Luz took long deep breaths as she stood in front of the chamber door. The night of the full moon had finally arrived, and it was all hands on deck. Amity, Eda, Camila, Vee, Masha, Raine, and Lilith were all in the main room with the human witch getting last minute preparations done. Meanwhile Willow, her parents, Gus, King, Hunter, Edric, Emira, Hooty (who Lilith had brought in his mobile home), and Alador were doing the same outside with the backup plans. What was going to happen tonight was anyone's guess, and they wanted to leave no stone unturned.
"Is the ventilation system working?" Amity asked.
"Yes. It's working beautifully." Lilith said.
"Okay, what about the pendants?"
Masha gave a thumbs up. "Good to go."
"Okay, just don't hang them up yet. We don't want to accidently provoke Luz's curse."
Amity then got out her scroll and called Alador. "How's it looking outside? Are the backups ready?"
"We're just wrapping up now." Her father said. "Should only be a few more minutes."
"Good to hear. Stay outside for now. I need you all on standby in case there's any trouble."
"You got it, Mittens."
The purple haired witch hung up and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but not really succeeding. "Everything is all set and in place."
Luz nervously looked over at her and nodded. "Alright, this is it. No turning back now."
Her mother and sister walked over and gave her a reassuring hug.
"It's going to be okay, Sis" Vee said. "We'll be here the whole time, and we've looked at this from every angle."
"That's right." Camila said. "There's no way something bad is going to happen to you or any of us. We'll get through this."
"I hope you're right." Luz said.
"I know I'm right."
Eda then walked over with a vile of medicine.
"Here, Kiddo. Take this in about an hour, when the full moon starts to get high. Because of the situation, it's double the amount you normally take. Hopefully it'll be enough."
Luz nodded and took the vial. "Thanks Eda."
"No problem. Go ahead and step in now. I want to make sure you get comfortable being in there beforehand."
The human witch nodded again and slowly stepped inside the chamber, her breaths a little shake as she did. Once she was in, Amity sealed the door behind her.
Raine then walked up and spoke. "Listen everyone, we know that if Luz loses control, she'll become dangerous. So no matter what happens, nobody can go inside that chamber with her. No ifs ands or buts. Do you understand?"
Everyone reluctantly nodded, causing Raine to sigh.
"I hate it too, but remember, we're not just worried about Luz's safety, we're worried about our own as well."
"I know, it's just…" Camila trailed off.
"You don't want to see her like this." Amity finished for her. "I get it."
"None of us do." Masha said. "But hey, Luz is as tough as they come, and so are we. If that curse decides to mess with us, it'll regret it."
"That's right." Lilith said. "We've prepared too much for anything else."
Vee sighed. "I guess it's just a matter of waiting now, huh?"
"Yep." Eda said. "We only have about an hour though, so keep on your toes."
….
They say that time seems to slow down when you're anxious, and that couldn't be any more true for Luz. The next hour felt like an eternity for her, and she struggled to keep herself calm as the dreaded moment drew closer. Her fears of what may happen were surfacing yet again. What if something went wrong? What if she badly hurt someone, or even…?
No. The human witch thought. Remember what Mom said. We've prepared too much to let something like that happen. Even if you lose control, they'll take over for you.
As she thought this, she looked over to her mother watching her from one of the windows. Camila smiled and gave a thumbs up, and she did the same.
Finally, Lilith's voice spoke from the speaker in the room. "Alright Luz, you can take your medicine now."
This was it. There was no turning back now. The human witch took a few more deep breaths before opening the vile and drinking the medicine. She felt the now familiar sensation of it flowing through her, and crossed her fingers.
"How are you feeling?" Lilith asked
Luz paused for a moment, carefully checking to see if felt any different, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"I'm feeling okay. Nothing's happening."
"You're not feeling any discomfort?"
"I don't think so, but my core feels kind of funny."
"What do you mean? Can you describe it?"
"It kind of feels like-AAHH!"
"Luz?!"
The human witch suddenly screamed and clutched her stomach. A horrible pain had erupted from it out of nowhere, like someone was twisting and pulling her insides. Was she having a bad reaction to the medicine? No, it couldn't be. They made sure she didn't take too much. So what was happening?
Her answer came in the form of another pain from her abdomen, this one feeling like something was cutting her skin. Her eyes widened and she brought her hands up to see that her claws and fingers were extending on their own. She tried to make them retract, but her body didn't obey this time. This confirmed what she had suspected and feared.
It wasn't the medicine, it was the full moon. It had fueled her curse with tremendous power, and she was losing control of it.
"Nonono, come on!" She gritted through her teeth. "Control it, Luz! You can do-UGH!"
Another wave of pain washed over her body as this time, her muscles started growing to far beyond their normal size, her clothes tearing as they did.
"Damnit!" Lilith yelled. "The dose wasn't high enough! Get the repellents strung up! NOW!"
Lilith shifted into her harpy form and flew to put repellents on the top of the chamber while everyone else began to place them on the sides. As this was going on, Luz was trying desperately to reverse her her discomfort, she grabbed onto her wrist and focused on her hand, begging it to stop. Her only reward however was another wave of excruciating pain as the bones in her back and shoulders broke and reformed. The scream she let out was even more horrific than when she was bitten by the werewolf. When she changed willingly, she was completely fine. It might have felt weird, but it never hurt. Now however, when the curse was calling the shots, it was the worst thing she had felt in her life.
"¡Oh, mi bebé!" Camila screamed, tears spilling from her eyes. It was a mother's worst nightmare, seeing their child suffer and not being able to do anything about it. Eda had a similar expression on her face. Her own transformation was painful as well, but it was nothing compared to what Luz was going through.
Amity was only barely keeping it together as she helped string up the repellents. She didn't know how she wasn't losing it like Camila and Eda were, but that didn't mean her heart was aching any less. Every part of her being just wanted to rip the chamber door off its hinges and be there for her girlfriend, but she knew she couldn't. Doing so could have serious consequences. She could only listen helplessly as Luz underwent her painful transformation.
Once it started, it just didn't stop. The human witch's body was contorting and changing in ways that made her collapse on the floor, crying because it hurt so bad. Her heels grew and extended to form more animalistic looking legs, her teeth became long and sharp, her hands and feet morphed into something even more beast-like than before, her chest broadened, her tail sprung out, and her body grew dark brown hair about an inch long.
The worst part however was when her face started extending. The pain involved was unspeakable, and at that point she wished she would just pass out, but she didn't. She was conscious the entire time.
And then, almost as soon as her screams started, they suddenly stopped. In their place was the sound of heavy breathing. The breaths were deep, and had a faint growl to them.
Eda cautiously approached the window to look inside, and let out a heartbroken sob. Even though she knew there was a chance this would happen, she could never have been prepared for what she saw. Luz was in the center of the chamber getting back up, but nobody would guess it was her unless they were told. She had fully transformed into a werewolf, standing at six and a half feet tall. And while she wasn't as bulky as the beast that bit her, she was still very muscular in stature.
The worst part however was her eyes. They had an eerie yellow glow to them. And as she looked around the chamber, it was clear that Luz wasn't in control of herself, because these weren't her eyes at all. They were the eyes of a wild animal.
The eyes then started to look much more frantically around the chamber. Luz growled in what sounded like irritation at first, but then she started to look more fearful, and started pacing around the chamber's perimeter. Was she looking for something? It was hard to tell.
The more the seconds passed, the more werewolf seemed to get agitated. At first everyone thought it was because she didn't like being confined, but her eyes told them there was something more. They showed what looked like fear, and maybe even panic, but at what? Was she aware of what was happening? Was she horrified she had transformed? No, she wasn't acting like herself at all. She was acting like a wild animal. So why was she acting scared?
That's when it hit Amity, and her eyes widened in horror as she looked at the pendants and crosses hanging around the chamber. This was one thing nobody had thought of. Luz knew they were there, and she wanted to get away from the light and holy magic they were emitting, but she couldn't. She was surrounded, and had nowhere to run. And if an animal isn't able to run, it will fight instead and do things they wouldn't normally do. Maybe even…
"Guys! We need to get the repellents off now!" Amity yelled.
"Huh? Why?" Masha said.
"They're agitating Luz, and the room is too small for her to retreat to a safe distance!"
Everyone's faces went pale and they all turned to the chamber when a loud metallic thud startled them. The werewolf was starting to bang aggressively on the walls, trying to fight her way out of the corner she'd been backed into.
"She's right!" Vee shouted. "But if we take the repellents off, she'll escape!"
"She'll do that anyway, Vee! Wild animals do crazy things when they're cornered! Titan, why the hell didn't I think of that?!"
"Hold on Amity, we don't know that." Lilith said. "Maybe Luz will calm down and-"
She was interrupted when she was again startled by a sound. This one was the sound of a spell being cast accompanied by Luz yelping in pain. There was another thing about this sound that was different however. It was coming from the outside of the chamber, and her heart stopped.
She and everyone turned to the noise to see the werewolf on the ground, shaking her head and getting back on her feet. She had teleported out of the chamber, burning her left arm and shoulder on some light pendants in the process. As she licked her wounds, everyone started in shock. They had planned extensively for this, double and triple checking everything, yet one simple oversight was all it took for it to fall apart.
"L-Luz? Are you okay?" Camila said nervously. She was really scared at that moment, but not for herself. She was far more scared for her daughter like any mother would be.
The werewolf looked over at her and then at everyone who was with her, studying them intently, before looking at the chamber she had just escaped from. It didn't take long for her to connect the dots. These were the humans that had put her in there, these humans that she should be recognizing, but she wasn't. The primal instincts of the werewolf had completely taken over.
She then turned back to the group and let out a growl at them, a growl so deep and reverberating that it chilled them to the core. Even though there were no words spoken, it was clear what Wolf Luz was saying.
'You will pay for that'.
Realizing what was about to happen, Raine turned to everyone and said a single word.
"Run."
The roar Luz let out could be heard all throughout Blight Manor as she began to chase the group that had imprisoned her. These were people that she loved with all her heart, and would rather die before hurting them. But her beastly instincts were completely blinding her, and making her think very different thoughts.
Hunt them. Make them pay. Kill them.
The group in question were practically falling over themselves as they scrambled out of the chamber room before Amity closed the door behind them. She knew this would only buy them a few seconds however and continued to run upstairs with everyone else following close behind her.
She then pulled out her scroll. "Dad, we have a code red! I repeat, code red! Get the backup ready, now!"
"Already done, sweetheart!" Her father replied. "Just see if you can lure Luz out the front door and to us!"
"Got it!"
As everyone made their way into the living room, the sounds of crashing and roaring emitted from not far behind them before Luz smashed through the basement door.
"Jeez, I really hope these backups work." Masha said.
"They will." Eda said. "We just need to get her outside."
The werewolf turned and spotted them, emitting another menacing growl.
"I don't think that will be hard." Lilith said. "Go!"
Everyone began to make their way to the front door and out of the mansion, the werewolf hot on their heels the entire time, throwing furniture and anything else that was in her way. At one point, she picked up a grandfather clock and hurled it at the group. They were only just able to dodge it by just an inch.
They then continued to run to their exit. But right before they reached it, Luz teleported in front of them and blocked their path, crouching down and getting ready to pounce.
Eda let out a growl of her own and shifted into her harpy form. "Oh no you don't! Get out there!"
She then lunged forward and tackled Luz with all her strength, causing them both to tumble out of the front door and onto the lawn where everyone else was waiting.
"Dios mío, is she brave or stupid?!" Camila asked.
"A little bit of both, honestly." Lilith said. "Come on!"
They ran outside to see the owl lady was already being overpowered. She used her own claws to deliver a blow to Luz's jaw. In retaliation, the werewolf bit down on Eda's hook arm, crushing it, before throwing her to the side.
Aww jeez. She thought. That's gonna cost a snail or two to replace.
She quickly got back on her feet and flew over to her group who were now joining the others to stand in a line in front of Luz.
They then stood in silence, giving glances at each other, but mostly looking at the beast in front of them. They were beyond nervous, but their determination was even stronger, and that wasn't any more true than with Amity. She had promised to keep her girlfriend safe, that nothing bad would happen to her, and that was a promise she planned on keeping.
Luz raised her head and let out a howl that gave everyone chills. It was the kind of howl one would normally only hear in a horror movie, but this was all too real. She then got down on all fours and ran at the group with incredible speed, only to stop dead in her tracks as a blue light erupted around her. She let out a growl of surprise before her body was quickly encased in ice. She'd stepped on a trap glyph that had been placed there earlier.
"There we go!" King said. "Piece of cake!
Luz's eyes suddenly glowed red before the same happened to the block of ice she was encased in. A pulse of energy then emitted from her body, shattering the ice and freeing her.
"Weh?!"
"You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Edric said.
With a growl, the werewolf picked up a large chunk of ice in each hand and hurled them at the group, everyone dodging them just in time. Luz was about to charge again when something hit her from behind, causing her to stumble. She turned around to see Hooty, wearing a concerned but determined look on his face.
"I know you're in there, Luz!" He shouted. "I'll get you out!"
He then shot forward and delivered a powerful headbutt, knocking the werewolf off her feet. Wasting no time, the house demon began to deliver blow after blow in an attempt to knock his opponent out. This didn't work however as within a flash, Luz grabbed Hooty by the throat. The grip was ludicrously strong, and he was struggling to breathe.
Getting back on her feet, the werewolf then started slamming him on the ground repeatedly, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Bruises and cuts quickly started appearing on the house demon's body before Luz grabbed on with her other hand, and hurled him at least fifty feet into the nearby woods.
"Hooty!" Lilith yelled as she flew after her friend. The others were taken back. This was the same demon who effortlessly dispatched dozens of Belos' soldiers at once, yet he had just been tossed aside like a ragdoll. This might be harder than they initially thought, but they weren't going to back down now, not when Luz was counting on them.
Hunter was the first to move, using his own teleportation spell to get in close and hit the werewolf in the jaw with his staff, dazing her. Willow took this opportunity to cast her vines and sweep Luz's feet out from under her, causing to fall again. Emira ran over to cast a fire glyph, but the werewolf quickly got back on her feet again and dodged the attack.
She then attempted to swipe at Emira, but the green haired witch caught her hand with her telekinesis magic. She wasn't fast enough however to stop the werewolf's foot from slamming into her chest and sending her flying. Alador formed two gauntlets of abomination goo and began delivering a flurry of blows to Luz's back, but he was sent flying a well from a backhand.
"Amity, let me be on your staff with you!" Camila shouted. The purple haired witch nodded and allowed her to hop on. She then turned to Gus.
"Try to keep her busy!" She shouted.
"On it!"
Gus ran over and cast several illusion spells of himself and the others before having them charge at the werewolf. Luz swiped her claws at them, only for her attack to pass right through. She then yelped as she was thrown off her feet again from a wind trap glyph, before King used his sonic blast attack to send her back even further. The werewolf sprung back up and began to swing furiously at everything around her. In the heat of the moment, she didn't know who was real and who wasn't.
This was the perfect opportunity for Amity and Camila. The latter leaned in, as the former flew them in close, before placing a fire glyph on Luz's back. Flames erupted from the piece of paper, making the werewolf howl in pain. She then turned to the two with a look of fury in her eyes. The purple haired witch flew up before she could be grabbed, but Luz simply responded by teleporting right next to her. With a swipe from her claws, she knocked Amity and Camila off the staff, cutting the former's shoulder in the process, before they both landed on the ground with a thud.
"Amity!" Alador yelled as he ran up to his daughter. Who quickly got up with a groan.
"I'm good. What about you, Camila?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm gonna feel that in the morning though."
"Good to hear." Alador said. He then inspected the claw marks on his daughter's arm.
"That's not bad." He said. "Nothing a healing spell can't fix. And since Luz is an animae lycanthrope, that means she didn't curse you. Thank titan for that."
"Yeah, but we can't stop now!" The purple haired witch said as she got back up. She looked over and saw everyone getting knocked back by another pulse of dark magic. They quickly recovered however and went right back to fighting the werewolf to keep her under control. Their efforts were starting to pay off too as their attacks were starting to wear Luz down, but that wasn't going to be enough. She needed to be completely restrained so she could take her medicine. Luckily, the purple haired witch knew just how to do that.
"Amity!"
Right on time. She turned to see Willow and her dads running up to her.
"I think Luz is ready for us to hold her down!" Gilbert said. "You and Willow get in position to cast the spell we taught you! Harvey and I will help!"
Amity nodded. "Got it! You ready, Willow?"
Her friend nodded. "Let's do it!"
They both approached Luz's right side while Harvey and Gilbert did the same on her left. Willow cast her vines while Amity cast her abomination goo. They then formed new spell circles which created a white glowing energy under the goo and vines. The energy the spell gave off was bright, and it immediately began to take effect as the goo and vines began to fuse together as one. The result was a trio of vines that were dark purple in color, but they weren't covered in abomination goo. They were now part abomination goo.
Luz was surprised by the bright lights, and partly shielded her eyes in the process. This was the perfect opportunity. Working together, Amity and Willow cast the vines towards the werewolf, wrapping them around her left wrist. Luz gave off a growl of irritation and tried to claw her way out, but a second set of purple vines from Harvey and Gilbert restrained her other wrist. The four of them pulled back, and the others quickly joined in to help them as they alone would not be able to restrain a werewolf.
Luz roared in anger as she tried to break free, but the vines held firm, as did everyone's footing. Hooty, having recovered from the previous assault, charged forward and wrapped himself around the werewolf's neck to keep her head steady, while Lilith rejoined the others to help them pull on the vines.
Vee then jumped onto Luz's back and began to eat some of her magic. She was careful in doing so however. She wanted to make sure the werewolf wouldn't be able to cast any spells without hurting her at the same time.
"We got her!" The basilisk yelled. "Use the medicine!"
From the right hand group, Raine unholstered a small bag they were carrying, keeping a hand on the vine, and had the others pass it to Amity, who took it without hesitation. Inside were multiple syringes that contained Luz's medicine. Nobody wanted to have to stab her with a needle, but getting her to drink her medicine would be impossible. So injection was the only option.
"Remember," Raine yelled. "Those syringes have only ten percent of what Luz originally drank! You have to inject them one at a time or it will just make her angrier!"
"Got it!" Amity yelled.
Entrusting her friends to hold onto the vine, the purple haired witch ran up behind Luz, pulling out a syringe on her hand. This was it. It was time to keep the promise she had made.
Amity raised her arm, and with a yell, drove the syringe into the werewolf's back. Luz let out a yelp of pain and kicked her in the stomach, sending her tumbling backwards.
"Amity! Are you okay?!" Lilith shouted.
"I'm alright!" The purple haired witch shouted as she got up and looked back at Luz. The werewolf was still struggling against the vines and growling with no signs of slowing down. One dose was clearly not enough. She was going to need more, and that's exactly what Amity had.
She prepared another syringe and charged back over. The werewolf saw her coming and attempted to kick her again, but she dodged the attack and injected her with another dose. Luz yelped again, but this time she didn't fight back. Instantly, her struggling started to slow down, and her growls became more soft. She then started to sway back and forth, trying to stay upright, but her legs were getting weaker, and her eyes more heavy.
"It's working!" Willow shouted.
It didn't take long after that for the werewolf to completely go limp, and it was only then did Hooty and Vee get off of her and the abomination vines uncoiled from her arms, causing her to fall in a heep on the ground. At that moment her body started moving again, but not due to a conscious effort. Everyone all sighed in relief when they saw her claws and fingers starting to shrink, the fur on her body starting to recede, and her bones morphing back to their regular state.
She was turning back to normal.
"Luz!" Amity yelled as she ran over and started cradling her in her arms. At the same time, Raine came over with a blanket to wrap around the human witch, since her clothes had torn and come off when she transformed.
"Luz, are you okay?" Amity asked. "Can you hear me?"
Her girlfriend let out a moan of pain and discomfort, but didn't move.
"Batata, it's Amity. Can you hear my voice?"
This made Luz's eyes flutter a little. It felt like they had been sealed shut, but hearing her girlfriend's voice gave her the motivation to open them slightly, and the worried face she saw proved she was indeed hearing right.
"…Amity?" She croaked.
That was all it took for the purple haired witch to break down. She embraced her girlfriend while sobbing out tears of joy. Her determination and optimism had been rewarded. She managed to keep her promise. Luz was safe and back to being herself again. Everyone soon joined in the hug, or at least tried to. All very emotional and relieved to see the human witch was okay.
"Oh, Mija." Camila said as she peppered her daughter's forehead with kisses. "I know we were prepared for this, but don't ever scare me like that again!"
Luz weakly took her hand. "What happened?"
"Nothing bad." Eda said as she too kissed her on the forehead. "You weren't badly hurt, and neither were we. It all worked out, just like I said it would."
The human witch breathed her own sigh of relief. "Thank titan. Good job, guys. I think…I think I'm gonna take a nap."
She then passed out in Amity's arms. The purple haired witch smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Sweet dreams, Luz. You deserve it."
Eda then turned to her sister. "Is she really gonna be okay?
Lilith nodded. "She'll be weak for a while, but yes. She's going to be fine."
The owl lady couldn't help but let out a sob of joy and hug her sister, who happily returned it.
King smiled and gave a sigh of relief. "Well, that could have gone better, but I say we did pretty well for Luz's first full moon, wouldn't you say?"
Masha nodded and stood up. "You bet pal! Luz is okay, and so are we. It doesn't matter if things didn't go exactly to plan. The most important thing is that we got the result we were hoping for."
"Not just that." Harvey said. "We also learned some important things tonight. We found out the amount of medicine Luz needs on a full moon. Add in some tweaks to the chamber, and I think we'll have a much better handle on this in the future."
"Heck yeah!" Emira shouted. "Score one for us!"
She then winced in pain and clutched her side. "Although I would have preferred not to have my ribs cracked. Ow."
"How do you think I feel?" Hooty asked. "I got manhandled back there, and I never get manhandled!"
Amity chuckled. "Hey, I got banged up too, but I don't care. I'd give an arm if it means protecting Luz."
"Same here." Camila said. "I would have endured a hundred more of those swipes if it meant keeping her safe."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Okay, people!" Alador said as he clapped his hands together. "Luz is going to need a good night's rest after what just happened, and I think we do too. Let's all turn in for the night and worry about cleanup tomorrow."
Hunter spoke up. "I don't think we should put Luz back in the chamber though, given how she responded to it."
"Yeah, that wouldn't be a good idea." Edric said. "She should probably sleep in one of the guest bedrooms instead."
Amity nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. I'll get her into her pajamas and tuck her in. I'll also stay with her for the night, just in case."
"Do you mind if I join you?" Camila asked. "I…I don't think I can let Luz out of my sight right now."
The purple haired witch nodded. "You absolutely can. You can join too, Eda."
To her surprise, the owl lady shook her head. "It's alright. You guys will need room to sleep anyway, otherwise it'll be cramped as hell. I'll sleep in the bedroom next door."
"Alright. Just let us know if you change your mind."
With that, Amity picked up Luz in her arms and began to carry her towards the mansion with everyone else following behind her. Tonight had been really tense for everyone, but they had managed to get past their first major test in helping Luz with her lycanthropy.
The purple haired witch didn't celebrate too much however, because she knew this was far from over. There were still many more obstacles that lay ahead, and she knew that some would be just as challenging, if not more so, than the events that just transpired. While this made her nervous, she also was undeterred. After all, if she and the others could make it past this night, then she was sure they could conquer the other challenges that lay ahead
She decided to put it out of her mind for now however, opting instead to focus on getting her girlfriend to bed. After everything that just happened, they'd both earned a good night's sleep.