The Angel of the Owl House
Season 2: The Human Realm
Chapter 5: Let Sleeping Ravens Lie
The days that followed the Blight Ball were chaotic for the CATTs, and especially the Blight family. Amity, Edric, and Emira had ended up spending the entire weekend with their father on Digale Island, while the CATTs helped them settle into one of the houses built in Digale Village. It was a nice experience to finally spend some quality time together as a family without it being for some ulterior motive of Odalia's… in the past, even their family vacations had been more about image and getting some exposure in different parts of the Isles. The little family was getting a lot closer, and Alador had gotten to meet more of his children's friends, including Emira's girlfriend Viney (with whom he got along fairly well), and Edric's friend Jerbo (with whom he got along very well, sharing a love of abominations). Since Luz had gone home to the Human Realm for the weekend, Eda, Lilith, King, and Raine had filled their time by going on a heist of Blight Manor and stealing all of the Blights' personal belongings, so they'd at least have their things to populate their new home on the island. Alador had also begun working with some of the rebels from the Abomination Coven to construct a new laboratory and weapons workshop in Digale Village, with the intention of earning his keep by arming the rebels. His work was already paying off too, as he'd reconstructed his old Abomaton Mk I's to serve as supporting soldiers, guards, and construction assistants, which hastened the development of the village and the areas beyond it. This work had led to the ultimate completion of the village's fortress-like HQ, where all rebel activities on the Boiling Isles were now directed from. Alador had also found himself now wanted by the Emperor's Coven, yet surprisingly, no wanted posters ever came out for his children.
Amity being busy over the weekend also meant she didn't go through with her original plan to join Luz in the Human Realm, which had the consequence of Luz once again chickening out on telling her Mami about what was going on in the Demon Realm. She felt awful for keeping it from her Mami and Vee, as well as breaking her promise to Amity, but when she'd tried, she'd ended up choking out of fear. Amity was understanding, but once again encouraged her to try the next week.
The next week passed in a haze of rapid activity for both the Hexsquad and the CATTs. The teenagers balanced school, odd jobs for the CATTs, and hanging out together, while Luz had the addition of lessons with Eda and Amity once again began her lessons with Lilith. A few important missions had cropped up, but the adults always handled those with the Hexsquad only being allowed to offer support back on the island, since Raine and Darius were both adamant about not letting children fight unless they were crucial, especially after the near-disaster at the Blight Ball.
The Blight Ball had consequences for more than just the Blights and CATTs though; during the first Monday meeting after the Ball, Darius had reported that Odalia had managed to show off the last two Abomaton Mk II's well enough to impress the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel, who had agreed to a contract granting the Emperor's Coven the exclusive right to purchase them. Unfortunately for Odalia, as soon as work began on Monday morning, Darius' and the CATTs sabotage kicked in and the entire factory ground to a halt as the machines were rendered useless. Not only that, but when Alador's team went into his lab to retrieve the blueprints for the Mk II, they found the blueprints gone and the lab trashed, effectively halting production before it could start. Blame was placed squarely on Alador (since he was the one Odalia believed burgled the manor), but as Alador was already wanted for assisting the rebels, that didn't matter very much. Odalia was apparently humiliated (made worse by Luz, Willow, and the Blights releasing ALL the pictures they'd taken of Odalia during their two encounters), and the Emperor was NOT happy. He'd personally handed the two remaining Abomaton Mk II's over to Darius and his coven with orders to reverse engineer them, with Odalia and Blight Industries being forced to foot the bill for materials. Naturally Darius had no intention of completing the work, but he would personally bleed Odalia for as many snails as possible! Meanwhile, Darius actually worked alongside Alador just as they had in their youth, rekindling their old partnership, much to their mutual pleasure (even if both refused to admit it).
And so yet another week neared it's end, and it was once again Friday afternoon. That afternoon saw Eda and Lilith piloting a stolen Emperor's Coven Airship up from the Swampy Toes, with almost a dozen Wild Witches onboard. They were on their way back from their latest mission; rescuing captive Wild Witches from a research Lab hidden deep in the swamps of the Toes, which one of the Wild Witches on Digale Island had escaped from. Eda and Lilith had been tasked with busting into the relatively small facility and getting the witches out, and they'd succeeded without too much trouble… though they'd definitely overdone it by beating the stuffing out of just about every Coven Witch on the premises and burning the place to the ground. Still, they'd rescued the Wild Witches, and that was all Eda cared about.
"Well, I'd call that a successful mission! We might even get back before Luz gets home from school!" Eda grinned. "It'll be nice to spend an evening together before she goes off to her Mami's again. The stuff with Treble and Odalia got in the way over the last two weeks."
Lilith nodded; "It would be nice to have some family time. But don't let your guard down until we're back in Bonesborough, sister. We both used far too much magic in this mission."
Eda scoffed; "Ah, don't be such a stick in the mud, Lilith! We won!"
"Yes, and we both needed to take Elixirs because we drained so much magic! Remember, we're dependent on Luz's blessings to keep us going! We can't be so reckless!" Lilith retorted.
Eda huffed, but couldn't really argue; the Owl Beast had been pretty close to the surface during the rescue. Speaking off…
"So, what exactly were those creeps doing to you guys?" Eda asked the rescued witches, changing the subject.
"The lab was run by the Potions Coven. They were testing new potions on us." the eldest of the witches answered. "They were also trying to see which potions would still work if they turned them into a gas and made us inhale them."
Lilith frowned; "It sounds like they're planning to use gaseous potions against us… If I remember correctly, Head Witch Vitimir is particularly skilled in turning potions to gas."
Many of the Wild Witches shuddered; "He was terrifying! He only ever showed up if no progress was being made, and it was always terrible when he did…" one of the younger ones said. The sight of her made the Clawthorne sisters angry; she looked barely old enough to have graduated school!
"Well, none of you have anything to fear. Once we get to Bonesborough, you'll be safe. If you're willing to take oaths of secrecy, we can even hide you somewhere the Emperor's Coven will never find you." Lilith promised.
"W-Will we really be safe? Don't you guys work for an angel!?" another older witch cried fearfully.
"No, we work WITH an angel. She's my adopted kid, and is nothing like those old horror stories. She won't try to smite you or anything; Witch's honour." Eda reassured them.
There were some doubtful looks from the older witches in the crowd, which annoyed Eda a little, but she wasn't going to try and convince them; they'd see for themselves when they met Luz!
That would be very soon too, as within twenty more minutes Lilith was slowly landing the stolen airship outside the Owl House. Hooty and a couple of CATTs members (there was always at least two hanging around the house as additional guards) were on guard when they saw the sigil of the Emperor's Coven on the ship, but they soon calmed down once they spotted Eda.
"Hi Lulu!" Hooty cheered, immediately darting towards her. He crashed into her and knocked her down, before coiling around her in a hug.
Lilith laughed and pet his head; "Hello to you too, Hootsifer."
"I missed you!" Hooty cried.
Lilith tutted; "Oh Hootsifer, I've only been gone for-"
"8 hours and 43 minutes." Rasiel said, coming out of the Owl House with a tired expression; "Hooty was counting…"
"Oh dear." Lilith sighed while Eda laughed at Rasiel's worn-out expression; "Lulu" had supplanted "Raspberry" as Hooty's best friend, and while Rasiel was genuinely happy about that fact, he didn't like getting dragged into being Hooty's shoulder to cry on whenever he was missing Lilith.
King soon hurried out of the house and hugged his Mom in greeting, wanting to hear all the gruesome and bloody details of her battle with the Emperor's Coven, while Lilith soothed Hooty. The rescued Wild Witches watched in bewilderment, until they heard more people approaching.
Luz and the Hexsquad came walking down the path, done with their week of school and all looking a little worn out. Since Luz didn't bother to hide her angelic nature any more, the Wild Witches knew who and what she was immediately, and some began to back away in fear of her. Luz noticed this but didn't question it.
"I'm home Mom!" she greeted Eda, "So the mission to the Toes went well?"
"You got that right! I'll tell you and your little brother all about it at dinner." she said, making King pout as he instead jumped over to Luz's shoulder to hug her; "How was school today, Owlet?"
"Good, but long. Some of the seniors thought it was a good idea to take the Kappas from the beast-keeping track and replace the water in their head bowls with Apple Blood. The undiluted, hard variety."
Eda snorted; "Ha! I did that once! The drunken blighters ended up hosting a rave in the boy's locker room!"
Willow shook her head ruefully; "Well these ones decided to turn the school greenhouses into a swimming pool. We still have no idea how they managed to flood the place."
"Principal Bump ended up sending all the beast-keeping students to wrangle them." Amity smiled sympathetically at her tired girlfriend; "Poor Luz and Viney ended up having to do most of the work themselves, since they're the only ones in school who can use both Beast-Keeping and Bardic Magic."
"No wonder you look so tired." Lilith commented, finally getting Hooty loosened enough that she could stand up on her own. With one hand on Hooty, she raised the other to pat Luz's head (knowing she liked the gesture), only to find her other hand was missing!
"WHA!?" she screeched in surprise.
Luz spotted the missing hand skittering around in a panic near where Hooty had knocked Lilith over, and quickly snagged it with a vine and handed it to Eda, who helped attach it again
"Oh yeah, forgot to warn you about that." Eda said, snapping the hand back into place; "It's a side effect of the curse. Not sure what it has to do with the Owl Beast, but it's pretty fun every now and again. And very useful! You're pretty much immune to dismemberment now!"
"It's true! I saw Wrath cut off Eda's head and she just popped it back on. Kinda traumatizing actually." Luz chirped, adding that last part with a far away look in her eyes.
Eda snorted and ruffled her hair, while Lilith flexed her reattached hand; "Between this and the feathers, the pain of nearly transforming, and how awful those Elixirs taste… I had no idea how hard you've had it all these years. I am so, so sorry that I did this to you." Lilith said miserably.
King huffed and looked away, while Eda actually felt a little sorry for her big sister. She'd been giving her a hard time, primarily for handing Luz over to Belos, but it was getting to be hard to stay mad at Lilith. She was trying so hard and was so apologetic that Eda found herself beginning to forgive her. The fact that Amity was mending the bridge between them, and Luz had been accepting of Lilith since she turned on the Emperor made those feelings stronger.
"I know Lily. We all still need a little time, but we're getting there. Even after everything you did, we're still sisters, right? It's not like you never forgave me for the stunts I pulled."
Lilith smiled; "I think there's a bit of a difference between those pranks of yours and what I did… but thank you, Edalyn."
The Owl Lady grinned, then said; "Good! Now enough of the mushy stuff! Luz, we've got some Wild Witches to take to sanctuary! Come introduce yourself and tell them you aren't going to eat them or whatever they think Angels do."
Luz and her friends laughed, then the young Arch-Angel really did go and introduce herself to the rescued witches. She assured them that she only wanted to keep them safe and had no intention of enforcing her own order on the Boiling Isles. She was working with and supporting the CATTs and their goals, not the other way around. That was enough to convince most of the Wild Witches, with only a few from the older generation still refusing to have anything to do with her. Those that were convinced took the oaths of secrecy, then were taken by Luz to Digale Island, along with the rest of the Hexsquad. Those that refused were instead warned not to leave Bonesborough, as it was currently the only neutral territory, before they were sent on their way.
After spending the rest of the afternoon resting on Digale Island and getting the rescued witches settled in, the Owl Family returned home for dinner while the Hexsquad returned to their own homes, promising to see Luz again on Monday when she returned from the Human Realm. The only one who stayed behind was Amity, who would be sleeping over and then going with Luz to the Human Realm like she'd originally planned to do last week.
As Rasiel cooked dinner with some help from Hooty, Raine, Luz, King, and Amity listened to Eda and Lilith recount their adventure down in the toes.
"…and then once everyone was on the airship, I said; "Looks like Potions aren't the only things brewing here!" and cast a spell to summon a giant thunderstorm! Then zap! A thunderbolt struck the lab and it caught fire!"
King and Luz listened with sparkling eyes; "Awesome!" they cheered.
"You are so cool, Mom! I should think up some one-liners too! I get into enough fights that I'd actually get to use them!" Luz laughed.
"Didn't you beat up Wrath AND Grom with the whole "Eat this Sucka!" thing from your Azura books?" King pointed out.
"I guess, but that feels like plagiarism." she replied.
"One-liners aside, summoning a thunderstorm is really high level magic! It's amazing you can cast spells that strong even after being weakened by the curse." Amity said, genuinely impressed. The thunderstorm wasn't the only impressive feat of magic the Clawthorne sisters had mentioned either, as they'd been far from gentle with the Emperor's lackeys.
Eda puffed her chest out proudly at the praise, while Lilith nodded ruefully; "It's a small miracle. If not for Luz's blessings, I'd be virtually powerless, and Edalyn would be powerless!"
That reminded Eda, who looked guiltily at her daughter; "Oh yeah. Sorry to ask this Owlet, but Lily and I really did go a little overboard with our magic. We're almost out. Think you could give us another blessing?"
Luz nodded without a second thought and quickly conjured two balls of glowing golden flame, which she pressed against Eda's and Lilith's chests. Both women felt the familiar rush of magic that came with the blessing and sighed with relief as their distant exhaustion faded from their minds, and the curse within them became more docile. However their relief was short-lived, as Luz suddenly turned deathly pale and staggered.
"Luz!?" everyone cried, rushing to catch her before she fell. Raine had been right behind her, so they were the one to catch her as she fell backwards, cradling her with a fearful look.
"Ugh… thanks Titi." Luz groaned.
"What's going on!? Are you sick!?" Eda cried, gently taking Luz from Raine's arms and feeling her forehead.
"No, just really tired all of a sudden…" she mumbled back, eyes drooping even as she struggled to keep them from rolling into the back of her head.
Rasiel took one look at her condition and frowned; "Magic exhaustion. She hadn't replenished her own magic after her long day at school, so she must have used up the last of it."
That made Eda, King, and Amity all panic even more. "W-Wait, but angels need magic to live! I-Is Luz dying!?" Amity cried, almost in hysterics.
Rasiel put a calming hand on her head; "It takes a while to die from magic exhaustion, and so long as Luz doesn't keep using magic the moment she regenerates it, she'll be fine. Here."
He gently took Luz from Eda's arms and sat her on one of the kitchen stools and said; "Grow your wings back to full size. That doesn't require magic, and keeping them small all this time has slowed your magic generation."
Luz obeyed, letting the full glory of her six wings stretch out behind her. Rasiel then grabbed King and deposited him on Luz's lap so he could hug her and keep her upright through her exhaustion. He then looked to Amity and said; "Luz needs to absorb energy through her wings to replenish her magic faster. Light and heat are the most efficient, so produce some and keep them near her wings."
"On it!" Amity said, creating a ball of pink light in one hand and a pink fireball in the other, and holding them as close to Luz's wings as she could without burning them. Eda, Lilith, and Raine went to do the same, but Rasiel stopped them.
"Luz is in this state because she gave you her magic. Don't make that pointless by giving it straight back."
Raine sighed sadly and instead stroked Luz's head to help her feel better, while Eda and Lilith felt like they'd been punched in the gut. Their reckless overuse of magic had hurt Luz, even if only by exhausting her. Eda felt like utter scum for showing off so much on the mission and asking Luz to give her more magic while she was still tired from school. Lilith, on the other hand, felt her guilt magnify as she was faced with the fact that Luz had once again suffered for her choices. She'd scolded Eda for using too much magic, but she'd only been slightly better and now Luz was feeling dreadful!
"I-I'm so sorry!" she whispered, on the verge of tears.
Luz, already beginning to feel better as her magic reserves slowly began to replenish, just smiled sleepily and gave the okay hand sign; "I'm okay. It's not like you forced me. Besides, it's my own fault for not paying attention to my own health."
"You've really got to get out of that habit!" Amity gently scolded.
"Sorry Hermosa." Luz said, cuddling with King. Amity just sighed and kept up the fire and light until Luz's skin had returned to a healthy colour and she didn't look ready to pass out any more. The adults in the room were eerily silent as they dealt with their feelings on the matter, but Luz's usual cheerfulness soon brought them out of their shells again. Dinner was then finished and they all ate together, before Eda insisted on Luz getting an early night so she was fully back to health in time for her visit to the Human Realm the next morning. In fact, the entire Owl House got an early night after that, with Luz sending Amity back to her new home on Digale Island. While Luz, King, and Rasiel drifted off to sleep without much trouble, Raine and Eda lay awake together for quite a while as the former helped the latter deal with her guilt. Lilith was also awake into the late hours of the night, chatting quietly with Hooty, who she'd grown accustomed to using like a therapist… the bizarre Owl Tube wasn't exactly the best at reasonable advice, but he was a great listener!
The next morning saw everyone gathered in the living room bright and early, with Luz and Amity now carrying satchels with their belongings in them, ready for their sleep over in the Human Realm.
"Have you two got everything you need?" Eda asked, her usual grin a little more forced than normal after the previous evening.
"I do! We'll only be gone one night, so we don't need that much stuff." Luz replied.
"That's what I said, but Emira and Dad both insisted on me taking all this…" Amity complained, noting her satchel was closer in size to a duffle bag.
"Better safe than sorry, since I can't keep the portal open all day." Eda said, pulling out the portal key and using it to open the portal in front of Luz. "Speaking of, I'll be opening it again at around 8pm tomorrow night but I won't close it until you come back, so don't feel like you need to rush back."
"Got it, Mom! Love you guys!" Luz chirped, giving everyone a quick hug.
"Love you too, Sparks. Give your mother our regards." Raine smiled.
Lilith said nothing, but smiled as she returned Luz's hug (she hadn't been included in the last two goodbye hugs, so it was progress). King and Eda combined their hugs with a kiss to Luz's cheeks, then waved her goodbye as she and Amity walked through the portal door and into the forest around Gravesfield. Once the two girls disappeared out of view, Eda sighed and closed the portal door.
"Well there she goes…" she mumbled.
King looked up at his Mom; "Are you still down about yesterday? Luz is fine!"
"I know she's fine, but for how long?" Eda said; "We're in the middle of fighting in a rebellion, but Lily and I can barely do anything without Luz's magic supporting us!"
"It's not ideal, but it can't be helped." Raine said, putting a hand on their lover's back; "This curse is hard on all of us, Luz included, but we all agree it's better that we share the burden rather than let you stay trapped as the Owl Beast. We just need to learn to be more conservative with our magic to take the burden off of Luz."
"You're right, but we can't afford to do that! Sure Lily and I went a little crazy yesterday, but we'll need to do at least that much when dealing with bigger missions too!" Eda argued with frustration.
Lilith bit her lip; "This is all my fault… if I hadn't been so stupid with that Titan-forsaken Curse, none of this would have happened. I'm hurting everyone again."
King frowned, disliking the pity party going on; "Why don't we ask Tia Cammie about the Panacea Mirror? She can make another one and we can finally cure the curse!"
Rasiel, who'd been watching the whole conversation, chimed in; "Luz has mentioned the Panacea Mirror to her mother, but Camila is reluctant to donate her blood to its construction. Not only that, but since I have no magic and Luz has already made one before, Camila would need to make the whole thing practically by herself, and she simply doesn't have the magic needed. Luz was a High Angel and still needed support from those Power Glyphs made with the Galdorstones, but Camila is just a regular angel, so she'd need even more additional magic. And since the theft of a Galdorstone from the Looking Glass Graveyard, the Keeper won't let anyone near them. Luz and Gus already asked."
"Couldn't Luz support her with a blessing?" Raine asked.
"No. Once an angel uses a Panacea Mirror, it becomes a part of them. Luz's blood and magic have traces of the mirror and its magic inside them, so now neither can ever be used in the construction of another one. I told you before; a tool with such incredible power comes at a cost." Rasiel finished.
Eda groaned and flopped onto the coach; "So even if we convince Camila to agree, we'd be stuck at the purification phase."
"Unfortunately. The only way we're making another mirror is if Camila is able to ascend, the Keeper changes his mind about letting us make another Power Glyph with the Galdorstones, or I find the Black Tomb with my wings. Honestly, the first is looking the most likely." the Ancient Seraphim sighed, having found no clues on Digale Island despite extensive searching.
A depressing atmosphere fell over the Owl House as everyone was filled with disappointment. Eda was frustrated that she would have to keep relying on her daughter's magic when she was supposed to be the protector and caregiver. It felt so wrong for her to be weaker than her own kids! But it couldn't be helped; she was cursed and had no innate magic any more, while Luz had her Arch-Angel powers and King had his growing Titan Magic, while both had the power of the glyphs.
Suddenly, Eda shot up in her seat as inspiration hit her; "That's it! That's how we can be helpful without draining Luz all the time!"
"You have an idea, Edalyn?" Lilith questioned.
"You bet your pasty butt I do! The glyphs!" Eda gave a toothy grin. She hopped to her feet and scooped up King; "We can learn to use the glyphs! And who better to teach us than the King of Glyphs himself!"
King gasped as his eyes grew wider with joy. His Mom wanted him to teach her!? This was the best day ever! Sure it would mean teaching Lilith too, which he wasn't so thrilled about, but at least he'd be helping his Mom, taking some of the burden off of his sister, and teaching Lilith would also mean bossing her around!
"Yes! I'll do it! I will teach you to be the best Glyph Witches on the Boiling Isles!" King declared, before squirming out of his mother's grasp and running for the stairs; "I'm gonna get my teaching stuff! Meet me outside in 10 minutes and don't be late! I'll give you a tardy if you do!" With that, he fled the room with excited pants, just like a dog.
Eda laughed while Raine, Rasiel, and Lilith smiled at the little Titan's enthusiasm. Then Eda looked down and noted she was still in her pyjamas, so began shuffling upstairs to change. As she went, she said; "You joining us, Raine?"
"Not this time. I've got some business in Bonesborough, and unlike you, I don't use as much magic." Raine said teasingly. "But I'm sure I could arrange for some… private tutoring from his Majesty's best pupil?" they winked flirtatiously.
Eda blushed even as she returned their flirty expression; "Ha! Looks like I can get a storm brewing even without magic! Get going Raine Storm, before I do something to make us both tardy."
Eda then disappeared, while Raine blushed and chuckled as they headed out the door. Rasiel and Lilith, two people who didn't really experience romantic feelings or attraction, just watched the scene with amusement.
"Those two really have rekindled their old relationship. They were apart for 15 years but act like they never separated. Watching them, as well as Amity and Luz… I almost feel jealous. I wonder what it's like to love someone like that." Lilith said wistfully.
"Even if we did love people like they do, I'm sure it would feel different. Despite my 100,000 years of life, I've never known two loves that were identical. A person's experiences will always be unique to them. Enjoy your own and worry not about others." Rasiel replied.
Lilith smiled at him; "I suppose you're right. Will you be joining us for glyph lessons?"
"Definitely. Without my wings, even a blessing is useless to me, so I need to find other ways of being useful." he said, a look of determination in his eye.
The two then decided to wait outside and chat with Hooty until Eda and King returned. Eda got back first, now wearing a slightly different red dress than usual; one that included sleeves and a slightly less torn skirt (though still noticeably torn). The slowly lowering temperatures of the season had compelled Eda to go for a slightly warmer style, especially since she couldn't so easily magic herself warm. King arrived a few minutes later, dragging a blackboard on wheels and wearing his professor hat. He was also dragging along three school desks and chairs that were floating behind him thanks to wind glyphs, then tired together with vines.
After a few seconds, King had set up his own little classroom in front of the house. "Alright students! The first lesson is on the five basic glyphs Luz has found so far! Gifts from my Dad… and possibly my Mom too." King said, his voice lowering slightly at the end.
Using an ice glyph to elevate him so he could draw on the blackboard, he drew and labelled the light, plant, ice, fire, and wind glyphs. Once he was done, he said; "The designs are simple and pretty easy to remember, but make sure you don't mess them up! You can make little alterations, but if you mess them up too much, they'll blow up or do something weird. Now the key to all of them is drawing a circle…"
Eda, Lilith, and Rasiel sat at the desks and listened to King's lecture, before being given paper to practice drawing circles with. The ability to draw perfect circles was something most angels and witches developed over years of making spell circles, so they didn't have too much trouble once they got use to drawing the circles with a pencil and not their finger. After that, they got to work on perfecting the actual glyph symbols themselves. Eda and Rasiel had already seen the glyphs enough that they could effortlessly replicate them (in fact, Rasiel had already done so once or twice), and Lilith's meticulous nature meant she picked it up very quickly, but they all continued to do as King asked, partly for practice and partly to humour the little Titan.
King was just moving on to how to get the glyphs to do what the user wanted when a tornado suddenly appeared from the sky and began to touch down right beside their makeshift classroom. Rasiel, thinking fast, activated some of his drawn plant glyphs to keep their desks and blackboard from being blown away, while Lilith tried to shield her eyes.
"Did someone activate their wind glyph already!?" she cried over the sound of the wind.
Eda and King, recognising a very familiar bird flying above the tornado, both grimaced and shook their heads. "Not a glyph… something far more annoying." Eda grumbled.
The tornado dissipated and the bird; a large brown hawk, transformed into a staff and settled into the hands of a woman who appeared from within the tornado. Lilith gasped while Eda and King held back groans, leaving Rasiel the only one to be clueless. He wasn't clueless for long though; the woman's face closely resembled an older Eda and Lilith, with olive green eyes, slightly rounder cheeks, fluffy grey hair with flashes of white near her temples, half-moon spectacles balanced on her nose, and a matronly purple dress with dark purple accents and a silver white fur collar and belt. There was also some kind of metal medallion around her neck with an unfamiliar rune on it. The woman's arms appeared muscular and scarred, and the sigil of the Beast-Keeping Coven could be seen on her wrist. Based on the resemblance and her bird-themed staff, Rasiel soon guessed that this woman was Eda and Lilith's Mother.
The woman smiled broadly at Eda (seemingly not noticing anyone else) and banished her staff as she walked over to her, stretching her arms out for a hug; "Hello, Little Witchlet! Come give me a hug!"
Eda stood but did not accept the hug, instead putting her hand on the shorter woman's head to keep her at bay.
"Gwendolyn." Eda said irritably.
Gwendolyn pulled back with a slight pout, before smiling again; "Oof, are we still on that? I'm your mother, call me Mom!"
"M-Mother!" Lilith gasped, finally recovering from her shock.
Still, Gwendolyn didn't seem to notice her elder daughter and remained focused on the younger. "It is so good to see you again." she said, grasping Eda's face with both hands; "How are you feeling? Are you eating well? I heard all about the Petrification Ceremony! Trust me, I have a lot of strong words for that Belos!"
"You and half the Isles at this point." Eda muttered, pulling away from her mother's grasp.
"I was off in the wilderness at the time, so I didn't hear about it until afterwards. I was horrified when I heard you were actually petrified, but thankfully I found someone who showed me a recording! And let me just say, I can't believe my Little Witchlet has grown up so much that she has a Little Witchlet of her own! Or should I say, a Little Cherub! I really must meet and thank my new granddaughter! To think we have an angel in the family!" Gwendolyn said with a big smile.
"Luz isn't here right now." Eda replied shortly.
Gwendolyn was undeterred; "No matter, I'll wait and see her when she gets back. In the meantime, I also heard that you finally made it official and adopted little King! Honestly Witchlet, I thought you'd never see sense! Now where is my little grandson?" she asked, looking around.
She soon found King, who'd been trying to stealthily draw an Invisibility Glyph Combo so he could escape. Sadly she caught him first and bustled over, scooping him up "There's my little man! Give Grandma a hug!"
"Weh!" King cried as he was hugged tightly; "Hi Gwen. Long time no see."
The woman pouted; "Not you too! Call me Grandma!"
"Okay! You're Grandma!" King yelled.
"Wonderful! Here." she placed him back on the ground and pulled a bag of candies from her hair; "Be sure not to eat these all at once! And share with your big sister!"
King accepted the candies with a grin; they were his favourite Salty Tear Caramels! "King accepts your offering!" he declared, happily beginning to munch on a few.
Gwendolyn chortled and patted his skull, then turned and noticed Rasiel for the first time. "Oh? Who is this gentleman? Surely not another boyfriend! I thought you were finally back with Little Whispers!"
"My name is Rasiel." he introduced; "Eda and I are merely friends. I'm currently a guest in her home."
Gwendolyn smiled; "I see, what a polite young man! I'm Gwendolyn Clawthorne, the mother of this rapscallion!" she said, pinching Eda's cheek as the younger woman scowled. "Honestly, I was worried there for a moment! Your father and I were so happy to hear that you and Raine had gotten back together! We were always so sad and confused that you broke up. I saw them in the recording of the Petrification Ceremony! I'm so glad they helped you escape!"
Lilith, having been largely ignored up to this point, desperately placed herself between Eda and their mother, forcing the woman to look right at her. "Mother! Hello! You know, I was at the ceremony too."
Gwendolyn still smiled, seemingly genuinely happy to see her eldest; "Oh, hello to you too, Sweet Flea! Still dying your hair I see." she greeted, gently stroking Lilith's black hair; "Well, it's very sleek. We'll catch up in a bit, alright Sweet Flea? Give me a few moments with Edalyn; it's very important!"
Lilith's smile fell and she slowly backed away, making both Rasiel and Hooty (who'd also been ignored thus far) frown.
"What's so important?" Eda asked suspiciously.
Gwen smiled proudly and declared; "Today, I am about to complete a 20-year mission!"
"Oh no…" Eda groaned, already knowing where this is going.
"That's right, your mother has finally succeeded!"
Eda pinched the bridge of her nose; "Ugh… here it comes."
Gwendolyn summoned her staff once again and spun it around, before slamming it down as she triumphantly declared; "Today, I shall be curing your curse!"
Her declaration was met with stunned silence from Rasiel and Lilith, and deadpan stares from Eda and King. Eda further stunned her sister by casually saying; "No thanks."
"WHAT!?" Lilith cried in shock.
"I said, "No thanks." I've got my elixir system, so I'm good." Eda replied.
"B-But who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" Gwendolyn spluttered.
"Actually, I do. I make them myself now, thanks to Luz and King figuring out how to grow Gold Wort. In fact, Luz even made the elixirs more effective by adding her angel tears." Eda said casually.
That turned out to the wrong thing to say, as her mother promptly gasped in horror; "You cannot be serious! You are not milking one of my poor grandbabies for her tears, are you!?"
Eda rolled her eyes; "No I'm not. Luz volunteers to do that; I don't force her…" she didn't bother mentioning the misadventure with the Tearful Tonic back on Luz's first day as her apprentice. She then looked at her wrist, pretending to be reading a watch that wasn't even there, before saying; "Well would you look at the time?"
She grabbed her mother's staff and sat the woman on it; "I've got a lot to do today. So sad to see you go. Okay, byyeeeee!"
With that, Eda slapped the end of her mother's staff and sent her flying off into the distance. She then smiled with satisfaction and dusted off her hands.
"Moms, am I right?" she grinned, turning to the others again. They didn't share her sentiments though; Lilith looked horrified, while Rasiel and King both looked noticeably uncomfortable with what they'd just witnessed.
"I haven't see Mother in forever!" Lilith cried with frustration; "And she was handing you a cure on a silver platter!"
"I don't even remember my mother, or if I was even raised by her." Rasiel added, unsure if he'd been raised by Crest Chastity like most Cherubs. Without his personal memories, it was impossible to know.
King wasn't as bothered, but he still felt kind of bad for Gwen; "You're my Mom, and I can't imagine ever just launching you into the sky. Besides, she's my grandma now and gave me treats!"
Eda crossed her arms; "King, you know better than anyone why I did that."
"True, but maybe it'll be different this time? Your curse is weaker now." King pointed out.
Lilith frowned; "What are you two talking about?"
Eda sighed; "Alright, listen; Mom comes to visit me at least once a year, and she always has some hair-brained scheme to cure my curse. It's always some stupid miracle cure, but they never work and usually cause me nothing but trouble! I'm sick of getting my hopes up! Besides, her "cures" usually leave me on the verge of rampaging as the Owl Beast anyway!"
Lilith's mouth hung open in surprise, before she whispered dejectedly; "Mother visits you… regularly?"
Rasiel gave her a sympathetic look, and even Eda and King felt a little bad for her. None of them had a chance to say anything though, as Gwen soon came marching back over to them, having landed and immediately turned back.
"Oh no, you are not getting rid of me that easily, young lady." Gwen huffed, hands on her hips; "I am not leaving until I've at least spent time with my grandchildren! I need to thank Luz for curing your petrification too! And perhaps she'll be able to use her angelic magic to prove that my latest cure will work, so you'll finally stop being so stubborn!"
Eda narrowed her eyes; "Luz isn't here right now and she won't be back for a while."
"Well then where is she? I'd have thought she'd be here with you." Gwen said, looking around at the faux school setting. "What are you doing anyway?"
"I'm teaching Mom, Lilith, and Rasiel my super cool glyph magic!" King said proudly; "And Luz is off-"
"-at the library!" Eda cut her son off with a cunning grin; "She went to get some books on the subject to help us study. Why don't you go help her; you can bond with her and I'll have you out of my hair for a while!"
Gwen narrowed her eyes, knowing full well that Eda just wanted her gone. But still, it would be nice to bond with her granddaughter for a bit, and Gwen knew where Eda lived, so she couldn't exactly hide forever! "Very well. I'll go get her! Come, Hawksley."
Her Palisman, who'd been circling over head so Eda didn't grab him again, descended so his partner could once again use him to fly off, heading into Bonesborough. Eda and the others watched her go, then Eda said; "That'll keep her busy for a while. Now we just need to get out of here before she gets back!"
"Are we really running away from your Mom?" Rasiel raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Trust me, letting her help is the fastest way for you to get up close and personal with a peeved Owl Beast. I don't even want to think about what'll happen if she sets off my curse AND Lily's!" Eda retorted. "But where to go? We can't get to Digale Island without Luz, and she's off in the Human Realm for the weekend."
King raised his paw; "Why don't we go to the Human Realm too? The woods around Tia Cammie's house is pretty big; we can practice there!"
Eda and Rasiel both smiled at the suggestion, while Lilith frowned; "I'm not sure how I feel about ditching Mother… besides, will the glyphs even work there? I remember you had trouble with them when we briefly fought in the Human Realm."
"Yeah, the fire glyph didn't work. But I think it's because Luz hadn't bonded with that one yet! The other three worked after all! Now that she has bonded with the fire glyph, it should work too!" King explained.
"That makes sense. Luz has become almost a living portal for the Titan's power, so it makes sense that the glyphs would still work in the Human Realm so long as she's there too. We can confirm King's theory by testing the fire and wind glyphs; if the fire glyph works and the wind glyph doesn't, we'll know for certain." Rasiel agreed.
Eda agreed immediately, while Lilith still had her doubts. In the end, King and the others packed up the classroom and headed inside; "We'll open the portal in my basement lab, so Mom doesn't find it and follow us. Hooty, make sure you tell Raine where we are when they get back!"
"Roger that, hoot!" Hooty replied.
Eda yelled to her sister; "Move it or lose it Lily!"
Lilith huffed, and with one more forlorn look in the direction her mother had flown, she followed her sister. Hooty watched her go sadly, feeling sorry for his best friend. Maybe he could find a way to help her and her Mom get along better? That would cheer his Lulu up!
[Meanwhile]
Gwendolyn happily touched down outside the Bonesborough library and headed inside to look for Luz. That proved easier said than done, as she scoured the entire library, every nook, cranny, and book shelf, but found no signs of the angelic girl. After maybe twenty minutes of searching, a librarian noticed her and came over to offer assistance.
"Are you looking for something in particular, Ma'am?" he asked politely.
"Not a book, I'm afraid. I'm looking for a young lady; about 14 years old with curly white hair? Named Luz Noceda-Clawthorne?" Gwendolyn replied.
The Librarian blinked; "Oh! The Arch-Angel of Bonesborough? I'm sorry, but she hasn't come in today. She rarely visits without her girlfriend Amity."
Gwen's eyes widened; "Girlfriend?"
"Oh yes, Amity Blight. She's one of our part-time student librarians. A nice girl, usually reads to the kids."
"I see…" Gwen hummed. So Luz wasn't here, and she just knew an angel wouldn't have lied to her mother about where she was going. So it must have been Eda who lied! The Clawthorne Matriarch groaned; so Eda had tricked her. She should have seen this coming.
With a polite thank you to the librarian, Gwendolyn marched out of the library and swiftly flew back to the Owl House, and just as she predicted, the place was practically deserted. Only Hooty remained, still embedded in his door. The woman frowned as she looked around and saw no signs of where her daughters and grandson went. She then cast a simple tracking spell, causing her eyes to glow orange with Beast-Keeping magic as she searched for footprints. When she found only her own leading away from the house and the rest going inside, she cast a second spell that enhanced her sense of smell to sniff them out, only to find yet again that their scents went into the house.
"So they're hiding inside? But their scents are so weak… how did they disappear?" Gwen muttered to herself, before turning to Hooty. "Hello Hooty; I don't suppose you'd tell me where my family have run off to?"
"Aw geez, I don't think Eda would like that, Hoot! Sorry Gwendy!" Hooty replied. He liked Gwendolyn; she was always nice to him, but he was Eda's House Demon! He couldn't rat her out!
Gwen sighed defeatedly; "I understand. I guess I'll just have to wait for them to come back. They can't just leave home forever! I guess I could go to Master Wortlop on my own and get the healing ability… I'd just hoped Eda would come with me so I could finally convince her!"
Hooty knew that would never happen; Eda didn't trust these healing methods since they never worked. Still, he felt sad seeing his friend Gwendy so disappointed, and more importantly, he knew that if the cure actually worked, it'd fix all their problems! Eda wouldn't have to worry about her curse, Luz wouldn't keep getting drained, and his precious Lulu would feel better!
That gave the House Demon an ingenious idea; maybe he could help Gwendy! If he went with her to see this healer guy, he could see if they were legit and convince Eda and Lulu! He'd be helping everyone and making them happy! Hooty loved to make people happy, especially his precious family!
"Hoot hoot! Gwendy, I've got a hootiful idea! Let me see the healer with you!" Hooty suggested.
Gwen looked at him oddly; "You want to meet Master Wortlop?"
"That's right! Hoot! If you take me with you and he's a real good healer, I'll take you to Eda and the others! Hoot!"
That made Gwen's eyes light up; Hooty was a very pure (if odd) soul, so he'd undoubtedly be able to see the truth of Master Wortlop's skills! Then once they had the healing ability in hand, he could help her wrangle her daughter and finally cure her! It was perfect!
"Wonderful idea, Hooty! But how will I bring you along? Aren't you part of Eda's house now?" Gwen asked.
Hooty smiled widely; "I'll handle it! One Porta-Hooty coming right up!"
Gwendolyn didn't know what that meant, until she watched with horror as Hooty put himself into a tiny birdhouse. It was quite horrifying to watch, and Gwen had seen a lot of horrifying things in the Beast-Keeping Coven! Still, once he was done she smiled, then asked; "Can you move on your own like that?"
Hooty nodded happy and began using his worm-like body to slither along on the ground, dragging the birdhouse with him. It reminded Gwen of a snail dragging along its shell, and was only marginally faster. Not wanting to spend all day walking with Hooty (and not really wanting to touch him after what she'd just witnessed), Gwen decided to cast a spell to help him out. She enchanted his birdhouse with Beast-Keeping magic, causing a pair of functioning chicken legs to appear on the bottom of the birdhouse. Hooty gasped with delight as he found he could control these legs and run around freely.
"Hoot! It's just like my big legs under the big house! This is the best gift ever! Can I keep them!?" Hooty asked.
Gwen nodded; "Of course Hooty. Now follow me; Master Wortlop awaits!"
"Yippee!" Hooty cheered, scurrying after the woman on his new little legs, though not without first leaving a note in the dirt, letting Raine and the others know where he'd gone. It was quite literally chicken scratch, but it was legible… enough.
Gwendolyn ended up leading Hooty around the edge of Bonesborough, sticking to the forest, so none of her daughter's enemies saw her out walking with her House Demon and realised the Owl House was undefended. Once they'd skirted around Bonesborough, Gwen showed Hooty to a stone rise that marked the edge of a short plateau. A part of the stone looked notable door-shaped, and it was here that Gwen pointed.
"Here we are! Master Wortlop's grotto! He was a Titan-send after dealing with the Healing Coven for so many years. Unlike them, he was actually interested in healing the curse and not just learning to live with it!" Gwen scoffed. Those Healers didn't want to cure her daughter so they could keep selling her elixirs! Gwen knew how it worked; the Healers were paid by the Potions Coven! Master Wortlop told her himself!
Gwen held up her medallion, and the rune on it began to glow green. The same rune appeared on the door-like stone, which promptly glowed green and moved aside, revealing a passage way into Wortlop's Grotto. Hooty hooted with amazement at the beautiful sight; the grotto was full of purple crystals, candles, magical doodads and trinkets, and even a waterfall! Hooty bet Luz would love it; it looked just like something from her Azura books! Gwen and Hooty weren't alone either as they entered, spotting another pilgrim who'd come to Master Wortlop in search of healing.
A grey-skinned gremlin with swollen, boil-covered eyes was kneeling in front of a sagely looking demon, begging for help; "Please, they're so itchy!"
The sagely looking demon looked down on the gremlin benevolently. He was a dark greyish blue skinned demon with long ears and four arms, clad in a pale robe and hood and with his face largely covered by a long white beard, which matched his hair. His eyes glowed white, and he wore a necklace of thick green beads whilst wielding a staff with a pointed crystal on the tip. A matching gem was also visible on his forehead. It wasn't hard for Hooty to guess that this was Wortlop.
Wortlop waved a hand over the Gremlin, a pink spell circle in his palm, which promptly coated the gremlin in a pink aura and made him float into the air. There was a flash of light, and then the Gremlin's boils were cured and his eyes were left pure and sparkling. Hooty hooted in surprise, while Gwen nodded approvingly. The Gremlin wept with joy and thanked Wortlop before skipping away with a happy laugh, while Gwen and Hooty approached the sage.
"That's Master Wortlop. He's a travelling curse expert who's perfected next-level healing magic!" Gwen explained. Hooty was definitely impressed, though he'd seen Luz do cooler things with healing magic.
Master Wortlop took notice of the pair and gestured for them to approach. Gwen did so eagerly and knelt in front of him, while Hooty did a chicken squat beside her.
"Gwendolyn, my pupil. Your aura is shining bright!" Wortlop greeted, his voice sounding ancient and carrying a supernatural echo.
Gwen smiled brightly and conjured a sack of items; "It took many months, but I was able to gather the sacred items you requested!" She began pulling items from the sack and placing them in front of Wortlop; "The Copper Egg from the Snowy Rib Cage, the Silver Dagger from the Swampy Toes, and the Golden Chalice from the desert of Palm Stings!"
Wortlop looked pleased with the offerings; "You truly are a most dedicated mother." he said, before summoning an old book in a flash of green magic. "Inside this tome is the healing ability you see."
The book floated into Gwen's hands and she gazed at it reverently as Wortlop added; "Keep it away from the eyes of non-believers. For they may be blinded by the power it holds!"
Gwen stood and bowed to the old sage; "I understand. I am in your debt, Master Wortlop! Farewell."
She then hurried from the grotto, eager to heal her daughter's curse. Hooty ran after her, meeting her outside. As soon as the grotto had closed behind them, Gwen turned to Hooty with an expectant smile; "You see, Hooty? Isn't Master Wortlop amazing! You saw him heal that poor dear when we arrived, and this book practically oozes with the secrets of powerful magic!"
Hooty stared at Gwen; "I've got to be honest Gwendy… I don't think I've ever seen someone MORE legit in my entire life! Hoot!" he said, breaking into a wide grin; "We'll heal that curse for certain! I just know it! Hoot!"
"Marvellous!" Gwendolyn beamed, "I knew you'd understand! So, are you going to take me to where Eda's hiding."
"Of course! We need to go back to the house! They all went down to Eda's basement lab!" Hooty replied.
Gwen looked confused; "They were just hiding in the basement? I should have been able to smell them…"
"Not once they've gone through the portal to the Human Realm! Hoot!"
"The Human Realm!? Portal!? My Little Witchlet has a portal to the Human Realm!?" Gwen exclaimed.
"Yep! That's where Eda gets most of her human stuff! It's where Luz came from too! Luz is actually there right now, visiting her Angel Mom!" Hooty explained.
Gwendolyn went silent for a moment as she registered these revelations. It suddenly made sense how Eda always managed to disappear and be untraceable whenever she'd wanted to get away from her! She'd been hiding in the Human Realm! Well, now she had her answers, could heal her daughter, AND meet her granddaughter in one fell swoop! It'd be killing three birds with one stone!
With a cheery smile, she said; "Thank you for telling me, Hooty! Let's go find this portal. Once my Little Witchlet is curse free, we can finally start spending time together as a family! Maybe I can even get her to talk to her father again!"
The two walked back to the Owl House and headed straight through to the basement, where they found the portal door had been left open (so Scroll calls could get through the boundary between realms, in case Eda or Lilith needed to be reached). Gwen poked her head out into the Human Realm but couldn't see anyone around, though she could hear the distinct cries of "Weh!" in the distance, undoubtedly from King doing something. Where there was King, there was sure to be Edalyn, so Gwen and Hooty passed through the portal and snuck through the woods around Gravesfield until they came to an isolated clearing. Inside the clearing was the same classroom set up that King had set up outside the Owl House itself, and Gwen saw Edalyn, Lilith, and Rasiel scribbling away on some note paper while King used some kind of roar magic Gwen had never seen before, along with his own pieces of paper that produced light, fire, ice, and plant-life. These conjured elements merged with King's roars to create all kinds of elemental roars.
Gwen smiled; Edalyn was distracted and King's roaring was ensuring no one heard her! She hid behind a tree with Hooty and cracked open the tome she'd gotten from Wortlop, then said; "Well Hooty, let's see what we can do about this curse!"
[Meanwhile]
Raine returned to the Owl House only a few minutes after Gwen and Hooty passed through into the Human Realm, and to say they were surprised was an understatement. There was no sign of anyone; not even Hooty! Nor was there a barrier up like there usually was when Hooty was missing. The Bard looked around in confusion as Katya and Amber, who'd been doing chores with them in town, frowned.
"Where'd everybody go?" Katya asked.
Amber shrugged; "Maybe they went to Digale Island?"
"No chance. They'd need Luz, and she'd have put up a barrier if Hooty was going too." Raine frowned, looking around. They eventually spotted Hooty's scratched message on the ground beside his door, and stooped to read it.
"I've gone with… Gwendy? To see Master Healer… Wortlop? Hoot hoot." Raine read aloud, struggling to make out the literal chicken scratch. "This must have been left by Hooty."
"Wortlop? That name's kind of familiar… I could have sworn I'd heard it around Bonesborough." Amber said.
"I think I have too. The name came up when we were looking into prominent locals to try and recruit." Katya said; "Never heard of a Gwendy before."
"It must be Gwendolyn; Eda's mother." Raine said, scratching their chin as they wracked their brain for who else it could be. Few people could convince Hooty to leave the house unguarded, and Gwen was likely one of them. They then turned to Katya and Amber; "Did you ever find out more about Wortlop?"
"Not much. It was like he was avoiding us." Katya answered.
Raine narrowed his eyes; "A master healer that Gwendolyn went to see… I have a bad feeling about this. Let's investigate this so-called Master Healer Wortlop."
The ladies nodded and followed Raine as they went back into town, though not without putting a barrier around the Owl House first.
[Meanwhile]
Luz stood nervously in her Mami's kitchen, helping her, Vee, and Amity make lunch. She'd been home for a couple of hours already and the visit had been very pleasant so far. Camila had been as happy to see her as always, and greeted her and a blushing Amity with a big hug, before asking them about school. They'd answered honestly (including mentioning the misadventure with the Kappas, which had Camila and Vee both giggling), and Vee had in turn asked about how Treble was doing since her last visit. After that, they'd all sat down together for some tea and a chat, which had become the tradition for whenever Luz came home. Vee, in her human disguise (which she only used when Luz was home), had happily told the girls about her time in Gravesfield High School, and her hang outs with Masha, Gray, and Rebecca. Then Camila had told them about any interesting events happening at her work, and all the adorable animals she'd gotten to help. It had all been very nice… which was why Luz found it so hard to finally break the truth to her Mami about the adventures she'd gotten up to in the last three weeks.