The air in The Owl House was thick with melancholy and doubt after the group's recent bout with Emperor Belos. Eda and Lilith were stuck without their magic, and Luz sulked in the basement. With her portal back home destroyed and, well, now being an enemy of the state, she was shaken with anxiety about her future. Meanwhile, Eda and Lilith held an uncomfortable and incredibly forced conversation in the kitchen.
"So…" Lilith began, nervously tapping her fingers on the kitchen table, "Again, just… super sorry about the curse thing."
"Don't." Eda interrupted, pouring two chipped mugs to the brim with apple blood, "Just don't bring it up."
Eda made her way to the table, placing one mug in front of Lilith before sitting down with hers.
"There's a lot on my mind right now. Belos will be on the hunt for us soon, we're completely powerless!" Eda huffed before taking a deep, calming breath, "And I'm worried about the kid. I don't know if she'll ever get back home, and she almost died for us. I don't need anything else to bog me down right now."
"Should we talk to her?" Lilith asked in a voice full of uncertainty.
Eda took a healthy swig from her mug, before slowly making her way out of her seat.
"I'll talk to her. Stay here and hopefully the apple blood will keep you from getting too anxious."
Eda began to walk out but paused as she reached the threshold of the kitchen.
"…and please keep your robe on. We don't need a repeat of your 28th birthday."
"It was one time!" Lilith angrily retorted.
"Three times." Eda smugly countered, "It still counts, even if it was the same night." Eda paused to let out a small chuckle, "Heh, I wonder if Alador still remembers…" she quietly reminisced, making her way to the basement.
In the dank underbelly of the house, she was Luz sitting in a corner and cradling her legs. She didn't look so much sad or worried as she did blank. Her face was lacked any emotion, just staring aimlessly towards the opposite side of the room. Eda approached cautiously, as she was unsure if Luz could even sense her presence.
"Hey, kid…" Eda softly spoke, "How're you holding up?"
Luz continued to stare into the corner. While she said nothing, the slight quiver in her upper lip confirmed that she had heard Eda's questions. Eda sat down next to her and wrapper her arm around Luz's shoulder with a soft touch so as not to seem too intrusive.
"I know that… a lot has happened," Eda began, making sure to choose her words carefully, "And I can't say I've ever been in a situation like this. Like yours. But if you need to talk…"
Eda stopped as Luz wrapped her arms around Eda and pulled her in close. Her short breaths and the sudden dampness Eda felt on her dress confirmed that Luz had broken into tears. Eda said nothing, simply holding Luz in a comforting embrace as she finally let her feelings come to the surface. After a few minutes, Luz's breathing reached a steady, slow tempo. She finally loosened her grip on Eda and managed to speak.
"I just don't know what to do now." Luz said, wiping the final tears from her eyes, "I mean, I loved being here, but I always knew I could go back. I could even talk to Mom through the door. I don't know what will happen now. I don't even know if I can ever go home again. I just feel lost."
Eda kept her arm around Luz and reassured her, "I know you've gotta feel pretty lost right now. I felt the same way when that curse first showed up." Eda sighed, holding back her anger towards Lilith, "But that doesn't mean this is the end. I may not totally understand those portals, but I'm sure that there's gotta be another way back to your realm. And even if there isn't maybe we can make one."
"Wait…" Luz interjected, "Portals? There's more than one?"
"Uh, well, I mean… aw crap." Eda stuttered, realizing her lapse in verbal judgement.
Luz suddenly got to her feet, slightly shivering with anticipation.
"Eda, do you have more portal doors? Do you think another one goes to Earth?"
"Ugh…" Eda sighed, "I mean, probably? But it wouldn't be your Earth."
"Uh…" Luz stammered, understandably confused.
Eda stood up and approached a bookshelf in the back of the basement. Gripping the left side, she effortlessly dragged it across the floor, revealing a hidden closet full of folded wooden doors, just like the one that sent Luz to the Boiling Isles. Luz gasped as that innocent, youthful twinkle filled her eyes.
"Eda, do you know where these portals go?"
"Well, no…" Eda started, before being interrupted by another gasp from Luz.
"Eda, we have to go through these!" Luz said, running towards the closet and sifting through the doors, "One of these could take me home! We could find…"
Luz stopped as Eda pulled her away from the closet. Eda turned Luz toward her while keeping her hands firmly on her shoulder.
"Look, kid, I get why you're excited. But there's a reason I only went scavenging in your realm." Eda paused to broadly gesture at the closet, "Every other one of these doors that I've opened has led to absolute chaos! They are all filled with insane worlds and people and they're too dangerous to explore! I… just… ugh, here, I'll show you."
Eda sifted through some doors in the closet, before grabbing one with the words "Evil Space-Man" etched on it.
"This one is a doozy." Eda said as she unfolded the door. It opened with a blast of white light, before Eda and Luz could see a rocky outcrop on a mountainside. A boy in a blue and yellow uniform laid bloodied on the ground, while another mustachioed man in white and red stood over him.
"Why did you make me do this?!" the mustachioed man angrily inquired, looming over the beaten boy, "You're fighting so you can let everyone around you die! Think, Mark! You'll outlast every fragile, insignificant being on this planet. You'll live to see this world crumble to dust and blow away! Everything, and everyone you know will be gone! What will you have after 500 years?"
The boy – apparently named Mark – took a single wheezing breath, clearly on the verge of unconsciousness.
"You, dad. I'd still have you."
At that, Eda promptly shut the door and shoved it back into the closet.
"Yeah, we don't have time to unpack all of that." Eda said as she searched for another door, "Ah, here we go!" she exclaimed, pulling another folded door off of a shelf, "I call this one 'The Nightmare Before the Nineties!'"
The door unfolded and opened, again releasing a flash of blinding light. Inside, Luz saw a blonde woman in a black dress sitting on a red sofa. She was sitting in a room covered in red curtains with jagged black and white tiles covered the floor. After a few seconds, she locked eyes with Luz.
"olleH tnegA adecoN. ll'I ees uoy niaga ni ytnewt-evif sraey."
"Gah!" Luz shouted before slamming the door shut.
"Mhm, I thought so." Eda smugly replied, before returning the door to the closet. Once again, she shuffled through the portal-doors, before finally settling on a dust-covered one from the bottom corner of the closet. It was secured in a series of chains and locks. Eda removed the locks and blew off the dust to inspect the item.
"Oh, boy. Okay, kid, this one is the real deal."
Eda set up the door. As it unfolded, Eda began to explain its significance.
"I know those last two were something, but this one right here made me decide to stick to your safe, squishy realm. Are you ready to see this?"
"Uh… I don't really think…"
"Eh, whatever." Eda interrupted before opening the door.
After the initial flash of light, Luz saw a desolate landscape flooded with soldiers. On one side was a tide of monstrosities. Their skin was a bright green, and huge, jagged teeth protruded from their mouths. They viciously attacked the opposing force with crude axes and guns. On the other were several groups of… things? They were covered in a thick metal armor that made it impossible to tell if there were man or machine. Their armor came in several colors – some red, some black, some green – but they were all fighting their green skinned foe with righteous vigor.
"Uh…" Luz started, "Eda, war has happened on Earth. Like, it's not great, but it's not like I don't know what…"
Luz stopped as one of the armored men locked eyes with Eda. His armor was black with a white trim, and a prominent cross adorned each shoulder. He wielded a glowing broadsword, and the eyes on his helm burned with a piercing red.
"Filthy xenos scum!" The warrior belted, pointing his sword towards Eda, "Feel The Emperor's wrath!"
"Okay, I think we've seen enough." Eda said in a disturbingly nonchalant tone, "Let's put this one back."
As Eda began to close the door, the armored warrior charged towards them at blinding speed.
"PURGE IN HOLY FIRE! NO MERCY, NO RESPITE! AAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Before the warrior could reach them, Eda had closed the door and folded it, stuffing the article back into the closet.
"Look, kid," Eda said, turning back towards Luz, "I promise, we will do everything we can to find you a way back home. But looking into these dimensions is just too risky."
A look of utter dejection covered Luz's face before she slowly sank back onto the floor. She let out a deep sigh, but before she could be lost to despair, Eda continued.
"Luz, I told you, we'll find a way. I know you're feeling pretty beaten up about everything that just went down. Believe me, we all are. But I think we all need some time to rest. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning?"
Luz sat in silence for a moment, unmoving. Eda was probably right, but between everything that had just happened and everything Eda had just showed her, Luz needed a moment to come to terms with just what was going on.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Luz conceded, "But I think I just need to be alone for a while."
"Okay." Eda replied, "Well, your bedroom door's open. Take all the time you need. And Luz?"
Luz was briefly lifted from her daze as she looked up at Eda.
"I mean what I said earlier. If you need to talk, I'm here."
A slight smile appeared on Luz's face. Eda returned the grin, feeling that maybe her kid would be okay.
"Thanks, Eda."
Eda silently nodded back at Luz before making her way upstairs. Luz continued to sit in silence, incapable of sleep as long as these thoughts continued to race through her head. She felt tired, yes, but still couldn't sleep. It felt like hours had passed as she sat on that cold stone floor before basic biology had overcome her. Her eyelids began to feel heavy, and Luz could feel her consciousness fading. She slowly lost the will to stay awake, as her head bobbed down and her eye began to close, Luz focused on the item on the ground in front of her: a set of iron chains and locks.
A sudden flash of light emitted behind Luz. She looked back and saw one of the doors from the bottom shelf closet begin to glow and twitch wildly. She looked back at the iron chains on the ground and came to a terrifying realization.
"Oh no…" Luz muttered in quiet horror.
The door launched out of the closet into the center of the room. Luz quickly grabbed the chains and locks and rushed to the door in a desperate attempt to keep it closed, but to no avail. She struggled to wrap the chains around the door, but it opened with too much force for her to overcome.
"No no no no no!" Luz nervously repeated, trying to force the door shut again. But against her wishes, the door forcibly unfolded itself. Luz could see that familiar light emanating from behind the shut slab of wood and backed away, preparing herself for the worst. The door slowly opened, and she could see the silhouette of a gigantic figure behind it. Their frame was so large she could only see up to their stomach from the threshold. Luz continued to back away, trying to make her way up the stairs, but her shocked state left her without basic coordination. The figure ducked down to squeeze through the door, and slammed it shut once through.
Without that blinding light, Luz could fully see the individual before her. It was one of those warriors from before, clad in green armor with a gold trim. That was not what caught her attention, however. Rather, it was his monstrous height – far surpassing the soldiers she saw earlier – and his eyes. They were a pure, unnerving red – and unlike the warrior she saw before, he was without a helmet. He stared down at Luz, who could only wonder if this would be the end of her magical journey.