{-15 years-}
The English classroom was ghostly quiet within the high school and Luz felt a certain sense of tiredness overtake her brain as she sat near the back of the room. The sun's rays streamed through the open window beside her, they felt warm and calming as they relaxed over her frame softly. Her foot bounced like a jackhammer against the eerie white speckled tile, and her hand continued to quietly drum itself on the smooth desk she sat at. As well as tired, Luz was bored.
Very, very, bored.
Her attention was focused on outside of the window, watching the sluggish gusts of wind blow against the tips of emerald colored grasses, it was indeed a perfect day to go outside. It was apparent that spring was beginning early too, and Luz was excited for the showers of rain that came with April and May's luscious blooming flowers. The atmosphere oddly tugged at something deep within Luz's soul that she couldn't quite explain. It had been a common theme with her, nature always somehow peaked her interest.
But alas, she was kept in an educated prison until three o'clock each weekday, leaving her unable to do precisely just that.
"Luz?" She's brought back to the present to find her teacher stood next to her desk. The middle-aged woman looking at her with concern.
"Yes?"
"Please pay attention," She said, "Do you have any idea what we're doing?"
Luz's mouth opened to quickly object, however no words came to escape past her lips. Her brain felt fuzzy, and nerves seemed to claw at her throat. The woman caught on quickly to the charade and pursed her lips, her face looked as if it was becoming annoyed.
"We're reading pages 37 to 42 out of our language and literature textbook," The woman responded brashly. She combed through Luz's messy pile of things covering the top of her designated workspace. "Do you even have it out?"
"I-um…" Luz stammered, she felt her face turning pink from the sheer embarrassment as the teacher continued to prod at her. Their voices were loud enough that the whole class could hear the exchange. "S-Sorry, I believe it's in my locker."
"Your locker?"
Luz gave a nervous nod, "May I please go and get it?"
The woman sighed; "Take the hall pass and hurry back."
"Thank you," Luz said. She rose from her seat quietly and began the small commute down the hallway. A yellow lanyard gripped tightly in her left hand all the while she tried to waste as much time as she could going to her locker on the second floor of the building. Her phone read that she only had another half an hour until it was time to leave, and it left her ecstatic.
It took Luz a few times to remember her locker combination, but she unlocked it and began to rummage through the pile of assorted papers at the bottom. Coming across the wanted item rather quickly and slowly trudging back to class.
The school hallways were quiet and empty apart from the unappealing sound of her shoes scraping together. She passed several classrooms and peaked through some of the door's small windows to see in. It was apparent that she didn't want to go back to class. But despite her stalling, it still left her with 25 minutes to spare.
She wakes up to the school bell blaring her awake from a daydream. She almost falls out of her seat all the while she saw her other peers lined up beside the exit of the room.
Luz pulled the strap of her backpack further over her shoulder as she suddenly felt a sluggish gust of wind tousle her bangs into her face while she walked further down the broken sidewalk. Her opposite hand played with the worn necklace that hung around her neck while the other pushed the offending hair from her eyes and calmly sighed.
She tugged the cool silver plated crucifix pendant from beneath her sweatshirt and undid it from her neck. Her hand instead held onto the thin chain firmly as it swung freely in the air. There's something that filled Luz with a certain sense of uneasiness, however. The strange sensation of being watched plagued the back of her mind as she paused to look behind herself.
As if on cue, the wind blows again. This time, strong enough to cause her hoodie to ripple in the short burst. There was no one there. She blames it on her mind playing tricks on her all the while her level of awareness to her surroundings became heightened with every passing second.
She turns back towards her original direction and begins walking once again, not bothering to slow down until reaching an alleyway.
The wind blew again.
But there was silence. Appearing to be nothing for her to worry about, but still. The uneasiness that someone could be preying on her seemed to never waver.
Luz stared into the alleyway, "Hello?"
Nothing.
Something was off about all of this…
Every hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she decided to take the first step towards the darkened corner. There's a rustling sound of an animal rummaging through a nearby dumpster. The Latina's hands clenched harder at her sides, nails biting into her palms as she faced the end of the path. It's blocked off by a brick wall.
She doesn't know why she even walked down here anyway, and she's almost tempted to walk away. There's a loud coo that amplifies through Luz's ears and makes her take a step back. She braced herself against the wall.
"Who's there?" She asked cautiously, hesitation lacing through her features as she moved to press her back further against the wall.
The same noise comes again. It sounds like an animal. And Luz catches a glimpse of dark brown feathers from the soft glow of sunlight from above the towering buildings on either side of the alleyway. The words seem to lodge themselves in her throat while she stares at the creature dumbfoundedly.
"Owlbert?" She tried, at the sound of the name, the creature responded by fluttering over towards her. Luz easily notices a piece of trash wedged in its beak as the small owl stares at her with golden eyes.
"Oh my goodness," Luz said in excitement, "it is you."
The small owl swiftly perched himself on Luz's shoulder. The sound of her necklace falling from her fist barely registers through her ears as she brings her hands up to pull the owl against her cheek fondly, "I missed you buddy!"
The owl gave a pleased sound, fluttering his wings once again as he regains his stance on the human's hoodie.
"How's Eda—Er… I mean—" She paused, cocking a questionable brow at the creature, "Why are you here?" Luz questioned. The palisman started to try to explain with its body, suggesting that he was there for the trash dumpster. "Trash day?" Luz furthermore asked, and the owl gives an affirmed hoot.
"I've been looking all over for you," Luz declared. "Can you maybe take me to—" She's stopped midsentence at the sound of a firm thud drawing her to the sight in front of her. The light obscured her view greatly, making it hard to directly see the copper haired man in front of her, but she was able to make out the tall lanky silhouette.
"Hello," She said quietly, "Who are you?"
"Remus," it responded in a monotone. Sounding masculine to the human's ears.
"I—Uh," Luz trailed off, at a loss for words as the man stepped further toward her frame. "What are you doing?"
He didn't respond. And the lack of exchange made her heart substantially increase in rhythm as she easily ran through the possible outcomes of this interaction in her head. All of them ended in her demise. Luz suddenly searched for her necklace from her hand, but to no avail, she panicked. It was too dark to see the ground.
"Stay back," She swiftly demanded. Her voice seemed to quiver despite her best effort to steady herself in the frightening scenario. The figure took another step towards her, and Luz felt Owlbert's wings stretch themselves outwards before digging his blunt talons into her shoulder and lifting himself up, so he hovered over her shoulder and gave a loud screech that reverberated deep inside of Luz's chest.
She hadn't heard that noise come from him before, and panic seemed to seethe inside of her at the disturbing Earth shattering sound.
"I'm just doing my job kid," Remus said, "Don't take it personally."
"Owlbert," said Luz, brushing the palisman away from herself, "Go. Tell Eda that I'm in danger."
"Do you really think that bird could help you?" It comes out as a scoff, and it leaves Luz to frown at the jab.
"Don't underestimate my friends."
"Your all foolish," The figure laughed, "You can't possibly think that you're going to be even existent when I'm done human."
"I don't give up that easy. Try me," Luz's foot scrapped against the broken gravel as it came behind herself to form a fighting stance. The light seems to catch the edge of the man's sly toothy smile. Sharp razor canines gleam smoothy within with what light remained, and the sight sent a long shudder to ripple down her spine. She wasn't going to win, Luz knew it now.
Strong marble colored skin, blood red eyes. Luz knew that it would catch up to her eventually, but she didn't know it would be this soon.
The word echoed in her mind, all of her research proved to become utterly useless to her now. Coming face to face with a vampire. She didn't even know any spells that could help her.
That wasn't even a topic of discussion when she became Eda's apprentice. Who expects to become hunted by a vampire? She mentally curses Eda's unprepared forms of teaching.
She's too young to die. What about her mother? She'd be devastated. Nonetheless, dying at the hands of some fictional character one would only hear in horror novels.
After all, when confessed. She didn't believe in it. Maybe it'd wake her up if she did die… Yeah, that might not be so bad.
But still, it's death. Her death.
Within a blink of her eyes, the creature has her pinned to the wall by the collar of her sweatshirt. It reminds her strongly of her dream. Except Amity wasn't there, and instead— "Owlbert. You've got to go buddy. I don't want you to watch this."
She feels a ticking sensation as feathers lightly scrape against her face all the while the palisman tried to cut between them firmly. The man's deathly cold hand quickly swats him away, but the owl's persistence earned Luz a few more seconds to heave what air she could muster into her deprived lungs.
"Shoo." The vampire spat. "Damn bird."
"Don't talk to Owlbert like that," Luz cried, "You—" She tried to kick the vampire in an attempt to connect with the figure's lower body, but let out a sharp yelp in pain as she groaned out instead. His skin was as tough as a stone, colder perhaps and Luz swore for a minute it must've shattered her kneecap.
"Quit thinking you can get out of this kid," Remus puffed in her face, "Just give up. You ain't gonna get anywhere. I'm stronger."
"No," Luz snapped, opening her mouth to let out a sharp scream in a last resort to call for help, but the vampire quickly thrusted her against the wall to silence her. She groaned again in pain.
"Why can't we—uh… Talk about this, huh?" Luz stammered, "You know? Why do we just have to be enemies?"
"I wasn't sent here to protect you Noceda."
"So what? You were sent to kill me?"
"Now," He spoke, his tone switching from harsh to being sugarcoated and sickening, "I wouldn't say that. I'm just doing what's right."
Luz struggled against the grip, "You think doing this is right?" she remarked sternly. "I'm going to die? What if—" Luz stumbled, "What if our roles were reversed, wouldn't you be at least even a bit terrified?"
The vampire gave a short chuckle. His scarred finger coming up to drag the falling bangs from Luz's eyes as she continued to fumble with her words. "I rarely feel anything. It's just food, I can't afford to give it much time of day."
"B-But…"
"Hey," Remus uttered pridefully, "It'll be over before you know it. I'll be careful human."
His cold hand presses against her jaw and slowly tilts her face to the side. Luz feels her pulse increase as he leans in and inhale deeply. She could feel the significant temperature shift from how far his skin was from her exposed neck.
"You smell—" He cuts himself off with a groan. Luz could practically hear the lust seeping from his voice as his tone switched dramatically. "—So fresh. So rich."
Blood.
Remus pressed his face further against her pulse point and runs a shielded fang against the tan skin, Luz shivered at the contact and squeaked out timidly. The vampire's deathly cold skin mixed with his firm hold on her hoodie left her in a certain sort of inhuman daze. Her heart was thrumming louder than she'd ever heard it before in her life as she attempted to keep herself rooted to the Earth mentally.
A sharp primal growl ruptures the short fog and immediately pain blossoms through her veins. Fangs unsheathing and tearing into flesh. She feels the toxins enter her bloodstream within seconds, quicker than she desires. Every second feels as if her body was being set alight. The cold hands on her jaw did nothing to cool the burning sensation that brought her body to a screeching halt. Luz hears the vigorous thrumming of her heart from her ears start to slow down and the searing pain doesn't cease until she lets go of her last ounce of strength.
The world tuning out as her eyelids fluttered closed softly.
Then there was nothing.
A.
{-15 years-}
"Owlbert, how many times do I have to tell you… Quit bothering me unless it's an emergency."
The small palisman perches on the corner of the spare bedroom window within The Owl House and stares heatedly at the teenage witch.
"And no." She grumbled. "King wanting more snacks does not count as an emergency."
The owl gives another distressed hoot, and flew onto Amity's shoulder before fluttering over her head and using his talons to pull off the small stocking hat from her head, leaving matted spiked russet strands to spill across her face partially.
"Hey! Give that back!" She hollered. "I don't know what your on, but I'm busy!"
With no response, she gave a defeated sigh and resumed her gaze at the night sky. There's a quiet scurrying of claws against the wooden floor and she feels fur against her leg as watches the small animal straddle the windowsill on the other side of her.
"Hey," She musters. King gives a loud sigh, his poison eyes fix themselves on the girl's line of sight.
"Any sign of Eda?" King asked.
"No," She said quietly, "Owlbert's been in a mood ever since he returned though."
"Don't mind him Amity," said King, eyeing the witch slowly, "Are you okay?"
Amity looks down to the demon and gives a solemn smile, "I've been better. You know?"
"Yeah."
"Do you ever think she'll come back?" Amity pondered slowly. "I still don't understand how she just disappeared like that."
"I know you miss her," King retorts, "I miss her too— And Eda. I think Owlbert is just taking it hard."
"Well, I don't blame him," Amity stated, looking towards the ajar door across the bedroom, "I think Eda just took it the worst."
King broke the silence after a few minutes, "Do you still have that note you were going to give her?"
Amity feels heat flood her face as she gave a nervous smile, "O-Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
L.
{-?-}
"Luz, how many times have I told you not to do such brash things?" Eda's voice echoed softly, and Luz slowly blinked her eyes open to stare up to pale yellow irises, "Are you okay? I don't think humans are supposed to do that."
Luz let out a loud groan and slowly attempted to shift, quickly finding that she couldn't move from the waist down. She balanced herself on her hands as Eda quickly sunk back, King's furry frame came rushing toward her face and it took Eda's strength to grab him by the scruff of his neck and hold him back to give her some room, "Jeez, give the poor human some space. Won't ya?"
"Eda," Luz croaked out slowly, "What's… What's happened?"
Luz looked around herself, finding her vision filled with the inner workings of the familiar living room. It was then that she jumped from the sudden touch of her shoulder. The human girl shifted slowly, Gus and Willow were sure enough kneeling close to her as well, and Amity… It's now that she's came to realize that she's the one touching her shoulder.
But why?
"You hit your head pretty hard back there kid," Eda spoke, "But it's gonna be alright. Good ol' Eda will have you fixed up in no time."
"And I'm here to assist!" King said, proudly puffing out his chest after climbing up onto the coffee table.
"But—" Luz trailed off, she looked down, "My legs."
It's then that she heard Amity's voice whisper just loud enough for her to hear, "You broke them when you fell."
"I fell?" Luz remarked, sounding alarmed, "But… How?"
"You fell out of a—" Gus tried to point out only to be paused by Willow nudging him in his side and her shaking her head at the younger boy.
"What Gus was trying to say Luz, was that you were trying to prove a point with Boscha and she ended up casting some spell that knocked you out of a window."
She let out a heavy sigh, "Farts." Luz murmured under her breath then looked back up to Eda, "How even did I—"
Amity hastily cut her off, "It was my fault actually." She tried to turn away sharply in an attempt to suppress the way her cheeks were slowly turning pink, "I'm sorry Luz, I know how she is."
"No," Luz shook her head with a small smile, waving her hand reassuringly to the green haired witch and reaching up slowly to cover the back of her hand, "Don't be, it's fine. I forgive you."
Amity looked at her and glanced down at where Luz touched the back of her hand then back up to the human girl's hazel eyes. They come to somehow hold the contact continuously, staring at each other for what felt like several minutes. Luz isn't quite so sure why she hasn't looked away, and why Amity's reacting so visually by the gesture, but she keeps staring until she hears Eda clear her throat.
"Hey kid," Eda interrupts, "I meant to ask you about your mom."
"My mom?" Luz said, and Eda nodded.
"When she found the portal door, what happened? Where did you go Luz?"
The last phrase echoed slowly inside of Luz's mind, and somehow the world around her seemed to fade into a sense of slow motion as the words tuned out gradually. She couldn't hear anything that Eda was saying, her lips kept on moving before her eyes. Apparently no one seemed to notice either because at the same time, she couldn't open her mouth to speak. Luz blinked a few times, and suddenly the room faded to black all around her. It felt as if the world had been ripped from beneath her all over again.
'Where did you go Luz?'
Where did she go?
{-Grom [AU]-}
{-14 years-}
The dark blob stretched outwards and stuck it's arm out towards her forehead, it's gooey black tentacle squished audibly against her forehead, and suddenly her eyes blinked translucent blue for a split second upon the contact, effortlessly reflecting into Grom's pale white eyes, they flash before the creature slinks back down to the floor before reappearing as the yellow eyed portal door.
The blue light from the door appearing made Luz need to turn away in order to shield her eyes, finding her vision temporary blinded for moment as she slowly turned back to stare at the blue aura-filled door in confusion. "Huh?"
At that same moment, the door knob slowly turned and the pale white light that shined behind the figure makes almost everything fade into a numbing blur. She can't concentrate on anything else but the sound of her own heart rattling inside of her chest. Luz knows she's about seconds away from having ten separate heart attacks all because what she's been fearing all this time deep down has finally resurfaced. And at the time that least convenient. Nonetheless everyone could see it, and if that wasn't embarrassing enough Luz didn't know what was at the least.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Luz practically choked on the air around her upon uttering the words.
"Luz?" Camila asked slowly, walking forward cautiously, and surveying the arena slowly, "What is this terrible place? This doesn't look like camp at all mi hija."
"Wait—" Luz quickly said, "I can totally explain."
"And is that a weapon in your hand?"
Luz looked to the flail being held tightly in her hands, the sharp remark caused her to drop it suddenly as her mother seemed to grab hold of her wrist firmly, "I promise mami, it's not what it looks like!" She derided with haste.
"Come on Luz, we're going home."
"No, wait. I don't want—" Luz gets cut off suddenly.
She hears the voices swirling around in her mind all over again as she slowly is tugged towards the open pale light. Camila's grip on her wrist falters and she suddenly disappeared into the white light. With some amount of luck, somehow Luz managed to free herself just in time to find the portal directly closing around her. To her own horror it pushes her towards the white room and slams shut forcefully. Luz notices the knob twirl slightly. She's not sure if it's because of Grom's illusion trying to get inside of her head, but her heart directly finds its way to lodge itself into her throat as her hands immediately grab onto the golden knob and attempt to twist it open. Jiggling it half-hazardly to try and open it as best she could.
She's come to realize that it is indeed what she feared: It's locked.
"No," Luz chanted slowly under her breath, "No, no, no, no."
She started to bang on the wooden door deliriously, continuing to chant out the same word repeatedly as tears quickly sprung beneath her eyelids, "Can anyone hear me?"
There's no answer, and in any case she turned to look at the rest of the room. It appeared to be more of the same gleaming white light, swirling and blinding her the more she looked deeper into it. Camila is nowhere to be found.
And Luz quickly finds out something incredibly terrifying to realize.
The locked door appeared to be disintegrating slowly, fading into the same white nothingness that the whole room remained in. She tried her best to remain calm as the panic welled inside of her chest, she could feel her own hands shake as she fished out one of the small paper glyphs from her pocket and placed it onto the door. Tapping the center of the circle, it immediately caused the paper to glow the light shade of blue and form a thin sheet of ice over the golden knob and lock. With a fire glyph, it manages to burn a hole into the side of the door that was previously covered in ice, revealing a sliver of Grom's arena.
"Come on… Come on…. Come on…" Luz starts to chant again, slipping a hand through the small hole, she attempts to pull herself free from the room. She felt hands start to clutch her own outstretched one and they pull.
She feels Eda's hand. She knows it's Eda's from the firm cool grasp she held, the bumpy ring she wore creasing into the back of her palm as several other hands gripped her wrist and arm. She thinks for a minute that she's going to get free. She truly does…
But just as hope seemed to be on her side, the door's hole began to shrink to the point where it disappeared. The window into Grom's stage cut into her sleeve tightly, causing her pain as she continued to try and damage the door further.
"Hold on Luz!" She thought she heard someone yell at one point, it's potentially laced with distress. Rightfully so, she was indeed in distress too.
Perhaps humans shouldn't be witches after all, she couldn't even do this one thing without it backfiring.
How pathetic of her.
"Don't—Uh… I don't think—"
"Shut up kid!" Eda interjected firmly, Luz can barely make out the words, but the tears that were soon after coating her cheeks were all the more real, "We're going to get you out of this. I promise. As your mentor I promised that I'd look out for you, and that isn't going to stop now."
'Take me home, take me home!'
"I'm sorry you guys," She shouted, Luz tried to swallow the lump that had formed in the back of her throat as the students and chaperones from Hexside continued to try and pull her through the small hole, "I couldn't-" Luz tried to say, but was quickly cut off by the force of the door thrusting her back. It caused her to fall backwards onto her back with a grunt as the door destroyed itself the rest of the way, leaving her in the mind numbing white room.
"—save you from Grom." She finished scarcely, all the more concerned as she slowly pushed herself up from where she fell and dusted off her pink skirt.
'What even is this place?' Luz pondered slightly as her feet began to move subconsciously forward, she looked around herself, specifically at the blank room since that was the only real thing to look at, and gave a short glance at where she thought the door was just a few seconds ago. Luz let out a loud sigh.
"Well, it's just you and me brain," The Latina spoke, her fingers came up to tap her forehead, her face breaking out in a small smile before wiping the corners of her eyes with the heel of her palm, "Isn't that right hand?" She continued, moving her hand to her eyes, and flexing her fingers onto her thumb a few times, "Oh yes, totally right Luz," The human spoke in a different pitched voice before dropping the hand back to her side with another sigh.
'If that illusion of my mother came through the door… Then that must mean that Grom came through the door with me—'
'—Which means Grom is in here with me.'
There's a loud roar from the distance and Luz can't help but spot a black blob that seemed as if it was sprinting at her full force. She panicked, swallowing thickly.
"Oh crud."
{-15 years-}
A sharp cough causes Luz to immediately bolt upright from the ground, her hands covered her mouth as her body shook in ample agony. Her eyes quickly flicked around herself and she noticed the scenery change. She's in the middle of a forest.
"Oh good. Your awake." A voice speaks. Luz lets out a yelp, and furrowed her brow as a small boy comes into view.
"Who are you?"
He smiled, gesturing a hand to himself, "My name is Vladimir, my friends call me Vlad."
Luz pursed her lips and cleared her throat, a function that didn't seem at all normal for herself. She realizes it quickly, how parched her mouth feels. Like she needs water. She could drink the whole ocean. All the while, it burned to even inhale.
Actually, she didn't even really find herself needing air.
She was just really thirsty.
"Say-uh…" Luz leans up on her hands, "You wouldn't happen to know where I could get some water, could you?"
Vlad gave a concerned frown, "Water? No, no, no. Why would you need water?"
"Because I'm thirsty?" Luz inquired, "What's the other reason?" He gave a loud laugh, and Luz frowned, "What's so funny?"
"You don't want water," He spoke surely, "You want blood."