Synthesis

“Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.”

― William Butler Yeats, The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats

The door of the Owl House was tall and oaken, with rot iron garnishment swirling at its edges. In the center of the door, was a circular knocker in the face of an owl. Luz found it both humorous and grotesque at the same time.

Eda opens the door with a booming thud, and they step over the threshold 

“Welcome to my humble abode!”

“Woah,” the interior of the Owl house is castelesque. The high ceiling boasts a carving of a stylized owl that looks like it’s glowing in the low light. Burnt out candles stand on every surface in sight. The aroma of lavender incense flowed throughout the room. Weapons from all around the work bedeck the walls, gleaming swords, swaying nunchucks, and tons of other arms Luz doesn’t know the name for yet. 

Definitely not humble

Owlbert flies over to a perch in the back of the living room, Eda follows.

“So, I warn you, I have an unconventional training style, before you learn any fighting, first, you got to work for m--,”

“Oh my god, is that a cat!” Luz cuts Eda off, running over to a black shape curled up on the coach. She scoops the little cat up. The cat initially hisses, but quickly resigns itself to being connodled with a frustrated meow.

“Who’s a little kitty! Who’s a little kitty! Oh wow, he has a skull marking on his face, what a beautiful cat!”

“Yes, that’s King, named so because he thinks he is king of this house. Watch out, the little fellah has an attitude sometimes. But anyway, as I was saying, you need to do some stuff for me before I teach you. Starting with cleaning these things,” Eda gestures to a pile of miscellaneous items on the floor: toys, tchakies, electronics, jewelry, and...office supplies? 

“Is that...Contraband? Am I going to be an accessory in crime?!”

Eda snorts, “No, I sell used items, antiques, and curiosities I dig out of the trash in town.”

“Ah, that’s gross, but...legal?”

“While I fix up Owlbert, take this and make these all shiny and sellable” she hands Luz a cloth and cleaning solution, “it’ll be just like wax on and wax off…”

“Huh?”

“Wow kid, you are making me feel old, just get working while I find my first aid kit.”

The teen begins to scrub. The pile smells like well… trash. It almost makes Luz gag, but she persists. She removes the grime from a decaying teddy bear, scrapes the rust from an ancient Game Boy, and rinses off banana peel residue from a stapler, while the older woman patches up Owlbert.

I wonder if Azura ever had to clean up trash. If she did, she would do it glamorously with a sparkle in her eyes and dignified movements. I wonder if the people on Ao3 would like a garbage sifting Azura fic…

Luz’s mind began to wander. She was no longer sifting through rubbish, but rather discovering great magical relics. The raggedy hat she finds must have to power to heal any injury or ailment, the pair of gardening gloves must be the legendary Green Thumb Gauntlets that can control plant growth, and the dead eight ball must really be an oracular sphere that may show her the future.

Physical pain pulls her from this fantasy though. After about half an hour, her arms begin to ache.

Curse my weak nerd arms.

“How much longer do I have to do this Eda?”

“You need to finish the pile kid.”

“Agh! Can we take a break for you to teach me at least a little bit?” Luz attempts to use puppy dog eyes on Eda, it’s ineffective. 

“You remember the deal? Finish this and I’ll see what I can do.”

Thus Luz scrubs and scrubs for another hour. It’s boring, and uncomfortable, and she wants to stop, but she persists. She keeps reminiscing on the fight earlier in the day.

Many protagonists start from a humble beginning, and have to struggle to even start there journey. That’s me, I’m doing this so I can learn to become like her, to be able to adventure and beat the baddies and reign triumphant… 

Finally, she finishes the last item (a pair of goofy glasses) and rises upon her now wobbly knees. 

“Eda, I’m done!” Luz wipes her now blackened hands on the rag.

“Good job, that means we are ready for our first lesson.” The fighter strides out the door, with her eager young pupil following.

“Will I be learning how to do a death punch?! A spin kick?! A secret technique to knock out my opponents with my finger-tips?!” Luz’s eyes glow.

“Nope, none of that. You will learn something far more important, perhaps the most important thing you’ll learn from me…”

The girl hangs on every word in anticipation.

“..how to fall… and how to get up.” 

“Huh? Wouldn’t it be better to just learn how to not fall.”

“Trust me, you will fall. You will fall in fights and you will fall in life. You don’t want to break your spine or your spirit when you do. So, spread out impact, I’m going to teach you three techniques today: backfall, frontfall, and how to roll...”

***

When Luz arrives home after her day of training, she instantly flops on the bed. Everything is sore from her head to her toes, but she is happy. Eda was rough on her the first day, sweeping her legs out from under her multiple times to get “realistic practice” falling. But Luz was proud of herself, everytime she hit the floor, she rose. 

This is a trial and I am ready. 

***

For the remaining months of summer, Luz spends six hours everyday at the Owl House. Without a reliable internet connection, she has nothing better to do. She loves Eda, and King, and training of course. 

Eda is impressed by her dedication and constantly pushes her. She teaches Luz techniques from all the martial arts she’s learned, hapkido, jujitsu, taekwondo, muay thai, krav maga, karate, capoeria, aikido, kung fu, and many more. Although she has a preoccupation with the flashy moves, Luz approaches all styles with unbound enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, unlike Eda has ever seen. The youth reminds the older woman of what she was like when she was a highschooler. Plus, she is grateful for the human company.

Luz explains her absences to her mom that she’s just grown a penchant for hiking. Camilla is skeptical of this, but she notices that recently her daughter has been fitter, more focused, and less abnormal, so she doesn’t push it. She supports whatever is making Luz happier and easier to manage. 

Luz becomes faster, stronger, and more skilled quickly.

Maybe I’m cut out to be a hero after all, I just have to keep rising to the challenge.