Chapter Text
"Alright then. So you've got your bag, snacks, sleep bag stuff, glyph paper, spare snails, clothes for a week-"
Eda was listing off things that Luz had spent all of yesterday packing and unpacking, checking and re-checking and now that it was the morning of her first Hexside field trip (that wouldn't include fighting a tyrant and nearly losing people she cared about) she was bouncing in place with the eagerness to be off.
"Yep I've got everything I need Eda! Just gotta get to school now!" she said with a tone that loudly conveyed 'hint hint' although Eda seemed too distracted to pick up on it.
"I know, I know... Hey you didn't forget your cloak right? What about a knife? You know what, you can't go wrong with a little extra insurance on these trips, I'm going to go get you a knife." She turned on her heel back towards the Owl House where Hooty, King and Lilith were watching the exchange with a range of moods between them.
"Dear sister. I never thought I would see the day where you would display, dare I say it, maternal hovering," Lilith teased. Eda whirled on her with an accusatory finger and muttered, "Watch it, Lily."
King took advantage of the momentary lapse in Eda's attention to dart over to Luz for one last hug.
"You promise you'll come back, right Luz?" She held King's little paws in her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze along with a caring but impatient smile.
"Of course I'm coming back King. And I'm sure I'll have all sorts of neat stories to tell you about The Left Shoulder when I do!"
King reluctantly accepted the answer and stepped away slowly. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Luz threw a quick, "See you in a week everyone!", and darted off in the direction of Hexside School of Magic and Demonics before anyone's well-wishing could delay her a second longer. She could hear Hooty call out, "Hey Luz bring me back some fancy Shoulder snacks!" She waved in acknowledgement without turning.
Luz couldn't contain herself; the sounds of her boots hitting the ground freely as she jogged along were like music to her ears and she jumped into the air with an exited cheer. First school trip on the Boiling Isles! A whole week with my friends!
"I don't think it's possible for anyone to be happier than I am right now!" she shouted out to no one in particular.
~*~
It was possible.
When she arrived at the school to the sight of multiple dragon-headed carriages parked, teachers corralling students, piles of luggage waiting to be loaded and her friends waving her over with eager smiles on their faces she had to take a moment to not explode into a million shards of happy.
"Luz! Over here. Hey are you feeling alright?" Willow asked as Luz practically floated over, dreamily taking in all the hustle and bustle of the trip preparations in full swing.
"Oh yeah Willow, I've never been better." She shifted her bag to her other shoulder, a bit awkward with her sleeping bag rolled up and tethered to the back of it. "I just can't believe we're finally here, I've really been looking forward to this!"
Gus folded his arms and adopted a sarcastic expression. "Oh gee, how could we have not noticed what with it being practically the only thing you've talked about all week." He smirked though; it was always entertaining to see his human friend so excited about something.
"Be nice, Gus, this is Luz's first time to The Shoulder after all! And there's plenty to look forward to," Willow chided gently. "Personally, I can't wait to visit the Armpit's Subterranean Flora Emporium. "
"Well I'm looking forward to The Spitesonium Institution; it has the largest collection of human historical artifacts in the whole Isles! Hey Luz, do you think we'll be allowed to try out the guillotines? The brochure wasn't clear..." Gus was eyeing his brochure critically; it was open to a section on the history of culinary tools humans had supposedly used throughout the ages.
Luz danced from foot to foot. "I don't know, Gus, but I'm very excited to find out!" She scanned the throng of students and teachers around them and spied a familiar flash of mint-green among the crowd.
"Amity!" she shouted, jumping on her tip-toes to get that extra couple of inches. "Hey Amity over here!"
The young witch was turning her head this way and that, trying to pin-point who was calling her. When she caught sight of Luz's frantic display, Luz was fairly sure the witch started chuckling to herself. Well, jumping around like a sugar-overloaded bunny might be childish, but she was so ready for this trip to begin!
"Why do you look so unhappy, I thought you really wanted to go on this trip," Amity teased playfully when she was close enough to be heard over the rest of the students.
"Ha ha, very funny," Luz quipped back. She noticed that Amity barely had anything with her other than a pack no larger than a small purse.
"Hey where's all your stuff? Surely that isn't everything you're bringing for a week." She pointed at the purse resting innocently against Amity's hip. With a little smirk, she pulled it forward and opened the flap on top. Then she reached into it and pulled out a textbook that was clearly too large to have been in there, but regardless was now in her hand.
"That's a witch's bag Luz," Willow supplied helpfully. She looked at the purse with a bit of awe. "It holds a pocket dimension, so it fits an awful lot more you'd think. They're pretty exclusive."
Luz 'oooh'-ed over the bag for a moment and Amity stood up a bit straighter, proud to have shown her friend something she found so interesting. To Amity it was just a bag, but Luz managed to make even ordinary things seem special.
"Alright students! Line up at your assigned carriage now," one of the teachers called out over the chattering voices. Amity waved shyly at Luz and then darted off to go line up.
Willow gave Luz a sympathetic smile. "It's too bad we can't all share a carriage. I guess we'll see you once we land." It was clear she was a little disappointed.
"But hey," Gus chimed in, "We can wave to you while we're flying! Just try not to fall out. Humans can't survive an impact after falling at terminal velocity, right?" he asked with a quizzical tilt of his chin. Luz obligingly shook her head. Then she leaned in conspiratorially, prompting the other two to do the same.
"You know, it looks like they're taking attendance while we're getting on, but once I get my seat I'm gonna sneak over to you guys instead." She grinned deviously and Willow made an approving noise in the back of her throat and winked. The two of them then headed over to their carriage and Luz bounded over to the one she knew was hers since getting the trip forms over a week ago. Now it was just a matter of being temporarily present at the right time...
Amity could already tell she was going to be bored the whole way there. The student next to her, whom she may have called a friend at one point before her definition of the word had evolved, was chattering non-stop and didn't seem to care if she was actually listening or not. Amity rested her elbow on the carriage's wooden taffrail and took a sip from her juice box while she peered out over the last of the students boarding their own flying vessels.
Suddenly, she spotted Luz covertly winding her way around the far side of one of the carriages. While the teachers were doing last-minute checks and going over pre-flight procedures, she was sneaking over to the one that Amity knew Willow and the other kid was on. It was obvious from the way she was sizing up the carriage's scaly leg that she intended to scale the side of it and join up with those two. Amity placed her juice box on the wooden rail and crossed her arms over her chest, ears drooping somewhat. She wasn't jealous. There would be plenty of time for them to hang out during the field trip. She glanced back at where Luz was struggling to hold on while balancing her large pack and bedroll with her. Then she simply sank through the reptilian leg with a rippling effect and was gone.
Amity blinked. She blinked again. Huh?
She didn't have long enough to even call over one of the professors, because a moment later she fell through her padded wooden seat. The only evidence that she had been there seconds ago was her abandoned juice box on the railing.
~ * ~
One moment she had been climbing her way up the scaly leg of one of the school's carriages and the next moment she was balancing in a black void with white lights whipping past her faster than she could keep up with.
Luz felt like she was floating under water, although she appeared to be moving far too quickly for that to be possible. She struggled to stay upright, and realized that she was holding her breath and had no idea if there was air here. Her arms flailed in panic for a few seconds and then, nearly stumbling, Luz realized she was back on solid ground again. She took in the trees and the sky that was mostly blotted out from them as a hopeful sign for her continued ability to breathe and took in a deep gulp of air. Yep, seemed like a respectful combination of elements to sustain her life functions, thank goodness.
She took another look around. This was definitely not the takeoff area outside of Hexside. She barely had any time to absorb the sudden appearance of an actual forest around her when a bone-vibrating roar made her snap towards a massive creature facing away from her on the edge of the semi-clearing they were in.
Someone was shouting angrily from that direction, it seemed like the beast had them cornered against a wall of close-knit trees and Luz immediately rushed towards both the shouting and the creature.
"HEY! Hey you! Over here!" Wildly waving her arms as if that would get its attention faster, she hastily pulled a light glyph out of one of her pockets and readied herself to blind the monster that was now pivoting around on its four massive paws to face her.
She was not prepared for what she saw.
From behind, the beast had seemed almost bear-like (albeit much larger) and she figured that a good blast of light would give her a chance to catch up with whoever had been shouting and help them beat a hasty retreat. What she had not expected were the corpses.
The beast's face seemed to be made of long, porous spines arranged around two angry eyes and a drooling mouth filled with sharp teeth. Dead bodies of various sorts of creatures were impaled on the spines, some fresh and bleeding down its face and others looking like they had been wedged in deeper, decaying for days or even weeks. The stench alone nearly knocked her out.
The horrible beast was fixing its gaze on her almost quizzically, as if wondering what creature would possibly be foolish enough to intentionally attract its attention.
Eyes flicking between the carnage coating the beast's face and the mad bloodlust in its eyes, Luz found her normally hyper-reactive instincts shutting down as she just stood there staring at the thing that was about to kill her. Numbness crawled up her limbs and the light glyph in her hand was held in a death grip, utterly forgotten.
"Hey moron!"
No sooner had the shout rang out when a baseball bat covered in small sheets of paper careened with the side of the beast's face. Given the size of the huge hairy thing, a bat shouldn't have been much of a problem but the explosions that erupted between its head and said bat were enough to send the monster skidding on its paws with a deep shriek of pain.
Luz was blown clear off of her feet by the shockwave and collided with the ground, knocking the wind out of her with a wheeze. Groaning, she distantly felt rocks digging into her back and shakily tried to get to her knees when rapid footsteps stomped up to her.
"If you're playing the part of a hero you're doing a shi-", the voice cut itself off and Luz looked up quickly at the young woman; she seemed to be taken aback by Luz's appearance.
Before she could fully process the person in front of her, Luz felt a hand roughly grabbing the back of her hoodie as the young woman pulled her into a mad sprint out of the clearing. The beast behind them was roaring furiously and trying to shake the blood out of its now ruined eye, ready to take up the chase again as soon as its vision cleared.
They ran until Luz felt like her lungs were going to eject right out of her ribcage and she collapsed in a heap. She focused blearily on the coarse grass of the forest floor peeking through her shaking fingers, gripping the ground to try and stop the wild spinning in her head.
She barely reacted when her partner in flight landed heavily next to her, gasping and tilting her face to the tree line to draw in as much precious oxygen as quickly as possible. She turned to say something to Luz but got cut off by a wracking set of coughs instead.
"So, uh, that could have gone worse I guess," the young woman gasped after a moment of hacking, and cocked her head to the side to take in her would-be saviour. Luz took a few more deep lungfuls of air and pushed herself up into a kneeling position, facing the other girl and seeing her properly for the first time.
She was wearing a beat up jacket over a sweat-soaked shirt and her jeans had tears in the knees, the fibers stained brown from dirt and blood. She had a tattered but tough-looking backpack slung over her shoulder and in her hand a metal baseball bat covered in dents and scorch marks. The beanie on her head covered some of her strikingly familiar-coloured hair although two long locks hung freely in front of her ears. Her very human ears. And her face was eerily similar to-
"Oh my gosh! You look like ME! But older!" Luz burst out excitedly, pointing a finger right above the other girl's nose and making her go a bit cross-eyed with the gesture.
"Yeah, or, you look like me, but dumber," she grouched back, making Luz recoil. "Seriously, what was your heroic plan there? Yell at a ferocious monster, stare stupidly at it and then get eaten, thus somehow saving the dumbass in distress?"
Luz would have been happier with a 'thanks', but she didn't let it faze her. She did however remember the creature glaring at her with a face full of pinned-up mangled corpses and shuddered, grabbing her arms in a little self-hug.
"Normally when I rush into things trying to help someone there's a significantly lower number of dead bodies already involved," Luz joked sheepishly, rubbing along her arms for comfort and stealing another glance at the older teen.
They stayed like that for a few moments just catching their breath and observing each other. Or rather, Luz was flicking her gaze all over the place trying to take in all of the surroundings at once while the young woman peered at her suspiciously, looking like she was trying to figure out the excitable girl as quickly as possible.
"This is still the Boiling Isles right? It looks more or less like the forest around Eda's but I was just at Hexside and we were just about to take off for our field trip and I was switching carriages when I-"
"Wait wait wait, you know Eda?" The other girl looked at her incredulously, throwing up her hands like she could physically hold back the torrent of increasingly unnerving sentences erupting from her.
Luz nodded enthusiastically and replied with a, "Yeah, I live with her as her apprentice!"
A wild assortment of emotions flashed on the young woman's face in rapid succession. Finally she seemed to settle on an almost hesitant sort of grimace, like she was preparing for news she didn't want to hear. "Alright, kid... What's your name?"
"I'm Luz! Luz Noceda." She thrust her hand out for a friendly shake.
Instead of taking it, the older girl heaved herself to her feet and pulled Luz up with a yelp by the offered hand.
"Yeah... I was afraid you were going to say that," she grumbled, dusting herself off.
~ * ~
"Okay so let me get this straight... You've never heard of the Boiling Isles but you were also Eda's apprentice and we are clearly the same person, well, physically. Mostly. Kinda." Luz was walking in circles around the older teen as she unenthusiastically made her way through the forest.
"This seems like a typical alternate dimension sort of situation. Or maybe a future dimension situation? Possibly even an alternate future dimension situation," she continued to muse. Then Luz popped right into the other Luz's face and wondered aloud, "Do I end up growing my hair out like this too? I can't say it's a bad look. Hey if we both have the same name what do we call each other?"
Luz's overly familiar intrusion seemed to throw the older teen off her step and she lifted a hand abruptly to stem the tide of questions.
"The closest thing I still have to a friend calls me by my- our?- last name, so you can too I guess," she said neutrally. Even their eyes were the same colour!
"So then you're Noceda and I'm Luz!" She giggled. "It'll take a while to get used to but that keeps things straight."
Noceda had prompted Luz to follow her out of the area with the warning that the monster they had gotten away from was tenacious. It wasn't going to give up its prey just because Noceda got a good shot in.
"You said we were meeting up with your 'travel partner'? Is that the friend who calls you Noceda? Can I ask who they are? Is it Eda? Maybe I know their alternate dimension self!"
Noceda groaned, looking far too tired to be handling such unbound exuberance.
"It's Blight," she bit out, and before Luz could ask her to specify she finished with, "Amity Blight. The violent, annoying one."
That made Luz stop in her tracks for a second before she went back to circling Noceda, this time backwards.
"Wow, that's definitely not like the Amity I know. Hey if I got insta-portalled to the same place you were I wonder if anyone else from the school did too? Maybe my Amity is with your Amity, and wherever Willow is in this world my Willow is too?" She narrowed her eyes in thought and tented her fingers under chin. "Does this world even have a Willow?"
Noceda was walking along with a more sober look on her face now. She reached back to touch the metal bat that was strapped to her bag like it offered her comfort to make sure it was still there.
"Yeah, I know Willow. Last I saw her was in Bonesborough. That was probably a year ago though," she said quietly. Luz fell into step along with her, picking up on her wording and mood. She suddenly felt hesitant to ask, but managed to get out, "When did you last see Eda?"
Noceda didn't answer right away. When she did, she stopped walking and held eye contact, making Luz stop as well and fidget in place because of the seriousness of her expression.
"Kid... Luz. This place is very different from where you came from. It's likely a lot more dangerous and the people you think you know here are going to be in very different situations." She deflated, turning her gaze outwards to the slowly dimming sky. "Give me some time to wrap my head around whatever this is before you go pulling all the backstory out of me, 'kay?"
Luz nodded and stayed silent, although her thoughts were still racing a mile a minute.
Looks like alternate me has got a lot going on. I hope nothing bad happened with Eda. Cripes, my Eda is going to be worried sick when she finds out I'm not on the Boiling Isles anymore! I already had enough on my plate trying to figure out how to get home before summer vacation is over, now I'm two dimensions removed! How does this sorta thing keep happening to me?
Noceda seemed to be grateful for the time to think as they made their way along a more well-travelled path. Luz could swear the sky looked hazy, even dusty if that made any sense, despite the evening sun.
~ * ~
With a few last half-hearted thwacks of her bat (thankfully devoid of glyphs, lest she set the forest on fire), Noceda slipped out of the brush and into the much more open area near a simmering creek. Luz was quick to follow seeing as Noceda had said this should be where her Amity was, and that meant Luz's Amity might be there too!
Luz threw a hand over her eyes to block out the somewhat harsher light of the sun that was starting to set and colouring the sky in all sorts of strange patterns. She could make out a pair of figures standing near a crumbling rock pillar and judging by Noceda's uninterrupted pace, they were indeed the destination. She darted towards the figures (with a small grumble from the other teen that sounded like a weak protest) and picked up speed when one of them seemed to be running towards her as well.
"LUZ!"
Exhilaration flooded from her chest to every inch of her body as Amity came into clear view and without hesitation she grabbed up her friend into a fierce hug that left the green-haired witch both somewhat stunned and beet red.
"¡Dios Mío! Amity! I'm so relieved you're okay!"
"Umm, uh, yeah I'm doing great!" Amity said quickly and gently pulled Luz away so she could look her over. The concern that flitted across her expression at the scrapes Luz had picked up in the last hour or so didn't go unnoticed, but she didn't say anything about it. Luz caught her eyes for a moment and searched for something, she wasn't sure what exactly but when the other girl managed a shy little smile, she broke into a huge grin and nodded. "I'm really glad, Amity. I don't know what I would have done if you had gotten hurt."
"Oh gag. You two are making me ill just watching you." The other figure that Luz hadn't been paying attention to stepped up beside them with a hand planted firmly on her hip and lip curled in minor disgust. Luz's eyebrows shot up to make friends with her hairline when she took in the other young woman's fierce appearance combined with the uncanny resemblance to her friend.
Her wild mane was the same mint-green colour as Amity's and just barely forced into some semblance of control with a single tie high at the back of her head behind her pointed ears. She even had the same gold eyes as Amity. Her stylish jacket and pants looked fairly new but still held tell-tale signs of outdoor living. Her posture screamed confidence and her expression read as, 'Warning: Unapproachable'.
Luz felt her cheeks heat up, a bit intimidated by the older green-haired witch and her eyes darted quickly between both her and Amity a few times while she processed. Amity's gaze was aimed over her shoulder to what Luz assumed was her older counterpart, eyes wide and calculating but otherwise unfazed.
"You're late. What the hell happened?" the older witch directed at Noceda.
"Amicable as always, Blight," Noceda replied drily. "Ran in to a murderous pin-cushion and had to save ding-dong here. I see you have one of your own." She gestured to Amity.
"Hey! I saved you first... Sorta. Well, I helped!" Luz interjected, crossing her arms indignantly. The nerve.
"You distracted it a bit," the older human said nonchalantly.
Blight sent a leer Noceda's way. "Does that mean she gets a point?" Noceda narrowed her eyes in response but didn't say anything else.
Amity moved in close so she could quietly ask, "Luz, do you have any idea what's going on? We're definitely not on the Boiling Isles anymore."
"Yeah, I think we ended up in an alternate dimension or something crazy like that. Hey did you fall through a portal too?" Luz grabbed on to Amity's elbow in her eagerness. The witch's expression lit up as if to say, 'That makes sense!'
"Yeah, I did. Actually, I think I saw you go through yours!"
"Huh?"
"When you were sneaking over to that other carriage, I saw you just kinda-" She mimicked falling through the floor. "-and you disappeared just like that."
"Hmm... so something pulled us both here. I was wondering earlier about any other people we know who might have come here too..." Luz started thoughtfully, then her eyes widened in excitement. "Hey, maybe everyone has a counterpart here! We could run in to all sorts of wacky alternate versions of our friends and-"
"Luz, how are we supposed to get back? We might be stuck here!"
"Oh... right right. We'll work on that," she said as she swelled with self-assurance. "You know, I do have some experience hopping from realm to realm."
Amity didn't look convinced.
While the two chatted, the older pair had moved away several paces so they could catch each other up.
"So, what happened with yours?" Noceda tilted her chin to the young duplicate of her companion.
Blight shrugged. "She suddenly appeared next to me and I almost took her head off." The claw-tipped fingers on her right hand flinched with the memory of being brandished at a girl who had fallen out of thin air and landed too close for comfort. She leaned in and spoke in a more serious tone. "They seem to be the real deal; midget-Me's magic isn't corrupt at all."
Noceda nodded, though somewhat distractedly. She had more or less come to a decision. "It'll be getting dark soon. We should set up camp and bring them up to speed."
Blight seemed surprised at her easy willingness to let the pair join them but didn't object outright. She pointed to an area uphill of them across the thin veil of steam from the lazy creek.
"There's a good spot up there," she said simply. Noceda followed her finger and then peered in the direction that she and the kid had come from, scanning for sight or sound of the monster from before. It would be a good idea to stick to higher ground, and crossing the creek was an extra precaution. She turned towards the pair of younger teens.
"Hey, you two. If you don't want to be eaten by the first thing that sees you I'd recommend staying with us tonight."
~ * ~
With a quick exchange between them, Luz and Amity had agreed it was far safer to spend the night with the older teens than attempt to take this world on with barely any understanding of it. At Noceda's indication, they followed along not far behind.
"Do you think anyone's noticed we're gone yet?" Amity asked quietly. Luz batted the question around in her head a bit, wanting to answer honestly but not make her friend worry.
"At worst, they'd probably notice once they touched down and took attendance." Luz hoped that word would get back to Eda quickly, if anyone could help figure out what was going on with random portal shenanigans, it would be her. She said as much out loud.
"I didn't see anything that looked like a portal while I was with.. uh, Blight. She was waiting for Noceda where I fell and it was at least an hour or two before you both showed up," Amity explained. It hadn't occurred to Luz to note where or even look around the area that she had emerged into this world at, but if there was going to be a way back to the Boiling Isles from the same place there was no way they could just wait around and see if the portals would randomly open back up again. Almost getting mauled right after arriving made that pretty clear.
"Maybe this world's Eda can help us; Noceda knows her. We can ask those two if they could help get us to the Owl House!" Luz said while gesturing animatedly at the pair ahead of them. Said pair seemed to be arguing over something to do with 'points'. Amity had a sceptical look on her face, and it quickly turned anxious. Well that wouldn't do!
Luz grabbed Amity's hand in her own and swung both their arms energetically. She offered her most uplifting smile to the surprised witch.
"Try not to worry too much, okay, Amity? We're here now, but we're going to figure this out. First step is to take a step, and that step is to find Eda!"
Amity nodded, giving her hand a little squeeze in thanks. She didn't look entirely happy but she seemed a bit more reassured.
"And hey, as long as we're heading to Eda's we should check around Bonesborough and see if anyone else from our world is here too. Just in case."
They didn't say much more as the incline of their trek was getting steeper, and by the time they had arrived at the place the two older teens were aiming for it was nearly dusk. The to-be campsite was a small clearing with a thick set of trees and brush around it. A few large boulders were half-buried in the ground. Noceda seemed to be inspecting the perimeter when a pinkish flash caught Luz's attention. It looked like Blight had set an old tree stump on fire, although the magenta flames seemed to radiate a shimmering effect for a moment until Luz's eyes got used to it.
Amity moved ahead and curiously regarded the fire. Luz smiled, sitting down on one of the boulders and thinking how adorable Amity appeared while observing it with such awe. There was clearly more to the merry pyre than it seemed.
A thought suddenly occurred to Luz. "Hey, you guys must have cool new spells and glyphs me and Amity haven't learned yet. And maybe we have some skills that you guys might find useful!" Her chest swelled with passion and she clapped her hands once in her giddiness. "We may come from different worlds, but we're the same! Literally! And who better to teach us than ourselves?"
Blight let out a loud raspberry to show just how much that idea resonated with her.
"We are not the same," Noceda said pointedly. "You've got enough optimism to fill every glass on the Isle and I've got a roadmap of scars where a purpose probably should have been."
Something seemed to strike Blight as particularly funny about that statement, and she donned a mischievous grin as she abruptly made her way over to Luz. She disappeared behind her and before Luz could crane her neck around to follow she felt a hand clamp onto her left shoulder. A second later she felt Blight's fingers pull her hoodie away from her neck and she jolted upright with a startled, "Hello!" as the witch seemed to be looking for something on her upper back.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Amity rushed over, and Blight let go of Luz to sneer in Noceda's direction. Luz shivered at the feeling those claws had elicited against her skin.
Noceda was shooting Blight a questioning look, seemingly just as confused as the rest of them.
"She doesn't have a birthmark." Blight's tone dripped with honeyed victory. It seemed to take Noceda a moment to catch up with whatever the exchange was supposed to be about but then her face went beet red. Jumping up, she practically yelled, "That doesn't prove anything! She's from a fucking alternate dimension!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say~" Blight sing-songed and reclaimed her seat on the other side of the fire. Luz found herself blinking rapidly and wondering if any of that was supposed to make sense to her.
Amity seemed to decide that somewhere between Luz and Blight was the best place to sit. Her ramrod posture kind of reminded Luz of a dog protecting its owner from a wild animal. The thought struck her as pretty funny and she hid her mouth behind a hand; she didn't want to have to explain that one!
It took a little while longer for the four of them to settle down. At some point Blight had revealed a witch's bag nearly identical to Amity's although a good deal more worn. From it she had produced a pair of full-sized bed rolls and judging by the way she tossed one at Noceda, this was a typical part of their arrangement. From the way Noceda responded by telling her not to "throw her shit over the fire", their arguing was also a typical part of their arrangement.
"I'm surprised the two of you can even travel together given how prone you both are to fighting," Amity muttered. She wasn't as quiet as Luz would have deemed entirely diplomatic, and indeed, Noceda responded as if it had been a question.
"Blight's got my stuff in her bag. Beats carrying it."
"Yeah, well, I keep you around as a distraction," Blight snarked back.
Noceda shot the witch an affronted look. "What?"
"If something too strong to handle attacks us I can get away while it's eating you."
"Oh. Whatever."
Luz lifted both eyebrows as Noceda relaxed and took a seat across from her. If that answer had been reassuring, what kind of distraction had Noceda been indignant about?
"Anyways, if the peanut gallery can shut it for a few minutes, we have a lot to unpack here." Noceda looked over to Luz with a more serious expression. "This island is a tough place to get by on and you two need to know the basics before you make any plans."
Luz practically bounced off of her boulder and sidled up closer to the fire. "Hit us with it! Brand new world happening here so let's get some context!"
Amity rooted through her witch's bag while trying to pay attention to the pair of humans, finally fishing out a wrapped sandwich. She noticed Blight watching her out of the corner of her eye and offered her half of the sandwich as a sort of peace offering. With a lazy wave of her hand, the other witch summoned some type of packaged snack from thin air and proceeded to open it, ignoring her. Amity suppressed a huff and turned back to the conversation with a small frown.
"Firstly, judging from your clean clothes and annoyingly jubilant pep, I'm guessing you two are from a Turm Isle that hasn't got corrupt magic. Is your guys' Mount Aorta still dormant or did it erupt yet?" Noceda asked, mostly directing her question to Luz while Amity worked through her meal.
"Uhh, wow nothing you said made sense to me. Did you say this place is called Term-ile?" Luz whipped her gaze over to Amity. "Hey is there a volcano on the Boiling Isles? I don't remember anyone saying something about that before."
The young witch hastily swallowed her mouthful of sandwich and cleared her throat before answering. "There are some places on the isles that have volcanic activity, but nothing drastic. And I've never heard of an actual eruption happening before."
Noceda hunched forward with a thoughtful look on her face. "That right there is a pretty big difference. This island has had its huge volcano for longer than anyone remembers. We should keep that in mind, it could be an important clue." She directed the last part to Blight on the other side of the flickering fire.
"Why do you think it's important?" Luz perked up.
"Because when it erupted a couple years ago that's when the magic of the island started poisoning us," Blight answered instead of Noceda, her voice hard.
"Poisoning you?" Amity asked slowly, fingers tensing on the remains of her sandwich. Blight motioned to Noceda to continue explaining before she drew up just a bit more tensely than before like the topic was distasteful.
"Yeah. So, you both know that magic comes from the titan that makes up the island, err-" she glanced over to Luz as if to confirm that part was even applicable here to which the younger girl seemed to pick up on right away and nodded quickly, "-and that everything on the island evolved to use magic and constantly interacts with that magic, right?" This time both of the younger teens nodded to show they were following and Noceda continued. "Well, after the eruption something started happening to the magic here, like it was corrupting over time. I think it goes really deep. And over the last couple years, everything and every creature on the island has been absorbing that corruption and it's had all sorts of nasty effects." Noceda gestured vaguely in Blight's direction. "Especially if you're an active magic user- you know, have a lot of it flowing through you."
Luz and Amity exchanged worried glances, and Amity started fidgeting absently.
Luz shuffled a few inches closer to the young witch, sensing her unease. "So that means that... everyone on the island is in danger?" she asked hesitantly.
Blight scoffed loudly. "Everyone on the island is the danger. We could be the only two left here that still have all our wits."
Noceda looked like she wanted to crack a joke but seemed to think better of it. She sighed dejectedly when Luz turned to her with a look that begged for clarification.
"It's... well it's bad. Most of the demons are basically monsters now, from the school bell demons to the old grannies. And witches.." She glanced at the older witch across from her who wouldn't meet her gaze. "Well, let's just say it's affecting them too."
A loud pop from the fire startled the assorted teens and something drew Luz's gaze outside of the pinkish haze of their camp circle. She sat up straight immediately upon noticing a long four-legged form slowly winding through the trees.
"Umm guys?" Luz's eyes followed the slinking thing and Amity turned to follow her gaze, searching for whatever was spooking her. Upon seeing it as well, she jumped to her feet with a startled, "Eep!"
The older pair didn't seem to worry about the potential danger, as Blight's eyes simply followed it and Noceda held a hand out to rein the younger teens in.
"Just stay calm alright? This fire is illusory, it hides us from most things out here. Just don't step out of the light right now or anything can see you."
Luz had gotten up as well and was standing elbow-to-elbow with Amity, both of them nervously watching as the figure melted into the shadows again. Her eyes picked up more movement and she whispered, "There's another one."
Amity's eyes widened even further and she managed to squeak out, "Where?" before Luz pointed and they were both trained on a second shadowy figure slowly navigating the tree trunks that were barely visible outside the glow from the fire.
Noceda had leaned over to the side to look around the two frightened girls at the retreating figures. The camp was dead silent for a few moments while Luz's eyes darted around, seeing movement everywhere because of the dancing pink flames casting shadows against the trees and rocks.
Blight suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs.
Amity practically dove into Luz as they both shrieked, turning towards the older witch with terrified and angry expressions respectively. Her wild green mane shook while she cackled and wiped a tear from her eye.
"Asshole," Noceda muttered, slowly lowering her hand from over her heart before Blight could notice and make fun of her for it. Luz's reaction wasn't quite so subtle.
"Are you TRYING to give us a heart attack??" She stomped over to the older witch and glared down at her. "What the heck was that about?"
"You two just looked so timid, I couldn't resist," she said around her chuckling. "Listen, my spell is strong enough to counter the senses of anything in this area. So let's have a bit more faith."
Amity joined Luz in chastising the older witch. "Well if you'd stop acting like a stuck-up jerk all the time maybe we would!" Her fists were clenched hard at her sides and even Luz was a bit surprised at the venom in her tone.
Blight's eyes narrowed and she slowly rose to her boot-clad feet to stare down at them. Luz felt a tingle of dread race up her spine as the witch loomed threateningly, amusement gone from her expression. She seemed to be locked in a staring contest with Amity, who, to her credit, was holding up admirably despite practically vibrating.
"Okay, okay, you guys, let's just drop it. Blight and I are going to be heading out in the morning," Noceda jumped in hastily, trying to diffuse the tension between the two witches. "We're travelling to the Owl House, and assuming we're not held up we should get there in a few days."
Luz let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding when Blight broke eye contact first and stiffly turned around to put some distance between herself and the others. Noceda's declaration caught up with her and she couldn't believe their luck!
"You're going to Eda's? That's perfect! I've been thinking that if anyone can help us find a way back to our own dimension, it would be her! You've gotta let us come with you! Please?" Luz clasped her hands as if in prayer and unleashed a full power Puppy Eyes. Amity took that moment to cut in.
"Hold up a moment, Luz. That's convenient and all but why would you two be going to the Owl House in the first place? If we really are days away from the Bonesborough area you must not live there, right?" she directed evenly at Noceda, crossing her arms and making Luz wish she didn't look so openly suspicious. The older teen ran a hand along her short hair like the answer was difficult to put into words.
"Noceda is going to solve the mysteries of our fucked up magic and save the whole island with the owl witch's diary," Blight said with thinly-veiled derision. Noceda shot her a look and snapped, "Shut up."
Luz reclaimed her seat from before and focused on the other human with a questioning look. "Eda's diary?"
"Her research notes," Noceda corrected, narrowing her eyes at Blight before turning back to Luz. She looked almost, apprehensive? Luz's eyebrows furrowed and she waited impatiently for Noceda to continue.
"Eda and Lilith were studying the changes in the island's magic not long after Mount Aorta blew. It didn't take very long for people to realize something was wrong," Noceda said, steepling her fingers and staring towards the fire as she explained. "But it did take a while for the effects to show up."
Luz noticed Amity curling her arms around her middle and wanted to go comfort her but didn't want to risk missing any part of the explanation. She forced herself to pay attention and tried to block out the anxious pacing Blight had drifted into.
"The two of them barely slept; Eda was constantly running experiments and Lilith getting all sorts of supplies and stuff. The woods between us and Bonesborough was getting so dangerous that Eda wouldn't even let me leave the House anymore. When things started getting really bad-" Noceda stopped and seemed to recall where she was. She shook her head as if to clear out the emotion and looked straight at Luz with a flat gaze.
"Anyways, an experiment went bad. Eda's been missing since. I left because I couldn't handle being there anymore, but now I'm heading back to see what I can do. The island isn't getting better and this place is all I have."
She seemed drained. As if the story was both hard to tell and yet a relief to say out loud. Luz held her gaze. This was some pretty heavy stuff, and in her heart she knew that while getting herself and Amity home was important, if there was anything she could do to help here, she wanted to try.
"Alright." Luz nodded, first at herself and then again with conviction in her eyes. "Let us come with you, and maybe there's a way we can all help each other! Maybe we can find some clues to tell us if Eda is okay and where she might have gone. Maybe she already came back and you didn't even know," Luz offered, brightening with the thought. She felt better and better about this plan, even Noceda looked like she hadn't fully considered that possibility.
Luz turned to Amity. "You have to be okay with this too, though." She searched the other girl's eyes but she really hoped Amity would go along with the idea. Amity shuffled a bit when she answered.
"If they're fine with us coming along, then I'm okay with it." Her eyes flicked vaguely in Blight's direction. "There may be people in Bonesborough we can ask as well." Luz had joked about it before, but there was also the possibility that Willow and other people they know might be lost in this world. They certainly couldn't try to get home without at least investigating.
Luz turned towards Noceda with tired triumph on her face, but before she could seal her request she doubled over in full-body yawn. It seemed to catch on, and Luz found herself chuckling fondly when all four of them gave in to the urges. We're a lot more alike than you think, Luz thought to herself with a smile.
"Alright, alright. If not on the same page, at least we're in the same book. Let's get some shut-eye and pick this up in the morning. Sound fair?" Noceda conceded, cracking the joints in her arms and turning towards Blight to gauge any outright refusal.
Luz nodded and hopped up, over-balancing a bit with sleepiness. It seemed like now that they had a plan of sorts in the works, the events of the day were catching up to her. She let out another jaw-popping yawn and waved Amity over while she shuffled towards her backpack and the increasingly desirable sleeping bag tethered to it.
"Heey, Amity?" Luz eyes were half-lidded while she started unpacking what she would use for the night.
"Hmm?"
"This is our first time camping together." Luz grinned.
The mix of worry and exhaustion on Amity's face melted away into a tired, but fond smile and Luz felt ever more assured that everything would turn out okay.
~ * ~
Noceda eyed the two younger teens, out cold in their respective sleeping bags and looking so small and vulnerable with the big dark forest stretching out behind them.
"We're gonna have to pick up the pace, Blight. The kid-, uh, little Luz isn't gonna last too long without Eda's filtering spell. It should still be at the Owl House somewhere." The other teen didn't look at her but did stretch out languidly along the mostly-flat boulder she had claimed, tiredly resting her head against her hand.
"You seem to be really eager to help them out, Luz. Why?"
Noceda was quiet for a few moments while she pondered the question. Why was she so willing to help them? She breathed out slowly through her nose and deflated against the rock Blight was lying on, not quite touching but close enough to feel the heat radiating from her.
"I dunno. Maybe I just want to feel like a human being again. Just do something good for a change."
The witch smirked, though it was half-hearted and her tone had no bite when she responded with, "You mean you want to feel like a hero again."
Noceda tsked but didn't respond right away. She stared into the middle distance for a while before leaning her head back and relaxing against the rock entirely. A wisp of mint green hair dangled just barely inside her field of view.
"There may still be a way to fix this, Blight. Don't you feel even a bit hopeful that maybe those two are here for a reason?"
Blight shrugged. "I traded all my hope long ago just to stay alive." She shifted somewhat so that her face was closer to Noceda's ear, and her arm stuck out awkwardly somewhere to Noceda's right. "If you really think it's worth it to drag those two into your stupid quest or whatever you seem to think this is, then I won't fight you on it. But if something happens to them and.. and you break.." She paused, as if feeling like she was revealing a bit too much but pressed on regardless. "I won't forgive you."
Noceda didn't say anything for a long time, only lifting her hand to gently toy with one of Blight's outstretched claws while they both wandered deep into thought.
"I have enough for both of us," she said finally. Blight cracked open a tired eye and made a small questioning grunt deep in her throat.
"Hope. I have enough for both of us. And I won't give up on this just yet. Not the island. Not your dumb ass." The witch snorted quietly at that. "Not our friends or the rest of them."
She unsuccessfully suppressed a yawn and almost missed the quiet murmur of, "You're an idiot, Luz," before the green-haired teen finally drifted off despite her uncomfortable-looking choice of sleeping arrangement.
I agree, Noceda thought before she too nodded off to the crackling and flickering of their protective campfire.