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When Luz and Eda returned to the Owl House, the human child was overcome with a sense of dread. The flight home on the witch's staff had been unusually tense and quiet. The Owl Lady might not have been yelling or scolding, but Luz could tell she was angry with her.
And how could she blame Eda for being upset? Her magical mentor had explicitly told her not to go to Hexside School, saying that they didn't know how to teach magic the right way and they would repress Luz's individuality. But instead of listening, Luz did the exact opposite of what she was told. Sneaking into Hexside had resulted in her making a few new friends, but it had also almost got her vivisected by a suspicious principal and an astonishingly attractive green-haired girl! Well, perhaps Luz wasn't a convincing abomination, but she sure hadn't expected her life to be threatened at a school. The Boiling Isles never ceased to surprise her with its fascinating nightmare fuel.
But as Edalyn Clawthorne put one hand between her shoulder blades and guided her into their home, Luz was more worried about what awaited her inside. The whole situation reminded her of the car ride home from a carnival where Luz had disobeyed her mother and snuck into a haunted house, and gotten quite lost. At home, a few well placed swats from a chankla had been enough to remind Luz to mind her mother. She was sure a similar fate awaited her today, and the shutting of a door sent a shiver down her spine.
"Alright," Eda sighed, stretching her arms and cracking her knuckles. "Now that you're safe and sound, let's get dinner going. We're lucky King didn't burn the house down trying to cook something while I was out."
Eda paused and smiled at Luz. Realizing she expected a response, Luz awkwardly chuckled. "Uh yeah. Lucky us."
"Yep! I'll get started. You go take a bath and change clothes. You've still got abomination goop all over you," Eda pointed out. "I'll be ready when you get back."
"Oh. Oh, okay," Luz acknowledged. She looked down and saw the purple sludge covering her hands and her knees and decided that Eda's instructions made sense. "I'll be back as quick as I can."
"Take your time!" Eda called as Luz sprinted up the stairs. She obeyed to the letter, though actually getting the abomination gunk out of her hair was a time-consuming task. It at least gave her something to focus on that wasn't her impending doom. About half an hour later, she was downstairs in her pajamas and slippers, nervously squeezing her right arm as she went to meet her fate.
But Eda did not teach her a lesson. She didn't even acknowledge that Luz had done anything wrong. They had dinner without even a passive aggressive comment about Luz's behavior. And while she should have felt relief, Luz instead felt miserable. She'd done wrong, and she would surely be punished for it. Her stomach was tied up in a guilty knot, and she ate only enough to prevent Eda from lecturing her about not eating.
After Luz cleared the table and cleaned the dishes (something Edalyn was terrible at remembering to do), she braced for the inevitable. The Owl Lady had made sure that her apprentice was cleaned and fed. Surely, it was time for a "teachable moment" between them.
Eda was sitting on the couch, flipping through a spellbook while King lay curled up on the other side, blissfully asleep. Luz was so struck by the nonchalance that she wondered if Eda had decided to punish her ward by simply ignoring her. She cleared her throat to get the woman's attention.
"Yes, Luz?"
"What do you want me to do?" the girl asked, not meeting Eda's eyes.
"Hmm. Well it's at least an hour before you usually go to bed. I don't care what you do, as long as it isn't dangerous," Eda answered before returning her attention to her book.
Luz's eyes went wide as saucers. She couldn’t believe her ears.
"But... aren't you mad at me?" she prodded.
"Not really," Eda shrugged. "I was pretty annoyed earlier, but I'm over it. It never does any good to stay grumpy, even if I am an old curmudgeon."
Luz was beside herself. She'd spent at least an hour fretting about consequences, and she wasn’t even receiving any. That's not fair! The words didn't escape her lips, but they consumed her. She studied her shoes, rocked on her heels, and pressed her pointer fingers together with such intensity that her knuckles stung.
"E-Eda," she spoke up. "Can we talk?"
"Always, niblet," the witch answered. "What's eating you?"
"I disobeyed you!" Luz reminded her incredulously. "You told me not to go to Hexside and to train with you. And I ran off from your lesson to sneak into school, and I almost got myself and my new friends in big trouble! If you hadn't come in and saved me, I might have been dissected! And you aren't even mad at me."
"Uh huh. I haven't forgotten," Eda acknowledged. "Are you sorry?"
"Of course I'm sorry!" Luz all but screamed.
"Then why would I be mad?" Eda inquired matter of factly.
"Because that's what..." Luz cut herself off, chewing on her lips. She wanted to say "what Moms do", but she didn't know if it was fair to throw that kind of responsibility at Eda. "I just. I feel bad and I think that I really should be punished for misbehaving. And if you don’t punish me, I think I'm going to stay up all night feeling bad about it."
There was a long silence as teacher and student exchanged searching looks. But finally, Eda closed her book.
"Okay, kid. I'm not going to let you stay awake beating yourself up about it. What do you think would be a fitting punishment for your crimes, hmm?"
Luz's complexion paled. Her heart thumped in her chest. She knew what she'd been expecting, but it was one thing to imagine it and another thing entirely to speak it into existence.
"Uh... a spanking?" she proposed, blushing ear to ear.
Eda coughed.
"I dunno, human. Won't that traumatize you or something?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips, looking equal parts stern and skeptical.
Luz chuckled. "Oh, no. Mama's given me loads of spankings and I've never been traumatized. I mean, it wasn't fun to spend part of my thirteenth birthday over her knee because I rode my bike off the roof. But a sore bottom is better than a broken neck, right?"
Edalyn looked about as horrified as Luz usually did when encountering whatever new hideous monstrosity the Demon Realm decided to throw at her that day. Luz hoped she hadn't traumatized Eda, or made her mother look like a monster.
"Or... or you could just ground me, I guess."
Eda shook her head. "No, I don’t think so. If you can't do what you're told when you're not in trouble, I can't expect you not to get in trouble while you're grounded. And then you'll just be in worse trouble. Okay, Luz. Why don't you go up to your room and I'll come up in a few minutes to give you a spanking before bed?"
Luz clammed up. Oh no. What had she done? What was she thinking? She'd let her imagination run away with her and now Eda the Owl Lady was going to spank her. Before bed. The horror! The shame!
"Oh...okay," she squeaked. She started walking past Eda on tiptoes, very deliberately putting her bottom in arm's reach. It wasn't that she wanted to be swatted, per se. But just an idea of what was in store for her would ease her anxiety. Right?
Eda narrowed her eyes in suspicion. When the human girl lingered too long in front of her, instinct kicked in and she gave Luz's pajama covered bottom a good smack.
"Go on!" she ordered after the loud pop.
"Ah! Yes Ma'am!" Luz emphatically agreed before bolting up the stairs. She'd been wrong. Getting that warning spank did not make her feel better. It simply made her sorry tush sting and made her feel naughty. So much so that as soon as she was in her room, she stuck her nose in the corner and thought very hard about her behavior.
Unaware that her pupil was serving a self-inflicted timeout, Eda took a few moments to gather her wits. She did not particularly want to spank the girl. Though she had to admit, if she knew such an idea was in Luz's head already, she might have taken her over a knee as soon as she'd arrived at Hexside in a huff. But if was probably better not to inflict harm on the kid when she was angry.
When she felt up to the task after downing a pint of Apple Blood, she marched up the stairs. When she saw Luz standing dutifully in the corner, her heart melted. The fourteen year old rarely acted her age, but right now, she looked especially, adorably childish.
"Luz Noceda. I don't recall telling you to do that," she scolded lightly. She pulled out the old wooden chest from its spot in the opposite corner and took a seat. "Come over here."
Luz was a lot faster now than she'd been downstairs. Eda pointed to the patch of floor in front of her, where Luz's blankets and sleeping bag rested. The girl stood there and fidgeted with her hands until Eda took them in her own.
"Calm down, Luz. You don't need to be scared," she assured her gently.
"I know. I'm not scared. Just... nervous," she admitted. In truth, her bottom was practically tingling with the expectation of being justly warmed.
"Me too. I've never spanked anyone before," Eda explained, running her strong right hand through Luz's pixie cut. "Why don’t you tell me what you're used to getting at home before I decide what to do."
Luz took a deep breath. She felt a strange calm in the familiar ritual of a spanking. Her mother loved her very much, and while she was quite stern when need be, she was never unfair with Luz. In fact, most of the time a spanking made her feel closer to her mother, since their negative emotions were taken care of and hugs always followed. She could get through this, even with a surrogate madre.
"Well, mi mama always lays me across her lap. Then it kind of depends on how naughty I've been. Sometimes she uses her hand and smacks me over my pants or my underwear," she explained. "But if I've really been a brat she bares my bottom first. And of course, she can wield a chankla like nobody's business."
"Chankla?" Eda asked, unfamiliar with the favored implement of abuelas.
"Oh, uh, a slipper or sandal. You could even use mine if you think I need it," Luz offered, thinking that Eda's heels would make for an awkward paddle. "Usually a spanking lasts about a minute or two. Long enough for her to lecture me and for me to cry about how sorry I am."
"And you'll be okay with all of that?" Eda asked, caressing Luz's back to soothe her. She was truly shocked that the girl would suggest Eda beat her with a shoe.
"Yeah," Luz whined, shutting her eyes tight. "I just want to get what I deserve. Whatever you think that is, I can take it. I trust you. Totally."
Eda sighed. She didn't think Luz deserved any of that. But perhaps the girl needed it. If for no other reason, than to help her feel at home. Eda thought carefully about what she wanted to get out of this ordeal. She decided that the most important thing she wanted was for Luz to promise to listen. With a goal in mind, she gave Luz one last affectionate pat on the head.
"Alright, kid. Let's get this over with."
She pulled Luz over her lap and pressed her left hand against the teenager's back. The girl squirmed at first, but shuffled into a position that was relatively comfortable for both of them. Her chubby little bottom stuck out at angle, almost inviting Eda to touch it. After some careful consideration, Eda decided to pull the pajama shorts down enough to expose bare skin.
"Ohh," Luz whined when she felt Eda deprive her of her shorts. She really must have messed up big time, if she was getting a bare bottom spanking for all of it. "Oh man. I'm sorry for being a horrible brat, Eda!"
Eda wanted to tell Luz that she didn’t have to spank her. But she thought about how guilty Luz obviously felt, and how she'd begged to be punished. This was not a conversation that would be fruitful. She decided it was natural for Luz to be upset about getting what she asked for in the moment. The human obviously knew enough about the subject to know she would be okay with it later.
"I want to be able to see what I'm doing, Luz," she explained. "I don't think you were a horrible brat. Or, at least, no more of a brat than I was at your age."
This revelation was a comfort to Luz. It made sense; Eda didn’t know what she was doing, and of course she wouldn't want to really hurt Luz. Feeling safe and secure, the teenager crossed her ankles and took a deep breath.
"Okay. I'm ready then," she assured Eda with irrepressible cheerfulness.
Cringing at the prospect of hurting the child, Eda forced herself to be as ready as Luz was. Flattening her palm to make sure that her long nails didn't scratch, she brought it down for the first time.
"Ow!" Luz yelped pathetically.
Eda tentatively delivered another firm smack to the opposite cheek. Luz squirmed, and yelped again. Eda kept delivering exploratory swats until she was convinced that she wasn’t causing Luz undue distress.
"Ow! Oww, oww! Oh, I'm sorry! Ow! I'm sorry!" Luz wailed softly.
The more Eda spanked, the less guilty she felt. In fact, she became almost happy, considering the unpleasantness of it all. Hearing these contrite little sounds coming from Luz was both endearing and soothing. Frankly, the apologies were warranted, and Luz was so achingly sincere about it that Eda knew she was telling the truth.
"That's right you're sorry. Why are you getting spanked, Luz?" she asked, affecting the stern tone she usually reserved for the goons in the Emperor's Coven.
"Because I was naughty!" Luz blubbered, unlocking her ankles and having a good kick as the spanking progressed. "I disobeyed you and went somewhere I wasn't supposed to go without permission."
"That's right," Eda surmised, watching as her skeletal gray hand reddened Luz's ochre cheeks. "I didn't want you to go because they teach you that wild magic is wrong and that you can only practice one kind of magic. I don't want them spoiling your mind. But what else did you learn?"
"Going places I don't know is dangerous. Ow, ow! I could have gotten hurt. Ouch! Ow. I'm sorry, Eda!" Luz exclaimed. "I'm sorry for misbehaving. Honest!"
"It's good that you're sorry," Eda assessed, continuing to smack some sense into the often stubborn girl. "But sorry doesn't mean anything if you're going to keep being disobedient in the future."
"I won't! Oh, I won't disobey again! Oww! I promise!" Luz whispered. "I'll be a good girl, Eda, I swear."
The words were music to Eda's ears. She had been worried about something happening to Luz since the moment she took her in as an apprentice. The human had so much curiosity and so little self-preservation. But now, Eda had a tool to keep her in line.
"You better be a good girl, Luz Noceda," she warned. "Because in the Owl House, naughty girls get their sorry little butts spanked. Understood?"
"Ouch! Yes Ma'am! I'll behave myself or I'll get a spanking. I got it! Oww!" By this point, Luz burst into tears. "Ow! Eda, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
After her hand collided with Luz's bottom again, Eda took a moment to take inventory. The girl's bottom was hot to the touch and her skin was clearly irritated from the smacking. Luz was sobbing steadily even when she wasn't being actively spanked. And when Eda considered the time, she had been disciplining Luz for just about three minutes... it could have been two, but she'd been so apprehensive at first that she'd drawn the process out.
"Alright, Luz. I believe you. I think you've learned your lesson," Eda summed up. "I'm going to give you one more hard spank on each cheek, and that will be the end of it."
Luz sniffled and squirmed, but nodded. "Yes Ma'am."
True to her word, Eda's last two slaps were especially hard, to leave a lasting impression. The poor teenager howled at each one, and flailed about miserably as Eda put her shorts back on. Then the Owl Lady set her student on the ground in front of her, coming face to face with her.
She was still pouty and weepy, and Eda was overcome with love and compassion for this sweet, innocent child. While she was still often confused by the spontaneous hugs Luz threw her way, she felt she understood it better now. The only instinct was to pull Luz closer and hug her as tightly as she could to make her feel safe.
And Luz felt very safe. Her bottom was smarting, but she'd deserved that. Eda had her, she was protecting her, nothing bad would happen as long as the witch was here. The only thing remotely threatened right now was her ability to sit comfortably.
"I'm sorry, Eda," she repeated, crying onto her shoulder.
"I know you are, kiddo," the woman answered, patting her back. "That's enough of that. I've punished you, and we're square. You had better forgive yourself and stop feeling so miserable."
Luz laughed. She knew what Eda meant, but it was amusing. And she was too compelled to say something mischievous.
"Or what? You gonna give me a spanking?"
Eda popped her soundly on the bottom, and Luz whined and marched furiously in place. But while she fretted, she was glad that Eda had given her the spank for her sass.
"Okay! Okay! I'm forgiving myself, I promise."
"Silly brat," Eda scolded without any heart. "You better go to bed before you get yourself in any more trouble."
"Yes Mom," Luz answered, using a sarcastic emphasis to tease Eda. But it still felt right to use the title. Obviously, there was no replacing Camila; the love Luz had for her mother transcended dimensions. But there was no reason she couldn't have a second Mom in the Boiling Isles.