As soon as they exited the Blight Manor, Amity breathed a sigh of relief so loud she seemed to have been holding her breath until that moment. But she was still happy because despite everything that happened, in the end the situation had resolved for the best. Of course, she didn't expect that from now on Lilith and her mother would go together on picnics in the woods and pick strawberries, but at least they seemed to be willing to tolerate each other's existence, which given their nature and the opinion they had of each other was much more than she had expected to get. "Thank you, fairy godmother" she said to Lilith. "I am grateful to you for doing your best to talk to my mother"

Lilith bit her lip. She wasn't sure she deserved that thanks. "You should say these words to your friend. It's because of her that your mother has become more... how shall I put it... condescending"

"Yeah..." Amity didn't dare look at Luz; every time she did it she remembered what he had said. What had popped into her mind!? Why had he done it!? Ok to have a crush, but that was too much! Calling Luz 'hers'... she hoped the puppet was too shocked at the moment to hear her or at least understand. The very thought made her want to throw herself on the ground and bury her head in the sand like an ostrich for the shame.

However, she couldn't avoid to thank her after what Luz did, it would be really selfish, so despite her heart beating wildly she turned to her: "Um... it seems that I owe you a big favor. I promise I will do my best to reciprocate"

"It will be enough for me that when you too will awake your magic, you will show yourself to me in that cool form!" Luz replied with her eyes shining. "In fact, you'll have to let me see you in that cool form while wearing a witch's outfit and riding a flying broom!" and as she said that her eyes sparkled as she imagined Amity with big pointed hat and a black dress riding a flying broom, all while her lavender hair and golden eyes shone and she smiled showing off her beautiful fangs. She didn't know why, but as that image became clearer and clearer in her mind, her heart raced faster and faster.

Despite the embarrassment she felt about what had happened earlier, Amity couldn't help but smile. "Did you really like it that much?"

"Of course I liked it! Whoever said witches are ugly hags clearly didn't have the slightest sense of aesthetics! Your mother looked amazing with that appearence!" Luz responded, then she added: "Although... technically I didn't lie, but I left out some details. I thought your mom was awesome... but she was also scaring me to death, but that was because of the threats and the hoarse tone of voice"

Amity found herself giggling. "I can't tell if you're brave and contemptuous of danger, or if you just didn't think when you spoke to my mother like that"

Luz blushed visibly and scratched her head in shame. Normally she would have had no problem admitting that she had spoken without thinking, but for some reason she didn't like Amity knowing that. "Um... I was brave! Yes, yes, I was brave! Eh eh! I'm certainly not a person who speaks before thinking! Come on, Amity, you know that I'm a judicious girl with a good head on my shoulders, I would never do such..."

"Luz..." Eda suddenly said in a tone that sounded a lot like a warning.

"Huh? Yes, Eda?" Luz asked her and she started to scratch her head, but as she did so she touched her nose and she froze when she realized that from blurting out all those lies it had already grown more than an entire hand.

Amity's eyes widened slightly. "Hey, what is...?"

"Nothing! Nothing is happening to my nose!" Luz exclaimed, trying to cover her face with her palm, but with that second lie her nose grew even more making it impossible for her to hide it.

Amity was surprised. So the story that every time Luz lied her nose grew was true? Even though the puppet had kept repeating it and she trusted her, she hadn't fully believed it until now. Seeing how uncomfortable she was, she quickly said: "Hey, hey, it's okay! I don't think you're stupid at all just because you spoke without thinking! That's one of the beautiful things about you! And you don't have to hide from me!"

Luz let out a sob. "P-Please, don't laugh" she begged.

"Of course I'm not laughing! I don't think it's funny at all, Luz!" Amity exclaimed. "And then... come on, I just found out I'm going to grow scales and have shiny hair, how could I tease you about that? Tell me how I can help you and I'll do it right away!"

Luz felt comforted by those words. "T-Thank you, Amity" she whispered. "You are really kind"

Amity shrugged. "Well, that's what friends do, right?" she said, repeating the words that the puppet had said to her earlier, even though in doing so she felt as if she were chewing slime. She was thankful that her nose couldn't grow like Luz's, or by that time it would probably already be much longer than hers.

Lilith and Eda, who were watching the whole scene from the sidelines, couldn't help but smile tenderly as they watched the emotional storm that was taking place in Amity's heart. Eda approached Lilith and whispered: "Uh... it seems your pupil has a big crush". And apparently Luz too, even if only slightly, seemed to have some feelings. "Kids today are really shy... why don't they just jump in?"

Lilith looked at her disdainfully. "Seriously? You, of all people, say something like that? The most antisocial person in this world, who hid in a house in the woods to avoid being around people?"

"Oh, come on, I've gotten better! I'm practically the head of a family now!" Eda tried to defend herself by blushing a little. "And then come on, you can't deny that everything would be easier if your pupil expressed her feelings. They would combine something much sooner"

"Again, are you really saying these things? Didn't it take you months to get together with...?" Lilith was saying, but suddenly she stopped and fell silent. She looked at Eda with a mortified look, and clearly noticed a light dark veil pass over her face for an instant. "Sorry, I didn't mean it... it was a low blow"

"No, don't worry. It's okay" Eda replied with her usual smile, but then she clapped her hands and attracted the attention of Luz and Amity: "Ok, girls, it's time to split up! Luz, come, let's go and house, so Hooty will shorten your nose again" she said, and the puppet nodded immediately, clearly wanting to get that long nose off as soon as possible.

"Uh... well, I'll see you tomorrow then! Bye, Luz!" Amity greeted her. Luz reciprocated with the same warmth, then she jumped into Eda's arms, who transformed back into a fairy and took flight.

Once they were alone, Lilith turned to Amity: "You really like Luz, don't you?"

Due to her purple hair and the red color that her face was completely colored with, Amity's face was very reminiscent of a candy apple. "Of... Of course! She's a very good friend, after all! Nothing else, eh eh!" she said in a very shrill and not at all convincing voice, immediately turning and starting to walk at least three meters away from the fairy. Lilith giggled at that reaction, but she didn't press her any further.

Meanwhile Luz and Eda were flying towards the Owl House. "Are you mad at me because I told lies again?" Luz asked with a lot of shame in her voice.

But to her surprise Eda seemed quite amused. "No, you're excused this time" she told her, without however giving further explanations. "Anyway, I'm proud of you. It's thanks to you that your friend can now sleep more peacefully knowing that her mother and her fairy godmother won't tear each other apart"

Luz shook her head. "No, I don't think so. It's true, I calmed her mother down and opened her eyes, but it was Amity who told her what she thought to her face without any fear. She was really brave...". A thought passed through her mind: "Hey... maybe this is what it means to be a real girl? Having the courage to overcome your fears, even the deepest ones within us?"

Eda didn't answer immediately; she seemed to think about it for a moment, then she shook her head. "Certainly having courage and overcoming your fears is part of life, but I don't think that's the complete answer. But it's probably at least part of it"

"Yeah..." Luz murmured. She also felt that that wasn't the right answer; it was like an instinct, something inside her told her that she hadn't found what she was looking for. She still had a long way to go to understand what it meant to be a real girl.

Eda was silent for a moment, then she said: "Anyway, kiddo, like I already said I'm proud of you, but please learn to think before you act. This time you had your friend to shield you and there were me and Lilith with you, but if it hadn't been like this it could have ended very badly for you. Believe me, you have no idea what an angry witch can do"

"You don't need to tell me... the look and the words she addressed to me were more than eloquent" Luz replied; she didn't need to see for herself what happened to those who angered a witch, because she was more than sure that if Amity hadn't been there to protect her she would now have been nothing more than a pile of ashes. By the way, why did continuing to think about that moment cloud her mind and make her heart pound? "Anyway, I'll try to be more careful from now on... although I think I'll interact with Amity's mother as little as possible, I'm pretty sure I'm on her blacklist now even though she said she'll forget about that what I told her". She let out a soft gulp: "She... she won't come looking for me tonight, right? I mean, in the stories witches kidnap children from their beds..."

"Pff! No, I don't think so. For one thing, I'm here to protect you, and that woman doesn't seem to me as someone who actively seeks a fight... although I doubt she'd mind tearing the feathers off my wings, but I won't deny that I too would like to peel off her scales one by one" Eda replied. "But in any case, I doubt that Odalia will try to harm you or me or Lilith or any of your friends. I don't trust her at all, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to antagonize Amity in any way. She won't do something who already knows that could annoy her daughter"

Eda didn't know if Odalia's intentions towards Amity were sincere, and she really only wanted her daughter to complete the process of becoming a white witch, but in any case she seemed honest when she said that she wanted to prevent Amity from distancing herself from her, and when she removed the magical shielding she hadn't lied... even if her words could be interpreted many ways. It hadn't escaped Eda's notice that Odalia had called Amity the most important 'thing' to her, and she was sure Lilith had noticed it too; sure, it could only have been a figure of speech, but Eda doubted that such an attentive witch wouldn't have carefully calculated every word before speaking, especially at such a crucial moment. However, it also had to be said that she had no evidence of that. Whether Odalia was bound to her daughter by simple affection or by something else, that only time could tell; for the moment, it was best to play along and avoid putting Amity under even more tension than she already was... or risk Luz getting into trouble to help her friend, which Eda was completely sure the puppet would have done, and considering that such trouble would almost certainly have led her to clash with a witch it was definitely better to avoid it.

"What do you think will happen now?" Luz asked her. "I mean... Amity's mother seemed proud that she was able to summon a magic broom. Do you think she'll teach her magic?"

"Odalia had already told Lilith and me that she intends to teach Amity the ways of dark magic" Eda replied. "After all, your friend will have to have at least a basic knowledge of this subject to be able to become a white witch. From what I understand, the magical balance is mainly based on concentration, but in any case Amity will have to at least know how what she will have to control works. So ... I really think she will give her some lessons"

"Yeah, that makes sense, actually" Luz said, then she added dreamily: "I can't wait to see Amity do magic! She seemed so happy when she came to the Owl House... I bet that now she know that she can do magic herself she is over the moon!"

Eda smiled tenderly. "As long as your friend doesn't accidentally curse you, I'm fine with it" she chuckled. "You two get along really well, huh?"

"Huh? Yes, why?" Luz asked confused; Wasn't that obvious and known before?

"Nothing, nothing. It was just... an observation" Eda replied, but despite not adding anything else she continued to smile mischievously, which confused Luz quite a bit.

The two of them reached the Owl House very quickly, and Eda flew towards the ground and returned to her human form, placing Luz on the ground. The two were about to go back into the house when they noticed that the door was open and Hooty's long neck was pointing inside. Furthermore, right outside the house, there was a person sitting on a rock. Luz let out a whimper and hid behind Eda, not wanting to be seen by anyone with that long nose, but still she peeked a little so she could get a better look at that person.

It was a man, and he was definitely one of the biggest men she had ever seen; even though he was sitting he still reached almost the height of Eda's face. He had rather broad shoulders and muscular arms; he wasn't at Captain Salty's level but he was close. His skin was dark brown, so much so that it was almost darker than the wood Luz was made of, and his clothing consisted of a black chest plate with a golden collar, purple studs and pointed shoulders, light purple pants, medium white gloves length and white heeled boots with purple tips, and finally also a magenta side cape with purple details at the edges that went all the way down to his ankle. His face was framed by a beard and hair tied in a pigtail at the nape of his neck, and he had a straight nose and emerald green eyes.

Seeing that he seemed to be waiting for someone, Eda approached him: "Can I help you, sir?"

The man stood up, slightly moving his long cloak aside; this happened for just a few seconds, but Luz noticed very clearly that hidden under it he carried an oil lamp attached to his belt. The man lowered his head slightly and put one hand on his chest and one behind his back making a perfect half bow. "Forgive my intrusion onto your property, Mrs. Clawthorne. I am here just because I was accompanying a friend of mine"

Eda raised an eyebrow. "Have we met before?"

"Not at all, but my friend told me a lot about you. Darius Deamonne, by the way; enchanted by your beauty" the man responded by kissing her hand like a true gentleman, and then he pointed to the front door. "My friend is waiting for you inside. Don't get them wrong, they too wanted to respect the rules of good education and wait for you out here, but your familiar practically forced them to come in"

Eda was quite intrigued, so she entered followed quickly by Luz. As soon as they were inside the house, a familiar sound reached the fairies' ears; the music of a lute, but not just any lute. It was a very reminiscent melody... "It can't be..."

Eda ran towards the source of the sound and reached the living room, and there she found Hooty and King listening to a man sitting on the sofa who was playing the lute with extreme mastery. Luz looked at him too, even if she continued to try to avoid being seen. He was a thin, slightly lanky man, with medium brown skin and mint green hair with white streaks at the bottom, plus darker green eyebrows, and eyes the same color as his hair, if a little watered down. On his face he had two large round glasses, and he was dressed in a black studded tunic with gold edges and buttons and a more reddish-brown collar and white sleeves; he had bright red trousers and two black boots complete with heels, and on his right ear he had a gray rectangular earring. As soon as she saw him, Eda seemed to freeze and even her breathing seemed to stop; Luz didn't understand the reason for that reaction, but then she realized that the melody the man was playing was very similar to that of the song that Eda had sung to her to console her after Amity, Boscha and Skara had played that bad joke on her. Is it possible that...?

The man concluded his performance with one last note that resonated in the air louder than the others; as soon as he finished, Hooty made noises of approval and King clapped. "Extraordinary! I immediately appoint you as my personal court composer!" the young Titan exclaimed in admiration.

"Heh heh! Thank you, your majesty" the man replied, then he looked up and finally noticed Eda's presence. When this happened, his body froze and he looked a little fearful, but a genuine smile appeared on his lips. "Edalyn Clawthorne" he murmured, his voice full of happiness.

Eda seemed to have become totally incapable of reasoning and only had an idiotic expression on her face. Then a soft whisper emerged from his lips: "Raine Whispers"

This chapter concludes "The secrets of the Blight Family" arc and officially begins "The old lover" arc. I don't think I need to explain why it's called like that