"Okay, I'm not going anywhere."
The words rang in Amity's head just as the thoughts of the day had. How did she get here? Only a day ago, she was just some "little miss perfect" and the next, she was banished from her home-realm with only one thing belonging to her, and she wasn't even sure she had that. Before Amity was just a blushy mess, never going far enough to even flirt with Luz, not well anyway.
So, correction, she didn't have anything. She didn't have a home. She didn't have a family. She didn't have a school to go to. Those should have hurt more, they really should have, but they didn't. Amity felt numb. She didn't have Luz.
The words rang in her head again. They told her the exact opposite. She wanted to believe it. She stared right into Luz's eyes, spotting literally nothing that could prove her to be lying. Nobody could just not be going anywhere, not for her at least. Her whole life was spent either pushing others away or having them torn from her, not to mention her parents, who were about as distant as could be, only using her as a trophy, not a daughter, not a member of a family, an object to be shown off.
Amity couldn't believe Luz. She needed some sort of proof at least. She knew Luz was a great person, the best in fact, but she just didn't believe it. She had been trained not to.
"How can I believe that?"
The question was simple. It hung in the air for a moment after leaving Amity's mouth. The rain softly pitter-pattered beyond the shelter that the two had found. Luz sat down next to Amity, stared off into the rain for several seconds, and gave an answer that Amity wasn't expecting.
"You can't. You'll just have to trust me."
Amity took in the words with consideration. She watched the rain as she thought, it was different, unlike anything from the Boiling Isles, much like Luz. Even when she ran through it, trying her best to avoid it at every turn, it reached her anyway, and it didn't hurt her either. It only tapped lightly against her skin, covering her entirely before she could take the moment in. She panicked at the time, but now that things were settling down, it was becoming easier to understand, Luz was the rain in that moment. She resembled the rain in every way, save for the darkness it came from, or so she thought.
Luz was there for her at her lowest of times, she saved Amity from several things, both socially and literally. Luz had invaded her life with no regard, and yet, nothing bad had come as a result. Only light, Amity thought as she formulated a response.
"I- I usually wouldn't be able to,"
Still maintaining those walls. Luz didn't know what came over her, but the response rolled out with such ease that it was, worrying, "But?"
Amity, equally unnervingly found a response almost instantly, "But I do. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I trust you, Luz Noceda."
There was a long silence between the two, it wasn't tense though, it was full of understanding, care, and now, trust.
Luz scooted closer to Amity until they finally touched. Side by side they laid under the roof above them, just outside of a library. Luz stood up for a moment, took her jacket off, and put it around Amity, who was still wearing a hospital gown. Amity happily took the article of clothing, although it felt bad taking Luz's clothes in the rain of all times.
"Please… Just- Just don't leave me." Amity let out softly as the rain continued to pitter-patter.
She put her arms through the holes of the jacket, wearing it fully now. It was too big for her, she expected this, but something was endearing about wearing it. She couldn't explain it, nor did she want to. She only enjoyed the warmth of both the hoodie and Luz, who was still sitting at her side, proving her promise to be true.
Luz was calm, staring into the rain, contemplating. There was much to think about. There was the matter of her injury, there was Amity, and there was her mother, who would absolutely be furious about this. She began to think of the worse, but then something hit her, literally.
Amity's head nuzzled into Luz's arm and she leaned into her. Luz looked down at the girl, snuggling into her arm. She smiled wide, leaned against her as well, placed her own head on top of Amity's, and laid there, eyes open, just like Amity. She made the right choice, her mother would just have to accept that, one way or another.
The two wouldn't move for the rest of the night, as hard as the stone wall of the library was, they were as comfortable as they ever were on the Boiling Isles. They had both fallen asleep that night, content with where they found themselves. When Amity opened her eyes, it was morning, early morning. She could easily tell because of the sunrise that came over the distant mountains. Even in the likes of the Boiling Isles, she could swear there wasn't a moment as magical as this one.
Sure, there was a sunrise and a sunset in the Boiling Isles, but they never had what this one did, Luz Noceda. Amity chanced a glance at the girl, to her surprise, she was awake, not very much so, but awake nonetheless.
"Sleep well?" Luz mockingly asked the girl.
It was only then that the realization set in. She just slept a whole night, outside, in Luz's jacket, in Luz's arms, WITH LUZ! Amity's face turned bright red and she jumped from her sleeping position. Once she did so, her wound ached furiously. She winced, but it was a good enough distraction from whatever the hell Luz was getting up to.
"Oh my gosh, Amity, are you alright? Did I hurt you? I-"
Amity was quick to shoot down those worries, stuttering out a response, "NO! I- Urm- It's nothing. I just… need to stretch is all."
Amity faked a morning stretch, but Luz clearly didn't buy it. She crossed her arms and put on a serious face. Amity stopped abruptly.
"What's the deal? Amity, I know when you're lying."
Amity wore a shocked expression, "What?! How could you possibly-"
Luz tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. She was caught.
"Okay, fine, you caught me. Now what, detective human?"
Luz giggled at the pet name before motioning for Amity to lift her shirt around the area that she grabbed when she got hurt. Amity blushed, feeling her brain start to go all fuzzy at the demand. After Amity was frozen in place for at least a full thirty seconds, Luz got up and did it herself. Luz lifted it, exposing Amity's abdominal area, she glanced down and spotted the wound, identical to her own, and dropped the shirt instantly, gasping in total shock.
"AMITY?! What happened?!" Luz yelled at her, growing pale with worry.
Amity was frozen in place again, unable to formulate a response for another minute, Luz didn't break the silence this time, allowing Amity to finally make her admission.
"You would have died if I didn't…"
"Didn't what?! Amity, what happened?" Luz asked, still full of panic.
"I-," Amity steeled her nerves before continuing, "I used the Pain Sharing Spell, I found you in the woods and I had no other option."
Luz didn't know how to respond to that. Amity stole her pain, something that was completely her fault, meaning that Luz had indirectly gotten Amity stabbed, yet another thing Luz has done to hurt Amity in her mind.
Luz wordlessly sank back against the wall, finding no appropriate response. Even if it was Luz's fault, she needed to be appreciative that Amity would do that for her.
"I'm sorry…"
The words came out of Luz's mouth almost too quietly for Amity to hear, almost.
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Amity admitted to the slumped teen, who perked up a bit at that while still maintaining her expression. It slowly changed into one of surprise as Luz tried desperately to search Amity's eyes for an answer to a question lingering in her mind: why would she do that for me?
The answer was obvious to practically anyone who wasn't Luz, but Luz was herself, so it wasn't. She was blissfully ignorant to many things that went on around her, including Amity's hopeless attempts at flirting and her helpless blushing nearly every time she was around. Luz was truly dense.
There was an air of silence between the two, neither having anything else to say on the matter. The cool morning breeze danced delicately across Luz's hair as she breathed in the Earthly air. It was different than on the Boiling Isles, not better, not worse, but different. Amity noticed this a while ago, especially with the lingering smell of rain that remained through the night and into the morning.
The human realm doesn't even seem that dangerous, was something that Amity couldn't help but keep thinking, despite not knowing nearly enough about the place to make a fair judgment. There were no monsters there, nor were there witches or coven guards trying to snatch people up. Things were different there, calmer, which was probably why Luz didn't want to be there.
The sun was completely out from behind the mountains now, meaning the sunset was practically over. Amity felt calm enough to move now, which she told Luz, earning a simple nod. Luz got up from the floor, inhaled deeply, grabbed Amity's hand, and started walking.
The journey back to the hospital was much faster than it had been the night before. Amity found herself overjoyed to be holding Luz's hand and not turning into a blood-red mess, but she knew her joy wouldn't last, for they were heading back to the place that Amity least desired to be.
It took only a few pleasant minutes for the trip to end with the two, hands intertwined, walked into the place that they both feared so much to be.
In the door, up the elevator (with Amity trembling inside the whole time), and into their room from the night before, easy! They took the path and ended up in their room, alone for a moment.
"Do you think she's still gonna be mad at me?" Amity asked Luz with serious worry behind her.
"Still? What do you mean-" Luz was cut off by the doors of the room swung open with Camila standing behind them.
Camila looked up from the ground, spotting the two. She wore a very confused expression, mixing anger with both confusion and joy, likely upon seeing that Luz is alright. She spoke.
"Mija, I- Where have you been? You promised to come back."
There was unmistaken hurt behind the last sentence, furthering Luz's guilt and even making Amity feel bad, although she still wasn't fond of the older woman due to their previous encounter the night before.
"And you…" Camila's gaze locked with Amity, causing her to squeeze Luz's hand, which she returned as Camila continued, "You have some serious explaining to do. You put my daughter in danger and I intend to find out why."
"Mom, she-" Luz tried to come to Amity's defense but was met with something that was both familiar and the opposite at the same time. She had forgotten just how terrified she was to defy her mother.
"No! Luz, you have a lot to answer for as well. I suggest that you get started."
The two aforementioned teens shared a glance, finding some hope in each other's presence. Luz was the first to speak for the two.
"Mom- We were- We slept outside. I found her and I couldn't leave her."
That bit made Amity smile both internally and externally. Titan how hearing Luz being protective of her made her heart flutter. Luz's mother responded, clearly more confused than anything.
"Okay, well, even so, why didn't you say anything? You're my daughter you know. It was hard enough not hearing from you for the past month."
Ouch.
It wasn't like she had any control over the situation, but- wait did she say only a month?
"Miss Noceda, I'm sorry about last night, that was my fault and I wish it hadn't hurt you."
Amity speaking up surprised everyone in the room, including herself. Her bravery was robbed from her after her altercation with the Emperor, so anything she did at that point was uncharacteristic, maybe that could be a good thing.
"Am- Little girl, I don't know what you were doing, but it was very foolish." She paused. Whether it was to avoid letting the girls think about the fact that she almost said Amity's name or to remain in control of the conversation, she quickly resumed, "But I'm glad you're safe at the very least, both of you for what it's worth."
Yet another surprise. Only a moment ago Amity was believing that Luz's mother was like her own but this was something that Odalia Blight never would have done. It would be 'don't pity yourself, just get up and stop embarrassing me.', in fact, that had happened before, several times.
"Thank you." Luz thanked her mother for finally letting up. The tension in the room faded a bit as they finally stopped arguing.
"Now please lay back down so I can see how badly you hurt yourselves by not being here last night." Camila, now calm-ila, commanded.
Oh yeah, I was stabbed, Luz thought. It was easier to deal with when she thought of it in a more lighthearted manner, otherwise, it was just disturbing. Then she remembered that Amity used the pain-sharing spell and felt a bit lightheaded. She immediately dropped everything, including Amity's hand, finally, and lifted Amity's shirt without permission to check on her wound, which was looking a little worse than when she had seen it before.
"Why didn't you say that it was getting this bad?" Luz asked with a stern look on her face.
"Well, I figured you would know, mostly because you have one too!" Amity barked back as she lifted Luz's shirt as well. After she realized what she was doing and saw Camila giving her a particular look, she dropped it and blushed profusely.
Luz's mother interrupted the two's, nonsense, saving Amity from the question that was about to leave very kissable mouth, "Yeah, the both of you are going to need to explain that as well, and that isn't up for debate.
I guess that's fair enough, Amity decided.
Luz felt different, for once she was the one that was focused on the moment rather than Amity, how could they possibly explain what happened without bringing up magic, Belos, the Isles, anything? They had to find a compromise.
"Easy, some creepy guy tried to rob me while I was with Luz, and things… escalated." Amity took the opportunity to speak for Luz, who was utterly astonished at how quickly the girl was able to come up with an excuse.
"Yeah, she- she's right. But she totally saved me! She forgot to mention that." Luz rolled with it while finding a way to thank Amity for her savior.
Amity took it a… different way, but it was certainly appreciated. My titan, did she just flirt back with me for once?
She wouldn't be allowed much time to think about it because Camila finally responded, "Are you kidding?! Why didn't you tell me before now? You could be in serious danger, not to mention that I need to get a police report out now!"
"Mom, we're fine, there's… no way that we'll have to see him again. He won't be able to hurt us anymore." Luz finally cut her off.
"Dios Mio, Mija, you didn't…" Camila didn't finish that, the insinuation was clear enough.
"No Mami, I didn't kill him! He just won't be able to find us anymore, it's too hard to explain, and I'd rather not." Luz elaborated.
Totally could have killed him though, Amity jokingly thought internally before reminding herself of the deal she made.
"We're gonna be alright, I promise miss Noceda," Amity added, trying to reassure the mother, although her word probably meant very little to her at the moment.
"Yeah, I guess. You two are safe here no matter what, okay? Please don't go running away again this time though." Camila finished as she walked out of the room with her phone in hand, likely prepared to call the police.
"Well I guess she's not mad," Amity said.
Luz looked at her, cocked an eyebrow, and burst out laughing. Finally, some levity.
"By the way, are those road-box monsters dangerous?" Amity asked the already laughing Luz, who couldn't breathe with how hard that made her laugh.
Usually, this is where Amity would have found herself to be offended, but she wasn't, which puzzled her. She didn't care to be offended when Luz was so happy, it was what she wanted, what she needed after the deal she made.
"HAHAHAHA- OW!" Luz's wound finally ceased her laughing with a sting.
"Are you okay?!" Amity asked frantically.
"Yeah, I think that we just need to take it easy for a while, you alright with that? I promise to explain what a car is if you say yes." Luz teased.
"Yeah, as long as you hold up on your end of the deal," Amity added.
"And what would you mean by that, Blight?" Luz jokingly asked.
The answer that followed was no joke, but it didn't hurt the mood at all.
"Don't leave me,"
Luz smiled before answering, "Not a chance,"
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Silence, there was only silence in the dusty street market in Bonesborough. Where there would normally be loud customers trying to buy various items from an equal variety in shops there was instead total silence, the absence of noise as a whole.
It had been only a day since the disappearance of Luz the human and Amity Blight and things were heating up, just not in the way they usually would.
These were two very beloved people. That was why having them disappear hurt so badly. When the Emperor had released a statement on the matter, that only made things worse, he claimed the worst had happened.
"It is a cruel day following a terrible night in the Boiling Isles. As your Emperor, I understand the emotions you feel for these children, but as a person, a wizard, a man, I disagree at a fundamental level. Treachery. They, together, stormed my castle and forced me to act after rolling through my forces as if they were nothing. Several good men were hurt, we were fortunate to face no casualties, but their impact has been felt. Only after they refused to reason with me did I finish them off. They will not hurt anyone anymore. You are all safe. They are gone."
The message wasn't as well-received as he may have hoped. People were not thrilled to hear about this. Obviously, the Emperor was alluding to the two being dead, which most believed, despite the implications that would follow. Emperor Belos, the deity of the Titan, Ruler of all, had killed two children.
Edalyn Clawthorne was among the many that didn't believe it, she knew Luz, her Luz, wouldn't die at his hand. She just couldn't. Not to mention the fact that she was with Amity, she just knew that girl wouldn't let her be hurt. She would do anything to ensure that, even sacrifice her life.
The morning after the news broke, the Owl House was in full motion. There was an internal search party for Luz, even Hooty scanning the surrounding area for something, anything that would prove that Luz was still out there. She was safe, Eda was sure of it.
There was nothing, anywhere. It was mentally taxing to be up this early, but Eda didn't find herself needing her apple blood when the most important person in her life was missing. She just couldn't let the rumors be true. Luz was better than that.
They spent hours searching the house, cutting open furniture, checking storage rooms, even checking and double-checking the drawers in the kitchen. No dice. She had to be safe.
They ventured upstairs, checking every single inch, crevice, or hole inside the entire house. There was nothing, not a single sign that Luz had even been there. Even the hood that Eda made her was gone. There was no way she could be hurt.
It was only when Eda walked into Luz's room that she allowed herself to be overcome with emotion. There was something. There was a note. There was a piece of paper under the blankets of her sleeping bag. There… there's no way-… she's gone.
She didn't even dare to read it before the first tear fell. It was the first tear she had cried since her childhood. She hadn't felt emotions this strong in so long that she was starting to deny that they were even there, but here she was, on the ground, letting several cold tears out of her eyes.
She finally recollected herself. She couldn't be weak. Not now. Definitely not now. Luz was still out there, she was safe, there was no chance that it was true, she couldn't be hurt.
"Dear Eda, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I couldn't be strong when you needed me. If I wasn't so weak, maybe things could have been different. I was the reason you lost your magic, I was the reason your curse got so bad, and I just wasn't strong enough. You were a great teacher. I wish things didn't have to be this way, but they do. I can't sit around any longer. He can't keep getting away with this. After what happened last week I just can't let him. Things are getting worse here Eda. I know you see it. I can't have the people I love being forced to live with someone like that in charge. He can't hurt you guys anymore. I won't let him. So if I don't come back, I'm sorry. I can't be weak anymore. I need to be strong for you Eda. After everything you've done for me, it's the least I can do. I love you, Luz."
Eda dropped the letter and felt the tears start to get warmer. It was true. Luz had gone after the Emperor… and she was gone.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
There was a series of knocks coming from downstairs. Eda folded the letter, put it in her pocket, wiped the tears from her eyes, and walked downstairs.
The knocks came again, this time more frantically.
"Hooty, who is it?" Eda asked in a cracking voice.
"Oh, I think you called this one Dweebus, or something like that, Hoot," Hooty answered.
Eda facepalmed as she continued her walk to the door. She opened it and was happy to see someone that wasn't working for the Emperor at her door, it was Gus, formally Dweebus.
He didn't take any time for pleasantries. He walked in and started shouting, "LUZ! LUZ?!"
There was no response, not even a snarky one from Eda. That was the moment that it hit Gus. She wasn't here, and Eda looked just as worried as he did.
"What… happened?" Gus asked.
Eda took a moment to ready herself, wiping the depressed look from her face before answering, "She's out there. She has to be. But I know she's not here."
Gus's worry deepened. He pushed it down, deep down, and wore a determined expression before rising from his knees.
"You're right. Luz is out there."
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"No, the government is not run by lizards. You know you'd be surprised how many people actually think that…" Luz joked as her best friend sat only a few feet away in the bright white room.
Amity laughed before continuing, "I don't think anything could surprise me anymore with this place."
"Well, it's not all terrible you know?" Luz asked.
Amity didn't answer with words, she only turned her head and lightly sighed.
"Ah, so you did know, you just wanted to make me talk huh? Well, you win, when we get home, I have a lot to show you." Luz explained.
"That definitely sounds like a 'win' to me," Amity admitted.
"It will be, I promise, especially if you liked Azura, which of course you did, it's the best." Luz finished. There was a moment of peace between the two, they had been conversing for hours now. It could be like that sometimes when you were explaining an entirely new world to someone, much like how Luz was when she first went to the Isles. Amity would just have to get used to listening to Luz rant. And she didn't seem to mind.
The two heard the door to the room open slowly, revealing Camila, who looked far happier by now. The two turned their heads to face her as she began to speak, "Well there's good news and bad news. Which would you like first?"
"Mom, you know I hate when people ask that question," Luz stated.
"Of course I know, I just had to make sure you weren't an imposter," Camila joked before continuing on, "Okay, well I'll give you the good news first then. You two will be able to be home by the end of the day."
"Well, that's great!" Luz shouted.
"Butttt, we don't seem to have a home on record for this girl here, actually we don't have anything on record from her. And we checked everywhere." Camila finished. Amity sighed.
Uh oh, Luz thought as she took the turn of saving her friend, "Oh, yeah, about that. She isn't from here. I can't really explain right now, but she doesn't have a home here, or really anywhere right now."
Amity sunk even further. It wasn't what she was saying, it was that it was true and that she had been avoiding thinking about it until now.
"Yeah, homeless old Amity over here." Amity joked.
"Oh come on, I didn't mean it like that," Luz assured.
"I know, it's just y-know, a new situation is all," Amity admitted.
"So, can someone explain, or am I just gonna stay out of the loop?" Camila said in an almost humorous tone.
"Up to her," Luz said while pointing at Amity. It just wasn't really her place to say anything.
"Yeah, it's fine. There's a situation where I'm from, and I can't go back there, for the same reason that guy that hurt us can't actually, so I don't really have a home I guess." Amity explained while leaving out the actual details, as she had the entire day with Camila.
"Well, I guess that's good enough for now, but that brings up a choice for you later. I'll let you know when the time comes, but for now, we need to take you to get an x-ray scan and make sure the wound is actually going to heal." Camila explained.
"Urm- what is an x-ray?" Amity asked.
Just before Luz was going to answer, she thought about it for a moment. Amity can't get an x-ray. They would find some… interesting things about her body. That's couldn't happen.
"Oh, well an x-ray is a tool that we use to see inside your body, so we need to use it to make sure you didn't break anything inside, otherwise, you can go by the end of the day, no problem," Camila explained.
Amity was much quicker to realize the problem than Luz was. She shot her gaze to her crush and silently panicked. Camila asked if they were ready to go, and Amity nodded.
There was a knowing gaze shared between the two as they got up from the bed, Amity still wearing the hood over the backless hospital gown and Luz wearing her typical attire, although it seemed a bit small for her now.
They took a few steps until they were standing about a foot apart and turned to face Camila, who opened the door for the two to exit. It was Luz who did it this time. She grabbed Amity's hand quickly and Amity quickly reciprocated. Amity's hand was shaking, but Luz's warmth calmed her down a bit.
They started their short walk toward the x-ray room. Both were worried, but they knew they had each other's back, so once again, Amity placed her trust in Luz. Everything was riding on the moment that laid ahead of the two.
Luz leaned over to Amity, only a few inches from her ear, and whispered, "I won't leave you alone, I promise."
To that, Amity only squeezed Luz's hand harder. They turned the final corner of their walk and found a door labeled "Radiology". They shared another glance, finding solace in each other's eyes, and walked in as Camila held the door open.
