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Owls and Souls, Witches and Resonance

Chapter 17: Examples Made

Notes:

I do not own Owl House or Soul Eater.

If I did... well, I'd be even more bitter about the status of Owl House season 3 than I am now. My greatest condolences to the entirety of the Owl House team, and especially to Dana Terrace herself.

Also, fuck you, Disney. Genuinely. Just... fuck you.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Luz leaned forwards on the table as Eda scratched away at the paper with her pen, formulating yet another list; she stared at her phone with her eyes half lidded, having scrolled down to the bottom of her current screen, still lost in her own despondence.

The Witch was splitting her attention between counting the money Luz had handed her for a total, and asking her for names; in turn, the Latina had been parroting the names back, along with how much they had paid her upon receiving their delivery. A little less than half the people on the list had snubbed the girl, paying only half, if that, of what they owed the Owl Lady.

“Skadi?” Eda prompted, not looking up from the homemade ledger.

“Skadi, number two, Lost Belt Lane,” the teen sighed, “The ice cream place. Ordered…” she squinted, “Various sweeteners?”

“And what did she pay you?”

“Full price – one thousand five hundred snails for a full restock.”

“Thought she’d treat you nicely,” the Owl Lady chuckled, stretching, “Skadi’s good people, if a little moody sometimes.”

“She seemed a little on the mad side to me.”

“That’s just because it’s summer – she really doesn’t like the heat.”

“Can’t say I blame her,” she took a sip from the glass of ice water beside her.

“Alright, last one,” Eda wrinkled her nose, penning in the last name, “Adegast. Taxidermy supplies…”

“… I didn’t count what he gave me,” Luz confessed, “I just… got out of there as fast as I could.”

“Honestly, I don’t blame you,” Eda nodded, making one last count of the money on the table, “You made the right call. You shouldn’t have had to deal with him in the first place, and it should be easy enough for me to see how much he paid just looking at the totals.”

“Mm,” Luz hummed, letting her chin rest on her arms and once again suppressing her body’s continuous threat to vomit; the knowledge of just how close she’d come to walking straight into a kidnapping, or worse, had made her feel violently ill. Though her earlier rage had suppressed it, she was now right back to circling through a sense of miserable self-scolding, berating herself for having trusted him so easily.

She hadn’t even trusted Eda that quickly – how had he suckered her in to having tea with him with a few quick words?

“… gotta say, you did better than I expected,” Eda finally set the pen down, “You did good work today, kid.”

At this, Luz glanced up, blinking in surprise at the self-satisfied, but genuine smile on the silver haired woman’s face, her golden eyes gleaming in the afternoon light.

“… but… I…” she swallowed, trying to speak, “I didn’t get everything they owed you.”

“No,” the Witch conceded, “But that’s entirely beyond your control. I figured a few of my customers were gonna think you were an easy mark and stiff you, and I wanted to see how you would handle it,” she gestured to the phone, chuckling, “I wasn’t expecting you to actually make a list of who paid you what. This makes my job tomorrow much easier.”

“Well… I…” Luz pushed herself up, finally matching the Owl Lady’s smile with one of her own, “I just… wanted to do a good job. I didn’t want you to think I was just a screw-up.”

“Kid, trust me,” Eda rose to her feet, sending the bills and coins flying into a nearby chest with a snap of her fingers, “You’re not a screw-up. You’re a little naïve, sure, but that just means you have some growing up to do.”

A nod… then the teen frowned, pursing her lips as another thought came to mind, “Wait. ‘Wanted to see how I would handle it’?”

The woman’s smile grew coy as she strode out into the hall, “Yep.”

Her queasy unease forgotten, Luz shoved her phone back in her pocket and pushed out of her chair, yelping as she nearly tripped over the legs before following after Eda, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s turn this into a bit of a thought exercise, Luz,” the Witch did not turn around, merely raising a finger, “What did I task you with today?”

“You had me go into town to make deliveries and sell potions,” the girl recited.

“Right. And what did I give you to help you with that?”

“Potions, a list and a map.”

“And how did you do the job I gave you today?”

“Well…” Luz wrinkled her nose in thought, frown deepening as she tried to recall the exact sequence of events, “… I had to find the addresses on the map in order to find your clients. And because Google Maps doesn’t cover anything here – I checked – I had to figure out where I was on the map by taking a look at my surroundings, finding signs and landmarks and comparing them on the map. From there, I had to plan a route.

“Granted, I had King with me in case I really got lost, but…” she huffed, crossing her arms as the tiny Demon came to mind, nearly every word that came out of his mouth some sort of provocation or complaint, “Well, he was more interested in getting snacks than he was in actually helping.”

“Yeah, he can be a little bastard sometimes,” Eda agreed, coming to a halt as she turned to smile at Luz again, “But here’s my next question. What did you learn today?”

The tanned teen raised an eyebrow, “You mean other than ‘Wizards aren’t real and Demons want to trick you so they can eat your Soul’?”

“Other than that,” the silver haired owl insisted, “Come on, Luz, humour me.”

She bit her lip, squinting as she bounced her foot in place, “Well… I read the map… I met some people… I…”

“… you were in a city you weren’t familiar with.”

The casual prompt caused Luz’s eyes to snap open, realization flooding her mind as she raised her eyes to meet Eda’s; the Witch was openly grinning now, clearly pleased to see the dawning epiphany on the girl’s face.

“… this was part of a lesson,” excitement was beginning to swell in Luz’s chest now, a brilliant smile breaking out across her face, “You sent me out to get me familiar with Bonesborough!”

Bingo,” Eda’s eyes gleamed with approval as she reached out to ruffle Luz’s hair, once again turning to continue out into the foyer, “Speaking from experience, one of the most important things you should do when you’re in a new area is learn about your environment. The better you know your way around, and the more you know about the world around you, the better off you’ll be overall, since you won’t be dependent on others to help you get around and you’ll know what parts of town to avoid. And even when you aren’t familiar with the area, having some idea of how to navigate is important; you’re a Hell of a lot more confident when you can at least find your way around than you are when you have no clue where you are or where you’re going.”

“So you wanted to see how well I could get around a city I was completely unfamiliar with to see how well I could navigate and how much I could learn about it?” the human inquired.

“Yeah, but that’s only one of the things I wanted to see from you,” the Witch continued, “So, building off that, what else did you show me while you were out there?”

“I planned out routes to get from one place to another,” Luz began, “Come to think of it, I could have made my run a little more efficient if I’d checked the addresses and planned out my routes a little better… but I also kept track of who paid you what.”

“And what do you think that shows me?”

“… problem solving?” the girl ventured.

“Exactly. Navigation in and of itself is a form of problem solving, but it’s not the only thing you had to do today; you also had to deal with customers who were suspicious of you, or thought they could get away with ripping you off,” they entered the foyer, the warmth of the fireplace comfortable despite the glaring summer heat from beyond the windows, “Someone a little more reckless might’ve tried to challenge them on it. Instead, you did the smart thing; you made a ledger so that I could handle it later. You recognized you weren’t equipped to handle the problem yourself, so you made sure that I would know who to visit and what I need to collect.”

“Well, I did try to argue a couple times,” Luz admitted, rubbing the back of her head, “But they didn’t listen to me…”

“Well, you didn’t press it so much that you got hurt; that’s what matters,” Eda stated, “So, in summary?”

“I proved to you I can navigate and problem solve,” the girl recited, “I learned a little bit about Bonesborough and can at least find my way around, even if I don’t know a ton about it yet. I kept a ledger of how much everyone paid you, and I successfully escaped an evil tentacle Demon?”

“You’re missing one thing.”

“What?”

“You successfully made all your deliveries,” the Witch snickered, reaching out to roughly ruffle the brunette’s messy hair, “Didn’t miss a single one. You did good, Luz.”

Even as Eda’s talon-like nails ran through her hair, Luz could feel the elation pulsing through her body, completely wiping away all of her former apprehensions. The Witch wasn’t angry with her, not even the slightest bit – if anything, Eda seemed proud, proud that Luz had managed to do so well on her first day, even if she’d had a few missteps along the way.

She couldn’t suppress the high-pitched hum that was rising through her throat, escaping her tightly closed mouth in a muffled, but prolonged joyful squeak. Before Luz could stop herself, she’d lunged forwards, once again trapping the Owl Lady in as tight a hug as she could manage, “Thank you, Eda!”

“Agh-!” the Witch stumbled back; Luz could feel her heartbeat pulse from beneath the surface of the golden gem on her chest, which was oddly warm to the touch, as if it possessed a unique heat all its own. Eda placed her free, untrapped hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Okay, seriously, what is that?” she pushed Luz back, breaking the embrace, sounding less angry and more confused.

“… it’s a hug,” Luz stated, now suddenly afraid she’d done something wrong.

“… a hug?” the Owl Lady tilted her head.

“Yeah,” the Latina stretched her arms out to the side, “Some people use it as a greeting, but a lot of the time it’s used as a sign of affection.”

The Witch continued to stare at her blankly, seeming somewhere between suspicious and genuinely perplexed, as if she’d been presented with a particularly obtuse riddle.

“… you’ve never been hugged by your mom?” Luz finally asked, now grasping at straws, “Your dad?”

At this, the light in the Owl Lady’s eyes dimmed. Her brow was deeply creased in a severe frown as she straightened, exhaling a slow breath through her nose.

“… Eda?” the girl prodded, “… did I do something wrong?”

“… my parents weren’t all that big on affection, kid,” the Witch looked away, arms crossed.

“… oh.”

Silence reigned between them as Luz realized the gravity of her error; she wrapped her arms around herself, trying desperately to read the Owl Lady’s now utterly stony face, her golden eyes inscrutable as the rest of her expression, her pale features seeming, however briefly, to have been carved from marble.

“… I’m sorry,” Luz apologized, “I-I didn’t-”

“You didn’t know,” Eda finished; she stared into the fire, seeming utterly lost in thought before finally stretching, raising her arms over her head, “It is what it is. No point cryin’ about it now.”

“Still… I’m s-”

“Ugh, enough with the apologies, kid,” a wry grin crossed the Witch’s face again, smothering her somber tone, “You’ve already apologized too many times for my liking. Let’s just move on, alright?”

“… okay,” the tanned teen sighed, glancing down; despite the red-clad woman’s words, she didn’t feel any better. Once again, she’d made yet another blunder, asked another insensitive question…

Was she ever going to know better?...

“… I know it’s been a long day,” Eda spoke up, making Luz raise her head again, “But it’s not over just yet.”

“… you have something else for me to do?” the girl asked, unable to hold back a tired breath.

“Actually,” the Witch smirked, raising a hand; a small orb of light flickered to light in her palm, shining brightly and immediately getting Luz’s attention. It began to spin, slowly rotating around Eda’s open hand and palm as she continued, “I was thinking we could start your first lesson in Magic.”

“… you want to teach me Magic?” the Latina murmured breathlessly, now caught in the conflict between her guilt and her excitement.

“I don’t see why not; after the day you’ve had, I’d say you’ve at least earned an introductory lesson,” the woman with the silver coif closed her fingers, causing the light to disperse, “And then, after that, there’s something I’d like to show you.”

Her guilt wasn’t fully forgotten, but it was very quickly shrinking. Luz’s heartbeat raced in her ears, and she quickly found herself bouncing on her feet again, unable to hide the joy that was once again building up within.

“Should I take that as a yes?” Eda flashed her a knowing grin.

Si,” she only barely kept her shout under control, “¡Me gustaria mucha eso!

“That’s what I thought,” Eda closed her eyes with an imperial gesture, her voice grandiose and commanding as it dropped several octaves, “Take a seat, my apprentice. Tonight, you learn the basics of Magic!”


It had not been an easy task, returning to teaching after roughly two weeks of being dead.

Sid had already studied up thoroughly on where his classes were in the curriculum; things were a couple of days behind schedule, but that was to be expected from a two-week absence due to reasons of being deceased. He already had a schedule in mind for getting his class back on track, and was more than happy to assist any student who needed help, even if they wouldn’t ask for it for one reason or another.

That was not what had made the past few school days difficult.

Rather, the difficulty had come from his coworkers.

It was no secret to the zombie that just about every member of the faculty had been strongly against his decision to allow Stein to kill him for the purposes of Black Star’s and Tsubaki’s extra lessons. The resident Death Scythe had scolded him for it over the phone; Stein himself had warned Sid that there would be no returning to the mortal coil, at least not in terms of true resurrection; Doctor Gorgon had pointedly told him it was ‘a silly endeavour over silly concerns,’ a jab that had stung more than just a little, as if she regarded his dedication to honesty with genuine contempt.

But it hadn’t stung nearly as much as the ear-ringing slap he’d received from Naigus.

Not so much as a word of hello, nor even a half second of hesitation. The instant she’d seen him after his return to school grounds, she’d strode across the room and smacked him so hard he’d been knocked entirely off kilter. By the time he’d pushed himself back up, opening his mouth to speak, she was gone, striding down the hall fuming in anger.

He couldn’t bring himself to get angry in turn. If the situation were reversed, he would probably be furious with her for the exact same reasons.

But, for better or worse, that was the kind of man he was.

Honest to a fault, even if that honesty came at his own expense.

There was no other way he could live, after everything.

The walking corpse sighed, proceeding down the list with his finger as he brought himself out of his reverie, reciting the next name, “Ox Ford?”

“Here,” the balding boy adjusted his glasses, a note of smug cheer in his voice.

“Harvar D. Éclair?”

“Present,” the tanned boy nodded, not bothering to remove his visor despite the fact that he was indoors.

“Kilik Rung?”

“Right here, sir!” the dark skinned lad called, raising a hand in acknowledgement.

“Fire and Thunder?”

The twins said nothing, each merely getting up onto their shared desk in acknowledgement beside their Meister.

“Maka Albarn?”

No answer.

Sid glanced up from the list, raising an eyebrow; the rows of ascending lecture desks were almost entirely full.

Much to his surprise, one of the empty seats belonged to the studious Scythe Meister herself.

“… Maka?” he tried again, letting his Soul sweep the room; it didn’t matter where he looked, she didn’t seem to be-

The door swung open, slamming against the wall; Maka huffed for breath alongside Tsubaki and her partner, hands on her knees before throwing up a hand, “Present!”

“… I was about to mark you and Soul as absent, Miss Albarn,” the teacher stated, “It’s not like you to be late to class.”

“Sorry, sir,” she straightened.

“We had to bring the new kids,” Tsubaki gestured, standing aside so Sid could see out into the hallway.

“‘Kids?’” a voice behind them scoffed, and as the trio stepped through the door, the zombie blinked – or at least he would have, if he were still capable of it.

The tallest of the three snorted, crossing her arms “For your information, I’m probably older than you by five years.”

“That makes you seventeen,” Soul snarked, “You’re still not allowed to drink.”

“Didn’t stop-ow!” the smaller girl winced as the older one dug her elbow into her ribs.

“Settle down, girls,” the black haired boy in front sighed, “We don’t want to cause a commotion.”

Sid glanced back down at the list of students, running through it once again to make absolutely sure he wasn’t just seeing things.

Sure enough, three names had been added.

‘… why didn’t anyone tell me Lord Death’s son had signed up for classes?’ he cursed, then began marking attendance again, “Just get to your seats, please. I’ll cut you some slack this time for helping your fellow students; that’s the kind of man I was.”

“Thank you, sir,” Maka nodded, then gripped Soul by the arm, dragging him up towards their desk. Tsubaki quickly followed, moving to sit beside Black Star, who had been oddly silent the whole time, eyes fixed upon the boy with the striped hair.

The shinobi boy was not the only one, either; everyone’s eyes were fixed on the three newcomers, the students whispering among themselves in clear curiosity.

“Students, please quiet down,” the undead instructor instructed; almost immediately, the room fell silent, devoid of all noise but Maka’s and Soul’s footsteps as they made their way to their seats. When they finally sat down, Sid cleared his throat, “Good afternoon, everyone. I’m sure you’ve all noticed that we have three new students today,” he gestured, “Please welcome Liz and Patty Thompson, and their Meister, Death the Kid.”

Immediately, the whispering started again.

“Death the Kid? What kinda name is that?”

“Dunno. But what’s the deal with the girls?

“Wait, two weapons?”

“Huh. He’s kinda like you, Kilik!”

“Well, I guess we’ll see; that’s not an easy thing to pull off, let me tell-”

“Wait, isn’t that the kid who-”

“The Giza incident?”

“Yeah, the Giza incident-!”

“Quiet down, please,” Sid reinstructed, his practiced patience pushing his irritation down to a mild, fringe sensation, “I expect you all to treat them with respect. Please make them feel comfortable, and don’t ask them too many questions,” he turned to the trio, “Is there anything you three have to say before we begin?”

Patty glanced at the elder Thompson, who merely shrugged; Kid, however, turned to the class, smiling serenely as he addressed the crowd, “I hope we all manage to get along. Thank you all for having us here.”

The murmurs returned, but approval was intermingled with the curiosity; before it could rise, however, the zombie spoke again, “Alright. Please take your seats, you three. Any of the open desks will do.”

“Thank you, Sid,” Kid nodded, leading his Weapons up the steps.

“That’s either sir or professor to you,” the teacher intoned, setting down the attendance list without another word.

Though as Kid ascended the steps, Sid couldn’t help but notice the boy’s smile fade the instant his eyes met Black Star’s.

In that instant, invisible sparks flew, Kid’s formerly friendly veneer having been replaced with a cold, simmering anger. The shinobi simply met the glare with a cocky grin, brows creased in a frown as he leaned further back in his chair – a carefree show of total pride, as though he didn’t feel threatened by the young Reaper at all.

Nonetheless, Kid kept moving, slowly coming to a stop beside Maka and sitting down, while the Thompsons continued on, slowly filing into nearby desks.

‘… right,’ the zombie thought, glad his face could no longer show his unease as his attention flickered back and forth between the Reaper and the ninja, ‘Might want to keep an eye on that…’

Nonetheless, he forced a breath into his lungs, “All that out of the way… good afternoon, students. I’m sure you all know what day it is today.”

Though most of the students either gave some form of acknowledgement or frustrated resignation, Kid simply stared down, unblinking, with an idle curiosity, hands folded atop his desk. His Weapons seemed to have largely lost interest, Liz resting her chin in her hand with half lidded eyes, Patty spinning her hat on her finger.

He’d cut them some slack this once.

That was the kind of man he was.

He turned, and started writing out two words on the board, in large enough letters that even the back of the class could see them. It was an artform, really, learning how to write that large and keep it somehow legible.

Eventually, he stepped away from the board, gripping the podium at the front of the class and lifting it off the ground as if it were nothing.

“We’re going to be testing how far you’ve all come in the past year. Combat Training.”


Luz eagerly bounced her legs in place as she sat on the very edge of the couch; Eda could feel the girl’s eyes boring into the back of her head as the Witch swept about, snatching various items from the shelves or levitating them in from other rooms. Paper, pens, several glasses and bowls, a pitcher of water, small metal stands, beakers, candles…

“What’s all this for?” Luz asked as each item gently floated to rest on either the wooden table or the floor.

“I find I understand things a little better if I have a visual aid,” the Owl Lady snapped her fingers as the candles slotted themselves into their respective stands; she heard Luz yelp as each wick suddenly came to life in a sudden flare. But each candle only blazed briefly before settling into a calm, gentle burn; the Latina scooted closer, staring in awe at the fire that had come to life from nary a spark, utterly entranced by a spell that the Witch had been able to perform since she was half Luz’s age.

Eda snickered, then dragged a chair over from the corner of the room, sitting down across from the human, “I get the sense that you’re fairly similar.”

The girl simply nodded, raising her head and continuing to bounce in place, “So! What spell am I learning first!?”

“Slow down, kid,” the Witch began to pour water into each container, “Before you learn Magic, you need to learn something else.”

The tanned teen raised an eyebrow, body abruptly going still, “What’s that?”

“Well… let me ask you a question first, Luz,” she set down the pitcher, steepling her fingers and resting her chin on her knuckles, elbows on her knees, “What do you think Magic is?

At this, Luz blinked, caught entirely off guard by the query; she stared blankly for a few seconds before tilting her head in confusion, “Is this a trick question? I thought that’s what you were going to teach me.”

“No trick,” Eda splayed her hands, as if to show she had nothing to hide, “Just an honest question. I want to see if you’ve got an answer – and if you do, how close it is,” she leaned back in her chair, fixing her eyes upon her would-be apprentice with an expectant look, “What is Magic? Where do you think it comes from?”

“… okay,” the girl began, bringing a hand to her chin as she frowned. She let out a low hum, squinting briefly before meeting Eda’s eyes again, “… well… the most obvious answer to me is that Magic… comes from the Soul?”

The Owl Lady cocked an eyebrow; that had certainly been on the list of her expectations, but she hadn’t placed it particularly high. Given Luz’s love for trashy tween novels – or at least, Eda assumed that’s what that Azura book was – she’d expected something a bit more overtly saccharine, like the heart, or friendship.

Nonetheless, she motioned with her hand, encouraging, “And what makes you say that?”

“Well, it’s what makes the most sense,” Luz scooted forwards in her seat, sitting right at the edge of the cushion, raising her hands as if she could somehow physically grasp the concept she was trying to envision, “Soul Wavelength is what allows the Soul to have an effect on the world around it, right? So, it kinda makes sense that Magic is similar to Soul Wavelength, just on a bigger scale.”

It was a genuine struggle for Eda to keep the astonishment off her face, only barely managing to keep her expression neutral; of all the possible answers, that one hadn’t even been on the list. The kid was missing quite a few details, but that didn’t change that Luz was astonishingly close to having a basic understanding of Magic – especially considering that she was a human.

In the back of her mind, the Owl Lady knew there was no doubt that Luz’s knowledge about the nature of Souls was suspicious. Generally, the only humans that knew anything about their own Souls were Weapons and Meisters, but even the youngest ones among them had very distinct, developed Souls that could be easily picked out from within a crowd. Luz’s was still small and unmoulded – all the proof the Witch needed to know the young Latina was yet to even find her Soul Wavelength.

And yet, this foreknowledge lit a fire in Eda’s stomach; an eagerness, a glee that relished in the idea of teaching such a bright, eager mind, one that showed all the same fascination about the world around her and how it worked that the Witch herself had as a girl, pushing her suspicion to the side in favour of baring her teeth in a broad, impressed grin, “Actually, you’re right!”

“Really!?” Luz beamed, scooting forwards again and promptly falling off the couch. She squeaked as she fell to the ground, smacking her head off the cushions, but she clearly was too elated to care, immediately picking herself back up and clenching her hands so hard they were trembling with her excitement.

“At the very least, you’re on the right track,” Eda shifted one of the beakers so that it was positioned over a flame, the tip of its long spout positioned directly over a shallow bowl of water, “You’re right in the sense that Soul Wavelength is what allows a Soul to affect the world around it; your theory that Magic would be an extension of that is actually a pretty solid first instinct.

“But there’s a little more nuance to it than that,” the beaker’s spout began to gently drip, droplets of water falling into the bowl below. Despite the simplicity of the setup, Luz found herself mesmerized as the falling orbs hit the still, placid surface of the clear liquid, each causing an outwards ripple with a slow, steady beat.


Despite her frustrations with his obnoxiousness, Maka knew Ox Ford was no slouch in a duel.

His tight, preppy clothing made it difficult for him to be particularly agile; he wasn’t very mobile, allowing the Scythe Meister to run circles around him in terms of raw speed.

But that was the problem; he didn’t need to keep up with her step for step.

He just needed to be able to pivot in place fast enough to match her every time she tried to change her angle.

She grit her teeth as Soul’s blade was repelled once again, forcing her to step back before that electric shock could run up her hands; Ox laughed his smug little laugh, quiet, but just loud enough to be heard as he levelled Harvar’s jagged, golden spear tip, his entire body seeming to have transformed into a solid piece of brass-coated steel.

“Ready to concede defeat?” he inquired, his self satisfaction clear in his tone.

“You wish,” she muttered coldly, raising Soul’s blade once more.

Ford’s only response was to settle onto his back foot, front heel raised slightly off the ground so he could twist in any direction that Maka tried to attack from; as opposed to the Scythe Meister and her Weapon, who had trained in a style that balanced and blended offence and defence into one with continuous motion, Ox and Harvar had adopted a highly defensive style, waiting for their opponents to come to them. It was a style that required equal parts reaction time, dedication, and patience – all things that the both of them had in spades, despite their vastly different natures and backgrounds.

Every movement was careful, calculated and minimal, as it was with every Meister and Weapon worth their salt – but where Maka and Soul used wide, circular sweeps to transition from offence to defence on a dime, and let one swing flow into the next, Ox and Harvar were linear, moving in and out in a straight line that even Black Star and Tsubaki sometimes had trouble countering.

‘They’re like a Goddamn snapping turtle,’ Soul growled, his own frustrations evident in his tone.

‘They’ve really improved since we last fought them. Just throwing ourselves at them isn’t going to work,’ she widened her stance, ‘We have to find some way to break their flow.’

‘Easier said than done. That electricity smarts a lot more than it did before, and Ox has been working on that in-and-out fighting style of his.’

‘Yeah. But so ’ve we.’

A second passed before a chuckle echoed.

‘Too true. Now that I’m takin’ a good look, he’s sweatin’; he’s having a harder time keeping up with us than he’s letting on.’

Though she couldn’t see it, the Scythe’s smile was infectious, sending a tugging sensation into her cheeks as she struggled to restrain the spreading grin, finally taking note of just how hard Ox was breathing; the Spear Meister’s chest rose and fell with considerably more gusto than her own, and despite his best efforts she could hear him taking in air through his nose from across the practice ring, ‘Guess that’s what happens when you skip cardio.’

‘Just make sure it isn’t bait. I’d rather not fall for an obvious trap.’

‘I know. And him being tired doesn’t solve our main problem. We still have to beat him.’

‘So, what’s our next step, Maka?’

‘Our basics, Soul,’ she stepped forwards, hands and hips already in motion, ‘Break the Meister’s roots!’

She spun, swinging Soul, his blade closing in. Ox raised his spear, ready to defend as the curved edge arced towards him, sparks flying as metal met metal, Meisters and their Weapons letting their Wavelengths align as the back and forth flurry commenced, power pulsing through them, sending-


-ripples through the small pool in the pan, absolutely absorbing Luz in the visage of the droplets hitting the water. She couldn’t help it; it was a simple visual, sure, but for the first time she felt like she had a proper demonstration of what the Soul was actually doing at any given moment. Her previous understanding suddenly seemed to be on the brink of being so much more clear as her eyes shot back and forth between the pan, the beaker, and the candle, feverishly trying to puzzle out where exactly to start.

“So, Luz,” the Witch began, her tone one of someone who was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle before her, “What in this system do you think is the Soul?”

The girl glanced up at Eda; the Witch gave an easygoing smile, her fang glinting in the light as she lounged in the chair, arms lazily spread up and over the shoulders and legs crossed in a display that was directly countered by the knowing gleam in those golden eyes.

She was expecting Luz to put the pieces together – and the Latina had absolutely no intention of disappointing.

She frowned, pursing her lips as she looked between the various parts of the system. It couldn’t be the pan – the pan was the Soul Wavelength. An important product of the Soul, certainly, but there was clearly a difference between the Soul Wavelength and the Soul itself.

That left…

Slowly, she raised a finger to point to the long-stemmed beaker… then stopped, another possibility occurring to her.

Luz lowered her hand…


… and with it, Soul’s blade, Meister and Weapon spinning as one. The Scythe arced up towards Ox’s torso, forcing the boy to block with his Spear to keep himself from being struck with the heavy curved blade.

Maka could already feel the electricity beginning to build, but this time, she did not let it force her back.

Instead, she called out, ‘Soul!’

‘I’m ready! Do it!’

With that confirmation, she spun. Their Wavelengths flared, and she could feel strength flood her body.

With Soul’s blade hooked onto Harvar’s haft between Ox’s hands, it was easy for the grey-haired girl to force the Spear up, yanking the Meister’s hands well over his head; he only had a fraction of a second to process the manoeuver, and to his credit, reacted just as quickly. The shock that flooded Soul and Maka’s bodies was nothing short of genuinely painful, making the Meister’s muscles convulse with agony…

But even so, she pushed through, raising her knee and driving her foot into her rival Meister’s stomach; she felt as much as she heard and saw the wind drive from his lungs beneath the impact, his glasses going askew as his grip on his partner faltered.

All at once, the Scythe Meister completed her technique, finishing her driving kick and pulling Soul back; Ox was driven back, falling to the ground under the impact as Harvar was ripped from his hands. In a desperate bid to remain with his Meister, the dark skinned boy transformed, his hands remaining firmly clasped around his partner’s, but the sudden shift in weight and balance only made Ox’s backwards momentum even worse. Both were sent careening the ground, tumbling over each other in a heap.

They didn’t have the chance to untangle themselves, much less rise before Maka was upon them, lining her Weapon’s blade with their throats.

“Hate to say it, guys, but it looks like you’ve lost this one,” Soul intoned, sounding amused despite the slight wince in his voice.

“… under different circumstances, I might say that you shouldn’t underestimate your opponents,” Ford began… then sighed, “But we can’t bluff our way out of this.”

“I concur,” Havar adjusted his visor, “Victory is yours.”

“Ox Ford and Harvar D. Éclair have admitted defeat,” Kilik’s voice rang out through the room, his hand raised towards Maka’s corner, “Match end, winners: Maka Albarn and Soul Eater!”

A relieved sigh escaped Maka’s mouth as she pulled the Scythe away, releasing her partner; in an instant, Soul was in human form at her side again, rolling his shoulders as if to work away the tension, rubbing the back of his neck with a groan. Whatever complaints he might have had, however, went unvoiced, as only seconds had passed before he reached out, offering a hand to the bespectacled boys.

For a long moment, no words were spoken between either pair. Eventually, Maka extended a hand as well, smiling as Ox stared up at her…

Then he smiled in turn, accepting her hand.

“I suppose that’s what happens when you get cocky,” he grunted, letting the Scythe Meister pull him to his feet, “It seems we still have a ways to go.”

“Hey, that was closer than it looked,” Soul noted as Harvar clasped his hand, “You made us work for that win.”

“And that’s the match,” Sid remarked as he marked down the results, “Miss Albarn, Misters Eater, Ford and Éclair, please return to your seats.”

The grey haired girl was only half listening to Sid’s words as she obeyed, slowly ascending the steps towards her desk with Soul in tow; she was less focused on the questions he was asking the class in terms as he queried what they saw, and more on replaying the events of the duel in her head directly. What could she have done better?...

She sat down, chin in one hand, the other resuming that tapping as if it had never stopped. The sequence was still present in the movement of her hand, as were the letters that popped into her head with each tap of her fingers, the rhythm as frustratingly familiar as it was infuriatingly distracting, worsened by the fact that she was still unable to identify the pattern.

Maka wasn’t even doing it consciously, it just kept coming back every time her hands were empty.

Gritting her teeth, she dug into her bag for her notebook; she could at the very least review her notes until her turn came up in the rotation again.

She had only gotten two pages in when she noticed Sid had gone abruptly quiet.

“Do you have a question, Kid?”

Maka glanced over; the young Reaper had his hand raised, expression having reverted to its cool calm once again, though there was a glint of steel in his bright gold eyes.

“My partners and I would like to go next, if that is alright, Professor,” he stated, keeping his words even; beside him, Liz groaned, while Patty let out a quiet giggle, though neither offered a protest.

“… well, I originally had you set for later in the rotation… but if you want to offer a demonstration to the class, I suppose I can let you go next,” the zombie quickly scribbled something onto his clipboard, “Is there a Meister and Weapon pair you would like to challenge?”

“As a matter of fact, there is.”

“Alright. Who do you have in mind?”

The response Kid offered was not one of words; instead, he simply raised a hand, pointing…


… towards the candle set under the beaker.

“The Soul here would be the candle, right?” she questioned, raising her eyes to meet the Owl Lady’s, gauging.

Eda gave no immediate indication as to whether she was right or wrong; instead, she stretched, still watching intently, “And why the candle?”

“… because that’s the source of the heat in this whole system,” the hesitance in Luz’s voice had been quelled quickly as it had come; the more she spoke, the more certain she became, and the more excitement bled into her tone, “The candle is heating the water in this beaker, making it evaporate up the length. Once it hits the tip, the steam condenses again because of the cold glass and the water drips out the end into the pan. It’s not the water in the beaker that’s actually causing any action; by itself, it just sits there. It needs energy from an outside source in order to do anything, so it can’t be the Soul.”

“Then what is the beaker?” the pale woman continued to press, “If the candle is the Soul in this equation, then what does that make the rest of it?”

“W-Well…” the brunette faltered, suddenly losing her certainty, doubt clouding her as she glanced back down. Nonetheless, she kept going, “The pan… is Soul Wavelength… I think… so… the beaker is…”

She trailed off, trying to think of a good analogue…

“… action?” she ventured, hoping that against all odds she had gotten it right.

There was a brief pause before Eda slowly raised her hands; a gentle applause rang through the room, the Witch’s broad grin sending a shot of equal parts pride and relief through the girl’s heart.

“Gotta say, kid – I am impressed,” the Witch straightened in her seat, uncrossing her legs, “And I do not say that lightly. There are some things you’re not quite getting right, but you are showing an excellent understanding of the basic theory.”

Luz let loose her baited breath all at once with a gleeful squeal, matching the Witch’s smile with one of her own, “So what am I missing?”

“The actual order of what’s going on here. You’re right on what part of this system is the Soul; the candle. Where you’re wrong is what part here is actually supposed to be the Soul Wavelength.”

The girl blinked, “Really?” she looked back and forth between the beaker and the basin, a sudden confusion taking her, pointing into the basin, “But… the ripple. Isn’t that supposed to be the Wavelength?”

“You’d think that, but that’s where it gets a little tricky,” the Witch chuckled, “I thought that would trip you up a little, but I’m not trying to trick you.”

“… okay,” Luz spoke hesitantly, brow creasing deeply again, “So if it isn’t Soul Wavelength, then… what is it?”

“Well, think about it like this, Luz.”

The girl jumped back with a sound that was higher pitched than she’d have liked to admit, startled as a small stone hit the water, sinking to the bottom of the pan; she glanced up to see Eda bouncing another pebble in her palm, glancing at the teen from the corner of her eye, “What happens when you throw a rock into the water?”

“… well, that… depends on how you throw the rock,” Luz stated, uneasy, “But… I guess it makes a splash?”

“And what causes that splash?” Eda inquired.

“The rock,” Luz’s frown deepened, trying to puzzle out exactly where her mentor was going with this, “I just said that.”

“Right. Water by itself doesn’t really do much; even the ocean needs external forces like the moon and the shifting of tectonic plates to move as much as it does,” the silver vixen tossed another pebble into the pan, making another plop before sinking to the bottom, “So, if the Soul is the source, and the Soul Wavelength is how the Soul interacts with the world… then what does that tell you about the system you’re looking at here?”

The tanned teen let her eyes fall back down to the dripping water, to the ripple that shot out from the center with every droplet that fell; she stared for a long few moments, biting her lip in thought…

“A stone hits the water…” she murmured, arms crossed and a hand on her chin…


… as Black Star met Kid’s gaze, eyes narrowed to near slits.

The young Reaper did not lower his hand. His own golden eyes gleamed as he pointed at the spiky haired boy, expression neutral.

But Maka could feel the cold fury radiating from Kid. It was a chill in the air, a frigid menace that hung in the air like a miasma.

“… oh, so now you wanna fight,” the shinobi grumbled, pushing himself up in his seat and out of his former recline.

Kid did not respond, rigidly unwilling to let the young Star get under his skin; instead, he looked to Sid, “Liz, Patty and I would like to challenge Black Star and Tsubaki. Is this acceptable, professor?”

“… I had Black Star and Tsubaki slated to fight someone else in the rotation,” Sid flipped through the pages, frowning… then sighed, “But I suppose there’s no reason for me to say no.

“Black Star. Tsubaki. Do you have any objections?”

“N-None in particular,” Tsubaki stuttered, glancing down at her partner; Black Star still hadn’t risen to his feet, instead maintaining the staring contest with Kid.

Then all at once, he went off like a firecracker.

“YA-HOOOO!” he roared, launching himself out of his seat with a sudden vigour. He crashed down into a deep crouch, sinking deeply into his knees before springing back up with a broad, vicious grin that seemed almost more like a snarl. He jabbed a finger up towards the Reaper, “You got a lot of nerve, challenging me to a fight after the stunt you pulled earlier! You suddenly got something to prove, now that we have an audience?”

“Yes,” Death the Kid confirmed, calm and controlled, “That my partners and I are quite capable, and that they can rely on us in joint operations.”

“Pff,” the shinobi snorted, “Like you don’t just wanna make up for your humiliating defeat from earlier. I can’t tell if you’re brave or stupid, challenging a guy as big as me!”

“I’m fairly certain we’ll prove more than your match,” the suit clad lad stood, hands in his pockets as he descended the steps, Liz and Patty close behind, “Especially with you completely blinded by that oversized ego of yours.”

“You’ll need the handicap,” Black Star sneered, seemingly oblivious as an increasingly nervous Tsubaki ran to his side, “Just try not to break down crying this time.”

If Kid was at all provoked by the jeer, he didn’t show it. He simply held his hands out to his sides in a simple gesture; in a flash of light, each of the Thompsons had disappeared, each replaced by the startlingly bright polish of a silver handgun.

He caught them both without a second thought, spinning them on his fingers before levelling them at the spiky haired ninja; the striped boy held them upside down, with his pinky finger on each trigger, but the confidence he carried immediately quelled any question of his skill. He stood stock still, waiting for permission to fire.

Black Star cracked his knuckles, “Tsubaki! Kusarigama mode!”

“Right!” she transformed in turn, taking on the similar form of the twin handheld scythes. The shinobi caught one in each hand, sinking into a deep stance that would let him rush in any direction, eyes fixed upon the Reaper with a dangerous gleam.

“… they’re serious about this,” Soul murmured, “Maybe it’s a good thing they didn’t fight it out during lunch…”

“… what do you think their chances are?” Maka asked.

“What, Kid and the sisters?” he hummed, “… well, Black Star’s pretty good at closing distance when he actually decides to fight seriously, and Tsubaki’s transformations really only help facilitate that…”

“True, but I don’t think those guns are for show.”

“… depends on if Kid can keep his distance,” the Scythe concluded, resting his hand in his chin, “The instant Black Star’s in, they’re done.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure…”

“Are you both ready?” Sid stepped forwards, standing between the two Meisters.

“Do we look like we’re not ready?!” Black Star demanded, not looking away from his opponent.

“We’re ready, professor,” Kid intoned, golden eyes narrowed, “Please initiate the match.”

“Very well,” the zombie raised his hand… and brought it down, leaping back as quickly as he could, “Begin!”

In a flash of blinding speed, both sides were on the move, all at once struck…


… by the obvious answer; Luz’s eyes were fixed at the tip of the long stem, at the water that dripped from its end.

“… the beaker,” she whispered, once again revelling in the sudden understanding that struck her like lightning, “The drip! The Soul acts through the Soul Wavelength! The Soul Wavelength is projected out from the Soul, and from there affects the world! Like throwing a stone into the river!” she pointed down excitedly into the small pool, “If the candle is the Soul, and the drips – or the rocks you threw – are the Soul Wavelength, then that means the ripple is the effect of the Soul Wavelength!”

Eda grinned, again baring her teeth, “There you go. Now you’re getting it!”

Luz did her best to restrain herself as her mentor continued to speak, struggling to catch the explanation over the roar of her own heart and mind, “The Soul is always putting out some sort of energy, even when it’s not really doing anything; as a result, it’s always putting out ‘ripples’ so to speak.”

“Like standing in the middle of a pool?”

“Exactly. These ‘ripples’ are what you’re going to be seeing once you learn to see the Souls of the people around you.”

“You’re going to teach me how to see Souls!?” her heart felt like it was going to give out from sheer elation, but the girl genuinely could not bring herself to care about that for an instant when she compared it to the sheer joy that came with the prospect of learning such a thing.

“I don’t see why not,” the Witch shrugged, “Not like it’s very hard.”

Once again, Luz found herself all but bounding forwards out of her seat on the couch, hands shaking uncontrollably and feet digging into the floor. The sheer elation and eagerness was too much to handle. She wanted to learn. She wanted to put it into practice, to try to unlock her Soul Wavelength right this second…

But Eda clearly wasn’t finished yet; she had raised a finger, and the system of beakers and candles deconstructed itself, the glass and stands rearranging themselves into something larger, more complex. A much larger candle had been placed under a beaker with substantially more water. A spiraling tube fed out from the beaker’s tip, ending in a sturdy brass valve; it was open, still dripping water into the pan below in a constant slow drip.

“Now, all this in mind,” the Witch continued, setting a stone into the center of the pan, easily twice the size of Luz’s fist, “The effect the Soul Wavelength can have on the world really varies with how it’s used. How many different ways can you think of to throw a rock into the water, Luz?”

“A couple,” she bobbed her head, “You can just throw it in, or you can skip it across the water. But I think I get what you’re saying; different methods of using Soul Wavelength get different results.”

“Bingo.”

The Witch made a simple gesture; a transparent golden shell surrounded the new setup, making Luz blink before again giving in to her own sense of awe, running a hand across the smooth, glossy surface.

“Careful,” the Witch warned, “That barrier should hold, but I’d rather you didn’t sit so close.”

“Barrier?” the Latina raised an eyebrow, “What for?”

“An example.”

Another gesture; the valve closed, and the flame under the beaker swelled in size, eagerly licking at the bottom of the glass. The surface of the barrier began to grow warm, and before long was uncomfortable to the touch, forcing Luz to pull her hands away, gently blowing on her palms as she stared at the display.

The water in the beaker had risen to a boil, the glass beginning to fog and drip as the heat increased. The valve gradually began to shift, visibly shaking even as Eda kept it firmly in place.

“There’s only so many ways you can throw a stone, sure,” the woman explained, “But Soul Wavelength is more versatile. And potentially, far more powerful.

“And with only a little bit of practice?... you can do something like this.

The Witch snapped her fingers; the valve abruptly shifted, and what shot out of the nozzle was less of a stream and something closer to a laser. The highly pressurized burst struck the stone underneath…

And shattered it, sending shards flying so hard they embedded themselves in the barrier.

Slowly, Luz lowered her arms, eyes wide as she stared at several sharp shards that had flown right for her face, suspended in midair by the orange-gold membrane.

“See why I put up that barrier?” the Latina could hear Eda’s mischievous grin.

“… yep,” the chuckle that rose from her throat sounded more nervous than she actually felt, even as the shield was dispelled; the stone splinters fell to the floor and table, and a wave of heat washed over her even as the flame died down, finally set free from its bubble.

“That’s hardly the only way to use Soul Wavelength, but it is the most straightforward. Hitting something with it as hard as you can,” the Witch settled back in her chair again, “Even for a human, there’s a lot of different applications for it. And with Magic, it only gets even more complex.”

She reached out, slowly picking up a piece of the shattered rock, bouncing it in her palm; everything Luz had just been told lined up perfectly with what she already knew, but now her understanding felt far more profound. With an actual demonstration – or at least, a physical example that she could see, that she could envision – the concept was infinitely easier to grasp.

“It really is incredible, huh?” she glanced up at the Owl Lady.

“It is!” the woman threw her arms out as if to emphasize her exclamation, “For a Witch, it can be easy to forget just how fascinating the Soul and its Wavelength actually are.”

“Forget?” the girl laughed, incredulous, “How could you possibly forget how amazing this all is? It’s Soul Wavelength!

The pale woman blinked, then seemed to sober, her expression growing somewhat somber.

“… that’s right,” she intoned, “It’s not anywhere near as common in your world, is it?

“… not as common?” Luz blinked.

“… one last lesson before we wrap up for today,” Eda leaned forwards, elbows on her knees, “How many people do you think know about Soul Wavelength, Luz?”

“… well…” she paused, pondering, “… in my world… Soul Wavelength is a closely guarded secret. You have to do a lot just to start learning how to use it.”

“… it’s a bit different here,” the Witch folded her hands, "Everyone here knows how to use Magic and Soul Wavelength. At least to some degree.”

“… everyone…?” Luz questioned, eyes suddenly wide as her heart came to a stop.

“Everyone,” those golden eyes softened, “You’re probably the only one on the Isles who doesn’t, aside from little kids.”

Luz swayed slightly, leaning all the way back into the couch; but where her body went slack, her mind was racing to picture what that would be like, just for a moment. It clashed entirely with what she knew, with the world that had Soul Wavelength and its secrets hidden away from the public for their own protection.

“The Soul Wavelength is a fairly dangerous thing to just hand out to the general public,” again, Dad’s words echoes from her memory, “Knowing how to use it basically gives you some form of super powers, and just like how not everyone is responsible enough to own and use weapons, not everyone is responsible enough to have access to and use their Soul Wavelength – which is part of why the DWMA exists in the first place.”

If Eda was telling the truth, then everyone here was capable of using their Soul Wavelength. Of harnessing power comparable to Maka, maybe even to Papi in some cases. This place – this whole realm – stood in direct opposition to that very idea.

“… this is mundane to you,” she murmured, eyes wide, “I… I just learned what, to you, is everyday knowledge.

“Everyday, yes,” Eda nodded, “Mundane?... heh. Only if you let yourself forget how amazing it all is.”

The warmth in that lone chuckle was enough to make Luz’s heart swell again. She sat up straighter, “Well… it’s never too late to learn. And I wanna learn everything I can, no matter how everyday it is here.”

“… in which case, we’ll see about getting that Soul Wavelength of yours unlocked,” the Witch stretched, then sighed, “But not tonight. I think I’m about teached out for now, and there’s something I still want to show you before it gets too late.”

“Just one last question,” Luz spoke quickly, trying desperately to sound like she wasn’t begging; when Eda met her gaze with a single open, golden eye, the girl made her question quick, “… where does Magic fit into all this? Wasn’t that what you meant to teach me tonight?”

“That’s two questions, kid,” Eda chided, again baring her teeth, “But I guess you’re right. I did say you’d learn the basics of magic tonight.”

Luz suppressed her squeal, doing her best to sit still even as her cheeks threatened to split under her smile.

“I won’t go very in depth with it tonight, but Magic is a sort of… unique energy,” Eda conjured sparks in her hand, dancing in her palm and rising into the air to form an orb of light, “It is something possessed by both the Demonic Realms, and by the Souls of Witches. It’s a little difficult to explain, but for now, know that a Witch’s Magic is the product of their Soul.”

“So, Soul Wavelength, but different?” the Latina queried.

“We’ll get into it later,” the Owl Lady extinguished the light, then pushed to her feet, waving her off, “Just know that Soul Wavelength comes first. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am!” Luz saluted, rising in turn.

“Good. Now go get King; I wanna get this wrapped up before sundown.”

“You got it!”

With that, the girl turned, and raced up the stairs, beginning her search for the little Demon.

Notes:

Sorry this one took so long. It's been hectic between my schoolwork and real life stuff. I'm trying to maintain regular updates, but, such is life.

At the very least, though I'm making progress! Every word I write brings us a little closer! And the encouragement offered by Owl House proper certainly isn't running dry - even if I want to go and punch every single Disney executive in the face!

...

Before I sign off, there's something I'd like to discuss.

This is not addressed to my general audience.

This is addressed to everyone who is posting Owl House clips to sites like YouTube and Twitter, and to everyone spreading those clips: Please, please, PLEASE, stop posting and spreading clips of new Owl House episodes on the day they are released.

I know your intentions are good. I know there are things that you want to celebrate. What I'm talking about is most certainly something that should be celebrated! I don't begrudge you that for an instant!

But I don't think you guys realize what you're doing. Because of YouTube's algorithm, I ended up getting spoiled to a huge moment in the new episode, Looking Glass Ruins, just by looking at my home page. I didn't get to experience that moment naturally, because you posted it everywhere and I couldn't even go to my homepage without seeing it.

You know exactly what moment I'm talking about.

I want you to know that as happy as I am that this is a thing, that people are getting some real validation from this show, I am also genuinely frustrated that I can't experience this moment raw, without knowing that it happens beforehand. You took a moment that would have had me jumping out of my seat with joy, and preemptively ruined the experience by telling me it happens.

And it's not just me that you've done this to; if it happened to me, imagine how many millions of other fans hopped onto YouTube and had their own experiences tainted because of clips with titles that outright spoil what happens.

There is a reason spoiler tags exist. There is a reason people like Dana and Alex and the rest of the Owl House crew request that you use them when discussing these things. There is a reason there is an unspoken rule that you don't openly talk about spoilers until a certain amount of time has passed after an episode airs. Please, please respect them.

I know you're excited. Believe me, I am too, despite the fact that I was spoiled. I don't begrudge you that excitement, or your love for the show.

But for fuck's sake. Be a little more considerate.

...

Sorry about that. I needed to get that off of my chest after being spoiled for Looking Glass Ruins.

As always... thank you reading and for your patience and understanding with me. Please be sure to me know what you think! I hope you all enjoyed the seventeenth chapter of Owls and Souls, Witches and Resonance!