BREAKING THE FANTASY
Written by: Gwendolyn Frost. Special thanks to meowloudly15.
Mini Fausts are a creation of Daisuke Ishiwatari and owned by Arc System Works.
CHAPTER 2: A Bad Day.
The following morning, Luz and Amity woke up on their respective beds. They barely even slept at all. They were sitting in the dining room, with Luz apologizing excessively for the night before. Amity was so exhausted that her eyes were a little bit swollen from the lack of sleep. She kept drinking long gulps of black coffee that Camilla had poured on a mug for her. "I'm so sorry, sweet potato. I promise you that tonight, it won't happen again… I swear!" Luz whispered with a concerned tone in her voice before she was cut off by Amity herself.
"Luz, it's too early for apologies… make it up for me by bringing me a BIG latte on my break. Ok?" Amity said as she leaned in for a quick kiss, to reassure her girlfriend that she wasn't mad before yawning heavily once more.
Luz couldn't help but chuckle softly, pushing her glasses up her nose after the kiss and nodded happily. "Of course! I can make time for that.~ Thank you, cariño!" She said, giving her a quick nuzzle, making Amity to laugh softly.
"Remember to pick up a guest ID from the desk at the lobby. Someone should be working there today."
"Ok! I'll see you during your break!" Luz said enthusiastically, giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek before going back to eat her breakfast.
The two of them soon became aware of Willow's voice when she reacted to a message on her phone. "Oh, no…"
"Is something wrong?" Amity asked, shaking off her exhaustion for a moment while rubbing one of her eyes.
Willow looked at them, there was a very concerned expression drawn upon her face. "The Greene House is closed down for an undetermined amount of time. A co-worker just told me that our manager told her we shouldn't go to work today and that… the police might interrogate us tomorrow."
"The poli-?!" Luz was about to exclaim before Willow shut her up with a vine that quickly grew from under her sleeve.
"Don't be so loud!" Willow whispered and then unwrapped Luz's face from the vine, making her blow a raspberry at her.
"It tastes so bad!" Luz said and shook her head to forget about the vine. "The police?" She whispered. "Why would the police want to interrogate you?"
"Willow, are you in trouble?" Amity asked with a worried expression on her face.
"No… not exactly." Willow said and then grabbed her plate and gestured them to move towards the bedroom as she made sure that Gus and Caleb were distracted.
Luz and Amity gave each other looks of confusion before they moved up with their plates, following Willow's lead into Luz's bedroom where they took a seat and finally Willow began to explain.
"I kept this from you because I didn't want to draw attention to me, or cause any trouble for Mrs. Noceda. I was going to quit the job a long time ago… but then, Luz lost her job at Burger Queen and we couldn't afford to lose another source of income. I'm really sorry for saying it like this, Luz, I don't want to make you feel guilty. But there's…" Willow tried to gather her thoughts.
"What is it?" Luz asked. "It's ok, it is kind of my fault, so… whatever is going on, we'll always back you up, y'know that, right?"
"Yeah…" Willow said, looking back at Amity when she reached to place her hand on hers, reassuring her with a smile so she could feel free to tell them what's wrong.
"We're not going to judge you, we just want to know how we can help you." Amity said, causing Willow to sigh and nod.
"Ever since I've been working there. There's been some shady dudes that come in every week. They parade themselves on the large fields of the Greene House, they always come with empty fertilizer bags and they meet up with Mrs. Greene. She leads them away deep in the plant maze that used to be a part of the now defunct park that the Greene House was built upon. When they come out of that maze, those bags are no longer empty, and it's not fertilizer that's inside."
"How come you can tell?" Luz asked.
"What's inside of those bags?" Amity added.
Willow took a moment to gather her thoughts again. "You can figure out what's inside, right? I don't have to spell it for you. I've been in the Human Realm for four years. And when I first arrived here, I was fascinated with your flora. But, unlike the Boiling Isles, who's plant properties are often used for good… there's a lot of plants in this Realm that they use for bad stuff. I know what humans do to themselves and I see it everyday in high school… what those drugs do to you and they all come from the Greene House!"
"Wow…" Luz said, breaking the short moment of silence in the room, shortly after Willow's confession. "Y'know, this might sound mean… but I met Mrs. Greene yesterday and I'm really not surprised to hear any of this."
"Luz…" Amity said, making Luz smile nervously.
"Sorry, sorry. Go on." Luz said as she looked at Willow as she resumed her confession.
"You don't say a word of this to Gus. I don't want him snooping around for the newscast center and putting himself in danger. Ok?" Willow said with a serious look on her face.
"Of course. Why didn't you say anything before? Maybe we could have called the police earlier." Amity suggested, which made Willow to shake her head in disapproval.
"No! Like I said, the least I wanted to do is cause Mrs. Noceda any trouble. She has been so good to us ever since we arrived, and she deserves to have some peace."
"Hey. I know you guys feel guilty that you're living with us, but I can guarantee that she doesn't see any of you as a burden. I promise you." Luz said as she took a seat in between Willow and Amity and brought them into a hug.
"I know." Amity smiled, kissing Luz on the cheek. "But I can understand where Willow is coming from. We are too grateful for her for taking care of us this whole time. We just want to give something back."
"Exactly." Willow said with a smile.
"We'll get out of this, Willow. I'm sure you have nothing to fear. Just be honest when the police contact you. I'll back you up." Luz said, which made Willow to give a little bit of a glare.
"I know you're trying to be nice and all. But maybe you shouldn't intervene." Willow said, briefly taking a moment to let Luz process what she just said before adding. "No offense."
"Wha-? Offense taken! Why would you refuse my help?!" Luz said before Amity replied for Willow.
"Because you get nervous during stressful situations, Luz. You might help draw attention away from Willow, but you'll only make the police focus their attention on you." Amity said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek again. "No offense." Both Willow and Amity laughed softly at Luz's reaction.
"You two are so mean!" Luz exclaimed before joining in the laughter. "But you're right. I can see that happening. Also, I'm allergic to jail. Please don't let them throw me there." Luz said as she clinged onto Amity with googly eyes.
"Luz Noceda, as your girlfriend. I won't ever allow that to happen." Amity said while kissing the top of Luz's head.
"Ok, that's my cue to leave." Willow said as she stood up. "I can only handle so many of your disgustingly sweet back and forth you two go at." She said, making the couple laugh softly. "But thank you guys… seriously. I don't want to talk about this just yet with the rest, so drop me off at the arcade today and let's pretend I'm still going to work. Ok?" Willow asked as she turned around, making Luz nod.
"Of course." They grabbed their plates and walked out of the bedroom to resume their breakfast. They gave up an excuse as to what happened which they said was the private sort of thing. They got ready for work soon after. With Luz dropping Willow at the arcade as promised. Stopping by the Orb next, the place where Amity works.
"Hey, I wanted to say…" Luz was about to apologize yet again.
"Enough, please don't say what I think you're going to say. We are fine. I'm not mad at you. Ok?" Amity said.
Luz stared into Amity's eyes and smiled in defeat. "Ok I-"
"Don't say it." Amity gave a little glare, making Luz laugh out loud.
"I can't help myself!" Luz kept laughing which made Amity laugh as well.
The moment their chortle came to an end, they stared into each other's eyes. Amity cleared her throat and smiled, leaning in to place a short kiss on Luz's lips. "I'm not mad at you, Luz. But I think there's so much I can do to help. And I really feel like I'm not helping at all…"
"You're helping plenty. You're literally spending the nights with me when we should be sleeping." Luz said.
"What I mean is: I think I'm not helping because I'm only offering you a shoulder to cry on instead of tackling the problem. You need to talk about this. There's so much stuff that you're holding onto that's preventing you from moving on. I got an idea, but I feel like what I'm about to say is… make you feel mad at me. I don't want you to take this the wrong way, Luz. I will always be there for you…" Amity paused, making Luz nervous. "But…"
That 'but' did it. Luz's head began to imagine the worst. "Wait… what are you trying to say?" Luz turned a little pale. She rubbed her fingers against her palms as they felt rather sweaty due to the stress of what was going through her head.
"I'm trying to say that maybe we should…" Amity said and before being immediately interrupted by Luz who was almost on the verge of tears.
"NO!"
"Let me finish!" Amity said before she blurted out what she was trying to say. "We should seek therapy! Please don't be mad at me!"
"What?!" Luz asked in disbelief, as if she needed to hear it again.
"Just saying that maybe we should both seek some professional help… therapy, y'know? Miss Craig is a psychologist, she makes these meetings every week in which she gives us and the parents a talk about mental health and why it's so important for us to seek help if we're depressed… like… I feel Miss Craig could help us find some solution to overcome our depression." Amity said, just as concerned as Luz was before when she thought Amity was mad.
"Ok, but you're not breaking up with me?" Luz asked as if that was the only concern she had.
"Wha-? NO! I'm not breaking up with you, Luz, have you been listening?!" Amity asked with a very confused look on her face.
"Oh, thank She-Ra! Therapy? Of course, let's do that! I… I… don't want to sound too clingy, but I was really scared you wanted to take a break from our relationship or something!" Luz said, still sweating. "Please don't leave me!"
Amity just burst into laughter. "No… Luz Noceda. I'm not planning to break up with you anytime soon. And yeah, you do come off as clingy sometimes, but… I don't care. I'd be worried as well if I were in your place." Amity said and smiled. "I love you, Luz." She intertwined her fingers with hers and kissed their hands. "I really want to help you, but I don't know how to…"
"Yeah, I get it." Luz said and leaned in for a kiss. "I love you too."
"Ok, I gotta go to work now." Amity said as she gave Luz one more kiss. "Latte. Break time. Don't forget." Amity jumped out of the car and waved at Luz before hurrying up to get inside the building.
"Of course! See ya until then!" Luz screamed, leaning back on her seat and sighed softly. She took a whole minute to process what just happened. Shortly after, she finally drove off back to her own job at Robin's Roast Cafe.
Not far away from there, at the Newscast Center. Gus was back at his cubicle writing something for the Center's blog. Just editing a written interview with some local athlete that's going to participate in a regional amateur tournament. It was then that Gus' boss came up to his desk and gently tapped on the top of the cubicle to gain his attention. Gus reacted and looked up. "Oh, is something…"
"You wanna do some camera work, Porter? There's something big taking place at the Greene House and we need someone to back up our reporter."
"Oh! Of course, yeah, I can do that! But what about the interview…?" Gus said, knowing that the interview was due for that day.
"We're going to move that for tomorrow. You gotta get going, asap. I'm not trying to clickbait you when I'm saying something big is happening… the police are there. Rumor has it, something happened to Miss Greene. Some are saying she's injured, some are saying she's…" The man made a distasteful gesture with his hand as if he had slit his throat and made an unnerving clicking sound as if he was choking on his blood.
"Wow." Gus said. "You think…?"
"I don't know. You'll find out when you get there. Hurry up." The man said, making Gus nod and quickly moved up to his feet.
"Yes, sir!"
Gus met up with the crew that was heading to the Greene House. But before he hopped into the van. He grabbed his phone in his pocket and quickly called Willow. He wanted to give her the heads up that he was coming and maybe ask if she knew something about it. But unfortunately, Willow wasn't there, she was at the arcade. She looked at her phone ringing while playing some game on a cabinet, she didn't want to answer. Gus heard the message Willow recorded to remind him to leave a message, but he hung up and got into the van.
Meanwhile, Luz's time at Robin Roast's Cafe moved swiftly, she knew when Amity's break time was and she asked her boss to have her own match with hers. She quickly made the Latte she asked for, and three more coffees, grabbed a slice of pumpkin pie since it was the season, grabbed her lunch and hurried up to her car. She was at the Orb in a few minutes. Luz walked into the lobby, she met with the new worker that she was told about and got her guest ID. As soon as she was set to go, she moved into the building, she spotted the teacher's lounge and popped her head in to see Amity there helping Miss Craig with some boxes.
"Thank you, Amity. I'm really sorry to make you carry stuff around." The tall woman said while Amity just shook her head in response while placing the boxes down, putting out their contents. Napkins, sugar, cream, etc. Things you would normally see in a place like this.
"It's ok, that's why I'm here. To assist you in situations like this. Are you sure you don't want to take the day off…?" Amity asked as she placed the kettle out of the box.
"No, I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for your concern. Just mildly bruised in the back. I moved boxes all night, and I completely forgot about the gear for the lounge. Thanks for being such a hard worker.~ " The red-haired woman said as Amity nodded.
"Not at all, I'm just making myself useful." She said with a soft laugh. Then looked at the door where Luz was standing while gaining their attention by knocking and holding a tray with four coffees on it.
"Good afternoon. I see that you're still putting out the kettle, I brought some coffee for you if you wish to have some? It's on me, don't worry! Just a little apology gift for meddling in yesterday." Luz said and gently placed the tray on the nearest table.
"Oh. Wow. Thank you. That's so thoughtful." Barbara said while Amity smirked at Luz.
"Yes, so thoughtful."
Luz laughed nervously before waving at the other two co-workers Aisha and Leni when they popped in the room. "Hey Luz! Do you want to join us?"
"Oh, I wouldn't like to burden you… I was just passing by, I actually got to…" Luz tried to back away but was met with the two pulling her in.
"Come on. Don't be shy. I'm pretty sure that Amity would feel so much better if you were here.~ " Leni said as Aisha added.
"The heart wants what the heart wants.~ " They both grinned from ear to ear as Amity just rolled her eyes at them.
"If you two are trying to make me uncomfortable, you're wasting your time." Amity said, making the girls laugh softly.
"We're just messing with you! Besides, really Luz. I'm saying it because I went to the same middle school as you did." Aisha said as she let go of her, Leni following her example soon after. "You don't have to avoid people. You can go, but it'd be really cool if you join us." The dark skinned woman said as she turned around to listen to Miss Craig in the back.
"You can stay, Luz. It's good to see new faces around this place." She said as she was heating something in the microwave.
Luz looked at them, before moving her head to look at Amity who just shrugged with a smile, making Luz grin and laugh. "Ok, sure. Guess I'm staying."
Luz said and took a seat next to Amity when she placed her food on the table. She was eating some Thai Food from across the street, while Luz brought out her own lunch, some sandwich specialty from Robin's menu. Shortly after, Barbara brought a mug with coffee in it for Luz, freshly made by the coffee pot they set up earlier.
"Oh, thank you!" Luz exclaimed, causing the pale woman to nod before moving to sit with the burger she heated up. That day, Barbara was wearing a long tee with light colors which made it stand out what Luz identified as a stain. "I think you got some ketchup on your tee…" She blurted out, becoming nervous that she was stepping boundaries. But instead was met with a friendly response.
"Oh shoot, guess I'm going to have to change up. Thanks, Luz." The woman stood up and moved out to the hallway.
Luz felt a little bit awkward at first, but Aisha, Leni and Amity began to make some conversation that was soothing to her ears, inviting her to join in when she found the opportunity. There was no teasing for Amity, it was just some conversation about the town, some restaurants, pets, normal stuff. Soon enough, Luz found herself having fun, and Amity herself was very happy to see Luz talking to someone else outside of their inner circle.
Leni turned the tv a few minutes later, she couldn't eat without some background noise. She got teased for it for sure by her co-workers Aisha and Amity, but she dismissed it really quickly. Luz learned a lot from these interactions, back when she knew Aisha at middle school, she would try to make friends but ended up… weirding them out. So, she stopped. She feared being laughed at. But… seeing Leni joining in the fun about her little dining quirk made her realize that maybe she should relax sometimes and just go with the flow.
Meanwhile, Gus found himself at the Greene House. He was one of the many people surrounding the area. Many of which were news reporters from their own Center, rival channel broadcasters, bloggers and even vloggers too. The police were not making any statement, they were trying to keep the reporters behind the yellow tape. Shortly after, flashes of the camera began to shower the scene when the coroner brought out a body covered by a blanket.
They never saw who's body it was, but the people there began to make assumptions of their own. Reporters declaring at the cameras that it was indeed Mrs. Greene's body that was being carried away into the police van. Gus finished up doing the camera work before the reporter told him it was enough and that they were moving back to the Center. When he jumped into their van, he quickly called Willow.
This time, she replied. "Hey, what's up, I'm working now." She lied as she played on the arcade cabinet a few blocks from there.
"You're at work, huh? Willow, I'm at the Greene House. The police are here. Where are you?"
"Wait…?! You're there?! Dang It! Ugh, I should have known." Willow sighed. "So, they arrested someone? Who was it? Was it Mrs. Greene?"
"Arrested? Willow… the police just moved a dead body into the coroner's van. People here are assuming it's Mrs. Greene because no one has been able to get in contact with her for a statement."
"WHAT?!" Willow exclaimed. Gus continued saying some more information about it, but she heard none of that. She was in shock. "I'll call you back!"
"Willow…!"
She hung up on Gus before connecting into the wi-fi in the building. She searched several news channels online and they were all covering the story. Her face remained pale the whole time she listened to the same story over and over in different ways.
But she wasn't the only one watching the news at that time. Amity, Luz and the workers there had the TV on when the news showed up on the screen. The same video that Willow watched of the body under the blanket being moved into the van was played, with the news anchor reporting on the 'murder' of Mrs. Greene.
Luz was talking with Aisha, before Leni turned up the volume and heard the name of Dahlia Greene. Luz and Aisha's laughter was cut short, the seriousness of the situation quickly downing on them.
They turned around when they heard Amity dropping one of the cups that Luz brought with her. Her eyes fixed on the screen, the picture of that woman who has an uncanny resemblance to her own mother displayed there next to the picture of the body covered by the blanket.
"Amity…?" Luz asked when she realized something was wrong. The look of horror in Amity's eyes was evident. She had a fight with that woman the day before. The guilt suddenly manifested itself. She felt… horrible. Her skin turned more pale than usual. The lack of sleep that she was experiencing for the past days soon made her feel hazy. Her eyes rolled and shut down, her knees bent and she heard the faint screams of concern coming from Luz. She was caught up by Miss Craig who was standing next to her before Luz ran up to them and helped her up.
Amity did not know what happened next. She woke up shortly after in the Principal's Office. She was resting on the couch while a man with a paper bag over his head was examining her with a flashlight. "She's waking up!" The man exclaimed, he was wearing a white coat and a stethoscope wrapped around his neck.
"Who… are you? What's going on?!" Amity exclaimed, a little bit surprised to see such an odd-ball there.
"Oh, never mind me. I'm just a humble medic. You passed out, your friends here are very concerned." The medic with the paper-bag for a head said.
"We called 911 but… they sent this guy who works at a free-for-all clinic in town owned by a Doctor Faust." Aisha said with a shrug.
Luz was watching the whole scene, not saying a word. But when she saw Amity waking up she rushed up to her. "Amity, are you ok?"
"Yeah, yeah… just… my head hurts a little bit, that's all." Amity said, gasping when she saw a little helper from the medic there handing her a bottle of pills. The helper had a paper bag over its head too. There were four of them, all wearing what Amity could only describe as brown pajamas? "Uh…"
"Those are for the lack of sleep, you need plenty!" The medic said as he stood up in a rather… comedic way. "I could make a more thorough analysis of your condition if I only take a blood sample…" The man said as he pulled out a syringe from his coat, which quickly made Amity and Luz to protest.
"No!" Amity exclaimed. "There's no need for blood samples!" She said, very concerned about the idea of the lab picking up she didn't have… human DNA.
"Oh? But why is that? It's for free! No fees charged at all, just a little… pinch…" The man said as he leaned over with the syringe before Luz stopped him.
"She can't have blood samples, because… uh…" Luz tried to come up with something. "She's allergic to needles!"
"I got a condition!" Amity said just as fast as Luz did.
"Yeah, yeah, she has a condition caused by her allergy to needles! YES! Let's go with that!" They both smiled nervously at the man who squinted his eye visible on the hole in his paper bag.
"That's very suspicious…" The man said in an ominous tone. "But also none of my business!" His tone changed to the usual comedic cheerful one from before. "If you refuse to have your blood extracted, I have no obligation to convince you. Please follow the instructions thoroughly. Do not take more than one pill every night. If you have any reactions to the drug, call us and we'll be sure to check on you asap!" The guy handed Amity the note, which she took with confusion still lingering on her face.
"Thank you… Doctor… Faust?"
"Oh, no! Don't be mistaken! I'm not the big man himself! I'm just a mere proxy of Doctor Faust. A low tier Faust! I'm Laust!" The man said almost proudly, flexing like a lunatic. The group was a little bit confused and rather uncomfortable with the presence of this strange medic.
"Ok, so… who are these…? Are they like robots or something?" Aisha asked as she looked down on the little guys with the brown pajamas. They looked up at her, almost as if they were… synchronized.
"Oh, that's Mini Faust, Mini Faust, oh and Mini Faust and right there…" The medic began to do a head count on the little guys before Leni interrupted him.
"Lemme guess, Mini Faust?"
"Oh, no-no! That's Steve." The medic said before adding up. "He is new." The little guy just gave the thumbs up, and a comedic click with his mouth.
"Are you even a real doctor? Can I see your credentials?" Aisha asked, making the man laugh softly.
"Oh, well look at that! I got places to be, and people to attend to. Doctor Faust wishes you to have a fast recuperation! Your health comes first! Be sure to call us if the problem persists. We're here to help me! I mean, HELP YOU!" The medic gave the little men gestures to gather their gear up while sneaking out.
"Seriously, are you just going to run?" Aisha asked.
"I can't hear you… the connection… is faulty…" The medic said as he began to do some static noises to sell the idea they were talking on the phone.
"You're standing right in front of us! We're not speaking on the phone!" Leni exclaimed.
"I'm sorry to cut our meeting short… byeee!" The medic rushed with the little guys following behind, leaving the two workers very confused.
"Ok, was Gravesfield struck by Weirdmaggedon? Cause there's been a handful of weirdos showing up lately!" Aisha said, breaking the short silence in the room.
"I've seen weirder…" Luz chuckled softly. "There was this guy that used to eat his own eyes…" She blurted out, shortly reacting at what she just said with a nervous look when she heard Leni and Aisha asking.
"What…?"
"Uh… those were not his actual eyes, ha-ha! That'd be crazy, I meant…" Luz's made up story was cut off short when Amity rushed to the door and fled the scene. "Amity!" She looked at the workers, making Leni tell her to go.
"Hey, go to her. We got stuff to do, don't worry about us."
"Yeah, nap time is almost over. Go check on her, she looks really distressed." Aisha added as they both began to walk out of the room as well.
Luz quickly ran down the hall and saw Amity outside on the playground sitting on one of the swings. She slid the glass door and began to walk up to her, sitting on the swing next to her. She did not say anything for a brief moment, but soon did.
"Hey, I know you told me to stop apologizing, but I'm sorry. I know that she's not your mom, but…" Luz was cut off by Amity.
"I don't wish her to be dead…" Amity said in tears. "I know that my mom was a bitch before we left the Boiling Isles. But she's still my mom… I don't expect us to mend our relationship if I come back… I'm sorry for what she did, Luz. For what she did to you… to us…"
"You don't have to apologize for her, Amity. It's not your fault." Luz said, looking at her, watching as Amity was tearing up down on the ground, her head hanging down, refusing to look at Luz, for now.
"I do… because… just because!" Amity said as she lifted her head, tears flowing like a river down her cheeks, making her girlfriend launch up to her and embrace her with her arms. "If she had not stalled us, we might have stopped Bellos in time!"
"You don't know that… it's not your fault. You're not responsible for any decision that your mother makes. Don't blame yourself." Luz said as she rubbed her hands up and down Amity's back to comfort her. Amity spent a few minutes sobbing on Luz's shoulder, which she didn't mind, even when her phone vibrated in her pocket, she refused to let go. It was only fair for Amity, that she serves as the shoulder to cry on for once.
"You… should really get that. It's probably -sob- your boss…" Amity said as Luz offered her some napkins she had in her pocket.
"I'm staying. I'm not leaving until you feel any better, ok?" Luz said as she used another napkin to clean Amity's cheek while the brown haired girl was blowing her nose with her own napkin.
"No, I should really get to work too. I mean…" Amity made Luz look at the door where a few children were there looking at them, Leni was there to bring the curious ones back inside. "I hate making a scene… you go to work. Have a nice day. I'll power through this." Amity said as she took another napkin from Luz and cleaned her face more thoroughly.
"Are you sure you don't want to ask for permission to take the day off? I can make time and drop you off at home." Luz suggested which made Amity to shake her head instantly.
"No. I'm not taking the day off because some woman that looks like my mom, died. Besides, it doesn't concern me. I didn't have anything against Mrs. Greene despite our differences, I'm just upset about Miranda." Amity said, making Luz give a look as if she needed to be reminded of who she was talking about.
"Her daughter, Luz. She just lost her mother. I know that Mrs. Greene pulled her out of this institution but that doesn't mean I stopped caring about her."
"Right! Yeah, that's perfectly valid. You sure you don't want to…?" Luz insisted but Amity shook her head once more.
"I'm fine." Amity forced a smile on her face and sighed. "Let's be adults, Luz. Let's get this day off our shoulders."
"Hehe… alright." Luz said as she walked next to Amity. The brown haired girl slid the door open and walked inside, making some of the little ones rush up to her, asking if she was alright.
"Miss Amity! Why were you crying… are you ok?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I was just talking to my girlfriend about some things I've needed to talk about, and now I feel better than ever!" Amity said, saying it in the most enthusiastic way possible to reassure them. "I've always told you how important it is to speak and talk about what bothers you, right? I'm following my own example. See?"
Luz looked at Amity before she left, their eyes crossed, the brown haired girl smiled and waved goodbye at her before her attention was snatched by the kids again. Then, Luz gave a soft chuckle, finding the scene a bit endearing. She finally began to walk out of the building, leaving the guest ID on the lobby before jumping back into her car.
Her phone rang again and she answered right away. "Sorry, sorry! I'm coming over, I just ran into a situation…"
"Hey, Luz." Willow's voice came out from the phone.
"Oh, hey! You… you, well I guess you heard, right?" Luz asked, worried about having to break the news to Willow.
"Yeah… I'm calling you because I'm with Gus right now. We're heading home. So, when your shift is over don't bother showing up to pick us up. Ok? We're fine. Don't tell this to your mom, please?"
"Oh, sure. Well, I'll guess that we'll see you there." Luz said, rather concerned but since Willow was dismissive about it, she figured it out that maybe she didn't want to elaborate on things. She drove off and got back to work at the Cafe. While Willow and Gus made their way home, with Willow sitting on the couch as she began to explain.
"Ok, I don't want you to mention my name on this. Not because of me. I don't want to get involved because I don't want to cause any trouble to Luz or Camila. Alright?" Willow said as Gus nodded.
"I won't write your name on this. I'll just say it's some anonymous source." Gus said as he took a seat on the coffee table as he held his phone, writing what Willow reported on what's been happening on the Greene House ever since she worked there. The shady guys, the exotic plants, the fertilizer alibi, everything off that she has seen. They probably stayed until late building up the case.
When Luz's shift was over, she made her way back to the Orb to pick Amity up. She was standing outside the building with a rather drained expression on her face. She jumped into the passenger's seat and leaned in to give Luz a kiss out of habit and then put on the seatbelt. "Let's go get Willow at the arcade." Amity said before Luz explained while driving.
"Willow told me she's going to head home by herself. And… so is Gus. So, we're heading to the library now."
"Is something going on?" Amity asked out of confusion.
"She didn't explain, but I assume that she's going to talk to Gus about… y'know what." Luz said with a worried look.
"Ok. I guess Gus is getting his big story now."
"Yup." Luz then gently handed Amity something. "Here's something for you."
Amity raised her eyebrow and then gave a soft laugh when she saw the heart shaped chocolate. "It's not Valentine's Day, yet. Where did you get this?"
"Hey, I can bake for my girl. I do a lot of stuff at work, so I melted some chocolate and shaped it into a heart for you. I heard that chocolate can make you feel better when you're… down. Right?" Luz said as she continued to drive towards the library.
"Thanks, Luz." Amity said as she leaned in to peck Luz on the cheek during a red light. She unwrapped the chocolate from the see-through plastic and gave it a bite. "Tasty.~ " She said as she munched on it with a soft giggle.
"I'm glad it's working, sweet potato.~ " Luz said with a grin and parked outside of the Gravesfield High Library. "Here we are. Hopefully Professor HP's thing ends soon, cause I really want to lay down." Luz confessed with a soft sigh, walking with Amity into the building. They spotted Vee sitting on the same table like the day before and waved at them. This time Luz just resigned herself to wave back instead of calling her back which would probably make everyone else to shush her again.
"How was your day, Vee?" Amity asked as she dropped on the seat next to the Basilisk in her human form.
"Great! My friends and I are working on a mural. Since Professor HP has been advocating for representing the history of witchcraft in Gravesfield, y'know… because Halloween season is coming soon. I heard some people complain but Professor HP found this as an excuse to allow us to express ourselves. I thought that was pretty cool!" Vee said with a large smile on her face, making Amity to smile back and cling to her in a hug.
"I'm so happy for you, but now you gotta give me some of those good vibes of yours." Amity said, making Vee laugh nervously.
"Are you ok? Did you have a rough day?" Vee asked out of curiosity, she was accustomed to have Amity, Willow or even Luz hugging her as some sort of stress relieving move.
"The worst…" Amity said as Luz looked at the two.
"Aww… y'know what?! I'm going in!" Luz exclaimed as she hugged Vee on the opposite side of Amity, making poor Vee groan a little bit. "This is rather therapeutic, right?"
"Mhm…" Amity agreed.
"You two are squeezing me too much!" Vee exclaimed.
"Speaking of therapeutic!" Luz said as she broke the hug and stood up. "I'm going to go look in the library for some T-word related books." She told Amity, who loosened her grip on Vee.
"Hey, that sounds like a good idea. I'll check them out with my card when you're done."
"Sounds like a plan.~ " Luz leaned down to squeeze another hug out of Vee. "Don't drain her out of all her good vibes!" Luz said with a soft laugh.
"I can't make promises on that!" Amity said, making Vee groan a little bit from the tight squeeze.
While Luz was burning some time looking through the library, Caleb was attending another one of Professor Howard Phillips' meetings with some students and colleagues of his. The room was filled with all sorts of people, some of them known by Caleb. He was sitting right next to a college classmate of his. A girl with long purple hair, who wore a beanie which covered most of her head, seemed rather entranced by the poem that Professor Phillips was performing for his audience. When the poem came to an end, Professor Phillips was met with an encore and the loud applause coming from them.
"Thank you. I appreciate your requests, but I fear that the time of our meeting has come to an end. Please, be cautious out there. I believe it is appropriate for me to say that our community is going through a violent ordeal. What happened today… shocked me to no end. But I had an obligation to meet all of you, more determined than ever. Some of you are no longer with us here… which deeply saddens me. Please, report anything you see to the authorities…" The brown haired man held his hand close to his chest, not for dramatic effect, he flinched. Which caught Caleb's attention and almost rushed over to him before the Professor leaned against the podium as he smiled. "You're dismissed, I will see you guys on Thursday."
Most of the people inside the room began to leave, but some stayed and surrounded the man while praising him with words. Caleb joined in the small crowd. Noticing that the purple haired young woman was among them.
Their eyes crossed and Caleb just gave a casual nod to her. "Hey, Wendy. So, you like poetry?" He was curious about it since Wendy seemed a little bit of a rebel rather than a scholar.
"Surprising, isn't it?" Wendy laughed softly. "I dunno, I heard Professor HP making all sorts of noise about the y'know what and… I thought that was pretty rad."
"Yeah, I suppose." Caleb joined in the laughter.
"This town's unfounded superstition and how they just want to erase their… genocide had made me want to leave town. But, I feel that there's going to be some change. I just wanted to be a part of it." She grinned, making Caleb to give her the thumbs up.
"Swell."
The Professor attended most people, the very last ones that came after Wendy met with him were praising the man just like the rest. However, while Caleb was distracted while putting some of the books away from the desk, he listened to some of what they were saying. "Of course, Professor. Unfortunately, we haven't heard from Layton. We just hoped that he would come back to us. I really feel that he needs the support that our group provides. We're looking into it…"
"That's yet another of our colleagues that disappears." Professor Phillips said as he yet again, grabbed the left side of his chest. "I'm fearing the worst… given the recent events with Professor John Jekyll and now Dahlia Greene…" He flinched once more.
"Professor, are you ok?" One of them asked while the man called out for Caleb.
"Caleb… my medicine…" He groaned in pain as he leaned against the bookshelf behind him. Just as quickly as he named Caleb, he was there to hand him the orange bottle of pills.
The man quickly gulped one of them and took a seat on the chair next to the podium. He was panting for a full minute, but unfortunately, things escalated and he began to hold onto his chest with more force.
"Sir! What 's wrong?!" Caleb panicked.
"Call… call…" The man tried to communicate something, which made Caleb figure out what he tried to say, he grabbed his phone and began to dial 911.
"Yes, please hurry!" He said by the end of the call.
Outside, Luz was still looking through the shelves, she had a couple of books that were aimed towards mental health, therapy and depression. She soon was distracted by some of the book titles that she was encountering.
"Deception 101… The Art of Deceit… Trickery and how to be good at it… How to deceive and reach your goal in less than 300 years top…" Luz laughed at that last one. "That's a sick burn to someone I know. What is this section, anyway…" Luz left the book from where she took it, but her eyes were able to see a familiar figure on the other side of the shelf.
The librarian; Lilian Grimm whom she met the day before. The dark haired woman was putting some books back into their respective places. Unaware that Luz was snooping on her. The woman had her eyes closed at all times, something that made Luz a little bit curious about. She sighed and took off those headphones she was wearing for a moment. Making Luz gasp in shock when she realized what her eyes were seeing.
The woman… had pointy ears. It was then that Luz blurted out. "WITCH!" She immediately shut herself up with her hand, but it was too late. The woman turned her head, without ever opening her eyes, Luz could feel her stare. They stared into each other for a short period of time before Luz smiled nervously. "Don't freak out… I'm a friend…" Her face went from worried to absolute happiness.
"You cannot tell this to anyone!" Lilian said as she walked around the shelf to meet up with Luz, lowering her voice while she did so and putting back her headphones over her ears.
"How did you get here?! Do you have a portal?! Are there more of you?!" Luz bombarded the woman with questions while Lilian tried her best to shush her up.
"You cannot say a word, please, you have to keep this a secret…" Lilian begged with a very concerned look on her face, but she took the time to answer her questions. "I don't have a portal, there was one that opened a hundred of years ago. But there hasn't been one ever since. There's witches here, yeah… but many of them are dead. Y'know what this town has done…" She said, with a terrified tone.
"I've been there. The Boiling Isles. I want to go back. I want to help my friends get back there. They're witches too, and…" Luz tried to explain before Lilian panicked.
"No, you can't say a word, especially to other witches. If you know what's good for you, you should leave this place… they're not safe here!" The woman exclaimed.
"No, no. Trust me, we're very safe. They've been living with me for four years. Besides, it's been centuries since people were… y'know, burning witches…" Luz gulped trying her best not to upset her.
Out of a sudden, they both listened as some paramedics rushed in in the background. Luz watched as Caleb came out from the Oratory room with Professor Phillips being brought on a stretcher. She watched as Caleb asked the paramedics to go with them, and they agreed.
"Luz! We gotta head to the hospital." Amity said as she ran up to her, making Luz panic, looking at Lilian as she pleaded to her to not say a word, holding her finger against her mouth.
"This isn't over. Please be here tomorrow… I really need to talk to you." Luz said, hearing the reply shortly after.
"I can't leave… even if I wanted to."
Luz looked back at Amity, then back at the witch, hearing Amity calling her out. "Luz!" She finally ran up to her girlfriend and met up with Vee, moving out the building to get in the car.
They met up with Caleb in the hospital. They were in the waiting room for half an hour or so before they notified Caleb that the Professor survived the heart attack. They all sighed in relief. Vee was just as distressed as Caleb was, the man seemed to have a following from all sorts of people in the community.
When Caleb asked if he was allowed to see him, they agreed, a brief meeting, they said. Caleb was walking up to the room he was told to. Room 408. He stopped when he heard some whispers inside the room, which seemed rather unusual since he was the only one there to meet him. When he slowly opened the door, he saw Professor Phillips lying on the bed, eyes closed until the door snapped him out of his dream.
"Caleb…" The man said with a smile. "You stayed. You should head home…"
"Are you ok, Professor?" Caleb asked as he looked around the room, there was no one else but the Professor. "I heard voices."
The man laughed softly before groaning in pain. "I was speaking to my muse… thinking aloud. My brain never stops working."
Caleb chuckled softly and nodded. "I see. Sir, you gave us all a scare. You're been under a lot of stress lately, maybe… you should take the rest of the week off. I could… fill in for you on thursday." Caleb tried to argue with the man, but she shook his head.
"No, no. Caleb. Life goes on. Show must go on. This is nothing, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm not going to let a faulty heart dictate what I can and cannot do. Go home, Caleb. Have some rest. I'll be fine." The man chuckled softly and rested his head back on the pillow.
"Ok, sir. Please, be well. People seem to be counting on you, more than ever." Caleb said, making the man smile as he tried to doze off to sleep. When Caleb closed the door, he walked back to the waiting room where he met up with Luz and the rest.
"So…?" Luz asked.
"He's fine. Perfectly fine. You know him. His enthusiasm. Tried to bargain with him to take a breather and he told me to go rest myself." Caleb laughed.
"Yeah, that does sound like him." Vee said.
"Ok, so… home?" Luz asked and Caleb nodded.
"Yeah, let's go."
They headed out, got in the car and drove off. Amity stayed up with Luz inside, taking the chance after Vee and Caleb jumped out to have a word with Luz. "What happened at the library? What was happening between you and the librarian?"
"Oh, that's…" Luz said before thinking about the woman asking her not to reveal her secret. "I wanted to know info on some books I had on me… oh shoot! I didn't check them out! I totally forgot." Luz said, making Amity laugh softly.
"It's ok, we can pick them up tomorrow." Amity said as she leaned in to kiss Luz. "You'll be able to sleep tonight?"
"Hopefully. I'm actually really exhausted. Everything that happened today…" Luz said, squeezing Amity's hand a little bit.
"You can say that again." Amity said, they both finally dropped down from the car and went inside with the rest. There was Willow and Gus lying on one of the couches, with Caleb on the other one. Amity took a seat next to Willow and gave her a nod. "Hey…"
"Hey yourself." Willow said, nodding back at her.
Amity laid against the couch and sighed, making the others to sigh as well. Luz dropped down next to Amity and wrapped her arm around her. There was a long silence reigning supreme in the living room.
Until Amity broke it while leaning against Luz. "Ok, is it just me, or this day sucked?" With Willow replying to her soon after.
"Bruh… this day blows so HARD!"
"I agree. Professor Phillips had a heart attack. We just came from the hospital. He's fine now…" Caleb said.
"Dude, don't even try to go there. My boss died." Willow said.
"Oh, yikes! I'm sorry to hear." Caleb said.
Amity added. "That very same boss she's talking about is a replica of my mom."
"Uh…" Caleb said not sure of what to say next.
"I got nothing, I was running around all day, I'm just exhausted." Gus said.
"Same here, buddy, same here…" Luz said, sighing softly. They watched as Vee came back from the kitchen, holding a cold soda with her which she was drinking from. Luz smiled and patted the seat next to her. "Y'know who had a good day, however. Vee."
"When does Vee ever have a bad day?" Willow asked. "She's the cute one, she's settled for life."
"Hey, I can have bad days too!" Vee protested as she began to show symptoms of a hiccup after drinking too fast. Which made all the girls in the room and Gus to give a 'aww' in unison.
"Aww… I can't resist it." Amity said as she brought Vee into a hug. "Good vibes!"
"Yup… this is -hic- my life now…" Vee said in resignation while the hiccup continued.
"So, what happened to her? Your boss, I mean." Caleb asked curiously, to which Gus decided to respond.
"We don't know yet, the police should be making a statement about it in a day or two."
"You think this is related to… the other case?" Luz asked, since murders were not common in Gravesfield.
"I don't know. But if it was… there might be a serial killer out there." Gus said, making everyone feel a little bit unsettled.
"Maybe we should drop the subject. That's too eerie for me." Amity said, loosening her grip on Vee.
"Yeah, I rather not think about some psychopath running around town." Willow said.
The door opened up and they all watched as Camila popped up holding some bags. "Hola muchachos! How was your day?" They all groaned in response, clearly not the most enthusiastic response they could give. "Ah, yes, the sounds of the young working class who were just handed a reality check from their responsibilities. Good thing that I brought… tacos!" She said as she showed them the bag of food she held on one hand.
"Ayy, martes de tacos!" Luz said as she stood up from the couch with the rest.
"Suddenly all my problems just disappeared." Gus said.
"This is why I wake up every morning, for the noms noms!" Willow said.
"Ok, help me set the table so we can have dinner." Camila said while laughing at some of their comments. Everyone gathered up on the dining table. They didn't bring up any of the serious stuff they went through. Especially Willow who didn't want to tell Camila that the police might question her at some point. They all just enjoyed their meal and tried to forget, if even for a little bit.
When the time came to go to sleep, Luz stared into the ceiling like the day before. Except this time, she did not have the strength to go out to the cabin that night. She closed her eyes, and soon, she drifted off to sleep. Not waking up a single time. Which was a good thing. Given that someone else was at the cabin that night.
There were a handful of figures lingering there. Covered in cloaks. Most of which wield some masks that had an uncanny resemblance to the one that Belos' used in the Boiling Isles. One of them pulled out one of the boards on the floor and reached over to grab what was hidden under. A branding glove with the sigil of the Emperor's Coven.
End of Chapter 2.