Own your narrative

Eda woke with a snort. She smacked her lips, coughed, then let out a long groan.

"Stop it, Eda, you're being too graceful," she muttered and flicked her wrist at the ceiling. She eventually rolled over and sat up. She yawned and stretched, then scratched her left side lazily. She smacked her lips again. Her thoughts were muddled, the only semi-clear desire in her mind was a big cup of fresh apple blood. And a trip to the bathroom. She shuffled out of her nest, using the wall to steady herself. She really wasn't a morning person. She started her morning routine in the bathroom, gazing blearily into her own reflection as she brushed her teeth.

"Good morning, you filthy animal," she rasped with a grin. She gave herself a wink, then tried to straighten up. Her back made a slightly more disturbing sound than usual.

"Ooh, owwie-owwie-ouch!" she winced and glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone had heard her less-than-bad-girl exclamation. She rubbed her side, trying to warm the area that was being particularly difficult. "Elixir," she muttered to herself, then bent to open a cupboard. The movement made her wince again, and she growled out a few choice swearwords under her breath. That had much more of a bad-girl vibe. Some of the words left streaks of green fire in the air. The plump bottle in hand, she took a swig of golden potion. She made a face as she gulped the dose down. The familiar bitter taste mixed horribly with Luz's sparkly pink bubblegum toothpaste. She shivered and made a harsh sound of disgust.

She leaned on the sink and waited for the potion to take effect. The aches and pains of her cursed body slowly faded from an ever increasing droning buzz to a distant discordant din. Her mind cleared. Well, it cleared a bit.

"Ahh, that's better," she said, standing up straighter. Her back no longer protested. She looked herself up and down in the mirror, nodded, gave herself another wink and a finger gun, said; "Still got it, buy toothpaste," and shuffled off to the kitchen for some breakfast.

King's high chair was empty. And there was no chipper Luz pottering around the kitchen either. This was unusual.

Luz had only been with them for a few weeks, but the three of them had fallen into a, to Eda, slightly annoying but mostly enjoyable, breakfast routine. Who was she kidding; Eda loved it. It was mindbogglingly nice to wake up to a kitchen already smelling of toast, and sometimes, waffles. But she would never admit that. Her mind drifted to the breakfasts she had shared with Lilly, back in the bad old days. She shook her head to force the thought away.

The dishes from last night's dinner were still in the sink. There were no clean cups. She groaned and rubbed her face, then started on the dishes.

"Luz! King!" she called in a hoarse voice, mostly to distract herself. "Breakfast!"

Upstairs, King awoke to the sound of his name being called. He was lying curled up at the bottom of Luz's sleeping bag.

"Weh?"

He sniffed the air. There was a faint smell of toast creeping up from the floors below.

"Luz! Wake up, breakfast!" King pushed at Luz's sock clad foot, then got up and scampered out of the room with an excited air.

"Where's Luz?" Eda asked when King climbed up into his high chair a minute later.

"In her sleep cocoon," he responded. "Can I have toast with butter and rainbow sprinkles today? It looks like fairy vomit."

"Sure," Eda said distractedly, looking up at the ceiling. Maybe the kid could use a little lie in, for once.

Eda finished her breakfast, but there was still no Luz. She left King to do the dishes and headed upstairs to check on the girl. Maybe she was coming down with something. Heck knew what kind of germs she could have picked up at that wretched school. She reached the attic door and put her hand on the handle, then stopped herself. She remembered how much she had hated when people just barged into her room when she was a kid. It was strange to not be able to just go into any room in her own house, whenever she wanted. Maybe that's how her parents had felt? Ugh, never mind. She took a step back and knocked.

"Luz, you awake?"

No response. She knocked again.

"King's gonna eat all the toast, better... stop loafing around, eh?" She chuckled at her own pun and waited for a laugh from behind the door.

Nothing. Not even a groan of teenage disgust at brilliant humor.

"Come on, kid, that was funny," Eda rolled her eyes. "Are you even in there?" She opened the door and shuffled inside. She had to pause a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Dust particles swirled in a weak sunbeam, everything was quiet. Luz lay on the floor on her blue and white bedroll, eyes closed.

Maybe she would have woken up if I'd been wearing my heels, Eda thought briefly. The girl stirred in her sleep - was she waking up?

Luz's face scrunched up. She rolled to one side and let out a pitiful little groan.

Eda's eyebrows rose in surprise and sudden worry bit her solar plexus. She crouched down, rolled her lips over her teeth, then reached out to shake Luz's shoulder.

"Hey, Luz?" she said in a voice that sounded surprisingly soft, even to Eda herself.

Luz's eyelashes fluttered, then her face drew into an unmistakable grimace of pain. Her body curled in on itself and a strangled hiss escaped her. Eda quickly withdrew her hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Oww..." Luz whined after a good twenty seconds, her voice much higher than usual.

"Did you sleep weird on your shoulder? Gotta get you a proper bed, kid," Eda let out a slightly guilty chuckle, relieved to hear the girl speak. Eda knew all too well how much pain you could be in if you'd slept at a weird angle. Or, in weird places.

Luz eyes flew open. Her sleep addled mind had been suddenly jump started. Several alarm bells were ringing in her head. Tummy a lump of icy lead? Strange sticky feeling where there definitely should not be a sticky feeling? Her left hand brushed something damp somewhere by her leg.

"Oh my gosh," Luz squeaked, then looked at Eda, then down at her sleeping bag. Her cheeks went bright red.

Eda stared at Luz in surprise, then in concern as Luz's face crumpled into another grimace. Another low hiss escaped the girl.

"Are you... alright?" Eda asked in a careful voice.

"Oh, um, well - " Luz babbled as she endeavored to gather her scattering wits. Instinctively she tried to scoot further away from Eda, but curled into a groaning ball instead.

Luz's mind raced. She was so embarrassed! Why hadn't she thought of this? Oh gosh, it hurt so much - the pain in her lower belly and back was making it hard to even think. It was a twisting, cold, hard sort of pain; it felt like her middle section was being wrung out like a rag. And she just knew her pyjama bottoms were ruined, and probably the whole sleeping bag, too - oh, she felt so stupid. The pain drove all other thoughts from her mind for a seemingly infinite moment. She hadn't been able to brace herself for it. Somewhere in the middle of it, everything went white, then it started to fade, and she found herself panting, looking straight into Eda's worried yellow eyes.

"Luuuz?" Eda said slowly. "You with me?"

"Yeah, just - uh... cramps you know? Ahaha?" Luz gave a forced, nervous laugh, trying to roll her eyes nonchalantly and brush off the pain as no big deal. Gosh, I'm such a freak, she thought. Do witches even get periods? Aaaaaahhhh!

"Dang, kid, you scared me," Eda said with a relieved sigh. She sat down on the floor and rubbed her forehead with her hand to get rid of the tension that had been building there. Luz hadn't come down with some horrible human condition, it was just her moon time! Seemed like she had pretty intense cramps though - but that was something normal. Eda looked at Luz and smiled sympathetically. "I can brew you up a bombastic potion to put some pep back in your step, if you like. It works pretty well against my own cramps, and they can be real jerks sometimes. It'll take me a while though, been meaning to replenish my ingredient stores, you know how it goes."

"Thanks, Eda. Maybe," Luz let out a breath of relief. Witches did get periods, then. The ache in her lower belly started to rise again, but this time she was a bit more prepared. She slowed her breathing down, just like her mom had taught her.

Eda watched Luz's eyes glaze over and lose their focus.

"Oh dear," she sighed softly, and waited for Luz to come back. "Juust like Lilly." There was a sharp little pain in her chest.

Luz was aware that Eda had said something, but she hadn't been able to process it. Things didn't white out for very long this time around, and when she could see clearly again, she noticed she was sweating as well as panting.

"You back?" Eda asked with a concerned little smile.

"Sorry, yeah. It gets hard to concentrate, sorry," Luz rubbed her lower back carefully, but didn't dare touch her tummy.

"Maybe you need a stronger potion," Eda mused, a wrinkle between her eyes. "What do you do in the human world?"

"We have painkillers. I think I have some in my bag?" Luz started to sit up - and felt something extremely embarrassing happen to her lower half. Her eyes went wide and her cheeks nearly caught fire. Eda raised an eyebrow.

"I'll get it, shall I?" she suggested, suspecting what might have happened to cause Luz to suddenly look terrified. Eda had been very curious to see inside Luz's bag. What did a human actually carry around with them on a day to day basis?

"It's in a purple zip up thing with a flaming skull on it," Luz said in a tiny voice.

"What are painkillers? Some kind of tiny, portable assassins?" Eda wondered aloud as she dug around between unknown, glittering treasures. "Do they consume pain for sustenance?"

"No," Luz giggled. "They're pills. Medicine."

"Really? Fascinating - this it?" Eda held up a purple rumpled square thing.

A pad.

"Nnnoo, but I'll need that too," Luz's smile turned from tentatively amused to absolutely mortified.

"Alllllrighty," Eda twitched her eyebrows, trying to smooth over whatever awkward thing she had just done. Perhaps some strange human faux pas. "Ah, purple thing with a flaming skull."

"Thank you," Luz said, then managed to pop a pill out of it's plastic and foil sheet using only one hand. Her other hand was still rubbing her own back and keeping the pain at bay - it was working, for now.

Eda's ears twitched at the slight pop, and she stared in fascination at the sheet. Luz swallowed the pink pill with a swig from her water bottle.

"Can I see that?" Eda asked, indicating the pill sheet. Luz handed it to her.

"Don't take any pills out, please."

"A container that bends and crackles and pops," Eda mumbled, bending the sheet back and forth. "Delightful. People would pay good money for this kind of thing, you know."

"I should introduce you to bubble wrap..." Luz mumbled. "Could I uh... have some privacy?" she smiled uncomfortably up at Eda. "And could you maybe um... keep King from coming up here for a... while?" Her eyes flicked down toward her midsection, and her stiff smile grew slightly more panicked. Was that a stain?!

"Sure thing, kid," Eda smiled in a sympathetic and - to Luz's seemingly bottomless embarrassment - knowing way. She put the pill sheet down, then stood to leave. "You know about heat being good for cramps, right? You want a hot water bottle?"

"Oh my goodness - yes, please," Luz groaned gratefully. "Thank you, Eda."

"Just shout when you're ready, or come downstairs." Luz nodded in response. Eda left the room and headed toward the kitchen. "Oof, and I thought I'd had a bit of a rough morning," she shook her head as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "King!"

"Weh?" the little demon turned around from drying the dishes. He was wearing his favorite flowery apron.

"Need you to scram for a couple of hours," Eda gestured over her shoulder with one hand, then dug into a pocket with the other. She pulled out some crumpled bills and lint. It would be safer to have King out of the house. He was adorable, yes, but also one nosy little cutie pie.

King narrowed his eyes. "Why?" he asked suspiciously.

Judging by Luz's reaction upstairs, Eda had concluded she didn't want the fact that she was on her moon time to be broadcast to the world. She waved her hand, picking the first excuse that came to her mind; "I'm going to run around in those socks you hate."

"Not the ones with the toes?! They're so creepy!" King shivered.

"Yuuup, it's creepy toe sock time. I need my fix, King," Eda said seriously, then slapped some lint covered money onto the counter. "Go get yourself a treat or something."

"Don't have to tell me twice," King snickered, took off his apron, picked up the money, then scampered off. "I'm gonna get so many macaroons! Eee-hee-hee!"

Luz lay and groaned into her pillow until the worst of the embarrassment, and the newest wave of cramps, had died down. She forced herself to get up, then dragged herself to the bathroom to clean up and change. It hadn't been as bad as she had feared, but it was still a hassle to wash her sleeping bag and pyjamas. She chided herself for not keeping track of the days, but in her own defense she added that it wasn't as if her cycle was ever particularly predictable - and besides - coming to a new realm full of magic and mayhem and monsters was pretty darn distracting. Could have happened to anyone, right?

Right...?

And Eda had been so understanding. Too understanding even. Luz's cheeks burned at the thought of going downstairs. Or calling for Eda. But that hot water bottle sounded so good... The painkiller had started to work now, but it really only dulled the pain by a small amount. Luz was grateful for any kind of relief, but she wished her mom would allow her to take something stronger. She had considered Eda's offer about a potion, but a mental image of her mom appeared every time she thought about it.

"Only take medication that was prescribed to you by a doctor. Then take it only as it was prescribed. Never take medication unless you have to, miha," the image of her mom said. But did a potion actually count? She sighed. Of course it did.

Luz pulled up her hood and walked downstairs, trying not to feel like the most awkward person in the universe, and failing miserably.

"Hey, kid, how are you doing?" Eda asked from behind Luz. She was holding a box of assorted human things.

"I'm fine!"

Eda watched Luz try to smile. She was wearing an expression that would be more appropriate if someone had just asked if she wanted her toenails chewed by a hairy stranger. She was wearing her hood up too. Oh dear.

"Heck, kid, you don't have to pretend when you're with me, alright?" Eda said with wrinkled eyebrows. "Being on your moon time is the worst. You can let it show."

"Uh... moon time?" Luz asked uncertainly.

"Humans use a different term? The blood thing that happens once a month. Ish." Eda wiggled her hand from side to side. "The scarlet river, painting the rocks red, week of the beast - has a bunch of names."

"We call it, um... Being on your period."

"Huh, they're both time related," Eda commented. "Let's get you that hot water bottle, shall we?" She set off down the corridor toward the kitchen.

Luz followed, flapping her arms against her sides to try to banish the some of the embarrassed energy. How could Eda be so casual about it? Luz wondered, her cheeks glowing red hot.

Eda pulled out a kitchen chair for Luz and Luz sat down carefully. With a dramatic flick of her hair, Eda drew a few spell circles in the air. Luz's eyes lit up, like Eda had hoped they would. With a poof and a slosh, a maroon hot water bottle appeared, followed by a globe of water and a ball of fire. With a look of cocky, confident concentration on her face, Eda moved the fire underneath the water. Within seconds, the water began to boil. With a snap of her fingers, the water snaked inside the bottle and the fire vanished with a whoomph.

"Soo cooool," Luz breathed, her eyes sparkling.

"Ain't no thang," Eda smirked and made a record scratch movement with her hand. The water bottle soared into Luz's lap.

"Oh my gosh," the girl groaned, then leaned forward and hugged the bottle to her body. She put her head on the kitchen table. The sharp, heavy ache dulled instantly and the rest of her body relaxed. Goodness, it was such sweet relief. "Thank you, Eda."

Luz rolled her sore head against the smooth, worn wood of the table. It felt nice and cool. And only a little bit sticky.

"Want some tea with your table?" Eda asked, sounding amused.

"Mmm, yes please," Luz hummed.

Eda made a pot of tea, thought a moment, glanced over her shoulder to make sure neither King nor Hooty were watching (Luz was still rubbing her head against the table like the lovable little weirdo she was), then dug her hand into an overflowing cupboard. She found what she was looking for and pulled it out triumphantly.

"Tea, and a special snack," Eda said, putting the tea pot and a crinkly bag down on the table. Two mugs came soaring over from the wash stand. Luz raised her head and blinked dazedly at the bag in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she gasped.

"Is that... a bag of mini Snickers?!"

"Sure is!" Eda gave her a wink. "From my secret stash."

Luz stared at Eda in awe, then her lower lip began to tremble. Eda's smile faded.

"You... don't like this candy?" she asked uncertainly.

Luz nodded quickly, then shook her head even quicker, feeling overwhelmed - she didn't know if she should shake her head or nod. Tears began to spill over her cheeks and she drew in a shaky breath.

"I... love Snickers," she said in a choked voice. "Sorry, you're being so nice..." she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Eda relaxed a little. Moon time could make you extra sensitive. Stars knew she could lose it over something trivial when it was her time. Like that time last year when she'd seen a Swindle Poof playing with her cubs and had burst into tears in the middle of picking Sinister Root leaves.

Eda waved a finger and a box of tissues appeared. She drew in breath to speak, but Luz beat her to it.

"Sorry, today is such a mess!" Luz grabbed a handful of tissues and wiped her blushing face. "I wasn't prepared, and I should have been and you've been so helpful and kind and - and "

"Hey, slow down, it's okay, kid," Eda said in a gentle voice. "Moon time is a mess." She shrugged, then reached out and patted Luz's arm. "There's nothing to apologize for."

Luz looked as if she was about to turn into mush. Eda had an idea.

She leaned forward with a mischievous little smile. "Have I told you... about the time my younger sister had her first moon time?"

Luz shook her head slowly, feeling a little confused.

"Well," Eda gave Luz's arm another pat, then sat back in her chair. "It was the day of her fourth year graduation, my fifth, and she goes up on stage to receive this pointless busywork award, yada yada - " Eda waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway afterward, while she was showing off her medal or whatever to our parents' friends, she gets up from the table and her seat was covered in blood! I had to fake spill my drink over it to cover for her, but of course my parents took it as me 'deliberately causing a scene and misbehaving'," she raised her hands and did sarcastic air quotes. "Had to prune the entire garden for a month as punishment. Oh! And there was the time I sneezed during the Convocation of Meserif - I left red footprints all the way down the corridor to the bathroom, hah!" she snorted, then shook her head and chuckled reminiscently.

"That sounds so embarrassing?" Luz smiled uncertainly.

"Yeah, sure, at the time - but now? Hi-laaa-rious." She took a mini Snickers and popped it into her mouth with the paper still on. "The point I'm trying to make is - embarrassment is not forever. At some point you've just gotta own your narrative, you know."

Luz smiled a little wider, feeling strangely reassured.

"Oh, and how could I forget - this is a good one," Eda waggled her eyebrows and took another piece of candy. "The first boy I kissed? Accidentally had my moon tide all over his parents' new sofa," she swept her arm out dramatically. "Yikes, right? But hey - didn't have to go to any more of their stupid, boring old parties, right? Worth it." Eda pushed the bag of chocolates toward Luz with a smile, and Luz took one.

"I... once captured a salamander during a barbecue my mom's friend was hosting and put him by the cupcakes. I thought he looked hungry, you know? The scream my mom's friend made when she found him - like Aiiiii!" Luz made a face and waved her hands in a silly way. "We weren't invited to the next one."

"Lizard in the food - classic!" Eda nodded approvingly at Luz, and Luz felt emboldened.

"I... got my first period during a field trip - my mom had told me what to expect, but I hadn't been able to imagine what it'd actually be like. I got so scared?"

The memory of Lily's terrified face and silently pleading eyes on that graduation day flashed across Eda's inner vision. She felt another stinging sensation in her heart.

"Haven't really had a friend to talk about this stuff with," Luz continued. She fiddled awkwardly with a candy wrapper as she spoke. "Just my mom."

"Well, now you do, kid," Eda said in a way Luz found extremely reassuring. "And just so you know, King knows about this stuff too. And Hooty - it's nothing new, or weird to them - if that's something you're worried about. Just tell them you're on your moon time and they'll leave you alone. Hah, King tried to tease me about my moon time mood once, boy did he regret it." Eda chuckled, leaning back in her chair.

"D-did you tell him... about this morning?" Luz's insides had suddenly gone cold.

"What? No, I told him I was going to wear those socks he hates, gave him some money to get a treat - speaking of which - " she made a spell circle in the air and a pair of violent rainbow socks with individual toes appeared with a twang. She put them on, then plopped her feet on the table and wiggled her toes. "Ahh, they're so comfy! He thinks they're creepy for some reason. Might as well when he's out," she glanced at Luz's still worried face. "Come on, kid, not gonna out you like that."

Luz's shoulders relaxed and she slumped back in her chair. "Thanks..."

"So, what do you do to make yourself feel better, back in the human realm?" Eda asked with a smile, trying to move past the awkward moment. "I'm partial to trashy magazines. And trashier romance novels," she waggled her eyebrows.

"I don't know... I usually just watch cute and silly animal videos?"

When King returned later that afternoon, he found Eda and Luz on the couch in the living room. He scampered over a little unsteadily.

"I had too many macaroons," he whined sadly. "My tummy-tum hurts."

Luz squeaked like she always did when King was being adorable.

"Come here you little goober," Eda said with a smile, then patted the cushion next to her. King scrambled up.

"I require tummy scratches," he pouted.

"Aww, angelito," Luz cooed. As soon as she started to pet his round little tum, he let out a loud burp. Luz and Eda both burst out laughing.

"Oh, I feel so much better," King said with great relief. He clambered over to sit between Eda and Luz. "What are we watching on the wonder rectangle?"

"Something called 'best cat fails'," Eda chuckled, wiping away a tear. "Oh, show him the one that hiccups and then farts, it's hilarious."

"Uh, spoilers?!" King exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

Luz smiled at the two of them. She was so happy she had ended up on the Boiling Isles, all those weeks ago.

"You okay there, kid?" Eda asked in a soft voice. King turned to look at her too. Luz nodded, feeling the prickle of tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm alright," she said happily. Then she started the video over so King could see the part Eda had laughed herself silly about. There were a lot of laughs that afternoon.

Please review! I really love this new show and can't wait to find out more about the characters.

EDIT: I made this AU into a series! This is part one. The next part is called Amity's calamity and can be found in the fic list on my profile.