Amity POV
Luz was freaking out. That much was clear. Why, Amity couldn't have guessed. She thought Luz would be happy to see her mother again. But instead, as Camila came through the portal door into The Owl House, Luz had gone ghostly pale, and the only remaining emotion Amity could feel from Luz was stress. Pure, unrestricted anxiety.
"Luz!?" Camila exclaimed as she stepped in. The older human was wearing what appeared to be pajamas. A night cap on her head, and tears in her eyes. She looked like she had just woken up, and her appearance was disheveled.
Luz lay frozen on the couch, eyes wide as she looked at her mom. Camila's face exploded into tears, as she sprinted the few feet towards her daughter. Edric and Amity had to jump out of the way, as Camila didn't seem to notice them, as she dove to her knees at Luz's side, wrapping her arms around Luz.
Only to leap back in fear as Luz let out a pained sound. Amity felt that burning in her chest flair up again, as Luz hissed through clenched teeth.
"¡AH! ¡Lo siento mucho bebé! ¡No quise lastimarte! ¿Qué sucedió? ¿De dónde vienen todas estas lesiones? ¿Quien te hizo esto? Oh, tenemos que llevarte a un hospital. Necesitamos conseguirte ayuda. Luz. Vaya. Mi pobre niña. Mi dulce luz." Camila said, her voice a rapid fire of Spanish that Amity couldn't even attempt to decipher. She had seen and interacted with Camila several times over these last 7 years, as they kept her updated on their search for Luz. But in that time, Amity had never seen Camila like this. She looked panicked. Terrified.
"Está bien, mami. Sé que no quisiste lastimarme. Lo siento, son muchas preguntas. ¿Quizás solo uno a la vez?" Luz replied with a grimace. She still looked slightly scared, but had calmed down slightly for the time being.
"Lo siento, mija." Camila said. Taking a deep breath. She turned to the rest of the group, face seeming conflicted. "How long have you had her back?" She asked first. Eda, at this, grimmaced.
"Don't worry cam. It's only been 3 hours. Sorry. I would have come to get you sooner, but we were fretting over Luz, and to be honest, it just kind of slipped my mind. I came to get you the moment I remembered. But, Luz was my first priority." She said, laughing nervously.
Camila glared at the elder witch, but let it go. "Okay. And where did she get these injuries?"
Amity took a deep breath, and began explaining what she knew and how they had found Luz. She felt her own heart break at the sounds Camila made when she heard her daughter had been tortured for 7 years straight. The expression on her face. Luz, however, just seemed to become more and more worried.
"And, we have been trying to carefully treat her injuries, but we don't know enough about human physiology. We don't want to use magic too much, because at its core, healing magic just speeds up a person's own natural recovery. It amplifies it too, making them heal faster, and better. But, still. Luz is in such a bad condition, we didn't want to risk hurting her more." Amity said, eyes downcast. She felt guilty at how they couldn't properly heal Luz.
Amity was surprised however, to have Camila stand and hug her, then move to hug the other two witches in the room. "Thank you for saving my baby..." She said simply. Before turning back to Luz, and fretting over the injuries on her arms and face.
"These injuries are bad, and she looks very malnourished and dehydrated, but I don't see why you can't heal her. She seems energetic enough to do some healing, no?" Camila asked, turning to the group. At this, Amity paled.
"Umm... The clothes she is wearing are only an illusion. We wanted to help keep her somewhat decent, but the worst of her injuries are hidden. You... You might want to sit down." She said, before turning to Edric. He nodded grimly, and respectfully turned around as he dispelled the illusion.
The shriek that Camila let out made Amity's ears ring. Luz was still in the rags they had found her in. Unable to remove them without hurting her. Despite the treatments they had done, with the illusion gone, the very obvious damage that had been done to the human was now evident. Camila's face was pale. She looked like a ghost.
Her hand trembled as it reached out towards Luz, but she refrained from touching her as she looked over the countless marks on her daughter's body. "Hay tantas..." she said, as her gaze moved up and down her daughter's body in front of her.
"I need to get her to a hospital. There is too much damage done to her for me to treat on my own." Luz, somehow, looked even more worried.
"No, mami." Luz finally said. "No, you can't take me to a hospital."
"LUZ! How in the world can you say that?! Look at you! You look like you are dying! I have no idea how you are even alive right now!" Camila practically shouted, and Amity again flinched at the human's volume.
Luz, however, began shouting back. "¡No! ¡No puedes llevarme a un hospital! ¡Hay demasiadas razones para enumerarlas! Primero, ¿cómo explicas todas estas lesiones? Segundo, ¿quién les dices quién soy? Vee todavía vive bajo mi nombre, ¿verdad? Tercero, ¿qué le diríamos a las autoridades? Cuarto, ¿qué dirán los médicos cuando vean mi pie? ¡Mami, hay demasiadas preguntas que no podemos responder! ¡No puedo ir a un hospital!"
Camila's eyes flickered to Luz's petrified foot. Something she didn't really want to think about. "Luz..." She started. "Luz, si no te llevo a un hospital no vas a sobrevivir. ¡Tus heridas son extremas!"
"Mami, no me voy a morir. Si lo fuera, entonces ya estaría muerto. Amity me salvó. Ella lanzó un hechizo que me mantiene con vida. Si ella no lo hubiera hecho, habría muerto hace horas. Entonces, estaré bien. No es necesario que me lleves a un hospital." Luz replied, voice still raised.
Amity could only share a confused look with Eda and her brother, at the rapid and frantic spanish the two humans shared as they spoke. It frustrated her, not being able to know what they were saying. But, she knew Luz spoke in Spanish when she panicked, and could only assume Camila did the same thing.
She was surprised when Camila turned to her. "Tell me about the spell you cast on Luz to keep her alive." She said, voice curt. Amity only flushed, face exploding in a deep crimson. Eda snorted.
"U-umm... It's a spell that ties her to me. You see how my eyes are glowing?" She asked, deciding to not go into the emotional aspect of the spell, only to save her and Luz from the embarrassment from telling Camila that they had gone from not seeing each other in 7 years, to being more than married in just a few hours.
"SI, they are very bright. Is that part of the spell?" Amity nodded.
"The spell bound Luz and I together. Remember how I said Belos was keeping her alive with his magic, and when it stopped, Luz was in a worse condition. Well, no witch has enough natural magic to do what he did and sustain a life like that. So, I use a different kind of magic... And... Sort of used the strength of my soul to keep her alive." Amity grimaced, anticipating Camila to shout, but instead, she just glared at Amity.
"And? How long can you keep that up for?" Amity swallowed hard. Crap. I didn't want to say this in front of Luz...
"Umm... I don't know?"
"Mami, what do you mean? Amity isn't using her magic, so she won't run out. She saved me." Luz said, giving a small smile to Amity.
Camila just gave her daughter a flat expression. "Luz. You can not be serious right now. If witches have to drain their magic to support you, and none of them have enough to do so, and Amity used her soul instead, what do you think is happening to her soul?"
As Luz's wide eyes turned to Amity, she could only bite her lip. "Amity?!" Luz said, and Amity felt a wave of sheer terror slam into her from Luz. "ARE YOU DYING TO KEEP ME ALIVE?!" Luz shouted, moving to sit up. To Amity's shock, she did so. Finding strength in her panic and adrenaline. Though, it didn't stop Amity's eyes from flashing brighter as Luz's pain increased. Amity could feel the burning in her chest flare up higher than before.
"Umm... Yes?" She said, grimacing as Luz began shouting at her in spanish. So fast and so explosive, Amity could even hear what she was saying. It sounded like a mess of sounds, beyond even a language. Despite the shame she felt from being scolded yet again, by Luz this time, no less, She didn't feel any guilt. "Yes, Luz. I am keeping you alive by giving you some of my own life. But I would do it again. So, don't you dare start blaming yourself. I chose to do this." She said, face blushing hard.
"Luz, you need to go to a hospital. I don't care how complicated it will be. We will figure it out. But, you need treatment. You can't just use Amity's spell to keep you alive. Especially now that we know what it's doing to her." Camila said again. And this time, though Luz looked still furious with Amity, she seemed to consider what Camila said. Not before turning to her mom, and moving back to speaking spanish.
"Mami... No puedo... No puedo cumplir mi promesa. No puedo quedarme en casa. Mi lugar está aquí. Más aún, ahora que Vee ha tomado mi nombre. No tengo lugar allí. De ninguna manera." She said, biting her lip. Amity felt Luz become more anxious again.
Camila only brought her fingers to the bridge of her nose, pinching and rubbing, trying to relieve stress. "Luz... Podemos hablar de eso más tarde. Ahora mismo, NECESITAS ir a un hospital. Necesita atención y cuidados médicos serios. Especialmente si quieres evitar lastimar a Amity. Odio usar la culpa contra ti, pero sé que te gusta esa chica. ¿De verdad quieres hacerle daño?"
Luz turned her eyes down, biting her lip before responding. "No Mami" She replied, conceding, it seemed.
"Good. Then, we need to move you... Before I take you to the doctors, you do have some good points. There are a lot of questions we can't answer. So, give me a little time to call in some favors from some friends at work. I can get you admitted without them asking too many questions. And, without them getting the government involved." Camila said to everyone.
She turned to Eda, asking her to open the Portal Door, and walked towards the kitchen, pulling out her human scroll. Amity watched, as she proceeded to start calling some other people, while still watching Luz from a little ways away.
Amity moved back to Luz, kneeling down next to her, stroking her hair. "Are you okay?" She whispered, sensing Luz's anxiousness still, and seeing the worry on her face.
Luz turned to Amity and gave her a forced smile. "Don't worry sweet potato, I will be okay. My Mami just scares me when she worries about me."
Amity knew Luz was definitely not okay, in more ways than one, but decided not to push her. Luz needed rest. Though, as Amity kept stroking Luz's hair, the human brought her gaze to the witches eyes, her forced smile falling away into a worried and unhappy glare.
"Amity... Why?" Luz asked, and her voice cracked. "Why... Why didn't you tell me what you had done? Why would you even do it in the first place?!" Luz asked, voice becoming more panicked as she spoke.
"Because, Luz, I knew how you would react. And I didn't want to worry you even more!"
"Of course I would worry Amity! I am literally draining your life to stay alive!" Luz said, voice raising. "How could I not worry? How could I ever be okay with this!?" She was practically shouting now.
"I don't think it matters Luz! You would have died! I couldn't let that happen!" Amity shouted back, furious tears coming to her eyes.
"But you shouldn't be trading your life for mine! Do you think I want this? To know that I am literally killing you?!"
"I don't care what you want right now Luz! What was I supposed to do?! Just watch you die in my arms after I finally got you back?"
"YES"
The room went silent at Luz's shout, Amity looking at the human with horror on her face.
"Luz..."
"Yes, you should have, Amity. My life is not worth anyone else's. Especially not with all the problems I cause, all the danger I put people in, all the pain and suffering that were made possible by me. I am SO not worth it. So no. I am absolutely NOT okay with you dying for me. And the fact that I can't stop you is tearing me apart."
Tears now fell down Luz's face. And all Amity could feel from Luz was guilt.
"Luz, I do not care about the mistakes you made. Guess what? It's part of being a person! We all make mistakes! What I care about is you being safe! You being okay! For once, I honestly don't care that you are mad at me. I said it earlier to my father, and I will say it again to you now. If it meant saving you, and making sure that you would be safe and able to be happy again, I would trade my life for yours over and over and over again."
"Luz, I told you. I love you. I love you more than anyone can even imagine. That I can even comprehend. I don't understand it. It feels like you are a part of me that I was missing my whole life. And when you disappeared for 7 years, it was like that part of me was torn away again. And I can not. CAN NOT lose that part of me again. I can not lose you again."
"I do not care if you think you should have died. I do not care if you don't want me to trade some of my life for yours. I DO NOT CARE. All I care about is keeping you safe. That is the only thing I want. So, I am sorry if you aren't happy with my decision. But it was and still is MY decision Luz! I chose to cast the spell, I chose to bind my life to yours. I chose to keep you alive. I knew it would potentially hurt me to do it, but I did it anyway, and I will do it again."
"But-"
"And do you know why, Luz? Because you are worth it. You are worth every single second of my life that I spend to keep you here with me. You are worth every moment left that I have with you. I know how you feel. I know the traumas you fight, and what the voices in your head tell you. But every last one of them are wrong! You are worth being loved, Luz. You are worth every moment I can spend with you. Because I love you. I love you! And I am not giving up on you, ever."
Luz grew quiet, and Amity could feel a confliction of emotions flowing from the human. Seeming to be unsure of how to feel about what she just heard. "I know you won't believe me right away Luz, but it's true. And I would do it again without hesitation. So, don't stress yourself out over this. At least not right now. You need to focus on resting and recovering. Okay?
Luz still didn't respond, only furrowed her brow in frustration. She blew out a huff of air, turning her eyes away. Amity pursed her lips. She could feel her temper rising, but didn't want to yell at Luz any more. She turned to Edric, looking for help.
Her brother stepped towards Luz, casting the illusion of clothes over her again. "Luz... Man, I don't know what to say in these kinds of situations. Look. Amity already cast the spell, right? So, what is done is done. The best you can do now, if you don't want to hurt her, is focus on recovering, and mending. Plus'' Edric glanced at Amity "I don't know that she can keep her temper in check much longer." He snickered when Amity glared daggers at him.
Luz looked back towards the two of them, before her gaze moved to Eda standing with Camila. Luz seemed to take a breath, and Amity felt her slowly stop stressing. "Fine. But we are not done talking about this." Luz finally conceded.
Amity let out a sigh of relief, and around the same time, Eda and Camila returned to the group. "Okay, I called in some favors, and pulled some strings. We got a room for you at the hospital I work at. But, we need to get you in now, while it's still night. Is everyone here able to help move Luz? We won't be able to call an ambulance if we want to get her admitted with some level of secrecy. "
Everyone nodded, and Amity moved to Luz, gently kneeling by her side. "Ready?" She asked.
Luz nodded, "Yes." And grit her teeth. Amity whispered an apology as she slid her hands under Luz and lifted the fragile human into her arms. Luz hissed in pain.
After situating Luz in her arms, Amity turned to Camila. "Ready. Edric, can you come with to help keep illusions up so we don't get seen, and to hide our ears?"
He nodded, and the group stepped one at a time through the portal door.