Chapter Text
Luz was under the bed reading the good witch Azura, usually the eight year old would be more open with her tastes. Though for the last eight months, she stopped being so open about them. Even though she still loved snakes, Azura, anime, putting anime music on clips. The child became used to hiding those.
She remembered how in her new school she brought up Azura. But no one wanted to listen to her. The child was from them on deemed as a weirdo. It also got her in trouble because they said the story was evil.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Luz wasn’t quick enough in hiding her book. Her eyes were glaring down at her. She grabbed her arm, nails digging right through her skin, there was blood coming out of it but the adult didn’t care. She ripped her book out of her hands, “this will finally teach you,” she dragged her in front of the chimney.
A thunder coming from the outside took her out of her thoughts. Usually, Luz would try to go outside to feel the raindrops, but the told her she couldn’t do that here. So, reading her book under the bed was her best option. Even though there wasn’t the best light, the child could get use to some darkness. It put a little mood.
Luz was as careful as possible with the pages, there was some water damage on them, even though they helped her dry it up. Some of the drawings were smudged, but the words were still legible.
There was an itch on her arm, she tried to scratch it but it didn’t bring any kind of relief. The wound was covered in a bandage. It had been there for almost two weeks now, in theory her injury should’ve healed earlier. However, because of the nightmares Luz would try to scratch it reopening it. Luz felt incredibly guilty after this happened, that meant the adult had to work more for her, but they wouldn’t get mad at her, they would just put the bandage again.
The child wished she didn’t leave the second volume behind. Even though she loved the first volume with all of her heart, it would’ve been nice to have more Azura. Now she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to read the rest of the volumes again. Let alone getting new ones.
Luz finally reached her favourite part, where Azura challenges Hecate to a witches duel. She loved reading it out loud for her mamá… but now she couldn’t do that. She wished there was anyone to do it. But there wasn’t really anyone else.
Just as she was getting to the end of the fight, a ball a light appeared in front of her, startling her. The child jumped a bit and hit her head with the top of the bed. “There you are,” Luz looked up and saw Raine, the witch who had been taking care of her for almost two weeks. The fox was laying on their shoulders.
She rubbed the spot where she hit her head, “Mx. Raine?” The adult told her that she didn’t have to be formal with them. But she didn’t want to risk them getting upset at some point because she did something wrong. Though they never seemed to get upset with her. It felt really nice to not have someone judging her for any kind of movement she made.
Even though that meant that she somehow ended up in another world.
The child gasped for breath, she was too tired, her mamá told her that when someone lost a lot of blood, they get really tired. Was that what was happening to her? Luz wasn’t completely sure, but she was clinging to her book as strong as she could.
Maybe that was why she fell into the water, she wasn’t too focused on where she was going, just that she wanted out. The water felt cold, and the child was starting to feel really tired. She used the strength she had left to make sure the book stayed with her.
As she closed her eyes, Luz somehow felt more calm, there were some arms holding her. “No… not yet…” she could feel a warm light around her and the arms were one.
After that the child was back in the water, though this time, she was right next to the border of the lake.
“Dinner’s ready, are you hungry?” Luz snapped back from her thoughts. At the mention of dinner her body remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. And even then the human didn’t eat a lot. She gave a small nod and the witch offered a hand, “let’s get you out.” The child grabbed their hand and dragged her out. Raine picked her up and took her out of the room.
The witch’s apartment was pretty simple, there was only one room and they gave it to her. Luz felt guilty that she made them sleep on the couch, in spite of them saying they didn’t care. Speaking of, they passed right next to it. There was a blanket and a pillow on it, there were also a bunch of papers sprawled around the couch, table and floor.
She remembered how insistent they were about not minding sleeping on the couch. Luz was still hesitant about it but in the end she agreed with them. Just to not argue with the adult.
Raine sat her down on a chair and put a plate in front of her, it looked like a… pie? She wasn’t sure since there were wings, arms and legs peeking out. It didn’t really look appetizing, but she was going to try anyway.
“This is called fairy pie,” were the arms and legs of fairies? Boiling Isles food was really weird, “please, tell me if you don’t feel well.” Luz nodded, “I mean it, it’s nothing bad,” the child remembered the one time something didn’t feel good in her stomach. She tried to hold back the vomit and in the end Raine got more worried. The human would have to e honest with that.
Well, she could just think of it as a normal pie, she grabbed a piece and ate it. The adult was taking a closer look at her.
It tasted good.
—
Raine made sure to pay attention to Luz’s reaction to the food. One scare was more than enough for them. Even though she promised to tell next time, the bard wanted to be sure the human was completely healthy. For now it seemed fine, but it could change at any moment and they didn’t know if the human would ask for help.
The witch didn’t really know why the human was so apprehensive on telling them anything. Their best idea was that she was nervous about getting to a new world. She was understandably scared of everything.
Their eyes moved towards the bandage on her arm.
But what if there was another reason?
They didn’t want to assume the worst on Luz’s parents. But Luz was always so hesitant to say anything about them. The bard couldn’t help but wonder.
Raine would find a way to get her back to the human realm, however, they’d make sure the child was safe with them. Now, if only they knew how to create a portal to another world. The only thing the child remembered was falling into the water in the human realm and then suddenly appearing in the Boiling Isles.
There was nothing they could go with. For now, the thing to focus on was mostly on things Luz could eat. Also, learning actual things about humans since the child mentioned a lot of the things witches had on humans were wrong.
Also the other things they needed to take care of were piling up, Raine couldn’t work from home every day, they needed someone they could trust with Luz. The BATTs were an option, but Titan, they still haven’t told them about Luz. Another thing to add to the never ending list. At least the whole legal side of things were taken care of.
According to the papers Luz was their daughter, it was the best way to explain why they had a child living with them. Raine still didn’t know how the child felt about the whole situation. When they explained it to her, she just nodded, as if she was trying to avoid any kind of argument. The bard asked her if she was fine with it, but she kept insisting she was.
“Raine?” They got out of their thoughts. Luz was showing them an empty plate where the fairy pie was. “I’m finished,” she continued with a yawn, right, she must be really tired. Luz hadn’t had a single good night’s sleep since arriving here. The worst part of that was how she’d try to keep it as quiet as possible. Fortunately Fiddlesticks would usually wake them up if the human needed help.
Was there something they could do to help her? Raine didn’t want to just put a sleeping spell on her and they didn’t know if sleeping nettles were safe for her. Titan, what if the medicine here was just poison to her?
These worries would do for a later time, “and you’re feeling ok?” The child didn’t look too sickly, and she nodded. So, they could write down that dried up fairies were safe.
Luz was struggling to keep her eyes open, “do you need help with anything?” Maybe there was something that could make her sleep more constant. A light? Children used that when they were scared of the dark, a bedtime story? There was that book the human was glued to. But if they asked about it she’d flinch and try to hide it. Better not go down that route for now.
Though, as expected, the child shook her head, “no, don’t worry, everything’s fine!” She jumped out of the chair and rant to the bathroom. She always avoided asking for help.
It reminded them of Eda.
No, now it wasn’t the time to think about their ex, Luz was her own person. Besides, she was now stuck in a different world, of course she’d be afraid. The child didn’t know if she’d ever see her family again.
Raine nudged Fiddlesticks, who was still on their shoulder, “mind checking on her?” The palisman went with Luz without hesitation. It was surprising how they had taken a liking to the human. If only the same thing happened with the BATTs.
Raine ate what was left of the fairy pie, a bit bland but the child could eat it. They started to organize all of the scrolls and papers, sending the ones involved with work away. Once they finished that, the bard sat down on the couch and started to look more about the different foods Luz might be able to eat.
For now most animal meats needed some kind of special treatment, with beastkeeping magic it would be easy to do. However, the sigil on their arm reminded them that they couldn’t do that. The bard would have to buy it, fortunately their job pays well. Not like they were using the extra money before.
As they were reading, they heard Fiddlesticks call for them, ‘she’s already asleep, I’ll stay with her.’ The bard turned around and saw their palisman peeking from the door, ‘I’ll wake you if something happens.’ Raine nodded and the fox went back into the room.
The bard relaxed into the couch, another tiring day for everyone in their one bedroom apartment. They needed to tie up some loose ends soon. For not their main objective was to find someone who would be available to take care of her.
A groan came out of them, so many problems and no easy solution. They were so tired, so many things have happened in such a short time. The sound of the raindrops hitting the window were starting to slowly sound more soothing.
It wouldn’t be harmful to take a break.
The bard slowly closed their eyes.
Usually people wouldn’t be out in the forest so late in the night. But this was the best way for Fiddlesticks to move around and not get caught. At this point they weren’t supposed to have them so they hid him on their violin.
Although, they did want to get home before any neighbour got suspicious, “stretch a bit more and then we go home!” They warned their palisman. However, he didn’t seem to have listened, “Fiddlesticks?” The fox was completely still, this was strange.
The palisman’s ear twitched and started to run, “hey!” Raine didn’t have time for games. They followed him, “stop! We need to get Home!” But they didn’t stop. Come on, the palisman usually listened to them.
‘I heard someone,’ what? It was rare for that to happen but not impossible. Beast hunters were a thing, ‘and I smell blood.’ What? Was there a witch hurt somewhere? Maybe it was a beast.
Finally they reached a clearing, there was a lake in the middle of it. Their palisman tugged on their leg, ‘there!’ He pointed at one part of the shore, specifically someone that was close to it.
A child.
Without a second thought they ran towards the witchlet. Titan knew what kind of dangerous beasts inhabited the water. But also, how did she get here? Where were her parents? No, those questions would be for later.
Fiddlesticks dragged her further awary from the water, “ugh…” oh thank Titan, the witchlet was alive. They looked at her, checking for any injuries, but Raine’s eyes went first to the child’s ears.
They were round
She wasn’t a witchlet.
She was a human.
What? How? They shook their head, this wasn’t the right time to panic about the logistics. The child needed help, she was shivering from the cold and… her arm was bleeding. The injury had to have been really bad since there was already a puddle of blood forming under it. Staining what looked to be a book.
Their palisman was looking at them to do something, right. First the injury, they tried to take away the book to get a better look at it, “no!” The human said and then curling into herself.
Raine moved their hand away, “s-sorry…” Titan, how were they so bad at this? They were a teacher for Titan’s sake. The human needed to be healed as soon as possible, “you’re freezing.” She didn’t give them an answer, “do you mind if I put my cloak over you?” Just something to get her to be a bit warmer.
The child didn’t give an answer, the bard was starting to get more worried. Was she unconscious? Fiddlesticks tried to nudge her but the child flinched and curled tighter, the puddle of blood was becoming larger. “Please, I know you’re scared but we don’t want to hurt you, I promise,” she stayed quiet, “just to take care of your wound, maybe we can find a he-” “NO DOCTORS!” Raine jumped. Alright, she was afraid of healers? Maybe?
“Ok, ok, but please, we just want to help you,” Titan knew what could happen to a human in the Boiling Isles. Specially a child. “Once that’s over I’ll find a way to get you back to your family, ok?” Their promise made her react.
The child sat up, by the Titan, she looked exhausted, “my… family?” She looked up at them and they nodded, “why are your ears pointy?” She looked around, “and why do the trees look weird?” Their blood turned cold, she didn’t know she was in the demon realm.
“I… will explain later, but first we need to get out of here, I can take care of your arm back in my home,” the human looked down. She didn’t looked surprised at the injury, but once she looked at the book she moved her arm away. “I… can try to help with your book also,” that made her immediately look up in surprise.
“Really?” The bard nodded, “you won’t try to burn it?” What? No, why would they even do that?
“Titan no, I would never, now, please, you’re still shivering,” the very second the human nodded they wrapped her with their cloak. “Mind if I pick you up? It’ll be faster,” it looked like she was thinking about it but in the end she nodded. Without any kind of hesitation, they picked her up and ran back to their home.
—
Luz couldn’t sleep.
That was normal for her, even before arriving to the Boiling Isles. She’d been having difficulties with nightmares, though back with her foster parents she learnt that they wouldn’t help her, unlike her mamá and papá. And the times Raine found out she was crying they’d try to help her. Even though the child kept telling them it was fine.
But right now she was in the living room, the adult was sleeping on the couch. “I don’t want to wake them up…” however, the fox wasn’t willing to give up so easily and tugged on her pajama pants. “Ok, ok!” Luz tried to shake them awake. “Mx. Raine?” There was no answer.
The human tried to move away, “oh well, guess they’re too deep in their sleep!” Fiddlesticks immediately stopped her. But what could she even do now?
“Ay cariño, ¿otra pesadilla?” The child nodded and climbed onto her parents bed. Too afraid of being on her own. The warmth of both of them made her feel much safer, Luz managed to relax more as her parents embraced her.
They wouldn’t mind, right? Raine always said they wanted to help in anything they could. The many papers on her world showed it. There was also the other stuff, like tucking her into bed most nights and making sure the food she ate was safe.
The child climbed onto the sofa and leaned closer to them. The witch was still sleeping, no sign of annoyance coming from them. They were warmth, it reminded her of her parents. It also made her feel much safer.
She missed it.