Hey there! So yeah, this a new Toh Au story. I've published this story once before, but I had to drop the whole writing thing for a moment. Why? For personal reasons. But I came back! With a new FanFiction account. And this new version of my story.
Feel free to comment on it, and let me know if you liked
Chapter 1: An (un)ordinary day
Luz Noceda idly tapped her fingers against the table; the noise helping to distract her in-between glances at the window and waiter who was making her second Pineapple-Mango Smoothie.
The sky was blue with some clouds dotting across it, an abstract image coming out of their formations.
Pulling her eyes away from the window, Luz looked around the shop, finding it just as empty as it had been for the last fifteen minutes. Wednesdays tended to be slow days at Arcadia Hill Cafe. Besides Luz, the only other customers were a pair of teenage boys playing with pokemon cards at one table and a woman who had been tapping on her phone ever since she'd walked in.
She enjoyed coming here when it was like this. This place was always warm, calm and had a comfortable atmosphere. The workers tolerated practically everything that customers did, so, Luz hadn't been banned after a couple of 'incidents' there.
The fact that they made great smoothies and muffins was a nice bonus. But today neither a smoothie nor a muffin could make her feel better. The young Latina glanced at the pamphlet that her mom had given her yesterday morning.
Reality Check Summer Camp. A place she was going to spend all summer. A place where the people there would attempt to squash the weirdness out of her.
Luz had always been a girl with a wild imagination and a love of fantasy novels, especially the tales of The Good Witch Azura. Unfortunately, her book report of said series got, well, a little out of hand. Her teacher and class did not react kindly to snakes, and neither did the snakes did to them. And after being lectured by the school principal, her mother decided that Luz had to spend the upcoming summer at the Reality Check reform camp.
The teen had absolutely no doubt that was going to be an awful summer. She couldn't believe that she was going to enjoy being put into boxes, even though the boy on the cover was smiling, the position he was in did not look comfortable at all. A wonderful metaphor for what this camp was going to do with her.
"Maybe it's a good thing that I didn't get to Act 3." Luz thought as she held a large firecracker with some smaller ones tied to it. "After that, I probably would be staring at a brochure for Military School now."
"Um, excuse me. We do not allow fireworks in here. I'm sorry." A young waiter with blue highlights and a British accent asked as he put Luz's smoothie on the table.
"Sorry, I was just leaving anyway," Luz replied as she returned the firecracker to her book bag, took the smoothie and then left, having already paid for her drink. The teen girl turned the corner, walking down a familiar path away from Arcadia Hill Cafe.
Today was her last day of freedom before she had to go to the camp. And if she had to spend the next few months listening about balancing chequebooks, she was going to spend this day in the Burrow.
The Burrow, a childhood nickname that was given to the unfinished mall on the outskirts of town by most of the people in the city. The construction was halted for unknown reasons, some said that this place is haunted and that weird things would happen at night. But nobody truly believed that.
A few years ago, the Burrow became a very popular place for graffiti artists. External and internal walls of the building were covered with countless graffiti, both tags and artworks alike. Luz was fond of visiting this place, it was kind of like her own little refuge away from the world. A place she could come to and be alone with her thoughts for a while, especially on bad days like today.
The graffiti arts were beautiful, and they always made her feel better. Her favourite one was painted by an artist named "Trickster". Nobody knew who is hiding behind this pseudonym, but then again, such artists didn't want to be known.
But everybody still loved Trickster's graffiti.
Luz felt a bit better when arrived at her destination, noticing a new graffiti with his distinctive flair.
Soon as she got close to the wall, a few of the sun's rays lit the one large wall outside. Beautiful, vibrant colours covered the once bland and boring grey concrete walls of the building, a treat for the eyes.
The graffiti depicted a padlock with various symbols, including two fleurs-de-lis, a crossed set of keys, a small lock, and the four alchemical symbols for Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. In the centre of the padlock was a keyhole in the shape of a white star.
To the left of the padlock sat a man wearing the blacksmith clothes, holding his hammer like Thor would in his right hand, and a large iron key in his left. Beside him displayed the shadows of frightening creatures being burned in flames.
And finally to the right of the padlock sat a woman with pointed ears, wearing a lightly armoured robe. In her left hand, she held a witch's staff with a snake carved of crystal curling around the top, and in her right was another key, just like the blacksmith's. The bow of the key showed an eye with a split pupil. Beside her showed a dragon holding an orb of light.
The top was a sun and moon, surrounded by clouds, at the bottom, the words 'OMNI CLAVSTRO CVIQVE EST CLAVIS'. And below that, a demonic skull with thirteen hollow eyes.
Luz pulled her phone out of her pocket to take a photo.
But instead of taking the picture, she was distracted by a loud crack. Luz glanced over her shoulder, then froze when she saw what was behind it.
If Luz had had to name it, she supposed it could have been called a dog. Although there was something oddly reptilian about it...
It was as big as large as a horse, had sharp purple eyes that glared down at wherever it looked, its fur was an onyx-black, and there were two grey bands on each of its back ankles, as well as a spike on the top of both of its shoulders. Its tail was long, scaley and split down the middle, triangular tips just like a demon's on the end of each of them. It scratched the ground with sixteen clawed toes.
It stood across the square menacingly, its black body so dark it practically sucked in the light from the space around its body. It didn't move or growl; it didn't even look like it was breathing. The aura it exuded was one that screamed 'exists to kill', but as it stood there, it just seemed so calm.
An abnormal chill ran through Luz's body, reaching right down into her bones.
Was it going to attack? Or was it just standing there? If so, why? Maybe... it didn't see her yet?
The reptile-hound was just far enough away so that Luz might have been able to get a head start.
Luz swallowed the lump in her throat and took a single step back.
Wrong choice.
Her foot hit an empty and discarded spray can as she backed up. It clattered to the ground with the distinct clacking of a metal can.
The sudden noise made large reptile-dog whip its head around and stare at Luz, a hungry look painted across its face.
The very next second, Luz spun and bolted in the opposite direction down an alley.
Luz hoped the monster dog thing would hesitate on it should chase her or not. The question was immediately answered as the sound of heard heavy footsteps sprinting after her echoed around the abandoned mall, drawing closer.
The chase was on, and Luz had no intention of becoming a chew toy. Her heart pounded heavily as she rounded the next corner onto the street at full speed, making a beeline for the for the park.
The weird canine lizard thing snarled after her, also running as fast as it could which, unfortunately for Luz, was considerably faster than her own pace.
A silent thank you was given to Luz's school gym teacher for making her participate in sports as she leapt onto the stone wall on the edge of the park, and dropped down onto the other side. She glanced both ways before deciding to dive into a nearby bush, just seconds before a loud thud suggested the monster dog had made it over the wall too.
Her white and purple hoodie didn't do much to help her blend into the green leaves, yet Luz still froze completely still as she listened for the large dog.
Only when Luz could faintly hear the hound's wet breathing did she allow herself to calm down, if only slightly. She had managed to shake it for the moment, but Luz couldn't stay in the bush forever, she'd have to find her way to the exit and loose the hound.
Parting the foliage to peek out from it, Luz saw the gate not to far from her bush's position. If she was fast enough, she'd be able to get there before the hound caught her, and she could even use the trees lining the wall for cover.
Deciding it was now or never, Luz sprang from the bush and began sprinting along the wall towards the park's gate. The hound noticed her immediately and gave chase, but Luz still had the head start.
Unfortunately for her, the creature was far swifter than her.
Luz only made it just past the few trees when the canine grabbed her hood in its mouth and slammed the rest of her onto the hard ground.
Luz gasped at the sudden impact, the breath knocked out of her, and the next thing she knew, she was being thrown into the tree a few yards away.
Whilst still recovering from the hit, Luz looked up to see that the monstrous dog was already staring at her.
Luz, like any sane person in her position, shrieked in horror.
The canine roared wildly, its muzzle splitting four ways instead of the normal two, as it began bolting towards Luz, ready to tear her body to pieces.
But, just before the monster-dog could finish Luz off, a powerful blast of a reddish-orange pounded into its face, blinding it. The hound yellped in pain as turned and ran through the park gates Luz had been heading for.
Luz turned to see a what she assumed was teen boy, maybe a year or two older than her, holding a staff in right hand and walking towards where she was. The staff itself was wooden with its head carved into the shape of a creature the mix between an owl, and a cat.
As he got closer, Luz was able to get a better look at him. He had slightly pale complexion, bright orange hair that curved upwards and his eyes where partially grey, partially yellow. But the most notable feature of the boy were a set of pointy ears, and a hexagonal ruby-like jewel that seemed to be embedded in his sternum.
He wore a black t-shirt with a grey collar underneath a red, orange and brown jacket with no sleeves, the collar of it popped up. His legwear were a set of tan jeans tightened by a brown belt, and his armwear was that of a single wristband on his left arm. On his feet were light grey sneakers with accents of red and black.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked, extending his hand to help Luz up.
"I'm fine. Still screaming inside but I'm alive." Luz replied as she took the offered hand and let the boy pull her up. "What was that?"
"I could tell you but you... but probably won't believe me." He hummed as he pressed his finger against his lips and studied her. "Let's just say that seeing that thing was a figment of your imagination, caused by heavy metals in your blood or whatever." He paused for a moment before adding, "Actually, I'm not here either."
"You're clearly here." Luz denied, gesturing to him.
"Are you sure?" He asked in weird voice, and he leaned in toward her. The teen boy grinned and Luz, who noticed the fangs and slightly edged teeth in his mouth. "Maybe you're talki- Ow!" He recoiled as Luz poked him in the eye.
"See, you are real. Otherwise that wouldn't've hurt."
"All right, point taken." The boy groaned
"So that means that monster dog was real too." Luz concluded, unsure on whether feel relieved or not.
"Uh, no it wasn't." The boy denied.
"Yes, it was."
"No it wasn't."
"Yes, It was."
"Wasn't."
"Was!" Luz stamped her foot.
"Look, we can't keep it up. I got hellish zombie-dog to catch." The boy sighed. "See ya never!"
"W-wait!" Luz tried to stop him.
"Sorry girl, this is party is invite-only!" He spun his staff and slammed the end on the ground, causing the earth began to quake and a giant wall of grow out of the ground, blocking her way.
"Okay, I will admit, did not expect that..." Luz commented in shock as she touched the wall with her finger, confirming it was actually real and not some sort of illusion.
Luz stared intensely at the nearly transparent wall, still being able to see the ginger boy on the other side run back towards the abandoned mall Luz had just fled from.
Luz's first thought was to call the police, or perhaps animal control service. But as she took out her phone and pulled up the keypad, her fingers froze just above the screen.
What was she going to say? Some kind of hellhound attacked me, and strange teen boy with a wooden staff that's shooting lasers is trying catch it?
Yeah, if she do that, her mom would send her to a lunatic asylum instead of summer camp.
A flash of light from a building's windows called for her attention, drawing it away from the phone in her hand.
Before the light faded out, Luz had made her decision, disappear behind the same wall she had just climbed over not five minutes ago. She quickly sprinted across the street and snuck into the building. Luz ran up on a unmoving escalator, where there appeared to be signs of a fighting on that floor.
Luz stopped her ascent when she heard the sound of growling.
Crouching down, she leaned out over the rail to see the monsterous canine and the mysterious teen on the ground floor.
The demon dog growled in anger as it charged right at the orange haired boy, who quickly dodged and moved to his left. He used his staff to fired another blast of eneargy at its head again, causing it to roar in anger. Turning to give chase after him, the boy smirked and quickly dashed away from wild canine. Looking to run straight into a wall, he surprised Luz when he began to sprint straight up it, allowing the monster to ram into the wall as he floated down and landed on its back.
"Yipee ki yay!" He called as the animal did its best to shake the boy from its back.
He held onto the canine, a smile on his lips and confidence flowing off him in waves. It was like this boy was born to do this, or at the very least, it wasn't his first rodeo.
"Look, ma, no hands!" The boy called again, taking his hands off of the hound and only holding on by his legs.
He came close to hanging on for about sixteen seconds before it had enough of his antics. Using its tail, the hound grabbed boy by the throat and threw him towards a decorative pillar.
He flipped around in the air, missing the pillar by a few feet before landing on his feet. The canine didn't waste any time, it reared up on its back legs before charging at the teen.
But the boy just smiled, taking something out of his pocket.
A metal disk with a glass-like center, and a rune etched into a gold seal on the side emerged. Small enough to fit right in his hand.
"Time to go back home doggie." He shouted as threw it under a monster dog, then twirled his staff around a bit planted the end to the floor.
*FWOOOOOOM*
The blinding flash of light filled the place, forcing Luz had shield her eyes. When the light had faded, she looked back to where monster dog had stood, only to find it gone and a shimmering vortex in its place.
The orange haired boy walked to it with a winning smile before he looked around. "It's a bit of a mess around here... Meh. If somone's going to clean this up, it's not going to be me."
He then dove headfirst into the vortex, which splashed about as if it were water. Silence then descended upon the mall. The monster and strange teen gone.
But the vortex was still there.
Now, an average person would have turned around and walked away. Luz, however, was not that kind of person. She emerged from her hiding spot and carefully edged her way closer to the edge of the portal, so she could get a look inside.
It was marvellous. The complication of coloured tints, a perfect kaleidoscope of colours you'd find in a rainbow. In a word? Beautiful.
Luz hadn't known what to expect when reaching to the glowing vortex. Maybe a visual link to Eldritch Abomination, or some psychedelic visuals, or some physical discomfort, or even appearance of some kind of mystical guard. But none of those things happened here.
When her hand touched the liquid colors, Luz twitched a bit. It was like touching the plasma ball. A little strange, but... not bad.
Then Luz noticed the wonderful vortex shrank with each passing moment, the glowing edges drawing closer and closer together. The next moment, although she was still excited and scared about recent events, she felt the need to find out what's on the other side of this colorful vortex. A small, very small, part of Luz thought she should just leave. But avoiding weird things wasn't really her style. In addition, there was this voice in her head. The not-so-little voice talking her into this crazy step.
So, without a moment to lose and heart beating fast, she took a step forward, dipping into the vortex.
Luz felt a chill... like cold water running up her spine...
She plummeted downwards through some sort of iridescent, swirling mass of energy. Faster, and faster, and faster, there didn't seem to be any limit to her speed. Her skin itched, and her vison seemed to stretch.
And the Luz's consciousness fled, as darkness took her.
Author's Notes:
So until next time, let me know your thoughts.
So I wanted to clarify some things:
1: Just to let everyone know, I have a job outside of writing so updates might not be as constant as some people, but I'll update when I can.
2: To anyone wondering, this story will take place in the Owl House Universe but contains elements of Tales of Arcadia and Gravity Falls.
3: I'm a multishipper, and I respect all kind of ships. In case you do not end up liking the ships in the future chapters of my story, don't hate my story. Don't Like Don't Read
