BREAKING THE FANTASY

Written by Gwendolyn Frost.

Notes and Trigger Warnings: Same as before, there's mention of death and murder. Plus, like I warned before the fic started, there's some mild swearing in this chapter. I'm going to play it safely with swearing. There was an F bomb in this chapter before I decided to remove it in the editing process, maybe in future chapters or follow-ups to this story I'll be brave enough to add such words but right now I felt it was the right choice to remove it. Also, not a warning but a note… I hope you don't mind the world building, expect more of that in future chapters. I will keep the focus on the TOH cast, I will never lose sight of that - but it's important to branch out in order to make Gravesfield a more lively place. Last but not least, I changed the hair-color of the waitress to blue to avoid confusion with another character that's not related to her. After all, the waitress is supposed to be a human-like Kikimura and her hair is blue. I hope you understand, enjoy!

The night before…

When Luz finished giving her order to the waitress who was rude to her moments earlier, the young woman left to hand it over to the chef in the back.

This young woman had a name; it was Koume. She has been working in Michiru every summer and winter break for the past 4 semesters. She moved into the US about 8 years ago due to her family being transferred here for a job offer. She could remember when she heard about it the first time, how eager she was to move into the land of the so-called 'american dream.' There was once a big smile on her face since the moment she came to live here only for that very smile to be removed completely by this point in time.

'Otosan. I am about to turn 18 next year. I wish to go to study in California! I wish to enroll in this dance school so I can become a professional dancer!' Her voice echoed the memory of years before when she naively asked her father to allow her to follow her dreams.

'There is no future for you in dancing. Finances, that's where the money is. Study a career, get yourself a real job. Aspire for more.' Her father replied sharply at her request, which made her insist.

'But you don't understand, Otosan. This is my dream! You remember all those years I was in ballet. I can do so much more! I need to prove myself, I need to try! Please reconsider!'

'My decision is final. You stay here, you study here, close to your family. Where you have a future. Once you finish college, a job is waiting for you in the Green House Foundation.'

'Otosan! Please!' She begged. 'I can prove to you I have a future! If you just give me a chance!'

'No.'

'Okasan, please. Help me convince him!' She pleaded at her mother who replied just as sharply as her father did.

'You heard your father, you are the one who needs convincing. We've got your future figured out for you. Study, work, smile more and try to find a suitable husband. We do this for your own good.'

'Please…'

A ticking time bomb is what Koume has become throughout the years. There was not a day in her life since then that she hasn't thought about that conversation. Those words played in her mind so vividly as if she had just lived through it moments before.

Today, in the restaurant, she was making her way to the bathroom before she bumped into a familiar face on her way there. It was Jolene, also known to Amity, Luz and Willow as Leni, who aside from the same attire she wore that same day in the library -jacket, shirt and washed up pants- she was wearing large rectangular glasses on her face which she dropped and was desperately looking for them on the floor as she was apologizing to Koume for bumping into her.

"I'm so sorry! It's you, Koume, right?" Leni was tracing her hands all over the floor as she tried to focus her poor sight before she was handed those glasses by Koume herself. "T-thank you…! I'm so sorry! It was my fault. H-how are you?"

"I'm fine." Koume said, stubbornly keeping her face of indifference to the younger girl despite the nice action towards her.

Leni smiled nervously as she put her glasses on. "I see… hey, I was heading to Wendy's house, would you like to come over and hang with us…? Like old times sake?"

"I'm not in the mood, Jolene." Koume said before moving past her into the bathroom, leaving Leni all alone in the hallway.

"Ok, yeah… hm… bye!" Leni said as Koume slammed the door behind her.

Koume locked the door, not wanting any interruptions, especially now that she knew Leni was around. As she moved to the sink, all the weight that she was holding on her shoulders began to tear her apart, like many times before and she was only able to vent her frustrations one way. Those tears were raining down her cheeks, dripping on the sink as she clenched on her teeth while trying to hold onto her cries without consolation.

Whenever she heard someone at the door, she would lash her voice at them, which allowed some of those cries to seep through her teeth. "It's occupied!"

It lasted a few minutes, but crying was the only solution she had and it helped her feel better… to some extent. It always came back, without fail. As she cleaned her face with some tissues, she thought she saw something in the mirror. Perhaps she imagined it, it couldn't be… but was her reflection standing still when she started cleaning her face? She thought, only to confirm that wasn't the case when she looked back at the mirror and saw the blue-haired reflection on the other side looking back at her with the same puzzled expression as hers.

"Huh…" She let that escape from her mouth as she stared into the mirror. "Weird."

Koume ignored the thought and moved to throw the tissues on the trash before she saw her reflection do the same thing once more - standing still when she moved. But this time… when she confronted it… it was smiling back at her.

The poor girl's sadness was replaced with horror, at the time that she screamed, her voice was muffled by the commotion taking place outside when Bret arrived in the restaurant. Behind those doors was gathered a crowd of people who obliviously helped to extinguish her voice as the thing behind the mirror poured into her side of reality. Her reflection didn't come through wearing her face like on the other side, but rather made of a mass of flesh, bones and limbs that shapelessly morphed into a body-horror abomination that she was not able to make sense of.

All she could do was scream, kick and struggle while that creature got hold of her with several of its limbs that pulled her in before a pair of large insect-like fingers introduced into her nose swiftly as she tried to scream for help but in mere seconds, her eyes became blank… lifeless as it lobotomized her in an instant.

When Koume stepped out of the bathroom, she was no longer sad, but full of life and joy. She practically skipped her way down the hall, ignoring the crowd gathered around Bret as she looked for the very person she was hoping to find there… Luz. Who was sitting with her friends, while they still waited for their food. A sinister grin appeared on Koume's face, to her the whole room was dark and the only light shining bright was Luz's. She was the center of a strong light fueled by the emotions that she and her friends have built together.

Not far away from her, was Leni - still in the building as she was now talking to her mother, the manager of the place who scolded Koume about her attitude just minutes before.

"Hey, mom. I'm going to hang out at Wendy's house with Aisha. Is it ok if I take some onigiris with me?"

"Ay ay ay, niña. You know that your father gets upset when you take food from the restaurant." The woman said with a sigh.

Leni just grinned with a soft laugh. "Ay pero se le pasa y ya. Plus I'm not asking you for sushi rolls, just rice balls. C'mon ma, it's for Wendy… pwease?"

Rolling her eyes, the blonde adult shook her head. "Ok, ok. Ya."

"Arigatou! Mami linda, preciosa, bella, hermosa!" Leni exclaimed as she jumped up at her mother to shower her with kisses and hugs.

"Ay, no me pegues tus babas! Condenada chamaca lambiscona!" The older blonde said while pushing the younger blonde aside, only for them to blink in confusion when they watched the blue haired waitress walk into the room, eyeing the plates ready to be served there on the table next to them. Koume noticed they were looking at her shortly.

"Hiiii! Can I take these?" Koume said, a large smile decorating her face which was making the two blondes shiver a little bit.

"Uh… yeah. It's kind of your job." The adult blonde said. "It's for table four."

"Oh, of course!" Koume giggled before leaving the two alone once more.

"Wow…" Leni said as she pulled away from her mother's hug. "I've seen her happy before but… I have no idea why it feels so eerie this time. I just saw her a moment ago and she was as upset as ever."

"Yeah…" The adult woman said. "Your father is adamant to keep her employed, he has been friends with the Takamura family since before immigrating to the United States. I know she has been having it rough, and she used to be such a good kid. But she has been making us earn such bad reviews online lately."

"Well… I used to think she was the coolest person in the world and now she hardly smiles. I hope this lasts…" Leni said before leaning in to give her mother a kiss on the cheek. "I should go, thank you for the food! I'll come back home later tonight!"

"Be safe!"

THE LOOKING GLASS

Chapter: Know Your Enemy.

When Luz woke up a few minutes later after the shock of finding out that the waitress from the night before was missing and possibly killed by the Face Snatcher - she looked around, her eyes adjusting until she was able to spot her friends in the room still patiently waiting for her to wake up.

"Guys…?"

"LUZ!" Amity exclaimed and rushed up to kneel down before the couch where she was laying down. "You're awake. How do you feel…?" She asked with unmeasurable worry in her eyes.

"I'm ok… I…" Luz teared up again. "It killed her…"

"We don't know that, Luz." Amity whispered as more of their friends gathered around them.

"Everyone that has crossed paths with that thing goes missing…" Luz pointed out as Amity held and squeezed her hand. "They're gone… there's no way she is still alive. And it killed her… to get close to me. Why?"

"Exactly for this… it's messing with your head, Luz." Hunter said.

"We will defeat it." Amity said as she kissed the back of Luz's hand. "We'll find a way."

"I know, but what can we do…?" Luz asked. "It could be anyone right now."

"Maybe we could head to the library? There has to be more information we can gather there. I have a plan." Amity suggested.

"Perhaps…" Luz said. "I'll go with you and we'll see what we can find."

"Whoa, whoa. Luz, I think you may want to stay put rather than expose yourself?" Hunter suggested. "I was thinking that maybe Willow and I could stay with you and protect you while Gus and Amity go to the library to gather information."

"If that thing was able to take that waitress in that restaurant full of people, do you honestly believe that it will have any trouble coming for me with just the two of you?" Luz crossed her arms.

"She's right. Maybe we all should go." Willow said.

"Ok…" Hunter sighed in defeat. "We all take our palismans with us. No matter how funny humans look at us, we can't go out unprotected. Gus, the illusion spell…"

Gus nodded. "On it!" He proceeded to make a circle with his index finger to put an illusion spell on everyone's ears but Luz's and Vee's to make them rounder-looking with Illusion Magic.

Amity kneeled down gently to talk to her palisman -Ghost- to give her instructions. "I can't carry you around like a staff so you'll have to walk next to me at all times. Would you promise me not to get distracted or fall behind?"

The palisman meowed in response which got the pink haired witch to smile back at her.

"Ok good." She said while giving Ghost some pets.

Willow was also talking to her bee palisman -Clover- while she held a bag open. "I'll need you to stay in here while we're walking around town. If I call you, then that means we're safe from prying eyes. Ok?"

Clover buzzed in response, obediently getting in the bag which Willow left somewhat open for the palisman to see.

Gus gently brought his own palisman -Emmeline- to his shoulder after performing the Illusion spell to their friends. "Turn yourself invisible, I know you might burn a lot of magic by doing so, but I can't afford to leave you behind this time. We need all the help we can get."

Emmeline nodded and turned herself invisible just as soon as they got ready to head out.

Finally, Hunter was talking to his own palisman as well. "We'll need someone to keep an eye out from the skies. Can I count on you to scout for us? If you see anything suspicious, if there's someone following us - you get back down and tell me. Ok?"

Flapjack chirped in response with serious looking eyes towards Hunter as if he was saying 'Yes ssir!'

Seeing all this happening before her eyes, Luz couldn't help but to smile. She reached for her baseball bat hidden under the couch which she kept closeby all night. "Ready to head out?" She asked her friends who all nodded back at her.

The group followed Luz until they were all together out on the streets, their eyes wide open as they were not only paying attention to their surroundings on the lookout for the Shape - but also, they were all surprised at the unnerving silence outside.

There were literally almost no people wandering on the streets at a time of the day where it was usually crowded with people going to work, to have lunch, etc.

The day was in fact pretty sunny and rather beautiful, a pretty peaceful and uneventful looking morning if the feeling of dread was not present in the atmosphere. The cause… people were scared. Someone was murdered the night before. No one felt safe… especially Luz and her friends.

They stopped a few blocks from Luz's home to wait for the bus, once they boarded one, they met with just a handful of people inside. Usually, you'll expect a bus to sound lively with the voices of people engaged in multiple conversations. But this time, they heard nothing but whispering from the scattered people across the bus seats.

Vee's phone was vibrating every so often whenever she got a message from Masha while sitting next to Luz and Amity. The goth was filling them in with information they found online about the whole situation with the body they found in the woods.

They shared a bunch of official news articles where the police declared this was the work of a wild animal. But they also shared a bunch of internet forum posts where people were debunking the wild animal theory in favor of a murder investigation due to the clip that went viral online.

The group couldn't help to wonder if there might be truth behind both theories, granted that there's an unusual creature loose in the woods that's capable of doing such barbaric things. Luz above them all was feeling guilty, both for what happened to the waitress that's now a missing person… and this murdered victim that in her head might have as well been someone unfortunate enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time that crossed paths with the Face Snatcher.

A few minutes later, they all head out of the bus. Hunter took a brief look to the sky making sure that Flapjack was still following them, which he was. The palisman was focused on his surroundings, both keeping an eye on his friends while also making sure there were no suspicious people that could be following them around.

Luz and Amity went inside the building, while Hunter, Willow, Gus and Vee were waiting for them outside and also keeping guard.

When Amity reached the librarian's desk, she smiled at the dark haired woman with the large headphones and closed eyes before asking. "Hi, Miss Grimm. Again, thanks for what you did for me yesterday. I have a question… where do I find a Beastiary in this library?"

"Oh, hey Amity. Good morning, you're welcome. I… what?" Miss Grimm was taken by surprise by such a request, Luz herself choked on her breath and instantly rushed up to Amity when she heard the question.

"Hey, Amity. Would you mind if we speak for a second?" Luz asked nervously as she wrapped her hand around her girlfriend's before excusing herself with the librarian as she pulled Amity towards the entrance. "Amity, what're you doing? Is this what your plan was this whole time?" She whispered.

"Uh, yeah? What's wrong?" Amity blinked in confusion, oblivious to the fact her request was rather… strange. "Don't you guys have Beastiaries or something?"

"Not unless they are a work of fiction. We're not in Middle Earth!" Luz said while nibbling her lower lip afterwards.

"Oh." Amity's face quickly became a blushing mess before giving a soft giggle. "Oops… I should have asked you before bringing you here."

"Yeah…" Luz said before they both began to try not to laugh too hard, although they did get shushed eventually.

"Ok… I think I got an idea." Amity said before she walked back to Miss Grimm who also displayed a light grin on her face, which might just be because she found the request funny. "Hey… about what I asked… that… hm, I didn't worded my question the way I intended." Amity said, rubbing the back of her head with a blush still present on her face.

"That's ok." Miss Grimm said with a soft chuckle.

"You… I mean, Gravesfield has folklore, right?" Amity asked, hoping she wasn't going to be laughed at yet again.

But the librarian nodded without a hint of bursting into laughter. "That's right, all places in the world have folklore."

Amity sighed and then proceeded to ask. "Are there books about local folklore?"

Miss Grimm thought for a moment before she moved to her PC on her desk, both Luz and Amity watched the short woman with the eyes closed typing into the keyboard, pushing her glasses once and both of them wondered… how was she able to see when her eyes were closed at all times? Nevertheless, she came back and wrote down on a small post-it paper:

'The Witching World of Gravesfield: Chilling Stories and Whispered Tales by Professor Howard Phillips.'

Handing it over, Miss Grimm smiled at Amity before whispering. "I hope you find what you're looking for here. Unfortunately, there's not many people in this country who find Gravesfield as interesting as this author. He is an eccentric, but… perhaps his words might be of help."

"Thank you so much! Hm…" Amity blushed once more. "I…"

"It's ok. You owe me no explanations." Miss Grimm whispered once more. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Amity said before walking back to Luz to look for the book written in the post-it note.

Thanks to the fact that Miss Grimm also wrote the section they should look into, they found the book a minute later. As a matter of fact, it was the only book of its kind in that section. Amity looked around for any other topics about Gravesfield's folklore and history, but there were hardly any. The book itself was a hardcover, and printed on the cover was a photograph of the statue of the Wittebane brothers located in the park.

"Here it is… now what? Should we… read this here or…?" Luz asked before Amity shook her head.

"I think we should head back home and read it there." Amity said as she got her library card out of her pocket. "We have no idea if that thing can walk in the daylight."

"It probably can. I read stories the other day in the records section and a handful of them were in broad daylight. Plus… that thing posed as a deer yesterday morning and probably followed me all day… who knows how many… I hope it's not true but… who knows how many skins it wears."

"I get it." Amity said before she leaned in to place a small kiss on Luz's lips to reassure her, both girls' cheeks had a bright pink over them when their lips parted. "I'll never let anything happen to you. Ok?" Amity said with a wide loving smile which got Luz's blush to grow darker.

"Yeah…" Luz said before leaning in to give her girlfriend yet another kiss on her lips, as they kissed, Luz intertwined hers and Amity's fingers on their left hands before parting their lips once more. "Thank you… all of this you all are doing for me… it makes me feel stronger now."

"I'm glad." Amity said with a soft chuckle, squeezing their hands together ever so gently. "We should go home."

"About that…" Luz said as she took a deep breath before her expression changed to a serious one. "Before we head back home, there's one person I'd like to talk to in the Green House Foundation Shelter."

Amity blinked in confusion but nodded before the both of them made their way back to the librarian, who happily allowed Amity to take the book home with her.

Once they reunited with their friends outside, Luz led the way a few blocks past the library in order to reach… the Green House Foundation Shelter where Luz, Amity and Vee met with Flor the other day - the one of the two surviving targets of the Shape.

While most of the streets so far were mostly abandoned by its habitants, they were surprised by the fact that the street was crowded with people gathered around the entrance of the Green House Foundation Shelter. Most of which were arguing with a few people wearing the uniforms of the Green House Company blocking their way.

The group was able to hear the loud angry mob from a mile away. When they walked closer, they were able to hear what the yelling was all about. People were denied entry into the Shelter. Most of the people were dressed in civilian clothes, while there were a handful of them that also wore the uniform who were just as upset and confused as the civilians.

"What's going on here?" Luz whispered to herself as they marched closer to listen closely. But also keeping their distance for the time being.

On the frontline was Flor, who wasn't participating in the protest taking place, the 20 something long pink haired woman with the crown of flowers above her hair was standing behind a younger and shorter long purple haired teen with a dark beanie over her head that had the ace pride flag on it. The younger girl almost looked like she was leading the angry mob behind her as she screamed at the new guy in charge that was denying them entrance to the Shelter.

"Back off. I told you already that no one is allowed entry into the Shelter. Orders from the police." The 30 something new manager with short hair said as he held his hands up to force everyone to hold their distance.

"Orders from the police?! The same police that says Bret was killed by a bear?!" The purple haired teen shouted. "Regardless of what the police say, if it's a bear or a person who caused this - now more than ever people need to stay indoors! Bret was killed in the open! It's dangerous for the homeless people to sleep outside! This is the only Shelter in town! You can't do this!"

"My hands are tied. The Greenes have asked me to keep this place locked up." The manager said before he was met with a loud shouting of 'boos' while someone other than the teen on the front spoke against them.

"Make up your mind, was the police or the Greenes who gave the order!"

"Both! The Greenes are cooperating with the police due to the open investigation." The manager replied before the teen took a step further as she got in the guy's face.

"What are you hiding in there? Huh?! Let's be honest. This isn't about Bret's death. It's about what Bret and his goons do when the doors are closed. Don't take us for fools. All you want is to keep whatever you store in there from…"

"Back off, Wendy!" The manager pushed her back against Flor who nervously helped Wendy back up to her feet."

Some other person in the crowd immediately shoved the manager after what he did. "Hey, don't you put your hands on her like that! She's 17!" Which got others to rally on Wendy's defense.

"SILENCE!" The manager screamed as loud as he could. "Clear off the entrance or else the police will force you to do so! Leave now!"

"This is bullshit!" Wendy -the purple haired girl- yelled at the guy before she took hold of Flor's hand and began to lead her away from the crowd.

"Wait… where are we going?!" Flor asked in confusion as she tried to catch up to the younger teen, holding the skirt of her white dress while trying not to stumble due to the heeled shoes she's wearing.

"You're coming home with me. You can't go camping like you often do, it's dangerous for you outside!" Wendy said before Flor forced her to stop.

"B-but I can't! I don't want to be a bother for you and your family. Besides, I have an appointment." Flor said as she held her hands away from Wendy.

"Appointment? Now? What's more important than looking for shelter right now, huh?" Wendy asked with her eyebrow raised as high as she could.

"I got an appointment with my therapist. You know… Doctor Craig." Flor said with hesitance.

"Oh." Wendy said as her anger was quickly wiped off her face, now looking a bit uncomfortable. "B-but you don't have to go, Flor. Plus, you don't have to ask Doctor Craig to shelter you. You're not bothering me or my family. I assure you we'll be happy to help you and… and…" Wendy was cut off when she felt eyes on her…

The eyes of Luz and her friends who have been standing there this whole time close to the crowd. When Wendy's head moved to look at them, Luz and the rest nervously began to panic before Luz raised her voice.

"Sorry! Sorry, we were not eavesdropping I promise you! We've been standing here wondering what's going on with the shelter."

Flor was able to recognize Luz immediately the moment she looked at her. "Oh, Luz. It's you. What happened to you? Your aura has changed." The eccentric woman asked.

"Aura?" Willow whispered to Amity who whispered back dismissively.

"She's the girl that can feel other people's emotions…"

"Ohhhh, right…" Willow said, trying her best to keep a straight face.

"Oh, well… yeah, something happened." Luz said. "Tis the reason why I came here to see you. I want to ask you something…"

"What is it?" The tall pink haired woman with the crown of flowers asked before Luz looked at Wendy nervously.

"Would you mind if we speak privately?" Luz asked, pointing at Flor.

Wendy was looking at the both of them with skeptic eyes but sighed. "Sure…"

When Wendy moved away from them, Luz looked back at the tall woman and took a deep breath. "I saw it. I saw what stalked you a decade ago."

Flor's expression changed, her eyes widened, her lips trembled, her hands were shaking - the woman's PTSD kicked in, making her see flashing memories of things she wished she could forget. That shape, that dark shape in the woods speaking to her in the pitch-black forest using the voice from the man she used to call her grandfather.

'Why are you still running, flower?'

Whilst Wendy was asked to give them some privacy, she still could see how shaken Flor was - which got her to act on behalf of Flor.

"Whoa, hey! What did you say to her?!" The purple haired teen rushed up to Luz who panicked slightly at the upset look in the older girl before they both were caught by surprise when Flor screamed.

"Wendy! I'm fine! Would you please give us some space?!" Flor didn't measure the volume of her voice. But whilst she sounded angry, the look on her face said otherwise. She was terrified, but despite her watery eyes - there was a look of kindness still present in her eyes that Wendy could read into that she was not upset at her.

The teen couldn't say 'no' to that look, so she stepped aside and allowed Flor and Luz to resume their conversation to which Flor replied…

"That… explains why you feel scared. Yet, there's an unflinching force of will that's emanating from you." Flor looked at the younger girl as if she was trying to understand what Luz was trying to do. "You want to fight it? Why?"

Luz looked at Flor, her eyes noticing those shaking hands she held close to her chest before she raised her eyes to look back at the woman straight in the eyes. "Because if I don't, who will? This thing has taken some innocent bystander because of me. Let alone all the people it has taken for centuries. Someone has to put an end to it."

Amity alongside the rest of Luz's friends listened to the conversation taking place. That response made the pink-haired witch to smile from ear to ear, a light shade of pink quickly covering those cheeks of hers - whilst the pure thought of losing Luz or any of her friends or her family scared her to no end, this was one of the many reasons that made her fall for Luz so hard. Despite how dangerous this was, she was willing to help Luz no matter what.

Flor bit her lower lip before she leaned closer. "This is not your fight. This isn't the quest that you embarked yourself into when we first met. Are you really willing to stray from your path just so you can help these people? This town, that's done nothing but push you away and… hurt those you care about…" The floral headed woman looked towards Luz's friends who all could feel that somehow… she was able to tell they were not humans.

Willow leaned over to Amity to whisper something at her rather nervously. "Why does she sound like she can tell we're witches?"

"I have no idea…" Amity said.

"Are you sure, Luz?" Flor continued when she looked back at the younger human. "This could not end well, are you conscious of that?"

"Yes." Luz said without hesitance in her voice, lifting the spirits of her friends behind her. "But I can't do this alone. I need to ask you something. There's only two people that have survived an encounter with this thing. One of them is someone dear to me, who I wish to be reunited with - her name is Eda. But she's a strong fighter, hence why she was able to hold that thing back. But you… you're that other person. Why did it not take you?" Luz asked with sincerity in her eyes, puzzled and curious to hear the woman's answer.

The woman who wears a crown of flowers over her head kneeled down to hold Luz's hands with her as she replied with saddened eyes. "Because my own light wore off…"

"What?" Luz asked in confusion.

"I've been living in this place for a while now. And what I've learned is that most people would rather blindly expect their problems to be solved on their own, those people's lights do not shine as bright as those who are willing to act. To bring change. You… brought change, upon the people you befriended in your journey. But me on the other hand, I stared into the void and I flinched… and that's why it let me go. I… yielded, which made my light extinguish completely. But just because it let me go, it doesn't mean it cannot try and take me once more… hence why my light has not shined ever since. Fear has shrouded my light in a mist I cannot dispel from my heart…" Flor said as she let go of Luz's hands.

"Just like that.. it let you go?" Luz asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say it let me go without pain, of course. You're still young to hear the details but if you must know, to get an idea of what I went through… I could only move my arms to pull myself across the forest until I was found. I went through a couple of surgeries in order to help me walk again. It's not something I want you to live through…" Flor said before she felt Luz's hands over her shoulders as she looked back at her with empathy.

"I'm sorry. I know this was difficult for you to answer. But thank you, sincerely." Luz said with a smile. "We're going to put an end to this monster's reign of terror. I promise you."

Flor looked back at Luz with disbelief before she smiled widely at her. "Good luck."

Without nothing else to discuss, Luz and her friends parted ways with Flor. The woman brought herself back to her feet, holding the skirt of her dress down with both hands before letting it go as she faced Wendy when she approached her.

"What was that all about…?" The teen asked.

Flor gave a soft giggle. "The wheels of change are turning. That group is bringing the change this town desperately needs. You'll see."

Wendy couldn't help but crack a soft laugh. "You are so strange sometimes…"

"Is that a bad thing?" Flor asked with a smile.

"No." Wendy shook her head smiling back at her friend. "You're exactly who you should be. You make this world a bit more interesting."

"Soon, the people like them and you will make this world a lot more interesting too." Flor said rather ominously as if she knew some unspoken secret, making Wendy shake her head before pulling the beanie on her head further down.

"S-shut up! You don't even know what you're talking about. C'mon, I'll walk you to your appointment with your therapist." Wendy said as she pushed the tall pink-haired woman so they would get going.

Flor couldn't help but laugh as she tried not to stumble due to her heeled shoes once more as the teen was forcing her to move forward. "Ok, ok! Thank you!"

"You seriously need to learn when to shut up… you make people feel uncomfortable…" Wendy yelled in frustration while laughing alongside Flor.

Each group moved in different directions now. Luz and her friends returned home, oblivious to the fact of the Shape now wearing Koume's image looking at them from behind a tree that Luz eyed just moments before.

"So… you're planning to come for me? That's perfect." Koume chuckled to herself, the blue haired was still dressed with the waitress uniform from the night before as she looked over to the forest in the distance. "But I must do some cleaning before your visit. We wouldn't want your friends to run into any woodsmen, right?" She whispered to herself with a wicked grin.

End of the chapter.