Chapter 10

A/N: I hope you liked the last chapter and were hoping for more Luz! Because that's what you're getting for this chapter.

As always, more notes below, so I'll hopefully see you there.

Luz had gone through her entire chest of outfits she'd collected from Eda's trash piles and from the assortment of vendors that sold things that fit human children, but had yet to find anything that really seemed appropriate for her to have dinner with her girlfriend's fancy parents even after looking all last night and this morning. Her otter outfit really seemed more like a second dinner kind of costume, after all.

She tossed aside yet another combination of boys and girls clothing. Luz was very much a girl, despite the fact she'd been mistaken a few times as a boy due to her short hair, but she never really cared about what clothing was for what gender. That had got her in trouble with her school a few times. She was very proud to say that there were several new rules added to her human school's dress code because of her clothing creativity!

Clothes were clothes, and shouldn't have to deal with stuff like gender identity, was Luz's opinion. What mattered was if it looked good on a person, and normally, Luz thought she looked good in anything and everything, but today was not a normal day.

Losing patience and running out of time to find something, Luz gave up on choosing an outfit by herself, and bounded out of her room with a cry, "Eeeeda!"

Eda moaned loudly from her room, signaling that's where she could be found. Luz knocked on the open door's threshold, peeking her head in, "I really need your help, Eda."

Eda didn't look much in the mood for Luz's usual antics today, though. She laid in her nest, an empty bottle of appleblood beside her, probably what was causing her to moan. She looked like she was hungover, which wasn't usually something Luz saw often. Eda drank a lot, but she was rarely ever actually drunk, much less hungover. She must have had a bad night… or early morning. For Eda, 5'o'clock was all the time.

Beside her lay an instrument, a Lute if Luz guessed correctly. It had way too many strings to be a guitar, after all. Luz hadn't started seeing that particular instrument until recently, and she'd never seen Eda play it since she'd dug it out of whatever chest it had come from. It just always sat around the house these days.

Sitting up from her spot, and looking miserable for it, Eda blinked away the pain behind her eyes, "What is it, Kiddo? Someone burning down the house?"

Luz twiddled her thumbs, now feeling a bit self conscious, like her problem wasn't really worth having Eda help her with when she was clearly not in the mood, or in the right shape to help. Eda wasn't having it though, "Stop with the sad face, it makes me feel bad. Just tell me what you need, and I'll do my best."

Luz shuffled her feet nervously, "Well, I'm having dinner with Amity and her family tonight. And I don't know what to wear." Saying it aloud just made her feel even more silly for worrying so much over it.

Eda snorted, rolling her eyes, "Why didn't you just say so, Luz? I mean, just look at me, I'm the peak of fashion." She gestured to what she was currently wearing, a wrinkled and stained t-shirt from her human trash pile, pajama bottoms with this nifty diamond pattern on them in colors that almost hurt to look at, that were of course too short for her very long legs, and her usual, ratty slippers.

Eda's joking nature brought a smile back to Luz's face, "Come on, let's raid my closet."

The extremely tall witch(seriously, what kind of vitamins did Mama Clawthorne feed that girl growing up?) picked herself out of her pity nest and strode over to her closet. Prying it open and stepping out of the way of falling debris that had only been held back by the door, the two women looked through Eda's selection.

"Do you own anything that isn't red?" Luz commented, observing the astounding lack of color selection the Witch had in her otherwise exuberant amount of clothing.

"When you find something that really works for you kid, you stick with it. I was stuck with Potion track yellow for most of my childhood, now that is a color I never want to wear again." Eda reached into the closet, pulling out the first dress to call out to her. She took one glance, and with a "nope!" Threw it behind her, where it landed in her twiggy bed.

This process was repeated a few times, by both Eda and Luz. There were a few dresses that Luz found mildly racy and was embarrassed to know Eda owned, and she was not wearing those for Amity's parents. Those were quickly added to the stack. A few did look fine, but the tears Eda liked to rip into them had widened to the point Luz wasn't comfortable wearing them someplace fancy.

Finally, Eda pulled one out that she hadn't seen in a while. "Oh, wow, I didn't know I still even owned this."

It was a sundress, bright red like everything else Eda owned. The tear at the bottom was smaller than all the others, and it stuck the right balance between being fancy, but also something casual enough for Luz to hang out with Amity while wearing it for a few hours. "It looks great," Luz said, after looking it over.

Eda's eyes were glazed over, a small, but melancholy smile on her lips, "I haven't worn this in… well, before you were born, at least. I used to wear it when I was going out with… Raine."

Luz cocked her head, not familiar with the name, but that just made her all the more interested in finding out more of Eda's backstory. "Who's Raine?"

Eda snapped out of her daze, frowning, then forcing a strained smile back to her face, "No one you need to worry your adorable head about. Just an old flame, is all. Now here, try it on."

She tossed the dress to Luz, who was almost buried in the amount of fabric. It suddenly occurred to her that Eda had a good three feet of height on her, and there was no way this was going to work. "Uh, Eda-"

Eda seemed to understand Luz's worries, and waved them off, "I'll handle it, but you need to put it on first."

Luz nodded, and the two women continued to stare at each other for a moment. Eda seemed to realize Luz wanted her to turn around, so she did so with a groan, "We're both women, Luz. Trust me, you don't have anything I haven't seen before."

Luz giggled as she took off her shirt, "I know, but still, it feels weird for other people to see me like this."

"At least I don't have to worry about you and Baby Blight for a while, then," The Owl Lady snorted

Once Luz was changed, she let Eda know she could turn around. When Eda did, she was greeted to the hilarious sight of Luz wearing way too much dress, with it scrunched up on the floor under the girl, while Luz desperately held the front of the dress up to her chest to keep it from falling. "See, Eda, it's way too big!"

"And I told you not to worry about that, I have a solution." Eda placed two fingers in her mouth and gave a whistle, and within moments Owlbert, in his staff form, glided into the room and into Eda's waiting hands.

"I might not be able to do magic myself, but something this simple should be easy enough to pull off with Owlbert's help." Eda then spun her staff in a circle in front of Luz, and the spell was cast.

Luz was lifted into the air, high enough the excess dress was dangling a few inches above the ground. She had to redouble her effort to keep her chest covered as she hovered, and to keep the dress from just falling off her form to begin with. But soon, the dress shrank in on itself, the fibers and threads that made it up pulling each other back, until Luz didn't have to hold it up any longer. It was now a perfect fit. Even the tear had fixed itself.

Luz was lowered back to the ground as the spell ended, and began to examine herself. "Oh my gosh, Eda, it looks great!" She did a little twirl, almost slipping on the wooden floor from the lack of traction she had while still in her socks.

Eda chuckled, and ruffled her hair, "I know. You look cute as a button. Your little girlfriend is gonna flip when she sees you. Now come on, we found a dress, but now we need to get you some shoes to go with it."

The two managed to find a pair of shoes that Eda owned that weren't killer heels or slippers, along with a cute bag, and a belt for Luz to wear fashionably around her waist. With a swish and a swirl, those were also sized down to fit Luz, who barely had a moment to glance over herself before Eda was pulling her to sit in front of her vanity.

Luz was very insistent they don't go overboard with the makeup, knowing how much Eda liked to cake it on from experience with the body swap spell. Eda scoffed, "Well, I suppose you're young and pretty enough to not really need it, anyway. And lipstick was a no go anyway, you wouldn't want your girlfriend's face to be covered in visible kissy marks when you're supposed to be sitting with the parents."

Luz went crimson, flailing as she insisted, "I wouldn't do that! I- I haven't even kissed her at all yet!"

Eda shook her head, smiling coyly, "There's a first time for everything, kiddo. And that day could be today if you play your cards right."

And then they were done. A little blush on each of Luz's cheeks, a little mascara for her eyelashes, and a spritz of hairspray to add some volume to her hair, and Luz was all set for her date. Leaning in and admiring herself in the mirror, Luz was astonished. She'd never felt so pretty before.

"Thank you, Eda. I look amazing! It's perfect!" She wrapped her arms around her mentor, squeezing tight enough Eda could feel her bones creak.

The witch wrestled one of her arms out, and patted Luz's head, careful not to mess up the 'do. "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome. What kind of moth- Mentor would I be, if I didn't help doll up my apprentice for her dates?"

She hoped Luz hadn't caught her slip up. It wasn't inaccurate to describe herself as a mother now, since King had taken her name and everything, but even after that he'd yet to call her Mom, and she hadn't taken the steps to call him son. But she wasn't Luz's mom, not by a long shot, especially with how close Luz was getting to finishing her door and going home.

The human girl had heard her slip up, though, and gave Eda another squeeze, making the witch wheeze. As much as Luz loved her mother, she doubted that she'd have had or made time to help Luz out like Eda did today. Lucia would have done it, and maybe threatened her date to treat her right, but her Mom? She was just so busy, and so tired after work, that she probably wouldn't even realize Luz had a date until a day or two after it had happened.

Not that Luz had ever gone on any dates to prove that theory otherwise. Nor did she hold it against her mother that she wasn't there, like she knew her sister did. Luz knew how much effort it took to be a single mom and take care of two kids, and what that cost. Besides, Luz had Lucia to keep her company.

She briefly wondered how her older sister was holding up. She was probably freaking out that Luz wasn't home, while Luz was going on a date. Guilt washed over her for a moment, but she pushed it away. She couldn't change her situation, and Lucia would want her to have fun if she knew.

Eda finally pried out of Luz's arms, leaving the human girl no time to dwell on anymore negative thoughts. "Alright, Luz. You go over there, and you knock their socks off. Show those stuck up rich fuc- folks that you're more than good enough to date their daughter."

That pumped Luz up, and she gave a cheer, "Yeah! I'll show them who's boss!"

Then she immediately sobered, "But not too much, since these are my girlfriend's parents, and you know, I want them to like me because they might be in my life for a while."

Eda grinned, "Already imagining them as in-laws. You've got it bad, kid."

Luz was already out of the room, not sticking around to be teased, "Gotta go, Eda, I love you, byyyyye!"

Luz arrived a good three hours early, which gave her plenty of time to spend alone with Amity. She had packed an Azura book in her bag, just in case she wanted to do some reading together, and some colored pencils if Amity wanted to draw instead.

It was so nice to have a girlfriend with similar creative interests. And Amity was a good artist. Luz was a little jealous of how easily she could draw noses, even if her eyes lacked the same amazing detail Luz could do.

Luz eagerly knocked on the door of Blight Manor, and waited for the usual Abomination Butler to open it for her. She liked to call it Jeeves, for reasons none of the others seemed to understand. It took a few minutes of waiting, but eventually Jeeves made it, slowly lumbering to the door and letting Luz in without a fuss, almost like it was used to her presence now.

Luz walked beside the giant goo monster as it took her to the Drawing room, unable to keep her eyes off of it's head. "You look nice today," She complimented, sending it a smile it didn't even register.

Ever since she'd come over and given it kitty ears, one, or maybe all of the Blight children, had made a habit of molding the Abomination's face to have a variety of different features, likely to mess with their parents. It was always something different whenever Luz came over. Today, someone had given it a pair of horns, and a large, bulbous nose.

She thanked the Abomination as it left to fetch Amity, knowing it would be a few minutes. Jeeves was really slow, but she imagined it had to do with the magic used to summon it, or the distance between it and the caster, who was Amity's dad, Alador. She still hadn't managed to create her own Abomination, despite her best, and often frantic, attempts to emulate her girlfriend and impress her, but she imagined that the reason Alador was able to make a bunch of Abominations for use as security had to do with the mechanical parts he'd added, because Amity sure couldn't make an Abomination that lasted days, or weeks on end, that could be outside of her presence.

She sat in one of the chairs, humming along to a tune only she could hear, thinking of what possible combinations she could try to make her own Abomination. Maybe Plant and Ice? But that would be too solid. She might have to bust out a triple glyph combo, or maybe a quadruple. She was just beginning to wonder where the possibilities for glyph combos could end when Amity cracked open the door and poked her head inside, making sure that it had been Luz that Jeeves had summoned her for and not some other, unexpected visitor.

When Amity was sure it was Luz, she and her Palisman, Ghost, burst through the door, arms held out for a hug, which Luz was just as eager to return. The best part about dating was all of the extra physical affection she received. Hugging her friends was one thing, but hugs from her girlfriend was like a gift from the heavens.

Amity wore her usual black outfit and purple leggings, her crescent moon necklace dangling from her neck. Luz never got around to asking where she'd got it from, and wondered if it'd be too presumptuous for her to get her own, matching Amity's Crescent with a complimenting Gibbous.

Amity meanwhile, took in what Luz was wearing. The hair, the makeup, the red sundress that showed off her shoulders. Shoulders! Amity's face matched the color of Luz's outfit as she looked at the smooth skin it exposed, and she couldn't look away, prompting a flattered giggle from Luz.

"Do you like it? Eda gave it to me." She took a handful of the dress in either hand and did a little spin for her girlfriend, then a curtsy to top it off.

Amity sputtered, "y-you look great! Very pretty. No, gorgeous! No, beautiful! Oooh!" She clamped her mouth shut, looking put off by her own comments. Luz meanwhile, felt like melting under all the praise, wiggling in a little happy dance she couldn't keep contained. She was definitely going to do something nice for Eda after this.

Luz leaned in, and gave her still blubbering girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Amity. That's really nice of you to say."

The two girls stood in silence for a moment, both varying amounts of crimson. Luz's cheeks were dusted with a blush over her own boldness, this being the first time she'd ever kissed Amity, even if it was on the cheek, while Amity looked close to letting out steam through her ears, a goofy smile gracing her lips.

Together, the two exited the drawing room hand in hand, fingers entwined and headed for Amity's bedroom. It's where they spent a majority of their time together when Luz did visit, alone or with Gus and Willow, though ever since they started dating Odalia insisted they keep the door open. She didn't want her daughter to get into any funny business with the human girl.

Amity was too embarrassed to fight against that rule, she wasn't exactly going to announce to her parents that they hadn't even properly kissed yet, so they didn't have anything to worry about.

It was a long, winding trek through the manor. Luz still hadn't quite figured the path out even after several trips, and internally she wondered if Amity ever got lost in her own home, or if maybe they had any pamphlets with maps on it for guests. She had plenty of time to let her thoughts roam, as she climbed stairs and navigated hallways beside Amity, then finally they arrived at their destination.

Upon arriving to Amity's bedroom, Luz ran for the bed, jumping into it and landing on the soft mattress with a "pomf," digging her face into it and letting out a relaxed sigh, "Words cannot describe how much I miss actual beds."

Amity laughed affectionately, leaving the door just open enough to meet the 12 inch requirements she'd agreed to and joining Luz, sitting on the end of her bed, "We have an entire wing set up for guests. I'm not confident we could convince my parents to give any of them up, especially if it's for you, but I'm sure Eda could be convinced to take a few off our hands if you asked her to."

Luz chortled at the very idea, "You want me to get Eda to rob your family? She'd be honored to have your blessing, but she might take more than a few mattresses if you let her inside."

When their laughter died down, they fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying being in each other's company. Luz reached out, and took Amity's hand again, and let out a happy sigh that she could just do that whenever she wanted now. The Boiling Isles may not have been the PG fantasy world Luz always imagined getting transported to, but moments like this made her sure she was living in a fairy tale come to life.

"I brought an Azura book, and some art supplies today." Luz broke the silence, twirling a finger over one of Amity's, "If you don't have anything else planned, I thought maybe we could read for a bit, and then draw out our own interpretations of the scene?"

Amity nodded in agreement, "that sounds like a fun idea to me. Should we take turns reading aloud?"

"Yeah!"

Luz dug out her copy from her bag, while Amity went to her own shelf. She was lucky enough to be able to afford two separate copies of the series, one set up in her secret room at the library, and the other set for when she was at home. It had come in useful now that Luz was allowed to visit her directly, instead of having to always set up their meetings during library hours.

Ghost sat purring in Luz's lap while they read, and the human girl was very thankful that palismans didn't shed, or else her dress would be ruined by the white fur. Their Azura Book Club meetings had brought them up to book two, coincidentally the same chapter that Luz had written her book report on. Luz was reminded of that day, and how it had changed her fate, and really, it was all thanks to Azura that she was even on the Boiling Isles in the first place.

Of course, that just began to remind her of home, of her mother, and especially her hermana. So much so that when they wrapped up the chapter, and took out pen and paper to start their drawing, Amity started drawing with gusto while Luz just couldn't concentrate on what to draw.

She ended up not drawing anything Azura related, and instead drew a picture of Lucia. She reached for the brown colored pencil to fill in her hair, when she decided to speak up and fill the focused silence, "You know, I used to do an Azura book club with my sister back in the human world."

Amity peeked up from her half finished drawing of Azura's clash with the Gildersnake, curiosity on her face. "You have a sister?"

Luz blinked, and slapped her forehead. She'd never told Amity about Lucia! She'd mentioned her sister once or twice to Willow and Gus, and more than enough times to Eda and King that she was sure the two were sick of hearing "Lucia this, Lucia that," but she'd never actually spoken about her older sister to her girlfriend before.

Wincing from the pain her slap caused her, and sure she had a visible red mark because of it, Luz nodded her head, "Yeah, an older sister. Her name is Lucia." Luz flipped her pad of paper around to show her work in progress to Amity.

Luz puffed her chest up proudly, "She's really tough! When the other kids would pick on me, she'd go yell at them. But she was really nice to me. She would also read Azura books with me, even though I know she wasn't the biggest fan of the series. It was always really sweet of her."

Luz sighed, and clutched the pad of paper to her chest, wishing she could hug her actual sister and not the drawing, "Sorry, I know we're supposed to be drawing Azura stuff, but I miss her."

Amity placed a sympathetic hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, and spoke gently, "It's perfectly fine Luz. Draw what you want. Azura reminds you of your older sister, and that's good enough for me."

Luz gave Amity a grateful look, and held her arms open for a hug, which Amity was quick to give.

"Besides," Amity added, "Your Lucia sounds way better than my Ed and Em. Think you can share your sister so I can ditch my own siblings?"

Luz tried not to think too much of the implications that Amity might be suggesting Lucia should become her sister-in-law. That was the kind of thing dreams were made of. "Come on, the Twins aren't that bad."

Amity gave her a look, "You don't live with them."

"That's a fair point."

They continued to draw, Luz telling Amity all about her sister, and even a little bit more about her mother. She did want Amity to meet them some day, after all, so she should know what to expect when she did get the chance to meet them.

If there was one thing Luz was looking forward to as equally as she dreaded it, it was telling her family about the Boiling Isles. When she'd first made the decision to stay on the Isles, she'd made up her mind that her family, especially her Mami, could never learn about it. Around Grom, she'd changed her mind, that she'd tell them about it one day. They deserved to know, and Luz wanted to be able to come back, to dance with Amity and her friends again next Grom.

Now that she'd been gone a few weeks past when she had meant to be home, she knew she'd have to explain it the moment she got back. She hoped that Amity would be by her side when that day came.

A few hours had passed since Luz had arrived, and it was nearing time for dinner, with only about half an hour left until they would need to be seated. The Blight's were always punctual, and always arrived precisely on time for their family dinners. Unfortunately for Luz, this was the time that her bladder began to feel uncomfortably full, and she didn't think she could hold it until the night was over. "Uh, Ams? I need to use the little Witch's room."

Amity frowned, unfamiliar with the phrase, "I need to pee!" Luz clarified, and realized to her mortification what she'd just spouted only after she'd said it.

Thankfully, her girlfriend, ever classy and cool, laughed it off, "Oh, the restroom. Do you want me to walk you, or would you rather I have, er, 'Jeeves' escort you?"

Luz didn't like either option. The idea of her girlfriend waiting for her to finish relieving herself sounded humiliating, and Jeeves was just so slow, they might not make it in time. "How about you just give me directions?"

Needless to say, that was how Luz found herself horribly lost in the bowels of Blight Manor.

She'd found her way to the toilet okay, following Amity's instructions to the letter. But by the time she'd finished and washed her hands, she'd forgotten fragments of the directions, and then running them in reverse in her head to get back just added to her struggle.

She was pretty sure four lefts make a circle, which meant she was hopelessly lost.

Luz was fairly certain this wasn't her fault. The hallways and rooms must be enchanted to move, because she'd seen the painting she'd just passed before already, but it had been in an entirely different location. As in, it had been hanging over a console table that had a vase on it when she passed it the first time, but now it was beside a window, not in the "She's in denial that she's going in circles" way. Which she was fairly certain she was doing anyways.

Luz groaned as she came across a split path in the hallway, one going left and the other right. Well, she'd made too many lefts already, it was about time for her to try the right. If this didn't work, she'd just have to see if one of the many rooms she'd passed was one of those guest bedrooms Amity had mentioned, and she could make a rope with the bedsheets, climb out the window, and go around to the front again. As long as Amity pretended she'd never been there in front of her parents, it shouldn't be too embarrassing.

Luz wandered for a little longer, sure she'd only managed to get herself more lost. There was something about this wing of the manor that made it feel like no one had been through it in a very long time. It wasn't dusty, Jeeves may be nothing but a pile of goo, but he was dedicated to his job and cleaned every corner he could find. No, this place just felt devoid of color, drab in an already pretty drab place, and the air felt musty and stale.

Not wanting to take the chance that this portion of the house was haunted by Blights past, Luz decided to go with plan B. The place could use a bit of fresh air anyway. She cracked open a window, and peered out, relieved that she was still only on the second floor. She knew she hadn't climbed any stairs, but with how certain she was of the place moving when she wasn't looking, she wouldn't have put it past the house to have moved her up a flight without her knowing.

Now she just needed some bedsheets. Turning back around to glance over the hallway for the nearest door, she found a pair of doubles not far from her location. "Finally, some luck." She muttered, bounding towards it as fast as she could in her fancy shoes. Even without the heels, they were starting to kill her feet after all this walking.

Luz was sorely disappointed when there wasn't a bed in the room. In fact, there wasn't much of anything. A few pieces of furniture seemed to be stored there, much too small for any of the Blight children at their current ages. The only thing that stood out in particular was a small, round table towards the back of the room, that Luz found herself slowly approaching.

On the table were a handful of candles, melted down to various heights. A matchbox sat beside them, faded with age and worn around the edges. A stuffed Otabin plush that had seen better days was gathering dust. At the back end of the table, for Luz to view, was a set of three photographs, framed in gold.

The first photograph was another family photo, like the one the Blight's had hanging in their Drawing room, only it featured a much younger rendition of the family. A younger, but even more tired looking Alador, holding two young children, around the ages of three, while Odalia, her hair a bit different but otherwise looking the same as her present day counterpart, if slightly more youthful, sat with a third toddler on her knee, and a infant cradled in one arm.

The next photograph was of the three toddlers from the previous picture. With them being the only focus of the picture, Luz realized that all three had the same green hair. It was only the fact they were all the same age that kept Luz from wondering if one of them was Amity, just with a different shade of hair dye. Amity had clearly been the baby in the first picture, if two of these kids were Edric and Emira.

The last was of just one of the three toddlers, looking just a bit older than the second picture. She looked a lot like Em, green hair pulled back into a braid, clearly unhappy that she was being photographed by the scrunched up look on her face, like someone tried to make her eat her vegetables.

The only reason that Luz knew that couldn't be Emira was because this was clearly some sort of shrine, commemorating a lost loved one. The pictures, the candles, the somber atmosphere of this entire section of the mansion? Oh, Luz was definitely going to be haunted after this. Backing away slowly, careful not to make any noise just in case the ghosts of this place hadn't noticed her yet, she made for the door, only to bump into something- or someone- who hadn't been there before. "What are you doing back here?"

Luz gave a shriek, jumping high into the air and being caught by the figure who struggled under her weight.

"Oof, what do they feed you in the Human Realm?" Came a second voice, that she now recognized as Edric's. As the fear faded from the forefront of her mind, she realized she'd leapt into his arms, and he was visibly struggling to remain on his feet because of it.

"Ah!" She yelped, for an entirely different reason than her previous outburst, pushing away from him and falling to the ground with a thump. "I'm so sorry about that! I just got really lost, and then you surprised me."

A hand was offered to her, and she took it, not surprised to see Emira was the one to do so. She'd rarely, if ever, seen the two Blight siblings apart after green haired girl helped Luz to her feet, "Don't worry about it, Luz. Honestly, I'm kinda impressed by that jump. And I live for Ed's suffering."

Her brother seemed to take offense to that, "Hey! I could have carried her for as long as I wanted."

"Your entire body was shaking like a leaf, Ed. Maybe you should try getting this thing called exercise sometime." Em socked his arm playfully, before turning her attention back to the human. "But really, you shouldn't be here. This is considered a pretty private place."

Luz nodded quickly, "I know, I just- wait, how did you even find me?"

The twins shrugged, and Ed began "Mittens was starting to panic when you didn't come back, and it was getting close enough to dinner that she sucked it up and asked us for help-"

"And then we just decided to go to the first place that came to mind where you shouldn't be, and there you were!" Em finished, a cheery smile on her face.

The two gestured for her to follow them outside of the room, and together they navigated through the hallways like pros. Luz could tell they were getting closer to where they needed to be just from how the air felt. She played with her hands, a question burning inside of her that she wanted to ask, but didn't know if it was appropriate. Emira seemed to notice her distress, and took the liberty of putting it out there for her. "Her name was Emily."

Luz let out a meep, then guiltily bit her lip. Em patted her on the back, "hey, it's alright. You want to know, Ed and I are an open book."

Ed nodded, "Yeah! It's alright to ask questions. Anything for our future sister-in-law." He winked mischievously, teasing her further by tugging on her cheek.

Luz decided to bite the bullet, "W-who was she? Emily?"

"She was our other half. Or, other third. We- Ed and I, aren't actually twins. We were a set of Triplets. Edric, Emira and Emily." Em elaborated.

Ed nodded solemnly, "We were all the biggest, littlest trouble makers. We caused our parents a lot of agony together. We were natural born pranksters. One day, we went out to the Bonesborough markets as a family, and decided we'd play a game of hide and seek to mess with Mom and Dad. Took off in three directions at once so our parents would be forced to play along."

The two bit their lips, their pace slowed, Em taking the reins again, "We never saw Emily again after that. A stupid game turned into a missing sibling, and after a while, we had to come to terms that she likely wasn't alive anymore. The Isles are pretty dangerous, after all."

"We were only four at the time. I can barely remember her. So it doesn't hurt us as much to talk about it." Ed admitted slowly, "Mittens barely even knows Emily existed. Just don't bring her up, or that you found that room to our parents. I know they might seem… cold and distant-"

"-and they are, you pegged them right-" Em added.

"-But you don't really just get over losing a daughter like that. Best not to bring it up. Ever." Edric finished, giving Luz a knowing look.

Luz agreed. This was the most serious she'd ever seen either of the older Blight children, so this wasn't a topic she should ever approach. Especially if she wanted to stay on the Blight family's good side. "Thanks for telling me, I won't say a word about it."

"Mums the word!" Ed winked, placing a finger over his lips. Finally he pushed open a door and Luz found herself standing in the entryway of the manor again. She didn't even remember going down any stairs. There, pacing at the center of the room as Luz's beautiful girlfriend, Amity, looking like the world was about to collapse in on itself.

Amity breathed a sigh of relief, "You guys were cutting it really close! You know Mom and Dad hate it when we're late to the dinner table, we have literal moments to spare!"

She turned her attention to Luz in particular, "Where were you? I was so worried!"

Luz opened her mouth, but Ed clamped a hand on her shoulder, silencing her, "Oh, we found her stuck on the revolving staircase that goes up forever. You really should have warned her about that, sis."

Luz butted in, waving away Edric. She could make her own excuses, and apologies, "I'm so sorry, Amity. I got a little turned around on the way back to your room, and I almost ruined your night."

Amity took Luz's hands in her own, "No, no. You could never ruin it. Even if you were an hour late I'd still prefer that over you not being here at all."

Luz was euphoric, holding in the urge to dance on the spot at such sweet words, only dragged out of her happy thoughts by the sound of Emira coughing into her fist in a way that suspiciously sounded like the word "simp."

The sound of another door opening kept either of the young girls from commenting on that, and the click-clack of heels on polished tile met their ears. In walked the ever immaculate Odalia Blight, followed behind by Alador, who unlike his wife and children who always tried to look his best, was still in his lab smock, stained with Abomination goo, and looking as tired as ever. Despite that, he gave his children and Luz a small smile, while his wife came forth to greet them.

"Ah, perfect, you're all precisely on time." She paused to give each of her children a glance over, evaluating their choice of outfit, then eyed Luz's as well. It all seemed to pass inspection, as she gave a curt nod, "Very good. You all look lovely."

She took a step towards Luz, who had to fight the urge to take a step back in return, "And I welcome you, Luz Noceda, to Blight Manor. We're so… enthused to have you over for dinner." Luz thought the unsettling smile she had on her face gave the impression she had another word to describe how she felt, but at least she was doing her best to fake being polite.

The Blight Matriarch turned, gesturing towards the door she and Alador had just come in through, "Now, if you'll just head this way-"

Odalia was interrupted by the sound of someone pounding at the front door. She glanced around the room, as if to make sure everyone who should be here was actually there, shooting a glare at her eldests, who shrugged. "We're here, not illusions. Wouldn't knock if we were, either."

Odalia slowly turned to look at the front door, the closest thing to dread Luz had ever seen on the woman appearing on her face, as if she'd narrowed down exactly who it could be. "No, no… I thought he wasn't coming until next week…"

The echoing thuds against the door continued, demanding they be opened.

A/N: Grief can do things to people. My mother, for instance, had an older sister who died as an infant a few years before my mother was born. My grandmother wouldn't talk to my Mom about her. She destroyed all the pictures she had, and begged her family to do the same. She would even deny that she ever existed, because she couldn't handle the loss. The only reason my Mom ever found out about her older sister was because my Great Grandparents told her about it, and took her to see the grave.

I like to imagine that, even though the Blight parents are not good people, and worse parents, even they would feel something for a child they had lost. Even if it's fairly obvious what happened, I mean come on. I'm absolutely terrible at keeping things hidden and haven't made much of an effort to hide who a particular character is.

No, this isn't an excuse or a reason for their in-show behavior, they'd act like they do in canon no matter what, because they're just not good people. But terrible people can still love and grieve.

So yeah, Amelia Bane is Emily Blight. You might be wondering, why Emily? Why is she a triplet instead of being older than Ed and Em? Well, I thought, Amity would be way too young to remember her sister, so it'd be up to Ed and Em to have the connection to her instead. So why not make them triplets? It wouldn't change anything, really. It'll make their connection stronger, explain Amelia's green hair, and Amelia's mischievous personality. As for the name change? It matches, which we all know Odalia likes a matching set.

I really hope you enjoyed the chapter. Writing about Blight Manor was incredibly fun, especially when Luz got lost. Also, established Lumity is so much more fun to write than I could have hoped. My last fic to have Lumity in it had them get together at the end, so I didn't get to enjoy all the sweet moments like this that I just… get to write whenever!

Now the question remains? Who's at the door? I know who~! Tell me down below who you might think it is, and I'll playfully make comments that neither confirm nor deny who it is until the next chapter.