Lilith placed her head against Eda’s.
“With this spell declared, let the pain be shared.” Lilith spoke calmly, with dedication. Luz reached out, not knowing of what was transpiring, worried about Eda. She grabbed Lilith’s arm, intent to ask her what she was doing to Eda, just as a flash of blue light overtook the clearing in front of the Owl House. The three of them were lifted into the air, each with an orb of light emanating from their chests, and then yet another flash. The three were put down, and Eda and Lilith looked at each other. Lilith’s eye had been changed, now as grey as a rain cloud, and she also had a streak of white across the side of her hair. Eda had the same streak through her hair as well, and the grey eye. Her other eye however, was a hazel brown. They blinked in surprise before a groan caught their ears.
Looking over, they see Luz laying on the ground, and Eda is at her side so swiftly it would seem like she had teleported. She picked her up in her arms, cradling her in a way that struck Lilith as distinctly maternal.
“Luz?! What’s wrong, where’s it hurt?” Eda fretted checking her hair, seeing a white streak, which confused her.
“Ugh… Edah?” Luz groaned, squinting her eyes. Her voice sounded a touch off, like she was speaking with something in her mouth. Eda glanced, and what she saw was shocking. Fangs! Luz had fangs, just like any witch her age. Looking more closely at Luz as a whole, she noticed that Luz had pointed ears that were folded back, a common expression of pain or discomfort amongst witches. Her eye, the same eye that was now brown in Eda’s face, was the golden yellow that Eda’s used to be. Finally, on her chest, her shirt had torn a hole, just 3 inches in diameter, and in this hole sat a black gem. Luz’s eyes fluttered shut, and she passed out.
“Oh shi-…” was the last thing she heard. She doesn’t know how much time passed, but she feels herself rousing back to consciousness. The first thing she notices is mild pain. Her teeth hurt, her eye hurts, her chest hurts, her joints feel odd, even her ears hurt! What was that all about?
Her sense of smell came next. It smelled like a healer’s office, clean and sterile, but the scent of the cleaning magic had been cranked up to 12! Her nose crinkled in displeasure. She had been to a healer’s office once before, in her first week on the Isles, after eating a piece of demon spiced jerky sent her vomiting for 5 minutes straight. She didn’t even have enough bile in her stomach to do that, so she really doesn’t know how that works. Magic, Luz mentally shrugs.
Following scent came hearing. Like her sense of smell, it felt like everything on the amplifier had been cranked up. The buzzing of the magi-fluorescent lights was loud! She felt an odd feeling in the area around her ears, like movement, and the sound faded some. Odd. Something to worry about later.
Finally, Luz cracked her eyes open, then slammed them shut and groaned. Sure enough, everything was far too bright. She heard a murmur from out side, and after another odd feeling around her ear she could hear it better.
“She… share… how is that…” It was Eda’s voice, talking worriedly and incredulously to someone out in the hall. Her curiosity overwhelmed her desire to keep her eyes closed, and she cracked them open again. Light fills her eyes again, but she forces them to stay open. The light fades slightly, becoming more bearable until she’s able to open them fully. She groans, and slowly sits up, with great difficulty. She felt like she got hit by a truck, or perhaps a particularly hefty ratworm.
She stands, slowly, her steps wobbly, but they steady out. She looks around the office. It looks mostly like an earth doctor’s office at first glance, but closer inspection reveals oddities. Posters line the walls for the most populous species of the Isles, witches and demons alike, and the counter has three jars, labeled tongue depressors, tongue uplifters, and EYES (in all caps). She sees the door, which is closed, and has a mirror along the back. She walks towards it and that’s when she notices something peculiar. Her reflection isn’t right. She stumbles over to the mirror to get a closer look. Her eye, her fangs, her ears, the gem, the stripe of white in her hair, none escape her roaming eyes as she takes in every thing in the mirror. She reaches up to feel herself and confirm these changes, and her heterochromatic eyes widen in shock.
She reaches for the cool metal handle of the door, and pulls it open. She sticks her head through and finds Eda sitting in a waiting chair with King sleeping in the chair next to her.
“Edah!” She whispers so loudly it’s basically normal volume, her voice changed slightly as she speaks with newly changed teeth. She starts for a moment. She’ll have to get used to that. Eda’s head whips around from where she had nearly nodded off, and she’s out of her chair in a flash, along falling over with his distinctive “Weh”.
“Luz! Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” She asked, grabbing Luz by the head and twisting and turning it every which way.
“I’m fffine Eda!” She replied as her head was jostled. There was a distinct popping sound and Luz could no longer feel her body, which was a little disconcerting. She tried to look down and found she couldn’t.
“Dear Titan!” Eda’s jaw drops, and the movement ceases. Eda’s hands slowly move Luz away from Eda and Luz feels a pop as suddenly she can feel and move her limbs.
“Edah, wha was thhat?!” She asked. Dagnabbit, her fangs made her sound like a child! She was a child by technicality, but not young enough to be lisping like that around new teeth!
“Luz, don’t panic, but that was me pulling your head clean off you shoulders and then putting it back on.” Eda said, without a hint of sugarcoating.
“What?!” Luz’s hands shot up to her throat, but she couldn’t find any difference to how it usually was. “Edah, don’ scareh me like tha’!”
“I ain’t bluffing, kid. Here, sit down and I’ll explain everything.” Eda motioned to the plastic chairs. Luz sat down, and King crawled into her lap and curled up like a cat. She could smell his fur, and hear his tiny heart pitter-pattering in his chest. She turned to Eda.
“So, kiddo, do you remember, after we got away from Belos, we landed at the Owl House?” Luz nodded. “And you remember when Lily said that spell out loud, and put her forehead against mine?” Luz nodded once more. “That was a spell called the Pain Sharing Spell. When it’s used, an injury is magically shared between two or more individuals. Lily was using it to share the curse between the two of us, to return me to my normal form. When she did, you reached out and grabbed her. That extended the spell, and you were affected as well.” Luz’ eyes widened. “The curse is made for witch bodies, so when it spread to you, it changed you to fit. With the exception of a bile sac, you are functionally a witch.” Luz was overcome with shock, and gasped. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted. “And what’s more, your DNA changed too. Before, you were roughly half of your mom, and roughly half of your dad. Now, you’re roughly a fourth your mom, a fourth your dad, and half… half of your DNA is mine kid.” Luz’ eyes filled with small droplets of tears.
“Edah… does tha’ mean your… like my mo’- mo’-,” Luz pauses and focuses on the movement of her tongue as she speaks. “Like my mom, now?”
“If you’ll have me, kiddo, I can be your other mom.” Eda covertly wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye, fooling absolutely no one. Luz jumped forward wrapping her arms around Eda. Luz sobbed. She had just today (or at least, she thought it was still today) lost the portal to Belos, destroying it with fire glyphs. She had lost her way back to her mamí, and now, now she’s hearing she has a new one.
“From now on,” Luz said, focusing on her words so she wouldn’t slip up. “From now on, I’m Luz Noceda-Clawthorne.”