True Parallels.
Written by: Gwendolyn Frost.
Chapter 1: Yesterday's Tragedy.
The Knee.
The highest point in the Boiling Isles. A mystical place, covered in snow, which witches used to climb in the old days of wild magic to perform powerful spells. Used for festivities. For self-improvement. For discovery. To meditate…
That was exactly what Luz was doing at the Knee. Alone, sitting on a log covered mostly in the white cold snow. Thinking about that conversation she had with her mom, thanks to that interaction they had in the in-between.
She made a promise…
That's the only thing that filled her mind. Even when she wanted nothing else at the moment but to be able to hug her mom, she wasn't ready to leave the Boiling Isles behind just yet.
Thankfully, the Knee's weather was soothing. It was cold, but the breeze was tolerable. The sun stood strong up in the sky. The temperature was warm enough for Luz and comfortable enough thanks to the layers of clothing she had on.
"Luz?"
The sudden voice made Luz to become stressed, her heart pounding slightly. That was Amity's voice. She knew it too well.
She looked over her shoulder, her eyes had a terrified look on her face, she wasn't expecting to run into her girlfriend today.
"Oh hey… Amity." Luz blurted out, shaking a little bit, but not because of the cold.
"Hey." Amity took a few steps towards her, but when she noticed the expression on Luz's face, she stopped. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! I… just didn't thought I'd see you here." Luz tried to force a smile on her face.
"Well… I was worried. You didn't come to school in the last couple of days. I thought you'd tell me how the experiment with the Titan's blood went. I went to see you today at the Owl House. Eda told me you'd be here… practicing." Amity said, still showing concern on her face.
"Oh… yeah! I was just taking a break." Luz said, staring at the now pink haired Amity from afar. The silence reigning for a few moments before Amity smiled when she realized that Luz wanted to be alone.
"I just wanted to know if you were alright. I'm sorry. I'll just… go." Amity said, but before she could even turn around, she stopped when she heard Luz protesting against it.
"NO!" Luz said, now standing. "Please, don't go." There were a few tears on her face.
Amity began to walk towards her. She stared into Luz's eyes filled with clear wet orbs and then brought her into a hug. Luz tightly held Amity, like she never did before.
It took some time for Luz to calm down, both now sitting on the log and staring at the beautiful view of the Titan's remains. In silence. Before Luz decided to confess.
"I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't be keeping things from you. Something happened, and I'm worried about the future. I talked to my mom." Luz said, facing Amity, who gently held her hand, squeezing it slightly to comfort her.
"It's ok, I understand. The fact that you're in this state, I assume that… it's complicated?"
"Yeah…" Luz said, squeezing Amity's hand back.
She began to explain from the beginning. From where she walked into the in-between. To when she tried to communicate with the human world. To discovering a basilisk named Vee had been impersonating her on the other side. To when she spoke to her mom.
Ending with the promise she made to her…
"I didn't have the time to explain to her… that there is too much things I want to do in this side. That I want to be a witch. That I want to keep in contact with all of you." Luz sniffed.
Gently, Amity wrapped her arm around Luz's shoulder, rubbing it lightly. "Luz…" Amity whispered.
Making Luz to face her, with a soft shade of red on her cheeks. She was shaking a little bit, she thought that Amity was going to be upset about it. But… to her surprise, she was smiling.
"Whatever you decide… I will respect it. There's nothing I wish for in the world than for you… to be safe. It'll be too selfish of me to ask you to stay. I'm satisfied with the time we've spent together. And ever since we become closer… I have no regrets. I'm sure… that the rest of us will feel the same way."
Luz began to tear up once again. "I don't want to leave you guys…" Her voice cracked.
"I know." Amity said.
"I don't want to leave you just yet…" Luz sobbed, making Amity to hold her once more.
"I know…" Amity tried her best to remain strong, she was a little bit heart broken, but she cared more about Luz, than her own feelings.
"I'm gonna talk to her… I will try to… if I could go back in time I would re-phrase what I said!" Luz whimpered.
"It's ok. It's ok."
Luz held onto Amity tightly, but before she broke the hug. Her eyes focused on one particular spot, not far away from where they were sitting down.
There was an odd formation of rocks… where they rocks? She thought.
The more she stared at it, the more she started to make sense of what her eyes were seeing. As soon as she broke the hug with Amity. She stood up, quickly making the pink haired Amity to ask.
"What is it…?" Amity noticed that she was staring behind her and quickly turned around to look at the formation that caught Luz's attention. "Oh, that?"
"Do you know what that is?" Luz asked, the look in her eyes were of shock and surprise.
"It's just some old junk, it's been there since I can remember. Why…?"
"You don't know what that is…?" Luz asked.
By now, Amity was a little uncomfortable. "No." She said. "Are you ok? What's so important about it?"
Then Luz replied. "That's called a Tesla Coil." Luz then began to walk, heading towards that construction, making Amity to follow after her.
"Wait…! What is a Tesla Coil?" Amity asked, concerned.
"Well… I… can't really explain exactly what it is and what it works for. Wasn't paying much attention to class when they mentioned about it once. But that, it's human technology."
"Oh." Amity said as she walked next to Luz, who began to speed up a little bit. "Wait, Luz… are you sure we should be checking this out?"
"What if this has to do with Philip?" Luz asked, reminding Amity about the other human who lived at the Boiling Isles, hundreds of years ago. "I must know… why is this here." Luz replied with a look of determination on her face.
While Amity was still deeply worried about this, she decided to stick next to Luz, she knew that when she got an idea on her mind she wouldn't let go. So, the least she could do was to make sure she came back home safe.
They walked towards the Coil, it felt like an eternity. Their shoes sank down on the deep snow underneath their feet with every single step. The unmistaken sound of crunching was stuck in their heads.
But it was soon replaced with an unusual sound, like a thump… as their feet seemed no longer walking in a thick layer of snow, and were now stepping onto a wooden floor.
They both stopped, they were inches away from the coil. They heard a crack… and then they screamed as the floor crumbled down under their feet, and they fell down into a hollow base…
It was a strange room, dark… which soon began to illuminate, with bulbs over their heads flicking every now, before stopping once they warmed up.
Quickly, Luz stood up and helped Amity up, who was groaning a little bit in pain from the fall. "Hey, are you ok?" Luz asked with concern.
"Yeah, what about you?"
"I'm ok. I'm so sorry…" Luz said, fully regretting to drag Amity into this mess. However, the more her eyes looked around the room, the more curious she felt.
But Amity was fast to point at the wall.
"That… the Emperor's seal." Amity said, looking around, trying to see if there was anyone else in the room. She summoned her staff out of thin air. With her palisman, Ghost, attached to it.
Luz looked at the seal, and gasped when she realized that there was something else that she recognized. She walked up to a desk, with three broken lanterns. Two of them were shattered in pieces, while the third one at the far right was mostly glued together.
"These…" Luz began to feel her heart beating a little faster.
Amity walked up to her, and lowered her staff when she realized there was nobody else in the room and looked at the desk with the lanterns.
"Those are Phobos'… lanterns, right?" She said, they were speaking about a monster they had fought at Hexside, a few weeks ago.
"Do you think that Belos tried to mess with these…?" Luz asked.
They both stared at those lanterns, specially the one that seemed to have been put together by someone.
"We… maybe, we should go. "Amity tried to look for an exit, while Luz examined the broken pieces closer. Her eyes soon set on a different item, a desk light. She leaned in and gently pushed her index finger down on the red button, and the bulb turned on, illuminating the desk.
She then followed the cable that it had attached to, realizing that the whole room was working with electricity. Above her head, on the ceiling, there were more bulbs, which occasionally flicked.
"Why is this room working with electricity, while everyone else in the Boiling Isles just use magic?" Luz asked out, making Amity to look at her from the other end of the room. "There must be a power generator somewhere in this room."
"Like… the one at the Owl House?" Amity asked, making Luz to nod and look around some more.
There was indeed, a big power generator at the very back of the room. But it was different, from the one at the Owl House. There was an odd looking glowing blue gem on it. The generator was modified to accommodate the gem on the top.
When Luz leaned in to touch it, she felt her hair standing up straight. Making Amity to gasp. "Luz!"
But Luz didn't feel any pain, she wasn't being electrocuted. She removed her finger and her hair went back down on its own as if nothing happened.
"This is different…" Luz said, Amity then brought Luz to step back.
"Ok, no more touching things." Amity said with authority on her voice, making Luz to crack a soft laugh.
"Sorry… I just…"
"I'm serious, don't go touching things that you don't understand. Promise me." Amity said, now with a concerned tone in her voice.
When Luz heard that, she replied with an apologetic look on her face.
"Sorry, I promise." Luz blinked when she looked over Amity's shoulder, and noticed an odd-looking staff at the other side of the wall.
It was standing on a weird looking device, that seemed to be connected to the power generator and to some large cables that went through the ceiling.
"Luz…" Amity said as Luz began towards the staff. "Please don't touch it."
"Ok ok, I'm just looking." Luz said, examining the staff before letting a soft chuckle escape from her lips. "This looks oddly like Sailor Luna's staff."
"Sailor Luna?" Amity raised her eyebrow.
"Oh, it's an anime. It's… a magical girl type of thing. But this staff looks really similar to that kind of anime trope designs."
"Please don't touch it. You promised." Amity said as Luz was dangerously leaning in to take it.
Luz gave a frustrated look and then sighed before giving a smile. "Ok. I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing, Luz. Just don't go around touching stuff. Please, I don't want you to get hurt."
"I know…" Luz said with a soft chuckle. "I don't deserve you…" She gave googly eyes, feeling so happy that her girlfriend cared so much about her.
Making Amity to blush heavily. Then rolled her eyes. "Why are you so damn cute…" She whispered in frustration before raising her voice. "Ok… just be careful." She gave in, making Luz to gleefully lean forward, she took the staff with her hands and examined it closely.
There was an inscription on it that reads; 'Yesterday's tragedy, is tomorrow's solution.'
They both stared into each other after reading it. With Amity asking. "Does it mean anything to you? Is this a Sailor Luna quote or something?"
"No. This doesn't really sound like something I heard before." Luz said, examining a similar looking gem on the staff, that mirrored the one on the power generator. This was an odd-looking staff, different from the ones she has seen on the Boiling Isles. It had a blue gem, some golden plates, wings on the top and with the blue gem resting at the tip.
"Don't touch that." Amity said before it even crossed Luz's head.
"Ok!" Luz laughed. She looked down, there was a small opening in the device, there was something down on the floor, hidden.
Before Amity could even protest, she had already taken what appeared to be a notebook.
"LUZ!" Amity complained.
"I'm sorry!" Luz felt goosebumps when she heard the upset tone in Amity's voice. "It's a notebook, it's nothing dangerous!"
"Ok, let's find an exit before you go around touching anything else." Amity said and then began to lead the way across the place.
Luz didn't let go off the notebook or the staff. They soon ran into some door, it was busted, as if someone had blown the doorknob off. And there was an odd-looking stain on the floor.
"Do you think that's…?" Luz asked.
"I don't know. I don't care. We're leaving." Amity said and walked through the door, up some stairs and then used her magic to blast a way out, the breeze quickly seeped into the room while they finally reached the exit.
They stared into the Tesla Coil still standing up in the same exact spot it was.
"What is this doing here…?" Luz whispered to herself before Amity spoke up to her.
"We should go. C'mon, I'll walk you home." Amity said and before Luz was able to say any 'buts' she quickly cut her off. "No buts. You've been under a lot of stress, and you need some time to rest."
"We're coming back for the lanterns, right?" Luz blurted out.
"We will discuss that tomorrow. Now move." Amity said as she held onto Luz's hand and began to lead her away from the Coil.
"Hey Amity…" Luz said with googly eyes again. "Did I ever tell you you're such an amazing girlfriend?"
Again, Amity blushed heavily and then replied with a frustrated tone. "You get on my nerve sometimes…" But then cracked a smile. "But you're amazing too. Please don't make me act like the responsible one… you should start doing your part too."
"I know." Luz giggled.
They both walked back down the Knee, as soon as they reached the warmer side of the woods, they removed their gear and made their way back to the Owl House.
Inside, they hanged out in the living room. Occasionally, Eda and King would join them, but they tried their best to give the couple some alone time.
At some point, the sun began to set, and Amity decided that it was time for her to leave. She stood at the entrance with Luz and spoke up to her.
"Hey, I'm sorry for being so harsh on you today. I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I know." Luz smiled, leaning in to give her a small tender kiss on her lips. "I'm just glad you were there with me. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Amity chuckled softly. "I'm tired, I got to do an assignment before going to sleep. Don't go back there without me. Or without Eda at least. Promise me."
"I promise you." Luz laughed softly. "Scout's honor."
Amity just glared. "I'd prefer this." She then performed the everlasting oath. Making Luz to gasp.
"Wait…!"
"Don't back down on your word." Amity said, giving her the 'I'm watching you' gesture.
"Ok…" Luz said in defeat and waved goodbye at her as she walked out of the Owl House.
"Good night!" Amity said and Luz waved a little more.
"Rest well!"
Just when Luz closed the door to the Owl House, she turned around and was greeted with the sight of Eda standing in front of her, holding a mug of appleblood.
"What did you do?" Eda asked, almost as if she knew she was up to something.
"What?! I didn't touch anything…!" Luz panicked, puffing her cheeks and looking around all nervous. "Wait… where is this coming from?" She asked, surprised that Eda was able to tell when she was holding onto something.
This made Eda to blink and then shrug. "I dunno, there was this… unusual feeling on the back of my mind. Like a millenary instinct just woke up or something. You better not be doing something you shouldn't. You hear me?" She scolded her before she gave a soft chuckle. "Whoa… there it is again. I may need a little more of liquid wisdom." She then sipped from her mug.
"Ok! Don't worry. No suspicious things are happening around here. I swear. Ok, good night!" Luz slowly walked towards the stairs the more she spoke, and when she finished speaking, she quickly heads upstairs to her room. Making Eda to shrug it off and go back to the living room.
Inside Luz's room, she took the staff which she left lying on her bed and placed it against the wall next to the window. She was tempted to touch the gem once again, but she could almost hear Amity's voice in her head telling her not to.
She took a few steps back and her eyes soon set over the notebook that she found alongside the staff.
Her hand reached for it and in one swift movement she dropped onto her bed and began to read through its pages.
'There was an incident, taking place at Hexside a few days ago. From what I heard from multiple accounts within the Coven members, it was a creature, never before seen or documented about in our world. I did some digging, at the high-ranking Coven members' library. I had to look through a bunch of books written by Wild Witches. I learned a lot. But over all, what the Emperor commissioned me to do, it is just… not possible.'
'The creature known as Phobos, comes from another realm, which Wild Witches called; The Neutral Grounds. It has absolutely nothing to do with Midgard. The land of the humans. This is a hostile place, with a very hostile kind of magic. Unbiased. Dangerous. Hence the name of the realm. Magic there is not bound to the laws of man or witches. And it is why creatures like Phobos exist.'
'Every so often, there is an event that occurs. That results in the thousands of random curses unleashing upon their world. And one of those curses, happened to be; Phobos. I studied the various books of these Witches. That made contact with this world. And according to them. Curses are classified in 4 categories.'
'The classification of Phobos, is a category 3. They say that Phobos was not only evolving and casting magic. They were breaking and bending a fundamental law of the universe. In this case; Space.'
'From what I was told from Coven members, this seem to be the case. And it aligns to what it was written on these books. Phobos was capable of bending the space of Hexside. Creating rooms or modifying them. Our Coven Members got lost in this place. I was told they swallowed them and they would be tossed outside through a portal.'
'So, this creature is capable of opening portals. Bending the space within a construction. Increasing or decreasing the mass of an object. Themselves. Multiplying and being able to exist in multiple spaces at times. Moving through the walls.'
'I'm surprised that this creature was beaten by a bunch of Hexside students and two old Witches. With space bending powers like that… it sounds like they should be outmatched. Yet, they prevailed. Which only made Emperor Belos' to grow more interested in the Owl House members even more.'
This made Luz to gulp, but kept on reading.
'But… it still doesn't make any sense. They completely made a fool out of our Coven Members. Our most powerful witches were no match to this creature. Sure, Emperor Belos wants to brag that his so-called Golden Guard was at the scene. But I was told he was tossed out of the building like the rest of them. If Phobos was able to do this… what could they possibly gain from losing?'
When reading this part, Luz looked up from the notebook and began to think about it. "Did we even win…?" She then looked back down to read some more.
'Whatever their endgame was, we may never know. What matters is, the Emperor wanted me to examine these lanterns. Because he believes that's the key to the creature's mystical magic. The Golden Guard said himself, that in order to defeat the creature. The Owl House Witches had to break these lanterns. I tried re-assembling one of them. I did all sorts of experimentation. I read a lot of books. And there is nothing. NOTHING. On these lanterns.'
'Which again… makes me think back on the Golden Guard's input that they were beaten when these lanterns broke down. They're just lanterns. This isn't a power source. They hold no magic like palismen staffs do. I tried everything. There is nothing. Either the Golden Guard got it all wrong, or maybe Phobos played us all along.'
'I wouldn't be surprised. I heard the tales; this creature was madly unstable. But I think I got a theory. Curses in the Neutral Grounds, come in 4 categories. And they all depend on the level of toxicity that one individual is exposed to. Category 2 cursed subjects can be exposed up to 25% of magic poisoning. How casters are able to level up and prevent poisoning, is channeling their magic through an object. Staffs, most of the time. So… Phobos being a Category 3. Then maybe… they were channeling their magic through their lanterns. Which would explain why there is no magic residue.'
'But Category 3 cursed subjects are said to be exposed to up to 48% of magic poisoning. Is this the reason why they're able to bend space? This is the closest thing to an explanation I have so far.'
'Emperor Belos wanted me to find a way to use these lanterns to open a portal. As the one he is working with is still in development. Unfortunately for him, these lanterns do not work. They're regular lanterns. So, Phobos took that magic with them. He was not happy, hearing this. Made a tantrum, but I'm used to it. It isn't the first time he showed his true colors.'
'Which bring me back… to the staff. Emperor Belos got a hold of this staff, over a decade ago. When he confiscated the belongings of a Wild Witch that he sentenced to petrification. Apparently, some of the books I read through were found at her place. So, she, somehow, had a connection in this mysterious realm. Was it her staff? I'm not sure…'
'I read through her books. And she mentioned it belong to a magical warrior called The Blue Lightning. She was a powerful sorcerer, capable of summoning the thunder. In the books they claimed that the Blue Lightning made a name for herself when she beat Phobos in the early stages of their curse. Back then, Phobos was described like a corpse of sorts. A Re-animated corpse. Humor, I know.'
'She beat Phobos and allowed the creature to be imprisoned. There were some detailed tales of her, what she could do. Not only was she able to summon the Lightning. But apparently, she was rumored to have time distortion abilities. Classification of her, was theorized to be a Category 2. But if she's able to bend time. Was she a Category 3? From the sound of it, people think it's unlikely that she's a Category 3. As most of them have unstable level of magic toxicity. Leading them to become… stranger in appearence. Like Phobos.'
'So, they theorized that maybe it isn't her that's bending time. But the staff. So, she might just be a Category 2, capable of casting Lightning. While wielding a powerful relic, with the power for time displacement. Unless… the staff is just junk. Like Phobos' lanterns. And she's the one wielding that magic. And if so… will she be that elusive Category 4? Either way. There is certainly something special with this staff. Unlike the lanterns. But I can't seem to be able to crack it.'
'I've been stuck in this loop. For over a decade since Belos brought this staff to me. Not sure if we have the instruments to make this work. He has been going on with this Day of Unity for decades. Coven Members are growing tired of him, preaching about the day when our realms will merge together. Long ago, if you asked him about it. He would say… soon. But that soon never came. Now that he has this door that he's messing with. He actually believes that his plan will go through very soon.'
'But… he's still waiting for me to crack this staff. So, he has a back up plan, if the portal doesn't work. What can he possible want going back in time? I'm not sure. I'm not that old…'
"Going back in time…?" Luz said out loud, closing the notebook, and resting her head on the pillow. Digesting all the information she just read about.
She took one last look at the staff, and whispered to herself. "Yesterday's tragedy…"
End of Chapter 1.
Hi, gotta mention again, that this is a sequel to a fic I wrote recently called Love Crafting. It's on my profile, if you read this first, may I recommend reading that one before I post more chapters? I hope you have fun reading it, if it's the case!
So, I tried my best to get rid of some of my bad habits in writing. I hope this chapter is far easier to read than my previous fic. I do have to apologize for the amount of exposition at the end. I tried leveling it up with some fluff in the introduction.
I know that time travel is such a cliché trope in writing… but I got some mad fluff in mind that you might find interesting. ~
Thank you for reading!