Hey guys, here's chapter 7 of The Misadventures of Vee. Here we go.
When Vee had heard she was grounded, she'd prepared herself with dread to be buried alive. She'd never believed that humans, let alone her mom, would punish their children so harshly, but the Human Realm was full of dark surprises. It was only after Camilla had caught her holding her breath as "practice for surviving under six feet of dirt" that Vee learned that "grounded" was a human term that meant Vee was not allowed to have any fun. No fun meant no video games, no internet, no phone, and definitely no hanging out with her friends.
The no phone rule lasted until Vee had to do her homework where Camilla had no choice but to temporarily allow the basilisk her device back.
"You're still grounded, Luz? Still?!" Beth said incredulously.
"Guys, you can't call me," Vee whispered into her phone and shot a glance over her shoulder to make sure her mom wasn't nearby. On the screen, she could see the rest of the MCH were gathered in a doctor's office waiting room. "I'm not supposed to even be talking to you, I'm only allowed to use my phone for tough questions."
"But it's been, like, a week!"
"That's nothing," Lance bragged. "I once was grounded from flying the family helicopter for a month."
"A month?" Vee shuddered at the thought.
Vincent gawked at Lance. "Wait, you have a— you can fly a— What?!"
"He's rich," Beth quickly explained and pulled the phone so close she took up the entire screen. "Luz, tell me you can get away long enough to be here when my cast gets removed," she pleaded. "This is the biggest Badge of Adventuring in the Wilderness I've ever gotten. You were there when I twisted my ankle and I want you to be there when the doctor fixes it. It's our baby!"
"I wish I could, Beth, I really do," Vee grumbled. "But mom is still really freaked out about the vampire fiasco. She doesn't want me anywhere near magical creatures."
The video jumbled for a few seconds and suddenly Dani's face filled the screen. "She what?!" she growled. "No, you can't let that happen, Luz. We're not the Magical Creature Hunters without you. I need you!" Dani flushed red. "We! We need you!"
The video shifted around again until the entire MCH could be seen smiling encouragingly at Vee, except Dani who was rocking back and forth in her seat with glassy eyes. "We, we, we," she mumbled repeatedly.
"I've dealt with this scenario before, Luz, and I've calculated the perfect solution with a 98% success rate," Vincent pontificated like a college professor. "The key is simple. Show you have grown more mature and learned the lesson your mom wishes to impart. Agree to never do what got you in trouble in the first place ever again and she'll unground you."
Vee considered the idea. "So… tell my mom that I've learned that I don't need to hang out with you guys and chase magical creatures so she'll give me permission to hang out with you guys and chase magical creatures?"
Vincent's smug grin dropped. "Oh… oh boy… this is more complicated than I thought."
As Vincent reevaluated, Dani recovered from whatever was happening to her and gave Vee a curious look. "Hey, uh, Luz, last week, why did your mom call you Vee?"
"Oh yeah," Beth remembered.
"Is that like a nickname?" Lance asked.
Vee nearly dropped her phone. "Sh-she did? I didn't notice, um, that's just— oh no, mom's coming! Gotta go, bye!" she said, ended the video chat, and collapsed on her back.
Mom wasn't coming. Vee had just chickened out. Again. Her mom knew she was a basilisk. Her abuela knew. Almost every magical creature in Gravesfield knew, and they all accepted her. So why was it hard to tell her friends? The lie had been going for so long… was it too late to stop?
"Mom, I'm done with my homework," she called miserably. Her homework was in fact not done, but Vee couldn't focus anymore.
"Already?" her mom asked as she entered. "That's very impress—" Camilla stopped and stared at her daughter who was laying on the bedroom ceiling.
"Very what?" Vee asked.
"Mija! How are you—?" Camilla gestured frantically, unable to find the words.
Realizing what she meant, Vee said, "Oh, right, forgot I was up here." Vee stood and casually strolled down the wall, her bare feet clinging to the vertical surface as if gravity was optional. She handed her stunned mom the phone. "Sorry, I get kinda restless when I'm stuck in one place."
"Sí, I… I know the feeling," her mom mumbled in a daze, still watching the ceiling.
"I never told you I could do that, did I?"
Her mom shook her head.
"In my defense, I didn't know humans couldn't. I won't do it if it freaks you out."
"No, it's fine, it's just…" Her mom seemingly forgot about the supernatural feat and focused entirely on her words, fumbling with what to say. "Listen, Vee, about you being grounded…"
"Yes?" Vee leaned in. She detected a hint of regret in her mom's voice. Was this it? Was it over?
Maybe Vee leaned in too eagerly because whatever her mom was going to say, the woman appeared to change her mind. "Uh, I'm going out to run some mandados," she said in a strained tone full of remorse. "So no leaving the house while I'm gone."
"Oh. Okay," Vee sulked. Then she perked at the new Spanish word. "What are mandados?"
"Errands. You know, groceries, dry cleaning, lightbulbs," her mom listed off, already turning for the door. "I should be back by—"
"Can I come?"
Her mom froze mid-step. Slowly, she looked at Vee. There was a glisten in her eyes. "You want to come? To run mandados? With me?"
"Does being grounded mean I can't—Whoa!" In a flash, Vee was gripped in a tight hug.
"I never believed this day would come," her mom said solemnly. "Gracias a Dios! Luz never wants to run mandados with me. Oh! When we're done, you want to get manicures?" The unexpected joy brought a smile to Vee's face. This was the first time she'd seen her mom happy in days and Vee loved making her mom happy.
"I don't know what a manicure is but yeah, let's do it!" Vee cheered.
"Vamonos, mija, we'll have a super fun Mother-Daughter Day!"
As Vee followed her mom out the door she wondered if this was the way to get ungrounded.
A few seconds passed in the now empty bedroom where nothing happened…
In the distance, there was the jingle of keys followed by the creak of the front door opening, then shutting…
The Noceda car's engine revved and gradually faded…
More seconds passed in the empty bedroom where nothing happened…
Then…
A thread of shimmering gold traced its way along the frame of the window. The thread rounded the first corner, then the second, the third, the fourth, all the way until the golden thread met its starting point. As soon as the golden square was completed, the glass of the window was replaced with an ethereal swirling light.
It was a portal!
The Grocery Store…
"So, how's school going?" Camilla asked as she and Vee walked around the produce section of the grocery store, having run the other errands earlier.
"It's going pretty well. I've mostly gotten Bs so far. The only class I'm really struggling with is history... and I'm sure we both know why" Vee said, looking off to the side.
"Yes, I know why and I understand" Camilla said.
Being from another realm, it was understandable that Vee knew little to nothing about the history of the realm she now called home. When it came to her history class, she had a C average. Not bad, but not great either.
"In contrast to that though, I'm excelling in English. I'm passing that class like it's nothing" Vee commented with a smirk.
"I can believe that. You have really nice handwriting for someone who's been in captivity most of her life" Camilla commented, making the basilisk blush with both pride and embarrassment.
In hindsight, the letters that were sent to Camilla should've ticked her off about Luz. Before she knew the truth, Camilla thought her daughter's handwriting had improved greatly. Sadly, once she did learn the truth from her human daughter, she quickly realized that wasn't the case. Luz hardly ever wrote letters and while she did have decent handwriting, it was nowhere near as good as Vee's.
"So... I couldn't help but notice you've gotten into sci-fi lately" Camilla said while examining a tomato.
"Yeah, that stuff looks really amazing. I especially like those movies where they use lightsabers" Vee replied. "I also like superhero movies" she added.
Besides the food, sci-fi was one of the first things Vee came to enjoy when she first came to the Human Realm. She enjoyed seeing all the lasers, spaceships, and all the other futuristic tech shown on screen. She enjoyed it all, from futuristic wars in space to time travel using a suped up car to killer androids from the future. As for superhero movies, her favorite ones were the ones where the guy got bit by a radioactive spider, more specifically the animated one that came out a few years ago. She also liked the ones involving a team of the Human Realm's greatest superheroes. She preferred those superhero movies since those heroes were more relatable, as opposed to the ones involving the guy with a million superpowers or the rich one based off a bat.
"Hm. Maybe I could take her to a sci-fi convention one of these days, or even… what did Luz call it? Comic-Con," Camilla thought to herself with a small smile.
"Psst. Hey, Luz" Vee heard someone whisper her cover name. She turned her head to see Lance poking his head out from the next aisle over, gesturing for her to come over.
"Hey mom, I'm going to see if they have any strawberry pop-tarts" Vee informed Camilla.
"Ok, mija" Camilla replied.
Vee walked over to the next asile where she met up with, not only Lance, but Vince and Ash as well.
"Hey guys, what's up? And why's Ash here?" Vee asked, having switched to Luz's voice.
"We have a new plan that should get you ungrounded" Vince spoke while adjusting his glasses, making Vee raise an eyebrow. "It's simple. All you you have to do is get your mother to see that you're capable of handling magical creatures"
"Which is where Ash comes in. He's going to cause a little chaos, and then you'll come in to defeat him and save the day" Lance told her.
"Uh-huh. Let me guess, Ash is doing this to feed off people's misery, isn't he?" Vee said, folding her arms with a skeptical expression.
"You know me well, mortal" Ash said rather smugly.
"Look, guys, being grounded sucks and all, but I don't think I want to go through with this plan" Vee told them, "Mom and I are enjoying the day together and I don't want it be ruined by—where'd Ash go?" she asked, looking around for the shadowy specter.
"He flew off after you said being grounded sucks" Lance informed Vee, making her squeak nervously.
Luckily for Vee, she was standing right next to a box of strawberry pop-tarts. Without even looking, took a box and headed back to where Camilla was. She saw her mother put some celery in the shopping cart.
"Is everything alright, mija?" Camilla asked, seeing her daughter's expression.
"Mm-hm. Yeah, found the pop-tarts" Vee said quickly while tossing the toaster pastries into the basket.
Vee then saw Ash behind her mother. The hym was about to do something, when Vee saw a golden square of light open up beneath him. Ash screamed as he fell through. Wait, was that a portal?
Another golden square opened up on the ceiling of the store and out of it came a person that fell into Camilla's cart, surprising her. In an instant, a multitude of portals began to open up, sending a variety of items and people through them, both in and out. When a car came through one of them, Camilla pulled Vee close to her as she moved out of the way just in time for it to crash into a wall.
"Come on" Camilla said as she took Vee by the hand.
The two ran through the store, dodging and weaving through all the debris that had come through the portals. Within a few short minutes, they had reached the exit. They were home-free. At least, that would've been the case if a portal hadn't opened up at literally the last second, causing the mother and daughter to run right through.
City Hall…
Vee and Camilla fell flat on their faces as they came out the other end flipped upside down. The sudden fresh air didn't help the spinning in Vee's head. Dizzy and confused, she tried to get her bearings. They were on drab concrete and she could see the sky… but no trees or grass or roads.
"Ay, mi cabeza," Camilla groaned. "What happened? Where are we?"
"I think we're on a roof, mom," Vee replied, approaching the chest-high parapet that surrounded them. "We might—oh."
She was right. They were on a roof. In half a second, they had gone from the grocery store to the top of City Hall, one of the tallest structures in Gravesfield and clear across town from where they'd started. But that wasn't what made Vee's mouth hang open, it was the sheer multitude of portals shimmering all over Gravesfield. Hundreds of them, big and small, covered the land, buildings, and streets like mystical polka-dots. A continuous arsenal of random people and objects fired out of their golden outlines like cannonballs, only to slip through another portal and propel out a third and so on and so forth.
"What are those?" her mom asked with a gasp.
"Portals," Vee whispered, too stupefied to raise her voice.
Then there was a warbling scream. Both Vee and Camilla whipped around in time to see someone else shoot out of the large rusted picture frame they'd arrived through. This person was going much faster than they had and it was Dani.
"Dani?!" Vee shouted as her friend was launched over both of their heads and plummeted over the roof's edge, falling straight for the road.
"DANI! NO!" Vee screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to leap after her, but her mother grabbed her with both arms and held her back. Vee could do nothing but watch and shriek, "DANI!"
Then, at the last second, yet another portal appeared, this one opening in a manhole cover and Dani disappeared into it. Vee heard a soft grunt across the street. She looked up and spied Dani on the next roof, rubbing her sore butt next to a portal glimmering out of the Gravesfield town clock.
"I'm okay," Dani called to her.
"Oh, thank the Titan," Vee whimpered.
"Dani, stay there," Camilla hollered. "Don't go near the portals."
The relief Vee felt was short-lived as the words Day of Unity appeared in her mind and a cold sliver of ice crept down her spine. Was this it? There were always rumors that the master plan somehow involved opening a way into the Human Realm. Was this what Emperor Belos had been preparing for? Were they seeing the culmination of his work? Was this the Day of Unity?
"Hey, Luz, Mrs. N, there's something over here," Dani said, wandering around the clocktower. "There's—Diāobǎole! (Holy crap!) Luz, it's a magical creature!
"A what?" Vee snapped out of her nightmare.
"A what?!" her mom echoed with that now-familiar fear.
Ignoring that tone, Vee squinted as hard as she could at the clocktower. With a little concentration, her human peepers morphed into a pair of sharp griffin eyes complete with an unintended beak. Instantly her vision magnified until she could see Dani as if she was standing next to her friend. What magical creature Dani had discovered was hidden by the girl, whose back was to Vee, and the brick half-wall.
"Dani, move over," Vee ordered.
"Huh?" Dani started to turn around only to abruptly drop out of sight as if a trapdoor had opened under her. A plume of water erupted in her place.
"Dani?" Vee blinked her human eyes back to existence and looked toward a distant cry. She spotted Dani a few blocks away, drenched and sitting next to a fire hydrant that sported a new glowing portal in its spout. "She's fine, she's safe," Vee muttered to herself and turned her attention back to the clocktower where the true cause of all this chaos waited. "Alright," she said, "I need to get up there fast."
She eyed the clock portal, then the manhole portal and, surprising herself, hefted a leg over the parapet without a second thought.
"Mija, stop!" her mom cried and grabbed her again.
"Mom, I know I'm grounded but—"
"No!" The stern decree disintegrated the seeds of bravery sprouting in Vee's heart. But it was the tears brimming in her mom's eyes that stopped her. "You are not going anywhere near whatever that thing is. I'll take care of it."
"What? You?" Vee choked. "But, mom—"
"I'll take care of it," Camilla repeated. She would not be questioned again.
Minutes later they were on solid ground, well, as solid as swiss cheese. Dozens more portals had opened on their trip down the fire escape and Vee and her mom had to carefully navigate their way to the manhole. The two gazed down at the threshold, both wondering just what waited on the other side.
"Whatever happens, Vee, do not follow me," Camilla instructed, her purse clutched tightly under her arm.
"But, mom, what if—"
"Do. Not. ¿Oistes?"
"...Sí," Vee mumbled.
Her mom stepped into the portal. Vee craned her neck back, attempting to see if her mom had appeared out of the clockface, but at this angle it was impossible to tell. She should've stayed on the roof.
"It's fine," Vee mumbled to reassure herself. "My friends and I took care of several magical creatures by ourselves and we're teenagers. Mom can handle this on her own. Besides, she has—"
The next words got stuck in Vee's throat. There at her feet was her mom's ultimate weapon: la chancla. The mysterious tool resembled a flip-flop but Vee had witnessed firsthand the unyielding strength la chancla had unleashed upon Jacob Hopkins. Without it, her mom didn't stand a chance!
"Mom, I'm coming!" she yelled.
Praying to the Titan that la chancla wouldn't disrupt her disguise, Vee dared to grasp it in her hands. As her fingers coiled around the deceptively soft body, she felt the barely contained mayhem flow from la chancla into her veins. Vee was in awe. Surely, this was a menacing tool of destruction. Even Emperor Belos would tremble in la chancla's presence.
Truly believing she was now invincible, Vee jumped in…
…and came out swinging.
"Let my mom go!" she cried, eyes clenched shut, waving la chancla like a sword.
There was no response.
"Hello?" Vee peeked. She was on the clocktower as she'd wanted but there was no ensuing battle, no wails of her mom in the vile clutches of a monster. What she heard instead was sniffling. Following it around the corner and past the water spout, Vee found her mom tenderly patting the head of a green crying… child? No, that wasn't right. It was as small as a child but the wrinkles and hunched back clearly showed age. This was a…
"A boggle?" said Vee, unsure how to react.
"My baby! My poor Timmy! He must be so scared!" the boggled blubbered, her face wrecked with tears and snot.
"Sí, sí, I know what you're going through," Camilla reassured. "Everything will be alright. You'll see, once I talk to Vee—Oh! Vee, you're here, good!"
"I'm sorry I disobeyed and followed you," Vee immediately stammered and hid behind la chancla. "I was worried because—wait…" she lowered the weapon, "you're not mad?"
"Of course not, mija." Her mom smiled widely at her. It was a bigger smile than the one she'd shined this morning but there was something off about it, Vee sensed. Almost… unhinged. "This is Zaya," Camilla said, lifting the small boggle off the ground. "She's from the world you came from, the poor thing got separated from her child and has been trying to open a portal back home all day."
"Okay, I guess that explains what's been happening," Vee replied warily, still unnerved by that very wide smile. "Boggles do have the ability to open portals to places but I don't think they can open one to another dimension, mom."
"Another dimension?!" Zaya sniveled and a fresh wave of tears burst. "It was all for nothing! I'm trapped! My baby is all alone!"
"Tranquila, Zaya, tranquila," Camilla soothed. "Mija can help."
"I can?" Vee asked.
"Sí, those cards you eat, mija," her mom said, smile somehow widening even further. "They're full of magic, right? If Zaya ate one, she could open a way back to her home."
The idea struck Vee. Would that work? She ate magic, she needed to, that's how her body worked. If a creature that only used magic like a boggle ate one however, would they… Vee suddenly flashbacked to the vampire's lair where she'd shoved a Hexes Hold'em card into the sun-gun.
The unexpected sudden power!
The explosion!
The partial collapse of the cave!
"N-No!" Vee nearly screamed. "It's too dangerous."
"This is our chance," her mom said angelically as if she hadn't heard Vee. She approached her daughter with Zaya tucked in her purse. That unhinged smile was starting to show hints of desperation that made Vee slowly back away. "After all this time, we can finally bring Luz back. It'll be so nice to see your sister again, won't it?"
"Mom!" Vee put a protective hand over the pocket that carried the deck. "Listen to me, the magic in the cards is too much or too raw or something, I don't know. Making Zaya eat one could hurt her."
"Then just half a card, maybe just a bite will do," Camilla reasoned, dogging Vee's every step.
"Even that might be too much. Boggles aren't supposed to eat magic, I don't know what will happen." Vee's back touched the parapet, she had nowhere else to go. Her mom's outstretched hand waited.
"Vee, dame, por favor, (give it to me, please,)" the words were sweeter than sugar, "it would make me so happy."
Her mom wasn't thinking straight, Vee could see that. The woman was blinded by her need to rescue Luz. It didn't matter what Vee said, her mom wouldn't listen.
"I'm sorry," Vee said and jumped the parapet.
"Mija!" Camilla screamed in terror. But when she got to the edge and looked down, she saw her daughter running barefoot down the clocktower's wall.
"Please don't be angry!" Vee begged repeatedly as she sped for the street. She needed to get as far away as she could. With her basilisk abilities, there was no way her mom could catch her. At least, that's what she thought until she reached the road and her mom stepped out of the manhole portal. The red-hot glare radiating from the woman could melt steel.
"Vee, listen to your mother," she seethed.
"Eep," Vee squeaked. Scarfing down a Hexes Hold'em card, Vee morphed her limbs into a set of cheetah legs. She took off in a flash, not knowing where to go. Glancing over her shoulder, Vee watched as her mom didn't even try to follow her. Instead, Zaya, still nestled in the woman's purse, pointed a knobbly finger at a nearby portal. Her mom walked into it and came out another portal directly ahead of Vee. The basilisk skidded to a halt.
"I am your mother," Camilla said, fury broiling beneath the surface. "I know what's best. Give me the cards."
"No!" Frantic, Vee sprouted a pair of wings from her back. They were actually a mismatched pegasus wing and dragon wing but Vee didn't have time to correct herself. She flapped into the air and glided away. Bobbing and weaving around the people and appliances that were already flying in and out of portals, Vee was silently grateful that today's bedlam made her flying look normal in comparison. But it wasn't enough. Every few moments, she'd catch her mom leaning out of a portal in her path. She was hot on her tail.
"Think," Vee said. "Think, think, think. Have to get away. Have to go where she can't reach me. But where? Wh—"
A missile struck Vee, a missile with a set of crutches and a cast around her ankle. Beth and Vee landed in a heap atop a random building. Thankfully this one didn't have any portals yet. Vee was the first to recover and quickly morphed back to fully human.
"Beth, you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, just dizzy. What's going on, Luz?"
"Long story, magical creature called a boggle, we need to get somewhere far away from here," she quickly explained.
As if to answer her request, a rope ladder unraveled next to them. Following up it, the two girls saw a sparkling helicopter hovering over them.
Lance leaned out of the pilot window. "Need a lift?" he asked.
Vee and Beth gawked in astonishment. "He wasn't kidding," Vee said.
"It really pays to have a rich friend," Beth marveled.
A minute later, the two were in the aircraft, along with Dani and Vincent.
"Welcome aboard AirLance flight 001, I'll be your captain today," Lance chuckled.
"Are you old enough to fly this thing?" Vincent demanded.
"No. That's the best part."
"Luz says this is being done by something called a boggle," Beth informed the group.
"A boggle?" Dani remarked, squeezing the last drops of water out of her hair. "There wasn't much about those in my aunt's research. Just that they can move really fast. Āyí always guessed it was because they could teleport. Looks like she was close."
looked at Vee with disappointment. Somehow, that was the worst thing ever.
Then Camilla turned to a portal and stepped in. For a terrifying second, Vee believed another portal was going to open in the helicopter! But no. Her mom came out of a portal by a road sign a block away. Into another portal she went and out another she appeared a few more blocks away. Where was she going? Was she not chasing Vee anymore?
Curious, Vee sketched a mental path based on the direction her mom was headed… and gasped.
"Lance, take me home!"
"Wha?"
"Now! Hurry!"
"Uh, okay."
The helicopter banked to the side and flew straight for the Noceda household where, in Vee's bedroom closet, the basilisk had suddenly remembered, sat a box of Hexes Hold'em cards.
Noceda House…
Within a few minutes, the MCH reached Vee's house. Sadly, it was too late. Outside of the house was Camilla, holding Vee's deck of Hexes Hold 'Em cards.
"Maldita sea (Damn), we're too late!" Vee said.
"What's the big deal, Luz? They're just cards," Dani asked.
"Not just any cards..." Vee muttered, "Lower this thing, Lance," she told her rich friend.
The helicopter descended, hovering a few feet above the ground. Vee leaped from the helicopter, doing a flip as she landed on the ground a few feet away from her mom. The mother and daughter stared each other down.
"Mama, we don't know what'll happen if she eats one of those. Please, don't this..." Vee pleaded, still using Luz's in the hopes of getting through to her mother.
"Don't try to stop me, mija. I'll do whatever it takes to bring her back" Camilla replied. The unhinged expression made Vee shudder a little. In the short amount of time that she had known her, this was probably the craziest she's seen her be. She must be desperate to get Luz back. "She promised she'd stay with me..." Camilla said.
There was a short pause. Vee sighed through her nose.
"I'll stop, mom" Vee spoke.
"Huh?" Camilla looked at Vee with confusion.
"I'll stop! I promise! No more chasing monsters. No more danger. No more." Vee told her, "I'll never leave the house—except for school. I won't hunt creatures, and I won't hang out with my friends ever again. Not if it scares you this much." she said, lowering her head in defeat.
"What?! Luz!" Dani said with shock, slightly upset at what she heard.
Camilla simply stared at Vee. Before Luz had left, Camilla recalled her daughter not having friends, essentially being the outcast at school. She had sent Luz to the reality check summer camp in hopes of changing that by making friends. It sort of worked in a way. While Vee wasn't Luz and Camilla didn't know that at the time, Vee did manage to make some good friends while at camp. Being sent to camp was what upset Luz. And now, being taken from her friends, combined with Camilla's obsession to get her first daughter back, is what was upsetting Vee. Tears began to well up in the corners of Camilla's eyes as she realized how far she had gone.
"Oh, mija..." Camilla muttered in guilt as she approached her daughter. She then scooped the girl into a tight hug, "I didn't mean to take it this far. I just… I wanted your sister back so badly. I don't want you to stop spending time with your friends or to not have a life. I'm so sorry if I upset you" she muttered to Vee as she stroked her daughter's hair.
"Mom..." Vee muttered as she returned the embrace.
Just then, Camilla felt the card she was holding get snatched out of her hand. Camilla and Vee looked nearby to see Zaya scarf down the entire magical card, Vee gasping in horror. As she swallowed the card, Zaya's body began to glow with a bright, golden light. At that moment an enormous square formed around the entire town of Gravesfield. Before anyone knew it, the entire town, including the MCH and Camilla, all fell through the portal...
It was the strangest sensation Vee had ever experienced.
She'd fallen plenty of times and tripped more than she could count when she'd created her first legs. But this… the ground, the buildings, the roads, everything she'd come to accept as unbreakable and unmovable swayed and rippled like water as clouds rushed past them. Vee all at once knew how it felt to be a teacup placed at the top of an unstable cabinet on the verge of collapse.
She clung to her mom with all her strength and together they screamed and screamed and screamed.
Then they stopped.
As if they'd smashed into a wall, Gravesfield came to a halt and the Nocedas were knocked off their feet. When Vee eventually opened her eyes, she saw eruptions of foamy water cascading in the distance where the grass ended. She was overwhelmed with the scent of salt which brought up a detail from history class.
The human realm was covered with seas of salt water.
"Is that the ocean? Dios mio, are we in the middle of the ocean?!" her mom asked in a panic.
"I… think so," Vee replied.
Suddenly, their front yard dipped and the ground moaned. The lawn tore open and flooded with ocean water until they stood on the edge of a small lake.
"The town is falling apart!" Camilla began to hyperventilate. "Gravesfield is going to break into a million pieces in the middle of nowhere! Nobody knows we're here! We'll drown! How could this get any worse?"
A shark breached the new lake and chomped Vee's arm off in one gulp!
"MADRE DE DIOS!" Camilla screeched. She instantly cradled the girl and began to tourniquet the stump.
"Uh, mom," Vee said, sounding slightly in pain but not as much as one would expect from somebody who has lost an arm.
"Don't worry, mija. Mommy's here." Camilla rocked her child frantically. "I'll get you an ambulance."
"Mom," Vee repeated, a little annoyed.
"No, who's driving an ambulance here? ¡Estupida! I'll carry you!" Camilla rose to her feet and got ready to run.
"Mom!"
"Don't speak, mija, save your strength."
"Oh, for the love of—Mom! I'm fine!" Vee wrestled free enough to expose her stump. There was a meaty splorch noise and Vee flexed her new arm in Camilla's face. The limb had fully regrown within seconds. Naturally, Camilla was dumbstruck.
"¿Que? How did you—"
"Basilisks can grow back limbs, I had to do it a lot when I was imprisoned."
Her mom continued to gawp at her special magical daughter. "Oh, that's very… handy," she said weakly.
The shark swam by, catching Vee's attention. She peered at the seawater then at her new arm. An idea had formed. "Mom, I think I can fix this," Vee explained. She climbed out of the woman's arms and took the stack of Hexes Hold'em cards from Camilla's hand. "Do you trust me?"
Slowly, the fear ebbed out of Camilla's body. As impossible to escape as this disaster seemed, she found herself believing in her daughter. "Sí." She kissed Vee's forehead. "I trust you, mija. How can I help?"
Vee pointed to the smoking grounded helicopter where the MCH stumbled about, alive but shaken. "Get my friends and everyone else in Gravesfield to the most solid place you can find. Don't let anyone near the water."
"Bueno," Camilla agreed, tucking Zaya's twitching but still breathing body into her purse. "Vee, I really am sorry about all this. I never meant for—"
"It's okay, mom," Vee hugged her tightly. "I forgive you."
In that moment, Camilla knew it wasn't Luz hugging her. She knew it wasn't her human daughter saying those words. But hearing them come from someone who looked identical to her baby girl who she'd pushed to run away… Camilla sniffled back the tears, kissed the top of Vee's head, and made her way toward the helicopter.
Vee went the opposite direction. The basilisk pumped her legs as hard as she could, aiming for the faraway shoreline. The travel time could've been made significantly shorter with a little morphing, but she'd need every morsel of magic for this to work. She raised the stack of cards. There were 137, she'd counted long ago so she could plan out her magic-eating schedule, 136 after Zaya ate one. That was more than enough magic to keep her human disguise going for years… or just barely enough to do what she was planning.
With a deep breath, Vee bit into the entire stack like a sandwich.
City Hall…
Camilla watched as another slab of Connecticut melted into the great blue and Gravesfield Island shrunk a bit further. She and the rest of Gravesfield's residents were gathered on the rooftops of town square. With Zaya's guidance it had been trivial to get everyone here since the boggle knew exactly which portals went where. This was the part of Gravesfield that appeared to have the least amount of damage and was the furthest from the water. That was changing rather quickly. The people were huddled in groups, worrying amongst their families about what would happen next and keeping away from the glimmering portals. The gargantuan hole that had brought them all here still shined far overhead.
"Mrs. N?"
Camilla faced her daughter's friend; the poor girl was clearly anxious.
"Where's Luz?" Dani asked.
"Oh, she's safe, no te preocupes (don't worry)," Camilla assured with a hopeful smile. "She's on one of the other roofs. Got crowded really fast."
"Great!" Dani said a touch too loud and eagerly. Realizing her own enthusiasm, Dani went red in the face and lowered her voice. "I mean, that's great. What happened to the town isn't great but it's great that Luz isn't hurt. Why wouldn't that be great? It's great! Everything's great!"
Camilla watched the girl, stunned. She recognized that red, that rambling.
"Um, Mrs. N," Dani continued when she eventually regained some control. "I hope you don't think badly of us. I'm sorry about the vampire, we're not trying to put Luz in danger, honest. We care a lot about her. She's our friend. I'd protect her with my life if I had to."
The promise brought a smile to Camilla's face. "Of course she's safe," she said with a warm chuckle. "How could mija not be safe with such a kindhearted friend by her side?"
"I, uh, haha, thanks," Dani replied shyly, backing away. "I should get back to my family. They're totally freaking out."
"Dani, a little motherly advice," Camilla called to the girl, then winked at her like this next part was a secret, "mija likes sci-fi and superhero movies. You should take her to one."
The girl went rigid, her cheeks attaining new shades of red humanity had yet to quantify. She nodded wordlessly and shuffled away.
There was little time for Camilla to reflect on her daughter's blossoming love life though because the beautiful moment was shattered by a massive tremor that shook the entire town.
"This is it!" Jacob Hopkins cried to the heavens. "We're doomed!"
Everyone screamed, none louder than Harry the sasquatch.
"Come on, mija," Camilla whispered to herself. "Whatever you have planned, do it now." She watched the roads below shift and crack! But, oddly, no water seeped out. That wasn't all. A new breeze began to blow down directly on them. That made no sense. Then she saw the ocean recede. The blue horizon dipped away.
"That can't be…" Camilla muttered. "Unless…" She craned her head back and saw. "We're rising!" she shouted. "We're going back!"
The message cut through the cacophony and every head eventually looked up to see the great portal back to land growing bigger and closer.
"But how?" somebody asked.
"Look!" Jacob Hopkins said and pointed at the fractured land's end. At first everyone thought the same thing: tidal wave. But then the water continued to rise further and further until it dwarfed all of Gravesfield… and a pair of watery eyes squinted at them.
"I got you," the water struggled to say.
Camilla recognized the voice, it was booming and deep but she'd recognize it anywhere. "Mija?"
"I got you," Vee continued to say, more to reassure herself. She'd never morphed into something this monumental. Even though she was now a water elemental and could level a mountain, carrying all of Gravesfield in her liquid arms was still surprisingly hard. "I got you, I got you."
"It's got us!" Jacob Hopkins screamed in horror. "The unkillable Guardian of Atlantis has got us—"
Camilla smacked him with la chancla. "¡Silencio, idiota loco! ¿Estás ciego? ¡Mija nos está rescatando! (Silence, you crazy idiot! Are you blind? My daughter is rescuing us!)"
"I'm telling my manager to ban you from the coffee shop, crazy lady!" Jacob Hopkins whined and crawled away.
Nobody else said anything for they were too enthralled by what was happening before them. Vee hefted the town higher, siphoning more ocean water into her body to add to her power. She could feel the magic she'd eaten burning away at light speed. There wasn't much time left. Summoning every ounce of her might, she aimed and fired.
Connecticut…
A car was parked next to the glowing canyon. "I don't know what to tell you, honey," said the car's driver, "the phone says Gravesfield should be right here."
"That's not the part I'm worried about," the passenger claimed. "Why does this place look radioactive?"
"Maybe it's a local attraction."
*PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
In the blink of an eye Gravesfield popped out of the glowing canyon and kept going up a few hundred feet. Then a skyscraper-sized humanoid mass of water slithered out of the canyon and caught the town in its arms.
"Close it!" the water ordered. "Close it!"
The glowing canyon shut like a door, leaving behind a crater of dirt. The town fit into that crater like a glove.
"Whew." The water giant wiped its face of what might've been sweat. Then it noticed the car. It waved awkwardly, "Uh, hello."
The car drove away.
Doctor's Office…
Vee and Camilla had joined the rest of the MCH around the examination table. Luckily for Vee, no one saw her revert back to her disguised human form. Everyone was there to watch Beth get her cast removed.
"Alright, that should do it," the doctor said as Beth's cast came off.
"A mark of a true survivalist," Beth said, taking the removed cast into her hands, "Our baby, Luz. Doug"
Everyone in the room cringed at that statement.
"Hey, can I see that for a second?" Dani asked. Beth handed Dani the cast, only for the MCH's leader to toss it into a nearby trashcan like a basketball. "Let's not make this weird," she said, making Beth hang her head a little.
Camilla cleared her throat, "Well, now that that's taken care of..." she looked at Vee, "Mija, what do you say we go get those manicures?"
"Sure!" Vee smiled, "See you later, guys," she said to her friends as she and her mother walked off.
As they walked down the street, pulled out the remaining Hexes Hold 'Em cards she had left. Before the city was teleported, she had nearly a full deck of 136 cards, most of which she had to use to shapeshift into that elemental form she had. Now she was down to only a handful. A measly 13 cards. She knew that wouldn't last her long, but she'd worry about that later.
"Vee"
"Hm?" Vee looked at Camilla.
"This little adventure has taught me a lot today..." Camilla began, "I've learned that, after this and the vampie incident, Gravesfield probably won't be as peaceful or as normal as it used to be. I've learned that, no matter how much I may want it, Luz might be gone for a very long time. But most of all..." Camilla looked at Vee, a small of what seemed like pride, "I've learned how responsible and capable my daughter is"
Those last words really touched Vee's heart.
"Mija, I don't like the idea of you, Luz, or any of your friends putting yourselves in danger... but at the same time, I know can't always stop bad things from happening to you, no matter how much I may want to" Camilla admitted, while sheepishly rubbing her arm.
"Wait. Are you saying...?" Vee looked at her mother.
"You're ungrounded," Camilla told her, but then added, "But I want you and your friends to be careful when you're hunting magical creatures, get out of danger when it's too much for you kids to handle, and come home safe and sound. Deal?"
"Deal" Vee said, throwing her arms around Camilla's waist in a tight hug, her mother returning the gesture equally.
At a nearby building, they could Zaya sealing one of the hundreds of portals that she had opened. One of the portals being on the building right beside them. They heard the boggle sigh sadly through her nose.
"I'm so sorry about your son, Zaya," Vee said. "Is there someone back home who can take care of him?"
Zaya sighed. "Well, I suppose his wife could help."
Vee blinked. "His… wife?"
"And his kids are all grown up, they could pitch in if needed."
"Timmy has kids?! I thought you said he was a baby!"
"He is! He's my baby!"
Deciding to laugh off this frustrating revelation, Vee and Camilla continued down the sidewalk. Camilla suddenly got serious and a little sad. She then asked a question Vee didn't expect.
"Vee… do you think Luz is happy in your world?"
"In the Demon Realm?" Vee sputtered incredulously. "Mom, more than half of the population wants to eat you."
"Sí, you've told me. But you've done so well here. Could Luz be doing the same?" Camilla asked.
Vee thought it over for a moment then spoke.
"Well, in the short amount of time that I actually met Luz, and from what I've heard around school about her past incidents, Luz seemed like a total weirdo—no offense. Only weirdos can survive in the Demon Realm, so... it's possible" Vee told her with a reassuring smile.
Camilla released a comforting sigh. At least she same sort of reassurance that her first daughter might've been ok.
"You know what? Enough with the sadness and stress. Let's go get those manicures already" Camilla said.
"I still don't know what a manicure is, but if it's with you, it must be nice" Vee said.
Alright, that's the end of this chapter. This chapter was co-written with I Write Big.
Looks like our favorite basilisk is ungrounded now, so now she can continue her adventures and secret mission with her friends. It also looks like Camilla is the first to catch on to Dani's feelings for Vee.
Speaking of Vee, as shown in the chapter, I gave her the power of regeneration which she can do like Piccolo. Out of all the abilities I've given her (and by extent her species) so far, this is my personal favorite. So, if she ever loses a body, it won't matter because she can just regrow it. That being said though, she can still feel pain when she does lose a body part and using the ability does drain her a bit of her energy (her physical energy, not her magic).
Anyway, if you have ideas for future chapters or creatures that the MCH could face, say them in a review or feel free to message me.
Remember Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.
