Chapter Text
King squeaked in the passenger seat of the car. It was dark and the forest and fog obscured more of Eda’s vision than it usually did. She groaned as the road curved ahead of her, seeing the lights of another vehicle peek around the bend.
“Watch your eyes, King,” she said, taking a moment to cover her companion’s eyes with her right hand. Eda swerved as the near-silent music spiked, the volume increasing suddenly as static filled the car. King whimpered at the sound and Eda hurried to turn the radio off. “Holy– what the hell was that?”
As she got the car back under control, Eda and King made it closer and closer to the bend of the road. The car began to round the curve when the brights of the approaching vehicle blinded Eda. The woman slammed on the brakes as the car silently sped past her, swerving back into its own lane. She punched the horn to show her anger at the inconsiderate driver.
She put the car in park and stepped out of the running vehicle. “Hey! What’s the big…idea?” Eda was shocked to find that the road was empty. There were no tail lights in sight and no sounds to indicate a retreating vehicle.
Confused, she stepped back into the car and put the vehicle in drive. She slowly pressed on the accelerator, being more cautious as she drove in silence, too rattled to turn the radio back on. King huffed as if questioning her.
“Oh shut it,” she said defiantly. “You know you’d be on guard too.”
King stuck his nose up, ignoring her. Eda noted that the road ahead was mostly straight and turned to look at the animal. “If you don’t cut that out I swear I’ll–”
Eda was once again cut off, but this time by the sound of something hitting her car. The vehicle shuddered as Eda once again slammed on her brakes, opening her eyes to find her windshield had long spindles of cracks reaching out from an impact spot in the center. The glass had shattered almost completely. “What the hell!” she yelled angrily, slamming a fist against the steering wheel.
She stepped out of her car again, this time fuming at the damage done that she couldn’t afford to repair. “Whoever is out there,” she yelled,” you better have a good explanation for this!”
A rustling noise came from the edge of the road. Eda turned, searching the edge of what her headlights illuminated, but couldn’t see anything. Cautiously, she rushed to her trunk and opened it, rummaging around until she found a shovel among the assortment of mostly-random items. When she made her way around the car, the rustling was now accompanied by groaning. Eda followed the noise, shovel ready to strike, as she discovered a person laying on the ground in the mud.
“Oh crap I killed someone!” Eda dropped the shovel and knelt down to examine the body. There were a few cuts and bruises, but nothing out of the ordinary for a hit-and-run. “Doesn’t look there’s anything to point it to me,” she deduced. Just as she was about to make her escape, the person groaned again. She took a closer look at the person, noticing the slight rise and fall of their chest.
Upon closer inspection, Eda could see that it was a teenager, or at least a kid. The lower half of their face was obscured by a mask-like piece of fabric attached to a purple cloak. The purple and white shirt they wore was now partially torn and covered in mud. Meanwhile, their tights and knee-high boots seemed a little out of place in today's fashion and were tattered. Despite the weird get-up, Eda could see something odd about their appearance: the ears.
Whereas Eda’s own were rounded, much like almost everyone else Eda had interacted with. Meanwhile, the stranger’s were pointed. A witch , she thought.
Carefully, Eda pulled down the person’s mask. It was a girl, no older than sixteen if she was even that old. There was a large cut on her arm and her face was scratched, obviously from the girl’s unfortunate meeting with Eda’s car.
The woman went back to her car, returning moments later with a first aid kit to disinfect and bandage the girl’s cut. When she was done, she thought for a few moments.
I don’t want to bring her back, but I can’t just leave her here , she debated. Eda was truly stuck, unaware of what to do. Finally, she decided again. With one more trip to her car, she brought King to the girl.
Eda’s companion looked between the woman and the girl, confused. He looked back up at Eda, his head tilting.
“What do you think, bud?” she asked. “Do we bring her with us?”
King seemed to understand what Eda was asking and looked back at the girl once again. He thought for another moment before finally deciding. Eda watched as he waddled over to the girl and nuzzled his head under her chin.
Eda smiled and grabbed the girl under her arms. “Alright then, good decision, King.” As she began to walk away, she noticed something. There was a staff in the mud some small distance away. It had a little owl carving at the top of it. “King,” she called to her companion, “grab that staff and bring it to the car. We should get out of here before anyone sees us.”
LUZ! LUZ DON’T GO! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!
With a jolt, Luz’s eyes opened and she shot up, dripping her chest as she gasped for air. She scanned the room she was in only to discover that she wasn’t home. Disappointment, confusion, and fear all fought one another for control of her emotions as anxiety eventually won out.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” a voice said.
A small creature with black fur and a torn ear trotted around the corner. Before Luz could conclude that the creature had spoken, a gray-haired woman in a red dress turned the corner. Immediately, Luz held out her hand, attempting to summon her staff. She waited for a moment, a moment longer than what was usual, before the woman sat down in a chair across from the witch.
The woman crossed her legs and held a teacup in her hands. “You don’t need to do that. Your palisman is fine, but I don’t think you’re in any condition to do magic right now.”
Luz was taken aback. “Where am I?”
“You’re in the human realm,” the woman said as she raised the teacup to her mouth. She paused before drinking to say “You’re on Earth.”
“Earth? I can’t be on Earth,” Luz said in disbelief. “I was just on a quest. I was rescuing…someone.” The quest was fuzzy. What had she been doing? There was a bright flash. And pain . She very much remembered the pain. It was pain that she still felt in her limbs, even now.
The woman seemed to be giving Luz time to gather her thoughts as she sipped patiently on the contents of her teacup. The little animal that was with her hopped onto the furniture to sit next to Luz. It was a small gesture, but it allowed for the girl to calm down. She could see that she was sitting on a couch in the woman’s living space, a blanket was strewn across the cushions and Luz’s legs; she had thrown it off when she sat up.
“Ok,” Luz finally said. “So maybe I am in the-” her words caught in her throat. “Maybe I am on Earth .” The name felt foreign to her. Of course, as a student of wild magic, she had known about the concept of different realms. Her own home was commonly referred to as “the Demon Realm” among her peers, those further along in their learning than she was. Despite this, the revelation left her uneasy. She didn’t like it and she certainly didn’t like the idea of being alone, in this realm or another.
“Who are you?” Luz finally asked. Another question popped into her head. “How do you know that I can use magic?”
With a smile, the woman placed her teacup carefully on the floor next to her. “My name is Eda,” she said smugly. “Though quite a few people call me ‘The Owl Lady’.”
Eda seemed to wait for a reaction. Unfortunately, neither the name nor title were setting off any alarms that weren’t already ringing in Luz’s head.
“Really?” Eda asked, deflating a little in disappointment. “Nothing? At all?”
Luz shook her head.
The Owl Lady let out an exasperated sigh and reached down to pick up her teacup. “You would think those witches would at least spread the word,” Eda grumbled. Luz let out a little laugh as Eda pouted at her lack of infamy.
Her laugh, however, was cut short by a sharp pain in her side. Luz flinched, holding the side of her rib as if to keep it from falling apart. “What happened when I got here?”
Eda stopped her point and laughed nervously. “Nothing kid, I just found you on the side of the road.” The woman’s eyes went to King. She winked at him, as if asking the animal to back up her words. Luz watched as the creature seemed to glare at his owner. “Alright, fine!” Eda said. “There was a bright light and I may or may not have hit you with my car.”
“ Excuse me? ”
“Hey, don’t get mad at me. Maybe if you were more considerate on where you put your blinding portal opening, you wouldn’t have fallen right where my car was driving.” Eda crossed her arms, teacup still in hand, and turned her nose up at the younger girl. King made a defiant noise next to Luz before jumping off the couch and waddling away.
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Luz was confused by Eda’s words, but managed to put two-and-two together as King rounded the corner again, this time with Luz’s staff in his mouth. “You only get that back on one condition, though, kiddo.”
“And what is that?” At the end of the day, Luz doubted that Eda could take her in a fight, but it was better for everyone if it didn’t resort to that.
Eda smirked. “What’s your name?” Luz was surprised that that was all the woman wanted. She knew from her own realm what sharing your name with the wrong person could mean, but if Eda was right and Luz really was on Earth, she’d probably need someone in her corner. After some more deliberation, she told the woman her name.
“Light” was all she said in response. After a moment she snorted in amusement. “Alright then, little Light , you can stay here for as long as it takes to get you back. On one condition.”
Luz groaned internally – this woman and her conditions. She motioned for her to continue.
“I may or may be under surveillance in some parts of town,” she explained. She motioned at a wanted picture hung up on the wall behind Luz. It was a simple mugshot, but Eda was wearing a pair of sunglasses and pointing finger guns at the camera. “Not on good terms with the police, so you’ll have to help me blend in.”
“Blend in?”
“Yeah,” Eda confirmed. “Go to school, make friends, all of that jazz.”
“Jazz?”
Eda slapped a hand to her face. “It’s just an expression, kid. What I’m saying is: just be a normal teenager.”
Luz thought for a moment. “How would that help you blend in? You also never answered my other question.”
“Well, my excuse for some things has been that I had a nephew staying with me, but I’m sure no one would bat an eye if it changed to a niece.” King squeaked in agreement as he sat near the couch. Eda nodded at herself proudly. “What was your question?”
“How did you know I can use magic?”
Eda stared at her like the answer was obvious and pointed at the side of her head. “The ears, kid,” she said. “You have pointed ears.” As if to make a point, Eda brushed her hair behind her own ears to show their rounded shape.
“Then how do you want me to ‘blend in’ if I stick so much you could tell that fast?”
The Owl Lady waved her hand in front of her face, taking a quick sip from her teacup. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll figure that out later.” She motioned her head towards King, who still held her staff.
Luz grabbed her palisman, Owlbert, from King, who happily released him. She felt magic rush through her body, it was rejuvenating. Luz gasped at the feeling. Carefully, she used her free hand to draw a circle in the air. Magic followed her hand as she connected the line. She drew a few more circles, connecting each of them with more curved lines, before placing the wood-carved Owlbert in the center. The eyes of the owl began to glow, the lights of the magic symbol burning brighter in the air.
The symbols disappeared, reappearing around the owl. Luz swung the staff in the air as the spell disappeared from her staff before she felt her body begin to heal.
“That’s how your magic works?” Eda asked.
Luz nodded. “I didn’t feel any of my magic until I touched Owlbert. I guess I’ll need him, at least for bigger spells like the one I just did.”
“Owlbert?" Eda questioned.
"He's my palisman," Luz answered, pointing to the carved owl at the head of the staff. "Well, not mine exactly, but I guess he's traveling with me now."
Eda seemed to understand. “Alright then, Luz. Do we have a deal?” she held out her hand, eagerly seeking compromise. "You have Owlbert, and I'll give you a place to stay. Just blend in."
It wasn’t like she had much of a choice. She could feel that she had depleted her magic almost entirely. Eda was offering her a place to stay and stay safe from the elements. Luz shivered at the idea of the weather being anything similar to that of the Boiling Isles. While she didn’t know exactly what Eda was after, she figured she’d be able to take her in a fight if she had to, so she wasn’t necessarily too worried.
With a sigh, Luz reached out and grabbed the woman’s hand, shaking it.
“Deal.”