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“Lily, could you go upstairs and tell the kid that dinner’s almost ready?” Eda asked as she turned the stove off. Lilith wasted no time, swiftly making her way up the stairs towards Luz’s room. The door was closed, and there was a sign on it with a cartoon drawing of Luz that read;
“LUZ’S DOMAIN. ENTER IF YOU DARE. >:) (Just kidding, but please knock first!)”
Lilith couldn’t help but chuckle at the kid’s humor. She knocked on the door a couple of times, waiting for a reply.
“Who is it?…” The voice from the other side of the door sounded rather exhausted and empty. Lilith was almost shocked.
“It’s just Lilith, may I enter your… domain?…”
There was a pause. Lilith held her hands together with patience.
“…come on in.” Lilith inhaled, slowly opening the door. She looked ahead and saw Luz lying on her sleeping bag, staring at what looked to be a picture frame. She looked rather sad, like she was missing someone. Lilith hesitated to ask. Perhaps Luz didn’t want to talk about it.
“I was sent by Edalyn to tell you that dinner is almost ready.” Lilith stood by the doorway, hesitant to step any closer to the child. She didn’t want to provoke her any more than she already has.
“I’ll be down soon, I just need a minute…” Luz sighed, looking away from the picture towards the ceiling. Lilith knew something was wrong. She walked over and sat down next to Luz, feeling more of her low-spirited aura. Lilith tilted her head slightly in question.
“Is everything alright?…” Luz sighed and sat up on her sleeping bag, still holding onto the picture frame. She took a good look at it before replying.
“I… I don’t know… I’m just a little homesick.” Luz avoided eye contact, tracing her finger along the edge of the frame as a nervous fidget.
“It seems like this is more than just ‘being homesick’, Luz… do you want to talk about it? It’s okay if you don’t, I just… I want to help in any way I can…” Lilith gave a look of reassurance as Luz sighed once more, running her fingers through her hair.
“… before all this, it was easy being away from home, because… I had the portal… if I wanted to, I could have just gone home. It’s like I was tied to a string, and my mom was on the other end, y’know?…”
Lilith nodded.
“…but once the portal was destroyed… that string was cut, and I lost any sort of connection to my mom. I-I don’t even know if she gets the videos and texts I send her… she’s gone, Lilith. I’m all alone now…” Luz’s eyes started to sting, and voice began to tremble. Lilith thought for a moment before tilting her head down to see the other girl’s face.
“Hey… you still have Edalyn.” Luz opened her eyes to face Lilith, who was attempting a reassuring smile.
“You have King… and even the house demon, whatever his name is…”
“Hooty?” Luz replied.
“Yes, you even have Hooty as well… you have your family here, and they won’t stop at anything to get you back home. At the very least, that string between you and your mother will be tied together once more… whatever you decide to do…” Lilith smiled softly.
“I appreciate that Lilith, I really do, but… sometimes, it’s just not enough, y’know?… it’s not the same as being back home.” Luz’s voice started to tremble again as Lilith took a deep breath. She knew what she had to do now.
“Luz, look at me…” Lilith gently placed her hand on the girl’s face, turning it towards her and revealing Luz’s tearful eyes and quivering lips. She knew this child was holding back a flood, and she was willing more than anything to make things better.
Even a promise.
“We will get you home…” Lilith looked down and drew a circle in the air with her free hand, taking Luz’s hand and holding it within the circle until it disappeared. Lilith kept eye contact the entire time, making sure that Luz knew she meant what she said.
“…you have my word.”
Luz’s eyes began to fill with tears. She curled in on herself, trying to keep from exploding.
“Come here…” Lilith slowly wrapped her arms around the trembling child, who leaned in to accept the embrace. Her quiet sobs turned into loud ones as she let out her thoughts, hoping that if she said them, they would become a reality right in front of her eyes.
“I just want my mom!… I want my mom back!” Luz cried out, not too loud for Eda and King to hear downstairs, but loud enough to shatter Lilith’s heart to bits.
“I know, hon… I know.” Lilith didn’t know what else to say. She knew deep down that it would be a long and painful journey before they could get Luz back home, but she was willing to go through Hell and back 12 times over to make things right.
The two girls suddenly turned towards the door as they heard Eda yelling from downstairs.
“Yo, Lily! What’s taking so long? Dinner’s getting cold and I’m not reheating it!”
Lilith looked towards Luz, who looked like she wasn’t going to be able to pull herself together within 5 seconds.
“Should I bring dinner up here to you?” Lilith asked.
Luz sniffled and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.
“That… would be nice.” Lilith nodded as she got up and walked towards the door. But before she could leave, Luz stopped her.
“Oh, and Lilith…” Lilith looked back in interest.
“Thank you for that.” Luz muttered, looking down at Lilith’s boots to avoid eye contact.
Lilith smiled.
“It’s the least I could do. I won’t tell if you won’t tell?…” Luz nodded, cracking a smile and giving a thumbs up. Lilith did the same as she closed the door and made her way downstairs, greeted by an annoyed Eda and a hungry King, who had his face buried in his bowl.
“Took you long enough… where’s Luz? Did she sleep in again?…” Eda asked, shoving her oven mitts in a nearby drawer.
“You could say that.” Lilith said as she grabbed a full bowl for Luz, and one for herself, carrying both in her hands as she made her way back towards the entrance to the kitchen.
Eda raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
“Lily?…”
“My lips are sealed.” Lilith turned back towards Eda with a deadpan look on her face as she headed back upstairs to give Luz her dinner.
Eda couldn’t help but smile as she chuckled to herself.
“Damn, the kid’s already growing on her!”