Chapter Text
" 'Insolent witch! Don't think you've escaped me so easily!' Roared the huge snake in deep, agonizing echoes. Her scales stiffened painfully, and her inner skin burned with the blade of the glacial dagger stabbed into her body.
Azura supported her body on the staff in hand, drawing in the hot air in heavy, gasping breaths. The bubbling lava and the snake's sizzling disguised her noise, but the witch knew she couldn't hide forever.
And then, the thunderous sound of breaking rocks behind her made the ground shake violently, and the great witch dived to the ground with a somersault. The stone spikes and solid magma vibrated, reverberating the deafening hiss of the giant creature. When Azura stood up, with her feet again firmly on the ground and eye up, there was the giant reptile.
'Foolish child, I could swallow you whole right now!' The snake snarls furiously in its agony, and Azura struggles against the simmering pain in her skull with the resounding noise. Firming her staff against the ground for balance, Azura quickly shifts her gaze to the blue sparkle of sapphire on the handle of the dagger of freezing magic stuck between the purple scales of the beast.
The purple turned to light gray. The agile movements slowly became stiffer.
Her body was still shaky and limp from the crushing. But still, Azura dared to smile cheekily at her enemy. She should certainly say a few words to the Elder when she returned. But right now, all she needed was to buy a little more time..."
“GO AZURA! DESTROY YOUR ENEMY WITH NO MERCY!!” Shouts King excitedly, interrupting the dramatic reading for a moment. Luz shifts her gaze to the little demon, giggling a little at his excitement.
“King, if you keep interrupting me during the best parts it might get boring,” the girl scolds in a soft tone and with an amused smile.
“I need new distractions while I don't have the rest of the Sir Muffin and Mr. Whiskers battle! And what kind of king would I be if I didn't encourage my witch champion to win? Besides, you are a great narrator!” The little demon compliments. Wilker, who was also there, nods in agreement and with a shy smile.
Luz laughs again, feeling her cheeks warming up and blushing. It was strange to receive compliments suddenly or without a reason that she found justifiable. But since the previous day, King was easily impressed by several things the human was capable of.
Besides, it was the first time anyone seemed to be as immersed in the plot of that story as she was. Her mamá fell asleep within the first 10 minutes the few times she got her attention.
“Thanks guys. Now let me continue the story. I need to concentrate so that they act according to the narration!” She indicates the dolls covered by the silver-blue aura in the middle of the carpet. They moved as Luz moved her fingers like invisible puppet strings, and it seemed easier since she came to Boiling Isles.
Obviously, the fact even the air contained magic contributed to this.
The reading continued for a few more minutes until the end of the battle, and King celebrated the (obvious) victory of the fictional witch against the Gildersnake. The girl tried to stage the defeat with the action figures as lightly as possible. After all, the little demons were too young. But she didn't spare the important details, such as Azura's staff literally piercing the snake's head.
The reason that saga was for teenagers and young adults was pretty obvious. Good thing she hadn't had nightmares when she was younger and read the book for the first time.
“So, emboldened by the dishonor and betrayal Hecate had shown, Azura lifted her staff to the cotton-candy skies and shouted, 'I challenge you to a Witch's Duel!'” Luz staged dramatically, moving her fingers tensely through the excitement of that moment.
Thank goodness she had brought all the dolls from book 1. It would be a shame if she couldn't finish it the same way she had started.
King and Wilker were silent, deeply immersed in that part of the plot, and anxious for the outcome of a new fight. If before King thought the story's content was childish and silly, now he was excited to know the ending.
But then...
“Hey, kiddo! Come here!” Eda's voice was heard from downstairs.
“Oh, c'mon! It was at the best part!” The little gray demon shouted in frustration at the interruption. The human just sighed with a small understanding smile, sharing the feeling.
A spell circle was made, and the magic surrounding the dolls dissipated, returning them to their original manufacturing positions. Luz stands up, placing the toys next to the portrait on the stool beside the makeshift bed. She then stows the book in her backpack and straps the accessory on her left shoulder.
“Come on. If we have to go out, at least I'll be carrying the book,” she tries to relieve some of the little horned one' s annoyance.
He rolls his eyes, already expecting the boredom of whatever task the witch throws at the girl. The demon ascends the Latina body and lodges himself on her other shoulder, receiving some very welcome scratches on the chin to make himself feel better.
Wilker says he's staying for a nap. All that amused time also tired him a bit, and later, he had chores to do. Luz didn't mind, saying goodbye briefly with a few scratches on little Snaggleback's head. Then the duo leaves the room to go meet the Owl Lady.
After all the events of two day ago, Eda knew she needed to talk to Luz. She had underestimated the girl's personality when she believed she would only be dealing with a teenager who was easily won over and naive about her intentions toward the girl.
Eda knew she had to double curse herself when she tried to push her protective instincts away, without even thinking about Luz's feelings at any time in the short time they were living together until now. She was irresponsible and easy-going, but not to the point of ignoring something that was screaming in her face.
Besides, Luz was much more perceptive than she would like to admit.
So the witch had a promise to keep.
They needed to talk. And Eda knew to keep the girl there for whatever her selfish reasons were, she also had to build a bond of trust between them.
Luz continued to do deliveries and was willing to start helping the witch with the 'human magic workshop', in addition to the house chores she now shared with Wilker. But she would not do anything more than that without first trusting the owl woman.
“Eda?”
“Shed!”
It was precisely one of the reasons why the witch called the girl.
As well as the day's tasks, of course.
“Oh, good. You came!” Eda throws a full beige bag towards the human, who squeals in fright for a second before catching it. “Nice catch!”
“Uh... May I ask what we are gonna do today? And you might have told me you were going to throw a bag at me! I could have dropped it!”
“And I'm right here!” King exclaimed angrily. With the girl's quick movements he was almost thrown down.
“Nah, there's no potions in there so take it easy,” the owl woman replied distractedly, finishing gathering the things she wanted. Closing another bag and throwing it over her shoulder a few moments later, she finally turns to her apprentice: “What do you think about helping me with the magic of your world? Owlbert brought back some interesting things in the last few collections, and I want your knowledge to know what I can turn into something useful for me.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I hope there's some cool stuff that's quicker to fix this time! The big magic rectangle on the fireplace that simulates a crystal ball took a month to work!”King remembered, getting really excited now.
“It's called television, King, or TV. And I've been here for almost a month and I haven't seen it work,” Luz remarks, frowning at the witch.
Well, she didn't needed to use the TV, she had her smartphone. But the limited wi-fi it could get wasn't enough to watch streams on Watchtube.
“I've been to the human realm a few times, the programming here is boring and limited compared to there. So don't even waste your time,” Eda replies. A memory strikes her as she approaches the girl, and a hand stops on the younger girl's shoulder. “Your metal scroll doesn't work very well here, does it? It needs wee-fee, right? I think we can try to connect it to the magic here,” she winks with a smile.
The girl's bicolor eyes twinkle. “It's wi-fi, and that would be awesome, Eda! How do you know about it?”
“I told you, I've been to the human realm a few times. I must even have a husband or ex there. It was almost like a complete manual of how your dimension works, and it was very helpful for business.”
Luz was without a mask, so the huge ear-to-ear smile that tore across her face was perfectly visible. She wanted to hug the witch for such a nice and (certainly) sudden gesture but held back due to shyness and other reasons.
“Okay, now let's go to the tower because we have work to do.” The owl woman went ahead, and the human was right behind, with her feet bouncing with excitement.
[...]
To say Luz had any skill with electronic engineering was a lie. But those last two hours working with Eda had taught her a thing or two. Likewise, she had updated the concept of "human magic" a bit for the witch.
There weren't many options, but Owlbert seemed to know very well where to look for the electronic parts and devices he found on collection days. Among the objects in the garbage pile, the girl had recognized a recent model of internet router and jumped with joy at her find. The owl woman didn't know much about type of gadget, so she said they could work with it another time.
So they worked with another find: a burnt DVD player.
It wasn't as amazing as the router, but Luz was missing watching the Good Witch Azura movies on her computer. If they could fix that gadget and connect it to the TV, she would no doubt take over the TV almost every night. (And she would surely ask Owlbert to get the DVDs she had in her room from the human world.)
However, the work was halted halfway through when Eda saw that she didn't have a piece to replace the burned part. So the rest of the time was spent selecting garbage to sell at the collectibles tent.
King was distracted re-reading Azura's battle against Gildersnake and was indignant with the girl for the sparing of detail in the staging earlier. She laughed nervously but was relieved the little demon had not been affected by the descriptions of the fictional witch's fatal attacks.
During all that time, she and Eda didn't talk much. Most of the words exchanged was about instructions from the witch or questions about the purpose of some object the girl had selected. Sometimes they were also comments from the human about some curiosity about the current technology since Eda's last personal visit to the neighboring dimension.
And for all that working hour, the slight feeling of tension between them hung in the air.
Eda wanted to approach the discussion she was owed to her official apprentice. But it was as if something was stopping her. It just didn't seem like the right time, or a stupid voice was telling her that she shouldn't do it. That it was stupid to build a bond with her, knowing what was coming next. And then her internal voice said she owed it to her for reasons that were obvious and went beyond the omissions of, until, the day before yesterday.
So she was in an internal conflict. A damn internal conflict.
“Do you think the DVD player will work?” Luz asks suddenly, looking at the gadget left on the shelf next to the router. According to the Owl Lady, that wall was for devices she would be working on again later.
“Ha! Nothing has failed to be fixed in Eda's hands for as long as I can remember. And I've been here for years to confirm it!” King retorts with a smirk. “Even the garbage I thought she would ignore, she took a long time but fixed!”
The witch rolls her eyes amusedly to ignore the heat in her twitching ears.
“All right, you sycophantic brat. Keep reading your flowery story and don't disturb our serious work!” Eda scolded without a hint of seriousness in her voice. The little demon squealed but ignored the woman and did as she said. Eda then turned to the girl, “don't worry kiddo, with you and your metal scroll we can fix anything. Besides, we will still find a way to connect it to the magic here.”
Luz laughed weakly and corrected the name of the object again, with a small, confident, and hopeful smile planted on her lips. The owl woman noticed the human's expression soften significantly, and something clicked in her mind. Her internal voice repeated again and louder what she should do. It seemed like a good time.
“Hey kid,” she calls in a low tone and the Latina stares at her, “I think I owe you~”
“HOOT HOOT!” Hooty's shout invaded the place at the same time as his presence, causing the trio to exclaim. “Luz, you have visitors! Hoot!” He announces, smiling cheerfully as always.
“I have a bad omen, something terrible is happening today?” Eda murmurs to herself.
“Great! Always at the best part!” The horned demon complained, his face contorting into an irritated expression.
The girl smiled compassionately at her poor friend, getting up from the rug to come closer and rub her hand over the top of the little one's skull in a calming gesture. King remained annoyed but accepted the act without hesitation. Luz then approaches Hooty on the edge of the low wall to peek down there. And the expression on her face explodes in a mixture of joy and panic.
“It's Wilow and Gus!” She announces with desperation standing out. Eda watches as she immediately opens her backpack and pulls out the lilac mask from within it, attaching the fabric to her face at the same moment.
The witch frowns and presses her lips. "Hasn't she shown the academic brats that scar yet?" She wondered mentally.
It was an eye-catching mark on a kid's face. But that never made anyone on the Isles want to hide like it. Even witches and demons who possessed a concealment stone didn't usually hide scars. Except for the elite class who stupidly cared about an impeccable appearance.
And Eda felt that it was not a matter of appearance.
“I'll go to them, can we take a break?” Luz asks the older one.
Eda just nods positively, snapping her fingers to carry the selected garbage into a beige bag and the remaining pile vanishes with a 'poof!' The Latina asks to ride on Hooty, and the tubed demon quickly complies with the request with much excitement.
In a few seconds, Luz was on the ground.
She sees they were wearing their school uniforms, and finds it strange for a moment. Maybe they had been released early for some event in town.
“Hi guys!” She greets.
The two witches quickly go to her.
“Luz, something amazing is happening today!” Gus announces excitedly.
Yep. She was right.
“It's the Annual Covention! Remember the day at Hexside when we told you about the magic tracks and the Internal Trainings?” The human nods, remembering a few things. “The exams for the training are in a few months, so today is the day when we student witches get to see all the types of Covens before we're placed in one. And look, this year we have a mystery guest!” Willow points to the base of the poster. A 'Mystery Guest' written in bright letters was visible.
Eda lands with Owlbert when she hears that last part. Her detachable limbs shudder with the bitter feelings surrounding an old memory.
“Oh boy, that's amazing! A job fair for witches!” Luz looks back, momentarily relieved the older witch has come down. “Eda, can we go?”
The Owl Lady reacts immediately, “absolutely not!”
The words escape her mouth with impressive speed. She didn't mean to speak so directly, but it was unavoidable.
Luz withers just as quickly. The glint in the heterochromatic eyes blurs, and the irises darken in that same shade as the disappointed look from the previous day.
Owlbert chirps softly, and Eda quickly tries to fix her statement without losing her posture: “I mean, I never joined a Coven for a reason. Sure, it's like a fun club for witches, but you're also giving up your magical independence to be part of a rigid and crooked system!” She said seriously, one fist slamming into the palm of her other hand to reinforce her point.
The two young witches groans.
The orange-haired woman rolls her eyes, “eh, but, you know, no judgment.” She crosses her arms, and again an old memory catches up with her. “In any case, I haven't been to one of those since we were girls.”
The human lights up, “wait, "we"?”
Eda's eyes widen.
Oh no.
“Who's "we"? Another story from the mysterious past!” Luz's eyes shine brightly. “Now we GOTTA go!” She says firmly.
The older witch tries to deny it, but then the Noceda chooses to retort.
“Come on, Eda! We haven't even talked as promised! And it's only an exhibition of covens! There's no way I can get into trouble if it's allowed for everyone!”
Willow and Gus are surprised by the human's tone of voice. They had been friends for a few days, but Luz never indicated she was the kind of person who held a grudge. And Luz wasn't.
She just wanted to be able to trust an adult. No frustrations or disappointments, no lies or empty promises.
The Owl Lady huffed deeply, feeling that nagging tingle in the detachable joints of her hands, and she crossed her arms. She was sure that there was something involved with this mysterious guest, but she also knew that if the girl went alone, she might get into trouble by accident.
“Ugh fiiine...” Lady Owl grunts bored. Luz jumps up and shakes her limbs in happiness. “Hey, King! We're going out!”
“Weh! Someplace interesting, I hope!” The little one returns with a shout from the tower's rooftop.
“Hooty, tell Wilker we're going out for a few hours.”
“Hoo, hoot! Yes ma'am!”
The trio of friends smile, watching the older witch catch the horned demon as he jumps down from the top of the tower. King hands the book back to Luz, and then the group leaves for Bonesborough.
[...]
The group of 5 had "hidden" in a small isolated space in the exhibition building a few minutes earlier. According to Eda, she needed to keep a low profile and blend in. So while the trio of teenagers spied from the corner of the wall with great enthusiasm and admiration, the oldest put on a makeshift disguise.
“I'm already regretting agreeing to it,” Eda grumbles. She grunted in annoyance at the trouble she was having to stuff the entire volume of her gray-red haired mane into the cowl attached to her red shawl.
Luz turns to the woman, “is all this effort really necessary?” She questions with a eyebrow raised in mild mockery, watching King assist the witch with the arduous task.
“Do you think all my wanted posters are for petty theft?” The witch retorts sarcastically. Then, as if summoned, some objects jump out of her hair. The younger ones stare at her strangely. “Partly, yeah. But the big whammy is that I disobeyed the law and refused to join a coven. So if I'm seem, I could go to jail. Again.” The owl woman rolls her eyes.
She uses levitation to gather all the items and tucks them inside her cowl. When the circle was made, Luz felt her eyes itch and rubbed them.
“Maybe this year's informative event will inspire you to join a coven?” Willow suggests amiably. In response, Eda conjures a magic circle. The bespectacled girl squeals in exasperation as the hood of her uniform suddenly covers her head.
Gus springs into action and pulls the hood back. The young witch smiles in appreciation.
“Ugh... Let's just get this over with.” Eda pulls up her red scarf to cover her face as Luz did, and the girl gave a little smile.
So they came out of hiding and went to the center of the Covention.
There were several booths with the most diverse types of covens. At the top of the building are 10 banners with eye-catching colors and symbols. The last and largest stood out, covering almost the entire wall at the end of the Covention. However, it did not appear to have a booth or panel.
The other banners were a little smaller, but with great performances and many witches and demons around.
Luz looked at all this with pure admiration.
“¡¿Estaba viva antes de hoy?!”
Gus laughed, “the banners represent the main nine Covens – and that one there at the back is the most important one of all – but there are hundreds of others you can join!” He smiles, taking the human's hand and pulling her to walk.
“There's Flower Coven, Artist Coven, Big Dog Coven, Small Cat Coven.... There's even a Tiny Cat Coven!” Willow excitedly listed as they walk. Eda groans boredly behind them. “Also the Grumpy Coven,” the witchling murmurs teasingly and they all laugh.
The witch threatens by the mockery, and the trio of teenagers plus King quickens their step to escape the owl woman's "wrath." With the young ones away, Eda takes the opportunity to look around to see if anyone has recognized her yet. Then she approaches them again.
The two young witches continued introducing the Covens to Luz as they passed by the panels. King eventually grumbled about being hungry and demanded they go to the food area. Luz tried to reassure the little guy that they would be going soon. Then one of the main booths caught her eye.
“Ooh, what's that one?”
“Ah, that's the Construction Coven!” Willow replies.
On the big stage there was a big, bearded witch and a small white creature with red hair and a big nose (whom Luz recognized as Tiny Nose, the conspiracy demon from her first day in the Isles). Behind them were two piles of tiles and bricks. The witch easily lifted them up and threw them up, doing a spell circle afterward. The materials quickly landed on the ground forming a medium-sized house.
“Wow!”
“It's one of the main nine! They use power adhesive runes to increase their strength.” Willow added, pointing to the small adhesive on the witch's hand.
He sticks the rune on Tiny Nose's nose, who screams and has her pupils contract with the sensation of increased physical and magical power. From this, a little chaos ensues on stage, and some helpers show up to try to intervene.
“Yowza-wowzer!” Luz says excitedly. Behind her, a blue version appears and repeats the same exclamation. It startles and surprises the real girl. “Yowza-wha...??”
It was an illusion, which disappears and reveals two young witches with dramatic expressions and gesticulating like mimes. Gus laughs and runs to the stage of that booth, with the rest of the group right behind him.
“You've been taken in by the allure of the Illusionist Coven!” He says laughing and excited.“We like to magic with a hint...” he casts and disappears, then emerges offstage, “..of showmanship!”
The other two witchlings emerge in a "poof!" next, and all three take a bow.
“Wow! Acceptance? Camaraderie? A sense of belonging!? Covens are amazing!” The human girl says, impressed. “Eda, why haven't you ever joined one?”
“Watch closely, kid.”The witch points back to the stage, where one of the leading witches was standing with another witch, and their fist* extended. “When you join a coven, all your other magic is sealed away.” They watch the second witch receive an illusion mark, with some veins in light blue appearing on their skin momentarily. “From now on, that kid will only be able to make illusions. Since I have never joined a coven, I can do every kind of magic.”
With a quick demonstration using elemental magic, Eda concludes, “and that's why I'm the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles.”
Willow and Gus look on in amazement while Luz keeps her face expressionless. As Eda leads the way to continue with the exposition, the trio of friends runs after her, leaving King behind.
Before he can run to get closer, a witch holds his arm and says "the tea leaves foretold" the pen in her hands "will lead him to his destiny". King receives the pen but rolls his eyes, saying that he won't pay for it, until she interrupts him saying that the object was free.
With the gift bestowed upon him, his tyrannical desires and royal demands return.
At the same time, Luz and her friends end up getting close to a distinctive exhibit. It stood out with two rows of uniformed guards and a huge banner. A yellow banner with a gray background, gold embroidery, and a symbol familiar to Luz (a triangle under an inverted sword with a pair of silver wings). On the sides, two other banners with a pattern of golden doves sewn onto them. There really wasn't a booth, but there was an entrance to some kind of presentation.
“Oh. Gus you said that was the most important one. It looks very popular,” Luz comments.
“Yeah! It's the Emperor's Coven! Do you think they'll sign my forehead?” He asks Willow, who seems as excited as he is.
“Only one way to find out!” Both of them run ahead, leaving the human and the owl woman behind.
The girl turns to the older one, “will we enter?”
“No way. Of all the covens, they're the worst. I won't allow you to be exposed to the stupid ideologies and nonsense words of a bunch of servants of our dear tyrant.”
“Okay, I got it Eda. Covens bad. Individualism cool.” The human sums up the witch's dilemma and sighs in frustration. “But I'm still figuring this world out, and I wanna make up my own mind. So I'm going to go in there, and you can stay waiting here if you want, okay?”
Lady Owl weighed her options quickly, feeling a chill run down her spine with that bad feeling from earlier. With a grunt of annoyance, she gives in, and Luz smiles under her mask. Then they enter.
It was a sort of auditorium, with wide stone seats in a circular arrangement around the deep stage. The stage was composed of a long flat wall that reached the ceiling, and a base in a half-circle, with an extensive performance area around it. The shape of the house reminded Luz of the Roman coliseum in a Greek theater version.
Eda and Luz settled just in time for the show to begin, with the lights turned off all at once. From the center of the stage, Principal Bump emerged in a puff of green smoke in a showman's pose, greeting the city's residents with endearing enthusiasm. Clapping was heard, and then the elder witch began the introduction to the show.
He begins by asking the audience about what was the height of magical achievement in the hierarchy of society. Everyone remains silent, unsure of the answer. Bump mutters in bewilderment about whether he is being a good principal and then states to everyone the answer was to be the best of the best, and being part of the Emperor's Coven was that achievement. A trio of guards emerges from the floor to prove the elder's point, and again the audience cheers.
Bump continued to say a few words, and the trio of guards gave a brief demonstration of magical power using elemental spells, ending with a great explosion of light and colors.
Eda groaned in disagreement and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms tightly. To her, it was nothing but nonsense, and her thoughts were only reinforced by that stupid show.
Principal Bump claims the members of the Coven were hand-selected through trials that only the best passed. With words of encouragement, he says that in the future, any of the young witches present could be a member and points to a green-haired, pale-skinned witch extremely familiar to Luz. The little witch squeals with happiness, and then the human recognizes her as Amity Blight.
"I didn't imagine she was into this kind of thing. But with those incredible abominations, she's no doubt capable of joining the Coven!" Luz says in thought, remembering the confrontation in the Hexside escape.
The guards disappeared just as they appeared, and finally, the elderly witch introduced the mysterious guest. The witch was none other than the Emperor's Coven Head, Lilith.
Someone whose name completely disarmed the owl woman. And within her chest comes a sense of bitterness and melancholy nostalgia.
With a magical hologram show, Lilith appeared on stage wearing her coven uniform. The audience cheered for a few seconds. When everyone had calmed down, the witch removed her cloak and mask to talk eye-to-eye with the spectators.
Luz realizes how affected her mentor seemed, “you know her?”
“Yeah, you could say that...”
She gasped, “oh, mysterious past!”
From the stage, Lilith introduces the audience to a bit of her history and journey to reach the position of Head of the greatest coven of the Boiling Isles. Then, she encourages the youths to join the I.T. Exams in a few months, ending with a show of magical holograms. After some closing remarks and info, the audience gave one last round of applause, and everyone started to leave the exhibition.
Eda was one of the first to run out of there and pulled her apprentice along with her.
“Okay kid, that's enough exposition for today,” the witch said as soon as they left.
“Wait, where are we going?”
“Let's go find King and head home. I need to wash the con funk off my skin,” she replies, scratching her arms uncomfortably to prove her point. Luz scowls a little.
“Why? I haven't even taken the coven quizzes yet!” The girl complains, and the woman huffs. In an attempt to find a midway, an idea comes to Luz's mind,“How about you go find King while I look around some more? So we can go back to owl house, okay?”
Eda looked at her with an ironic frown. But after thinking for a few seconds she sighed, “fine, but don't think this is going to be a long search.”
“I'm counting the seconds Owl Lady,” the younger girl winked her blue eye in teasing, smiling playfully.
The witch gave a small smile, “you're getting good at bargains.”
She messes up the human's hair and Luz laughs, and then they both go their separate ways. Luz starts looking at the pamphlet she picked up before leaving the show, thinking about going after her friends while mumbling about the other activities available in the building.
Because she's walking distracted, she doesn't see the green-haired witch who was right in her way. Then the two bump into each other.
“Hey!” The little witch exclaims, turning around quickly.“Watch where you're...! Oh, it's you.” She says with disgust in her voice, and Luz shudders as she recognizes the witch again.
“A-ah, hey Amity... N-nice to see you here...” The Latina mentally moans at the return of her nervous stutter. But it wasn't exactly her fault.
It was Amity Blight. The girl with the cold, intimidating eyes who almost mashed her up with those abominations.
"It's funny how I wasn't afraid of her till two minutes ago, but now it seems those golden eyes are reading my soul!"
“What do you think you're doing here? This Covention is for witches only!” Amity says in an accusatory tone and with sharp eyes of suspicion.
“W-well... I'm learning how to be a witch so.... I- I kinda can to be here?” Luz answers nervously, bringing her hands to tightly grip the strap of her backpack. “And- and also, I'm apprentice of a powerful witch and a ferocious demon!”
Amity frowns, shifting her gaze to the event behind the human and crossing her arms with a raised eyebrow in mockery.
“Is that your ferocious demon right there?” the witch asks, and Luz turns around.
Coming up to them was King with a group of witches from the Bakers Coven right behind him, carrying several trays of goodies. The little demon had a royal robe over his green shirt and a cap with a crown drawn on it. He hummed a little tune about himself while being carried by one of the apron-clad witches.
When they were close enough to the girls, he orders them to get down and one of the leaders finally questions him about joining their coven. In response, King devours the cupcake in paw and steals another before saying no, running away in Luz's direction.
“Hey, Luz! Look at all the offerings I...!” King yelps in exasperation as he trips over his tunic and tumbles to the ground, dropping the cupcake.
Luz quickly moves and lifts the demon in her arms. At the same time, Amity bends down to pick up the cupcake. King settles on the human's shoulder, and Luz approaches the witch to get the cupcake back.
However, Amity bypasses the Latina's hand and uses the levitation spell to get the goodie out of their reach. King whimpers indignantly at the audacity.
“Hey! Give me back my cupcake!”
“Why are you doing this Amity?” Luz questions, ignoring her nervousness to take a more serious stance. She felt she was getting into trouble.
“You and your pet are giving the real witches-in-training a bad name. You are a human! You're not even capable of casting spells!” The Blight accused, pointing her finger at the blue-haired girl.
Luz gulped, hearing King whimpering annoyed at the picking on and demanding his offering back.
“C'mon, Luz! Be my champion and show her how powerful you are!”The little horned ordered.
Her impulsive instincts told her to prove the witch was wrong and show her magical abilities. However, her inner, rational voice tried to argue that it wouldn't be worth it. She reminded her of Amity had two divergent personalities when in public or alone with Willow.
Remembering her friend calmed Luz, and her inner voice made her think a little.
“So, human, what are you going to do?” Amity asked neutrally, but her words sounded teasing.
Taking a deep breath, the Latina girl replied with some shyness, “he knows how to be a ferocious demon when he wants to, but he's younger. And picking on kids is not cool, Amity. That's low even for you,” she says with a slight scowl.“Come on King, we can get another cupcake and back home I'll make you a snack.”
“Hooray! That is a wise choice of words, my brave witch champion! Weh!”
Luz stares into Blight's cold eyes one last time before turning her back on her and walking away. Watching the human walk away and feeling uncomfortable with the mini audience in the background and her last words, Amity clenches one of her fists before huffing. She levitates the cupcake towards the pair. The treat lands in front of the Latina girl, and she squeals in alarm before taking the candy and turning back to the witch.
Amity showed no change in expression, but her eyes sharpened even more before she turned her back and walked away.
“My cupcake!” King celebrates the return of his offering, and promptly begins to eat the cupcake. “You rocked, Luz! But can I still get another one?”
She laughs and nods. “Sure. I want to try it too, if your tyranny allows. Besides, Eda was looking for you. So as long as I have you with me, we can stay as long as we want here!”
[...]
Eda grunts angrily and kicks hard at a snack pack was on the floor. It was already the third time she had spotted the same Fashion Coven booth, and she still hadn't found King!
"I must admit the girl was clever this time," she says in her mind, thinking about the deal she made with the apprentice. All this long-winded searching was giving her plenty of time in that place.
The owl woman turns into a hallway once more, huffing and groaning in annoyance. Then the noise of a huddle catches her attention, and she looks away, spotting the last witch she wants to see in her life being the center of attention of those silly young witches.
The Head Witch of Emperor's Coven. The great and inspiring spokeswoman for the ideologies of a tyrant who believed he could communicate with the corpse of the Titan. The leader of a band of blind idiots who had been trying to capture her for almost a decade.
Lilith Clawthorne. Her dear, hateful older sister.
"Ugh, I knew my omens never failed."
Eda approached the small crowd and hid behind a column to peek at them. Lilith had a blurry glint in her eyes and a tired smile. She didn't seem too focused on signing autographs and answering the questions of the young witches around her.
The owl woman felt a twinge of compassion for her sister but quickly drowned the feeling and tried to push it into the well of forbidden memories and emotions in her mind. She shakes her head with a groan and eventually allows a stupid idea to catch up with her.
On the other side, Lilith waves goodbye to the group of children and sighs with momentary relief. There were so many things on her mind at that moment. Honestly, she was scolding herself for having even the slightest hope of eventually meeting someone she hadn't had direct contact with for many years.
Straightening her posture and forming a new short-term goal, she started walking back to the auditorium where she had introduced herself. Lilith politely greeted the witches who stopped her for a moment for autographs or compliments on her position, always smiling at them. As she was about to turn in the hallway, an owl flies in front of her and startles her.
Lilith's eyes widen when she recognizes the bird. She freezes for a moment when he lands on her shoulder and hums gently.
“Owlbert...”
“Yeah, I've been trying for years to get him to bite you when he sees you.” Eda's voice intrudes into her ears and echoes, causing the head witch to turn around abruptly.
In the isolated and barely lit space of that area of the building, the Owl Lady was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed and her mask down.
“Edalyn,” Lilith says as she quickly straightens her composure.
“The one and only. Missed me?” The red-haired witch joked.
“It's been a long time since our last meeting. And what kind of junk are you wearing?”
“It's called disguise. And apparently it worked very well, since I was at your little show and you didn't even look at me. It hurt my feelings.” A fake pout appears on the younger Clawthorne's lips.
“And why would I pay attention to a trash collector? You shouldn't even be here, Edalyn.”
“Oh, I know, but I came anyway. I felt that someone from the Emperor's servant club would show up and want to leave my regards. Besides, I was watching that bunch of stupid people surrounding you. I restrained myself from coming closer and telling one of your embarrassing childhood stories. Like that one where you peed so hard you were excited to see the Emperor's Coven.”
Lilith growled, her face flushed and her fists clenched.
“I should arrest you right now for provoking an authority figure, as well as being a wanted criminal!” The leader witch exclaims in an accusatory tone.
“Ha! Try your luck, dear sister. Have you forgotten you have been failing to hunt me down for almost seven years?” Eda mocks with a cheeky smile.
“You think being a coven-less makes you so much smarter than everyone else. But while you're having fun with my hunting squads and running from the law like a degenerate, I'm mentoring the next generation of powerful witch students!” Lilith says confidently, smiling as she sees that her words seem to hit her sister.
Eda rolls her eyes. “Well, I have a student too. And I bet she has the potential to wipe the floor with any of your prissy little blue-bloods!”
“Is that a threat?”
“Oh ho ho, no. It's a promise.”
The eye competition was fierce, and Eda felt the burning of the curse under her skin, bubbling and wanting to be free of those chains from her subconscious. Perhaps at some point she lost control briefly, since Lilith was the first to back away, saying:
“You like bets, don't you, dear sister? How about one?”
Eda scoffs with a snort, “and what's in it for me? Besides, of course, proving that I am better than you.”
“I propose a witch duel. In the auditorium. In one hour. Bring your apprentice, and I'll bring my protégé, and we'll see if you're right. If you win, I'll give up my chase after you for a month, and as a bonus, you'll have your posters removed; but if I win, you'll have to surrender to me and join the Emperor's Coven.”
More old memories strike the owl woman, and she shivers, all her detachable limbs burning uncomfortably. She had lost precious people in her life because of that damned coven, and everlasting oaths prevented her from exposing the atrocities she had both witnessed and had knowledge of.
She could refuse. But she was sure it would intensify the chases and would be putting the girl at risk. At the same time, Luz was not prepared enough, and accepting the challenge would be handing a victory and her life on a silver platter to her despicable sister and that bastard Emperor.
Unless...
“Why not? I like a good challenge, and this one only benefits me!”
Eda said without any uncertainty. Lilith almost lost her posture again at her younger sister's confidence.
Thus an everlasting oath is made between them.
[...]
“Okay, the list of ingredients had me a little put off, but the taste of this is just amazing!”Luz affirms with her eyes twinkling like stars and her pupils dilated. Willow laughs at her friend's reaction, taking a bite of their shared piece of pie.
Not long after the meeting with Amity, Luz ended up meeting her friends at the Cooking Coven booth. Gus seemed extremely happy, showing off the signature he got right after the show in the auditorium. They soon pulled Luz in to try the food on display. And with King squeaking demanding that he was still hungry, she had no other choice.
At first, the 'human' tried to refuse the snacks they offered her. They all contained some insect or moved in a way that was suspicious for someone who grew up eating inanimate food. However, once she tried the Isles version of barbecue (where the meats were covered in flaming honey and moaned in a hum that was painful to listen to for a long time), a whole new menu of available options appeared before her eyes.
Until then, she had only risked dishes where the food was not alive as she chewed. And she had definitely avoided insects and small creatures because she felt she wouldn't (literally) have the stomach to consume them.
At that moment, she was enjoying a pie with the smoked meat of some beast, spiky potato dough, and sauteed trash slug filling. It was salty and had a creamy texture, and strangely the slugs reminded her of the taste of cream cheese.
Perhaps in the same way she can do magic, her body was also adept at the more "daring" cooking of the Isles.
“I heard that the restaurants in town were stocked with a pile of trash slug eggs. And one of my favorite dishes is with them! The next couple of weeks will be the happiest of my life!” Gus said with a silly sigh, and little hearts were almost coming out of his ears.
“Weh! These offerings are almost as good as the feasts Luz makes in the Owl House. You should try it sometime!” King comments while devouring his own piece of pie. Luz blushes shyly at the compliment in front of her friends.
“You cook? That's awesome! Do you have any human dishes you can make here for us to try?” Willow asks and Gus's eyes shine.
“Well...”
“I found you!” Owl Lady's voice is heard by all four of them. “Kiddo, you're going to have a duel in less than an hour, and you need to get ready. So let's go.”
“Wait, what?!?!” Luz exclaims, not having time to react as the witch starts dragging her into the auditorium.
Willow and Gus looked at each other worriedly, wondering whether or not to follow them. King didn't even think twice and went after them both, hating the idea of being alone with the pair of academic witchlings.
Luz tried to disengage herself from the woman the whole way, trying to reason with Eda, while the witch only gave vague answers and cut the subject before she could complete a single sentence. When they finally reached the auditorium arena, the girl was finally let out of the iron grip.
“¡¿Qué carajo, Eda?! What have you got me into?” Luz demanded almost desperately, rubbing her pressed wrist to relieve the discomfort.
“Maybe I was stupid and agreed to a witch duel between you and a prissy blue-blooded witch who may or may not be Lilith's protégé,” she finally explains more clearly. The problem is that it didn't help the Latina's panic at all.
“WHAT?? ¿¿Estás loca?? I ran away from a possible duel 15 minutes ago, and now you want me to fight the apprentice of the Leader of the most powerful Coven in Boiling Isles?” The girl asks indignantly and terrified.
“Yep, that's right.” The witch replies simply, making the human girl's eyes widen. Eda sighs, “look, I know I'm on bad terms with you, and I've been wanting to talk to you since the beginning of the day. But right now, we have a problem, and we need to solve it.”
Luz takes a deep breath, combing and pulling her hair hard in an emergency attempt to calm herself down. The tugging made her head hurt but distracted her from thinking too much about what was making her so dangerously restless and angry.
She lowers the mask, and with one last long, deep sigh, Luz finishes the ritual by clenching her fists. They glow with the faint blue aura of the anesthetic spell, calming her down.
“I can't do this, Eda,” she declares seriously, looking the witch in the eyes.
“I know.”
“And now you know our talk is no longer only about my magic lessons.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So how do you propose to resolve this situation? You've got me in the middle of a duel, and the only spells I know don't help at all in a magical fight!”
“I have a plan. There's no way I'm gonna let that snob win.”
“I have a very bad feeling about this...”
Later that day, the auditorium again filled with a lively crowd of young witches and Covention counselors.
“Beloved citizens of Bonesborough...”
As Lilith announced the duel from the stage, the owl woman and her apprentice finished discussing the details of the plan. At the same time, the girl was practicing conjuring the just-learned shield spell as part of the plan.
“Alright kid, I think you'll manage fine there,” says the older one in encouragement.
“Are we really going to cheat?” Luz asks with a slightly annoyed frown.
“Chill off, nobody'll know.”
Before she can give an answer, they hear from the arena:
“... So, the Emperor's Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the sort of witch we seek every year. Let the opponents come to the arena!”
A round of applause rang out, and Luz stared intensely at her mentor.
“But I will know. And even if I win, that will still be a defeat.”
The witch wanted to say something but pressed her lips together to swallow the words. Then she draws a golden circle around them both, and the outline lights up in a blinding glow. They emerge from a brief show of magical holograms that form a giant owl.
As she looked around, Luz tightened the strap of her backpack using both hands, feeling nervous with so many eyes on her.
“Here, we have the challengers that led us to this duel: the criminal known as The Owl Lady and her student...”
“Lu-Luz! Luz Noceda!” The Latina nervously introduced herself.
“Luz Noceda. Mm, I must admit I wasn't expecting this, Edalyn. But is she as powerful as you say?” Lilith teases.
Eda growls, momentarily feeling the burning that starts in her chest and spreads through her body under her skin.
“And now, I introduce my strongest protégé for this witch's duel: Amity Blight!”
Luz freezes and pales.
“WHAT?”
In a magical explosion that covered the entire auditorium, Amity Blight appears on the stage next to Lilith.
Golden eyes crossed the arena until they met the image of the girl with colored irises and blue hair. The opaque glow of gold flashed in surprise.
"Of all the witches, the human?"
Amity leaned lightly against her mistress and tried to reason, “Lady Lilith, I don't think...”
“Not now, Amity.” The head witch interrupts harshly with a firm touch on the girl's shoulder. The Blight rubs her left fist in discomfort, obeying.
Luz looks at the gray-red-headed witch with desperation shining in her eyes, silently begging her to stop this. She couldn't fight Amity! She was Willow's best friend! What if she was watching that disaster?!
“Eda...”
“Relax, you can do this.”
Then the screaming bell rings announcing the beginning of the duel.
The two teenagers walk to the center of the arena, and 10 seconds are given before Amity makes the first move. She makes a large magenta circle, summoning a gigantic abomination. Both reacted in surprise, but the Noceda panicked while a small smile appeared on the pale girl's lips.
The goo monster stood in a waiting position, expecting the first command. So the young witch held out her hand for a handshake before starting the fight.
Luz trembled at the idea of touching the cold-eyed girl.
The human gripped the strap of her backpack with one hand while the other moved to shake the pale girl's hand. But with a distance of inches between them, the inner voice in her mind questioned her:
"Are you really going to fight her?"
At that moment Luz hesitated, then retracted her hand.
“No.”
Amity immediately frowned.
“No what?”
“I... I'm not fighting against you.”
Okay, maybe she should have said that a little lower. The echo of her own voice made her cringe.
Most of the audience reacted with indignation or annoyed grumbles at the broken expectation. In one of the lower seats were Willow and Gus actually watching that duel alongside King, and the bespectacled witch breathed a sigh of relief at Luz's decision.
The older witches on opposite sides of the arena, on the other hand, reacted with wide eyes, and Lilith was speechless.
But seconds later, a beautiful smile of satisfaction adorned her lips.
Meanwhile, Eda alternated her gazes between the flaming glow of anger towards the black-haired witch and the fear that was born in the pit of her stomach and reached her chest.
"Luz, what do you want to do?"
“I don't wanna fight with you, Amity.” The human repeated.
This somehow hit a nerve in the young Blight.
“Why not? Do you still arrogantly believe you're better than me?” The gleam in the golden eyes never looked so icy, and Luz felt a bad shiver run down the back of her neck.
Still, she tried hard not to let her nervousness overwhelm her.
She might try using words again.
“No, I don't think I'm better or stronger than you, Amity. I'm a human, remember?”
The witch remained silent.
“Besides, I don't think any of us asked for this duel, did you? Did your mentor tell you that all this is a bet?”
Now Amity reacted, turning to her mistress on the stage. The leader witch's smile died, and her face hardened into a blank look.
It wasn't a... lie?
“Really?” The green-haired girl felt a discomfort rise in her chest, and instinctively a hand grabbed her uniform.
“That's the first thing Eda said to me when she dragged me here. It's just a silly ego competition between powerful witches,” Luz said, looking away from the owl woman and squinting her eyes. Then, she turns back to the young witch in front of her, hesitating for a moment before speaking again. “Just like the good witch Azura tried with her rival Hecate before the duel at the Bog of Immediate Regret, I want to settle things peacefully. So... truce?”
It was Luz's turn to extend her hand.
The cold gleam in the golden eyes was warmed, softening considerably.
Amity made a magic circle around the human's wrist, then shook her hand.
“I renounce.” She says quietly, and Luz is sure she was the only one to hear. No one reacts to her words except for her, who briefly widens her eyes.
As soon as the witchling stepped back, the older ones came closer.
“So... how do you want to call it?” Eda questioned with a raised eyebrow, looking at her apprentice. “Preferably, a victory.”
“Don't be a fool, Edalyn.” Lilith puts a hand on Amity's shoulder, and the girl looks up at her. “Amity dear, make your abomination move through the arena.”
The young witch nods. “Abomination, move!”
The giant of clay starts to move around the arena at the will of the abomination witch. For a while, everyone on the stage asked each other what she was doing since there was not going to be any fight. But then, suddenly, Amity was hyper-aware of what was touching her skin, and something in her neck began to prickle in a distressing way.
The abomination froze as the magic controlling it was broken, and the girl began rubbing the sides of her neck with her nails. The itching began to spread to her arms as if the same uncomfortable texture was growing under her skin.
Luz was the first to notice this change, and something inside her told her this was familiar.
The scratches became firmer and red welts began to mark the milky skin, with black nails moving more and more furiously to try to relieve the agony. When it was the older witches' turn to notice the girl's strange behavior, Amity's fingers finally found the source of the distress.
There was something stuck to the back of her neck, and she quickly pulled it from her skin.
Her abomination a few feet away shrank down to a clay-like liquid.
Then she brought the object within sight of the others.
“Wait, is that...”
Eda stepped in front of Luz and snatched the patch from the "ms. protégé's" fingers, suddenly feeling all the anger in her system turn to simple happiness.
“A power rune from the Construction Coven!” The owl woman held it out to the crowd, who gasped in disbelief.
Mumbles of indignation and disappointment echoed through the auditorium. King shouted in celebration at the "cupcake thief's" declaration of cheating. Willow stared at Gus in apprehension and concern, both at the announcement and the way her childhood best friend was reacting.
Amity didn't even think twice before rushing out as she understood the meaning of the confusion that was forming around her.
“Amity, wait!”
Luz wasted no time in going after the young witch.
Meanwhile the Lady Owl:
“Aha! That's it everyone!” She turns to her sister, “you cheated. The perfect, prissy Lilith cheated. Hot dang, I love coventions!”
“You won't get away with it either! You think I didn't see your magic traps? You were cheating too!” Lilith argues with an angry glint in her eyes.
“La la la la. Still cheated! Welcome down to my level, dear!”
The gray-haired witch starts making a scene, singing and dancing annoyingly and unpleasantly around the older one just to annoy her. The mint-eyed witch screams angrily, demanding the other one stop it and getting even angrier when Eda starts to rhyme with a sneering smile on her lips.
When Lilith was livid at the taunts, she growled before conjuring her staff and attacking the owl woman with a triggered spell. Eda is hit, and the wave of magic aggressively throws her against the wall of the main stage, causing gasps and sighs of shock from the audience.
As soon as she recovers from the blow, the Owl Lady smiles haughtily. She has never been more willing to duel against someone from the Emperor's Coven than she is now.
Meanwhile, Willow whispers to her friend, and the two flee the auditorium with the plan to find Luz as soon as possible.
At the same time, the human gasped slightly as the mask fabric partially suffocated her breathing while she ran. Once she found herself in the center of the exhibition, she looked around the considerably empty courtyard and almost considered lowering the mask to breathe better. Almost. But then she just pulled some of the cloth forward and did three deep sequences.
When breathing became a simple task again, Luz remembered why she had left the exhibit in the first place.
The two-color eyes started to scan the surroundings in search of the girl with hair in tints of green. They wandered around the booths, looked behind the support columns, and searched the potential hiding places as close as possible. Sometimes something would catch their attention and arouse Luz's curiosity, but soon after she would shake her head and refocus on her search.
She had to apologize for Eda's behavior.
When Luz saw that she was far away from the main area of the event, she noticed that people's voices and other noises became distant and muffled. They were replaced by the low sound of broken, angry moans. The human holds her backpack strap, hoping she is headed in the right direction as the moans become more audible.
“Amity?” She called shyly, uncertain about her deduction.
“Go away!” The witch shouts, and Luz is startled by the raspy and clearly shaky voice.
But she also sighs with relief at finding the girl. She moves closer to an isolated space that looked like the makeshift hiding place Eda had used to arrange her disguise. Amity was there, curled up with her face on her knees, her hands on her red neck, and her fingertips rubbing the sensitive, raw skin.
In some spots, her nails pressed into the exposed scratches, and her body stiffened as if trying to hold back the broken moans that escaped.
“Amity, I'm sorry for Eda's behavior.”
The witchling lifts her head and stares at Luz with a hard scowl on her expression, and her golden eyes glowing in a different way. They weren't cold, they reflected anger, frustration and anguish.
But mostly, disappointment. And this feeling was one Luz understood the most.
Amity scoffs. “Seriously? Just leave me alone, human!”
"I'm starting to get used to being called human in that tone, but it strangely doesn't affect me like it should?" Luz debated with herself, but shook her head so as not to lose focus.
In response, the Latina insisted, “what she did was wrong. You didn't deserve to be exposed like that.”
“Oh yeah? And you would do something different?” The pale girl asks mockingly.
“Well... I tried a peaceful solution before, remember? I didn't want anyone to be embarrassed by that stupid duel.”
“But that's not what happened, is it?” Amity said aggressively, standing up on impulse and looking the other girl directly in the eyes. “Instead, I was shamefully exposed in front of the Emperor's Coven and everyone else. My future! Something I work hard my whole life to achieve! And you think it's easy to be a witch?”
Luz took a step back, but she would not allow herself to be intimidated in that position. Amity was angry and hurt, but it wasn't entirely her fault.
Neither of them would be in that situation if it weren't for the two older witches.
And thinking like this, she gave a short sigh before answering, “If I had seen the rune before, I would have waited until we left the auditorium to tell you about it. I know how it feels to be exposed.” Her voice was calm, although her fingers were white with the strong grip on her backpack strap. In conclusion, she said, “Besides, I don't think it's easy to be a witch.”
The harsh scowl on the young Blight's face softened, but she did not let her guard down.
Realizing this, the Latina reached for a pen and the small notepad from the pocket on the side of her yellow backpack and then sat down on the floor. Amity repeated the movement, bringing her knees together against her chest while one of her hands remained this entire time on her neck.
Luz didn't want to expose her natural magic yet, but she could prove her abilities in another way. She draws the pattern for the light spell and touches the paper with the tip of her pencil just as she finishes.
The beige sheet turns into a ball of light. Using her hands to wrap around the magical orb, she shapes the orb into smaller versions with a fainter glow, lighting up the environment comfortably.
Amity sighed, genuinely surprised at the sensation that consumed her and the way those lights appeared. Her chest tingled. The magic coming from those orbs was raw and much stronger than any she had ever felt. Strangely it brought her comfort.
“I may not be a conventional witch, but I am training to be one.”
The green-haired witch shifts her gaze to the small floating spheres, making them the focus of her attention.
“A child could do a light spell, but I have never seen it cast like this.”
“I guess sometimes you just have to improvise.” The colorful eyes reflect the smile on Noceda's lips.
After a while, the magic faded and the orbs disappeared. The two girls didn't exchange any words during this time, and Amity didn't respond when Luz suggested they get out of there when she assumed the witchling was calmer. Still, the two got up and walked back to the center of the exhibitions.
And at no time did the golden-eyed girl's hand leave her injured neck, using her entire palm to hide most of the scratches on her right side and the back of her neck.
And minutes later, they met a pair of partially panting young witches shouting the human's name.
“Oh, hey guys.”
Willow glanced at Amity before nodding with a concerned look and a small smile. The Blight watched her with soft eyes and a significant gleam in them. After that, Amity moved away from the trio until the plant witch lost sight of her, paying attention to her other friends.
Gus explains he and Willow had searched the entire building for their friend, and he was worried the girl had hurt her somehow. Luz smiled and allayed her friend's worries by saying that she was fine, and then the duo quickly situated her from the brutal duel between Eda and Lilith that was going on in the auditorium.
Or it was, because seconds later they could hear King exclaiming excitedly into the owl woman's shoulder as they approached.
“Eda, you just smashed her!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
“Eda! What happened?” Luz asked. She was worried about all those scratches, the smoke coming from the tip of her red hair, and her slightly scorched clothes.
“Nah, someone couldn't take a few jokes and then I had my best fight in years,” the witch said proudly. Then the gentle expression hardened with slight suspicion.“But now is a good time to go, we've stayed here long enough.”
“And Lilith?” Gus questions.
“Let's just say I win, and she had a real 'snack attack'.” The pun made the young ones giggle. “But the everlasting oath has been settled and now I don't have to worry about a bunch of scouts disturbing my peace for the next month.”
Eda knew an everlasting oath would be taken when the bet was created. However, as an excellent liar and cunning witch, she knew the perfect trick to get around the terms in the spell and circumvent the magical punishment if necessary. Besides, it was never stated that cheats were forbidden.
When the group is out of the building and Luz's friends wave goodbye, the human leans on the older one sighing thoughtfully.
“Do you think I'll ever be a true witch?” She asks out of the blue. Eda stares at her with a questioning look.
"You already are."
“What's it to be a true witch?” Lady Owl replies. “For those suckers at the Covention, that means to be in a coven. But look, I never joined one and I'm better than all of them combined!”
She does an exaggerated pose of power and Luz laughs.
“There isn't one right way, Luz. You gotta be your own witch.” She winks, smiling confidently.
“My own witch.” Luz murmurs the words, tasting them between her lips. Then she smiles under her mask, allowing herself to touch the older woman and hug her. “Gracias, Eda.”
“If I understanded it, no problem. Now let's go, we still need to talk about more important things and I don't want to be here when my sister realizes I tied her pointy shoes together.”
The echo of an angry shriek reaches them from inside the building.
“And that's our cue!” Eda whistles for Owlbert, who emerges from within the gray-red hair and transforms into her staff.
Luz only has time to react to the new information when they are already flying away.
“Lilith is your sister? Now that's a mysterious past payoff.”
“Ha! Wait till you hear about my parents and the most powerful witch I've ever met, after me of course.”
“You've got parents?! I need to know more right now!”
“Here we go...” King grumbled.
From one of the dressing rooms in the auditorium, Lilith cursed her sister with every known name as she tried to undo the knot in her shoes.
“You make it so hard to want to help you, Edalyn.”
A grunt of anger escapes her throat with the second failed attempt, adding to the disasters of the day. She should have expected Eda's damned cunning, and now she needed to fulfill her terms of the oath.
“And you are letting her get the best of your temper, Lilith.”
The head witch is startled by the voice of her superior, the Emperor's left hand.
“Kikimora.” She looks into the mirror of her music box with the coven symbol.
“I believe we now have some hitches, am I right? Just remember the Emperor's patience is limited.”
“I will capture her, ma'am. You have my word.”
So the superior figure ends the communication, leaving Lilith with her fists clenched and feeding the flame inside her.
“Your days are numbered, little sister...”
