#also yes I have done minor alterations I took the black fur off of her tummy and pink out if her hair

[drabbles-of-writing]

Splitting You in Two

This is part of my Four Years AU

AO3

Masterpost

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sharing a curse had its ups and downs.

On the upside, the Owl Beast was no more. And less elixir was needed to combat it now.

On the downside, the Owl Beast was never completely gone. Half-a-beast is what Eda called them, though Luz claimed they looked more like harpies.

Instead of turning into Beasts, Eda and Lilith were plagued with half-transformations, leaving their minds half-conscious.

They could switch, it seemed, between their states of mind. Sometimes they were more sentient, other times they were more beastly. Due to the curse altering their state, it was imperative that they remained calm.

If calm enough, the curse would even eventually settle down on it’s own. Of course, they still took an elixir after the fact, just in case.

Most of this was determined after Eda’s first two transformations with the shared curse. They had gone surprisingly well, since both Luz and King were used to this by now. Aside from a minor amount of damage to the edge of the marketplace, they got off pretty clean.

Eyes, however, had begun to drift towards Lilith.

A first transformation was never meant to go well.

,

Lilith was in the backyard with Amity, showing her how to make illusions like plants or objects seem natural. Luz was sitting crossed-legged in the grass and leaning against the house, watching Amity with rapt interest.

“Keeping an illusion still is simple enough,” Lilith said, almost drawing a spell circle in the air on impulse. “But making it look natural in it’s environments is easier said than done.”

“Wouldn’t that help confuse people if it looked unnatural?” Luz called over.

“Yes, but that’s not the point.” Lilith said calmly, sparing the human a mildly annoyed glance. “Illusions are not only for ambushes and pranks, contrary to what the twins would have you believe.”

Amity snickered, and Lilith’s mouth curved slightly upwards.

“Create an illusion of something simple,” Lilith instructed. “Like a flower or leaf.”

Amity drew a circle in the air and created a black feather, no longer than a finger. She held it in the palm of her head, showing it to Lilith.

“Oooh,” Luz grinned, despite this being rather easy magic.

Lilith raised a brow as Amity ducked her head shyly and muttered under her breath.

“Now,” The witch continued on. “Movement is a very delicate thing.” She said. “Making something life-like is a difficult task, which is why we’re focusing on smaller objects like these. It’s imperative to know the perceived weight of your object and to know what your surroundings feel and look like.”

She glanced to Luz, and deciding to make the most of the situation, gestured for her to stand up.

Luz was surprised but obediently stood, fiddling her hands together.

“Do you have a wind glyph on you?” Lilith questioned.

“Uh,” Luz patted herself down before remembering that was probably a bad idea and felt around much more cautiously.

She eventually pulled out a wind glyph from her cloaks inside pockets, showing it off proudly.

“Good, I want you to get it ready.” Lilith nodded and turned back to Amity.

“When the wind from Luz’s glyph reaches the feather, I want you to move it how you think a real feather would move.” She said. “Be sure to judge the force of the wind and to remember how the feather is shaped.”

“Got it,” Amity nodded, holding the feather higher and focusing on it.

“Luz?” Lilith glanced at the human. “Would you do the honors?”

Luz nodded and held up her glyph, aiming it right towards Amity’s outstretched hand. She activated the glyph and let it go, watching as it disintegrated into the wind and flew towards the green-haired witch.

Once the wind breezed by, the feather rose into the air. Amity was laser-focused on the illusion, making it tilt and turn as it fluttered off, resembling a kayak in the air. 

She continued to focus on it until it lay peacefully on the grass, a few meters away from them.

“Not bad,” Lilith praised with a nod. “Perhaps I should’ve started with something harder for you.” She lightly teased.

Amity lit up, her shoulders straightening. Until she forgot to focus on the feather and it poofed out of existence.

“However, with that in mind, the feather was a bit too buoyant.” Lilith continued, holding her hands together. “It looked more like a boat. Feathers usually flip and flutter in the air. Granted, Luz’s wind was a bit too light to show most natural movements.”

“Oh, do you want me to make it stronger next time?” Luz asked, looking at Amity instead of Lilith.

“I would prefer it,” Lilith said, her voice slightly strained.

“Just tell me yes or no, Lilith.” Luz muttered, digging in her pockets again.

Lilith frowned and narrowed her eyes at the human for a moment before decidedly ignoring it. Amity shuffled her feet and cleared her throat awkwardly. She opened her mouth to say something before slowly shutting it again, her eyes drawn to Lilith’s hands.

“Now, while Luz is searching for her glyph, I want you to try something a little heavier.” Lilith continued, turning back to her apprentice. “Perhaps a pencil rolling on the ground, or a sweater.” She said, raising a hand and gesturing with it.

“Of course, that depends on how strong the wind is, so let’s just try with something like a large leaf or…” Lilith paused.

The witch had suddenly gone still, staring at her mentor, face whiter than a sheet and pupils slitted so thin they were like a pen line.

“Amity?” Lilith said, brow creasing in worry.

She followed the witch’s gaze, which wasn’t necessarily on her, but rather her hand.

Her left hand, which she had been gesturing with, was suddenly gnarled and inflamed. Her nails are grown to claws and her skin had hardened into a scale-like texture.

“Luz!” Amity cried, stepping back. “Luz, she’s--it’s the--”

Luz jerked her head up, whirling back to the two. She saw Lilith staring in shock at her hand and in a flash, leapt to her feet.

“Amity, get back!” Luz warned, pulling out a fire glyph she had found in her search for a wind glyph.

Lilith hadn’t moved, transfixed at her hand. More scales popped up and her hand grew in size, feathers sprouting at her wrist and growing along her arm. She raised her other hand and noticed it was beginning to do the same.

She was thinking so much and nothing at all, a blend she despised but couldn’t stop.

,

“Lilith!”

She jerked her head up. Amity had stepped back, closer to Luz, but not close enough. Her eyes were wide and terrified, her ears pressed back.

Lilith had seen this position many times before, and that remembrance sent a spike of pain through her chest.

“Amity,” Lilith breathed, her voice raspy as feathers suddenly sprung up around her arms. “I’m-I’m okay,” She said quickly, reaching out before she sharply pulled back, remembering what her hand looked like.

“We need to go get Eda,” Luz said, grabbing Amity’s shoulder and pulling her gaze away. “Lilith, stay right where you are!”

“You know as well as I that once I am cursed I will have no say in the--”

Lilith’s retort was cut off as there was a loud rip and she snarled, her knees buckling beneath her. 

A single wing erupted from her back, soaked and mangled with black feathers that stretched far, far above her head. 

Amity jerked back, covering her mouth with her hand as she gasped. Luz turned to her, taking in her horrified look. A part of her would wonder if that’s how she looked during Eda’s transformations.

“We gotta go,” She said, turning Amity away from the sight. “Come on.”

Lilith’s transformation was increasing tenfold, and Luz could tell by her screams of anguish and the sound of flesh and bone ripping and remending behind her.

Luz grabbed Amity’s wrist and ran to the back door, throwing it open. She looked back for just a moment to usher Amity inside, and in those moments she swore she’d never been so scared for a woman like Lilith.

A second wing had grown from her back, were wet and limp. They hung at her sides like shades, and were shaped just like a ravens. She could see a similar jet-black tail poking out of her dress, also wet and tangled. Her hands were enlarged and scaled, with nails like claws. Her feet were worse, and had truly become massive talons. She was sure her legs were no different.

Feathers could be seen coming out of her sleeves and around her neck, sticking up at odd angles. Her ears had elongated, not to the extent of the owl beast, but long enough, with tufts of fur in them.

When Lilith looked up towards them, her eyes were jet black, and her pupils were the color of her eyes.

Luz grabbed Amity’s arm, about to yank the two of them inside the Owl House.

The second Luz touched Amity, and Luz swore it was the millisecond, Lilith’s lips curled back into a growl, exposing dagger-like fangs far too big for her mouth.

Faster than Luz thought possible for her, Lilith lunged towards them, her wings raised over her head and talons extended.

,

Luz yelped and shoved Amity through the door before grabbing and slamming it shut, wincing as she heard, and felt, Lilith ram her body against the wooden door, hissing and snarling as she clawed at it.

“E-Eda was...wasn’t like this...” Amity choked, holding her hands close and stepping away from the door, shaking.

“She was, you just weren’t here.” Luz shook her head, locking the back door and slipping through the kitchen. “The curse switches between a feral or mostly-normal state. Lilith must be too freaked out right now.”

Amity showed no sign of having heard her, only staring in silence at the closed back door.

Luz was about to try and comfort Amity when she paused. She waited and listened.

Not a sound.

Lilith had stopped attacking the door.

The realization chilled Luz to the bone. She took a step back and withdrew an ice glyph, nervously looking around.

“Amity, come h--”

The large kitchen window suddenly smashed to bits, sending glass and random kitchen items falling off the counter and scattering on the floor. Luz leapt forward and grabbed Amity, tugging the both of them down as she covered their heads with her cloak.

Lilith snarled and scrambled up, glass digging into her shoulders and still-wet wings. She dug her claws into the counter and pulled herself up, hissing as her eyes darted about the room.

Luz sprung up and threw her ice glyph, leading it to shoot out towards the cursed witch.

Lilith ducked and the spike went out the broken window. Lilith howled and grabbed the spike, climbing onto it with a shriek and running at the girls.

Luz rolled to the side and so did Amity. Luz stumbled to her feet and searched for another glyph, looking up just in time to see a claw swiping at her.

She jerked back, but Lilith’s claws grazed her face, and Luz quickly felt blood well up around her left eye and blurr her vision.

Lilith pulled back for a moment as Luz stumbled into the kitchen island and slumped to the ground, her breathing rapid as she raised a hand to her bloody eye.

The witch opened her mouth in a roar before a blast of magenta fire struck one of her wings.

She shrieked and flailed about, the dampness of her wings stopping it from catching ablaze as she spun around.

Amity was standing with fire hovering over her hand. She looked furious for a brief moment before terror quickly came back at the realization Lilith was now focused on her.

She attempted to throw another ball of fire at her as she stumbled back. Lilith snarled and lunged for her, her talons slamming into Amity’s shoulders and chest as the girl hit the wall and slumped to the ground, smaller than a mouse in the face of the beast.

Lilith’s wings arched over her head and her maw opened wide, flashing fangs that could split bones in half without a second thought. Amity winced and could only squeeze her eyes shut, turning her head away as Lilith’s claws dug into her flesh, surely creating scars.

Lilith lowered her head till it was inches away from Amity, unaware of the frantic footsteps and slamming of doors as someone ran down the stairs towards the kitchen, where Luz was frantically trying to grab at a plant glyph that had fallen out of her pocket.

She sniffed the girls hair, pausing and making a face that could almost be described as a frown. She clicked and rumbled, her jaw slowly shutting as Amity peeked open an eye.

Lilith tilted her head, eyes narrowed.

“Amity?” She said, her voice husky and growly, but clearly confused, and if Amity didn’t know any better...scared.

“Get off her!”

There was a flash of green, and a massive vine sprung out and wrapped around Lilith’s throat, tearing her off of Amity and sending her crashing to the floor.

Instead of Luz holding the other end of the vine, Amity whirred around to instead see Eda standing in the doorway, gripping the vine for dear life as Lilith thrashed and kicked about on the floor, with King standing behind her and clutching a golden bottle.

Lilith got right back to her feet, hissing and pulling against the vine with a roar. Eda yanked her sister closer, getting ready to take a bottle of elixir from King, who was holding it fearfully.

Luz wiped at the blood over her eye and rushed to Amity’s side. The girl was staring off into nothing, seeming to be in a state of shock. 

“Amity? Amity!” Luz waved her hands in front of Amity’s face and shook her shoulder frantically.

Amity perked up then, staring at Luz in surprise, like she had forgotten where she was. Her gaze instantly went to the blood trickling into the human’s eye.

“Luz, you--”

Amity reached for Luz, but they were both startled by a blood-curdling shriek, and both turned back to the fight going on just a few meters away.

Lilith was beating her wings, though they still couldn’t lift her off the ground. She tugged and pulled at the restraint, snapping her jaws. Eda barely dodged as she grabbed the elixir from King, hissing right back at the half-a-beast.

Faint scales were popping up on Eda’s hands, plus feathers on her arms. Luz figured that if there was a reason to worry of Eda transforming at this moment, Eda would’ve told them.

Granted, this entire situation was probably a cause for a concern or two. 

Lilith stepped back, her talons clacking against the tile and making a fragile one crack. Luz grabbed Amity and hoisted her to her feet, pulling the two of them back. She held Amity close to her protectively, never taking her non-bloody eye off the witch.

Lilith opened her mouth in another angry shriek, her wings raised high above her head and brushing the ceiling. Eda took her chance and sharply tugged Lilith forward, shoving the open bottle of elixir into Lilith’s mouth.

About half the bottle made its way into her throat before she spat it out, growling and nearly snapping off Eda’s ears for her troubles.

In moments, however, she began to calm.

Lilith’s wings shrunk, and the gnarly scales and size of her hands and feet began to grow fainter and fainter. Her legs gave out from under her, and Lilith tumbled to the floor in a heap.

Her wings were still visible, just far smaller now, and many of her feathers and glimpses of scales could be seen. But when she opened her eyes with a gasp, only one of her eyes were an inky black, the turquoise one completely normal.

A wave of relief swept through the room, and Eda finally relaxed, looking almost ready to fall herself. Luz slowly released Amity, letting the girl stand beside her. She held her sleeve to her eye again and glanced at the girl, who had her hands wringing together close to her chest, looking more anxious than the day before a test.

“Edalyn?” Lilith mumbled, her voice hoarse as she coughed.

She looked down at the bottle of elixir and recoiled, seeing her reflection in the glass. She lifted a hand to her face, feeling around her jet black eye.

King waddled over, brushing by Eda as he took the elixir and held it up to Lilith, out of everyone, giving her a sympathetic look.

Lilith swallowed and mumbled a thanks before drinking the rest of the elixir, shuttering and cringing as the rest of her transformation vanished back into her body.

“You alright?” Eda asked gruffly.

“I...I believe so.” Lilith nodded, still holding the elixir as she stared at the ground. “Is...is this...normal?”

“Wish it wasn’t,” Eda sighed, shaking her head, looking so much older than she already was. “You should’ve seen me when I had the whole curse on my back.”

Lilith’s flinch didn’t go unnoticed, but nobody mentioned it.

Eda’s gaze went to the girls then, and she sprung up the second she saw the blood Luz was trying to hide. She rushed around Lilith, taking Luz’s hand and pulling it away from her eye.

“Is it bad?” Luz asked quietly, looking up at Eda with wide eyes as she wiped away as much blood she could.

“...no,” Eda breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s a bit deep, but you’ll be fine. It just got above your eye, you’ll see.”

Lilith looked back around, shame and horror evident as King stood by the witch, shuffling his feet. She caught sight of Amity’s trembling state and began to sit up, but Eda beat her to it.

“Kid, hey,” Eda said softly, and Amity finally looked up at her. “Is anything broken?”

Amity swallowed and shook her head, looking like a small child after they’d gotten in trouble. She crossed her arms, like she was trying to hide the claw marks dug into her body and through her shirt.

Eda sighed and pulled her arms away right after, wincing at the sight.

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” Amity mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

“Amity,” Lilith breathed, shakily getting to her feet, using a nearby table to help herself up. “Amity, great Titan are you--” “She’ll live, Lilith.” Eda growled, not even sparing a look back.

Lilith slowly turned away, her eyes downcast as she stared at the ground, more specifically, at where her talon had cracked the tile.

“C’mon, let’s see if we can call that healer friend of yours. I’d rather try to avoid risking a hospital visit.” Eda sighed, gently placing an arm on Amity’s back.

Amity nodded numbly, letting Eda guide her past Lilith, who still refused to look up, and out of the kitchen.

Eda glanced at Lilith, and for a brief moment, her anger subsided, and it was replaced with dull sorrow. 

She sighed and continued on without a word.

,

King still stood where he was as Eda sat Amity on the couch, grabbing the few healing glyphs she had as Luz called Viney on Amity’s scroll. They fell into a quiet rhythm, trying to ease Amity’s pain before the shock wore off. Luz didn’t even start to worry about her own until Eda instructed her to do so.

King glanced towards Lilith, who was now slumped in a seat at the kitchen table. He fidgeted his claws for a moment before climbing onto one of the chairs and then onto the table, hesitantly walking over until he flopped down by Lilith’s head, which was buried in her arms.

“It’s not so bad,” King said, and Lilith peeked an eye out from behind her hair. “I mean, Eda used to eat any random animal she found in the woods. I’m pretty sure she actually made a small species of bird go extinct in this area.”

Lilith didn’t seem to lighten at all. She moved her arms to look at one of her hands, and King sucked in a breath.

Her fingers were still coated in blood, most of which had to be Amity’s.

“Do you…” King twitched his tail nervously. “Want a hand towel?” 

Lilith nodded, never taking her eyes off her hand.

King walked across the table and leapt onto the kitchen island and then to the counter. He picked up a towel that had fallen into the sink and dampened it underneath the faucet.

He carefully stepped around the broken glass, ignoring the smashed window, and jumped back over to the table, holding out the towel.

Lilith looked up then. She stared blankly at the towel for a few moments before taking it from King and wiping it over her hands.

King sat in front of her, lightly tapping his claws on the table, unsure of what to do. He shyly lay a paw on Lilith’s arm, wrapping his tail around himself.

Lilith paused and glanced at King, offering him a small forced smile before it fell again.

“I messed up again, didn’t I?”

King looked back through the kitchen door. Luz was sitting on the floor by Amity, holding paper towels to her eye as she talked to her on occasion before going back to talking on her scroll, presumably to Viney. Eda was still focused on healing the worst of Amity’s marks, her eyes glazed and not at all there.

“I mean, Eda did stuff like this before. I don’t think we can blame you for this one.” He said simply.

Lilith deflated, letting the towel fall back to the table as she hunched her shoulders.

“But, uh, I mean, the curse is different now.” King said quickly. “Once you get the hang of it, then you’ll be perfectly fine. Remember Eda’s last transformation? She was barely any different.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Lilith mumbled. “Edal...she went through decades of this,” She said quietly, curling her hands close to herself. “And now she had to see it from me.”

“She managed,” King shrugged. “I mean, now it’s better for her to deal with.”

“You…” Lilith turned to King before shaking her head. “You have a strange sense of grudges, you know that? You’re always focused on only the present, unless it’s something extremely personal that happened to only you.”

“Amity crushed my cupcake and that is unforgivable.” King huffed, crossing his arms. “But...yeah. I find it easier to focus on the now than the past.” He admitted, appearing to space out for a moment.

“And that’s why you never learn,” Lilith sighed.

“I said I prefer to focus on the present, that doesn’t mean I’m ignoring what happened.” King grumbled, narrowing his eyes. “Last I checked, I’m not the one who has the whole house still mad at her.”

Lilith looked away, holding her chin in her hand as she muttered, but quieted down pretty quickly.

King sat up and fumbled with his tail for a moment, continuously glancing back in the living room, where Amity was now laying back on the couch with Luz happily chatting to her without a care in the world.

His gaze went back to Lilith, who, in stark contrast to the lit living room, was sulking in the dark kitchen, the only light coming through the broken window, only reaching halfway across the table.

Then he finally noticed her back.

“Your bleeding!” King gasped, standing bolt upright.

“Oh, am I?” Lilith mumbled, raising her head and trying to turn back.

The glass that had stuck into her wings from crashing through the window had transferred to her back. Chunks of glass were sticking out, somehow making her black dress even darker as it soaked her upper back and shoulders.

“Eda, Eda!” King called, stumbling and falling off the table before springing right back up. “Lilith’s covered in glass!”

“I’m fine, King,” Lilith hissed, a bit frantic as she tried to reach for him. “I’ve had worse than a bit of…”

Lilith trailed off, spotting two red heels in the doorway. She slowly looked up, facing Eda watching her.

“...I’m okay,” Lilith said, slowly straightening up in her chair, obviously trying to hide a wince. “King’s just being anxious.” She said with a wave of her hand.

Eda huffed, storming over and grabbing Lilith’s shoulder, sharply turning her to get a look at her back, where King was fearfully pointing.

She looked over the injury for only a few moments before releasing her sister and dragging a hand down her face, exasperated.

“Turn around in your chair and I’ll get them out.” Eda sighed. “We’ve got a few spare healing glyphs somewhere, or I can make a few. Is there glass anywhere else?”

Lilith blinked up at her sister, too stunned for words. She shook her head, never taking her eyes off her.

“Just scrapes,” Lilith said quietly. “You don’t have to--”

“You think you can remove glass from your own back?” Eda raised a brow, crossing her arms.

“...I can manage.” Lilith mumbled.

“I can help!” King offered, raising a paw.

“Don’t ask King for help, he’s clumsier than Luz.” Eda said sternly, much to the demon's annoyance.

“Look, I know you don’t want to help me, and I know you’re worried about those two,” Lilith said, keeping her voice from snapping as she gestured towards the living room, where Luz and Amity were quietly talking.

“So please, spare me your pity.” Lilith said, crossing her arms on the table and laying her head on them, turning her head away.

Barely a few seconds later, there was a sudden pain in her back.

Lilith yelped and jerked up, feeling something slide out with a sting. She whirled around, seeing that Eda, with her bare hands, had pulled out a large chunk of glass from between her shoulder blades, revealing it was covered in blood.

“You know,” Eda said, placing the shard on the table in front of Lilith with more force than necessary. “For someone who managed to become the leader of the most powerful coven in the Isles, you’re the most stubborn, idiotic person I know.” She growled.

“You’re no treat yourself,” Lilith grumbled back.

“Nope, no, shut up, shut it.” Eda raised a finger. “This isn’t about one-upping each other. You’re so stubborn that you’d rather bleed out than admit that, for once in your life, you had no control over a situation.”

“I’m not going to die, Edalyn.” Lilith muttered.

“Yes, you’ll be fine, but you know as well as I that if you were that hurt, you still wouldn’t let me at least try to be nice to you.” Eda growled. “Face it, Lily, things are different now. And you don’t have a say in it anymore.”

Lilith gritted her teeth and curled her lip, flashing sharp rows of fangs. She gave a low growl, and Eda reciprocated, revealing her own fangs, her golden tooth noticeably longer than the others, as she gave a deeper growl.

The two stayed in a stare-off for a few seconds, causing King to fearfully hop off the chair, instead hiding underneath it.

That’s when the front door opened.

“Viney!” Luz’s voice drifted into the kitchen. “How did you--”

“I had Puddles fly me,” Viney replied, and you could faintly hear the sounds of cooing outside. “Amity, c’mere, let me see how much you guys managed to patch up.”

Lilith’s growling fell right then, Eda’s following a moment after. She turned her head downwards, her ears pressing back.

“You should go check on them,” She said softly.

“Yeah, I should.” Eda agreed, taking a step back as her eyes narrowed.

She continued to stare at Lilith for a moment longer, and her sister didn’t look up. King crawled out from under the chair, looking up at her with his tail hanging underneath him.

Eda opened her mouth to say something before slowly shutting it again, thinking.

“Tell them I’m sorry,”

Eda almost didn’t hear what Lilith said, her voice was quieter than a whisper. Eda blinked and looked her sister up and down.

“Tell them yourself.” She said instead.

She backed up further, the light coming through the kitchen entryway bathing her as she continued watching Lilith, who continued to sit at the dark table as she turned away.

With that, Eda walked out of the kitchen without another word.

King watched the doorway for a few moments, tuning out the words of the others before climbing back up onto the table by Lilith. He rested his head on her arm, closing his eyes as she used her other hand to stroke his back.

Her eyes stayed transfixed on the glass shard sitting in front of her, the blood already starting to dry on the wooden table.

In the stretching shadows, the shards in her back almost looked like spikes.

#my writing #four years au #the owl house #toh #lilith clawthorne #lilith #mom lilith #sort of #angst #hurt no comfort #writing #eda clawthorne #eda #luz noceda #luz #amity blight #amity #raven beast #half curse #king #clawthorne sisters #injury #tw blood #tw scars #this hurt a lil bit #tw trauma