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Story Request: TOH x HH AU/Hellbound. (Seprate from Trust Fall Trauma.)
Plot/Storyline: When an edgy sinner, Luz Noceda, awakens in Hell. She meets a mischievously chaotic couple, Eda and Raine, along with a rebellious brat King; in order to survive in her new hostile environment, Luz has to help them with a mission.
(A re-written version of A lying Witch and A Warden.)
[Characters Present:]
(Luz Noceda)
• Age: 18.
• Species: Beastial Sinner (similar to her titan form).
• Date of Death: October 31st, 2022.
• Cause of Death: Ran over by a car.
(Eda Clawthorne)
• Age: 25.
• Species: Owl Sinner.
• Date of Death: October 28th, 1989.
• Cause of Death: Poisoned.
(Raine Clawthorne)
• Age: 23.
• Species: Bat Sinner.
• Date of Death: June 15th, 1998.
• Cause of Death: Crushed by a collapsed stage light.
(King Clawthorne)
• Age: 18.
• Species: Beastial Sinner.
• Date of Death: June 26th, 2001.
• Cause of Death: Head Trauma.
[Setting:]
• Bonesborough, a city 43.8 miles away from Pentagram City. Though, like any city in the Pride Ring, it's known to be chaotic and dangerous, it has a sense of diversity and equality between both Hellborns and Sinners. Which is very rare.
A/N: Yes, of course, @beastkeeper91! I tried to make it flow with A lying Witch and A Warden as well as I could :}
The last thing Luz Noceda remembered was the rain. It had soaked her cloak, her hair, the blood on her hands. She didn’t remember the headlights. She didn’t even feel the car hit her. All she remembered was the screaming in her head- the guilt, the fear, her mother’s final expression- and then…
Black.
Now, her eyes opened to more black, but not the comforting kind. Not the oblivion of death. This was...warm. Smoky. Red-tinted. The air buzzed with chaos. Fireworks crackled in the distance, or maybe it was gunfire. Laughter echoed, sinister and sharp. Luz sat up, blinking. Her fingers scraped the asphalt- no, not asphalt. The ground was warm like a stovetop, slick like oil.
Her reflection shimmered faintly in a puddle of some unknown sludge. Her body had changed- her lower arms and legs skeletal, fingers sharp and clawed like bone blades. Her cloak, black with swirling purple on the inside, shifted like smoke. Symbols glowed faintly on her chest. Her eyes- black voids surroinding bright gold- stared back at her.
“...What the hell?”
A hoot broke the silence.
Something slammed into the back of her skull.
“OW- HEY!” Luz whirled around to see an owl fluttering away. “What the- Get back here!”
She stumbled after it, bone clinking against the slick cobblestone, until the alley widened into a bizarre, patchwork tent. Bones strung with fairy lights, TVs stacked like totems, cursed knickknacks spilling out of bins. The owl landed on a perch above the entrance.
Inside, a tall woman lounged behind a counter, red dress clashing against her gray-feathered mane, along with glowing yellow eyes, a golden fang catching the light. She looked like she’d just walked out of a high-fashion photo shoot.
“Well well, look who the Devil dragged in,” she purred. “You look fresh.”
Luz blinked, catching her breath. “Did...did that owl just hit me in the face?”
The woman chuckled. “That’s Owlbert. He’s a menace. I’m Eda. Eda the Owl Lady. Welcome to Bonesborough, sweetheart.”
Luz furrowed her brow. “Bonesborough? Where even is that?”
Eda’s grin widened. “Forty something miles from Pentagram City, but light-years away in spirit. Chaotic? Absolutely. But we’ve got a little more...freedom here. Especially for Sinners.”
The word hit Luz like a slap. “Sinner...right.”
Eda’s eyes flicked across her. “Let me guess. Died recently? Big ol’ mess? Regret, guilt, anger- all those fun flavors?”
Luz said nothing.
“Thought so,” Eda muttered, standing. “Come on. You hungry? Got some ancient ramen packs that probably won’t kill you. Again.”
Back at Eda’s stand, Luz sat awkwardly beside a busted TV, eyes darting as Eda peddled bizarre human-world relics to the occasional creepy passerby. Luz’s fingers itched- there was something nostalgic about the tangled wires and broken screen.
“Mind if I-?”
Eda waved her on. Luz crouched and fiddled with the TV. A flash, a spark, then static- and suddenly, a hazy cartoon blared to life.
Eda let out a bark of laughter. “Well I’ll be damned- literally. You got it working!”
Crowds started gathering, drawn to the flickering screen. Eda leaned down, impressed. “You might be more useful than I thought.”
But the moment shattered when a group of hulking sinners barged in.
“Well well,” one sneered. “The Owl Lady and her new pet. We don’t like freeloaders peddling junk on our turf.”
Eda’s smile turned cold. “Turf wars already? You boys must be bored.”
The goons lunged.
“Run!” Eda grabbed Luz’s wrist, dragging her through the chaos as Owlbert screeched overhead like a siren. They darted through back alleys, jumped fences, and finally tumbled into a shadowed doorway.
Luz gasped for breath, adrenaline still pounding. “What- what was that?!”
Eda smirked. “Welcome to Hell, kid. Lesson one: don’t trust anyone bigger than you unless they’ve got feathers.”
The Owl House was barely a house- it looked more like a crumbling gothic tree fort slapped together with demon bones and stolen bricks. Inside, it was cozy in a chaotic, haunted kind of way. Luz stepped in, greeted by the smell of incense and sizzling bacon.
“King, Raine!” Eda called. “We’ve got company!”
A beastial creature stomped out from behind a curtain, skull-faced, tail flicking.
“Who’s the newbie?” he shouted.
“Name’s Luz,” she muttered, still catching up.
“I’m King. Supreme ruler of snacks.”
“Sure you are,” Eda said fondly.
From the upper balcony, a figure descended slowly, graceful wings unfolding. Luz stared. The bat-like figure had mint green hair and gentle but tired eyes.
“Raine,” they said, landing lightly. “You brought someone home, Eda?”
“She’s a fresh Sinner. Knows her way around stuff, and she didn’t scream when we got jumped. I think she’s a keeper.”
Raine tilted their head. “We’ll see.”
Luz felt their gaze settle on her- not judging, but searching.
“Do you want to survive here?” Raine asked softly.
Luz swallowed. “...I don’t know. But I don’t want to be alone.”
Eda threw an arm around her shoulders. “Then you’re in the right house… But… We need your help breaking into one of the V’s buildings.”
“You what now?”
Eda leaned back in her bone-carved chair, swirling a bottle of something that smelled like gasoline and cinnamon. “Pentagram City. Vee-owned facility. Lots of cash. Enough to keep us fed and functional for a month, maybe two if King doesn’t blow it all on glitter bombs again.”
“I regret nothing,” King muttered from under the couch blanket.
Raine shot Eda a look. “You said we’d only do this if we had no other options.”
“And we don’t,” Eda snapped. “I wouldn’t be asking if we weren’t on the edge.”
Luz frowned. “Why me?”
Eda gestured to her. “You’re clever. Got instincts. And no offense, kid, but fresh Sinners like you? You don’t register much yet on the radar. You’ll blend in easier. We need someone quiet and quick.”
Luz’s instincts screamed no, but her gut whispered something else. She knew what it felt like to have nowhere to go. And somehow, the idea of these three surviving by scraping the bottom of Hell’s barrel made her chest hurt.
“…Fine,” she said. “I’ll help.”
The V’s building loomed like a cathedral built by nightmares- glass and stone, with neon lights bleeding down the windows like tears. Luz and King crouched in the alley behind it, listening to the muted screech of sirens somewhere deeper in the city.
“We go up,” King whispered. “There’s a ventilation shaft leading to the holding cells.”
“Great,” Luz muttered. “Just like every dystopian game ever.”
They climbed, slipping through vents and past screaming pipes. When they finally emerged at the top, Luz froze.
The holding room was filled with Sinners- men, women, creatures barely human anymore- all staring with dull, sunken eyes. Chains glowed red at their ankles. Souls bound. Trapped.
Luz stepped closer. One woman met her eyes. “They told me I’d have power,” she rasped. “All I got was a cage.”
Luz’s throat tightened. Her fists curled.
Yeah, she thought. I know the feeling.
Down below, they regrouped with Eda and Raine in a rusted vault room.
“There.” Raine pointed to the thick metal container humming with magic.
Luz stepped up, her hands already twitching with motion. Symbols shimmered on her chest, reacting to the device.
“I’ve got it,” she said, cracking the lock open like she’d been doing it her whole afterlife. Inside? Stacks of Hell currency, more than Luz had ever seen.
Eda let out a low whistle. “Jackpot.”
Luz turned to her. “Why this? Why risk so much?”
Eda looked away for a beat before answering. “Because this stupid, broken world doesn’t care if we starve. And I’ve got two weirdos depending on me. I’m not letting them fall. Not again.”
Luz stared at her. “So we’re all just...weirdos?”
“Damn right,” Eda said, smiling faintly. “And weirdos stick together.”
It resonated deep. Deeper than Luz expected.
Then the walls exploded.
Smoke choked the room. A towering figure stepped through the haze- a member of the Vees, smiling wide. Their suit was crisp. Their voice was velvet over a blade.
“Stealing from us?” they said. “Now that’s cute.”
Before anyone could react, they moved. Fast as lightning.
Eda’s head hit the ground with a sickening thunk.
Luz screamed.
“EDA!”
But Eda’s body didn’t fall. Her decapitated head rolled back into place, snapping into her shoulders like it was magnetized.
“I hate when they do that,” she muttered, spitting dust.
“Run!” Raine shouted, getting into a defensive stance. King leapt forward with a snarl, sonic energy building in his chest.
Luz stood frozen- until she remembered the prisoners.
She turned and ran, but not away- from the vault to the upper floors, symbols glowing wildly on her cloak. She tore through the door, slamming her skeletal hand against the cage's core.
“Let them go!” she snarled.
The core shattered. Chains snapped. And suddenly, the facility was swarming with freed, furious sinners.
Luz led the charge back down just as Eda was slammed against a wall.
“Need a hand?” Luz yelled, hurling a chunk of glass at the Vee’s head.
Eda grinned through a bloody tooth. “You took your sweet time.”
Together, they fought- And when the Vee went down, it wasn’t clean, wasnt permanent- but it was enough.
They stumbled back to the Owl House in silence.
Raine poured a drink and collapsed on the couch.
Eda turned to Luz. “You didn’t have to come back for us, you know.”
“I wanted to,” Luz said quietly.
Eda nodded. “You’ve got guts. Dumb, beautiful guts… You can stay. If you want.”
Luz blinked. “Really?”
“On one condition.”
Luz tilted her head.
“You’re my apprentice now,” Eda said, smirking. “Which means chores. Market scamming. The works.”
Luz grinned, exhausted but...lighter. “Deal.”
Later that night, Luz lay on a ratty mattress under a flickering lamp. King snored in the room next door. Somewhere, Eda and Raine argued playfully over a card game.
She stared at the ceiling.
Her mother’s face flickered in her mind. Not the rage. Not the screams. But the quiet moments- back when things were soft and hopeful… Before all of the abuse, and hurt…
Her chest ached.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the darkness.
No answer came.
But for once, she wasn’t alone.