𝐎𝐰𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞-𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 (Discontinued)

𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞

{After Luz is killed by Emperor Belos, Eda and Camilla deal with losing their daughter in different ways.}

Eda hadn't left her house since Luz was killed. The vibrancy of the sun, the children gawking at the blossoming of nearby trees.

It was too much.

She closed the curtains and locked herself with King in her nest, all without saying a word.

Lillith, in an attempt to calm herself, swept and cooked while Eda rested. Soon, all the plates were washed and rewashed. She reupholstered the couch. She painted walls and mindlessly organized trash.

But Luz's room remained untouched, the girl's Azura book tossed at the foot of her sleeping bag and the photograph of Luz and her mother in a frame on the wall. All of it was starting to blur under a cover of dust.

Lillith's heart clenched. She fanned the tears from her eyes and closed the door, knocking Eda's door instead.

"Eda? Are you-"

Lillith paused. 'Are you okay?' seemed like such a loaded question, and one she unfortunately already knew the answer to.

"I'm going to make something for lunch. Would you like to join me?"

There was silence. The house was too silent now.

"Well, just tell me if there's anything you'd want."

Lillith turned to walk away before the doorknob slowly turned.

Eda clung to the doorframe, holding King tightly with the other arm.

Her face was sullen and pale. Her eyes, one silver, one gold were swollen red.

"Eda, I-"

"You were walking around?" Eda deadpanned, more of a sentence then a question.

"Yes. Just doing some cleaning."

Eda's lip curled into an appreciative smile but the sadness shone through.

"Thanks, Lily. I know the place was getting a little run down. I meant to help but-"

"Oh, don't worry Edalyn." Lillith shrugged. "I've made scones. Are you hungry?"

"I could eat." Eda finally left the threshold of her bedroom. Lillith had already set the table, even putting out some butter and jams. King scampered up the tablecloth to the baked goods.

Eda sat across from her sister, dropping a scone on her plate and staring at it.

At the head of the table was a smaller chair. When Luz had found the Boiling Isles she couldn't get onto the normal chairs, so Eda found a smaller one, painting it to match the others.

Luz had eventually grown tall enough to not need it anymore, but she didn't mind.

 Eda made it for her. That was all she cared about.

The chair was empty.

Eda bit her tongue until she tasted copper.

"I can see you looking at me, Lilly."

Lillith jolted up, startled out of a blank stare.

"Oh. I'm sorry." She apologized softly.

Eda, feeling a flame burst in her chest, pushed her plate to the ground.

"Titan-damn, Lilly. Don't patronize me."

"I was just trying to-"

"Make me feel better? Now that Luz is dead?"

Eda stared into her sister's eyes, seething.

"Well, I didn't want to be so forward."

"Why not? She's gone, Lilly. She was fighting the Emperor, things happened and I couldn't save her! Be forward about that!"

"I couldn't save her, Lillith. My kid." Eda's breath hitched.

Lillith sighed, tears finally collecting in her eyes.

"Eda..."

"What now?"

"Luz's mother. Back in the human realm. Does she know?"

Eda pondered this, staring up, and thinking of the human who rushed climbed down those steps everyday ready to face the world.

Camilla woke up in the middle of the night, ready to be sick. She'd already worked herself to exhaustion, working full-time and going to the police station for any possible news about her daughter. This. This was different.

Mother's intuition, some called it. Luz used to joke that her mother had eyes in the back of her head.

Camilla stumbled from her desk over to a drawer. Within the drawer was a baby picture of Luz. She was only a few days old in the photo, swaddled in a light purple blanket.

"Mi hija bonita. Please come home."