I hope y'all love this chapter of Luz Clawthorne...especially the ending, but you gotta read through it in order to get to the ending. So for newcomer readers, don't read the reviews unless you want the full time experience and then review it.

Luz: We've had enough leaks around this community.

Anne Boochuy: Wait, you two?

Steven Universe: Speaking from experience.

Yup, even in this fanfic I expect some hush-hush or else you will be sent to the Fly of Despair! So, I don't own Owl House as it belongs to Dana and Disney. Enjoy the story.

Chapter 17: Raising Human

Three years have passed since the incident at the slayground.

Luz Clawthorne, age eight, was wearing boxing gloves and jersey clothing as she stood in front of a punching bag.

"Is this really necessary?" Luz asked. She held up a little notebook with a light glyph on it. "Couldn't I just defend myself with my magic?"

"You only learned one spell, Luz," Eda pointed out. "That won't be enough, especially since you can't always use magic to solve your problems. Which is something I had to learn myself." When she saw her adopted daughter lower her head, Eda knelt down to her level. "Look, you need to learn this. Because the truth is, I won't always be here to protect you and you may one day have to take care of yourself. Which means knowing how to throw a good punch."

"I'm… not sure if I can do this…" Luz said timidly.

"Look kid, let me ask you something… do you want what happened at the slayground a few years ago to happen to you again?" Eda asked, making Luz's arms shiver. "I know you don't want to bring it up, but I just want you to realize why this is important and I want to give you a little motivation."

Luz looked up to her mom, who stood up and got out of the way of the punching bag that stood before her. "So I just punch it?"

"Punch it with emotions, kiddo," Eda encouraged. "Like, punch the anger out of you. Anytime you feel upset, angry, distraught, just punch out your feelings to this bag. It's a very therapeutic way to vent."

Luz looked at the punching bag stand, which was about her size. She punched the bag lightly before looking at her boxing gloves. She took a deep breath and started to remember how she was hurt that day. How she was beaten. Her arms shivered as she looked up at the bag again. Only in its place was one of the older teens that had beaten her, broken her leg, and made her feel like an outsider.

"SILENCE THAT THING!" screamed the teen at Luz.

Her eyes widened as she took a few steps back from the punching bag. She was hyperventilating, all her traumatic memories flooding back to her. Eda realized that Luz was about to have a panic attack and she rushed forward to comfort her.

"Luz!" Eda cried out while calming her daughter down. She hugged Luz tightly to her chest. "I'm here, I'm here…" she said while brushing her hair. "It's okay to let it out, it's okay to cry."

Luz nodded and closed her eyes, starting to cry.

All Edalyn wanted to do today was to sell some human junk at the stand. Especially since Hexside was giving its students a break from school before the upcoming exams, allowing them time to study and prepare. Unfortunately, it would be harder for her to find customers on the day of the annual book fair.

"Ugh, just what we need, a nerd fair," Eda grumbled while Luz used her bat to swat a talking book away from her.

"Well there's nothing we could do about it right now," Luz said, spotting Eileen managing a romantic book stand. She picked one up and read the title: "'My Summer With A Ponytail' by Scabiney Myers."

Eileen wrote on her marker board and showed it to Luz: "It's a romance between a Medusa and a ponytail."

"That, uh, sounds interesting," Luz said as she put the book back.

"Luz!" King ran up to her. "Did you see how much these book nerds worship that author John de Plume? I should be the one with such influence and power over these people!"

"Let me guess, the King of Demons wants to be the King of Books?" Luz asked.

"That's right! With my writing and creative expertise, and your crooked links to resources, we'll be unstoppable in the market!" King declared, raising his little paw up.

"Sure, anything for ya, little guy," Luz stated, patting his skull head.

"Welp, that's the end of my business," Eda said as she closed up shop.

"Where are you going?" Luz asked her.

"I'm going to get me more apple blood, you two just stay out of trouble," Eda told them while heading out. The Owl Lady already knew that those two were going to be up to some shenanigans from this point.

"Well, it looks like our A-plot will be quite interesting," King declared.

"Yeah, like if we were in some kind of story, we'd be in the main focus," Luz agreed. "I mean, who else is going to be the main focus other than the plucky bad girl and her cute mascot?"

"Yeah! Wait, why are you calling your ruler a mascot!?"

Luz just snickered.

Eda walked through the book fair, planning on getting herself some apple blood. However, while glancing at a book called 'The Magic Mirror' with a mirror on the cover, she noticed something and took a closer look. It was her reflection. There was another wrinkle around her eyes.

"Oh no," Eda whispered, feeling her face. "The curse is quickening… or it could just be motherhood… either one of the two."

"You, lackey," said a familiar voice.

Recognizing the voice, Eda quickly hid behind a poster and noticed her sister along with Steve the coven guard with their backs turned to her.

'What is my sister doing here?' Eda thought suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. 'Although, at a place like this I'm not surprised. She was always a bookworm, even back when we were girls.'

"Do you have the item we discussed?" Lilith asked a humanoid weasel-looking demon in a robe and glasses.

"Why of course, Madame Lilith," he responded, handing her a map.

She opened it and looked it over. "This is excellent. A map to the Bloom of Eternal Youth. The Emperor will be very pleased."

"Uh pardon me, ma'am," Steve spoke up. "But aren't we supposed to be hunting down the Owl Lady and bringing her in to join the Emperor's coven? Remember that whole plan? I still think we could have used her daughter to-"

"The Emperor has given us another mission," Lilith interrupted. "One that we must not fail in. As for my sister, Eda's curse is making her frail. It will only be a matter of time before she will be caught. She will still be here when we get back… and so will her daughter. But this comes first. It is for the Emperor, after all."

Steve enthusiastically knocked a row of books on a stand to the ground and lifted his arms above his head. "Yeah! All hail the Emperor!"

Lilith, amused by her companion's enthusiasm, patted him on the head. "Very good, Steve."

The two walked away, Steve patting himself on the shoulder as he followed Lilith. "Shoulder pats for Steve."

Eda watched her sister leave. "The Bloom of Eternal Youth, huh?" she asked herself, curious. Once Lilith and Steve were gone, Eda headed to the stand they were just at to ask the demon manning it more about the map he had just given to her sister.

Back at the Owl House, Eda had just finished packing enough elixir for a several day trip. She was preparing to beat her sister to the Bloom of Eternal Youth, hoping that it would keep her curse from growing. She was obviously taking Owlbert along with her, as well as some food and apple blood in her travel mug.

"Luz, come here!" Eda called out, bringing Luz to the living room.

Luz noticed that Eda was all packed up. "What adventure are you going on now?"

"Just a little trip, it should only take a few days if I find what I'm looking for," Eda explained. "You're in charge of the house until I get back. I left some money if you want to order food, just promise me to be on your best behavior, okay?"

"Sure, mom," Luz said and Eda gave her a hug in response.

"That's my girl," Eda told her, though deep down she felt guilty for keeping information about her curse getting worse from her daughter. 'Maybe with this flower I don't have to worry about telling her,' she thought to herself as she started to leave. "See you when I get back," she said as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey Luz, I think I've finished my story!" King declared as he walked in with a full manuscript and handed it to Luz.

"Alright, now I know someone who knows a lot about literature and could probably look this over for you," Luz suggested.

"If I'm gonna be honest, this isn't a good story to submit," Amity told them after reading King's manuscript while sitting down with them in a café.

"You just don't know true talent when you see it!" King accused her while in a baby seat.

"King, behave and eat your spider muffin!" Luz scolded him as she took a bite of a spider-filled muffin and turned to Amity. "So that bad, huh?"

"Well there's a lot of swearing, violence for the sake of violence, and weirdly uncomfortable scenes that do not serve the plot in any way," Amity pointed out. "This has too much edge, at least for my taste, but there's also just no structure or flow."

"I'll have you know that the audience thirsts for violence in this dark, cruel world!" King stated as he ate his muffin.

Amity just shook her head and looked at Luz. "You know, Luz, have you ever thought of submitting a story of your own?"

"Nah, I'm not the writer type," Luz told Amity. "I'm just helping King with his dream of being an author so he can develop a cult or something."

"You mean a fandom?" Amity asked.

"What's the difference?" Luz questioned.

Amity almost snorted, which didn't go unnoticed by Luz. "W-Well, after having seen some of your art, I think you could still tell your own stories if you want to. Something like a comic book might be more up your alley."

"Hmm… that does sound like something to do in my spare time," Luz pondered before he noticed King getting off his booster seat. "King, where are you going?"

"I'm going out to find someone that would appreciate my craft!" King declared as he stormed out of the café.

"Should you follow him?" Amity asked in concern.

"Oh he's fine, he always knows his way home," Luz assured her.

King sighed as he looked at his manuscript, sitting atop a box in an alleyway. "Maybe the Blight girl's right," he said to himself, before he noticed a yellow claw headed demon with a manuscript opening a door into the alleyway.

"Who are you kidding, Gerald?" the demon muttered to himself, not noticing King as he threw the stack of clipped paper in the trash and turned back. "It's time to be realistic… by becoming an entertainer." He closed the door behind him.

King was curious, so he walked up to the trash can and picked up the manuscript. "Wonder why this guy threw this away… 'To Be Scarred', and he didn't even put his name on it… hmm, let's see how it compares to my story." He walked out of the alley, reading the trashed manuscript. "Huh, so that's what flow and structure is." King was too busy reading that he didn't see the person he bumped into. "Meh! Hey, watch it!"

The one he bumped into, a green lizard with three eyes, a blue hat, and red robe, turned to him "You should be the one to watch where you're going-" The lizard noticed the manuscript King was holding. "What do you have there?"

"Oh uh, this?" King asked nervously. "Just a manuscript, but you don't want to-" The lizard grabbed hold of the manuscript from him. "Alright, alright, just take it from my hands."

After using his third eye to speed read the trashed manuscript, the lizard closed it as he gave judgment. "This… is the greatest thing I've ever read!" he declared, before turning to King. "You have to let me publish this, I want to spread your story to all of the Isles!"

"Um about that…" King was gonna tell him the truth, but then he heard a little voice in his head.

'Don't tell him, the manuscript was thrown away so finders keepers,' his ego told him. 'I mean, it's technically yours since the guy in the alleyway didn't want it anyway.'

"I mean, I would be more than happy to," King told the publisher.

Eda was following an extra copy of the map to the Bloom of Eternal Youth that she had been given by the demon at the book fair. Going through this part of the woods would be too dangerous to go alone for most people, but Eda was not most people. She was the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles. At least she was now, but possibly not for much longer if her curse kept getting worse…

"Well, I passed by the two trees shaped like horns and the brown bush shaped like a skull," Eda said to herself as she looked over the map. "Which brought me to Diamond Lake." She looked up from the map and at a shiny lake, noticing what looked to be a guy wearing a hockey mask just fishing in the middle of the lake on a boat. She called out to him. "Hey, do you know where I can find-" She glanced back down at the map. "-a bronze minotaur statue?"

The hockey-masked guy pointed to the left, which Eda started to head in. "Thank you!" she said before spotting some nearby cabins. "Huh, I guess this is a camp of some sort. So that guy must be a counselor or caretaker. Maybe I should think about sending Luz here someday." She walked past a tree stump with a lone axe lodged in it, which made Eda remember her training of Luz.

"Alright, I think you're ready to chop some firewood," Eda said as she placed a log down and handed the eight year old Luz a small axe. "Just keep swinging it down until you manage to split it in half."

Luz looked at the axe handed to her, then she looked at the log. She raised the axe over her head only for it to slip out of her hands.

"You gotta grip it tight when holding it, kid," Eda said as she showed Luz how to hold the axe. "Do not let go, otherwise you're just going to drop it."

"Is this teaching me how to kill my enemies?" Luz asked.

"Nonononono, this is supposed to improve your upper body strength," Eda explained. "Next, we'll work on your climbing skills, fishing, hunting, then self defense and meditation."

"Do we really have to do all of that?" Luz wanted to know.

"Yeah," Eda told her as Luz looked at the axe again. "Look Luz, this is for your own good. You can't let your own fears prevent you from defending yourself. Magic or not, you will have to solve your own problems when you get older."

Luz gripped the axe tightly as she thought over her mother's words.

Then she just tossed it aside.

"I can't do it!" Luz shouted, turning around and running back to the house.

"Luz, you can't quit now!" Eda ran after her daughter. "You didn't even try-"

"I'll never try because I'm weak!" Luz shouted back at her mom, causing Eda to freeze. "I'm never going to be good enough. I'm not a witch, I don't belong here, the only thing I can do is draw stupid light glyths and that's useless! Just like how I'm useless!" She was now in tears, her nose running as she wiped it with her arm.

"Luz, please-" Eda called out, but Luz didn't stay to listen as she ran into the house and up to her room. Eda sighed. "This is worse than I thought," she said to herself.

Snapping out of her own thoughts, Eda found the minotaur statue and knew that meant she was on the right path. "Who's frail now, Emperor's dorks?" she said to herself coyly. Suddenly she heard something from the bushes, making her hide behind the statue. She summoned a glowing ice blade with blue fire as she checked to see who was following her.

As she heard someone emerge from the bushes and head toward her hiding spot, Eda leapt out from behind the statue ready to attack whoever it was. Only to immediately stop herself short when she recognized the individual. "LILY!?"

"Eda?" Lilith exclaimed. She looked like she had gotten lost earlier and was quite a mess as a result. "Of course, I should have known that you would be here trying to undermine my mission for the Emperor." She scoffed and crossed her arms. "Is your daughter with you as well?"

"Nah, she's at home," Eda answered.

"Unsupervised?"

"Hey, she's old enough," Eda defended herself. "Plus she has King. Sorry to disappoint you, but don't tell me you've grown to like her."

"I only think that it's a shame she didn't have a more positive influence in her life who could show her how to be a proper, rule-abiding witch," Lilith said while brushing off herself. "At least that way she wouldn't have to worry about being arrested."

"Hey, most of the time she can get out of trouble as easily as she can get into it," Eda pointed out. "I taught her a lot, including this !" Eda pulled Lilith's hood over her head as she ran off. "See you at the Bloom of Eternal Youth, Lily!"

Lilith pulled off her hood and gave chase. "Oh no you don't!"

A bit later, King's book had become a bestseller. With Penlit as his publisher, and Luz as his bodyguard, he was attending a bookstore for an autograph signing.

"Yes! Bow before your leader, the King of Books!" King declared as many denizens of the Boiling Isles lined up for his book signing. "Next!"

"Gotta hand it to you, King, you found an audience," Luz complimented.

"Yes, and you still have that panel tonight," Penlit reminded.

"Panel?" King asked after signing a book for Tiny Nose.

"Yes, where you get to answer questions about your story," Penlit replied. "Which includes questions about the characters, the lore, and so on and so forth. Then after that we have to talk about a sequel and a movie adaptation."

"Oh, that's um…" King looked unsure, but heard Luz's encouragement.

"Oh man, that sounds like a sweet deal!" Luz exclaimed as she patted his head. "Sure, a movie adaptation would mean your story will be watered-down, but I'm proud that you've come this far and become an overnight success! Probably faster than it realistically should. But I guess time really does fly." She didn't notice King's guilty expression as he looked at his book.

"Heh, yeah," he said while looking nervous. Inside his tiny mind, his inner self was screaming in panic.

"I don't know what to do," Eda admitted as she ate some trail mix. "Like, I'm trying to train my daughter to defend herself but she's too scared to do anything! How do you teach an eight year old how to stand up for herself?"

"If you ask me, it sounds like you may be going too fast for her and putting too much on her all at once," said a large guard who was tangled up in vines after trying to arrest her. "Like, I have some nephews and what I've learned from them is that you can't force kids to go at a pace that they are not comfortable or ready with. You have to work with the child, not against them. Find a way to make the training easier or more fun for them, rather than something that they feel like they're getting dragged into."

"You have a point," Eda acknowledged before she got an idea. "Wait a second… that's it! I know what to do." She summoned her staff and started to fly off. "Thanks for listening, Larry! Same time next week?"

"I'll be here," the guard told her, still struggling in the vines.

Back at home, Luz was on her bed looking at her Otabin book while King slept next to her. She heard some noises coming from downstairs and the curious child left her room to see what the commotion was, being careful not to wake King up in the process.

She found her mom setting up trash cans, ornaments, vases, lamp posts, and a bunch of other junk from the human world.

"Hey Luz!" Eda said when she noticed her little girl. "Guess what? I've found all of this in a human junkyard and rather than selling it, I thought it would be fun to just smash and break it instead!" She held up a garden gnome and dropped it, causing the lawn ornament to shatter on the floor.

"Is this part of the training?" Luz asked.

"Nope, this is like a game!" Eda said as she handed her daughter a teapot. "Breaking stuff just feels nice, you should try it!"

Luz looked at the teapot and slowly lifted it over her head. She closed her eyes as she dropped it. She heard a smashing sound and opened her eyes, looking down at the broken teapot that was now on the floor. "I broke it."

"Yes, you did!" Eda said while patting her daughter on the back ."How did that make you feel?"

"I feel… I feel good," Luz admitted. She looked at a vase, picked it up, and threw it to the ground. It shattered as well "And so did that!" She saw her mom handing her a baseball bat.

"Go on," Eda encouraged. Luz took the bat from her mother, looked at an old computer, and swung her bat through its screen.

"Yeah!" she cried out, smiling as she began to smash and kick every other object that Eda had set up for her.

"Way to go, my baby girl!" Eda cheered as she admired her daughter's path of destruction.

Night has fallen as Eda and Lilith raced for the Bloom of Eternal Youth. They were both closing in on its location, but danger still lurked around them.

"This is just like running to the kitchen, ain't it Lily?" Eda asked, When she didn't hear a response from her sister, she stopped and looked around. "Lily?" The Owl Lady heard a growl and a muffled noise above her, so she looked up to see a giant crab-spider monster that had webbed up Lilith

"Hmm-hmm!" Lilith tried to cry out, muffled by the webbing.

"Hang on, Lily!" Eda shouted as she shot a large fireball at the crab-spider. This caused a large explosion, launching the crab-spider to the other side of the woods. Lilith dropped to the ground, landing in a bush.. "Lily, are you alright?" Eda asked while helping her sister up and pulling the webbing off of her.

Lilith looked surprised. "T-Thank you, Edalyn," she said, suddenly sounding timid. "I didn't expect you to save me."

"Hey, we may fight and not agree on the coven system, but we're still sisters, and family," Eda assured while patting Lilith's shoulder. "Besides, consider us even for bailing my daughter, aka your niece, out of jail."

Lilith gave her sister a smile. "It does seem like motherhood has changed you for the better."

"Yeah well, Luz just has that effect on me," Eda admitted as the two began to walk together.

"You know, when I talked to your daughter she reminded me so much of you-" Lilith started to say as they entered a clearing. But then she saw something and gasped, Eda turning her head to see what Lilith was looking at.

It was an old fountain structure with a glowing purple flower on it that bloomed in the night. Eda looked at Lilith. "So uh, since I saved you and all, maybe you should let me have this flower…"

"Edalyn," Lilith groaned, but Eda gave her a begging look.

"Please, sis!" Eda begged. "What if this thing can prevent the curse from growing? I could definitely use it so that I don't have to worry about the curse all the time."

"Edalyn…"

"I know, I shouldn't expect you to just let me get the flower," Eda sighed. "You probably can't risk failing your boss. But I don't want to fight you over this if I don't have to."

Lilith was at a loss of words as she saw how pleading and desperate Eda was. She looked conflicted. "I don't want to fight you over this either," she admitted. "I don't want to fight you at all. Yes, I don't want to fail the Emperor. But I don't want to fail my family either. I have already made so many mistakes…"

"You're not the only one," Eda comforted and the two sisters looked at each other. Lilith was about to respond, but before she could they were interrupted by a third wheel.

"Hey Lilith, I got the flower!"

The two turn to see Steve the coven guard, who had managed to sneak in and grab the Bloom of Eternal Youth. "Steve!" Lilith exclaimed, surprised. "What… what are you doing here?! I told you to wait at the cart!"

"I know, but I got bored so I decided to follow you, and while you two were having your sisterly talk I just went in and took the flower!" Steve held up the flower, only for it to disappear from his hand. "Huh?"

All three were shocked as they heard someone chuckling from behind the fountain.

At the Bonesborough library, a crowd had gathered for King and his book panel. Luz had finished checking the seats and went to check on King in a back room.

"Hey King? Ready for the panel? So many people are here right now, your cult following really is growing." Luz noticed King was looking sad.

"Hey uh, Luz, there's something I haven't told you yet," King said nervously. "I don't think you've read the actual book but… it's not my actual story… it's a… manuscript I found in the trash before… I… kinda passed it off as mine."

"You did WHAT!?" Luz shouted. "Are you telling me that the story published isn't the same story you wrote, but someone else's work?!"

"I'm sorry, Luz!" King apologized, looking down in shame. "The guy just threw it away and I thought it was a finders-keepers thing."

"It's different because now someone else's story is published under your name! That's the worst and dishonest thievery you've committed! And this is coming from me! I'm very disappointed in you, King. Why did you do it?"

"I… I just wanted to be somebody, like you and Eda." King told her. "You have this rep around school and this town while Eda's a wanted witch. I never meant to use someone else's work and pass it off as my own in order to benefit from it."

"Well, we're gonna have to tell Penlit, and figure something out." Luz told him. "Don't worry, bub, we'll just have to order a recall on the books, give people their snails back, and maybe he'll take a look at your original manuscript."

"Oh I don't think so," spoke Penlit, who had overheard the conversation and was now closing the door behind him. "You two aren't going anywhere…"

From behind the fountain Eda, Lilith and Steve saw the same weasel-otter-demon guy that had given them the map rise up "What is this?" Eda demanded to know.

"You fools have fallen into my trap!" he declared "The map I've given you led you to a fake flower that never existed! It was all just a scheme to lure others here to become my feast!"

"Oh, so you scammed us," Lilith said dryly while Eda stood in silence. "I guess it was too good to be true. Can you believe this guy is scamming us, Edalyn?" She looked at her sister when she didn't answer. "Edalyn?"

"Please, Penlit, I-I'm sorry that I lied," King told the publisher. "I should've said it wasn't mine to begin with-"

"Do you know what you've done!?" Penlit declared as he stepped forward, making King back away. "If word got out that the story isn't yours, I will be ruined as well, you putrid cretin!"

"Hey, that's no way to talk to my brother like that!" Luz called him out. "He apologized!"

"He ruined me!" Penlit argued.

"Look, if you want something original, maybe I can share with you my idea for a comic," Luz offered, making Penlit laugh. "What's so funny?"

"A comic?" Penlit asked "You expect me to publish the lowest form of literature? Whoever gave you an idea like that must be illiterate!" He didn't notice Luz's shocked and angered look as her hands became fists.

"You bastard!" Eda's eyes were glowing from anger as she pulled out her staff and used to blast the scammer through the fountain.

The scammer tried to get up, feeling his head ache. "Oh… what-" Eda didn't give him the chance to recover as she kneed him in the stomach and punched him in the face.

Luz punched Penlit's face, causing him to stumble. King was shocked by what Luz had done.

"Luz! You punched him!"

"He shouldn't have said that," Luz muttered, the thought of someone talking bad about her crush drove her to the edge.

"You're going to regret this!" Penlit shouted as he brought out his pen, which turned into a large, golden axe. Luz brought up her bat and used it to block the axe as it was swung down on her. She grabbed one fire/light combo glyph card and used it to create sparks to blind him. "AAAH!" he shouted as Luz pushed the axe-pen away from her using that bat.

"Glad I have my bat with me." Luz replied, before feeling a tail grab her ankle, "WHOA!" she shouts as she is tripped to the floor.

"Luz!" King shouts as he saw Penlit pins Luz down, "Stop! You shouldn't do that!"

"I'm going to enjoy making you suffer." Penlit pulls out something from his red coat, but gets hit by Luz's elbow as she punches him across the chin.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Luz shouts, as she launches herself on top of the lizard, raises her fist and strike at him down. She punches, punches him over and over. King looks in horror in seeing Luz kept punching the lizard demon without stopping. Penlit begs for her to stop but Luz scratch his face across, drawing blood.

"LUZ, STOP!" King went up, to pull her away using her hoodie. "Stop, he has enough!"

"He's had enough, Edalyn, stop!" Lilith begged her sister as Eda continued to beat the scammer.

Eda was eventually snapped out of her rage. When she looked around at her surroundings, at the scammer that she had just wailed on, and her worried sister, Eda realized what she had done. Quickly she backed away from the scammer and ran off.

"Edalyn!" Lilith called after her.

Luz was breathing heavily on the floor as she was pulled away from Penlit by King. Her knuckles were busted and bloodied, fingernails had some blood on them from scratching around Penlit's third eye. She saw the knocked out lizard and felt sick to her stomach.

"No… nonono…" She started to panic, but King was there to try calming her down by holding her hand.

"Easy, Luz," King told her. "You're going to be okay." He looked around. "We need to get you home." Suddenly, he heard someone banging on the door. To the back room.

"Hey boss, everything okay?" asked the voice of a guard on the other side of the door.

'Crap!' King was starting to panic as he looked at Penlit's unconscious body. "What do we do? We can't go to jail for this!" Before he could decide on anything, he heard something else behind the door. The guards were… screaming. A few seconds later, they fell silent and King backed away from the door as it swung open. In the doorway laid the two guards, unconscious at the feet of the messily haired Puck Goodfellow who now stood over them.

The Fae gave King a look of disapproval. "I tried to warn you about letting your ego and pride get to your head," he told the demon in a serious tone. "But apparently the lesson didn't stick."

"You!" King recognized the Fae and he got on all fours, putting himself between Puck and Luz. "You're that Fae! Stay back!"

"Yes, yes, but no tricks this time," Puck said and his shadow casually picked King up, moving him aside so that the Fae trickster could check up on Luz. "Hey, hey are you there?" he asked, his voice gentle. She looked at him with tears streaming down her face.

"You… from the club…" Luz whispered in a hoarse voice.

Puck nodded. "It's going to be okay," he promised her, before turning to King. "Get her out of here using the back. I'll buy you a little time."

Wasting no time, King grabbed a hold of Luz's hand. "Come on, Luz!" he said as he pulled Luz up and they ran out the door.

Puck watched them go and noticed a suitcase Penlit had brought into the room. Puck opened the suitcase and looked disgusted by what he saw. "Well, I heard about crunch time but this is ridiculous," he said as he freed the authors that had been cubed and stuffed in the suitcase by Penlit after missing their deadlines.

"We're free!" John de Plume and the other cubes cheered as they hopped out of the suitcase.

"And now just for a touch of magic dust," Puck said as he pulled out a small bag, grabbing a handful of sparkling sand and spreading it all over the cubed victims. In just a few moments, John de Plume and the other authors were back to their normal pre-cubed selves.

"Uuugh, what happened?" Penlit asked as he began to regain consciousness. He noticed that he was surrounded by all the authors that had worked under him. "Uh oh."

"Alright boys, let's throw the book at this son of a bitch." De Plume cracked his knuckles. The others did the same as they ganged up on Penlit.

"Wait! Y-You all are under my-" Penlit got punched in the face by de Plume, while another author kicked him in the stomach. The others joined them in beating the living daylights out of the lizard as he screamed in agony.

"Geez, that's some pent up anger, but I don't blame them one bit," Puck said before making himself disappear.

"Edalyn? Edalyn?" Lilith ran through the forest, trying to locate her sister. She eventually found her sitting down with her back against a tree. "Eda?"

Eda heard Lilith's voice, but didn't bother looking up at her as she spoke. "Y-you know, I knew there was like a fifty-fifty chance that the Bloom of Eternal Youth was a scam. But despite that, I had really started to believe that this could be the answer to my problem. And stupidly, I gave myself false hope."

"Eda…" Lilith sat down next to her.

"But hey, at least that guy learned the hard way that you don't screw with a Clawthorne. Am I right?" Eda forced a laugh and looked up at Lilith, her mascara running. "Especially when that Clawthorne has a curse… or a kid that she has to protect no matter what." She sniffled and pulled out two bottles of elixir, drinking both to keep the curse at bay.

"The curse is getting worse," Lilith realized.

Eda nodded. "Do you plan on turning me and my daughter over to the Emperor's Coven now?"

"No Eda, I don't," Lilith answered, wiping away her sister's tears. "I meant what I said earlier. I don't want us to fight anymore. I want you to join me in the Emperor's Coven and I want that decision to be your own. We can be in it together, just like we used to talk about as kids."

"What about Luz?" Eda asked. "Does she have to join too?"

Lilith hesitated before answering. "I don't know, honestly," she admitted. "The Emperor's got some kind of special interest with Luz, but he won't tell me what. He doesn't even want me involved, says that I'll make it personal. And he's right. Whatever his plans for Luz are, I'm not sure they would be in her best interest. Since she is your daughter, you have to do what's best for Luz. And I don't know if she'll be safe here for much longer, even if you do join the Emperor's Coven. It may only be a matter of time before he comes for her."

"No, no I won't let him or any of the guards take Luz from me!" Eda declared. "I'll fight the entire Emperor's Coven if I have to!"

"And then what, Eda?" Lilith questioned. "Let the curse consume you? How long until you're just as much of a danger to her as the Emperor's Coven?"

"Luz can defend herself, I made sure of t-"

"Think, Eda, think about what you're saying!" Lilith shouted at her in all seriousness. She took a second to calm down before she coolly continued. "I am risking treason by warning you of Belos. And as long as the curse continues to grow worse, Luz will not be safe in the Boiling Isles. I know you love her, Eda. And I… I care about her safety as well. Because she is still my family, just like you are. I am trying to think about the best interests for both of you. Which is why you need to make a choice, even if it's hard for you to do. She should return to her own world, ours is too dangerous for her."

Eda thought about what Lilith was saying. "I-If the curse does consume me… would you be able to take care of Luz?" she asks Lilith.

"I'm not sure if I can, Edalyn," Lilith said. "As much as I like to, I wouldn't be able to protect her from Belos." She then had a thought. "Does she have a next of kin, perhaps?"

Eda remembered something "Well, I was married to a human one time…"

Lilith blinked. "A human? Seriously, Edalyn?"

"What, you think being a wanted criminal is going to stop me from looking for dates?" Eda asked with her usual snark. "I mean, I can't be the only one. Being in the Emperor's Coven must have gotten you some admirers, right?"

Lilith, being reminded of a past heartbreak, turned away. "There was… someone once," she told Eda, frowning a little. "But that was a long time ago…"

"Didn't work out with you, eh?" Eda asked.

"He left."

"Ohh… sorry about that," Eda said awkwardly, trying to comfort her sister.

"I'm sorry too," Steve said as he walked up to them with the otter-weasel demon in handcuffs.

"Not a good time, Steve," Lilith told him.

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded as he went away with the new prisoner.

Lilith sighed as she looked back at Eda. "I am not asking you to give her up immediately. I'll try to talk to Belos, maybe figure out more of what he has planned. But whatever choice you make for Luz, I hope it's for the best." She stood up. "And I hope you will think about joining me in the Emperor's Coven as well. It's not… perfect, I know that. But we are doing great things for the Isles. Belos could even heal your curse. Please at least consider it. Until we see each other again, sister." She began to follow Steve, leaving Eda to consider what she had said.

Hooty was just being silent for a while after Luz and King had come home in a quick hurry. At least until he noticed the appearance of one of his newest friends.

"Pucky, how's it going?" Hooty asked the shapeshifting trickster.

"I've been better, my friend," Puck responded. "But that's not why I'm here. I need to see Luz."

Hooty looked a little worried. "I-I don't know, she's not feeling well and-"

"Don't worry, I just want to see if she's alright," Puck told him. Hooty nodded and opened the door, allowing Puck to come inside. He found Luz on the couch, crying into a pillow. King was on the couch trying his best to comfort her and he noticed Puck there.

"Ah, what are you doing here?!" King demanded to know, making Luz look up from her pillow.

"I just wanted to see how Luz was doing," Puck explained as he held his hands up. "Allow me to introduce myself. As Luz herself already knows, my name is Puck Goodfellow."

King looked at Luz. "Wait, you already know this guy?"

Luz sniffed. "Y-yeah," she answered, remembering Puck as the waiter she gave a tip to.

"Well, what is your deal?" King asked accusingly. "One day you're tormenting me, the next day you're helping me and Luz. Plus it was a bit too convenient that you just happened to be there at the right place and at the right time…"

"You're right," Puck admitted, looking a little embarrassed. "I've actually been… following Luz."

"Follow me?" Luz repeated, looking at him suspiciously. "Are you some kind of stalker?"

"No, no, okay I guess you could say that," Puck replied. "But I mean no harm. I enjoy watching your mischievous antics, but it's… more than that. See, I am an outsider. I was banished from my own kind, the other trickster gods either ignore or overlook me, humans I either scare away or outlive…" He sighed sadly as he looked at Luz. "And then I saw you, Luz."

"Me?" Luz pointed to herself, questioning the Fae.

"Yes, you," he answered. "A mischievous outsider living in a world where they're completely unique. I saw myself in you and I couldn't help but observe your life… while having some fun every now and then, of course. I especially enjoyed watching you with your unlikely but unconditionally loving family. A mother who would fight for you, a brother who would stand by you, and even a loyal house guardian that I started talking to."

"He means me!" Hooty stated.

"How long have you been doing this?" Luz demanded to know.

"Since around the library incident," Puck admitted, looking down. "I was wandering the realms when you grabbed my interest. I wasn't planning on staying in the Boiling Isles and I expected to soon move on. I also didn't intend to intervene or get involved in your story, but eventually… I couldn't help myself. I didn't stick around because I was bored, like I tried to claim once. I stuck around… because I was lonely. And because I envy your life, Luz Clawthorne. I envy your family. I even selfishly wanted to be your friend. However, I do realize that I was… kinda creepy about my intentions. I never intended to hurt you, but I know my behavior can be off-putting. If you want, I will leave you all alone."

Luz looked a bit unsure of him, but she sighed. "Well, following and watching me without my knowledge has to stop," she called out. "But since you don't seem too bad… if you do want to be my friend, we could just hang out."

"I… I would like that," Puck nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I could have just asked, but I didn't think you would want anything to do with me. The Fae don't have the best reputation and I'm only any better because of my exposure to humans. So, um, are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know," Luz answered. "But thank you. For your help, your concern, and for you coming clean about your intentions. I really do appreciate it, Puck."

The Fae smiled. "No problem. Well, I should probably get going before your mother comes home. See you around?"

Luz nodded. "I think so."

Puck, looking grateful, did a little bow and vanished.

In a full on body cast after being beaten and even set on fire, Penlit was in a hospital where he was soon visited by the Golden Guard and Kikimora.

"Now, if you just explain what happened before you got beaten up by your… former employees, we can properly help you get the charges dropped and put you in better care," Kikimora told him.

Penlit was luckily able to speak, but the swollen face made him speak with a lisp. "The first one to attack me… that human girl… she struck me-"

"Let's cut to the details, Penny," the Golden Guard told him. "Unless you want us to change our minds about forgetting that you trapped innocent people in your suitcase."

"Like what, exactly?" Penlit asked.

"Like if you noticed anything strange about the human girl," Kikimora suggested. "Like say… something unusual."

Penlit looked around nervously. "S-She's an animal, deserves to be locked up. But one thing I'll never forget… are those eyes. Those… eyes of hers looked at me in such rage. Like a shine of blue that flashed around those brown irises."

"That is all," Kikimora told him, as she and the Golden Guard exited the room and conversed in the hallway. "Report to Belos, I will make sure Penlit doesn't speak to anyone about what he knows," she told the Golden Guard as she pulled out a vial with a skull on the glass warning anyone of the vial's sickening purple poison contents…

In the throne room of Emperor Belos, Lilith knelt before him as she made her report.

"So your mission to obtain the Bloom of Eternal Youth was a failure?" he asked.

"The flower never existed, it was just a scam to lure victims to get eaten," she explained, lowering her head. "I apologize, my Emperor."

Belos stared down at Lilith with a silent pause before sighting, "There is nothing to apologize for, Lilith. I'm not mad in the slightest." Lilith looked up at him in surprise. "It's not your fault that the flower was a fake. You did all that you could under the circumstances and I cannot hold that against you"

Lilith bowed in relief. "Thank you for understanding, Emperor Belos."

"Is there anything else you would like to share with me, Lilith?" Belos asked.

Lilith briefly thought about her encounter with Eda before she answered. "No, nothing at all."

Belos nodded and waved his hand. "Then you are dismissed." Lilith began to leave the throne room and the Golden Guard walked past her, Lilith trying to pay him no mind. The doors closed behind Lilith as the Golden Guard bowed before Belos.

"There was been a development in the human girl," the Golden Guard reported.

"Tell me then," Belos said to the Golden Guard. "And don't leave anything out. I want to know everything…"

The front door opened as Eda entered the Owl House. "I'm back," she said, sounding tired, but then saw Luz on the couch in tears. Eda's maternal instincts activated. "Luz!" She went to her daughter. "Are you okay?"

"Eda… this is my fault," King told her. "There was-"

"I did it again!" Luz cried out as. Eda held her daughter close.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay," Eda told her calmly, rubbing Luz's back slowly. "What happened?"

Luz sniffed. "T-T-There was this lizard publisher. I-I was just helping King and… a-a-and the publisher tried to kill us and I… I… I lost control." The blood stains on her knuckles and fingertips were noticed by Eda. "I-I think I scratched him real bad… what the hell's wrong with me?!"

The Owl Lady looked concerned and remembered what Lilith had told her. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with you," she assured calmly, wiping away Luz's tears. "Maybe… maybe a weekend vacation away from the Boiling Isles is what you need right now."

Luz looked at her mom, sniffing. "R-really? B-But what about-"

"Your exams? Don't worry, just let Amity know that you'll be taking a Boiling Isle break for the weekend. You can still study there, even without magic." Eda patted Luz's head. "Besides, we're gonna have to make sure the heat dies down after whatever you two did."

"Yeah, maybe I should come too," King added, comforting Luz. "I don't want that Penlit guy coming for me for committing copyright infringement."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Eda said. "Now where did I put that phone?" She opened up a treasure chest full of human junk and dug through it until she found an old black flip phone. "There it is! I wonder if it still works?" She turned it on, not realizing the low battery it has due to lack of charge. She called the only number listed on the phone. "Aha, got it!" she said as she waited for the person on the other end to answer her call.

"Hello?" asked a male voice.

"Hey, it's me," Eda said. "Edalyn. I know it's short notice, but can I bring Luz over to your place tomorrow and let her stay for a few days? Luz just needs a change of surroundings right now."

"Of course, Eda," the male voice told her. "Luz is always welcome here. But there is something you should really kn-

The phone died before Eda could hear the rest. "Huh, I wonder if what he was about to say was important." She shrugged and turned to Luz. "Eh, probably new. Better get your stuff packed, kid. Because tomorrow you are going on a trip to the human world."

It was a few weeks before Eda had gotten that punching bag for Luz.

She stepped through the portal between the Boiling Isles and the human world, holding an eight year old Luz's hand as they crossed over together. Eda had pulled her hood up to cover her ears as she closed the portal door behind her in the alleyway that they were now in. The two walked out of the alley, finding themselves in a small town where the streets weren't too busy.

"Isn't this great?" Eda asked Luz. "Just a little break from the Isles." She looked at Luz, who was staying quiet. Eda frowned. "Come on, let's do some sightseeing." She led the two of them along a sidewalk that sat between a row of shops and the road.

Luz glanced around at the world where she had originally come from. A car passed by, scaring her a little. There were people on the sidewalk with them, but these humans paid no attention to Eda and her daughter. Luz soon noticed several televisions sitting in a store window, each of them playing a toy commercial.

Eda noticed Luz's wide-eyed look. "Yes, instead of using crystal balls like the one we have at home the humans use these flat boxes to display their moving pictures," she explained before the toy commercial ended and another one started playing, this one having a black background with a white question mark on it. Walking onto the screen was an old and brawny looking man in a black suit, cataracts, an eyepatch, and a maroon fez with a yellow crescent shape on it.

"Hi, I'm Mr. Mystery," he introduced himself while holding a cane. "Do you like to be befuddled? Bewild-wi-wuddle- Bewildered? Then behold!" The man threw down a smoke bomb and the background changed to show a large wooden cabin in what looked like a forest. "Mystery Shack! Your one stop shop for mysteriously cheap oddities!"

"What the?!" Eda said in surprise, recognizing the man. "Stan Pines?!"

Luz looked up at her mother. "You know this man, mom?"

Eda chuckled. "Oh, I know him all right. Though it was so many years ago…" She smirked as a new thought entered her head. "Say Luz, would you like to meet an old friend of mine?"

Luz smiled excitedly. "Sure!"

"So get yourself down to the Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls, Oregon," the man on the television screen was saying. "Where the real mystery is… if you'll make it out alive."

I hope some would get the title pun as a "Raising Hope" reference.

But I hope y'all didn't expected Gravity Falls added to the equation? Of course, I've left out some hints and references, but in this story we're about to head down to the Falls.

Now, here's a little note. "Sense and Insensitivity" is my, along with anyone else I know, least favorite episode of the Owl House. It's just bad filler, outside of that one moment with Eda and Lilith moment. And I made sure that Penlit doesn't get away with his crimes. I mean, turning your employees into cubes instigates for the deserving punishment he got. Not to mention how fast King got famous for book publishing, and how long he and Luz works on a story in that episode. It takes about at least a week to write a manga chapter and probably weeks to make a comic issue story. However, this chapter that centers around the events of that episode, but makes it a turning point. As well as giving some hints about the development of Luz Clawthorne. Plus we got to learn about Puck's intentions on why he follows the family around. Now next chapter is when the Clawthornes take a vacation to the human world, at the Falls.

Now for the reviews:

OMAC001: Indeed, love the cameos too.

MarauderPrime12: Thanks, thinking what object would Luz's mother have and the glasses would be what she would wear.

ultimate-drax: Yeah, a gathering club of trickster gods like a club is a great concept. Like what else could higher beings do in their spare time.

The Great Fossil King: Um, the episode with the Basilisk happens later on. Like you're about a few episodes off, my dude. Also this is pretty much Luz's interest and motivation in getting to know who she was before Eda took her in.

Captain29thegamer: Depends

RJWritingInk: You forget that Hooty can see you from your very computer or phone when reading this...Hooty sees all...

BuckJohnson: Yeah, and this chapter shows.

Wolvmbm: Eda could possibly have met at least one trickster god after another, or a few entities.

Thanks you for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter of Luz Clawthorne, as we go visit the Falls...only with a few things different...