What makes someone a hero? Is it crazy superpowers? Is it where they are born? No, what makes a true hero, is the ability to inspire hope in all those around them, to bring back those who have given into despair, to become hope itself. This is the tale of a girl who went to another world, a girl who was different from those around her, but found a place of acceptance, and magic. But now, this girl will have to obtain a new magic, a new power, if she wants to keep those she cares about most from falling into despair, and keep this magical world from sinking into complete and utter darkness…
Now…
…It's…
SHOWTIME.
~KAMEN RIDER WITCH~
The day started like any other, it was a Friday, the sun was up, the waves were crashing on the shores of the Boiling Isles, and a little demon bird got snatched out of the air by a large spider, followed by said spider then getting eaten by a plant monster. Yep, just another day on the Boiling Isles, a realm of magic, demonic creatures, and of course, witches.
One such witch-in-training, was Luz Noceda, also known as "the human" or "Eda's pet" in some condescending circles. Currently the young Latina was getting ready for school, dressed in her uniform with the arms and legs showing off the different colors of the different tracks she was studying at Hexside. Some crazy things happened recently, what with Grom Night and then there was the Grudgby Match with Boscha and her crew. Luz felt bad when she remembered that particular event, she got Willow into a situation that she never wanted to put her in, and it ended up with Amity hurting her leg in the process. That weighed heavy on Luz's conscious, it was one thing if she got hurt, but Amity wouldn't have gotten hurt if she hadn't challenged Boscha in the first place.
But I'm going to make it up to her! Luz thought. I'm going to help her out as much as I can, and – the Titan willing – during the weekend!…It's the least I can do.
Once she had all her things in her backpack, Luz headed downstairs where she found the house's littlest (and cutest) demon, King, wrestling with yet another sock that had gotten around his snout. Luz couldn't help but gush at the scene and pulled out her cellphone to take video of the epic struggle.
"UGH! Accursed, woolen foot concealer! You will rue the day you tried to eat me!" King declared as he rolled around on the floor, trying to claw at the sock with his claws. After ten tries, King finally got his claws to rip into the sock, and with a shrill battle cry, tore the offending garment off his snout and laughed maniacally in victory. "Hahahahahahaha! Take that you cloth snake! I, the King of Demons, have bested you yet again!"
"So cute!" Luz commented before ending the recording. "Morning, King!"
King ended his laughter and looked towards the stairs. "Oh, hey Luz, 'nother day at school, huh?"
"Yep! Another day of learning magic!" Luz walked over to King, petted him on the head, and continued towards the kitchen to make herself a little breakfast before leaving for school. Inside the kitchen, Eda Clawthorne, her mentor and guardian while on the Boiling Isles, was busy concocting something in a cauldron on the center island counter. "Morning, Eda! What 'cha doin'?"
"Oh, monrin', kid. Eh, just making another batch of potions to sell to some suckers on the westside of the island," Eda explained.
"Ah, always the savvy entrepreneur!"
"You know it, kid!" Eda replied before tossing in – what looked like – eyeball into the boiling cauldron. Which caused it to erupt with a plume of green fire for about ten seconds before stopping. "Oooh, this is gonna be a good batch!"
Luz chuckled and opened the fridge door, gathering some of the foodstuffs and making herself a sandwich. "Hey, Eda, how can I get one of those scroll thingies that Willow, Gus, and Amity have?"
"Huh? Oh, those things. You can buy one at the market, the only real money gouger is the carrier plans." Eda created a magic circle, enchanting the ladle to stir the cauldron while she talked. "Some are just a few snails, but they're cheap, and kinda sucky when it comes to service around the Isles. And then there are others which make you sign contracts in blood and others cost you an arm and a leg, if you want a really good one."
"Essh, expensive then?" Luz asked.
"No, kid, I mean it literally. You sign in blood, and if ya don't pay up they come and siphon your blood for payment. Same for the arm and a leg, they actually make you write down which arm and leg you're willing to let them take if you're late with payments too many times."
Luz's left eye twitched for a second. "And on that note, I will never bring that up again! Nom!" The last part was said as she bit into her sandwich. "Shhho, areg youh whorred aboutch Lllth?"
Eda, despite Luz talking with her mouthful, understood what she meant. A long sigh escaped her lips as she absentmindedly looked out the window, as if expecting to see her sister and the Emperor's Coven waiting for her. "Not really, they keep coming for me, and I keep beatin' 'em. That's how it has been, and how it always will be. Someday Lilith will figure that out, and for whatever reason, so will the Emperor."
Luz swallowed her sandwich and asked, "You sure you'll be alright?"
Eda scoffed as she walked over to Luz and mussed up her hair. "Luz, did you forget who the most powerful witch on the Isles is?"
The young Latina chuckled and replied, "Nope, just checking anyway. I better get going, don't want to keep Willow and Gus waiting!"
As Luz was about to head towards the door, Eda called out, "Hang on, Luz!" The human girl stopped and turned towards Eda. "I'm not one to issue rules or limitations, but I'm gonna ask you not to stay out too late after school. There've been a lot of disappearances lately and I don't want you being one of them. You may not be magical, but you're a human, and that makes you a rarity, and the last thing I want is to have you whisked away to the Titan knows where."
Luz remembered seeing something in the papers, as well as hearing it from word of mouth around school and the town. At least thirty people had been abducted at random, no one knows where they went or why they were taken. The Emperor's Coven was called in to investigate, but so far, they could find no correlation between the abductees. They didn't have any affiliation with each other, neither through jobs, clubs, or anything. Age varied as well, anywhere between thirteen on up, which made it even harder for the citizens to figure out who to watch closely. They haven't even found a trace of evidence on how the kidnappers were taking the people they kidnapped, and no idea if they're witches or demons, or both working together.
"Yeah, Principal Bump has been telling the students to basically go straight home after school and not to linger around town if we can help it," said Luz.
"For once, I agree with him. I know you like to hang out with your friends and all, but try to be home soon, okay?" Eda asked.
Luz smiled and rushed over to give Eda a hug, feeling a warmth inside at seeing how much Eda cared about her. ¡No se preocupe! I'll be alright, and I'll come back, I promise."
Eda was still a little uncomfortable with the whole hugging thing, but she decided to push that aside for the moment. "Ugh, never thought I'd be feeling parental, at all…Okay, okay, that's enough, get a move on!" Eda urged.
Luz released Eda and headed towards the door, once she did, the Owl House's, well, house demon, Hootie, stretched out from the door and said, "Hi there, Luz! Have another great day full of learning, and wonder, and–!"
"Thanks see ya Hootie!" Luz said quickly as she rushed out the doorway and towards the path through the woods.
Eda walked outside and stood just a foot from the door and crossed her arms. She watched the woods, looking for any signs of movement, either from the Emperor's Coven, or from these mysterious kidnappers. Despite the way she acted around Luz, Eda was growing to genuinely care about the young human, which also brought about the worrying and bad thoughts that she presumed her own mother had whenever her and her sister got hurt.
"Hootie, keep an eye out, let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary," said Eda.
"Oh, like the time when I saw a Fire Bat trying to drink from a puddle, but kept putting out his fire? Or like when I saw the Whomping Willow whomp that Snaggle Back across the field? Or–?"
"Just anything that looks like people who shouldn't be here! That's it!" The Owl Lady marched back inside and slammed the door behind her.
"Jeez, Louise, just trying to narrow down the possibilities! Hoot!"
Amity Blight, one of the many students at Hexside, her popularity and standing in the school had been…questionable in recent times. While she is the top student in the school as far as her grades are concerned, and due to her nobility status, it did garner her some popular authority within some circles, but with her recent falling out with Boscha and her crew, and her willingness to be associated with Luz the human, it was kind of hard to pin down where she stood in the social hierarchy of high school.
However, while something like that would've bothered her in the past, it didn't anymore. She was still the top student, an ace in magic, and still a rich noble, but now, all she really cared about was having actual friends that weren't complete jerks, and not tolerating being around said jerks because her parents wanted her social status to grow. And this all stemmed from one person in particular, Luz. The human girl from another world, at first, Amity didn't know what to think of this girl, especially since her first meeting with the human wasn't exactly…a good one, to put lightly.
At first, she thought the human was just out to humiliate her, back when she pretended to be an Abomination for Willow, believing that they teamed up to do just that. However, after some thought, and Principal Bump's switching Willow from the Abomination Track to the Plant Track, it seemed that it wasn't all that bad. In her own rude, sometimes callous way, Amity was trying to look out for Willow. But thanks to Luz, she managed to do something for her that she couldn't, help Willow find her true calling. And she must say, she had never seen Willow so happy before, and her plant magic mastery was simply astounding.
Then there was the Witches Duel at the Covention. Amity wasn't going to lie, she was still pretty peeved about the Abomination incident at Hexside, so her comments to Luz were how she was feeling at the time. Then, after the battle, when she found out that Lilith had juiced her with a power glyph, it was yet another humiliating that involved Luz. However, when Luz told her about her dream, and when she made that light glyph, something clicked in her. Here was this human girl who was trying her hardest to do something that was near impossible, that everyone around her – including Amity herself – believed was impossible for a human, and yet, in Luz's hands, she held a glimmering orb of light. There was something beautiful in seeing that orb of light, something that she couldn't quite pin down, at least not at the time.
Then came the night of the comet, things had been percolating in her mind since that encounter, she found herself looking at Luz more, finding their small encounters in the town a little less annoying, but she still couldn't pin down how this human girl made her feel, or what her angle was. It certainly didn't help when Luz saw her reading to the kids, and it was made even worse when her brother and sister, Edric and Emira, went and wrangled her into their shenanigans. But at the end of the night, she came away learning more about her.
Steadily, her fascination with this human was growing, and it wasn't until the training at the Knee did she finally understand what it was she was feeling. It was attraction, a crush. Amity Blight had a crush on a human, a human girl for that matter! It wasn't like same sex relationships were banned on the Boiling Isles, Willow's two fathers, along with some others, were around. Hell, even Amity's own mother had floated the idea of her and Boscha getting together, or at the very least hinted to Amity that she should at least test the waters to see if anything came of it.
For years she let her parents dictate her life, but for once, she wanted to choose something for herself. She wanted to pursue these feelings for Luz, and they came to a fever pitch when she danced with her at Grom Night. Having Luz in her arms, and vice versa, was a moment that she wouldn't trade for anything in the world. But alas, Amity, despite her confidence in her abilities, was still lacking the confidence needed to speak her feelings to Luz, of course it didn't help that the cute, dorky human was utterly oblivious to her little panicked moments. But that was for the best, she supposed.
Currently, Amity was being carried, princess style, by her Abomination. Edric and Emira were flanking on either side of her, both being annoyingly concerned about their little sister.
"You sure you want to come today, Mittens?" Emira asked.
"There's nothing wrong with staying home and healing up, we'll bring back all your assignments," said Edric.
Amity rolled her eyes at them. "I'm not some invalid, I have my Abomination to carry me around, plus it'll be a good work out to see how long I can sustain an Abomination. Also, it'll be better than having Mother hovering over me…"
"But what if the Abomination falls apart?!" Emira asked.
"I won't be using it all the time, I have my crutches, and I'll dismiss it when I'm in class," she assured.
The twins sighed, they knew their little sister was stubborn, so they relented to her decision.
"Alright, alright, but we'll be checking in on you from time to time," said Edric.
"But I think we'd both feel better knowing that Luz was keeping an eye on you. Right Ed?" Emira asked with a smirk.
"Oh, I agree, Em, it certainly would make me feel a lot better if she was close to you," Edric replied, matching his twin sister's smirk.
Amity's face began to tint red upon mention of the human girl, her siblings could be frustratingly perceptive when they wanted to be, and annoyingly oblivious when it suited them. They might've picked up that she does have a crush on Luz, but probably think it's just out of fascination for her, rather than actual romantic feeling. And for Amity, it was better that way.
"Please, Luz has better things to do than take care me the whole time I'm at school. She wants to become a witch, so she needs to dedicate all she can to that pursuit since she's a human," Amity stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
"HEY, AMITY!"
All three of the Blights stopped in their tracks as they watched Luz and Co. come walking towards them, well, Willow and Gus were walking, Luz was practically sprinting.
Oh, crap, why is Luz coming towards me?! And why is she waiting for me at the front of the school?! Amity thought.
Luz stopped before the Blight siblings and said happily, "Morning, Emira, Edric, Amity!"
"Morning, Luz," the twins greeted happily.
"G-Good morning, Luz," said Amity with some nervousness. "Why are you here? I mean, I know why you're here – you're here to go to school, but why are you here, at the entrance?"
Luz rubbed her right arm as her gaze drifted downwards for a moment. "It's my fault that you got hurt in the Grudgby match…"
"Luz, it wasn't you fault. Injuries happen, it's part of sports, believe me this isn't the first time I've gotten injured in Grudgby."
Edric crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. "That's true, Mittens has broken a born or two in the past, but they were rare."
"Still, if I hadn't called out Boscha and wrangled you all into it, Amity wouldn't have had to step in. That's why, I'll help take care of you while your leg is healing!" Luz declared.
"W-W-WHAT?!" Amity balked.
A sly smile appeared on Emira's face as she narrowed her gaze and stood closer to her little sister. "Well, that's just perfect! Ed and I were just thinking about asking you to look after Mittens for us!"
"You know, since we're in different classes, it'd really put us at ease knowing you were keeping an eye on her," Edric added.
Luz stood tall and saluted the two older siblings. "I, Luz Noceda, will humbly take on this mission!"
Amity pulled her hood over her head, trying to hide just how embarrassed she was feeling in this mood. This was happening, her crush was going to attend to her for the entire day, for as long as her leg continued to heal from its injury…Part of Amity's mind briefly considered removing the healing glyph tags to slow the process down just a bit.
"Well, Mittens, you're in good hands now so–"
"–We'll be leaving you in those good hands–"
"See ya later!" Edric and Emira finished together as they used their magic to disappear in a puff of smoke.
"Wha – wait – don't you – UGH!"
"Alright, now let's get you to your class!" Luz announced as she scooped Amity out of the Abomination's arms and into her own. "Yoink!"
Okay, this is the second time! Since when could she pick me up so easily?!
"Thank you, Abomination, but I can take it from here," said Luz happily.
"Uuuuuhhhhh," the Abomination moaned as it gave her a thumbs up before turning into a puddle of sludge, the sludge then evaporating into nothing.
Amity scowled at her creation. Traitor! "L-Luz, you really don't have to do this! I'll be fine!"
"Nope, I've made up my mind! Now, onward to learning!"
"Right behind ya, Luz!" Gus stated as he followed after her.
Willow giggled at this whole display, finding it heartwarming. Luz may be oblivious, so was Gus, but Willow could tell. She could see how flustered Amity was, they were friends once upon a time, but there were some things that, even now, she could pick up about her one-time friend. Willow was willing to call Amity a friend again, but she was keeping a closer eye on her. She forgave Amity, to a degree, about breaking their friendship, under such a threat from Amity's own parents, what choice did she have? However, things were different now, she could clearly see how much Amity liked Luz, and Willow didn't want her to tell her anything just to be forced to take it back.
On their way into the school, the group were met with some stares, whispers, and giggles. Amity felt her face burning from the attention, her feelings were in conflict, on the one hand, she loved the fact that her crush was carrying her like this, and on the other, she was completely embarrassed that her crush was carrying her through the halls of the school like this.
This can't possibly get more mortifying, Amity thought, until she looked forward and deadpanned. I stand corrected, the Titan, apparently, has it out for me.
The popular girls of the school, a group that Amity was once affiliated with, was walking towards them, the students parting for them like the Red Sea. At the head of the group was the leader, the triclops, Boscha. The current captain of the school Banshees Grudgby team, Boscha had been stepping up her harassment of Luz's group, mostly due to Willow's growing popularity – through no fault of her own, I might add. But Boscha didn't see it that way, she saw the social hierarchy as straight and narrow, nerds at the bottom and popular people at the top, and Willow, Luz, and even Gus, were upsetting that natural order. So much so that even Amity Blight had somehow switched sides.
"Aww, isn't that cute, carrying you across the threshold. Seriously, Blight, how far can you fall," said Boscha.
Luz's brow furrowed. "She's hurt, and I'm helping her. It's what friends do, Boscha."
"Well, she wouldn't have gotten hurt if you had just minded your own business."
Luz opened her mouth to reply but closed it just as quickly.
Amity furrowed her brow and shot a glare at Boscha. "Wow, really? You're that mad that we beat you that you're trying to tear us down? Gotta say, Boscha, for someone with three eyes, that's incredibly narrow sighted of you."
Boscha's face tinted red as she replied, "What are you talking about?! You didn't beat us! We caught the Rusty Smidge, we won!"
"Yeah, but an argument could be made that, if it wasn't for the Smidge, you wouldn't have been able to win. Plus, Luz and Willow are complete amateurs, and yet they managed to make you break a sweat. I guess the standards for making captain have really fallen since I was the Banshees captain."
The crowd around them went "Oooooooo" at the accusation, the crowd turning on Boscha. The triclops' friends, Cat, Amelia, and Skara had waned in their willingness to go along with Boscha's bullying, and tried to keep her from doing worse, considering Willow's popularity and Boscha's, it would just make her seem petty if she continued to carry on like this.
"Boscha, maybe we should head to class, you know, before it gets too late?" Skara suggested.
"Yeah, Ms. Lomise is, like, super harsh on late comers," Cat added.
Boscha continued to stare down Luz and Co., her ire primarily focused on Amity and Luz. "Tch, fine, but we're not done with this conversation."
"Maybe you aren't, but I am. Luz…!"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go, I don't want to be late for class."
"Yes ma'am."
Luz, Willow, Gus, and Amity walked around Boscha's group and headed down the hallway, with Boscha glaring daggers into their backs as they walked away.
Gus shivered, and once they were further away, the young man said, "Jeez, she's starting to get more hostile, think we need to start watching our backs more."
"Don't worry, from what I saw, Boscha's losing her nerve a little. Before she wouldn't have hesitated to do something after I called her out, but now it looks like she's lost some of her edge since the Grudgby match. I think it finally sunk in that she's not as all that she thinks she is," Amity explained.
"That was a bit harsh, but not untrue, though," Willow commented.
Luz was still quiet, prompting Willow to ask, "Are you okay, Luz?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm great!"
Amity briefly glanced across to Willow, and Willow nodded having understood Amity's silent plea.
"Hey, Gus, why don't we head over to our classes. See ya in the Plant Track classes, Luz! We're supposed to be learning how to summon maneaters today!"
"Sweet," said Luz.
"And we'll be learning more about duplication illusion magic, I'll give ya some pointers," Gus added.
"Can't wait."
Willow and Gus diverged and headed to their individual classes, leaving Amity and Luz alone. As they walked, Amity pushed aside her embarrassment and focused on how Luz was feeling, she could tell that Boscha's words were weighing on Luz's mind.
"You know she's wrong, it's not your fault," said Amity.
"I still feel bad about it…"
"Don't be, it's a sports injury, these things happen, I already told you."
Luz sighed as her shoulders drooped a little. "I know…but you still wouldn't have gotten hurt if I hadn't shot my mouth off and gotten Willow involved in that…but it was the only thing I could think of when you told me how Boscha thinks. And in the end, it didn't change much of anything."
Amity shook her head. "She's not messing with you guys as much, right?"
"Well…yeah…"
"Then it worked, if nothing else, you showed her that you're not afraid, that you're willing to stand up to her, and so is Willow. She may not like you but you can make her respect you."
Luz smiled and said, "I don't think I've made her respect me that much."
"Give it time. But…thanks…for doing this for me."
Luz's smile broadened. "We're friends, Amity, and we're Azura fangirls, too!"
"Yeah…" Just friends…
P.E. class was uneventful, even though her leg was still healing, she was still required to at least attend the class. The young witchling was sitting on the bench, watching the rest of her classmates run laps around the field, it was quite boring to just watch. But she had to admit, it did have its perks. For instance, she got to watch the girl she crushed on run around a field and get sweaty, despite the exhausted look on Luz's face, she was still cute. She gulped audibly, feeling a little hot under the collar, trying to keep her mind from straying too far into the gutter, not like last time. Titan have mercy on her, she almost blew it right then and there, seriously, what was she thinking?
"Me? On a team with you? Running around in cute uniforms…Sweating?!" Titan take me…
"Hey, Amity."
"WAH!" Amity exclaimed, she calmed down a moment later when she noticed it was Willow who had surprised her. "Oh…Willow, sorry you caught me by surprise."
"Sorry, I thought you saw me coming, but I guess you were too deep in thought, huh?" Willow asked as she sat down on the bench beside Amity.
"…Something like that," she admitted.
Both girls turned their gazes forward, watching their classmates continue to run their laps in silence. There was still some awkward tension between them ever since Amity and Willow saw each other's memories. Willow no longer blamed Amity for breaking their friendship, but the pain still lingered a bit, however, both girls believed this would fade with more time.
"Amity, can I ask you something, and don't lie to me, okay?" Willow asked.
Amity raised an eyebrow at the out of the blue question but nodded her agreement.
"Do you like Luz?"
"Well…yeah, I like her, she's my friend," said Amity.
Willow sighed. "No, Amity, you know what I mean. I could tell the moment you came to ask us to help Luz when Boscha was tormenting her. You were getting all flustered and you weren't exactly subtle with your compliments about Luz."
Amity's face, for the umpteenth time today, became red. She had been found out, and by her former best friend of all people. "…Does, uh, Augustus, know?"
Willow giggled. "Gus? Oh no, he's just as oblivious as Luz is. Which brings me to my next question…How serious are you about liking Luz?"
"Why are you asking me this, Willow?"
The turquoise haired girl looked back out towards the field, her gaze falling on Luz in particular. "Out of all the people I've met on the Boiling Isles, aside from Gus, Luz is the nicest person I think I'll ever meet. She's brave, weird in a good way, and not afraid to chase her dreams. She is who she is, and she doesn't let anyone tell her different. I can see why you have a crush on her."
Amity wanted to tell Willow she was grasping at straws, but at this point, why bother lying. Besides, she owed her old friend that much.
"You're right…I do have a crush on her, for all the reasons you stated and more…I admire that she seeks out what she wants, without anyone telling her differently, she's everything I want to be but can't…I might be studying to be the best witch on the Isles, but Luz…I feel like she'll soar a lot higher than you or I will ever reach, no offense," said Amity.
Willow shrugged. "None taken, I feel the same way. But that's also why I want to make sure that this is what you want." Willow turned her gaze back on Amity. "I know now why you ended our friendship; you were trying to protect me. I can't really forgive your parents for what they said they'd do, and I can't hold that against you. But I don't want you doing that to Luz."
"Willow–!"
"I'm serious, Amity." Willow's brow furrowed. "Luz is a really nice person, and she cares about us, her friends. I know it would hurt her if you suddenly said you no longer want to be friends. But how much pain do you think you'll both be in if you tell Luz you like her, and she ends up liking you back? Just to then be told that you can't be together because your parents disapprove or threaten her!"
Amity was about to refute that, her heart told her to, but her mind told her different. Willow was right, her parents made her end her friendship with Willow because Willow wasn't a strong enough witch and didn't have any real noble connections, unlike Boscha and Skara. There was no telling what they would do to Luz if they found out that she had feelings for the human girl, or if they found out that the two of them were seeing each other, when and if that happened. It tore Amity up inside when she had to do that to protect Willow, she couldn't imagine the pain it would cause them both if Amity had to break up with Luz. She might even make her go back home to the human world, never to be seen again.
Willow reached out with her right hand wrapped it around Amity's left. "I'm not saying this to be mean, okay? You're my friend, Amity, and so is Luz. I want you both to be happy, as friends, or…ahem…as girlfriends."
Amity blushed harder.
"So that's why I want you to be sure that being with Luz is something you're willing to go all in for, despite what your parents might say or do. Although, you might be safe, considering Luz is studying and staying with the 'Most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles'. Just think about it alright?" Willow asked.
Amity smiled at Willow and squeezed her hand. "Thank you, Willow, for being my friend again. A-And I promise, when I make up my mind, I won't back down."
"I know you won't. Oh, and one more question if you don't mind?"
"Anything."
"When we were little, did you…did you like me like you do Luz?" Willow asked curiously.
The blushing intensified. "I…well…I-If the circumstances that happened didn't…I'd have to say…I might've developed them…but…I think I kinda did but didn't realize it until after we stopped speaking to each other."
"Oh…well then, is there any chance that you might reconsider?"
Willow moved closer to Amity, making the green haired witch back up just a bit.
"W-Willow, what are you doing?!"
Willow moved closer and closer, making Amity's heart thump harder and faster against her chest. Just as she got within a few inches, Willow brought her other hand up and flicked Amity's forehead, making the rich witch let out a small "Ow!" in response as she rubbed the spot Willow hit.
"Just teasing, I wouldn't do that to Luz."
"Jeez, Willow, you never acted like this before," Amity commented.
"Yeah, I guess being around Luz has made me change, come out of my shell more," said Willow in reflection.
"She does have a way of doing that," Amity stated wistfully.
"Well, I better go and keep Luz company, she looks like she's about to collapse out there."
"Too late."
Willow turned back towards the track and saw Luz on the ground, reaching out for anyone while saying, "I can't…go on…just leave me here…to die…!"
"Oh boy," Willow sighed as she rushed towards Luz.
As Amity watched Willow run to help Luz, she couldn't help but continue to contemplate her friend's words. Willow was right, if Amity wasn't serious about being in a relationship with Luz, she might end up hurting her and herself, unless she was willing to fight for it, she wouldn't even have the chance to be more than friends.
School let out and all the students were told to hurry home, the mysterious disappearances had the town on edge, there were even sentries of the Emperor's Coven standing guard at different points around the town to ensure no more of these abductions would take place, but it did very little to put the people at ease, considering that this unknown kidnapper was spirting away residents right under their noses, in darkness, and in broad daylight.
Nevertheless, it was better to have them there than not. Amity, once again, was being carried out of school, princess style, by Luz. Edric and Emira had conveniently managed to slip away and head back home ahead of Amity.
"Well, so much for looking after me while we headed back home together. Thanks for everything, Luz, but I'll just have my Abomination take it from here," said Amity.
"Oh no, I said I'd help you out for as long as your leg was healing, and that's what I'm going to do, even if it means carrying you all the way to your house…which way is that exactly?" Luz asked.
Amity sighed heavily, she knew this is what her siblings were after, their true agenda was getting Luz and Amity to be alone together. Gus and Willow had already headed back to their homes, which meant the walk to Amity's home would be only herself and Luz.
With no other choice, Amity raised her arm and pointed in the direction of her home. "Take that pathway through the woods, I'll tell you where to turn from there."
"Off we go then!"
Despite her earlier collapse on the track, Luz wasn't out of breath or anything after carrying her a good distance from the school. "Since when were you this strong?"
Luz chuckled. "Guess when you're busy running around and trying not to get eaten by crazed demons, or doing chores at the Owl House, it can secretly make you stronger. Like some Mister Miyagi, karate teaching!"
"Who's Mister Miyagi? He a teacher back in your world?" Amity asked.
"Eh, he plays one…hmm…you guys don't have movies…he's an actor, he plays a martial arts instructor," Luz explained.
"Oh, so you saw him in a play?"
"Something like that, yeah."
The two teens were now on the pathway towards Amity's home, the leaves rustled as the various creatures that lived in them moved about. There was a time Luz would've been flinching at the new sounds, but they were as normal to her as a bird chirping or a squirrel, or something squirrel-like, skittering across the forest floor, or in this case, a screeching demon or stomping beast.
The words that Willow spoke to Amity still rang in her head, she did like Luz, and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her. But Willow was right, if her parents made her break off her friendship with Willow just because she wasn't "a strong witchling". Bet if they saw Willow now, they'd change their tune…However, that didn't hold true for Luz. She couldn't conjure magic like a normal witch, she had to use glyph markings, while unique and fascinating, it wasn't the traditional way to use magic, and the fact that she had to draw a glyph – in her parents' minds – automatically made her weak in comparison to Willow when she was younger. Add to the fact that she was a human, all signs showed that any possible romantic relationship was doomed to fail.
Plus, there was the biggest question of all. Does…Does she even like girls? Forget her parents not approving, all of this was a moot point if Luz didn't even have an attraction to girls in the first place!
Amity gulped, she needed to at least get an idea before considering anything else. "H-Hey, Luz?"
"Yeah, Amity?"
"Um…don't take this the wrong way or anything, but…what kind of person do you like?" Amity asked.
Luz raised an eyebrow in confusion, but then answered, "Well, I like you." Amity's heart fluttered. "And I like Gus." What?! "And Willow." …Understandable. "Eda and King." Wait a second… "Aaaaaand…Hooty…to a degree, when he isn't being…well…Hooty."
Amity sighed. "No, Luz, I don't mean like as in 'people you hang around with', I meant…like…romance novel stuff."
Luz's face tinted red. "O-O-Oh, that kind of like…" The Latina stopped walking and fidgeted in place. "Well…it's…it's not something I normally talk about. 'Specially since everyone already thinks I'm weird, I don't want to give them one more thing to laugh at me or tease me about…"
Amity furrowed her brow and said, "I wouldn't, Luz. You can trust me, I won't tell anyone, and I won't laugh or tease! Well, maybe a little teasing, if only to poke fun."
Luz giggled, and Amity couldn't help but do the same, finding the human girl's laughs and giggles cute.
"Okay…the truth is…"
*Snap*
"Did you hear that?" Luz asked.
Amity rolled her eyes. "Luz, don't change the subject."
*Snap*
*Snap*
"…Okay, I heard that," Amity corrected.
There was more activity in the woods than normal, but more than that, both teen witches could feel something in the air, something dangerous. This wasn't due to a magical sensing ability, no, this was just old-fashioned instinct.
"Luz…"
"Yeah…"
"There's more than one something out there…"
"You sure…?"
Amity carefully looked around the best she could, thinking quickly, Amity drew a magic circle in the air, and instantly the magical energy zipped right to her eyes.
"What did you do?" Luz asked.
"Vision enhancement spell," Amity answered. "It lets me pick up more light so I can see things in the shadows, and it lets me see farther."
"Neat!"
Amity's spell took affect right away, the shadows caused by the canopy of branches and leaves lit up as if full daylight was piercing through the leaves, and that's when she saw it, or rather, them. They stood about five to five and a half feet tall, bodies made of gray stone, with bronze-like metal veins winding around their bodies. Their heads were angular, with two bronze-colored horns coming out of their bodies, and some wielding long polearms.
"Luz…I need you to put me down, slowly," Amity warned.
"That bad," asked Luz as she lowered Amity until she was standing on her one good leg and using Luz to balance.
"Very bad…we're surrounded."
The unknown creatures jumped out their cover and into the light, making themselves known to Luz and Amity. The creatures were unlike any that they had seen on the Boiling Isles, like looked like golems, but more demonic, and at least thirty strong.
"Hey there…we're just on our way home, sorry if we're intruding," said Luz, trying to keep the situation from escalating.
The golems brought their polearms into attack position, hissing and snarling as they began to advance on them.
"I don't think they want to talk, Luz!" Amity drew two magic circles with her hands. "Abominations, rise!"
Two purple circles of light appeared in front of them, and from those lights appeared two six-foot tall, purple sludge, Abominations. One had three eyes in a lopsided triangle formation, while the other had four. Luz lowered Amity so that she was kneeling instead of leaning on her, as much as she wanted to help Amity stay up, she was the only other one who could move around and defend them. The witch-in-training reached into her pocket and pulled out her plant glyph paper and quickly slammed it onto the ground. The glyph glowed bright green before conjuring thorny vines that erupted from the ground and zipped straight for the golems like striking rattlesnakes.
The vines began to wrap around the golems legs and hoisted them into the air, before throwing back down into the group and knocking some of the golem demons down. The few golem demons that were still standing began to use their weapons to attack the vines, the vines fought back with the sentience of an angered beast as they began lashing back. Unfortunately, the creatures were hacking through the vines at record speed.
"Oh man, that's not going to keep them back," said Luz.
"Luz, let's do that thing we did when we beat Grom!" Amity suggested.
Luz looked down at Amity and asked, "You mean dance fight them?"
Amity blushed and shook her head. "N-No! I mean when you combined your glyph with my Abominations!"
"Oh! Yes, let's do that!" Luz rifled through her glyph papers and took out the fire and ice glyph. "A fire glyph for you!" Luz placed the paper on the Abomination to her right. "And an ice glyph for you!" Luz stated as she slapped her ice glyph paper onto the left Abomination.
"Good! Abominations, attack!" Amity commanded.
The two sludge monsters made groaning noises and charged forward. The Abomination with the fire glyph barreled into five of them, its sludge body covering them completely. The fire glyph ignited at that moment and set off an explosion that threw the golem demons in different directions and through some trees. The second Abomination raised its hands up and balled them into fists, the sludge monster threw a punch at the golem demon, but at the last second the Abomination's fists were coated in hardened ice. The ice fist struck the golem demon in the face, cracking its face and sending it flying into two of its fellow demons.
"Woo-hoo! It worked! Combo attack for the win! High five!" Luz cheered as she held her hand out to Amity.
Amity looked at the offered hand and then back up to Luz. "High what now?"
"Oh, right, I never showed you how. You go like–!"
*Ba-choom!*
Amity and Luz turned their attention back to the fight and watched as some of the golem demons' arms transformed into long barrels and fired off energy bolts from them. Three of them ganged up on the Ice Abomination and began shooting at it repeatedly. The Abomination covered itself in ice armor, trying to withstand the barrage. The first Abomination pulled itself back together, this time completely on fire due to the lingering effects of the fire glyph. The fire Abomination began bashing through the creatures, using its fiery body to burn and damage the golem demons. However, some of them used their polearms to keep their distance and began slashing at the creature, lobbing off parts of it to slow it down.
"Okay, we're in trouble! Scoop!"
"Scoop? Whoa!"
Luz hurriedly scooped up Amity into her arms again and began running in the direction of the Blight Manor.
"Luz, leave me behind, I'll only slow you down! I can hold them off for a little while, just get to my house and get my parents," said Amity.
"No! I'm not leaving my friend behind to get hurt by those monsters! We can make it!" Luz insisted.
"Don't be stupid! My leg's still healing, I can't run, and my Abominations aren't exactly speedsters! But they can defend me long enough for you to get help!"
"Like The Good Witch Azura said in Book Three, 'My friends are my greatest power, my greatest treasure! To lose one is to lose a piece of my soul! So, I will never leave a friend behind!'"
"Ugh, Luz, don't you dare quote Azura to me right now–!"
*Ba-choom!*
One of the energy bolts from the demon golems whizzed past Luz's head, nearly making her wet herself from how close she had come to getting her head blown off. Unfortunately, another shot was fired, this one struck at just a few inches from her heel. The moment it hit the ground exploded behind her, sending both girls flying into the air. Amity and Luz came crashing back to the ground hard, rolling for a few seconds before coming to a stop. Amity was dazed and in pain, not only all over her body, but the pain of her still fractured leg was doubled from the rough landing. Her vision was blurry for a moment before coming into focus, finally settling on the image of an unconscious Luz who had landed about five feet away from her.
"L-Luz…L-Luz!" Amity called out as she tried to crawl towards her.
Luz stirred, groaning in pain as she slowly lifted her head. "A-Amity…?"
"Hang on…I-I'm coming!"
Unfortunately, she would never make it to her. As soon as she started to crawl towards Luz, ten of the golem demons rushed past Amity and surrounded Luz. No…are…are they the kidnappers?! "NO! Leave her alone, I'm the one you want! I'm Amity Blight, of the Blight family! You don't want a nobody like her, she's just a human! My parents will pay you anything to get me back! Just take me!"
The golem demons didn't even pay any attention to her, instead they were focused solely on Luz. The young Latina was still in pain and dazed from the explosion, she wasn't able to make any quick movements, and from what she could tell, some of them were pointing their polearms at her, while others had their arm cannons aimed at her. If she even tried to cast a spell now, she'd be killed before the glyph activated. Suddenly, a magic circle appeared underneath them.
Amity's eyes widened as she saw the golems and Luz begin to sink into it, going deeper and deeper into the violet ring of light. "LUZ!" Amity cried as she pushed herself up and tried to run, only for a shooting pain to surge through her fractured leg. The pain made her yell before she toppled to the ground and hiss, clutching at her left leg. Amity looked towards the circle, seeing that she hadn't even advanced a foot before she fell.
Luz felt her body sink deeper into the circle, her heart racing as panic started to set in. "AMITY!"
"LUZ, I'LL SAVE YOU! I–!" Before she could finish her sentence, Luz and the golems slipped all the way through the circle, the ring of light disappearing in a bright flash, leaving no trace behind. "Luz…no…Luz…" Amity's eyes began to water, and then she struck the ground in anger as she sobbed. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…!" Thinking quickly, Amity reached into her pocket and took out her scroll. She hurriedly found Emira's contact and called it.
Emira's face appeared on the scroll, her impish grin on full display. {Hey, Mittens, how's your alone time with – holy crap what happened to you?!}
"Emira…I need your help…we…we were attacked!"
{Oh no, EDRIC GET IN HERE! AMITY'S IN TROUBLE!}
The clamoring of rushed footsteps and things crashing in the background were heared, and then Edric appeared, his brow furrowed and giving off the aura of a protective big brother. {Amity, what's wrong!? Where are you?! Are you okay?!}
Amity wiped her face and said, "I'm not too far from the house…I'm on the path through the woods…Luz and I were attacked by these demons I've never seen before…they took Luz, and I couldn't stop them!"
{Hey, hey, it's alright! We're heading right to you, don't move!} Emira instructed.
{You said they took Luz, why?!}
"I don't know…they have to be the kidnappers that are taking people all over, we have to get help!"
NOTICE TO ALL NEW READERS: I have now created a Disney Riderverse Timeline! You can find it on my DeviantArt Profile page. I hope it helps!
michealravencroft/journal/DISNEY-RIDERVERSE-TIMELINE-WIP-958173776