To be free of all things, good and bad, Part 2
To be free of all things, good and bad.
______
Song
Song felt amazing. Gliding through the morning air, the town below was quiet, only just starting to wake up. The only sound came from a small construction crew. Stringbean rattled in Song’s ear, suggesting that they speak to the leader of this construction team. Perhaps they could point out the direction of The Knee. (because they had been dumb enough not to ask anyone at the Owl House.)
Song stopped above the reconstruction and slowly descended, quietly landing next to a woman who was dictating instructions. Song didn’t have much time to fold her wings before a freaking tube thing ejected from the back of the woman's pack and started screaming,
“HOOT, HOOT. LULU, THERE'S AN ATTACKER!!!!! I WILL DEFEND YOU!!!!!!”
Song didn’t know what to do besides back up and watch as the woman called Lulu calmed the tube thing down. Once she did that, she turned to face Song with an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry about that. Hootsifer doesn’t like it when people sneak up on me.”
“It’s my bad, Miss Lulu! I didn’t intend to scare anyone,” Song apologized.
“Lilith, dear. You can call me Lilith,” Lilith said, giving Song a wink. “and it is no issue- now, is there anything I can do for you, perhaps?”
Song gave a quick smile but kept her eyes on the owl tube thing. She did not trust it.
“Yes! I was hoping you could point me in the direction of The Knee?” Song asked. Lilith smiled and pet Hootsifer on the head..
“HOOT HOOT Amity incoming!” interrupted the owl tube. Song immediately turned back to see that Amity had indeed followed her. The girl landed with grace and rushed over to Lilith and Song.
“Hi L-Song! I was wondering if I- if I could help you?” Amity wheezed, looking up at her. Song zoned out for a second, considering the witch.
Say yes.
“Why not?” Song smiled at Amity.
“Are you helping this witch with something?” Lilith asked Amity.
“Yea!” Amity confirmed.
“THE KNEEE IS SOUTH!!!!” yelled the owl tube. Amity and Song backed away from it, but Lilith chuckled and rubbed its beak.
“Very good, Hootsifer,” Lilith said. Song felt how Amity looked. Horrified by the thing.
“Don’t worry Lu-SONG,” Amity said, grabbing Song's claw. “I know the way.”
Lu? Was Amity already forgetting Song’s name? No matter. Song gave Amity a nod and turned back to Lilith, the reflection of her glasses glinting in the sun.
Use her nickname!
“Thanks, Cool Aunt Lilith!” Song said, scooping up Amity. Lilith looked startled, but Song didn’t care. She unfurled her wings again and took off, speeding towards the knee. Song was deep in thought that it wasn’t until Bean rattled in her ear that she noticed how much Amity was squirming.
“Let me go!”
Song did that, but she forgot that the witch didn’t have wings and immediately dove to catch her, but she didn’t need to. Amity was panting, sitting on her staff, flying next to Song. Her face beet red, and she was muttering to herself something about softness, which Song could only assume to be about her fur. She just smiled at the witch.
“What made you want to help me?” Song asked Amity.
“You… remind me of someone. Almost too much,” Amity said. Song frowned and twiddled her claws. She had a feeling, but she couldn’t place what it was.
“I’m sorry… if I make you uncomfortable,” Song told Amity.
“No, no… it would be a me thing, not a you thing,” Amity mumbled. They both flew in silence for a while, neither looking at the other. Song couldn’t help but feel like she should be comforting her. Saying something, anything.
“Hey,” Amity said, breaking the silence. “Look, The Knee is a pretty safe area, but around it are spots where Belos supporters and Titan trappers live.”
“Titan trappers?” Song asked.
“Yeah, they moved in a year back,” Amity told Song, not looking at her.
“And King’s by himself in titan trapper area?”
“Well, two things. One King’s pretty strong. Second, the Titan trappers are idiots; they-”
“No, they’re not! The almost killed King once!”
Song felt as surprised as Amity looked. She- she had remembered something. She didn’t know how, but it came up to her, fuzzy and in black in white but all the same. She remembered carrying King and the owl tube. She remembered the child, although it was still shadowy and full of starlight. She remembered learning that King was a Titan for the first time, which seemed odd, as it was always obvious, right?
“How did you know that?” Amity asked cautiously.
“It.. it was a memory? It was faint, so faint. I just barely recall it,” Song said. She decided to take a break from flying herself, allowed Stringbean to catch her, and fly for the both of them.
“Tell me about it,” Amity said quietly, her eyes big and expectant. Song blushed a little and clasped her claws together.
“Well, there was this island. I was with King and the bird tube. We were looking for King’s father on the island- which is absurd. He was stuck in the void!” Song looked back at Amity. She was…. What's the word…. Beautiful- that sounds about right.
If we remember, you can see what she looked like with her purple hair!
“Anyways, I remember the titan trappers. They were trying to kill King… and me, I think- but we got away. And then we destroyed an island. ”
Song looked back at Amity. Her hands were over her mouth, and her big gold eyes were watering. Song was immediately upset with herself. She had caused her friend to cry… but it was more than that.
“I’m sorry, Amity. I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Song said quickly, but Amity wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled.
“What?” Song asked
There was silence like the isles held their breath. Even the snow that started to fall as they got closer to The Knee stopped itself from falling as the words left Amity’s mouth.
“Luz?”
To be free of all things, good and bad.
______
Amity
Amity wished she hadn’t said that because Luz/Song immediately fell off her staff. Amity had to catch Stringbean out of mid-air as the girl caught herself with her wings.
It was so obvious now. Luz had gotten stuck in this void- wherever that was- and it did something to her! And now she’s out, she’s out and… and she’s not even Luz. She’s Song. She’s this memoryless, naive, incredibly beautiful witch running around in Luz’s body. Amity looked at Luz/Song as she flew up to grab Stringbean, who Amity felt much better about letting Song have her now.
“Why did you call me that? I told you my name is Song,” Song growled. Amity was a little taken aback by how mad the girl sounded. She decided then to keep calling her Song until she could find a way to bring Luz back.
“Sorry!” Amity said, “I didn’t mean- well. I think I might know who you are! I’m sorry…” Amity told her. Song looked at her curiously.
“Based on what?! That one memory I told you about?”
“Yea, yea, actually, that is the reason,” Amity told her. Song scoffed and turned her head. Amity chuckled a little. She pouted exactly like Luz. Well, she was Luz kinda, but not right now she wasn’t.
“Look, that’s a story that my gir- FRIEND, my friend Luz told me a long time ago. You just told it the same exact way!”
“Maybe I watched it from the void,” Song countered quickly.
“Why are you arguing? Don’t you want to know who you are?” Amity snapped.
Song looked ashamed for a second and then turned to look at Amity.
“That grave belongs to this Luz, didn’t it?” Song asked. Amity grimaced. Even though it was hard to recognize Luz under all that fluffiness, it still hurt Amity to see her love so lost.
“It did,” Amity confirmed.
Song just gave Amity a nod before pointing forward.
“I think we’ve arrived,” She mumbled. Amity looked forwards, and they were, in fact, getting close to The Knee. She hummed to Ghost to start slowing down, and they began to ascend.
“So, do you have an idea of where King could be?” Song asked quietly.
“I do, but it’s near the top,” Amity told her, pulling out a coat made of abomination goo from the vial on her hip. It was starting to get cold, the wind turning into a snowstorm as they ascended higher. Song didn’t seem to notice, though, and just looked around excitedly. Amity squeezed her own hand and bit down on her tongue. She didn’t have any other ideas to figure out how to bring Luz out of there. King was their only option.
They approached a ledge and landed, Song’s wings wrapping around her like a coat and her fur all floofy from the snow. Amity knew her face was burning, and all she wanted to do was cuddle, but they had more pressing matters right now.
“Come on, let's go,” Amity said, beginning to trudge through the snow, the wind howling as they did so. Song followed her, the snow actually parting itself into a pathway as she walked. That was proof enough to Amity that the girl was part of the isles, as the isles themself were responding to her presence. They kept walking through the snowstorm, and Amity started getting lost in her thoughts.
Song said she was trapped in the void. They’re the same person, which means that Luz was trapped in the void before she lost her memories-”
She left you then. She made her choice.
She didn’t. She was stuck, and we all thought she was dead.
We did, and we moved on. Why does this- this facade of Luz deserve a place in our life?
Because she’s Luz!
She isn’t, though.
Amity shook her head and drove those thoughts out of her mind. Luz must be in there somewhere. She had to focus on this job right now. Finding King and seeing if he could help.
“King!” Amity called through the snow, but the wind obscured her voice. She was about to draw a spell circle to magnify her voice when Song pushed her hand down.
“Let me help,” She whispered into Amity’s ear. Amity felt her face get hot, but she did her best to shake it off. Song waved her claws, and many bright blue glyphs flew off into the snow. Amity thought the magic was ineffective until the snowstorm simply stopped, and they stood in clear, cool air.
“How in Titan did you do that?!” Amity asked, flipping around to face Luz/Song.
“I asked the snow to take a break,” Song said before patting Amity on the head. (Dear Titan, she was so much taller than Amity.)
“We can call for King now? Right?” Song asked, placing her staff in the snow and leaning on it.
Amity shook the craziness of this girl just telling the snow to stop and performed the voice magnification spell anyways.
“KING! ITS AMITY… AND A FRIEND. WE NEED YOUR HELP!”
Amity turned off the spell and then sighed.
“Let’s walk for a second. King’s smart. He’ll find us,” She told Song. Song nodded simply, and Amity started walking. The top of The Knee was beautiful as always, and without the blizzard, Amity could see The Head as clear as day. The Archives glinted in the afternoon sun as Amity and Song reached a point where they could overlook the isles.
“This place is awesome,” Song sighed, gracefully sitting on the snow.
“It is really cool,” Amity responded absentmindedly. She was thinking of why this place was important, but then it came to her. Luz had learned her second glyph on this mountain.
“Song?” Amity asked cautiously, “Do you remember anything about The Knee?”
Song pursed her lips, and Amity couldn’t help but swoon a little.
“No, not really,” She mumbled. “I’m sorry, Ames, I really am.” Song saw Amity shudder at the use of a nickname, so She turned to Amity and grabbed her hands. “I really know you want me to be this Luz person, but right now, I’m not. I’m sorry,”
Amity nodded and pulled her hands from Song’s grasp. “I know, I know, but at least-” Amity choked. She was letting herself get too hopeful. Even if this girl remembered things that Luz had done- maybe it was a fake- maybe this wasn’t her.
“At least what, Ames?” Song asked.
“Nothing, Song. Let’s just try to see if we can get your memories back!” Amity chuckled, turning back to overlook the Isles. It was peaceful, so peaceful. Amity wished things could’ve been like this from the start, but it wasn’t to be. The two of them sat in silence for what felt like hours until the crunching of snow brought Amity back to her senses. She flipped around to see who was walking up to them.
“Weh? Amity, and a… stranger person? What do you need help for?” asked King as he walked up to them both.
With any luck, he’d be able to help.