This chapter is like... really dark... oops
Also a pretty long chapter... again sorry for making it dark :/
*****
Darkness. It surrounds Luz. She's all alone. "Hello?" Luz calls out into the abyss. She's looking around frantically for any signs of life. "Dad? Steve? Please is anyone there?" Suddenly, footsteps. All Luz could hear were footsteps, getting louder and louder. She starts to hyperventilate, scared of who or what is in this room with her, if this even is a room. "Who are you." Luz is now yelling while trying to figure out where she was. Suddenly, light. Luz was in her fathers throne room, alone. "Dad? Did I do something? HELLO?" Luz is now crying, trying to leave when she hears the heart above her stop. Her eyes widen, and she slowly turns around to see a figure sitting on her father's throne. "Who are you." The figure stands and walks towards Luz, slowly. Luz's heartbeat fills the room in place of the giant one above Belos' throne. The figure finally approaches Luz and stand quietly in front of her. She's against the door, frantic. She tries to be brave and steps toward the creature "I said, who are you." The creature reaches out and touches Luz's chest where her heart is, and Luz feels an unbearable pain.
Luz is now screaming, but still asleep. Willow and Gus both wake up to see what Luz is screaming about. Willow tries to wake the human, but to no avail "Gus go get Eda NOW!"
Gus runs through the owl house aimlessly. "EDAAAAA!!"
Then, Eda opens the door to her room, bed head and all "What! Stop screaming. Wow. You're more efficient then my alarm owl." Eda rubbing her eyes and walks towards Gus. "Now using our inside voices, why are you screaming Anton."
At the moment Gus doesn't care that Eda called him the wrong name, he's too worried about his friend "Luz is sweating and screaming in her sleep and she won't wake up."
Meanwhile, Willow and King are trying to hold Luz still Eda and Gus burst through the door. "What happened?" Eda now kneeling down next to Luz.
King is now shaking in fear for Luz "I don't know. One minute she's just sleep talking, and the next she's screaming. It almost looks like she's in pain." King's now holding the humans hand, hoping she's ok.
"Ok. Everyone stand back. Willow, I need you to tell me. Who do you know, that knows Luz the best?" Eda now taking Willow place holding her down.
Willow looks at Eda nervously "Umm I don't know. Luz is a very private person. Her brother works for the emperor's coven, so we probably can't call him. No one knows anything about her. Ummm maybe Amity?"
"Yeah. That's Luz's tutor. They're at the library almost everyday together." Gus buds in, to confirm Willow.
"Ok, I don't care if you have to kidnap her. Go get her now! Owlbert!! Take these two and go where they tell you to go! NOW." Eda now looking frantic herself.
Owlbert scoops the two young witches and flies out the window. Willow and Gus hold on as tight as they could, scared they might fall off. "Where do you think she is?" Gus asks trying his best not to look down.
"It's Sunday right?" Willow closes her eyes trying to think "She's at the market with her siblings. It's their day off from responsibility, every Sunday."
What usually feels like an hour, felt like 20 minutes. Willow and Gus see the green-haired siblings and land in front of them, instantly grabbing their attention.
"Willow? Long time no see. How've ya been?" Edric and Emira now smile at Amity's old friend, being genuine.
Amity however, doesn't smile, but keeps a straight face while looking at her ex-best friend. "Willow. Long time no see. What do you want."
Willow doesn't care for her attitude. She runs up to her "No time! Amity it's Luz. I don't know what's happening to her and we need you. You know her the best out of all of us." Willow is now crying while Gus stands behind her looking worried.
Ed and Em both look at each other, then look at their little sister with concern. No matter how much Amity denies it, they both know her crush for the human. "Amity you have to go," Emira says.
Edric follows his twins' lead "Yeah. We'll cover for you all day if we have to. Go."
Amity nods her head and smiles towards her siblings. She then turns to Willow and Gus and gets on the staff with them.
Meanwhile at the owl house, Luz has stopped screaming, but still is in a deep sleep. Eda has not left her side and doesn't even want to risk it. Eda's watching Luz like a hawk, looking for any sign of what's happening to her.
The creature now stepped back. Luz was now holding her chest, leaning on the door. "Wha- what did you do to me. What do you want." Luz's voice now cracking. She's never been more terrified in her entire life. The creature finally takes the form of Belos. "This is you father... correct?" The creature now breaks the silence. Luz, out of breath, looks at the creature, posing as her father "Yes. If he finds out who you are and what you're doing, you're as good as dead!" The creature laughs at the human's attempt to scare him. "Oh, you foolish human. Your father gets his power from me. All these witches, get their powers from me. You will connect with me when you come of age. And be the most powerful witch there ever was. I just wanted to meet you." Luz is now confused "What? You're crazy. What am I doing here? This isn't real. FATHER!!!!" Luz is now calling for help. The creature steps back up to Luz to cover her mouth "Oh human. How clueless you are. I'm testing your friends right now. I'm sorry we have to meet like this though. We will meet again. But on better terms next time." The creature changed out of Belos' form, back into a blur. The only thing Luz could see were its glowing, red eyes. It steps back up to her "I am sorry for the pain. It's necessary for now. Next time we meet will be better." It touches Luz's chest again, putting her in extreme pain. The room goes back to being pitch black, and Luz is once more alone.
As Eda is lost in her thoughts, she is pulled out of her trance when Luz starts to scream in pain again. This time, Luz screams out words, "FATHER... IM SORRY... PLEASE DONT!!" Eda doesn't understand the situation but grows angry at those exact words. While
Eda is once again holding the human down, when three witches burst through the attic door.
Amity looks at Luz and runs next to her side "What's wrong?? What's happening to her!?"
"I don't know. That's why you're here." Eda struggles to say while looking at Luz who's in this pain.
Amity looks at the owl lady, beyond confused "Me!? How would I know?"
Eda casts a spell before she could explain and in a split second, Amity and Eda were inside Luz's mind. "Well, now that that's over. Finally, I can talk without screaming in the way. Now... we need to wake her up through her own dream."
Amity then questions Eda "Umm then why are we seeing her memories. And where would she even be." Amity looks around Luz's memories.
Eda also looks around, looking for something "we need to find her inner self." Eda cuts herself off when she notices something is wrong. "Wait... why are most of her memories... blocked?" Eda walks up to a picture frame that has Luz and a figure that's blacked out. In fact, most of her memories were of her, and a blacked-out figure.
"Eda... what does that mean?" Amity says walking up next to the owl lady.
Eda looking puzzled "I honestly don't know. But let's find out." Eda jumps into the memories followed by Amity.
The memory is 6-year-old Luz in her room. She seems to be wrapped in her blankets, sad. The door to her room opens, and the blank figure walks in, towards the young Luz. Eda squints her eyes, trying to figure out why this is happening.
However, Amity looks at Luz and sits next to her, and looks at the figure from her point of view "I think that's her father. She never talks about him, but when she mentions him, she seems scared." As soon as Amity finished her sentence, the blur became clear as day. It was emperor Belos standing before Luz. Amity shoots up from the bed and stands next to Eda in shock and terror. "I...is t...that... Emperor Belos? EMPEROR BELOS IS LUZ'S FATHER!?!?!?"
Suddenly a light bulb clicks in Eda's head. She grabs Amity's arm and leaves the memory. Suddenly, all the memories clear up and show everything. One shows Kikimora teaching Luz what looks to be geography. Another shows Luz and Steve pulling a prank on... LILITH!?!? Eda and Amity are both in shock as they both recognize Lilith.
Eda and Amity couldn't believe it. It all makes sense now. Why Luz was such a mystery, why she never talked about herself or anything about her life. "Ok well this is a lot to process... we need to get back on track and find the inner Luz."
The two walk for a while, just glancing at Luz's memories. Amity notices there were a couple of memories of their tutoring sessions and book club meeting. Amity blushes at the memories and keeps up with Eda.
The two come to a stop when they come across a burnt tree. It was larger than the rest of the trees. It seemed to be completely destroyed. The only figure they could make out was Luz as a child. She looked to be two years old. Eda doesn't hesitate and jumps into the memory, while Amity is close behind.
It takes Eda a moment but then she realizes where she is "the human realm."
Amity's ears perk up as Eda finishes her sentence "The what... Wait so that means Luz isn't Belos' biological daughter. I wonder why the emperor took her in."
"Whatever reason it is, it can't be good." Eda now looks around for the human in the memory but all she sees is a broken inner Luz, chained to the playground.
Eda and Amity make their way towards Luz, but are interrupted by the memory that plays over, and over again.
****
The memory is Luz, who is two years old, playing with a woman and a man who seem extremely happy. They're all running around the playground, laughing and tackling each other. The man calls out "Camilla!" With a hint of fear in his voice. "Ok, so we got Camilla as the woman who seems to be Luz's biological mom." Eda thinks trying to figure out what this memory truly means. Camilla turns from her two-year-old with the biggest smile a human being could muster up. "Ye- JAMES!!" Camilla puts Luz down to run to her husband. He's not moving, and Camilla is trying to give James CPR. "Luz darling, listen very carefully, I need you to grab mamás phone and dial 911!!" Luz however doesn't really understand and calls out "You have to catch me first!" The child runs around while her mother is crying over her dying husband's body.
***
After the memory starts over, the two witches hear the inner Luz speak for the first time "Luz could have saved him. She could have grabbed the phone in time and saved her father. But no. She was foolish and too playful. It cost her and her mother greatly. Belos locked me up here when she first arrived to give her a new start. He thought he was doing her a favor when really he just wanted her all to himself. It's easier to manipulate someone if they don't even know who they are" The inner Luz had no emotion at all. She was just, broken.
Eda and Amity look at inner Luz with horror in their eyes. What could they do? Why would they want to fix such a horrible memory? Or the only memory of her real family.
"We have to fix the memory so she can remember." Bowing her head, Eda walks to the chains, hoping to break them.
Amity steps in Eda's path "WE CANT! This will break her. She will only blame herself and then what. Go to Belos and tell him that she remembered her real family. It won't matter. He raised her. He took care of her. She sees him as her family and this." Amity points to the memory "This will only destroy her."
Eda walks past Amity and starts pulling at the chains "I know. But she has to know the truth. She deserves that. The emperor is not a good person. He taught her that her emotions are a weakness. If we keep this from her, then she never has a chance to escape him."
"She's terrified of him. I see it in her eyes every time anyone mentions their family. Even if she learns I won't change her mind. Whether she'll admit it or not, she loves Belos and the coven. She's next in line to rule the Boiling Isles. Even if she wanted to leave, she can't." Amity has tears falling down her cheeks, sorry for Luz.
Eda finally releases the inner Luz. She looks to see if it's really happening. Then she walks out of the memory, no thanks, no emotion. Eda now started on the memory, fixing it up for Luz to remember. "Done. I hate to say it, but she needs this memory. She needs to know where she really came from." Eda walks out of the fixed memory with the young witch.
"Now what? Will she be awake when we leave." Amity asks looking around, confused.
All of the sudden, the inner Luz walks up to the two witches "No. She's being held in her own dream by... Well, I don't know. But she needs one of you to help her wake up."
Eda steps forward "I'll stay and wake her up. Greenie, you go back and don't tell a soul about anything you've seen in here. Got it?"
The inner Luz then speaks up once again "No."
Eda looks back at her "What do you mean no?"
She continues "The one to wake her up, is the one she feels most connected with. And that is not you, but her." Inner Luz is now pointing to Amity.
"Me?" Amity's point to herself in disbelief. "Luz feels most connected with me. Ha... wow. Maybe this means she likes me. No! Not the time. Focus Blight!"
Sighing in defeat, Eda turns towards Amity "Ok fine I'll leave. But be careful. We don't know what's keeping Luz in her dream. Just... find Luz."
Amity nods and walks off with Inner Luz. Eda watches as the two disappear further in Luz's mind. Eda was about to cast a spell to leave when a certain memory catches her eyes. It's a recent one as well. "Let's see what family dinner is like for you kid." Eda disappears into one last memory before leaving Luz's mind.
(Aka Eda's going to see 'Dinner With The Big Man')
*****
Are these chapters good? I'm feeling extremely rushed.
Hope you're liking the story. 1K readers. That's insane! Thank you<3