AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I welcome all of you back to this triple-upload. You get chapters 43-45 at once. After this, the next update will be after I finished chapter 50.
One more thing: From now on, the fic will be rated M, and there is a special content warning for this chapter for 'Graphic Depictions of Torture'. If you want to skip that part, don't read from \&&&/ to /&&&\
"We are in position."
Darcy stands on the balcony of the throne room, their gaze fixed on the island's presumed place of power, partially shielded by huge bones. Amused, they watch as frightened guards the size of insects retreat into the castle in the center of a deep perimeter.
"Your turn.", they say with a chilly voice before taking a few steps to the side, allowing the nine-meter king to take his position. "This is your first and only opportunity to demonstrate our superiority to these primitives. We expect you to slaughter any resistance in there!"
With a serious expression on his face, he turns to Darcy, gripping the hilt of his backup flaming sword tightly in his fist. "No one will be able to stand in my way, my lord."
"But many will try. Make them regret their foolishness!", they order, "And report back when you have found their collections of knowledge. We will then dispatch the Frobots to collect everything."
The two of them hear a mechanical clang from far below them. The drawbridge is being pulled in.
"Go.", Darcy says calmly. A smirk of supremacy spreads across Andrias' face before he casually plunges over the railing, falling almost two hundred meters in a free fall towards the ground.
He hits the square in front of the castle with full force, causing a massive crater of destruction. He stands up slowly and directs his gaze between the two braziers sitting on tall pillars, in the middle of which he sees the bridge still being retracted, and terrified creatures hurriedly locking the gates to the castle's inner sanctum.
"Heh...", Andrias chuckles somberly, the flames of his sword warming the air around him, "This is going to be fun."
He sprints from his impact point and pushes himself off the edge with all the strength available to him, leaping with ease over the rocky spike-strewn moat. He lands at the end of the bridge, which is still retracting, and runs towards the large gates, panting heavily.
With all his strength he throws himself shoulder first against the gates, whose supports have no chance and give way immediately. One door hangs on just one hinge, badly damaged and bent inwards, damaging the wall inside, while the other has been completely torn from its joints, bouncing off two walls like a projectile before coming to rest in two pieces on the floor.
Directly in front of Andrias there is now an entire corridor full of soldiers and guards dressed in white, all armed with nothing but metal spears. Well, minus the ones who have already been caught and killed instantly by him breaking down the doors. Andrias's stature fills almost the entire width of the doorframe as he takes up a fighting stance. The creatures before him clearly terrified.
"Surrender at once, and I shall grant mercy!", Andrias exclaims with an evil smirk on his face.
"Get back to your own world now or YOU will not leave this place alive!"
It's not entirely clear who is speaking at first, until Andrias recognizes three figures further down the corridor who are definitely dressed differently. Surrounded by five what look like purple robots adorned with golden armor stands a slender figure with a tall black hat and black robe, as well as a yellow mask covering his nose and mouth. Right next to him is an old woman whose hair looks like crumbling leaves, and next to her a bald man with a chest-length gray beard.
Andrias quickly realizes, however, that the voice belongs to none of the three. Instead, he notices a tiny creature on top of one of the purple robots with only one visible eye and hair that looks like fingers, which he missed on first glance.
A wide grin spreads across his face. "Don't tell me I didn't give you the chance to escape."
"GUARDS.", the tiny creature yells out, "ATTACK!"
Before even one of the guards can reach the giant king, he swings his sword and decapitates eight of them with a single swing, their heads falling to the floor before their bodies drop as well. Taking the momentum with him, he uses his tail to hurl five more against the gold-covered walls.
Andrias spots several thick vines growing from the walls, creating a barrier in front of him, which he sets alight with a single swing of his fire sword, splitting a guard directly behind it in two.
Boom
One of the purple robots fires a purple projectile, which Andrias easily intercepts out of the air with his free hand and lets explode in his closed fist. Seemingly without a single care.
"STOP HIM AT ALL COSTS!", the little creature screams, now with a hint of panic in her voice.
All five robots now fire their projectiles, all of which he sends back towards the attackers with his tail, creating explosions everywhere.
Step by step, Andrias makes his way forward, using his sword to massacre each wave of guards that dare to come up to him.
The bald man with the gray beard steps forward and places some kind of paper on his skin. His aura looks as if he is on fire.
He storms past the guards, straight towards Andrias. Andrias tries to hit the silent man with his flaming sword, but when he looks up, he sees that he is holding the blade of the sword tensely with his bare hands.
"Impossible...", he whispers under his breath. He shifts his weight onto the blade as plants erupt from the ground and walls once more, grabbing him by the arms and legs, attempting to hold him in place.
The third figure wearing the black robe and tall hat steps directly in front of him and lowers his mask, breathing yellow mist at him. The king begins to cough wildly and his legs give way. His eyes water as he finds himself surrounded by the remaining guards. The tiny creature on one of the robots approaches him.
"Give up!", she states firmly, "You've lost."
"Oh no, far from it.", Andrias says with an angry expression on his face. He stretches his head slightly forward, opens his mouth and forcefully bites the figure in black in two. The legs fall lifelessly to the ground before Andrias spits the top half at the tiny creature's feet.
He rips his plant fixations and raises his flaming sword, with the bald man still hanging at its end, high into the air.
"ENOUGH!", Andrias exclaims furiously before ramming his sword into the ground with full force, not only killing the man instantly, but creating a shockwave that throws everyone else against the walls or simply to the ground with the sound of breaking bones and skulls and blood pouring onto the ground.
Panting heavily through his nose, Andrias straightens up. He doesn't spot any movement from the guards. Instead, his gaze falls on one of the five now destroyed robots, apparently made of purple slime, where he catches sight of the tiny creature, her whole body quivering with fear as she sees the king towering over her.
"Please, have mercy...", she pleads with tears in her eyes and deathly fear in her voice. He looks down at her, apparently thinking for a moment.
"No.", he says, raising a foot that only moments later stomps down on the creature, instantly squashing her body completely.
Andrias lifts his head in search of the old woman with the plant hair, but doesn't find any trace of her. He turns around, his gaze directed towards his path of destruction. Almost a hundred motionless bodies in the corridor behind him. A feeling of pride fills his mind.
"Entrance secured.", he speaks.
"Excellent.", Darcy's voice replies from inside his head, "I'll send the first Frobots to fortify the entrance. Make sure no one leaves this place alive."
"Yes, my lord.", Andrias replies, setting off to explore the corridors and take out anyone who gets in his way. What he didn't realize, however, was how a single boy was hiding during all of this, his body frozen in shock as he watched it all...
"This is Perry Porter, live from the marketplace in Bonesborough."
The reporter's image appears on every crystal ball that has not been destroyed in one way or another in the time since the attack on the city. He looks clearly frightened and seems to be hiding under some kind of counter, with the camera partly showing him and partly sticking out over the counter.
"The city is under complete assault. Three of these- I don't know what to call them- um, flying transporters are hovering above the city, metal monsters roaming the streets, abducting people in broad daylight. Witches and demons alike, elderly people as well as young children-"
The camera glances slightly over the counter, where a group of six metallic creatures are striking the marketplace not far from his position. He immediately ducks back under the counter.
"I had originally counted a total group of fifteen such flying transports.", Perry now whispers into his hand microphone, "In addition to the three above Bonesborough, eight more have broken away from the formation and scattered in all directions, possibly to attack other cities. The rest had made their way towards the Emperor's Castle. Rumor has it that a fatal attack took place there, leaving no survivors. Several Coven Heads are said to be among the fallen. Similarly, there has been no sign of life from Emperor Belos since his big announcement earlier today. It is suspected that the invaders have killed him as well. I strongly advise all those watching to immediately-"
"LIFE FORM DISCOVERED!", a metallic, distorted voice silences the reporter in shock, terror recognizable in his eyes.
The counter under which Perry was hiding is torn from the floor by one of the metallic creatures, and a metal arm grabs him. Perry is lifted into the air, where a red light sweeps across his face. He is paralyzed with fear.
"MALE. FORTY-FIVE YEARS OLD. BIOLOGICAL USE IDENTIFIED. SUITABLE FOR EXAMINATION."
The last thing the camera captures is the creature launching off the ground and abducting a panic-stricken and screaming Perry Porter.
Luz, Amity, and Emira have been sitting in the snow for half an eternity, not speaking a word for quite some time now. Emira, who was the one who cried the loudest for her brother at the beginning, is now totally silent. She is still sitting next to him, but she is no longer looking directly at him. Her gaze seems to have drifted off into nowhere, her face devoid of any emotion.
Amity has grown a little cold over time and has moved closer to Luz, nestling her head against her shoulder. The young witch's eyes are thoroughly red and swollen, and unlike Emira, she can't take her eyes off her brother. The only sounds that interrupt the silence, apart from the occasional gust of wind, are light sniffles from Amity. She still feels like crying, but her tears have dried up a while ago.
In contrast to the other two girls, Luz's attention is divided. On the one hand, she is also mourning Edric, her deceased friend, but at the same time she wants to be strong for her girlfriend and ease her suffering. On the one hand, her gaze wanders towards Bonesborough from time to time, worrying whether her friends have made it out of the Emperor's Castle, and on the other, she sees parts of Andrias' invasion force moving in all directions in the sky above the Isles. On the one hand, she wants to do everything she can to make Amity and Emira feel better, but on the other, she feels incredibly weak and exhausted, and isn't sure how much longer she can stay awake.
"How do we tell Dad?"
Amity's voice cuts through the silence like a sharp knife, catching the attention of the other two girls in an instant.
"Huh?", Emira asks, only just regaining her focus.
"We have to tell Dad what happened here. A-About mom and...", her voice trails off, her gaze falling silently on her brother. Luz notices this and an idea strikes her.
"I could bring him here.", she suggests. Two pairs of eyes stare straight at her.
"What?", Emiry asks confused, still not having gotten an explanation as to what exactly Luz did with Edric earlier, or how she and Amity found her so quickly.
"You two have already done more than enough. Let me help.", she speaks with a slight smile on her lips, "I'll find him and explain everything to him. And don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."
While the older Blight is still trying to understand what exactly Luz is suggesting, Amity thinks about her suggestion for a moment.
"Okay.", she replies quietly after a while, "He's probably at home in his workshop or something."
"Workshop. Got it.", Luz repeats before standing up and taking a few steps back. Amity immediately misses the warmth and security that the girl radiated. "See you in a bit."
Like every time Luz prepares a spell, the golden lightning sprouts across her arms. And usually it's a matter of a few seconds at most, with many flashes moving quickly across her body. This time, however, everything is a whole lot slower. For a whole ten exhausting seconds, the human tries to gather enough strength for a teleport.
And very briefly before she teleports away from the two sisters, Luz could swear that Amity was staring at her with a very concerned look in her eyes.
A short time later, Luz finds herself at the edge of a forest, in the middle of a gravel path where her body can no longer fight her exhaustion. She falls to her knees and hands, dizziness, a throbbing head, and tired muscles plaguing her. The attempted healing spell earlier has drained her of far more strength than any spell before. Granted, it was also the most powerful spell she had ever cast, so her exhaustion didn't come as too much of a surprise.
For several moments, Luz remains on all fours, breathing heavily, her gaze fixed on the ground. It takes nearly two minutes before she's able to lift her head to take note of her position. She looks ahead and recognizes Blight Manor not far in front of her. She has landed directly on the path to the main entrance.
Her gaze scans the length of the path to the entrance.
'Okay... That's fifty meters. Seventy at most...', she estimates between heavy breaths, 'I can do that.'
She makes an effort to stand up, but quickly realizes that she can't do it without support. 'Come on you legs, I need you. I can't let Amity down..."
Her gaze wanders hastily between the trees beside her. Her gaze falls on a branch that she believes could support her weight.
"Perfect."
On all fours, and with increasingly aching hands and knees, Luz crawls across the gravel path. She is all the more relieved when the ground eventually changes from gravel to dirt.
Unfortunately for her, the branch she has spotted is still hanging from a tree, albeit only by a few fibers. She claws at the tree bark and pulls herself up. It takes quite a bit of effort before she manages to reach the branch, ripping it from its mount with no more than a simple tug. She rams one end into the ground with both hands, clings to the branch, and pulls herself up. She puts all her weight on it to check that it doesn't break, which fortunately it doesn't.
"So, step one, done. And now I have to find Amity's dad..."
On shaky legs and with one step at a time, Luz approaches the main entrance of Blight Manor. With every step, she feels her muscles ache, but she pushes on nonetheless.
"For Amity... For Emira... For Edric...", she mutters through her teeth after every single step forward, "For Amity... For Emira... For Edric... For Amity-"
About three meters from the entrance, she freezes in place. A thought struck her.
'I- I said I'd bring her dad back with me... I don't even have enough strength to walk. Urgh, stupid Luz. Stupid, stupid...', Luz takes a shaky deep breath, 'Wait... I don't need to use my own magic...'
Luz breaks off a slightly longer twig from her walking stick and begins to draw circles on the gravel floor. Circle by circle, it becomes clearer that she is drawing a glyph. Her teleport glyph, to be precise.
It took a while. A long while. Drawing each circle perfectly, redrawing things that Luz had accidentally smudged as she dragged her tired feet across the floor.
"Finally...", she thinks to herself as she stands right in front of the door, examining her glyph, "This should take me straight back to Amity and Emira."
She turns to knock on the door when it suddenly opens unexpectedly from the inside. Standing before her is Abdel, the Blights' Abomination butler.
"You heard me talking, didn't you?", she asks, but of course gets no answer, "Yes, all right. I need to see Mr. Blight right now."
Abdel steps aside to let Luz hobble slowly into the house. When a hand suddenly stops her from going any further, she looks up at him in confusion, and then down at her walking stick.
"Oh, yes, I'm just a little tired-", she explains with an exhausted smile. But before she can walk on or say anything, her feet are pulled out from under her and she finds herself in the arms of the Abomination Butler. "Oh, okay..."
Abdel proceeds to carry Luz through the living room and down the stairs to Alador Blight's laboratory and workshop. Abdel stops right in front of a closed brown door. On it is a sign reading 'Do not disturb. Genius at work'. Luz snorts, slightly amused, before she manages to raise her arms and knock.
"Mr. Blight, this is Luz.", she announces. Instead of waiting for an answer, however, she pushes the door open from her semi-recumbent position and Abdel carefully sets her back down on the floor, where she supports herself with her branch cane, steadying herself upright with her legs that are no longer quite so wobbly. "Mr. Blight?"
In his lab, Luz finds him at the other end of the room, his back turned to her. He's wearing thick goggles and appears to be welding on an Abomination soldier. After a few moments, he turns off the device and turns to Luz.
"Is it not customary in the human realm to respect 'Do Not Disturb' signs?", he asks, clearly annoyed, "We have allowed you to stay in our house, and if you can't abide by such simple rules, we may have to reconsider.
"Mr. Blight, the knee is gone.", Luz replies to his lecture. He simply responds with a frustrated snort before turning his attention back to his project.
"I really don't have time for your human jokes-"
"Edric is dead!", she practically shouts at him with angry and exhausted tears in her eyes. Slowly, he turns back to her, removing his goggles.
"What?", he asks in a low voice.
"The Isles are under attack... The knee no longer exists. Edric is dead. Your wife is dead. "
"No- no, it can't be...", he props himself up on a table with both arms, "How sure are you?"
"If you don't believe me, look outside a window and see for yourself!", she challenges him.
He immediately runs off, straight past Luz and Abdel, out of his workshop. As soon as he is out of sight, Luz takes a deep breath.
"Abdel, can you carry me back to the door?", she kindly asks the Abomination Butler. He bows before taking Luz in his arms again and carrying her back to the main entrance.
She arrives at the main entrance, where Abdel sets her down again very carefully. He re-enters the house as she notices Alador practically running down the stairs from the top floor and heading straight in her direction. All the way down, he shakes his head in utter panic, muttering that this can't be true.
"YOU, HUMAN!"
"Luz.", she corrects him calmly.
"It doesn't matter. How do you know that- that they didn't survive? What about Emira? Is she okay? Where is she?", he asks in a panic.
"Mr. Blight, please stand in the circle.", Luz speaks calmly and points to the teleport glyph she drew earlier, "Her and Amity asked me to come get you."
"Mitten was there too? When did she leave for the Knee, please? And why don't I know anything about it?"
Increasingly frustrated with the engineer, Luz raises her voice, "GET IN THE FUCKING CIRCLE!"
Alador does as he's told, and with slow, straining steps Luz walks towards her drawing before dropping onto her knees. She focuses on Luz and Emira and drops forward, activating her spell.
And thankfully, the two of them appear right next to the Blight siblings.
"Dad?"
"Luz!"
The two sisters exclaim as they arrive. Luz herself doesn't notice too much of this, because immediately after their arrival, when Alador runs to the girls in genuine tears, Luz only notices how her body has reached its limit and falls face first into the snow, fainting.
"LUZ!", a terrified Amity jumps up from her seat just as Alador has fallen to his knees in front of Edric suffering from a broken heart. Emira looks questioningly in Amity's direction, who has also dropped to her knees again.
She grabs the passed out girl and rolls her onto her back as fast as she can. She gasps in worry as she discovers blood on Luz's face, just beneath her nose. She scans the girl's body from top to bottom, looking for further injuries, but finds none. Her gaze snaps to Emira, who is already on her way to her, desperate for help.
"Luz, don't do this to me-", Amity pleads, again with tears in her eyes and overcome with worry, "Please don't leave me too. I- I- I could not survive this. Please..."
Emira sits down wordlessly next to her completely terrified little sister and feels Luz's wrist for a pulse.
"She's alive.", she speaks without any emotion in her voice, "Viney had taught me some simple diagnostic spells once. I can find out what's wrong with her."
She doesn't wait for any reaction from her sister and immediately draws her magic circle before Amity can say anything. She holds her hands directly over Luz's body before a light shockwave emerges from her body which, with the force of a mild breeze, stirs up some snow. Nevertheless, enough reason for Emira to break off her spell.
"What the-", she asks, "Is that a human thing?"
Amity merely shakes her head. Emira tries again and once more a shockwave escapes her body, but Emira manages to maintain her spell and finishes examining the girl.
"Exhaustion.", Emira replies after a few seconds, "Poor thing is completely out of it. I'm sure she's fast asleep."
"But- the blood-"
"She overexerted herself.", Emira explains, "She'll be fine."
Amity feels a little better, but at the same time her mind is full of new questions. What happened at Blight Manor? Has Luz not slept in too long? When was the last time she ate? When was the last time she had water? Have all the teleport spells drained her Luz so much? Is that why she couldn't help Edric? All these questions to which she has no answer. Her mind is also so preoccupied that she doesn't even notice how Emira has got up again and returned to her father, who is holding the lifeless body of his son tightly in his arms with silent tears streaming down his face, mumbling things in his ear.
Some time passes, during which nobody talks. There's no need for anyone to say anything. Amity, still full of worry, grief, and guilt, has one of Luz's arms pressed so tightly against her as if she's afraid she'll just roll away. She flinches as she suddenly feels a hand touch her shoulder.
It is Emira. With a simple movement of her head, the older sister gestures to her father, who is carrying Edric tightly in his arms. No words are needed to convey that it is time to leave. The youngest Blight merely nods.
Amity lets go of Luz's arm, stands up, and creates an abomination that carefully picks up the unconscious girl in its arms.
"-mmmity?", she hears her murmur shortly after the group has begun their walk back.
"Go back to sleep.", Amity gently whispers to her. Hearing Luz talk sends a massive weight off her shoulders, but she also knows that Luz needs to recover her energy. Their world is in danger, and without Luz, she doesn't think they have a chance of getting through this alive.
Panicked and completely overcome with fear, dozens upon dozens of guards come running towards them across the bridge, not giving a single thought to the small group moving away from the castle instead of towards it. It probably wouldn't have made any difference if Gus hadn't put illusion disguises on the six of them, because no one seems to pay any attention to them.
Even as they were carrying the exhausted Raine Whispers in their arms out of the main entrance, they could already see the slowly approaching reason, hovering far over the ground, gradually approaching the castle.
"Go faster!", Skara urges the other five of them, "I don't want to be here when that thing arrives."
"Get between the trees. I can't do anything here!", Liwin urges them urgently as soon as they have reached the end of the bridge. As quickly as possible, given the limitations of Raine's condition, they run across the square and hurry back up the wooded hill just as quickly. Skara, who has some of the best hearing of the group, is startled when she hears a bang in the distance. The others don't seem to have noticed as they just keep walking. Skara, on the other hand, turns around at some distance and notices dust in the air from between the trees in the exact spot she was just in. She gasps softly and presses herself against a nearby tree, and from there continues to watch covertly. The dust settles quickly, revealing a huge-looking blue creature with a sword made of fire in its hand.
In shock, she watches as the creature stands up, takes off running, and leaps over the partially retracted bridge, tearing down the castle doors with full force. When Skara suddenly notices a touch on her shoulder, she almost jumps out of her skin. Fortunately, it's only Willow, who hurriedly gestures to her to catch up with the others. The bard witch nods, casting one last fleeting glance in the direction of Castle before following her to the others.
Quickly, and without realizing it, hand in hand, they quickly rejoin the others. As soon as Liwin realizes that they are all present, she draws her magic circle and all six of them find themselves completely enveloped by plant leaves only moments later.
When they reappear a few minutes later and break out of their decaying plant cocoons, they are surprised to discover that Liwin has not sent them back to their previous hiding place as originally planned. Instead, they find themselves in a kind of reception room, where the leaf capsules have completely destroyed some of the white floor tiles on their arrival.
"Wait, where are we?", Katya speaks up.
"My clinic. I need to treat Mx. Whispers.", Liwin replies firmly.
"I already told you... Ugh, you can call me Raine...", they say with great effort in their voice.
"And what about Ruby? And Derwin?", Katya asks anxiously.
"And what about Luz and Amity?", Skara also speaks up, "I saw one of those attackers storm the Emperor's Castle. What if they were still inside?"
"Luz is definitely not going to let anything happen to little Blight. And I think you know how strong that girl is.", Liwin explains as she helps Raine stand. "They might even be at the hideout already."
Willow, Skara and Gus exchange doubtful glances while Liwin and Katya help Raine into another room.
"Do you believe that?", Gus speaks up with a look of concern and worry on his face, similar to that of his friends.
"She's right about Luz's strength.", Skara tells, "It wasn't long ago when she, Amity, and I had to make sure that Galdorstones didn't fall into the hands of the Emperor's Coven. She almost single-handedly melted the ground and destroyed the stones."
"What-stones?"
"Magic-amplifiers.", she explained quickly, "My point is that they definitely made it out. They just have to..."
Willow, who hasn't said anything yet, grabs Skara's hand, and walks with her a few steps to a couple of chairs against a wall and sits down with her. Gus follows, but remains standing.
"You're really scared for them, aren't you?", Willow asks gently. Skara's head snaps up and she looks the plant witch in the eye.
"I didn't say-"
"I know.", Willow replies. A moment of silence envelops the three of them.
"Willow and I have known Luz for quite a while now. And every time she's done something crazy or not thought things through, she's always managed to keep her friends safe in the end. I should know, I'm one of them."
Skara chuckles at that. "Is that why you're so calm right now?"
The conversation ends quickly as Liwin and Katya rejoin the others.
"Okay everyone.", Liwin gets everyone's attention, "I have to take care of Mx. Whisp- umm, Raine. In the meantime, I need you guys. Katya and Gus, I want you to go to the hideout and bring Ruby and Derwin here. Luz and Amity too, if they're already there. We need the recording of Belos' speech. Willow, Skara, I need you to be my eyes and ears on what's happening out in the city right now."
The four of them make their way to the exit before Liwin speaks up again. "Wait.", they look at her, "Be careful."
The four of them immediately step through the blue illusion wall covering the entrance to Liwin's clinic. Their eyes are immediately drawn upwards to a large gray structure hovering uncomfortably close to some roofs above the ground, propelled by hot blue flames shooting out of four pylons with unimaginable power. The soundscape is a mix of pained and panicked screams coming from all directions, explosions, and ear-piercing mechanical roars, all of it loud enough that it is impossible to understand spoken words.
After a confident nod, they split up. Katya and Gus walk, as their destination is not too far away, while Willow and Skara take out their staffs and immediately ascend high into the air to get a good look at the city. The higher they climb, the more the screams and booming fade and the more they are confronted with a picture of horror.
The two girls spot a total of three such gray structures hovering over Bonesborough, from which swarms of metallic, dark gray creatures fly in and out. They notice how individual massive fires rage in the town and light projectiles explode through the streets below them. Everywhere they look, these metal demons are attacking their hometown. Outside the borders of Bonesborough, things are no better. At their height, they can see as far as Latissa, which also has one of these structures hovering over it.
Skara feels paralyzed with shock until she notices a shaky hand on her shoulder. She looks at Willow, whose gaze is fixed on something far away, pure horror in her eyes. Skara tries to follow her gaze and gasps when she notices it.
"I-It's gone...", she mutters, "How is that even possible?"
Before either girl can react in any way, they hear a massive explosion and see a fireball coming in their direction. They immediately grab their staffs and fly away from it as fast as they are physically able.
Willow is the first to look down and recognize the source of the explosion.
"That was the Police Precinct.", she realizes.
"Please tell me this is all just a nightmare!", Skara demands with tears in her eyes. Unfortunately, Willow has no answer. All she feels is the urge to hug the bard witch tightly.
"SKARA! WATCH OUT!", Willow suddenly yells and pushes her own and Skara's staff down vertically, just before something explodes right behind them. Terrified, Skara's head snaps in all directions before she discovers a small group of metal demons flying towards them with their weapons drawn.
The two girls fly straight down to the ground, with their pursuers right behind them. They get faster and faster, but they easily keep up, shooting at them with what looks like light weapons.
"WE WON'T LOSE THEM!", Skara yells against the flying wind.
"FIGHT THEM!", Willow yells back, "I CAN'T DO ANYTHING AT THIS HEIGHT!"
Panicked, Skara seeks options as the ground gets closer and closer. Summon an instrument? Far too dangerous in flight. Outmaneuver them? Not possible either.
"DO SOMETHING!", Willow yells in increasing panic.
"Uh, uh...", Skara mutters, just before she grabs her staff and performs a hundred and eighty degree turn almost on the spot, now directly facing the attackers. She brings a hand to her mouth and whistles with as much strength and breath as she has, creating a shockwave that sends two of the pursuers crashing together, ending in an explosion in the sky. The bard witch turns her staff again and joins Willow once more. "TWO OUT! THREE REMAINING!"
"CAN YOU DO THAT AGAIN?"
"NOT RIGHT NOW!"
The two witches get closer to the ground near the city limits, their pursuers still shooting at them. They race into the forest at high speed, hoping to outmaneuver their pursuers. Willow turns around after a short time, only to realize in horror that they are metal demons simply bursting through the trees.
"Fuck...", Willow mutters. "SKARA, DO YOU TRUST ME?"
"YES.", she calls back faster than she expected. Willow offers her a hand, which she immediately accepts. She pulls the bard witch closer to her before casting a spell on her staff, which jumps over to Skara's as well. "DOWN!"
Both of them push their staffs down almost vertically and Skara squints her eyes while Willow prays that her spell works. The ground is approaching extremely fast, but instead of hitting it and crash and possible die, they plunge into the earth as if it were water surrounded by a protective screen of leaves and roots.
The two witches now fly straight through the ground at the same high speed. Skara hesitantly opens her eyes, with only the green glow of her staffs as a source of light. As they're slowing down slightly, Skara speaks up.
"Wow..."
Willow just chuckles at that. The bard witch continues.
"How is that even possible?", she marvels.
"Don't ask.", Willow replies. Skara spots a few beads of sweat on the plant witch's forehead. "Here left. We'll fly straight back to the others."
A moment of silence envelops the two witches, the only sounds the steady rustling of the leaves and roots of their cocoon.
"I'm scared.", Skara admits.
"Me too."
"... Welcome to the Boiling Isles. I'm looking forward to our meeting."
Silence enveloped the group gathered around Raine, listening to Ruby's recording of Belos' speech. Katya, Gus, Ruby, and Derwin had just returned from their retrieval mission, and Liwin was more than eager to hear what the Emperor had to say. At the entrance to the clinic there was almost a fight with a coven guard, who fortunately quickly revealed himself to be Steve.
"This is bad...", the Chief Healer remarks thoughtfully.
"Is it just me or did I just hear Luz shout 'what'?", Gus asks, but his question is completely ignored. Katya speaks up.
"This is an open attack on the whole Isles. On the way to the hideout, we saw these metal demons attacking and kidnapping people."
"This King Andrias must have some kind of agenda. It doesn't make sense that he just shoots randomly at anything that moves.", Raine notes, "Maybe he's kidnapping all these people to study magic. Although that's definitely not something I want to picture. We do need more information."
"Luz once mentioned a King Andrias.", Gus speaks up, whereupon several pairs of eyes look at him in surprise, "Some time ago, she disappeared into another world without a trace. When she came back, she mentioned the king, who she thought felt very much like Belos himself."
"Could they have made a deal?", Derwin speaks up, "Emperor Belos and this Andrias guy?"
"What would Belos have to gain by simply handing over his own people to an enemy power like that?", Steve asks skeptically, "I'm sorry, but I don't see the point of this."
"What else could it be?", Raine asks, "I worked for Belos for a while until I got caught. It wouldn't be like him to just give everything up and throw in the towel."
"In his speech, Belos talked about a meeting. Maybe it was this meeting that got him killed. After all, it was only a few minutes after his speech that the knee was destroyed...", Ruby reports.
"WHAT?", several of them ask in shocked unison. Ruby looks at them in confusion.
"Don't tell me you guys didn't notice..."
Gus decides to split off from the group after a while, believing that all this pure speculation is not going anywhere.
He walks back to the chairs in the reception area, where he sits down and pulls out his scroll.
WITCHCHICK128, LUZURA_THE_HUMAN_WITCH
Guys, where are you?
Please tell me you made it out of the castle in one piece.
The young illusionist looks at his scroll for minutes, inwardly hoping for an answer. And admittedly, he is terrified. Merely two hours ago, he could never have imagined that he would be in this situation now, that the Boiling Isles would be attacked by a foreign army and that he would have no contact to his friends, or his-
'Dad...', he thinks to himself, just before something abruptly moves in the holes in the ground. Seconds later, two cocoons sprout up, quickly releasing Skara and Willow. The two of them look to him like they've just been through hell.
"Are you... okay?", he asks anxiously. They take a couple second just to breathe.
"I think if Skara hadn't been with me, I wouldn't be standing here now.", Willow reports with a slight exhausted smile on her face, "She was really my lucky charm today."
"You're one to talk.", Skara replies, "This witch here cast a continuous spell that allowed us to fly with our staffs through the ground as if it were air."
Gus notices a slight blush on Willow's face. Skara continues.
"Okay, I'm going to tell the others what we saw. You get some rest!", Skara orders the plant witch.
"Whatever you say, lucky charm.", Willow replies smugly, which brings a slight blush to Skara's face. The bard witch immediately moves away, while Willow drops onto a chair next to Gus, exhausted.
"What did I miss?", she asks casually.
"Still no sign of Luz and Amity.", Gus reports, "I've texted them, but no answer yet. Right now, I'm scouring the news for any sign of them..."
"Didn't Amity mention that her mother and siblings are- were on the knee?", Willow throws into the room, whilst Gus is completely fixated on his scroll.
"Gus?", She touches him on the shoulder, but he doesn't react. He seems frozen. "Gus?", she tries again with a tiny bit more urgency in her voice, but this time she notices a tear flowing down his cheek.
"They- they took my dad..."
"Oh really? You really expect us to believe that you, the great General Yunan, didn't let yourself be captured on purpose?"
"But it's true! ... The situation was completely hopeless. Thirty-five frobots stood between me and my target: one of the armories on the fourth floor. All I had were my battle-hardened hands... and my trusty blades. They spotted me immediately and I charged forward. One by one, I mowed down the robots while being shot at with everything they had. Lasers, missiles, and they were always trying to disarm me. But I was too quick. Then, the missiles hit me and I went down, the rest of them locked me in place. I lost at least three limbs in the fight, but I kept my fighting spirit despite all of that!"
"So it wasn't you who, when she was locked in that cell with us, made absolutely no sign of trying to free herself from her chains?"
"And it just so happens that you are currently completely unharmed? Not even your armor has any scratches. Also, do I see some dust on your shoulder pads?"
"... Shut up Toadstool! I locked you in this cell myself. So you have no business here! And you Grime... what was that with you again? You gave yourself up to save your self-appointed foster daughter from the vindictiveness of the Toad Council. Wasn't that the case?"
"Well look at that. The great Toad Captain-, the tyrannical ruler of Frog Valley has a heart... How touching…"
"Shut up Toadstool!"
The three of them have been sharing a surprisingly large cell for quite some time at this point, one that was probably meant for either larger beings or far more people. There are hundreds of other such cells on this and on two other floors, most of them empty. Usually, only traitors and particularly dangerous criminals were imprisoned in these cells, while minor crimes were dealt with outside the palace.
The cell walls are made of solid brown stone, as are the ceiling and floors. In one wall there is a massive steel door, too heavy to be moved by just one person. Not that this is even theoretically possible with the three prisoners in this cell.
General Yunan, the relative newcomer, is chained to the wall with both arms high up, making it impossible for her to even sit down. Only at mealtimes is one of her arms released.
Fredrick Toadstool has been here the longest after his capture by Yunan before the war between Frogs and the local Toad Army. Since then, he has visibly lost body mass. And since he poses no danger whatsoever, he is also the only one who is not directly chained to anything. He only wears handcuffs.
The former Captain Grime seems to be the only one who has made peace with his current condition, while Yunan is still full of energy and Toadstool would have no chance of pulling anything off anyway. Nevertheless, Grime is also wearing reinforced handcuffs and a barred muzzle, which distorts his voice slightly and prevents him from trying anything with his powerful tongue.
"Anyway...", Toadstool begins, "What's it like outside now? Been a while since anyone's told me anything. "
"The girls are gone, right?", Grime inquires as well.
"Things don't look good. Andrias has turned the continent into a wasteland.", Yunan reports somberly, "And Frog Valley no longer exists."
"What?", Toadstool asks, not believing his ears. Yunan continues.
"It wasn't long after the girls disappeared- I don't know where they are, by the way- that Andrias ordered a major attack on the valley. He burned everything down. Every village, every house, every tree... Everything."
"Oh... Toadie...", Toadstool mutters, a tear rolling down his cheek. Yunan and Grime look at him questioningly before he continues, "When I was still mayor, he was my right hand. And my left. And my legs... He was my closest confidant. He- he didn't deserve such an end."
"And what about Sasha? And Anne? And the other one?", Grime asks bluntly, completely ignoring Toadstool's emotional state, "They can't possibly have disappeared. I should know, after all I arrived in Newtopia with them.", he practically shouts at the top of his voice. Yunan takes a deep breath.
"Anne and Sasha... If they were lucky, they're dead.", Grime's breath catches in his throat as Yunan continues, "As for Master Marcy... For her, I wished she was dead instead of what she is now."
"What do you mean 'instead of what she is now'?"
The three of them suddenly hear the sound of metal pounding in the corridor outside their cell. Yunan tries to make out what is happening outside.
'Change of guard? More prisoners?', she gasps inwardly, 'They can't possibly have found Livvy yet...'
The footsteps get closer and closer.
"Four Frobots... And something smaller...", Yunan whispers. The footsteps stop right in front of her cell, three pairs of eyes fixed on the door.
The door snaps open as if it weren't made of half a ton of solid steel. In front of it, two dark gray Frobots peer into the cell with glowing red eyes and evil glares. They step in and to the side, revealing the small figure Yunan had just heard.
"We heard you talking about us...", Darcy speaks up, wearing a diabolical grin on her face. All the orange eyes on her helmet glow up in glee.
"Bu- wha-", Grime tries to find the right words for what's going through his head. Instead, he just keeps glancing back and forth between them and Yunan, who in turn stares at them with absolute hatred in her eyes. "What is that?"
Darcy turns his gaze away from Yunan and looks at Grime instead. A shiver runs down his spine. "We are the Core, the ruler of the Amphibian Empire... and your nightmare."
"Amphibian... Empire?"
"They took control over Marcy's body.", Yunan adds, emphasizing her disgust with every word, "What do you want?"
"We want you to tell us where Lady Olivia is hiding!"
"I'd rather die!", Yunan exclaims, at which the grin on Darcy's face only widens.
"We were hoping you would say that.", they speak euphorically before turning their attention to the Frobots. "Take her! The other two as well. After all, such an important day deserves an audience."
The two Frobots release Yunan from the wall and force Toadstool and Grime to their feet, practically pushing them past Darcy and out of their cell. Because Toadstool hasn't stood for a very long time, he can't hold on after the push and hits the opposite wall head first.
Darcy chuckles at that while Yunan and Grime look down at him worriedly.
"Pick him up!", Darcy orders sternly. But as one of the Frobots makes his way to the former mayor, Darcy stops him. "No. You two will carry him!", they point to the Toad and Newt. They hesitate for a moment before deciding that it might be better to comply after all. With difficulty, they each grab one of Toadstool's arms.
"Ow, my skull...", he grumbles. Yunan discovers blood on his forehead.
"He's hurt."
"Don't care. Pick him up and then that way!"
Grumbling, they do as they're told. They lift Toadstool onto his weak legs and walk slowly past all the empty cells, escorted and guarded by four Frobots and Darcy.
"What is- ngh- today such a- ngh- important day for?", Yunan asks, straining with every step. Darcy, who walks directly in front of them, snaps her head back a hundred and eighty degrees, while the rest of her body continues unchanged. The cracking sound that resulted brings up the bile in all three captives.
"Today is the first day on which we celebrate the conquest of a new world and incorporate it into the great Amphibian Empire."
"A new world? -ngh- How is that even- ngh- possible?"
"You are about to see everything we allow you to know. Just be patient.", Darcy replies. They appear excited.
An extremely tiring ten minutes later, the group finds themselves no longer on a stone or marble floor, but on a metallic one. The room itself they are in is quite dark, and the sound of crying and whimpering is ringing in their ears. Suddenly the light comes on.
"Welcome to our laboratories!", Darcy exclaims euphorically.
The light in this room is blindingly bright, which is why Yunan, Grime, and Toadstool all squint their eyes at first. They need a moment to get used to the light.
As soon as they open their eyes again, they perceive the laboratory for the first time. The walls are covered in dark metal panels with copper pipes running along them. There are monitors of various sizes hanging on the walls, three gleaming white metal tables right next to each other in front of them, and to their left is a large cage containing an estimated fifty large creatures that look very much like the three humans they have already met.
"Are they... humans?", Yunan asks with terror in her voice.
"No. According to Marcy's records, they are witches.", Darcy explains, "-able to perform magic."
Completely speechless, the three prisoners look at the witches, who have been crammed into a room so small that they can't even sit, and have been standing there for who knows how long. Among the prisoners they discover beings of all ages, from those who have already lived a lifetime to children who remind them very much of Anne and her friends.
"They're not fighting back.", Yunan remarks quietly, "Why aren't they fighting back?"
"Because they saw what happened to the first group that fought back.", Darcy replies as the large main monitor turns on. It shows the same cage, but filled with other people. A video starts showing one of the witches casting a spell and trying to break out. Without warning, the Frobots guarding them opened fire on all the prisoners, killing every single person inside.
"YOU MONSTER!", Yunan yells with all her might, "LET THEM OUT NOW!"
"Or else what?", Darcy glares at the Newt. Yunan doesn't answer, "The only way you can help them is by telling us where Lady Olivia is."
Yunan's eyes widen. Her gaze wanders to the imprisoned, who stare at her with pleading looks.
"Your decision.", Darcy explains. After a few moments, Yunan squints her eyes and shakes her head. "Alright, let's start the first dissection then."
\&&&/
From the ceiling, a powerful grappling arm descends into the tall roofless cage and grabs one of the witches by the neck. A woman no older than Yunan herself, screaming in pain.
"STOP IT!", Grime yells with all his might as the woman is taken to one of the tables and dropped like nothing more than a piece of worthless meat. More grappling arms extend from the table itself, grabbing her arms and legs and holding them firmly in place. She is still screaming, though no longer in pain, but in fear. Darcy approaches her.
"So, what do we have here? Witch, female... twenty-eight years old, judging by the first scan. We very much like your white hair...", Darcy speaks with a morbidly gentle tone, which seems to have minimal effect as the woman has stopped screaming. "What is your name?", they ask.
"E-Elaine.", the woman replies in fear, "Please let me go. I haven't done anything to you."
"Elaine... Please explain how your magic works.", Darcy asks in a fake friendly tone.
"I-I'm an obstetrician. I specialize in healing magic. I can't do anything more than that."
"Explain."
"My- my wrist.", Elaine states. The claw holding her arm turns it slightly upwards so that a slightly glowing image of a purple cross can be seen, "This sigil limits my abilities to healing magic only."
Darcy's gaze wanders to the other captives, where she spots similar sigils on several of them. She gets an idea.
"Then let's see what happens if we remove this seal.", Darcy's voice takes on a sinister tone again. Elaine's face tenses in fear when she suddenly sees Darcy holding a scalpel. She pulls as hard as she can at her restraints and screams at the top of her voice as Darcy stabs her skin with the scalpel without anesthetic, cutting around the seal and tearing the skin from her flesh.
After this first of these "experiments", things were no less brutal and painful. Darcy collected a blood sample by cutting open Elaine's forearm with a blunt knife. They removed the skin around her lower leg to take a sample of muscle tissue. When her screaming eventually became too much for Darcy, another grappling arm came out of the table and simply ripped the tongue out of her mouth. They removed her forearm with a saw and put it in a jar of some kind of liquid. They did the same with her other forearm, but instead of using it for anything, Darcy just threw it away.
And through all of this, the woman was fully conscious. It wasn't long before she succumbed to her injuries. But right after Darcy realized her victim had passed away, the grappling arms released and a Frobot joined the table. It grabbed her body and simply threw her across the room, clearing the table for another victim. The next one was a little boy, no more than ten years old.
The boy, named Alexius, had been crying since the moment Elaine was taken out of the cage. Perhaps they knew each other.
The grappling arms also bound his joints to the table, but before they started to do anything, Darcy returned her attention to Yunan.
"Where is Lady Olivia?", she asked again. And as hard as it was for her not to say anything and as much as the boy pleaded with her with his eyes, in the end she just shook her head.
Fortunately for the boy, his suffering was only brief. Darcy laughed diabolically as they tore the hair and scalp from his skull, crushed his head open, and removed his brain from his head.
The next victim was a man, estimated to be sixty years old, and the whole procedure was repeated. Darcy asks, Yunan doesn't answer, and Darcy begins to torture the man in the worst agony while Yunan, Grime, and Toadstool were forced to watch helplessly.
Not long afterwards, Darcy took them back to their cell. None of the three are able to say a word after what they have just witnessed. They all had to watch living, feeling beings being held like cattle in a cage before five of them were tortured to death in agony right in front of their eyes.
/&&&\
"My... my mother's name is Elaine...", Toadstool eventually speaks up. "I haven't seen her for twenty years..."
"Why not?", Grime asks uncharacteristically quiet.
"I don't know..."
Silence falls once again in the cell, but it is short-lived.
"Why- why didn't you say anything?", Toadstool asks silently, "Why didn't you just say where she was hiding?"
"I... I wanted to.", the general speaks up, tears flowing from her eyes, "I really wanted to."
"But?", Grime asks.
"There's too much at stake.", she replies in a broken whisper, "I hope she'll be able to forgive me."
Luz's eyelids hang heavily over her eyes, while her mind slowly but steadily begins to wake up. For a moment, she feels completely disoriented and remembers nothing of what happened previously.
She realizes that she is lying on something.
'A bed? No, a bed would be softer... It can't be the floor either, it wouldn't be as comfortable. Could be a couch...'
Luz's train of thought is interrupted when she suddenly hears the rustling of paper.
'I'm not alone.', she thinks to herself, surprised. A few more moments pass as Luz tries to gather enough strength to open her eyes.
"Luz?"
'Amity?', she thinks, the memories come flooding back into her mind. 'The knee... Edric...'
"-mmity?", Luz slurs as she manages to open her eyes, her voice definitely not yet recovered. The very first thing she notices is a ceiling made of wooden planks with a single lamp in the middle, emitting a dimmed, soft, and warm light. Her gaze wanders a little further down. The walls are made of whole logs, which gives the whole room a very cozy log cabin atmosphere.
Her gaze wanders further and yup, Luz is lying on an old but high-quality-looking brown leather couch. She realizes that her legs are resting on Amity's lap.
"You're awake... How are you?", Amity asks, closing a book she must have been reading earlier. Luz looks at her for a moment while a feeling of sadness fills her heart. Her girlfriend's ears hang lower than she has ever seen them before. They usually flutter slightly when she and Luz are together.
"What happened?", Luz stammers, trying to avoid the question. Amity breaks their eye contact, resting her head back against the back of the couch, and falls silent for a moment.
"I wish you could tell me.", she replies in a broken whisper, "You and Dad showed up together and you just collapsed... I was so scared"
"I'm sorr-"
"Don't!", Amity interrupts her, not even looking at her. Luz looks over to her though where she spots tears streaming down Amity's cheeks. "Luz, I lost my brother today. My mother is dead... And when I thought you were-", a lump catches in her throat. She looks at Luz again, "What were you thinking? Luz, you're not immortal!", Amity accuses her through angry tears, while the half-human averts her eyes in guilt. She takes a shaky breath.
"I- I tried to bring him back. Really, I tried. I used absolutely every bit of magic I had...", Luz tries to explain, "And- and if it had worked..."
"That's what I mean!", Amity snaps back, "You risked your own health! And for a cause that- that- that... wasn't worth it."
"Hm, that sounds familiar.", Luz replies, which throws Amity completely off track, "The Brawl.", she explains. Amity's eyes widen.
"That's- You can't-", she stutters sheepishly before falling silent. Luz fills her silence.
"Back then, you risked everything to win the Champion's Belt. You didn't listen to any reasoning back then either. You were completely focused on your goal and ignored everything else. I still have the image of you in the healer's tent in my head, and how badly injured you were."
"I... completely forgot.", Amity admits after a long moment of silence, "I'm sorry I overreacted like that."
"Are you apologizing for now or for then?", Luz asks quietly. But before Amity can answer, Luz speaks up again. "You know what, forget it. It doesn't matter."
Straining, she takes her legs off Amity's lap and sits up, right next to her with her head on Amity's shoulder.
"But-"
"No buts. There's nothing to be forgiven for.", Luz speaks softly, "You have every right to feel that way. After all, I was once in pretty much the exact same place."
"Luz...", Amity takes Luz's head from her shoulder to look her straight in the eye. But she avoids her. "I- I've never told anyone- not even Willow or Gus or- or E-Eda knew about it..."
'Eda...', Amity remembers, guilt spreading through her mind, 'She had lost her whole family... How could I forget that?'
"It was six years ago when- when my dad passed away.", Luz says, Amity's eyes widening, "He was a firefighter and when I was little, I always looked up to him. My dad, rescuing people from burning buildings and pulling cats down from trees... heh, at least that's what I thought his job was back then. He was my big hero, and I always wanted to be like him and help people.", a sad smile graces her face, "We- we always knew his job was dangerous, but Dad always said that helping people always came with a certain risk. And yet he came home in time for dinner every night.", her smile drops, "At least until he didn't. Mom had gotten a call from the hospital that there had been an accident. I found out later that he'd been called to a big fire in a residential area. He ran back into a burning house several times to save three children. He probably went back in afterwards, but never came out. The doctors had told me and mom that eighty percent of his body was burned. And when we visited him in the hospital, I thought my life was over."
"Oh, Luz...", Amity interjects, but Luz doesn't allow herself to be interrupted in her flow of words.
"The doctors had put him into an induced coma and had to fly him to a larger hospital because they didn't have a burns unit there. We immediately moved in with everything we had, rented a new house in Gravesfield so we could always visit him. Not that he was aware of much of it... But mom and I always had a lot to talk about... ... No, that's not true. Every time we saw him, we just cried."
By now, Amity has noticed that tears are also streaming down Luz's face, and she probably doesn't even realize it.
"I don't remember exactly how long he was in the hospital, and how long the doctors worked to heal his skin. They put antibacterial cream on the burnt areas several times a day so it wouldn't get infected... During the whole time in hospital, he only woke up twice. The first time he insisted on only talking to mom and I was soo mad at her. The second time he only wanted to talk to me, and I think he knew at that point that he wasn't going to make it. He said how much he loved me and how proud he was of me. He said that he knew I would achieve great things one day and that I would always have a permanent place in his heart. He said-", her voice breaks, "He told me to take care of mom... And before I left, he gave me a present. A book. The Good Witch Azura... He died two days later. August 22nd. The next few weeks were the worst weeks of my life. It took me forever to actually read the book. I just kept staring at it and just started crying every time I saw it... "
Luz stops talking and Amity can't help but pull Luz into a tight hug, burying their faces in each other's shoulders and letting her tears run free. Loud sobs and cries fill the room, their bodies shaking to their cores, they're clutching at each other as if they were afraid the other would disappear if they let go.
"Luz, I'm so-", Amity stops herself a while after the two girls' tears have dried up, "Thank you for sharing that with me."
"I didn't realize I had all this pent up inside me...", Luz replies quietly. The two girlfriends sit shoulder to shoulder again, holding each other's hand.
"You- you've already experienced so much loss in your life, and... and you still manage to carry on.", Amity observes, "I think it was only a matter of time before all this came out. And I'm very grateful that I was the one you shared that moment with."
Luz shifts a little so that she's looking directly at Amity. She continues.
"Despite all the bad things that are happening right now, I'm so glad that you're in my life and by my side. You've lost so much already, but you still manage to be there for the ones you love, no matter how much it hurts you, no matter what the cost."
"Amity, I-"
"You protected me when I went up against Warden Wrath, so soon after you returned from another world. You saved me from a life of unhappiness and- and you made me a better witch, even though we barely knew each other. You took my place in the Grom because I couldn't face my fears. You inspired me to be brave. Because of you, I stood up to Boscha and my mother... Luz, I admire you. And it doesn't matter if you're a witch, a demon, a human, or a titan, I... I love you. I love every aspect of who you are, every wound that has been inflicted on you, and every single second I get to spend with you."
She stops talking and the next thing she realizes Luz lunges forward, taking Amity's face in her hands, pressing her soft lips to her own. The girl immediately melts at her touch and gives herself to her completely, time seems to slow down. This moment is magical, in its own special way, and it belongs only to them.
A wonderful ten seconds later, Luz pulls back again. Slightly out of breath and with a twinkle in her eye, she looks at Amity with a smile. Oh, how she has missed her smile. Her mind is completely free of all thoughts and the two girlfriends sit in silence in front of each other, just enjoying each other's presence.
"I love you too.", Luz whispers happily, Amity's heart flutters, her ears twitching.
Amity takes Luz's face in her smaller hands and brings her to her, pressing her own lips to hers. Pure joy surges through her whole body along with a warmth she has never felt before in her life. And she doesn't want it to stop. Ever...
Many minutes pass and the two girls have assumed other positions again. Luz lies with her head on Amity's lap, who gently strokes her head.
"So basically, I have your dad to thank for my first kiss?", Amity asks, at which Luz actually chuckles slightly.
"You could say that, yes.", she replies, her eyes closed, before the two of them lapse back into a moment of comfortable silence.
"By the way, where are we?", Luz breaks the silence just a few moments later, her eyes open again, "I mean, this doesn't look like Blight Manor."
"Right. According to Dad, this is probably a Blight vacation home at the bottom of the thigh.", Amity explains as she continues to stroke her head, "It's supposedly been in the family for generations, but I can't say I've ever been here."
"Oh, okay...", Luz replies thoughtfully, "And where are the others? Em and your Dad?"
"Emira went straight to sleep. She was completely exhausted. Dad's been calling people for ages now. Getting things ready for the... you know.", Amity replies, her voice dropping slightly.
"Oh, right.", Luz let out a small yawn, "I don't think I'm back anywhere near my full strength yet either. I should probably get some sleep."
"Yes, I'm getting tired too.", Amity admits, "After all, we still have a long way to go back to Bonesborough."
"... Do you think our friends are okay?"
"I know they all made it out. Gus texted me and gave me a rough outline."
"So how are we doing?"
"Bad.", Amity replies, "Very bad. We need to get back to town as soon as possible tomorrow and help the others. And no, I won't let you use your magic until you're fully rested again."
"That's not what I was going to suggest.", Luz defends herself, "But I still know a shortcut. I'll draw you the teleport glyph that I always use, and then-"
"Luz, what did I just say?"
"No, no, just listen to me for a second.", Luz asks her, "There are two types of magic: The Titan's magic, and mine. When I draw a glyph-"
"- then it draws magic from the Titan, and not from you?"
"Exactly.", Luz confirms. Amity thinks about it for a moment before leaning over the armrest and grabbing the book she had open earlier. She opens the book, tears out a blank page, and hands it to Luz, along with a pen.
"Can I use the book as a pad?", she asks, whereupon Amity hands it to her. "'Diary'? You have your diary with you?"
"Heh, no. The book was empty when I found it. I needed something to sort out my thoughts, though."
"Yeah, that makes sense.", Luz comments, before starting to draw.
It takes about a minute before a not uncomplicated looking glyph adorns most of the paper.
"I've left out a few small parts so you don't accidentally teleport to who knows where.", Luz explains, "You need to draw the glyph on the ground and think of the place you want to travel to when you activate it."
"I see.", Amity says, "And if necessary, we still have an ultimate glyph expert with us. "
She says, leaning down, kissing Luz's forehead. The half-human smiles.
"I think I really should get some sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open.", she says.
"Me neither.", Amity agrees in a sleepy voice.
"Amity?"
"Hm?"
"I love you."