I took a deep breath before allowing myself to sink into the bed behind me. I laid there for a moment, letting my mind push out all of my swirling thoughts. A lot had happened in the last hour or so. I woke up in another realm, in a hotel ran by a homicidal witch, and was instantly tasked with taking care of a child with a severe brain injury.
After I took a moment to breathe, I slowly sat up at the edge of the bed to check on said child. Her cognitive state started to get momentarily better after she was given some medicine Luz had found while exploring the upstairs, in addition to keeping the lights dim and the room considerably quiet.
Though, what was helping her the most was the support of her two younger siblings. Her twin brother, Edric, was sitting to her left with his side pressed up against hers while her younger sister, Amity, was to her right wrapped in the sickly child's embrace.
It was honestly shocking to see Amity so patient. When I had first ran into her, she had threatened to tear us apart. But, in her sister's arms, she stayed completely calm. She allowed Emira to run her fingers through her lavender hair, her ear twitching once in a while but other than that rarely stirring.
"Mrs. Camila? Vee?" the aforementioned girl uttered. "Are you two doing, okay? I'm sure this is a lot to take in".
My gaze shifted towards my slithery child. She had been curled up in a small nest of pillows at the head of the bed. Her tail gently twitched, occasionally brushing against my side, while she took in the quiet.
"I'm used to awful situations like this, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared" she began. "The worst part is the portal to the human realm is gone. Just when I was starting to feel comfortable there, too".
At the sound of Vee's voice, Amity's eyes went wide. Her attention shot towards the basilisk and locked onto her. It was as if she had forgotten what Vee was and had suddenly just remembered.
"Don't worry". Amity struggled to look over at me, afraid that she was giving Vee a perfect chance to attack her. The younger witch grabbed onto her older sister's arm as a way to ground herself as she pushed past her fear.
"Ever since she found Phillip's diary… er, that was another human that was here a long time ago… Luz has been slaving away trying to make a new portal. And while you wait for a way home, you can stay well hidden in the owl house" the youngest Blight apprised.
I was able to push away my uneasiness at the thought of staying in the demon realm enough to tell Amity, "I've heard you've been a big help with that, cariño. Luz had told me in her messages that you risked your job to get her that dairy". I silently hoped that my praise would calm her down some.
She folded her ears slightly in bewilderment, her eyes stared at me, but she saw her own thoughts instead. Whatever confused her soon disappeared causing her to flush a light pink. The witch sheepishly grimaced while she shuffled subtly.
"Right… You got Luz's recent messages. That means you know… everything, huh?".
"No," I unintentionally laughed. "She told me everything but…".
"She told you it all at once?" Edric piped in with a chuckle of his own.
"That's Luz for you alright, big ol' overexcitable nerd".
It irked me for a moment to hear Amity laugh at Luz, but her laugh sounded different then all the bullies my daughter faced at home. Instead of being mocking it was soft and warm, overflowing with admiration… Well, no. It was actually a lot more than just admiration. Her bright giggle was filled with pure love.
"You know, if you want to know anything about Luz's time in the Demon Realm, all you gotta do is ask her Awwwwesome Girlfriend" Edric drawled, to the annoyance of his smaller sister.
He very, very, lightly nudged Emira's shoulder. The twin's smile sunk slightly when the cognitively impaired teen just stared at him back for a moment.
She took her time but the oldest of the three siblings finally responded with, "Oh, right. Yeah. Mittens'll talk about Luz so much she'll want… you'll want…you…never mind".
Edric's ears flattened as he lost some of his spirit. From what I could tell, the three siblings basically communicated by teasing each other. To see his sister not jump in with the joshing must've hurt.
"I hate to admit it, but Edric's right," Amity added, a bit somber herself. "If there's anything you want to know about Luz's adventures, just ask. I've heard all about the ones where I wasn't with her myself".
"That would be very helpful, querida" I simply answered back.
I wasn't quite sure about my answer. Parts of me didn't want to know how much my baby girl danced with death over the summer. Based on what Vee said, a monster attack was a common occurrence on the Boiling Isles. And I quite clearly recalled Luz saying she fought this world's Emperor, a man I've heard nothing but horror stories about.
But what I wanted didn't matter. What mattered was that my daughter had been in danger for the entire summer. While I wasn't there to protect her then, I was willing to start right then and there. And I badly wanted an idea of what I was up against.
"She said she ran into a cabin in the woods after an owl that was stealing garbage. I know the cabin had a portal inside but the owl and the trash… Could you break that down for me?" I began.
"Of course," Amity nodded. "The owl is a creature called a palisman. Palisman are magical creatures that are emotionally bonded with the witch that creates them or, in my case, that they choose. They mainly lock to a witch's staff and help them perform more powerful spells. Though they also act as a companion.
Eda's palisman often visited the human realm to find things to sell. She had a stand in Bonesburrow's marketplace until the portal was destroyed".
"Eda". Luz said that she lived in her home and was training under her. Dios! You mean to tell me my mija has been living with a trash collecting con-woman?" I shouted before everyone in the room shushed me.
"Yes… but Eda's more than that" Amity answered hesitantly.
"Yeah. She was also a wanted criminal until a month ago".
"Not helping, Ed" Amity snapped back while I inaudibly begged the witch for an explanation.
"She hasn't done anything too bad… that I know of… Luz said that a majority of what she does would be considered misdemeanors in the human realm. Petty theft, swindling folks, she has never hurt anyone that didn't try to kill her first… on purpose".
Before I could panic anymore, Edric jumped in, "Swindling and theft aren't really that big of crimes here. People usually have the magic to deal with thieves themselves. The real reason she was so wanted was because of her lack of a coven".
"That's right!" Amity shouted, attempting to break out of the nervous state trying to defend Eda put her in. This, yet again, prompted some shushes as well as an angry groan from Emira.
"Sorry, Em. Anyways, Eda is what is called a "Wild Witch". She is an individual who practices magic yet refuses to join a coven which is a large group of witches that have chosen one type of magic to practice or one specific occupation or purpose.
The emperor says that the Titan has willed every witch to be in a coven. He says that the mixing of magic types leads to civil disorder and that witches being sealed on one focus path is better for society. But Eda decided to practice all types of magic and, well, the more and more I'm with her and Luz, the more flaws I find in the emperor's argument."
Amity ended her explanation with a sigh.
I nodded in understanding. I didn't know much about magic but this whole Titan's Will thing sounded similar to the kings and dictators that used religion to gain more power. You know the ones, the kings who claimed they were chosen by God so whatever they wanted was what god wanted.
"Anyways, you wanted to hear about Luz, didn't you? Where did we leave off again?".
"You were at the part where Eda surprise adopted Luz" Edric answered jokingly. I really didn't like the way he said, "surprise adopted".
"Right. So Eda found Luz and the two of them broke a few prisoners out of the conformitorium".
"What!". My heart skipped a beat, then another and another. Luz, my Luz, did what!?
"I'm warning you, Camila," the younger green haired twin laughed. "There's gonna be a lot of things that sound really bad on paper but are actually a good thing. I mean, you do know what those prisoners Luz broke out did, right?".
"Obviously she doesn't, Ed. She just found out about it two seconds ago" Amity scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "But the idiot has a point. According to what Luz told me, the two demons and the witch she freed were in there for weird behavior that the emperor's coven considered to disturb the peace. She specifically said that there was someone in there for fanfic writing and another for saying the shape of the world was a triangle".
Amity and Edric laughed when they saw my shocked expression. I wanted to scream. Locking someone up in what sounded like a prison just because they wrote a story or were gullible enough to be a flat earther (well in this case I guess it was a triangle earther) when people who committed actual crimes were left to be dealt with by the people they stole from made me just, GRR!
It was stupid, in lack of a better word, but the thing that got under my skin the most was that Luz did both of these "crimes" Amity had mentioned. She didn't believe in flat earth, thank God, but she was an avid believer in Bigfoot along with many other mythical creatures. And Luz wrote and read fanfictions like she needed them to live. Very little things made her light up as much as when she would share a story, she was writing with me. I… never quite knew what was going on but seeing Luz so proud was worth the confusion.
"Not long after the prison riot," Amity continued, "Luz met Willow. Luz has told you about her, right?".
"She has. She told me that Willow is very good with plants. Seems her name is really fitting" I answered with a nod.
"She's one of the best witches in the plant track at school… but it hasn't always been that way".
"Amity," Edric called softly. The aforementioned witch didn't turn towards him, but she did flick her ear. "You know you don't have to tell her everything if you're not ready to".
"No, Edric. I have to tell her. I can't run away from the bad things I've done".
Amity's saddened but scared eyes met with mine. She tried so hard to look stoic, but her fear was easily leaking through.
"Mrs. Camila. I'm just going to come out and say it. A few months ago, I was a different witch. I was a horrible person who hurt everyone with my cowardice".
"Luz had mentioned that something had happened between you and Willow and that had made you act meaner in the past. She said your mother had something to do with it". Once again, I kept my voice nice and quiet. Amity was obviously sorry about whatever happened between her and my daughter's new friend. Her own shame truly took its toll on her.
"Willow and I were really close friends when we were younger" Amity responded after swallowing her hesitancy. "We really weren't supposed to be. Willow had no prestigious last name or amazing magical talent, at the time at least. But I didn't care about any of that. All that mattered to me was that Willow was kind to me and was fun to be around.
Mom and dad on the other hand… never really liked Willow. They saw her as inferior and said that I wouldn't be able to become a powerful witch if I hung around her. So, on my seventh birthday, they told me to sever my ties with her and that, if I didn't, they'd prevent her from going to Hexide".
The poor child paused for a moment. She was trying her hardest to make it through the story and, by the way the lines on her face darkened, you could tell it was getting harder to do each second.
It took all of my strength to hide my anger. The child obviously cared for her old friend very dearly, yet her poor excuse for parents made their daughter completely stop talking to her. And on her birthday for God's sake! But the poor sweetheart didn't need to see how I truly felt. She needed me to be understanding and supportive.
"Cariño," I called. "You're acting as if this is your fault. But it's not. I don't know what happened next, but I reassure you that you should never be blamed for being put in that situation, especially at that age".
"You're right, Mrs. Camila," Amity sighed. "That wasn't my fault. But what I did for years after that was.
I did as my parents asked. I told Willow that she was weak and that someone as pitiful as her could never be my friend. From that day on, the new "friends" I was allowed to hang out with treated Willow like she was worth less than trashslug shit. And, to stay on their good side, I did too. After all, they all thought that ragging on her was fun and anyone who didn't was a "giant loser with a stick up their ass".
I tried my hardest to still help Willow. I thought that I could encourage her without dropping the whole "I'm better than you" act. I was expected to act like all the witches in the emperor's coven and the way they inspired others was by showing off their amazing talent. Show off a cool trick then go, "If you really work hard enough you might just be as strong as me some day", or, "You'll get there soon. Even witches like me have to practice sometimes".
Most people at Hexside loved it. I was the greatest example of a fine witch, feared yet awe worthy… except to Willow. All it did for her was hurt her more and more. And that's where Luz came in.
She bumped into Willow while the witch was on her way to school. Willow was in the abomination track at the time, and she was having some trouble with it. That's when Luz had the idea of pretending to be Willow's abomination golem so she would get a good score on a project due that day".
I shook my head in disappointment and smiled at the same time. On the one hand, it always hurt to see Luz jump into things without thinking. But on the other hand, Luz's crazy schemes were always so wonderfully creative I couldn't help but smile.
"Oh, mija" I muttered before asking, "how long until the teacher found out?".
"He didn't find out. No one would have known had I not gone to the principal" Amity sighed. Her eyes grew rheumy while she looked down at the ground. "I really wish I hadn't. I was so stupid".
"It's alright, Amity. You were only following the rules. I know she was trying to help but she did do something wrong–".
"She did something wrong?" the remorseful witch suddenly snapped, all of her anger towards herself gushing out like water bursting from a broken pipe. "I almost got her killed!".
"What? What do you mean, Amity? What happened to my Luz?!".
"For the love of the Titan themself! At least try to keep it down!". The room went silent, just like Emira asked. It lasted for one agonizingly long moment before Edric spoke up.
"What if I told the rest of the story? You can jump in if I get anything wrong, Mittens". Though he spoke calmly, his question was more of an assertion.
Amity let out a deep breath before nodding. Emira, who seemed sorry for yelling a minute ago, subtly pulled her closer. The smaller witchling tensed for a moment but then relaxed in defeat like she had already accepted whatever reaction I was about to give.
"I don't know what schools are like in the human realm but most schools here are usually created when the future principal concurs another school.
Principal Bump used to be a Glandus student who hated the way the school was run. That's why, when Hexide's former principal, principal Faust, claimed that he could do a better job managing it, Bump joined his rebellion without second thought.
He and Faust were able to overthrow Glandus after a number of well-planned attacks broke their inner defenses down. The school was renamed Hexide and the remainder of Glandus's staff and students were forced to rebuild the school in another location in the center of the isles" the young witch explained.
I took in the information, but I didn't react. Principals waging wars and seizing other schools was terrifying, especially since the schools involved the students in their mystical coups. But all of my feelings were focused on the well-being of my daughter. Whether it involved schoolear war fair or not, my child had been put in danger and I needed to know what happened.
"As you can guess, Glandus was kinda pissed off about that and they still are to this day. And being the sore losers they are, they often send their spies to learn our weak spots while also wreaking a little havoc here and there.
When Bump heard there was an intruder pretending to be an abomination, he wanted to make sure they'd never come back by scaring the shit out of them and maybe even rough'n them up some. He also wanted to mess with Willow a little bit as punishment for bringing in what could be Glandus scum.
Him and Amity found Willow later that day, and Bump went along with her little lie. He said that her project was so impressive that it should be studied closer, dissected if you will. Then he gave Willow a knife and told her to cut Luz open. Of course, Willow wasn't actually gonna do that and, if she did, then she would be stopped before the intruder got to hurt".
"But we didn't know she was human at that time".
Like Edric had said she would, his younger sister soon spoke up. Her voice was just a whimper, but she still wanted to share her two cents.
"Being cut open like that isn't usually fatal for a witch. But Luz is a human, and human bodies are much more fragile. Had we gone on with our plan she… Luz… it would've… I'm so sorry, Mrs. Camila. Can you ever forgive me".
I couldn't hold in my anger any longer. The thought of my precious baby with her abdomen torn open, her insides splayed out while the blood rushes out with her body heat, her cries in pain and regret, all of that brought my inner mama bear out.
"¡Ese bastardo! (That bastard!)" I spat in surprise. "Si alguna vez lo veo lastimando a otro niño, ¡le quitaré la cabeza! (If I ever see him hurting another child, I'll knock his head off)".
Amity looked as fragile as fractured glass. The once honorable and proud young lady that had my oldest in awe had been reduced to a meek trembling child, lost and afraid.
"Mami, please!" a voice urged from my side. In the middle of my rant a scaly hand had rested itself on my shoulder, causing me to turn and face the worried blue eyes staring back at me. "She was only doing what the principal wanted her to do".
"Exactly!" I unintentionally snapped. "How dare that sorry excuse for an educator try to justify hurting my mija! And, what's worse, he had to involve another innocent child! That man is very lucky that he's not here right now!".
"Ok. It's probably really stupid of me to ask, but aren't you angry at me?" Amity squeaked.
"You were just listening to, who is supposed to be, a trustworthy adult. It's hard to be angry at you" I sighed, finally realizing how shaken up I was making Amity.
"But I wanted her to get hurt! I wanted her to pay!" the girl yelled.
"You wanted praise, Mittens. Back then you were a goody-two shoes, obsessed with the rules, who was desperate for compliments cause, for almost all your life, that was the only form of love you got. But you've grown and now people actually like you for you instead of just going, "wow, she sure is a good nerd!". Now can we all calm down and be a little quieter?".
For as brash as that all sounded, Emira sounded way too nonchalant as well as a little garbled still. But, based on everything else I knew about Amity, she was probably right.
The young witch seemed very serious about being as well-mannered as possible. Though whether it be because of her wanting praise or just her wanting to be a good child, I wasn't sure. Either way tricksters and cheaters must have been the bane of her existence.
"I don't know about all that, but she has a point, cariño. From what it seems, all of the witches that you're supposed to look up to are…".
"...prissy pains in the ass?".
"That seems a bit harsh, Edric… but it fits".
"No. Emira's completely right. I've always wanted to be a good witch but for the longest time I believed that that meant pleasing the people in charge. The more useful the right people found me the better witch I was.
But then Luz showed me that one light spell and my whole world view slowly started to change. She made me take a step back and ask myself what makes an honorable witch cause, even as a human, that girl is ten times the witch I am" Amity admitted with a smile.
She may have been sitting in the same room as us but the witchling was somewhere else, perhaps in a found memory.
"I don't mean to change the subject–" I started to say before the love bird in front of me snapped out of her trance.
"Right, we were talking about Luz! I'm sure you want to hear about her magic!" she stated excitedly.
"You know what I want?" Emira growled groggily.
"A girlfriend?".
At first, I thought that her injured head was what caused the older twin to bite her poor brother on the shoulder. But Amity reassured me that this was normal behavior for both of her siblings. Actually, I don't think reassured is the right word.
The eldest twin had made her point very clear. Despite how quiet we were trying to be, we were still being too loud. We would have to wrap up this conversation very soon, which I didn't mind. With the way Amity was talking earlier, we seemed to have plenty of time to catch me up on all of my daughter's adventures. And, while the three Blights were all very wonderful children, their shenanigans were starting to scare me.
"I have one more question, if that's alright Emira?". The tired teen nodded before groaning in pain. "Luz mentioned fighting the emperor. Could you tell me what happened… and if she got hurt?".
"Is it really true?" my youngest suddenly asked. "Did she really face the emperor?".
The young basilisk sounded horrified by the mention of the isle's ruler. But she also sounded hopeful. Not just anyone but her own sister was able to hold her ground against the awful man.
"She did," Amity answered apprehensively. She still seemed terrified of Vee but sitting in the room with her helped Amity grow more used to her presence. "And she rediscovered an ancient form of magic to do it.
Witches nowadays have a sack of liquefied magic attached to our hearts. When we use our magic our bile sacks send that liquid through our veins, allowing us to access its magical power. As you can guess, Luz doesn't have one of these bile sacks".
"Then how did she learn magic?" I asked, forgetting that Amity was just about to explain that.
"I can answer that one" Vee chimed in before the lavender haired witch could. "If you don't mind, Amity".
"Of course not,". Despite her voice shuddering a little bit, it seemed like Amity was determined to show her girlfriend's new sister some trust.
"Well, remember how I told you that there's a little bit of magic in everything on the isles? That includes things like the ground, the grass, and the air. Literally everything is at least partially made from the magic the Titan's body released when they began to decay, alive or not. And every plant, demon, and witch needs a little magic in them for their body to function" the life in my youngest eyes faded away as she deflated.
"That's why everyone thinks Basilisks are so dangerous. We can drain anything of all its magic. And when a plant, or animal, or witch loses all of its magic, they die".
"It's every witch's worst nightmare, really" Amity couldn't help but add. "You have no life left in you, but you just won't die".
That's why Amity was so scared of Vee. When her brother had told me she was attacked by a larger basilisk, I imagined it to be closer to a dog attack which could be traumatizing enough. But, hearing exactly what happened to her, my eyes grew a little watery. That had to have been awful on a whole other level.
The youngest Blight child's terror awoke a sudden terror in me. I was confident that Vee wouldn't harm anyone but…
"Does Luz take the magic from other… things?". I was afraid to even think of the possibility of Luz draining something of its life with every spell she used. Unlike Vee, who was very careful about where she got her magic from (usually by eating inanimate objects like tarot cards) Luz… she wouldn't. She'd never…
"Sometimes" Amity answered. Her eyes then grew wide in realization. "She doesn't steal other witches' magic if that's what you're asking. I don't think she can but, even if she could, she'd never.
Luz's magic works something like this: She calls the magic from, well, mostly paper but she also uses the magic in the air or the ground sometimes. She does this by using symbols called glyphs. There are four main glyphs, light, fire, ice, and plant, but these symbols can be combined to perform other spells. Luz's favorite example of this is the invisibility glyph.
But, when Luz faced the emperor, she only knew the basic four which, in my opinion, makes it all that more impressive".
"Luz could drop a pencil and you'd find it impressive" Edric joked.
"Edric?".
"Yes, Mittens?".
"How many toes do you have?".
"Nine, thanks to you".
"Do you want me to tear off more?". Edric went quiet which caused a victorious huff from Amity.
"Keep your mouth shut". The witch then turned back to me, ears slightly twitching in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. My brother is a certified dipshit.
Anyways, Eda's sister, who was the head of the emperor's coven, had captured Luz while our class was on a field trip to the emperor's castle. This caused Eda to use up so much magic that it triggered her curse… oh, right, forgot to tell you about the curse. Long story short Eda's sister cursed her to beat her in a witches' duel and now Eda shares her soul with a savage owl beast who constantly fights her for control".
Before I could question (panic about) what Amity said further the witch was already scrambling to calm me down. Would it work? No. Nothing could stop me from freaking out after hearing that. But Amity was determined to try.
"The curse is manageable as long as Eda drinks a potion and Eda has found a way to make peace with the owl beast. Not to mention that Luz learned her first spell while trying to get Eda to take her elixir. The beast is sensitive to light, so Luz found a way to cast a light spell. Apparently, she saw glyphs inside spell circles".
"What happened to Eda after she was captured? Surely, they would give her the elixir she needed".
"Emperor Belos healed Eda enough for his guards to prepare her for petrification which is a form of execution that turns the accused to stone and is irreversible. Rumor has it that the souls of the petrified are still conscious. They can still hear and even see but they can't move. If that's true then it's a fate worse than death, really.
Luz found out about the emperor's plans to petrify her mentor, so she broke into the palace in an attempt to free her. Belos found out and, after she was able to break a piece of his mask off, Belos made her a deal. If she gave him Eda's portal door, he would free Eda.
That's when the portal was destroyed. She knew that both realms would be in danger if Belos had the portal. She gave him the portal so she could save Eda, but she desolated it with fire glyphs after she handed it over. Ever since then, she's been working tirelessly to find a way back to you".
After Amity finished, my emotions were allowed to stir in the silence. I didn't know how I felt about all the information I'd just received. How was I supposed to feel?
Luz had grown so much over the summer. She had grown so strong that she faced a ruthless dictator in order to save her mentor, and it sounded like that wasn't the only thing she had done for the people she cared about.
Gus had mentioned when I had first met him how Luz had done every possible thing to help her friends be happy. It sounded like he was right. She was almost cut open in order to help Willow do better in school. Though I don't know all the details, it was clear that Luz helped boost the witches' confidence immensely. Then there was Amity. It was crystal clear that Luz's influence on her changed her life for the better. I don't think I had ever met someone who idolized my mija like she did. The way she would beam brightly when she talked about her made me so proud.
That's what I was feeling: an odd mix of pride and protectiveness that butt heads like rams. The whole point of sending her to summer camp was so she could learn to be more responsible and make some new friends at the same time. Instead, she did both of those things and so much more here in the demon realm.
But the way she grew and learned here involved a serious gamble. Each challenge she faced brought her closer and closer to death each time. One day there would be a challenge that Luz couldn't overcome and the consequences that follow would be grave.
Couldn't there be a middle? Couldn't my baby grow and be safe at the same time?
My attention shifted back to the Blights causing a new thought to come into the spotlight. Those three kids were some of the strongest children I had ever met. With them around, Luz was in good company. She wasn't completely safe but, with witches like them, or Gus, Willow, and even the owl lady, she was a lot safer than I first thought she was.
I suppose I had a whole lot more to learn about the demon realm before I could have that dreaded conversation with Luz. But all that would come in time. At that moment, my greatest concern was doing all I could to make sure Luz and her friends were safe.