"A- Amity? I wasn't expecting you here. I thought you were still grounded..." Willow says, genuinely surprised, but the witch addressed doesn't react and continues to stare at Luz in disbelief.
"But... she... how... when..." she stutters before Willow encourages her to take a deep breath. However, instead, she goes to Luz, kneels in front of the sofa and takes her hand in her own.
'She's really back...' Amity thought to herself with tears of relief in her eyes and hugged Luz's hand tightly. "How did you- What happened? Where was she?"
"You remember when I told you about my idea of starting a Flyer Derby team, right? Well, today we had our first match..."
"What does that have to do with Luz?" Amity interrupts impatiently.
"I'll get to that in a minute.", Willow snorts.
"Sorry. Please continue", Amity says, but turns her gaze back to Luz.
"When the game was over and we won, the ground started shaking. And when it settled down, she was lying there in the middle of the field", Willow continued.
"There was also this super bright light when the ground was shaking", Skara adds and Amity gives her a raised eyebrow.
"So, you're saying that after more than a month, she just appeared out of nowhere?", she asks skeptically. "Wearing pyjamas?", she adds.
"Ami, nobody knows what happened when she disappeared. Or exactly when. Or where... Although we do know where", Willow says.
"Huh?", Amity asks in surprise and Willow turns to Gus.
"Gus, remember when we were at the last petrification ceremony and we were looking for Luz?"
Skara raises an eyebrow as she eyed the two friends.
"You're right, there was a quake too", he exclaims, "just without the blinding light"
"Yeah", Willow confirms, "But Luz was actually there. Well somewhere... She was trying to save Eda, but something must have gone wrong."
"And then what? She was sent a month into the future?", Willow and Gus just shrug.
"The most important thing is that she's here again. And when she's awake again, she can tell us everything...", Willow says.
"Speaking of which... I take it you didn't take her to a healer, did you?", Amity asks.
"Titan, no!", Willow says.
"Viney was with us and she tried to examine Luz...", says Skara but dithers.
"When Viney used a diagnostic spell on her, Luz kinda... exploded."
"I'm sorry WHAT?", Amity yells, wide-eyed, looking at Willow, Gus, and Skara one after the other, who all nod hesitantly. Finally, her gaze falls on Luz again, whose hand she is still holding tightly. "But how? She's human"
"You know, in fact, it happened another time later when we were kidnapped by the Emperor's Coven.", Gus tells with a joking undertone.
"You're kidding... right?", Amity looks at Willow, who nods, "I think I need a few minutes to let that sink in"
After a few minutes of silence, Amity was ready to listen to the rest of the story and Willow, Gus and Skara tell her the rest of the day's events.
"You do realize you've practically declared war on the Emperor's Coven, right?" Amity asks jokingly.
"Oh, pfft", Gus says dismissively, "what's going to happen anyway?"
Amity actually wanted to list the possibilities of what could all happen, but decided it was better to keep it to herself and instead grab the still-warm muffins that luckily didn't fall out of the baking sheet and serve them to everyone. In the meantime, Hooty also joined them.
"So… Amity…", Willow begins, drawing the witch's attention, "You hadn't answered my first question from earlier..."
"Oh... um... What did you ask me again?"
"Well, not really asking, but I did say I thought you were still grounded...", Willow says.
"I am. But I snuck out.", Amity explains.
"And why did you come here of all places?", Skara asks curiously.
"I visit Hooty at least once a week and since there were no classes today due to the Club Fair, I went straight here this morning"
"But what about your parents? Don't they realize you're not there at some point?" Willow asks.
"Ed and Em said they'd cover for me, but Em wanted me to help her get ready for a date tomorrow in return", Amity says, and a huge grin spreads across Willow's face, whereupon Amity, blushing, abruptly lets go of Luz's hand.
"Will you tell her?" Willow asks.
"Luz? No!", Amity replies determinedly, "It's way too early for that. There's enough she'll have to go through when she wakes up."
"But you could be there for her", Willow argues.
"I can do that as it is, too. End of discussion"
"Um, sorry, but what's this about?" Skara asks confused.
"Oh... You know that a little over a month ago the owl lady and her demon were petrified, right. They were like family to Luz. It's going to be quite a shock when she hears the news", Amity explains, but Skara shakes her head.
"No, that's not what I meant. I was actually more asking about the 'telling her something' part", Skara corrects.
"Wait, so you don't know that she has a crush on Luz like forever?"
"WILLOW!" Amity exclaimed angrily.
"What? I'm just telling the truth..." Willow said with a smug on her face.
"Not cool", Amity says while looking Willow straight in the eyes.
"I had no idea, to be honest", Skara admits, which seemed to defuse the situation between Amity and Willow.
"Don't worry, I didn't have a clue either until Willow pointed it out to me", Gus says. Amity grumbles at Willow, who just grins back.
The impromptu staring competition was interrupted when a meow was heard from under the coffee table and Amity bent down to check. Just like her friends gathered to take care of Luz, the palismen crouched under the table to be there for their friend. And it seems that he woke up, because suddenly he came out from under the table sitting on Ghost. The other palismen also peeked out from under the table, but withdrew immediately afterwards.
Ghost jumps onto the sofa Luz is lying on and bends down so her friend can get off her.
"Your name is Owlbert, right?" Amity asks, after which he lets out a soft affirmative hoot. "You were with Luz when she disappeared, right? What happened?"
Owlbert's gaze shifts from Amity to Luz and he waddles up towards her head. He jumps onto Luz's torso near her ribs.
He bends down and then looks back at Amity. However, she doesn't seem to understand what he wants from her.
"I think he wants you to take her pulse." Skara guesses.
Amity twists Luz's arm and places two fingers on the underside of her wrist.
"Her pulse is calm and steady", Amity says, but Owlbert rolls his eyes. He runs down Luz's arm and grabs one of Amity's fingers in his beak and pulls her hand up to Luz's chest and puts it over her heart.
"Yes, I feel the same here"
Owlbert nods, grabs a finger again and pulls her hand to the other side. Amity's eyes widen.
"I... feel the same here...", she looks incomprehensibly at Owlbert and immediately afterwards at Gus. "Gus, quick question for you as a human expert: How many hearts do humans have?"
"One, like us. Just without the bile-sac. Why do you ask?"
"Luz has two hearts", Amity reveals, "Is that what you wanted to show me, Owlbert?"
He nods.
"Um, maybe I'm wrong. I might have to go through my notes on human anatomy again", Gus hastily interjects.
"You think someone was experimenting on her?" Willow asks, her voice laced with concern.
But before anyone can even think about it, there's movement on the sofa.
"Luz!" Willow, Gus and Amity yell, who takes Luz's hand again.
Luz slowly opens her eyes and seems to be trying to sit up. Owlbert flies off her.
"Where- Where am I?" she murmurs.
"You're in the Owl House. You're safe.", Amity ensures.
Luz seems a bit disoriented as her eyes are darting all over the room.
"Luz? Are you alright? What happened? Where have you been?" Amity continues while squeezing her hand.
"Amity? Is that you?" Luz asks softly.
"Yes, it's m- Oh, no, wait. That's Skara.", says Amity, seeing where Luz is looking. Skara waves a little embarrassed, but Luz smiles and waves back. Willow leans toward Luz, trying to get her attention.
"Luz, do you know who I am?" Willow asks, still worried but in a different way. She manages to focus her gaze on Willow.
"You know, I had a craaazyy dream. I was in a castle… on a sleepover. There was another human... No wait... Two... And two frogs... And then I saw a wolf. He had huuuge glowing eyes. And he sent me away. But then I spoke to the Titan. Heh… But he was sad and- And I don't remember what he said anymore...", she sounds sad, "I didn't want to leave. They need my help after all... "
Willow and Gus share a worried look while Amity's gaze doesn't leave Luz. Luz, on the other hand, now looks at Amity. She widens her eyes and looks at her in awe, no more trace of sadness.
"You are pretty...", Luz says, whereupon Amity blushes and looks at the floor in embarrassment, "Your hair looks like cotton candy..."
Willow, Gus and Skara can't help but giggle, although Amity doesn't seem to notice.
'Luz thinks I'm pretty... She thinks I AM pretty...'
However, when Amity wakes up from her thoughts, she sees Willow kneeling next to her and holding Luz by her shoulders on the sofa.
"Oh, good, you're back. She tried to eat your hair"
Amity blushes again. Luz tries to fight back against Willow's strong grip, but quickly gives up and seems to have forgotten about it immediately.
"Tell me Luz, don't you feel really tired?", Willow says, pretending to yawn.
"You're right... I think I'm going to take a nap"
Luz had hardly finished this sentence when her eyes closed and she nodded away.
"What was that?" Skara asks after a moment of crushing silence and a plethora of new questions in the room.
"I have no idea... But that was weird.", Amity says.
"I wrote down what she said. When she clears her head, we can talk to her about it", Gus says optimistically.
"Good idea", Amity agrees, "Willow, can we take her upstairs? Then one of you can use the sofa as a place to sleep until the rain stops."
"And what about you?"
"I would stay with Luz and let you know when she wakes up again."
"Not a Chance, Blight"
"What? Why not?"
"How long have you been awake, huh? I won't let you stay up through the night"
"And what do you propose, Willow?"
"We'll take turns. You're welcome to start, but sometime later I'll take over and you go to sleep"
And so it was that Amity, together with Willow, carried Luz up the stairs to her own room, Ghost and Owlbert with them. Willow's palisman, Clover, actually wanted to go too, but Willow said she'd come right down afterwards. When they reached the top, the two girls stood with Luz in front of Luz's room.
"You know, I've been coming here for weeks now, but I didn't have the strength to enter her room. I remember I'd spent a whole night in front of that door hoping that she'd just come through... ", Amity recounts.
She opens the door and they step inside.
"I can understand that her disappearance has affected you the most. I mean, Gus and I missed her too... I think I can just imagine how you must be feeling right now."
"I don't think so. I'm totally freaked out right now, my thoughts are racing through my head... I mean, I'm so glad she's back, but worried at the same time. Something's happened to her, I'm sure"
They put Luz on the sleeping bag that's in the middle of the room.
"I'm sure everything will be fine when she wakes up properly", Willow says encouragingly, putting a hand on Amity's shoulder.
Amity turns and hugs Willow, who is a little overwhelmed by the gesture of affection.
"I hope so", Amity says, smiling slightly as the hug breaks again.
"Alright, see you later", Willow says goodbye and closes the door behind her as she exits the room.
But as soon as Willow leaves the room, Amity's smile almost simultaneously leaves her face and she collapses on the floor next to Luz.
'Why? Why did you leave me?'
Her eyes wet and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
'Everything was so gray after you were gone... And I looked for you. Everywhere. Willow and Gus had helped initially, but eventually they accepted- But I couldn't. I kept searching. nothing mattered anymore'
She wipes a few more tears from her face
'Please don't leave again. Please don't leave me alone… I don't wanna lose you again'
Shortly thereafter, Ghost and Owlbert came to her and sat next to her. Ghost rubbed her head along her leg and purred. Amity picked Ghost up and hugged her tightly, still crying.
'I will tell her… but later. First, I must support her in what lies ahead. She's going to want to see Eda...'
After a while, Amity calmed down a bit and lay down next to Luz at a little distance. She tries not to make any noises so as not to wake her early. A few small sobs can still be heard though. Ghost lay down on Amity chest and fell asleep. If she wasn't forced to lie on her back right now, she would want to turn to the side and look at Luz. Maybe it's better this way.
In the meantime, Amity takes the opportunity to look around Luz's room. Well, at least as long as there's light and she can turn her head.
Two framed photos, dimly lit by the moon, stand on a barrel. One with Luz and probably her mom and the other is the Grom photo, which Amity also carries a copy of at all times.
She thinks she can see a 'The Good Witch Azura' poster on a sloping roof. It's not the same one that hangs in Amity's room at Blight-Manor, though.
Not far from her is a chest on the ground, but it's too dark to make out any details.
She tries to see more of the room, but unfortunately, it's too dark. Instead, she lies on the floor with just one arm behind her head, staring at the tapered ceiling.
Now it's absolutely quiet. Before that, a few noises could be heard from the living room earlier, but the others have probably gone to sleep by now. The silence is broken only by the boiling rain beating against the window through which the moonlight is shining.
Amity starts dozing and eventually falls asleep.
She wakes up to hearing a sudden loud bang. She shoots upright and throws Ghost off her body as she does so. The first rays of sun are shining through the window and Amity sees that Luz is no longer lying next to her. Her pulse starts racing and she jumps up and runs out of the room. She hears noises coming from the Owl Lady's room. She follows it carefully.
One of the two doors is open and Amity peeps in.
"No... no no no no no... Not again..."
It's Luz, kneeling on all fours on the floor, just in front of the big round window, which brightly illuminates the room and paints the room in all sorts of colors. She seems completely devastated and is crying.
"L-Luz?" Amity asks hesitantly.
Luz turns around abruptly, her eyes swollen with tears.
"Amity?" she asks with tears in her eyes before turning away from her again, "I shouldn't be here...I- I've let people down again"
It breaks Amity's heart to see Luz so devastated. She walks slowly towards Luz and hesitates when she wants to put a hand on her shoulder. Luz flinches and Amity pulls her hand right back. Instead, Amity just sits down next to her crying friend, her legs pulled up to her chest. After a few minutes and without warning, Luz throws herself at Amity and hugs her tightly, tears still streaming down her face. It takes Amity a moment to realize what's happening before returning the gesture.
The two girls stay in this position in silence for what feels like an eternity. The best eternity in a long time and over time Luz seems to be slowly calming down.
"Amity?" Luz suddenly whispers.
"Hmm?"
"I missed you"
Tears of joy form on Amity's face and she hugs Luz even tighter.
Eventually, the hug does indeed split and both girls look at each other.
"Whoa, your hair... it's different..." Luz comments, wide-eyed, causing Amity to chuckle.
"Yeah, mom always liked it green, but I don't care about what she wants anymore"
"Is it... abomination-colored?", Luz asks, to which Amity happily nods.
"I'm glad you noticed." Amity smiles and rubs her neck shyly before standing up. "Are you coming to say hello to the others?"
"Which others?"
Amity offers Luz her hand to help her up, which she happily takes and the two friends walk down to the living room together, where they find three witches who appear to be waking up.
"Good morning, sleepyheads", Amity says.
Skara is on the wide sofa, Gus is on the narrower one, and Willow is on the floor in between. Willow yawns deeply and 'Gus rubs his eyes. Skara, on the other hand, puts a pillow over her eyes and growls softly.
Gus is the first to look at Amity and see who is standing next to her.
"Luz!" he calls, leaping up, tripping over his own feet and off the sofa. Willow now looks over at her with wide eyes too.
She jumps up, runs over to Luz and hugs her tightly.
"LUUZ... Oh girl, I missed you sooo much", Willow greets her happily. Gus, who got up quickly, joins in the hug.
"Willow! Gus! I missed you guys too"
"You gave us quite a fright when you appeared", Skara remembers, who didn't get up from her place on the sofa, but just looks at the group. Luz chuckles.
"You should have been there when I arrived in Amphibia and first crashed a reunion party. Literally", says Luz jokingly. "Although, maybe not. Wasn't a nice sight."
"What?" Willow asks
"Well, I guess I was thrown out of the portal at such high speed that I crashed into a wall and probably almost died-" says Luz, but is interrupted by Amity.
"You'd better start from the beginning. What exactly happened when you disappeared?"
"Okay, but you should sit down. This will take a while..."
The group does as told, and Luz is now standing in the middle of the living room and with Owlbert on her shoulder she starts to tell what happened
"Basically, it all started when Eda was locked up in the Conformatorium by Lilith and I wanted to rescue her...
...but then Lilith had told me the truth about why she cursed her own sister...
...she led King and I to the basement, but it was a trap set by Belos, who was just waiting for me...
...we had been fighting when suddenly a bright light appeared behind me and something pulled me in...
...when I woke up, I was no longer in the Demon Realm or the Human Realm, but...
...and the crazy thing was, I wasn't the only human there...
...and her friends were also stuck in Amphibia and were separated upon arrival...
...I met Sasha. Sort of like Boscha, but worse...
...Maddie then led me to this huge crystal cave, which will be important again later...
...so I went with Maddie to Newtopia, the capital of...
...we broke into the king's palace and unfortunately were discovered...
...for almost a whole week, until we met Marcy...
...had to help her get rid of this plague of ants, but they weren't normal ones...
...and when Anne and the Plantars arrived...
...I knew immediately that I couldn't trust him...
...we spend almost all the time in the library, but we had to leave Owlbert at...
...they invited Maddie and me to a sleepover...
...but my memories of it are somewhat... incomplete. Anne had suggested going down to the forbidden basement for a scare-dare. There were a lot of mirrors and ghost things. Then I saw a wolf spirit, but it didn't look anything like the others. He reminded me a little bit of King. And after that... I just remember waking up next to Amity earlier... That's it..."
Everyone present, as well as a few of the palismen, look at Luz with wide eyes and partly open mouths.
"Any questions?" Luz looks around expectantly.
"You seriously fought Belos? Emperor Belos?", Gus asks incredulously.
„For the third time: Yes"
"So, Anne has these superpowers... and you think Marcy and Sasha have them too?" Skara asks, to which Luz nods. "Cool"
"You don't remember anything that happened until you woke up upstairs? Also, not that you woke up down here before?"
"Huh? Nope. Did I say something stupid?"
"I wrote it down. Here..." Gus hands Luz the list, which she reads carefully.
"Wow..." Luz comments, eyes wide.
"None of this sounds familiar to you?" Willow asks.
"Well, Amity's new hair color is vaguely reminiscent of cotton candy... And I think I'd remember if I'd talked to the Titan..."
"But there's definitely something different about you, Luz", Amity says.
"What exactly is different?", Luz asks.
"Let me answer that with a question. How many hearts do humans have?"
"Um... just one... why?" Luz asks confused, whereupon Amity grimaces.
"How should I say that... You have... two"
"WHAT?" Luz asks in horror and after a moment in shock she runs back and up the stairs, back to her room. The others follow her. When they get to their room, they see Luz rummaging around in a box and pulling out something metal and holding it to her chest. Gus bursts forward
"No Luz, you don't have to end your life. Two hearts aren't a bad thing!"
Luz looks at him with extreme confusion.
"It's a stethoscope. You hold it to your chest and you can hear your heartbeat..." Luz explains, whereupon Gus steps away in shame.
She puts one piece of the device in her ears and holds the other against the left side of her chest. She can hear her heartbeat.
Now she pushes the part over to the other side. Exactly same sound.
"I... really... have... two... hearts...", shocked, Luz falls to her knees and stares blankly ahead. For the others it looks exactly the same, but Luz is experiencing memories that she had probably suppressed until now.
"I- I remember..." Luz stutters.
"What do you remember?" asks Amity, now kneeling in front of her.
"I saw myself... doing magic... um, kind of like watching a cutscene from a third-person rpg..."
"Like a what?", Amity asks not understanding what Luz is talking about.
"Never mind. There was a voice too. It said something about other humans on the Boiling Isles and... progeny... and a parasite?!"
"Uh cryptic", Willow comments. "So... one of my best friends can talk to the titan now... That's quite cool"
"I- I don't know. I mean, Belos says, he can talk to the titan, but I? I'm just Luz..."
"You're not just Luz", Amity says, "You're Luz Noceda, the greatest person I've ever had the privilege of knowing. And if anyone can talk to the Titan, it's you."
Luz blushes.
"Besides, what else could take you to yet another world AND just make you grow a second heart", Willow adds.
"Alright... Let's say I actually talked to the Titan and actually saw myself doing magic... I want to try something", Luz says, now more confident, and stands up. So is Amity, but she takes a few steps to the side.
Luz closes her eyes. She stretches out her hand and tries to draw a circle in the air with one hand.
She opens one eye in anticipation and... nothing.
"Try to think clearly about what you want to achieve. Um, try the light spell", Amity instructs. Luz nods and tries again.
She stretches out a finger and tries to draw another circle in the air with the image of a ball of light in her mind.
Again nothing. Luz is disappointed.
"It was worth a try", she admits.
"Don't give up. Maybe you just need some time to charge or something..." Gus tries to cheer Luz up and she actually smiles slightly.
"Perhaps you are right. And even if not, I still have my glyphs."
"That's the right attitude. Well, it's still raining and school is canceled today. What do you want to do?", Amity asks.
Luz's mood deteriorates slightly.
"I want to see Eda"
"Luz..." Amity begins, "Eda isn't-"
"I know she's petrified. I still want to see her... I wasn't there when it happened and I couldn't stop it. I need to see her."
"All right.", Amity says.
"What? Amity are you crazy? Going out in the rain is suicidal", Skara says.
"I have this", Amity says, creating a small shield over herself.
"Okay, but we're coming with you", Willow demands.
"No. My shield is just big enough for two. Besides, if we're walking around outside with a big group like that, it would be noticeable..."
"All right, fine. But be careful. Don't get caught", Willow relents.
Without wasting any time, Luz throws everyone out of her room so that she can change undisturbed. Walking around outside in her pajamas can be a bit uncomfortable. She quickly grabs one of her classic blue and white hoodies and gray shorts and goes straight downstairs to join the others, where Amity is already waiting for her.
"Shall we?", Amity asks.
"I'm ready", Luz replies.
"Guys, we'll be back in a few hours. Hooty, take good care of them", Amity says, at which Luz raises an eyebrow. "See you later"
Just a few steps from the house, Amity notices Luz' smirk.
"I know what you did", Luz teases her.
"What do you think I've done?"
"You made friends with Hooty..." she says excitedly.
"Got me", Amity confirms, smiling.
"But how? I can still remember that you couldn't stand him at all..."
"It was just after my cast was removed and I was allowed to go back to school. However... I couldn't. I was practically standing in front of the entrance, but I wasn't physically able to go in. Not with the thought that you were gone and everyone was acting like... well... you know"
"As if nobody noticed that I was gone?"
"Exactly. I... ran away and eventually found myself at the Owl House where Hooty almost knocked me over. After I broke the news to him, he invited me in and... well, we talked. When he's not so cranky, he's a lot more bearable. And well, since then I've been dropping by every now and then to keep him company..."
"Aww, Amity... That's really sweet of you"
"Thank you. I put it down to your horrible influence on me"
"Hehe… What else happened while I was gone?"
"Let me think for a second... I think Em's dating someone right now, but she's very good at hiding who. I think not even Ed knows..."
"I'm happy for her"
"Hmm, what else? Uh, you might like this: There was a palisman adoption day at Hexside a few weeks ago."
"I thought to myself that there were unusually many in the house"
"Principal Bump must have been in contact with the Batqueen"
"That's nice. Did you know that I met her once?"
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. I hurt cute Owlbert here when I was flying to Glandus with Willow and Gus to watch a game. He then flew over to her place and I had to pass a few of her tests to regain his trust."
"Luz, you could have died doing this. The Batqueen is-"
"Notorious for their impossible tests, I know. But they weren't that difficult. I was supposed to wash their children, remove a bee nest and milk something I forgot the name of."
"Oh, something else happened: Belos announced something a while ago. The Day of Unity. Along with an unnecessarily dramatic face-reveal."
"I'm surprised you know that term. But 'Day of Unity' doesn't sound particularly inviting."
"Got it from Gus. Oh, you're currently the most wanted person on the Isles"
"Cool... How much am I worth then?
"Several billion snails"
"Wow, I need one of the posters later"
"Yeah... Oh, by the way Luz, we should be right there."
"Really? Already?"
"Well, a few more minutes. She was placed in Bonesborough Market."
"But of course... There's no market today, is there?"
"In the rain? Definitely not"
"To be honest, I didn't miss the boiling rain here"
"What was it like in Amphibia? I mean, you told me what you had experienced, but not what the place was like"
"You're right. Basically, it was... quieter. Slower. A little more relaxed. Well, at least initially in Wartwood. The village only had a few hundred inhabitants, but it was still one of the largest towns in the area. On all sides one was constantly surrounded by farms and forests, a huge mountain range on the horizon. Basically, the place was beautiful. Newtopia, on the other hand, was quite similar to Bonesborough in terms of crowd and activity. Just maybe with more pesky academics and class-based racism."
"Oh..."
"It wasn't perfect. But what place is?"
"You're right. By the way, we'll be at the market soon."
"I know. It was quick"
"What can I say? Time goes by faster when you're having fun... Aaand I shouldn't have said that..."
Because as soon as Amity said this, they had already reached their destination. Amity looks at Luz, whose face has lost all color.
"Luz? If you don't want to be here, we can leave right now...", Amity suggests.
"No. All the time I've been in Amphibia, I've been trying to prepare myself for this very moment. But seeing her like this now... Let's get closer."
As prophesied by Amity, the market is completely deserted, with only the two girls there protected by a glowing pink shield over their heads. Amity keeps an eye on the surroundings, while Luz's gaze is fixed on just one thing.
They slowly approach the statue.
"She looks just like the last time I saw her in her owl beast form, but she's still herself in her head", Luz recalls.
Eda's frozen facial expression is marked by fear and pain, but also by... contentment. She had accepted her fate. Below her is a large, massive pedestal.
Edalyn Clawthorne, the Owl Lady
A symbol of the fallibility and dangers of wild magic
May this be a warning to all those who are aware of the dangerous lives of those who live their lives against the Titan's will
"Hello Eda... I'm finally here... And I even found your gift... the cloak... even though, it's somewhere in another world right now... I was there, Eda. I wanted to save you, I even fought Belos dammit… I... I'm sorry... I'm so- so sorry...", Luz collapses in front of the pedestal. She squeezes her eyes shut trying not to cry. Although in vain.
Amity gets down on her knees as well and hugs Luz from behind with her free hand. She clutches her hand tightly as tears roll down her face.
"Eda, you... you were like a mom to me... and... I'll never be able to hear your voice again... Not your nagging, if I wake you up too early or we're out of Apple Blood... Not how proud you are of me, like when I brought home my first Wanted poster... Or my current one... Believe it or not, my bounty is even bigger than yours was... I'll never hear you worry about me again when I'm about to do something stupid or dangerous... I'll never be able to hug you again... … I miss you so much"
The sobs get louder and the tears keep flowing and Luz turns to Amity who gives her a big hug
"This is so not fair", she sobs, "Eda doesn't deserve that"
"I know"
The two girls remain in the pose for a while.
"Come on Luz, let's leave again", Amity says as she helps Luz get up.
"Not yet... I still have to do something"
Luz takes a thick black pen out of a trouser pocket and goes to the plaque.
Edalyn Clawthorne, the Owl Lady
A symbol of love, hope and the chance for a better world
"I love you, Eda. And even if I can't save you anymore, I will prevent that from ever happening to anyone else… Thank you for coming here with me Amity"
"Always"