Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two figures stalk through the forest, hunched over but still on guard. They grip their hands firmly around their weapons. The taller one had squinted eyes with a beak and a dim light strapped to their belt to guide them through the dense foliage. The shorter figure has a curved horn on each side of its head and long pointed teeth.

“I saw him out my window; he ran away when he saw me,” said the taller hunter.

“You’re SURE it was-” The shorter figure tried to question, but was cut off with a snippy retort.

“Don’t. Even.” The conversation was over before it had even begun.

This wasn’t their first time in these woods. Sneaking out in the middle of the night to hunt was common for them. Sometimes they adventured out during the day, but that got them strange and sometimes concerned looks.

Suddenly, a movement in the leaves below their feet catches their attention.

A snake slithers out of its leafy hiding place, causing the taller hunter to jump defensively out in front of their partner with their weapon raised.

“Snake.” The smaller one comments, this puts their friend at ease for the time being.

After hours of what seems like aimless walking, they start to get impatient as their target refuses to come out of hiding. At moments, they wonder if they’ve been walking in circles. Since all the trees look identical. The idea of another fruitless night frustrates them and causes them to become desperate for their target's attention. The taller one used their weapon to scratch against the tree in an attempt to lure the monster out of hiding. A long stick with plastic lengths jutting out in the shape of a hand-gripping.

“Come out Philip! No more games!” Their voice was laced with fear, but also with irritation.
The shorter one joined in,

“You want witches right? Well, I’m a witch's apprentice, come get me!” The shorter one shouted as they smacked their blunt club against a tree.

A blinding light shines on them from behind. They're aware that this is not the beast they’re searching for, but rather townsfolk spoiling their hunt.

They turn around to see two Gravesfield police officers who don’t look pleased to be out in the woods at three am.

“Okay, come on you two, you know the drill.” The officer says. She deals with these two regularly, but that's just part of taking the night shift in Gravesfield. The other officer leans over and jokes to their partner.

“Remember when teenagers went out into the woods to smoke or break shit?”

“Mhmm,” the first officer leans into her radio. “We found ‘em, tell their parents to meet us at the station.” There is static talking from the radio, but the hunters can’t hear it.

The walk out of the woods is always a bit humiliating and nerve-racking. The hunters struggled to pick their feet up and keep moving forward. Sometimes their anxiety conquered their bodies, and one of the officers had to nudge them to get them moving again. During the walk, the pain from the night started to sink in. They were tired and sore. Hiking through the woods usually meant wearing more than crocs and converse. But they never came out more prepared than they always had. It was almost relieving to sit in the back seat of the police car despite the seat not being comfortable in the slightest. The taller hunter reached out and put their hand on top of their partner's, trying to comfort them as they were driven away from the woods. There was no talking, as nothing needed to be said. This wasn't at a new event, and the officers were aware that a lecture would do these two no good. The best they could do was return them to their parents' care and hope this wouldn't happen again.

The station was quiet at night. When they walked through the entrance, they were greeted by three people who had been woken up and told to come retrieve their children. Two of the three people approached the taller hunter. The hunter freezes but tries to stay stoic and calm as their persona dictates.

“Hunter, buddy, you can’t keep sneaking out. If you see something, you need to tell us.” His foster father says. Hunter didn't respond. He preferred to stay hidden behind his mask, but that wouldn’t do for his family. His father pulls the bird mask off gently.

“You wouldn’t understand, no one does,” Hunter says in almost a whisper as he clutches his forearm and avoids eye contact.

“We don’t understand," she sighs, "and I doubt we ever will. But we can promise you that you’re safe with us and no one is going to hurt you.” His foster mother states, trying to comfort him. Hunter knew better. He didn’t know where home was anymore, but it certainly wasn’t with them.

“It’s not home.” He said with a definitive tone in his voice. He didn't wish to continue this talk, as it would only lead them in circles. Most of his night he assumed, was spent walking in circles anyway. He didn't want to do that again in word form. It was exhausting. He could only speak the words he knew were true; it wasn’t home. Nowhere was going to be home until Phillip was caught and taken out of his life for good. Even if he wanted it to be home, it couldn’t, he was seventeen, which meant one year until he aged out of the foster care system. He refused to grow attached when their care likely had an expiration date.

On the other side of the room, his partner’s mother was distressed and quickly pulled off their mask and hugged them tightly. A hug that wasn’t reciprocated, only tolerated.

“Luz, you scare me every time you do this,” her mother says. Her voice is full of concern, not anger.

“We’d come home, you know we would,” Luz mutters, trying to defend herself. She expects a response, but she doesn’t get one in the way she wants. Her mom pulls her into another hug, wishing she would never have let go. Luz hated making her mother worry, but she and Hunter had an agreement. If he saw Phillip, she would come and they would try to track him down. The same went for Luz, if she saw signs of magic in the human realm, Hunter would help her research the anomaly.

Once released to their parents, the two parted with their respective guardians. But before they stepped out of each other's sight, they had a moment of silent agreement. Their eyes met, and it was like they knew exactly what the other was thinking. This wasn’t the end of their search for Phillip. It was the same song and dance every time. They would hunt again, then after hours of searching, they’d get taken home, and given a concerned lecture.

But one day they would find Phillip and no longer be tormented by their oppressive worries.

Chapter Text

Luz’s drive home is silent. There wasn’t room for talking because tension had already filled the car. She likened it to blowing up a balloon, to the brink of bursting, and anxiously waiting for it to pop. Luz stared out the window, looking at the scenery that sat past her own reflection. Her own face blocked much of the outside world; she was always getting in the way, wasn’t she? 

When they arrive home Luz’s mom unlocks the door. Sitting on the couch was a teenage girl who was half asleep with the TV on as the only light in the room. Luz didn’t even acknowledge the disguised basilisk on her couch. It wouldn’t do much good. She’s been trying to tell her mother for months about the true origin of Vee, but she wouldn’t listen. Her mother was convinced Vee was her twin sister. Luz did not have a twin sister. This frustrated Luz to the point where she refused to acknowledge the intruder who was tricking her mother and the rest of the world as well. Luz wouldn’t mind it if Vee would just be honest! But she refused to tell her mom the truth, and this left Luz with a feeling that Vee had bad intentions. As Luz hurried up the stairs, Vee stirred awake. Luz could only hear a muffled version of the basilisk and her mother's hushed conversation.

“Is Luz okay?” Vee asked. She always refused to go back to bed until Luz was home, even if she was always suspicious of her. Luz couldn't understand why Vee pretended to care, maybe to trick her mom. 

"She's fine Mija," her mom says, "you should head to bed now, you still have school tomorrow." 

Vee starts to head upstairs and upon hearing her footsteps, Luz hops into her bottom bunk and pretends to be asleep to avoid having to talk to her 'sister'. Luz doesn't have to pretend for much longer because she passes out within minutes. 

The next morning, Luz is woken up by her mother tapping her on the shoulder. She hated getting up. If she could, she would sleep the day away most of the week. That's why her mom had to wake her up every day, always an hour after Vee got up. Luz especially doesn't want to get up today since she knows she'll have to listen to a concerned lecture from her mom at some point. 

"Time to get up Luz," her mom says softly. Luz just groans and covers her head with her blanket. Her mom pulls it off,

“Let's go, you need to be ready to catch the bus before I leave for work.” Luz sits up in bed. It takes her a minute to feel confident enough to stand. Her mom leaves and Luz throws on whatever clothes she thinks are clean. Whether they actually are clean is up for debate. She stuffs her backpack with her homework and whatever else she needs to make it through the day. Maybe two pencils make it in the bag. 

She trudges downstairs while scrolling through her phone. She continues looking at The Good Witch Azura fanfiction while she eats her cereal at the table. Vee had already eaten and done her whole morning routine, so she was sitting on the couch with the laptop. Vee knew it was for the best if she gave Luz her space today.

“Luz, I don’t like this habit of sneaking out you have. It’s not safe and it messes with your sleep.” her mom says, her voice was stern, but Luz only replied with a mumbled apology. Then it was silence for a few more moments,

“I want you to be independent but you aren’t showing me that you can handle it,”  her mom says, hoping that she could get through to Luz this time. Luz doesn’t speak, but she does turn to her mother with a look of confusion, and surprise. Was that a threat? Luz pushed it away to the back of her mind to deal with later. Right now she had to deal with the two orange pill bottles her mother had placed on the table in front of her. 

One of these bottles was quite familiar and as far as she was concerned, it was magic in a bottle. ADHD medication was extremely helpful. Despite the sometimes annoying side effect of not being hungry during lunch, she liked them. Was that a weird thought to have? Well, she liked being able to focus. Apparently, that was something that came naturally to most people. This includes Vee. It was another thing that made Vee different than the rest of the Nocedas. When Luz tried to point this out before, her mom had just given her a talk about not comparing herself to her sister. Vee wasn’t her sister, but magic had a way of twisting humans' perceptions of things, imagine Percy Jackson’s mist, but hiding witches and demons instead of godly stuff and monsters. 

But the second Medication bottle, just looking at it, knotted up Luz’s stomach. It had been three weeks since she’d been prescribed them, but it was still an internal battle every day to actually take them. All she could think about was the debilitating side effects that were possible, and the ones that had already shown up. 

She watched her daughter. As much as she wanted to, she did not trust Luz to take them on her own. And that wasn’t a responsibility Vee should have to take on. Luz always had this sort of defeated and scared look on her face. Luz would fight a thousand monsters overtaking her unneeded medication. But she couldn't get out of this; it just wasn't in her control. Right now there were things she had to do to keep her mom happy, even if they scared her. She was going to get this all figured out eventually, but she had to keep on with therapy and medication to keep her mom off her back. Luz understood her mom's worries. She really did! Most people would be freaked out by their kid coming home after the summer and saying they went to another world. Luz blamed herself a lot for opening her big mouth and telling everyone about that. It was a wild few months. She spent her time wandering around the Boiling Isles. It was pretty lonely and dangerous, but Luz loved it, and being lonely was something she could handle. 

It probably took a solid two minutes for Luz to build up the courage to swallow the dreaded capsule. Once she was done their mom could leave for work. As she was heading out the door, she called out.

“Have a good day at school girls!” The twins responded with a mix of “We will!” And “Have a good day mamá!” 

On the ride to school Vee and Luz sit on opposite ends of the bus. Vee sits with some of her friends in the back while Luz sits alone in the front. Luz’s friends didn’t ride their bus, so she just listened to music or read fanfiction during the ride. Today she found an Azura fanfic she thought Amity would like, so of course, she sends it over to her. She sent a heart with the link and a message that said ‘thinking of you!’ Luz was in fact, thinking of Amity. Amity took up a lot of her brain space nowadays. Her friends teased her about it, too; they'd tell her ‘your brain is half amity and half magic’. This wasn’t true though. It was divided into thirds. One-third for magic, one-third for her awesome girlfriend, and the other third for friends, family, and anything else. 

Luz was so caught up in texting Amity that she didn’t notice that the bus had stopped. The bus driver cleared their throat. This alerted Luz, and she scrambled off the bus. She ducked her head as she walked through the halls to first period, the only class she really liked. The class was theater, taught by Ms. Clawthorne. She was a witch, though if you ask she’d deny it. That was the case with a few people at her school, some days; Luz even suspected Amity to be a witch. 

Despite her name being Ms. Clawthorne, she was one of those hip teachers that wanted everyone to call her by her first name. When Luz walked into the black box, most of her class was already there with her friend group sitting next to Eda’s desk.

“Why in the world would you wear a cup to school? You’re a nerd you don’t play sports” Eda questioned. Luz didn’t even know what she was walking into. Hunter seemed to be the topic of conversation, though, since he was defending himself vehemently. 

“Because we’re starting the hockey unit in PE and Boscha is in my class.” He exclaims. That was a very valid concern. Hunter and Luz had recently become Boschas new targets. Amity was still scary to most people and didn’t give a shit about Boscha. Willow would flatten her, and Gus was too much of an easy target. 

“I’m on Hunter’s side here, Boscha is genuinely a horrible person. The only reason she gets away with it is because of how much money the girl's hockey team brings in!” Amity comments. Luz smacks herself on the head,

“Dang it, I forgot! I’m so dead!” She whines. Being so tired all the time leads to her being a bit forgetful. 

 Hunter pulls out a pair of shin guards and passes them to Luz. 

“She always goes for your shins.” He says with a hint of fear in his voice.

“Hunter you’re the best!” Luz says while fist-bumping her partner in crime. Well, more like ‘partners in being the victims of a crime.’ 

Eda watches this all go down and she feels very bad for her group of nerd students. These goobers had latched onto her in the past year. Eda had no clue why children flocked to her for guidance, but she didn’t really mind and just went with it. 

“That’s stupid, completely nuts. I’m going to talk to Bump about this. You two shouldn’t be going from school with welts everywhere.” Eda says while opening up her laptop to send an aggressive and unprofessional email to Principal Bump. No one had any idea how Eda kept her job. 

Class went on as normal. It was a nice group of kids. They were the only kids who didn’t give Luz and Hunters group weird looks. They actually appreciated them and their humor. Except when Luz and Amity did their daily goofy romantic improv scene, where everyone booed. Gus and Willow always got a little too into it and started throwing balls of paper. After warm-up games and improv, they continued to work on their class play. 

Later in the day, Hunter and Luz were in gym class. They’re wearing a strange amount of protection under their uniforms considering its high school gym. It isn’t even real hockey. It’s just kids running around the gym with pucks and sticks. Like field hockey and ice hockey had a strange love child. Hunter is a strong boy. He does ballet and learned how to fight at a young age, so he can keep up during sports. During the game, Hunter manages to blend into the crowd of teenagers. Sadly Luz doesn’t. She has a hard time keeping up with the fast-paced nature of the game. Luz didn’t even notice that the puck had come her way. 

“Bruh what are you doing?” A boy on her team calls out. Luz looks at him with a blank look as she processes what’s being asked of her. 

“Are you high or something?” Another kid on her team asks in an annoyed tone. She goes to react, but the Boscha swipes the puck away from her. This earns an annoyed groan from Luz’s team. 

Boscha makes sure to take a few shots at Hunter when he gets chosen as the goalie for his team. Luckily, he gets out of it relatively unharmed. 

Walking out of gym class feels like going home after a war, especially since they had lunch after. The group always sat outside to avoid the noisy cafeteria. They all tended to get overwhelmed by it. Amity and Willow were sitting on an old picnic table while looking at homecoming dresses. Gus was giving his opinions on their choices. Hunter and Luz were sitting against the wall. Luz throws tater tots over at a squirrel. The squirrel gets scared off and doesn’t appreciate Luz’s offer. But as they run away, Luz sees something lurking on the edge of the school grounds.  

Chapter Text

Luz stands up and starts to slowly walk over to get a better look at the creature. Amity notices this and calls for Luz in an attempt to redirect her focus.

“Hey Luz come tell me what you think of this dress” Amity exclaims.

“Just one-second batata!” Luz yells back. Hunter notices that Luz is looking for something, so he gets up to follow her. Luz jumps a bit when she feels a hand on her shoulder.
“Not now Luz, lunch is almost over. You can come to look after school. It’ll still be there.” he says. He wants to support his friend, but skipping class would just get her in trouble. Luz sighs, defeated,

"Fine. I'll wait." She says. Taking one last look towards the creature as she heads over to the table to see the dress Amity picked out. It was Luz's first school dance with her girlfriend, and it was safe to say that they were both excited.

"Have you decided if you're wearing a suit or a dress Luz?" Amity asks.

"How about both?" Luz jokes.

"That could work. Just show me your idea beforehand okay? I want to make sure we match." Amity says.

"Purples, pinks, and blacks are our theme right?" Luz asks. Amity nods, it was always their color scheme.

"Hey Hunter, Willow, have anyone in mind that you want to ask out?" Luz says with an eyebrow wiggle.

"What about me?!" Gus asks, clearly offended

"Gus, you're like two years younger than everyone in our grade. Even the freshmen are older than you." Willow points out.

"Well, I'd still like to be asked!" He says with a huff. Even if they were right, he still wanted to be included. To be honest, Gus wasn't interested in anyone.

"Gus isn't going to date anyone until the aliens finally come down from the heavens to meet us," Amity says, poking fun at Gus's intense special interest in all things alien-related. He even had a special shelf in his room with all his 'alien' knickknacks. He also often debated with Luz, as he was convinced she was seeing aliens, not witches and magic.

"That's absolutely true Amity. Even if you were making fun of me. When I'm married to a super cool alien you'll all be jealous!" He exclaims with a cocky attitude.

Sitting and joking like this is nice, but Luz can never shake the feeling that something is wrong. Something always seems wrong or unjust, even if she can’t find the cause. But she tries to shove that to the back of her mind so she can enjoy her friend's company.

After school Luz is ready to be as far away from that old building as possible. But she had a monster demon thing to investigate. Luz goes to texts her ‘sister’ and mom to tell them she has to talk to a teacher. Of course, they insist on waiting for her. Luz just texts ‘k’ and shuts her phone down to avoid her mom checking her location. Life 180 was the worst.

She exits the school through the backdoor and heads over to where they ate lunch. She grins as the creature is still there with its head stuck in an ice cream container it must have gotten from the trash. She can’t make out what it is yet, but it seems like an animal. But it isn’t any animal native to the human realm. As she approaches, the creature scrambles into the small woods next to the school. It wasn’t very dense and it just came out onto another road. The small thing turned to her, making eye contact, then it screamed and started running. Luz ran after it, and every few seconds; it would jump up and flap its wings.

“Baby griffin!” Luz exclaims. She had met a litter of baby griffins at a pet store during her time in the demon realm.

Car horns blare as Luz finds herself on the other side of the woods and in the middle of the road with an angry driver yelling at her,

“Sorry! Sorry!” Luz pleas as she keeps running so she can get out of the way. The baby griffin had gained more ground since Luz had to stop. The baby was now getting more and more off the ground every time it tried to take flight.

“Come back, buddy! I’m not going to hurt you!” Luz calls out as she pants, desperate for air. Luz wasn’t exactly, in shape. Let's just say when she ran the mile in gym she was one of the last kids to finish. The griffin ran into a large drain pipe, and as Luz walked inside to continue her search, there was a loud screech and the sound of something large charging.

Luz spins around and makes her leave via sprinting. Fear keeps her moving despite how tired she is. It must have been the griffin's mother, and like most animals, you shouldn’t mess with their kids. And Luz did just that! She was mentally writing her obituary. They'd probably say she was mauled by a bear or something like that.

Then suddenly she was on the ground with her face in the dirt. She turned over, and there was no mother griffin. She must have given up after Luz got far enough away from her territory. Luz stood up slowly and took off her beanie. She shakes the dirt off and puts it back on. The rock she tripped on sits only feet away. Luz glares at it like it had malicious intent.

She kicks it away, then starts to look around. She’s on another road, but not the same one as before. She's sore, dirty, and defeated, but she refuses to turn her phone back on and call for help. She’s too scared to. So she walks along the side of the road, hoping that she’ll come across a road sign that tells her where she is.

It’s only an hour after school has ended and it’s getting dark. It’s cold, and Luz is tired. A lot of cars pass by, but one slows down and Luz is about to run, assuming she’s going to get kidnapped.

“Hey! Luz, what are you doing out here?” The man questions. Luz recognizes the voice, so she stops and turns back around.

“I was looking for something, and got chased by an animal.” She replies.

“Do you need a ride? It’s getting dark out.” Alador comments. He's concerned about Luz. Alador knew the details of Luz’s ‘condition’. But he was very polite about it, and Luz appreciated that.

“Yeah, you’re right it’s getting too dark to walk,” Luz says as she gets in the passenger seat of the car.

“Thanks, Mr.G.”

“It’s not a problem Luz,” he says and starts to drive.

“I was chasing a baby griffin actually”

“Interesting. The bird-lion hybrid creature?” he asks.

“Yes, I chased it back to its den and its mom got really mad. I was running for my life so I didn’t check where I was going.” Luz explains,

“That actually has me thinking. Do you think your last name came from the word ‘griffin’?” She adds.

After the divorce, Alador had gone back to his last name, Griffith and so did his kids.

“Possibly, I haven’t looked into it,” Alador replies.

The rest of the ride was quite nice and it allowed Luz to forget what could be waiting for her at home.

Now, if only she had thought to take a picture of the griffin.

Chapter Text

Hunter didn’t even know Luz was missing. He grew up without modern-day technology so he didn’t find himself relying on it. He also didn’t know how to turn the ringer on so he missed a lot of texts. This meant he was blissfully unaware of his whole friend group freaking out. Hunter sat at his desk working while all of this went down. First, it was homework, and then it was his personal project. Ever since he moved in with his foster parents he’d been doing two things. Trying to get Belos/Phillip to leave him alone, and finding out what happened to his parents. The Belos thing he could only do so much about. He couldn’t research his uncle because there wasn’t much known to the public. But he could look for his family. His uncle claimed they had been killed by witches, but Hunter was re-evaluating all the things his uncle told him.

Tonight he was looking through his files from foster care. Hunter had read through them before but this time something caught his eye. There was no mention of a DNA test. No one had claimed him, so they assumed he had no family besides his uncle. He didn’t question it at the time because he didn’t know what DNA was. But now he knew and knowing made him angry. They barely even tried to find his family. This discovery just enhanced his feelings of being useless and drove it into his head that didn’t care about him.

“How are people so incapable? How are people so stupid” Hunter yelled, as he stormed out of his room. Within the anger, there was joy and hope. The hope was that this was a lead. He could find his family. He couldn’t stop Belos, not yet. But for now, this would have to do. Sometimes putting one piece in its place makes the whole puzzle easier to solve.
Hunter runs down the stairs and then slides across the wooden floors and into the kitchen, where his foster parents were making dinner.

“I want to get a DNA test!” He blurted, “They never did one when they took me away.”

It was quiet for a minute, and Hunter faltered.

“Of course Hunter. I think that's a good idea,” Ms.Johnson said. Hunter grinned,

“Really?” He asked as if they were just screwing with him.

“If that’s something you want to do then we support you.” Mr.Johnson said in the voice he uses to comfort Hunter. The Johnsons had adults children so when it came to parenting, they were pros. And even Hunter could tell that, even if he wasn’t their biggest fan.

“Though I do want to warn you that you might not like what you find. But we’ll be there for you no matter what.” He adds.

Hunter didn’t care, the worst-case scenario it was a dead end, best case scenario it solves all his problems.

“I’ll call your social worker tomorrow and see if there's anything we need to do through them first. But we’ll get you a test as soon as we can.” Ms.Johnson says with a warm smile. Hunter couldn’t deny that these people cared about him. He just didn’t feel compatible in their life and their world. He was an outsider that everyone thought was delusional.

“I’m going to go tell my friends!” Hunter exclaims as he scrambles back upstairs. He picks up his phone to see it’s flooded with messages. He skims through the group chat and then responds.

Hunter: hiiii I’m back, sorry I didn’t get your messages.

Vee: Luz is home now It’s cool.

Luz: Amity’s dad drove me home

Luz: lowkey think I scare him

Amity: nah he’s just like that

Hunter: I got good news

Gus: I love how you just ignore that luz was missing for hours

Hunter: well she’s safe now!

Hunter: plus you guys freak out when Luz disappears to like take a nap

If he had been there at the time he would have been just as worried, but in the aftermath, it just seemed like another Noceda family freak out about Luz. Plus, his news felt more important than anything right now.

Hunter: and I have something cool to share!!

Luz: spill the ding dang beans!

Gus: if you’re getting married I want to be your best man!

Willow: Gus he’s 16-

Gus: well I want to call dibs just in case.

Willow: fair tbh

Hunter: so the dumb foster care people never did a DNA test to like make sure I’m an orphan so I’m doing one soon!!

Gus: its giving incompetent

Hunter could never understand texting lingo, it was so confusing. But he assumed this was a supportive comment.

Willow: Congrats Hunter!!!! (:

Amity: That's great! Hope it works out!

Luz: Dude that's awesome! One step closer.

Hunter: Exactly.

This conversation went on for a few minutes till his friends had to leave for dinner. They spent most of it listening to Hunter explain the talk with the Johnsons.

Once everyone was gone Hunter decided to celebrate this small victory by watching some of the old Cosmic Frontier show from the 60s while he eats dinner in his room. He was glad he wasn’t forced to eat with his foster parents, when they ate together it was always awkward. Hunter would get overly polite and formal like how he had been taught to be. He still didn’t understand how kids his age were so casual with adults.

Halfway through the first episode, he gets a text. He picks up his phone and sees that it’s from Luz, so he opens it right away. It’s a drawing of a griffin. Jagged lines form the bird-lion creature, he could tell it was drawn with haste. Luz explains that that's what she was following today, and that's why she was missing for a while. Hunter texted back, his thumbs moving at speeds he didn’t think were possible.

Hunter: Lets put it on the chart. Got cords?

The pair had a system for keeping track of their signings. They’d mark the coordinates on a map that was connected to a spreadsheet. Luz had no clue how coordinates worked but Hunter did, so when she saw something she’d find the location on a maps app and send them over to her partner.

Hunter pulled out his laptop and marked the location on his map of Gravesfield. The image is full of scattered markers that would make no sense to anyone besides them. He turned his attention over to the spreadsheet and looked it over for a long time. It made his eyes sore staring so long, but he was so sure there was a pattern that he couldn’t look away.

A month ago Luz had two to five sightings a week, and Hunter found traces of Belos at the same rate. Now it was down to three times a week maximum. Sightings were diminishing and Hunter didn’t know what to think of it. Belos not showing up to taunt him as much was a good thing, but he was disappearing from Gravesfield at the same rate magic was. He couldn’t help but feel they were connected.

Hunter decides to call Luz, he needs to voice his concerns to someone who cares just as much as he does.

“What's up Hunter?” Luz asks when she picks up the phone.

“Pull up the spreadsheet, you need to see this,” Hunter says in a commanding tone.

Luz is quiet for a minute, Hunter can hear clicking and movement in the background. Luz sees the correlation Hunter saw and she didn’t like it.

“Maybe he’s moving? Maybe he thinks he’s going to get caught soon?” Luz expresses. She didn’t exactly believe this idea but right now she was too anxious to screen her thoughts before they left her mouth. Luckily if any of it came out as word scramble Hunter would be able to figure out what she meant. He was a master Luz translater at this point.

“Possibly, but why would the magic be leaving with him?” Hunter questions.

“I guess it could be a coincidence. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation. Or it could be my meds, they make my head foggy. That could be the reason I’m not noticing as many magical happenings. Can’t see magic if you’re taking two naps a day.” While Belos having some control over the magic was interesting, she had a more likely theory.

“What if he’s destroying all signs of magic and witches, he’s a witch hunter right?!” She exclaims.

“Yes. But we never actually hunted any witches. It always felt more like fables.” Hunter explains to his friend. She still didn’t know everything about his childhood, he didn’t exactly like to talk about it. Being open about his past was how he got the nickname ‘Virgin Mary’ at school.

Children were so cruel.

“Whatever the reason is we need to look into it before it’s too late,” Luz mumbles, her voice laced with fear.

“We start tomorrow. You should go talk to that witch Vee is dating.” Hunter states. He was already forming a plan in his head.

“Masha?”

Chapter Text

Luz was looking over her notes as she walked over to the Gravesfield historical society. She had a list of questions to ask Masha and she wanted to make sure she didn’t forget anything. It had taken her a week to make a list of her questions and find a time Vee wasn’t there. Luz was shaking with excitement, Masha was the only open witch she knew. The rest refused to show themselves, no matter how much evidence Luz had. Amity would always tell Luz she wasn’t a witch then giggle or something cute like that to throw Luz off. Gus would say ‘I wish I was a witch’ or something about how Luz is actually seeing aliens. Willow’s response usually fell more in line with what Amity would say except Willow sounded more Like Luz’s psychiatrist. Hunter would get similar responses when he talked about Belos, except he tended to get more annoyed with Amity while getting all stupid around Willow.

Speaking of Hunter being stupid around Willow, he’s been extra stupid this last week. Luz was getting a bit frustrated because he wasn’t focused on their work. Hunter had been the one to point out the disappearance of Phillip and magic and he had seemed to be frightened by it. But it seemed like he had slowly lost interest. While she still saw his anxiety pop out every once in a while, it wasn’t the same. Phillip could be out to kill him but he was too busy texting Willow pictures of plants he thought she’d like. Luz understood the feeling of your first big crush, but she’d appreciate her partner's help. She even thought about bringing Gus in on the project, but she decided against it. No need to bring Gus into this mess. Plus, he was most likely a witch and Luz didn’t want him getting hurt. And if he wasn’t a witch, she also didn’t want him to get hurt. Gus was fierce, but he was also twelve.

“Oh! Hey there Luz!” Luz heard a voice say, she looks up and realizes she was standing in the doorway of the historical society. She walked up to the front desk confidently, ready to give the questioning of a lifetime.

“Hey, Masha. Are you busy?” Luz asks in an unintentional mumble. Dangit, she was already looking dumb.

“I don’t think I can say I’m ever ‘busy’ here.” Masha quips.

“I guess most people aren't too interested in learning about history on a Saturday,” Luz replies.

“Sadly that's true. Did you need something?”

“Yes actually, I had some questions.” Luz opened up her notes app. “ You’re a witch correct?” She imagined herself looking like a detective from a movie. Next time she’s writing on a real notepad just for the aesthetic.

“I dabble in witchcraft but I’m not sure I could consider myself a witch.” They say. It was clear to Luz that they weren’t exactly interested in discussing this topic with Luz. Had Vee asked them not to? Had her mom?

“Have you been approached by any men who look like this?” Luz shows them a picture of Belos from an article about his cult being raided.

“No, can’t say I have. Isn’t that the cult guy from the news?” They ask.

“Yes. Next question, have you had any experience with the magical or supernatural in the past few months?” Luz asks.

“Nope, nothing out of the ordinary. Just regular old Gravesfeild.”

Luz looks at them, confused,

“But you’re a witch, how haven’t you seen anything magical? I saw a griffin a few days ago, have you seen anything like that?”

“Sorry Luz, I don’t think I’m the type of witch you’re looking for.” They reply. A small frown forms on their face in a response to Luz’s own defeated look.

“Umm, just giive me a minute.” Luz says while stepping away from the front desk. Luz runs her fingers through her hair, this wasn’t going as planned. She studies her list of questions trying to find one that would give her a useful answer.

“Am I seeing double?” Masha asks cheerily. Luz snaps her head up and she sees exactly who she did not want to see today. Her twin ‘sister’.

“You make that same joke every time Luz and I are in the same room together!” Vee laughs. She goes up to the desk to greet her partner.

“Sorry if Luz was bothering you.”

“I can hear you.” Luz snaps. “I wasn’t bothering them!”

“Yeah, Luz was just asking some questions, everything is fine,” Masha says while reaching out to hold Vee’s hand in an attempt to calm her and prevent an argument between the girls.

“I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t telling you I was a shape-shifting monster because she does that a lot.” Vee jokes.

Luz is getting increasingly frustrated and embarrassed. She goes over to Vee to confront her,

“Well being honest with your partner is important. They should know who you are!” Luz exclaims. She was always on the side of justice. She also doesn’t appreciate her concerns being a joke used to flirt with someone.

“Sorry Luz, I just don’t think you should talk about this stuff with Masha,” Vee says with a nervous tinge in her voice.

“Why? Because you’re embarrassed of me?” Luz asks, clearly hurt. Fighting with Vee now felt different than it usually did. Normally she wasn’t hurt by Vee’s actions. She was just some random basilisk so she had no reason to care about what Vee thought of her. But today it hurt more, today it felt like another person pushing her away.

“No! I’m not embarrassed of you. I just think you make people uncomfortable sometimes and Masha is my partner so I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable.” Vee tried to explain in a way that wouldn’t hurt Luz’s feelings.

“If you don’t want me to talk to your friends just say so,” Luz says. Her voice cracks a bit during it showing how upset she really was. Not wanting to look any stupider than she already did she rushes out of the building.

Luz walks around town aimlessly for a while before heading to the park where she sits down on the bench bordering the duck pond. She slumps down in her seat with her arms crossed. Her phone buzzing upsets her quiet moping, she sighs and pulls it out to see that it’s a text from Hunter. At first, she’s excited but then when she actually reads it she’s back to being frustrated. Hunter was going to join a club or after-school activity, he was so excited about it too. He was with Willow and Gus looking over the school's list of activities. Why wasn’t Luz with her friends? Why didn’t she feel like going over and helping? Those were the first of many questions Luz asked herself while sitting and watching the ducks. Not even their adorable quacking was making her feel better.
First of all, she was upset because she didn’t get any leads on the magic situation. Then she got into a fight with Vee, which hurt more than it should of. Then Hunter was off doing something totally unrelated to their mission. They didn’t even ask her if she wanted to join them. Wait.

Luz checks her phone and sees a message from Willow asking her if she wanted to come over. Luz groans and tosses her phone to the side. Everything about today made her feel like a total idiot.

“I wish I had your life” Luz grumbles as a duck walks by her to eat some food that was dropped on the ground.

Later that evening Luz was sitting in a stuffy psychiatrist's office. The walls are beige and the furniture was old. The only good thing was the chairs were comfortable after being used so much. While Dr.Simmons got ready to take notes Luz started planning her story of how her week has been. Was Luz lying to her doctor? A little bit! She was just making the story more palatable for her doctor and in turn her mother. Since Dr.Simmons told her mom everything after their meeting. They both tried to act like that wasn’t the case and they even tried to be sneaky about it.
Luz fidgets with a folder in her hands. It’s pretty cheesy, with bright colors and a picture of a kitten on it. Dr.Simmons had given it to her to keep her homework in. Not school homework, therapy homework.

Dr.Simmons crosses one leg over the other and sets her clipboard in her lap,
“Did you work on your thought log this week?” She asks. This was how every meeting started, they pretty much had a system. Luz pulls the paper out of her folder and hands it to Dr.Simmons. While she waits for her to read through her thought log Luz looks around the room. All the artwork in the room looks like it’s from the home goods store. It’s very basic, just colors and shapes. There are a few potted plants in the room, Luz wasn’t sure if they were real though. It was a room that was attempting to be comforting with the items in it, but sadly it takes more than that to create real comfort.

“Seems like you’ve been having a difficult week Luz.” Dr.Simmons says once again looking up at Luz. Luz continues looking around the room to avoid eye contact. It was Bland, and basic, but still better than looking at Dr.Simmons.

“Why do you say that?” Luz asks not wanting to confirm or deny.

“Well, your log is really full this week. I’m glad you're filling it out, but I want to talk about it so we can work through some of these thoughts and feelings. I see that you spent a lot of time going out and searching for magical things, and you were upset when you didn’t find them.”

“Yeah. Not even in the places they always are. It just makes me a little anxious.” Luz mumbles as her leg bounces.

“Do you think that obsessing over these things disappearing is distracting you from things that are still here?”

“Probably. But it’s just more important right now. Phillip hasn’t been taunting Hunter as much recently. It’s just weird that it’s happening at the same time.”

The doctor starts taking notes,

“Hunter is your friend, right? Isn’t it a good thing that he isn’t as anxious?” Dr.Simmons asks, she remembers Hunter from previous meetings. Luz had talked about her friends a lot before.

“It would be if he wasn’t putting himself in danger by ignoring Belos and what he could do.” All Luz wanted to do was keep Hunter and magic safe, and right now it seemed like she was failing at both.

“And you two believe that his uncle isn’t dead? Am I remembering that right?”

“Yeah. We think he escaped before the swat team got there and made someone pretend to be him. That person was the one killed. Phillip is still out there. He also goes by Belos, sorry if that's confusing. His real name was Philip but Hunter always knew him as Belos. So I kinda just use whatever.” Luz explains quickly.

“You trust Hunter right?”

Luz nods.

“So why don’t you trust that he’s making the right choice by not worrying about his uncle?”

“I don’t know.”

After dinner Luz was laying in bed and thinking over her day. Normally she hated how early she went to bed, but tonight she wished she’d passed out earlier. Thoughts of her encounter with Vee and Dr.Simmons created a traffic jam in her head. There was so much that nothing could get to the part of her brain that processes such things. She was normally so confident about what she believed but now she felt insecure and vulnerable. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint what other emotions she was feeling, but it fell in between anger and scared. Thankfully her worrying was put on pause as she fell asleep.

This was till she jolted awake in the middle of the night terrified out of her mind. She heard a faint pounding coming from outside. She doesn’t even try to be quiet when getting out of bed, she rushes over to the window as if her life depends on it. She looked outside and saw a figure banging on the door, repetitively. She couldn't make out what it was but it seemed human-like, except for the claws. Long and sharp but twisted, like a tree branch.

Suddenly, the pounding stopped, the figure turned its head slowly and looked up at the window Luz was looking out of. Luz couldn’t fully process what its face looked like. Eyes and mouths were plastered in places they shouldn’t be. Were its features moving?

She wanted to run and hide but it was like this creature's horrifying stare was holding her in place. It was going to hurt her and her family. It was going to get inside the house and get them.

“G-go away!” Luz loudly croaked. Tears started gliding down her face faster than she hold them in.

“Go away!” She yelled again when the figure refused to leave.

‘Luz? Luz, what's wrong?” A voice asked.

“It’s here It’s going to get inside” Luz’s voice had dropped into a scared mumble.

“Luz, I’m going to come over there to help okay?” Luz identified the voice as Vee.

Luz jumped when Vee approached, even with the warning.

“It’s Vee, your sister. I’m not going to hurt you.” Her voice was calm and comforting to Luz.

Vee looked at the same spot Luz was staring at,

“Do you see something there Luz?”

Luz nods aggressively.

“I don’t see anything there, can you tell me what you're seeing?” Vee asked as she lead Luz back to her bunk to sit down.

“Eyes and teeth.”

It was all Luz could say, it made so much sense to her. Vee just didn’t understand, so Luz attempted to elaborate.

“It’s coming inside, Its claws.”

Vee’s response was to lean out of their bedroom door and yell for Luz’s mom. Then she sat down with Luz on her bed and wrapped her in a hug. Luz would normally object, but tonight she didn’t. She sat there wrapped in Vee’s arms till her mom rushed in.

“Luz saw something outside, I didn’t. She’s really upset.” Vee says, Luz nods in agreement. She is in fact, very upset.

This led to all three of them sitting on Luz’s bed and talking everything through. They gave Luz as much time as she needed to explain what she saw. They tried to rationalize it to her by telling her it was dark and she was tired, she probably just saw some shadows. They did live on the edge of the woods, your brain can use that to trick your brain into seeing weird stuff. Luz didn’t believe any of that of course, but the idea seemed comforting so she tried to roll with it. Arguing in favor of the supernatural being real wasn’t something she wanted to do right now. After she had calmed down her mom brought Luz into her room to sleep. Luz had tried to stay awake to be on guard, but when she woke up to the sun shining in her eyes it was clear that she had failed. She rolled over and looked at the clock on her mother’s bedside table, it was almost time for the bus to get here. She found it hard to care. Her mom hadn’t come home to wake her up so it was assumed she was staying home today. Luz elected to go back to sleep for a while longer, but before she could do that the bedroom door opened, and it was Vee.

“Hey, Mom’s staying home with you today. I’ll see you after.” Vee said quickly and then turned to leave. Luz nodded and asked a question,

“Hug before you leave?”

Moments later they were holding onto each other for dear life. Luz didn’t care what Vee was anymore. The idea of Vee being a basilisk wasn’t as appealing of a theory anymore, especially with the disappearance of magic lately. Vee had gained her trust no matter what she was. But all the fear and doubt that came along with these new ideas could wait till later because right now Luz was getting one of the best hugs of her life.

Chapter Text

Everyone was worried about Luz not being at school, though things calmed down when Vee approached the group before class and told them what happened. Hunter found himself getting anxious about this creature Luz might have seen. But then again, maybe Luz was just tired. He’d talk to her about that tomorrow. He didn’t have time today since he had decided to join the homecoming committee. He was joining after it had started, but he had emailed the teacher in charge and she said it wasn’t too late. Hunter doesn’t even try to contain his happiness. The homecoming committee was perfect for him, he liked planning and being in charge. It would also give him a chance to immerse himself in typical teenage activities. He had a lot to learn about people, and this was a step towards being a people-pro.

His new extracurricular wasn’t the only thing that had him giddy. Willow Park was joining the committee with him and he has a big huge crush on her. Willow was pretty much the coolest, prettiest, and generally most amazing girl to exist in the history of the universe. This was a fact, and anyone who thought differently was wrong and ignorant. So yeah, amazing girl and socialization opportunity, Hunter was having a good week. That was till he was called down to the office during seventh period and was greeted by his foster parents and his social worker. Hunter was instantly put on guard, he could deal with them separately but together they freaked him out.

“Why are you guys here?” He snapped.

“Woah bud, we’re here with good news!” His foster dad said defensively. Hunter raised an eyebrow,

“What is it?”

“We got your DNA test back this morning and within an hour we got a message from a DNA match. They live nearby and really want to meet you. We called your social worker so we could surprise you with a meeting!” Ms.Johnson chimes in with excitement.

Hunter doesn’t react with words or anything normal like that, he sprints to the trashcan and loses his lunch.

“Hunter are you-” Mr.Johnson asked, worried for his wellbeing.

Hunter gives a thumbs-up.

“All good!” He cheers mid-puke.

It happened in what felt like seconds. First, his foster parents checked him out of school. Next, they wrapped him in a hug and wished him good luck. After that his social worker drove him to the meeting destination. Hunter bombarded the woman in the driver's seat with questions,

“Who are they? Are they my parents? Grandparents? What do they look like? Do they know I was raised in a cult?”

The car pulled to a stop,

“Why don’t you go see for yourself.” She said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. Hunter looked out the passenger window and saw two people waving over his social worker. He studied their faces, they didn’t look much like him. They didn’t have his nose or blond hair. He tried to write it off as genetics from the other side of his family but that isn’t enough to quell the fear. He didn’t want to leave the car.

Hunter mentally slaps himself. He’s been through too damn much to stop now. At this point, he feels like hell would be a vacation compared to his life so far! He had never backed down before and he wasn’t starting now, he was going to put on his big boy pants and go meet his family. If they hated him? Well, he would probably cry, but he would cry like a man!

Wow, his therapist would be so proud of him right now.

He pulled in a deep breath, then slowly let it out as he opened the car door. The old woman covered her mouth as soon as she saw Hunter. The urge to dive into the duck pond to avoid this situation was strong. Nope. Gotta at least say hello. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and walks over to the pair and his social worker.

“Hunter, these are your grandparents on your mother's side, Matha and Franklin.” His social worker says then motions to the man and woman.

Hunter does a little wave,

“Hi, I’m Hunter. You probably already know that. I should tell you about myself huh? Okay, so I got to Gravesfield high. I like Cosmic Frontier, Wolves, hanging out with my friends, and recently I’ve been really into videos of hardcore mountain biking.” He says this all very quickly, but somehow they seem to understand it. Well, at least some of it.

“Matha, doesn’t your sister have a daughter that works there? Doesn’t she teach history or something like that?” Franklin asked his wife. She claps her hands together,

“Oh, that's right! I think Eda started teaching theatre there a few years ago.” She says like this wasn’t the most mind-blowing thing Hunter had learned, not counting the internet, that blew his mind every time he thought about it.

“Eda is my theatre teacher! You’re telling me I’ve been spending first period every day with my mom's cousin!? And I had no idea?!” Hunter exclaimed with great passion. He looked over at his social worker,

“You didn’t know?” He asks exasperated by the situation.

“I had no idea, Hunter. I have the same information you do, I promise.”

“I swear that girl just attracts orphans, this is the second one that made their way into her life,” Martha comments in a teasing manner. Hunter was definitely going to talk to Eda about that later.

Photographs were strewn over the plaid blanket they were sitting on. Photos of a young woman, Hunter’s mother. Martha holds a photo up to Hunter’s face as he’s eating a pb&j they had packed.

“You look so much like your mother,” She said in awe.

“So you think she went missing because she met my dad and my uncle…he..” Hunter trailed off. He couldn’t say it. Even though he never met his mother he can’t bear to think about her passing. Can you miss someone you never met?

His grandfather put a hand on his shoulder,

“I know it’s hard to talk about. We didn’t talk about it for a long time.”

“I’m so angry, but so happy. I just don’t understand.” Hunter whispered as he rubbed his thumb along the edge of a photograph of his mother.

“No one expects you to process all of that so quickly” His social worker reassures him.

“We’re sorry if this was too soon. Learning that Evelyn had a son…It just made us feel like part of her was coming back to us.” Martha said, a guilty frown plastered on her face.

“It’s a lot. But It’s better this way. I don’t want to waste any more time not knowing my family” Hunter said confidently. Phillip would have wanted him to stay sheltered, he never wanted the best for Hunter. All of the suffering Hunter had to endure was because his uncle resented him. Belos probably killed his parents for a stupid reason. Not that there were many good reasons to kill people, but his reasoning was probably extra bad.

“Well, it’s getting dark, we should let you get home,” Franklin said while standing up.

“Wait!” Hunter yelled a bit louder than he intended.

“What now?” He asks,

“It’s all up to you Hunter.” His grandfather responded. To Franklin, it was a simple statement, but to Hunter, it was life-changing.

It was all up to him.

His choices were his own now, what a frightening idea.

Soon, he was back in the woods with Luz. This time without a mask. He stood against a tree near the entrance of the forest. Luz walked over to him with her eyes on a big piece of paper in her hands.

“I finally had the bright idea to print out an ariel view of the woods. That plus this old compass I found in the attic will help us map where we’ve been. Any tracks Phillip leaves we can mark-”

“Luz?...”

“-Where he’s been. Humans make patterns even when they don’t mean to.-”

“Luz?”

“And I put new batteries in my flashlight so it won’t be dim anymore.”

“Luz!” Hunter yelled. This finally got her attention, she looked confused. Luz was even more confused when Hunter reached forward and pulled her mask off.

“I just wanted to talk,” Hunter says as he sits under the tree criss-cross-applesauce.

Luz sat down next to him. For the first time in a few weeks, Hunter had taken a good look at his friend. She had deep bags under her eyes, her clothes were wrinkled and half haphazardly chosen, and her expression would change quickly from stiff and tense to depressed and vacant.

She was looking at him for an answer to a question that was never asked, at least out loud. Why was tonight different? Why was he different? He took a deep breath and shoved away all semblance of emotion so he could speak clearly.

“We’ve fulfilled our agreement. I feel confident that Phillip is dead and I’ve found the remainder of my family.”

“What do you mean Hunter?” Luz spoke with a quiver in her voice that broke Hunter’s heart just a little bit. He didn’t want to do this. Part of him wished things would never have to change and that they could do this forever. But he didn’t truly want that, living your life in fear isn’t living at all. God damn it, Hunter was happy! He was free! He wanted Luz to be free too.

“Phillip died the day the compound was raided. He was never after me. I was suffering from paranoia and anxiety. None of it was real, and I don’t want to instill that fear in you anymore. And going out into the woods at night isn’t safe for anyone!” Hunter rambled out before silence took over the conversation.

It was for her own good.

“Honestly, medication can do wonderful things if you just let it,” Hunter said with a tired chuckle.

Luz stood up and dusted herself off,

“Goodbye, Hunter.”

Chapter Text

It only took a month after that night for Luz’s life to fall apart and shatter into pieces. Pieces as sharp and painful as the broken blade from a paper towel dispenser she uses to hurt herself. Most people would use a knife or razor blade, but all sharp objects in her house were locked away, and the school-supplied plastic knives wouldn’t do much. But Luz was crafty, so she found a way. Hurting herself was the only thing that could get her mind to stop racing and replaying moments of the last few months. It got to a point where it left the confines of her mind and became things she actually heard. Faceless voices yelling in her ears made it clear how wrong she'd been.

Every time she’d mess up she made an effort to punish herself, whether it be kicking a wall, pinching herself, or basically anything she could do. It wasn’t all to clear her conscience though, some of it came from despair, she had been living an utter lie and everyone could tell except her. It was embarrassing and it made her feel like the best part of her life was fake. She couldn’t trust anything good to be real anymore.

Today was one of those days where it hit her the hardest, she had watched her mother sit on the phone for hours setting up her doctors and therapy appointments. If Luz had just kept quiet about the isles and magic her mother wouldn’t have to do this, and she wouldn’t have to suffer for her daughter's sake. That’s what put Luz on edge, but what pushed her over was when she stubbed her toe and yelled out, Vee immediately left the room. She had destroyed her relationship with her sister. She had conditioned Vee to avoid her. All of this replays in her head as she slides the blade across her arm and stares herself down in the bathroom mirror,

"You practically disowned your sister. You've made her miserable. This is for hurting her."

She grits her teeth as blood trickles down her shaking arm. After a moment of deep o breathing through the pain, she lined up the blade again,

"This is for hurting your friends. You stress them out and they're probably scared of you too."

She glares at herself for having the audacity to cry.

"This is for mom. She's been through enough already. And you made it worse. You're ruining her life."

When Luz was finished she wrapped her arms tightly with bandages and covered them with her sweatshirt.

This had become a ritual for her, it was the only way to calm the thoughts and sometimes voices in her head. It made her feel like she was doing right by the people she hurt. It was repentance for her, but soon it wasn't enough. Every day she found it harder and harder to get up and live her life. There didn't feel like much of a point to it, not only has she hurt people but she is definitively broken and she had little to live for. Statistics didn’t lie, she wasn’t going anywhere in life. This was confirmed by what she heard her mother talk about with Dr.Simmons. She’d most likely be with her mom longer than most people do. Relationships? Probably wouldn’t last. Kids? Hell no, CPS would be called before they were even born. Luz would be lucky if she got to stay with her mom, she shivered at other options. Luz didn’t like being in hospitals, but that was probably out of her control too. She was screwed beyond responsible doubt.

These realizations among others made it so Luz’s life was devoid of the excitement and thrill that she had once found in magic and sorcery. She used to hide from these harsh realities in the book and eventually, delusions and hallucinations but now that was all gone and replaced with dread and depression. She just couldn’t take it anymore.

That night in the bathroom Luz decided to end her life, she didn’t feel worthy of life, nor did she want to be alive. So she decided she was done with it all. She spent a week writing out what she wanted her last message to her loved ones to be. She wanted a good explanation for why this choice was in their best interest. Vee would get more attention from their mom, her mom wouldn’t have to deal with Luz’s behavior and expensive medical bills. And her friends wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore. This message ended up in a video diary she recorded before she left to finish the deed. In the morning her sister and mom would find it, but she would be gone by then.

She rode her bike to a local bridge, it wasn’t very big but it should work. She sat on the railing and looked down at the partially frozen river. She had plenty of time to jump, but right now she was content with just thinking and going over everything. She wanted to reflect on her life for a few minutes before it was all over. The concept of death was horrifying but also fascinating. What would nothing feel like? Would it be comforting, or painful? And if there's something on the other side, does your mental illness come with you? Because if it does that would be a bummer.

Luz was aggressively pulled out of her thoughts by a boy yelling her name,

“Luz! Stop! Do not move!” Hunter yelled with a slight voice crack. He was running towards Luz but stopped when she let one hand off the railing.

“Don’t come any closer, Hunter.” Luz threatens with a shaky voice. Hunter skids to a stop and steps away,

“I’m just going to sit down next to you.” He takes a seat on the railing but not close enough to touch her.

“Your sister called, and your mom found the video. Pretty much everyone is on their way.” Hunter says softly.

“Well then, I should get this over with before the cops come.”

“Woah Woah! Look, we still have time. Just humor me, I bet I can talk you out of it.”

Luz was amused by the idea of him convincing her not to jump. But Hunter was a good person so she’d let him try,

“I’m listening.” She says, keeping eye contact with the water below. Looking at Hunter would just make her feel bad.

“I watched the video on my way here. Yes, I was also riding my bike, I did both at once. Okay so you think you made our lives worse, but that can’t be true because I’m happier than I’ve ever been! I mean, this school year has been the best year of my life. I have family, friends, and hopefully a girlfriend soon. And if you don’t blame me for the things I’ve done, especially when we first met, then how can you think anyone blames you.”

“It’s different Hunter,” Luz mumbled.

“How? I mean we’ve both been through hell! So what if your hell was more mental and mine was more physical? If I saw some of the shit you have I’d be a bit pissed too! And you know what, even if the way you saw your life wasn’t accurate that doesn’t mean those people don’t actually exist! I know you feel like you’ve been living a lie, but most of that lie was things hurting you.”

He didn’t know how much good this rambling was doing but he didn’t want to stop.

“You were scared all the time, constantly anxious, it sucked. And maybe getting rid of the bad means giving up a little good, but it’s worth it. Trust me, I was destroyed when I first realized everything my uncle told me was wrong. But it got better.”

He looked up, Luz was watching him give his speech. Was he getting through to her or just making it worse?

“Look, Luz. There are two options here. You either leave the bridge with me or in a body bag. I’m not going to tell you what the right choice is, that's for you to decide not me.”

Hunter shut his eyes tight, fearing for the worst,

“But No matter what you chose, I’ll never resent you for it.”

Chapter Text

Luz started crying, Hunter took this as a bad sign and he knew it was over, 

“I want to go home!” Luz cried out like a kindergartener on their first day of school. 

Hunter quickly swung his legs back over the railing and rushed over to Luz. She was shaky and Hunter wasn’t taking any chances. He slowly helped her back to the road and away from the edge. They walked off the bridge and stood on the side of the road as Hunter called Luz’s mom. 

That night didn’t end how Luz expected it to, instead of dead she was sitting in her living room with her friends and family. She was curled up in her mom's arms, it was very cozy but she couldn’t help but be anxious. Luz was scared of what would happen next. Her mom was visibly worried and Luz wished she knew what was going through her head. 

Every few seconds Luz would glance out the window expecting flashing lights and possibly someone breaking her door down. What would she do if that happened? Her gut said to run as fast as she can and maybe jump out a window to escape, but she knew that wouldn’t end well for her. She thought about the hospital, there was a sense of safety to it, and she would be safe from herself. But as she pondered it more memories erupted, her dad in a hospital bed, so weak he could barely talk. She had avoided that place for years to keep those memories from flooding back. Tears started to fall for the second time that night. She couldn’t go back, she just couldn’t.

“Mom I don’t wanna go, I can’t go-” Luz begged through tears. It caught everyone off guard, one minute Luz was fine then the next she was crying about something. They didn’t even know what she was crying about.

“Luz baby what are you talking about?” her mom asks pulling her daughter closer.

“The hospital, I don’t want to go it’s too much.” Luz pleads.

She doesn’t respond at first, which scares Luz, it scares her enough that she stops crying and looks up at her mom with scared eyes. She hugs herself, and when she holds too tight she winces. The cuts on her arms are still not scars yet. 

“Mamá why isn’t anyone coming to get me?” Luz asked anxiously.

“Hunter called me before I got the chance to call emergency services. I called your friends before I saw your video. I thought you had gone off with him like you always do.” Her mom replies. Luz considered herself lucky, she was very thankful for Hunter getting there before anyone else. If met with police officers and an ambulance she wouldn’t have made the same choice. 

“Luz, you aren’t safe here. I think you need to spend a little time at the hospital, but I’m going to make it as easy as possible. I’ll stay with you as long as you need. I know it’s hard but your dad would want you to be safe, you know what right?” her mom said while holding Luz’s hand. Luz could tell her mom was scared and in a way that made her less worried. Her mom wasn’t denying Luz’s fears and concerns, she agreed with them. And she was right, her dad would have wanted her to go. He would want her to get help and to be somewhere safe. 

“I am going to promise you two things if we go to the hospital, you will not be able to hurt yourself, and I will not let anyone hurt you.” It was almost as if her mom read her mind. 

“I’m mad, and I don’t believe you. But I can’t help it. It’s hard for me to believe people. But I’ll go.” Luz stutters out. She had done her research on her condition, her brain was dispositioned to not trust people and to feel like she knew something they didn’t. She had to fight her way out of the distrust so this would be easier. 

Hugs were shared and promises were made about visiting Luz. It wouldn’t be too long, her mom assured her of that. Maybe a week at most, but she’d make sure Luz was back in time for homecoming. She had finally gotten a date and wasn’t planning on wearing something that would get her kicked out, so her mom was excited and was going to make sure she made it. 

Once all of her friends had been picked up by their parents it was time for the Noceda family to leave. Vee was insistent on accompanying her sister since twins have to stick together. This made Luz smile, how could she have thought so little of Vee for so long? Vee was such a good sister and Luz felt like the opposite. Vee had even grabbed Luz’s favorite stuffed animal, a snake plushie she had gotten at the local zoo as a child. His name was Noodle and he helped her stay calm during the difficult car ride. 

The first night was challenging but as promised her mom didn’t leave her side. After that, she was quickly transferred out of the emergency psychiatric ward and into the more long-term one. She felt calmer there and had more freedom. In the emergency ward, she wasn’t allowed to have Noodle but when she was transferred he was returned to her.

 She spent the next week at the hospital. Her time was spent reading books from the hospital library and watching TV. The food there wasn’t very good and didn’t come close to her mom's cooking. On top of that her lactose intolerance limited her options. The therapy was as boring as therapy always was which didn’t surprise her. As promised every day, her mom and one of her friends or sister would visit. She got to listen to their updates about life and Amity made sure to sneak in a few kisses when she visited. It wasn’t a fun or perfect experience by any means but she was safe and that was enough for her. 

A week after being discharged Luz was a completely different person. Luz is more comfortable with her medication despite still being unsure about it some days. She's also taking therapy more seriously which means it’s helping more. The feelings of loss still perpetuate and she can’t help but feel sad whenever she doodles a glyph on her homework. Those things she loved weren’t real, the world was still as boring as ever. It hit her hard at times, reality was a jerk. But then she remembered her friends, her mom, and her sister and that made her feel a bit better. 

Luz tried her best to keep her mind away from magic and the boiling isles for a while. Not that she couldn’t revisit those concepts at a later time. She had planned out a book idea about the boiling isles. But right now she was going to stay in the real world where her very real new job is. Her very cool new job working with her girlfriend's cool dad at his super cool arcade. Luz was his favorite employee, he wasn’t even subtle about it. Alador trusted her more than the other teens that worked there despite the shenanigans she tended to get into. Luz would help set up for parties and man the prize counter while Alador fixed up broken arcade machines or cleaned the creepy decades-old animatronics. Those things have given Luz plenty of nightmares and one or two hallucinations. She assumed they wouldn’t feel as creepy if she didn’t spend some time obsessed over Six Nights at Gary’s in middle school. Good thing the animatronics can’t see her when she’s in the prize area. 

A little boy runs over to the prize counter,

“Luz, can you help me count my tickets?” He asks. 

“Yeah, sure little dude! Okay, let’s separate the tickets into groups of ten.” Luz instructs. Luz watches as he lays his tickets on the glass and counts out loud. Something about the small town arcade made Luz happy. The same kids came in almost every day and she knew most of them by name. Luz was known as the cool teenager who worked at the arcade, the one everyone went to if something got stuck or broke. To the kids there she was special, and she liked that. The other employees didn’t care as much, which was fair. They’re teenagers just trying to get some money, they don’t need to care about their jobs. The little boy finishes counting his tickets,

“Alright so you have six groups of ten, how many tickets do you have Jason?” Luz prompts. He thinks for a moment before responding,

“I have sixty tickets!” 

“Alright! Let's pick out some prizes.”  

As Luz starts to point out prizes he can get the door behind her open. 

“Soon you won’t have to count tickets by hand, I just ordered a card system,” Alador says as he closes the door behind him with his foot. He’s carrying a big box of prizes so he can restock. 

“Wow! That’ll save a lot of time. But it takes some of the fun out of it.” Luz replies as the little boy runs off with his toys and candy. 

“Yeah. I’ll miss the tickets too, but not having to fix broken ticket dispensers in the games will save a lot of money. I did the math, these card readers will pay for themselves in a month. That means I’ll be able to put more money away for new games. There's a VR Cosmic Frontier game I’m looking at and I’m very excited about it.” He explains as he hangs up stuffed animals on the back wall.

“If you got that I think Hunter and Gus would move in here.” Luz laughs. Their conversation is interrupted as the doorbell jingles. They turn their heads to greet the guest, 

“Why do I never walk in on you two talking about me? You know, your girlfriend, and your daughter?” She asks in an annoyed tone, though it’s easy to tell that she’s teasing them.

“We just talk about you when you aren’t here. We spend at least an hour a day talking about how great you are!” Luz jokes, and this makes Alador laugh. 

“Hah Hah very funny you two,” Amity says as she leans on the prize counter.

“Dad, can I borrow Luz for a minute?” 

“Sure, just remember to bring her back.”

Luz furrows her eyebrow in confusion. Amity doesn’t elaborate on why she needs Luz, she just leads her outside.

“Sooooo, the parking lot is very….nice today?” Luz says, swaying back and forth awkwardly.

“Wow, that was so weird sorry sorry.” She adds.

 Amity laughs,

“No no, it’s fine Luz. I have something very important to ask you.” 

Amity holds her hands at her mouth and takes a deep breath,

“Will you go to homecoming with me?” She spits out. It’s barely a sentence and more of one long word. 

Luz’s face goes from confused to ecstatic, she smiles so hard it hurts. In her excitement, she picks Amity up and spins her around.

“Yes yes yes! I’d love to go with you!”  

Luz sets her down but doesn’t let go. The two girls stand there in the parking lot for what feels like hours. Amity’s warm embrace felt like winning the lottery. Luz felt like the luckiest person to ever exist because she got to be with this amazing girl. She rests her head on Amity’s shoulder and savors the beauty of the moment. It wouldn’t feel special to most people but to Luz, it felt like a painting come to life, its beauty unmatched.

At this moment Luz knew that everything would be okay.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry Hunter,” Luz spoke quietly, her voice shaking.

“It’s okay Luz.”

Hunter turned his head to the side so he didn’t have to watch, hearing it was enough to make him sick. The sound of ice cracking under the weight of his friend was something he could never forget. He stands up from the ledge and continues to look away as he calls 911. His voice was steady as he explains the situation to the operator. What happened hadn’t hit him yet. The cold ground welcomed him as he sat down under a tree and waited for help. For the first time in months, Hunter prayed out of love, not out of fear. There was something so pure about it, he didn’t ask god to forgive his friend's sins. He prayed that god would take care of her and make sure she got to see her dad because Luz was a good person and any loving god would know that. His uncle had mislead him and made him fearful, Hunter knew better now.

Sirens and bright red and blue lights filled the quiet night, waking the animals slumbering nearby who had no worries about the loss of life so close to their homes. The bridge was quickly blocked off and Hunter sat down to tell the police what happens. He goes through his story saying everything with little inflection, that was until he looked past the cop in front of him and saw the EMTs wheeling Luz on a gurney. She was mostly covered, they must have confirmed she was gone. But that wasn’t the part that broke him, it was Luz’s mom standing next to Luz, sobbing. Ms.Noceda was a very put-together person who always held herself together for the sake of the people around her. Hunter had never seen her cry. Then there was Vee standing next to her, one of her mom's arms wrapped around her. Hunter could just make out what Vee was saying,

“Not again, please not again.”

That's when Hunter started crying. Could he have saved her? Should he have done more? What could he have said differently? The officers tried to comfort him but it was no use. Luz was gone, a brilliant light of a person had died that night and the world was worse for it.

The next few weeks were hard, Hunter and his friends spent a lot of time together. It was easier to mourn together than alone. The day before the funeral Hunter got a call asking if they could hang out at the Noceda house today. When they arrived Vee opened the door.

“I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you guys.” She says, her voice hoarse from days of on-and-off crying. Willow spoke up,

“You don’t have to be sorry Vee! You lost your sister you don’t owe us anything.” She says to comfort the girl.

“We didn’t hang out much, we were more of Luz’s friends so it makes sense you’d want to talk to your friends more right now,” Gus adds.

“I should have tried to get to know you guys better while Luz was…still here. I just, I was mad I guess. I needed someone to blame, some explanation for what happened. Why Luz changed and why she wasn’t herself anymore. But It wasn’t anyone's fault, it never was. I guess I just couldn’t accept that another person in my life was sick.” Vee says. She sounds like she’s about to burst into tears.

It was silent for a moment but then Vee was encompassed by her friends in a group hug. They were her friends. Hunter was going to make sure she knew that. They didn’t just care about Luz. Did she think they agreed that she had bad intentions? Because they didn’t. Hunter had for a while but no one else had bought into Luz’s paranoia. The only reason they didn’t hang out with Vee a lot was that Luz was agitated by it.

“Do you guys want to come in? We can watch a movie or something? If you don’t it’s cool…” Vee shyly asks.

The kids are more than happy to hang out, honestly, they need it. They spent the rest of the day watching Luz’s favorite movies and playing her favorite games. Vee told stories about her and Luz’s adventures and Vee’s mom even joined in and showed the group some home videos. For the first time since Luz passed, they got to smile.

Hunter didn’t think he would make it, his poor hand-me-down van was on its last leg. He grumbled to himself as he turned up the radio so he wouldn’t have to hear his van falling apart. It was early morning and still dark outside but they needed to meet early as they had graduation in the afternoon. But before Hunter and his friends could graduate they had someone they had to see. He was relieved when he finally saw the sign telling him he was in the right place. Luckily he didn’t have to drive around looking for the spot because his friends were already parked. He parked on the side of the road next to them. He didn’t think his van would start again, but it would be fitting for it to die in a graveyard. Was that too dark? Nah, Luz would think it was funny.

When he steps out Gus calls over to him,

“How's Eda’s old rust bucket treating you?”

“Like shit!” Hunter calls back as he approaches his friends. Willow and Vee are arranging flowers around the two graves in front of them. Amity is setting out a picnic blanket and Gus is holding a flashlight so Vee and Willow can see what they’re doing. Hunter set the food he brought down next to the things the other brought.

“Too bad you weren’t here earlier Hunter, Vee tripped over Luz’s gravestone.” Willow teases,

“It’s so damn dark I couldn’t see it” Vee exclaims in defense.

Everyone shares a laugh.

“I-I’m glad we’re doing this,” Vee says with a soft smile, despite being the butt of a joke a few seconds prior.

“Me too, I wanted to see Luz before I move away for school. I won’t be able to visit as much.” Gus says. Gus is going west for college, he got accepted to a nice school and he’s excited. Hunter is going to miss him but he’s glad Gus is getting to see the country more.

Most of them were leaving home after high school, it was bittersweet. They had lives to live but they couldn’t help but feel like they were leaving their friend behind. No matter how much they denied it affecting their decisions about college. Vee got accepted to a few different schools but decided on the University of Connecticut so she could stay close to home. Hunter and Amity were also accepted and were going. Hunter still had things to work through and he had just moved in with Eda and King a year ago so he didn’t want to leave them. Hunter planned on going to college and spending time with his adoptive mom and brother. He had a lot to learn about family and being human before he was ready to go out on his own.

Amity hadn’t gotten over Luz, and no one expected her to. Luz was her first love, she needed time. And it was better that she take her time to heal close to home. She was going to spend time with her dad and go to school for teaching. Willow was going to study abroad in Europe. She was excited to get to explore botany more in college. Hunter was a bit worried about how their long-distance relationship would work but Willow assured him it would be okay.

Vee didn’t know what she wanted to do yet, in many ways she was still trying to find herself. She was a twin and being a twin her life revolved around that. It didn’t help that all of Highschool she was focused on her sister, she didn't get a chance to think about the future. But she assured her friends that she’d figure out what she wanted, but right now she wanted to be close to home.

“I always thought Luz was going to study to be an author,” Amity says as she takes plates out of her picnic basket.

“In middle school, she wanted to be a manga artist. She wasn’t very good back then but my mom was still proud.” Vee says.

“She was always such an artist,” Willow says, brushing some loose dirt off of Luz’s gravestone.

“Yeah! My mom loves telling this story of the time she had the idea to paint her face and then press it onto paper like a stamp. We were like six and our dad was helping us make painted hand turkeys.”

“Please tell me your mom has pictures!” Amity is almost dying of laughter just at the idea.

“I’ll do you one better, she has a video, an interview if you will.”

“I need you to show me that. That sounds amazing.” Amity replies with a goofy grin.

Suddenly Gus interrupts them,

“Are you guys almost done with the flowers? I think the sun is coming up.”

Vee and Willow quickly finish up, and everyone takes a moment to admire their work. In front of them are two graves, Emmanuel Noceda and Luz Noceda, father and daughter. Small pots of flowers surrounded their graves, giving life to the grey stones. The flowers match in color to show their connection. Hunter shed a tear, but he also smiled. It was a beautiful sight, his friend was at peace after suffering for so long. While Hunter wished that night didn’t happen and that Luz was with them he knew that could never be changed. One day he would see her again, they’d all be together and they’d talk and laugh about their adventures while apart. As he gazed up at the sunrise he felt at ease, like Luz was right there watching it with them.

At this moment Hunter knew that everything would be okay.