YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS IT
HAHAHAHHAH
I literally just wrote this to somehow make myself feel better and decided, why not share this little self-indulgent good end with all of you?
So have this and enjoy xD
Groaning, Luz sunk to her knees and clutched her middle.
She had been surprised by an ambush of the emperor's forces and while she had fought them all off and killed most of his cloned guards, one had still managed to get her.
Warm blood splattered against her hand and whenever she tried lifting her hand off, she heard a sickening squelching sound. She knew, with a wound like this, the next healers wouldn't reach her in time. Unfortunately, she was all out of healing glyphs, and for her errands she hadn't packed papers and a pen, feeling too confident.
Her healing magic probably wasn't strong enough for a stab of that size, anyway. She could heal scratches and lessen the pain on broken bones, but she doubted she could do anything against blood loss or organ damage.
This was too advanced for her.
Huffing, she slowly lied down and tried relaxing, while summoning her scroll phone. For a short moment, she considered calling the Healers Coven, but they wouldn't come here in time. She was deep in the woods. Even if they found her, they'd just be able to lessen the pain leading to her death but not save her.
It was hopeless. This time there wasn't an out. She knew this was it.
All the times before she had managed to find a way back home, but the Owl House was a long way down this road.
And even if Eda could reach her in time, what would she do?
Groaning, Luz closed her eyes for just a moment, before lifting her scroll again and tapping Eda's contact. She had to try. She owed Eda that much.
"Kid, you're late. Our dinner is coals already.", Eda's clearly annoyed voice sounded and Luz almost cried at the familiarity.
"E-Eda-…", she croaked and immediately, she heard the tone of the older witch shift when she spoke again.
"Kid?! Are you alright?!", she asked, rushed, and it sounded like she was just grabbing Owlbert in the background.
"Eda, I-… I got attacked. I-…", coughing, she felt blood clawing its way up her throat, "… Please come quick…"
"Got it. Luz, you have to call the Healers coven, can you do that for me?", Eda rushed to reply, and Luz heard her jumping on Owlbert, "And light a glyph for me!"
The line clicked and Luz groaned, before trying to relax again. She had to relax.
The next call to the Healers Coven went fast, and after she had described her position, she leaned back, relieved. She had refused to stay in the call to be able to concentrate on her glyphs, so she could send a distress beacon.
A trail of light glyphs started forming a line above her, sending a widely seen message to anyone searching for her. She just hoped no coven guards would see the signal.
Maybe Amity could see it, though. The Blight manor was a little off way from Bonesborough and she knew the Owl House was roughly in closer proximity. Maybe she could see them.
Amity.
Luz smiled to herself, before making a decision.
Finally, when she had managed to set off the light glyphs, the only glyphs she had packed, she summoned her scroll again, finding Amity's contact.
She knew what she was about to do would be unfair, but she couldn't call Eda and didn't want to listen to some Healing witch tell her how to breathe in her last moments. There was a good possibility she wouldn't make it, and if that was the case, Amity would be the last witch she'd want to listen to. Breathing through, Luz waited.
Her shaky fingers smeared blood on the scroll when she dialed her number, without really knowing what she was doing. She had to hear her one last time she supposed, even if it'd be unfair for Amity to listen to her dying.
The scroll fell next to her head, the call switching to speaker, and the dialing tone ripped through the air. Luz coughed.
She had some minutes left. For a brief moment, she wondered if this would be enough time for Amity to pick up, but usually, the witchling was quick with answering calls.
It felt like an eternity, while Luz pressed her hands to her wound and waited for Amity to pick up her call. Usually, that happened faster, right? Maybe it didn't, and it just felt like it to Luz. Maybe it wasn't as long usually, though. What was she doing?
Suddenly, the line clicked and Amity's voice interrupted the night, making Luz exhale slightly.
"Luz?", Amity's voice quietly sounded through her scroll and Luz smiled to herself, even if it was a pained smile.
"Amity…", she mumbled, before coughing again. In an instant, she felt shuffling and the witch's voice sounded louder now.
"Hey, are you okay?", she asked and Luz grimaced, feeling her body convulsing against her will even if she tried to relax.
"… N-Not really… Amity, can you-… Can you look out your window for me?", she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking while she heard the witch getting up and presumably peering out her window.
"What am I supposed to be seeing, Luz?", she sounded a bit distant again, probably holding her scroll lower now that she was looking out into the night. Suddenly, she gasped, "Hey, I see light glyphs! Are these yours?"
Luz groaned again, prompting Amity to sound closer once more when she lifted her phone back up.
"H-Hey…", she croaked and her friend sounded confused.
"Are these-… Yours? Wow, you're far away… What are you doing out there?", Luz didn't know how to tell her she was dying. How do you tell someone you're dying?
She sighed to herself, before squinting her eyes, then looking back up to the line of lights, and past them up to the stars.
"… Promise me you won't leave your room, okay?", she tried, but that only worried Amity more.
"L-Luz, are you okay?!", she exclaimed, and Luz winced at her plan, but she wanted her to know. She needed her to know, to talk her down and reassure her, at least for a few minutes, "Do you need help?"
"Amity… You need to promise, first."
The line got silent for a moment, while Amity seemed to fight with herself, but upon a wet cough from Luz she finally caved in.
"Okay, fine Luz. I promise.", she mumbled, then she huffed, "And now tell me what's going on."
Luz groaned another time, before lifting her hand up to her swimming vision. Her minutes were trickling out and her whole hand was soaked in blood.
"Amity, I n-need to tell you-… I-…", she couldn't. She couldn't do it. She couldn't confess now, just to soothe her own mind, to get it off her chest before dying. She couldn't do this to Amity, "… I got attacked by some coven guards."
After finally pressing that out, she immediately heard Amity opening her window, but she had promised. She had promised.
"WHAT?!", the young witch exclaimed and Luz flinched, "Are-… Are you hurt?!"
"Y-Yes, but listen-", she tried, but she was immediately cut off by her friend again.
"Oh Titan, oh Titan, does anyone else know?!", she was beginning to panic, Luz could hear it. This talk was spinning out of control.
"Yes, Eda and the Healers Coven, but Amity-"
"Luz, how badly are you hurt?! Maybe I can help, I could-… I could take dad's Palisman and-…", she began but Luz interrupted her firmly this time, to snap her out of it.
"Just listen.", she said and Amity gulped before shutting up. Luz already felt bad for calling her but she needed this, "Just-… Just listen, Amity…"
Once again, the call stayed silent safe for a few rustling noises, probably Amity's curtains in the wind.
"…Okay…", the witch finally replied and Luz breathed through.
"I-… I need you to be with me, right now… I'm scared. I-… I don't wanna be alone.", she finally confessed and Amity breathed through, once, twice, before she had caught herself again.
"Okay. How can I help?", she finally asked and her voice sounded much calmer now. Luz already felt more at ease, even if she felt bad that her friend had to push all feelings of distress aside for her.
"I-… I'm scared I won't make it.", she winced in pain, before continuing, "Eda is-… On her way, as is the Healers Coven, but-… I-I don't know if-…"
A soft sob escaped her lips while Amity breathed again, but she managed to pull through.
"Luz, help is on the way, and-… You just have to hold out a few more minutes. It's gonna be okay. The Healers have fast staffs, they can make it."
Slowly, Luz felt her eyes closing and her time running out before she drew in a breath again and answered.
"I-I don't know, Ames… I'm so scared…"
Her friend on the other side of the line tried so hard not to panic and she could hear it, but something kept Amity at bay. Hearing her breathing alone was a blessing to Luz. She had known Amity had a crush on her for a little while now after she had started developing feelings for the witch herself.
Having her on the phone with her already helped, even if she felt bad for bringing Amity in this tricky and painful situation right now, but it felt so much better to talk to her.
"… Wanna know a secret, Luz?", she heard her sniffling and suddenly asked herself if Amity was trying to suppress her tears. Gulping, she furrowed her eyebrows, the light glyphs above her swimming in her vision.
"… What secret?", she whispered and thought she had heard a soft sob on Amity's end, as well as her shaking breath.
"I-… I like you, Luz.", she mumbled and Luz's heart started racing. Shaking her head, she tried to speak up but Amity already continued, "I like you a lot. As in-… I wanted to invite you to Grom…"
Painfully, Luz sucked her breath in.
"A-Amity, please don't-…", she tried but the girl wasn't listening to her. She had probably psyched herself up to confess now, as the last chance.
"I-… I think it started with Otabin. Ever since the library, I felt-… So weird around you…"
Sniffling, Luz closed her eyes, whispering now.
"Amity, please, please don't-…", she sniffled again, "You're gonna regret this."
The witch in the line hesitated before she heard her trying to regain her composure.
"Why, Luz? I want you to know, I need you to know and-… And if you don't like me back that's fine, but-… I couldn't lose you without-…", her voice broke and Luz grimaced.
"That's the problem, I do like you back.", she choked out, blood now pooling in her mouth, "I-… I do like you back like this, but-… If I don't make it-…"
She could hear Amity shaking her head through the phone, immediately shutting her up.
"I don't care. I-… I want you to know. And, and maybe that's a motivation to hold out just a little longer."
Luz groaned in pain, before nodding, coughing a little while she turned towards the phone, trying her hardest not to convulse too much.
"Amity-…"
"Luz, please.", she begged her now, and she could hear the tears shaking her voice, making it crack along with her heart, "Just-… Just until Eda arrives…"
Luz sniffled and nodded while trying to relax again. Amity continued talking, in the hopes of keeping her conscious and alive for maybe a little longer. Whenever she asked her name, Luz grunted, to affirm she was still awake, but with every passing minute, that became harder and harder to do.
Finally, she heard Eda's call and looked up.
"E-Eda-…", she croaked and the older witch jumped off her staff, falling to her knees next to her small human. Luz curled up in Eda's arms the moment she cradled her and winced in pain.
"Luz? Did Eda arrive now?", the older witch heard a new voice and looked up to see Luz's scroll lying in the grass next to them, with an ongoing call.
"Amity, she's with me now.", Eda said and tried to sound as reassuring as possible, "I'll call you as soon as she's out of the worst, okay?"
Amity gave her the steadiest okay that she could manage, before hanging up and leaving the mentor with her apprentice.
"Okay, Luz, stay with me now…"
The human grimaced and whimpered, and Eda knew, she would only have minutes left. Thinking quickly, she finally furrowed her eyebrows, lifted her kid up to lean their foreheads against each other, then she breathed in.
"With this spell declared, let the pain be shared."
A scream ripped through the night.
When Luz woke up, she discovered that she was in the Healers Coven. She was no stranger to these rooms, after all, she had already spent quite a bit of time here.
Her chest hurt and when she looked around, she realized that she was wearing a big bandage around her chest. But what startled her most was Eda sitting in the bed next to her, wearing an identical bandage, while Amity had rested her head on her arms, propped up on her mattress. Eda was reading some book with King on her lap, while Amity was breathing slowly and steadily in her uncomfortable position.
Groaning, Luz tried to sit up, but Eda looked over to her and shook her head, speaking up so Luz wouldn't try again.
"Don't do that, kid. You lost a lot of blood, and you took a hell of a blow, you don't wanna move right now."
Luz huffed and sighed while settling again, then she looked back up to Eda.
"Wh-What happened to you?"
Nonchalantly, the older witch shrugged, putting her book away and starting to pet King on her lap who was still sleeping soundly.
"You were dying, kid. I had to do something, so I used the spell Lily taught me when we were kids. I needed you to live."
Tears welled up in Luz's eyes.
"You-… You mean-…"
Snorting, Eda shook her head at Luz, sporting a grin.
"Oh, come on, don't get all mushy on me, Luz. You knew I was going to pull something like this."
Sniffling, Luz reached out and Eda took her hand.
"I-… I didn't know-…", she admitted and Eda smiled, a warm smile that she had seen on her mentor a few times already.
"Everything for you, kid…", she mumbled and Luz felt the first few tears falling, "Besides, what's up with Minty Green? She was adamant about coming here in the middle of the night just to see you."
Luz overheard the teasing tone Eda wore and looked down to Amity.
She faintly remembered that they had talked on the phone and that Amity had confessed.
"She-… We'll have a lot to talk about.", Luz admitted, "But I'm glad we can do that after all. Thank you, Eda. For everything."
All she got back was another smile before Amity stirred.
Let me know if you liked it and if I should open suggestions for you guys?
