Old friends, new talents
Luz POV:
"Luz!" King's squeaky voice called my name as he repeatedly hit my face with his paw. "C'mon get up!" He made sure to smack the bridge of my nose a little harder, making me crack an eye open before lightly shoving him away.
"Five more minutes." I mumbled in a husky tone, rolling over on my side. King's little footsteps made the wooden boards beneath us creak as he moved over in front of my face. Barely opening my eyes, I saw the demon sitting in front of me with his head tilted slightly to the left.
He then hit my face again, making me hiss. "But Luz! I'm hungry and I can't wait five minutes!" The tiny demon whined.
"Then have Eda get you something." I said to him, placing my hand on the top of his head and giving him a soft pat. My hand then slowly slid down his face as I started to doze off again, my hand connecting to the wood floor with a soft thud. His tiny paw smacked my upper arm, a low whine coming from his muzzle.
"But Eda doesn't know how to make those square cake things!" He complained, smacking my arm again. Rubbing my eyes, I slowly sat up and stretched, wincing as my back popped in a few different places. My body felt a little sore, I really need to ask Eda to get me a mattress or something.
King hopped in my lap, patiently waiting for me to get up. "Square cake things?" I questioned, unable to understand what he meant because my brain still wasn't up. He frantically nodded his head, his pupils wide.
"Yeah! The cool little square cake things you would make when you were here! They had little square holes all over it." He pointed his tiny fingers out and poked the air, signaling tiny holes.
I thought for a moment, wracking my brain for some sort of food that would match that description. "Waffles?" I finally asked, which made King nod excitedly.
"Yeah waffles! I haven't had them since you left!" He threw his arms up in the air, I just shook my head with a chuckle. Picking up the tiny demon, I got up off the floor and started to make my way downstairs.
"Does Eda even have the things for waffles?" I asked King, which he just shrugged. "Well, let's hope she does. Otherwise, you might be out of luck."
King laughed, dropping down from my arms and placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest. "The mighty King of Demons is never out of luck!" I just rolled my eyes and shook my head as I thought of a few times where the tiny demon's luck fell short. Walking downstairs I noticed how each step loudly creaked underneath my feet.
The tiny demon bounded down the steps after me, his cute little chuckle lightly echoing off the cluttered walls. The house was surprisingly quiet, which meant that Eda and Hooty were probably still asleep.
We both migrated to the kitchen, King hopped up on the counter and grabbed a large, dark maroon bowl. I made my way over to the cupboards, pulling open a few while I searched for the ingredients.
"Did Eda move everything in the cupboards or something?" I asked, finding a bag that vaguely resembled flour. Opening the bag, I peered inside and cautiously reached into it, pulling out some white powder. Rolling it between my fingers, it felt like it was flour.
"Well, Hooty shot out everything in the cupboards awhile back and I'm pretty sure she just put them back in however." King said, scrounging through a drawer to find a whisk. I placed a small bit of the powder on my tongue, confirming that it was actually flour.
I set the bag on the counter then got King to help me find the rest of the ingredients. Soon enough, we had managed to find everything, or at least something to substitute everything. I held up a purple tinted egg, eyeing it up and down.
"What kind of egg is this?" I hesitantly asked King, his head turning over towards me. He scampered over, taking the egg out of my hand and scanning it for a moment. Lightly tapping it with his claw, he shrugged his shoulders.
"It's either a hedguin egg or a rhynabi egg. Either way, they're both harmless as long as they don't shake." He responded, placing the egg down on the table. He then flopped down on a seat, resting his head in his hands and waited patiently for me to begin cooking.
Making a mental note to figure out what either of those creatures are, I started to put the ingredients together in the dark bowl. I worked quickly, whisking the ingredients together in record time. Looking up from my whisking, I found King staring at me, his eyes big with excitement.
"Hey King?" I snapped him out of his little trance, a small weh of confusion coming from him. "Does Eda still have that waffle maker?" He brought a hand up to his mouth, looking down while he thought.
A low hum came from him for a moment, then he shook his head. "Nope, pretty sure she faced against some beast and got it destroyed. But, I can go look for another one! I guarantee she's got another one around her in all these piles of junk." He hopped off his seat and ran off, searching in the piles that lined the walls for the waffle maker.
"Just be careful!" I called after him, wincing when I heard a loud crash come from the living room. He called out to me and said he was alright, then continued to sift through the piles. I just shook my head, looking down at the batter I deemed it mixed enough and just set the bowl down on the counter.
With a soft sigh, I leaned on the counter and looked around the kitchen. Nothing's really changed, maybe a few new items here and there, but nothing drastic. A few minutes passed and King still wasn't back with a waffle maker, so to entertain myself I started to whistle a tune.
It first started out as a random tune, then it slowly turned into a song from last night. "With this little cobweb potion, you'll fall into dark devotion~" I softly sang, memories of last night flooding my mind.
I spun around, nearly losing my balance in the process. "If you ever lose affection, I can change your whole direction~" I continued, singing a little louder. Amity's voice echoed in my mind, dragging me into my own little world.
But before I could got too far into my head, King ran into the room with a waffle maker under his arm. "Found it!" He called out, startling me slightly. The demon ran up to me and held out the waffle maker for me to take, I thanked him for finding it and took it from him, plugging it in and waiting for it to heat up.
"I told you she'd have another one!" King exclaimed, which I just nodded. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him tilt his head. "Luz? Are you okay?" I blinked a few times, then gave him a nod, a smile finding its way to my face.
"Yeah I'm alright King, just thinking about last night." I said, petting the top of his head. He looked up at my hand, then back at me, his eyes angling downwards.
"Did something bad happen? Who did it? I'll make sure they pay!" He exclaimed as he stood up in his chair, making me laugh. I patted his head, hovering my other hand over the waffle maker to make sure it was warm enough.
"Nothing bad happened, don't worry. In fact, it was a really good night." I said softly, opening the waffle maker and pouring some of the batter inside. King made a gagging noise, then folded his arms.
"You sound all swoony, what happened?" I closed the waffle maker and made sure it shut tight before flipping the little tray. Shrugging my shoulders, I leaned onto the counter and lightly booped his bony nose.
"Just saw some old friends, that's all." I commented, King just rolled his eyes. "Hey, whaddya want to drink?" I asked the tiny demon, watching as he rubbed his paws together.
"The blood of the innocent!" He said happily, making me just shake my head. Looking in the cooler, I found some bottle filled with a red looking smoothie. Around the bottle was a tag that read "King's smoothie" I held the bottle out, shaking it slightly.
"I assume you mean this?" Looking back at him, I watched him nod his head. Reaching up in the cupboard, I found him a glass and put the bottles contents in it. Tossing the now empty bottle in the trash, I went back over to King and handed him the glass, which he happily took. His paws reached across the table to grab himself a straw, which he put in the glass before taking a sip.
I went back over to the cooler, glancing at its contents. "Does Eda still need her elixir?" I asked King, which he did a half and half symbol with his hand.
"Kinda?" He paused, taking a long sip of his drink. "She managed to get this stronger one a few months back, so she doesn't need to take it as often." Moving over to the waffle maker, I flipped the tray over and opened it. Finding a small stick, I poked the center of the waffle to make sure it was cooked all the way through.
"Well, does she need to take one today?" I questioned, taking the waffles out of the waffle maker and putting them on a plate. "How many do you want?" I also added, pointing to the waffles.
"One please! And, uh..." He paused, thinking for a moment while I dished up his plate. King lightly tapped his head, then nodded. "Yeah, Eda needs to take her elixir."
Moving to another cupboard, I opened it and managed to find some syrup. Holding the bottle out, I looked at King, then the bottle, silently asking him if he wanted some for his waffle.
King's eyes lit up and he nodded his head. I popped open the cap and started to pour the sticky liquid on his waffle. "Say when." I put on a corny accent, putting one arm behind my back like a waiter.
"That's good." I stopped pouring the syrup and put the cap back on. Then, moving back to the remaining waffles, I picked up two and put them on another plate, then stuck the last one in my mouth.
Putting the other plate on the table, I went back to the cooler and pulled out a squarish bottle that looked like Eda's elixir. I scanned over the label, finding it had the same label as her old elixir despite this new elixir having a more orange tint to it.
Opening up the cupboards again, I managed to find one that was filled to the brim with miscellaneous mugs and glasses. Scanning over them all, I ended up just grabbing her a wine glass.
I popped the cork off the elixir and poured it into the wine glass, then set it by her plate of waffles.
King and I finished up our breakfasts, he gave me a little hug as a thank you. I took his plate to the sink and started to rinse it off, then I heard heavy footsteps creak down the stairs.
Looking behind me, I saw Eda. She was barely awake, dragging her feet to the table before taking a seat. "Morning Eda!" I chirped, earning me a grunt in response. "I made breakfast, and there's your elixir. King told me you need to take it."
She hummed in response, picking up her glass and carefully swirling the drink before taking a sip. Looking down at the waffles on her plate, a lopsided smile appeared on her face. "You actually managed to make this stuff?"
I nodded, Eda snorting in response. "You surprisingly had a bunch of the actual ingredients, and if you didn't have an ingredient, King helped me find a substitute." She looked at me, then back at the waffles.
"You sure he didn't poison this?" She muttered, pointing to the waffles.
"I mean, he ate some himself so..." Eda stared at the waffles for a moment, then shrugged, picking one up and taking a bite. Her eyes lit up, but she tried to hide it.
"Not bad kiddo." She said with a mouth full of waffle. I finished cleaning off King's plate and started to dry it off. Then, I put the plate back in the cupboard, sticking it in a spot that I hoped wouldn't cause the whole stack to collapse.
Spinning on my heel, I went to go back up to my room, but was stopped when Hooty swung open. "Hoot hoot! Luz! People are here for you!" He loudly called, making me and Eda jump and nearly choke on her food.
While Eda nagged Hooty about scaring her, I went over to see who was at the door. "Oh, hey guys!" I grinned when I saw Gus and Willow standing at the door.
"Hiya Luz!" Willow greeted, her glasses slipping slightly. She quickly adjusted them, then peered inside the house. "Are you busy?" Willow asked, I shook my head and gestured them to come inside.
They both walked inside, their eyes wandering around the room full of random little trinkets. Eda eyed my friends up and down, a small smirk on her face. "Ah, if it isn't the plant one and the dweeb." She pulled them both in a headlock before quickly letting go.
"Good to see you too Miss Owl Lady." Gus stammered out, tugging at the collar of his shirt. Eda rolled her eyes, then went over and ruffled his hair.
"Just call me Eda kid. I'm not like my sister, no need to be all formal. Anyways, I'm going out. Don't do anything stupid." She pointed to the three of us, her brows furrowed tightly together. Moving back to the stairs to go get whatever she needed, Eda ruffled my hair. "You gonna go change or what kiddo?"
I looked down at my clothes, noticing I was still in my pajamas. "Uh, yeah, I'll be right back!" I shot my friends a quick two fingers salute before darting up the stairs back into my room.
Tearing into my bag, I grabbed a random shirt and shorts and put them on. I glanced down at my outfit, a long pair of light blue shorts and a black t-shirt with the sleeves and collar ripped, making it more like a tanktop.
Still, it felt like it was missing something. I looked around my room, my eyes lighting up when I spotted my flannel by my sleeping bag. Snagging it off the floor I looked it over, making sure it looked alright to wear.
Putting it on and grabbing my beanie, I went back downstairs. "I'm back!" I called, jumping off the last few steps. Gus and Willow were sitting on the couch, looking a little startled by my entrance.
"So!" I bounded over to the couch and sat to their left, clasping my hands together in my lap. "What are you guys doing here?" Gus looked over to Willow, who just shrugged her shoulders.
"Just thought we'd stop by." Willow shifted and Gus hissed, rubbing his arm, but he put on a quick smile and nodded. "Wanted to see if you could hang out since it's been two years, y'know?" I nodded, leaning back on the couch.
"Well, lucky for us, I'm not busy. Which means, we can hang out!" My friends smiled, Gus drawing a small spell circle and summoning himself a book. I wasn't able to catch sight of the title, but I assumed it was some sort of book on magic.
"Whatcha reading Gus?" I asked, leaning over slightly to read some of the text. Gus looked up at me, then back down at the book. He then drew a small spell circle and summoned a small illusion of some kind of creature on the Boiling Isles.
"Just a book on the different creatures in the Boiling Isles. I thought while we hung out, I could practice my magic and entertain you guys." My eyes widened slightly as I nodded my head.
He flipped through the pages for a moment, then pointed his finger at one of the pictures in the book. Eyeing it over for a moment, he drew a small circle and summoned the creature, which was some pale blue looking dinosaur. It was covered in eyes, two sets of wings lining it's back, a long muzzle lined with stripes sticking out on its face.
"What is that?" I asked, pointing to the creature. The creature looked up at my hand, then tried to bite my finger. I pulled away on instinct even though I knew it wouldn't be able to hurt me. With a wave of Gus' hand, he banished the tiny creature.
"That was a hedguin." He said, making me stiffen slightly, remembering what King said earlier. A shudder traveled up my spine, but the other's didn't seem to notice.
Gus continued to make his little illusions, banishing them almost as quickly as he was summoning them. Willow and I watched in awe while we chatted about any random topic we could think of, Gus adding in his input whenever he wasn't casting a spell.
"Have you been able to catch up with everybody?" Willow asked me, leaning on the arm of the couch.
"Eh." I dragged out, doing the half and half symbol with my hand. "Kinda?" Willow raised an eyebrow, trying to get me to elaborate. "I mean like, I haven't talked to them yet, but I was able to see them. Does that make sense?" My friends nodded.
"So who haven't you been able to talk to yet?" Shrugging, I popped my fingers just so that I'd be doing something with my hands.
"Just Amity and her siblings, and I guess Boscha." I muttered, more memories of last night flooding my mind. I tried to force down the blush that was slowly creeping up to my cheeks with little succession.
Gus side eyed me, a small smirk appearing on his lips. However, he didn't say anything and just summoned another beast, this on a little larger than the rest. I focused on the illusion he summoned, my eyes widening in awe. The illusion let out a tiny growl, then disappeared.
"Don't wear yourself out Gus." Willow muttered, leaning forward to glance at the creatures in the book. Gus banished his new illusion, a low chuckle coming from his throat.
"I doubt summoning these tiny illusions are gonna wear me out Willow." Gus said, flipping through the pages of the book again. Willow stuck her hand in the book, pointing to one of the creatures. Gus eyed it over for a moment, then summoned a tiny version of the creature.
"Still, just be careful." She murmured, adjusting her glasses. One of their scrolls suddenly went off with a little ping, both of them pulled out their scrolls to check.
Willow's eyes lit up behind her glasses, a soft chuckle pushing past her lips as she started to type away on her scroll. "Who ya messaging?" I asked in a sly tone, watching as a light blush appeared on her cheeks. She shook her head a few times, then put her scroll face down on her lap.
"Boscha." Willow responded with a smile, her blush deepening slightly. Her scroll pinged again, making her jump before she looked it over again. While Willow got sucked into her own little world with her girlfriend, I watched Gus create more illusions.
"So, what's Boscha doing?" I asked Willow after a bit of time, still focusing on Gus' magic. Turning to Willow, I saw her shrug.
"Dunno." She said, placing her scroll down and pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "She said she's bored though. I asked her why, but I haven't gotten an answer yet." I made a little oh sound, then stretched, leaning back on the couch and looking up at the ceiling. By now, Gus had stopped making his illusions and was just reading through the book of creatures.
Her scroll pinged again, recapturing her attention. I watched as her eyes quickly flitted across the screen as she read the message, her eyes slowly widening. "Something the matter?" I asked, the concern in my voice was subtle. Willow shook her head, a smile slowly growing on her lips.
"Nothing's the matter!" Willow quipped, Gus turned towards her, raising an eyebrow.
"So what did Boscha say?" I asked, watching as her smile grew even larger.
"She said that her and the band were waiting on band auditions." She chirped, making the two of us perk up.
"Band auditions?" Gus and I asked in unison, both of us clearly wondering what she meant.
"Yeah!"
"Band auditions for what?" Gus asked, Willow shot him a look, but I couldn't tell what it meant.
"Apparently, they're looking for a new drummer." That made me sit up. The band was looking for a drummer?
"Looking for a new drummer? What happened to Edric?" I asked, the questions tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them. Willow just shrugged.
"Nothing happened to him. Apparently, he's bored of being drummer. So, they're finding a replacement." She said, glancing back down at her scroll for a second before looking back up. I blinked a few times, taking in the answer and letting it process.
"He's just bored?" Gus muttered, asking exactly what I was thinking. Willow nodded, her scroll pinging again. I sat there tense, a bunch of questions flying through my mind, and none of them getting answers.
A thought came to mind, and even though I tried to shake it away, it stayed. It stood loud and clear among all the questions, the seven words looming over me.
I could audition to be their drummer.
"Luz? You still there?" Gus waved his hand in front of my face, making me jerk in surprise. I quickly nodded, making Gus raise an eyebrow before looking back down to his book. "So what's on your mind?" He asked, flipping a few pages.
My throat felt tight, and as I waved my hands around trying to find the words to say, Willow cut in. "Are you thinking about auditioning?" The excitement in her voice was clear, and even though a flood of words wanted to come out, I could only squeak and nod.
Willow squealed, Gus just smirked. "It's honestly convenient..." I muttered in a high tone, finally finding my voice.
"What is?" The grey blue haired witch asked me, bouncing up and down slightly. I shrugged and leaned back onto the couch, still tense.
"I mean, it's convenient that I can drum and they're looking for a drummer. And it's also pretty convenient because of my new blooming love for the band." I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
"You mean, it's convenient they're looking for a drummer because of your blooming love for Amity." Gus said without missing a beat, making Willow's head snap up to look at the two of us.
I immediately sat up with a wheeze, my eyes wide and a burning blush instantly finding its way to my cheeks. "Wait what?!" Willow shouted, her eyes filled with stars behind her large glasses. I pulled my beanie over my face to hide it, knowing it was a dark red.
Willow grabbed me by my shoulders and started to shake me, which only made me try to shrink away. "I don't know what you're talking about!" I squeaked behind my beanie, hoping that I was able to deny it.
Gus scoffed, flipping another page of his book. "Hey, you said it yourself at the concert last night." I quickly pulled my beanie off my face, noticing not only how excited Willow was, but also seeing that Gus hadn't even looked up from his book.
"What?!" I hissed, watching the corner of Gus' mouth tug upwards. "I didn't say anything like that!" Willow's grip on my shoulder tightened slightly as Gus chuckled. He closed his book and turned to face the two of us, his eyebrows raising slightly when he saw how red I was.
"You're right, you didn't say that." He tapped a finger to his chin, looking like he was deep in thought. "In fact, I'm pretty sure you said, and I quote, I just found out my crush is the lead singer in a band." My eyes widened even more, he heard me last night. "Does that sound right?" He asked, a smirk plastered on his face.
A loud groan escaped me as I leaned onto the arm of the couch, pulling my beanie over my face again. "I didn't think you heard me!" I managed to say, my voice high.
"So you do have a crush on Amity!" Willow shouted, making me yank my beanie back up and place a hand over her mouth.
"Not so loud!" I hissed, glancing around. Another laugh came from Gus, making me take my hand off of Willow and look over at him.
"Luz, no one else is here." He laughed, which only made me groan. "It's not like Amity would be able to hear you here anyways."
"It's not Amity I'm worried about!" I said, eyeing the door. "It's Hooty. If he heard, he'd just start yelling it out to anybody." Hooty suddenly swung open, slamming against the wall and making the three of us jump.
"I heard my name!" He yelled with a hoot, eyeing the three of us. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Just talking about how you're a great door!" I said back with a smile, a nervous laugh following after it. Hooty's eyes lit up as an excited hoot escaped his beak.
"You really think that?" I nodded, a nervous grin plastered on my face as I hoped he wasn't listening to the rest of our conversation. "Yay! I'm a great door!" He swung shut, repeating his phrase to himself outside. I breathed a sigh of relief, slouching down and hiding my face in my hands.
"Oh gracias a dios que funcionó." I murmured, lifting my head up to look at my friends. They both stared at me with big smiles on their faces. "Okay fine!" I threw my hands up in the air and leaned back on the couch. "I do have a crush on Amity."
"I knew it." Willow said in a low voice, pumping her fist in the air. Gus just shook his head with a smile, lightly punching my arm. I felt Willow grab my shoulder and turn me to face her. "Now, you need to go audition! You'd be able to see her again too!"
I waved my hands in front of me, shaking my head. "No no no, no way! I'm not even good!" Willow rolled her eyes, giving me a firm shake.
"You won't know until you try." She said, her lips tugged up into a soft smile. I shook my head, putting my hands on her shoulders.
"Oh I've tried, and I know." I said, my eyebrows furrowing together.
"But what if they think you're good?" Gus asked, making me freeze up slightly. I thought it over, different scenarios quickly playing in my head like some slideshow. Willow and Gus eyed each other, then nervously laughed.
"Are you okay?" Willow asked, and I nodded my head. I tapped my chin, still thinking it over. They could think I'm good, and if they did, that gave me the chance to be on their band. Not only that, but it'd give me a chance to be with all my other friends again, it'd give me a chance to be with Amity again.
"And besides," Gus shrugged his shoulders. "even if you don't get in the band, you'll still be able to catch up with everyone." Willow nodded, shooting me a lopsided grin.
"I'd be able to talk to Amity again." I thought to myself, my eyebrows tightly furrowed together. Willow and Gus looked at each other again, and Willow let out a nervous laugh.
"Gus, are you sure you didn't break her?" I barely heard her say because I was so deep in thought, Gus simply shrugged his shoulders. "Luz, are you sure you're okay?" I blinked a few times, pulling myself out of my head.
Taking a deep breath, I clasped my hands together. "Okay..." My friends stared at me, waiting to see what I'd say. "Okay, I'll audition." Willow jumped up in excitement, pulling me into a tight hug. She grabbed Gus and pulled him into the hug as well.
"You're gonna do great." Willow said with confidence, making me smile. The three of us pulled away, Willow pulled out her scroll and started typing away. "I'll ask Boscha the directions on how to get there for you."
I stood up off the couch, walking over towards the stairs. "I'll be back." I told the two of them, slowly going up the stairs. My head was still swamped with my thoughts, making me more and more nervous.
What if they don't like me anymore? What if I somehow make them mad? What if they wanted nothing to do with me because I left? What if I made a fool of myself in front of them?
"Wait a minute, when did that ever matter?" I asked aloud. Back before I left, I didn't care if I made a fool of myself, whether it was on purpose or not. I groaned, facepalming because I was just overthinking everything.
Pushing open the door to my room, I took a deep breath and went over to my bag. It was still open from earlier, so I bent down and started to sift through my things. "Let's see, clothes, poster, books, more clothes, aha! Here they are!"
I pulled my drumsticks out of my bag, closing the flap over the top but not bothering to zip it up. My thumb ran over the base of one of the sticks, a small smile on my face. Rolling over the sticks a little, I found the one I had carved my name into.
My name was written in jagged lines, a few stars surrounding it. I'd carved my name into it a little after I first got them, but I don't remember why I did it. Probably because I was bored.
Standing back up, I tightly clutched my sticks in my hand, then made my way back downstairs. Willow and Gus were chatting, but they quieted down when they saw me. "You ready to go?" Willow asked, flashing me a bright smile. I nodded, shooting her a smile back.
"Great! Boscha sent me the directions, Gus and I can take you about halfway there before we've got to go." I nodded and messed with my jacket with my free hand, trying to mask my nervousness.
"Where are you guys going?" I asked, making my way over to the door and pulling it open. Noticing how I didn't hear anything from Hooty, I looked over at him. Hooty was fast asleep, his tongue barely hanging out of his beak.
I quickly shushed my friends and quietly snuck them out the door, hoping to get past the door owl without waking him. Even though I loved the guy to bits, I wasn't in the mood for a conversation. Carefully closing the door, the three of us quickly started to speed walk away.
"I'm glad we didn't wake him up." Willow muttered, Gus nodding in agreement. "But, to answer your question earlier, I need to go find a few plants in the forest, and I'm dragging Gus along to help me." She jabbed her thumb over at Gus, who perked up slightly.
He looked like he was going to say something, hesitating for a moment, then said nothing at all. I raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off.
The three of us struck up a conversation while we walked, all of us joking around with one another. Our laughs echoed in the sky, easing my nerves. We walked on the outskirts of the market, the bustle of the people inside leaking out into the air.
We eventually made it towards where the market ended, Willow grabbed my arm. "This is where we've gotta leave." My nerves spiked back up, but I just nodded. "You see the concert stadium over there?" Willow pointed towards the west, and in between the trees I could see bits and pieces of the stadium.
I nodded. "You'll just need to walk straight that way." She pointed in the opposite direction of the stadium, I nodded again. Gus patted my back, shooting me a smile.
"You'll be amazing." He said, making me smile. I pulled the two of them into a quick hug, making them tense up slightly before hugging me back.
"Good luck." Willow said, her voice barely able to contain her excitement. I let go of the two of them and chuckled, popping the collar of my jacket.
"Who said I need luck? I've got this." The two of them smiled, then said goodbye.
I gave them both a quick salute goodbye, promising them that I'd tell them how it went the next time we met up. Then, I slowly started to walk towards where Willow told me to go.
It was a pretty clear pathway, not wide enough for a cart, but at least wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
"What am I even going to say when I get there?" I muttered, tightly clutching onto my sticks. "Hey guys! I know you haven't seen me in two years, but now I'm back and I came to audition to be your drummer!" I said in a fake tone, a low groan following directly after.
"That's just stupid... but what else do I say?" I questioned, my nervousness starting to bubble up. Taking a deep breath, I loosened my grip on my sticks a little. I stood in the middle of the pathway for a moment. "I've got to think of something to say before I get there..." I murmured, placing a hand to my chin.
A few ideas came to mind, but they didn't sound good enough."You know what..." I said after some time, my eyes widening slightly. "I'll just say that I came by to say hi to everyone, and mention that I want to audition... yeah, yeah! That's what I'll say!"
With a small bounce in my step, I continued on the trail, ignoring how nervous I felt so I wouldn't turn around. "You can do this Luz." I muttered to myself, staring straight ahead. "You're just going to say hi to old friends... and your crush." I froze up when I saw the studio come into view.
Taking in another deep breath, I steeled myself for the encounter and pushed forward. My legs felt numb and my hands were lightly shaking, but I was determined. I needed to talk to them again, all of them.
Before I knew it, I was at the studio door. Holding my breath, I raised my fist up to knock on the door, but when my hand was about an inch away, I froze. "What am I gonna say when she answers the door?"
My eyes widened when I realized I didn't know what I was going to say. "What if I..." I leaned against the door frame, looking down before looking back up. "Hey Amity~" I finger gunned, then shook my head.
"No, too flirty." I stopped leaning on the door, then turned around. "Heya Amity!" I spun back around to face the door, a smile on my face as I did finger guns again. I blinked a few times, then shook my head.
"Nope, knowing my luck I'd trip over my own feet and faceplant." I muttered, wracking my brain for another way to greet her. I placed a finger gun under my chin and put on my signature smirk.
"Hola Amity~" My smirk dropped. "Did I? I didn't... she's not gonna know what that means..." I let out a sigh of frustration. "Why is this so hard?" I slumped over, jabbing myself in the gut with my drumsticks on accident.
I sucked in a breath out of pain, lightly rubbing where I accidentally jabbed myself. Then, straightening out, I closed my eyes and quickly brought my fist up to the door, roughly knocking on it three times.
I put my arms behind my back, tightly clasping them together. A tight smile was stuck on my face, but my eyes darted left and right out of nervousness. "Just don't pull a blank and you'll be fine." I thought, my nails digging lightly into my arm
The door's lock shifted and it slowly started to open.
I pulled a blank.
It was almost like the door took away my ability to breathe, but it didn't last long. The door opened, and instead of Amity, there was Mattholomule.
"We've already told you," He started, clearly annoyed. "we don't want any of your-" He finally got a good look at me, blinking a few times before he scowled. "Oh, it's you. The human." His ears went down as he glared at me.
The venom in his voice was clear. "Hey there uh, Matt?" I questioned, hoping I was right. My brain was going into overdrive, trying to save itself before he asked a question.
"It's Mattholomule to you." He hissed, clearly not wanting to talk to me. His arms folded across his chest as he squinted his eyes at me, eyeing me up and down with a chuckle. "What are you even doing here?"
"Oh, uh..." I struggled to find words for a moment. "I came to audition." I managed to say, a little louder than I had intended. Matt snorted, then broke out in a full fit of laughter, his ears flicking back up as he placed his hands on his knees, struggling to breathe.
"You?" He choked out, laughing even harder. "No way! You've got to be joking!" Matt continued to laugh, and I slouched down slightly. After a few more seconds of him laughing, he stood up straight, taking a deep breath.
"Human, it isn't gonna happen." Matt's tone suddenly got serious and his ears went back down. The brown haired witch took a step closer to me. "I'll make sure of it." He growled, poking a finger in my chest.
"Matty? Who are you talking to?" A voice called out, then a familiar head of green hair popped out behind the door frame. Edric looked down at Matt, then up at me. His golden eyes widened. "It's... it's..." He couldn't seem to finish his sentence as a giant, dopey smile appeared on his face.
Mattholomule glared at Edric, but before he could say anything to him, another voice piped up. "Why are you two just standing... here... cutie?" Emira appeared by her brother's side, her expression copying his.
They both took one of Matt's shoulders and pulled him back into the studio. "You're back!" They shouted in unison, grabbing onto my jacket and pulling me inside. The twins pulled me into a tight bear hug, their voices overlapping one another as they tried to ask me questions.
"Good to see you guys too!" I managed to get out as they strangled me with their hug. The two of them let go of me, both of their faces lit up with bright smiles.
"It's been forever! What gave you the idea to drop by?" Emira asked, her eyes twinkling in the light. My hand squeezed my drumsticks, reminding me the whole reason why I came here in the first place.
"Oh! Well I mean, you guys are my friends. I thought I would stop by and say hi." I could hear Matt scoff and I saw him turn on his heel and walk around the corner, leaving me with the Blights. "And, I heard you guys were holding auditions so... I came to try out?"
I mentally kicked myself. I needed to sound confident, but here I was, making it sound like a question. However, the twins either didn't notice or didn't care, because they both gasped in surprise.
"You're here to try out? Oh boy, ain't Mittens gonna love that?" Edric said as he turned to his sister, who nodded in response. "In fact, she's really gonna love the fact that you're back in general!" He exclaimed, throwing an arm over my shoulder and pulling me close to him. I could smell his cologne, it was like a mix of vanilla and pine needles, and it wasn't super strong, in fact it was really subtle.
The two of them started to lead me forward, taking me to what I assumed was the main room of the studio. "Speaking of Mit- I mean, Amity, where is she?" I looked around the room, spotting Matt on a dark purple bean bag chair.
"Ah don't worry, she'll be back soon." Emira cooed, dashing over to another bean bag and flopping down into it. "She's just out with Boscha in the market right now. They left about a half hour ago."
"Yeah, little ol' Mittens got bored." Edric said, taking a seat on the table that wasn't too far away from the bean bags. I took a seat on a chair that was close to Emira, crossing my right leg over my left. "So, she's left us in charge of the auditions!"
"And how's that been?" I asked, which made Edric roll his eyes.
"Boring." He said, his voice suddenly sounding super monotone. "But! Because of it being super slow, we've been able to mess around." Matt groaned, then stood up and walked over to another room.
"I swear to the gods, if you put another water bucket in the sound room..." He trailed off, the twins snickering the entire time. Matt closed the door behind him and the twins busted out in laughter.
I looked between the two of them, wondering why they were laughing. "How long is it going to take him to realize that nothing's there?" Emira asked, making Edric laugh even harder.
"Better question is..." The other twin started, taking a moment to catch his breath. "how long is it going to take him to find the graffiti on his door?" Both the twins continued to laugh, but I just sat there.
Matt stepped out of the room and looked around, furrowing his brows when he saw how hard the twins were laughing. He glared at all of us, then walked back over to us. "First the human shows back up then you two..." Edric grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around to face him.
"First off." Edric started, the smile that was just on his face disappearing almost instantly. "That human," His head tilted slightly in my direction. "has a name, and it's Luz. Be glad Mittens didn't hear you say that, cause she would've hit you."
I blinked a few times when he said that. Amity actually cared if people used my name? That was, a little surprising to say the least. I mean, we were friends before I left, but she didn't really seem to care when the others referred to me as "The Human"
"Secondly." Emira picked up where Edric left off. "Be glad you aren't Mittens in general, we mess with her a whole lot worse." The twins looked at each other with a sly smile, then looked back at Matt. Edric let go of his shoulder and Matt went back to his bean bag and sat down in it, pulling out his scroll while muttering under his breath.
Edric rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to me. "So, how was it back on Earth?" He asked, his smile returning to his face. I just shrugged.
"It wasn't too different from when I left, people still thought I was weird and didn't really hang out with me, but I didn't really care. I mean, I have you guys here." Emira placed a hand over her heart while Edric just rolled his eyes. "And besides, it's not like I have to worry about that anymore anyways."
"And why's that?" Emira asked, leaning over so that she was closer to me. I chuckled slightly.
"Because..." I dragged out, placing a finger gun under my chin. "I get to stay here in the Boiling Isles." Both the Blight twins sat up straight, their eyes wide. Matt froze, looking up from his scroll and at me in disbelief.
"You're... staying?" They all said in almost perfect unison, blinking a few times. I nodded, the twins looking back at each other, then back to me. Matt's eyes widened, then his brows furrowed tightly together as a low string of words that I couldn't understand flowed from his lips. Emira quickly elbowed him in the side, making him shut up.
"That's fantastic!" Edric exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "No, it's better than that!" I chuckled slightly, glad that they were excited I was staying rather than hating it. "When Mittens hears that news she might short circuit." Edric joked, earning a laugh from his sister.
"Oh really?" I murmured, watching both the twins nod.
"Yes really, honestly she's kinda crazy when it comes to you, since you're..." Emira shot Edric a glare, making the witch trail off for a moment. "Since you're her friend." He picked back up, giving me a lopsided smile. Emira rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her brother's shoulder.
"Ed, come help me real quick." She muttered, Edric nodding in response. Then, she looked over her shoulder and gave me a bright smile. "We'll be right back cutie!" She winked, making a small blush rise up to my cheeks.
The twins walked off and turned around a corner, leaving me with Matt. "So, Mattholomule..." I started, hoping to break some of the silence. Matt groaned, not bothering to look over at me. "What do you do in the band?"
"I'm the sound director." He said coldly, his voice still holding the venom from earlier.
"Oh, that's pretty cool!" I commented, which only made him roll his eyes.
"Listen Luz." He said my name like it was poison on his lips, making a shiver travel down my spine. Matt stood up and moved in front of me, his eyes filled with hatred. "I don't want to do any of this small talk. I just want you out of here as fast as possible."
Matt took another step closer, placing a hand on my shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze. His lips turned up into this sickening smile and I could feel his nails digging into my skin. "So you should leave, after all, do you really think they want a human here?" My breath hitched in my throat. Matt opened his mouth to continue, but before he could say anything else his ears perked up when he heard the twins chatter come from around the corner.
He quickly let go of me and walked over in their direction, purposely shoving them as he went around the corner. I brought my hand up to my shoulder and gave it a rub, rolling my shoulder a little to ease it. The twins looked back at him, then over at me.
"Gods what's his problem?" Edric asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "You good?" I gave them a quick nod, bringing my hand back down to my lap. He just shrugged and sat back down on the table, Emira moving back to her seat and sitting down.
"So~" Emira started, a sly smirk on her face. "Not only are you here to stay, but you're here to audition? When did you ever get into drumming?"
"I got into it a little after I left the Boiling Isles. It was originally going to be just something to pass the time, but it eventually became more than that." I laughed, the twins nodding in response.
Edric suddenly perked up, then he quickly patted down his pockets. "Actually, speaking of the auditions, I should give Mittens a call, let her know you're here." He finally found his scroll and pulled it out.
"Wait!" He froze up, looking up at me with an eyebrow raised. "Don't tell her that it's me, I want it to be a surprise." The green haired witch gave me a sly smile, then nodded his head.
"Alrighty then!" He tapped a few buttons on his scroll, then held it up to his ear, waiting for Amity to pick up. Edric lightly swayed around for a moment while he waited, then sighed in annoyance. "Man, Mittens ignoring her older brother, what's new there?"
Emira chuckled, leaning back on her bean bag. "So just call Boscha then. She'll definitely pick up." She said as she waved her hand in small circles. Edric nodded, then pressed a few buttons on his scroll before bringing it back up to his ear.
Edric's face lit up when Boscha answered almost immediately. "Hey Boscha! How's my favorite bassist?" His eyes moved around the room for a moment, then his face dropped into a deadpan look. "Okay okay fine, you're the only bassist I know"
I couldn't help but chuckle, watching as the twin rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah whatever. Anyways, you guys need to hurry up and get back." He paused briefly, then his brows furrowed together. "No, we didn't do anything to Matt. Do you really think we'd call you if we did?"
Now Emira started to laugh, lightly nudging me. "No Boscha, we wouldn't call you guys. We'd just hide the body and say he was eaten by a ryewolf and leave it at that. But that's besides the point, we've got someone here to audition." I felt my shoulders relax a little when he didn't say my name.
"Yeah, I already tried to call Mittens but she's ignoring me." The Blight twin started to pop his fingers on his free hand, nodding to whatever Boscha was saying on the other end. "No, we haven't heard them playing yet, we thought we'd wait for Mittens to get here."
He leaned back, using his hand to support his weight as he looked up at the ceiling. "Oh believe me, she'll love this one. So tell Mittens to hurry back and stop ignoring me!" Even from where I was at, I could faintly hear Boscha laughing on the other end.
Their call ended and Edric laughed. "Welp, now we wait!"
"How long until they're back?" I asked, rolling my drumsticks in my hands. The green haired witch shrugged.
"They'll be here soon." Edric said, stretching out before lying down on the table. "I mean, Boscha said they were about ten minutes away, but based on the way Boscha sounded, it might take even less time than that."
"Wait, how did she sound?" His twin asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother. Edric sat back up, looking down at his sister.
"She sounded super excited, so she's probably gonna be dragging Mittens over in record time." I raised an eyebrow, then realized that she probably knew it was me because Willow had asked her for directions earlier.
I silently hoped she wouldn't say anything to Amity about who I was, hoping I was able to keep my arrival a surprise for a little longer. Matt returned from around the corner, and from the looks of it he was beyond angry.
"You two!" He roared, making both the twins tense up before turning towards him. "What did you do to my door?" The Blights looked at one another, then back at him before shrugging.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Edric stated, his voice raising an octave.
"Yeah." Emira chirped, placing a hand behind her back. I watched as she drew a small spell circle, and once it was completed, she brought her hand back forward to not seem suspicious. "You're just going batty Matty." She quipped, which made Matt go red in the face.
"I am not!" He hissed, going over to the two and grabbing them by their shirts and dragging them out of their chairs and around the corner where I assumed his room was. There was silence for a moment. "What?!" I jumped when I heard Matt scream.
The twins slowly walked out from around the corner, both of their eyes wide. "Did you...?" Edric's voice was shaky as he motioned to his sister. Emira said nothing, but nodded her head in response. "Oh thank gods." Edric muttered, relief instantly filling his voice.
"One of these days, he's gonna rip our throats out." Emira said, rubbing her neck nervously. Edric froze up, then started to laugh.
"Em, he's not gonna do that because he can't reach that high." He said between laughs, which made me struggle to suppress a snort before I broke out into laughter.
Matt came back around the corner, smoke practically blowing out of his ears. He eyed the twins, then used both of his hands to flip them off before walking to the studio's front door. Throwing the door open and letting it smack the wall with enough force to shake the frame, he stomped out and slammed the door shut behind him.
The three of us sat in silence, staring at the door for a moment. "Does he do that often?" I finally asked, the twins nodding in response.
"We should probably put something behind the door so he won't put a hole in the wall." Emira muttered, leaning against the table as she folded her arms across her chest.
Eventually the twins and I struck up a conversation so that we wouldn't be sitting in an awkward silence while we waited for Amity and Boscha to arrive. "And I've got to say, your guy's concert last night was amazing!" I noticed how their eyes widened, then a smirk slowly appeared on both of their faces.
"You managed to see the show last night?" Emira asked, a hint of shock in her voice. I gave an enthusiastic nod, which only made Emira lightly shake her head. "I'm surprised you didn't try to meet up with us sooner."
"Well I was going to..." I started, glancing down to the floor. "But, nobody told me where I'd be able to find you guys, and I didn't know you guys were the Abominations until the last second."
The studio door suddenly creaked open, a familiar voice calling out to us. "Guys? We're back!" Boscha called, carrying a bag in her hand. Emira jumped up and pulled me out of my seat, quickly pushing me around the corner so I wouldn't be seen.
"Stay here for a minute." She told me with a smile, I silently nodded. Emira gave me a thumbs up, then went back around to where the others were, standing by Edric at the table.
I barely peered around the corner, just enough so that I would see the twins. "Welcome back." Edric said, folding his arms over his chest. He got up off the table and moved out of my line of sight, doing something that made someone groan.
Boscha walked over to the table, setting her bag down before looking over at Emira. The pink haired witch mouthed something to the Blight, which Emira responded by subtly nodding over her shoulder in my direction.
The pink haired witch looked in my direction, her three eyes widening as a giant grin appeared on her lips. She sent me a little wave, and I gave her a toothy smile and a wave back.
"How many times have I told you not to do that?" A voice growled, one that I instantly recognized. My heart started pounding, a squeal of excitement rising up in my throat that I forced myself to swallow down. I couldn't give myself away yet.
"Sorry Mittens, couldn't resist." Edric said with a snort, still standing out of my line of sight. "What did you guys get from the market anyways?"
"That's not important." Amity said sharply, now moving into my line of sight with her back facing me. My breathing hitched, my hands suddenly getting shaky. This was it, I was going to talk to Amity again."You said someone was here to audition?"
Emira slowly turned around, first looking down at Amity, then up at me. She shot me a look, signaling me to step out. I swallowed, then slowly stepped out from around the corner. Amity placed a hand on her hip, lightly tapping her foot.
"Well? Where are they?" She asked, annoyance laced in her voice. I saw Emira wiggle her eyebrows at Amity, Edric struggling to bite back a laugh, and Boscha staring at me with a knowing smile.
I hesitated for a moment, then loudly cleared my throat to get her attention. I saw her ears twitch, then she slowly turned around. Her face went from a look of annoyance to a look of shock, then disbelief.
Her hands went up to her chest, slowly clenching themselves into fists. "Hey Amity!" I said, my voice wavering slightly. She eyed me up and down, her eyes darting across all my features.
Then, she took a small step forward, slowly reaching her hand out. "Luz?" She stammered out in a small voice, her voice thick with emotion. "Is that really you?" Amity took another small step forward, tears gathering in her eyes.
Looking down at myself, then back up to the witch, I gave her a lopsided smile. "Pretty sure it's really me." I said, a soft chuckle following afterwards.
Amity took another small step forward, then with no warning, she barreled towards me as fast as she could, her ears flapping with excitement. She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight hug, laughing the entire time.
I stumbled slightly, then fell over, taking the two of us down to the ground. We both landed on the ground with a loud thud, Amity landing on top of me. My drumsticks loudly clattered to the ground as they fell out of my hand.
Her face was only a few inches from mine, making my face flare up with a red blush. She blinked a few times, looked at the position we were in, then quickly got off of me with a squeak. "Sorry!"
She stood up, holding out her hand for me to take so she could help me up, which I did. Once she brought me to my feet, she pulled me into another tight hug, making me laugh.
"You're finally back!" Amity said, still laughing as she pulled away from me, her face practically beaming. The blush on my face still hadn't died down, and I assumed it wasn't going to anytime soon if she kept acting like this. "Gods, and I never thought I'd be able to see you again!"
"Hey, I'm sorry it took me this long to show up." I said softly, tearing my eyes away from her's for a moment. I noticed her ears were still flapping softly, which only made me gasp. "Wait a minute, your ears flap when you're excited?" I exclaimed, which made Amity's face go red.
"What?" She instantly clasped her hands over her ears to get them to stop, her face flushing a bright red color. "No they don't!" She hissed out of embarrassment, quickly turning away from me.
"Yes they do! Oh my god, did you hide it all this time?" I asked as I remembered all the times Amity was excited in the past, making Amity squeak again. My heart felt like it was about to explode with how cute she was being. Edric cleared his throat, gaining our attention.
"Wow Mittens, I'm surprised you didn't try to tackle her the minute you saw her." He said with a smirk, making Amity scowl.
"Hey, I first thought you guys were making an illusion of Luz to trick me." She growled, earning an offended gasp from the twins.
"You really think we'd be that cruel Mittens?" Emira asked, biting her lip so that she wouldn't laugh.
"I don't think you would be, I know you would be." Amity hissed, taking her hands away from her ears as she folded her arms over her chest. I could still see her ears faintly flapping, but then they stopped. The twins just stuck their tongues out at their younger sister.
Placing a hand on Amity's shoulder, I took her attention off of the twins. She smiled, her eyes filled with happiness. "It's great to see you again Amity, I've missed you." I said, which made her smile.
Then, I pulled her into another hug, feeling her freeze up in surprise for a moment before she melted into the hug. "I've missed you too..." Her voice held this tone that I couldn't pick up even though it sounded really familiar, her arms wrapping around my back as she held onto me tightly.
"Oh! And another thing!" I pulled away from the witch, watching as she raised an eyebrow at me. "Your guy's show last night was amazing!" Her expression changed into one of shock, her eyes going wide.
"You... you were there last night?" She squeaked out, which I chuckled and nodded. Her head snapped back to look at Boscha, who held her hands out defensively. "You knew she was there, didn't you?" Amity rushed over to the other witch and grabbed the collar of her shirt. The other witch only started to laugh.
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." The pink hair witch managed to get out, leaving Amity to just sigh and let go of her.
"That's why you didn't think I was crazy." I could hear Amity mumble, Boscha nodding in response.
"Alright look." Emira finally said, leaning onto the table. "As much as I love watching Mittens short circuit cause Luz is back," Amity stiffed slightly, glaring at her sister. "why don't we let her try to audition before we continue with this reunion, shall we?"
I nodded, picking my drumsticks up off the floor. When I stood back up, I noticed the blush that dusted Amity's cheeks as she quietly hissed something to both of her siblings. "You ready?" Boscha asked as she walked over to me and leaned on my shoulder.
I gave her a short nod, my hands clasped tight around my drumsticks as I felt the adrenaline pumping in my veins. This was it, now was the time to see if I was good enough to get on their band.
"I'm ready."