Today is the third day since Luz has been back in the Boiling Isles, and today is a day she is hoping will bring at least a bit of normalcy back into her life.
The intense thunderstorm has finally moved on, and the damage to the Owl House is fortunately not too severe and therefore easily repairable. A broken window in the kitchen as well as in the bathroom, fallen roof tiles over the entrance to the house to provide Hooty with some shelter from the weather, and a tree crashed into the tower adjacent to the house.
Luz had provisionally repaired the broken windows with ice, Amity had worked with Hooty to repair the tiles on his porch roof, and all three worked together to get the tree back up.
"Whew, that was all pretty exhausting... Hopefully that hole in the tower won't be too much of a problem...", Luz comments, casting a skeptical glance at the hole in which she could certainly stand upright in.
"I did suggest you could use a plant glyph to get the tree back up instead of trying to use your bare hands", Amity smiles as she had watched the battle between Luz and the tree with great amusement, "But yeah, hopefully the hole isn't a threat to structural integrity. Hooty, do you have any idea what's in there?"
Hooty comes rocketing out of the ground, startling Luz and Amity in the process, and shrieks in a shrill voice, "HOOOOOT!"
"Hooty!" yells Amity angrily, while Luz, holding onto Amity, catches a deep breath.
"Hooty, do you know if the hole is going to be a problem? Not that it might cause the tower to collapse...", Luz asks worriedly.
Hooty looks at Luz with an expressionless look before abruptly turning to the side "I hear a bug. Come here bug!" and disappears without further comment. Luz smiles.
"How I have missed him after all. Absolutely not helpful at all."
"Yeah. He has his moments"
"Amity, shall we go see if the others are awake yet? Then we could all explore the tower together" Luz suggests energetically.
"I'd hate to take the risk of waking the others while we'd be checking. After all, there are classes back again today."
As Amity spoke these words, she sees an increasingly large smile forming on Luz's face.
"Uhhh, I'm soo excited to visit Hexside and see everyone else again... This might come across as totally weird, but I even missed Boscha a bit."
"No way...", Amity claims incredulously.
"Oh yeah, it is. Even though I think I'll regret that sentence when I actually meet her later."
Amity and Luz laugh briefly at this remark before Luz looks thoughtfully back up at the tower.
"Say, you up for a mini adventure?", Luz asks with a smirk on her face.
"Always", Amity replies.
"Great", Luz says happily before continuing thoughtfully "I... have to admit, I have no idea where the entrance is"
"I'm shocked", Amity teases her, "Luz Noceda, are you seriously telling me that in all this time you've never been curious about what this mega eye-catching tower is all about?"
Luz just looks at Amity with wide eyes, not knowing how to answer, "Uhh, I don't know."
Amity snorts. "Well, maybe I can give you a little head start..."
"What do you mean?" Luz asks puzzled, to which Amity doesn't reply. She merely starts to walk off around the house. Luz stops in her tracks, confused, before realizing that Amity is no longer standing next to her. "Amity, wait."
The two girls find themselves at the back of the owl house and Amity is standing outside the kitchen of the house with her arms crossed, smiling slightly and an eyebrow raised in anticipation.
"HOW DID I NEVER NOTICE THIS BEFORE?", Luz asks in shock as she catches up to her friend who is standing in front of a stone staircase that leads into the ground.
"Discovered it two weeks ago or so. Seems to be the basement", Amity explains.
"You've been down there before?"
"Not for long. I guess Hooty thought it would be fun to kidnap Em. I had heard her screaming from down here and got her out"
"Why would he do something like that? "
"He went through a phase a while back where he really wanted to help people. I had... asked... him not to kidnap people anymore, even if he had good intentions."
"How was that going to help anyone?! How did Em do after that?"
"We don't talk about that day anymore. But other than that, she seems to have taken it surprisingly well... I don't know if it would be the same for me"
"All right. Shall we?"
Amity merely replies with a quiet "Mhm" before Luz descends the stairs with her and opens the heavy wooden door.
'Oh boy, this looks like the basement at Marcy's sleepover... Only with less corals... And alien ghosts... At least I hope so'
"Luz? Is everything okay?"
"Oh, yeah, absolutely. Just had to think of something... Come on, let's keep going."
As soon as the two girls were in the basement, the door slammed shut behind them. The loud bang of it had given both girls a deep scare. Luz seems to panic a little more to that though
"Okay, so if we go by movie logic now, we're now trapped down here where some crazy guy, probably wearing a mask, is trying to kill us"
"I can debunk that right now", Amity says confidently, "the door has no lock."
"Perfect. Makes this place seem less creepy right off the bat"
They walk just a few more steps and the temperature drops by several degrees and it's getting darker as well. Luz activates a light glyph and the two girls enter a room.
"This looks like... a regular basement", Luz states, slightly disappointed.
"... Maybe... there's some kind of hidden door here somewhere...", Amity guesses.
"Like in the library? Good idea. You check the wall, I'll go through the shelves."
The basement of the Owl House is both full and empty at the same time. There are various filled boxes and baskets everywhere, boxes filled with other boxes, furniture that looks almost as good as new, but also filled garbage bags. And most noticeably, more of the floor is visible than is sometimes the case in the rest of the house.
Amity knocks on various spots on the basement walls while Luz approaches a rather large shelf, standing at one corner of the room, looking for something that might somehow resemble an opening mechanism. She lifts various suspicious-looking objects to test this theory, starting with a very old floor lamp next to said shelf, with some feathers hanging from it. Luz tries to turn on the lamp and when nothing happens, she lifts it up once. There could be a mechanical switch at the bottom. But there is no such thing. Her gaze continues to the shelf to a few older looking clothes. A pink hat with a long yellow feather sticking out of it, a sombrero, definitely from Earth, and a light brown dress with a flower pattern.
'I can't imagine Eda ever wearing this dress. Well, at least not by choice...'
Luz's gaze falls on the row below, where several books are laid on top of each other. They all seem to be books from Earth. One cookbook in particular catches her eye.
"Heh."
"Find anything?", Amity asks.
"More or less. Look."
"'Dominican Cuisine: Recipes from the Caribbean'?", Amity reads aloud.
"My mom has the exact same cookbook. Maybe...", Luz wanders off.
"Maybe?"
"Maybe I should try to recreate dishes from it. Dominican food is really delicious. My mom always made the best Locrio. I'd have to see how I could substitute some of the ingredients, but that shouldn't really be a problem"
"I would be honored to be your food taster", Amity says proudly, to which Luz responds with a smile. However, that smile quickly turns into a sad smile. "Luz, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just... I miss my mom... I wonder how she's doing right now. Her only daughter in another world, who may never come home again"
Amity puts a hand on Luz's shoulder and looks deep into her eyes.
"Luz, I'm very sure your mom is fine. Surely, she misses you and her joy once you are back with her will be endless. Trust me, I speak from experience."
Luz frowns.
"You have kids?" she asks teasingly.
"Shut up", Amity says smiling and Luz smiles again too, turning back to the shelf.
"Oh. My. God... I don't believe it, this can't be", Luz says with huge eyes as she spots a golden box on the shelf.
"A box?", Amity asks.
"Not just any box. This is the same box that Anne, Marcy, and Sasha came to Amphibia with. Marcy had shown me a picture of it... How can it be here?"
Amity doesn't know the answer to that, but doesn't know the context to that either.
"Let's go back upstairs", Luz suggests as she continues to look at the box, "I don't think we're going to find anything here. And this, right now, is a much bigger mystery."
"You won't hear any protest from me. I mean, if the tower hasn't collapsed yet, it will hold until later", Amity agrees.
"Yeah... Exactly... Until later...", Luz repeats distractedly. Amity notices this and snaps a few times in front of Luz's face, which seems to bring her back to reality. She blinks at Amity a few times repeatedly.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Come on, let's go back to the house", Luz says deflectingly.
"Alright..." says Amity, realizing Luz is avoiding her questions, "Let's walk through the kitchen. Ladies first", Luz bows and points toward the exit with an elegant hand gesture, not noticing the small blush on Amity's face.
They head back up the stairs and to the kitchen door before Luz stops in her tracks as she catches a glimpse through the kitchen window and peers all the way into the living room, where she seems to see something interesting. Amity, who has already walked a little ahead of her and is already holding the doorknob in her hand, notices this and leans to the side looking through the window as well.
She asks Luz in a whisper, "What are we looking at?"
"Huh? Oh, umm, Willow's doing pull-ups on that door frame..."
"I think she started exercising a few weeks ago. I think it's awesome."
"My fingers hurt from just watching her", Luz jokes, her face contorted with pain as she tries to imagine herself in the same position, to which Amity gives an amused chuckle.
She enters the house, Luz following her.
"Good morning, Willow", Amity greets Willow, who drops from the doorframe and turns to the kitchen.
"Oh, hey guys... I didn't know you were already awake...", Willow remarks, "Where have you been?"
"We had been repairing some of the storm damage", Amity recounts.
"And I found out that the Owl House has a basement", Luz confesses while holding the back of her neck with her free hand. Willow merely looks at Luz with a questioning look before something else catches her eye.
"And what's that?" she asks, pointing to the golden box Luz is carrying under her arm.
"A mystery that wants to be solved", Luz answers excitedly.
After a brief pause, Willow says, " You will have to explain that to me."
"I'd like to, but first I'd like to eat something", Luz says, putting the box on the kitchen table and going to the refrigerator in search of something edible for her. On Earth and in Amphibia, that was pretty simple: Don't eat anything with lactose in it, and you'll be fine. Even with all the bugs in Amphibia, she had no problems, but here, griffin eggs had always been the only thing she could eat so far.
"Hmm...no griffin eggs... I think I should go to the market later", Luz mutters to herself.
"No way!" interjects Amity, overhearing Luz's soliloquy. Frowning, Luz turns to Amity, "You're the most wanted person in the Isles, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, you' re right", Luz says, genuinely forgot, "I think I need to get my Wanted poster enlarged someday so I can hang it on a wall."
"Luz!", Amity desperately exclaims, "You don't seem to understand the urgency of your situation..."
"Eda had also managed to remain undetected-", Luz argues, before being interrupted by Willow, who is just as concerned as Amity.
"Eda was also one of the most powerful witches in the Isles, while you're just a-"
"-a human... I get it", the now dejected Luz says.
"Luz... we're just concerned for your safety, remember?", Amity states.
"I know. But I don't want to just want to hide in here forever"
"I never said that", Amity says.
"Look, here's an idea", Willow begins, "How about we say right now that one of us is here with you all the time. Then you would not be alone, and on the other hand we could do some shopping for you."
"That's very sweet Willow, but that's exactly what I was talking about. I'd be basically locked in here", Luz says, "And while I love you guys, I don't want you to spend all your time here"
"Maybe we could put an illusion over your head if you want to go outside", Amity suggests.
"Could work", suddenly says a new voice entering the kitchen.
"Hello Gus.", Willow greets him, "I hope we didn't wake you up".
"No, don't worry. I was already up. So was Skara. I think she's taking a shower right now... Anyway, it might work to put an illusion on Luz's head. But not without risk"
"What kind of risk?", Amity asks.
"Well, illusions disappear as soon as you try to touch one. Also, the longer an illusion exists, the more tiring it becomes for the witch in question to cast the illusion", Gus explains.
"Uh, Gus, that reminds me of something I've been dying to tell you", Luz suddenly interrupts him with a renewed better mood, "In Amphibia, I had once tried to create illusions with Glyphs and I never realized how complex that actually is. Generally speaking, the purposeful refracting light to create things without mass is absolutely mind-blowing."
A huge smile emerges on Gus' face, "Aw, thanks Luz. That means a lot to me"
"Actually, that might actually be the solution to this problem" Willow suddenly remarks.
"What do you mean?", Gus asks.
"Well, if Luz can manage to create illusions herself with glyphs, the exhaustion issue won't be a problem anymore. And, she could carry several glyphs with her to cast a new one if she eventually does get discovered", Willow explains.
"Oh titan, Willow, that's genius. Luz, you and I are going to try to come up with an illusion glyph for you later", Gus excitedly suggests.
"How about today in illusions class. And we could continue working after that, too", Luz says, equally excited.
"Okay, okay, so far the plan sounds nice and all, but for Hexside Luz should still have an illusion imposed on her already", Amity prompts.
"Oh, Hexside is no problem. I'm confident about that", Luz says confidently.
"Oh, and what makes you think that someone from Emperors Coven won't suddenly show up there after all?", Amity asks skeptically.
"Simple, when Eda enrolled me there, Principal Bump had promised that I would be safe from them there", Luz replies.
"Okay, fine. But I insist that Gus hide you under an illusion for the way there", Amity demands.
"Deal!", Gus and Luz say in unison and the group now starts to make breakfast. Willow, Amity and Gus make sandwiches, while Luz is still unsure what she wants to eat.
"Luz, would you like to try this? It's a Zwinkelcore sandwich", Willow offers Luz.
"Zwinkelcore?"
"Yeah, it's kind of like a nut, only instead of a hard shell and soft core, it has a hard core and soft shell. Tastes pretty sweet", she explains. Eager to experiment, Luz takes the piece of sandwich Willow offered her and bites into it without hesitation. Fortunately, no one had heard the grumbling of her stomach.
"Oh wow", she says with her mouth full, "this is really delicious. Griffin-eggs, you've got competition now", Luz jokes as Skara suddenly enters the kitchen.
"Good morning. Who's got competition?", she asks as she sits down next to Willow at the kitchen table.
"It's a zwinkelcore sandwich. Willow recommended it to me", Luz tells her.
"Nice. Willow, didn't I just recommend this to you yesterday?", Skara asks. Willow nods with her mouth full, "Glad you like it. So, next question: What's with the box?"
"This... Is a music box... With which you can... Travel between worlds...", Luz explains between bites. Except for Amity, to whom Luz has already roughly explained what it is, the jaws of everyone present are open and Luz continues to eat unbothered, "Woah, this sandwich is soo delicious."
Willow is the first to speak up again "Okay, rewind please... A box that allows you to travel between worlds? How? And how do you know that?"
"Marcy had told me. She had also shown me a photo of where she found the box in the human realm", Luz says.
"You don't happen to have the photo with you?", Gus asks to which Luz gives him a puzzled look.
"Um... you had seen me arrive back here on the Isles, right? I had nothing but my pajamas and Owlbert. Even my phone is still in Amphibia-"
"What's a 'phone'?", Skara asks.
"It's like a human version of a mix between a scroll and a crow that works without magic", Gus explains, before turning to Luz. "Did I explain that correctly?" he asks, to which Luz gives him a thumbs-up, when suddenly a loud and shrill screech fills the room. It seems to come from Gus and the little demon sitting on his wrist.
"Don't worry, it's just my alarm for school", Gus explains, "We should get going soon if we want to be on time for class."
"Good idea", Skara agrees, "and as much as I like our flyer derby outfits, I would reeally want to change before class."
Amity is the first to get up from the table and go change into her school uniform while the rest finish their breakfast. She has always been a fast eater. One of the 'habits' her mother always instilled in her was not to waste valuable time with eating. When she finishes changing and comes back to the kitchen with her bag, Luz goes to her room upstairs to change out of her pajamas into her colorful school uniform as well. Shortly before, however, Amity had asked Luz about something that she found quite strange.
"Um Luz, what is actually with the box now? You said it was a mystery that needed to be solved..."
"That's right. But school is even more important", Luz said with a smile before leaving the kitchen with a rather quick pace.
When she comes back down the stairs, she sees the others with their palismen already standing in the living room by the front door. Before she joins them, she goes to Owlbert first, who is standing on the living room table.
"Well buddy, are you excited about class as well?" she asks. To a soft "hoot" that comes back from him, she replies, "It's okay. I'll see you later", and joins the other witches.
"Isn't Owlbert coming?", Willow asks.
"Nah, he thought it'd be better if someone other than Hooty guarded the box. Just for safety", Luz explains, which the others don't really question. Just Amity frowns slightly.
"Well, then you could fly with Amity. I'm sure she wouldn't mind", suggests Willow, who has to try very hard to suppress her smug smile when she sees how red Amity's face suddenly turns.
"Oukay", Amity squeaks in a high-pitched voice.
Willow now turns to Gus and nods at him once. He draws a circle in the air and white clouds appear around Luz, covering her completely for a moment, but dissipating just as quickly.
"She doesn't look any different", Skara notes.
"Not to us, that's right. To everyone else, Luz looks like a demon from the abomination track", Gus explains, "I didn't really see the need to hide her from us."
"Good thinking, Gus", Willow compliments him, whereupon he smiles happily.
Luz looks down at herself, trying to see what has changed.
"Um, Gus... What do I actually look like right now?"
"Oh, hold on a second…", Gus said, creating another illusion mirroring Luz immediately in front of her. A red demon now stands in front of her. Her legs are distantly reminiscent of goat legs. Her facial shape is largely unchanged, although a pair of small white horns have appeared on her head. As for her ears, only one can be seen, but it is pointed, characteristic of witches, but with a small dent in it. The fact that her other ear is covered is due to the shoulder-length dark brown hair that covers it, while the other side is shaved extremely short to just above the ear. A purple dyed strand as an accent rounds up the look even more.
"Wowser...", Luz is astonished, "I didn't think a side cut would look so good on me..."
The group leaves the Owl House and gets ready to fly to Hexside. Hooty is apparently still busy looking for bugs, as he has still stretched out into the forest adjacent to the house.
Everyone climbs onto their staffs and takes off, while Luz has yet to climb onto Amity's staff and then follow along the others.
'Why does this feel so strange? In the past, when I was flying with Eda, it wasn't so much differ-'
Luz's inner monologue is interrupted as Amity begins to speak, "Say Luz, this box, do you have any idea how it got here to the demon realm?"
"It... it's quite possible that the box never crossed the border between the realms."
"What do you mean?", Amity asks, confused.
"I'd have to elaborate a bit for that. Um, when I was in Amphibia, I broke into King Andrias' palace with Maddie because we had been looking in the royal library for ways for me to get back here."
"Yes, you had mentioned that already"
"I know. But what I hadn't told you before, is that I had discovered a certain book series there that we both know pretty well", Luz teases.
"There was also the 'The Good Witch Azura' series there? How?", she asks somewhat shocked.
"Maddie called that a... a... Oh dang, what was it called again? ... Oh yeah, an interdimensional constant. Kind of like an identical object or person existing simultaneously in multiple dimensions, completely unaware of the other's very existence. That was the case with 'The Good Witch Azura' and I think it's the same here.", Luz explains.
"That makes a fair amount of sense. I mean, it's probably pretty impossible to prove such a theory when no one has been able to cross the border between realms yet. But, let's say the box was made by a witch here somewhere at some point, how did the motif come about. I mean, these things that are depicted on it do not exist here".
"I mean, I'm the first human ever to come to the Isles... At least I think so", Luz said with a slight insecurity within her voice.
"As far as I know, you're the first human here. Do you have any doubts about that?"
"I'm not sure... I can't shake the feeling that it's not true. But I can't prove it.", Luz says thoughtfully.
"Maybe the Titan told you something and the memory is still somewhere in your head."
"It's possible", Luz says, still deep in thought.
"Listen, I have an idea: what do you say we do some research soon? Maybe we'll find out something about other humans here...", Amity suggests.
"You know, I've done almost nothing but research for the last month...", Luz begins.
"Oh...", Amity says with a slightly disappointed tone before Luz continues, "...but I'd love to spend some time with you", and the red color shoots back into Amity's face.
"Me too", Amity squeaks again in a high-pitched voice.
After just a few more minutes, Amity and Luz arrive at Hexside's front area. Willow and Gus are already waiting there.
"Hey guys... Where's Skara?", Luz asks as she dismounts of Amity's staff.
"She already ran to the locker room to see if all our clothes are still there and weren't stolen during the storm. Besides, her first class starts earlier than ours today", Willow says.
"Urgh, you're right...", Luz moans, "Bardology always starts earlier than the rest. I definitely didn't miss THAT, but luckily, I don't have that course until next week", Luz chuckles mischievously.
"Yes, the tough life of bards... Anyway, Gus and I should get going now too. Skara had just texted me that our stuff is in the lost and found. I'll see you later."
Just as she spoke, Willow ran off with Gus, getting progressively quieter as she went. Shortly after, Luz and Amity also went together to the main entrance, before they were stopped by two quite unexpected witches blocking the way.
"Heeey Mittens…", It's Edric and Emira who appeared seemingly almost out of nowhere. Amity figured this would happen at some point today.
"Such a huge storm and our little baby sister completely forgot to check in with us to see how she was doing. We were soo worried about her...", Edric said in his typical playful, slightly sarcastic tone.
"And you promised to help me out for my date...", Emira complained in the same tone.
"I was... busy. And seriously? A date during that storm?"
"Busy?", Emira asked just before her gaze fell on the demon next to her little sister.
"And who's your new illusion friend?", Edric teased.
"How do you know?", Amity asked without thinking, "I mean, n-no one."
"No one? I see. Then I'm sure it won't be a problem if I do THAT."
Emira places her hand on the demon's shoulder and the illusion evaporates. In its place now stands a human girl, saying "Hey guys" somewhat awkwardly as the twins blink a few times in disbelief.
"Good job Luz, you broke them", Amity says with a satisfied look on her face while Luz chuckles. Not long after, Luz finds herself in a bone-crushing hug.
"It's so good to have you back, girl."
"Yeah, we probably missed you even more than little Mittens over there."
As the hug breaks again and Luz is able to breathe once again, she says "I missed you guys too"
"So... Where have you been? What happened? How come you never called? Did Amity already tell you-"
"HEY, don't press her like that!" she interrupts her brother, knowing exactly what he was about to ask her.
Luz chuckles, "It's okay, Amity. Guys, if you don't mind, I'd like to just have a normal day today. Like, totally without interviews, no interrogations, no stress... I just want to experience some normality. I'll tell you about it another day, okay?"
"I'll get back to you on that, sister.", Emira says to Luz with a wink as she and Edric let the two girls through into the school.
But the two girls have barely passed the main entrance when Luz suddenly stops again. She takes one deep, slow breath
"I know I'm already repeating myself, but you have no idea how much I missed this. Those smells that burn your nose if you breathe them in too much, the lockers you have to scratch to open... I just realized I still need my books. Professor Pruda doesn't like it when you don't have all the materials in every class."
And so, the two girls, chatting casually, walked on to their lockers, which fortunately were quite close to each other. However, the relaxed mood was quickly interrupted when Luz suddenly noticed someone standing behind her.
"Principal Bump", Amity greets the person behind Luz. She looks up and sees a scowling Bump, who returns her gaze.
"My office. Now!"
Luz swallows hard and waves goodbye to Amity, who waves back with a concerned look and silently mouthing 'Good luck'.
The walk to his office is spent in utter silence by the two of them, which allows Luz plenty of time to assess her current situation entirely objective and with a neutral perspective.
'Oh no no no. This can't be... After all, I've just got here... Bump isn't going to hand me over to Belos, right? He promised me that nothing would happen to me in here, that I would be safe here. Right?'
Her heart beat is rising.
'I can see it right in front of me: Guards from the Emperor's Coven, are already waiting for me in his office, and they're going to grab me and throw me into the Conformatorium. And I am walking directly into that trap. Why am I doing this? Legs, stop moving! Or at least turn around and run away!'
However, it's already too late for that at this point, because they've arrived at his office. Principal Bump opens the door and Luz cannot see anyone wearing a uniform. In fact, she doesn't see anyone in there. It's empty.
'Okay, no guards... Wait, maybe they' re invisible.'
Luz and Principal Bump enter his office, and he shuts the door behind him, before gesturing Luz to sit down, before sitting down on the other side of the desk on his own fancier chair himself. He takes off his scowling expression replacing it with a concerned look.
He sighs, "Luz... Why are you back?"
"I... I'm afraid I don't understand…", Luz says in response to this rather unexpected statement.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad you're alright. We were assuming the worst at the time after you disappeared"
"You... are referring to the Wanted posters, aren't you?"
He nods slightly.
"Luz, your presence here puts me in a difficult position..."
"Please, Principal Bump, please don't turn me in. I haven't done anything wrong-" she panicked.
"Luz, please calm down. I'm not going to turn you in. If you remember, I promised you that Hexside would be a safe place for you and so Titan help me, I won't let anything happen to any of my students under my supervision"
"Um, about that... Do you know that a few days ago Amity, Willow, Gus, Skara, Viney and I were kidnapped by members of the Emperor's Coven and later by the head of the Abomination Coven?"
"Yes. I was contacted by coven head Darius and he had assured me that the kidnapping was an act of individuals and would not have been related to the covens."
"... And what about the crashed ship? He was going to deliver us to Emperor Belos"
"Oh no, that was apparently a misunderstanding. He was going to take you back to Hexside when the engine failed, forcing the ship to make an emergency landing"
"Oukay, well I'll take that as it is. And if you're not going to hand me over, which I'm very happy about by the way, why am I here then?"
"I'm concerned about your safety. While I am convinced you have done nothing wrong, others may feel differently. I would like to discuss with you ways in which you can continue to maintain your status here as a student without compromising your safety."
Luz ponders for a while until a light dawns on her
"Amity had told me before we flew here that I was only allowed to go outside with an illusion. Maybe we could do that here between classes as well"
"That's... actually a good idea..."
"The problem is that the illusion dissolves as soon as someone touches me."
"Am I right in thinking that Augustus has taken care of the illusion?"
"Yup"
"That boy is truly talented... But I think you'd need another option" Principal Bump says as he gets up from his seat, walks over to a cabinet by the window and rummages around in a drawer before pulling out a dull crystal. He walks back to Luz and shows it to her. "This is an unprocessed concealment stone. A rare relic that can cloak its user in a solid, undetectable illusion"
"Cool", Luz comments with wide eyes.
"But before I hand it to you, it has to be processed. Usually, it's incorporated into jewelry so it's less noticeable. So now this question: what do you want it to look like later?"
"Whew... I think a bracelet wouldn't be bad."
"So be it-" Bump replies, just before Luz interrupts him.
"But before you do anything, would it be possible to make a few additional adjustments?"
"Certainly. What do you have in mind?"
"It would be nice if my friends could see me- as the real me, even when I'm wearing the stone. Gus had also managed to build in exceptions for the illusion"
"That shouldn't be a problem, just will take a little more time."
"Yay, thank you thank you. You're the best, Principal Bump.", Luz jumps up from her chair and is practically dancing around the room already, which puts a smile on Bump's face.
"You're welcome. I'm going to assume that the stone will be ready after class. So, I suggest you stick with Augustus until then".
And so, Luz, happily dancing, left the office and runs to her first class for the day, because officially, class has already started.
The first class of the day is 'History of the Boiling Isles' along with Gus and Willow with Professor Pruda. Fortunately, he is not yet there when Luz enters the room and therefore goes unbothered to her seat. Meanwhile, while Luz was in Bump's office, Willow and Gus had found time to change into their school uniforms. Luz had briefly wondered why Skara wasn't sitting at the bench behind them, until she remembered that she only has this class with her every other week. Who is there anyway, though, is a truly lovely girl with pink hair and three eyes sitting right behind Luz.
"Well, well, well... look who's here again... I was really hoping you were gone for good."
Luz rolls her eyes and Willow is about to turn around to confront her, before Luz stops her.
"Hello Boscha", Luz says coldly.
"Been hiding in your oh-so-awesome owl house for the past month when that owl lady got turned to stone, haven't you?"
By now Boscha has caught the attention of the rest of the class as Luz hears a collective gasp while she herself stares blankly into Boscha's eyes. After a long exchange of stares, Luz begins to talk.
"You know, Boscha... While I was away, I missed pretty much everyone here. Even you. So, thanks for reminding me why you're a bad person."
But before Boscha can respond to that, Luz adds on, "However, when I was trapped in that other world, I had actually met someone who was even worse than you. Her name is Sasha. She killed the adoptive grandfather of her childhood best friend and was almost killed by herself in return"
"Tsk... Is that supposed to impress me?"
"No. But maybe it will help you realize who you better not piss off in the future."
Both Willow and Gus look back and forth between Luz and Boscha with great interest, as Boscha actually seems to be speechless for once. When Professor Pruda enters the room shortly afterwards, all that can be heard from Boscha is "Whatever" and the rest of the class proceeds without any incidents.
This double period is now followed by 'Advanced Healing' with Mr. Hektaria. She took this course together with Viney, who is quite surprised to see the human girl. The two girls are bringing each other up to date on the latest developments. Viney had apologized for not being there when Luz woke up. She had wanted to prepare for a date, which ultimately fell through because of the storm. Although she wouldn't reveal who Viney was going out with, it dawned on Luz in the back of her mind after her earlier conversation with Amity, who it might be. However, she keeps it to herself so she doesn't want to pressure her friend. This was immediately followed by the topic that had been on Viney's mind the most for the past few days: what happened to Luz. Luz only tells her that when she was away, she got physically changed. She tells her about her second heart, but she does not reveal where these changes came from. Viney is not thrilled about this, but after what happened a few days ago, she can accept it.
And just like that, the class was over. The two girls were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice anything about the class itself. The next class was by far Luz's favorite class. 'Abominations' with Professor Hermonculus. And with Amity.
Okay, granted, her performance, since she can't do magic without proper glyphs, isn't the best, but just having Amity there is enough to make it a highlight of her day.
Shortly after Luz entered the room, Amity came running towards her.
"Luz!" cried Amity in relief, "What happened? What did he want from you?"
"Calm down. Nothing happened. He just wanted to talk to me about my safety here. And we came up with a great solution", Luz said with a smile.
"What is it?", Amity asks curiously before Luz looks mysteriously left and right before whispering something in Amity's ear.
"I'm getting a concealment stone."
"Convenient" Amity comments after there's a little more distance between her and Luz again, "I think my mom has one too. Ed and Em do, too. They're pretty rare and apparently quite expensive"
"Had told me that too. I could pick it up after class. And as for the lunch break soon, Gus will take care of my... Disguise"
And eventually this class came to an end as well. Luz had already used the time to try to remember her illusion glyph experiments from Amphibia, that is until Gus shows up at the abomination classroom together with Willow. He restores Luz' former illusion and the group heads to the cafeteria for their lunch break. For the entire time, Gus and Luz had an extremely energetic exchange about illusions and the various concepts behind them, while Willow and Amity just talked to each other at first, but were later joined by Skara, which caused a few angry looks from Boscha. When the break ended as well, the group split up. Willow and Skara went to their 'Advanced Runes' class together, Luz and Gus also headed to their 'Illusions' class, and Amity actually now officially had no more classes for the day. However, she still wanted to spend the lunch break together with her friends.
In the last class of the day, Luz and Gus had been sitting at the other end of the classroom from the beginning of the class, putting forward wild theories and actually just expanding on their theories from the lunch break. The fact that Luz was back in class at all was not particularly noted by the teacher or the other students.
"Luz. Augustus..."
The teacher, Professor Ilora, stood just in front of Luz and Gus's desks shortly after class began and looked down at them disapprovingly. The animated discussion died down instantly, and it was only then that they realized that the whole class was looking at them.
"Yes, P-Professor?", Gus stuttered, suddenly feeling ashamed.
"I think it's very nice that you two are having so much fun right now, but it would do you better to pay attention to the class."
"I am sorry, Professor", Luz began, similarly ashamed, "The thing is, while I was away, I found a possible way to create illusions with glyphs. Okay, so far it's just basic stuff, but Gus here wanted to help me develop that further."
Professor Ilora's stern look is replaced with surprise after Luz's explanation, "That's... impressive. I'd be interested to know how much progress you've made"
"Well, Gus is taking me through the theoretical basics of light manipulation and scalability right now.", Luz explains, after which Professor Ilora gets a little lost in thought.
"You know, this definitely has the potential for an exciting and far-reaching collaborative project. If you two can actually pull this off, it's actually worth some bonus points to me", Luz and Gus can barely contain their excitement, "But... I'd like to ask you to listen to my class anyway, even if you continue working on your project. And keep your voices down", and so, winking, she went back to the front to continue the class.
When this class eventually ended, Luz and Gus were completely unaware of it. Only when a familiar voice spoke, Luz snapped out of her thoughts.
"Luz, Gus? You're still here?"
"Amity? Wait a minute, where is everyone?", Luz asked, startled.
"Class ended twenty minutes ago", Amity explains, to which Gus nudges Luz with his elbow, "I told you illusions were... immersive", to which Luz groans.
"That was the worst pun I've ever heard. I'm so proud", Luz says before eventually turning back to Amity, "What are you still doing here anyway? Didn't class end for you an hour ago?"
"Um, yeah actually it did... Buuut Professor Hermonculus wanted to talk to me about... stuff", Amity lied, which her two friends didn't seem to notice. In reality, Amity sat on the stairs in front of the school for more than the last hour, waiting for the last classes to end. When after a while the person she was waiting for didn't come, she made her way to the Illusion classroom.
Luz and Gus pack up their stuff and leave the room along with Amity.
"Pendejo!", Luz yelled out urgently, startling Gus and Amity in the process, "I totally forgot that Principal Bump is waiting for me."
"Oh yeah, that's right. The Concealment stone…", Amity recalls as the group makes their way to Bump's office together.
"Concealment stone? What do you need that fo-" Gus was about to ask before smacking his forehead, "Nevermind... Forget that I asked"
"Principal Bump had offered it to me, that I could move anywhere freely and without being recognized", Luz recounts.
"But I thought they would just cover little things. And not create a complete fully enveloping illusion", Gus notes, slightly confused. While Luz is not really in a position to make an adequate point, Amity speaks up.
"Yes and no. In my family, these stones are very widely in use. The function of a concealment stone depends on how it is made. The ones you can buy are usually pretreated. An untreated stone, can be specifically customized to a person and their needs."
"Huh, interesting... Do you have one too?", Gus asked further.
"A concealment stone? Yes. My mom commissioned one for me once, but I never used it. I don't even know where it is either", Amity shares.
It's rather convenient that, at this exact moment, they arrive at Principal Bump's office. Luz knocks on the door and almost without delay he opens it.
"Uh, Luz. Good timing... Please, come right in."
Principal Bump steps aside and invites Luz into his office with an inviting gesture of his hand. However, Luz turns to her friends before doing so.
"You guys want to join me?"
"Nah, sorry. I haven't seen my dad in days. I should head home", Gus says.
"That's okay, buddy", Luz tries to comfort him, "I'll see you next week then. And what about you Amity?"
"Sure, happy to join", Amity replies. Luz and Gus say a quick goodbye before Luz and Amity enter Bump's office.
"Luz, your bracelet just arrived", Bump says, standing with his back to the girls. He turns around and holds a golden bracelet in his hand. Oddly enough, he is now wearing a glove as well.
"Principal Bump, one question: what do you need the glove for? The bracelet isn't dangerous, is it?", Amity asks skeptically.
"Oh, no, not at all. This is a safety precaution to avoid damaging the bracelet's identification layer. If I were to touch it without a glove at this point, the layer that ensures the bracelet would only work exclusively for Luz, would be destroyed, or worse, the projected illusion could get out of control."
"You seem to know quite a lot about that", Luz observes.
"Jewelry fabrication is a craft that my family has practiced for generations. My mother was a jeweler, as was her father and his father. My mother also wanted me to go into the family business, but even though I learned the craft, I knew it wasn't for me", Bump recounts nostalgically.
"So, your mother is the last jeweler in your family?", Luz follows up.
"Hmm? Oh, no. I have a couple of siblings who carry on the business. But let's get back on topic. Luz, please put the bracelet on and we can see if everything is working so far", Bump says, handing Luz the bracelet. It is made entirely of gold, the rim is set with various magical gems, and in the center is the large Concealment Stone embedded in the metal.
Immediately after Luz puts on the bracelet, a few illusion clouds burst into existence, vanishing just as quickly as they appeared.
"Hmm? I don't see anything. Luz looks the same as before...", Amity observes.
"Remarkable. Everything is working fine, absolutely perfect", Bump says satisfied. At Amity's visibly confused look, Bump adds, "Luz here had requested for an exception to be made for her friends regarding the illusion."
She looks incredulously at Luz, who nods in agreement and she says with a soft voice, "Thank you", to Luz.
Luz smiles and then turns back to Principal Bump.
"How exactly do I actually look right now?", Luz asks curiously, "I mean, Gus had turned me into a red demon-"
"And that's exactly what's applying right now. Augustus was actually briefly involved in making the illusion", Bump recounts.
"Uhh, that sneaky little... Thank you so much, Principal Bump. I don't know how I can ever repay you...", Luz expresses filled with gratitude.
"It would be enough for me if you don't use the stone to commit any crimes and continue to remain a student here", Bump replies pleased.
"Thank you very much again. You will not regret this", Luz said before she and Amity leave his office again, as well as eventually Hexside itself.
"You know, I actually just wanted to have a completely normal day today. Completely without stress, bad thoughts and so on. But if I'm being honest, today was absolutely fantastic", Luz said as she happily spun in circles several times at the bottom of the stairs outside the main entrance, which in turn made Amity crack a smile.
"Luz, um...", Amity started to say quietly. Unfortunately, too quiet for Luz to hear.
"You know what we should do later? I'm in a great mood to cook right now. I'll make us some Locrio á la Luz later-"
"I'm not coming", Amity said much louder now, and then looked down sadly. "That sounds perfectly fantastic, but I have to go back home today. Ed and Em had been covering for me for the past few days, but officially I'm still grounded."
"Oh...", Luz speaks dejectedly, "I... I see."
"Really?", Amity follows up.
"Yeah, yeah sure. If you came with me now, your parents would probably punish you even more", Luz tries to comfort Amity.
"That too... But the thing is actually, my house arrest only lasts until today, and I should be home at least for at least today. Because tomorrow I have something planned"
"And what's that?"
"Tomorrow is the so-called Bonesborough Brawl and I'm going to participate. It's kind of like an underground combat tournament. My dad used to participate in it and won the champion belt. I want to do that too", Amity tells, filled with confidence.
"That sounds fun...", Luz comments.
"And that's exactly why... um... I would be happy if- if you would... escort me... um... accompany me", Amity stutters.
"But of course.", Luz says excitedly.
"Really?", Amity asks with even more excitement.
"Of course. I'll be your personal cheerleader.", Luz exclaims and Amity's happiness continues to rise steadily until...
"After all, that's what friends are for"
Amity's expression freezes completely for a few moments and her excitement is now replaced by disillusionment. Disillusionment she doesn't want Luz to notice.
"Yeah right. As friends... Um... I should get going then. I... pick you up tomorrow..."
Amity wanted to wave goodbye to Luz before finding herself in a hug. She took one deep breath and the hug dissolved again. Luz, whose enthusiasm and excitement are still unchanged, jumps up and down in joy.
"Oh my god, my first underground fighting tournament... And the illusion still holds as well... This is going to be so awesome... I'm really excited for tomorrow."
"Yeah... See you tomorrow", Amity said and now both girls are walking separate ways.
'Uhh, this is going to be absolutely fantastic. I'd have to go through my clothes. Maybe I'll find a cheerleading uniform. Although, wait... Should I really go there as myself? Without the illusion, everyone will recognize me... Everyone except Amity, because she can't see the illusion... I can only wear the outfit for... for... for her...'
Luz stops dead in her tracks as she thinks a little harder about what she just thought. Startled, she tears her eyes open and yells, "LUZ! YOU FOOL!", turning on the spot and running as fast as she can in the opposite direction.
She runs for quite a while until a certain witch with cotton candy colored hair comes into view.
"Amity! Amity, wait!", Luz shouts, which attracts the attention of said witch.
"Luz? What's wrong?", Amity asks when Luz arrives and leans on her knees, breathing heavily.
"It's been... a really... really long time... since I've run... this much... at a stretch..."
And in fact, Luz was already almost a kilometer away from Hexside when she had just that sudden thought flash. Luz needs a few minutes to take a full breath to recover from the sprint. Amity had also offered her some water in the meantime.
"Amity... What I wanted to tell you...", Luz started sputtering.
"Yes?", Amity asked expectantly.
"I... I had changed my mind."
"You... Oh... You don't want to come with me?", Amity asked heartbroken.
"I do, but... Not as friends..."
Suddenly Amity listens up and her heartbeat increases, "A-as what, then, instead?"
"Um... I... It... Oh boy, I didn't think it would be this hard...", Luz stutters with nervousness, "I... was hoping I... I could go with you... as your... your date?"
Amity merely stares at Luz with open eyes and jar dropped, who in turn merely holds the back of her own neck nervously.
"S-So, what do you say?", Luz asks in anticipation.
"YES! YES! YES! A thousand times YES!", Amity excitement now knows no limits and Luz is filled with immense relief as well. And now Luz is the one who is surprised by a big warm hug. The two girls spin around each other laughing until they lose their balance and fall side by side on the soft floor.
After several minutes of pure joy, Amity asks, "Where has this sudden change of mind come from, anyway?"
"Well... on the way to Owl House I had been thinking a bit and... um... you... I couldn't get you out of my mind. But then I remembered Amphibia and how much Anne and Marcy adored each other and how oblivious they both were, and then I kept thinking about... well... us and just put one and one together".
Luz is a bit embarrassed as she recounts the earlier events, but Amity listens intently with a smile on her face to every word that comes out of her mouth.
"You know... When you were away... I was not well. And I swore that if you came back, that I would ask you out...", Amity tells, while Luz looks at her with big eyes, "And then you came back, back to me... But you were so... broken. I couldn't... But then instead I wanted to be there for you as best I could."
Amity looks up at Luz again and recognizes a few tears in her eyes. But before she could say anything, she found herself once again in a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you", Luz whispers.
The two girls stayed in this position for a while before Amity eventually said she had to go home. So, the two girls went their separate ways again, convinced that tomorrow they would have the best day of their lives.