I do not own Soul Eater or Owl House. If I did, I wouldn't have to wait for Season 2.
"… a Reaper."
The whole atmosphere had changed with that revelation; where Maka had only lent a casual curiosity to the situation at hand, it now had her full attention, her book fully stowed as she stared openly at the trio before her.
He couldn't have been much older than they were; if anything, it was hard to gauge his exact age from his face alone. He was about the same height as the Scythe Meister, clad almost entirely in black with only the slightest bits of white on his person beyond his skin, eyes a brilliant gold in colour, the stripes in his hair seeming too perfect to be anything other than deliberate.
The two girls that stood in the pose with him, however, were a bit easier to read; Even at a glance, it wasn't hard to tell that they were sisters, the older one couldn't be any younger than sixteen, seeming exasperated with the boy even as she kept her arms raised, visibly resisting the urge to roll her eyes. The younger one on the other hand seemed closer to fourteen, grinning broadly as she crouched, seeming ready to lunge forwards like an animal if given the excuse.
Immediately, a sour taste flooded the grey-blonde's mouth.
Was everything bound and determined to remind her of her less than stellar relationship with her own sister these days?
"Lord Death's son, huh?" Soul had straightened, smile having slipped away in a strange display of sudden seriousness, "Well, I'll be damned."
"There are many things that most people don't know about Father," 'Kid' stated coolly, the trio stepping out of formation once more, "Is it really so surprising that he would have a child?"
"Just didn't seem the type, I guess," the Scythe shrugged, "Between his silly attitude and the fact that as far as I know, he never leaves the Academy… figured it just wasn't on his to-do list."
"Well, I guess that's why you don't judge a book by its cover," Tsubaki let out a chuckle, "You never know who you'll run across or what their story is," the taller ninja promptly bowed, eyes closed and smile now significantly more easygoing, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Liz, Patty, and… 'Death the Kid'?"
"Please," he stepped forwards, finally beginning to close the distance with a hand extended, "Just Kid. And the pleasure to meet you all is certainly all ours'."
"I've been itching to meet ya since seeing you fought Stein!" Patty shouted, jogging up behind her Meister with a grin, "You guys are awesome!... even if you're a little dumb!"
"One, backhanded much?" Maka huffed, casting a half lidded glare at the younger Thompson, "Two, I'll thank you not to lump me and Tsubaki in with Black Star."
"Hey, what about me?" Soul glanced at her, a fake pout covering up the amused smirk on his face.
"Oh, no, she's absolutely right about you, Soul," the Scythe Meister snickered, "The one thing you have over Black Star is that you can actually cook, if only barely."
The laughter that followed wiped away the furrow in Maka's brow; the tension in her expression and shoulders faded, leaving her with a sigh of relief that she hadn't even been aware she had been holding back before. The tense air seemed almost entirely defused now, though she couldn't help but notice Kid's eyes linger on her, as if in appraisal, smile genuine, but ever so slightly understated.
Disappointment?... no, that wasn't it, there was no sign of anything of the sort in his expression.
It was closer to… apprehension?...
"… I don't buy it."
Black Star's voice cut through the chatter; it was only now that Maka realized that the blue haired boy hadn't risen to her earlier bait, his green eyes fixated entirely on the young Reaper before him.
Smoothly, Kid turned his attention to the shinobi, not so much as quirking an eyebrow as he met the ninja's intense glare, "Do you not believe me, Black Star?"
"Not for an instant," the Dark Arm Meister set his fists on his hips as he aggressively stomped forwards, leaning in until he was right in Kid's face, their noses mere centimeters apart, "You just show up out of nowhere, talkin' about how you're the new big man on campus without even clearing it with me first?"
"Does everything have to circle back to your ego?" Maka more sighed than asked, bringing a hand to her forehead in preparation for the coming headache.
"My greatness," Black Star snapped, still not turning his attention to his fellow Meister, "You're supposedly the guy who dealt with that Giza mission, single handedly. You took down hundreds of targets, and a Witch. And you're claiming to be Death's kid – even though you don't even look like him – but we haven't even heard of you?"
The question hung in the air, pointed, but Kid didn't even blink. He didn't even back up so much as a step. He merely continued his unspoken contest with the boy before him, as if silently daring him to blink first.
Black Star snorted, finally pulling back a bit, "Sorry if that seems just a little fishy. I'm not gonna believe it just 'cause you say it."
"Do you want me to prove it to you?" the suit clad youth asked, "I have plenty of credentials, if that's what you're asking for."
"Pff," the Star scoffed, grinning, "Like scraps of paper and plastic prove anything. I wanna see what you're really made of."
For a long moment, Kid said nothing, the only indication that he'd even heard Black Star's declaration being a slight narrowing of his eyes. Eventually, though, he spoke, words slow, "Are you challenging me to a duel, Black Star?"
"Is the sky blue?" he let his fists rise, cracking his knuckles one by one.
"… told ya they were picking a fight," Patty muttered, her grin and voice suddenly taking on a far more vicious undertone, eyes wild under the brim of her Stetson.
"Patty," Liz's tone was one of warning, though her own eyes had grown utterly frigid in the seconds that passed.
"Hey, whoa, wait," Maka interjected, moving to stand between the blue and stripe-haired boys, "Break it up. We shouldn't be picking fights with each other in the middle of a school-day, with no teachers on hand."
Black Star opened his mouth to retort, only for his partner to approach in turn, placing a placating hand on his shoulder.
"Maka's right," Tsubaki stated firmly, her smile gone, "We've all just met each other; there's really no need to fight, especially when it would land us all in trouble."
"Trouble?" Kid's eyebrows raised, perplexed, "Would you care to elaborate?"
"Duels between DWMA students can only occur in the presence of a teacher or a Three Star Meister or Weapon," the Scythe Meister explained, "That way, they can regulate the match and make sure nobody gets hurt. It's-"
"A lame rule that's there for no reason," Black Star interrupted, grinning.
"It's an important measure," she emphasized, through grit teeth, "to ensure duels have no negative effects on any given Weapon and Meister pairs, physical or otherwise."
"I see," Kid stroked his chin, "So proper matches require an officiator… yes, that does make sense."
"Don't listen to Maka," the smaller shinobi snorted, folding his hands behind his head, "She's just scared of marring her perfect goody two shoes record."
"I'm sorry, which one of us nearly got kicked out of the Weapon and Meister program for his behaviour again?" the grey haired girl finally sniped, turning to glare at Black Star.
He shrugged, the very picture of smugness, "Better than never having any fun."
"My definition of fun doesn't include blatant self-aggrandizing and vandalism."
"You need to change your definition of fun, then."
"Alright," Soul cut in, himself now stepping between Maka and Black Star, "That's enough. I don't think we need that right this minute; we've already eaten through a lot of our lunch break today without you two sniping at each other."
Tsubaki fished out her phone, "… he's right. We've only got about ten minutes left."
"Plenty of time for me to kick new kid's teeth in," Black Star grinned.
"Not without a teacher to officiate," Maka hissed, "Haven't you been listening?"
"I've been listening. I just don't care. It's a very fine line to walk, Maka, though I suppose you wouldn't know."
"… is this what you put up with from him every day?" Kid asked, glancing to the others.
"Well…" Tsubaki wavered.
"More or less," Soul admitted
"Yes," Maka emphasized, exasperated.
"… you have my most sincere sympathies," the black clad boy pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked the shinobi in the eye, "In any case, Black Star, you will simply have to wait for your chance to face off with me and my partners. The rules are the rules, and Reaper or not, I can't just go around flaunting them – I am just as liable to end up in trouble as you."
"… aren't you kinda doing that to begin wi-ow!" Soul winced, drawing a hissing breath as Maka jabbed an elbow into his ribs, gripping his hand in her own.
'Don't undermine the voice of reason,' she sent mentally, doing her best to tune out Black Star's renewed raving.
'They've missed half the day as it is, Maka,' Soul's eyes narrowed pointedly, 'Don't you think he really shouldn't be saying things like that considering they've essentially skipped four classes?'
'That's not the point,' she glanced up, unwavering, 'Trouble or not, we don't need a fight on our hands, and I'd rather not end up in detention for an unofficial duel with the new kid. Do you want to end up in the Death Room again after all the work with Sid?'
'That is why we're here, though, Maka," he noted, 'We came out here to size him up. A duel is the perfect way to do that.'
'Then you really should've asked a teacher to officiate,' she let her gaze fall back to the two blonds on either side of Kid, eyes narrowed, 'Besides… he's got two Weapon partners. It's hard enough to perform a Basic Resonance with just one Weapon. Somehow, I don't think they're for show.'
'… fair point,' Soul conceded, finally opting to not push the issue further.
"I think you're scared," Black Star jeered as Maka finally tuned back into the world around her.
"I have nothing to prove to you whatsoever," Kid replied, the very picture of nonchalance, "Now, I believe we all share a class. I think it would be best if we started making our way to that class before the bell rings, wouldn't you agree?"
He moved to step around the knuckleheaded ninja, starting towards the doors-
Only to get roughly shoved back, the blue haired boy's lips pulled back as he bared his teeth in a grin.
"… you're serious about this?" Kid bemoaned, finally beginning to show signs of exasperation.
"I don't do anything I'm not serious about," the shinobi slammed his fist into his palm, "One way or the other, we're doing this. Doesn't matter to me either way."
The young Reaper sighed, idly adjusting the lapels of his suit… only to abruptly freeze in place, golden eyes snapping open; his fingers tugged, a long stray thread pulling away in his hands away from the shoulder of his jacket.
Liz let out a groan of exasperation; Patty's grin was only growing ever more vicious as Kid stared dumbfounded at the thread in his hand, as if he was genuinely having difficulty processing what he was looking at.
"… Kid?" Tsubaki began, "Are you… okay?"
"… Black Star," the golden eyed boy's voice was deathly cold, "I'm going to give you five seconds to apologize."
"What?" he sneered, "Are you upset that I tore your suit a little?"
"You've thrown off my symmetry," Death the Kid snarled, for the first time sounding genuinely angry; all the polite calm was gone from his voice and his posture as his fists clenched.
"I took off one string," Black Star scoffed, "It looks the same as it did before!"
"Then you have worse eyesight than a monkfish with cataracts!" he pulled on the suit, as if to display some sort of line that Maka couldn't see, "Look at this! It's completely asymmetrical now!"
The wind seemed to have been taken out of the shinobi's sails as he stared at Kid, his eyes going from his suit, to his hair, and then back again. Eventually, he pointed at the Reaper's bangs, "… your hair isn't symmetrical."
The black clad lad went still, totally frozen in place, staring out into nothing with a slack jaw, eyes unfocused…
Finally, he collapsed, falling to his knees as he clutched at the sides of his head, digging his fingers into his scalp with a wail of what could only be described as absolute despair.
"… uuuuuuuuh…" Black Star drawled, awkwardness filling the air as he stared at the prostrate pale boy, smile gone. Before he could move to help or hinder, however, Patty had stuck her fist in his face, index finger extended and thumb raised before both transformed into what looked distinctly like a gun barrel. There was a flash of pink light and the distinct, loud crack of a gunshot, and the shinobi stumbled back with a cry, gripping his smoking forehead.
"That," she started, returning her finger to normal, "Was for being a jackass."
"What did I do!?" the ninja demanded, "I just pointed out his hair's weird!"
"Exactly," Liz shot him a reproachful look as she knelt, then let her expression soften as she glanced back down at the Reaper, "Kid?"
"I'm worthless!" he cried, "I'm asymmetrical garbage! I deserve to be left on some street corner to be taken away to the landfill! That's probably the only place that will take me! I can't even be salvaged for scrap parts!"
"… dude, is there something wrong with you?" Soul asked, looking every bit as uncomfortable as Maka felt watching the scene unfold.
"He'll be fine," Patty assured, sinking into a crouch beside her sister, "Just give us a few minutes, okay?"
"… whatever," Black Star shook his head, "Mood's ruined. See you in class, Tsubaki."
With that, he stalked off, disappearing through the doors of the Academy and leaving the rest of them to watch the blubbering boy on the bricks.
"Kid," Liz slowly ran her hand down his back in a fluid, soothing motion, "You're okay. Patty and I are here. Nobody's taking you to the landfill."
"You should!" he insisted, "I'm garbage! I'm-"
"Hey," Patty interrupted, frowning, "You need to stop talking like that. That's my partner you're talking about, ya know?"
This seemed to get Kid to quiet down; slowly, he raised his head, meeting the gazes of his two partners.
"You're not garbage," the elder Thompson smiled, "Patty and I know human garbage, Kid, and you don't qualify."
"Garbage isn't smart," the younger concurred, "And it's definitely not kind."
"… I…" he tried to speak, words warbling.
"… come on," Patty reached out, "Let's get to class. Let's not let one guy ruin our day. Sound good?"
"… you're right," he managed, slowly pushing himself up with a sniff. Unsteadily, he pulled out a handkerchief, wiping at his eyes, "I'm sorry, I… I should know better by now."
"… we can take you class, if you want," Maka finally offered, "You said you're in the same class as us?"
"I… I believe so," Kid nodded, putting away the garment, "I was… placed in the First Year, Waxing Crescent Moon class."
"Well, that's us," Soul confirmed, smiling.
"… I'm sorry about Black Star," Tsubaki bowed, "He isn't… the most sensitive person. I promise he's not normally that bad."
"It's… well, it's a hard thing to account for," the young Reaper slowly exhaled, seeming to finally get his breathing under control.
"Doesn't mean he can't be a little more sensitive," Liz huffed, "Or a little less pushy when looking for a fight."
"… bell's about to ring," Maka murmured, checking her phone, "We should get inside."
"Thank God," the older sister moaned, "Air conditioning."
Kid finally let a smile return to his features, "Again, Liz… I did tell you to use sunscreen."
"No, we are not doing this again."
With that, all six of them made their way back into the building.
The chest leaped forwards as the last of the junk was finally removed from its surface; hundreds of feet sprouted from its bottom, its tarnished brass trim shuddering violently and aged wood letting out ear-splitting creaks as it moved for the first time in God only knew how long. Its hinges swung open with incredible violence, jagged white teeth rimming a seemingly bottomless crimson abyss as it lunged at the Witch, fully intent on swallowing her whole-
Only for Eda to casually slam an open hand down on the lid, slamming the lid shut and making the mimic-like creature collapse under its own weight.
"Will you just calm down already?" she asked, gold eyes locked on the wood in a stare of disapproval, "I get that you're angry, but I haven't left you sitting there for that long."
A disgruntled creak rang out in response, a wordless, but vehement gesture of disagreement.
"Oh, don't you give me that," the Owl Lady snapped, "I didn't even know you were in here, I thought you'd wandered off years ago!"
Another creak as the chest attempted to force its lid open, but to no avail – the woman's grasp on the wood was like iron, keeping the chest firmly shut.
"Hey, you're the one that came in here looking for shelter from shale hail. It is not my fault you got lost in the rest of my junk."
A snap of metal and a heavy thud as the chest abruptly dropped to the ground in a profound display of petulance, like a child sitting down and refusing to move.
Eda let out a groan, bringing a hand to her forehead before running it down her face, "Alright, look, I'm sorry you got stuck in storage. It wasn't intentional, and I certainly wouldn't have left you there if I'd known you were trapped under those paintings. It was an honest accident, I swear."
This time, the chest offered no response, instead opting to continue to sit in stubborn silence.
"… if you want to leave, I won't keep you here," she promised, "And if you want to stay, I'll make sure there's room for you. All I ask if you do stay is that you don't eat the kid – I get the feeling she's gonna end up sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, and I don't want her to disappear because she didn't know you were alive."
There was a pause, and then an oddly hopeful creak of the hinge and wood.
"No, you may not eat King, either."
Another creak of complaint.
"You don't know where he's been – sometimes he comes home filthier than Hooty," the Witch had to keep herself from retching as a memory came to mind, unbidden, "Once, he came home with dragonfleas, and they got into my hair and I spent a whole weekend combing through and ripping them out of my scalp. Did you know they get bigger across than the average fingernail once they've sucked enough blood? You want that inside you? You really want a flea-bitten fur baby rolling around in your contents?"
Another pause, then an exasperated creak of resignation.
"Didn't think so," she smirked, "Are we agreed?"
One final, accepting creak.
"Good. I'm glad we understand each other," Eda nodded, lifting her hand; the chest gradually rose on its many human feet, shuffling back into the corner of the room before lowering itself back down, its lid firmly shut as it finally seemed to enter a state of relative calm.
It was hard to tell, though; it was a chest, after all, and it's hard to gauge the mood of what should normally be an inanimate object. Especially when it had no eyes or face to speak of.
She turned away, muttering under her breath as she took another stack of cursed books out of Luz's room, "Freakin' sapient pearwood… who'd've thought luggage could be so temperamental?"
At this point, the human's room had been largely cleaned up; the Witch had set most of her belongings aside, rolling up the bedroll and putting it in the corner for safekeeping, along with her bag and the various knickknacks that Luz had brought over from her world, taking care to keep them separate from the sea of junk that Eda had accumulated over the decades.
The photo had briefly caught the Owl Lady's interest; it was small, but delicately framed, set up in such a way that Luz could easily look at it while lying on the floor. The Witch had nearly stepped on it when she'd first stepped into the room, knocking it over with an errant step, though to her relief the glass had not cracked. Three people took up the majority of the picture – Luz grinning widely while in the middle of an embrace from the other two.
It wasn't hard to guess who the darker skinned woman was – the skin tone, the hair, the eyes, it all matched Luz perfectly, her smile warm as she wrapped her arms around the girl in a tight, but gentle embrace. There was no way she could be anyone other than the kid's mother.
The other figure, however, nagged at Eda.
There was a strange familiarity to him, as if she had seen him somewhere before, but couldn't quite place when or where; between his shoulder length red hair, startlingly bright blue eyes and pale skin, he seemed to have almost nothing in common with the girl he was embracing, his smile equal parts gleeful and mischievous. The Witch could see some faint similarities between them when she squinted – Luz seemed to share the man's chin and cheekbones, and her lithe, lanky body seemed to be more in line with the man's than with her mother's heavier set frame – but that could be just as easily attributed to age as anything else.
Nonetheless, she felt a distinct mixture of emotions as she stared at the man, eyes narrowed as she tried and failed to identify him.
If she didn't know any better, and if she were a little less proud, she might have considered the possibility that she was the slightest bit afraid.
The fourth figure seemed to have been spliced in afterwards – a young, serious looking girl with light skin, green eyes and grey hair – but she didn't hold the Owl's attention for very long. Before long, Eda had set the photo aside, and continued her clean sweep of Luz's room.
She'd gone through every drawer, emptied out the closet, and even removed all the magical tomes from the room; it was hardly wholly clean, as there was still plenty of junk kicking around, but at the very least, the human wasn't going to find herself being eaten for opening the wrong thing at this point.
Now all she needed was a place to actually sleep; that little bedroll-cocoon thing was handy, but it was hardly what could be called a proper bed.
As Eda performed the mental measurements of the room, however, a new thought rose in the back of her mind.
'Is this… really a good idea?'
It was a small seed of doubt, to be sure, but it was doubt nonetheless. Doubt that made her stop, frowning, as she turned to face the wanted poster in the center of her mural – a mural dedicated to herself, to victories great and small, to heists grand and petty.
Her own golden eyes stared back unblinking from the parchment, bright, severe, and almost mocking, mouth wide open as if the picture were laughing.
The past laughing at the present, jeering, "When did you go so soft?"
The Witch grimaced, setting down the cursed books in the rest of the pile. It wasn't as if she didn't know the risks attached with letting the girl stay – or, for that matter, how big each of those individual risks were. It was more that Eda thought she had the situation under control, and that she could put out the flame before it got too close to the candle.
With any luck at all, Luz would get bored before too long; not that the Owl Lady wouldn't at least make a token effort, but she was certain that the girl would fail at even the most basic of Magic. Repeated failure would lead to frustration, and frustration, to surrender. Luz would ask to go home, and Eda would oblige – sending her back through the portal, and removing her memories, no harm, no foul. True, Luz likely wouldn't be where she was supposed to be, but as long as she was found, it wasn't likely to pose a problem.
What did potentially pose a problem, however, was the potential that Luz would not give up.
Eda shuddered at the thought; she couldn't shake the feeling that Luz wasn't going to just give up after a couple of days of failure. If the Conformatorium had proven anything, it was that beyond having a good heart, the human was determined and resourceful, using everything at her disposal to try and puzzle out the situation at hand, even if she didn't always consider all the factors at play. If one thing wouldn't work, she'd try another – something that reminded the Owl Lady very distinctly of herself when she was younger.
Making things worse was that naïveté. Luz clearly didn't know, or at least didn't believe that humans weren't innately incapable of Magic; the idea that humans and Witches were innately different, biologically or spiritually, hadn't even seemed to occur to her. She genuinely believed that the only thing she needed to do to learn Magic was figure out how it worked.
"Were it only so simple," the Witch breathed, hands on her hips as she inspected the pile of junk and books.
At the very least, Luz was still in contact with… whoever it was she was speaking with in the human world using that little purple box she carried around. That would keep people from looking for her, at least as long as she could maintain the lie – not that Eda thought she could maintain it for long. The girl struck her as an exceptionally poor liar.
All that in mind, the Witch estimated they had roughly a week – two at an absolute stretch – before people started getting suspicious and started poking holes in Luz's story. The girl needed to be back in the human world before then.
Eda just hoped Luz wouldn't force her hand.
"… you're overthinking this, Edalyn," she murmured, her full name sending a chill down her spine, "She'll be out of here within a week. Two at most. Until then, she can lend you an extra hand."
As if on cue, she heard Hooty's voice from beyond the door, making her ears twitch.
"Hi Luz!" he shouted, "How was your first day in Bonesborough? Did you get all your deliveries done? Did you get something to eat while you were out? Did it taste good? Sometimes Eda brings me back things to eat from Bonesborough! They're always pleasantly disguuuuustiiiiing-!"
"Shut it, Hooty!" King snapped, "Just let us in!"
"What's the magic wooooooord?" the door dragged the question out, deliberately raising his voice to a volume that was practically ear-splitting.
"Hooty, please," Luz all but begged, "Just… I really don't wanna be out here right now."
Immediately, the door swung open.
"See?" Hooty beamed as the two shuffled in, "That's all you had to say! Luz is my new favourite! Hoot hoot!"
King kicked the door as hard as he could, sending it slamming shut before he slumped against the chest, panting for breath. Luz, for her part, had set the bag of potions down on the floor, wringing her hands together as she slowly padded into the room, brows arching up and lips curled down with a distinct distress as she glanced furtively out the window.
"… Luz?" Eda asked, stepping forwards.
The teen jumped, staggering back at the sound of her own name with a yelp; when her chocolate eyes locked on Eda, however, she stared only for a couple of seconds before letting out a slow sigh of relief, "… hi, Eda…"
"… you look spooked," the Witch started, tone casual, "Something happen while you were out?"
"Well…" Luz kept wringing her hands, as if she didn't know what to do with them as she bit her lip, clearly wondering how to begin.
King, however, was more than happy to speak for her, glaring as he pushed himself up, "Are you kidding?! We ran all the way back because one of your customers freaked her out!"
"King!" Luz shouted, eyes wide with protest.
"We stopped like, once to check the map, and then she was running again!" he crossed his stubby arms, "I couldn't even catch my breath!"
Luz's expression was growing more horrified by the second as her eyes shot to the Owl Lady. Fear was pulsing through the girl's Soul, every fidget accompanied by another flux of that tiny wisp of a sphere as she squirmed under Eda's gaze…
"… King," she glanced at the Demon, "Leave us alone for a few minutes."
"But-" he whined, looking back as he tried to climb atop the chest again, "But my sunspot!"
Eda didn't say anything. She only let her eyes narrow, brow furrowing in warning.
"… oh, fine," he huffed, quietly padding away as he muttered under his breath, drifting around the corner and out of sight.
"… Luz?" she did her best to let her voice soften.
The Witch wasn't entirely convinced she succeeded when the teen flinched, "… y… yeah?..."
"… why don't you sit down?"
She gestured to the couch; the Latina hesitated for a moment before slowly settling on the red cushions, idly picking at the torn cover keeping in the stuffing, unable to simply sit still in her nervousness.
Eda didn't move to sit down beside her; she simply crossed her arms, mulling over the questions in her head before speaking, choosing her words carefully, "… so… you got scared?"
A wordless nod; Luz's head stayed low, eyes unfocused as her fingers redoubled their tugging on the fabric.
"… you don't strike me as a kid who's easy to scare," she smiled, "So… what happened, exactly?"
Luz bit her lip, hands clenching as her eyes squeezed shut. She struggled to speak, but the words seemed to catch in her throat – not like she was about to cry, but more like she was overwhelmed, unsure of where to begin or even if she should, feeding back and making her emotional turmoil even worse. Everything she could say was jamming together on their way out, keeping her from saying anything at all.
"… take a second to breathe," the woman instructed, finally managing to get the girl to snap up and look at her, eyes now bearing an intense fixation. Eda gestured, raising a hand as she filled her lungs, and lowering it as she exhaled, "Breathe, Luz. In and out. Let yourself settle down."
For a long few seconds, Luz stared, leaving Eda wondering if the teen had even registered what she'd been told. Eventually, however, she obeyed, chest noticeably expanding as she took in an audible breath, then let it out, struggling to keep each intake and release consistent and slow. Finally, her Soul started to steady, little by little as the fear drained from Luz's form. Not entirely, but to the point where she seemed more tired than frightened, finally letting it sink in that she wasn't in any immediate danger.
"Better?"
"… yeah," she nodded, "A little."
"Okay. Then let's try again," Eda gestured to the door, "What happened while you were out?"
Luz took a breath through her nose, fidgeting once again, though it wasn't nearly as severe now. She stared at her hands, bouncing one knee as she spoke, "… it was the last name on the list you gave us. Adegast. The Wizard of Bonesborough?"
Eda raised an eyebrow, immediately picking up on the red flag as the girl looked up at her expectantly, hoping the Owl Lady would know the name; she clicked her tongue, eyes narrowing "There's no such thing as a wizard, kid."
The brunette blinked, "… what?"
"It's an arbitrary term humans made up to explain the existence of male Witches," she explained, raising a finger from its position on her elbow, "No self respecting Witch would call themselves a wizard. In fact, they'd be pretty insulted if you were to call them that. You're either a Witch, or you're not."
"… that would've been nice to know," Luz muttered, letting her gaze drop again as she grit her teeth, tone one of self scolding.
"It didn't occur to me to warn you about that," Eda sighed, scratching the back of her neck, "Didn't think it would be an issue… that one's on me, kid."
"… he was in a castle," the child continued, "Like… a full on castle, big walls and everything. He seemed perfectly friendly when he let us in – he invited us for tea, and…"
"… and you accepted?" Eda finished.
"… yeah," Luz nodded, "We did. King had scones, and… I drank the tea."
"… let me get a look at you," the Witch finally strode forwards, gently taking Luz's face into her hands.
"Whoa, wait," the girl reached up, trying to block Eda's fingers, "What're you doing?"
"Making sure you haven't been poisoned," the silver haired vixen stated, angling the teen's face upwards, "I don't think you have, considering you ran back here, but keep talking just in case. It'll keep you calm."
"What about King!?" Luz was suddenly pushing herself up, struggling to get out from under Eda's grip, "He's smaller than me and ate the entire plate of scones! If I'm poisoned, then he-!"
"Don't worry about him," Eda's tone was as firm as her grasp, quieting the girl with four words of assurance, "He's a Demon, Luz. He's smaller than you, but he's also built differently from the animals in your world. It'll take more than a plate of poisoned scones to do anything to him; at worst, he'll have a nasty stomach ache to sleep off."
"… okay," she sat back down, leaning against the cushions as the Witch tilted her head, tugging open her eyelids one at a time to get a better look at her eyes.
"Not seeing any sort of inflammation in your eyes," the woman conjured a small orb of light, holding it up to Luz's face, "Dilation seems normal… keep talking."
"… he seemed perfectly friendly at first," Luz repeated, "He… asked about you, what you hired me for… I told him some things I probably shouldn't have, honestly…"
"Like?"
"I'm your apprentice, mostly…"
The Witch let out a chuckle, pressing a hand to Luz's forehead, testing her temperature, "I'm not too worried about that getting out, kid. With you working for me, that would've made the rounds eventually. If you'd told him where the House was, that would be a different story."
"… okay," a slight note of relief entered the girl's voice, "Eventually, he tried to give me a scroll for some kind of quest… that's when I noticed he had a big pile of potions of his own. I remembered what you said about rivals, and… that's where I started getting worried."
Eda nodded, reaching down to pull up Luz's arm, and pulling out a small knife, "I'm gonna make a small cut, okay? You're not showing any physical symptoms, and something should have happened by now if he had poisoned you, but I'd rather do a little blood work and be absolutely sure."
At this, Luz swallowed, then looked away; the tip of the blade gently pressed into her tan skin, making the girl flinch briefly before it pulled back, leaving a razor thin cut behind. A small trickle of blood slipped down her arm before Eda ran her thumb across the cut, collecting the blood, studying it for a moment before casting her spell.
The golden glow immediately had the girl mesmerized, all else forgotten as she stared at the gleam emanating from the formerly crimson liquid; the woman gave a slow bob of the head before letting the glow fade, disappearing entirely.
"… what was that?" Luz asked, eagerness slipping into her tone.
"A basic check for impurities and Magic. Heavy metals, toxins, diseases, dormant curses, that sort of thing," Eda wiped off her finger, then pressed her hand to the cut, Wavelength gently pulsing once more with a green shimmer; when she pulled away, Luz's cut was gone, leaving not even a scar.
The brunette's brown eyes shimmered as she ran her hand along her arm, feeling for any sign of the wound, only to find nothing. She grinned as she looked up at Eda, "… when do I get to learn how to do that?"
"That depends," the Witch stated, deliberately keeping her answer vague, "How long ago did all this happen?"
"Uuuuuuuh…" Luz trailed off, smile fading into a look of uncertainty as she dug for her purple box, pulling it out with a response that sounded more like a question than an answer, "… about… half an hour ago, now?"
"Mm. Alright then," Eda closed her eyes, bobbing her head, "The good news is nothing came up, and you seem to be in the clear. But I'd like to make a couple more checks over the next few hours just to make sure you don't get blindsided."
"No complaints here," she agreed.
"So, you started getting worried when you realized he was running a potion business of his own?" the Witch prompted, rising to her full height.
"Yeah," Luz confirmed, "I remembered your warning, and… asked why he was buying from you in the first place if he was running his own business. That's… when he really started freaking me out. He just…" she gesticulated, trying to convey exactly what happened, trying to slump while holding herself up, "He just went slack. Like… like a puppet with its strings cut. His eyes hung out of their sockets a little, his jaw stopped working, his arms just hung there – his whole body seemed to be held up by his shoulders, like his legs suddenly weren't supporting his weight anymore."
"… a puppet…" Eda huffed, frowning, "… what did you say his name was again?"
"Adegast," Luz pulled out her list, holding it out to the Owl Lady, "It was the last one on here."
She accepted the list, glancing at the final name, "Adegast," the Witch repeated, feeling it roll off her tongue in a way that left her wrinkling her nose in disgust, "Adegast… Adegast…"
"… purple robes?" Luz suggested, "Beard? Sandals?"
"Well, there's your problem right there," Eda snickered quietly, "I specifically told you not to trust a man in sandals."
"I thought you were being facet… faceti… facet-ious?"
"You mean facetious?"
"Ugh!" Luz threw her arms up, tugging gently at her hair, "¡¿Por qué siempre olvido que la T está en silencio?!"
"English is a leguaje exasperante, kid," Eda set the list down, moving to peruse the shelves, "Don't beat yourself up over it."
The tanned teen groaned, then straightened as the Witch removed a book, flicking through it, "… what're you looking for?"
"Bestiary. Pretty sure I know what this guy is," she skimmed through the pages and pictures of monstrosities, eyes narrowed and lips pursed.
It didn't take her long to find it.
"… yep," she beckoned "Come take a look."
Luz obeyed, stepping over to peer around the woman's arm-
"¡Ay Dios mio!"
-only to immediately recoil in horror and revulsion, eyes wide as she stared at the picture within.
Its head was too big, three times the size of the man it carried in one of its many tendrils; its cheeks hung low, massive blobs of fat that hung below its near nonexistent chin, a stark contrast to its sunken eyes and mouth. Making the visage worse was the fact that it had no lips, exposing its teeth, which were the same muted gold as its eyes – nor did it have a nose, instead having a pair of nostrils on its forehead. Its arms and torso were tiny compared to the massive tentacles that supported it, dozens of bulbous, sickly yellow orbs hanging from its throat…
"… what… is that?" Luz asked, hesitant as she hesitantly drifted back in, as if afraid the picture would come back to life.
"That is Adegast," the Witch stated, "Or at least close enough. It's a Puppeteer Demon – a creature that uses bodies as lures to draw in more victims."
"… bodies…?" the girl's face was growing ashen, eyes wide as her horror continued to grow.
"Bodies," the woman confirmed, "Puppeteer Demons specialize in two things – puppetry, as the name suggests, and illusory Magic. Con artistry is generally their whole deal, since it's how they lure in prey. They wear their victims out over time, eat their Souls once they're exhausted, and then they turn what's left into a puppet for their own use; if I had to guess, the puppet went slack when you asked why he was buying potions from me because you struck a nerve."
"… he wanted taxidermy supplies," the dawning realization only seemed to add to Luz's revulsion as she staggered back, hands rising to the sides of her head, "… I was talking to a puppet…"
"Unless he's somehow discovered resurrection Magic and decided to be a suspiciously good Samaritan?" Eda closed the book and set it back on the shelf, "I'd say that's exactly what you were talking to, kiddo."
"… he gave me a scroll," the Latina breathed, taking out a rolled up paper and carefully unfurling it, "And I almost fell for it… I wanted to go on a quest…"
The parchment fell to the floor, forgotten. All at once, the girl's hand fell to cover her mouth, the other to her stomach as her body convulsed, eyes fixed upon the empty space before her as she whispered, "… I think I'm gonna be sick…"
Slowly, Eda closed the book, setting it back on the shelf before slowly approaching the teen. She set her hands on Luz's shoulders, "Hey. Look at me."
Those brown eyes snapped back into focus, staring into the woman's once more, but it was only when the older woman was certain that she had the girl's full attention that she spoke again, "… I knew I was sending you out to deal with some shady customers. I wanted to make sure you were smart enough to tell when you were being had by someone. So I gave you what I thought would be a relatively easy job; exploring town, making deliveries and collecting payment.
"I didn't realize that there was a Puppeteer Demon on the list until you jogged my memory," she said, "It wasn't until you mentioned puppets that I even recognized Adegast's name. I thought that creep was long gone from Bonesborough. I didn't think you would have to deal with someone that dangerous."
Luz opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out; just as quickly, she closed it, uncertain of what to say or do.
"This is on me, okay?" the Owl Lady gave her shoulder a gentle, reassuring pat, "You did nothing wrong. I should have double-checked who was on that list before sending you out."
"… no…" Luz shook her head, "That's… that's not it… I just…"
Again, she seemed to be struggling with the words; the woman waited, letting the girl gather her thoughts once again.
"… why would he do that?" she finally asked, brows upturned and eyes wide as she groped blindly for an understanding of the malice, "Why would he…?"
"… if you're asking about the puppetry… well, Demons tend to be nasty pieces of work – they're sustained by the power of the Soul, and have evolved all sorts of ways to try and take them," the Witch explained, "If you're asking why he would take advantage of you like that… it's because he wanted to use you to get to me. If I had to guess, he saw you, and… tried to take advantage of your trust to lure me into a trap."
"… but… but why?" Luz insisted, wildly gesticulating, "There's gotta be a reason for it. People don't just… do horrible things to each other like this because they feel like it! Isn't there something that he wants from you?"
Eda shrugged, "Probably to shut down my potion business. Like I said, Luz – I have rivals who want to shut me down every bit as much as the Potions Coven. From his point of view, I'm probably stealing customers from his own business."
At this, the girl seemed to deflate, the wind taken out of her sails as her hands hung limply at her sides as she struggled to process what she was hearing, expression morphing between incredulous horror… and the beginnings of genuine outrage, jaw clenching as her brows dipped into a deep frown.
"… so he's… literally just… just that petty!?" she hissed, anger working its way into her tone, hands clenching into fists.
"'Fraid so," the Owl Lady pulled her hand back, letting it come to rest on her hip, "Unfortunately, Luz, there are a lot of people like that. Both in the Demonic Realms, and in your world; pettiness is how a lot of Souls become Kishin Eggs."
"That… that's so… so…!" the teen seemed to be doing everything in her power to keep herself from snatching something off a shelf and hurling it across the room. She raked her hands through her hair, baring her teeth in a snarl, "What a STUPID JERK!"
Eda blinked; out of all things that Luz could have said, that… was far more mundane than what she had been expecting.
Nonetheless, Luz rapidly began to pace, every word met with another gesture, another movement, all ability to stand still completely lost in her newfound rage, "Seriously, what is wrong with this guy!? Here you are, trying to make a living while also helping people get affordable potions, overall doing a good, if technically illegal thing! You'd think he'd appreciate that at least a little, but noooo, this idiota is too envuelto en su propia codicia por cuidar!"
With every word, she was speaking faster, getting more animated in her anger, but despite this the girl was still showing remarkable physical restraint, keeping her movements to herself despite their ever increasing speed, "Incluso si ese no fuera el acto de codicia más insignificante del mundo, ¡pensarías que se daría cuenta de que no haría mucha diferencia! ¡Dijiste "rivales" en plural! ¿¡Realmente cree que deshacerse de ti igualaría tanto a la competencia!? Incluso desde un punto de vista puramente intelectual, al menos debería poder reconocer que incluso si me hubiera engañado, ¡no eres lo suficientemente tonto como para caer en una trampa tan descarada! ¡Este tipo es un completo y absoluto idiota, de principio a fin!"
Luz's chest heaved as she forced herself to take deep breaths; Eda could see her Soul starting to calm, the waves of anger settling back down. As the purple-clad teen slumped back onto the couch with a groan, however, elbows on her knees, head in her hands, something else seeping into her Wavelength.
Shame.
"… impressive rant," the Witch chuckled, breaking the silence that the girl had left behind, "Though you know you don't have to hold back any profanity under my roof, right?"
"… Mom had a swear jar," Luz mumbled around her hands.
"A swear jar?" a silver eyebrow rose.
"You have to put money in the jar every time you curse."
"… heh. And here I thought you just didn't like to swear," she stepped around the table, moving to sit down beside her would-be protégé.
"I don't," the girl raised her head, pulling her hands down her face before crossing her arms, expression sullen, "I just… don't like being that person, you know?"
"I guess."
They sat in the silence for a long moment, chocolate eyes staring off into nothing while the golden ones watched intently, debating what to say next.
"… I'm sorry," Luz said, voice low enough that the Witch might not have heard her without her Soul enhancing her hearing.
"Sorry?" Eda parroted with a disbelieving chuckle, "What for?"
"Everything," Luz huffed, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself, chin resting on her forearms, "It seems like no matter what I try, I screw it up. I sprung this whole thing on you, so you don't have anywhere to put me. Your customers didn't pay me what they were supposed to, so I came back with maybe half of what they owe you. And then I nearly get tricked by some sort of… puppet tentacle monster from a bad doujin."
Every word caused a little bit more of Eda's smile to wane, the sheer despondence in the Latina's voice speaking to years of neglectful scorn, "I just… I feel like I can't do anything right."
"… you really think that?" she leaned back, eyes fixed upon Luz, "Because I think you did plenty right today."
At this, the girl's ear twitched; slowly, she turned her head, crannnig her neck to meet the Witch's gaze.
Eda smirked, "Don't believe me?"
"… I…" Luz trailed off, then sighed, "… not really."
"… come on," the Owl Lady pushed herself to her feet, "I think I know something that might make you feel better."
Wordlessly, Luz slowly unfolded her limbs, and moved to follow Eda as she made her way to the door.
Pretty low-key chapter this time, but we got more insights as to what's going on in Eda's head. Keep in mind she isn't in Owl Mom mode yet; she's still adjusting to the new kid in her life, as well as going over her intentions regarding Luz.
Although... don't be so certain regarding Eda's hypothesis on Luz and beliefs on magic. We all know how that turned out in canon, after all.
As a side note, here is the English translation for Luz's rant: "Even if that weren't the most petty act of greed in the world, you'd think he'd realize it wouldn't make much difference! You said 'rivals,' plural! Does he really think getting rid of you would even out the competition that much!? Even from a purely intellectual standpoint, he should at least be able to recognize that even if he had tricked me, you're not dumb enough to fall for such a blatant trap! This guy's just a complete and utter petty idiot, start to finish!"
be sure to leave your thoughts below! I hope you all enjoyed the sixteenth chapter of Owls and Souls, Witches and Resonance!