A/N: I gotta edit a scene for the next chapter to be posted in a few days, and it's a pain and half to get to the point where I'm happy with it. Burn out has settled in, so if it doesn't meet the same level of quality, I hope you can forgive that. One bad scene in a mountain of good ones doesn't seem too bad a trade off for my sanity, right? Right?
It was nearly noon by the time that Lucia and Amelia woke from their own rest. It seemed that while they were still asleep Vee had got up and started her own day, leaving just the two teenagers alone in their small bed in their cramped room.
The two women stared at each other for a few minutes, fingers entangling under their blankets and the memory of their talk earlier that morning still in their heads.
"You know," Lucia smirked, "This is a lot better reception than I got the last time we woke up in the same bed."
Amelia kicked her under the blankets in a huff, then climbed out of bed, "You're lucky I like you."
"You mean you love me, you can't take that back!" Lucia sang teasingly, a genuine smile stretching over her lips and her heart skipping a beat when Amelia just rolled her eyes and stepped out the door.
Lucia gave her girlfriend a few seconds head start before climbing out of bed herself. She stretched and popped her joints, sore from a night(morning?) of sleeping on such a lumpy mattress, and she added it to the mental list of things to complain about to the Owl Lady.
After leaving the room she headed for the bathroom, where Amelia was already busy brushing her teeth. A pile of unopened toothbrushes lay on the counter, meaning someone had been responsible enough to consider that, and the girls placed their bets on Lilith. Bumping Amelia out of the way with her hips so she could get a start on her own oral hygiene, Lucia chose a nice green toothbrush and ran it under the water.
Before long, her mouth was sparkly and minty. She had to hand it to the magical toothpaste, it absolutely made her teeth look whiter. Without having to worry about morning breath, she planted a kiss onto Amelia's lips, then took off down the stairs, eager to find her sister and catch up on absolutely everything that had happened while she was gone.
"How dare you?!" Luz's voice rang from the kitchen, though it might have been Vee's. It sounded heated, which only hurried Lucia's steps. In the kitchen she could see both of her sisters at the table, clearly in the middle of an argument, with Eda nearby looking like she was nursing the world's largest headache. Seeing the other human, Eda mouthed "save me" and Lucia grimaced. There was only one thing her sister could be angry about enough to get into this type of bout.
Seeing her sisters, Lucia breathed a sigh of relief that someone had seen the importance of labeling them, each of their names on name tags that were stuck to their shirts. Seeing Lucia join, Luz turned to her and pointed at Vee, "My clone is defective!"
"She's not your clone," Lucia soothed, then pulled a shit eating grin, "She's your replacement."
"I don't care, either way she has disgraced me!" Luz slammed her hand on the table.
"I told her I don't like the Azura novels," Vee summed up, though Lucia had already put that together. She only ever saw Luz get into these kinds of rage when she'd see people online disrespecting her favorite books.
"She said they were childish!" Luz protested, looking at her sister for reassurance.
Vee crossed her arms, "I did not! I said they were poorly written, cliched messes. It's so obvious that the author has been setting up a enemies-friends-lovers relationship between Azura and Hecate, but she absolutely botched the writing by rushing an already overused trope!"
Luz looked like she was restraining herself from leaping over the table and throttling her doppelgänger, "No, the trope is subverted because of how quickly they go from enemies to friends to lovers! It's beautiful, meaningful, and well written and I won't listen to this- this heresy!"
Both girls looked at Lucia for support in their arguments, and Lucia raised her hands in surrender, "Look, can I be completely honest?"
"Of course!" Both girls said at once, but Lucia could see in their eyes that what they meant was "as long as you're on my side."
She started with Luz, sighing since she hated to admit it, "Look, Luz, I- I never really liked Azura."
Luz gasped, betrayal on every inch of her face, but her older sister quickly added, "BUT! But, I did like reading them with you, because you love them. They're our thing, and I'm always happy to have our Azura book club meetings. Azura just… it's not immature, it's just not for someone of my age range."
Luz pouted, but seemed to accept that answer, so now Lucia focused on Vee, "I also think that there are parts that are well written, and the Hecate and Azura romance is one of them. They didn't bother wasting any time establishing an irritating 'will-they-won't-they' plot line, and there weren't any love triangles, or god forbid, love squares, when they easily could have gone that route. These books are important to Luz, they helped her with her bisexual awakening, so please, try and get along."
She glared at Luz, "That means you too, no picking fights because someone doesn't like the same book as you. We're family, so act like it. Now, hug and make up."
The two girls had their eyes downcast, upset to have made Lucia even mildly disappointed in them, but they stood up from their chairs and went around the table and embraced each other, giving a hardy pat on the back as they did.
"Where were you five months ago?" Eda asked in astonishment, stepping beside Lucia with a look of disbelief on her face.
"What, did Luz give you guys a hard time or something?" Lucia inquired, wondering if she'd need to have another talk with Luz later.
"No, no, she's been great. She just gets a little… over excited and acts like, well, Luz. It can be hard to get her to drop something that easily sometimes." Eda took a drink from her mug that from the smell Lucia could tell it was spiked with alcohol.
"I'm her older sister, I'm used to having to talk her down from doing dumb stuff."
"You mean when you're not encouraging it?" Eda gave a toothy grin.
"Exactly." Lucia chuckled. She eyed the older woman for a moment, then crossed her arms, "Hey? Thanks for watching out for her when I couldn't. That means a lot."
Eda eyed her mug, "I'm gonna need a lot more alcohol if we're going to be talking about stuff like that." She headed for her fridge, pulled out a bottle labeled "Apple Blood," poured it into her cup, and took a sip.
"Ah, Mama likey." Turning her attention back to Lucia she shrugged, "Look, Luz is… she's a great kid. I love her like she's my own, so there is absolutely nothing to thank me for, I was happy to have her here."
Lucia eyed the witch, "And you needed a mug of booze to just say that?"
Eda shook her head, "No, I needed it to deal with this."
As if on cue, Luz burst into sniffling tears and wrapped her arms tightly around Eda's waist. "I love you too, Eda. Eres como una segunda madre para mí."
Eda gave Lucia an exasperated look, but under it the Noceda girl could tell she really did care for Luz and wasn't bothered at all by her affection, no matter how aloof she liked to appear to it. The hugs continued until they could hear Eda's spine making cracking noises from the pressure Luz was putting on it. "Oof, Kiddo, remember that you're stronger than you look!"
"Sorry Eda." Luz quickly released the wincing witch.
Lucia moved to stand beside Vee, giving the girl a pat on the head, then noticed someone was missing, "Hey, Luz? Where's your girlfriend? Amy?"
"Amity," Luz corrected, her face brightening just at the mention of her. "And she's out scoping out the town like a secret agent with a couple of the bards. She should be back any minu-"
That was when the back door burst open, and Amber came rushing in, barreling through the kitchen and throwing herself excitedly into the Owl Lady's arms, "Mommy Eda! We're baaaack!"
Lucia snorted as Eda tried to fight the bard woman off of her. How many kids did this lady adopt?
Following shortly behind Amber was Katya and then Amity, who on seeing Luz beamed, ignoring everyone else in the room until they were standing side by side, their hands clasped.
"How did it go?" Luz asked, and Lucia listened in curiously, along with Vee and Eda.
"Well, they definitely upped the guards around town. Not as many as we had expected, but there is an increase." Amity frowned.
Katya nodded, "Yeah, they looked uncoordinated too. I'm not sure if any of them even know why they're stationed out there."
Eda's face twisted into a snarl, "Yeah, makes sense. Belos wouldn't want any of them knowing he got beaten, kinda ruins all the propaganda, so he's kept them all in the dark. Which also means it's likely they don't even know who they're out looking for, outside of maybe a few of us."
She gestured to the living room with her head, "Come on, I'll go wake your boss and you can give them and me all the deets."
She smiled at the teenagers, "You kids enjoy yourselves. Big Kid, there's food in the pantry, since you skipped out on breakfast."
The adults all left, leaving the teenagers alone. Lucia took a seat at the table, Vee joining her, and it was then that Lucia decided maybe she should take the chance to get to know the new girl, since she was likely to be around Luz a lot. "So, Amity, right? You and Luz seem pretty attached to the hip. How exactly did you guys meet?"
The mortification on Amity's face at the question was hilarious to see, and she quickly stuttered out an excuse to not speak of it, only for Luz to cut in cheerfully, "She almost got me dissected. It was a real overreaction, but we did kind of start out on the wrong foot."
"Luz, don't defend me for that, it was terrible," Amity whispered between clenched teeth and a forced smile.
Lucia raised a hand, "okay, okay, back up. You guys are going to have to explain that to me. In vivid detail."
Amity looked like she was about to combust, but Luz eagerly took a seat and began a long, detailed summary of every encounter the two had had in the past five months. It ranged from a near dissection, to a duel, to an honestly horrifying library adventure. Mountain tops, mind exploration, an almost date at something called Grom.
Sports, which was the last thing Lucia expected to hear about concerning Luz. Getting expelled, then saved, which made Luz aware of her own feelings towards the other girl. A mission to get a journal gone awry followed by a kiss on the cheek. Embarrassing feelings and a tunnel of love.
Luz started off doing most of the talking, Amity only chiming in to provide a bit more context for her own actions, but by the time they got to the Library books coming to life, Amity was an active participant. Her take on "Luzura" coming to her rescue sounded a lot more overly romanticized than Luz's own take, but it shed some light on what Amity saw in Lucia's baby sister.
Sometime during the story of them, Amelia joined, hanging out near the entrance to the kitchen, but still clearly listening in. Luz and Amity seemed too absorbed in their story and in each other to notice, but Lucia could see her, watching them as they talked. Or more specifically, Amelia was watching Amity, and it occurred to Lucia once again that her girlfriend had just discovered she had this entire other family.
So, Lucia stayed quiet and didn't draw attention to Amelia's arrival, letting the other girl get a chance to get to know her own little sister on her own terms. Eventually Amelia felt comfortable enough to saunter over to her girlfriend's side, leaning against the back of Lucia's chair just as the two lovebirds were getting to the present.
"So, sorry if this sounds dumb, but how are you handling the whole 'my girlfriend has an identical doppelgänger' situation?" Amelia asked, an odd opener to start with, gesturing to the Changeling.
Amity paled, "Oh, Titan, you really are related to Ed and Em, aren't you?"
Amelia snorted, "Do they tease you a lot?"
"All the time. It never stops. Fourteen years of ceaseless jokes, it's so aggravating." Amity suddenly pointed a finger in her newfound sibling's face, leaning across the table to do so, "You'd better not call me Mittens. I hate that name."
Luz pet the top of Amity's head, trying to calm her down, "Yeah, that is a weird nickname. I prefer to call you Kittens instead, since you're cute like a little kitty."
That didn't seem to improve anything, only making Amity blush a deep crimson then slump back in her seat and mumbling how Luz could only get away with that because they were dating.
"That still doesn't answer my question," Amelia smirked.
Amity rolled her eyes, "It's fine. Sure, Vee happened to take the form of the prettiest girl on the Boiling Isles-" This earned an "awww" from Luz, "but that doesn't change that she isn't my Luz. So it doesn't bother me at all, it's Luz's heart that I fell for, not her body."
She stuck her nose in the air, and Lucia smiled, knowing her sister got a good one. Vee looked touched, and Luz clung to Amity tightly, but Amelia was less than impressed. "Oh, really? What was that I heard a little bit ago, about sports, and sweating again?"
Amity sputtered, "I can have an attractive girlfriend who's nice to look at too! I just mean it's not what makes me want to be with her, so I don't care what Vee looks like."
"Even if I was all hot and sweaty?" Vee joined in, grinning evilly.
Even Luz couldn't hold back her laughter at that, much to Amity's chagrin.
Raine expected their day to be busy. From the moment Eda had woken them, stiff and tired from sleeping in a nest of all things, they'd been back to work. It was a tough job, being the leader of rebels, but it was one they took on willingly. Even if public speaking still gave them the willies.
Raine had planned to spend the day with their head in battle plans, in talks with the BATs and Lilith, and fending off Eda's tempting invitations to drop it all and just relax with her. They had not been expecting, however, to be cornered by a concerned looking Human and Demon sometime after lunch.
"We need to talk," Luz said evenly.
"About Eda." King added.
Glancing between the two children, Raine could tell this was serious, and gave a brief nod, gesturing for the two to join them. "What's this all about?" They asked carefully.
The two took their seats, and looked at each other, wondering where to begin. Luz cleared her throat, "Well, we know that you and Eda have a bit of a past…"
"And we know there's still something there between you two." King chimed in.
Luz nodded, "Yes, there is absolutely still something there!"
Raine chuckled, feeling their cheeks flush. This wasn't exactly the kind of conversation they had wanted to have with children, but these were Eda's kids. They should have expected they'd be a little nosy. "I understand you may have concerns-"
Luz cut them off, "Not concerns! We're happy for you, right King?"
King crossed his arms, "You make my mom cry and I'll make you wish you were never born!"
Raine grimaced, but continued, "- but there is nothing you need to worry about right now."
"Why's that?" The human girl asked curiously, leaning against the countertop.
"Eda and I… we haven't even really talked much in over a decade. We did a bit of work together recently with the BATs, but that was the first time we'd seen each other in a long while." Raine sighed, "Sure, I still… I'd be happy to continue where we left off, now that she seems ready to open up about her issues… but right now the two of us have bigger problems on our hands. I just don't have the time to deal with a relationship right this minute."
"But what about later? In the future when everything has settled down?" Luz peered up at them.
King nodded, "Yeah! After the Emperor is toast, what about then?"
Raine shook their head and fondly patted the tops of both children's heads. "Then I plan to take it just a day at a time. Eda and I? We're old. We don't feel that same rush to jump right into things like you kids do… or, at least I don't. Eda's always been a lady of action." Raine laughed fondly.
"What I'm saying is, don't worry about it for now. We're adults, and we'll figure it out at our own pace. I'm very happy to have your support, though. It's nice that Eda's family approves."
King grumbled, "Of course we do, you make Eda really happy… but you also make her really sad when you're not here. So don't get captured or whatever again, okay?"
Raine gave their word, and the two children left them in peace, to work on plans for later. Out of their earshot, King discussed with Luz that he hoped one day, he would not just get to have his Dad, and Eda as his Mom, but maybe he could be lucky enough to have three parents one day, making the human choke up and wish her little demon prince the best.
It was well past midday by the time Gus returned, flanked by someone the people from the Demon Hunter's of the Human Realm hadn't had the chance to meet yet, an anxious looking Mattholomule. "Why are we going into a wanted criminal's house, Gus?"
"I told you, we're overthrowing the emperor, and we kinda need some outlaws for that!" Gus said patently, patting the nervous wreck that was his rival-turned-friend on the shoulder.
"You get what you guys needed?" Eda asked, clearly wanting to get this show on the road.
Gus held up a small lumpy bag, and tossed it to Eda, "It took some work, but we managed to convince the Looking Glass Graveyard's caretaker to lend us some."
Eda poured the shiny rocks into her hand, having to resist their allure. So shiny and sparkly, they taunted the Owl Beast in her. Galderstones. "I've only ever heard about these in myths, but you really pulled through this time, Goops."
"It's Gus, ma'am."
"Whatever."
Matt socked Gus's shoulder, silently trying to remind him of something. "Oh! Yeah! I also talked to my dad-"
"About?" Eda glared suspiciously, making Mattholomule back behind Gus.
"Well, really, I slipped an anonymous tip into our mailbox, but I let him know about when our plan is supposed to start. If he bought it, we should have live crystal ball coverage all throughout the isles. Should make this easier." Gus quickly explained.
Eda considered this new step in the plan, then shrugged, "What the heck, sure."
She took one of the stones in hand and held it up to the light, "I'll just… distribute these babies to the people who need them, and then we'll have the plan underway.
Gus narrowed his eyes, "I really do need to return all of those at the end of the day, Eda."
Eda frowned, one of the stones already halfway in her pocket, "Thorns. Fine, fine, I won't pickpocket any. It's not like they'll work for me anyway."
Gus's eyes narrowed so much he was basically squinting, "I counted them before I gave them to you, I expect them all in there!"
Eda stomped her foot pathetically, "phooey, what's the point of being a criminal if I'm not allowed to steal anything!"
There was a knock on the door, and Lucia reluctantly broke away from Amelia. The two had retreated back to their room for a little privacy, but it seemed that wasn't meant to last. "Come in!"
Luz poked her head in, and gave a cheerful wave, but there was a nervousness behind it, "Hey. We're all set to go. Operation Kick the Emperor's scrawny Butt is about to start."
"Who names these things?" Amelia didn't bother to hide her distaste for the name.
"Eda. She's terrible at names, but she owns the place, so, what can we do about it?" Luz shrugged. "I'll give you guys a moment to get ready."
The two older women nodded, and Luz let them be, shutting the door behind her. Lucia sat back down on the bed, the mood positively murdered by the interruption. The silence grew tense, until Lucia reached out with a comforting hand and placed it on Amelia's shoulder. "You ready?"
"To fight an emperor who might be backed by a God?" Amelia asked quietly, her bravado from the previous night having faded. "How do you even prepare for something like that?"
Lucia didn't know how to answer, so just pulled her into a tight embrace.
The living room was hustling with energy and witches, all preparing for their roles. Willow came as soon as she could, having received a message when Gus arrived, and was awaiting orders. Raine and the BATs were going over the plan one more time. Meanwhile, Eda was busy patronizing Hunter.
"You lay here and rest, while us Bad Girls do our thing-" She received a disgruntled groan from Raine across the room, "- I mean bad girls as in the name of my Coven, Rainstorm, not literally. You don't see Derwin complaining… though he is very pretty, Derwin, you're a guy, right?"
She just received a laugh in return, which put a grin on her face as she resumed her task, "there are snacks in the fridge, and I've set your meds here on the coffee table. Try not to overdose on anything, read the instructions before you sip even one of these potions."
Hunter rolled his eyes, "You're not my Mother, Clawthorne."
"I may as well be, look at you, you can't even take care of yourself."
Hunter didn't say anything to that, so Eda huffed, tending to the last of the things he'd need. She made sure he had a water bottle within arms reach, and just as she was about to turn away he spoke again. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?"
While the hustle and bustle didn't die down, the fact no one was talking anymore proved to Eda they all had ears on this conversation, so she chose her words carefully. "We might have to, yeah."
Hunter swallowed, looking small from his position on the couch. "Don't?" He croaked.
Eda sighed, and crossed her arms, "Give me one good reason why we shouldn't? He's been a tyrant for the past fifty years, he's been branding people for nearly just as long to sap them of their magic, and a day ago he nearly got our entire world destroyed. Can you top that?"
"He's my Uncle. The only family I've got," Hunter argued, though even he knew it was a weak argument to make.
"And he nearly killed you. If your little Palisman birdy over here, who your dear old Uncle normally eats, hadn't saved you, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be in a shallow, nameless grave, with the rest of the so-called traitors." Eda crossed her arms, "That, or a statue."
"Please?" Hunter pleaded. If he wasn't too weak to stand, Eda was sure he'd be lifting himself off the couch to throw himself at her feet. "I betrayed him so he wouldn't kill any of you, and to keep you from killing him, and now you're going to go out and do it all over again, and I can't stop it this time. So please, don't?"
Eda gave a long, tired sigh. "Fine."
She could already sense the arguments about to go off around her from everyone from Raine to Lilith, to even King, who had been looking forward to the bloodshed all day, but she lifted her hand to call for silence. "I can't promise he'll live to see tomorrow, kid. But if he's down, if he can't fight back, I won't finish him off. That's as merciful as I'm going to get with the man, so you'd better be thankful."
"I am," Hunter spoke quietly, voice barely above a whisper. "Thank you."
Turning around to rejoin the crowd, the only person who seemed relieved to see Eda promise to not absolutely kill the emperor was Luz, who gave her mentor a thumbs up. Eda gave a shaky one back, knowing that while she promised she wouldn't kill him if he was down, the others had made no such deal, and had every right to strike him down if given half the chance.
She just hoped she'd be near enough to her human kid to shield her eyes if it happened. Luz didn't need the nightmares.
A/N: And the next chapter, the true final battle will begin! Will our heroes prevail? Or die trying? Find out next time on Dragon Claw Z!
I like this chapter, it's nice, low stakes, and gets a bunch of characters interacting. Luz would have a fit if Vee didn't like Azura, even in canon, is my theory. It's doubly hilarious when you think about how Vee was just going to toss all of Luz's Azura stuff into the trash before Luz showed up. Luz would absolutely be ready to throw down if she'd known that.
Tell me what you think will happen in the next chapter, and let me know what you think of all the meetings between the characters in the comments. I love you, bye!