The Owlet with Amber Eyes
Episode Five:
Awakening of the Beast


Panic.

That was the feeling that ran through Eda's mind as she ran toward Hexside.

Luz was in danger.

She took her eyes off of Luz for five damn minutes, and now her apprentice was in danger from a horde of Skeletaurs, a being that even the most skilled witches would have difficulty with.

She had to get to her kid!

By the time Eda made it to Hexside, all of the Skelotaurs had been defeated and the Healing Coven was out in mass, seeing to the wounded students and teachers of this magical school. Eda didn't give a damn about them, however.

What she did care about, however, was Luz.

Where was she?

Eda barred her teeth and glanced around the front of the school until she came across a sight she never thought she would see.

Standing in front of the cot that Luz was in was a woman.

This tall and brawny woman wore a white hood over most of her head with a semicircle-shaped top that has light blue bands and a light blue patch on her face that covered her eyes.

The woman's robe was dark navy blue, with a light blue top banded with a Healing Coven patch and light blue patches on the bottom sides of the robe. In addition, the woman wore a white band around her waist and white-clawed gloves on her hands.

Eda paled.

Why was the Healing Coven Leader, Hettie Cutburn, assisting Luz and why was her dau—apprentice laying on her cot? Eda took a step to retrieve her unconscious child but a voice called out, "Edalyn!"

Eda took a deep breath and slowly turned around to face the owner of the voice.

Approaching her was a tall, slender middle-aged woman with ivory skin, pointed ears, black lipstick, long, straight, dark navy hair, and mint green eyes.

The woman wore a long-sleeved two-tone dark gray dress and dark gray laced boots. She also had an inverted kite-shaped sky-blue gem attached to her dress.

"Heya, Lily," Eda greeted.

"Well, isn't this quite the surprise," Lilith Clawthorne commented once she got close to Eda. "And it's Lilith."

"Of course it is. Can we do this tango another day? I have someone to grab," Eda told her older sister and then turned around to walk, but Lilith appeared in front of her with a small smirk.

"Unfortunately not," Lilith answered. "For this is the day you will be coming to join the Emperor's Coven!"

Eda looked past Lilith and saw Hettie stroking her chin as she stared at her sleeping kid, and frowned. And then, an idea struck her.

"Alright, Lily—"

"It's Lilith," Lilith corrected.

"—Lily," Eda continued, nonplussed. "I'll go see your controlling little rul—Fangs on Slitherbeast, A Skeletaur!"

Lilith turned around with her staff in her hand. With her sister briefly distracted, Eda's form briefly shimmered and then turned invisible. "Nice trick, Edalyn. How every childish of y—" Lilith blinked when she found herself alone.

Eda struggled to keep herself from bursting into laughter at the sheer anger on her sister's face.

The more things change, the more they stayed the same.

Lilith gritted her teeth in annoyance when a voice said, "Lady Clawthorne, I require your assistance. Some of the "

Eda turned her head to see a masked figure riding upon a bipedal creature made of vines and flowers, with a venus fly-trap as a stand-in for its head.

The figure wore an ebony hooded cloak with a blooming rose clasp. Under the cloak was a dark-gray tunic with black sleeves and a green belt, black leggings, dark green gloves, and boots.

The figure wore a rose-shaped pauldron on both shoulders and a full face mask with blooming rose petals that made up the upper half and sides of the mask, while the bottom part of the face mask was emerald and had lips carved on it.

Eda narrowed her eyes.

The Rose Sentinel, the second-in-command of the Plant Coven and the guard to its leader, Terra Snapdragon.

The Emperor recently decided to allow the main coven leaders the ability to hire their own second-in-command, similar to the Emperor's own Golden Guard.

But Eda was surprised to see hear that the Rose Sentinel was not only female, but they sounded young. No doubt close to Luz's age, if not exactly her age.

"Of course, Rose Sentinel," Lilith sighed. "However, will you inform me if the Wild Witch, Eda Clawthorne is seen once more?"

"Of course, Lady Clawthorne," Rose Sentinel replied with a deferential bow of her head. Lilith stalked off and Rose Sentinel rode off as well. When the coast was clear, Eda dropped the invisibility spell and noticed that Hettie had left Luz's side, and was replaced by three kids, with one of them resembling the girl that was on Liliyn.

A wave of concern hit Eda from behind, which made her turn around to see Liliyn. "Hey, Lili," Eda greeted as she rubbed the top of the Repede's head. "Let's go get Luz. But first…."

A pale blue ring surrounded Eda's midsection and then turned gold before the ring split in two, sending the now two rings up and down her body.

Instead of Eda, now stood a slender, fair-skinned woman with long black untamed hair that reached her upper back and red irises that had an additional ring in them. She also wore make-up consisting of red lipstick and purple eye shadow.

The dress that Eda wore had changed as well, leaving her in a three-toned black and gray dress with mid-length sleeves and a ripped hem with light gray leggings. Her boots are now dark gray and her earrings were missing.

"There," Eda murmured, her voice lower and smoother. "Forgive me, Teach, for using your visage but this is needed to get through this torture."

The disguised Eda then clenched her chest with her right hand as she felt the claws of the Owl Beast scratching at the back of her mind.

'I'm going to have to dial back the magic usage for a bit,' Eda thought to herself. She turned to Liliyn and said, "Now we can go."

Liliyn growled in agreement.

The duo walked through the group of Healing Coven members, Emperor Coven guards, and the various wounded Hexside students and teachers until they neared Luz's form.

As Eda got closer, she could hear the three children conversing with one another.

"I can't believe that a human could do magic like that," the green-haired witch stated. "She is certainly surprising."

"I can already see the hooks you're trying to dig into Luz, and I won't let her become a pawn in your game, Amity," The black-haired girl stated.

"Guys, can we please not do this? Not while Luz is hurt?" the shorter boy pleaded while he held Luz's hand.

"Whatever, I was just leaving anyway. Goodbye, Augustus….Superstar," the green-haired girl shrugged. Eda watched as the girl glanced at Luz for a moment and then walked away while Eda finally made it to Luz's side.

Luz looked frightfully pale, and her body was trembling. "Oh Luz," Eda whispered as she ran a hand over Luz's sweaty forehead.

"Whoa, who are you?" The small boy asked, only to smile when he noticed Liliyn. "That's where you ran off to, to grab this person."

"This person is her teacher. Now, what happened to her?" Eda demanded.

The two kids exchanged a look and then turned back to Eda.

"We were fighting the Necrotaur in the auditorium. Things were getting bad, but in the end, Luz exploded with magic and defeated the Necrotaur while I used my plant magic to subdue the remaining Skeletaurs, which do not fall apart if the Necrotaur is defeated," The girl explained.

"After that, Luz collapsed and we came out here to get help. The Healing Coven leader said that she's undergoing severe magic withdrawal," The boy followed up. "I don't know why but she was very interested in Luz."

Eda bit back a protective growl. She took a deep breath and said, "I see. Why did she do this? Put herself in this mess?"

"Because of me," The girl softly answered. "Luz and Liliyn bumped into me in the forest near the beach. I had just defeated a Skeletaur and was limping toward the school to help save Gus. Luz offered her help."

Eda looked at Luz's face and sighed.

Eda couldn't fault Luz for doing what she did. She was just like her mother in that regard, offering help to those in need.

Even if they didn't deserve it….

Thunder rumbled overhead and Eda could smell the rain in the air. "Thank you for letting me know what happened," Eda told the two kids as she took Luz's body into her arms. Without hesitation, she climbed on Liliyn and said, "Now get home, it's going to rain."

Without another word spared, Liliyn took off in the direction of the Owl House.


Eda: The Owlet with Amber Eyes


With her illusionary disguise dropped, Eda carried Luz into the house with Liliyn in tow and shouted, "King! Get a wet towel! Hooty, grab my elixir!"

"Weh!" King shouted from upstairs.

Eda placed Luz on the couch and gingerly touched her forehead.

She was burning up.

A common side-effect of magic withdrawal, along with the trembling. "It's okay, sweetie," Eda whispered as King trotted up beside her with a wet face towel. Eda folded the towel and placed it on the young girl's forehead.

Luz's eyes cracked open, and Eda was painfully reminded of how similar Luz's eyes were to her own. "Eda?" Luz weakly whispered, which prompted Eda to push the thought aside and take Luz's hand.

"I'm here, Luz," Eda whispered, doing her best to smile.

"I did magic, out of my body," Luz mumbled with a small, exhausted smile.

"And I'm so proud of you, honey," Eda sincerely replied. "But you need to rest, okay?"

Luz's eyes drifted close and her breathing evened out.

Eda sighed and then turned to King, who stared at her with a shocked expression. "What?" Eda asked. When King didn't answer, Eda repeated, "What?" with a defensive tone.

"You called Luz "Honey" and "Sweetie." Something you've never done ever," King said.

"Don't worry about it, King," Eda told him as Hooty stretched into the room with a bottle of elixir on his head.

"One bottle of golden yummy juice!" Hooty exclaimed.

"Thanks," Eda told him. She took the bottle, downed it in one long gulp, and then stood up as thunder shook the house. "I'm going to be outside setting up the shield. It's going to rain tonight."

"Aw man," King whined. "I hate when it rains."

"I do too," Eda agreed. "King, Hooty, Lili, keep an eye on Luz," Eda instructed.

King and Hooty nodded while Liliyn hopped onto the couch, laid on Luz's feet, and then nodded as well.

Eda smiled and walked out of the house to shield her home from the rain.

It took half an hour but when it was all said and done, Eda drowsily walked back into the house and plopped down on the floor in front of the couch. Eda turned her head and saw that King was draped over Liliyn as both he and Liliyn slept at Luz's feet.

Eda smiled, propped one knee up, moved both arms on top of the knee, and leaned her head against it.

And before she knew it, she was out like a light.


Eda: Memory


Eda had woken up to herself spooning Camila.

She didn't mean to do this. She never does when they wind up in this position, but each time it happened, it always scared Eda. Not because of the chance that Camila would freak. Camila loved cuddling almost as much as wolves, ice cream, and animal documentaries.

No, what scared Eda, however, was how normal and right it felt to wake up with Camila in her arms like this.

But why was that?

Eda then rolled her eyes.

Her mind needed to shut up and just savor this feeling.

Camila sleepily groaned and mumbled, "Lyn?"

Welp.

"Hey, Mila," Eda mumbled.

Camila twisted in Eda's arms until the two women were looking at one another. "Why do you never retain any heat?" Camila asked with a grumble.

"I am just skin and bones," Eda joked.

"We need to put some meat on those bones," Camila teased. "Thankfully, Mamá will have the chance to do just that."

"Oh?" Eda asked.

"Yeah, I talked about you enough that my folks want to meet my other best friend," Camila revealed.

Eda blinked.

"Meeting the parents? So soon?" Eda joked. "And here I thought we were going steady."

Camila snorted and said, "Dork." The human yawned, which made Eda yawn as well. "Sorry," Camila apologized. "But I'm not sure if we should go. I mean, considering what happened last night…."

Eda nodded in understanding. Manny had been shot by someone trying to kill him. That much Eda could tell. "When is the dinner?" Eda asked.

"Tomorrow," Camila answered.

"Tomorrow," Eda repeated. "I think we should go."

"Of course, you'd say that," Camila grinned. "Can't rid the world of knowing the famed Edalyn Clawthorne."

"Got that right," Eda smirked. "Didn't you know, I'm the greatest treasure in my hometown."

"Yeah, you are," Camila agreed with a charming smile.

Eda felt her face heat up at the smile and grinned.

"Oh yeah, If you're sure about meeting my family, I should tell you about my big sister. She's pregnant with her second kid, but she asked me to name her future daughter since she's drawing a blank,," Camila revealed. "So be prepared to hear her hound me about names."

"Why? You're pretty imaginative. I'm sure you have dozens of names," Eda offered.

"She didn't like any of them," Camila grumbled.

"Well… how about Caitlyn?" Eda suggested.

"Caitlyn?" Camila asked with a fond smile on her face.

"What? I think it's a pretty cute name," Eda told her. "I would name my kid Caitlyn if I had one."

"Just to continue the naming scheme of your family?" Camila teased.

Eda snorted.

Ever since Camila realized the naming scheme her family has had since its inception, she never failed to tease her about it.

"Oh? And what about your siblings and you? Adelio? Bethania? Camila? Your mom is going through the ABCs," Eda joked.

"You're not wrong," Camila stated as she snuggled against Eda's arm. "Hey, I know yesterday was pretty intense. But thanks for staying with me through it."

"You never have to thank me for that, Mila," Eda told her. "Heck, As long as you want me to stick around, I'll be here."

"Promise?" Camila asked.

Eda smiled.

"I pro—"


Eda: Memory End


Eda was rudely woken up by Luz's hand smacking her upside the head. "Hey, what's the big—Luz!" Eda exclaimed as she saw Luz tossing and squirming on the couch. "Luz, it's okay, I'm here," Eda told the girl as she let out a pain-filled groan and swatted her arm, which Eda caught, only for Eda to gasp.

In her hand wasn't Luz's hand.

It was a talon.

Eda's irises shrank as her eyes widened at the sight.

She slowly turned and looked at Luz's arms.

It was riddled with feathers.

"Weh!" King screamed when Liliyn jumped off the couch, with Eda feeling confusion and fear coming off of the Repede. Liliyn landed beside Eda as Luz started to double in size, with more brown and white feathers sprouting from her body.

Eda finally looked at Luz's face and noticed that the girl's eyes were open, but instead of them being her normal eyes, her eyes were dark brown, bordering on black as feathers sprouted on the sides of her head.

Eda understood what she was looking at.

She understood it very well.

And she understood how to stop it.

But her mouth, her tongue, felt like lead.

Luz roared as her body expanded, which caused the couch to buckle and break beneath the sudden weight on top of it.

Despite all of Eda's delusions and denials, the proof of Luz's parentage was finally confirmed.

Luz was her daughter.

Luz, now a giant Owl-Beast, had brown hair protruding from her slightly pointed ears, a body covered in white and brown feathers, two wings, one brown and the other white, and pale Dorothea feet that resemble a bird's, roared as tears filled Eda's eyes.

And her daughter carried her curse.

Lightning crashed outside the window, giving light to the beast. However, everything seemed to move...slow.

Slower than Eda could ever anticipate.

In front of her, stood Luz, her apprentice, her daughter, in a form that Eda fought every day of her life using elixirs.

The form that has haunted her since the day she and her sister dueled for the spot of the Emperor's Coven. The form that had cost Eda her family, Raine, and the woman she truly loved.

The Owl Beast.

But Eda couldn't focus on Luz.

How could she, when her heartbeat was pounding in her ears, rattling every attempt she made to handle the present danger in front of her? Because every time she tried, she saw herself, at Luz's age, kneeling in the dining room of her two-story home, her body covered in feathers.

And her father, scarred by her very hands.

Was this how he felt?

Terrified at the sight of her?

At the thought of his daughter being the person to take his life?

The heartbeat in her ears made her muffled to the screams of King and Hooty, to Luz's roar, to the thunder outside. All she could do was stare.

She was always on the other end of this. The attacker, the aggressor, that this was the first time in her life, that she truly understood the terror of being on the other side.

A part of her wanted to feel vilified. She had pushed so many people away because of the threat she posed to others, and now she had the justification for her actions. But the other part of her felt a crushing sadness that she had been right to feel this way, that she was correct in how dangerous she was, despite always hoping that she was just paranoid.

And now, Luz was dealing with this danger.

This danger she had given her.

A danger she knew how to stop. Despite the raging storm outside of the Owl House, Eda felt eerily calm as she ducked the right swing of Luz's talon, kicked Hooty toward the door, and then grabbed King. She felt calm as she bolted into the kitchen, using the light spell to temporarily blind her daughter before Liliyn tackled the human-turned-beast.

She felt at ease when she managed to grab the elixir she had stored on top of the cabinet, even as Luz's form charged toward the kitchen. She didn't even hesitate to sit King down before she tackled the Owl Beast off of her feet and onto the ground.

She was at peace.

She had to be, when dealing with the Owl Beast, both in her mind and beneath her.

Calmly, Eda uncorked the golden nectar, waited for Luz to roar, and then poured the sweet-tasting liquid down Luz's stomach and then forced Luz's mouth shut to force her daughter to drink the contents.

"Don't fight it, Kiddo," Eda whispered to the thrashing beast beneath her, her voice sounding strange even to herself. "Let it help you."

The beast, however, continued to thrash, with one of her talons tearing through Eda's left side. But eventually, the thrashing slowly subsided, and the Owl Beast shrank until Luz's sleeping form was beneath Eda's.

Gingerly, Eda scooped Luz off the floor and limped up the stairs, leaving a bloody trail behind her as she did so. She carried Luz into the little storage closet the girl called a room and laid her down on top of her sleeping cocoon.

The elixir would keep her unconscious for the rest of the night.

After all, the first sip was always the most potent.

And her apprentice, her daughter, merely cuddled against the soft roll beneath her, unaware of what had just happened. Eda reached out and tenderly placed her hand on the upper side of Luz's head, and ran a thumb from the corner of her forehead to her hair.

Eda then pulled away and limped out of the little closet, her right hand gripping her left side to start healing her wound. She had used a lot of magic today, and this would only sap away more, but that didn't matter.

Luz shouldn't have to experience what Eda had on the night her life changed forever.

Unfortunately, Eda stumbled and fell to the ground, barely healing herself before she blacked out.


Luz: The Owlet with Amber Eyes


"Where am I?" Luz asked herself as she looked around a dark void, where only the outline of her body gave off light.

Luz continued to look around the area until she noticed something sitting in the dark. It was a small blob and it looked to be laying on its side. Luz attempted to zoom in on it, but she found herself unable to do so.

She panicked.

It was the first time in her life that she wasn't able to zoom in on anything. But it wasn't just that. Her hearing felt off as if she couldn't hear as far anymore. And her sense of smell was barely there.

Had something in her broken?

Through the silence, she heard it. It was a small, almost weak, screech. Luz was instantly reminded of the sound of an owlet, crying out for its mom to feed them. She was familiar with them, thanks to her mother's veterinarian work, and there was a time her mother would bring an owlet home to rehab it when it was injured.

"Hang on, little fella!" Luz yelled into the distance. "Luz is a-coming!"

Luz ran toward the weak cries for help from the small creature until finally, she found it. Thanks to her mother's work, she recognized the little fella as an owlet of a barred owl. It was small, even smaller than King, and barely edge out the height of her foot.

And it was so fuzzy, that Luz could have mistaken it for a cotton ball with faint smatterings of brown light brown nail polish on it. But the more jarring thing about it was that the owlet looked so weak. Even looking at its eyes, she could tell that it was starving.

"Oh no," Luz whispered in distress.

She bent down and scooped the small creature up and shouted, "Mamá! Papa! Eda! Can anyone hear me? I need help!"

But the void remained silent.

The owlet let out a soft and labored breath, which prompted Luz to look at it with a determined expression. "Don't worry, little one, I'll get you some food. I promise."

Luz then looked around, and then noticed something glowing in the far distance.

She attempted to zoom in, and to her surprise and relief, she was able to zoom in again.

Small miracles.

What she saw was a pool of glowing gold liquid. Perhaps she could feed the little owlet some of that.

Luz wasted no time in running toward the liquid. As she drew closer, she realized that drops of the golden liquid started to fall on top of her, like a small drizzle, It kind of reminded Luz of maple syrup, when it came to its consistency, its stickiness, and how sweet it tasted.

Finally, she made it to the poor of liquid and sat down in front of it. She laid the small creature in her lap, scooped some of the liquid up into her palm, and then held it below the owlet.

"Try this," Luz softly encouraged, mimicking how her mother would get animals under her care to eat. She moved the sticky, sweet-smelling substance in her palm and after a minute, the owlet gingerly licked some of the golden syrup up.

"There you go, you little cutie," Luz softly whispered as she petted the owlet's head with two of her fingers, being as gentle as possible. "I don't know where I am, but I promise to take care of you."

Luz could feel appreciation and happiness from the owlet as it continued to lick at Luz's palm.

If only her Mamá could see her like this.

Her Mamá always said that Luz had a gift for taming any animal that came away and this would have been further proof for her.

When the owlet finished, they snuggled into Luz's lap, where Luz then heard a small, feminine child's voice whisper, "Thank you…." The voice reminded Luz strangely of Eda, except it was far younger than her mentor.

Luz was surprised that she could understand the small creature, but that surprise quickly died away as a tender smile formed on her face. "Anytime, Mi pequeño búho," Luz replied. "I'm sorry that you were left like that, but you won't be alone anymore."

"Promise?" The owlet's weak voice asked.

Luz smiled.

"Prometo," Luz promised.

"Okay…." The owlet murmured.

Luz looked around and saw that the golden, syrupy drops of liquid continued to fall around them, but now, it was wiping away the dark void around her, revealing a beautiful field full of sunflowers, which was Luz's favorite type of flower.

Luz also noticed that the sky was a beautiful and soft mixture of purple, pink, and orange, which reminded Luz of a sunset, the very thing she had avoided watching since her Dad passed away.

He always loved a good sunset.

Luz didn't know where she was or how she got there, but as she watched the sunset with the little owlet on her lap, she felt lighter than ever before.


Luz: The Owlet with Amber Eyes


Luz slowly opened her eyes and yawned as she lifted herself off her sleeping bag. The last thing she remembered was Willow catching her as she fell to the ground an—

Willow!

Hexside!

Luz scrambled off of her sleeping bag and ran out into the hallway. It was weird, but she felt so much lighter than before. She was practically gliding over the floor as she ran down the hall and stairs. Once she made it to the bottom, she made it to the front door, only to hear King gasp.

"Luz! You're awake!" King happily exclaimed from behind her.

Luz also felt Liliyn's excitement hit her like a sledgehammer.

Luz turned around and was immediately pounced on by both King and Liliyn, sending her to the ground.

She felt a strange pain on the curve of her back, but couldn't help but giggle as King nuzzled her skull beneath her chin while Liliyn licked the left side of her face. "Of course I'm awake," Luz told them through her laughter. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Luz then blinked. Her voice sounded slightly deeper than before.

And slightly distorted.

Curious.

"Because of what happened," King explained as if that clued Luz in on what he was talking about. King then tilted his head and asked, "Um, Luz? Was your hair always that long and curly?"

Long and curly?

"And why does your right arm feel fuzzy?" King continued. "Come to think of it, why are your eyes—"

"Luz?!" Eda cried in shock.

Luz turned around to see Eda staring at her in complete shock.

"Um, I'm awake," Luz offered with a small smile and a wave, only to let out an alarmed scream when she caught the sight of her right hand.

It was covered in dark purple, bordering on black, feathers and her nails were as sharp as talons. "W-What?" Luz gasped. She moved from under Liliyn and King, only to find herself slightly floating over the ground.

She looked down and while her feet looked normal, she looked behind her and saw two medium-sized wings sprouting from the curve of her back.

Luz shrieked and then glided toward a body-length mirror, where she saw that she grew slightly taller, her hair now reached down to her shoulder blades and had a slight curl to them, her canines were slightly longer, her ears were slightly pointed at the ends, and both of her irises were glowing.

While her legs and left arm were normal, her right arm, from the elbow down, was changed as well.

"W-What is this?" Luz asked as she turned to Eda.

"I-I don't know," Eda whispered in disbelief.

Luz felt dizzy and wavered in the air, but without warning, Luz's vision swam with golden light as she felt something shift and change with her body.

When the light died, Luz was still a little taller, with her slightly longer canines, and slightly pointy ears, but the wings were gone, her hair was shorter, albeit still curly, and her wings were gone.

"Okay, I am totally confused!" King exclaimed.

"So am I," Luz whispered, the distortion in her voice gone. "So am I…I should go text my mom...It's been a little while.."


Camila: The Owlet with Amber Eyes


Thunder rumbled outside as Camila stood at the stove, cooking breakfast with a feeling of unease. With every day that passed, Camila was sure that her daughter wasn't exactly her daughter. She couldn't explain why she felt that way.

They looked alike, sounded alike, and looked to enjoy similar things, barring a few major ones. However, there were too many differences between Luz before camp and Luz after camp that added to the woman's suspicion.

At first, it was minute differences.

Luz seemed more grounded like someone had sucked out the imagination from her. Her clothes were so impressively normal, that it was wildly out of place on Luz. She seemed more focused compared to before, where Luz painfully reminded Camila of Eda with her carefree but excitable air.

There was also this deep sadness and guilt that shined in Luz's eyes when the young girl didn't think she was watching. Camila knew that there were times Luz had that look, but it was always overtaken by Good Witch Azura, or spending time at the vet with the animals.

Now, the only time Luz seemed to be happy was when watching the Cybersix show or watching parkour and weapon videos, which confused Camila since Luz wasn't especially sporty.

But now came the bigger differences.

Luz did not like the Good Witch Azura.

It seems like such a simple thing but Camila knew that Luz was deeply fixated on that book and anything that involved it. Camila knew it had to be because it was the very last thing Manny gave her before he passed on, and it was her way of keeping his memory close.

But now, Luz seemed to have that focus on Cybersix and hasn't once bought up Azura.

The second thing was that she packed away a lot of the things she loved and put them in the attic. Luz mentioned that it was time for a change but a lot of the items were things that Manny had given her, a lot of sentimental things.

Before that camp, Luz would have never decided to put them away.

Another thing was the animals. Yesterday, Camila had taken Luz to her job to say hello to some of the animals that took a shine to her, but they all either squirmed away in fear or acted with aggression that Camila had never seen before.

Manny often joked that Luz was their little Disney Princess with how often she had a little fuzzy or scaly companion and seemed to have a way to talk to them.

Camila was unsure if that came from her or if it came from the golden-eyed woman that had left her behind.

But now, all of the animals, except one small sphinx kitten, acted with fear and hostility, which had never happened before. Luz had looked devastated by this until the sphinx kitten crawled up to her and nestled into her lap.

Which is how they got their newest family member.

Another difference was how they handled affection. Luz gave away hugs and kisses like they were going out of business, but this Luz seemed a little more distant with her. When Luz was disheartened at the animals yesterday, Camila hugged her.

And she flinched.

Luz had flinched at her touch at first and then clung to her as if her life depended on it.

Something that Luz had never done before.

But the absolute biggest thing was that not once did Luz speak to her in Spanish. Luz spoke Spanish to her every single day since she was a little girl, but since she returned from camp, she only looks in confusion when Camila speaks to her in it.

Camila could hear Luz talking with the sphinx kitten that she affectionately named "Adrien" and despite her suspicions, she couldn't help but smile at the sincere happiness in the girl's voice.

But that smile melted away, replaced by a concerned frown.

Her gut feeling was telling her that the girl in the room may not be her daughter, but it was also telling her that the girl wasn't evil or dangerous.

But that couldn't be possible, right?

"Mila, sometimes you have to listen to your gut," Edalyn's voice whispered in her mind. "I listen to mine and it has never steered me wrong!"

Camila could hear her younger self snort and reply, "The last time you told me that, we wound up with food poisoning."

"It wasn't that bad," Edalyn laughed. "Though I now know that I never want to get my stomach pumped again. My bile sac is acting all wonky."

"bile-what?" Past Camila asked.

"Nothing!" Edalyn's panicked voice replied as it faded away in her mind.

But what if her gut was wrong on this?

Just then, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She withdrew her phone and saw that it was a text from Luz's missing phone.

Luz told her that it had gone missing during camp. Had she found it somehow? She opened the text and felt her stomach drop.

Luz: Hey Mamá! Just wanted to give you an update on Camp. I'm having a ton of fun!

Camila stared at the text for what felt like an eternity.

All of her concerns and thoughts for the past two weeks had been justified in the worst way. The girl that she had been spending time with, the girl who she saw as a daughter, was not her daughter. While her real daughter was seemingly elsewhere, having fun from what the text said.

Camila felt like she was sick.

Camila walked to the edge of the kitchen and watched her fake daughter happily watching Cybersix with their new sphinx kitten on her lap. There was a brief surge of anger at the sight, but it then changed into sympathy.

Whoever this girl was, she didn't deserve her ire. Not when Camila was the fool who thought she was her daughter. But then, who was she? And why did she look and sound exactly like Luz? Last she checked, she only had one daughter being born.

But maybe Camila was getting too ahead of herself. She had to make sure that this wasn't a prank by Luz. She lifted her phone, unlocked it, and called.

She slowly backed herself further into the kitchen to the point where she could still see Luz, but Luz wouldn't hear their conversation if it was proven without a shadow of a doubt that her daughter was not in the living room.

The phone was answered in two rings.

"Hiya Mom! I hope I didn't—" Luz immediately started.

"Where are you really?" Camila interrupted, cutting off anything that Luz was going to say. Like she suspected, the other Luz watched the television without a care in the world.

"Um, I'm at Reality Camp," Luz answered with that familiar tone that told Camila all she needed to know.

Just like Manny and….her, Luz was a poor liar.

Camila took a photo of the other Luz and waited five seconds. She then heard a sharp gasp. "Now, you want to continue to lie to me, or do you want to be honest?" Camila gently challenged. Static filled Camila's ears as Luz's response mingled with it. "Mija, are you still there?" Camila asked as the doorbell rang.

"Mija, can you get the door!" Camila shouted into the living room.

"Sure, Mom!" Other Luz shouted as she sat the kitten down and rushed to the door.

"I can't hear—" Luz's voice broke up. "Mamá? Can you hear m—"

Camila opened her mouth to respond but then, she heard Other Luz scream, "Clara!"

Camila turned around and saw a girl laying in Other Luz's arms. The girl was a fourteen-year-old Caucasian girl with platinum-blue irises and dual-colored hair, with the right side of her hair being blonde, and the left side being cotton-candy pink.

And she wore a torn black cloak with clothing a black top, a navy-blue leather vest, black slacks, and black boots. The girl had blood falling from her forehead and she looked sickly pale. "¡Oh Dios mío!" Camila cried as the stench of blood filled the room. "Luz, I will call you back, but this conversation is not over," Camila warned and then hung up.

Camila quickly ran into the living room as Other Luz cradled the girl in her arms. "What in the world is this?" Camila asked as she kneeled beside her fake daughter to observe the girl.

"Vee," The girl panted, her trembling hand gripping Other Luz's shirt.

Vee….

Was that Other Luz's true name?

"Stop talking and rest," Other Luz, or "Vee," urged with worry. "We'll get you some help."

"Shut it, Vee, and listen….That idiot, Jacob….has been spying on you…. He told the elders," The girl weakly continued. "My parents know about y-you, Vee….You have to find Masha before t-they do….Y-You have to g-go…." The girl drifted off into unconsciousness.

"Clara? Clara!"

Camila was going through an intense case of Déjà vu at the sight of Vee shaking Clara, begging her to wake up.


Camila: Memory


Camila was awakened by a weak knock on her apartment door.

Camila yawned, slide out of bed, walked to the front door, and then opened it, only to see a sight that stunned her.

It was a shorter-haired Eda.

And she wore a black cloak with torn edges and a red inside, a white blouse with puffy sleeves with a black leather vest above it, black pants, and black boots.

And she was bleeding from her forehead, hands, and the left side of her body. Eda's eyes looked so weak and unfocused as she leaned against the doorframe, a look of pain and heartbreak on the battered and weakened woman's face.

"Eda….?" Camila whispered as she reached toward Eda, who collapsed against her.

"Eda! Please wake up!"


Camila: Memory End


"Clara! Please wake up!" Vee cried as she shook the girl.

Camila snapped out of her thoughts, frowned, and then gingerly took the girl from her trembling daughter's arms. "Hurry and close the door. It might be night time, but this is still very noticeable," Camila instructed.

Vee nodded and closed the door.

Camila removed the tattered cloak, the leather vest, and the shirt, and there Camila saw that her body had deep bruises on it, with some of them even bleeding. "She needs to go to the hospital," Camila summarized.

"We can't," Vee argued.

"And why is that, Vee?" Camila asked, her tone unintentionally going cold.

Vee flinched and Camila immediately felt guilt, but her need to know what in the world was going on was making that guilt take a back seat. "What else have you been hiding from me?" Camila asked.

The girl bowed her head and glanced at her hands in thought. "I understand that you're going to be upset at me…. But Clara needs help. I'll tell you everything I know, but please, we can't take her to the hospital. They will be there."

"Who will be there?" Camila questioned.

"The other Witch Hunters," Vee revealed.

Camila sighed and grasped at the owl charm on her necklace.

And here, she thought that she was done with all of that nonsense when Eda walked out of her life….

"You don't look surprised," Vee murmured.

"I'm familiar with witches," Camila cryptically replied. "But Witch Hunters? That's certainly a new one. Fine, let's say I believe this, what should we do about the unconscious and beaten-up girl?"

"We have to get to Masha. And we have to hurry," Vee sighed. "She's in grave danger…."