"𝘠𝘶𝘱! 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴!"
Hooty popped up from the ground, smiling while Eda glanced at him in horror.

"Sleeping nettles don't just put you to sleep, they heighten your dreams!" Eda explained, frowning. 

"Do you realise who you just stuck me with?!"

A roar rang from a darkened corridor, Eda glancing at it in worry as she faced Hooty, holding him.

"Hooty, don't let me fall asleep."

As soon as she had finished her sentence, Hooty fell over, revealing to be a tube that spoke while Eda's eyes were widened in horror.

"Yup! One bite will put you to sleep for hours!" The voice began to echo, Eda grimaced.

The woman then turned around, bracing herself as she frowned, getting into a ready stance.

"You know, maybe this is an opportunity." She muttered to herself. "The Owl Beast is why I ran away from home. The Owl Beast is why I never got close to anyone. And the Owl Beast..."

The woman shut her eyes, a shadow passing by her as her eyes then snapped open, Eda whipping around when she had seen a shadow pass around the doorframe.

"...is why I don't have magic."

The beast then lay one paw onto the floor, growling while it appeared from around the doorframe.

"You've haunted me long enough, birdbrain." Eda put her fists up. "I think it's time for me to haunt you."

Eda took a step forwards, the atmosphere changing into her old bedroom, the woman letting out a noise of confusion.

She walked towards the mirror, seeing her fiery orange hair, the woman now the age as she was when she had attended Hexide.

"Huh!" She scratched her cheek. "Well, this is a development."

"Edalyn!" Her mother's voice called from below. "Come downstairs, please!"

Eda's eyes widened, the girl soon walking out of her room and down the stairs, passing by a few framed photos of her family, the girl looking over the banister while placing her hand on it.

Her mother soon appeared from below, placing a dish on the table, smiling brightly.

"Mother, do you like my napkin folding?" A young Lilith opened her hands, a giant napkin crane appearing.

Eda groaned, rolling her eyes.

"That's nice sweat-flea," Gwen grinned before facing Eda.

"Edalyn! Help us set up, won't you?"

"Sorry, dream-mum," Eda shrugged. "I don't have time for whatever this is, I'm on a mission."

Gwen chuckled, raising an eyebrow while she turned to face her younger daughter.

"You're going to say that the night your dad leaves for the Mandible?" She placed her hands on her hips.

"Dad?" Eda gasped slightly, eyes widened.

At that moment, a man walked through the door, smiling brightly down at Eda. He had fiery orange hair, just like Eda's, and golden eyes. His long hair was tied into a ponytail.

"Hey, pumpkin." He grinned. "Here to see me off?"

"DAD!" Eda dashed forward, pulling her father into a large hard.

"It's so good to see you again!"

She burrowed her face into his abdomen, eyes shut while he placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away slightly.

"I was only gone for an hour." He bent down, holding a finger up.

"Hey, I know I won't be home for a while, so that's why tonight..."

He pulled a cone-shaped confetti popper out of his pocket, Eda's eyes widening as realisation began to sink in.

"Wait, I remember this now..." She muttered to herself.

"...I'll be leaving in style!"

The man pulled the string, an explosion ringing out, Eda's father grinning as he was oblivious to what he had accidentally just caused.

Eda's pupils dilated, the girl gasping before a beast rose in her place, her father's mouth dropped open.

The beast then lunged forwards, young Eda gasping as she stood by the doorway, the grey owl beast crashing into her father as the two wrestled, the girl dashing forward.

"NO!" She cried out. "I won't let you ruin this again!"

She pulled the beast off, tossing it out the door, slamming the door shut while panting, the witch now in her current form, exhausted.

She turned around, seeing her young self clutching her arms, feather sprouted while she looked to her father in fear, blood leaking out of his eye as he lifted his head, crying out in pain.

"Dell!" Gwendolyn called out, pointing to her eldest daughter.

"Lilith, call the healing coven, now!"

Lilith dashed into a room, the girl nodding, Gwen rushing to her husband's side, the two looking at Eda in fear, the surroundings soon breaking off and fading away, Eda left behind on the place she stood on.

"It wasn't your fault." 

Eda clenched her fists, the Owl Beast soon appearing behind her. The woman glared, whipping around before she raised a fist.

"IT WAS YOURS!"

Her eyes were shut, unaware of the change in surroundings, blue skies behind her.

"Eda, I..." 

Raine looked away before facing the witch, noticing the raised fist. Raine let out a noise of fear, raising a forearm to protect themselves. 

"Whoa! What are you doing?"

Eda's eyes opened, the woman in her 20's before she gasped, glancing at her fist while she chuckled nervously.

"Raine!" She smiled nervously, hiding her hand behind her back.

"Uh, nothing. I'm fine."

"You're lying again," Raine frowned in disappointment. "It's like I don't really know you. So, I've made a decision."

"Okay, okay." Eda stood up, facing away from her lover. "I know how this plays out, but I'll be ready this time. You hear me, birdbrain?"

The woman placed one hand on her chest, another hand pointing in the sky while she glared. Raine soon began to speak up, Eda crossing her arms, her eyes tightly shut.

"I'm joining the Bard Coven, and..." Raine looked away.

"No, no, no, I hate this part." Eda held her arms close.

"...I think we should see other people." Raine finished. "I'm sorry, Eda. It's over."

Eda's eyes opened, pupils shrinking, feathers beginning to sprout from her hands as they began to grow larger, nails growing and her hands changing colour.

The woman shut her eyes, opening them once more to reveal them completely black, Raine worried for the witch as they stood up.

"Are you okay? Is this the curse?" Raine frowned.

Young Eda covered her face, current Eda standing before her as she placed her hands on her younger self's shoulders.

"Just tell them!" She urged. "Let them help!"

Young Eda chuckled bitterly before responding to Raine, the woman clutching her head.

"It's fine! Everything's normal." Young Eda hid her face. "You can leave now."

Raine frowned before taking in a deep breath, crossing their arms, and turning away.

"I can't do this anymore."

And before she knew it, Raine had vanished, current Eda clutching onto her former self's hands.

"Stop pushing them away!"

A screech rang out as the Owl Beast's face had replaced where her younger self once stood, Eda's eyes widening, fists clenched.

"You!" She hissed.

The beast jumped backwards, the lighting changing, skies now a bright red while Eda stormed forwards, jumping onto the beast and tackling it.

"It was always you! It was all your fault!"

The beast continued to screech, the duo landing further into the flower fields. The Owl Beast then reached a claw over its shoulder, grabbing the witch off of its back, throwing her into the fields, Eda crying out.

She rolled in the dirt, the Beast landing with a crash in front of her.

"Stop... ruining... my life!" 

The woman raced towards the beast, grabbing its beak as she slammed her head into her enemy's, and before she knew it, she was in her Owl Beast form, eyes wide, but normal.

She gasped, walking forwards to see a skull in the distance, the witch now standing on a cliff.

It wasn't long before flashbangs landed before her, the witch crying out as a net was tossed onto her, wicked laughter ringing through the air, a fog building up.

"Don't bother, beast!" They chuckled. "You can't run away anymore. It's over."

The shadow from Eda pulled away, revealing a cloaked figure, solar and lunar patterns covering the cloth while they laughed madly, Eda snapping free from the net as she flapped her wings, flying away.

Eda began to pant, her wings starting to burn turning into fiery bits as she cried out, collapsing into a dark liquid below, a glowing red scroll in her place.

It washed up on the shore, the surroundings black and white. A tentacle stretched out, taking the scroll while it lifted the parchment to the beach cleaner. The person moved their thumb, seeing an owl seal on it before they shrugged it off, placing the sheet into their basket.

They picked up the woven item, walking away.

Eda frowned, sitting on the shore, a red string tied to her ankle as it led to the sea.

The wind blew ahead, the now-small Owl Beast's screeching clear as it flopped into the ocean, making a failed attempt to fly away, the same red string attached to one of its paws.

The creature splashed in the body of water for a while before making another effort to fly away once more, flapping its wings as it tugged on the string, Eda looking down at her ankle. 

The woman held the piece of string, seeing it entwined her pointer, the creature giving up as it crashed into the water.

It wasn't long before it pulled its way to the shore, panting in exhaustion before flopping onto the sand.

Eda walked towards it cautiously, the witch looking down at it pitifully.

"It's okay." 

She placed her palm on its head, the beast soon snapping at her, Eda instantly retracting her hand.

Suddenly, the ocean began to glow gold, a round vial of Eda's potion floating ashore, the woman picking it up.

"You know, I thought these were a way to fight you," She frowned at the bottle. "But, I think they're the reason we can stand here, face to face."

The beast frowned, Eda lowering herself to talk to the small creature.

"Listen, neither of us want to be here, but," Eda popped the vial open. "We are, and there's no changing that."

The woman poured the golden liquid from the vial into her palm, the liquid reflecting the beast in it.

"If we can't accept each other, this nightmare will never end." She then smiled slightly. "So, what do you say? Truce? For now?"

The Owl Beast sniffed at the liquid, soon standing on its hind legs while licking at the fluid, Eda chuckling at the ticklish feeling.

"It's like sandpaper."

The beast suddenly stopped, walking into the witch's lap, Eda's eyes widening in surprise at the Beast's movements.

She smiled, placing the vial down before petting the creature.

Then, the sky lit up, filled with colour, Eda's eyes sparkling.

"Wow... I've never had a dream this pretty...."

Light began to envelop the place, Eda and the beast floating as she braced the tiny creature.

•

The woman gasped, jolting awake, too distracted to hear that her voice had doubled, panting.

"Ugh! My head..." Eda placed her hand on her forehead before seeing her arm.

"Huh? Oh geez, did I turn again?"

The witch rushed to the mirror, her hands red while she placed them at the sides of the object.

Her eyes snapped open, scleras black and irises golden, gasping as she pulled away, admiring her new form.

"Whoa..."

The woman's body was entirely red from neck down, wings fanning out from behind her back, her legs bird-like.

Her admiration was soon broken by a familiar voice, the owner of it panicking.

"I made it worse. I MADE IT WORSE!" Hooty wriggled around, crying out while tears appeared.

"Hooty, wait, it's okay!" Eda tried to console the demon.

Unfortunately for her, the demon ignored her cries, stretching away while she ran to the door frame.

"Hooty!"

Once he was gone, the woman shrugged him off, walking to a mirror as she whistled at her reflection.

"Oh, girl..." She spun around before posing.

"This is a hot look."

•

"You're scaring the echo mouse!" Luz exclaimed. "If he's not happy, I'll never make my way into Amity's heart. I mean, make a portal back home. Uh... we have to go!"

Luz ran into her room, blushing while she slammed her door shut using her foot.

The girl clutched the terrarium before sighing, leaning against the door, then pulling herself up, walking away.

"Okay, little mouse." Luz frowned. "If you don't want to tell me about Phillip or how he made his portal, maybe you could tell me how to ask out a cotton-candy-haired goddess?"

Luz squished her cheeks onto the glass of the terrarium, the echo mouse's ear twitching before it turned around, bottom facing Luz as it whipped its tail.

"Luz's heart was torn between finding a way home and the pursuit of love."

Luz placed the terrarium down on her window sill, frowning.

"How'd I know all that? I suppose I'm just attuned to other people's emotions."

Luz glanced sadly at the little creature, unaware of the bird demon that glanced at her from behind, the demon slinking back out, an idea coming to him.

"She wasn't gonna make any progress if her attention was split!"

"Amity's smart, cool and classy!" Luz smiled softly. "Asking her out should be breathtaking, emotional, and real!"

The girl clung onto the window sill, staring at the echo mouse.

"Everyone back home said I was cheesy." She pulled away. "Can't let Amity think the same."

A knock was then heard on the girl's door, Luz's eyebrows raised in confusion as she opened the wooden door, looking down at a piece of paper on the floor.

Luz raised an eyebrow, squinting before she had read the message printed on the paper out loud.

"'As we stumble through life, gloom knows no bounds.'" The Latina read aloud. "'You'll only find love, when you're in the ground?' Ugh!"

Luz flipped the paper, seeing a note behind.

"'P.S.; I mean the basement!'" The Latina stood up, glaring. "Hooty! I don't have time for this!"

Her eyes then opened, her eyebrow raised once more in curiosity.

"Also, we have a basement?"

•

get ready for the lumity content yall.

Note 1: HarpyEda, HarpyEda, HarpyEda–

Note 2: I have grammarly now and it's correcting me on every single frikin thing–

Note 3: Luz, we're all a little cheesy sometimes </3

Note 4: i love how luz pulled an amity

Note 5: how the hecc does hooty back if he has no arms–

anyways, that's all for today! thank you all so much for reading and i hope you all have a lovely week ahead!

-sam