BREAKING THE FANTASY

Written by Gwendolyn Frost.

"We are here. End of the road. Are you ready?" Those words were spoken by Camila the day she dropped Luz at summer camp last year. Except who she dropped there wasn't Luz – but Vee disguised as Luz.

Of course, Camila didn't know of this… yet. The Basilisk had done a decent job at pretending to be Luz, or perhaps Camila had not paid much attention during the road since they spent the last few hours listening to and singing to the selection of music that Vee has chosen.

The nervous-looking shapeshifter posing as Luz looked out the window as Camila smiled at her while giving the young Basilisk a short but tender shoulder pat. "Are you ready to make some friends?"

"Friends?!" Vee exclaimed with a huge blush on her face.

"Yes, friends." Camila laughed softly. "I know it's scary getting to know a bunch of new faces. But I know, that if you give it a try… you can do it. I believe you can do it."

Vee looked up at Camila, the only person in both Realms that has ever been this nice to her since she was captured by the Emperor's Coven years ago. Seeing the heart-warming smile in that human who she just met hours ago, somehow… it made everything feel right.

"Ok." Vee said as she smiled back at Camila.

To the Basilisk's surprise, the human leaned in and hugged her, something she longed for everytime she looked at the window from her cell. Instinctively, she hugged her back… a little bit tightier than the human was expecting.

"Oh, wow! Que fuerte abrazo!" Camila said with a soft chuckle. "We'll see each other in a month. Ok?"

"I'll miss you." Vee whispered, with tears forming on her eyes as she tried her best to fight those tears off.

"I'll miss you too, Luz." Camila whispered back, which made the Basilisk flinch briefly.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry!" Vee sobbed onto Camila's chest before the human adult gently pulled her away to look at her straight in the eyes with a reassuring smile while holding her by her shoulder with one hand while the other carefully wipped those years off her face.

"Hey, listen. It's ok. You don't have to apologize anymore. I'm not doing this as a punishment for you. I agreed to this because this is a opportunity for you to get the chance to break out of your shell and make some friends." Camila said as she leaned in to place a small kiss on Luz's forehead. "I don't want you to change who you are. I think your creativity is incredible and no matter what people say it is something you should express and share with others. But… I do admit that maybe we could tone it down a little bit. Just a little."

Vee has no idea what Camila is talking about, it's something only the real Luz would understand. But seeing the smile and the honesty in her eyes, made the shapeshifter to grin and nod in agreement. "Ok."

"That's my girl!" Camila said with a soft laugh.

The both of them hugged once more inside the car before Vee stepped out with her bag in hands. While giving each other once last wave of goodbye, the human left the Basilisk in summer camp. Just as soon as she wandered around for a few minutes, all the fear was back with a vengeance.

While underneath that human exterior, Vee's true form might come off as strange and intimidating for other humans – but deep inside, the Basilisk was a sweet and innocent creature that wouldn't harm a fly. Hence why moving through the crowd of people gathered outside camp, she did not made eye contact. Especially because most humans who were attending summer camp were… troublemakers. Some of them were more intimidating to look at than a large blue-haired shapeshifter. It wasn't something that's advertised in the pamphlet that was handed to Camila in school, but most people sent here lacked social skills and the common sense to not cause trouble.

Vee survived her first day there. And that very first night, when she was forced to sleep with a bunch of strangers in a cabin, she met… Masha. The Basilisk walked past them, still refusing to make eye contact. In the cabin were most of Masha's friends, who all had their eyes locked on Vee – who was the odd one out.

"Hey, you!" Masha exclaimed which made Vee jump in surprise.

"Oh… me?! I'm sorry… I walked in here because… because the grown-up out there told me this was my cabin… I didn't meant to…" Vee said nervously before the strange goth tilted their head as they asked.

"Hey, it's ok. All I wanted to ask was; what's your name?"

"Huh?! My name?!" Vee asked with a huge blush on her face as she looked at the goth straight in the eyes, the very first human in this whole summer camp she has been brave enough to do so.

"Yeah." The goth said with a soft laugh. "Relax, we're not going to bite. I'm Masha, what's your name?"

"Uh…" Vee forgot Luz's name for a brief moment but eventually blurted it out. "Luz! It's Luz."

"Ok, great. Now, what do you want? Top or bottom bed?" They asked as they pointed at one of the bunk beds in the cabin.

"Is that a trick question?" Vee asked nervously, which brought a soft laughter out of Masha.

"Not at all! I've told you to relax. Tell you what… how about you take the top bed for tonight and we could swap tomorrow if you'd like." The goth suggested as they dropped down on the bottom mattress.

"Hm…" Vee bit on her lower lip, her eyes rolling from one side to the other as her cheeks burned bright red. "W-why? Why are you being so nice to me?" The young Basilisk asked out loud while deep inside a different question echoed in the vast corners of her mind as she tried not to tear up once more.

'Why is everybody being so nice in this Realm?'

"Uh…" Masha was caught off-guard with that question, their left eyebrow raising in confusion as they answered the shapeshifter's question with another question. "Are you… ok?"

"Huh?" Vee's lower lip began to tremble before she blurted out a response. "Y-yeah… it's just that… you're so friendly… when everyone outside looks so…"

"Sketchy?" The goth finished the Basilisk's sentence with a grin. "I get it, I would be cautious too. But then again… we're all outcasts here. So why not be friends?"

"Friends…" Vee whispered to herself as she dared to look up at Masha standing before her.

"Want me to introduce you to the other guys?"

The young Basilisk looked at Masha holding their hand up to her, staring at it for a brief moment before she leaned forward to take it with a wide smile on her face.

"Yeah… I'd like that."

THE LOOKING GLASS

Chapter 20: The Truth.

"We are witches." Amity said as she held Luz's hand tightly with hers, revealing to the human goth the truth.

For nearly a minute, no one dared to say a word as Masha processed this information. They all expected them to start laughing but they did not.

"So… it wasn't a roleplay…" Masha blurted out.

"A roleplay…?" Luz asked in confusion.

"I… overheard you guys when I started following you. I thought you were enacting a live action roleplay." Masha said as they sighed.

"Oh… ok. You are taking this better than I thought…" Luz said with a soft nervous chuckle.

"If you've told me this in the morning, I would have laughed at your face. But I just watched a person who's face split open as if it was a Venus Flytrap."

"Wait… you saw IT?" Amity asked.

"If by IT you mean that thing that looks like the missing waitress then yes, I saw IT." Masha said as they looked away from them while the memory flashed before their eyes once more.

"So… it's still wearing the waitress' skin." Luz mumbled out as her friends all looked at her.

"It won't get near you, Luz. I promise." Amity said as she squeezed her girlfriend's hand tightly.

They all started to lower their voices as they discussed what Masha just said about it splitting its face open and the information they heard from Hunter in the In-Between. All but one… Vee, who was standing further away from the group with a terrified-looking expression on her face filled with worry and sadness.

Masha stared at Vee who was trying her best not to look at them – but she was aware of their gaze which they were trying to avoid. The goth felt they've seen this before… not on Vee in particular, but something about those eyes made her felt… nostalgic for some reason.

Shortly enough, the goth looked at the group still discussing with one another. Which made them raise a question at them. "Hey… what are you guys doing here? If you're aware there's that thing out there in the woods then what are you guys still doing here?"

"Uh… it's kind of a long story." Luz replied with a nervous smile on her face.

"So you know what it is?" They asked, making Luz to look at Amity for advice.

"All we know…" Luz started before Amity finished what she was about to say.

"It's name is the Shapeless. At least, that's the name that it was given to by the natives in this region."

"But we're trying to rebrand it as the Face Snatcher!" Gus exclaimed. "Which we've all agreed is a much more fitting name to IT. Right guys?"

"This isn't the time for this, Gus." Willow said with a soft sigh.

"The Face Snatcher? Like the horror movie?" Masha asked while narrowing their eyes at them.

"See! They get it!" Gus exclaimed once more.

"Excuse him, he's kind of passionate of this topic for some strange reason." Luz said with a nervous laugh before Gus moved forward with a friendly smile on his face.

"No, excuse them for their manners. We've not being introduced yet. I'm Gus. I'm a Illusionist. It's because of me that my fellow witch-friends' ears are all round like yours!" The young witch said as he dispelled the Illusion on his, Willow's and Amity's ears, making them all pointy once more which took the goth by surprise.

"Whoa!" Masha exclaimed, their eyes widening in tandem with their mouth. "Y-your ears…"

"Gah! I'm so sorry! He is exactly right. We've not introduced you properly, right?!" Luz said with a huge blush on her face. "Like he said… this is Gus."

"Nice to meet you!" Gus said with a wide grin on his face, holding his hand up to the other human in the group. "I'm also the head of the Human Appreciation Society in my Realm!"

The goth was still stupified by seeing their first real magic spell ever, also… for some reason, seeing how everyone's ears were all pointy made them feel the need to touch them but shook that notion off by literally shaking their head off as they shook hands with Gus. "Nice to meet you too." They said with a nervous smile on their face before Luz brought their other witch friend forward.

"This is Willow."

"Yo! Willow Park is my name. My field is Plant Magic." She said as a bunch of flowers bloomed from the ground around the both of them. "That pun was not intended, by the way."

"That is amazing!" Masha exclaimed, unable to hold their excitement as they watched the flowers sprout from the ground with such ease.

"See, didn't I told you guys we could trust them?" Luz grinned as she wrapped her arms around both Gus and Willow's shoulders, making them chuckle softly in response.

"So, you can do magic too?" Masha asked Luz.

"Oh…" Luz blushed once more. "I used to, I'm an honorary witch. I'm technically still human. But I can only do magic in their Realm through Glyph Magic… basically with the help of the symbols on my baseball bat." She said as she showed those glyphs all over her red baseball bat which she carries around everywhere.

"I see." Masha replied as they took a closer look at those symbols. "What about Amity?" They asked as they looked over Luz's shoulder.

The pink-haired witch blushed at the question before giving a soft nervous laugh. "Oh… well I used to as well. But I'm limited by the Human Realm."

"How so?" The goth asked. "When I woke up, your eyes were literally glowing light. What kind of magic were you doing?"

"I'm so sorry!" Amity blushed even more, making her whole face red as she tried explaining. "That was Oracle Magic. Something I have no control of, yet. I intended to see if I could help you wake up but I ended up invading your thoughts and I saw… things I shouldn't have.

"Oh, so what you're trying to say is that my dream was triggered by you?" Masha asked with a faint blush of their own.

"Yeah… I'm terribly sorry." Amity said as she looked down at the floor. "I'm still getting used to this kind of magic. I'm more comfortable doing Abomination Magic, but I can't practice that in this Realm because I need ingredients."

"Abomination Magic?"

Before Amity replied, Willow intervened. "In a nutshell, she can do goo monsters that do her bidding."

"Hey, Abomination Magic is much more complex than that!" Amity exclaimed with her cheeks puffed before sighing in defeat as she crossed her arms. "But if I'm being honest with myself that's a pretty good way to sum it all up."

"See." Willow said with a grin.

"Not sure if I understand, but cool." Masha said as they chuckled softly. "What about you… Vee?" They asked the Basilisk trying to hide behind the group.

"I'm… not ready to show you yet…" The shapeshifter said with that very same worried-looking expression from earlier.

"Hm…" The group all looked at each other before Luz changed the subject.

"Oh, right! We're missing one member of our Friendship Squad! Yes, I borrowed that from She-Ra, we're all calling our fellowship that way! No backsies!" Luz said with a wide grin on her face. "His name is Hunter, but he's kind of… lost in another Realm for now. It's a long story. But basically, we can communicate with him through these mirror fragments."

Luz showed Masha the shards they brought with them from the woods, which at the moment most of them were only showing their reflections with the exception of the one that Willow held on her hand which showed the blonde guy on the other side.

"I'm still listening to you guys!" Hunter said as Masha gasped in awe.

"Whoa…"

"Uh… hi. I'm Hunter… at least I go by Hunter for the time being. That might change in due time…" The blonde smiled with that tooth-gap row of teeth of his.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you… but this is still kinda cool." Masha said as she smiled with their own tooth-gapped smile. "So, are you the one that I saw trapped on the other side of that mirror that thing smashed?"

"Did you saw the whole thing?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah… kind of."

"Can you bring us there?" Luz asked.

"Of course I can, I know the woods like the back of my hand."

"Great!" Luz exclaimed.

Masha looked around trying to figure out how to orient themselves to lead the way. "That way."

"Ok, let's go!" Luz said as she began to lead the way with her witch-friends following behind while the other human in their group looked at them with a nervous-looking expression.

"W-wait, are you guys for real? Are you seriously planning to stay in the forest?" Masha asked as the rest of the group looked at them as Luz replied to their question.

"You saw for yourself that our friend is still stuck in another plane of existence. We need to help him out. Plus…" Luz said as she looked down at the grass under her feet for a brief moment before she raised her eyes back at Masha with a determined look on her face. "I got to put an end to this."

"WHAT?! What do you mean by that?" Masha exclaimed with horror and confusion on their face, the idea of having to see that thing out in the woods ever again making them cold and scared.

Everyone could see the expression on Masha's face, the way their hands shook from side to side, the involuntary movements their jaw were making. They were terrified.

Even Vee who felt a different kind of fear than Masha's was aware of how disturbed the goth was with the idea of having to stay another second within the boundaries of Herlock Woods.

"Hey, Masha…" Luz took a few steps forward in order to place her hands on the shorter human's shoulders as she looked at them with a huge smile on her face to reassure them. "Thank you for showing us the direction in which we can move forward. If you want to leave… do so. We won't hold it against you. You're in your right to leave. But we must stay. So we can fight this thing, so no one else gets claimed by this cursed forest."

"Fight?" Masha whispered under their breath before raising their voice as both humans faced one another. "Are you seriously planning to fight this thing?"

"Yeah… we are." Luz said without hesitation.

The goth was still shaking, forcing their gaze down as even with their eyes wide open, they were still unable to shake off the sight of that monster splitting that waitress' head, while hearing the dissonance of that otherworldly roar it emitted through that long and sharp-teethed vertical mouth.

"Masha?" Luz asked, realizing that the goth was still in shock after what they've just witnessed.

Everyone else had become worried behind Luz, especially Vee who dared to walk forward and gently tapped on Luz's shoulder in order to get her attention.

"Hey, Luz. Allow me." The Basilisk in human form said as her adopted sister nodded back at her.

Once Luz gave them both some room, Vee spoke to Masha – which brought the goth to break out of their trance. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Vee…?" Masha whispered as they held their head down while they rained a few warm tears on the grass under their feet. "No… I'm not. I want to leave…" They whispered as they tried their best not to cry harder.

"Then leave…" Vee said, not out of indifference, but out of true concern for her friend's mental well-being.

"I can't leave you here…" Masha whispered, making Vee to understand the inner-struggle that Masha was going through.

"I'll be fine… I got my friends by my side." Vee replied as she tried her best to comfort Masha with her hand rubbing over their back gently.

"I'm your friend!" The goth exclaimed, finally raising their head to look at Vee straight in the eyes.

With their eyes locked together, Vee was able to see how serious they meant that statement. Her heart warmed up as a long and wide smile drew itself on her face.

"Of course, you are my friend too. My best friend. Hence why I want you to leave. I don't want you to get hurt.

"Neither do I! I do not want you to get hurt either." Masha exclaimed. "Please… leave with me."

"I can't…" Vee said as she began to tear up as well.

"Why not?"

"Because I've not been the best of friends." Vee blurted out.

"What? What do you mean?" Masha asked in confusion.

"Because I've lied to you!" Vee raised her voice.

"Lied?"

"I've lied to you!" Vee said as tears began to flow down her cheeks. "All I've ever feared was having this conversation with you."

Masha interrupted her. "Ok, so you're a witch! So what?! That doesn't matter, Vee. I understand why you kept it from me but…"

"I'm not a witch!" Vee exclaimed as more and more tears began to coat those cheeks of hers.

"Huh? What…?" Masha asked in confusion.

"You didn't met me as Vee at school, Masha." Vee's lip trembled as she gathered the courage to tell her friend the truth. "I'm a Basilisk."

"What? A Basilisk?" Masha said, even more confused than before.

"You met me as Luz at summer camp." Vee's tears were soaking the floor under her as she whimpered a few times, transforming into Luz before Masha's eyes which caused them to step back in pure astonishment. "Remember? I was the Luz you met. The reason the real Luz is so different than the one you met it's because of me! I escaped from my own Realm and sought shelter in Luz's house as Luz herself!"

Everyone couldn't believe what was happening before their eyes. But they couldn't look away. They could only hope that the human would understand the poor Basilisk confessing the truth to her friend. That their friendship was strong enough to overcome this ordeal.

"I lied! But I didn't meant to lie to you!" Vee began to cry. "You have no idea what I've been through! I was kept in a cage… tortured… forced to work… forced to absorb magic… taken from my parents! Who I know I won't be able to see ever again!"

The crying continued.

"Most of the Basilisks that escaped with me didn't make it! I was able to escape through Luz's door, by taking her image! There was no other way! I don't want to go back to my Realm, but I want to help Luz and Camila… because they're the only people other than you that has ever being so nice to me!" Vee said as she looked at the goth straight in the eyes, her tears still soaking her face. "I don't want you to hate me… but if…"

"It's ok." Masha said as she caught Vee off-guard, making her go silent for a short minute as the goth smiled at her with tears on her face as well. "I forgive you."

"What?" Vee asked as she transformed back into her own human form, leaving Luz's image behind for good.

"While I won't be able to understand the full length of what you've been through, I understand your sincerity. So I forgive you." Masha said as they smiled back at their friend, wiping some of her tears with their hands which caused the poor Basilisk to cry harder, launching herself swiftly into her friend's arms in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Vee sobbed while her friend laughed softly.

"It's ok. It's in the past now… but honestly… looking back on things. It all starts to make perfect sense."

"Hey, Masha." Luz said as she approached the two. "Thank you for understanding and… I'm sorry, for lying as well." She said with a smile drawing on her face.

"It's fine." Masha said as they still held Vee in their arms. "I get it. It's… a very complicated thing to share lightly."

"Yeah…" Luz said with a soft sigh. "Me and my mom, we love Vee and we want the best for her."

"That's good."

"Vee…" Luz said as she bit her lower lip. "Why don't you head back with Masha?"

"Huh?!" Both of them were taken by surprise, Vee especially stopped her crying altogether. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"You're just as scared as they are. And you're my little sister now. So I have to look up for you."

"No! I can help!"

"But…" Luz was soon interrupted by Masha.

"I can help too."

Luz looked at Masha with a nervous-looking expression as she blurted out. "B-but you can't do magic!"

"Neither can you." Masha was quick to come up with a comeback which brought Gus and Willow behind them to raise their voices.

"Daaaaamn!"

Luz gave the both of them a glare which made them to look away whistling.

"You said you can't do magic in this Realm." Masha explained which caused Luz to look down with a huge blush on her face.

"Yeah… I did." Luz said in defeat.

"You lost your tracker, so how are you supposed to return back safely?" Masha said before they offered their help. "I know these woods, I've been in this forest for years. I must confess something too. Since Amity knows already, you guys need to know as well. The reason why I know these woods… it's because my dad got lost in here too."

"Huh?" Luz said as she raised her eyes to face Masha once more, listening to her alongside the rest of their party.

"No one believes me, not even my mom." Masha said with a soft sigh. "She doesn't hates my dad, but he has let her down before. He has let me down before, too. But this time… he didn't left by his own choice. I saw him walking into these woods. I confronted him about it and he didn't want to say what he was doing in here. But he said that he was on a job. And one day… through my window I watched him go into these woods one last time and he never came back!"

"Masha…" Vee whispered as she looked up at Masha trying to fight tears once more.

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Luz said.

Masha shook their head as they continued. "It's ok. I fear what it took him was that thing that I saw in the woods. Because he told me a story that very same day he went missing. That involved a mirror. Which is why… when I saw it smashing that mirror. I panicked… I don't know if it took him. I'm scared of finding out and scared that it takes me as well. But I wouldn't forgive myself if I let you guys get lost as well. So please… let me help you."

Luz looked back at Amity, who walked closer to them with a smile on her face. "Up to you." The pink-haired witch said before Luz sighed softly, looking back at the goth.

"Yeah, ok. Let's collab." Luz said with a smile.

Masha smiled back at them and then back at Vee who nodded back at them. "Welcome to the Friendship Squad."

"Heeey!" Luz laughed softly as she looked back at her girlfriend. "See?

"Uh… right." Amity blushed, rubbing the back of her head as she looked at Luz.

Didn't I say that everyone will warm up to that name?" Luz said with a grin.

Amity rolled her eyes. "You didn't… but you're right." She said as they both began to laugh it off. "It really does have a nice ring to it."

Masha gave Vee a hug before she began to lead the way towards the place that the Shapeless smashed that mirror in which it trapped Hunter.

By now, the sky was now tainted with a warmer yellow color rather than the bright blue that coated it just minutes before. They all took notice of this, which began to stress some of them out as they continued their journey through the darker forest.

Vee had walked closer to Masha on the front, with the rest of the group following behind the two of them.

"So, is this what you really look like?" Masha asked in a lower voice as they looked at the Basilisk still in her human form.

"No… this is the new form I chose to look like." Vee said with a huge blush on her face.

"Ok, what do you really look like?" Masha asked with curiosity.

"I don't know if you'd want to see my true form! Granted that what the Shapeless looks scared you." Vee said with her face burning red entirely.

"Show me." Masha said which caught Vee by surprise.

"What?"

"I won't get scared of you, I promise." Masha said with a smile on their face.

Sighing softly in defeat, Vee prepared herself for a short minute before she turned into her Basilisk form before Masha's very own eyes.

Vee didn't dared to look back at Masha until she heard their opinion.

"Honestly… how would I be scared of you. When you look so cute." Masha said with a wide grin and a faint blush on their cheeks.

"Why does everyone say that!" Vee exclaimed as she drummed her hands at the goth who kept laughing harder than before.

"Because you are!"

Behind them were Luz and Amity, who couldn't help to hold their giggling at the cute scene unfolding before them. "Welp, I'm glad everything worked out." Luz said to her girlfriend.

"Yeah… I agree. I was worried for a short minute, tho." The pink-haired witch said as she tightly held onto Luz's hand like she had done during the whole trip through the forest.

"Me too, I almost died when I heard Vee confessing the truth." Luz said while lowering her voice a bit more to which Amity replied with a soft chuckle.

"I almost choked myself. So I don't blame you." Amity said before she looked at the two walking in front of them with curious eyes. "Do you think… something will happen between those two? Like… their friendship becoming something more…?"

"Maybe." Luz said while shrugging with a wide grin on her face. "Wilder things have happened. I remember a witch that used to hate my guts that now can't let go off my hand!"

Amity blushed harder than before and laughed a little bit. "Yeah, well… get used to it. Cause I'm not planning to let go off you."

"I hope so." Luz said with a blush of her own, gently squeezing onto her girlfriend's hand.

The pink-haired witch smiled as she leaned in to press her lips against Luz's cheek before they continued their journey forward.

Even if the forest was slowly turning dark, they had each other to feel safe. Even when there were a pair of eyes above those trees keeping a close eye on them as they walked past them. They could not hear it… but the feathered stalker made a faint hooting sound in the darkness of Herlock Woods.

End of the chapter.