#paulina toh | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

avatarmerida · 1 year

Text

I caved and I wrote a Paulina/William drabble. I don’t have context except that I HC Paulina would take longer to switch to the plant track and William meets the squad earlier in this version. Maybe I’ll explore this AU more lemme know if I should yo 💚💛

———

“Oh Lina, it’s absolutely stunning!” He marveled at the large colorful flower she was trying desperately to hide. But his praise only caused it to grow larger as a very flustered Paulina tried to control it.

“It’s nothing, I swear!” She insisted, but the vines has already made themselves comfortable. Summoning them had clearly taken skill, it would a challenge for anyone to make them disappear at a moment’s notice especially if they didn’t really want to.

“I have to disagree, I think it’s very much something.” William laughed. “It’s something wonderful!”

“No, it’s so embarrassing!” She said, brushing the flowers out of her hair. “I can’t control them anymore than I can control my other magic. You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.”

“I promise you, I’m not lying!” He insisted, gently removing a white rose from behind her ear. “I would never! I could never!”

“No, William I promise it’s okay I won’t be angry at you for it.” She said. “I guess… I was just nervous to show you. I… haven’t really told anyone I’ve been practicing plant magic.”

“Well, if you ask me you should practice it more. It suits you.” He said with a smile, feeling she looked so natural surrounded by the flowers.

“You’re sweet,” she said with a smile, and her calmness spread to the plants who did not whither away but made a slow return to their pots. “You’re wrong, but sweet. I know it’s silly to try another type of magic when I can’t even get the basics of my track.”

“Paulina, I promise I would not lie to you. In fact I cannot lie.” William said, his normal vigor lacking. “Like… I’m unable to.”

“What do you mean?”

“A secret for a secret?” He said, raising his pinky which she took in hers (thankfully this time there was no goop incident). “It’s part of my curse,” he began to explain. “If I am to lie, I am overtaken with great pain. It feels as though my bones are shifting and trying to escape. It matters not how grand the lie is, any lie will trigger it.”

“How do you know?”

“I did lie once, to my uncle.” He said, shuddering at the memory. “I had snuck out of the castle and when he asked me where I’d gone, I denied having left. And suddenly it felt as though my heart was being ripped from my chest, the pain so severe I could hardly stand. He said ‘this is what happens when you lie to me, you’re only hurting yourself by doing so. I will always know.’”

“Woah,” Paulina whispered, often forgetting William was related to the Emperor. She always views him as cold and scary and William seemed just the opposite, despite his attempts to seem intimidating. She wondered where he had gone before it struck her. “Was this… the night you came to our conjuring?”

He nodded and Paulina felt her heat sink.

“Oh William, I’m so sorry if I had known I would have never-.”

“No, please don’t be sorry princess,” he insisted. “It was a lovely night, truly. It was the first time I felt… normal. I didn’t think about my curse or my duties I just had… fun. That night meant a great deal to me.”

He smiled at the memory of holding her hand beneath the light of the full moon, the sound of her laughter as the managed to navigate the Owl House before Eda found them out. The way her eyes shimmered when she walked him to the door and said how happy she was that he had come.

“Well, you probably would’ve been back sooner if I hadn’t messed up the spell.” Paulina said, her voice low.

“If I had arrived on time I could’ve left on time, don’t blame yourself for something beyond your control,” he said, remembering the time he had put into his outfit, trying to impress her. “I was bound to discover it sooner or later, and knowing the effect has made me more careful. You can take credit for that, but nothing more.”

She smiled, knowing he meant that. She believed even without the curse William valued honesty. But such great pain no matter the lie? Not even a harmless white lie?

“Wait, did he mean every time you lie or just when you lie to him?”

“Well I… don’t really know,” he admitted, furrowing his brow. “I haven’t tried since then. But royalty shouldn’t lie anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. I intend to be an honest and fair ruler.”

“But what if you need to?” Paulina inquired. “What if by lying, you can help someone? Like what if Boscha was looking for me and asked you where I was, it wouldn’t be wrong to lie to her.”

“I would gladly endure the pain to keep you safe.”

Paulina blushed. He didn’t even hesitate.

“But when you go on missions, what if your identity is supposed to remain a secret and someone asks you if you’re the prince? It would be okay then, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose you’re right,” he said stroking his chin. “Hmm, we should investigate this. Paulina, may I lie to you?”

She giggled, always finding his formality endearing. “You may.” She replied, matching his regal tone.

“All right,” he straightened his spine and cleared his throat, searching for a lie to tell. “Okay um… you are not very beautiful.”

He closed his eyes and prepared for the impact his only lie had given him, but to his surprise he felt no pain. “Huh? I did it! I lied!

“Well, I don’t know if it’s a lie exactly,” blushed Paulina. “It’s kind of subjective.”

“Oh? Oh, yes I suppose you’re right, as usual.” He scrunched his face as he tried to summon a more probable truth. “Okay then, I do not think you are very beautiful.” He clarified for the powers that be. He waited a beat and again felt no pain and raised his arms in victory. “Huzzah!”

Paulina blushed once more. “I mean… I’m still not sure that’s the best example,” she said quietly. “I mean, because what if that’s-.”

“Oh, yes I see what you mean,” he said, reading her mind. “I know opinions and fact can differ, but I can only lie about what I know, correct? Even if it just a lie to me, because I do believe you’re very beautiful. See? Neither sentence triggered the curse. I promise you the truth is the latter, you can ask Luz I’ve said that well before I ever thought about trying to lie.”

“Oh, well okay.” She said with a smile as Willam did not falter from the sincerity of the compliment. He simply acted like her beauty was a universal truth. She wondered how often if came up that he instantly felt that way. But despite how nice the sentiment made her feel, something about the delivery troubled her. “So… if you only feel pain when you lie to your uncle does that mean…”

“Does that mean… what?”

“William… is he the one who cursed you?”

#huntlow #huntlow dupe #winter toh #I like Willina #I’m calling it Willina #willina #beta huntlow #toh #the owl house #Paulina toh #William toh #Willow park #Hunter toh

176 notes · View notes

101flavoursofweird · 1 year

Text

Emerald Trio Week: Day 3 - Peace

Spoilers: None specifically

Set: A vague AU universe based on the original pilot episode for the show and beta concepts. Some characters didn’t exist in the beta concepts, that’s all I’ll say.

Warnings: This is the most angsty oneshot so far… One character is trapped, Belos (the emperor here) is a bad uncle, and there are mentions Huntlow (Paulina/William in this universe). I’m not sure what else to tag without spoiling anything.

Note: Again, thanks to @loosescrewslefty for the prompts… and for some helpful info on the Owl House beta concepts on a preview post I made for this fic.

Description: The Boiling Isles are at peace… and so is Paulina, but she can’t helping feeling like something is missing.

The Boiling Isles were at peace… and so was Paulina.

Finally, she had reached a point where she felt safe and happy and capable in her abilities. This was who she was meant to be.

Gone was the meek girl with the broken wand and the misbehaving plants. She’d come a long way since she first met Luz at the academy!

Luz was the instigator of it all— the change in Paulina, absolving Eda the Owl Lady, and saving the Boiling Isles for good. Thanks to Luz, they were able to overthrow the emperor… and cast a spell so that no one would remember his name, his rules or the identities of his most loyal followers.

Paulina couldn’t think of worst fate; not only death, but being forgotten in death.

If Paulina had perished in the final battle, her family would have been overcome with grief… Although, as much as Paulina hated to imagine her loved ones suffering, wouldn’t it be better for them to remember her?

Erasing the pain would mean erasing the love they had shared…

Out of sight and out of mind—

But Paulina was being hypothetical!

Her family and friends had survived along with her. The future looked big and bright for all of them!

With his uncle’s defeat, Sir William would accept the throne when he came of age. Would William miss his uncle…?

The emperor had kept William trapped in an enchanted sleep for aeons. Consequently, William hadn’t witnessed the oppressive system and the tyrannical control his uncle had brought to the Boiling Isles.

It was only after Luz roused William— with a slap to the face and some enlightening discussions— that William realised how terrible his uncle truly was.

William had vowed to never be anything like his uncle when he took the throne.

During the after-battle party, Luz had teasingly asked if William intended to share the throne with someone special.

William had gone as red as a poppy and avoided Paulina’s gaze for the rest of the evening.

Although she… liked William, Paulina couldn’t imagine herself being queen or empress(?) of the Boiling Isles.

That would be a lot of responsibility— and all the power could go to Paulina’s head!

Amity had assured Paulina that she didn’t need to worry. It would still be a few years until William’s coronation, anyway.

For now, they could all just enjoy this period of peace, rebuilding the Boiling Isles together…

It wasn’t perfect, but then— was anything?

That night after the party, Paulina returned home (which was, thankfully, still standing!) with her parents and settled into bed.

She tossed and turned for hours, but sleep eluded her. There was a little voice inside her head she just couldn’t ignore.

Her dads had taught her a trick for times like this— a trick Paulina had passed on to Amity— but right now, no matter how much she calmed her breathing, it wasn’t working.

Maybe it was because Paulina wasn’t panicking? She didn’t feel compelled to run and hide.

The voice wasn’t screaming; it was more like a mutter. A tiny doubt nibbling at her mind…

Sighing, Paulina sat up in bed. Why did she feel like she’d forgotten something? Something important…

(Not the emperor’s name! This must have been something she actually cared about…)

She used to feel like this everyday at the academy, fearing she had misplaced her wand, her cauldron, her homework…

An unshakable feeling that she had made a mistake and she was going to be mocked or punished for it.

Now, it was probably just lingering doubts, ingrained in her.

Paulina shook her head, trying to dispel these insecure thoughts.

She picked up her glasses from the bedside table, put them on, and glanced around her dark room, wondering what could possibly be missing…

Her gaze passed the mirror— but then, something caught her eye. A glimmer of movement.

Paulina gasped. What was that?

Paulina froze, but then she frowned. She had helped defeat the emperor— surely she could handle an intruder in her mirror!

She pushed her bed covers aside, grabbed her wand from under her pillow, and crept towards the mirror.

Murmuring a light spell, she pointed her wand at the glass.

Paulina’s own reflection (hesitant but determined) stared back at her.

“Is someone there?” Paulina asked firmly. She spoke loudly enough that she might wake her parents, and they could come to investigate…

No one answered… but then, Paulina caught sight of the figure within the glass.

Peering closer, Paulina realised it was a boy. Her eyes widened.

He had his back to her and he looked very small— not just from Paulina’s perspective— but she could discern he had dark brown hair and he was wearing red.

“H-hello?” Paulina exclaimed. The boy stiffened. He could hear her!

“Who are you? What are you… doing in my mirror?”

Paulina swore she heard a whimper. The boy dropped to the floor of… the mirror-world(?) and drew his knees up to his chest.

Lowering her wand slightly, Paulina placed her free hand against the glass. “It’s okay … I’m not— madthat you’re in there! I’m just confused… Are you trapped…?”

Paulina had heard rumours about the mirror world; of people’s reflections springing to life to take their place, like a doppelgänger. Luz had apparently experienced this and she’d lived to tell the tale!

But this boy hadn’t disguised himself as Paulina’s reflection. It was like he wanted to hide. He won’t even look at her!

“Can you at least tell me your name?” she tried to coax him. “I’m Paulina—“ She stopped when the boy shook his head.

“Maybe I can free you?” Paulina suggested. She lifted the tip of her wand to glass again. She uttered a few spells.

The mirror didn’t seem to be affected, but the boy was.

“Don’t!” he cried, whipping around to face her. He had dark blue eyes. He looked young— younger than Paulina…

(Why did he seem so familiar?)

Paulina gasped, “I’m trying to help you!”

“Well, stop trying!” The boy stumbled to his feet. “You’re going to— mess everything up…!”

“I’m sorry!” Paulina frowned. “I… I might not be able to free you on my own, but my friends could—“

“No— you can’t tell them! They can’t see me! You weren’t even meant to see me…” He waved his finger in the air— in a circle— but nothing happened. The boy groaned with frustration.

“Why can I see you?” Paulina wondered. For the third time, she asked, “Who are you?”

The boy sighed. He stepped a little closer to her— to the surface of the mirror.

“I’m…” He bit his lip. (Shoot — it had sounded like he was about to reveal his name!) “I’m not going to hurt you— or haunt you!” he stammered, instead.

Paulina snorted. “So, you’re not a ghost?”

“N-no…” The boy cracked a smile.

“Are you a witch, then?” Paulina hummed.

His smile faded. Paulina deduced that he either was a witch, he wanted to be one, or he had been trapped by a witch.

“Did someone trap you in the mirror?” Paulina tapped the glass with her wand. (Maybe this was the emperor’s doing…?)

She must have touched a nerve or crossed a line, because the boy took a step back. “I know that you want to help me,” he sighed, “and you… care…”

Should she care? Paulina didn’t know anything about this boy…

He might not be a boy at all, but a monster attempting to deceive her!

It could be one last ditch-effort from the emperor; he could be trying to trick Paulina to get to Luz or William…

Why, then, hadn’t the boy leapt out of the mirror to attack Paulina yet? He’d had plenty of chances while Paulina was trying to sleep…

Why was he so determined to get away from her?

“But you can’t,” the boy continued. He crossed his arms, hugging himself. “I put myself in here, and I… I’m never getting out. If I do… the Demon Realm will implode— or something…”

“What?” Paulina breathed. Her heart felt like it was about to implode in her chest.

“It’s better this way,” the boy bit out, lie he was struggling to convince himself as well as her. “This is the best possible outcome.”

“Outcome…?”

It wasn’t an outcome Paulina liked; how could she happily go about her life, knowing a poor, miserable child was imprisoned for eternity in her mirror?

“Bye,” the boy whispered. He turned away from her and began to retreat.

“Wait…!” Paulina protested. She knocked her fists against the glass, wishing she could reach in and pull him out…

His voice was getting fainter. “Thank you f-for looking out for me. I won’t bother you again…”

“Come back here!” Paulina yelled, her face pressed against the glass now. She watched as the boy became smaller and smaller in her view. “I will find a way to save you…!”

Once more, the boy halted. His shoulders shook. He released a choked sob. “ Please, Will—“

“Please, what?” Paulina gasped. For a second, she felt like the whole world had been flipped upside down.

He took several deep breaths. Was he—? Paulina blinked when she realised he was counting on his fingers against his leg.

When he had composed himself, the boy started again. “Please, will you just let me go—?”

“No.” She pounded on the glass. “Not until you tell me who you are and how you know that— that breathing trick!”

“Goodbye.” He kept walking and didn’t look back.

“Wait!” Paulina punched the glass again.

He knew her, and she knew him, but she had forgotten how…

Think! Think! Think!

She raised her wand again— firing off every spell she knew.

Maybe the boy had been affected by the same magic that erased the emperor’s name— but he was just a child! How could a child have been in league with the emperor, unless he’d been manipulated, like William?

He was no more guilty than William had been!

It wasn’t fair. The boy didn’t deserve this! He was… He was her…

By the time Paulina noticed the dent she had made, it was too late. The cracks spread along the glass like cobwebs… until the mirror shattered.

The boy was gone.

In the morning, Paulina’s parents found her slumped against the ruined mirror. She had spent hours— in vain— trying to repair the shards of glass.

When she tearfully tried to explain what had happened, her dads assumed she’d had a nightmare, induced by the trauma she had suffered.

Thankfully, Paulina’s friends believed her when she told them.

Luz said she’d caught a glimpse of somebody watching her through the window of the Owl House. When Eda went outside to check for her, no one had been there.

William swore he had seen a pair of sad blue eyes in the reflection of his sword.

When Amity was using a crystal ball in the library, she’d been startled by the sound of a child crying.

It wasn’t just Paulina’s imagination; they had all seen him. He was real, but none of them knew who he was.

So, Paulina and her friends had a new mission:

The four of them would find a way to release the boy and maybe then, they would remember.

Paulina wouldn’t rest until they did… until the boy was standing right beside her in their world.

He might resent Paulina for disrespecting his wishes… or he might decide to be her friend.

And if the Demon Realm did implode, as he had feared…?

Then they would face it together.

#emeraldtrioweek23 #willow park #Paulina TOH #Willow is Paulina in this AU #And I mean a literal Alternate Universe for Gus #Gus Porter #augustus porter #I’m so sorry Gus :(#William TOH #The Owl House #the owl house fanfiction #emerald trio #Not much Hunter here #Don’t worry it’ll be his turn for angst tomorrow #Willow Park & Gus Porter #Gus and Willow are best friends in every universe #Or if they are not BFFs then what’s the point

10 notes · View notes