Greetings, readers! WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of my Owl House fanfic, "Palisman Café". Last time, Luz and her friends had a slumber party that led to Willow revealing that she and Amity used to be friends. Now that we've finished that, we can go onto covering one of my favorite episodes of The Owl House Season 1, where I started to love Amity as a character. Now, you'll definitely see some differences in this adaptation and the canon episode, but it's all to help get what I wanted for this AU. After this chapter, we'll be focusing more on established character interactions and the café setting rather than adapting episode plots. It'll be more fun that way and not me ripping everything off.
Get lost in a good story.
The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace
It had been over two weeks since Luz started working at the Palisman Café and she was doing rather well at her job in the quiet establishment. After helping out that morning by feeding the animals and setting up tables, Luz was standing on the couch as she read the fifth Good Witch Azura book with King sitting down next to her. "'Azura', Hecate began. 'Our paths have only crossed in battle. But today, I stand before you seeking an ally'," Luz narrated before sighing in delight at the thought of the series and her favorite fictional character.
"Luz, you're getting all swoony again," King pointed out.
"I can't help it. Azura is able to befriend everyone. Even her biggest rival," Luz explained. "I wish I had that kind of power. Or at least get along with Amity. If she was friends with Willow before, she can't be all that bad."
"Rivals are meant to be annihilated not befriended," King stated before he started wagging his tail excitedly. "Now keep reading. I've been sucked into your awful fandom."
"Excellent! I've converted another," Luz exclaimed with a chuckle at her joke. "Okay. Suddenly, the door swung open," she started narrating.
But before she could do anything, Hooty called out and was able to open the door. "AGH! The book has come to life! Burn it," King exclaimed.
"¡Oye! ¡Absolutamente no! The only way you're doing that to my book is if you pry it out of my cold, dead, Dominican hands," Luz exclaimed as she kept the book away from King, clutching it against her chest while a business card for the café was used as a bookmark. After defending her book, Luz saw that there was something at the doorstep of the café. Picking it up with a struggle, she brought it to the kitchen. "Eda, you have a package. A pretty heavy one, too. Looks like a gift basket," she told the older woman as King followed her.
"Probably a delivery or an offering. I might be in my 40's, but I'm still a catch," Eda remarked with a toss of her thick silver hair.
Managing to climb onto the table, King gently pulled back the blanket covering the basket to reveal a trio of sleeping infants. "Awww, they sweepy," Luz gushed as she saw the babies.
"Mmm! Fresh meat," King said in response, immediately getting bopped on the nose by Luz as she glared at the dog. "Weh! I was kidding," he exclaimed before finding something on the side of the basket. "Hey, there's a note. 'Take care of my children 'til morning. Yi Yi!' Huh?"
"Nope! Babies are awful. Not happening," Eda exclaimed as she put her thumbs down. "I only agreed to take care of Luz because she was old enough to take enough care of herself."
King ignored Eda's complaints and read the rest of the note. "Hmm... 'You will be handsomely rewarded. XOXOXOX, BQ'. Does this mean what I think it means?"
"BQ," Eda questioned as she recognized the initials, then looked at the note's handwriting. After doing so, she looked at the feet of the children and saw gold coins underneath the blanket. "It is her," Eda exclaimed as she started to inspect one of the coins.
"Who's BQ," Luz asked.
"She's the descendant of former Eastern European royalty. Because of that, she goes by the alias of 'The Bat Queen'," Eda explained. "She lives out in the woods, but she's actually the one who helped fund my café. The Bat Queen is basically my best investor since she's the richest woman in the region. If you were to get in good with her, you'd be set for life."
"So, you're going to do it now," Luz asked.
"All we need to do is keep these three alive for a few hours and we get paid," Eda remarked as she flipped the coin in her hands and caught it. "Pfft. Easy."
"Our greatest adventure yet! Learning about love and life through a child's eyes," Luz stated as she was excited to look after the babies.
"Not you," Eda immediately shot down. "I need you to return all my books I checked out to the library," she explained, placing a large pile of books in Luz's arms. "I don't want her getting a cut of the reward," she whispered to King.
"Good thinking," King quietly agreed.
"Now then, let's get a better look at the little darlings," Eda said as she fully removed the blanket from the basket. As she did, the babies all began to cry loudly, upsetting the animals in the café and surprising Eda. "On second thought, we could use some help," she called out to Luz over the bat-like screaming of the infants.
"Well, better head off for the library! Gotta go! Bye," Luz exclaimed as she immediately ran out the back door, getting as far away from the Owl House as fast as she could.
"She ditched us," King yelled as he tried to cover his ears.
"To be fair, I would have done the same if there wasn't any money," Eda voiced.
Carefully balancing the books in her arms, Luz made her way into town and saw a short woman carrying a large book. Looking in the direction she came from, Luz found the local library in front of her. When she entered the building and was amazed by everything, she suddenly felt her load become light and saw a librarian grabbed the books from her and scanned them. "Late. Late. Coffee, grass, and blood stains? These are Eda's, aren't they," the man asked as he inspected the cover of a book.
Luz only laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, that was a crazy night," she said, then noticed a photograph on the desk that showed a smiling Eda that said her library card was revoked.
"I'll put them on her tab," he told her as he pulled out a long sheet of paper and wrote down on it. Luz could see the top it at her feet and it read 'EDA OWES US FOR THIS LIST'. "By the way, we're closing early tonight. There's a meteor shower and most of the library staff is part of the Bonesborough Astrological Society."
"Ooo... Sounds fun. What's that?"
"You're in a library," the man pointed out. "Read a book."
"I am in a library. I will read a book," Luz said excitedly, prompting the man to shush her while putting away the paper with Eda's debts. Looking around the library, Luz was enjoying her time before she stopped near the reference section. "This place is amazing," Luz exclaimed.
"What do you think you're doing," a voice said, scaring Luz as she heard the tone.
"I've been caught! Pretend to be a book," the Latina said to herself, staying absolutely still in a boxed position until she heard the sound of children laughing. "Wait..."
Seeing a 'Kid's Corner' in the library, Luz looked as she recognized the girl sitting in a chair while several children from Hexside's kindergarten class were on the floor in front of her. "'We're your friends and we wanna help', said the Tin Boy with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. 'I've never had real friends before'."
"Amity reading to kids," Luz questioned as she hid out of Amity's sight, continuing to listen in on the story as she went to hide next to a low bookshelf.
"'Then we'll be your first,' the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship and that's the end'," Amity narrated as she happily read to the children, finishing the story as the kids laughed in delight.
Witnessing the scene in front of her, Luz couldn't believe it. "Amity seems so nice and smiley. I knew she wasn't a complete jerk," she remarked to herself with a growing smile before she gasped in realization. "Maybe I can befriend her like Azura befriended her rival." As the children started to leave, Luz decided to duck out of sight and pretend to look for a book on the shelf.
Amity waved to the kids as they left, but one of them hugged her legs before he left. "Good‐bye, Miss Amity. Thank you," the boy said with a very surprisingly deep voice for a 5-year old.
"Thank you, Braxes. See you next time," Amity gently said as she put a hand on the boy's head, then smiled as he left.
"Awww, that was so nice of you," Luz said as she stood up, holding a manga volume in her hands.
Amity's smile immediately faded as she saw Luz. "Ugh. It's you," she said in disdain.
"Amity," Luz greeted as she leaned against the low shelf, but ended up dropping the book she was holding by mistake. "Whoop. Reading to kids. Wow. Looks like this sour lemon drop has a hidden sweet center," Luz commented as she managed to actually lean against the shelf.
"It's for extra credit," Amity dismissed despite the fact she was enjoying her volunteering. "Don't get your leggings in a bunch."
As Amity picked up the book Luz dropped, the Latina continued speaking with the green-haired girl. "Hey, I could help with the kids. We could take turns reading. I think they'd love the story of the Four Maidens from RWBY," she suggested while offering to help. "Oh! We could do voices. I do the best monster voice," she added as she said the last two words in a robotic tone, which only reminded Amity of the incident two weeks ago at Hexside.
"Look, do you see me going to the Owl Shack and bugging you while you... fry up owls," Amity tried to argue, but stammered as she incorrectly guessed Luz's job at Palisman. "Okay, I don't know what it is you do there, but every time you're near me, something I don't want happens. Just leave me alone," she admitted, not wanting Luz around her.
Luz was hurt by Amity's words, which the girl noticed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Luz said as she started to leave the children's area. Sighing as she slowly walked out, Luz spoke to herself again. "So much for befriending rivals."
"You gonna let her get to you like that," asked a boy.
Looking to her right, Luz saw an attractive boy with green hair and the same color Hexside uniform as Gus leaning against a bookshelf with a similar-looking girl close by. Luz could tell they were identical twins that looked about two years older than her, but the boy was taller and the siblings had beauty marks under opposite eyes. "Who are you," Luz asked.
"Well-wishers on a mission," the boy explained as he held a lunch bag in his hand while walking up to Luz.
"A noble quest," the girl added.
"Watch this," the boy said to Luz before looking into the children's area. "Hey, Mittens," he called out to the only person in the room. Hearing the boy behind her, Amity's face turned red as she was called by a nickname she didn't like to be addressed by in public. "Mom says stop forgetting your lunch," the boy said as he held up the lunch bag that looked like a rabbit. "Also, we want you to stop being a jerk to your friend," he added as he mentioned Luz while Amity grabbed the bag from him.
"She is not my friend," Amity stated, upsetting Luz more.
As Luz sulked, the older girl put her hands on her shoulders. "Yeah, makes sense. She seems too cool for you," the female twin remarked, defending Luz.
"I am," Luz asked in confusion.
"You can leave now. All of you," Amity told them as she huffed away, making the girl laugh. After Amity left, the twins smiled at Luz while the boy winked at her, making her blush and chuckle nervously.
"So, you're the girl we've been hearing so much about," the boy mentioned as the three walked through the halls of the library.
"I'm Emira. And this is Edric. We're Amity's older siblings," the older girl said as she introduced herself and her brother to Luz. "We heard about how you embarrassed her at school and at the science convention last week. No wonder she doesn't like being around you."
"Yeah, but I never meant for her to get in trouble back then," Luz said. "I thought after testing that game, we came to an agreement. But it looks like I won't actually be friends with her at this rate."
"Don't waste your time with Mittens if she's not even going to give you a chance," Emira told Luz as she took the girl carefully by the arm. "Me and Ed are way more fun. Follow us."
Joining the twins, Luz watched them pull harmless pranks around the library. Edric erased the part of the label for 'Non-Fiction' off a sign just before a librarian showed up guiding some people, freaking him out. After that, Emira sneakily kept placing books back onto a trolley while another librarian was busy reading a story that caught his attention while shelving the books. Luz, Edric, and Emira all snickered as he did this without a clue, then moved on. Finally, Edric blew off a large collection of dust from a book and made several people have sneezing fits while he laughed with his sister and Luz. "Hey," called out a voice after the last prank, which belonged to Amity.
Soon, Luz and the twins were escorted out of the library. "You've been disrupting everyone for too long. Stay out until you know how to behave," the librarian said before firmly shutting the doors.
The three laughed to themselves before Luz spoke up. "Amity's even madder at me now. I didn't think that was possible."
"Nah, when Mittens gets mad, she looks like this," Edric said just before holding his breath until his face turned red. "Wow. I almost passed out," he remarked after he exhaled and nearly fell over.
"You're pretty fun, Luz," Emira told the Latina before she and Edric nodded in sync to each other. "So, hey, we're coming back tonight. There's a certain book we forgot to check out."
"Sure," Luz agreed, happy to spend time with the Blight Twins.
"Great! Meet back here at midnight," Edric said as he and Emira started to head off. "See you, Luz."
"Bye," Luz called out before she started talking to herself. "This is great. First, I befriend the twins. Then, I befriend the Amity. I need to get my stuff," Luz said with an excited squeal before running off.
As Luz left, Amity stepped out from behind the corner of the library, fuming as her face turned red in anger before she started to get lightheaded. "Phew! Almost passed out," she said to herself as she caught her breath.
Back at Palisman Café, King and Eda were fed up with the crying from the babies. "It's been hours. How can they keep screaming," King exclaimed as he tried hiding under several of his stuffed animals to muffle the noise, but it failed.
"I know, but think about the money," Eda remarked. "Ugh, I can't put with this torture. I can't believe I'm about to do this," she stated before picking up the children, who immediately stopped crying when they were held, surprising Eda and King. "Rock, rock. Maternal gesture," Eda said as she rocked the babies in her arms.
As things were finally quiet, Luz returned. "I just had the best day. Cool teens like me. Call me a library book because they were checking me out," she said. Turning to see Eda and King on the couch with the babies, Luz smiled at the sight. "Aw, Eda, you look so motherly."
"Say that again and you're sleeping on the roof like Hooty," Eda told Luz as she didn't like being called motherly.
"Aw. How can you say that around these cute little babies," Luz asked before she smelled something awful. "Ugh! Parenting sure looks rewarding. Enjoy your life lessons. Bye," she exclaimed before grabbing her bag and fifth Azura book before running out of the door.
"Oh god, it reeks! It's even worse for me since I'm a dog," King exclaimed as Luz rushed back into Bonesborough.
Luz sighed in relief as she dodged a bullet with changing three dirty diapers, then headed off for town. After spending enough time getting something to eat, she waited at the library and wondered how to present herself to Edric and Emira when they arrived. "Gotta be cool. Cool? No. Cool." Luz kept doing different poses, but only groaned as she felt none of them were good enough.
"Keep going," said Emira, startling Luz. "This is fun to watch," she told the girl while she was on the ground. Instead of wearing their uniforms, the twins now wore matching gray clothes with burgundy tunics. But while Edric wore full-length pants and boots, Emira had shorts and black shoes while her tunic had a green gem on the chest. The two also had a bag with a projector similar to the one Gus brought to the slumber party at the café.
"You're ready to bring this whole, uh, whatever you doing, inside," Edric asked Luz, who excitedly nodded, leaving her bag at the front steps as she joined them. "It says 'No Trespassing', but I'm allergic to the rules," the male Blight said as he skillfully twirled a key in his hand.
"And dairy," Emira remarked as she took the key from him.
"Wow, okay. Just expose me," Edric said as he didn't expect his sister to blab about his health.
"I'm lactose intolerant myself," Luz admitted, cheering Edric up a little.
"See, I'm not the only one," he told his twin, who only rolled her eyes playfully. After unlocking the front door, the three headed inside. "Come on," Edric said to Luz.
Entering the library, the twins made sure to close the door behind them. "Standing in a dimly lit lobby. You sure know how to party," Luz said before Edric brought something to their attention.
"Look there," the boy pointed out as shooting stars passed through the night sky, which the three were able to see through the stained-glass window above the main doors of the building.
"Whoa... Cool," Luz said as she watched the colored glass create an impromptu light show in the library. Almost as if birds were flying around. "So, what else should we do?"
"Anything we want," Emira suggested. Smiling as they had an entire library to themselves, Luz and the twins started to check out whatever caught their eye without anybody to interrupt them. Starting at a magazine rack, the twins found a fashion magazine and used their projector to give themselves regal outfits, complete with Emira's braided ponytail changing into a bun. "Oh, I'm definitely saving this for an actual outfit," Emira said as she made sure to keep the hologram image on a file. After that, the twins used a gaming magazine to give Luz an outfit for a hologram of her, but they messed with it by making the image realistically fall over from the size and weight of the sword. Leaving the magazines, Luz and the twins soon made their way to the graphic novels section and they offered to let Luz use their projector. Deciding to do something simple, Luz made it so that their conversation had word bubbles above them, just like a comic. "Wow, that's cool, Luz."
"Thanks," the younger girl said as Emira started to instruct her on the use of the projector.
"It's a basic thing, but still good. At least you didn't screw it up," Edric remarked.
"Just like your last date," Emira joked, making her speech bubble pierce through Edric.
"That hurts, Em," Edric said in a falsely wounded tone.
Soon after, they stopped using the projector and went around the library separately. Luz soon found herself in the Kid's Corner and she noticed the book Amity was reading to the children earlier. "Otabin the Bookmaker," Luz said to herself as she read the title, then opened the book to see an adorable pink rabbit-like creature drawn in the pages. "Aw. 'Otabin spent his days alone amongst the books he'd sewn. With needle and thread, the pages he'd mend. But all the while, he longed for a friend.' Oh, this is so cute," Luz said as read the first pages of the children's book. "I wonder why Amity chose to read this to them?"
"Hey, Luz," Edric called out as he and Emira came into view.
"We found the section where the book we're looking for is, but need help," Emira told her.
Putting the Otabin book down, Luz followed the twins to the romance section. "Oh, wow. Romance," Luz awkwardly said as she took note of the location. "Totally lame, right? I mean, unless you're into that."
Edric and Emira only looked at each other knowingly. "I think I like this one in particular," Edric voiced as he grabbed a book titled 'The Lone Witch and the Secret Room'. Pulling it slightly off the shelf, Luz heard a click before Edric put it back.
When he did, the shelf moved aside to reveal a hidden room with glowing stars strung up from the ceiling, a writing desk, bookshelf walls, and a few other things. "Wow! That's a good book," Luz said as she took in the sight. "Your secret clubhouse is like my ultimate secret hideaway," she told the twins.
"We don't hang out in a library," Edric replied.
"This is Amity's secret hideaway," Emira explained, surprising Luz as she looked around. Seeing a large poster of Weiss Schnee from RWBY as well as several other characters from series she enjoyed, Luz started to see it was Amity's secret clubhouse.
"Mittens has gotten too... full of herself," Edric told the Dominican girl. "She's always tattling on us when we cut class. I mean, it's summer. We shouldn't be in school if we don't wanna."
"Exactly," Emira added. "She needs to learn not to mess with people like that. So, we're going to find her diary."
"Then post the pages around school for everyone to read," Edric finished as the two laughed to each other.
Hearing their plan, Luz was appalled. "WHAT!? You can't do that! That's taking things too far," Luz exclaimed.
"No. See, we're her family," Emira stated. "It's tough love. She needs to learn to lighten up."
"I don't think that's really tough love," Luz exclaimed as the twins started searching for the diary. "That's more like murdering her social life. She's allowed to have her privacy. I may still want to be her friend, but I know that there are lines that shouldn't be crossed. Besides, I don't see any diary here. The only thing I see is posters and-" Luz gasped in shock as she saw a small sign that said 'My Favorite Books' with a series she was practically obsessed with. "Good Witch Azura 1 through 4! I didn't know she read these," Luz said in excitement, knowing that she and Amity had another thing in common. "I mean, she did play as Hecate in that last round in the convention, but I thought she was just going with what was in the movies. Is this cover hand-drawn," Luz said quietly to herself as she noticed a smaller book with what looked like a paler Azura with shorter hair.
Opening the book, Luz read the page she saw. 'I saw that girl again today. I may have overreacted. I didn't mean to come off as cruel. It's just that I can't show weakness.'
"The diary," Luz whispered to herself as she immediately snapped the book shut. "I can't let them get this."
"Can't get what," Edric asked.
"Nothing," Luz told Edric as she turned to face the boy, holding Amity's diary behind her back. Unfortunately, Emira snuck behind her and grabbed the diary. "Hey, stop!"
"Let's see what this is," Emira said as she opened to a page of the book and read it. "It's not fair. I'm the only one that knows Ed and Em aren't perfect. Why do they keep getting away with things?"
"This is it," Edric and Emira voiced together as they found Amity's diary.
"Luz, were you trying to hide this from us," Emira asked as Edric held onto the diary.
"You've seen how she treats people," Edric stated, reminding Luz of Amity's standoffish and mean behavior. "How she treats you."
"I know Amity can be kind of cold but no one deserves this," Luz responded, agreeing with the twins that Amity isn't a nice girl. "These are private thoughts. We should put this back and leave. Besides, I think Amity's here."
"What do you mean," Edric and Emira questioned in sync.
"Look at the candle on the desk," Luz pointed out, prompting them to turn. "It looks like it's been lit for a few hours. I think she stayed behind to make sure you didn't get the diary," she explained before quickly grabbing the book out of Edric's hand. But as she did, several loose pages fell out and onto the floor. Luz quickly kneeled down picked up the papers, briefly seeing that they were entries with Amity's thoughts about accidentally calling a teacher 'Mom', Luz not leaving her alone, apologizing to her diary for not writing lately and questioning why she would even say that, and even an entry saying that she felt like she had nowhere to go. "I'm not going to let you do this," Luz stated to the twins. "You can't spread Amity's diary pages around Hexside. She might be an ice queen, but Amity deserves to have some comfort with being able to keep her private thoughts to herself. How would you like it if she found out your thoughts and did the same thing," Luz told the twins, stopping any attempt at an argument before it happened.
"So, that's what they were up to," said a familiar voice from behind Luz. Turning around, Luz saw that Amity was standing in front of her secret entrance. "You two are the worst," the youngest Blight told her older siblings, then turned to Luz as the girl gave back her diary. "I heard everything. I've been trying to figure out what your deal is. Are, are you a poser? A nerd? At worst, I thought you were a bully, Luz," Amity said as she held her diary close. "But if you were doing this, despite how I've been treating you, then I guess you aren't all that bad," Amity admitted. "I'm still mad that you read my diary," she stated.
"I'm sorry," Luz said. "I just wanted to be your friend. Before I got here, I never had any friends before Gus and Willow," she said as she looked at her feet, missing the expressions of the Blight siblings at the mention of Willow Park. "I thought that I could make some new ones over the summer before I go back home."
Listening to the girl, Amity didn't know what to say while the twins decided to leave. "Hey, if you want to hang out, we could go to this artist alley in town and make some street art," Edric offered as he spoke to Luz.
"As fun as that sounds, I should really get going," Luz told the twins.
"Okay. See you around, cutie," Emira replied with a wink, making Luz blush.
"Why do they both have to be so hot," Luz thought to herself before calming down. "Uh, um... Where's my bag," she asked aloud.
"I don't know. I've been in here for the last few hours," Amity stated as she made sure the pages of her diary were in place. "Looks like I'll need a new hiding spot for this," she muttered to herself.
"Maybe this sort of big puzzle box lock thing," Luz suggested as she spoke to Amity, then tried to remember where she left her bag.
"Ugh, look. If we don't speak of this night, I'll help you find your bag," Amity told Luz. The Latina smiled and nodded as the two girls started searching. After looking at several areas, Amity was getting a little irritated at not being able to find the bag. "Okay, we know it isn't in Romance, the Kid's Corner, Graphic Novels, or Non-Fiction. Think back to when you first got here."
Doing just that, Luz remembered where her bag was and slapped her forehead hard enough to leave a red mark. "I left it outside," Luz said. "Soy tonta," she added in Spanish. Hearing Luz never even brought her bag inside, Amity couldn't help but laugh a little.
After leaving the library, the sun was rising over Bonesborough. Luz put her bag around her shoulder and Amity spoke to her. "Okay, we found your bag. This night never happened," she said as she started to head down the stairs.
"Wait," Luz called out, stopping Amity from leaving. "I know it doesn't make up for reading your diary, but I saw you only had the first four books," she said as she pulled out Good Witch Azura 5 from her bag. "Maybe I can give you some space and you can read it?"
Seeing Luz offer the one Azura book she didn't have, Amity was surprised by the girl's kindness. "Thank you," she said as she held the novel in her hands. "I know I haven't been the friendliest girl. I'll think on that," Amity told Luz before walking off. Luz watched Amity head off, then went on her own way. "After everything I've said to her, she still wanted to be friends? I guess you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Amity said to herself with a silent chuckle. As she looked at the fifth Azura book, Amity noticed something sticking out of the pages. Removing it, she saw it was a business card for a place called 'Palisman Café' and realized that was the 'Owl Shack' that she inaccurately talked about.
Luz was exhausted after that night in the library and was ready to sleep immediately when she arrived at the Owl House. When she opened the door, she saw that Eda, King, and the babies were peacefully sleeping on the couch. "Awww, so cute," Luz remarked before Hooty called out and Luz turned to see somebody behind her. The woman was tall, had long black hair, and was dressed like she was vampire royalty. "Whoa. You must be Mama," Luz remarked as she watched the woman duck under the doorframe.
"Yes. Mama is I. And I is the Bat Queen," the woman said with a thick accent and broken English.
"Well, Eda took good care of your kids," Luz told the woman as she pointed to the couch.
BQ only smiled as she approached the sleeping group just as the infants started waking up. "Aah. Snuggle dumplings," she said as she picked up her children and held all three in one arm with ease. Placing a bag at Luz's feet, the girl saw the large amount of money and thought it was a few thousand dollars. "For troubles. Eda is owed one," the Bat Queen told Luz to relay the message as she left out the door and stepped into a horse-drawn carriage, waving to Luz as she and the children left.
Luz waved back just as Eda started waking up. "Ah. Sweet babies," she said before noticing the lack of anything in her arms. "Babies? Where are the babies," Eda questioned in growing worry and panic.
"Mama just picked them up," Luz explained with a yawn.
"Oh... And I just taught Junior how to pick locks," Eda bemoaned.
"Well, your night looked successful," Luz said as she put the money in Eda's lap.
Eda smiled at the reward, but frowned after a second when she looked at King. "Right. We did it for the money..."
"I miss my babies," King exclaimed before he started howling.
"I actually got you something from the library after I left earlier," Luz told Eda as she reached into her bag.
Eda watched as Luz gave her a book called 'Coping with Empty Nest Syndrome', which made the woman chuckle. "Thanks, kid. So how was your night?"
"Good. Then bad. Then, maybe good," Luz said. "I'll find out later. Right now, I want sleep."
"I have to go somewhere today anyways," Eda explained. "We can keep the shop closed. You get some rest. If there's one thing I've learned early on in my life, nothing good happens after 2 am. Go sleep. You need it." Luz smiled before yawning and heading upstairs while Eda fed the animals for her.
After she got enough rest, Luz was up and ready to enjoy her afternoon. As she cleaned up the tables and looked after the animals, Eda soon showed up again. "Hey, kid. You get enough sleep?"
"Yup. I slept like log," Luz told her boss before noticing something in her arms. "Aww, who's this little guy," she asked as she saw a small pink rabbit in Eda's arms.
"Apparently the research facility that I go to for checking my condition was using this little guy to test hair products. That's why he's pink," Eda stated as she placed the bunny down. "So, I swiped him on my way out and decided to bring him here."
"Does he have a name," Luz asked as she carefully approached the rabbit, who soon snuggled against her.
"Nope. You want to give him one?"
Luz looked at the bunny and the first thing that popped in her head was the storybook that Amity read in the library. "How about Otabin?"
"Better than 'Testing Animal 7' if you ask me," Eda remarked. "Let's get the little guy acquainted with everyone and make sure the owls know not to torment the little guy."
As Luz and Eda made sure that the new animal was comfortable, they heard Hooty call out when the door opened. "Hi there. Welcome to Palisman Café," Luz greeted before she processed who came into the establishment. "Amity?!"
Amity Blight looked around the café before noticing Luz. "So, this is the rumored Owl House," the green-haired girl remarked. "You actually sleep here," Amity questioned as she looked at Luz.
"When the night creatures allow me," Luz responded, gesturing to the barn owl next to Amity. The bird only hooted as he flew onto Amity's shoulder, pressing his face against hers. "What are you doing here?"
"I found a card for this place in the book you loaned me," Amity stated as she pushed Hooty off of her arm. "It was close to school, so I thought I would take a look for myself."
"If that's the case, what do you want? Drink? Snack? Time with the animals," Eda asked, happy to get some new customers.
Questioning the last option, Amity soon saw the small pink rabbit hiding behind Luz's feet. Silently gasping as she saw the colorful animal, her eyes widened and she kneeled down to carefully let him approach her. "Don't worry," Amity whispered to the rabbit. "I won't hurt you. I'll be your friend."
Luz watched as the bunny approached Amity, smiling as she did. "Aww, Otabin likes you," Luz said to Amity as she picked up the rabbit. "You want to meet the other animals," she asked, making Amity smile as she silently nodded. Guiding Amity to the animal area, Luz showed off the cats and owls that rested comfortably with a kitten or two nuzzling up to Amity affectionately. "So, what are some of your favorite moments in RWBY," Luz asked as she was finally able to talk with Amity as friends.
Luz has finally befriended Amity! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I loved writing it up. Having the scene in the secret room go like it did was a twist I wanted to add because of the lack of the Wailing Star bringing the books to life like in canon. In exchange, I added a scene in the end with Amity arriving at the Owl House much earlier than in the series. With this, we have a new regular for the café and Luz gets to spend time with a new friend.
Now then, the next chapter or two I work on for this fic won't be directly influenced by episodes, so be prepared for when I eventually post them. Especially since I'll be focusing more on the cafe aspect a little rather than the sci-fi used to replace magic in this fic. I hope you'll enjoy what happens when I get there.
I can see a chapter later in this fic focusing more on the dynamic between Luz and her friends instead of some episodes like the attempt at writing a book or the shrinking potion at the carnival. I still plan on a carnival, though. That'll be a good friendship chapter between Luz and the others.
Until the next story update, WaterDragonMaverick signing out!