For all the Magical power that she had gained over the last six months, Luz's abilities were still limited. She wasn't a Witch, biologically speaking, and while she had helped to break down the perceived barriers between Witches and Humans, and prove that the difference wasn't insurmountable, it did directly translate to a few things that affected her abilities. She hadn't had years to play around with her skills. She hadn't spent her entire life learning Magic in school. She didn't even cast spells in the same way that other Witches did. Getting her spells to do exactly what she wanted to do… It took time. It took practice. And sometimes, it took luck.
But she didn't feel very lucky. Not when she got up off the ground, and with a splitting headache.
As she got up, in spite of the overwhelmingly large temptation to just lay there and let whatever the cards of fate decided would happen to her happen, she was enveloped and surrounded by darkness, and a cold had come over her. The kind of cold that one only felt in the middle of the night when they discovered someone left a bathroom window wide open in the middle of winter, only about ten times more frigid and bone-reaching. The dark wasn't much better either. She couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face, and she felt deeply disoriented, and dizzy. Like she wasn't… Fully there. It was difficult to explain. And a little sick too. How she even wound up here slipped her memory.
For a genuine moment, she thought she had died.
"Owww…" She hissed, reaching around the back of her head, and feeling at a throbbing pain there. The cause of what it was, she had no idea. There was no blood, thankfully. And pain meant that she was still alive, so, some good news there at least.
Around her, she could hear the sounds of small rocks clattering against one another, and the sound of dust scattering against the ground as it landed in bunches and groups. There was also the sound of a gentle wind, but Luz couldn't feel any wind against her skin. It was like it was separate from her. Like she was hearing it from the other side of a window.
Where was she again? Thanks to the darkness, she couldn't tell, and her eyes weren't going to adjust to this for quite some time. If she only had… "...Oh, right! Light!" She said to herself, remembering that she did, in fact, have light.
Feeling against her jacket, Luz reached to its inside, and grabbed a Light Glyph from the pocket she had chosen specially for holding her signature spell. Fumbling around in the dark for a moment, she eventually managed to hold it in front of her, and tapped the paper, casting her spell, and illuminating the place. For a moment, it was like she had just woken up, and turned her phone on, full brightness, in the middle of the night - It blinded and stung her for a moment, and she closed her eyes, opening them again slowly and only part-way, to take stock of where she was.
Around her, she was in a sort of… The best way she could describe it was a cocoon. A combination of plants, brick, mortar, concrete and wood. The space was about seven meters wide in a full radius from the center, of which she was sat in the middle of. Thick and thin vines seemed to be what made up the structure of the cocoon, in that they were glue keeping it all together, and from falling on her head. It was similar to a support beam in that sense. Chunks of brick and mortar were all bunched together, the only reason they weren't falling in on themselves was due to the force that the vines applied against them from either side. Bits of dust and soot fell in through the small, tiny gaps that emitted no light, making Luz suspect that they had fallen down a series of paths before ending up in the hollow inside.
Memories flooded back into Luz's mind - She had been disoriented, so it took her awhile to get back up to speed, but she remembered now.
Getting to Blight Manor and finding Amity. The Cherubim swarm. The fire. Fighting alongside Amity to help her get her staff out. Amity getting hit by -
Luz blinked, and got up onto her feet. "Amity!"
Where was she?!
Panic struck Luz for a moment that she might have been buried under the rubble that made up this shell of this cocoon as she scanned around, not seeing her. Not until she turned around.
And there she was. Just behind her.
Still unconscious.
The Witch was laid on her back, as she had been before the cocoon had been formed, with her eyes closed. Her expression was relaxed, and so were her mouth and jaw, forming a gentle, tiny o-shape, from which breathing could be heard, at a soft, steady, regular pace. Her hair-band had fallen out, so her hair was down, and flopped around everywhere, like it was in a state of severe bed-head. She could almost be mistaken for being in a deep, peaceful sleep - Were it not for the trail of blood that was dripping down her face from her forehead.
A nasty, nasty cut had sliced open her pale skin, and allowed blood to flow down, split at her nose, past her eyes and down the sides of her cheeks. Some dripped, and got into her green hair. She looked a mess - But aside from that, she seemed to be free of any obvious bodily injuries. No limbs facing weird directions, no gaping wounds, and she was still very much alive.
For just a moment, Luz allowed herself to sigh at the fact that the worst case scenario hadn't occurred, though she didn't remain calm for long. Amity was still injured, and Luz had no idea how long they had been in here. Or if anyone knew that they were here at all.
She would have to look after Amity.
Of all the Magic that she knew though, Healing wasn't one of the easiest of the Tracks to learn new spells in. It wasn't like stitches or anything like that reformed into the shapes of Glyphs that she could learn from - Though she was secretly thankful that wasn't the case. She only knew a couple of Glyphs for it - One of which required the use of medicinal herbs that she didn't have to hand. The other, her Rejuvenation Glyph.
Rejuvenation wasn't even technically a Healing Spell. Not in the literal sense of the term, anyway. It was a spell that sped up the process of healing, not outright heal itself. It was why it had given Willow a boost of energy, and helped that butler wake up sooner. It depended on the extent of the injury, and how long it would naturally take a person to heal without it. It was considered one of the absolute most basic healing spells.
Better than nothing though.
Plus, she had learned a few things about how to handle a situation like this from the Healing Track.
First, Luz slid off her hoodie, and used it to gently clear up the blood from Amity's face. She gently dabbed at the cut itself, until she was confident that it had stopped bleeding. Once clean - Or as clean as she could get it though that method, Water Magic came next, and she carefully cleared away any dirt from the cut. Now that it was clear, there was a nasty bruise that accompanied it.
Something had hit her in the face. That was probably what had knocked her unconscious in the first place. It must have been something from the ceiling. Maybe that had been why she had suddenly gone so silent in the middle of the fight.
Next, Luz gently laid Amity's head on her lap. For a moment, she just watched Amity, and thought about… How lucky it was that she had spotted the first from Bonesborough. How lucky it was that they had gotten back to the walls when they did. How lucky she had arrived here when she did. Would…
...Would Amity even still be here if she hadn't? Could she have found a way? Amity was amazing, but… Could…
...Could Luz even imagine a Boiling Isles without Amity in it?
A Rejuvenation Spell was placed onto the young Witch's forehead, and Luz was very, very careful when she activated it. The paper turned into Magical Energy, just like it had with Willow and the butler, and was absorbed into their bodies. A gentle glow followed, better noticeable in the darkness they were surrounded in rather than the light of night or day, before it subsided very quickly. If the ground below them wasn't made of wood, or she had something she could draw with, Luz would have made the Glyph larger, and on the ground. But she only had what she had to work with. Her Glyphs, her knowledge, and her own two hands.
Both of which held Amity close to her.
...Luz couldn't.
She'd asked the question before. If she could imagine a Boiling Isles without Amity. If it was possible for her to imagine this place without one of the people here who meant so much to her.
On Earth… Luz wasn't anyone. Not really. She was the weird kid. The kid no one liked. The kid it was cool to make fun of. Pick on. Write 'Luzer' on her locker every other day. Mock. Hide her things. She didn't have friends. No one to side with her. To back her up, or even just tell her that they were sorry things were like that. To spend time with, talk about… Anything. And Luz had just… Grown to accept it. To deal with it. To put a bright smile on the face of it, and just lose herself in her fantasies.
When it got to be too much, no one ever saw the tears.
Who would care, anyway?
...It wasn't like that here though. She felt like a new person here. A better person. Like a person who was understood. Who was accepted, not in spite of her oddities, but in part because of them. People were nice to her. They treated her like she was… A person...
Like she existed.
In a world where Humans were despised, Luz had never felt more Human in her life.
Willow, Gus, Eda, King.. Amity… Luz couldn't imagine her life without any of them anymore. She didn't want to. But Amity…
Amity held a special place in that mindset. And Luz.. Luz didn't know why.
She didn't want to imagine a Boiling Isles without Amity. Because that wouldn't be the Boiling Isles anymore. It would be… Something else entirely.
"Estarás bien." She whispered. Her hand ran through Amity's hair, gently, carefully. "Te tengo… Estarás bien…"
You'll be okay. I've got you. You'll be okay.
Truthfully, she didn't know if she was talking to Amity or to herself.
"...Te quiero." She whispered, even softer, directly to her friend.
In the context she meant them, the way she was raised to use them, they were words that one only said to the closest of friends. To the people one was closest to.
Because they had meaning. They were powerful. And they were as close to the words that Luz knew how to describe how she felt about Amity. How she saw Amity. They were words she... Probably should say to Amity.
Because Amity deserved to hear them. Even if they didn't make sense to her.
Because Luz meant it.
She bent down, and placed her forehead against Amity's.
"Te quiero…"
I love you.
"That's so… Weird." Amity smirked, and tilted her head. She looked at the nearest tree, and tried her hardest to imagine it. "You're not joking, right?"
"No way! I swear!"
"Like… My hair green, or darker green?"
"Depends on the tree." Luz answered. "Some are light green like your hair is, but some are a lot darker green."
"You said not all of them were green though?"
"Nope - Some of them are red, like a lot of the plants here. "The Human explained. "It depends on where you are on Earth - There are some places with trees with pink leaves!"
Amity paused for a moment, and glanced up above them. The pink leaves of their Grom tree swayed with a gentle breeze. "That's unusual, is it?"
"It's unusual where I'm from."
Another look at the red leaves on the trees, and Amity tried really, really hard to imagine them being green - But it was such an… Odd colour to imagine that she struggled. It was like trying to imagine the ocean being blue and not purple - It didn't make any sense!
"Maybe that's why Witches don't visit the Human Realm all that often." She said, an eyebrow raised. "Because you Humans are way too weird for us."
"I choose to take that as a compliment!"
The Witch allowed herself to laugh.
Life had been… Interesting, over the last couple of days, Amity noted. A lot had happened, and there were… A lot of changes.
A lot of them.
Just three days ago, Luz had faced off against the Emperor. Lilith now lived with Eda and Luz in the Owl House, and Eda had lost her ability to do Magic. Now she used Glyphs, the same as Luz, and was still getting used to them. She kept forgetting that she couldn't flick her wrist anymore to cast a spell, which had resulted in at least one amusing situation Amity had been subject to, which involved Eda trying to slam a door in a dramatic fashion, twirling her finger, standing there until she realised, and then trying to shut it by throwing a cooking pot at it.
The news that Luz was okay after her confrontation with the freaking Emperor was news that Amity could not have been happier to hear. It had been on her mind ever since she saw the news broadcast, and saw the hooded figure that could only be Luz fighting to rescue the sentenced Wild Witch.
For a few days, Luz had laid low, but Amity kept her informed as best as she could, telling her what the news said, what everyone at Hexside was saying, and making trips to the Owl House, still in her cast from the Grudgby match with Boscha, to make sure that she was okay. And thank the Titan, she was fine.
Better than fine, actually. She seemed to have more energy than Amity remembered her having. And it was wonderful to see - She had been worried that after facing someone like Emperor Belos, Luz might have been shaken up beyond recognition, but it almost seemed like the opposite had happened.
The day that her cast was taken off and she was given the go ahead to be up and about again, Luz had asked Amity if she wanted to hang out - A question Amity was more than happy to answer positively to.
After being cooped up in her room for days, she probably would have said the same if Edric and Emira asked, if she were being honest.
It being Luz to ask though was amazing!
Overwhelmingly though, the majority of the day had been her talking about Earth, and telling Amity about everything that she missed about her home Realm, and the things she loved about Earth. Explaining concepts to her, like what a car was supposed to be - As far as Amity could tell, it was some weird metal… Unicorn thing? - A weird cartoon format that she claimed came predominantly from an island in her home Realm, and weird tidbits, like how trees and plants were primarily not red on Earth, but green, somehow.
It sounded more like another planet than it did another Realm. Although now that Amity thought about it, the difference there would have been fairly semantic.
And Amity listened to all of it, genuinely interested in the things that Luz had to say. What the Human world was like, how it worked, what made everything work - This was all stuff that Hexside didn't really teach, and what little they did learn was mostly speculation. Luz's insights were interesting.
...But at the same time it was… Difficult to hear.
It reminded Amity that one day, Luz was going to have to go back to the Human world. And that she missed it.
So when that time came, she wouldn't hesitate.
Thinking about that inevitable day… It hurt a lot. Luz had only been here for a little over a month, but she had helped change nearly everything about Amity's life that she could, and affected her in so many ways. Between her and Willow's relationship, Grom, and everything else, Luz had become such an invaluable part of Amity's life. The way that she made Amity feel at any point she was around the Human was… Electrifying was the only word she could think of.
And one day soon, she would go.
And Amity didn't know if she would ever come back...
… Of all the people Amity could have gotten a crush on, it was the Human who was here on a time limit.
...And Amity wouldn't change that. Even if she could somehow choose who she ended up getting a crush on, it would have still been Luz. Because Luz was incredible. She was genuinely one of the most amazing people Amity had ever met. Even if she had the entire Boiling Isles to choose from, even knowing that Luz was here on a time limit, Amity would still pick her.
She wasn't too proud enough to admit to herself at least that she had it bad for Luz.
"...Earth sounds… Interesting." Amity said, honestly. Interesting being the only word she could think of because of how otherworldly it sounded. "You must miss it a lot."
"There are… Some things I miss about it."
"I'd… I'd like to visit it someday."
"Oh my gosh yes!" Luz beamed. 'I can show you all the cool places I used to go to! I could - I could show you all the ways Earth is different to the Boiling Isles! You could meet my… My…"
Luz's voice began to trail off, and the enthusiasm that Luz had been full of just seconds ago suddenly seemed to fade away. Her whole body seemed to relax and slump into… Nothing, and she looked away from Amity, facing outward to the Boiling Seas.
In that moment, Amity realised something was wrong. "Lu - Luz?"
Luz didn't say anything. And for a moment, Amity began to seriously wonder if she had somehow upset or offended the Human with her idea of visiting her Realm - Maybe it was some kind of Human custom or - Or something?
"A - Are you okay?" Amity asked, feeling herself gulp. "I - I'm sorry, I - I didn't mean to upset you - "
"I destroyed the portal, Amity."
Amity blinked. The words look a minute to process.
"You…. You did what? "
"I destroyed the portal." Luz repeated. Her voice was slow, and deeper than usual. She spoke slower. Her energy had gone. "When I was fighting Belos. He… He wanted it. I - I don't know what for, but giving him the portal was the only way that I could save Eda, so I gave it to him, but I couldn't just let him have the portal to Earth, so I… I blew it up."
When Luz turned to Amity, there was a smile on her face.
The most fake smile Amity had seen in her entire life.
"...I can't go back home."
"Luz…"
"I… I don't know if there's another way for me to get home. Eda said she'd look into it, but… That portal was the only way she had to get to my world. Lilith doesn't know anything about… Any of that situation, and I…." She paused for a moment. "... I'm stuck here for a while."
"I…" Amity felt herself freeze. "I - I didn't… I didn't know. I… I'm sorry Luz."
"I didn't tell you. It's not your fault." Luz offered another smile, another horrid, fake smile that Amity couldn't bear to see. "It - It's not that big a deal, really! I like it here, so it's - It's not like it's the worst thing in the world! I can spend more time learning Magic here!"
That fake smile spread wide.
"I - I've told you before how people used to treat me there, right? It's not like I'm gonna miss that much! I like school here too! And - "
"Luz."
Amity's voice was firm, and her expression was too. But at the same time, she didn't allow it to be nothing but cold. Luz was putting on a brave face. The little wavers in her voice gave it away. And she didn't stammer on her words like this either.
She was holding it in. Pretending that things were fine.
When they weren't.
For a moment, Luz looked like she was about to continue to insist that she was okay, that Amity was worrying over nothing, that she was fine.
But her face fell when she saw the look Amity was giving her.
An expression that said nothing other than 'You helped me. Let me help you.'
Tears came after that, before Luz even realised that they were even falling down her cheeks. When she realised, she quickly tried to cover them up. "I - I don't, that's…"
And then, Amity just hugged her. It was still a gesture Amity didn't fully understand, but Luz seemed to like them.
The tears began to flow freely then, as Luz clung onto Amity as tightly as she could, burying her head into the other girls shoulder, and for the first time since the portal had been destroyed, and the reality of her situation had begun to sink in for the young Human, as she realised she was cut away from everything she'd ever known, away from the only person back on Earth who cared about her. For the first time since all of it sunk in, Luz allowed herself to cry.
Days of angst that she'd kept covered up by putting on the acade of being happy and joyous and excited and everything else she always seemed to be, it all finally dropped, as Luz just bawled her heart out into Amity's shoulder.
She just cried.
Amity just held the Human, letting her cry. Letting her get it all out of her system. Letting it all just… Flow out. She held her close. In any other circumstance, it would have given her a heart attack.
But as she did it all, it made her sick that more than anything else, she felt…
…Relief.
Somehow, Amity already knew that she was awake, even though she didn't open her eyes. Like she could almost sense her surroundings, and was aware, at least a little, that there wasn't anything around her. She didn't hear anything, nor did she really feel much of anything. Not now, anyway.
Her eyes didn't open though. They were heavy, and she felt exhausted. And she was weirdly comfortable in that way that someone could only be comfortable in if they had been laying somewhere for long enough. Either that or the mere prospect of moving an inch made just laying wherever she was eternally more appealing. Amity had no idea. All she knew was that she didn't want to move, and didn't even feel like she could right now. Her bones felt as heavy as her eyelids.
So for a couple of minutes, she just laid still. Not moving. Not doing… Much of anything. It was a weird state to be in. She didn't even think, not really.
Thoughts came to her.
The dream - No, the memory of when Luz told Amity that she had destroyed the portal home though, that replayed in her mind. And she couldn't do anything to stop that. It just played on repeat, in her mind.
Pain.
When Amity began to finally stir, the first thing that she felt was pain - A horrid, throbbing pain that made it feel like her head was splitting open. Her eyes clenched even more firmly shut, and she made an involuntary noise, sucking in hair through her teeth.
"Fffff…. Ow…" Her hand clutched her forehead, and her teeth gritted. She needed to figure out what was going on. What had happened? Where in the heck was -
"Amity?" A gentle, familiar voice broke what had until this point been silence. "Amity, are - Are you awake?"
She opened her eyes.
And she saw Luz.
Looking down on her.
"L...Luz?" Suddenly, another sharp jolt of pain shot through Amity, and her eyes closed firmly again. "Owww!"
"Are you alright?! Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere."
The pain in her forehead as it turned out was just the start of things. Her entire body felt like it was in agony, like whatever had hit her had sent a shockwave all throughout her body, but it hadn't caught up to her until just now.
"U - Um, here, here! Hold on!" Luz retrieved another Rejuvenation Glyph, placed it on Amity's forehead, and activated it. The Magical Energy was absorbed into Amity's body, helping to ease and heal whatever injuries the Witch had suffered. It still hurt. But it was a tiny bit better.
It was better than nothing. At least Amity could move herself a bit now without feeling like every pain receptor she had was on fire.
She could let out a small sigh. "...Thanks."
A similar sigh escaped the Human. "Anytime."
For a moment, a brief pause.
"So… What… Happened?" Amity asked through a groan. She kept her eyes firmly closed, purposely. "I… I just remember we were fighting Cherubim and then…"
"You got knocked out." Luz told her. "A piece of the ceiling must have hit you."
"The ceiling?"
"It collapsed. I guess the support beam was holding it up, and the fire weakened the rest of the structure or… Something. I think, I don't know. It collapsed, and I used Wind Magic to stop it from crushing us, and Plant Magic to make this little cocoon we're in. I uh… Tried to heal you the best I could, but there's only so much Healing Magic I know how to do." Luz felt guilty that she didn't have any better news to share, or that she couldn't be of any more help for Amity's condition.
Everything she knew about Healing Magic and First Aid, she had applied to Amity, but clearly, none of it worked, or even seemed to lessen the amount of pain Amity was in by much.
"Does… Anyone know we're here?" Amity asked.
Another pause.
"...I - I don't know." Luz admitted, like she was ashamed. "I think Beckham - That butler guy? I think you said his name was Beckham? I think he managed to get away from the Manor, but… I don't know if he got to Bonesborough."
Guilt and anxiety made itself known in Amity's stomach.
It was her fault he had ever ended up in that situation in the first place. He had been planning to be alongside his husband and wife at the walls from what she had been told from him, all of them there because they felt it their civic duty to protect the town. Service was important to them. They took pride in it. They had been left waiting for him, and now Amity didn't know if he would even be able to get to them. All she could do was hope Beckham was okay.
And Bo too - Bo had been with him. All she'd been trying to do was support her father, sick as he still was. She hadn't needed to get mixed up in all this. Another person she'd let down because of her own screw-ups...
Luz continued. "I tried to get another message out - I tried with my Scroll. I tried to call Eda, but the call wouldn't go through, so I sent a message to her, and Willow, and Gus, but… I - I don't know they got through, or if they saw them or… Or anything. I sent them… A while ago."
"...How long is a while ago?"
"...About five hours."
"Five…!" She'd been unconscious for that long?
She would have gotten onto her feet right then and there, if the sound of small, miniature thudding didn't then catch her attention. A sound that she hadn't heard before now - It was very, very faint, but with no other noise, not even wind to help cancel it out, Amity could just manage to hear it.
"...It's the Cherubim." Luz told her. She glanced up and looked at the opaque dome they were in, like she half-expected to see one bursting through any second now. "I guess they know we're in here."
The noises were a bit like how Amity had heard them when they arrived on the Isles - Thudding and thwacking into the ground without rhyme or reason, or even really any sense, given that they could fly.
A Cherubim flashed in her mind.
She tried to block it out. Those damned horrid things...
"H - Have they been doing this the entire time I've been out?"
"Nah. They showed up a couple of hours ago. I think the original bunch left when the ceiling gave in, and these are new ones. I don't think they can get through, but they're just gonna keep trying I guess." The Human shrugged. There was a brief pause in the conversation, before she spoke again. "...It actually kinda reminds me of listening to rain back on Earth, actually. It'd be relaxing if it wasn't… Y'know. Terrifying."
Earth…
In spite of the pain, Amity managed to get herself to sit up. When she looked back at where she had had her head rested, she realised that Luz had placed her head on her lap - A realisation that only made Amity's heart beat harder.
And sharpen the pain.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Luz's jacket was tossed aside, next to a small fire that Luz had made to keep them both warm, and that the thing was stained with blood. Luz wore a vest underneath - Which didn't do Amity's heart, or the pain any favours either - And the Witch couldn't see any cuts or bruises on Luz's body either.
The blood was hers. Luz had spent the last five hours doing nothing but looking after her, hadn't she?
...She looked away from Luz. Gratitude and regret being too much to bare to even look at her now.
For a short while, no one said anything. They just sat there in relative silence, only the sounds of Cherubim trying to break in, and the low, gentle humming of the ball of light that came from Luz's Magic, and the gentle crackles of the fire filled the inside of the cocoon.
Luz shifted uncomfortably, and felt her chest ache. Wrapping them in this cocoon had been all she could do to make sure that they were safe, but after everything that had happened over the last two days, she couldn't blame Amity for not being thrilled at -
"...I'm sorry."
"Huh?" Luz reacted automatically, looking at the back of Amity's head. It had been quiet, but audible.
Incredibly soft. Incredibly anxious.
"I'm sorry." Amity repeated, but she didn't look at Luz. She couldn't. "This… This whole mess is my fault."
"Wh… What do you mean? None of this is your fault."
"I… I'm the one who yelled at you, Luz. I'm the one who pushed you away. I'm the one who told you to stay away from me tonight. If I hadn't done that, if I had just… Gone along with the original plan to meet with you, Gus and Willow, none of this would have happened…"
"Valeween came early. The original plan wasn't airtight anyway. That's not your fault, Amity. That was just bad luck." Luz shifted closer to the Witch. "None of this is your fault. I… I'm the one that should be apologising. I'm the one that screwed this up."
In spite of the pain of moving, Amity glanced over her shoulder towards Luz.
A mistake.
"I should have listened when you said that you wanted me to leave you alone tonight." Tears were already visible in the corner of the girls eyes, and the effort it took to keep her voice level was a clear strain. Amity wanted nothing more than to reach out and wipe away the tears. Luz didn't need to act so tough for her sake. "I - I shouldn't have pushed you on that. I should have - Have listened and just…" She sniffled, and took a second before she said anything else. Her head hung to the ground, not able to look at Amity now that Amity was looking back. "...Y - You didn't owe me anything. I… I understand why you're mad at me…"
"I'm not mad at you." That was easy a reply to give as any Amity had ever given a person. Luz looked at her again, and Amity averted her eyes. "You… You were only trying to help - "
"I should have minded my own business."
"...You didn't mind your own business when you helped Willow with Abominations. You didn't mind your own business after our Witches Duel. You didn't in the library incident. You didn't with me and Willow. You didn't at Grom. Or with Willow and Boscha - "
"And I made all of those situations worse!"
"You made them better. You made them so much better, Luz. Willow isn't miserable anymore. You tried to help me. You tried to stop Edric and Emira. Me and Willow are friends again. Boscha keeps a wide berth from Willow and… And you… You made Grom a - a thousand times easier to deal with. You were willing to take my place there for me and…" Amity forced herself to stop. "...Every time you get involved, you try to help, and you try to make things better."
"I didn't make things better this time…"
"That's because of me. Because I - I pushed you away... Because I was scared."
Another throb of pain surged throughout Amity's body. She gritted her teeth as hard as they would grit, refusing to make any noise. Not now.
"I… I saw what happened. To people who were shot by Cherubim." Luz told her, and her gaze fell to the floor again. "I - I saw how badly it can affect people. I don't… I don't blame you for being scared of them. I am, now. I hate them." The people she'd seen affected in town, and hell, even Boscha, all flashed briefly through her mind. "I thought I understood, 'cause of that book I read, but I didn't. I didn't understand how bad it got for people. How badly it can affect their lives. I - I just…"
Amity didn't say anything. Luz bit her tongue. Amity deserved to know why, but saying it out loud was…
...Shameful. Another batch of tears rolled down her cheeks.
How could she have even begun to presume she understood Valeween before today? Even thinking she understood the first thing about this was just…
She hadn't had a clue. Not really.
"... I… I guess I just… I just thought that the reason you didn't want to be around me was because you were worried a Cherubim would make you say something like… I don't know. That you didn't trust me enough to tell me what you thought and felt towards me."
The pain struck Amity again.
"You're like… One of the best… And only friends that I've ever had, Amity. You… You mean the world to me. A - And you know how it is in books and cartoons, right? Friends don't keep secrets - A - And I guess the idea that you did was…" She trailed off again. She didn't know how to say it properly. "...It doesn't work that way though. Not really. You… You have things you want to keep to yourself. And I shouldn't have pushed. You don't owe me that. You don't owe me anything."
"...I owe you everything, Luz."
A pause followed, as Amity turned to face Luz.
"I owe you every - O-Oooow!" Amity wrapped an arm around herself, like grabbing hold would somehow ease the pain, while another reached for the cut in her forehead, which felt like the center-point and source of the pain.
"Amity!" Luz got closer to her and applied another Rejuvenation spell onto the Witch. What in the world had hit her?
It seemed to soothe the pain a bit, but it was abundantly clear that Amity was still in a great deal of pain. That Rejuvenation spell was the last one that Luz had to offer - She had used them all up trying to heal Amity's wounds while she was unconscious.
"You - You should rest." Luz told her, panicking slightly. She didn't have any paper or drawing materials to make another Glyph. She hadn't expected to be caught in a situation quite like this, and had assumed if it got this bad, other Healers would be nearby. "We - We can talk more about this once this is all over - "
"My life is worse when you're not in it, Luz."
Before Luz could process that, another surge of pain shot throughout Amity - Made her whole body jolt and twitch, and made her teeth grit so hard against one another, that she felt like her gums were going to start bleeding.
"Oooow!"
"A - Already?!" Luz felt her heart sink - Whatever was wrong with Amity, it's as rending Rejuvenation spells more and more weak the more they were applied.
Without more Glyphs, Luz didn't know what to do.
All she could think to do was to apply what little she knew about shock to the pained girl - That had to be an issue, right? Pain caused shock, right?
Quickly she grabbed her jacket, and covered Amity in it, using it as a shock blanket. She wrapped it around the Witches shoulders, trying to make sure that she was as comfortable and convince her that she was as safe as she could. It was all that she could think to do.
That, and curse herself to being so stupid as to not bring spare paper and drawing material!
"It - It's gonna be okay, Amity." Luz tried to assure her, and herself, if she could manage it. "We just gotta hold out here for a while, wait for someone to come get us, or until morning comes, but we'll be okay! Just… Just hold on, okay?"
It was a long shot, but Luz quickly checked her Scroll - There wasn't any indication that the messages she had sent to Eda, or Willow, or anyone else had gotten them yet.
No missed calls, no anything.
A noise of frustration came from the back of her throat, and she sent more messages, telling them to please, for the love of God, hurry up.
There was nothing else she could even do!
"...I wasn't going to tell you to stay away from me."
Luz blinked. "Huh?"
"Back… When we had our fight. And I told you I wanted you to stay away from me. That… That wasn't what I was going to tell you at all, Luz. I… I told you that because I was afraid, and I was being selfish."
"What… Were you going to tell me then?" Luz leaned in, with interest. Clearly, she wasn't going to just rest. If she wasn't going to rest, then maybe talking was the only thing that could keep Amity distracted. If she was talking, she wasn't thinking about the pain she was in, right? Or at least was thinking about it less.
...And Luz would confess to curiosity, if she were being totally honest. And if Amity wanted to talk about it, then...
"...I was…" Amity bit on her lips. She didn't know what she was doing. Her instincts screamed at her to stop. But the words, they just…
...They just left on their own.
"...I was going to tell you that…"
Amity gulped.
"...That I'm in love with you."
Luz's eyes opened up, and suddenly, there was no noise. Not her own breathing. Not the Cherubim thudding against the cocoon. Not the fire, or the light. Not even her own heart made a sound.
She hadn't misheard that. That, she was absolutely sure of.
Amity had just said that she was in love with her.
But that was…
That…
Amity was in love with her?
"You… You're… You're what?..." She couldn't even think of anything else to say. She knew exactly what Amity had just said to her, but the rest of her body hadn't caught up to the message from her brain yet. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
W...What?
"...I'm in love with you, Luz." Amity repeated. She couldn't look the Human in the eye. But the words wouldn't stop now. They couldn't stop. "I love you so much it hurts to even think about. Just… Look at you, Luz. You didn't have to be here. You didn't have a reason to be here. Not after how I treated you and how I've been ghosting you. But you're here anyway. You're a Human doing Magic. You're the kindest person I know. You're just… So you. You're this authentic, kind… Incredible person… How couldn't I be?"
No words could bring themselves to leave Luz's now ajar mouth. She couldn't even think what words to put out there.
"I… I didn't want you to hear about it because of a Cherubim, so I was going to… Tell you back then. On my terms. But I… I couldn't do it. Because I was - "
Another jolt of pain ran throughout Amity's body - It made her flinch and tense up, and let out an audible cry.
This time though, tears came after.
Lots of them.
"...I can't be the person you think I can be."
Dozens of questions were shooting through Luz's mind now. She didn't even know where to start. The idea that Amity was - That couldn't be right, right? Where was this even coming from? Why was she even saying this now?
Was it true? Or was Amity delirious from pain at this point?
No. Luz knew that wasn't the case. That wasn't how that worked. People didn't… Pour their hearts out like this because of pain from an injury,
But - But what? How? Why?
"Am - Amity, what - I don't -"
"You don't understand Luz - I can't change."
All Luz could do was watch as more and more tears began to flow down Amity's face, but she didn't let the Human see her eyes, hidden as they were behind her unkempt hair. But more and more flowed, and one of Amity's hands covered one of her eyes. She was sobbing now.
It wasn't just the pain making her cry anymore.
If it ever had done.
Luz wanted to reach out. To wipe away the tears. To hug the girl. To offer some sort of support or sympathy.
But she didn't dare. She didn't know how.
Not without making things worse.
"You… You always said I could change. That if I tried hard enough, that if I made amends, I could become a better person… But I - I can't, Luz! I cannot change! After everything we've been through, after everything that's happened, everything you've done for me, I - I'm still the same, stupid, selfish Witch I always have been! That I always will be! A - And I'm sorry, Luz! I'm - I'm sorry that I can't stop being this way! I'm sorry I can't stop! I - "
Amity had kept her eyes firmly focused on the ground.
" I - "
Now she finally looked up at Luz, her golden eyes meeting Luz's brown ones. The sadness in them was overwhelming.
But there was something else too.
"...I…."
One hand grabbed Luz's shoulder, and clung to it, tightly. Her other hand left her face, and grabbed Luz's hand. Red hot tears still streamed down her face.
And Luz finally saw.
Amity's golden eyes began to change.
They began to glow bright blue.
"...Don't go."
Through the sobs, Amity's voice was little more than a whisper.
"Please don't go. I don't… I don't want you to go back to Earth."
Amity sobbed.
There it was.
What she was most ashamed of.
"I… I want you to stay here. I - I need you to stay here! I… When you told me the portal was destroyed - When you cried, and when I hugged you, a - all I felt was relief! Because that meant you couldn't go home! A - And that's so, so, so selfish of me, and I know that, and I know I should be supporting you no matter what, but that's the truth, Luz! I want you to stay here! With Willow, and Gus, and Eda, and... And me." Her voice had turned into something of a shout now, but it was the only way she could speak - The lumps in her throat wouldn't let her whisper anymore. "I - I couldn't tell you how I felt when you told me you wanted to find a way back to the Human world - I - I couldn't! I just couldn't Luz!...
She choked on her words for a moment.
"...Just listen to me, Luz. Listen to what I'm even saying here. That I'm in love with you, but that I want you to stay trapped here, just because you being here makes me happy? What kind of a person am I? I got scared when you told me you wanted to find a portal home... And I took it out on you! And you - You still came to help me."
More sobs escaped her.
"You told me how bad things were back home, how people treated you… I don't… I don't understand why you'd want to go back. That world doesn't deserve you. You… Deserve… Everything, Luz. You deserve the entire world. There's no one else like you… And I can't stop feeling like this about you. You deserve someone who..."
Her head hung again.
"I'm sorry…"
She forced her mouth shut. But sobs still escaped her.
Everything she was ashamed about. Everything that she was afraid of Luz knowing about her feelings for her. Everything she hated herself for feeling. It was all out now. All there in the open.
The selfish coward that she was was on full display for Luz to see. For her to understand. The real her. Not the Amity that made herself watch and pick her words around her crush carefully. The real her.
Someone so selfish that they didn't want Luz to leave, even when she knew that Luz wanted to.
The person that made Amity sick to her stomach.
And Luz knew it all now.
And Luz didn't know how to react to everything that she had just heard.
She didn't even know if she was in the realm world anymore - If it had actually been her that was knocked out, and was having a dream right now. The cold of the surroundings, the heat from Amity's hands and from her own tears, and the way her heart was….
...Processing this… She wasn't asleep. This was real.
This was real.
Amity had to have been hit before the piece of the ceiling hit her - That must have been why she went so quiet before the ceiling began to fall around them. And then she - It just struck Luz.
Amity had been resisting the influence of the Cherubim Rays from the moment she woke up - That had been the source of the pain. Boscha had resisted too, but it only lasted for a few seconds before it became too much for her.
Amity had resisted for entire minutes. Entire conversations.
And she…
That…
That was the reason she had been acting as she had?
And Luz didn't know what to say.
Did… Did she…
"...I… Amity, I…"
What was she supposed to say to all of that?
"I didn't… I… I don't… I…"
Tak!
The blood in Luz's veins froze. The Cherubim began to stop thudding against the side of the dome. She recognised the sound.
Tk tk tk tk tk tk tk! Tak! Tak! Tak!
It was heavier. Larger. And she could hear it clearly now. It was close to them now.
The gurgling scream came next. Shrill and loud, and crisp, even with who knew how much dirt between the two of them, and the beast outside.
"Amity - I - I - Can - Can you still do Magic? Can you move?"
Heartbroken as she looked - And Luz wished she wasn't having to ask this of her right now - Amity was able to nod. Her eyes still glowed blue. She could fight if she needed to.
But Luz would settle for just being able to run. She readied an Ice Glyph.
The thudding came just a second later.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Thud! Thud!
The dome shattered inwards, and plant and stone was shot inwards like debris. The cold night air washed over the two of them, and the noises of the Cherubim hordes overwhelmingly the senses again.
At the centre of it all, the source of the dome's destruction.
An Adult Cherubim - Half the size of Blight Manor.
Enormous. The sheer number of people this thing had to have fed on to grow to such a size -
It roared at the two girls, and it's eye craned in to look at the two of them, for just a few seconds. It took a particular interest in Amity. For all the world, Luz could have sworn that the things stomach-mouth turned into a ravenous, hungry grin.
At that, Luz slammed her Ice Glyph into the ground, and aimed the sharp Ice to go straight through the creature's bright red eye.
It reacted though, and moved ever so slightly away from the incoming attack - Though it ended up having its neck skewered. A shrill shriek escaped the monster's mouth, and it staggered, like it was in pain.
Adult Cherubim worked differently to regular Cherubim - Their only weak spot was their red eye being damaged. A giant Ice spike through the throat wouldn't slow down the enormous monster for long.
They'd be lucky if they even got half a minute's head start.
Throwing down every single Fire Glyph that she could, Luz generated a huge sweeping firestorm to cloak the night sky, and engulf as many of the adolescent Cherubim as possible - But it would also serve a useful double purpose - As a flare to let everyone know they were there! If they were lucky, someone would see it and come running to help them!
However many Cherubim were burnt to nothing, it was impossible to count. The flames reached high into the sky, and the screaming noises of the burning Cherubim overwhelmed Luz's ears for just a breif moment, before she forced herself to block it out. She grabbed hold of Amity's hand, and took advantage of the clear skies, and impaled Adult Cherubim.
She ran like her life depended on it, and she dragged Amity with her.
"Come on Amity!" She screamed, as loud as she could. "Run for it!"
Amity complied, running just to keep up with Luz.
They ran down the hill that Blight Manor was build upon, down the path, past the gates, and onto the path to Bonesborough. They ran as fast as they had run before in their lives. They ran like they'd never run before. After all, they only had a few seconds head-start.
Shreiking that echoed throughout the trees that surrounded them now informed them that their brief head-start was already up.
A few seconds passed.
Then the ground began to shake. They were already being chased again.
Looking over her shoulder, Luz felt her heart turn to ice as a Cherubim the size of a house was speeding towards her and Amity at the speed of a freight train. It's younger was outside it's mouth, drooling as it chased it's prey. It's pincers were outreached. It's eye focused on them, with intent, and deadly purpose.
For some reason, all Luz could think about was Grom.
About how she had tried to face Grometheus alone. How she had needed Amity to protect her.
How Amity was clearly the next thing on this behemoths list of things to eat.
And how she wasn't going to let that thing get anywhere near Amity.
Not on her life.
"Amity!" Luz yelled, almost pulling the Witch to be level and running alongside her, like she was about to throw her. "Keep running! Don't stop until you get to Bonesborough, okay?!"
"Luz?!"
"Just trust me, okay?! Do it!"
"What are you - "
"I'm gonna make sure this thing doesn't get anywhere near you!"
The Human let go of Amity's hand, skidded to a halt, and reached into her jacket pockets - Plant Glyphs were located throughout them, and she slammed them all into the ground, to spout huge vines to swipe at and attack the creature, from torso to legs.
With a scream, the Cherubim used it's pincers to slice the vines in half, and bite through another one. Luz tossed down an Earth Glyph, turning the paper into a huge rock that she combined with a Wind Glyph to fire at the creature with the speed of a well-pitched baseball. But it did little to the monster, other than knocking it aside for just a few seconds.
Luz threw everything that she could at the goliath of an Adult Cherubim - Wind Magic, Plant Magic, Ice Magic, and even attempts at using Light Magic to blind it - This creature had survived Valeween to grow to this size, and it was undeniably intelligent. It adapted, learning to counter Luz's moves, and how to shrug off each strike by relying on little more than it's unworldly speed, and titanic strength. It shrugged off each new attack, roaring, and looking more and more invested in its pursuit of its new target.
It charged at Luz with a horrible, violent scream. Its jaws unhinged. Luz ran, trying to evade and get to the side.
And it went for her leg.
Pain shot throughout the entirety of Luz's leg as she found herself lifted into the air by the gargantuan monster. It's haphazardly organised teeth sank into her legs, like a dozen knives all sinking into her muscles and flesh.
Scraping against her bones.
All she could do was scream in pain, dangling as the creature got ready to chomp again.
And then a fireball slammed into the side of the beast, and made it drop Luz to the floor.
"Get off of her!"
Amity hadn't run. Luz had assumed that she had. But she was still standing there, barely a few feet from where Luz had left her, eyes still glowing blue, and clearly in pain as she fought the influence of the Cherubim Rays, but defiant nevertheless. Her arm was outreached, ready to draw another spell. Ready to fight this thing on her own if she had to.
The creature turned to glance at Amity for a moment, like it was curious.
And maybe it was fear, or the effect of being under the influence of a Cherubim Ray, but Amity yelled at it again. "No one else is hurting Luz! I'm not going to let anyone hurt her ever again! Do you hear me?! No one!"
"Amity…!"
Maybe the Adult even understood her.
Because it then charged straight at her, jaw unhinged, ready to strike.
Amity scrambled to cast another spell -
But then suddenly, as if from nowhere, another fireball was launched. A brilliant orange flame that collided with the monster.
And the beast was blasted off the face of the planet.
Parts were shot and scattered in all directions, but they all turned to dust as they slammed across the ground. Everything was still for just a moment, as Luz and Amity both realised that the monster that had nearly swallowed them whole had just been turned into nothing but ashes.
They - they were alive. They had been saved!
But what -
"Luz!"
It was Eda. And Lilith. And Gus, and Willow.
All of them were running down the path, towards the pair of them. Eda had been the one to fire the fireball with her staff. All of them looked exhausted, battered, and scarred. Injuries and dirt covered their whole bodies.
Yet they were here. They had saved the two of them. And Luz wanted to laugh.
But that was the last thing that she saw before she blacked out.
"Kid?"
She could hear Eda's voice as she drifted into unconsciousness. But she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face.
They were safe.
Amity was safe.
"Kid!"
The injury tents, as it turned out, had always been little more than a stopgap measure. They weren't the only place that people who were affected by Cherubim Rays or other injuries went - Rather, they were the holding area.
Buildings were commandeered to act as hospitals as they were needed, and as protective areas to keep the infected safe from the Cherubim's efforts to feed from them. Those buildings often filled up fast, and tents were set up as a sort of area to keep people who needed immediate help before they could be moved. When they were moved, they were moved into one of the many makeshift hospitals, where they would be looked after by volunteers, and kept safe.
It was in one of these buildings that Luz finally woke up in, and found her leg in a cast, in a room that had a window with it, though the blind was down, so it was essentially useless.
Somehow, when Luz opened her eyes, she found herself to be completely wide awake. No drowsiness, no grogginess, no 'five more minutes' desiring - She was up, and rested, and wanted to get up instantly. And she moved to do so, without thinking.
Except the cast was for keeping her in place, and for helping to heal her injury - It couldn't do anything about pain. And it didn't when Luz tried to move it, only to be reminded that her limb had been half chewed by a carnivorous monster.
"Ow!" She screamed on reflex, gripping hold of the covers and nearly falling out of bed right then and there." Ow ow ow ow oooooow!"
No sooner had she yelled out in pain, did someone rush into the room, see her predicament, and run over to help her back into the bed. "Easy there, kid! Take it easy! You're alright, okay?!"
"E - Eda?" Luz blinked as soon as she realised who was suddenly in the room with her. "Eda, you're - Where - "
"You're in one of the field hospitals, kid. Relax." Eda told her, pushing her back onto the bed, so she wasn't stuck halfway between falling off the mattress anymore. "You had a real bad injury with one of the Adult Cherubim. You remember that?"
"Y - Yeah." Luz immediately nodded - The pain in her leg serving as a very enticing reminder. "Yeah I - I remember… Everything."
And she did.
She remembered everything.
Even if she still didn't know how to process it.
"Phew." Eda wiped her brow. "Well, that's a relief. There was like a fifty-fifty shot on the potions they used on you wiping your memory of the last six weeks."
"Wait, what?"
"Kidding!" Eda held her hands up in mock surrender, putting on that face she did when she used her sense of humour to mask the fact that she had been worried. "...Would have been the last six hours. They had to put you onto some pretty strong stuff, you know. You got chewed up pretty bad there."
Glancing down at her cast, Luz looked at what little of her limb wasn't wrapped in a few inches of plaster. The rest was covered in bandages, and at least a few layers of them from what Luz could tell. The pain was mild, like a gentle throbbing, but compared to how it had been when she was last awake, it felt far more muted. Less agonising, and more manageable.
Of course, that didn't mean it was pleasant or painless either. She could still practically feel the gashes where the Adult Cherubim's teeth had sunk into her from every other direction. It made her shudder. She could already tell that she was going to have a scar or two from that whole ordeal.
"Luz!"
They had hesitated to speak up until now, but now, they made their voices known - Gus and Willow had been stood in the doorframe, watching as Eda helped Luz get back into a comfortable resting position. Now that she was okay, they dared to actually make themselves known.
"You… You guys…" Luz couldn't help but smile at the sight of her friends. "You're both okay…"
"Forget about us - Are you feeling alright?!" Gus all but shot himself to the side of Luz's bed, and he looked like he was on the verge of tears from worry. "I've never even seen an Adult Cherubim get to that size! Do - Do you think it was the one we saw earlier?!"
"I… I'm okay." Physically, she wasn't lying. The pain in her leg was there, but all things considered, for someone who was nearly eaten alive, she was feeling relatively okay. The other question gave her pause though. "It… I guess maybe it might have been the same Cherubim?"
It might help to explain how the thing had gotten to be such an enormous size. If it was the same one, then it had had more than enough time to consume from dozens of other Witches. Luz wasn't too sure on the odds of it though. She wouldn't bet on it.
Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. Either way, it had been turned to dust, so they wouldn't know anymore.
Speaking off which, she turned to Eda again. "That was… That was you. Who saved me and Amity from that Cherubim, right?"
"Yeah." Her mentor nodded. "We all got messages from you at the same time. I guess you were cut off from the Magic that sends messages between Scrolls, or something, but they were all pretty hectic. And then we saw the fire from Blight Manor - Everyone talked about how the blue fire went out, but the orange one looked like it was done on purpose. The blue fire was small, like it was an internal thing, but the orange fire was huge and showy. Like someone wanted people to see it. Nice work, kid." She gave her student an additional thumbs up.
Luz allowed herself to relax in the bed slightly. So, the double strategy with her Fire Glyphs had worked, and the messages had gotten to the rest of them after the dome was destroyed. And she and Amity had been able to hold out just long enough for them to get there…
She wasn't sure if she should thank her multiple methods of getting attention, or if she should thank Lady Luck.
"We also heard from a Blight Manor butler." Willow revealed. "He told us there were people there, but we couldn't spare anyone for a while.."
Beckham, Luz added, in her mind. So he had gotten here okay...
While she was glad her friend was okay, Willow looked… Frustrated. "...Why didn't you tell any of us where you were going?... We were worried sick about you!"
"...Amity was in Blight Manor. I… I needed to help her."
Whatever frustrations Willow had, they almost immediately melted away as she pinched the bridge of her nose. A sigh escaped her. "...You had absolutely no way of knowing she was still there… But you rushing off to save Amity… Doesn't in the least bit surprise me anymore."
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be." Willow shook her head. "I wasn't… I didn't mean to sound upset with you. I would have done the same thing if I'd known. I just wish I'd been able to help."
Willow was a caring soul, and Luz couldn't help but smile at that.
Suddenly though, a thought occurred to her. "Where's Lilith?"
"Helping with the walls" Eda answered. "Looks like they've decided Lilith is the one calling the shots there."
"And… Why're you all here?"
All three Witches looked at the Human. And for a moment, that was all any of them did, though for some reason, they looked like they'd just been slapped across the face.
Gus was the first one to speak up again. "...Er, we can go if you - "
"No! No, no, I don't mean it like that." Luz quickly clarified. Everyone's faces relaxed a bit after that. "I mean, why're you here now? What about the Cherubim?" She made herself sit up. "We still need to fight them off… Ow."
"Okay, first off - " Eda pushed Luz back down onto the mattress. " - You're staying right here, and don't make me strap you in place here. Seriously, this is a Valeween hospital, they've got plenty of stuff to keep people from getting up and running around, and maybe three of them are comfortable. You're not getting involved in any sort of fighting. Second of all - "
"I'm not saying here, Eda!"
"Oh yes you are, kid!"
"It's over." Willow said.
Luz blinked. "What's over?"
"Valeween. It's done."
"...What?"
"It ended maybe an hour after we brought you here." Gus told her. He then reached into a pocket within his cowl, and retrieved something from it - Luz's phone. "Here, I saw how you used this… Box, to save things as they happened before. I saved it for you. I thought you'd want to see it."
Taking her phone, Luz flipped through a couple of screens, hit a few icons, and saw the latest recording on her phone.
It started already partway through the process, but Luz could understand the gist of what was happening - The Cherubim had simply abandoned the fight as soon as day began to come. They flew away from their prey, regardless of how weak or isolated they were, and flew back to the red tear in the sky. Adult Cherubim could be seen flying too, far higher than they would normally fly throughout the invasion.
Waves upon waves of them rose into the skies, blocking out the light of the sun and the moon, leaving only pockets of free, open, light providing air, as they had when they first arrived yesterday afternoon. Only this time, instead of pouring out of the tear, they poured into it.
As they entered the great red tear in the sky, the clouds that had taken to orbiting it suddenly became less and less distorted, and began to return to their original pathways, as the sky began to close. The phone scanned over the forests, and Luz watched, with a slight sense of awe, as the trees turned back from black, to the various wonderful shades of red they had been days before.
A huge cheer erupted from everyone around the phone, like the cries of a victorious army that had seen off its attackers.
In a sense, that was what had happened.
The phone dropped onto Luz's lap, and she leaned back into the mattress. She stared at the roof for a few seconds, processing it all.
"...It's over?"
"That's right, kid." Eda said, letting herself smile. "And don't worry about missing the celebrations either - Those don't start until all the wounded are healed. I'm pretty sure a Healer'll come by soon. You seem to have gotten some of the worst injuries of anyone this time around. You just rest up."
A small laugh just escaped Luz - She couldn't help it.
It was over! They had done it! They'd gotten through Valeween!
...Well, she had. And if by gotten through, she meant 'Hadn't been hit by a Cherubim Ray'.
Now that it was over… A lot of people were going to have to find out where they stood with people.
And… She had questions of her own she needed answered. That she needed to figure out the answers to.
"...Where's Amity?" She asked.
"...She got taken to be looked after with the rest of the infected." Gus told her, carefully avoiding her question. "Eda used her staff to use Magic to put her to sleep, and then we brought her back here. The Cherubim Ray effects wear off once the Cherubim leave - "
"Where is she?"
Gus and Willow both looked at one another. Willow sighed, and looked at Luz.
"...We don't know."
You thought we were done here? You fools!
You all have no idea how happy I am that no one managed to guess exactly what I was going for here.
I had to do a bit of research for this chapter, especially around "Te Quiero" - Apparently the significance of the term varies heavily from country to country. Apparently it can vary from culture to culture from being super important, to being friendly banter between friends, to closeness, and so on and so forth. Same as "Te Amo". As I understand it, Dominican culture, which Luz hails from, (And a place I've also been) I believe it can be used in both a romantic sense and a friendship sense. Really interesting language with how much impact they put into certain sayings. British as I am, I understand no Spanish whatsoever though, so I ran this all through google translate so here's hoping it's not just completely wrong.
Hope that the return of the art was nice - I managed to put some time aside to make some for this special occasion, though I'm still pretty busy with Uni while doing this. bit more comic-y than the previous ones, but hey, comics is my alma-mater after all
Not much more to say honestly - I've been looking forward to seeing this one done for a while now - I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll be seeing you next chapter soon - See you!