Entrepreneurial Spirit - Chapter 7

“Uuuuuuuuuuugh...”

I hummed and leaned back against the bar, flipping through the book I had open and reviewing its contents. It'd been a few decades since I learned basic magecraft, after all, and I'd need a refresher if I was going to not be a Kiritsugu.

“Worrrrraaaaaahh....”

This particular book had been written by the Atlas guild in Egypt. While they were usually more concerned with Alchemy, that was considered a higher-level discipline and, as a result, something that needed firm grounding in the basics.

“Ooorrrooouuuuu....”

I sighed and looked up from my text, staring at the young human sprawled over my counter. Her skin was brown, her hair a few shades darker, almost black. She was wearing a mishmash of odd clothing, most of it with garish colors that violently collided, topped off with a knit cap with a rainbow around the rim.

“Depressed teenager noises.”

“Are you planning to actually ask for help or do you just want to lay there on my bar moaning in frustration?” I asked, closing my book with a harsh snap. “Because I can loan you the use of one of my screaming rooms for some pocket change.”

“You have screaming rooms?” Luz asked, her head popping up in the first fit of real animation I'd seen since she showed up. “Like, rooms for screaming or rooms that scream at you?”

“The former,” I sighed, shaking my head. “You've been spending too much time on the Boiling Isles if that's the first thing that comes to mind, Luz.”

“Ah... yeah, Mom said something similar,” Luz chuckled weakly, rubbing at her head like an anime protagonist.

The sound died quickly.

I'd had enough experience to know when someone wanted to unload at this point, so with great trepidation and concern for my sanity, I reached under the bar and pulled out a pair of glasses. “How much do you weigh, kid?”

Luz blinked. “Uhh... sixty kilograms, why?”

I furrowed my brows as I stared at her. “Aren't you an American?”

“Metric makes more sense,” she shook her head. “Why'd you want to know my weight?”

Luz, you're a weirdo even among weirdos.

“So that I can estimate how much alcohol you can have,” I replied with a sigh, bringing out a chilled bottle of wine.

The girl's eyes widened as I pulled the cork and began pouring. “U-um, a-are you sure? Mom and Eda keep me away from that stuff, and... I don't really like the taste of it, either. When I snuck some, back when I was little.”

I chuckled. “No, you probably wouldn't, but I think you'll like this. It's plum wine. A kind that's less than one percent by volume. As long as you don't have more than three glasses of this size, it shouldn't inhibit your decision-making capacity overmuch.”

“Plums?” Luz nibbled at her bottom lip as she frowned. “I do like plums... so if I only have a little bit I won't act like Eda? Or Mom during the holidays?”

“It'll help if you eat something, too,” I nodded, snapping my fingers and making a spread of fried cheese sticks, cold meats, and slices of bread all centered around a warm pot of marinara.

“Ooooh-wait,” Luz stopped abruptly and narrowed her gaze at me. “How much is this going to cost? I'm on a witch-apprentice budget.”

“Complimentary, I promise. No charge,” I waved her off despite her disbelief. “Food is cheap for me, so I can afford to be pretty loose with it. Don't get too used to the service, though, it's offered at my discretion. People like your mentor would just take advantage of it endlessly.”

Luz giggled and nodded. “Eda always says to never turn down free food – as long as you've tested for poison, at least. Which reminds me...”

She took out some kind of stone charm with a carved symbol on it and touched it to the drink and food, then abruptly stopped, her eyes going wide.

“You were supposed to do that while I was looking away, weren't you?” I asked, smirking, as I leaned over the counter at her.

“...or I could really offend someone, yeah,” Luz muttered, ducking her head. “Sorry. I didn't really think it was poison, Edajustmademepromisethat-”

I reached out and patted the kid's head. “You're alright, Luz. I've dealt with a lot ruder than you in my time, believe me. Just keep it in mind next time you want to pull a stunt like that, okay?”

“Thanks,” Luz murmured, nodding her head as I gave her hat-clad head one last rub.

“Now eat,” I ordered her, conjuring a stool to sit down opposite her.

I ignored the presence behind the holographic landscape on the wall. Luz's mother had paid the fee, after all, and I'd give her a fair shake. Even if what she found out wasn't something she truly wanted to know. Then again, I'd dealt with a lot of dissatisfied customers over the years. Camila, having decided to adopt a basilisk from another dimension as a second child, would probably react far better than most.

Also, I'd forged the documents to make her second child a legal person in the human world and done so at a discount rate for a few small samples of Vee's body. Saliva, tears, claw clippings, shed scales... even a tiny bit of blood Camila herself had drawn with her veterinary training. Nothing invasive.

Basically for free, in other words.

“Oh! This is really good!” Luz's eyes widened as she sipped at the plum wine. “I didn't think this stuff could taste good!”

“Just don't guzzle it on an empty stomach,” I warned her, tapping at the counter pointedly.

The girl took the hint and created a sandwich before grabbing a cheese stick and giving it a dunk... and promptly sticking it inside the two pieces of bread. I stared at her for a moment, then shrugged and did the same. It was basically a meat and cheese sandwich with some marinara on it, after all. It wasn't as if the girl had tried to put pickles on pizza or something.

“Not bad,” I commented idly.

“I know, right?” Luz almost squealed. “Everyone always looked at me like I was crazy for doing stuff like that! But, like, it's all food – right? It's all going to the same place!”

“Fair point,” I nodded.

“But even if you gave me the ol' hairy eyeball about it, you tried it anyway!” Luz continued as if I hadn't spoken. “And it's like that with everything in the human world! My clothes, the animals I pick up, the projects I want to do-”

“The snakes were a little over the top,” I interjected, lifting my glass and gesturing pointedly.

“...” Luz opened her mouth, then sighed and shook her head, slumping a bit. “Okay, that's... yeah, that was kind of extreme. Mom told you?”

I gave her a nod.

The Dominican-American girl grimaced. “I was... I dunno. I just... I guess I was pushing things because... what was the point of trying to act normal anymore? Everyone had basically already decided I was some kind of freak, you know?”

She sniffled and, unasked, I passed her a box of tissues I'd conjured from thin air.

A few moments and one blown nose later, she continued.

“I know mi madre wants me to fit in. I know,” she sighed and took a small drink, pacing herself. “And I actually wanted to go to that camp – no, that's not it. I... I wanted to make her happy by going to the camp. By... letting it work or whatever.”

She drooped further over the bar, dismayed at the realization her train of consciousness rambling had led her to. “I wanted to be normal for her, even if it hurt me.”

I bet Camila doesn't think I was joking about that box of tissues back there now.

We both let that hand in the air for a while and I did what bartenders do when they know a customer needs to vent.

I stayed silent.

“I know I'm a lot of trouble for her,” Luz continued quietly, grabbing another handful of tissues and snorting wetly. “It's not like I want to be, though. I didn't... didn't choose to like spiders and snakes and gorey horror movies and fantasy books that no one else in my town has ever read. It just... it sucks so much, you know?”

“I can imagine,” I nodded. “No one in your corner, though? How about the goths, emos, steampunk kids, or... don't guess you guys had a trenchcoat mafia?”

Luz snorted so hard I worried some of the warm gooey cheese might shoot up through the back of her throat and through her nose. “Trench coat mafia? No way!”

“God's honest truth,” I promised her, my tails wiggling behind me in amusement. “My high school was an oddball place with an oddball administration. Mostly people who didn't give a shit as long as the work got done and no one had to call the cops.”

“Right... I forgot you said you were human before you ran the store...” Luz muttered, holding a partially-eaten cheese stick in her mouth like a cigar as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She shook her head. “That sounds cool, though. A lot cooler than the Gravesfield scene.”

“Oh?” I asked, legitimately curious.

I didn't get out very often, after all.

“Yeah, they're...” Luz grimaced and looked away. “It sounds lame when I say it, but they're basically posers. Gravesfield is kind of a tourist trap, see, and everyone just buys into all the witch stuff being fake. The goths in town are... they're just there to sell how the town is spooky and dangerous, but... in a fake way that sells stuff. Am I making sense?”

“They're ornamental,” I nodded, following her.

“Right, that!” Luz nodded, slapping the bar. “Anyway, they're cool to hang out with, I guess? But they're not really weird so much as... weird as a fashion statement? That, more or less. So the minute you start talking about cryptids or conspiracy theories or whatever, they start side-eyeing you. And it's basically the same with everyone else.”

“You have anyone online you can talk to?” I asked, probing in another direction.

Luz gave an ambivalent shrug. “I mean... there's always the Azura fanclubs and stuff, they're cool. But only for talking about the books. The second you start delving into personal biz, everyone has to go feed their cat or do laundry or something.”

“Sounds depressing,” I commented idly. “I can see why you'd end up following a small owl that stole your book into another dimension and then decide to stay there with a self-declared criminal on the run from the law that you'd known for all of... what, six hours?”

Luz rubbed at her reddening face. “It was more like seven, but... yeah.”

There was another long pause as we both ate our improvised sandwiches.

“I didn't plan on staying as long as I did,” Luz eventually said. “I just... the Boiling Isles... I know it should be scary. Terrifying, even. I hadn't been through the portal for the first time even five seconds before a pixie showed up and told me it was going to eat my face.”

“You know, it's usually the fairies that do that,” I replied with a grin. “The face-eating, I mean. In my experience, pixies are usually better-behaved.”

“Well, this one wasn't,” Luz giggled, grinning back... before returning to a somber mood. “But... most people would get freaked out – and I did freak a little – when it happened, but then it was over and I was fine.”

Luz took a substantially larger drink of the barely-alcoholic beverage.

“Then we did the prison break, and I almost died,” Luz stated matter-of-factly, her tongue sliding over her teeth in a thoughtful move. “A couple of times, actually. Then there was this demon named Adegast and he almost killed me to get to Eda. Then I snuck into Hexside for the first time and they almost dissected me for impersonating an abomination. After that Eda had an episode when she didn't take her potion and after that I had this witch-duel thing at the coven recruitment convention.”

The teenager had been flicking up fingers on her hand as she went, coming to five before she'd felt her point was made well enough to continue.

“And I was like...” Luz held out her hands, palms up, looking expectant and confused. “When do the nightmares start? The PTSD? The shakes or fits of hyper-awareness that was in the latter Azura books-”

I blinked, making a mental note to acquire a set of those books when an opportunity presented itself. If nothing else, I could use a new recreational reading project.

“-but that never happened,” Luz continued, looking a little lost. “And it wasn't like I really wanted them to show up, so I didn't really care all that much at first, but after a while... I started thinking about what that meant.”

“What do you think it meant?” I asked, frowning curiously. It was rare to see a person as introspective as Luz was presenting herself, especially given her age. I was genuinely interested in where this conversation was going.

“That I was more at home in the Boiling Isles than I'd ever been in the human world,” Luz admitted softly, tiredly, as if releasing a too-large weight she'd been carrying for too-long.

I hummed a bit, sipping at my wine. “Well, I can't precisely refute that kind of subjective personal judgment. Can you explain why you feel that way? What – in particular – do you like about the Isles more than the human realm?”

Luz swallowed, this time without food in her mouth as she reflexively cast a glance around the room. “C-can... you're not going to tell anyone about this, right? I'd just... I've put my mom under enough stress and with Belos and the Day of Unity coming to a head... I don't want to trauma dump on anyone right now.”

“I won't tell anyone about our conversation,” I promised, a tinge of guilt flowing through me, but I'd done a lot worse than lie to a child on their parent's behalf. Besides, I'd had Camila sign a binding contract forbidding her from ever telling Luz I'd let her listen in. “I promise.”

I had to protect my good name somehow, after all.

“Okay, so... about two weeks ago – maybe it was three? - I woke up and got out of bed and thought, 'Man, I wonder what's going to try and kill me today?' And I laughed out loud about it,” Luz admitted, staring off into the middle distance. “Because... I thought it was funny. Kind of like that weak step in the stairs I kept tripping on at home? Like... it's aggravating and a little frustrating, but... it's part of what you do every day.”

“You'd gotten used to it, you mean?” I asked, my eyes narrowed consideringly as I tapped the tips of my claw-like nails on the counter between us.

“Kind of, but not really?” Luz grimaced, scrabbling at her hair so furiously that her knit cap came off. Setting it down on the bar near us, she swept a hand through her hair irritably. “I was looking forward to it, like almost dying was what made the day worth getting out of bed for. A-and... when I realized that, I kind of started to think about all of the times my friends and I got into trouble or nearly died and no one thought it was weird.”

Luz paused, half-heartedly picking up a mozz stick and biting off the end. “Dumb? Yeah, a couple of things I did were kind of stupid, looking back on them. But... it was fun, constantly fighting against demons and monsters and witches... it was like everything made sense for the first time in my fucking life!”

Luz slammed her fists down on the counter, suddenly breathing hard – almost gasping – in the wake of the fit of anger.

“That was the first time I realized – that it really sank in – that I understood what being normal felt like,” Luz admitted, her gaze haunted and tears flowing down her cheeks.

I sighed softly and stepped through the bar, the very matter of the store rearranging itself for my passage, and pulled her into a hug.

Instantly, Luz collapsed into a full-on breakdown, clinging to me like a piece of driftwood in a storm.

…

It took a while for Luz to calm down after that, but eventually I was able to disentangle myself from our embrace and pop out a bit of ice cream.

Granted, it didn't seem to help all that much as the teenager picked and nibbled at it slowly.

“I feel like I can guess the rest of what's bothering you easily enough,” I sighed, picking at my own bowl. I'd never really been that big of an 'ice cream guy.' A little every now and then was fine, but... eh, just not my deal, really. That said, I could absolutely demolish an ice cream sandwich. “You're afraid of telling your mom that you don't want to go back to the human world, aren't you?”

“I don't even know how to bring it up to her!” Luz replied desperately, the source of her anxiety coming out easily now. “It's not like I don't love her! I do! I really do! She's the only one that's ever even tried to understand me! Ever since Dad...”

Luz shook her head.

“Ever since then, life's been... pretty miserable, honestly. And I think the worst part was that I didn't actually know how bad it was?” Luz asked, swirling her drink contemplatively. “Because you don't know what you don't know, right? If you stopped having friends back when you were eight or whatever, and I'm almost fifteen now... then that's less than half my life that I've actually had someone I can talk to about stuff. Especially when you consider memories start forming at, like... five or six or whatever.”

“But when you made friends on the Boiling Isles,” I interjected gently, pushing her back on track.

“Yeah,” Luz nodded with a sigh. “But like I said, I don't even know how to begin explaining to Mom that I'd rather jump off a cliff without magic than move back to Earth full-time, and that's before Amity-”

I rolled my eyes as the girl snapped her mouth shut. “Kid, when you get to be my age? You learn that there's no point in giving a shit about who likes who and what parts they have below the belt to do it with. I have much more important things to do than get in a snit about you having a girlfriend who's a member of a different species.”

Luz snorted and giggled, blushing at my frank assessment of the matter. “Thanks, Nova. I... I really needed to vent. Izuku's lucky to have a mentor like you, not that I'd trade Eda for the world, but you're pretty awesome.”

“Thanks, kid. You're not half-bad yourself,” I nodded. “So, what are you going to do now?”

Luz shrugged awkwardly. “Repress it all until I actually do have some kind of psychotic break? I mean, I've never had one, so it could be fun.”

I sighed deeply and shook my head. “Stars and stones, kid. Okay, time to teach you some life skills. I know Eda's big on letting you figure things out yourself, but you came to me for – if not advice – then at least a sympathetic ear. So my price is going to be listening to me lay out some options for you, okay?”

“Not like I have any better ideas,” Luz muttered, but nodded.

“Alright, so let's start out with your ideal future,” I stated, tapping the bar for emphasis as Luz dipped into her ice cream again. “We're putting aside Belos and the fate of the world junk for a minute and focusing on your future specifically. If you could have everything your way, what would your future look like?”

Luz frowned and half-turned to stare off into the middle distance. “I... that might actually be the first time anyone's ever asked me that? I mean, outside of what kind of job I want when I grow up, but no one really believes me when I say 'witch' or 'sorceress' or something.”

I snapped my fingers in front of her, “Focus, kid. Focus.”

“Right,” she shook herself, blinking rapidly. “Uhh... ideally? Stable portal between Earth and the Boiling Isles so that I can live at home with Mom for another year or two, maybe get a GED or something so I don't have to go back to school. And I commute from Gravesfield to Hexside or Eda's place to study magic. And Mom's somehow okay with all of this and doesn't freak out when I try to explain how awesome it is that something tried to eat me and I got away by the skin of my teeth? Also, I'm still with Amity, probably should have said that first. Yeah, that's about it.”

“Okay,” I stated, nodding, “that's your goal, then. First hurdle, there, is asking whether or not anything specific is actually impossible. Completely and totally impossible. Not unlikely, but flat out could never happen by the standards of the world you live in.”

Luz had opened her mouth to speak, then slowly closed it as I clarified by point, rubbing at her chin thoughtfully. “Well... I guess the portal used to be a thing? So if we could build another one-”

Her hand went to the bag sitting on the stool beside her, subconsciously.

I could sense the power in it. Or, well, the value specifically. It was... significant.

Knowing what I did, I had a few guesses as to what it could be.

“-then the biggest problem would be getting Mom to agree and not freak out,” Luz pursed her lips. “Well, besides Belos, I guess.”

“We'll circle back to him in a minute,” I promised, tapping the counter again. “So, you have your ideal future-”

“Umm,” Luz cut me off, looking anxious again as she twisted in place.

“Something you forgot?” I asked, looking at her curiously.

“Can I... like do you think... would my mom freak out less if I had a way to protect myself?” Luz asked, frowning and nibbling at her lip. “Like, more than just my magic? Or, just better magic, maybe?”

“Are you asking about buying something?” I cocked my head, the conversation having taken a turn I didn't expect.

Luz paused again, staring at me...

...at my tails.

“My eyes are up here, kid,” I stated, making the girl's eyes widen as she jerked back and blushed heavily.

“Lo siento mucho!” Luz squeaked, dropping her head into her hands. “I didn't mean it like that!”

“How did you mean it, then? I'm authentically curious,” I asked, leaning over the bar fully and spooning myself some of the last of the ice cream before making the bowl vanish.

“Would it... offend you, if I asked how you went from human to-” She made a vague motion.

I hummed thoughtfully, my ears pivoting as I had an inkling of where she was going with this. “So it's not just Earth that you hate, then.”

Luz flinched, looking fully away and rubbing at her eyes. “I-it's not hate, it's just... I don't know. These days, there are times where I look in the mirror and... for some reason I expect to see fangs and claws and... I don't know.”

She went quiet again. “I-is there really something wrong with me?”

“You're not cursed, I can tell you that much,” I hummed, cocking my head as my magical sense confirmed that much. No, I suspected the problem lay elsewhere. “You recognize the term 'transhumanist'?”

Luz blinked, frowning. “I... think I've heard it before? When I tried reading some science fiction? But it just wasn't my thing.”

“The hardcore stuff might not be, but I have some bio-punk and gene-punk that I might recommend... thought that's neither here nor there.” I took a final pull from my drink and emptied it. “Transhumanism is the ideology that proposes augmenting humanity with enhancements to cover up or replace perceived weaknesses in the human condition. It's not as widely-spread, but its entirely possible to replace the idea of technology in this equation with magic.”

“That... yeah, that kind of sounds like what I feel like,” Luz nodded slowly. “Like, why can't I have snake fangs or something? That'd be so cool and they'd be useful and amazing!”

“So does that enter into your dreams for the future?” I asked.

Luz twitched, then shook her head. “N-no, it was a silly question. Honestly, if Mom can't handle the life-threatening danger, living in another dimension, and me dating outside my own species, I don't think she'd be too receptive to the idea of that kind of change.”

I pointedly avoided looking at where Camila was concealed behind the holographic painting, but with the knowledge that she'd been the equivalent of a huge trekkie when she was younger, she might surprise her daughter. “How about we table that point? You talk to your mom about how you want your life to go in the future and we'll take things from there.”

Luz made a disappointed noise in the back of her throat and looked down at her hands on the counter, curling them into imaginary claws, before nodding. “It was stupid anyway-”

“It's not stupid,” I interrupted her. “If it matters to you, it's not stupid. It's also not impossible. Like you've probably figured out, I did something of the sort as my signing bonus when I inherited the store.”

“You did?” Luz gasped, her eyes glittering, “I knew it! Can I ask-”

“Ahp-bup-bup!” I called out, holding up a hand. “Later. Now that I've at least outlined a good place to start resolving your various personal crises, you came here to talk business originally, I thought?”

“Oh yeah!” The Latin-American girl snapped her fingers, then went rummaging through her bag. “Mami left this with me. She said she found it with that magic-detector you loaned her in Gravesfield. Eda and Lilith looked it over and agreed that it's real Titan's Blood, but they aren't sure if they can handle it properly with their magic being all wonky with the curse and everything.”

She held up the large vial containing shadowy blue liquid glittering with tiny stars, and I felt my breath catch at the sight of it.

It was easily one of the most valuable things I'd had walk into the store in the past decade.

I'd known that Titan's Blood could be powerful, but... damn.

“I'm not putting it up for trade, not yet,” Luz clarified, and my ears twitched with disappointment. “I just wanted to get your say on how much it was worth and what you could do to help if I traded it to you.”

“I'd walk out of here and kill Belos myself, for starters,” I stated bluntly, clearing taking Luz aback as the declaration sank in.

“I thought you couldn't leave?” She asked, setting the vial on the counter, the owl-shaped stopper obviously enchanted with some kind of stasis effect.

“Normally, no,” I hedged, “but if the client is willing to pay enough? Albeit, that's a price that's usually out of most people's desire to pay, let alone ability.”

“It's worth that much?” Luz muttered, staring at the vial. “What about another key? Could you make one?”

I nodded slowly, reaching out and touching the flask with a single finger as I thought about what I knew of the Boiling Isles, both from Luz and Eda as well as my other sources. There was an opportunity here. A big one. And I could do it entirely without regard for what it would cost the Isles. If things went according to how they originally did, they'd have lost the Titan's magic with Belos' final attempt to wipe them out.

But...

I looked at Luz searchingly.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” She asked, chuckling awkwardly.

“I think I have a way for everyone involved to get what they want,” I told her seriously, “except – obviously – for Emperor Belos. You said you've seen his throne room, right?”

“Once or twice, yeah,” Luz nodded, cocking her head and squinting at the memory. “Why?”

“The Titan's heart... is it still beating?” I pressed, feeling the vaguest warning from the rules I was bound by, but I paid them no concern. I wasn't going to try and dispense forbidden knowledge from the future.

“Uhh... yeah, I think so?” Luz asked herself, frowning. “Huh, that's kind of weird, isn't it? Like, the Isles are his body and they're rotting away. How is his heart still beating?”

“Creatures of the kind of power we're talking about take a very long time to truly die, and that's if they even can,” I informed her absently, valiantly resisting the urge to quote Lovecraft at her. “That's good news, though. It means his bile sacks are intact.”

Which was why his spirit was still able to linger.

“So you want me to... steal his heart?” Luz asked, frowning. “I think that might be, like... sacrilegious or something. The witches worship him like a god. I'd probably get in huge trouble for something like that... and not the Eda-Approved kind, either.”

“I thought one of the subjects from your school was oracle magic,” I grinned, my teeth showing in a smile that was far more predatory than my normal expression as I held up the large vial of ancient blood.

“Oooooh,” Luz whispered, her own smile widening to match mine.

Of course, after Luz left to go get her divination things for what we needed to do, I had to deal with Camila tearing herself apart with what she’d learned about her daughter. Thankfully, it seemed like a bottle of tequila did the trick there. Granted, that wasn’t the best solution, but Camila was an adult and could afford a therapist if she wanted one. Unlike Luz, she was also more than old enough to make the conscious decision to get blind stinking drunk as well.

I’d still have to deal with her after she got through the hangover, but hopefully she’d at least be a bit less hysterical about everything.

I had warned her, after all.

~~~

Okay, this chapter is slightly late. I had a friend ask me for some help moving heavy furniture to his new house and that basically wiped me out for a good day and a half. I'm really hoping that we're going to see the end of 90F days, because that heat was still pretty killer.

But I'm glad we got it done that day, because it rained the following one.

Anyway, here's the latest chapter of Entrepreneurial Spirit, where we veer back to dealing with Luz Noceda and her problems.

The Owl House plot has maybe one more significant chapter to it, and people should see why at the end of the story.

Next up is probably either Mind Games or Butler Boy, one of the two. We'll see.

Hope everyone's having a great week!