With stealth she hadn't thought she was capable of, Eda Clawthorne snatched the bread off of the table.
She walked away quickly, head down for her hood to obscure her face. No need to draw anyone's attention, when her missing poster is all over the market. She was really hoping that what she grabbed was eye loaf, her favorite, but she had learned time and time again that it was better to be far away before she pulled it out of her pocket.
"Wait! Stop her! Thief!" Came a yell from behind her. She cursed under her breath before breaking out into a run. A quick glance behind her showed a handful of Emperor Coven scouts running after her.
Huh. It must have been a slow day if that many were bored enough to chase after a teenage thief.
In a fluid motion, she jumped over the spell blast one sent, used the dirt spike another scout had sent as a jumping platform, and twirled her finger to draw a wall of earth to block the ice sent her way mid jump.
"Ha!" She cackled, hands on hips after she landed. "You're going to have to try harder than that!"
She had more to say, more to brag. She was the strongest witch on the Boiling Isles and she wanted everyone to know it! But the words trailed off as she watched the number of scouts doubled behind her.
"It's the missing Clawthrone girl!" Cried one of the scouts. "Get her!"
"Uh oh." Eda muttered, looking around quickly before running down an alleyway. Seeing a curtain, hung up and out of the way in the dark alley, she made a sharp turn to hide.
Pressing herself against the wall behind the curtain, she took deep breaths as the sounds of the scouts footsteps rushed past. Her blood was pumping. Her hands were shaking. Her heart was racing. She could feel the curse bubbling up, almost slithering under her skin.
She shuddered, holding her arms close to herself. She knew better than that- adrenaline never did her any favors. But it was ok. She had an elixir to fix this for now. She just needed a safe place to use it.
The footsteps stopped outside and she froze, holding her breath. She had been hoping that they would all just run on past, but it seemed a few scouts were just too smart for that. Smart, as rare as that was.
"She has to be here somewhere." Said a scout, much too close for her comfort. She took a careful step backwards, and then another when it didn't draw attention. She looked around. There had to be another way out of here. If she cornered herself, she was going to scream.
And probably transform due to stress, and then what? A group of scouts vs the Owl Beast, cage match! How fun.
To her relief, she spotted a door in the back, dark corner. It was a weird looking door to be sure- it had a giant eyeball on it, for Titan's sake! But beggars can't be choosers, and it's not like she hadn't seen weirder.
Without hesitation, she opened the door a crack and slipped through, making sure it shut behind her with a quiet click.
On the other side of the door, she froze. That door shouldn't have led her outside at all, much less outside the city. The house she was now standing in front of was old, and falling apart, and certainly not something you would find in Bonesborough.
She gulped, slowly stepping down the rickety porch steps of the old house. The trees that surrounded her were a bright green, a shade she had never seen. The grass was also green, weirdly enough, and the strangest thing was how the sky was blue. A bright blue, with a couple of white, fluffy clouds drifting along.
She pulled down her hood, looking around slowly with wide eyes, trying to take everything in. Where was she? Where had that door taken her to?
"Now who do we have here?" Came a voice from behind her. Eda flinched, not used to being startled like that, and drew a spell circle without thinking as she whirled around.
Short brown hair, scar above her eye and a heavy jacket on, the woman that snuck up on her held her hands up, giving a squeaky, "eep!" As she did so. "Oh! A little witch! Did I forget to lock the door?"
Eda's eyes flickered to the woman's ears, and her spell circle flickered away as the realization washed over her.
The woman's ears were round. The green grass. The blue sky. The woman was human. This strange land she found herself in was the human realm.
Wow, part of her had always thought this place was a myth.
The woman's hands fell as she relaxed, now no longer being actively threatened. "Well it's nice to meet you! I'm Luz! Human of the demon realm!"
"Human of the huh?" Eda scrunched her face, staring at Luz, as if to make sense of her. There weren't any humans in the demon realm. Was there?
As if feeling her doubts, a small, blue snake slithered out from Luz's sleeve, floating up to her head and making a happy, hissing noise. Eda was shocked. A Palismen? With her? Luz laughed.
"I know, I know String Bean! I need to be better about locking the door!" Luz gave Eda a smile, stepping closer. "This is all my mistake, so how about we both just go back through the door? We can pretend this never happened."
Back through the door. Back to the alleyway, back to the scouts. Eda scowled, drawing another circle. Luz stopped in her tracks.
"What if I say no?" Eda asked, heart racing. She needed to calm down. She needed to drink her elixir. "You're human. You don't have powers. You can't make me go back."
Luz was silent, looking at her for a long moment. Eda tried to stare back, but her fidgets got the best of her, even when she was trying to be intimidating. Finally, Luz asked, "Are you threatening me?"
"I-Yes! Yes I am!" Eda said, as proudly as she could. Luz mouthed the word, "wow" before holding out her hand. In a heartbeat, String Bean shifted into a staff, something Eda definitely should have guessed would happen.
But, hey. You can't blame her. She was tired, and hungry, and in real need to drink her elixir. Screw her if she missed some obvious things.
Before she could react, Luz charged forward, swiping her staff out in front of her. The line of magic flew out to Eda quickly, knocking her back before she could blink. For a moment she was convinced she was going to hit the door, but with a creak, the door opened on its own, causing her to simply fly through it.
What she did crash into was a shelf of what looked like human junk, causing it to clatter on the floor. She laid there, trying to get her bearings, rubbing her head.
"Whoops!" Eda looked up, seeing Luz run through the door. She looked sheepish, and maybe a little worried. "I didn't mean to knock you back that far! Did I hurt you?"
The door shut with a loud click, before folding up into a suitcase and disappearing through the floor. Eda watched it with wide eyes for a moment before jerking up to her feet.
"Of course not! You can't hurt me!" She boasted, ignoring the headache the landing formed. And the pressure still under her skin. "I'm Eda Clawthorne! Most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles!"
"Oh." Luz looked at her wide eyed before smiling. "Then how come I haven't heard of you?"
Eda felt her cheeks heat up, but she kept the confidence going. "How could you not have? I have wanted posters all around town."
Missing posters. Wanted posters. Same difference, really. Luz opened her mouth to say something back, her expression disbelieving, when a couple of scouts burst through the curtain, spell circles at the ready.
"Found you, brat!" Yelled the bigger one. Eda gulped. She was trapped, backed in a corner, and stuck in a way she didn't like. "With the Wild Witch Luzura, of all people! You're both under arrest!"
"Well, it wasn't all a lie then." She heard Luz mutter, before a bright, blinding light filled the small space. The scouts yelped, screaming that they couldn't see. Eda froze, curse threatening to take over as she felt someone scoop her up off the ground, onto a staff in the air.
"I'll get you out of here!" Said Luz, much too happy for what was happening as she flew up and out of reach of the scouts. Eda swallowed thickly, feeling feathers sprout under her clothes. Quickly she shifted, forcing one arm to move as the other kept her balance on the staff. It was harder, much harder, than it had any right to be, but she had to count her blessings that she was able to do this at all.
Luz was saying something as they flew. Eda wasn't listening, more focused on digging an elixir out from her bag. Finally finding one, she pulled the cork out with her teeth.
Her hands were shaky, and she was being hasty, but she got it done. Spilling only a little on her cloak, she chugged it as fast as she could, throwing the empty bottle over her shoulder once she was done. She leaned her head against Luz's back, panting and much too tired to feel embarrassed.
"Wow! Must have been a good drink!" Luz commented. "You ok back there?"
"Peachy." Eda muttered, forcing herself to lean back. The sky was darkening already, she noticed as they flew. That was surprising. It had only been mid afternoon when she stole the bread. "Where are we going?"
"My house!" Luz swooped down, causing Eda to hold on tight to simply keep her balance. The down angle was sharp, and Eda forced herself still and against the urge to simply jump ship. With a flourish, Luz showed she knew what she was doing as she turned up sharply, landing perfectly onto the ground.
Eda slipped off the staff, shaky despite herself. The staff collapsed as soon as she was off, with String Bean floating up and back inside Luz's sleeve.
"Welcome! To the Owl House!" Luz swept her arm out, smiling and excited to show her house off. Eda stared at the human for a long moment before turning to look at the house. It was nice, she guessed, if a little old looking. At least two stories, with stained glass windows and a big, crumbling tower behind it.
Eda supposed she enjoyed the stained glass eye on the biggest window, and the owl door knocker, but that was about it.
"Hooty, let us in!" Luz said, walking up to the door.
"What's the password?" The owl door knocker asked, and Eda was abruptly aware that that thing wasn't a door knocker but a weird house demon.
"Hooty." Luz said, scolding.
"Alright alright! Hoot hoot." The door opened wide, letting the two of them inside. "One entrance for Luz and guest!"
Luz walked inside without a care. Eda hesitated, eyes flickering between the open door and the path out into the woods. This seemed dangerous, and against all stranger danger lessons from her youth.
But Luz seemed nice, and Eda was hungry, and tired.
So, with a deep breath, Eda stepped into the Owl House for the first time.
xXx
"So what did you do so bad that got the guards after you?" Luz asked as she puttered around the kitchen. Eda huffed, and puffed out her chest as she ate her loaf of eye bread.
"I told you! I'm the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles!" She boasted. Luz laughed, setting a plate of griffin eggs down in front of her. Eda froze for a moment, eyes flickering quickly between the plate and Luz, looking for whatever trick this was.
Finding none, she picked up her fork and dug in quickly. She couldn't help it! It had been way too long since she ate hot food like this.
"Slow down! It's not going anywhere." Luz said, sitting down on the other side of the table. "Also, I think a better title of yours would be 'The most wanted kid in the Boiling Isles', Eda."
Eda froze mid bite, looking at Luz with wide eyes.
"Didn't think I would figure it out?" Luz crossed her arms. "You look like a runaway kid. Your clothes are filthy. You were trying to hide the fact that you were eating that bread when we got in here."
Oh, she noticed. Maybe that was why she made Eda food like that.
"Also, you gave me your real name during your boast." Luz held up a missing poster that clearly had Eda on it, with her full name under the picture and a big bounty under that. "Maybe think about a fake name."
"Like what? Luzura?" Eda made a face, gesturing back to the wanted poster in the living room. Big, above the couch sat a stylized wanted poster of Luz, in a white robe and pointy hat, and a small demon dog next to her. Under the picture, and above the ridiculously high bounty, was the name 'Wild Witch Luzura.'
"Well I wanted it to say, 'The Great Witch Luzura' but I guess that was asking too much." Luz said, looking at the bounty over her shoulder. "But that picture did remind me that King should be waking up soon-"
"King?" Eda questioned, turning back to her confused. Was there someone else here?
That was when, of course, the back door slammed open, making Eda ad Luz both jump.
"King's home!" Hooty called out from the front. Luz sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Ay dios mío," She muttered before calling out, "Thank you Hooty!" She then turned to the back door, narrowing her eyes at the small demon that was walking in.
Eda stared, wide eyed. The little demon was… surprisingly cute. Just a little guy, black furred with two horns, one broken. He was wearing just a small cape and a collar around his neck, with a stylized K on it.
"You know you're supposed to stay home when I'm out, King." Luz scolded half heartedly. "What if you got hurt?"
"I was still in Hooty's range!" The little demon,King said, waving his paw. "And who is this?"
He scrambled up the table, nearly stepping in Eda's half eaten plate of food to get in her face. She jerked back, startled.
"Uh… hi, little dude." She said. King huffed, stomping his paw.
"You will show me respect! I am the king of all demons!" He said, like a child throwing a tantrum. Eda blinked, before laughing, just a little.
"Why would that make me respect you? I'm not a demon!"
"But-but-but!" King stomped his foot. Luz, behind him, had her hand covering her smile, shoulders shaking with chuckles. "I demand respect! I am a conqueror!"
"I'll believe it when I see it." Eda said, giving him a small push away so she could finish her eggs. No need to waste good food like that. King gasped at the push, running over to Luz and climbing onto her shoulder.
"You brought her here!" He accused, holding the human tightly for comfort despite his words. "You brought the non believer here! ¡¿Como pudiste hacer esto?!"
Luz finally lost control of her chuckles, laughing loudly as she scratched under his broken horn. "Oh, King. I didn't know, ok? I'm sorry."
"I demand an apology!"
"I'm not apologizing." Eda stated, finishing her food off. Luz hummed, looking down at her now empty plate, before looking up to make eye contact with Eda, a smile on her face.
"Actually, I can think of something better than an apology."
xXx
"Why are we heading to the Conformatorium?" Eda asked, holding on the Luz tight as the human flew quickly. This was a horrible idea on her part. Trusting these two that she just met? Enough to break into prison? Part of her wondered if she would survive just jumping off the staff if Luz was actually just taking her to jail.
"I told you!" Luz said, looking back, now wearing a hat to cover her ears. Eda flinched a bit as she dodged a bird without looking. "This is the deal! You, the oh so mighty witch, will help me get King's crown of power back!"
"I will once again be powerful!" King yelled from his place in the front. "Trembe, the beings who mocked me!"
"And in exchange, not only would you have made it up to King for making fun of him," Luz continued, talking over King. "But I also won't give you to magical cps!"
"...what's cps?" Eda had to ask as they slowed down. They floated up to the wall of the prison quietly, hiding under a window.
"Oh! Um… Child protective services, back in the human realm." Luz explained quietly, lifting King up to the widow. She then tilted the staff a bit so Eda could jump through after the little demon. "Ok just stay safe, and cause some mischief! I'll go get the crown!"
"Isn't this a little dangerous?" Eda asked before Luz could fly off. Next to her, King flipped the hood of his cloak up, revealing that it had two holes for his horns.
"Scared?" Luz taunted. Eda huffed.
"Of course not!" And she wasn't. Not at all. It wasn't like she was currently in jail, one of the places she feared she would end up after everything that happened to her parents and her running away.
Oh, she could just see the disappointed faces of her mother, sister, and father if she got caught here. But she would have bigger problems at that point.
"Good! Don't get caught!" Was all Luz gave before falling off, going upwards. Eda frowned, watching her leave before looking down at King. She smiled, not being able to help it. Mischief was her game after all, and it was what she was truely best at.
"You ready?" She asked. King jumped in place, throwing his arms up.
"Weh!" He cried with confidence, before running off.
Well, she'll take that as a yes.
xXx
With three guards stuck on ice, two small pits appearing and taking some of the break room with it, and one minor explosion, Eda and King ran down the hall, laughing.
"This is great!" Eda said, as loudly as she felt comfortable with. She skidded to a stop at a corner, pressing herself up against the wall to make sure the coast was clear.
"I can't wait to tell Luz about all of this!" King said, climbing up to rest on her shoulder. He went to say something more, but Eda held a hand up to keep him quiet.
Just around the corner were two guards, flanking what looked like the Warden of the jail. They seemed to be distracted, giving a frantic report about what was happening, but Eda didn't want to test her luck.
She took a quick glance around, and only spotted one way out. She could go forward, and she couldn't go back into the chaos she had already strewn, so through the closest door was going to have to work.
She opened the door slowly, not wanting it to make noise, and closed it just as slowly after she slipped in. The door softly clicked and she took a step back to listen.
Hearing no footsteps come near her, she turned around. And stopped.
"Woah." she muttered. King whistled in her ear. The two of them marveled for a moment at the amount of prison cells before them, all of them occupied by shadowy beasts of varying shapes and sizes. Well, they found the prisoners, at least.
"Hey!" Eda turned, eyes finding the teen that called. Smaller than her, with bluish hair and glasses, they were kinda cute. "How'd you get out of your cell?"
"Huh? Oh no, no!" She chuckled, walking over as King jumped down to look around. "I'm not caught. I'm too good for that."
"Wow, thanks." The teen said, sounding annoyed but looking amused. "Are you the one causing the explosions?"
"Yeah! Some of my finest work, if I do say so myself." Eda put her hands to her hips, leaning in to get a better look at the teen. They looked harmless. What could they have possibly done? "What did you do to get all locked up?"
"Nothing!" They said, frowning. "Nothing that bad, anyway. The stupid warden likes to lock people up who don't fit in."
"I'm here because I like eating my own eyes." A demon with four eyes cut in from the cell over. As he talked, he picked an eye out of his head and swallowed it. Both Eda and the teen made grossed out faces, even as the eye floated back into place.
From the next cell in line, a small white demon stuck their nose out. Well, most of their head, really as their head was mostly nose. "We are agents of fwee expwession!" She said, loudly. "They will never siwence us!"
"Yeah, she's really big into conspiracy theories." The teen said, sounding tired.
"The world is a simulation! We are but playthings for a higher being! This isn't how the world is supposed to be! The world is all swapped around!" The big nose, small head demon continued to yell. Eda turned away from them, trying to tune her out.
"What about you? You haven't said what you did," Eda gave the now blushing teen a look. "Come on, spit it out."
"Oh my titan, it was so stupid." The teen groaned, lowering their head. "I was writing a song, and the lyrics were a bit…. Anti the Conformitorium? No one was supposed to be around to hear it!"
Eda laughed at the thought. "You should play that for me sometime!" She said, giving the teen a wink, before looking down at King. "What do you say? Prison break?"
The small demon blinked before jumping up, grabbing the lever for the cells. "Prison break!" He yelled, swinging feet off the ground as he hung off the lever. It seemed he wasn't heavy enough to pull it down.
Eda rolled her eyes fondly, twirling her finger. At once, all the levers in the room pulled down, opening all the cells.
She grabbed King before he could hit the floor, getting ready to run out of the room before the guards showed up.
"Thank you!" The teen said, stopping her for a moment as the prisoners started swarming around them. "My parents would have killed me if they found out."
"Yeah, well." Eda shrugged. "These weren't crimes. None of you actually did anything wrong. You're all just a bunch of weirdos. Like me!"
She turned and ran out the door, missing whatever answer the teen would have given.
She was lucky to run out when she did, hiding around the corner just as the guards rushed in the room. She hoped the teen got out of there quickly.
"Come on!" King said, tugging on her shirt. "Luz said to meet her up on the roof."
With one more glance behind her at the chaos, Eda took King and ran up the stairs.
xXx
Luz was indeed waitin for them at the roof when the two got up there.
King wiggled in her arms, wanting to be let down. "My crown! It's close! I can sense its power!" He cried, jumping down and running over to Luz.
"Aw, he's kinda cute when he's thirsty for power." Eda said, walking over. Luz laughed, reaching into the bag that was now tied to her staff.
"He really is." She agreed. King jumped for attention, waving his arms. "I'm getting it! I'm getting it!"
"How much junk did you get?' Eda leaned over a jumping King, trying to look in the bag. Luz gasped, offended.
"Hey! This is not just any junk! It's junk I can sell!" She said, finally pulling something out of the bag. "Here you go King! I found it!"
"Yay!" King cheered, putting the flimsy crown on his head, over his hood. Eda looked at them in disbelief.
"Wait a second. Is that…?" She couldn't believe it. All of this, for a crown made of paper? It looked old, and gross, and it had some kinda logo on it, so Eda was sure it wasn't handmade!
"My crown! You see it right!" King posed for her, misunderstanding her staring. "I can feel my powers returning!"
"I got something else for you, King!" Luz said, pulling something else out of the bag. It was a little stuffed rabbit, half falling apart. It only had one button eye left, and it was holding on for dear life.
"Yes! A new subject!" King cheered, grabbing the toy and squeezing it. For the first time, Eda realized just how young this little demon was. "I shall call you Francois, and you shall be a minion in my army of darkness. Ha-ha!'
Eda watched as King ran off towards the edge. Stepping closer to Luz, so King wouldn't hear, she said, "That crown doesn't give him any powers, does it?"
"Absolutely not!" Luz said, brightly. Eda gave her an unimpressed look.
"So this was all for nothing?"
"Oh, lighten up!" Luz laughed, slipping off the staff. "Come on, look at us, Eda. King and I don't have much in this world. We only have each other. So if that dumb crown is important to him, it's important to me. And besides," She clapped Eda's shoulder, giving her a mischievous look. "Us weirdos have to stick together, you know?"
Eda blinked, looking at the human surprised. A smile broke out on her face without her permission, and a laugh escaped her throat.
Wow, this was the most…. included she had felt in a long time. Even before what happened with her father, even before she ran away. Heck, maybe even before she woke up cursed. It was nice. She hadn't realized that she missed this.
"We do owe you one." Luz continued. "Now, let's get out of here before Warden Wrath finds us!"
"Too late." Came a voice from behind Eda, causing her to freeze. Luz looked up over her shoulder, face falling in horror and determination as she pushed Eda behind her.
"Get King, and get on the staff." Luz commanded, pulling out some papers as the warden stalked closer to them.
"But-!" Eda tried to protest as Warden Wrath grabbed King, turning his hand into a blade.
"Finally," He said, voice deep. Luz pushed Eda back, causing her to stumble onto the staff. "I have you cornered, Wild Witch Luzura!"
"Unhand me!" King yelled, struggling in the warden's arms.
"Let him go!" Luz snapped. Eda gripped the staff, eyes flickering back and forth as she tried to find an opening.
"My guards could never get you, but I knew if I took your pet's toy, you'd come running." Warden Wrath continued, ignoring them. He reached up and crumbled the crown, causing King to freeze in his arms.
"No! My power!" The little demon cried.
"What do you want with me?" Luz yelled. "I've never actually broken any of your stupid laws!" A pause. "That you know of."
"Catching you will be the highlight of my career-" He tried to boast, only to be cut off with a yelp of pain as a rock hit his head. He dropped King to hold his head, and the small demon ran quickly over to Luz.
Luz looked back at Eda, surprised. Eda grinned, finger still up. The human laughed, throwing King onto the staff before leaping to stand on the staff herself.
"Warden Wrath!" She called, head held high and shoulders squared. The warden growled, stalking forward. "Do not underestimate me, for I am the Good Witch Luzura, Wild Witch of the Isles!" Eda twirled her finger, blowing Luz's hair back. This needed dramatic wind. Luz smirked as Warden Wrath got close enough to grab them, yelling, "Now eat this, sucka!"
She threw the paper in her hand at the warden. Attaching to Warden Wrath, it glowed, before suddenly turning to fire.
"Huh-?" The warden cut off with a scream as the fire threw him back into the wall, causing a giant hole in the concrete. Eda whistled, impressed, as Luz flew them off quickly with a whoop.
"How did you do that?!" Eda yelled over the wind. Luz laughed.
"Glyphs! I'll have to teach you sometime!" She yelled back, flying back to the Owl House.
Eda glanced back at the chaos that they left the prison in. Before they got too far, she saw the teen from before on the sidewalk, waving happily.
She smiled, and waved back as the prison disappeared over the horizon.
xXx
"We need to do that again!" Eda cheered as Hooty let them in.
"Maybe not." Luz said, collapsing onto the couch with a sigh. "That was probably a bad idea to drag you into that. Well, a deal is a deal!" She smiled at Eda as King curled up next to her, hiding in his cloak and hugging his new toy. "I won't take you back to your parents, lost child."
"Ha! Thanks." Eda said, sitting on the coffee table. She paused, looking up at the wanted poster above the couch. "Hey, why does everyone think you're a witch?"
"Oh uh," Luz craned her neck to look back at the poster. "I didn't mean to? But people do respect me more as a witch, so oh well!"
Eda frowned. "That's not an answer."
"Ok, then answer me this." Luz smiled at her. "Why did you run away from home?"
Eda fell silent. That was none of Luz's business. Luz sighed, curling up on the couch.
"I won't push." She said. "I know what it's like to run away. But…"
She paused, giving Eda a long look.
"Do you want to stay here?"
Eda sat up straight, surprised. She wasn't sure she didn't hear her correctly.
"Uh…. Repeat that?"
"Do you want to stay here, with us." Luz smiled at her tiredly. "I don't fit in. You don't fit in. If you stay, we could not fit in together. It has to be better than the streets."
Eda didn't answer right away, looking at Luz. Then she looked around, taking in the junk cluttering every surface. Through the window, she could see Hooty watching them with a smile.
Then, she looked at King, who was still curled up under his cloak. She hesitated, before pulling a paper out of her pocket. It was crumbled, and ripped a little when she tried to straighten it out, but it would do.
She folded quickly. The paper was small, so the end product was smaller, but that was fine. With a smile, she stood up and gently pushed King's hood back.
The little demon glared at her, but his eyes turned wide and happy as Eda placed a little paper crown onto his head.
"This shall suffice." King said, sniffling. Wow, she didn't mean to make him cry. Oh well. She turned back to Luz, who was looking at them fondly.
"I would love to stay."