"Sister?" Luz repeated in amazement, and for a moment she was completely unable to think, then something came to her mind so suddenly that she said without even thinking about whether she should say it out loud: "Wait, do you mean that she's the one you think disguised herself as a reaper to scare you when you didn't want to take medicine when you were young?"
Despite the tense situation, those words were enough to make Edric and Emira burst out laughing, and Boscha and Skara started giggling too, and Luz could feel Gus and maybe even Willow in her pocket, who were shaking with fear even as they tried to contain themselves. laughs. The only ones who merely raised an eyebrow were Amity and Hunter. Eda turned a little red with embarrassment, then she shrugged, pretending that what the puppet had said hadn't affected her. "Yes, it's her. Luz, meet my older sister, Lilith Clawthorne. Unlike me who is more sedentary, she moves from one part of the world to another every few years in search of a new pupil. She's a good fairy godmother, let's say"
"Fairy godmother? Wait... Amity, is your private teacher actually a fairy!?" Boscha exclaimed looking at the person concerned, who lowered her gaze slightly, fully demonstrating that she was aware of that detail. "Wow... I'm offended. You could have told us!"
Amity scratched her head in shame. "Um... I wanted to do it, believe me, but she asked me to keep it a secret..."
"Don't blame Amity, she's telling the truth" Lilith said, and as she did so she brushed aside her hair, revealing two pointed ears identical to Eda's. "I actually asked her to keep it a secret, so don't blame her. We fairies prefer not to let anyone know who our pupils are. In the past it never ended well... the parents and the relatives of the person who was chosen by a fairy tried to use it to their advantage, and a lot of people tried to befriend them just for profit, making it very difficult for hose poor kids to distinguish real friends from fake ones. In the end we realized that it is better to avoid revealing our identity when choosing a pupil"
"Oh, come on, that's not poss… no, wait, that's actually a pretty plausible scenario now that I think well about it" Boscha admitted. "Okay, Amity, you're excused"
"Thank you, Boscha" the mint-haired girl murmured with gratitude, then let out a loud sigh and turned to everyone: "Guys, meet Lilith... officially my private teacher, really my fairy godmother"
"Oh, oh! So for all this time you had a fairy godmother who helped you with everything and granted your every wish while the two of us worked our hands off for a measly salary?" Edric said in a melodramatic voice, pretending to faint and be held up by Emira. "What an ungrateful sister... now I understand why you are so perfect and good at everything... it's easy when you have help, huh?"
"Excuse me, but in what fantasy world would you two ever work? You haven't done anything from morning to night for years!" Amity grumbled, not at all moved by that drama. "And anyway my fairy godmother didn't grant my wishes, she's not a genie or anything like that. Fairies are guides and protectors, they don't do the work for us; everything I've achieved in my life I achieved it with my hard work! I never made her do my homework for me or cheat in a sporting discipline... unlike someone here who had already learned to bribe referees when they were children!"
"It only happened once..."
"An entire volleyball tournament!"
"Well? It's always only once. Overall perhaps, but still once"
Hunter watched the whole ridiculous scene from the sidelines, while in his mind he was fuming. Wonderful, so now he had to worry about not one, but two fairies! If they were sisters it was obvious that they would team up if one of them needed help. But... thinking about it, maybe it was a good thing. Now he had important information to reveal to his uncle, information that could be crucial to whatever plan he had in mind. In lesser words, he would prove to be useful again! After all, Hunter didn't care much about how his uncle would handle the two fairies: what mattered to him was that he continued to consider him a valid spy, so that he wouldn't end up like all his predecessors. He decided that he would immediately contact his uncle as soon as he was alone again.
Suddenly Lilith's dress began to shake and from its folds emerged a gray beak and a head covered in white feathers; the creature let out a loud caw, and then it flew out of the dress to reveal itself to be a large white crow with large, bright yellow eyes. It flew to Eda's shoulder and began to nibble on the fairy's dress, and continued until Owlbert's head emerged from it. The two birds began to make fun of each other and rub their beaks, and they made happy croaks and whistles. "Hey, hey, guys! Hold back a little!" Eda joked amused.
Lilith gave a sweet smile. "Mike, I understand that you are happy to see your friend again, but try to be more polite"
"Is that your Palisman?" Luz asked looking at the white raven. "So his name is Mike? Wait, it is male or female?"
"He is a male. And actually his complete name is Mike Socks" Eda giggled. "Lilith has always been terrible with names"
The kids started laughing; Lilith turned red as a pepper. "I was nine! I thought it was funny at the time!" she tried to justify herself. "And he likes it anyway! Be respectful of others! And you, Eda, as a mentor should set a good example!"
"Oh come on Lilith, don't always be so stiff! You should laugh every now and then. Laughing is good for your health, you know?" Eda responded with a clearly teasing smile, which only seemed to cause more irritation in the older Clawthorne's face.
Luz giggled again, unable to contain herself: the two fairies were bickering as if they were two childish little girls. The situation was far too absurd... and funny. Biting her tongue, she looked away from the scene and she turned to Amity: "So you have a fairy godmother who is the sister of the one I live with? Damn, the coincidences are so crazy sometimes"
"Apparently that's the case" Amity grumbled. "So you have a fairy godmother too?"
"Um... it's more complicated than that" Luz answered. "I actually live with Eda... so now she's more like a second mother to me... and also the... circumstances... with which she chose me weren't exactly normal...". She didn't know how to explain that Eda was the one who had given her life and was now living with her because her entire family had been devoured by a sea monster.
"Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute! I can understand Amity because she... well, she's Amity, and so if there's one person in the world who deserves a fairy godmother it's her, but why does even the loser have one!?" Boscha exclaimed quite indignantly. "How is it possible that a puppet has the support of a fairy?"
Luz clenched her fists with a lot of irritation. "Well, probably because I'm a hundred times nicer than you! I challenge you to find a fairy willing to put up with your bad temper!"
"Are you calling me rude!?"
"What do you say?"
"You're crossing the line, loser!"
"Uuuh, that's scary! As if I could be scared by such a mild threat!"
"I bet all my money on the puppet!" Emira exclaimed.
"It's not fair! She's made of wood, it's obvious that she will win, her punches are definitely stronger!" Edric protested.
"Ok, that's enough" Eda said stepping forward, much to the chagrin of the twins who already seemed to be on the verge of starting a betting club. "Luz, stop it. As much as I don't deny that this girl is really rude and unbearable, it's not worth reacting like this. Just ignore her. Trust me, indifference hurts much more"
Luz would have gladly said no and punched Boscha in the teeth, she would have felt a certain satisfaction in seeing them pop out of her mouth, but she refrained. She didn't want to behave like that in front of Eda, and besides she was pretty sure that reacting with violence wasn't a good thing to do, and the mere thought of seeing even just a feather sprout on the fairy's body was enough to convince her that it was better to back away. "Tsk! Fine. After all, I certainly don't need to face her to know who would win!" she said with an air of superiority, making Boscha red with anger.
"Ha ha! Well done kiddo, that's the right spirit!" Eda said satisfied, and then she turned to the magenta-hair girl: "And you, learn to behave better or at least respect others, if you don't want me to teach you using the fairy way... and believe me, you wouldn't like it since normally consists of a spell that punishes you until you learn your lesson"
Boscha let out a furious growl, but she was certainly not stupid enough to openly challenge the wrath of a fairy, since despite not being an expert she knew many stories and tales that illustrated very well what happened to those who were punished by one of those beings, so even if with wounded pride she gave up the contest and returned to Skara and Amity.
Lilith stepped forward; she had a strange look in her eyes. "Eda, we haven't seen each other in a while. We need to catch up on a lot of conversations we've missed. How about we go for a walk together, or maybe we go for a drink? I'd like to talk to you... in private"
Eda knew that Lilith was practically asking her to have a conversation away from the kids, and she could guess what the topic was. "Okay. After all, I don't mind spending some time with you after all these years" she answered. "Luz, you wait for me here in the library, I'll come back to get you later"
"You too, Amity. I won't stay away for too long, I promise" Lilith added, and then the two fairies walked away and left the library.
The kids were now left alone. Silence reigned for a few moments, so much so that it became almost oppressive. "So… now we have to stay under the same roof for a while" Luz said to break the ice. "We could..."
"We're not going to do anything together. Not at all" Amity muttered. "I don't want to affiliate with you just because our fairy godmothers are related, I don't trust spending time with you. And I don't want to be around them either" and she looked at her two siblings, "because I know they'll get me in trouble. So you stay right here and we'll go to another part of the library, and we'll remain in such places without interacting each other until our mentors return. Let's go, girls" and with that said she walked away accompanied by Skara and Boscha.
Hunter sighed. "Guys, excuse me, but I also need to be alone for a moment. I have to... take care of something" and with that said he disappeared so quickly that it almost seemed like he had teleported.
Luz was a little disappointed to see everyone go, and she was even more so when she touched her pocket and realized that Gus and Willow were gone too. She was already thinking that she should spend her time alone when she found Edric and Emira's faces in front of her. Their eyes shone with a strange light that even though it seemed like simple interest it contained something that Luz couldn't identify and that for some reason she could only define as chaotic. "Um... why are you staring at me?"
"Sorry, it's just that you're very interesting... and I don't just mean that you're a puppet" Emira said. "You're super cute!"
Luz blushed at the older girl's words, quite flattered. "Um... thank you. You're kind..."
"Yeah! Since our haughty sister apparently left you in the lurch, how about you stay with us for a while?" Edric proposed.
Luz widened her eyes in surprise. "With you?" she asked confused, not understanding why the two older guys wanted to spend time with her. It seemed like Amity's siblings were a lot more easygoing than their snooty sister.
"Yes, with us! Trust me, you will have fun!" Emira told her, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking at her with complicity. "The two of us are very good at making people laugh!"
"Right, and we're sure you'll entertain us too! A girl your age who isn't afraid to tell Amity or her slaves how much umpleasant they are doesn't appear every day in this town. You seem really tough!" Edric told her, imitating his sister's gesture. "So, do you want to stay with us?"
Luz thought about it for a moment, then she shrugged and nodded. After all, there was no one else there, and Amity's siblings seemed pretty funny, so she didn't mind waiting for Eda with them. After all, what could have gone wrong?
According to The Owl House wiki, Lilith's Palisman does not have a name (another unnamed character... thanks Dana!). However, according to the wiki it seems that the fans had nicknamed him Mike Socks, so I decided to use that name because I didn't feel like always calling him "Lilith's white raven-shaped Palisman"
