Chapter Text
“Hoot! Watcha got there, Eda? A new friend?”
Luz jumped back away from the door.
“Gah!”
A weird, tube, bird, thing with dark, beady eyes extended out from the door, leaning into her personal space.
Luz swallowed and leaned back.
Mat-Eda swiftly brought her staff down on the mildly terrifying creature’s head.
“Ow!”
“Knock it off, Hooty,” Eda scolded. “Let us in.”
“Fine! Geeze, I was just trying to be hospitable! Ow, hoot!”
Eda kicked the door open with her foot, adjusting Luz’s body thrown over her shoulder with a slight huff, stepping back so that Luz could go in first.
She hesitated, glancing back at the strange bird demon.
“Are…you okay?”
He teared up.
“Knowing someone cares takes away all the pain, hoot hoot!”
On the contrary, the red mark on his forehead looked pretty painful, but if he was sure…
Luz furrowed her brow and shrugged.
“O-oh, okay then.”
As she entered the house, Luz gasped in awe.
Everything looked so warm, and cozy!
Even the random weapons scattered around the room couldn’t take away from the charm of the glimmering candlelight and plush, mismatched furniture.
“King! Lily! I’m home! You’ve got ten seconds before I get through this door to pretend you haven’t been tearing the house apart to find the crystal ball,” Eda called, leaning casually against the doorway with one foot edging across the threshold.
A loud clamoring sounded above Luz’s head and a few seconds later a breathless King and sheepish looking Lily appeared at the top of the stairwell, peaking their faces through the balusters.
“We weren’t- ”
King squeaked and cut himself off, both kids gasping as they registered who was standing in their living room.
“LUZ!”
Luz grinned and waved.
“Hey guys! I’m ba-oof!”
Luz wheezed as a blur of red slammed into her.
“Oh, I’m so relieved to see you again!” Lily breathed, pulling back after giving her a tight squeeze, hands on her shoulders. “How are you feeling? It’s only been a few days, are you sure you’ve recovered enough from Tether-Strain to be here?”
Her head did still hurt, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before so she shrugged and fiddled with a loose strand of hair.
“I’m fine. It’s good to see you too, Lily.”
Lily frowned slightly but said nothing as King finally reached the bottom of the stairs and joined her side.
“You’re back super early!” he cried. “And you’re here!”
Gestured to the house pointedly, and Luz’s grin faded a bit.
“Haha, uh, yeah…”
Lily cocked her head, frown deepening.
“Luz?”
Matk- Eda strode inside the house and set Luz’s body down on the couch with a soft thump.
For a moment, there was silence, as Lily and King took in the limp body with red-rimmed eyes with shock.
Lily was the first to react.
She stumbled backwards a few steps, hand clasped over her mouth to muffled a raw, wounded sound.
King whimpered.
“L-Luz?”
“Long story short-” Eda spoke up gruffly. “Luz is alive, always has been. She’s fine, physically, as far as I can tell, but this-”
She waved a hand at Luz’s transparent form.
“-currently has zero explanation.”
“ Fine?” Lily whimpered, confusion written in her face and her hands clutched tightly to her chest.
“Then, that-you-that isn’t her-”
“No!” Eda cried. “Lily, hellfire, no! She’s alive. I would never-”
She cut herself off with a choked noise.
“Lilith, I would never.”
Luz looked between the two in tense silence, before something caught her attention.
“Wait, Lilith?”
Her eyes widened.
“Lily is a nickname?”
The sheer level of shock in her tone was enough to startle a laugh out of the taller girl.
“I- pfft! Yes, Luz,” she giggled, relaxing marginally. “Lily is just one of E-Matka’s silly little nicknames.”
“I already told her the truth, you don’t need to keep that up,” Eda interjected lightly.
“The whole truth?” King asked in a weird tone. “Ooor…”
“Not yet, but I guess now’s as good a time as any,” Eda sighed.
“What are you guys talking about?” Luz asked uneasily.
The tension returned to Lilith’s shoulders, and she placed a hand over her mouth, eyes lowered to the ground.
Several candles sputtered out in the rafters, and the mirror above the fireplace glazed over with a layer of frost.
“Lils, go upstairs with King,” Eda said quietly.
Lilith said nothing, and the frost continued to spread past the mirror’s frame. More candles flickered and snuffed in little plumes of smoke, dripping wax stopping in their tracks.
“Lilith.”
Eda raised her voice a pitch and Lilith gasped.
The frost receded and the remaining flames resumed their merry dancing on their wicks.
“Go upstairs,” she repeated in a strained tone. “Take King, and tell Nana we have a guest if you see her.”
Lilith nodded minutely and wordlessly allowed a worried-looking King to take her by the hand and start going back up the stairs.
Eda sighed again and leaned against the wall.
“W-what was that about? Is Lily okay?” Luz asked, tangling her fingers in the edge of her shirt.
“She’ll…yeah, kid. Lils will be just fine after she’s had a bit of a break.”
She hesitated for a few more seconds, before shaking her head and patting the nearest arm of the couch.
“Take a seat, Luz. There’s something you need to know if you’re gonna be sticking around for a while.”
“Um, okay.”
Luz carefully crawled up onto the couch, mindful not to phase through her own body.
Phasing always felt weird, like her hair was standing on end and she was trapped in an itchy, too-small sweater.
Eda crossed her arms and pinched the fabric of her sleeves between two fingers.
“I’m gonna be straight with ya, kid,” she said in a strained voice, some of the tension from earlier returning. “What I tell you within these walls, I’m going to trust you to never speak to anyone. Got it?”
Luz nodded.
Eda pointed at her in a strict manner.
“I’m serious about this, Luz. Betray my trust, and there will be serious consequences. There are very few rules in this house, but this one is the most important.
Luz swallowed, unease sinking like lead in her stomach.
“I-I understand,” she stammered.
“Easy, kiddo,” Eda’s tone softened marginally. “This is important, but I already know you’re a good kid. I ain’t doubting you here.”
Oh.
Eda thought she was a good kid.
Heat rose to Luz’s face.
She’d never heard an adult say that about her before.
The embarrassment gave way just as fast as it had risen.
Oh, no.
Eda thought Luz was a good kid.
Crap.
That probably meant she had expectations for her.
No one had expected much of anything from Luz since she was a small child. Even her mother barely bothered to check if her grades were scraping the passing zone. Rarely did she bat an eye at what she did in her spare time at all, or talk to her about her future beyond scolding her for getting more than three detentions a month on average.
The thought of her mother made Luz’s throat ache and she swallowed again and tried to focus on what Eda was trying to tell her.
“You’ve been in and out of the isles for a while,” she was saying. “You already know the basics of how the demon realm works, how it’s… significantly more ruthless than the human world.”
Luz nodded.
That much was true. It had scared her at first. She’d thought her dreams were horrible nightmares, until she’d had time to adjust and seen the beauty in the isles that hid behind all the blood and grit.
“When I was a little older than you are now, I was cursed,” Eda said bluntly.
Luz gasped.
“What?”
Eda gripped the edge of her veil.
“The specifics are messy, and complicated, but what you should know is I’m…not exactly a looker underneath this old thing.”
“Does it hurt?” Luz blurted out immediately. “What does the curse do? Are you okay? Who cursed you? Why does tha-”
“Woah! Hey, easy, kid!”
Eda raised her hands in a placating manner.
“Look, I know this is a lot, but-”
“Can I see?”
She stilled.
“...It’s not a pretty sight.”
“I don’t care,” Luz said firmly, before realizing how that probably sounded and backtracking.
“I-I mean, unless you really don’t want to show me! That’s fine! But…you taking me in means so much, and I would never…I don’t want you to think I care about how you look- and I mean, if I’m gonna stay here for a while shouldn’t I know anyways?”
Eda took a moment to consider.
“I don’t typically veil around the house. You’d find out sooner or later. I’m just…warning you, I guess.”
Luz didn’t know what to expect when thick black fabric was finally pushed aside.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sheer amount of light.
Split roughly down the middle, one half of Eda’s face was pale and angular, her hair was a fiery mane forced into the captivity of a length of black cord.
The over half was completely unlike anything Luz had ever seen before.
Bare bones, carved with intricate loops and knots that shifted under Luz’s gaze, protected by a film of soft, golden light that held the delicate vertebrate of her neck in place and met the uneven seam of Eda’s skin.
She was missing an ear on her left side, and her eyes were black from pupil to sclera, broken only by burning aureate irises.
“Does…does it hurt?” Luz asked nervously.
Eda’s brow furrowed and oh, it was so strange, to see her expressions twist and shift freely on her face, instead of having to read her tone and body language.
“I…no. Not so much anymore.”
She tugged off her gloves-both of them this time- and her left hand was much the same, delicately engraved bones wrapped in golden light.
She held out her hand and Luz took it carefully, eyes wide at the way it felt just like holding onto Lily or King. Slightly cool to the touch but so solid to her senses, despite her current disconnect to the physical world.
“Not long after I got cursed, I left my old life behind.” Eda said quietly. “Within the boundaries of the house wards, you can call me Eda just like Lilith and King, but beyond that, especially in town, or the night market, my name is Matka, and what’s under my hat is no one else’s business.”
Luz nodded seriously.
“I understand.”
She tilted her head, still playing idly with Eda’s glowing hand.
“...I dunno why you said this was scary though.”
Eda blinked.
“Huh?”
“You look so cool!” Luz gushed, holding up Eda’s hand to prove her point. “And you glow? You’re like a giant night light!”
Eda’s face twisted into something she couldn’t decipher and a strangled sound escaped her throat.
“A ni-a night light?”
Luz nodded rapidly.
“It’s pretty!”
“Pretty,” Eda mimicked blankly.
She opened her mouth to say more but a yawn escaped instead.
Eda coughed and stood abruptly.
“It’s been a long night. You should probably get some rest.”
She scooped up Luz’s body and quickened her pace towards the stairs.
“Mmkay,” Luz muttered, sliding off the couch and padding after her.
“King and Lily’s room is just upstairs. I hope you don’t mind sharing.”
Luz shrugged.
She’d never shared a room or even been to a sleepover before, but she guess now was as good a time as any to find out what it was like.
The stairs creaked as Eda ascended to a wide hall. Luz looked around curiously as she trailed along.
This place was like, peak super old house. The floors and walls were made from wood so old and weathered she thought she could have run her hands over them without getting a single splinter. Everything was creaking and groaning as it settled, and the walls were scattered with old black and white photos, and even some painted portraits with names and dates scrawled in tight, tiny cursive along the borders.
All the windows were made of jagged stained glass, obscuring the view of whatever lay out in the dark.
It reminded her a little of her abuela’s house, but less creepy, and more…lived-in.
Especially with the toys laying on the ground in forgotten corners, and the warm smell in the air, like fried mushrooms and charcoal.
Eda came to a stop in front of one of two closed doors in the hall.
“This is the kids’ room. Bathroom’s the next door down, and I’m just upstairs if you need anything.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
Eda raised a fist to knock on the door.
“Wait!”
She paused.
“You okay?”
Luz ducked her head and knotted her hands together.
“Um…thank you. For everything.”
Eda huffed, a shadow of a smile tugging on her lips.
“Don’t worry about it, kiddo.”