"I walk ten thousand miles, ten thousand miles to see you/And every gasp of breath I grabbed at just to find you/I climbed up every hill to get to you/I wandered ancient lands to hold just you/And every single step of the way, of pain/Every single night and day/I searched for you/Through sandstorms and hazy dawns I reached for you/[…]/I'm tired and I'm weak but I'm strong for you/I wanna go home, but your love gets me through." —Ally Kerr
"Woah!" Luz exclaimed as she spun around, "You scared me there!"
Before her was a robed individual, who looked maybe a little older than her, about Emira and Edric's age, but he was bald and had dark amber skin, possibly Egyptian. He looked like a normal human, but his eyes were much different; they seemed to glow green, but that could've just been Luz's imagination. Those same eyes looked warm and welcoming and complemented his smile as well. He was a rather pretty boy indeed and 'NO!' Luz had to mentally tell herself, 'I'm here to save my girlfriend. No other pretty face is going to distract me from her.'
"Wh-Who are you?" Luz stammered.
"I've gone by many names over the eons," the young man laughed, "but you're welcome to call me Nasht. There's a T at the end, but it's silent."
"Okay, Nasht," Luz replied pleasantly though with some apprehension, "Where am I, and can you help me find my girlfriend?"
"I can give you the direction," Nasht nodded, "But we have some items to discuss. Come."
He then lead Luz down into an alcove at the top of the cliff which of course lead to a dark cave with slippery, slimy steps. Rusty iron torches lit the way downward, illuminating the burgundy and brown rock walls with a faint orange glow. Luz was thankful she didn't have to use up a light glyph. The stairs seemed to spiral downward, and the two of them must have descended them for two whole minutes before finally reaching the bottom. There, Luz found herself in a large chamber, filled with both tables and bookshelves. On these tables and shelves were various items: iron statues and baubles in shapes she did not comprehend, various scrolls and tomes, and in the far corner was a large cage where perched a horned owl. She suddenly thought of Eda for some reason. In the center of the room, however, was a massive bonfire that illuminated the chamber and rested in its own large, golden fixture imbedded into the floor.
Between two shelves was another robed figure who appeared to be reading what looked like a particularly old, large, tattered book.
"Welcome, Luz Noceda," Nasht stated while raising his hands to the chamber, "to the Cavern of Flame. This is my counterpart, Kaman-That.
"Greetings, Miss Noceda," Kaman-That smiled while removing his glasses and setting the book on the table. The book on the table looked to be leather-bound, but it had what looked like a face distorted in a look of abject horror. She decided not to ask of what it was made. But upon looking back to the new robed figure, he looked almost the same as Nasht, yet his eyes had a slight blue glow to them, though it likewise could have been a trick of the light. It was another pretty face Luz had to shake her feelings off from.
"Are-are you two twins?" Luz asked sheepishly, "I know a couple of twins at home…"
"You could say that," Kaman-That answered, and the two robed young men laughed in almost perfect unison and harmony.
"Yeah, something about you two reminds me of them," Luz was starting to feel a little at ease, "But in all seriousness, guys, I'm trying to…"
"You're searching for your girlfriend, Miss Amity Blight, correct?" Nasht and Kaman-That both asked likewise in perfect unison. It was mildly creepy, but Luz didn't let it bother her, "The wealthy daughter of Alador and Odalia Blight?"
"That would be her…" Luz attempted to continue before they continued to talk.
"She now resides within the frozen wastes of Kadath," Nasht stated.
"Where dwells Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos," Kaman-That continued.
"She is to be sacrificed…" Nasht followed.
"…So that he may complete and whole again," Kaman-That completed the sentence, "He had suffered a massive defeat from the human world, at the hands of two twins, and seeks revenge and to continue his centuries old toils with humanity."
"Then there's no time to waste," Luz felt nervousness in her throat but instinctively belted out her resolve, "I need to stop him."
"It may spell certain doom for you," Nasht stated.
"But we cannot stop you," followed Kaman-That.
"Just beware of the Crawling Chaos' power," Nasht continued.
"For he is eons old," Kaman-That followed the statement again, "For he is one of the Old Ones and wields their power to warp reality. He has also seen the end and can send you to the nighted throne within deep space."
"Where sits," Nasht began to explain, "that last amorphous blight of nethermost infinity, the great daemon-sultan Azathoth, whose name no mortal tongue dare utter."
"But you uttered it," Luz pointed out.
"I think you've already figured out," Kaman-That replied, "that we're not mortals."
"But you're right," Luz changed gears back to focusing on the goal, "you can't stop me. I'm going to find my girlfriend. I might be a dwarfed David going against an overblown Goliath, but I'm not about to sit here and do nothing. If there's a way to rescue her, I'm going to find it. Step one…how do I get out of here?"
Nasht snapped his fingers, and a panel opened along one of the cliff walls, revealing a long dark limestone stairway to which Luz made her way.
"Before you leave," he produced something from his robe, "you will need this." It was a small parchment which Luz unfolded. On it was a drawing of that same symbol she saw in the cave, the star with the burning eye surrounded by various images. "It is the best deterrent against the Old Ones. It will loosen his grasp as well as provide safe passage for you and your lady back to the waking world. We know you have the ability to transform your drawings into energy, and this will be no different. Keep in mind, if you are to redraw this, it must be exact, or the spell will fizzle."
"Thanks," Luz smiled, "By the way, you guys are eons old, I'm guessing. I envy you if you just stopped aging at a certain point to look handsome for the rest of existence."
"We actually thought this would be the best palatable appearance for you," Nasht replied, "We could show you what we really look like, but we don't believe your mind could handle it." Luz then looked down at Nasht's shadow; in the flickering light of the cave, it looked as though dark tendrils twitched and turned from it at off angles, ones that should not have been coming from the person she saw before her.
"Yeah, you're right," Luz nodded, "I probably couldn't. Anyways, thanks for your help. Off I go to save the Amity!" She waved goodbye and headed down the long, steep stairs into the darkness. She then quickly used a light spell to try and guide her. It seemed to go on forever, and after roughly five and a half minutes of heading downward, she wondered if it would go on forever. Her mind was also beginning to play tricks on her, certain shapes moving through the darkness only to disappear in the blink of an eye. There were pitter-patters of some small feet as well as some distant whispering, but Luz found no trace of where they were coming from.
Luz's mind began to wander again, thinking about Amity. Was it too late? Apparently, time moved differently in this world. Who knows what could have happened to her by now? She hoped beyond all hope that all would be well with her lovely green and brown haired girl.
Eventually, there was light at the end of the stairs, and Luz sighed with relief. She quickened pace and sprinted towards the small aperture ahead. It led her outside to what looked like a small clearing between the massive mountain behind her, and dead ahead was a vast forest. The moment she stepped outside, there came a loud crashing din behind her; she spun around to see the stairway where she had once come was now blocked by a pile of large rocks.
She had no choice but to enter the dark, ominous forest.
Thankfully, there was a path through. There's always a path through, though it may not always be one we like.
She proceeded onwards down the small, slightly overgrown dirt road. As she proceeded into the forest, the canopy grew denser, consuming any light of day above it. What's worse is that Luz thought she heard some movement behind her, some unknown scurrying across leaves and twigs and bushes. She walked along like this for what felt like an hour or perhaps two before she realized what little light that was within the woods began to fade, with the dark red of the evening sun bleeding through the leaves. For some reason, the light of evening here gave her this empty, lonely feeling within her heart; she longed to be close to Amity again, and without her, in this twilight of the soul, she feared this loneliness would last forever. On the surface level, Luz could see what looked like massive flowers and fungus began to glow in various psychedelic neon colors. This glow confirmed her suspicions that she was not alone in the forest.
In the soft viridian glow from the ground level, she could make out what looked like large possums scampering through the branches, their silhouettes fading in the dying light above before terminating entirely into various holes within the trees. She couldn't help but think that most of the sounds were coming from behind her, but when she would turn around, nothing would be there.
She walked a bit further. There was a rustling; she'd turn around and find nothing. This continued a few more times before one of the weird possum things became a bit more reckless and stopped to look at her. It had what looked like large vampire bat ears and red, almost goat-like eyes, but it's mouth…it was a mess of various small tendrils that twitched sickeningly in random directions.
Luz took a step back before the thing scurried off, but she knew they were following her even if this one had retreated.
She began to run across the dark path away from the unseen oncoming swarm, grabbing and activating a light spell glyph paper as she ran. She let it hover above her palm as she ran towards some unknown direction. She could almost feel the small but numerous paws and claws on her as the sound of pattering feet grew louder behind her.
She could eventually see an opening in the woods, the red light of evening shining through the small grove at the end of the path. As she reached the clearing, she spun around to see that the things had all formed in a unison wall at the path but had halted their chase. What could be stopping them, Luz wondered. She then heard the faint sound of hissing and growling behind her, and along the path in the clearing were numerous house cats. There had to be about at least 30 of them in various spots within the grass; some were licking their paws while most were poised and ready to strike. Luz put two and two together and determined the cats were ready for these giant squid-faced rat-possums to make their move. They didn't, because they knew better; these cats would clearly tear them apart.
"Wow, you kitties are a lifesaver," Luz breathed, and one of the cats looked up at her and seemed to nod. It was certainly weird, but she chose not to think too hard about it. She looked around her and found the path lead down a hill towards some quaint hamlet, as it appeared from here. To her right was a vast river that seemed to run parallel to the path until it ran through the town.
She approached the town, the cats following in step, and saw a sign that read, "Welcome to Ulthar," with the effigy of a cat's face beneath the letters. She walked down the path where she found the river cascading down a hill, dividing the two that was very much larger than she had thought, two large bridges merging both sides of the town across the river. The houses looked to be made of tan stone with bronzed shingled roofs, all looking as that of an old European town during the Renaissance era. The major distinction was the massive amounts of cats everywhere. Luz was half worried she might step on one as each ran past her, chasing a perceived mouse or perhaps playing with the others. Some roosted on window sills or the edge of a nearby water well, while others crept out of shadows and rafters normally unseen.
Eventually, Luz knew she had to rest somewhere, as the evening grew progressively dark. She made her way to what was known as the Grinning Lynx Inn where some large man with a bronze skin-tone and a long grey beard greeted her behind the bar. Several other patrons were there as well, one of whom was playing a piano at the opposite end.
"Ah, a new face!" the large man exclaimed, "What can I get for you."
"Uhh, just water please," Luz muttered as she made her way to the counter, "And maybe a room for the night…wait, I don't have any money."
"Then what's in that purse around your belt?" the man asked with a chuckle.
Luz reached down and found that there was indeed a leather coin purse attached to her hip. She opened it and found a large amount of silver coins she wasn't about to count.
"Huh," Luz mused, "Dream logic. I guess I'm okay on currency then."
"Can't get out of paying here, little lady," the man laughed.
"What's with all the cats here?" Luz asked, "Doesn't anyone find this a little odd?"
There was a harsh silence that fell over the tavern, even the guy playing the piano stopped. Both humans and cats alike all turned to face her with blank stares. This lasted for an uncomfortable ten seconds before the large man spoke again.
"It's alright," he said, "I believe this one's new here." And the room went back to doing what they were doing, the sound of the piano beginning again. He turned to Luz. "It's best not to question the cats here. Trust me."
"I'll…keep that in mind." Luz shuddered, imagining what the consequences might be.
"But we have a fairly decent room where you can rest your head," the man said, bringing her a glass of water, "What brings you out this way?"
"Well, I'm trying to make my way to this place called Kadath," Luz replied.
"…Is that so?" the man's eyes widened, "Well, if you're determined, then your next stop should be the port town of Celephais. A few of my cats can gladly guide you there."
"Sure, so long as they don't eat me," Luz looked around, apprehensive of the cats around her.
The night began to close in, and having eaten a nice dinner of roasted pheasant, potatoes, and carrots in the tavern, Luz made her way up to her room. She then decided to use what time she had before bed to draw the zodiac circle and see if she could get it exact. The problem was that there was so much intricate detail to it that it seemed impossible to get exactly right. She tried once, but the paper only fizzled when she activated it.
"Ugh, this is just too hard," Luz growled in frustration, "The Boiling Isle's runes were so easy, but now I have to do this to stop some chaos demon?"
From an open window in the room came a small kitten having hopped to the roof. It made its way over to Luz and announced it's presence with a soft, cute mewing. Luz took a moment to swoon at the adorable creature before it wandered over to her hand and pushed it slightly, keeping its paws in place as Luz continued to draw. It then darted around again and pushed Luz's hands the opposite direction. Soon, with the help of the tiny kitten, Luz was able to draw the rune.
"Thanks, little kitty," Luz laughed, giving it a pat on the head, "Can you guys understand me?"
The kitten nodded its head.
"…You're not possessed with human souls trapped in you, are you?"
The kitten shook its head and mewed, almost like that of a laugh.
"Well, okay," Luz nodded slowly, "I trust you. I'm going to bed now." She yawned. "Please don't eat me in my sleep, okay?"
The kitten responded by rubbing itself along Luz's leg and mewing once more. After preparing for bed, Luz climbed under the covers and rested her head on the fluffy pillow, goose feathers wrapped in fine linens. She wondered for a moment if she could have a dream within a dream here. Of course, that wasn't too unheard of even on Earth. She closed her eyes, and the last sensation she had aside from hearing the night breeze outside her window was that of the kitten hopping onto the bed and curling itself up next to her feet before they both fell into the land of Nod.
This was meant to be much longer, but I decided to break this chapter up, as it was getting waaaaay too long. This is part one of course. The new season starts this Saturday as of this writing, so as always, I'll do my best to make it fit with canon. Of course, Luz and Amity are in such an abstract, alien place in this story now, it may not matter.