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bxdbxdboy · 3 years

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Character Development

BASICS

Full Name: Luz Noceda

Alias: Apprentice

Nicknames: Bad Boy, (Luz Squad) B.Boy, (herself) Soft Boy, (Cottage) Baby Boy, (Eda) Nice Boy, (Sunny) Sweetheart (Bee)

Sex / Gender: Female, Nonbinary (she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs ) .

Right or Left: Left

Age: 16.

Height: 5'6″.

Eye Color: dark brown

Hair Color: Dark brown

Distinguishing Marks: She has a raven tattoo over her scar she received trying to stop her villain in her timeline. She’s shaved her left eyebrow in the middle to match her friend’s scar.

Paragraph Of Physical Traits: She’s got a rather strong build which means she has no weak nerd arms and a significant amount of muscle to her arm. Her hair is slicked back like a wave and it’s always been like that it just has always naturally curled and folded over in that direction. When she sleeps it gets wavy or spikey sticking up like a parrot.

FAMILY / RELIGION

Parents / Guardians: Camilla Noceda

Siblings: n/a adopted Brother King.

Marital Status: Not married.

Significant Other(s): Bee (Amity-Bee), Blushy (Amity in her timeline)

Children: N/A.

Other Relatives: Many Many cousins, aunts and uncles and cousins on both sides of the family.

Pets: Bunga, (familiar, honey badger) Saturn, (familiar magical Owl) Calypso. (palisman Sable)

Friends: Cottage, Sunny, Iris, Bee, Lucky, Otter, Puppy, Gus, Willow.

Enemies: Emperor Belos.

Ethnicity: Latina

Religion: None.

Beliefs: N/A

Superstitions: black cats, broken mirrors. KARMA!

Languages: English. Spanish.

Diction / Accent: Spanish

SCHOOL / WORK / HOME

Education: Public School / High scool leverl/ Hexside

Degree(s): Not yet.

Occupation: Local Power washer for her boiling isles, Food delivery, Potion distributor.

Own or Rent: Neither.

Living Space: Eda’s home in the owl house, Her home in the human realm, and Magic Treehouse bedroom.

Work Space: N/A.

Main Mode of Transport: Skateboarding, Walking, running, or flying. Can drive, will learn, will drive without license.

PSYCHOLOGY

Fears: Being replaced / abandoned, her anger issues, her home getting concurred, loosing her friends, venomous snakes, possessed creatures, dark mimics. spiders, The deepest depths of the Ocean, Slender Man, Siren Head.

Secrets: A big softie just doesn’t want many who meet her to realize it.

IQ: Was never formally tested, but she may not be as intellectually gifted as the other Luz’s There’s a big jock mentally mindset to her as a whole.

Eating Habits: Ravenous Appetite, no matter how much she eats she’s always asking for more. She can put some food away if someone has something they’re saving it’s too late she’s already gotten to it.

Food Preferences: She enjoys Hot Wings they are her most favorite food besides Pizza coming around at a close second She likes a lot of junk food candy, cookies, chips of all kinds. On occasion she will eat something green though like some lettuce with taco meat or a green pepper. She’ll eat it all everything under the sun and even be adventurous eating a wide margin of other foods. She almost always has hot sauce on her there isn’t a single kind of meal she doesn’t love covered in the hot stuff.

Sleeping Habits: She sleeps well, for the most part, when she isn’t attempting to be a night owl she falls asleep relatively quick, even rivaling some of the younger Luz’s with how early she can fall asleep. It’s likely she has sleep apnea as she has tendency to snore so very loud and wakes up during the night in cold sweat, when she stops breathing from night terrors. She will oversleep until almost 2:00 in the afternoon if not monitored.

Book Preferences: She’s not a big egg-head book reader like the rest of the squad is the most Bad Boy read in school was “Animal Farm”, and The “Lord of the Flies”, in high school two books that peaked her interest a little bit. She also enjoys listening to Cottage read some horror books it’s the most she’ll really listen rather than use her eyes to read, in fact, one would say she struggles to read efficiently.

Music Preferences: Hip Hop, Rap, Dubstep, 80′s music, The Weekend, Various artists.

Leader or Follower: She likes to be the boss, but will occasionally follow if she doesn’t have to do much.

Planner or Spontaneous: Spontaneous! All of her ideas are never planned out she definitely does not look before she leaps. Her leaps are full of optimism and happy stupidity. The only time she tends to plan is when Bee holds her hand and forces her to take a step back.

Journal: Nope

Hobbies: Dancing, listening to music, training, watching videos / shows, exercising, roasting members of the Luz squad, doing dangerous stunts, skateboarding, basketball, baseball, (more so the batting range) Surfing (Prior), Deep woods exploring, practicing her magic, teaching her familiars, (Saturn and Bunga) Listening to music, Swooning Bee, Video games, Baking Pizza, Breakdancing, Beat Boxing, Collecting Hats, Serenading, Dancing, Snuggling King.

How Do They Relax: By listening to some calming beats privately, counting to 10, or at any point stroked by Bee she curls and becomes softer.

What Excites Them: Competitions, Wild magic, Magical Creatures, Parkour, Plane Crash videos, Unus Annus, Dogs! Kitties, Being in charge, Buffalo sauce, Food!, Flirting,

What Stresses Them: Bossy individuals, Strict Parents, Rude people, Being inside the Emperor Castle, Being the butt of the joke, Tests, Explosives. Needles.

Pet Peeves: Vegan food, Whining, losing games, Being accused of being a perv, mocking, people stealing her hat, Lucky sending her cursed images.

Prejudices: high horse, pretends not to be a trouble maker to stay in good graces, struggling to not be hostile towards her doppelgängers,

Attitudes: Closed off, Laid back, Aggressive, or chill and cool depending on who you are. Bad Boy appears to be the “scary” anger issues Luz that is liable to explode at any moment and when she does her face and ears can get as red as Bee’s. You’re either in good graces with her or your not, she’s not always easy to approach unless you have a good sense of humor than she cracks up with you about stupid jokes.

Obsessions: Her shoes and hats, her favorite music, lids, BEE

Addictions: Does addiction to sugary cereal count? because oh my god-!!

Ambitions: Defeat Belos in her timeline, find a way to get adopted as a sibling by Cottage Core, Have her own identity outside of Cottage and the Luz squad. Become a powerful witch, Make her mom proud.

ASTROLOGY / PHISIOLOGY

Birth Date: November 26, 2005.

Sign: Sagittarius

Traits Associated with Western Sign: loyal, smart, assertive, and compassionate personality

Chinese Zodiac Sign: The rooster

Traits Associated with Chinese Sign: active, amusing, and popular within a crowd. Roosters are talkative, outspoken, frank, open, honest, and loyal individuals. They like to be the center of attention and always appear attractive and beautiful.

Handwriting: It’s okay…; fairly sloppy.

Sexual History: N/A.

General Health: She takes pretty good care of herself as far as hygiene and having a good confident attitude. experiencing some struggles with her adhd, bad posture leaves her with some back pain.

Mental Disabilities: PTSD, ADHD, depression,

Allergies: Seasonal.

OBJECTS KEPT IN

Purse / Bag: Wallet, towel, water bottle, Treehouse keys key chain,

Wallet: Photo ID, Gold, Cash, rings, Brass knuckle,

Fridge: Chalked full of between meal and frozen pizza.

Medicine Cabinet: Bandages, Healing Potions, Icey-hot muscle rub,

Glove Compartment: Parking tickets, Trespassing tickets, concert tickets.

Junk Drawer: fidget spinners, gum, pens, sharpies, stress balls.

Backpack: Hats, Snacks, Mints, hair gel, Extra clothes, socks, pepper spray, hand sanitizer, suntan lotion, hair brush

Desk: Doodles, Paper Airplanes, Crumpled up Paper.

Clothes Pockets: Phone, Hot Sauce packets, hand warmers, stress ball.

OTHER

Halloween Costumes: A zombie, the cementary is hiring.

Talents: break dancing, beat boxing, fighting in close quarters, self defense, making Luz squad question their sanity, making jokes, flipping her hat. being annoying.

Politics: Nah.

Flaws: stand offish, moody, blunt and direct, vain, doesn’t like to be on the losing side indecisive, selfish,

Strengths: Her optimism, strong sense of personal integrity, avoiding the status quo, free spirited, confidence level, good sense of humor.

Drugs / Alcohol: N/A. No who invited?

Passwords: The most random shit.

Prized Possessions: Her hat passed down by her oldest cousin, her unus annus sweatshirt, a small wolf plushy named Akela

Time and Place: Currently, at the Treehouse interviewing new members of the Luz squad. She just got back from a trip and she has jet lag.

Special Places: The treehouse, her original house, The owl house, the forest where she goes to meet Blushy, The cliff by the Grom tree, the beach.

Special Memories: Meeting Eda and King then running into Cottage and Bee, Becoming friends with Cottage Core learning magic from them, Teasing Belos and Hunter with Cottage Core, Dancing with Bee at her Grom, becoming a polyamorous couple with Bee and Cottage. Being accepted into the Luz Squad.

Tagged by: Stole it from @witchesborn

Tagging: You, if you want to do it.

#hcs #the bad boy #;Bad Boy #long post #info dump #about b.boy

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sepublic · 3 years

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Luz’s Self-Punishment?

I actually think that like Lilith, Luz has a tendency to overtly punish herself for mistakes, she’s just… WAY more productive and efficient about actually fixing the situation, even at the cost of herself- Maybe even especially because of it!

I say this because Luz makes the understandable mistake of crashing Owlbert, who was fully willing to indulge in Luz’s antics during Escape of the Palisman by taking her to the Glandus game. And obviously Owlbert is also justifiably hurt and maybe reluctant to reconnect with Luz… But it’s also worth observing that Luz is clearly beating herself up mentally over her mistake, she doesn’t hesitate to throw herself into the Bat Queen’s trials and even risk her life to rescue Owlbert!

And, obviously- Luz is a very impulsive kind of person in general, incredibly brave, and would do anything for her friends. But I am concerned about Luz possibly beginning to see herself as like, a burden, or even someone who keeps hurting people even when she tries to help them… Especially when they tell her not to. Take for example, Luz turning Willow’s memory photo back up because she still wants her and Amity to reconnect… and it leads to Willow’s mind almost being destroyed. Luz’s efforts DO pay off in the end; However, Wing it like Witches has Luz recklessly challenge Boscha to a Grudgby game, over Willow’s honor.

That’s fine as it is… But the problem is that Luz says that Willow is challenging Boscha. And I think this is a scenario where Luz legit thought she was doing what was best for Willow, that this was of course what Willow wanted… And while she was justifiably mad, I think Luz may have projected some of her own anger onto Willow by assuming she felt the same way, while also seeing an opportunity to play out her Azura fantasies through a Grudgby match; Hence why moments before Boscha drops trash on Willow, Luz looks VERY intrigued by Amity pointing out that Boscha only listens to Grudgby… Amity wasn’t at all suggesting Luz challenge her to a game, but Luz is remembering that Azura movie she brought up earlier, and getting ideas.

So when Luz does recognize she made a mistake… I think she’s just a tad too eager to both take on ALL of the responsibility and repercussions, but also doesn’t do too much to vouch for herself when Boscha starts attacking. Now, you could argue that this is just Luz being kind of impulsive and thoughtless, not thinking of herself in a genuinely forgetful way, while also not anticipating Boscha to be THAT intense; But I have to wonder if Luz will sometimes shoulder the blame and burden of her mistakes too much. Just as Amity did when she cut herself off from Grudgby after accidentally injuring Boscha and Amelia that one time… And it’s interesting that Luz is inspired to take all of the blame after Amity recounts this story; And it’s Amity who realizes what’s up and thus goes out to get Willow’s help.

Or, take Witches before Wizards! Luz enrolls in Adegast’s Quest, wanting to play out her fantasies, and does so on her own, on her own terms… Ideally only Luz should be in danger, if any comes around; And yet Eda and King still get involved to rescue Luz, and Luz finds out that her getting into this quest was what endangered them in the first place, because she was meant to be a hostage! Then we have Agony of a Witch; Eda tells Luz to just mind her own business and be happy, and not concern herself. But not only is Luz legit scared for Eda… She also expresses a desire to ‘pay her back’, as if Luz thinks the happiness she provides isn’t enough. As if Luz feels she’s inadequate, perhaps a burden…

Which, matches with Luz being the child of Camila, who’s single and occupied with the VERY time-intensive job of being a nurse, and is already stressful as-is. I think Luz quietly taught herself to not try to be a burdern on Camila… Or at least thought that was what she became, when her mother agreed to send her to Reality Camp. This is her mom, who objectively loves her and is supposed to, and likely was the only one supporting and indulging in Luz’s interests for her entire life. So when Luz DOES meet Eda and King, Willow and Gus, or Amity… While she’s still very much herself in a lot of ways, an utter weirdo and a cryptid;

I AM concerned that Luz is going to be too conscious of the impact she has on others, a bit too much. She went ahead with trying to help Eda’s curse despite Eda telling her not to… And it led to a disastrous heist at Belos’ castle that led to Eda being captured and losing all of her magic, permanently. Luz let Willow and Gus help her in the heist, and they got in trouble as well… And I’m afraid that maybe Luz is beginning to think that any time she tries to help others, she just makes things worse. And/or, Luz feels like she should do things on her own so her loved ones don’t get involved… But even when she tries to in Witches before Wizards, her actions directly lead to Eda and King being captured.

Am I saying Luz is a bad or thoughtless person? Absolutely not- She can be a bonehead sometimes, but all of her mistakes are completely understandable. Luz needs to remember that a lot of her friends chose to get involved for Luz’s sake, they mutually care for her and vice-versa, she is by no means a burden and her own presence lights up their world. Eda reassures Luz that she chose to sacrifice herself for the girl, and hopefully the advice will stick there… But even so, Luz is a fourteen-year-old who was ostracized for a LONG time.

She’s no doubt been conditioned to think of herself as a screw-up who hurts people… Hurts her mother by lying to her, Luz should’ve been honest when she had the chance; Hurting Amity by accidentally reading her diary when she just wanted to be friends… Making a statement that Viney and the others justifiably take out-of-context, but Luz interprets this not just as Viney and the others being valid in their initial fears; She thinks it means she HAS done wrong and hurt people, and so she accepts Viney’s rejection without a second thought and really lets it get to her.

I’ve seen others speculate that Luz has Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, and I really think this could be the case? Luz normally is herself, but lately, when things suggest otherwise… Luz starts to doubt her world-views, at least in application to herself- For others she’ll always vouch for them! But it takes a lot to love oneself… Take for example, Luz clearly berating herself for being too forward with Amity when she tries to initially approach her in Lost in Language, perhaps acting on some confirmation bias; That if Luz fails, then clearly this means she shouldn’t have tried in the first place, and of course nobody is interested in her.

Luz knows to unapologetically be herself and encourage others to, and then fully support them… But does she expect a lot of support herself? Is Luz resigned to the idea of being rejected either way, so she just goes ahead with who she is… And just waits to see what people DO respond to her, without getting her hopes up? Luz gives it a try, see what happens- And if they don’t respond, alas. If they DO respond… New friend, and Luz can get a bit carried away. Like her plan for Willow to sneak into Hexside and get a better grade… Luz was also legitimately altruistic, but I certainly hope that Luz doesn’t blame herself for getting Willow into trouble, especially since Willow ended up in the Plant Track because of her. Like Eda, Luz has accepted being herself unapologetically and not needing the approval of others- But Eda was also clearly lonely for a while too, having to wait for fellow weirdoes to resonate with her and reciprocate. For Luz, I imagine it’s a very different scenario with just passively waiting for someone to respond to your open invitations about who you are…

…VS actively WANTING someone, wanting them to accept you, etc., hence Luz’s apprehension about confessing to Camila. And maybe this could lead to some dynamic between her and Amity, where Luz doesn’t know how to handle actively desiring a connection with a specific person that may or may not fully reciprocate her… Luz loves intensely and affectionately and she focuses on making others happy so they don’t suffer like her; Is there the fear, the resignation that they won’t return the same? And that’s okay because they’re already doing so much for Luz just by tolerating a screw-up like her and her mistakes…? Coupled with how stressed Amity is and the abuse she has, and Luz might be afraid that Amity won’t ever feel the same way- So Luz should just be content with what she has, and then not move forward. Don’t get her hopes up.

Believe me, I don’t find this at all contradictory with my past takes of Luz as being someone who constantly asks why can’t she have it all, both for herself and others… I think she’s rightfully defiant and demanding in that self-respecting way, thanks to Eda especially. But when it comes to emotional love and whatnot, that kind of intimate connection, unconditional kindness and favors… I’m not sure if Luz ever expects that from others, nor does she ask it of them? It’s of course because she’s so kind and selfless towards people, her own demands and challenges towards the system are also into consideration of others just like her.

But maybe it’s because Luz is partially demanding because she sees it as helping others in a roundabout way… Or she’s only ever like this with strangers, with people she expects to already not think much of her, to not accept her, so Luz doesn’t have too much qualms with trying to be all perfect and subdued for them… But for people who DO accept Luz, it suddenly feels like a lot of pressure and responsibility, because she’s not used to this. She doesn’t want to screw it up, making friends who like her, because this is so rare, and it requires a lot more mutual reciprocation from others, VS an attempt to change the system or fight against the law, cause a prison break, etc.

Luz seems like the person who can handle learning a lost form of magic, fighting monstrous demons, all that jazz incredibly well; But when it comes to navigating actual emotional relationships, Luz has a lot more difficult navigating. Sometimes she copes with her fear by just going for it, sometimes she forgets about it entirely in her eager excitement, getting her hopes up… But in general, I don’t want Luz to think that she actively causes trouble for people, and that she hasn’t done enough to deserve the people who actively choose to be around her; Much less Luz’s potential apprehension about not being enough for someone she ‘forces’ interaction with because she wants to be with them, like Amity. I think Luz’s growing mistakes and incidents could contribute towards a growing sense of being a screw-up in her own way… And when you’re an insecure teen, you tend to forget about and disregard your good actions in hindsight, even as you’re performing them.

While Luz’s efforts do sometimes pay off, it’s usually after something goes wrong and everyone grapples with the situation. Sometimes Luz has to wonder if it could’ve been done in a much better way, and if her friends had to do too much heavy-lifting to make things right, to pick up after Luz’s mess- Like maybe her friends could’ve just fixed this on their own, it was only Luz getting into a mess that made them get involved sooner rather than later. The thing about Luz’s mistakes is that a lot of them are understandable, or while bad, nevertheless escalate past a point she could’ve feasibly expected, so maybe she’s being too hard on herself for the consequences.

I think Lilith is someone who also has an issue with this, as does King- And both have learned to confront that they cause messes that they didn’t intend, but still contributed towards. Of course, King is way more adjusted than Lily… And I can see Lilith and Luz potentially bonding over that feeling of being ‘cursed’, like any attempt to make things better for others just causes problems… And they’re already so much of a liability and a burden as-is. Even when they do things alone and for themselves, issues for their loved ones can develop as a direct result… So maybe they should just cut ties? To protect the ones they care for… Besides, their loved ones probably don’t need them THAT much anyway, their friends are too cool for losers like them.

I kind of feel like Luz and Lilith could have a potential issue of really undervaluing themselves and their achievements… That when they do bring them up, they don’t really mean it and it’s just a shallow attempt at making themselves feel good- But deep inside they know it means nothing. Lilith knows that being Head Witch of the Emperor’s Coven means nothing, not without Eda’s approval, and especially because she got it as a hand-me-down from Eda… But she still boasts of it anyway to invite other witches, and to lie to herself. If Eda contrasts with Lilith and can teach her sister to engage in some self-love… Then consider that Eda does the same to Luz; And what this could say about Luz and Lilith as two people on the receiving end of Eda’s support, who have a lot to learn and benefit from Eda and already have.

Maybe Luz expects herself to do a lot, because she recognizes that she IS a lot… So she tries to take advantage of this, and tries to compensate for past failures, by doing something good with it. This isn’t to say that Luz never acts in her self-interest, ever, because she’s still a fourteen-year-old kid with a loving and supportive family, who’s allowed to have fun and has still had genuinely positive lessons and growth in the Boiling Isles… Any issues she suffers in the Boiling Isles, if Luz gets them, would’ve been less worse than that of the Reality Camp, minus the physical harm bit of course. But that doesn’t seem to register to Luz that much because that’s not what really matters to her in the end.

Regardless, I’m afraid that Luz is going to pick up on the idea that each time she innocently tries to go forward and do something for herself and/or others, without their permission… It just makes things worse, forcing others to not only fix the problem, but also make things better so Luz doesn’t mess up again. In other words, Luz probably thinks her friends are doing all of the actual work in making things better, which could play into how Luz thinks the world of her loved ones and is incredibly supportive of them. Perhaps she thinks they’re way cooler than her, too cool for Luz… It’s not too much of a prevalent issue NOW, I think, but it could be in the future. Luz could begin to wean herself off from doing what she enjoys, just for herself, because she thinks she’s a screw-up…

And then her friends have to reassure her otherwise about everything, that even if Luz seems to be a disaster-magnet, it’s part of the charm and not her fault, she shouldn’t hold herself back! If anything, Luz should keep weaponizing her chaotic energy, making the most of what she has as always! Considering the school system that Luz grew up in, and how she’s ND-coded… I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of schools really punished her and forced Luz to dwell a lot on her mistakes, without much room for productively fixing things; It’s a common neurodivergent experience to be unproductively yelled at for messing up, and then to internalize that. And it could contribute to Luz focusing on what she’s done wrong over what she’s done right. If Amity is learning to love herself, then… I sincerely hope Luz isn’t contrasting, by learning to doubt herself. Especially since the Boiling Isles has been almost objectively superior to the Reality Camp; Because there, she would’ve REALLY internalized even worse lessons, and not gained any of the good ones.

Now, maybe I’m looking too deep into it; But hey, what if I’m right? At the very least this provides food for thought… You may as well take a chance, because what do you have to lose if you’re wrong- Nothing! But if you don’t try, you could lose the opportunity to really think and enjoy and anticipate something… And be right, or wrong- Either way you had fun!

#the owl house #toh #the owl house luz #luz noceda #toh luz #Luz toh #speculation #angst #meta

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thegoodgayshit · 3 years

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Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Six: A Hellhound Requests Cuddle Time

“Luz, you look terrible! When was the last time you slept right?” Willow asks in shock, reaching over and gently turning Luz’s face in her hands.

She laughs nervously and gently pushes her hand away. “I’m fine! I just didn’t sleep well last night, but I’m sure tonight will be better.”

It was a blatant lie. She hadn’t slept right since the night Amity was nominated for her quest. The last fourteen nights since she’d left, Luz had been plagued with the nightmares of the man in the mountain, pointing the sword and her and laughing. Some nights were better than others, but last night had been particularly draining, and Luz had only slept for a couple of hours.

Luz had always been good at hiding her problems from the people in her life, usually with her Mami, but she supposed she was starting to push what she thought she could get away with. She had never really had friends to lie to before.

The night of the nomination, Luz had been so terrified by the dreams she had left her cabin before the sun was even in the sky, deciding she would take a walk to clear her head. Usually, she would draw, (the wall next to her bunk was quickly filling up with tacked up drawings and photos of her and her friends at camp) but the dream had freaked her out so badly all she’d wanted to do was leave the cabin as quick as she could.

She paced the strawberry fields in frustration, trying to put together what the dream had meant. She had slept funny on her arm and irritated the cut that had clotted over from where Amity’s sword had skimmed it, and while it didn’t hurt, it was itchy and uncomfortable.

She drew Aletheia watched the bronze blade appear in front of her, still so polished she could see her face reflecting in it. Luz remembered Willow and Gus saying the blade brought bad luck. Maybe that’s why she was having these dreams.

“Can’t sleep?”

Luz jumped, spinning around and holding up her sword defensively. She came almost face to face with Amity, who didn’t even flinch at the blade, her gold eyes staring at Luz blankly. Luz lowered her sword in embarrassment.

“Sorry about that,” Luz mumbled.

Amity shrugged her shoulders. Luz noticed that she was already packed and ready, dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt, leggings, and boots. She had a black backpack swung over her shoulder, and the only remnants she was wearing that showed she might have been a camper was her amethyst-studded xiphos on her belt and the leather necklace around her neck.

Luz did a double-take when she saw it. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before. There were five beads strung on it, but the thing that made it stand out was the amethyst pendant strung around the middle. Now that Amity wasn’t wearing the staple orange t-shirt and jeans, it was a lot more obvious.

Amity was still staring at her, and Luz realized she had never answered her question.

“Uh… yeah. Nightmares, and whatever,” Luz added awkwardly, and Amity’s eyes flashed knowingly. Luz wondered if she wasn’t the only half-blood plagued by the dreams.

“So what are you doing down here?” Luz asked, trying to keep her voice light. Luz still didn’t really know what to make of Amity after their conversation last night. She felt like she had gotten a glimpse of who she might be under all those layers, but she still wasn’t sure.

Amity swallowed, looking away from Luz and towards the huge pine tree that stood proudly on Half-Blood Hill. Luz remembered Willow telling her that the tree was a huge source of the camp's magic and that the Golden Fleece on the tree wasn’t a replica, but the real deal.

“I come up here every morning and go for a walk before training,” she eventually said. Luz felt the tension radiating off of her in waves. She wasn’t sure if she should try and comfort her, or if she would think Luz was making fun of her.

“How are you feeling?” She tried gently, and Amity shuffled her feet.

“I’m fine. This is what all half-bloods are born to do. We do quests, and bring honor to Olympus.” Amity’s voice rose slightly as she said it, and Luz thought that Amity might just be saying it to convince herself.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Luz said softly, and Amity flinched. Frowning and slowly reaching out, Luz put her hand on Amity’s forearm. She tensed, her gaze turning back to Luz’s.

“I’d be terrified in your position,” Luz said honestly. While she had thought at the pavilion last night that a quest would be a fun adventure, her nightmares had given her a whole different perspective. At camp, she had all of her new friends to help pick up the pieces when something scary happened. On a quest, Amity would only have Boscha and Skara. She didn’t know Skara all that well, but from what she’d seen of Boscha she didn’t exactly peg her as the comforting type.

Amity looked down at Luz’s hand, then back up at her face. She seemed to be grappling with something before she just sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. She gently pushed Luz’s hand away.

“Can you just promise me one thing?” she asked quietly, turning her body away from Luz and wrapping her arm around her body. Luz was nodding the second the words were out of her mouth.

“Of course.”

“Take care of the camp while I’m gone,” Amity said quietly, swallowing hard. “Demigod dreams are usually a good indicator of how serious things are. I don’t know who that guy is on the mountain, but he’s dangerous.”

Luz blinked, not sure why Amity would want her of all people to watch after the camp. But she looked so on edge, Luz wasn’t going to refuse.

“Uh, yeah sure. I’ll make sure everything is fine here.”

As Amity walked away to the pine tree where Lilith would send her and her friends off, Luz was smacked with the realization that she had never said anything to Amity about her dreams… and especially not about the man in the mountain.

Ever since she left camp with Boscha and Skara, Luz had been on edge. The conversation with Amity had really freaked her out, and Luz wanted to make good on her promise. She had changed and gotten ready in the Hermes cabin before setting right off to the Big House.

Hooty, the houses magic security guard/door stopper/living owl had asked Luz a bunch of questions she couldn’t answer when she just told him she needed to see Eda. Eda had opened the door in her pajamas, looking disgruntled to be woken up so early, but regardless she’d let Luz inside.

Luz hadn’t been expecting to tell Eda everything she’d seen in her dreams, or about her conversation with Amity, but she just hadn’t been able to keep it in any longer. Eda had sat there and listened intently, her face morphing from annoyance to worry the longer Luz talked. When Luz asked Eda to train her again, so she could make good on her promise to Amity, she had readily agreed.

Eda pushed her hard. It wasn’t in a way that freaked Luz out or anything, but she always expected Luz to be her best, and Luz would be lying if she said she didn’t find the whole experience exciting. She asked a ton of questions every night in the arena, and Eda would always offer a thoughtful (abelite unconventional) solution. Sometimes Willow or Gus joined them, and Eda would have Luz scrimmage against them while she offered pointers. King was always there too, usually sleeping in the corner or yelling threats of encouragement.

While Luz had learned a lot in the two weeks she’d been training with Eda, the mental and physical exhaustion of the nightmares was getting harder and harder to avoid. She didn’t want Willow or Gus to worry, especially since they didn’t know the full extent of her dreams.

“Yeah, seriously Luz,” Gus said, looking at her up and down. “You haven’t been yourself lately. You haven’t even touched your lunch, and that’s saying something.”

“If you have no meat on your bones, you will never be able to destroy your enemies!” King said from his place on Luz’s lap. The tiny talking hellhound had gotten into a habit of following Luz and her friends around, usually curling up in one of their laps or joining them for meals hoping he would get some of their food. Luz rolled her eyes at him, but there was no malice to the gesture, and she reached up to scratch behind his ears.

The trio had decided to get lunch together in the pavilion since it wasn’t as formal of an event as dinner the place was pretty empty. They were sitting at the Athena table by themselves, and even though Luz’s chicken and cheddar sandwich looked fantastic like all the other camp food, Gus was right. It remained untouched on her plate, with Luz’s appetite disappearing when they sat down and Luz caught a glimpse of one of the slash marks in the columns that had yet to be sealed post skeleton attack.

“I’m myself!” Luz tried, doing her best at her typical “Luz chipper” that her friends always made fun of her for. “I’m still good ol’ Luz! Camper extraordinaire!”

Willow and Gus shared a look, and Willow turned back to Luz and pursed her lips, not buying it.

“Luz, you need sleep,” Willow said firmly, her eyes locked on the bags that had been forming for days now under Luz’s eyes. “You’ve been pushing yourself way too hard.”

“I’m not pushing myself too hard,” Luz retorted with a frown, “I need to be the best I can be in case something like this happens again.” She gestured to the column, and Willow and Gus’ face lit up with understanding. Willow reached across the table comfortingly, putting her hand over Luz’s.

“Luz, it’s not likely that something like that will happen again,” Willow said, giving her a comforting smile. “It’s been two weeks since Amity left on her quest, and we haven’t had a sliver of trouble at all.”

Luz’s stomach flipped, thinking again about her last conversation with Amity. “Do you think they’re doing alright?”

Willow frowned, moving her hand away from Luz’s to clamp them in her own lap. “It’s hard to say with Amity… you never really know what she’s thinking.”

Luz blinked at the tone of Willow’s voice. It was almost… resentful. Even Gus noticed it, his mouth set into a hard line. Luz suddenly remembered something she’d forgotten that happened during capture the flag two weeks ago.

“During the game, Boscha called you “half a half-blood” Luz started curiously, unable to resist. Willow looked at her hands, clearly upset, and Gus shot Luz a warning look. Luz pinked, realizing she might have crossed a line.

“Sorry, it’s none of my business…” she started, but Willow cleared her throat, shaking her head.

“No, it’s alright. You’re my friend, you should know.” Willow looked up and met Luz’s gaze, giving her a nervous look. “They call me that because I’m not really a half-blood. Well… I am… I guess… but I wasn’t born the way a lot of you guys were. My dads have a really popular farm in Minnesota, and it was enough to get Demeter’s attention. She blessed them, and my dad’s say I just showed up on the front porch of their farmhouse.”

Luz nodded slowly, picking up what she was saying. “So Amity and her friends bully you because you weren’t born like they were. That’s terrible.”

“Amity wasn’t always like that,” Willow mumbled quietly, looking forlorn. “When I came to camp, we were the same age and we became friends. But when I told her about my dad’s and what happened… well…”

“She ditched you for Boscha and Skara,” Luz concluded, doing her best to not get angry. “That’s stupid! The camp boundaries keep everybody who isn’t a half-blood out, and they let you in just fine. You’re just as good a half-blood as everybody else.”

“She’s not just as good, she’s better,” Gus added with a smile. “Demeter campers haven’t shown magical abilities like Willows in thousands of years.”

“Yeah!” Luz exclaimed with a grin, nodding to her encouragingly. “I saw you make that wall of thorns during the game, it was a huge reason our team won. Don’t even let Amity and her dumb friends convince you otherwise.”

Willow smiled bashfully. “Thanks, guys. But you know, even though Amity was so mean to me, I do really feel bad for her right now. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

There was a pause between the three of them as they suddenly grew solemn.

“I can,” Luz eventually said quietly.

Luz didn’t know if it was because Willow had just shared something personal with her, or because she couldn’t keep it bundled up any longer, but soon she was spilling everything. She told them about her conversation with Amity right before the skeleton attack, the dreams she’d been having ever since she got to camp, and then finally about the last time she saw Amity and the suspicion she had about the connection of their dreams.

By the time she’d finished telling them what happened, she slumped forward, feeling like a weight had finally gotten off her chest. Gus wrapped his arm around Luz comfortingly from next to her, and Willow somewhere along the way had taken Luz’s hand in hers again.

King had sat up and listened intently, and when she was done, he snuggled closer to her chest. “No wonder you’re so tired, Luz. I would be too if I had been having the same nightmare for so long.”

“Amity was right, half-bloods are known to sometimes get dreams when something is off with our world or Olympus,” Gus said, his brow furrowed with both worry and confusion. “But I don’t understand why you’re having similar dreams to Amity if you’re not a hero on her quest. That’s pretty unusual.”

“So you two haven’t had any dreams like this?” Luz asked desperately, and the two shook their heads. Luz sighed, reaching up to rub her tired eyes with her fist. “I don’t understand why this is happening. Who is this guy and why won’t he just let me sleep?”

“It’s not like any of what he said is easy to pinpoint either,” Willow mumbled with a shrug. “Lots of heroes and villains in Greek Mythology have a vendetta against the gods.”

“This must have something to do with Hestia,” Luz said certainly. “I think he knows where she is. If I could just talk to this guy-”

“That’s not how these dreams work,” Gus interrupted with a frown. “Sorry Luz, but you’ll only see what he wants to show you.”

“Amity had been having these dreams too,” Luz mumbled lowly, not wanting to upset Willow by bringing her up. Thankfully, Willow didn’t seem to be angry right now, just concerned. “She asked me to look out for the camp. Why?”

Willow and Gus shrugged, but King looked up at Luz with serious blinking eyes.

“If Amity is anything like you guys have just described, then she’s been thinking about this for a while. Luz is a new camper, and Amity wouldn’t just tell her something like that if it wasn’t important.”

The three half-bloods slowly started to nod. “You’re right, King.” Willow said, “I’ve known Amity for five years now, and she doesn’t do things like that on a whim. This means something.”

Except Luz didn’t know what it was, or what she could do to help. She groaned in frustration, letting her head hit the table with a clunk. “Why is being a half-blood so confusing,”

King wiggled underneath her. “You seem upset. Not that I want you to or would appreciate it at all, but you can hug me if you so choose.”

“Really?” Luz asked excitedly, scooping him up in her arms, and cradling him to her chest. King pretended he wasn’t happy about this, but Willow and Gus smiled knowingly when they saw King press his head against her collarbone.

“The King of Demons can also be the King of Cuddles,” he said, daring them to make a comment.

Luz was feeling a lot better as she and her friends headed to the arena for their afternoon practice. Eda had set up an obstacle course for campers in there and they would participate in teams to complete it. Today, the Hermes cabin would pair with Demeter, while the Athena cabin played against them and would pair with Aphrodite’s cabin.

While Luz was sad Gus wouldn’t be on her team, it would be nice to test her new skills and see how far along she was coming. She thought she was getting a lot better with her sword, and hoped all her hard work was boosting up her endurance and strength. Today would be the first real test since capture the flag… and as she had already confessed to Amity she hadn’t exactly won fairly.

The arena was divided into two sides, and Eda had obviously taken some inspiration creating this course from the mortal military one. Each side was composed of a short climbing wall with an oiled rope, a tough barricade of barbed wire you’d have to army crawl under, a balance beam (with enchanted vines to try and trip the camper, courtesy of Willow), and then the two competing campers would have to scrimmage at the end in a tiny makeshift circle. The first camper to be knocked outside the lines loses.

“For every camper who makes it to the end and wins the scrimmage, their team earns a point.” Eda finished, and Luz was beginning to feel stressed. That was a lot of work for one point. “The team with the most points at the end wins, with their chores divided amongst the losing team for one week. High stakes, kids.”

That perked Luz up, as well as the rest of the Hermes cabin. Their chore this week was dishes, which was definitely not fun since the Harpies wanted them to wash them in literal lava for a spot-free solution. Luz cuffed the sleeves of her camp shirt, getting excited at the idea of passing it along to a different cabin.

She saw Amity’s siblings, Edric and Emira, standing next to Gus. Maybe Aphrodite could get their chore. Luz thought that was fair revenge for letting them sneak past her during capture the flag.

Eda blew the whistle, and they were off. Luz’s team had decided that the Demeter cabin was going first, and they were going to line up according to seniority, which meant Luz had to run dead last. She fidgeted anxiously at the high stakes but did her best to ignore her nervousness to cheer on her team.

The other team, of course having Athena, had a different and more thought-out strategy. They would have their newest campers run first to try and secure a more solid lead at the end of the game when their best campers were still fresh and ready to run.

Willow ended up having to face Gus after the two had been neck and neck the whole time they ran the course. As Willow drew her sword and Gus his spear, the two were very well matched, and Luz was torn at who to cheer for. When she expressed this to Viney, the counselor jokingly threatened to strangle her.

“You better start cheering for Willow,” Viney said to Luz, not able to keep the smile off her face as she said it. Luz laughed.

Due to a quick slash from Willow’s sword, Gus had no choice but to step back to dodge, effectively being pushed out of the circle. He sighed in disappointment, and Willow apologized, but Gus just smiled and gave her a high five for her good effort.

With Luz’s team slightly in the lead, she continued to watch and wait for her turn. Viney went up against Emira, and Luz leaned forward excitedly. Despite her injury from two weeks ago, the slash had healed impossibly fast, and Viney had returned to training just a few days later. Viney had winked at Luz, saying the healing process was almost magical. Luz had a feeling she was making fun of her.

The two were a perfect match, with Viney swinging a three-foot sword hard towards her that got deflected every time by the tip of Emira’s knife. Luz gasped when she saw it happen, only a really talented knife user would be able to pull something off like that. She now understood why the Aphrodite cabin was no laughing matter.

Viney’s brow furrowed in frustration every time she did it, with Emira making a couple of teasing comments Luz couldn’t hear from so far away. It seemed to make Viney swing a little harder each time, and Luz wondered if this was the Blight twins “way with words” Willow and Gus had mentioned before.

Eventually, out of a pure slip on Viney’s part, she swung and Emira moved, causing Viney to accidentally step willingly out of the circle. Viney cursed in Greek, and Emira smiled coyly, and Eda called the point in favor of their team.

Viney walked shamefully back to their side, where her siblings all gave her murmurs of encouragement despite the loss.

“That girl is going to get her tongue cut out by someone one of these days,” she growled in annoyance to Luz and Willow. Luz thought she had a good point, but Willow just laughed.

The points jumped back and forth a couple more times before Luz realized she was up, and worse, the game was tied. Then she looked left and realized who she was up against.

Edric looked over at her and grinned, giving her a teasing wink. Luz’s face pinked, and she cuffed the sleeves of her shirt, ready to go. They waited for the campers to jog back to the beginning before they took off running, and when they reached the first climbing wall, Luz spared a glance towards Edric and her mouth dropped in surprise. He was keeping perfect pace with her, and he leaped over the wall like it was nothing. Like his sister, he was a natural.

Luz pushed herself up the wall with shaky hands, leaping into the air and hitting the ground running to the next task. Instead of army crawling like she was supposed to, (where Edric was already almost halfway done) she decided to try something a little more Luz, (Willow would later smack her and call it too risky and dangerous).

She tucked her back leg under her thigh, baseball sliding down on her back and under the entire barbed wire netting in one swift slide. She couldn’t believe it had worked, and she hadn’t poked out an eye or anything. When she cleared the netting (while getting another rush of adrenaline at the roar of approval from her team) she pushed herself to her feet and ran to the balance beam now neck and neck with Edric.

She saw Edric grit his teeth competitively and together they jumped up on the beam, sprinting far too fast for any of the thorns to latch around their ankles. When they landed smack into the center of the circle, they each drew their weapons and turned to face one another.

Edric had a three-foot xiphos that was so similar to Amity’s Luz almost did a double-take when she saw it. But instead of amethysts studded into the blade, Edric’s sword had gems that were blue. Edric seemed to be just as skilled at fighting as her sisters because when he swung at Luz and she connected her sword with his, the force of the impact almost knocked her out of the circle instantly. She grit her teeth and lunged, but he deflected the blade easily.

“Come on, Luz,” he said with a cheeky smile. “Where’s all that power Amity had to deal with during capture the flag?”

“You want power?” Luz asked, taking another swing at him. “I’ll give you power!”

The pair clashed for a few more minutes, and Luz had to block out the cheering coming from both sides of the teams. It was clear Luz’s team hadn’t known the full extent of what she could do, expecting her not to be able to hold a coin to Edric. But her training with Eda had her feeling fresh, and she found her pointers rushing back to her like muscle memory.

“Remember to move in when you have a shorter blade.”

When Luz saw the opening, she took it. Pushing forward, she stabbed with Aletheia and forced Edric to take a few wild steps backward in an effort to getaway. The second he did it, his foot slide outside the circle.

“You’re out!” Eda yelled, and Luz’s team broke out into crazy cheers. “Hermes and Demeter win the game!”

Her team came rushing around her in an instant, patting her on the shoulders and screaming in her ears. Luz’s whole body vibrates with exhaustion and excitement. She’d done it! A grin broke out onto her face, and Willow and Gus met her eagerly, Willow pulling her in for a hug and Gus giving her a begrudging smile.

But Luz could only savor the moment for a few seconds, before the loudest road she’d ever heard came thundering down in the distance, over by Half-Blood Hill.

The crowd instantly quieted, all of them drawing their swords at the sound. Luz fumbled for her blade in terror, the volume of the roar itself washing terror over her body. Eda reached for Owlbert, shifting him into her spear holding up her hand. Her face was unusually serious, and she didn’t hesitate before rushing forward.

“Somebody is trying to get inside the camp. Half-bloods! Rally with me!”

The flood of campers from the four cabins drew their weapons and followed, and Luz hurried to keep pace with Willow and Gus.

“What does Eda mean, somebody is trying to get in?” Luz said to them, doing her best to steel her nerves from the serious situation.

“Most half-bloods who come to camp don’t fly in like you did, Luz,” Willow says seriously, gripping her kopis so hard her knuckles were turning white.

“Most of them come from the road by Half-Blood Hill,” Gus finished, looking unusually nervous. “Usually being chased by some kind of monster.”

Well, that explained the roaring. Reading her own sword, Luz and the other campers climbed the hill with Eda in the lead, heading towards whatever monster had just made that sound.

Luz was holding her breath as she reached the top, and the party of demigods passed the protective pine tree and into the forest. Luz looked around cautiously, but before she could even realize what was happening Willow was diving into her.

“Get down!”

There was another terrifying snapping roar, as she and Willow went tumbling away from the group, and the half-bloods scattered, Eda, yelling ferociously and calling out orders. Luz rolled to her side and got to her feet, her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to locate what had just snapped at her.

When she saw it, her blood ran cold.

It was a dragon, but it wasn’t. It had huge thick scales, and claws that could cut Luz in half with one swipe. But the most terrifying thing about it was the head… no… the heads.

Six of them exactly, glaring around at the yelling half-bloods who had run to meet it. The one that had snapped at her and Willow had turned away when it realized it had missed them and turned back to Eda, who was stabbing wildly with her spear at its scales. Luz quickly helped Willow to her feet, and Gus joined them, hovering over them protectively with his own spear.

“What… is that?” Luz managed, so terrified she was lucky she hadn’t passed out.

“A Hydra,” Gus yelled, and Luz had no idea how he could look so awed in a dangerous moment like this. “Whatever you do, don’t cut off any of its heads!”

“Who was the Hydra chasing?” Willow asked, and Luz noticed that she was also trembling with anxiety. “We should find them while the monster is distracted by all the other campers!”

Luz knew she was right. With at least fifty campers helping fend off the Hydra, it was a good idea to look for whoever it had followed to the hill.

The three of them darted past the scales, dodging the snapping heads of the Hydra as they looked for anybody hurt.

“I don’t see anybody at all!” Gus exclaimed as he jabbed his spear at a head who had gotten too close while snapping at Viney and Jerbo.

“Me neither!” Willow yelled, slashing her sword at exposed scales from behind a tree. One Hydra head roared in outrage, giving Eda the opportunity she was looking for. She stabbed hard with her spear in its eye, and it must have been a daughter of Zeus thing because the whole head shook with electricity as it was stabbed, hitting the ground with a thud.

Luz scanned the clearing desperately when she saw them.

“There!” She screamed to her friends, pointing just beyond a large tree twenty feet away.

A girl in a black hoodie holding her sword in one hand while dragging along an injured girl, her other hand wrapped around her waist. The girl who was limping was holding a broken bow, and her face was streaked with exhaustion. When Luz realized who it was, her eyes widened in shock as she raced forward with Willow and Gus to help.

It was Boscha and Skara, and Amity was nowhere to be seen.

#the owl house #lumity #luz x amity #Percy Jackson AU #shelby speaks

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