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"Don't forget to text me once you get there, okay?"
"Yes, mom."
"Oh- and do you have everything? Water bottle, phone charger?"
"Yes mom."
"Good." Luz's mom left a kiss on top of her head. "I love you, mija."
"I love you too."
Luz refused to look her mom in the eye and see the hurt and disappointment on her face. She let her hug her one last time before she left, climbing into her car as she went to work.
The teen swallowed and tapped her foot as she waited for the bus to arrive, squeezing her Azura book closer to her chest. Her fingers tightened on the hardcover every time a car drove by, savoring the few seconds of freedom she had left.
She felt like an utter failure right now, and if she could have, she would have begged her mom to stay at home, making her promises she wasn’t even sure to keep. Anything to escape this; and yet, here she was, waiting to be taken away to a dreadful summer camp for three months.
But when the bus finally appeared into her field of view, approaching her house, she frowned. No, she refused to do this!
Luz started running in the opposite direction, reaching the forest nearby. She didn’t care where she would go, or how she would survive, or she would even explain that to her mom- if she ever did, but she wouldn’t subject herself to any of this!
After what felt like an eternity of running away, soon out of breath, Luz arrived at an old, decrepit house. The windows were shattered, the roof almost collapsing, and the front door slightly open. It was strange she had never noticed it before, but she had no time to wonder about it right now.
“Maybe I could just… stay here for a moment,” she mumbled to herself, slowly approaching the house.
The place got creepier as she got closer, and her wobbly legs threatened to give up under her weight. But she had no choice; it was either that, or the absolute hell that was summer camp. At least here she would have had time to think about what to do next.
When she opened the door and stepped inside, she was surprised to find a never ending corridor, much larger and longer than the house itself. The floors were a shining ivory color decorated by an emerald carpet, and the walls were covered in torches and banners. The end of the corridor was pitch black, and the place seemed empty at first glance.
Luz whimpered and pulled her hood over her head, one hand clenching on the strip of her bag. Maybe summer camp wasn’t that bad, after all.
But when she turned around to go back and leave this ominous place, her eyes widened as she realized the situation she had just gotten herself into.
The front door had disappeared.
“What the heck!? Let me go!” Luz yelled, putting her hands over what had become a wall.
“Who’s there!?”
The young girl gasped and turned to the source of the voice; three people approached her in more than questionable outfits. They were all wearing black uniforms with white cloaks, hiding their faces with gray, pointy masks and hoods.
Luz shivered and took a step back, her back hitting the wall behind her. The group stepped dangerously close to her.
“You! What are you doing here?” One of the people asked.
“Uh… Sorry, I didn’t know this house belonged to someone! Bye-bye!”
As she tried to run past them, one of them grabbed her by the arm and yanked her backwards, and she almost fell. The stranger was holding her tight, and she could feel them lifting her from the ground as if she weighed nothing.
“We don’t appreciate trespassers around here,” they hissed, bringing their face closer to Luz’s.
“I’m sorry, I really am! I didn’t mean to step on anyone’s property!”
They put her back on the ground, and for a moment, Luz had the hope they were releasing her, touched by her honesty. But then, they grabbed the strip of her bag and pulled it away from her.
“Hey! Give it back, you knucklehead!” She barked, hopping in her spot as the other held the bag over her head.
“Do you even know where you are, cat demon?” Before she could answer, the stranger shoved her against one of their friends. “Steve, bring her to the conformatorium. We’ll deal with it later.”
“Got it!” The man (Steve?) answered.
Crap, what even was a conformatorium!?
The two other strangers left, turning around one of the corners; and, before she could think of a plan to run away, Luz saw, to her absolute disbelief, a pair of handcuffs materializing around her wrists.
“Huh!?”
“Sorry, but it’s the procedure. Wouldn’t want you to run away,” the man chuckled awkwardly.
Before Luz could ask any questions, Steve gave her a gentle tap on the back, pushing her forward. He then kept a hand on her arm, still light, but firm enough that she couldn’t get away. The fact that he was much taller didn’t help either. She mumbled an insult under her breath but started walking anyway.
This place was no ordinary house, and for a moment, Luz wondered if she hadn’t died on her way out and ended up in hell. If that was the case, she hoped this was just the trial before she could go to heaven.
“Hey, uh, you look awfully young. How old are you?” Steve asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“I’m fourteen.”
The man stopped, and she had no choice but to mirror him.
“Say that again?”
“I’m… fourteen. Do I really look that old?” She added in a grumble.
“We’ve never had a prisoner this young before.”
They started walking again, and Luz noticed his grip on her arm was loosening up.
“What, is it like a prison or something here?”
“You could say that.” Steve paused, letting go of her altogether. “It’s just- you remind me of someone I know, and you guys are roughly the same age. Makes me feel bad to do this to you.”
Luz’s heart squeezed in empathy. Although she despised him, the way he said this did something to her.
But when he kept on rambling, barely keeping an eye on her at some point, she looked around and noticed they passed by a double-wing door; a flock of people wearing the same colorless uniform were exiting the place, and she had a glimpse of what was outside: gray skies and earthy grounds. Finally, she had a chance to escape!
Slowing down her walk, she waited for Steve to be at her level and rammed him into the nearest wall, her head hitting his stomach, before running as fast as possible towards the exit.
“Sorry, man!” She yelled at him.
Luz went as far as her legs could carry her, pushing aside the fact her wrists were still bound together. She would find a solution for this later.
But before she could even reach the doors, she felt something wrapping around her ankle, putting a brutal stop to her master plan. She got dragged away as she screamed in frustration and struggled to get out of whatever was holding her back.
Then, a hand grabbed her by the back of her hoodie and effortlessly pulled her up. Her hood fell from her head at the motion, and she was face to face with Steve again, her messy hair getting into her eyes. As she looked down to her ankle, she noticed a vine still wrapped around it.
This kept getting stranger.
“Look kid, I don’t wanna do this either, but-” he stopped dead in his tracks for God knows how long. “What in Titan’s name happened to your ears?”
“My… ears?” Luz touched one of them with the tip of her fingers. “I mean, I got them pierced a couple of months ago, but-”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant. Why are they so round? Did you get hurt?”
Luz arched an eyebrow.
“I have regular ears. Why are you being so weird about them? You're gonna make me feel self-conscious!”
“I don’t think you understand where you are.”
At this, Steve gently put her back on the ground, the vine still tight around her leg with no chance to escape again. He crouched to her level and took off his mask.
Luz’s eyes immediately fell on the long, pointy ears on each side of his face as she gasped.
“What in the heck- are those real?” She then noticed the horn on his forehead, and this time, let out a yell. “Is this real!?”
“Not so loud! I should have brought you to the conformatorium ages ago already!”
“You can’t just show me your face and expect me to stay calm!”
When the two heard footsteps from another part of the corridor, Steve immediately pulled her hood back over her head, covering her ears, and waved his finger to form a green, shining circle. To this, the vine that was holding her ankle finally let go and disappeared in a corner.
What on Earth had just happened?
When Steve put his mask back on, a tall, beefy guy with grayish skin came up. He was wearing a different uniform, although the colors were similar, with a pointy mask as well. Instead of holes for the eyes, there were two buttons sewed on it.
Luz shivered, doing her best to hide behind Steve as her hands grasped at the back of his cloak.
“What are you doing here, scout?” The creature looked down at the girl. “Who’s that?”
“She’s a prisoner, Warden Wrath,” Steve answered. “I was told to take her to the conformatorium."
“I see. Having troubles with her?”
“Not at all, sir.”
Warden Wrath was still scanning Luz from eyes to toes, and she had never wanted to disappear so badly before. She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he had found her first, and her fingers tightened on Steve's cloak as she swallowed down a whimper.
“Good. Make sure to confiscate all her belongings before taking her to a cell.”
“It has already been done.”
The creature gave the scout one last look before walking away to another part of the place, out of their sights. Steve sighed in relief.
“Well, that was close.”
Luz nodded, still hiding as much as she could behind Steve. The latter turned to her and crouched to her level again, grabbing her by the shoulders.
“Do you understand now? You have no business being here.”
“Oh, so we’re just not gonna talk about him? Or about you? You have a horn, man!”
“You’re literally the first human I see in person, and yet I’m the odd one out?”
Luz blinked. The first human?
That explained a lot. Not everything, especially not how she ended up here, but that still explained a lot.
“Wait, does that mean…” She looked down at her ankle, the memory of the vine keeping her in place still in mind. “When you caught me with that plant, that was…?”
Steve chuckled, making that same green circle with his finger and showing his hand to Luz. A flower appeared in his open palm.
“Yup, that was me.”
“You can do magic!?” Luz yelled.
“Use your inner voice, for Titan’s sake!”
“Sorry, sorry. But you gotta understand, I’ve never seen this before! How do you do that? Can you just make plants appear, or can you do something else? Can you teach me!?”
“Woah, easy there. First, we need to go somewhere else. You're not safe here.”
As astonishing as it sounded to her, Luz trusted him a little more. He seemed reluctant to throw her in jail for the rest of her days, but she still had to keep her guard up. Who knew where he was really taking her?
Her wrists still bound together, Steve led her to another part of... wherever they were. They passed through what Luz could only assume was the conformatorium, with thousands and thousands of cells. They walked by a couple of prisoners, one of them being a tiny, ginger creature yelling nonsense at the scout who just ignored it.
“Hey, what’s your name by the way?” Steve asked her.
“I’m Luz! Luz Noceda.”
“Cool. I’m Steve.”
Luz tilted her head to the side. “Just Steve?”
“…Just Steve.”
Walking down another corridor, they then stopped at an ordinary door. Steve looked left, right, then opened and ushered her inside before closing behind them.
The room was similar to a small studio with a bed, a desk and a wardrobe. On the wall, above the bed frame, were plastered many photos of what Luz could only assume was Steve's family or friends.
Steve made another circle motion, and the handcuffs around her wrists disappeared.
“Sorry, I wanted to take them off earlier, but it would’ve been suspicious otherwise.”
“No big deal. You’re kind of a chill guard, actually.” She looked up, and noticed he had taken off his mask again. “Say, can I ask for a favor?”
“Depends. Can I ask for one?”
“Can you teach me how to do magic!?” She blurted out before hearing him out. The man just stared at her, puzzled.
“Humans can’t do magic, kid, only witches can.”
“How do you know that? You said you’ve never met a human before! Just let me try!”
Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Now that she looked more closely, he wasn’t even that threatening; rather, he looked very nice and polite. He had a couple of moles on his cheeks, and some scars on his face. Sure, the ears and horn were surprising at first, but if what he had said was true, then her own ears were just as frightening to him. Who could blame him?
“Look, that’s not the priority here. We need to figure out how to send you back home. Do you have an idea how you ended up there?”
“Well, I was running away from summer camp, and I found this abandoned house near my place. When I entered it, I was just… there, with no way back. I have no clue what happened.”
“That’s odd…” Steve mumbled. “So, you traveled from the human realm to here? Just like that?”
“I’m telling you, I don’t know what happened!”
The scout started pacing around the small room, and Luz sat at the edge of the bed, swinging her legs.
“I don’t know what to do. If you stay here, you’ll be thrown into the conformatorium, but if I let you escape, I wouldn’t give you more than a day before you get eaten by a slitherbeast.”
“Eaten by what, now?”
“It doesn’t matter. For now, you’ll have to stay hidden here until we find a solution.”
Luz sighed but still nodded, falling backwards onto Steve’s bed. She felt something soft under her hand and grabbed it, discovering a cloak that had been left there, similar to the one Steve was wearing.
Then, her eyes lightened up.
“Steve, I’m a genius!”
“You are?”
“Check this out!” Luz stood up and draped the cloak over her shoulders, then struck a dramatic pose. “I… don’t have the rest of the outfit, but you see where I’m going with this, right?”
The man just stared at her, frowning, until his face lit up as well.
“Luz, you are a genius!” He exclaimed. “I’ll just have to find a uniform your size, but this is perfect!”
Thank God they were all wearing masks around here.
Steve left the room and Luz to her own devices for what felt like hours- she had lost track of time as soon as she had taken a step here anyway. But when he came back, panting and with a big smile on his face, Luz couldn’t help but sigh with relief.
“Alright scout, get dressed!” He said, throwing the ball of clothes at her.
She changed her outfit as soon as Steve turned around, giving her a bit of privacy. The uniform reeked of something she didn’t recognize, and the pants were a little too big for her, but she managed to hold them in place with her belt. The boots were heavy, too, but she would have to manage for now.
“Alright, you’re done? Don’t forget this,” Steve added, giving her the mask.
“Thanks.” She put it on and took a deep breath. “Can I ask for something else?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Can you show me where they took my bag?”
Steve frowned, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’m not sure about this. We have a room for confiscated items, but it’s under high security. Even if you have a disguise, you’ll have to find a justification to get access to it.”
“Just- show me where it is! I need to take it back, I...” Luz sighed. “There’s… something very important in it, and I can’t leave it behind. Please?”
"Kid, you don't get it-"
Luz took her mask off for a second, using her secret weapon: the best puppy eyes she could come up with. Steve stared at her, wide-eyed, shaking his head.
“Oh, no. No, no, no, you’re not doing this to me.”
“Pwease?” Luz pouted.
“Ugh- alright, don’t give me that look, you win! But once we’re there, I’ll leave you to it, okay?”
“Sure! Thanks, Steve.” She took him by the wrist and dragged him outside. “Lead the way!”
Now that she had her disguise, Luz felt more at ease. A couple scouts stopped by and had asked her for her name, as they didn’t remember seeing such a small coworker around here before, but Steve had casually explained she had joined the coven (whatever that was) recently. There were no more questions after this.
Eventually, they reached a gigantic double-wing door that was barely opened to crack. Steve walked to it and mumbled something to himself.
“Weird, it shouldn’t be left open…” He gently pushed the door.
Luz approached him and gasped as she took a look in the tiny opening. Warden Wrath and a couple of scouts in different uniforms were fighting against a tall, pale-skinned lady with a wine red dress and long gray hair. Just like Steve, she had pointy ears and was producing magic with circles. A fluffy creature, barely bigger than a cat, was running away from one of the scouts or trying to bite their ankles.
“Who’s that?”
“It’s Eda, the Owl Lady. We’ve been trying to capture her for years,” Steve explained.
“Witch criminal!” Luz gasped. “What did she do, anyway?”
“Too long to explain. Stay back, Luz.”
At this, Steve rushed to his coworkers to help. The lady- Eda, she supposed- groaned something and immediately focused her attention on the new threat. Steve didn't seem impressed; rather, he managed to dodge her attacks, trying to fight back despite the clear difference in skills between the both of them. Despite being outnumbered, the woman was defending herself pretty well, and she looked so awesome doing so.
Still hiding behind the door, Luz heard yelling behind her and someone yanking her away. A group of scouts ran past her into the other room where the fight was taking place.
“What are you standing there for, you slacker!?” Another scout yelled at her, still holding her tight. “The Owl Lady is right there, go help them catch her!”
“I… Uh…” Luz started to sweat, looking for any way out of this. How was she supposed to help when she not only had no idea who this woman was, but also without any type of fighting skills?
Before she could find herself an excuse, the doors burst open, and she was blasted across the corridor by a beam of light, like she had been swept away in a hurricane. It took her a few seconds to come back to her senses, but when she looked up, the witch was standing there, with the tiny, adorable-looking creature at her feet. She was holding what appeared to be a giant stick in her hand, with an owl at the end.
“Take that as a lesson, you boot lickers!” She yelled with a smirk. “You’ll never get me alive! Bye!~”
Eda drew another circle to her right, blasting the wall of the castle with little to no struggle. To Luz’s astonishment, she climbed on her stick, carrying the dog-like creature with her, and flew away on what she assumed was actually a staff.
The few people blown away by the attack groaned in pain or annoyance, only a couple of them barely able to stand on their feet. Luz tried to get up, but miserably fell back onto the floor. She winced as a pain in her left arm woke up.
“Luz!”
The girl looked up at the sound of the familiar voice; Steve rushed to her and crouched at her level to help her get up, one arm wrapped around her waist.
“Are you okay? Did she hurt you?”
“Sort of,” Luz chuckled, her legs still wobbly. “She wasn’t aiming at me, but she didn’t miss me either.”
“I’m sorry, I had no idea she was gonna be there.”
Before Luz could reassure him it was fine, Warden Wrath came out of the room he had been fighting the Owl Lady in, panting and in poor shape.
“You two,” he growled, “go check in here to see if anything has been stolen.”
“Wait, this scout is hurt-”
“-ing inside! Otherwise, I’m super fine!” Luz laughed nervously, shoving Steve away to prove her point.
With that, she went to the other room, closely followed by her companion, and walked past Warden Wrath. The man stared at her, silent, until she disappeared behind what was left of the door.
“Luz, I’m serious. Humans are much more fragile than witches, you need to have your wounds checked!”
“Not before I find my bag!”
She approached the center of the room; she hadn’t noticed it during the events of the fight, but in the middle was a white, giant beacon of light. Otherwise, for the usual torches and banners she had seen all around the castle, it was empty.
“Is it in there?” Luz asked, her eyes shining with wonder.
“Yeah, it’s behind this forcefield. You’re lucky, I’ve heard only humans can get through it.”
“I see…”
She stepped closer and extended a hand; closing her eyes at first, she then came in contact with it. The forcefield was just tickling her skin, as if someone was gently pinching it, but she was fine otherwise. She went inside and saw a gigantic pile of confiscated items, much taller than her; from weapons, to bottles, to pieces of furniture, they had it all. But then, at the foot of the pile, she saw it; her bag was sitting there, almost waiting for her. She grabbed it and hurriedly looked through it, sighing in relief when her Azura book was still in there. None of her belongings seemed to be missing either.
When she came back, Steve was still waiting for her, watching over his surroundings until Luz was done.
“Hide it under your cloak, or good luck explaining to my superiors why you have this,” he mumbled, shoving the bag under her cape.
“Thanks.” Luz followed him out of the room. “Say, why are you guys trying to catch the Owl Lady? She looks pretty cool.”
Steve stopped dead in his tracks and faced her, a hand on her shoulder. “Trust me, if you wanna survive here, you better not say that in front of anyone.” He started walking again, Luz still close behind. “But let’s take this somewhere else.”
The girl nodded, having to jog to keep up with the man.
“Sit down, I think I have something for you.”
Luz did what she was told, sitting at the edge of the bed. While it wasn’t that big of a deal, her arm still hurt from the attack earlier. She just waited for Steve as he rummaged through one of the drawers of his desk, grumbling something she didn’t catch. In the meantime, she took off her cloak and mask, rolling up the sleeve of her shirt to have access to her wound.
“So, are you gonna tell me about the Owl Lady, or…?”
“You’re not gonna let this go, are you?” Steve sighed.
“Can you blame me? She’s so cool! She destroyed that wall like it was nothing!”
The scout retrieved a box from his desk and walked back to the bed, sitting next to her. He grabbed her arm and started taking care of it.
“Kid, she’s anything but cool. There’s a reason we’re trying to get her under control.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to figure out, but you won’t tell me!”
Luz hissed in pain when Steve started wrapping her arm with a bandage. He mumbled an apology at this.
“She’s what we call a wild witch.”
“A… wild witch? What’s that?”
Steve just shook his head. "You don't need to worry about it. As long as you don't get involved with her, you'll be alright."
Before Luz could ask further questions, he took some kind of sticker that he left on top of the bandage before closing his box. The girl looked down to see a patch with a blue hand on it.
“It’s a healing patch,” he explained, “helps your wound recover faster.”
“Uh... okay.” She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “So… Can I stay here?”
“We don’t have much of a choice, do we? Without magic, you wouldn’t live for long out in the wild.”
“And that’s exactly why you should teach me spells!”
Steve sighed. “Again? I told you, humans can’t learn magic.”
“Then I’ll be the first! I promise I’ll do everything you ask if you teach me how to be a witch! Please?”
Barely able to contain herself, she erupted in joy when Steve silently nodded. She shot up from her seat and gave him a hug, almost lifting him up from the ground.
“Thank you so much! I promise I won’t let you down!”
“Alright, alright, keep these hands to yourself!” he grumbled, awkwardly patting her head as he tried to get out of her embrace. “I have to get back to my duties, but you should stay here and have some rest. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
Luz made a noise of agreement, still bouncing on her feet. She watched Steve fixing his outfit and retrieving his gloves, giving her one last look before he left his room.
The young girl flopped backwards onto the bed with a sigh. As much as she was exhausted by the events of the day, her heart was still pounding with excitement. If Steve kept true to his word, she would learn how to be a witch! She couldn’t wait to start!
Looking through her bag, she took out her Azura book and held it over her head, grinning from ear to ear. But her smile faltered when she noticed, stuck between the pages, the pamphlet she had been given for the summer camp. She frowned, grabbing it before crumbling it in her fist.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” she mumbled, “I promise I’ll tell you everything once I come back.”