The Angel of the Owl House

by OwlHouseAngel

Luz Noceda is a young half-angel girl living with her angel mother in the Human Realm. Her attempts to be good always backfire, and after one too many mistakes, her mother sends her to Camp Reality Check. But a chance event leaves Luz in the Demon Realm, where she meets the Owl Lady, who teaches her that in a chaotic world like the Boiling Isles, Luz might be the perfect angel.

2. EP 2: Hello Terrifying Fantasy World!

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 1: The Demon Realm

Chapter 2: Hello Terrifying Fantasy World!

Luz slowly came to after a long and restful sleep, her dreams full of the events of the previous day. For one sleepy moment, Luz thought it had all been some kind of amazing dream, but as her eyes focused on the ceiling above her, she found it wasn't the familiar ceiling of her room back home in the Human Realm, nor was it the roof of a camp cabin. Getting up slowly, Luz found she was in a sleeping bag in a partially cleared storage room, still dressed in her outfit from the previous day, and with King curled up by her side.

The burst of joy that filled her with that realisation had her smiling brilliantly, and she hurriedly got to her feet and threw open the window to breath in the fresh morning air.

"Ah… it really wasn't a dream! I'm in the Demon Realm!" Luz giggled happily, letting the wind from outside ruffle her wings slightly. She enjoyed the feeling of wind on her feathers, and waved hello to a massive tentacled demon out in the ocean beside the house. Once she was done, she turned to the slumbering King and scooped him up into a hug.

"Good morning, you little cutie-pie!" she cooed, kissing him over and over.

King wiggled and whined sleepily; "I am not your cutie-pie!"

"Yes you are." Luz grinned, giving him one final hug before releasing him.

He collapsed back onto the sleeping bag with a defeated; "I know…"

Luz giggled at his expression, then asked; "Could you tell me where the bathroom is? I want to change and freshen up."

"Down the hall, last door on the right." King answered. Luz thanked him and used her magic to create his halo/crown of light again, which perked the sleepy demon right up, then grabbed her satchel and headed to the bathroom to change.

The bathroom was as messy as the rest of the Owl House, and even had a couple of live owls that flew out when Luz opened the door, but the girl didn't let that bother her. Walking in, she was greeted by Hooty, surprising her. She had always thought he was just an animated carving on Eda's door, but he had now extended out from the door like some kind of worm… bird… tube? And was now poking his head through the bathroom window to greet her.

"Hi Luz!" he said.

"Whoa! Uh, Hi Hooty? Good morning?" she replied, unnerved by the creature.

"Good morning! I'm making breakfast downstairs, so be fast! Hoot!" he said, a big grin on his face. He then retreated out of the bathroom window, allowing Luz to close it before shuddering.

"What is he?" she whispered to herself. She shook off that thought and began changing. Her Mami had put some expansion, lightening, and concealment spells on her satchel, allowing Luz to carry her entire wardrobe inside it without any difficulties, so Luz was able to pull out a new outfit with ease. She opted for another set of calf-length leggings and denim shorts since they were comfy and easy to move in, and also selected another one of her hooded shirts, which was white with purple bands of colour around the sleeves and collar, and had sharp, cat-like ears on the hood.

As Luz changed, she examined and admired the changes that her angelic maturity had made to her body; namely her growing wings and her changed eye and hair colour. Her eyes were an almost golden amber, just like her Mami's were under her glamour, and her hair was also the same pure, snowy white. Luz was happy to see that it had grown a bit and regained some curls; she'd always preferred it that way, but she'd had to cut it short after one of her attempts to help someone had ended with her hair catching on fire… Her wings were also a very welcome sight; they were still a bit too small to be considered fully grown, so Luz couldn't fly with them, but they were still magnificent compared to the little fluffy cherub wings she'd had before. Each wing was about as long as Luz was tall when fully spread, and they'd thickened and widened a lot, with most of the fluffy down being replaced by proper feathers. She still had a while to go before they fully matured, but Luz was happy to live with that.

But there was another change that Luz hadn't expected or been aware of; one she didn't see until she was changing her shirt and the sports bra she wore beneath it. She took off her old sports bra and replaced it swiftly, but once she looked in the mirror to make sure it was sitting correctly, she gasped at the sight of her exposed sternum. There, right in the middle of her sternum was a golden circle with a very familiar symbol inside it; the symbol that had filled Luz's head after Katya had cast that super-powered light spell yesterday. For some reason, that symbol was permanently etched into Luz's memory, and now it seemed it was etched into her skin too. The circle also had lines of gold that stretched to the sides of her sternum, stopping just before her armpits, then going up and over her shoulders, diagonally down the top of her shoulder blades, and finally coming to a stop at her wing joints, where they formed a circle around each joint.

"What the heck!? Where did these markings come from!?" Luz exclaimed. Her Mami had told her that some angels had magical tattoos, but she'd never mentioned that they appeared on their own! She also hadn't mentioned anything about odd symbols like the one on her chest. Luz remembered that the symbol had appeared when she cast her light magic the previous day, so Luz decided to test it by casting a basic illuminating light spell. A tiny version of the symbol appeared in Luz's palm as she focused her magic, before it transformed into the little ball of light. Not only that, but as Luz was casting the spell, the markings on her chest and shoulders had glowed a soft golden colour.

"Whoa… Mami never mentioned anything like this, and I had a lot of the angelic maturity talks… maybe this is something to do with the Demon Realm. Hopefully Eda will know what's going on." Luz muttered to herself. She finished changing and hurried out of the bathroom and downstairs to the kitchen, where she found King in a high chair eating some kind of yellow mass with eyes while Eda sat nearby sipping sleepily from a mug of… blood? A plate of sausages and eggs was set out for Luz too, making the girl smile.

"Good morning, Eda!" Luz greeted.

"Morning, Kid. Didn't expect to see you up so early; you were pretty tuckered out last night." Eda said.

"I'm feeling great! But I have something important to ask about! You see-"

Eda cut Luz off by pressing a finger to the girl's lips; "Lay off the questions for a bit. I haven't finished my cup of apple blood yet."

Luz blinked down at the red liquid in Eda's mug; "Blood? Not juice?"

"Yup." Eda said, taking a long swig that painted her upper lip red.

"Okay… note to self; Demon Realm apples can bleed. Good to know." Luz mused. Since Eda wasn't ready to talk yet, Luz took her seat at the breakfast table and began to eat the meal laid out for her. Her eyes sparkled with delight at the first taste.

"Oh my gosh! This is soooo good! I've never had eggs and sausages like this before!" she exclaimed, moaning happily as she took another bite.

"They're Griffin Eggs and Orc Sausages." Eda said; "They're pretty similar to food from the Human Realm. I'm not really sure what an angel can digest, so I told Hooty to play it safe."

Luz hummed in thought; "Mami told me once that most magical creatures can eat the same sorts of stuff, so I should be able to eat what you guys can." she said, eyes briefly wandering over to King and his meal, which he was stabbing happily.

"What is that, King?" she asked.

"Scrambled Eyeggs. They're chewy until you break their spirit!" he declared, stabbing his food again.

It didn't exactly look appetizing, but Luz was curious about how it tasted; "Hey, wanna trade? I'll give you a bit of sausage for some of that?"

King nodded; "Ooh, I can always go for meat! Gimme!" he said, ripping a chunk of his scrambled eyeggs off and flicking it onto Luz's plate. She in turn gave him half a sausage, which he quickly inhaled whilst making pleased noises. Luz then speared the bit of eyeggs he'd given her and shoved it into her mouth before her brain could talk her out of it. Eda and King watched closely for her reaction, slowly grinning wider and wider as Luz's scrunched face relaxed and she began to happily chew. They were chewy, almost like scrambled eggs but with the texture of pizza cheese. The taste was indescribable; there was no human equivalent Luz could compare the flavour too, though they were a bit salty, a bit sweet, and very spicy, and the single actual eye she'd gotten had burst as she chewed it, flooding her mouth with a concentrated dose of the flavour.

"Oh man, I have no idea how to describe this taste, but it is amazing! You're an awesome cook, Hooty!" Luz yelled out the open kitchen window as she licked her lips.

Hooty appeared in the window with a massive smile; "Thanks Luz! I'm glad somebody around here appreciates me!"

Eda rolled her eyes and shoved the bird/tube back outside. "Try not to compliment him too much, kid. If Hooty gets overexcited then things can get… weird." she shuddered at the thought, before grinning again; "Now finish up your breakfast; I've got stuff to do today, which means you have stuff to do as well, my apprentice!"

Luz giggled, pleased with how that sounded, and began eating with gusto alongside King. Eda watched, inwardly thrilled; she'd been a little worried that she'd have to break the bank a bit to buy food that an angel could eat, like human food. Such foods were usually expensive since they were marketed as being close to real human food, and were thus considered "exotic" and received a big mark up. Rumour had it that even the Emperor favoured that kind of food. But with Luz being the innocent and helpful kid she was, Eda was willing to bet she'd much prefer the cheaper fair found in the Boiling Isles. She'd have to get the girl some diluted apple blood juice boxes too, to see how she liked it (normal apple blood was the Boiling Isles equivalent of Cider, but the diluted stuff was basically just non-alcoholic apple juice).

Once Luz and King had finished their food and Eda had polished off her apple blood, Eda had Luz do the dishes as her first chore, then brought her back to the living room.

"So, my Apprentice; you had questions before we get started?" Eda asked.

Luz nodded and pulled down the collar of her shirt to show the symbol on her sternum. "When I woke up this morning, I saw this. I didn't have it before, and Mami never mentioned angels getting something like this with their maturity, so I hoped you might know more."

Eda and King looked at the mark curiously; the former found it fascinating while the latter felt something odd about it, but neither had seen anything like it before.

"Sorry kid, but I've got nothing. Witches don't develop magic tattoos as far as I know, and I don't think any demons do either." Eda said, looking to King for confirmation on that last part, since he was the demon expert.

"I'm stumped too. The symbol is kinda familiar, but I can't think where I saw it." King frowned.

"Was it like this?" Luz asked, casting a basic light spell, causing the symbol to appear on her palm for a moment.

King nodded slowly; "Yeah, I think so… it was when you blasted Wrath yesterday. That must have been it…" he said, not sounding too sure.

"Aside from it appearing on your skin, do you know anything more about this symbol?" Eda asked Luz.

The girl briefly explained how she'd first come to see the symbol, which she began to mentally think of as the "Light Glyph". Eda and King exchanged curious looks.

"So you saw the Light Glyph in an overpowered Light spell… odd." Eda muttered, stroking her chin; "I wonder if your magic awakening after that was a coincidence, or if this glyph was involved somehow."

Luz shrugged; "I don't know. An angel's magic is supposed to develop naturally over time and get stronger once we hit our maturity. We don't have glyphs, and my Mami doesn't make symbols appear when she casts magic. I've also never heard of light magic like mine…" she said, charging a tiny light blast on the tip of her index finger, then firing it out the living room window and into the sky. "Mami could fire bolts of magic like that, but they weren't light."

"Maybe you could tell us more about angels and their maturity? If we know more, we might be able to find the cause of this mark." Eda suggested. "Actually, I'll do the same with witches; that way we can get started on your lessons right away."

Luz nodded in agreement; "Good idea. Could you go first? So I have an idea of where to start?"

"Alright then." Eda said, casting a spell to summon pair of scrolls. She unravelled the first one to reveal a diagram of what appeared to be a human heart, but with some kind of large black organ attached to the side. "This is a witch's heart. In ancient times, we tapped into the magic of the realms themselves to do magic, but nowadays our magic is powered by a sack of magic bile attached to our hearts."

"Gross, but kinda cool too." Luz commented, getting a good look at the picture. Eda then unravelled the second scroll, which showed a cross-section of the bile sack, with colour coded sections. The centre of the sack was black, and the interior edges were split into nine different colours.

"Now, magic bile is the power source of our magic, but these nine sections are called Spell Phlegm Glands. Each one produces a different kind of spell phlegm that mixes with the bile to allow us to cast different types of magic. The nine core types are Bardic, Healing, Plants, Potions, Oracle, Construction, Illusions, Bestial, and Abominations, so named because of the primary effects those types of spell phlegm cause when not mixed together. We can get all other types of magic by blending different spell phlegms together, giving us a full range of magic." Eda finished.

Luz looked vaguely disgusted; "Witch magic sure involves a lot of gross liquids…"

"Well that's the way it is here. What about you angels?" Eda asked.

Luz flapped her wings a bit; "Our magic is powered by these." she said. "An angel's heart is right in the middle of our chests, and leans back instead of to the left. We also have two extra major veins and arteries, which go into our wings. Our feathers absorb energy from all sources, like light and heat, or even vibration and kinetic energy, then converts it into magical energy and infuses it into our blood, which then flows back to our hearts to be pumped to the rest of our bodies. I'm not sure how we cast different types of spells; Mami said it was mostly instinct and practice."

Eda and King looked at Luz's wings with fascination, before Eda asked; "What about the whole "maturity" thing? I already know that baby angels are called Cherubs, so I'm guessing maturity is like witch puberty, which ain't too different from human puberty."

Luz shook her head with a faint blush; "N-Not exactly. Angels have puberty in almost the exact same way as humans do. Our maturity is something separate, and only really effects our magic, though it usually happens alongside puberty. Before we have our maturities, we are called Cherubs or Cherubim, and our magic is fairly weak since our wings are small. As we get close to maturing, our wings go through a few growth spurts, making our magic stronger. Once our wings are fully grown, our magical maturity is complete and we go from being Cherubs to full Angels." she explained.

"Wait, does that mean you're not actually a full angel yet? Your wings aren't fully grown." King pointed out.

"It's different for hybrids. "Pure" angels complete maturity before puberty even starts, but as a half-human, I started puberty first. In the eyes of angels, that makes me an adult by human standards, which means I only have to start my maturity to be considered a full angel."

Eda shook her head; "Sounds complicated. You angels sure like things convoluted. Still, with everything you just said, I think I have a theory on what the deal is with that glyph and your weird light magic."

Luz leaned forward eagerly, waiting for Eda to explain.

"My theory is related to one I have about the magic we used in the Savage Ages. Back then, witches didn't have bile sacks and solely used wild magic, which I think was powered by the world around us; either the Boiling Isles specifically, or the Demon Realm as a whole. We eventually evolved bile sacks to use instead, but wild magic still exists. My theory is that your wings began absorbing magical energy from all the spells cast around you yesterday, as well as the ambient wild magic of the Isles itself. It kickstarted your maturity, and when it combined with your natural angel magic, it altered your normal maturity to give you that glyph." Eda said with a grin.

Luz's eyes sparkled; that made about as much sense as any theory she could come up with, but it still left the mystery of what the glyph actually was, and why it appeared to her in the first place. She raised these points with Eda, and the Owl Lady just shrugged with a smirk and said; "Wild magic is alive, kid. Maybe the glyph is its way of trying to talk to you. You are making it a part of yourself after all."

Luz gasped softly and put a hand on her chest, over the glyph. Could Eda be right? Was the magic of the Demon Realm trying to talk to her? That was both an intriguing and terrifying thought… Luz had never heard of an angel who'd even been to the Demon Realm, let alone absorbed some of its magic and adapted it into their own! What else could it do? Were there more glyphs? What would they do to her body if there were? It was a lot to think about.

"I guess all I can do is keep practicing my magic while helping people. Now that my maturity has started, I'll need to use magic a lot since that's the best way to speed it up." Luz said, trying to pump herself up.

"I'll teach you some things; with the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles as your mentor, you're bound to become a super angel!" Eda grinned.

"And then maybe you can find a way to lift this spell I'm under, so I can reclaim my rightful place as King of the Demons!" King declared.

Luz smiled and tickled King's belly; "If I can, I'll do it. Gotta help my little buddy become all big and strong!"

King giggled, then said; "Hey, do you think you could put that Light Glyph on this?" he pointed to the large gold tag of his collar. "I bet if you do, my light crown won't keep disappearing."

Luz noticed the crown had indeed vanished again, though both she and Eda had a feeling there was more to King's request than he was telling them. Of course, being the proud King of the Demons, he didn't want to admit that he just wanted to match with his new friend.

"Sure, King. Let's trace it onto paper first, then I can use my light beams to trace the mark and burn it onto your tag." Luz said, grabbing a notepad and pencil from her satchel. She tore a page from the pad and placed it over the mark on her sternum so it could be accurate traced. "Eda, do you mind?"

Eda nodded and reached for the pencil, but King jumped up; "Ooh, let me do it!" he said eagerly, taking the pencil. He held it clumsily, like a child with a crayon, but showed a surprising amount of care as he traced the glyph on Luz's chest, being careful not to pierce the paper and stab her. When he was done, he had a perfect replica of the glyph drawn on the paper.

"Ha! I am the King of Artists!" he proclaimed proudly.

"Good job, King. Now put it on your tag so Luz can burn it on." Eda said. She could have replicated the glyph on his collar much more easily, but she wanted to let Luz practice her magic.

King licked the back of the paper and stuck it to his tag; "There, all… done?"

His voice trailed off as he tapped the paper to smooth it down, causing the glyph to begin glowing. To the surprise of all three of them, the paper then crumpled up into a little ball of light that hovered in King's paw.

"What the…? Did I do that?" King asked, shocked.

"Whoa… here, try again." Luz said, handing the notepad and pencil back to King. The little demon immediately redrew the glyph, this time without tracing it, and then put his paw over it, causing the page to tear itself off the pad and crumple into another ball of light, just like the first.

"I did do that! I can do magic too!" King yelled with joy.

Luz and Eda gaped at the sight, before both broke out in massive grins. "Amazing, King! Now you can do magic too!" Luz said excitedly.

Eda wiped a faux tear from her eye; "Aw, they grow up so fast. One day they're eating trash off the floor and the next they're rediscovering ancient wild magic. Am I a great teacher or what?" Neither King nor Luz bothered to point out that Eda hadn't taught either of them any actual magic yet.

As King was having fun playing with the two balls of light he'd made, Luz got Eda to trace the glyph off her chest, then finally used it to burn the Light Glyph into King's collar tag, completing the task that had caused their discovery. Once the glyph was carved, King had tentatively touched it and discovered that the glyph would now cause his tag to glow whenever he wanted it to, giving him a permanent flash light. King got so excited that he rushed off to show Hooty and his stuffed bunny Francois, leaving Eda and Luz alone in the living room.

"So kid." Eda began, "As per our deal, I teach you magic and you work for me, right?"

"Yep! Are we gonna have our first proper lesson now?" Luz asked eagerly.

"Not yet; the work comes first." Eda said, before a grin like a Cheshire cat crossed her face; "Unless you want to make a trade."

Luz narrowed her eyes suspiciously; "What kind of trade?"

"A trifle really. A feather or two for a full week of lessons without a single chore." Eda offered.

Luz immediately shook her head; "Nope! No way! Not gonna happen! I said that yesterday."

"Aw, come on Luz! Your wings have gotten a lot bigger since then; surely you won't miss a couple of feathers! Maybe just the little ones?"

"No, Eda! You heard what I said; my wings are the source of my magic! After being stuck as a powerless cherub for so long, I don't want to risk giving up even a single feather!" Luz said firmly.

Eda frowned, seeing Luz really wasn't going to shift on that one. The girl was stubborn… but Eda could respect that. "Fine, no feathers. But what about tears? Angel tears are supposed to be great for all kinds of healing magic and medicinal potions! Give me a vial of those and I'll teach you any spell you want!"

Luz bit her lip as she considered the offer, but ultimately she shook her head; "Sorry Eda, but I'm not comfortable with that. I don't want any part of me being used for your potions." It just felt too weird, and Luz really didn't like the idea of being made to cry; she'd never cried from happiness or laughter before, so the only way for her to cry would be for her to be physically hurt or emotionally upset.

Her answer was really not what Eda wanted to hear. If the legends about angel feathers and tears were true, then they might be just the thing she needed to deal with her own little feathery problem. Eda could understand Luz's reluctance to give either, and she definitely had no intention of pushing the matter with the feathers, but the tears were another story. A properly made mix using her usual elixir and distilled angel tears would surely purge her of the curse! But convincing Luz without explaining herself would be nearly impossible for Eda, and the Owl Lady didn't want to risk scaring the girl off by telling her about the real reason for her moniker. No, Eda needed another way to get those tears; a way that didn't involve hurting Luz physically or emotionally.

Her wide smile returned as an idea came to her.

"Alright kid, I see I can't tempt you, so chores it is."

Luz nodded confidently; "I can handle any job you throw at me, Eda!"

"The real work will come this afternoon, since I've got some stuff to take care of first. While I'm working on that, you can just babysit King and practice your light magic. See if you can use it to vaporise some trash; Titan knows we've got enough of it around here." Eda said.

"Oh. Okay, I can handle that easy." Luz said, a bit surprised by the easy task. She then opened her mouth to ask Eda what she was going to be doing, but the Owl Lady was already through the kitchen and out the back door.

"Welp, gotta get to work! See ya after lunch! Byeeee!"

Luz then heard the back door slam shut, followed by another door slamming shut outside. The girl briefly wondered where Eda had gone, before shrugging and heading out front to keep an eye on King and Hooty, and practice her magic as ordered.

For the rest of the morning, King continued to use Luz's notepad, which she graciously allowed him to keep, to make Light Glyphs and show off to Hooty and Francois. Luz watched him while using her light magic to create a series of different attacking spells based off of different things she'd seen in anime. She could fire individual light bullets from her finger tips, larger blasts from her palms or fists, continuous beams, and if she really focused, she could even make her light magic home in on a target, though that was a lot harder to achieve and only seemed to work with the tiniest bolts she could shoot. She and King came up with a game in which King and Hooty would go into the trees around the Owl House and drop things for Luz to shoot before they hit the ground; Luz loved the practice, King loved the wanton destruction, and Hooty was just happy to be included. Eventually they moved back into the house, where King invented another game; this time involving him scratching light glyphs into pieces of trash to make them glow, so Luz could spot them and vaporise them just like Eda had suggested. This was less fun for Luz, especially since the destroyed trash left behind dust she had to sweep up, but King was enjoying himself so much that Luz didn't have the heart to say anything.

When lunch finally came, Eda returned with a satisfied grin and the faint whiff of potions fumes around her. She walked in to find King in his high chair, carving light glyphs into his food to make it glow before he ate it, while Luz swept the floor clear of dust.

"Hey kids, I'm finally done!" Eda proclaimed happily, before looking around the kitchen and noticing the severe reduction in trash; "I see you've been busy too. Good job Luz."

The young angel smiled; "Thanks. It's been fun; I got to improve my aim and help out at the same time. Never thought my good deed for the day would be shooting stuff!"

"Ha! Stick around and you'll do a lot of weirder stuff than that! Speaking off; here's what we're doing this afternoon."

Eda reached behind her and pulled out a massive burlap sack full of bottles of varying shapes and sizes. Luz looked at them with interest as Eda explained; "As you know, I sell human treasures that Owlbert brings over from the Human Realm, but that's only really on the weekends. The rest of the time, I sell only the finest home-made elixirs and potions."

"Oh, so that's why you kept asking for my feathers and tears." Luz said, picking a potion from the bag at random and smirking when she saw the label; "Snake oil? Really?"

"No one wants an unoiled snake! Now follow me." Eda lead Luz out onto a stone balcony on the side of the Owl House; "Your first real job will be helping me deliver packages and sell potions to that town over there." she pointed with her staff, which seemed to appear from nowhere; "That's Bonesborough."

Luz smiled, remembering the odd town from yesterday. It was where she had first arrived in the Boiling Isles, and where she'd first met Eda. She was looking forward to getting a closer look! She followed her teacher back down to the living room, where they found King waiting for them by the front door, sat on the potions bag he'd dragged in. "Now you'll need to be careful." Eda continued, "I have a lot of rivals who'd love to take my business down and you along with it. Stick close to me, and don't be afraid to blast some fools if they start making hostile moves."

"I'm not surprised." Luz said cheekily, "Don't worry Eda; how much danger could I be in with the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles by my side? Not to mention the fearsome King of Demons!"

King puffed his chest out proudly, while Eda chuckled at her apprentice's cheek. "Alright alright, stop trying to butter me up! Now I don't want people knowing you're an angel, so go grab your concealment stone. I'll play with the enchantment a bit to make you look like a normal witchling."

"Okay! Be right back!" Luz hurried out of the room and up the stairs to collect her concealment stone, leaving King and Eda to wait by the front door.

"You sure you want to come along too, King?" Eda asked. "You usually hate being dragged along on my deliveries."

"Hanging out with Luz has been fun." King said simply, gesturing to the pad Luz had gifted him. "But what about you? You hate those deliveries as much as I do; I'm surprised you're not using the whole apprentice thing as an excuse to stay home and send Luz out on her own. It's not like she's defenceless."

Eda couldn't deny that; while her potions business was lucrative, she always had to fight to get people to pay her prices, which made it a real pain. If Eda didn't have an ulterior motive, she really would have sent Luz off alone, or with King as an escort; something her sharp little room mate picked up on.

Listening to make sure Luz was still out of earshot, Eda leaned down to whisper to King; "I'm not giving up on nabbing some angel tears, so I'm going along to make sure I get them."

King actually looked concerned; "You're not going to hurt Luz, right?"

"Of course not; I'm not that cruel!" Eda said, taking a bit of offence. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small blue vial; "I'm going to slip her some of this; Tearful Tonic. One drop on the tongue or in the bloodstream and Luz will be all weepy for a good ten minutes. Then all I have to do is catch myself some tears!"

"So that was what you were doing all morning! I don't know about this, Eda. You know I'm always up for asserting my demonic dominance and making some peasants cry in terror, but Luz has been helping us a lot, and she's been real nice about it even though she's an angel and we're a demon and a witch." King said, fidgeting with his claws.

Eda was surprised; she'd have thought King would be all for it. It was a fairly light-hearted prank by Demon Realm standards! The little fella must have gotten more attached to her apprentice than she realised. "Come on, King. The potion will only make her cry; it doesn't even make the drinker sad! It's just spontaneous crying! The worst possible outcome is Luz getting a little dehydrating, and I'll buy her something while we're out to make up for it. I need these tears, King. They could be the secret to curing the curse!"

King's expression softened a little; he didn't know the full details of Eda's curse and had only seen her under its effects a handful of times, but he knew she'd long ago given up on a cure. But with Luz around, they now had a source of a potential new ingredient; one that Eda never got to try out. If it actually worked, Eda would be free!

Eda saw the look in King's eye and knew he was considering what she'd said. Now to sweeten the deal a bit…

"You know, she could cure you too. You lost your "crown of power" but maybe Luz's tears can be made into a potion to restore your power without it."

"Weh!? They could fix me too!?" he exclaimed before softly asking; "Do you really think Luz's tears could help do that?"

"Angel tears are supposed to be the best ingredient in cures of all kinds, so they might work. It's worth a try, right?" Eda replied.

"And Luz really won't get hurt?"

Eda nodded seriously. King hesitated for a few long seconds, then nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll play along. I'll pay Luz back by giving her her own castle in my Demonic Kingdom!"

Eda sighed in relief; this would be a lot easier with King helping. They finished their conversation just in time, as Luz came running back into the living room with her concealment stone.

"Sorry I took so long. Hooty moved my satchel without telling me first." the girl said, offering the stone to Eda.

"He does that sometimes. Now, let's see here…" Eda began casting illusions over Luz, hiding her wings, changing her hair colour from white to the same brown it had been before her maturity started, and even hiding her glyph markings just in case her clothes got dishevelled. She left the girl's amber eyes and pointed ears alone, then once she was satisfied, she cast a spell on the concealment stone to make it scan Luz's new disguise and remember it. "There. Now you should transform to look like this whenever you wear the stone." Eda said, handing the stone back and dispelling her illusions.

Luz briefly returned to her angel form, then put the stone on and smiled as the same changes overcame her again, disguising her as a normal witchling. With her disguise in place, Luz was ready to go. She put King on her shoulder, then grabbed the potions sack and through it over the other shoulder. "Ready when you are, Eda!"

Eda nodded; "Then we're off to Bonesborough! Normally I'd fly us there, but you could do with memorising the path through the forest."

Luz gave a little salute, then followed Eda out of the house. The trio waved goodbye to Hooty and headed into the forest, walking leisurely through it to reach Bonesborough. Along the way, King pointed out all his favourite spots to play, or "train to recover my dark powers" as he called it, while Eda showed Luz some of the different types of foliage that were good for potions. Luz took it all in like a sponge, happily memorizing every detail and writing it all down in a little journal she'd brought along. She wanted to keep a record of everything she'd seen and done on the isles to show her Mami when she returned home at the end of the summer. Hopefully that would make her feel better about her daughter being in the Demon Realm for all that time, and maybe convince her that the Demon Realm wasn't as bad as she thought.

When the trio finally arrived in Bonesborough, they found the town to be unusually busy for a week day, and with few if any guards walking the streets. The rest of the garrison must still have been dealing with the aftermath of the mass-breakout at the Conformatorium. That worked out perfectly for Eda; fewer guards meant they were less likely to be disturbed.

"Okay Luz, let's get to work! I'll handle the first batch of deliveries while you put that charm of yours to work selling these!" Eda said, casting a spell that divided the bag of potions into two, one of which she took. "There's a list in the bag to show what stuff is which, and how much it costs. Try to haggle for a higher price, but don't sell for under that price! When you're done, meet me back here. King, you stick with me."

King reluctantly jumped from Luz's shoulder to Eda's, then Luz gave a little salute and happily rushed off to begin exploring the town and selling the potions. King gave Eda a look of confusion as she watched her apprentice go.

"Why send her off alone? You can't slip her the potion if she's not with us!" King pointed out.

"Isn't it obvious? Once she drinks the potion and starts crying, she isn't gonna want to keep walking around town, so I've got to get the real work done first. Plus I want to give her a chance to explore on her own. She's not used to our world yet." Eda answered, "Now let's get to the deliveries!"

With that, Eda and King trudged off to the first address on their list.

Meanwhile, Luz was getting stuck in with her own task. She was exploring Bonesborough whilst reading the list of potions, trying to spot people or places that would be ideal for selling each one. She'd tentatively introduced herself to a few witches and demons, and they'd been polite enough, but they'd also walked off with a "not interested" each time she tried to pitch a potion to them, not even letting her fully explain herself. It was a bit saddening, but Luz didn't give up! Then she noticed something somewhat familiar; a centaur at a pumpkin stand.

Luz recognised centaurs from human myths, but hadn't realised they were real! She was eager to speak to one, and Eda just so happened to have brewed some nice hoof polish that Luz was sure he'd love, so she hurried over.

"Hey, who has four hooves and wants to buy a potion? This guy!" she grinned, tapping him with her elbow before giving him the finger guns. She just barely noticed the centaur's head had no face before he put down the pumpkin he was holding to reveal his face was actually on his chest. Luz blinked in surprise, but rolled with it and quickly smiled at him again, looking him in the eyes that were where a human's nipples would be.

"My eyes are down here." he said with a weary sigh. Luz got the feeling that he was used to this.

"Of course sir! I'm Luz, the apprentice to famed Potioneer, Eda the Owl Lady! I have just the thing for you!" she said reaching into the bag of potions.

She initially grabbed the hoof polish, but then she stopped. The centaur could definitely use the polish, but was that really the best thing to sell? Thanks to her angelic urge to help others, Luz felt like something else would be better… something that might solve a problem this Centaur was having.

Switching gears, she instead grabbed a small vial with an eye dropper in the cork; "Bothered by people never looking you in the eye from the beginning? Well worry no more! This is a vial of Chromatic Eye Drops! Just one drop in each eye and they'll sparkle and shine in any colour you choose! They last six hours and will ensure everyone knows exactly where your eyes are! They won't be able to take their own eyes off them!"

The Centaur blinked, a smile slowly growing on his chest. "Really? Do you think they'll work?"

Luz uncorked the potion and offered the dropper to the Centaur; "Want a free sample? Just don't tell Eda." she whispered, winking conspiratorially at the Centaur.

He happily accepted and applied a drop to each eye, and after blinking a few times, his eyes began to sparkle and shine with a far more vibrant emerald green. They were captivating, and people walking in the streets stopped to look, whispering compliments and comments of awe that had the Centaur beaming so hard his pecks were flexing.

Luz took a picture with her phone so she could show the Centaur how he looked, and he began to get choked up; "I've never looked so amazing! I'll take it! How much!?"

"The bottle is yours for the low price of 75 snails!" Luz grinned. The minimum price listed on the paper Eda had given her was 25, but Luz decided to start with a high offer in hopes of being more successful. Eda had told her to haggle for a higher price!

As it turned out, she was almost too successful.

"What!? You're selling an Eda potion for under 100 snails without a half hour of haggling!? I'll take it! I'll take every vial you've got!" the Centaur yelled eagerly.

"I've got three vials. Each one should last about a month." Luz said, a bit shocked as she pulled out two identical vials. The Centaur took them all and dumped 225 snails into Luz's hands, before galloping off whilst laughing with joy.

Luz then found herself swarmed as the idea of the Owl Lady's potions "going cheap" spread throughout the market. The young witch needed to fire off light blasts into the air just to keep the crowd from swarming over her, and she soon ran out of potions to sell, even though she was selling them all for three times the minimum price on the list. It made Luz wonder just how high Eda usually sold the potions for. By the time the sack was empty of everything except the last few deliveries, she had made a killing and it was actually more work to lug the bag of snails around than it was the potions.

Despite the added weight, Luz felt great! She'd completed her first task of her apprenticeship, made a ton of money, and done a lot of good deeds! Today was working out wonderfully!

Luz had ended up sold out in just under two hours, so began to slowly meander her way back to the spot Eda had told her to. As soon as she got there, she found Eda and King hurrying towards her with a still half full bag of deliveries.

"Kid, are you okay!? We saw the signals you shot!" Eda yelled, looking Luz up and down.

"Signals? Oh, my light blasts! Sorry, I was just warding off some excited customers. But look; I sold out!" Luz smiled proudly, handing over the bag of snails. Eda and King stared at the hefty sack like Luz had just handed them something alien.

"How?" Eda asked dumbly.

"Turns out that you have a reputation for overpricing. I just said I was selling your stuff cheap and everyone rushed to buy it. Don't worry, I still sold everything for at least three times your asking price."

The Owl Lady blinked slowly; "Huh… I usually charge ten times the price as a first offer."

Luz wilted; "Did I do bad?"

"No way, I don't think I've ever sold the whole bag before! It's rare I sell even a third. The minimum prices were enough to cover ingredients, time, and labour, so selling a potion at even a small mark up is all profit." Eda replied quickly; "Good job, kid."

"Ha, Luz is a better salesperson than you!" King taunted childishly. Eda responded by shoving him off her shoulder with a "Weh!?" while Luz giggled.

"Anyway, good job kid. Let me get you a snack as thanks; you've not lived until you've tried a Bonesborough Not-Dog!" Eda said, before leaning close to Luz to whisper; "Plus King is a lot less mouthy when he's eating."

Luz giggled again, then nodded eagerly; "Sure, thanks! I actually forgot to eat lunch with King, so I'm kind of hungry."

Eda needed no further encouragement and happily marched off down the road with King and Luz following closely behind. She led them to a street corner where a gelatinous green demon was running a not-dog stand. The not-dogs themselves were made of some incomprehensible meat-like things loosely shaped into something like a sausage (not unlike a real hot dog) and were garnished with some kind of black, spider-like thing. Luz shuddered a bit, but wasn't going to turn her nose up at free food, especially food she hadn't tried before.

Eda bought one for each of them, with King inhaling his before she'd even gotten her own or Luz's. When she did get Luz's, Eda subtly dripped a few drops of the tearful tonic onto it (careful not to spill it on the garnish, which would likely start crying) then hid the evidence under some ketchup before handing the not-dog to Luz.

"Thanks Eda!" Luz chirped, sitting on the street corner to begin eating. Eda grabbed her own and sat beside her, waiting for her to bite into a potioned part.

"Man, this is weirdly good. The garnish looks freaky, but it tastes kinda-like extra spicy relish." Luz commented, nibbling away at it.

Eda really wished she'd hurry! The anticipation was killing her, and the empty vial she'd prepared for Luz's tears felt increasingly heavy in her pocket. Just as Luz was about to take a bite into the ketchup/potion covered part, a small demon child eating their own not-dog suddenly tripped and sent their treat flying down the street, where it got stomped on by the crowd. The little demon, who looked vaguely like a cyclops crossed with a cat, began to whimper and tear up, seconds away from a loud tantrum.

"Aw, little buddy…" Luz sighed sympathetically, before getting up and going to kneel beside the kid. "Hey there, don't be sad. These things happen. Here; you can have the rest of mine." she said, offering the remaining half of her not-dog.

Eda groaned as the child gratefully took the not-dog with a "Thank you, lady!" and began to eat. She couldn't stop them without it looking suspicious, so she just watched and waited for the inevitable. Meanwhile Luz smiled and pet the little kid's head as they ate, happy to have done a little good deed. The not-dog had been tasty, but she was always happy to share!

At least, she was until the kid finished it in one big gulp and suddenly began to tear up. Luz gasped and prepared to say something soothing, but before she got the chance, the little demon let out a loud, keening wail that soon devolved into a series of noisy sobs. A cascade of tears came flooding down their little face from their singular eye, soaking the front of their clothes. Eda cringed as people began turning to watch the noisy scene, while Luz was more concerned with the child.

"Oh! Oh no! Little buddy, are you okay!? What's wrong?" she asked, patting the child's back and making nonsensical soothing noises to try and calm the child down.

"What do you think you're doing!?" bellowed an angry voice.

Luz looked up and saw another demon like the child stalking towards them, looking furious. It was likely the poor kid's parent. The adult demon grabbed their sobbing child and cradled them to their chest; "There there, baby! Mama's here." they said, before glaring at Luz; "What did you do to my child!?"

"N-Nothing! I saw them trip and drop their not-dog, so I gave them the rest of mine! They were fine, then all of a sudden they started crying! I don't know why!" Luz tried to explain.

The demon parent clearly wasn't buying it; "Yeah, you're a real hero, kid." they said sarcastically, before stalking away; "Stay away from my baby! Stupid teenagers…" they muttered angrily, stomping away. The crowd that had been watching looked between Luz and the departing demons, then continued going about their day, ignoring them both.

Luz's shoulders slumped as she walked dejectedly back to Eda and King, feeling miserable. "I was just trying to help…" she whispered to herself.

Eda scoffed; "Aw, don't listen to them! They're a total helicopter parent! A blind person could see that you weren't to blame."

"B-But then why did that little kid start crying?" Luz asked.

"I dunno; kids are emotional and cry over everything. They probably just felt really happy that you gave them the treat, or embarrassed that they'd tripped." Eda shrugged.

Luz looked doubtful; "So it wasn't my fault?"

"I'd bet my right hand on it!" Eda smirked, pulling off her right hand and putting it on Luz's head to emphasise her point.

The young angel giggled as the hand scurried around her head and shoulders, then gently flicked her ear before returning to its owner. "Thanks Eda. Let's get back to work." she said, feeling a little better.

Eda nodded and grabbed King, walking a few paces behind Luz on the way to continue their deliveries. "Well that didn't work…" King whispered.

"Yeah… can't pull that trick again; not with Luz so willing to give up her food. I thought teenagers were all supposed to be ravenous little monsters." Eda griped.

"I guess angels are just like that. So what's the next plan?"

Eda grinned and subtly pulled a blowpipe out from her hair, making King's eyes widen. "You're going to give her a bath?"

Eda rolled her eyes; she used the blowpipe with darts dipped in a sleeping potion whenever she needed to wash King, as the slippery little beast was a monster when it came to getting him in the bath on any terms but his own!

"Darts can be dipped in more than just sleeping potions." Eda retorted, pulling a very thin needle from her hair and dipping it into the tearful tonic, before loading it into the pipe. The needle was thin enough that Luz probably wouldn't even feel it, but it would get the potion into her bloodstream all the same; "Now I just need a good moment!"

After the first failure, Eda decided to be cautious and let some time pass. With Luz having sold all her merchandise, the young angel began to help Eda make the rest of their deliveries, so Eda sent her off on her own with half the packages while she and King secretly followed, waiting for the perfect moment to shoot the dart. Normally Eda could hit a moving target without much trouble; King rarely sat still at bath time after all, but in a crowded place and with Eda not able to predict Luz like she could King, she had to wait until Luz stopped for a decent amount of time.

Her chance came when Luz came to the house of a frequent customer of Eda's; a hideous demon about Luz's age who bought super acne cure potions to treat his horrible facial boils.

Eda and King crept as close as they could without being seen by Luz, and watched as she knocked on the door and the boil-ridden demon answered the door. "Hello sir, I have your potion delivery!" Luz said with a pleasant smile, not letting on that the demon's face was anything too horrid.

"Ack! You're not Eda!" the demon cried, his voice cracking. Demon puberty was a real pain for his subspecies; a breed of Cthulhu-like Biped Demons with squids for heads. His facial boils were thick black, ink-filled pustules that covered his head completely, much to his own embarrassment.

"I'm Luz, Eda's apprentice. I'm helping her make her deliveries today." Luz explained, "Here's your potion."

She pulled out the vial, checking the label and address to make sure she had the right one, then handed it over without comment.

"O-Oh man… I didn't know the Owl Lady had an apprentice! And a g-girl my age too! Aw geez… You don't go to Hexside, do you?" the demon stammered, clearly embarrassed.

Luz shook her head; "Nope. Never heard of it."

The teenage demon sighed with relief; "T-thank the Titan! H-Hey, please don't tell anyone I buy this stuff, o-okay? I order it from Eda specifically so no one knows!" he begged, handing over the snails for the potion.

"Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me." Luz promised, "You shouldn't be embarrassed anyway; things like this happen. I remember when I turned 13; I had terrible acne for months! It wasn't fun, but it cleared up eventually. Yours will too, and you'll be back to looking awesome in no time!"

The hidden King and Eda both smirked and rolled their eyes as the teenage demon's eyes grew wide at the compliment; of course Luz would try to make him feel better! She was the poster child for helpful angels! It was weird that no one in her own world thought so, at least in Eda's opinion. Shaking that thought away, Eda brought the blowpipe to her lips and aimed at Luz; it'd be a bit embarrassing for her to burst into tears in front of the other teenager, but since the girl knew his secret too, Eda was sure it would be fine.

"A-Aw shucks, thanks miss. W-Will I see you around?" the demon boy asked, a blush partially hidden by his boils.

"Sure, I'll be staying around Bonesborough for the next three months or so. Come say hi if you see me around, and I'll do the same." Luz smiled as she began counting the snails he'd handed over and putting them one by one into the pouch of money Eda had handed over to hold the delivery fees.

Eda inhaled and then shot the dart, aiming right for the back of the girl's neck…

…only to miss as Luz fumbled a snail and dropped it, causing her to kneel down to retrieve it and the dart to fly through the space her head just was to instead hit the teenage demon. The demon flinched and pulled the little needle out, staring at it for a moment as Eda's heart sank.

"Oh Titan, here it comes!" she cringed.

As if on cue, the demon burst into noisy tears, startling Luz. "W-What!? What's wrong sir!?" she asked urgently, not having seen the dart.

The poor boy tried to articulate that he didn't know, but when demons of his subspecies cried, their facial tentacles flailed wildly, making talking impossible, and their eyes leaked black ichor, making his face even more of a mess than the boils did. After a few frantic seconds of trying to explain, the boy's nerves finally got the best of him and he ran back into his house, slamming the door in Luz's face and leaving her stood there, stunned and upset.

"I did it again…" she muttered weakly.

Eda sighed heavily, trying to ignore the feeling of King's judgemental eyes boring into her as she hid the blowpipe back in her hair and walked over to her upset apprentice. "Hey Luz, bit of bad luck there, huh?"

"E-Eda? You saw that? Listen, I swear I didn't mean to upset him! I don't really know what I did, but I'll apologise right away and-"

Eda cut off Luz's apologies with a gentle flick to her forehead; "Breathe, kid. That wasn't your fault any more than the last one was."

"B-But how can you be so sure?" Luz asked. She looked briefly on the verge of tears, but wiped the stray drops away, much to Eda's hidden disappointment.

"I was watching, of course! King and I followed you in secret so I could see the sparkling personality that sold all my potions at work!" Eda quickly lied. "Don't beat yourself up over it; I bet that whole mess was just a mix of teenage hormones and him talking to a pretty girl."

Luz blushed at the compliment; she'd been called pretty before back in her human high school, and had even been asked out once or twice, though she'd never dated anyone and the mayhem that happened around her tended to keep all but the bravest away.

"Do you really think so?" Luz asked softly, still blushing.

"I know so." Eda nodded, "Come on, we've still got a few deliveries to make."

"O-Okay." Luz nodded, a weak smile on her face. It was obvious she still wasn't convinced that she hadn't messed up some how, making Eda sigh.

"I think we should give up on this, Eda." King whispered to her as they walked; "At this rate, we'll end up making her cry without the potion!"

"I know, I just… I need to get those tears! What if it comes out while Luz is living with us!? She'll be an owl pellet faster than you can say Weh!" Eda shot back. "I've got one more plan; it's not exactly subtle but subtly hasn't been working for me so far."

"Has "subtle" ever worked for you?" King snarked. Eda huffed and shoved him off her shoulder again, making King go "Weh!" once more and run to climb into Luz's arms instead.

It wasn't a part of Eda's plan, but King's presence in Luz's arms kept the girl distracted so she could begin her final attempt at Operation: Angel Tears! Reaching into her hair, Eda pulled out one of the few human artefacts she'd never tried to sell; one that was so rare and powerful that there was no way it could fail!

It was a fake flower with a thin pipe sticking out the end that connected to a little water bottle. All Eda had to do was invite Luz to sniff the flower, then squeeze the bottle to spray water in her face! Eda carefully unscrewed the water bottle and poured some of the tearful tonic inside it; now that the potion was mixed in, all she needed was a single drop in Luz's mouth or the surface of the eye, and BAM! Tear city!

Eda carefully put the flower on the front of her dress, hiding the pipe and bottle in the process, then called out to Luz. "Hey kid, I know you're still feeling a little down in the dumps, so how about a smell of this?" she grinned, pointing to the flower; "It's a Happiness Hibiscus!"

Luz took one look at it, then smirked. It was obviously one of those fake squirting flowers that clowns had! She figured Eda didn't realise that she knew what it was and was trying to play a prank to cheer her up! Well, two could play at that game!

"Oh wow Eda, that looks interesting! A sniff of that would surely be fun!" she said playfully, being mindful of her words. It was tricky to deceive a person without being able to actually lie, but Luz wasn't going to hurt herself for a joke and it didn't look like Eda saw through her bad acting.

Eda just grinned a bit wider as Luz walked closer and slowly leaned down to take a sniff. The moment she was close enough and opened her mouth, Eda would strike!

Then, a lot of things happened all at once. Luz got close enough to the flower and saw Eda's hand twitch to the hidden water bottle. The Owl Lady shouted "Got ya!" as she squeezed, sending the potion-tainted water spraying out of the flower. However instead of hitting Luz, the girl suddenly raised King up to take the squirt for her, and the little Demon's shocked "Weh!?" resulted in it going right down his throat.

In an instant, both Eda and King knew what was about to happen, but were powerless to stop it. "Oh no." they both said, as Luz giggled manically.

"Ha! Got me? I got you! I heard you two whispering a moment ago! You were gonna prank me! Too bad for you, I got you first!" Luz laughed happily. She calmed after a moment and smiled; "But thanks for trying, that did cheer me u-"

"WAAAHHHHH!" King suddenly burst into noisy sobs, tears flowing down his skull and into his fur.

"King! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-!" Luz cried, but King couldn't hear her over his own cries.

The tearful tonic was a weird potion to be under; King didn't feel anything out of the ordinary yet he couldn't stop crying and sobbing like his favourite toy had just been destroyed. It was humiliating to be forced to throw a tantrum like a baby, and King was painfully aware of everyone on the street turning to look at him. Before he could be humiliated further, he squirmed free from Luz's grasp and ran off, not hearing her or Eda calling for him.

Eda facepalmed as another of her plans completely fell apart; "Dang it!" she growled, not seeing how Luz flinched away from her.

"E-Eda! I didn't… I wasn't trying to…" the girl tried to get the words out, but kept stumbling over them.

Eda felt bad for her, but she didn't have time to hang around; the tonic would wear off on its own, but if she left King to cry for that long, she'd never hear the end of it from the little tyrant! The last time he got upset with her, he set Hooty on her and the incident that followed resulted in the last of her hair turning grey!

"Not now, Luz. I need to get King." she said shortly. She then ran off after King, completely oblivious to the devastation she'd just left in her wake.

She ran through the streets of Bonesborough, following the sounds of King's wails and the wet trail of tears he'd left, until she eventually found him sobbing away behind a dumpster in an otherwise empty alleyway. He looked up at her and tried to speak through his sobs, but it was incomprehensible so Eda just pulled out a vial of antidote and poured the orange liquid into the little demon's mouth. Almost instantly, King calmed down and his tears stopped flowing.

"Ugh, that potion feels so weird!" King complained.

"Yeah, it is a little odd. But forget that for now; I'm all out of plans and almost out of tonic." Eda sighed, sitting down beside King and showing him the vial of tearful tonic. Only about a quarter of it remained; enough for maybe one more attempt. "Maybe I should just say screw it and mix it into Luz's dinner… we've kind of lost the subtlety angle now anyway." she complained.

"Actually, I think I want to stop this crazy scheme now. Everything keeps backfiring, and if you put the tonic in her dinner, she'll share it with Hooty or something and everything will go nuts! Besides, it didn't really feel good to be forced to cry like that…" King said, looking downcast at the notepad Luz had given him. He didn't want to inflict this feeling on his newest friend.

Eda sighed; "Yeah, you're probably right. This was a stupid idea. After seeing your reaction, the idea of Luz doing the same thing just feels like bullying. I may be head of the Bad Girl Coven, but bullying a literal angel is a bit much."

That made King frown; "Uh, Eda? Where is Luz?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm not sure. I left her to chase after you." Eda said, before realisation hit her; "Oh Titan, I left her! She was apologising and then I…" she remembered what she'd said and done, and how it could be misunderstood by an upset young angel. "Crap! We've gotta go find her!"

King didn't need to be told twice, and quickly grabbed onto Eda's hair as the wild witch got back to her feet and ran back to where she'd left Luz in the street. As expected, the girl was nowhere to be found and there was no obvious trail to follow, making the Owl Lady curse. With a snap of her fingers, she summoned Owlbert to her side.

"Owlbert, I need to find Luz. Search from the sky. King, use your nose to help track her from down here." Eda ordered.

Owlbert hooted, a look of reproach on his adorable little face, then obediently flew off to find Luz, while King sniffed the notepad and pencil Luz gave him to catch her scent. Between Owlbert's eyes and King's nose, they were able to find Luz's trail and quickly follow it.

The trail led to the woods just outside of Bonesborough, a short distance from the path they'd taken from the Owl House, and at the end of it they found Luz. The girl had her face in her arms as she sat beneath a tree. Her shoulders were shaking, and Eda and King could hear her crying softly, making them both feel like the biggest monsters on the Boiling Isles. This had been the result they'd been aiming for… it just wasn't how they'd wanted it to happen.

"Luz…" Eda said softly, moving to the girl's side, "Can I sit here?"

Luz nodded, not lifting her head from her arms. Eda sat beside her and waited in awkward silence, trying to find the words to say to make things better. Luz ended up speaking first though.

"I thought things had changed." she whimpered, "I thought I'd gotten better. After what happened at the Conformatorium and my powers finally awakened, I thought things would be different. That I could finally be a good angel and help people! That I could finally be useful… be worth something. But I'm still the same screw up I always was! Every time I try to help, I ruin everything! I made that little kid cry, and that teenager too. And King! I hurt King! He was having so much fun after discovering he could use glyphs, and I ruined that for him!"

"You didn't ruin anything! I still had fun, and I want to have more fun! With you!" King argued.

Luz finally looked up, eyes rimmed in red and tears still flowing down her cheeks; "How can you forgive me after what I did to you?"

"C-Come on Luz! I'm the mighty King of Demons! A little water isn't gonna make me cry! It was… it was…" King looked to Eda. He didn't want to throw her under the bus, but he couldn't think of another excuse.

Luz just shook her head; "You're sweet, King. But we both know this was my fault…"

Eda sighed heavily; "No Luz, this is my fault."

"Eda, how can my screw ups be your fault?" Luz asked rhetorically.

The Owl Lady looked down in shame as she reached into her hair and pulled out the nearly empty vial of tearful tonic. Luz looked at the cerulean liquid with confusion, as Eda explained.

"This is tearful tonic that I made this morning while you were watching King and vaporising trash. One drop and the victim bursts into tears for at least ten minutes." she said, unable to meet Luz's confused gaze.

That confusion soon warped into horrified realisation, and a look of betrayal that had Eda wincing.

"The kid I gave my not-dog too…"

Eda nodded grimly; "I spiked it with this. Hid it under the ketchup, but you never got to that part before giving it to the kid."

"T-The teenager!"

"Blow dart dipped in it. You ducked to pick up that dropped snail."

"King!?"

"Potion in the water." Eda finished shortly.

Luz recoiled away from Eda, a sight that was more painful than the Owl Lady had expected it to be. The girl had been so open and friendly, and trusted Eda a lot despite having been raised to fear demons and witches… and Eda had broken that trust.

"You wanted my tears!" Luz yelled accusingly, "All of this… you made me feel like I was a screw up again! You took all the confidence I had and smashed it, all so you could force me to cry after I specifically said I didn't want to give you my tears!? How could you!?"

The girl was actually crying harder now, though it was fuelled by anger and fear. She looked down at King, whose own expression of guilt was all she needed to see to know he had been in on the plot. The girl turned away, refusing to look at either of them.

"Luz, I'm so sorry… I-I thought the tears would help me get my powers back! I didn't mean to hurt you…" King tried to apologise, but Luz just shook her head.

"I thought you were my friends… but the moment I said I didn't want to do something for you, you tried to trick and force it out of me!" Luz said, her voice hoarse and broken, "I thought you guys were different… I guess I was wrong."

The young angel briefly turned back to Eda and snatched the bottle of tonic away, making the Owl Lady flinch. Luz dumped the remainder of the potion into the dirt, which Eda considered more than fair, but then to her surprise Luz placed the now empty vial beneath one of her eyes and allowed her tears to flow into it. She filled about a third of the tiny vial, then stuffed the cork back into it and thrust it into Eda's hands.

"There. Now you've got what you wanted from me… you'd only have found some other way to force me to cry anyway." Luz said bitterly.

"Luz, I-" Eda tried to speak, but the girl wasn't having it. Luz silenced her with a glare and wiped her eyes dry before grabbing the sack of potions that still needed to be delivered.

"I'll handle the rest, so please leave me alone." she said.

Eda reached for her; "Kid, seriously; you don't have to do that."

Luz avoided Eda's grasp and began to walk back into Bonesborough; "Please… just… I need some time alone."

With that, Luz left them alone in the woods, both feeling as devastated as Luz had. Eda and King sat in stunned silence for several long minutes; they'd barely known Luz for a day and already they'd screwed things up! Then again, neither were surprised; they were the self-proclaimed lord of calamity and most wanted witch on the isles, and the King of Demons. They only had each other, in part because their antics drove everyone else away. It had been a pleasant surprise when Luz actually wanted to stay with them, especially given that she was an angel and that her first experience was Eda refusing to let her go home until she'd helped them with their heist. But then they'd pulled this stunt the very next day; they'd let their own desires push them into not only hurting Luz, but violating her; both in body and in soul. The more King and Eda thought about it, the worse it sounded; they'd conspired to make a young girl cry after she'd put herself in danger to save them. That wasn't loveable rogue territory; that was just plain cruel.

"What do we do now?" King asked hopelessly, looking at his notebook. "Is Luz gonna leave us?"

"I don't know, buddy. I wouldn't blame her for it." Eda said, holding the vial of tears. She'd gotten exactly what she wanted… but she'd give it right back if it would fix things.

"W-We've gotta do something! Maybe I'm just being selfish again, but I don't want Luz to leave! No one's ever stuck their necks out for us before, like she did with that creep of a Warden!" King cried, on the verge of tears again.

Eda nodded; "We both owe her. Let's… let's give her some time. She'll need to come back to the house to get her stuff no matter what she decides to do, so we'll wait and talk with her then." she said, before looking wistfully in the direction of Bonesborough. The sun was going to start setting soon, and Eda really didn't like the idea of Luz walking back in the dark…

"King, you go home and wait for us. I'll make sure Luz gets back safely." she decided.

"But I thought you were gonna give her some time."

"I am; I'll just watch her from a distance and make sure she's safe. She's still just a kid after all, and the isles are dangerous, especially after dark."

King couldn't argue with that. He wished Eda luck and scurried back to the Owl House, planning a little something to show Luz how sorry he was. Meanwhile Eda took to the skies with Owlbert and flew back into town, being careful not to be spotted by her upset angel apprentice. She found Luz fairly quickly, since she'd memorised all her regular customers, making it easy for her to follow behind and make sure the girl was okay.

Watching Luz make those solo deliveries was both impressive and depressing for Eda. The little angel always plastered a pleasant smile on her face when speaking to her clients, but it was obvious that the smile was forced and there was no happy twinkle in her eyes like there usually was. The knowledge that it had been her who caused that made Eda's chest feel tight and painful.

Finally, Luz came to the very last delivery. From what Eda remembered, it was a fairly innocuous potion designed to cure the withdrawal effects of those suffering with an addiction to certain illegal substances; the kind of which even Eda wouldn't go near. The address had been some ruin on the edge of Bonesborough that had originally been owned by a certain family of Oracles, who skipped town after their daughter fleeced them and ran off. Eda just assumed the client was a junkie who'd scrapped enough dough together to buy a cure while squatting in the ruins… however, as she subtly followed Luz down an alleyway to this old ruin, she was met with a shocking sight.

The ruin was gone, and in its place was an immaculate castle of white stone and blue tiled rooftops, with battlements, banners, and all manner of structures behind a sturdy outer wall. Eda blinked owlishly; she hadn't heard of a new tenant moving in and fixing the place, and even with magic it would take weeks to do this much work! Eda was sure it was still a ruin the previous day too… what was going on?

Luz naturally had no idea that anything was amiss, though she did seem surprised by the castle. No doubt she wasn't expecting a piece of the Boiling Isles to look so… mundane. It looked like it had been yanked from a human fantasy book, and was distinctly out of place amidst the rest of Bonesborough. Eda watched as the girl shrugged and knocked on the large gate, which opened by itself to allow her in. Quickly hopping back onto Owlbert, Eda flew up to the nearest window to peek inside and keep an eye on her apprentice.

Inside, Luz was beginning to feel a bit unnerved. This castle would normally have excited her with memories of her Good Witch Azura books, but she just couldn't feel comfortable. It was almost too perfect and too sterile for the Boiling Isles and the Demon Realm. The rest of Bonesborough was fleshy and bizarre, so why was this place so different?

Slowly walking further into the dark room, Luz called out; "Hello? I'm delivering a package for Miss Eda, the Owl Lady. Is anybody home?"

Suddenly the lanterns all flared to life and the room was illuminated with a soft, welcoming light. With the darkness gone, Luz could now make out her surroundings; she was in a giant library decorated with moons, stars, and all manner of astrological and magical items that matched the cleaner fantasy aesthetic of the castle's exterior. At the back of the room was a large staircase that lead to a door, and above that door was a portrait of a smiling old man in starry robes, looking like a stereotypical wizard.

"Is this really the Boiling Isles? Or did I stumble through another portal…?" Luz whispered to herself. She'd had a feeling of being watched for a while, but now she also felt a strange prickling feeling in her brain, which wasn't helping her nerves or her bad mood.

The young angel took a few steps forward, then stopped as she saw movement at the top of the staircase. Coming through the door beneath the wizard's portrait was the wizard himself, wearing the exact same robes and even taking the same pose and expression, making himself an eerie mirror of the picture.

"A magical wizard…?" Luz muttered.

"Now that's a scam artist if ever I saw one." Eda whispered to herself with a deadpan expression, still watching through the window. She cast a spell over her ears to help her hear what was going on inside.

The old man didn't acknowledge Luz's words, instead just smiling and walking down the stairs towards them; "I apologise for keeping you waiting; I was in my oscillarium, reading the stars." he stopped in front of her, who could feel something odd coming from him; his presence was making that prickling feeling worse, and made her skin crawl.

"And who might you be, with eyes full of curiosity?" he asked, smiling at Luz.

The girl definitely didn't feel too curious; no, she was creeped out! "Uh, I-I'm-"

The wizard got very close to her; "Young lady, dareth I say… I sense something unique about you." Luz gulped and put a hand over her chest, where the concealment stone was. Could he sense her true nature, or her stone!? Eda had been able to…

"Please, won't you join me for tea?" the wizard asked, casting a pair of spells to summon a pair of large comfy chairs and a table of fancy snacks. He took a seat in one of them and gestured for Luz to take the other.

Luz stepped back on instinct, and Eda had to hold in the urge to burst in and pull her apprentice out of there. "Don't trust him, kid! Just get out of there!" she muttered.

"Um, sir? I'm sorry but I can't stay." Luz replied, trying to stay polite; "I need to finish this last job for my ment- I mean, for Miss Eda. Can we settle the delivery?"

Eda felt a stab at her heart; last job? Did she just mean the final delivery of the day, or was she really planning to leave?

The Wizard frowned angrily for an instant, before his eyes brightened again; "Sir? Oh please, call me Adegast. I am but a simple purveyor of fine magical potions. The kind that might help a special young lady like yourself achieve her destiny!"

Luz backed off another step, the buzzing in her head getting worse. It felt like bugs were crawling around inside her brain. She had to breathe deeply to resist the feeling, then suddenly had a thought; "Mr Adegast, why would you buy a potion from Eda if you're already a brewer yourself?"

Eda smirked with pride, while Adegast's expression once again flashed to anger before returning to smiling; "Never mind that, I wish to speak to you of the destiny I sense in your future!" he said, ignoring Luz's question, "How would you like to go on a quest to achieve your greatest dream?"

Alarm bells were ringing in Luz's head; "What quest?" she asked suspiciously.

Adegast reached into his beard and pulled out an old scroll, which he unravelled to reveal a map. "The Prophecy speaks of a young human girl who will claim the Celestial Staff and free this world from an ancient evil. I believe you hath cometh here for a reason!" he said grandly. "I believe you are the Chosen One!"

Luz scowled; this wasn't right. Every word out of Adegast's mouth twigged something at the back of her mind. The things he was saying were exactly the sorts of things Luz had once dreamed she would one day hear, back when she was just a cherub with big dreams of being a hero who helped everyone, but now they sounded like this man was making fun of her. Like he was telling her what she wanted to hear just to get her to do what he wanted. He was pulling out her old fantasies to use her… he could probably read her mind or something; how else would he know all this? Plus, Eda had warned her…

"I have a lot of rivals who'd love to take my business down and you along with it."

That was it! That was why Adegast had ordered a potion from Eda! It was to lure her into a trap and take out his competition! But Luz had come in her place, so Adegast was trying to use her by sending her off on a dangerous quest that Eda would have to save her from. With both a trap and a hostage, Adegast would have a much easier time beating Eda!

"Again…" Luz thought morosely, "I'm being used again."

Scowling and trying not to let on how hurt she felt, Luz shook her head and began to leave; "I'm sorry Mr Adegast, but you've got the wrong person. I'm going to leave now; if you want your potion then you'll need to come to the Owl House with payment." she said.

"No!" Adegast yelled, causing the door behind Luz to slam shut and the lanterns to go out, draping the room in darkness.

Eda gasped and began to draw a spell circle to help her upset apprentice, while Luz grabbed the sack of snails from the deliveries and prepared to wield it like a cudgel. A wave of magic crossed the room and the magical castle and library faded away, revealing it was all an illusion to hide the building's true form; a decrepit old ruin just like Eda remembered.

"Everything you said was a lie! Even your house was a lie!" Luz hissed. "Does everyone on the Boiling Isles lie and manipulate to get what they want!?" She cast a light spell so she could see better and try to find Adegast, but no matter how bright she made it, the darkness didn't recede. It was likely part of a new illusion.

Suddenly, a very familiar voice came from the darkness.

"Luz?"

"M-Mami!?" Luz cried, spinning around to find her mother Camila looking around fearfully. Eda gasped quietly; so that was what the kid's Mom looked like… "What are you doing here!?" Luz asked urgently.

"Your new teacher, Eda, came to see me in the Human Realm. She wanted to explain what happened to you. I came here to talk to you Mija, and tell you that if this place makes you happy, then I'm okay with you coming here." Camila explained.

"That's right kid."

Luz and Eda both gaped as another Eda walked out of the shadows. The real one, still hiding outside, scoffed at the imitation, but couldn't help but admire how good she looked. The fake her was even riding on a fake Owlbert! "We worked out a proper apprenticeship deal. You're where you belong now Luz, and your Mom sees that."

Luz stared at the fake Eda for a moment, before a grimace of rage appeared on her face. "If you wanted to trick me, Adegast, then you should have picked a different face!" she snarled, sending a powerful light blast at the fake Eda's head, vaporising it and causing the rest of the fake to disperse into purple smoke. The real Eda winced; Luz was still very upset with her!

Camila, or rather, Adegast's fake Camila scoffed; "Darn, I felt for certain that would work. My magic is having a hard time getting into your head. It's taken me all this time just to drag this much out, and you don't even have any memories of brewing with that wretched Eda. I guess I won't be stealing her secrets… but I can still use you as a hostage!"

The Puppet Camila suddenly jumped at Luz while the fake Owlbert swept around behind her, knocking away the sack of snails with a swipe from its staff before knocking her legs out from under her, allowing the Puppet Camila to grab her and hold her in place.

"Let me go!" Luz demanded, struggling against the puppet's strength.

"Oh, I think not." came the voice of the real Adegast as he appeared from the shadows. Luz immediately recoiled in revulsion as her nostrils were assaulted by a fishy stench; Adegast's true form was that of a large grey octopus with a lipless human mouth, two dark purple arms beneath his head, and a mound of orange pustules beneath his chin. He was repulsive to look at, and each of his puppets (including the wizard from earlier) had one of his tentacles digging into the back of their heads.

Luz shuddered in disgust; "Why are you doing this!? What do you want!?"

"Your mentor has been stealing customers from my potions business for years! She must be destroyed! I had hoped to use this quest to lure you further away from the town before capturing you, but your instincts are annoyingly sharp. Getting my tendrils of magic into your brain was a real pain!" Adegast spat.

Luz gasped; that was the tingling she'd been feeling! Adegast was literally using his magic to pull out her deepest fantasies and desires in order to trick her, just as she'd thought.

"But you've peeked my curiosity. You're hiding something very interesting… and you destroyed my puppet with such ferocity… you're angry with the Owl Lady, aren't you?"

Luz averted her eyes, making Adegast grin; "Oh ho, this is very interesting indeed! Well, if you don't want to spill the beans, I'll spill them myself!"

He breathed a thick pink mist into Luz's face, causing her to eyes to glow in the same soft shade of pink. She suddenly felt the prickling in her brain intensify even further, now feeling like Adegast was actually worming his tentacles into her skull. It wasn't painful, but it was a horrible feeling all the same, made worse by the satisfied noises Adegast was making.

"Ah, you're a real little treasure aren't you? A real life angel, here in the Boiling Isles…" Adegast smirked, making the Camila puppet reach into Luz's shirt to pull out the concealment stone, forcing the girl back to her real, angelic shape. "… and Eda found you and immediately used you. She used you to steal back her lost junk, then tried to milk you for your tears. Why, you've got as much reason to hate her as I do!"

The real Eda, who was just about to burst in to save Luz, froze upon hearing that. Luz didn't try to deny it either, she just whimpered and wiggled in an attempt to get free.

"Say, why don't you help me?" Adegast offered with a sinister grin; "I want Eda out of the way, and you could do with some revenge! Help me trap her and take her out forever! Then I can be the number one potioneer on the Boiling Isles, and I can teach you magic in her stead. What do you say?"

"You want me to help you hurt Eda?" Luz gasped.

"Of course! Why wouldn't you want to help me, after what she did to you? She used you, little angel. She'll do it again; you know it's true."

Luz looked down, "Maybe you're right…"

Eda felt a mix of shame and dread crawl up her spine as Luz spoke those words… but her next ones drove those feelings away. "… but I don't care!"

"What!?" Eda whispered and Adegast yelled.

"I won't help you hurt Eda! What she did was horrible, and she hurt me by doing it, but that doesn't mean I can just turn around and hurt her back! If I did that, I would be worse than she ever was, since she at least only hurt me by accident! I won't help you kill someone just because that person hurt my feelings!" Luz declared, renewing her struggles to escape her fake Mami's grasp.

Eda felt her heart warm; even after what she'd done, Luz wasn't willing to turn on her. The girl really was too good for her… but the Owl Lady promised herself that she'd pay her apprentice back.

Adegast snarled; "Brat! Fine, if you won't become my apprentice or serve me as an accomplice, then I'll harvest you for ingredients! Starting with those pretty little wings!"

Two new puppets emerged from the shadows, both resembling Conformatorium guards, and stepped forward to help restrain Luz further. She struggled against them, but just ended up being held by the fake Camila in front of her, and having each wing grabbed by one of the guard puppets. The puppets pulled on her wings, making Luz yelp in pain as the wizard puppet stepped forward with a large cleaver, ready to sever them.

"N-No! Get away! Stop! HELP!" Luz cried.

Suddenly, a blast of fire roared down from one of the ruin's windows, melting the wizard puppet and burning Adegast's tentacle. The demon screamed as Luz looked up at her saviour with grateful eyes; "Eda!"

The Owl Lady, flying on Owlbert, glared down at Adegast, then shot a smile to Luz; "Hey kid. We've got a lot to talk about… but first, I need to take care of this scumbag who tried to take advantage of my apprentice!"

Adegast moved back in fear of Eda's furious glare; "D-Don't come any closer! You make a move and I'll have my puppets tear your little angel to pieces before you can say- GAH!"

Eda interrupted the demon's threat by subtly drawing a spell circle behind her back while he was talking, causing a stone spike to shoot up from the ground beside the Puppet Camila, stabbing the tentacle in the back of it's neck. The tentacle recoiled and the puppet dispersed into smoke, freeing Luz's arms and allowing the young angel to throw them behind her and shoot two powerful beams of light at the guard puppets, blasting their heads clean off and destroying them, freeing her wings.

Adegast screamed again and recoiled further from both Eda and Luz, who were now free and stalking towards him with thunderous expressions. Eda cracked her knuckles; "So Luz, do you want to finish this, or should I?"

"I'm not picky." Luz replied, a large light glyph appearing over each of her palms.

"Then we'll do it together!" Eda smirked viciously, preparing another spell circle with her staff.

Adegast didn't even have time to scream as he was blasted by the combined fury of both Master and Apprentice. When their spells subsided, Luz couldn't see the demon any more, making her frown worriedly.

"Did… did I just murder someone?" she asked.

"Nah, he's not dead yet." Eda said, stalking forward and shifting a chunk of rubble to reveal a tiny grey octopus demon. Adegast, now diminished to a miniscule, mouthless form, could do nothing but squeak impotently as Eda picked him up by the tentacles; "Well that's the last time I take an outside referral."

With that, she tilted her head back, opened her mouth wide, and ate the tiny Adegast. Luz watched with a mild look of disgust as Eda clearly enjoyed her meal. "Mmm, not bad. Oh sorry, did you want some too?"

"No. D-Did you really have to, you know… kill him?" Luz asked.

"He knew you were an angel, so if we left him he'd have either ratted you out or come after you. I could have tried erasing his memories, but I only have about a 40% success rate vs just melting the victim's brain, so…" Eda shrugged. She then ruffled Luz's hair; "Plus, I can't let anyone get away with messing with my apprentice!"

Luz briefly smiled and blushed, a warmth filling her chest. But then the rest of the day's events replayed in her mind and she frowned, gently brushing Eda's hand away. "Eda… I don't know if I should stay as your apprentice after all." she said sadly.

Eda felt her heart break a bit; "Luz, I'm truly sorry about what I did earlier. It was horrible of me, and I should never have done it. I promise nothing like it will ever happen again. King and I really want you to stay."

"But why, Eda?" Luz asked, a hint of hysterics entering her voice as she struggled with her feelings; "Why do you even want me around? Because I'm an angel? Because you're hoping to get something from me? What?"

"Because…" Eda hesitated, before sighing and kneeling so she was eye-level with the girl; "Because you accepted us. You talked yesterday about how you didn't fit in back home, because you didn't think you were a good angel. Well it's the same for King and I. We only have each other because no one else wants to deal with our weirdness, and those who do we end up pushing away, either for their own good, or because we just don't know how to handle the "normals". But even after I terrified you and basically blackmailed you into helping us out yesterday, you accepted us. You helped us, coming back into a dangerous situation to rescue us. That meant a lot to King and I." Eda confessed.

"Eda…"

"You're a weirdo of an angel, but then King's also a weirdo of a demon, and I'm a weirdo of a witch. None of us fit in where we're supposed to, but we all had each other. Neither King nor I want that to stop. We don't want to drive away the first person to come along and accept our weirdness even after seeing our arguably worst side. So I'm asking; I may be a weirdo of a witch, and probably a sucky teacher and caretaker, but I want you to please stay on as my apprentice." Eda finished, staring imploringly into Luz's eyes.

Luz felt her heart going out to Eda, and she dearly wanted to accept. But she'd been burned too many times; she needed more assurances than that.

"Eda, I want to trust you again… but I'm scared. How can I be sure you won't do something like this again? I didn't want to give you my tears because I didn't feel comfortable with you treating any part of me like some rare commodity, but you tried to take them by force! How can I trust you not to repeat that, or worse, go for my wings?" she asked desperately.

Eda shook her head; "I wasn't going to sell the tears, I promise! I wanted them for something private… something for myself."

"What? What did you need them for?" Luz asked. Eda hesitated, and the younger girl pleaded with her; "Please, Eda. Just tell me. I can't trust you if you keep secrets from me, especially when those secrets made you hurt me like you did."

Eda hesitated again, then took a deep breath and slapped her own cheeks lightly; "Oof… okay. The truth is… I'm cursed."

Luz gasped softly; "Cursed? How?"

"Well ain't that the million snail question…" Eda muttered bitterly, "I don't know the full details; it happened when I was about your age. But the curse is, well I suppose the best comparison is Lycanthropy?"

"You're a werewolf?" Luz blinked.

"No no, but it's similar. You see, whenever my magic becomes particularly strained, or I experience strong emotions, or even if I just forget to drink my Elixir…" she pulled an orange potion from her hair to show Luz, "I turn into something called the Owl Beast, and go on a rampage. It's made life pretty difficult, but the curse is also slowly sapping my magic. Every time the Owl Beast comes out, I lose a bit more strength and come closer and closer to not being able to change back. Eventually, I'll lose my magic for good."

"So you wanted my tears to make a cure?" Luz asked, looking sympathetically at her mentor.

"Yes. Angel tears have incredible healing properties, so I thought maybe adding them to my Elixir or brewing something new with them might cure me." Eda explained. "But no cure is worth hurting you over." she said, taking out the vial of tears Luz had given her earlier and pushing it into Luz's hands.

Luz stared at the vial, then at Eda for several long seconds, then sighed exasperatedly; "Eda, if you'd just told me that from the beginning then I would have let you have some tears!"

"R-Really!?" Eda gasped.

"Of course! Like I said, I thought you wanted them as some rare commodity! I thought you were going to sell them, which I wasn't cool with! If you'd told me the truth, none of this would have happened." Luz frowned, putting a hand on her hip whilst handing back the tears; "Keep them, and try to cure yourself. A few shed tears is worth it to save you from being stuck as a magic-less monster!"

Eda gaped at the returned vial, then actually felt herself tear up a little as a laugh bubbled its way out. She quickly wiped her eyes so as not to damage her reputation, then smirked; "Luz, you are one of a kind."

She ruffled Luz's hair again, and this time the girl allowed it. Eda then drew a spell circle around Luz's hand and grasped it; "Now, to prove you can trust me; I'll make an everlasting oath! That way you'll know that I won't pull a stunt like that again!"

Luz quickly pulled her hand back and waved the circle away; "No, Eda. I want to trust you; but it's not trust if I know you're physically incapable of going against it. I'll give you another chance and continue as your apprentice on two conditions."

"Name them." Eda said eagerly.

"First, you need to promise to always tell me the truth from now on. If you can't for some reason, or it's too personal, then just tell me and I'll drop it. I don't want to be pushy, I just want to know I can believe what you say." Luz began.

"Done."

"Second… well, I'm probably going to screw up again in the future… probably pretty badly, given my track record." Luz said with a self-deprecating smile that made Eda want to pinch her cheeks, "So I want a promise that you'll forgive me and give me another chance when that happens. I mean, assuming I don't do something unforgivable or anything."

"Kid, I doubt you could if you wanted to. You say you tend to mess up being good, but I have a feeling you'd absolutely suck at being bad." Eda smirked, before giving a much softer smile; "But either way, it's a deal. I'll even throw in one "get out of chores free" card."

Luz giggled at that and the two shook hands, both feeling a lot better after getting everything off their chests. With their talk over, the two scoured the ruins and Adegast's stuff for anything of value in order to make up for the cost of the potion he'd ordered, as well as to recover Luz's concealment stone, then began the long walk home. The sun was just beginning to set, painting the sky in purple and orange hues, as they walked through the woods outside Bonesborough towards the Owl House.

As they walked, Eda said; "One more thing. Don't blame King for his part in everything that happened today. I sort of talked him into it by claiming your tears might restore his powers."

Luz looked a tad annoyed, but then shrugged; "I doubt I could stay mad at him anyway."

"I'm glad. Especially since I think he's got something planned for when you get back." Eda said.

As it turned out, Eda was completely right.

When they got back to the Owl House, Hooty had immediately wrapped around Luz and refused to let her go unless she promised she wasn't going to leave them. Apparently speaking to him twice and complimenting his cooking was all it took for the bird tube to decide Luz was his new best friend! Once that mini-ordeal was over, the two walked into the house and came across a very curious sight.

"King, I'm back! And I brought… Luz…" Eda's voice trailed off.

"Whoa… King's been busy." Luz said, looking at the sight in front of her.

The living room was completely full of little balls of light made with glyphs, and carefully arranged into a variety of shapes and decorations. King had made banners, balloons, and streamers out of light balls, as well as a large sign that read; "Please don't leave, Luz!" under which was a crude picture of Luz and King hugging, all made from the light glyphs.

Hearing them come in, King rushed in from the kitchen with icing and batter in his fur; "Luz! You're back!" he cried, running and jumping into her arms; "I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt you! Please don't leave! You don't even have to make snacks, and I'll make you my right hand in my army of darkness!"

"King, it's okay." Luz smiled, kissing the little demon's skull; "I talked it out with Eda. I'm still a little upset, but now that I know about her curse and she apologised, we're putting it in the past. That goes for you too."

"Really?" King asked hopefully.

"Really." Luz beamed, hugging King a bit tighter, "But as payback, you're not allowed to complain about me hugging you for a whole week! Besides, I know you love it!"

"I… am unable to dispute this due to the agreed upon payback." King said, pretending he was just playing along with her demands.

"Good! Now what's that smell. It smells great!" Luz asked.

"Oh, I found some cake mix so I made some Angel Food Cake! You're an angel and you like food, so I thought it was a good idea!"

Luz grinned widely; after the day she'd just had, she could definitely go for some cake! She happily followed King back into the kitchen, with Eda smiling at the kids as they went. The Owl Lady briefly looked at the vial of tears Luz had refused to take back, before stuffing it into her hair. She'd get to work on a potential cure tomorrow, but she was going to spend the rest of today with the rest of the weirdos.