King trotted to Luz's house with growing eagerness. It was a friendly building with a sprawling garden of vegetables both native to the Boiling Isles and from the human realm, though from the state of the garden, Luz had trouble consistently attending to it.
The house looked vulnerable to the world, though Luz had warned King about the abomination traps Amity had engineered, lying in wait to capture would-be intruders in slimy purple casing. Luz had disarmed the traps for the day, with an urging to King not to tell Amity, who anxiously kept all the security strictly managed. According to Luz, she had to bribe Amity to make the traps non-fatal, though she insisted Amity was only joking…probably.
King had been here before, when he, Eda, Raine, and Camila helped her and Amity move in, but other than that he hadn't really been over much. Luz making her official move to the Boiling Isles made it easier to see her in theory, and for the first year of her college King had seen her weekly as they worked together to uncover and experiment with his new glyph language.
But ever since Luz had gotten her own place with Amity, their time together had decreased drastically. Of course, King had already grown used to her long absences over her remaining high school years. At first it had been hard for everyone, especially with how many times they had seen Luz ripped away from them, each time apparently for good.
The Owl House had been so empty without her, even if she did visit often. But Raine's arrival made it less so, and King grew adjusted to the new routine, enough that he didn't feel the need to cling to his sister at every opportunity.
He was developing slower than the average witch or demon, but he had matured enough that he felt secure in his family dynamic. And if he ever got bored, Collie never hesitated to answer his calls and take him on a wild trip across the skies.
All this was true, but the fact remained that King hadn't had a sibling day with Luz, just the two of them, in months, and he was overwhelmingly excited for it to begin.
Approaching the door, he caught the scent of shushrooms, and made a quick detour into the garden, scarfing down a few.
"King, I can see you."
"Weh?" He looked up to see Luz heading down the steps, eyebrows raised at him. He shoved the last few shushrooms into his mouth and swallowed. "Luz!"
King leaped into her arms without a second thought, as he had always done ever since they first met. This time, though, instead of catching him securely, she stumbled, struggling to hold him and yelping as she fell.
She hit her side hard against the garden fence before colliding with the ground, flat on her back, choking on a gasp.
"Luz!"
"I'm okay," Luz rasped. "Just got the wind knocked out of me."
"But…isn't that…"
When Luz had been nearly petrified, her organs had been frozen for a few moments, and nothing had functioned quite as smoothly since. The Healers had concluded she could for the most part engage in activities she had before, but her heart and lungs had to be routinely managed. They were weaker than average, and Luz often had to monitor her activities lest she suddenly start struggling to breathe.
On cue, Stringbean emerged from the house, carrying a bag of bottles and jars in her mouth, which she deposited at Luz's side.
King tapped his claws nervously as his sister lay trying to suck in air, though her body relaxed significantly after she fumbled into the medicine bag and inhaled some substance from it.
Under Eda's tutelage, she had grown quite proficient in potions and herbs, especially after she lost access to glyphs entirely for several years. With the freeing of healing magic from sigiled restriction, and aided by the suppressed ancient knowledge that was only just now being recovered, medicinal potions were much more widely available, though Luz still preferred to create them largely on her own. Many of them were her own design.
She sat quietly for a few minutes as her breathing got under control. King was too scared to say anything, just listened to her wheezing. What was likely only five minutes felt like hours, until his sister's breathing finally evened out enough for her to extend her arm to Stringbean. "Good girl," she spoke, giving the snakeshifter a grateful scratch under the chin.
"Luz," said King, voice breaking. "I'm so sorry."
Luz paused in the middle of praising Stringbean, who had begun to purr. "Hey, it's okay. It was an accident. I'm used to way worse. Comes with living on the Isles. And that new medicine works great at keeping these really mild." She gingerly got to her feet, wincing at the pain in her side. "Oof, that's going to leave a bruise though." She hesitated. "Maybe I won't try to pick you up again for a bit."
A bit. As if in time, her ability to pick him up might improve, rather than continue to deteriorate. He had known this day was coming; he had noticed the increasingly strained breaths Luz let out when she tried to carry him for long periods of time, the wobble as he began to run out of space on her shoulders. Rather than perch securely on one arm, he had to awkwardly curl around her back, digging his nails in a manner uncomfortable for both. Really, he should have stopped trying to fit a year before.
"It's okay," he said softly. "I've been too big for a while."
"King…"
He couldn't help but bristle at the look in her eyes. That same look of pity his loved ones always gave him these days. He never used to receive looks of pity. At first, it was always squeals and coos, then, when his true origins were discovered, hesitancy, awe, and sometimes a bit of fear. But pity...that was a more recent development, one that emerged after he began to be hounded by reporters and citizens wishing for blessings, not to mention the zealots who sought to kill the living proof of their religion's falsity.
And all this while he grew and developed far slower than most children, and had tentatively begun to discuss his likely immortality to his loved ones. If only he had gotten a chance to ask his dad how long it took to reach full titanic size, or just how long he could be expected to live.
Collie knew some answers, but not nearly enough. The Archivists were careful with their wording, and as much as Collie wanted to help, they hadn't been told enough to truly understand. What was clear was that Titans lived for at least several thousand years, and that was a future King was unable to fathom.
In a way, it was no wonder people felt sorry for him - the young Titan had taken to a lot of silent contemplation and brooding. "Teenage mood swings," Eda would chuckle, though even she knew it wasn't just that.
As much as King pitied his own situation, he hated the emotion from others. Why couldn't he just be King, not a tragic, orphaned child cut-off from his heritage, a vulnerable target of assassins, the son of a literal god, or a strange, unfathomable creature doomed to live a life far vaster and more complex than anyone else. He was a Clawthorne, a son, a friend, a brother. That's all he wanted.
"It's fine," he snapped at Luz, and she flinched, hugging her arms close to herself and making King feel even worse.
"It's not that I can never pick you up," she said after a moment. "I'm pretty strong. It's just, I can't really carry you around. Or catch you or have you on my back. But I'll always be able to give you lots of hugs and cuddles. That'll never change."
"I know." He sounded so stupid right now. Was that an actual tearful quaver in his voice? Over not being able to be held? No child could be held forever. Most grew up much quicker than him. There was always a final time you were carried in someone's arms, and you rarely knew when it was. Why was this such a big deal?
"I'm not a little kid anymore," he said, mainly to assure himself, not Luz.
"You've grown up a lot. But I know you still love hugs." She reached for him again, and this time he obliged, cuddling up to her while she squeezed him tight. "I'll always be able to hug you."
"It's not that big a deal."
"It is though. I'm sad about it too."
"You are?"
"Of course! I'm going to miss carrying you around all the time. I knew it was bound to end, but for years it was just…our thing. And it can't be our thing anymore. I'm really going to miss that."
Strangely, King felt better knowing Luz was also sad about it, that he wasn't being overdramatic and childish.
"And, hey, maybe one day you'll be able to carry me!" Luz laughed. "I'll be an old lady and you can carry me places."
King's stomach dropped at the mere suggestion, a reality he knew was coming but didn't want to even acknowledge at this point. He clung tighter to Luz, and Luz cleared her throat awkwardly. "But not for a really long time." She hugged him close. "Sorry I said that."
"It's fine. I know it's true."
Luz fidgeted awkwardly, casting her gaze around as if looking for something to say, before she ended up getting to her feet and beckoning him into the house. "Come on, let's sit somewhere more comfortable." A good idea given they had been sitting near the garden for quite some time now.
King hadn't seen the place fully furnished before, decked out in whimsical décor and memorabilia displayed proudly on bookshelves and windowsills . It could potentially be considered cluttered, but it was arranged in such a way that it felt perfectly comfortable and open.
"Your, uh, house looks nice."
"Thanks!" Luz said, flopping down onto the couch, which King quickly copied. "We're working on it. There's still a lot to fix."
There was another awkward pause. What was he doing? This was supposed to be a fun day with his sister; who knew when he'd get another one? Yet he was still on the verge of tears.
"I got that new battle royale video game we were talking about," said Luz. "Wanna play it?"
"With snacks?"
"Yep! I know how to prepare."
King tried to get comfortable on the couch while painfully aware of how much more space he took up than he used to, the way his claws had grown so thick and sharp. He picked up the video game controller, and was thankful that he was able to maneuver the toggle without much difficulty.
"Here we go!" Luz deposited a large bag of chips next to King. King snatched it up and started crunching them down. He had always been hungry, but now that he was going through another major growth spurt, he was more ravenous than ever.
"Hey, save some for me, okay?" said Luz.
King looked up from cramming the chips into his mouth. "Sorry," he muttered, offering her the bag.
"It's okay. I've got more junk food, but I can make you a sandwich or something too." King only had to look at her before she laughed. "Right. We're here to eat crap and play video games until our eyes melt." She offered him a fist bump, which he happily returned. Then she passed him a couple candy bars before booting up her gaming system.
King narrowed his eyes. "Hey, how do you already have stuff unlocked?"
"Oh, uh...we had a going-away-party for Amity's trip, and people wanted to play."
"You started without me?"
"I know, I'm sorry! The temptation was too great."
"Your traitorous behavior will not go unpunished!"
Luz had shown King so many video games over the years that their skills were evenly matched. It didn't take him long to get acquainted with this one, and in a few moments the two were battling it out, slamming each other's avatars into walls and uppercutting them into the sky.
"Woah, this game's blood graphics fucking rule!" said King as he sent Luz's avatar flying once more. "Prepare for your guts to be spilled!"
"Shit."
"Haha, get wrecked."
"Oh you poor, innocent soul."
"Weh?"
Luz unleashed some power-up King hadn't been aware of and smashed his avatar into the ground.
"What?"
The two continued playing, each winning and losing a round, until King ended up winning the final tie-breaking match. He gave a dramatic victory cry. "Ha! I have destroyed you! The student has destroyed the teacher!"
"This time."
"Don't downplay my victory!"
"Okay, dork," Luz laughed, shoving him.
"Hey, I'm the champion, you're the dork!" He playfully shoved back, but Luz let out an unexpected yelp.
"Woah, still sore here, remember?"
King shrunk back. "Luz, I -"
"No, it's alright. It only hurt a second."
Still, the mood was ruined, and the guilt resurfaced. "I keep hurting you."
"You never hurt me that bad. It was just an accident, I could have done the same thing to you."
King shook his head. "No you wouldn't."
"Well, it's just because I'm more used to my size. You're changing so fast, of course it's hard to figure out."
Changing so fast, and it looked like he wasn't going to stop any time soon. Did Titans grow for their entire lives? Was there ever a point where he could just settle and get used to it? Would he always be gaining in strength until he could topple Luz over with just a nudge?
She put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you know it's okay to talk to me about this stuff."
"What'll that do? It won't make me little again."
"No, but I learned it helps sometimes, to get it out."
"But I came here to spend time with you. I didn't mean to make this a whole downer conversation."
Luz set her controller down and drew King into a hug. "We're still spending time together. We don't always have to just be having fun. I haven't seen you in a long time, and I want you to talk to me about stuff like this. It's what big sisters are for."
King had enough of fighting back tears. He hadn't properly talked with Luz in months, and being here, held in her arms, he allowed himself to let it out. "I'm just so scared. Everyone is getting older and moving on, and I'm being pushed into all these things, but I still feel like a little kid. Like I'm not ready for this, but I have to be, because I'm the Titan, not a child."
"You are still a kid. I don't know how long it'll take for you to grow up, but as a technical 'adult,' I'm telling you it's not so easy even then."
"But at least people are growing with you. You're following the normal path."
"Normal path?" Luz looked at him, skeptical.
"Ugh, you know what I mean. Your aging isn't like mine. Don't pretend it's the same. You have things change, yeah, but you still know about how long you'll live, who's going to stick around for most of it, what to even expect from your aging. And I don't know any of that except that nobody's going to stick around with me except Collie and a couple of demons like Hooty."
"You're right, I'm sorry. It's not the same. But, I don't know who's going to remain in my life either. I think that's always an uncertainty."
"Well for me it's a guarantee." He shook his head. "One of the only guarantees I have."
Luz opened her mouth to speak again, then closed it, instead doing a nervous tap against her right arm.
King sighed, once she had been silent for a bit. "It's fine. I know there's not really much you can say. A lot of this I'm working out with Collie, it's just, well, he's a kid too. I just want someone who actually knows something to tell me it's going to be okay. That stuff isn't going to keep changing. I don't want things to change so fast. I just want to be little and ride around on your shoulder again and do the silly adventures we used to."
"King…I can't promise things will be okay. I used to believe in happy-ever-afters, but now I kind of learned there is no permanent 'okay.' There's just times that are more okay than others, and they're always changing. But, I know that even when things change and you never expected them to, there's always something good to find. Things you never even thought of before that you would have missed out on if they hadn't happened."
"Like what? What kind of things?"
"Like…like Collie! Or, wait, is it Coco now?"
"No! Only I call them Coco. You can't do that."
Luz held up her arms. "Sorry! Didn't know that was a closed nickname. Collie then. None of us could have predicted him getting released, and if we could, we would have done everything we could to stop it. I know we all would have fought to make sure the Day of Unity never happened, that Collie never got released, and that we didn't get separated. And, it was terrible, but it happened, and Collie was finally freed, and now you have them. So, would you undo that, and solve it in the simpler way?"
King furrowed his brow. "Oh. That's really weird to think about."
"Yeah," Luz chuckled nervously. "It is. I don't like thinking about it a lot because I start worrying about the things I did." She started to scratch harder at her arm, but Stringbean quickly nosed her way in and Luz pet the snakeshifter instead. "But again…I guess we just never know what's going to happen. Like, I didn't want things to change when we all lived at the Owl House together either, but then if they hadn't, I might've not reconnected with my mom, and gotten to be sisters with Vee, or had any of the opportunities I did. Even losing the original glyphs...that hurt so bad, but it challenged me to find even more ways to study magic, which helped Hunter and I start that disability program, and then when you started developing your own glyphs, it gave me a whole new language to work with that could do things the other one couldn't! So however things happen, well, something good is there. There's always something good there. Even when you thought you lost it all."
"But then why try for anything? If something good's going to happen no matter what? Doesn't that make existence pointless?"
"Uhhh..." Luz hesitated, then her eyes brightened and she pointed her finger into the air in dramatic emphasis. "No! Because you still have to make the good opportunities happen. If things had gotten differently, maybe you wouldn't have befriended Collie, and they would have accidentally killed everyone."
King chuckled wryly. "Probably."
"So see? You've got to work to make it happen, but it can happen from anywhere. And even if you desperately didn't want something to ever change, and maybe things would have been wonderful if they didn't, you can still find something else wonderful if they did. And you'd otherwise never know."
King rubbed his skull. "This is making my head hurt."
"I know, it kind of does for me too. It's really weird, but maybe it helps?"
"Kind of. Probably." He chuckled. "I don't know."
"Well hey, I do know one thing that is guaranteed to never change."
"What?"
"That I'm your big sister, and I love you. Even if we see each other less, and our routine changes and our lives change, and I can't carry you anymore. No matter what, that'll always be true. Okay?"
"Okay." He sniffled and hugged her tighter. "Luz…I've really missed you."
"I've missed you too, buddy. We need to see each other more often. I know you're growing up and have your own stuff, but we need our duo time."
King was going to reply, but instead Luz pulled away and gave him a mysterious smile.
"Hey, what's that look?" King asked, tilting his head at her suspiciously.
"Wait here. I just got an idea. Oh! And close your eyes."
He obeyed, though he half-expected some jumpscare. It would have been a bit odd for the moment, but not out of the question.
Luz quickly returned. "Okay, hold out your arms."
King held them out, and something light-weight and soft dropped into his paws. He opened his eyes to see a very familiar purple and white cat hoodie, the one Luz had quit wearing years ago.
King stared at the garment in his paws, then back up at his sister.
"Remember you asked me to keep it for you? I think it might fit you now," she said, smiling. "If you, uh, still wanted it."
"You actually kept it?"
"I promised you, didn't I?"
His tail wagged and he hugged her again, before he silently smoothed the fabric out, admiring it before tentatively attempting to slip it on.
There was some difficulty due to his horns, and Luz helped him when the hood got caught on them. But thankfully, the material was stretchy, and with some minor wriggling he managed to get it on.
It was still a bit too big, billowing out around his feet, but he wasn't lost in the fabric, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to wear it at times.
"I have a hand-me-down," he said quietly. Then he spoke a bit louder, once the sentence had fully clicked. "I have a hand-me-down!"
Ever since he learned of his father's existence, he had dreamed of having a hand-me-down from him, before realizing the truth. The concept of a hand-me-down had even been cruelly spat in his face amongst the Titan Trappers. To Tarak, a hand-me-down was the severed skull of a child, and all the weapons King thought he would inherit were used to slaughter his kind.
The symbol in the tower he hatched in was a possibility, and for a while he had worn it on his collar, though it had turned out to have magic that concealed him from Collie. Now that Collie was his best friend, that wasn't an option anymore either. There had been no physical history left to inherit, beyond the massive bones of his ancestors. Not a trace of true heritage, all relics of Titan culture wiped clean by the Archivists and the Trappers.
The destruction of an entire civilization and nearly all traces of it made him more desperate than ever to have something tangible, meaningful, to hold. Especially if he was going to outlive his family by so long.
Eda and Raine made it a point to give him keepsakes and trinkets ever since he spoke to them about this, and each one he treasured. His pile of plushies gradually transformed into a nest of all kinds of odd knicknacks, until it was more impressive than a dragon's hoard, at least to him.
And now Luz. How many times had he watched her run off in this exact purple hoodie, getting into wacky hijinks, while he trotted after her on stubby legs, always falling behind and crying out for her to come scoop him up onto her shoulder and carry him along on her near daily grand adventure?
"How do I look?" he asked. Not that she would ever say he looked bad, but he hoped she truly approved.
"You look amazing, but see for yourself!" she said, directing him to a tall mirror.
It was certainly an awkward fit, but it suited him far better than he had hoped, and he did a little twirl to see the full effect.
Luz pulled out her phone, and raised her eyebrow to confirm King had no qualms with it. He gave her a thumbs up, then went into increasingly dramatic and silly poses, until the two were lost in giggles over it.
"Aww King it fits you so well. I'm really glad you like it."
King turned to admire himself once more. His tail wagged, though it bumped uncomfortably against the shirt. "I think there needs to be more room for my tail though."
"I can get Hunter to modify it for you."
"Okay, but not too much!"
"Of course not. The power of the meow must be preserved."
"Ew, don't call it that."
"Last I checked it was my hoodie originally, and that's what I remember calling it when I wore it." She brightened. "Oh, that means you have to say it."
"Say what?"
"You know." She held her hands out like cat paws. "Meow meow."
"I am not doing your hideous cat impression."
"Oh, are you too much of a cool, moody Titan for that?"
"The ears won't work on my head. My horns are in the way."
"So? Embrace the cringe!"
"You're just like Raine."
"Embrace the cringe!" She hugged him close and tickled him until he shrieked with laughter.
"Okay, okay! Meow meow!"
"There we go!" Luz cheered. "The ancient power has been transferred. Now it's truly yours."
King pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! The power of the ancient cat gods are mine!"
Luz beamed at him, and he beamed back. He tensed reflexively to leap into her arms, but caught himself, and with another pang of sadness he wrapped his arms around her in a simple hug instead. "Thanks, Luz."
"Any time, buddy."
After letting the hug linger for a moment, he pulled away. "Okay, enough downer stuff. Can we do a game rematch so I can destroy you again?"
"You're on."