Isabela, unlike her sister, had always done exceptionally well at school. Not that Isabela was any smarter than Luz, Luz was plenty smart. But Luz struggled to fit into the cookie-cuter mold that school sometime required. She'd have the odd teacher here or there that would see her potential and build off of it, but for the most part, Luz did not really have that many school officials in her corner.

Isabela, however, was one of the school's golden children, at least according to the principal. Her grades were always impeccable, she fostered good relationships with her teachers ("Hermana, you're a teacher's pet." "Shut up."), and she was always above reproach when it came to behavior. She was on the scholastic decathlon team and was seemingly next in line to be captain when the current one graduated at the end of this school year. To put it simply, she was every bit the top student that Amity Blight used to be back at Hexside.

But when the school year rolled around after a month of being in the human realm, Isabela was not excited. She had far too much to worry about to be bothered with solving equations and figuring out the theme of a text. There was the whole building a portal back to the Demon Realm, making sure her witch friends did not get found out, worrying about the friends she had made that were now privy to the Collector's whims, all while trying her hardest to not let Luz spiral any farther than she already had.

Isabela and Luz had put froth the idea that they should be homeschooled during the duration of trying to create the portal, but Camila had shut it down immediately. Camila was too busy with the vet clinic and taking care of all of them to properly homeschool them, and them not continuing school was completely off the table.

So, the first week of school passed, and then another, and then another. Isabela and Luz were both just sort of floating through the halls, minds far and away. Isabela did a slightly better job of attempting to keep herself mentally within the walls of the school, but Luz was not even attempting on some days. Something that worried Isabela to no end, as Luz had always at least been interested in school, even if the school did not hold equal enthusiasm for her.

Everything kind of hitting a breaking point on the fourth Wednesday of school, when Isabela and Luz sat at the kitchen table doing their homework. Isabela was watching Luz out of the corner of her eye, Algernon napping on top of Isabela's shut history textbook. The others were still at the shack, having retreated their to continue fixing up the place. They had all decided if they were going to spend so much time there, they should really polish it up a bit to keep from getting splinters by just looking at the place.

Isabela had thought she was doing it covertly, looking between her math worksheet and Luz's form, but about thirty minutes into homework, Luz gave a beleaguered sigh and looked at Isabela tiredly.

"If you have something to say to me, you can just say it," Luz blurted out. Isabela blinked.

"What?"

Luz rolled her eyes.

"You've been looking at me every thirty seconds for the past half hour," Luz said. "Isa, you're many things, but subtle is not one of them."

Isabela blushed, embarrassed, and then shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Luz, I'm worried about you," Isabela admitted, figuring now was as good a time as any to have this conversation. "You haven't been acting yourself lately."

"Acting myself?" Luz asked slowly, raising an eyebrow. Isabela bit her lip, stomach flipping nervously, telling by Luz's tone she was getting close to a minefield.

"It's just… Luz, normally you're so full of life and excited about everything, but the past few weeks you've been…dour and upset. I'm just worried is all," Isabela said. "I've never seen you act like this."

"Yeah, well, can you blame me?" Luz shot back. She clenched her hands into fists on the table. "Eda and King are in trouble, we have no way to get back to them, and all our friends are stuck in a foreign world. Not a lot to get excited about." The bite in Luz's tone was enough to make Isabela lean back, thinking over her next words.

"I'm not saying you need to be excited," Isabela countered. "Not at all. But you've retreated in and you're blaming yourself for everything. For every failed attempt we have, for every mistake, for the Day of Unity, everything. And it's not your fault. You must know that."

Luz was quiet for a long moment, thin, clear tears pooling in the corner of her dark brown eyes.

"Isa, I have to tell you something, and you have to promise not to tell anyone," Luz whispered. Isabela put a hand on her sister's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze for assurance.

"Luz, you can tell me anything," Isabela insisted.

"I need you to say it. I need you to promise me, right now, that you won't tell anyone."

Isabela hesitated. Whatever it was that Luz was about to tell her could not be could, with how upset Luz was, but she also did not want to break Luz's trust. Even if she only told Isabela, that meant at least she could help her sister, right?

"I promise."

"Okay," Luz said, giving a sigh of relief. And then it all came pouring out of Luz. How when Luz went into the time pool with Lilith, they had found Philip, and how he had used them as bait to get something. Then how when Luz and Hunter went into the Emperor's mind, Luz had discovered that Philip was Belos and how she had helped Belos meet the Collector through her actions. And the whole time, Luz kept emphasizing that it was her fault, that she should have known better.

"Whoa." That was all Isabela could say at first. Luz had helped Belos meet the Collector? Belos had really been Philip this whole time?

"I know," Luz said. "You probably hate me now –"

"Hate you?" Isabela asked, cutting her off. "Is that why you haven't told me? First of all, Luz, you know me better than that, there is nothing you could do that would make me hate you. Second, you need to get over it."

Luz apparently was not expecting that, as she blinked wildly and then looked up at Isabela with a dumbfounded expression.

"Luz, do you not remember I almost went with you and Lilith to find the time pools?" Isabela said. "It could have just have easily been me instead. And if it wasn't you he tricked to do it, you know Belos. He got an entire coven to do his dirty work for decades, do you not think he would have found someone else to help him meet the Collector? Not to mention, you had no clue who Philip really was at that point, right?"

Luz nodded.

"Exactly. How were you supposed to know he was meeting the Collector? Belos is a manipulator, Luz. You didn't have all the information, and you did what you thought was the right thing at the time. And that's what is important. Even if he manipulated you, you did what you thought was right."

Luz was quiet for a long moment, and then she started crying. Not small tears, but actual bawling. Isabela moved her chair closer to Luz and pulled her sister into a hug, letting her cry into her shoulder for a long while.

"I just don't want them to hate me," Luz whispered. Isabela softly patted her sister's hair and shook her head.

"Luz, our friends adore you," Isabela said. "They could never hate you for something so out of your control."

Luz continued to cry for a moment longer, then she wiped her eyes and looked up Isabela, looking like the scared and confused fourteen-year-old she was.

"Luz, if I can give you some advice?" Isabela continued. "I think you should tell them before they find out themselves. Because one way or another, they will find out. Then they really will be mad at you, for keeping it from them."

Luz contemplated this for a long while, and then she shook her head, unsure.

"I'll think about it," Luz whispered, not sounding too sure. Isabela supposed that was the best she could hope for, as Isabela knew this was not her secret to share. But hopefully it was enough to tell Isabela that it would bring some life back into Luz. Put fire back in her eyes.

Isabela loved her sister, and the last thing she wanted was for this to eat her alive.

Hunter could tell something was up with the Noceda sisters. All throughout dinner, they kept giving each other strange and unusual glances, as if having their own private conversation with just their eyes. Then after they had finished cleaning up from dinner, Luz had retreated to her room, alone.

Amity and Willow had tried to follow after her, planning some kind of activity to pass the night, but Isabela had put a stop to them, telling them that Luz needed some alone time. The duo had then clamored to know why, but Isabela had simply said it was a secret between her and Luz, a Sister Thing.

A Sister Thing was something not to be trifled with, not when it came to the Nocedas. They were tighter than a knot and stuck together like glue. If it was a Sister Thing, it meant they would receive not other answer to what was bothering Luz.

Isabela was not normally a social butterfly, being the quieter of the two sisters, but in an attempt to distract them from Luz, Isabela had led them all in a group game of something called Monopoly, which ended an hour later with Gus nearly flipped the board out of frustration.

Gus had retreated down into the basement to cool off, Willow following after him with a roll of her eyes and a good-natured laugh. That left Amity and Hunter to help Isabela clean up the game, something that passed quietly until Amity finally spoke up, looking at Isabela in concern.

"If something was wrong with Luz, you'd tell me, right?" Amity asked. Isabela blinked in surprise and then smiled at her sister's girlfriend.

"Amity, if something was really wrong, I would tell you," Isabela assured. "But I think this is something best heard from Luz, when she's ready. She just needs a little time to herself."

That set off alarm bells in Hunter's head. Has Luz told Isabela about the Collector and Belos? How much has she told her? Had she revealed everything she saw in the emperor's head, including about him being a grimwalker?

Amity bit her lip, testing this answer in her head, before she sighed.

"I just want her to trust me," Amity admitted. Isabela stopped putting away the playing cards and looked at Amity in confusion.

"Why would you think she doesn't trust you?" Isabela asked. Amity shrugged.

"It always feels like she's hiding something from me," Amity answered. "And I don't want her to feel like she has to hide things, especially from me."

Isabela thinned her lips into a tight line, and Hunter could see that Isabela was thinking deeply about something.

"Luz has a nasty habit of thinking everything is her fault, and as such, she needs to bear it alone," Isabela finally said. "It's not that she's hiding, she thinks she's protecting us by keeping things in."

Amity played with her fingers nervously and then shook her head.

"I think….I think I need to talk to Luz," Amity decided on. Isabela nodded.

"You can see if she's up for talking," Isabela warned, "but I would not get my hopes up."

Amity nodded and trotted off to the stairs, disappearing up them one step at a time. Isabela returned to counting the cards to make sure they had all of them, and she did not even bother to look up at him when she started speaking again.

"So…when were you going to tell me Philip Wittebane was actually Emperor Belos?" Isabel said. Hunter's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, the game pieces falling back onto the game board.

"What do – they're not -," he started, but kept himself off with a sigh. "Luz told you?"

"Luz told me she found out that nugget of information while in his head, and you were in his head at the same time, making me thing you also knew," Isabel continued, still not looking up at him. "Which means you also knew that Luz helped him meet the Collector."

"Did she say anything else?" Hunter asked, sweat beading his brow. Had Luz also revealed that Hunter was a grimwalker?

Isabel finally looked up, raising a brow.

"Should she have?" she wondered. Hunter quickly shook his head.

"No," Hunter choked out. Isabela hummed in disbelief, but did not push the issue further, seemingly alert that Hunter really did not want to share what it was that he was hiding. Hunter coughed and quickly tried to bring the conversation back to the adjacent subject.

"So…how mad are you that I hid this from you?" Hunter asked, preparing himself for the wrath of a Noceda. Instead of said wrath, all he got was a laugh.

"Mad?" Isabela giggled. "Hunter, I'm not mad. I know that finding out all this information must have been hard on you, I know telling me that your uncle was really a fanatical witch hunter from four hundred years ago was most likely not the first things on your mind."

"Then…. why did you tell me you know? If you're not mad?" Hunter asked. Isabela smiled.

"To make sure we're on the same page," Isabela said. "I figured it was only right you knew that I knew."

Hunter considered this for a moment. He came from a world of secrets; it was all he knew growing up. Keep his uncle's curse hidden. Don't let anyone know what Belos did with the palisman. Do not tell anyone you have a palisman. Do not let anyone outside the castle see your face. Secrets upon secrets upon secrets. He was sure there were far more Belos had been hiding before he died, and Hunter often flittered between wanting to know them all and remaining blissfully ignorant of all that Belos knew.

Hunter nodded gratefully. "Thank you, then, I guess."

Isabela smiled a full toothy smile, and she opened her mouth to say something, when she shut it, her eyes clouding solemnly. Hunter followed her line of sight, seeing Luz at the bottom of the stairs, Amity clutching her hand as she stared out with a blank expression.

"Can-can you get Willow, Gus, and Mama?" Luz asked. "I have something I need to tell them."


Notes:

*rolls up late with starbucks* s'up?

life has been nuts. first, huge job load, right? second, internet went out for an extended period. but here we are, almost five months later, and i finally have a new chapter.

now accepting prayer requests.

comments, questions, or concerns? let me know! have a blessed day!
-PrincessChess