The Owlet with Amber Eyes
Episode Three: Of Weapons, Glyphs, And Memories
Luz twirled around the vast room while she clapped her hands. The training area of the vast room was amazing.
From the wall of weapons, the training dolls, the little doodle on the corner of the wall of two stick figures, with both figures having orange hair, it felt so homey, weirdly enough.
"Alright, let's get to those weapons," Luz chirped as she walked toward the wall, walking past a large statue of a hooded figure with a small glass case at its feet.
Luz stared at the wall of weapons with a curious expression on her face. When she walked over to the wall, she expected to see tons of steel but instead, all of them were made of wood.
Each weapon was sculpted to perfection, but Luz noticed that above the hilts on all the wooden swords or below the spearheads, there was a circular hole with a small nub attached at the bottom of the hole.
"Why are these like this?" Luz asked Liliyn, who sent her a wave of confusion, not so much at the question, but at what the items on the wall even were. Luz laughed, petted Liliyn's head, and said, "Ah well, I guess we'll figure it out together."
The first weapon Luz reached out to grab was a spear, but when she grabbed it, a flash of red outlined the spear, causing the weapon to become so heavy, Luz couldn't even lift it.
"Oh no, my weak nerd arms are striking again," Luz pouted.
She then tried to lift a bastard sword, but once again, the red outline appeared and the weapon became heavier. Luz huffed in annoyance and attempted to lift a bow, a mace, a greatsword, a nunchaku, and a tonfa, but each one was heavier than the last.
Luz let out a growl in aggravation, only for something to pulse in her chest, which caused her to grasp at it.
Liliyn whined in concern but despite her frustration, Luz smiled at her and reassured her, "I'm okay. I promise." Luz offered Liliyn a smile and then returned her gaze to the wall of weapons. "Just trying to figure out why none of these weapons are light enough for me to pick up."
"Magical weapons differ from human weapons, Kiddo," Eda said, announcing her presence as she walked into the training room. "You can't just pick them up and use them immediately."
Luz turned to Eda with a look of confusion on her face. "What do you mean?" Luz asked.
Eda grinned, walked over to the wall, and gripped the hilt of a greatsword. The sword's outline flashed red and Eda was unable to lift it. "You see this? That red outline the appears minute you try to lift it?" Eda questioned.
Luz nodded.
"This weapon is telling me that it does not choose me as its wielder," Eda revealed.
"Wait, it can choose?! These weapons have sentience?!" Luz exclaimed.
"Of course they do," Eda answered. "Notice how all of these weapons are etched from wood?"
Luz nodded.
"The wood that's used to create the weapons here is called Areia Wood," Eda explained. "They are a sister wood to Palistrom. Except while Palistrom is grown with positive, affirming feelings, which are then passed on to the Palismen, Areia Wood feeds off the more innate nature of witches. Such as bloodshed, honor, war, justice, protection, revenge, and power. If you align with the weapon that has these desires, you're chosen as their wielder until they are destroyed or your dying day."
Eda turned back to the weapon wall and for a moment, Luz noticed a forlorn expression on Eda's face when the woman stared at the spear. "The Areia Tree is large, to the point that cutting down one of them could stock an army. And unlike Palistrom, they aren't going extinct…." Eda shrugged.
"And what are the circles with the nubs in them?" Luz asked.
"Oh, those are where the Palismen go," Eda answered. "As I said, the Areia Wood and Palistrom are sibling trees, so they work together to protect the witch they've chosen to bond with. And when that happens, you're bound to see some amazing magic."
"I understand," Luz murmured. "I don't know why I thought just knowing magic would be enough protection. But considering how vast magic can be, it's good that there are weapons, in case that person's magic is nullified."
Luz noticed that Eda began to smile. It was a strange smile but she often saw her mom make that same smile whenever she did something that made her happy.
Did she make Eda happy with her response?
"I guess, I have two questions. The first one is why are these weapons wood in the first place? I would think that steel would be better," Luz wondered.
Eda smirked and picked up the spear. "That, I will reveal once we return and I can safely use Owlbert," Eda told her. "And as for why, we used to use steel weapons until we found the Areia Wood, which proved better weapons than steel."
"Alright. And the second question is, what weapon chose you?" Luz asked.
Eda allowed a somber smile to form on her face. "The weapon that chose me to wield it was long since destroyed," Eda softly revealed. "But it was a Halberd. She was aligned with me wanting revenge."
Luz was confused.
Revenge?
Why would Eda want to take revenge on anyone?
"Just like this spear," Eda continued, as she spun the spear with a flourish. "It's lighter than my Halberd, which will help since while I'm strong, I'm not strong enough for the Halberd anymore."
Eda seemed to decide something and with a sigh, she whispered, "I'm not ready for a new weapon quite yet…." The spear glowed a soft pink and Eda. "It's still too soon…. But, perhaps I can find someone more worthy of you…. Until then, I will use you…."
Luz stared at Eda and noted that the woman's somber expression deepened, only for her to immediately perk up."But enough about that," Eda chirped, brushing off the somberness in her voice as she held the spear in her hand. "Why don't you try picking up more weapons, and see if any align with you?"
"But, how will I know?" Luz questioned.
"All you have to do is listen," Eda replied. "Let the weapon call out to you…."
Luz looked confused. "But, how do I do that?" Luz asked her.
Eda smiled and sat down on the floor, crossed her legs, and patted the spot beside her. "Sit with me," Eda instructed.
Luz nodded and replicated Eda's position. "Now close your eyes, breathe slowly, and calm your mind," Eda instructed.
Luz followed Eda's instructions. Her mind always felt so cluttered, with all of the ideas and thought voices that raged within them. It felt like she was in a madhouse whenever she had to think.
But through the madness of her mind, she heard something.
It was faint but it sounded like her name.
"Lucia Noceda…."
To Luz's mind, the voice sounded like it was talking through static. But despite this filter, the voice reminded Luz of her mother, in the exact voice, but with its warmth.
"Protection….Justice….Passion…Sacrifice….Chosen….Wield me…." The voice gently urged.
Luz tried to hone in on the voice, to single it out in the raging storm that was her brain, but that was when the voice spoke again.
"Ahead….Your left…." The voice murmured. "Statue…Kell…Former Wielder…."
It was louder than before, but still somewhat smothered in the static.
But she had heard it.
Luz opened her eyes and then turned her head to the left and found herself staring at the statue she passed by earlier.
Taking a look at the statue, Luz realized that it was a statue of a tall, but slim, broad-shouldered man with hair that covered the upper half of his face, a hint of stubble, and a wide smirk on his face. But despite being stone, Luz could see the unwavering determination in his eyes.
Luz then looked down at the case, there was a small aura of green from within it. Which was strange because she wasn't seeing this while her eyes were zoomed in.
Luz stood, slowly walked away from the weapon wall, and approached the statue as Eda asked, "What's going on in that head of yours, kiddo?"
Luz stopped at the statue and looked down at the case and noticed within the case that there was a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged wooden blade with an elegant spiral hilt.
And wrapped against it was a wooden dagger that had a knuckle guard and a slightly curved crossguard.
She also noticed that the longer, slender sword also had the same circle fixture as the other weapons.
"Found….Wield….Chosen," The voice said.
The voice had gotten stronger against the static. Was this the weapon that had sought her out?
Luz leaned down to the case, but Eda's hand grabbed at her wrist as she said, "Oh no, Kiddo, those are not for touching."
"Ah!" Luz jumped
Eda released Luz's wrist, but Luz smiled when Eda gently rubbed at it. "Sorry. I didn't mean to squeeze too tightly. Or startle you," Eda apologized.
"It's okay," Luz smiled. She then turned back to the weapons and asked, "But why?"
"These are Deadwardian Era Espada Ropera and a Main-gauche," Eda explained. "Anything from that era was outlawed by Belos due to ties to the savage times….. But it's more than that. These particular weapons belonged to my teacher's mentor. They were his prized possession. What bought you to this anyways?"
"I heard a voice in my head," Luz answered. "She was speaking through static. Was telling me that it chose me and pointed me to this…."
Eda looked alarmed for a moment, but that was quickly wiped away by a small grin. "Well, then I suppose we shouldn't waste any more time."
Luz watched as Eda slammed her elbow against the glass, shattering it upon impact.
"I-I'm sure that there was a key for that," Luz stammered.
"Meh," Eda replied. "Go ahead, Kiddo. Get them."
Luz nodded and reached for the two weapons, pausing only for a moment due to the worry that she wouldn't be able to lift them. Luz took a breath and reached into the broken glass to grab the two weapons.
Slowly, she lifted them out of the broken case but surprisingly, not only was she able to lift them from the bottom of the wall, but both items felt warm in her hands.
They felt right to hold.
"Eda….?" Luz slowly asked. "You referred to your weapon as a "She" before. Did she have a name?"
"She did," Eda replied. "Her name was Kell. Did your weapon give you its name yet? That's the final checkmark you need to become its chosen wielder."
Luz shook her head and stared at the weapons and asked, "May I have your name?"
"Mare…." The voice whispered.
"Mare," Luz whispered. "I'm Luz. And I guess…. You're my weapon from now on," Luz said with a soft expression. Luz turned to Eda and whispered, "Eda, I have a magic weapon now…."
"That you do," Eda announced with another one of her strange smiles. "Now that we have the weapon, it's time for the final step of this trip, and that is the knowledge of all magic."
'So, this is what this feels like? Pride in another person,' Eda thought as she watched the wide-eyed, beaming Luz as she carried the weapons her mentor's mentor once held.
But despite her pride, Eda didn't know how she felt about those weapons choosing Luz. Eda had never met her mentor's mentor, but what Eda did know was that Vin adored the man as much as she was annoyed by him, and his petrification before she met Eda had shattered her.
Would she be upset that her Eda's student wielded the weapons that her master once did?
"Eda, should we wake up Liliyn?" Luz asked as she looked back at Liliyn, who decided to slumber in the training area.
"Nah," Eda replied. "Let her rest. We'll be here another night before we head home. We still have your weapon's training."
"So, I have a question about that," Luz spoke. "So, those swords we picked up, I'm assuming beneath their sheathes, they are wooden too, right?"
Eda shook her head.
"Really? So those weapons we bought are steel?" Luz asked.
"That's right," Eda answered.
"But they don't have the spots to put Palismen in, judging by them being simply long," Luz deduced. "So, why have these?"
"Simple, some witches can be born with either not having a magic bile sac, or their bile sac only producing enough magic to keep them alive," Eda answered. "So, we have to have weapons to accommodate them. And steel, while not as powerful for witches with Areia Wood, is somewhat useful."
"Oh," Luz whispered.
Eda waited for Luz to continue with her questioning, but Luz remained silent.
The two walked to the central area of the room that Vin called, "The Elemental Showcase" area, and said, "And this is the "All" portion of learning. In these glass cases, hold most, if not all, of the elements of the Boiling Isles."
"Whoa," Luz breathed. Eda watched as the young girl looked at the fire case and pointed at the fiery orb. "Hey, what are these strange symbols coming from out of the flames?" Luz asked.
Eda blinked.
"What are you talking about?" Eda asked.
"You don't see them?" Luz asked as she looked back at her. "The strange symbols…." Eda watched as Luz pulled out her notebook and flipped through it. "I noticed when we were in the valley of corrupted gravity, those lines had strange symbols in them, kind of like the flames do."
Luz turned the notebook and Eda was treated to two weird symbols on the page. "You saw these in the gravity trails?" Eda asked as she took the notebook and eyed the two strange symbols.
Eda ran a thumb against the one on the left, and to her absolute shock, the notebook glowed a dark grey and then slammed to the ground hard, popping off Eda's arms in the process.
Both Eda and Luz screamed in alarm.
Luz: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
"Luz, Kiddo, wake up."
Luz's eyes fluttered open and she saw Eda and Liliyn above her, with the former's eyes showing concern and feeling the concern from the latter.
Luz found herself on a bed with an open window on the wall on the left wall. Eda sat on a chair to her right while Liliyn sat on the floor to her left.
A gust of wind blew into the room, causing a few snowflakes to float inside.
Luz watched as a snowflake landed on her pants, and noticed a strange symbol on the snowflake. Luz slowly blinked, snapshotting the image of the symbol into her mind.
"Eda? Liliyn?" Luz drowsily murmured as she leaned up off the bed. "What happened? Where am I?"
"Well, You fainted," Eda answered with a hint of amusement. "Seeing your notebook pop my arms from their sockets out of nowhere was too much for your brain to handle. Do humans usually have that loud of pipes?"
"Maybe," Luz mumbled, only to giggle as Liliyn licked her cheek. Luz wrapped her arms around Liliyn's neck and nestled her face against the fur between her armor and whispered, "I'm okay, Lily, I promise."
Liliyn huffed but Luz felt her concern start to ebb away. "Once I got my arms back, I carried you to the second floor into a bedroom," Eda continued. "You were out for about a minute. Two tops."
Luz pulled away from Liliyn and glanced at Eda, who had both arms attached to her body again. "Thank you for carrying me up here. But why did I faint? I saw your head and hand get taken off without worry before," Luz mumbled.
"Well, each time those have happened, the adrenaline was still there," Eda explained. "You had just experienced your first flight when my hand needed to be returned and we were in a dangerous place when I lost my head. This time, we were in a calm place with no danger or excitement present."
"Oh, that makes sense," Luz said, her voice stronger than before. Luz shook her head to clear out the remaining cobwebs and rubbed at her chest. "How did you get your arms back on your body so fast?"
"Liliyn helped out," Eda answered. "It was awkward for both of us."
Luz nodded and then asked, "Where is my notebook?"
"Right where I left it. In the crater that it made," Eda answered.
"Can you take me to it?" Luz asked. "My legs kinda feel like jelly."
Eda nodded and scooped Luz into her arms and carried Luz out of the room and out into the large room with Liliyn trailing behind them. As Eda carried her to the stairs, she was shocked to see her notebook sitting in the middle of a small crater.
"How did that happen?" Luz softly inquired.
"Well, you won't believe this, but I touched the drawing of that thing you drew in it," Eda explained, as she walked down the stairs and toward the crater. Once they arrived, Eda sat Luz down and picked up the notebook.
"Wait, my drawing caused that?" Luz breathed, as Eda offered Luz the notebook. Luz took the notebook and observed it. The notebook looked normal, but the page that the strange symbol was written on looked as if it was burned off.
As her dad used to sing, "How bizarre."
"Well, it's gone now," Eda sighed. "Would've loved to examine that drawing more."
"Nonsense!" Luz exclaimed as she whipped out her pen. "Snapshot powers, activate!" Luz immediately went to work by perfectly drawing the replication of the image she saw.
A pair of three squiggly lines sandwiching two circles, with a straight line at the bottom of the circles and two.
"And….¡Acabado!" Luz exclaimed as she held up the notebook with the sigil drawn.
"How did you remember that?" Eda breathed as she took the notebook.
"Well, I have a photographic memory," Luz explained. "I can recall an image from memory with high precision after seeing it only once. Mamá says I get it from her."
Luz noticed that Eda got a faraway look in her eyes, but that quickly faded when realization set place. "Wait, so how long does that last?" Eda asked.
"Well, I can still remember the first time I found out that I'm lactose intolerant, which was at the age of three, so since I was three?" Luz offered.
"Oh kid," Eda breathed. "The ideas that are going on in my head…. Okay, let me shelve that for another day. Because we have pressing concerns. Now, rip out that page."
Luz nodded and followed Eda's instructions. Once done, Eda took the ripped page and pressed the sigil drawn on it. Like before, the image flowed a dark-gray color but this time, Eda released the page, allowing it to crash against the ground at a breakneck speed.
"Whoa," both Eda and Luz whispered as they watched the paper disintegrate into a pile of ash.
"Kiddo?" Eda whispered. Luz looked up to see Eda staring directly at her with a soft smile on her face. "My teacher once told me that wild magic is all about making a connection with nature. That we have to learn from the island. Luz, tell me what this means."
Luz remained silent for a moment.
When she first came to the Sunken Palm, she could smell the magic in the air, from what her mentor told her, and then she could see the symbols in both trails of light at the valley and from the case of fire, while her mentor couldn't.
On shaky legs, Luz stood off the ground. Eda reached out to her while Liliyn got on all fours, but Luz stopped them with a hand.
Slowly, the young witch-in-training walked to the cases that were filled with the elements until her eyes stopped at a spiky orb of ice.
Luz could see the frost around the ice flow a strange symbol within it. She also noticed that the symbol was the same as the snowflake that floated into the room she was in just a few minutes prior.
But why?
Why did she see these symbols when Eda couldn't?
What did it all mean?
"I don't know if it's because I'm human that I'm seeing this, or if it is because of something more," Luz spoke. "But whatever it is, it's a gift. A gift that the island has given me. What all this means is that magic is everywhere."
Luz turned to look at Eda and noticed the soft smile that Eda was directing at her. "A little rocky but also perfectly said," Eda told her.
Luz flushed.
Eda stood and walked over to Luz with the notebook in her hand, and said, "Well, whatever it is, you have the gift to see these symbols." Eda held out the notebook with a twinkle in her eyes. "So let's see exactly what you'll find within the cases."
Luz nodded and immediately flipped to a new page, turned to the case of ice, and began to draw. Once she was done, she turned the notebook to Eda, who saw a new strange symbol. "This is what I see when I look at the ice," Luz explained.
"Interesting," Eda whispered with amazement.
"All of them do," Luz continued.
"Draw all of the symbols, we need to look into this," Eda instructed with excitement.
Luz nodded and started to draw.
By the time she finished, she had the symbols of fire, water, ice, wind, plant, earth, lightning, light, and darkness. Along with her two gravity symbols, she had a total of eleven of these symbols.
She wondered what she could do with them….
"There, all of them are drawn and labeled," Luz chirped. "But what's next?"
"Next, we investigate what these symbols actually are," Eda answered. "To the library section of this room!"
Eda: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
To Eda's annoyance, they didn't find anything about these strange symbols.
Eda knew it was a longshot, but to have found not even a whiff of information was nothing short but offensive to her.
But regardless, her student now had access to magic. Eleven spells, in fact. However, Eda knew that Luz would need a lot of training in using the spells to their fullest potential.
And maybe even beyond.
Eda watched as Luz played with Liliyn with an orb of light, created by a page in Luz's book. Eda couldn't help but smile at how innocent Luz looked with orbs of light floating around her while Liliyn swatted at the orbs.
Luz had gotten bored of book diving about ten minutes in and Eda didn't have the heart to torture Luz any further with research so allowed her to play with Liliyn.
Eda tossed down the book and looked out the window. She had spent Titan knows how long with her face in her teacher's books and with no answers to what the strange glyphs were.
So much for the sword training today.
But maybe this was for the best.
Luz learned what she needed to learn regarding magic, was gifted with the swords of her teacher's mentor, managed to make friends with a damn Repede, and also found two spells, with an additional nine.
So once they returned home, Eda could focus on the real training.
But as Eda stared at Luz and Liliyn playing, her mind began to drift.
Eda: Memory
"I have to say, this place pretty swanky," Eda told Camila as they stood by the fruit punch bowl, which had an ice statue of a "Peen-Guin" as Camila called them.
It had been two months since Eda met the human woman and their friendship had further blossomed. So much so, that Eda found herself hanging out at Camila's place more than hanging out at the tower with her teacher.
Today was a special day for Camila, for the twenty-four-year-old had finally graduated from veterinary school, which Eda equated to her joining the beast coven. In celebration, the school hosted a large party, which Camila invited Eda to.
The young witch wore a red suit with a black button-down shirt, gold hoop earrings, and black dress shoes that she….borrowed from a nice gentleman that had tried to rob her on her way to Camila's apartment.
She hoped that the dork didn't freeze in the snow.
Eda also had her bright orange hair in a ponytail with a hint of red lipstick on her lips.
Beside her, Camila wore a long, sleeveless, black dress, a pair of black-rimmed glasses, a pair of small black studded earrings, black heels, and a small black leather handbag.
Camila had opted to not wear any makeup, but to Eda, she looked just as radiant without it as she did with it.
"I have to say, that suit fits you very well," Camila noted with a look of appraisal."I never would have thought."
Eda grinned.
"Well, what can I say? I heard somewhere that every woman loves a sharp-dressed gal," Eda said with a wink.
Camila, who was taking a drink of punch, snorted and looked up at Eda with a bemused expression. "We have to stop letting commercials run while we sleep," Camila noted.
"Nah, I like them," Eda rebuffed. "Especially that commercial about that guy that changed everything to "sky-tles" whenever he touched them."
"Skittles, Eda, Skittles," Camila corrected with a fond smile. "I'm starting to think that you like to mispronounce things just to see my reaction."
Eda chuckled, inwardly panicking.
"Well, you'll never know," Eda replied. "So, what are we supposed to do here? Just mingle?"
"Yeah," Camila answered. "Talk to a few people, maybe have a dance or two….?"
Eda blinked and asked, "Is that a hint that you want to ask me to dance?"
"You kidding me? With my two left feet?" Camila laughed. "Your poor feet would be crushed by the time we finished dancing. I'd rather people watch."
Eda glanced down at Camila's feet and decided that the human must have used a metaphor about being a lousy dancer because she had normal feet.
Eda looked back up at Camila and found herself caught off guard at how the glittering fairy lights behind the shorter woman highlighted her beauty. "People watch?" Eda repeated, snapping herself out of her brief daze.
"Oh yeah," Camila confirmed. "It's admittedly one of my favorite things. I like to observe people and their subconscious interactions."
"Oh! Like spying?" Eda offered.
"Kind of," Camila replied with a grin. "But more legal."
"Legal," Eda scoffed. "But alright, Noceda, let's play."
Two Hours Later...
Eda had to admit, she was having a great time people-watching with Camila at this stuffy affair.
They had been at this party for an hour now and they had come up with so elaborate backstories for everyone they watched. Right now, the duo was watching a pair of a man and a woman conversing while another woman stood in the distance, watching them.
Camila let out a musical laugh as Eda smirked in amusement. "I'm telling you, she is not plotting their murder, Lyn," Camila insisted, despite her laughter.
"I mean, look at her posture and the scowl on her face. She looks enraged," Eda chuckled. "See how her fists are balled and her narrowed eyes? That guy either cheated on her or left her for the girl he's with."
"Or, she could be jealous that the girl is with the guy?" Camila suggested.
Eda's eyes widened. "That's even spicier! So she's going to kill the guy because the girl she likes is with him instead of her," Eda excitedly said.
Camila smacked Eda's stomach with the back of her hand, which caused Eda to groan. "I didn't hit you that hard, Roja," Camila grinned.
Eda grinned back.
One thing that Eda noticed about Camila is that she made up nicknames on the fly, something Eda adored greatly due to her own penchant for smacking nicknames on things and people.
Eda then looked around and saw two men laughing, one with dyed blue hair, and the other bald with green eyes. The two were looking very friendly to one another as they conversed, with the green-eyed man placing a hand on the blue-haired man's arm. "Hey, how about those guys?" Eda pointed out as she motioned Camila to look ahead.
Camila looked ahead at the two men and said, "Oh, they are obviously seeing one another."
"You think so?" Eda asked.
"I mean, I know them both. They were in my class," Camila cheekily replied. "Oh! I think I fou—"
"So, this is where you've been hiding!" A boisterous voice exclaimed. Eda started to turn around, only for Camila to shriek as she was picked up and spun around.
"Manny! Put me down!" Camila laughed as the newcomer sat her back down on her feet.
The newcomer was a lean, dark-skinned man with dark brown hair, sideburns that were stretching down his jawline, and chocolate-brown eyes that radiated mischief.
The man wore a simple midnight blue button-down shirt, black slacks, a silver bracelet on his left wrist, and black dress shoes.
Eda had to admit, he was rather attractive with that boyish smile on his face.
Eda watched as Camila turned around and punched the man, Manny, in the arm, which made Manny wince and rub his arm with a pout. "Jeez, Noceda, must you always greet me with a punch?" Manny whined but his smile never dimmed.
"Noceda?" Eda asked.
"That is my last name, Eda," Camila chuckled.
"Oh! So this is mysterious Eda you were talking about," Manny stated with an impish grin. "You're right, she is stunning."
"Manny!" Camila explained with a flush as she elbowed his side, which caused the man to cough out a laugh.
"Oh, I like him," Eda said as she held out her hand. "Eda Clawthorne's my name," Eda introduced.
"Emmanuel Amaris. Just Manny for short though," Manny introduced as he shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, you tall drink of water," Eda agreed with a wink.
"Sweet talking like that will get you everywhere with me," Manny replied with smirk.
"You both are such dorks," Camila chuckled. "But, what are you doing here anyways, Manny? I thought you working on a case."
"Case?" Eda asked.
"Yeah, Manny is a hotshot lawyer," Camila revealed. "He's working on his fifth big case."
Eda tilted her head.
Lawyers weren't anything Eda wasn't familiar with. The Boiling Isles did have courts and judges and lawyers, all of which were either in the Oracle Coven or the Illusion Coven.
She wondered how things went here when it came to the justice system.
Manny rubbed his neck with a sheepish grin on his face. "I mean, it's not that big. It's just putting away the mayor for his mob ties. Can't be that hard," Manny replied, only for his eyes to widen. "Whoops, just ignore that. Can't talk about the case."
"Too late, it's etched in my memory forever," Eda told him with a grin.
"Welp. That's on me," Manny sighed. "But yeah, I was sick of the paperwork and needed a night to just forget about it. I then got your message and just decided to show up."
"It's good to refresh yourself when things get tough," Eda said. "My teacher always said that taking a step away from a difficult challenge often yielded fresher results when you return to it."
"I like your teacher, we think alike," Manny chuckled. "But yeah, I just can't wait for this whole thing to end. I've been getting paranoid."
"Paranoid?" Camila asked. "How?"
"I don't know," Manny started. "It just feels like I'm being watched every day, y'know?"
"Oh, I get that," Eda sympathetically agreed, as she patted his shoulder "Well, you're in the right place. I mean, cute women, or men, if that's your type of deal, all snazzy and dressed up. Why don't you have a little one-nighter?"
"You're incorrigible," Camila sighed, as she covered her mouth.
"She says as she hides her smile behind her hand," Manny dryly stated. "But, maybe you're right Eda. Maybe I should find a lady that will put up with this handsome mug for a night. Cam, you mind?"
Camila snorted and said, "Great, now I'm on wing woman duty. Thanks, Eda."
Eda grinned and chirped, "Anytime!"
"Sweet!" Manny fist-pumped. "I'm going to get some punch. I'll be back," Manny walked off, leaving Camila and Eda alone temporarily.
"So, that's the best friend," Eda noted. "He's a likable guy."
"He is," Camila confirmed. "He's one the best friends I've ever had."
Eda faked an offended gasp. "And what am I? Chopped liver?" Eda asked.
Camila flushed and rubbed her left forearm. "I mean, we're great friends, but I kind of have you in your special slot."
Eda blinked.
"You do?" Eda asked.
Camila nodded, clearly flustered by her words.
"Heh," Eda smiled. "So, how did you two meet?"
"Hm? Oh, We went to the same high school. While I was a normal girl, he was a star basketball player, so I would see him around from time to time with his friends, but I really didn't know him. But when we officially met? Well…" Camila started. "We kind of….It's a little embarrassing but…."
"Hey," Eda softly interjected. "I won't tease you, promise."
Eda noted that Camila looked unsure, but the shorter woman nodded and said, "We officially met at New York Comic Con."
Eda blinked. "What is New York Comic Con?" Eda asked.
The better question would have been, "What was New York," but Eda didn't want to distract her friend with that question. She'd just chalk it up to it being a human place.
"You never heard of—Eda, you are so weird," Camila chuckled. "Well, it's a fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. The director for Cosmic Frontier was there to reveal a trailer for the spin-off, Cosmic Effect. A worthy successor to the OG series."
"Anyways, I had dressed up as my favorite character, Communications Officer Aurora Nihlous, and he dressed up as Circuit," Camila continued, with a wistful smile on her face. "I noticed throughout the day that this Circuit, pre-humanoid body, kept following me but in the show, Circuit always did that to Aurora, since they were friends. So it was cool. Right before the Cosmic Effect trailer, he rolls up next to me, removes the Circuit helmet, and springs the surprise."
"That must have been fun," Eda stated with a smile.
"I was so mortified," Camila admitted. "But, from there, we were best friends."
"Just best friends?" Eda impishly asked.
Camila tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah, why?" Camila asked.
Eda chuckled and looked away from Camila as she replied, "Oh, no reason. Oh look, he's coming back."
Eda watched as a grinning Manny walked toward them, but something shiny caught the corner of her attention. She focused and zoomed in on her eyesight. In the bushes outside of the window was a man, and he was aiming this odd device.
What was that?
"Eda, is everything alright? You got this strange look on your face," Camila noted.
"There is someone outside that window," Eda noticed. "The one Manny is walking past. They're holding this weird device in their hands."
"What?" Camila asked.
The window shattered, and Manny was knocked off of his feet and into a table, which crumbled under his weight.
Screams of alarm rang out from the partygoers as Camila and Eda screamed, "Manny!" The two women rushed to Manny's side, but Eda could smell the familiar scent of blood.
Whatever that person did had hurt Manny.
A part of her wanted to chase the man that had injured Manny, but whatever had hurt Manny had seriously wounded him. Eda kneeled by Manny's side and observed him. There was a hole in the side chest, judging from where the blood was oozing out.
"Just hang on, Manny!" Camila yelled as she dug into her purse to pull out what Eda learned was a cell phone. "I'm calling 911. Just hang in there!"
Eda ripped off Manny's thankfully thin shirt and looked up at Manny's eyes. They seemed unconfused, but he was still alive.
Eda placed a hand on Manny's wound and while people ran around and screamed around her, she took a deep breath and focused. A pulse of magic left her hand and rippled across his body, giving Eda the ability to see exactly what was damaged inside of his body.
To her surprise, the human insides were similar to a witch's, except for a weaker liver and no magic bile-sac, but his body had been ravished by whatever struck him and he had two holes in his body, one on the left side of his chest and one on the right side.
'Whatever hit him did some major damage, he's going to exsanguinate at this point. Not unless I save him,' Eda thought. It would take a lot of magic, but as long as she paced herself, she would be able to keep him alive long enough for other Healing Coven members of the human realm to appear.
Eda took a deep, slow, breath and allowed her magic to seep into his body. Eda could hear the owl beast begin to stir in her mind as she repaired the damage that his body had taken. "E-Eda?" Manny's voice whispered.
Eda looked up at him.
His eyes, albeit weak, widened slightly. "Your eyes….they're glowing?"
Eda looked down and said, "You're just seeing things. Focus on staying alive, and not these gorgeous peepers."
Eda looked at Manny's body and saw that her magic was doing the trick. The damage was slowly mending, but she could hear the scratching in her mind increase. It was going to be close, but she would need to snag an elixir from her hair the second she was finished.
But she would never get to that point because a group of uniformed men with a strange board rushed into the room. Eda removed her hand from his wound, she had managed to get him out of the woods, but he wasn't fully healed yet.
"Wait, he isn't—" Eda started as she stood off the bloody ground.
"He's going to the Gravesfield hospital," one of the uniformed men told her. "He'll be safe.
Eda watched as Manny was carried out. "We have to follow him," Camila announced.
"And we will," Eda replied.
"Don't anyone move!" Another uniformed man exclaimed. "Not until we get answers as to what happened here tonight!"
"Great, the police," Camila grumbled.
Eda sneered.
Several Hours Later...
The sun was starting to rise as Camila and Eda walked into Camila's apartment, with Eda caked with Manny's dried blood. Once the police questioning was done, which took three hours, Eda and Camila went to the hospital to see Manny.
Manny had been in surgery when they arrived, and the two stayed for hours, but eventually, Manny's mother ushered them home, stating that they would receive a call from her once the surgery had been completed.
The two women peeled off their sticky, ruined clothing, with Eda turning her back to Camila to avoid the woman seeing the gem embedded in her chest. "Eda?" Camila's soft voice inquired.
"Yeah, Cammie?" Eda replied.
"I know you said you wouldn't be able to stay longer this time around due to your teacher needing you….but….can you…." Camila drifted off.
"I'll stay," Eda whispered. "How could I leave?"
"Thanks," Camila whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
Eda turned around to see Camila's shoulders shaking as she started to sob. Eda reached out to her, paused for a moment, and then shook her head.
This was no time for hesitation.
Eda stepped forward, turned Camila around, and took her into a tight embrace.
One that Camila returned as she sobbed against her.
Luz: Memory End
"Okay, we've tested out the light glyph quite a bit," Luz announced to Liliyn as the small orbs of light that floated around her popped like bubbles. "You think we should test another one, Lil?"
After doing research that showed zero results for the strange symbols that allowed her to do magic, Luz decided to name these symbols "glyphs" and spent the last two hours testing/playing with the light glyph.
Luz felt a burst of excitement from Liliyn at the suggestion of testing another glyph and grinned. "Well, since we've been good otters on the path of light, let's take a walk on the dark side," Luz said with a lower voice and a smug grin.
She pulled out a piece of paper with the darkness glyph, waved the paper in excitement, and then pressed the glyph. The glyph glowed a dark purple light while the paper the glyph was drawn on slowly turned black.
The paper disintegrated and swirled around Luz and Liliyn with a cloud of black, dark purple, and light purple mist following the remains of the paper. Luz felt Liliyn's discomfort as the Repede growled and stood in front of Luz.
"It's okay, Lil," Luz whispered as the cloud of darkness surrounded them, leaving the two of them alone in the dark. As Luz stood in the darkness, she didn't find herself terrified by it. Sure, it felt like someone was watching her within the dark mist, but there was a….somber peace that Luz was able to pick up on.
How strange.
The darkness around Luz and Liliyn faded away, returning them to the library area of the tower. "See, that wasn't so bad," Luz chirped as she rubbed Liliyn's fur. But Luz wondered, was there any more that she could do with the darkness or the light glyph?
Luz couldn't help but giggle in excitement. She knew magic and now, she was theorizing about how she could make the magic better! 'If only Mom and Dad could see this," Luz somberly thought.
It was too late to show her dad, but it wasn't too late to show her mom. If her mom ever found out about the Boiling Isles, that is.
Liliyn nudged Luz's right hand with her head as Luz felt exhaustion flowing from the Repede. "You sleepy, girl?" Luz asked as she petted Liliyn. "I feel a little tired too."
Luz looked toward the library and saw that Eda had dozed off with her hands on her stomach, her feet propped up on the table, and her chair leaning on its hind legs.
The young girl smiled at how relaxed her mentor looked and whispered, "Seems Eda was too. Come on, let's get some sleep."
Liliyn nodded, and together, the two walked upstairs.
Eda: Memory
The weight on her chest bought Eda back to the waking world.
Eda looked around with blurry eyes and noticed the clock on the wall.
12:35 P.M.
'Thank goodness Cammie taught me how to read these clocks,' Eda thought as she let out a yawn. As she smacked her lips and attempted to move, she felt a weight on her chest.
Eda looked down to see Camila's head on her chest, just inches below her covered Dorothea gem.
Last night had been a rollercoaster, with Manny being shot, the fuzz questioning them, their many hours at the hospital, and the hour of cuddling had left Eda feeling like she changed into the Owl Beast.
But all of that seemed to melt away as she stared at the sleeping woman's face. She looked so relaxed as she slept on top of her.
Her, of all witches!
How could Camila be so comfortable with a fuck-up like her? Doesn't she know that eventually, Eda will do what she does best and tear everything apart? Doesn't Cammie know that Eda will break her heart, as she has done to so many people in her life?
If she did, she wouldn't be able to sleep so easily with Eda.
But for some reason, she did. Camila had snuggled next to her after crying her heart out and fell asleep on top of her. And Eda let her, knowing that the closer the human got to her, the worse they would fall out.
But despite knowing the ending to their friendship, it didn't matter right now to Eda.
The only thing that mattered to the taller witch was the woman on top of her.
Slowly, Eda reached down and gently stroked Camila's long and curly hair. While Eda did this, she dug into her hair, pulled out a bottle of elixir, removed the top, and took a long drink.
Yum, butterscotch flavor.
Once she finished her elixir, she put the bottle back into her hair and laid back down, her hand still stroking Camila's hair. 'I have to say, this has to be the best way I've ever woken up,' Eda thought.
'If I could wake up like this for the rest of my life, that would be fantastic….'
Eda: Memory End
The hind legs of the chair cracked and then broke, which not only woke Eda but sent the witch tumbling backward against hard against the cold, stone floor of the library. "Fuck me!" Eda groaned while she writhed on the ground.
That was the worst way she has ever woken up.
Of all time.
"Can't even dream happy memories without it being ruined," Eda bitterly muttered as she leaned off the ground. She looked out the window and noticed the sun barely peeking out behind the grey clouds.
Today was the day they would leave the Sunken Palm.
A part of Eda didn't want to leave. She had enjoyed being back in her home away from home and would miss it.
But, she would be back one day.
Eda rose to her feet and stretched out her limbs, only for her right arm to pop off her body and fall to the ground. Eda grumbled as she bent down, grabbed the arm, reattached the arm to her body, and then roll her shoulder.
"Welp, I better wake up Luz and get her prepared," Eda said to herself and then walked away from the library area. As she walked toward the stairs, she felt the Owl Beast scraping its talons against the back of her mind
"Wait, almost forgot!" Eda announced. She quickly dug into her hair, pulled out a bottle of elixir, popped the bottle, and then drank it down. The scraping then stopped and Eda smugly slipped the bottle back into her hair.
'Yeah, you're not doing shit against me, so sit there and shut up,' Eda told the beast and then continued on her way to Luz. Once Eda reached the second floor, she walked over to Luz's temporary room and gave the door two quick knocks, and then slowly cracked it open.
Eda smiled.
Luz and Liliyn were sleeping on the bed, with Luz's arm draped around Liliyn's body. Luz looked so soft and comfortable with the Repede of all creatures. Eda had seen Repedes in combat and they were often wild and as violent as a Gorenado.
And yet, Luz slept beside the Repede as if she were sleeping next to a teddy bear.
'Just like her mother,' Eda fondly thought. 'Sleeping with things that could hurt them….' Eda shook her head and took a deep breath.
She had to get out of there.
"I'll give Luz another twenty minutes," Eda hastily told herself before she walked away, unable to keep looking at Luz, in fear of seeing Camila in her again.
Luz: The Owlet with Amber Eyes
"You know Eda, I kind of wish we didn't have to leave."
Eda chuckled and ruffled Luz's hair with a smile, trying to ignore how she could see Camila in the girl's smile again. "I felt the same way when my teacher and I had to leave here," Eda revealed as she stared up at the palace.
Eda, Luz, and Liliyn stood outside of the crystal palace at the foot of the crystal forest. "But I can understand why. You arrived here all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to become a witch, and you're now leaving with a weapon made of Areia Wood, the ability to do magic, and a Repede. You gained everything you desired on this trip."
Luz nodded.
"That's true," Luz admitted. "But I know that there will be so much I have to do now. I have to learn how to use my weapon and the glyphs. I have to learn to be a good partner to Liliyn. I want to learn more about Oracle Work, and maybe illusions and beast keeping. But most of all, I want to be the greatest witch this place has ever seen. I want to be a witch that you can be proud of."
Eda stilled at Luz's words and softly smiled. "You already made me proud when you decided to continue being a witch after the Field of Remnants. Anything else is just a bonus," Eda told her. "But, now that you've said that, don't expect me to take it easy on you."
Luz grinned, her amber eyes shining in delight. "Like I even expected you to," Luz cheekily replied.
Eda snorted and then looked back at the palace, more specifically, the tower. 'I'll be back soon, Teach….' Eda thought to her deceased teacher. "Welp, it's time to go."
"Hey! I just realized! How are we going to get Liliyn back to the Owl House?" Luz asked.
"Liliyn is a Repede. Remember how she got us down from the Valley?" Eda questioned.
Luz nodded.
"A Repede can "Ride the Wind," so to speak," Eda explained. "It's not exactly flight, it's hard to explain."
"Oh!" Luz gasped.
Liliyn puffed out her chest with a smug feeling flowing off of her. "Cocky thing," Eda teased.
"Lil, do you mind riding me back to the Boiling Isles?" Luz asked Liliyn. Eda felt amusement flow from Liliyn as she stood on her legs and motioned for Luz to climb on her back. Luz hugged Liliyn and then straddled her back.
"What about you, Eda?" Luz asked. "Do you want to ride, too?"
"Nah, Owlbert will get me back," Eda replied as she summoned her staff. "Remember, he can do a roundtrip, just can't be in this area for too long."
Luz nodded as Eda straddled her staff. "Well, time to fly," Eda said. Liliyn growled and Eda watched as lime-green particles floated from the paws of the Repede. "Gun it, magic stick!" Eda flew rocketed into the air, with Liliyn running after her while Luz screamed.
"Goodbye, Sunken Palm!" Luz shouted as she waved back at the island.
Eda looked back at Luz and allowed a soft smile to form on her face.
Of course, her dau—student!
Student.
Of course, her student would give her farewells to the Sunken Palm.
But now that the Sunken Palm was behind him, Eda had to focus on the future of seeing Luz become the greatest witch in all of the Boiling Isles.
And hopefully, when Luz achieved her dream and reign as the best witch of the Isles, Eda could only hope that Luz would look back on their time together and be proud of her kooky old mentor.
'Heh, a witch can dream, can she?' Eda thought to herself with a somber smile.
A witch could dream.