Once Upon a Dream (Golden Guard x Gender-Neutral Reader)

A Broke Witch's Book Club

"OH WHAT THE HELL, KID?! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO PUT BOTH HANDS BACK ON??" Grinning like an idiot, you shoved Luz out the door. Once you opened your umbrella, you took off into the forest with the human girl stumbling after you. She was giggling like the toddler that nabbed a cookie from the cookie jar.
"Bye Hooty! Happy birthday!" You shouted over your shoulder to the bird tube, who was wearing a party hat.
"YOU'RE INVITED TO MY PARTY!!! HOOT HOOT!" He spun excitedly.
You didn't need to look behind you to know when the Owl House was out of sight. The two of you started to slow down. Luz's laughter was still bouncing around the trees, but she was starting to calm down.
This wasn't the first time you had to escort Luz into town, and it definitely wasn't going to be your last. The first time you had to do it was because Luz was getting lost with every step and Eda was too lazy to show her around herself. The second time was when you dropped Luz off at school. Now you were delivering her to her meeting spot with Amity in order to get her book back. By now, she knew her way around, but there was one obstacle she had yet to face; the diabolical sales tactics of Temmie. That dog was a long time enemy of your little owl family, and there was no way you were letting her creep her way into Luz's young, vulnerable mind.
"How long have you been doing that for?" She wondered aloud.
"Doing what?" You rolled back.
"Stealing Eda's limbs?"
You looked back on all of the times fondly.
"Probably when I finally got used to her." You recalled how you had been clinging to her leg in protest of bathtime. You were no little pushover! Nossir! You were a little soldier, your uniform; Eda's old shirt that she'd given to you for pajamas. Eda couldn't force bathtime on you! You were an immovable rock, a fortified fortress, a firm foundation! Nobody and nothing could make you submit to a watery grave! In the end though, all she had to do was simply pop her leg off at the knee and plop it into the tub with you still attached. That being said, she didn't see her leg for another two hours after you had gotten out of the bath. That battle was a draw...
"How long did it take for you to get used to her?" Luz popped another question.
"About a year. Next question."
Luz squinted and tapped on her chin over and over again until she finally managed to press the button that sparked the lightbulb in her brain. The girl had obviously decided to take advantage of your answering mood. You could practically see the cogs turning in her head as she tried to think of another thing to say. She paused, let her eyes light up, and turned back to you excitedly. "What's your favorite thing to do with her?"
You rubbed at your chin for a moment with your tongue sticking out.
"Mmm..." A grin lit up your face. "Mess with Lilith!"
" What about your parents? What did you do with them?"
You froze in your tracks. Your favorite thing to do with your parents? You hardly remembered your least favorite things from that time! The ground twisted and swirled in your earth-bound stare as you contemplated the question. There was approximately one thing you really remembered. Maybe it was one of your favorites? Maybe that's why you kinda remembered it?
"(Y/n)? Did I upset you?" You continued to blankly gaze upon the forest floor.
"Gardening." You brought yourself to look Luz back in the eye, readjusting your sunglasses to sit firmly on your face. "We used to garden."
Luz's pupils widened and her eyes started to shine with the memories of years gone by. Her mouth fell open in a small "ah" shape. It took her a moment to collect the words from her brain and send them down to her vocal chords.
"We kinda did." Her expression mimicked your own; a nostalgically pained smile. The two of you picked up on the beaten path again. Luz was starting to get used to it. She knew when to step over some of the roots without looking now.
"My dad used to get us flowers on our birthdays and take me to the gardens to find flowers we could try and grow at home." Luz explained. She diverted off the path to stride on top of a fallen tree.
"We never were any good at gardening though." She continued. Something sprung up from the back of your mind.
"Cory was a wonderful gardener."
Luz turned to you. Her brows furrowed.
"Who?"
Your eyes widened, realizing what you'd just said. You cleared your throat with a fist clenched over your mouth.
"Cory- Corynth, my parent... I used to call them that." You had never really known them. Out of the two Eda described Corynth as the more serious one of the duo. She never really talked about them too much. Her tales were almost always about her and Arthur's misadventures. You didn't want to admit it, but Eda didn't really seem to like Corynth too much. You'd never had the guts to ask her why though. What she did tell you though was that Corynth was a genius, a hard worker, and that you always called them Cory.
"Do you not remember them that well?" Luz hopped back onto the path. She peered under your umbrella to watch you shake your head. Your breath escaped your lungs in an almost defeated manor. "Nope. I hardly remember that we even liked gardening."
Honestly, you weren't even sure that the gardening was true. Maybe you had just blurted something out in the moment to give Luz an answer.
You brought your head up to stare at the forest ahead. The trees framed the path like a line of ancient spirits beckoning you to push on. The gentle summer breeze caressed your face and delivered its piece. The wind always had an opinion.
"You know, I was only four when they died." Something changed in Luz's expression. Something small. Something pained.
"Eda doesn't like to talk about it, so I don't really know what happened to them." You raised a hand to your ravaged ear. "But I have my assumptions."
When you looked back at Luz you nearly burst out laughing at the sheer amount of... whatever strewn across her face. Her jaw was on the ground and her eyes were the size of the moon. No! Don't laugh at her for expressing concern for you! Don't do it, (y/n)! Tiny brain Jennner scolded. You obeyed, looked away from her, and took a deep breath to collect yourself. When you returned to her gaze, you once again were locking laughter in your larynx.
"YOU WERE ONLY FOUR???? NO WONDER YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THINGS! THAT'S SO TRAUMATIC! OH MY GOD!" Luz was practically screaming in your face. With every sentence she came closer, so close to the point where you had to lean backwards in order to not make actual physical eye contact. Good gods! Back the fuck up! You inhaled sharply with an exaggerated frown.
"WHY ARE YOU YELLING??? WHY ARE YOU STANDING SO CLOSE TO ME???? PERSONAL BUBBLES, LUZ! BUBBLES!" Luz immediately hopped away from you upon getting all in her face and shouting back at her. Affectionately, of course. She raised her hands.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Luz bumbled with flapping hands.
The two of you continued on towards the town. Buildings were starting to cut into view and peak out of the trees. You could feel Luz's eyes still on you. It was odd to think that the two of you had so much in common, yet ended up as such different people. She hardly ever had a care in the world. Her passion for life was palpable. There was never a dull moment in her eyes. Then there was you. You felt like life was constantly weighing down on you. You weren't living for the joy of it anymore. And while there still was never a dull moment in your life, it wasn't nearly as exciting as it used to be.
How?
How had the two of you gone through such similar shit, and then ended up as two different people? Why couldn't you have been like her? Why couldn't you still have some sort of semblance for living like she did? Why couldn't you experience your youth youthfully like she did? Why did she get to be fourteen when she was fourteen, but you had to behave like a full grown adult from such a young age? It wasn't fair. It was never going to be fair. You would never wish your fate upon Luz, but somewhere, deep down in some rotten crevice of your soul, you wanted her to hurt just like you did. And you hated yourself for it.
(Woah, sorry guys 🧍 Lil ole author's just projecting a bit too much!)
The two of you stepped onto the Bonesborough streets and took in a breath of the market scents. Ah, what nostalgic smells! A smile instantly made itself comfortable on your face as you passed by the various booths and stalls. Luz jogged alongside you, her eyes scanning everything.
"Ooooo! (Y/n), what's that?" She pointed towards a stand that was all too familiar to you. The woman standing behind the counter gave you a wave. Her puffy cheeks creased the corners of her eyes as she smiled at the two of you. Her skin was a warm brown and her ears were rounded at the points. Her dark hair and eyes were starting to dull with age, yet she still possessed a girlish charm in her expressions. Behind her, a younger, nearly identical girl with curly, leaf riddled-hair was working. You waved back at her.
"That's Thigh Go! It's my favorite food stand. Hi, Mrs. Boonchuy!" You called out to the lady. She lowered her hand back down.
"Hey there, (y/n)! Who ya got there?" She tilted her head to get a better look at Luz. The girl gave her a nervous smile.
"This is Luz! We stole her from the human realm!" You explained as you wrapped Luz in a playful chokehold. She laughed a tiny bit at your shenanigans.
The girl behind Mrs. Boonchuy perked up at your comment and looked over her shoulder. Her mouth fell open like Luz's had a few minutes ago. She dashed past her mom, dragged herself out through the order window, and flopped onto the dusty road.
"Ow! Ow! I'm okay, but ow!" She muttered as she propped herself back onto her feet. She jogged towards you, nearly getting hit by a cart in the five feet she had to go. Oh, Anne... How did she always manage to nearly get herself killed just by doing the simplest things? How did she always have twigs in her hair? There were just some questions that you'd never have the answers to.
From her appearance, it was clear to see that she was about Luz's age, maybe a tad younger. She was still a bit frazzled from her close cart encounter, but otherwise normal as she usually was. She raised a hand to point directly at Luz. Her bone's rattled as her fist shook. Luz gasped and mirrored the girl, even down to the wide stance.
"YOU'RE THE GIRL I MET IN THE DETENTION PIT!" They both exclaimed at the same time. You took a step back, confused. Upon making eye-contact with Mrs. B, you found that she was also very confused. You turned back to the girls.
"You two know each other?" You raised a brow.
"You got detention?!" Mrs. B shouted her own question. Anne's face tightened in horror.
"No! I was... rescuing this human from being eaten by the detention pit!"
"Huh? But I thought I found you screaming and crying and throwing up at the bottom of- OW! I mean, yes! She is very much my rescuer!"
Real convincing, girls, real convincing. You rolled your eyes at the pair before picking up Luz and holding her like a plank under your arm.
"As much as I'd love to hear that story, we're in a rush." You iterated as you began to stride back down the street. "Luz is meeting her betrothed for the first time in ages and she desperately needs to go to the bath house."
"It's true! And though I have not gazed upon her face in many a year, my heart still doth tremble at the thought of her blissful beam! The subtle adoration hidden away in her eyes, her perfectly imperfect laugh, her beautiful green locks! Oh, my beloved, how I long to be by your side again! Believe me when I say that the forces of neither heaven nor hell could keep me from you! No gods or devils, no angels or demons, no witch on the Boiling Isles could deter me from the pursuit of your hand! I would battle each and everyone of them without question if it would put a smile on your face✨💞~"
...
Dayum.
Your eyes had opened beyond their typical half-lidded laze. Anne's eyes were also quite wide. And Mrs. B's eyes as well. Oh, and Mr. B appeared to have just gotten back from a grocery trip, unlike the other two members of his family though, his eyes were not wide. They were swollen with tears.
"That was beautiful!" He blubbered, dropping the bags and burying his face in his hands. His wife quickly came out to pat him on the back and comfort him.
"Yeah, I actually kinda agree. I had no idea you felt that way about Amity, Luz. I mean, I had my suspicions-" Luz cut you off with some sharp-ass "HUH?!" You dropped her back onto the ground. (Not for any real reason other than it was funny.) Her face was pretty damn rosy. In the blink of an eye she was back on her feet. Her shoes were tip-tapping on the dusty ground and her arms were firmly tucked by her sides in fists.
"I was talking about my Azura book!" Her face lit up once again. "OH MY GOSH! WE'RE STILL RUNNING LATE! COME ON, (Y/N)!"
She took off down the lane and very quickly demonstrated that she had no idea where she was going as she took a wrong turn.
"You're meant to go right, dingus!" You saw her cut through the crowd once again, this time in the right direction.
"I KNEW THAT!"
You grinned and slowly began to saunter on after her. You looked at the Boonchuy's over your shoulder. "Nice seeing y'all!"
"Y-you too, (y/n)!" Mr. B was still calming down. He raised a hanky to his eye.
"And bring that girl back next time! She has such a b-beautiful way with woooOORDS!!" He devolved back into sobs. The other two Boonchuy's simply sent you away with two simple byes and waves.
It didn't take long to catch up with Luz as she was just standing in the middle of the street, lost. You passed by her and raised your hand to drag her by her hood behind you. After a few seconds of believing she'd been kidnapped, she actually bothered to check who took her and sighed with relief. At that point she decided her legs worked again and she began speed walking beside you. She kept muttering Amity's name under her breath.
"Maybe I should invest in one of those child leashes for you so that you stop running off without knowin' where you're goin'." You proposed. Luz just shook her head.
"My mom tried one of those. I gnawed through it." Her eyes continued to scan over every stall and stand. You would have been surprised if this wasn't Luz you were talking to. "She was gonna buy another one but realized that those things aren't really good for kids, so she stopped. What about you, (y/n)? How did Eda raise you?"
You pondered the question for a moment. How had Eda raised you? She'd been thrusted into the role of parenting so suddenly, how on earth did she adapt?
You could clearly recall the time she convinced you to sleep in your own bed. She knew how petrified you were of the dark, so instead of getting you a nightlight, she cranked your music box, (now Ruby's music box,) and gave you a strange new human item. A glowstick. It still sat in your treasure trove back home.
Another instance was when she took you out foraging for potion ingredients. King had recently just moved in and was also out with you both. He had his tiny claw in your hand and followed you around everywhere. At one point, she'd spotted something up a tree that she apparently needed. Before gliding up there, she gave you and King a good lookover. She knew something was missing... A staff! She searched the ground for a moment, before handing you a rounded branch. After telling you a few rules (one of which being not to wander off) she went up. King then immediately wandered off, which actually made for a really fun game of hide and seek.
A third time of what you considered a key moment in Eda's raising of you was the day that sealed your role in this family.
She pushed you to stand in front of the boiling pot. Her mouth was sagging in annoyance as she handed you a wooden spoon. You, thirteen and bitter about everything, just stared up at her with maximum sass. Your teenage sarcasm had gotten you into this situation, now your nearly non-existent cooking experience was supposed to get you out. It took you a bit, but by following your heart (and the directions on the box) you managed to whip up an edible and actually decent pot of mac and cheese! Upon giving it to King to judge between your's and Eda's dish, he unsurprisingly chose yours. For the rest of dinner, Eda begrudgingly gulped down her helping of mac and cheese with a scowl while you did so with a grin. When doing the dishes with you, she decided to strike up some conversation.
"I'll admit it- that was pretty damn good, kid." She confessed. "How'd you even know how to make that?"
"Instructions on the box."
"You can read?!"
"Despite your best efforts, yes :]"
The two of you were once again cool after that, at least for a while.