Finding Allies
Willow had a familiar feeling wash over her mid-conversation. For the past few minutes, she watched a green-haired, red-faced Amity rant about how stupid Luz was. She realized quickly that it was déjà vu. She was watching history repeating itself through the orb.
"It was extremely dangerous," Other Amity vented.
"She was able to free herself without any help," Willow reminded her.
"I hope she finds a safe place to vomit and pass out."
"Don't worry; she'll be okay but definitely hungover tomorrow."
"I'm not worried!" retorted Other Amity.
Her face shifted a lot as she was trying to process her emotions. She was emotionally drained. "I'm just reporting what happened," she said in a civil tone.
"Thank you for telling us and you should call it a night," responded Willow.
"Sure night," said an exhausted Amity.
As soon as the call was dropped, and the coast was clear. Willow began laughing. Amity, who was just out of frame, joined in on the laughter. However, Luz hung her head low from secondhand embarrassment. She'll realize soon that this is great and hilarious news. Their days of distress were over.
The room was finally quiet. Gus guessed that the two finally passed out. He sighed one last time as looked around the room to confirm that Luz and Willow had fallen asleep. Luz had buried her embarrassment under a mountain of blankets; one of her hands was sticking out of the pile. While Willow was sprawled out on the couch next to her.
In less than twenty-four hours, they got themselves into a huge mess. Apparently, they brought over a crystal ball that could communicate with a different alternative universe in a burlap sack. Hopefully, it hasn't cracked by now.
Gus went to the other room to test it. The crystal orb had a few saved contacts already and he selected Luz's name. It didn't dial. The call immediately showed another Luz quietly working at her desk. She's clearly not the Luz he knows. He never thought that he would see her in a buttoned-up blouse working silently at a desk job. Her face was stony and serious. He thought about ending the call and not interacting with her.
Other Luz glanced up and made eye contact. Gus flashed a fake smile and said, "Hi."
In response, she pouted at him, crossed her arms, and scolded him, "Hmph, I'm still mad at you."
It took all of Gus's acting skills to keep himself from laughing at her. Other Luz just flushed all of her professionalism in one brief action. Her angry voice sounded like Luz's neutral voice. "I'm sorry; I don't want you to be mad," he apologized on Other Gus's behalf.
Other Luz exhaled and replied, "I don't either, but you could have told me about it beforehand."
Gus had to figure out what she was mad about and quick. "Would that have made a difference?" he asked.
"Yeah, I could have helped, and it probably wouldn't have gotten that bad," she answered.
Got it! "But it was dangerous. Things could have gone a lot worse and you could have gotten hurt."
"Please, I could have taken her," Other Luz shot back.
"But Luz, there's more than one way you could have gotten hurt."
Other Luz paused for a second, uncrossed her arms, and said, "Okay, you got me there, but we could have handled better that."
"We'll know next time," replied Gus.
Other Luz sighed and said, "I doubt Other Amity would want to come back here after that."
A knock grabbed Other Luz's attention. She stared at the newcomer stunned as he began to speak, "Hi Luz."
"Hey!" Lus suddenly yelled. "You lied! You're Other Gus!"
The visitor sprinted behind Luz's desk to see the caller. Out of all of the people to wandered into her office, it was her Gus. The timing was so perfect, that he burst out laughing. Other Luz sounded mad this time. "Did you know what we were talking about?! Or what do you apologize for?!" she yelled.
"I figured it out," Gus admitted. "Your Gus did something dangerous without telling you and you're mad that you weren't there."
"That's the gist of it," Other Gus clarified.
"It wasn't not dangerous!"
"Remember what I just said? There's more than one way you can get hurt."
The statement didn't calm Luz this time. However, Other Gus looked impressed. "That's a great point," he said.
"Thanks, I had to use that line on my Luz," explained Gus.
The comment caught Other Luz's attention. "Have you heard from your Luz lately? I don't think she's okay," she said concerned.
"She's fine. She's passed out in the other room."
"Did anything weird happen to her?"
"Other than multi-universe stuff? Getting into a bar fight and arrested drunk is a normal night for Luz."
"That sounds awesome," retorted Other Gus.
"No, it doesn't," Luz countered.
"Although, flashing the Golden Wife is a new one."
"Hold on, she did what?" Other Gus replied.
"It's not what it sounds like. She had a bra on," Luz swiftly interjected.
"That's what she said. Willow didn't agree with her."
"I would like to talk to her soon," Other Luz showed her concern.
Gus shook his head. He wondered how to say this lightly. Gus softened and slowed down his voice to say, "No offense, but you creep her out."
Other Luz slumped over disappointed. There goes her last hope of identical twin shenanigans. Seeing her face made Gus retort, "But I wouldn't mind talking."
"Gee thanks," Other Luz said defeated.
"But right now, it's past midnight and I'm beat," Gus admitted.
"Night Other Gus."
"No, you're Other Gus."
Luz groaned and quickly ended the call. It surprised Gus how natural that felt. Not sure why the girls would be creeped out; this is awesome. Still, interacting with a duplicate of himself is nothing new for the illusionist. Then a thought popped into Gus's head. Luz and Willow are not interested, but he could think of a handful of witches who would be. Seeing both parties' reactions to each other would be fun to watch.
He whipped out his phone to text them right now. He realized that he almost sent it to the group chat. It's best if those two don't know about this for now. The text he sent stated: There's someone you would want to meet and you would never guess who.
Gus realized that the conversation could have woken the girls up and went to check on them. Stealthy, Gus left the room into the living room. The girls didn't move an inch since he left and that was enough proof for him. However, from that angle, he could not see Willow's eyes were open.
"You don't have to chaperone me," Amity said suddenly.
The Golden Couple were flying together in eerie silence to the secret rendezvous point. Amity's stomach was twisting in knots at the thought. This will be her first glance into the underground revolution. A month ago, she would have everyone arrested. Now, she is praying that they'll accept her into their ranks.
"I don't want you to go alone. This could be an ambush," Hunter explained.
He gave her another scenario to worry about. She started to appreciate their partnership. They felt like a married couple heading into the unknown together.
They started to see their destination on the edge of the forest. The trees cleared and showed a beach with a small cliff to avoid the boiling sea. However, there's a giant gaping hole ruining the pleasant scenery. This is the location of the missing Owl House.
Two cloaked people were waiting in front of the massive sinkhole. Their heads and identities were covered with a purple bat mask and a beige skull. Some weirdness was expected. Amity let out a low sigh when she realized Luz or Willow was not there.
The couple landed in front of them, starting with an awkward hello. The one with a bat mask replied, "Please excuse the discretion, we would like to conceal our identities for now."
"That's understandable to be suspicious of us. Our change of heart must come as a shock," said Hunter.
"Well, can you tell us why? We're very interested to know," asked the bat guy.
It's time to make a good first impression. Amity smiled politely and said, "We saw what the Boiling Isles could be like from under Belos and his coven sigils. He's been hindering us the entire time."
The second masked individual met Amity's gaze and chimed in, "Are you saying we would be better off without covens?"
They just realized that it was a woman under the skull mask. Their disguises are effective. Amity nodded and grabbed by instinct her once prized sigil. "The sigils limit our magic and power," she answered.
The skull lady turned to Hunter and asked, "And you agree with her?"
Hunter nodded as she responded, "Yes, Belos has been lying this entire time."
She had firsthand experience. The two felt the glares from under the masks die down. Her voice eased a little too. "Better late than never. Having you two on our side would help a lot," she said.
"Immensely!" the bat guy chimed in, "Together we're the Covens Against the Throne; AKA Cats. It would be great to have another married couple in the group."
The two flinched being called that. Hunter immediately explained why, "We're not actually married."
They didn't respond. They cocked their heads and moved their hands up in confusion. Their wedding was national news and broadcast across the Titan. The Golden Couple is known and feared in every household.
Hunter explained, "Belos never completed the paperwork. It was just another one of his lies and we just found out ourselves."
The two strangers stood in stunned silence, then exchanged a look. "I'm sorry, but you two are still a couple though without the formality," he responded.
The Golden Couple glanced at each other and gave a friendly smile. "We make a good team," Hunter cordially said.
That was not the correct response. There were a few seconds of awkward silence between the four. It was probably not the best time to ask this question, but Amity had to ask, "Did either of you know Eda, the Owl Lady?"
The two exchanged looks. The bat guy spoke up, "Yes, we did."
"I'm really sorrow for your loss," she sincerely said.
The skull lady darkly chuckled and she said, "You act like she's dead."
"Her and her entire house have been missing for years," Amity stated the obvious.
The unknown woman shook her head and responded, "That doesn't mean she's dead. I believe that she's still out there, somewhere. It's only final until the body is found."
Amity was startled by her crass comment. She vividly remembers how Other Luz burst into tears when she told her about Eda's whereabouts. Now, she's a little relieved that her Luz is not here.
"If that's true, I hope that her loved ones know that she's safe," she said softly.
The skull lady tensed up. She didn't have a response to that. Her accomplice spoke up for her, "Don't worry about that. But, we're getting off-topic, we need to talk about Belos."
A/N: Since ABC is completed, I can focus on this story. I do have a rough outline to complete this story now A. Leaf