Quick notes:
I'm sorry folks, I normally post on Saturday or Sunday, but this will be on Monday. I am a little behind this week. I'm glad the foreshadowing last chapter was picked up on, yes, some reviewers were right on point. The mentioned videos are from the episodes "Young Blood, Old Souls" and "The Intruder".
In the Human World:
Film
Camila Noceda took a seat in the staff cafeteria and reached into her bag for the lunch she'd packed. Her hand found a certain device first, and she pulled Luz's phone out and set it beside her own. Once she had her lunch out, a simple sandwich and some chips tonight, she found herself contemplating the phone with its cracked screen. Almost absently she reached out, turning the screen on before tapping the image gallery icon. Camila tried not to be nosey, but Luz also normally showed her mother all kinds of images of things. In fact, in reflection, it was a little strange her daughter had yet to show her any images of camp. The most recent image was a video file, the still frame was of Luz laying on her sleeping bag and looking at the camera. Camila tapped play, assuming she was about to hear some tale from camp. Luz's voice greeted her, and if anything, her tone, and facial expression seemed proud at the start. As she spoke though, Camila was treated to a torrent of her own emotions ranging from disbelief and shock, to pride and fear for her only child.
"And that's how we escaped the Emperor. Everyone told me he was the most powerful witch alive. But look at this, Mom!" Luz's expression bordered on smug in the video as she held up a piece of what might be metal, Camila was not certain. "I chipped off a piece of his mask! I know he's not invincible now." Her expression shifted to a sort of distressed and contemplative face. "It's a strange feeling, having gone through so much, and not having you here to share it with. And I don't know when or how I'm going to see you again. But I will find my way home to you. I promise. Déjame una luz encendida, te amo. (Leave a light on for me, I love you.)"
Camila sat in stunned silence momentarily, telling herself it must be Luz recording a spoken version of one of her fanfictions. The more she considered that though, the less likely it seemed. After all, Luz was clearly speaking to her in that video, and that emotion on her face was too genuine. She slowly decided to look at other recent images, finding images of King sleeping, images of a woman who easily appeared to be about her own age with gold eyes, pointy ears, and wild gray hair, images of a young boy with an excited smile and pointy ears, a girl with a kind smile, green eyes and pointy ears, images of Amity, and images of Luz with all of them in combination or alone. There was a video with a still shot of King dressed in a tiny cheer leader costume, Camila didn't play that one as she was sure the dog was adorable, but she had other concerns currently. A few images appeared to be images of physical photos, and in those Luz and her apparent friends (including Amity) all appeared to be dressed for a formal event.
Camila paused on one of the entire group, seeing Luz with her arm around Amity smiling wildly, and Amity looking embarrassed but happy, the girl was blushing very clearly. However concerned many of the other images made her, Camila could not help but smile at that one. All four teens looked happy and based on what she had seen Camila wondered just how often Amity actually relaxed. She sent herself that image, thinking it could serve as a reminder of the happiness she had seen in the two when she inevitably worried over what exactly was going on. The pointed ears on all the people in the images presented an obvious piece of evidence that Luz had lied, because Camila highly doubted all of them were related to Amity. Perhaps the two with the oddly deep green hair were, but others she highly doubted. Another video caught her notice, it showed the gray-haired woman from before but now she was dressed in an old sweatshirt and honestly looked tired. Camila mentally braced herself and hit play.
"Smile! You're on camera!" Luz's cheerful voice practically yelled from behind the camera. "One more spell won't kill you!" The woman let out a groan, one that caused Camila to smile very slightly. That was a sound the mother herself had made more than once when an excited Luz drew a sleepy Camila's attention. The woman with the gray hair slapped a hand to her forehead, before drawing it down her face in exasperation.
"Fine." She agreed before shifting slightly and lifting one hand. Camila was not prepared to see the glowing lines left behind by the other woman's finger as she moved her hand. "Now you see, the spell circle is really key." She let out an impressive yawn, and sort of wobbled before falling out of the frame. The circle was forgotten as the camera wobbled, giving a half view of the woman face down on a wooden floor.
"Well, looks like one more spell killed Eda." A voice almost cheerfully declared off screen, just before the video ended. Camila replayed it with wide eyes and played it a third time. She assumed this Eda person wasn't dead, as she appeared in later images and Luz mentioned her in the most recently recorded video. She was going to need some time to sit with this, all of this, in her mind. She knew technology was really advancing, and Luz loved her videos, but she doubted that glowing circle was created by an app.
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"Luz, this is a terrible idea." Amity muttered softly to the other girl, as they strode toward the front doors of the school building. Camila had already handled enrollment for the two, so like all the other high school students it was just a matter of picking up schedules and finding their classes.
"Just think of it as an adventure, Amity!" Luz told her, throwing an arm across her shoulders, and waving toward the double doors they were approaching. "And we're in this together."
"Right, together." Amity chewed her lip nervously, adjusting her beanie again to ensure it and her hair covered her ears. Other teens filtered about them, some seeming at ease and others almost looking sick with nerves. The green-haired teen cast her gold eyes about, noting the wide variety of different clothing styles and hair styles. "No uniforms?"
"Only for sports, P.E., or things like cheer." Luz told her and muttered what sounded like a possible curse word in Spanish. "I have to find out when cheer try outs are."
"Cheer try outs?" Amity noticed that Luz gave her a shocked look and almost laughed. "Cheer leaders exist in the Isles, but are you actually saying you're a cheer leader?"
"Wait, why didn't I see the cheer leaders?" Luz gave Amity a look that seemed almost affronted. "Shouldn't they have been obvious on game days?"
"Did you actually make it to any of the Grudgby matches?" Amity watched Luz shake her head and offered a shrug. "They change at the match, like the players, so unless you went to the games you wouldn't have noticed."
"Oh, here on game days they basically spend the whole day in their uniforms." The human teen smiled at some memory. "In Junior High I was on cheer, but I have to try out for this year's high school team."
"Oh." Amity averted her eyes and tried not to create a mental image of Luz, cheering on the sidelines of the Grudgby field. Maybe she should go out for Grudgby again, wait no. No, Amity, no.
"Woah, Amity, stop walking." Luz moved her arm, which Amity had absently walked out from under, and used her hand to catch her friend's arm. Gold eyes blinked, and the intelligent teen flushed as she realized she had been continuing to walk past as Luz joined a line of students waiting for something. Luz sort of gently tugged her back to her side, with an amused grin. Amity flushed more brightly at the other girl's next words. "What were you thinking about, Miss Blight?"
"Sports!" Amity winced when her shouted answer caused several heads to turn. She decided to lock her eyes on Luz for now and was treated to the other teen doubled over laughing. A smile slowly came to Amity's lips, and she resigned herself to the very real possibility of more embarrassing outbursts. It would be fine however, so long as she got to see Luz laugh so openly.
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Eda didn't say it, but she was actually impressed at how well Lilith played Hexas Hold'em. Once they'd made their way to the high roller tables it of course became harder, however it appeared Lilith herself also became more cunning and ruthless in her style. For several days Eda stood by, playing at being a guard or silent servant, as Lilith racked in winnings. Of course, she lost a few hands, never enough to become even close to being dismissed from the room however. Tonight though, tonight was the chance they'd really been waiting for. Eda had begun to doubt the old cross patch still came to these games, but then he took a seat across the table as the first game of the night began.
"That's him, Lily." Eda was bent close to Lilith's ear as she whispered. "The older wizard who just joined the table."
"I loath wizards." Lilith whispered back and Eda smiled behind her mask. "I will enjoy this."
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Boscha strode down the halls of Hexside with a confidence that was enviable. For the moment she was walking alone, her potions class this period was on the other side of school from her friends' classes. Other students steered clear of the jock or shouted little cheers. The team had won their match yesterday, so today Boscha was on top of the world. She turned a corner into a less traveled hall and stopped in confusion as she spotted Edric Blight leaning against a bank of lockers. The Illusion Track teen straightened when he noticed Boscha, offering her a charming smile as his gold eyes locked onto her. She crossed her arms and tried to ignore that when he stood straight, she had to look slightly up at him.
"What? Has Amity sent her big brother to have words with me?" The Grudgby Captain sneered at Edric whose smile suddenly turn predatory. Boscha felt chilled to spite herself, the twins were pranksters, but they were still powerful in their own right.
"Not I!" Edric declared, reaching out and knocking on the nearest locker for seemingly no reason. "I'm really just the handsome delivery boy."
"What are you . . ?" Boscha heard something sort of swish behind her, and before she could turn a lasso of illusion magic wrapped about her shoulders and she was yanked from her feet. She basically flew backward, shutting her eyes momentarily as she slammed hard onto a stone floor in a room she had never seen.
"Hello, Boscha." Emira's voice was cold as she stepped into Boscha's view. Boscha began to struggle, but Emira drew a quick circle with her hand and suddenly Boscha was cocooned from the top of her shoulders all the way to her feet. The Potions student struggled, but whatever spell was holding her slightly tightened so she was forced to stop. Emira knelt near her head, and Boscha honestly could not remember ever seeing the older Blight sibling look so angry. "We need to have a talk."
Standing out of Boscha's line of sight in the secret room of short cuts Viney winced. Emira had promised not to do anything irreversible, but she almost felt bad for Boscha. The Grudgby Captain was tough, probably one of the most feared students in school, but Emira was a sight to be seen when it came to defending her siblings. As she turned that thought over in her head, she supposed it made since that a top Illusions student would be as capable of intimidating as she was of charming those around her.
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After hours of play the gambling place began to close as the sun rose above the Boiling Isles. Eda slipped out the back door, the exit used by the high rollers, and waited in the alley as the final hand was being played. Players meandered out a few at a time, finally the Wizard and Lilith came out. Lilith was doing a fine job of charming the man, acting as if she was hanging on his every word. He was so focused on Lilith he never saw Eda's masked figure coming, and soon he was knocked unconscious. Lilith raised an eyebrow even as she helped Eda lift the unconscious wizard.
"When you said you had a plan and to charm him, I did not expect your plan to be assault." Lilith whispered to her sister.
"Gotta go with the flow, Lily." Eda replied, grinning behind her mask. Lilith was less surprised than she should be when the staff at the questionable inn did not even bat an eye seeing them carry the unconscious wizard to their small room. They had tied him to a chair and had a light breakfast before the wizard began to regain consciousness. He jolted in his chair, looking around in alarm and confusion.
"Where am I? Who are you? What do you want?" He asked as he struggled against the rope holding him.
"Oh relax, Philip." Eda drawled and his eyes moved to regard the witch. Eda stood confidently, dressed in her usual red dress and minus the mask now. He was clearly surprised, and Eda smirked at him. "Bet you never expected to see me again."
"Eda." His tone was resigned. "I thought you were petrified or something."
"Ha, you wish!" She came a bit closer and crossed her arms. "Those Emperor's goons could never hold me."
"What do you want and who's your pretty friend?" He asked, craning his neck to look past Eda at Lilith. The former Coven Leader gave him a disinterested look and he squinted at her. "You know, you look familiar too now that I think about it."
"Don't you mind that." Eda moved to block his view of her sister and leaned a little closer. "We happen to be in the market for another portal to the human world."
"Another one?" He gave Eda a disbelieving look. "What could you possibly do with a second one?"
"Never you mind what I want with it, stick to business. I know you have another one and I want it." She glared at him and watched him squirm a bit.
"How do you know I have more?" When he asked this Eda smiled and he growled. "Look, those aren't easy to come by, I can't just give you another one!"
"You didn't give me the first one, I won it fair and square."
"I still think you cheated."
"Can you two please focus?" Lilith asked as she came to stand beside her sister, looking down at the bound man. "Obviously, you would not part with it for free, so let us discuss an arrangement."
"Arrangement?" He seemed to calm slightly as he regarded the two of them. He still seemed unhappy, but he was mulling something over.
"Come now, there must be something you would exchange the portal for."
"Actually, I do need a favor." He began to grin, and the sisters exchanged a look. "There's a certain item I've been trying to acquire. I know where it is, and how to get to it, but I can't make the trip. I was going to hire some fools to go retrieve it, but if you do so I could trade you a portal."
"Now wait a second, just how dangerous is this?" Eda asked.
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{Hey twins! We need your help for something.} From the Original to Rookies of B.G.C.
{All of us, or just Ed and Em?} From Willow to the group chat.
{Sorry kiddo, I'd really like to just have the older kids on this one.} From the Original to the group chat.
{Where are you and what do you need?} Emira to the group chat.
{Just meet us at The Knee Thursday night and we'll explain everything there.} From the Original. {Oh and expect to be gone all weekend.}
{Be careful.} From Willow to the group chat.
{You worry too much, kiddo.} From the Original to the group chat.
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Amity growled slightly at her human style locker, annoyed at the dial which did not seem to want to co-operate with her. Luz had shown her how to use it twice already, and her pride balked at the idea of asking Luz for help again. After three tries and three fails, she glanced about to ensure no one was paying any attention to her. She used her body to shield the small glowing circle she created with her finger, grinning as the lock popped and she was finally able to open the metal door. She'd have to thank Emira for insisting she learn that spell, it only worked on simple locks, but it would seem it had finally paid off. Hexside lockers were much easier to deal with than these inanimate imitations, it was surprising the things you missed about home.
"Hey baby, are you new here?" The voice of a boy interrupted Amity's thoughts as she retrieved textbooks from the locker. The green haired teen jumped slightly, but only because she was afraid that he had seen her spell. She turned her head to find a very tall, blonde, human boy wearing a letterman jacket leaning against a nearby locker. He didn't look surprised or scared so Amity assumed he hadn't seen her use a spell to open the locker.
"Yes, I'm new." She replied in a voice that she hoped sounded neutral. She didn't want to prolong the conversation, but she also didn't want to draw attention by seeming overly rude. She turned her gold eyes back to what she was doing, closing the locker as she finished. "And don't call me baby."
"Oh, well maybe if you told me your name. . ." He started but trailed off as Amity spoke again.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not interested in talking to you." She told him bluntly. She heard someone nearby, probably one of the boy's friends, coughing to try to hide a laugh. The boy stood there with a slacked jaw for a long moment, and if Amity weren't waiting for Luz she would have walked away.
"Okay." He nodded along with some thought in his own mind, and the green haired teen held back a sigh. She could already see he was not going to leave that easily. "You're busy, I can feel that." Amity felt one of her eyebrows raise, feel what? "How about this, you, me, Friday, at the movies?"
"No." Amity turned to lean on her locker, intent on ignoring the boy now. There was more muffled laughing, but the witch just ignored that as well and simply stared at the row of lockers across the hall from her own.
"Not the movies?" He moved to stand in front of her, clearly trying to force her to pay attention to him. "How about ice cream? Maybe a walk in the park?"
"Give it up, Todd!" Someone yelled and the boy turned his attention to make a rude gesture at the person who spoke. "She's not interested man!" The person yelled again to Todd.
"They're right, I'm not." Amity stated and Todd's blue eyes landed back on her. "It doesn't matter what you invite me to."
"Oh, do you have plans on Friday already?" He asked, seeming to be unfamiliar with being turned down.
"Amity!" Luz's voice interrupted the two, and Amity couldn't hold back an amused smile as the Latina ducked past Todd to her side. Luz greeted her friend with a hug as she spoke. "Sorry I kept you waiting, I had to ask my last teacher something."
"We were talking." Todd said unhappily, and Luz turned to look at him with such an innocent look his expression swiftly shifted to confusion.
"Actually, you were talking. I was waiting for my girlfriend." Amity said, reaching out for Luz's hand and praying she'd just go along with the lie. Luz shot Amity a curious look, but grinned and moved to lean into her side without missing a beat.
"Girlfriend?" Todd looked back and forth between the two, before the guy who'd yelled at him came walking over. His friend grabbed him by the arm, muttered an apology and dragged the tall blonde away.
"What just happened?" Once the boys were out of ear shot Luz whispered near Amity's ear.
"Guy kept asking me out and every time I said no, he just asked about a different activity." Amity whispered back, offering a grateful smile to Luz. "Sorry, now anyone that saw that is going to think we're dating."
"Aww, Amity I don't mind." Luz laughed and started tugging Amity toward the exit. "They'll just think I have a sweet, pretty girlfriend; I don't see the downside of that."
"Uh." Amity choked slightly on air, and just followed Luz wordlessly for a while.
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{Hey Emira.} From Viney to Emira B.
{Hey, gorgeous!} From Emira B. to Viney.
{So, uh tomorrow is Friday.} From Viney to Emira B.
{It is.} From Emira B. to Viney.
"Em, you done packing yet?" Edric called from the hallway, reminding Emira she had been packing an overnight bag before her scroll chimed. She set aside her scroll, quickly packing the things she would need for the weekend and hoping they'd return by Monday. Edric came to lean on the doorframe of her bedroom, already changed and packed just as Emira picked her scroll back up. He gave a curious look as Emira let out a pained groan, typing swiftly away to send a message back. "You okay there, Em?"
{Are you free tomorrow afternoon? Maybe we could do something?} Viney to Emira B.
{I wish I could, but I have a family thing, I won't even be at school tomorrow.} Emira ignored her brother as she typed the return message. {I'd rather be in your wonderful company, but my parents insisted on taking all of us with them. Can we do something another time, cutie?}
{Yeah, of course. Just let me know when you're free.} Viney to Emira B.
"If we don't get Mittens back soon, I swear to the Titan I am going to kill the Owl Lady and her sister." She said and her brother smirked. She gave him a look that clearly said she was not in the mood for jokes. He didn't crack, in fact he actually made a goofy face that finally caused Emira to crack a smile. "You're an idiot."
"So, was that Viney?" Edric knew the answer, and when Emira returned to looking frustrated he came over and gave her a hug. "Hey, we'll get Mittens and her girlfriend back, and then you can go take your girlfriend out on a date."
"She isn't my girlfriend yet, and if I keep dodging date number two, she probably won't ever be." Emira lamented and Edric winked.
"More reason we should tell her what's going on." He kind of sang to his sister and got a glare in return. "Send her flowers." Edric suggested with a grin. "Work your Emira Blight magic, she'll forgive you for the delay. We should really get moving, it's going to take us a while to get to The Knee for this mysterious quest the Owl Lady mentioned."
Emira watched her brother bounce out of her room, smiling slightly as she thought about that suggestion. Viney was tough but sweet, what kind of flower would suit her? Or maybe she could rush order some candy?
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They were sitting on the couch, doing homework, when Luz heard Amity start mumbling. She glanced at her, the green haired girl was reading a play book, and once Luz squinted and read the title, she thought she could guess what was wrong. The Crucible was not something she would have ever handed to any of her witch friends.
"Yeah, haha, everything connected to the Salem Witch Trials is pretty terrible." Luz commented, and gold eyes shifted from the book to look at her. She couldn't see Amity's expression as most of her face was still hidden behind the book, and Luz fought back a smile. Something about the suspicious eyeing over the book was far cuter than it had any right to be.
"What are the Salem Witch Trials? Why did they write plays about them? And did they actually believe any of this?" Amity asked in a very disturbed voice, and the human teen grimaced. She reached over, tugged the book out of Amity's hands, and tossed it vaguely at an armchair. Gold eyes watched the book fly and land before coming back to Luz.
"It's a long story but basically people were really afraid of witches, I think it was mostly for religious reasons, and everyone got a bit crazy. I don't really know why anybody wrote a play about it but they make us all read it sometime." Luz waved her hands about as she considered the third question. "I kind of doubt there were any real witches around the area for them to catch, and even if there had been I mean. . . I just really don't think they caught any."
"Humans catch witches and put them on trial?" King interrupted the two and laughed. "Yeah, not a chance. Human's wouldn't be any match for witches, especially back in the days before Belos."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Luz looked over at King and he waved the question away.
"You don't count Luz, you're kind of a witch now." He said and Luz heard Amity muffle a giggle at the offended look Luz gave King. She was offended as a human, but also kind of happy he didn't lump her in with the rest of her species.
"I'd show you a documentary or something, but I still can't find my phone." Luz said, and they both jumped when Camila's voice interjected from the staircase.
"I took your phone to get repaired, mija, it should be ready on Monday."
"Mami!" Luz popped to her feet like she'd been caught doing something wrong, and Amity just schooled her expression back to a calm façade as Camila finished coming down the stairs. "Did you have a good dream?"
"I was a little restless." Camila said, shifting her eyes between Amity and Luz with curiosity filling them. "I thought I heard another voice down here."
"What? No!" Luz laughed nervously and cast about her mind for an excuse. "I was just doing an impression, of a guy we met earlier."
"Oh?" Camila was watching Luz very carefully and both teens felt like they'd missed something.
"Yup, uh Tad?" Luz offered and Amity broke the tension with a short, amused, laugh.
"His friend called him Todd." She corrected and Luz grinned.
"Right, Todd." Luz shrugged. "He kept trying to ask Amity out, his friend had to pull him away finally."
"Are you okay, dear?" Whatever had been on Camila's mind was apparently washed away at hearing that. She looked at Amity with such concern and kindness that the young witch was still amazed by her kind heart.
"Oh, I'm fine, really." She offered her own reassuring smile. "He was just annoying, and I doubt he'll bother me again."
"If he does tell me and I'll call the school." Camila said and both teens agreed but silently hoped that didn't happen. The elder Noceda kissed Luz's cheek and told her to get back to her homework. Once Camila disappeared into the kitchen Luz finally let out a sigh of relief.
'That was close.' She mouthed silently to Amity who nodded in agreement. King, of course, didn't see a problem and just plodded after Luz's mother into the kitchen.