Total Eclipse

Chapter 4

Luz walked back to the Owl House and began to knock on the door until Hooty greeted her in his own... Hootiness. He shouted her name and popped out of the door and into his bird-tube-worm-thing form. Luz, terrified, jumped back and began to hit him.

"Hooty! Oh my gosh... I'm sorry I'm not used to you... still."

"Just trying to greet you! Geez! Hoot!" Hooty exclaimed yet still opened the door.

Luz practically slammed the door behind her and slouched down the door until she rested her tired head on her lap. Her hair was somehow even messier than usual. Eda approached her with an outstretched hand and gave a toothy grin.

"Probably should've warned you about Boots," Eda said, giving merely an afterthought.

"Yeah... would've been nice to know," Luz replied. She was still shaky from the adrenaline that had filled her. She had never felt more alive than she did in the face of death.

Eda tousled Luz's hair. "Well, it's just like your name. When you went away, Luz, it felt like you took all of the light with you." She lifted Luz's chin and smiled at her. Luz jumped up and hugged her with all the might her skimpy need arms could muster.

"We missed you, kid. But it looks like things are alright in the human realm, huh?"

"Oh. Yeah. It's okay." Luz said, her smile flickering. She never had to fake enthusiasm in the Boiling Isles before.

"I scrambled some griffin eggs. King helped and almost burnt the house down, but we tried." Eda said from the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of apple blood from the fridge.

"That would be... nice, actually," Luz replied, sitting down at the uneven counter in the kitchen. Eda put some on a plate and put it in front of her. There was some witch form of toast and a glass of water next to it. Eda sat across from her with her plate and smiled brightly, her gold tooth shining. She wanted Luz to just talk to her like they used to. On and on for hours, Eda tuning in and offering terrible but shockingly wise advice occasionally. But Luz was starving and tired and could only summon a smile. King was resting on the dog bed Willow had sewn him.

Willow. Gus.

"How is everyone? It's been... really long." Luz asked.

"They're holding up pretty well. Your friend, Willow? She's the new head of the Plants Track at Hexide. And Gus has pretty much mastered illusions... he's been helping me get contact with everyone in the human realm."

Luz looked down and digested that maybe everyone was just fine without her. She lost the track of her thoughts and found herself back to the day where she lost it all.

The portal would only be open shortly. But she had made a promise to her mom... one that she intended to try to keep. She knew it would never work. But she wanted to at least give it another shot. To maybe just be normal. Like her mom wanted. Camila thought she was doing the right thing. She always tried her best. But what was best for her wasn't always best for Luz. The portal would work but only shortly. Eda would have to destroy it again. The Emperor couldn't get his hands on it. The stakes were just too high.

Luz ripped off a fragment of the glove and taped it onto the rickety contraption. She took note of everything, hoping someday to replicate and get back to her.

"Focus. You have to be normal. You're going to be good. For mom." she thought.

Eda, King, Hooty, Gus, and Willow were there, saying goodbye.

Amity was nowhere to be found.

"You gotta go, kid. It's going to close." Eda urged.

Luz didn't expect Amity to come. They had fought over her leaving the day before. But she hoped that she would still be there for her.