Chapter Text
Author's Note: The Messtival takes place shortly after the end of Season 1 of The Owl House.
Chapter 1: Loosen Up
Little claws, quiet grumbling, and a soft, fuzzy weight trampling her chest were the first signs Luz received that today was going to be a bit different. Lifting her head, hair frazzled and a small line of drool connecting her to her pillow, she blinked bleary eyes as she looked at the small, dark shape lying on top of her. “King?” She glanced up at the window – there was barely any daylight. “What are you doing in here so early?” Automatically she reached out to the little demon, unfurling her limbs from the jumble they’d worked themselves into while she slept. She pulled him close, snuggling him like a teddy bear despite his short-lived objections.
“Ehhhh, Eda’s too excited about today.” King’s voice was wide-awake and not at all his groggy normal self – one thing Luz had learned quickly was that the only early-riser in the Owl House was Hooty. A muffled clatter through the walls from Eda’s room seemed to punctuate King’s point, and Luz looked up curiously.
“Today?” Luz slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What’s today?”
As if on cue the house rumbled back and forth for a few seconds, shaking objects loose from the walls and causing loud bangs and crashes to echo up the stairs. Eda’s snorting laughter followed it, accompanied by Lilith’s raised voice.
“Ughhhh.” King pressed his face into her blanket, pressing his little paws to his ears. “The Messtival.”
Outside, a high-pitched voice called out, “Hey, did the ground just move or was that me? Hoot!”
“The Messtival?”
Sitting at the kitchen table fully dressed and wide-awake, Luz looked suspiciously at Eda as the older witch bustled about the room, shoving things into a big backpack that seemed to hungrily suck in objects larger than itself. A big, excited smile stretched the Owl Lady’s face.
“Yeah, the Messtival! Don’t you have something like it? Yeesh, the human world must be so boring.” She hesitated over two identical looking goblets, before shrugging and shoving them both in the backpack. “Oh you must be so excited, your first Messtival! It has to be my favourite holiday on the Isles!”
Luz hit the table with both fists, grinning. “Heck yeah I’m excited! My first Messtival!” She sprang to her feet, moving over to peer curiously into the backpack which shyly zipped itself back up until Eda prodded it. “But uhhh, what exactly is the Messtival?”
Eda paused, her face poking back up from the dislodged pile of debris she was rummaging through, human ‘relics’ poking out of her hair. “Wait, I didn’t tell you about the Messtival?” She smiled again. “Oh, then are you in for the best day ever! Okay okay, find your bag and pack it with as much stuff as possible, anything you want! Just nothing from my room…” She trailed off as she delved back into the pile, her legs wiggling in the air behind her and muffled words floating back out. “…so much opportunity… can’t believe humans… what is that smell?”
In the city of Bonesborough pandemonium had struck the streets, with witches, monsters, demons and more importantly stuff cluttering every walkway, courtyard and street. Everyone was out and about today, all of them lugging a bag, sack or even a cart behind them, digging through the piles of items thrown haphazardly all over the place. Tiny Nose rifled through the debris of an armourer’s shop, emerging from the heap wearing a metal knight’s helmet over most of her body and yelling inarticulately. Principal Bump stroked his chin with a finger as he considered a fancy blue stole, comparing it to the one draped over his shoulders before swapping them and walking off with a satisfied expression. Even the merchants and swindlers were out and about – Tibbles himself snuck out of a pile clutching a yellowed scroll and chuckling to himself.
Eda looked over it all eagerly, eyes bright with excitement as her mane of hair trailed in the wind behind her. She brought Owlbert down for a smooth landing near the edge of town. “I’m telling ya’ Luz, the Messtival is the place to be. Plentiful stuff to swap, plentiful marks to follow.” She stretched out the last word as she casually reached behind her and slipped something out of someone’s pocket as they walked past. “And best of all, no guards to spoil the good times! Yes sir, even old Belos knows when to let the pressure off every now and again, so they all stay around the Conformatorium, letting us have our fun.”
As she explained the ground shook violently again, the Isles vibrating and sending everyone stumbling, though a few of the older residents just shifted their balance and kept walking. A few roof tiles fell here and there, but most of the buildings seemed more than capable of weathering the jostling. A few of the prissier houses blinked their multiple eyes or gnashed their white-washed teeth. Luz could have sworn she saw a chimney sneeze in the distance. Objects flew out of houses and buildings, markets and stalls, even from hands into other hands, sparking more than a few fistfights. Watching it all, Eda snorted out a laugh.
“Ya see, once a year the bones of the Isles shift slightly as they settle against the ocean floor. A teensy little adjustment for the Titan, but a bit more disruptive for us. This doesn’t really damage anything, all it does is shake things up a bit. Oooh, shiney!” She pounced on a sapphire bead rolling along the ground, feeding it into her hungry backpack. “It’s the best time of the year to make a change, out with the old and in with the new! Literally.”
She began walking forwards, looking around at the chaos and the goodies up for grabs. She idly twirled her staff in her hand, poofing it away. “Sure, people guard their own stuff, but they also look out for anything that catches their eye.”
Luz bounced up and down, bright-eyed and so excited she was almost buzzing. The Boiling Isles are amazing, I never know what’s going to happen next! “Oh, so it’s like a big swap meet!”
Eda cocked an eyebrow. “A big swap what now?”
“A swap meet! It’s a human thing, people bring all their old junk they want to get rid of and try to trade it for other people’s junk that they want!” She darted forwards, already digging into the closest heap, her legs scrabbling as she tunnelled deeper into it.
Following along, Eda let out a hum. “Well, I guess humans aren’t as boring as I thought. Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Buuuuuuut….” She grinned darkly. Luz popped back out of the pile, a glowing rainbow clip in her hair and her bag one swap lighter.
“Buuuuuut?”
Eda leaned in, lowering her voice. “Not only is this the best ‘swap meet’ ever, it’s the biggest opportunity of the year for Eda the Owl Lady to show she’s still got the moves.” She held up her hands, palms facing forward, and wiggled her fingers. After a moment she closed her fist, and when she reopened it Luz’s new hair clip was sitting on her palm.
The younger witch gasped, clutching at her head dramatically. Her clip was gone! “But – how? I was just wearing that and you didn’t even use magic! Did you distract me somehow?” She squinted her eyes, looking around suspiciously as Eda leant back and laughed, tossing her the clip.
“Not at all kiddo, just have to know the tricks of the trade, and no one knows them like I do. Rule number one, always watch the hands.” She pulled Luz out of the pile, dusting her off. “I’ll leave you to do some swapping, and I’ll catch up with you later. If you think the morning is good, once the sun starts setting it gets even better! All the best swaps have happened by then and most people have moved their good stuff indoors, but no one wants the good times to end yet. They started setting up rides and games and oh so tasty foods.” She looked into the distance, eyes shiny and unfocused. “Oh so very tasty.” She cleared her throat, looking back to Luz. “Before we knew it, the Messtival had a carnival too. Things go well into the night, and the Illusion coven usually finishes things off with a light show!”
Luz kept gasping higher and higher as Eda described the evening, bouncing up and down on her toes. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh that sounds amazing! Why didn’t you tell me about this!” She paced rapidly back and forth in front of Eda, still talking. “Oh wow, not only do I now know what cool stuff I can find – especially if it matches my new rainbow style,” she posed briefly, framing her hair clip, “but there’s games and rides as well? This will be amazing! I wonder if anyone I know will be out?”
Eda smiled at her infectious enthusiasm, ruffling her apprentice’s hair. “I don’t doubt it kid, everyone loves the Messtival.”
Luz paused, her smile slipping as a thought occurred to her. “Not that I’m not excited, but don’t we have to be… well, careful?” She lowered her voice, glancing around despite herself. “Emperor Belos has to be on the lookout for us.” She was surprised when Eda waved an unconcerned hand.
“I wouldn’t worry about old Belos. Remember what he said when we escaped? He let me off as a warning to everyone else – don’t mess with him or you’ll lose your magic forever, or worse.” Her tone darkened, before she made a visible effort to cheer up again. “The good news is that after he’s cracked the whip like that he’s not going to be after us for a while. He’s shown the Isles that he’s the boss, captured the infamous Own Lady and then shown the mercy of the Titan by letting me go. So unless we do something particularly, um… property… destruction-y, we’re in the clear for a while.” The old witch let out a sigh, her smile dimming a bit. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit destructioned out… for now.”
Impulsively Luz stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Eda in a tight hug that she easily reciprocated. “Me too.” They stood there a moment, before Luz pulled back, her eyes a bit brighter. “And don’t you worry, soon you’ll master glyphs, then use your awesome, long, witchy experience to get even better than me, and we can combine our knowledge to show everyone how great we can be!” She pumped an excited fist in the air.
Eda couldn’t help but let out a snort at that. Snails, the kid had grown on her. She must be going soft. “Sounds like a plan to me. Now-“ She was cut off at a clatter and a high pitched “Wyeh!” from behind her, turning curiously to look and immediately biting her lip to hide her laughter.
“I told you, it doesn’t work like that! My hair never worked like that! I have no idea how hers works like that!”
“Told me?! You never told me anything! You just kept saying ‘Get off me!’ over and over!”
Approaching them was Lillith, her staff shrinking into nothingness, and a pained look of annoyance on her face. Tangled in her hair, upside down and hanging from two limbs was King, frowning fiercely.
“That’s all I needed to say! You shouldn’t – ouch! - just try and climb into a strange witch’s hair!” The former coven leader snapped at the little demon, stopping next to Eda. Why did she ever agree to this? Coming into Bonesborough at all was foolish, she only did it to stop Edalyn pestering her about getting up and about. I suppose I have just been laying about the house, she thought, doing her best to untangle King.
He was having none of it. “But you’re not a strange witch! You’re Eda’s sister, you’re one of us now!” Lilith started, eyes wide, and turned her head to take in the creature tangled in her hair. After a long moment, he spoke up again. “HA! I said something cute, now you can’t be mad at me!”
Taking pity on the both of them, Eda stepped forward and skilfully untangled King with an ease suggesting long practice. “Sorry little guy, but the days of Lily’s hair being cozy are long behind us. Hers was fluffier than mine once.”
Keeping her distance Luz watched the trio for a moment, her eyes lingering over Lilith as the older witch winced and sputtered, King not making the untangling easy. She could still hear the angry, spiteful words, ‘Then why were you so easy to curse!?’ She blinked, and put on a smile. “Well, I think I’m going to go check out the festival! I’ll catch up with you all later. Bye Eda, bye King!” She quickly ran off, moving backwards and waving before stumbling over a bucket and falling into another junk pile. “I’m okay!”
Lilith looked away as Luz moved off, uncomfortable. She hadn’t failed to notice the human pointedly not mentioning her and didn’t consider herself foolish enough to believe the distant behaviour was undeserved.
Eda nudged her with an elbow. “Don’t worry about it Lily, she’ll come around.”
King nodded vigorously. “Yeah! Luz is super nice. I was a big jerk to her once, but after I apologised we worked together to sort it out and she completely forgave me.”
Lilith seemed unconvinced. “She does seem very… enthusiastic, but… what I did – to everyone, to you especially Edalyn-“ She broke off as Eda grabbed her shoulders.
“None of that.” She smiled confidently, their mismatched eyes meeting. “Luz doesn’t have a mean bone in her scrawny little body. Give her a bit of time, and this will all be in the past. Now!” She clasped Lilith to her side, squeezing her tightly. Flinging her other hand forward to gesture to the town she said, “Lily, what do you see before you?”
The older witch blinked. “Uhhhh, Bonesborough?”
“Psh, wrong answer! Come on Lily, think like the one true coven would think!”
Lilith shifted uncomfortably, remembering her long years in the Emperor’s Coven, before she realised what her sister meant. After catching her wearing her Bad Girl Coven shirt (“Stop laughing, I don’t have any other clothes Edalyn!”) she’d hardly let the matter drop. Trying to think like a… ‘bad girl’, Lilith looked again. “Witches moving about, all kinds of objects… up for grabs?” she finished hesitantly.
Eda nodded enthusiastically. “Mostly right! What we have here…” Her voice lowered dramatically. “Is a lesson, waiting to be taught!”
Lilith raised an eyebrow. “A lesson? What do – oh no, no no no, you are absolutely not-“
Eda kept talking right over the top of her. “Yes ma’am, what I’m going to do is teach you how to steal!”
King clambered up Eda’s dress and chimed in from her other shoulder. “You couldn’t ask for a better teacher! No one is more shifty than Eda! Why she’s downright suspicious!” The Owl Lady waved an embarrassed hand making a ‘pshaw’ sound. “But uhhh, one problem there. I know Belos has let you off the leash, but what about her?” He pointed a small claw at Lilith. “I don’t think he’s going to leave her be like you, and waaaaay too many people know her on sight. They’re probably already making wanted posters for the Owl Lady and the, uhhh…” He furrowed his brow. “Raven… Maiden. Huh, that’s pretty good!”
Eda pulled back, a finger to her chin. “Hmmm, the fuzzball has a point.”
“Hey! I… mostly resemble that.”
“What we need to get you is a disguise!”
Lilith smiled. “Well, in that at least I can help out.” Waving her finger in a circle before her – the magical light dimmer than it had been since she was a child – a wave of blue light swept over her, altering her appearance. Her hair grew shorter, lighter, her face a little different, her stature shifting until she appeared to be an entirely different person. Leaning forward, she tapped a finger against each of their foreheads, allowing them to see through the illusion. “There. That should do it.” She let out a breath. “That’s about as much as I can handle at the moment, but it should be enough.”
With a fanged grin Eda sprang forward, pointing dramatically into the streets of Bonesborough. “Perfect! Now… let’s go stealing!” She stood there a moment, the wind waving her hair, before a voice called out around a corner.
“Wait, what did she just say?”
Luz moved happily amongst the crowd, humming to herself as she embraced the chaos. Already some new swaps had caught her eye – her rainbow clip had found a twin on the other side of her head, she’d found a jar that meowed when you opened it and best of all, a white pointed hat that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Good Witch Azura’s and was now her favourite accessory, carefully put into her satchel. She’d encountered a few friends along the way, speaking briefly to some students from Hexside that she shared a class or two with. She’d yet to see any of her closer friends and was keeping a keen eye out, looking so carefully that the tap on her shoulder caused her to cry out in alarm and spin around rapidly, hands raising into some futile karate chops. Seeing no one there she turned her head to look around, before once again being tapped on the shoulder.
Spinning rapidly, she kept her hands raised. “Ha, not this time sucka’!” only to lower them sheepishly when she saw no one again. This time though she heard a quiet snickering, and a nearby pile of stuff shifted slightly. When she looked over towards it the snickering turned into full blown laughter, and a pair of figures emerged from the heap. A pair with matching green hair and matching smiles. The shorter of the duo drew a circle with her finger, and a translucent hand materialised over Luz’s shoulder, tapping it gently before poofing away.
“Sorry Luz,” said Emira, grinning unrepentantly as she brushed loose junk off her clothes. “But we couldn’t resist.”
Her twin Edric nodded, still laughing. “How are you enjoying the Messtival? This is your first one right?”
Luz moved over to them as they stepped out of the pile, brushing a few things off themselves. “It’s great! I never thought the Isles would have something like this, but they just keep surprising me! What do you think?” She raised her hands to her new clips, tapping them to turn the glow on and off. “Stylish, or super stylish?”
Edric gave a double thumbs up, while Emira seemed to hesitate. “Um, they’re not my thing but you make them work Luz!”
“Anything in particular you’re looking for?” asked Edric.
“Or anyone?” smiled Emira.
Luz shrugged. “No, not really. I only just found out that this is actually a thing, didn’t get my shopping list ready.” She jokingly clicked her fingers, feigning disappointment. “What brings you two here?”
In an eerie moment of twin synchronicity, they both threw their arms wide. “The chaos of course!” they chorused.
“Every year everyone turns out, ready to swap and steal and fight,” said Emira.
“And every year we come along to… take part in the festivities,” said Edric.
“It’s really not our fault.”
“Yeah, we can’t resist! Can you blame us?”
“After all…”
They spoke together again. “We’re master illusionists!”
Luz watched, starry-eyed as they did their speech, hands held and up and clenched in excitement. “Oh! Oh! What illusions do you do?”
Edric ‘hmm’ed for a moment, before looking over at a broad plaza and grinning. Piles of mess ringed the area, with all manner of folk digging through them. After tracing a circle, a brightly glowing, golden staff appeared on the ground in the middle of the plaza, a metallic ting sound accompanying it. There was a moment’s delay as all eyes turned towards it, the silence broken by one shout of “It’s mine!” before the crowd surged forward, diving on the object and causing a big commotion, the poof of its disappearance lost in the hubbub. Clutching each other laughing, Ed and Em lead Luz away from the scene of the crime, towards the entrance of a shop.
Grinning widely along with them, Luz said “Okay, now I get it. This is definitely your kind of day.” Trust these two to find the most chaotic place they can, then to stir the pot a little more.
The twins nodded along, before Emira went on. “Besides, chaos isn’t the only reason we’re out and about. We’d never miss a chance to hang out with our little Mittens.”
Luz gasped, her heart pumping a bit faster. “Amity is here?”
As if on cue the doorbell for the shop tinkled, the swinging door revealing papers and ink strewn all over the floor and out the door slightly. A young witch stepped gently around the mess, clutching a collection of books, ink and quills to her chest.
Raising his voice, Edric called out. “Hey Mittens! Look who we found!”
An annoyed expression on her face Amity looked up to berate him, before catching sight of Luz. Since she had rescued Eda she’d not yet returned to Hexside and they’d only spoken a few times. Her thoughts had been revolving around the human for weeks now, yet suddenly she could think of nothing to say. “Luz! You’re… here!” Her face grew warm as she could feel her nerves jitter, her pulse beginning to race. Unaware, she stepped on to a discarded ink pot, skidding over it slightly before she recovered, arms waving. “I didn’t… I didn’t think you’d be here! Or, well, I didn’t know you’d be here, but I didn’t know you wouldn’t be here either!” She made a physical effort to clamp her mouth shut, pointed ears twitching, her mind screaming at her to Just shut up Amity, stop digging deeper! Edric was biting his lip, holding in his mirth.
With her usual utter lack of restraint, Luz dashed over, moving smoothly around any of the discarded obstacles. “Amity! I’m so happy to see you!” She threw both her arms around the taller witch and squeezed, forcing a gasp out of her as she lifted her friend slightly off the ground for the biggest hug she could. She set her down, both a little red in the face. “I’m so glad to see you’re okay! No more Grudgby leg cast! How are you? How have you been? Is class weird with no humans again? Oh! Did the cafeteria take my suggestion of serving a non-carnivorous cake?” She was so happy to see Amity again!
The youngest Blight weathered the barrage, smiling nervously, her blush deepening at the close contact. Come on Amity, you’ve gone over this again and again. Just stay calm, you can do this! Luz is your friend! Luz had stepped back, but kept her hands on Amity’s shoulders. That contact, those points of warmth! But… she’s Luz. And you think about her so – NO! Focus! She cleared her throat gently. “I’m fine! I’m glad you’re looking okay. I don’t know about the cake, but there’s no doubt that Hexside is quieter without you around. It’s just… not as nice.” She blinked. “I mean, it’s not as pretty! I mean… Hexside is a pretty school! It’s a nice school! Yes, Amity likes going there!”
Luz, bless her, just smiled right back. “Well don’t you worry, I’ll be back there before you know it!”
Off to the side Emira watched in disbelief. Always a bit more socially savvy than her sister, she simply couldn’t believe that Luz wasn’t picking up on all the signs. Oh Titan, are all humans that oblivious or is it just Luz?
Luz kept on talking, going on about the Messtival. “This is really an amazing day, I can’t imagine anything like this happening in the human world. I mean, we have something kinda the same but nowhere near as fun, and magic makes pretty much everything better. I just want to keep looking at everything! Are you staying around?”
Amity nodded frantically, head whipping up and down. “Yes! Definitely around! Going to stay around all day actually!” She subtly tapped a pink slip of paper covered with chores and entitled “Home to-do list” further into one of her notebooks.
“Oh, awesome!” Luz smiled, leaning in to give her another quick hug. She’d always been a very tactile person, but had she been hugging Amity more frequently recently? The young Blight hoped it wasn’t just her hopeful imagination. For her part, Luz just liked holding Amity. “I’m really excited to see what it’s like after sunset, Eda said the carnival part was really fun.”
Amity, frozen at the contact, looked over as she heard a slight cough. Emira caught her eye and the older witch nodded, smiling encouragingly at her. Edric didn’t miss this and looked back and forth between his sisters shrewdly.
“Wait, what did you just-“ he began to say before Emira poked him in the ribs, actually looking angry.
“Shut up!” she hissed, turning him to face away as they retreated a few steps. She spoke quickly, almost whispering as she gave the younger girls some space.
As Luz stepped back Amity clenched her eyes shut, feeling like steam was going to shoot from her ears. Mustering her courage she took a deep breath and finally blurted out, “LuzIhavesomethingtoaskyou!”
Quirking an eyebrow, Luz cocked her head to the side. “Uhhh, Amity? You might have to say that again a bit slower? Idon’tspeaksuperfastquicktalk!” She shot out the last few words with a laugh.
Amity, smiling painfully, stood frozen in place. Why? Why does she not get it? HOW does she not get it!? Unable to stand it she reached into a notebook and pulled out a folded piece of pink paper, shooting out her hand quickly to offer it to Luz.
“Oh, is this for me?” Luz took it, smiling happily. “Don’t tell anyone, but I never really got to actually read notes in class before, I always had to pass them along to other people. It’s nice to actually get one!”
Amity blinked, her ears twitching again. Oh Titan that’s adorable.
“Um, Amity? Why’d you give me a to-do list?”
A moment passed.
AAAAAAAHHHHH WHYYYYYY!? “Sorry, sorry, I meant this one!”
“Oh, okay!”
Unfolding the piece of paper, Luz saw a simple question, written in what was unmistakably Amity’s neat, flowing handwriting.
‘Luz,
Will you come to the Messtival tonight with me?
Amity’
Luz blinked, her eyes going wide. She gasped softly, taking a moment to actually comprehend what she’d just read. “Amity… you…” She didn’t look up from the note and missed the painfully vulnerable expression of hope on Amity’s face. “You want to go together tonight?” She slowly raised her gaze, Amity quickly trying to put a mask of casual indifference on with only minor success. “To all the rides, and games and stuff?” Her eyes were misty. “With… me?”
Oh… She doesn’t want to. Why were you so stupid Amity, why did you even bother? Of course Luz doesn’t-
“That sounds AMAZING!”
The last, shouted word startled Amity so badly she jumped, barely catching herself. “R-really?”
Luz quickly helped her balance. “Of course! You’re my best friend, I’d love to go with you! Oh wow, it’ll be so fun! We can hang out all night, and play so many games! Ohhhh, I’m gonna eat so much! I’m gonna get all fat and be all ‘eeuuurrghh’,” she rambled, pulling a face at the last.
Amity however, had tuned out from the phrase ‘best friend’. I can’t believe it, I’m her best friend? That’s amazing! I never thought – I always figured it’d be Willow or Gus, or even the Owl Lady or the little demon! Wait – does she… does she know what I meant? Oh Titan, does she think this is for two friends or…?
“Amity? Hello, Luz to Amity!”
“YES I AM HERE.”
Luz started. “Woah! I broke through! I was asking when you wanted to meet up, and where? I have to go and get ready!”
Get ready? What does she mean?! “Oh! Ummm, how about sunset, just outside the parchment store?” She gestured to the one behind her, smiling nervously, still flushed red.
Luz leant in for a final hug. “Awesome, it’s a date! I’m gonna go find Eda, I’ll see you then!”
Barely remembering to say goodbye, Luz’s words kept rolling around Amity’s head, ‘it’s a date!’, ‘it’s a date!’, ‘it’s a date!’ Very quietly screaming, she thought to herself IS IT?!
Edalyn Clawthorne paced back and forth in front of her disguised sister, back straight, grin in place, and a little demon sitting on her head, nodding along as she spoke.
“Now, my dear baby sister-“
“I’m two years older than you!”
Eda wagged a finger. “Ah ah! In years of life you are, but not in years of master thievery. You really are a baby, and it’s time for big sister Eda to teach you everything she knows!”
Moving off Eda lead Lilith through some of the main streets of the town, looking every which way at the people passing by and the piles of stuff just begging someone to take it, absently adjusting her balance as another tremor hit, King windmilling his arms with a “Wyeh!” to stay in place.
“There’s a few different methods I could teach you,” she said, continuing her lesson. “The snatch and grab, that’s a classic, but it will blow our fun too quickly. The hex and hustle, one of my personal favourites, but maybe a bit too advanced for you to start with.” A cheerful whistling made her ears twitch, and she turned to the source, grinning widely. A tall, fat, red demon with 6 bulging eyes walked by on two stumpy legs, arms swinging widely and whistling a jaunty tune as he moved along. The many, many pockets of his black coat were bulging, shining, clinking with pretty things. “Oho, this is perfect!” She automatically adjusted her path to follow along behind him, dragging Lilith in her wake. “The best way for you to start. A classic pickpocket of an oblivious mark!”
Lilith sputtered a bit. “But-but Edalyn! Are you seriously asking me to steal from him? Not only is that wrong, I’ll almost certainly be caught!”
Roundly ignoring the first comment about morality, Eda snorted. “Pshaw, it’ll be easy! Not only will you have me slinking along with you to help, but he’ll be totally distracted! Look at him walking along, barely even paying any attention to his surroundings! Well, I’ve got just the thing for that.” She casually reached up and plucked King from her head. “A perfect, cute, little distraction.”
Alarm bells blaring in his head, King’s little limbs started pumping furiously. “Oh no, no way! I am not getting dragged into another one of your plans Eda! We are not doing the candy caper!”
Eda’s grin widened. “Oh King, you know we’re doing the candy caper.”
“Nuh-uh, not going to happen!” He crossed his arms firmly, looking dismissively away.
Lilith glanced back and forth between them. “And what exactly is the candy caper?”
“It’s dumb!”
“No it’s not, you’re just upset because of how cute it makes you look,” said Eda, smooshing her cheek up against King’s. “The candy caper is the single simplest, most effective strategy I’ve ever come up with. I’m just glad I enchanted the hat years ago.”
King groaned and put his head in his hands. “Ohhh, not the hat!”
Eda reached into her hair, rummaging around for a moment before pulling out a small, white sailor’s hat, sized perfectly for King’s head. Over his protests she fit it snugly over his horns, before tapping it with a finger. The headwear glowed for a moment, before with a puff of smoke King was wearing a small, neat sailor suit, capped with curly, golden locks of hair spilling out of his hat. To complete the look, Eda put the finishing touch in his hand – a small lollipop.
Pushing out of her grip, King jumped to the ground, glaring up at her. “I am absolutely not going along with this!”
Eda raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?” Reaching into her hair, she pulled out a much larger, rainbow lollipop.
King’s eyes widened, growing sparkly. “Okay, I might go along with this.”
“Mister! Mister!” Tail flopping back and forth from his rapid little steps, King came running up to the fat red demon, enormous lollipop clutched in his paw. His eyes were masterfully watery, his lip quivering like an artist. “Please, ya gotta help me!”
Pausing, the demon bent over slightly, smiling down at the cute little distraction. “Well little one, what’s the problem?” His voice was very deep and gravelly. He never noticed the two slim shapes creeping from alley to alley behind him, slowly approaching.
They slid from shadow to shadow, one shape moving naturally, fluidly, the other following it with more jerky, uncomfortable movements. The Clawthorne sisters approached in tandem, Eda’s expertise making them nigh invisible to the crowds around them as they closed in on their mark. Lilith found herself following the younger witch, stepping where she stepped and pausing when she paused.
King shuffled back and forth, occasionally pausing to take a decadent taste of his treat. “I’m, uhhh, lost! Yes sir, as lost as I can get! What city is this? This is the, uh, Freezing Isles, right?”
Stealthily moving closer, Eda whispered instructions to Lilith. “Remember, choose once, feather touch, and back away once you’ve got something shiny!” Her voice quivered with excitement, finally convincing her prim and proper sister to, as she put it, ‘sink to her level’.
Lilith frowned in concentration, trying to follow Eda’s lead and casually sidle up behind the big demon, nothing to see here. Normally she wouldn’t have even entertained the idea, but… well, things weren’t normal anymore. She wasn’t sure what normal even was anymore, but she did know she wanted to spend time with her sister. If that involved some petty theft, she could live with it.
With Eda standing watchful guard next to her, her hands dipped into one of his many pockets, closing around something metallic before sliding back out, quick as a whip, smooth as an Acid Seal. All those years of delicate casting resulted in some pretty impressive dexterity, and she couldn’t help a smile from blooming when she saw Eda’s proud grin.
The moment was shattered when King’s yammering voice reached them again. “Yeah, she’s around here somewhere mister! Thanks for helping find my grandma, just look for the greyest hair you can see!”
Jaw dropping, Eda turned to peer around the demon’s bulk at King, fuming at the smug little smirk he shot her – and after she gave him a giant lollipop that she found! Somewhere. Maybe Hooty found it. Whatever, unimportant. She started towards him, fists clenched, before Lilith grabbed her wrist and gave her a wry look. Silently letting out a breath, she promised to contain her vengeance until later and stepped smoothly around the demon, a worried smile back in place.
“There you are! Honestly, running off like that, you need to be more careful…” Her smile grew strained. “…grandson.”
Unaware of his future doom, King smiled blissfully and ran over to hug her leg. “Oh thank goodness, grandma is here! Thanks mister, everything is okay now!”
The demon, a little bemused, rubbed at his head and shrugged. “Okay, you be careful now. Have a good day, miss.” He nodded at Eda and moved off, back to carefree whistling after a few steps. The trio quickly moved off, dodging a shifting pile from another tremor to take cover behind some crates in an alley.
King grumbled, settling down on the ground. “You know, you’re lucky that this thing is delicious. It’s hard work for a ferocious king of demons like myself to be so perfectly cute. I can do it of course, but it goes against my nature!”
Forestalling a tirade from her sister at the prissy little demon, Lilith reached into her pocket and produced her acquisition – a small golden plaque that read ‘#1 Pixie Catcher’ above a small logo from the Catchers Coven. “There, I am officially a thief and a criminal for an entirely new reason now. Happy, Edalyn?”
Cackling with glee, Eda swept forward and wrapped her sister up in a hug, pulling back to examine her catch. “Oh, very nice, very nice indeed! They grow up so fast!” She feigned wiping away a tear. “And on your first try! You’re a natural, you have the old Clawthorne touch!”
Lilith let out a pained sigh, putting her head in her hand. “You’re going to have me go and try him again now aren’t you?”
“What?” The Owl Lady looked surprised. “Of course not! I never steal from the same mark more than three times. I may be a thief, but that’s just rude.”
Lilith blinked. “Wait. Three times?”
Grinning broadly, Eda flourished both hands, revealing a small trinket in each of them, glittering in the light. “You’re not bad for a newbie Lily, but you have a loooong way to go to catch up to the master. Now, as for you!” She rounded on King.
As the pair bickered next to her, Lilith’s gaze moved from her trinket to both of her sister’s. As her fist slowly closed around the plaque, a spark of competitiveness flicked inside her, stoking the long standing, sisterly bond of competition between the pair of them. Edalyn was as powerful or more, despite being younger. Edalyn was the star grudgby player. Well, not this time!
She slowly rose to her feet, King and Eda basically wrestling with each other to one side, still squabbling. “That was fun Edalyn!” Both of them paused, looking up in surprise. Lilith’s eyes gleamed with unleashed competitiveness. “Shall we try again?”
Pacing restlessly back and forth in front of the parchment store, Amity couldn’t stop herself from glancing towards the setting sun over and over. Where is she? Did she forget? Did she not want to come? Ahhhh this was a terrible idea! Why, Amity? Why!?
After talking with Luz earlier she’d spent an airy few minutes walking aimlessly with her siblings, feeling in turns weightless and terrified. For once, their banter and teasing had actually been soothing. Well, almost soothing. Edric had still pushed a bit far with some of his quips. After the few times that a distraught Amity had quietly knocked on her sister’s door with no one else to talk to, Emira had taken pity on the panicking disaster and redirected the worst of their brother’s taunts, effortlessly distracting him with gullible townsfolk and teasing.
As they had explored wherever the twins’ feet took them, Amity’s top student brain rambled a mile a minute, unable to stop itself from overanalysing everything. I can’t believe it. It’s really happening, Luz agreed to go out with me! And she seemed happy to do it! She blinked. Oh Titan what have I done, Luz is going out with me! Just the two of us! Alone! What do I say?! I can barely get two words out around her, without getting all weird! Her face steadily grew more and more flushed, the tips of her ears burning. It doesn’t matter! This is going to be amazing! How long have you wanted to have a romantic date, Amity? Now you’ve got one, with the cutest girl on the Isles! At the Messtival of all things, a place practically built for first dates! What if she wants to hold hands!! Barely avoiding walking into a wall or tripping over a pile of junk, Amity blindly followed the sound of her sibling’s bickering. Oh Titan, what if she wants to hold hands? What if she feels how sweaty yours is? How nervous you are? She’s never nervous about ANYTHING! Even Grom she handled so well, and the way she danced, how she held me… What if she wants to… to hold me again? She held a hand to her mouth, swallowing nervously. What if she… wants to kiss me?
When Edric and Emira finally had their fill, they headed home to Blight Manor. The older witches now sported matching dark glasses with purple lines striping across the front, apparently an artefact of the human realm. They kept posing and asking how cool they looked, generally being pains in the bile sac. Edric had taken a shine to them to tease Amity about Luz, and Emira had gleefully joined in this time.
She’d agreed to help out her younger sister, but not too much.
When she’d finally found herself safely back in her bedroom she closed the door behind her and leant back against it, letting out a long, slow breath. She tottered over to the bed, her bag sliding off her shoulder to the ground, and gently, carefully laid herself face down, head in her pillow. After taking in a long, deep breath, she screamed loudly into it, flailing around for a moment. With that behind her she remained there for a few moments, letting her poor, frazzled brain simmer down. Eventually she stood and moved over to her closet for the next arduous decision – what to wear?
Outfit after outfit was selected, poured over with a critical eye and thrown on to the bed. Too colourful. Too dark. Too short. Too long. Too fancy. Not fancy enough! Even with the depth of her closet, before too long her grasping fingers found nothing left to grasp, and she turned to behold the clothes heap that her room had become, every single outfit systematically selected, regarded and discarded.
For a moment the uncertainty of the day, her twisting emotions, the pure, crushing weight of her fear and confusion came crashing down on her and she collapsed back against her wardrobe, sliding to the ground. Nothing I have is good enough for her. I’m… not good enough for her. This was such a bad idea… I should just tell her the whole thing is off. Her stomach twisted at the thought. Was that relief or bitter disappointment? It was honestly hard to tell, her whole body seemed to be rebelling against her no matter what choice she made. Angrily, she scrubbed at her face, wiping away hot, confused tears. This is supposed to be so happy, so easy. This is what happens in every book! You ask the girl out, she says yes, you meet up and the night is magical! That’s how it’s supposed to be!
She climbed to her feet, looking around at all her clothes almost angrily now, before closing her eyes and taking a couple of long, slow, deep breaths. In her head she could picture Emira, the older witch leaning forward to place a hand on her shoulder, and her voice speaking softly. You overthink everything Mittens, this most of all. It’s cute, it shows how much you care about it. But it’s not helping you right now. Just take a couple of deep breaths and force yourself to stop thinking for a second, then try again.
Slowly opening her eyes, she could feel her racing heart settle, just a little bit. Her panic faded, becoming less pressing. She gave her clothes another look with fresh eyes, and remembered why she was doing this. This is for Luz. All you want to do is look nice for her, and let her know this is important to you. She won’t mind, she’s… she’s Luz. The thought brought a little shy smile to her face. She’d be happy to see you if you showed up in your Hexside uniform.
With that thought in mind she forced herself to, as Emira put it, stop thinking. She was going to go on a date with Luz. Luz, who was nice and caring and was probably the last person to mind what someone looked like. Stop. Overthinking. Amity.
Refreshed, she dove through her wardrobe again, this time quickly picking out something that- well, it wasn’t perfect, but that felt kind of right. Hair up like usual, she decided on a sleeveless black dress with little, red dragon-fly patterns all over it. Her favourite heeled, black shoes with the golden buckles completed the look, and she decided to pack a nice, gemstone necklace in her bag, in case she felt like it later.
She stepped out of her room, nervous but excited, and ran straight into Edric and Emira, lounging in the hallway like it was pure coincidence and not at all because Amity had to go past them. The pair immediately smirked at her as she went to step past them, nervously playing with the strap of her bag.
“Well, you have fun out there tonight Mittens,” said Ed with an exaggerated wink. Standing next to him, Emira seemed to be struggling not to say anything.
Huffing out an annoyed sigh, but unable to stop a small smile, Amity conceded, “Just say it Emira.”
“But not too much fun!” the older witch blurted out, unable to help herself. Feeling oddly relieved at the twin’s ribbing, she went on past them and out the door, leaving their snickering behind her.
Now standing in front of the parchment store, she cursed her punctuality. All that this free time gave her was more opportunity to second-guess herself. What if my clothes are wrong? What if she doesn’t like the way I look? What if she just doesn’t like… me? I can’t do this. I have to go home. I just… She screwed her eyes shut, clenching her fists. I want this to go well so, so badly!
“Amityyyyyy!”
Eyes flying open, the young witch spun in the direction of the voice. Running towards her waving an arm over her head was Luz, beaming brightly and right on time.
After saying goodbye to Amity, Luz dashed off into the pandemonium of the Messtival, a big smile on her face. Oh, tonight was going to be amazing! Out with her best friend, enjoying the sights and sounds of an evening of Bonesborough! Everyone seemed to be having such a good time, the occasional duel over a shiney notwithstanding, she couldn’t wait to see what the actual carnival tonight was going to be like! I wonder if it will be anything like that last carnival that came to town? Hopefully with less shrinking. Or maybe closer to carnivals at home? The thought lowered her spirits a little – she was still processing the loss of the portal to Earth, and it was a pretty terrifying thought that she might never see her mother again. Still, there was hope. After they’d gotten home and explained everything Eda had drawn her into a comforting hug and left her with a confident “leave it with me, kid,” drawing a smile from the distraught girl. The Owl Lady had been a bit preoccupied with the loss of her magic and reuniting with her sister, but Luz had faith in her abilities. Eda would figure something out.
Slowing down a little, Luz panned her gaze back and forth, scanning for a grey mane of hair, or a little bonehead, or even – ugh – a long, black dress. Back and forth she went through the streets, steadily growing more puzzled. Eda liked to keep a low profile sometimes, but on a day like this? With no guards? It was strange not to be able to come across her. At one point she thought she heard the distinctive snorting laughter, maybe even a little snigger from King, but after dashing to the alley she figured it came from there was no such luck.
After a little while Luz gave up, simply shrugging to herself and deciding to walk. Flying on Owlbert would definitely cut down on the travel time, but it wasn’t like the Owl House was a daunting distance away, just enough to give her some time to think. Keeping up a brisk pace, Luz’s feet directed her automatically on the best path to the Owl House while her mind wandered. She understood why Eda got so excited as so far the Messtival had been an amazing day. Seeing new and interesting sights, taking in more of the endless weirdness of Bonesborough, even seeing all kinds of wacky magical items strewn all about the place. Idly she wished that she’d had a bit more time to check it out and talk with some friends, but remembering what awaited her tonight banished those thoughts and made her smile bloom anew. Unable to contain her energy, she quickened her stride into a light jog, satchel bouncing with each step.
Oh man, I’m so excited to spend tonight with Amity! We’ve barely had any time to catch up after everything that’s happened, it’ll be nice to just unwind and… be with her. The thought brought a faint blush to her cheeks. Hanging out with Amity was always so… so… She wasn’t even sure, but it was amazing, whatever it was. I wonder how long we’ll be there? Hmmm, should I pack anything special? Should I dress up at all? She looked down at herself, in her favourite cat hoodie. Maybe nothing fancy, but definitely a change for tonight I think. I wonder what Amity will wear? She snorted aloud. Probably something super perfect that’s fancy and casual at the same time, that she makes look super pretty.
Wrapped up in her own thoughts Luz barely noticed the time passing and soon she stood before the Owl House. Hooty broke her out of her reverie by zooming in front of her, giving her a suspicious look. “Hey there Luz. So what are you doing, hmmm?”
“Oh, hey Hooty! Sorry, was kind of lost in my own thoughts there. I’m going to the Messtival tonight, so I came home to get changed!” Looking past the house demon, she noticed that he was extended quite far from the door at the moment, meeting her halfway across the clearing before the house. The front door was open and just like every other building on the Isles, a pile of stuff had spilled out the front door. Unlike most other buildings though, this one had a house demon wrapped in coils protectively around it.
“A likely story, hoot hoot! Admit it, you came to trade for my precious garbage while my guard was down didn’t you? Didn’t you!” Hooty inched forward as he spoke, until his head was bonked against Luz’s.
“Woah, geez Hooty, remember what we said about personal space!” Luz stepped back, fending him off.
“Well just you remember!” As Hooty kept speaking, the extended coils of his body wrapped around the pile of junk slowly slithered inside the house, dragging it along the ground while he maintained eye contact. “This is my garbage. Hoot. Hoot.” Squinting suspiciously at her again, Hooty slowly slithered back to the door, piling things back inside.
Luz blinked, not really certain what to say to that. Hooty, I LIVE here. I could have just taken anything whenever- I could have for weeks, does he not-? Eh, whatever. Shrugging and moving on, Luz went inside, ignoring the sight of Hooty gleefully rolling around in the trash in the living room. She dashed into her room, carefully putting down her satchel of new swaps for the day and began digging through her clothes. Grinning at some of her choices, she quickly found everything she needed. Almost everything. She looked at the choices draped over her arm, hmming aloud as she tapped a finger on her chin. “It still needs something…”
A flash of purple caught her eye from across the hall, where a pile of some of Eda’s latest human garbage had spilled out of its room. Poking out from the depths was a slip of purple fabric, instantly drawing her eye. “Oooooh!” She stepped over to it, carefully extracting it, and – yes! “Oh yeah, this is perfect!” She pumped her fist, before taking the outfit and dashing into the bathroom.
A short while later she emerged, a big confident smile in place and a new outfit to match. She’d decided to stick with her regular shoes and shorts, but had swapped out her dark leggings for bright, rainbow-banded ones, standing out loudly. Her hoodie was gone, but in its place was her newest find – a perfectly-fitting purple t-shirt with a picture of two otters holding hands, and the words “Otterly Adorable!” underneath. The O’s were hearts! It was perfect!
Stepping back into her room, she stood in front of her mirror, twisting this way and that. Something was still not quite right… Shoes, check. Shorts, check. Leggings? Oh yeah, that’s a big check! Shirt, check. Hair…? Frowning, she ran a hand through her hair, pondering her options, before a glow from her satchel caught her eye.
Scant minutes later she ran outside, tossing a “Bye Hooty!” over her shoulder as she dashed off towards Bonesborough, a big grin on her face and her hair carefully done up with a glowing, rainbow clip on each side.