#gUESS WHOS COMING BAAAAAAAACK | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stupid-stew · 3 years

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Separate Tides

yknow what? frick you. *writes down my own version of the season 2 premiere that i've already written in my head because i'm impatient*

Luz was guilty. No matter how many times Eda told her that she shouldn’t take the blame, she just couldn’t stop herself. If she just hadn’t gone that day and stayed to make sure Eda was ok…

“Luz?”

Luz sat up from her position in her sleeping bag on the floor, “What is it King?”

The small demon looked at her, his silhouette backlit by the light from the hall, Luz’s room was dark, she’d been too mad at herself when she woke up to even begin thinking about casting light glyphs.

“Eda wanted me to come tell you to get up for breakfast…” King gave her another glance “but if you aren’t up for it I can make an excuse for you.”

Luz realized she must look a mess, still covered in dust and scratches from her fight with Belos, still wearing her cat hoodie, and probably had one of the worst cases of bed head in history. “No, that’ll only make her worry more, I’ll be down in a minute, ok?”

Her face must have given something away because King still didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push the matter any further and left her back alone in her room.

I’ve gotta fix this.

Luz got up, well she got up as far as she could before her arms gave out, Huh, she thought to herself, I guess getting thrown around by an evil emperor leaves you a little sore in the morning, who woulda thought. She stayed there for another minute before trying again, Eda is gonna be worried if I don’t head down soon, she doesn’t need any more on her plate, not from me.

This time, Luz mentally prepared herself before deciding to get up, it must have worked because she was able to get all the way to her knees before having to take a break. It was at this point Luz saw herself in the mirror for the first time. I see why King was worried, she really did look awful, not even when she was going through her awkward hair stage had she ever looked like this. Her hair stuck up every which way, down her forehead, up towards the ceiling, that one on her left was almost perfectly perpendicular to her skull. After she finished admiring the true wonder that was her hair, she got a chance to look at the rest of her appearance. It wasn’t as bad as she was expecting honestly, a few scrapes and bruises were visible along her face and arms, but that was the worst of it, her hoodie definitely needed a wash.

Better get this over with.

**********

Where is that kid? Eda thought she had sent King up the stairs long enough in advance for Luz to be down the stairs in time for breakfast, had she fallen back asleep?

Just as she was going to get up to go see if Luz was alright, the human appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

“Yikes, what happened to you?”

“Good morning to you too Eda” Luz responded, rolling her eyes at the older witch’s comment and moving to go grab her plate from the counter.

Good, she’s joking around, that’s good, right? Eda had been up late last night worried about Luz. If she knew one thing about the kid, it was that she had a big heart, and that meant she was probably going to blame herself for everything that had happened, and Eda didn’t want that for Luz, in fact she had gone out of her way to make sure and tell Luz how much of her fault it wasn’t.

“More like good afternoon, you were really asleep huh?” It was a little past one, breakfast was an arbitrary term in the owl house, especially since Eda had a habit of sleeping like a rock for days after an especially bad curse incident.

“Yeah well I had a long night, you did too.” Something in Luz’s voice was off, Eda just couldn’t quite tell what it was.

“What’s in this anyways?” Luz asked, gesturing at the meal in front of her, if you could call it that. Eda didn’t have much in the way of food around the house, she had been planning on making money over the weekend with the human collectables stand and then going shopping early next week, but getting captured and almost petrified had thrown a wrench in her plans.

“Ah, well I was going to make money this weeken-”

Luz cut her off “But now without the portal…”

“No money.”

“No food.” Luz looked into her dish with guilt painted all over her face.

“But not to worry kid! We’ll figure it out, I made out just fine before I got my hands one the portal” Eda said, trying to cheer Luz up, truth was she didn’t have a plan, sure now she wasn’t as wanted of a criminal, but she doubted there were many witches in town willing to offer her a job.

“Yeah but even then you had your magic.” Luz muttered just loud enough for Eda to hear

“Kid we talked about this, it’s nothing you need to worry abo-”

Eda was cut off by a quiet cough from the doorway, both her and Luz turned their heads to see Lilith standing in the hallway.

“My apologies, I don’t mean to interrupt but the small demon told me to come to the kitchen for breakfast, though I think he meant lunch, regardless, I’m more than happy to take it and leave.”

The three of them stood there for a moment, Luz was visibly uncomfortable with Lilith’s presence, but Eda just looked confused, she hadn’t asked King to get Lilith. As far as she was concerned Lilith could figure out her own meals.

“You can have mine, I’m not hungry anymore.” Luz spoke, breaking the silence. She placed her untouched breakfast on the counter and moved quickly back up the stairs, shutting the door to her room.

That can’t be good

“I’m sorry, I’ll just go.”

Lilith started to turn before Eda stopped her, “No, don’t let it go to waste.”

The elder Clawthorne hung her head and occupied the place where Luz had been a moment ago.

“What is this?” Lilith asked, looking at the plate in a mixture of confusion and disgust.

“Oh I’m sorry your highness, we seem to be all out of elegant food at the moment, so sorry we won’t live up to the expectations of the ex leader of the emperor’s very own coven.” Eda mocked, putting on her worst posh accent and accenting her mention of the coven with venom in her voice.

Lilith’s face dropped at that and she turned to start eating, but she barely got the food next to her face before the smell hit her and she dropped the fork, and in trying to catch it managed to knock the whole plate face-down on the floor.

Eda looked at her and scoffed before walking out of the room, leaving Lilith by herself to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

**********

By the time Eda walked past Luz’s room, Luz had already made up her mind, she was going to help Eda. There were things she couldn’t fix, she couldn’t cure Eda’s curse, she couldn’t get rid of Lilith, she couldn’t repair the portal, she couldn’t do anything about Belos, but there was one thing she could do. Her mother had never really supported Luz in her fantasies, she had never been mean about it, she tried her best, but if there were bills to be paid or groceries to be bought, that’s where the money went. Not towards Luz’s interests. If Luz wanted a new book, poster, dvd, cd, action figure, anything like that, she had to get her own money. Only problem was, Luz was barely 14, not a lot of places hired kids younger than that, but she had managed to get money, she’d done it before for herself, but now she was going to do it for Eda.

She’s already sacrificed so much for me, I can’t let her go hungry too. Luz thought as she packed her bag. Maybe they wouldn’t hire me in the human realm, but this is the boiling isles, everything is dangerous, hiring age is probably the least of their worries. Luz was determined, she was going to help Eda.

She almost made it out the door, Eda was in her room, Lilith was nowhere to be seen, Luz was almost in the clear, until

“HOOOOOOOOOOOOOT”

Hooty.

“Hey Hooty,” Luz replied through gritted teeth, “could you keep it down a little bit there buddy?”

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING LUUUUUUUUZZZZZ”

So he wasn’t going to keep it down. Great.

“I’m just heading into town to help out Eda, can you not tell anyone where I went? It’s a secret mission.” Luz was certain Eda didn’t want her going into town after last night, especially not by herself, but she also didn’t want Eda to worry about her while she was gone.

“ONLY IF YOU BRING ME SOMETHING BAAAAAAAACK” the house demon replied, rotating his face a full 180 degrees.

So creepy Luz shivered. “Alright, but only if you don’t tell anyone I’m gone or where I went” she whispered while shutting the door softly.

“OKAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY” the owl dragged out his words, following Luz several feet into the forest before returning to his place on the door.

That was close. Luz sighed before shaking out her hands, refocusing her mind, right, gotta mission, time to make it up to Eda.

**********

“KING? COME UP HERE” Eda yelled from her nest.

After a couple moments, she could hear the demon’s tiny footsteps scampering up the stairs, “What?”

“Why did you tell Lilith to come eat with us?” Eda asked, voice slightly muffled by the fact she was laying with her face buried in a pillow.

“Eda,” King said carefully “you can’t just let her starve y'know, where else was she gonna get food?”

“Why should I care?” came an exclamation from the witch who was now rolling over onto her back, “not like she thought about me when she was cursing me, what did she think the owl beast was gonna eat? Not like she thought about Luz when she threw her off a bridge, human ghosts don’t eat, what did she think Luz was going to do without me? She can’t survive on her own here! She’s a kid, King, I was a kid when I got cursed, so no I don’t care what she eats.” Eda exhaled, dropping her gesturing hands to the bottom of the nest with a thud.

King sighed and was about to leave before Eda sat up and looked at him, “speaking of which did Luz seem off to you this morning?”

“Yeah actually, she looked really sad when I went to grab her this morning, I don’t know exactly what happened last night but I think she’s taking it really hard.”

That made Eda’s heart hurt, did I not talk to her about it enough? Doesn’t she know it isn’t her fault, maybe I need to tell her again. “Could you go grab her for me please?”

King nodded and headed off down the hall, Eda heard him knock a few times, and the lack of response made her nervous, maybe she just fell asleep again, wow she must be wiped after last night, Eda chuckled a little bit at that before getting up to help King wake Luz.

“Luz?” she asked, knocking on the door, “can you wake up please?”

Nothing.

“Luz I’m coming in.” Eda stated while reaching for the door handle. When she opened the door all the way, she couldn’t see anything, the kid must have fallen right back asleep if there weren’t any glyphs or candles lit up.

“Luz?”

It took a moment for Eda’s eyes to adjust to the lack of light, but when they did and she saw the empty sleeping bag on the floor, her heart dropped.

Oh no.

**********

Lilith didn’t know how she had gotten there. Not even 36 hours ago she had been in one of the highest possible positions of power on the boiling isles, a part of Belos’ inner circle, and now here she was. In a shack, her dress in tatters, half cursed, covered in rancid food, sewing herself new clothes from dusty blankets she found under her cot. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Just as she had finished putting on her new clothes, and was planning on burning the old ones, Eda busted in the, admittedly shoddily attached, door to her makeshift room.

“Edalyn?” Lilith’s eyes needed a moment to adjust to the sudden bright light coming from the outside world.

“Lilith- what are you weari- no nevermind there’s no time, have you seen Luz?”

The panic in Eda’s voice had Lilith more concerned than she was willing to admit.

“No, not since this morning, why? Has something happened?”

“Shit” Eda murmured “She wasn’t in her room and she isn’t in the house, I haven’t seen her and neither has King, are you sure you didn’t see or hear anything?”

“No, I’m sorry I haven’t,” Lilith replied, now just as worried as Eda, she might not know the kid that well, but Luz was still a kid, and Eda’s fear was intoxicating.

“HOOOOOOOOOT”

If there was one thing Lilith hated more than herself, it was that infernal house demon.

“I KNOW WHERE SHE WENT”

Eda’s face visibly lit up at that

“Really? Where?” Lilith had never heard her sister that relieved, not even after she’d almost gotten expelled for some of her more… elaborate pranks.

“I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO TELLLL YOUUU IT’S A SEEEECREEETTTT”

Any sign of joy that had been on Eda’s face disappeared almost immediately.

The next few seconds happened in slow motion for Lilith, first, Eda’s hand shot out and grabbed hooty by what Lilith assumed must have been his neck, whatever she had a grip on was making it hard for the owl tube to breath, then her other hand came up and bashed him in the beak, how that seemed to hurt Hooty more than it did Eda’s fist was beyond Lilith, then Eda had him pinned up against the wall of the shack.

Eda stared into Hooty’s eyes, and asked in a voice that was somehow calm yet conveyed the rage and power that Lilith knew was yet to be tapped into “Where. Is. Luz.”

The demon was wriggling like crazy, but to Eda’s credit, she didn’t show any sign of letting go until she got her answer.

“SHE- WENT- IN- TO- TOWN-” Hooty managed to cough out, Lilith knew her sister had a strong grip from years of grudgbey, so how he was even managing to breathe was beyond her.

Eda released him from the wall and turned to Lilith, who met her eye with a matching stare of concern, they both knew how dangerous it was for Luz to be out in town by herself. Eda might have been pardoned by the emperor but Luz hadn’t.

“We have to go”

**********

Luz was utterly defeated. She’d been at it for hours, going from business to business asking if they had a position for her, not even bothering to look if they had a help wanted sign in their window. The thing was, most of them were hiring. They were even hiring teens, they just weren’t hiring humans. Humans aren’t fireproof, they can’t survive dismemberment, they don’t have any magic, great, just another thing I suck at, I can’t even help eda properly because I’m a human. Just as Luz was about to leave Rot Alley, a cloaked figure appeared around the corner.

“Hey kid.”

The voice that called out to her was raspy and creepy, and Luz had seen enough horror movies to know that logically, running was her best option in this situation, running far far away, but before she could even get her feet to move, a gloved hand shot out from the white fabric of the cloak and grabbed her by the wrist.

“Hey! Let go of me!” she protested, trying to yank herself out from the stranger’s grip.

“Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you.” the voice replied, letting go of her arm.

Yep, creepy voice is still creepy the second time it speaks

“What’s a kid like you doing out all by themself?”

Luz’s mom had told her time and time again not to talk to strangers, but this one seemed nice, right?

“Well, I was looking for a job, but nobody wants to hire me.” Luz admitted while staring at the ground and kicking the toe of her shoe into the dirt.

“You seem a bit too young...” the figure paused, craning their neck to look at the side of Luz’s head, something about that circular, gold mask seemed familiar “... and round to be working a job around here.

Luz tried not to take offense to the round part, and settled for honestly replying “Yeah, well I need the money.”

The figure hummed and said, “Well, if it’s money you’re after, I think I could help you with that.”

Lets see, alleyway? Check. Cloaked figure? Check? Creepy voice? Check. Super duper sketchy promise of money? Double check. Yep that’s all the boxes on the “do not take this deal” list. But Eda… I owe it to her. If this deal can help her then I need to try.

“I’m in.”

The next half hour was a blur in Luz’s memory, she signed some papers, was given a map, a boat, and a contract that promised her 40% of whatever she brought back, and was sent on her way, and now she found herself on her own, floating away from a dock placed on a part of the isles she had never seen before, scared out of her mind, but with the hope of helping Eda.

No going back now.

**********

Eda was frantic, she’d been running all over the marketplace with Luz’s banned flyer in her hand asking anyone who looked like they had eyes if they’d seen her, and much to Eda’s surprise, they had. Apparently Luz had been there all afternoon looking for work, why on Earth would she be looking for a job? Luz’s motives were the least of Eda’s worries right now, what was more important was finding Luz, she could interrogate the kid on her own then, when she was back safe.

“Nothing?” Lilith asked, floating down next to Eda on her staff.

“Nope, seems like everyone’s seen her but nobody can tell me where she is.” Eda sat down aggressively on a nearby bench, placed her head in her hands and let out a groan of frustration. It was getting dark, if they didn’t find Luz soon, it could mean serious trouble. “Why was she even out of the house in the first place? She knows how dangerous the it can be here.”

Lilith took the seat next to her sister, “I don’t know, she seemed pretty upset in the kitchen, what was that about?”

Eda lifted her head and looked at Lilith. “That was because of you.”

“What?”

“Are you serious Lily? You took the kid and threw her off a bridge as some sort of sacrifice and you expected her to be ok being in the same room with you?”

Lilith opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a voice neither of them recognized.

“Hey, you lookin for that kid?” the passerby asked, pointing at the flyer in Eda’s hand.

Eda shot out of her seat, feeling hopeful for the first time in hours. “Yes!” she replied hastily, “Why? Have you seen her around?”

“Yeah yeah yeah, last I saw she was heading down to the docks, seems like a dangerous place for a kid to be. Glad she had that guy with her.” was all the demon offered before walking away.

The docks? A guy? Eda thought, what was Luz thinking? Going to the docks, doesn’t she know how dangerous that is? I’ve done more than my fair share of illegal things but even I wouldn- oh. Luz doesn’t know how dangerous that is, whenever she comes into town she’s with me and we don’t go there, I should have warned her, it’s worse than the night market down th-

Eda’s train of thought was cut off by Lilith’s hand on her shoulder, the look in her sister’s eyes told Eda that she’d come to the same conclusion, that they needed to move fast, titan knows what could have happened to Luz just in the time they’d been standing there.

Without a word, both Clawthornes jumped on their staffs and moved as fast as they could down to the dreaded area. Eda hated how low to the sea the shops were down there, it always made it unbearably hot, but the heat was the last thing she needed to be worried about.

After about 10 minutes of asking around, the sisters found themselves outside of a rickety building all the way at the end of the pier. The shop didn’t have a sign but the lights were on. “Stay behind me, I know how to deal with people who run places like this.” Eda whispered to Lilith.

**********

Lilith gave a small nod and Eda took that as her cue to enter the building. Why am I not surprised she knows what she’s doing around here.

It wasn’t much better on the inside than it was on the outside, all that was in the building was a desk, some tables covered in papers, and a witch behind the desk. The witch looked familiar to Lilith, something about those eyes, and the chip out of his ear, she couldn’t quite place it.

“Hey, you seen this kid around?” Eda spoke next to her, holding up the flyer.

“Maybe, what’s it to you?” Definitely know him, I know that voice…

“Look,” Eda sighed, dropping her hand to her side, “we don’t want any trouble, just tell us where the kid went and we’ll be on our way.”

The witch behind the desk spun around in his chair, “Sorry lady, even if I wanted to I couldn’t, she could be anywhere by now, I can tell you the kid seemed desperate for money, was willing to do anything we asked to get her hands on some coins, I like that kind of dedication in an employee.”

Why was Luz so desperate for money?

“If you can’t tell us where she is, could you at least tell us where she’s headed” Lilith offered, trying to get any information she could out of this man.

“Nope, no can do, our business is strictly confidenti-”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was slammed up against the wall by Eda, who had a firm hold on the collar of his shirt.

“Woah hey put me down!” the man chuckled, trying his best not to look afraid, his facade is weak, maybe I don’t know him after all.

Eda didn’t look amused. “Tell us where the kid went.” She annunciated every word sharply.

“I already told you, I can’t!”

Eda pulled her arm back so the man was nose to nose with her before slamming him back higher on the wall.

“I don’t care what you can and cannot do. You will tell me where she went. That is my kid, she is under my protection. You don’t want to mess with me, so look at me, and tell me where she went.” Eda spoke calmly, but the man looked terrified.

Her kid huh? Lilith grinned to herself, she’s never going to hear the end of this one.

The man gulped and looked around for any way out, when he didn’t seem to find one he stammered “G-griffin island, she went to griffin island.”

Eda dropped the witch to the ground, not because she had gotten what she wanted, but because of the implications of what she had heard.

Griffin island was dangerous, Luz must have been really truly desperate for money, but most of all, it was a scam, no griffin in history had been known to give up the treasure they were guarding, not without giving up their lives as well, Lilith and Eda both knew that, Luz didn’t.

**********

Magic is so cool.

Luz didn’t know the first thing about sailing, but the boat was enchanted to take her where she was going.

Why did they even need me for this? Whatever, as long as I’m getting a cut of the money I can help Eda. Plus not having to row is nice for my arms.

It was dark now, but Luz had enough light glyphs to keep her company, and apparently enough to illuminate the island in front of her.

Griffin island, wow. It was massive, there were tall twisting trees and vines, but what caught Luz’s eye was the giant statue of a griffin with it’s mouth open, leading to a tunnel. Ah, that must be the entrance.

As if the boat could read her mind, it made a sudden sharp turn towards the beak of the griffin statue, knocking Luz off her balance so she fell and her cape fell over her eyes. By the time she got herself untangled, the boat was nearing the tunnel. Wow it really is dark in there isn’t it. Luz activated a light glyph just in time to illuminate her path, which clearly hadn’t been traveled in quite some time, as it was riddled with spider webs. Note to self, spider breath isn’t as cool in person as it is in my head. Luz thought to herself as she layed in the bottom of the boat, trying to avoid getting any web on her.

When the boat reached the end of the tunnel, it was a spectacular sight. There were tall purple and green trees all around a circular pond of glowing blue water, and at the top of the circle, directly in front of Luz, was a sleeping griffin.

So. Cool.

Luz closed her eyes and tried to remember the instructions she had been given, the griffin should be asleep, good, right on track, ok what’s next, try not to wake up the griffin. She opened her eyes to look ahead of her, still asleep, now try to find a way around the griffin and get to the treasure, this is so cool I’m on a real life treasure hunt- Luz focus, find the path, get the treasure, help Eda.

It didn’t take her long to plot out her path, stop the boat at the base of where the griffin was sleeping, be really really quiet, walk around the griffin, get the treasure, leave. Fool proof planning Luz, why thank you Luz.

It didn’t take long for things to go wrong.

The moment Luz stepped off the boat, it zipped through the water and back out of the tunnel, leaving Luz stranded. That’s probably fine. There really was no going back now, so she kept on going with her plan, not wanting to think about the fact that she had just been stranded on a mystery island in the middle of nowhere with nobody aware of where she was.

She turned away from the tunnel, and was greeted by the very much awake face of a griffin right in hers. Great.

“Hey there-” she started, but was cut off by the griffin itself.

“What are you doing here.”

Woah griffins can talk? And it sounds nice? “Yeah so actually I need some of your treasure, you see I really need to help ou-”

“Interesting word, need. Most travellers tell me they want the riches, and most travelers I would have eaten them by now.”

Luz didn’t know what to say to that.

“Are you going to eat me then?” she gulped

The griffin got up and stretched before sitting down with it’s two front claws outstretched. Very similar to a cat, not quite as cute, Luz thought to herself with a smile.

“Not yet, luckily for you, I have just woken up from a nap, and therefore am not at all hungry, but if you tell me why you so need my treasure, I’ll listen.”

Who would have thought griffins were so reasonable. “Oh, um, it’s kind of hard to explain, you see I kind of made a big mistake, and my mentor really paid for it, she lost her powers and something really important to her. She keeps telling me that it wasn’t my fault, but I know it was. See, without her powers, she can’t really do much, and trust me, nobody wants to hire someone without powers.” I should know, I don’t have any “Point is, she’s out of an income, and I know it’s my fault, and I want to help, but I can’t get a job either, so I figured if I came here, maybe I could get some money to help her out. She’s done so much for me, I don’t deserve it, I want her to be ok.” Luz explained.

The griffin just stared at her blankly.

“Ok.”

Ok? Am I going to get the treasure just like that?

“Really?”

The griffin turned around and began walking back towards the woods surrounding them, “Yes, I will help you help your mento.”

“Awesome thank you so mu-”

“You say you have been such a burden to her? That you are the reason she lost her powers? That she is better off without you? Then I will rid her of her burden.”

What?

The griffin turned back to Luz, getting a running start, charging at Luz, who was now screaming without even knowing, it raised its claws and jumped, then Luz was flying.

*********

Eda had never flown that fast in her life. Everyone knew where griffin island was, and not for a lame reason like geography lessons, but because every young witch on the isles was warned to stay as far away from it as possible. The griffin will not hand over its treasure, it might trick you and tell you it will, but it won’t. Never go to griffin island as long as you live, you will not leave alive. Those were the words her mother had recited every time she and Lilith played “adventure to griffin island” in their backyard as witchlings. As a consequence, Eda had spent every moment she could trying to get as close to griffin island as she could before her mother caught on and dragged her back inside, her hatred of the hot water be damned.

But, that also meant Eda knew the way there. She had never gotten all that close, but enough to see it in the distance and head straight for it.

What if Luz is injured, what if I’m too late, what if she never even made it all the way, what if she fell in, what if-

Eda never got to finish her thought as they entered the griffin’s mouth tunnel, what was getting in her face?

Lilith seemed to be having the same problem, as she was spitting and sputtering like a mad woman next to her.

Eda almost laughed at her, almost, but then they exited the tunnel to see Luz raising her arm to block the claw of the griffin, and all thoughts of joy left her body.

“LUZ!” She exclaimed, moving as fast as she could, but Lilith got there first.

She grabbed Luz by the arm and dangled her, Eda flew around and grabbed Luz’s other arm and together they flew out of the clearing as fast as they could, Eda checking behind them and glad to see that the griffin wasn’t interested in following them.

Lilith swung Luz so she was forced to hold onto Eda’s staff with two arms, and Eda pulled her all the way into a sitting position behind her on the staff.

“LUZ WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS? YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT, YOU COULD HAVE DIED LUZ! HOW DID YOU EVEN GET TO GRIFFIN ISL-”

Eda’s screaming was cut off by a sudden impact and pressure on her back. She stopped the movement of her staff and turned her head to look at Luz, who was now clinging onto her back and sobbing.

Shit.

The older witch turned her full body to face Luz and embraced her in a hug, drawing circles on the girl’s back with her nails and letting her cry. They stayed like that for a while, floating in place while Eda tried to sooth Luz.

Eventually, Eda broke the silence. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I was just really worried Luz, that was extremely dangero-”

“I’m sorry.” Luz interjected, and Eda looked at her with confusion,

“It’s ok, you didn’t know how dangerous the island was.”

“No, no not for that.”

At this point Eda was completely lost.

“What are you talking about Luz?” She gently placed her hands on Luz’s shoulders and pushed her away to look in her eyes. She moved her hands to hold the girl’s face and used her thumbs to wipe the tears still running down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry for all of it Eda.” Luz’s voice was already breaking. “I’m sorry for making you lose your magic, for burning the portal, for you having to jump in and save me all the time because I can’t take care of myself, for not being able to get a job and help out, for getting caught and you almost getting petrified. I’m sorry for being such a burden. I thought if I could get you some money, help out a little, it would make your life easier and you wouldn’t have to think about me as much.”

Eda was shocked. She expected Luz to blame herself, but not this badly. Why did the kid have to be so sweet all the time, doesn’t she know that not everything is her fault all the time?

“Oh, Luz.” Eda clicked her tongue and wrapped her arms around the girl again, “None of that was your fault.”

“But if I hadn’t-” Luz began to protest

“No, listen,” Eda released her grip on the girl and took Luz’s smaller hands in her own, “I need you to really listen, ok?”

Luz nodded.

“None of it is your fault, none of it. I was caught because I decided to come save you from my sister, and fight a battle in a war I’ve been fighting for years, since before you were even born. I was cursed, not because of you. I was caught, not because of you. Those are the things that took away my powers, not you.”

Luz didn’t look completely convinced, but she seemed to be listening.

“As for this incident, I should have been more explicit with you about a lot of things, we should have had this conversation earlier, I should have warned you about where not to go, and I should have been checking in on you, not pouting in my room over some spilled breakfast. Now, you also shouldn’t have run off like that without telling me where you were going-”

Luz looked back up at her with tears still in her eyes,

“But I forgive you, Luz. It’s ok.”

At this, Luz started sobbing again, ah, so that’s what she needed to hear.

Eda let her cry in her arms, and when Luz had slowed down enough to take a stable breath, Eda turned around and started moving back towards the owl house

*********

Lilith was starting to get worried, she had left her sister and the human alone quite a while ago at this point, they should be back by now.

She got up and was about to grab her staff when she heard Eda land outside, so she settled for meeting her out there instead.

When she walked out the door, her heart nearly melted at the sight.

Eda was trying to move herself so she wouldn’t wake a sleeping Luz, but the problem was that the kid had fallen asleep with her arms tightly fixed around Eda’s waist.

“A little help please?” Eda whispered at Lilith, who was trying to contain herself.

“Of course,” She spoke softly, unwrapping Luz’s arms and holding the sleeping child up long though for Eda to come and pick her up under her knees, “anything for my sister and her kid”

Eda rolled her eyes, but even in the dark Lilith could see the blush forming on her sister’s cheeks.

“She must really love you” Lilith stated, grinning.

“Yeah well I love her too, I’m pretty lucky to have her.” Eda replied, beating Lilith’s grin out with a larger one of her own.

The two silently parted ways for the night, Eda heading up to her nest and Lilith to the shack.

*********

King hated being left out, why did everyone else get to have all the fun while he got stuck at home with Hooty all day.

He heard Eda come in the door, and was about to complain to her about the unfairness of the situation, but as he stuck his head around the corner to the sight of an exhausted Eda carrying a sleeping Luz, he decided it could wait until the morning.

Silently, he watched Eda carry Luz up to her nest and lay the kid down before getting herself ready for bed, and while the witch was in the bathroom, King snuck in and took his sleeping position at Luz’s feet. The girl must have been really out because she didn’t even stir at the new presence in the nest. Eda must have also been too tired to notice, or if she noticed him there she didn’t say anything. Instead, she placed herself next to Luz, and placed a single arm around the girl.

Luz woke slightly at this, but Eda just whispered

“It’s me, go back to sleep”

And that seemed to be enough for Luz.

King felt Luz roll over before he heard Eda humming a gentle melody, and felt Luz’s body relax back into sleep, and when King woke up the next afternoon to see the two of them in the same position, he decided to bite his tongue on his complaint, and just let them be.

#the owl house #eda clawthorne #eda the owl lady #luz noceda #lilith clawthorne #king of demons #hooty #the owl house season 2 #fanfic

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riverboundao3ff · 4 years

Text

Riverbound, Chapter 20

Your name is MICAH, and ten nights have come and gone in what felt like a few hours.

It’s still early enough that even Lynera is still asleep in the next room over, which is really saying something because that girl is up at the asscrack of dusk no matter what night it is. You’re curled up on the sofa in the study, staring at a fungus-shaped nightlight that does a poor job of actually illuminating the surrounding area, and wondering what the hell you were going to tell your friends in the future.

Hey, guys! Sorry I kind of dropped off the grid for a while there. I fought this fucked-up version of one of my human friends, vanished into the literal void to take a nap because I was super tired from splitting a whole universe apart, and then traveled back to the past to help fight in a literal revolution… because I want to save my other friends, I guess? You don’t have to worry about that changing the future or whatever, I promise! I’m literally a god now, so I have total control over time and space.

Geez. You hope Vriska is ready to stop the others from kicking your ass.

Should you just go? You could easily spend the night on future Alternia and be back by breakfast. Teleporting still makes you a little nervous; the fear of messing up still lingers in the back of your head, but nothing bad has happened yet, so…

Yeah, you’re definitely not getting any more sleep. Might as well be productive.

You roll off the couch with a grunt, stagger a bit as all the blood rushes down to your legs, and then stumble over to the bathroom to brush your teeth and wash your face. Maybe you were about to pull up to the future to get yelled at by a bunch of teenagers, maybe not, but that doesn’t mean you have to look like crap.

The person looking back at you in the mirror startles you more than you’d like to admit. Their eyes are tired but wild, like a feral animal that’s been hunted to the point of exhaustion. Too-pale skin reflects the ceiling lights with an intensity that hurts your head if you look for too long. The dark shadows underneath both eyes are so dark they look like smudged mascara. You’ve always been very fair, even for a white kid, but you know that looking like this can’t be healthy.

Then there’s the fact that you’re still pretty underweight. You’ve been doing your best to eat on a somewhat regular basis, but you just don’t feel hungry anymore. It’s like your body already decided to give up.

And to be honest, the rest of you isn’t too far behind.

“Look at you. Sans Undertale looking-ass,” you tell the shadow in the mirror.

The shadow blinks in agreement at the same time you do.

You can’t look at yourself anymore. Moving as quickly as you can, you brush your teeth and do your best to assemble yourself into what could maybe pass for a functional human being and leave to go get dressed.

You’re rifling through your backpack for your water bottle when the lights come on in Lynera’s room. The bedroom door cracks open, and a messy head of pair pokes out, bits of sopor slime still clinging to black curls.

“Micah? What are you doing up so early?” she yawns.

“I, ah, I gotta go visit some friends a ways out of town. I’ll be back in a bit,” you promise. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

“You didn’t! A new cluster of eggs is due to hatch tonight and I want to be there!” she practically sings as she gets ready.

You feel the sadness leave your body as Lynera practically prances around as she gets ready for her shift. It’s not often she lets down her walls, but when she does, you can’t help but take a step back to enjoy the show.

“Give those babies some love for me,” you tell her as you hoist your backpack over your shoulders.

“I will!”

Alright. Here we go. You close your eyes and visualize Vriska’s living room. That’s a good place to start, right? You’ll have a quick talk with Vriska, you’ll go visit your other friends one at a time to explain what’s going on, and then you can talk to those who are interested about helping the rebellion from the future.

Time and space part easily as you zap out of Lynera’s study and--

“-- worry about OH MY FUCKING GOD.”

You yelp in surprise as somebody shrieks at a deafening volume right next to your ear. Instincts take over, and you spring backward into something big and hard. That ‘something’ turns out to be a bookshelf, as you soon find out as a couple of novels fall from the top shelves and hit you right on the head.

“Ow! Shit!”

And that’s when you realize you have twelve young teenagers sitting around Vriska’s living room, all staring at you in various degrees of shock. Nepeta, Equius, Kanaya, and Sollux are all on the sofa, with Sollux perched on the backrest like he’s ready to take flight. Terezi and Vriska are standing on the coffee table together for some reason. Eridan’s curled up on the loveseat with one hand on his rifle. All of the others are sprawled out on the carpet.

All of the others except for Karkat, that is, who seems to have been returning from the kitchen with a pile of chips on his plate.

“Oh, hi!” Aradia says cheerfully. “Wow, I can see your bones--”

“THEY’RE BAAAAAAAACK!” Vriska hollers, launching herself off the coffee table and slamming into you at full speed.

The air is smooshed out of your lungs before you can brace yourself for impact. Thankfully, Vriska catches you before you can eat shit, otherwise you would have probably just teleported back to past Alternia and tried this whole thing again some other time.

“Hey, Vris,” you wheeze, patting her back. “Happy to see you too.”

“Fucking HELL, don’t do that,” Karkat yells, stomping over to the sofa and plopping down next to Kanaya. Kanaya purses her lips in mild amusement and delicately plucks a chip from his plate to eat.

Vriska just scoffs. “Don’t be a baby, Vantas, you know full well Micah can teleport--”

“Eat my full ass, Serket.”

“Hi, Micah!” Nepeta trills. A general murmur of greetings follows that, some more enthusiastic than others. Sollux, Equius, and Tavros all seem to be very on-edge tonight.

Feferi actually hops up to give you a hug as well, thankfully with a lot more care than Vriska had. It’s becoming weirdly normal to know that this big-ass six-sweep old girl could crush your skull like an eggshell.

“Don’t worry, nobody’s mad at you, I promise,” she whispers in your ear.

“Huh?”

Vriska grins and clasps your shoulder. “Oh, I already told them everything.”

“... Oh, boy.”

You turn back to the others and try your best winning smile.

“Yeah, what the fuck, dude?” Sollux demands.

“How are we even gonna exist with this kind of thing?” Karkat splutters, throwing his hands up in the air.

Tavros winces. “We get that you can do crazy space-time stuff, but--”

“You’re in way over your pan, retard!”

Ah, fuck. “Listen, guys, I know what I’m doing sounds pretty insane. And I’m sorry that I can’t tell you how exactly I’m going to pull all of this off because… you know, time shenanigans. But I need you guys to trust in me, at least for now. Also, Karkat, let’s not use that word. It’s extremely disrespectful.”

“Who are you, my lusus?” he challenges.

“No. Should I zap over and get him myself?”

“NO!”

“That’s what I thought.”

Vriska snickers under her breath. Karkat gives her a look that just screams murder.

Everybody else still looks a little queasy. Guilt rears its ugly head for the millionth time in the hour you’ve been awake, fearful and taunting and ashamed all at the same time. If you could just tell them everything, right now, you wouldn’t have to feel like this anymore.

Tell them.

You don’t, because you’re a coward, but you do try and calm everybody’s nerves again. “To elaborate on what Tavros just tried to say, yes, I can do crazy space-time stuff. Which means I can do stuff in one point in time and it won’t completely fuck up all the other points in time. It’ll change things, sure, but it won’t erase people.”

“What about our memories?” Eridan asks tersely.

“Definitely not,” you tell him. I won’t let that happen. “If everything goes according to plan, things will just start… changing.”

“We’re gonna make a new world that’s better for everybody!” Vriska announces proudly. “That’s why you guys are all here today.”

“By our human friend fighting in a rebellion that was already lost? Setting aside the fact that’s… treason… that also sounds rather dangerous. Micah, you aren’t a great fighter,” Equius says. His voice is quiet, but he’s so stiff you could probably use him to prop open a barn door.

“A rebellion is a lot more than just fighting, dude. So far I’ve just helped teleport people around,” you remind him.

“... Still.”

Nepeta suddenly surges to her feet, eyes blazing. “I don’t care that it’s treason! Don’t you care about what they did to me? My whole neighborhood got burned down in a drone strike!”

“Nepeta--”

“No! I remember everything now. I’m gonna help them win, ‘cause, ‘cause… even though we all had to suffer, the ones who come after us might not have to.”

Nobody speaks for many heartbeats after that. Something about what she said rings inside your head, sticking to your neurons like glue.

“See? Nepeta knows what’s good!” Terezi yells.

“This is insane.”

“Yeah, it’s awesome!”

“I’m in,” Aradia agrees, winking at you as she smooths her skirt down. Your anxiety backs down a little at her blatant support. Aradia Knows Things, right? Surely if she thinks you should keep doing what you’re doing…

“So am I,” Tavros announces, setting his jaw defiantly. Nepeta seems to have set off a chain reaction, because everybody else sits up a little straighter, eyeing each other as if daring anybody else to go first.

“And I,” Kanaya adds.

Karkat groans. “Fuck you guys. Fine! It’s not like we can play SGRUB anymore.”

“You guys are gonna die,” Sollux says, scrubbing his face with the palms of his hands. “We. Are. All. Gonna. Die.”

“So are you in?” you ask, reaching over to poke his arm.

He smacks your hand away. “Get fucked. Sure. Whatever.”

“Yay!”

Eridan huffs quietly and crosses his arms. “Well, you guys are gonna need somebody with power to help. And money. I’m in.”

Equius turns to stare at him with his jaw nearly on the floor, and you’re so full of pride you think you’re going to explode. You should have known your friends would eventually come around. And with not one, but two whole seadwellers on their side, they were truly going to be a force to be reckoned with.

“I knew it! I knew you cared!” Feferi squeals, jabbing a finger at her ex-moirail. Eridan curls up tighter on himself, but that doesn’t stop a small smile from lighting up his face.

“Is that a yes from you, Feferi?”

“It’s a hell yes, Micah!”

Gamzee smiles lazily from underneath the coffee table. “I told you motherfuckers. I told you a miracle was coming, and here it is.”

Poor Equius looks like he’s on the verge of a panic attack. “I-I… you can’t possibly, I mean--”

“If you’ll excuse us!” Nepeta chirps, effortlessly pulling her moirail from the couch and slinging him over her muscular shoulders. The indigoblood yelps indignantly, but Nepeta just prances on upstairs as if she’s carrying a sack of potatoes and not a teenage boy nearly twice her size.

“What’s up with olivebloods and being insanely buff? I mean, my girlfriend’s taken on a jadeblood and a teal at the same time and she won,” you wonder.

Karkat immediately focuses on you with the intensity of a laser. “A girlfriend? You’re in a relationship?”

“Micah’s got a girlfriend!” Feferi yells, picking you up and twirling you around.

“What quadrant?”

“Is she cute?”

“An oliveblood, right-?”

“We wanna meet her!”

“Guys! Can we please focus on taking down the Empire? We can gossip about Micah’s love life later!” Vriska yells, clapping her hands for order.

You rest an elbow on Feferi’s shoulder, enjoying being tall for the moment as she’s carrying you. “Ooh! You got a mission plan, Vriska?”

“You bet your skinny alien ass I do!” She pauses for emphasis and puffs out her chest. “We’re gonna go beat up a bitch for using lowbloods as FLARP bait!”

“Didn’t you do the exact same thing not too long ago?” Karkat scoffs.

Vriska scowls down at him. “Yes! Yes, I did! But now I’m gonna turn things around and help them instead, okay? ‘Cause I’m changing my…. my toxic behavior.”

She looks to you for support, and you give her the thumbs-up.

The others actually look a little impressed, which gives her the courage to keep going. “In half an hour Terezi and I are going to meet this violetblood dude who’s been responsible for a lot of rust and bronze deaths in the area. It’s a FLARP session at sea, so he’ll have his team-- I mean hostages-- on board with him.”

“You need a team?” you ask.

“You offering?”

“Of course.”

“Yes! But no passing out on me! Our goal is to neutralize the threat, secure the hostages, and deliver them back to shore so they can go home. Any questions?”

“I’m coming too,” Eridan says. He hops to his feet, dusting off some invisible debris on his pants. “That’s not a question, though.”

“Can I come? It sounds exciting,” Aradia begs.

“Sure! Anybody else?” Vriska scans the crowd with a smirk, as if saying You are all too pussy for this kind of adventure.

Unfortunately, it works. Karkat and Feferi step forward as well, which brings the team total up to six. Everybody else gets ready to go home before the sun comes up. Out on the horizon, heat lightning crackles in the sky like a strobe ball. You end up leaving your jacket with your backpack on the couch, because even for somebody who has trouble retaining heat, Alternian summers are brutal.

Surprisingly, the team figures out their FLARP-ing shit quickly enough, as they all played at one point or the other. You still have no idea what to make out of all the numbers and stats and scores that come with each move, even though Vriska makes it all look like child’s play. Karkat keeps grumbling about “games for girls” which has your hackles up until you remember that female trolls tend to be more violent than the males. That makes sense to you, especially when you remember Remele beating the shit out of that purpleblood and all of Lynera’s knives.

In almost no time at all the six of you are sailing out to sea, the wind in your hair and the smell of salt water filling your nose. If you close your eyes and pretended, you could almost imagine you’re back on Earth, taking a boat ride with your mom’s boyfriend and your stepsister at the lakehouse--

A particularly large wave knocks you back on your ass, and the memory cuts off as quickly as it began.

“Fuck!” you hiss, trying to get your bearings. You try as hard as you can to visualize what you just remembered, but all you can recall is sunlight sparkling off water, the rumble of an engine, a man laughing and nearly choking on his beer as your tiny preteen self got knocked around by the rocking of the motorboat.

A strong hand picks you up by the arm and sets you on your feet. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Fef.” You pat her elbow. “Sometimes it’s rough being a little guy.”

Her eyes are round with sympathy. “Looks like it. That reminds me, I wanna ask your opinion on something really important.”

“Oh, okay!” Wow, the Heiress of Alternia is asking my opinion on something? Talk about friends in high places.

… Wait, what was I trying to remember?

“What do you think of the hemospectrum?”

You purse your lips. “Well, if that ain’t a loaded question I dunno what is.”

“I mean, you don’t have to answer, but…”

“You know what I think? I think that the hemospectrum could have been a really good thing. Those who live for quite some time, paving the way for those who won’t be here as long? Sounds great. But then it became about power and control. And-And I think that if-- that once we win, we can’t go back to that system. There’s just too much trauma that’s been birthed from it that’s affected literally every troll to have ever existed,” you explain.

Feferi considers that, and then she nods in agreement. “That makes sense.”

“Oh, shit, is it big brain hour?” Terezi calls from the wheel.

“It is!” Then you do a double-take. “Why is the blind girl driving?”

“Vriska’s getting dressed.”

“Do you even know where we’re going?”

“Forward.”

“Bruh.”

Karkat throws up for the fifth time over the side of the ship. You groan and stumble over to him to pat his back.

“You’ll get your sea legs soon,” you promise.

“I hate the ocean. Why does there need to be oceans. I never would have thought I would ever say this but by infant Troll Jegus do I miss Texas. It’s hot, it’s human-racist, but there is hardly any damn water and for that it’s easily one of the best places I’ve ever been,” he rasps.

You smile. “Wanna see Dave after this is over?”

“Yes, please. Strider’s bullshit is the only thing that can numb me to the pain of occupying the realm of mortals.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Eridan smirk. You turn to look at him in confusion, and he makes the quadrant symbol for flushcrush: two thumbs pressed together over the center of his chest, where a troll’s heart would be.

Really? you mouth at him, delighted by this unexpected turn of events. He nods eagerly, clearly just as enthusiastic about Karkat getting a boyfriend as you are, but before you can sneak off with him to get the tea his gaze fixates on something past you.

You turn to see the small speck of what is undoubtedly another ship coming your way. A ship that is much bigger and fancier than the 8rigantine, at full sail and most likely armed to the teeth.

“He’s coming on our eleven!” Feferi calls up to Terezi.

“Go get Vriska,” the tealblood orders. Her perfectly white fangs flash in the light of the moons as she grins like a shark. “Time to kick this bitchboy’s ass!”

#riverbound #hiveswap friendsim trolls #hiveswap #mspa reader #c20 #the guardian #beta trolls #pesterquest #homestuck

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