Chapter Text
The sun had risen on a brand new day on the Boiling Isles, carrying with it a chill in the air as snow slowly danced toward the ground and covered every inch of the landscape in a blanket of white. It was nowhere close to being as heavy as you'd find on The Knee, given its elevation out of the Boiling Sea compared to the rest of the massive corpse that composed this world of witches and demons, but that meant it was a comfortable winter setting that any human used to blizzards and the fear of frostbite would greatly appreciate.
Luz was more than happy to trade the kind of winter weather she'd grown up with for this sight that greeted her from her bedroom window.
If she had a choice, Luz would admit to herself how easy it would be to simply get lost in this sight for hours on end, perhaps even sketching it out so she'd never forget about the latest in a growing list of gorgeous visuals that were slowly becoming the norm with each passing day here. There was truly no end to the amazement that the Demon Realm had to offer to the young human, even after it had already far exceeded her wildest thoughts.
Unfortunately, the alarm blaring from her phone reminded her that today was a school day, forcing her away from the window and into the routine of getting changed and organized for the day ahead, a smile forming as she pondered what magical knowledge would greet her today.
'It's funny,' she thought to herself as she finished cramming her books into her backpack, 'back home, this would be around the time where I and every other kid would be begging for school to be over and winter break to be upon us.'
Luz felt her body tense up as that thought flickered through her mind, her eyes slowly turning towards the framed photo resting beside her sleeping bag. She knew deep down that as much as she loved everything about this world, it wasn't where she was originally supposed to be. Her mom had been expecting her to come home from summer camp months ago, and Luz could only speculate as to what was going on with her now that there was no sign of her daughter returning to her anytime soon. With the portal long destroyed, she'd lost any access to wifi that had been crucial in staying in touch with her, but that only begged the question: even if they could still text one another, what would Luz even say about the fact that she never returned from camp? Would her mom even believe a word she said about where she'd really been all this time?
A loud crash from downstairs snapped her out of her thoughts and had her silently thanking the Titan for the interruption that would get her back on track for the day.
“King, I told you to be careful! That box has a lot of fragile things Lily and I would like to see remain intact!”
“Perhaps entrusting the King of Demons with something so valuable to you was a mistake, mortal!”
The sound of the familiar playful banter had a smile back on Luz's face as she finished heading downstairs, gasping in awe and wonder at the transformed state of the living room that greeted her. Various ornaments and assorted festive knick-knacks now adorned the walls, including what Luz assumed was an illusion spell that gave a more festive appearance to the wanted posters that still stood proudly behind the couch. Different colored lights were strung along the ceiling, and plenty of boxes that contained countless other things Luz had never seen before consumed the floor space. Eda and King were locked in a staredown as the former floated on her staff to string up even more lights, while Lilith was tucked away in a corner trying to ignore them as she focused on setting up what looked like a large pine tree, only with bark as black as night and blood red needles that would be far more unsettling if it could somehow come to life on top of everything.
What's going on in here?” Luz asked as she took it all in, immediately drawing everyone's attention as they could practically feel the impending joy and wonder that was waiting to be unleashed the moment something new about the Isles was presented to her.
“Morning kid!” Eda called as she hopped down from her staff, taking a moment to remove Owlbert from it so he could resume her light-stringing duties. “Lily and I were just getting this placed fixed up since it's almost Hexmas. Since we're together again and haven't celebrated in an eternity, it kind of felt right doing something we used to love when we were kids.”
“Hard to believe you'd be excited when we both know you're definitely not getting any presents,” Lilith remarked with a grin toward her sister, though it quickly faded as guilt overtook her. “Not that I'm in any better position after all that's happened.”
“Oh come on Lily, we've talked about the whole 'beating yourself up' thing! Yeah, you cursed me and then put off fixing it for years because you bought into all of Emperor Bonehead's lies, but that's no reason to kill the holiday spirit.”
Lilith could only let out a sigh in response before giving Eda an apologetic look.
“You're right. It'll be nice to actually be able to celebrate it for a change, since the Emperor's Coven only ever celebrated anything that Belos himself deemed worth it.”
“Gee, I wonder why he wouldn't be celebrating,” Eda couldn't resist throwing out, earning a laugh out of both sisters.
“What's Hexmas?” Luz interjected, the familiar sparkle in her eyes as she was practically vibrating with anticipation to learn all about whatever new thing this world had to offer now.
“Well,” Eda began, “Hexmas is a special holiday that pretty much serves to tell you whether you've been good or bad throughout the year, even if some of us prefer to take pride in being a bad girl.” She couldn't resist posing to try and punctuate her statement, earning an eye roll from Lilith as she moved to stand beside her sister while taking over the explanation.
“Every year, an ancient and powerful demon known only as Krampus keeps watch on everyone from the shadows of the Isles. Nobody knows how he does it, only that he sees all and judges your every action.”
“Not to mention he breaks into your house to leave you offerings!” King chimed in from the box he'd started digging into, having apparently started trying to decorate the tree 'his way' already.
“Not exactly offerings,” Lilith corrected, “but they are gift-wrapped boxes. According to legend, if you've been good most of the year, he will gift you with something your heart truly desires above all else, no matter what it is.”
“And if you've been naughty,” Eda added, sounding far prouder than she probably should have about this, “then the gift contains a powerful hex as a sign to change your ways for the new year. The worse you've been, the more powerful the hex!”
“Woah...” Luz processed everything that she'd heard, the familiarity of it all not being lost on her which only made her grin wider. “That sounds just like a holiday we have in the human realm called Christmas! Except instead of Krampus, even though I think some places have something kind of like him, we have a jolly old man named Santa that brings gifts to those who've been nice and leaves coal for anyone naughty. But Christmas is always the best-”
Luz slowly trailed off as something seemed to flicker through her mind, and almost immediately her smile vanished and her eyes moved to stare at the floor. Eda and Lilith exchanged looks at the sudden emotional whiplash Luz was displaying; they both knew anything regarding the human realm was a sensitive topic in the wake of the portal being destroyed during her battle with Belos, but even then, Luz never looked as deflated as she did right now.
“Everything alright, kiddo?” Eda carefully asked, gently putting a hand on Luz's shoulder to help comfort her. Luz seemed to suddenly snap out of it, though the smile she gave her mentor was painfully forced.
“I'm fine Eda,” she replied.
“There!” King suddenly yelled out, drawing all eyes to him as he had somehow managed to climb the tree to top it with what looked like a hand puppet in his image holding its arms out to try and imitate the shape of a star. “Now this tree shall serve as a perfect Hexmas monument to my glorious reign of terror!”
“I'd rather let myself be captured by the Emperor again before I let THAT stand atop our Hexmas tree,” Eda declared as she and Lilith quickly moved to remove the decoration, only for King to desperately try to fight them off from the high ground he held in order to protect his 'star' at all costs.
As much as Luz normally enjoyed this level of chaos that brought so much life into the Owl House, she was a little thankful for King's timely interruption giving her an opening to slip out the door and begin her trek to Hexside.
Unfortunately, not even the usual mystique of the magic school and everything it had to offer for the Isles' only resident human witch could take her mind off this approaching holiday that warranted an empty feeling in her gut as opposed to the overwhelming joy everyone would expect her to show.
“Why did the Boiling Isles actually have to have their own version of Navidad?” she asked no one in particular with a sigh, quietly praying that the usual hustle and bustle of another day learning magic would take her mind off the topic.
Lunchtime had rolled around, and Luz couldn't have been more grateful. Empty stomach aside, considering she'd skipped breakfast due to all the commotion from Eda, Lilith, and King, her morning classes seem to have done the trick as far as clearing her head, and she joined Willow and Gus at their table in the familiar high spirits that always made even a conversation with her friends feel like an event all its own.
She regaled her friends with her 'epic tale' of a mishap in her Potions class caused by Boscha trying to sabotage someone's work as a joke only for it to literally blow up in her face, which brought quite a smile to Willow's face considering how much of a bully the girl had continued to be. In return, Gus was more than happy to share the high marks he'd gotten on a particularly brutal Illusions test he'd taken recently and Willow had Luz on the edge of her seat as she recounted the surprisingly dangerous task of the Plant track students getting a greenhouse full of vicious sentient plants set to survive the approaching winter.
“Hey, sorry I'm late,” a voice gently called, interrupting Willow, though the witchling wasn't too bothered considering who it was that now sat down beside Luz.
“No worries Amity,” she replied, “I was just telling Luz and Gus about the chaos in getting the greenhouse winter-ready this morning.”
Luz found it hard to believe that months had passed since she'd done the seemingly impossible and not only befriended Amity Blight, but also helped her to start acting like the witch she truly wanted to be. Granted, a lot of her endeavors had to be kept on the down low so as not to make her parents suspicious enough to potentially cause another 'Willow incident,' but she was slowly being more public about who she preferred to hang out with in the wake of that fated Grudgby match against Boscha. Considering Willow's rising popularity since then and Luz's ability to seemingly befriend anyone who crossed her path, no one batted an eyelash when Amity strolled into the cafeteria one day and walked in the opposite direction from where she normally sat to join them for lunch.
That said, whatever deeper connection the two girls seemed to share caused Luz to immediately pick up on the fact that Amity didn't seem like she was having as good a day as the rest of their little group was.
“Everything alright Amity?” Luz asked, shooting Willow an apologetic glance for her story being interrupted a second time, but Willow shrugged it off considering Luz's observation had caused her to also notice her childhood friend seemed to be more tense than usual.
“I'm alright,” Amity finally said after a moment, letting out a sigh before she continued. “I'm just overwhelmed. Hexmas is just around the corner and our family is under a whole lot of stress with our holiday plans, as usual.”
Luz winced a bit, both at the mention of the holiday she'd been trying to forget about after learning of it before school and the inexplicable hatred she couldn't help but feel any time she got word of Amity suffering from the ridiculous burden that always seemed attached to the Blight name like a cinder block chained to the ankles of someone about to be thrown into a river in those shows about organized crime families.
She placed a comforting hand on Amity's shoulder to let her know she was there for her if she wanted to go into more detail, which sent a shock wave through Amity's body as she jumped, her face quickly going red before she did her best to calm down, seeming to relax a bit beneath the simple touch. Willow and Gus exchanged looks, seeming to have an unspoken conversation that somehow led to them believing Luz was still somewhat in the dark about the impending holiday. This gave Willow an idea, one that she quietly hoped would also serve as an open invitation to Amity to share with them what was really going on.
“So Luz, did Eda tell you about Hexmas?” she asked.
“She kind of filled me in this morning, but...” was Luz's response, and while Willow raised an eyebrow at her friend suddenly trailing off, Gus was full steam ahead on trying to fill in whatever gaps the Owl Lady might have missed.
“Hexmas is the best Luz!” he exclaimed. “My dad and I always spend the day watching old Hexmas movies and joking about how cheesy they are now. It's fun getting to hear his take on it since he's got TV experience and all as a reporter.”
“There's a lot of neat things the market always offers too around this time of year,” Willow added in an attempt to keep some positive energy flowing into this conversation, “and my dads always insist on trying to find the perfect tree to bring home, hoping to convince Krampus to leave us a few extra gifts under it. It hasn't worked yet, but it's the thought-”
“Can we PLEASE talk about something else!?”
All eyes at the table widened at the synchronized outburst.
Now, Amity snapping in such a manner was still fairly common, even if she was doing her best to drop such habits. Usually, if she ever spoke in that tone to her friends, it was either an accident or her way of putting her foot down on not wanting to share whatever was bothering her.
Luz, on the other hand... if Luz had ever had such an outburst, then none of them had ever seen it. Such an upset and aggressive tone simply wasn't who Luz was. Sure, she'd been pretty fed up with some of Boscha's bullying, the Grudgby situation being a notable example, and there was no doubt she was downright furious when she went on her 'one human army' crusade to rescue Eda from the Emperor. None of that had ever been directed at any of her friends though, or if she was putting her own foot down, it was never with the kind of tone that made your heart just stop beating in your chest.
Something about the both of them speaking in tandem would've probably been adorable under normal circumstances, but the way it was spoken had seemingly brought all of time itself to a grinding halt. It felt like the entire cafeteria had fallen into silence, though no one in their group actually wanted to check to see if that was the case or if it was just the suddenly tense atmosphere around the four of them. Luz's jaw had dropped as she stared at Amity replying in such a manner, but she was very much aware that they were all giving her that exact same look, perhaps with even more shock and fear considering who it had come from.
“...I'm suddenly not feeling hungry,” Luz finally said, so quietly she wasn't sure if anyone actually heard it, but she wasn't going to wait around to find out. “I think I actually need some fresh air.”
She quickly stood up, almost tripping over the bench in the process, but she quickly corrected herself before walking as fast as she could go without flat out running out of the cafeteria, dumping her tray of food in the garbage on her way out. Willow, Gus, and Amity just watched her go, too stunned to even process that she'd left until it was too late. Amity seemed to be the first to recover, her own grumpy mood virtually abandoned as her face was consumed with nothing but concern for Luz. Willow and Gus quickly followed suit, both looking guilty over having possibly pushed a little too far despite having only the best of intentions.
“So...” Amity hesitantly broke the silence. “Did Luz say anything about why she was upset?”
“She didn't show any sign that something was even bothering her, even before you joined us,” Willow replied. “Still, I think that was a clear sign she's as willing to talk about whatever it is as you are about what's bothering you.”
“All I know,” Gus chimed in with a look that might've looked more passable as determination if it wasn't for his younger age, “is that something's bugging our friend, and we need to find out what!”
Willow nods in agreement. Even though, deep down, she knows that trying to pry into something even Luz doesn't want to talk about probably isn't wise, the mere thought of Luz acting like anything other than the endless ball of light and joy she always was bothered her way too much.
“I'd really like to help,” Amity said after a moment, though Willow could see the 'but' coming from a mile away, given her tone. “But I have even less free time than I usually do these days, sadly.”
“Are your parents being unreasonable about your grades again since we're getting close to school being out for the holidays?” Willow asked, knowing somewhere in her mind that the only reason Amity would ever willingly turn down any chance to help fix whatever was bugging Luz would have to be the same two miserable souls that forced her to destroy their friendship all for the sake of something Amity was too young to rightfully even need to worry about at the time.
Willow was certain she had her answer when Amity stood up and suddenly said she needed to go before exiting the cafeteria in almost the exact same manner Luz had minutes prior.
The plant prodigy let out a huff at how quickly things had seemed to fall apart for reasons that, while unknown, certainly weren't good. This was one of those things that was going to weigh heavy on her mind the entire rest of the day, even if anything else that happened today was absolutely amazing.
“Well, that settles it!” Gus suddenly called, standing up and planting his foot on the bench as he struck some kind of pose that Luz no doubt taught him at some point, likely to show him how humans declared something in dramatic fashion. “Something's clearly wrong with our friends Willow, and I won't rest until we get to the bottom of it and get them both in the Hexmas spirit!”
“I don't know if I really want to pry after all of that Gus,” she reluctantly admitted.
“Come on Willow, you know that Luz would totally dive in without a second thought if it meant making any of us feel better!”
Willow had to bite her lip to keep from pointing out how rude it was to probe like that, even if she had to admit that Gus had a point. After all, if it hadn't been for Luz doing exactly that, despite things getting far more out of hand than I think anyone actually intended, then she and Amity might have never started repairing their own relationship.
“Alright,” Willow said with a sigh, a smile slowly creeping its way onto her face. “Luz and Amity could definitely use some cheering up, so because of that, I'm in.”
If Amity could be painfully honest with herself and the world as a whole for a moment, she wished she was going anywhere else but home right now.
As she slowly made her way to the front gates that seemed to immediately creek open after noticing her presence, she was already thinking of all the things she was expecting to hear as soon as she was beyond the front door. Best case scenario: her parents were too wrapped up in whatever they were doing that they wouldn't notice she was home yet, though that would only buy her time more than anything else. She knew she would never be that lucky, though; her mother wasn't an Oracle Track prodigy for nothing.
As she reached the front door, her hand froze once it reached the knob. There was an almost painful throbbing of her heart, begging her to just not cross this threshold and go somewhere else, and she knew exactly where it wanted her to go. She truly would've preferred to just turn around and start making the trek through the woods to seek out the warmth and comfort of the Owl House, but she regretfully had to banish the thought from her head and force herself to open the door.
If she ever wanted to try and test her luck at rebelling against her parents for the sake of everything that she held dear in her life now, this was the absolute worst time to ever even consider the idea.
“Amity, welcome home dear,” a cold and controlling voice almost immediately met her ears once she was inside.
Odalia Blight was standing front and center, hands folded in front of her to try and give off the image that she was being as welcoming as possible, even though Amity knew full well it was all an act. It was almost as though she had been waiting for her daughter to return home, and a familiar knot began to form in her stomach as this could mean any number of things. For as much effort as she always put into keeping her children on whatever track she deemed the best course of action in the name of their family and nothing else, she was especially overbearing about it around Hexmas.
“Good afternoon mother,” Amity replied, her own tone well-practiced so as not to raise any sort of suspicion in the hope that whatever was to follow wouldn't be as bad as she was fearing deep down.
The key to surviving any verbal encounter with the Blight matriarch was to never show even the slightest bit of fear, hesitation, or any other emotion for that matter.
“I would hope that with Hexside approaching its holiday break that your academics are still in order?” she questioned, her tone obviously making it clear she was fishing for anything she could use in response to a lie.
“Of course mother,” Amity told her confidently, considering there was nothing to lie about on that front. “I've gotten perfect scores on the exams I've already taken, and I will make sure the result is the same on the few I still need to take.”
Her mother simply nodded in acknowledgment before her mouth started to open, but whatever her next probing question was going to be died in her throat as a loud crash was heard coming from one of the adjacent rooms.
“I TOLD YOU THAT THESE GLASSES WOULD NOT BE ACCEPTABLE FOR THIS PARTY! NOW RETRIEVE THE CORRECT ONES AND CLEAN THIS MESS UP!”
Amity could feel herself tense up despite Odalia never flinching, though she did show some concern as she turned to face her husband when he practically stormed into the foyer following his outburst, muttering something about incompetence under his breath as he had his face in his hand in frustration.
“Perhaps you should go to your study and relax for a bit dear,” she says in the best sickeningly sweet voice she's capable of as she rested a hand on his shoulder. “I can oversee the preparations for a little while.”
“That would be lovely Odalia,” Alador replied before turning and heading down the hall, talking to himself about how much their staff drove them up a wall around this time of year for no reason and not even acknowledging that Amity was home.
It always bothered Amity how little her father seemed to care about anything that wasn't either something that threatened his family's social standing even the tiniest bit or some sort of personal project or study that enraptured him to the point where he'd be locked in his study for days if it wasn't for his wife, but that man could be horrifically scary if you dared to push too far. It made him seem far more volatile than Odalia, but that just made both of them equally terrifying to try and stand your ground against.
Amity knew this firsthand, trying not to wince as the memories of the birthday that ended with her being forced to sever all ties with Willow flickered through her mind.
“Amity,” she snapped back to attention as her mother called for her, having already wrapped up whatever holiday prep had briefly distracted her following Alador throwing in the towel on that for the night. “Where are your siblings?”
Almost immediately, Amity's stomach felt like it was suddenly housing a block of solid lead as the realization set in that she had come home alone. She'd barely seen Edric or Emira since they arrived at school that morning, and if she had to hazard a guess, they were likely busy setting up a ton of pranks around Hexside to try and tide themselves over. They'd learned the hard way in past years that attempting to pull these kinds of stunts during the Blights' annual holiday party would invoke the full wrath of their parents for such behavior, so they'd quietly started trying to get it all out of their system well beforehand to be on the safe side.
“I- I'm afraid I don't know-” Amity had barely managed to stutter out, but she got no farther.
“Don't stutter dear, you know you should always be confident in what you have to say,” Odalia reprimanded before returning to the other issue at hand. “And you know full well we expect our children to arrive and depart from Hexside together as an example of the kind of unity everyone in the Isles should strive for at this time of year.”
“Yes mother,” was all Amity could say, quietly begging for this to end as she started to feel sick at being talked down to over something she didn't think was even supposed to be her problem to begin with.
“I expect you to take better care in knowing where they are going forward,” Odalia sternly warned, “and I will be giving them a thorough talking to about this when they finally decide to come home. Blights do not show weakness, and anything less than a united appearance from the three of you until after the holidays is unacceptable. Am I clear Amity?”
“Yes mother.”
“Then you are dismissed.”
With that, Odalia turned her attention to whatever staff was in the other room still trying to recover from her husband's outrage, leaving Amity to quickly make her way up the stairs and towards her room. She didn't care that she slammed the door upon entering, even if it would likely earn her another stern warning from her mother later if she'd caught it. She barely even realized she'd thrown her bag off and practically hurled her body onto the bed to muffle her incomprehensible yelling with her pillow over the unfairness of it all until she realized she'd buried her face so far in that she needed to breathe.
“Why do I have to be torn into just because Ed and Em have their own lives to live?” she asked no one in particular once she'd calmed down somewhat. “They can't really expect me to just keep those two on a leash until Hexmas, right?”
It was a hollow question and that just made it worse, and all she could do was lay back and sigh as she stared at her ceiling. No matter how good the twins had gotten at skirting around their parents' rules and expectations, not even they could avoid the demand for absolute perfection that was expected of them more than ever around this time of the year.
That alone was just one of a growing list of reasons why she would give anything to avoid the Blight Hexmas party altogether, even spending the day at the Owl House with Luz.
“Luz...” Amity allowed her crush's name to wistfully leave her lips as she managed to shift her thoughts to something else that was bothering her far more than her mother's words. She thought back to how Luz had reacted at lunch, going from being immediately concerned about her problems and wanting to help to snapping and avoiding having to talk about it entirely.
Amity knew the tactic all too well, and that just made her worry even more.
Seeing the girl she had slowly developed an overwhelming crush on acting even slightly different than the bubbly ray of sunshine that always warmed Amity's otherwise icy cold world tore at her heart. She knew what she'd told Willow and Gus at lunch, but the more she thought about it, the more she managed to talk herself into trying to resolve whatever had Luz acting this way, no matter what it took.
If that meant having to drag the twins along just to get their mom off everyone's backs, then she'd take whatever excuse would get them out of this proverbial prison and anywhere close to Luz Noceda.
Unbeknownst to Amity, she wasn't the only one plotting to resolve the issues of someone special to her no matter what it took.
After managing to somehow make it through the rest of the day, even if it meant trying to avoid her friends after her outburst at lunch, Luz had made it back to the Owl House. Slipping past Hooty without needing to say a word had been simple enough since he seemed too busy trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue, but the other inhabitants of the house virtually stopped their continued holiday decorating efforts the moment they caught her presence.
“Hey kiddo,” Eda began, Luz wincing a bit at the clearly concerned tone her mentor's voice carried. “Did school go alright after... whatever happened this morning?”
“Sure did Eda,” Luz replied in a voice that obviously carried way too much fake cheer and even she knew it. “I have a TON of homework I need to take care of though, so I'm just going to go take care of that and leave you guys to your decorating.”
Lilith had started to say something, but Luz quickly managed to slip past them and up the stairs, tripping once in a way that actually helped add some credibility to her claim as she wasn't exactly lying about the homework weighing her bag down. Once she was up the stairs and out of sight, everyone slowly returned to what they were doing as she quickly ducked into her room, letting out a sigh of relief.
As much as she loved her little found family, how do you even begin to explain to them how painful this time of year actually was to her?
Luz hated not being able to talk about what was bothering her, but even if she could find someone who understood her, there was no way they could actually help her. With no portal, there was no chance of her crossing back over to the human realm even for just one day so she could spend Christmas with her mami.
Of course, that was assuming her mami would even be there waiting for her on Christmas morning.
Luz found herself moving over to the window to just stare out at the isles as she took a seat on the ledge, her brain looking for anything to distract her from the issue at hand. Her gaze unconsciously started moving in the direction she knew Blight Manor resided, and she knew that somewhere inside that giant home was a girl who was letting something take away the holiday spirit she should have been feeling like every other witchling.
For some reason, the mere thought of Amity Blight not having a happy Hexmas for whatever reason was starting to reach 'Eda's been captured by the Emperor' levels of not sitting well with her, and that needed to change.
As both girls set about tackling the schoolwork they knew they needed to do in their respective rooms, there was never a moment where the other left their mind, and one thought rang out clearer than any other for the both of them.
'My problems don't matter right now. All that matters is making sure that she has the best Hexmas experience ever, no matter what.'