Bring me to the home I adore

A Clawthorne, Through and Through

Eda's POV

"Sorry Eda." Luz said. I looked at her with sadness evident in my eyes. "Kid I told you, there's nothing to be sorry about. So what do you keep saying that for?" I asked her softly. She pulled away from me, bringing her knees to her chest and laying her chin on them. "Your the strongest witch on the boiling isles. How can I call myself your apprentice when I'm just a weak cry baby." She mumbled. Did she think crying is a sign of weakness? Who could've implemented that way of thinking into her? I sighed. "People cry, not because they're weak. It's because they've been strong for far too long. Your one of the strongest and most brave person I know Luz." I said looking at her. "I'm not brave, I'm just a coward that runs away from their fears." I frowned at her comment. "Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it. When we went against Belos, were you scared?" I asked her. She nodded her head in reply. "And what did you do when you faced him?" I asked her. "I found my way through it." She mumbled. "Not many people can say they've fought against Belos once. And even less people can say that they defeated him on they're first attempt to fight him." I told her, placing my hand on her shoulder.

She flinched slightly. I looked on confused. Did I say something wrong. "Actually.....about that. That wasn't the first time I had fought him." She said. My eyes widened. She had fought him before? But when?! And how close was I to losing her? Almost as if she could read my mind she said, "I told you guys I was able to negotiate with Belos in order to stop your petrification, I gave him the portal and had set the thing on fire. That parts true but,.....we had a duel before getting to negotiate. After he had sent King and Lilith to get petrified with you, I initiated the duel with the first attack. He was toying with me the whole time, I couldn't even hit him." She started, tears in her eyes as she retells the story. "My back still hurts every now and then from his first move. He was sending attacks left and right. I almost got eaten if it weren't for my fire glyph. He restrained me and tried to get me to stop but of course I wasn't done. I used an ice glyph and was able to break a part of his mask. When he looked back at me I froze. That cold stare of his haunts me to no ends. He looked so furious. He would've killed me and I know he wanted to but he refrained from doing so because of the portal. If I didn't have that portal, I- I don't know what I would've been able to do against him." Her voice shook, the tears spilling from her eyes. I was shocked, I had gotten so close to losing the one I have grown to think of as my daughter.

Without much thought I brought her into another tight embrace. "Whether you won or you lost, I'm proud of you. When I was your age I would've been terrified to go up against Belos with others or by myself. It doesn't matter what happened during the battle, as long as you come out of it safe I wouldn't care, and I would've been proud of you either way." I told her. I felt her tears running onto my shirt but I didn't care. The kid needed someone and I'll gladly be that someone every time. "You said your back still hurts from time to time right?" I asked her. She nodded, wincing slightly as she moved out of my embrace once again. She definitely tried to hide the wince but I saw it. "Does it hurt right now?" I asked her. She looked down, knowing that she was caught, and nodded. "Mind if I take a look at it? He could've left some permanent damage that you most likely haven't treated." I said. She nodded once more.

She turned her back to me. "Your gonna have to take the shirt off kid or at least lift it up a bit." I told her, speaking as softly as possible. I don't want to accidentally trigger another panic attack. She nodded and lifted the back of her shirt up enough for me to see her whole back while also not fully taking her shirt off, which is fine, the kids got boundaries and I can respect that. What I can't respect is the fact that she has had this pain for years and never went to get treatment.

I cringed at the sight. Fully healed scars but definitely untreated for sure but the most prominent was her shoulder blade. There was a dark bruise around it and it seemed swollen. I gently touched it to asses the damage a bit better, to which I was given a hiss of pain. I immediately drew my hand back. Ok, so she has a broken shoulder blade. I was about to rush to the bathroom to get the med kit we have when Lilly walked into the room. "Edalyn? Luz? What are two doing awake?" She asked us. "Doesn't matter right now, but since your standing up do you mind getting me the med kit?" I asked. She raised a brow but nodded regardless and walked in the direction of the bathroom. "I'm gonna go get an ice pack real quick, if you need me call me or come to the kitchen, alright hun?" I asked Luz. She nodded as I stood up. I walked to the fridge, quickly bagged some ice before walking back to the living room. "This might hurt a bit." I told as I returned to my seat and placed the ice on the injury, receiving a flinch and hiss in the process. Her hiss turned to a whimper soon enough and it hurt to hear that. "I know, I know. I know hurts but please try to stay still sweetheart, ok? I'm only trying to help." She nodded slowly and silently whimpered. "What did he even do to you?" I asked softly, not wanting to startle her. "He threw me against a pillar. I think it cracked on contact from the amount of force but I'm not entirely sure." She said quietly. I nodded, sorrow present on my face. 'It was probably just a sprain back then but because she never got it looked at or treated it turned into this.' I thought somberly.

Lilith came back with the med kit in hand and handed it over to me. I nodded a thanks and handed her the ice pack. "Hold it where I had it for me please. And don't press it down too hard." I told her as she nodded and did as asked. I looked through the med kit for anything I could use for a sling. Once I found something could use I took it out of the med kit, closed it and put it aside. "Alright you can take it off now." I told her. She moved her hand as I started to sling her her shoulder. "So what happened?" Lilly asked. "Belos happened." Was all I said. She raised a brow as Luz retold the events once again at which king came down stairs at some point and took his place in Luz's lap as he received pats and belly rubs.

After sometime we started heading up to our rooms again. When I was about to walk up the stairs I felt a tug on my sleeve. I looked behind me and saw Luz looking at me with pleading eyes. I knew she wanted to stay with me. I motioned her to follow me as we made our way to my nest. She curled into my side when we lied down. I wrapped my arms around her to comfort her as best as I could. She chuckled lightly. "Your doing it again." She said. I looked at her confused. "Doing what?" "Acting all motherly." She said. Oh that. I chuckled softly. "I suppose that I would have had to have that kind of attitude." She gave me a quizzical look. I smiled. "A few years ago I had a daughter. She was human and her father was a bit of mystery to myself but she was definitely my blood child. Acted as wildly as I was told I acted at her age. However, since I was still a wanted witch at the time and the boiling isles wasn't the safest place to raise a human child I had to give her up. I gave her a name before I brought her to the human realm with a note of my reasons to give her up, returned to the boiling isles and never saw her again. She would actually be your age by now. I would imagine she would look a lot like you as well. When I first met you I was caught a bit off guard by how uncanny the resemblance was, let alone how you both had the same name." I told her with a found smile. She looked like she was in deep thought with that information. "de ninguna manera" She mumbled under her breath. This time I gave her a quizzical look. She sat up and I sat up with her. She took out a picture of paper and a pen out of seemingly no where and handed it to me. "Do you mind signing your name like you did with the note to your daughter?" She asked me. I opened my mouth but closed it immediately as I saw a look of determination and hope in her eyes. I nodded, taking the pen and paper from her hand and signed my name the same way I had written the note to my daughter. 'Edalyn Clawthorne, the owl lady'. I handed it back to Luz as she analyzed the paper. She set the paper down in her lap before pulling out a separate and slightly torn note from her pocked. I didn't get much of a glimpse but it looked like a letter but the area where there would be a name was torn. She lined the two papers together so my name was by the area where the name in the letter should be. She stared on in shock but I could see happiness. She handed me the papers and I read it to myself.

Luz,
By the time your able to read this I'll be long gone. I'm so sorry that I had to leave you but it wasn't safe for you here. I was a rouge and some very dangerous people were after me. They would've done anything to get me and that included hurting you. Please understand why I had to do this and always remember that I love you.
Your mother,
Edalyn Clawthorne, the owl lady

I stared at the papers, trying to process what I just read. 'Luz is my daughter' I thought to myself. Tears filled my eyes as I smiled, looking at her. She looked back at me with equally tearful eyes and piercing smile. I brought her into a hug for what felt like the hundredth time today but I didn't mind. "You're a Clawthorne, kid. Through and through."