Open Mind
"That's it for today, Cats," Raine concluded the meeting.
The dismissal was followed by hissing from almost every club member. The only one who didn't hiss was the infamous Golden Wife, Amity Blight, who was extremely out of place. She wasn't wearing any masks and her white and gold uniform was the brightest thing in the dimly lit room. Still, she showed no sign of discomfort or distress. The officer was at ease in the room of criminals.
She rose to her feet, said a formal goodbye, and walked away from everyone. A few people replied to her, but most just watched her leave.
Luz was the only member dressed casually for the meeting, a burgundy, V-neck sweater and black jeans. There's no need for her to hide identity. Since the room was eerily quiet right now, Luz thought it was a good time to talk to Amity. She got up and caught to her in the hallway, "Amity?" she called to her.
A short gasp came from the quiet room, then followed by a coughing fit. Luz looked back, but she had to ignore her intuition. "Yes?" Amity answered back.
Luz marched to her side and gestured her out. Amity matched her speed as they walked out together. Luz had to control her volume, so everyone wouldn't hear her. "They're acting weird, but everyone is excited that you're here," whispered Luz.
Amity double blinked. "Really? Everyone?" she sheepishly said.
Luz nodded. "You've been a big help," answered Luz.
'That's good to hear," replied Amity.
Now, they're outside being bathed in pale moonlight. The full moon was poking through the tall trees. "Aren't you worried?" Luz suddenly asked.
"About?" she asked back.
"About getting caught, hated, and throwing your career away? You're risking a lot," Luz explained.
Amity tightened the grip on her staff to control her emotions. She was worried for her. Maybe her kindness didn't erode. "No, I'm not. Thank you for your concern," answered Amity.
The response caught Luz off guard. She muttered back, "You're welcome. It's just I don't want you to get your hopes up."
"For what?" retorted Amity.
"Forget it," Luz dropped the topic.
Amity expanded her staff to hop on it. But, before she left, she had one thing to say. "It would help a lot if you stay out of trouble," she proposed.
Luz smirked at her and replied, "That's great because I never get in trouble."
Amity lost her composure. "That's a terrible lie."
"Why would I lie?"
"I don't know, why are you?"
"I can get out anything thrown my way."
Amity scoffed. There's no point in arguing about this. "Whatever you say, Luz. Have a good night."
Luz watched Amity fly into the night sky. It's still hard to believe that she knows her and her husband on a first-name basis. They used to be untouchable, prestigious authority figures that everyone feared to cross. Now, she can picture them smiling and laughing among side friends of hers. A lot can change in a few weeks.
"Luz?" a maternal voice called her.
Luz turned around to smirk at the eavesdropper. "Skull Lady," she said mockingly.
Eda swiftly removed her mask to smile warmly at her. In return, Lus softened hers. Eda beckoned in Amity's direction and said," We're lucky to have them on our side, huh?"
"Yeah, luck," Luz held her tongue.
Eda took a few steps closer while keeping an eye on her. Luz had no idea what's up with her lately. She's been acting strange too along with everyone else. "She likes you," Eda said in a soft tone.
Luz froze as everything dawned on her. Amity hasn't been that subtle. She sighed and stated, "I guess it's that obvious. Don't worry there's nothing between us."
Eda looked disappointed. "Maybe hear her out," Eda suggested.
"Are you saying that I should become a golden mistress?" mocked Luz.
"Their marriage was arranged and faked."
"The Boiling Isles doesn't know that. Besides what happened to 'I should be more careful, watch out for red flags, and don't jump into something quick'?" Luz quoted Eda's past advice.
"I can't ignore hard proof that you two would work."
Luz's mouth dropped. The only "proof" of that can come from one source. "Hold on, you met Other Luz? When? How?" stammered Luz.
She hit her forehead when she figured it out. "Dammit Gus," she murmured to herself.
"Well, you have the full picture now, Amity wants happy, bubbly Luz," explained Luz.
And you're not? Eda thought to herself. She almost brought up an unrelated, but touchy subject. It would have overshadowed the entire conversation and she needed to stay focused for now. "I don't think so. I just want you to keep an open mind," suggested Eda.
"Uh…" Luz was speechless.
Her face was locked up from the hypocrisy and frustration. She spat back, "Why weren't you this open-minded with Valencia?"
"I was right about her, wasn't I?" retorted Eda.
A disembodied chuckle grabbed their attention. It came from the camouflaged entrance of the hideout. Luz didn't hesitate to rush over and found almost every member of the group bundled by the door. "Were you spying on Eda and me?" she demanded an answer.
Raine piped up, "Technically, yes and no."
"Huh?" she responded.
But it only took her a few seconds to figure out what they meant. She shook her head and shouted, "You're a bunch of hypocrites!"
She summoned her palisman and swiftly flew away. The attempts to call her back were pointless. A couple of people volunteered to go after her while Eda didn't have time to process what happened. She scrunched up her face, frustrated that all of her preparation and effort was ruined in seconds. And she nearly stuck the landing, too.
"What was that?" a voice called out to her.
A witch in a green cloak emerged from the hallway. She had her bee palisman in hand ready to leave like everyone else, but she decided to address what she just witnessed instead. "I can't believe that you just gave her your blessing. When did you change your mind?" asked Willow.
"A little after Purple Amity shot me down," answered Eda.
Really? After Willow had to sit through her hour-long rant about how unreasonable Purple Amity was for not allowing Purple Luz to visit them. "Seriously? That's what did it? Wasn't she just being overprotective?" she asked.
"Yeah, exactly. All of her feistiness went into keeping Luz safe and happy and not taking shit from anybody for over a decade," explained Eda.
She let out a sigh and continued, "I should have just sent her to that damn school."
"No," interjected Willow. "We have no idea what would happen. We don't know if them getting together now would her as happy as Other Luz."
"I'll settle for half. Besides, Golden Boy and her, have been cooperative. We have Belos's schedule down to the second."
Willow couldn't argue with that. Thanks to the Golden Couple, they have more eyes on Belos and they could attack him at any time. They started handing out fake sigils and releasing wild witches from confinement. The hardest part of the revolt is making the populace see that their better off without him.
However, Willow needs to remind Eda of their actual intentions. "We didn't help change their minds; other us did. Remember, that they want more than taking down Belos."
"Yeah, a happy life," Eda scoffed.
"Easy for you to say. You don't have to be offered up as a sacrifice," Willow concluded.
The officer sighed in relief as she dried off her dinner plate. With the dishes done, her long day is officially over and she can start relaxing now. She's already in her pajamas, white tank top, and green shorts. A glass of red wine was waiting for her just out of range. She reached for it when another voice broke her concentration.
"Amity, are you sure you don't want to talk to them?" Hunter's voice came out of nowhere.
She glanced over her shoulder at him surprised. She thought that this conversation was already done. "Yes, have fun. I need to lay down right now," she answered back.
With her glass of wine in hand, she turned away from him to her bedroom door. Her blissfulness is being tarnished by thinking of the other timeline. "They keep asking about you," said Hunter.
I don't care, she almost thought out loud. They can't summon her. There's no need to keep contact now. It's just for fun, friendship, and curiosity. "Doesn't everyone? I'm your wife; they're going to ask how I'm doing?" Amity persuaded.
Hunter's face shifted as he remembered multiple random civilians doing that. He used to answer, fine, and the topic would end after that. It was easy to shrug it off before, but the others wanted more details that he didn't know.
"Try switching the conversation," Amity suggested. "You could bring up CATS or finding more rebels or what you did at work today."
"No one would be interested in that," Hunter countered.
"Just try, I'm going to bed," she said.
Amity rushed across the apartment and closed the bedroom door. She's not tired; that's what the wine was for. She sat down at her desk and took a sip. Hunter was right for once. They wanted to know about her little crush on Luz. Their curiosity skyrocketed after her rant about Luz's drunken bender and she regretted telling them ever since. They can't go into one conversation without asking about her and Luz. They're the ones getting their hopes up, not her.
The velvet red wine was the same color as Luz's provocative sweater she wore. The full-face blush she's been repressing took over. Amity held her head up and groaned. Feeling like this was embarrassing for her. It's difficult to stay collected. She wondered if mindlessly watching a show would keep her from seeing red.
Just when the show started, she heard people outside of her bedroom. It could have a few witches passing by, but it lingered for a second too long. The officer became alarmed when slid open. She had a circle prepared for the intruder. A figure darted from the open window and landed on her bed. Amity's offense thawed because she instantly recognized who it was. "Luz?!" she yelled.
Luz snapped her head up, flinging her hair from her face. With wide eyes, they stared at each other, sharing the shock and confusion. Then Luz's face dropped and she let out a frustrated grunt. She lifted her boots and twisted to the side of the bed to rise to her feet. "Really sorry about this," she said hesitantly.
She swiveled to fix the bed and swiped the sheets and pillows with her hand. She faced Amity again and said, "Good as new."
Amity's mind was taking too long to react. First, she had to convince herself that this was real and she was not dreaming. Second, she had an overwhelming urge to cover up, but her wardrobe, including her uniform and cloak, was on the other side of the room.
But more importantly, the officer needs to make sure that Luz is not in immediate danger right now. That realization made her straighten up and turn to glare at the window for any perpetrators. "Hey! No need to get up! Everything is fine!" explained Luz.
"Then, why were you…" Amity trailed off. "Are you in danger?"
'No," purred Luz.
Why did she say it like that? Amity thought to herself. Luz was editing in her head what to say next. "I was having a friendly debate with a couple of friends and CAT members," said Luz.
"But, why did they throw you in here?" asked Amity.
"I dared them."
"Why?"
"I didn't think that they would do it. Proved me wrong."
The conversation didn't clarify anything. Luz is not going to give her all the details, but she doesn't appear to be in distress. Suddenly, Luz clapped and smiled as she said, "Sorry again for interrupting your wine and cartoons."
She took large steps towards the opened window. "I love that show, too," she commented before leaving.
Amity still staring in disbelief. She had a lot of unanswered questions and had to accept that. She can add this event to the rapidly growing archive of Luz acting weird. Giggling to herself, Amity faced the crystal ball again to see the cartoon Luz endorsed. She's curious, why not?
Before she could start the show, a loud thud from the living room made her jump. Hopefully, it was intruders this time and not Luz again. But, her voice filled the quiet apartment, "For fuck sake! What do you think is going to happen?!"
She should have known that this isn't over. The officer got up to investigate the scene. She found Luz arguing with a pair of hooded and masked witches from the balcony. It's a good guess what's going on. "Hey!" shouted Amity.
Her voice quieted the noise. With folded arms and trying not to laugh, Amity asked Luz, "I've never seen that show and was about to start it, would you like to watch it with me?"
"Yes, she would," one of the hooded witches answered for her.
She shot them an angry look and growled a little. "I'll give you the rest of the wine," offered Amity.
"Fine," Luz begrudgingly agreed.
"Have fun, Luz!" the witches yelled.
Luz jolted around to yell a few more words at the fleeing witches. Amity used the time of her venting to grab the rest of the wine and a glass for her. "I don't need the glass," Luz said suddenly.
Amity was a little impressed that she was paying attention to her. She checked to see the bottle was more than half full. "Will you be okay to fly after drinking all of this?" she asked.
"It's just wine," Luz whined.
When they made the exchange, Luz hesitated with the bottle in her hand. "On second thought, you should have a little more," she offered.
"I'll grab my glass and orb. Make yourself comfortable."
Luz forced a smile and awkwardly stood in the middle of the room. As she waited on Amity, she swirled the wine in the bottle, watching the ripples it made. Amity had to call her name to break her daydreaming. "Right, here you go," she breathed.
She poured a generous amount into Amity's cup. Then she sat down on the floor in front of the couch instead of being next to her. Amity decided not to nitpick this situation. She has a little alone time with her crush and she might need the extra wine. "Ready to start?" she asked her.
"Uh-huh; also, it's kind of a weird show," cautioned Luz.
Amity picked up her liquid courage to take a sip. "I'll take your word for it," Amity smiled at her.
In response, Luz took her first gulp from the battle and started the show. Then, her eyes darted over to the side and widened. "How long were you there?" she asked surprised.
Amity looked over to see Hunter standing in the second bedroom's doorway. He seemed to be amused by the situation. "Guess you heard everything?" Amity asked sarcastically.
"I didn't wake you, did I?" asked Luz.
"No, and don't worry about me. Enjoy," said Hunter.
Hunter left the two girls to their cartoon and returned to the conversation he was having before the ruckus. When he sat down in front of his orb, he realized that the two callers were visibly shell-shocked. They didn't notice that he returned to the screen. "Are you alright? Everything okay out there?" he explained.
"That's good. I guess…" Purple Amity trailed off.
"Never thought she could sound like that," Long-haired Willow explained.
O, that? Hunter thought to himself. Are they shaken up by Luz? But, she didn't sound intimidating at all. It was more like a small animal yelping. Oh well, it's a perfect time to put his new social skills to use.
X~x~X~x~X~x~X
Long after Luz left, Amity stared up at the ceiling from her bed. The cartoon Luz recommended wasn't what she expected. The themes were a lot darker and had complicated topics. It's kind of like her.
A/N: These chapters are getting longer, but I didn't want to break up the scenes. A. Leaf
