An Afternoon with the Cool Aunt
When Lilith got the call and the request from her sister, she had her suspicions. Still, the scene she entered was still overwhelmingly cute; Eda was napping on her couch. In the infamous "wild" witch's arm was her human charge, head resting against Eda's chest. In Luz's arm was, King, with the demon's head resting on the girl's shoulder.
"I had always Suspected Edalyan had stolen some rejuvenation potions," the former Coven head whispered to herself. "Hootsifer, please retrieve my camera and be as quiet as an echo mouse."
Hooty did as he was told, closing the door so he could "retrieve" Lilith's item without disturbing the sleeping witches. Lilith smiled as she walked over to the couch, kneeled down and gingerly brushed some loose strain from Luz's head and noticed that her hair was still slightly damp.
It seemed that Luz was a light sleeper at her current age, and she stirred. The young human witch opened her eyes and looked at the elder witch with blurry vision.
"Hello, sweat flea-" Lilith whispered gently, hiding her surprise at her choice of nicknames. "-How are you doing?"
"Hmm, kay, Antie Wu," the toddler replied sleepily.
Lilith couldn't stop (nor did she want to) the light blush that spread across her face. Luz's young voice was so cute, she wanted nothing then to scoop up the human and give her a big hug. But, Luz put her head back on Eda's chest and returned to her nap.
Hooty returned and gave Lilith her camera, and the former head began to take pictures…for blackmail reasons. After taking nearly two dozen pictures, Lilith decided it was time to get some answers.
She set the camera down onto the table and gently shook her sister awake.
"Heey Lily, got my call?" the owl lady drawled.
"Yes, I did," Lilith replied, keeping her voice low. "Now could you please explain why Luz and King are toddlers?"
"Kid was stressing out over that darn door," Eda explained drossily, "And I didn't want her to spend Ghoul Break in the house. And King sneaked some of the juice I spiked."
Lilith nodded as she took a seat on the chair to the left of the couch. If the cost of the rejuvenation potion wasn't so high, it would probably be the number one relaxing method on the island.
"Fair," Lilith replied softly. "A little extreme, but I think I could understand where you are coming from, sister."
Even half-an-sleep, Eda still gave her big sister a sly grin. Lilith frowned when she noticed something about Eda.
"Edalyen, why are you dripping wet?"
Eda let out a slight yawn as she settled into the couch a little more. "Kid got into the mud and needed a bath."
Lilith nodded as she got up and walked over to her sister. She was satisfied that Eda thought ahead and placed a towel between herself and the human toddler.
"Yes, I suppose any four-year-old wouldn't like to take a bath," the former coven head mused.
Eda snorted as she allowed her sister to take her human daughter from her. "Are you kidding me, I had to fight forty minute to get Luz OUT of the bath."
Lilith couldn't help but giggle, that did sound like something her niece would do. With skillful hands, she managed to gently take King from Luz's hands and softly handed him back to Eda.
"I will be taking Luz upstairs to get change," Lilith explained gently. "I suggest you do the same. You don't want to get sick and miss out, do you?"
Eda grumbled an inchorted reply and snuggled into the couch. Lilith frowned as she walked upstairs and made plans to call her mother.
(Later)
Eda didn't listen to her sister and as such, got sick. Thankfully, it was just a mild case of the common mold, and should be out of Eda's system within a day or two. Stil, there was no way Lilith could watch a hyperactive four-year-old toddler and take care of a sick sister. Thankfully, her mother wasn't doing anything and hurried over.
The former Coven head was a little surprised when she learned that her father had also come. Lilith questioned this and Dell Clawthorne had replied that he wanted to meet the young human who had stolen both of his girls' hearts.
And that where Luz currently was, on Dell's lap, gently playing with his Pailsman. Lilith couldn't help but take a few more pictures, noting how adorable Luz looked in her dress.
Luz was currently wearing a simple dress, with a knee-high frill skirt and a pair of flats. The dress actually had been one of Lilith's old outfits, but she had stopped at the local tailor and had the dress modified slightly. All she really had done was change the colors to Luz's trademark ones and added a hood.
Finally, Lilith had tied her human niece's hair into a small ponytail that rests on the right side of her head. Also, she had found a hair clip in the shape of an otter (she was sure that was Luz called the animal once) and put it on the left side of her face.
"You sure are a gentle soul, little witchlet," Dell said gently.
The "knocked-down" human gave the eldest Clawthorne a warm smile and snuggled into his lap. Lilith couldn't help but gash at the scene and took another picture. Honestly it was the first time in ages she had seen her father looking so at peace.
She wasn't the only one to notice this as well.
"I think this is the most relaxed I had seen your father since you were both just little witchlets," Gwen muse softly to her eldest daughter.
Lilith nodded her agreement, and noticed her mother's face taking on a serious expression.
"Now, sweet Flea, I suggest you take your sister's apprentice and nephew and have a good time in town," Gwen said seriously. "Don't want to risk both of them getting sick."
Lilith nodded and went to retrieve Luz. Dell put the human down (with some difficulties), and the former Coven head took her hand. With King hot on their heels, the three went to the front door, only stopping so Lilith could say something to her mother.
"Mother, are you sure you will be okay?"
Gwen offered her eldest child a warm smile and replied, "I have taken care of you both since childhood. Just going to make some of my bone-napper soup and Your sister will be fine within the next few hours."
Lilith turned to the front door, to hide the grimace that crossed face. While she didn't doubt her mother's old, savage-age remedy to do the trick in healing her sister, the taste would be something that would stay with Eda well past the week.
Lilith shook off an old memory of the titan-awful soup and left the house. She switched her staff to flight mode and told Luz to grab King before she placed the shrunken human onto her staff. She got on and used a plant glyph to tie the human and demon-of-unknown-origins to her and took off.
The trip into town was boring despite the human toddler trying to get Lilith to get tricks. She wasn't Eda and wouldn't indulge Luz, but she did speed up enough to get a giggle out of the human.
Once the three had reached town, they first stopped at the local sweet shop. Lilith remembered that her niece had a problem with dairy, so she ordered some dairy-free eye-scream, and then headed to the scare-grounds.
"Is that Luz?!
Lilith looked ahead and saw Luz's closest friends, girlfriend and the elder Blight siblings come barreling towards them. The "knocked-down" human just gave a big smile and waved at her friends, with the hand that held her treat. That sent some of the starting-to-melt treat flying, and one happened to land on King's fur, startling the demon.
"Weh," King groaned, but was otherwise unharmed.
"Oh my Titan she's so cute!"
"I thought Mitten's as a tod was cute."
"I can't agree more, Ed. Mittens has nothing on this cutie!"
"Is this a human thing?"
"Okay, everyone please give her some space," Lilith said, calmly and firmly. "And no, Augustus, this isn't a human thing."
The elder witch looked down at her niece and saw that Luz wasn't overwhelmed. In fact, she was giving all of her attention to Amity. Lilith frowned when she saw how close her former student was to Luz, but didn't act and just watched what unfolded next.
Amity, however, hadn't looked away since lying eyes on her girlfriend. She had seen pictures of when Luz was that young, but they didn't do her any justice. The young witch was so hypnotized by Luz's cuteness that she failed to notice how red her face was getting.
Finally, Luz broke the ice. "Am-Am!" the human witch said cheerfully and with a big smile.
That was the final straw for Amity; she let out a sound that was a mix between a moan and a groan, and her eyes rolled back into her head. She face-plated into the ground and everyone in the area-Lilith included-just rolled their eyes.
"But why is Luz a toddler?" Willow asked curiously.
"Oh, Edalyn gave Luz a Rejuvenation potion," Lilith replied, in a rather casual manner.
Everyone in the area just looked at the former head with shocked expressions.
"Wow, where did Miss Eda steal that?" Ed asked in awe. "Even mom belly-arches about not being able to buy an eye-dropper worth of that stuff."
Lilith opened her mouth to reply, but Amity suddenly jumped to her feet, startling everyone. "WE ALL SHOULD TAKE TURNS BABYSITTING LUZ!" she screamed so loud a flock of birds flew off into the distance.
The group looked at the lilac-haired witch, both a little disturb and a little impressed. This was the fastest Amity had even recovered from one of her "attacks", Emeria was even writing something down in her scroll, mumbling about a new record.
"That's…not a bad idea," Lilith said slowly, after recovering from her shock.
Now the group was looking at the elder witch like she had grown a second head, except for Amity. The young girl's face lit up brighter than a christmas tree and she began squealing. Or, it looked like she was squealing, no sound was coming from her mouth. If someone was to look down, however, they would see Ghost twitching uncomfortably.
Things were starting to get a little awkward, so Lilith decided to elaborate before things got weirder.
"Well, the idea behind my sister's method is that she didn't want Luz to spend all of Ghoul Break indoors. So, hanging out with her closest friends is probably the best thing possible.
The group looked at each and then back at Lilith, voicing their agreement…except for Amity; the poor thing had fainted on her feet from cuteness overload. The one adult and older kids began to make plans for the rest of the week, and Lilith made a note to have the next day clear, as she figured her parents would like to get a chance to get to know their sorta granddaughter better.
Luz, surprisingly, had been patient, and ate her treat. She decided she had enough when she ate more than half and gave the rest to King. Now that her belly was full and the big kids were busy, she decided to have some fun.
So she skipped over to the slide and climbed up. She went to the edge and was about to go down when an idea came into cute, little head. She pulled out some of her glyphs from somewhere, and went down the slide.
Just before she reached the bottom, she threw a snow-jelly glyph and used it to launch herself into the air. Squealing with delight, the "knocke-down" human used a fire glyph to push herself higher. She did a few aerial acrobatics before gravity decided to grab hold once her fire died, and she began falling towards the ground. She took out another glyph and slammed her palm onto it. She screamed when a flash of light blinded her.
Lilith was finishing setting out the week's plans when she saw the flash of light from the corner of her eye. Old training kicked in and she looked to the light's source. She nearly threw up when she saw her niece falling to the ground, rubbing her eyes like she got something in them and screaming.
"LUZ!" Lilith screamed as her body went into autopilot and dash forward.
She pushed her body further than she ever had in the Coven and dove when Luz was dangerously close to the ground. She was already in the process of turning to her right, and used her shoulder to try and cashion the impact as she caught her niece.
For the longest time, Lilith could only hear her own rigid breathing and Luz's screams. Slowly, her breathing even out and as she came to her senses, she realized Luz's friends were around her voicing their concerns and worry.
"We're okay…" she finally managed to get out, her voice coming out a little shaky "...She's okay."
This brought great relief to everyone in the area, and the Hexside students seem to read the room perfectly. The group broke apart but kept within reasonable distance in case they were needed.
Lilith slowly pushed herself up. She was thankful that her old coven training was paying off in so many ways; she didn't want to worry Luz if she saw how much pain her shoulder was causing. Once she was up and in a sitting position, she began to look the child over.
Luz was clearly shaken up by the whole thing. She also looked ready to cry, but otherwise, she was otherwise unharmed. She did, hoverever, fail to see Luz holding her left elbow.
This brought a relieved smile to the witch's lips. That was soon gone, as Lilith made the transition from cool aunt to stern aunt.
"Luzura Clawthorne-Noceda, what were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself hurt!"
(Eda snorting: It's Noceda-Clawthorne)
"Sowwy," the toddler moaned sadly, casting her face down into Lilith's chest.
The scene was very cute, but Lilith once again called on her coven training to remain firm. She did, however, take a slightly softer approach.
"Hey, look at me, sweat flea," Lilith spoke gently, forcing her niece to look at her. "I'm sorry for nearly yelling, but you have to remember; you may have your full memories but your body is younger. And I don't think either of your mothers would be very pleased with me if something happens to you."
A very unpleasant image suddenly popped into Lilith's head; her sister burning her alive and Luz's human mother burying her remains 12 feet under. What drove this image home was the manic glee that was in both mothers' eyes.
Lilith filed that image into the 'avoid at all costs' file and looked at the kid in her arms.
"Do you think you could be a little more careful until you get back to normal," once more Lilith needed to use her training to keep the frown from her face.
She realized how hollow her words were, given who she was talking to. Still, she pressed on.
"Do you think you can do that for me, for your cool aunt Lily?"
Luz looked deep into Lilith's eyes and smiled a smile that didn't fully reach her eyes. Still, this was enough for Lilith to smile back. That smile once again faded when she noticed how Luz was holding her elbow.
"Sweet Flea, let me see your elbow."
Since the pain in her shoulder had dulled a bit, she was able to gently move her niece's hand from her elbow and get a good look. It was a cut, no doubt caused by the fall. It wasn't all that bad, not too deep and it wasn't bleeding all that much. Still, she knew how upset kids can get seeing cuts, so Lilith did what any cool aunt would do.
She lightly pressed her head against her niece's and spoke the words, "With this spell declared, let the pain be shared."
The cut glowed as it shrunk and closed up and a scab appeared on the older witch's elbow. Luz looked at the wound and then back at her aunt with a big smile that reached her entire face this time. Lilith smiled a genuine smile and leaned in and placed a kiss on her niece's forehead.
"Now, about we collect your little brother and get you both some new toys," Lilith stood up and blinked as she realized something. She did a quick scan of the scare-grounds and couldn't find King anywhere. "Where is that nephew of mine?"
She got her answer a second later, when a familiar roar/squeal filled the air and a young witch with a comically oversized snot bubble hanging from his nose went flying by her. Thankfully, Edric was about to catch the kid before he could get hurt, and all it cost him was his entire shirt.
Lilith couldn't help but chuckle nervously as she hurried her way over to King. "So he can use that power at that age. We better get out of here before a scout shows up and puts the blame on me. And I just sounded like my sister. *Sigh*I really should question all of my life choices."
(The M Corner)
Sorry for the lack of Baby Luz antics, but I really needed to use this chapter to set up the rest of the story. If you know what went down with King, I might add min-chapters to fill in some of the blinks. Let me know.