Gathering the ingredients that Lilith requested wasn't too difficult, although the sage proved to be rather elusive. It didn't seem like it was something that stores regularly selled, but Masha promised that they'd track some down, and recommended that Luz focus mainly on her training.

The human witch had no problem with that whatsoever. Her determination was now back in full force, and it showed over the next couple weeks as she continued to train with Eda and Amity. Although being around light magic was extremely uncomfortable, she was never one to back down from a challenge, and always resisted it as long as she possibly could. Though sometimes she would push herself a little too hard.

Today was such an example of that. Luz was again seated in the living room with Amity and Eda, and this time Camila and Vee were there too. Amity had scaled up the size of the light sphere to that of a basketball, and its greater size meant more energy was coming off it. This was causing Luz's curse to flare up much quicker than it had previously, and it wasn't long before the all too familiar burning sensation started to arise from her core.

This time however, the human witch tried to ignore it, and hold back her curse even longer, but this was proving to be a poor decision. Pretty soon, she began sweating buckets, her breathing became labored, and head started to feel light.

It was when her claws started coming out however that Amity pulled the plug, and instantly dissipated the spell. She then pulled out her syringe of medicine and injected it into her fiance's arm, causing her to yelp as she had her eyes closed and wasn't expecting it. The purple haired witch hated doing that, but she wasn't taking any chances this time.

Luz tried to say something, but was too out of breath to do so, so Amity took this time to speak instead.

"Are you okay?"

Luz took a moment to catch her breath before nodding. "Yeah. I'm…I'm good."

The purple haired witch sighed and shook her head. "Why did you do that? You know how bad it is for your body and mind to be pushing yourself like that. You have to tell us when you feel like you're gonna lose it soon."

"I'm sorry. I thought…I could…hold it in…a little longer."

Eda sighed as well. "You know I'm all for ambition, Kiddo, but you can't cross the boundaries we've set for this. It's too risky."

Camila then walked over and gave her daughter a glass of water. "Furthermore, we're in the Human Realm. You can't do anything that might raise suspicions here. Under no circumstances can anyone here know what you really are, and you know exactly why."

Luz drank from the cup before looking down with guilt. "I know. It's just…I want to be able to master my curse as soon as possible."

"I know you do. Honestly, I want it to be that way too, but you know that we can't rush things. You've been doing a good job with that so far, and this is not the time to start going against that."

"It's really hard for me to do that this time, Mamá. The sooner I master my curse, the sooner I can try to prove myself to the people of the Boiling Isles. I just want to put all of this behind me. More importantly, I want to make sure that nothing bad ever happens again."

Her face scrunched a bit as she said this. Vee's eyes opened a bit as she realized something. "Is this about what happened at the owl house?"

The human witch didn't reply. She just silently stared into the glass that she held, but this silence gave the basilisk the answer she needed.

Amity placed a hand on her fiancé's shoulder. "Luz, we talked about this. I thought you said you accepted that it wasn't your fault."

The human witch tensed a bit. "I do, Amity, and I have forgiven myself for it. That's not the problem. The problem is, no matter how hard I try, I just can't get it out of my head. I can still see their dead bodies in my mind clear as day, and their blood all over the floor. That image just won't go away."

Eda walked over and sat next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

To her surprise, Luz shook her head. "We've already gone through everything there is to go through. What else is there to talk about?"

"I don't think we have. This is clearly still weighing heavily on your mind."

"I'm probably just still trying to process it. You know these things take time."

Vee shook her head. "Normally I'd agree, but I've known you long enough to know when something is deeply bothering you, and the look on your face tells me that's what it is."

Camila nodded. "I agree. There's something that's weighing you down, Mija."

"Like what?" Luz asked. "I already said I forgave myself for killing those people, and I'm telling the truth when I say that. What else about that incident could be weighing me down?"

Amity scratched her chin before she answered. "Maybe the incident itself just affected you deeply. I mean, you were trying everything in your power to prevent something like that from happening, and yet…"

Luz clenched her fists. "You're not wrong. Killing someone was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Titan, why did Dysley and his people have to do that?"

"Because they're idiots." Eda replied.

The human witch groaned and she rubbed her head. "You got that right, but I feel like that's not all there is to it. I mean, what Amity is saying makes sense, but I can't help but feel there's something else about that incident that's bothering me. I just have no idea what it is."

Her fiancé kissed her cheek. "Why don't you take a shower and clear your mind? You might think of something then. Besides, you need to get all that sweat off anyway."

The human witch frowned and looked over herself. "Oh jeez, you're not kidding. I look like I just got done with a major workout."

"Exactly, so get upstairs and get yourself cleaned up. We'll start getting dinner ready in the meantime."

Luz smiled and kissed her. "Okay, Mi Amor. Thank you."

"Any time, Wolfie."

….

The feeling of a nice warm shower was something Luz would never get tired of. The water flowing against her body was just so soothing, and it felt like it was cleaning both her body and her mind. Well, for the most part. As she washed her hair, she really did feel that her head was becoming more clear, but the horrible image of what happened at the owl house still remained, and she couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

Damnit, brain. She thought. Why do you have to be just as much of a weakness as you are a strength?

She didn't get her answer, obviously. But as she began to wash her body, she still couldn't help but ponder on that question, and the question of why the incident at the owl house was still affecting her. Was she really just traumatized by it like Amity suggested? It made sense, but something deep down told her there was more to it than that, and she had learned over the years to trust her gut instincts, even before she became a werewolf.

I guess it'll come to me in time. She thought as she turned off the shower. I just gotta focus on my training for now. I gotta be careful though. Amity will kill me if I push myself like that again.

After finishing up, she then hopped out and began drying herself off. As she did, she couldn't help but look at the scar on her shoulder, the permanent reminder of her status as a werewolf. It was crazy to think that one bite was all it took to turn her world on its head, but she didn't think too hard about it. She instead wrapped the towel around her and walked back into her room to get changed, opting to wear her wolf tee shirt and a pair of pajama pants. She wasn't going out for the rest of the day anyway, so why not?

As she used the towel to dry her hair off, there was a knock at her bedroom door.

"Come in." She said.

The door opened to reveal Eda standing there. She had a soft smile on her face. "Hey, Kiddo. Can we talk for a moment?"

Luz frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just want to have a one on one talk with you. I think I might know what's bothering you."

"You do?"

"I'm pretty sure, yeah."

The human witch nodded and walked over to her door, hanging the towel on the hook before closing it. She then turned back to her mentor. "Why don't we sit down then?"

Eda nodded. "Sounds good to me. I've been standing for too long today as is."

They both walked over to Luz's bed and sat down before the owl lady spoke again. "Okay, I'm gonna ask you a question, and I need you to be honest with me, okay?"

"Of course." Luz said. "What is it?"

"When you think about what happened at the owl house, what exactly goes through your mind when you do?"

The human witch thought about it for a moment before responding. "Just all the chaos that happened. The blood, the death, everything. It was the most horrific thing I had ever seen."

Eda slowly nodded. "And how does it make you feel?"

Luz tensed. "It makes me feel anxious, and I guess a little guilty as well."

"You don't have to feel guilty about it."

"I know. That's just the kind of person I am though, you know what I mean?"

Eda smiled and patted her back. "I do. Anything else?"

Again, Luz thought about it for a moment before responding. "There is actually. I feel…dread. The dread of something like that ever happening again."

Eda hummed and nodded. "You mean you're afraid."

The human witch frowned, but nodded back. "...Yes."

The owl lady nodded again. "I figured that was the case, and not only does this confirm my suspicions, I think this explains quite a bit."
Luz gave a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Since you became a lycanthrope, you've been through many ups and downs, and you've been doing a good job in handling those things, which I'm proud of you for by the way. But despite that, I think there's one thing that's been lingering in your mind. You may not show it, but I think it's been stuck there this whole time."

The human witch blinked a couple times before she realized what her mentor was saying. "I've been afraid?"

"Bingo, and I think that fear has been holding you back."

Luz became confused again. "Why would that be the case? I mean, yeah. I'll admit I've been scared of all the ways my curse can affect me and others, but I've always stood strong and faced the challenges it's thrown at me. How am I being held back?"

Eda shook her head. "You're still afraid of it, Kiddo, especially now after what happened at the owl house, and I think that fear is affecting you more than you realize."

"You really think so?"

"Definitely."

The owl lady sighed before continuing. "When I hurt my dad and ended his palisman career, hell, when I did anything as the owl beast that hurt others, it ate away at me for so many years, and I'm not just talking about the guilt. The idea of something like that happening to anyone else, especially you and King, that terrified me more than anything else, and I became super paranoid about keeping my curse under control to keep you safe. That's why I didn't tell you about it at first."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "It wasn't until Hooty put me under with those sleep nettles though that I began to think differently. When I saw the image of my curse that my mind had created, I was angry, but I was also scared to death. I tried to fight it, run from it, anything I could to prevent it from taking me over and making me lose control. But then I looked into its eyes. And when I did, I didn't see a monster at all. I saw someone who was in pain, someone who just wanted to be happy. Someone…like me."

She then morphed her hand into its harpy form and looked at it. "I realized then and there that I had been looking at it all wrong. My curse was never something I had to be afraid of. After all, it's a part of me, and I shouldn't have to be afraid of something that's a part of me."

Luz frowned. "But I have accepted my curse. That was one of the first things you taught me."

Eda shook her head. "Believe me, Kiddo, accepting your curse and making peace with it are not the same thing. You got the former down pat, no doubt, but I think you're still struggling with the latter."

The human witch thought about it, and the more she did, the more she realized that her mentor had a point. Since day one of her becoming a werewolf, she had always been afraid in some way, shape, or form. Whether it was about hurting others, or about being ridiculed, the fear of her curse had always been a lingering presence in her mind, no matter how hard she tried to stand strong against it. And now that fear had manifested again, the fear of something like the incident at the owl house ever happening again. It terrified Luz, more than she could possibly imagine, but it also gave her a moment of pause. Could this be the reason why she had not yet achieved balance with her curse? Has her fear been holding her back this whole time? The more she thought about it however, the more it began to make sense.

She then turned to her mentor and nodded. "I think I get what you're saying. Even thinking about the brew that Lilith and Masha are making, I feel a great sense of fear from it. The fear of the unknown, something going wrong, you name it. I want to master my curse, but at the same time, I think I'm terrified to fully transform."

The owl lady smiled and put her arm around her. "I don't blame you. It's perfectly normal to be afraid when you don't know what's gonna happen. But no matter what, you can never let that fear get the better of you, otherwise you will never achieve balance. Letting go of that fear is the only way to do it."

Luz pursed her lips. "How do I do it? I mean, since our curses are similar, it's safe to bet that my dream will be similar to the one you had, but how do I make peace with my curse? Furthermore, how do I not show any fear towards it?"

"You just…talk to it." Eda replied. "Show it that you're not a threat and want to make peace. It probably will be aggressive towards you at first, but that's because it will be expecting aggression from you. Once you show it however that you don't mean it any harm, I promise you it will calm down. And once you see that, I think all of your fear will go away. That's what happened to me."

The human witch thought for another moment, thinking about what she had just been told, before nodding. "Okay, I'll try that."

Eda shook her head. "Uh uh. You're still having doubts, and doubts lead to fear. Don't try it. Do it."

Luz then sat up straighter, a look of determination forming on her face. "You're right. Trying is not good enough this time. I'm gonna do it, no ifs, ands, or buts. I've been living in fear of my curse for long enough, and it's about time I put an end to it."

Eda beamed and pulled her into a hug. "Now that's the Luz I know and love. Keep up that attitude, and you will get through this."

"I will, and thank you for being such a great teacher. I couldn't have gotten this far without you."

The owl lady choked. "Damn Kiddo, you're gonna make this old lady cry."

Luz chuckled. "Eh, you should be used to it by now."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to cry all the time."

"Fair enough."

The human witch pulled away before speaking again. "Why don't we go downstairs and eat dinner then? What did you guys make?"

Eda smiled. "Actually, we didn't feel like making anything tonight, so we ordered pizza instead."

Just then the doorbell rang, and the owl lady chuckled. "And right on cue."

Now Luz smiled. "I very much like the sound of that. Did you get the meatball toppings?"

Eda patted her on the head. "You bet we did. Come on, let's go join the others."

They both got up and left the room to head downstairs. As they did, Luz still felt nervous, but now had a newfound optimism. She now knew what she had to do to achieve balance with her curse, and she was determined to make it happen. There would be no more fear. And while she didn't know exactly what was going to happen, she did know she would stand strong and face her curse like the brave witch she was.