Angel: If for some reason you still haven't seen Ivy, the basilisk posing as Lucila, and you get curious throughout this chapter about what she looks like, go check out jeben1's drawing of her on Deviantart! Just go to his profile and you'll find it from his gallery. Or just look up my username on Deviantart. I know I've said this before, but Ivy looks adorable~!
At the Noceda house, in Luz's room, her bed had a bunch of stuffed animals on it, she had a computer with a desk, a bookshelf, and figurines...all of which were pushed to the side. 'Luz' looked at a photo of her younger self, which was taken the day that Lucila passed down her Azura stuff to her sister. Even that got tossed into a box and she sighed in relief, stretching her arms.
"Much better," She stated as she bent down, picking up the box. She went over to her mirror, staring at her reflection. "Mm," She adjusted the loose strand of her in front of her, also having a yellow barrette on the sides.
Meanwhile, in her room, 'Lucila' was also getting rid of some things. Her bed was neater without the bunch of stuffed animals, aside from one of a mermaid princess with purple hair. Her bed was a canopy bed, and she also had a neat desk for her computer. She also had a bookshelf, but it was much larger than her 'sister's.' She had a guitar near her door, 'Lucila' looking at a picture of herself and her friends, which she shoved away to put a picture of her and Will, but he was kissing her cheek. She was also getting rid of some clothes that she didn't want, and she picked up the box once it was full, looking at herself from her mirror. Her hair was down, and she no longer had her glasses. She was wearing a turquoise/light blue striped shirt, light blue jeans that stopped at her knees, and an orange sleeve jacket that stopped where her jeans started. She also had brown strapped sandals on her feet. She also had a silver bracelet on her left arm.
"What are the boxes for, mijas?" Camila asked as the two stepped out of the house.
"Just...cleaning up a little," 'Luz' smiled down at the box.
"Time for something new, you know?" 'Lucila' shrugged at her with a small grin.
"Even this?" Camila held up a tinfoil swan. "You used to love making me tinfoil swans. And I bought you this for your birthday, Lucila," She dug into Lucila's box, holding up a white knit sweater that had Lucila's favorite singer on it as the logo, Marc Anthony. "Isn't he your favorite singer?"
"Oh, we're, uh, just looking for a fresh start," 'Luz' told their mother.
"And...well, favorite singers change a lot for me," 'Lucila' said nervously as they walked past her.
"Camp taught us a lot, you know?" They put down the boxes near the trash, Camila staring at them a little concerned.
"Yes...it sure did," She placed a hand on her cheek. She couldn't help but find it a little off. After all, when Lucila suddenly had no glasses, she could've sworn that the girl needed them to see, but her 'daughter' told her that it was just a miracle that she could suddenly see. And also the hair was a new change too, but 'Lucila' still loved music, so she didn't have any reason to NOT believe it wasn't her...
A squeak was heard and Camila gasped. She looked to the side to see that an innocent bunny had its foot held by string from a slingshot trap. The woman gasped sharply at this. "Luz, grab the pliers. Lucila, get some bandaids and some ointment!"
They ran off to get the supplies, Camila putting on gloves. 'Luz' gave her the pilers while 'Lucila' sat down next to her with the bandaid in her hand. "Okay, okay, little bunny. You're gonna be all right," She held out a hand, gently cutting the string. "There we go."
The bunny jumped into 'Lucila's' arms, who saw a slight burn on its leg from the tight hold. She placed some ointment on the bunny's leg before giving it the bandaid and then it ran off.
"That's the fifth trap this week," 'Luz' looked away as 'Lucila' stood up.
"Somehow they keep managing to set these things without anyone noticing," 'Lucila' glared at the trap.
"If I ever catch who's responsible, I'll-pow-pow!"
Her 'daughters' chuckled at her. "Let's go back inside. I'll make maduros," She booped their noses and walked off.
"You nailed it with that bunny, Luci," 'Luz' told her and she winked.
"Mom's taught me a lot," She replied, as she had been learning some vet stuff from Camila over the weekends.
They followed after her inside the house, going back to their bedrooms. 'Luz' looked towards the mirror with a smile on her face.
"A new life..." She grabbed a white and purple striped shirt.
'Lucila' looked at her closet mirror, taking a deep breath. "Everything's gonna be just fine." She grabbed a purple blouse.
Both of them closed their doors to see that their reflections had changed. Instead, the real two sisters were facing them, and they did NOT look happy.
"You!" They both exclaimed in unison, the two doppelgangers screaming.
Outside the Owl House, Luz and Lucila were in front of a makeshift portal door. Eda, King, and Hooty were standing in front of them.
"So, according to Philip's instructions, the hardest part to making a portal was finding someone who knew how to build it," Luz explained to them. "But a lot of the ingredients are pretty easy to find."
"Well, times have changed since the 1600s," Lucila smirked at her knowingly and she blew a playful raspberry, turning to the Owl Lady.
"Your crazy apocalypse supplies finally came in handy, Eda."
Eda clicked her teeth with a wink. "Don't forget this," King sadly handed over Amity's stained glove.
"Titan blood..." She gently stroked a thumb against it. "I can't believe something this powerful was in the old key this whole time." By now, Luz had been told what happened at Eclipse Lake, and that the key had Titan blood, but she wasn't angry after hearing it. If anything, she wished that she found out sooner. King, Eda, Lucila, and Hooty glanced at each other sadly, since they lost it to Belos. And they didn't know what that meant for the human world... "It's okay," She smiled as she saw their expressions, holding up Amity's glove. "If Belos is still trying to get to the Human Realm, he'll have to beat us to it."
"Yeah," Lucila smiled at her encouragement and her crow phone flew over to her, landing on her shoulder. "Ugh, great. I've gotta take this, I'll make it quick," Lucila ran inside the house.
"Take as long as you need!" King exclaimed, since he didn't want her and Luz to leave them.
She closed the door behind her, putting the crow to her ear. "Hey, whoever this is, can we make it quick? I'm kind of in the middle of-"
"Hey...Luci."
She flinched as she recognized the voice, suddenly clenching a fist. "…You've got a lot of nerve calling me, Hunter. I oughta just hang up."
"W-Wait!" He stopped her and she sighed.
"What?"
"I don't…I don't wanna lose you, Luci. You're the only person I can talk to sometimes," He glanced away, Li'l Rascal chirping at him in encouragement.
"...Same here," She admitted with a small sigh, as she told him things that she didn't tell Luz until later on. "But you threatened to go after my sister, while attacking my friend after the fact." He squeezed his eyes shut. "And that's not even mentioning you stealing the portal key. What do you think is gonna happen? And how do you think I felt having to watch all of that?"
He sighed slowly, closing his eyes. Li'l Rascal chirped sadly at his expression. "...Look, I know-"
"I'm such an idiot," She sniffled and his eyes softened as she started to cry. She slid onto the ground, hanging her head. "Why do I do this? Why do I keep hoping for the best only for it to backfire?" She wiped an eye with her hand. "I'm so stupid..."
"No, you're not. I am," He told her softly and she opened her eyes, confused. "There's nothing with you, Luci, it's me who keeps messing up," He placed a hand on his hair, a little frustrated. He really did not want to make her upset, but by still being in the Emperor's Coven, he couldn't exactly prevent it... "I'm the idiot, and...I'm sorry that I keep hurting you. I swear, I-I'll make it right."
"...Well...it's a start...but honestly, it's gonna be a while before I can determine whether or not you can be trusted at all," She remarked and he frowned. "I can't forgive you immediately after what you did, but I meant what I said. I don't want us to be at each other's throats all the time."
"I don't either," He told her in determination with narrowed eyes.
"Good. I've gotta go."
"Luci," He spoke up and she stopped again. "Can...can we talk later? I wanna learn more about the human world..."
"...Sure. I guess it wouldn't hurt," She replied quietly. "Bye, Hunter."
"Thank you, Luci...for not giving up on me."
She frowned as he hung up, looking down at the crow phone. She really wanted to hope that the next time she saw him, he'd at least think about what he was doing...and hopefully he wouldn't risk his life to make amends. Speaking of which, she had no idea what Emperor Belos was doing with the boy, but it wasn't right. And she would talk to Hunter about it, but she already knew he wouldn't believe her...but what would happen to him if she didn't say anything?
She snapped out of it, stepping out of the Owl House. She'd deal with that whole situation another time.
"Who was it?" Luz asked curiously and Lucila froze a bit.
"...I'll tell you later," She glanced away since she didn't want to bring up Hunter all of a sudden, especially after the whole Eclipse Lake incident.
Luz ripped off a piece of the glove, taping it to the door. She stepped back, staring at all of the components of the portal. Some of the stuff, needless to say, creeped Lucila out, but it was the only way to see their mother. Eda sat in her flying bathtub.
"Are you sure this isn't gonna, like, blow our faces off?" Eda asked in concern.
"Nope," Luz answered, hands on her hips.
"Welp, here goes something," Eda pedaled and it activated magic, going towards all of the components of the portal, stopping at the blood. It leaked into the patched-up door, and the two stared in awe as all of them merged into a crooked, but functional portal door. It opened up and revealed a dimension that wasn't their world.
"It...worked."
"We actually made a portal door!" Lucila gasped a bit as they ran up to it.
"Did it? That looks real different from the old door," King pointed out as the others joined them.
"Yeah," Eda gave the two their cloaks. "But this is our one chance to see our mom." Once they were handed two coils of rope, one sister tied one rope each around their waists.
"We have to let her know what's going on, and my friends need to know too," Lucila sighed a little, worried for their reactions.
"If it looks like it's closing, pull," Luz told them, Eda narrowing her eyes a bit.
"Luz, Luci, as impressive as this is, I don't want either of you getting hurt."
"Don't worry, I'll be with her the entire time, and we have to do this," Lucila gestured to herself and her sister.
"Once we make sure our mom is okay, we'll be right back," Luz promised Eda.
"Just be careful. The Human Realm's filled with some real weirdos," She winked at them, Luz pulling everyone into a hug.
"Don't forget to mention me!" King added in, wagging his tail, and they let go.
"How could we?" Lucila winked at him.
"Okay," Luz took a deep breath as they walked up to the portal door. The two took each other's hands, stepping back. They then jumped through the door and a glow appeared. The next thing they knew, they were laying down in black-green water. Luz sat up with a sharp gasp, coughing. Lucila sat up afterwards, squeezing her wet hair and wheezing. "You okay, Luci?"
"I'm fine," She coughed out, flipping her hair to go back in place. "Where...where are we?" She glanced around in confusion.
A cube floated out of the water nearby and they watched as it rose. Other cubes were floating around. "Did we...do something wrong?" Luz wondered, since this wasn't Connecticut. "Eda, King, Hooty? Can anyone hear us?"
Lucila noticed one cube had stopped and she blinked, standing up. "Luz, look," She pointed up ahead at it, and one side turned into another color. They looked at it, and suddenly they were back at the Owl House. Luz was in front of one window and Lucila was in front of another one to the far left.
"Are we back at the Owl House?" She looked around in confusion.
"No, that'd be too easy," Lucila shook her head. "Something's off." And she was right as the wind blew, taking them along with it on both windows.
"Whoa! I think we're...in the reflections. And we can hear each other even though you're up there!" Luz looked up at Lucila. They stared up ahead to see their friends standing in front of the portal.
"Do you think they're safe?" King questioned in worry.
"They've made it this far," Eda looked down at him. "We just have to trust them." Suddenly their reflections disappeared, and they were back in the cube dimension. Luz gasped as she let go, letting the cube float.
"Whoa...so all of these things...they look into other dimensions through reflections! And we can summon any world we want!" Lucila exclaimed in awe as she looked around.
"I wonder if I could see...Amity!" A cube started to lift up.
"Luz!" Lucila warned her and she realized that she respected boundaries.
"No, no, no, no!" Luz pushed it down, pinching her nose. "Come on, Luz. You're on a mission. Camila! Camila Noceda of the Human Realm?" She called out. She looked up as a cube's side glowed from all the way up to the top. "Got ya! Ice platform!" Luz slammed down an ice glyph, but the paper withered away.
"I guess magic doesn't work here," Lucila frowned a bit. She didn't take Melody either because she had no idea what effect it would've had on a palisman. And even if they had made it back home, there was no magic in the human realm.
"Fine, then! We'll do this the hard way!" Luz waited for a cube and jumped, hanging onto one. Lucila realized what she was doing and jumped onto another one...but then they ended up upside down, screaming as they lost their grip and fell back into the water. They looked up and saw another cube, holding onto it. "Mom!"
"Are you there?"
Luz appeared in the reflection of a phone while Lucila appeared in the reflection of a window, both of them gasping. "It's our house!"
I Need to Know by Marc Anthony was playing in the background, Camila humming and dancing to it. She closed the fridge, standing up.
"Mom!" The two shouted at her, but she didn't notice either of them as his back was turned. She danced to the counter, picking up some bananas in front of a picture of the whole Noceda family, father included, but the shine from the frame blocked his face. Both sisters were younger in the photo. Tears came from their eyes.
"Mo-"
"Mom?" They both flinched as they heard the voices of the imposters of them. 'Luz' peeked in along with 'Lucila'. "Do you need any help?" The two gasped sharply at the imposters, wondering who they were and how they got there.
"Oh, are you two done cleaning your rooms?" Camila asked, standing in front of Lucila, therefore no one saw her.
"Almost! With all that old stuff gone, I feel like a whole new person," She smiled at the woman.
"And I feel different, but in a good way," 'Lucila' smirked a bit, a hand on her hip.
"Evil doppelgangers! Mom! Mom!" Luz slammed on the glass, but it did nothing.
"I don't think she can hear us!" Lucila frowned as her doppelganger sat in front of Camila, who was slicing up bananas.
"Mom! Mom!" The two called out.
"I can finish up here, mijas," Camila smiled at the girls.
"Thanks, Mom!" 'Luz' ran off.
"We'll be upstairs," 'Lucila' called out as they disappeared into the hall.
"Follow them!" Luz urged as she held the cube. "Luz and Lucila Noceda 2.0. Doppelgangers!" However, nothing happened. "Why won't you work?!" She sighed in frustration, Lucila placing a hand on her back.
"I'm sure we'll get some answers, even though I'm curious too. But I don't think you'll learn them if you don't take a deep breath."
"Okay, Luz...Luci's right. Calm down. Just breathe and count to five."
A splash was heard nearby, getting their attention. Another cube emerged and glowed, the two stepping up to it. Another side glowed and Lucila stepped in front of it.
"A new life..."
"Everything's gonna be just fine..."
The two doppelgangers closed their closets and saw them. Luz and Lucila blinked in surprise before it turned into anger.
"You!"
The two doppelgangers screamed from their bedrooms, alarming Camila in the kitchen. "So you can hear me," Luz narrowed her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Lucila asked her own doppelganger, both of them backing away. 'Lucila' gasped and ran into 'Luz's' room, seeing the real Luz in the mirror.
"So yours is-"
"Yeah," 'Luz' nodded at her, Lucila appearing next to her sister on the other side of the closet. "You're both from the Demon Realm." 'Lucila' ran over, facing the real one.
"Listen, we just wanna-"
"We're not going back!" 'Luz' defended, both imposters' eyes blinking in a weird way. 'Lucila' hugged her from behind, glaring at them. "W-We won't go back!" 'Luz' picked up a baseball bat, 'Lucila' prepared to punch it.
"Luz, Lucila, esta todo bien?" Camila called out from outside the door.
"Si, mama," Luz called back. "Luci and I just saw a spoiler for Monster Slayer Academia."
"I will never understand anime," She whispered to herself before she left. Lucila sighed in relief, wiping off her forehead. The imposters turned to the sisters.
"Huh?" Luz smiled with a shrug, the two running off. "Wait!"
"Stop!" Lucila shouted as they both jumped out the window. They landed safely on the grass, jumping over the fence together. The duo stopped in the forest, noticing the abandoned house that Luz and Lucila went into before they landed in the Demon Realm. The two opened up the door, Luz appearing in the reflection of a compact mirror. Lucila appeared in the reflection of a small handheld mirror.
"So this is it," 'Luz' stated to Lucila, walking past the objects. "We're gonna have to run...again. Why couldn't this just work OUT?!" She kicked a rock and it set off a trap that was set up, capturing her leg. Her face and ears changed to be beige with tufts of blue hair at the tips. There were spots on her face and her eyes were light blue with yellow and black pupils.
'Lucila' gasped, rushing over to help, but she accidentally set off another trap, getting both her legs tied up in rope. Both of them changed into basilisks as they were terrified. 'Lucila' was a light purple basilisk with white spots going all the way down to her tail from her back. Her face was half purple, with white starting at her nose and continuing throughout her belly. Her ears were light purple with dark purple tufts for hair. She had green eyes with black irises, and white pupils. There were also four light purple spots on her forehead, two above each eyebrow. She had long indigo hair stopping just at her back.
"Stop moving. You'll make it tighter," Luz advised them, and they looked up to see the two. "We didn't mean to freak you out. We just wanna figure out what's going on, okay?"
"And honestly, we can't do much like this anyway," Lucila looked down at herself in the reflection. "Trust us, there's no magic here, we won't hurt you."
"You two are demons from the Boiling Isles, aren't you?" Luz wondered, the two nodding. Lucila got a closer look at them.
"Mm-hm." They switched to being partially like the two, but their ears, eyes, and spots remained. The one who posed as Lucila had a spot on her neck and on her elbow.
"They're basilisks...just like the one we saw on the first day at Hexside," She murmured, glancing to Luz, who nodded as she remembered.
"What are your names?" Luz asked them.
"We're Number Four and Number Fi-" Her friend signaled for her to not say the numbers, because they didn't go by those names anymore. "I-I mean...I'm Vee."
"And I'm Ivy," The other gestured to herself, trying to pull herself free and failing.
"Okay, Vee, Ivy, we're gonna help free you," Luz said calmly, just as their mother said earlier to the rabbit. "You're gonna be all right." Vee looked to Ivy, who nodded in confirmation that they could trust them. "Now, back up a bit. Give the wire some slack." The two backed away, staring at them. "Now look for a little metal thingamabob. Uh...sorry, I don't know what it's called."
"I think it's a clasp, it should be near your shoes," Lucila pointed forward. The two looked down and saw the clasps, letting them loose to free their legs.
"There you go. Nice and easy."
They sighed in relief as they backed away from the traps. "Thank you..." Vee said, sniffling. She hugged herself as she looked to the two. "You must be Camila's real daughters?"
"We are. But right now we're trapped in the Boiling Isles."
"It's...a long story," Lucila rubbed the back of her neck, looking away.
"Who are you guys and why are you pretending to be us?" Luz wondered to them.
"And how did you end up here?" Her sister raised a brow.
"We're...just looking for a place to belong," Vee murmured quietly, looking away.
"To survive," Ivy added in as she placed a hand on Vee's shoulder. Their eyes softened as the two Nocedas glanced at each other knowingly. They knew what that was like...
"You guys were missing, and Mom—I mean," She sighed as she corrected herself. "Camila seemed so kind, so we stayed with her. B-But, uh, we'll go if you want-"
"W-W-Wait!" Luz interrupted her. "Maybe we can help each other. Today we were gonna tell our mom where we've been, but because of you two she hasn't realized we've been missing." The two bent down to the mirrors. "So, keep living in our place. For now. When we get back, we can introduce her to the Demon Realm and help you guys find a place to live."
"Same goes for my best friends, Cori and Will. They don't know I'm gone, and they mean a lot to me, so don't tell them anything, I'll handle that myself," Lucila explained, Ivy's eyes widening. She then winced as she looked away a little. The older Noceda gave a confused look at that reaction.
"There's one problem," Vee held up her left ear. "We need magic to transform and, we, uh...just used the rest of it," She blushed in embarrassment.
"Hmm," Luz looked away in thought. They couldn't use magic where they were to help out, so how were they going to give them magic? She then saw something nearby. "Oh! That's where we can get some magic."
Ivy looked to see a newspaper and held it in her hands. "Secrets of Gravesfield?" Vee murmured in confusion, and it was written by a Jacob Hopkins.
"No, no. That's junk. Turn it over," Luz told her.
"That guy's a hack," Lucila narrowed her eyes in annoyance; she had heard of him several times before camp started, and his stories were usually ridiculous. Ivy turned the paper over.
"Strange woman banned from café," Ivy read it as it was a picture of Eda, of course.
"That's Eda," Luz spoke up and they moved the paper away to look at the two. "The Owl Lady."
"We've been staying with her ever since...this whole situation happened," Lucila chuckled a bit.
"She's been coming here for years. She might've left some magic stuff behind."
"Even if she doesn't know it," Her sister rolled her eyes.
"Okay," Vee picked up the compact and Ivy picked up the handheld mirror. "We can try..." She left with Ivy out the door, though none of them realized that their entire conversation had been recorded by camera.
Vee and Ivy walked past the 'Welcome to Gravesfield' sign, both of them wearing hats over their heads. Vee had one with cat ears, and Ivy had a red hat with black polka dots all over it, her ears hidden underneath it. Both of them put on big sunglasses, coming up to Robin's Roast Café.
"IS this it?" Vee asked quietly, glancing around nervously. "W-We just go in and ask about that witch from the paper?"
"Yes! Maybe they still have one of her enchanted pastries," Luz glanced back at the place.
"I know it's gonna sound stupid, but it's the only lead we've got," Lucila stated and then they both gasped.
"Ears, ears!"
Vee whimpered at her ears, holding the hat while Ivy re-hid her ears behind her hat. "Shouldn't be too hard," Ivy smirked confidently. "Come on, I'll do all the talking."
"Oh, I like her," Luz pointed up at Ivy, Lucila giving her a weird look. Mostly because Ivy still looked like her...
They stepped inside, Vee sniffing the air for magic. "Hello." Vee gasped as she covered her mouth. Thankfully, the barista didn't notice her sniffing as she just finished with a customer. "What can I get ya?"
"This is probably a question you don't get a lot, but have you seen someone leaving something behind here? As in, dressed in a weird way?" Ivy asked, arms crossed.
"Like, um, magical old ladies leaving enchanted items here?" Vee added in.
"Ugh," She rubbed a temple at the question, her eyes looking dreary. "You're not friends with that witch-obsessed guy, right? I told him to stop leaving pamphlets here!" Vee looked up and then noticed something on the wall.
"A-Actually, we're asking about her," She pointed upwards.
"The one in the middle," Ivy stated as there was a banned for life banner above them, and the biggest picture was of Eda holding a feral raccoon.
"Oh, Marilyn? Yeah, she tried to pay for a latte with a live raccoon a couple of months ago. But when I called the cops, she did something weird to the croissants," She held one up. "We threw 'em in the trash, but, well...hmm, now we have a whole new problem."
They walked outside after she explained what happened, sniffing the alley. "I don't smell any magic..." Vee stated and then gasped as they heard something up ahead. Ivy pushed away her friend protectively.
"Bread of wisdom grants us speech," Two talking rats with red eyes appeared from behind the dumpsters. "We desire more!"
"Cool! Talking rats," Luz smiled upon seeing them. "Maybe they know something."
"I'm not sure if they're friendly," Lucila raised a skeptic brow.
They hissed and Vee screamed, running off. Ivy kicked them away, chasing after her friend. They stopped in the park, Vee glancing back at the alleyway and they left. "Vee, is everything all right?"
"Oh," Vee chuckled nervously as she faced Luz. "Yeah. I, uh, just—oh, don't like confrontation. Heh..."
"That's why I handle all the hands-on stuff," Ivy explained, glancing at her friend.
"Oh, well, that's okay. I'm sure there's someone else who's seen Eda," She gasped, looking past Vee. "There!"
Three kids were underneath a tree, and one of them was holding Hexes Hold'em cards. "Hexes Hold'em cards. Eda got rid of all her decks. I was wondering where they went."
"She probably didn't want to destroy 'em," Lucila stated to her, Vee sniffing the air.
"Well, they must've run out of magic. I don't smell anything."
"But maybe they know where to get more," Luz suggested to her, Lucila nodding with a smile. "Okay, we gotta be careful approaching high schoolers. Mark all your exit routes-"
However, Vee just laughed it off. "Actually, these guys are cool," She walked towards the group, alarming Luz.
"Wait! Hey!"
"A past connection that left its mark on your soul has shown up again, and is asking you to shed your old ways and enter a metamorphosis," The one holding the cards said, closing her eyes. "Becoming the spiritual leader you're meant to be."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," The boy near scratched his stomach. Vee sat down in front of the girl.
"Hello."
"Hey guys," Ivy waved to them from behind.
"Oh, they're gonna embarrass themselves," Luz panicked a little, covering her eyes with her hands. "I can't watch."
"Oh, hey guys!" The girl with the cards greeted, alarming the both of them. "Good to see you outside of prison."
Vee just chuckled, Luz looking up at her sister in confusion. "Come on. Camp wasn't that bad."
"Camp?" Luz asked as they got a better look.
"We did have the best cabin," Vee smiled at them.
"Cabin seven. Hoo-ha-ha!" They all laughed and Lucila turned to her sister.
"I think she went in your place, but what happened to Will and Cori?" She rubbed her chin.
"Counseling you guys was pretty fun," Ivy smirked, hands on her hips.
"Cool cards," Vee grinned at them. "Where'd you get 'em?" She reached out to one, but the girl picked it up.
"Uh-uh. Let me give you a reading first. I wanna practice," She grinned at Vee, placing down three cards. One was of a crescent moon, another a skeleton with a golden chalice, and the last one was a fish with arrows.
"Whoa!" Luz got a closer look.
"You're running from your past," Vee and Ivy gave nervous looks at that. "From previous lives that were not kind to you," The two started shaking their mirrors, the two Nocedas looking up in concern. "However, the guilt and fear you carry will eventually catch you in a self-fulfilling prophecy that you won't be able to escape from."
Vee gave a nervous squeak as Ivy placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. "...You're gonna need some bath bombs, girl. Anyway, I got the cards over at the Gravesfield Historical Society," She jerked a thumb to the building across the street.
"Thanks. I'll see you around," Vee stood up dejectedly, leaving. Her friends stared after her as Ivy followed.
"Did you see the look in her eyes? I gotta find out where she bought those contacts!"
"Lucila!" She glanced to the side as Will ran up to her, followed by Cori. "Hey." He hugged her and she smiled weakly.
"Hey Will, Cori," She waved to them and Lucila gasped happily as she saw her friends at last. Will had black short hair underneath a black fedora with a light grey stripe against it. He had fair skin and brown eyes, being taller than Luci by a few inches. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt underneath a red short-sleeved t-shirt with black at the collar, sleeves, and bottom. There was a black power symbol over the shirt, and he had black pants with black sneakers with white laces. Cori was about the same height as Lucila, with short orange hair tied up in a high ponytail. She had blue eyes and tanned skin, and wore a black choker around her neck. She also had a spiked bracelet around her left arm. She wore a black short-sleeved shirt that stopped above her stomach, which was covered by a white tank top. There was white at the end of the sleeves, along with a white lightning bolt over her shirt. She had on a green skirt with horizontal and vertical grey lines going down it over blue jeans. She had on light green sneakers with white soles, her drumsticks sitting in a skirt pocket.
"I thought she was on a cruise," Luz raised a brow at Lucila, who shrugged.
"Knowing her, she probably did something to make them cancel. You know how much of a troublemaker she is..." Despite her and Cori being complete opposites, they were still loyal to one another, and they saw each other as second sisters. They met one day at recess in 5th grade when Cori accidentally got Lucila in trouble by painting one of their teachers...as a derpy-eyed figure on a brick wall. Lucila tried to stop her, getting paint on herself, and they both got in trouble as a result. But then Cori apologized to the girl the day after, and they had been friends since.
"You got out of prison too, I see," Cori smirked at her and Ivy laughed, waving it off.
"Oh, come on. Being camp counselors wasn't that bad, we did have our own cabin."
"True..." Will smiled at the girl, pulling her close. Lucila flinched at this, raising a skeptical brow. She didn't like where this was going. "So you wanna come to my house and write a song later?"
"Oh, uhh...I-I'll get back to you on that one," She stated nervously as she glanced to the hand-held mirror in her jacket. "Okay?"
"You okay?" Cori raised a brow at her.
"I'm fine, just...just sometimes I could show the real me sometimes," She smiled weakly.
"Your boyfriend's fine with the real you. And that's all I need," He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Luz and Lucila both gasped in shock at this.
Vee and Ivy rushed to the building, Lucila furious. "Boyfriend? Boyfriend?!" She exclaimed as Vee sniffed the air, letting out a sneeze. "You and Will are-"
"Yeah, talking mirrors need to be quiet," Ivy covered Lucila with her hand.
"Is it that dusty in here?" They looked up as a man walked in holding a broom. "Welcome to the Gravesfield Historical Society." He adjusted his glasses. "Let me guess. You're here to buy those weird cards, right?"
Vee gasped as they stepped forward. "How did you know?"
"Well, they've been really popular with high schoolers. Yeah, saw an old lady try to dump 'em in a river a while back, but I bought 'em off her instead." He rubbed his chin. "It was really odd though. She kept asking for snails."
"This is it!" Luz smiled, looking up at her fuming sister, who had her arms crossed. "Luci, we have a mission right now. We can talk about it later, okay?"
"Fine..." She relented with a huff. "But I don't have to like it." She was NOT gonna let this go...
"You want a set?"
"Yes, please!" Vee smiled at the man.
"Well, I'll be just a minute, so feel free to look around," He went into the staff room, Ivy narrowing his eyes a little.
"I don't trust this," She said exactly what she was thinking. She didn't know why, but she just had a bad feeling about him. The duo walked into the exhibit room, looking at a painting of a flag. Both Lucila and Luz appeared in the reflection, and they could tell that what their friend said was still in their minds.
"Are you okay?" Luz got no response from them. "Hey, forget what that girl said. I know what it's like to wanna run away from home. I did the same thing."
Lucila slapped her arm a bit, giving her a small glare. Technically, Luz was the one who wanted to run away, Lucila only stayed for Luz. Nowadays, though, she slowly grew out of that and started to appreciate the magical world she was in.
"You and I are not the same," Vee sounded a little angry. "You had a mom that loved you, a home, a life. You had it GOOD! And you still wanted to run away. W-We didn't have a choice." Vee cried a little, Ivy placing a hand on her back, and then she let out a sigh. "Ivy's real name is Number Four, and mine is Number Five. We're basilisks," The two took off their disguises. "And technically we...we shouldn't exist."
Vee and Ivy frowned sadly at their situations, holding the bars of their cages. And their limbs were also chained. "Our kind went extinct a long time ago. But we were brought back." Vee held a rat and drained it, though reluctantly as tears came from her eyes. The warden and two scouts were watching her. "They wanted to know how we drained magic."
"We met a basilisk once. She hurt a lot of people," Luz recalled their first day at Hexside.
"That...was a long day," Lucila sighed a little.
Vee stood protectively in front of the rats, Ivy staring at her from across her cage. "For many of us, all we knew how to do was feed. Some of us escaped..." The group looked up as Emperor Belos was standing on a cliff, in hiding. "But we knew it was only a matter of time before he caught us again."
"So I took Vee with me, to protect her. After I saw her bravery, she inspired me, and...well, I felt a need to become like a big sister to her. We had both been through a lot..."
They heard someone coming and Ivy stood in front of Vee as they were deep into the woods. Vee hugged her friend as a rustle came from the bushes...but out came Raine, who was slightly surprised to see them. They were in their BATT attire. The two backed a little, but Raine stepped forward, offering a smile and a hand. Ivy slowly took their hand and they pulled them out of the forest. Once they were in a safe area and the two basilisks explained themselves, Raine gave Ivy a guitar, as well as two cloaks before leaving. Ivy sat down and plucked a finger, playing a note. She started to play the instrument, finding it relaxing out of everything else they had gone through.
The two of them stared at Luz and Lucila from the crowd in the Boiling Isles. The sister duo had just arrived from home and smiled at Eda. They were both wearing cloaks. "That's when we saw you and...and realized there might be a way out of this," They sunk past the tent, going inside the same door that the Nocedas went through. They opened the door and slithered to the grass.
"Luz, Lucila, where are you?" Camila called out. The two gasped, turning around and shapeshifting into the two. "Girls!" The woman then found them as she walked in from the forest. "There you are."
Vee chuckled nervously as they faced her. "Hello, fellow human. Um, skin's sure weird," She pinched herself.
"And so are...clothes," Ivy looked down at herself, though was immediately turned off by the glasses and the hair.
"Very funny," Camila chuckled as she walked up to them. "But I was thinking, instead of taking the bus to camp, why don't we drive? I got the day off from work, and you'll have full control of the playlist," She offered a hand to the two.
Will and Cori suddenly came up, smiling at Ivy. "Luci!" He waved to her. "Our parents signed us up for being camp counselors!"
"You wanna come suffer with us?" Cori called out.
"We didn't mean to keep playing these roles, but Camila, Will, and Cori were nice to us..." The two joined their family and friends.
"I resent you for running away," Vee had her eyes closed shut, while Ivy frowned deeply at Lucila. "But we're also thankful that you did. I don't know. It's confusing," They put their disguises back on.
"You had a mom, good friends, a good career path," Ivy stared at Lucila. "Why did you reject Will?" The girl's eyes softened at her words. "You really hurt him!" She glared in anger at the girl.
"No matter how many times I apologized to him, it still follows me!" Lucila defended, gesturing to herself calmly. "It's my personal life you're messing with. I don't have feelings for him, and that's okay. But you can't just date people while looking like me." She blinked as she realized why she was getting this reaction. "Wait...you really like him, don't you?" She murmured; Ivy wouldn't take it that personally if she didn't like him.
"Aww!" Luz clasped her hands together.
"Of course I like him. He's sweet, fun, and really talented...but I guess we wouldn't realistically work out..." Ivy said sadly, looking away. "He'd call me a freak if he ever found out that...I'm not really human."
"I've known him for over a decade," Lucila smiled softly, no longer angry...for the most part. "If anyone's going to accept you as you are, it's him."
"I'm sorry I snapped at you..." Ivy rubbed the back of her neck.
"It's okay," The older Noceda replied calmly. "I just...I always knew we weren't right for each other, you know?" She shrugged a little. "Even with my...relationship drama," She glanced away, remembering that she was still in a love triangle. Luz nodded in agreement. "He's always felt like a brother to me. He'll understand once you tell him the truth."
"I can't just tell him!" Ivy protested at her. "It'll really mess him up."
"So is pretending to be someone you're not," Lucila stated with a sigh. "Do you really think you could live with lying to him for a while?"
Ivy gave a sad look as...she couldn't do that to him any longer. And she didn't want to...
Vee suddenly sniffed the air, getting their attention. "Do you smell something?" Luz wondered as Vee walked away. Ivy and the other two followed as they went into the staff room, which was dark.
"Where's the light...?" She turned it on, gasping in alarm to see various tools, pictures, books, and other things all related to magic or witches. They stepped further in, finding a glowing deck of Hexes Hold 'em cards. On the bulletin board was a conspiracy wall, some of them having pictures of Eda, though they had no idea how he knew her name. There was even a picture of Owl Beast Eda, and Lucila guessed that she might've not brought an elixir on one of her trips to the human world, therefore didn't change back until she somehow returned.
"What is all this...?" Vee backed away into a computer and they turned around as the screen came on. Two recordings were playing...and one of them was of the two basilisks in the trap. "Have we been followed this whole time?!"
"We've gotta get out of here, NOW!" Ivy shouted and they both ran off, only to step in a trip wire and get caught in cages. The mirrors fell and they broke on impact, cutting off Luz and Lucila.
"Vee? Ivy?" Luz asked in alarm.
"Vee! Ivy!" Lucila shouted as they got no response.
"VEE! IVY!" The two screamed in unison. A thunderstorm occurred, the two shaking in the cages. The two sisters appeared in a picture frame in front of them.
"Vee. Ivy," Luz said in relief, but the two freaked out and changed back into their basilisk forms.
"Let us out!" Vee screamed out, whimpering.
"Calm down, you've gotta change back!" Lucila whispered in alarm, but then the man stepped in, holding a stick.
"Whoa...it worked?"
The two sisters gasped, ducking their heads. He approached the frightened basilisks. "I can't believe it. Are—are you real?" He tapped Vee with the stick, who slapped it away.
"Back up!" Ivy growled at him. "Set us free right now!"
"After all this time, after setting up all those traps, I...I finally caught living, breathing demons!" He exclaimed happily, Ivy gritting her teeth at him. "Oh, don't be surprised. A few years back, I had a chance encounter with another one of your kind," He held up a picture of Owl Beast Eda. "Yeah. A-At first I couldn't believe what I saw, but...after watching a few Mew-Tube videos, I learned the truth." He crossed his arms with a smug smile. "Witches and demons are real."
Lucila and Luz gasped sharply. Until now, Luz was the only one who believed in them, but now someone had gotten to...obsession! She was just glad that she never stooped to his level...
"And they're all sent from Mars to harvest human teeth to power their time machine!"
Luz inhaled sharply while Lucila breathed a sigh of relief, sagging her arms. Ivy leaped forward to snap her teeth at him and he yelped, recoiling back. "You...don't actually know anything about us, do you?" Vee looked up at him.
"Oh, I know enough," Jacob glared at them. "I'll expose your vile plans on Mew-Tube and finally...get my account verified. Get comfortable, demons, cause you'll be in cages for the rest of your lives," He then left the rooms and Vee groaned in dismay.
"Don't worry, Vee, Ivy. We can get out of this," Luz tried to cheer them up.
"Go back to the Demon Realm, guys," Vee told them, confusing the duo.
"Huh?"
"Even if we get out, he knows what our disguises look like," Vee gestured to themselves. "He'd out us to Camila and Lucila's friends, and it would cause them more trouble than if you just disappeared."
"Vee, you're giving up too quick!"
"Ivy, you're not gonna let her say that, are you?" Lucila asked, Ivy silently looking away.
"We're being...realistic. It's okay. We're...used to living like this. Goodbye, Luz, Lucila," Vee looked away, swinging her tail.
"No!" The two shouted as she broke the picture, and in turn, the cube broke. "Vee! Ivy! Uh, Four, Five! N-Numbers Four and Five!" However, nothing happened and Luz slammed on the water in frustration. Lucila closed her eyes sadly.
"Noceda..." A voice eerily whispered to them. Luz sniffled and looked up.
"Camila Noceda."
"Will Ferrin and Cori Matthews," Lucila murmured as she opened her eyes. Two cubes appeared in front of them, engulfing the two in orange light.
Camila was in the kitchen, and thankfully, she saved Lucila and Luz's old things as she held up the tinfoil swan. "Boop," She poked the beak, giggling. Luz appeared on the reflection of the phone.
"Mom, are you there?"
"Huh? Luz?" She turned to her phone, smiling. "I didn't even hear you call."
"Mom...it's so great to hear your voice," Luz said happily.
"Oh," Camila picked up the phone. "It's great to hear you too? What's wrong?"
"We found out who's been setting up those traps, and he's...hurting a friend of ours."
"We?" The woman blinked and Luz pointed to the window, revealing a waving Lucila.
"Hi Mom..." She whispered happily.
"Lucila! Why are you standing outside?"
"I'm not," She let out a sigh. "It's...it's a long story." She glanced at her sister and they both nodded.
"But first, I have to tell you the truth...about the last few months. Let me tell you about a place called Boiling Isles." Camila sat down, Lucila turning away.
"I've gotta talk to my friends," She stated, disappearing. She then reappeared on Will's phone as he and Cori were in Cori's garage. "Cori! Will!" She called out to them as she could only see the pocket of Will's pants. He raised a brow and pulled out his phone.
"Luci, hey," He greeted her with a loving smile. "Is this about our date-"
"It's so relieving to see you guys," She replied in relief, Cori looking over his shoulder.
"We just saw you not too long ago?" The girl asked in confusion.
"Well, yes, you did, but that wasn't the real me. It was a friend of mine who was posing as me, and you've gotta help me save her and her friend too," She told them urgently. The two glanced at each other and nodded, turning to her with determined looks. They knew that Lucila wouldn't have reason to lie about this, and she did seem serious, so they believed her. They had known each other for a long time, and they would do anything for each other.
"Alright!" Cori pumped a fist.
"We'll help you—wait a minute, who have I been dating for the past couple of months then?" Will raised a confused brow.
"It's a long story," Luz stated while peeking over Lucila's shoulder, waving to them. "Hi guys." She turned to her sister. "Mom's on her way over."
"I'll tell you on the way, but you've gotta meet our mom at the Gravesfield Historical Society," Lucila informed them. A honk interrupted them and they turned to see June, Cori's sister, who was the girl who did a backflip for cheerleading tryouts when Luz attempted to try out. She was looking out her window of her silver SUV, having heard everything.
"Need a ride?" She smirked at her sister, who grinned widely. The two rushed over and Will got into the back, holding up his phone with Lucila's reflection in it. However, he got a little nervous as Cori got into the passenger seat, since...she was a safer driver.
"Isn't this your mom's car? And why are you helping me?" Lucila asked June in confusion, who shrugged.
"Cori's my little sis. I can't just abandon her...besides, if I did, she'd never let me hear the end of it," June glanced away, Cori giving a big grin.
"Nope, I wouldn't."
"Aren't you driving, Cori?" Will asked nervously.
"Nope. June is," The girl leaned back into her chair. June then started up the car.
"Hang onto something, Will," She advised him with a knowing smirk.
"Oh no..." He cringed as June stepped on the gas, driving widely. Will let out a scream while Cori had the hugest smile on her face, thrilled at the speed they were going. June just smirked while driving. Lucila gave an unnerved look at what was happening. Luz glanced away with a huff, wishing that she was in the car right now. She had always wanted to be in a car at that speed.
"Lucky..." She muttered bitterly, Lucila giving her a blank look.
Camila stood in front of the building in the dark, her car parked next to her. "You know, if you wanted me to pick you and your friends up, you didn't have to make up this elaborate story about the Demon Realm," Camila said in amusement.
"I'm not making it up, Mom!" Luz said, earning a laugh.
"Don't worry. I'll play along," She waved it off.
June, Cori, and Will arrived across from her. Will and Cori got out of the car and the woman walked up to them. "Oh, Lucila has gotten you all in on this game too!"
They glanced at each other in confusion, Lucila staring at her sister in the cube dimension. Luz just shook her head, signaling that Camila didn't believe her.
"Umm, no, Mrs. Noceda-"
"Camila," She gave them a playful warning look. "You two have known me for years, Mrs. Noceda is too formal for you."
"...Camila," Cori said slowly. "But it's not a game, Lucila told us everything, and we believe her." She gestured to Will's phone, and Will...looked a little shocked still after being told that the girl he believed to be his crush wasn't the real Lucila. He was a little angry, but after Lucila told him Ivy's story, he didn't know how to feel about it now.
"Oh, you kids still playing your role play games," She smiled as she walked up the steps. Lucila sighed, pinching her nose.
"Just let her think this way for now. She'll grasp it in a few minutes..."
"I'll wait here," June told her sister. "Just don't get yourself killed."
"Ah, you know me," Cori gave her a two finger salute, following after her friend and Camila.
"I know this stuff made school difficult, but I'm glad you're still being creative," Camila smiled at Luz as she entered the building. "And I'm glad that Luci's decided to play along for old time's sake."
Lucila just facepalmed, and then an ax was thrown at a statue of a witch. Jacob revealed himself from behind the desk.
"Are you the curator here?" Camila wondered curiously.
"Who's asking?" He raised a suspicious brow.
"Can I punch him?" Cori whispered to Will, who elbowed her.
"No...at least not yet. We don't know where they are," He whispered back, Lucila rolling her eyes in amusement. Her friend would never change...
"A little birdie told us you caught two demons," Camila winked at the man. "We would love to see it."
"Wait! How did you know? Do you work for the government?"
"Oh, I'm a veterinarian, actually," Camila told him.
"And we're both still in high school," Will deadpanned at the man. "We're-"
"So, the president sent a vet and two undercover agents to study the demon's anatomy, huh?" He circled the trio, rubbing his chin. "Sure, I'll show you. But first, I'll need verbal confirmation that I get to publish my findings...first," He pressed record from a voice recorder.
"Uh...kay," Camila just looked confused.
"Whatever," Cori rolled her eyes.
"Sure?" Will murmured in confusion.
"Good. Now you're bound by law. Follow me." He walked off, the woman smiling at her phone.
"You two even made me a part of your game. Oh! This is so fun."
Lucila sagged her shoulders, wanting to give a shout of frustration, but she didn't want that wack job to hear her. He opened the door and allowed the two inside. "Ooh! Is this one of those escape rooms?" Vee and Ivy were covered by cloaks. "Or, um...what do you call them? A LARP? Oh, sorry. Don't wanna break the illusion."
Will and Cori glanced at each other, wondering how much of this she was willing to put up with. Cori saw the two cages and crackled her knuckles with a small glare. She was getting furious as she deduced that was where the two were hiding.
"Let me start by telling you the secret history of Gravesfield," Jacob placed his arms around the three, and they pushed him off, uncomfortable already. He stood in front of the bulletin board. "In the 1600s, this was a peaceful colony until tragedy struck," He showed them a book of a building burning. "Two brothers were lured into a realm of evil by a real witch, never to be seen again." Lucila flinched, as that was the same era that Philip was sent to the Demon Realm. But she found it weird that a brother was never mentioned, so if that explanation was the same as Philip's, then why hadn't they heard of his brother until now? "People have stopped believing in the horrors of witchcraft, but...I know the truth!" He slammed his fist onto the table.
"Whoa!" Camila looked back to her phone. "Girls, this is quite a detailed story."
Will and Cori bit their lips nervously at him knowing...well, a lot.
"But now I've got proof that other worldly beings exist," He marched up to the curtains, standing between the cages. "Behold!" He removed the curtains to reveal a terrified Vee and Ivy, both their mouths taped shut.
"Oh, wow!" Camila chuckled in awe...and then she noticed Vee scratching at her skin nervously. "Those are very, uh, convincing...costumes?" Her expression fell while Cori and Will got over their initial shock.
"Can I punch him now?" She hissed to Will, who stopped her from lunging. Camila gasped as she realized that those were not costumes, they were real.
"Costumes?! These are real live demons!" Jacob pointed at the two. "Come here. Watch this," He went over to his monitors, and they got closer. He pulled up the video of the two getting caught in the traps and Camila gasped in horror. Will covered his mouth while Cori took a deep breath to calm herself down, but it was getting really hard. "More vile beings will probably come to their rescue. But I can protect humanity! I-I even had some custom gear made at the renaissance fair." He pointed to a glass cage where there was a suit of armor inside. "Usually I don't take it out for just anyone, but what the heck! If I'm gonna be working with the government, I might as well show off a little."
He went over to take it down, struggling to get it on the hook. "All right. Let me just—uh..." He struggled to get it, Camila giving a nervous look.
"Girls, come on. I don't like this game anymore."
"It's not a game, Mama," Luz frowned in worry. "Everything I told you was true."
"She's right," Will placed a hand on her shoulder. "They really are trapped there, Camila."
"So those things have been living with me the entire time?" Camila glanced behind her. "I-It's just a lot to believe," Her eyes saddened a little as she let the fact sink in that her daughters were trapped.
"Their names are Vee and Ivy, and they may look different, but they're not bad. Please, you gotta help them!"
Will turned the phone so that Lucila could look at her. "Please, Mama. I know it's all a lot, but you know that we can't just leave them here," She pleaded with her. The woman stared at the two basilisks, seeing their fearful eyes. They whimpered as she stood between them and then bent down to be at eye-level with Vee.
"Hello. This is all so confusing, but...who knew I had such strong girls living under my roof this whole time?"
The two teared up at that, relieved that she wasn't angry with them or wasn't going to hurt them. Will and Cori tiptoed over, the boy sitting in front of Ivy. She flinched, not knowing what to expect. He just chuckled a little, looking up at her.
"And...I sort of thought that something was off when we met. I didn't think too much of it, but now that I know everything...I hope we get to know each other better," He gave a small smile, Ivy's eyes softening.
"So, how do I look?"
The three looked towards Jacob, who had put on the armor. "Maybe we can collaborate on a version that can survive the battles on Mars." He then gasped upon seeing Will and Camila's phones. "Wait, what are those?!" The two sisters flinched in alarm and he stomps over. "Are you recording this?"
"Uhh..." Camila gave a nervous look, both Will and Cori wincing.
"Wonderful! I was gonna wait until after the press tour," He took a large knife from his armory. "But let's begin our live dissection of this demon right now!"
"Stop!" Camila, Will, and Cori shouted at him.
"Uh, the—the president just called," The woman stammered. "Yeah. And, uh..." Her daughters edged her to keep going, but she had nothing. "Uh...you know what? I don't have the imagination for this," She stood up, walking over to the cages. "We will be taking this innocent child with us, and you will never bother us again!"
"Yeah! And you'll never kidnap them again," Will gritted his teeth at the man.
"What? No, absolutely not. We made a verbal agreement!"
"Mister," Camila took out an upside-down slingshot. "You better back the heck down, or we will tell the police you have been illegally setting up traps and cameras on private property!" She threw down the slingshot, standing between Vee and Ivy. Cori and Will stood in front of Vee and Ivy respectively with determined looks.
"And don't think you'll get anything light for that either," Cori growled out.
"I won't let you take away my discovery! I'm the good guy here."
"Yeah...a lot of bad guys say that. Cori?" Camila looked to the girl as she took out a flip flop. Cori grinned knowingly and cracked her knuckles. She and Camila both attacked and then there was black.
It started to rain as the group left. Vee had Camila's coat over her, Will helping Ivy down. "Is it okay to leave him in there?" Vee couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah, what happens next?" Ivy wondered to them.
"He'll be fine. He can use the time for some self-reflection," Camila answered as Jacob was trapped in the cage, unconscious with marks on both of his cheeks from Cori's fists and the flip-flop.
The two cars arrived at the Noceda home, Vee and Ivy crawling out into the rain. Camila stepped out, as did Will and Cori. The group smiled at each other and then Luz and Lucila appeared from the headlights of Camila's car. Luz gasped at herself, Lucila looking at her arms.
"Look what I can do with the rain!" She smiled, seeing the basilisks as they went up to the two. "Vee, Ivy, we're so happy you're okay." They tried to high-five, but their hands phased right through them. "Whoa," She giggled and Lucila smiled.
"Forgot about that."
"Yeah. Thank you, Camila, for everything," Vee smiled at the woman. "And you too, guys," She glanced at Will and Cori.
"We're really grateful to all of you," Ivy told the group.
"Vee, Ivy," Camila took both their hands. "You both have a place here for as long as you need. And take these," She reached into her bag, taking out two decks of glowing Hexes hold'em cards that she swiped from Jacob. "Luz said they might be helpful for you both."
"And don't worry if you run out, either," Cori gestured to the car, June holding up boxes full of cards with a big smile. "That guy had a LOT of those."
"Magic!" The two gasped, eating the cards and going over to the house.
"Mom, you were awesome back there!" Luz exclaimed happily.
"Yeah!" Lucila cheered at her and the two peeked past the woman as they saw Will approach Ivy.
"So...you were pretending to be Lucila the whole time...were your feelings fake for me too?" He asked sadly and she flinched.
"No!" She exclaimed in protest, rubbing her arm. "I wasn't pretending, I do actually like you. You're sweet, you're a great guitarist, you're genuine." He blushed, hiding his hands in his pockets. "Thank you for not being angry..."
"Well, it's a little weird," He confessed to her, and then took her hands. "But...I think it's grown on me. And...if you want...we could start over?" He blushed and she blinked in surprise. "Like go on a date sometime?" After giving it some thought...he really did like Ivy, and he wasn't mad since he was just glad to still have Lucila around as a friend. He didn't even care that Ivy posed as her anymore. He liked the basilisk for who she was on the inside.
She glanced to Lucila, who was giving her two big thumbs up. "Go for it!" She quietly cheered her on, Vee nodding with an encouraging smile.
"...Yeah, I'd like that," Ivy stated with a shy smile, Will grinning at her.
Lucila smiled at the two, feeling like...like she could actually maintain a relationship for herself. It was going to take some work, but she hoped for the best.
"You okay, Luci?" Luz asked her.
"...Yeah. It's just that...I think I'm ready to decide, you know?" She smiled and her sister gasped knowingly.
"So...who's it gonna be?"
"Oh, you'll know soon," She chuckled awkwardly, waving a hand. "I just...I want him to know first. But you won't be mad with whoever I choose, will you?"
"Well...both choices do concern me since both Edric and Hunter did things to hurt you. And Hunter's still in the Emperor's Coven," Luz frowned a bit, replacing it with a smile. "But I'll support you no matter what, Luci. All I care about is that he makes you happy...but if he hurts you again, I'll make him regret it."
"I know you would," Lucila patted her on the head. "I just hope that he still feels the same way..."
Will and Cori noticed that Camila had been oddly silent and then they flinched as they saw why.
"Thanks for being cool about everything, you guys," Luz rubbed the back of her beck, Camila slowly turning to them. She cried as she stared at them.
"I'm trying to hold it together..." She confessed tearfully. "I really am, but I have never been this scared before. The Demon Realm? Magic?" The two frowned a little, concerned. "How are you both gonna get back here? Is this the only way I can touch you both?" The three touched each other's hands, but obviously the two sisters couldn't feel her.
"Mama..." Lucila tried not to cry too.
"W-We need a little more time, but if we keep working our hardest, w-we will make a working portal, we promise!"
"As scary as this is...it really does seem like you've matured," Camila smiled at the two. "And you're gonna tell me about these two boys as soon as you get back," She smiled a bit teasingly at Lucila.
"I will," She promised her mom.
"Yes! We've learned so much. Staying here was the best decision we ever made." Lucila shook at that, Camila narrowing her eyes.
"You...chose to stay there?" She sounded angry now and Luz realized what she said.
"Oh, uh..."
"Were you trying to live out some witch fantasy?" She then turned to Lucila. "And you just followed her without a second thought?" She turned away, crossing her arms. "Did you...did you two hate living with me that much?"
"Mama, no!" Luz protested at her.
"It wasn't like that!" Lucila added in.
"Luci...is this gonna be permanent? Are we gonna see you again?" Cori asked in concern.
"No," Lucila shook her head. "And I was never planning to stay here for as long as I have, I love you guys." The two smiled at her, eyes softening. They could tell that Lucila stayed for her sister, and the situation wasn't meant to be permanent.
"We love you too, you softie," Cori winked at her and she smiled back at them.
A crack was heard and they looked down to see that the ropes were pulling them back. "No! Not yet! Not yet!" Luz tried to pull them down, but it was no use. They held onto the cube, but couldn't hold on as they were being lifted up. "Mom!"
"Will! Cori!"
They saw the three in reflections of the cubes around them. "We're being pulled back!" Luz exclaimed and Camila reached out to them. Will and Cori ran up to Lucila.
"Just a few more seconds!" Cori cried out.
"Babies, no, no, no, no, no. When you come home, promise you'll stay here?" Camila pleaded with them, grasping their hands. "I didn't mean to push you away. I swear things will be different."
"Mom, it's not you. It never was."
"Please, listen, we don't hate you-"
"Promise me, girls," She interrupted Lucila, a tear falling down her cheek. "Please."
"...Okay, Mom. We promise." The two let go and they slowly disappeared.
"Luci..." Will and Cori murmured in worry. Once they were gone, Camila started crying again, the two teenagers going over to comfort her. June got out of the car, walking over and joining in on the group hug.
"MOM!" The two shouted, tears falling from their eyes as they were pulled further away.
"And pull, and pull!" The group struggled to pull both ropes as the portal was leaking. "And pull!" The two girls burst out of the portal, landing roughly on the ground.
"Whoa!" Hooty exclaimed and they all looked down to see the two Nocedas on the ground.
"Luz! Luci!"
They all helped them up. "I'm sorry. We had to pull you out," Eda explained to them. "The portal was closing." They looked up ahead as the portal creaked and then folded in on itself, disappearing into smoke. If they had been one second off...
"Did you talk to your mom?" King jumped onto Luz's shoulder. "Did you mention me?"
"Yeah," Luz smiled weakly, petting the side of his head. "Mama-Mom can't wait to meet you guys."
"Yeah. Will and Cori too," Lucila added in, the two girls chuckling nervously.
"Well, just rest up now, okay?" Eda patted them both on the head. "And don't you worry, kiddos. With everything we've learned, we'll have a real working portal in no time."
"I'm gonna eat human snacks!" King cheered, Hooty popping in.
"I can't wait to share parenting tips."
"Who dubbed you a parent?" Eda mocked, the two girls looking at each other with nervous looks while Eda and King were laughing.
Angel: So since we're still on hiatus for the show, and I rely on that for this fic, I'm gonna have to wait until the next episode returns, which probably won't be back until probably mid to late January or early February. In the meantime, I'm gonna go back to Sophia Satam, and uh...I'm actually not sure what else, because another story of mine that just returned is the rejected Varian spinoff which I decided to go back to, and it usually takes me longer when I write stuff that's original.
Uhh...I wasn't writing much early on this month because I was moving, and sooo I might just work on another new story to pass the time? And then by the time this show comes back, if Sophia Satam is done by then, I can just continue the one that's coming out. And what story is that, you might ask?
Why My Life as a Teenage Robot, of course, since it won the poll! I was gonna wait until January, but I guess not. I will probably upload it the week of Christmas as a Christmas present. And if you wanna know who Lucila chose, wait until the show is back and time will tell!
As for Will and Cori's last names, I had to come up with them on the spot. Cori's last name should be familiar as it's from a Disney Channel show, though! But if June or her name is different in the show, then I will change it if necessary. And finally, the car scene with Will and Cori was an idea from jebens1, though I did change some of the dialogue and how it plays out. The idea of Raine meeting Ivy so she could get interested in music also came from him.