Chapter Text
A young 8 year old girl stood crouched in her front garden, poking and prodding at a small hole in the lawn. "Come on out, little bun buns.." she spoke softly as she attempted to usher the family of rabbits out from their den. "Luz! Come inside it's getting dark!" A woman called for her. Luz's head poked up, but as she opened her mouth to answer, a movement caught her eye in one of the trash bins that had been left out for collection the following morning. Seeing the brown feathers poking out, she grinned. "In a second Mamá!" she rushed over, attempting to gently catch the bird, yet it seemed to almost vanish from her incoming hands. Luz blinked in confusion as she began looking around "where did.. ah!" she spotted it once again, dragging a bag that surely was too heavy for such a small bird. "Come back! I promise i'm not gonna hurt you!" she chased after it into her family's shed, though as she entered, she found herself hesitating. This was not the shed, or at least , her mother must've done some redecorating, because nothing in here seemed familiar to her. She took a deep breath and pressed on following the bird, which now that it was in closer range, seemed to be some species of owl. She gently pushed aside the curtains at the end of the presumed shed, and was greeted with.. "Huh..?" There was only ever one door, how did this lead outside, not to mention to the middle of some town? She studied and listened to the woman in front of her who seemed oblivious to Luz's presence, she looked old, and was advertising junk. A yard sale, maybe? As the girl attempted to sneak out from behind the lady, her head spun around, making Luz squeak and stumble on her feet - falling forward. The strange woman's face was paler than a full moon, eyes an unnatural yellow. She reached down to grab Luz, who instinctively put up quite a huge fight, biting and screaming just at the simple gesture of her arm being grabbed. Stranger danger was engrained deeply into her brain by her father before he passed, as a police officer, he had given her many safety lessons. She managed to scramble to her feet, running into a dirt road which appeared to be hosting several open markets, ignoring the confused calls of the lady she had just bitten.
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Luz didn't get very far before she drew short of breath, stumbling on herself as she grabbed the trunk of a tree to keep herself from collapsing. She heaved, chest heavy and throat tight. Where was she? Was she dreaming? The amount of anomalies she had seen running through that place seemed like fantasy, and that's ignoring how some of the people looked. Her head quickly perked in caution as she heard a snapping twig, eyes fixed in its direction, she hoped it was just a harmless animal, heart dropping at the silhouette that approached her. She winced as she attempted to stand on her legs again, knees shaking under her, she was able to stand - yes - but as she attempted to shift pressure on them and run, they gave into gravity. She fell helplessly onto the ground as a strange person approached her wearing a silver mask and uniform, white cloak over their head. Luz tried to crawl at the dirt, but the exertion and exhaustion was too much for her little body, feeling her strength and consciousness slip and the world blur.
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As the world came back to her, she heard many voices around her. Voices that were anything but familiar. Luz groaned as she opened her eyes, arms shaking from a unique exhaustion as she pulled herself up. She didn't say a word, despite the growing concern bubbling as she looked around, everyone there looked like that figure that approached her as she passed out, but taller. She couldn't make out any of their faces through the masks, which only added to her unease. She couldn't help but flinch a bit as a voice spoke right beside her, head jerking towards them, suprised she hadn't noticed them before. "You're awake.." the scout observed, his voice was much different to everyone else in the room. He sounded young, too young, almost her age. "What's going on? Where am I?" Luz's voice was raspier than she expected, she needed water. The boy didn't answer her, only attempting to move her off of the bed she had been on. He was king enough to offer her support via putting his arms under hers, but she still didn't feel ready to walk, limbs feeling light and week. She couldn't tell if he noticed, or even cared to check, unable to figure out where he was looking or see his expression as she began leading her out of the room.
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As a large grand set of doors opened to greet them, a even grander room awaited. She couldn't help her mouth from gaping slightly in awe as she looked around herself, and at the large beating heart at the centre. The boy knelt down, removing his support from her rather suddenly. She scowled a bit at him before he gestured her to join him, which she hesitantly did. "Hunter," a man across the room spoke, the scout's (who's name seemed to be hunter) head was fixed to the ground, but she kept sneaking peaks of the man in front of them. Whoever was speaking was sat in a throne, he must be important, though she had never heard of any politicians that look so bizzare. "Is this the human you claim to have found?" the man continued speaking to the scout as he stood off his throne, walking down the steps to their level. "Yes, Belos" Hunter confirmed, looking up and pushing his mask off his face, allowing Luz to see him. She was right before.. he was not much older than him, how odd. She flinched a bit as she felt cold metal touch her ears, the man- no- Belos had somehow snuck up on her with no sound. "Fascinating.." is all he said before backing off from her and looking back to the boy. "You are dismissed, Hunter. Thank you." Hunter didn't even respond verbally, just giving a nod and a bow as he stood up, seeing himself out. "Now.. human" he spoke in a tone that was difficult to read, monotone yet laced with an underlying sweetness. "You must be confused, but fret not" He offered his hand, pulling her back to her feet "You are not in danger, welcome to the Boiling Isles."