Chapter Text
Luz gasped in relief as she finally got the last parts of the Owl House clean. It had taken 2 hours to repair the damage Eda accidentally caused because of her curse, but at least now Luz knew about it. As she rested against the wall, her back hit a round object sticking out. Turning around, she found a door behind her.
“Uh, Eda? Was this door here before?” Luz asked.
“You mean the basement?! Yeah, it’s not new. It’s mostly storage right now, but I haven’t been back there in a while! Some stuff in there might have gotten knocked over earlier, so if you wanna check, have at it!” Eda shouted from across the house.
Confident she wasn’t opening a door to another other world, Luz turned the knob. What she found was a room seemingly filled with junk. Luz started to close the door before she noticed a red glow coming from the back. Curiosity filled her as she walked towards the source, finding a bookcase covered in cobwebs. The glow emanated from a black book on the middle shelf.
Picking up the book, Luz opened it to a random page, which showed a glowing red pentagram.
“Huh, wonder where Eda got this-!” Luz was cut off as her finger brushed against the pentagram causing the light to intensify, filling the whole room in a red flash and knocking Luz off her feet.
When she got up and her eyes went back to normal, she found herself standing in a circle of fire, and not in Eda’s basement.
“Where the heck-?” Luz started before a figure leapt out of the shadows.
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHERE HAVE YOU BROUGHT ME?!” the figure shouted, hovering in midair. As the light of the fire revealed the figure, Luz felt the need to step back. Standing before her was a young woman, around 18 years old, with black hair and grey skin, wearing a set of black and red armor with two swords at her side. Her most distinctive feature, however, was the pair of black, birdlike wings emerging from her back.
“Wings? Are you an-?” Luz attempted before the woman lunged at her, grabbing her by the throat.
“If you dare call me an angel, I swear I will feed you your heart!” the woman yelled angrily.
“O…K.” Luz staggered out, prompting her assailant to release her.
“Now where am I?!” She asks again.
After catching her breath, Luz responds. “You’re in the Demon Realm, the Boiling Isles specifically. At least, that's where I was when... whatever this is happened.”
“…How did you bring me here?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose! I was just looking through Eda’s old stuff and I found this book and-.” Luz stopped herself as she found the book was still open on the floor beside them. The woman walked over to it and picked it up.
“A grimoire. Well, that makes this way more complicated. Which page?” she asked.
“I just opened one at random and it had a pentagram.” Luz answered.
“Figured as much. After all, the book is blank now.” The woman said, showing Luz the now empty pages. “I’ve read about grimoire like this. They are used to create demonic contracts. Though I have no clue why this one summoned me instead.”
“Wait, demon contract? As in a blood pact?” Luz asked fearfully.
“Unfortunately, yes. After all, both of us have already bled.” the woman stated, lifting her hand to show a thin trail of blood which had already dripped on the floor. Suddenly aware of a wetness on her own hand, Luz lifted it to see a shallow cut there as well.
“Now, the only way out of this place is to follow the general contract formula that was imbued in the book.” The woman sighed before reaching her hand out to Luz. “What’s your name?”
“Luz Noceda.” Luz responded as she grabbed the offered hand to pull herself up.
“Well Luz, my name is Arla Starros. And it looks like I am going to be the new voice in your head.”
“A DEMON’S BLOOD PACT?! ARE YOU INSANE?!” Eda shouted when Luz returned from the basement to explain what happened.
“It’s not like I was trying to make this happen.” Luz responded meekly. After she and Arla had escaped from the flaming circle, Luz had insisted that they tell Eda everything that happened. Arla had bet that she would freak out.
‘I am really glad I didn’t take her up on that bet.’ Luz thought as Eda sat down, trying to wrestle with her new situation.
“Okay, breathe.” Eda said to herself as she sat down. Arla was currently hovering over Luz’s shoulder with an amused expression on her face. “So, this pact. What are the details? What exactly is the exchange between the two of you?”
“This pact was meant to be a standard demon pact when it activated, so the cost-benefit would have been my power for Luz’s soul.” Arla explained, ignoring the horrified expressions everyone was suddenly wearing. “Fortunately, fallen angels don’t actually accept souls as payment, so you’re safe on that end.” Everyone calmed down at this.
“Then what is the price?” Luz asked.
“Currently? Time.” Arla answered simply. Everyone gave her blank stares, causing her to facepalm. “Ugh. Okay, so essentially, as it stands right now, Luz has become a passive conduit for my abilities, meaning she can use the magic of Hell.”
“Wait, what?!” Luz exclaimed, leaping from her seat.
“Don’t get too excited Luz. Hell magic generally follows one very simple rule; ‘Pain to Power.’” Arla warned, causing Luz to sit back down. “As for my end, it looks like in exchange for my power, I have the right to temporarily use Luz’s body as a physical form. If she only uses my passive magic, I’d say I earn about one hour a month, but the more she uses, the more time I get.”
“And what do you plan to do with it?” Eda inquired. While it was reassuring not to have Luz’s soul in danger, having a resident of Hell in her body at all would be a mess and a half.
“Given I didn’t plan on being in this situation at all?! I have no plans whatsoever.” Arla shot back. “Contracts are more dangerous to fallen than demons because we don’t force our will on the contract. Fallen value freedom above almost everything else, so to encroach on another being’s free will run counter to our nature. The dangerous part is the fact that me and Luz are now linked. If she dies, so do I.”
“…Huh. Most of what I’ve heard about Fallen angels depicts you guys as despotic tyrants.” Eda mentioned.
“If you know a story about a war between Heaven’s angels and those who would become the first fallen, the actual war part is true. But I believe humanity said it best: ‘History is written by the victor.’”
“…Regardless, you have a vested interest in keeping Luz safe now, right?” Eda asked.
“Yes. Keep in mind however, keeping her safe and keeping her happy are two very different things. I am not obligated to help put her in dangerous situations of I can avoid it.” Arla clarified.
“Come on, I don’t get into trouble that often!” Luz protested.
“I have access to all of your memories, Luz, just as you have access to mine. I reviewed your life the moment the pact was complete. Don’t take me for a fool.” Arla stated.
Luz looked at Eda, who grimaced, but nodded. “She isn’t wrong kid, you get into dangerous situations more often than the average witchling, and without the advantages they have.”
Luz opened her mouth to protest, then shut it when she realized she had no counter. Her mind then circled back to another comment by Arla. “Wait, you read my memories? And how the heck can I read yours?”
“To use human terminology, this is like connecting a standard computer to an advanced model with lots of modifications and a huge storage capacity. You have access to my memories, but remember, I was alive when your race had just begun. If I leaked all my memories into your mind at once, your brain would probably catch fire.
“I like my brain un-barbecued, so thank you.” Luz replied.
“Well, this situation is certainly one of the weirdest I have ever been in, but at least you can communicate with your roommate, Luz.” Eda stated. “Let’s just hope this stays between us. Hellborn demons aren’t exactly a major topic of discussion here, but everyone at least knows to be wary of them, and before you remind me that you are a fallen angel, not a demon, I will remind you Arla, that most people don’t know or care about the difference between them. The Emperor’s Coven has a group called the exorcist that they send when a suspected Hell Demon is mentioned. They tend to be a lot more competent than the standard, and they’re specialists, so I don’t doubt they could do some real damage to you both.”
“Noted. Well, I’ll just have to stay invisible for the most part.” Arla stated.
“You can do that?” Luz asked.
“Of course. More specifically, I can only show myself to those that both of us want me to be seen by.” Arla responded. “The downside is, you’re probably going to be getting some odd looks for talking to yourself.”
“Believe it or not, I have gotten looks for weirder things.” Luz replied.
“Oh, I believe it.”