Luz hadn't even noticed until it was too late.
She'd managed to convince Eda to take her to the Knee to see if they could find more glyphs. They had King and Lilith tag along too, since they didn't have anything better to do.
Thankfully they were alone this time, devoid of distractions. Or so they thought.
Luz took the time to practice her ice glyphs in the snow, and even on some trees to see what happened. As she expected, the ice pillar didn't stay on the bark. Disappointed, but not surprised. She looked over at Eda, who looked frustrated as she couldn't get her ice glyph to work. Lilith looked like she was in the same state. Must have a lot on her mind, Luz thinks to herself. Looking down at the snow, she smiles mischievously, getting an idea.
Eda was about to crumple her fifth piece of paper when something hit her shoulder. "AH! Hey!" She dropped the notebook and pen and looked up. Her apprentice was smirking and holding a snowball in her hand. Next to her, Lilith had snow in her face. Suddenly practicing spells were tossed aside. She scooped up some snow of her own.
"Ohohoho…you are going to pay for that." Eda snarled playfully, and Luz got ready to run.
Lilith had an irritated look on her face. "But what about-" BLAM! Snowball to the back.
"Too chicken to have a little fun, Goody Lily-shoes?" Luz stuck her tongue out at her.
Lilith growled, though she wasn't being vain. Snowball in hand, she joined her sister. A little fun won't hurt.
Luz and Eda were already chasing each other around the trees, laughing as they tried to throw snow at each other. Luz's snow landed Eda in right in her gut.
"HEY! Get back here, kid!"
"Catch me if you caaaan!"
"The King of Demons will defend you, Luz!"
King had joined the snowball fight on Luz's side, throwing as much snow as he could, his snowballs sometimes missing, sometimes hitting Eda or Lilith's legs. Eventually, Luz and King hid behind a tree, the sisters doing the same.
From behind her hiding spot, Luz waited. A minute passed…and she threw with all her might.
"OOMPH!"
It was a tie. Both Luz and Eda hit their target. Snow slid off both their faces before they both spiraled into a laughing fit on the ground. Eda suddenly tackled her apprentice and King to the ground, squeezing them as hard as she could before rolling them over, all laughing happily. While Lilith leaned against a tree, catching her breath. She was trying not to laugh from the adrenaline rush.
It was nice to have some fun after everything that's happened.
"AHH, noo…betrayaaalll!" Luz said in a dramatic way.
Eda would admit, that was fun. Just like last time, they'd gotten distracted from their main goal, but this time it happened in a good way.
"Ha…you've got good aim, kid!" She laughed.
"I learn from the best!" Luz said.
"I will admit, that was…fun. I actually enjoyed that!" Added Lilith.
They all got up and started walking until they got back to their original spot. Luz decided to help her mentor keep practicing the glyph, despite Eda's protests that she almost got it.
About a minute passed, she finally did it. Eda tapped the rune and an ice pillar just like the one Luz could make came out of the ground. Luz was practically glowing as she hugged the witch tightly.
"I knew you could do it!" She squealed excitedly. A surprised Eda wrapped an arm around the girl just as tightly.
Beside them, Lilith smiled at her sister and the human, happy that despite everything she's been through, and everything she put her through, Edalyn was found.
Unfortunately, a gust of wind blew the rest of their paper off their rock, causing Luz to let go and without thinking, run after them.
"Nononono! We need those!"
"Luz, wait!"
Finally, Luz gathered as many pieces of paper as she could. The adrenaline rush blocked out the frantic voices yelling for her to get off.
Luz turned around and noticed Lilith, King and Eda's extremely concerned faces. She heard faint cracking beneath her, but didn't notice until it was too late.
"NO!"
Everything was cold when Luz fell into the water. It filled her boots and weighed down her coat, making it hard to swim or even stay afloat. "Eda! Eda help me!" She cried out. The figures above her were the last thing she saw before everything went dark.
When Luz fell through the ice, Eda felt more scared than she ever felt before. Anything King or Lilith said to her was blocked out.
She felt her heart racing, running to the lake and almost tripping on the way.
"No no no no no no no!" She gasped. Eda drew a circle in the air, intending to magic her kid out of the frigid water, but the circle faded, reminding her of her current state. "Urrgh, dammit!" She growled, hands shaking. Eda could see a limp Luz floating in the water, close enough to the surface where Eda could grab her.
Without thinking twice, Eda tore off her hat and quickly half-dipped herself in the water, her legs staying on land. As quickly and carefully as she could, Eda hooked her hand around the collar of Luz's coat and pulled. As soon as the girl was close to her, she felt her sister and King tug harshly against her own coat, hauling them out of the water.
When Eda was done coughing, she looked over at the limp body beside her. "Luz!" She cried, quickly taking her apprentice in her arms. "No, no! Come on. Luz, open your eyes. Don't leave me, kid! Please just wake up!" Eda wailed, frantically shaking the limp child. She gently brushed the hair out of Luz's face, her hand cradling her cheek. The girl looked like she wasn't breathing. Gold and grey eyes took in the cold and pale skin. Eda thought she could feel her heart stop.
"Please, no…just open your eyes…Luz…" Eda held her child close and tight as she sobbed. "It's gonna be okay, I'm here…I'm right here…" Luz couldn't be dead. They were both having a fun time minutes ago, and then this happened. Eda loved this girl like she was her own. She won't deny it. She knew Luz had her own mother to go back to, but Eda couldn't help but feel the need to take care of her. And at every turn, Luz made her proud. Eda didn't want her to go.
Lilith stood by, watching the heartbreaking scene before her. She never imagined Edalyn to fit a maternal role, but it was clear she loved this human girl with all her heart. It made her feel worse about what she almost did to her at the bridge back then.
But right now, she looked devastated as she held the girl close.
A sputtering cough brought Eda back to the present.
"LUZ!" Cried the witch, holding her back. The girl was coughing the water out of her lungs. Eda helped her into an upright position, patting her back and rubbing her arms, hoping to bring some sort of warmth. "That's it, deep breaths. You're okay." Eda was trying to breathe as well, still shaken up from what just happened.
"Eda?" Luz asked, looking up at the woman. The color was slowly returning to her face.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's me, kiddo. I gotcha." Eda smiled, almost crying in relief. "Don't do that ever again, okay?" Scooping the girl into her arms once more, Eda slowly stood up to head back home, with King on her head. It was best to get her warm first, then talk later. "You're going to be okay, I promise."
"Hiya guys-"
"Shut it, Bird Tube." Lilith grit her teeth at the annoying creature.
"Fine! Hoot!" Then the door slammed shut.
"Shit, shit, shit, we need to get her warm, she's gonna freeze to death!" Eda rambled as she set a shivering Luz down on the couch. She looked at the fireplace. "We need a fire!"
"Th-there's emergency g-glyph in my bag-g." Luz stuttered, pointing at her messenger bag on the coffee table.
Eda nodded and dug through the bag until she saw the glyph that looked like a picture of a flame, brought three over to the fireplace, and slapped them over the logs, sighing in relief when the flames appeared. She went over to Luz and helped her to the fire. "Here, let's get you out of that coat, it's sopping wet." She glanced at Lilith. "Lily, can you get me a basket and some blankets?" She asked.
"Of course." And she left, wasting no time.
Eda helped her kid out of her coat and boots, before taking hers off as well. She wasn't the only one drenched and shivering. But Luz was more important right now.
Lilith came back with a laundry basket, putting the discarded winter clothing in it, and then draping thick blankets over Luz and Eda. "I'll just…leave you two be."
Eda had sat next to Luz, who was holding out her hands near the fire, sighing in the relief it brought. Noticing her still shaking, she brought a hand up to rub her back. Luz looked at her. "Are you okay?"
The witch snickered. "Am I okay? I should be asking if you're okay! You scared me!"
Luz chuckled. "Normally I would be like 'I'm fine' but that's obviously a lie." She said hoarsely.
Eda smiled. She's glad the spark wasn't gone, but the vision of the kid, her kid, in her arms, limp and freezing, would haunt her for years. She brought the girl into her arms, holding her close and stroking her hair.
"Eda?" Luz hugged her back.
"You weren't even breathing…" the woman was holding Luz as if she would vanish if she let go. "I was so scared of losing you. I just got you back."
Luz closed her eyes and snuggled closer to her mentor. "You won't."