It took Luz a few minutes to find clean clothes and prepare for the shower properly. Setting up the shower and getting undressed was the easy part however once relaxed enough by the warm water she found her next obstacle. Which bottle was body wash, conditioner or shampoo? After switching between them she ended up using all three on both her body and hair unable to be certain which was which. Bodywash in her hair wouldn't be too horrible and using shampoo and conditioner on her body also wouldn't be world-ending. Yet it did leave a slightly bitter taste in her mouth that she couldn't tell. After her shower and getting dry, she had to be careful not to put the same clothes back on and negate the whole idea of having a shower. Putting them in her dirty laundry she slowly made her way back downstairs.
Everything almost felt unnecessarily harder, she knew sight was important but having relied on it for so long it felt horrible not being able to use it. She knew she just had to trust that the goo would at least restore part of her vision even if it was blotchy and blurry she could get some powerful glasses or something. Even if her vision was never the same she started not to care anymore. Making it back to her spot in the kitchen she decided to rest her head on the table. Unsure what she should do or say. She soon felt Eda ruffle her hair while sitting nearby.
"I'm going to put more of that gunk over your eyes" She could hear Eda messing with it as she nodded.
"Okay, and in a few days I'll hopefully have at least some of my vision back" She smiled optimistically yet when Eda didn't immediately reply she realized that it was more likely not going to help. Not if it hadn't already healed partly.
"Hopefully, that's the idea" She felt Eda ruffle her hair. Closing her eyes she let Eda apply more of the goop around her eyes and head while bandaging it back up. "I ended up actually putting some of that strong healing stuff in it as well so if you get side effects from it tell me and I'll redo it."
"I thought the magic in it was too strong?" She felt curious about this change of idea.
"It is by itself but hopefully the other stuff helped dilute it enough it shouldn't be too strong." Eda seemed to have finished up as she heard Eda by the sink.
"If I'm still on bed rest does that mean I won't be able to go to school tomorrow?"
"If you really want to go I'll check on you in the morning and fly you. However, you'll probably have to stick around your friends for obvious reasons." She knew Eda meant so she wouldn't get lost or fell downstairs or something equally embarrassing and stupid.
"I'm sure Willow, Gus and Amity would love having my company all day," she thought about if she had friends in the other tracks. Viney was in beast keeping and healing but like Edric, she was in a different class... Skara was in Bard at least. Plants, abomination, illusion and bard. Not the best but also not the worst tracks not that there were worst tracks just more was better.
"Then we'll see how you feel in the morning" She felt Eda rub her hair while leaving the kitchen with probably apple blood Luz couldn't be sure. Unsure what to do she got up and headed upstairs before feeling around. Finding a good stick she got an idea as she used it to get downstairs a little faster and headed into the lounge.
"And where are you going?" Hearing Eda she smiled.
"Just a small walk, I've been cooped up inside all weekend" a pause, maybe she should've tried sneaking out?
"Fine, but take Owlbert in case you get lost."
"Sure, but I'm not going to get lost" She felt the palisman land on her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, sure" She rolled her eyes at Eda's reply and headed outside. Using her stick she started to walk around the nearby woods, enjoying the feeling of sunlight and shade from the trees. As she walked around nothing much really happened before she found a nice rock she used for navigation originally and laid on it. The warm sun felt much nicer than hanging around her room or inside and the warm rock helped warm her up. After a while, she felt Owlbert try and pull her sleeve to the owl house.
"Five more minutes~" Luz half-joked before feeling Owlbert nip her finger. "Okay, okay, let's head back" She followed Owlberts lead before noticing him trying to lead her to the back of the Owl house rather than the front. Ignoring him once she realized this she snuck closer to the front hearing Hooty on the attack. Doing her best to stay hidden not actually wanting to join in on the fighting she listed to Hooty kick butt. When she felt Owlbert pull on her hood she followed the palisman back inside while thinking.
"hey, Luz it's good you're back I was about to go look for you actually"
"It sounds like Hooty is having a fun time beating up coven goons" Luz smiled thinking about what it might look like seeing Hooty attacking guards. It wasn't the hardest thing to picture.
"I don't think you should walk around the woods alone with the guards around like they appear to be. I didn't expect them to be this many roaming around" Luz paused hearing that.
"So I should stay inside or?"
"Just around the owl house until there are fewer guards around"
Nodding she made her way upstairs. "I'm going to go rest in my room for a little bit" She smiled the best she could before making her way to her room unsure how to feel. It wasn't like walking around the woods was her favourite thing but it also wasn't like she could actually do what she enjoyed doing.
Laying on her sleeping bag she looked up at the ceiling despite not actually being able to see it as her mind wandered around. Both how she was going to fix the door if she couldn't see the clues in front of her, to how she would even explain it to her mama. A realm full of demons and magic was intense but being blinded by it wasn't going to be a good selling point. Groaning she rolled over as her mind kept winding around itself like a ball of yarn that only tightened the more you tugged at it. Eventually, she heard a soft knock on her door as she sat up.
"Eda told me to get you for dinner" she heard King from the doorway before hearing him run off probably to go eat his dinner. Getting up she made her way downstairs while thinking about how long she had actually been on the rock sunbathing or if she had taken a nap while in her sleeping bag without realizing it. Taking her spot at the table she smiled happily when she heard Eda put a plate in front of her.
"Thanks, Eda smells good" she smiled happily before starting to dig in happily.
"Good, I'd be worried if it smelt bad" Eda seemed to joke back making her giggle softly as she kept digging in. The only weird part was figuring out which bit of the plate was what and how much of what she had. However, it wasn't too hard when all of it was stuff she liked to eat and could eat. When she was finished eating she heard Eda take her plate away while smiling more at her.
"Thank Eda, I might go to bed early so I can get up early enough for school" she
"determined to go to school tomorrow huh?"
"No point in hanging around the owl house all day every day when I could hang around my friends and try and learn more about magic" Luz smiled happily. Having the second thought about getting used to walking around without sight although she still tried to hope that the goop just needed some more time. It had to just need more time, that was all it needed.
"Okay, I'll wake you up for school but if you're tired don't force yourself to go. It's better to get as much bed rest as you can" She nodded at Eda while getting up and heading to her bedroom.
making it to her bedroom she found her sleeping bag and laid down. Thinking she wondered if bed rest would actually help at that point. It didn't feel like her body was trying to heal she just felt like she was laying around doing nothing. Even her face had stopped hurting altogether. Staring into the void she sighed before rolling over and trying to fall asleep.
When she woke up she could almost sense someone nearby. Sitting up she jumped a bit when she felt a palisman land on top of her head.
"Lil Rascal?" hearing the chirp she smiled more raising her hand up to pet the cardinal.
"How are you feeling?" she smiled towards Hunter's voice.
"A lot better actually" She sat up a bit more to give the boy enough room to sit on her sleeping bag if he wanted to not that it felt like he accepted it. "Eda ended up using some of the healing stuff you left last time when she changed the bandages. However, she did say it by itself would have been too strong"
"what was it like when she changed the bandages? like when they were off could you see anything?" hearing Hunter sound hesitant she wanted to say that, 'Yes, I could see perfectly well' yet she also didn't want to lie to him.
"I still couldn't see anything but maybe it just needs more time to work" Even saying it she felt like it wasn't true like it would've helped somewhat already.
"And your sure it's not ...permanent?" she felt Hunter gently cup her cheek as she rested her head in his hand.
"I- I don't know if it will be or not. However, I can choose to keep hoping it's not until it's proven one way or another. I doubt Eda would waste ingredients if she didn't think there was at least a chance"
"How are you always so upbeat and happy?" she couldn't help but giggle a bit at his question. "what?"
"I don't know how, I guess I just try my best to see the bright side of situations." 'and avoid thinking about all the negative things like how I'll get home.' she mentally added. When she felt Hunter move his hand she carefully grabbed it gently putting it back on her cheek. Something about the gentle touch made her feel warm and calmer. Her mind went back to what Eda had said about having a crush on Hunter.
"Is there anything I could do to help?" closing her eyes she smiled towards Hunter.
"Stay here as long as you can" Having the feeling Belos wouldn't be happy if he found out about these night meetings she didn't want to risk him getting in trouble but something about having him there felt nice. Part of her felt like she shouldn't feel this way, he was the reason she couldn't see she should hate him. That was how that was supposed to work, right?
"I'll stay here as long as you need me to" Hearing that she hesitated before carefully following his arm so she could hug him, feeling him tense up before hugging her back. "would you like to read more of that ridiculous book?" she couldn't help but giggle hearing it confirmed he didn't like it.
"You don't have to. Why don't you read me a story you like?" she felt him gently move them so they were laying down.
"I think I might be able to recall an old story I occasionally got Darius to read me as a bedtime story." she cuddled into him while smiling at him.
"Yeah?" she started to settle down as Hunter started to tell what definitely sounded like a boiling Isles bedtime story as it started with a whole village of witches bullying a large demon. He went into description about how the scaly creature was large, heavy and able to absorb any spell any witch could cast. The creature however was slow, so slow young witches could run across its tail and climb on top of its back while poking and pulling at its eyes, ears, scales and whatever they could grab onto. Despite it being bullied by witches, it was also bullied by the other demons for being passive towards the very witches that hunt their kind down. While everyone was scared of it they still would attack and jeer at the demon knowing it wouldn't do anything as it neither belonged with the other demons nor witches. As he went on about how the witches would poke it and jab at it she started to feel bad for the demon not that she was entirely sure that was the point yet. As the story went on Hunter spoke about how the demon soon came up with a plan to go to the king of demons it begged for a new body. However, its request was denied as it was a large tank and could handle the jabs from the witches. Unable to get help from the King it headed off. On the way back it ran into a small crying witch, finding out they were lost the demon returned them to town. For the first time instead of fear and hate it received gratitude from the witch's family for returning their lost child in the form of fruits. It soon returned to the woods roaming around, sniffing out lost and injured witches. For if it comes across a lost witch it will offer them a ride on its smooth back offering them a ride back to the nearest town. As it stands to that day its kind is still out there roaming the Titan looking for lost witches to return home, for it's the only thing that seemed to give the demon the gratitude it desperately desired from those around it. Listening she stayed cuddled up into Hunter as she thought about what it would be like to be attacked by both witches and demons.
"So the demon was a misfit who fit in by helping those around it?" She could hear Hunter humming softly.
"They usually have the moral spelled out at the end but Darius never told me the moral. I always assumed it was to always help those who need it even if their kind has wronged you in the past."
"Because nobody should suffer for what someone else did?" Luz smiled happily
"I guess so, I never really thought about the morals of the story. It could even just be to explain why there's a kind of demon that goes around rescuing lost witches" She felt Hunter shrug.
"Wait that's an actual species of demon?"
"yeah, but it's not as magic proof as the story says. However, it is really hard to take them down not that you'd want to. Ya know since they're peaceful." she nodded softly unable to think about why someone would attack a passive creature that only helped others.
"I think I'd like to meet one" She smiled warmly thinking about the idea of meeting a large friendly demon.
"I don't think you do, since they help lost witches and that would mean you'd have to be lost on the Isles and there's always the chance it won't be the first demon to find you." she could feel Hunter tense up a bit as she thought about it.
"I'm not going to purposely get myself lost to meet a demon" she reassured him while cuddling into him more so she could bury her face into him, feeling him tense up almost more. Before she could wonder if she was being too cuddly she felt him gently rub her back.
"Good, because then you'd be the idiot instead of me" she tried not to laugh.
"You're not an idiot, you're actually really smart about a lot of different things"
"I've been acting like one" She buried her face into him.
"Have you now?" she tried to tease gently.
"for starters, I might have permanently hurt the first person outside the castle who actually seemed to somewhat care about me, then there's sneaking out every night which will become pretty obvious soon, I stole from the head of the healing coven which probably pissed her off, I couldn't do my one job in bringing in a certain human and witch because... I don't even know why... why do you seem happy when I visit despite what happened? why don't you hate me? you should hate my guts" Listening she didn't have to see to know there were probably tears at the corner of his eyes even if he'd deny it. Why didn't she hate him?
"I don't hate you because I know you never meant to hurt me. If you meant to hurt me you would've done it when we first started fighting each other. Having you visit only confirmed you felt bad meaning it wasn't on propose-"
"of course it wasn't I would've rather blinded myself than hurt you" Hearing that she paused for a second before shaking her head.
"I'm safe here, how safe would you be if you went blind?" she could feel him flinch as she stayed where she was. Something about Belos made her believe if Hunter wasn't useful to him he would've hurt him or worse.
"I'd probably have to learn how to fight while blind" That got her thinking. She had seen shows with superheroes who fought blind maybe she could actually learn how to do that.
"That's a good idea maybe I could learn how to fight blind" She felt Hunter rub her back.
"I don't think you should prioritize fighting first" There seemed to be a soft smile behind his voice.
"true I'd have to learn how to get around more comfortably first, maybe you could even help me learn how to fly palisman while blind" She had the soft doubt she'd be able to fly blind but maybe if Lil Rascal or Owlbert took main control of where they flew while she focused on not falling off it could work. "either way I'm going to hold out hope that the goop just needs more time to work. Maybe I'll end up with big ol' glasses"
"I think glasses would like nice on you" She tried not to blush while smiling more.
"That's good, I'm glad you think I could pull off glasses"
"You should get some sleep and I should probably head back before someone notices I'm gone again" Hunter didn't sound like he wanted to go but she nodded.
"Yeah, I have school tomorrow"
"then you should definitely be asleep, it's nearly midnight" She felt Hunter move to get up and paused for a second before deciding to kiss the back of his hand since kissing his cheek felt like it would be a bit too sudden for the blond-haired boy.
"I- uhh good night" She felt him hesitantly kiss the back of her hand back.
"good night Hunter" she felt Lil Rascal move from her head before cuddling up in her sleeping bag blushing deeply as she thought about the fact she had kissed the back of his hand. It wasn't super romantic or the most dramatic but she had still done it and it still left her blushing like she had kissed hi- no she was not going to die of blushing thinking about that. Laying in bed it hit her like a brick, she did have a crush on Hunter.
//If you like this story you can find the story up until chapter 8 here
My little light - Lunter_Lumity - The Owl House (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]
