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Luz hovered anxiously in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the frame and tugging absentmindedly at a loose thread that was unraveling from her shirt sleeve.
Raine hadn’t noticed her presence yet, still pouring over the collection of dog eared books and index-tabbed papers spread out in front of them on the dining table. She really didn’t want to bother the bard while they looked so busy, but the times she could actually catch a quiet moment alone with them in the relative chaos of the Owl House were few and far between. So after mustering a bit of courage, she lightly cleared her throat to get their attention.
Raine jumped in their seat, elbow nearly knocking into the mug sat on the table beside them. Wide eyes glanced behind them for the source of the noise.
Luz laughed lightly and gave a small, nervous wave.
“Hey, Raine. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said as she walked a few steps into the room.
“Oh hey, Luz!” the bard replied happily. The genuine smile that crossed their face when they saw her immediately eased some of the nerves floating around the girl’s stomach.
“It’s okay. I was just so wrapped up in all this I didn’t hear you come in,” they explained, gesturing over the mess across the table.
“Do you have a minute to talk?” Luz asked with a hopeful smile. “I can come back if you’re too busy right now…”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Raine reassured. They pushed a few books and a stack of papers out from in front of the seat across from them. “Have a seat.”
She took them up on their offer, settling into the bench seat under the kitchen window, across the table from them.
“I’d, um, offer you some coffee...” they began, looking back at the coffee machine on the counter and then into their own empty mug, “but I, uh, think I finished the whole pot already,” they finished with a shy laugh.
“It’s cool,” Luz replied with a smile.
The girl noted the collection of textbooks, sheet music, and handouts scattered over the tabletop.
“Is this all school stuff?” she inquired, turning her head to read the spines of some of the stacked books.
“Yeah,” Raine replied with a nod. “I was a little surprised to find out the bard curriculum at Hexside hadn’t changed since….” they cocked their head in thought, then frowned, “well, since I went there. Principle Bump asked if I wanted to look it over before I started teaching, so I took him up on it.”
The bard looked over the teetering piles of papers in front of them.
“I think I may have gotten a bit...carried away.”
Luz laughed. From the handful months she had known her surrogate mother’s partner, she knew that was not out of character for them.
“But anyway,” they continued on, “what did you want to talk about, Luz? Is everything okay?”
The girl couldn’t help but smile at Raine’s concern. It seemed a bit silly now for her to have felt apprehensive in talking to them about what was going on.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” she quickly reassured. “Um...it’s about school stuff, actually.”
Raine nodded and waited for her to continue.
“So...even though I’ve been multi-track for a while now, I’ve never actually taken a bard class until this semester,” Luz explained. “Since I’ve been doing well in my other classes, they let me join one of the intro classes with kids around my year. But, well, even though it’s a beginner’s class, I’m still kinda sorta...the only one who doesn’t know how to at least play an instrument yet,” the girl quickly concluded with a blush.
“Oh,” Raine replied, eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Did you never learn to play an instrument in the Human Realm? I’m sorry, I don’t really know how common that would be, I guess.”
Luz rubbed the back of her neck nervously.
‘Uh, well, my mom did sign be up for piano lessons when I was little but, um, I only made it a few classes.” The girl blushed a bit and let out a nervous laugh. “I don’t suppose Eda ever told you about the snakes…”
“The...snakes?” Raine questioned, voice rising in confusion.
“Uh, never mind,” Luz said, waving her hands to dispel the thought. “Anyway, I know I need to come up with a better solution. My professor has actually been really nice about it, but, um...it’s getting a bit tough now.”
“Luz, the semester’s been going for over two weeks. What have you been doing in class in the meantime?” the bard asked, concerned.
“Well, Gus let me borrow one of his, uh, ‘prized’ human kazoos,” Luz laughed nervously.
“A...kazoo?” Raine asked slowly, jaw dropping a little.
“Hehe, yep. I’ve been, uh, doot doot dooting right along,” the girl replied with a forced laugh and an even deeper blush.
“Well, I mean, anything that creates sound waves is technically enough to use bard magic with...but, um, how’s that been going for you?” they asked cautiously.
“Not so great,” Luz answered dejectedly, dropping her head.
“I can imagine.”
“My options right now are to drop down to a lower level class, where every witch there would be half my age,” Luz continued with a frown, “or learn how to play something a bit more, uh, reasonable. Quick. Like real quick.”
“Right.”
“So, I guess what I was really trying to ask is...” Luz took a deep breath. “I know you’re super busy now teaching and everything and I know you want to spend time with Eda and I know King’s even been hanging off you all the time now too but, well...do you think you could maybe teach me to play something?”
Raine opened their mouth to respond, but before words could even come out Luz cut them off with further rambling.
“Even just the basics. Even just a bit. And, like, I totally understand if there is just way too much going on right now and I know I’m totally asking you super last minute which isn’t very cool and…”
“Luz!”
The girl pressed her lips closed with a little squeak.
“Breathe.”
She let out a breath that was like letting the air out of a balloon.
“Luz, I would love to teach to to play,” Raine told her earnestly. “You could have asked me weeks ago,” they concluded with a laugh.
“Really?” she asked excitedly. “You’re sure you’re not too busy?”
“Not at all, Luz,” they replied kindly. “And even if I was, I would make time.”
Raine gave the teen a gentle smile.
“This is important. You’re important,” the older witch told her, now blushing themselves. “I know we haven’t known each other for all that long, but, well...I want to be there for you too. Like Eda is, and King is.”
Luz felt a warm sense of happiness and comfort settle in her chest at their words.
“Thanks, Raine,” she said, smiling, “that feels...really nice to hear you say.”
They reached across the table and gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.
“I’m glad.”
A few moments of comfortable silence passed between the pair.
“Have you given any thought as to what you’d like to play?”
“I guess not too much. I was hoping for your help with that,” Luz replied. “Something beginner friendly would be nice, given the circumstances. And well…”
Raine cocked their head to the side, awaiting her response.
“I know you and Eda have been playing a lot together again, since she’s been trying to re-learn how to play with her new prosthetic.”
The bard nodded.
“I guess it would be nice if there was something you think I could play that would sound good with her mandolin and your violin. So we could, you know...maybe all play together sometime,” Luz concluded, blushing and looking off to the side.
Raine quickly closed their eyes, but not before Luz caught a glimpse of wetness gather at their corners. They took a steadying breath before they responded.
“That sounds great, Luz. Why don’t you give me a couple days to think about it. We’ll get you all sorted by next week.”
“Sure thing!” the girl responded happily, standing up from the table and stretching her arms over her head. “I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. Thanks again, Raine!”
Raine gave her a friendly smile as she left the room, then their brow immediately furrowed, already deep in thought.
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Two days later, Raine found Luz sat at the coffee table in the living room. The books and papers laid out in front of her implied she was supposed to be doing homework, but she seemed more preoccupied with trying to balance her pencil on the bridge of her nose. The sight made them chuckle. Sometimes it really was like looking at a reflection of a young Eda.
“Hey, Luz!” they greeted warmly, “I’ve had some thoughts about your instrument situation. Mind if I join you?”
“Ooo, yes!” the girl exclaimed happily, and scooted over a foot or so down the table to make room for the bard to sit on the floor next to her.
“So I thought a lot about what you said you were looking for. Beginner friendly, compatible with our strings, all that. And I think I’ve come up with a good option.”
A twist of their finger summoned a small, ceramic instrument into their palm. It was an oblong oval shape that curved up to a protruding mouthpiece staggered to one side and had many holes bored into the top of it.
“Have you even heard of an ocarina before?” Raine asked as they held the instrument out to her.
“Ohmygosh!” Luz exclaimed happily, “Like from Legend of Zelda!”
“Who’s Zelda?” the bard asked with a confused look.
“It’s a human video game. It doesn’t matter...”
The girl took the ocarina and turned it over eagerly in her hands.
“My mom and I would go to the Renaissance Fair every summer. I remember seeing these there, too! People would get together in front of the tent that sold them and play together. I always thought they sounded so pretty!”
The human’s grin was wildly bright.
“This is a great idea, Raine! I love it!”
“I’m glad,” they replied, with their own wide smile.
Raine reached over to pick the instrument up out of the girl’s hands.
“This is my old one,” they explained, placing in on the table in front of them. Sure enough, upon closer inspection its age was apparent by the numerous scratches and chips in the light blue glaze covering it.
“I was hoping you’d like the idea,” they began, and drew another spell circle. A different ocarina appeared in their palm. “So I went and had a new one made just for you,” the bard concluded as they passed it over to their young companion.
Luz’s fingers ran reverently over the instrument in her hands. It was the same size and shape as Raine’s, but the glaze was colored a rich, dark purple. At the more rounded edge of the ocarina, near the mouthpiece, two small triangles stuck out next to each other. As she tilted the instrument in her hands, she realized they were tiny cat ears, complete with a set of cute cartoon cat eyes and a rounded cat mouth painted on underneath them.
“It’s...beautiful,” she said, voice earnest. “And cute! Soooo cute!” she added with a smile, running her fingers over the protruding ears.
“I figured it was a good match to one of the founding members of CATs,” they told her with a grin.
She gently set her new ocarina down on the table next to Raine’s, then turned and threw her arms around them in a tight hug.
“Thanks,” she said, face buried into their shoulder.
Raine wrapped their arms around the girl and squeezed her back with a smile.
“You’re welcome, Luz.”
After a few moments, the pair pulled back and relaxed next to each other, leaning back against the bottom of the couch behind them.
“Oh, there’s something else too,” Raine interjected, sitting forward again. They picked up Luz’s new ocarina and handed it to her.
“Play a note.”
The human looked worriedly down at the instrument.
“I, uh, don’t know how...”
“It’s okay, it doesn’t matter what you play. Just blow into it.”
Luz looked skeptical, but did as she was asked, sealing her lips around the mouthpiece and blowing gently. A clear, bright tone sounded from the instrument, but, more importantly, the red glow of bard magic briefly flashed around the ocarina in the young girl’s hands.
Luz’s eyebrows shot up in shock, and she looked up at Raine in confusion.
“It’s enchanted,” they explained. “It has its own source of magic within it, so it functions like a wand or a staff.”
“Ohhh…” she replied, understanding.
“This way, you should be able to preform some actual bard spells, once you learn how to play. No glyphs needed.”
“That’s amazing! I’ll actually be able to follow along in class, like, for real!”
Raine gave her a confident nod in response.
“Though between you and Eda, I wouldn’t be surprised if you two work out the glyphs for bard magic sooner rather than later.”
“You really think they exist?” Luz asked excitedly.
“I don’t see why not. I mean...gylphs, and wild magic in general, stem from the natural world and its connection to the Titan, right?” Raine mused thoughtfully as they rested their chin in their hand. “Music exists in nature, too. Think about it. The rhythmic crashing of waves against the shore, the birdsong that fills the forest, the howl of the wind in the trees…”
Luz smiled at the wistful expression on their face.
“Just because the music is different to what us witches make, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. And I’m confident you and Eda will discover it eventually.”
“That sounds awesome,” the girl agreed.
“And until then…” Raine tapped her ocarina with a smile.
Luz thoughtfully examined her instrument.
“Are all bard instruments enchanted?” she asked after a few moments.
“No, not all. It takes quite a bit of effort to enchant an object, and it has to be made with naturally occurring magical components, which can be hard to source,” they explained. “Most bards play several instruments, dozens sometimes. But they would probably only have the one they use most often enchanted, to boost its power.”
Raine flourished their hand and their violin appeared across their arm. They carefully handed it to Luz.
“My violin is. See, give a string a little pluck.”
Luz lightly tapped a string, and even in her human hands the instrument took on a brief flash of red glow.
“Is that why you don’t have a palisman? Because your violin is kind of like your staff?” the girl asked as she ran her fingers along the edge of the beautiful wooden instrument.
“In a way, I suppose,” Raine replied. “Eda’s father, Dell, offered to help me carve one when we were younger. That was...a generous offer to make. Palistrom wood is even rarer now, thanks to Belos, but back 30 years ago it was still very hard to come by.”
“Is that why you didn’t take him up on it?”
“Partially, I guess. Mostly, well… Eda and I were pretty much always together, and she had Owlbert. He flew us both around, lent me a hand, er, I guess a wing, if I needed it. The same way he did for you, before you got Stringbean.”
The bard smiled fondly at the memory.
“Aww, that is so cute!” Luz exclaimed with a grin. “Owlbert is pretty great.”
“Then when I was, oh...16, I think, or 17 maybe, I was able to get my violin.”
They glanced down at the well-loved instrument in Luz’s hands.
“Dell actually helped make that happen as well,” they continued. “My family never had a lot of money, and an instrument like this would have never been anything I could have ever dreamed of having, at least not at that age.”
They ran their hand lovingly up the neck of the violin.
“Instrument carvers are a very specialized group of witches, much like palisman carvers like Dell are. In fact, decades and decades ago, before all the palistrom trees were over harvested, many bard instruments used to be carved from palistrom wood, because of its inherit magical properties. The crafts actually overlapped quite a bit.”
“Wow...” Luz chimed in, enraptured by the bard’s story.
“Anyway, Dell was good friends with the carver who made my violin. He arranged for me to work over the summer in that master’s shop, in exchange for her making my instrument.”
“Oh, so did you learn how to carve from her?”
“No. That takes years and years of training, though she often let me watch her work. It was amazing to see. No, I mostly watched the storefront, dealt with customers…”
“Bet you loved that!” Luz joked, nudging them with her elbow.
“Yeah, it wasn’t exactly my favorite thing,” Raine laughed, “but it was worth it in the end,” they concluded, nodding at the violin in Luz’s arms.
“Even then, the trade was nowhere near even. I don’t know what else Dell did to make it happen, but I’ve always been grateful.”
“So it sounds like you were pretty close with Eda’s family then,” Luz noted.
“Yeah,” Raine replied, “Though Gwen and I would butt heads sometimes over how she treated Eda, and I didn’t get to know Lilith all that well before she left for the Emperor’s Coven.”
The bard’s expression turned pensive.
“But yeah, we all got along pretty well I guess. The Clawthornes...were always really good to me.”
“Pretty cool, seeing as how you’re one of ‘em now!” Luz replied with a nudge and an eyebrow waggle.
“Luz!” they chided with a sudden blush. “You know Eda and I aren’t married…”
“Yeah, legally,” Luz teased, drawing out the word for emphasis. “You should totally take her name when you are though. That would be adorable!”
“Luz…” they groaned again, though only half heartedly. Their blush had darkened even further.
“Okay, okay,” the girl acquiesced with a grin. She handed Raine’s violin back to them, and they dispelled it with a pass of their arm.
The two sat next to each other in easy silence for several long moments. Finally, Luz leaned forward and picked her own ocarina up off the table.
“Why don’t we get this show on the road then?” she asked, putting on a confident smile.
The bard nodded and reached into the leather satchel that they had brought with them into the room earlier and fished out a stack of papers that they then set in front of Luz.
“Okay, these here are the fingering notations for your ocarina,” they explained, pointing at the diagrams on the sheet. “Each picture shows which holes to cover and the corresponding note it would make. I figured it would be easier if you had them to reference, beyond me just showing you.”
They shuffled a few more papers out of the stack.
“And here’s a few easy songs for you to start out with. They each use only a few different notes.”
Luz looked down at the sheet music, then back up to the bard with a grimace.
“Do you...not know how to read sheet music either?” they asked slowly.
Luz shook her head and let out an awkward laugh.
“That’s okay!” Raine quickly reassured with a smile. “I shouldn’t have assumed you did, that was my mistake.”
They reached into their bag again and pulled out a few blank sheets of paper and a pencil.
“We’ll start here then,” they said as they drew five horizontal lines across the top of the page.
Luz scooted a bit closure to her teacher, pressing comfortably against their side, and watched intently as their pencil scratched across the sheet.
“This is called a staff, it’s what notes sit on to indicate their pitch…”