Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Aeons ago, shooting stars fell from the endless sky; giving light to the Children Of The Stars, also known as the Archivists, creatures that were neither Witch nor Demon. The 4 Children went from planet to planet through the Demon Realm, collecting and capturing all species of life there to preserve in The Archives, a place of safekeeping used to hold important times through ancient paintings, and to keep forgotten life forms from fading throughout the years. However, species that resisted were erased from the memory of time, stolen and destroyed by the Archivists like toys.

Aeons later, A meteorite had fallen from the sky in the middle of a solar eclipse, crashing itself in between both the sun and the moon. The moment of impact is a spectacle of raw, unbridled power. The celestial bodies slam into each other with a force that shakes the planets of the Demon Realm. An explosion ensues, a deafening roar that echoes across miles, and a shockwave that ripples through the air and ground alike. Almost instantly, the world is engulfed in a blinding light, so bright it seems to outshine the sun itself.

A new creature had been formed from the event; The Collector, The Creator Of Cosmos; A galactic being who's powers surpassed that of the Archivists. This one didn't enjoy collecting life forms or killing them, Compared to their siblings, they preferred to play with them in games and have fun.

Taking advantage of their younger brother's childish activities, the Archivists sent him to meet a species known as the 'Titans', whom the Collector proceeded to befriend 4 baby titans instead, playing games with them.
Learning of the power the Titans held, the Archivists became fearful at the possibility that the Titans could dispose of them and take over; So they decided to wipe out all the Titans in a war before they could do it to them, except for one. The remaining Titan, enraged at the deaths of his kinfolk, wrongly accused the Collector for this. Not wanting him to kill his still unhatched son, the Titan trapped the Collector in the in-between before dying where he stood.

In the present time, The Boiling Isles is an island in the Demon Realm. It was formed by the decaying remains of the fallen remaining Titan, populated by magical creatures such as witches and demons.

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In the small town of Gravesfield, there lived a girl named Luz Noceda, a teenage girl with curly dark brown hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. Luz had a passion for all things odd and unusual, dreaming of visiting new places and meeting strange creatures like the ones in her fantasy books.


"Foolish child! I could swallow you whole."

"Do not underestimate me Gildersnake, for I am the Good Witch Azura. Warrior of peace! NOW EAT THIS, YOU BEAST!"

"NO! MY WORST WEAKNESS, MAGIC! YOU WON'T DEFEAT ME, CHILD."

Luz chuckled to herself, staring at the image of the barely visible Gildersnake which was covered in pink flames from Azura's bursts of magic, before closing the book and putting it into her bag. She hoisted herself off the step and hung the bag over her shoulder, glancing at the orange sky for a second; watching the sun set was fun.

Luz turned her attention to the forest nearby, wondering if she should go explore for a while and find that old house everyone had been talking about recently.

"Hm."

 After a moment of deciding if she should do it or not, Luz hesitantly turned around, walking down the path that lead through the forest.

07:35 PM
Luz texted her mom, telling her that she was going to explore for a bit and promised to be back by 08:00. 
She strolled down the path, watching a few birds fly past from below. She grabbed her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and taking a few photos of the birds, then going onto YouTube.

Connect to the Internet
You're offline. Check your connection.

Luz sighed, turning her phone off and putting it back into her pocket. She picked a stick off from the ground, wandering around and pointing it at random things as if it was a sword.
"Hah! Take that, Gildersnake!" 
Straying from the path and going deeper into the woods, Luz was lost.

Crack!

Luz turned her head to where the noise had come from, taking a step forward before speaking. "Hello? Is anyone there...?" She asked, but there was no response. Just silence.

"Huh, probably just an animal.." She thought.

There was a flicker of a bright light from behind the trees for a moment; lighting up everything around it, but blinding Luz for a second. She blinked, covering her eyes with her arm until she adjusted to the sudden brightness. 
"What was that?" Tilting her head, Luz reluctantly walked closer to where the light had come from, raising the stick in case something leaped out at her. After a minute of walking through just trees, Luz could barely see what looked to be a house hidden by them.

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07:43 PM

Luz headed towards the house, whacking a few bushes out of her way with the stick in her hands. When the house was more visible and clear, Luz stared at it for a moment, observing it.



The windows were broken and covered in dust, the roof was collapsing into the house, one of the pillars holding the roof up had been snapped in half, and the door looked as if it was ripped off of its hinges by some.. beast. The door was covered in scratch marks, but it didn't seem like a regular cat did this, it looked more like a Lion's or a Tiger's. The house had a mysterious, haunting aura to it that Luz couldn't understand.

Luz took a step back, uncomfortable. Thinking for a moment if she should go in or not, considering the houses condition, Luz quickly made her decision.
"Maybe I should just go back, that place looks like It's about to cave in at any second... But what about that light? It came from here." She cautiously walked forward towards the house, kicking away broken panes of glass from the windows that laid on the ground.
She walked up the steps, grabbing the doorknob and-

THUD.

"Oh." Luz huffed, glaring at the door, which was now on the floor beside her. She shook her head, dismissing it as just being really old. She took a step into the house, and it seemed like the atmosphere had gone from weird, to just creepy. There was a pile of stuff in the corner of the room, a horrid stench that smelled as if something was rotting underneath coming from it, and there was a lantern on the floor. Luz pinched her nose, dropping the stick, and coughing for a moment as the unpleasant odour got even worse with every passing second.
"Bleh... What is that smell."

Turning away from the pile of random stuff, Luz walked over to the lantern and picked it up.
 "Why is this lit? I doubt anyone would live here." She mumbled, holding the lantern above her. The rest of the room was dimly lit by the fire in the lantern, and Luz could see another door on the other side of the room, she slowly walked towards it.
"Woah.." Luz gasped, staring at the odd door in front of her.

It looked strange, to say the least. It was covered in dust, mould, and infested with bugs that crawled out from a large, yellow eye on the door. It had the appearance of a cat's eye, but looked more human with its rounded shape. Luz poked the eye, it was just wood. She wiped the dust and mould off the door, but when her hand went over the eye again, it felt unnervingly squishy. Luz shrieked, pulling her hand away from the door in disgust, stumbling over her feet and falling onto the floor.
"WHAT THE?!" She yelled, landing on the floor with a thud. She laid there for a second, wondering what just happened.
There is NO way that was real. I'm just imagining things. Luz got up, staring at the door for a few seconds. The eye just stared back at her, unblinking.

She shook her head, grabbing the lantern that she dropped on the floor, then hesitantly taking a step towards the door and turning the door knob.
Opening the door, Luz got blinded by a bright light. She covered her face with her arm to try and block it, walking through the door with no idea of what was on the other side.

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When Luz got to the other side of the door, she noticed the floor felt... different. Not like the frail wooden floorboards of the house she was once in, but smooth basalt or stones instead. Luz opened her eyes. She wasn't in the house anymore, but was now standing at the back of a small circus tent. 
She put the lantern on the ground, looking around the tent.

SLAM!

"Huh?"

 Confused, Luz looked over her shoulder to where the door was. The door had slammed shut, and the eye was 'closed'. Luz spun around and pulled on the doorknob, but it wouldn't open. She sighed, eventually letting go of it, then turning around and cautiously walking towards the entrance of the tent, peeking her head out first to see if it was safe to leave.


It looked like she was in a new realm: crimson trees, oddly red grass, and giant, jagged rocks that stuck out from afar, but it was too dark to see were she was. Luz glanced upwards at the sun... moon. 'The moon? but it isn't even that late.' Luz thought.
She scrambled to get her phone from her pocket, checking the time.

'09:30 PM'

"What? I haven't even been gone for that long. Right?" The realisation that the door probably wouldn't open again quickly set in, causing Luz to run back toward the door in a panic, desperately trying to open it. 

"C'mon! Does this thing just instantly lock as soon as it shuts..." Luz groans, weakly punching the door in despair as she almost instantly gives up trying to open the door. 

"Can't forget that." A voice said from outside the tent, startling Luz. She didn't know anyone else was here. An odd sound came from the door. Luz glanced back at the door; in awe at what she was seeing, but also confused.

A yellow light outlined the door, the eye snapped open, and the door quickly 'folded' into looking like a briefcase, with the doorknob reforming into the handle. The briefcase began to rise from the ground, 'flying' outside the tent.

Luz sat there for a moment, dazed. Wondering if what she just saw was real or fake, she pinched herself on her arm. Yeah, certainly real... 'Was that magic? Where am I? What is this place? Is this what everyone was talking about?'
Her thoughts went blank for a moment before she tried to focus on one.
"Where am I..." Luz asked herself, staring at the ground before grabbing the lantern, getting up, dashing out of the tent and- 
Luz abruptly stopped at the edge of the cliff, taking a step backward. 
"Oh."

ROOOAAARRRRR!

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed through the valley below. The ground began to quake, crumbling under the now unstable rocks, causing a cascade of pebbles and dust to fall from the cliff side. Luz lost her balance, stumbling backwards as the rocky path she was once standing on began to tremble violently and collapse beneath her.

There was no time to react, no time to brace for impact. One moment Luz was on solid ground, the next she was plummeting through the air. The world around her became a fuzzy blur. It felt like everything was sped up; she couldn't even feel her heart beating with how fast it was pulsing from the adrenaline rush she was experiencing. Her hand reached out instinctively, grasping for anything that could halt her descent. But there was nothing—only the cold, biting wind whipping past her and the distant -yet so close- crumbling cliff above.
It began to feel unnaturally slow. As if everything happened in slow motion. The ground rushed up to meet Luz, growing larger and larger in her field of vision. She could see every pebble, every blade of grass. Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat echoing loudly in her ears. The wind tugs and pulls at everything in its path, like a mischievous child trying to get attention.

Amidst the chaos, a figure emerges from above. It's hazy and indistinct, like a watercolour painting left out in the rain. The figure is small and delicate, reminiscent of a child. But also jagged and sharp, like broken panes of glass. "Welcome to the Boiling Isles, watch your step...!"  The figure began to laugh, its muffled voice and childish laughter mocking her.

Then, with a bone-jarring thud, Luz hit the ground. Pain exploded from her head, branching out in all directions. Her vision doubled, tripled even, then darkened until there was nothing.

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Scrunch.. Scrunch.. Scrunch.

Everything ached, Luz felt like she had been crushed by the rubble, which she had. How on earth was she not dead. The weight of the rocks on her was immense, pressing down on Luz with a force that made each strained breath a painful struggle.

Crack...

 Luz could feel her ribs cracking under the pressure, the sharp and jagged edges of the stones digging into her skin. Each inhale was shallow, the air seeming to catch in her throat. There was a loud ringing in her ears, only made worse by the loud, yet far, sound of people screaming in shock. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting as dust clouded around her got into them.

"Is that a human?"

"Why are you all just standing there? Help them!"

The sensation of the rubble being moved was both painful and relieving. Each stone that was lifted off brought a new wave of pain, but also a sense of hope. Luz could feel the pressure on her chest lessening, each breath becoming a little easier. The edges of the stones no longer dug into her flesh, replaced by the gentle touch of helping hands.

"Are you alright? Augustus, Can you get these people away from here? Its crowded..."
Someone gently picks up Luz, her head resting on their shoulder. Luz was able to get a better look at where she was, since it was... daytime? Wasn't it night-time just a moment ago? 



She was in some sort of town, oddly shaped houses of many sizes lined in rows, a few even stacked on top of each other. One of them had a tower with a eye sticking out of it, blinking every few seconds. Another was held in the palm of a large hand sticking out of the ground, all the grass and rocks piled around it. 'What is this place.'

The person carrying Luz carefully put her down against a wall, inspecting her for any injuries.
Luz shuffled upwards a bit despite the pain, wincing as she did so.
"Don't move, You'll make it worse... Just stay still for a moment, okay? I will help."
The person said calmly, placing a hand on Luz's shoulder to try and prevent her from moving.
They extended their other hand, their finger tracing a perfect 'O' in the air. A ring of blue light appeared, shimmering with an ethereal glow. They grabbed Luz's hand, bringing it toward the light, and pulling her hand through it. 
The light enveloped Luz, a warm, comforting sensation washing over her body. The aching pain slowly disappeared, her breaths coming easier. She wasn't in pain anymore, and surprisingly felt more energized.

Luz stared at the person in front of her, now able to get a good look at them.
 It was a girl with light skin, pointed ears, olive green eyes, and short, dark navy-blue hair with a few loose strands. She smiled, letting go of Luz's hand and taking a step back to give her some space.

"There you go. How do you feel now?" The girl asks, tilting her head.

"I feel... Better! The rocks only went through a few layers of skin, I hope.  Thank you...?" Luz trails off when she realises she doesn't know the girls name, then pushes herself off of the wall and stands up.

"Willow. Willow Park!" The girl says with a bright smile, holding her hand out to Luz, who takes her hand and shakes it gently, feeling a soothing energy from her touch. 
"Luz. Luz Noceda... Thank you, Willow!"

Silence...

"What is this place? It looks amazing!" Luz asks as she observes her surroundings, clearly amazed by it all.

"This is the Boiling Isles, If you don't mind me asking, how did you get here? I haven't seen a human on the Boiling Isles before..." Willow notices Luz's rounded ears. Certainly human.

"Well, I heard about some rumour of an old house with a mysterious portal inside, so I tried to find it. I did, and now I'm here!"


And with no way back home, too.

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I don't think i'll be updating this or making any new chapters for a while because i'm really busy at the moment and procrastination has hit me like a truck since december!

If you wanna see more Lights In The Night stuff, go to the LITN Mini-moments because that's really the only place i'll be writing it..
Also LITN Doodles??! :O