Boop.

Boop.

Boop.

Luz's eyes fluttered open, and she looked around an unfamiliar room. She found herself in a hospital bed; An advanced hospital bed, in a small room, lit by magic stones similar to fluorescent lights in the ceiling. A needle was stuck into her arm, attached to monitoring equipment. She was dressed in a hospital gown and trousers, under soft cotton-like sheets. Comfortable, but nonetheless confusing. Luz turned her head and saw… the Golden Guard, resting in a seat nearby.

Oh. This is another weird dream, thought Luz. Another fever dream from the heat. Weirdly muted, but we'll work with it.

She shut her eyes again, and tried to focus on waking up.

After a few minutes she realized she was awake, and started having questions.

She felt, better, better than she had before even. Perhaps the Healing Coven had been contacted, and she'd finally gotten decent care. They were expensive though, Luz wondered how they'd afforded it. Looking back to the Golden Guard, she gulped and assumed it had been something illegal. At least they'd let her get better. Weird they'd have sent him to deal with this though.

"Uh, hi?"

Luz broke the silence in the room, stirring her visitor from his rest. He rubbed his eyes and looked back at Luz.

"Oh. Good. You're awake. Are you alright?"

Luz said nothing, she just stared back at the Golden Guard.

"Why are YOU here?"

The boy blinked and looked aside for a moment, squnting slighty as he cleared his throat. "Um, I, brought you here."

"Y-y-," Luz grunted as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. "You did what?"

"I, I brought you here. To, this place. You, wanted to get better, right?" The Golden Guard looked put off by the interrogation.

"Well, I- I mean, yeah, I was sick, but, like, how expensive is this going to be? They healed me pretty qui-"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." Interjected the boy, "What IS the whole money situation on this place? I don't know how we're supposed to exchange for 'services rendered' here and-"

"Whuh-" Luz gasped, "Then why did you bring me to the Healing Coven? Of course Eda can't afford this, it's why we came! And like, what do you mean you can't afford for healthcare, you work for the Emperor, don't you-"

"Healing Coven?"

"Yeah, the place we're… we are, we are IN the Healing Coven's Apothecary right?"

"Wh- No. N- Luz, don't you remember how we got here?"

Luz looked about the room again. He was right, this, wasn't the Healing Coven. Those weren't like florescent lights, they WERE florescent lights. The equipment was electric. The bed was like ones she'd seen with Mama at work, and the window…

The shades were drawn on the window. Luz blinked, and gulped.

"…can you, open the blinds for me?" Luz asked the boy.

The Golden Guard looked to the window, then back to Luz and nodded, stepping up from his chair and slowly walking towards the cord. He pulled back the blinds, and the light rolled in, blinding Luz for a second, before revealing… more windows, and concrete. The room wasn't one with a view. But looking out, Luz's ears perked at the faint but far-away sound of a car horn.

"I, um," Luz fiddled around in her bed to grab ahold of the needle drip attached to her arm and the monitoring machines, pulling it off her body. She stepped off the bed and took steps towards the window. She peeked beyond the turn, and saw it.

Clear blue sky, for the first time in months. Wide, open fields and trees in shades of orange and red lay across the way. A four lane highway passed by the hospital she was in, vehicles zipping by, trucks and semis and SUVs and Sedans, to feel excited for Sedans again. She saw symbols for trashy fast food joints and pit stops, glowing in saccharine pop art marking drivers to stop in and try the latest slop. The rush of traffic humming in the distance, a faint bird twitter some ways away. Life. Life in the Human Realm.

Luz Noceda, was Ho-

Wait a minute.

"What, hospital is this?"

"Hospital?" the boy puzzled?

"We, we are, ON Earth, right?"

"It-… this is, the human realm, I, I think? I was hoping you'd confirm when you woke up." The boy rose from his seat and looked around, holding his staff in preparation to fight, "Why, what, what's wrong?"

"N-no, I, No, it's, I-I mean, what, hahahaha, uh, w-why, wh- whyyy are we in… the Human, Realm?"

The boy looked back, confused. "You… don't remember?"

Luz felt embarrassed, then blinked and stepped back, "Wait, is this a trick?"

"What?"

"Is this one of those things were it's all a little off, because it's just a magical construct? Like we're not really here, and it's just to get to give you something to advance your coven's schemes? I don't, I don't know where you got the offbrand scenery but-"

The Golden Guard looked taken aback and flustered, "Wh- buh-… N-No. NO! I mean, I thought this was the human realm, what's wrong?"

Luz considered the Golden Guard as he stepped to the window and looked. "Those symbols… are they a banner of someone? They looked like, signs for some technological taverns, but I guess it was-"

"You're not joking. You don't know where we are either."

"I… a, hoss pit elf?"

"Hospital."

"Hoss Pedal."

"Hoss. Pit. L."

"Hospital?"

"Hospital."

"O-okay. Uh... oh, ooh, ooh."

The Golden Guard stepped back to his chair and grabbed some paperwork on a coffee table. He studied it as he walked back and handed it to Luz. "Maybe this, would, help?" Luz took the document and read it. She'd seen something similar before with her Mama, it was a medical invoice. General emergency services, antibiotic treatment, room and food for one night, at, 2400 Dollars. Well, they were in America again, clearly, but this wasn't her Mama's hospi- Whuh-

"OKLAHOMA?!" screamed Luz. The Golden Guard was taken aback. Luz had finally noticed the invoice's address in the bottom right of the page. OK Central Care, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "We're, we're in Oklahoma?"

"Um…"

"I'm, I live in Connecticut, that's thousands of miles away, and how am I gonna afford thousands of dollars in medica-"

"Um…"

Luz narrowed her eyes at the Golden Guard's confusion, then realized she was talking to a man who didn't know what Connecticut, Oklahoma, miles or even dollars were. "Okay, okay, just… just, give me, give me a second, okay, I," Luz sighed exasperately, "Okay, how DID we get here?"

The Golden Guard tilted his head and furrowed his brow, "You really don't remember," he breathed in, considering his words, "You were sick. The Owl Lady and her, pet, and a girl named Amity asked me t-"

Amity. AMITY! Luz panicked. "Where, where's Amity?"

"She, she isn't, …she didn',t come with us."

"What? Wh- then, the- why did YOU come with me?"

"I-I didn't want to be here, i-it just happened."

"What? What happened?"

"I'm getting to it! Ti-titansblood. The Emperor's, needed Titansblood and I was, going to get it, and she, she asked me to, help you, somehow. So I used a little of the reserves to, open a doorway."

"Wh- you could just, you could just go back to Earth like that? Then why are yo-"

"It's not, stable. There's no telling what a Titansblood doorway leads to. Mostly anything that gets caught in there gets dropped off either the middle of the ocean or, high up in the sky, or both. I only did it because, I-… you didn't look like you were gonna MAKE it, and I-I figured, well I can't take you with me."

"Out? To, take me where?"

"For something… safer, I- lo-look nevermind. The point is, I doled out a few pieces around the bed, and… my cape got, caught, in the warp." The Golden Guard looked embarrassed at this. "We ended up in someone's yard, and escaped some wolves, or, dogs, I guess, and I just flew us to the nearest sign of life and, asked for a healer. The workers there pointed to here, and, here we are. They seem to have stuff to fight the Common Mold and, so, yyyeah, that's uh… that's what happened."

Luz considered the statement, and then asked, "Hunter… does Belos have a way, to get to Earth as well?"

The boy flushed at the deduction, but before he could respond, a woman with a clipboard in a business dress walked in. A badge of some sorts was on her chest, but was obscured by the clipboard.

"Ah, good, she's awake. Are you alright?"

Luz blinked and looked at the w, "Um, y-yeah, I'm, I'm fine. Is, everything, all right?"

"Well, no, seeing as, HE," the woman pointed to the boy, "Didn't give us any names to go by. Or insurance, the staff wanted that clear too. Highway robbery on all that, personally, but, we can deal with that later."

Luz looked at the badge again. The letter C, P, and S were labeled on there. Luz looked back behind the door she came in from, and saw a police officer waiting outside.

Oh no.

"So, why don't we start with names. Mine is Sarah, and yours is…"

"Run."

"R-Runn? Runni? Rooni, was that?"

"RUN." Hissed Luz as she tugged on Hunter's sleeve.

"Wh-what?" Hunter looked down at her tugging on his sleeve, then at her.

"Get us OUT of here." She gritted through clenched teeth. 'Sarah' had noticed things were escalating and tapped on the door three times. The officers stepped in.

"We JUST want to talk to you. Neither of you are in trouble, but she was very sick, and-

*PFBOOOOM*

Luz jumped as the wall behind her was blown wide open and the air in the room was whipped up in the winds outside. The Golden Guard, Hunter, had just blown a hole in the wall of her room. In the chaos, Sarah and the officers were paralyzed in shock, as Hunter stepped onto his staff to ride.

"Get on!" he shouted. Luz jumped to attention, while Hunter grabbed a bag of clothes and supplies nearby. Luz stepped on to ride the staff as Hunter whistled sharply. Then, suddenly, a little bird flew into the gap. A little, red bird.

"Little Rascal?" escaped Luz.

"W-WAIT!" shouted Sarah, as Luz turned to her again. Luz attempted to stick her tongue out in victory, before being almost thrown from the staff by the G-forces of Hunter taking off so rapidly. The cold air cut through her simple hospital gown and she immediately tensed in the chill, gripping Hunter's chest to stay stable, who jolted but otherwise rode without hassle. Sights and sounds were whipping by Luz as they soared away from the hospital. Minutes went by, what peeks she got out out in the exposed air were shifting landscapes, and rolling hills and roads. Finally, they slowed down, and Hunter brought the staff down on a nondescript road near some farmland, where the two disembarked. Luz was shivering from the ride, while Hunter stepped off with little trouble and scanned the surrounding. The heat of the rural Oklahoma sun in autumn was warming Luz, but clearly not fast enough.

"T-T-T-Thanks, I g-gg-g-ggguess," Luz chattered through teeth shivering in cold and anxiety.

"Were those soldiers… dangerous?" questioned Hunter, with Lil' Rascal nestled comfortably in his neckline.

"Um, I mean,n-nnno, pp-probably not, but d-do-" Luz again noticed the bird, "Okay, hhhang on, w-wwwhy is HE here?"

Hunter looked down, and Rascal chirped, "Oh? Uh, oh, Oh. Oh yeah. I, never told you… he um, he came to the castle, and, turned into a staff, for me?"

Luz looked at the bird, then back at Hunter, then back at the bird, then back to Hunter. "Ww-wwWhat?"

"Y-yeah, he was tapping on the window, and it… it just sort of happened." Hunter remarked.

Luz considered the situation. "Y-you, you didn't, give him to Belos?"

"What? N-, I mean, I… I was," Hunter sighed and offered the bag, "Look, this isn't important, do you need to get changed? You're still shivering, and I don't need you getting sick again."

Luz looked down, then around at the brush and trees. "Um… where?"

Hunter looked back at the bag and back at her, and blushed, "I, I don't know. Behind the bushes?"

Luz thought for a moment, then took the clothes, "…okay, turn around."

Hunter complied, and rested on his staff, as he heard footsteps into the bushes beside them. While waiting, he took a look about his surroundings. Strange wooden poles with black ropes along them followed the length of the road on the other side. Small ditches marked either way of the path. The road itself was strangely smooth, but rocky upon examination. Like some construct-amalgam of pebbles and tar. Far away in the horizon, a steel semicircular tube-like building stood at the edge of a grand field. He didn't know what it was for, but it must be used for this field it was nearby. Or maybe it was a, home? It started to really sink in how, different, their world was, even in the simple things.

"Ah!" cried Luz, and he heard a crash. Hunter turned to check on her, but an angry red peeping force in his face pushed him back.

"What the- I!"

The Palisman pecked lightly at Hunter on the forehead, "Ow!" and landed down in front of him, tweeting a little short sharp sound at him, and glaring at him.

"I- I whu- I-I wasn't trying to look, she made a noise, and something smashed."

The bird's eyes narrowed.

"I was, I was concerned something happened, I don't-"

"Okay, I'm done."

Hunter turned around again, and Luz was back in her regular clothes. Hunter glanced up and down and coughed.

"Right um… well, I guess this is, where we call it resolved, I-"

"What? No, you can't leave me alone, I need to get home!"

"We, are at, your home?" Hunter said, curiously questioning. He hadn't actually clarified that. "Are we in, enemy territory?" He said, hushed toned, and looking about.

"W-no, no it's just, Oklahoma is, REALLY far from Connecticut. That's where I'm from."

"What, like a, arms run?"

"A what?"

"A-a day, travel?"

"More like several. It's a thousand miles away, gotta be at least."

"Okay, what IS a mile?"

Luz rubbed her eyes and sighed, the clashing of the Imperial System with Boiling Isles distance idioms would have to be addressed another day. "Look, just, how far can that staff of yours fly?"

Hunter looked down at the Emperor's Gift of Red and Gold, "Uh, at the speeds were going? Maybe an hour I guess, it would need more energy."

"Just gonna assume we can't get THAT here. Right! So," Luz patted her pants pockets and nodded, "My phone and wallet are back on the isles. And of yeah, you don't even HAVE an ID."

Hunter looked puzzled trying to follow along with all the new terms, "Uh huh…"

"So, we're gonna need to take the bus. And we're gonna need money for it." As Hunter was digging into his pockets, Luz put up her hand. "Uh, we need human mone-" and she caught herself as Hunter pulled out a small box littered with precious gemstones.

"Well, I don't need this toolbox so much, maybe we can sell it for some money at a trader? Should be good to start." said Hunter, unassuredly. Luz looked back up at him and turned a quizzical smile.

"Hunter, there's no magic here. Humans can't MAKE gemstones."

Hunter considered Luz's face and looked at the box, then back to Luz, then to the box, and realized what she planned. "Oh. Oh! Uh, so how much do they go for?"

"Five Thousand Dollars!" beamed Luz as she spun with the letter holding the cash, as the two walked out of the pawn shop, and back onto the streets in town.

"That's a lot, right?" said Hunter cautiously, as the little Cardinal Palisman flew back down into Hunter's safe shirt, the no-pets barrier now behind them.

"That's… five billion Snails, Hunter." Said Luz, adding the zeroes in her head.

Hunter's eyes widened, and he guffawed, "Just for some powerless rubies and diamonds?"

"Your junk's our treasure I guess. Now, we gotta-" Luz's stomach growled, "Go, eat, something. Follow me."

Hunter followed along, and took in the surroundings. The two had taken the staff into another town up the road they'd escaped to, a place called "Toolsa". In a sharp contrast to the farmland they'd been in, this city was hewn of some smooth rock, and buildings made of brick and flat roofs. Large shiny signs listed the shops and restaurants, lining the big grey streets with white lines that these metal beasts zipped along. Far ahead a strange tower of white rock and glass, or something similar, towered over the streets nearby, but the humans seemed to pay it no attention. It was taller than the castle spire, and yet, everyone was unaffected. All of this, without magic. Without-

"PIZZA!" cried the human, and Hunter turned to Luz, who went dashing into a building declaring slices for five… something, he guessed the dollhairs? Hunter shrugged and followed, the little bird Palisman nestling closer in the shirt. Luz gestured Hunter to take a seat at one of the empty tables. Luz went up to the counter as he waited in the soft bouncy chairs. She returned and placed a number at her table, and drummed the table in excitement.

"I haven't had Pizza in a YEAR, at least!" Luz said, excitedly. Hunter's brow furrowed, and Luz laughed, "Oh you'll like it too, I just got you a cheese slice, you'll see."

"A slice of cheese? I guess I can work with that." Remarked Hunter at the sparse food options.

"No, no, i-it's, oh, you'll see. Now look."

Luz pulled on a small paper sheet under one of the plates on a table, and spread it out to show Hunter. A basic map of a very square-like nation was laid out, little pins in the center and east coast showing locations of what Hunter assumed were similar 'pizza' taverns. Luz brought her finger down one in the center of the crude map.

"So, we're right here," she remarked, before dragging her finger up and over to a small peninsula on the map and tapped the map too, "And my home is over here. We're gonna need to get over there to get back to Mama and my home. So I could-"

"Actually, I think this would be a good time to split up."

Luz looked up from her map and eyed Hunter surprised, "What, but, you need to get-"

"Home. Yes. On the Boiling Isles. And right now, you've blown up the guaranteed way to get back, so MY job has to be to work on a way to open up a safe Titansblood gateway. Really, any basic field or open lot should do. I wouldn't be able to focus on it getting you home, and I wouldn't ask you to wait for me to finish, so… now that you have money to get home, we'll probably just be in each other's way. I'm glad you're back home safe, but I've got a job to do. Goodbye, human." said Hunter as he stepped outside, and down the road. Rascal chirped as he left.

Luz followed after him to the window, and watched as Hunter walked determinedly to a parking lot and began casting and dropping some glowing orange goo on a puddle in the ground. Luz was going to watch further, but the slices arrived, and her stomach was reading the riot act. She returned to the table and dug into her slice. Her toes curled and her eyes rolled back, good, delicious greasy Pizza. Eda had tried to make her something similar, but the tomatoes and cheese weren't readily available, and the white sauce had been haunted… Eda… was she ever going to see her again? She started staring off into the middle distance when she noticed the uneated cheese pizza slice. Hunter never tried it. She considered going out to see him, but then she considered how hungry she was. And as she reached to eat that slice as well,

Hunter sat back down, looking annoyed.

"Um… well, uh, hello again. Everything okay?" she said as she bit into the pizza.

"I-I don't understand, Titansblood should work on this side too, it just, dripped on the ground and did nothing."

"Heh, whach, arh thu ley linzh not working with yash?" she chuckled with her mouth full, she ate her slice.

"No, that stuff wouldn't affect Titansblood, it's too high up and there's probably no Oricalc deposits in this realm. Maybe there's just, not enough residual magic around to spark a portal around here? Also, don't talk with your mouthful, Titan's sake."

Luz gulped as she sipped her soda, breezing over the whole 'didn't get the joke and now has no idea what he just said' thing.

"This is going to take some more time to study. And, I need somewhere to do my research. I know I just turned you down, but could you-"

"Yeah, sure, you can still come. Mama might stick you on the couch, but you'd make the story of where I've been a lot more believable. Plus you, hah, did just, save my life and stuff. I still owe you."

"Oh, thank you. It was the, least I could do."

"Yeah…"

A silence passed between them for a moment, and then Luz looked down at Hunter's slice.

"Well, are you gonna eat that, cause I'm about to go get some more." she remarked, as Hunter looked down at the pizza as well. He picked up the slice gingerly, pinching the side a bit and lifting off the plate for a second.

"It was, pizza, you said?"

"Yeah, you just eat it with your hand, you pick it up like this," and Luz showed, gripping her slice between her thumb and two fingers, "And you just eat from the little point right there.", pointing to the tip.

Hunter followed the steps as instructed and took his first bite of Pizza. From bread and cheese, he'd been expecting a savory dish, something simple that was more comfort food than cuisine. What he wasn't prepared for was how it was so unbelievably

"Sweet…" he said, grimacing and sucking down the Pizza, before taking a sip of soda, only to spit it back out in the glass, "Ugh, everything's so sweet, what IS this?".

"Sweet?" guffawed Luz in surprise, looking at his pizza in confusion.

"I me-, it's fine, I just, ooh wow. I was expecting something more savory, but-"

"Uh, Pizza IS savory."

"That was not savory. THAT was sweet. This cheese is like this rich cream, and the bread is so sugary, and this sauce looks like a fruit? It's, really weird. I can't imagine this is a lunch for you. Do you all just eat sugar and candy all day?"

Luz snickered and laughed, and Hunter at first looked confused, then started to laugh as well. This went on for about thirty seconds and Luz sighed, "Oh man, you gotta try chocolate."

"Okay." Shrugged Hunter.

"Anyway, eat up, fussfest, we got a lot of road to cover. Bus station's next stop, and that should get us home in a few days."

"Are those beasts running about outside a 'bus'?"

"Well, they're a little bigger."

Finding the local bus-stop was simple enough, and the two plotted out a route to make their way to Connecticut. The two sat together on the bus, and spent the next few days riding across the country. Luz's phone was back in the Boiling Isles, so she just read some magazines and newspapers to catch up on the world as it had been without her. Hunter meanwhile, was secured at the window seat, and watched the landscape of the Human Realm change. Dusty plains and sparse trees gave way to mountains, forests, rivers, and other big cities. Hunter understood why Luz hadn't paid the tower in Toolsa anymind, as grand tall buildings shot along the road in cities and towns all across the country. He would ask questions to Luz as they went, about the States and the dollhairs and this greater coalition nation she called Amerrika. She only knew so much about the civics of the place, but she could name all 50 of them in a little sing-song manner. It felt like when he'd had to learn the towns of the Isles (Leaking with the Marrow, Latissa, Clavicarrow, nestled in the armpit of the Big Boney Man~). They stopped once in a 'Moe Tell', which was sort of like an inn but far larger, with many independent rooms accessed with little shiny cards. The beds were soft, softer than even those in the castle. Almost too soft, Hunter had trouble sleeping in them, and the human's snoring didn't help much either. He caught rest along the ride as well, woken by a thunderstorm in a rush, and watching the grey clouds raining cool water as the bus carried them along. And they were never attacked. No one held them up for money and no beasts tore through the road. It was calm, and peaceful, and beautiful. At one point, Hunter tried to ask Luz about it, but she was asleep, so he let her rest, and forgot to ask later.

Having ridden the bus overnight, the pair awoke in their destination before sunlight. Luz called for a smaller yellow carriage and that carried them the rest of the way home. It was only a few minutes' drive from the station to her house, and Luz began tearing up as she saw what she remembered. Her favorite restaurant, her school, her neighborhood, and finally…

"Home." She choked through a teary smile. It was just as she remembered. The white two-story home, with a little red bricked chimney on the right corner, it was perfect. The curvy little walk up, even the garbage can seemed nostalgic. Hunter sniffed a bit.

"Well, it's all right."

"It's free, Hunter. Don't look the gift horse in the mouth."

"Horses give gifts on the human world?"

"Weh-whatever." She rolled her eyes. Nothing mattered. She was finally back. And as she ran across the street to see it again, the door opened wide and out stepped…

Luz Noceda.

Luz, the Luz Hunter had rescued, slowed to a stop, and stared at the girl, who stretched in the doorway, and turned, calling for "Mama!". It held the door for her as, as her Mama walked out, and kissed, this, this thing on the cheek.

"W-what the-"

The other Luz perked up and began to turn to face Luz, as something powerful tackled Luz from the back and rolled into an adjacent yard. Hunter had grabbed her and placed a finger to his lips, covering her mouth. She looked up at him, as he scanned through a gap in the fence, and heard her mother's voice for the first time in almost a year.

"Luz, honey, what's wrong?"

"…nothing, Mama, I thought I heard something. "

"Ay, si, well, house is yours, Mama will be back late tonight, okay honey?"

"Of course Mama."

"Gracias… hasta luego~"

And as the car drove off, what seemed like an eternity passed, and she heard nothing. Hunter darted down a few times close to her, covering her mouth all the while, but still said nothing in return. Finally she heard the door shut close, and Hunter kept watching. She'd had enough.

Hunter looked down and pulled his hand back, covered in saliva. "Ugh, you j-"

"What is goi-". She retorted but Hunter snapped back with a sharp SHHH. He scanned the view, and pulled Luz up, beckoned her back behind the house they were hiding in front of, slinking into the woods behind her home. They walked for a bit, without saying much, before stopping.

"Hunter, wait... what was-"

"Do you have a twin sister?"

"No, I-"

Hunter sighed and rubbed his temple, "Of course, why would it be simple with her?"

"What, what's going on? Hunter, what the-"

He turned to face Luz, and the glower on his face made her concerned for her safety for the first time in days.

"Do you KNOW what that was?"

Hunter said nothing, he just scanned the treeline behind them, seeing if they were followed.

"Hunter!"

Hunter closed his eyes and sighed, then looked back to Luz.

"It's a Changeling, human."