This isn't an April Fool's joke: Chapter 4 is finally here!
Ok, I know I said this chapter would be uploaded February, but something happened which caused the entire chapter to be deleted somehow so I had to type everything I had down again (thankfully I remembered most of it). I then tried to make a March release but of course some things got in the way, but in hindsight I'm kinda glad it got mysteriously deleted because I was able to do this chapter better than it was before.
This chapter will have a good chunk of exposition, but I tried to make it work. Anyways, enjoy!
After dinner Luz returned to her room to get ready for bed. She rolled out her sleeping bag and retrieved her pajamas from her overnight bag which was a pair of gray sweatpants and a black shirt with the logo of a rock band on the front that was a size or two bigger than what Luz normally wears. She then went through her backpack and pulled out a bottle of water that has managed to stay cold all day. Luz took of the cap and took a few refreshing sips before screwing it back on.
She then reached back into the backpack and felt something odd. Luz grabbed whatever it was and found out it was a small framed photo which was of her and her mom that was taken months ago on Luz's first day of freshman year; she had forgotten that this was in there. Luz sighed deeply as her thumb dragged over her mom. Despite being gone for only a few hours, Luz still missed her. And even if she was mad at Camila earlier for making her go to that camp, Luz still loved her enough to take a photo with her.
Luz propped the frame up next to her sleeping bag and smiled lovingly at it.
"I'll see you soon, mami."
With that, Luz was ready to retire for the night. She was about to take off her wool cap until she heard knocking on the door.
"Luz, you in there?" Eda called from the other side.
"I am. You can come in, I'm decent." Luz replied.
Eda opened the door and peeked her head inside. "Hey kid. I see you getting ready for bed?"
Luz unzipped her sleeping bag. "I guess. I was gonna stay up longer until I realized you don't have a tv."
Eda gave out a laugh that sounded awkward. "I have no idea what a tv is."
"So did you want something Eda?" Luz questioned patiently.
Eda opened the door some more. "Oh yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to chat for a bit. Have a little girl talk and all."
Luz scowled at Eda. "You want to have girl talk with me?"
Eda nodded and grinned. "Yeah, sure. Do that a new phrase to you?"
"Oh, no no. My mom and I have girl talk all the time, so sure!"
"Great! Let's go talk in my room. I'm not sitting on this dusty floor."
Luz got up and followed Eda out of the room and down the hall towards her room.
"Before you see my room, I just want to warn you that it's a bit of a mess. I wasn't expecting company." Eda warned.
Luz chuckled and waved her off. "Don't worry about it, my room back home isn't perfect either."
But Luz quickly swallowed her words once she saw the absolute train, no, plane wreck that is (or what she thinks is) Eda's bedroom. Various articles of clothing, books, bottles and junk that would make an average hoarder green with envy. She could hardly see the floor! All she could notice is a giant stained-glass window that looks like an eye on the far side of the room and a huge nest in the corner next to it.
"Oh..." Luz could only say while Eda grinned with pride strangely enough.
"Yep! This is where all the magic happens! And by magic, I mean sleep."
Eda snapped her fingers causing the pile of stuff to move aside creating a path to the nest.
"So, where's your bed?" Luz asked, really hoping that the nest isn't it.
Eda pointed ahead. "Right there in front of us."
Indeed, Eda was pointing at the nest.
"Of all the things I've seen today, this has to be the weirdest." Luz thought in her head.
"You're telling me this nest is your bed?" Luz asked as she followed Eda to it.
Eda nodded and glanced back at the teen. "They call me The Owl Lady for a reason." she replied.
Though Luz wasn't convinced. "So sleeping in a nest is why you're called that?"
Eda stayed silent as if she needed to process the question. But why?
"Yes... that's why." she said flatly.
Eda stopped in front of the nest and climbed in.
"Be careful coming in. I cut off most of the pointy sticks everyday but more seem to pop up like weeds."
Luz climbed into the nest where she saw Eda sitting down next to a single pillow and a blanket that seemed to be Eda's size. Once in the nest, Luz sat down only to jump with a shriek at something sharp poking her from behind.
"Oops. There's one."
Luz rubbed her back and then shifted to a more comfortable position free of sharp stick edges.
Luz then heard a familiar hooting sound and looked up to see the same owl from before perched next to her.
"Hey, I know you!" said Luz, pointing at the owl.
"You know Owlbert?" Eda asked, intrigued.
Luz nodded. "This little stinker is the whole reason why I'm here. He stole my book!"
Eda looked over at Owlbert and smiled at the little gremlin.
"Ah, he meant no harm. Just following momma's orders." she said affectionally.
Luz felt Owlbert rub his head against her own.
"What is he doing?" Luz asked, confused.
"That's his way of saying sorry." Eda replied.
Luz felt how soft Owlbert felt and how sweet he was being. That little owl should be thankful that Luz loves animals.
"Alright I forgive you. Just fly away with someone else's book next time, will ya?" Luz asked as she caressed Owlbert's head.
Owlbert gave Luz a confirming hoot before flying off next to Eda.
"So anyways, what did you want to talk about?" our protagonist asked.
"Oh, nothing much. Just to know each other better since you'll be here for a few days. How did you like dinner?" Eda asked with a tone that suggests she might be anticipating Luz's answer.
Luz's eyes lit up. "I've head over a thousand plates of scrambled eggs in my life, but those were the best I've ever eaten!" Luz explained dreamily.
Eda sighed in relief. "Well, that's nice. And you can expect another plate for breakfast tomorrow!"
Luz fist pumped upon hearing this. "Yes!" she rejoiced.
Eda chuckled. "I still remember your face when I told you where the eggs came from."
Luz shrugged. "It's not every day you learn that your meal came from a mythical creature that you thought hours ago didn't exist. Like magic and witches, for example."
"And let me congratulate you on taking our existence really well." Eda snarked.
"Yeah, I'm honestly surprised that my brain isn't fried by all this." Luz responded.
"I know right? Any other human would probably be crying and screaming, but not you."
Luz closed her eyes and stuck her nose in the air, pretending to be full of herself and she was too good to look at Eda.
"That's because I, Luz Noceda, am the world's greatest human. I'm basically royalty." Luz said with a very cocky tone which caused Eda to tilt her head back and laugh.
"Hehe- oh that reminds me. How do you spell your name? Because I keep thinking it's L-O-S-E, like loser. Not trying to call you a loser by the way."
Luz chuckled and reassured Eda that it's alright before speaking. "It's alright, I get this question a lot. My name is spelt as L-U-Z, but that hasn't stopped dorks back home from calling me Luzer anyways."
Eda's nodded in an understanding way.
"Oh, ok! Still strange that your name is like that though." Eda said rather bluntly which Luz ignored.
"The thing is my name is actually Spanish for Light." Luz revealed.
Upon hearing this Eda's eyes widened in realization.
"Your name is literally light. You must have some creative parents." Eda complimented.
Luz gave her a little smile. "Yeah. My dad actually came up with it."
"Really? How did that come to his mind?" Eda inquired, now invested.
Luz didn't need to think about it. She knew it all too well in her heart.
"My mom once told me that the very moment dad learned that she was pregnant with me, I immediately became the light of his life. He stood by my mom everyday making she and I were in good health until the day I was born. It wasn't until the moment he first held me that he gave me my name. And throughout the years he always called me his little light." Luz smiled fondly at the memories as her eyes became wet.
Th story managed to tug Eda's heartstrings a bit, but she kept it together.
"Your dad must really love you." said Eda as she tried to make sure she had no tears built up.
"He did... I mean, he does!" Luz quickly corrected herself which Eda noticed but didn't question, though Luz's slip did leave her suspicious.
"I just hope daddy doesn't mind that his little light in in a completely different realm." Eda said teasingly.
Luz froze upon hearing this. Her eyes widened and her breath hitched. She remained still.
Eda saw this and was confused.
"Luz?" she called but got no answer.
Now a little worried, Eda reached towards Luz and gripped her shoulder, shaking her gently.
"Luz? Luz?!" Eda called louder than before.
Luz finally blinked and shook her head, snapping out of her trance-like state.
"W-What?" Luz asked, confused.
Eda sighed in relief and leaned back.
"You just froze. It worried me a bit." Eda explained.
Her face blushed with embarrassment; Luz looked away from Eda. "S-Sorry."
"Are you okay?" Eda asked with genuine concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Luz said a bit quickly, showing how she wants to move on.
"Well, that's a relief. I thought I had to take your heart out of your chest and get it working again." said Eda.
Luz quickly looked at Eda, looking shocked. "You were gonna do what?" she asked.
"HAHA! I'm just kidding with you." Eda revealed.
"Oh-" Luz said with an awkward smile.
Eda was glad that Luz seemed better. Because if she wasn't then she really would've taken her heart out to fix it, but Eda decided to play what she said off as a joke.
She then noticed the teen's gloomy expression. Something was indeed bothering her.
"Luz, if you're trying to hide that something is wrong, you're failing miserably. So, what's eating you?"
Luz remained silent.
"Look, I know we haven't known each other for even a day, but you can talk to me about anything that's wrong with you. I promised." Eda promised, her eyes showing no deception.
Luz could tell Eda was telling the truth.
"Eda-" Luz began, taking a deep breath. "-When I said earlier when that my parents would be okay with me being here, I mean to just say my mom. The truth is... well, my dad passed away years ago."
This explained Luz messing up her words and trying to cover it up earlier. Eda knew something was up and know she knows.
"Sorry for not correcting myself earlier. It's just- y'know?" Luz tried to explain herself, but Eda stopped her.
"It's ok, Luz. I understand how difficult it is to talk about a lost loved one." Eda reassured. She noticed how Luz looked heartbroken upon revealing the fate of her father.
"Still. I should've come clean. I guess that was technically lying." said Luz who rubbed her arm in an awkward manner.
Eda was once again going to tell Luz that it was alright, but something else came to mind.
"I got a question for you, kid. How often do you lie?" Eda questioned
Luz looked at Eda who was staring back with her eyes half-lidded.
"Umm. Come again?" said Luz. very unsure about the context about Eda's out-of-the-blue question.
"How often do you lie?" Eda repeated, her voice calm yet clear.
Luz still didn't know what to say.
"Uhh, less than a politician?" Luz shrugged with a smile.
Eda snorted with laughter at the reply. That was pretty funny, but that's not what she was going for, so she decided to bust out the evidence.
Eda reached into her satchel and pulled out what Luz immediately recognized as the brochure to the summer camp she was supposed to go to. It looked a little ashy and worn, but it was still in good shape. How?
Luz's heart stopped and her expression showed it which Eda caught instantly.
"I see you recognize this?" Eda asked rhetorically.
Luz's wide eyes looked at Eda.
"I saw you toss this into my fireplace earlier and wondered why you didn't just dispose of it in my wastebin. So, while you were eating, I managed to dig out any piece that wasn't burnt to a crisp and used a simple restoration spell to repair it. Now I don't have the slightest clue as to what a summer camp is, but I can guess that it's no coincidence you were trying to get rid of this. Now I'm gonna ask you something and I want you to be completely honest: Were you supposed to go to this 'summer camp'?"
This is the first time in all her life Luz felt this afraid. She thought she had reached the peak of fear when she first came into the Isles or when she was trying to survive in the conformatorium hours ago, but now she was faced with a witch who knows too much. Mom was right, your lies really will eventually catch up with you.
Eda's face showed nothing resembling anger or threatening, just that same stoic expression as if she already knows the answer but wants Luz to admit it. But Luz didn't know how the witch handled being lied to.
Would Eda turn Luz's bones into jelly and use her as a doormat? Abandon her at the confromatrium where Wrath will gladly slice her in two after she insulted him? Or worse, will Luz be turned into an animal as her eternal punishment?
...
Could she choose which animal she will be turned into? Because being an otter would be pretty rad!
...
Wait, no, focus!
Luz wondered how high her chances were if she makes a dash towards the door? Nah. Eda might catch her with some strange magic, and even if she got out how would she get past Hooty? He'd just restrain her with that long body(?) of his.
Ah well. Might as well swallow her pride regardless of consequences.
"I was supposed to go to that camp." Luz admitted. Sh braced for what could come.
"Oh, Luz!" Eda moaned and facepalmed. She wasn't angry, just disappointed.
Luz panicked. "I'm sorry!" Please don't turn me into anything that isn't an otter!"
Eda looked up at Luz with bewilderment. What goes through this kid's head?
"Why would I turn you into anything?" Eda questioned.
"Isn't that what witches do when they're angry?"
Eda slumped her shoulders. "Is that another stereotype that the human realm taught you?"
Seeing the owl lady annoyed made Luz see that she probably should watch what she says.
"Maybe." Luz answered, avoiding eye contact.
"Typical humans." Eda groaned. "But no, the only thing I'm doing to you is sending you home immediately."
Oh, Luz really didn't like the sound of that.
"WHAT?!" she shouted.
Eda stood up and brushed the small sticks out of her dress.
"I said I'm sending you home. You got this camp thing to attend to." Eda said sternly.
Luz got on her knees, ignoring the prick, and cupped her hands.
"Please don't send me home yet. Just hear me out!" Luz begged.
Eda looked down at Luz clearly unamused.
"What now?" The witch questioned in annoyance.
"Ok, I'm not lying this time! That camp is evil!" said Luz hysterically.
Eda almost laughed. "Wow. That's a bit of a reach, Luz."
"I'm serious! That camp is meant to kill all imagination and make you fall in line with everyone else. It's not for fun!" Luz continued, desperate to not be sent home.
Eda was almost out of patience.
"I doubt camp is that bad. I mean, look at the brochure; it looks..."
Eda held up the brochure and looked at it again. Her stern expression softened as she noticed how restricting it really looks even on the front cover.
"Why is there a person trapped in a box?" Eda asked herself as she noticed the front cover drawing. She opened it up and read the words inside more carefully this time. Reading it through made Eda realize that Luz's claims might hold some ground.
She looked back at the human who was trying and failing to make puppy eyes in order to win Eda over, but she admired the dedication.
Eda tossed the brochure aside. "Alright. I see you were telling the truth about this camp, and man, it really is evil! Your mom signed you up for this?"
Luz saw a look of disgust on her face.
"She did, but because she thought it would really help me." Luz defended.
Eda scowled. "Sending you to a fun-killing camp is helping you how?"
"She didn't see the no-imagination aspect. But my mom would never send me anywhere knowing it won't be good for me." said Luz
"Why would she even send you there in the first place?"
Luz threw her hands on the air. "Because I'm a bad kid! I misbehave. I disobey. I run my mouth to no end which just gets me into more trouble!"
"That's all?" Eda questioned, sounding unimpressed.
"Yes!...why did you sound like I didn't do enough?"
Eda ignored that last question and started talking. "Alright, I see why she wanted to send you there, but I personally feel like this is something she could've sat down and talked to you about like how a mother should instead of sending you somewhere where people will fix you for her."
Luz came to her mother's defense once again. "She has plenty of times; I was just too stubborn to listen."
"Alright, fine." Eda grumbled. "I believe you, but I still believe this is something she should handle on her own."
Luz gave her a small smile. "Yeah, well, you know how moms are." she joked which Eda silently agreed with.
"But you know I still have to send you home, right?" Eda warned.
"No, wait!" Luz jumped which caused Eda to slump.
"What now?" The witch groaned in annoyance.
"I-I'm just not ready to go home yet." Luz answered quickly.
"Luz, if this is about the camp then you and I can just talk your mom out of it. I'm sure she'll listen to me." Eda promised.
Luz shook her head. "No, it's not about that! My mom and I had an argument earlier and..."
Luz stopped and looked away from Eda, but the witch noticed the sad expression she wore as she bit her bottom lip.
"I'm just not ready to face her yet." Luz said quietly.
Eda lowered her staff. She could see how bothered Luz looks, and the owl lady couldn't help but feel like she relates to this human a lot.
"Fine, you can stay for now." said Eda.
Luz started to cheer but stopped when she heard the next few words come from Eda.
"But I have some ground rules." The witch revealed.
Luz should know by now that there's always a catch.
"Rule 1: Don't keep the front door open all day. You'll let all the cool air out; Rule 2: Don't touch my apple blood."
"Apple blood?" Luz asked.
"Don't worry about it. You won't be here long enough to find out what it is anyways."
Instead of just accepting this, Luz took this as a challenge. Apple blood sounds like a drink, but where does the blood part come in?
"Ok, is there a rule 3?" Luz questioned.
Eda snapped out of her daze. "Yes! And it's the most important,"
The witch scooted closer to Luz to where both sat a few inches away from each other. Eda looked dead center at Luz while the latter looked back, now feeling uncomfortable yet curious.
"No lying." Eda answered simply.
"I know it sounds hypocritical coming from me, but I do value honesty next to loyalty. The difference between you and I, Luz, is you don't have to lie to survive. I know lying is sometimes the easiest path to take, but it can also lead to pain. I want you to know that you can trust me, but can I trust you?"
Luz was surprised by Eda's words. She honestly didn't think someone who makes money by selling trash from her world could be so deep.
"You can trust me." Luz nodded with a smile which Eda smiled back upon seeing.
"Then let's shake on it." Eda said as she held out her hand.
Luz happily slapped her own hand onto Eda's as they shook hands to make it official.
But Luz failed to notice the arm Eda was using to shake hands with pulled away.
"Now look down at your hand." Eda said with a cheeky grin.
Luz scowled and looked down only to see Eda's severed hand still clutching hers. She screamed while flailing her arm which caused Eda's hand to release and land on the nest.
Eda leaned her head back and let out a fit of laughter.
"Oh! Oh! I got you goooood!" Eda continued to laugh.
Luz huffed in embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." the teen grumbled.
Eda grabbed her hand and connected it back to her arm and wiggled her fingers to make sure it was attached right.
"Sorry, kid. I can't be mushy for too long."
Luz shook her hand as it still felt like the severed limb was still had a grip. "Same here. So how about I ask you about your life for a change?" Luz suggested.
Eda blinked in surprise. "Me?"
Luz nodded. "I gave you a rundown on my life. Now let's see what makes you tick." she grinned.
Eda blew a raspberry. "Kid, there's nothing interesting about me."
Luz scowled and crossed her arms, unconvinced. "I thought you said you value honesty?"
"I do!" Eda defended.
"Then why lie about you not being interesting? Why are you a wanted criminal? And why did warden wrath want you to be his lady-friend?" Luz pushed.
"Fine! Since I know you won't stop asking." Eda gave in which made Luz smile triumphally.
Eda laid back in her nest. A look of grief on her face. "The thing is Luz is that life isn't always fair. Sometimes you just want to be yourself, but no one wants that; they want you to be what they perceive as 'normal'."
Luz's smile faltered just a bit as Eda continued.
"I know this may sound cliche, but I never did anything that deserved my face on a wanted poster. Well, not at first. You see, on the isles is this thing called the coven system; they are what categorizes the different kinds of magic present here. There's many but I'll tell you the main covens: There is the Abominations, Oracle, Plant, Construction, Beast Keeping, Illusion, Potions, Healing, Bard, and finally... the Emperor's Coven." Eda said with disgust.
"Emperor's Coven? You all have an emperor?" Luz asked.
Eda slowly nodded. "Sure do! And I really wish we didn't."
"Well, tell me more about your emperor!" Luz pried.
Eda glanced at Luz.
"His name is Belos and he's a massive stick in the mud who created the covens because he wants to limit one's use of magic." the witch replied bitterly.
"Limit magic?" Luz asked, confused. "Why would he want to do that?"
"Look, Luz" Eda sat up. "It's far too late at night for me to get into all that right now and talking about it will make me want a few swigs of apple blood.. Besides, you won't even be around enough to see the guy."
Luz noted how much Eda really wanted to avoid his subject. Who is this Emperor Belos and why does Eda almost sound afraid to talk about him?
"So anyways, I refused to join a coven because I loved being able to use magic freely; but being in a coven was mandatory and anyone who didn't submit would eventually be sent to prison, such as the conformatrium. One thing led to another, I ended up becoming a wanted woman."
"And they gave you a huge price on your from the start?" Luz asked. She found a copy Eda's wanted poster that was conveniently crumbled up into a ball next to her and opened it, pointing at the price to Eda. "Your bounty is worth more cash than I would ever see in my life. Are they that desperate to catch you?"
Eda grits her teeth and loudly sucked air through them which was loud enough for Luz to hear.
"My bounty was a bit lower than that at first. This is where my own actions come in play." Eda explained.
"Despite being labeled a criminal I still wanted to do the right thing to show everyone that I'm not the bad guy with the hopes that some people will give me a hand. I tried applying for any job where I could be of use; make an honest living. I thought this would be my big break, but..." Eda stopped.
"What happened?" Luz asked.
Eda didn't answer at first. Whatever it was looked like it pained her, so Luz scooted closer to her and gently grasped Eda's arm.
"You can tell me, Eda." Luz said with a little smile.
Eda's looked at Luz with the human noticing how moist the witch's eyes looked. Whatever must've really hurt.
"Every time someone laid eyes on me, they only saw money in their pockets instead of a young soul in need. So, it wasn't often when a jerk would try to trap or distract me long enough for the guards to arrest me and they can get paid, but I always escaped every time."
Luz's fingers covered her mouth.
"That's terrible!" she said, and Eda just shrugged.
"What can ya do? But I didn't give up immediately. I still tried to keep my nose clean by paying for my food with any snails I still had on me, but things got harder as my money was growing short, so I soon resorted to stealing. I first stole small amounts, just enough to last me for a few days; but even that got harder when it became more dangerous to show my face around as my bounty grew and more people attempted to betray me. Eventually I got tired of it and thought: 'What the heck?' So, I just kept stealing as much as I could without getting caught for years. And that's how I got to where I am now."
No words could describe just how sorry Luz felt for Eda. The same witch she briefly hated only hours ago for making her break into a prison was now just someone else with a load of problems.
"And no one tried to help you ever?" Luz questioned in concern.
Eda looked up at the ceiling and squinted as she thought back.
"Well, yeah. When I was younger some nice old folks took pity and gave me some supplies, but that didn't last very long because they were, y'know, old." Eda replied nonchalantly.
"You didn't have any family to help you, too?"
Like Luz did earlier when she asked a similar question, Eda froze.
"That's an, uhh, uneasy subject Luz." Eda said awkwardly as she stroked the back of her own head.
Luz immediately understood. "Oh! You lost a parent, too? I'm sorry."
"I-It's not that. Both of my parents are still alive; it's just we haven't spoken in a very long time." Eda explained.
Luz nodded. "Ok. It's because of-"
"Me being a wanted criminal and my house being hidden from others, yes." Eda confirmed.
"Well, what about siblings? Do you have a brother? A sister?"
Eda's eye twitched at the mention of sister, but Luz didn't notice.
"I'm getting tired, Luz. Maybe we can talk another night." Eda said before stretching her arms and fake yawning; Owlbert joined in by stretching out his wings.
"What? No!" Luz pouted.
"Give me a break; I've been up since before sunrise." Eda groaned.
"But I still have more things I want to know, like..."
Luz noticed the portal briefcase at the end of the nest.
"The portal! Have you ever used it to come to my world before?"
Eda chuckled at Luz's determination, but she was tired.
"Tomorrow, Luz. Now go to bed please." The witch begged.
Luz decided to not argue with Eda and silently obliged as she attempted to stand up while not getting her hands poked by any other sharp parts of the nest. Once she was finally on her feet, Luz carefully climbed out of the nest.
"I did enjoy talking to you though. But maybe next time we can chat about other things that doesn't involve the tragedies of life." Eda joked.
Luz smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Maybe you can teach me how to do magic like you." Luz suggested.
Eda's smile faltered as she became annoyed. "Kid, remember earlier when I said humans can't be witches? That also means they can't do magic."
"Is that something that this Belos said is illegal?" Luz questioned.
Eda cringed. "No, it's not illegal. And if it was then I would've given you a full education on magic by now just to spite him. It's just that humans literally can't perform magic at all."
Luz put on a smug grin.
"But maybe I could." she said defiantly.
Eda looked at her with half-lidded eyes.
"Hasn't your mother ever taught you how to not talk back to adults?" The witch asked tiredly.
"Yep!" Luz replied with a wider grin.
Eda just shook her head and rested it against the nest.
"Just bother me in the morning, please. And close the door on your way out." The witch replied.
Luz listened this time and walked towards the door, stepping over lumps of clothing and other junk in the process. Once at the door, Luz opened it and stepped into the hallway, but before closing it she looked back into the room and saw Eda still laying back in the nest with Owlbert snuggling in her wild bush-like hair.
"Goodnight Eda." Luz said.
"Nighty-night, kid. Sleep tight." Eda answered, waving towards Luz.
Luz finally closed the door and walked down the hallway that was still illuminated by the candles lining the walls. She wondered why Eda didn't blow out the flames before, so she decided to do them herself. She went to the end of the hallway past Eda's room and stood up on her tiptoes so her mouth was in front of the flickering flame, but before she could muster up a breath the flame went out by itself.
Confused, Luz got back down to her feet and noticed the candle behind her that was lit only seconds ago was now out, too. She then walked ahead to the other set of candles only to watch as both die down themselves before she was able to reach them.
Luz continued to walk up the hall towards her room and saw that the candles kept going out just as soon as she passed them. That's when she realized that the candles, either sentient or controlled by magic, are lighting her way and going out once their job is fulfilled.
Luz makes it to the door of her room and looks to her left to see a dark hallway save for a dim light escaping from under Eda's bedroom door; she then looks right and sees four more candles leading to the other end of the hallway still lit but the flames are slowly dying.
She finally enters her room and closes the door behind her which allows the hall to go completely dark at last.
Luz turns around and walks to her sleeping bag only to find a big lump laying on it. The moonlight shining through the window of the room allows Luz to realize that it's King who's fast asleep.
Luz's heart warmed up as she saw the little cutie just snoozing away. She took a step forward which caused the floorboard to creak which made King's ear twitch as he instantly woke up and looked at Luz.
"Oh L-Luz!" King said in a groggy voice as he rubbed his eyes.
"Sorry. I just saw your weird cocoon thing and thought it looked cozy. I didn't mean to fall asleep." he apologized.
Luz knelt down and rubbed his head.
"Don't worry. You can stay." she said before opening the sleeping bag and crawling inside. Once she was comfortable, Luz looked at King and patted the space next to her. He happily jumped to the space and walked around in a circle like a puppy and curled up into a furry ball before returning to sleepy land.
Luz smiled once more before she took off her wool cap which allowed her long brown hair to spill out behind her. She stashed her cap into her nearby bag and laid her head against her pillow. The human looked up at the ceiling still wearing a smile as her heavy eyelids fluttered closed and soon fell asleep herself.
Eda had changed into her nightgown and was ready to hit the hay, but she suddenly felt random itching on her arms that felt too familiar. She looked down and her eyes widened as she spotted dark grey feathers that have grown from her skin.
"Oh no..." Eda panicked quietly.
She raced to her dresser and forced open every drawer in a frantic search.
"Where is it? Where is it?!"
Seeing that whatever she is looking for isn't in the drawers, Eda quickly looked around her room but couldn't find what she needed.
"I really got to clean up more." she cursed to herself before jumping to a random pile of her stuff.
After over a minute of searching, Eda held up a round bottle partially filled with golden liquid. She snapped off the cork and brought the tip of the bottle to her mouth and chugged the liquid like parched human in the middle of a desert.
Drinking every last drop, Eda brought the bottle away and continuously gasped for air as she saw the feathers shrink back into her skin. Eda sighed in relief.
Owlbert perched onto Eda's shoulder and gave her a worried hoot.
"This elixir isn't lasting as long as it used to, and the curse keeps coming back more frequently." Eda commented while looking at the empty bottle.
"I'll have to buy some more tomorrow." The owl lady spoke as she tossed the bottle aside.
Owlbert hooted again.
"What? No. Luz will be fine. I'll make sure to send her home before things gets too hairy, or feathery for that matter." Eda quipped.
Owlbert glared at Eda.
"Sorry. Humor helps calm my nerves."
