Rings bell like Amity and Luz trying to get out of Willow's head: Hello! Here's a new chapter after long, long while!
Warnings for emotional abuse of family members, child endangerment, bullying and attempted murder in this chapter
The second time around
Chapter 6
Letting it play out
Initially, Luz didn't feel as much anger against Edric and Emira, as she had before seeing them here in the library.
She smiled at them, seeing Edric leaning against the bookshelf with his arms crossed and Emira next to him, both of them with playful smiles on their faces.
"You look pretty calm for someone who just got chewed out by Mittens," Emira said.
Luz shrugged as she answered, "She's not so bad, I'm sure. Sorry, but who are the two of you?"
"We're witches on a mission," Edric said as he and Emira walked over.
"A noble quest," Emira said.
Edric added, "Watch this." He called to Amity, "Hey, Mittens!" He raised the pink bag as he yelled, "Mom says stop forgetting your lunch! And stop being a jerk to your friends."
Luz checked out of the corner of her eye, seeing Amity tense and glower at the nickname.
Luz tried not to groan. Okay, doing better started now.
As Amity came over to retrieve her lunch, Luz answered before her precious Amity could, "We're not friends," She then looked at Amity, "But I'd like us to be."
Amity actually lost her angered look when she heard Luz say that, almost dropping the hand that she had reached out to snatch the bag of lunch from Edric. She stared at Luz, stunned.
Luz just smiled and turned back to Edric and Emira before either of them could try to humiliate Amity further. "So, you're her brother and sister?"
"That's right," Emira said, looking startled by Luz's admittance that she wanted to be Amity's friend, and gestured to herself, "I'm Emira," she took Edric's free arm, "And this is Edric."
"Hi," Luz said, "I'm Luz. The human."
She knew how that was often thrown around, since humans were so rare on the Boiling Isles.
"Yes, we've heard about you," Edric said as Amity snatched her bag from him, "The one that gets Amity so worked up."
Luz almost snorted. It was funny that they put it like that.
"She doesn't get me worked up!" Amity protested, "And all of you just go away!"
She stormed off, giving Luz one last confused look as she exited the hall.
Luz turned back to Emira and Edric as they laughed, fighting the urge to glare. If she gave them the impression that she was a "stick in the mud," they wouldn't invite her to help them tonight during the wailing star, and if that happened, she wouldn't be able to give them a piece of her mind when they were trying to use Amity's diary against their sister.
And she needed them to understand that what they had tried to do, or were going to try to do, was just not okay.
"Come with us," Edric said, nodding down the hall, lifting his eyebrows, "We've got some fun ideas you might like."
Luz nodded and followed after them.
And their reign of mischief began. Luz laughed harder than she had the first time around. She might not have liked what Edric and Emira were going to do tonight to Amity's diary, but she wasn't going to pretend that she didn't have fun causing problems for the library staff.
When Amity finally told on them and they were pushed out of the library, Luz's grin and laugh was genuine as Edric and Emira laughed with her.
Luz still was giggling as Edric mimicked when Amity got made, making his face red and almost faltering, saying, "whew, almost passed out."
Luz tried not to smirk. Oh, she knew when Amity got angry. Really angry. They didn't need to tell her. She was still chuckling a little when she heard Emira and Edric ask if she wanted to join them later on tonight as they snuck into the library.
Luz did what she needed to do, pretended to be surprised, then honored that they would ask her and thanked them for inviting her along.
After Emira and Edric left, Luz herself left, fighting the urge she felt to turn around.
Amity had told her at some point, in the other time, that she had been listening in on Luz and her siblings just next to the library. So Luz knew that Amity was there, but she fought the need she felt to see her. She couldn't show that she knew more than she did. So she just left, aware that Amity was there.
When she entered the Owl House, she knew what to expect. A guest in the Owl House.
Joey had hidden away, fearful of the shrieking baby bat demon. So the timid snaggle-back wouldn't be making an appearance anytime soon.
A guest she had seen this morning, but still a guest. Who would be loud and annoying.
She went to the house, watched everything unfold and made the little comment as the bat babies multiplied about how rewarding motherhood was and left, readying for what she would have to do at the library.
Night fell, and she got to the library, knowing what to expect.
She arrived at one of the pillars, leaning against it and waiting.
Edric and Emira arrived soon afterwards. Luz smirked at them and said, "Let's do this."
They got into the library without problem and got to the middle of the library, waiting. The star fired overhead, past the high window, wailing all the while.
Luz turned to the books, knowing that nothing was going to happen, until one of them opened a book and read it, but still acting surprised that nothing was happening.
She looked to the twins then and she and they shared a shrug.
"Hmm," Edric said, "Nothing happened."
"Hey," Luz said, going over to one of the bookshelves, she pulled the book off the shelf. "All of the books are glowing," she said, and opened the book up, feigning shock as birds flew out of the tome.
Edric turned to Emira, both of them grinning. "The wailing star brings books to life!" Edric cried.
And so their "snowball fight," began, as did their many other shenanigans.
Luz quickly went to the room where Amity would read to the kids, grabbed the book that Amity had read to them, Otabin the Bookmaker and quickly hid it behind a bookshelf, pushing the bookshelf further against the wall, concealing the book from view, before running back to where the twins were.
Hopefully that would keep Edric and Emira from messing with the book.
And hopefully she had prevented one more crises.
As Emira put big, hairy, muscled legs on a poor duck, and laughed with her brother as they closed the book up, thankfully making the duck abomination disappear, Luz asked, a challenge in her voice, since she wanted to get the ball rolling, "Is that all you came here to do? Doodle in books?"
Something about the way she said it, must have gotten Emira and Edric into gear, because Emira scoffed, smirking, "No. Of course not. Here, there's something else we came here to do."
And Luz followed Emira to another bookshelf and watched as Emira pulled out a specific book and watched as the bookshelf moved out of the way, revealing the secret place inside.
And no, it wasn't lost on Luz, not this time around, that Amity had kept her hideaway stashed away behind the "romance" section.
They entered the room and Luz looked around, pretending that she was confused. "What is this?" She asked, "Your secret room?"
"Our secret room?" Emira laughed, "No, this is where Amity comes to get away. She thinks we don't know about it."
Finally, Luz felt the anger that she knew the twins deserved to have thrown at them. This was supposed to be a safe place for Amity. And her older brother and older sister, people who were supposed to protect her, violated that.
Luz ground her teeth together as she watched the twins search for what Luz knew would be Amity's diary.
Luz went instantly to where she knew Amity's diary was, grabbed it off the shelf, looked at it as if in curiosity, and when she heard Emira come towards her, pulled it away, hiding it behind her back, holding her hand up in front of her.
"Don't," she said, a warning in her tone, "This is Amity's. No one else's."
Emira said, sounding disappointed, "Oh, come on, we just want to put her diary on Pinstagram. She deserves to be taken down a peg. She shouldn't treat people the way she does. You've seen how she treats people."
Luz felt her anger rise up more. She knew that Amity was approaching the room and would soon find the three of them here. She knew what she needed to say to make sure Amity knew that she was on the youngest Blight's side, and that she knew that what the twins were trying to do, wasn't going to fly.
She snapped, voice harsh, "Well, I also know how you're treating her!" She added, before Emira could say anything, "And before you even think about it! No, it's not okay that you're doing it, just because you're Amity's family. Because you know what? If I had siblings like you? I'd never want to be anywhere near my home either! If I had a brother and sister like you? I'd run away from home. What you're trying to do? Is NOT fucking okay! Do you know what an older brother and an older sister are supposed to do?! They're supposed to protect their younger siblings. But that's not what you're doing at all. Amity hides here because she feels like this is a safe place. Which means she feels like her house isn't a safe place," She decided to put in the last knife as she sneered at the twins, seeing their shocked reactions, "I wonder why that is. Oh, wait, I guess I know two of those answers now."
She gestured at Emira and Edric for emphasis and was satisfied when she saw the hurt that crossed their faces.
Good, it looked like they were getting it.
She went on, shaking her head, knowing that Amity had just walked into the room, but not looking to where the youngest Blight was, "I don't know how you two convinced yourselves that this was okay. But you're supposed to protect your little sister. Not destroy what little trust she has in you. I'm keeping this diary away from you. And when I see Amity next, I'm giving it to her. If either one of you try to take it, I'm going to break your damn nose." She gave a threatening smile, "Do either of you really want to find out if I can do that?"
Both twins looked cowed into submission and actually had the decency to look ashamed.
Luz then heard a quiet gasp behind her and whirled around, forcing herself to look startled, Amity's diary in front of her.
Amity stared at Luz, stunned, and her golden eyes traveled down to the diary in Luz's hands. Luz looked down at the diary, then gingerly stretched her right hand out, offering the diary to Amity.
Amity took the offered diary and stared at Luz some more, very clearly not sure what to say, then she looked at her brother and sister and glared at them.
She said, anger in her voice, "At least someone respects my privacy. Then again, what should I expect from the two of you?"
Luz glanced at the twins, fighting a smirk when she saw Edric look like he had been slapped and Emira flinched.
Good. It was what they deserved.
Amity looked back at Luz and said, catching Luz's attention, "Thank you. I…I don't know what your deal is. But thank you…Luz."
Luz nodded. She then added, "Hey, can I show you something, Amity?" waved a hand at the twins, "Let's leave these two. Is it okay if I showed you something?"
Looking uncertain and cautious, Amity nodded. "Okay," she said and Luz smiled, leaving the hideout, Amity following her, leaving the ashamed twins behind.
They reached the children's section and Luz stuck her hand behind the bookshelf where she had stored away the book that Amity liked.
She pulled it out and showed it to Amity as she said, grinning, "The wailing star brings things in books to life." She shook the book in meaning as she said, "I kept this safe from Emira and Edric. Do you wanna meet Otabin in person?"
Amity looked skeptical, but eventually nodded, Luz's actions in Amity's not so secret hideout, having proved to Amity that Luz was trustworthy, to a certain extent.
She held her diary protectively under her left arm and reached for the book with her right.
Luz nodded, opening the book till she reached the page with Otabin on it and handed the book to Amity.
Amity took the book, looking down at the page. Her face softened when a small voice filled the room asking, "Will you be my friend?"
"Amity," Luz said, causing Amity to look up at her, "Turn the book over. Go on."
Amity appeared skeptical again, but did as Luz said. She flipped the book over and Otabin fell out of the open book, dropping to the floor.
Amity gasped, watching as the small, friendly, pink rabbit-like creature looked up at Amity timidly.
Amity slowly kneeled down to the floor, smiling at the fictional character. "Hello," she said, and Luz smiled as she watched such warm softness flowing off of Amity.
Otabin asked quietly if she would be his friend. Amity smiled as she allowed Otabin to hug her and she took the small character into her arms.
Day eventually arrived and the magic from the wailing star faded. The drawn figure of Otabin faded and Luz watched as Amity gave a bittersweet smile as the character disappeared in her arms. She slowly closed the book and pushed it closer to Luz, allowing the other girl to pick the book up and put it back on the shelf.
Luz then looked back at Amity, walking over and asked as Amity got up from the floor, "Can I ask a personal question?"
Amity chuckled, "Well, you just kept my diary from Emira and Edric, and you just saw me with one of my favorite childhood book characters. So, go ahead."
Luz smirked. She then asked, "Did you like Otabin so much, because of how things are at your home?"
When she saw Amity stiffen up, she added, "Sorry, that was too personal a question. I shouldn't have asked that."
"It's okay," Amity said, but she sounded uncertain again, "It's just that…home is…if you knew what it was like for me there, you wouldn't be surprised that I wanted to hide from my family."
Luz shook her head as she reassured Amity, "Hey, since I just saw what your brother and sister are like? I can't blame you at all right now."
Amity smiled, appreciating what Luz said. She answered, "I think yes, maybe that's why I like Otabin so much." She added, "Don't tell anyone."
Luz chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't."
Besides, she wanted this precious moment to belong to only her and Amity, greedy as that was.
As she and Luz left the library, Luz added before Amity left, "Hey, I noticed in your hideout, that you only were up to number four," she dug her hand into her bag, pulling out the fifth of the Azura volumes and handing it to Amity, "You can borrow this if you want."
Amity took the book from her hesitantly. "Thank you," she said, and started looking uncomfortable as she said, "And thank you too, for keeping Emira and Edric from taking my diary. And for…for Otabin."
She added as Luz saw a slight flush of pink on Amity's cheeks, "I guess I haven't been the friendliest witch to you. I'll think on that." She then looked at Luz carefully as she said, "I still don't trust you. But I trust you more than before, I guess."
Luz smiled, nodding. She understood that. After what Amity had seen Luz almost do to Lilith? She supposed she understood the distrust. But this was a start.
Amity turned and walked away.
As much as Luz wished Amity would trust her fully, she knew she couldn't expect that much now. She would have to wait for the rest to play out.
Feeling confident now that she had prevented a good deal of problems and had begun to worm her way into Amity's heart, Luz tried to ignore the warmth in her chest as she headed back home.
Amity needed time.
And she knew what came next too.
The body switching debacle.
And her and Gus getting thrown into detention.
The body switching couldn't happen. Even for her, that had been too much craziness. It had all worked out for her, King and Eda, sure. But too much insanity.
And as tempting as it was to see Lilith as a three headed dog again, and to watch Lilith's body be moved around by a dog, since that was ultimately what Lilith deserved, it was too much chaos. So that was a no.
Those two elderly women? They would have to be dealt with. They had almost killed King and had held Eda captive inside their twisted pet shop.
But everyone else? She could handle that later.
But the body switch debacle, couldn't happen.
She arrived at the Owl House, and had smiled at Eda and King sleeping and holding the three baby bats. Her smile widened when she saw that Eda and King must have gotten the babies calmed enough for Joey to come out of hiding, because he was curled up on the couch next to King.
Then the door swung open and Hooty announced a visitor.
"Hooty!" Luz hissed, even if she knew who was about to enter.
She tried to ignore the uneasiness as the giant head with smooth, black hair bulged through the door.
Even if Luz had prepared for this moment, it still hadn't helped. If there was at least one thing that still creeped her out in this world, it was the Bat Queen.
"Whoa," Luz said, "You must be mama."
"Yiyi," the Bat Queen introduced herself, summoned her babies and spat out the trunk of gold and the whistle and left.
Luz shuddered and turned to Eda and King as they woke up. Well, time to prepare for the next shenanigan.
Over time, during the days and weeks that passed, she always did push ups, sit ups and would grab the rafters and pull herself up, increasing upper body strength. Always exercising, so that she kept her muscle mass up.
So, when the incident rolled around, Luz just said, without any nonsense in her voice, that all three of them and Joey were going to help clean Hooty, and no debate. When Eda tried to argue, Luz said coldly, "I could always take all the mud off of Hooty and dump it on you while you're asleep."
The coldness in her tone had the effect. Eda's eyes widened and she said, "Sheesh, kid. You're scary sometimes."
Luz chuckled, but said nothing. She'd take scary. If that meant that she got results.
So the body switching crap hadn't happened. Thankfully.
However, after they got ready to go home, Luz snuck over to where that pet shop was, and pulled out the glyphs she had prepared last night. She stood close to the pet shop and unleashed the fire glyph. She set fire to a wooden fence and some grass and backed away, screaming and pretending to be scared and yelled, "Someone help! These two women set the grass on fire and are trying to set people from the Emperor's Coven on fire!"
No, she hadn't attacked anyone from the Emperor's Coven on fire, but she doubted that the Emperor's Coven needed real actual reasons to lock anyone up.
Several members of the Emperor's Coven came over and soon, both elderly women were arrested and dragged away. Luz smirked. "That's what you get for trying to kill King and imprisoning Eda," she said, then she looked at the shop. The cats. She'd need to make sure they had a home.
She quickly went back to Eda and told her that she had been going for a walk, and two women that owned a pet shop, set some things on fire and got arrested. And she suggested that they find a home for the cats, and that would be a good way of making money.
Eda, as soon as she heard about the money? Was onboard.
They spent the next few hours finding homes to people who they were sure weren't going to eat the cats, and getting money for finding the kitties homes.
Joey still was too uncomfortable going out and helping them with the market, so he had stayed at home. Which meant it was just the three of them that would be flying back. As they flew back on Owlbert, Eda said, smirking as she looked down at Luz who held King protectively, "You know, if you had told me I'd be taking in a kid that knew how to blackmail me and would make me more money than I've ever seen, I'd have laughed."
Luz smirked back at her second mother, saying, "And I'd of laughed if I knew that I was going to be taught by a giant owl woman, but here we are."
They got to when Luz had been admitted into Hexside, after she and Gus had almost been killed in detention.
Gus was asking if she could come in and Luz knew the truth, that she was still banned from school.
Luz thought about not going through with it. But here was the thing, Gus needed a confidence boost. He needed to feel like he actually could do something, that he could contribute something.
And Luz knew that this was how it was going to happen.
So, she had let everything play out. Had come to school, had let that brat, Mattholomule, send her and Gus to detention. The three of them had broken out of the lethal detention, by Gus's help alone and Luz had not interfered at all, even if she knew how to stop it from experience from last time, and Gus had gotten the confidence that he needed. Eda had gotten Luz into Hexside and Mattholomule had ended up as the president of the club.
Luz had smiled at Gus as she and him parted and she had headed back to the Owl House with the exhausted Eda.
Luz had mixed feelings. On one hand, she was sure that she had done what she had needed to do.
On the other hand? She couldn't ignore the cold clenching in her stomach. It just felt so wrong.
If she hadn't known what had been going to happen from the beginning, she might have risked Gus dying.
And she certainly may have traumatized Gus. Trauma that he got that he might have avoided, if she had stopped the incident before it happened.
But she hadn't.
Luz was sure that she had done what was necessary, but it didn't change the pain in her gut, telling her that she had done something very, very wrong.
However, she smiled warmly at Eda, so very grateful to her second mother for making sure that she got into Hexside.
She must have thanked Eda over a dozen times as Eda kept grumbling, "Don't mention it, kid."
And Luz knew what happened next.
Luz was dreading it.
The Bat Queen.
She was not looking forward to this.
But she knew it had to happen, if she wanted to eventually to gain the Bat Queen's trust and respect.
So, she let everything play out. She stole Owlbert and she, Willow and Gus jumped on Owlbert and crashed him.
And eventually, Luz, Willow and Gus, went through the forest, looking for Owlbert, finding the Bat Queen and Luz was put through the trials.
She was a lot better at dealing with the trials than she had been given before. She pulled off the trials with almost no sweat and panting. She then turned to the Bat Queen, knowing the next part.
"Give Owlbert back," Luz ordered.
The Bat Queen stopped Owlbert from going over and attacked Luz. Luz, actually smirked this time. She might have felt uneasy around the Bat Queen, but she knew that she could handle this.
She held the wooden staff protectively in front of her.
The Bat Queen left her rock and flew at Luz.
Luz leapt up and rammed the opposite end of the wooden staff into the underside of Yiyi's chin, making the Bat Queen hiss, leaving her, then Luz jumped away from Gus and Willow, not wanting them to be caught in the crossfire and got out of the cave, jumping on the side of the entrance to the cave and rammed the staff in her hands into the Bat Queen's left eye as the Bat Queen lunged at her.
Yiyi screamed, eye closing and rearing back and Luz jumped down, running into the forest and stopping when she found the pile of bones.
And she heard the wind hitting her as she knew the Bat Queen fly at her from behind, groaning in pain as Luz had injured her eye.
Luz raised the staff in front of her protectively, waiting for the important part as the Bat Queen swung her talons at Luz and Luz kept the staff against the Bat Queen's talons, and that was when she saw the interlock at the bottom of the Bat Queen's right foot.
"That's an interlock!" Luz said, and looked right up at the Bat Queen as she started getting pushed back with the force of the Bat Queen's body, "You were a palisman!"
This got the reaction she wanted. The Bat Queen's eyes widened and she pulled herself off of the staff she had been pressing against and dropped down onto the ground, her massive face looking away.
Luz sighed, holding the staff in her left hand, dropping the end of it on the ground and holding it in front of her.
She had no time for the Bat Queen's abandonment issues.
She asked, "Someone threw you away?"
The Bat Queen gave her story and Luz played the script and she saw all the palismans in the tree branches.
And Owlbert came back to her. And Luz said, "I'll help you find the person that had you on their staff. And," she looked at the branches of the trees where all the other palismans and said, looking at the Bat Queen, "And I'll help protect them."
The Bat Queen looked surprised by this statement, then Luz and her friends left, with Owlbert.
She arrived back at the Owl House and when Eda and King came back, she knew something had happened. But she wasn't going to ask. After all, they had been fine the first time around right?
So she didn't ask.
Then one of the more chaotic situations started to arrive. The…writing issue.
She decided to let everything play out. She knew she needed to be careful if Joey got caught in the crossfire, since he was fragile. But she still decided to let it play out. King and her writing, king getting his head out of his rear and figuring out that other people had feelings and that he should respect them, almost getting crushed, then busting out with the glyph she had put on the writing and punched that lizard in the face afterwards. They got out and the scrunched authors scrambled off, but Luz grabbed the lizard and held his arm behind his back, ramming him to the floor, her foot to his neck and ordered him, a growl in her throat, "Change the crunched authors back to normal. Now!"
Feeling the air being squeezed out of him, the lizard groaned, "Alright, alright."
He waved his free hand and made a circle and blasted out at all of the crunched authors and they went back to normal. The authors all turned back to normal thanked Luz and turned on the lizard, beating the shit out of him.
Luz and King smirked at each other and left, going back to the Owl House.
They saw Joey there and promised the nervous snaggle-back when he asked, that everything was fine.
Eda came in, dropping down onto the couch and making some comment and King acted accordingly, running away.
Luz chuckled as Eda got up and looked at her, curious. "What was that about?" Eda asked.
"Sister," the typewriter that Luz and King had been working on the past few months, "You don't wanna know."
This time Luz actually laughed. Well, the typewriter was right about that. Eda probably didn't want to know that much.
Eda looked at Joey and Joey said quietly, "It's complicated."
Luz turned to Eda as she gently touched Joey's fur and he actually purred at the feeling. As Luz had learned snaggle-backs were like whatever demon King was. They liked to be petted.
Luz asked, "And where have you been all this time, 'Owl Lady?'"
Eda said in a nonchalant way, leaning back against the couch again, "Eh, just went to find something I thought would help me. And saw Lilith after it too. Turns out someone was laying a trap for us both."
Luz's jaw tightened, hearing that.
Lilith. Fucking Lilith.
She hadn't realized that Eda had seen Lilith during her time with King.
She pushed her anger down. She just nodded and said, "Well, it looks like it ended alright for you."
Eda smirked. "Oh, yeah," she said, "It will take more than just some embarrassing catlike demon to stop me."
Luz almost chuckled. Ah, a catlike demon. Interesting.
She decided to stop thinking about Lilith. As long as she didn't see Lilith, she'd be fine.
She'd figure out how to deal with Lilith later.
Besides, she still had the truth potions stored away.
The next few days passed calmly, but Luz noticed the same thing on the ground that she always did.
That there was rumbling periodically. Continual rumbling.
She couldn't help but listen in on that rumbling.
She didn't want to jump to conclusions, but the entirety of the Boiling Isles was basically the Titan. So, what did it mean that the ground was rumbling?
She remembered something important. The massive heart of the Titan? It still was beating. She had seen it, hanging overhead over Belos when she had witnessed Belos draining palismans of their magic.
The heart was still beating. Which meant, physically, at least, the Titan still lived. The brain probably was rotten, which meant that the Titan wasn't "alive" alive. A being was only a living sentient being if their brain developed.
And Luz had no idea if the Titan's brain was still present.
But if Luz's theory was right, then maybe the brain was still present. The rumbling ground?
Maybe it was the Titan trying to contact someone. But who would it be trying to contact?
She considered that. Considered that for weeks.
Then came the time for her to go to the knee of the Titan.
And Luz got Eda to take her there. She talked with Amity and Amity's siblings, glad to see that Edric and Emira were being protective of Amity now and they all went to the Knee together. Luz pretended to not know anything as Eda sat her down and told her to see what she needed to.
Luz knew how to control ice, so she didn't actually need this lesson. However, she was glad she was here, if only to keep an eye on the Slither Beast.
As long as she didn't cause any problems, the Slither Beast wouldn't get angered and attack Eda or the twins or anyone else.
But she stayed, just to make sure that the Slither Beast wasn't angered by something else.
Nothing happened and she had no intention of causing problems like before, because there was need to this time around.
When she pretended to Eda that she had just "discovered" how to use the ice glyph, Eda grinned and she and Luz left, and Luz got ready for her first day at Hexside, which was only in two days.
This brought her to the troubled question of what she was going to do about the basilisk that would arrive at Hexside.
She knew she had to let everything play out. As much as it scared her to let Amity get her magic drained by the basilisk, she knew she had to. In order to gain allies with Viney, Jerbo and Barcus, and in order to get into the tracks that she wanted to? She needed to let things play out.
She could, however, avoid hurting Viney, Jerbo and Barcus's feelings by being careful in how she talked about not wanting to be in detention, when she spoke to Willow and Gus.
Just because it was necessary for the events to happen, didn't mean that she needed to hurt anyone's feelings.
Two days went by and the first day at Hexside had begun for her.
She went to Hexside and stood before Principal Bump, selected the Potions Track.
She had learned some, then had gotten herself thrown into detention when she deliberately messed with one of the crystal balls.
She ended up in detention, told the teacher that none of the people in detention deserved to be there, noticing that Viney smiled at that.
Then she saw Willow and Gus outside the window and told them that she and none of the other people in the detention class, should be in class and that they all deserved better and told Willow and Gus both, that they all should get out of detention.
And a few minutes later, Luz was led into the secret channels within the walls of the school.
Channels filled with doors all over. Doors that led to different parts of the school. Luz had expressed wonder and joy, but inside, she was considering how she could use the doors to her and the others' advantage. Maybe this secret place of Viney, Barcus and Jerbo's, could be used as a base of operation.
As her new three friends showed her around, Luz looked through one door that she knew was a row of lockers and saw Amity, her chest warm, seeing and hearing Amity.
Amity said, walking back and forth, her back to Luz as she pondered what was happening. She said, "She's in the same school as you. That doesn't mean anything." Luz smiled. She hadn't understood the first time, but she certainly did now.
And it looked like she hadn't needed to worry about Amity potentially not falling in love with her.
She slowly closed the door, leaving Amity to her privacy.
She walked around the secret chambers and saw Viney walk off. Viney opened up a square of the wooden door when Luz heard Gus and Willow's voices.
Luz listened to Viney listen in on Gus and Willow.
Willow said, "Well, Luz said that she and the others deserved better than to be in this class and that she wanted to help everyone in class get out of detention. Maybe she helped them."
Viney turned back to Luz and said, startled, "You wanted to help us get out of detention?" A smile crossing her face when she said that.
Luz shrugged. "Hey," she said, "You all are better than what Bump thinks of you."
Jerbo and Barcus both looked at her happily.
Luz then added, knowing that time was growing closer to the greater Basilisk showing itself, "Can Gus and Willow join us? The two right outside the door of the detention's classroom? We can trust them. Promise."
Viney, Jerbo and Barcus shared an uncertain look, but then Viney opened up the window into the classroom and said to Gus and Willow, who both jumped back, startled, "Come with me. I know where Luz is."
Viney backed away from the window and Luz stepped by, grinning and waving at Gus and Willow on the other side of the window.
Willow and Gus gasped, looking at each other, then turned back to the window. They slowly climbed through into the secret halls.
Viney closed the window up and Luz gestured around her and her new friends. "What do you guys think?" She asked.
"Wow," Willow said, eyes wide.
"This is amazing!" Gus said, grinning, "This was here the whole time and we never knew?!"
"Yep," Luz said, walking slowly to the door that would lead to a window in the auditorium, "This whole time."
She had to time this just right.
She stopped next to the door and heard principal Bump's startled voice, then heard familiar growling. Growling Luz knew, belonged to a basilisk.
Luz tried to ignore how her heart stung at hearing Amity's startled cries, but knuckled it down. Amity would be alright after this. Right now, she had to look at this objectively.
She said, tilting her head as she heard Bump cry out and groan, "Hey, you guys hear that?"
She opened the door up just slightly, peering out.
She saw the dangerous scene before her.
The greater basilisk sucking out the magic of both Bump and Amity, who were unconscious on the stage of the auditorium.
Luz's right fist clenched, seeing Amity like that, weak and unconscious.
Well, she knew that this basilisk was going to pay. Big time.
She gasped, pretending to be shocked and closed the door, turning to the others who all looked at her, confused.
"There's some sort of snake thing out there," She said, "It's done something to Amity and principal Bump!"
Startled, all five Willow, Gus, Jerbo, Viney and Barcus rushed over and opened the door, looking out carefully, making sure they weren't seen.
Seeing what Luz saw, they closed the door quickly.
"That…," Viney said, stunned, "That looks like a greater basilisk. They're supposed to be extinct."
Luz said chuckling, and nodding to the door, "Tell that to that thing. What do we do? We gotta do something, right?"
Willow and Gus both nodded.
Viney, however, lowered her head as she said, "We always get into trouble."
"Okay," Luz said, "I know you don't want to get into trouble. But we can't stand back and do nothing. We make trouble? Then let's make more trouble. Besides, Bump might get us out of detention afterwards if we can stop the basilisk."
Eventually, Jerbo, Viney and Barcus nodded.
So, the six of them went into action.
They spied on the basilisk as it slithered through the halls and that was when they lunged in. Luz gave her "performance," the basilisk cried out, "dinner!" and lunged and she, Willow and Gus attacked.
They led the basilisk to Jerbo, Viney and Barcus and they defeated the basilisk, sending her through the floors, crashing onto the back of the stage of the auditorium.
And dropping a bunch of sacks of sand onto the basilisk.
When principal Bump and Amity got their magic back, getting up, Bump was startled and Luz hashed it out, pointing out that they wouldn't have done this if they had been given a chance at having more than one track.
Bump had sighed and allowed it, assigning Viney, Jerbo and Barcus into the different tracks they wanted to be in.
Then Bump turned to Luz. "And you, Luz?" He asked.
Luz smiled, knowing her choice, knowing that she had to focus on only a few tracks. She said, "Potions, plants and healing."
Bump twirled his finger, making a circle and Luz's outfit transformed, the colors for Potions, Healing and Plants covering the sleeves of her outfit.
She grinned, seeing this.
She looked down at where Amity was and Amity smiled up at her, and Luz smiled back, warmth spreading through her at seeing Amity alright, and glad that she was here.
When the rest of them left the school, Amity went over to Luz and said quietly, looking self-conscious. Amity glanced her gold eyes at Luz nervously as she said, "You were really brave in there, Luz."
Luz was surprised when she heard a slight whimper fall from her lips. She almost kicked herself. For crying out loud! She didn't need to do that and make Amity feel more self-conscious.
And Amity certainly didn't need to know just how much Luz felt for her. Because if Amity knew that Luz basically loved Amity, there would be questions as to why the emotions were so intense now when it was so soon.
She thanked Amity and smiled at her and said that she hoped to see Amity soon and waved bye to her as she left, trying to pretend that she didn't notice how Willow was glancing at Amity, looking uncomfortable.
That was right. Willow.
She'd need to figure out how to go about the thing with Willow's memories.
But they weren't there yet.
Right now, Luz knew she needed to worry about what happened at that circus. That little pig demon. And King's insecurities. And the shrinking potion.
Luz almost groaned, remembering that. Right, that was still going to be an irritating pain in the ass.
She hated it, but she was positive that she would have to let that incident play out too.
Because King, Gus and Willow would have to learn to work together.
King would have to learn how to deal with his insecurities. And Willow and Gus would have to learn to respect King.
Thankfully, the circus wasn't for another couple of days. So she could prepare.
There was also the matter of Willow's memories and as much as Luz hated it, she knew she would have to let that happen too. Willow and Amity needed to repair their relationship. Oh, Willow would be in danger, but Luz knew it would work out.
Luz hated that she was going to have to allow it to happen, but she knew that she had to.
And there was Grom too.
This? Luz wasn't sure what to do. She would have to try to think of whether to let things happen or to put a wrench in the whole thing.
She just didn't know. She'd have to figure out what to do about Grom, later. Thankfully, there was still time.
A couple of weeks.
Right now? She'd just focus on what was going to happen in the next couple of days. She didn't want to have to deal with being shrunk or almost fed to animals, but it was just something she'd and the others would need to go through.
She walked back to the Owl House, noticing King run past her…with a red tie around his neck?
King ran back into the Owl House, and Luz shook her head. Sometimes? She honestly wondered how people as chaotic and Eda and King had survived this long. Then again, King running away with a red tie on him, was hardly the weirdest thing she had seen Eda or King do.
She got close to the Owl House, noticing more rumbling to the left of the house, seeing the ground bubble up, then felt the ground shake under her. She sighed, shaking her head.
She had no idea what that was about. But if it was the Titan? Then she'd figure it out later.
As she started getting closer to the door, she stopped walking when she heard the exact pattern of the rumbling from the ground. Four long rumbles. Then two almost earth shattering shakings.
Then two more long rumblings. Then five shakes.
Luz's eyes widened and paid more attention.
Rumblings. Long, long rumblings. Short shakes.
Wait a second…she knew how that sounded, just not with rumblings and shakings. It was something she had only seen in movies and TV shows. Tapping. Then long scratches.
Luz said the words, realizing what she was hearing, suddenly realizing what form of communication the Titan was using, "Morse code. It's frigging morse code!"
Author's note
So this was rushed. Went through several incidents. But the main plot at hand is coming up eventually. And yes, it's leading to something. Something drastic.
And as for the Titan? Arashinokitsune and MaurauderPrime12: Glowers. The two of you predicted it before I got the chance to prevent it...but yes.