School had long been the bane of Luz's existence back on Earth. She'd constantly been a target for bullying, and her every action to make her more popular with her peers just planted an even greater target on her back. It wasn't as if Luz wanted to be hated. She'd been desperate for friends, for anyone who could understand her. But no one wanted to be associated with her. It was too dangerous for them; associating with Luz was social death.
Sure, Luz had gone a bit too far sometimes in her enthusiasm and some of the things she used to do made her cringe to think of them now (had she really thought Clara MacKinnon would be impressed with her ability to turn her eyelids inside out?), but her heart was in the right place. Yet she ended up in the principal's office time and time again. And the bullies who made her life miserable? Of course, they walked away scot free, even though they'd done much, much worse. It was unfair, but Luz had long since stopped thinking she could change it by the time she ended up in the Boiling Isles.
Hexside was different. There, she was able to start with a clean slate, and the things that made her weird paled in comparison to the Boiling Isles' baseline weirdness. She made friends, she was actually studying things she wanted to study, instead of things that bored her to tears just thinking about them, and, of course, she got the privilege of seeing her awesome girlfriend in her every bard class.
Luz never thought that she'd be dreading going to Hexside. But this reality's Hexside was not the Hexside she knew. She had no clue what'd be waiting for her there. She'd told Amity that she had gotten bullied at Hexside, but she was just making an educated guess. There was no way that Other Luz hadn't gotten targeted for being half-human. The one person who could answer her questions, Avery, was dodging her scroll calls, though they'd left a message curtly stating that they were alive and would talk again at school.
So, yeah, she definitely had that to look forward to. Sunday had been…odd. She'd spent most of it trying to dig for information regarding Other Luz's life, and hadn't been very successful. Other Luz had a diary on her scroll, but it was password protected and Luz didn't have the slightest clue what the password might be. Her supposedly subtle attempts to interrogate members of the household about Other Luz's past had confused people and made them wonder why she was even asking those questions in the first place.
She did, however, succeed in finding a set of photo albums in the attic. Luz did not anticipate that it would hurt so much to see photographic evidence of Eduardo and Other Luz bonding. She felt a stab of jealousy whenever she saw those pictures. Why had Other Luz been blessed with having Eduardo in her life, and Luz had to suffer through his absence? It didn't make any sense. But then again, death never did.
Luz was unsurprised to learn that Amity wanted to attend Hexside, even after she found out that she'd only be able to study one track there. She had, however, been surprised when Eda put her foot down, not because of her hatred for organized education, but because it was too dangerous.
"Sorry, Amity, but there's a price on your head," Eda explained when she brought this up at the dinner table on Sunday evening. "They're not happy that you smashed up the Conformatorium. Which was awesome, by the way. But it pissed people off. I can't take the risk that Bump will turn you in."
"You're not afraid of going to places because there's a bounty on your head," Amity argued. "I want to learn about magic straight from the source. Jane is a good teacher, but she's not a witch. What parents don't want their kids to go to school?"
Eduardo's eyes narrowed. He did not appreciate the implicit insult of Eda. "Amity, we are trying our best here. I am sure Eda would be more than happy to tutor you if you ask her politely."
Luz raised a hand tentatively, unsure what the protocol was for interrupting at the dinner table. She had to make sure that Amity went to Hexside if she was going to succeed in her mission. "Maybe she could wear a disguise?" she suggested.
To their credit, Eda and Eduardo both looked like they were considering the idea, but they both decided against it. "It's simply too dangerous," Eda said, sounding like she was genuinely sorry. Luz realized that fourteen years of motherhood had softened Eda. She'd lost some of her rebellious spirit to the cause of keeping Other Luz safe and sound. That didn't make her a bad person. It just made her a different person.
Everyone was different here.
"Please," Amity begged. "I have had the worst week of my life. My best friend rejected me, I got stranded in an alternate dimension, and I just found out that everything I believed in was a lie. All I'm asking is to go to school!" She looked over at Eduardo. "I saved your life! Doesn't that count for anything?"
Luz was amazed at what she was hearing, in a good way. Her Amity found it difficult to disagree with her elders after the horrible consequences laid upon her every time she had tried to do so with her mother. It had gotten easier for her with time, but it still was very, very hard for her. This Amity hadn't had to deal with any of that, and so she was fighting for what she believed in without any hesitation.
Eduardo sighed. He suddenly looked very, very tired. "And I am trying to save yours. Your family probably fears you are dead. I don't want their fears to become reality."
"Don't worry, Amity!" King said. "I can help homeschool you! There are many different types of demons in my former legions of darkness, and I can help you harness their powers so that together we can rule the Boiling Isles!"
Eda raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You must have made a heck of a first impression on him. He doesn't offer co-rulership to just anyone."
Further efforts by Luz and Amity to try to get Luz's – Other Luz's parents to budge proved utterly fruitless and by the time nighttime rolled around, they had to concede that it was utterly hopeless. Amity would not be going to Hexside, and that was that. Luz suggested to Amity that they do a body swap spell so Amity could go in her place, but Amity didn't think that she had what it took to pull off impersonating Other Luz. Luz couldn't help but worry that she didn't either.
Monday arrived, as it always did, and Luz resigned herself to the worst school day she'd ever have to experience in her life. On the bright side, no matter how badly she screwed up, people wouldn't leap to time-displaced doppelganger from another dimension, right? On the other hand, this was the Boiling Isles, so maybe they would.
Instead of her jack of all trades schedule (she still hadn't decided to focus on a specific track, and now that she didn't have to, she was leaning towards not doing so), she had oracle classes all day. And it was exactly as unpleasant as she had thought it would be. It was like that recurring nightmare she had, the one about showing up to a test for a class that she'd somehow not attended all semester. She could barely keep up with the material, but that was not sufficient. Much to her horror, Other Luz was regarded as a top notch student. She certainly wasn't an oracle prodigy, but she had quite a bit of talent in the field.
Luz, on the other hand, couldn't even foresee that bringing live snakes to a book report may not have been the wisest idea in the history of ideas. She'd never stood a chance at being good at oracle magic.
And, of course, she didn't have any friends to help her out in the classes. True, they weren't there to witness her flounder either, but it would have been nice to know that she had made friends in her class. People certainly didn't hate her, but their behavior towards her didn't rise any farther than civility.
The good news was that she'd been allowed to use her glyphs in classes with no issues whatsoever, just like in the other timeline. Back on Earth, Camila had to move heaven and earth to convince her teachers to honor the disability accommodations that Luz was legally entitled to, and every so often she still ran into a teacher who "forgot" about them or just flat out refused to honor them. In Luz's Hexside, disability accommodations were always honored, mostly because Bump's wrath to those who didn't honor them was legendary. He had explained once that while he couldn't care less about students failing due to reasons within their control, he would be damned if he saw them failing due to reasons outside of their control, like not getting proper accommodations.
By the time third period was over, Luz was seriously considering just playing hooky throughout her time in the dimension. The consequences couldn't be that much more substantial than stumbling her way through endless oracle classes. But she knew that would be unfair to the Other Luz. Luz had made it her goal to make sure that Other Luz's life would be as disrupted as little as possible when she returned.
She wondered exactly what Other Luz was going through right now. Honestly, she probably had it worse, now that she thought about it. She was now in a universe where her father was dead, a complete stranger was her biological mother, and soon she'd have to back to school on Earth, which she knew even less about than Luz did about Other Luz's life in the Boiling Isles.
"MISS NOCEDA!" a voice screamed in her ear, so loud that it nearly blew out her eardrums. Luz let out a yelp and turned around to look into the frightening visage of Näkijä, the lead teacher of the oracle track. The hornless minotaur teacher had been stern but fair to Luz in her timeline, but did not suffer fools gladly. Luz guessed that she was in a great deal of trouble. "I have been trying to get your attention for over a minute now. I will not tolerate such brazen disrespect from you. I have half a mind to send you to detention."
Luz let out a shudder at the thought of being subjected to detention yet again. "I'm sorry, Näkijä!" Luz wasn't being informal; Näkijä eschewed honorifics of all kinds. "I've had a lot on my mind. I didn't hear you, honest."
Näkijä studied her facial expression carefully, trying to detect if Luz was lying. "Very well. This time I will let you off with a warning, but next time, I will send you to detention. I wish to speak to you after your lunch is over. I will write you a pass so that you do not get into trouble for missing fourth period." Luz let out a gulp and waited for Näkijä to give her a hint about what was coming up for her, but no hint appeared forthcoming, and when it became clear that the conversation was over, Luz left the classroom.
It wasn't hard to spot the table where Gus and Avery were sitting even from afar, but before she could even reach the lunchroom, Willow appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her by the arm, and slammed her against a locker, looking furious. Oh, crap. Had Other Luz done something to piss her off? Were they actually enemies and Other Luz was just pretending that they were friends?
"Hi, Willow!" Luz said, trying to put on a happy face.
"What the giraffe is going on, Luz?" Willow hissed at her. Were it not for the fact that it'd attract adverse attention, she'd probably be screaming it. Luz blinked at the use of profanity. Willow swore even less than Amity did. Or, at least, her Willow did.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Luz admitted. Guessing would just be an exercise in futility.
Willow narrowed her eyes. "I'm talking about why you've dodged all my calls this weekend, went on a rescue mission without asking for my help, and broke up with Avery." She said the last thing as if it went against the natural order of the universe.
Luz let out a nervous laugh. So it was her actions that Willow was angry at. "I'm sorry?" she tried. "I didn't want to put you at risk when I went to rescue my dad! And I've dodged your calls because I kind of wanted to avoid this conversation. And I broke up with Avery because…well, we just decided that we were better as friends."
Willow did not look like she was buying it for one iota. "You were deliriously in love as of Thursday! What the hell could have happened to change that?"
"Leave her alone," Avery said, their voice flat and cold. Willow and Luz both turned to face them. "I asked Luz not to tell anyone why we really broke up. And I'm not telling anyone either. So if you want to get angry at anyone, take it out on me, Willow."
Willow looked bewildered. "But this doesn't make any sense! You were one of Hexside's biggest power couples! I mean, it was nauseating to watch you two flirt, but still, I don't understand…" She sighed. "Okay. I'm not going to get anything out of the two of you, clearly. But I'm still your friend, both of you. If you want to confide in me, I'll understand, I promise."
Avery looked over at Luz, silently asking her if she thought Willow should be brought into the inner circle. Luz shook her head. The fewer people who knew about her secret, the better. She felt terrible about lying to Willow, but somehow, she felt even worse about telling her the truth. The three of them proceeded over to their table.
At least Gus seemed happy to see her. The new timeline didn't appear to have altered their friendship. If anything, he was probably closer to her than before. "Hey, Luz, I heard about you and Avery," he said, sounding sympathetic. "I thought you two would be together forever. Guess I was wrong. Did you foresee the relationship ending badly?"
That was actually a very good excuse, now that Luz thought about it, but it wasn't one that she was willing to use. She was so sick of all the lying she was doing, and she just recoiled at the idea of lying to Gus. "I just…I really don't want to talk about this, Gus." If he wanted to think that meant he was right, then so be it.
Gus looked like he was distraught to see Luz so upset. She tried to look happy, but he saw straight through her act. "You know…it's okay to be upset, Luz," Gus said. "That's what you told me, remember?" Luz let out a nervous laugh. "If you still need someone to go with you to Grom, I'll go with you as a friend! Um, definitely not as a date, because that'd be super weird."
Luz definitely had to agree with that. Even if Gus hadn't been very secure in his aromanticism, she would have felt stupendously awkward at even the thought of going as his date. "That's really nice of you, Gus. I'll think about it." Of course, Luz wouldn't end up taking him up on that offer. She was pretty sure she'd end up having a date to Grom, after all.
"So how're your classes going?" Luz said in a desperate attempt to change the subject.
Willow let out a despairing sound. "They're going terrible. I'm supposed to present an abomination in class tomorrow, but my abominations are just pathetic. I'm going to look so stupid in front of everyone…"
Luz realized that she'd gotten so stuck into her own problems that she'd forgotten what had been going on in the main timeline. The next day was the same day that Luz had met Willow, Gus, and Amity for the first time. Luz had pretended to be Willow's abomination so that she wouldn't fail. She couldn't do that again…but there was someone who could!
"I've just had a brilliant idea!" Luz announced and everyone at the table looked alarmed. She couldn't help but be disappointed. Were Other Luz's plans just as bad as hers were?
But an instant later, she soon discovered the real reason why they were alarmed. It didn't have anything to do with Luz's idea – which was totally the best one she'd had in ages – but rather the posse of girls approaching the table. Amity, of course, was not among the bullies of Hexside, but her sycophants were. Yep, they were all there: Boscha, Skara, Amelia, and Cat. Luz couldn't help but flinch at seeing Cat, in particular. In Luz's timeline, Cat had come up with a sick plan to ensorcell Luz that had only failed because she had been cruel enough to brag about it to Luz's face. She was pretty sure that this Cat was just as dangerous and sadistic.
Boscha reached out and caressed Avery's face. They batted away her hand, looking supremely pissed off. "I heard you're back on the market, human," she said in a mock seductive tone. "I don't know what happened between you and the Luzer, but I can make you feel so much better than she does." Oh, wow. Boscha must have thought she was so original with that name. Like literally every bully Luz had ever met didn't trot it out.
"No thanks," Avery said calmly. "I'm not into bullies."
"Go away, Boscha," Willow said, her voice sounding very tired. "I don't need this right now."
Boscha winked at her. "Wish I could, but it looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson right now." She grabbed Willow by the arm and started dragging her out of the lunchroom. "Don't wait up for me, girls!" she called out to her posse, who let out a giggle and wandered off to torment someone else.
Luz couldn't believe this was happening. Was no one going to stop Boscha from doing God knows what to Willow? Well, if no one was going to take a stand, Luz Noceda would. She didn't care if it was out of character for Other Luz.
"Luz, don't do it!" Gus called out frantically. "It's really better if you just let this stand, like you usually do! She won't be hurt too badly!"
Avery put their head in their hands. "Oh, God, I can't believe I forgot to tell you this…" Luz ignored both of them and charged out of the lunchroom. She had a bully to thwart. So what if the timeline got mucked about because of it? This was Willow in need of help. She'd faced Boscha in a supremely dangerous sport to save Willow in the main timeline. She'd face her again here.
Upon hearing noises that were unmistakably in Willow's voice, Luz charged into a bathroom and nearly fainted when she saw what was in there.
Boscha was kissing Willow.
That would have been horrifying enough on its own. But Willow was kissing Boscha back and that was so confusing and horrifying that Luz's brain felt like it was going to explode just from looking for it. She was worried for a second or two that she was literally going to hurl.
"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Luz screamed and lunged at Boscha. Before Boscha could stop her, Luz had ripped her away from Willow and had pinned Boscha against the wall, holding onto her arms so she couldn't escape. "I know that you're a sadist, Boscha, but this is low even for you! A love potion? Really?!"
That was the only logical option, of course. Boscha was in the potions track. She probably knew how to brew a love potion, or some other potion that would take away Willow's consent. Boscha was a bully; why would Willow be with her of her own free will? "That's crazy talk!" Boscha protested. "I would never do that to her! I wouldn't even know where to start brewing one of those things! I'm in the abominations track!"
Luz blinked. Boscha was right about that last one; she was indeed wearing an abominations track uniform. But that wasn't the issue at hand. If Cat could get her hands on a love potion, Boscha could do it too.
"Luz, Boscha didn't give me a love potion," Willow said. "I kissed her of my own free will."
Luz rolled her eyes. "That's exactly what you'd say if she did give you a love potion! You'd think it was your idea!"
Willow sighed. "Okay, fair point, but it's still not like that. Can you let her go? She's not going to run," she directed this last statement very sternly at Boscha. "I can explain all this."
Every instinct in Luz was screaming at her to not release Boscha, that Willow's statement was coerced, that she was hopelessly ensorcelled. But, as usual, she ignored her instincts completely and let go of Boscha's arms. She really had to stop doing that, but today was clearly not going to be the day that happened. Boscha did not make a move to attack Luz. She just stood back and decided to let Willow do all the talking.
Willow looked dreadfully embarrassed and ashamed. That was a good sign, Luz had to concede. If Willow had been under Boscha's thrall, she'd not have had the slightest compunction about her actions. "Put your hands on top of your head," Luz instructed Boscha. "If I see them move, I'm going to assume that you're pulling out a love potion and I'm going to blast your face off. Got it?" Boscha nodded and complied.
The tale of Willow and Boscha turned out to be not all that dissimilar to the story of Willow and Amity, as it turned out. Willow had been friends with Boscha as a child, but Mrs. Hart, who was just as much of a nasty piece of work as she was in the main timeline apparently, ordered Boscha to sever her friendship with Willow. However, unlike with Amity, Boscha had only pretended to stop being friends with Willow – they had continued to secretly be friends, hiding it not just from Mrs. Hart, but also from Gus and Other Luz.
Eventually, the secret friendship had morphed into a secret romance. In order for Boscha to keep her reputation, she still had to keep bullying Other Luz and her friends, but she'd tried to tone it down as of recently. Boscha wished that she could tell the truth, but she was worried that Mrs. Hart would hurt her if she found out. And she wasn't being hyperbolic either – Mrs. Hart would actually physically hurt Boscha, maybe even really badly.
It was the fear in Boscha's eyes when she alluded to this that convinced Luz. There was no way that Boscha was enough of a good actress to fake that fear. Nor would she show weakness in the service of a deception. Boscha and Willow were really in love, as bizarre and weird as the idea seemed.
"I'm so sorry about keeping this a secret from you," Willow finished. "I wanted to tell you, Luz. I wanted to so badly. But Boscha made me keep it a secret. She was worried that word would leak out. You don't know how vile her mother is. The things she's done…" She shuddered. "I can't risk her finding out."
Well. When Willow put it like that. "I promise I won't tell anyone. It's not like I even want to think about this anymore. Let's just pretend that it never happened. Please. For the sake of my sanity, if nothing else."
Willow enfolded Luz in a tight hug. "You are the best friend ever, Luz. I'm sorry I lost my temper with you earlier. I have no right to get angry with you for keeping secrets."
"Does Avery know?" Luz wondered.
"Yes," Willow admitted. "They caught us last year, shortly after we started dating. I swore them to secrecy on an Everlasting Oath. They couldn't tell you." That is to say, Luz realized, they couldn't tell Other Luz. She, technically speaking, was not the person that Avery couldn't tell, but that must not have occurred to them until it was too late.
The whole thing was absolutely unbelievable. How was it possible that a bully, driven to break things off with her best friend by her manipulative and abusive mother, could possibly become a better person through the power of love and friendship?
Wait a second…
Okay, maybe it was a bit more believable than it sounded. Still, it was kind of amazing that Willow and Boscha could keep such a secret for so long from all of their closest friends. Luz could only hope that she'd have as much success with her own secret keeping.
Luz pointed a finger in Boscha's face. "I don't know whether or not to believe you. My gut tells me yes, but bad things tend to happen when I listen to it. But you can prove you've turned over a new leaf by helping us."
"What do leaves have to do with anything?" Boscha wondered.
Willow tilted her head. "Luz, is this another half-baked scheme to get me transferred to the plant track? I've told you before. Bump would never agree to it."
"This time, it's a wholly baked scheme!" Luz promised her. Willow rolled her eyes. Other Luz had probably told her something similar on multiple occasions. "As long as Boscha doesn't stab us in the back, we'll have you in the plant track by Wednesday, and, bonus, you won't fail tomorrow! This is all going to work out. I've had a vision."
Willow groaned. Luz felt indignant on her alternate self's behalf. "Trust me, Willow. I've got everything under control." She directed the most fearsome glare in her arsenal at Boscha. Luz was not the glaring type naturally, but she'd seen some incredibly impressive ones from Camila in her time, and they must have impressed Boscha, because she let out a loud yelp and tried to hide behind a potted plant, quite unsuccessfully.
"If I'm wrong about you, if you are using a love potion on Willow, I'm going to tell Eda," Luz promised. "And she is going to give you the most painful death you can possibly imagine."
"I'm not using a love potion on her, I promise!" Boscha said. "But I can't…I can't help you publicly. I can't risk anyone finding out about us."
Luz gave her a sweet smile. "Oh, don't worry, Boscha. All you'll have to do tomorrow is be your usual self." She walked out of the bathroom, and then yelled out for the bystanders to hear, "And that's what happens when you mess with my best friend! You mess with the bull, you get the horns!"
The plan was amazing even before Luz got Boscha involved, in her expert opinion. Okay, it was true, plans had never been her strong suit before. Camila had sent Luz to Reality Check Camp because she thought that she had difficulty separating fantasy from reality, but she had misdiagnosed the problem. Luz knew quite well what the difference was. She just took everything she did ten steps too far. Now she only took everything five steps, maximum, too far, and things were working out very well for her.
Luz had one critical advantage in this reality that she didn't have in the other reality: she knew what the future held. Well, in some cases. Certainly, the presence of Eduardo, Avery, the allegedly new and improved Boscha, and Amity Serrano meant that the timeline would diverge at some point, possibly substantially. However, Luz was confident that she could make matters go more or less in the new timeline as they did in the original timeline, especially now that she could rely on Boscha to play the role that Amity once did.
Amity wanted to go to Hexside, as Luz did, so she'd go disguised as Willow's abomination. If matters went down precisely as they did in the original timeline, Bump would be so impressed with Willow's plant prowess that she'd switch her track, Boscha would be able to keep her bully cred by publicly humiliating "Half a Witch Willow," and Amity…would be banned from the school.
Oh. Right. That was a problem, wasn't it?
But the important thing was that Luz had spotted that problem in the planning stage, which was definitely not something she'd have done before she came to the Boiling Isles. Bringing live snakes to a book report had seemed like a great idea. Never mind that plushie snakes could have accomplished exactly the same purpose. (Some people would say that one should never bring snakes of any kind to a book report. Such people just didn't get it.) Now that she'd discovered the problem, she could figure out how to work around it. She had all afternoon. A solution must exist, she knew, and she would find it. For, after all, was she not Luz Noceda, warrior of peace?
Well, before she could do that, the warrior of peace had to face down Näkijä. What could Näkijä want with her? Sure, her performance in class had been lackluster in comparison to Other Luz's usual fare, but that hardly warranted her missing class to discuss it. Then again, it could be anything. Other Luz could have had a secret life dealing energy potions, for all Luz knew. The best approach to dealing with Näkijä was to be as honest as possible, and when that failed, brazenly and blatantly lie.
"You are not Luz Noceda," Näkijä announced the instant Luz entered her office. Well. Luz at least had to appreciate her willingness to get to the point extremely quickly. Why beat around the bush?
Luz let out a laugh that made her just wince to hear. She had learned deception at the foot of the most wanted witch in the Boiling Isles! Why did her con artistry skills always fail her at critical moments like this? "What? That's crazy talk! Of course I'm Luz! Who else would I be?"
Näkijä did not look like she was remotely fooled by Luz's pathetic attempts at lying. Some oracle she'd be if she was, right? "That is what we are here to ascertain. Your impersonation of her was actually fairly good to those who use only their external senses, but to those of us guided by internal senses, it is really quite obvious that you are not who you say you are. It would be wise of you to confess now. There are many techniques I could use to discover your true nature. Not all of them are painless."
Luz thought about lying some more, but she decided against it. Näkijä had figured it out fair and square. She was the most talented oracle witch in the Isles; the only reason why she hadn't been running the Oracle Coven was the fact that she had foreseen that the only true reward for being its leader was being sacrificed by Belos on the Day of Unity. It would be a waste of everyone's time to lie further. Frankly, it was more surprising that she didn't know everything than that she had figured out that Luz wasn't Other Luz. "Okay, I am Luz…from another dimension. And from the future."
Luz explained everything that had happened to her. She saw no reason why not. Now that the jig was up, she figured that Näkijä could be a valuable ally. Even if she had no interest in helping Amity, Luz's very existence was throwing off the timeline, so Näkijä would probably want to do everything she could to help get Luz back to her own dimension as soon as possible.
Näkijä listened to the whole story without interrupting once. Much to Luz's belief, she appeared to believe her entirely. "You must be feeling quite upset over this whole matter," Näkijä said, her voice much softer and gentler than Luz was used to hearing from her.
"It's hard," Luz admitted. "Everything is so different here. I'm trying to do the right thing, but I really have no clue what I'm doing."
"I am about to tell you a secret that very few people learn," Näkijä announced gravely. "None of us know what we are doing. And although I will deny it if asked, I do not exclude myself from that statement." Luz couldn't help but smile. "I will remain neutral in this matter for now, but if I believe you are causing the timeline to be disrupted in a substantially negative fashion, I will take appropriate steps." Luz gulped.
Näkijä looked contemplative for a few seconds, then she reached into her desk drawer and pulled out what looked like a yearbook. "I was wondering why my instincts told me to retrieve this from the school library. Now I know." She opened it up to the class photograph of Hexside students in Eda's year. She pointed at a sadly very familiar green-haired witch: Odalia Blight.
"While I will not help you in your quest to seduce Miss Serrano, I can shed some light on her origins. As you well know, her biological parents are Alador and Odalia Blight." Odalia was born with the last name Blight; she was a distant cousin of Alador. "Odalia was noted for her homophobia to an extent that it was frankly quite alarming even to other members of the upper class. When her elder twin children were born, she, like many parents of her social class, went to me to figure out what their future held."
Näkijä sighed. "It is a truth that not every oracle learns, but telling people the truth of the future can do more harm than a lie. I saw that Emira and Edric were homosexual, and that their destiny would lead them to find happy relationships with a woman and man respectively. I did not tell Odalia this. I lied to her and told her that they would marry into rich families and have heterosexual relationships."
She closed her eyes. Luz couldn't read human emotions at the best of times, much less whatever Näkijä was, but if she really had to guess, she would assume that Näkijä was feeling guilty. "Unfortunately, I was stricken with the common mold when Amity was born. I was bedridden and delirious and thus unable to advise my assistant that he was not to tell Odalia if Amity was not heterosexual."
"They freaked out, I'm guessing?" Luz said.
Näkijä nodded. "They asked my assistant to forecast Emira and Edric's futures, and they found out I was lying. They found a one-way portal to Earth and put their children through it. However, they were spotted doing so by Tasha Hart's butler. Hart reported them, seeking to engineer a scandal that would allow her to usurp control of Blight Industries. Belos, who had been thinking that the Blights were getting too uppity, seized on their crimes as an excuse to get rid of them and had them executed by petrification. He then gave Blight Industries to Hart." So that was why Boscha was in the abominations track, Luz realized.
It was amazing that such a small matter as Näkijä getting sick had altered the timeline so drastically. She probably hadn't gotten infected in Luz's timeline…but if she had, Luz realized, she would have grown up with Amity as her sister! Now that was a weird thought.
At least the Blights were dead. The last thing Luz wanted was to deal with them in this timeline. Not that she'd take any of their crap this time around. She'd fireball their faces off if she had to. But it was nice to know she didn't.
"I will continue to treat you, academically, as if you are this timeline's Luz Noceda," Näkijä announced. Of course she would. Luz hadn't been expecting any mercy from her, and it was therefore completely unsurprising to learn that there would be none. "However, should you wish tutoring, there are several individuals that I can recommend."
"Thank you, ma'am," Luz said humbly. She knew that Näkijä was taking a huge risk by letting Luz run around the timeline willy-nilly, potentially screwing things up for everyone by her very existence. She genuinely appreciated that she was willing to put trust in Luz. It implied that she was worthy of it. After giving Luz her list of tutors, Näkijä kicked Luz out of her office with her usual abrupt bluntness.
The rest of the school day turned out to be completely unmemorable, thank goodness, and when Luz returned to the Owl House, she found Amity on the living room couch, reading from Other Luz's Kindle. She looked despondent. "Hey, Amity! Guess who's got a brilliant plan to get you into Hexside?!"
Amity looked intrigued. "Really? You talked to the principal, got him to promise to not turn me in?"
Actually…now that Luz thought about it, that would probably work. Bump was irascible and ornery at the best of times, but he didn't have any problem with covertly defying the Emperor's Coven, as long as he could ensure that he didn't have to do it overtly. After all, she'd let Luz go to the school in her timeline, even though she was a human and Eda's apprentice. Amity was, biologically, a witch. It should have been even easier to get her in without problems.
And that, Luz decided, was the solution to the plan. If Bump was reasonable enough to put Willow in a different track even after she technically attacked him, surely he'd be willing to also enroll Amity after she got "caught."
"No, my plan is even better than that!" Luz assured her. She explained it to Amity, saying that she saw it work in a vision she had. Amity told her that she didn't think it would work, but she was willing to give it a shot anyway, because she trusted Luz. Luz simultaneously felt pride and shame at that. Why should Amity trust her when she was lying to her about everything?
"Oh, and I also found out who your parents are!" Luz added. She had nearly forgotten about that. She told Amity the story. Amity did not look surprised by any of it. "I guess it kind of sucks that your parents didn't want you."
"Those people weren't my parents," Amity asserted. "I've only had one parent in my entire lifetime, and that person is Camila Serrano. I'm glad that I didn't have to grow up in the care of those despicable people."
Luz was glad too. "Yeah…trust me, you would not have liked that." A silence carried in the room for a few moments. "So what're you reading?"
"Oh, well, I saw that you have the Animorphs books on here, so I'm rereading them. They're a hell of a lot darker than I remember."
Luz was absolutely delighted to hear that this Amity was an Animorphs fan. Luz had loved the series when she was a child (and had maybe spun a conspiracy theory or two about a particularly annoying teacher or bully being a Controller) and she'd been trying to get her Amity to read the series without success. The sheer size of the series – 54 books, and that was just the main ones, not including the auxiliary titles – was intimidating to her. And she'd never found another fan of the series, not even among her high school friends.
"Who's your favorite character?" Luz wondered. "I bet you're a Tobias fan, right?" Luz figured that this Amity would be able to relate very well to Tobias's feeling of not fitting in as a human or a hawk.
"Actually, my favorite character is Marco," Amity admitted. "I like the duality between his ruthless side and his jokester side. And he's really funny! Who's your favorite character?"
"Rachel all the way, baby!" Luz crowed.
Amity gave a soft giggle. "Somehow, I'm not surprised." She set the Kindle on the end table. "Any progress in repairing the portal?" Luz shrugged. She had no clue what was going on with the portal.
Luz took a deep breath. It was amazing how nervous she still was at dealing with the girl who, in another timeline, was her girlfriend. She'd have thought that she'd have stopped being so nervous, but nope. Amity, no matter how she'd been raised, still put her stomach in knots…and she wouldn't have it any other way. It was time to put her obviously unparalleled flirting skills to the test. "Are you a labyrinth? Because I'm lost in your eyes."
Amity blinked. "Was…that a pickup line?"
"Is it working?"
Amity sighed and sat up. "Luz, I'm very flattered." Oh, crap! Luz was about to be rejected! "But I'm not interested in being a rebound." Luz blinked. What? "I know you and Avery are going through a rough patch, and I don't want to be used to make them jealous."
"No!" Luz shouted. "It's not like that at all! Look, Amity, I like you a lot! Avery and I aren't a thing anymore, I promise. This has nothing to do with them."
"Maybe you're right," Amity conceded. "But still, Luz, I'm just not in a good headspace to start up a relationship right now. I just need some time."
Oh, well done, Luz, she thought bitterly. You just came across as a creepy stalker. Wonderful work. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"No, no, there's no need to be sorry," Amity assured her. "Maybe I was wrong to accuse you of having ulterior motives. Can't we just put all this aside and be friends?"
Friends would have to do for now, Luz supposed. "Okay," she said.
Amity trusted her instincts. Okay, fine, yes, those instincts hadn't exactly served her well when it came to dealing with Adegast. But she'd been blinded by self-delusion, by a determination to believe that her power existed for a reason. Usually, Amity's instincts served her well. Perhaps that was a vestige of the power passed down by her biological mother?
And her instincts were telling her that there was something wrong with Luz. She knew that it didn't make any sense from a logical standpoint. Luz had saved her life! She'd helped Amity through a revelation that could easily have broken her. She'd been nothing but kind and sweet since they'd met.
And yet…Amity still couldn't help but feel that Luz had ulterior motives in dealing with her. Every word that came out of her mouth appeared carefully calculated. It was, on the surface, she knew, a ludicrous idea. Luz was probably just being extra careful so she didn't humiliate herself in front of a girl she had a crush on. Still, Amity felt like she had made the right choice by turning down Luz for the moment.
Perhaps later, after she'd gotten used to her new surroundings, she'd change her mind. Amity could do far worse than dating Luz, and Willow was living proof of that. The idea of a secret relationship between a bully and one of her victims just made her uncomfortable to even think of. Certainly Amity could never envision herself acting in such a vicious manner as Boscha. But if it got her into the school, then she'd suck it up and work with Boscha.
Despite Luz's continuous exhortation of her amazing planning skills, Amity felt that her plan left much to be desired. There were gaping holes in it, in her opinion. But then again, Luz was an oracle student. She had foreknowledge of the future, and that was certainly more than Amity had.
"Friends and Boscha, thank you for coming!" Luz said enthusiastically, as they met in the woods near Hexside before school on the day of Willow's test. "I want you all to know that you are a fine bunch of people, and I salute you!"
Boscha rolled her eyes. "Can't we get to the point?"
Luz gave her a fearsome glare. "Look, Boscha, I'm still not used to the idea of trusting you, so how's about you don't get on my bad side?"
"The point would be nice to get to," Amity said. "I'm nervous enough as it is."
Luz impulsively gave her a hug. "It's going to be fine, cariño," she said, and then looked mortified for referring to Amity in such familiar terms. "Um, I mean, let's do this thing! Remember your lines, everyone!" Luz had texted everyone their script the previous night. She had brainstormed ways that she could be there to direct everyone in person, but she hadn't ended up coming up with a plan that worked.
Luz gave Willow a set of seeds that she'd acquired from a frankly utterly disgusting trash slug she'd found on a beach. Willow then proceeded to slather Amity with an ridiculously unpleasant substance all over and then Amity climbed into a massive pot. "Look, if this is too much for you," she whispered, clearly not wanting to be heard by Luz, "just say the word. Luz can get a little…carried away sometimes."
"If it gets me into that school, I'll do whatever I have to," Amity promised. It was true, too. Now that she knew that she was a native of the Boiling Isles, she wanted desperately to see how she could improve her magic using tactics from her birth land.
Willow's abomination test was in her first period. Amity listened with awe as the professor talked about ways to make one's abominations more solid and able to accomplish more functions. Jane had been a supremely able teacher, but she'd been completely improvising everything. These techniques being taught were refined through dozens of generations of witches. They blew Jane's lessons out of the water.
After yet another abomination disappointed the professor, he announced "The biggest abominations are all of you! If the next abomination is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for a month!"
Willow took a deep breath. "Sir, I'm confident that I've created an abomination that will impress you."
"Very well, Miss Park," the professor said, skepticism dripping heavily from his every word. "Proceed to impress me…if you can."
"Abomination, rise!" Willow commanded, and Amity dutifully emerged from the pot with a flourish. Everyone gasped, and looked very impressed. Could it be true? Would Luz's plan actually work?
"Abomination, bow," Willow commanded, and Amity obeyed.
The professor reluctantly looked impressed. "Very impressive. But does it speak?"
"I may be your abomination," Amity recited, cursing her unwillingness to confront Luz with the utterly cliched dialogue she'd insisted everyone use, "but you're my a-mom-ination!" Like, seriously, who came up with one liners like that? Yet the students and professor seemed to eat it up, so maybe it was Amity who was in the wrong here. After all, the Boiling Isles were a vastly different place to Earth. Maybe this was what sufficed for brilliant humor there.
"A-mom-ination!" the professor shouted. "Splendid wordplay! A+!" Willow let out a huge sigh of relief. Amity couldn't help but let out a slight smile herself. Some part of her did feel that it was wrong to help Willow cheat, but the knowledge that it was just supposed to be a stepping stone to get her into the field that she was truly good at helped ease Amity's conscience.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the bell screaming. That would take some getting used to. "Wonderful work today, Willow," the professor told her as she was leaving the room. "Looks like we have a new top student." He grabbed Boscha's top student badge and pinned it to Willow's chest. Willow gave a somewhat pained smile; she probably felt guilty about her girlfriend getting humiliated in front of the class, even if it was all part of the plan.
Boscha proceeded to get in Willow's face just before she could walk down the hallway. "Last time I saw you, your abomination was mush. What did you do?" Boscha demanded, using the lines that Luz had given her. Luz had instructed her to keep her voice a menacing whisper, but instead, Boscha shouted her lines, attracting a small crowd.
"I took your pep talk to heart, Boscha," Willow said assertively. She didn't look scared of Boscha at all. Well, of course not; they were girlfriends. But she wasn't pretending to be scared either.
"I bet you did," Boscha said sarcastically. Amity had to give her some credit; she managed to make the cliched dialogue work. Of course, she'd been method acting the role of bully for a while… "I've got my eyes on you, Pillow – er, Willow!" She briefly blushed scarlet, but thankfully no one noticed. "THAT BADGE IS MINE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and then ran off.
Amity had worried that one of Willow's other professors would look into her pot, notice that she wasn't an abomination and expose her, but they didn't appear to care what was in there at all. She learned a lot of useful tools about creating her own abominations. She'd already been relatively good at it; she could probably earn a B in Willow's classes just from the knowledge she possessed. But everything just clicked in the classes. Jane could have taught her for a dozen years, but she'd have never discovered these lessons on her own.
Apparently, her biological father had been an abominations prodigy. Amity wasn't sure what to feel about that, or what she should be feeling about her biological parents at all. It wasn't a huge surprise to know that her biological parents hadn't wanted her, but still, some part of her had wanted to believe that they had loved her, that she'd ended up on Earth by accident. But it was better to know than not know.
Lunchtime rolled around and it was time for part two of the plan. This one was more risky than the first part. Since Gus couldn't keep a secret to save his life, they couldn't tell him that Boscha was in on the plot without revealing Willow's relationship with her. Amity had tried to persuade her to tell Gus, but to no avail. Well, that was Willow's business. But it did mean that Gus could derail their careful script because of his response to Boscha's actions. Amity would just have to trust that Luz knew what she was doing. At least she could be present for this stage of the plan.
As Luz had foreseen, Gus offered her a PB&J sandwich, which honestly Amity hadn't even known she'd been missing as much as she had been until she saw it. The Boiling Isles cuisine was not for the faint of heart…or stomach. She'd been longing for normal food, and she took the opportunity to devour the sandwich wholeheartedly.
"I don't know, Gus," Willow said, delivering her line perfectly. "If Boscha saw that…"
And right on cue, Boscha jumped onto the table, instinctively making a triumphant pose as she did so. "I SAW THAT!" she screamed. Wow, she was a real ham, wasn't she? "Abominations don't eat! I know you're in here! You can't hide from me! What are you? WHO ARE YOU?! I want answers!" She started shaking Amity violently, and despite the fact that Amity knew that it was all staged, she couldn't help but be frightened.
"Boscha Hart," the abominations professor from first quarter suddenly said.
Boscha looked over at him, and her eyes widened. "Sir?"
"I suspected a twinge of jealousy, but this is just sad," the professor stated.
"But…no! Look at it! It's not an abomination! She's not an abomination!"
Amity tried her best to look as abominable and non-sentient as possible. It must have worked because the professor shook his head in dismay and said, "Report to Principal Bump's office."
"But…"
"Now!" the professor shouted, and Boscha dropped Amity, gave her a hand gesture that Amity didn't recognize but must have been quite vulgar given everyone's reactions, and stormed off.
The third part of the plan was the one that Amity was most nervous about. And with good reason, because apparently, it was supposed to involve her near dissection and Willow attacking the principal. But she did have to concede that the plan had been working flawlessly thus far. Luz had successfully foreseen the abominations professor seeing the argument occur and him giving the top student badge to Willow. So why wouldn't she be right about the rest?
As planned, in sixth period, Boscha arrived with Bump in tow. Amity pretended to be an inert abomination. She was getting better at acting, no doubt. Maybe she should have taken Clara's advice and auditioned to star alongside her in Romeo and Juliet.
"Abomination, rise!" Bump commanded, and Amity obeyed. She obeyed the other commands as well, even giving Luz's ridiculous lines about chemtrails and cats in the process. "So very lifelike," Bump said, as he examined Amity. "When Miss Hart told me about your abomination, I had to come by, see what she's made of."
"I have her list of ingredients right here," Willow offered.
Bump gave her an unsettling grin. "Oh, I think I have my answer already, Miss Park." Oh, crap! He was going off book! He was supposed to pull out a knife at this stage. Not that Amity was looking forward to that, but if this wasn't going the way it was prophesized to, then maybe she'd end up getting dissected after all! "Miss Park, Miss Hart, Miss Serrano, in my office now."
Amity's blood ran cold. Bump knew who she was! He could have already summoned the Emperor's Coven! She could be thrown in the Conformatorium or even executed by petrification, just like her biological parents before her! There was nothing that could be done, however. Still pretending to be an abomination, Amity got back in the pot and allowed herself to be wheeled into Bump's office.
Bump sat down behind his desk and let out a weary sigh. "Luz Noceda put you up to this, didn't she?"
"What?" Willow said. "No, of course not! We didn't do anything wrong, after all!"
Bump just rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's drop the pretense here and now, because this is going to get tedious." He pointed at Amity. "You are Amity Serrano, wanted criminal and human-raised witch." He pointed at Willow. "You cheated on an abomination test at Luz Noceda's behest." He pointed at Boscha. "And you are in a secret relationship with Miss Park. Am I correct?"
Boscha shook her head so frantically that Amity was worried it might fall out for a moment. "As if! I was blackmailed into helping these people! Like I'd ever lower myself to –"
Bump reached out and made a circle around Boscha's wrist. "I swear that nothing you tell me will reach the ears of your mother." He shook her hand and the spell was cast. "Are you in a secret relationship with Miss Park?"
Boscha nodded. "How did you know?"
Bump offered a slight smile. "As long as there are students, there will always be secret relationships. You were cleverer than most at hiding it, but I know every trick there is, and even a few no one else has figured out yet. Miss Park, am I correct about Luz's involvement in this matter?"
Willow looked like she was ready to lie for a few seconds, but she took a look at Bump's stern face and her resolve crumbled. "Yes. But I was the one who carried the plan into action. I should bear the brunt of the blame. How did you know Luz was involved?"
"Because only two people could have crafted such an elaborate prank: Lord Calamity…and her daughter." Now that was a cool nickname, Amity decided. She wished that she had a nickname as cool as that. "I presume that this was meant to provide an excuse to let Miss Serrano into the school?" Willow nodded.
"Now, to forestall your next question," Bump went on, "I knew that this was Miss Serrano, because I received a visit from your guardian, Eduardo Noceda, this morning. He's a bright, talented man for a human, and I really cannot understand why he decided to marry Eda of all people. Still, that is his concern. He advocated for your admittance into the school."
Amity was touched. If she had known that Eduardo was going to do that, she never would have agreed to Luz's scheme. "So can I?"
"I told him no," Bump said. "I personally wanted to admit you, but the fallout if the Emperor's Coven discovers that you are enrolled as a student here could be immense. You must understand that if I do not appease them from time to time, they will take a much more active role in managing things around here, and that would be deeply problematic for us all."
Amity was disappointed but not surprised. Bump seemed like a reasonable individual, and he had a whole school full of students to worry about. He couldn't jeopardize that for a random visitor from the human realm. "However," Bump went on, "I believe that this solution you have come up with is acceptable. You may audit Miss Park's classes, Miss Serrano, in your abomination disguise. However, if you are exposed by others, I will not come to your defense. Is that understood?"
Amity nodded eagerly. "Thank you, sir. I promise that you won't regret this."
"Do not make that promise, because I already do regret this," Bump warned her. "That is all. You are all dismissed."
Willow started to wheel Amity out of the room, but then she stopped when she realized that Boscha wasn't making a move to leave. "Do you need something, Miss Hart?" Bump asked her coldly.
"Yeah," Boscha said. "I need you to move my girlfriend to the plant track. She's got loads of talent there! I've seen her in action, and it's incredible! Willow could be the best plant witch there is someday – maybe even a coven leader! But only if you intervene now. Don't you want all your students to achieve their true potential?"
Willow let out a squeal of joy, and in that moment, Amity knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that their love was genuine. Boscha had risked getting into trouble for talking out of turn, just because she selflessly wanted to see her girlfriend succeed. It was so sweet!
"Well, if you are bad enough at abominations that you have to cheat your way through it, perhaps a different destiny awaits you," Bump conceded. "Can you provide a practical demonstration of your talents, Miss Park?"
Willow took out the seed that Luz had given her. "Yes, sir, I can. If you'd care to follow me into the hallways?" Willow wheeled Amity out of the room, followed by Bump. Boscha made herself scarce. It was sad, really, that they had to hide their love, Amity decided. They made such an adorable couple.
Willow placed the seed on the ground and cast a spell over it. It was still odd to see other people casually using magic. Amity had been so used to being the only one able to use her kind of magic that she knew of. If Emma and Edmond had magic, they had never told her about it. Now she was completely surrounded by magic wielders, and it was awesome.
Something else that was awesome? The fact that when Willow poured her magic into the plant, it worked. Boscha was right about her. She had loads of talent with plants. The seed burst into life, sending multiple large vines careening through the air and tearing through the walls of the building. Willow let out a nervous laugh, but Bump didn't look concerned. Instead, he looked quite impressed. "You start classes in the plant track tomorrow," Bump announced. "Good day to you both."
Willow let out a triumphant laugh. "I did it! Amity, we did it! Luz's plan worked!"
"I knew it would," Luz said, striding over to them with a confident expression on her face.
"Technically speaking," Amity pointed out, "it didn't. It only succeeded because Boscha stuck up for Willow and your dad advocated on my behalf."
Luz waved a hand airily. "Whatever! What great prophecy ever went the way people thought it would? The point is, everyone's happy now! Aren't you happy, Amity?"
"Yes, I am," Amity admitted. She grabbed Luz's hand, and even though her hand was covered in disgusting goop, Luz held it as if it was the most precious object in the universe, a tremendous smile on her face.