Chapter Text
It was raining.
And unlike the boiling rain on the Boiling Isles, this rain was cold.
Colder than the twenty-three-year-old Boiling Isles native Eda Clawthorne could ever imagine. It was fitting that she would get caught in the rain like this in the human world after the brutal week she had.
Raine had left.
They broke her heart and joined the Bard Coven.
Eda didn't blame them for leaving her. Not in the slightest. But it stung that another person she cared about left her behind.
It stung that once again, she was all alone….
But this was the end result of her actions. She actively distanced herself from everyone who cared about her due to her curse and her known dislike of the Coven system and Emperor Belos.
Maybe this is what she deserved.
Eda shivered and curled up on the bench, her wet orange hair clinging against her pale skin.
No, this was what she deserved.
Just then, the rain stopped pelting her body. Eda looked up and saw that there was a strange thing above her head.
"You know, you're going to catch your death out here," A kind voice spoke up from behind her.
Eda turned around to see a bespectacled young woman with her slightly curly brown hair tied in a ponytail. She wore blue scrubs and a brown bomber jacket, and there was a concerned expression on her face.
"It's freezing out here," The woman stated with a frown. "Are you okay?"
Eda laughed slightly and replied, "Never better! I run pretty hot anyway, so this cold is nothing!"
Eda's body betrayed her with a shiver, which caused her to quickly look away in embarrassment.
"Right," the newcomer teasingly drawled. "Wanna try telling the truth now?"
Eda's shoulders dropped. "I'm…. going through a hard time, but I'm a tough girl, I'll bounce back," Eda replied, but the damn rain kept getting in her eyes, causing them to water.
The woman frowned and looked at the building behind her. "Look, the storm is supposed to get worse, and as tough as you are, your tough ass is going to get sick if you stay out here. Why don't you come to my place?" The woman suggested. "It's in the apartment building behind us, and maybe we can talk about what you're going through. Or just warm up and eat some of my homemade soup. No pressure either way."
Eda opened her mouth to refuse, but then noticed the concerned expression deepening,g and as much as she hated it, Eda was too tired to keep up the tough act. "Sure…." Eda surrendered.
Warm brown eyes danced in success as the woman offered a smile and said, "Perfect. Now come on, let's get you up there and get some warm food in you. Maybe we can offset the sickness I'm sure you'll get from being out here for who knows how long."
And it was there, in the middle of a fierce rainstorm, that Eda Clawthorne met Camila Noceda.
"What did you say your name was?" The thirty-eight-year-old Wild Witch asked as she stared down at the human.
Eda didn't understand why, but the human felt so familiar to her. Was it the voice? The face? Eda couldn't tell, but as the fourteen-year-old girl's bright amber eyes glittered in amazement, Eda couldn't help but remember those warm brown eyes from her past.
"Luz, huh?" Eda laughed as she pocketed handfuls of snails into her hair. "Well, Luz, that was pretty clever... for a human."
"That's kind of a weird thing for another human to say," Luz stated.
Eda shook her head with a laugh and started to reach for her bandana. "Oh, dear child," Eda started as she hopped on the table and removed the bandana, revealing her pointed ears to the entire group of shoppers. "I'm not like you. I'm Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!"
"Whoa! You're a witch! I knew witches were real!" The girl exclaimed with a bright smile, her eyes shining with delight.
"Of course we are!" Eda exclaimed. "And you're looking at the most real, respected, feared, powerful, and sexy witch there ever was!"
But little did Eda know, this meeting was going to change her entire life.