister," he said, "is true, I don't care about you, or your curse… but today, I have another deal for you."
"Another deal?"
Belos nodded. "Give me my daughter, give Luz back to me, and I'll take your curse away. I'll give you the way to take it, and the material; you'll be free… in exchange for a single girl."
Eda stopped there, and looked back at Luz.
She was Belos…?
No, that was impossible! Eda looked back down to the kid, Luz was grimacing in her sleep, and her arm…
She couldn't look at it, she wasn't that strong.
"What do you say?" Belos asked, making her look at him. "Will you take my offer, Edalyn Clawthorne?"
A month and a half ago she would've, not caring about anything.
But now…
She saw a flash of Luz smiling at her, remembered the kid waiting for her on the stand on weekends, or waiting for her to have breakfast together before going out. The jokes, the fights…
"No," she said, raising her staff.
"Excuse me?"
"I said no, you weirdo!" Eda shouted, "I won't give you Luz, not now, not ever!"
Belos stared at her before he started to shake his head.
"I expected you to be wiser, 'Owl Lady'," Belos said, raising his own staff. "But I guess I've... overestimate you."
"You are about to see who is overestimating who, idiot!"
Eda jumped ahead, letting her magic push her to the front. She smashed herself against Belos barrier.
"You'll never have Luz!" Eda screamed.
"I will take her…"
His words were cut short.
Eda was pushed away by a mysterious wave of power. She looked at Belos, but he was coughing, almost falling to his knees. He got his free hand to his mask.
"No… No!" he said, "Is happening too fast… too fast!"
Eda saw him stand straight and throw a death glare at her. She returned it with the same level of rage.
"You win… for now, 'Owl Lady'," Belos said, starting to banish, "but remember… I'll come for her… she is my daughter after all…"
"I don't care what you think, but the kid is mine ." Eda said, "so back of, or so Titan helps me…"
Belos and Eda maintained the battle of wills with their eyes until he was completely gone. The maximum threat was already out of the board.
But she couldn't relax.
Turning and running to Luz, Eda kneeled, she checked her, and almost cried when seeing her left arm, the shards of her bracelet, some were on the floor and others were buried in the flesh of her arm.
"Resist Kiddo, I…I'm going to do something I… I just need to take out the shards of metal and then. Then I need to place a spell…" Eda was shivering too much, she couldn't… she couldn't do it alone!
She got Owlbert and mounted, carrying Luz in a bridal style with her bad arm in her chest. Eda made Owlbert take off.
There was only a place where she could go.
"Please, please resist Kiddo…"
…...
Eda had been to the house, granted, the first time she was a teen and it wasn't in the best circumstances—neither were those—but she knew at least enough to place her hopes on that move.
"Edalyn?" Good, Aaron was the one who opened up. "What are you-? Oh my Titan, Luz?!"
"Aaron, I know you have questions and I'm sure you won't like the answers I have, but now, I need ya to help my kid!"
Was that her voice? When did she become so desperate ?
Aaron stared at her, nodding slowly. He moved aside and left her in, pointing for the small guest room at the end of the corridor. Eda rushed there, opening with all the care she could get out of her trembling hands, the room was neat, smaller than Luz's room but a lot more organized.
And it had a bed, thing Eda hadn't taken the time to get for Luz.
"What happened?" Aaron asked entering the room with an apron and a box of what Eda assumed were first aids.
"We were attacked, the bastard smashed her arm with a boulder," Eda explained, "I…I studied the wound and it seemed like…like…"
Aaron scooted closer and held Eda by the shoulder, making her look. "Like what Edalyn?"
"Like… Like he broke it beforehand," she finally let out, "he twisted without touching the bone but…"
"I get it," Aaron said, stopping her, "I know is difficult, but I won't be able to help her if I don't know what I'm treating."
"You always were one of the best healers around…"
"And yet, I'm not a healer, my magic is sealed Edalyn and you know it," he pointed out, "Why didn't you go to the real healers?!"
Eda bit her lip. "'Cause the man who attacked us has all healers in this isle under his thumb," Eda said, shaking her head. "Aaron. You are the only one in the isles that won't rat me out, I need your help, I'll make the magic, but I can't cast any spell while the metal is in her arm!"
"Metal?" he asked, turning towards Luz's maimed limb. "What-?"
Eda had seen it, how the ragged skin was being performed by the metal shards, the bleeding had stained her clothes, and the movement may have made it worse if she wasn't careful… She was careful.
She was careful!
Eda greeted her teeth, looking away. "The bastard destroyed her bracelet… while she was using it."
Aaron didn't say anything, but the look he sent her was enough to make Eda shiver. He moved closer to the wound, starting to clean it, Luz moved in her sleep, letting soft growls of pain.
"This is horrible…"
"Aaron?"
Eda turned with a spell ready to attack, her rage dying when she caught sight of Marcus.
"Edalyn?" Marcus asked, looking into the room. "What's happening here?"
"I'm so sorry Marcus, but I need your husband," Eda said.
"What- what in Titan's name happened Edalyn?"
She didn't have the strength to say it again. So she moved aside, and the horror in Marcus' face was enough for Eda to feel worse.
"Luz!" He gasped, both hands covering his mouth. "How did this happen?"
"They were attacked, Edalyn already explained," Aaron replied. "Her arm is bad, Marcus, I need all the medicinal herbs we have."
"There are not enough for wounds like that…"
"Then go get Willow and have her grow more!" Aaron screamed, glaring at his husband. "This is her best friend, she will gladly do it!"
Eda stared at the couple, she had seen them fight—granted, those were their teenage times—but…but never had she seen them like that. Marcus nodded and left the room running. Eda moved closer to where Aaron had started to take the metal out of Luz.
She felt like throwing up.
She scavenged corpses of nastier and bigger things for fun . She had seen blood, she had shed her own more than once… So why?
Why couldn't she bear the sight of Luz's blood?
"Edalyn, I need you to heal her along with me taking the metal out, I'm gonna have to fix the bone while we are at it," Aaron said, snapping her back to reality, "this is bad, if we are not careful…"
Eda growled and started the spell. "Tell me, Aaron, I can take it."
"Luz could lose the arm."
Well, that was a lie, she couldn't.
The shake that overcame her almost made her stop the healing spell, but she held it. Her eyes on Luz's face.
She would not let the emperor get what he wanted.
Luz was her kid!
"Stay with me kiddo… I'm going to fix ya…" Eda thought, concentrating on the spell once again. "Well then we have work to do, don't we?"
…..
Luz was floating, and yet, she felt so heavy.
Also, she was missing something, something important.
Her mind stayed wondering for a long time, or maybe it was short, she wasn't sure.
She opened her eyes slowly, the ceiling over her head was familiar, but not her room. The bed was comfortable, but different…
"Where am I?" She thought, trying to move. A shoot of pain kept her in place. " Demonios … What the hell?"
Luz looked down, she was in her sleep clothes, and by the way it felt, there were bandages in her middle, her legs seemed fine and her right arm moved…
Her left arm…
She saw with dread the place where her limb should've been. It was still attached to her, but the whole thing was covered in a cast that went from her fingertips to a third over her elbow.
She couldn't feel any of it.
"What happened?" she whispered, getting a hand to cover her face.
The flashes came to her mind almost like bolts of lightning. The forest, Lilith, the shadows, the demonic creatures, the cold… Belos…
He had done that to her… he destroyed her bracelet.
Luz felt weak all of sudden. Her stomach twisted and she jolted to the side, throwing up on the floor. Her entire body shivering, she almost fell from the bed.
She couldn't breathe.
"Luz?!"
She couldn't make out the person, but she felt a pair of hands holding her steady and raising her until she was seated. Then said hand went over her face.
"N…No…" why was it so hard to talk? "I…I just… puked…."
"I know Kiddo, and that's why you're letting me do this."
That voice…
"E…Eda…?"
"Who else would I be?" the woman said, Luz felt a piece of cloth in her face. "You've been out cold for two days, I was beginning to worry."
"…Two…days…?"
Luz's eyes finally began to work as they should. She caught an… unexpected sight.
Eda was worn out, her hair messier than usual, her eyes had bags under them and even her gem was a little dark. Her face was thinner than before and her dress had stains of a darker shade of red.
"A…Are you... OK?" Luz managed to ask.
The surprise on Eda's face was enough of an answer.
"Aren't ya sweet?" Eda asked back, "You went and fell for two days and the first thing you ask is if I'm OK?"
Luz cocked her head to the side. "You… are…?"
Eda smiled, when finished cleaning her face. The woman closed the distance, hugging her .
"Now I am Kiddo… now I am…" Eda whispered.
And Luz broke.
All the emotions she hadn't faced until then, the fear, angst, sadness… the pain. All came crashing down and Luz cried. Her throat was sore and her lungs stung her horribly. But she couldn't stop. She gripped Eda's dress with her good hand and cried a river on her shoulder. Eda didn't move, she just stayed there, holding her.
"Would ya look at that?" Eda muttered when Luz's cries died, she was about to fall asleep again, "You are a kid after all, just see how you cry."
"Eda…" Luz muttered.
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"Wha…What are we going to do…?"
Eda's grip on her became stiff, harder somehow, and Luz looked up.
Eda was scared.
"I don't know, Luz…" She sighed. "But I'm not letting that idiot take you, you are my kid, not his."
Luz nodded. "But… but what if he is right and I'm-"
"Listen here, ya." Eda cut her off. "Even if somehow he wasn't lying, that changes nothing! He left you, and now he wants you? I'm not letting him place his hands on you, not after what he had done to ya…"
Eda then pulled her away and made her lay down.
"You are Lucelyn Clawthorne, and you are Luz Noceda, the half-a-witch looking for her family," Eda said, smiling, "you ain't nothing of that bastard, got it?"
Luz stared at her. The fight with Belos came to her mind, shaking her to the core.
"I don't care what I am, the only thing that matters is who I am!"
"Gotcha…" Luz said. "Thanks, mom…"
Eda smiled at her, patting her head. "Your welcome kiddo… now get some sleep, will ya? I don't want Aaron yelling my ears off 'cause I kept ya awake."
Luz nodded and watched Eda go.
Closing her eyes the image of Belos and his power flashed her memory. Also the blurry scene of her arm and her destroyed bracelet. She shook her head.
For now, she needed sleep.
.
.
.
END OF PART ONE
THANKS FOR READING!