Luz sighed as she sat outside of the principal's office, drumming her fingers against her lap nervously.
"Fire!" Principal Hal shouted by, slamming his hands in the oak desk, making her flinch. "Your daughter set a girl's hair on fire, after somehow making snakes appear out of NOWHERE!" He screamed before it went silent again, hearing her mother responding.
You heard it right, Luz Noceda had somehow set a girl's hair on fire, she was bullying one of her classmates, and after pointing at her and saying, "Leave her alone," and the girl's hair caught fire and snakes crawled out of the bully's clothing too. It was an entire incident.
Understandably, Luz wasn't a cruel person and she attempted to help the girl out but by attempting to help her, she nearly drowned the poor girl. An entire stream of water appearing seemingly out of nowhere, AGAIN.
'It wasn't my fault! I don't know how that happened, it wasn't me! Probably some... freak accident...' She thought to herself.
"Maybe I'm the freak accident..." Luz said, hugging herself and looking down at her lap. "I didn't want to hurt anyone, I just want to help..."
"I SAID GOOD DAY, MR. HAL!" Luz's mother, Camila, screamed at the Principal. She walked out of the office, slamming the door behind her, hard enough to crack the glass down the middle. "Vamonos, niña, we're leaving." She said, sternly and obviously angry. With the principal or her, she wasn't sure.
Luz quickly followed behind her, anyone in the hallway heard the loud commotion and stared at them both, she stuck close to her mother as they left the school building.
The car ride was mostly silent, until.
"Mama, I- I'm so sorry that I got myself expelled! I- I didn't mean to set that girl's hair on fire, it was an accident!" She began ranting. "I- it's just that- things just happen! Like, like when I was taking a test and I didn't know the answer! And the smart boy's paper appeared on my desk!" She said before beginning to list off more unexplainable occurrences to her mother.
"Luz!" Camila suddenly yelled to get her attention. "Relax, just listen." It would seem that she was attempting for the past few minutes, but her ranting got the better of her.
"S- sorry... You were saying?" She asked.
"Luz, I- I know... I know that none of it is your fault. Well, mostly not your fault anyway. We have to admit that though, this was a pretty good year, far better than previous ones." She said softly, with a laugh. Earning a laugh as well from her daughter.
"I know you tried your hardest to stay out of trouble, but even your hardest wasn't enough, and that's not your fault..." she sighed, still focusing on the road. "OK, listen, Mija, I'm going to tell you something and it's not going to make sense."
Luz tilted her head like a confused puppy, narrowing her eyes. Her mother wasn't mad at her? Oddly, she usually scolded her or something along those lines.
"What's it about?" She questioned.
"It's about your father..." She said, becoming silent.
Luz's eyes widened like saucers, her mother didn't like speaking of her father, it usually brings up bad memories of the past.
"What... About him? I thought you didn't like speaking about him anymore?"
"Well, I don't. But you deserve to know why... It all started when you were 6..." She began to tell a story.
Luz was enjoying life as any six-year-old would, playing with her toys while T.V. played in the background. Her mother was simply resting on the couch reading a book and watching her daughter play.
KNOCK KNOCK
Camila sighed, groaning as she rose from her comfortable spot on the couch.
"Who could that be, in the middle of the afternoon?" She asked as she checked the clock, seeing that it was 5 in the afternoon.
She swung the door open.
"Yes?" She asked. Her eyes widened as she saw the man standing at the door.
He was a tall man, holding a metal cane in his right hand. He was dressed in casual Earth wear, dark jeans, and a simple shirt with a jacket over it since it was the beginning of fall…
Camila almost didn't recognize him, but a closer inspection of the face, easily let her know that this was the man that she spent several weeks with, while stuck in another dimension.
"Alexander..." Camila whispered, stepping backward. "W-what are you doing here, I thought… That portal was a one-way trip...?"
"Well, I was able to remake those conditions… I found a few drops of Titan Blood and ran here the moment I found it…"
Belos stepped forward, holding her hands in his much larger ones.
"But that doesn't matter, Camila, I don't have as much time as I'd like, but... I came to ask you something important... May we discuss this further, inside? I may be an all-powerful Emperor, but Jack Frost threatens to nip my nose? Your human expressions confuse me to no end." He chuckled.
Before Camila could answer, Luz had popped up from behind her.
"Hola!" She shouted at the man. "Soy Luz, who are you!?" She said, smiling.
Alexander looked at little Luz, a look of pain coming across his face but he held himself steady. He would not let his emotions overtake him.
"Camila, I see… That you've gained a daughter with another, in the meantime we were separated from each other…" He crouched in front of Luz and looked at her. There was something about his human girl he didn't understand… A connection of sorts…
Camila could only give a slight smile, sighing.
"Well, not exactly… I guess I should apologize that I left the Isles before you could find out about your daughter..." She said, looking away from his gaze, crossing her arms.
"Come in," She said, stepping to the side, "Wouldn't want you to freeze."
"..." Alexander was silent, looking relieved slightly, as he looked at Luz once again, and stretched out his hand and made a flower grow out of his palm with a slight red glow.
"For you, my dear. Go, play." Luz took the flower and ran off.
"Gracias Señor!" She said loudly, running off to play with her toys again.
Alexander watched as Luz played with several dolls and things he didn't recognize, he felt a twinge of guilt and sadness, he had let Camila go and she had been raising Luz on her own, this entire time…
"Camila," He said suddenly, "I am sorry to have let you go… It shattered my heart, six years ago, to watch you go through that Portal. It breaks my heart further to know I left you with a daughter to look after by yourself." He said, looking down at the wooden floor.
Camila saw that his fist was clenched in anger, as well. She wondered if it was because he let her go, or at himself because he let her raise Luz alone...
"But… I've come back to make it up to you, Camila, to make things right!" Alexander declared, pulling Camila out of her thoughts. She could only smile at this.
"And how do you plan on doing this, Alexander?" She asked softly.
He suddenly knelt in front of her.
"I, Emperor Alexander Belos, have traveled across dimensions from the Demon Realm, to ask you to be my Empress and wife... Imagine it, a life away from here, rich and in comfort for the rest of our days... You never need to struggle a day in your life again, I could be a Father to Luz... All you have to do is... Is say yes..."
The Emperor then extended his hand towards Camila, a brilliant diamond and gold ring appearing in his hands from a red glow of magic.
To say that Camila was beyond shocked, would be a great understatement.
"W-what..." She asked, not sure what she was hearing, "What did you say?"
"I'm being serious, my dear," He stood up once again. "It is a little exaggeration to say you've been on my mind since our magical few months together... I've fallen in love, a feeling I wasn't sure that I could ever even feel ever again, but you've reignited my very soul Camila, and I can't live life happily without you in my life..." He continued, proclaiming his love for her in the exact way he knew to get into her heart.
Camila had tears going down her eyes. The man she had fallen in love within the span of 7 months and formed an unbelievably close connection with, and that had given her a beautiful daughter, has come back into her life, and asked her to come back to his world, be an empress, and wanted to be the father figure in Luz's life that she definitely needed.
"O- oh Alex... You always knew what to say to get me to swoon... I- I still don't know what willed you to help the poor human that fell through the portal to your world, in your throne room no less... B- but..." She let out a laugh as more tears fell from her eyes.
Alexander moved in and wiped said tears away.
"I helped because you healed me… Eased the suffering of my curse beyond what I thought was possible…" He said, "Getting to know you more and more as we looked for a way to get you back to Earth, I simply fell in love... If that answers your question..." He hugged her close. "Little did I know, I would never forget about you."
Camila held onto Alexander, laughing into his chest.
"Y- yeah... your world is pretty confusing, isn't it?" She then pulled away from him and looked up at him, "But I'm so sorry, Mi Amor Alexander... But I simply cannot..." She said, shocking him greatly.
"Why, my love?" He asked, "Has your love for me dwindled over these last few years…?"
Camila was quick to shake her head no.
"No, no, Jesus Alexander, you're so dramatic…" She laughed, shaking her head, amused at his jumping to conclusion.
"Don't get me wrong, I would love to... But I have a Life here and Luz..."
Camila paused, turning and staring at her daughter who was still playing with her toys and watching spanish cartoons, she now had the flower in her hair.
"I want her to grow in a calm, safe world... I can't uproot everything she's ever known for a place as dangerous as the Isle... So I'm sorry, we... can't… go with you." She held herself, not being able to look her love in the eye.
Alexander was shocked, for sure, but he took a deep breath and sighed. He reached out and held her chin, and turned her head towards him, so she could stare into his strikingly bright blue eyes. He leaned forward and passionately kissed her. He pulled away from the kiss moments later, and tapped his forehead to hers, and closed his eyes.
"While your answer saddens me, I respect it, my love... For only you ever had the courage to ever stand up to me, having no fear for my power, and for that, I will always love you... For treating me as an equal… And a person, instead of the mighty Emperor…" He whispered.
He pulled away from her and extended his staff.
"But my dear, you know I was never one to simply leave you empty-handed, especially as a guest in your home."
His staff began glowing its blood-red glow and two things appeared, levitating above his hand. One was a chest and the other was a glass orb that had a few drops of blue liquid.
"I will leave you with two items, one, a chest of gold and diamonds... They hold almost no value on the Boiling Isles, we even make our 1 snail coin out of gold." He said with a laugh, "Consider it an extended apology for not being there for Luz these last six years…"
Camila opened the chest and her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets.
"Oh Dios Mio, there's so much here..." She whispered, closing the chest and looking at Alex again, "You can't possibly expect me to accept all of this?" She asked, feeling as if she guilt-tripped him into this gold.
"You haven't no choice in the matter." He said before presenting the Orb next. "And this is, I guess you can say a piece of hope for me. You simply shatter this, preferably in a secluded area so as to not attract attention, and it'll open a direct portal to my throne room. A piece of my magic is stored inside of this orb, as well as the last of the Titan Blood we were able to find, so it will never expire." He handed her the Orb.
She was very careful with it, before realizing-
"...You planned this, didn't you?" Camila asked, "In case I said no?"
"Well, yes... sadly..." He looked at his pocket watch, "I cannot stay here much longer, my dear, the portal I opened to get here was already unstable as is, and my still being here is causing problems." He looked at Camila. "I'm sorry I couldn't convince you to come with me, my love…"
"I'm sorry that I can't come along either, but I will miss you..." She leaned forward and kissed him passionately, Belos wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, savoring these final moments with her.
They then heard giggling behind them. Separating, they turned and saw a giddy Luz, hiding behind a door frame cutely.
"Mami has a boyfriend!" She said in English this time, a bit broken but impressive nonetheless.
Camila blushed and giggled and called her daughter over, picking up the young girl, presenting her to Belos.
"Say hello to Mama's friend, dear..."
"Hello! I'm still Luz!" She exclaimed, waving excitedly at the man.
"And I'm... Alexander... But you can call me Alex..." He showed her his palm and made a triclops teddy bear appear this time.
"This is for you. Squeeze it whenever you feel sad..." Belos said to her, "It'll make you feel warm and safe…"
Luz gasped and snatched up the toy, hugging it instantly.
"Gracias! Mami, mira!" She presented the toy to her mother.
Camila smiled, laughing, and ruffling her hair.
"Lo veo hija, ahora ve a tu habitación, cariño, necesito hablar con mi amigo a solas..."
With that, Luz ran off and up the stairs to her bedroom.
"That Human dialect again, I never do understand what you are saying when you speak it..." Belos commented.
Camila giggled at that as she followed Alexander outside. The leaves started to pick up around him as she kept her distance.
"I may be powerful but I do believe this may be the last time I ever see you, traveling between dimensions is an incredibly taxing and expensive feat that I have yet to master, and I put a lot of my magic into that orb, as well..."
He turned to face her, for one last time.
"Goodbye, Camila Noceda."
"Goodbye... Alexander W. Belos..."
The leaves started to violently dance around him as a tear in space-time formed in front of him, he walked through it and it instantly closed behind with a powerful snap.
"Mami! Donde esta!?" Luz shouted from inside.
Camila wiped away the forming tears, taking a deep breath before sighing. She needed to be strong…
"Ja voy!" She shouted back, turning and entering the house and slowly closing the door behind her.
Luz wiped away some tears of her own.
"That has got to be, the saddest love story, I've ever heard... Lovers separated by space, torn away by responsibility and duties to the crown! I would love to read that story!" She gave a dry laugh, before releasing a deep sigh, looking away from her mother, a feeling of guilt arising in her chest.
"But mom, you gave up being with the love of your life, for me?" Luz asked, wiping away tears, "I can't believe I'm a plot point in you guys' story." She added with another giggle, "Well, that doesn't matter right now! Why are you even telling me all of this?" She questioned her mother, tilting her head like a confused puppy.
"Well, we're going home and packing our bags. We're going to move in with your Father." Camila said, with a small smile, "You deserve to know him and surely you'd like help controlling that stray magic of yours… Before someone gets seriously hurt…"
Luz was rendered silent. She leaned back in her seat and stared outside at the winding road that led to their secluded home on the edge of town.
"I'm... Going to learn... Magic? I'm going to meet Dad?" She asked herself silently, tapping her fingers in nervous excitement.
Luz was excited and scared but mostly excited, she didn't know what to expect from this new place that she was going to. What did her mom call it again? The... Boiling Isles? Luz wondered what it was like there...?
Luz didn't notice it, but she felt… A sense of familiarity with the place… She couldn't figure it out, but hearing the name "Boiling Isles" made her feel right at home...
