The light of abyss (The owl house x Marvel)

After watching Eda and Lilith make fools of themselves for about the length of an average children's cartoon episode, give or take a few commercial breaks, the topic turned to removing Luz's coven sigil.

"So, Lilly says the sigils can likely only seal so much magic, and Luz taking in the Titan blood put it toward the limit," Eda explained, "so since she's in the unique position of being able to take in magic and make it hers or however that works, we might be able to burn out the coven sigil by giving her more magic... But the trade-off is the sigil's probably gonna act up again each time we do it. Boots," Eda said as she turned to Amity, "Luz says you came up with some plan to make her stronger back in the human realm. Would you care to share?"

"N-no," Amity stuttered. "I... That was something I came up with impulsively while uh... Freaking out about how casual humans are about living in a death world that experiences an apocalypse at least once a year."

"Are you sure?" Luz asked. "I mean, I did agree to try it a little, and now we have a good reason."

"That was before I knew it would hurt you!" Amity shouted before shrinking back and... Oh. That's why Amity felt so bad earlier.

"Sweet Potato," Luz said reassuringly, "you couldn't know that it would do something like that, and... I want to do this," she insisted. "The sigil itches all the time and... If the... We're gonna get into more fights with the Emperor's Coven," Luz said. "I could get restrained by those vine things again, and... Maybe I have a power that could stop whatever the Emperor's evil plans are now but I can't even use it because of the sigil."

"But, Luz... I don't want to hurt you," Amity said shakily.

Luz responded by hugging Amity. "You wouldn't be the one hurting me," she insisted. "It'd be the sigil. It wouldn't be your fault, it'd be that jerk's who gave it to me in the first place and... I'm willing to go through a little more hurt if it means getting rid of it."

"Titan Blood is the strongest source of magic in the demon realm," Lilith added. "It's highly unlikely that anything short of the Titan's other humors or palistrom would cause anywhere near as severe a reaction."

This did not comfort Amity at all, Luz quickly realized. "Amity..."

"Luz's symbiote side absorbed her witch's wool cloak, and, and when she was explaining the different heroes and villains of her world she mentioned that a symbiote had absorbed the powers of a hero called Spider-Man and now that symbiote and its descendants all had those powers as well, so... I thought we could use that to make Luz stronger, to keep her safe from the... But the only things I could think of that would be worthwhile were the humors and palistrom." Amity swallowed. "We, we promised to protect each other but... I couldn't keep Luz safe from the... And we talked about it, I'm still terrified and... Luz I'm sorry, but I can't help but be relieved that you can't go back there right now and I know I shouldn't feel that way I'm such trash I—"

Luz cut Amity off with a kiss, which seemed to reboot the panicking witch's brain. "You don't have to apologize. It's normal to worry and you can't help how you feel and... Yeah, now that I think about it, things like Galactus probably do make the human realm sound terrifying." Luz laughed awkwardly. "I have to go back but I understand why you're scared. You're not trash, and even if you were trash, well, then call me Oscar."

"...I don't know what that last part means," Amity said with a sniff. "But it sounds sweet."

"Human reference," Luz declared, "I'll explain later."

"Now, it's not like we'd just be letting Luz tough out the reaction," Eda declared. "If we're doing this it'll be here, with pain potions, while she's sitting or laying, and a healer on hand."

"And as long as we don't use any more Titan Blood," Lilith added, "the reaction shouldn't be... As bad. Even Titan Bone isn't quite as potent as Titan Blood. Honestly, the hard part would be getting the stuff. Titan Bone and Titan Biles are reasonably rare, Titan Earth is common but regulated, and Titan Breath is—"

"I can get Titan Breath," Amity interrupted. "My dad uses it to power some of his inventions... I just, need to come up with a story to tell him, since I don't think the truth will..."

"Then there's palistrom," Eda continued. "That stuff's been overharvested for years. It's getting harder and harder to find in the wild and cultivated palistrom trees are kept under lock and key. Bumpipoo and I have been jumping through hoops to make sure you kids can still get your own palisman—don't ask how it's a surprise—and even if we could get some palistrom is the wildest of wild magic. If Luz just took it into her body all willy-nilly, there's no telling what the effects could be..."

"So palistrom is what palisman are made of?" Luz asked uncertainly. Her mind turned toward what she'd seen the Emperor doing to that poor palisman that day in the castle. "Because, um..."

"Raw palistrom isn't alive the way a palisman is," Lilith replied. "It's the act of being carved that shapes the palisman into a form that can be animated, and the bond between a palisman and their first partner that brings them to life: Some sentimental types say that the carver, and first partner in the cases where a with didn't carve their own, donate a small portion of their own soul so that the palisman might live. Consuming raw palistrom would... You saw, didn't you? When you were sneaking around the palace."

"Yeah," Luz replied. "I saw what the Emperor does with palisman."

"...What does the Emperor do with palisman?" Gus asked.

"He eats them," Luz said grimly.

There was silence for a moment. Then Gus grabbed a bucket from Eda's junk pile and ran out the back door, though he didn't get so far away that they couldn't hear him retching.

"...Yeah, that was my reaction too," Luz acknowledged bluntly.

"Consuming raw palistrom would be different from what the Emperor does," Lilith said regretfully. "He... He said he was doing it because it was the only way to manage the damage inflicted on him by wild magic, who knows what the real reason..." Something seemed to occur to Lilith. "His body is made of slime."

Luz had noticed that while fighting him. "And?"

"It's malleable, but forms into blades and tendrils when he lashes out," Lilith continued, "and he's consuming Palisman for... What if... What if the Emperor is one of these symbiote creatures? Or a hybrid like you? What if the real reason he consumes palisman is to hoard their power within himself and better pass himself off as a witch?"

"...Does he react badly to fire and loud noises?" Luz asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, we can try that the next time we inevitably have to fight him," Luz concluded.

"Tangent asside," Lilith continued, "consuming raw palistrom wouldn't be the same as the horrific abomination that I could have and should have stopped." Lilith's palisman, a white raven, settled on her shoulder and started nuzzling her. "Which brings us back to how we're going to get any."

Amity spoke up again. "I... I'll be carving my own palisman. It's expected of me. We've already got a branch of palistrom prepared, we're just waiting for my education to reach the point where palisman ownership is traditional. I was going to save the bark and the chips and shavings."

"...That would let Luz pace herself on consuming it, and mean we can stop if there's a bad reaction," Lilth continued. "But... Amity? You are aware that if you only see carving your palisman as a means of getting palistrom, as a means for anything really, rather than a partner, a friend, then you won't be able to bond with them properly, right?"

"I know," Amity defended. "This is... Something I've been looking forward to for a while. It's just... If it can help out Luz, too..."

"Good," Lilith replied. "I remember how eager you were to have your own palisman when you first became one of my students, I'd hate for you to be unable to bond properly" she continued. "Was going to do my darndest to make sure you could keep yours when you joined the Emperor's Coven...," she whispered. "I also remember how excited you were to get to learn multible forms of magic but... It seems you don't need the coven to do that after all."

"Yeah... The Emperor's Coven was what my Mom wanted of me, but... I just want... You remember all that?" Amity asked.

"Amity," Lilith continued, "I'm sorry I didn't say this until when I did, and that I used it to try and... but I meant it when I said you were my best student. When I said I was proud of your accomplishments... And I'm proud of the things you've done since leaving my tutilige, too. Again, I'm sorry I wasn't the kind of teacher you needed and that... I couldn't and can't be the kind of authority figure you needed." Lilith then looked to Luz and Eda. "And honestly at this point even if I could it would be really awkward."

Luz blinked. "I don't get it."

"I'll explain later." Eda quipped.

"Thank you, Lilith... It means a lot for you to say that but... Today is about comforting Luz and solving her problems," Amity finished, "we can deal with our relationship drama later."

"Actually, this is helping," Luz insisted. she... Loved backstories. And drama. And the people she loved talking about their backstories and working out their drama.

"Still," Amity deflected, "we should at least come up with a plan of action."

"I can ask around about Titan Earth," Willow added, "the plant coven doesn't have exclusive control of it, and fertilizers and potting soils made from it are reasonably common. Worst case scenario, we might be able to reconstitute some with enough work."

"Yeah, those were my thoughts too," Amity, "glad to have a more informed witch agree with me... But... There's another problem... The glyphs."

Luz blinked. "What about them..."

"Well, Luz," Amity began, "it's... awfully coincidental how you found them, right? You told me you found the light glyph in your recording when you and King were trapped with a dangerous demon by the boiling rain and it helped. You found the fire glyph in the ashes of our campfire when we were stranded on the knee."

"Wait, what!?" Lilith and Willow shouted at the same time.

"Oh, did we not tell you guys that?" Luz asked. "I think we're bad at keeping everyone in the loop on this kinda stuff..."

"And you found the ice glyph in the frost while helping Eda clear out her freezer... Where did you find the plant glyph?"

"It occured to me that if the glyphs occur in nature that they could be anywhere," Luz explained, so I took a magnifying glass to a potted plant and it was there."

"And it doesn't strike you as... Odd? That no one else has rediscovered them in all this time?" Amity asked. "And... They work by manipulating ambient magic. There's ambient magic in the human realm, but they only work there... In the presence of Titan Blood."

"...Amity, what are you saying?" Luz asked.

"I think... I think the glyphs come from the Titan," Amity began. "I think they run off of the Titan's power and... That the Titan let you have a chance to find them... Maybe... Maybe he likes your character? Or felt you should have a chance to learn magic... Or, or... Maybe Bos is a lying liar who lies and The Titan took a chance on an outsider exposing him but... Luz, if you take in all five of the Titan's humans, then... Then you'll have the magic of The Titan. Just a fraction of it but... Would the Titan approve of that? and if he doesn't... If he gave you the glyphs, can he take them away? The Emperor says one thing about the Titan but, everything we know about the Titan could be wrong."

King proceeded to laugh haughtily. "If the Titan knows what's good he'll be honored to let someone as amazing as Luz have some of his power. I say we go for it!"

"Boots, you're overthinking this," Eda insisted. "The Titan's dead."

"His heart still beats," Amity countered. "His longes still breath. His bones and marrow regenerate. Most of his flesh has rotted away but what's left seems to replenish itself. His remains are still generating vast amounts of potent magic, and... If the Titan is a God, a being so powerful that life spontaneously generated from its flesh as it died then... Who says it needs a body to live?"

"Okay, fair," Eda countered, "but you're getting into some children's fantasy chosen one stuff here. None of that's real."

"I'm not saying that Luz has some predestined path in life, I just... Maybe I'm just still a little brainwashed by the Emperor's Titan Cult but... I don't want to make Luz stronger only to take away the first spells she ever learned," Amity finished. "Applied theology is hard, and... It's not like I can find any non-Emperor's Coven sources on what the Titan is supposed to be like."

Luz responded by finding a pen and a piece of paper and drawing out the light glyph. Carefully, she held it up and tapped it, and the paper folded up and transformed into a ball. "If The Titan can take the glyphs away," she said, "he hasn't done it yet."

"Yeah but... The Titan blood was an accident," Amity countered. "what we're talking about, that'll be deliberate."

Luz hummed. "How do you pray to the Titan?"

Amity blinked. "What?"

"I'm not really religious," Luz explained, "honestly now that I think about it it's kind of freaky that Loki actually heard my prayers, but... Maybe a prayer could solve the problem? Just... Tell the Titan that we don't mean any disrespect doing this, that we're mostly doing it to get rid of something that's hurting me, maybe ask for permission." Luz shrugged. "It can't hurt."

Things got awkward for a moment before Lilith chimed in. "As the former head of the Emperor's Coven, I was trained in how to lead certain services. I was never particularly religious myself but... I can improvise something."

Lilith held out her hand and Amity took it. Luz took Amity's other hand and then offered her a free one which was taken by Willow, who held her other hand. Eda rolled her eyes but complied and closed the circle taking Lilith's other hand.

King, being too small for this, wandered off at that point.

"Titan below us," Lilith began, "we beg your guidance in this matter. Luz the Human has been branded against her will with the sigil of the Emperor's coven and it causes her continual harm. We know now that the emperor likely lies about doing your bidding, but even if he is not those sigils were never meant for a human. The only way to remove it from her at this time is to give her greater power, and the only way to do so efficiently involves your humors, the gifts you leave us of your own flesh and blood. We mean no disrespect in using your power in this way, and do so only to aid a child in need. We humbly ask your blessing in this endeavor and, if you approve and are willing, please give us a sign. Amen."

...That sounded an awful lot like a Christian prayer with the names changed out. Especially the ending. Luz felt this was really strange, but that didn't stop her from joining in when everyone repeated that last word.

"Alright, now do we have any other business to attend to before I go take a long shower?" Eda quipped.

"Nothing I can think of," Luz said while waving her hand playfully and—"Oh sweet Titan!" She exclaimed.

At the very tips of her fingers... Spark! Dark blue and purple, but.. Sparks. Magic!

"Well," Eda deadpanned, "there's your sign Boots."

Luz was giggling like a schoolgirl while everyone stared at her as she tried to draw a spell circle.

King wandered back in, shortly followed by Gus who carefully placed a now thoroughly cleaned bucket back where he'd gotten it from. "Did we miss something?" he asked.

After a few attempts at drawing a spell circle that didn't go anywhere, Eda came up behind Luz and gently took her by the hand. "Okay kid, you need to focus. Concentrate the power at your fingertips, and picture what you want. Let's try the light spell. Easy does it," she said, speaking half as a teacher and half as a mom as she guided Luz's hand through the movement.

A small and steady circle was drawn, and Luz conjured the tiniest ball of light. Small than what she made with the glyphs even, but... She could do magic, even just basic magic, on her own! She hadn't been this happy since, since... Since standing up for herself against her former crushes at the graveyard, when she realized just how far she'd come and how loved she felt. There was no arguing that Luz wasn't a real witch now.

"Wow," King quipped. "We missed a lot."

Luz yawned and stumbled back to the couch... Hopefully that taking it out of her was because she was still recovering from taking in the Titan Blood and not any other reason but...

All things considered, even if Luz still felt terrible about not being able to see her Mom in person, today was a good day, and Luz wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

...A buzzing alerted the room to a message on Amity's scroll. The witch in question checked it, then went pale. "My mom just called a family meeting... And she wants me to bring Luz."