That evening Gus and Willow noticed that Luz looked decidedly brighter than usual; evidently having managed to make peace with Amity and her friends must have made her very happy... even if Willow, skeptical as usual, believed it was more likely that it was a temporary truce knowing the character of both Luz and the others. But at least for now they could enjoy some happiness. After eating dinner, Luz went straight to bed, tired from all the work she had to do, and was asleep in less than a second. "And so another adventure is gone" Gus commented. "I'm a little sorry I missed it..."

"If you hadn't abandoned Luz to come spy on my business, you wouldn't have missed it" Willow retorted acidly.

Gus shrank even smaller than usual under her gaze. "Are you still angry?"

"No, but eavesdrop on my private conversation one more time and I'll tear your hair out one by one" Willow warned him.

Gus swallowed. Something inside him told him that Willow wasn't joking at all. "Don't worry, I won't do it again" he replied. "But I admit that I was a little disappointed. I was hoping that one of the two would make a move..."

"Still with this story? Cen you please understand that there is nothing between me and Hunter?" Willow grumbled.

Gus rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, there's absolutely nothing... and the fact that he got mad as hell when that fisherman slapped you is absolutely a coincidence. No, it's definitely due to something else... maybe he must have stepped on a thumbtack, or hit his little finger on the bedside table..."

"Gus!" Willow stopped him embarrassed, even if she was a little flattered. The fact that Hunter had reacted that way to her made her heart skip a beat; it seemed to her that she was like a princess treacherously struck by the evil dragon in front of the knight in shining armor who had then given the beast its rightful punishment.

Gus let out an annoyed snort. "Seriously, Willow, are you going to keep denying that you have chemistry? Hunter literally disintegrated a fifteen foot tall guy for you! What more proof do you need to run up to him and throw yourself into his arms?"

Willow sighed. "Gus, even if I decided to believe this series of ramblings, nothing would change. The problem remains that he is a human and I am a cricket. There can never be anything between us"

Gus looked down in annoyance. From his point of view, the difference in species was not such an insurmountable obstacle, but he couldn't deny that it was significant. Even if Hunter and Willow had chosen to love each other, all they could have done was stay together. They couldn't sleep in the same bed, or Hunter turning over in his sleep might crush her. They couldn't have hugged each other. They couldn't even really kiss. The best they could have done would have been Hunter scratching Willow's head or Willow rubbing herself in Hunter's face. It would have been a very sad relationship indeed, even if they had love on their side.

He was thinking of a way to comfort her, but suddenly Willow let out a deep breath, then she said: "But... maybe this could change"

Gus looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

Willow rubbed her head and bit her lip. "Gus, I... I've been thinking about this for a while, and the chat I had with Hunter today just confirmed these thoughts..."

"You mean the part where he told you he can't teach you anything?" Gus asked.

"Yes, exactly. It reiterated to me for the umpteenth time my limits, limits that I am tired of having. And also what happened next... I stopped Otabin's attack before he could hit Hunter, but then I was swept away like a grain of sand. I couldn't even stay near Hunter without being crushed when he decided to get serious. Despite everything we've been through, I'm still weak... I'm still just a cricket" Willow sniffed. "And that's why I've made a decision. I want you to be the first to hear it. I'm going to ask Eda to..."

"NO!"

The two arthropods jumped and turned sharply towards Luz; the puppet had beads of sweat on her forehead and an expression of terror on her face. She was still sleeping, but her body was spasming and her fingers were gripping the covers, and her mouth was moving, forming words. "No... Mom... Belos is behind you! Run! Don't stay there... no... no! I'm sorry! No! Go away, you monster! Go away! Go away!"

"Damn!" Willow exclaimed as she jumped on the puppet's face and started punching it repeatedly. "Luz, wake up! It's just a dream!"

But the puppet didn't hear her; on the contrary, she began to get even more agitated, forcing the cricket and the spider to move away from the bed to avoid being crushed. Big tears formed under her eyelids and began to fall heavily onto the pillow, and Luz raised a hand and waved it in the air as if she was trying to ward off something. "No... no! I don't want this! Vee, leave me! No! I don't want to leave you! Go away, Belos! I don't want this! Go away! Run away, it's catching up to you! No! Please, close that mouth! I don't want to look in there! Mom... Mom, get out of there!"

"Go to call Eda, right now!" Gus said to Willow, who nodded and immediately flew out of the room. After a few moments, thuds were heard and Eda rushed into the room so quickly that if the door had been closed she would probably have broken it; the fairy ran towards the puppet and raised her magic wand while she whispered a few words. Luz finally stopped fidgeting and her body relaxed again. "The dream conciliatory spell must have been too weak. I must not have paid due attention to it" Eda said with a lot of guilt in her voice, tucking the puppet in and wiping her forehead, and then turning to the two arthropods: "Thank you for having me warned"

"Of course" Willow replied looking at Luz with eyes full of pity and sadness. "This is the first time I've ever seen her have a nightmare... what was she dreaming about?"

"I'm not sure I want to know it" Gus told her, and the cricket realized that her friend wasn't entirely wrong. They were well aware of how terrifying nightmares were, some so terrible that they were capable of traumatizing a person; they could only imagine what the nightmares of an already traumatized person were like. "Is there a risk that she will have another bad dream? Because in that case one of us would have to stay awake to check on her"

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, little spider, but there is no need. With the spell I just cast on her she will sleep absolutely dreamlessly all night" Eda answered him. "Come. Let's leave before our chatter wakes her. She needs to rest... and I need something to drink"

The two arthropods nodded and jumped onto the fairy's shoulder, who led them downstairs to the kitchen. There Eda immediately went to prepare some herbal tea... although both Gus and Willow clearly noticed that she was also pouring in something that was very likely to be alcoholic, and she gulped it all down in one go. "Do you want something to eat or drink?" she asked them.

"No, thanks. We don't have an appetite" Gus replied. After what had just happened his stomach had closed; if he had tried to eat something he would have vomited. "Eda... can't you erase Luz's memories? She's in terrible pain and she doesn't deserve it"

Eda shook her head vehemently. "I could, but I will never do it. Firstly, because a person's personality and their memory are interconnected; you cannot damage one without also causing damage to the other. Erasing part of the memories means erasing a part of Luz. And second... this way we would only be postponing the problem. Sooner or later Luz will wonder where her mother went, and when she discovers the truth she will start all over again. It's not by changing her memory that we will help her move forward". She let out a deep breath and gulped down another cup of herbal tea. "The only solution in these cases is to be patient and continue to support the traumatized person for as long as it takes. It's not something that can be solved in a day... I'm not even sure if a decade is enough. Luz has already made great progress in this short time: we can't ask her for more"

Gus lowered his head in defeat. He knew Eda was telling the truth: he had never met a traumatized person in her life, but he had heard some stories of what they were like. And he remembered very well the mental state Luz was in immediately after her mother and the others had been devoured by Belos. Based on that, Gus could tell that his friend had already made enormous progress, since she had managed to regain the will to live, had set a new goal, lived like a normal person and was even able to smile with almost the same intensity before. Asking her to also make the nightmares stop in such a short time would have been decidedly excessive.

Willow remained silent, as if she wasn't sure what to say, then she gathered courage and came forward: "Eda, there's a request I have to make of you" she said. "I wanted to talk to Gus about it first, but since we're all here, I might as well ask you directly"

Eda nodded. "I'm listening. Tell me"

Willow looked at her little paws, and then she finally asked: "Eda, could you turn me into a human?"

Eda's eyes widened slightly at that request; Gus, on the other hand, remained almost impassive, as if he had expected this. "Are you sure?" the fairy asked her. "It would mean giving up your body, your very identity..."

"I hate this body and I hate this identity. I don't want to be a cricket anymore, I never wanted to. I didn't choose to be born into this tiny and fragile mass of legs and antennae!" Willow replied. "I... I want to be human. I want to have the strength to protect those I care about... or at least the ability to hug them when they cry. When I saw Luz have that nightmare I wanted to hold her, or at least slapped her to make her wake up... but I couldn't do anything. I'm tired of feeling so helpless". She made a noise similar to a strangled snout. "I've thought about this a long time, Eda... ever since we came to live with you actually. It's what I want. I know it's selfish of me but... if your magic can turn Luz into a real girl, can it also turn me into a human?"

Eda was silent for a moment, then sighed. "My magic cannot transform Luz into a human, it is its combination with the magic of the Palistrom wood that she is made of that does so. My magic, light magic, can heal and improve, but changing an entire body means destroying it and rebuild it completely. That's what life magic is for, which I don't have". Willow was already about to fall into despair, but then the fairy added: "But... we can use some loopholes"

Willow raised an eyebrow. "Loopholes?"

"We have two. Well, maybe more, but I can only think of two at the moment" Eda explained. "The first, which I already tell you that I won't use, is that I cast a spell on you to punish you. In that case I wouldn't create a new body, but I would temporarily modify everything to carry out a teaching, which is possible with the light magic. But such a method assumes that you do not like the transformation, so it is useless in this case. Furthermore, such a method rarely has a good effect on people's psyche"

"And the second?" Willow asked.

"The second, which could be the one we could use, presupposes that I don't create a new body but modify the one you already have to the best of your ability. In short, give yourself a human form but maintaining the brain, heart, respiratory system and muscles of a cricket " Eda replied. "However, this method is also temporary, and even more so than the previous one. I cannot guarantee you more than a few hours a day, otherwise your health could seriously suffer"

"So this is still a temporary solution" Willow grumbled.

"Exactly. If you want to make it permanent then you'll need to find someone capable of using life magic. Or you could look for a dark magic user and have a curse cast on you... but I'm afraid that wouldn't work since anathemas and spells must always have a negative value" Eda said.

Willow was silent for a moment, then she sighed and shrugged. "Well... better than nothing, I guess"

"Maybe it's for the best. At least you'll have time to see if you prefer to live as a human or a cricket. Who knows, maybe we'll find a way to make the transformation permanent sooner or later, and by then you'll have enough experience to be able to choose" Eda he said trying to cheer her up.

Willow remained silent, then she shook her head. "Well, a few hours a day is more than enough. It will be enough for me to transform when Luz leaves the house. It is enough for me to be able to help and protect her"

"And maybe even go on a date with a certain monster hunter" Gus said with a wink.

"Gus!" Willow exclaimed furiously, but her anger quickly faded. "Wait… do you agree about this?" she asked confused; she had expected that her friend would object.

Gus shrugged. "Why shouldn't I? You said you thought about it and want it, so you have my support. And then you heard Eda, it will only be temporary. Even if I were against it I shouldn't worry about anything until we find a way to make it permanent"

Willow was touched. "Oh, Gus... thank you. You're always an anchor of support"

"That's what a friend does" Gus replied, then turned to Eda: "Actually, even better: cast two transformation spells. Make me human too!"

"What!?" Willow exclaimed. She didn't want her friend to feel like he had to follow her if he didn't want it. "Gus, you don't have to..."

"I don't have to what? Have the chance to spend a few hours a day as a human when I've spent my entire life studying and trying to understand humans?" Gus told her with a smile. "This is such a good opportunity, I won't miss it!"

Seeing the two arthropods so convinced, Eda smiled and nodded. "Okay. If you really want it, then let's do it. I'll make you some amulets containing my magic that will allow you to become human for a few hours a day. Just give me a few days so I can get the right materials and review the entire process of such a complicated spell. It won't take more than a week, I assure you, but I want to make sure I remember everything well. You know... I don't want to risk frying your brains"

"Can you fry our brains!?" Gus exclaimed, opening his eyes wide.

"It's a possibility, but don't worry! I don't think it will happen" Eda reassured them.

Willow raised an eyebrow. "You don't think or are you sure of it?"

"I'm sure of it" Eda replied confidently, but as soon as she turned and was sure she couldn't be heard by the two arthropods she added in a low voice: "But only at ninety percent"

Before someone in the comments tells me "nooo, Willow shouldn't want to become human, you have to accept yourself for who you are and be happy like that!"... guys, I remind you that exist things like trans people. If a person is not comfortable with the body they were born with they have every right to change it, and Willow from the first moments of this story was not comfortable in her cricket body, and throughout the story she did not other than feeling even less comfortable. Plus, Willow has literally nothing she could lose by abandoning her cricket identity, since pretty much everyone she knows is human aside from Gus, including the person she loves. Hers isn't just the desire to finally be able to love who she wants or take care of Luz, it's she herself who doesn't feel comfortable with the body she was born with and want to change. So be happy for her just as you would be for a trans person, and don't come and bring up the excessive do-goodism that is unfortunately infecting society in an alarmingly excessive rate in recent times. Try to born in a body that you hate, and then tell me if you just accept yourself for what you are. I can't believe that I'm specifing this in a story where the main character is a puppet that literally wants to change herself into a real human, but unfortunately in this time when we live I have to do so