I'm back! Sort of... I'm not fully back because it's taken me like 4 days to write this chapter alone. So patients.
I'm on pain meds so if this isn't a good chapter, deal with it... ENJOY!!!!
I wanted something big for the first chapter of Part II. But obviously not too big. *Wink*
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It's been a week since the coronation. Luz has been unable to see her friends due to the workload she was bombarded with. Lilith has been trying to help, but Luz declines her offer every time so she can focus on her own job. So far, Luz is doing a pretty good job considering her situation of being a 14-year-old Empress.
Luz hasn't been sleeping well due to the fact the Titan is trapped in her head. He is constantly trying to talk to her and apologize for his rash behavior, but Luz just isn't buying it. Sometimes when Luz tries to close her eyes for a moment, he manages to communicate with her. Luz has a lot on her mind lately, so for now she's just ignoring the Titan as best she can.
Luz has been incredibly stressed and it's only her first week as ruler. Surprisingly, Kikimora has been helping Luz adjust to the new workload and guiding her. Of course, Kiki's attitude has been better towards Luz, but there are times where she just snaps at the human like the good old days.
Usually, before the day starts, Luz and Lilith go and visit Steve's grave to say hello, and tell him how much they miss him. When Lilith is done with her greetings, she goes and starts her day while Luz continues on to the next grave which was her adoptive fathers. Luz might seem like she's handling the loss of the two who raised her, but in actuality, she's just as broken the day she lost the both of them.
Today was a good day however. Today, Luz's green-haired witch was coming by the castle to go shopping for Grom dresses. Lilith has agreed to take the two girls to town personally and make sure non of the civilians try any funny business against the new human empress.
Luz was waiting on the throne in her empress's gown looking over paperwork. They were basically charts on how the Boiling Isles was doing and what laws were unjust and how to improve. Luz kept the coven system laws because, in a way, they did keep order, but if a witch did not want to be in a coven, they would be fined each year. Luz found the petrification process too gruesome and barbaric.
As Luz is going over some rulings with Kikimora, Lilith enters the throne room with her apprentice by her side and surprisingly her sister. The three witches have smiles on their faces at the sight of their human hard at work. Kiki walks up to the three and turns back around to Luz "My liege, your guests have arrived. I assume you are going to be out for the rest of the day."
Luz looks up from the documents and smiles at the sight in front of her "Thank you Kiki. Yes, I will be out for the rest of the day. I assume you can hold down the castle in my absence?"
Kikimora bows "You have assumed correctly. And should we be expecting guests for dinner tonight?"
Luz looks at the three witches for confirmation. They all nod, agreeing "Yes. Please set up six chairs for dinner tonight. Willow and Gus are joining us later." Luz gets up from the throne and grabs her staff that she's never attempted to use yet. She tucks it into her gown and makes her way to her three guests. "You guys ready for a shopping day?"
Eda smiles and lets out a laugh "Kid, I'm ready for you to finally leave this place and hang around us. You've earned it."
"For once my sister is right. You've been working so hard your first week and deserve a day of relaxation. Now, shall we." Lilith grabs her staff and gestures to the door.
The two sisters walk out chatting about the week they've had, while Amity and Luz follow "So? how's being Empress of the Boiling Isles like?"
Luz rolls her eyes and elbows Amity in the arm causing her to laugh "What do you think? I've been buried in work my first week. I'm just glad to finally see Bonesburrow again. And... You know... see you."
Both blush and look away to try and hide it. Amity laughs nervously "Yeah. I've missed you too."
"Grom tomorrow. I know we're shopping for me today. What about you though? You got something to wear, or are you shopping as well?" Luz returns her glare to the Blight girl.
"Ha. Oh, Luz, I went shopping the day after the celebration with Willow. No way I'm letting you see my outfit before the dance." Amity looks at the human with a flirtatious smile and crosses her arms.
Luz playfully scoffs "Fine, then you can't see any of the outfits I try on today. Seems only fair."
Amity rolls her eyes "That's the whole point of the day. What are you just going to make me wait outside of every store we go to??"
"Hmm, you know what. I think I just might do that. After all, I am Empress." Luz laughs and continues to follow the two Clawthorne sisters out of her castle.
Before the Blight girl can comeback, Eda turns around to the two girls "Listen you two, your adorable banter is making me sick, so let's just leave and get this day over with. Mama wants to try a dinner literally fit for a ruler." Amity and Luz once again blush and continue their way through the castle in silence. As soon as the four reach the main gates, Eda hops on her staff and grabs Luz with her, and yells back at Lilith and Amity "Last ones there have to pay! See ya suckaaas'!!!"
"What! No fair!" Lilith stomps her foot and quickly grabs her staff and pulls her apprentice on to try and to catch up with Eda and Luz.
As Luz and Eda fly off incredibly fast, Luz turns to Eda "Eda, you know paying isn't an issue. I am Empress."
Eda rolls her eyes and sarcastically snaps back "No kidding. You're the Empress. Jeez kid and here I thought you wore that ridiculous gown for the fun of it." Luz laughs and glances back at Lilith and Amity following behind while Eda continues "Kid if there's ever an opportunity to beat my sister in anything, I'm going to take it!!"
As Eda and Luz race through the sky, Luz forgets about all her responsibilities and just takes in the moment. As Luz is lost in her own happiness Eda jumps off and celebrates a little too early. Luz didn't get the memo to jump off Owlburt and crashed into a dumpster. Eda cringed and Lilith landed safely to chase after the human. "Luz! Luz are you alright?"
Suddenly Luz jumps out from the dumpster and throws her hands in the air "HAHA WE WON!!!"
Eda then smiles and Lilith sighs in relief that the human is alright. Amity hops off the staff after Lilith and goes to help Luz out of the dumpster while Lilith yells at Eda for being reckless and cheating. "Luz are you ok?" Amity says as taking her hand.
"Ok? I'm great! It feels great getting out of the castle! And if that means crashing into a dumpster, then I would do it all over again!" Luz jumps out of the dumpster holding the Blights' hand.
Eda walks up to Luz with a big smile across her face "Well kiddo, we need to work on our landing skills, but that was fun. Now you ready to go shopping?"
Luz looks at Eda "Let's do this thing!"
Lilith pulls out a list of the best stores for formal events "Well now if we start-"
Eda cuts her sister off "No no no no. Luz, since you are a human, I say we go to the human realm and go shopping there. I have to make good on my promise somehow, why not now?"
Lilith looks at Eda like she grew eight heads "EDA!!! No way are we going to a different realm to go shopping! Luz is far too important to risk her life traveling to a different realm!"
"Excuse me." Amity cuts the sisters bickering and grabs the attention of the both of them "I think it's Luz's decision."
They all turn to the human who just smiles "I say let's make this a day to remember! Let's go to the human realm!" Luz fist bumps in celebration.
Eda then motions for the three to follow her to her tent "Alright so the human realm is crazy! Now Lilly and Greenie, you two will have to stay here and watch the tent to make sure nobody tries any funny business while I'm gone. And Luz." Eda turns to the human and gestures to all of her "For you to blend in you need to wear a real human outfit!! That gown will make you stick out even more than you do here."
The four girls reach the tent. Lilith is visibly sweating "Edalyn, I don't think this a good idea. What if something goes wrong? I should go as well, just in case."
Eda holds her hand up to Lilith's face, cutting her off "Nonsense. Lilly, the human realm is my specialty! Look, Luz and I will go shopping and come straight back. No funny business. You have my word."
Lilith looks at her sister and facepalms "Edalyn, no offense, your word means nothing to me. You forget you were the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles for a good chunk of your life."
Before Eda could snap back Luz chimes in "Lilith, Eda and I will be fine. If anything happens we'll come straight back. Now I order you to calm down and breathe."
Lilith finally nods and rubs her temples as Eda gets a key with an eyeball out of her pocket. Amity then finally lets go of the humans' hand and follows Lilith to the entrance of the tent where they will stay until Luz and Eda return from their journey. Luz picks out a purple and white hoodie and jean shorts and changes into them in the back of the tent. The Owl Lady then presses the key only to make a door appear with a yellow eye on it.
Luz finishes changing and looks to Eda who has a scarf tied around her head to cover her ears. The human takes a deep breath and reaches for the door to enter the realm she originally came from. Eda smiles and follows Luz through the portal. It was very bright. Luz squinted her eyes as she walked through the portal. So many emotions ran through her body as she took step after step. Then suddenly, it wasn't bright anymore. All she could see was woods. She took a deep breath and breathed the air from the different realm. Eda gives Luz her space to process what's going on. Luz at this moment is speechless at the view in front of her but musters up something to say "Huh? It's peaceful." Luz smiles and takes another deep breath. "I like it."
Eda places her hand on the humans' shoulder "Welcome to your original home. Ready to go shopping?"
Luz is then hit with the one memory of her original family. Instantly, what was once peace, became anxiety. Luz began to hyperventilate and fell to her knees, gripping her chest with all of her strength. "Eda... I-... I remember what happened here."
Eda then remembers the memory she saw in Luz's mind and kneeled to her side rubbing her back "I know. I remember too. If you want to, we can go back? But you have to remember to breathe, in through your nose, out through your mouth."
"No. I'm fine. I-." Luz catches her breath and stands up "I can do it. Besides, my mom's probably gone. I've been gone from this realm for 12 years. It's time I finally face it."
Eda gives Luz a reassuring smile. "Hey. I'll be by your side every step of the way." Eda winks and starts to walk off into the woods, away from the decrepit cabin.
Luz closely follows the owl lady. She walks confidently but subconsciously feels like she's nothing alone. While Luz is putting on a façade a familiar voice appears in her head "Human, relax. Enjoy your relaxed day. You've worked tirelessly this whole week. Enjoy the excitement of a new world and forget about your troubles!" Luz stops in her tracks and holds her head trying to silence the Titan's voice. "SHUT UP!"
Eda turns around with a confused expression "Excuse me?"
Luz quickly realizes her slip up and picks up a rock from the ground "Shut up! The human realm has rocks just like the Boiling Isles! It just happens they won't come alive at any given moment!" Luz forces a smile while the voice continues in her head "Wow nice save there Luz. I mean really, you could have me fooled. Now let's see if you have Edalyn fooled."
Eda smiles and brushes off Luz's weird behavior to the side "Oh kid. You're in for a hell of a surprise today. Fun fact, there are no crazy monsters trying to kill you every second."
Luz forces laugh and just nods at Eda's babbling about the human realm. They continue their way out of the woods when they come across a house that seems familiar to Luz. "Wait." Eda stops and just stares at the human. Luz stares intensely at the house and walks near it "I know this house. This- this was where we lived." Luz runs to the door and starts to knock rapidly.
Eda follows with worry spread across her face "Kid I don't think this is the best idea."
Luz continues her actions when suddenly the door swings open. A woman appears at the door with an infant in her arms. "Hello?" The woman asks looking like she hasn't slept in days.
Luz steps back "Um hi? Do you know who the owners of this house were before you?" Eda wraps her arm around Luz, showing more comfort than ever before.
The woman looks at Luz with only confusion and exhaustion "Umm, the people that owned the house before me? Let me think." The woman cradles her child while she thinks. She suddenly opens her eyes and looks at Luz "Yes I do know. Aw, it's a tragedy really. I think their name was Noceda? Yes! After the husband died, their little girl went missing and the mother moved back with her family."
Luz looks down at her feet, washed with the emotion of despair. She then looks up at the tired mother and asks "Do you happen to know where that might be?" Eda looks at Luz and holds her closer, trying to make all her problems disappear with her touch.
The woman looks at Luz "No sweetie." Luz continues to look down at her feet and starts to turn away. Before Luz can take another step the woman speaks up "Oh but I do have the missing person's flier. It has her phone number on it. You can try giving her a call, see if it works."
Luz turns around with a hint of light in her eyes "T- thank you."
"Anytime. Now I have to go. Have a nice day." The woman closes the door and goes back to nursing her infant.
Eda looks at Luz not knowing where her mind is "So... what's your plan kiddo? Shopping or family reunion?"
Luz looks at the picture of the two-year-old in the missing persons' flier "This is me." Luz folds the piece of paper and placed it into her back pocket. She looks up at Eda "Let's go shopping and enjoy today. I don't think I'm ready to meet my biological mother quite yet. I don't know how humans react to different realms yet."
Eda laughs and guides Luz off her old property "Kid, I hate to break it to you, but humans don't believe in different realms and magic."
Luz sighs and walks with the owl lady "Oh boy. The humans will think I'm crazy won't they?"
"Oh yeah. Not a doubt in my mind. But hey, that's a problem for future Luz Noceda." Eda nudges Luz and produces a genuine smile.
The two walk down the street and into the town of Westview. Luz is in complete awe with the sight of other humans. It's like taking a child to an aquarium for the first time. Her eyes lit up every time they passed a window or human. Eda just smiled at the humans' excitement and kept an eye out just to make sure Luz wasn't in any danger. Luz was about to walk out into the street when Eda grabbed her by the hoodie and pulled her back "Woah there kid. Here you can't just walk wherever you want. See those strange metal contraptions?" Eda points to a car "Those things are machines that the humans command to take them places. Trust me, you do not want to step in front of one of those."
Luz looks at a car with amazement "Wow! And you said humans can't do magic!"
Eda laughs "Kid it's not magic. They don't have bile sacs like us witches."
Luz scoffs "Yeah that's never stopped me. Look at me now, I have more power than every witch combined." Luz lets out a cocky smile.
Eda is impressed with Luz's attitude "Yeah yeah. I'll believe it when I see it." The two laugh and come to a stop. Eda then turns to the human "Luz, I present to you, a human marketplace. Or as they like to call it, the mall." Eda stands and gestures to a huge building with an immense parking lot.
Luz stares with wide eyes "Eda... this... is... amazing... It's almost the size of the castle. How is this possible!?"
Eda drags Luz into the mall "Humans can't do magic, but they sure know how to come together to build extraordinary things. When you're older, I'll take you to Vegas!"
"Where" Luz cocks an eyebrow, but keeps her sight in all the different stores presented in front of her.
Eda waves it off "Eh don't worry about it. Now, where to begin?"
The human and the witch spend about 5 hours in the mall. Luz just spent most of her time observing the humans while Eda dragged her from store to store, basically playing dress-up. Luz was intrigued by all the different human appearances and colors, but most of all how they all act. They're all the same, but different in their own unique way. There were some darker than the others, but that didn't matter. Some were taller and some were extremely short, and that still didn't make a difference. A couple, in particular, caught the human's eye. It was two boys who held hands and just looked like they enjoyed each other's company. It kind of reminded Luz of her and Amity. Luz smiled at the thought of the green-haired witch and continued to be dragged by the witch in a foreign realm.
After a long day shopping in the human realm, Eda walks along the sidewalk next to a happy human, skipping along the side of the road. "Eda. Today was amazing. Thank you." Luz looks at the owl lady with pure joy.
Eda looks away hiding her smile "Ah don't mention it, kid. Really, if people know I care, my entire reputation will disappear."
Luz laughs "Of course. How dare I assume the infamous owl lady cares. Besides, I also have a reputation to uphold."
Eda rolls her eyes "Ah yes. So we've come to an agreement. We both keep our true identity's under wraps. Can't have people taking advantage of us can we?"
"Of course not." The two laugh and enter the woods from where they came from. They reach the cabin with the glowing door. Eda walks in no problem, but Luz turns back around to glance at the human realm. She takes in the sight of the woods and says to herself "I'll be back. When I'm ready, I'll come to you... mom." With that, Luz reaches for the door and walks through the portal only to be attacked by a worried Lilith.
"Luz! You're ok. EDALYN!!!! Do you know how worried I've been? You have been gone for" Lilith looks at her emperors' coven communicator and looks at the time "Oh my goodness. You've been gone for 6 hours! All that for a Grom outfit!?!?"
"Yes. I'm alive. The human is alive. I don't see what the issue is here." Eda playfully puts her hands on her hips with a smug look.
Lilith grows red and is about to yell when Luz steps in between the two sisters "Lilith I'm fine. I got my human realm shopping trip out of the way, completely unharmed. Now let's go eat dinner. I'm famished."
Lilith calms down and rubs her temples while she exits the tent. Eda follows after her sister while Amity walks into the tent to talk with her human "So. Find a good outfit for Grom?"
"Ha. Wouldn't you like to know?" Luz throws the covered outfit over her shoulder.
Amity laughs "Na. I'll just outshine the empress tomorrow night with my dress. Just need to make sure I don't have any competition."
Luz cocks an eyebrow and smiles at the Blight "Hm. Bold of you to assume you can shine brighter than a human."
The two laugh and exit the tent engulfed in each other's presence. Luz is brought back to the two male humans at the mall and smiles at the thought of them together. "What is this feeling?" Luz thinks to herself. Ever since Luz's inner self has been set free, her emotions have been overflowing, and she's been having difficulties keeping them in check or even identifying what they were.
The four finally call it a day and head back to the castle for a nice dinner. On the way, Luz went with Lilith and Amity while Eda went to go pick up Willow and Gus. The flight was nice and peaceful. Luz gripped onto Amity and just enjoyed the ride. Amity of course blushed the whole flight but kept the silence.
Dinner was really fun. For a week full of new responsibilities, Luz was really happy with the dinner she shared with all of her friends. Or in some ways, her new family. While everyone sat and enjoyed their dinner, Luz's eyes began to water at the sight of a filled dinner table. She held back her tears though, to keep the fun lively moment in motion. Luz then had a realization and stood up, grabbing the attention of all the witches "Guys. I really needed this. I want to thank you all for being here tonight and I was wondering if we can make this a weekly event. At least once a week. I'll host dinner and we can talk about our week? If you guys would be up for that."
Gus stands on his chair "Luz that's the best idea that you've had. Perfect. Absolutely genius."
Willow grabs Gus and sits him down "Luz what Gus is trying to say is that we would all be honored to attend dinner here at LEAST once a week. We're always going to be here for you."
Eda then speaks up "Yeah why not. I could get used to free dinner at the castle." Lilith playfully punches her sister in the arm and laughs.
Amity and Luz then share a glance. Amity then laughs "Ha! Ed and Em are going to be so jealous! You know they're going to want an invite."
"That's not going to be a problem. The more the merrier!" Luz smiles wider than before and takes in the moment. She sits down and hears the Titans' voice once again "Aw Luz, I'm so honored you consider everyone here family. That makes my heart flutter with excitement! Does that mean you consider me apart of the family too?" The Titan was getting on Luz's nerves and her eyes began to glow a dim red. Thankfully nobody noticed the change in the humans' eyes due to everyone listening to Eda's first trip to Vegas and her adventures with a Stan? Luz wasn't really paying attention, she was only trying to calm down and tune out the Titans' smug attitude. Her eyes finally went back to their normal color and she sat back and enjoyed the rest of the dinner.
After desert, the witches all went their separate ways. Eda took all the young witches home and Lilith walked with Luz around the castle halls for a bit. The two have grown closer ever since Steve's passing. Lilith and Luz say their goodnights and part their ways to their separate rooms. Luz enters the Empress chambers she recently moved into after her coronation. She still gets an uneasy feeling every time she enters this room due to the fact it was her father's before.
Luz goes to change out of her human clothes and into her uniformed PJs when she hears a crumbling in her back pocket. She pulls out the paper and stares at the picture on it. But most importantly, she stares at the ten numbers under the picture with the name Camilla Noceda next to it. Luz then feels a tear roll down her cheek and curls up into a ball in her new bed. "Mom? You're probably not even around anymore. But if there's ever a chance, I hope we can meet one day." Luz then places the piece of paper into her nightstand drawer and closes her eyes. She drifts off to sleep, calling it a day.
Unfortunately, when Luz drifts off to sleep, she no longer dreams, but only has encounters with the Titan.
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"What a day you had! I mean really, you went shopping in a different realm, you had dinner with all of your friends. I mean, you continue to impress me, everyday human!" The Titan smiles in the chains he's kept in, staring up at Luz who is rubbing her head in annoyance.
Luz sighs and looks at the Titan, clearly tired "Can't you just leave me alone for one night? Please? I just want to dream again."
The TItan laughs "Aw Kiddo. You trapped me in here. You're the one with all the power here. You have to learn to control it and use it to your advantage. I'm willing to help out a family member."
Luz snaps and her eyes glow a bright red as she slams her fist on the throne where she sits "LISTEN! WE ARE NOT FAMILY! I WILL NEVER TRUST YOU AGAIN! AND WHEN THE TIME COMES, I WILL NOT COME TO YOU FOR MAGIC ADVICE! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" Luz didn't realize while she was yelling, but her hand glowed red and the Titan now had his mouth covered to where he couldn't communicate anymore. The only thing was that his eyes squinted and his cheeks rose, signifying that he was smiling at the humans' raw power she demonstrated in her mind. Luz calmed down and sat on the throne of her mind until she woke up the next day. Also known as Grom Day!
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How was that for the first chapter of Part II?
Again I'm not fully back, but I'm going to try and write as best as I can here.
Also, this was like 4,000 words so... Yeah... Hope you liked it and get ready for GROM NIGHT!!!