I woke up slowly, the unfamiliar ceiling of the Owl House coming into focus.
The reality settled over me soon. I couldn't do much, yet, without learning at least a single spell, and now required to do chores it felt like a big waste of time, if I didn't already know the plot I'd.. Fine. No need to sulk, this only meant I had an excuse to snoop around this powerful witch's terrain and figure out what resources were available. But first.
I stood and walked over to Luz, tapping her slobber filled snoring face. She blinked her eyes half open, and mumbled my name.
"Yes, it's me. Get up," I said simply.
She did, looking around with confusion at the unfamiliar surroundings. Then, like a jolt of electricity, she sat up taller, her eyes scanning the room before landing on King, who was still out cold. The realization seemed to hit her all at once, the Boiling Isles was real. She suddenly squeezed me into a hug with high-pitched glee, then scooped up King and peppered him with kisses until he woke up sputtering and confused.
"Come on," she said, practically dragging me toward the stairs. "I'm ready to become a witch!"
heading down stair hand in hand, I began thinking about the magic here in general. The best method for me to learn would be trial and error, but that only applied to glyphs since I had no knowledge of their set in stone rules yet. If I could get a creature that—
Something came at my face at high speed. Instinct kicked in, and my fist connected with a flat wooden surface.
It was Hooty. He looked slightly dazed for a moment before bouncing back to his usual overly excited self. "Hoot hoot! Good morning!"
Luz jumped back, animated and slightly shocked, "Sorry about that! Luke's just... reflexive." she apologized, on my behalf.
"No problem!" Hooty chirped.
I heard Luz gasp beside me. Her Azura book was sitting on the table near the couch, and she clutched it to her chest like a treasure. "Luke, this is it! This is exactly what we've been talking about—our first day as witch apprentices!"
She dashed off to explore while I took a look around the house myself. For a powerful witch, Eda didn't seem to have much that was immediately useful. Human junk lying around, random items from the Boiling Isles that clearly had no practical use. I'd need to check back later when I knew what some this stuff even was.
"Luke! Look what I found!" Luz called out from down the hall.
I arrived and she discovered a closet full of what she assumed were witch clothes, a solid black triangle hat and black robes. She threw them on quickly and grabbed the broom leaning next to them, giving me a twirl. "How do I look?"
Before I could answer, footsteps echoed from upstairs. Eda appeared, in her mom like clothing, A baggy long sleeve and long dress thick enough for max comfort. she'd clearly just rolled out of bed. She took one look at Luz and snorted.
"Kid, those are bathrobes. And that's a dirty traffic cone." she emphasized by blowing away the dust.
Luz deflated slightly but recovered quickly. "Well, I'm ready to learn magic anyway! When do I get my staff?"
Eda yawned and shuffled toward the kitchen. "First, I need my morning cup of apple blood. Second, becoming a witch takes time. Normally, you'd get your staff from school." She glanced between Luz and me. "But since you're under my tutelage, we're doing things differently. You want a staff? You work for it."
She revealed two pouches of potions. "Sell these to the locals in Bonesborough. Be careful though, I've got competitors who'd love to put me out of business."
I caught my sack easily. "We'll be fine."
Eda paused mid sip of her apple blood and gave me an appraising look.
"Huh. At least one of you isn't whining about earning your keep," she said, that trademark smirk widening slightly. She tossed me my sack of potions with a nod. "I can work with that, blondy."
I simply returned her nod. Complaining wouldn't get me closer to learning magic, Eda knowing her will eventually teach us I could only hope it was soon.
"Don't make me regret thinking you've got a brain in that head, kid," she added.
Luz promised not to let Eda down but immediately dropped her sack, shattering the potion beakers inside. Eda sighed and handed her another one. "And to make sure you don't get lost or eaten, King's going with you."
"What?!" King protested. "I'm not a babysitter!"
"You're going, or I'll start charging you rent," Eda said flatly.
King grumbled but followed us out the door.
The marketplace sprawled before us, and I took it all in with quiet calculation. The show had glossed over a lot of the inner workings in the boiling isles, but being here in person made the reality clear.
A simple fact was prominent. This place was struggling under Belos's rule.
Vendors hawked potions and hexes from stalls made of bone and scavenged materials. Every shop displayed coven seals prominently, there proof of compliance. Without one, you didn't deserve to exist in the eyes of the law. Emperor's Coven guards patrolled in white and gold armor. There where houses and people going about their daily lives normally well normal for demons but it was clear this town was overpopulated.
I watched a family haggle over what looked to be bread and walk away empty handed when the price wouldn't budge. The mother's face held that hollow look resignation mixed with deep fury, though i couldn't exactly tell if that was her normal face. A demon with a "Coven Rejected" sign slumped against a wall nearby, completely ignored by passersby. Shops advertised "Coven-Approved" ingredients at clearly inflated prices, and hand written posters warnings about wild magic violations were plastered on nearly every corner.
Propaganda banners bearing Belos's sigil hung from the major buildings we walked by. "Unity Through Conformity" one read so blatanty I could help but shake my head. "The Titan's Will Made Manifest" proclaimed another, featuring Belos in his golden mask.
Luz was taking it all in too, her initial excitement fading as the reality set in. "Why does everything look so... sad?" she asked quitely to herself.
King tugged my pant leg seemingly noticing myself. "planning something."
"Just observing," I replied evenly. Which was true.
But I could not understand why the demons of the isles allowed for such a system to continue with an emperor they rarely see. Cunning was not there forte.
As we made our way through town, Luz started learning that she and I were the only humans on the Boiling Isles.
"Don't you think it means something, Luke?" she asked, her eyes bright with possibility. "That we're the only humans here?"
"Yeah," I said. "I do."
And I meant it. It wasn't a coincidence that I'd died and ended up in the world of The Owl House. And Luz, naturally, was the main protagonist. Destiny could only expect greatness from both of us. The question was what I'd do with that knowledge.
But Luz was learning firsthand that there was nothing particularly special about life here on the Isles. Everyone lived with the same struggles, the same despair. It was to be expected from a fantasy land with a monarch. Poverty everywhere, people barely scraping by with class systems like these.
Luz chatted with customers about their potion purchases, I studied every spell I could observe on our walks to the next place. I didn't discover what I already knew, different hues of color mean different magic that was obvious enough, and everyone seemingly required a circle. I unfortunately left my phone behind in this crucial time but I could always go back outside I'd just need to be careful.
So far what my previous knowledge had already grasped from the show was that Magic worked through bile sacs, internal organs that processed magical energy. Witches and demons channeled power through there simple biology, like having built in wifi instead of the glyphs syphoning data off of the titian network. The question was, which was actually better. It didn't matter much but if I where to leave this world I'd need some kind of power besides a beast or glyphs
The thought of getting a creature to help me sense magic was still worth pursuing even if it was as a whole lesser than magic. Like training wheels until my own senses adapted though I had no clue what beast to look for quite yet. I'd need to dig through Eda's collection when we got back. She hoarded everything—surely there was something useful buried in all that junk.
"Luke! You're doing that thing again where you stare at nothing," Luz called out, waving a hand in front of my face.
I blinked and refocused. "Just thinking."
"Well think while walking. We've got one more delivery before we can head home!" She bounced on her heels, still excited despite the sobering reality of the town around us.
I nodded and fell into step beside her and King. A massive fantasy castle loomed in the distance, this, I remembered this from the show. The fake fairy tale princess scheme. A waste of time for me, but necessary for Luz it held a lesson. She needed to learn that not everything on the Boiling Isles was a fantasy adventure, she was right to believe she was special but blinding her judgement on this fact was not something I could allow.
Unfortunately patience was a must, let things play out as they must.
For now, I could be content to be the quiet, but as soon as the chance arrived...
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Hope you enjoyed, just gotta let you guys know I'm pretty into the magic so it's going to be pretty complex later I hope you guys don't mind and yeah it'll make perfect sense if you know basic shape language for Glyphs not promises about the other one though I'll try and make it sound as simple as possible.