Let me tell y'all, season 2 continues to poke holes in my fic but worry not, I've already made a good plan for it and I think I've said it before, but unless written otherwise, the events of the show and of this fic are not canon to each other but don't worry y'all, I like integrating canon with the fic so expect things to happen with my unique spins on things, enjoy this chapter, I enjoyed writing it.
-Blight Manor-
Odalia Chesire Blight, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blight industries was currently in her private study, signing away some papers for the company as she thought of certain things, all concerning mainly her children and… The Princess…
"What a weird way to start," I hear some of you asking.
"Odalia Blight? I hate her!" You're saying.
"Her middle name is Chesire?" One of you asked.
But come on, even the most hated character has layers to their complex character, and under all of Odalia's, was the mind of a mother who wanted nothing but the best for her children above all else, at all costs.
The very same worried mind that made her invade a strange Human's privacy for worry of who her daughter was hanging out with because at least with the Havenstar's, she knew that Amity would be safe… But she didn't know this Human…
Oh to say that finding out that the very same human was the Princess of the Isles, daughter of the Emperor, was shocking, to say the least, but she was kinder than him, she could tell that much for certain.
Especially since she and her husband were still breathing, after all.
Odalia wasn't too proud to say that she feared for her family's life at that moment, rather than her own… Her husband that she learned to love, her oldest Twins and youngest daughter, her heir to Blight Industries…
At that moment, things became uncertain in her vision, in the magical, oracle sense. No longer was the future spelled out for her, no, everything had changed…
What was a carefully laid out plan for her and her family's future, was quickly undone by the single interference of the Princess… But she was undeterred, she would set her family back on that right track…
Suddenly heard whispering in her ears and, suddenly, on her desk, her arcane focus began to hum with magic. Her arcane focus was a ring, certainly too big for her petite fingers but it still meant a lot to her, and as an Oracle, it was her arcane focus, able to settle her busy mind so that she may focus on a vision or, on a very rare occasion, a prophecy.
Odalia took a deep breath and took the ring and slipped it onto her ring finger, feeling all her thoughts settling and her mind becoming clear.
"Oh Prator's and Fates divine, reveal to me the future you wish for me to see..." She spoke in Gaeloric, a ghost of a bandaged demon materializing behind her, it looked as if it was on fire with purple flames. It leaned over Odalia, floating around her threateningly.
Odalia clenched her teeth and kept her eyes shut. She knew better than to look at a Prator demon in the midst of performing an Oracle spell…
The Prator, seemingly satisfied, blew a strange air over her and her arcane focus before it disappeared back to the Spirit Realm.
Odalia's eyes snapped open with purple, Oracle magic, a wide selection of words and images flashing through her eyes in an instant, telling her what was to come.
She saw… The Princess and Amity, they were talking at the Library? They were fighting… Then… She saw the Twins in the Library too… They were… A book?
Odalia gasped loudly and dropped her arcane focus, suddenly standing up from her desk, stopping the spell in an instant.
"EDRIC! EMIRA!" She shouted, leaving her study and stomping through the house. It was early too, so the entire home was alerted of her sudden rage. She found herself in front of the Twin's bedrooms, separated by what was essentially a thin wall with a door connecting the rooms together that was usually kept open.
Odalia entered Emira's first before opening the door that connected to Edric's room.
"Wake up!" She shouted, startling them both awake.
Edric, groggy, reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his glasses, not wanting to bother with contacts right now. He put them on as his sister sat up in her bed as well.
"M- Mom?" He asked, "What's up? We haven't even gotten out of bed yet…"
"Yeah, whatever it was, we didn't do it…"
Odalia shook her head and sighed.
"You haven't done anything… Yet…" She commented, "But I need you both to understand something," She said seriously, staring them both down with a stare that could rival the Emperor's, even with his mask on.
"Under absolutely NO circumstances are you both to go to the library tonight, it's the Wailing Star tonight, so stay away. Understood?" She asked, staring the both of them down.
Edric and Emira gave each other a look, activating their mental link with each other. A simple spell that connected a pair of Witches, easy to cast, hard to undo. Like an Everlasting Oath. So it was recommended that you either really like/trust the person and or people you were connecting with.
"What is Mom talking about…?" Emira asked first, glancing back at their mother.
"No clue… But something cool at the Library is happening tonight? Count me in…"
Emira smiled a bit.
"I love the way you think Twin,"
"Thank you, Twin."
The Twins nodded at their mother.
"We understand, we'll stay away from the Library." They both said in unison.
"I'm serious, don't go to the library tonight or I'll extend your grounding!" She warned, letting out an exhale of air and rubbing her forehead, feeling a slight headache coming on.
"Now, get up and start getting ready for your day at Hexside and-" She drew a spell circle, summoning forth a bunny lunch bag, "Tell your sister to stop forgetting her lunch bag." She placed the bag down on Emira's dresser before turning and leaving the room.
Once the Twins confirmed that their mother was gone, they each got up from their beds and stood next to each other.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Edric asked.
"We're going to the library tonight?" Emira responded with a laugh.
"Yyyyyyup!" Edric said with a chuckle, "What do you think got Mom so spooked?" He asked.
Emira gave a simple shrug.
"No clue, but it can't be that bad, besides… This gives us the perfect opportunity to get back at Mittens for getting us grounded in the first place…" She said with a smirk.
Edric smiled.
"Oh? You got an idea?" He asked.
"Oh, you have no clue…"
With that, the twins began to discuss their plans to get back at their baby sister as Odalia entered her office and began to write what was revealed to her in the vision.
"Twins, Gyre and Gimble only wanted to have some fun, but it quickly turned them undone in the long run…" She read out what she wrote with shaky hands, clenching her teeth, "So is to be the fate of those who bully under the Wailing Star…"
SNAP
Odalia tsked, looking down at her shaking hands and more specifically, her quill. She had broken the nib, and… Were those… Tears?
"Ugh…" She reached up and wiped away the tears, "What a terrifying vision…" She whispered, leaning back in her chair, 'No… They'll be fine… I'm sure of it…" She said, clenching her arcane focus once more, rubbing her thumb along the face of the ring.
"Oh, Father…" She whispered, before turning to face the portrait of her mother, large and imposing, it stared down at her when she worked, reminding her why she did anything… She frowned.
"You wouldn't understand…" She whispered, grabbing a new quill and getting back to her paperwork, not letting the current crisis distract her from her work…
"I'm sure that the Twins will be fine…" She told herself, silently praying that they actually listened to her for once, although it never occurred to her that she may have sealed their fate instead, having forgotten a crucial lesson taught to all Oracle Coven members.
"Use the Future as only a tool for us in the Present", trying to change it for any reason could and would lead to worse results than one would wish for…
But Odalia Chesire Blight wasn't thinking straight, she wasn't acting as CEO, and Co-founder, of Blight industries… No, she was thinking as a mother who has just been told that before the day was over, she'd lose two-thirds of her children…
Wouldn't you try to stop the inevitable for your kids?
-Emperor's Castle, early morning-
Luz took a deep breath as she pulled herself up once more, in the process of doing a few pullups, working out to keep up with her new form as a fighter in training, and not wanting to lose the progress she made during her recent training with Lady Fera or lose the strength she acquired from working with Lord Drew for nearly a month.
So she woke up at dawn today, practicing her forms with her sword as well as doing simple exercises like pushups, situps, and other things so that she would be in top shape for her next training session with Fera. She made a note to herself to ask her dad if he could install a workout room so that she could do more extensive workouts.
Truly, Luz was falling into her role of Princess of Isles more and more with each passing day and with every lesson and new things she learned.
It often made her chuckle every time she thought about it, especially since she was just a normal human a few months ago… Then again… Normal as she could be, as making snakes appear wasn't exactly considered normal.
She took a breath, releasing her hold on the door frame and landing with a thud before sitting down cross-legged, closing her eyes, and putting her hands on her knees beginning to focus, remembering Lord Drew's words…
"You must work on the flow of your magic, meditation is a fine choice to improve it, so always take time to clear your mind and focus on feeling it flow through you…"
Luz smiled at that, Lord Drew must've been the most at peace witch on the council of Coven Heads…
She took a deep breath inwards, and focused on feeling the magic coursing through her entire being, through her arms, legs, hands, and fingers to the very follicles of her hair on her head… Every part of her was full of magic and she knew it… All she needed to do was control it and the output…
She finally exhaled, releasing the breath, and lifted a hand as she opened her eyes and focused… She instinctively went to draw a circle but paused before settling on forming a glowing dot at the tip of her finger.
"Only a dot of magic… That is more than enough for us…" She repeated her Father's word back to herself with determined eyes, she took another breath, feeling the depleted magic that fueled her body going back to her heart, resupplying itself before once again moving throughout her form.
"Focus…" She whispered, before snapping her finger, finding that doing so helped her cast spells. Her magic took the form of lightning as she did so, and the spell activated.
In an instant, from the golden dot, it produced a small orb of shining light and it floated around before settling in front of Luz.
Luz smiled and pumped a fist into the air.
"Yes! I did it again!" She said with pride in her achievement.
As you all know, a light spell is a simple spell that many young demons and little witchlings learn at a young age.
A simple and versatile spell that would prove useful to them and teach them the basics of magic. Anyone who grew up on the Isles would classify it as just a simple baby spell, so low level that it often escaped their notice, but for Luz?
It proved to her that she was not only capable of magic, but also that she could in fact control it, and besides if she couldn't cast it normally, she had other methods after all…
Luz smiled as she reached over to her messenger bag and pulled out a stack of light glyphs, flipping through them with a hum. She just knew that there had to be more to these things than she thought… Glyphs…
"Dad would probably call this Wild Magic…" She said with a chuckle before laying on her back, sighing a bit and grabbing her nearby scroll, checking the time and seeing that it was now just about 10 in the morning, looking at the date next, she remembered.
"Oh, sweet!" She sat up, "I get to see King and Eda again!" Luz exclaimed with a wide smile, "It feels like it's been forever!"
Suddenly, the mirror next to Luz shimmered with a green tint of magic and Zul was standing there, in all of her mimicking glory, giving Luz a look.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Princess?" She asked, "A certain mint-haired gal, perhaps?" She asked, making an image of Amity appear on the mirror face, "She sounded like she had something important to say, you know."
Luz's eyes widened and she groaned, facepalming.
"Ugh, that's right, how could I forget!?" She asked herself as Zul chuckled at that and disappeared once again.
Luz fell onto her bed and stared into her scroll with a hum, the chat log between her and Amity was open and she was staring at it with a blank mind. She attempted to type several drafts but kept deleting them in frustration, just not able to compose a response to her.
Nothing sounded right…
Luz groaned once more, rubbing her eyes.
"It shouldn't be this hard… Why is this hard?" She asked herself.
Suddenly, there was a knock at her door.
"Princess, may I enter?" A muffled voice spoke from the other side.
Luz sat up in bed and cleared her throat before speaking.
"Come in!" She called out, looking towards her door.
The door slowly creaked open, revealing it to be Lilith, who entered and respectfully bowed to Luz.
"Good morning Princess, I hope you slept well since your training from Lady Fera," She asked.
Luz chuckled as she stretched a bit in bed and flexed her arms a bit with a wide, goofy smile.
"I think so, Lilith, what's up?" She asked.
Lilith hummed a bit as she summoned her scroll to her hand.
"I've just received a message from Edalyn, she says that she's running errands around town and that she'll be late for your lesson today, but she says you can come to the Owl House whenever."
Luz nodded as she got to her feet.
"Alrighty, thanks for letting me know, Lilith; Oh! I just remembered something!" She said, snapping her fingers in recognition and looking up at Lilith, "You wouldn't happen to have any idea what Amity may have wanted to talk to me about?" She asked, tilting her head, "She sounded serious about it when I saw her the other day."
Now, Lilith was a proud member of the Emperor's Coven, as well as loyal to the Royal family to a fault, and she knew it was not wise to keep secrets from the people who were in charge of her… But with this question regarding her surrogate daughter?
She knew better than to reveal Amity's feelings about the Princess… So she bit her tongue and cleared her throat, still speaking in honesty.
"Well, Princess, it's not my place to speak on such things," She then smiled softly, "But I assure you, it won't be anything bad. Now then, I'm sure you want to finally get back to being taught by my sister again, so I'll leave you to get ready."
Once again, Lilith bowed respectfully before making her quick exit.
Luz sighed and got to her feet, stretching to loosen herself up for the day.
Suddenly, Zul reappeared once again, giving Luz a look.
"Minty wants to talk to you, huh?" She asked with a smirk, wiggling her eyebrows at Luz, "Sounds pretty serious, to me, what if she confesses her love to you?" She asked.
Luz blushed slightly at the insinuation, looking off to the side.
"I mean, she's cute for sure," She admitted, "But Amity, like me? If anything, I'm more than sure that she still slightly resents me…"
Zul waved her hand with a Nah.
"Trust me, Princess, I know these things. She likes you for sure."
It was now Luz's turn to give Zul a look, crossing her arms.
"How would you know something like that?" She asked.
Zul chuckled, mimicking Luz's stance, looking off to the side.
"More than you think… But that was another life, now get going, I have some scheming to do." She laughed and waved at Luz, her form in the mirror shimmering away once again.
Luz frowned, feeling as if she may have touched a sensitive nerve there… But, she paid it no mind, for now, it was clear that Zul didn't want to talk anymore and it wasn't like she could summon her. Even if she could, Luz was certain that Zul wouldn't share anyhow.
Luz sighed and grabbed her towel, deciding that she could worry about Zul when she got back home, she needed to shower for today…
-later-
Luz was now properly dressed, her purple and white shirt, with the black leggings and jean shorts, and her simple white slip ons, she fastened the leather bracers she got from Fera and secured her sword to her hip.
"A Princess ought to be armed at all times…" She repeated to herself, remembering Fera's words, she wanted to practice this, and what better time than going to a lesson with Eda? No one could really guess what she had in store for her on a good day.
Luz then took to the stairs, running down them, practically sliding down the banister with how fast she was moving. Ever since she learned that she could supply magic to her lungs, she's been passively practicing it whenever she got a chance to do so.
Which often meant that any Emperor Coven Member patrolling the castle would be in her path of destruction.
"Sorry!" Luz shouted quickly, evading a set of scouts that were carrying a large statue of a witch…
Luz shivered, knowing that it was a Wild Witch being transported to be used as a display in the Empress' Gardens. Luz then smiled at that, for as morbid as the idea was, Luz found it extremely cute that her father made an entire garden for Camila, it was sweet and what made it sweeter was the fact that it was maintained the entire time Camila was in the human realm.
She focused, no time to reminisce on those small stories, she needed to find a ride to Bonesborugh and quickly. With her recent training with Fera, as well as a small amount of Beast keeping magic training, she figured that she could take one of the stable beasts without her father's help.
"Oooh, maybe I can take a Pegasus!" She said with excitement at the prospect of taking such a majestic flying beast. In her excitement, she failed to see the person turning the corner at the same time as her.
CRASH
Luz shouted in surprise as she collided with them, dropping her messenger bag and tumbling to the floor.
"Who in the 9 circles of the Abyss..." Luz groaned, rubbing her head, "I mean… Who?" She asked, looking at who she knocked over and seeing that it was Lord Valgur, Abomination Coven Head and overall, snobby Nobel.
Luz didn't particularly like him… She just knew he didn't like her or her mother… But that didn't stop her from being polite.
"I'm sorry!" She went over to his side, helping him to his feet, handing him the cane that doubled as a staff for him, his spider palisman acting as its handle.
Valgur was quick to snatch his cane from Luz, dusting off his coat with a scoff.
"You ought to be more careful where you step, Ha- Princess…" He corrected himself with narrowed eyes and looked into his watch of his, sighing, "I'm late… Watch your step next time you find yourself in the Castle…"
Without even so much as apologizing, he left the hall, his cane tapping alongside him as he turned the corner and left.
Luz rolled her eyes at his attitude and went to walk forward before her foot became caught on something and she gave a loud yell, falling yet again.
"Ugh, now what!?" She asked, looking down at what had caused this.
To her surprise, it was a…
"A bone?" She asked confused, picking it up and looking it over, "What's this doing here?" She asked herself.
There was definitely something magical about it, she could practically feel it, ancient too… She reached down and picked it up and instantly dropped it in response to it searing her palm.
"YEOW!" She exclaimed, hissing in pain, "Why'd that burn my hand…?" She asked, drawing her sword and wedging her blade under the bone before doing a sudden motion to shoot the bone up into the air before she opened her bag, catching the bone into her messenger bag, "Two points to the Princess…" She said with a chuckle, before beginning to walk once more, the rude Nobel no longer on her mind.
Finally, she reached the stables, spotting a pair of pegasuses munching on what appeared to be purple hay, a Boiling Isles specialty of course. One was black with white wings, and the other was white with black wings.
She squealed in excitement and ran over to the white one, about to mount it when a sudden ethereal hand caught her.
"Hold it," Kikimora said, surprising Luz, "With all due respect, Princess," She placed Luz down in front of the winged horses, "But these Pegasus aren't for you to borrow."
"Aww, why not?"
"Because they're mine." She said simply, Luz then noticed that Kiki was towing behind her more purple hay behind her, "I've raised and trained these majestic beasts since they hatched from their eggs-"
"Is that really how pegasus are made?" Luz asked but was ignored.
"-And you aren't about to be the end of them, either."
"Aw come on Kiki! Pleeeeease?" She asked, giving Kiki Puppy dog eyes.
Kiki simply rolled her eyes, unaffected.
"Princess, these are warpegasi meant for your father and maybe Lilith, but honestly, one is more like a backup in case the first falls. You are not allowed to ride them, besides, you have yet to be trained to be able to fly one in the first place. This isn't a discussion either, you know."
Luz whimpered and fell to the floor.
"Oh come on, it can't be that hard to ride one!" She bargained.
"Why do you even want to ride one?" She asked with a raised brow, "Aren't you on your way to a lesson with the Owl Lady?" She asked.
"That's exactly why! I want a ride there on this cool bird!"
Kiki's eye twitched and she cleared her throat.
"First off, the fact that you called them a "bird" tells me enough," She said, shaking her head, "Second, I am not allowing you near my Pegasus for a small trip across Bonesborugh."
"It's true, my little light, Kiki allows no one near her steeds, unless it's an absolute emergency."
They both turned to see Belos walking toward them.
"Why don't you take a griffin instead, my dear?" He asked, snapping his fingers and in response, a loud caw was heard before a griffin landed with a boom next to Luz, "If you can manage it, you may even keep him,"
Luz inspected the lion-pigeon hybrid, it wore the Emperor's Coven logo around its neck on its collar and looked rather serious. Looking closer, she saw that it had a name on it. Greg, it read.
"You sure? Don't these things get, like, really huge?" She asked, coming over, petting and scratching Greg's head, earning a purr in response from the beast. It leaned into Luz's hand.
"Do not worry about that dear, these have been specially bred by the Beast Keepers and Fera to reach a certain size. This griffin won't reach the same size as those out in the wild." He confirmed, "He's trained but you'll need to earn his trust," He warned, snapping his fingers, making a saddle appear on the griffin for her.
Luz nodded and looked at the bird, smiling at him.
"I guess me and Greg the Griffin here can be solid partners until I get my staff…" She commented with a laugh before saddling up, securing herself, and turning to her father, "Wait… How do I make him go-" Suddenly, Greg unfurled his wings and readied himself for flight.
Belos chuckled.
"Greg's flight word is "Go"." He said, watching as Greg flapped his wings once and took off into the air with a booming power.
"Thanks, Dad! See you laterrrrr!" Luz shouted before screaming out in very clear excitement to be flying through the air at such high speeds through Bonesborough.
Kiki and Belos watched her go through the air with mild amusement.
"Kiki, finish up here, the portal requires special adjustments," He said.
Kikimora nodded.
"Yes, Emperor… Will… The Princess be alright?" She asked in slight worry, Luz still in her sights, "It looks like she's flying haphazardly."
Belos hummed at the question before pulling out a medallion, similar to the one he made for Luz, looking at it for a moment and activating it. They both heard Luz screaming, but it was clearly in excitement.
"THIS IS SO COOOOOL!"
Belos chuckled, stopping the spell and stowing away the medallion once again on his person.
"Yes, I am more than sure that she will be fine." He said, turning and beginning to walk away, "Hurry now, there's a lot of work to be done…" He whispered.
Kikimora nodded and quickly gave the pegasi their hay before following after the Emperor.
Ready for a long day of testing the fabric of the realms, they had to, I mean, it was the Titan's will after all.
-Owl House-
Finally, after an exciting amount of flying, Luz figured out how to control it, using Fera's tips on beasts to calm the griffin down enough to guide her to her destination of the Owl House.
Luz landed in front of the Owl House, Greg the Griffin giving with a loud caw in pride. Luz panted slightly, hair messed up beyond belief, but she was unphased, using her hands to fix her hair and jumping off Greg's back.
"Good Griffin…" She whispered, scratching its head with a giggle, "Back to the Castle, Go." She commanded, the Griffon cawed before once again clearing the ground with a single flap of its wings, a resounding boom following him, flying back to the stables of the Castle in record time.
Luz rested her hand on the pommel of her sword, going up to Hooty with a smile, petting his head a bit.
"Hey, Hooty!" She said with a wide smile, "Is Eda here yet?" She asked.
"Not yet." Hooty looked at her person, and his eyes turned into sparkles, "Ooh! Nice sword, Luz! Where did you get it? Hoot hoot!"
Luz smiled at his interest.
"I got it during my training with Fera," She drew the sword and showed him a closer look, "She said that it looks like it's from the Savage Ages."
"Oooh! That's really interesting Luz!" He took a closer look at the sword, "You know, it reminds me of this one girl my old owner used to train, I think her name was something like-"
SLAM!
Hooty's door slams open, revealing King, who ran up to Luz, hugging her leg tightly.
"Luz!" He said, squeezing her leg tighter, "I didn't miss you at all!"
Luz playfully rolled her eyes and picked him up, giving him a tight hug in return.
"Well, I didn't miss you either, King!" She said with a laugh.
King wheezed at the unintentionally strong hug he received from Luz.
"Woah, Girl!* He said, enduring, "What happened to you!? You're not taking some shady stuff from the Night Market, are you?" He asked, squeezing Luz's biceps and noting her muscles, "Reminds me of my father…"
Luz chuckled as she released him from the hug, sitting him down on one of her biceps.
"No, that's not it, I've been working out a lot with my recent training with Fera and rebuilding the castle, too, I guess this is just the effect of it all! The fruits of my labor you could say!" She said with pride, putting him down, "Do you know where Eda went off too? Heard she was running late."
King shrugged a bit.
"I dunno, Said she was grabbing stuff for the lesson today. Either way that gives us some time to kill," He said, walking into the house, leaving the door opened for Luz, "So anything interesting while "grounded"?" He asked.
Luz stroked her chin in thought at the question, entering the house and sitting down on the couch.
"A bit… I helped fix the castle myself a bit, learned to control my strength a bit more, learned more control of my magic too." She said, demonstrating by summoning a small light orb in front of her, "I don't want to risk trying anything else, though…"
King gave a claws down, booing.
"That sounds boring! There must've been something better than rebuilding a castle?" He asked.
Luz hummed a bit more before smiling, remembering a bit of interesting history.
"I learned the truth about you…" She said cryptically, which in turn set off all the alarms in King's head.
"WEH!?" He exclaimed, falling off the couch before he righted himself and he looked in two directions at once whilst sweating hard, "W-What t-truth? Whoever told you I deny everything!"
Luz, lacking critical thinking skills, didn't pay much attention as to why King would freak out in such a way. Given his easily forgotten age of over 70 years. She smiled and leaned back into the couch, leaning her cheek onto her curled fist.
"That's right! I learned that… You're not really the King of Demons, are you?" She asked dramatically, confusing him slightly, she continued with; "It was some guy named Ri Imperator, right?" She asked.
King paused a bit to think about how to proceed, maybe he could… Reveal the truth about himself? No no, it was too early…
Luz continued to speak, derailing his train of thought.
"I heard my Dad took him down when he attacked the Isles, is that right?"
King nodded quickly, his mind settling on what direction to go in.
"Y- Yup! You caught me! R- Ri Imperator was weak, you know? To get beaten by your Pops of all people," He said, feeling daggers piercing his heart, "SInce that guy's gone, I thought that it was my time to shine as the next King of Demons, you know?"
Luz seemed intrigued.
"Oh, is that how Demons work, strongest one is in charge?" She asked with great curiosity.
King felt as if he had been backed in a corner with the question, feeling as if giving Luz info on how the Demon Lands worked would cause her to do research on them and cause himself to be exposed… So he said the first lie that came to mind.
"Uh, yeah! Sure is! The strongest demon is the one who calls all the shots! Been like that for thousands of years…! Yup! Demons uh, respect strength after all!" Well, that part was true at least.
Luz reached into her bag with a hum, pulling out her journal and writing that down.
"Interesting…" She said with a soft chuckle, "I love learning about Demons from you bud, I always learn something new about your home," She said, reaching over and petting his head.
King leaned into her pets, enjoying the feeling but he instantly felt bad for feeding her misinformation… But he justified it as "Whatever must be done to protect my secrets", he thanked the Mataka below that Luz didn't think too hard on his frantic outbursts.
"And don't you forget it!" He said with a prideful smile, "When it comes to Demons, I'm the all-knowing encyclopedia!"
Before Luz could respond, the sound of the door being kicked open causes them to jump as they look to see Eda walk in carrying a large sack of materials.
"King! I'm back from running errands!" She said, entering the living room and noticing Luz, she smiled at her.
"Hey, Kiddo! Just in time! As you can see, I just got back from shopping for supplies for today's lesson!" She set down the sack, "I heard from Lily that you've been practicing Beast and Construction magic, really snazzy kid," She said with a wink, "Now I think it's time for you to learn a specialty of mine." She said with a bit of pride.
Luz tilted her head slightly in confusion, getting to her feet.
"A specialty of yours?" She asked, coming over and seeing the giant sack, "What do you mean?"
Eda smiled and placed her hands on her hips with pride.
"Simple, for today, my student, you learn the grand art of Potions!"
Luz's eyes lit up with clear excitement, Eda had only taught her basics for potion making but that was quite a while ago and it sounded as if she was going to get deeper into the craft this time.
"Really!?" She asked, hopping on her feet slightly in clear excitement.
Eda nodded with a smile.
"Really." She confirmed, "While I get this set up in the kitchen, you two entertain yourselves," With that, she turned and headed into the kitchen.
King seemed offended by the suggestion.
"Entertain ourselves!?" He asked incredulously, "What are we, five? The King of Demons doesn't need to be entertained by-" Pauses, spotting something in Luz's bag. Grabbing it and revealing it to be Book 1 of the Good Witch Azura series.
"The Good Witch Azura…?" He asked with an eye roll, "I don't see why you guys like this? I bet the humans in the Human Realm probably get her adventures all wrong or something." He said.
Luz took back the book, flipping through the pages and to the first chapter.
"You know… Despite it being for a different audience, they got most of the legend spot on, actually…" She said, "It was cool to find out that Azura was real but it also bummed me out to find that Hecate and Azura never fell in love like in the book." She said with a sigh, "A shame, they were so in love..."
King waved his hand dismissively.
"Pfffft! Who needs love in a story when bloodshed and carnage speak more than a thousand words?" Looks at Luz with a raised brow, "Luz, you're getting all swoony?"
Luz blinked away the adoration for a reality that has yet to be, blushing a bit before clearing her throat.
"Sorry, I always get like that when I think of Azura and Hecate," She apologized, flipping through the book some more, "Their relationship was so perfect in the book, it just makes me so sad to think they were sworn enemies in the actual legends. I mean! Their personalities are perfect for each other! Like they were made for each other!" She said before sighing and sinking into the couch, "It's all I've ever wanted, you know?"
Hearing that, King was reminded of his parents… But only for a moment.
"Well, no relationship is perfect, Luz. Besides, why are you so hung up on being in a relationship anyway?" He asked, "You like someone already, don't ya Princess?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Luz's face flushed brightly at the insulation of her having a crush.
"N- No! I do not!" She then frowned, crossing and holding her arms, "No one has ever liked a disaster train like me, anyways…" She said with an exhale, "And… I just don't want to be alone forever, I guess."
King then stood up, placing his hands on his hips with a huff.
"Ah is that it?" He asked, "Then worry not, Luz! You still got me!"
Luz giggled at that, reaching out and petting his head once more.
"Yeah, that is good but even I don't think I'll live forever, ya know?" She said but didn't sound too sure with the sentence, "What, you're already 75 but you don't look a day over 8."
King gave her finger guns.
"That's demon biology for ya! I may be old, but I still got the youth to flaunt!" He said striking a pose, "But just wait, most demons hit their second growth cycle around my age! Then, I'll be taller, stronger, and more powerful than you!" He claimed, flexing his currently tiny arms.
Before Luz could question what he'd look like as a more grown version of himself, the front door swung open.
"Ding-dong. Ding. Hoot! Hoot!" Hooty shouted.
King groaned.
"Hooty! What did I say about interrupting the royal treatment of petting!?"
"Absolutely nothing, since this is the first mention. Also, mail at the door! Hoot!"
Luz ceased petting King, much to his disappointment, standing and turning to Hooty.
"I got it," She said, walking over to the often annoying bird of the house, "What do we have today, Hooty?"
Hooty looked down at Luz's feet.
"Some kind of basket, it's got a note and everything!" He said
Luz looked down, spotting the blanket-covered basket as well, she crouched down and lifted the blanket and looked inside, getting a bit wide-eyed at the sight.
"I thought this only happened in movies…" She mumbled, picking up the basket with both arms, "Eda! You got new roommates!" Luz called out to the wild witch, entering the house once more and kicking the door closed behind her.
Eda poked her head out of the kitchen with a confused look.
"New roommates? What in the Isles are you-" Pauses, noticing the basket, "What is that?"
"A baby," She said simply, pulling back the blanket, watching as three little bat head babies flew out of the basket and instantly began to terrorize King, circling him and making noises at him.
"Gah! Hey, buzz off you cretins!" He shouted, running away from them screaming while they followed after him.
Luz cleared her throat.
"Correction, I meant three…" Luz said with a slight laugh, watching them annoy King. It was certainly entertaining.
Eda watched for a moment, a brow raised before she noticed the note left behind in the bottom of the basket. Determined not to care for these kids, she snatched up the note for answers.
"Take care of my children till morning. Yi Yi." She read out loud before groaning, "Nope, babies are awful. Not happening, let's toss 'em to the fire station down in Bonesborough." She tossed the note behind her, to which Luz caught, reading it further.
"We can't just give them to the firefighters, Eda."
"Who's fighting fires?" Eda asked, "A fire station sets things on fire, Princess."
Luz discreetly rolled her eyes at the casual morbid comment and turned her attention back to the note, reading the final few words.
"Bat Queen," She read aloud, "Is that someone important?"
Eda's eyes widened with dollar signs.
"Bat Queen!?" Quickly comes back and takes back the note, "You'll be handsomely rewarded for your efforts. X-O-X-O-X-O-X. -Bat Queen."
Eda looked back into the basket, reaching in and moving a second blanket and pulling out a small handful of gold snails, making her eyes shine.
"Kiddo, we just hit the jackpot!" She said with a triumphant laugh! "We're rich!"
Luz chuckled.
"Oh that's right, I forgot snails were made in gold," She reached into her bag and pulled out a coin purse, pulling a "silver" piece, "All I have are these silver pieces in here…" She said, shaking her bag of snails.
Eda found it odd how the Princess of all people would only be given what was essentially five-dollar coins, that is until she looked closer at the "silver". It shined brighter than a normal silver would, and was way more reflective than normally…
Her eyes widened in shock when the thoughts finally came together and Eda realized that Luz was holding a platinum piece, but she said her entire bag was full of these… So does that mean…
"Oh, sweet mother of Titan…" She whispered in shock, pupils growing larger at the sight, "The kid is richer than my entire family line…"
Luz gave her a curious look, wondering what the reaction was for.
"What? What's wrong?" She asked, "Is it shiny? Do you want it for your nest?" She asked, looking back into the coin purse, "I have like... A hundred more in here…" She said a hum.
Eda's pupils went back to normal, eyes focusing on Luz.
"Kiddo…" She grabbed the platinum piece, spinning it, before holding it out to her, "Do you have any idea what kind of snail, this is?"
Luz shook her head No, holding her arms behind her back.
"Not exactly… No one really taught me how money works here…" She said with a nervous chuckle, rubbing her neck, "Dad just gives me a pouch of coins every two weeks or so but I don't really spend much anyways, I have a small collection at this point, honestly…"
Eda groaned, facepalming.
"Of course, the richest person in Bonesborough would be unaware that they're stupidly wealthy…" Clears throat and places a hand on Luz's shoulder, "Listen, Kiddo, this is called a platinum piece," She handed Luz back the coin, "It's the highest value coin we have on the Isles, worth at least 1000 gold snails."
Luz's eyes widened in shock.
"Wha- Really!?" She asked with a newfound understanding, "No wonder that smoothie guy was hugging me in Bonesborough…"
Eda rolled her eyes with a chuckle, Luz must've been ending people's debts left and right without even realizing it…
"And, to answer your previous question, the Bat Queen is the wealthiest Demon of the Boiling Isles!" She exclaimed, "Get in with her and you're set for life. Change of plans today, kiddo, we just got to keep those things alive for a few hours and we get paid. Pfft. Easy."
As she said this, the baby bats all began to simultaneously screech and chaotically fly around in circles in the living room, finally tired of King.
Luz cringed at the noise, covering her ears, her eyes darting around the living room for a way out before she finally spotted one, seeing a stack of library books that she remembered Eda checking out a month ago. They surely must've been overdue…
"Uh, you know what!? I- I think I spotted a few library books that you haven't returned yet!" She went over to the table, scooping them up in her arms, "I'll be back!"
Eda was quick to piece together what was going through Luz's mind.
"Hey! Don't leave me with-" Suddenly, all three babies latched onto her face, making her give out a muffled scream.
King walked in and laughed loudly, pointing at her.
"Ha! Suffer as I have!" He said, rather evilly before one of the babies detached itself and attacked King again, making him scream and run away once more.
Meanwhile, Luz was running as fast as her feet would take her, holding onto the large stack of books, quickly running into Bonesborough and heading towards the library.
Unbeknownst to the course of events that would soon occur.
-Slightly later-
Bonesborough Library.
An important landmark, not only because it was as old as Bonesborough itself, but also because it held possibly countless centuries of Knowledge, the spot is a hub for Witches, Demons, and any creature in between to share and partake in the vast knowledge. It was often said that the building extended much farther than thought, that the Librarians are more than meets the eyes…
Luz looked down at Tiny Nose, who was feeding her the lore of the Library as she carried a giant book for the small demon.
"Do you have any proof?" Luz asked.
Tiny nose huffed.
"The Truth doesn't need proof!" She exclaimed, pointing forward to the Library.
Luz chuckled and picked up Tiny Nose, placing her on top of the stack and walking forward and into the library. Instantly, the books began to float toward the librarian that stood at the front desk, Tiny nose being taken as well by the magic with a squeal. Luz grabbed her and placed her down, she thanked the Princess and went along her way into the Library.
The tired and bored librarian scanned the books that came over to him.
"Late. Late." Opens hand and catches one book and inspects it, rubbing a set of stains in between his fingers, "Coffee, grass, and bloodstains?" Looks at Luz, "These are Eda's, aren't they?" He asked with half-lidded eyes, already knowing the answer.
Luz chuckled, rubbing her neck.
"Yeah… King said that it was a pretty crazy night…"
The librarian sighed, shaking his head as he summoned forth a list, writing on it.
"I'll put them on her tab…" He then pointed to a poster behind him, "By the way, we're closing early tonight for the Wailing Star meteor shower."
Luz's interest was greatly peaked, as this was the first time she was hearing about such an event.
"Ooooh, the Wailing Star?" She asked, "What's that?"
The Librarian rolled his eyes, crossing his arms behind his back.
"You're in a library. Read a book."
Luz, although she should've felt more offended at his tone and choice of words, couldn't help but feel excited at the idea of being inside a magic library for the first time.
"I am in a library! I will read a book!" She then absentmindedly slapped a platinum piece on the counter, "ThisisforEda'stabthankyouuuuu!" Without another word, she quickly ran into the library to explore, the librarian shushing her and taking the platinum piece, knowing it'll put a dent in Eda's 30+ year tab.
What would follow next would be a montage of Luz exploring the library, from feeding the demon decimal system candy and instantly regretting it moments later, followed instantly by her getting dragged through the air by a self-organizing train of flying books, and then learning that computers existed on the Isles, or at least, Witch equivalents.
Luz giggled in excitement and childlike wonder at the somewhat morbid, but overall, magical place of the Library.
"This place is amazing!" She exclaimed, jumping in place.
Suddenly, a voice rang out past the excitement and into her ears.
"Alright, Alright, settle down guys! Sorry, I was late, let's get started! Braxas, stop pulling her hair!"
Luz tilted her head in confusion. That voice… She looked around for the source of the voice but found none near her. Was it a ghost? No, that couldn't be right… Could it have been? She made a note to find out later, right now, her overly distractable mind refocused, reminding her that that voice sounded very familiar…
The lovely voice rang out again.
"My name is Otabin the Bookmaker…"
Luz's eyes widened in shock, she knew whose voice that belonged to...
"That was… Amity…?" She asked, looking around before she spotted the Blights telltale minty green hair in the distance, in the kid's section, and surrounded by children.
Luz needed to know more… So, putting what little stealth training she had to use, she lightly approached and hid behind a bookshelf to listen closer, poking her head out to get a better look at what was happening here.
Amity smiled at the kids, turning the page of the storybook and making sure they all saw the images before continuing to read.
"Friends are all I've sought, but it seems to have always been for naught…"
It didn't take a genius long to put together what was happening, and an even shorter amount of time for Luz to put together the pieces.
Luz gasped, slapping her hands to her cheeks as her eyes widened with sparkles.
"Aww, Amity's reading to kids…!" She said with a bright smile, sticking to the wall and using her sneakiness to further approach before she dived in, rolling behind the manga shelf and staying hidden, poking her head out to watch.
Amity continued to read and Luz continued to watch the Blight heiress continue to rapture the kids into the story of a lonely bunny on his journey to discover friends. Luz found herself uncontrollably smiley at the sight, loving how Amity was so gentle and caring and how soft her voice was, even her golden eyes were things she found herself watching the entire time she told the story…
"What do you think you're doing?" Otabin asked those he had thought to hate him, "We're your friends and we want to help," said the Tin Boy with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. "I've never had real friends before." Amity read aloud, making faces and hand motions to further engage the kids, causing them to giggle and become more invested in the soon-to-be ending.
"Then we'll be your first," the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin, surrounded by new friends, bound a book of friendship and that's The End." With that, she closed the book with a satisfied smile, earning a round of cheers and clapping from the kids as they surrounded her.
Luz sighed, elbow resting on the short bookshelf, her chin in her palm as she watched the scene with half-lidded eyes. The young Witches gave Amity hugs and they all thanked her for the reading.
"She's so good with kids and she's so... Nice and…" Blushes a bit, clearing her throat, "Reminds me of Hecate… Hard on the outside, soft on the inside…" She said softly before she realized that Amity was heading towards her, walking the kids out of the Kid's center. She couldn't think of a good excuse, so she opted to quickly hide in the corner of the bookshelves, grabbing a manga and using it to poorly cover her head.
As all the young ones were leaving, one of the Demons hugged Amity's legs, they resembled Warden Wrath.
"Goodbye miss Amity! Thank you!" They said in an unexpectedly deep voice.
Amity gave a soft smile, patting his head.
"Thank you, Braxas. See you next time." She said softly.
With that, Braxas turned and ran off to catch up with the rest of his class.
"Yayyyyyy!" He proclaimed in that same deep voice.
Amity couldn't help but chuckle, feeling a warm feeling inside as she watched them all go, before slightly glancing to her left, thinking she spotted a dropped book in her peripheral vision but instead found a Princess hiding poorly behind a book.
She tensed at the sight, fumbling with the Otabin book before stabilizing and holding it close to her chest.
"Luz?" She asked, not knowing what else she could ask the royal.
Luz quickly stood, face a bit red, clearing her throat and leaning against the bookshelf.
"A- Amityyyy! I- I wasn't starting, nope, not at all! So uh, you read to Kids, huh?" She asked, quickly changing subjects, not wanting to discuss how she sat in to listen to her read as well.
Amity blushed a bit in embarrassment, looking away and tucking her hair behind her ear.
"I- it's just for extra credit… Nothing too major…" She looked back to Luz, "What brings you to the library? A special tome or something not found at the... you know…"
Luz shook her head a bit, giggling.
"It wouldn't be "the grandest library on the Isles" if that were the case," She quotes her father, "No, I was here returning some books for Eda and I was checking out the library since it's the first time I've actually been in here when I found you here... Reading to the kids…" She said softly.
Amity's blush became a bit stronger, clearing her throat and calming her nerves.
"Well, how're you liking it so far? It's probably way different than the ones in the Human Realm, right?"
"Oh yeah, leagues upon leagues different... We didn't have magic in the Human Realm... Everything was done by hand and with technology, it was pretty cool, I'd love to take you out there one day, if I figure out a way back there!"
The words, "I'd love to take you out" seemed to stand out to Amity, making her face flush even further, she pressed her book closer to her chest. Looking down at her feet.
"Um…" Clears her throat a bit, mustering up the Will of the Titan to hold down her blush, "T-That'd be nice, Luz…"
Before Luz could ascertain why Amity was acting the way she was, a pair of voices cut through the library.
"Ohhhhh Mittens~!" They said in unison.
Amity's face did a complete 180, no longer was so bashful. No, now, her face was annoyed and tired.
"Oh, Titan help me…" She said with a groan, running a hand through her face.
Luz rose a brow.
"Who was that?" She asked, looking for the source.
"My siblings…"
Luz gasped.
"You have siblings!?"
Amity sighed.
"Sadly…"
Twins, Edric and Emira came up to the pair of girls, both sharing a thoughtful expression.
"What's this, Ed?" Emira asked.
"It looks like Mittens and her girlfriend, Em," Edric commented, shaking his head.
Luz blushed brightly, holding her arms behind her back and looking away.
Amity blushed as well, clenching her teeth and letting her fangs show themselves to assert some kind of control, although it was a subconscious act more than anything.
"Ed! Em! S- Stop embarrassing me in front of my friend!"
The twins smiled at each other, before giving Luz a knowing look.
"Just your "friend", huh?" Edric asked, beginning to circle Luz.
"Isn't this the same friend that you marked as "princess" in your contact list?" Emira asked, also beginning to circle Luz, as if they were both vultures, prey to use to tease their sister with.
"And isn't she set as your screensaver on your scroll?" They both asked in unison, "Doesn't seem like a friend to us…"
Amity gritted her teeth, covering her face and groaning, her blush only intensifying with every word they said.
'Titan just let it end…'
Meanwhile, at the same time, Luz was just as red and was looking off to the side with a slight chuckle.
'She has me as her screensaver…?' She thought to herself.
"What do you guys even want!?" Amity asked, "You guys hate coming to the library!"
Bot twins struck a pose, reminiscent to Luz of a pair of antagonists who had a knack for blasting off at the end of every episode.
"We're wishers on a noble mission," Edric said, summoning a demon rose to his hands and dramatically bringing it up to his face.
"A quest, given to us by the lord of our house," Emira said with equal parts dramatic.
"To protect the Isles from starvation-" Edric continued.
Amity groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Please…"
"To feed all the Witches within our nation!" Emira claimed.
"Just please stop…"
Both twins once again laughed in unison before Emira presented Amity with a pink rabbit lunch bag.
"Mom says stop forgetting your lunch," They said, to which Amity quickly snatched out of his hand.
"And stop being so embarrassed around your girlfriend, too." Emira teased, continuing to egg her on.
Amity couldn't stand them anymore, putting her lunch bag away quickly.
"Sorry Luz, I gotta get going, I still have to deal with a few things here before I head to Hexside, see you later!" She said, quickly moving from her siblings and disappearing around a corner.
"Wait- Amity!" Luz attempted to call out but it was clear that nothing would be bringing back the embarrassed girl, she groaned, arms falling limp at her side, "Aw man…"
"So…" Edric began, "You're the human we heard so much about," He said, taking a stance next to Luz on her right, catching her off guard while Emira took a spot on her left.
"I'm Emira and this is Edric, as you probably already know, we're Amity's older siblings," She said with a wide smile, "We heard how you saved our little sister at the Witch convention last month…"
"Yeah, even used some high tier healing magic before you passed out in her arms," He gave a lovey-dovey sigh, "So romantic…"
Emira nodded, crossing her arms with a smile.
"Yeah, she even stayed by your side the entire time as you took your time to wake up!"
Luz blushed at being reminded of that, she nearly forgot about that, it was so long ago. She crossed her arms behind her back once more, looking at her shoes.
"I- It was nothing, really… You can say that we're as cool as cucumbers… B- but we're not a thing! I c- can't even see Amity liking me like that…"
Both twins gave each a sideways glance before those looks turned mischievous.
"Well, then Mittens must be the next to need glasses if she can't see the value of a cutie like yourself…" Emira said, leaning forward to get a better look at Luz, even pushing the hair out of the Princess' eyes.
The action made Luz blush profusely and back up, unexpectedly bumping into Edric, who she quickly turned to face.
"Yeah, Amity must be blind to ignore such a strong and magical human like you… Why don't you hang out with us for a bit, Luz?" He asked with a bright and warm smile. "We promise you'll have fun!" He said, reaching down to take her hand.
Luz couldn't believe how hot her face was becoming, she could only imagine how red her face must've been…
'Por qué todos los Blight son tan jodidamente atractivos?!' She thought to herself, taking a deep breath and pulling her hand away from Edric and moving away from the siblings.
"Y- yeah sure, t- that sounds like fun…" She said with a smile.
"Great! Now! Follow us!" They said in unison, dropping their charm to lead Luz along the path of mischief.
The trio of Witches would then sneak around the Library, causing general but harmless chaos. Such as erasing a portion of a chalk sign, causing Gary the librarian to have a mental breakdown of sorts in the process. Next, they'd pull tricks on the other distracted librarians to move books back and forth without realizing and overall, give Gary the librarian another breakdown and cause the first to fall from a ladder.
They would then make the Demon decimal system sneeze by blowing dust on it, earning all of their laughs until a familiar voice called them out. Turning, they all saw that it was Amity with the other librarians, she looked upset, but it more seemed directed at Luz and her behavior, as she was the Princess after all.
Amity came over to them and grabbed Luz by the ear, pulling her away from the Twins.
"Luz, what do you think you're doing!?" She whispered to her, releasing her ear, "Why are you hanging out with the twins!?" She asked.
Luz rubbed her ear with a hiss, it was becoming clear that Amity liked to pull her ears…
"T- they convinced me…?" She said with a nervous chuckle, "They're hard to say no to…"
"You're supposed to be the Princess!" She reminded Luz, "You can't just go acting like this and causing trouble left and right because you feel like it!"
"We were just having fun, Amity, come on, lighten up a bit…" She said softly, crossing her arms, looking away from her.
Amity narrowed her eyes, Luz's words only reminding her of her inconsiderate siblings. She sighed and mimicked Luz's stance, sighing.
"I can't believe this…" She said to herself, turning and walking back into the library.
Luz's expression softened, reaching out to Amity.
"Ames, wait. I'm-"
Suddenly Edric and Emira were in front of the Princess, having been pushed there by the Librarians.
"You all have made reading far too fun," He as he pushed both them and Luz out of the library, "And stay out!" With that, he slammed the doors in their face.
Luz groaned and rested her head against the door.
"Why'd I say all that…" She said with a sigh.
Edric and Emira suddenly placed their hands on either of Luz's shoulders.
"Sorry that we got you kicked out, but you gotta admit…" Emira said.
"That it was really fun…" Edric finished with a smile.
Against her better judgment, Luz gave them a small smile and chuckled, turning to face them.
It wasn't like Amity was wrong though, she was the Princess and her actions would one day reflect on her Father, the Emperor but right now, no one knew who she was after all and she just wanted to enjoy that… But she didn't want Amity to be mad at her either…
Luz decided that she would apologize…! Later… It was advisable to allow Amity to cool down before she interacted with her again.
"Yeah, it was fun… But I didn't think I'd ever see Amity that upset at me again… I didn't think it was possible…" She said with a nervous chuckle.
Edric waved his hand.
"Nah she's not mad. When she is, she stops breathing and gets like this-" He then demonstrated, forcing his face to become red before he took a deep breath and sigh, "Whew, almost passed out."
Emira laughed at his imitation and turned back to Luz.
"Well, you're pretty fun, Human," She said with a smile before leaning in close to whisper, "Oh, hey, forgot to mention, we're coming back tonight... There's a certain book that we forgot to... Check out…" She winked at Luz.
Edric came over next, leaning in close as well.
"And Bonus, Mom tells us that the Wailing Star is supposed to do something cool. Some kind of rare, magical event. You in, friend?"
Luz would be wise to politely decline and wish them luck but… The thought of experiencing a rare magical event excited her to no end as if she was drawn to see it with her own eyes.
"Y- yeah, sure! Why not, you know? It sounds like it'll be fun!" She said with a laugh.
"Great!" They both declared, clapping their hands.
"Meet back here at Midnight, and we'll get to work!" She said with a smile, turning and heading off.
"Seeya Luz!" Edric said, waving at Luz and quickly running off with his sister.
Luz smiled brightly, pumping her fist and squealing a bit.
"This is great! I get to see a rare magical event and I'm making new friends with Amity's siblings!" She said with a laugh, turning and running back towards the Owl House.
"This is going to be so much fun! Maybe I'll learn a bit more about Amity! She said with another squeal, running off and not noticing Amity was listening in on the side of the library.
Luz, hanging out with her twin siblings? That was just trouble waiting to happen and she just knew it… It made her so mad to think that her siblings were ruining something of hers yet again that she just-
She suddenly exhaled a breath.
"Phew! Almost passed out…" Clears throat and walks down the library steps, aiming to keep track of her siblings and their antics… Also to make sure Luz didn't do anything dumb… She sighed, shaking her head.
"Why do I even care so much…?" She asked herself.
-At the House of Owls-
King was seen with pillows covering each side of his head, trying to tune out the noise of the baby bats screaming.
"It's been hours. How can they still be screaming?" He asked incredulously.
The bat babies had all settled onto the couch, where all three of them proceeded to cry their eyes out for the entire time Luz had been gone, causing a discomforting noise from their intense screaming to befall the entire Owl House.
Eda had detached her hands and was using them to plug both of her ears.
"Oh. I hate it too, pipsqueak," She said to King, "But think about the money…"
King shook his head.
"No amount of snails or rux (1) is worth this torture… Eda, make it stop, please…"
Eda sighed and reattached her hands.
"I can't believe I'm about to do this… But it must be done…"
Suddenly, Eda picked up all three babies, which immediately calmed them all down before she began to rock them.
"Rock, rock, maternal gesture, please work…" She said, and to her credit, it did. The bat babies calmed down enough till they were all snoozing in Eda's arms.
King sighed in relief, dropping the pillows.
"Oh thank the Mother of all Demons…"
Luz then slammed the door open, surprisingly not waking the babies up.
"I just had the greatest day!" She proclaimed, "Amity's cool siblings actually liked me! Call me a library book because they were checking me out!" She then laughed, "Well, I was checking them too…" She commented with a laugh before noticing Eda rocking the babies, "Aww, Eda, you look so much like a Mom right now!"
Eda gave her a deadpan look.
"Say that again and I'll steal your tongue."
"Aw, how can you say that when you're holding such cute whittle babies," She said, coming over and giving the triplets head scratches, for whatever reason, that was woke them up, causing them to fly up and chaos to ensue, all of them beginning to burp gouts of fire and blobs of acid. Naturally, Eda, Luz, and King ran for cover while screaming.
Luz drew her sword and deflected a blob of acid away from her and hit fireballs away as well, learning that her sword was acid resistant as well as fireball repellant.
"P- Parenting sure looks rewarding, enjoy your life lessons, Bye!" She said quickly, closing the door behind her.
It was there that Eda and King watched the Bat Triplets continue to tear up the living room with no remorse or reason.
"Uh, for, for the money?" He asked, unsure.
Eda, with a deep breath and a sigh, rubs her eyes.
"For the bleeding money…"
They both gave a yell of surprise, both of them dodging a glob of green goop, which hits the wall behind them, making the wall hiss.
They prayed that they would survive the night with these babies…
-Later, at the Castle-
Luz had returned to the castle, deciding to spend time practicing her sword stances and control of her magic rather than just sit around and wait for the time to arrive. Which just so happened to be soon. She tightened the strap on her sword and checked the time on her watch.
"11:23…" She whispered before going to her bedroom door and creaking it up slightly, looking around for anyone before she carefully stepped out and silently shut the door behind her.
Nothing would stop her from seeing the Wailing Star tonight… Or so she thought…
Suddenly, someone cleared their throat, alerting her and making her draw her sword in quick response, turning to see nothing but the shadows behind her, that is, until, from them, out walks her father, Emperor Belos, without his mask.
"Luz…" He began, "You're up late. What's the occasion, I wonder?" He asked.
Luz looked behind him.
"Did you just walk out of the shadows... That's so cool And-"
"Focus, my little light…" Belos reminded her.
Luz paused, clearing her throat and stowing away her sword.
"Right…" She puffed her chest, finding some scrap of confidence, "I- I can ask you the same thing, Dad…!" She retorted, crossing her arms behind her back nervously.
Belos smiled, looking through a window and at the shining moon.
"I sometimes go on a nightly stroll, my dear. Something about the moon that brings a bit of peace in its calming light…" Looks back at Luz, "You, however, appear to be a bit nervous at the moment, dear."
"Only a little bit…" She commented, fiddling with the sword at her side a bit before sighing, she couldn't see a way out of this situation cleanly, there was no way she could lie to him, so she decided to tell the truth.
"I was... Hoping on going down to Bonesborugh to see the Wailing Star tonight with some friends…"
Belos hummed a bit at that.
"Ah, the Wailing Star… Do you know the legend behind it?" He asked, "Supposedly, a witch was bullied to the brink of running away, until she climbed the highest hill, the Knee, and wished upon a shooting star to take her away. The shooting star granted her wish and took her far away, and thus, became the Wailing Star. Those who would dare mistreat others should be very careful…" He explained, before chuckling, "Well then, don't let me keep you from witnessing such an event then, my little light. Just be sure to be back at a reasonable time." He then walked past her before turning to her, "And daughter?"
Luz turned back to face him.
"Yeah, Dad?" She asked.
"Be careful what you read tonight…" With that, he walked off down the hall.
"Be careful what you read…" She repeated to herself with a hum, before turning and quickly leaving, as she didn't need to sneak anymore, but was still very quiet.
-In Bonesborugh-
The night was quiet in the capital city of the Isles, well, mostly, the moving night market constantly caused some level of noise, as always, but it was mostly peaceful with a set of mischievous twins sitting on the steps of the town's library, waiting for a late Princess.
Edric groaned.
"You don't think she ditched us, do you?" He asked.
Emira shook her head.
"No way! Did you see the way she was wrapped around our fingers?" She asked, "She'll pop up, don't worry."
Suddenly a very loud caw was heard, looking up, the Twins were surprised to see what appeared to be a griffon heading straight towards them. They both thought about moving to find cover until the griffon changed course and suddenly dived down before suddenly spreading out its wings and coming to a slow descent and who else was on the back of it, but Luz Noceda, fashionably late to the party.
She jumped off.
"Thanks, Greg! Go!" She said, and the griffon opened its wings and flapped, taking the skies with a mighty caw.
Luz turned to the in shock twins.
"I'm here! Sorry for being late!" She apologized.
Edric gave her an odd look, looking up at the sky, watching the griffon flying away.
"It's fine… You have a trained griffon?" He asked.
Emira leaned over.
"You wouldn't happen to know a… Viney, would you?" She asked.
Luz tilted her head.
"No? Is she a witch?" She asked.
"Yeah… Never mind, we're glad you got here on time!" She said, patting Luz's shoulder with a smile before she made a face, "Titan below…" She whispered, feeling Luz's arm a bit, "You are jacked, you workout?"
Edric came over, eyeing Luz's sword.
"She has too, sis, but look, I just realized that she's armed too," He pointed out.
Luz blushed at the compliments, pulling her arm away from Emira's hand.
"T- thanks…" She said, placing a hand on the pommel of the sword, "My teacher just says that I should get used to carrying around a sword with me everywhere, so I'm trying to keep it on me all the time." She said with a smile, "Let's get in there!" She proclaimed, pointing at the library.
The twins chuckled as they all walked up to the doors of the library.
"Well, I hope you're bringing that training with you inside, we may need it." Edric said as he summoned a scroll to his hand, "It says no trespassing, but I'm allergic to the rules," He cooly said, handing the scroll to Emira.
"And dairy, too, doesn't stop him from downing eyeball shakes though," She said, unfurling the scroll.
"Wow, just expose me like that, go ahead," Edric said with an eye roll.
The Girls laughed as Emira brought the scroll up to the door.
They watched as it was caught up in a magic flame from it being activated in its proper conditions, and slowly burn away into nothing but ashes, amazing Luz as she watched the keyhole expand into the size of a door.
Luz was quick to make note of such in her journal, on how spells could be cast from scrolls… Did it require magic from the Witch using it? Was it like her glyphs? Could it have been powered by the Weave itself?
"Luz?"
"Hm?" Luz looked up from her furious scribbling, seeing the twins in front of her, "Oh, I'm sorry," She quickly finished the thought in her journal before putting it away, "I like keeping a journal of the things I learn…"
"Well, it'll still be there later! Come on!" They said in unison, "Before it goes away!"
Luz nodded and quickly followed them through the giant keyhole.
They were all now standing in the dimly lit lobby of the library, leaving Luz unimpressed.
"You guys really know how to party…" She commented, looking around them for something rare, magical, or eventful, that was until Edric pointed something out.
"Look! It's the Wailing Star!" He said as they all watched a green steak of light go across the sky, followed by an intense crying that quickly faded away just as they all saw it appear.
Luz sprung a leak, a tear going down her cheek to her surprise.
"What the heck…?" She asked herself, wiping away the tear, confused.
The trio looked around, expecting something to happen. The twins thought it was going to be dangerous and cool, while Luz was thinking about something more fantastical and magical… But nothing visibly occurred.
Edric frowned.
"Nothing happened…"
Luz narrowed her eyes and looked closer at the library.
"No, wait… Guys, look, the books are all glowy…" She pointed out, reaching out to grab a book called "An Ornithologists' Guide to the Extinct Feathers of the Isles" and opening it and from it, a swarm of birds no longer known to live on the Isles, they all flew around the library and astonishing them all.
Luz's eyes widened and she began to point out the birds.
"Oh! That's a Flying Wyvern! I think that's a Phenix, and, oh! That's a Terracasa!" She said excitedly with a giggle.
Edric couldn't believe his eyes either.
"Woah, the Wailing Star magiced the books to life! Mom was definitely wrong about tonight!" He then turned to Luz, "And how do you know the bird names?"
Luz blushed a bit with a chuckle, scratching her neck.
"I recognize them from the Good Witch Azura series, I've read them all from cover to cover so many times… These are the same birds… I remember the descriptions…"
Edric and Emira chortled at that, truly realizing that she and Mittens were so much alike, it was insane.
"Well, the Wailing Star only comes around every few years! Let's enjoy it!" Emira said quickly.
And so, the group got to exploring the entire library. Starting with the magazines, the Twins got a fancy dress up while Luz opened a Witch Gear magazine and was adorned with a giant buster sword.
She laughed and drew the blade, swinging it with ease. (2)
"This is so cool!" She proclaimed.
They continued to explore the many books in the library, having fun and playing with snowballs and things until Luz found herself running away from the twins double-teaming her with the snowballs. She ended in the Kid's section, deciding to hide here for a bit to catch her breath and look around a bit.
That's when she spotted the Otabin book, smiling at it and going over, cracking it open and watching as Otabin rose from the pages, smiling at her. His face was full of curiosity, as he inspected himself, now in 3D and physical.
She began to read the first page to herself.
"Otabin spent his days alone, amongst the many books he'd sewn with needle and thread but all the while he longed for a friend..." She read, watching as Otabin looked up at her hopefully.
"Friend?" He asked.
Suddenly, footsteps caught Luz's attention, turning she saw that it was the Twins approaching.
"Luz, check this out, we discovered something cool!" He claimed.
Emira smiled, brandishing a book called "Quacks Eats Snacks." and opened it, from its pages, a yellow fluffy duck sprang out and onto the floor, quacking without a care in the world as it walked around.
Luz smiled at that.
"Aw, cute little duck…"
Emira smiled as she held the book out to Edric, who was now brandishing a pencil. Luz watched as Edric drew a set of meaty legs on the duck in the book. Then, to Luz's slight horror, little Quackster sprang legs and began to quack as if in intense pain.
"There," Emira said, "Now he's extra cute!"
They both laughed at that and gave each other a five-high.
Emira then turned to Luz.
"Alright, Luz, your turn!" She suddenly said.
Luz looked down at the Otabin book in her hand, backing up a bit and holding it close to her chest.
"I, uh… I don't know guys… The kids really like this book…"
Edric wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Don't stop the fun now, we're just getting started!" He said, handing her a pencil.
Luz looked down at the book and carefully opened it to the front page and brought the pencil down, the graphite touching the paper, but couldn't help but hesitate before she sighed, clenching the pencil.
"I can't do it…" She said, but Edric simply grabbed her hand.
"I can help!" He said, using Luz's hand, he began to draw features onto Otabin, such as sharp claws, big mean scary eyebrows, and jagged sharp teeth. Once finished, Luz saw the creation attempt to break free from the pages but Luz was filled with a sense of danger, shutting the book quickly.
"Ah, I don't wanna see it…" She said, feeling a bit guilty and looking away.
Emira rolled his eyes, placing a hand on her hips.
"Whatever," She began, taking the book and placing it on the small table, "We didn't come here just to doodle. Come on!"
Emira grabbed Luz's hand, pulling her along and taking her away from here.
They didn't see it, but in the window of the Kid's section, a green streek was seen flying across the sky followed by a faint crying. The Otabin book glowed before the pages flipped open and from the pages, a clawed hand grew out of the book, scratching the floor menacingly as it pulls itself out of the pages.
"Gyre… And Gimble…" It growled.
-Romance Section-
Luz cringed slightly at the assortment of books on the shelf, for how much she loved romance in fiction, pure romance was one that never stuck to her.
"Oh, wow. Boiling Isles romance. That's totally lame. I mean unless you guys are into it?" She asked, looking towards the twins that led her here.
Edric hummed at the thought, shaking his head as he reached out towards the shelf.
"Not always, but I think I'm into this one," He said, pulling a book called "A Lone Witch & the Secret Room", and from the action, something behind the shelf clicked and activated.
Luz watched as the bookshelf sinks back and slides away, revealing a rather cozy study room, a personal bookshelf, and a small study section in the back. She was amazed as she entered the room as the twins leaned against the entrance, watching Luz explore the space.
"Your clubhouse is like my ultimate secret hideaway!" She commented with amazement, "This is like a dream come true!"
At that, the twins gave a hearty laugh, shaking their heads.
"We don't hang out in a library. "Uh, teacher, I'm in love with a dictionary."" He mocked.
"I'm studying the dork arts." She added with a laugh, "No, This is Amity's secret hideaway."
Luz frowned at that, becoming very worried very fast at their words. This was Amity's hideaway? She chuckled nervously.
"That's a joke… Right?" she asked.
Edric smiled, shaking his head.
"Nope! You see, Mittens has gotten too… Full of herself." He said with a wave of his hand, trying to get his point across to Luz, "She keeps tattling on us when we cut class, pull pranks, and when we mess with her!"
Emira crossed her arms, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, she needs to learn not to mess with people like that and to mind her own. So we're going to find her diary-"
Edric leaned forward, continuing.
"-And then post the pages all around the school for everyone to see!"
Both of the twins laughed at their plan and high-fiving each other before they performed a long and complicated handshake and finished it by shouting "Blight Twins" and laughing once again.
Luz frowned, stepping out from between them and looking at them with crossed her arms, looking at them seriously.
"Guys, don't you think that's taking it a bit too far? She's your sister you know…"
Emira shook her head.
"Listen, Luz, I don't know if you have any siblings, but we're her family! It's just tough love, she needs to lighten up a bit so it doesn't come back to bite her! So help us look!" She said.
"Trust us, Amity will appreciate this!" Edric added and with that, the Twins entered the hideout further and began looking around the entire space for the diary.
Luz clenched her teeth. She couldn't let the twins find the diary, to protect Amity's privacy and make it up to her for upsetting her earlier…
She cleared her throat and walked up to a random shelf.
"Well, I- I don't see any diaries in here!" She said, half-heartedly looking around the shelf before moving on a bit, "Nope, nothin'. Let's just leave and-"
Luz paused, her eyes catching something interesting.
"Wait, are those…" She got closer and her eyes widened, "It is! The Special, no longer in print, editions of the Good Witch Azura books one through four!" She said in awe, although, she didn't see number five…
"Amity must still have mine…" She said, looking closer at the special covers, running her hand over them, "I didn't even know Ames had these! They look so cool and majestic… I always wanted them but they were never in stock…" She reached out, grabbing a book at random, "Is this cover… Hand‐drawn?"
Looking, Luz saw that it was indeed hand-drawn and saw that it was Amity dressed as… Hecate? Odd, Luz always saw Amity as more of an Azura fan…. Luz then absent-mindedly opened it, and surprisingly, a small version of Amity rose from the pages again.
"I saw the Princess again…" Amity said.
Luz's eyes widened in shock, realizing quickly what she had.
"The Diary…" She whispered.
"I still can't believe she healed me after I was so deadset on ruining her life… She's so kind and unbelievably strong… Then again she's the Emperor's daughter, of course, she'd have that level of magic. Strangely, the magic she exhibited felt... Nice…"
"No!" Luz quickly shut the diary with an audible slam, "This is worse than I could've imagined, if the twins get to this then they'll definitely learn the truth…"
"What have you got there, Luz?" Edric suddenly asked, coming up behind her, startling her.
Luz fumbled with the diary before catching it and hiding it behind her back, turning to face the twins.
"O- Oh, nothing!" She attempted, "J-just the Good Witch Azura book #6 where she goes through a goth phase, the author started running out of ideas, you know? Didn't even make a cover…"
Before Luz could continue her triad of lies, the diary glowed blue and flew out of her hands.
"Huh!?" She exclaimed, "No, wait!" She reached out to grab the diary, attempting to get to it but Emira's spell was faster than Luz's hands.
Emira caught the diary and looked at the cover with a smile before she handed it to Edric, who opened it. Once again, a mini Amity appeared on the page.
"It's not fair," She said, "I'm the only one who knows Ed and Em aren't perfect. Why do they keep getting away with things?" She complained.
The twins both smiled widely.
"This is it!" They said in unison before Emira looked towards Luz.
"Luz, were you hiding this from us?" She asked with a shocked tone.
"Come on!" Edric exclaimed, exasperated, "You've seen the way she is, always so stressed and can never relax about anything, I'm telling you, this'll help her!"
"You guys have a bad definition of help!" Luz shot back, "I know that Amity can be a bit uptight at times, I'll admit it, but no one deserves this! These are her private thoughts, so let's just put it back and forget we were ever here."
Luz grabbed the diary with one hand and with her enhanced strength, pulled it out of Edric's hands the first time since she was the strongest among them, but both of the Twins were quick to reattach themselves to the diary, pulling back on the book.
"Luz…" Edric said, grounding himself on the floor, Emira doing the same.
"Let go… Of the diary!" Emira said with a groan, "At least now we know those muscles aren't for show…" She whispered.
"Yeah… Not happening…" Luz whispered with narrowed eyes, tightening her hold.
The tug of war between Luz and the Blight Twins seemed like there would be no end in sight or winner until Luz got tired of losing ground and yanked back harder on the binding itself, much more than she originally intended to, the diary coming undone and the pages flying apart all over the hideaway.
Luz's eyes widened as she caught a few pages.
"Oh no no no no…" She whispered, trying to catch as many as she could but many slipped past her hands, landing on the floor and scattering all over the place.
From the scattered pages, multiple copies of Amity rose from the pages, all speaking.
The first looked sad.
"I wish I had somewhere to go…" She said softly as a second Amity rose from the pages, walking away and appearing annoyed, "Why won't the Princess leave me alone?" She asked, "Just because she's the Emperor's daughter-"
"Gah!" Luz slapped her hand down on that version of Amity, silencing it but the other Amity's kept talking.
"Called Lilith mom again, so embarrassing…"
"Sorry I haven't written in a while, the Princess got her castle moving and- Wait, why am I apologizing?"
The twins couldn't help but listen closely to the many copies of Amity speaking, particularly, to her many mentions of the Princess.
"Did Mittens just say the "Princess" and her "castle"?" Edric asked, confused, looking towards Emira, "What do you think she means by that?"
Emira thought for a moment, watching Luz fumble to grab any copy of Amity that mentioned the Princess before her eyes widened, leaning over to whisper.
"You don't think… We've been trailing around with the actual Princess all night, have we?"
"No that can't be… Unless…" Snaps fingers, summoning their theory board forward, it was their theory of Luz actually being the Golden Guard. Edric took that connection down, summoning it away before summoning a picture of Emperor Belos and pinning it to the board as Emira made a connection to the younger Camila and Belos before Edric summoned many sticky notes, writing on all of them and slapping them on the board.
This would go on for several moments, the Twins making several more connections, their conversation taking place in their minds, their thoughts faster than their mouths, and their movements in sync with each other.
Finally, they both grabbed a red marker and drew a circle around a triangle of Camila, Belos, and Luz, and they began to write the words-
"The Princess…" They whispered in unison… "She's the actual Princess…" They whispered.
Luz looked behind her with wide eyes, grabbing more pages.
"Cómo es que los malditos Blights siguen descubriendo la verdad!?" (3) She shouted in Spanish, "Come on come, just. Stop. Talking!" She yelled, finally collecting all the pages and holding them altogether between the broken covers of Amity's diary, Luz looked down at the cover and sighed.
"Oh, Hecate…" She whispered, running her hand through the cover art of Amity.
It appeared that Luz's grip wasn't as tight as she had hoped, as a page of the diary slipped through and landed in front of her, she sighed once again.
"I'm so sorry…" She whispered and reached out for the page and read the page for a moment and her eyes widened in shock… "What I… Feel?" She whispered, reading the page closer, allowing the copy of Amity to rise out of the pages.
"So I've been having these thoughts lately… Mainly about the Princess…"
Luz leaned in closer, holding the page up closer to her face, tuning out the Twins and solely focusing on the copy of Amity.
"What she thinks of me…?" Luz asked with wide eyes, leaning forward.
The copy of Amity continued speaking.
"At first, I thought she was going to be like a typical princess, snobby and thinking she's better than everyone else but Luz… She's different…" Amity said with a small smile, "She's the total opposite of what a princess is. She's kind, has an upstart attitude and, I hate to admit it, an infectious laugh. And it's these thoughts that have been on my mind as of late…" She took a deep breath and exhaled.
"I'll admit at first I was a bit annoyed but the more I hung out with her, her positivity started rubbing onto me and I started to change too... She helped me and Willow reconcile with one another when we didn't have enough nerve to do it on our own after years…" She said with a chuckle, "And all it took was an animated, magic castle to do it too…"
Luz smiled, blushing slightly at the kind words given to her on her character.
"Yeah, that was a crazy night, wasn't it…" Luz asked herself softly, feeling slight tugs on her heartstrings, "Does she really think of me like that?" She continued to listen closely.
"A few days passed, and I've been feeling… Something… Something warm, I didn't know how to explain it… So I asked my teacher, Lilith Clawthorne, she explained things to me and… She told me to wait and think about it and… It seems official at this point, I-"
"Really!?"
The page was suddenly ripped out of Luz's hands, looking up quickly, she saw that it was a very red Amity, but she wasn't flushing, she was very very angry. The sight of the angry Amity made Luz pale at the sight.
Luz got to her feet quickly, still holding her torn apart diary close to her chest.
"A- Amity!" She said, "It's- It's not what it looks like, I swear!"
"I- I expected this from my brother and sister, but you!?" Immediately takes back her diary and pages, "I thought you were different!" She said, looking away from Luz, "But I was-"
There was suddenly a loud thudding noise and a roar that shook the secret hideaway, knocking books over.
"What in the-!" Amity exclaimed, stumbling.
"Gyre and Gimble only wanted to have some fun…" A raspy voice growled out as the stumbling got closer… "But it quickly turned them undone in the long run…" The voice growled out, "So is the fate of those who bully under the Wailing Star…"
Edric and Emira held onto each other for support.
"What's happening!?" They shouted.
Luz looked around and drew her sword in response, eyes darting back and forth before, suddenly, she watched a pale pink clawed hand enter the hideaway and reach for the twins, knocking things over and their theory board.
"What in the Titan's name!? Ed, Em, look out!" Amity shouted.
The twins' eyes widened, going to draw a spell circle but the clawed hand quickly wrapped around them and restricted them and their hands, stopping them from casting any magic.
"What the- Let us go!" Edric shouted, wriggling in its hold in vain.
"What in Titan's name is holding onto us!?" Emira shouted.
The clawed hand pulled the two out of the room to reveal to them the monstrous form of Otabin, shocking all parties involved, Otabin smiled its toothy grin at the Twins.
"Gyre and Gimble!"
"I- is it talking about us!?" Edric shouted, regretting drawing in the children's book now.
"You think so, Sherlock!?" Emira shouted in frustration at her twin.
"I don't know, Watson, maybe we should try asking the Demon more questions!" Edric shouted back as Otabin turned its attention back to Luz and Amity, reaching out to grab them.
Luz was quick to stand defensively in front of Amity, drawing her sword and cutting his hand, making him reel back in response.
"P- Put the Twins down!" She demanded with grit teeth.
Why had Otabin become so aggressive towards the Twins? Was it because the Twins altered his story and turned him into a monster…? No, that couldn't be it, something else was happening here… Something about the Wailing Star…
"W- Why are you doing this!?" She asked first.
Otabin growled, baring his fangs.
"With claws and fangs and breaking bones, I found some friends to call my own…" With that rhyme, he took them away down the bookcase corridor.
"Gah! No! Amity!" Edric shouted.
"Amity!" Emira shouted before they turned a corner, disappearing further into the library.
Luz ran out, watching it run off with the Twins in tow before groaning and stowing away her sword, turning and facing the remaining Blight.
"Amity, are you-"
"No! I'm not!" She shouted, interrupting her, "First, I find you snooping through my diary, next, a monstrous version of Otabin shows up, which, no doubt, you guys unleashed!" She yelled, making Luz flinch and take a step back from her as Amity got closer, "Not only that, it kidnapped my brother and sister! How could you let this happen!? Aren't- Aren't you as strong as the Emperor!?"
Luz clenched her teeth, people shouting at her always dismantled her, she looked away from Amity before looking at her again with pleading eyes.
"I- I've told you, Amity, I can't control it and- and it wasn't… Well, not entirely what it looked like, I swear!" She stepped up to her and took her hands, dropping her sword and letting it clatter to the floor, "You gotta believe me, I wouldn't just undo all your trust in me like that!" She urged, but Amity's convention was firm.
Amity looked away from her, pulling her hands away, and holding herself instead.
"I… I thought I figured you out, but I was wrong… You're just a stuck-up Princess and just like your father… How could anyone lo-…" She turned around from Luz, squeezing her biceps, "How could… I ever like you…" She began to walk away, "Stay here, you've caused enough problems for one night…"
It felt as if Luz's entire world was shattered in this one moment, hearing Amity's words pulled and cut at her heart as if she had been stabbed with something sharp and it was only getting started with the damage. (4)
"A- Amity…" She whispered, reaching out to her but Amity had already rounded the corner and was gone, most likely to go and attempt to save her siblings.
Luz could only stare at the corridor for a moment before turning back and entering the hideaway once more, looking at the chaos that had occurred when Otabin reached in and took the twins, it was honestly taking all of her Will to not breakdown just yet.
"You've caused enough problems for one night…"
"How could you let this happen!?"
"How could… I ever like you…"
It all played on repeat in her head like a very mean earworm, just the simple words from who she thought was a friend and… Maybe more… It finally got the better of her, going over to a wall, leaning against it, and sliding down until she was sitting in a fetal position, the flood gates of tears opening and beginning to pour down her cheeks in droves.
"Why…" She whispered, trying to wipe away the tears but they just kept coming, "Why does it feel like everything is always against me all the time…" She whispered with a sniffle, before groaning and slamming her fist against the wall in frustration, causing several books to fall from the shelf, adding to the mess, "Why can't I ever have ANYTHING!?"
"You can't give up yet, Azura."
Luz jumped at the sudden voice, looking for its source before her eyes settled on an opened book at her side, it was the Good Witch Azura book. Book 3. In the chapter where Azura was at her lowest and Hecate was giving words of encouragement.
Hecate crouched in front of the crying Azura, wiping away her tears.
"Come on, Azu, just because the King of Shadows stole the star blade, doesn't mean everything is over just yet… If you thought that, then I wouldn't be at your side…" She stood Azura up to her feet, hands on her shoulders, "The people may think you failed them but we know better than that, you did your best and that's all you could ever do... But what matters now, is if you get back up and finish the fight, despite everything…" She whispered to her, "Cause, you know, you are the Good Witch Azura, you know? Can't have you moping around… Now, come on, let's go show the King of Shadows that might of your light…"
Luz couldn't help but smile softly at Hecate's speech, feeling inspired for whatever reason. Maybe she wanted to do something already and Hecate's words were the final nail in the coffin. Sighing a bit, she got to her feet, dusting herself off a bit and wiping her tears with another sniffle.
"Even if Amity hates me now…" She picked up her sword, stowed it away in its sheath, and looked towards a blank notebook, picking it up and pulling out a pencil, "As a Princess, I must help in any way that I can…" She whispered, beginning to write something.
-Meanwhile-
It was an understatement to say that the Twins were scared, in a state of shock and fear as well, if they had to be honest with themselves. The consequences of their actions finally come back to bite them.
Otabin spared no time to begin sewing the Twins into the book, mumbling words such as "The fate of bullies under the Wailing Star" and "Friends friends friends…" Naturally, they struggled, not wanting to make it easy for the rabbit in any way.
"Otabin!" Amity shouted as she rounded the corner, "Stop! I know you're not like this. Someone changed you!" She proclaimed.
Otabin turned his head to face her with a toothy grin.
"But friends are what I've always sought and now friends my claws have caught!" He growled out, reaching a hand out to grab her next, Amity's eyes widened and she lifted a hand.
"F- Fireball!" She yelled, drawing the circle but the resulting fireball only produced smoke, "Crap…" She whispered.
"Not a good time to choke!" Edric shouted.
"I can feel my hands turning to paper!" Emira added.
Amity froze in fear as the clawed hand quickly approached her when suddenly, a flash of golden magic lit up in her eyes, and suddenly, a sword was stabbed into the hand of Otabin, making it roar in response.
A rumbling attracts both of their attention and a purple fog rolls in, with a figure dressed in white robes, hat, and accompanying tiara landing with it.
"No evil will escape my might…" The figure whispered, "No darkness will escape my Light… Let it be known across the land, that I am here…"
Amity's eyes widened in pure shock.
"A- Azura!?"
The figure suddenly tipped their hat up, revealing a rather smiley Luz Noceda-Belos.
"Eh, close," She said with a laugh, "What do you think? I kinda interpreted the descriptions," She said with a laugh, as she summoned forth a magic staff from the book, "Alright, Otabin, I have magic and you have Ames- Amity's siblings... Let them go and we can all be friends…" She said, but it was clear that Otabin planned to make this very difficult, as evident by the way he growled.
"Hard way it is…" Luz lifted her staff with a deep breath, focusing, as if she was about to cast a high-level spell, Amity has seen what Luz could do without a staff, who knew what could do with one. At least, that's what she assumed was about to happen, until Luz lifted the staff onto her shoulder, going on a knee and cocking it back somehow.
"Amity, get down!" She shouted.
Amity, not wanting to see what she was doing head-on, immediately followed her instruction and dived to the side.
Luz smiled widely.
"Eat this suckah!" She yelled as Otabin threw himself at Luz with a roar as she fired the head of the staff as if it was RPG Missile, a giant cloud of smoke and dust forming around them from the explosion.
Luz coughed as she waved her hand to clear herself of the dust.
"Titan in the water…" She said with a cough, "God… Did that get him?" She asked, stepping over and looking closely but, suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed her tightly, and from the dust, Otabin revealed himself, completely uninjured and fine.
"What!?" She shouted incredulously, No fair! She said with a groan How is it fair that you can't be hurt!?
Luz didn't dwell on it for too long, beginning to think but her thought process was interrupted at the sight of the book behind Otabin. The Twins were still mostly sewed in and by the minute, they were being further and fused into the book, becoming nothing but ink on paper. She could feel the pressure starting to set in…
"Come on, Come on…" She clenched her teeth, "I could really use a miracle right about now…"
Hisssssssss
"What was-"
Suddenly, an abomination, in the form of a serpent, rose from the ground and wrapped itself around the mutated storybook character, restricting it greatly and making him lose his grip on Luz. Otabin grunted, attempting to break free.
Luz landed on her feet and looked to the side, seeing that Amity was holding the snake creation in place around Otabin, and seemed to be straining a lot to do so.
She quickly pulled out the journal and turned the page, her Azura clothes disappearing with the flip, and began to think.
"How do you beat a drawing...?" She asked herself, brain-racking with ideas before she snapped her fingers, "The sorrowful Princess realized her mistake, a friend she wished to make…" She whispered, quickly writing it down, "A wrong, righted by Good will and heart…" With the final word, she pressed a period at the end and a giant eraser formed itself and she quickly realized what to do.
"Let him go!" Luz shouted and Amity was quick to listen, releasing the spell and watching Otabin roar and charge forward at Luz, lifting his sewing needle to strike her. Luz lifted her eraser in response and gave a yell as they both swiped at each other with their weapons.
It was silent for a moment, before, in an instant, his monstrous form disappeared, leaving behind only the original Otabin and his storybook, Amity was quick to catch him in her hands before he hit the floor.
"I- I'm so sorry," He apologized, looking up Amity, "I don't know what came over me…"
Amity smiled at him.
"Hey, it's okay. We're still friends…" She gave Luz a look before nodding.
Luz got the message and grabbed the book, shutting it, causing the form of Otabin to phase out of existence soon after. She then saw something... Worrying. Looking up, the sun was just beginning to rise and while that by itself was cause for concern, for her, anyhow, she was reminded of the Twins.
Luz was also quick to notice that the bookshelves were beginning to lose their glow, she quickly ran to the giant book. The Twins had fully become drawings in the book, with thread the only thing holding them in place.
"No No no no no!" She quickly reached for the thread but was just a second too late, as the thread disappeared a moment before she could grab it, "What!? No!"
Luz and Amity watched as the images of the Twins became unmoving and settled fully into the giant book, words beginning to form around them as if it was a storybook.
Luz read the words.
"Twins, Gyre and Gimble only wanted to have some fun, but it quickly turned them undone in the long run..." She read, "So is to be the fate of those… Under the Wailing Star..." She whispered.
Luz gritted her teeth, falling to her knees and clenching the pages of the book as she couldn't help but get teary-eyed.
"How can I be Princess if I can't keep two people safe…" She whispered.
Amity couldn't believe what she was seeing, stepping near the book and placing a hand on the page as the tears flowed down her eyes and stained the paper.
"Edric… Emira… I'm… I didn't mean it, I… Please Titan no…" She said, more tears falling, "Come back… I need you guys…"
Luz closed her eyes as she held the pages tighter, threatening to tear away at the pape as she looked up, opening her eyes, the tears slowing to a stop, an unforeseen amount of focus and determination filling her eyes.
"No… I… I can… I'll fix all of this… I need to fix this…" She whispered as her form and eyes then began to glow golden with her magic as the entire library began to once more, no longer green with the Wailing Stars magic but rather Luz gold and bright light.
Amity was speechless, Luz's magic was… It felt so warm and comforting, like being wrapped in a cloud but as powerful as the sun itself…
"Luz…?" She whispered with awe and wide eyes.
Luz glanced at Amity, smiling softly.
"Don't worry Ames, I'll… Fix it…"
Luz turned back to the book, whisps of her overwhelming magic escaping from her eyes as well as her entire form, her body not being able to contain all of it at once, needing an output of some kind. Luz lifted her hands and they too glowed with her magic, only this was ten times more concentrated than before, almost blinding to stare at.
Luz panted slightly as she reached toward the book, and Amity's eyes widened in shock as Luz's hands sunk into the pages as if they were made of water.
"Come… Back…" She reached deeper into the book, "You're not finished yet…" She whispered, voice ethereal and echoing across the entire library before she began to pull her arms back, struggling slightly against the magic of the Wailing Star comet.
It was excruciatingly slow, but the heads of the Twins were pulled through the book, Luz holding them by the scruff of their shirt. Luz gave a yell, before doing one final yank and pull, a loud snap of magic echoing across not only the library but across the Isles.
Luz stumbled and fell onto her back with the now freed twins falling onto the floor with a mighty groan.
The golden glow of the library quickly died down to nothing, until it was just the library, thrashed and dark in the dawn. Luz felt so out of breath but… Still conscious… She'd just… lay here for a moment…
The Twin's eyes were wide and they were in a state of shock, just feeling themselves and making sure that they were actually… Actually breathing again…
They both looked towards the pages they were just trapped in and a new set of words were sprawled across the pages.
"A Fate Worse than death, undone, by a sage of great power…"
They shivered as the book slowly disappeared into a cloud of magic, a loud crying accompanying as it did.
Note to self, never visit the library during the Wailing Star ever again…
They were suddenly tackled into a hug by Amity, squeezing them tightly in her arms.
Amity was now shedding even more tears than before.
"You're alive…" She whispered, "Thank Titan…"
"We never died…" Edric said with a shiver.
"Yeah… We were completely aware of everything that was happening… It was horrible…" Emira confirmed with a shiver.
"How… Are we here?"
"That… Was me…" She said, picking up her sword from the ground and sheathing it once again, stepping up to the Twins and Amity, looking at the youngest Blight for a moment, before looking away again, "I'm... Sorry about tonight, Amity, I'll... Leave you alone…" She said, quickly moving past them and heading out the exit.
Amity stood up quickly and reached out to Luz but hesitated, her expression saddening, before she sighed and held herself.
"Another friendship ruined… Good work, Blight…"
The twins watched Luz leave, getting to their feet, stabilizing each other, and patting themselves down.
"Now... You don't have to take our advice, Mittens…" She begun.
"But you're not just going to watch the Princess leave, are you?" He asked, "Anything can be fixed with an apology, you know…" He said.
Amity frowned, unsure and holding herself tighter.
"I know but…" Pauses, becoming tense before turning to the Twins, "Wait what did you call her?"
They smiled at Amity and Emira drew a spell circle, summoning forth their now completed theory board, revealing all the new connections that were made.
"We heard some of your diary pages too, you just filled in the holes though…" Edric said.
"But don't worry about that, go after the Princess, you like her, you have to at least try to fix things."
Amity bit her lip and sighed, she couldn't believe that she was going to take their advice… But she released herself and nodded, turning and running after Luz.
Luz was now walking down the steps of the library, holding back a potential wave of emotion, clenching the handle of her sword with a sigh. She would check on Eda and King for a bit before she'd home and take a nap, but she just couldn't get Amity's words out of her mind.
"I just... Ugh... Why is that something like this always happens!?" She asked herself, running a hand through her hair, "I always end up ruining great things and…" She groaned, " I guess I am just a walking disaster train…" She said with a sigh.
"Luz, hold up!" Amity ran in front of her, surprising Luz at her appearance, "I need to say something, that needs to be said, and after what I said, you can do whatever you want, okay?" She asked hopefully.
Luz came to a slow stop and exhaled through her nose and nodded, turning to Amity.
"It's fine Amity... You don't have to say anything... I just…" Takes a breath, "I'm OK, honest…"
Amity frowned, seemingly only now realizing that her words were cutting deeper into Luz than she thought they would…
"No, this needs to be said, Luz…" Takes a deep breath and sighs, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry for saying those horrible things to you. I shouldn't also have assumed you intentionally read my diary. I let my anger get the better of me and I took it out on you. If you don't want to be my friend anymore after this, I'll understand…"
Luz's eyes widened slightly, she's… Never heard an apology before, not from people that weren't from her family… She just… couldn't believe it…
"And... You're sure you're not mad at me for almost getting your siblings turned into a cautionary tale...?" She asked with a chuckle, looking off to the side.
Amity smiled.
"I know you didn't intend for that to happen. You're too pure-hearted to deface books like that, I know it was my dumb siblings that almost caused their own demise."
Luz blushed slightly at the compliment, scratching her head a bit and looking away.
"I was just trying to do the right thing, you know?
Amity giggled and nodded.
"I know you were, Luz. Oh! I almost forgot…" She reached into her bag, before pulling out Luz's copy of the Good Witch Azura #5, handing it back to her, "I was going to give this back to you sooner, I just finished reading it, but with everything going on, I haven't had a chance."
Luz's eyes widened slightly as she reached out and took the book back, running her hand across the cover.
"I completely forgot that I had given you this…" She whispered before flipping through the pages and finding- she giggled, pulling out a page, depicting Amity as Hecate with her dog companion, Argo; Protector of the Vault.
Amity looked away with a blush.
"I was just using that as a bookmark…" She said, embarrassed greatly.
Luz giggled and folded the paper and tucked it back into her book.
"Aw, don't be embarrassed Ames, I think you'd make an amazing Hecate, you're just as intense and strong as her... And just as smart…" She said with a slight blush.
Amity blushed this time, smiling.
"T- Thanks, Luz…" Glances to the side, spotting her siblings in the background giving teasing gestures at both of them, which referred to fake kissing along with noises that go with it, causing her to groan a bit before looking at Luz, "I'll see you later, Luz. Right now, I have to scold two older siblings at the moment…."
With that, Amity walked past Luz and headed straight for Edric and Emira.
Luz watched as Amity went over to her siblings, instantly pulling down on their ears and beginning to berate them while the twins begged her to stop. Luz smiled softly at her and her intensity, and couldn't help but get a warm feeling in her chest. She began to walk again, heading towards the Owl House and wondering just how Eda and King faired last night
-At the Owl House-
Luz had just walked in and turned to her right.
There on the couch were King, Eda, and the Bat Triplets sleeping comfortably in a peaceful state. Seeing this warmed Luz's heart and brought a smile to the young teen's face.
"Aww, so cute…" She whispered, so as to not wake them.
Suddenly the door slams open, courtesy of Hooty.
"Ding-dong! Hoot!" He shouted, surprisingly not waking Eda, King, or the triplets.
Luz rolled her eyes and turned to face Hooty.
"You don't need to slam the door open every time, Hooty, what's up?"
Suddenly a large form squeezes through the doorway, revealing a demon whose body is comprised of a long-haired, woman's head with fangs, bat wings, and small feet. She looked down at Luz with a smile.
Looking at her, Luz felt... A slight headache, to say the least. It was strong and rung across her whole head but just as quickly, it left her.
"Hello, you must be Momma…" She commented with a laugh.
"Yeh. Yeh. Momma is I. And I is the Bat Queen."
She let out a high-pitched whistle and once sounded, the Bat Triplets woke up and flew over to their mother, snuggling into her hair like it was a nest.
The Bat Queen smiled at this.
"Ah! Snuggle dumplings" She gags before coughing up a chest filled with gold snails with a few scattered platinums. As a bonus, a skull-shaped whistle was added to the top of the pile.
"For troubles. Eda is owed one," pauses a bit before sniffing the air, smelling a familiar and… Dangerous scent. She eyed Luz a bit before making her way out of the owl house and flies off.
Luz watched her fly off towards a forest, near Hexside.
"Feels like I know her from somewhere…" She commented, closing the door and looking toward Eda.
"Ah. Sweet babies…" Suddenly, she snored, waking herself up, and noticing the babies were gone, "Babies?" She sat up which woke up King in the process as she turns to Luz, "Where are the babies?"
"The Bat Queen came and picked them up," She said, miming a flying motion for Eda
"Oh…" Hearing this, Eda became a bit downcast, "And I just taught Junior how to pick locks too…"
Luz chuckled a bit as she pushed the chest over to them.
"Well, it looks like your night was successful, at least!" She said, "And look at this cool Aztec Death whistle she gave you too!" She said before dropping it, "I'd clean it if I were you, though…"
"Yeah. We did it all for the money…" She said but wasn't convincing enough.
King was quick to break the façade.
"I miss my babies!" He cried a bit hugging Eda, who patted his back comfortingly.
Luz smiled and began to go through her bag.
"You know, I got you something from the library that I thought it was funny, but now it looks like you'll need it…" She then hands Eda a book titled "Coping with Empty Nest Syndrome".
Eda chuckled with a smile, stowing away the book.
"Thanks, kid. So, how was your night?"
Luz thought about the question, taking a seat on the couch with a sigh.
"A lot happened... It was good... Then bad, and then good... Hey, Eda?" She asked
Eda took a seat next to Luz.
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"What do you call a warm feeling in your chest...?" She asked, staring up at the ceiling.
Eda raised a brow as she looks at Luz.
"Does this warm feeling also come with the feeling of bloodyflies in the stomach?"
Luz looked towards her, confused before figuring out that bloodyflies were the Boiling Isle equivalent of butterflies.
"A bit, I guess... Why?" She asked, tilting her head.
Eda chuckled and shook her head.
"It's official, kiddo. You've got a crush."
Luz's face became bright red.
"W- what!? There's no way!" She said quickly.
Eda gave a knowing smile.
"Trust me, kid. I know that kind of feelings anywhere. So, who's the lucky witch?" She asked, excited.
Luz thought and could only come to one conclusion. She looked down at her lap and pulled at her shirt.
"I- I think... Amity…" She whispered.
Eda smirked and snorted.
"Oh? I didn't take you for having mint as your favorite flavor?"
"HA!" King exclaimed with a hearty laugh.
Luz covered her face as her blush became even brighter.
"Please…" She whispered.
Eda chuckled.
"Ah, don't sweat it, kiddo," She leaned into the couch and wraps an arm around her shoulder, "I tease cause I care. Anyways you should probably take time to think about this crush of yours. Don't want to rush into anything." She recommended.
"Mmmm…" Luz hummed softly, and leaned into Eda's arm, "I promise I will…" She said softly, "I'm scared, honestly…"
"Hey, just remember, you don't only have me to talk to about this. You've got your parents too. If anyone can give you advice on crushes, it'd probably be them."
Luz chuckled at that.
"I doubt it…" Crosses arms, "Mom and Dad have only ever been with each other…" She said with a sigh, "It feels like you're the only person I can talk to right now…" She said with a laugh, "Us weirdos need to stick together, of course."
Eda laughed with a snort.
"And don't you forget it, kiddo!" She said, giving Luz a playful noogie.
Luz laughed as she enjoyed the company of Eda, after a while of goofing off, they decided for Luz to finally get a start with potions today.
-Meanwhile, at Blight Manor-
The Twins were now rubbing their ears as Amity dragged them along and into their family's library.
"I don't get it, Mittens…" Edric said.
"What are we looking for, in here?" She asked, "I thought the Princess having these huge spikes of magic was normal?"
Amity shook her head.
"I think the spikes Luz is having are tied to something I remember reading about in one of our family's journals," She said, looking through the bookcases, "I just have to remember which one, though…." She then pointed to another bookcase without looking, "Could one of you check over there?"
The Twins saluted and got to help with looking around their massive family library.
"This library is massive, though, Mittens…" Edric pointed out, "Grandma filled it with books till the day she died…" He said, going over to a bookshelf.
Amity rolled her eyes.
"Well then we better get looking," She said, skimming through a few titles, "How to Shower Your Wyvern? No. 100 Tips For Better Abominations? No. 101 Home Recipes of the Blight Family? Saving that for later…" She pocketed the book and then noticed another book titled- The Legends of Sages? She grabbed it and began to read it.
Reading, Amity learned that the book talked about a rare ability called the "Sages Instinct" and talked about how it was the most powerful ability that any aspiring Witch could attain in their lifetime. A state of being so powerful and strong, it risked the entirety of reality if strong enough.
The book then went on to speak of how many Witches throughout the ages would attempt to achieve it, through decades of meditation. Countless hours of training and finding inner peace but alas, only two people were ever known/theorized to have the ability. Azura and Hecate, the Good Witch and her eternal rival; the destroyer of the Isles.
Looking closer, Amity saw that there were three things a Witch needed to master to achieve this.
"Knowledge, Spirit, and Magic…" She repeated to herself.
Thinking on that, Luz certainly had the Spirit and Magic to back it up but... The knowledge was a tricky one to find a source for... I mean, Luz did want to know all there was to know... Could that be it?
Suddenly, the Twins were looking over her shoulder
"What did you find?" They asked in unison.
Amity looked up at them.
"It's a book on something called "Sage's Instinct". Says here a Witch can attain it by intense training, mediation, and finding inner peace. And the weirdest part, this ability matches what Luz has been exhibiting the last few times."
"What does it say about tapping into unknown abilities?" Edric asked.
"Well, according to the book, it says a Witch who taps into said abilities must be a master in the three aspects. Knowledge, Spirit, and Magic. And Luz seems to have somewhat of mastery over two of these aspects already. As for the third one, I think she's unconsciously training herself in that aspect since she's taking notes of any new thing she learns about the Isles but that's iffy…"
"Interesting…" Emira commented, "The Princess is tapping into rare and unknown abilities…" She commented, "It's amazing to think that she is that strong."
Amity nodded.
"Yeah, she is…" She muttered.
Amity looked back into the book, reading some more.
It spoke of how the Sages of old have always been Witches of great renown and power, that they are forces of change in the very world for better or worse. It brought up Azura and Hecate, how their different ideals in magic shaped the Isles and the magic of today.
It then had a dreary warning; "Forewarn, reader, and Witches that may be, a Sage's appearance means many things, but peace is not one of them... For they bring behind them advisories that would mean them and their homes harm... Great collapse will occur before an extravagant rise"
Amity tsked.
'I got a bad feeling about this…' She thought to herself, closing the book silently, deciding that she'd show this to Luz the minute she got a chance to do so.
It was as if learning about this was an Omen of some kind... A death one?
She hoped not but one thing was for certain, things were going to kick into high gear, and soon... Amity could only hope that Luz would be able to handle it all…
1. Rux is demon land currency, just realized I never mentioned it until now.
2. Luz is stronger here so swinging Cloud's buster sword is easier for her. It's as if she was holding a heavy lead pipe.
3. Luz will curse and be vulgar in Spanish but will never curse in English, as she thinks it's worse and dirtier sounding, her mother has "given" her the Chancla many times on occasion because of this. She tries not to do this but it's become a bad habit, coming up when she's stressed.
4. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Angst I love it
Thanks for reading, already working on the next chapter, stay frosty my friends.
