Chapter Nine
For the few who knew her so well, it wasn't a big surprise that Luz was a snorer. In her room at her mentor's house, she hung off the side of her bed with her mouth gaping and her limbs splayed, snoring loudly as she recovered from the massive light spell and a long-term leveation to move the cockatrice the day before. For a relatively fresh apprentice, it was exhausting and she'd crashed nearly the moment she'd crossed the Owl House's threshold.
As she snored away, the papers on her desk began to rustle in a sudden breeze. The transparent owl-face of Hooty appeared in the room and moved around to see what he had sensed, his quiet agitation making small items in the room rattle. It was enough to rouse Luz, who snorted and blinked her eyes open before grunting at a pounding in her head.
"Good morning, Luz," Hooty said, more distracted than normal.
"Hooty, I told you not to come in my room," she grunted. "Why are you in my room, anyway?"
"Oh Luz, I'm always here, even if I don't seem like it," Hooty said ominously. Then he laughed. "Or, since I'm the house, your room is always inside me! Hoot hoot!"
"Okay," Luz said, mildly creeped out by that thought, "so why are you showing yourself?"
"Something's trying to get in," Hooty explained. "It's familiar, but I'm not sure what-"
There was a tapping at the window, which Hooty allowed to open to reveal a dark-purple entity in the shape of a bird. In its beak was a letter on rich stationary, and a drop of muck fell from its tail.
"Hermosa!" Luz cried out, lunging for the bird but falling on the ground as she got tangled in her sheets. She extricated herself and stroked the muck-bird's head before taking the letter with a nod of thanks. The bird-thing nodded and launched itself off the sill and into the open air before dissolving into normal mud and splattering the grass outside the window.
Luz opened the letter and scanned it, her eyes widening and a smile stretching across her lips. By the time she'd finished, her eyes were sparkling and she had to work to hold in a squeal. Not just about who was coming to visit, but who they would meet. She rushed to get dressed as she started planning out the day. It had been a few days of recuperation since the cockatrice incident, and Willow and Hunter still had a few days left before they had to get back on the road and to work.
And with the news in that letter, Luz would be able to knock out two friendship birds with one stone.
"Bones and muck," Eda swore. "I thought that one would be a keeper."
Willow covered her nose at the stench from Eda's latest concoction. The Owl Lady had graciously been spending her spare time devising a solution to Willow's feeding problem. Beyond even her and Hunter's ever-rising physical attraction, the idea of being free from the pull of her darker nature was her greatest hope. But everything they'd tried since they'd arrived had failed.
"Are you sure you won't give me the recipe for that potion you gave me after the cockatrice attack?" Willow asked.
"That thing was full of ingredients that are way too rare to rely on," Eda said, rubbing her eyes. "Besides, it was a temporary boost for an emergency. I thought you wanted a more permanent solution?"
"I do," Willow said, wringing her hands. "So what's next?"
"Potions have been a complete bust," Eda groused. "So I think it's time we move on to something else." She leafed through some books and began reading. "Maybe lull your demon instincts to sleep? That would solve the feeding issue."
"It would also leave me unable to tell if I was hungry," Willow reasoned. "That could lead to a …" she shuddered, "frenzy." Such was the term for when a starving succubus or incubus went on a mindless feeding spree, something Willow feared more than almost anything.
"Okay, that's out," Eda commented dryly. "How about-?"
"Eda?" Luz called from the basement door. "Have you seen Willow?"
"Down here!" Willow called.
"Come on up! I want to introduce you and Hunter to someone in town!"
Willow looked at Eda, who waved her away. "Go have fun, Glasses. I could use a break. We'll hit this fresh later."
"Thank you, Eda," Willow said. "For everything."
"Run along before I throw up," Eda groused, though there was a faint smile on her lips. As Willow ran up the stairs to join her friends, Eda's smile faded into a neutral line. She wanted to help that kid, she really did.
But how do you overwrite what you were born to be?
"Willow, Hunter, meet my Mami and Hermanita!" Luz said.
She gestured to two people sitting on a stone bench in Gravesfield's small park, surrounded by willow trees whose drooping branches shielded them from view. One was a solidly-built woman with Luz's brown hair cut at chin length and darker brown eyes and skin. Square spectacles sat over her eyes and she smiled at them in a way that brought warmth to one's insides. She was dressed in a simple healer's smock and trousers, the orange band of an animal healer looped around her waist.
Luz's mother, Camila Noceda.
The other woman, really a girl, bore a striking resemblance to Luz, though she was clearly younger, about in her mid-teens. Her hair was longer, reaching her shoulders, and was held back with a cloth headband. Freckles dotted her face, and her eyes were brighter than Luz's or Camila's, like burnished gold. She wore a yellow tunic and green skirt with simple slippers.
Vee, she was named.
"Nice to meet you," Hunter said simply.
"It's so nice to finally meet you both!" Willow squealed, firmly shaking Camila's hand and being more gentle with Vee's. "Luz has told me so much about you both in her letters."
"How much?" Vee asked timidly.
"Probably more than she should have," Willow said, eyeing Luz.
"I thought you two could bond over it!" Luz pouted, crossing her arms.
"Bond over what?" Hunter asked.
That made everyone trade glances, which only confused him further. In the end, everyone looked to Vee for an answer and she swallowed before nodding. Camila took her right hand in a reassuring grip, while Luz moved to stand beside her and take her left. Their family stood slide-by-side in a front of solidarity.
"Brace yourselves," Vee warned gently. Willow stood beside Hunter and took his arm in hers before nodding.
With a sigh, Vee's shape changed. One moment she looked like an average older girl, and the next she shivered and standing before them … was something Hunter had only ever read about.
Vee's skin — composed of scales on closer inspection — was swamp green on her back and flanks, while her belly was more ash-grey. She had blue hair that hung like a fluffy curtain to frame a round face with wide eyes of light-blue sclera, dark irises, and golden pupils, with wavering lips and small fangs. The rest of her body was somehow both chubby and serpentine, with clawed hands and a waist that transitioned into a snake's tail tipped with another tuft of blue hair.
"Basilisk," Hunter breathed, instinctively tensing to attack. But Willow tightened her grip on his arm in a silent plea to calm down. He looked closer at the family and realized that the Nocedas were looking at him expectantly, though Vee also seemed afraid.
"You're so pretty, Vee," Willow complimented sweetly. "Isn't she, Hunter?"
"She's seems like a healthy … girl," Hunter said, tripping over his words. "Though I'm surprised there are any living basilisks."
"There are a few of us left," Vee confirmed. "We were in hibernation for centuries before someone discovered us. They chained us up and called us monsters, and then they summoned the Daybreakers to take us away."
"How'd you escape?" Hunter asked.
"Luck," Vee replied. "One of my shackles was rusted enough for my older brother to break, which let me get a hold of the keys. We freed ourselves and scattered to find new homes."
"How long were you in hiding?" Willow asked.
"About three months," Vee said, hugging herself. This prompted Camila and Luz to hug her, too. "I came here by chance and Eda found me. Luz was the one who introduced me to Camila. She said an animal healer would be best to handle a basilisk. And she was worried Mami was getting lonely with Luz busy with her apprenticeship."
"It took some adjustment, mind you," Camila chuckled, brushing Vee's hair out of her face. "But she's become just as much my daughter as Luz."
"That's so sweet," Willow said, eyes shining.
"Yeah, it really is," Hunter said, carefully hiding a smile. Then he frowned a bit. "To be clear, how many people actually know about your situation?"
"Just Mami, Luz, and Eda," Vee said.
"Then you should probably disguise yourself again," Hunter said, glancing around for wayward eyes. "Just in case."
Everyone got the message: Hunter would not report her. He trusted Luz's judgment and the fact that she would never propose a living arrangement that might hurt her mother.
"So, what about you two?" Camila asked as Vee resumed her human form with a grateful smile to Hunter. "Luz has told me some things about her friends, such as Hunter's occupation." She smiled and winked at him, to be met with a roll of his eyes. "And she told me, Willow, that you were like Vee somehow." She tilted her head. "What did she mean by that?"
Willow smiled nervously and shifted her shoulders to unfurl her bat-like wings, lifted her dress skirt to free her heart-spaded tail, and allowed her short horns to curl back from the corners of her forehead.
"A succubus?" Camila asked in shock.
"Ah, c'mon, Willow!" Luz pouted. "That's weak sauce! Show us your real other self, girl!"
"Luz," Camila and Hunter scolded in perfect unison. Camila looked at Hunter, who unceremoniously backed down in respect to Luz's mother. "If Willow is uncomfortable with herself, do not pressure her," Camila continued.
"What about you, Vee?" Luz pressed. "Don't you wanna see Willow go all-out?"
"Luz-" Hunter growled.
"Would you?" Willow asked Vee.
"I mean-" Vee fiddled with her fingers, blushing a bit at the attention. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"That's not what I asked," Willow said kindly. "Would you like to see all of me, just as you showed us all of you?"
Vee looked up into Willow's eyes and saw no judgment, simply curiosity. She nodded faintly.
Willow nodded back and looked at Hunter. "Close your eyes," she said. He sighed through his nose and did as he was asked, going so far as to cover his eyes with his palms.
Willow unbuttoned her dress from its low back and slipped out of it along with her shift, bare to the world. With that, she took a breath and dipped the mental equivalent of a toe into her darker nature to summon the cool power within herself. Horns curled back from her forehead and her talons grew from her fingers and toes, her heart-spaded tail uncoiling from her waist to flick behind her. She braced her stance and flared her wings, giving a trilling hiss as she showed her other side.
Camila covered her mouth with a palm, trembling from instinctive fear that was carefully managed by her motherly instincts, while Luz giggled and clapped her hands with childish glee. Vee looked at Willow with wide eyes, shocked by her willingness to show her true nature to what amounted to a few strangers just to make a fellow monster feel better.
"Can we hurry this up?" Hunter grunted, his body tense and his cheeks red under his covering hands.
Willow giggled and surfaced from her darker side, her inhuman features retreating as she put her clothes back on and manually removed Hunter's hands from over his eyes. "Thank you for that," she whispered.
"Of course," he replied with a blush.
"Que precioso," Camila cooed. "You've found a noble one, Willow."
"I know," she giggled and leaned her head over Hunter's shoulder, weaving their fingers.
"Willow?" Vee asked tentatively. "If I may … how did you arrive on Earth?"
Willow tensed and Hunter squeezed her hand to comfort her and she sat up. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I was summoned," she began, and the rest of the tale spilled forth.
The crescent moon hung over the Maxill mountain range. A range of craggy, granite hills that resembled the lower jaw of some terrifying beast, they were spoken of in whispers by the locals of Mouton fiefdom. During the day, they were fine … but at night, horrid sounds echoed from those hills.
Tonight, something far more evil walked the granite peaks.
Lady Vara and Lord Bauer strode the tops of the hills in search of the linchpin of their plan. Vara shivered and drew close to her husband, his fiery hair helping to keep her warm.
"I can never understand what our daughter liked about this frigid realm," she grumbled.
"Likes," Bauer corrected in his rumbling voice. "She will return soon enough, Dear."
"True," Vara said, her tone softened just a hair before she curled her lip at the stony land around them.
"I think she likes the weakness of mankind," Bauer said. "They are easy to lure or to kill." His lips spread in a wide, vicious grin at that word before he settled down again. "It is easy to take power in this place that you can use however you wish."
"Easy may not be the right word, Dear," Vara sneered. "She got herself killed up here."
"Also true," he agreed.
They settled into silence for some time before they found a crevice in the granite, a cave with its entrance littered with bones. Most of them were from sheep or goats, but others were human. And if Vara was right … none of them were male. And their pelvises were cracked.
Vara offered a small, cruel smile before she nipped her husband's shoulder and strutted forward. She cast off the loose, snow-white garment she'd worn to reveal herself to the open world. She chuckled throatily before opening her mouth … and singing.
There were no words, none were needed. Vara sang a slow, plusing, haunting melody that rolled over the hills and into the cave to wake its denizen. She infused her voice with her power, with the unholy allure of a succubus that could lift men from their lives and tear their minds asunder.
Clouds rolled to cover the sliver of moon, as if hiding the pure moonlight from sight. Bauer held his breath and the flames of his hair settled into glowing coals so as to not draw attention. No, that would be for his wife's role, alone.
From the cave mouth came a snuffling noise and a rumbling growl. Sharp clacking noises echoed from the dark opening, though they did not interrupt the music. Vara upped her pitch and poured more of her power into her voice, her experience serving her well from her own foolish youth rising to Earth and charming mortals for her games and power.
More snuffling came from the entrance and a large, dark figure arose in a hunched stance. Detail was all but impossible to see in the darkness, but its humanoid form was broad even as it was emaciated. The creature growled again, before lumbering forward with more clacking sounds. The beast loomed over Vara, who showed no signs of fear.
With its attention on the lady, the lord skulked behind and slipped his arms under the beast's own and then up to lock behind its head to trap it. The beast went berserk and thrashed for freedom, but it had no leverage to move against Bauer. Even so, the beast's strength was considerable and he had trouble keeping it restrained even with his own great power.
Vara strode forward and reached up to press her claws into the sides of the beasts neck, close to its face but safe from its thrashing jaws. She continued to sing, also allowing her scent to waft into its muzzle and soothe it. Though she was careful not to breathe herself; the beast's musk was only as horrible as it was overpowering. Even for a creature of the sulphurous Belowlands.
Slowly, the beast calmed somewhat, its frame still tense as it stopped fighting. Vara dragged her nails downward, leaving bleeding gashes along its hide, to settle her hands over its thundering heart. "You are mine, now," she hissed. The beast shivered and she dug her talons deeper. "You want me, creature."
And it did. She could feel the primal lust rolling off this thing in waves. Not just because of her, but because of what it was. The sin of lust was woven into its very being. She simply needed to focus it upon her. To ensnare its feeble mind in her whims.
"You might have one like me," she purred, "if you can take her." She pulled one hand from its chest and stroked its face, smearing blood over its sunken cheek. "Rest, strong one," she crooned. "She will be here soon."
The beast rumbled and nodded. She removed her other hand and nodded for Bauer to release it. The thing turned and lumbered into its lair to sleep until its time came.
"You never cease to amaze, Dearest," Bauer said.
"After we wash this filth and stench from ourselves," Vara replied, her skin flushing, "perhaps I can amaze even more."
Bauer offered a wide, terrible smile at those words.
"Luz, are you sure you're okay?" Hunter asked.
"I'm more than okay! I'm great!" Luz said as she continued pacing in front of the Owl House's front door, a wide smile on her face. "I'm so excited!"
The group had gotten back from visiting Luz's family a few hours ago, and in that time Luz's energy seemed to slowly grow until she couldn't contain it anymore. She'd been doing everything from cleaning to practicing fire magic to pacing just as she was now.
"I don't suppose you'll tell us more about who's got you so excited?" Willow asked.
"Nope! Gotta be a surprise!" Luz said fearsomely, her grin somehow even bigger. She was waving her hands in front of her as she paced by now, and Hunter honestly wondered if she might spontaneously combust.
That turned out to not be a problem when the sound of a carriage arose from outside.
"Oh my gosh, she's here!" Luz squealed. "Okay, you two stay in here and wait for my signal! I want this to be perfect." With that, she bolted out the door and toward a large, purple carriage pulled by horses made of sludge, their manes wavering like seaweed in a lake and green fires burning in their eye sockets.
The carriage wheeled to the side and halted, an opening expanding to allow the occupants to exit.
First came Lady Lilith, Eda's older sister. She was as tall, slender, and pale as her Eda, though her eyes were teal green instead of gold and her hair still black and glossy with only a single streak of silver, unlike the silvery-grey that had replaced Eda's youthful orange hair. She was dressed in an aqua dress and leather corset, with tights and heeled shoes, round glasses perched on her nose.
"Hi, Aunt Lilith," Luz said, hugging the woman.
"Hello, Luz," Lilith greeted warmly. A white raven flew from within the carriage and settled on its roof, croaking at Luz.
"Hi, Frosty!" Luz called to her aunt's familiar.
Only then did the second rider descend from the carriage, a young woman with auburn hair pulled back in a tail, decorated with a single mint-green streak and the tips colored lilac. Her skin was pale as bone, and her eyes like burnished gold. She was dressed in a black tunic and orchid tights with shoes like her mentor's, her nails painted black.
"Luz," she breathed.
"Amity!" Luz squealed and swept her ladyfriend — Amity being a literal lady — up in a spinning hug that left both of them giggling like mad. "Gah, it's so good to see you, mi amour!"
"And you, batata," Amity agreed, resting her forehead against Luz's.
"I think I'll go find out what Edalyn is up to," Lilith said, half-believing they wouldn't hear her from their own little world.
"Okay, sounds good," Amity said.
"Oh Amity, I have a surprise!" Luz giggled. "You know the friends I've been writing to you about?" Amity nodded. "They're here! And they wanna meet you!"
"Finally," Amity giggled. "I can at least put faces to names."
"Heck yeah, you can!" Luz said. "Alright guys, come on out!" Willow and Hunter emerged from the Owl House hand-in-hand. "Willow Park, Hunter Wittebane, I'd like you-" The wind changed, "-to meet Amity-"
"Blight," Willow gasped, her nostrils flaring and her body locking in horror. Horror that changed like a flash into seething rage. "Blight!" she shouted, her talons emerging. She hissed and leapt into the air, her wings flaring, to slash at Lady Amity Blight.
Chapter nine is here! My deepest apologies for the wait on this one - inspiration can be a finicky mistress. I do hope this makes up for it!
*Camila's Spanish translates to "How precious" while Luz's is "My love". Plus, the canonical "batata".
*In Vara and Bauer's segment, the fiefdom of Mouton is French for "sheep" and "Maxill" mountains is an alternate term for the jaw bone, a refernce to their appearance. *And yes, the fiefdom's name will come into play, hehehehe...!
As always, I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review if you can! And may your own works be fun to read and to write!