The angel of the owl house

Her wide smile returned as an idea came to her.

"Alright kid, I see I can't tempt you, so chores it is."

Luz nodded confidently; "I can handle any job you throw at me, Eda!"

"The real work will come this afternoon, since I've got some stuff to take care of first. While I'm working on that, you can just babysit King and practice your light magic. See if you can use it to vaporise some trash; Titan knows we've got enough of it around here." Eda said.

"Oh. Okay, I can handle that easy." Luz said, a bit surprised by the easy task. She then opened her mouth to ask Eda what she was going to be doing, but the Owl Lady was already through the kitchen and out the back door.

"Welp, gotta get to work! See ya after lunch! Byeeee!"

Luz then heard the back door slam shut, followed by another door slamming shut outside. The girl briefly wondered where Eda had gone, before shrugging and heading out front to keep an eye on King and Hooty, and practice her magic as ordered.

For the rest of the morning, King continued to use Luz's notepad, which she graciously allowed him to keep, to make Light Glyphs and show off to Hooty and Francois. Luz watched him while using her light magic to create a series of different attacking spells based off of different things she'd seen in anime. She could fire individual light bullets from her finger tips, larger blasts from her palms or fists, continuous beams, and if she really focused, she could even make her light magic home in on a target, though that was a lot harder to achieve and only seemed to work with the tiniest bolts she could shoot. She and King came up with a game in which King and Hooty would go into the trees around the Owl House and drop things for Luz to shoot before they hit the ground; Luz loved the practice, King loved the wanton destruction, and Hooty was just happy to be included. Eventually they moved back into the house, where King invented another game; this time involving him scratching light glyphs into pieces of trash to make them glow, so Luz could spot them and vaporise them just like Eda had suggested. This was less fun for Luz, especially since the destroyed trash left behind dust she had to sweep up, but King was enjoying himself so much that Luz didn't have the heart to say anything.

When lunch finally came, Eda returned with a satisfied grin and the faint whiff of potions fumes around her. She walked in to find King in his high chair, carving light glyphs into his food to make it glow before he ate it, while Luz swept the floor clear of dust.

"Hey kids, I'm finally done!" Eda proclaimed happily, before looking around the kitchen and noticing the severe reduction in trash; "I see you've been busy too. Good job Luz."

The young angel smiled; "Thanks. It's been fun; I got to improve my aim and help out at the same time. Never thought my good deed for the day would be shooting stuff!"

"Ha! Stick around and you'll do a lot of weirder stuff than that! Speaking off; here's what we're doing this afternoon."

Eda reached behind her and pulled out a massive burlap sack full of bottles of varying shapes and sizes. Luz looked at them with interest as Eda explained; "As you know, I sell human treasures that Owlbert brings over from the Human Realm, but that's only really on the weekends. The rest of the time, I sell only the finest home-made elixirs and potions."

"Oh, so that's why you kept asking for my feathers and tears." Luz said, picking a potion from the bag at random and smirking when she saw the label; "Snake oil? Really?"

"No one wants an unoiled snake! Now follow me." Eda lead Luz out onto a stone balcony on the side of the Owl House; "Your first real job will be helping me deliver packages and sell potions to that town over there." she pointed with her staff, which seemed to appear from nowhere; "That's Bonesborough."

Luz smiled, remembering the odd town from yesterday. It was where she had first arrived in the Boiling Isles, and where she'd first met Eda. She was looking forward to getting a closer look! She followed her teacher back down to the living room, where they found King waiting for them by the front door, sat on the potions bag he'd dragged in. "Now you'll need to be careful." Eda continued, "I have a lot of rivals who'd love to take my business down and you along with it. Stick close to me, and don't be afraid to blast some fools if they start making hostile moves."

"I'm not surprised." Luz said cheekily, "Don't worry Eda; how much danger could I be in with the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles by my side? Not to mention the fearsome King of Demons!"

King puffed his chest out proudly, while Eda chuckled at her apprentice's cheek. "Alright alright, stop trying to butter me up! Now I don't want people knowing you're an angel, so go grab your concealment stone. I'll play with the enchantment a bit to make you look like a normal witchling."

"Okay! Be right back!" Luz hurried out of the room and up the stairs to collect her concealment stone, leaving King and Eda to wait by the front door.

"You sure you want to come along too, King?" Eda asked. "You usually hate being dragged along on my deliveries."

"Hanging out with Luz has been fun." King said simply, gesturing to the pad Luz had gifted him. "But what about you? You hate those deliveries as much as I do; I'm surprised you're not using the whole apprentice thing as an excuse to stay home and send Luz out on her own. It's not like she's defenceless."

Eda couldn't deny that; while her potions business was lucrative, she always had to fight to get people to pay her prices, which made it a real pain. If Eda didn't have an ulterior motive, she really would have sent Luz off alone, or with King as an escort; something her sharp little room mate picked up on.

Listening to make sure Luz was still out of earshot, Eda leaned down to whisper to King; "I'm not giving up on nabbing some angel tears, so I'm going along to make sure I get them."

King actually looked concerned; "You're not going to hurt Luz, right?"

"Of course not; I'm not that cruel!" Eda said, taking a bit of offence. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small blue vial; "I'm going to slip her some of this; Tearful Tonic. One drop on the tongue or in the bloodstream and Luz will be all weepy for a good ten minutes. Then all I have to do is catch myself some tears!"

"So that was what you were doing all morning! I don't know about this, Eda. You know I'm always up for asserting my demonic dominance and making some peasants cry in terror, but Luz has been helping us a lot, and she's been real nice about it even though she's an angel and we're a demon and a witch." King said, fidgeting with his claws.

Eda was surprised; she'd have thought King would be all for it. It was a fairly light-hearted prank by Demon Realm standards! The little fella must have gotten more attached to her apprentice than she realised. "Come on, King. The potion will only make her cry; it doesn't even make the drinker sad! It's just spontaneous crying! The worst possible outcome is Luz getting a little dehydrating, and I'll buy her something while we're out to make up for it. I need these tears, King. They could be the secret to curing the curse!"

King's expression softened a little; he didn't know the full details of Eda's curse and had only seen her under its effects a handful of times, but he knew she'd long ago given up on a cure. But with Luz around, they now had a source of a potential new ingredient; one that Eda never got to try out. If it actually worked, Eda would be free!

Eda saw the look in King's eye and knew he was considering what she'd said. Now to sweeten the deal a bit…

"You know, she could cure you too. You lost your "crown of power" but maybe Luz's tears can be made into a potion to restore your power without it."

"Weh!? They could fix me too!?" he exclaimed before softly asking; "Do you really think Luz's tears could help do that?"

"Angel tears are supposed to be the best ingredient in cures of all kinds, so they might work. It's worth a try, right?" Eda replied.

"And Luz really won't get hurt?"

Eda nodded seriously. King hesitated for a few long seconds, then nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll play along. I'll pay Luz back by giving her her own castle in my Demonic Kingdom!"

Eda sighed in relief; this would be a lot easier with King helping. They finished their conversation just in time, as Luz came running back into the living room with her concealment stone.

"Sorry I took so long. Hooty moved my satchel without telling me first." the girl said, offering the stone to Eda.

"He does that sometimes. Now, let's see here…" Eda began casting illusions over Luz, hiding her wings, changing her hair colour from white to the same brown it had been before her maturity started, and even hiding her glyph markings just in case her clothes got dishevelled. She left the girl's amber eyes and pointed ears alone, then once she was satisfied, she cast a spell on the concealment stone to make it scan Luz's new disguise and remember it. "There. Now you should transform to look like this whenever you wear the stone." Eda said, handing the stone back and dispelling her illusions.

Luz briefly returned to her angel form, then put the stone on and smiled as the same changes overcame her again, disguising her as a normal witchling. With her disguise in place, Luz was ready to go. She put King on her shoulder, then grabbed the potions sack and through it over the other shoulder. "Ready when you are, Eda!"

Eda nodded; "Then we're off to Bonesborough! Normally I'd fly us there, but you could do with memorising the path through the forest."

Luz gave a little salute, then followed Eda out of the house. The trio waved goodbye to Hooty and headed into the forest, walking leisurely through it to reach Bonesborough. Along the way, King pointed out all his favourite spots to play, or "train to recover my dark powers" as he called it, while Eda showed Luz some of the different types of foliage that were good for potions. Luz took it all in like a sponge, happily memorizing every detail and writing it all down in a little journal she'd brought along. She wanted to keep a record of everything she'd seen and done on the isles to show her Mami when she returned home at the end of the summer. Hopefully that would make her feel better about her daughter being in the Demon Realm for all that time, and maybe convince her that the Demon Realm wasn't as bad as she thought.

When the trio finally arrived in Bonesborough, they found the town to be unusually busy for a week day, and with few if any guards walking the streets. The rest of the garrison must still have been dealing with the aftermath of the mass-breakout at the Conformatorium. That worked out perfectly for Eda; fewer guards meant they were less likely to be disturbed.

"Okay Luz, let's get to work! I'll handle the first batch of deliveries while you put that charm of yours to work selling these!" Eda said, casting a spell that divided the bag of potions into two, one of which she took. "There's a list in the bag to show what stuff is which, and how much it costs. Try to haggle for a higher price, but don't sell for under that price! When you're done, meet me back here. King, you stick with me."

King reluctantly jumped from Luz's shoulder to Eda's, then Luz gave a little salute and happily rushed off to begin exploring the town and selling the potions. King gave Eda a look of confusion as she watched her apprentice go.

"Why send her off alone? You can't slip her the potion if she's not with us!" King pointed out.

"Isn't it obvious? Once she drinks the potion and starts crying, she isn't gonna want to keep walking around town, so I've got to get the real work done first. Plus I want to give her a chance to explore on her own. She's not used to our world yet." Eda answered, "Now let's get to the deliveries!"

With that, Eda and King trudged off to the first address on their list.

Meanwhile, Luz was getting stuck in with her own task. She was exploring Bonesborough whilst reading the list of potions, trying to spot people or places that would be ideal for selling each one. She'd tentatively introduced herself to a few witches and demons, and they'd been polite enough, but they'd also walked off with a "not interested" each time she tried to pitch a potion to them, not even letting her fully explain herself. It was a bit saddening, but Luz didn't give up! Then she noticed something somewhat familiar; a centaur at a pumpkin stand.

Luz recognised centaurs from human myths, but hadn't realised they were real! She was eager to speak to one, and Eda just so happened to have brewed some nice hoof polish that Luz was sure he'd love, so she hurried over.

"Hey, who has four hooves and wants to buy a potion? This guy!" she grinned, tapping him with her elbow before giving him the finger guns. She just barely noticed the centaur's head had no face before he put down the pumpkin he was holding to reveal his face was actually on his chest. Luz blinked in surprise, but rolled with it and quickly smiled at him again, looking him in the eyes that were where a human's nipples would be.

"My eyes are down here." he said with a weary sigh. Luz got the feeling that he was used to this.

"Of course sir! I'm Luz, the apprentice to famed Potioneer, Eda the Owl Lady! I have just the thing for you!" she said reaching into the bag of potions.

She initially grabbed the hoof polish, but then she stopped. The centaur could definitely use the polish, but was that really the best thing to sell? Thanks to her angelic urge to help others, Luz felt like something else would be better… something that might solve a problem this Centaur was having.

Switching gears, she instead grabbed a small vial with an eye dropper in the cork; "Bothered by people never looking you in the eye from the beginning? Well worry no more! This is a vial of Chromatic Eye Drops! Just one drop in each eye and they'll sparkle and shine in any colour you choose! They last six hours and will ensure everyone knows exactly where your eyes are! They won't be able to take their own eyes off them!"

The Centaur blinked, a smile slowly growing on his chest. "Really? Do you think they'll work?"

Luz uncorked the potion and offered the dropper to the Centaur; "Want a free sample? Just don't tell Eda." she whispered, winking conspiratorially at the Centaur.

He happily accepted and applied a drop to each eye, and after blinking a few times, his eyes began to sparkle and shine with a far more vibrant emerald green. They were captivating, and people walking in the streets stopped to look, whispering compliments and comments of awe that had the Centaur beaming so hard his pecks were flexing.

Luz took a picture with her phone so she could show the Centaur how he looked, and he began to get choked up; "I've never looked so amazing! I'll take it! How much!?"

"The bottle is yours for the low price of 75 snails!" Luz grinned. The minimum price listed on the paper Eda had given her was 25, but Luz decided to start with a high offer in hopes of being more successful. Eda had told her to haggle for a higher price!

As it turned out, she was almost too successful.

"What!? You're selling an Eda potion for under 100 snails without a half hour of haggling!? I'll take it! I'll take every vial you've got!" the Centaur yelled eagerly.

"I've got three vials. Each one should last about a month." Luz said, a bit shocked as she pulled out two identical vials. The Centaur took them all and dumped 225 snails into Luz's hands, before galloping off whilst laughing with joy.

Luz then found herself swarmed as the idea of the Owl Lady's potions "going cheap" spread throughout the market. The young witch needed to fire off light blasts into the air just to keep the crowd from swarming over her, and she soon ran out of potions to sell, even though she was selling them all for three times the minimum price on the list. It made Luz wonder just how high Eda usually sold the potions for. By the time the sack was empty of everything except the last few deliveries, she had made a killing and it was actually more work to lug the bag of snails around than it was the potions.

Despite the added weight, Luz felt great! She'd completed her first task of her apprenticeship, made a ton of money, and done a lot of good deeds! Today was working out wonderfully!

Luz had ended up sold out in just under two hours, so began to slowly meander her way back to the spot Eda had told her to. As soon as she got there, she found Eda and King hurrying towards her with a still half full bag of deliveries.

"Kid, are you okay!? We saw the signals you shot!" Eda yelled, looking Luz up and down.

"Signals? Oh, my light blasts! Sorry, I was just warding off some excited customers. But look; I sold out!" Luz smiled proudly, handing over the bag of snails. Eda and King stared at the hefty sack like Luz had just handed them something alien.

"How?" Eda asked dumbly.

"Turns out that you have a reputation for overpricing. I just said I was selling your stuff cheap and everyone rushed to buy it. Don't worry, I still sold everything for at least three times your asking price."

The Owl Lady blinked slowly; "Huh… I usually charge ten times the price as a first offer."

Luz wilted; "Did I do bad?"

"No way, I don't think I've ever sold the whole bag before! It's rare I sell even a third. The minimum prices were enough to cover ingredients, time, and labour, so selling a potion at even a small mark up is all profit." Eda replied quickly; "Good job, kid."

"Ha, Luz is a better salesperson than you!" King taunted childishly. Eda responded by shoving him off her shoulder with a "Weh!?" while Luz giggled.

"Anyway, good job kid. Let me get you a snack as thanks; you've not lived until you've tried a Bonesborough Not-Dog!" Eda said, before leaning close to Luz to whisper; "Plus King is a lot less mouthy when he's eating."

Luz giggled again, then nodded eagerly; "Sure, thanks! I actually forgot to eat lunch with King, so I'm kind of hungry."

Eda needed no further encouragement and happily marched off down the road with King and Luz following closely behind. She led them to a street corner where a gelatinous green demon was running a not-dog stand. The not-dogs themselves were made of some incomprehensible meat-like things loosely shaped into something like a sausage (not unlike a real hot dog) and were garnished with some kind of black, spider-like thing. Luz shuddered a bit, but wasn't going to turn her nose up at free food, especially food she hadn't tried before.

Eda bought one for each of them, with King inhaling his before she'd even gotten her own or Luz's. When she did get Luz's, Eda subtly dripped a few drops of the tearful tonic onto it (careful not to spill it on the garnish, which would likely start crying) then hid the evidence under some ketchup before handing the not-dog to Luz.

"Thanks Eda!" Luz chirped, sitting on the street corner to begin eating. Eda grabbed her own and sat beside her, waiting for her to bite into a potioned part.

"Man, this is weirdly good. The garnish looks freaky, but it tastes kinda-like extra spicy relish." Luz commented, nibbling away at it.

Eda really wished she'd hurry! The anticipation was killing her, and the empty vial she'd prepared for Luz's tears felt increasingly heavy in her pocket. Just as Luz was about to take a bite into the ketchup/potion covered part, a small demon child eating their own not-dog suddenly tripped and sent their treat flying down the street, where it got stomped on by the crowd. The little demon, who looked vaguely like a cyclops crossed with a cat, began to whimper and tear up, seconds away from a loud tantrum.

"Aw, little buddy…" Luz sighed sympathetically, before getting up and going to kneel beside the kid. "Hey there, don't be sad. These things happen. Here; you can have the rest of mine." she said, offering the remaining half of her not-dog.

Eda groaned as the child gratefully took the not-dog with a "Thank you, lady!" and began to eat. She couldn't stop them without it looking suspicious, so she just watched and waited for the inevitable. Meanwhile Luz smiled and pet the little kid's head as they ate, happy to have done a little good deed. The not-dog had been tasty, but she was always happy to share!

At least, she was until the kid finished it in one big gulp and suddenly began to tear up. Luz gasped and prepared to say something soothing, but before she got the chance, the little demon let out a loud, keening wail that soon devolved into a series of noisy sobs. A cascade of tears came flooding down their little face from their singular eye, soaking the front of their clothes. Eda cringed as people began turning to watch the noisy scene, while Luz was more concerned with the child.

"Oh! Oh no! Little buddy, are you okay!? What's wrong?" she asked, patting the child's back and making nonsensical soothing noises to try and calm the child down.

"What do you think you're doing!?" bellowed an angry voice.

Luz looked up and saw another demon like the child stalking towards them, looking furious. It was likely the poor kid's parent. The adult demon grabbed their sobbing child and cradled them to their chest; "There there, baby! Mama's here." they said, before glaring at Luz; "What did you do to my child!?"

"N-Nothing! I saw them trip and drop their not-dog, so I gave them the rest of mine! They were fine, then all of a sudden they started crying! I don't know why!" Luz tried to explain.

The demon parent clearly wasn't buying it; "Yeah, you're a real hero, kid." they said sarcastically, before stalking away; "Stay away from my baby! Stupid teenagers…" they muttered angrily, stomping away. The crowd that had been watching looked between Luz and the departing demons, then continued going about their day, ignoring them both.

Luz's shoulders slumped as she walked dejectedly back to Eda and King, feeling miserable. "I was just trying to help…" she whispered to herself.

Eda scoffed; "Aw, don't listen to them! They're a total helicopter parent! A blind person could see that you weren't to blame."

"B-But then why did that little kid start crying?" Luz asked.

"I dunno; kids are emotional and cry over everything. They probably just felt really happy that you gave them the treat, or embarrassed that they'd tripped." Eda shrugged.

Luz looked doubtful; "So it wasn't my fault?"

"I'd bet my right hand on it!" Eda smirked, pulling off her right hand and putting it on Luz's head to emphasise her point.

The young angel giggled as the hand scurried around her head and shoulders, then gently flicked her ear before returning to its owner. "Thanks Eda. Let's get back to work." she said, feeling a little better.

Eda nodded and grabbed King, walking a few paces behind Luz on the way to continue their deliveries. "Well that didn't work…" King whispered.

"Yeah… can't pull that trick again; not with Luz so willing to give up her food. I thought teenagers were all supposed to be ravenous little monsters." Eda griped.

"I guess angels are just like that. So what's the next plan?"

Eda grinned and subtly pulled a blowpipe out from her hair, making King's eyes widen. "You're going to give her a bath?"

Eda rolled her eyes; she used the blowpipe with darts dipped in a sleeping potion whenever she needed to wash King, as the slippery little beast was a monster when it came to getting him in the bath on any terms but his own!

"Darts can be dipped in more than just sleeping potions." Eda retorted, pulling a very thin needle from her hair and dipping it into the tearful tonic, before loading it into the pipe. The needle was thin enough that Luz probably wouldn't even feel it, but it would get the potion into her bloodstream all the same; "Now I just need a good moment!"

After the first failure, Eda decided to be cautious and let some time pass. With Luz having sold all her merchandise, the young angel began to help Eda make the rest of their deliveries, so Eda sent her off on her own with half the packages while she and King secretly followed, waiting for the perfect moment to shoot the dart. Normally Eda could hit a moving target without much trouble; King rarely sat still at bath time after all, but in a crowded place and with Eda not able to predict Luz like she could King, she had to wait until Luz stopped for a decent amount of time.

Her chance came when Luz came to the house of a frequent customer of Eda's; a hideous demon about Luz's age who bought super acne cure potions to treat his horrible facial boils.

Eda and King crept as close as they could without being seen by Luz, and watched as she knocked on the door and the boil-ridden demon answered the door. "Hello sir, I have your potion delivery!" Luz said with a pleasant smile, not letting on that the demon's face was anything too horrid.

"Ack! You're not Eda!" the demon cried, his voice cracking. Demon puberty was a real pain for his subspecies; a breed of Cthulhu-like Biped Demons with squids for heads. His facial boils were thick black, ink-filled pustules that covered his head completely, much to his own embarrassment.

"I'm Luz, Eda's apprentice. I'm helping her make her deliveries today." Luz explained, "Here's your potion."

She pulled out the vial, checking the label and address to make sure she had the right one, then handed it over without comment.

"O-Oh man… I didn't know the Owl Lady had an apprentice! And a g-girl my age too! Aw geez… You don't go to Hexside, do you?" the demon stammered, clearly embarrassed.

Luz shook her head; "Nope. Never heard of it."

The teenage demon sighed with relief; "T-thank the Titan! H-Hey, please don't tell anyone I buy this stuff, o-okay? I order it from Eda specifically so no one knows!" he begged, handing over the snails for the potion.

"Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me." Luz promised, "You shouldn't be embarrassed anyway; things like this happen. I remember when I turned 13; I had terrible acne for months! It wasn't fun, but it cleared up eventually. Yours will too, and you'll be back to looking awesome in no time!"

The hidden King and Eda both smirked and rolled their eyes as the teenage demon's eyes grew wide at the compliment; of course Luz would try to make him feel better! She was the poster child for helpful angels! It was weird that no one in her own world thought so, at least in Eda's opinion. Shaking that thought away, Eda brought the blowpipe to her lips and aimed at Luz; it'd be a bit embarrassing for her to burst into tears in front of the other teenager, but since the girl knew his secret too, Eda was sure it would be fine.

"A-Aw shucks, thanks miss. W-Will I see you around?" the demon boy asked, a blush partially hidden by his boils.

"Sure, I'll be staying around Bonesborough for the next three months or so. Come say hi if you see me around, and I'll do the same." Luz smiled as she began counting the snails he'd handed over and putting them one by one into the pouch of money Eda had handed over to hold the delivery fees.

Eda inhaled and then shot the dart, aiming right for the back of the girl's neck…

…only to miss as Luz fumbled a snail and dropped it, causing her to kneel down to retrieve it and the dart to fly through the space her head just was to instead hit the teenage demon. The demon flinched and pulled the little needle out, staring at it for a moment as Eda's heart sank.

"Oh Titan, here it comes!" she cringed.

As if on cue, the demon burst into noisy tears, startling Luz. "W-What!? What's wrong sir!?" she asked urgently, not having seen the dart.

The poor boy tried to articulate that he didn't know, but when demons of his subspecies cried, their facial tentacles flailed wildly, making talking impossible, and their eyes leaked black ichor, making his face even more of a mess than the boils did. After a few frantic seconds of trying to explain, the boy's nerves finally got the best of him and he ran back into his house, slamming the door in Luz's face and leaving her stood there, stunned and upset.

"I did it again…" she muttered weakly.

Eda sighed heavily, trying to ignore the feeling of King's judgemental eyes boring into her as she hid the blowpipe back in her hair and walked over to her upset apprentice. "Hey Luz, bit of bad luck there, huh?"

"E-Eda? You saw that? Listen, I swear I didn't mean to upset him! I don't really know what I did, but I'll apologise right away and-"

Eda cut off Luz's apologies with a gentle flick to her forehead; "Breathe, kid. That wasn't your fault any more than the last one was."

"B-But how can you be so sure?" Luz asked. She looked briefly on the verge of tears, but wiped the stray drops away, much to Eda's hidden disappointment.

"I was watching, of course! King and I followed you in secret so I could see the sparkling personality that sold all my potions at work!" Eda quickly lied. "Don't beat yourself up over it; I bet that whole mess was just a mix of teenage hormones and him talking to a pretty girl."

Luz blushed at the compliment; she'd been called pretty before back in her human high school, and had even been asked out once or twice, though she'd never dated anyone and the mayhem that happened around her tended to keep all but the bravest away.

"Do you really think so?" Luz asked softly, still blushing.

"I know so." Eda nodded, "Come on, we've still got a few deliveries to make."

"O-Okay." Luz nodded, a weak smile on her face. It was obvious she still wasn't convinced that she hadn't messed up some how, making Eda sigh.

"I think we should give up on this, Eda." King whispered to her as they walked; "At this rate, we'll end up making her cry without the potion!"

"I know, I just… I need to get those tears! What if it comes out while Luz is living with us!? She'll be an owl pellet faster than you can say Weh!" Eda shot back. "I've got one more plan; it's not exactly subtle but subtly hasn't been working for me so far."

"Has "subtle" ever worked for you?" King snarked. Eda huffed and shoved him off her shoulder again, making King go "Weh!" once more and run to climb into Luz's arms instead.

It wasn't a part of Eda's plan, but King's presence in Luz's arms kept the girl distracted so she could begin her final attempt at Operation: Angel Tears! Reaching into her hair, Eda pulled out one of the few human artefacts she'd never tried to sell; one that was so rare and powerful that there was no way it could fail!

It was a fake flower with a thin pipe sticking out the end that connected to a little water bottle. All Eda had to do was invite Luz to sniff the flower, then squeeze the bottle to spray water in her face! Eda carefully unscrewed the water bottle and poured some of the tearful tonic inside it; now that the potion was mixed in, all she needed was a single drop in Luz's mouth or the surface of the eye, and BAM! Tear city!

Eda carefully put the flower on the front of her dress, hiding the pipe and bottle in the process, then called out to Luz. "Hey kid, I know you're still feeling a little down in the dumps, so how about a smell of this?" she grinned, pointing to the flower; "It's a Happiness Hibiscus!"

Luz took one look at it, then smirked. It was obviously one of those fake squirting flowers that clowns had! She figured Eda didn't realise that she knew what it was and was trying to play a prank to cheer her up! Well, two could play at that game!

"Oh wow Eda, that looks interesting! A sniff of that would surely be fun!" she said playfully, being mindful of her words. It was tricky to deceive a person without being able to actually lie, but Luz wasn't going to hurt herself for a joke and it didn't look like Eda saw through her bad acting.

Eda just grinned a bit wider as Luz walked closer and slowly leaned down to take a sniff. The moment she was close enough and opened her mouth, Eda would strike!

Then, a lot of things happened all at once. Luz got close enough to the flower and saw Eda's hand twitch to the hidden water bottle. The Owl Lady shouted "Got ya!" as she squeezed, sending the potion-tainted water spraying out of the flower. However instead of hitting Luz, the girl suddenly raised King up to take the squirt for her, and the little Demon's shocked "Weh!?" resulted in it going right down his throat.

In an instant, both Eda and King knew what was about to happen, but were powerless to stop it. "Oh no." they both said, as Luz giggled manically.

"Ha! Got me? I got you! I heard you two whispering a moment ago! You were gonna prank me! Too bad for you, I got you first!" Luz laughed happily. She calmed after a moment and smiled; "But thanks for trying, that did cheer me u-"

"WAAAHHHHH!" King suddenly burst into noisy sobs, tears flowing down his skull and into his fur.

"King! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-!" Luz cried, but King couldn't hear her over his own cries.

The tearful tonic was a weird potion to be under; King didn't feel anything out of the ordinary yet he couldn't stop crying and sobbing like his favourite toy had just been destroyed. It was humiliating to be forced to throw a tantrum like a baby, and King was painfully aware of everyone on the street turning to look at him. Before he could be humiliated further, he squirmed free from Luz's grasp and ran off, not hearing her or Eda calling for him.

Eda facepalmed as another of her plans completely fell apart; "Dang it!" she growled, not seeing how Luz flinched away from her.

"E-Eda! I didn't… I wasn't trying to…" the girl tried to get the words out, but kept stumbling over them.

Eda felt bad for her, but she didn't have time to hang around; the tonic would wear off on its own, but if she left King to cry for that long, she'd never hear the end of it from the little tyrant! The last time he got upset with her, he set Hooty on her and the incident that followed resulted in the last of her hair turning grey!

"Not now, Luz. I need to get King." she said shortly. She then ran off after King, completely oblivious to the devastation she'd just left in her wake.

She ran through the streets of Bonesborough, following the sounds of King's wails and the wet trail of tears he'd left, until she eventually found him sobbing away behind a dumpster in an otherwise empty alleyway. He looked up at her and tried to speak through his sobs, but it was incomprehensible so Eda just pulled out a vial of antidote and poured the orange liquid into the little demon's mouth. Almost instantly, King calmed down and his tears stopped flowing.

"Ugh, that potion feels so weird!" King complained.

"Yeah, it is a little odd. But forget that for now; I'm all out of plans and almost out of tonic." Eda sighed, sitting down beside King and showing him the vial of tearful tonic. Only about a quarter of it remained; enough for maybe one more attempt. "Maybe I should just say screw it and mix it into Luz's dinner… we've kind of lost the subtlety angle now anyway." she complained.

"Actually, I think I want to stop this crazy scheme now. Everything keeps backfiring, and if you put the tonic in her dinner, she'll share it with Hooty or something and everything will go nuts! Besides, it didn't really feel good to be forced to cry like that…" King said, looking downcast at the notepad Luz had given him. He didn't want to inflict this feeling on his newest friend.

Eda sighed; "Yeah, you're probably right. This was a stupid idea. After seeing your reaction, the idea of Luz doing the same thing just feels like bullying. I may be head of the Bad Girl Coven, but bullying a literal angel is a bit much."

That made King frown; "Uh, Eda? Where is Luz?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm not sure. I left her to chase after you." Eda said, before realisation hit her; "Oh Titan, I left her! She was apologising and then I…" she remembered what she'd said and done, and how it could be misunderstood by an upset young angel. "Crap! We've gotta go find her!"

King didn't need to be told twice, and quickly grabbed onto Eda's hair as the wild witch got back to her feet and ran back to where she'd left Luz in the street. As expected, the girl was nowhere to be found and there was no obvious trail to follow, making the Owl Lady curse. With a snap of her fingers, she summoned Owlbert to her side.

"Owlbert, I need to find Luz. Search from the sky. King, use your nose to help track her from down here." Eda ordered.

Owlbert hooted, a look of reproach on his adorable little face, then obediently flew off to find Luz, while King sniffed the notepad and pencil Luz gave him to catch her scent. Between Owlbert's eyes and King's nose, they were able to find Luz's trail and quickly follow it.

The trail led to the woods just outside of Bonesborough, a short distance from the path they'd taken from the Owl House, and at the end of it they found Luz. The girl had her face in her arms as she sat beneath a tree. Her shoulders were shaking, and Eda and King could hear her crying softly, making them both feel like the biggest monsters on the Boiling Isles. This had been the result they'd been aiming for… it just wasn't how they'd wanted it to happen.

"Luz…" Eda said softly, moving to the girl's side, "Can I sit here?"

Luz nodded, not lifting her head from her arms. Eda sat beside her and waited in awkward silence, trying to find the words to say to make things better. Luz ended up speaking first though.

"I thought things had changed." she whimpered, "I thought I'd gotten better. After what happened at the Conformatorium and my powers finally awakened, I thought things would be different. That I could finally be a good angel and help people! That I could finally be useful… be worth something. But I'm still the same screw up I always was! Every time I try to help, I ruin everything! I made that little kid cry, and that teenager too. And King! I hurt King! He was having so much fun after discovering he could use glyphs, and I ruined that for him!"

"You didn't ruin anything! I still had fun, and I want to have more fun! With you!" King argued.

Luz finally looked up, eyes rimmed in red and tears still flowing down her cheeks; "How can you forgive me after what I did to you?"

"C-Come on Luz! I'm the mighty King of Demons! A little water isn't gonna make me cry! It was… it was…" King looked to Eda. He didn't want to throw her under the bus, but he couldn't think of another excuse.

Luz just shook her head; "You're sweet, King. But we both know this was my fault…"

Eda sighed heavily; "No Luz, this is my fault."

"Eda, how can my screw ups be your fault?" Luz asked rhetorically.

The Owl Lady looked down in shame as she reached into her hair and pulled out the nearly empty vial of tearful tonic. Luz looked at the cerulean liquid with confusion, as Eda explained.

"This is tearful tonic that I made this morning while you were watching King and vaporising trash. One drop and the victim bursts into tears for at least ten minutes." she said, unable to meet Luz's confused gaze.

That confusion soon warped into horrified realisation, and a look of betrayal that had Eda wincing.

"The kid I gave my not-dog too…"

Eda nodded grimly; "I spiked it with this. Hid it under the ketchup, but you never got to that part before giving it to the kid."

"T-The teenager!"

"Blow dart dipped in it. You ducked to pick up that dropped snail."

"King!?"

"Potion in the water." Eda finished shortly.

Luz recoiled away from Eda, a sight that was more painful than the Owl Lady had expected it to be. The girl had been so open and friendly, and trusted Eda a lot despite having been raised to fear demons and witches… and Eda had broken that trust.

"You wanted my tears!" Luz yelled accusingly, "All of this… you made me feel like I was a screw up again! You took all the confidence I had and smashed it, all so you could force me to cry after I specifically said I didn't want to give you my tears!? How could you!?"

The girl was actually crying harder now, though it was fuelled by anger and fear. She looked down at King, whose own expression of guilt was all she needed to see to know he had been in on the plot. The girl turned away, refusing to look at either of them.

"Luz, I'm so sorry… I-I thought the tears would help me get my powers back! I didn't mean to hurt you…" King tried to apologise, but Luz just shook her head.

"I thought you were my friends… but the moment I said I didn't want to do something for you, you tried to trick and force it out of me!" Luz said, her voice hoarse and broken, "I thought you guys were different… I guess I was wrong."

The young angel briefly turned back to Eda and snatched the bottle of tonic away, making the Owl Lady flinch. Luz dumped the remainder of the potion into the dirt, which Eda considered more than fair, but then to her surprise Luz placed the now empty vial beneath one of her eyes and allowed her tears to flow into it. She filled about a third of the tiny vial, then stuffed the cork back into it and thrust it into Eda's hands.

"There. Now you've got what you wanted from me… you'd only have found some other way to force me to cry anyway." Luz said bitterly.

"Luz, I-" Eda tried to speak, but the girl wasn't having it. Luz silenced her with a glare and wiped her eyes dry before grabbing the sack of potions that still needed to be delivered.

"I'll handle the rest, so please leave me alone." she said.

Eda reached for her; "Kid, seriously; you don't have to do that."

Luz avoided Eda's grasp and began to walk back into Bonesborough; "Please… just… I need some time alone."

With that, Luz left them alone in the woods, both feeling as devastated as Luz had. Eda and King sat in stunned silence for several long minutes; they'd barely known Luz for a day and already they'd screwed things up! Then again, neither were surprised; they were the self-proclaimed lord of calamity and most wanted witch on the isles, and the King of Demons. They only had each other, in part because their antics drove everyone else away. It had been a pleasant surprise when Luz actually wanted to stay with them, especially given that she was an angel and that her first experience was Eda refusing to let her go home until she'd helped them with their heist. But then they'd pulled this stunt the very next day; they'd let their own desires push them into not only hurting Luz, but violating her; both in body and in soul. The more King and Eda thought about it, the worse it sounded; they'd conspired to make a young girl cry after she'd put herself in danger to save them. That wasn't loveable rogue territory; that was just plain cruel.

"What do we do now?" King asked hopelessly, looking at his notebook. "Is Luz gonna leave us?"

"I don't know, buddy. I wouldn't blame her for it." Eda said, holding the vial of tears. She'd gotten exactly what she wanted… but she'd give it right back if it would fix things.

"W-We've gotta do something! Maybe I'm just being selfish again, but I don't want Luz to leave! No one's ever stuck their necks out for us before, like she did with that creep of a Warden!" King cried, on the verge of tears again.

Eda nodded; "We both owe her. Let's… let's give her some time. She'll need to come back to the house to get her stuff no matter what she decides to do, so we'll wait and talk with her then." she said, before looking wistfully in the direction of Bonesborough. The sun was going to start setting soon, and Eda really didn't like the idea of Luz walking back in the dark…

"King, you go home and wait for us. I'll make sure Luz gets back safely." she decided.

"But I thought you were gonna give her some time."

"I am; I'll just watch her from a distance and make sure she's safe. She's still just a kid after all, and the isles are dangerous, especially after dark."

King couldn't argue with that. He wished Eda luck and scurried back to the Owl House, planning a little something to show Luz how sorry he was. Meanwhile Eda took to the skies with Owlbert and flew back into town, being careful not to be spotted by her upset angel apprentice. She found Luz fairly quickly, since she'd memorised all her regular customers, making it easy for her to follow behind and make sure the girl was okay.