Chapter Text
Luz
This isn’t how the field trip was supposed to go. It was supposed to be just like any other school trip, it was supposed to be a good memory to talk about in a future.
Eda warned me not to go, she begged me to ditch school that day... I told her she was being paranoid, that nothing was going to happen on the Emperor’s Castle.
I was wrong.
The field trip started amazingly. Me, Willow and Gus were exploring the castle together, they explained some of the castle’s history to me, which I didn’t pay attention to because I was busy looking at all of the cool artifacts there were on the castle.
At some point I got separated from them and bumped into Amity, her face got really red when she saw me, and she started sweating... which makes no sense because the castle is as cold as ice. We sat on a nearby bench and talked about what we had seen.
“I’ve been dreaming of visiting this castle ever since I was a child!” She told me. “My parents always told me about it, about how big and powerful it was, they weren’t lying.” She smiled. God that smile.
“How do your parents know the castle? I thought only Coven members were allowed into the cast-” I stopped in my tracks, as I realized something that was quite obvious. “Ohh, your parents are coven members, aren’t they?”
Amity looked at me and nodded. “Yeah, they are.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “My dad is Belos’s closest advisor.” My eyes widened in shock. No wonder her family is so stuck on getting her to be the best and making sure she gets into the Emperor’s Coven.
“Woah, that sound really dope! I can’t imagine being the advisor to such a big figure!” Amity sighed, and got up from the bench we were sitting on.
“Yeah, it’s cool when it comes to stuff like money and social status, but...” I got up as well, following her to the window she was looking at. “When it comes to family... not so much. Even though my dad isn’t my favorite person in the world, I miss him a lot, he is always out of the house on business, and when he’s actually in the house with us he's working or checking in on Edric and Emira... It’s like...” I looked at her face and I saw a fresh stream of tears, running down her cheeks. “It’s like I wasn’t important to him, it’s like his job was more important than his own daughter...” I grabbed her hands and pulled her into a hug.
“If it makes you feel better, you’re more important to me than homework.” She laughed and passed her sleeve through her eyes, to clean them.
“Thanks Luz, I can’t say the same here, you may be special but you’re not going to pay for my food in the future.” We laughed together and went back to our bench. “What’s up with that hat of yours by the way?” She asked as she touched the top of it.
“Oh, this old thing? I got it at an anime convention, it’s from one of my favorite shows: Madoka Magica” The look on Amity’s face made me understand that she had not understood a single word I said.
“I meant, why are you wearing it?”
“Oh! To hide my ears, Eda told me to wear it. I still don’t know why” I shrugged.
We continued talking and lost track of time, at some point one of our teachers came running at us, yelling that we were late for the big presentation. We apologized and ran to the castle’s ballroom, where we were going to meet the Emperor himself. I was so excited, and scared.
When me and Amity arrived, we got separated, she went with Skara and some other girls; and I went with Gus and Willow.
“Where were you? Me and Gus were looking for you like crazy when we realized you had gotten separated from us!” Willow whisper-yelled at me. I smiled at her and apologized.
“Sorry, sorry. I got distracted by this cool artifact, and as I was leaving the room I bumped into Amity. We started talking about stuff and ended up losing track of time.”
They both looked at each other and chuckled, which made me confused, I was going to ask what the chuckling was about, but our teachers shushed us. Belos was about to appear.
We were all huddled in a big circle, in front of a huge door. I was looking at it, trying to figure out if it was actual gold or just golden paint.
Then the door opened.
Eda
I was pacing back and forth in the living room, trying to make up my mind. To go get Luz before anything happens and risk being caught by the Emperor’s Coven... or not go and risk losing Luz. Damn this kid, making me worry for her, what does she think I am, her mom?
My mind started running again, thinking about thousands of things in seconds. At some point I fell something hit my head, I turned around annoyed and found King on top of the couch, glaring at me.
“You’ve been pacing back and forth for so long you left a mark on the floor.” And he was right, where I was walking now was slightly lower than the rest of the floor. “You always worry about Luz, and she always ends up saving herself... somehow. Now stop worrying and get over here! I want tummy scratches.”
King was right, Luz somehow has stayed alive for a long time, but that’s with smaller monsters and witches... this is Belos we’re talking about, not even me, being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles could take down Belos. I sighed before making my way to the couch. “You’re right King... I'm just... I have history with Belos, and I know what he’s capable of doing. And I know for a fact he absolutely hates humans.”
“Okay, but with Luz wearing her hat there’s no way he can recognize her, so less thinking and more scratching.”
I sat down and a few seconds later King laid on my lap, tummy up so I could scratch him. As I scratched him, I started thinking of all the ways that field trip could go wrong.
Luz could get lost and stay in Belos’s castle by accident which would mean I would have to go look for her.
She would try and grab one of the many artifacts, only to drop it and infuriate Belos.
And last, Belos could find out she’s a human... but she has her a hat to cover her ears, so she should be fine. It’s not like Belos can recognize witches, demons and humans from smell or something...
“Oh no.”
I stood up from the couch so quickly it made my head spin for a second, but I regained my composure. King yelled at me for dropping him, I told him to shut up. Luz was in danger. That’s far more important to me than some crybaby pet that I can easily replace.
I looked over at King to tell him to get on Owlbert with me, but I was met with the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. It was then when I realized... that I had said that stuff about King out loud.
“King I-” But he was already gone, he sprinted to the back of the room and I heard him knock himself in a room. I thought about going to him, see if he was okay. Then I remembered Luz. As much as I wanted to check on him, he wasn’t in mortal danger, Luz was. I can deal with him later. And with that final thought I took off on my way to Belos’s castle. “Dang it.”
I leaned down and told Olwbert to step on it, I needed to get to the castle as fast as I could, or the consequences would be dire. He hooted at me and amplified the speed. After a while I could see the outline of Belos’s caste in the distance. “We’re almost there, keep up the pace!”
I started thinking of ways to sneak in. But my thoughts got distracted from a loud sound... it sounded just like an explosion, at it came from Belos’s castle. I cursed and told Owlbert to go even faster. An explosion that big could only be caused by someone strong enough to create a huge fireball, and that someone is Belos. Which meant...
That Luz’s cover had been blown, and that Belos had figured out she’s a human. My eyes filled with tears, thinking of the possibilities. What if I was too late, what if she's already gone. I can’t lose my kid, not again.
Then I realized... if I somehow manage to rescue Luz shell become the most wanted person in the Island, which would make it impossible for her to leave the house, see her friends, study magic. And on top of that, it would be incredibly dangerous for her.
I looked down at my pocket, pulling a golden object from it.
The key to the human realm. It was the only way to protect Luz.
Amity
When I saw the door open my heart stopped. There he stood, respected and loved, the all-powerful Belos. I’ve heard stories from my dad about this man, working for him has being my dream since I was a little kid. Or well... it became my dream via my parents.
He took a few steps and stood in front of all of us. He cleared his throat before speaking.
“Welcome Hexside students! It is a great pleasure to have welcomed you all to my Castle. I will try to remember your faces, I’m sure I’ll see some of you in the Emperor’s Coven in a few years...” He turned to look at me and smiled before continuing. “Now, I want to say some words towards the students... Wait.” He stopped mid-track and started sniffing the air. He sniffed once more.
“What is he doing?” I heard Boscha whisper behind me. I heard a growl. Belos stood tall above us all, he looked like a giant.
“Why... do I smell... a human...” My eyes widened and I turned to look at Luz. She was scared. This was the very first time I’ve seen Luz so scared. She was trembling. I wanted to go over and comfort her, but that would be suspicious.
Principal Bump stepped to the front. “Emperor, I can assure you there are no humans at Hexside, our school would never accept a human, if there were any on the Boiling Isles.” He was lying... to protect Luz.
The Emperor stared at him, and he shrunk into his normal size. “Principal Bump...” He began talking. “How dare you LIE TO ME.” As he said his last words, he grabbed Bump by the throat and raised him above the floor. The teachers all looked shocked, some of them in a fighting position in case something happened. As for the students, we were all scared, trembling in our feet. I heard some whispers in the background.
“Why is Bump protecting the human? It's not like she’s important or anything...” I was about to go slap that idiot, when I heard a loud noise from across the room.
The Emperor had thrown Principal Bump to the wall across the room. Bump fell to the ground with a groan. Professor Randresh stood in front of Bump, as a nearby school nurse ran to help him.
“Abomination... rise!” Professor Randresh’s abomination stood proudly above him, ready to fight at any given second. The rest of the teachers joined him, casting different spells, plants, illusions... That’s when I realized things had gone horribly wrong.
Emperor Belos looked shocked at the scene in front of him. He laughed. “So, I take this means your little school is revolting against me?” He amplified his size again, standing tall above all of us. “Well then so be it!” And before we could react, he threw a fireball at us.
“Kids get out of the way!” I didn’t even pay attention to who said that, I just jumped to the side, barely avoiding the fireball. The teachers managed to hold and destroy the fireball, they all worked together and attacked Belos back.
In the midst of the chaos I started looking for Luz. I saw some students on the floor, bleeding and whimpering in pain, they probably didn’t react as quickly as I did. Amongst them I recognized Skara, who had a huge burn on her left arm.
“Amity!” I heard a voice behind me. It was Willow, who ran towards me as she avoided more attacks. “Where is Luz?”
“What do you mean where's Luz?! I thought she was with you guys!” I grew more and more worried; the ballroom was a complete chaos and Luz was nowhere to be found. “We have to find her before-”
“Emperor Belos! We found the human.” Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Me and Willow looked at each other before looking at the source of the voice we heard. Then I saw it. Two Coven members, holding Luz down. One of them moved their hand to take off Luz’s hat, revealing her round ears.” Luz tried fighting them, but it was in vain, the two Coven members were holding her tightly.
“Ah... so there she is... what’s your name sweetheart?” He shrunk back into his normal size and walked towards Luz, she looked at him for a few seconds... before spitting right into his face. Belos jumped back and wiped his face as he cursed. “Fucking human, I was going to show you some appreciation, but apparently that’s not what you want.” He raised his hand, and a fireball started forming at his palm.
“He’s going to kill her! Someone has to do something!” I heard Gus scream. But no one moved a muscle. No one knew what to do. I was in a state of shock, all I could do was stare at Luz, the girl I've loved for a while... about to be taken away from me forever. I looked down at the floor, not wanting to see Luz being burned to death. A few seconds later, I heard the ballroom door open.
“Belos! Get away from my kid!”
I turned around and saw Eda on top of her staff, as she casted a fire spell towards Belos, hitting him on the face. He groaned and stumbled backwards. She then turned at the two Coven members holding Luz, she raised her hand and casted a sleeping spell on them, which made them fall down to the floor, asleep. “Eda!” Luz yelled.
“Hey kid, we need to get you out of here. Now.” She grabbed Luz and carried her outside of the room. With the door open and Belos recovering from the hit a bunch of students ran out of the ballroom. I saw Willow and Gus running too, following Eda. I decided to follow her as well.
We ran to the back of the castle, which made no sense because if we wanted to escape with the buses, we had to take the main entrance. When I finally caught up with them, I saw Eda and Luz yelling at each other.
“NO! I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THE HUMAN REALM! I’M STAYING HERE AND IM LEARNING TO BE A WITCH!” Then I understood why we were here; Eda was going to open the portal to the human realm to get Luz back and protect her.
“Don't you get it? Now that Belos knows you're a human hell be looking for you everywhere, you won't be able to do anything, it'd be a waste of time. At some point he'll be able to find the Owl House and take you away!” Eda yelled back in exasperation. Luz looked like she was in the verge of tears. She opened her mouth to answer back to Eda.
“There they are! Grab them!” I turned around and saw around ten to twenty Coven members running at us, hands raised and ready to attack. One of them shoot a blast of magic at me, but right before it hit me Willow casted a plant in front of me, protecting me from the attack. I got away from the plant and ran further back into the hallway.
That’s when I realized. We were on a dead end. There was no way for us to escape.
“What do we do?” I heard Gus say, fear evident on his tone. I looked over at willow, who was protecting us all from the attacks with a giant plant net.
“I can get us out of here, I can make a teleportation spell, but itll take me a few minutes.” Eda told us, she got on her knees and started casting the spell on the floor. We stared at her, amazed by the magic surging through her. My focus broke when I heard a loud groan coming from Willow. The Coven members had opened a hole through her barrier and were making their way towards us.
“Hand over the human and no one gets hurt.” One of them said. Eda looked at them, she got away from her almost finished cast and towards them, I saw rage in her eyes.
“I am not going to hand over my kid. If you want her... then good luck finding her.” And with those final words she took out a key from her pocket, and threw it across the room. In that spot, a big door opened. The door to the human realm.
“Eda, no! I don’t want to go back, I want to stay here with you, learning magic!” She ran towards Eda to hug her, but before she touched her, she was pushed back by a blast of energy, that threw her all the way back, almost into the portal. I got ready to attack, thinking it was one of the Coven members that had attacked her, then I realized. It was Eda who pushed her back.
“Don’t be such a brat and GO!” She threw another one, making Luz enter the portal almost entirely. Luz grabbed onto the door frame with all her strength. Tears streaming into her eyes.
I then realized what was happening, she was going back. And I would never see her again. The girl I love, gone forever... I decided to do something that I might regret later, it was now or never. I walked over to Luz, who was losing strength from holding the door frame.
“Luz I...” And before I got to finish my sentence, her grip loosened entirely, making her enter the portal and closing the door behind her. “... love you.”