Luz had to bathe for almost an hour before she managed to get all the salt and sand off her, which had stuck very strongly to her wooden body, especially in her hair. While cleaning herself she even found a piece of a mussel shell inside her ear. Eda offered to help her using the same spell with which she had cleaned her at the library, but the girl wanted to do it alone, probably because she hoped to relax by taking a nice hot bath, and so the fairy left her privacy and waited for her in kitchen where he started preparing dinner. But while she was cooking, Matt jumped onto the table, followed by Gus and Willow, and said loudly: "Miss Clawthorne, we need to talk"

Eda noticed the serious tone the crab had never had, so she sat down on a chair to listen to him. Matt looked hesitant for a moment, but Gus encouraged him with his eyes, so the crab told them all about the nervous breakdown Luz had had just by putting a toe in the water, and he certainly didn't spare them the details. As she spoke, Eda's expression became more and more shocked, and so did Gus and Willow. "Seriously? Did she really react like that because she fell into the water?" the cricket murmured as Matt finished.

"Not in the water. In the sea," the crab corrected her. "Listen to me, I'm not an expert about these things, but... it's as if her body was here in the present, but her mind was still in that horrible moment and couldn't move forward. When she fell into the sea, for her it hadn't been passed weeks since that tragedy happened... she was seeing it happen in real time"

Eda, Willow and Gus felt bad for the poor puppet. In the last few days they had begun to hope that Luz was slowly getting over the trauma, but if what Matt was saying was true, then the situation was far from rosy. Eda had to summon all her self-control not to immediately rush to those three wicked girls who had caused (albeit involuntarily) that reaction in Luz and transform them into horrible creatures to teach them a good lesson; the only thing that stopped her was that Lilith had promised her that she would take care of them, and also Eda even if for a brief moment she had been able to read their hearts and therefore she knew that at least a little they had regretted their their actions.

"Well, thanks for helping her" Gus said, putting a paw on his friend's shoulder. "It was kind of you to console her"

Matt didn't look at his face. "Mh. It was the least I could do" he said in a sour voice, but it was clear that he appreciated those words. And mentally he added: "Since I didn't stop her from getting into trouble before"

Silence fell for a moment, then Willow asked: "So... what do we do? We can't ignore this"

"No, we can't" Eda murmured, but unfortunately she had no idea what to do either. She remembered well the words of Lilith, who was much more expert than her on problematic kids, who had assured her that Luz was recovering much better than other people given the trauma she had suffered, and that the only solution was to wait and continue to support her as much as possible; however, perhaps it was better to ignore her sister's suggestion for now and do her own thing, as her usual. "I'll try to talk to her at dinner"

Luz finished washing and after getting dressed she went to the kitchen, where Eda had already started setting the table and had put dinner on her plate. Her mouth watered at the sight of a tasty chicken breast, since she hadn't eaten almost anything all day, and in fact she quickly devoured it. Eda smiled at that scene; at least it looked like Luz hadn't lost her appetite. "You were hungry, I see"

"Yum! Yes, and your cooking is fabulous!" Luz responded by wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"Your uniform was soaked in salt, but I already washed it. Tomorrow you can wear it without any problem, and it will look like new" Eda said again.

Luz's face became a little more apologetic, and then her eyes suddenly widened, as if she had just remembered something important right in that moment. "Eda, listen... can you tell me what my punishment will consist of? Please, I'm willing to do anything, but don't lock me in the house! I promised King that I would return to him..."

"King?" Eda repeated confused. "Who is King?"

"It's the Titan that's talked about so much in Bonesborough! But don't worry, he's not big or dangerous at all, he's just a little boy who's very lonely!" Luz replied. "I know it's selfish of me to ask you this, but please don't stop me from going to see him! He has no one else, he would be very upset if I never came back and he would cry"

Eda was even more confused than before. Maybe she shouldn't have stopped Luz earlier, as she was now clearly missing pieces of the story. "Your punishment will be bathing Hooty for at least a week" she told her, and Luz shivered as she was familiar with the owl's mud-and-slush lifestyle. "But I want you to talk to me very well about this King"

And so Luz told her all about how she met the young Titan. Gus and Willow listened too, and when she finished they were more shocked than ever. It would have already been absurd that Luz had managed to meet the elusive Titan of the legend, but the fact that the aforementioned Titan was just a child with a great imagination and many puppets was something that went beyond their most absurd fantasies. "Wow, of course this is very unexpected" Eda said as Luz finished the story. "This King seems really lonely… I'm glad you kept him company"

Luz blushed slightly at the compliment. "I thought maybe if he met you too he might be convinced to come here to the Owl House. Would you like to come with me one of these days?"

"I will gladly do so, and I'm sure your friends agree too" Eda said pointing to Gus and Willow, who nodded in response. "You should involve others too, so he gets used to being around people. I wouldn't recommend your monster hunter friend since he doesn't really seem like the child type, but maybe you could call those two lazy twins, I'm sure they would make even a chicken laugh. And maybe even some of those other friends of yours..."

"They're not my friends" Luz said firmly. "I don't want to see them anymore"

Well, that reaction was understandable. Eda normally would have totally approved of it, but she knew it wasn't the right thing to do; firstly because they were sorry too, and secondly (and most importantly!) she wasn't sure if it was a good idea for Luz to distance herself from the first people she'd befriended in Bonesborough. She felt that such an action would greatly affect the puppet's ability to relate to other people. So, even though she didn't think that those three girls would be hurt by a good lesson, she decided to at least partially take their defense: "Luz, listen, I know that what they did to you was really a bad joke, and you're right to be angry, but I don't think you should be so hasty. That girl with green hair seemed to really regret her actions..."

"Amity? No, there's no way she regretted it. I bet a Blight never regrets or some other haughty idiocy" Luz said, and her hands shook slightly.

"Luz, you know I'm a fairy, I can read people's hearts. I can feel when someone is truly remorseful..." Eda tried to say again.

But Luz didn't even give her time to finish. "Don't defend them, Eda. They don't deserve any leniency, especially Amity. Not after she told me…" her voice broke before she could finish her sentence.

Eda raised an eyebrow. "What did she tell you?"

Luz gritted her teeth. "That I will never be a real girl, and I should accept my limits. She told me that to my face and with malice. And it hurt me. That's why I got so angry and tried to hit her, even though Boscha then put herself between us"

Eda frowned and felt her fingers itch as she heard those words. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to turn Amity into a snake, at least for a while... she hoped Lilith would be really strict with her pupil. "Luz, I'm sorry. That must have been really bad..."

Luz sniffed. "It wasn't the first time she told me... but in that moment it was... different, that's it. It hurt, a lot" she whispered. "I... it was a really horrible day, okay? When they revealed to me that they had tricked me, I felt like I had gone back to when Adrian and Terra had done the same... I felt so angry, so hurt... and then Amity said those things, spitting in my face that not only she didn't believe in my dream, but that she thought I should remain inferior to her, as if I were some kind of object... which I actually am, but at least I'm trying to be different..."

Eda realized that Luz was gripping the fork with enough force to bend it slightly. She wondered what to do, then she made a decision. "Come here, kiddo"

Luz didn't understand that sudden request, but she got up and obeyed; but as soon as she was close enough Eda grabbed her and dragged her towards her, making her sit on her lap. The puppet was confused, but she was even more so when the fairy abandoned her human form and covered herself in feathers, and wrapped her wings around her as if they were a warm blanket. For a moment Luz felt the urge to wriggle away and ask for explanations, but then she stopped; she couldn't remember ever feeling safer before. That hug was vaguely reminiscent of her mother's, but at the same time there was something different about it. It made her feel protected, as if she were a chick hiding under the wings of her mother eagle. Almost without wanting to, she leaned against Eda's chest, which thanks to all the feathers was as soft as a pillow. "Do you like it, kiddo?" the fairy asked her.

"Oh, yeah... I like it" Luz admitted. "You're warm... and soft..."

"Having an owl's feathers has its advantages" Eda said jokingly. Under her wings and hands she clearly felt Luz's body relax. She didn't want to reopen any more wounds, but it was time to get the elephant out of the room: "Kiddo... your crab friend told me about what happened when you entered the water. Do you want to talk to me about it?"

A slight tremor ran through Luz's body. "I… I'm not sure I can explain it" she said. "There was no reason to panic... and yet it happened. It seemed to me... it seemed to me that that monster was in front of me again... and that he was devouring... my... my..."

"Ssssh, don't force yourself" Eda said rubbing her head. "Take it easy. I have all the time of the world for you"

Luz seemed to calm down at those words. "Thank you, Eda" she whispered. "I... I just wish I could change the things. To be able to go back, to be able to tell my mom that I love her, that I can be a better person, or even just that I'm sorry. I... I can't even remember my mom in a different way from that moment, or Vee, or Masha, or Viney, or all the others. Every time I try to remember when we joked and smiled together, I only remember Belos' horrible mouth that devour them all...". She let out a sob. "Eda... do you think I'll ever get over it?"

Eda held her even tighter. "I don't know, kiddo. But you will have me by your side every moment. We will find a way, we always find one. You just have to be strong and have faith in the future"

Luz smiled and in turn snuggled further into the fairy's embrace. She didn't care that she looked like a little child, she felt too good that way. "I will never stop saying that you are too good. I love you, Eda"

"I love you too, kiddo" Eda replied, then her lips moved and a melody came out of them. Luz tensed, as that was the very first time she had heard Eda sing, but then she felt as if all her problems were vanishing; each of those notes seemed like a thread wrapping itself around her heart to form a warm blanket. As the song continued, all negativity disappeared from the puppet's mind; all the bad thoughts, all the anger, all the sadness seemed to melt like snow in the sun, until there was nothing left. When Eda finally finished singing, Luz had become so serene and calm that she felt like she was in heaven. "It's really very beautiful. Did you invent it...?"

"No, I'm not that talented at music. An old flame of mine wrote it for me... they were a young bard who always went around with their trusty lute. I met them when I was just a little older than your age..." Eda was starting to tell the story, but then she realized that Luz had closed her eyes and fallen asleep. Evidently all that day's adventures had tired her quite a bit and the relaxing melody she had just heard had calmed her enough to give in to the fatigue and make her sink into the world of dreams.

Eda smiled when she saw the puppet's peaceful sleeping face, then, being very careful not to wake her, she got up and took her to bed. Once she had made her lie down she tried to leave, but she discovered that Luz was hugging her with incredible strength, almost as if she were a small koala, and from her expression it seemed she was really enjoying her soft feathers. The fairy thought about it for a moment, then she said: "Well... I guess there's no harm in sleeping together for once" and she lay down next to her, wrapping her with her wings as if they were a blanket and placing her head against her chest like it was a pillow. And even though she hadn't performed any dream conciliatory spell, that night not even a single nightmare dared to disturb Luz's sleep.

A moment of joy was needed for Luz after so much suffering. And I loved the idea of Eda cradling Luz in her fairy form (remember, it's Harpy Eda) using her wings as a blanket. There is absolutely no fanservice in this chapter 😏👍