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Chapter Text

Luz pulled her hand down her face, doing her best to keep from falling out of her chair. Today had been exceedingly boring, and she wasn’t quite sure if she was going to survive to see the end of it unless something cool happened. Which it wouldn’t. Not in this school, not in this city, not in her lifetime. She was eighteen, and had a grand total of zero extraordinary moments to speak of for her entire life. This city was bland, school was bland. Luz herself wasn’t bland, but that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was “small town syndrome” and the fear of succumbing to it. Luz is pretty sure she has seen the same man work the counter at the same checkout line at the same grocery store her entire life. As though anyone who lived in this town was doomed to live in this town, never being able to escape, never being able to chase one's dreams as the frightening reality of adulthood set in and the ease of working at a local Hot Topic seemed more and more appealing than trying to get out.

The thought sent a furious chill down Luz’s spine.

I just wish, Luz thought, that I could do something extraordinary and leave this place for good.

Thankfully she did have a couple of saving graces in her favor: First of all, it was Friday. Friday means she didn’t have to be here for much longer and had a lovely two days of glorious freedom. Second of all: Her mother was out of town. Luz loved her mother, her mother was easy to love and did her damn best to make sure Luz didn’t have a hitch getting through her life, something that Luz truly did appreciate. But sometimes it’s a nice feeling to be a teenager and knowing you can come home to some privacy after a long week.

The bell rung, and Luz stretched, before tipping her chair forwards and letting herself finally relax. As the students around her scurried out of the class, eager to get home and start their weekend, Luz waited for the crowds around the door to clear. She packed up her shit nonchalantly, and made her way out of the school, slithering through the crowds to make her way to her car. 

But as she dragged her feet across the pavement, towards her glorious candy red chariot of freedom from the hell that was highschool, she couldn’t help but let something on the ground catch her eye: A shimmering, golden crescent moon. It was attached to a soft, gold chain, one with links small enough that you just wanted to bunch it up and drape it over your fingers. It looked remarkably clean for something that had quite clearly been dropped outside.

Luz picked it up, and went to see if anyone was around. It was then that it hit her just how long she had spent waiting inside for things to quiet down, because she was well and truly the only person she could see. Rather than waste the precious moments of her weekend dwelling on if this pendant was real gold, was missed by someone, or if it even belonged to anyone, she decided she’d rather forget about it for now and get her ass home.

She tucked the pendant into the pocket of her jacket, adjusted her ever present beanie, and made her way to her car to get the hell out of there.

The drive home was boring, as was everything about this god forsaken “city”, and Luz let herself properly collapse onto the couch the moment it was within collapsing distance. Her bag fell to the floor beside her as she pressed her head into the matted cushion, letting out a guttural groan from the deepest pits of her soul.

Luz was free for the weekend, yes.But she was free for a very, very boring weekend. Normally a weekend to herself would be nice, and she wouldn’t have minded being able to play DOTA for the rest of the night and well into Saturday morning, something about today sucked the appeal out of that for her.

As much as Willow and Gus were both great friends, she was also pretty sure hanging out with them to try and find anything to do was out of the question too, what with them having to work all weekend. Luz never did understand why they were both so willing to give up the two days out of the week they were truly free to at least do something different, but they were her friends and she didn’t want to judge them too harshly.

Still, judging them or not, Luz was pretty certain they were working. Which left her with a whole load of nothing to do. And with the lingering fear of succumbing to nothing to do for the weekend, then the next weekend, then the next month, then the rest of her life breathing heavier and heavier down the back of her neck (or maybe it was the exhaustion), Luz eventually decided to just drift into sleep.

When she woke up again, it was evening, and not much else had changed aside from the fact that the sun had gone down and she was cold. And hungry. So she made her way into the kitchen and put some water on for tea, slapped a pizza into the oven, before pulling the necklace from her pocket.

The pendant on the end was pretty large, a golden crescent moon that she only just realized was elegantly captivating a carefully polished piece of jasper. She ran her thumb over top, finger gliding over the gemstone swiftly and without much hesitation, bringing her attention to the small bit of her own reflection she could see.

Her mother would’ve scorned her for putting something she found on the ground outside anywhere close to her mouth, but a quick tap of her teeth revealed the moon itself was actually quite soft. Suddenly Luz’s mind shifted from finding this thing's original owner to the possibility that this may be worth something.

It would be a lie to say that a part of her wasn’t curious about who owned it, however.

But regardless, she would worry about that later. For now, the girl simply sat the necklace around her own neck, letting the shiny pendant hang rather nicely over her chest. She grabbed the pizza out of the oven, and after making sure her thumb wasn’t too burnt by sticking it into her mouth, she grabbed a couple of slices, made herself some tea, and headed off to her room.

The night was, surprise surprise, uneventful. Full of random bullshit on YouTube, a couple of good matches in a couple of video games, but the toll the day had taken on the poor girl was really starting to weigh her down. It was barely midnight, but she was ready to pass out. It didn’t take long for that feeling of fear to creep back up her neck again, making the hair stand on end as the horrific visual of Luz giving up on her dreams; becoming an artist, becoming a game designer, becoming a rockstar. They were all on the brink of sinking away into the dark.

Her mind wandered as the heat began to settle in her chest, the feeling crawling around her body in a terrifyingly slow embrace. But then she remembered something. The pendant around her neck. She gave it a glance, and for a brief moment considered the possibility of it. It hadn’t occurred to her when she found it that this could be the beginning of something extraordinary. She considered it when she started considering the thing could be made out of actual gold, sure, but even then that was a fleeting thought.

But as she held it in her hands, turned it over her fingers, really gave the thing a good look, there was a brief moment where the consideration of this being the start of something extraordinary for her had bolted across her mind, just long enough to leave the taste of an idea on her tongue. 

Then Luz remembered that while she was desperate to get out of this city, she wasn’t a kid anymore. She held onto her dreams, but the idea of something magical whisking her out of her boring life had left her a long time ago.

She sighed a heavy sigh, and ran her thumb up the gemstone, “I just wish that something cool would happen,” she brought her thumb back down the face of the pendant, eyes locking to her own reflection, “and that I could get out of this place,” her thumb made one more trip up, drifting across the smooth surface, “and chase my dreams for real.”

Of course, nothing happened. This was real life, and Luz wasn’t expecting anything to happen. Even if there was such a thing as magic, it certainly didn’t belong in a shithole like this city. So Luz sighed and set the pendant down. She stood up from her chair for the first time in a good while, and gave a good stretch, ready to admit defeat to exhaustion and call it a night, when she had a mini heart attack after seeing the very pretty purple haired lady sitting at the end of her bed.

Chapter Text

Once Luz had regained her ability to breathe, and to keep herself steady on her own two feet, she took a deep breath and decided now was probably as good a time as ever to finally say something after what had been way, way too much silence.

“Uhh….Hi there!” Luz chimed, voice somehow managing to crack while the words were on their way out. 

Purple hair just turned to properly look at her, past her bangs.

“So uhh…This is my bedroom?” She continued, not intending that to be a question.

“It most certainly is!” said purple hair, a brilliant grin throwing itself to her face and putting dazzling, white teeth on full display. It made something inside of Luz’s gut flutter and heat up.

She held a finger up, giving her just enough time to swallow her awkwardness for a moment and let her brain think, “Mhm! Yes! So…That means you shouldn’t be here!”

“And why exactly is that? Because from what I understand, me being in your room means you’re makin’ dinner happen.”

Luz felt her brain glitch. Is this girl for real? “No…You shouldn’t be here, because I don’t know you.”

Purple hair sprang up from the end of the bed and began to pace around Luz’s room before turning about face, making her way over to Luz, and putting a fingertip on her shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know all about you, Luz Noceda.”

Luz’s heart sank suddenly, her face starting to heat up and her tummy starting to churn a little. It was one thing for a (rather gorgeous) purple haired girl to show up in the middle of the night on her bed without making a sound. Throw in her knowing her name, however, and suddenly Luz was struggling to figure out if she should feel flattered or horrifically creeped out. The combination of those feelings was doing something nasty to her, though, so she really hoped whatever this stranger had to say next would help her finally decide.

Purple hair shrugged her shoulders after a moment, evidently she was waiting for a response, “And I gotta tell you, hun, I am starving . So, how about you get your sourpuss butt in the car and we go pick up some grub?”

There it was. Now she could be creeped out! She raised a hand in preparation to let out a monumental ‘what the fuck’, but purple hair already had grabbed Luz’s keys, opened her bedroom door, and made her way outside, leaving Luz to fruitlessly trail behind, mouth agape, silently protesting everything that was happening. Purple hair moved around to the far side of Luz’s car, turning around and tossing Luz her keys. She rested on the roof of the car, and was suddenly looking far, far prettier in the moonlight than she had any right to. 

Luz swallowed, “What the fuck is going on?”

“It’s a lot to explain, Sweet Potato. So how about, you get in the car, we go to get some food, and we can talk about what's happening on the way there and over dinner?”

Ay, dios mío .

The girl stood on her porch, looking down at the keys in her hand, and taking a quick glance behind her into her home. Inky dark looked back at her, and when she turned around, all she could really comprehend was some really gorgeous woman was looking back at her, inviting her out for dinner. As much as Luz could admit she really, really wanted some adventure in her life, she was starting to wonder if this is really what she signed up-

“No, this isn’t what you signed up for. It’s better,” Purple hair flashed Luz a toothy grin.

Luz felt her blood run cold, and then suddenly become too hot in her own body. She gets in the car, and Purple hair follows suit.

“McDonald’s?” Purple hair asked with a smile.

Luz just gave her an empty stare back in disbelief.

“...What? I like their food! We don’t get it where I come from! Sue me!”

“...Are you serious?”

Purple hair scoffed playfully, “Got anything better in mind?”

Luz stayed silent, turning on the car and boring a glare into purple hairs forehead. Purple hair pumped her fist in victory, and they began the drive to the closest McDonald’s. Luz was still in a bit of disbelief. Everything that was happening was both immensely creepy, but just barely intriguing enough to keep her on the hook. Granted, if her mother knew what she was doing right now she wouldn’t have to worry about how ridiculous this all is, because Luz would be dead , but her mother is gone for the weekend. How oddly convenient for whoever the hell the woman in her car was. The more she thought about it, the more she got a little icked out.

They did eventually arrive at the McDonald’s, it’s shitty sign buzzing in that way shitty signs do (and flickering in the way shitty signs do), while purple hair bounded out of Luz’s car, practically galloping to the door. Luz followed behind, doing her best to not “accidentally” trip on the pavement, face first into a curb. 

As the two of them got into line, Ms. Punky Purple Hair quickly turned to look at Luz, “You got cash right?”

Luz just groaned.

The two sat down and Luz stared down at her food, holding her head up by her temple as she sat, trying to wrap her head around everything that was happening. Here she was, having a weird sort of dinner date with a total stranger (who was wolfing down her food), who just…Appeared in her room. For no reason. The girl closed her eyes, gave her forehead a good massage. Purple hair was still there when she opened her eyes. Luz took a deep sigh, and started to stare out the window. Taking her mind off this was probably the best way to handle it for now.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Purple hair said between bites.

“Wouldn’t be too sure about what?”

“About ignoring this. Like, not thinking about me being here doesn’t make me disappear, neither does looking away.”

Luz swallowed.

“I would try to focus on the positives, if I were you!”

Luz turned to face Purple Hair again, scoffing, “Okay, yeah, what positives? You don’t even know who I am!”

Purple hair raised an eyebrow.

“..Okay, you know who I am, but you don’t know me. I don’t give a shit what you say, you’re probably just some…I don’t know, weird stalker?”

“Are you really going to take the opportunity for something to happen and throw it away?” Purple hair asked, stuffing another bite into her mouth.

Luz turned a bit pale, taking a deep breath to steady herself. It would be a lie to say the thought hadn’t at least crossed her mind, but…It felt like so much more than she bargained for already. Then again, she would never know that for sure unless she took the chance. 

But if there was going to be any chance of her doing that, she needed to know a little bit more.

“Maybe. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t, but I’m not making a proper decision until I know what’s going on,” Luz said, finally letting her head go from her hands, and looking the girl across from her dead in the eye, “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Purple hair smirked, “I’m Satan.”

Luz scoffed.

“I’m serious! Satan! The Devil! Beelzebul! Lucifer!”

The other girl had her hands over her mouth, doing her best to hold in a cackle, “Yeah, yeah, and I’m straight!” 

Purple hair flashed an even more flirtatious smirk this time, propping her head onto her fist, “But you, Luz Noceda, can call me Amity. Amity Blight.”

Luz coughed, caught her breath, and quickly made sure the heat went away from her face before she spoke again.

“Well, Amity , what do you want?”

“Easy! Your soul!”

“Isn’t that super fucking cliche?”

Amity nodded, “Yes, it is, but the Devil never really changes, hun, that’s the nature of my thing. I buy souls.”

“Really now? And what would I be giving you in return for my soul?”

“Seven wishes! Brand new, never used, all for you!”

Luz rolled her eyes, “Do you think I’m fucking stupid?”

Amity giggled, “No, no I don’t. What I think is that you had said: I just wish that I could do something extraordinary and leave this place for good…That sound about right?”

Okay, now Luz was terrified. Absolutely, stone cold terrified. Her blood turned into ice, and her jaw fell a little bit, all while words did their best to try and leave her mouth. Nothing came out of course, except for a few small noises, mostly drowned out by the sound of Amity laughing her fucking ass off.

“O-O-Oh! H-Holy shit! Holy shit, holy shit, the look on your face!!! Bahahahahaha!” Amity slammed her fist down on the table, using it as support while she doubled over. Just as quick as her laughter fit had started, she calmed down, suddenly all business. 

“So, what do you say?”

Luz just stared for a moment, “It’s my soul.”

“And you use that…when, exactly?”

Luz just huffed.

“Listen: You get seven wishes, I get your soul- which was never something you even thought you really had in the first place, let's be honest. It’s a win for each of us!”

Luz crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow. Amity followed by rolling her eyes, suddenly popping up from the table, tossing whatever scraps were left in the trash, taking Luz’s hand and guiding her outside. They walked past Luz’s car, onto the sidewalk, making brisk pace towards the park next door. They strolled in silence, Luz getting more uncomfortable by the minute as each fiber in her body screamed to turn around and book it. They eventually came to a stop, standing over some forgotten sidewalk chalk. Amity reached down, took a piece in her hand, and began to write:

Dear Luz,

I’m giving you seven wishes, I wouldn’t turn this down,

Give me your soul in return, that’s all I ask.

The Devil isn’t clever enough to rhyme, so sign here. 

Xoxox, Amity Blight

Luz sighed. If it would get whoever the hell this is off her back and make it so she could spend the rest of the night in peace, it was worth it. She took the chalk and stuck her name beneath whatever the hell “contract” was written above it. And as if on queue, it began to rain. Drop by drop, the contract washed away, melding with the colorful artwork of children left in the day, washing out into the grass. Luz flicked her hood up over her head, but Amity was basking in the rain. 

Her head was tilted up to the sky, letting fresh drops fall into her face with a weird gracefulness, each drop finding its way down the perfectly shaped features of The Devil’s- of Amity’s face. Because Amity is just a pretty girl pulling a weird prank. Not the devil. 

When she finally looked back at Luz she smiled, a glint of brimstone and fire flaring in her eyes for the briefest of moments. And before Luz could properly process that, suddenly Amity was kissing Luz. And quite aggressively. Forcefully, but not in any sort of unpleasant way. Just in the way of someone doing something they knew they were really, really good at doing. Luz blamed nerves as to why she didn’t back away from it. A small gasp left her lips as Amity pulled away. How it was just a gasp and nothing else Luz wasn’t quite sure, because apparently Amity was the kind of woman who bit lips when she kissed. 

“So, we have a deal. Just give me a call when you want your first wish.”

Luz nodded in silence, still shell shocked by what just happened. But by the time she had fully processed it and came up with a response, (probably something along the lines of “hey, why the fuck did you just kiss me?”) Amity was gone. Nowhere to be seen, from park edge to park edge. Luz looked down at her feet, and it was like the contract had never even been there. It was like Amity had never even been there, and Luz was just some weird chick standing out in the middle of the rain, in the middle of a park, in the middle of the night.

Chapter Text

 Luz dragged her palm down her face, and groaned into her hand. Her tummy groaned right back at her, and she whimpered. She was usually better at feeding herself than this. But the girl was especially lazy today. It was Saturday, she had just managed to get over the weirdness that had happened last night (spoiler alert: she slept it off like it never happened), and had spent the morning playing video games on her computer. She was slamming back energy drinks to keep herself ready, and to keep herself from having to make something to eat. But it was starting to become futile, her guts threatening civil war lest they get something more filling than another gulp of Monster.

 But that would involve getting up, wouldn’t it?

 She glanced at her clock. 11 AM. She had been up since 6, had been sweating her ass off in every match, and even if it wasn’t lunch time, she could scarf down something in 15 seconds if she really tried. It was tempting. But the effort of feeding herself seemed like a mountain that she could put off for at least another hour. Maybe two, if she kept up the caffeine intake.

 She leaned back in her chair and groaned again, “I wish someone would bring me some Subway!”

 No sooner had the words left her lips did she hear a knock on the door, and a generous few rings of the doorbell. Luz slumped down into her chair a bit, but when whoever it was started slamming the doorbell to the tune of Ringaringaringaringa seemingly as fast as they could, she dragged herself up.

 Her feet clod against the floor, and she did her best to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

 The door flung open, and there stood Amity Blight, all purple hair, cocky grin, flashy leather jacket, and Subway bag in hand.

 “Wish granted!” She chimed, pushing her way past the dumbfounded (and now VERY awake) Luz, setting the bag down on the coffee table and launching herself onto the girl’s couch. Luz felt herself blush again. Because, hey, Amity all sprawled out. Pretty damn good view. Once she had composed herself, she shut the door and whipped around to point at the girl currently stuffing her face with a sandwich.

 “What the fuck are you doing here?”

 Amity spoke through a mouthful of food, “One down, six to go!”

 It took the wheels in Luz’s head a few moments to catch up.

 “I didn’t wish for anything! I didn’t call you!”

 Amity smirked, “Dude, you totally did,” she said, gesturing to the sandwich in her hand and the bag left on the table.

 “B-But that wasn’t a wish, I was just thinking out loud!”

 “…You said ‘I wish’ didn’t you?”

 Luz faltered, “W-Well, yeah, I did, but-”

 “Sounds like a wish to me!”

 Luz felt her face morph into a snarl, “You’re an asshole.”

 Amity stretched out a bit, deliberately taking her time, “I’m the Devil,” she said, stretching out every letter of the last word, “Being a bit of a douche is like… My whole thing.”

 “I wasn’t even ready for a first wish!! Not that this was even a wish,” Luz ranted, holding her head, “Because you are not the Devil and this is just a really weird prank!“

 “I mean, hey, you got what you wanted, right?”

 “…”

 “Oh, and here’s your card back. Thanks for the sandwich, sweet potato!”

 Luz fumbled to grab her debit card as it was tossed into the air, taking a good look at it and back at Amity once she had it in her grasp. It was definitely hers, it had definitely been taken by Amity, and she had no idea when it happened. The punk rock Hot Topic poster child on her couch stuffed more of her sandwich down her throat, and before Luz could continue to protest, her tummy gave her one last warning.

 She sighed in defeat, grumbling to herself, “You don’t even know what I like from Subway.”

 Amity held up a finger, yet again speaking through a mouthful, “Footlong, double ham, lettuce, peppers, tomato, olive oil, extra provolone, on Italian, untoasted.”

 Luz silently pulled the sandwich out of the bag, peeled away the paper to study the food, and stood emotionless.

 It was exactly what she had been wanting.

 Defeated, Luz finally flopped down on the couch, reluctantly putting the sandwich in her mouth. It didn’t help that it tasted really good.

 Amity was already starting to grab one of the cookies from the bag when she started talking again, “Sooo, what’s wish number two gonna be?”

 “You mean number one?”

 “Nope, you got your sandwich, you’re on wish two, deal with it.”

 “You are a pain in the ass.”

 “You made the deal with the Devil-”

 “Stop saying you’re the Devil!” Luz snapped. Amity perked up from the couch, a wicked grin twisting onto her face.

 “I like you, you know? You’ve got balls.”

 “Oh, is that why you kissed me last night?”

 Amity shrugged, “I’m Satan. I like to kiss pretty girls on the mouth. So what?”

 Luz just groaned, “You are not, so stop saying it.”

 “But I am!” Amity protested, in a rather childish manner, “And I can prove it! But no, here you are wasting my time and yours, by trying to say I’m not who I say I am and wondering why I kissed you.”

 Luz scoffed, “Yes, because that’s a smart thing to be doing! You kissed me, and before I could even start to think about it or tell you to go stick your head up your ass, you were gone!”

 “I don’t remember you pulling away, sweet potato.”

 Luz cleared her throat as she blushed.

 “Listen, I’m sure everything will make sense eventually. But, for now, I gotta be honest: I got places to be. There’s an earthquake in Japan, and I got a lot to do there. So if you wanna make this quick, I’d really like that.”

 Luz groaned, took another bite of her sandwich, and finally started to think. Because this girl was not the Devil, she was not going to grant a wish, she probably just stole her debit card, and she isn’t really, really hot.

 …She might be a bit hot.

 But, there was no way she could grant a wish.

 “You know what? Fine. You’re the Devil, you can grant me any wish?”

 Amity nodded, perking up again with a giddy grin.

 “Then I…” Luz thought for a moment, looking around for inspiration. That’s when something caught her eye.

 “I want to be just like the Good Witch Azura! I want to be powerful, I want to have magical powers, and I want to be able to help people in need! I want to be seen as a hero, and I want everyone to know that I can always save the day!”

 Amity clapped her hands, standing up and tossing her cookie aside, “Finally, something juicy! And a pretty classic one, I might add. Lot’s of people go for rich and powerful. You may not be rich with this one, but powerful is definitely something I can get behind.”

 Luz smirked, doing her best to quiet the nagging voice in her head telling her that she couldn’t have thought of anything more childish. She was cringe, but she was happy damnit.

 “So, let me recap. You wanna be like the witch from your favorite book series- Which, can I add? I love The Good Witch Azura, great books, still need to read book five-”

 “You haven’t read book five yet?”

 “Some things are kind of hard to get in Hell.”

 Luz just nodded like she understood.

 “You wanna be magical, powerful, and a big time hero, yeah? Wanna stop all the baddies dead in their tracks, right?”

 “Yeah, I do.”

 “Great! Now, before we get too crazy here,” Amity stepped forwards, taking hold of Luz’s hand and placing an old, dirty flip phone in her palm. Luz glanced down at it, flicked it open, and looked back at Amity, puzzled.

 “If, for whatever reason, things aren’t going your way, you just give me a call. 666. I’ll be right there and we can get you out!”

 Luz nodded, “Alright, sounds goo- Wait why wouldn’t it go the way I want?”

 Amity shrugged, “Who knows? Maybe I missed some details and you want me to help course correct.”

 Luz gave another, slightly less trusting nod. Not that she was actually worried, of course, because this was just a weird prank. Still, it was the principle of the whole deal.

 “Now, wish for it! And remember, you gotta say ‘I wish’!”

 Luz looked down at the flip phone in her hand, up at the girl in front of her, and sighed. This was probably the dumbest thing she had ever done in her entire life. And here she was. Humoring this prank. Just so she could prove that this chick wasn’t the Devil. No matter how much she clearly hasn’t backed down, it was just a really good poker face. Because magic (sadly) isn’t real, and Amity Blight is not the Devil.

 “I wish that I were like the Good Witch Azura, powerful, a hero, with magical spells and a staff, who will always be there to help people in need!”

 Amity smiled wide, and that hint of flare came back into her eyes, as they shrunk to nothing more but razor like slits, the fires of Hell showing their faces for just the briefest of moments.

 “See you soon!”

 A dash of cool washed across Luz’s face, and her eyes shot open. She looked around. She was just barely in the shade, the tent above her head keeping her safe from the sun. A glance to her left saw an open meadow, flowers hosting the likes of bees and butterflies. to her right, a dirt trail running along a dense bit of forest. The tracks of wooden wheels were fresh, leading right up to the tents, just like the many, many hoofprints.

 She glanced at a table. It was filled with various props of all sorts. Shields, swords, real swords, costumes. There were vials and glass bottles, jars of liquid and various other more lucrative props. Things like torches, bags of glittery powders, and large fans. She looked down, and found herself astounded.

 The water in the cleaning trough was fairly clear, and shone just enough that Luz got a clear look at herself. She looked like she normally did, minus the costume. It was remarkably well done. The colors may have been a tad off, but it was a faithful recreation of the outfit worn by The Good Witch Azura. The crown that rested around the hat gleamed brilliantly, even without the help of the sun. Looking down at the chest of her gown, Luz took in the sight of the deep purple, and the near perfect star in the center.

 She looked even closer. The stitches were very clearly done by hand, every single one. Not just along the chest, but throughout the entire gown. It was a painstakingly handcrafted work of art, and the stitches were perfect. A look over to her hand finally caught her a glimpse of her staff.

 The staff itself was solid wood, design carefully carved into it. The knots in the wood were just barely visible, having been cut out by hand in what must have been hours of work. The colors were intricately laid out along its guard, and down the length of its handle. But the most striking part of it was the glass centerpiece.

 It was handmade, just like the rest of it, and hand painted. It was hollow, sure, but that wasn’t important. What was important were the small imperfections in it. Luz looked closer, and could even see the way the glass had been turned as it was blown into shape. She gave it a tentative tap, and it hummed a gentle tone for a brief second.

 And then Luz looked over to her left, and saw a table piled with food. Bread, wine, water, butter, the works. There was even an entire ham hock, tied tightly with butchers twine. Luz’s tummy growled again, and she felt her mouth water. She didn’t eat much before she got here, and rather than question the magical bread or if she could even eat it, or even stopping to think about what Amity had done to make this happen, she was grabbing a slice of the loaf loaded with butter and moaning as she took a bite.

 Her indulgence was short lived however, as another woman made her way over to her. The woman wore a very plain dress, with a corset synched so tight around her waist that she looked like she was about to pop. She took the food from Luz’s hand and set it down, giving her a firm smack on the shoulder.

 “It’s your turn to go on!” She said, shooing Luz away from the food, and over to the side.

 Luz suddenly found herself staring at a dark curtain, and she took a bit of a look around, only finding a large wooden wall and a set of very shoddy looking steps. She was about to ask what exactly was happening, when a large man gave her a quick shove from behind. Luz got the message and nearly tripped as she made her way up the steps past the curtain.

 As she stood on the stage, she saw what was clearly a man inside of one of the most lazy monster costumes she had ever seen. It was poorly patched together, and had little more than sticks and a painted on mouth to do its best to be scary. It looked like it could barely scare a toddler. And, in the arms of the man, stood a woman doing her best to look horrified.

 That wasn’t what got Luz’s attention the most, though. No, no what caught her attention the most was the crowd in front of the stage.

 They were all children.

 Amity had made her the hero of a children’s theatrical act at some fucking ren faire.

 Luz felt her face get flushed. She knew that her interest in Azura was childish, but this was just embarrassing. It didn’t help her nerves when the children began to cheer as they saw her, and the woman in the arms of the “beast” began to call out for help.

 Luz decided she would make a mental note of what to tell Amity later. For now, she decided she would do her best to try and figure out something to say, rip this bandaid off quick, and then get back home to chew out the girl who put her here.

 She struck a pose, and took hold of her staff, and opened her mouth to speak. That was, until she saw a flash of purple in the audience. At the very back, cocky expectant grin and all, was Amity. And now Luz was extra shy.

 ’Don’t do it,’ said the tiny Luz in her head, ‘You’re gonna embarrass yourself. Just make up some stuff!’

 ’Like what?’ Said the big Luz to the tiny Luz, ‘We don’t even know what our lines are supposed to be!’

 Luz swallowed her pride, and spoke.

 “Do not underestimate me, Gildersnake,” Luz said, pointing a finger at the “monster”.

 The monster made a piss poor snarl and turned to face her, waving it’s victim around.

 “For I am The Good Witch Azura,” she called, fighting down her blush and the crack in her voice, “Warrior of peace!”

 She paused for the briefest of moments as she held her fist to her chest, looking out to see Amity give her a big thumbs up and a shit eating grin. And, the closer she looked, the more she saw the phone camera that was out and recording her. Luz was now tomato red, and felt her tummy do a quick somersault. But it didn’t take long for the embarrassment to turn to anger.

 A smirk found its way onto Luz’s face, and she dropped to a knee.

 “Now eat this, sucka!” Luz cried.

 The glass head of the staff began to hum, loudly, and quickly began to glow a brilliant red, like it was back in the forge that had made it. Luz took a quick peek down at it, and felt her heart skip a beat. Looking back up, she saw the woman in the arms of the monster, jaw slack. Suddenly, the confidence that was lost the moment she stepped back on stage came flooding back into Luz’s heart, and whatever bad comments she had said about Amity fell away.

 She pulled back on the purple slide of the staff. A ball of fire shot from the tip of the staff, draining the color from inside the glass, toppling Luz onto her haunches. It careened at the actors, and made direct contact with the monster. Luz watched in amazement as time practically slowed down. The monsters feet were dragged away from the earth, the woman in his arms fell to the floor. And in a split second the man was hurled back across the dirt path, into the forest, and slammed directly into the trunk of a tree in a brilliant inferno.

 Luz got back to her feet, a smile brighter than gold on her face as she looked down at her staff in amazement. Smoke poured from the tip of the glass, and the color pulsed a deep red. Luz’s heart raced, deep tingles flowing from her chest and into the staff, creeping up into the glass gem and slowly bringing its shade back to a brilliant blue, shining like a star in the night sky. She could feel the energy, the magic literally flowing from her heart.

 Finally looking up with a grin, she scanned the audience to see Amity. She couldn’t help but be a little confused when she didn’t see her. She glanced down to see if she had moved closer, but saw nothing but a crowd of children, now screaming, turning tail and running back to the village just over the hills.

 And she locked eyes with a burly man, who grabbed a pitchfork from the mound of dirt he sat on. An arm like stone pointed a finger right at Luz.

 “Witchcraft!” He boomed.

 And Luz’s blood ran cold.

 Luz sprinted into the woods, past the smoldering crater of the man she had accidentally fireballed into a tree. She did her best to keep the staff with her, the hat having long fallen off her head and her gown easily torn on the branches and thickets in her wake. Her breath wheezed, the pulse of her heart pounding in her head. Behind her, an angry mob followed only a few hundred feet behind, shouting obscenities and throwing whatever they could at her in the hopes it would land a hit.

 She looked over her shoulder just long enough to see the face of the burly man from before, his eyes filled with a burning hatred and disgust. He held a pitch fork and a torch, carefully guiding his way with the latter held high above his head so the crowd could keep up.

 Luz turned her attention back in front of her, ducking below branches and twisting along trunks. She hopped over a log that had fallen and began to rot, catching a sizable chunk of the mob off guard and toppling them. Mr. Big and Burly shifted his hand, and hurled the pitchfork over his head. Luz turned back at the sound, and her eyes bugged out. She quickly swung out the staff in her hand, pointing it to the sky and at the flying spear headed her way.

 A shock ran from the ground, up Luz’s entire body and down her arm, coursing through the staff and shooting out in a bolt of flame at the pitchfork, causing a loud bang and a shower of splinters. She took a quick moment to look at the staff, before remembering that she was supposed to be running for her life.

 As every fiber of her body began to ache, Luz started thinking at least a little bit. Her eye caught the trunk of a tree head, one that reached up far above her head, and she got an idea.

 She grabbed the staff in her hand and looked dead center at the trunk of the tree. She took a deep breath, and flung the staff out to follow her gaze. The rush came again, like the Earth itself was sending the heat of the core up through the soil and into her body. It rushed up her spine, through her heart, and shot out the end of the staff in a huge fireball. As the splinters came flying her way, she covered her face, and put the last bit of energy she had into one last sprint.

 The tree snapped and crackled, protesting its demise, but eventually listed, and came down in what was a moment of total silence. Time slowed down, and the mob found themselves screeching to a halt, and scattering.

 Luz had found a small burrow to hide in by the time she heard the crash of the tree hitting the ground. The rumbles in the Earth followed soon after, making her gasp. She fumbled around her body, desperate to find the stupid phone. Once she got it, she fought past shaky hands to dial 666. As the phone rang, Luz started to hear voices fill up the forest. The deep, bone shaking voice of Mr. Burly filled the forest with an order to spread out.

 The seconds felt like hours as Luz did her best to muffle the phone, and quiet her breath. Every snap of a branch, every rustle, every gust of wind had her on edge, knuckles white around her staff.

 “Hurry, hurry,” she whisper screamed.

 The phone rang again.

 A branch snapped.

 And another.

 Luz felt her heart slam into her ribs.

 Finally, Amity picked up.

 “Yes, sweet potato?”

 Luz could feel the footsteps shaking the ground.

 “Get me out of here!”

 Amity paused, and Luz was hearing more feet coming her way.

 “C’mon, I have a cute name for you! Use it back, why don’t you?”

 Luz could hear the breaths of the mob.

 “Please help me, sweet potato!”

 The war cry of the burly man from before made Luz jump out of her own skin, and she caught the feintest glimpse of a spear coming down from the corner of her eye. She wrenched her eyes shut, and moved the staff to block.

 But nothing came.

 She waited.

 Still nothing.

 Was she dead already?

 She was half sure she was dead, and was already ready to give Amity a shitstorm before she went to Hell. That was, until a familiar voice said, “You can open your eyes now.”

 And so Luz did. And found herself cowering like an idiot, at nothing, sat peacefully under a tree, Amity sprawled out in the grass beside her, basking in the sunlight.