Magic practice
Amity POV:
I slowly slipped out of my blank dream, feeling myself start to wake up even though I didn't open my eyes. My body felt warm practically all over, one of my arms numb, the sound of Luz's heartbeat softly thumping in my ears.
My free ear barely twitched as it caught the faint sound of music around me, sounding similar to the tune that Luz was humming last night. Taking a deep breath, I was met with the smell of Luz, which was a pleasant mix of sleep and pine.
She was slowly running a hand up and down my back, softly humming along with the song. I could feel her legs shift slightly, trying not to move much since they were tangled with mine. Her hand that was running down my back went back up, now slowly running itself through my hair.
"This is all that matters."
"Lying here beside her."
Her voice held a hint of huskiness in it, telling me that she woke up not too long ago. The hand that was running through my hair moved closer to my ear, making it twitch.
"Silent nods of understanding."
"Endless fits of laughter."
I didn't have to look at her to tell that she was smiling. Without saying anything, I nuzzled a little closer to her, burying my head in her neck. She didn't miss a beat and carefully pulled me closer, moving so that she wouldn't wake me, since she still didn't know I was up.
"This is all that matters."
"Can't stop staring at her."
Luz's hand started to run up and down my back again, making me squeeze her a bit tighter. I could hear her breathing hitch for a second before returning back to normal.
"This is all that matters."
"This is all that matters."
The song ended on a sweet note, then Luz let out a soft sigh. Then, she gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head, nearly making me squeak. "Eres hermosa mientras estas dormida." She mumbled softly.
I couldn't understand most of the sentence, but the one word I was able to pick out was the word beautiful. I didn't move, not wanting to give away that I was awake yet. Luz slowly shifted again, straining to reach over for something before moving back to her original position.
She started to hum a new tune under her breath as another song started playing, this one a little louder than the last. However, the song was quick to be shut off. "As much as I love AJR, now isn't a good time to jam out to Bang."
When she figured I wasn't going to wake up, she let out a sigh of relief. I could hear the light sound of her setting something down, then she just laid still. There was silence for a moment, then the sound of Luz's window creaking open.
A breeze blew in, making me involuntarily shiver and try to nuzzle closer to Luz for warmth. "Shoot..." I could hear her say, her body lightly shaking with a shiver as well. She moved slightly, her head tilting downward. "King!" She whisper shouted, earning a groan from the other end of the mattress.
"What?" He asked back, his voice a lot louder than Luz's. She was quick to shush him, probably holding a finger up to her lips.
"Not so loud!" She hissed, making my ears twitch. "She's still asleep." I could hear King sigh, probably rolling his bright eyes. "Look, I'm sorry to bug you, but do you mind passing me a blanket? Please?"
"I don't get why you don't just shove her off of you and get it yourself." The demon mumbled, making Luz groan.
"Because King, it'd be mean just to shove her off." There was silence for a moment, then King piped up again, his voice a lot more deadpan than the first time.
"Does it look like I care?" His remark almost made me snort, but I stayed quiet. Luz let out a frustrated sound, but her body remained still.
"Y'know, I really don't get you," She said after a minute as she started to run her hand through my hair once again. "you're just... so indecisive about how you feel towards Amity. One minute you're lying in her lap being all cute and the next minute you're pouting and blowing raspberries at her."
"I'm the King of Demons! I can be as indecisive about someone as I want!" He said, his voice a little louder than before. Luz sucked in a deep breath, slowly letting it out as a sigh.
"Alright look, could you please just pass me a blanket?" She asked the tiny demon again, which only made him groan.
"I'm surprised you haven't tried to use your new spell powers to get one yet." It almost sounded like he was taunting Luz at this point.
"Look King, you and I both know that if I knew how to make them work I wouldn't have bugged you. Now can you please just pass me a blanket?" There was a brief pause, then Luz added. "You can come over here too if you want."
Another brief pause filled the room, then King started to grumble. His footsteps lightly echoed off the wood floor, then they disappeared before I felt him toss some kind of blanket over Luz and I.
The blanket was fairly soft, but it was also cold, making me shiver again. Luz quickly pulled it over my shoulder, trapping the warmth inside. Then, I could hear her suck in a breath in pain, using her free hand to push something away. "King your horns!" She hissed, making the demon start to grumble again.
Finally, Luz stayed still, the only thing moving was her hand that was still carefully running through my hair. Finally deciding to open my eyes, I squinted at how bright her room was.
Letting out a low groan, I nuzzled closer to Luz, catching her attention. "Morning..." I mumbled in a raspy voice, feeling my ear twitch.
"Morning Ammy!" Luz chirped, her voice still soft. "Sorry, did my moving wake you?" I slowly shook my head.
"No... I've been up for a bit now." My response made Luz tense up a bit, making me chuckle. "Hermosa huh?" I said, a bit of a teasing tone in my voice. "Also, was that the same song from last night?" Luz let out a squeak, then a nervous laugh, making me laugh as well.
"Oh, so you've been up for that long..." She mumbled, letting out another nervous laugh. "And yeah that's the song from yesterday. Y'know, I was about to ask when you were gonna get up since I don't think you're one to sleep in this late."
"What time is it?" I barely lifted my head up, taking a glance around the room. The window, that was still cracked open, let a lot of different colored light into the small room, making me squint.
"It's a little after nine, not too late into the day." Luz said as I laid my head back down with a sigh.
"That's late to me." I mumbled, a slight chill running up my spine as Luz's hand slowly started to trail up and down my back again. "But you're cozy so I'm not surprised."
"Mhm." She hummed before the two of us fell silent. Beside us, I could hear King shuffle around a bit, muttering something about how squishy the mattress was. "Hey Amity? You normally fidget in your sleep a lot?"
"Huh?" I sat up again, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" Luz gave me a bit of a shrug.
"Dunno. The few times we've fell asleep like this, you normally don't move. Last night though, you were all tense and kept shifting." I blinked a few times, my eyebrows slowly bunching together.
"Not usually..." I mumbled before my eyes widened. "Did I wake you doing that?" Luz quickly shook her head.
"No, no not at all! King was the one who woke me first actually." She jabbed a thumb towards a lump under the blanket. "I just noticed while I was trying to fall back asleep. Bad dream?" She asked, giving my arm a bit of a rub.
"Not that I can remember." I said, this time fully sitting up and stretching my arms over my head, trying to push away the numbness in my one arm. "Sorry if that kept you up." I managed to get out while I was stretching.
"It didn't keep me up, don't worry." She told me as she rubbed her eyes with her hands, rolling her shoulder that I was laying on.
Luz then sat up as well, her hair sticking out in a bunch of odd directions, and looking over at her, I couldn't help but chuckle. "You look cute with bedhead."
Luz scoffed, waving away my statement. "Personally, I think I look like I stuck my finger in an electric socket every morning, but whatever you say." She gave me a bright smile, but I only gave her a confused look. Her smile faltered, then she sighed. "Don't worry about it."
Still staring at the drummer, I slowly brought my hands up to her face, running my fingers through her bangs before I cupped her cheeks. She froze up for a moment, then leaned into my touch, her cheeks slowly warming up.
"I still think it looks cute." I told her with a smile, feeling my ears slowly start to burn. Luz brought one of her hands up and rested it on top of mine, sending a few jolts up my arm.
Then, an idea came to mind, making me smirk slightly before I started to scratch the spot between her jawline and her ears. She tensed up for a moment, then her eyes fluttered shut as she melted into my touch, a soft sigh escaping her lips.
My ears twitched and burned a little more when I could hear the faint sound of a purr rising in her throat. "I thought you said humans don't purr?" Luz opened an eye to look at me, then shrugged.
"Pretty sure this is just humming Ammy." She said, making me roll my eyes. I moved up a little higher, Luz making the sound a little louder.
"Pretty sure that's purring." I argued, but Luz only shrugged again.
"You say tomato, I say tomato." She mumbled, leaning a little more into my hand. "But hey, if you're gonna keep doing that, could you go up a little more?" I hesitated for a second, then did as she asked, making her let out another content sigh as she smiled.
"I hope you know, I'm so holding this against you." I told her with a bit of a chuckle, making her laugh as well.
"That's fair." She then gently placed her hands on both of my wrists, pulling my hands away. "After all, I just do the same thing to you." A glint suddenly filled her eyes, making my eyes widen.
"Don't you dare-" I started, leaning back from Luz, who only let out a sinister chuckle before she lunged at me. I couldn't help but yelp, struggling to move away from her grasp while laughing. "Luz!"
"C'mon Ammy!" She said with a laugh, trying to reach for me again. "You're cute when you purr!" Her statement caught me off guard, long enough for her to attack again. She gently cupped my face with her hands, scratching the sensitive spot by my ears.
I sucked in a breath, feeling the burning feeling that spread across my face as I started to purr. "I hate you." I grumbled, turning my gaze downwards. Luz only chuckled, moving her fingers closer to my ears.
"You and I both know that's a lie!" She said happily, her smile softening. "Besides, you're really cute when your ears flap too." I went to protest, but it only came out as a squeak.
Then, there was a loud buzzing sound, making Luz pull away from me with a yelp. "Weh?" King struggled to free himself from the blanket, trying to pull it off of his face, only to get it stuck around his horns. "What was that?"
"The sound that came out of my mouth or the buzzing noise?" Luz asked, her voice a little shaky from the sudden scare. Looking back, I found my scroll, which buzzed once again with a call.
A low sigh pushed past my lips as I reached over and picked it up, looking it over for a moment. "It's Em." I muttered out loud before hitting call, pressing the scroll against my ear. "Hello?"
"Mittens!" She yelled, making me wince and pull the scroll away for a moment. "Was starting to worry we'd have to go searching for you!"
I rolled my eyes. "Do you have to be so loud?" I asked her, only making her laugh in response.
"I'm not that loud." She said, her voice a little quieter than the first time. I could hear somebody else talking in the background, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. "You over at your girlfriend's house? Is that why you've been ignoring our messages?"
My eyes widened a bit as I watched Luz help King free himself from the blanket. "Oh, sorry about that. Things were just... hectic last night to say the least. I forgot to tell you I was staying the night." I could hear Emira choke back a laugh.
"What do you mean by that?" She managed to say, making me roll my eyes.
"Probably not whatever you're thinking." I stated, freezing up when I heard her burst into laughter on the other end of the line. "I'm serious Em!"
"I know!" She howled, struggling to pull herself together. "I know you're serious! Calm down a bit Mittens, it's not like I meant anything bad." I wanted to argue with her and say she knew exactly what she meant, but I stayed quiet. "I was genuinely curious that's all."
"Sure you were." I mumbled, watching as Luz balled the blanket up before tossing it towards a corner of the room that had a few more blankets scattered around. By now, the demon was stretching his arms over his head and rubbing his eyes. "Anyways, what are you two doing?"
"Oh, y'know the usual, committing arson." Emira said nonchalantly, making me fall quiet. We both stayed quiet for a moment, then Emira spoke up again. "I can't tell if you're taking me serious or not."
"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you two were committing arson." Luz froze up at my statement, looking back over at me with a look of concern. "What are you really doing?" I ignored Luz's look, trying to get answers out of my sister.
"Just hanging out with Viney and Jerbo, helping Edric take care of the burns on his back." Somewhere in the background, I could hear Edric whimper, making me furrow my eyebrows together.
"How'd he get those?" I questioned, hearing her fall quiet.
"Uh..." There was a bit of hesitation in her voice. "Well, we were out in the bushes and... spell gone wrong?" Her statement sounded more like a question, then she laughed. "Oh, well geez look at the time, gotta get going! See ya Mittens, message us if you decide to stay at Luz's again tonight okay bye!" She spoke quickly, nearly too fast for me to understand.
Then, there was a click on the other end, leaving me with silence. I pulled my scroll away, watching Luz look over at me before chuckling. "They sound busy."
"Yeah..." I muttered, watching Luz stand up and stretch her arms in front of her. Then, she offered me a hand, giving me a smile.
"How bout I go make us some breakfast huh?" She offered, making me perk up. I nodded my head, taking her hand and standing up. King also perked up at the mention of food, quickly bounding towards the door. "Want anything specific?"
I shook my head, feeling my ears twitch. "I'm fine with whatever. But, first I'm gonna go change." Luz nodded her head, then started to make her way over to the door.
"Fine by me. If you want, you can steal some of my clothes, or you can just change back into what you had yesterday, whatever you want to do." Her door opened with a loud creak, King quickly escaping the room. "I'll be down in the kitchen if you need anything!"
She made sure to shut the door behind her, leaving me alone. Thinking it over for a minute, I slowly went over to her duffel bag, flipping open the flap. Grabbing the first shirt and pair of pants I saw, I quickly started to change out of my pajamas.
Once I changed into the new clothes, which was just a baggy black shirt with a small eyeball over my heart and a pair of jeans, I started to fold up the other clothes. Glancing at my pajama shirt, I couldn't help but tilt my head.
There was some kind of green, square creature on the front, with dark eyes and a frowning face. "I should have Luz explain what you are..." I mumbled aloud, folding the shirt up before setting it in a pile. Then, standing back up, I ran my hands through my hair in an attempt to straighten it before I opened the door and went downstairs to meet up with Luz.
Walking down the steps, I winced at how loud they creaked under my weight. From the kitchen, I could hear the faint sound of Luz happily humming a tune. Peering into the kitchen,I saw her moving about as she tended to some kind of machine by the stove while the tiny demon sat on the table, lightly bopping his head to her humming. There was also the owl lady sitting at the table, leaning on her hand, clearly only partially awake.
She suddenly paused, turning around to look at King. "Do you think that'd be too high of a note? It feels off to me..." Her eyes met up with mine before lighting up, quickly waving me over. "Hey Ammy! Hope you don't mind having waffles!"
I gave her a smile and slowly walked over, taking a seat by the owl lady. She glanced over at me, then turned back to Luz, her ear twitching. "You want one Eda?" Luz asked as she turned back towards the silver haired witch.
Eda let out a dry laugh, running her hands along her face and pulling at the skin. "What I want is a pick me up..." She muttered, eyeing the cooler. However, Luz shook her head.
"You don't need apple blood this early in the morning." She paused for a minute, then walked over to the cooler, pulling out an orange bottle and passing it over to the witch. "However, I'm pretty sure you need this."
Glancing over at the bottle, I realized that whatever was inside was some kind of elixir. Eda stared at the bottle for a moment, then sighed, pulling off the cork and quickly chugging about half of it. "Sure, I'll have one of those waffle things." She finally said, making Luz smile.
"Great!" Luz glanced back at the weird machine for a moment, then back to her mentor. "Y'know, I was a little surprised to find you up before all of us." She commented, making Eda snort.
"Why's that? You think I can't get up before you do?" Luz shook her head.
"No, not that, it's just, you're more of a nocturnal person. Which makes sense cause you turn into a giant owl sometimes." Luz mumbled the last part, quickly shaking her head. "I'm just used to you waking up later."
Eda snorted again, this time gently nodding her head. "Alright, that's true. Still, you can blame our alarm system for waking me up early." She jabbed a thumb in some direction, making Luz furrow her eyebrows together.
"Hooty? What'd he find so early in the morning? Or was it some kind of nightmare?" Luz moved over towards the machine, pulling it open for a moment before closing it again. The silver haired witch sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"Honestly I don't know what happened. I go outside after he started yelling intruder and find him trying to strangle some weird green creature speaking in tongues. Took a bit to get him to let go, and when he did, the thing looked at him and said something I couldn't understand, then flew off."
Luz and I looked at one another, confusion written clear on both of our faces. "Was it like, speaking demon tongue?" I asked, but the witch only shrugged.
"No clue. It kinda reminded me of that language you slip into sometimes " She pointed a finger at Luz before she ran a hand through her hair, glancing towards the direction of the front door. "When I asked Hooty, all he told me was they were sworn enemies? Honestly, it's things like these that make me wonder if he's starting to go crazy."
"You act like he wasn't already crazy before." King muttered, making the silver haired witch nod her head.
"Well, that's Hooty for ya." Luz muttered, then turned back to me, a smile clear on her face. "How many do you want?" She asked, making me perk up.
"One would be fine." She gave me a nod, then moved over by the stove, flipping open the machine and quickly putting the waffle on a plate before passing it over to King, who didn't hesitate to start to eat it despite the fact it was still really hot. Luz started to hum that tune again, making me smile. "So, what mystery song is that?"
Luz spun around, a confused look on her face for a moment before her eyes lit up. "Oh, it's not some mystery song!" She said, then let out a bit of a laugh. "Kinda just a tune I came up with on the fly and it's been stuck in my head. Might make it into a song if you let me!"
"You've already come up with another song?" I raised an eyebrow, honestly a little surprised. "Yeesh, and I thought I was quick for coming up with songs only months apart."
"Well, technically this one is months from the last song I came up with, since you're the one who mostly came up with Arms Tonite." Luz pointed out, pouring some sort of batter into the machine before closing it. "And it's not like I have much planned for this song yet, mostly just a tune that sounds nice and maybe an idea for it."
"And this idea would be?" I asked, making her smile. Beside me, King finished off the last bite of his food, lightly shoving the plate away from him before jumping off the counter, disappearing into the living room.
"I guess you could call it... maybe a sequel of sorts to Little Miss Perfect." Luz said, giving me jazz hands. "Honestly though, that's all I've got for it so far."
"If you two are gonna keep jabbering, you're gonna burn the food." Eda said with a smirk, making Luz yelp and spin back around, pulling open the machine and removing the waffle.
She placed that one on a plate as well, quickly sliding it over to the owl lady. "Here ya go Eda!" She chirped, making Eda smile.
"Thanks kiddo." Eda grabbed her plate and stood up, slowly heading towards the living room. "Meet me outside whenever you're ready to start testing your new powers. Just don't take forever."
"We won't!" Luz called after her, turning back to the machine and putting more batter into it. "Sorry this is taking so long Ammy."
I shook my head, leaning slightly on the heel of my hand. "It's fine Luz." She turned back around to face me, leaning down on the counter as well. We stared at each other for a moment, then Luz smirked, sticking her tongue out at me.
Eventually, Luz went back over to the machine and pulled the waffle onto a plate, sliding it over to me. "Ta da! Here you are, one piping hot waffle!" She then slid me over some other container. "Here's some syrup if you want some."
"Thanks." I watched as she spun back around, pouring the last of her batter into the machine before putting the bowl in the sink. Glancing down at my plate, I poured on a small but of the syrup she gave me, then grabbed my fork and cut myself a small bite.
Placing the bite in my mouth I was instantly met with a buttery flavor spreading over my tongue. I let out a content hum, feeling my ears start to flap. "I take you like it?" Luz said with a bit of a chuckle, making me quickly nod my head. "Glad you do."
"It's so good!" I said, sticking another bite in my mouth.
"I know right? That's why waffles are my favorite for breakfast!" Luz said happily, quickly moving towards the machine and pulling it open. "Besides, they go really well with fruit and stuff, which technically makes them kinda healthy. Too bad Eda doesn't have any to put on them."
"She probably has some Boiling Isles fruit, if you want some of those." I suggested, making her nod her head. She moved over and took a seat next to me, cutting herself a piece and popping it into her mouth.
"Yeah she does, but it's not the same as a few slices of banana and some blueberries." Luz paused, then eyed me up and down, letting her fork hang from her mouth for a moment. "Y'know, you look like a strawberry type of person..." She finally said, then she cut herself another piece.
"I'm just gonna pretend I know what that is." I muttered, taking another bite of my waffle.
"I'll get some next time I head to the human realm which is..." Luz paused, lightly tapping her fork against her plate for a second. "A few days from now! Remind me, I'll get you some strawberries."
"Okay then." We both fell quiet for a moment, continuing to eat our food. By the time we started another conversation, both of us had finished our breakfast. Luz took our plates and put them in the sink, giving them a quick rinse before leaving them there, much to my annoyance.
"Well, I'm gonna go change out of these real quick! Meet you outside with Eda?" I stared at the plates in the sink for a moment, then nodded my head, making Luz bounce on her heels "Great! I won't be long!" She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then disappeared upstairs.
I stood frozen in place for a moment, bringing a hand up to my cheek before letting out a sigh. "It doesn't matter how many times she does it..." I muttered to myself, quickly bringing my hands up to cover my ears.
Heading towards the hallway to make it to the living room, I paused. Then, with a sigh, I moved back over to the sink and quickly washed the dishes, carefully sticking them in their respective cupboards. "There." I said, once I was finished with the few dishes there were. "That was going to bug me."
Now heading outside, I was met with King sitting by the door and the owl lady standing a little ways away from the house with her staff. She perked up when she saw me leave, but noticed I was alone. "Where is she?" She asked me.
"Right here!" Luz swung open the door, making me jump. She shot me an apologetic smile, then darted off towards Eda, a small notebook in her hand. "Sorry bout that! Wanted to change real quick."
The door shut itself, revealing Hooty, who turned to look at me for a moment, a bright glint in his usually dark eyes. I shot him a glare back, making him turn back towards the other two. I stood there for a minute, then slowly sat down on the ground, crossing my legs. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see King turn to look at me for a moment, then he returned his attention back up ahead.
"Alright great, before we start testing your new powers, we're gonna start with the usual warm up." Luz vigorously nodded her head, taking the pencil from the top of her notebook and holding it ready. "You know the drill, five minutes starts now."
Luz then quickly started drawing out glyphs, ripping them off the notebook and carefully setting them in a pile. I watched for a couple of moments, then leaned over towards King. "What does she mean by five minutes?"
"Eda gives her five minutes to draw out a bunch of glyphs, then they fight one another with however many spells Luz managed to draw out." King said nonchalantly. I blinked, staring at the two of them again.
"Wow." Was all I said for a moment, then turned back to the demon. "So, when she runs out of glyphs, do they stop?" King shook his head, making my eyes widen a bit.
"Nah, they keep going until one of them calls it off. Luz just has to make her spells on the fly at that point." The demon looked up at me, staring at me for a moment.
"But don't worry!" Hooty's voice sharply said, making me jump. The tube owl stretched down till he was at our level. "Eda hasn't killed Luz yet!" King and I turned to face the owl, then turned to each other.
"Clearly." I mumbled, turning my gaze towards the two in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye I could see King look towards me.
I could feel him give me a slight nudge. "Don't worry too much. The worst Eda's done is give her a few burns. Luz avoids her attacks pretty well and besides, it's not like Eda's actively trying to kill her."
"If she was, it'd be concerning." I said, making both of them nod.
"Besides, if she was trying to kill her, Luz would've been dead forever ago! Hoot hoot!" The door owl got closer to my face, making me scowl. Then, I gave him a rough shove, making King laugh.
"Time's up!" Eda said, catching my attention. Looking back out, I watch Luz quickly get to her feet, holding the decent sized pile of spells with one hand, the notebook in the other. "You know how this goes."
Luz slumped down a bit, shoving the notebook in her back pocket. "I still don't get why you want me to try and insult you while we battle."
"Because," Eda started, placing a hand on Luz's shoulder. "if you can get under your opponent's skin, you win. Therefore, we need to practice that too. Especially since you're so nice. Now... you need a motive..."
The owl lady rubbed her chin, turning in our direction. "Have her imagine she's fighting my demon army!" King called out, making Eda snort and shake her head.
"What army? Last I checked, she'd just need to punt you and she'd win." I held back a laugh, glancing over to see the demon pouting. "No, today, imagine you're trying to protect uh..."
Her golden eyes met mine, quickly lighting up with an idea. However, before she said anything, her eyes darted back over to Luz, then she quickly shook her head.
"Imagine you're protecting the house. I know Hooty can usually handle whatever comes around, but we're gonna pretend he's been sleep spelled or something." Luz nodded her head, looking back towards the three of us for a moment, giving us a thumbs up.
Then, I could see Eda's eyes darken, a subtle smirk rising to her lips. King let out a chuckle, grabbing onto my arm and giving it a shake. "The show's about to start!"
It took a second, but Luz caught on to our reactions and turned back around to face Eda, who had already moved back and drew out a spell circle that summoned a decent sized fireball, quickly sending it in Luz's direction.
Luz dodged, quickly tapping one of her glyphs and threw it in the owl lady's direction, making vines shoot up from the ground. While she moved out of the way to dodge that, Luz tapped another one of her spells and threw it, nearly hitting Eda with a fireball.
"Really kid? That's all you've got?" Eda said with a snort, quickly tapping her staff against the ground and sending sharp rocks towards Luz. "Y'know, honestly thought you'd be better with how long you've been training."
An ice wall shot up from the ground, stopping the rocks from moving any further, then Luz shot up over the wall on a plant vine. "That just shows what kind of a mentor you are, doesn't it?" She snapped back, making King squeal.
The two continued to fight, spells shooting through the air while insults were thrown back and forth, most of Luz's insults falling flat. It was clear that Eda wasn't using her full power, but that didn't stop my hands from tightly gripping the fabric of my jeans when one of Eda's spells managed to hit Luz, sending her flying back a bit. However, Luz was already back on her feet before I could blink, running towards Eda again.
"Her glyphs have lasted a lot longer." King said after a little while, catching my attention. "I can't tell if she's spacing them out or if she just has a lot of them this time."
"I can go check!" Hooty chirped.
"No." King and I said at the same time, making the owl shrink back into the door. Then, I let out a yelp when a loud explosion went off in the field, quickly turning my attention back to the two fighting.
There was smoke billowing up between them, Luz standing closest to us, heavily panting as her eyes scanned the smoke. Two more smaller explosions went off, making me tense up, my ears going down.
I continued to stare at Luz, who only stood in place, still scanning the smoke. "What's your problem?" I heard King ask, making me just shake my head. Eda suddenly appeared at Luz's side, a spell circle ready to attack.
However, Luz was prepared. She tossed one of her glyphs up, which quickly flashed a bright light, making the silver haired witch stumble back. Then, just as fast, Luz cast an ice glyph, capturing Eda in the ice.
"Woah! Okay enough!" Eda said, glancing down at her new icy prison. "Light spell as a distraction, smart."
Luz laughed, saying something quiet enough that I couldn't hear it. King rapidly tapped my arm, making me look over at him. He was bouncing up and down with energy, his eyes glittering. "She hasn't beat Eda in forever!"
I glanced back over at the two, watching Luz tap another glyph that lit up into a fireball, then hovered it close to Eda to free her from the ice. Once the ice melted, I could see the owl lady shiver.
"Still need to work on the insults though. I will say, the mentor one was a good start." Eda gave Luz a rough pat on the back, making her stumble. "It's a start!"
"It's hard to insult you though cause I care about you." Luz said, making Eda roll her eyes. "I'm serious Eda!"
"I know you are." The witch said, giving Luz a bit of a shove. "Alright you dork, before you go into a whole tangent about why you care about me go drop your notebook off by Blight so we can test your new powers." Luz nodded her head, jogging over in my direction.
She stopped in front of me, staring at me with a smirk. "Hey, you come around here often?" I rolled my eyes, making her laugh. I could smell the faint smell of smoke lingering in the air, which only made my ears twitch.
"Luz come on!" Eda called out, a slightly annoyed tone in her voice. Luz glanced back at the witch for a moment, then back to me, giving me a smile.
"Mind holding these for me?" She quickly passed off her few remaining glyphs and her notebook, which I set down in my lap. Then, she made her way back over to Eda, eagerly bouncing up and down.
The silver haired witch sent her staff in my direction, which flew over until it leaned against the wall. "Okay, let's see here." Eda clapped her hands together, her ears twitching. "Spell casting... how would I explain how this works?" She asked aloud, making Luz shrug.
Luz suddenly turned in our direction. "Amity! How would explain how spell casting works?" I blinked a few times, then shrugged.
"You kinda just have to picture what you want. Feel it flow through to your hand as you cast the spell." Eda nodded her head to what I was saying, making Luz nod her head as well.
"Yeah that's basically it." The owl lady said, starting to slowly draw out a spell. "The hardest part is casting the spell, but once you've got it started, you're pretty much golden."
"Just don't lose focus." I added on, Luz nodding her head again.
"What she said." Eda completed her small spell circle, making a small ball of light. "And remember, the larger the spell circle, the larger the spell and the more energy it takes." The silver haired witch drew put a larger spell, creating a bigger ball of light. "See what I mean?"
"I can't really see anything." Luz told her as she tried to shield her vision from the bright light. Eda quickly canceled both spells and Luz rubbed her eyes, probably trying to clear the spots from her vision.
"Very funny." The owl lady said, her voice deadpan. Then, she shook her head, giving Luz a bit of a nudge. "Now, follow my lead and remember to focus."
Luz eagerly nodded her head, then held a hand out, slowly tracing circles in the air. King gave me a tap, taking my attention off of Luz for a moment. Once he had my attention, he crawled up in my lap, curling up into a ball. "You've got a good spot in the sun, I'm stealing it." I could hear him say.
Hooty moved down towards us, his eyes lighting up. "I wanna be a part of this too!" He said loudly, stretching up until he rested himself on the top of my head. I let out a low growl, tempted to shove the owl off. However, instead of pushing him away, I sighed and let him stay.
Turning my gaze back up to Luz, I could see she was still trying to draw out another spell circled her eyes closed in concentration. "Just takes a spark of focus kiddo." Eda told her, making her nod her head.
From where I was sitting, I could see Luz's lips moving, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. Then, the start of a spell circle appeared in the air, making Luz freeze. She slowly opened one of her eyes, then I could see her face light up.
"I did it!" Luz bounced up and down, which broke the spell and made it disappear. The owl lady let out a snort, nearly doubling over in laughter, making Luz look down and realize the spell was gone. "Shoot..."
Eda placed a hand on Luz's shoulder, still laughing. "Try again." She managed to get out between chuckles. "Just do whatever you just did. And this time, don't move around so much."
"Got it!" Luz took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair before holding her hand out again. She stood frozen for a moment, then started to trace a circle in the air, a dark green line following her finger.
You could see the excitement clear on her face, but she struggled to remain still. "You didn't do any kind of spell that's gonna explode right? I'm standing right in front of you." Eda asked, making Luz shake her head.
"If I did this right, it should be a light spell." Luz said, hesitating before she complete the spell. "But, maybe you should move just in case." Eda nodded, then stepped to the side, still watching the spell.
Luz connected the spell circle, then a ball of light floated in front of her, this time not instantly disappearing like the one from last night. Eda had a beaming smile on her face, bringing a hand up to ruffle Luz's hair.
While Luz happily started going on to Eda about how she was able to cast a spell, King gave my leg a rough jab, dragging my gaze down to him. "What?" I asked, watching him flip over onto his back so that he could look up at me.
"I'm hungry." He whined, making me roll my eyes. Picking him up out of my lap, I held him under his arms and set him back down on his feet.
"So then go get yourself something to eat." I muttered, motioning towards the door. His eyes slanted downwards, then he flopped down onto the ground, folding his arms over his chest.
"Well what if I don't want to go alone?" He asked, turning his head away from me. I glanced up at Luz and Eda again, seeing Luz trying to draw out another spell circle.
"Why don't you want to go alone?" I asked, turning back down to the demon. "Too short to raid the pantry or something?" The demon huffed, turning his gaze down to the floor before mumbling something I couldn't understand. "What?"
"Maybe..." He finally said, nearly making me laugh. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the laugh that wanted to bubble up, instead, I let out sigh and stood up.
"Fine, I'll come with you." I said, making him perk up. He quickly got onto his feet, a happy squeak escaping his muzzle. "Open up Hooty." I said, but the door owl only spun around.
"What's the magic word?" He asked, his voice sounding even more obnoxious than usual. I rolled my eyes, feeling my ears twitch.
"Please?" The door owl continued to spin around, still not opening up.
"Nope! It's hoot!" He said, making my eyebrows furrow together. I rubbed my temples, clenching my jaw so I wouldn't say anything. Then, I heard a soft thud, finding King kicking the door.
"Just poke him in the eyes!" He told me, making my eyes widen. I looked up at Hooty, then back down at King.
"He looks like he'd bite me if I tried." I muttered, making the demon squeal. "Just open the door." I looked back up at the owl. He didn't do anything for a moment, making me sigh. "Hoot?"
Hooty stopped spinning, his eyes lighting up before he opened the door. "If they ask where you went I'll let them know!" He said as we stepped inside, then he closed the door.
King tore off towards the kitchen, leaving me alone in the living room. I quickly followed after him, and by the time I got to the kitchen, I found him jumping in front of the pantry door, struggling to reach the handle.
Walking up behind him, he looked up at me before his eyes slanted downwards. "Took you long enough!" He said, making me roll my eyes again.
"You're the one who ran into the kitchen, don't get your tail into a twist." I pulled open the door, met with decently stocked shelves. "So what do you want?"
The demon held his arms up in the air, motioning for me to pick him up. Bending down, I lifted the tiny creature up, holding him in my arms. His eyes scanned over the food, one hand scratching his chin. Then, he let out an excited squeak and pointed to some kind of box.
I had no idea what it was, but I plucked one out of its box, realizing it was some kind of squishy, yellow cylinder wrapped in plastic. "What even is this thing?" I asked him as he took it out of my hands.
He tore open the plastic with his mouth, then took the weird food out and took a bite, revealing a white center. "Some kind of human food Luz got once. I don't know what it is, but it's delicious." He told me with food in his mouth.
I glanced back at the pantry, then to King before I shook my head and closed the pantry door. "Luz could poison you and you'd be fine with it as long as food was involved." I told him, making him nod his head.
"You're right! Problem is, Luz is too nice to do that." I thought about it for a moment, then nodded my head, watching as the demon shoved the last bit of the yellow food in his mouth.
My ear twitched when I heard the front door open again, Luz and Eda's voice floating into the kitchen. A minute later, Eda popped her head around the corner, rolling her eyes when she saw the two of us.
"So you two just dip to go get snacks?" She questioned, making King roll his eyes.
"Not like you were gonna help me get any food." The demon said, only making Eda fold her arms over her chest. Luz slowly walked into the room soon after, leaning slightly against the door frame. "She was surprisingly nice enough to get me snacks."
"You act like Amity's never nice." Luz said with a chuckle, her voice holding a tired tune. King leaned over to look at her, then he turned to me before turning back to Luz.
"She's sometimes nice." He finally said, making me chuckle. Eda rolled her eyes and picked him up off the counter. "Weh? Hey! Put me down!"
"Stop using people to get you food." Eda said as the demon squirmed in her arms, trying to break himself free. She glanced down at the plastic wrapping then sighed, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of her nose. "And of course you grab one of the most sugar filled items to eat."
"What?" Luz walked over, glancing at the wrapper before nodding her head. "Oh, a Twinkie. Of course." She mumbled, looking over at King.
"Hey it's not like she knew what it was!" King argued, making Eda just shake her head.
"That's my point. You just used her to get your sugar fix." The owl lady said, glaring at the demon. "So that means, you're gonna come help me to burn off your energy."
"What? No!" King tried to squirm out of Eda's grasp again, but she held him tight, taking him towards the living room. "No! I'm not gonna help you with your chores!"
"Too bad shortstack." Eda said as she disappeared around the corner, Luz and I watching the two of them leave for a moment.
Luz then turned to me, a bright smile on her face. "I managed to do five light spells outside!" She told me excitedly, making a smile appear on my face as well.
"Did that wear you out?" I asked her, making her nod her head.
"A little bit..." She rubbed the back of her neck, then shrugged. "Eda said I should probably stop for the day so I don't burn out. She told me we can keep practicing tomorrow though! And hey, once I get enough practice, it'll be good for carrying band supplies and stuff." I nodded my head, slowly moving over to Luz's side.
"Before you levitate any equipment, you better know how to gently cancel out the spell." I told her, receiving a nod in response. There was a bit of silence for a moment, then she leaned her head on my shoulder with a sigh.
"Wanna go hang out in my room?" She asked me, then she gasped. "We can read Azura if you want! I have the book upstairs, we can just start where you left off!" I felt a pale blush rise to my cheeks at how excited she was, then I nodded my head.
"Sure, wanna do the voices like usual?" I asked, but surprisingly, Luz shook her head.
"Normally I'd say yes, but I feel like I might fall asleep halfway through." She gave me a bit of a nudge, heading off towards the hallway. "I will however, do sound effects! Now c'mon!"
She bounded off towards the hallway, leaving me to quickly follow after her with a laugh. We both went upstairs, going into her room and closing the door. I flopped down onto her mattress while she moved over to her duffel bag, digging in it for a moment before she pulled out the book.
Taking a seat next to me, she leaned her head on my shoulder and passed me the book, a soft chuckle escaped her lips. "I'm warning you now, I might get a little teary eyed." She told me, making me roll my eyes.
"Alright." Was all I said, cracking open the book and quickly flipping to the page where I left off. Clearing my throat a couple of times, I started at the top of the page, feeling Luz sink a little more onto my shoulder.
Time practically flew by, the two of us slowly getting through the chapter, me doing the voices and Luz doing the sound effects. "Then, he held his hand out, summoning his staff." My eyes widened slightly, my eyes quickly darting across the page.
"Not... not another step." I put on my raspy voice, quickly flipping the page. "In one swift motion, he pointed his staff towards the injured Hecate, the top glowing a bright, menacing green."
"He wouldn't dare..." I mumbled to myself, pausing in my narration for a moment. Shaking my head, I continued to read.
"'Don't!' Azura shouted, reaching out towards the snake man, only making him laugh." My fingers tapped the book's cover in nervousness.
"'Don't what?' The snake man asked back, making Azura freeze up. She looked between the man, then to Hecate, and despite the orange haired witch's protests, Azura lunged at the snake man, hoping to take the staff from his hands."
I couldn't help but gasp, feeling my ears go down. "She's just lunging at him? No spells, no nothing?" I fell quiet when I didn't get a response from Luz. "Luz?" I looked over at the drummer, finding her fast asleep on my shoulder.
Freezing up, I looked between her and the book. On one hand, I wanted to keep reading, but on the other hand, I knew my reactions would probably wake her up.
With a soft sigh, I carefully bookmarked the page I was on, then set it down at my side. Wrapping an arm around Luz, I moved her off of my shoulder and slowly laid her down, making sure to move slow not to wake her.
Then, I laid down next to her, staying a small distance away. I stared at the ceiling for a moment, running over what just happened in the book through my head. After a minute, I took a deep breath. "I can't just leave it at that."
Reaching for the book, I quickly opened it and continued to read, this time in my head. I was maybe a paragraph or two from where I left off when Luz shifted, turning on her side towards me before wrapping her arm around my waist.
I tensed up at the contact, losing my place in the book to look over at Luz. She was still asleep, her chest slowly rising and falling. I stayed frozen for a few more seconds, then loosened up, a smile rising to my face.
I stared at Luz for a few moments longer, then turned my attention back to the book, quickly picking up where I left off.