Two Sides of the Same Coin: An Owl and a Wolf

Chapter 20: It Clicks Into Place

Eda wasn't sure about having a human as a student when she first met Luz. But over time the kid grew on her, she was capable of completing tasks and picked up Potions pretty easily. Plus King seemed to get attached to her pretty quickly.

Though there were some things that did concern her. When Luz was asking to stay and learn from her, the human ended up saying something along the lines of "I don't think I have a home to go back to." Or something similar and Eda had brushed it off at the time, but it never really left her mind.

When King had recounted the incident with her curse, King mentioned that Luz said something about being a waste of space. Which worried King, and rightfully so. It worried Eda as well but there wasn't much she could do about it at the time.

So instead of dwelling on it she started teaching Luz about potions. Cause it was at least something that Eda could teach her while she looked up ways for a human to do other types of magic with glyphs. That one night Eda woke up with Luz in her room, Luz had a nightmare of some sort. Eda knew how nasty nightmares could be, she's definitely had her fair share of them.

Eda tried, she really did. But she was never good at the feelings stuff. So she tried to get Luz to open up and when that didn't work she tried to let her know her door was always open for her. Whether it was to talk or a place to stay. Eda was glad that the following morning she remembered the previous night's events and decided to get Luz something. Which ended up being a custom made belt to hold her potions and dagger.

Luz never did come to talk to her about any problems she may of had. After enrolling the kid into Hexside and returning home she didn't expect Luz to start tearing up just from something so mundane as school. The comment about Eda being nicer than other people Luz knew bothered Eda for a long while.

She's also noticed Luz being uncomfortable whenever Eda touched her. Whether it be a ruffle on the head or a pat on the shoulder, Luz seemed to flinch when she wasn't expecting it or even if she was expecting it. Eda hadn't noticed at first, but then started to see the pattern. Though Luz has definitely seemed to be a bit better on that front and she hasn't asked for Eda to stop, so she assumed it was okay. Though she probably should have asked before she even started to give her physical affection.

But nothing compared to now. Luz in her cursed form snarled at her and King. Out of all the things Eda has noticed, this was something unexpected and horrifying. No one deserved a curse! Let alone a child like Luz. She realized now what that nightmare could have been about and Luz knowing that Eda was cursed as well, she possibly could have been looking for comfort. But Luz wasn't the type to ask for physical touch or give out any herself, not really anyway. King seemed to be an exception.

Eda wished she knew sooner to help her through this, instead of Luz suffering by herself. She wondered how long Luz was cursed without her knowledge, wondered how she kept it at bay with no elixir. There wasn't anything she could do about it then, but there was something she could do now.

Picking up King, Eda had to dodge out of the way as Luz lunged for her with a viscous snarl. Luz knocked things over as she turned around to attack them again. Eda dodged a paw swipe and spun a spell circle. "Time to go to sleep." Eda said as the spell hit its target. Luz growled, stumbling slightly as the spell took effect her eyes drooping. She finally collapsed onto the wooden floor with a thump onto her side.

Eda breathed a sigh of relief, that should buy them some time to figure something out before she woke up again. "What happened to her?" King asked quietly. Eda sat down on the couch with a sigh, watching Luz's sleeping form for a moment before answering. "She's been cursed, King."

"Will she be okay?" He asked. "She will be in time, but we gotta find her some elixir." Eda explained, setting King down and standing back up. She headed towards her potions room, King following behind her. "I don't think my elixir would work, Luz's curse is more canine than bird." Eda thought aloud. "It'd be to dangerous to try mine."