Even in the floating archives, the young witches could feel the ground shake beneath them. Something was wrong with the Isles, Luz was still missing, and Amity couldn't sit tight any longer. Summoning Ghost, she mounted her staff and flew off, ignoring the cries of her friends telling her to wait. The witch observed a fungus spreading out across the land, seemingly coming from the Emperor's Castle. Amity flew towards it and saw a massive winged monster with glowing blue eyes. The Collector was there too...giving it a hug?
"Luz, look! We can all be buddies now!" Amity heard him say, barely registering it meant her girlfriend was near, before the monster's skull began to glow.
"Collector!" That was Luz' voice.
The monster fired a beam and it collided with a flash of purple light, unmistakably Stringbean's aura. The magic cleared, and Amity could clearly see Luz and the Collector in the middle of it
"Huh?" The Collector said, seemingly unharmed. "But I thought I was doing the right thing."
"No, no," Luz spoke. "You did good, Collector. But this is a little more complicated. Don't worry, I think it...missed...me."
It hadn't. Amity gasped in horror as her girlfriend's fingers sprouted branches, which slowly took over Luz's body. The human groaned as it reached her shoulders and her Azura hat fell to the ground, and she slowly turned into particles of light.
"No," Amity cried. "No no no no no no!"
"Luz?" The Collector asked, "What's happening?"
"No no no no no no no no!"
Luz hadn't noticed her girlfriend yet, her attention focused on her surrogate witch family below. "Eda, King, looks like we're gonna split up again." Amity could barely breathe. Luz's fate was sealed and she knew it. Despite her predicament, beneath the glow and the fungus, Amity could just make out a smile on Luz's face. Either out of acceptance, or to provide some false reassurance to her family. "I feel like I should be used to this feeling by now, but...I still don't know what to say."
"NO!" Amity screamed, flying into her girlfriend's field of vision. "Luz, please don't go! LUZ!"
Luz's smile vanished when she saw Amity, replaced with an expression of shock and terror. "Amity? Oh no." It wasn't so easy to accept her fate now, seeing who else it meant leaving behind. "Lo siento."
As her last tears floated away from Luz's remaining visible eye, the moss consumed her completely, and she split into several balls of light. Amity tried to grab for them desperately, but none of them stayed still. The last vestiges of Luz Noceda floated away...
"AAAAAAAAAUGHHHHHHH!"
Amity awoke with a scream. She found herself sitting up on her cot in a cold sweat, breathing heavily, fresh tears running down her face. Then she heard a voice next to her.
"Sweet Potato? Are you okay?" Luz was sitting up in her own cot, resting her body on one arm, while the other hand rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Amity stared at the human for a moment, as her thoughts found their way back to reality.
"Luz? You're...you're here...You're alive!"
Her memories came flooding back as she threw herself at Luz, wrapping her arms tightly around her girlfriend. This was Luz's room in the Owl House. They had been staying there since Belos' defeat, and everything the Emperor's Coven had seized during their raid was back where it belonged. The Demon Realm was safe, and Luz was alive. She was alive.
"That's right, Amity. I'm here. I'm alright." Amity felt Luz's arms return the hug as she began to breathe normally again. "Were you having...that dream again?" The witch could only whimper and nod her head and tighten her grip on Luz's body. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," the young witch sobbed. "I'm glad you told me what happened. It wasn't your fault that you...died."
A light turned on as the bedroom door swung open and Camila walked in. "Mija? Is everything alright?"
"Si Mamá. I think so. Amity was just having a nightmare."
"I think I know which one." Camila walked over to the girls and placed a hand on Amity's shoulder. "I've been having it too, and it's scary to think about. But then I wake up and remember that Luz came back to us, and I am so grateful that she did." She hugged and kissed them both on the forehead. "I'll be right down the hall if you need anything, okay?"
"Okay. Thank you, Camila."
Luz's mother left the room, turning off the light, but leaving one on in the hallway. The girlfriends found themselves alone again. They sat in silence for a moment before Amity spoke up. "What was it like?"
"Dying?"
"You don't have to answer if it's too-"
"No, it's fine." Luz gave it some thought, and another difficult memory surfaced. "Well, it was better than being petrified. Slowly turning to stone, my entire body going cold...suddenly unable to breathe once it got up to my head...That was awful." She shivered at the thought and squeezed Amity's hand. "But this? My body went numb, but it still felt...warm. And as everything faded into white, I found a little comfort in knowing I'd saved someone. In some small way, I'd made up for my mistakes. The next thing I know, I'm underwater and being pulled to safety in between realms, and...you know the rest."
"It's strange," said Amity. "It seems like only yesterday you were just this annoying human getting me into trouble who wouldn't leave me alone. And now..." She started to sob again. "Now, I can't imagine my life without you."
"Amity...believe me when I say the last thing I ever wanted to do was leave you."
"But that wasn't going to stop you, was it?" Amity's voice suddenly went cold. Luz gasped and pulled her hand away. Amity looked at Luz with a sudden panic. "Oh no, sweetie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that-"
"No, don't be sorry. I deserved that." Luz turned her head away as her eyes began to water. Amity placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's not as if I wasn't prepared for that possibility. You promised your mom, after all. But once she got to meet me...and everyone else, I started to think she'd come around and let you stay."
"And she did...but as much as I didn't want to leave the Isles forever, I still thought I had to. I'd messed up too much. I didn't deserve this place...or you. I was going to come clean after the hayride, but then Belos happened. And then in the photo lab, I tried to tell you, and then Kikimora happened. Mom and I finally talked about it, then Stringbean hatched, and I knew I didn't have to leave after all...but then everything else happened." Luz turned back to Amity and brushed her hand across the witch's cheek. "The Titan gave me a second chance, and I'm not gonna waste it. I may have to go back to my life in the Human Realm, but I'll always come back the Isles...back to you...and that's a promise I intend to keep." She leaned into her girlfriend, placed a gentle kiss upon her lips, and then looked her straight in the eye with a reassuring smile. "I love you, Amity."
"I love you too, Luz."
And with that, Amity pulled her girlfriend into a hug, and they fell back onto Luz's cot. The couple then drifted back off into a sound sleep, nestled in the safety of each other's arms.