"Bye, Luz" was already a hard thing to say every time she had to go to school. I knew she didn't like her human school, it's another thing she tried but failed to hide. But after the talk my girlfriend and I had a few days prior, it stung a whole lot more.
It baffled me really. Luz have problems with bullies? With how bravely she always faced Boscha at Hexide, I thought that was impossible, but these bullies were much worse than the triclops and her gang. Not only did the teachers and principal let them get away with murder, but they had been wholly convinced that Luz was the delinquent.
I tried to give Luz my best advice on how to deal with them, and I meant what I said. Yet I still worried. I couldn't help it.
"What's devouring you?" a younger witch asked from across the living room. I looked up from the floor.
"I don't think that's how the saying goes, Gus" Willow jumped in from her spot on the couch beside me.
"You know what I mean".
"It's just," I began hesitantly. I didn't want to give away too much of what Luz told me. That conversation was between us. But I wanted to say something. Luz needed all of our support. "Luz told me there's this girl at school who keeps bothering her and her teachers won't do anything about it".
"Bothering her?" Hunter prodded. The blonde sat down next to Willow, prompting the plant witch to steal a few bites from the snack bowl he was holding.
"She won't leave Luz alone. She just bugs her until she gets frustrated, then everyone laughs at her".
"And the teachers won't do anything?".
Both Willow and Gus couldn't look in my direction. They knew how that felt. Witches like Boscha…like me…the teachers loved us so much they didn't care about all the awful things that happened to Willow. They always looked the other way for their top student and grudgby captain's sake.
"I told her that she shouldn't care about what anyone there thinks but…".
"It's not that simple," Willow sighed.
"I just wish there was something we could do".
"Maybe there is," Gus jumped in.
"We can't just pretend to be humans and go to her school" Willow chided.
"No, but we can use our magic and sneak into her school".
"And what good would that do?".
"We could find the culprit," Hunter suggested. "Then give her a little reminder not to mess with Luz".
"Would this reminder be to beat the shit out of them?" I asked while deadpanning. His Golden Guard side was showing.
"Psh, no!" he spat after a second. "We should handle it like any normal student would".
"Amity. You used to be a bully" Gus mentioned. I winced, causing him to backtrack a little. "No offense".
"No, Gus". I tried to make my voice sound strong despite the pain in it. "You're right. As a Blight, no one knows intimidation like I do".
"I wouldn't say "no one" Hunter muttered under his breath.
"We need to let this person know Luz is off limits. That if you mess with her, you mess with us".
"How would you suggest doing that, aside from good old fashion violence that is". The younger illusionist sounded a little more timid than usual, still expecting me to lash out over his last comment.
I had to take a minute to think. If we were back at Hexide I would just use my prestigious last name to shut her up. But my name meant nothing here.
No. We would need to be a bit more creative.
"I have an idea".
…
With steps as quiet as a chimera's, the four of us crept from window to window. Once we had all found a bunch of the camouflage clothes Vee told us about, and found a way to Luz's school we decided to split up and find which classroom our friend was currently in. It didn't take long before Hunter whistled, a signal that he had found something.
We all gathered around the older teen and peered inside of the classroom. Sat at a desk near the middle, Luz looked drained of all energy. Her beautiful brown eyes were tiredly sunken, and her caramel color skin was a sickly hue. I didn't even think it was possible, but the human was even more miserable in school then she was at home slaving away to make a new portal.
And hovering in front of her like a hungry vulture, was this freckled obviously fake blonde. She said something to Luz that made her shrink in her seat a little. In response everyone around them began to laugh.
Her. It had to be her.
I silently flicked my ear and slunk down to where Luz couldn't spot us. Sticking to the brick wall, we all traversed the outside of the school until we found a set of back doors. As Gus shrouded us in an illusion, to hide from any security the school may have had, I drew a spell circle in the air. It made the dirt under the nearest patch of grass rise and melt into mud. I stuck a tiny bit of it into the lock in the door and manipulated it until I had formed a key. There was a small click, and the door opened without struggle.
We found the room Luz was in from the inside, then found the closest bathroom and killed the lights. Gus made a tiny illusion of himself to lead our target to us, who struggled getting out to the hallway in the dark. Then all we had to do was wait.
The bathroom door opened, and in came the blonde. When she spotted all of us, she tried to back away, but with a simple spell I pulled the door shut. Another spell, this time a fire spell, lit all of us up intimidatingly.
"We need to talk," I snarled.
"Who are you? And how are you doing that? And what was that little moving doll thing that stole my pen?". She didn't seem scared, more annoyed than anything. Just give her a few minutes.
"This is just a fraction of our true power". Willow's voice bounced off the bathroom walls making it sound like thunder. "A power you do not want to mess with".
"I don't know what the hell you geeks are talking about, but that pen is my dad's and–".
"Shut it!" I roared as the fire floating over my palm leapt forwards and began to circle her. The bully let out a yelp and hugged herself tightly. "We're here to give you, and any other kid who thinks it's funny to mess with our friend, a message".
"Who's your friend?".
I crept up to the blonde like a cat stalking its prey. My golden eyes shone in the light of the fire, piercing a hole into her soul. The fear stuck onto my foes face was so satisfying it brought a taunting smirk to my face.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!", someone cried while exploding into the bathroom. In jumped the human of the hour. "I'm so sorry about my friends, who don't go to this school by the way" .
"Don't apologize," Hunter spat. "She needs to be taught a lesson".
"Yeah" Gus joined in. "She's the one being a huge jerk here".
"What did I do?"
"You know what you did, you pathetic–".
"Hermosa!" Luz cried again. She put her hand on my shoulder and brushed it up to my cheek. "This isn't like you, at least not anymore".
That stung like a bee. I suppose my inner hellhound had come out a little bit. It always had whenever I tried to be daunting. But…
"This is different, Luz," I argued. "This is the only way to get her to leave you alone".
"She's not the girl from the other day, Amity".
"She…she's not?".
"What girl…Is she talking about what happened with you and Chelsea?" the blonde asked, making a growl rise in my throat. Before it could escape, Luz silenced it with a quick glance. "Is this about when you pushed her into the trash can?".
"Only because she wouldn't leave her alone!" I snapped back. "She's lucky it wasn't me. I would've–-".
"Mi amor, please calm down!". Luz stood between me and whoever the hell the stranger was, blocking my view of the bully. "It's like you said. There are always gonna be jerks like Chelsea out there, so I've gotta focus on the people who actually care. I have much bigger problems to worry about than my classmates laughing at me".
"You don't have to worry, Luz. One way or another we'll make it through this". Perhaps that's what this was all about. Sure, I was angry at Chelsea, but that wasn't the main thing making Luz miserable. That was Luz herself.
When Luz didn't say anything I went on. "I know you want to get back to the isles, we all do. We all want to help our families in any way we can. But all we can do is what we're able to. Don't fault yourself for how things are going. This isn't you doing anything wrong, this is fate at play".
"Do we have to do this now, Hermosa?".
"Yes, Luz. This can't wait any longer" I answered while putting both of my girlfriend's warm hands in mine. "Repeat after me. We can– no, we WILL fix this together".
"Amity…".
"Go on".
"We will fix this together" the human murmured.
"Louder" I roused.
"We will fix this together!" Luz shouted followed by the other witches in the room. Our chanting filled the bathroom like echoes in a cave. "Now go home you guys. No one's getting beaten up here today".
"One more thing, Luz?" I questioned. She went to answer but my lips hitting the side of her face made her grow speechless.
"Te quiero, batta" I whispered into her round ear.
"Uh huh" was all she could say back.
With a chuckle, I shoved my way past not Chelsea along with the rest of my friends. Each one of them made sure to give both a smile to Luz, and a glare to the blonde on their way out.
"Are you two a thing?" I heard the latter ask.
"You could say that" my girlfriend answered, completely smitten.