Luz was floating, or at least that's what it felt like right now for her, like she was floating in an ocean of liquid bobbing up and down as the waves flowed over her and lulling her into a serene sense of calm. Luz felt like she was in an ocean of...gelatin, that was the closest thing she could a liken it too as she felt submerged, and the texture was too viscous to be water. It was the perfect temperature she had to say, the same when you just wake up in the morning and are under the blanket with no desire to get up, it was comforting like a warm hug from a loved one. There was no pain, but why would there be pain, she wasn't hurt was she?... That didn't make sense at all.

Why would she be hurt though, that was an odd thought to have after a usual day. Hadn't she just gone to sleep after making sure her report book was ready for school the next morning, yes, she had the live snakes, but she was getting them from an older classmate who had tamed reptiles as a hobby. They certainly hadn't bitten her, and it wasn't like they were venomous to begin with, just simple everyday average garden snakes that her classmate had gotten from his backyard and tamed, heck she had even stuck her finger in one of their mouths after prompting and they didn't bite. She really didn't need a repeat of when she stuffed her griffin model with spiders and some of her classmates got bit, she was lucky the teacher kept insecticide under her desk for emergencies and used it that day.

Still why did her mind think she was hurt, the only thing that she could think of was when she hit her foot on the leg of her bed when she was about to go to sleep, but that was minor and faded before she actually fell asleep after an hour or so of browsing online.

Was this what dreaming but not having a dream was like? Just blackness and a sense of warmth, if so, she was just fine with that since it was comforting and gave her a sense of peace after all the stress lately...

What was she stressed about, her book report? No that couldn't be it, she already had it written out a week ago and finalized the visual portion yesterday, all she had to do was just "do" it now. Did she and her Mami get into an argument about responsibility again, no no no no no, she would remember that right; Luz knew she'd remember if she and her mother got into an argument. Why was she stressed, why was she stressed, why was she-

Luz let out a hiss and slammed her hands over her ears as a ringing noise filled them, the high-pitched wail coming from nowhere and drilling straight to her eardrums before disappearing just as quickly as it had arrived, leaving her alone again as her ears were still ringing sightly.

'Where did that come from.' Luz wondered as she slowly removed her hands from her ears as she looked around, freezing when she looked downward and noticed something that she hadn't yet picked up on.

She couldn't see her hands, her arm, not even her feet or legs, in fact she couldn't see anything. She could still touch though; she felt her hands over her ears, and she could still feel her hair on her head and touch it with her hands. Why couldn't she see herself, she should be able to see herself, what was wrong with her WHAT WAS WRONG!

Her throat suddenly became itchy, oh so very itchy as she began furiously scratching at it to reduce the irritation, it was like a thousand gnats had feasted on it all at once. The temperature began rising as she began to sweat or feel like she was sweating as her hands became clammy, her breathing quickened as she felt like she was burning alive and being roasted in an oven. She couldn't breathe, she can't breathe, she needs air, and she needs it now!

'How do you suffocate in a dream!' She thought to herself as she gripped her throat in an attempt to open up her airways, she could still feel the air enter her mouth, but it refused to go down her throat, her lungs would not accept the air as they squeezed themselves dry and empty.

Then the temperature began to wean down as Luz felt herself begin to cool off, like she had sat down in an ice bath after having a sunburn, her breathing thankfully returned to normal as she tried to savor this sensation of frost and the comfort it brought her. She felt herself relax just briefly as the cool feeling washed over her as if wrapping itself around her like a blanket, the aches and pains she had been feeling slowly dissolving into nothingness.

Why was this happening, if she was dreaming then shouldn't it be a good dream, why would she willingly want to dream about being roasted alive.

An image flashed in her mind, one of a hulking pale purple figure in a tattered white outfit, with practically nothing but a toothy mouth for a face spewing fire from it at another cloaked figure.

Where had that come from? That wasn't a scene she recognizes from any of her Azura books, or any anime she had watched recently, and the level of detail was too great for her to have just imagined it out of the blue She could vividly recall the scene, every bit of rubble in the background, the various shades of orange red and yellow that the fire varied between, to the look of utter contempt and hatred in the white eyes of the creature.

Was this a scene from movie trailer that she had seen in passing?

She felt her hairs stand up as the scene shifted to a large tent stacked high and filled to bursting with random junk, the feeling of sand against her legs made her wonder if this was a beach, but she had never been here... had she?

Luz looked forward and saw a woman, she assumed it was one just off of their body shape, but when she looked up at her face her mind blanked and she was filled with rage. Intense rage and hatred like she had never felt swallowed her as she wanted nothing more than to shout and scream at this faceless woman, she didn't know why she felt this way but if she felt like this then she must have done something bad.

"Well kid it's been fun, but I gotta scram." The image of the faceless woman said as Luz heard her voice scream out in terror, was she the one who had hurt her, is that why she was consumed with hate and disdain at looking at her. Just hearing her voice hurt her ears worse than the ringing and only made her want to introduce her to La Chancla, followed by introducing her to her mami.

Luz felt something grab her as she was forced into another direction against her will, looking at the source she saw the woman again, only this time where before her face was fuzzy now it was a blank slate with empty black holes for eyes and a mouth open like a theatre mask.

The scenery around her shifted into that of grey brick and iron bar as she found her wrists and ankles bound and shackled in chain, the woman holding onto them tossing her farther into the cell as the door shut locking her in. She tried to get up and run for the door before it sealed itself, but the chains had rooted themselves into the ground with a resounding 'clang' as it burrowed deeper and deeper in, forcing her to her knees. Struggling against the force she found a new chain appearing around her neck as the force increased and bound her to the floor, just barely able to raise her head a foot off the ground.

Looking forward she saw that the woman was still there, with that blank smile and empty eyes, an irritating pig like snort that evolved into a made laugh erupted from all around her as the woman walked backwards into the darkness, the inky black consuming her as she vanished from view.

Luz felt tears begin to rip themselves free from her eyes as she clawed in vain at her restraints, her mind in a frantic haze as she was unable to even see them, though she could very much feel them. The tearing and pricking of her flesh by the metal, the strain and force keeping her bound to the floor and unable to rise, she could feel that indeed.

She hated this, she hated whoever this woman was, she hated being in this cell, hated being powerless, hated this entire situation.

The chain broke as with renowned vigor and a burst of strength she ripped herself free from the ground with a cry of pain and rage, her breathing ragged from the action and her mind pulsing with adrenaline.

The scene blew away like a sandcastle in the wind leaving her back in the black void again, oh no, she was NOT going to be floating here idly this time! Whatever was deciding to do this, why her mind was doing this she would find out and when she did, she was going to give that part of her brain a serious talking to. Call her crazy if you want but she would show it how dissatisfied she was in it trying to make her non-dream feel like one of those scenes from Azura Book Three where the mad sorcerer Slo'bae had captured Azura and was going to boil her alive in a forbidden ritual after locking her in a dungeon with a creature that fed off of nightmares.

Okay maybe she had been reading the books to much and that was why her brain had done that, but her point still stood that she would be having a stern talking to with her subconscious after she figured out how to do so.

Childish laughter drifted into her ears before she began to hear snippets of some conversation, one deep voice sounded familiar...? In a sense, and the other one she couldn't place but it sounded much like a grandmotherly voice with a bit of bass to it.

Wait those were voices, she was hearing voices! If there were voices that meant there, were people, people she didn't know, and people who could potentially have nefarious ulterior motives in regard to her. She needed to stop them before they acted on them, she needed to get up now, she needed to wake up, she needed to wake up, wake up, wake up, wake UP, WAKE UP!


Light flooded through her eyes as she opened up her eyelids, it wasn't harsh like a regular lightbulb, it was a dim warm light from a fire suspended in a glass ball hanging from the ceiling. She was covered in sweat and her muscles were stiff, had she had a nightmare or a bad dream?

Pulling herself into a sitting position Luz saw that she had been covered in an old woven blanket, much like the quilts and other decade old amenities at her Abuela's, though this one lacked the years' worth of dust buildup that always irritated her allergies. It was made of a thick yarn and covered in plaid patterns of changing colors, the edges she noticed had a golden trim to them and looked like they were much newer than the rest of the blanket.

She noticed that it was daytime as there was sunlight peeking through a window off to her side, there being no blinds on the window but rather just a simple pair of white drapes to pull shut, or open since they were shut to begin with. The window itself was a square of wood planks surrounding the opening in the wall and looked rather out of place with what they normally looked like now, heck she could still see the giant nails that had been used to stick them to the wall.

'Where am I?' Luz thought as she looked around the unfamiliar environment, the room looked like nowhere she had seen before as it wasn't hers or a relative's house, and she doubted this was the camp since it looked too 'lived in' for that.

Then she remembered, she remembered the owl running away with her book, chasing it through the woods, the betrayal and abandonment, to the Warden interrogating her to... she blanked on what happened next. Why couldn't she remember, she was certain that there was something missing since she was here, but the last thing she could remember was talking to the Warden in the halls as he asked her name. When did she fall asleep, WHERE did she fall asleep, did she pass out and get taken to an infirmary?

Her muscles ached as she reached to take the blanket off of her, they were tired and sore and screamed to be put back to rest with just the slightest movement, looking down showed that her right arm was wrapped in a thin cast that had a symbol with a blue hand and ribbons running down on it.

She resisted the urge to pick at it, and was thankful that she could still move her arm and hand despite them being wrapped in the cast; as well as that someone had wrapped them in a cast in the first place.

The thought of why she was wearing a cast evaded her as she assumed she probably just fell or got hurt somehow, her head hurting whenever she tried to remember how she got hurt.

There was a glass of water on the nightstand next to her that she eagerly gulped down, surprised and relieved that it was regular water and not some mystical realm fancy water. Downing half of the glass before she sat it down and took a big gulp of air, her nerves calming themselves and finally relaxing after being on edge for what seemed like an eternity.

Luz had to suppress the urge to rip the blanket off of her and explore her surroundings, if this wasn't her house then she was currently a guest at someone else, and since she recalled Warden Wrath mentioning something about his house chances were that was where she was. She didn't want to know what would happen if he caught her snooping around his house after already taking her from the prison, she still couldn't believe that happened but was glad, nonetheless.

"Honestly I can't believe how this happened again Wrath," She heard an agitated female voice huff from somewhere, sounding like her Mami did whenever she got called about the latest thing she did at school. "This is the fifth time I've had to accelerate your healing so a heart can grow back."

That was... both morbid and yet highly interesting at the same time, for the sole reason of Wrath lost a heart... five times? How had he lost a heart, whatever injuries he got from that blue creature healed within seconds, how had something hurt him enough to require a new heart? Ok maybe it was also terrifying that something like that existed, and she absolutely did not want to see whatever or whoever could do that.

"YOW!" A yelp of pain followed that last statement, a yelp that sounded very much like Warden Wrath but less... menacing and sounding more like a slapstick cartoon yelp. "Could you watch where you poke that thing, I may have three hearts, but I only have one Bile Sack."

'Three hearts? Bile Sack?' Luz wondered what a Bile Sack was, was it like a frog's throat bubble but full of Bile, honestly, she could accept that Wrath had three hearts since that was believable with him obviously not being human.

"Hmph, you'll be lucky if you have one at all with the way you keep insisting on being skewered," The female voice said again with an agitated tone, the sound of ripping fabric and Wrath yelping again accompanied their statement. "Were you not fireproof I have no doubt you'd be roasted and served in a high class establishment as a delicacy."

Okay she was going to do her best to forget ever hearing that.

Lost in thought Luz was only able to make out the sound of footsteps thumping against the ground until they were right outside the door. Thinking quickly and acting on instinct Luz lay back down and tried to look like she was asleep, fear creeping over her as the person neared; whether it was Wrath or this other person she did not know.

"Dearie if you're going to pretend to be asleep at least make sure you don't rock the bed." The same voice that was talking to Wrath said from the doorway, sounding amused more than anything.

Sucking in a breath and doing her best to prepare herself Luz opened her eyes and sat back up to look at them. She was starting to wonder if everyone who lived her was tall since this lady was also taller than most people she knew, just being shorter than Wrath by a few inches. They looked human save for their height, but where the eyes would be there was a dark blue visor that reflected the light of the room off of it. On their head was a headpiece that looked... okay there was no other way for her to describe it but it was a macaroni piece. A white cloak was draped over them and was clasped with a blue clip that had the same insignia as the one on the cast on it.

"Well honey are we going to talk or are you just going to keep doing a Coalish impression?" They asked with a smirk on their fac as Luz realized they had been staring without saying anything, probably for about a solid minute since time had blurred for a brief moment.

"Sorry." Luz apologized as she used her non casted arm to rub the back of her head sheepishly, hoping that the woman wouldn't be offended.

The woman didn't say anything or move for a few moments which made Luz worry that she had indeed offended them, but before she could try to make amends, they threw their head back and let out a hearty laugh.

"Sorry sorry dearie, it is not often I get to make such jokes to an otherworldly visitor," They said quirking their lips upward as she strode forward in an almost floating like manner since the cloak obscured their feet. "Yes I know you're human, not difficult to figure out what with your ears and all."

"Wha-" Luz tried to ask before she was cut off by the woman placing a finger on her mouth and shushing her.

"None of that for now honey, I'm a healer not a conspiracist. I leave that nonsense for Radamus the lazy eyed trollop," They let out a chuckle at their words before leaning down and inspecting the cast that was around Luz's arm, running their fingers over it and strumming it like the keys of a piano. "Now let's see here, seems the potions are working properly despite your human vitality, should be able to take it off by the next sun rise."

'Okay this is awkward.' Luz thought as she held back a wince of pain as the lady strummed at the cast, it didn't hurt like she thought it might, but it did feel like a thousand needles were poking her there.

Letting out a hum of satisfaction the woman straightened herself and looked down at Luz who was propped up against a pillow on the headboard of the bed. "Oh my, pardon my rudeness that I have not introduced myself yet," they said as they extended out an arm in order to shake Luz's non bound hand, which she slowly took still weary of them. "I'm Ms. Mavilda but please call me granny, everyone does," she said shaking Luz hand before letting go and running a finger all the way up Luz's arm till she reached her cheek and gave it a small flick before withdrawing it, Luz rubbing the spot with her hand. "Oh look at you so precious, such a shame to see such a darling little one hurt so." Mavilda said as she reached over to the nightstand and picked up the glass of water that Luz had drank from earlier and swirled it in front of her face before drinking the rest of it in one swing and setting the glass back down.

"I-eh uh eh I wha..." Luz sputtered as she struggled to process the lady's actions, her left eye unintentionally twitching as the action was practically dragging that side of her cheek upward with it.

"Are you finished fussing over the human yet?" The voice of Wrath cut Luz free from her delirium as both she and Mavilda turned to look at where Wrath had appeared, him poking his body through the open doorway.

She was shocked at how injured Wrath actually was, she had built up an image of him being unhurtable especially after seeing him heal like he had, but this... this tore that image down with no mercy.

He wasn't dressed in his warden uniform but he still wore a white shirt that looked like it had the texture of leather, a brown shawl was draped over his neck with the hood pulled down exposing his head and face. Luz did her best to not let her fear of his exposed visage show especially since she suddenly felt like she was... burning, why did she feel like she was burning? A thick piece of rope fastened his dark brown trousers to his waist and his boots were still the same as those of his warden uniform.

He had a large bandage wrapped around half of his face which contrasted with his large mouth, half of it being covered by the same wrapping but not seeming to be affected in function. A large scar patch was visible on his chest as his shirt was opened, the mark covering much of his right side and being a sickly yellow and black and very prominent due to his natural purple pigmentation. His left arm was wrapped in bandages and his right hand was covered in them to the point of looking like it was wrapped in an oven mitten, and what looked like a brace was on his right knee.

Luz heard Mavilda suck in an agitated breath as she strode towards Wrath who held his hands up in defense as the woman advanced upon him. "Did I not just tell you to stay laying down, you'll agitate the wounds," she said as Wrath began to sputter a fruitless apology only to be cut off. "Titan it's a miracle you were even able to walk with all of these, let alone walk home."

She easily strode past Wrath but in doing so grabbed him by his ear? She grabbed him by whatever passed for an ear and pulled him back out of sight from the doorframe, Wrath still trying to sputter out an apology or an excuse Luz couldn't tell.

She just sat there in silence for at least a minute before she snapped out of her stupor again, flabbergasted at the behavior of the woman, Mavilda, and how she was essentially treating Wrath like a misbehaving child.

She supposed since they knew she was up that it wouldn't be so bad if she followed them, or at least got up from the bed and walked around; there had to be a living room after all. Using her good arm to pull the blanket off of her and looked down at what she was wearing, having finally noticed that she wasn't in her hoodie shirt and jeans. It was basic white nightwear that felt like it was made of cotton when she ran her hand over it and had several buttons on it holding it closed. Maybe she was changed when they put the cast on her and lay her in the bed.

Getting out of the bed and doing her best to ignore the brief flare of pain that followed, pushing through it she slowly shambled her way out of the room. The hallway looked plain compared to what she was thinking it would look like as it just had a few scattered pictures on the wall and a random table that had a potted plant that looked like a crossed between a cactus and a sunflower with pink petals.

Luz reached out to touch one of the pink petals but immediately withdrew as soon as hundreds of needles emerged from it and the other petals, and it snapped shut like a venus flytrap.

"Yagh!" She recoiled when the plant angled itself towards her and snapped again, green drool seeping through its closed maw and dripping into the pot, backing farther away as she could distinctly hear growling coming from it.

'Note to self don't trust the plants.' Luz decided as she continued down the hall with a slightly quicker pace to put distance between her and the plant, idly gazing at the various pictures she passed.

One was clearly of Wrath in his Warden uniform sitting at a desk and working on paperwork as there was a stack the size of several dictionaries set off to the side, despite having his mask on Luz could feel both the irritation and contempt through the image. The next one was Wrath in the same outfit she had just seen him in with along with what looked like a miniature version of him that was dark red and wearing a dark grey and black cloak and tunic, sitting on Wrath's shoulder and holding a scroll with the word 'Hexside' emblazoned on the top.

'Is that his son?' Luz wondered as the similarities between them were very obvious, what with the two of their faces being nearly entirely a mouth.

"I swear that man is going to run me into a grave sooner than I want to," The voice of Mavilda drew Luz's attention away as she looked down the hall to see the woman gliding down the hall towards her, though obviously distracted as she was rubbing a... knife, a very small handled and large bladed serrated knife in her hand that was still red. Very red and very much still dripping with something that she hoped wasn't blood, the fact that she had seen Wrath bleed blue blood escaping her thoughts as the elder woman neared. "Never had a grey hair before we met and now I need three vials of dye just to make it look lightly blonde again."

Mavilda wiped the blade clean with a red cloth and slid the dagger into the inside of her cloak, halting mid stride when she noticed Luz who was looking up at her. "Surprised to see you up darling, I thought that relaxing potion would have made that difficult, " She said bluntly as leant down to look Luz in the eyes, her head tilted in a way so as to allow her headpiece to not collide with the wall. "Well I suppose there is no better time than to make sure you have some food in that little stomach of yours, I imagine that you must be famished after three days of nothing but nutrient potions." She said rubbing the top of Luz's head, eliciting a 'meep' as she pulled out a strand of Luz hair and rolled it between her fingers before straightening herself.

"Wait three... three days!" Luz exclaimed shocked as she processed what Mavilda told her, had it really been three days since she was in the Conformitorium, how was she asleep for three days, WHY was she asleep for three days.

She heard Mavilda let out a hum that sounded like the buzzing of insect wings as she looked back down at her, "Indeed, you had a nasty little knock to the noggin of yours honey dearest," She said as led Luz down the hall and flicked the plant that was still growling, before she closed her fist around it and eliciting a soft high pitched shriek as it was crushed in her grip. "Why you can't imagine how shocked I was when I got a Crow from dearest Wrath begging me to come over as soon as possible, quite a fright indeed." She said in a grandmotherly voice as she shook her hand and let around a dozen of the needles fall from it harmlessly to the ground, Luz being careful to not step on them as her feet were bare, a fact she hadn't realized till she nearly stepped on one.

"Knocked on my head?" Luz asked confused, she didn't remember getting hit on the head, that seemed like something she would remember happening.

She heard Mavilda chuckle as they rounded a corner and Luz saw what looked like a mishmash of a kitchen and a butcher shop, she could plainly see a large cabinet that looked like it was styled after a fridge as it was made of metal, and she could see frost covering a window on the upper front of it. A solid wooden counter with several cleavers lodged in it divided the room in two, with a surprisingly modern looking sink built into the middle of it, and a window let natural light from the outside flood the room. A large cauldron with a greenish bubbling liquid was positioned under the window with a fire and logs lit under it, occasionally the liquid itself would rise upwards and let out a bubbling gurgle before falling back down.

Luz found herself being hoisted up and sat on one of the stools behind the counter as Mavilda walked over to the fridge like contraption and opened it, a wave of ice and snow flying free as she pulled out a large chunk of some sort of meaty leg that was the size of a whole chicken with one hand, and after setting it on the counter she withdrew what a cheese wheel that had several eyeballs and... okay that was a centipede crawling through the holes.

Mavilda began humming a tune to herself as she grabbed one of the cleavers and twirled it in her hands before viciously chopping at the piece of meat as though she were in an 80's slasher movie, the thumping of the blade against the wood as she tore through the flesh of the met rang in Luz's ears.

She saw the image of her head and neck beneath the blade during one of Mavilda's more forceful strikes, Luz doing her best to wipe that image from her mind. It was clear that Wrath trusted Mavilda, and Wrath had apparently gotten her medical help when she was injured and if Wrath trusted Mavilda to give her that then she doubted the woman would do something so horrific.

"How did I get hurt?" Luz asked as Mavilda slammed the cleaver back into the counter, the blade splitting into the wood with a resounding 'Thunk' as juices from the meat slid down it along with bits of the flesh.

Mavilda looked up from her work at Luz, explaining what happened as she took the serrated knife from before and cut into the cheese wheel. "Seems the Owl Lady and her little fugitive friend decided they wanted to break into the Confiscated Item's vault," she said with an almost playful disappointed tone as she noticed the centipede from the cheese had crawled up her knife blade and handle, picking it up with her other hand and snapping its neck before she slurped it into her mouth like one would a noodle. "It seems that in all that ruckus is when your head got knocked around. Oh, how sad it is to see a lady of her Caliber resort to such deplorable actions."

Luz was going to be scrubbing the image of Mavilda slurping a centipede from her mind at a later time, for now though her mind hung on to one part of what she said, specifically the Owl Lady. Luz felt her blood begin to boil as she realized that once again the Owl Lady was the cause of her pain, leaving her to fend for herself wasn't enough but she also had to go and injure her while also attacking the place she let her get locked up in. Luz had never hated anyone, heck she never really had negative feeling towards anyone before she met the Owl Lady, in the span of knowing the woman for under an hour she had decided that she hated her.

Lost was she in her hatred of the Owl Lady that she missed Mavilda setting a porcelain plate with a sandwich on it in front of her. "Enough of that now sweetie pie," Mavilda said sweetly as she pinched Luz's cheeks like a doting elder. "Now I didn't do to much digging under the hood, but you humans seem close enough to a baseline Witch that you should safely be able to handle most everything they can. I swear that upon my rank as Head Witch of the Healing Coven."

As Mavilda declared that she held up her arm in a form of mock salute and allowed the sleeve to fall down revealing the same hand and ribbon mark branded on her forearm, of course Luz knew what a Coven was, but she didn't think there would be one that specialized in healing. Maybe she was thinking about them in a different context, before she could ask for clarification her stomach let out a growl as it begged to be fed, a pang of hunger lighting up her nervous system.

That being said there was one issue that she had. "I uh... can't eat cheese, Lactose Intolerant you know." Luz said sheepishly hoping that maybe they also had that in this realm.

She heard Mavilda strumming her fingers on the wood as she tore a bite sized piece of the meat off and began chewing it. "No worries dearie, I noticed when I did the checkup, Wrath has the same issue too," She said breaking off a piece of the cheese and holding it up for Luz to see. "No dairy here, pure flavored Centigone."

Popping the piece of cheese in her mouth and chewing it Mavilda motioned for Luz to eat the sandwich with no worries about the fake dairy.

'Well, I guess that's one plus of magic.' Luz thought to herself as she wondered how a checkup would show she was Lactose Intolerant, maybe there was a spell that showed whatever ailments a person had. Mavilda did say she was a healer so if that spell did exist then she would obviously know it, or maybe she was just good at guessing, and it was complete luck that Wrath also shared that affliction with her.

She did not know how to feel about that since she couldn't imagine the being that was Warden Wrath being unable to eat dairy.

Looking down at the sandwich it looked rather ordinary, no fancy living creatures or eyes aside from the ones in the foe cheese, which had thankfully closed and made it easier to forget they were there, the meat looked like any normal deli or sandwich meat aside from the odd splotch of purple that was probably the color of whatever species it came from. The bread appeared to just be normal bread as well, regardless she found herself being unable to resist taking a bite, the flavor of the dish not even registering to her until she had already eaten half of it in a hunger induced haze.

The cheese had the texture of ketchup and practically dissolved in her mouth, leaving behind the odd taste of potatoes and lemon?... the combination that, while admittedly odd didn't clash with the meat which had the texture of ham but the flavor of a slow roasted steak.

The sandwich was completely gone within thirty seconds, a task that was made even more impressive as Luz only had one arm that she could use, and something she didn't register as Luz felt her sudden hunger spike alleviate.

When she looked up, she saw Mavilda looking at her with a sideways head expression, and her blue lip sticked mouth quirked in a thin line. "Oh uh, thank you ma'am, for the food, and uh healing me I guess." Luz said nervously as she wondered what expression Mavilda was looking with her at from beneath her visor.

The woman's expression brightened after Luz's statement as she took the plate from the counter. "Nonsense dear, I'm a healer, it's what I do," She said as she tossed the plate behind her and let it land in the sink, not breaking as it had been full of water which broke the plates fall. "Besides it's not everyday I get to hear about a real live human, why I do believe I'm the first healer to ever get the privilege of operating on one. I do believe I should be thanking you for that."

There it was again, Luz knew she was human and that itself was a rarity, and she hadn't gotten the chance to ask Wrath about that, or she didn't remember if she had... her memories were pretty fuzzy about the specifics of what happened while some of it was clear. She remembered him saying that her kind was rare and nonexistent here, but she could still remember seeing people that mainly looked like humans, heck save for the outfit and unreasonable size Mavilda could pass as a human.

Luz sucked in a deep breath as she braced herself to ask the million-dollar question. "What's so special, about me being human I mean, Wrath explained that my kind was rare, but don't most other people here look like humans?" Luz asked meekly, hoping that her question wouldn't offend Mavilda.

The elder woman stopped what she was doing and brought her hand up to her chin to stroke it in thought. "Well apart from the fact that your kind reside on a different realm, I suppose the main difference would be our Bile Sacks," She said as she brought out a journal from the inside of her cloak, flipping through the small white leather bound book before placing it in front of Luz. The startingly detailed hand drawn image of a heart with a giant tumor attached to it that was leaking a thick liquid that made Luz feel slimy just looking at it. "A natural part of our anatomy the Bile Sack allows us Witches and many Demons to cast magic. Most likely the comparison you are drawing is how Pure Blooded Witches appear physically identical to humans save for the pointed ears, yes?"

That was exactly what she had been getting at actually, still that did clear up what Wrath meat when he said he only had one Bile Sack earlier, but her answer only raised more questions in Luz's mind. "Pureblood?" Luz asked with a small bit of excitement creeping into her voice, okay she was going to be polite, but she actually had a Witch here, a real live Witch that she could ask all about their society. Real Witch society, it was her fantastical dream come true, so what if it hadn't been sunshine and rainbows so far, but now hopefully it could start turning up better.

Mavilda reached down and flipped a few pages in the book to reveal another diagram, this one looked like the Vitruvian Man image of Davinci but had pointed ears and no hair, "Now as this is the Demon Realm there are two main species that reside here, us the Witches, and they the Demons." Mavilda said gesturing to herself as an example of a Witch and throwing her finger and thumb in a pointing position to down the hall where Wrath undoubtedly was in another room. "Purebloods are essentially Witches that don't have a drop of Demon Blood in them, whereas mixed bred are those that come from both a Witch and Demon lineage," She explained as she flipped the page over again to another image of the same diagram, only this one had curved horns and three eyes, with a spiked tail and four arms. "Aside from that the only other main difference is that some Demons are born with a Bile Sack and capable of using magic, and some are more primal and lack such abilities but still possess a varied form of specialized magic native to their species. Though I'm afraid you'll have to ask a Beast Keeper more about that."

She was... okay not overwhelmed as the information was quite easy to process when you thought about it, but it was still surprising to think that Witches were their own species and capable of using magic biologically, she had always thought magic was something people had to learn.

A loud crash that sounded much like shattering glass sounded from another room as Luz could swear she heard Mavilda's teeth grinding. "I swear that man," She growled as she strode forward quickly, Luz finally hearing the clacking of her shoes again as she realized that Mavilda had been moving quietly up until that point. "Thinks I'm younger than 184 does he, I'm not a spry young Chacktor like I used to be." She grumbled as she stomped out of the room, only the sound of her footsteps echoing through the building before Luz could make out the sound of Mavilda shouting and Wrath's muffled voice but unable to decipher either.

"Okay she is definitely terrifying." Luz decided as she was now worried about what Mavilda would do if she irritated her, if Wrath's totally not high-pitched screams and Mavilda's shouts to 'Pipe down, It's not even a flesh wound.' were any indication to what she would do.

Luz felt her hand brush against something when she sat it on the counter and realized Mavilda had left her book on the counter... well it couldn't hurt to look through it right, it wasn't like she was reading a diary; this was more like a medical journal. Well not like she hasn't read a bunch of those before since her Mami kept a generous supply of them on their bookshelf, but this was different since it was a Witch Medical Journal.

She spent a second to run her finger over the open page as she let its coarse dry texture flood her sense, the teeth present on the books binding not shocking her as much as it should have since everything seemed to have eyes or teeth in the realm. At least these ones weren't trying to eat her like the others had, the book didn't even seem to be alive like most other things with eyes and teeth seemed to be.

Thankfully it seemed like everything written was in English, so she had no issue reading anything, though the diagrams were sometimes difficult to make out since they were small and complex and much of what was written around them was so small, she doubted she could read it with a magnifying glass.

'So even if they have multiple hearts, they only have one Bile Sack connected to them all?' Luz read to herself as she skimmed back through the page with the Bile Sack diagram, curious since on a separate page which had various pieces of demon anatomy multiple hearts wasn't rare, but it wasn't common either.

"GAH! COME ON I JUST WANTED A DRINK!" She heard Wrath shout from the other room, not sounding in pain but like a child who got caught taking from the cookie jar; his voice actually cracking as much as it could with it being as deep as it was.

She ignored the sound of smashing wood.

Luz returned to reading the journal as what she could read was actually interesting, such as some Demons being able to regrow entire limbs and organs and being able to pass on the trait to their offspring. It also described how some demons required a specialized diet much like herbivores and carnivores... okay was this one saying there was a species that actually eats its own body parts and waits for them to regrow? Maybe this realm was both equally terrifying and highly concerning and questionable, well at least they ate themselves and not other people as... unique as that was.

"Who knew Demon Ream biology was so interesting." It actually was the more she read, sure there was terminology she didn't understand and organs that were seemingly nonsensical in some cases, example in point the 'Thoom Tube' came to mind. It was primarily seen in Demons who had eyes that were not in a skull socket but had a free moving tube that allowed them a limited range of movement.

"Hello human house guest, can I help you." Luz nearly jumped in shock as a voice that was somehow deeper than Wrath's spoke from below her, apparently so enraptured by reading that she hadn't noticed them approaching.

Quickly calming herself she looked down and saw that it was the smaller looking Wrath that she assumed was his son, though dressed in similar regalia to what Wrath was currently wearing and not the grey and black cloak that she had seen in the picture.

"Oh uh... hi smaller Wrath demon," She said nervously as she waved her hand in greeting before extending it for a handshake. "I'm Luz, what's your name little guy?"

The smaller demon stood on his tip toes to reach her hand and eagerly took it with both of his, there was a scaley texture to his hands as opposed to the leathery one Wrath had Luz noticed.

"Pleasure to meet you Luz the human, I am Braxas" He said as he released Luz's hand, before crawling up to sit on a stool next to her. "Father said you were going to be staying with us for now, I wish to make you feel welcome."

Luz had to stop herself from cooing at how adorable the little guy was being, she didn't know how someone that had a face that was eighty percent mouth, and the deep voice of a stereotypical movie villain could be so cute. His little arm movements as well as how the tone of his voice shifted ever so slightly higher in obvious excitement made her just want to hug him, but that would probably be rude without prompting and she didn't want to offend the son of the person who was letting her stay here.

"Well thanks little guy, so uh Braxas... how old are you?" Totally normal question to ask and a good icebreaker she decided, gosh she was going to become an introvert at this rate.

"I am six, I had my day of birth celebration two months ago," Braxas said as he held three fingers from each hand to equal six, before leaning over as far as he could to look at the book that was still on the table. "What are you reading?"

Luz froze at that question since she didn't know if Mavilda would mind that she was reading her journal, like she thought earlier there wasn't anything personal or private written in there. Still maybe she should have asked before she impulsively decided it was alright to read through it, then again maybe she wouldn't mind and lying about it would only make things worse.

"Uh... well Miss Mavilda was showing me her medical journal before she went off to help your dad." Luz said nervously trying to see if there was any indication that she made a mistake on Braxas face.

Braxas made a noise soinding like a mix between a hum and a purr as he spoke. "Thats neat, Missus M usually comes by once a month to check on Father," Braxas said with a small head tilt as he looked up at Luz. "She always reads some of her research to me when she has time, says that future healers need to be nurtured since the current ones are all spineless numbskulls."

With a mix of an 'aha' and a 'eureka' moment Luz knew what she had to do now to both get on Wrath's good side, and get to shower some affection on the adorable little munchkin that Braxas was.


While Luz and Braxas were conversing in the kitchen, Mavilda and Wrath were having a much different conversation in one of Wrath's living rooms as he was still getting treated for his injuries that he received at the Conformitorium.

"Honestly Wrath you're the four-time Bonesborough Brawl Onslaught champion and you still flinch when I give you shots." Mavilda said with an exasperated tone as she held the stiff form of Wrath down on a reclining chair, having casted a stiffness spell on him just moments ago, though he was still struggling against the effects of it.

Wrath gave a low whine as Mavilda held the aforementioned needle above him with her other hand. "Yes, but at the same time most of them aren't holding me down and threatening to inject me with a needle the size of a great sword!" He exclaimed as Mavilda proceeded to stick the needle into his chest cavity, before using magic to make sure the entrance didn't bleed.

Said needle was actually made from a repurposed sword that Mavilda took from the Emperors coven scrap pile, that she welded a jug onto and chiseled an indent in to transfer the potion. Well what do people expect when she has to deal with Demons and Half Breeds who have the skin density of a Stonesleeper, Wrath especially because he had that healing factor of his that crushed anything weaker than her current equipment.

"Quit whining you big baby, what would dear Braxas think if he saw his father wailing louder than an infant pixie," Mavilda teased as she withdrew her makeshift syringe, the blood red potion she had just injected Wrath with still dripping from the end of the blade. "Besides I already gave you a double dose of numbing potion, so the rapid regrowth doesn't hurt as much. You won't even feel the blade."

Wrath snorted as Mavilda drew a spell circle in the air to undo her stiffening spell, but still held him down so he wouldn't irritate his still healing wounds. "Fine, can you at least let me get a glass of Centigone Milk, despite you shoving an entire kit of potions down it my throat s still dry." He asked as Mavilda withdrew her hand with a 'hmph', and proceeded to pack up her equipment, drawing another circle to vanish her syringe.

"And ruin the potions before they can fully work their magic, absolutely not," she said flicking Wrath in the forehead and letting out a small giggle. "Besides give it an hour and they'll be done and you'll have a new heart, again." She said emphasizing that last part as she poked him in the chest where the discoloration that showed where the spike had pierced his heart was still visible, though it was ever so slowly returning to the natural color of Wrath's skin.

Wrath slumped in the seat as he let out an exhale of breath, rubbing the spot where he had just had a sword pierce his chest. "It's not like I intended for the Owl Lady to skewer me, besides not the worst thing you've had to patch me up from." He said nonchalantly before feeling the death glare Mavilda was sending him from behind her visor.

"Hmph, fortunate for you I have patched you up from worse, I believe that honor goes to when I had to regrow you an arm," She said darkly as Wrath was doing his best impression of a Clourtle while under her gaze. "Remind me again why you thought it was an acceptable idea to wrestle a den of wild nesting Slitherbeasts."

"Training." Wrath said bluntly as he used every ounce of willpower to not run away as he saw her drawing out her knife.

Mavilda's lips curled downwards into a scowl as she held her blade in her hands, Wrath knew she wouldn't harm him right now since she was currently treating his injuries... that did not mean however that she wouldn't come back later and get her due. Mavlida sucked in a deep breath as she swung the blade into a spot in the air and skewered a small flying insect that looked like a scorpion with wings. Bringing the blade to her mouth devouring the creature in one bite she then licked the little bit of meat juices that were still on it as the sound of the beast being crunched in her mouth filled the room.

Swallowing, her face returning to a neutral expression as she held the blade in her off hand and let it sit limply in her palm, "So dearest Wrath, I do believe I'm owed that full explanation now." She said bluntly as she walked over and sat down on a seat opposite of Wrath, leaning forward and folding her hands under her chin.

Wrath, understanding where this was going let out a sigh as he straightened himself up and leaned forward as well, the cracking sound of his spine sounding like a tree being cut down and crashing to the ground.

"What do you want to know, that I found out the Owl Lady apparently abducted a human, that she apparently has a portal to the Human Realm? That I nearly tortured the first human to come to the Isles since anyone can remember?" He asked lowly, the strain of his emotions evident as he gripped his knuckled together.

Mavilda gave no facial indication as to her reaction, though she did rub her chin with one of her hands. "Really I was wondering why you want my help in gaining guardianship of her for when you bring her to the Emperor." She said as she leaned back into the chair and quirking an eye from beneath her eyewear.

Scratching at his chest which had begun to itch due to the effects of the numbing potion being mixed with the healing potions, Wrath took little time to answer her question. "Because I recognized that look in her eyes, the hurt and betrayal, the longing to fit in, to be accepted," Wrath muttered as it was taking all of his emotional control to not let his tears leak free as he remembered his past. "Besides my duties as Warden give me more flexibility than the Coven Heads, and I believe the Emperor would rather I take care of her than a scout."

Mavilda hummed as she pieced together what Wrath was planning. "You wish for me to sign off on you being a viable option," Her lip quirked upward as she showed off a little bit of her razor-sharp teeth, hers more akin to a piranha than the large blades that were Wrath's. "I'll admit that isn't a horrible idea," she said with a small chuckle as Wrath visibly relaxed just a tiny bit. "Not like the other Coven Head's are much better, I have no interest, Darius is too pretentious, Eberwolf lives in a cave, Radamus and Greyban are too dull and dense, Scooter is too busy trying to retire, while Terra is... Terra, and well the less said about the other two the better."

Both she and Wrath had a small shiver at the thought of the Illusion and Potion Coven head's taking care of a child, the Potion Head being more likely to do things even she found distasteful, and the Illusion Head was... something.

Wrath let out an amused snort as he leaned back into the chair, "And you have no desire to raise a child, plus it'll give Braxy someone to play with while I'm busy."

Mavilda chuckled as she strummed her fingers along the armrest of the chair, "Only knowing her for a night and already trusting her with your darling son, my she must have made quite the impression." She said smirking as she watched Wrath do his best impression of a stationary beached Coalish, as he squirmed under her gaze.

Wrath snorted as he folded his arms together, "Please, I doubt she'd be able to hurt Braxy if she tried, kid takes after me in that regard." His voice was full of pride as he thought about his son, who to his knowledge was still asleep in his room after a busy day at Hexside.

Mavilda let out a chuckle as she twirled the blade of her knife between her fingers before she returned it to her robe. "I promise you this dear, if your son becomes as regular a patient as you are I'll make that den of nesting Slitherbeasts seem like a tamed house pet."

Wrath gave a rapid succession of nods as she glared at him again, before gripping his side in pain as he felt his insides start t regrow his heart. He could feel the insides moving as new flesh was formed and nerves grew and blossomed into them, and blood began to fill into the new passageways. The pain wasn't unbearable, nor did it call for him to acknowledge it as it was nowhere near a painful as the injuries that necessitated their regrowth; and his insides were already numbed partially due to the potions. Not for the first time Wrath cursed his own tolerance for potions and how his biology made them less effective, and his massive size only increased that ineffectiveness.

Still, he would rather go through a rushed organ regrowth then have to wait nearly a month for it to happen naturally, he was already having to do damage control after what happened a few days ago. It was a miracle that none of the prisoners had escaped in the confusion after the attack and it was only property damage and the loss of the Anti-Magic barrier that he was having to explain to the higher ups.

In other words, Kikimora, whom he was having to barter with in order to get the few days of sick leave.

'I'd like to see her be Warden for a week.' Who was he kidding, if she was warden for a week then everyone would escape; the staff included as there was only so much of that gremlin anyone could take at a time.

A chime rang out from inside Mavilda's robes, the sound of an old pipe organ mixed with the strums of a harp, reaching in and withdrawing her Scroll Mavilda silences the alert as she rose from her seat. "Well dearie it seems as though my time is up and I really must be going," Wrath knew her well enough to know that her sad tone was nothing but an act, "I believe you should be well enough to walk now, so long as you keep injuries and exertion to a minimum."

"Finally!" Wrath said as he leapt to his feet, ignoring the death glare Mavilda was sending him from that action as he was too excited to be able to walk in his own house again without getting chastized.

Mavilda shook her head exasperation as she began to head towards the door, reaching into her robes only to realize that it lacked the weight of her personal journal. Where had she forgotten it, she never let it out of her sight if she could help it, so where had she...

'I left it with the human!' She thought alarmed, though much of that book was sanitized, there were several parts not meant for viewing due to... reasons that she had nothing to do with and nothing to tie them to her. Still she didn't want the human to dig too deep into it

"Would you care to come with me as I say goodbye to the human." Mavilda asked as she saw Wrath lumbering after her, his limp not as noticeable as it had been before, though pumping someone with ten doses of experimental healing potion would do that to you.

Wrath nodded in response as he followed after her, he would probably end up helping the human get acclimated to her new environment after Mavilda left, plus he still had to give her that device of hers from the Contraband vault. Thankfully it appeared undamaged after the Owl Lady's attack, and it was rather easy to 'discreetly' alter some paperwork to show it was destroyed in the attack along with an array of other items that were destroyed. Under any other circumstance he would never have done such a thing, but Kikimora was already taking the chance to audit his department in her ever enduring crusade to remain by the Emperors right hand; and he had severe doubts that she would have acquiesced to his request of removal.

He wouldn't rob the human of her one apparent connection to her home Realm, he was not that cruel and so far, the device had only made the occasional buzzing noise, and it had yet to appear harmful or destructive so that was a plus. It certainly eased his worries that he was giving the human a weapon, though that was hardly something to be concerned over since most children had a weapon or knew how to fight, it was the human aspect that worried him.

Steve would have a field day when the status of the human was made public, another thing that he had Kikimora breathing and screeching down his neck for, though he had pacified her with the promise of her being able to see the human in person and that she was currently at his house.

She must have been having a good day since she hadn't mentioned reporting it to the Emperor and seemed amicable to the compromise. Apparently the Sea had decreased in temperature or one of her schemes had bore fruit, probably used the fact that the Owl Lady was still free against Lady Lilith again.

He clutched his side as his regrowing heart gave a broken series of beats, the half-grown organ doing it's best to reacclimate to his body. 'Probably need to take her advice and not let my organs get shredded.'

As the two of them neared the kitchen he heard, was that Braxy giggling, why was Braxy up and why was he ALONE with the human!

Increasing his pace Wrath did everything but break down the door to the kitchen, though in his Ten-year career as a Bonesborough Brawler and his tenure as Warden he was not... prepared no did he anticipate this.

Braxy was sitting in the human's lap as she read him a story from one of his children's books, Otabin if he remembered correctly, the two so focused that they didn't notice his entrance nor acknowledge his presence.

Mavilda walked under one of his extended arms in a limbo like manner as he was blocking the door. "Honestly darling you must stop rushing to a worst case scenario, you did say you trusted them yes."

'Titan curse her for using my words against me.' He grumbled internally as he watched the two of them still enraptured in the book.

It warmed his two and three fourth hearts at seeing his son smiling like that, he usually only got that excited whenever he left him at the library to be read stories by the younger Blight child, the human must really be something to get the same reaction.

The two of them looked up when they noticed Mavilda had neared them and taken her journal from off the counter, his eyes narrowed, he knew Mavilda was far from morally innocent, but she had yet to do anything against the law. Still, what he wouldn't give to see the entirety of her research since he did occasionally get the go ahead to send her prisoners who had done enough crimes to warrant not being released in their lifetime but not wicked enough for a petrification.

"Oh how it warms my heart to see such a young soul being nurtured," Mavilda said in that sickening grandmotherly voice as she rubbed Braxy's head, were they not on good terms Wrath would not allow her NEAR his son, let alone close enough to rub his head. "I'm sorry we didn't get to spend more time together Braxas, but I must be off."

"Goodbye Granny Mavilda." Braxas said waving goodbye as Mavilda turned to look down at Luz, who had a neutral though strained expression on her face as she was subjected to Mavilda's gaze.

"It had been a pleasure human and do please remember to get Wrath to summon me should the potions not mix with your anatomy," she said rubbing Luz's head as well and ruffling her hair. "Well dearies I must be off."

Wrath saw the contemplative look on the human's face before she spoke, "Oh... adios Miss Mavilda, and Gracias for healing me, again." More words that he didn't understand, though Wrath suspected it was some dialect in the Human Realm that he was unaware of.

Mavilda made a dismissive gesture with her hand as she began to head for the hallway again, "Oh it was nothing dear, and remember, call me Granny."

Wrath moved out of the way so Mavilda could get by him, the two of them locking eyes as she walked past, though no words were exchanged, intentions clear with wordless dialect.

Her footsteps faded away as she went towards the front door of his home, Wrath only being able to hear them because he knew what to look out for. Releasing a breath when he heard the front door close, he decided now was as good a time to have the conversation with the human as any.

"Son, I see you've met our house guest." He said kneeling down as his son hopped from the human's lap.

"Yes father, she was reading me stories." His son said as he held up the book, indeed it was the Otabin book which made Wrath internally smile since it was Braxas's favorite.

"Very good son, please go to your room while I talk with our guest." He didn't want to have the conversation with the Human with Braxas present, not that he couldn't hear what he had to say but it would be easier to explain to the human without Braxy there for now.

"Yes father." Braxas said as he waved goodbye to the human who had a relatively well masked look of worry on her face, undoubtedly she was worried about the conversation.

Wrath made sure Braxas was all the way down the hall before he turned back to the human, making his way over and taking a seat at the counter next to her; his massive size making him have to either balance or brace himself on the counter in order to sit on the stool.

He usually stood but felt that wouldn't work well for this scenario, since the human was already doing everything but outright quaking. "I see you met my son," Wrath said with an even tone, trying to judge the human's reaction since ultimately it was how she would interact with Braxy that would be his deciding factor. "How was his company."

Mavilda wasn't kidding when she said the other heads weren't the best for taking care of a child let alone a human, nor did he believe that the Emperor would want to as well despite the overall rarity of a human. The scouts couldn't be trusted with anything save hunting Wild Witches without having their hands held, and lady Lilith was the only coven head who could do well with children but had a workload far greater than his on a daily basis which didn't make it ideal. Truthfully his position as Warden gave him far more autonomy and a lot more off time than the Coven Heads, he at least got a monthly day off and his duties ended at eight daily; he didn't know how the Heads and the emperors coven worked with only one day off a year.


Luz was worried, no worried didn't cover it, she was worried times ten, had she somehow offended Wrath by reading stories to Braxas? Had she intruded on some tradition without realizing it, she had just wanted to read to Braxas like he said Mavilda did for him, more so when he ran to his room and brought back a children's book he liked. It was a Witch children's book; how could she say no to reading that especially when Braxas was giving her puppy dog eyes.

"It was... nice." She didn't know what answer he was looking for; she had truly enjoyed Braxas company, and it helped take her mind off of the stress of everything and he was a genuine ball of demonic sunshine.

She saw Wrath nod as he let out a growl like hum again as he looked at her, his pure white eyes seeming to look into her very soul. "I see, I must say you and he looked... content while you read to him," Okay were his eyes glaring at her now or was that her imagination, "You have my appreciation for that."

'Okay crisis averted.' Luz would have let out a sigh of relief if Wrath wasn't sitting right across from her and looking down at her from a good two feet above.

Wrath's face remained impassive reached into a pocket on his tunic and pulled out... her phone, HER PHONE! "Allow me to return this to you as thanks." He sat her bat cased phone down in front of her, which she eagerly grabbed and held in her hands.

She never really realized how much she used her phone and how... incomplete she felt without it, not that she was addicted but there was something about knowing that at any time she could reach into her pocket and use it if need be.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She rattled off a quick series of thanks to Wrath as she was about to turn it on, not even asking herself on whether she would have signal or if it still even had power.

A snap from Wrath's fingers stopped her from doing so as she looked back up at him, his face was thankfully not showing any sign of irritation. "Before I let you run wild with that I must ask, what is it?"

'Do they not have phones here?' That thought had never occurred to her before now since they seemed to have some magical-esk variation of modern-day appliances such as the fridge on the other side of the kitchen, and the light switch she saw briefly in the room she woke up in.

"It's my uh... my phone." Luz said nervously as she was now contemplating how one was supposed to describe a phone to someone who probably had no idea what it was, it was just that commonplace that everyone knew what they were.

Wrath's head tilted to the side in confusion when she said that. "A 'Foe-own', and what does this 'Foe-own' do precisely?"

Okay she was going to have to give him a crash course on electronics now wasn't she, well there were worse things she could be doing than teaching a Demon Warden from another realm how phones work.

"Well phones... let you talk to people from far away," she said as she attempted to turn on her phone which thankfully still had a little over half charge on it and opened it up to the phone application. "You just type in a set of numbers and then you speak to the person that set belongs to."

Okay she could totally go more in depth if she wanted but that would probably complicate things since Wrath probably didn't know what the internet was, do they have Magic Internet... is Magic internet a thing because she totally wants to know now.

Wrath's head snapped up at her explanation as he snapped his fingers in a success like manner. "So, it's like a Crow." He said as though comparing a phone which was a piece of advanced technology, to a crow, which was a bird, was completely normal.

Luz felt her face involuntarily morph into confusion as she tried to process how exactly a crow could be compared to a phone, but before she could ask Wrath made a whistling sound, impressive given his lack of lips, and within a few seconds a crow flew in from... somewhere and landed in his upturned hand.

It looked like a normal crow save for the... very obvious orange buttons that were on its chest that looked very much like phone buttons.

"I uh... yeah my man, totally like a crow." She said with her best confident voice and even doing the up and down finger guns in an attempt to seal the deal, needless to say she was still trying to figure out how a crow had phone buttons on it.

Wrath let out a small chuckle as he used one of his fingers to rub the top of the crow's head, the crow making the motions of cawing but no sound coming out, before flying away back to wherever it had come from before.

"So, it's not a human weapon of mass destruction and bloodshed?" Wrath asked with a jovial expression as he was still chuckling, even banging his fist on the counter though the stone laced wood refused to break.

'Did he... did he really think a phone was a weapon?' Luz had to admit that it was both exasperating and amusing that they were apparently ignorant of human customs and advancements, she didn't know whether to facepalm or laugh. "Nope, not a weapon, like at all."

She didn't know why or how but she found herself starting to relax around Wrath, she doubted she would ever not be intimidated by his immense size and muscular stature, but to see him laughing like this and act like... every stereotypical dad ever was cathartic. It helped her feel just that little bit at ease that she found herself lacking ever since she had come through that portal in the cabin and that... betrayal, no she couldn't call it that. A betrayal implies that the Owl Lady cared about her, or she was an ally in the first place, Luz doubted she ever was, especially after she apparently attacked the Conformitorium and knocked her unconscious for days.

"That is a relief human, well then I suppose I should welcome you to my humble household," Wrath said and moved his arm in a sweeping motion from the kitchen to the hallway where the other rooms were visible. "While it isn't big it is mine, and I do hope you find your stay comfortable until you can be returned to the human realm."

Oh... that's right, she was technically stuck here wasn't she, since the Owl Lady had the only portal back home. Her only way back home was in the hand of the most wanted criminal in the demon realm, a criminal that had already showed she would leave Luz to fend for herself just to save her own skin.

Seeing the sudden downcast expression on Luz, Wrath knew he had made a mistake. "I am sorry, I did not consider your situation," He reached forward and wiped a tear that had run down Luz's cheek, his touch surprisingly gentle and Luz not having the instinct to flinch away from it. "Rest assured that as soon as you have fully recovered I will bring you before the Emperor, and I will personally do whatever I can to get you home," He slammed his hand over the side of his chest that wasn't currently regrowing a heart. "Of this I give you my word."

He had risen from his seat and placed a hand on her shoulder, sobs now breaking free as the reality of being trapped once again came to the forefront of her mind. How long would she be trapped, would she ever get to see her Mami again, ever get to show her how much she loved her and only wanted her to be proud.

It nearly broke Wrath's heart again to see the human like this, to see her weep at his careless words, he would have to be more mindful of those in the future. "Would you like a moment alone?" He asked as he withdrew his hand, the chocked sobs ripping into him as once again he saw Braxas sitting in the chair and not the human. His fist clenched at that memory, never again would he let his son suffer like that, and if he could help this lost human to avoid that same experience then he would do all he could.

"I... I think I'll just go and lay down for a while," Luz said between sobs as she stood up from the stool, Wrath giving her an understanding look as he stepped back to make room for her. "Can I... can I use the room I woke up in?"

Wrath nodded at her as he knelt down to her level, the action of his knee hitting the floor alone causing a small quack. "Consider it yours for the duration of your stay human," he said gesturing to the hallway door as he stood up. "Please enjoy, and... should you need me you only need ask."

Luz found herself being thankful for that, despite their initial meeting it seemed like Wrath was genuinely trying to be nice for her, to be helpful and kind. She had feared she would be betrayed again after the Owl lady had abandoned her, that everyone in this realm was like her, that she would be trapped in a realm of survival of the fittest. Yet in spite of that and in spite of Wrath interrogating her shortly after meeting, he had also apparently protected her from the Owl Lady during her attack and gotten her medical attention after she was injured.

She sat down on the bed that she had woken up in, the trip between the kitchen and here a blur as she fell backwards on the pillow, the softest being a welcome change to her cell at the Conformitorium. The tears staining the pillow as they ran down her cheeks and dampened the fabric material, she could feel the wetness on the back of her neck.

Between attempts at rubbing her eyes free of the tears she remembered she had her phone, and wanting to see if she somehow had signal, she quickly grabbed it from where she had sat it beside her on the bed and turned it on. Unlocking it she saw that... she had missed messages from someone, she had missed messages, missed messages meant that something had gone through.

Wiping her eyes free again she saw she had a slew of messages from her mother, all of them were asking her how she was doing, one of them asking if she was okay with the next one saying that she wouldn't worry since she was probably having fun. Were she not already crying she would have definitely started, it was nice to know that her Mmi had been trying to reach her; and it was fantastic that somehow she was stll able to get messages.

Could she also send them? She had to know, she had to try, it would at least allow her to let her mami know she was okay.

She thought about what she would say, should she tell her the truth, would she believe her, of course she wouldn't. Luz could hardly believe it herself if not for the fact she was currently living in it, but no she knew she couldn't tell her Mami the truth until she knew when she could get back; the thought of 'if' she would ever get back not being an option.

What should she say though?

She thought about the hurt she had already experienced, the pain she was forced to endure, the suffocating claustrophobia of being trapped in a different realm. And then she thought about the little boy she had just read part of a medical journal and a storybook to, a little boy who sat in her lap and was the most adorable thing she had ever seen. She thought about how she was being allowed to stay in someone else's home as a guest just out of kindness, and how she would soon apparently get to meet the emperor of the place she had stumbled into.

She typed out a response before turning her phone off in an effort to conserve battery, looking out the window she saw that it was probably noon since the sun was high in the sky, but her emotions had begun to take their toll. Curling up under the blankets she resolved to just let sleep overtake her, maybe this time she could have a dream where she and her Mami were together, a good dream where she could t least have that fantasy be lived out until she could make it a reality.

"Hey Mami, sorry about the delay. Things did start out a bit rough but... I do think I might like it here, I hope you are doing well and I miss you already."

Love- Your Darling Duaghter Luz