"INCOMING!"
"Watch the left!"
"Spitter, on the ledge!"
"Eat shit and die!"
"And here come the bugs!"
"Warriors. Plural!"
"Fireteam, get out of there!"
"Hisssssssssss!~"
Feeling herself being grabbed while she slept, Luz reacted with a clenched fist to whoever disturbed her. The Marine's action was rewarded with a solid "thunk" against her knuckles and a loud "Wah!" The noise from her assailant made Luz pause from any further action on whom she had just punched out of her sleep.
"Oh my gosh, Eda!"
Luz jumped out of bed and down to the witch's side. Eda sat on the ground with her head... rolling away on the floor.
"Ouch!... Dang kid, did anyone tell you got a mean right uppercut?" Said the detached head.
"I'm sorry!" Luz carefully picked up the witch's head and placed it back on her body. The witch got back up and cracked her neck into place.
"Don't sweat the small stuff." Eda waved off. She then grabbed the top of her head with her one good arm and twisted it to a full one-eight behind her body before turning it back. All the while acting like it was no big deal. "But wow, don't think I've ever been hit in the head hard enough to get decapped like that."
Luz sheepishly rubbed her head. "Yeah... perks of being a heavy weapons operator. Strong arms... So Eda, why did you try waking me up?"
"You were thrashing around in your sleep. Like you were having a nightmare. It reminded me of how you acted after you got out of the Belos' head. Also, your Mom's down stairs starting breakfast. She's making it a big ordeal, so I'd get ready if I were you." Luz looked down at herself and saw her nightwear constantly of a white tank top and sports panties.
"Good point. And...thanks again, Eda. For letting me stay again." She waved her hand around to her old room within the Owl House.
The old storage room that Luz took residence in the first time she came to the isles was much different this time. It resembled a room with a full-size twin to sleep on, a dresser, a nightstand, and a chest big enough to store all her weapons. But some things stayed the same. One brought a few storage boxes filled with old junk stacked against the opposite wall of her bed. Oh, and let's not forget Jean-Luc, the crescent-headed temple garden from Kings island. Seeing it again last night almost made Luz draw her Smartgun on it.
"Again, don't sweat it," Eda told her. "I was more surprised that you asked to stay here rather than return to the human realm with your mother."
After the heartfelt reunion between the lost daughter and mother, the elder Noceda didn't want to leave Luz's side for fear of disappearing again. Wanting to drag the Marine home right then and make her never leave the house again. The day's experience was starting to pile up for Luz, and she asked Eda if she could stay for the night. When her mother asked why and came with her back to the human realm. Luz responded simply, "I've done enough dimension hopping for one day."
"Well, thanks anyway. I mean it."
Eda smiled lovingly at the young. "Just hurry up and get dressed before your mother wreaks my kitchen. See you at breakfast." With that, she left the Marine to her devices.
Seeing that she lacked proper civilian clothing, Luz opted for her BDUs. They burnt, well warned, and used up. They will wait till she gets some more clothing. Putting them and making her way downstairs. When she neared the kitchen, she was hit with a wave of smells that made the Xeno fighter's mouth water.
Walking into the kitchen, she spotted her mother cooking over the stove. Eda was sipping on her apple blood with King reading a textbook, and wearing a Hexside multi-track uniform with brown and orange sleeves and purple and red leggings.
Her mother catches her out of the corner of her eye and smiles brightly. She then puts the utensil down before going over and hugging her lost girl. "Morning Mija."
"Morning, momma." They broke the hug, and her mother guided her to the table and let her sit. While sitting, Luz looks over at the book King had his nose in.
"Deviations? A search for the past?" Luz said in confusion.
"Yep," King confirmed before setting the book down. "Remember that strange initiation ceremony? The Titan Trappers put me through."
Luz nodded. "Vaguely, I remember their leader almost putting a knife in your back."
"That ritual did something to me, and I can somehow connect to that space between realms. It might have something to do with me being a Titan, and you know, titans blood and all that."
Nodding with that logic as Luz took in the appearance of his school uniform. "So...Construction, Bard, Beast Keeping, and Oracle track. Wow, school keeps you busy?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," King said with a sigh.
Eda snickers at this. "King's been a hard worker and kept up with his studies. He would follow in your footsteps and study all the tracks, but..."
"I don't know how to do illusion magic, plants don't like me, abomination goo sticks to my fur, and I don't have the patience for potion making," King listed off.
"Yeah, I can see that not for everyone." Luz agreed. "Honestly, I might have overwhelmed myself when I took all the courses simultaneously."
"Knowing how much you loved magic back then, Mija. That's hardly a surprise," her mother joins in on the conversation. She then places two plates of hot food in front of her daughter. "Enjoy!"
The smell of cooked food was strong and hit the Marine like a sucker punch. Her mouth drool had returned with a vengeance at the sight of the plates full of mangú with eggs, fried cheese, and fried salami.
With no hesitation, Luz dug in with gusto. Devouring the mangú and eggs and ripping apart the salami. No spec of food was spared.
Camila and the Owl house residents watched in shock and fascination as Luz cleared the plates within minutes.
Camila shook herself out of sight before getting her daughter's attention. "Luz!"
Luz tilted her head up with a mouthful of eggs.
"Swallow." She commanded. Luz gulped the food down and reached for some water. "Good. What's gotten into you? It's like you haven't eaten in months."
Finishing off the water, she gave her mother a flat look. "That's not too far off. Since joining the Marines, I've really never gotten any natural food that wasn't from some processing station."
"Marines? You're in the military?!" Camila nearly shouted in response. Luz realized her mother wasn't with her yesterday when she explained where she was?
"That's right. You weren't here when Luz explained everything." Eda said what Luz was thinking. "Wanna fill her in?"
"Sure." Luz sets her fork down before directing her attention to her mother. "So after you brought Amity back to the human realm..."
.
.
On the other side of the Isles, inside the castle Belos once ruled from within, Hunter, Willow, and Amity, dressed in purple cloaks, conversed with the other nine coven heads deep within the old fortress. All dress in a similar manner to the three. Some heads from the old system left while others remained in power. Primarily due to the contribution to making sure society as they knew it would not crumble around them. That morning's discussion topic was the sudden return of Luz, the human.
"So the Collector didn't kill her in that final battle," commented a tan-skinned, short, and burly witch with a proud gray beard. This is Lord Mason Dew, head of the Construction Coven.
"I witnessed that display over Bonesborough. Was it her doing? Talk about a grand entrance." Said dramatically, a pale-skinned female witch, thin and average with curly aqua blue hair. This is Lady Yui Bree, head of the Illusion Coven.
"And I was there just in time to save her yet again. Just like old times," Amity declared.
A tan-skinned male witch with seafoam green hair and eyes smiled humorously at the abomination coven head. This was Lord Raine Whispers, leader of the Bard Coven. "I'd no doubt. I hope Luz is still at Eda's later, for I would love to meet her again and see how she's doing. Still, it is good that it was something good rather than some new surprise attack from the Titan Trappers."
Many nodded in agreement. A rather young-looking pale female witch with brown hair spiked straight up chose to speak next. This was Lady Gear Gold, head of the Potions Coven. "They have been growing bold in their actions of late. Even though our forces outnumber them in open combat, they match or outmatch our warriors."
"To be fair." A tall, brawny woman with pale skin and a white hood over most of her head with a semicircle-shaped top with light blue bands. This was Lady Hettie Cutburn, head Witch of the Healing Coven. "The scouts from back in the Emperor's Coven weren't very strong if a bunch of students could beat Vernworth and a whole scout platoon. Even after we raised the combat level of our forces after Belo's removal, they have not improved much."
"That's not even the worst of it." Spoken by a humanoid demon with pale yellow skin, small ridges spread across, and horns in the shape of a crescent moon. She also has a singular, lavender eye on the right of her head. This is Celine Cousin, head Witch of the Oracle Coven. "The Trappers have begun making new weapons that are destroying our forces. Leaving many dead or crippled."
The Oracle witch had a ghost bring forth an object for all to see. Drawing the other's interest, some dismissed it as soon as they saw it, others got closer and examined the thing, but when the three members of the Hex squad saw it, they were surprised and horrified.
Eberwolf the Huntsman, coven head of the beast-keeping coven. A child-sized bestial humanoid with a wild mane of auburn hair tied in a big, fluffy ponytail. Looked and saw the three panicked looks. He made a squeaking noise and pointed at the trio, alerting the others.
Mason chose to speak for them on this. "From the looks, you three are sporting, you all recognize this?"
"We do, and it should not be here," Amity responded.
"This is weaponry from the human realm," Willow answered as she glared at the weapon. "Probably leaked in there."
"And is something our forces are hopelessly unprepared to deal with," Hunter stated as a fact.
The other coven heads looked concerned by this and began discussing possibilities to counter this weapon. The three original Hex members look at the thing once more before glancing at each other. Knowing what must be done regardless of how much pain it will cause.
.
.
"-and with the station going up in flames around me. Not enough time to make a new escape off the station. I decided not to die running and walked into a nearby lab. In the few moments I had left to live, I wanted my last thoughts to be of home." Luz pulled out the few pictures she had laid them out on the coffee table.
The group had moved from the kitchen to the living room to be more comfortable as Luz told more of her story to her mother about her adventures in the other realm. She even told Camila, Eda, and King a few fun times she had to release some of the tension in the air. But when she got to her final mission to set the reactor off in the orbital refinery, it was all for not.
Camila looked at the pictures and lost it in a fit of tears. Luz saw this coming and moved to take hold of her mother, with the woman grasping her daughter with the intent to not let go anytime soon. Pent-up emotions from years worth leaked out in much-needed release.
They stayed like this, with Camila weeping into her daughter's arms and Luz holding her mother up, whispering comforting words to calm the older woman. As they had their moment, they were unknowingly making a show for the other residents in the Owl House.
Eda, King, and Hooty watched the happy reconnection between mother and daughter. All with tears in their eyes as they watch the emotional scene unfold.
Eda pulled a hanky out of her mane and wiped away her falling tears. "This is, by far, Sniff, the sappiest thing I've ever seen."
Eda hands the hanky to King to blow on it. "Even though Luz told us her story, hearing it again with her mother just gets me, you know?"
Hooty was crying tears of joy at the scene. "It's beautiful! They deserve all the happiness!" His neck stretched over, and he tapped his beak on a floating scroll.
Eda's teary face saw the magic device and became curious. "Hooty, what are you doing with my scroll?"
"Just recording this moment for the memories." Hooty confessed, still teary-eyed.
"You recorded the whole thing?" Eda takes the device and looks it over. "Um, Hooty. You didn't record it."
"What?!" Hooty nearly shouted in distress.
"You lived streamed it over my penstagram account with the hashtag, mother hen/chick reunite." Eda deadpans.
"Is that bad?" King asked.
Across the Boiling Isles.
Multiple witches and demons saw the live stream between the mother and daughter moment. Many were surprised that the human who fought Belos was alive and not dead. She left many in tears from her tale of struggle and battle to other worlds.
A three-eyed, pink-haired Boscha watched the live stream and huffed but in good nature from her small smile. "That human made it after all. She's as hard to get rid of as a pixie queen."
Two green hair witch twins saw the post and smiled happily that their favorite human was back. The pair smiled with glee at Luz being alive.
"You think we'll finally get Luz as a sister?" Edric said to his twin sister.
"After everything she and Amity have been through together after being apart for so long? They better damn well invite us to the wedding," Emra said back to her twin brother.
Eda shrugged at her son before turning their attention back to Luz and her mother. The waterworks had ended and were composing themselves, and now they were casually talking to each other.
"What will you do now, Mija?" Asked Camila.
Luz pondered over the question. "I don't know? I have no money unless my bank account from the Corp can cross universes, so I'm broke. No job history either. I'm assuming Vee continued on with my life?"
Camila nodded. "She did after the portal reconnected. Vee graduated high school in your name to keep up the ruse, and she had to make up a year's missed work but did it. She lives with her friends in a home they rent together."
"Vee comes by once in a while to resupply on magic." Eda joins in on the topic. "She doesn't stay for long but doesn't get scared when she comes over like the first time around. After the portal was destroyed and Vee was trapped here, I took her in just like I did you. The first few weeks were rough on her due to the trauma she faced from the emperor's goons, but she got better over time. Even started having her own little circle of friends to hang with and reconnect with the other basilisks that escaped from Belos. Though she prefers to live in the human realm." Luz nodded in understanding and relating to the shapeshifter. "So living in the human realm will complicate things if people notice two Luz's walking around town."
"I would only complicate things for Vee if I stayed in the human realm," Luz told them. "I don't want to do that to her. Vee has had enough problems happen to her and doesn't need me to add to it." She then leans back onto the couch with a disinterested look, her mother looking at her with worry.
"Are you sure about this, Luz? We can always develop a story to explain your lack of history." Luz shook her head.
"People will ask questions and may even investigate my past. No, we don't need that."
"So, what are you going to do?" Eda said.
"Honestly, take two or three days off to distress, relax, enjoy being alive. Maybe go sightseeing." Luz got up and walked to the window to see the sea. "I haven't seen every part of the Titan or this world. What else is out there, and could I go there?"
Eda looked amused at her suggestion, while Camila still looked at her with worry.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Nope!" Luz said, popping the p. "But that's where all the fun happens, so why not."
Eda smacks her knee with glee. "That's the spirit!"
Camila still looked unsure about her plan but accepted it. Her daughter really matured in this world and sacrificed much for her friends. Plus, when Luz makes up her mind, she sticks to it. Much like her father...
Any further conversation is stalled when someone knocks on the front door. Hooty opens it to reveal Hunter and Amity outside.
"Amity!" Luz rushes and envelopes the woman in a hug. Surprising violet-haired witch for a moment before smiling and returning the hug. They break up with Luz, still smiling but seeing the looks they had made her stop. Is everything alright?"
"May we come in? It's important." Hunter asked.
Luz nodded and invited them in. With Amity staying by her side and Hunter walking toward the coffee table. Hunter turned back to address the human. "Luz, I hate to do this after everything you've been through. But a recent development has occurred, and you are the only person with the experience we can think of that can help."
She looked back and forth between Hunter's solemn look and the sad one on Amity. Taking in the clues meant something terrible was happening.
"So she gave the two her undivided attention. "I'm listening."
"First, has Luz caught up with what's been going on?" Hunter asked Eda.
"Sorry, we've been going over other stuff happening. Haven't gotten there yet," Eda explained as she took in the situation. "Is it the Trappers?"
"Trappers?" Luz asked.
"The Titan Trappers that masked as King's people." Everyone looked at the young Titan to see the unease look he sported.
A dark look crossed Luz's face as she remembered the ones that nearly killed her adopted little brother. "They causing trouble?"
Amity spoke next to explain. "Luz, the people of the Titan have been at war with the Trappers for years."
"Ever since they found out we imprisoned the Collector, their god, they have been going out in an all-out war with us. We outnumber them, but they can fight us on even ground with their fighting skills."
"And it's only going to get worse." Hunter pulls out an object from his cloak and sits on the coffee table. The Nocedas' eyes widen at what they see.
A handgun.
.
.
On one secluded beach on the Titans' hip, several curators with horned skulls similar to King, armed with various weapons ranging from swords and spears to crossbows, long rifles, and pistols. All gathered around a scroll and watched the live stream.
One announced to the rest. "Informed the Huntsman General of this news. The human Luz, banisher of our god and sister of the Titan, has returned to our world."
.
Back with another chapter with things looking up only to look back down for Luz. Nightmares, trauma, and bad guys. With more on the way. Stay tune and watch out for Xeno's!