"Hey, Lyn."
Eda looked up from her newspaper to see Camila holding out a cup of hot chocolate toward her. "Lyn?" Eda asked as she took the cup from Camila's hands and sipped it.
Hot and sweet.
Just like the shorter woman in front of her.
"Trying out a nickname," Camila cheekily replied. "Like it?"
It had been a month since the fateful day they met, and since then, Gravesfield had become a winter wonderland. Thanks to her stupid curse, Eda was able to retain heat pretty well, at least up to negative forty degrees, so the cold didn't bother her.
She couldn't say the same about her friend, however. Eda wondered when Camila would get the heat fixed in her apartment.
"I kind of like it," Eda answered with a smile. "Still chilly?"
Camila grumbled and replied, "No!" A beat of silence passed and then Camila muttered, "Yeah…."
Eda laughed and opened the blanket Camila and graciously let her snuggle under. "Bring it in, shorty," Eda told her.
"Not yet, I need to put the movie on," Camila said as she bent over and scanned through cases of "DVDs" as she called them.
Camila still didn't know that Eda was from a whole different realm, and as much as Eda liked her, she didn't want to tell her.
It wasn't due to not trusting her, but it was because Eda wanted to forget about the world she came from and the problems she left behind.
At least for a little while.
"So, what Moo-vee are you putting on?" Eda asked.
Camila laughed and said, "Your pronunciation when it comes to certain words is certainly cute, chica."
"Well, I certainly do try," Eda joked as she watched Camila put the chosen DVD into the DVD player.
"I don't think you do," Camila commented as she stood and walked over to the couch to sit down beside Eda. Eda immediately wrapped an arm around Camila and bought her close beneath the blanket.
"How in the world are you so hot?" Camila asked.
"I mean….." Eda started, only for Camila to hit her stomach.
"You know what I mean, Chica," Camila remarked.
"I don't know," Eda lied. "I just retain heat pretty well." Camila snuggled against her and rested her head on Eda's shoulder. "How was school?"
"Tiring," Camila sighed. "I should be studying. Who knew being a Vet would be so much work."
"Nothing worth doing is ever easy," Eda quoted. "As my teacher says at least."
"Tell your teacher that she sucks," Camila groaned but Eda knew she was joking.
"So, what are we watching?" Eda asked as she motioned to the Television.
"A documentary on Wolves," Camila answered.
Eda stared at her, trying to figure out how to repeat how she pronounced it. Camila must have taken her look as something else because the shorter woman started to move away as she stammered, "I-I can put on something else instead if t-this is too boring for you."
Eda shook her head and said, "Cammie, Cammie, I'd love to watch it."
"Are you sure?" Camila asked.
"Positive," Eda answered. "I don't know much about "Wulvez". I'd love to learn more. Now come on…." Eda eased Camila back to her side as the documentary started.
Camila sighed and snuggled against her side. "Alright," Camila murmured.
Eda smiled and settled in for what would be the most interesting and kind of cute tale about these strange creatures.
The Owlet with Amber Eyes
Episode Two: Crystal of Truth
"Eda!"
Eda woke up in a panic as she looked around her. She crawled out of her tent and noticed that Luz was walking back into the ruins with something big in her arms.
Something Eda was intensely familiar with.
"Oh, no, no, no," Eda whispered as she scrambled to her feet and ran to the entrance to see one of her worst fears.
In Luz's arms was a medium-sized bipedal grey-furred beast with three glowing green eyes that were in a "V" shape, razor-sharp teeth, pointed ears that were narrowed back, and two sickle tails. On its torso around its paws was dark gray armor and around its neck was a metal chain.
Thankfully, it wasn't a Virage, but it was a dangerous creature all the same.
It was a Repede.
A beast that was spawned from a Virage and could bend gravity to fly, much like a Palisman-infused staff. Judging by the rather thin armor on its body, it was just reaching adolescence. Even then, it could be very dangerous.
"Luz put that beast down now," Eda instructed once she made it to her student.
Eda summoned her staff and as Luz cried, "But Eda—."
"Luz, this is a Repede," Eda warned. "It's dangerous and can harm you. Put it down."
"It's not dangerous," Luz whispered. "It's hurt….."
Eda narrowed her eyes and noticed an inky black substance flowing from its forehead and from a large gash on its chest, where the thin armor was broken. "Luz…." Eda whispered.
"Look, it can hardly stand. And i-it's whining….." Luz whispered with a pained expression on her face as the Repede let out a weak growl. Eda didn't know why but this look on Luz's face reminded her quite a bit of her….
"We have to help them," Luz implored. "Please, Eda?"
Eda looked at the Repede and saw that its green eyes were glowing faintly. It was getting weaker. Eda then looked back at Luz's amber eyes and once again, she was reminded of her eyes whenever she was trying to convince Eda to do something Eda didn't want to do.
"The things I do…. Here, sit it down….." Eda sighed as she slowly approached the creature with her arms up while Luz sat the Repede on the ground. Eda knew that the Repede could tell when dangerous magic was being summoned, so she allowed the soft blue light of healing magic to flow from her hands.
"Alright, buddy," Eda started as she got closer to the wounded beast. "I'm going to heal you. Alright?"
Her teacher once said that Repedes was able to not only tell if dangerous magic was being summoned to attack them, but they could also sense and expel emotions. Eda only hoped that it could tell that while she was apprehensive, she wanted to heal him.
Eda got in front of the beast and reached out to touch the Repede to start healing the wound on its hand. The Repede weakly growled as sat down and allowed Eda to heal it. She then reached down to its chest and healed the wound there as well.
"And done," Eda murmured as she stood up and clapped her hands, sending sparkles of blue light to fly from her hands. "All healed."
"See! I told you I would get you help," Luz told the Repede with a bright smile on her face.
The Repede slowly got to its feet and Eda could feel gratitude coming from the Repede. "Well, you're welcome," Eda replied.
The Repede looked at Luz and licked her face, which caused Luz to cheerfully laugh. Eda could feel that the Repede was truly happy that Luz was able to get it to help. "You're welcome," Luz chirped as she stood off the ground.
"Well, since I was rudely woken up by your scream, I guess we should get this show on the road," Eda said with a good-natured tone. "The Crystal Forest is our next location."
"The Crystal Forest…." Luz whispered. "Aww, that means we have to traverse down to the ground?"
"Afraid so, kiddo," Eda answered. "We could ride down on my staff but the magic gets a little wonky and may not work fully…."
"Aww man," Luz whined. "I would kill for a fast travel spell." Luz shrugged, turned to the Repede, and petted its head. "Alright, we gotta go now. You be a good Repede, okay?"
This was the weirdest thing she had ever woken up to.
"Well," Luz said. "Let's go!"
The Repede growled and shook its head. "What's wrong?" Luz gently asked.
Eda could feel genuine sadness coming from the Virage-spinoff beast as it let out a small whine.
"You don't want us to go?" Luz asked.
The beast whined.
'Oh no,' Eda thought as Luz slowly turned to her, the young girl's eyes wide and glassy, her bottom lip trembling.
Luz: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
"Yahoo!" Luz screamed as the Repede bounced from each trail of light, a faint platform of light beneath the beast's paws as it traversed to the ground. Meanwhile, Eda sat behind Luz with a completely baffled expression on her face.
She didn't know whether to be annoyed at how easily she had caved to the human girl, or be awed at how easily she had been conned.
'I wonder if this is how Vin felt when I convinced her to let me keep Hooty,' Eda thought as the Repede landed on the ground. The woman could feel Luz vibrating against her in sheer excitement.
"That was so cool!" Luz exclaimed. Luz leaned forward and ruffled the furry neck of the Repede. "You're so cool!"
Eda felt smug satisfaction from the Repede.
'Oh, this thing has an ego,' Eda thought with amusement as she got off of the Repede and said, "Well, with that harrowing ride done with—"
The Repede huffed.
"—Our next location is the Crystalline Forest," Eda announced. "After that, the Deningrad Palace."
"Wait, that tower is a palace?" Luz asked.
"A massive one. It just has a tower behind it. It's barren though," Eda answered. "It'll take us about a day to get through the forest. After that, we're at the Palace. Once there, we will rest, explore, and then head back home."
Luz nodded.
"Alright, let's move," Eda ordered as she started to walk. The Repede strolled beside Eda at a leisurely pace as Luz rode on top of it.
"Hey, Eda?" Luz spoke up.
"What's up, Kiddo?" Eda asked.
"Why haven't you used Owlbert at all?" Luz asked.
Eda grinned. "I was wondering when you would ask that. And the answer might surprise you," Eda stated. "Palismens aren't able to function here. The amount of magic here is toxic to them."
"Palismen?" Luz asked as she took out her notebook and pen, preparing to write.
"That's what Owlbert is," Eda said. "I know I kind of said it earlier when we first met, but let me give you a quick crash course. "A palisman is a magical totem that is bonded to a witch as their familiar. The palisman acts as a staff, a powerful magic enhancer, acting as an external source of magic for use in spells, transportation, weaponry, as well as other things. While they are there to help us witches, they have their own magical source outside of us and they are fully sentient. They have personalities and emotions. A lot of witches tend to forget that."
Eda paused to stop the bitterness from creeping into her voice. She had seen and helped many abandoned palismen during her lifetime on the Boiling Isles. She knew that some left an abusive partner, but most were just dropped because their staff broke and didn't care to repair it.
"Oh, I get it. So they are like a familiar," Luz gasped out. "That's super cool!"
"Got it in one, Kiddo," Eda said as she ruffled Luz's hair.
"How does one get a palisman?" Luz asked.
"Well, it used to be a rite of passage to carve out your palisman from Palistrom," Eda revealed. "But with that being damn near extinct, Old Bump and Dump, along with the Bat Queen, set up a palisman adoption system that allows witches to meet and bond with abandoned palismen. If I remember correctly, that should be coming up soon."
"Do I have to have a palisman?" Luz questioned.
"Yes, you do," Eda answered. "To be acknowledged as an adult witch, a palisman is a big must. And before you ask, if you carve a palisman, it will be an extension of you. If you adopt one, you must be found worthy by that palisman."
Luz nodded and wrote something down in the notebook.
"With that explained, the magic here on the Sunken Palm is somewhat hazardous to most palismen. Many don't know this but palismen absorb magic from the world around us and use that to feed and replenish lost magic. Similar to the Basilisks of old. My teacher once theorized that since this area has so much magic that is unknown to them, it's harder for them to digest it if that makes sense," Eda explained.
Luz nodded, which told Eda that it did.
"So the undigested magic just sits there until it causes negative effects in the palisman," Eda continued. "If I had taken Owlbert here more often, he would have gotten used to the magic here and been able to properly work within it. Because I haven't, it would harm him after some time. I can only use him for the arrival and the exit."
"So, the sooner I bring my palisman here, the better chance I have at being able to use them here," Luz summarized. "Awesome. So, when do I get one?"
"When you officially learn magic," Eda answered. "Because while they provide great magical power, that power still requires the user to have previous knowledge of magic to cast a spell."
"So it relies on the user to know magic before being able to use the magic within it," Luz said. "That makes sense, in a way."
Eda felt a strong feeling of boredom come from the Repede and snorted. "I'm sorry if we're boring you," Eda snorted. "However, this is all needed for Luz to become a witch."
The Repede huffed.
"You know, We should come up with a name for you," Luz murmured as she petted the top of the Repede's head. "Do you have a name?"
"I still can't believe you convinced me to allow this…." Eda grumbled.
The Repede shook its head.
"Okay, time for a name-off!" Luz exclaimed. "Are you a female Repede?"
The Repede bucked as a feeling of excitement hit Eda at the "Female" option.
"Oh, you're a girl," Luz clapped. "Neato. So, how about Azura for a name?"
Eda felt displeasure at the name and watched as Luz visibly wilted for a moment, only to brighten. "How about Hecate?"
Another feeling of displeasure.
"How about Gwen?" Luz suggested.
"I'll answer for the Repede, Bzzzzt," Eda buzzed.
"Darn, okay. How about Luci?" Luz asked.
Eda chuckled.
Eda: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
The next two hours were filled with Luz throwing out name suggestions until they reached the Crystalline Forest. The moment they got to the entrance of the forest, a gentle snowfall fell around them as Luz's eyes grew about two sizes too large.
"Welcome to the Crystalline Forest," Eda introduced with spread open arms. "A forest made entirely out of crystals that have sprouted up from the ground. It's also the area where future Oracles carve their very first baby crystal balls."
"Wowsers," Luz said. "Wait, what do you mean Oracles?"
"Well, I guess I can go over the cursed Coven system," Eda remarked as she, Luz, and the Repede walked into the forest.
It took twenty minutes, with several interruptions from Luz, to explain the entire coven system and when she was finished, Luz said, "All of that sounds really bad and disgustingly familiar."
"How so?" Eda asked.
"I mean, a leader branding everyone with special marks to put them in a system? I may not be named Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, but something smells hinky on the Isles," Luz muttered with a frown on her face.
Before Eda could contemplate the word, "Hinky," she shook her head and said, "We'll unpack that later. I was talking about Oracle Coven. So, the Oracle Coven can use their crystal ball for fortunetelling and clairvoyance. Most outside of the Oracle Coven think it stops there, it doesn't."
Eda stopped at a thick, short, lavender-colored crystal, patted it, and said, "For example, you see this bad boy? The Oracle Coven would chip off a bit of this crystal. This crystal is a Mind Crystal. It allows for Mind Reading/Thought Detection, Imitative Mind Reading, Memory Reading, visual memory reading, Memory Manipulation, and Memory Communication."
Eda moved across the beaten trail and patted a tall and lanky pale green crystal and leaned against it. "This bad boy," Eda pointed at the crystal. "Is the Emotion Crystal. It allows the Oracle Cover the ability to interpret the emotions of others, The ability to communicate through emotions, the ability to see the emotions of others, The ability to create and control illusions via empathy, and The ability to make one feel pleased, happy, pained, or any other emotion. Empathy, Telempathy, Visual Empathy, Empathic Illusions, and Emotion Manipulation."
"Rao," Luz breathed. She then looked down at the Repede and said, "So Liliyn can do all of that. Does that mean she's made from that type of crystal?"
Eda burst out laughing as she felt pleasure from the Repede, most likely due to the name.
"What?" Luz asked.
"Oh, I wasn't expecting that," Eda snickered as she wiped her eyes. "Lily sure is going to enjoy this. It seems that's the name The Repede likes."
"You like Liliyn?" Luz asked with excitement.
The Repede felt joy at the name.
"Then Liliyn we shall call you!" Luz chirped as she wrapped her arms around Liliyn's neck.
"But, that is a good theory, Luz," Eda said, bringing it back to Luz's theory. "We don't know how that mysterious witch created the Virage or their offspring so she might have used something like this crystal."
"Dope," Luz chirped.
"Next up is this crystal," Eda announced as she walked to a tall and wide light pink crystal. "This is the Connection Crystal. It's better to show you than to tell you."
Eda walked in front of the crystal and Luz gasped.
It was easy for Eda to do this because she couldn't see them. The crystal didn't work if you were looking at it, for some bizarre reason.
But without even looking, Eda knew that the faces of her sister, her mother, her father, her grandfather, and her grandmother, and they were standing in rows behind her.
"This shows your immediately familiar line. So it shows me, my sister, my parents, and their parents. It shows my great grand-parents too but that's when things get blurry," Eda explained.
"Oh! Can I try?" Luz asked as she slid off of Liliyn.
Eda nodded and stepped away from the mirror, causing her family line to turn around and walk away, where they wavered out of existence. Eda stood next to Liliyn as Luz took the spot Eda was standing in.
Eda watched as two figures walked up to the crystal, their forms slowly fading into existence but before they could form, Liliyn turned her head and growled, taking Eda's attention off the mirror. "What's wrong Liliyn?" Luz asked as she walked away from the mirror.
Without warning, a small bunny with a crystal mace for a tail popped out, sniffed the air, and then hopped away, which caused Liliyn to chase after it.
"Liliyn!" Luz shouted as she chased after the Repede.
Eda started to follow but something orange caught her eye from the Connection Crystal. Eda turned around and saw herself in it, with her bright orange hair and red dress. And she was turning to walk away with an image of a young Camila, in her blue scrubs and all, by her side.
"W-What?" Eda whispered as she stared at the crystal for what felt like an eternity. The images of her past self and Camila had long since faded away, but despite that, Eda felt like the images were still visible in front of her.
It had to be a trick somehow, right?
Eda was careful.
She had been careful that night.
Had she?
No, she had, because the crystal mirror was a trick.
Yes. It was a trick.
Eda probably just stood to close the crystal while Luz was in front of it, therefore confusing the crystal. Magic, while powerful, could make mistakes.
She just had to be more careful in the future to stand farther away from the crystal.
Or…. Maybe she should stay far away from those crystals.
Eda nodded to herself and dusted off her hands, trying to soothe the rapid beating of her heart. "Now with that settled, I should go find my student," Eda said to herself, her tone slowly growing more confident as the shaky reasoning strengthened in her heart.
But even as she walked away, the kernel of self-doubt remained within her, stopping her heart from fully embracing the delusion.
By the time Eda found Luz and Liliyn, the two of them sat in the shadow of the Sprawling Crystal structure that was named the Deningrad Palace. As Eda walked up, she noticed that Luz sat in front of Liliyn and….sticking her tongue out at the infinitely dangerous Repede.
What is her life?
"What are you doing, kiddo?" Eda asked, announcing her presence.
Luz turned around and waved at Eda, a bright smile on her face. For a split second, Eda could see Camila's bright smile superimposed on Luz and held back the urge to smack herself in the face.
'Shut up, brain,' mentally Eda admonished.
"Where have you been?" Luz asked once Eda stood beside her.
"I spent some to chipping off of the other crystals," Eda smoothly explained. She wasn't necessarily lying to her da—student!
Student.
Eda coughed and continued, "Had to make sure that I could teach you more regarding Oracles. Now, what are you doing?"
"Teaching Liliyn how to blep," Luz innocently replied.
"Blep?" Eda asked. "What is that?"
"Um, eh…. It's kind of hard to explain so, I'll just show you!" Luz exclaimed. Eda watched as Luz closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue beyond her lips without fully opening her mouth.
Eda felt a strange feeling hit her chest at the cute sight, only to feel adoration come from Liliyn.
"That's…. really cute," Eda admitted with a strange, warming tone in her voice. She shook her head and asked, "Why are you trying to teach Liliyn this?"
"Well, she accidentally did it when she finished eating that bunny-thing, which I have fully repressed, and I've been trying to get her to do it on her own," Luz answered as easily as breathing.
"Kiddo, your mind is amazing," Eda chuckled as she sat beside Luz. "Now, that the impromptu break is over, we should continue with your oracle lessons before we get to the last part of our journey."
Eda pulled out six shards of crystal. A lavender shard, a pale green shard, a pink shard, a pale Dorothea shard, an ethereal blue shard, and finally, a luminescent shard. "So, you already know these three," Eda started. "Mind Crystal, Emotion Crystal, Connection Crystal."
Luz nodded and pulled out her notebook and pen.
Eda sat each one down in front of her. Luz leaned forward, and Eda saw a reflection of her past self glaring at her. Eda quickly turned the shard to the other side, only to see Camila with her eyebrow raised.
"Hey look, it's my mom," Luz chirped.
Eda felt her composure crack slightly and immediately interjected, "That's great, but back to the lesson, Kiddo."
Luz nodded and sat back down.
Liliyn looked at her but Eda pretended not to see. Swallowing down her burst of panic, Eda said, "Now, the next four crystals are pretty important so focus up."
Luz nodded, her curious face turning serious and once again, Eda saw Camila's face.
Eda shook her head.
She had to keep it together.
"So, the pale Dorothea shard is the Dream Crystal," Eda explained as she lifted the Dorothea crystal. "It allows the ability to manipulate dreams, the ability to enter the dreams of another, the ability to converse and relay information through dreams, the ability to cause dreams, and the ability to perceive the dreams of others."
"I didn't even know dreams could be altered like that," Luz whispered. "Outside of the Good Witch Azura comics, which most fans deemed non-canon due to her Azura being the daughter of her mentor."
Eda bit back a wince.
"This crystal—" Eda held up the pale blue crystal. "—Is the Telepathy Crystal. This one is by far one of the strongest crystals, and it's only given to those that are truly gifted in the Oracle Arts. It gives the Oracle the ability to open up secret conversations and relay covert information, the ability to simultaneously send one message to a group of people, the ability to speak aloud using only the mind, the ability to teach languages telepathically, the ability to become invisible via telepathy, The ability to project telepathic static, the—"
"Telepathic static?" Luz interrupted.
"Yes," Eda answered. "That is used in conjunction with the Telepathic Aura, which gives the ability to project a telepathic field. It's to protect Oracles from each other."
"Why would they need that? Aren't they on the same team?" Luz asked.
Eda sighed, unsure of how to approach this answer.
"They are," Eda finally spoke. "But the Oracle Coven, as all Covens, are highly competitive and while the school I came from, Hexside, was pretty good, other magic schools were very toxic to the point where a murder wasn't a moral dilemma, it was an answer to a question of how to get to the top."
Luz blinked.
"The killing was curbed by the time my sister and I entered school, but others still fostered the "Might is Right," mindset for the students," Eda continued. "Hexside decided to not foster that but knew that just saying that wasn't enough, so they encourage students to defend themselves, their minds, and the spirits using magic."
"Oh," Luz whispered with a somber look.
Eda was a little upset with herself once again, making her da—STUDENT, disillusioned with her world.
"I hope I didn't hurt another dream of yours," Eda gently whispered.
Luz shook her head and offered a toothy smile, revealing her slight elongated canines. Eda knew this smile very well because it was a smile that Eda often saw on her very own face.
A smile that told the older witch that Luz had been hit with reality and that she was forcing enthusiasm despite her true feelings being much more negative.
"Nah," Luz replied. "Not everything can be Hogwarts, you know? I'm a tough girl, I'll bounce back." Luz emphasized this with a thump to her chest, only to cough. "Well, still," Luz weakly defended, her fake smile turning into a genuine sheepish one.
Despite her concern, Eda nodded and murmured, "If you're sure."
"I am," Luz softly confirmed and then she sincerely perked up. "Now! Back to the lesson, teach!"
Eda chuckled and said, "Where was I? Oh! Yes, so the next ability is the ability to hijack telepathic communication, the ability to create and control illusions via telepathic manipulation, the ability to know an opponent's moves and attacks by reading their brain waves, The ability to act as a mental relay station for a group of minds, allowing said minds to "speak" to one another through the user, The ability to use telepathy from a long-range, and finally, the power to water down the abilities of others by blocking neurological signals."
"Geez, that seems like so much," Luz stated as she finished writing. "What's next?"
Eda lifted the luminescent shard and said, "This, is has many names, but the main one I will use is the Psionic Crystal. This crystal is purely used for not only attacking but spy work as well. It can launch psi-bolts to cause mental damage, the ability to shut down an opponent's higher brain function, the ability to mask the user's psychic presence, AND to erect a psychic shield to protect the minds of oneself and others."
Eda paused to pull out a sack of water, drank some, and then continued.
"They also can place inhibitors in the mind to limit the target's capabilities, torture victims mentally and spiritually, produce and manipulate mental energy, generate constructs out of mental energy, generate and manipulate thought waves, perceive various forms of psychic phenomena, and finally, they can cause objects or individuals to emit telepathic signals that repel or attract," Eda finished.
"Holy smokes! That's absolutely crazy!" Luz exclaimed. "Like, they have so many abilities!"
"They do," Eda replied. "However, no one can learn all of this. This is why the starter crystal that is made has them all, to see what type of oracle that persona can be. I don't know anyone that has mastered all six of these crystals."
Luz nodded and muttered, "It makes me wonder about the other covens and how powerful they can be…."
"Well, a strong Illusionist could create powerful illusions that may cause severe physical damage and manipulate all of their users senses," Eda revealed.
"W-What?! Do you mean like Aizen's Zanpakutō, the Kyōka Suigetsu? Or the Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan?" Luz gasped, her eyes sparkling in delight.
"I don't understand those references," Eda divulged.
"Oh," Luz grumbled.
Eda ruffled her head as she took the six crystals and said, "Now that you know all that the Oracle Coven has to offer, I give you my first official gift." Eda held out the six crystals and clapped them together, causing a burst of magic to fly from her hands.
Eda stretched her hands apart and formed a medium-sized glowing blob of light. Eda lowered her left hand so the back of her hand faced the ground, causing the blob to float above her left palm.
Eda swirled her right hand around the glob repeatedly, with each pass of her hand causing a crackle of magic to leave her palm and streak across the blob until it began to resemble the shape of an orb.
Eda could hear the familiar growls of the Owl Beast at the back of her mind and then glanced at the gem on her chest. It was slowly filling up with that familiar black substance. Thankfully, she was done and with a smack of her right hand against the top of the glowing orb, the magic dispelled, revealing a crystal ball.
Eda panted and held out the ball to Luz, who took it with glassy eyes. "I don't know if you'll take to Oracle work. But, if you decide that this is the right path for you, and even if you don't, this is yours," Eda told her.
Luz held the crystal ball in her hand and then sniffled, her bright amber eyes looking up at Eda. Without warning, Luz tackled Eda into a tight hug.
Eda blinked as she felt Luz mumble, "Thank you so much," against her chest. Despite herself, Eda returned the hug, her hand rubbing at the back of Luz's neck.
And deep inside herself, that kernel of self-doubt cracked and a small vine sprouted from it.
Luz: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
Luz stared at the crystal ball with a soft expression on her face as she rode on Liliyn's back. After dislodging herself from her mentor, the small group now walked through the long entranceway of the Deningrad Palace.
Thanks to the large hole in the ceiling, the snowfall had followed them inside but Luz didn't mind. The cold never bothered her before, and it didn't bother her now. But what did bother her was how lonely the castle seemed to be.
"Eda?" Luz spoke. "Did anyone use to live here?"
"My mentor used to study magic here," Eda offered. "And when she did, she would live in the tower itself. But as for the castle, no one. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, I just feel so lonely here…." Luz murmured.
"This place is filled with loneliness," Eda somberly said.
"Why?" Luz asked.
"I don't know," Eda admitted. "But when I was younger, this place made me feel like there was a thick fog of sorrow that no amount of sunshine could penetrate."
Luz felt a burst of concern from Liliyn, which made Luz smile and pet the Repede. "I'm okay, girl…."
Liliyn huffed but nodded.
"So, where are we going?" Luz asked.
"Well, We're going to the tower," Eda answered. "That will be our training grounds and study grounds."
"Training grounds? For magic?" Luz asked.
Eda smirked.
"Not just magic. Why do you think I bought the swords with us?" Eda asked.
"I get to learn how to use a sword?!" Luz exclaimed.
"Of course," Eda replied, but Luz caught the somberness in Eda's voice. "Not only that, there is something I need to handle here as well…."
Luz: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
The Deningrad Castle was both everything and nothing that Luz was expecting when it came to a magical tower.
It had the normal number of things she expected to see, such as self-lighting torches that went up a spiral staircase, the crystal cobwebs from the Crystlers (Crystal Spiders Eda had explained) in the corners of the wall/ceiling, and the general eerie feeling that they were getting watched by the various statues that made a path toward a large chamber.
Luz never understood why, but she had a very good sniffer, and it allowed her to recognize people by scent alone, which made her know a little too much about people in her normal day-to-day life. So, judging by how fresh the scents were, along with the dozens of footsteps in the light coating of snow on the ground, Luz knew others had been here recently.
"Despite how desolate this place looks, people were recently here," Luz noted.
"The Emperor's Coven brings their initiates here to train," Eda explained. Eda had explained what the Emperor's Coven was earlier when she gave the cliff notes on the entire coven system and the coven classes.
"It's why I chose to take you here now versus later." That idiot on the throne uses the Field of Remnants to convince his brainwashed cult of the dangers of "Wild Magic." And they eat it up without question," Eda finished.
"I can see why," Luz murmured. "I mean, had you not shown me the majestic and mystical side of magic, I would walk away with the same thought."
"And had I failed to do that, I would have failed you as a mentor," Eda told her with a small grin.
The two continued to walk down the trail, with Luz noting the broken-down training dummies that held a slight resemblance to her mentor, and discarded weapons that were either scattered on the ground or implanted in the dummies.
"Focus up, we're here," Eda announced.
Luz looked away from the dummies, glanced at Eda, and then looked ahead of them, only to see a brick wall that looked frosted over.
"Here we are. The Tower," Eda announced.
"This wall is the tower? Well, that's anti-climactic," Luz joked.
Eda let out a tiny laugh and said, "You say that now, but sit back and watch."
Eda bit down on her right thumb. Luz was going to question this when she noticed a drip of blood sliding from the bitten spot and down the inner side of the thumb. Eda moved the thumb from her mouth and began to run her bloody thumb against the wall.
Luz watched as Eda ran her thumb down diagonally from right to left, then swiped the bloody thumb to the right to create a line. She turned her thumb and ran it up diagonally from the right lower corner to the upper left and then created another line, creating what looked like an hourglass to Luz.
Eda then placed her hand in the middle of the top line and then slid her thumb down to the bottom line. Luz watched as the icon that Eda drew in her blood lit up in a bright red color before the wall in front of them slowly split apart, causing the ice that had grown on the wall to crack, shatter, and fall to the ground.
After a few seconds, Luz watched as a new, and gigantic room revealed itself to her and her mentor from the parted walls.
In the far corner to the right, there was a giant library, to the left of them was an area that had tons of different-sized swords on the walls, to the front of her in the main part of the room, there were glass cases of floating orbs.
Luz zoomed in and noted that the glass cases held elements like fire, earth, water, wind, electricity, light, darkness, and everything in between.
But to Luz's amazement, she noticed that each element had a strange emblem floating off of them. Luz then took stock of the second floor, but when attempted to zoom in further to see what was up there, Eda whispered, "As I said, welcome to the tower."
"All of this was behind the wall?" Luz breathed as she zoomed out and looked at her mentor.
"I said it earlier, the Crystal Palace is typically barren, except for the rare Emperor's Coven initiation and training. My teacher was the one who hide this part of the palace from the Isles to keep a place for me and her to train in peace," Eda revealed. "As far as Emperor Dumbass and his cronies know, the tower is all for show."
Eda motioned for Luz to follow her as she walked inside the vast room. Luz quickly followed her mentor, leaving the walls to close behind them and then frosting over. Luz noticed that the emblem Eda had drawn on the other side of the wall was also on the inside of the wall, except it was etched into the wall.
"So, how did you open it?" Luz asked once she caught up to Eda.
"Blood magic," Eda answered.
"Blood magic?" Luz repeated.
Eda hummed in confirmation and answered, "Yeah. One of the most dangerous types of magic on the Isles. My teacher and Belos hated each other with a burning passion, but she always said that the sole good thing he has ever done was hunt down all the scrolls and Blood Magicians and wipe them out."
"They were that bad?" Luz questioned.
Eda looked at Luz.
"Imagine walking down a road. Suddenly, you feel this foreign magic within you. You then feel this foreign feeling flow through you until your entire body is numb. And then, your body either stops walking or continues walking. But either way, you are no longer in control of your body," Eda revealed. "That is the cliff notes of Blood magic."
"Blood magic grand theft autos your body?" Luz gasped.
Eda snorted and then replied, "I don't understand that reference, but yes."
Luz made a sound of surprise and then muttered, "Wowsers…." Luz then looked up at Eda and asked, "But if Blood Magic is so dangerous, why did you just use it?"
"Because no one, other than the old ones, knows about Blood magic anymore," Eda answered. "Even during my mentor's time, Blood magic was becoming outdated. It's the best way to not only keep her only bastion of freedom hidden but to train me to harness all of my magical abilities, not just what Belos wants, without someone snitching."
Luz looked troubled by this but then shrugged it off.
"Now, I'm going to head to the second floor and check things out. Why don't you look around? We'll be staying here for two days, so make yourself familiar with your surroundings before bed," Eda told her as she walked toward the staircase.
Luz nodded and looked down at Liliyn. The Repede had been keeping to herself, mostly due to keeping an eye on their surroundings. "Liliyn? Why don't we look go look around?" Luz suggested as she petted the head of her friend.
Luz felt understanding flowing from the Repede, which made her smile, only to wince when she felt a rather sharp pain in her chest. "Wow, that hurt," Luz commented, only to feel Liliyn's concern. "I'm okay," Luz told the beast. "I promise. It's already starting to fade."
Liliyn huffed as Luz felt a mixture of displeasure and annoyance at her obvious lie. "I'm sorry," Luz murmured. "But I'll be okay. I promise. Please, let it go, for now, okay?"
Liliyn growled but nodded, with Luz feeling hesitant understanding, and annoyance coming from Liliyn. "Thanks, girl," Luz whispered with appreciation. "Now, let's go check out those swords!"
Eda: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
Eda made it to the top of the second floor and looked down the staircase to see Luz and Liliyn stroll to the training area on the first floor.
Of course, Luz checked out the swords first.
Eda didn't blame her student. After all, she had looked at the swords too when her mentor first bought her here.
'Like moth—Like Mentor, like Student. That's what I meant,' Eda thought with annoyance. She had to stop doing that. What she saw in the crystals wasn't true. It was a trick of the eyes. Or a trick of the magic within the crystal.
Eda huffed in annoyance and walked down the long hallway in front of her until she reached a tracing of a doorway against a brick wall. Eda closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and bit down on her left thumb.
This time, Eda traced out a circle in the middle of the doorway, causing her blood to light up against the wall.
Once the large circle was created, Eda placed her golden fang against her left palm and sliced it, allowing blood to flow from the wound. She placed her bloody palm against the circle, which caused the inside of the circle to explode into particles, revealing a familiar sight.
The sight was that of a small clearing where a throne sat in the middle of it. The throne itself was large and was made with dark limestone that was smoothed. Stretching across the imposing throne were crystallized vines, along with a faint dusting of snow.
In front of the throne, however, was a sword.
A rather long sword.
The sword was stabbed into the ground, but it had a torn cloak around the blade and cross guard, while a tattered witch's hat sat over the pommel and hilt of the sword.
Finally, hanging around the covered sword was a necklace.
Eda stepped through the portal, which closed behind her, and approached the sword embedded in the ground. Slowly, Eda sat down in front of the sword and throne and then crossed her legs, her eyes locked on the necklace in front of her.
The necklace was just a gray string with a fang dangling at the end.
Eda reached out and rubbed her thumb against the fang. It still surprised Eda that her teacher had kept Eda's original adult fang and then wore it as a necklace until her final day. "Hey, Teach," Eda greeted, her tone hesitant and gentle. "Been a while, huh?"
There was silence, but Eda expected that.
"I didn't mean for it to be so long," Eda admitted. "I-I just couldn't come back here after I buried you…. You know how I am…."
Eda grew quiet.
"I wish I could have summoned up the courage sooner rather than later, but I figured this would be worth it. You'll never believe this, but…. Your brat has a brat of her own," Eda revealed. "That's right! Me, Eda Clawthorne, is a teacher! You always said that you'd roll over in your grave if I got a student, so start rolling because I have one now."
Once again, there was silence.
"Her name is Luz," Eda explained. "She's a human, from the human realm. I've only known her for a few days, but the girl is a bright, determined, noisy, and inquisitive little weirdo. She's also intelligent and kind-hearted. When it comes to strangers, King is usually my barometer for bullshit peddlers, and yet, he adores her. He lets her cuddle him, despite the "fight" he puts up every time she does. She's a good egg…."
Eda chuckled with a helpless tone.
"So much so, that it confuses me," Eda said to the sword. "She's a good girl who is desperately eager to find her place, either here or in her world. And for some reason, she looks up to me to be her mentor. For the life of me, I don't know why."
Insecurity was thick in Eda's voice as she looked down at the snow-covered ground and said, "I've always been a fuck-up and a coward when it comes to…. Everything. I know myself well enough to know that eventually, I'll run her off. Either through the curse or by me being me. But for some stupid reason, I can't keep her away as I did with Raine, Lily, or C—"
Eda took a shuddered breath, stopping herself from uttering the name that she had kept buried in her heart since the moment she walked away. "That first day, I had tried to keep her at a distance," Eda continued. "I took her in to use her as a delivery girl and someone to help with King and Hooty. Do you want to know how long it took me to take this mentor shit seriously with her? A single day. That wall I was building didn't even last a single damn day."
Eda sighed.
"I'm trying to teach her, and I'd like to think I'm doing a good job, but I'm not sure," Eda admitted. "I've already crushed her expectations a few times. I mean, can't be in the Isles with bright eyes and a bushy tail, right? Um, Ca—she used to say that, not about the Isles, but the human saying…."
Eda finally looked back at the sword in front of her and said, "I'm teaching her just like you taught me. Danger, Mystic, Majestic, and All. I don't know if it will help her, since she's human, but her exuberance makes me want to see this whole mentor shit through. I just hope I don't fail her…."
Eda stood off the snow-covered ground and told the grave, "Thanks for listening to me rant. It's kind of like old times. With me ranting and you staring at me with exhausted eyes. I kind of miss talking to someone without either yelling or admonishing them. I-I'll try to visit more often…."
Eda placed two fingers on her lips, placed the kissed digits on the brim of the witch's hat, and then walked away to where the portal once stood.
Eda lifted her left palm and reached out to reactivate the blood seal for the portal, only for a familiar voice to whisper against the breeze, "Little Wing…."
Eda sharply turned around and glanced at the grave, but no one was there. Eda frowned and then reopened the blood seal to return to the palace.
But as Eda stepped through the portal, she wasn't aware of a faint blue orb following her.