Clawthornes vs Sandersons
'So…it's been a long night,' Luz thought as she struggled against her bonds.
It was Hallow's Eve in the Boiling Isles and her friends told her about this house that belonged to an ancient trio of witches long dead. Three hundred years before Belos's rule, wild witches known as the Sanderson Sisters practiced magic darker than anyone ever dared to use, led by their eldest sister Winifred. One day, the three took it too far and sucked the life out of a young child, just to make themselves younger. Fearing for the safety of young witchlings, other wild witches captured the sisters and burned them to death, but not before Winifred made one last curse: On All Hallow's Eve when the moon is round, a child shall summon them from under the ground.
Too bad for Luz that fourteen counted as a child's age.
Okay, Luz didn't mean to light the Black-Flamed Candle. All she wanted to do was get a glance inside that book she heard about. King got spooked and that put her on alert with a glyph on hand, then King latched onto her face and she accidentally activated a fireball and it hit the candle.
Now the Sanderson Sisters are back.
They're back and Luz is doomed.
Apparently, they needed to suck the life out of someone in order to be back permanently.
Luz tried to intimidate them with her glyphs, but all that got her was lightning coursing through her body. Not enough to kill, but it hurt so much she almost passed out. King tried to help, but got the same electrocution treatment she got. Now she was tied up, King was locked up in a bird cage near the fireplace, and the sisters were conjuring a nasty potion for their 'guest'. Luz could only hope that, somehow, Eda and Lilith would save her in time.
…also Amity would be good. Amity saving her again would be great.
"I really think you're making a mistake. You don't want to do this," Luz stressed from the chair she was tied to, the witches weaving around her and grabbing ingredients for the potion brewing inside the large cauldron in front of her.
Winifred laughed, a sinister look in her eyes. "Thy is wrong. I wanteth this for centuries!" She clapped her hands gleefully. "What luck we have that you came along, and a human no less!"
Mary passed by Luz, sniffing around the teen. "Yep. Human," she confirmed before wheezing with laughter.
Sarah joined in, dancing around and swooshing her cape. "Human, human!"
"But wouldn't that mess up your spell or whatever?" Luz protested.
Winifred waved a dismissive hand. "Demon, witch or human, does not matter. A life is a life."
"You let Luz go!" King demanded, shaking a fist through the bars of his prison. "Let her go or suffer the wrath of-Weh!" King flinched as a dead man's toe was thrown at him.
"Spunky lil' guy, isn't he?" Mary commented, holding a bowl of toes. She dropped one into the cauldron.
"We'll eat him after we have dealt with the girl," Winifred said, uncorking a bottle of newt saliva and pouring some into the concoction.
"Once Eda finds us, you're gonna regret messing with us," Luz declared, glaring at them. "She's the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, and she's gonna be real mad you took her apprentice and her demon."
Winifred rolled her eyes. "I grow tired of your constant babbling. Gather around, sisters." She and the other two gather around the cauldron. "One more thing and all is done, add a bit of thine tongue."
Much to Luz's disgust, the sisters chomp down on the tips of their tongues and spat into the cauldron, the purple liquid inside hissing as it changed to a sickly green. The sisters were delighted by this.
"Tis ready for tasting," Winifred said, pleased.
As they got a big wooden spoon and dipped it in, Luz looked at King from the corner of her eye. "Any chance you found a way out yet?" She whispered.
King circles around in place like a caged animal…which is exactly the situation here. "There's no latch or anything! How did they even get me in here?"
Before Luz could respond, the Sanderson Sisters directed their attention back to her, a spoonful of death stew in hand. They advanced toward her, preparing to make her drink the nasty stuff.
Winifred sneered. "Alright, girl. Open up your mouth."
Luz kept her mouth firmly shut. She turned her head this way and that, struggling as hands grabbed her and tried to force her lips open. She bit Mary and kicked Sarah in the shin. It brought little satisfaction, but only for a second.
'I'm dead!' Luz thought in a panic as Winifred got a grip of her face, squishing her cheeks.
Just when a drop was about to enter Luz's mouth, the front door exploded. The sisters threw their arms over their heads, Winifred dropping the spoon at the intrusion. Green liquid and smoldering wood splattered across the wooden floors. Through the smoke, two figures flocked in through the entrance, each one with a bird-themed staff in hand.
Luz beamed. "Oh, Thank Titan you're here!"
"Who's that?" Sarah asked her sisters. Eda answered her question.
"Someone you managed to make very ticked off," Eda growled, potions strapped around her and staff in hand. Lilith stood behind her, taking a defensive stance. "Get your hands off my apprentice."
King coughed.
"...And release the tiny demon," Eda added.
Mary started to obey her, but Winifred dragged her back painfully by the ear. "We will not!" Winnie exclaimed, releasing her sisters. "Thy will leave or die painfully."
Eda scoffed. "'Thy'? You really are old, grandma."
Mary and Sarah gasped, grimacing. Winifred glowered, rage simmering in her eyes. "Grandma?"
"You should just release the demon and girl," Lilith interrupted. "If I know anything about my sister, she is not above disrespecting her elders. No matter how ancient."
Winifred yelled. "Ah! Kill them both!"
The Sandersons rushed at the Clawthornes as Eda pulled a potion off her stash. "Not today, granny!" She smashed the bottle to the floor, activating a strong spell of fog brew, the whole room covered in a dense mist.
Luz squinted, trying to see what's happening. She can hear spells being cast and witches yelling, either in triumph or surprise or pain.
"Luz!" King jumped on her shoulder, hugging her around her neck.
"King!" Luz whispered joyously. "You got free."
Then she felt a tap on her bound hands and rotated her neck a little to see Lilith behind her, using a fire glyph to burn the ropes away.
Luz rubbed her wrists. "Boy, am I glad to see you two. How did you know we were here?"
"King left a note taped to my face while I was asleep," Lilith replied.
King let out a short laugh. "You were so out of it, I bapped your face twice."
Lilith frowned, but gripped Luz's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Let's get out of here while the fog is still strong."
They made it five steps before Mary and Sarah blocked their path, stumbling into view. Mary barked at them like a dog.
King clutched Luz's shoulder with a "Weh!"
Just as Mary and Sarah were about to attack, Lilith pulled out some glyphs and casted fireballs at them. Not big enough to kill, but enough to set their hair on fire. The two screamed, twirling madly around and patting their heads in a vain attempt to extinguish the flames. Luz stepped back when Sarah spun too close to her, bumping her arm against the cauldron.
Looking into the pot's contents, Luz realized that even if she got away the Sanderson Sisters would still have this awful brew. They could find someone else to suck the life out of.
Determined, Luz went to one side of the cauldron and started to lift the thing by the rim. "Lilith, help me out!"
Lilith seemed to get what Luz was planning and hurried over to her side. Together, they tipped the cauldron so that the potion spilled out, hissing and steaming. Splashing against Mary and Sarah's legs. The two cried out in pain and slipped on the liquid, hitting the ground. The flames were gone, leaving their hair singed and shorter, but now dealing with a new predicament.
King let out a victorious laugh, raising a fist toward the enemy witches. "Ha, yes! Burn and boil, hags!"
The victory was short-lived when a shockwave knocked everyone off their feet and flying back.
Lilith slammed her head against a pillar and dropped like a rock, out-cold. King hit the lid of a chest and fell in, the lid falling shut with a click. "Seriously?!"
Luz was lucky enough to land back in a rocking chair, unscathed.
Room cleared of fog, Luz gasped as she saw Eda slumped against the wall, her sash of potions empty of arsenal. Then Winifred started zapping her mentor with lightning, causing Eda to cry out in pain and her body to spasm.
With a furious yell, Luz sprinted over and jumped onto Winifred's back. "You leave Eda alone!" Luz pulled fistfuls of red hair and scratched her nails into the eldest Sanderson's face. Winifred stumbled around in a wide circle, yelling and screaming for the human to get off of her. Finally, she managed to get a hold of Luz and threw her to the floor, back first.
"I've had enough of you!" Winifred snarled, holding Luz down with one hand choking her by the throat and the other reaching into her pocket. "I've managed to get a bottle before you ruined my potion. Enough for you!" She laughed wickedly, but it died out as her hand fumbled around. No bottle on her person.
"Looking for something?"
Winifred turned around to Eda. Luz only managed to tilt her head up a little to see her mentor get up on one knee, hold up a little bottle of green liquid with a smirk.
Winifred growled. "You dare pick my pockets?"
Eda shrugged, a bit smug. "Witch criminal. Pickpocketing is a hobby of mine." Then her face grew serious, lips turning into a frown. "Now get off of Luz or I'll smash it."
"Smash it and she dies!" Winifred retailated. To prove her point, she squeezed Luz's throat harder, cutting off the girl's air supply and making her gasp for breath. Luz tried to fight her off, but the witch's whole body weight held her down. One hand trapped under a knee and the other pinned down by Winifred's free hand. Luz's face started to pale and darkness started to form at the edges of her vision.
Eda's face was blank, as if she was trying to figure something out.
If Eda gave Winifred the potion, she'll just use it on Luz. If not, she'll strangle the kid until she is dead. Lilith was unconscious and King was locked in a trunk. There was no way to win.
Unless…
Luz watched in horror as Eda pulled the stopper out with her teeth, spat the stopper to the side, and drank the potion in one gulp. Luz tried to call out Eda's name, but all she could manage was an incoherent gurgle.
Eda tossed the bottle behind her, glass breaking behind her with a cocky grin. "How about 'em poison apples?"
Winifred narrowed her eyes, standing up and lifting Luz with her. Mary and Sarah joined her, their skin red and blistered.
"What a fool," Winifred hissed. She brought Luz close and glanced at her briefly. "To give thy life, for a pathetic human!"
With that proclamation, Winifred tossed Luz aside like she was nothing. Luz rolled across the floor, gasping and coughing as she greedily breathed in air. Then she looked back to Eda and it felt like she was choking again.
An icy hand gripped Luz's heart as she watched the witches start to drink in Eda's life force, a smoky aura surrounding her mentor. After two sips, however, the Sandersons started to cough and gag. They clawed at their throats as if unable to take in air, falling to their knees.
"What's this?" Winifred choked.
"Winnie, what's happening?" Mary whimpered.
"I feel so…cold." Sarah murmured before slumping to the floor.
Eda stood up, placing her hands on her hips confidently as she looked down on them, the smoky aura gone. "Forgot to mention, I have a curse of my own. It messes up magic." She leaned down. "Very badly."
Mary tapped her sister's shoulder. "Winnie, look." She weakly pointed to the candle Luz lit earlier before slumping down as well.
Winnifred, as well as Luz, directed her attention to the Black-Flamed Candle. The flame flared in a decaying gray, the wax bubbling and rapidly melting to the stub, dripping an inky black.
"No…" Winnifred sank onto her hands, weakly. "We had until dawn."
Eda shrugged. "Not anymore. Say hi to Bill and Z.T. for me."
Luz sat up as she watched the Sandersons Sisters' skin solidified into stone before breaking up into dust, leaving three piles of ash where they once stood.
"Well…" Luz squeaked, breaking the silence, "That was horrifying."
Eda knelt to her apprentice's side and checked her over, hands gripping the girl's shoulders. "You ok, kid?" she asked, voice soft with worry and concern.
Luz cleared her throat, lightly touching it. "Neck's a bit sore, but I'll live."
Eda nodded. "Good, because you are in so much trouble. You're gonna be on house cleaning duty for a month."
Luz sagged. "Aw nuts."
Loud banging caught their attention, King's voice coming from the locked chest. "Hey! Stop talking and get me out of this prison already!"
Luz rushed up to her feet and over to King's aid, pulling out a fire glyph. "Sorry, King," she apologized, melting the lock. As soon as she opened the lid, King scurried out and climbed up to her shoulders.
King surveyed the room and whined. "Aw, you killed our enemies and didn't let me watch?"
"You're on house cleaning duty as well, King," Eda announced, helping a groggy Lilith to her feet. Lilith gingerly touched the back of her head, wincing. "Easy, sis. You're gonna have to ice it. Maybe let Luz fly for ya as well."
Lilith groaned. "If we were at full power, we could've made quick work of those terrible hags."
"Yeah," Eda said off-handedly before slapping Lilith's back, "but we still showed them who's boss."
Lilith chuckled a little before turning a stern look at Luz and King, crossing her arms. Eda joined her with her hands back on her hips. "Now," Lilith began, "what were you two thinking of coming to this hovel?"
Luz twiddled her thumbs. "I was…hoping to take a sneak peek at that book Winifred had."
Lilith's and Eda's glares didn't change.
Luz rubbed her arm. "I thought maybe I could find something about curing curses or even traveling between realms."
King looked toward the book. "I don't think we're gonna get the chance anymore."
They all turned to the bookstand where the book was disintegrating. Apparently, the book was placed under the candle, right where the wax dripped on its surface. Despite the stories of how the spellbook was protected by magic to be indestructible, it was no match for Eda's curse.
Eda grimaced. "Oh boy."
Luz hung her head in disappointment, sighing. "Guess this was all for nothing. I'm sorry everyone."
Eda's expression softened and she wrapped an arm around Luz's shoulders. "Hey, would it cheer you up if we blew the place up and watched it go up in flames?"
Luz gave her a small smile. "Thanks, but I just want to get back to the Owl House and relax for the rest of the night."
"Oh, let's order takeout and watch Tilda!" King suggested as they piled out through the broken doorway. "I'm dying to know what's going on with those rock trolls."
"Nah, I'm more in the mood for The Last Wind-bender," Eda responded as she and King boarded Owlbert. Luz joined Lilith on her staff to help the older witch fly since her head still hurt. "Those kids trying to end that century-year war are growing on me."
As the witches, tiny demon, and human flew off, the dust of the Sanderson Sisters dispersed across the floor as a draft rolled in, mingling with the grime of the cottage until it seemed as if they never had returned back from the dead in the first place.
I've seen little fanart, but no fic of this crossover. So I thought "What the heck?" I don't own Owl House or Hocus Pocus. Please review if you feel like it. Keep it weird, my witchy readers. Have a Happy Halloween this October.