Summary:
Luz and Marcy go with Eda to do witchy stuff and end up exploring around Bonesbrough for clues on Sasha and Anne's whereabouts.
BZZTT
BZZTTT
BZTT-
"gwuhhh…"
Luz immediately notices a substantial weight on their chest as they regain consciousness. Their eyes, adjusting to the light of the morning, identified said weight as one Marcy Wu. Luz hadn't known Marcy long, but they had already started to sense a real connection with her. It felt great having someone that they could talk about their nerdy interests to, and not be judged for them, but rather embraced. It was lovely and all but that wasn't at the front of Luz's mind when they were being used as a makeshift bed by Marcy. Speaking of, it was starting to get a little difficult to breathe.
"heyyy there…. Besttiiieee….. wanna wake up for meee???"
…
They reached for their phone to turn off the daily alarm that they honestly should've canceled the night before. After turning off the incessant buzz, Luz tried waking up Marcy gently one more time.
"girrrlll i dunno if you're in there right now but you're kinda crushing my ribs and i would reeallly appreciate it if you weren't :)"
…
"Gaaahhhh okay this isn't working out. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm bap"
Luz lightly slapped Marcy on the face, aiming the strike between the girl's eyes. Marcy's head shot up as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. The blood rushed to her head as she stumbled off of Luz and gained her composure.
"Oh shucks, did I fall on top of you in my sleep Luz?"
"Yeah, you sorta did."
"Sorry, I tend to toss and turn a lot when I don't have my stuffed animals with me. Come to think of it, that's probably why Sasha and Anne would always assign me to the beanbag when we inevitably fell asleep at... anyway goodmorning!!!! :D"
"Morning, Marcy. Sorry I woke you up kinda early."
"It's okay Luz.."
"No, really. I forgot to turn off my school alarm and I totally should've remembered cause we're in some alternate dimension not at school and-"
"Luz, seriously. It's no big deal. Hey, on the bright side, now we're up early for witch training!"
"Oh you're so right. Do you wanna go look for witchy clothes in Eda's closet?"
"You read my mind!"
Down in the kitchen, King had just woken up and was peacefully making himself a bowl of cheezy doodles. Eda would've never allowed him to have cheezy doodles for breakfast, but as the old adage goes, anything's legal when there's no cops around. The sun gracefully pierced through the window, creating majestic sunbeams to lie in that had King's name on them. Above King's head, he heard the pitter patter of two sets of frantic footsteps thumping across the floor and onto the staircase. oh titan….
"GOOOOOODDD MORNNNINNNGGG!! HOWS MY FAVORITE LITTLE GUY?"
"weh!! stay away from me, you little fiends!!!" King yelped as he scurried away from the countertop, giving chase to Luz & Marcy. King fought long and hard (*Editor's Note: King ran around the room for approximately 18 seconds before being caught.) but in the end, he was cornered. Luz lifted him up under his arms while Marcy stuck her finger in his mouth to examine his little gnashers. King wasn't planning on making this an easy feat, though. He was a proud creature with royal lineage and would not succumb so easily to Marcy's examinations. So he squirmed. He squirmed and squirmed until he could squirm no more. For someone who clearly didn't exercise a lot, Marcy had a surprisingly strong grip on King.
"Hey King, what'd happen if you took off your skull?"
"Trust me when I say none of us wanna know that."
"Are you short or long haired?"
"what does that even mean?"
"Marrrccccyyyyy"
"What?"
Luz shot her a side-eye look as to imply she was forgetting something important. But what had she forgotten? Couldn't have been too important, right?... maybe she…
"oh! Sorry sorry." Without warning, Marcy inexplicably hands King to Luz.
"....Alright, sure. I can hold him....."
"What is the meaning of this? Oh who cares." King went limp, catching Luz off guard.
"Woah, heavy little fellow, aren't you?" Luz commented before mouthing the word 'jeez' to Marcy.
"King, can you tell us where Eda keeps all her witchy clothes and stuff?"
"If I tell you, will you put me down and leave me alone?"
"Hmmm you drive a hard bargain, but deal."
"Second door on the right, then first door on the left."
"Then we bid you adieu, my liege." The two jokingly bowed in unison and ran off down the hall.
The two reached the unlabeled door, took a deep breath, and Luz turned the doorknob. The door creaked open to reveal a room full of countless items of magical paraphernalia that left Luz and Marcy in awe. Luz stomped their feet in excitement while Marcy waved her hands around wildly.
"Oh my gosh Luz we're gonna be real witches!" Marcy enthusiastically yelled while putting some sort of sorcerer's hat on her head.
"I never thought I'd get to live out a real life isekai!"
"You said it sister! Let's go wake up Eda!"
"You already did. I mean seriously I was asleep on the couch right next to the kitchen. Did you two really not notice me?"
The two knuckleheads looked in separate directions, avoiding eye contact with Eda. For added effect, Luz looked off into space and wistfully whistled.
"It is way too early for this, but I did make an agreement so… I guess I'll teach you magic."
"YESYESYESYESYES" Marcy squealed, leaping in joy.
"Girl, you are wearing a traffic cone on your head." Eda smirked, lifting it off her head and blowing the dust off of it. "And you are not pulling it off."
Marcy frowns.
"And Luz, Honey. That's not a wizard robe. That's my old bathrobe. Probably hasn't been washed since I went to Vegas. ahhhh, those were the times"
"Should I ask how long ago that was?"
"Doesn't matter if you do, I cannot remember. Anyway uhh teaching humans magic… hmmm lets.."
Eda's eyes darted around the room. All these magical objects but would any of them work with humans. Water, water everywhere, and none of it to drink.
"Yeah, I got nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not one damn thing. Besides, humans don't tend to show up here too often. But, If you're still interested in the life of a witch, you two could shadow me while I go potion shopping in town. Who knows, maybe you'll learn something! How's that sound?"
"That sounds sweet"
"Awesome sauce! We're in!"
"Alright, well gimme like two hours to get ready cause sleeping on the couch is not good for your back and I feel like starting the day with a long, relaxing, extremely bubbly bath."
"C'mon, Edaaaa. Seize the day! yolo!"
"I haven't even had breakfast yet Luz. And I swear to the Titan, if I catch King eating cheezy doodles for breakfast again, he's going in the oven."
"KING!" Luz called down to him.
"YEAH?" he responded several seconds later.
"YOU MIGHT WANNA RUN RIGHT ABOUT NOW"
"SHE FOUND OUT, DIDN'T SHE?"
"YEAH, KINDA."
"You two stay here. I have business to attend to."
"Now this, I've HOOT to see," Hooty commented, seemingly appearing out of thin air. Eda completely ignores his presence and bolts off to the other side of the house. The teens and Hooty listen in as the altercation between Eda and King audibly turns into a hubbub, which turns into a commotion, and finally a scuffle. A few phrases could be heard amongst the noise.
"Get back here!"
"Watch the tail!"
"How'd you even find them!"
"You know those claws are sharp?!"
"Well so are your fangs!"
"Oh, you are NOT one to talk about biting, mister."
"WEH!"
"You are getting in this pouch and we are going to the store whether you like it or not!"
"Make me."
"You wanna get drop-kicked? Get in the pouch"
King's final "weh" echoed throughout the house. Eventually, Eda returned with an incredibly grumpy looking King in tow, dangling from the baby pouch attached to Eda's torso.
"I think we came to an amicable agreement."
King grumbled.
"Going somewhere, little guy? Why don't you take me with you? King and Hooty forever! BFFs until the sun explodes! Just us out on wacky adventures! Us two, the dynamic duo! The misadventures will never end! Kooty against the world!"
"Never say Kooty again."
"Well Hing doesn't sound as good but if you prefer it..."
"Eda, get moving! Preferably fast."
"Come on kids, we gotta go. If we leave you alone with him in the house you might go insane."
"You don't have to ask me twice!" Luz exclaimed, as they and Marcy followed Eda & king out the front door.
"See you laterrr besties!" Hooty screeched as they got further and further into the distance, quickly.
"Curses! Snatch em' up while they're here! Supplies limited! Once they're gone, they're gone."
"Get your dirt-cheap, NOT STOLEN rugs here! I repeat, these rugs are NOT STOLEN so stop asking! I got them from a LEGAL source."
"Very very good, one snail fish. Very very cheap, one snail fish!"
"I just really like shouting! I'm not selling anything!"
"Human Rinds! Get your Human Rinds here! Sourced from only the freshest humans!"
Luz and Marcy both peered over to Eda with a look of grimace.
"What, you two freaked out about the human rinds? HA! That's just a name they give the chips so they can charge through the roof. Truth is, they're just made from stray animals and maybe a fairy if you're lucky."
Luz looked on skeptically.
"Are they….. good?"
"Hey, since we're here, why not find out for yourself? Go on, give it a try!"
Eda slipped a small bill of snails into Luz's hand. They walked over to the human rinds stand and gazed upon the rinds in their greasy, cholesterol-inducing glory. "How much are the.."
"Three snails a bag." The cashier grunted. Luz handed them the note and watched as he poured the deep-fried clumps of scrap-meat into a bag. "Marcy, do you wanna try them first?" Luz proposed, passing the bag to Marcy.
"Oh I'm food, I mean good! I'm good. Thanks for asking though!"
Luz shrugged and threw a few of the chips in their mouth. "Oh my gosh, I can feel my arteries clogging in real-time."
"That sounds promising." Marcy grabbed the bag from Luz and started pouring them into her mouth. As she chewed down on them, her smile gradually shifted to a look of sheer nausea.
"These are too greasy even for me."
"I'll eat the rest of them" King chimed in.
"No you will not mister. We both know those make you… irregular."
"It's so worth it though."
"Not when I have to clean up after you. Do you remember how long it took me to get your claws unstuck from the curtains last time? In any case, we are on a mission out here in the market, dear children. I need to pick up some potions from Morton's today, I'm running low.
How does that sound? Witchy enough for you?"
It was only a short walk from the market to the potion seller. It was more humble of an establishment than Luz or Marcy expected, essentially being a hole in a wall with a sign on top and a man inside, selling potions. Marcy found it strange that there were no metal bars on the window, as she had grown accustomed to seeing them in pawn shop windows around LA. Brushing these concerns aside, Marcy slid over to the counter and rose up above the ledge. The cashier looked rather perplexed by Marcy's zany entrance and expression on her face.
"Mrrrrow :3"
"What?"
"Okay, I've seen enough."
Eda, looking humiliated, shoved Marcy aside, while the cashier looked over in bewilderment.
"Sorry about that Morton. That's Marcy. Well she's… different. Nothing I can't handle though, y'know. Strongest witch in the Boiling Isles 'n' everything." Eda says as she arrogantly flips up her hair. "Anyway, you know the sitch by now, I need my potion."
"Ok, How many?"
"How many you got?"
"I got twelve, but if you want em all you gotta pay me back from last time. And the time before that. Your tab has gotten very out of hand. 200 snails.
"WHAT?! Thats ridiculous! Is this any way to treat a repeat customer?"
"Customers buy things, Edalyn…"
"I buy from you all the time!!!"
"And when was the last time you didn't give me an iou…"
The two's conversation faded into the background as Luz & Marcy absorbed themselves in the scenery.
"What do you think the potions taste like?" Luz excitedly asked Marcy.
"I don't know, probably like medicine. So either surprisingly nice or horrible."
"Oh I totally get what you mean. Sometimes when I'm sick I take extra cough drops for later because they taste yummy. I like the cherry ones :)"
Eda was still deep in argument with the cashier. Luz and Marcy had nothing better to do than sit on the floor and fidget with rocks. This one rock looked like a kitty cat. Luz showed it to Marcy and they both laughed.
"Hey, do you wanna go and explore?"
"That sounds so fun, but won't Eda freak out if we just up and disappear?"
"Probably." Luz shrugged. "Why don't we just ask her, Mar Mar. I'm getting kinda bored of poking this rock with a stick to be honest. There's a whole world of magic, wonder, and whimsy at our fingertips and we're stuck here on the side of a road while an admittedly spunky old lady argues about how much her drink costs!"
Eda suddenly stopped bartering with Morton and turned around to face the 2 humans.
"Hey!!! I don't look a day over 25. Anyway, what are you two yappin' about?"
Marcy tugged on Eda's dress. "Miss Eda, can we go explore around town?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Eda yielded, before undoing her baby harness. "But take King with you. And King, take them to some magical places. That should do the trick."
"Liberation! See ya later, Eda!" King screamed as he fell out of the harness onto the pavement. He looked up at the two humans, both at least twice his size and staring down at him giddily.
"Well I guess I'll be your tour guide. Now could one of you lift me up onto your shoulder so I can point things out easier?"
"I will!" Both said in unison.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Marcy suggested.
"Okay!" Luz agreed.
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
"Dang it, I lost!"
"More like you luz'ed!! get it? please tell me you get it i need you to get it"
"... Yeah I got it, Marcy."
"People, I'm flattered but can we get going? I'm just *hup* gonna scuttle up to your shoulder all right yea that's the ticket."
"You comfortable up here,little guy?" Marcy asked King as he leant against her hair.
"Mmm-hmmm." King affirmed. "Leftward-ho!"
The trio rambled through the streets of Bonesborough, The bustling atmosphere and busy people reminded Marcy somewhat of downtown LA, minus all the traffic and smog. LA had some characters but it definitely didn't have anyone with horns or wings or magical powers. And they weren't any eccentric, nerdy, non-binary middle schoolers; At least none quite like Luz.
"Look sharp, people! We've arrived at our first destination." King announced as he scurried down Marcy's shoulder.
"This, my chauffeurs, is my domain!" King declared as he ran to a brat-infested, germ ridden, playground. He wasted no time climbing up atop the slide, proclaiming his dominance then going down the slide. He did this a few dozen times before Luz and Marcy got bored.
"Marcy, I know this is like, objectively cute, but we probably should go."
"Wait wait hold on there… while we're here, do you wanna try and have a little fun? They have what appears to be a swingset and judging by the last day and a half, there's only a 40% chance it'll come to life and try to eat us."
"Been a hot minute since I've last been on the swings but sure. Warning you now though, I am not gonna hold back on pushing you, girl."
"Oh, do your worst!"
"Noice!" Luz jumped up in excitement. Their eyes wandered down to Marcy's hands, and an idea formed in their head. "Can we hold hands?"
Marcy paused for a moment, running a quick mental trustworthy check on Luz (which they passed with flying colors)
"Sure thing!"
Marcy and Luz, holding hands, ran over to the swings. Marcy volunteered to sit down first so that the theoretical swingset demon would eat her first. Either the swingset wasn't sentient or it chose to spare her, because she was fine. Luz took position behind Marcy's swing, gently beginning to push.
"Have you ever played that game where you loosen your shoe and see how far you can fling it from the swing?" Luz asked.
"Usually the parks in LA aren't safe enough to spend much time at anymore. At least, that's what my parents say. To answer your question though, no."
"No time like the present, Marshmallow." Luz suggested while loosening their shoe. "Let a pro show you how it's done."
Luz swung back and forth a few times in preparation. Shoe sufficiently loose, gaining momentum and with the angle for launch near-perfect, The moment was right. Their shoe soared far across the slayground, eventually landing on a bench on the other side.
"ooooooo looks fun! I want in!"
Marcy mimicked Luz's actions to the best of her ability. On paper, Marcy's shoe should've landed right next to her companions'. Unfortunately, the trajectory she had in mind failed to account for the wind. Said wind sent the shoe flying right into the back of King's skull, knocking him head-first down the kiddie slide.
"WEEHH!!!"
He landed with a soft thud upon the ground. Outraged, King picked up the footwear and flung it back at Marcy. His little noodle arms betrayed him however, as it landed practically right in front of him.
"Hey, aren't we supposed to be doing something?"
"Like what"
"I mean isn't there a reason we ran off from Eda to go explore?"
"OH OH OH OH OH!!! AHAAHAH!!! I remember!" Marcy proclaims as she reaches for a journal that isn't there, letting go of the swing at an inopportune moment. With a loud oomph, she faceplants on the ground.
"Uwaaa!!!"
".... no one saw that."
"ANYWAY! !!! yea yea yea Luz we gotta go look for Sashy and anne!!"
"OH yea totally!!! Where should we look next????"
"hmmmm…"
"hmmmm…"
"Perhaps there's a library that has some information on humans? Or at least a map of the town so we know where we're going."
"Yeah, there's a library." King answered. He begrudgingly walked away from the main playground area and approached Luz & Marcy by the swing set.
"Guess I'll resume the tour now. Your turn to carry me, Luz."
"Yes, finally! Hop on up here, cutie."
"I'm gonna have to get used to being called cute, aren't I?"
"Yep! Now let's go."
King led them mostly through the backstreets of Bonesborough to save time. It reminded both Luz & Marcy of the streets of Japanese towns from their favorite manga/anime, although both thought it too trivial to mention to the other. The narrow streets were home to a number of shady and strange characters, all trying their best to stay out of the limelight. King advised them not to make eye contact with any of them, regardless of whatever mystique they may have possessed.
Eventually, they emerged from that side of town, emerging into the wide, open plaza of the town square. There were reputable businesses and organizations lining the streets for once and in the center of the plaza stood a marble statue of a masked figure of extremely intimidating stature.
"King, who's that" Marcy enquired with intent to write King's answer down in her notebook. If only she still had it. Once she got back to the Owl House, she'd definitely be asking Eda for an old notebook to borrow. If only she had her notebook to write herself a reminder to ask Eda for a notebook. Oh well….
"Yea, who's that big antler boi?"
"That's Emperor Belos, the jerk who stole my crown and keeps trying to arrest Eda. Wanna deface it?"
"Won't we get in serious trouble if we do that?"
"Not like we can't break back out of prison…Just sayin'..."
"Come on, you little goober, we gotta get to the library."
"Luz. we're standing right in front of it."
They were indeed. The two adolescents turnt around to face a massive building with wide columns and a scholarly aura. This was the place, there was no mistake about it. From the towering marble columns to the stained glass that adorned the front of the building, the place exuded knowledge and history. In other words, It was love at first sight for Marcy Wu. Her eyes sparkled and shined in the light of the mid afternoon, enamored with the beauty of the feat of ingenuity and learning in front of her.
"Ohmigodohmigodohmigod this is so cool. Luz. This is so cool. Luz. Are you seeing this? LUZ! AIIHEHEHEEEEEE!!!
Luz chuckled. "Yeah, I'm seeing it, Marcy. That sure is big."
Marcy bolted through the front entrance, earning her a big colloquial "shhhhh" from just about everyone in the library. Luz modestly followed with king in tow, giving everyone in eyesight a look that attempted to apologize for Marcy's disturbance. She looked around for the librarian, spotting them pushing a trolley of books towards a sorting pile.
"Excuseeee me, do you know where the books on…extraterrestrial biology are?"
"Extraterrestrial biology?"
"You know, creatures from the human realm?"
"... you know I can see your ears. You're not subtle, kid. All the way in the back left."
Marcy blushed. "Thanks, Lady!" She jokingly saluted and booked it to the biology section. Luz watched from a distance as Marcy barrelled her way across the vast hardwood floors of the library. King climbed up into their hood as they began their leisurely pursuit. By the time Luz rounded the corner at the end of the library, Marcy had her face buried deep into a book and had set aside a substantial stack of ones to check out. Even though Marcy had never been to this library before, Luz thought she looked like an artist that was thriving in their element. It was honestly pretty endearing.
"So whad'cha find?"
"Luz you are not gonna believe what kinda stuff they have on humans and demons and the three B's ok so like they have three types of classifications for beings here: its either bug, biped, or beast and they all have their own set of rules and anatomical differences ITS SO COOL!!!!"
"That's cool, Marcy. But have ya found anything on why we're here? Or where your friends might be?"
"Well..uhhh not yet. But there's a lot of books here and maybe one of them'll have some kind of lead? It'll take a while but I am a fast reader. "
"That sounds about right." Luz commented while turning the corner, leading them to bumping into a pair of similarly aged teenagers. The duo sported matching dark green hair and a similar facial structure. They were probably siblings if they had to guess, but they weren't 100% sure. The taller one's concealment stone was knocked off of his wrist, revealing his not quite grown in patch of facial hair and that he was secretly wearing an axolotl onesie.
"AGH!"
"PFFHH HAHA!!! Ed I told you to change into real clothes before we left the house just in case something just like this very situation happened. And look at you now. Have you no shame?" Emira sarcastically asked.
"Look, I'm a busy guy. And it's a lot easier to just use the concealment stone instead of getting changed or brushing my teeth or showering.."
"You didn't shower?"
"Uuuhhh yes."
"Yes you didn't or yes you did?"
"Yes I'm putting the concealment stone back on. Speaking of which, pass it over wouldja? "
Luz tossed up the stone into their palm. Wanting to investigate the ruckus, Marcy peeked around the corner of the bookshelves to see two twins(?) bickering and Luz lying on the floor for some reason. Consequently, she took it upon herself to help Luz off the ground and see what all the commotion was about.
"Are you gonna introduce me to your new friends here, Luz?"
Luz looked up to the two teenagers gazing in confusion at Marcy and them.
"I think that's your cue" Luz gestured up at the teens in a ploy to get them to take charge of the conversation.
"Well the pubescent boy standing next to me is my brother Edric and I am Emira, nice to meet…"
As Emira went in to shake Marcy's hand, something about the girl's appearance cut off her train of thought, taking top priority in the chain of command in her mind.
"(yo ed)" Emira whispered.
"(what)"
"(these two are both humans too)"
"(no way they'd be like the third in a week)"
"(thats super weird)"
"(i know right)"
"You two are not very quiet whisperers." Luz interrupted.
Marcy started taking mental notes, but this was a lot to process at once. As a matter of fact, this one slip of the tongue was the biggest lead in the search for her friends she's gotten at all. Someway, somehow, these complete strangers had met at least one other human. Was it Anne, Sasha, or maybe another another human was sent to the Boiling Isles? She knew she'd have to tail the two, or at least find another way to learn more about them. Luz also managed to grasp the significance in Ed's comment, but to a lesser extent than Marcy.
"Eh, it's probably nothing to worry about." Edric said, attempting to bring back the casual nature of the conversation prior.
"So what brings you two to the Bonesborough Public Library?" Luz inquired.
"Well our sister Mittens usually hangs around here but no one's really seen her all day."
"Rumor has it she has a secret room around here where she keeps her diary…"
"Interesting......…."
"Exactly how many of you are there?" Luz inquired.
"Just the three."
Marcy, curious as ever, decided to chime in.
"Tell me more about this-"
"Ed, we're getting distracted! We have to find that textbook or you're gonna flunk the beastkeeping exam."
"Could I not just pay off some guy who does illusion magic to do it for me?"
"Nope, they check for that now since the last time you got caught doing it, so come on."
"Alright, fine. But we are looking for that room once we're done."
"I hate to jut in, but could we help you guys look for the room?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not! The more, the merrier."
Ed opens up a small notepad to a calendar page, briefly scans it, and puts it back in his pocket.
"How about this upcoming Friday, 7:30 pm?"
"Works for us! We have a shockingly empty calendar. Speaking of, can I have a few pieces of paper from your notepad? I'm in desperate need of something to write on."
"... Sure no prob" Ed says as he rips off around ten pieces of sticky-note sized paper and hands them to Marcy. Sick of his lack of urgency, Emira pulls him away by the ear.
"Guess I'm going then. See you two around!"
"They seem nice."
"Ya I like them too."