Content Warning: There is discussions of abuse in this chapter.

Luz was walking back home to the Owl House after a long day of selling potions for Eda. There had been some "wizard", but Luz saw through his disguise the moment she laid eyes on him and made quick work of the squid monster. She had never been a fan of calamari before, but the whatever it was tasted pretty good. She had been here for a few weeks already, and Luz had slowly started adapting to her new surroundings. As she walked up to the Owl House, Luz noticed that Hooty was asleep, and the door was ajar. Walking through silently, Luz grabbed her xiphos which she had placed under her cloak, ready for anything. She heard voices coming from the living room, so Luz moved towards it as silently as she could. Upon reaching the door, she kneeled in the shadows and listened in.

"Eda, you have to do something about her! Amity is going to get herself killed if she keeps doing that twisted bitch's demonstrations! Everyone else who can help is either too scared or have Everlasting Oaths literally tying their hands! You're Eda, the Owl Lady, most wanted criminal on the Isles. You can do whatever the hells you want, and she can't do a damn thing!" A mysterious female voice was shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Listen, Ivy, was it?" Eda's voice came out her usual sardonic tone.

"ITS WILLOW! YOU KNOW THAT! I HAVE BEEN COMING TO SEE YOU FOR OVER A YEAR NOW!"

"Ok, listen Rosebud, I get it. I hate that bitch Odalia just as much as anyone, probably even more than most if I'm being honest, but she lives in the most secure home on the Isles this side of the Emperor's own Titan damned throne room. If we're going to save your friends, we need a plan better than just, 'storm Blight Industries', ok? Besides, my apprentice is eavesdropping right outside the door, and I don't want her getting any stupid heroic ideas."

Before Luz could react to what Eda had just said, a large root wrapped itself around her left ankle, pulling her into the living room. Being lifted upside down, she saw the owner of the mystery voice. It was another witch, around Luz's age. She had blue hair, and seemed to be on the chubbier side, but Luz knew better. She had been trained in combat and wrestling by the very inventors of the sport, and her Uncle Perseus had trained her in the ways of reading your enemies at a glance. Luz could see the muscles under the fat and knew this girl would give some Amazons she knew a good scrap. Luz smiled at Willow, "Hey, sorry I just got here actually, didn't really hear anything about someone named Odalia doing horrible things to someone named Amity, nope, not at all."

Eda wiped a tear, "My baby's first eavesdrop."

Luz tried to wriggle free, "Eda, and, er...Willow was it? I'm sorry. Hooty was asleep and the door was open, so I feared the worst. I honestly didn't mean to eavesdrop. However, now that I have, who is Odalia?"

Eda motioned for Willow to put Luz down. Grabbing a bottle of 99 proof Apple Blood, Eda popped the cork and started drinking straight from the bottle. Slamming it down after she had drained it, Eda belched loudly as she leaned forward in her chair. "Odalia Blight, wife of Alador Blight and owner of Blight Industries. She is a hateful, vile wench who slept and murdered her way to the top of the social food chain. She has 3 kids, more like pawns really. Edric and Emira, the twins, and Amity, the prodigy. She had been content with just using Alador to help the business grow, but about 7 months ago, Alador disappeared. She says he's still alive and just super busy, but I have my doubts. Wouldn't be the first husband she killed. Anyway, this here is Willow Bark."

"It's Park, Ms. Eda. With a p," Willow spoke up, glaring at the Owl Lady.

"Right, right, right. Willow Park. Anyway, she used to be friends with Baby Blight, Amity. Then all of a sudden Amity just broke off their friendship, no warning, nothing. This was right around the time her father went missing, so of course our resourceful friend here went investigating. Tell her what you found out, Rosebud."

Willow growled, staring daggers at Eda, "She's wearing a concealment stone. My friend Augustus is a prodigy when it comes to illusion magic, and he was able to show me behind her illusion for a few seconds. What I saw...her body is covered in scars and bruises, and she is so very, very thin. I cornered her in the library, the one place I knew her mother couldn't watch her."

Eda interrupted, "The library has an anti-spoiler shield. All surveillance stones and communication devices are magically inert within unless using a special password only the head librarian has."

Willow cleared her throat, "Yes, thank you Eda. Anyway, she told me the truth about what's really going on at Blight Industries. You see, after her dad disappeared, Odalia came up to her and forced her into a deal. She would work as a model for her Abomination demonstrations for her buyers and shareholders, in exchange for Odalia leaving her siblings alone. Amity loves Ed and Em, no matter how immature they are sometimes, and accepted on the spot. However, Odalia has completely isolated Amity anyway! Her friends, Boscha, Skara, Cat, and Amelia all have Everlasting Oaths to force them to report back to Odalia if anyone gets close to her that bitch doesn't approve of...like me."

Luz had remained quiet, but after Willow was done speaking, she scooted closer to the young witch and placed an arm around her, "Hey, don't worry. Eda may seem like a jerk, but there's a heart of gold hidden inside her. Probably because she stole it, but it's there," Luz smiled at her mentor, "Besides, you got me now Willow. I'll make sure this woman gets what's coming to her. My uncle loves to think up punishments for monsters like her, so we could probably use some of his greatest hits."

Willow sniffled, looking at the other young woman, "Uh, your Uncle?"

Luz smiled, "Yeah, I'm a Demigod! Daughter of Hecate, Goddess of Magic and granddaughter of Zeus. That makes Hades, Lord of the Underworld, my great-uncle!"

Willow stared at this girl, this wild, crazy girl she had just met...and laughed out loud. Luz looked away, a little hurt, before Willow calmed down and put an arm around her, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I just couldn't handle the utter absurdity of the situation. Of course you're a Demigod. I mean, why not? I'm sorry if I offended you."

Luz smiled, "Nah, its ok. Yeah, my official title is Demigod of the Twilight. See, my mother is not just Goddess of Magic, but she's also a night Goddess. So, as her daughter, I got a small part of her domain, and it manifested as Twilight. Anyway, back to this Odalia woman. What are we gonna do to her? Personally, I'm a fan of the Bronze Bull myself. Its slow and will make sure she feels the most amount of pain before she dies."

Willow just stared at Luz, but Eda was nearly in tears, "Oh, my girl is already talking about her first execution session. I'm so proud of you Luz! Anyway, no, we can't move against Odalia, not yet at least. She's one of the key weapons manufacturers of the entire kingdom, so unless we can get some irrefutable proof, she'll never face her due punishment. I have some...connections, in the Emperor's Coven, and while I would never normally use them, bringing Odalia down is worth it. Now-"

Eda was cut off as the sound of thunder rumbled across the sky, and the sound of rain began. Luz ran to the door, wanting to see the storm. Storms always reminded her of her grandfather, but not for the reasons most would probably think. She had met her grandfather a handful of times since their first meeting 4 years ago, but every time they had, Luz knew that nothing bad would ever happen to her when she was with him. It was like being in the eye of a storm, as it were, where everything around her was chaos, while she remained safe and untouched. Her grandfather was the eye, he was the anchor for everything. Storms made her think of how no matter what happened, no matter how bad things got, her grandfather was always there at the end, a calming force in the world. She put her hand out to catch some of the rain drops, when a burning pain radiated across her palm.

She hissed, as Eda ran up and grabbed her inside, "What the heck are you doing, running out into the boiling rain!? Welp, I guess I gotta set up the shields before Hooty-"

"MY STUCCO!" The House Demon moaned

"Does that. So, it looks like you're staying here Rosebud, at least until the rains subside," Eda informed them, creating a shield over her head and heading out into the boiling rain and setting up her defenses. Luz sat down with Willow an awkward silence stretching out between them. Luz hadn't really interacted with people her own age back home. She had been labeled "weird" pretty early on in her school career, which basically killed any social life she could have had. Now was Luz's chance to start again, in a brand-new world that would appreciate her "weirdness".

"So, uh...Willow huh? What's with the outfit?" Luz asked, taking in the girl's black robes with pink accents underneath.

"Oh, uh, it's my school uniform. I go to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. I'm part of the Abomination tract, but only because my dads want me in it. They say that an Abomination mage has a lot more chance at upward mobility than a plant witch, which is what I want. I love my dads of course, but they can be so stubborn sometimes!"

Luz nodded, "Yeah, I hear that. My mami, is the same way. She loves me, I know she does, but she doesn't understand me. She keeps saying I should drop my 'childish dreams' and focus on the 'real world', but I say screw that! I'm the daughter of a freaking Goddess, the 'real world' can bite me! Who cares if I know what the hell a TPS report is when any moment I could be attacked by a Gorgon!"

Willow giggled, scooting closer to Luz, "Hey, you should come to Hexside! I'm sure with your background you would be a shoo-in!"

At that moment Eda came back inside, looking downright exhausted, entered the house, "Oh, no, no, no. There is no way my apprentice is going to that brainwashing facility! Not while my name is Eda, the Owl Lady," She yawned, her voice faltering, "But right now, this beauty has to get her sleep. See ya kids," she managed to walk a few more steps before she passed out on the floor.

Luz face palmed, going to help Eda up, "Ok, let's get you to bed. Willow, can you help me?" The two girls made their way to Eda's room and placed the older woman in the middle of her nest. "Is that why they call her the Owl Lady," Luz wondered out loud upon seeing it. They left the room after, closing the door. The two younger girls spent a few hours talking about Hexside, when King walked up with some kind of book.

"Well, if Eda doesn't want you to go to school, then I guess I get to be your demon teacher," he said, as he ran to grab a rolling chalkboard with a bunch of string attached to it. "First things first, the three B's. The three B's are the three types of demons: biped, beast, and bug. Bipeds probably gonna be the ones you interact with most. They have a bile sac just like witches, meaning they have their own magic and can cast spells!" Right as King was about to explain the other two types of demons, a loud crashing sound came from up above. Luz, Willow, and King looked at each other, as they heard a loud roar. Suddenly, the sounds of Hooty screaming pierced through their combined reverie, as all the lights in the house shut off.

"That must be the Snaggleback, the deadliest demon in the Boiling Isles! EDA!" King shouted, running towards the stairs. Luz and Willow ran after him, skidding to a stop in front of Eda's room. It was empty, save for a bevy of feathers and the window was smashed open. Luz pulled out her xiphos, ready for anything. Willow created a small ball of light with her magic, as they moved further into Eda's room. King was shaking as they moved further into the room, clutching at Luz's leg. Just then, they heard another roar, this time much closer. Before they could react, a giant owl-like creature came blasting through a nearby wall. It landed a few feet away, getting to its feet and roaring. Then, from the darkness came another creature, most likely whatever the owl beast was fighting. It was a huge bat, similar in size to Luz herself. The bat creature turned to look at Luz, Willow, and King and screeched at them, flying at them with unbelievable speed. Before the creature could reach them, though, the Owl Beast slammed into it, pushing it through the wall and back out into the boiling rain.

Luz had only gotten the barest of glimpse at the Owl Beast as it streaked by, but the face looked like..."EDA!?"

Author's notes: Ok, so maybe I lied about it not deviating from canon all that much. Anyway, what is this monster that's attacking Eda? Will Odalia get her comeuppance? Well, stick around and find out!