Chapter Text
'...Dark...
I don't remember much of what happened, my memories are all blurry...
All I do remember is it being...
Dark...
Darker...
Yet Darker...
...
A light...'
"~~~~..."
'A voice...'
"-mity?"
‘ ...’
"AMITY!"
"-Huh?" The green-haired witch opened her eyes to see her friend looking at her with an annoyed expression.
"You fell asleep, again" This wasn't the first time she'd fell asleep out of nowhere. "Was the story that boring you'd rather sleep?"
"Willow..." She indeed fell asleep, but it wasn't because of the story, it was... something else... "I-"
"Ok, ok now it's time for me to tell a story!" said the raven-haired witch
"Oh, please Lily, what story could you possibly tell that would not make the kid fall asleep again?" said the witch with long, wild, grey hair sitting beside her "This time she won't be the only one falling asleep, I may as well due to your, hem," she thought for a moment "talent, to tell boring stories"
"You say that like you're any better than me telling stories." the raven-haired witch said offended.
"Wanna bet?" the other said with a smirk
"ugh, just, go ahead Edalyn"
"Ok then, prepare for a story full of action, drama, and stuff that definitely won't let you sleep for nights!"
"Edalyn!"
She ignored her sister
"A long time ago, humans and monsters lived together in harmony
Until one day, a war broke between them and the humans came out victorious
They sealed the monsters underground so that they could keep the surface for themselves
Legends say of a human who'll come to break the barrier
and let the monsters live in harmony with the humans again, but, until then,
they were sealed asking themselves, when will this "human" come?" ...
'Cold'
"ACHUUUUU!" 'Gosh, it's freezing!'
"Mija, is everything ok?" The door to her bedroom opened "I heard you screaming"
"I'm fine mami, it's just, huf, it's really cold!" Said the dark-skinned girl
"Yes, it really is cold, wear warm clothes or else you'll catch a cold, and we don't want that, do we?" said the woman at the door with a raised eyebrow
"Of course not!" the girl got out of bed 'it's really, really, cold. Brrrr' "I'll-, I'll be down in a minute!"
"I'll be waiting in the kitchen, hurry up or you'll be late for school" the woman closed the door.
The girl then started her daily routine, take a shower, brush her teeth, put on the warmest clothes she owned, and started to prepare herself for another terrible day at school that was about to come. Yes, you read it right, Luz Noceda, the school's biggest loser, the weirdo. That's what everyone else called, a weirdo, but honestly, could you blame them? I mean who still reads books, especially fantasy ones, and who is as childish as to believe that amazing creatures do exist? No one, no even a single soul, at least that Luz was aware of. Luz liked reading, watching anime, writing fanfiction, shipping, drawing, and everything that had to do with the imaginary, so of course, everyone saw her as a weirdo 'especially after the book report accident' she shuddered at the memory of the principal being attacked by a snake 'not doing that ever again'.
She then went downstairs and saw her mother in the kitchen, just like she said. She sat down at the table and started eating her breakfast. Even though her mother was still there the breakfast was silent, well usually it was like this, Camilla had a busy life anyways 'It's not like she'd care, either way, I really shouldn't bother her, I already caused enough trouble.
I wish I didn't feel so much out of place
wish I weren't a weirdo to everyone
wish I had somewhere to go'
"Mija?"
"hum?"
"Is, everything ok? You know you can talk to me about anything right? I know some kids your age cause trouble just to get their parents' attention, but you know you don't have to do so, right?"
"Of course, mami, everything is fine" she gave her mother a gentle smile, even if it was fake, even if nothing was alright, she didn't want to worry her mama. What was she going to tell her? That she had no friends? That no one liked her because she was a weirdo? Of course not! That was going with her to the grave. "Anyway, we better worry or else I'll be late and so are you. I've already finished breakfast, I'm ready to go!" she jumped out of the chair and went to get her school bag.
"Didn't you forget something?"
"My lunch..."
"Your lunch" her daughter came to her to get her lunch that was on top of the kitchen countertop, Camila taking advantage of the closure to give her daughter's forehead a quick peck. "Let's go now mija"
Camila drove Luz to the school, they stayed silent on the way there. She knew her daughter wasn't telling her something, but she couldn't force her to tell her something she didn't want to, it was hard already when she came out to her, but she didn't put any pressure on her that time, and she won't now. "Have a nice day mija"
"Hasta luego mami!" She hurried out of the car, giving her mother a gentle kiss. It ain't that she liked going to school, no one liked it, but she, oh ho, she hated it, not really the school itself or the concept of learning, she loved those, she hated everything about the way other kids, and now even adults treated her. It went from ignoring to making fun of her.
'Here goes nothing...' she thought to herself entering the school gates.
"FREE!" school was over for the week and Gosh, WAS she happy for that. "FINALLY, FREE!" She finally had time to rest and watch the anime she's been postponing for ages! 'Thank God Hell is finally over, well, for the week at least'.
She went to check her phone, to see if she had any texts from her mom, and jeez! She had plenty, well, four but try being the non-popular kid, in fact, try being the weirdo with no friends.
She opened the text app and... oh...
«Hola Mija! Como fueran las clases?»
«I'm sorry Mija but I won't be able to come home for the weekend, With all the trouble that the hospital is having they need us extra hours so I won't be able to come home»
«I trust you to take good care of the house, don't forget to clean up after cooking and do the chores, for now, there's food on the fridge»
«Te Quiero Mucho!»
...her mom wasn't staying the weekend... she was gonna spend it alone...
'That's fine, I guess...'
It really was fine, she could still watch that anime and rest, all alone... without getting bored... taking responsibilities! Yay! He he...
If that was so, why was she so, disappointed?... Deep inside, she wanted to spend time with her mother, even if she didn't tell her everything, she still enjoyed spending time with her mother... and not only that, she was also worried because she never stayed alone more than a day, and her mother always came to sleep at home, but this time wasn't that case, and with that came her second worry, her mother, she was worried about her and didn't want her to work too much, but she also knew that she had to do her job and that she had no saying in this. 'she's gonna be ok, it's mom we're talking about! Besides, I should be more worried about what I'll do first since she's not here...'
Luz didn't have any friends, so that made her mother the closest she had to a friend, so It's normal she felt lonely without her around. But she was gonna be fine because she is Luz! And she would have a fun weekend without getting bored without her mom! She was tough, she was a grown-up now! Well, not a grown-up, but she was fourteen! She was old enough to take care of herself!
'This is going to be a piece of cake.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"UGH!" Apparently not, she was beyond bored, and it wasn't weekend yet, she had just got home two hours ago. She'd tried everything but nothing seemed to take her mind off her mom and how she would be alone all weekend. It wasn't like she wasn't used to being alone, believe her, she was. It was just, she was never alone for so long, after school? That was usual. One day? Yes sure, she had already spent a day alone a few times. But the whole weekend? Without even sleeping there? 'She must be over-worked'.
She let herself fall on the couch when something caught her eye. Through the window, she saw the mountain that stood tall close to the town she lived in. 'The boiling mountains' her teacher had talked about an old legend from those mountains about humans and monsters that no one, except for her, had cared about. 'How I wish legends were true'.
She stared at the mountains longingly, as much as she had never been there, it gave her a feeling of nostalgia like she's looking at an old friend (not that she knows what that feels like but still). Now that she thinks about it, why won't she just go there to cool her head? It could be fun!
'Well, it's not like I have anything better to do. Let's explore!'
«Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return» Her teacher's voice echoes in her head 'that can't be right, it's just an old legend anyway'
She packed her bag, locked the front door, and was on her way, she wouldn't take long right?
The trip to the mountains was rather quick, she got there in twenty minutes, and despite the warning signs, she climbed to the top of the mountain. It's chilly up there, howling in the huge hole at the top of the mountain.
"Wow..."
The bottom of the hole was nowhere to be seen, it was like it was endless.
"HEY!" She yelled into the hole just so she could hear her voice echoing. "Hehe"
She could see her town from up there, so small in comparison to how high up she was. Down there she was a little creature mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood but up here, where no one could see her, yell at her or even ignore her, she was big, but like, not BIG big, she felt big, like she was the mountain herself, floating above everyone else. She was different, just like the mountain in comparison to the small town. Now she did feel like she had somewhere to go, somewhere she could be different without being judged. This was glorious! This was amazing! It was everything she ever needed and didn't even know she did!
And then she fell...
She fell below the ground, crashing with a loud thud.
"Ugh" She felt horrible. "Did I fell? Am I dead?"
She slowly got up and took in her surroundings
'Flowers. I fell on top of yellow flowers'
Looking up was the hole she fell from 'welp, that answers my question'
The "underground" was basic, apart from the flowers there wasn't really anything that stands out until she saw a door, a huge purple door at the end of a corridor. She got up and walked towards it. Upon closer inspection, the door was held up by two roman styled columns and was sculped at the top.
"Huh, huge scary door that I shouldn't probably open. Oh well, too bad for you I have to get back home, and I am NOT climbing all of that up, so..." She pushed the door open.