The Journeys of Luz Noceda
Act I, Part I - Flight to Earth
Written by SumthnUnreal
A green-haired woman walked the halls of her great manor, clutching a handful of necessary documents about her work. She could hear her older children horsing around, however it did not bother her tonight. It was of utmost importance that those documents be secured. She entered her quarters and locked the door behind her. Her perceived dolt of a husband was reading something on the bed.
"Shouldn't you be working on the Abomitrons?" she asked.
"I did. Now I'm taking a break." He responded
"We don't have time for breaks. The Day of Unity is fast approaching and we need to be
ahead of schedule." She fired back with a hint of frustration
He set down his book in confusion "Ahead? Why do we have to be ahead? Why can't we just be on schedule?"
The woman set the documents down and sighed like she was talking to a child. "This is the most important day in the history of the Isles. We must be absolutely prepared as we only have one week before the eclipse."
The man got up, grumbling, and walked out. He opened the door to see his youngest daughter, who had overheard the entire exchange.
"Dad, what was that?" she asked. He couldn't discuss the matter with anyone outside of the imperial elite, so he gave a basic response.
"Imperial business. Just… ignore it, sweety." He walked away to reenter the basement and continue his work.
The girl was unsatisfied, and once her mother left, she sneaked in and snooped around for any information. She found the unsecured documents and read through them. They detailed the planned invasion and destruction of the human race. She was horrified and confronted her mother with the horrible information.
"Mom! What is this!?" she yelled, holding the incriminating document. Her mother whipped her head around and was shocked by her daughter's insolence.
"Is that my important work? Were you in my room?" she asked with anger.
"Yeah, and why are you doing this?" she asked, dismissing her mother's questions.
"That's classified. Go to your room." She responded with coldness and control.
"NO! I want to know why you're doing this." She didn't care how much trouble she was going to get in, she wanted answers.
"Amity Blight, go to your room! You will not see that human again if you keep this up." Amity was shocked, interpreting that last line as a threat.
"That human is my girlfriend, and if you kill her, I will never forgive you." By now, her father and siblings came in to see what was happening. "Now tell me, what is this?" as she held up the document.
"Amity, this is your last warning. Give me the paper and go to your room." Amity stared at her with anger and put her other hand on the document, threatening to tear it. Her mother was not amused.
"Take her away." She snapped her fingers and an abomination servant took Amity to her room. The document was intact.
"Mom, what was that?" Amity's older sister asked.
"Nothing, sweety, go to your room." Her mother responded with anger and coldness.
Something horrible was on the menu for Emperor Belos and it had to remain very hush-hush with the general public. The humans may be magicless barbarians, but mass murder is still mass murder, and that can upset people. Amity's father thought about how it was kind of wrong for them to just kill so many thinking, talking beings. He had seen the human of the isles and was impressed by her ingenuity. Perhaps these humans deserved a bit of respect. He came to his daughter to admit his true feelings about the operation.
"Amity…" he asked just behind the door.
"What?" she asked with anger and teen angst.
"Well it's just that I feel similarly about the invasion of the human realm. I feel as though there may be something worth learning about them if they truly live without magic" as he entered the room to comfort her.
Amity was a bit surprised by this. "Really?"
He explained further. "Yes. I saw your friend at the demonstration and was impressed by her. She's smart."
Amity chuckled and agreed. "Yeah, she is." And she paused before continuing. "Do you think we can stop Belos?"
Her father needed no time to think of an answer. "Oh certainly not. But, perhaps, we can visit the human realm to see it untouched before Belos tries his master plan."
Amity thought it was a great idea, but couldn't think of how they could do it. Her father, though, had a plan.
"Well, your human friend lives with the wild witch. Perhaps they could be of help."
And so it was a plan. They would sneak out and meet with Luz and Eda before getting through the now working portal. Her mother was busy in her room and so they just walked out the front door. They took a carriage to the outskirts of town and Amity led them to the Owl House. It was a bit late, but Hooty was good and ready to take them down. Amity stopped him before he could hurt them.
"Amity, what are you doing here? And who's that, hoot hoot?" he asked.
"Hooty, this is my dad and he wants to work with Eda." Hooty was caught off guard by this and was suspicious of his true intentions.
"Doesn't he work with the emperor's coven?" and Amity promised he wasn't.
"Well, actually…" to which Hooty looked him dead in the eyes. "Nevermind. Yes, I've denounced the coven."
Eda burst through the door, startling Hooty. "Really? Welcome to the club!" However, she quickly realized who she was looking at. "Wait, Alador Blight?"
"Edalyn Clawthorn, I would like to make a proposal to you."
"Yeah, I'm not marrying you." to which Alador was taken aback.
"No, I want your help to enter the human realm. Emperor Belos has built the portal in the depths of his castle. If we can infiltrate the facility, we can make it to the human realm."
Eda considered it and invited them inside. They searched Eda's stockpile for anything they could use. Luz, while digging through the pile, found an air rifle. Eda didn't know what it was and couldn't get it to work, so she put it in storage. It was a bit heavy, but Luz thought it might be enough firepower. She brought glyph paper with her and they set out. They reached the castle in just an hour.
At the guard post on the bridge, two guards shot the stuff about whatever was on their minds.
"...and after that they just up and arrested him."
"Whoa, really?"
"Yeah, after that I thought I oughta get a different job. Something safer than a bank guard."
"So you became an imperial guard?"
"Yeah, who the hell is going to attack the castle? It's the castle."
"Well I'd say those two over there are going to attack it."
"Who?"
"Those two over there" as he pointed to Luz and Eda peeking over a shrub. "HEY! SHOW YOURSELVES!"
Luz panicked and fired the air rifle. It hit the guard in the booth in the head and killed him, but she didn't know that. The second guard freaked out and was quickly subdued by the four. They put on invisibility glyphs and crossed the bridge. They made their way into the castle and made it pretty far until they passed Emperor Belos, who immediately saw through their disguise. Or, well, um, you know what I mean. Belos decided to play with them.
"Alador, I didn't know you were visiting today." His eyes bugged out like dinner plates and wasn't sure of what to do. He could respond, but that would give them away, however they were already revealed, so he just played dumb.
"Yes sir, sir. Gotta love the portal. All hail." Belos went along with it.
"Yes, of course. Move along." They walked away thinking they were homefree. Once they entered the portal room, Hunter met them.
"Well, well, well. Look who showed up." He greeted them snarkily.
"Wait, where's Belos?" Eda asked.
"Oh, he thought you all were going to the armory, so he put me here."
"Good luck!" Luz said with confidence.
"What makes you so so sure of it, human?" He said, feigning shock and surprise.
"I'm not just a human. I've mastered wild magic and survived on the Boiling Isles. Also, I have a gun."
Hunter was not impressed and his response was drenched in sarcasm. "Oh I'm so scared. Hit me with your best shot, human."
Luz did not hesitate, however she didn't want to kill him. She fired the rifle, hitting him square in the left arm. The bone snapped like a twig and Hunter collapsed from the pain. Luz loomed over and gave her retort.
"I never really liked you that much."
Belos rushed in, ready to take them down. He promised that they'd be petrified and their statues would receive no special treatment. Luz held up the rifle and warned Belos. He did not heed. Luz fired, hitting Belos in the eye. Green-black pus burst out and Belos cried out in pain. It was a much more serious hit than the first battle. They fired up the portal and escaped. Belos recomposed himself, called for the healing coven to take Hunter away, and made a statement about the group's actions.
On Earth, the four ran from the house, as they didn't want to get captured, but once they were sure of their safety, they stopped. They looked around and it was silent. It was early in the morning on April 4th, 2024. The sky was a beautiful crimson and the land was silent. The plants were wet with dew and it was a little chilly, especially compared to the ever boiling Demon Realm. Alador and Amity especially loved it. It was beauty unlike anything they'd ever seen.
After a few minutes, Luz came back to her senses. She led them to her house and rang the doorbell. Vee came to greet them and was a bit surprised. She immediately called for Camila and she was ecstatic to see her daughter. Luz explained the whole story and situation. Camila didn't care, though. All she wanted was her daughter, and now she had her back.