Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The Boiling Isles was a beautiful yet scary place in the Demon Realm. It was a terrifying fantasy world that existed parallel to the Human Realm. As the name suggests, it was a home to all demons, beasts, bi-peds, witches, and… A sole human.

The said human came to the Bonesborough, a capital city of the Boiling Isles, about four years ago through a magical portal door. She was fourteen at the time and could not believe her eyes when she looked at the land engulfing the skeleton of a fallen Titan.

Across different parts of the enormous body, various cities, towns, forests, and plains were scattered randomly. The capital was hidden amid Titan’s right arm, surrounded by thick forest. However, let us return to the human who accidentally entered the Demon Realm. Or was it not so accidentally as that human would lead us to believe?

“That’s not possible! No, no, no…” She thought as she looked at the panoramic view of the city before her.

The tall ribs surrounded the rooftops covered with red tile, and the golden skies were filled with random winged beasts traveling toward their destination. The young girl was a tan human with hazel-brown eyes underlined by swollen shades, dirty, curly brown hair, and thick brows frowning in a grimace of shock and fear.

She seemed exhausted. Her clothes, consisting of a white-purple striped hoodie with cat ears and jeans shorts worn over dark leggings, were ripped in several places, showing off scratches on her caramel skin. Her once-white trainers were now muddy and on the verge of falling apart. She looked around, not knowing whether she was dreaming or already dead.

“Hey, Kid! What are you doing here?!” She heard a feminine voice calling her from behind.

The girl turned around, slouched with fear, and gazed at a tall, middle-aged woman with golden eyes and wild gray hair. She was dressed in a crimson red dress. Her eyes were fashionably matched with golden earrings in her ears…

“Spiky… Ears?!” Luz thought when she looked at the woman approaching her.

The young girl’s breathing quickened when she thought her mind was playing games on her. Before the woman could make it over to her, the young teenager fainted, falling hard on the dusty ground.

“Well, that’s unexpected,” The woman murmured, scratching her neck.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with her?” She wondered but decided to think about it later.

For now, the human child had to be hidden away before something would eat her. The gray-haired woman quickly picked the teenager up, and her face saddened, noticing how tired and beat up the kid was. She was probably malnourished as well. Based on the looks of her clothing, she had been running away from something for a while now. So, with just a slight hesitation, the woman took her home.

When the human girl woke up, she could have sworn she had the weirdest dream possible. Her eyes opened slowly just to notice she was lying on the floor of a small room with wooden floors and walls. The room was some kind of storage. It was filled with dusty chests, crates, and paintings protected by white fabric.

The girl was covered with blankets and was reasonably comfortable. Honestly, it was the most relaxed she had been in a long while. She realized a small black dog was sleeping on her leg when she tried to move.

It made her feel even safer. Animal presence always worked for her sense of safety. In her opinion, no bad person can care for animals. She slowly sat up, wanting to pet the cuddly creature, but as she did, she noticed its head was covered in a bone-like material with two horns.

“What the hell?” She wondered and moved a little closer. The dog turned its head toward the human girl and looked at her with red eyes, “WHAT!?” The human’s mind roared, but her body remained frozen.

“EDA!!” It yelled, and Luz yelped, jumped out of covers, and backed out to the corner of the room, “She’s awake,” The dog added when the middle-aged woman entered the room cautiously.

“Thanks, King,” The woman said, looking at the young girl cowering at the back of the room, “Calm down, Kid. No one’s gonna hurt you,” She tried to gain the human’s trust, keeping her hands in front of her body in a calming manner while she kneeled at a safe distance, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but before I send you back home, what do you say we’ll eat and talk a little?” She offered with a smile, showing off her golden fang.

The human’s eyes widened with fear, and she started shaking her head in disagreement, hugging herself for comfort. She looked at the woman with scared eyes and moved further back, only hitting the wall behind her.

“Please, don’t send me back!” She exclaimed, and Eda looked at King confusedly and then back at the girl.

“Alright, she did run away from something,” Eda thought.

“What’s your name, Kid?” The woman asked calmly with a soft smile. The girl hesitated, “I can’t call you ‘Kid’ all the time, Kid,” She reasoned, placing her hands on her hips when she stood up.

“Noceda…” The girl finally spoke up, “Luz Noceda,” She added, looking up at the woman from underneath her brows.

“Well then, Luz Noceda. Welcome to the Demon Realm. Let me feed you first, and then I’ll show you around,” Eda offered with a smile, and Luz got up to her feet with hesitation, still not trusting the woman or her own eyes. But she really was hungry, “If by the end of the month, you’ll still want to stay, we can talk about it then, okay?” The woman proposed and left the room, guiding the human towards the kitchen.

Luz just nodded, still unsure if everything happening was real. Nonetheless, she was going with it, especially since she could not recall the last time she had eaten anything. That woman was just about to feed her, so the human followed. She walked through the house, not really registering her surroundings. When she reached the kitchen, the young girl felt a sudden touch on her cheek as something feathery pushed against her.

“Hiiiiiiii, Luuuuuuuz! We can be friends now!” A strange bird-like creature connected to the house’s front door said in a high-pitched voice. The human screamed, jumping away.

“What the hell!?” The human exclaimed, lifting her arms to defend herself.

“Hooty! Give the girl a break!” Eda scolded him while she placed three plates on the wooden table in the spacious kitchen.

Hooty returned to his post at the front door with a sad expression. Luz felt safe with how the older woman tried to ensure she was not too overwhelmed. However, it went against everything she learned about surviving. It was too long since she actually felt safe. Little did the woman know that Luz’s mind was racing a mile an hour.

“This just cannot be! Demon Realm?! I mean, I was trying to… Doesn’t matter,” She shook her head as if she was trying to shake the thoughts away from her head, “Or maybe I did die. Just like everyone else. But if this is the afterlife, why is it so weird? Maybe it’s my over-imaginative head!? Is this a bad place? Bah! Luz, get it together!” She dissociated while her mind yelled at her.

Before she could come to any conclusions, she noticed a portion of a rather large fried egg in front of her. The intense smell filled the human’s nostrils with a delectable scent, watering her mouth. Just now, she realized how hungry she had been.

“I don’t even remember when I had my last meal…” She thought and finished her food quickly, not paying attention to her manners. King just looked in awe with his red and yellow eyes.

“You have an appetite of a Slitherbeast,” He commented and offered her his portion.

“Of a what?” Luz thought, looking at the talking dog with confusion.

“No, it’s yours…” She opposed it. Eda just looked with a strange fascination at how the two interacted.

“Listen to me, Human! For I am the King of demons!” He started, startling Luz, and Eda just rolled her eyes.

“Here we go,” The older woman murmured mockingly.

“You are hungry, and I order you to eat! As my subject, I must care for you!” The demon added, making Luz smile for the first time in the Demon Realm and in many months. She accepted King’s portion and finally felt much calmer.

“So… I don’t mean to offend you or anything…” Luz started while she looked at Eda sheepishly, “But what are you?” She finally asked, and the woman smiled widely, showing off her gold fang. It enticed the human’s attention. The older woman took a sip of a deep crimson liquid from her favorite mug and looked at Luz.

“Well, this one is a self-proclaimed King of demons…” She started.

“Weh!?” King opposed the ‘self-proclaimed’ part, and Luz smiled at the interaction between the two.

“Hooty is a house demon. He can be a handful, but with him around, everyone is safe,” Eda explained, “As for me,” She paused and threw her hand in the air, “I’m the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!” She said, taking the same powerful pose, Luz had noticed on the poster above the couch while walking into the kitchen. It took Luz a few more days to realize that it was actually Eda’s wanted poster, “So what do you say, Kid? Want me to show you around?” She asked, and Luz nodded eagerly.

It has been a few weeks since Luz came into the Demon Realm. She decided it would be only fair to help Eda run her business since the witch was taking care of her, feeding her, giving her a roof above her head and new clothes, and teaching her about magic.

Eda told the human she did not have to do any of that as she was just a kid and should be allowed to be just that. She did not know that Luz stopped being a kid a while ago. There was a reason why she ran away from home and wanted to stay in the world where literally everything was trying to eat her.

“If you are so stubborn, then fine!” Eda exclaimed one day with a grunt, “Go into the woods and get me the bark of the wrinkling oak. Just try to have some fun along the way,” She added jokingly while the human girl was already out to help her mentor and caregiver.

It was not long until Luz realized she had no idea what the wrinkling oak looked like, and all the trees seemed alike. Even in the Human Realm, she was no scout girl. Before she could get frustrated with herself, she heard a quiet weeping in the distance. Luz attuned her senses and started following the sound.

It was not long before she noticed a young witchling dressed in some sort of uniform sitting on the rock and crying. The head, sporting wavy, dark hair, rested on the knees covered with green trousers. Luz felt a strange need to comfort a person in front of her.

“Maybe she won’t want to eat me like everything else…” She joked in her mind. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed drastically. The witchling stood up angry, even furious, and started yelling.

“I hate that she’s not here! I hate that she was sent away! Ugh! I can’t stand this anymore!” She grunted, and her eyes suddenly glowed bright green. The thorny vines erupted from underneath her feet like wild tentacles. Luz was snatched by her ankle and dragged toward the witch, whose eyes were still glowing with a deadly glare, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no… I’m so sorry!” The witch said that when she realized what she had just done, she ran toward Luz to help her free.

“It’s okay… The thorns only went through a few layers of skin,” Luz said with a small smile, covering her fear with a joke.

“So… Circly,” The witch leaned forward to inspect the human’s ears. The human yelped, quickly covering her ears, unsure what to expect, “Fascinating…” The witchling commented in a low voice, and she wiped her eyes and adjusted her glasses.

“Well… At least you’re not crying anymore,” Luz pointed out and flashed the young witch the warmest smile she had, accompanied by a finger gun, calming down as well, “I’m Luz, by the way,” She added when she noticed the vines slowly lowering her to the ground.

“Willow…” The witch said coldly and sat back on the rock, “I used to have a friend who was a great human admirer,” She added. At the same time, she kept eyeing the tan teenager, “I didn’t know there were any living in the Isles, though,” The witchling added. She was unsure if the human was really friendly or waiting for Willow to let her guard down.

“They don’t…” Luz said, getting up and cleaning the dust off her, “But I do,” She added with another smile, “Is everything okay?” She asked, looking at the greenish eyes hidden behind the round glasses. Willow looked away, hiding her frustration.

“Yeah… It’s just… I’m missing my friend,” She said without letting Luz in on too many details.

“The human admirer?” Luz asked with honest curiosity.

“Him too, but that’s not a person I have in mind,” Willow said sadly, “She was sent to St. Epiderm at the Knee,” The witch added, her face still a mixture of sadness and anger. Luz rubbed her arm nervously, unsure how to help the witch. The names she just heard did not tell her much, “We always walked to school together,” She explained.

“School?! Like a magic school kind of school?” Luz’s eyes shone with excitement. Willow nodded, shocked by the reaction, “I can walk you today if you want,” Luz offered with a smile, “I didn’t know there’s a school of magic, so I’d be happy to see one. And we can talk some more along the way,” She proposed with joy and was rewarded with Willow’s smile. A small, faint smile, but Luz was happy with the progress from tears.

“That… Would be nice,” Willow added, “Thank you, Luz the Human,” Luz just scoffed, pretending it was nothing. Since that day, they started spending more time together and soon became close friends. The best kind of friends.

“EDAAAAA!” Luz yelled when she came running through the front door later that day. The said witch looked up from the book at the young girl in confusion, “Why didn’t you tell me there’s a school of magic!?” The human asked as she tried to catch her breath.

“Because you don’t need school! You’ve got the greatest teacher!” The witch explained with a cocky smile but noticed Luz’s disappointed face, “Come on, Kid. You really want to learn blind obedience, do pointless busy-work…” She was cut off by the human’s eagerly nodding head and a hopeful smile, “Ugh…” Eda groaned.

“You said it yourself. A kid should be just that. What do kids do?” Luz said with a mocking tone, knowing this was the moment of her win.

“Oh, don’t you use my words against me,” Eda said with fake anger, pointing her finger at the human girl. Luz just smiled evilly.

It took the human a few more weeks of convincing before Eda finally cracked. Luz never learned that Eda was so reluctant because she had to pay for her teenage sins and convince the Headmaster to accept the human as a student.

However, when he learned that Luz had found the ancient, forgotten way to perform magic, he was willing to give the human a chance. When Luz started her education, she could not be happier. For the first time, she felt a purpose; she spent more time with her friend, and whatever made her escape the Human Realm lay dormant deep in her memories.

In the years the human has spent on the Isles, Luz learned that even the wonderful Realm was not as simple as her youthful mind wanted to think. She discovered that the order was brought by the Empire Coven, a Coven considered the authority in the Boiling Isles. It comprised the major ministers and witches of all other eight Covens.

While it was not mandatory to join a Coven, it was the best way to learn proficiency in a specific type of magic. Some people like Eda did not want to join a Coven just to have more flexibility, and some wanted to avoid commitment. Either way, if anyone wanted to become a respectable witch, they had to be a part of the Empire Coven, just like Eda’s sister Lilith.

The human also learned that Eda was a complicated person with a mysterious past. She was reluctant to let Luz in, but the human child had a way of sneaking into people’s lives. Actually, she was the first person to learn about the witch’s curse.

The human was not appalled by it. She did not judge or comment. She helped the witch live with it as comfortably as possible, helping her with her elixirs and reminding her to take them regularly. Or at least whenever the witch needed better control over the Beast living inside her.

Years passed, and Luz grew to be quite a beanstalk, lean and fit, considering how often she had to run for her life in the Boiling Isles. She never looked back at the Human Realm. Eda never forced her apprentice to explain her decision to stay. She was glad the human stayed. In fact, the witch legally adopted the human after a couple of years.

They became a family they both desperately needed. As the years passed, Luz Noceda became a long-forgotten dream, and Luz Clawthorne could not imagine any other life than the one she was leading right now.

With Eda as her mother, King as her brother, and Lilith, The Head of the Empire Coven, her cool nerd aunt, she has never felt more at home. The human had long forgotten the portal door, and Eda used it on a rare occasion to bring things from the Human Realm.

Luz’s friendship with Willow survived the test of time. They grew very close as they attended some of the same classes in High School. Other witches were more reluctant toward the human but grew accustomed to the Owl Lady’s apprentice and her antics. Despite everyone telling Luz that humans cannot do magic, she became a proficient wild magic user and an excellent student.

Much to Eda’s dismay and Principal Bump’s surprise. He would even turn a blind eye to the occasional trouble the girl was finding herself in, especially with other students who loved mixing magic. After all, as long as she was not in trouble as often as her mentor, it was an instant success in Bump’s dictionary. With one of the best results on her final exams, Luz had no problem enrolling at the Hexside Academy, where she continued her higher education.

But in the years living in the Boiling Isles, the human gained secrets of her own. Ones that she did not share, even with her closest friend. Secrets that often kept her up at night. The nightmares that scared her, waking her up in the middle of the night, memories of the pain she had been through, mixed with the urge to run away. But as soon as she woke up, that feeling was gone.

Despite everything, she felt safe and happy with the life she had. Despite her issues and her trauma, she wanted to help people. She understood better than anybody how it is to live with a dark past looming over a shoulder, with demons who tend to make life more challenging than it should be.

That was why after graduating from Hexside High School and acing all nine exams, she focused on Potions, Plants, and Beast Keeping. That would allow her to become the best potion master. She would not need to rely on other people to get her ingredients like many potion masters had to.

She sat on the windowsill of the opened window of her bedroom, watching the Boiling Sea, listening to its calm waves. She knew she would be tired in the morning but could not stop thinking. Her mind was raving. That was always her favorite way to calm down from a nightmare.

“I’m just nervous,” Luz thought, breathing in the warm air. In the morning, she would become a student at the Hexside Academy.

Higher education scared her a little. Even though she would be studying in the same building as Willow, she was still nervous. She knew that witches and demons from Glandus and St. Epiderm would also be joining Hexside, as it was the only Academy in the Boiling Isles. She just hoped for the best. However, she had to keep in mind that, after all, she was a human in the Realm of witches and demons.

Little did Luz know that, not so far away, just a mile or so through the forest where she met Willow, another person could not sleep as well, anxious about the upcoming day. A green-haired heiress to the Blight Industries. The witch could not believe she was finally home. She has not been allowed to return for four long years of her High School education.

She was prohibited from leaving the Manor during her short visits since her mother strictly prohibited it. Her golden eyes looked hungrily at the panoramic view of the city below. The reddish roofs shimmered in the moonlight. The witch’s pale hand rubbed the other palm while she breathed in the smell of the city she missed so much.

She wondered what had changed in those years, she had been away. Would people recognize her? Will they even want to talk to her? She worried about so many things, and the reality weighed her down. She could not reach out to her old friend even though she badly wanted to.

That was the primary condition upon which she could continue her education back home. The consequences of breaking that deal would be severe for her and someone important to her. And she was just too tired to fight. She just wanted to know if her old friend was safe. Nothing else mattered. With a bit of luck, her question will be answered in the next few hours.

Right after the third period, a commotion was heard in the area of the human’s locker. It was nothing extraordinary. Students of Hexide Academy already got used to the fact that the human’s life was screwed the moment she showed up at the beginning of the semester around two months ago.

Most of the students ignored the fact they had a human classmate. Some knew her from High School and were used to the human’s loud presence. Some people even befriended a round-eared woman. One group, however, could not stand the simple existence of a dark-skinned brunette from the Human Realm.

More particularly, the so-called leader of the group and a Grudby team captain at that. Her posse was letting her bully the tall human while they seemed to be scared of the Captain. They joined the Academy after graduating from St. Epiderm boarding school, and they had no idea that a human was living in the Boiling Isles.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” A pink-haired triclops hissed at the human, hitting the locker beside the brunette’s head.

The said human just sighed slowly in a calming manner and faced the angry witch. It seemed as if she used all her human willpower to keep her calm. Her brow uncontrollably ticked when she looked at the triclops with cold and tired eyes from underneath her brows. Which was saying something, considering the human girl was at least half a head taller than her opponent.

“You know Boscha… I didn’t sleep well, so I really am not in the mood to listen to your bullshit today,” She said, opening her locker and trying to grab the books required for her next period, “Also, I have a name. I expect even a slitherbeast-brain like you to learn three simple letters,” She added with a smirk while grabbing her potion textbook and placing it in her bag.

That remark only angered Boscha enough to smash her bag down. The leather bag hit the school’s floor. Along with the books and notes, a small, round potion vial filled with a golden liquid rolled out of the bag.

“Oh… I hope that’s nothing important… Luz,” Boscha said with venom dripping from her lips. Luz looked down at the vial and felt blood leaving her face as she paled.

“Fuck!” Luz thought but could not react fast enough. Boscha stomped on the vial and smiled with satisfaction as the glass crashed underneath her winged, heavy boot.

“Oops…” She said, faking innocence while she rubbed the sole of her boot into the floor, “What are you gonna do about it? Luzer!” She asked, pushing Luz slightly, sending the human two steps back.

The look Luz gave her was cold, distant, and ferocious. Pupils shrank in her hazel-brown eyes. Her breathing increased, and her fists clenched hard enough to whiten her knuckles.

It was visible to anyone not as dense as Boscha that the Gruby team captain would already be a bloody pulp if Luz did not control herself. Luz felt anger boiling under her skin like a Boiling Sea. The pale color on her face was long gone.

The pulsating sound of her heartbeat was deafening her. She was slowly losing control. She clenched her jaw, straightened up, and… Turned around. She left in a hurry, leaving her bag and the opened locker and satisfied Boscha behind. The said witch just grinned, showing off her fangs, satisfied with the result she received.

Little did Luz, or anyone else, know that everything that happened hurt one of the triclops’s posse. The green-haired witch in a white Hexside shirt with pink short sleeves felt her heartbeat increase. She was keeping an eye on the human for the past few months. She had several reasons to do so and was impressed with how well Luz handled bullying.

Even though sometimes the witch could have sworn that the human was provoking the pink-haired jock, she was also ashamed that she never had the guts to stand up to Boscha. She was forced to be a good friend to her, among many other things she was forced to do. But there was a line. A line that Boscha crossed today.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?!” The green-haired young woman asked angrily, pushing Boscha out of her way, making Grudby’s team captain slightly hit a closed locker next to the human’s opened one.

“What’s your problem, Amity!?” Boscha yelled at her, shocked that the usually quiet witch was speaking up, swearing, and pushing her as well, “Suddenly caring for the filthy human?!” She added, and Amity sent her a furious look while she picked up Luz’s satchel.

Boscha had never seen the green-haired witch so angry. Amity could feel her heart beating heavily in her chest, almost deafening her while she was trying to keep her emotions in check.

“There is a line, Boscha,” Amity said, standing up with Luz’s bag in hand, “Bullying, calling names, and making fun of her heritage is one thing. Destroying what seems to be medicine is totally different,” She growled coldly and looked into Luz’s locker.

“Titan, what a mess!” There was a single vial of the same potion underneath messily thrown books. She grabbed it, put it in the bag, and closed the locker.

“Whatever…” Boscha murmured, noticing Amity turning around and leaving with Luz’s bag in the same direction the human went.

Luz was feeling anger raging in her body, increasing adrenaline to a dangerously high level. Her skin was burning from the inside out.

“Not good, not good, not here…” She was trying to calm herself down, failing miserably.

Her skin was burning, and her insides were aching while she was just trying to calm down. Her heartbeat was racing, hurting her chest, making it hard to breathe. She walked quickly past the other students who moved out of her way, scared of her expression. Her dark green, opened flannel shirt was flapping on her sides.

She felt her head getting warmer under the crimson beanie. She finally reached the bathroom on the remote side of Hexide’s main building. She closed the door and ran into the large room with stalls, smashing all doors open, making sure she was alone.

She then approached the sink and tried to cool her face with water. She discarded the beanie and splashed some more water on her head. She looked into her reflection and noticed a black flash in her eyes. She angrily smashed the mirror and yelled at herself.

Amity was not far behind Luz. Her red beanie was easy to spot, especially considering the human’s height. She noticed the brunette entering the bathroom and knew she was probably trying to recompose herself. That is what she would do. The green-haired witch hesitated whether she should follow Luz inside. That was the most remote bathroom in the school.

“Maybe she wants to be alone… It’s not like we’re friends. We haven’t even spoken…” She thought and suddenly heard multiple smashing sounds inside. She still hesitated, “Maybe she needs a moment…” The witch thought, but a sudden shattering sound followed by a yell dragged her out of her thoughts.

That was enough for Amity to forget about her doubts. Something was not right. She has been watching Luz since the beginning of the semester and has never seen the brunette like this. Hurt, out of control, raging. The human was always smiling, confident, and playful… Even when Boscha was bullying, Luz was sending her playful looks.

Amity tried to go inside the bathroom, but the doors were locked. She drew a spell circle in the air and slowly entered the bathroom. She closed the doors behind her and quietly listened, hearing Luz talk in strange language.

“¡Dios mío! ¡Qué puta!” The human exclaimed, and Amity did not know if she should make her presence known, “I mean, yeah! Sure! Go ahead! Break the last fucking vial of the elixir. It’s not like I fucking need it!” The human continued, and Amity realized that Luz must have forgotten about the extra vial in her locker. The green-haired woman looked at the bottle and noticed a small label: ‘An elixir a day keeps the curse at bay.’, “Okay, Luz, calm… The fuck… Down…” The human was telling herself while trying to breathe between the words, “You know it gets worse when you’re tired, and yet here we are,” Luz added with a growl.

“What curse are you struggling with?” Amity thought.

She knew that Luz was living with the Owl Lady, who was presumably an Owl Beast, but she always thought these were just rumors spreading to worsen her social status. Even if the Owl Lady was indeed cursed, how did the human get cursed?

“Then again. What do I know? I’ve been away for far too long,” Amity was dragged away from her thoughts when she heard Luz scream again. But that was not a scream of anger.

“F-fuck!” The human yelled with a painful gasp and kept fighting to calm her breathing, “Focus… You can’t freak out, or you’ll change, Luz! Not… At school…” She scolded herself, “Come on, five things you see, four things you feel… AAAAA!” The high-pitched, painful scream left the human’s throat.

Amity could not help herself. The witch wanted to help Luz so severely that her heart was racing. She never experienced this kind of drive to help anyone. She did not understand her feelings or emotions. She only thought that she needed to help the human woman.

“Floor, window,” Luz started her grounding technique while breathing between each word, “Stall, sink… Amity?!” She shouted the last word in a whisper of shock when she noticed a green-haired witch coming in from behind the corner.

She was holding a leather bag in her pale hands. Her face was wearing an expression of shock and fear. Her pointy ears were slanted, and her face was paler than usual. Luz had no idea why the woman was there or when she entered the bathroom. Luz only thought the witch should not be here. Amity looked down at the struggling human kneeling on the floor.

“No, no, no… She shouldn’t be here! Not Amity! She can’t see me like this! Why did I have to lose it on Willow’s day off?!” The thoughts were running through the brunette’s head.

Luz stared at Amity in panic, eyes wide, pupils shrank, and her scarred brow twitched in stress. She did not know what the Blight’s intentions were. Her breathing increased, and Amity noticed the human’s eyes were getting darker and almost black as if some kind of liquid had filled those orbs. Luz placed a hand on her chest as if she had difficulty breathing.

“No, Luz, don’t panic. I’m here to help,” Amity tried to reassure the human.

She slowly took a step closer and approached Luz like a wounded animal. This was the first time Luz actually heard Amity’s voice, and she thought it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.

“NO! FUCK!” Luz yelled loudly, startling the witch, her voice getting lower, enriched by a strange vibration. The human fell on the floor, gasping rasp, her forearms flat on the cold tiles, her long fingers pushing against the ground, “¡Mierda!” Luz yelled and suddenly grabbed her head, feeling the fangs grow out quickly, causing her immense amount of pain, “You can’t be here! I don’t want to hurt you, Amity! Please!” She added with a weak, low, pleading voice, reaching out a hand toward Amity, who just ran toward the human, kneeled in front of her, and forced Luz’s face into her palms. At the same time, Luz clenched her hand on the back of the witch’s shirt.

Tears ran down tan cheeks in defeat through eyes clenched shut for a moment in pained expression. She then looked up, finding comfort in the golden orbs, which looked at her with worry. Amity looked deep into those eyes, forcing her face up, caressing the wet cheeks with her cold thumbs.

“Luz, focus! Four things you feel!” Amity tried to use the human’s technique even though she had never heard of it before.

Luz’s black orbs looked at her with shock; the coolness of cold, pale hands on her face was comforting, and the witch’s sweet, flowery scent filled her nostrils. She felt a delicate chill going through her spine. She did not know if that was a reaction to Amity’s touch or the curse. She did not care.

“C-cold floor… Pain in m-m-my bones… Your cool hands… P-please… H-hurts…” Luz stopped talking.

The tears rolled down her cheeks even more, and she sobbed a little in defeat, melting into the witch’s touch. Suddenly, she broke free from Amity’s hold as if something had burned her. She delicately pushed the witch away and quickly discarded her green flannel shirt.

“AAAAA!” She roared again, kneeling with her torso thrown up to the ceiling.

Amity could have seen and heard the human’s bones snapping, reshaping themselves while her tan, lean hands started growing and changing into more beast-like claws with sharp talons. Her skin started bleeding when the feathers pricked from underneath it, covering the stretched-out organ.

Luz fell to the floor again, curled in, placing her forehead on the tiles, trying to hold her arm in a futile attempt to stop it from changing. Her striped shirt barely contained her expanding body, stretching on the human’s back.

“What can I do?! Luz?!” Amity started panicking.

The witch felt so useless yet refused to leave the human. She never imagined anyone could experience such immense pain. She read about these curses but never even dreamed she would witness one. The snapping made her ears twitch and wince, but she did not look away.

“G-get home… My elixir… Warn Bump…” Luz managed to choke out between the next snaps while lifting herself off the floor.

Her breathing was labored. Amity felt strange in her stomach when she took in the look on the human’s face. The black eyes glared intensely while the beast-like fangs stuck out underneath the full lips. With a sudden growl of pain, Luz fell to her back with a thump. Her legs started following the process. Her knees and ankles were forced into unnatural shapes, turning kneecaps backward inside her jeans.

“AAAA!” The human let out another high-pitched scream of agony.

Her hips were bucking upwards while she tried to fight the pain. She rolled to the side, turning her back to Amity, when the human’s spine expanded in the partially deformed back.

“Hold on, Luz!” Amity ordered, regaining her confidence, and she quickly crawled to Luz’s bag. She fetched the vial she took from the human’s locker and turned around to help her drink it.

“Oh, that’s not gonna be easy,” The witch thought when she noticed Luz writhing on the floor, fighting her transformation, fighting to stay conscious, holding her head, spasming with each snap of the bones while the pain was starting to overwhelm her.

Luz was hitting the wall with her head, scratching the floor, and tearing her T-shirt down while her ribcage was snapping, deforming, and expanding. Growling, moaning, gasping, and crying.

“LUZ!” Amity yelled to get her attention.

“Don’t get any closer!” Luz yelled in a low, tired, distorted voice, shooting her a glare and momentarily stopping in her motions.

A string of saliva dripped from the human’s fangs, along with a few drops of sweat from her forehead while she was breathing heavily. The deformed body, still partially human, was shaking in an attempt to control the curse.

Amity felt something weird in her stomach. It was not disgust. It was not fear. No. That was something completely different. She realized Luz would not hurt her. She felt the need to be here for the human woman. No matter the consequences.

“I have the elixir from your locker. Try to stay calm,” Amity told Luz, slowly approaching her.

“I can’t let you out…” Luz started with a growl as if she was talking to someone standing next to her, but the loud screech escaping her mouth interrupted her, causing a visible pain, “I… Can’t control…” She panted with difficulty, looking back at Amity. Her eyes were begging for help.

“I know Luz. Don’t worry,” Amity said with a surprisingly calm voice while drawing a spell circle in the air, “I will help you get your elixir. Try to stay calm,” She added softly.

A pool of abomination goo enveloped Luz’s body. The witch could still hear the human’s bones snapping from underneath it, but she had a few seconds of a safe window to help the brunette drink the potion.

Amity quickly opened the vial, brought Luz’s face closer with her spell, and placed her hand on the brunette’s cheek. She noticed that while the human’s body was struggling against the restraints, her head reacted well to the touch of a tiny, pale palm, and a small, quiet chirp escaped Luz’s throat.

The human drank the potion eagerly and grimaced when she was done. Amity lowered the vial and looked for a reaction from Luz’s body. Their eyes met for a mere second. Luz’s expression calmed down momentarily, and the witch found the pupils in the black orbs.

Suddenly, another loud screech emanated from the human’s mouth, and she broke free of the restraints of abomination. Amity was sent flying away, letting go of the glass vial. She hit the floor with a gasp and slid across the bathroom floor.

The witch watched from a distance how Luz’s ears started to get longer and more spiky, her back was getting covered with hair, the human was scratching off the remains of her T-shirt, her legs snapped, tearing her jeans halfway to her tight, and her hands were now fully covered in feathers.

“I don’t get it. Shouldn’t it work?!” Amity started panicking internally, not knowing what to do or how to react. She sat up on the floor, taking in the horrific view of a young woman partially transformed into a Beast in front of her.

As soon as the thought left her mind, she noticed that the transformation had stopped halfway, freezing the human’s body. Within moments, Luz’s features slowly started returning to being more human-like. Her ears turned back to normal, round ears. The fur and feathers began to disappear underneath the skin, and the bones started snapping in a decreasing manner.

Amity watched with horror Luz falling to her knees in defeat, gasping in pain and relief. The blackness in her eyes disappeared, and the witch looked deeply into the familiar hazel-brown eyes, not noticing anything else. Exhausted, the human fell face-first to the floor. Her limp hands bounced by her sides.

Luz was lying half naked on the bathroom floor, panting, her sweaty face flat on the side facing Amity with her eyes barely open, fluttering in an attempt to stay conscious. The witch crawled quickly over to the human and looked at Luz’s reformed body. She did not know if she should or could touch her. Deep scars on the human’s back, shining pink on the tan skin, got her attention.

“Interesting,” Amity thought but realized now was not the time. She noticed the discarded earlier green flannel shirt was intact on the bathroom floor. She fetched it quickly and returned to Luz.

“Luz…” Amity started quietly in a soothing voice, “I’m going to touch you now, okay? Don’t panic. I will cover you with your shirt,” She decided it would be clever to inform a barely conscious human about her surroundings. Luz moaned weakly in consent and tried to get up on all fours to help Amity dress her, but the human’s body was not cooperating, “Don’t force yourself, Luz. I will help you,” The witch assured softly, “You’re safe…” She added in almost a whisper.

Luz believed her. She did feel safe. Even though that was the most interaction they had ever had. The human weirdly trusted the witch above her. Amity gently took one of Luz’s arms and slowly inserted it into the correct sleeve.

“She’s so warm…” Blight thought, worried about the human running a fever.

Luz grunted in pain but tried to help Amity. The witch then hid the second arm and covered the scarred back with the shirt. Luz tried to lift herself once again. With Amity’s help, she managed to sit on her heels. The human tried to close the buttons in her shirt, but her hands were not working correctly.

They were still shaking from the pain of breaking and rebreaking every single bone in her body. Amity noticed that the brunette’s back was shaking, and the witch realized she was sobbing quietly, powerless, and defeated. The witch moved closer to the human, kneeling right behind Luz, and she took a delicate hold of her hands, stopping their action.

“It’s all right. I don’t need to look to close your shirt,” Amity whispered calmly and inched closer to close Luz’s shirt.

The human let her hands down in defeat and agreement to be helped. The pale hands surrounded the weak body from behind and quickly buttoned up the flannel. The brunette was breathing heavily, trying to calm her sobs as they were hurting her body.

Luz was exhausted, ashamed, and hurt. She did not even notice the close proximity of the witch, the smell of flowers, or the sound of her breathing, tingling her neck. The human tried to get up, but she only fell from her heels backward, face front into Amity’s arms.

“What should I do? Titan, help me!” The witch panicked but pulled the broken body in close in a comforting hug while she leaned her own back against the scratched wall.

“Just stay calm. You don’t have to hurry anywhere,” Amity tried to soothe her.

She felt Luz’s hands move slowly, wrapping around her waist, and the hurt fists clenched the back of her white T-shirt. The witch felt her heart race, pumping against the bile sac. She hated being touched, but this… This was different.

“What is wrong with me? Why is she touching me? Why can’t I push her away? Why don’t I WANT to push her away?!” Amity’s thoughts were racing just like her heart, but she remained still, calm, and focused on the human’s comfort.

Luz lowered her head to Amity’s chest and tried to calm herself down, letting out shaky breaths. The green-haired woman touched the human’s head to soothe her, caressing the hair. She noticed how soft those human locks were and how good she smelled.

Despite everything she had just endured, a lemon-like scent surrounded her form. The witch’s heart skipped a beat when she realized what she was noticing about the human. Her ears slanted, and she was grateful no one could see her blush.

“I’m… S-s-orry…” Luz tried to speak in a meager, groggy voice.

“Shh… don’t be. It’s not your fault, and you know that,” Amity opposed and hugged her a little tighter for some reassurance, which caused the human to groan in pain, and the witch immediately felt stupid.

“She was just broken and re-broken, you moron!” The witch scolded herself.

“Is there anything I can do for you, Luz?” She asked calmly, not letting her emotions get the better of her.

“W-why… You…” Luz tried to ask, but talking hurt her sore throat.

“I… I know what it is like… When someone breaks the medicine you need…” Amity understood the question anyway and admitted in an embarrassed voice as guilt crept in on her again.

She looked down at Luz. Her hair, flannel, ripped trousers… She endured so much, and yet she never complained. The young Clawthorne had some friends and managed to keep good grades and focus at school. Amity found her brave and was just as impressed as scared for the young human.

She knew all too well how difficult it was to live despite bad things happening. Amity closed herself off, not letting anyone in but Luz… that was a different story. She was always so cheerful, helping others… The witch closed her eyes for a moment, resting her head on a wall behind, recalling Luz’s smirks and cockiness whenever she interacted with Boscha.

“She was always so… Cheerful, teasing me, sending looks… While she was hurting all the time.”

“H-home…” The human whispered with all the strength she had left, still holding onto the witch, dragging her out of her thoughts.

“You want me to take you to the Owl House?” Amity ensured she understood what the human had in mind, and Luz nodded, “Can you stand?” The witch asked, but the human did not reply. She started getting up, but her legs were too weak, “It’s okay. Let me help.”

Amity got up first, took Luz’s arm, and placed it over her right shoulder, helping the cursed woman stand.

She held the human tightly and turned her green-haired head to the right to look at Luz, who was leaning heavily on the more petite woman. Amity managed to keep the human balanced despite their slight height difference. Actually, the height difference was perfect for the witch to help Luz walk. She blushed delicately when their eyes met, so the witch quickly looked away.

“What’s wrong with you!?” They walked over to the brunette’s bag, and Amity used a spell circle to bring up the bag and discarded the red beanie. She threw the bag on the arm, and they slowly moved forward to leave the school.

“T-thank you…” Luz managed to whisper weakly. Amity replied with a small smile but did not dare to say anything.

Everybody was in the classes, so the corridors were utterly empty. They walked slowly but steadily. Amity was paying close attention to Luz’s body. How her legs were taking small steps, how her face winced in pain when they turned to the right, how her free arm was holding the left side of her torso, how she was increasing the grip accompanied by a grimace and a slight groan, how she panted with exhaustion.

“She’s in so much pain… And yet she doesn’t say a word…” Amity thought with awe, “Maybe she’s in too much pain to speak?” She wondered and worried about the woman holding her for dear life.

“What are you doing here?” They suddenly heard a voice behind them as they approached the exit of the building. Amity slowly turned them around and looked into the eyes of the dean of the Academy.

“P-Professor Bump…” She whispered in fear.

He looked down at Amity and then at Luz. The latter managed to lift her now grayish-pale and tired face and looked directly into the eyes of the Dean. Amity did not know what had happened, but his expression softened immediately. His face showed worry and care.

“You’d better hurry, Miss Blight,” He spoke calmly, “The corridors will soon be filled with other students, and we wouldn’t want them to interrupt your travel to the Owl House. Here, let Frewin help you get there safely,” He added, and his Palisman left his head. Bump then turned around and walked away, his long hair flowing behind him.

Amity did not have the mind to comment on what just happened as she felt Luz’s body becoming a little heavier than it was a moment ago. The human was losing her strength. Amity turned around to exit the school and hesitantly looked at the Bump’s Palisman. The purple imp turned into a hovering stick and waited for the witch to take her place on it.

She held Luz in a tight hug to make sure the human would not fall off the Palisman. They slowly left the ground. When Amity noticed the human’s hold getting weaker, they increased the speed, and the witch hugged her even tighter, keeping her close to her chest.

“Amity…” Luz whispered weakly into the pale neck, her grip fading away, her eyes rolling up, and her whole body turning limp in the witch’s hug.

“No, no, no, Luz! Just hold on a little longer!” The witch pleaded, tightening her hold on the hurt body, “We’re almost there!” She heard a weak whimper coming from the human.

It was not very long when the Owl House was seen in the distance. Amity slowed down their flight and turned the staff toward the ground. She could have sworn she heard her name being whispered. Luz was barely conscious. She struggled to keep her eyes open. Everything was getting blurry to the brunette, no matter how hard she tried to focus her sight.

As soon as they touched the ground, Bump’s Palisman changed to its animal form and flew away to its owner. Amity caught Luz holding her up in a bride-like style. Luz’s body was limp. She was out cold. The witch looked down at the human’s neck and noticed her aorta pulsating quickly. She knew enough about Healing Magic to realize she needed help. Now!

“OWL LADY!!” The witch hollered while she walked toward the main door of the house. She noticed a tube-like bird living inside the door, approaching her.

“WHAT… IS… THAT!?”

“Hoot! What happened to Luz?!” The demon asked with its high-pitched voice. Amity had no idea what kind of being that was, but its voice hurt her sensitive ears, and she had no way to cover them.

“She almost turned in school. We need help,” The witch had no idea why she was explaining herself to the bird-tube.

She may have been starting to panic since Luz lost consciousness. Suddenly, she felt the demon wrapping around her and Luz to help her get to the house faster. Amity landed with Luz in her arms in what seemed to be a living room. It was actually breathing.

There was a giant wanted poster of the Owl Lady and Luz’s smaller one. Both were surrounded by weird relics, skulls, swords, and many strange things the witch did not recognize. Amity also noticed a couch underneath it, so she walked over to lay Luz comfortably down.

“Hooty, what’s that racket about?” Amity heard a female voice coming from the kitchen. A middle-aged woman in a burgundy red dress and a wild mane of gray hair entered the living room with a white cup in her hand, saying ‘30 and Flirty’, “And who the hell are you, Kid?” She asked, taking a sip when she noticed Amity in the middle of her living room.

“Um… Amity. Luz had an incident at school, and I…” Amity started explaining, but she was cut off by the panicked bird demon from the front door.

“She turned, Eda!” It yelled, wiggling its long neck, hurting Amity’s ears even more.

This time, the young witch had to cover them. The demon’s words worked like a lightning bolt. Eda’s mug left her hand, smashing on the floor. The Apple Blood stained the floorboard. The older witch ran over to Luz and gently touched the human’s forehead. She was warm.

“Too warm,” Eda thought.

“Tell me everything,” She said in a cold but caring voice, “What happened? Why did she turn? Why is she human if she turned? Why are her hands bruised and stained in blood?” She asked too many questions, turning toward Amity, who just now noticed bruises on the human’s body in the places where her bones were snapping. The young witch gulped and felt her eyes watering.

“Unacceptable!” Amity heard her mother’s voice. The older witch’s gold eyes looked sternly at the young witch before her.

“I-I… T-tried to h-h-help,” The green-haired woman choked out, feeling all emotions from today creeping in on her, overwhelming her. The questions, the situation, the stress. It was all too much.

“No emotions!” Amity scorned herself.

Eda stood up, placed her pale hands with gold nails on the young woman’s shoulders, and helped her toward the extra armchair. Amity shrugged off, letting Eda know she did not want to be touched. The older witch respected that and moved away from the green-haired one.

“Calm down, Kid. I need to know what happened so I can help Luz,” Eda explained calmly with warmth in her voice, “Also… Thank you. For taking care of my daughter,” She added and smiled faintly at the confusion on the young witch’s face, “So please, tell me… What the hell happened to my Kid?” She asked again.

Amity took a deep breath to ground and rid herself of unnecessary emotions. Her face was once again composed and calm. Any tears she had in her eyes just a moment ago had been forgotten. Her voice was not shaking anymore. She let the breath out and looked calmly at the Owl Lady.

“Wow, scary…” Eda thought but did not say anything. Amity told her story.

“Oh yes, good old Bumpykins,” Eda said with a smile, “We had to inform him about Luz’s condition since she was already studying at Hexide when that happened,” She explained. Amity did not know how to comment on that. She was lost in her own thoughts. She felt better after telling someone about all she had experienced in the past hour, but that was still a lot to process, “But from what you are saying, Luz will need a Healer. Since she did not change entirely, her bones are most likely fractured,” Eda explained. Her gaze met the young witch’s questioning look, “Usually when she changes, her body is healed by the curse. See, it takes care of its host. But the transformation was interrupted…” Eda paused and shook her head, “Poor Kid…” She added more to herself and placed a hand on her daughter’s forehead, “I’m shocked she managed to fight it off. She must have had a good motivation,” She added. Amity looked as well at the unconscious human lying on the couch. Her breathing was rapid, shallow, and uneven. She was clearly in a lot of pain.

“My sister is a rather extraordinary Healer. Let me get her,” The young witch proposed, and Eda raised her eyebrow, “She’s the only one I trust,” Amity added, summoning her Scroll, and quickly messaged her sister.

“I just hope she’ll come since I haven’t been in touch with her for so long,” She hoped as guilt entered her heart again.

“If you say so, Kid,” Eda finally said, getting up, “Let’s better prepare for her arrival then,” She added, “Unless you want to go home now?” The older witch offered an out of this situation, pointing at the door with her thumb. Amity’s face flushed with pink shade and then paled quickly, recomposing herself. Her gold eyes glowed coldly.

“No…” Amity said quietly, clenching the hem of her skirt, “Besides, it’s my sister coming to help. It will be best if I stick around,” She said, and Eda just smiled, showing off her golden fang that Amity had not noticed before.

“Whatever you say, Kiddo,” Eda said, drawing a spell circle in the air. The middle of the living room was cleaned out of all the unnecessary furniture, books, papers, and other things no one could identify. Amity was shocked by the mess that filled the house. However, she had to admit it made it feel homey, “Hooty, keep your eye out. Healer’s arriving soon!” She ordered loudly.

“Hoot! On it!” The demon exclaimed and took its post in front of the house. Eda turned toward the stairs leading to the higher floors of the house.

“What should I do?” Amity asked the leaving woman, feeling completely useless.

“Keep an eye on my Kid. I’ll be right back,” Eda said nonchalantly.

“Why do they trust a complete stranger? I mean, it’s not like she’s going anywhere…” Amity wondered, not understanding Clawthorne’s behavior.

She came into Luz’s life a little over an hour ago and was already treated with trust, kindness, and compassion. That was something new and unfamiliar to Amity. She had no scenario prepared for this situation. And yet, a feeling of belonging was overwhelming. However weird it was to her logic, subconsciously, she felt it was just how it was supposed to be.

Amity got up and moved the armchair out of the way. She stepped closer to Luz’s unconscious form and looked down at her. She kneeled next to the couch to look at the hurt woman better. She had seen the human almost every day for the past few months, and yet she felt as if she was really looking at her for the first time ever.

Her thin, lean legs were long and muscular. The skin visible from underneath ripped trousers showed old scars. Her knuckles were bleeding delicately from the impact on the wall she smashed earlier that day. Her forearms were stained with blood from feathers pricking from underneath the skin. The bruises underneath it were spreading across. The face, surrounded by dark bangs, was wincing in pain. Her thick brows were frowning while her eyeballs were racing under her eyelids, surrounded by thick eyelashes.

Amity felt an urge to try to calm the human down. She noticed a brown lock of hair on Luz’s face and wanted to brush it away, afraid it might tickle her. As she did, Amity noticed a long scar going from the top of her left eyebrow down to the top of her cheek. How did she not see it before? Luz groaned quietly at the touch.

“You really are one of a kind, aren’t you?” Amity thought with a fond smile in the corner of her pale lips.

“They’re here!” Hooty yelled out of nowhere, his voice exploding in the witch’s ears.

He scared Amity, who jumped away from Luz, embarrassed by her own behavior. Eda gave her the blankets when she landed in the older Clawthorne’s arms. Amity looked up in shock. Her face turned crimson red, and her pointy ears slanted in embarrassment. All her perfect composure was gone.

“How long have you been here?” Amity asked in a voice higher than usual, mumbling the words out of her mouth. Eda just smiled wickedly.

“Long enough, Kiddo. Now take those blankets, and let’s prepare a space for the Healer’s table for them to work,” She changed the subject to spare Amity any more embarrassment.

The said woman got up and noticed her sister entering the Owl House along with her healing partner and wife, Viney. The green-haired Healer was holding a bag with their equipment. She wore a long blue gown with a Healing Coven symbol on her chest. Her partner was a green-eyed brunette with an earring shaped like a fish hook set in her right ear.

“Wow, never thought I’d get a house call to the infamous Owl House, Sis,” Emira said with a smile, entering the living room.

Amity was just happy she had answered the call. Viney watched the decor with awe in her green eyes, and Eda finally coughed fakely to let the Healer know she could hear her words.

“Oh, forgive me, Owl Lady.”

“Eda,” The Owl Lady corrected her.

“Forgive me, Eda,” Emira corrected herself, “You must understand that it’s not everyday… Anyway,” She decided to change the topic, “I’m Emira Blight, and this is my partner and wife, Viney. I heard that Luz got herself in trouble… Again,” She told Eda, allowing her professional courtesy to change into a more friendly interaction.

“BLIGHT?” Both Eda and Hooty exclaimed and looked back at Amity in shock. The said witch just smiled innocently and paled a bit while she chuckled nervously.

“Is that a problem, Eda?” Emira asked, raising a brow. She felt the urge to protect her younger sister.

“Nope! Not to me,” Eda said quietly, throwing her hands up defensively, “But since you helped Luz, I guess you knew what you were risking?” Eda addressed Amity, more worried about the witch than her own safety.

The Blight’s obsession with not getting acquainted with ‘lower’ status citizens was well known around the Isles, especially to Eda, who was a wanted criminal for most of her adult life and had the displeasure of studying at Hexside with the women’s parents.

“If that’s the case, I can assure you we value your privacy just as much as ours,” Emira said, drawing a spell circle in the air, summoning the operation table, “Now… Let me see what Luz got herself into this time,” She added, walking toward Eda.

“Hooty, put the house on lockdown,” Eda ordered, walking Emira toward the couch, passing Amity, “Wait, you know Luz?” She realized what the Healer just said.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Viney butted into the conversation, “We were at Hexside together,” She added with a smile and started setting up the operating table. Eda just laughed, and Amity was confused.

“I missed a lot!”

“Amity, please use abomination to move Luz to a table,” Emira instructed. She knew her sister usually needed a task to keep herself calm. Emira was about to use that for her benefit.

“Make sure she is not moving. We wouldn’t want her to get more hurt than she already is, now would we?” Emira said calmly, having complete trust in her sister’s abilities.

“But no pressure,” Viney smiled, preparing the room’s lighting and unpacking their equipment.

“Oh, she’s the funny one,” Eda thought, watching the Healers with amusement. Viney prepared Healing Glyphs of different shapes and sizes and some books on human anatomy.

“I see that’s a good thing you know Luz after all,” Eda commented, noticing the books.

Amity prepared a rather large spell circle. The abomination slime creeped out of Eda’s carpet and moved closer to Luz’s body. The young Blight tried to make sure that the woman was surrounded by the goo before changing the structure of the slime as it thickened and turned solid around the spine and joints of broken bones. She was not hurting that woman any more than she already was.

“Very good, Amity,” Emira encouraged her quietly while her sister lifted the human. None of her body parts moved an inch, “Now, slowly and gently place her on the table,” Emira instructed, and Amity did as asked, focusing on her task. As soon as Luz was secured on the table, Amity removed the slime and watched the human’s breathing pace increase, “Don’t worry. It’s just a comfort change between couch and table,” Emira explained. At the same time, she took her place at the left side of her patient while Luz’s head was directed at the door, “Amity, please prepare. It’s going to be very bright now,” She added, knowing how her sister was sensitive to brightness. She then nodded to Viney. The lights prepared by a brown-haired witch shone brightly, and Emira started working. Amity turned away just in time and let herself adjust to the light. However, her eyes still burned a little, “I will now assess the damage,” The older Blight drew a blue spell circle in the air, and the blue light surrounded both of her hands while the spell circle hovered above Luz’s body.

Emira moved her hands slowly from the top of the human’s head to her chest, inch by inch, to her hands and legs. She started the process again once she was done. Luz shifted up, bucking her chest up, curling her legs slightly, calling unconsciously for Amity when she felt the pain during the Healer’s examination.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Eda thought as she looked at the young Blight and back at her unconscious daughter. The struggle was visible on the human’s face. Once Emira finished the second round, she sighed heavily and looked at her sister.

“What the hell happened to her?” Emira asked, and Amity exchanged looks with Eda, “Her bones are literally crushed. I have never seen anything like it. As if something was breaking them from the inside! And I mean, I knew Luz had the talent to get hurt, but this… How did you manage to bring her here?” She exclaimed, not believing what she was actually saying. Amity looked again at Eda and bit her lip down.

“Okay!” Viney interrupted her wife, “Let’s not ask why and proceed with fixing our friend!” She added and looked supportively at her partner. Amity was grateful for Viney’s presence.

“Oh, that’s not gonna be pretty,” Emira stated, shaking her head, “I hope humans are stronger than everybody says they are,” She sighed and looked up at Eda, “Luckily, her bones are in the right place. They are still crushed. Healing will be easy and quick on our side but very painful on her side,” Emira explained, hoping the Owl Lady would understand the human’s upcoming reactions. Eda nodded, giving the consent to proceed. The older Blight then nodded for her partner to begin.

Viney set the table upright so their patient was more vertical, giving them better access to the wounds. The table magically created the straps securing her body so it would not fall. Viney then came over to the green-haired Healer. They drew a big bright blue spell circle and placed it before Luz’s body.

As soon as they did, the unconscious woman started screaming and writhing in agony while she was strapped to the table, fighting against the bounds. The Healers did not know if she was conscious or if her body was reacting by itself. Amity ran toward Luz without hesitation and instruction and held her right hand. It was an instinct. An instinct Amity was unfamiliar with, but she did not care at that moment.

“It’s okay, Luz. That’s my sister, Emira. You know her, she’s a Healer. Viney’s here, too. They will fix you,” Amity tried to calm the human down and placed her left hand on the brunette’s head. Luz’s eyes were roaming around the room. It was clear she had no idea where she was or what was happening to her, “Eda and Hooty are here as well. You’re safe,” She added, having no idea what else to do to calm her down.

“You’re doing great, Kiddo,” Eda said quietly, approaching Luz as well. However, she kept her distance, noticing Luz was reacting well to Amity’s soothing touch, “Just listen to baby Blight,” She added, smiling.

Luz looked at Amity and noticed the witch’s golden eyes looking down at her with warmth and support. As if she was trying to say, “I’m not leaving you.”. She focused on those orbs and did not dare to look away. The human was hearing muffled voices around her. The only thing she could feel was intense pain in her whole body.

“Not again…” She thought, trying to regain consciousness.

Suddenly, she felt a cold hand in her palm and a soft touch on her head. She was trying to focus her sight. Everything was blurry. Golden orbs were staring at her intensely with care and fear. But the eyes were not scared of Luz. They were frightened for Luz.

“That’s new… Don’t go… Please, stay… Don’t leave me…” She thought while she could not say a word through clenched jaws.

Everyone could hear Luz’s bones snapping while returning to the correct position and connecting the cracks, but Luz was not losing focus. She stared deep into Amity’s eyes as if her life depended on it. The young Blight noticed Luz’s pupils reacting to pain, but she never looked away.

Her breathing was labored, but it did not matter to the human. She was holding the witch’s hand and never letting go. Her breathing was heavy, but the view of Amity staying close gave her strength, which she had no idea she possessed.

“We’re almost done,” Emira said with a weak voice while they adjusted the bones in Clawthorne’s body. Amity smiled at Luz.

“See, it’s almost over,” The witch whispered, stroking the human’s hair in a calming manner. Amity could have sworn she thought Luz smiled faintly for a moment before feeling the human’s grip getting lighter and lighter, “No, no, no… Hold on, Luz!” She started panicking when she noticed Luz’s sight getting blurryer as her pupils widened and her eyes rolled up. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Kiddo. I’m surprised she was conscious that long anyway,” Eda reassured Amity.

“What she said,” Emira confirmed with a heavy voice when she and Viney discarded the spell. The older Blight moved toward the armchair and fell into it. On the other hand, Viney leveled the table and leaned on it to catch a breath, “Oh, my Titan. That was a workout. What a bone density…” Emira added and looked at her sister, “You have a way with her, I have to admit,” The Healer said with a faint smile, closing her eyes briefly. Amity would have blushed if she had not been so scared for Luz.

“I will prepare some Healing Glyphs for you and leave you some extra,” Viney stated, slowly getting up from the table, “Make sure to change them daily, and she should be back on her feet in two days or so. Knowing her, probably earlier,” She added and shifted her look from Amity to Eda, unsure who would be changing those. Eda got closer with the white blankets in her hands.

“Sure, let’s get to it,” Eda said, folding the clothes into long stripes to cover Luz’s intimate areas. Amity blushed when she realized what needed to be done but did not move. Her muscles were stiff with shock and embarrassment while still holding the human’s hand, “Come on, baby Blight. You can help me prepare her. That is if you’re up to it?” Eda gave her an out again. The green-haired woman just nodded.

“What should I do?” Amity asked quickly with a slightly red face, but her voice showed no embarrassment. Eda smiled faintly and gave Amity one of the blankets she had prepared.

“Cover her chest and discard her clothes,” Eda instructed while she did the same thing with Luz’s lower body.

The human mumbled a little in her unconscious state when her body was moved in the process. Emira and Viney watched the young witch take care of their old friend. They shared a look, smiled knowingly, and looked back at the body on the table being cleaned up by the Owl Lady with a golden spell.

It was not long before Luz was lying naked on the table with only a white cloth covering her chest and crotch. Her tan body contrasted the fabric. Amity thought it would have been the most beautiful sight she had ever seen if it had not been scary. The lean body was covered with multiple scars. Still, it just made her more interesting, beautiful, and enchanting in Amity’s eyes.

“Now for my part,” Viney said, walking over to the human body, “We noticed she had the worst fractures in her upper limbs and chest. Hence, this is where those Glyphs should be placed. Her legs will be fine on their own, although her kneecaps were hurt pretty badly, so I’ll leave you those Glyphs just in case,” She said, placing the Healing Glyphs on the body parts she mentioned. An image of Luz’s legs turning backward flashed in front of Amity’s eyes, making her shake her head, “Change it every sun cycle for three cycles, starting today, and feel free to call us if her condition changes in any kind of unpredictable way,” Viney added. Amity looked carefully at how Viney activated the Glyphs. Each one caused Luz’s face to wince as the healing speed was increased by magic.

“I’ll take Luz to her bedroom now. I’ll be right back,” Eda said with relief. She cast a levitation spell on her daughter’s body and slowly moved her upstairs, leaving Amity with the Healers.

“So…” Emira said, teasing her sister while she cleaned the operation table. At the same time, Viney took care of the bright lights, “How long have you been together?” She asked her sister with a vicious smile.

“WHAT?!” Amity yelped, her ears slanted, “We’re not! I just met her today! I mean, we study at the Academy together, but we haven’t…” The witch started rumbling, her face covered in blush, and Emira just laughed at her reaction.

“Okay, calm down, Sis,” The Healer said with a smile, “I must have got it wrong. You just seemed to really care about her, that’s it,” She added, and that did not help Amity’s blush or her case, “She also did look at you the way… I mean, I haven’t seen her look like that at anyone ever.”

“Em, stop teasing your sister,” Viney interrupted her wife, “She just came back home a few months ago. We should be happy she’s met someone,” Viney teased. Emira nodded and pointed a finger at Viney with a smile, agreeing with her wife’s words.

“Shut up…” Amity growled, embarrassed, “How much do I owe you for help and… Confidentiality?” She changed the subject, and Emira’s face got serious.

“Come on, Sis. Nothing. I’m just happy to help my baby sister. Also, we owe Luz big time,” Viney finished cleaning up their equipment and then helped Emira up, “I really missed you, Amity. And dang, you certainly grew up,” She said with warmth in her voice. She wanted to hug her sister but reminded herself the younger Blight would not appreciate it, “Feel free to visit us sometime, okay?” She added, and when Amity nodded in agreement, they left.

Amity was left all alone in the middle of a strange, breathing living room. Suddenly, the Heiress felt everything she was trying to keep away from her conscious mind that day. She fell to her knees, hugging her arms tightly, and the tears ran down her pale cheeks. The image of an angry Boscha flashed before her eyes. The image of a terrified human girl.

The image of a broken potion vial underneath Boscha’s boot. The image of her mother discarding the medicine she needed. The sound of Luz’s screech attacked her ears. Human’s voice yelled in pain, afraid to hurt Amity. The sound of snapping bones. The feeling of a warm body in her arms. The smell of her hair… All senses attacking her all at once.

The witch took hold of her head, covering her ears to protect them from the non-existent sounds attacking her senses. Amity was now crying uncontrollably, struggling with her breathing. She knew her lungs were full of air, but she felt as if she was suffocating.

“Kid…” She heard a faint voice as if coming from underwater. Her eyes did not see the older witch kneeling before her, “Amity!” She heard it louder and felt someone grabbing her arms, trying to pull them away from her green-haired head. She couldn’t react to any of that, “You’re having a panic attack. Breathe with me!” Amity looked up and noticed Eda’s gold eyes, “Inhale…” She lifted her fingers, counting down four seconds, “Exhale…” She continued motioning her fingers to help Amity calm her breathing, “Very good, Kid,” She added, continuing to breathe with Amity until the young Blight calmed herself down.

“I’m… I’m sorry… “I’m… S-so sorry…” Amity whispered when she finally felt her lungs fill with air again. Eda just raised an eyebrow, looking at the young woman.

“Pathetic!” Echoed through her head.

“Kid, you have nothing to be sorry about,” Eda started, but Amity just shook her head. She did not expect that. Eda lifted Blight’s chin to look into the woman’s reddened eyes, “Do you have any idea how many people you saved today? If Luz roamed free at school, someone would get hurt. Badly. Most probably the idiot who made her lose control,” Eda explained, and Amity’s eyes started watering again, “I, for one, am grateful. You saved Luz. She would never forgive herself if she’d hurt anyone,” She added, and Amity sobbed quietly. Eda leaned in and hugged her to let her cry. She seemed as if she needed it.

“NO! DON’T TOUCH!” Amity exclaimed, moving away as if something burned her, scared of the affection Eda wanted to offer her.

“Okay, it’s okay. I’m not touching you,” Eda said, quickly moving away from the young witch. She waited a moment for Amity to calm down, and trust would not touch her without permission. Then the older witch continued, “Gotta admit I’m also proud of how well you took that. Running after the hated human, discovering she’s cursed, helping her, not leaving her side… I have no words to describe how in awe I am with your actions, Blight,” She added, and Amity’s tears rolled down like a waterfall.

She cried quietly, clenching fists on the sleeves of her own shirt while she hugged herself, trying to hold her emotions in. The older witch had no idea why the witchling was trying to keep everything in so hard or why she would not allow Eda to comfort her, but she would not question it.

She was going to be there for a woman who saved her daughter. Even if that meant just sitting at a safe distance. It took a while for Amity to calm herself down. When she did, Blight did not dare to look into Eda’s eyes. As if it was hurting her.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have let the emotions get the better of me,” The Heiress said in a cold voice as if she never cried. She then stood up and looked away. Eda also got up and tried to understand what might have been happening in the young woman’s head. Her mascara was smeared underneath her eyes, “I should better go,” She added and turned toward the door to take her to leave.

“Hold on!” Eda interrupted, “How much do I owe you for your sister’s help?” Eda asked.

“Nothing. It was taken care of,” Amity said with a cold voice.

Eda could not understand the sudden change in the young woman’s behavior. Still, she was not going to force her into anything. She may have to work it out herself. For Eda, the most important thing right now was that Luz was safe and healing upstairs. She watched a green-haired girl leave the Owl House and head toward the sunset.

“Hoot! Do you think she’ll be back?” Hooty asked, showing up next to Eda out of nowhere. Eda just smiled.

“We’ll have to wait and see, Hooty. Keep an eye out for King. He should be back from the Market soon,” Eda said, walking back upstairs.

The witch walked into Luz’s room. It was simple but homey. There was a small desk, a dresser, and a bed. Luz was surrounded by a delicate blue glow coming out of Healing Glyphs. She was sleeping soundly, healing.

“You have the weirdest way to find them, Kiddo,” Eda whispered, placing a delicate kiss on the human’s forehead, “Love you,” She added, leaving Luz to sleep.

Amity was walking quickly through the forest. Her boots were snapping dried twigs. She did not notice tears rolling down her cheeks again. She did not understand what was happening. It was all fine when she was in boarding school for the past four years. She had no emotions toward anyone. She did not care about anyone’s well-being. Suddenly, she returned home to continue her studies at the Academy, and not even by the end of the first semester she found herself an emotional mess stuck with the image of that human woman in her head.

“This will not stand!” She heard her mother’s voice again.

“Stupid human! With her stupid bangs and beanie and… Her stupid smile, and strength, and… Curse…” She murmured to herself, igniting her hands with purple flames, and angrily hit the closest tree, “When did she come here anyway!?” She wondered aloud with an irritation in her voice.

She had no idea the human was living here in the Demon Realm. She was cut off from any news from home when she was sent away. And suddenly… Everything was changing. She hit the tree again, letting go of her emotions in the only way acceptable.

She stopped in front of the Blight Manor’s gate, and she looked at her childhood home. The primarily empty building emanated from the demons of her childhood. Amity did not dare to admit she hated this place.

Her brows frowned while she gulped. Her hands shook when she extinguished her flames. She did not feel happy coming home. She was all alone there. She did not even consider it home anymore.

Her mind raced back to the human. How there were people who cared for her. Amity rushed the thoughts away, dried her face, and forced herself to stand straight, recomposing her facial expression before entering. She quickly went into her room to rest. However, this night was not a restful one for the young Blight.