Chapter Text
“It’s working…guys, look, it’s working!”
“Luz, are you sure everything’s working right? The glyphs are acting weird.”
“Relax Gus, I’ve got-”
“Look out!”
“AAGH! Whoo…close one!”
“Luz, get out of there!”
“Hang on! Just…hang on. I’m so close.”
“LUZ, NO!”
“Amity…?”
---
A flash of light sends a young lady barreling into a room vaguely familiar. She groans as she sits up.
“Ugh…what happened…?” she mutters to herself, then gasps as she sees her hands…her claws . “Yes, yes, yes !” she shrieks in delight. Brandishing her staff, the witch raises some ice to look at herself like a mirror.
She was carrying the blessing of the Titan again, the old glyphs resounding through her body. Her heart beat with a bile sac, her eyes glowed like the stars, and her wild hair covered her ears.
“Dang, Luz, you look good.” Luz says to herself with a whistle, then laughs and rolls her eyes. “Ah, I’ve been hanging out with Eda too much…alright, guys, it’s a success-!” She looks around, and Luz realizes that this is not the school.
And she was alone. No Gus, no Willow, no Hunter…no Amity. They were all here, helping her with her ritual! She was using King’s new Glyphs in place of the old glyphs in a Pre-Savage Age ritual, meant to restore things to what they were. It was primarily a healing ritual, but she planned to use it to revert herself to her Titan Form. That would give her time to maybe give the Isles some life again…give King a chance to meet his Dad. I mean, Belos made an overgrown amalgamation of an avatar from the Titan’s heart, how hard can it really be for the Titan himself to manifest a smaller arm for a game of catch? But, Luz is alone. Her friends aren’t here.
And she’s in the Conformatorium, in that treasure room Warden Wrath kept. What is she doing here? The Conformatorium…it’s gone. Is this a dream? As if in answer, Stringbean animates and bites her ear.
“Ah!” she smiles and pets her Palisman. “Thanks, sweetie.” She shakes her head, letting her hair stay wild- subsequently covering her ears. “Alright, let’s see. The ritual sent me to the Conformatorium- maybe a memory? But there are no trees, or portraits, or anything like that…” as Luz walks forward, she feels a crunch. She looks down, and her eyes widen as she sees the crushed paper crown that King wore before she met him, now crunched further under her clawed foot.
“Oh, no.” Luz then heard an explosion behind her, and rushes to the window to see her past self doing battle with Warden Wrath for the first time. “I’m back in time?!”
---
Luz could hardly control the Owl Lady’s staff (Eda? Eda, it’s Eda, gotta remember), and as she descended, the bird-masked Warden glared at her with disdain.
“Who do you think you are?!” the Warden snarls.
Luz smiles. This was her chance! The perfect segue!
“Do not underestimate me, Warden Wrath!” Luz points at the monster. “For I am Luz, the human, warrior of peace!” she grins as wind blows her hair, and she pulls out some fireworks. “Now eat this sucka-!”
Before she can throw it, there is an explosion of magic like the starlight sky. Landing down in front of her, pushing the prisoners off of the warden, is a tall shape that was nothing like any of the other demons Luz had seen. Her attire- it almost looked like some dark reflection of Good Witch Azura, but had celestial motifs, horns and fur on the hat, and a mane of scraggly hair. She carried a staff like Eda the Owl Lady, but this one is headed with some kind of snake, not an owl. She has taloned feet, and her hands end in claws. Her eyes shine like stars in the night sky. She also had an odd marking on one arm (a tattoo?) in the shape of a red bird. Around her neck, she wears a beautiful pendant of a crescent moon.
“Who are you?!” Warden Wrath exclaims.
“Look at yourself.” the figure said, resting the staff against her shoulders, like she didn’t consider the situation a threat in the least. “The Great Warden Wrath, reduced to nothing more than a sniveling romantic. What would your son think?”
“How dare you!” Warden Wrath swung his bladelike arms, but the newcomer dodged with ease.
“Sloppy! Messy! Pathetic!” the woman taunted with each missed strike. “What do you expect to happen if you do get a date? Or another? You know the Emperor would never allow this.”
“I can change her!” The Warden whines.
“Can you? Or would you be wasting your time?” the witch traces a purple circle in the air that seemed to be overflowing with magic, blasting a wave of snow that buried the Warden. “You lured her here and planned on kidnapping her head, alone.” she gets down on one knee to become eye level to the prone warden. “Is that the kind of message you want to send to Braxas?”
“N…no.” Wrath mumbles. “But what am I supposed to do? I’m Warden Wrath ! And you’re all under arrest!” he whines. “So long as the Conformatorium stands, I will do my duty!”
The woman looks to the building before her, a scowl on her face.
“Eyesore.” she mutters and raises the staff, a dark beam of energy devoid of light emerges and cuts through the tower, melting it and causing it to begin collapsing.
“W…what…?” Wrath mutters quietly.
“The human got those witches and demons out. Now all that’s left are the scouts and guards that can get out on their own with unsealed magic.” the woman grins. “Congrats, Wrath, your itinerary’s free!” she laughs to herself.
“Whoa…” Luz mutters. She had grabbed Eda’s head, but even the Owl Lady was looking on in awe.
The woman looks at them, and her face drops to one or horror.
“Oh, Titan, you’re so small…”
“Er…who are you?” Luz calls out.
The woman seemed taken aback by this, and almost looked…relived?
“Who I am doesn’t matter, human girl.” she smiles. “You have shown great heroism today! That much is clear.” she bows dramatically. “It would seem the legendary Owl Lady had found an ally pure of heart.”
Eda’s head blows a raspberry. “Legendary, huh? What’re you selling?” she scoffs.
The woman cracks a grin. “Nothing at all, Owl Lady.” She sits atop her staff and begins to ride off.
“Stop!” more scouts try to sling magic, but the woman is easily able to weave and dodge.
“Kid, move, while they’re distracted!” Eda orders.
---
“Someone get her!” more scouts cry, and the elder Luz happily draws their ire.
“Well, I’m not disappearing, so…time travel without consequences, I guess.” she mutters.
“Shoot her down!” “Who is that?” “Someone get her name!”
Name, huh? Yeah, she’s need a name for this world, and ‘Luzura’ wasn’t gonna cut it. No, she needed something more, something with more heft…something that blended in, make her seem like a real denizen, all while making it clear to Belos that someone is coming for him.
A grin crosses her face as a devious idea enters her mind.
“You want my name, Coven Scouts?” Luz calls down below her. “Tell Emperor Belos that
Evelyn
is coming for him!"