Two Sides of the Same Coin: An Owl and a Wolf

Chapter 21: Getting a Plan Together

Luz had three days left to get the portal key. The first of three was spent at school. Luz was going to her classes aimlessly, not really paying attention to anything being taught. Stuck in her own head, conflicted. She thought back to Eda's advice about trusting her gut, which was saying not to trust Belos but... what was the alternative?

If she didn't get the portal key and stayed with Eda, telling her everything. Lilith would still come to capture Eda and Luz would be marked as a traitor. She'd probably end up dead and no chance of getting rid of the curse or returning to the Human Realm. If they didn't get captured and fled to the Human Realm or something, that still didn't solve the curse problem. She'd still need her elixirs, Eda would need hers as well and there were no elixirs in the Human Realm.

If Luz did get the key, there'd be a chance that Belos would heal her and send her back but... Luz didn't want to leave Eda and King like that. After that night with Grom and her curse being revealed to Eda... Eda didn't press her for answers and comforted her instead, letting Luz just vent her frustrations about anything. Luz almost considered them family, Eda was definitely better than Belos in that regard.

If she did get the key and Belos didn't heal her... Luz wasn't sure what she would do. Luz couldn't go back to Eda, most likely having lost her trust in Luz. If Eda did let her back in, she would still be marked as a traitor and they wouldn't have the portal either. Leaving them even more vulnerable to getting captured and probably killed. She could also just stay and continue being the Amber Guard and hopefully change Belos's mind but, who knows how long that would take.

This just seemed like a losing situation no matter what she did. Luz would have had these thoughts circling around in her head all day if she hadn't gotten distracted by Boscha bullying Willow. So, determined to push these thoughts out of her head for the time being, getting Amity's thoughts, and kicking Boscha's butt. Luz decided on challenging her to a Grudgby match- whatever that was.

Luz, Willow, and Gus trained but she pushed them to far. She tried filling up the time with training so she didn't have to think on the decision she had to make. She just ended up hurting her friends and ended up alone on the bleachers. But Amity came and distracted her again from her thoughts and ended up telling Luz her time as Grudgby Captain.

Afterwards, Boscha and her crew showed up and Luz went down to confront them. The game was off and Luz would do whatever tasks or other they wanted. Which ended up being Boscha's target practice. Luz held her own, deflecting the flaming Grudgby balls with vines and ice. Willow ended up coming back to call the game back on. So with Amity on their side they totally beat them and Luz may have been a little vicious towards Boscha during the game. Tackling her, sending her own flaming balls once she discovered a fire glyph, smacking her with vines, y'know the usual. It was worth the little extra strain on her injured shoulder.

If it wasn't for the dumb Rusty Smidge they would've won, it was a dumb rule and Luz was still salty about it. Luz had come home later and found out that Lilith had come by to try and capture Eda. Failing of course but it still let it really sink in that this would probably be her last few days with Eda and King... and Hooty she supposed.

It was early on day two, Luz was downstairs in the living room with Eda. Eda was wearing a yellow scarf for some reason while guards tried to attack the house outside. Hooty really was a good defense system, Luz was pretty sure Lilith was outside as well.

"What's in here?" Luz asked, peeking into the cauldron. The cauldron had some type of wool in it. "That's Witches Wool. It repels powerful spells." Eda explained, letting some of the wool slip through her fingers back into the cauldron. "Every witch worth their salt has a cloak made from this stuff."

"Whoa, how'd you get your hands on some?" Luz asked, something like that had to have been expensive. "I've been saving some money for it." Luz gave her a curious look. "I figured you would've stolen it." Eda chuckled "I would have but this stuff is hard to come by. Let alone steal." A fond smile slipped across Luz's face. "Of course you would've."