Chapter 145

Luz talked and talked, losing Eda several times during the whole thing.

But as the time progressed, she was becoming more and more skittish, distracted, constantly glancing at the clock which hung on the wall, starting to visibly sweat.

"Luz...Luz!" interrupted Eda, cutting into the moment Luz and some of her new magical hero friends were fighting some kind of fire demon.

"What is going on?" she asked, worry flooding her mind.

Was Luz afraid of someone, or something..

There had to be someone who gave her the soldiers and army..maybe they were a really bad person and were pressuring her somehow..

Luz did not say anything for a while, only looked at her hands.

...

"You can tel.." Eda started.

"Amity..." said Luz, looking to the ground.

....

'Oh...'

'OHHHHHHH'

Eda got it now.

Yea that explained pretty much everything.

She looked at Luz again, critically assessing the changes between when both her and Amity last saw her.

Taller..

Perfectly toned.

Face without a blemish, save for the small scar over her eyebrow.

Hair even Eda envied..and that was saying a LOT.

In a form fitting uniform, now without the armor part as Luz took that off an hour into their story time, that was much tighter then whatever she saw her wear previously.

With somehow deeper, magically seeming brown eyes.

...

Eda started cackling.

"Edaaaaa...don't laugh at me...." whined Luz, blushing in embarrassment.

"I..pffff I am not laughing at you kiddo..." she had to take a pause to catch her breath.

"You're gonna send that girl straight back into a hospital bed tho.." continued Eda, barely coherent, confusing Luz to no end.

For a while Luz just sat there, pouting in protest to Eda's laughter.

"Are..are you that nervous about it?" asked Eda finally, her laughter subsiding.

"YES!" said Luz immediately, with some bite in her tone.

"Okay..okay, I will give you some advice.." offered Eda, to which Luz turned to her to listen.

...

'Okaaayy..so I could offer legitimate advice, like changing into something less form fitting, as Luz's current outfit was looking a lot like what that red and black dotted girl from the castle wore..that is to say it left very little to the imagination...so she could do that..oooor...'

Eda smiled to herself.

'Shenanigans..'

She was sure the two of them would figure it out, eventually..

'Since after all who am I to abstain from such a great opportunity..'

"Okay Luz here's what you got to do.." started Eda with a mischievous grin.

Amity was sitting on the hospital bed, slowly packing the few things she had, preparing to leave.

It was slightly surprising that she was already free to go, but she wouldn't be one to complain..she never liked healing centers..or hospitals..as they were apparently called here.

Her entire family was still with her, clearly hesitant to separate, strength in numbers and all that, which was something she was on one hand thankful for..but on the other hand.

"You two really ought to be more responsible..it will be hard to create a good position for us and it will take some real work.."

"Have you considered that we do not want to 'create a position' of any kind?" protested Emira loudly, folding her hands.

"We just want to do what we like, find something that comes naturally to us."

"You can't do that if you have to worry where the food comes from," retorted Odalia, looking intensely at the twins.

Emira stood there opposing her, while Ed was waving his arms around trying to calm his sister, possibly trying to do some kind of twin or something.

Amity finished packing her things, checked she had Ghost and stood up, not that the arguing parties noticed.

"We can make money to get food and stuff, BY doing what we like to do."

Amity sighed heavily, looking at her mother and older sister, thinking of how to best break this up.

"You have no idea if that will be possible here, we haven't been here even a day!" said Odalia pointedly.

"It would be better for all of us to have a safe position before you start doing...stuff like that," she continued, waving her arm at the last part.

The problem was, while normally she would support Emira 100\% , Amity was gravitating towards Odalia's side of the argument here.

What her mother was saying made sense, even if it was put in a horrible way..it somehow never occurred to her, but her mother did not know how to properly express herself in any other way but the business way.

Her saying, 'safe position' really meant, that they had a place to sleep and something to eat and that they also knew how their new lives would work..it was rash to try and do only what they wanted in a situation this uncertain and unclear...but Odalia was doing a really bad job to saying that humanely.

If Amity herself didn't already resolve herself to climb the first ladder presented to her to get as high as possible, she would probably dismiss Odalia on principle and past experiences..kinda like what Emira was doing.

"I think your mother is right," said Alador suddenly, surprising both sides of the argument.

He then shushed Emira with a gesture, so she would let him explain, but before he managed to do that, there was a loud knock on the door.

The room got quiet immediately, as all its current inhabitants looked at each other.

There was a knock..but no one entered the room.

A certain memory resurfaced in Amity's brain.

As it happened, there was once a situation when it became apparent that the custom of knocking on doors and entering right away was not universal across all dimensions..

From what Luz told her..after the...incident..in the human realm it was sometimes in certain places like in homes to wait after knocking to be invited in, while in the isles, probably due to more dangerous environment and closer knit community you did not wait after knocking, you knocked and entered...which was why Amity found herself in the doorway with shirtless Luz starting back at her from her room.

As the following discussion revealed, in the isles one often changed in the bathroom, or let others know there were changing clothes..or in Amity's case, had a house large enough to to have a room designated for changing clothes.

Luz even had a theory about the 'let others know' thing, according to her, it was something similar to what cats did, watching each-others backs when one was in a state of vulnerability, like changing clothes and going to the bathroom.

Which held some merit...Amity could say with certainty, that if Luz came to her in the living room and said.

'"Hey, I need to change out of this shirt"'

Amity would automatically get up and move with her to guard the door to the room, until Luz finished changing and not even question the action..

Which made Luz squeal and call her adorable..

It was a good day...if she were to omit the almost bleeding out from a nosebleed part of that day, that happened right after she opened the doors..

"Ehm...enter?" said Amity uncertainly, while it wasn't the place Luz was from..it could have similar customs..at least that's what she was assuming...

A soldier entered the room immediately, confirming her theory.

Amity could see how Odalia threw her a inquisitive look, obviously wondering how her youngest knew to do that.

For a split second Amity wondered if she should respond to her mother somehow.

'Customs', 'Luz' she mouthed, not wanting to be heard by the soldier who now arrived in front of her.

"Commander Luminicent wishes to speak with you," he said simply, looking at her.

Amity momentarily froze.

'This soon?!'

She did plan on talking to her at some point, hoping she would somehow get a chance to do that, but now..

That felt too soon..

Was she in trouble for something..

Amity quickly contemplated the option, finding a very good reason to be in a loooot of trouble.

Luminicent believed her..she picked HER out of everyone to partner up with and what did Amity do..

She let herself get tricked, hook line and sinker..why did she think that she could get something positive out of that performance again??

Amity grimly nodded, walking to the soldier, who simply turned around and led her.

She threw a look at her family, hopefully not the last one.

"I will find you later.." she said, walking out the door.

...

Their journey thru the tunnels of her new home was...an interesting experience to say the least.

Amity was gripped by the feelings of wonder, respect and slowly but surely increasing dose of nervousness.

This place was...simply insane.

She never even imagined that a civilization could build a complex this massive.

They were currently walking by the windows overlooking the main portion of the city.

Countless swirling streets with empty slots..where houses and facilities would soon stand.

Amity could see building materials such as bricks and lumber piled up by the far wall..

She could see strange fields with lamps providing them light, she would guess the light was special and substituted the sun.

There was even a waterway here..complete with a bridge.

This was for them..made with them in mind, they could build their houses, live their lives here.

It really drove home the point of how small the isles were and that they were now standing in an incomprehensibly larger playing field.

And she was on her way to meet their leader, a player on that field..whom she probably severely disappointed.

Amity nervously grabbed the hem of her shirt, and tried not to bite her lip.

Almost walking right into the soldier who led her when he stopped and opened a door to their left.

'OH!'

'Already??'

She expected like..a grand reception, big doors, golden carpet..

Maybe this was a 'preparation to meet' kinda thing, before she actually met her..

Amity entered the room, hearing as the doors were wordlessly closed behind her.

Only to see that...no...this was definitely her final destination.

As the woman in question sat on a sofa, drinking something out of a cup, not yet noticing her presence by the looks of things.

Amity nervously fidgeted on the spot, preparing to announce her presence, when Luminicent noticed her standing there like a sore thumb and stood up to greet her.

"...Miss Blight...I..I am glad you are doing well.." she said evenly.

But..Amity did not hear a single thing the woman just said to her..

She froze, her inner software throwing a big fat ERROR 504, as she was currently exposed to what Luminicent was wearing.

Or maybe more precisely what she wasn't wearing..the front armor of her uniform was gone..exposing..

"Am...Miss Blight is...is everything alright?" asked the woman, making a careful step closer to her.

Amity jumped away from her on reflex, nearly hitting the doors with her back, as she snapped out of whatever trance she just went into.

'Wha..wha wha wha wah wah is she wearing!!!!!'

Whatever it was, it was tight, firmly hugging her figure, clearly showing...

'ABS!!!!!!'

There were indeed abs at display here.

"I!" started Amity way too loudly, trying to answer..whatever Luminicent just asked her, praying to the Titan or their variant of a supreme being there was in this new world, that Luminicent did not move closer to her.

"IamAmity!!" she squeaked, looking directly into the floor, not daring to look up red as a lobster.

"I...YES!"

"Good everything is good, great, best, TIGHT! NO!...not that last one!"

Amity then did the mature thing and hid her face with her hands.

Why was she such a disaster?

Carefully she looked up, seeing the very confused looking eyes looking back at her.

She needed a distraction..quickly..anything, any topic was better than whatever she was doing right now.

"I am so sorry for messing up the fight with the Collector I got distracted with what he said and I fell for what he said which was really stupid of me to do so I am really sorry for that, I was really thrown off by what he said and..."

"Amity! AMITY stop!"

Amity stopped rambling, shocked at being called by her first name.

She called me 'Amity....'

The young Blight...honestly had no idea what to do with that..

"I do not blame you for the way that fight ended, you did an amazing job...Miss Blight.."

Amity nodded, looking everywhere else but at Luminicent.

'No..no 'Amity'?' she heard a little voice in her head whine.

'STOP IT!!' said another much stronger voice of her conscience.

"Okay," she said simply, feeling she had to respond somehow and that being the only word in her vocabulary right now.

Luz frowned as she turned away suppressing a deep sigh..

This was not going too well.

Eda wasn't really that helpful in her earlier advice, saying she was good as she was..and not to change a single thing..

Which was kinda a strange comment to make, but Luz did not dwell on it.

She had her own rudimentary plan on how to do this.

First, she couldn't repeat what she did with Eda and Lilith, as the reveal made the older woman faint..she did not want that to happen with Amity..

Her plan was very simple.

She would reveal that Luz..aka herself, was in this dimension, that would hopefully not be enough to knock Amity out.

Then she would add that she is here, in this city..and maybe say that Luz..was the one who convinced them to conduct the rescue operation, which was also true and hopefully not surprising enough to summon fainting...

And then she would do the final, 'It is me...!', and hope for the best..

So now...part one of her plan...first she had to....

...

Luz frown deepened..she felt eyes on her..

But her magus senses were clearly playing tricks on her..

Right?

And just as she thought that, it all suddenly started clicking together.

'"And if that makes you feel any better, I am sure Amity's reaction..will be something you will be able to pull on her for the rest of your days,"'

'"You gonna send that girl straight back into a hospital tho.."'

'"Just don't change anything..it will be perfect the way you are.."'

Luz could suddenly feel the way her outfit sat on her body.

Eda.would.get.it!

To put her own daughter in such a position..

Was..was Amity really looking tho..

She straightened some more papers, shifting from leg to leg, as if absentmindedly...performing a science experiment of sorts.

Luz could both hear and feel the way Amity twitched.

No..no she wasn't looking at all, she was full on blatantly staring at her.

A whole bunch of emotions flooded her mind.

There was shame at her outfit..thankfully Eda and Amity were the only ones who saw her without the armor pieces..

Then there was some irritation, Luz did not mind Amity looking at her..it was not something they discussed previously or ever delved into..but Amity did not even know it was her...

Then again, Luz could understand somewhat..not that she spent time in front of the mirror admiring herself or anything..but she was aware of the way she looked...in a very vague sense and even if she herself put her looks down and did not bother with them.

Amity quite obviously found herself captivated.

Thinking about it now..this wasn't even the first time..now that Luz was recalling their interactions, as Luminicent..and noting that Amity was always very wide eyed and wore a blush.

'Which means I managed to charm her twice'

Now that was kinda a nice thought.

Luz immediately mentally slapped herself, she needed to reveal who she was and then...they would have a very serious talk awaiting them.

With that she spun around, catching Amity completely in the act, but deciding to ignore that...for now..

Amity was not doing anything weird or inappropriate..

No..not at all, in the least, everything was good..peachy..butt-ery even.

She forced her gaze on the half masked face of Luminicent, as the leader once again sat down opposite her and nowhere else.

"There is actually something else entirely that I need to tell you.."

Well that certainly caught her attention.

"It's about Luz Noceda."

....

White noise filled Amity's ears, erasing everything else.

How..how did she know.

How could she possibly know about her?

Did she find out about her wanting to use a portal to get to Luz...would she try to prevent her from doing that?

Luminicent's lower face looked confused, she apparently did not understand her panic and what caused it.

Maybe she could convince the leader to lend her a portal to go look for Luz..no matter how she learned about her.

"I need to find her...I.I I want to borrow a portal, I promise I will return it as soon as possible and..."

"There is no need for a portal.." interrupted Luminicent.

Amity's heart dropped.

That..sounded like a pretty decisive no.

Would...would she have to steal the portal..she would do that if she had to..but what would happen to Emira, Ed, or her father...

"What I meant to say was.." continued the witch in front of her, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

"I meant..this is Earth.."

Amity looked at her, not understanding..

"Huh?"

"There is no need for a portal to get to Luz.." repeated Luminicent slowly.

"This is Earth..The Earth"

...

"You are already here."

...

...

"What?"

Amity looked at the older woman, not processing what she was saying to her.

This was...what?

But..huh?

"Luz's world..does not have magic," she protested, finding an obvious flaw in the claim.

"Most people think that, but there was and to an extent still is a secret magical society here..as you can see.."

Amity shook her head..

Luz's world did not have magic..that was the basis of Luz's behavior and reason for her prolonged stay on the Isles, she wanted to learn magic, to be a witch..

She was about to protest and call out the 'bluff', when Luminicent pulled something out of her pocket and levitated it in front of her on the table.

It was a picture.

A picture of Luz, she was laying in a hospital bed, looking like she really did not want to be there.

Several tears started pouring down her face, was this true..?

Luz had to hold herself a lot to not hug Amity immediately, seeing the tears on her face filled her with the encompassing sense of duty to remove those tears along with the cause of them.

The picture has been her ace in the hole..for this part of the explanation.

In retrospect she was really lucky her mom took it, all that time ago after she got back.

It wasn't like she could present some of the very few newer pictures with her classmates or take a selfie now..

"she is really here.." whispered Amity, touching the picture gently, as if afraid it would vanish if she was too rough with it.

It was so incredibly gentle, it almost melted Luz into a puddle of happiness.

But there was no time to melt..

"She is here in the city," continued Luz, talking about herself sure was weird.

Amity looked at her...disbelief coloring her features, until she started to come apart, her legs failing under her.

Luz almost caught her, only just remembering that from Luminicent it would only freak her out.

"I..I.am so sorry, I.." Amity was slowly climbing to her feet, fumbling over her words.

"I have no idea what to do..now..." she admitted, rubbing the tears off her face.

"Is..is she really here?"

Luz's whole body tensed.

'Do it! You have to do it!'

But there was something holding her back..what if Amity wouldn't like her now.

"She changed," said Luz before she could decide against it.

"And is really nervous about, meeting you again.." she admitted.

Amity looked contemplative.

But it looked as if she wasn't thinking about her position on the 'new Luz' but if to tell her or not.

"Luz has nothing at all to worry about," said Amity, slightly defensively, like that was none of her business...the protectiveness warmed her heart.

"Can..can I go see her?"

Luz could feel the sweat on her forehead, as she took off her mask.

Now...was all her worry really unwarranted....?

"Can..can I go see her?", stammered Amity, cursing inwardly as she couldn't quite get her voice to settle.

In response..Luminicent took her mask of, surprising Amity by the sudden action.

But well..it was kinda strange that the leader still had the mask on when they were already in her home base so unless her identity was some kind of secret, there was no reason to still wear it...Amity wouldn't know who she really was anyway..

Or so she thought, until Luminicent laid the mask on the table and their eyes met.

All thinking in Amity's head ceased as she took in the newly revealed face.

The dark olive skin..

Familiar eyes.

Her brain was desperately providing expansions to what she was seeing before her..but one seemed more impossible then the next.

'That is impossible..'

'But Luz is here..maybe the resemblance is because Luminicent is family of Luz or something...'

'She wouldn't take off her mask like that if that was the case you dumbass!'

...

"Hi..A..Amity.." said...Luz..doing her very best to keep looking at her.

Amity looked back at her girlfriend..her brain completely unresponsive.

This..she...Luz...

She was here...

Standing in her reach...right now.

Her search was over before it even began.

Her Luz was awkwardly smiling at her, as if she never once doubted they would see each-other again.

Was she really awake?

Was she about to suddenly wake only to be in a hospital bed...or back at the school on the isles..

Amity pinched herself.

"Pffff.."

Her eyes snapped to Luz who was stifling laughter with the back of her hand.

"Sorry..." said Luz quietly, smiling at her.

It did not feel real at all.

And yet..it was.

She was here.

Amity stared at Luz, older...so differently looking then the one she knew.

Breaking world records at how fast she could fall in love with each and every new part that she could see.

But..it felt like she was forgetting something rather important..

"You should really take a breath Amity.."

Oh, so that's what she was forgetting...

How does one do that again...?

"Amity!!"

She felt her vision darken and body fall, but then..strong hands caught her, holding her close.

"I got you.."

If she had air in her lungs, she would say something.

But right now, her body was free from worry and oxygen alike...

So the only thing she could do was enjoy the butterflies in her stomach and fall wholeheartedly in love with Luz Noceda.