Chapter: 2.
It had been 1 hour, 1 hour since the fight at the conformatorium, 1 hour since they got ambushed by the Emperor's Coven and 1 hour since Luz's identity was revealed to them. Right now Team RWBY plus Eda the Owl Lady and King were literally tied up and being marched through the hallways of the Emperor's castle.
Ruby looked at her surroundings, to her left were her teammates Weiss,Blake and Yang, to her right was Eda the Owl lady and her tiny sidekick King. All of them were tied up with ropes binding their arms and their wrists behind them, and in Yang's case she was gagged with a thick golden ribbon courtesy of Scarlet Von Bloodheart. They currently being escorted to the Emperor by Eda's sister Lilith Scarlet and 3 Coven guards.
The corridor had several metal pipes leading who knows where, the group stopped walking as they came to huge door that has a triangular symbol with 2 pairs of wings and a sword on it.
Lilith then turned to face the group "this is it, when you meet with the Emperor of the Boiling Isles. simply agree to join the Coven and all your crimes will be forgiven, as for you human girls, will see what his mood is like"
"you honestly think he's going to just let me go that easily" Eda said with venom in her voice.
"Eda! Please Emperor Belos gave his word that you won't be harmed if you comply" Lilith tried to reassure Eda.
"you expect me to believe that crap!" Eda retorted. "Lily he won't spare me, he's a tyrant bent on absolute control! And now your nothing more than he's lap dog!"
Lilith stepped back and hung her head in shame at Eda's words. Scarlet then spoke up "well what about you girls, you believe us right?"
Team RWBY looked just as agitated as Eda.
"I'll wait until we meet the man himself" Weiss stated.
"me too" Blake said.
"me three!" and Ruby.
"mmph!" Yang simply grunted through her gag since she couldn't say much anyway.
"you'll get your wish" a small voice said. Everyone looked down to the source of the voice. A diminutive red-skinned female demon with a pair of conjoined hands that make up the creatures hair, with one hands fingers forming a fringe covering her right eye, while the second one forms a bun, her only visible eye has yellow sclera and a brownish red iris. She wears a white tunic over a black ensemble, her collar was raised over her mouth acting as a veil and was fastened by a silver triangle.
"Kikimora!" said a startled Lilith who quickly bowed.
"i see you finally captured the Owl Lady" Kikimora glanced at Ruby and her friends "and some other's as well"
"yeah we really lucked out today Kiki" Scarlet boasted.
Kikimora nodded and looked directly at Team RWBY
"the Princess has informed me that you 4 along with the Owl Lady were responsible for defeating the Arcane Knight at the conformatorium, your actions will be taken into consideration when meeting with Emperor Belos" Kikimora stated.
"oh that's good" Ruby sighed in relief.
"however that still doesn't excuse the fact you 4 helped a known criminal break into a prison!" Kikimora scolded them. Ruby's expression quickly shifted to one of guilt. "never the less, we shouldn't keep the Emperor and Empress waiting. Oh and one more thing" Kikimora snapped her tiny fingers and the ribbon that was wrapped around Yang's mouth.
"thanks " Yang said being able to talk again.
"it's just easier if everyone could speak" Kikimora said.
"too bad, i was getting use to not hearing your bad puns" Weiss mused.
"oh don't be salty Ice Queen" Yang replied.
"hey!" Weiss angered by the comment.
"that's quite enough" Kikimora made a spell circle causing the door to open. "let's go we mustn't keep our hosts waiting"
She went inside first, followed by Lilith and Scarlet. The 3 guards motioned the group to move, which they complied. They entered the room it was very large and spacious. But also fairly dark, the only light was from 2 giant torches behind a pair of thrones. The group walked closer to the thrones, Ruby looked overhead and saw a gargantuan beating heart hanging above them. She was both fascinated and disturbed by the sight.
The group stopped a few feet in front of the thrones and the 2 figures sitting on them. The one on the right throne sat a very tall man wearing a golden mask with 2 long upward facing horns, the eye holes were hollow giving the appearance of empty eye sockets. His clothing consisted of a large white and brown cape that had a gold trim, a grey tunic over a black ensemble, golden gauntlets and boots.
On the left throne was a woman with a full figure, she wore a mask similar to the man, but the horns were shorter and it's eye holes didn't look hollow. Her attire consisted of a cloak just like the man, a black and grey dress and 2 golden bracelets.
Kikimora, Lilith, Scarlet and the guards bowed down in front of the 2 individuals.
"my Emperor and Empress we have brought before you both the Owl Lady and the 4 human girls as you requested" Lilith addressed the 2 sitting on the thrones.
"thank you Lilith, you and Scarlet you both have done well" Belos congratulating the duo.
The girls all stared at the man on the throne with intrigue and fear.
"that's Luz's father?" Ruby whispered to her team.
"I guess so?, but who's that woman on the other throne?" Yang asked.
"must be her mother?" Weiss hypothesized.
"how can you tell?" Ruby asked.
"call it a hunch" Weiss answered.
The Empress fixed her gaze on the girls, regarding them very curiously. She got up from her throne and walked up to them, one of the guards tried to stop her "ma'am please keep your distance!"
"I'll be fine" she said.
The Empress came up to Ruby first, she seamed very interested in her specifically. When she raised her hand to Ruby, she instinctively backed up in fear and Yang stepped in front of the Empress to protect her sister, but the Empress said to her "it's okay pequeña, i'm not going to hurt you" the woman spoke in a gentle voice which surprisingly put them at ease, Yang stood aside and let the woman approach. The woman placed her hand on Ruby's cheek
Emperor Belos stood up and walked over to Ruby. Like the Empress, he to looked at Ruby with intrigue "she has silver eyes" he said taking an interest in the color of her eyes.
The Emperor stood straight and said in a firm voice. "I'll be to the point, how did you 4 get here?"
"it was an accident!" Ruby said "we got ship wrecked"
"really? Was it because of a tornado or some sort?" the Emperor asked.
"yes" Ruby answered.
"how did you know? Were you spying on us?" Weiss grew suspicious about this man.
Kikimora stepped up beside Weiss "naturally the great Emperor Belos knows all and sees all"
"actually i was guessing" Belos corrected Kikimora who blushed a little in embarrassment.
Yang spoke up"so what happens to us now?"
Belos simply answered "nothing, you 4 free to go"
"what?" Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang each said one at a time.
"your appearances were just a random cosmic coincidence, i see no point in punishing children for something beyond their control" Belos giving his logic.
"okay ladies it's been fun" Scarlet snapped her fingers, which dispelled the bounds around Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang.
"wait that's it!?, 'oh sorry for the mix up, have a nice day" just like that?" a confused Yang said directly to Emperor Belos' face.
Belos simply answered "yes"
Yang thought for a moment "okay"
"WHAT!? YOUR GOING WITH THAT!?" Weiss shouted in disbelief.
"hey he's offering to let us go, i say take it" Yang said nonchalantly.
"but what about Eda?" Ruby asked. "are you going execute her, if she refuses to join a Coven or whatever?"
"actually there's been a change" the Empress then walked up to Eda. "Edalyn Clawthrone, you are currently wanted for including but not limited to: refusal to join a Coven, running a stand without a license, stealing rare magical items then selling them back, possession of 10 ounces of giggle leaf-"
"hey i told them it wasn't mine!" Eda interrupted.
"and that one time you set off a stink bomb in the castle" the Empress finished listing Eda's charges.
King, Ruby and Yang laughed at that last one.
"oh man i remember that one" King said while laughing at the same time.
Also Eda snorted "you should have seen the look on your faces! Wait do you have a face? I always thought Belos was a lich under all that?"
"regardless of all that, our daughter for whatever reason sees you in a different light" Belos said as he walked next to his wife. "and that is why we are willing to offer you a deal"
"what kind of deal?" Eda said intrigued.
"we want you to mentor our daughter in magic" Belos blatantly stated.
The room became silent everyone except the Empress had their eyes on Belos with looks of surprise and confusion.
"WHAT!?" Kikimora shouted in disbelief breaking the moment of silence. "My Emperor with all due respect HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND! she's a wild witch and a criminal" Kikimora venting her frustrations.
"yikes" Yang said.
"she's pretty loud for a little demon" Blake commented.
"we understand your concern Kiki, but there's no need for you to worry, we're are prepared" the Empress said to reassure Kikimora.
"In exchange for teaching our daughter Luz magic, all crimes against you we'll be dropped and you'll be free to live as you please without any scrutiny " Belos said.
Eda wasn't convinced "this sounds to good what's your angle and why me?"
"we simply want our child to be the best she can" Belos said.
"and she idolizes you as much as Azura" the Empress added.
"wait 'Azura'? as in 'the good witch Azura'" Ruby asked.
"yes she has been crazy about those books since she was a little girl" the Empress explained.
"me too! Yang used to read me all kinds of stories about heroes fighting monsters and saving princesses, and Azura is one of my favourites!, i even dressed up as her one time" Ruby excitedly said.
At that moment a flash of light enveloped the room, then quickly dissipated and Luz appeared when the light died down. She wore a short-sleeved half-white and half-indigo hoodie, jean shorts along with dark grey capris leggings and white ankle boots.
She went up to Ruby gripping her hands in excitement. "oh my Titan! I knew it from the moment you said 'we are Team RWBY!, Huntress' of Beacon! And Warriors of Peace!' against that Arcana Knight. I knew it! " Luz squealed in joy.
The others looked at Luz with confusion.
"woah" was all Blake said.
"yeah it's like there's 2 Ruby's" Weiss scratching her head.
"mija!" the Empress said startled.
"lo siento mamá i was listening through the door and i got excited when i heard Ruby mention she liked Azura, then i wanted to talk to her, but i teleported without thinking " Luz bashfully explained.
"she really is like Ruby" Yang commented.
"yeah they got the same amount of energy too" Blake said deadpanned.
Eda chuckled "ha! Seems like a fun kid".
"she's more than that" Belos said. "though many see me as a ruthless emperor, but being a father and a husband has changed me, made me a softer man than before, so i hope you will consider our offer".
Eda was surprised by this, she had always saw the Emperor as a tyrant. But being here in his castle talking to him felt strange. He wasn't anything like she thought he was in person. He actually seemed nice. Eda thought for a moment if she accepted Belos' proposal, she would potentially be a free witch, but another part of her thought this could be a trick, not sure why she just had a feeling in her gut. A loud growling sound interrupted her train of thought, Eda looked down and heard the growling was coming from her stomach.
"can we talk about this more over dinner maybe?" Eda asked.
Multiple stomach growls could be heard from the members of Team RWBY, all 4 girls looked at themselves in embarrassment.
Ruby in particular blushed a little. "oh yeah come to think of it aside from that tuna, we didn't eat anything all day"
"hey mom, dad can they stay for dinner?" Luz asked.
"of course mija" the Empress said.
"Kikimora tell the chefs to get supper ready" Emperor Belos ordered the tiny demon.
"yes my liege" Kikimora nodded and walked off.
"your letting them eat with you!?" Lilith said in disbelief.
"is that a problem?" the Empress said.
"no it's just... surprising" Lilith bashfully said.
Moments later everyone was gathered in a large dinning room with a long table that had 10 chairs. Emperor Belos was seated at the head of the table with the Empress to his left and Luz to his right. Ruby, Weiss, Eda and King were on the same side as Luz, while Blake, Yang and Lilith were on the other. The room was much brighter than the throne room with a crystal chandelier hanging over that illuminated the room. It was a stunning and beautiful room compared to the dark throne room. Everyone was patiently waiting for the food to arrive. Ruby was fiddling with the silver cutlery at her plate, marvelling at how expensive it looked.
Weiss put her hand on Ruby's. "Ruby we're guests don't act like a dolt"
"it's alright Chica, you don't have to be so formal when your friends with our daughter" the Empress said to Weiss.
Weiss quickly retracted her hands and blushed. "thank you miss Empress"
Since coming to the castle the group had been totally surprised by the kindness shown by Luz's parents. Her father Emperor Belos felt intimidating and scary at first, but showed a level of empathy and wisdom beneath his masked appearance and the Empress was compassionate in every sense of the word.
Kikimora then walked in from a pair of double doors with multiple cooks behind her holding golden serving dishes.
"ahem dinner is served" Kikimora announced.
The chefs placed the dishes on the table and opened the lid revealing the food inside. It was a mix of food Team RWBY was familiar with like turkey, pasta, soup, a plate of tacos and a few salads. And some strange dishes such as an octopus with multiple eyes, some unusual looking fish, a pot of purple liquid and some other foods they couldn't identify including a large cooked beast of some kind. The girls were both tantalized by the food, Blake especially was eyeing the exotic looking fish drooling over the possible taste.
"wow a lot of this stuff looks good" Yang said.
"most of it does look new to me" Blake commented.
"true so let's dig in and find out what it tastes like" Yang grabbed as much food as she could get her hands on, before stuffing her face.
Everyone else grabbed some food and started eating. Ruby, Yang, Eda and King were as the saying goes 'eating like pigs' shoving food in their mouths or shoving their faces into their plates and chewing. Weiss and Blake showed a little more civility instead of what the other's were doing.
While she was eating, Weiss noticed that the Empress had taken off her mask revealing her face. The woman behind the mask had tan skin like Luz but with brown eyes and had her hair in a bun with 2 of her bangs tufted out, she also had black glasses with a red top and wore blue earrings. She looked at Luz, Emperor Belos and the Empress. They all looked so happy together. From Luz making silly faces and the Empress laughing at said faces, she even heard a soft chuckle come from Belos.
People always compared the Schnee's to royalty and Weiss was viewed as the family's princess. Luz was a literal princess, but where as Weiss had a less than stellar childhood, Luz seamed to have had the best childhood any kid could ask for. At that moment Weiss felt envious. A turkey bone hit her on the head breaking her train of thought and rubbed her head on the spot that the bone hit. She looked a cross the table to see Yang eating a turkey leg. Yang looked at Weiss who shot her an annoyed look at her teammate.
"sorry Weiss" Yang said, before taking another bite of her turkey leg. While Ruby slurped up some noodles.
And Eda downed some of the octopus "pretty good food you got here Princess"
"thanks" Luz said.
"still can't believe your royalty" Blake said to Luz.
"yeah you're nowhere near as snobbish as Weiss" Ruby said.
"Hey!" Weiss said in outrage.
"i could tell she was a spoiled brat from the little crown hair pin she wears" Eda remarked.
Weiss simply huffed at Eda's remark and went back to eating.
Eda looked down at her plate in thought, before looking back up the Emperor. "can i ask something"
"ask away" Belos replied.
"why exactly do you need someone like me to tutor your kid in magic, are you to busy to do it yourself or is there something else" Eda bluntly asked.
The Emperor and Empress looked at each other, Belos nodded to his wife who spoke first. "Luz has had... difficulties in mastering magic"
"is it because she's half human?" Ruby asked.
The Empress diverted her gaze "to put it so bluntly, yes"
"oh!" Ruby blushed.
"but surely you would have other teachers lined up before asking someone like Eda" Weiss interjected.
"yeah, why not have my sister do it" Eda pointed to Lilith across the table, who choked slightly upon hearing what Eda said and confusing everyone except Luz and her parents.
"umm actually" Luz sheepishly said. "she was at one point"
Eda cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. "well why isn't she now?"
Luz looked away, rubbing the back of her head nervously. Eda noticed Lilith shifting her eyes.
"Lily, why are you doing that?" Eda asked.
"doing what?" she said back.
"being all shifty eyed" Eda added with a hint of suspicion.
"does it have something to do with, you not being Luz's teacher?" Weiss guessed.
"... yes" Lilith says.
"did you yell at her and get fired?" Yang asked.
Lilith's response was "no".
It was Ruby's turn to ask "did she cast a spell that went haywire and you quit?".
Again Lilith's response was "no"
"then what?" Blake asked.
"yeah what? Were your lectures so boring, she walked out in the middle of one and by the time you realized she was gone you went into a panic looking for her?" Eda said.
The room went silent. Eda looked at Lilith who had her mouth wide open with a shocked expression on her face. It took Eda less than 2 seconds to piece it together. Then she started to snicker, which turned into full on laughter.
"HAHAHAHAH!" Eda fell over continuing to laugh.
"Stop laughing!" Lilith shouted blushing with embarrassment.
After much laughing Eda finally started to peter out "hahaha i can't believe she walked out on you because your lessons were boring"
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad" Ruby says to Lilith to reassure her.
"well, she spent half an hour talking about history before i walked out and dad had half the Emperor's Coven looking for me, so in actuality it kinda was" Luz stated bluntly.
"and you caused a national crisis!" Eda went back to laughing her butt off even more.
" you think you can do better?" Lilith said.
Eda stopped laughing for the moment. "i know i could" she said as if issuing a challenge.
"what?" Lilith said in disbelief.
"yes What?" The Empress also said.
"you heard me, i can teach the princess more about magic than my prissy sister Lilith ever could" Eda boasted to everyone.
"i assume this means you'll be accepting our proposal?" Belos asked.
Eda slammed her hands down on the table "if it means showing up my sister, then count me in".
"really!" Luz's eyes lit up with stars upon hearing that, she was excited beyond belief about the Owl Lady teaching her magic. Lilith meanwhile looked annoyed that her sister was making her look like a fool in front of the Emperor and Empress.
"i guess she was a bad teacher" Blake remarked.
"yeah how did they say she get to work for an emperor anyway?" Yang said.
"that was all me!" Eda said.
The girls looked with confusion to Eda who continued. "when we were kids, we fought to earn a place in the Emperor's Coven and right as the fight started i forfeited giving Lily the win"
"why?" Weiss asked.
Eda replied with. "i didn't want to fight my sister over something so trivial".
Everyone in the room felt touched by that statement, especially Lilith. The fact Eda gave up her chance to be in the Emperor's Coven out of love for a sibling was heartwarming to say the least.
"plus Eda knew Lilith couldn't beat her, even with her hands tied" King said out loud which ruined the moment.
"WHAT?!" Lilith shouted in outrage.
"well that moment didn't last" Ruby said.
"why did you say that?" Weiss asked.
"what! Eda brags about how she could have won that fight all the time" King explained.
"he's not wrong, i could have won if i wanted to" Eda said looking at her finger nails.
Lilith heard that and immediately said. "oh really, then prove it"
everyone looked at Lilith not understanding what she meant.
After a moment Ruby was the first to speak up "what?"
"you heard me, I'm challenging you to a witches duel" Lilith stated.
Everyone's reaction to what Lilith said was mixed. The Empress and Luz were shocked by her declaration, Team RWBY were confused and didn't what a witches duel was, while Emperor Belos and Kikimora sit/stood where they were watching what would happen.
Ruby awkwardly asked. "what's a witches duel?"
"umm well, you see Ruby it's were 2 witches fight to settle an argument until one of them can't" Luz stumbled over her words.
"or is dead" King adds.
Ruby gasped at the words 'or is dead'. The rest of team RWBY looked concerned as well. But Eda wasn't worried, she had a look of determination on her face and said to Lilith "i accept".
Team RWBY were shocked by this. While Lilith smiled "good, why don't we set the terms for this duel".
"fine! If i win, I'll teach the kid magic, but Belos has to honour any requests i have" Eda said.
"alright and if i win, you have to agree to join the Emperor's Coven no,ifs, ands or buts" Lilith.
Weiss was nervous and spoke up "uh, Eda i don't think this is such a good idea"
But Eda wasn't listening and said "Deal! Your on! Lily!".
"good" Lilith held out her hand "shake on it?"
"and have you pull an everlasting oath on me, no thanks oldest witch trick in the book" Eda said.
Lilith pulled her hand back with a grimace "fine, but i want your word at you won't try to cheat to win or back out if you lose".
Eda groaned at this "alright little miss perfect, considering I'd be put to death if i tried. I promise i won't chicken out of the agreement or cheat, not that I'll need to cheat to beat you"
"then be prepared to eat your words dear sister" Lilith declared.
Both witches glared at each other with savage intent. The glaring was cut short by a sudden cough, they turned in the direction of the cough, it was the Empress who did it to get their attention.
"could we have dessert first before you 2 make a mess of the dining room" said the Empress.
Both sisters looked at each other and back to the Empress.
"actually i could go for some dessert first" Eda said sitting back down.
"oh yes me too, sorry my Empress" Lilith added.
A quick dessert transition later. Everyone had gathered in a large room with a arena pit. The walls were lined a wide array of weapons such as swords, maces, axes and spears. The pit was shaped like a rectangle with a medium sized circle in the centre and a pillar on each corner of the perimeter.
"this arena is typically used for training witches in the Emperor's Coven, it will be perfect for your duel" Kikimora announced.
"neat we have a similar place for training at Beacon" Ruby said.
"we figured you 4 were Huntresses purely by the weapons" the Empress said.
"Huntsmen, that is a term i haven't heard in a long time, certainly brings back memories" Belos said. The way he spoke it was as if he was reminiscing about something in his past.
Weiss picked up on this and asked confused. "wait!, did you visit a Huntsmen academy before?"
"yes" Belos said.
"when?, how?, why?" Weiss asked in quick suspicion.
"as much as i would like to answer your questions, I'm afraid that will have to wait until after Lilith and the Owl lady have their fight" Belos said in a gentle but firm tone.
"yeah honestly i don't want to hang out here any longer than i already am and we'll have time later to go into everyone's backstories, so let's get this show on the road, can we?" Eda said.
Both sisters stepped on to the arena and walked up to the circle at the centre, Eda on 1 side and Lilith on the other.
"um not to complain but can we get some chairs please" Weiss chimed in.
"yeah, if we're going to watch this showdown, i prefer to be sitting" Yang added.
"as you wish" Belos clapped his hands and a row of chair someone would see at a sports stadium rose out of the ground. The Emperor along with his wife and Luz each took a seat. Team RWBY and King followed suit.
Kikimora was the only one in the group to not sit down. She then walked up to Eda and Lilith
"now before you begin let's go over the rules for this duel, rule 1: both witches are allowed full use of their staffs, rule 2: neither participant is allowed outside help" Kikimora turned to the seats that everyone was seated at and looked at King in particular. "that means you, little rodent"
King obviously anger at being called such shouted "YOU DO NOT COMMAND ME!".
"awww your so cute when your mad" Ruby said nuzzling the tiny dog-like demon.
Back with Kikimora who continued to list the rules "rule 3: no cheating, any questions?".
"nope" Eda said cracking her knuckles.
"me neither" Lilith added.
"very well" Kikimora backed away from the 2 witches and out of the arena "you begin when ever your both ready".
Both witches summoned their staff. Eda with her trademark owl, while Lilith's staff was long and white, with a gold attachment at the top that held a white raven. The 2 witches struck fight stances. Eda made the first attack blasting a stream of fire at Lilith, who spun her staff creating a barrier to protect herself against the flames.
Team RWBY looked on at the battle happening in front of them.
"who do you think is gonna win?" Ruby asked.
"no idea, but I'd bet on Eda" Yang said.
"they both seem pretty strong, it could go either way" Weiss remarked.
As they were talking, Lilith dispelled her shield and side stepped out of the path of the flames, then followed up with a blast of ice shards at Eda. The Owl Lady spun in place forming a golden circle beneath her feet and backed up, just as the ice shards came at her a pillar, ice struck the pillar which shattered into tiny pieces on impact. The pillar then coiled forward like a snake with the face of an owl on it. It then tried to slam down on Lilith, but she dodged before it hit her.
Eda quickly started drawing multiple magic circles on the collapsed pillar, which created smaller versions of the owl snake thing that attacked Lilith. Lilith effortlessly evaded Eda's owl serpents, disappearing and reappearing behind her sister ready with a fireball. Until the small owl on Eda's staff detached itself and grabbed Lilith by the hair, dragging her away before letting go.
"it's been fun sis, but time to wrap this up" Eda tapped the bottom end of her staff to the collapsed pillar, creating a giant Hooty head which swallowed Lilith whole. The little owl returned to Eda's staff.
Team RWBY were awe struck by what they just saw. No one back at Beacon would believe what they just saw. Before Kikimora was about to declare Eda the winner, the Hooty head exploded into multiple fragments, with Lilith standing in the middle of the debris. Lilith then jumped into the air and threw her staff like a javelin at Eda. But, the Owl Lady readied a protective force field around herself as Lilith's staff collided with her, followed by Lilith herself. Lilith kept forcing her way through.
Eda expanded her force field and repelled Lilith. Lilith twirled her staff and fired a particularly powerful blast of magic, Eda did the same and the beam of energy collided with each other. Both sister's struggled against the each other, trying to get the upper hand on the other. They both poured more of their own magic into their respective attack, but neither one was conceding an inch. Everyone watching the battle that was unfolding right now could feel the 2 witches focus and determination to win.
At that very moment, the beams from both witches exploded sending a massive cloud of dust which covered the arena, obscuring all vision. The seated spectators could only hear the sounds of the 2 witches fight and see small flashes of light, which weren't strong enough to clear the dust. The audience was hanging of the edge of their seats. Until a huge owl made of light came rising out and parted the dust cloud, revealing Eda standing over a defeated Lilith.
Everyone was in amazement by what they saw, everyone except Belos not that anyone could tell what expression was on his face with the mask. Belos got up from his seat and made his way down to the arena. He stood in front of the 2 witches. Eda stood were she was, while Lilith laid down on her knees.
"i am sorry my Emperor" she said sounding ashamed.
"no need to apologize Lilith, you fought as best you could" Belos said.
Eda extended her hand to Lilith, who reluctantly took it and pulled herself up with Eda's help. The Owl Lady turned her attention to Belos.
"that concludes this witches duel, Eda the Owl lady is the winner" Kikimora announced.
Team RWBY cheered at Eda's victory, Ruby and Yang jumped from their seats and into the arena in front of Eda.
"That was AWESOME! The way you 2 used magic to attack and defend was spectacular and that giant Hooty wow" Ruby excitedly said.
"we couldn't see in the cloud, but yeah you 2 were bad ass in there" Yang added.
"glad i was able to put on a show" Eda said.
"you could say it a real 'hoot' eh" Yang joked.
But nobody was laughing. All that could be heard was a cricket chirping in the background. "gee tough crowd" Yang said.
"terrible comedy aside, you really were amazing in that fight" Ruby said.
"and don't you forget it kid" Eda remarked.
Moments after the fight. Eda, Lilith, Belos and the Empress were in the throne room to discuss the full terms of the deal with everyone else outside the door to listen in on the conversation. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, King and Luz had their ears to the door trying to hear what they were talking about.
"can you guys hear anything?" Yang asked.
"no their not even talking yet" Blake said.
"why are we doing this again?" Weiss questioned her teammates.
"to figure out why they didn't want us present" Ruby answered.
"especially me, i mean if the Owl Lady is going to be my mentor why leave me out of the meeting?" Luz said raising a valid point.
"see, even daddy's little girl is questioning the great and powerful Belos' decision" Yang said.
"plus, you were curious just like us" Ruby added.
"touche" Weiss relented.
"still what's going on in there?" Ruby wondered.
Meanwhile in the throne room, Eda was discussing with Belos and the Empress who sat on their respective thrones, while Lilith and Kikimora stood close by.
"Edalyn Clawthorne, for proving yourself in the witches duel. You have earned the right to be the mentor to our daughter Luz" Emperor Belos announced.
"eh it was no biggy, i could have done it with both hands tied behind my back" Eda said nonchalantly.
"oh really?" Lilith raised an eye brow as if ready to start another fight.
"Lilith please!" the Empress said.
Lilith stopped herself from escalating into conflict.
Belos continued. "now i believe you had a few provisos or caveats you wished for your end of the deal".
"damn straight" Eda said. "i have a little problem that i want you to fix"
Belos interrupted Eda for a moment. "your talking about your curse, i presume?"
"it's not exactly a secret" The Empress said.
"so you can cure it, right?" asked Eda.
"of course, but i want to know that you can teach Luz how to use magic" Belos stated.
"what did you have in mind?" Eda queried.
"if you can make progress in teaching Luz, then your curse will be healed, anything else?" Belos said.
"alright,but tell your goons to not bother me when I'm doing business" Eda said.
"as long as you don't do anything else illegal, the Emperor's Coven won't interfere with you in anyway" the Empress said.
"okay then" Eda said.
"anything else you would like?" Belos asked.
"a billion snails would sweeten the deal" Eda sounding coy.
"you will be compensated for your services, so don't push your luck" Belos said, not sounding amused.
"right, right sorry, but what about the humans?" Eda asked.
"that will all depend on them" Belos raised his hand, it glowed red and the doors to the throne room opened. Team RWBY, Luz and King were surprised by this action. "come here" Belos said.
The girls and small demon complied, slowly making their way to the Emperor. Once in front of Belos, Ruby said sheepishly "yes, your um majesty?".
"don't be nervous niña, Eda i believe wanted to ask these girls something?" the Empress said.
"oh yeah" Eda turned to Team RWBY "so after today, what's next for you 4?"
the girls each said. "huh?" and "what?" not understanding the question.
"i promised to send you kids back after everything at the conformatorium" Eda said.
"actually can we stay for awhile" Ruby asked.
"what?" Eda was confused.
"while our boat was totalled, so we can't really leave anytime soon" Ruby added.
"so is it okay if we live with you until then?" Yang said.
"plus you did rope us into this, getting King's 'crown'" Weiss said.
"let them stay!" King tugged on Eda's dress eagerly "they can make us snacks" he whispered.
Eda pondered for a second and said "alright"
"really?" Ruby said dumbfounded.
Eda picked up King and held him like a mother holding her child "i could use a few extra pairs of hands helping me around the house, and keeping this goofball out of my cupboards" her expression turned serious as she turned to face Emperor Belos. "hey Emperor B, you agree to the terms"
"yes, i will uphold may end, if you promise to mentor our daughter" Belos said in a calm voice. "and please refer to me by name from now on" he added.
"deal" Eda replied.
Luz gasped. "you mean!" her eyes lit up like stars"
"yep" Eda held out her hand expecting a hand shake, but Luz instead gave the Owl Lady and her demon sidekick a bone crushing hug, much to her confusion.
"huh?! What?!" Eda said.
"too tight! Too Tight!" King squealed.
Lilith seeing the unusual situation her sister was in, walked up to Eda. "so Eda, still think you can handle the job?" Lilith said.
Eda looked down at the half-witch princess hugging her, for some reason she found it nice, despite the pressure of the hug. "yeah, i think i can do this".
After sometime, Eda, King and Team RWBY said goodnight to Luz and her parents and returned to the Owl House for the night. Right now Eda was leading to where they would be staying. "here's your room girls" she said opening a door to a room filled with strange and random objects. "up until now it was just used for storage"
"it'll do" Ruby said.
"okay if you say so" Eda said before leaving.
All 4 girls got settled and rolled out 4 sleeping bags Eda provided them with, along with 4 pillows. They each laid down on their respective sleeping bags getting ready to sleep.
"some day huh?" Yang spoke up before any of them did go to sleep.
"yup, wash up on an island full of witches, meet a princess and stop a prison riot" Ruby recapping everything.
"life is just going to be 1 big hurricane of chaos for us" Weiss exasperated.
"but at least it will be fun" Yang said.
Their conversation was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They looked to the door to see King standing in the doorway holding a stuffed rabbit Francois. "your sleep cocoons look fluffy" he said shyly.
The girls all looked at each other and back at King. Ruby patted on her sleeping bag giving him permission to came up to them. He walked up to the end, setting his bunny down and curling up next to it, like a little dog and falling asleep.
The girls each smiled at the cute little demon sleeping next to them.
"yeah it will be fun" Weiss said before she along with her teammates went to sleep.