Waking up the next morning was not pleasant for Luz. When she opened her eyes, her entire body was sore from top to bottom, and it hurt just to even move an inch. Those movements required work too, because she was also incredibly weak, like she had ran a marathon the previous day. That's not what she did of course, but that was all she knew, because she couldn't remember a thing from the previous night.
She did remember feeling the worst pain imaginable as her body transformed, but then everything went black, and the next thing she knew she was outside being held in Amity's arms. Everything between those two events was a blank. But while she couldn't recall anything that happened during then, there was one thing she knew for certain. She had lost control of her curse. And based on the fact she was outside when she woke up, it was safe to say the chamber hadn't worked. Even though she accepted there was always a chance this would happen, it still killed her to know that it did, almost as much as her head was killing her right now. It felt like someone had jammed a spike into it, and the human witch let out a groan of discomfort.
"Luz?" A voice spoke next to her. She turned and saw Amity getting up from a sleeping bag on the floor, and she wasn't alone. Camila was also there and starting to wake up as well. They must have both slept on the floor last night to be there for her if she needed anything, something that touched her heart.
"Hey…" She said with a weak smile.
Amity smiled back and kissed her forehead. "Hey there, Batata. How are you feeling?"
The human witch groaned again. "Terrible, like I've been run over by a train. And my head…ugh. What did you hit me with?"
Camila chuckled. "A few things, but you hit us too so that makes us even."
She then pulled a bottle of Motrin out of her bag. "Here, take a couple of these. It'll help ease the pain."
Luz nodded and took the bottle while Amity helped her sit up before giving her a glass of water. After downing a couple tablets, she turned back to her mother and girlfriend, and tensed upon seeing the bandages on the latter's arm.
"Oh titan. I…I did that, didn't I?"
Amity shook her head. "Don't worry, it's not bad. Look."
The purple haired witch then pulled back the bandages on her limb to expose the cuts underneath, which were now much more shallow thanks to Emira's healing magic.
"It's already getting better. But as you can see, it didn't disappear overnight like your injury did. That means you didn't curse me."
This made Luz feel a little better, but only a little. "I still hurt you though. I'm so sorry."
She was starting to tear up, and Amity gave her a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "Shhh, it's okay. Remember what we talked about. I willingly put myself in this situation to help you. You didn't do anything wrong. How could you be at fault for something you had no control over?"
Luz breathed deeply and nodded. "I know. I just hate seeing the people I love get hurt."
Amity smiled and kissed her again. "Well if it makes you feel any better, what happened last night was partly my fault."
Luz gave a confused look. "Huh? Why do you think that?"
The purple haired witch sighed before continuing. "It turns out the room we used was too small. And with all the repellents hanging around it, you felt cornered in your wolf form and just snapped. You teleported out of the chamber, and burned yourself on the repellents as you did. We bandaged it up while you were sleeping."
Luz looked over her body, and sure enough her left arm and shoulder were covered in bandage wraps. At first she was confused as to why they had not healed yet, but felt silly the more she thought about it. Werewolves were weak to holy and light magic after all, so it made sense that her healing factor wasn't working on it.
"Oh. That does make sense though. Animals tend to do some crazy things when they're cornered. I guess my wolf form is no exception."
"Yeah. I just wish I thought about it. I don't know why I didn't."
The human witch shook her head. "It's okay, Amity. Lilith said that slip ups were bound to occur. This was just one of them. But hey, that's what the backups were for, right?"
Camila smiled and took her hand. "That's right. Even though I hated using glyphs on my own daughter, I don't regret doing it, because it wasn't all for nothing. We were able to get you back to normal without any serious injuries."
Luz nodded. "Yeah, I guess in the end that's all that matters. Things may not have been great last night, but it could have been a lot worse."
"Yeah." Amity said. "King said something similar, and I agree. I'm just happy things went as well as they did. Yes the chamber didn't work, but I was still able to keep my promise to you. I protected you and kept you safe."
Luz smiled widely and held out her arms for a hug, a hug that her girlfriend and mother were more than happy to accept. Ever since the night she was bitten, she had been scared to death of what her curse could do to her family. The idea of losing control and maiming or even killing someone she loved was the worst thought in the world for her. But her family was always there for her, and had promised on day one that they wouldn't let something like that happen no matter what, especially Amity. Her girlfriend had rarely left her side this entire time. And on the few occasions she did, it was to get work done to help her. It showed just how much she truly loved her.
"You did keep your promise." Luz choked. "Thank you so much. You too, Mamá. I have the best family ever."
"You said it yourself, Mija." Camila said with a sniff. "'Us weirdos have to stick together.'"
"Darn straight." Amity said. "We will always be here for you, Wolfie, just like how you've always been there for us."
The human witch's tail sprung out and started wagging furiously. She had not been this happy in weeks, and it was great to feel that way again.
"Do you want some breakfast?" Camila asked. "I'll make some chocolate chip pancakes, just for you."
Luz nodded. "I would love that. Thanks, Mom."
She tried to get out of bed, but Amity stopped her. "Uh uh. Your body is really weak right now and needs to rest."
The human witch chuckled. "Come on, Amity. I'm sore, but I'm not crippled. I can walk just fine. Watch."
She got out of bed and tried to stand, only to immediately collapse like a sack of potatoes. Her legs felt like a pair of wet noodles.
"Okay, maybe I should stay in bed." She mumbled into the carpet while Amity and Camila snickered.
….
Luz hated the idea of staying in bed all day. It just wasn't her way of doing things, but she didn't really have a choice. She couldn't even stand on her own feet right now, so she opted instead to read some books and watch videos on her phone to keep herself occupied. It wasn't all bad though. Her mother made a nice plate of pancakes for her as promised, and they were delicious as always.
It was around ten in the morning now. Amity had gone down to the lab to start working on plans to upgrade the containment chamber, while Camila was helping Raine make more of Luz's medicine.
"Knock knock." A familiar voice said. The human witch smiled and looked up to see Eda standing in the doorway with a mug of apple blood in hand.
"Who's there?" She joked.
"Just a fellow beast lady. How are you holding up?"
Luz was about to answer, but then frowned when she noticed her mentor was missing something. "Where's your hook hand?"
Eda snorted. "Well, you kind of broke it."
"What?!"
"It's no big deal. I'll just get another one. Back to the topic though. How are you feeling?"
The human witch sighed. "I'll just be honest, I feel awful. I'm sore all over, got a monster headache, and I can't even walk right now."
The owl lady nodded. "Yeah, I hear ya. Your first transformation is always a real kick in the rear. It should get better in the future though."
"I hope so. I thought getting bitten by the werewolf hurt, but that? That was just plain torture. I don't ever want to feel that again."
The owl lady pursed her lips as she put her mug down and knelt next to her. "It was hard for me too, kiddo, and I'm not talking about my own transformation. Watching you be in so much pain and knowing I couldn't do anything about it…I'd take any physical pain over seeing that again."
Luz looked away, trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry."
Eda nodded and placed a reassuring kiss on her forehead. "Don't be. What happened wasn't anything you did. The full moon is just that intense, and it was your first time experiencing it. I told you that mastering your curse requires a lot of trial and error. That especially applies to this part."
"I know, but I hate it. I promised myself and everyone else that I would try my hardest to not lose control and hurt someone, yet that is exactly what happened. I'm glad it wasn't anything serious, but I still hurt people. I hurt Amity. I…I failed."
Luz started to choke up again, but the owl lady stopped her. "That's not as bad of a thing as you think it is."
The human witch looked at her with confusion. "How is failing not a bad thing? That doesn't make any sense."
"You think so? Think about it. Of all the great historical figures from the Demon and Human Realms, do you think any of them got there by succeeding all the time?"
Luz pondered about this for a moment, and realized her mentor had a point. Everyone she could think of, Theadore Roosevelt, The Titan, heck even Azura the witch, had all achieved great things and made a difference, but it would be a lie to say they were perfect all the time. They had all made mistakes, some of which may have caused some people to hate them. But no matter what happened, they never let those mistakes keep them down. They always got back up and kept pushing forward until they won. It wasn't that they weren't knocked down, it was that they didn't stay down.
Eda smiled as she saw realization appear on her apprentice's face. "You see what I mean, right?"
The human witch turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, I think I do."
The owl lady smiled wider and wrapped her arm around her. "Luz, this is something you've always struggled with, even nowadays, and it's about time you understood it. Yes, nobody likes failing at something. It sucks, but it's also a necessary part of life. When you fail at something, you might feel bad in the moment, but do you know what also goes through your mind?"
The human witch thought for a moment before answering. "What did I do wrong?"
"You're on the right track. What do you think after that?"
"Don't do it again?"
"Bingo. When you fail at something, it gives you a chance to learn from it and be better. That doesn't happen if you succeed all the time. Trust me, it's actually better to fail, because it makes you smarter and stronger than before. It's happened to you many times and you've never realized it. Not even with Belos, but with smaller things too. Think about your relationship with Amity. Did you win her heart by being a perfect charmer? Hell no. You screwed up several times trying to do that, but you always learned from your mistakes and got right back up, and that determination made Amity admire you even more
"And what about your relationship with your mother? Are you close as you are with her because you were a perfect daughter? Of course not! That's part of the reason you chose to stay in the demon realm in the first place. You wanted to be in a place that made you happy and be with people who understood you. And once you did, you started getting better and realized how precious your mother was to you. So what did you do? You started looking for a way to get back to the human realm to see her. You failed many times, Luz, but that failure is also why you succeeded."
The human witch just stared blankly as she processed everything she just heard. Everything her mentor said was true. When she accidentally got Amity fired from the library, or when she made her mother upset by choosing to stay in the demon realm, she thought she was a terrible person for doing so and mentally kicked herself for it. But at the same time, it was those failures that motivated her to be better. Going through all those trials so Amity could keep her job, to research tirelessly to find a way to return to the human realm, and many other events like them. Ironically, the mistakes that she thought made her a bad person actually made her better in the end.
She smiled widely and turned to her mentor. "You're right, Eda. I've made many mistakes, mistakes I've wished I could just erase, but maybe I shouldn't be thinking that way. I mean, I obviously still regret making those mistakes, but maybe I shouldn't change them even if I could. It was from those mistakes that I learned some of life's most important lessons, lessons that just made me better as a person, and that's something I'm thankful for. In fact, I've learned a few things from last night too. I know what the full moon's effects feel like now, and I can apply that to my training."
Now the owl lady was beaming, and she hugged her apprentice tight. "You got it, Kiddo. Embracing your curse and being confident will get you far, but accepting your mistakes and learning from them will make you go all the way. Never lose that attitude, okay?"
Luz nodded as she hugged back. "I'll try not to. I'll train even harder than I did before. Before I do that though, there's something else I need your help with."
"Of course. What do you need?"
The human started looking a bit nervous and even blushed a little before responding. "Ever since I started dating Amity, she has just been the most awesome and caring girlfriend ever, and that's especially been the case since I became a werewolf. She's always been there supporting me, finding ways to cheer me up when I'm feeling down, working hard to make me more comfortable, and now I'm being told she put herself at risk to help me return to normal. I mean, you all took that risk, but you get what I'm saying. I know I'm only twenty, but…I can't live without her, Eda, and I want to…I want to…umm…"
The owl lady gasped and gave the biggest smile. "Oh titan, are you saying what I think you are?"
Her apprentice blushed harder and nodded, causing to squeal and hug her again. "Oh, you have no idea how happy that makes me! Of course I'll help you!"
"Help with what?"
The pair turned to see Camila standing at the door. She had come to check on her daughter. Perfect timing. Eda motioned for her to get closer.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Just come here."
She did. And when she reached the bedside, Eda leaned in to whisper. "Luz is gonna propose to Amity."
Camila gasped and covered her mouth just like the owl lady had. "Mija, is…is that true?"
Again, Luz nodded while blushing. Her mother instantly wrapped her arms around her and began shedding happy tears. "Oh, that is so wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"
"Mom…need…air…"
Camila loosened her grip, but didn't let go. "I'm sorry Luz, but can you blame me? My baby girl is getting married!"
"Mom." The human witch giggled as she hugged back. "I haven't proposed to Amity yet."
"What? Do you seriously think she would say no?"
"Of course not. I'm just saying…I don't even have a ring right now."
Camila wiped her tears and shook her head. "That won't be a problem. I still have your grandmother's ring at home."
Luz eyes widened "Abuela? A-Are you sure, Mom?"
"One hundred percent. She was your father's mother after all. It's what both of them would have wanted. Besides, it has a purple band on it. It would be perfect for Amity."
Now the human witch smiled. That context really did make it the perfect ring to use. "Yeah, I think she'll love it."
"Alright then, I'll go back to the human realm and get it for you. Do you know how you want to propose to her?"
Luz pursed her lips and pondered this for a moment before responding. "I want it to be something special, something that's just for me and her. You know what I mean?"
"Definitely." Eda said. "Just don't go too crazy with it though."
"Agreed." Camila said. "Don't worry, we'll help you figure something out. It will be a moment you and Amity will never forget. Cross my heart."
Luz smiled and hugged her mother, Eda joined in as well.
"Thanks, guys." The human witch said. "You're the best."
