"Help us! Goblins!" shouted the merchant atop of the carriage, holding onto his wife. Down below, a group of club-wielding creatures dancing around and rummaging through their crates.
His wife sobs into his arms, "I told you we shouldn't be taking this path!"
"I make poor decisions! Why do you think we're always on the road?" the husband admitted, "At least we won't have to worry about paying off the massive debt that I placed under your father's name."
"You what!?"
"I said I bankrupt your dad. Didn't you hear me?" The merchant suddenly turns his head to the direction of the rustling bushes. "Wait, I think someone's coming!"
The goblins turn to where the man is facing and sees a human girl dramatically jumping out of the foliage and landing on one knee. She whips out a hand of cards over her mouth like a fan, "When darkness comes, a Luz will shine through the veil! Along with her trusted companion at her side!"
Luz gestures to the empty spot next to her and waits. Everyone just stares at her while one goblin scratched his back with a club. Luz glances over and narrows her mouth to a loud whisper, "Psst, Amity! That's your cue!"
"Oh right, okay." Amity steps out carefully with one foot after the other in a rather unspectacular entrance. She clears her throat, "Yes, companion! That is me, Amity Blight."
"Your full name!"
"What? That is my full-oh… yeah…" Amity coughs into her hand and blushes with embarrassment, "Amity Blightbane…" Luz tosses a hand full of confetti and gestures to her again with shaking hands.
"We're doomed," said the wife.
"Have faith, citizen! We will save you from these vile creatures!" Luz whips out an ice rune and slaps it onto Amity's sword. Her blade shines and emits a cold fog-like aura. Seeing the magical effect on the weapon, the goblins hurriedly charges at them.
Amity raises her blade and swings it down, sending a freezing wave right through the creatures, freezing most of them into giant ice statues. One goblin that was lucky enough to be behind one of his men stares at the girls, then at the frozen bodies, then back at the girls. He gently places his club onto the ground and holds up his hand while slowly backing away from the caravan.
Luz clicks her tongue and points at Amity, "Pretty cool, right?"
"You're such a dork," Amity lightly elbows her. And adorable.
"Thank you, heroes!" exclaimed the merchant from the roof, "You saved our lives!"
The wife scoffs as she slowly climbs down, "If only they're capable of saving our marriage."
"Oh…"
"You're welcome!" Luz waves at the couple as her before noticing Amity already leaving towards their intended destination. "Hey, wait up!" she playfully skips around her as they continue down the path, "What's the rush, my fellow ally?"
"Rush?" Amity stops in her tracks, "Didn't we just establish a literal end of the world situation back there?" Of course, she's pretty sure it's of no concern since this isn't real but real enough to persuade Luz.
"Well… yeah, but those type of things usually take a while to happen. There's nothing wrong with enjoying our time and saving those in need, right?"
Again, if this was real, it certainly would be.
"We need to stay on track," Amity said crossing her arms, "We can go and have our misadventures after we 'save the world.'"
"Okay…" Luz sighs and looks off to the side. A small smile crept up on her face and she turns back to Amity, "Can we at least have one tiny side adventure?"
Amity shot her a glare.
"Pwease?" begged Luz.
Amity's face twitches at the pleading but held her ground. Don't cave in. You came here to save her. Do NOT give in.
Unfortunately for her, Luz tilts her head to her clasped hands and bats her eyes at her going for an innocent begging look, casting a spell stronger than anything Amity has ever faced before. Amity's face goes beet red trying to hold in her breath before exploding out, "Fine! Just stop looking at me like that!"
"I don't know what you mean by that but yay!"
"But just one!" Amity warns, "After that, it's straight to the mountain. Got it?"
Luz excitedly nods her head, "Yes ma'am! Ooh! Why don't we go and check out this vast and mysterious cave!" She points out to Amity's side who frowns before turning her head to the huge cave entrance right next to her. She nearly jumps out of her skin knowing it was not there before.
"Ah! How are you doing that!?"
"I just use my eyes, see?" Luz pulls up her eyelids and squishes them, "Plip ploop."
Amity incredulously stares at her without saying a word. Luz slowly realizes how gross the trick would seem to her before hearing a giggle coming from her. "What the heck is that? Do all humans do that?" Amity said between laughs.
Luz beams at her and proudly places her hands by her side, "Not just any human could do it. I'm what you call a 'one of a kind.'"
"You sure are…" Amity comments. She takes another look at the new-spawned cave, barely making out the interior from the pitch darkness. A perfect place for nightmares to happen.
"I don't know about this one though, maybe we should pass."
"You said I get to have one! And caves are like the number one places to explore on a journey! Look it even has a mysterious old man offering us items!"
Amity looks back to the entrance where a cloaked and weathered man whose face is obscured by the dark cave and the hood slowly gestures them towards him with a gnarled, bony hand and holding a dark stained dagger in the other.
"… yeah, not happening."
Luz looks over to a new direction and points, "Okay, then what about the abandoned manor up on the hill?" Amity follows her arm to the hill spot where a dark storm hovers over the said building with many twisted, dead trees eerily looking like screaming faces. The black iron gates to the place opens where either another or the same cloaked man stands gesturing to them again but holds a rusty sickle instead.
"Are we going to address the creepy man or-?"
"Eh nevermind, it probably has a lot of mold in it. What about that place?" Luz points over to the cemetery littered with many unmarked tombstones. Some of them containing holes with freshly dug dirt. Out of one of the holes rises what Amity is sure in being the same cloaked man this time biting onto a mouthguard and bangs two boxing gloves together.
"Are you doing this on purpose!?" snapped Amity as she pulls Luz away from the nightmarish areas. "Let's just keep heading down the path before making any decisions."
Luz lets out a disappointed sigh but nods, "You're right. If we can only do one before getting to the mountain than it better be something fun and exciting and-ohmygoshisthatacornmaze!?" Amity tries to grab her human but Luz speeds off into the huge labyrinth that spawned before them. Her face tightens up and reddens in anger but is forced to expel as she started feeling light-headed.
"Hoo… so that can happen here too, huh?" Amity shakes her head and follows after her idiot, "Luz! Get back here!"
"Amity? Where'd you go?" She stops and looks around to wherever she heard Luz's voice but found the path she had taken from the entrance to suddenly disappear. Amity frantically looks around as Luz continues to call for her name only seeing the other routes leading further into the maze.
Could she be doing this? Or have the nightmares finally settled in?
"Luz! Where are you!?"
"I'm over here!"
"That doesn't give me anything to go on! Just stay where you are and keep shouting! I'll come for you!"
"Wait, I think you're close by! I'm coming!"
"No, Luz!" Amity waits to hear for her to call again but no response came back. Fearing the worse had happened, Amity pulls out her sword and hurries through the maze. "Luz! Luz, where are you? Luz!"
A strange sound emits out from one of the paths leading to the clearing Amity stumbles upon. A sound that is definitely not Luz's voice or anyone's. It grows loud enough for her to recognize it as a guitar and picked up the sound of someone's footsteps.
"Luz?" Amity asks again before a young man emerge out from the path. He finishes his song with a gentle strum and flicks his long, dark hair revealing his handsome features and the scar over his right eye.
"Ah senorita, at last we meet," he said as he goes for another strum.
Amity glances around at whoever could be this 'senorita' before concluding it's her he's referring to. "Do I… well, should I know you?" she asks.
"Of course! But I do not blame you, for very few would whisper my name out loud in fear I would be nearby. For that reason, you may call me Scar," he dramatically pauses to let the name set in. As if that would do anything to Amity who merely just stares at the strange man.
He unsheathes a folded curved sword from his back and holds it up, "I am a dark hero who travels across the land dispensing justice to the wicked and offer aid to the weak. I come from a humble village, so humble in fact, that we do not have a name. Sadly, my humble nameless village was tragically destroyed by evil forces that I will not bother to describe. Both my parents died when I was of tender age, and so I scour the land honing my skills while searching for revenge. I spent years studying the blade that was granted to me from the most skilled swordsman in the world. I have fought and slain many creatures that poses a threat to the world. I went through many hardships that have locked my emotions into my heart. I was afraid I could not feel anything until I saw you two traveling down the road. Instead of approaching you two in a normal greeting, I secretly followed you both for miles waiting for either of you to split apart so that I can sneak up and properly greet myself so that I may join you two your quest.
"Also, I know how to play the guitar. If you haven't noticed."
Amity glances around again this time checking to see if this was an oddly planned ambush or a terrible prank. Assuming he was being serious, she asks, "How old are you?"
"I am fourteen," he answers with another guitar strum.
"Right…" Amity sheathes her blade, "Thanks for the uh… backstory, 'Scar,' but I'm kind of in the middle of looking for my idiot."
"Ah! You mean the hero Luz Noceda?" he exclaims, "Allow me to lend my aid to you then! For you see, this scar over my eye was given by a magical beast that has granted me sight beyond sight! It was a perilous battle, I wrote a song about it if you would like to-"
"Yeah, no thanks. If you want to stick around to help be my guest," Amity turns back to picking either of the paths after shouting out for Luz's name again.
Scar chuckles, "Very well! It would be an honor to work with you, miss. For I have long to meet the fair and beautiful Luz Noceda ever since I first laid my eyes upon her."
Amity freezes at the spot and slowly cranes her head to him. "Excuse me?" she hissed.
"Ah, a slip of the tongue, but it is true. It seems my cold heart has begun beating once again when I saw her," he confessed with his arms outstretched and his eyes closed like he is imagining Luz in front of him, "Perhaps it is the tender kindness in her heart that is strong enough to fight my demons-"
"OKAY!" Amity claps her hands for his attention while forcing a smile, "On second thought, I think we can manage on our own. Why don't you head back out and leave this to me, alright?"
"B-but I can help!"
"Yes, and I hate to deny someone's offer. But I really hate talking to you. So why don't you turn back and head out to whatever make-believe edgy adventure you have and to never talk to me or Luz again."
Scar frowns at her and makes a clicking sound through his teeth for probably no other reason but to look cool doing it. A smile then crept onto his face, "Ah, I can see clearly now. You are a fellow rival for her heart, yes?"
Amity gives him an irritated stare but could do little to stop her face from getting red, "Maybe I am, what of it!?"
"No judgement here, senorita," he throws his hands up defensively, "It is admirable to know someone else could appreciate her beauty. Although we share the same goal and conflict with one another, we should set aside our differences and work together on finding her. Then we can continue our dispute as we journey together and establish a love triangle dynamic in the group where our Luz will remain indecisive with who she would want to be with and drag it unnecessarily as long as it can go."
"You're not even real!" Amity snaps.
"Perhaps, but my love for her is."
"Argh!" Amity lets out a scream while pulling at her own hair. Hearing this made-up guy speak is like listening to someone scrapping their nails on chalkboard. Going on and on about loving someone you haven't even talked to? Just who does this guy think he is, showing up out of nowhere and declare how he's going to take Luz from her?
She takes in a deep breath and gently turn to him, "How about this? If you don't leave right now, people will end up calling you Two-Scars."
"Oh ho! So you wish to settle this now? Very well! But first, allow me to play us off to set the mood. Maybe a somber tune to symbolize the tragedy of our inevitable struggle for the one we love." Scar closes his eyes and tested a few notes before finding the right rhythm for the song he's going for.
But before he could begin, he felt something striking at his guitar and hears the snapped wires and splintering wood. He stares down in shock at the sword protruding from his instrument and slowly looks up at Amity in post-throw pose.
"… my father died protecting this guitar."
"Your father is an idiot," she hissed, "Now get out of here before I turn you into a tragic backstory!"
"I fear nothing… but I still would like to see tomorrow. Best of luck to you!" He quickly departs with the guitar slapping up and down with her sword still stuck into it. Amity watches him disappear and lets out a groan, "Ugh! The nerve of that guy! 'Ooh look at me, I'm handsome and edgy, and I have a complicated backstory!' My story is way more interesting than his! I trained all my life to become a knight to get away from my noble family! My character arc is compelling and way more relatable and-what the heck am I talking about?"
Amity shakes her head from the false memories of the dream trying to work their way into her mind. She was fortunate to realize it sooner before losing herself into this world. At least that was over with. Now she has to find Luz in this accursed place before they-
"Did somebody say 'backstories?'" chimed Luz who pops right next to Amity's face who lets out a terrified yelp.
"Aah! Wha-Luz!?"
"That's me! What were you-owowowowow!" Luz cries out in pain as Amity angrily pulls at her cheeks for a few seconds before she relents and turns her back to her with her arms crossed.
"You shouldn't have run off like that! What if something happened to you?"
"Sowwy…" Luz whines rubbing her cheeks but feels more pain from making her worry. It didn't take long for Amity to let it go now knowing that she's okay. She glances back with a softer expression and says, "Just don't leave me like that again, okay?"
Luz responds with a smile then looks down at her empty holster. "Hey, what happened to your sword?" she points out.
"I uh… I stumbled upon a creature and it ate it."
"Oh no! Is it still around? We could still get it back if-"
"It's dead." She frowns in the direction where the guitar boy ran off to, "To me at least…"
"O~kay then. But you won't be able to do much without a weapon… hold on!" Luz pulls out her satchel and digs into it. She pulls out a deck of cards each printed in various runes and hands it to her. "Here! All you have to do is tap on them and think of how you want to use them. It's what I do."
"You're letting me use your spells?" Amity takes the deck and goes through each of the cards carefully not to trigger them by accident, "What about you?"
"Oh, those were just something I like to mess with. I won't be needing them because I got this!" Luz pulls out a small wooden cylinder in her palm before closing her hand around it. A light shine between her fingers before two ends of a glowing rod springs out. The light bends the rod shaping it into a familiar staff of an owl at the top end like Eda's except this one contains gold brim at the bottom and two rubies where the eyes of the owl should be.
Luz twirls the rod in her hand to show it off before accidentally fumbling it out of her hand for her to wildly flail her arms to catch it but fails to. She giggles nervously and snatches up the staff, "Master Eda said I'm one of the very few to be naturally born with magic. So I wouldn't have to make use of runes to cast awesome spells."
A few? Amity now understands why her magic wouldn't work. In this dream, magic seems to be rare and only accessible to those born with it. And the runes she uses are the common use to access these abilities. She couldn't help but find the reversed roles endearing.
Tucking the spells into her own belongings, she then crosses her arms at Luz and asks, "Got that out of your system? Because I'm counting this as your one side adventure."
"What!? But this isn't a sidequest at all! I didn't even get to fight my own maze monster!"
"You should've thought about that before running blindly into danger," Amity fishes out one of the spells in her hand that can control plantlife and plans to make a simple path out, "I'll make us an exit."
"What? But Amity-!"
"No buts, there's nothing-stop giggling! There's nothing exciting about getting lost in a crop field."
"Amity, that spell-"
"I know how to use it," Amity interrupts. "It's not that different and I seen you do it plenty of times." She places the rune down in front of the foliage and taps the symbol. The rune glows brightly before her as the paper shrivels into the ground. Feeling proud, Amity calls over to Luz who worryingly approaches her and exclaims, "See! Not so bad for a beginner, huh?"
"It's great!" Luz admitted, "It's just that uh…"
A small flame burst to life from the spot where the rune was.
"You… might've used the wrong spell."
"Oh no," Amity quickly stamps down on the floor with her, successfully extinguishing it beneath her feet. She lets out a sigh of relief and turns back to Luz, "See, not a problem. I meant to use the nature spell to clear the crops. So maybe it just didn't work properly-"
The flames erupt behind Amity and immediately spreads wildly to all the surrounding crops. Amity sucks in her mouth as she can see the flames devouring everything in sight and cutting off all routes they had out of the clearing.
"Should it bother me that this is the second time I caused a fire inside of someone's head?" Amity muttered to herself. She pulls out the runes again trying to find and remember the right ones that could help them out of this mess, "Any chance you happened to have a rune that can create rain or shoot water?"
"No, I didn't learn any of that yet! I…" Luz shuts her eyes feeling a lapse in her memory occurring. Briefly recalling memories of the life she had back in the Boiling Isles. But she couldn't tell which is real from the conflicting images.
The crackling flames and growing heat made it hard for her to focus. If only she hadn't run off and got Amity trapped in here with her.
"I… I don't know what to do. Amity, I'm so sorry!"
Amity stares at her in disbelieve, "This isn't your fault, it's mine! I should be the one apologizing!"
"But it's my fault you got in this mess!" a painful memory came back causing Luz to stumble in her steps, "She was right… all I do is cause trouble for everyone…"
"Luz!" Amity grabs her and pulls her away from the burning crops falling over. She takes her face by the cheeks with both hands and say, "You said you're the chosen one who can use magic, right? Do something with that staff! Create a rainstorm or a gust of wind or something!"
"I… I don't know," Luz hesitates, "What if I can't do it? What if I make it worse and-"
"Luz, listen to me! You're way stronger than you know. You can do anything." Amity was speaking in a literal sense, but it does come across as the typical uplifting praise to Luz who takes it by heart.
"You… really think so?" Amity gives her a warm smile and nods, bestowing her confidence with renewed vigor. Luz pulls herself away and holds her staff forward at the raging inferno around them.
She closes her eyes to focus and draw out the magical energy inside her. Allowing it's power to flow through her veins and surge at her beck and call. Luz opens her eyes now shining in bright orange hue as bolts of energy crackles around her. She slams the foot end of her staff to the ground and speaks, "Hearken to me, creature of the sky! For I call you in my time of need!"
A huge, dark mass soars over Amity's head bringing in a large gust of wind. The winged creature cuts through the sky with incredible speed over the burning field before coming to a sudden halt over the two girls. Amity could barely make out its features except for the same glowing orange eyes looking down at them.
It slowly rears both its massive wings back then releases flaps them together sending out an incredible, unseen force of wind rippling through the girls. The flames could barely held still a second longer before getting utterly extinguished like a candle, leaving behind charred remains and bits of popcorn here and there.
The magic dissipates from Luz who looks up at the mess that was her hair all windswept away. She shakes her head to normalize it as Amity walks up, smoothing out her own hair.
"That was… incredible!" she exclaims.
"I know!" Luz squeals, "My eyes were like 'bwaam!' And this bird was like 'kacaw!' Oh, that was so cool!" Her excitement slows down enough for her to allow some air back into her lungs. Amity giggles at her act, bringing a warm feeling in her chest again.
"It really was, and brilliant too for summoning an avian creature that could take us all the way there."
"What now?" Luz looks up at the giant bird then back at Amity before connecting the two dots together. "You really want us to skip the entire journey just like that? What about our adventure? Exploring new places! Making friends along the way!"
Amity's patience began to wear thin. As much as she hates to chastise her, she can't bear to waste any more precious time for the Skull Screamer to take over. "Why are you so fixated on this!" Amity snaps, "Shouldn't a hero go out of their way to stop the great evil disaster or whatever that is?"
"I-I suppose but usually stuff like this takes time so-"
"So you prefer to stop and smell the flowers than to protect the one I love!"
"That you love?"
"That's what I said!" Amity squeaks, "the ones you love!"
"I…" Luz sadly looks to the ground feeling ashamed of not thinking clearly of her actions. Why is she so fixated on playing around? The idea of imminent danger should have gotten her determined to see it through.
But this is nothing new, is it? Once again causing trouble and dragging everyone around her into it. Even her own mother who would certainly be disappointed if she knew. "You're right, I shouldn't have gotten carried away. Maybe it's because you and I get to hang out together on this journey that I… really want it to be memorable," she explained.
Amity eases up hearing her reasoning. She doubts it was the main reason behind it as the dream or the spider could be the cause of her procrastination. But to her hear say that, even if it does seem pretty dumb in context, is genuinely sweet to hear.
"Tell you what," Amity goes to take Luz's hand but feigns a sudden itch the moment she looks back up, "uh, once we finish this quest. Then we'll go on as many adventures you want together. I promise."
"Really?" Luz asks, "You wouldn't mind?"
"Wouldn't mind? I would love to," the L-word came out a little higher pitch than it should but Luz didn't notice, "Whatever you want."
"Even saving more people from monsters while wearing cute animal costumes?"
"I didn't agree to that!"
"Too late! You said whatever I want," Luz boops Amity on the noise who flinches in surprise by the gesture. She looks up at the flying creature she summoned still hovering above them and cups her hands over her mouth to shout, "Excuse me! Thanks for saving us by the way, but we could trouble you to give us a lift to that big, dangerous looking mountain?"
"Hoot hoot! I sure can!" Amity's eyes widened in horror at the familiar voice answering them before diving down to personally greet them. Much to her displeasure, the giant bird landing before them is none other than Hooty in a body of an actual giant owl.
"Anyone need a hand?" He raises his claw while rapidly flashing his eyebrows up and down as if the context to the pun made sense.
No words could describe the disgust the girls are feeling right now. Despite Luz's memory being twisted by the dream, even she knows that his face on that body is somehow… wrong. Just. Wrong.
"I think I'm going to be sick," groaned Amity.
Luz nods in agreement then raises her staff again, "Yeah… let me see if I can just summon another bird."
"Oh come on, guys!" exhaled Hooty, "I wanna go on a fun adventure too! You can't just put me here as a joke like some sort of gag character! I have feelings too and-AAAHHHHH!" An even larger creature swoops down and snatches Hooty up with its beak and effortlessly gobbles him up.
The creature lands back down in front of them revealing itself as another owl but like the little palisman belonging to Eda's staff. Owlbert lets out a cheerful sound and lowers its wing to them as a makeshift pathway to climb onto his back.
"Well, that was morbid," Luz noted, "Oh but look how adorably big he is!"
"Onward and upward then," Amity takes Luz's hand for support as they both climbed onto the giant Owlbert waiting patiently for them to secure themselves onto his feathers. He flaps his wings and gently takes off into the sky, with enough force to still scare the lights out of them.
"This is awesome!" Luz cries out, suppressing the urge to raise both her hands in the air out of excitement. Amity laughs with her, still feeling concern of losing her grip and falling off until Owlbert adjusts his speed by letting out his wings to glide across. She lets out a sigh and sits back taking in the view of the land around them. Luz gazes around the area from above as well but her eyes stopped at a certain spot, "Hey, is someone down there?"
Amity looks over to where she is pointing and finds the still burning patch of the corn maze slowly eating away at the space where a familiar person can be seen standing waving his arms with a guitar in one of them. Despite her disdain to the person, Amity wouldn't be so callous to let someone be horribly burnt alive over a crush.
But technically, he's not a real person either and it's only a dream so…
"I don't see anything," she said, "Must be a scarecrow."
"Hmm… okay, if you say so." She points straight ahead and shouts, "Full steam ahead! For the sake of our world and our future!"
Down below, Scar watches them continuing forward without any signs of coming to rescue him. He plays himself a somber melody as the flames slowly encroaches at him from all angles, "How fitting. I try to feed these flames of passion, but only to end up becoming its fuel instead. Perhaps now I may finally rest, to be at peace with my-ow!" He flinches from the flames licking at his feet and tries his best to make use of the small space he has to attempt waving them down again despite them now only being a dot in the distance.
"Nevermind! Perishing by fire is not peaceful at all! It's actually very painful! Please, I'm begging you!"
~/~
"Looking good, Emperor!"
"Hey it's King! Our ruler who is totally not adorable but terrifying and awesome! We love and fear you!"
King proudly strolls through his followers showering him in praises and admiration. "Thank you. Thank you," he says, "You are all far too kind and far too affectionate."
After making his rounds of checking with the guards and the guests, King returns to back to the dance floor where Eda was. He looks up with a bemused expression and snaps his fingers. A guard walks away then returns with a drink and hands it to him. King takes a sip then taps his scepter to send them away.
"Well, Eda. How's the weather up there?"
Eda grabs onto the bars of the cage she's been transferred to that is currently hanging just below the giant disco ball by a chain. She lets out an irritated groan, "Ugh, the only thing more painful than this is your jokes."
"Oh come on, don't leave me hang-ah!" King jumps back from Eda's spit. He glares back at her as she laughs at his reaction. He angrily points up at her and screams, "That's disgusting!"
"So is your ego! Now let down from here and give me back my magic, you butt."
"You're the butt!" King cracks, "What kind of friend would lie to them! Make them believe everything they done amounts to nothing! That I'm just some useless housepet!"
"The type of friend who's not going to leave you to die!" Eda exclaims, "You're a lot of things that I'm better off not saying, but you're not useless nor a housepet to me."
King looks to the ground and turns his back to her but doesn't move. Eda lowers herself and speaks in a gentler tone, "King, it's sweet of you for wanting this life for me and Luz, but it's not real. You need to believe me. And make it quick, ten more spins of this and I'm about to find out if dream-puking is a thing."
"I…" King clutches his arm holding the scepter. He stares at himself in the reflection of the crystal that took Eda's power, feeling at odds with the memories created by the dream and the real ones from reality. He claims to have defeated the Emperor himself, but why can't he remember? Such an obvious doubt should have been enough to break him out of the illusion.
But he cannot because he did defeat Belos. He took his throne and title and now rules over the Boiling Isles. There is no illusion. Everything Eda says is a lie. He shouldn't believe her. Don't listen to her. Do not listen to her lies.
"Argh!" King slaps himself and clutches his aching head, "All these menacing-sounding thoughts is making my brain hurt! Is this what a midlife crisis feels like?"
"Trust me, it's more painful than that. Now are you going to let me down or what?" Eda calls from her cage.
King barely had a time to respond before a guard rushes up to him and greets him with a salute, "Milord! The rest of the guests of honor have arrived."
"Really!?" King excitedly tosses his half-empty cup to the ground and ignores Eda's shouting, "Don't just stand there then! Bring them in!"
The guard bows and heads off by his command. Eda tries again to call for his attention, but the tiny demon busied himself by throwing out more commands to both the guards and the partiers. The DJ turns up the music even louder, drowning her voice out by the heavy beats and the renewed vigor in the crowd.
It's clear to her she won't be able to get his attention now that the dream has pulled him back. But if there's one thing Edalyn is best at parties besides breaking in and down, it's how to crash them. She grabs onto the bars then throws her weight against it, causing the suspended cage to rock forward then back. The disco ball it's attached to makes a metallic groaning sound from its own supporting chain only she can hear from the loud music.
The guard returns at the entrance to the floor and bows respectfully before the other announces, "And now, the guests of honor! Master Gus and Mistress Willow!" The two kids enter with Gus wearing a dandy purple suit and Willow just in her casual attire. King rushes up to meet them, "You guys! Glad you could make it! Looking sharp there, Gus!"
"Hey King!" Gus high fives the demon who had to jump for it then snaps his fingers at him, "Looking pretty snazzy yourself there, buddy. Ooh, is that a fondue fountain over there!"
Willow elbows him then respectfully bows before King, "Thank you for inviting us, Emperor King. Might I say how grateful we are for you to abolish the harsh magic laws to allow any witch to freely practice all forms of magic? Now that the system is a thing of the past, now everyone can freely choose their careers instead of competing for to join the Emperor's coven."
"But most importantly, thanks for getting me back in the human club along with my old president position," Gus intervened, "Now I can continue my research about the entity from the human world known as 'Santa Claws' and how they let him get away with breaking and entering people's homes."
King proudly chuckles to himself, "Don't stop mentioning it! And you guys can drop the title, we're all friends after all."
"Which one?" Gus asks.
"Wait, is King your real name?" chimed Willow.
"I thought it was Demons."
"On second thought, let's keep the formality. Anywho," King looks behind them to see if someone else was going to join them, "So where's Luz? Is she playing a round of kickball with Belos' statue head?"
The two kids gave each other a look before Willow sheepishly turns her head away as Gus awkwardly coughs and says, "Uh… you didn't know?"
"Know what?"
"She went home, dude."
King raises an eyebrow at that then laughs, "Home? What did she forget something back at the Owl House? Is that Otter costume isn't it? The girl sure knows how to party."
"No," replied Willow, "We meant she went to her home. The human world. Didn't she tell you?"
"Haha… ha, that's… that's not funny, guys." King's throat suddenly tightens as he feels a pit in his stomach, "Seriously, where is she?"
"We're telling you the truth. She's not coming back."
"But…" King's arms start shaking at the news, not wanting to believe what he heard. The crowd slowly forms around them ignoring the blaring music getting increasingly louder. He doesn't take notice as he expectantly looks up waiting for either of them to say 'gotcha!'
"But she… she wouldn't just do that. Why would she want to leave?"
"Well I can't blame her," Willow interrupted, "This world is too scary for a human."
"But we're family!" he retorts, "We're boo-boo buddies! She wouldn't… she could've-"
"Told you?" finished Gus, "I thought it was strange, but thinking about it now… I can see why. I mean pets are fun to have but they're not technically family."
"I am not a pet!" he cries, feeling hurt from the comments the two are making and the way they are looking down at him. "I am her friend! The King of Demons! Ruler of-"
The two kids and the crowd all began to laugh. He stops and looks at the people surrounding him while pointing their fingers. Eda has the cage rocking dangerously back and forth, successfully causing the stress to slowly wear down the hook from the ceiling before noticing the sudden laughter.
"The nightmare. King!" Eda cries out to him, but the combined increasing volume of music and laughter swallowed her voice. Irritably, she turns her head to the DJ playing with the soundboard. Something caught her eye making her squint for a better look, noticing the comically large hat obscuring its face underneath a layer of guardsman clothing. The hat tilts back from the constant head bobbing before a huge, hairy appendage pops out from the cape and adjusts it back into place.
Eda gasps, "So you're the one behind those heavy beats!" The Owl Lady shifts her body over and continues rocking the cage but this time in a new direction.
Down below, the crowd continues their ridiculing of King as he desperately covers his ears. "Stop! Stop it! She wouldn't! And I'm not a pet! I-I'm your Emperor!" he cries, "I demand you all to-"
"What?" shouted one of the voices, "Are you going to demand us to like you? How sad is that!"
"Watch out! He's going to arrest us so that we can't leave him like his 'friend!' Hahahaha!"
King buries his head to the floor as the crowd closes in around him. Their faces stretch and twist together along with their bodies while they kept on laughing. Their forms no longer resembling structure and swirls around him like a blender of laughing faces. He struggles in vain to ignore their voices. Their harsh words. Their lies.
"Luz…?" She wouldn't abandon him. She wouldn't.
The Skull Screamer watches from the booth and takes in a deep inhale, "Mmm, such wonderful anguish. Marinate in it longer, little devil. A broken spirit makes it all the easier to terrify. Your fears will be a delicate feast for my children!"
"Better hope there's plenty of iron in it!" Eda's voice calls out to the Skull Screamer followed by the piercing sounds of metal bolts busting open. The nightmare spider fails to notice the incoming cage with a screaming witch inside followed by the giant disco ball trailing after it by a chain.
"What!? Oh, wait no, I get it. That's pretty clever-OH MY GROM!"
King's eyes shot open to the deafening crash over at the DJ booth. The blaring music cuts out only leaving the chorus of laughter from the crowds. "That familiar sound of property damage. Eda!?" King hops up to his feet and pushes his way through the distorted group with ease towards the destruction. The wall where the booth was placed near caved in from the impact burying both the spider and the Owl Lady in debris.
He takes off the royal clothing and tosses the scepter aside to desperately digs through the rubble for his friend. A familiar hand eventually breaks through for King to grab onto and help pull her out. Eda shakes off the mess from her hair and lets out a painful groan, "Oh man, I am so glad I won't be feeling this tomorrow."
"Eda!" King hops into her arms and the two warmly embraces each other, "I… I'm starting to remember now. Aww, you're telling me I didn't dunked on Belos in an awesome battle and usurped his throne?"
"Afraid not," she says rubbing his head, "But hey, we can add it to the bucket list. Though we'll probably end up kicking the bucket. Heh, wouldn't that be one heck of a way of going out?"
"So Luz really didn't leave us?"
Eda notice the crack in his voice and the misty eyes of his. She cracks a grin and jokes, "Aw, what ever happened to that 'demons not needing friends' bologna?"
She expected a high-pitched retort or hopefully a teapot sounding screech out of him, but her humor went away when King sorrowfully dipped his head. "But she will, won't she? She would have to go back to her real home, right?" he mumbled.
Eda ponders the thought of Luz one day having to go back to the human world. A thought she feels no joy in entertaining a second longer. She rattles her fingers across his skull and sighs, "Eventually, yeah. We can't make her stay in our world. But that doesn't mean she can't visit us from time to time. And whether or not her mother finds out and forbade us from seeing her, then we'll just hop over and grab her whenever we feel like it."
"… pretty sure that's illegal there too."
"What are you, an Earth Lawyer?" Eda and King laughs before embracing each other again. The tender moment fades as the sound of heavy debris being thrown aside. Bursting out of the rubble now in its true form, the Skull Screamer lets out an awful hiss and stares down at them with drool and venom dripping from its fangs.
"You dare rob me of my prey!? I was going to save you for desert!" it howls angrily.
"I ain't no desert, you disgusting critter," Eda snaps, "I'm more of a full course kind of gal."
"Then allow me to indulge!" The spider lunges at the two but barely touched either of them as Eda pulls herself and King away from its spindly legs. The creature lets out a frustrated scream then slams its legs to the ground and tears through the flooring like it was made of fabric. Dark, ink-like substance pools out of the tear and flows outward towards Eda and King.
"I will subjugate you both in your worst nightmares! I will swallow your screams and drink your despair!"
"Pfft," Eda rolls her eyes at the over-the-top threat, "Get a load of this spider's bad guy act. Swallowing our screams, what a load of-are… are you writing it down?" She stares down at King who stops mid writing and quickly hides the notepad and pen behind him.
"Nope! Totally not keeping note of it to use it later," he lies. King looks back up and points, "Look out!"
Eda ducks another swipe from the creature and attempts to retaliate with a spell, but the magic trace dissipates before she could even finish the circle. "Oh, right. Power sapped," Eda turns to King ready to shout at him to return it to her, but something hits her hard and sends her flying. The spider shot its web at her and pins her against the wall.
With her arms and legs trapped within the web, Eda struggles to free herself then lets out a disgusted groan. King rushes to help free her but the webs proved too capable for his widdle demonic paws. "I-I can't get you out!" he cries.
"All this because I let some hopeless school crush stay over at my home with Luz," Eda complained, "Huh, is this how my parents felt about me inviting dates over to our place? Great, now I'm already experiencing my worst nightmare."
King pauses in the middle of him hanging off her chest trying to pry the webs with his entire body. He looks up at her in surprise, "Wait, Amity has a crush on Luz?"
"Uhhhhhhh…"
The two jerk their heads over to the large spider scraping another tear through the air like its ripping through the very fabric of space. Black ink spills out and coats itself over the area, threatening to take them as well.
"I may not be as strong as my sibling, but I am more than capable of making you both scream till your hearts explode! Submit yourselves and become feed for my children!"
"No!" King screams and holds out his arms in a vain attempt to protect Edalyn from the rising wave of black ink. But as the wave crashes down, it forms a perfect circle around the two as if it slammed against an invisible barrier. The Skull Screamer lets out a confused and surprised screech.
Eda looks down and notices the ink slowly subsiding away from them and shouts for King's attention, "King! Look!"
His eyes remained shut as he answers back, "I'm not falling for that, creatures of night terrors!"
"Just open your eyes, you blockhead."
King annoyingly obeys then stares at the surrounding ink fading away. He stares down at his own paws and goes for a push gesture, causing the remaining darkness to slide back. "Whoa… is this what Luz meant by unlocking your full powers out of nowhere? She's right! It's not a cheap plot convenience!"
Eda rolls her eyes and corrects him with, "You didn't 'unlock' any powers, you're just aware of the dream. You can control everything!"
"Oh… you mean like a god?" King excitedly tightens his tiny hands and stands proud against the creature. Crackling bolts of energy swirls around King as he gently rises off the ground, now fully harnessing and going over-the-top with his dream.
The Skull Screamer sends forth a surge of the ink towards him but with a mere flick of his arm the darkness stops and explodes into tiny droplets before gravitating towards the spider and encases it entirely except for the head.
"No!" the creature screams, "I was so close! How could I have not taken over your dreams by now!?"
King thrusts his hands up causing the roof to collapse and torn apart revealing the thundering storm and swirling dark clouds. He lets out the maniacal laugh Eda knows he practiced for years. He points at the quivering spider as lightning strikes down around him for dramatic effect, "You fool! You truly think that you could control a demon's mind? Your powers are nothing compared to me! For my mind is an omega, and I-"
"Enigma," Eda corrects him.
"What?"
"Your mind is an enigma. Not omega."
"Pretty sure it's omega," King ignores her and continues where he left off, "And I shall be the one who will make you scream! Behold! A being of unspeakable evil!" He snaps his fingers, controlling the clouds to swirl down like a tunnel just above the spider. The intense wind whips across the area around them and easily tears off the webs and frees Eda.
The Skull Screamer stares into the darkness of the storm and sees a flicker of movement. Overcome with fear, the creature jumps as something like a snake slithers out of the swirling storm and circles around the spider before tightening its body to it. The head raise up and reveals itself as Hooty who lets out a blood-piercing screech before transitioning into his usual tone, "Hoot hoot! That's right, a double cameo! Bet you didn't expect that."
The Skull Screamer shouts, "What is that thing!?"
"Is that a spider? Ooh, I love insects!"
"I'm not an insect!" it defensively protested, "I'm an arachnid!"
"Hmm," Hoot narrows his eyes, "I don't know about that. They all taste the same to me. Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!" The Skull Screamer barely had a chance to scream as it was devoured in one bite. Hoot retracts his head back into the cloud tunnel as the storm rises into the sky and slowly dissolves away.
King clutches his stomach and laughs as he slowly descends to the floor before falling onto his back. He points up at the sky shouting, "How's that for a nightmare? Now you know how it feels! Hahahahaha!"
Eda walks up to the little guy as his cackling dies down. "Not bad, Emperor-pfft-King!" she swallows back her desire to laugh and continues on, "See? You were never useless to us. Even though this is your brain and all, you manage to save us from the nightmares. And good thing too, there are some serious darkness I do not want to unpack there." A brief chill shivers through her body at the thought of her being forced to go through one of her dates again.
"Heh, yeah…" King answers feeling the guilt rising in his chest, "I'm sorry for not realizing it sooner and for not believing you. I was too caught up in finally feeling like I accomplished something and could pay you and Luz back for everything you guys done for me. You guys are like my family and I… wanted to be able to protect you guys."
"Think nothing of it," Eda affectionately scratches behind his ear, "Now, as much as I love to stay and party with you. I got to get going and see if Amity is doing well. Now, would you mind handing me my powers back, my liege?"
King courteously bows to his friend, "Of course, my fellow witch." He holds up the sceptor that suddenly appeared in his hand and took Eda by surprise who tries to say, "Wait, a second don't-"
Flash! The same burning pain struck her in the eyes. "Aw! Dang it, King!" she cried, wondering around aimlessly while furiously rubbing her eyes. King points and laugh at her before hearing the sound of a large door to the dance room opening.
"King? Are you here?" A familiar voice calls out to him. He turns to see Luz wandering inside, inspecting the damage and mayhem of the room.
"Luz!" The little demon runs on all fours to the human girl and jumps into her arms. They both warmly hug each other before King pulls himself away to ask, "You made it!"
"I wouldn't miss this for the world, my booboo buddy!" she says, snuggling her face against his.
Eda blinks out the spots in her eyes to see King having a touching reunion with clearly the dream version of Luz. "That old softie," she shakes her head, smiling. She felt a little disappointed not dragging him along with her to save the real Luz, but figures its for the best to let him sit this out and enjoy himself.
Testing to see if her magic was actually back, Eda conjures herself an exit in a form of a door that swings itself wide open. Satisfied to see her powers back, Eda cracks her fingers and steps through the doorway.
"Hang on, kids. I'm coming."
~/~
Luz and Amity finally reaches the mountain on Owlbet's back. The huge formation of earth jutting out like it had been broken off, leaving behind jagged sharp pieces of rock threatening to impale the very skies itself. Amity taps Luz on the shoulder and points out the lava that was cascading down the sides when it first erupted.
Owlbert encircles the area looking for a safe landing that would safely lead them inside. Luz helps to scan the area before noticing a dark crevice just near the top, perfectly out of the way of the flowing magma.
"Down there!" she said to her adorable giant who immediately dives down to the spot. Owlbert halts before the rock and gently lowers himself to the ground and allows the girls to slide off of his wing.
Amity shakingly stumbles off his wing, feeling whiplashed from the drastic change of altitude and surface level. She trips over her own footing but Luz catches her in time, "Whoa, careful! Don't want to knock yourself out before the big fight now."
"Thanks," Amity silently whines to herself of Luz holding her up close again. "J-Just let me sit on the ground for a moment, please?"
Luz obeys and gently lets her down then runs over to Owlbert to give him a big hug before he heads off. "Thanks, little guy!" A single 'hoot' came out almost questioningly from him as he stares down at her. Catching on to what she just said, she answers "Sorry! Not sure why that came out. You go on ahead, me and Amity will just walk our way home."
The bird nods his head, then takes off. Luz waves him a goodbye and watches him disappear into the horizon.
She turns back and takes in the sight of the ominous mountain and the dark entrance leading into it. She takes in a deep breath, almost to savor the feeling of reaching journey's end. Despite them only just started however long ago.
"Here we are…" Luz noted, feeling rather burdened by the anticlimax of it all. No personal growth. No lessons learned. Not even a message to convey. It's almost insulting they made it here without any sense of progression. Downright disheartening.
"I can see your disappointment from here," Amity took notice of the changing expressions on her face. Feeling well-adjusted to solid ground, she rises and stretches out her limbs, eager to finally put an end to this dream and to have her Luz back safe and sound.
"I know it's just… kind was hoping for some flavor or flair to the whole quest," she admits, "Maybe it's just wishful thinking and all but what if we missed some important deets? Like we just walk in there and there's some lord of darkness who expected us to know him and his evil plans and all we have to say is 'oh sorry, we just kind of wandered in'"
"I think we'll manage, come on. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can have our grand misadventures." Luz didn't protest to that and follows her fellow ally into the darkness. Amity fishes out the light runes and hands a few over to Luz. The two activate their spells to light their path forward and to leave behind the orbs so they know their way back.
The two walks into darkness for a while. Their path changing from a tight corridor to a side of a dark expanse where they cannot see the bottom. Aimlessly wondering around, waiting to see what would happen.
Amity wasn't sure what to expect now. Would the Skull Screamer even show up? They're capable of controlling nightmares, so what reason would it have to reveal itself? Could this journey be a waste?
No, Amity can't afford to let herself think like that. She remembers the clouds from before forming into the creature's body. It has to be around here. It has to.
Luz breaks the silence with, "I've been thinking."
"That's a first," Amity grins.
"Hey! I'm trying to be serious here!"
She laughs, "Sorry, you were saying?"
"I never realize how dark and creepy caverns can get. Nearly every adventure story I read, they don't usually make them sound that big of a deal. But doing it yourself feels… different."
Amity nods in agreement as someone who often reads the same stories and admittedly avoids the horror ones if possible. Even worse, knowing any minute they could be attacked by wherever this spider is.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. But it's fine as long as we stick together," she promised.
Luz smiles but still feels uneasy by the atmosphere of the place. Something about it, the tension in the air, feels really… odd to her. She gazes at Amity's free hand hanging down by her side while using the other to hold up the ball of light as a torch.
Normally, the idea of asking to hold hands wouldn't seem so strange to her. It's just to make sure neither of them get lost or accidentally lose their footing over something they couldn't see. It's not weird. Even after discovering that she may or may not started to see Amity in a different way. Nope. Not weird at all. All she had to do is ask.
It doesn't have to mean anything. After all, she already likes… someone else. Luz felt a lump in her throat and lowers her arm without Amity noticing. That's right. Someone that isn't her. She knows this. And she shouldn't be bothered about it nor should she bother Amity with it. She only just found out about it recently back at the beach.
The beach? When did that happen again? Another surge of memories slams into Luz's mind, causing her to stop in her tracks. Amity notices and turns back to see her going through the same episode again. "Luz? What's wrong?" she worriedly asks.
"Nothing! Or… maybe it's not nothing. Maybe it was something all along."
"… you lost me."
Luz was about to explain to her but a distant sound causes her to halt. Amity doesn't say a word and turns their head to the direction of what sounds to be footsteps coming from the direction where they haven't been leaving their lighting orbs. The dark area and the eerie silence made Luz to fear whatever terrifying being it could be approaching them. Amity on the other hand, hopes its some type of monster and not that stupid Scar guy again.
The footsteps came to a halt, still sounding a bit far away. Almost as if whatever is in the dark can now see them. Amity and Luz stares into the darkness, trying to see if their eyes can adapt and make out whatever it is that's possibly watching them.
Luz suddenly finds her hand being taken by Amity's who stares intensely at the direction, ready for whatever is waiting in there. She gives it a squeeze and holds out her staff defiantly.
The footsteps began again but at the same slow pattern from before.
Tip.
Tap.
Tip.
Tap.
Bam!
"Ow!" the familiar shrill of a woman echoes throughout the cavern, "Who put that low hanging rock formation there!?"
"Eda?" said both the girls. Feeling the rush of relief and excitement, Luz pops her own light spell and lets go of Amity's hand to run over. "Eda! It's me! Luz!"
"Luz?" Eda's voice calls out from the darkness before another loud bang can be heard, "Dang it! Where the heck are you? Is Amity with you?"
"I'm here!" Amity calls out, following Luz from behind. Wondering if it was Dream Eda who followed after them or the real Eda who just got done with saving King. Nevertheless, both her and Luz are glad to have someone to come help.
Luz notices a movement in front of her and shouts, "I think I can see you! Just stay there!" She hurries in her steps and sends her light forward to help her master.
"Oh, thank goodness." Luz slows down her pace, noticing the strange growl at the end of her words.
"I been looking everywhere for you guys." The light still surges onward before coming to a halt before two large black eyes and sharp teeth. Holding a pair of large stones in each of its hand before letting it fall to the ground. "No…" Luz mutters, staring wide and slowly backing away.
"You… had me… worried!" The familiar beast using her master's voice steps forward with its talons carving into the rocky terrain. "I thought… I would… never… find you!" The cursed form of Edalyn lunges at her.
Luz screams and turns back to run just in time to catch a flying fireball passing over her head and exploding into her. She looks back at Amity balling up a couple of fire spells and gestures Luz to run to her. "Go! I'll cover you!" she lobs another ball at Eda.
"No!" Luz swings her staff and bats it the fireball off to the side of the chasm where it detonates against ceiling. A torrent of huge rocks began to fall upon them.
"What are you doing!?" Amity cries.
"You can't hurt her!"
"Her!?" Luz doesn't explain as she runs up and grabs Amity's arm to follow after her. Cursed Edalyn screams and begins chasing after them.
Amity looks behind her at the horrific creature bearing some resemblance to Eda thankfully not able to close in well due to the falling rocks. She looks ahead to see Luz frantically activating a bunch of light spells to shoot ahead of them, even letting some of the orbs and even the untriggered spells fall into the dark chasm below. She notices the light dipping into a dark substance along with other pieces of paper at the bottom.
She looks back to see the monster getting closer and closer to them. "Luz! We need to stop this thing before it catches us!" Amity demanded.
"We can't risk hurting her!"
"That's not Eda!" she exclaims, "Last I check! She's not some giant… lion bird thing!"
"You wouldn't understand!"'
Confused but still adamant, Amity can't risk letting this Eda-like creature get to them. She looks ahead and notice the path narrowing down into a small opening. As her and Luz goes through it, she slaps a triggered fire rune against the side.
The spell blasts the entrance and showers even more rubble blocking the entrance right before the creature. Luz snaps her head to the destruction and hears the loud whining sound a wounded animal would make.
"Eda!" Luz cries out to her master before angrily turning around to Amity, "I said not to-!" She was met with only a dark empty clearing. Amity was nowhere in sight.
"Amity? Where did you go? Amity!?" she cries out for her friend before hearing the roar of the cursed beast now slamming its body against the pile of rubble. The creature bursts through the pile with one mighty charge and shakes off the dust and debris from its eyes before settling back onto Luz.
"Eda…" Luz backs away again, but this time no other available path lies open for her. She stops short just before the edge to another deep chasm filled with flowing black ink.
Cursed Eda's voice strains, coming out as a howl, "Luz… you must… stop me…!"
"N-no!" she shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. "I can still help you! I made a promise to save you!"
"You can't… even save… yourself!" Eda dives at her with her arms open wide. Luz swings her staff and conjures a wall of rock to stop her. It proves to impede her assault, but the wall cracks from the impact making it easier for her to shatter through it again.
"Stop it, Eda!" she pleaded, "You're stronger than this! Please, listen!" Luz tries her best to detain her in anyway she could, but her beast form kept overpowering through her tricks. Whatever power Luz has in this dream world could barely do anything against her as she tries not to harm her beloved friend and also wracked with worry of what happened to Amity.
Unbeknownst to her, Amity was still in the same area. High above in the dark ceiling, Amity is wrapped in layers of web and slowly rises further and further up by a single, large strand. She desperately tries to call out to Luz but her voice came out muffled and overpowered by the sound of battle.
She struggles to break out from her cocoon, her fingers stuck to her side just barely able to touch the edge of one of the paper runes in her bag. Amity kept struggling until she casts eyes upward and froze.
Blending almost perfectly to the shadows of the rough mountain interior and pulling onto the strand of web like bucket from a well, perched the impossibly large Skull Screamer. Its size nearly as large as a Grudgby field. Its fangs dripping with the same dark viscous liquid she saw in the chasm. Its many large ruby-like eyes as big as her head, all focuses on her.
Reaching at the end of its strand, Amity felt the urge to puke as it takes her body with two of its hairy legs and hoists her up closer to its horrible face. Her screams were still suppressed but were not only of fear but anger as well.
The Skull Screamer gently turns her around to inspect her exposed head and breaks into what Amity could only guess would be a grin. "I thought I recognized you… you're the one who saved me and my sibling from our family's demise." Its voice sounded scratchy and weathered. As if someone was slowly splitting a piece of wood. "We thought our efforts to be vain when we hid. But imagine our surprise when you took us to this place and presented us two dreamers! I could have cast you aside into the abyss, but it's because of what you did for us that I wished to personally thank you."
All the fear Amity had now become rage. This revolting arachnid whose kind infested her home, burrowed into her friends' head, and ruined her chances of to confess had the nerve. The audacity to thank her!?
Amity launches into a barrage of words that were better left unsaid as the spider holds her further away like it just picked up what its dog left behind. "My aren't you a passionate one? Just like that little girl down there," its eyes gazes down at the struggle between Luz and the nightmare it created.
"Such powerful imaginations, such wondrous dreams, and such delectable fears! The girl has a big heart, and cares deeply for her loved ones. But thing about hearts however," it pulls Amity closer to its face, "it can house fears as well!"
Amity glares back at him defiantly, "Mmm! Mmmf!"
"You have a real potty mouth for a lady, you know that?"
"Mmmm mmm mph!"
"Hurl your threats all you want, but you cannot 'burn' us away. My strength have evolved from devouring her dreams, I am at the apex of my species! All of her hopes, dreams, and fears belong to me-gah!" Amity's cocoon lights up into flames and singes the tip of the Skull Screamer's claw.
"Oh, that's what she meant."
Falling far from the high ceiling point, Amity looks down to see Luz struggling to stay on her feet as Cursed Eda continues her attacks. She fishes out a plant rune, the right one this time, and balls it up to throw it at the incoming ground below her. The moment the spell touches the ground, it creates a large rose bud and blooms open to catch and break her fall.
Without a moment of hesitation, Amity slams down an ice rune and channels its power to surge forth a wave of icy wind across Eda's legs impeding her movement. Luz looks up at surprise at Amity returning to her then slams her staff to aid in encasing Eda's entire body in ice.
The cursed monster lets out one final scream for Luz's name before becoming entirely trapped in a veil of ice. Shaking and panting heavily, Luz drops to her knees in front of the frozen monster. Amity stares up at the ceiling again to see if the Skull Screamer is about to make its move but the spider vanishes completely out of sight.
Unsure if it's still waiting for a chance to strike or made its exit entirely, Amity turns her head to Luz's crying and goes over to comfort her.
"I'm sorry…" Luz wept, "I didn't mean to let this happen!"
Amity places a hand onto her shoulder, but Luz pulls her down for a hug instead. Feeling nothing but remorse, Amity returns the embrace. It's clear to her that this monstrous form of Eda isn't just some twisted terror created to scare them. It seems personal.
And as much as Amity would want to know, she cannot let this go any longer now. The Skull Screamer has finally begun spinning its nightmares. Her dreams gave it too much power. She can't pretend anymore.
"Luz," Amity pulls away and holds her face in her hands, "I know this might sound callous, especially after what happened. But you need to listen to me. This isn't real! You and I are trapped in a nightmare by an evil creature. You can end this right now by just waking up!"
Her words fell upon deaf ears. The dream still refuses to let go of its grasp on her. Luz stares back in confusion and slightly hurt, "This again!? This isn't a time for jokes! We need to get Eda out of here and get her help-"
"She's fine! That's not the real Eda!"
"You wouldn't know!" exclaimed Luz, "She was cursed! She's been cursed for years and been fighting it for so long! I shouldn't have invited you over!" For her own safety, she shouldn't have invited her over. Amity knew. Amity knew that's what she had meant.
But it still hurts to hear that from her.
Luz realized how it sounded to herself and looks back to Amity, seeing tears welling up in her eyes as well. She never saw Amity cry before.
"I-I didn't mean to-"
The sound of popping and crackling caught both the girls off guard. They turn to see the ice encased around the cursed monster popping deep veins all around itself. Its eyes on it's still face stares down at them. Then the ice shatters, unleashing her upon them.
There was not a moment to think. A moment to prepare a plan or even to pull out a rune that could protect them. Nothing Amity could do would be quick enough to stop a beast that broke free right next to them. All she could do was to act on her instincts. And so, she shoves Luz away and takes the full-on brunt of Eda's attack.
Sending the two of them over the edge and into the murky, black depths.
Luz fell to her back and scrambles up to her feet to see them going over. She screams their names and runs to the edge, hoping somehow for them to be hanging off the side or-or anything.
But when she looks down, all she could see are the ripples from the plunge they took. Heavy with guilt and despair, Luz takes her staff and tries to command the dark waters to clear. It didn't work. She tries to imagine levitating them out with telekinesis, but that yielded no results either. She tries again. And again. And again. Any spell or anything to bring them back.
But it was useless. Useless.
Just like her. A pathetic human who couldn't do anything to protect the ones she cared about. Couldn't even learn how to cast reals spells and had to rely on drawings to get herself this far. Too focused on her own fantasies of being a witch or hero or whatever she likes to play as, that she once again ignored the reality of her actions. Causing the end for the two people she cares so much about.
"Stop!" Luz tries to cover her ears, but she cannot drown out the truth, "They're not gone! I can still do this! I can-"
Save them? Did you miss the last part there? They're gone. Retired. Dead. Because of you.
"It's not…" oh, she's crying now, "They're not…"
Can't even finish her sentence, the poor thing. It's no surprise. You can't do anything right. You couldn't even realize your own feelings for Amity. You couldn't protect Willow from getting bullied at school. You couldn't tell your own mother the truth of where you've been. And you couldn't stop Eda from becoming a monster.
But enlighten me, o brave hero. How can you possibly save your friends now?
"I…"
'I?'
"I don't… know…"
There you have it. All alone. And no friends or family in sight. No one to tell her about the dark liquid spilling from the ceiling threatening to flood the place. No one to come and save her. No one to free her from this nightmare.
And this, I believe, is where our story shall end.
And where my feast shall begin.