Barator V, a newly colonized world within the Ultima Segmentum. Factorums and hab blocks dot the landscape, rockcrete streets connecting them in a spiderweb. Among the many cities on the planet is Gravesfield, named for the many grave stones surrounding a lone chapel on a hill. No one was sure where it came from, it had been there when the planet was claimed and settled, but the Ecclesiarchy assures the populace it is completely safe.
The sun slowly rises on a new day for Gravesfield, light piercing through the windows of a hab unit. A small room is flooded with sunshine, causing the occupant to rouse from their bed. A tall young woman in her late teens stretches her arms high. With a groggy yawn, she makes her way to the bathroom. A quick shower to clean her tanned skin and short brown hair before dressing in her normal attire. A green jacket zipped up, marked with "L4" to signify what factorum she worked at. A black leather belt holds up her pants of the same color on her lithe frame, tucked into a pair of work boots.
Looking herself over in the full length mirror Luz Noceda, proud worker of the Emperor, was satisfied with her work uniform. Taking a golden aquilia held by twine from her desk, she stuffs it in her pocket before descending the stairs. Luz could already smell the food cooking, her mother already in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the both of them. "Smells good, mamá."
Camila, dressed in her chirurgeon scrubs and wearing her red glasses, scraped the eggs from her pan onto a plate. "Thank you, Cariño. Just make sure you eat some this time. You work so much, you need your strength!" She sets a fork and the plate in front of her daughter, now seated at the table.
"That your medical opinion?" Luz says with a grin, earning her a playful slap on the shoulder from her mother.
"No, it's an order as your mother." Camila leans in to kiss Luz in her messy hair. "Make sure to lock up, okay? Don't be late for the shuttle!" She grabs her bag and keys before heading to the door. "Love you!" A solid thunk from the metal door and Luz's mother was off to work. She's a physician for the hospital in Gravesfield, trained by the Officio Medicae at a young age.
Luz was grateful she had such a loving mother, diligently eating as much of the scrambled eggs from her plate as she was ordered. Once the dishes are put away and the hab unit is locked up, Luz's on the local shuttle into the city.
Inside the shuttle is cramped, the ground vehicle being more akin to a Chimera with wheels than a civilian transport. Luz is unfortunately pressed between two bodies crushing her with their backs for the duration. Finally able to breath when they reach her stop. Tall buildings of plasteel and rockcrete dominate the skyline, factorums that process the local minerals mined from the planet to make enough ammunition to supply the whole sub-sector. Though the building was marked with "Lambda 4" similar to her jacket, it was not Luz's final destination. Walking through the crowded sidewalks, she makes her way deeper into the city. Streets choked with groundcars of all shapes and sizes in a bumper to bumper crawl. Tearing open her jacket, revealing a white shirt with a single purple stripe and skull in the middle, Luz steps into a bar.
The Rusty Scav, a bar within Gravesfield that was the hang out of the Violet Skulls. A small gang that mostly deals with chems, protection rackets, and simple muggings. "Noceda, good to see ya again!" A large, fat man wearing a brown vest and a stained tank top shouts from behind the counter. The violet skull tattooed into his arm marking him as a ganger. "Boss is upstairs, says it's real important."
"Thanks, Tarken, I'll be right up." Luz replies as she surveys the bar. Booths lined the walls, filled with gangers dressed in leather vests and outrageous haircuts. All of them with a skull on their clothes or skin. She never expected to join a gang when she first moved to Gravesfield all those years ago. But she felt more free here than she did in the oppressive assembly line mindlessly sweeping stray auto round casings. Everyone smiled at her, greeting her with waves and raised glasses as she passes by. Declining invitations to sit and drink as she makes her way up the stairs. The noise downstairs drowned out after she steps through the door at the top.
Standing at a table with a map spread out were the four most senior members of the gang. Gallia, a tall woman with a bionic red lens eye; Uldier, a slender man with an augmented arm; Ortiz, a short man tapping away at a data-slate; and Burg, a slab of meat you could easily mistake for an ogryn. Commanding at the end of the table was the boss, Miguel, his entire face tattooed in the visage of a violet skull. "Ah Luz, you're here. Good, now we can get down to business."
"Took her long enough. Mommy didn't help get you out of bed?" Uldier snickered, receiving a heavy handed slap to the back of the head by Burg.
"No make fun of Luz." Burg smiles at the small tanned teen who pats him on the arm in gratitude.
"Thanks big guy. So boss, what's going on in Gravesfield today?" Luz looks over the map. A section of the city filled in with purple with the others filled in with yellow and red.
"The Bloodsaws have made a push into our territory. They've taken over one of our weapon caches." Miguel points to a building on the border between the red and purple. "The skrags didn't leave a single survivor. We didn't even know we lost it until we saw their saws painted everywhere." He turns to the woman on his right. "Gallia, take Luz and as many bodies you need and get it back."
The tall woman nods, tugging her gloves on. "And the enforcers?" Gallia asks with a raised eyebrow.
Ortiz is the one to answer, not once looking up from the data-slate. "They'll back off. Enforcers don't care if gangers shoot at each other."
"Burg and Uldier will provide back up in case it all goes tits up. Understood?" Miguel orders, looking over as Uldier lets out a groan.
"Fine, but I won't like it." The senior members of the gang leave to prepare for their mission. Leaving only Miguel and Luz alone.
"Something the matter, Luz?" He asks.
Luz fidgets in place, a hand rubbing her arm nervously as she tries to find the words. "I don't know if I can do this, boss. I've never...killed anyone before." The Violet Skulls had always been a safe place for her to just hang out. At most she's helped transport chems or money, but never has she been told to take a life.
Miguel rounded the table, hands clasped on Luz's shoulders. "Hey, it's a lot. But I need you in there. Not sure how they managed to kill twenty of our guys without us noticing. You're our secret little weapon. I know you're a strong woman, deep down. Think you can manage it? For the Skulls?" He spoke like a father consoling his child.
Thoughts rattled around in Luz's mind. Miguel had been kind to her, he helped get her out of the factorum so she could be safe and not worry about the Administratum. Now they depended on her much like she depended on them. "I'll...try." Luz couldn't disappoint the Violet Skulls.
"Atta girl." Miguel says with a smile.
Miguel pats Luz on the shoulders one last time before she leaves back down the stairs. The relaxed and jovial atmosphere of the bar has flipped as gangers collected and checked over weapons. Stub guns,autopistols, and autoguns as distributed among the gathered delinquents and criminals. Gallia was checking over her custom made stub revolver. A bandolier of heavy slugs hanging across her chest. Luz was a little scared of Gallia, the serious woman never smiled. It didn't help the older woman had scars around her bionic eye. Luz just prays to the Emperor she doesn't make Gallia mad.
Their back up was already locked and loaded. Uldier sighting his autogun before checking on the magazine. She didn't exactly want Uldier to be their back up, but what was Luz going to do? He was crude and always made fun of her. Luckily Burg was around to help curb that habit of his. The man looked like he could arm wrestle an ork and come out the winner. But he had quite the soft side and Burg always treated Luz with kindness. He seems to have stowed it away for the mission as he loads two shells into the double barreled shotgun in his hands.
The only one that had the shakes was Luz, trying her best to steel her nerves for what she assumed would be a firefight between the rival gangs. The Bloodsaws gang are extremely aggressive, favoring close combat as well as guns. Her lack of combat only making Luz more anxious as bloody scenarios play through her head. They're ended when she feels a pat on her back from Gallia. "Let's go." Luz can only nod at the woman of few words.
Luz wished the groundcar ride would last a bit longer. The looming hab block used as the Violet Skull's weapon stash coming closer and closer. The skull tags normally on it replaced with red saws freshly painted on. Luz stepped out of the passenger seat along with Gallia, who was driving. Other vehicles dropped off their occupants, the gangers now a team of fifteen including Luz. They had parked a few blocks away, not wanting to make it too easy for the Bloodsaws to kill them all. Weapons cocked as they approach the door, not a single Bloodsaw coming out to meet them.
Gallia looked around, also unnerved by the quiet as she tries to open the door. A beep from the panel telling her it's locked. "Luz, open it." Stepping aside to let the teen work.
"Got it!" Luz shouts a little too loudly, standing in front of the plasteel door. Mind racing as she tried to focus on her task. The whole reason why she stayed with the Skulls, why she kept it all a secret from her mother, why she wanted to be free from mindless work. Pulling her arms back, Luz thrusts them forward. The door blew inward by an unseeable force, crumpled like a piece of parchment and launched into the depths of the building.
Luz Noceda was a psyker, a witch.
Her eyes spark with psychic energy before it fades away, Luz nearly collapsing from the display of power. She had carefully kept it hidden for most of her life, so blowing off a door took a bit out of her. Gallia didn't seem to mind as she stepped past Luz. Stub revolver sweeping left and right before entering the hab block. Still not a single sound of any hostile gangers.
"I don't like this. Luz, take a squad and start clearing the upper floors. The rest and I will cover the ground floor." Gallia said while taking a position deeper inside. Pressed up against one of the various pillars that filled the lobby, every scrap of cover filled in with the Violet Skull gangers, but still no Bloodsaws. Luz took a handful of the gangers and proceeded to climb the stairs, their steps echoing loudly through the plasteel halls.
The Violet Skulls were mostly older than Luz and she was able to command such respect from them because of her psychic powers. She tried to hold her fear back as they searched through the floors one by one. The shared hab spaces and their bunks all empty, not even a speck of gore to show a fight had broken out. Luz was starting to worry as well. Above them on the next floor it was the same, even the crates of weapons and ammunition had been left untouched. "Anyone else gettin' a bad feelin'?" One of the gangers asked.
"Now that you mention it..." Another responds just as he opens up a door to another hab. Eyes focused on his fellow ganger, unable to spot the gun aimed at his head.
A violent bark and a spatter of blood drew Luz and the Violet Skull's attention. Their friend now dead on the floor with nothing but a bloody stump of a neck. Red lens shined as a figure steps out of the shadows. A woman donned in red power armor with black accents, purity seals, and the Fleur De Lys to show her devotion to the Master of Mankind and the Sisterhood. "Who the skrag are you!" Another ganger raises his autogun, but never manages to pull the trigger. The block like weapon in her hand letting out another loud bark, shooting a gaping hole in the ganger's stomach. It didn't end there, his upper half exploded like a grenade went off in his torso. Luz muffled a scream into her hands, tears welling up as now two people were dead.
The gangers' autoguns rattled and pumped the doorway full of lead. A few stray shots are fired from the armored woman before she takes cover behind the doorway. "Yeah, get that skrag!" One of them shouts. Luz should be the one telling them orders, but she's in the back with her hands over her ears. Another door opens to their flank, a stream of promethium fueled fire engulfs the floor in it's inferno. The gangers desperately try to put themselves out, but their frantic movements eventually still. Luz is the only one to survive, a barrier of shimmering energy protecting her from the raging fires. A second armored woman steps out, flamer in hand. Luz is frozen in fear, the telekine dome stopping more explosive rounds from the first enemy.
The primal instinct to survive kicks in as Luz breaks off chunks of the floor and walls with the power of her mind. Throwing the barrage of debris at the women before she makes her way back down the stairs at full sprint.
None of this made sense, there were suppose to be Bloodsaws in this hab unit. Not power armor wearing death women!
As Luz made it to closer and closer to the ground floor, the sounds of gunfire grew louder. Coming down the stairs she's greeted with the sight of the Violet Skulls, a good number dead, shooting at heavily armored soldiers marked with a stylized capital letter 'I'. Red beams of las fire scorching the waist high wall Gallia was hiding behind. Shouting into her vox-caster for the backup they were promised.
"Luz, get to the door, we're leaving! Covering fire!" The gangers, not trained soldiers, knew enough to all shoot at once at the armored men. Forcing them behind cover as Gallia and the six men and women she had left made their way to the entrance Luz had torn open. Just as Luz was about to make it out of the door, the armored women came down the stairs. The rockcrete next to Luz's head explodes from the stray round.
Ears ringing, she manages to hear Gallia order whoever was left alive to the groundcars. But more soldiers blocked the street with their own armored transport. She looks up in time to see the older woman point to the alley ways. "Scatter!" Being caught out in the open was a death sentence and a few unlucky gangers were mowed down by the assault cannon mounted on the tank treaded car. Luz didn't see if Gallia made it out, she rushes down the narrow walls between the buildings to escape the same fate as her friends.
The sounds of boots starting to come in clearer as Luz keeps running. Taking as many turns as she could, mindful of the protruding pipes and slipping through a gate. Heavy pants wracking her body as she tries to outrun her pursuers. Her heart sinks at the sight of a lone man cutting off her escape ahead of her. He bore the same markings as the soldiers, a wide brim hat on his head as he twirls a sword in his hand. Coming ever closer with a grin on his face.
"The chase was fun, but it's over now. Little witch." A flick of his wrist and a blue field crackles along the length of his blade. "I don't know what's so important about you." The soldiers step in behind her at the other end of the alley. "But no one outruns the agents of His will."
Luz was squatting, knees pressed up to her chin and hands holding her legs tightly. Ragged breaths and tears flowing as the terror gripped her heart. She'd heard the stories, it was the duty of all Imperial citizens to report any signs of psykers. To be whisked away, never to be seen again, by the Black Ships. Someone must have seen, it's why these men know what she is! She barely noticed her eyes glowing as psychic energy sparked off her body. Even the man and his soldiers took pause as the ground shook from a tremor.
"Take her down!" The man yelled, the armored troopers firing hot streaks of las down the alley.
Luz screams, a harrowing cry that pierces the very souls of those gathered around her. The psychic build up around her erupts in a blinding light.
The man, shielding his eyes, is able to see the Immaterium open up under the witch. A corridor of swirling colors widens it's maw and swallows the girl up. It had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Leaving him alone with the troopers as he curses.
"Interrogator Jacobs, are you alright?" Hearing his name, Jacobs rubs at his eyes as his full sight returns. The Inquisitorial Storm Troopers rush to his side.
"Fine, trooper. Though our target got away." He spoke, peering over to the empty spot the little witch had once occupied
"Did she do that on her own? She must be more powerful than the reports say." The trooper asks.
"No, I don't think so." Jacobs looks around, hoping to catch anything he may have overlooked in the alley. "Lets move. We mustn't keep the Inquisitor waiting." The storm troopers nod and follow Jacobs out into the empty streets. If his master was right, things are already set into motion.
Luz awoke with pain shooting through her entire body. Lifting her head, she was resting uncomfortably atop a pile of garbage. Broken and discarded data-slates, scrap metal, old tires, pict screens, children toys, and old clothes were stacked in various piles around her. Looking up, Luz noticed she wasn't outside anymore, but in some sort of large tent? It takes a few minutes, but she manages to peel herself off the trash and onto solid ground. A vase falls from the pile, shattering loudly into pieces.
"Huh, what was that?"
Beyond the slightly open tent flaps Luz heard a voice. With how her day had been so far, she wasn't going to risk anything so she hides behind a mountain of socks. From her hiding spot, she spies the source of the voice, an older woman walking into the tent. She wore a long red sleeved dress with a split down the leg. A yellow gem just below her neck, grey hair flowing in a wild mane behind her shoulders and only kept in check by a spotted bandana. She was wielding a wooden staff with an owl perched at the top.
"I know you're in here." Using her staff, the woman moved articles of clothing out of the way. Golden eyes piercing through the dimly lit tent.
Luz freezes up, pressing her back against the socks as she believes she's going to be caught and is about to meet her end.
"Ah ha! Darn, thought you were here."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Luz relaxes against the pile of discarded sock before peeking back out from her hiding spot. Confused at the sight of nothing there. The woman had vanished into thin air. "Where did..."
"Boo."
A voice behind her causes Luz to whip around to meet it. Standing over her was the missing woman leering down with a frown. Accented with the golden fang peeking from her lip. "Ah!" Luz could only scream, running in the opposite direction of the strange person and lifting up the fabric of the tent to flee out the back. Unfortunately her escape route leads to a sheer cliff. Her face contorted in horror at the sheer madness of the town before her. Grasping limbs raised to the air, large enough to pluck passing beasts mid-flight; eyes, flesh, and teeth fused with stone and rock; monsters and humanoids wracked with mutations. "No, no, no, no! This has to be a dream!"
"Oh you wish." A hand grabs Luz by her shoulder, spinning her around to face the golden gaze of the older woman. Long nailed hands gripping the collar of her shirt and pulling her close until Luz and her assailant are nearly nose to nose. "Alright, spill it, punk. Who sent ya?" Piercing eyes looking the young ganger over, focusing on her head before asking another question. "How did you even get here?"
Before Luz can answer, she's dragged from behind the tent to the front and thrown into a chair.
"Alright, kid. Can you tell me what this is?" The woman holds up a black box by the handle, small buttons and a slot visible on the front.
Confused, Luz finds the courage to speak up. "T-that's a music box."
"Is it? I've been pushing all the buttons but nothing comes out." The wild maned woman shakes the box about. Prompting Luz to look around to luckily find a cartridge on the nearby table and inserting it into the music box. The somber notes of instruments escape the box along with lyrics in high gothic. The music starts to draw all manner of freaks closer.
"Such a wonderful sound, so alluring. I must have it!"
"How much for the screaming box?"
"Can I eat the tiny person trapped inside?"
Luz is pushed aside from the crowd as her grinning captor stands on the table, high heels clacking loudly. "Bidding starts at fifty snails!" She shouts, pointing a finger out to the gathered mass who have pulled out golden coins and green paper. "Haha! Oh human, you are going to make me rich!" She starts pointing at the spawns of nightmares as the number raises higher and higher. The bidding war ends at six hundred, the music box passed to a small yellow meatball with chicken legs and three horns.
With the commotion over, Luz speaks up again. "I'm sorry, I don't know where I am or who you are and no one sent me! I just wanna go home!"
"Not until I scam a few more customers with your help." The woman not looking up as she counts her stacks of paper money. "As for who I am..." She tears off the bandana, revealing the long pointed ears and golden orb earrings. "I am Eda the Owl Lady! The most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!" Eda poses, adding a bit of dramatic flare to her introduction.
Luz can't seem to comprehend what exactly she's hearing. A witch, a psyker like her? But the pointed ears, was it some sort of mutation? Why did she call her human?
"And what's your name, kid?" Eda asks, breaking Luz out of her train of thought.
"I'm Luz, Luz Noceda. Are you really a powerful witch?"
"You bet I am! Feared, Respected!"
"Busted!" Standing in front of the table was a large, wide man in a grey and white uniform wearing a pointed mask. "Eda the Owl Lady, you are wanted by Emperor Belos for misuse of magic by refusing to join a coven, demonic misdemeanors, and vandalism!" A wanted posted held in his gloved hand revealed Eda's likeness and an award of one trillion snails. This only caused more questions to pop up in Luz's head. "You are under arrest, and will be escorted to the Conformatorium!"
"Ugh, Belos' Coven Guard. If it's not Lily hounding me it's you guys." Eda groans as the hand of the guard reaches to take hold of her wrist, but she slaps it away. "No touching, pal! You can't even prove I did...most of that stuff."
"Either way, you're coming with me!" The black and blue eyes shift to Luz, who had just been sitting there absorbing the situation. "You too, for fraternizing with a criminal!"
Luz had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Hey, leave the kid outta this!" Eda interjects. "I'll go, just let me get my stuff." She ducks down behind the table. The coven guard caught unaware when she leaps back up with her owl staff in hand. Bashing him over the head and knocking him over onto his back in a grunt of pain. "Ha!" Eda twirls her staff, a circle of yellow light forming before she taps the ground with it.
Luz finally witnesses the power of the other witch with all of Eda's belongings suspended into the air. The real feat is when Eda manages to stuff the table, shelves, boxes of items, and the cash register all into a sheet and tied neatly into a sack. Like she was folding space in on itself.
"Follow me, human!" Says the old witch after hooking her staff into the sack and fleeing through the demonic market.
On the ground, the guard was slowly starting to get up. Not wanting to be thrown into some prison, Luz quickly followed Eda. A feel of deja vu washing over her as she's once again running for her life. "Get back here!" The angry shouts behind her only fuel her feet until Luz is side by side with Eda.
"I hope you have a car, because I've had enough running for today!"
"No clue what that is, but I got something even better!" As they round the corner, Eda hooks her arm around Luz and jumps. The owl on her staff spreads it's wings and takes flight! Luz holding onto the staff with a death grip as she's thrown on and Eda riding further back. The curses of the guard fading behind them as they flew higher into the air. Luz's body is locked up, eyes shut tight as the wind rushes past her.
"You can open your eyes now, he can't get us up here."
Cracking open an eye, the scared teenager gets a full view of where she's ended up. Yellow clouds fill the purple sky, reflected into an ocean that bubbles and steams. Pillars of white jutting out of the rocks and surrounded by red foliage. They almost looked like ribs to a corpse. What terrified her most were the multitude of flying abominations made up of mixed beast parts. "This place is a nightmare! Hellish monsters, talks of sorcery, are you even a witch?" Luz shouts over the roar of some nearby bird lion.
"Get used to it, human. You're in the Boiling Isles, you'll see plenty of demons and witches if you stick around here. Course, no other witch is as skilled as me." The staff takes a quick nose dive to the ground. Eda pulls up at the last minute and brakes just before they hit the dirt. Luz immediately hops off as the wings of the wooden owl fold back up.
"I-I can't be here, I have to get back to my home in Gravesfield! Where on Barator V am I?" Luz asks frantically. Maybe she just ended up in some horribly mutated part of the planet?
"Barator V? Kid, what part of Boiling Isles did you not understand?" Eda rests her staff on her shoulder and casts a quick spell to raise her sack in an aura of yellow. "This is the Demon Realm, wherever you're from is back in the Human Realm." Eda takes a few paces around the human, eyeing up her strange attire. "Maybe it's good you did, you work in a factory or something?"
While she's being inspected, Luz is having another crisis. "Daemon Realm? Did I die and go to Hell? Is this my eternal torture at the hands of ruinous beings for not praying enough to the God Emperor? Is this all because I'm a witch?" Tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she recalls everything she's left behind. Her friends in the Violet Skulls, her home, her own mother.
"Hey hey, calm down." Eda gives the human a pat on the back before the water works could start up. "Sure we can find you a way home! If enough of your garbage makes it's way to our world, then maybe we can shove you right back the other way." Luz looks a bit calmer now. "Now what's this about you being a witch? Last time I checked," She poked the round ears of the teen's head. "You're a powerless little human."
Luz slaps Eda's hands away. "I am a witch! I'm...a psyker." The blank stare from the older woman makes Luz explain further. "I can do things with my mind?" She feels like Eda is just humoring her at this point, so she decides a demonstration is in order. Eye's sparking with psychic energy, she holds out her open palm to a nearby boulder. Prying it out of the ground and launching it into a nearby tree, shattering it to splinters. "See?"
Eda's eyes widen along with a toothy grin. Fingers tapping together as some plan forms in her head. "Oh this is even better. A human with magic, think of the possibilities!"
"What?"
"Nothing! C'mon human. If you want me to start finding you a way home, you need to do a favor for me first!" With a flick of Eda's wrist the bag floats along side her as she leads Luz through the crimson forest. A short walk and the pair come across a clearing overlooking the sea with a house at the end. It was built against an old stone tower and had a stain glass window in the shape of an eye.
"Woah, nice place. Hey, aren't you worried that guard will find us here?" Luz asks.
"Don't worry about that. Anyone who comes snooping around will have to deal with my state-of-the-art defense system." Eda winks at Luz as they approach the door. In the center of it was the face of an owl that spoke.
"Hoot-hoot! Password please." Instead of speaking a password, Eda just pokes the owl in the eyes. "Ow!"
"We don't have time for this Hooty, just let us in."
"Alright, alright, jeeze! You never wanna have any fun! Ow! Hoot!" His rant over, Hooty opens his mouth as large as the door frame.
Luz looks hesitant but Eda steps right in with her bag. Steeling herself, the teen takes a step into the shadow filled house as Hooty closes his mouth.
"Welcome, human, " Eda casts a quick spell, the candles lightning up in the room and bathing it in a warm light. "To the Owl House!"
Said human is amazed a the sight of Eda's living room. Her and her mother didn't have much in terms of decoration, but the walls of the Owl House were covered in various items and relics. A frame with Eda's wanted poster dominating the spot above the sofa. The ceiling had a large carving of an avian creature, the grooves lit up by the candles below it. Large red curtains accent the walls and old trunks litter the wooden floor.
"It's where I hide away from the pressures of modern life. Also the cops... and also ex-boyfriends." Eda chuckles at the last part.
"This place is...big. You have it all to yourself?" Luz asks, but a loud thud shakes the house.
"Not exactly." Eda crosses her arms. "I have a roommate. He's a bit of a handful."
The shadow of a horned monster is cast across the wall in the nearby doorway. "Who dares intrude upon I, the King of Demons!" A short black furred creature with two claws and half a skull as a head walks into the living room. Wearing a towel wrapped around between his broken and full horn and around his waist. Yellow eyes filled with royal rage. "Especially during my three hour long bath time!" The fire in his gaze is snuffed out when he spots his friend. "Oh, Eda! You're back early." He looks over at Luz. "Who's this?"
In a blur of motion, Luz scoops up the furry creature in her arms in a hug. "¡Ay, que lindo!" King attempts to escape, but the human's grip is too firm. "I always wanted a pet, but the hab units couldn't support one! And they're crazy expensive."
"Not a pet! Release me, woman!" A point that's hard to argue with the red collar around his neck. The struggling is futile, all King can do is squirm and thrash his tiny limbs about. He's saved when Eda pulls back Luz by the collar of her jacket. Making her drop the demon onto the floor.
"Sorry King, this is Luz, the human! She's going to help us with our problem and might be staying with us for a while." Eda explains.
"Staying with us? This human better be worth it."
"Trust me, she is. You're not gonna believe it, but she has magic! Show him, Luz!"
Luz shrugs and performs a minor trick for the witch and demon. A though and the discarded rubber duck that King was once holding levitate from the floor to Luz's hand. "Uh, ta-dah?" It wasn't as impressive as what she showed Eda, but it made King hop around in excitement.
"Yes! Oh she's definitely going to be a huge help getting my crown back!" He cheers.
"Wait, crown?" Luz asks, turning to Eda.
"Let me explain." Eda spins her arms in a circle, forming an illusion spell to help with her story. "King was once a mighty King of Demons. Until it was stolen and he became," She points to the knee high King. "This. Now the crown is being held by the evil Warden Wrath! It's been locked away behind a force field that no one from the Demon Realm can enter." The illusion of the warden with the crown is dispersed when Eda waves her hands through it like smoke. "Which is where you come in! Being a human, you can easily slip past the barrier and retrieve the crown for us. In return, I will do all that I can to get you back home. Whadda say?"
Luz wears a worried expression on her face. Could she really trust this...witch to keep her word? She's been nice to her so far, not even fearful of Luz's psychic powers since she had some of her own. And the little fella by her feet was way too cute to fit the description of daemons the Ecclesiarchy warns about. They said they needed her, and she couldn't disappoint them. "I'll do it. But you better help me!"
"You have my word!" In a surprising feat of strength for a woman of her age and build, Eda lifts Luz up over her shoulder. "Lets go!" She carries the teen away.
"Wait, where are we going?" Luz doesn't even fight it at this point.
"Somewhere super fun!"
Luz was starting to regret her choice when they arrive at a large walled fortress with a tower at the center. Bones circling the area like the teeth to a bloat worm.
"This is the Conformatorium." Eda had led them to the far wall, there didn't seem to be that many guards posted. "It's where Belos locks up anyone who doesn't fit into his perfect little image of society." The wanted poster for Eda was prominent on the stonework.
"You seem very popular." Luz comments, taking a poster off the wall.
"Eh, they try to catch us. But we're just too fast and slippery, right King?"
"I'm a slippery fella! Especially covered in grease! Now the plan is you and I will sneak our way up to the top of the tower where they're keeping my crown!" King points to the tower and it's many windows unbarred and unguarded.
Eda steps up, staff in hand. "And I'll make sure the warden's distracted. Try not to get caught, but if you do just use some of that human magic on 'em." Eda says with a wink and a finger gun.
Luz didn't want to use her powers on anyone, even if she was trapped in some hell dimension. "Right! Got it." The ground around Luz's feet start to glow as Eda castes another spell. A disk of light lifts her and King off the ground and into the air! She had a few doubts about Eda using magic, but it was hard to deny something like this! Eda waved her arms, pushing them closer to an open window Luz manages to leap to while King latches onto her jacket.
Eda then tosses her staff as the wings on it spread, lifting her up and away. "See you at the top of the tower!" And she was gone.
Using all of her strength, Luz manages to hoist herself through the window. Tumbling onto the floor with a grunt along with King. "Nice landing." He teases.
Inside the tower, the section they had landed in had light filter in from a massive skylight that reached the bottom. Luz is able to see the floors and the cells that lined them. Each one is filled with some sort of horror of this world. The stories she's heard from her ganger friends would definitely match this place.
"Hey, how did you get out of your cell?" Luz turns to the source of the voice, a tanned woman with ears like Eda and two fangs, locked away behind a gate. "Woah, when did they arrest a human?"
"Oh, well I'm busting in, not breaking out." Luz explains.
"I'm helping!" King adds, perched on Luz's shoulder.
"Think you can do the opposite for some of us? I'm not even a criminal, the stupid warden just locked me up because I didn't fit in! Like, I enjoy writing intricate romance novels with complicated backstories about food! I like food, I like love, just let me write about it!" The woman shouts with a raised fist.
Another chimes in, an ogryn like blue creature with multiple eyes. "He threw me in here because I like to eat my own eyes." Demonstrating by plucking out an eyeball and eating it only for a new one to pop into place in the empty socket. Luz tried not to vomit.
"We are agents of free expression, they wish to systematically stamp out our individuality one person at a time! They will never silence us all!" A freakish imp with tiny limbs, big nose, and red hair shouts from another cell.
"Yeah, she's really into conspiracy theories." The food lover rolls her eyes.
The tiny big nosed creature grips the bars. "The world is locked in a perpetual battle with higher beings that wish to use us as their play things! Beyond the veil is nothing but their laughter!"
"Okay, those don't really sound like crimes to me. But, I'm not really from around here." Luz tried to rationalize. Sure she hung out with gangers, but was she really going to go against the law of this realm and free these strangers? At least for Eda it was to get back home.
"Those aren't crimes at all, they're just freaks. Like us!" King spoke, putting some things into perspective for Luz.
Their conversation is interrupted with loud stomps coming from behind a door. "That's Warden Wrath!" The woman shouts, fear and worry clear on her face. "Hide!"
Panicking, Luz finds the cell next to her is empty and open! Slipping inside, she pulls the door down and hides in the shadows with King. Praying to the Emperor he doesn't notice it's not locked. Sweat dripping down her face as the stomping gets louder and louder.
The door swings open with a heavy thud. A built man wearing a white uniform and bird shaped mask. Sleeves rolled up to reveal his purple skin. "I can hear you." His voice deep and menacing. The Warden of the Conformatorium stomps his way closer to the only filled cells on this floor. "Just what are you fools whispering about?" Wrath steps in front of the cell Luz was hiding in, finding the wanted poster of Eda on the floor. Luz curses mentally, she must have dropped it!
"Hm, the Owl Lady." Wrath picks up the parchment. Crumpling it up in his hand as it morphs around it into a mallet, smashing it against the cell door. "I'll get my hands on her soon enough! She can't slip through my fingers for long." Luz stiffens when the yellow eyes of the mask peer into where she was hiding. Fearing she might have been caught until a high pitched voice erupts from the cell beside hers.
"We will fight against the oppressor! We will resist! We will conquer!" Wrath's hand morphs back to normal and drops the poster, now standing outside the cell of the tiny conspiracy theorist. "We will never be afraid of you, you old creep!" The warden pulls a lever up, opening the gate to the demon's cell. "Hurray, I'm free!" Her newfound freedom is short lived when her entire body is easily grasped in Wrath's tight grip.
"Let this be a lesson to all of you, there's no place in society if you can't fit in." He holds up the tiny demon and squeezes, forcing a muffled scream of pain. "I take time out of my busy schedule to teach you how to become proper citizens. Seems my lessons aren't sticking though. So, how about a refresher?" The warden stomps away, his latest victim in hand as he slams the door shut behind him.
That terrifying experience over, Luz hops out of her cell. "Alright, you definitely don't deserve whatever that is! I'll get you out." Running to the lever and attempting to lift it up. "What is this, stuck?"
"I think you just have weak nerd arms." King mocks from atop her shoulder.
"Go on kid, get out while you still can." The writer turns her back on Luz. "Enjoy freedom for us."
"No!" White sparks of psychic energy escape from the corners of Luz's eyes as she grips the lever to the cell with her mind. A simple task for her might to flip the switch, opening the gate and freeing the woman inside.
The witch's mouth is agape in astonishment. "H-how? I thought humans didn't have magic."
"Well this one does. You unlock the cells for the others, but don't leave yet. I'll talk with Eda, maybe we can sneak you guys out of here."
"Thank you." The witch says, moved to tears.
"Stay safe, you'll be out of here in no time. Just gotta complete the main mission first!" Luz peeks through the door Warden Wrath left out of. Still no guards stalking the halls, but she wasn't about to look a gift grox in the mouth. Her and King sneak through the upper floor of the tower, surprisingly Eda manages to find them.
"There you are. Good news, the warden is busy torturing some small creature so he won't be bothering us any time soon." Eda hops off her staff as they reach a large door with the word "Contraband" written on it.
"Hey Eda, don't you think this is a little too easy? We haven't encountered a single guard, and this is suppose to be a prison?" Luz asks, this is all starting to feel familiar.
"I dunno, maybe they're all on break?" Eda just shrugs. "Don't worry about it, I can handle any of these saps."
"I hope so. Also, I sorta promised a bunch of prisoners I would talk to you about getting a ride out of here."
"What?" Eda shouts. "Did you go off on a side mission without telling me? This thing isn't built to carry more than two people! And a munchkin." Looking over at King, Eda spots him trying to unlock the big door by pulling on the doorknob.
"Eda, please. They're not criminals, they're just weirdos that got locked up by Wrath!" Luz begs.
Eda tries her best to keep a stern look, not wanting to risk too much already by just breaking into the Conformatorium. But, the sad look in Luz's eyes starts to melt her heart and bile sack. "Alright, fine! But just because I like to tear down the system and mess with authority." She explains just as an ornate doorknob clatters to the ground at her feet.
King was able to break the door through sheer force of tiny demon rage. "Haha!" The door to the contraband room is heavy, but it opens with a bit of frantic pushing on King's part. As soon as he slips in, a zap and a cry of pain ring out.
"Come on, before he hurts himself." Eda and Luz open the door wider to the room aglow from the green pillar of light in the middle. Banners of a winged pyramid line the walls, letting all know who rules the Isles. Eda grabs hold of King's collar before he tries another headbutt into the barrier keeping his crown. "We have a human, remember?"
"Oh yeah." He turns to Luz.
Seeing it's her time to shine, Luz takes a deep breath and presses her hand against the glowing green force field. Unlike King's attempt to breach it, her hand slips through with a slight tingle. Soon she slips inside of the green circle and onto a mountain of relics, weapons, and even some bones. Squinting, she could make out a box at the very top. "Wait...is that?"
It wasn't hard to retrieve the box, a simply flex of her telekinesis and it was in her hands. Walking out of the green light, she dumps the box onto the ground. With the contents over the ground, King rushes to retrieve his so called crown.
"My crown!" It was a ring of jagged metal welded and bolted together. Checkered patterns marking some of the rusted metal. King placed it upon his head, the word "Boss" written in red paint. "I can feel my powers returning! You!" He points to a stuffed rabbit that had fallen out of the box. "Terrifying creature, you shall be my lieutenant in my army of shadows!" He picks up the rabbit and gives it a hug. "I shall name you Francois!"
"That crown doesn't give him any power, does it?" Luz asks. The hunk of scrap looked like something a danger filled child would make.
"Nope, not a single bit." Eda shakes her head. Earning her a glare from Luz from making up such a story. "Oh, look at us Luz. King and I don't have much in this world, we only have each other. So if that crown is important to him, it's important to me. We have to look out for each other, because no one else will."
Luz's glare softens at the revelation. They're just trying to get by, survive and live a life free to do what they want. Sort of how she was living back in Gravesfield.
"Well you helped us, so now we owe you. As most powerful witch on the Isles, I'll do everything I can to get you back to the human realm. Now lets get out of here with those friends of yours before the warden finds us and loses his head." Warden Wrath stalks up behind Eda when she's distracted. Before Luz could cry out a warning, one of his arms morphs into a blade and hacks off Eda's head in one clean swipe.
"Too late."
Luz can only watch in horror as Eda's decapitated head lands in her palms. Staring into the frozen face of the old witch and just screams. Eda's eyes squint in pain and somehow the head starts to talk!
"Ow! Okay, enough screaming! Eugh, I hate it when this happens."
"Eda! Are, are you okay?" Luz turns the head of the old witch all around.
"Yeah, this just happens when you get older." Eda replies.
"Does it?" Luz asks with an eyebrow raised.
Warden Wrath, tired of being ignored, speaks up. "Finally, I have you cornered. Eda the Owl Lady." He grabs King's crown off his bone head.
"Weh!"
The warden steps closer to the human and witch head, the small demon jumping at him to retrieve the crown back. "You kept escaping my Guard's capture. But I knew that if I took your pet's little toy, you'd come running." He'd crush the metal crown in his fists. Bolts and scrap metal now only left on the ground as he tosses the rubbish aside.
"No!" King shouts. "My power!" The loss of his crown is enough to bring the tiny demon to his knees.
Seeing the way he hurt King, Eda and Luz glare up at the warden before the severed head responds. "What do you want with me, huh? I never broke any of your stupid laws!" She paused. "In front of you."
"Besides being a wild witch? I want you," Wrath stomps closer. The yellow lenses of his eye glowing as he reaches for something. Dropping to one knee, he pulls out a bouquet of flowers. "To go out with me!"
"Huh?"
"What?"
Both Eda and Luz are confused as Warden Wrath starts to spill his heart out to his crush. "You've always eluded our capture! You've always been the one who got away. I found that alluring." The coven guards he brought with him cheering him on in support.
"I hate everything you're saying right now." Luz says flatly.
"You stay out of this!" He tosses the flowers aside, his hand morphing into tendrils and snatching up Luz in a constrictive grip! A strong grip holds the teen tightly as Wrath picks up Eda's head by the mane of grey hair. "What do you say Owl Lady? The most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles and the feared Warden Wrath. We'll be the strongest power couple ever! I mean, it's not like you can say no right now."
Eda looked around, and was afraid to admit that Warden Wrath was right. He had Luz hoisted in the air while one of his guards nabbed King. Letting out a sigh, she consigned to her fate. "Alright warden, you win. But I'd like to say something first! Just uh, come a little closer."
Wrath pulls her head in closer.
"Uh, just a little more."
Her head dangles ever nearer.
"Little more, okay that's good." Taking a deep breath, she blows a spit filled raspberry onto Wrath's mask.
"Eugh!" He drops Luz to wipe the saliva off. "Don't you know how many germs are in your mouth you vile woman?"
"Get over it!" Eda shouts. "You had your guards stalk me, threaten me, and then you cut off my head! I am not going out with you!"
"If you won't accept, then I have no choice." Warden Wrath's now free hand morphs into the head of a hammer. "But to make you." He winds up his arm for a swing on the severed head, but finds himself unable to. "What!" Wrath struggles against some invisible force, looking over he sees the human with her eyes alight and her hands stretched outward to him. "Impossible, humans aren't suppose to have magic!"
"Well this one is a witch!" Luz thrusts her hands downward, causing the warden to fall flat onto the ground and letting go of Eda's head. She didn't give him a chance to recover, gathering up her psychic energy, she flings the warden against the force field for the contraband items. He lets out screams of pain as Luz presses him against it, finally letting go for him to fall back to the ground slightly charred.
"Hey!" The guards move to engage with the swords on their hips. But they're tripped up by the headless body of Eda. Putting them out of commission with swift kicks to their cone masks.
"Nice work, kid!" Eda shouts from the floor.
"Okay, getting out of here now!" Luz wastes no time and grabs Eda's head and staff. Once the body and King are close, she mounts the staff as the wings spread with a hoot. "How do you get this thing to fly? Do I need to recite a Litany of Activation?" She knew she shouldn't have skipped those basic maintenance seminars at the factorum!
"Gun it, magic stick!" With Eda's command, the staff takes flight through the halls of the Conformatorium.
Warden Wrath finally starts to stir and rise to his feet. "Owl Lady, I wont let you or your human get away!" His arms lose their shape and form long tentacles. Making it easier for him to use the narrow walls of the tower to chase after the flying trio. "You're mine!"
Making their way through the halls, Luz steers them back the way she came to the holding cells. Unable to slow down with the warden right on the tail, she just shouts at the inmate weirdos. "Now's the time to escape!" She doesn't have time to see if they listened, the angry grunts of Wrath were getting closer. Luz spots a large set of double doors, figuring they were their best way out, she rams the magic stick into them. They fling open, slamming into two guards on watch as they make it out to a large courtyard. "Ha ha! We made it!"
Luz's celebration is cut short when a pair of purple tentacles shoot at them from above. Causing her to lose control of the staff and crash land on the ground below into a pile. She quickly scrambled back onto her feet as Eda does the same with her head freshly attached to her body.
"Luz, get out of here while you still can. I'll hold him off." Eda says as the warden steps closer, blades already forming. More coven guard pouring out of the tower to support their leader.
"What? No, I can't just leave you! Our deal!" Luz protests.
"Don't worry kid, I'll cash in that favor now and keep you safe. I'm sure you can find another powerful witch to get you home!" Eda charges at Wrath, narrowly dodging a swipe of the blade with a quick duck.
"Yeah, her last boyfriend was way worse than this!" King rushes in to try and help.
"Not my boyfriend!" Seeing Wrath wind up with both arms, Eda snatches King and leaps out of the way as the blades shatter the stone where they once were. "Go!" Taking her staff, she mounts Luz on top and gives it a quick slap. Sending it soaring into the air with Luz holding on tightly. With the human out of the way, she focuses on Wrath who removes his mask. Beady little yellow eyes and a maw of sharp teeth. He inhales to lets loose a gout of flame at Eda. A quick draw of two spell circles and the fire is redirected back at the warden. Launching him into the wall of the tower and punching a hole through it.
"Argh, enough games, Owl Lady!" Sparks flickering from his maw as he dives back into the fight with his two bladed arms.
From the hole of the Conformatorium, Luz can spot the inmates she managed to free. All of them just...standing around. She manages to steer herself down to the hole, landing in front of it and shocked to see the crowd gathered. The original three she met among them, but now a collection of other humanoids, worm creatures, and flying avian monsters with human features. "What are you all just standing around for? You're free!"
"Why bother?" The blue multi-eyed ogre asks. "The warden will just capture all of us again, he always does." Defeat already evident in his voice.
"This is where we belong, there's just too many guards and even the Owl Lady can't escape!" The battle still raging on behind Luz as the fanged witch speaks.
"Self doubt is a prison you can never escape from." The tiny big nosed creature says, a black eye and a few bruises marking her ivory white skin.
"You don't have to live in fear of who you are! Where I come from, I had to hide away who I was. Afraid I'll be taken away like you all have been. But I know it's your differences that make you stronger! Someone is waiting for you all to come back home, and I'll help you make it there!" Luz holds Eda's staff about her head, trying to rally the inmates.
"Why are you helping us?" The witch from before speaks.
"Because, when you're down at your lowest, there's always someone to help pick you up." Something that Miguel taught her. "Now lets start a riot!" The cheers from the gathered mass of weirdos and societal outcasts draws the attention of the guards. With the warden too busy dealing with Eda, they move in to intercept Luz and her band. Clenching her fist, Luz gathers the pile of rubble into a solid ball and launches it at the coven guards, scattering them.
The inmates see their opportunity and attack, all manner of creatures tackling, biting, and hitting the guards as they attempt to contain the situation. Warden Wrath finally manages to knock Eda off her feet, quickly tossing King at her when he tries to bite. "No more running away, Owl Lady. Today I capture you once and for all!" Wrath raises his arms, blades at the ready to slice Eda into more manageable pieces until one of his guards interrupts.
"Warden Wrath, we have a prison break! We need help! Agh!" The guard is picked up in the talons of a half man half bird demon and dropped from the sky.
Turning around, Wrath sees the courtyard in utter chaos. The less dangerous criminals having turned feral and are beating up his guards. In the center of it all was a little teenage human wearing a smug smirk. "You." Forgetting his quarry for now, he stomps closer to the human. "There is a thin line between order and chaos, and I am what stands as the bulwark!" Wrath kicks off the ground, lunging at Luz with a blade raised to strike.
Luz's eyes flash white once again, exerting her mind to spike the warden back into the ground. The impact hard enough to break the stone bricks. "Doing a terrible job at it." She sneers.
A roar of rage and Warden Wrath gets back up. About to flay the human alive until he finds his feet stuck in place. Stone owl tubes snake their way up his legs and torso, keeping him firmly planted to the ground. Recognizing the handy work of the Owl Lady, he turns to see Eda with a spell circle around her hands. "Eda!" She shoots him a mischievous wink.
Now that Wrath isn't going anywhere, Luz focuses all of her energy into her hands. A swirling orb of psychic might forms as it crackles and churns. Slowly growing bigger until it's nearly the size of King himself. With a loud yell, she launches it at the warden who counters with his flame breath. It pierces through the fiery pillar and into his mouth. The stone holding him in place breaks and he's launched into the outer wall of the Conformatorium and out the other side. Creating an escape route for the wrongfully imprisoned to pour out of. "Eat that, suckah!"
"Good work, Luz!" Eda, along with King, reunite with with Luz.
"That was actually one of her better break ups!" King remarks.
"Not a break up." She glares at King. "Now lets bounce before anymore monsters fall in love with me." They hop onto the staff, but not before Luz waves goodbye to the three weirdos as they make their escape as well.
Back inside the safety of the Owl House, Eda flops onto the couch after setting her staff aside. "Phew, gave Owlbert a real work out today!"
"I'll say. Can't believe I lost my crown!" King pouts, holding the stuffed rabbit, Francois, close. "At least I have a new minion to help secure another one."
Luz finds herself standing on the sky blue carpet. Awkwardly shuffling her feet and rubbing at her arm. "I know we didn't get the crown, but I swear I'll do whatever! Just, please-"
"Stop, stop, stop." Eda holds out her hands and stands back up. "Kid, I'm not gonna leave you stranded here in the Demon Realm all by yourself. Plus, you've got some great untapped potential with that human mind magic of yours! Maybe I can teach you a thing or two."
"You mean, teach me how to be a witch?"
"Yeah! But you'll have to do a few tasks before I start teaching you spells from the Boiling Isles."
"Like make snacks!" Shouts King as Eda picks him up.
"Well Luz, how about it?"
Luz had been separated from her friends and mother for only a day. The crushing despair that she might never get home was lessened with Eda's kind words. All her emotions come pouring out at once and she pulls Eda and King in for a tight embrace. Both of them confused at the foreign gesture. "Thank you, so much."
"Alright, alright, enough of this parallel arm thing." Eda gently prys Luz off. "I don't know about you two, but I'm beat. There's a spare room down the hall on the left. Don't make too much noise now and don't feed King after midnight! Ruins his appetite." She instructs as she makes her way up the stairs to her room.
"It's not my fault I get hungry at strange hours!" King shouts through a yawn, following Eda and leaving Luz all by herself.
Finding and opening the door to her new living quarters, it's filled with piles of boxes, discarded clothes, and general clutter. Luz was starting to think Eda might have a problem. But it came in handy as among the piles she manages to find a sleeping bag and a pillow. Only slightly dusty and smelling stale. Laying them out, she strips out of her clothes after what feels like an eternity. Now in a tank top and underwear, she neatly folds her pants when she feels the pocket. Pulling out the golden aquila, the one that belonged to her father.
"Ahem." Turning to the door, King stands there with his rabbit. "Your sleep cocoon looks fluffy." His eyes darting around.
Luz smiles and pats the sleeping bag, letting the tiny demon curl up at the end of it. Feeling sleep finally overtake her, she sets the aquila on top of her clothes and lies down. One way or another, she's going to get back home. But for now, maybe the Boiling Isles won't be so bad?