How to Say Goodbye
Four minutes later Luz found herself hugging her Mami goodbye, claiming that the band heard back from a very important client and she needed to get home immediately. Camilla, of course, was worried about the timing.
“It’s so late miha, can’t you leave in the morning?”
“I already bought a bus ticket.”
“Alright then, stay safe and text me when you get there.”
“Of course, te quiero Mami.” And then they were off, Amity offered to carry some of Luz’s stuff but she just shook her head. She didn’t want to be more of a burden than she already was. Sure, Amity had been the one to ask her to come back, but Luz had been hoping to do so anyway. She just hadn’t been sure if she was ready, she still didn’t know if she was, but there was no turning back now.
They walked through the woods in almost silence, Emira was asking Luz what she had been up to, and Luz was answering as best she could. Amity had fallen behind, staying a few feet away from the other girls. Every now and then Luz would glance back at her, just to see that she was staring up at the trees mumbling something to herself.
Luz had just gained enough courage to ask the witch if she was ok, when a shout from ahead drew her attention away.
“Luz!” Willow who for some reason was crouched by the stairs of the old shed waved enthusiastically. She looked under the stairs again, before jumping up and running to her old friend. Luz set her stuff down and held her arms open for Willow to barrel into. She embraced the witch, who was laughing quietly. They pulled apart and Luz couldn’t help but grin at WIllow’s ear-to-ear smile.
“Oh my gosh! Your hair is so long.” Luz tugged on a strand of her hair and chuckled.
“So is yours.” Indeed Willow's dark hair was long enough that she had pulled into a high ponytail, that Luz had to admit looked amazing on the witch.
“I was worried I wouldn’t get to see you before we left, what are you doing here anyway?”
“I’m going back to the Isles.” Willow raised her eyebrows.
“Really?” Luz nodded.
“That’s amazing Luz, it’ll be great having you back!” Luz noticed Amity had walked up to the shed and was looking under the stairs. Willow, following Luz’s gaze let out a sigh.
“Fiona is being stubborn, we woke her from a nap and now she won’t come out.”
“Fiona?” Luz asked, Amity was now reaching under the stairs and was saying something in a low voice.
“Amity’s palisman, she’s the cutest thing.”
Earning a palisman was a big step in any witches life, Luz knew that Amity deserved it more than anything.
Amity had finally managed to coax Fiona out from under the stairs. She was gorgeous, a small lean cat, made of ebony wood. She jumped onto Amity’s shoulder and rubbed against the witches cheek.
Willow and Luz made their way toward the shed, the human noticed Emira standing off to the side with Edric, she gave the latter a small wave, which he returned.
“What’s so important we have to go back right now?” Amity asked, stroking Fiona.
“I’m not entirely sure, we just received a message from Eda, she said it was urgent.”
The three girls stewed in silence, but Luz kept getting distracted by Amity’s palisman who she could have sworn was staring at her. Indeed that cat was gazing wisely at the human, a scarily intelligent look in her eye. She then leaped from Amity’s shoulder onto Luz’s head.
Luz and Amity stared at each other, while Willow chuckled lightly.
Luz reached up hesitantly and gave the feline a pet, in response the cat purred loudly and slinked down to Luz’s shoulder, she wrapped herself around the girl's neck, and seemed to fall asleep.
“It usually takes awhile for her to warm up to people.” Amity said warmly. Luz felt honored, she continued to stroke the cat lovingly, whispering to it quietly.
Emira and Edric approached the small group, Luz immediately noticed Emira’s shaking hands. She seemed to be taking this a lot harder than everyone else.
Amity also noticed.
“Emira, what’s wrong?” The older witch opened her mouth and then closed it again, looking helplessly to Edric.
“In Eda’s message she said that Emperor Belos had gotten a hold of some high tier members of the resistance. That’s why we need to hurry because he has sent guards to the Owl House.”
“Viney.” Amity gasped, and Edric nodded solemnly.
Luz was beyond confused, she understood most of the words Edric was saying, but together they didn’t make much sense. She vaguely remembered Viney, they had only interacted during Luz’s first year in the Isles, after that they only exchanged nods in the hallway and occasionally swapped friendly conversations during classes. Other than that they weren't very close.
Amity seemed to note the human's confusion and pulled her aside to explain.
“There are only three people outside of the four of us,” she gestured to the group, “that are part of the resistance and know about the location of the Owl House. Augustus, Lilith and Viney. After you left, The Emperor began to increase his attacks on the house, so a few of the stronger witches of the resistance, including myself used magic to move the house and cast a cloaking spell.
“Viney and Emira are… close, if you catch my drift, and if Emperor Belos can find the Owl House that means one of those three were captured and likely tortured for information.”
As Amity continued to explain, Luz felt her heart sink into her stomach. Things must have gotten really bad back home. And she hadn’t even been there to help her friends. The human glanced over at Emira who was still shaking, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
Luz understood her distress, if it was Amity who was potentially in danger she didn't think she would be able to function. Even the thought of Amity in the hands of someone as evil as The Emperor stirred a dark feeling in Luz’s gut, and she suddenly felt nauseous.
Instinctually Luz grabbed Amity’s hand holding it tight, desperate for the comforting contact. Amity squeezed the humans hand back, running a finger along her knuckles. Luz instantly felt better, she shot the witch a grateful glance, and Amity smiled back but didn’t let go of Luz’s hand.
Edric cleared his throat loudly, and both girls looked over at him blushing, Luz was worried that Amity would push her away, but she didn’t.
“If you two are done goggling at each other,” Amity huffed at him, “the portal is opening.”
They looked over at the shed and Luz was hit with so many emotions she couldn’t identify them individually, but together they were a mass of chaotic excitement. The doorway was faintly glowing as the portal between worlds began to open.
“Are you ready?” Amity asked.
“Not really.” Luz could feel Amity’s panicked stare, so the human turned to her friend.
“But I want to do this.” The girls grinned at each other.
Luz picked up her stuff, and strapped her guitar across her back.
Amity held out her free hand and a staff shot out from under the stairs of the shed and into her hand. She set it right side up on the ground and Fiona removed herself glumly from Luz’s neck and perched lightly on the staff.
Emira had already rushed through the doorway, and Edric followed after her quickly, calling her name before disappearing. Willow nodded at Luz and Amity before following the twins.
Luz gave herself a moment to breathe. She glanced back at the woods behind them. Toward her mother and her old life. The life that she hated, the life that was hard and dark and miserable. She was happy to leave it behind. She didn’t like thinking about it, but her life here was horrible, and the places here were full of horrible memories. Luz lightly brushed a hand behind her ear, and swore she could feel the mark inked there.
“Let’s go.”
She and Amity stepped up the stairs, and still holding hands, stepped through the portal.
It took a lot of effort to keep hold of Luz’s hand during the transition between worlds. Amity did her best and in the end they both stumbled into the living room of the Owl House, still connected. However the connection was immediately cut-off when a blur of brown fur collided into Luz.
The human rocked back, reflexively grabbing hold of the object, (which turned out to be King).
“Hi buddy.” Luz whispered when she too realised who was in her arms. She held King close, both of them had tears running down their faces.
“I didn’t miss you at all.” King sniffled loudly burying himself further into Luz’s hug, Amity couldn’t help but be jealous of the little demon. Luz laughed quietly and held him closer. King squirmed away from her grip and crawled up to her shoulder, where he sat, a claw protectively gripping a clump of Luz’s hair.
There was a thump from the stairs, followed by a string of curses. Then Eda appeared on the landing holding a large black bag. The bag was large enough that she couldn’t see where she was going, and she didn’t see Luz.
Luz gasped and took a step forward, her eyes pinned on the struggling witch.
Eda made her way carefully down the steps, the entire group seemed to hold their breath. King jumped down from Luz’s shoulder and squirmed his way onto the couch. They all knew Luz’s absence had affected the older witch the most. Eda had been alone for most of her life, then Luz had stumbled carelessly into her life. They shared a very powerful mother daughter dynamic. In fact Eda had been very parental to the Blights after they had befriended Luz. She had gone to school with Amity’s parents and knew how terrible they were. If Amity was being honest Eda was the most parental figure in her life.
The older witch had finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. She dropped the bag with a hmph, the contents rattling. She looked up at the group and began to speak but immediately stopped her eyes landing on Luz.
“Oh my stars…” She murmured, bringing a shaking hand to her heart.
“Hi Eda.” Luz smiled shyly. Eda stepped forward and a huge smile broke across her face, Amity hadn’t seen her smile like that for six years. The older witch opened her arms wide, as tears began to roll down her face. In a few steps Luz was in her mentor's arms. Luz was shaking and Eda was rubbing the humans back.
Amity turned to the rest of the group and gestured that they should give the two of them space. The four witches filed out of the main room and ended up standing outside the front door of the Owl House.
By some kind of miracle, Hooty was sleeping. Edric was still trying to comfort Emira who had pulled out her scroll and was texting someone (likely Viney). She sent the text and waited about three seconds before tapping her scroll again and then bringing it to her ear. They all waited in silence, watching Emira as she bit her nails.
After a while her face fell, and more tears dripped down her face.
“Viney, it’s Emira. Please, please let me know as soon as you get this. Please be ok. Please call me back,” she hesitated before adding, “I love you.” She pulled the scroll from her ear and hung up.
She stared at the dark screen, she honestly looked devastated.
“Has anyone gotten a hold of Gus or Lillith?” Amity asked, trying to draw her sisters attention elsewhere, also she really did want to know.
She and Gus were pretty close, but Willow was closer to him. And Lillith… Amity hadn’t spoken to Lillith for years. Her old mentor had betrayed her in all ways possible, even if Eda and Luz had forgiven her Amity would never forget the moment when she found out Luz had almost died by Lilliths hand. It had been a moment of rage and tears.
“I texted Gus as soon as I could,” Willow stated, “he’s fine, he’s home.”
No one said anything about Lillith, meaning no one had heard from her.
“When I get to work tomorrow I’ll find out what happened, if it wasn’t my off day I would have already heard from the Emperor.” Indeed Emperor Belos told Amity everything, her parents had been ridiculously loyal to him, and he truly believed that Amity had followed in their footsteps. He relied heavily on her, which was a huge mistake on his part. She relayed everything he told her directly to the resistance, and despite several of his “secret” plans being foiled, he was still none the wiser. Amity had convinced him that the group of rebels must have had an extremely powerful seer on their side.
Amity’s offer did seem to reassure Emira a bit, she nodded at her sister and wrung her hands.
Amity set her staff down and tapped the end lightly, the stick buzzed with energy before flying off into the woods.
Willow gave her a quizzical look and Amity shrugged. She felt much safer with Fiona at home, should any of the guards go looking for her. If they found the staff at her place without the witch, they would assume she had merely gone shopping, or something like that. Not doing something that involved magic.
She felt slightly exposed without her staff, but she knew it was for the best.
The door to the Owl House swung open and Eda called them all inside.
They were all in the living room, Luz had unconsciously floated over to Amity when she had come back inside. She felt safer with the witch. Amity had sat on the couch and Luz had perched on the arm of the sofa. Eda was breaking down their plan.
“If the guards are on the way here, none of you can stay. As far as the Emperor’s Coven is concerned, you are all loyal to them. And Luz… I don’t know if I can explain you. You’ll split up, Emira and Edric, you can head back to your place. Willow you should go with Amity to her house. Luz you go with them too.” Luz nodded, she was actually kinda excited to get to spend more time with Amity.
“The Emperor must have had wards set up around the Isles that detected the opening of the portal.” Eda added.
“If he’s following mandate, he’ll initiate an Isles wide lockdown in half an hour. No one will be allowed to leave the building they are in, until everyone is accounted for.” Amity volunteered the information up without hesitation, she did seem to know a lot about the Emperor’s plans.
Eda nodded, “I’ve packed up some of my most important things for you to take. Under no circumstances can the Emperor get his hands on this.” She gestured to the bag she had carried down the stairs before.
“Wait, what about you?” Luz asked.
“Amity has done so much to keep my cover, but I’m afraid that one can only ‘coincidentally’ escape capture so many times before people start to get suspicious.” Eda smiled warily.
“No, Eda you can’t!” Luz protested, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to persuade her mentor. Eda was just as stubborn as the human.
“I’m sorry kiddo, but my time has come.”
“Eda, please.” It was Amity’s turn to beg, Luz turned to look at the witch, surprised to see her crying.
“I have to, you guys take care of each other, ok?” Amity swallowed, a defeated look in her eyes, and nodded stiffly. But Luz wasn’t about to give up so easily.
“No, I just got you back! I can’t lose you again!” There were tears streaming down her face.
Eda only hugged the human tightly.
She then stepped away from Luz and held out a hand, Owlbert slammed into her palm.
Eda looked down at her staff longingly, and stroked the owls head. She then offered the staff to Luz. The human could only stare in shock. If Eda was giving her palisman to Luz, then she really didn’t think she could get out of this. Luz took the staff and stared at Eda for a few more seconds. She then rushed into another hug, gripping her mentor tightly.
“Te extrañaré,” Luz paused, “mi madre.” She knew that Eda didn’t know Spanish but the words didn’t feel right in English. She hoped that the emotion in her tone was reassurance enough.
Eda squeezed Luz tightly then stepped away, she raised a hand and brushed away the humans tears, her smile was tired.
“I love you kiddo, don’t you ever forget that.”
And then that was it.
The rest of the group gave Eda hugs goodbye, and Amity lingered the longest, whispering to Eda quietly, the older witch then tucked something into Amity’s hand. The young witch nodded back at her.
King had tucked himself into Emira’s arms, the twins would be taking care of him from now on. Luz didn’t think the small demon was entirely aware of the gravity of the situation, and none of them wanted to hurt him more than necessary.
A few minutes later Amity and Luz stood outside the Owl House alone. The twins had already left and taken Eda’s bag of things. And Willow had gone ahead, telling them she had to stop at her place to grab a few things before heading to Amity’s.
Luz had finally stopped crying, but in place of her sadness was an emptiness that terrified her. She had had a horrible period of depression her first few years back in the human world. A time she never wanted to revisit. But she was too tired to fight the feeling, she was nearly too tired to stand upright.
Amity kept giving her concerned glances, and Luz was thankful for the witch.
“Are you going to be ok?” Amity asked cautiously, Luz just shrugged, even that action took so much energy.
“You should probably fly us, I don’t know where I’m going.” And I’m too exhausted. Luz offered Owlbert to Amity, noticing that the witch didn’t have her own staff.
Amity took the staff and tapped the back end, causing it to hover over the ground. She sat at the front and patted the spot behind her for Luz to sit. The human moved almost robotically mounting the staff with as little effort as possible. Once she was safely seated she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Amity instinctively. She buried her face in the back of the witches neck, desperate for warmth. Amity placed one hand on top of Luz’s hands on her stomach and whispered to the human.
“I can’t tell you that it’s going to get better, or that the pain will go away. But I can promise it becomes more bearable. I can’t offer much, but I can guarantee that I will always be here for you, as long as you need me.” Luz felt the words warm her core, and she was truly grateful to the witch.
“Thank you Amity.”
“Of course.”