Schlimmtag 2, Sixth Lunar Disappearance, 50 CE | The Owl House
As Luz plodded down the stairs and into the kitchen, she loosed a massive yawn, alerting the Owl Lady and King to her presence. She was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of Good Witch Azura-branded pajama bottoms, and her tail hung limp behind her, poking out from a hole in the back of her pants. Taking a seat at the table, the basilisk let out a smaller yawn and stretched her arms out wide, feeling her shoulders POP as she did so. Ahh, that feels better, she thought. Turning to Eda, Luz started the morning off with a question. "Got any big plans today?"
"I'm gonna take over the world!" King shouted gleefully, raising a paw to the sky.
Luz chuckled at the remark and rubbed King's skull, which was the closest she could get to giving the tiny demon an affectionate noogie. "Sure you are, buddy. You're gonna be the best tyrannical overlord ever. What about you, Eda?"
"Not much really," the Owl Lady answered. "I've got some potions brewing, but they won't be done for a couple days, so today's gonna be nice 'n relaxing. Hopefully." Speaking of potions, she needed to take hers. She didn't want to find herself in a feathery situation if she could help it. Opening a cabinet, she withdrew one of her elixirs. Uncorking it, she forced down the bitter concoction, feeling the magic work its, well, magic. That should keep Bird Brain from pestering her for a while. After wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Eda placed the now-empty bottle back in the cabinet.
She then clapped her hands together to get the other two's attention. "Alright, breakfast. What are we thinking?"
In response, Luz's stomach growled loudly. "I'm fine with whatever, but could I… um… have some magic, please? I did a lot of morphing yesterday."
"Hmm? Oh, sure thing. Here ya go, kid." Eda then spun up a giant ball of light and it floated over to Luz.
The basilisk gleefully drained it. "Thanks, Eda," she said with a smile, feeling her stomach nearly fill to the brim with all that magic.
"Eh, no worries," Eda responded. "So, back to the task at hand: food. What do you want, King?"
The demon in question thought about his options before answering. "Can we make some more of that sancocho stuff? It was really good!"
"Yeah, we're not doing that," the Owl Lady replied, shutting down the plan instantly.
"Plus, sancocho is more of a lunch or dinner meal," Luz added. "It's not exactly breakfast material."
King let out a huff before offering up another meal idea. "How about griffin eggs and toast, instead?"
Eda smiled. "Now you're talking my language."
Luz hummed a little ditty to herself as she scraped everyone's plates free of crumbs and leftovers, offering the tiny morsels up to whatever demon resided in their trash can. What demon it was exactly, she did not know. Maybe it was Hooty? That made some sort of sense. He was the house, after all…
Saving that thought for a later date, Luz was impressed with how the meal had turned out. Eda sure knew her way around the kitchen, as evidenced by her ability to make even the most mundane meals taste great. The eggs had been perfectly cooked and seasoned, and the bloodberry jelly that she'd added to the toast was not only scrumptious, but it also gave her a little more magic to work with, which was a nice bonus.
Depositing the dirty plates in the sink, Luz turned to head up to her room to relax, but the Owl Lady stopped her. "Hold on one second, kid. I've got something I want to show you." Not waiting for the girl's reply, Eda turned and walked into the living room. Shrugging her shoulders, Luz followed after, wondering what surprise the witch had up her sleeve.
Coming to a stop in the middle of the living room, Eda turned to Luz. "Notice anything different?" The basilisk looked around the room, trying to spot what might have changed. The giant wanted poster looked like it hadn't been touched, and she couldn't find anything wrong with any of the random memorabilia hanging from the walls. The giant sword was still there. That one pineapple grenade was still precariously hanging from its pin. What could've been changed?
Then Luz saw it.
Hanging right next to Eda's wanted poster was a picture frame, and inside that frame was something that Luz had almost forgotten about.
"My shed!" Luz exclaimed. "You kept it!" She wrapped the Owl Lady up in a bone crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it!"
Eda chuckled as Luz slowly disengaged from the embrace. "That's not the only thing I wanted to show you, though. You know how you were running around with Goops at Hexside yesterday?"
"Yeah, that was a blast!" Luz replied eagerly, before she remembered how the visit had ended. "Except for the whole getting thrown in detention thing. That kinda sucked."
"Well, how would you like to see Goops and Plant Girl every day?" Eda asked.
"I mean, that would be totally awesome, but I'm not a student at Hexside," Luz responded.
"Yeah, about that…" Eda reached into her hair and pulled out the enrollment papers that Bump had given her. "I had Bumpypoo pull some strings, and you'll be starting next week at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. That is, if you want to go. This is completely up to you." The Owl Lady made sure to emphasize that last part. While Hexside hadn't exactly been Eda's cup of tea back in the day (Thanks a lot, Fausty, you old fart.), she knew that Luz would love it there. The whole "Friendship and camaraderie is the real magic!" shtick they had was right up the basilisk's alley.
Luz couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was actually going to be attending Hexside! She had thought that it was just some pipe dream, but the papers Eda held in her hand said otherwise. Luz slowly reached her hand out, and the Owl Lady handed over the papers so that Luz could look them over to make sure they were real and that she wasn't imagining everything.
Basic Information
Student Name: Luz Noceda
Date of Birth: Ka. 2, 5 LD, 36 CE
Species: Witch
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Contact Information
Scroll Account: –––
Postal Address: 1 Owl House Way, Bonesborough, B.I.
Special Accommodations
This student needs special accommodations: Yes No
If so, please explain why: Deformed bile sac, incapable of spell circles.
Emergency Contact
Contact Name: Edalyn Clawthorne
Relationship to the student: Guardian
Scroll Account: THEOWLLADY (primary), BADGIRLCOVEN (secondary)
"Had to make some assumptions 'bout your birthday, so I just put the day you and I first met, if that's fine by you. You are 14, right?" Eda explained.
"Yeah, I am, and that's fine," Luz replied. "So, we're going with the 'I don't have a working bile sac' cover story so I can attend as a witch?"
"Yup. I heard you and Goops talking about that, so I ran the idea by Bump, and he gave it the okay," Eda said.
Luz wrapped Eda up in another hug. "Thank you, Eda," she whispered.
Eda reciprocated the gesture, giving her apprentice/daughter a squeeze. "No worries, kid."
A sudden knock at the door drew the attention of Eda and Luz. The basilisk was the first to move, going over to open the door and revealing Willow and Gus standing in the doorway. Motioning for them to come inside, she greeted them. "Hey, Gus. Hi, Willow." The two students weren't in their normal uniforms, instead being decked out with Hexside branded merchandise. Willow had on a yellow and blue jersey with the school logo on it and a ballcap, while Gus was wearing a similarly colored sweater.
"Hi, Luz, Miss Eda," Gus said as he stepped into the Owl House. He then noticed the papers Luz held in her hand. "Ooh, what's that?"
Quickly hiding the papers behind her back, Luz gave a cheeky smile. "Guess."
"Is it… your tax return?" Willow asked, unsure of her answer, which drew a laugh from the basilisk.
"Not even close. Good try though," she turned to the illusionist. "What do you think it is, Gus?"
"Hmm…" Gus tapped a finger against his chin. "Is it a wanted poster?"
"No, but that would be really cool." Luz held the papers back out in front of her. "This is my application to Hexside. I'm going to be starting next week!"
"No way! That's awesome!" Gus could barely hide his excitement at the prospect of Luz attending Hexside.
"Woah, really? What track are you going to join?" Willow asked.
The question caught Luz off guard. She hadn't actually thought about what track she would end up joining. They all seemed so cool! She would pick all of them if she could, but it looked like she was limited to a single option. Her top three would have to be Beast Keeping, Healing, and Potions. Beast Keeping was a pretty obvious choice, given that she was technically a beast demon. (The fact that the Beast Keeping coven head was also an absolute cutey-patootie totally did not factor into that decision.) Healing also made sense, mainly due to the fact that Luz had practically shadowed her mom at work, and those skills she had picked up probably translated over pretty nicely. Finally, Potions would probably go well since Eda was practically a genius when it came to whipping up any kind of elixir or brew and she could help Luz out whenever she ran into a spot of trouble with her schoolwork.
"I'd join all of them if I could, but I would say Beast Keeping as my first pick," Luz finally said after deliberating for a few seconds.
"Ooh, I've heard good things from students in that track," Willow said. "Plant track and Beast Keeping track share a few classes and they say it's really fun!"
"That's nice," Luz responded, before switching the topic. "So, uhh… why are you guys here exactly? Shouldn't you be in class?"
"There's no classes today," Gus explained.
"Really? Why's that?" Luz had to admit she was a little confused.
"It's the Second Schlimmtag of the Sixth Lunar Disappearance," Willow said, as if that was supposed to explain why they weren't at Hexside.
Luz simply blinked. What did today's date have to do with anything?
"Y'know, the traditional date for the annual Grudgby match between Hexside and Glandus?" Gus added.
"Oh, that's cool," Luz replied.
"'Cool'?" Gus was astounded at the basilisk's seeming indifference to such an important match. "It's only the most anticipated match of the year between the two most storied teams of all the Isles! It's way more than just 'cool'!"
"What Gus is trying to say is that we got you a ticket and would love it if you came with us to the match," Willow explained.
"Then I'll definitely go!" Luz said, excited at the prospect of seeing what the Isles had in terms of sports. She then remembered who her acting guardian was and turned to the Owl Lady to ask for permission. "Can I go to the game, Eda?"
"Yeah, of course," the grey-haired witch replied. "I was actually the star player for the Banshees back in the day. Nobody could stop us when we were on top of our game." She reached into her hair and pulled out a folded-up photo, showing a much younger Owl Lady. The Eda in the picture had bright orange hair and a cocky smile on her face, her neck draped with numerous medals, a trophy held up in one hand.
Willow, Luz, and Gus crowded around the picture. The illusionist was the first to comment. "Wow, that's a lot of awards."
"Well, I would love to regal you all with tales from my youth, but if you want to catch the match, you'll probably want to head out soon. In the meantime, I'm taking a nap, so nobody disturb me. Mama needs her beauty sleep." Eda tucked the photo back in her hair and left, going up to her room to catch some much-needed Zs.
"When does the game start?" Luz asked.
Gus looked down at his watch before answering. "45 minutes."
"Wait, when does the bus leave, then?" Luz followed up with.
The question sparked Gus' memory. "Oh crud, the bus! We need to go now if we want to catch it!"
The two students and one soon-to-be student bolted in the direction of Hexside, hoping they could make it in time to catch the transportation.
As the three finally made it to Hexside, they could see a winged demon carrying all their fellow students off to the match. A banner trailed behind the bus, identifying it as belonging to the Hexside Banshees. The trio came to a stop, looking on as their schoolmates slowly disappeared from view.
"Aww, dang it. I can't believe we missed the bus!" Gus exclaimed.
"How are we going to get to Glandus now?" Willow asked. "Dad and Papa are both working, so they can't give us a ride."
"So is my dad, and we can't just steal Owlbert from Miss Eda," Gus added.
As that exchange was going on, Luz was busy thinking. She had no idea if this plan was going to work, and she especially had no idea if she had enough magic to pull this off, but it was worth a shot. "Hey, guys, I've got an idea."
Willow and Gus turned to face the basilisk. "What's your idea?" the plant witch asked.
"Well, we obviously can't walk to Glandus, and we don't have a palisman at our disposal, so what if I just, like, morph a dragon or something and fly us to the match," Luz said, explaining the basics of her plan.
"Are you sure you have enough magic to do that?" Gus questioned.
"I'm pretty sure," Luz replied. "Eda gave me some of her magic earlier, so I'm basically operating at 100% magic capacity."
"I say it's worth a shot," Willow said, with Gus nodding in agreement.
"Alright, then can you two step back?" Luz requested. "I need some space to do this properly." Willow and Gus abided, moving back to give Luz about a ten-foot radius.
"Thanks," Luz said, before closing her eyes and focusing on the morph she was about to do. For what felt like the billionth time, Luz was thankful for being a bookworm. She was basing this morph off an old novel from the 90s she had read a few years back, called Dragon Master. For a kid's book, it had gone into a surprising amount of detail about how a dragon's body worked, and Luz was now eternally grateful to the author of that book.
The first change that took place was her back, where two sets of bones erupted from her spine before splaying out to their full size. Thankfully, the bones didn't stay naked for long, as red, leathery skin soon spread across the bones, eventually taking shape into a pair of wings. While it would be cool to look like a witch with a tail and wings, Luz needed to keep the morph going. She couldn't exactly carry her friends in her arms all the way to Glandus.
The next stage of the morph focused on her head and neck. Her mouth and nose slowly grew closer together, all the while elongating to form a snout. Her nose eventually flattened into the snout, leaving just two nostrils. Her neck elongated as well, making it look like someone had stretched Luz's neck like a putty. Then, her skin began to change, going from smooth to scaly, growing redder until it eventually matched the tone of her wings. Her eyes spread apart, moving to the sides of her head, much like they did when she morphed into a horse, giving her a much wider field of vision. Her ears also moved, sliding further back and growing longer and pointier. To top it all off, a pair of horns sprouted from her head. Did they serve any real purpose? No. Did they look cool as heck? Totally.
Then, her arms and legs changed. Her fingers and toes shifted from stubby, round digits to sharp claws as Luz fell to all fours, not being able to stand upright anymore. Scales emanated from her shoulders and hips, eventually moving to cover her entire body, save for her tail, which still had the basilisk-type scales. Finally, her tail elongated, dragon scales spreading from base to tip and a few tiny spikes protruding from the tip, giving Luz a makeshift mace. With that last change, her morph was complete.
Taking a few test steps, Luz inched closer to Willow and Gus. Given that she couldn't effectively talk right now, she instead gave a toothy smile and attempted to flash a thumbs up, hoping to get across the message that she was a-okay and ready to take flight. Once she figured out how to fly, that is. She hadn't really thought about that part when she came up with the plan. Hopefully it was just pointing in a direction and flapping your wings.
"Are you still in there, Luz?" Willow asked, to which the dragon nodded. Luz repositioned herself and got down on her belly, allowing the two witches easier access to hop up onto her back.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Gus shouted, quickly clambering up onto Luz and getting comfy. Willow followed suit, but she had a little bit of trouble getting her footing before she eventually made it onto her friend's back, placing herself between Luz's wings.
Now that both her buddies were in position, Luz scratched at the ground three times to get their attention. "You ready, Luz?" Gus asked, to which she nodded again.
Slowly backing until her tail was brushing up against the stairs of the school, Luz gave herself a runway for takeoff. Scratching the ground twice to ready the others, Luz waited a few seconds before taking off, running as fast as she could before reaching the tree line. Just before she crashed into the forest, though, she squatted down and leapt with all the strength she could muster and flapped her wings, sending the trio up into the air.
As Luz flew to Glandus, Willow and Gus would occasionally give directions so that the dragon didn't end up going the wrong way. Flying was actually a lot easier than she thought it would be. It wasn't tons of constant flapping like she expected but was more of just making small adjustments with her wings to keep herself on course as the air flowed over her wings while she glided. Every so often, she would hit a big bubble of warm air that would lift her up, rising under her wings as she floated higher. Eventually, Luz caught sight of a giant building jutting out of the middle of nowhere.
"That's Glandus!" Willow announced. Luz looked for a safe place to land out of sight of anyone else, settling on a clearing just outside the school grounds. Making more small adjustments to how her wings were oriented, Luz slowly glided down, circling around the clearing until the group finally touched down.
Gus was the first to hop off, a huge smile on his face. "That was so cool! We have to do that again some time."
Willow slowly dismounted, voicing her agreement as she did so. "Yeah, that was way more fun than I thought it would be."
As Luz quickly demorphed back into her witch-ears form (sans tail, sadly), she copied Gus' smile. "That was an absolute blast!"
Checking his watch once again, Gus let the others know how much time they had. "The match starts in 10 minutes. If we hurry, we should be able to find some seats."
Willow turned to Luz. "So, are you ready to experience your first Grudgby game?"
In response, Luz morphed herself into her own set of Hexside merchandise. "Let's do it!"