A/N: Hello again! Welcome back to the Owlcast and... oh my god. It happened again. XD I was not expecting the swarm of reviews coming in on last chapter and others. Like... seven reviews on one chapter? I don't think I've ever gotten that much before. I mean... the total amount of reviews I have already is a shocker (92, to be exact: the other seven don't count). But gosh... It's so nice to see. Due to the volume I've been getting, I'll be answering those at the bottom of the chapter again. But thank you all once again for the follows, favourites, reviews and views. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.
Onto the chapter itself: this is something a lot of you have been waiting for. We're now three episodes away from Episode 18, so you all know what that means: yup, Chapter 45 marks the start of Episode 15: Understanding Willow! And, as a lot of you have probably guessed... this is going to play out similarly to Episode 13's chapters, meaning you're about to dive into yet another original adventure for Lizzie, with yet another parallel theme to the original plot of this episode. Lizzie obviously couldn't fit in to the mess with Willow because she would have been an awkward third wheel and wouldn't have been able to do much. So, instead, you're about to be exposed to a big twist I've been sitting on for quite a while.
As you should know from previous chapters, I've been hinting at and slowly exposing the fact that there's something more to the reason behind Lizzie's memory loss than just trauma, going back so far as Chapter 2. Episode 15 is about to explore this in a lot more detail, bringing forth revelations that some of you may have expected and others that you may not have. For now, I'm not going to discuss what I've done here, especially because I'll likely do this once the actual revelation comes about in the final chapter. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the episode's opening chapter. I am aiming to sum this up in four chapters, but don't hold me to that number.
Chapter 45: Mind Blank
Pitch black—upon opening her eyes, that was the first thing Lizzie saw. Allowing her eyes to dart around and take in the thick darkness that loomed over her, she soon realised that her surroundings were engulfed in an endless nothingness, with no ounce of moonlight that usually highlighted the inside of the cupboard-like bedroom she shared with Luz (and sometimes King when he chose to sneak in to sleep on Luz's sleeping bag, as she now knew it was called).
'Where am I?' She slowly sat up and glanced down with her arms outstretched, seeing she was still in her nightwear and had been lying on a floor carpeted in black. She twisted her hands back and forth with a faint frown. 'Am I still asleep? Is this a dream?'
It was the only conclusion she could come to. After all, she vividly recalled her and Luz preparing for bed, double checking Eda's elixir supply (and that she had, indeed, taken it), recording it in the logbook, and then the pair retiring to their bedroom, where Lizzie briefly endured Luz's excited rambling about what she was going to get up to at Hexside the following day until the blonde witch had drifted off to sleep at some point. So, if she couldn't see that bedroom right now (where she assumed she'd still be), nor anyone else around when she was certain there should be, then she had to be dreaming, right?
'Guess there's only one way to find out.'
"Hello?!" Lizzie shouted to the empty darkness with her hands cupping either side of her mouth.
She briefly heard her own voice echo in reply until it faded out into the black, with silence soon filling the area again. Lizzie let the silence drag on as she pushed herself to stand, giving it a bit longer while glancing round her surroundings in anticipation.
Nothing. So, she tried again:
"Anybody here?!"
Once again, her voice resounded around the empty void and gradually faded out, leaving her alone with the black stillness. Yet, she chose to wait a minute, her green-eyed gaze squinting through the darkness to be sure she hadn't missed anything.
What felt like one minute of prolonged silence soon became two, then three, then four. By the time it got to five, however, Lizzie had had enough, releasing an exasperated huff and rolling her eyes when nothing changed.
"Seriously?!" she exclaimed and raised a foot to stomp forward. "What's going—?"
A familiar, pubescent male voice angrily silenced the blonde witch and cut her off midsentence, prompting her eyes to widen and her body to freeze in place as it bounced off the walls around her.
'How could you, Elisabeth?!'
'Wait.' It had come from somewhere ahead of her, yet she couldn't see anything beyond the pitch black, not even a silhouette. Of course, she didn't need to; she knew that voice well by now. 'Isn't that—?'
Her thoughts were interrupted when the voice continued its rant, making her flinch at its venom.
'Why couldn't you have just flunked this one project for me, huh?!'
"… Xander?" Lizzie whispered the name and furrowed her brow, her eyes still feverishly searching for any sign of the mentioned witch through the darkness, to no avail.
However, it didn't take long before another familiar, pubescent voice responded in kind to Xander from the same direction, one that was female and caused the blonde witch to gape and slap her hands over her mouth.
'Because it wouldn't have just been the one, would it?!'
'That voice…' Lizzie blinked repeatedly, remaining still and silent as she tried to process what she was hearing. But there was no mistaking the second voice. 'That's me.'
'I can't jeopardise my future for you, Xander!' Lizzie heard her younger self continue to yell. 'That's not fair on me!'
'Well, it's not like I have other options!' Lizzie heard Xander bite back, finally daring to walk in the direction the voices were coming from while listening to the argument still unfolding. 'You refuse to help me study!'
'Don't try and blame this on me!' her younger self snarled, with Lizzie mentally noting the voices were getting louder the further she walked. 'You're the one who insists on not being seen with me in public!'
Lizzie heard Xander release an exasperated sigh.
'I already told you it was for your protection,' he hissed.
'That didn't include the constant bullying and humiliation to impress your posse!' her younger self spat.
'It's not like I hang out with them by choice!'
Eventually, two short, glowing humanoid silhouettes faded over the darkness ahead, bringing Lizzie to a sudden stop. The first silhouette appeared to her far right, gradually revealing the image of Xander dressed in the Hexside uniform for the Potions Magic Track while taking on a wide stance, his hands balled into fists at his sides. Like Lizzie had seen of his present self, his blonde hair was short and neat, tied into a low hanging ponytail. She could also clearly see his stern and scowling face, where she noted no sign of anything that resembled a burn scar, with his 'injured' eye being visible and not covered with anything. The second silhouette appeared to Lizzie's far left, gradually revealed to be an image of her younger self also dressed in the Hexside uniform for the Potions Magic Track while standing straight with her hands clenched close to her chest, a scowl present on her face. Just like the picture Luz had seen on the 'banned' poster in Bump's office, teenage Lizzie's long blonde hair was tied into a low ponytail with a white ribbon and draped against her shoulders, further confirming Lizzie's suspicions.
'Is this a memory?' Lizzie wondered while frowning, reaching a hand up to her forehead to give it a rub. 'I don't think I remember us ever having a conversation like this. Not to mention his image is much clearer now than in the past…'
'Well, you shouldn't hang around with them at all!' Teenage Lizzie shouted back, her voice cracking with the stomp of her foot. 'And you shouldn't be fighting for his love and admiration either!'
Teenage Xander's jaw clenched with a low growl, prompting him to swipe a fist to the side when he shrieked his next words and spit flew from his mouth, his face flushing a bright red. 'But I wouldn't have to fight so hard for his love and admiration if you didn't keep embarrassing me, Elisabeth!'
Seconds after those familiar words left his mouth, the two images disappeared in a bright flash, leaving Lizzie standing there with wide blinks and a gape. But before she even had a chance to comprehend what had happened, a flash of white emerged from underneath her feet and stretched across the floor like a shadow, causing her to stumble backwards with a gasp. The white patch remained connected to the soles of her feet, morphing and extending through the darkness of the ground until it took on the shape of a humanoid figure with pointed ears and hair styled into a low ponytail, standing tall with their hands behind their back. A pair of green dotted eyes appeared where the silhouette's face would be, narrowing the moment they locked with the wide green eyes of the blonde witch.
Next thing Lizzie knew, a sharp pain attacked her forehead, as though she was being stabbed in the skull with many tiny knives. She screamed in pain, clutching the front of her head with both hands seconds just before her knees buckled. She collapsed to the floor when her eyes stung and watered, witnessing the white silhouetted witch peel themselves from the ground like a sticker to rise and loom above her. Its squinted dotted eyes were the last things she saw before her vision was swallowed whole by the surrounding darkness.
When Lizzie opened her eyes again, she was jolting awake in a panicked sweat and sitting up with a yell, the darkened cupboard room bathed in the moonlight being the first thing she saw and processed, the second thing being the tears she felt streaming down her cheeks. Luz's startled cry and King's shout of 'weh!' followed from somewhere to her right, yet she barely had time to acknowledge them before she realised she could still feel that sharp pain pounding against the front of her skull.
"Ah!"
Lizzie cried out in pain and bent forward to bury her head into her palms, digging her fingers into her sweaty scalp.
'The pain's still there?!'
"Liz!" Lizzie just about made out Luz calling her name amidst the pounding pain, followed by loud pitter-pattering of hurried feet and King's panting coming towards her.
"Luz, what do we do?!" Lizzie heard King question in a wobbly tone when he stopped close beside her before shutting her eyes, gritting her teeth to cope with the pain shortly after at feeling it spreading to her temples.
"Don't panic, King," Luz answered calmly. Lizzie listened to Luz's approaching shuffling before she felt a pair of hands take a tight grip on her shoulders. "She's probably having another headache. I know what to do." Lizzie felt Luz give her a light shake then. "Liz, remember what Eda said: take deep breaths," she instructed, prompting Lizzie to relax her jaw and suck in a deep breath through her nostrils. She counted to five in her head and then slowly exhaled through her nose, repeating the process again when she felt Luz rub her shoulders. "That's it, Liz," Luz encouraged lowly. "Keep doing that."
After at least five deep breaths, the pounding in Lizzie's forehead gradually dulled, allowing her to open her eyes and turn her head towards her right, where she had a feeling Luz and King were. She could just about make out the teenage human kneeling beside her mattress and staring back with a furrowed brow from the little moonlight streaming in, her grip loosening on the older witch when it became evident she was calming down. King, meanwhile, was stood to the human's left, silently watching what was happening with wide, glistening eyes and his shaky paws clutched together close to his furry chest.
Neither Luz nor King said anything, giving Lizzie a moment to straighten up once the pain was gone and use her cardigan sleeves to wipe away the sweat soaking her face, along with the tears and their stains.
'Oh geez.' With heavy breaths the blonde witch started to massage both of her temples with her fingers, releasing a loud sigh of relief. 'I think that's probably the worst one I've had so far…'
"Are you okay?" Luz asked quietly, removing her grip on the older girl whilst she was at it.
As Lizzie opened her mouth to answer, the lights in the hallway outside of the bedroom suddenly flashed on from underneath the door, causing her eyes to shift to it with a blink. Luz and King followed Lizzie's gaze, yet before either of the pair could utter a word, the bedroom slammed open.
"AH! Ambush!" King screamed and dived into Lizzie's lap, making the older blonde flinch as she and Luz recoiled with startled yelps.
However, a brown tube-like blur soon shot through the doorway, with the light from the hallway revealing the frowning face of Hooty hovering above Luz's sleeping bag… clutching a frying pan in his beak?
"Never fear!" Hooty declared in a muffled yet jovial tone. "Hooty's here! Hoot hoot!"
Upon realising it was Hooty in the bedroom, the trio slumped their shoulders and stared at the owl demon with drooped eyes, their earlier panic having vanished instantly.
'What in the Titan…?'
"Hooty!" Luz eventually scolded the house demon and scowled, with the blonde witch and King both facepalming. "You can't just barge in like that!"
"I heard screaming!" Hooty protested and released the frying pan, prompting Lizzie to squint as she, Luz and King watched it drop onto Luz's sleeping bag.
"And why do you have Eda's frying pan?" Lizzie questioned.
"Every good house defence system needs a weapon!" Hooty replied with his eyes closed and his head tilted to the ceiling.
"That's what your head is for," King grumbled and ran a paw down his face.
"Not to mention Eda's told you not to touch that!" Luz added with narrowed eyes.
Hooty lowered his head again and rolled his eyes just as hurried footsteps could be heard approaching the bedroom. "Well, excuse me for doing my job! Hoot!"
Lizzie, Luz and King faced the doorway again the moment Eda came sliding in underneath Hooty's body with her staff in both hands and in her pyjamas.
"Where's the fire?!" Eda shouted upon stopping still and straightening out with her feet spread wide, her eyes darting round the room. Upon catching sight of the trio gathered round Lizzie's bed and Hooty loitering close by though, the Owl Lady raised a brow at the scene before her and faced Hooty with a hand to her hip, the other holding her staff upright against the floor. "Hooty, did you scare them again?"
"It wasn't me! Hoot!" Hooty objected, prompting King to huff and roll his eyes.
"The first time," he clarified, making Eda turn her attention to the witch, human and demon trio with a wide blink.
"Wait, what?"
"It's my fault, Eda," Lizzie explained with the raise of her hand, pointing towards her forehead with drooped eyes. "It happened again."
Eda stared at Lizzie silently until the blonde saw the Owl Lady's eyes grow wide after several seconds, showing the snails piece had finally dropped where her words were concerned.
"Another headache?" Eda questioned incredulously, prompting Lizzie to nod once in confirmation.
"And it seemed worse than the one at the Knee," Luz commented with a frown, causing Eda to mirror her expression as her gaze switched between her apprentice and technical employee at least three times.
Another moment of silence passed between the five in the bedroom, prompting Lizzie to swallow thickly and eventually avert her gaze to the wall to avoid the pitying stares from her housemates. As much as she wanted to reassure them that she was fine, her mind would not stop focusing on everything she'd witnessed, especially now that Luz had reminded her of the previous event at the Knee.
'The last thing Xander shouted was what I heard at the Knee, which means I've remembered the conversation that was connected to it.' Lizzie closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her fringe. 'But why did it happen as a dream? And what was up with that silhouette?'
Eda's heavy sigh brought Lizzie to open her eyes and turn her attention to the Owl Lady, watching the older witch run her empty hand through her bushy mane of hair with a scowl.
"Hooty," Eda said with emphasis, waiting for the house demon to direct his attention to her before continuing with drooped eyes. "Go to the kitchen and prepare some tea. Lizzie's gonna need it."
Lizzie's, Luz's and King's brows raised at this instruction with wide blinks, while Hooty smiled widely (or at least what would have resembled a smile, given his beak) and straightened his body out as if he was standing straight, his head tilted to the ceiling.
"Rodger dodger! Hoot!" he replied cheerily and retracted himself out of the room without another word, leaving Lizzie to frown.
"Why am I going to need it?" she asked, even though deep down she suspected what the answer was.
Eda's scowl deepened at the younger witch as she pointed at her. "'Cause we're putting a stop to this, whether you like it or not." Lizzie opened her mouth to object, but Eda silenced her with narrowed eyes. "And before you object, I'd like to remind you of the sleep pipsqueak and I lost because of your night terrors when you first came here." Lizzie sideways glanced King then, who quickly averted his gaze and rubbed a paw at his elbow. Eda leaned forward with a raised brow, her hand going to her hip. "Do you really want to subject Luz to the same thing if this becomes a repeat of that, hm?"
As insensitive as Eda was sounding right now, Lizzie knew it was just her way of conveying her concern for her wellbeing and the ramifications her actions were going to have on everyone else outside of herself. The blonde witch didn't even need to look at Luz to know the Latina girl was staring at her with a mixture of concern and worry because of this new 'revelation'. She could see her frown and jutting bottom lip within her peripheral vision, despite the little light in the bedroom.
'Eda's right. If I don't do something about this now, it's only going to get worse.' The blonde's shoulders slumped as she wrapped her arms round her abdomen. 'And not just for me. I mean, look what Eda's secrecy about her curse did to us. And while I don't remember what happened during those night terrors… the little that Eda told me is enough to know I spooked her, King and Hooty way too much.'
"But how can we do that?" Lizzie eventually enquired with a cracked voice as she lifted her head to meet the Owl Lady's gaze, her brow furrowing.
"We'll address that hurdle when we get to it," Eda answered immediately and approached the mattress, stopping before the younger witch and holding out a hand for her to take with a faint smile slipping onto her face. "For now, you just tell us what's going on in that little blonde noggin' of yours, okay?"
Lizzie dared to break eye contact and glance on either side of her, revealing Luz and King mirroring Eda's smile and the addition of the former subtly tilting her head towards Eda with the quick shift of her eyes, as if she was encouraging the older girl to take up Eda's offer.
After a moment or two of silent contemplation, Lizzie relented with a loud sigh and slumped shoulders, taking hold of Eda's hand with one of her own. She had once told herself that if the situation ever called for it, she would have to try digging into her past again. And although she didn't want to acknowledge it, it definitely looked like that moment had finally come, and a lot sooner than she'd expected too.
"… Okay," Lizzie said quietly and with a stiff nod, prompting the smiles from those around her to widen as Eda gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
With King sat in his high chair at the opposite end of the kitchen table, Eda slouched to her left side while supporting herself with her elbows, and Luz seated to her right side with her hands clasped together on the wooden surface, Lizzie recounted everything she could think of under the blaring lights of the kitchen, all the while Hooty moved around them preparing the tea Eda had instructed him to, hence the constant clattering of cups and other items Lizzie was forced to speak over. Initially, the blonde witch had debated with herself over what she felt was necessary to reveal and what wasn't. But in the end, she'd decided it was better to just be honest about everything, which was why she recalled what happened before King's slayground incident (for Luz's and King's benefit) and her recent encounter with Xander and his involvement with the basilisk (the latter of which Luz hadn't known about, hence why she wound up gasping loudly and exclaiming something about coincidences), along with the headache she'd experienced at the carnival in addition to what had occurred tonight.
At some point during her explanation, Hooty slyly slid her steaming cup of tea across the table on its platter before plonking his head between Eda and King, being surprisingly silent and attentive the remainder of the time she spoke (although Lizzie did find his unblinking and constant staring very uncomfortable, forcing her to not make eye contact with him).
It felt like hours (though it was probably much less than that) before she finally found herself reaching the climax of her ordeal, where all four listeners were left staring with wide eyes and blinks to match.
"—And when I woke up, the pain was still there," Lizzie finished, causing silence to engulf the kitchen once more as she picked up her tea and took a sip.
Eventually, King became the first to break the silence, drooping his body and chin against the table with his arms spread out.
"That… was a lot to take in," he commented.
"Probably wouldn't have been if she'd been upfront about this sooner," Eda grumbled and sat up in her seat with drooped eyes, causing Lizzie to smile slightly behind her cup when she put it down.
"Sorry," she apologised.
Eda waved the younger witch off with a hand. "Eh, better late than never, kid." She massaged the skin around her eyes with both hands, blinking repeatedly to keep herself awake. "But this headache is definitely the first one to have happened since the carnival?"
"Yes," Lizzie answered with a nod, prompting Luz to purse her lips and raise her clasped hands to support her chin.
"And I thought what I knew about Eda was complicated," she remarked, her eyes widening and glistening with a grin. "Your past is way more mysterious." She whispered her next words. "And I love it."
"Thanks, Luz," Lizzie replied sarcastically, causing Luz's smile to drop with a squint.
Luz's face relaxed then, cocking her head to the side with the slight furrowing of her brow. "I still don't understand how you lost your memories of your cousin in the first place." She rubbed a hand against the back of her head. "Did you hit your head or something?"
Lizzie shook her head and huffed, prompting King to pipe up with the raise of his paw.
"Apparently Lizzie got into an accident when she was being carted off to the Conformatorium and Eda saved her," he explained, causing Luz to gape and look to the older witch for confirmation, who nodded and ran her fingers through her fringe.
"The potion incident was the reason I got arrested," Lizzie added and jerked her head in the direction of Eda. "And according to Eda, while I was injured and traumatised afterwards, I had no head injuries. So, I suspect my brain probably blocked out everything connected to it due to trauma, including Xander."
"Gosh…" Luz mumbled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Your dream does explain a lot about your cousin though." At seeing Lizzie raise a brow at her, Luz went ahead to clarify. "When you told me what went down with that potion incident, I thought Xander was just jealous. But everything you heard him say in that dream makes it sound like he might have tried to steal your project because he was under a lot of pressure."
Lizzie furrowed her brows at this and cupped her cheek with a hand, tapping the fingers of her other one against the table. "You know what, Luz: that's a good point."
Luz raised her head with a wide blink. "Really?"
Lizzie nodded stiffly and closed her eyes. "I once overheard him mention he was forced to come after me and the palismen. And during my last encounter with him, he made a remark about not joining the Emperor's Coven by choice."
"He did?" Eda questioned with raised brows, only to frown and lean back in her seat to look up at the ceiling. "But when he cornered me and you in that alley during… you know."
"The-day-that-we-agreed-not-to-discuss?" Lizzie finished.
"Yeah, that," Eda continued without breaking away the ceiling. "He seemed obsessed and desperate with the idea of locking you up in the Conformatorium." The Owl Lady shrugged her shoulders and lowered her gaze again. "Makes sense Mister Tool would join the law enforcers in order to do that."
"But that was when he was in uniform," Lizzie added. She opened her eyes and scratched at the side of her head. "When we were together on his day off, he was acting differently. He was a bit calmer and more rational. He protected and helped me for saving his palisman. He even listened to me when I was reasoning with him."
"Hm…" Eda hummed and crossed an arm against her middle, using it to support her elbow on the other hand she held her chin with. "Now that you say it like that… it's a little like how your brain sees your bully and Tool-bag as two separate people, doesn't it?"
"A little, yeah."
"So," Luz started and sat up on her stool, holding out one hand palm-up. "on the one hand, Xander seems mean when he's in uniform, whether as a guard or a bully. But on the other hand,"—she paused to hold out her other hand palm-up—"that's not who he really is." Luz turned to Lizzie with the tilt of her head. "Right?"
"That does make sense for someone who has conflicting behaviour, especially when he gave up an opportunity to get you into trouble," Eda commented while scowling and narrowing her eyes towards the darkness outside of the kitchen window. "Taking your dream into account as well, it sounds like Tool-guy purposely puts up a front for whomever is really behind these incidents when he's in public, yet in reality that's not who he really is."
"But why would he need to do that?" King asked, prompting the Owl Lady to perk up with raised brows, as if she'd just been hit in the face with a water spell.
"Say, Lizzie?" Eda addressed the younger witch as she sideways glanced her, with Lizzie responding accordingly.
"Yeah?"
"When you encountered Tool-bag's hurt palisman, didn't you say you suspected his injuries were inflicted on purpose?"
Lizzie nodded. "Before I found Bandit, I heard Xander begging whoever he was talking to not to hurt him, and that he shouldn't be 'punished for his screwups'," she explained while mimicking quotation marks with her fingers regarding the last thing she said.
"And you still have no idea which parent Mister Tool is related to you through, do you?"
Lizzie momentarily frowned and pressed her lips together before eventually shaking her head. "Not exactly. Though I suspect he's from my father's side of the family."
Eda scowled. "Whom you've apparently never met and whom your dad never told you about, right?"
"Right." Lizzie squinted at the older witch. "Why do you ask?"
Eda opened her mouth to respond, yet she paused and dared to glance between Luz, King and Hooty (who had been surprisingly quiet and attentive for once), who were all staring back at her with faint frowns as they awaited her explanation. After a moment of silence, the Owl Lady sighed heavily and shook her head, relaxing her face.
"No reason," she muttered, causing Lizzie to narrow her eyes a little more at the statement; she didn't believe Eda for a second. "But," Eda continued and turned to Lizzie again, tapping a finger against the side of her forehead. "I do think it's connected."
"You do?" Lizzie replied with a wide blink, leaning back slightly in her seat with a crinkled nose. "How?"
Eda pointed a finger at the younger witch. "You say you've never met your dad's family, yet your memories of 'Hexside bully' and your dream say otherwise." The Owl Lady directed her finger at Luz, whose brows raised. "And Luz has told you that Bumpikins told her that you and Tool-bag knew you were cousins at some point during your time at Hexside." Eda then raised her finger and sat up. "You've also said that your recent recollections of Tool-bag have become a bit clearer since seeing him without his mask."
"I have," Lizzie agreed. "What's your point?"
"My point, Redwood, is that you're obviously starting to remember things you weren't before, likely triggered by words or events that match what's happened in your past. However,"—Eda leaned over and gently rapped her knuckles against the top of Lizzie's head, making the blonde flinch and close an eye—"something else is going on in your noggin' that's trying to stop you from remembering other key things." Eda pulled away again with a scrunched nose. "And I think that includes the one bossing Tool-bag around."
Lizzie gasped loudly at this and placed a hand to her mouth, her eyes widening at recalling some of the things her teenage self had apparently said to Xander.
"I think you're right," she muttered, rubbing a hand across her forehead with a creased brow. "The last two times I got those headaches, it was because Luz and King said something that made me recall something I'd forgotten. And the same happened in that dream when I saw that white and green-eyed shadow person…"
"Which you said popped up after Xander mentioned you were embarrassing him by making him fight for someone's love and approval, right?" Luz questioned, prompting Lizzie to nod stiffly and turn to Eda with a creased brow.
"Not to mention Xander has constantly been talking to me like I'm supposed to know certain things when I don't. Which means…" Lizzie trailed off at feeling a lump form in her throat, pausing to gulp thickly and rub a hand against it to try to ease herself into continuing despite her croaked voice. "…I probably do know who this mysterious person is, but I just don't remember him."
"So, would that mean this 'mystery person'"—Luz raised two pairs of fingers on either side of her and bent them to mimic quotation marks—"is the reason why Lizzie keeps getting headaches?"
"Could be," Eda muttered. "Meaning in theory, the headaches should stop once she remembers him."
"But the problem is how," Lizzie said while rubbing a hand at the top of her head, her shoulders slumped. "Especially because the nature of my memory loss is… strange."
"Agreed." Eda steepled her fingers underneath her chin and clicked her tongue as she focused her eyes on Lizzie. "It's nothing like anything I've ever seen before."
"I still think it's 'brain fog'! Hoot hoot!" Hooty suddenly shouted, causing everybody else at the table to flinch and then glare the house demon's way.
Meanwhile, Lizzie noticed Luz suddenly turn away with a hand to her chin and her eyes narrowed out of the corners of her eyes, but she didn't say anything on it.
"We've been over this, Hooty," Eda replied with an exasperated huff, prompting Hooty throw his head back with wide eyes.
"I just want to be involved!"
Lizzie facepalmed to this, while Eda ignored him and resumed speaking with her gaze downcast.
"I honestly can't think of what else it would be other than amnesia. But looking back to when I first met you, you told me everything about yourself that an amnesiac person would usually forget. So—"
Luz's hands loudly banging against the table caused heads to whip in her direction, followed by the thump of her stool falling onto the kitchen floor causing them to lean back with wide blinks (and Eda to briefly cease her rummaging through her hair). The Latina human had taken on a wide stance before the table, her eyes looking like they were about to bulge from her head.
"I knew something about this was familiar!" she shouted and immediately faced Lizzie, repeatedly clicking one of her fingers. "It was in an anime I read about!"
The two witches and demons seated round the table glanced around at one another for clarification. But when Eda and King shrugged their shoulders, with Hooty joined in when the pair shook their heads, Lizzie became the one to turn back to Luz and speak up on behalf of the confused residents.
"What's an 'anime'?" she asked with a raised brow.
"And is it edible?" King added with the raise of a claw and cock of the head, to which Lizzie responded by glaring at the little demon.
"No, no!" Luz answered with the wave of her hands and multiple blinks. "It's not for eating. It's something you watch, like the shows you see on your crystal ball."
"Ugh," King commented with the roll of his eyes and plopped himself back into his chair, crossing his arms and looking off towards the wall. "You lost me at 'it's not for eating'."
Lizzie huffed and made grumbling noises, only to fall silent when Luz continued speaking in a tremulous tone, a wide smile on her face.
"Anyway,"—the Latina girl rubbed her hands together and returned her focus to Lizzie—"I never got into the anime; wasn't to my tastes. But I remember reading about the protagonist suffering from a form of amnesia that was based on a real-life and rare medical problem." Luz poked a finger each against both of her temples. "In the beginning, she remembered a lot of information about herself, like her name, age, family. But she also remembered some things about her past and current circumstances that were either wrong or that her brain had blocked out. She also acted like a different person at first and wasn't bothered much about her memory loss until she started to recall things." Luz tilted her head to the side. "That sounds a little like your problem, doesn't it?"
"… Oh, yeah," Eda said with a squint towards the blonde witch, prompting the latter to raise a brow until the Owl Lady waggled a finger at her. "That explains your shift in behaviour!"
"My what?" Lizzie questioned with a blink.
"C'mon, Redwood! You know what I'm talking about!" Eda tapped her finger against the table twice. "Up until Luz came along, you were shy and withdrawn a lot of the time. But remember shortly after Luz's arrival to the Owl House? You gained a backbone and said you'd always had one!"
"Don't forget what happened with Warden Wrath too!" King piped up with the wave of his paw above his head. "You were throwing insults around and laughing like you were having a good time!" He pointed a claw at the blonde witch and leapt to his feet again. "And you've been a lot more assertive since then too!"
"And snarky," Eda grumbled.
Lizzie frowned and glanced between the Owl Lady and little demon, subconsciously rubbing a hand at her chest as she did so. "But I thought that was just because of my trauma…"
"Then what about what you said to me that day we both went to Hexside?" Eda pressed with a raised brow, leaning forward towards the younger witch with her arms folded against the wooden surface. "You told me you didn't care about wanting to remember Tool-bag because you thought he was a bad influence on you."
"And you've been remembering things wrong," Luz added quietly as she collected her stool from the floor and sat down on it again, her brow furrowed. "That is why you thought Xander wasn't the same person as your bully."
Lizzie's frown deepened, her eyes darting between Eda, King and Luz (and also Hooty, but he'd since fallen quiet and returned to staring at her… unblinking). The words of rebuttal and denial that she wanted to say tingled on the tip of her tongue, yet no matter how much her jaw twitched with the urge to speak, her voice wouldn't sound. She couldn't bring to life to what she wanted to say, no matter how many times her gaze moved in between the ones silently staring back at her. Because part of her knew deep down, as much as she didn't want to admit it, that everything they were saying was true and made sense.
'It does explain a lot.' She turned her gaze to the hand still rubbing at her chest, her mind flitting back to the 'dream' she'd had. 'I have been acting differently since Luz came along, but I naturally thought I was just regaining my lost confidence. Luz's presence must have subconsciously triggered my original personality to come through after my memory suppressed it. Even in that dream, I was acting the same way.' She squeezed her eyes shut and placed her other hand to her forehead with a quiet gulp. 'And then seeing Xander as two different people…'
"What was the name of that memory problem, Luz?" Eda asked, prompting Lizzie to open her eyes and raise her head to resume listening to the conversation.
Luz forced a smile and rubbed at the back of her neck with a hand. "I don't remember. It's been a while." She gave an open-armed shrug. "But maybe if we can find out what it is, it'll tell us what's going on in Liz's head. Then she'll know what to do about her memory loss and headaches."
'Wait, what?' Lizzie's eyes widened at Luz's suggestion, her shoulders hunching as she shrunk back on her stool. 'Find out what's going on in my head?'
She swallowed for a second time at the lump she could now feel poking at the inside of her throat; however, the others gathered round the table didn't seem to notice the witch's growing discomfort.
"Which involves taking her to a healer," Eda responded to Luz with emphasis, only to shake her head. "But we can't do that, kid." She gestured between her and Lizzie with a hand, with Lizzie raising her cardigan sleeve to her forehead at the sweat beginning to gather there; when did it suddenly get so warm? "It's too risky considering we're runaways from the law."
"Don't you have a book about this stuff somewhere?" King asked as he stood up in his seat and tapped the top of his skull head with a claw. "Unless you've shoved it with the other junk inside of that bush on your head!"
Eda scowled at the little demon and raised a finger in preparation to retort; however, she never got the chance. She was silenced by Lizzie's teacup clattering against its platter, prompting her gaze (and the gazes of the others) to shoot to the younger witch to see her swallowing the remainder of her tea in one gulp from the cup she'd slammed back down.
"Thank you for the tea, Hooty," Lizzie thanked the house demon as she rose from her seat. "but I think this is where we should call it a night. Luz does have school in the morning, after all."
"Huh?!" Luz and King both cried out with wide blinks as they watched Lizzie start to leave with quickened strides, with Luz rising from her seat and shouting after the blonde witch. "But what about your headaches?!"
Lizzie waved Luz off with a hand without looking back, hastily returning the shout as she disappeared round the doorframe and into the hallway. "Leave it for another time! I'm going to bed! Night!"
Luz, King, Hooty and Eda listened to Lizzie's footsteps die away with blinks and fixed gazes on the darkened doorway, no one daring to move or say anything at first. Once the blonde witch's presence could no longer be heard, however, Hooty became the first to break eye contact, turning his head between the three stupefied house residents still gathered round the table.
"Gosh, what's gotten into her? Hoot!" he questioned with the slight cock of the head.
"Yeah… That was odd," Luz mumbled in agreement, slowly turning her head to face Eda just as the Owl Lady did the same with her. "Was it something we said?"
Eda eventually sighed heavily and lowered her gaze to the table, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "Probably," she answered quietly. "But you can't blame her." The Owl Lady briefly sideways glanced King and Hooty before raising her head to look Luz directly in the eyes, putting forced emphasis on her next words with a wink for good measure. "The guy behind Mister Tool sounds like a real piece of work. Who'd want to remember someone like that?" When Luz raised a brow, clearly not understanding the hint she'd tried to give, Eda rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Never mind." She turned her body to face the kitchen doorway with a furrowed brow. "She also might have gotten a little overwhelmed." Eda brushed a hand against the gem on her sternum. "No one wants to think they've got something wrong with them, after all."
"But we're still gonna help her, right, Eda?" King enquired timidly as he climbed onto the table, his brow furrowing. "If this is anything like her night terrors, then we can't just leave her with it."
"Of course we are," Eda replied sternly as she rose from her stool, with Hooty following suit and lifting himself from the table. "She's not going back to waking up screaming the house down. Not on my watch."
"So, what do we do?" Luz pressed, prompting Eda to face the human and two demons with a scowl.
"You three watch over Lizzie for tonight." Eda placed a hand to her chest, her scowl deepening. "She needs time to think things through. In the morning, we'll figure out what to do. You got that?" Luz, King and Hooty all nodded in sync, which Eda was happy to return… only to yawn shortly after. "Good. In that case…" She dismissed them with the flick of her hand. "…back to bed you go. It's late and Mama needs her rest."
Upon returning upstairs to her bedroom, Lizzie wasted no time curling up on her mattress and underneath her blanket, lying down on her side to face away from the bedroom door. Her palms covered her forehead, her eyes were squeezed shut, and she was taking loud and ragged breaths through her mouth, doing her best to ignore the constant stinging of tears threatening to burst from underneath her eyelids. Her mind was buzzing with rhetorical questions about what had just happened downstairs and she couldn't get it to stop, especially with how fast her heart was pounding against her chest right now.
Luz's and Eda's theories made sense, and yet she hated that they did. There were so many 'what if' scenarios spinning round her head that she felt like her skull had become the home to a nest of fire bees. But there were main questions that managed to scream the loudest above the chaos: If she did know who this person was, why did she forget him? If she did have what Luz thought she did, just how much had her brain made her forget or remember wrong? And if she was given the opportunity to find out the answers to both of those questions… would she want them? Her experiences with Xander had only scratched the surface, after all. And from the little she'd seen of this 'sir' Xander was in contact with, she couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of person they were.
The blonde witch swallowed thickly and buried her face further into her arms, squeezing her eyes shut further at feeling her chest tighten.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to cry.
She wasn't sure what to believe anymore, nor what she wanted. What had she even done to deserve all of this?!
A pair of arms wrapping round her shoulders forced her eyes open with a wide blink, giving her a gentle squeeze that caused her to flinch and remove the restriction in her chest as quickly as it had come. Her breath hitched in her throat then, along with the turbulence in her head dispersing like a brief gust swooping through the forest.
She didn't need to look back or down to know the arms belonged to Luz, because who else would be giving her a hug, something not even Eda had ever done? But apparently Luz wasn't alone. Lizzie felt a gentle shift of weight on the mattress to her left, followed by something small, fluffy and warm leaning against her arms: King, she guessed. There was also added weight to the pillow above her and something furry lying against the top of her head: Hooty, most likely.
For a moment, Lizzie wasn't sure of how to react, staying stock still while listening to the calm and levelled breathing she was surrounded by (along with the occasional 'hoo, hoo, hoo,' from Hooty, of course). But gradually, her breathing slowed and grew quiet, her blinks becoming heavy. Before she knew it, her body was slumping against the mattress as she allowed the lull of sleep to let her momentarily forget her troubles once more, her arms falling away from her face and to her pillow the moment her eyes closed.
A/N: For those who are curious, the anime Luz is referencing is 'Angels of Death'; an anime based on the story of an RPG of the same name, of which I happen to be a fan of (and am writing a fic for; shameless promotion! XD). Because of the genre of the anime, I didn't think it was something Luz would have been interested in, especially because she references anime in 'Yesterday's Lie' that revolves around fantasy of some sort. Even still, it was relevant to Lizzie's situation, so I thought it was worth mentioning and giving Luz some spotlight.
With that said, time to answer reviews:
Guest (Chapter 44 – Dec 7): Well spotted with the reference! XD Wasn't intentional on my part, but it was very relevant for this situation and seemed like something Tibbles would use to mock the trio with, so… yeah.
Gry26: Given the nature of Lizzie's technique being related to mixing magic, it's highly doubtful she'd be of interest to Belos and the Coven Heads. Unless she was as powerful as Eda and Belos thought she had enough magical supply to contribute to powering his portal, only then would I feel like the Emperor's Coven brand would be placed on her. But due to most likely being seen as more of a threat to his goals, I'd argue if such a scenario ever occurred, she'd be given the Potions Coven brand to seal off all of her magic (or most of it in the least).
Guest (Chapter 44 – Dec 9): Ooooh. Good guess. XD I can say you're very close to what I had in mind, but not quite there. Once the first episode of Season 2 is started, though, I think you should be able to guess it.
Heaven's Light: Had it not been for the fact that Lizzie's parents currently don't know where she is and Lizzie doesn't know where they are, and the fact that Episode 18 is going to play out a bit differently for Lizzie during this part, this would have been a very good and heart-wrenching idea (which it is anyways, not gonna lie. XD). Though funnily enough, I have planned for Episode 16 to involve a letter of sorts… but that is all I can say without spoiling anything. XD But again, I like the idea. Would have been good for an alternate scenario.
hoothoot (assuming you've read up to the current chapter): Oho. Interesting theory you've got there. Not sure if you've managed to read past Chapter 37 yet, but there are some clues that have been dropped in Chapters 28 and 41 that might help you figure out Ulritch. Though I will say regarding this that you're thinking along the right lines. Whether you're right or not however? Well, you'll find out if you stick around for Season 2. XD
Guest (Chapter 31): Yes, I can see what you mean for 'The Fox and the Hound'. I recall there was an owl who acted like a mother to the fox (also named 'Todd'). Wasn't what I had in mind when I made up this fictional tale though, but I get it. Fun fact if you didn't already know this: the name 'Todd' means 'Fox' in Middle English, apparently. One of the reasons why I purposely chose it for the title: made for good alliteration. XD Regarding the second thing, though: well done you for noticing one of the parallels. I think you're the first one who's commented on this, actually. I can see Luz probably doing that too. I mean… she did make a similar comparison in the first episode with Eda and King and the old lady and dog on the Azura book cover. It sounds in character enough. XD
