Chapter Text
Act I: Bonds Forged
“Mija, make sure you don’t go past the playground!”
“Listen to your mother, Luz.”
“I won’t, Mami! I will, Papi!”
Five-year-old Luz practically skipped away from her parents as they set out their picnic lunch. The spirited girl was beaming as she rushed over to the swings. They were her absolute favorite part of the playground. If she pumped her legs just right, then she knew that she would be able to finally fly over the bar and join the birds!
She was climbing on one of the swings when someone roughly shoved her off and onto the ground. Luz cried as she scraped her hands and knees when she fell. Tears filled her brown eyes and she turned around to see what had happened.
Billy Graham sneered down at her. He was older than her and a lot bigger. He was also a massive jerk who took pleasure in tormenting Luz particularly.
“Hey, Luzer,” Billy taunted. “I thought I told you that your scrawny butt wasn’t allowed to play on my playground.”
Luz’s bottom lip started to tremble and she bit it while she tried to calm her panic. She shakily got to her feet and nervously grabbed at the hem of her shirt. A quick look showed that her parents hadn’t noticed what had happened. Not very surprising considering they missed a lot of things that happened with Luz.
Being called scrawny hit a sore point with Luz. She was smaller than everyone in her kindergarten class. She also had a hard time following directions. Even when she tried to do what she was told, something stirred within her and she was being bad before she even realized it. That made other kids her age want nothing to do with her. It wasn’t uncommon for a classmate to complain if they had to play or work with Luz because she was bad at everything.
It hurt. A lot.
“You don’t own the playground, Billy,” Luz said defiantly despite the way her belly squirmed like she’d had milk. “I can play here if I want to!”
There was a reason why everyone in kindergarten was afraid of Billy. The seven-year-old boy had already been the oldest in his kindergarten class the first time he had taken it. But now that he was in kindergarten again, his age difference was very obvious. Billy took advantage of this by being mean to the smaller kids. Luz was his favorite to pick on.
Made evident when Billy lashed out with his foot and kicked Luz in the stomach to send her back to the ground.
An audience had gathered around the two kids to form a ring that separated them from view of their parents who were socializing. Luz tearfully looked around the other kids, many of whom she recognized as her classmates. But there were no warm looks being sent her way. No one was coming to her aid to stand up for her against the playground bully.
“Get it through your head, Luzer,” Billy taunted. “No one wants you here. I bet that not even your parents want you around.”
The tears began to spill. “That’s not true,” Luz protested.
Billy laughed and looked at the parents. “I don’t see them coming over here, do you? Wouldn’t they be watching if they cared about you?”
Shouts and words of agreement came from the other children. Luz looked through the ring of children and saw that not a single parent was watching what was happening. They were all laughing with each other. Weren’t parents supposed to watch their kids?!
What hurt the most was when she saw her parents focusing on eating their picnic lunch.
“Mami? Papi?” Luz whispered. Her entire body started trembling. “Why don’t they see?”
“Because they don’t care,” Billy laughed. “No one cares about you, Luzer. Do us a favor and go away.”
Again, not a single voice came to Luz’s defense. She ignored the pain in her stomach and shakily got to her feet. She took a couple of steps towards her parents. At that moment, all she wanted was for her mom to wrap her in a tight hug and tell her that everything would be alright.
But then she saw her mom take another bite of a sandwich and laugh with her dad. Then, the sadness turned to anger. Luz narrowed her eyes and spun around to run the other way. She pushed her way through the ring and ran the opposite direction of her parents. To the very place where she wasn’t supposed to go, ever.
To the Gravesfield Graveyard.
A rather unfortunate oversight occurred when the playground had been planned. The graveyard was a short distance on the other side of the trees. Luz was sprinting through the trees, tears flying behind her as the laughs and taunts burned her ears. She didn’t stop until she traded trees for tombstones.
Heart pounding and chest heaving, Luz aimlessly wandered around the tombstones. She liked to read the names and the in memoriam. Some of them were the typical messages left by grieving families. Others were more entertaining and made Luz smile softly. But only one of them was her favorite.
Her feet stopped before the tombstone with the carved owl on it.
“Who are you?” Luz asked, not for the first time. “Why would someone leave a tombstone with an owl and no name?”
There were no frantic calls from her parents, so Luz figured that she had a little bit of time. She sat down across from the tombstone and looked at it with a sad smile. Her imagination ran wild as she wondered what kind of person the tombstone represented. Maybe it was someone who studied birds for a living? Or maybe someone magical who used the majestic birds as a means of communication?
Whoever the person was, it saddened Luz that she had nothing further to remember them by.
On an impulse, Luz reached forward and traced the owl’s carving with her fingers. “What kind of person were you?” she wondered out loud.
Under the touch of her fingers, Luz was able to identify something that her eyes had not picked up on. She frowned and leaned forward as she removed her finger. Her eyes widened in surprise and excitement.
There were carvings within the carvings!
As a girl with no friends, Luz spent most of her free time reading. Being able to read basic chapter books did not enthrall her to her peers who were still struggling with their letters. But it was apparently a useful skill to have when one discovered a hidden engraving like this.
“’Buried here be the key to the first and the last,’” Luz read out loud as she squinted and leaned close to pick up on the tiny text. “’To build. To burn. To explore ho…ri…zons unknown. A…Awaiting a heart so pure.’” Luz’s eyes lit up when she finished. “A key for an adventure!” she squealed. “I have a pure heart! I’m the only one I know to save snake skins in case snakes want them back later!”
She looked at the dirt she was kneeling on and started to feel uneasy. Was she seriously considering digging in a grave? That seemed like one of those bad things that her parents would definitely not approve of. But if the owl carving was true, then there was a key here.
Maybe it wouldn’t be bad to dig a little bit?
In the end, the desire to follow the owl’s words won out. Luz began scraping back the dirt to the side. It was surprisingly loose for such an old tombstone and grave. She was a few inches in with dirt sticking uncomfortably beneath her nails when her fingers bumped against something hard.
“Please don’t be a coffin, please don’t be a coffin,” Luz mumbled as she brushed the last of the dirt aside.
Thankfully, it was a small box. Definitely too small to house anything smaller than a small bird. Maybe the grave was for an actual owl? That thought made Luz fidget more uncomfortably than the thought of coming across a human’s.
“Alright, Noceda,” Luz said to herself. “You already did the digging. The hero doesn’t turn back when they’re so close, so you can’t either.”
She was both relieved and disappointed when she opened the box and found herself staring at a vial of blue liquid.
“Huh,” Luz deadpanned. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
Slowly, Luz set the box down and took out the vial. The stopper was made of a carved wooden owl. Just like the one on the tombstone. The blue liquid glistened like starlight as it caught the sun. Luz beamed at it.
“So pretty,” Luz gushed. “I wonder what it smells like?”
Whoever had put the stopper in had done a very thorough job. Luz tried to remove it gently but it would not budge. She even tried wiggling it around and still the stopper remained stubborn. Luz was just about to use her teeth when she heard shouting.
“Mija, you better not be playing in the graveyard again!”
Shocked at hearing her mother’s angry voice, Luz squeezed the glass vial too hard. It shattered in her hand and cut her palm. The blue liquid spilled all over her. As the blue liquid made contact with her bleeding palm, the skin started to sizzle and burn. Luz gasped in pain, too stunned to do anything else or to relinquish her hold on the remains of the glass vial.
“No, no, no, no,” Luz whimpered, more in fear than in pain. “Mami and Papi are going to be so mad at me if they find out I dug at a grave!”
Her eyes drifted to the small pond off to the side of the graveyard. Maybe she could wash away the evidence?
Scrambling to her feet, Luz ran over to the still water and stuck her bleeding hand in. She dropped the cracked vial and watched as it floated to the bottom. The blue liquid continued to seep from the glass and spread out in the water in wisps. Luz kept her hand in the water and watched in awe as the blue wisps began to float to her bleeding palm. It hurt when the blue reached her skin and began to seep into her cut, but Luz was too stunned to move. She couldn’t look away as it began to grow difficult to tell where her blood ended and the blue liquid began.
“Interesting. You shall do nicely.”
The new voice startled Luz and she glanced all around the graveyard. There was no sign of anyone. Not even her parents.
“Down here.”
Luz slowly looked down to the pond and had to suppress a scream.
Staring back at her was something furry with a horned skull over its face. One yellow eye stared at her from one eye socket while a weird worm-like thing wiggled from the other. The furry thing was wearing a bathrobe and was clasping its paws together.
“What are you?” Luz asked in surprise once the fear wore off.
The furry thing chuckled. “All in good time. But for now, I think it’s time to introduce you to the adventure you were promised.”
Before Luz could realize what was happening, the furry thing in the reflection reached for Luz’s submerged hand with its paw and clasped it. Luz squeaked when she felt it and tried to remove her hand. But the hold on hers was too strong and she couldn’t free it.
This time, she didn’t have time to scream as a massive tug pulled her into the water.
Pain came before the fear. What had started in her palm spread to every inch of her body. Luz cried out and lost precious air in the water. Air bubbles surrounded her face and she instinctively covered her mouth with her free hand to prevent herself from losing even more. Her eyes clenched shut and she felt herself being dragged down further and further.
Luz was about to lose her hold on her breath when the hold on her hand was relinquished. She could feel something gently brush against her cheek.
“I look forward to seeing you do great things, my child,” the voice said gently. “Remember that your perseverance is your strength. Good luck.”
The breath was about to burst in Luz’s lungs. Her hand wavered and she lost control of her breathing. Bubbles surrounded her and Luz was about to inhale the water in a desperate attempt to breathe in something.
Her head broke the surface before she could drown.
Luz coughed and flailed around as she struggled to swim. It had never been a skill of hers. “Mami! Papi!” she cried fearfully.
She looked around for her parents. Surely they had seen her get dragged in the water? But there was no sign of them. In fact, there was no sign of the graveyard at all.
How had she gone from a little pond in the graveyard to the ocean?!
Waves pushed Luz around and her head bobbed in and out of the water. She coughed and struggled to keep her head above the water. But her feet felt heavy and didn’t kick right. The panic was setting in and she wasn’t picking up on much else going on.
“Hey, kid, what are you doing?!”
Luz was stunned to hear another voice. She tried to look around her surroundings. There was a beach, but it was too far for Luz to swim.
“Help!” Luz cried. Her head dipped in and out of the water again. “Please!”
“Hang on, kid!”
Her body was feeling too heavy. Her legs were like stone and were pulling her down in the ocean. Luz whimpered in fear when her head started to submerge once again. In a last fit of strength, she held her hand out even as the rest of her began to sink.
This time she was relieved when someone grabbed her hand and pulled.
Luz coughed as she was pulled out of the water. Her head was swimming and black dots were dancing across her vision. She was barely aware of her body being held protectively against someone’s chest.
“I’ve got you,” the voice said. “You’re okay. Titan, how did you survive the Boiling Sea? Your fur is scalding hot!”
Fur? What a weird thing to say. That was the last thing to pass through Luz’s mind as exhaustion crashed down on her and she passed out.
When Luz came to, she was lying in a white room on a stiff bed with a scratchy white blanket covering her. She blinked tiredly and glanced around while her mind struggled to figure out what had happened.
“Mami?” Luz croaked. “Papi?”
Tears blurred Luz’s eyes. Where were her parents? She had heard her mother back in the graveyard. Had they pulled her out of the water?
Luz shakily sat up. Her head spun and she closed her eyes before she pressed a hand to her forehead.
Wait…why was her hand so soft?
Luz’s eyes shot open and she held her hands in front of her. A strangled whimper escaped her when she saw that her arms and hands were covered in gray fur. Her fingernails were elongated into claws. Luz’s hands shook as she held them in front of her. What was going on?!
A quick glance around the room revealed a mirror hanging off of a door in the corner. Luz scrambled off of the bed, nearly falling as her legs were too weak and shaky to properly support her. She limped over to the mirror and a louder whimper escaped her throat.
The fur wasn’t located just to her arms and hands. It covered almost her entire body. Luz lifted the hospital gown she was wearing to check. The only space that was fur-free was her face and neck. Her feet were completely changed and were now paws with two claws and metal plating that covered them up to her knees. A gray, bushy tail that poked out from behind her was beginning to lead Luz to the conclusion that she was a werewolf when she looked at the top of her head.
“Werewolves definitely don’t have horns,” Luz said shakily.
Sitting on top of her head, poking through her now short, messy purple hair, were two small, curved horns with strange symbols engraved in them. Luz hesitated before she reached up to touch them. She gasped when she could feel her feel her touch. And were her ears pointier than they had been that morning? Purple eyes with yellow sclera stared back at her in horror and confusion.
What was going on?!
Luz’s nose was what snapped her out of her shocked stupor. Something that smelled flowery was breaking through the sterile smell of the room. She turned around and saw that someone had opened the other door and was standing in the doorway. Luz’s eyes widened and she stepped back nervously.
“Where are my Mami and Papi?” Luz asked timidly.
The stranger was wearing white robes and was holding a clipboard. The woman had a kind face and warm brown eyes. If it weren’t for the woman’s pointy ears and the fangs that were visible when she smiled, then Luz wouldn’t have thought anything out of the ordinary.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” the woman said gently. “My name is Healer Dawn. You were rescued from the Boiling Sea by a member of the Emperor’s Coven and brought here when you lost consciousness.”
Luz gripped her white gown. “I want Mami and Papi,” she sniffed.
Healer Dawn slowly entered the room and sat on a chair that wasn’t close enough to frighten Luz any further. “I’m sure, sweetheart,” she said. “Can you tell us where your parents live? The Emperor’s Coven hasn’t found any sign of demons looking for their lost pup.”
Demon? Luz shook her head and pressed her back against the mirror. “I’m not a demon,” Luz said softly. “I’m a human. I want my Mami.”
The healer frowned. “Sweetheart, you are clearly not a human,” she said slowly. “You do not have any venom from what we have found, and all of the latest research shows that humans are not covered in fur or have horns. Are you trying to hide from your parents? Or are you a pack-based demon? No one has ever seen a demon like you before.”
“I’m not a demon!” Luz insisted. She slid down the wall and pulled her knees to her chest. Sobs shook her small frame. “I’m a girl. I’m a human girl. I want my mami.”
Healer Dawn sighed. “Can I get your name then?” she asked. “It will help with the investigation.”
Sniffing, Luz lifted her head. “Luz. Luz Noceda. Mami said to tell the police that I live at 1022 Digger Street in Gravesfield, Connecticut if I ever get lost.”
“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Luz,” Healer Dawn said kindly. “I’ll report this information to the Emperor’s Coven member in charge of your case.” Her smile faltered. “But I’m afraid that I’ve never heard of Gravesfield, Connecticut before.”
Luz’s heart dropped in her stomach.
Days passed and Luz was forced to stay in the hospital room. Healer Dawn came to check on her multiple times a day. She would check over Luz to make sure that she was doing alright. Nothing was wrong with Luz, according to Healer Dawn. But they couldn’t figure out what kind of demon she was (“I’m not a demon!”) and they couldn’t find anyone looking for a Luz Noceda.
At the end of each day, Luz would cry for her Mami and Papi to come find her. During the times when Luz felt really upset and scared, strange things happened. The room would get really bright. The water in her jug would turn to ice and back again. Once, the plant that Healer Dawn had brought her grew fangs and tried to eat the healer’s robes. When those strange things happened, Healer Dawn would give Luz a treat to make her feel better. Luz liked how they tasted, but she didn’t like how she got sleepy after and wouldn’t wake up until much later.
After a week with no sign of her parents, Luz was pacing in her room. She was wearing a pair of shorts with a hole cut out for her tail and a t-shirt that was too big for her. They were the only clothes available for her, as her own had burned up in the Boiling Sea while she had remained unharmed. Luz was not allowed to leave the room and she was growing increasingly agitated by that with each passing hour.
Luz was sitting on her bed with a book that Healer Dawn had given her. Her tail was lashing wildly behind her. No matter how hard Luz tried, her tail would always betray whatever she was feeling. Luz sniffed and wiped at her eyes when the tears blurred her vision too much to see the words on the page.
She wanted to go home. She wanted her mami and papi. But she couldn’t even leave the room. When she had tried, she found out that the door was locked. The only person who talked to her was Healer Dawn. Not even the realization that the woman was a witch was enough to overcome the fear and sadness that was weighing the young girl down more and more each day.
“Mami, Papi, where are you?” Luz whimpered.
Healer Dawn’s scent wafted in Luz’s nose from the other side of the door. Luz looked over and watched numbly as a locking sound came from the door before it opened. The woman entered the room with a too-wide smile on her face and something in her hands. She closed the door behind her and created a glowing circle with her finger which Luz had learned on day one was actually a locking spell on the door.
“Good morning, Luz,” Healer Dawn said cheerfully. “Did you sleep well? They’re still making your breakfast, but I thought I would come and see you first.”
Luz shrugged resignedly. “Can I go outside?” she asked wearily. “Maybe Mami and Papi don’t know that I’m here and they’ll see me if I’m outside.”
Healer Dawn’s smile faltered. “But sweetheart, we need to keep you safe while we figure things out,” she said, not for the first time. “The Emperor’s Coven is hard at work trying to figure things out for you. You’re a very special girl, Luz.”
“I’m not special,” Luz said as she looked down at her book. “I just want to go home.”
There was a moment of silence before Healer Dawn cleared her throat. “I have something for you,” she said, her voice oddly squeaky. “It’s a present from the Emperor’s Coven itself!”
Luz watched impassively as Healer Dawn sat on the bed beside her. She had tried to learn more about the Boiling Isles and the Demon Realm from the books that she’d been given, but they were too hard for Luz to read by herself. And it wasn’t like Healer Dawn hung around long enough to help her with those parts.
When Luz didn’t say anything, Healer Dawn held out her hand to show what she’d been carrying. It was a necklace made from a braided black cord with a green gem hanging from its center. The green gem was surrounded by metal and gave it a spiky look. Luz looked from the necklace to Healer Dawn with a blank look in her eyes.
“Why?” Luz asked simply.
Without a word, Healer Dawn put the necklace around Luz’s neck. Luz noticed that the woman’s hands were shaking.
“It looks so pretty on you,” Healer Dawn said, voice trembling. “Just one last detail to make it perfect.”
The older woman created a spell circle and Luz felt the necklace tighten. Not uncomfortably so to the point where it obstructed her breathing. But enough so that when Luz tried to take it off, it would not budge.
“Healer Dawn, I don’t want it,” Luz whined. “Please take it off.”
“But you look so pretty with it,” Healer Dawn insisted. “And now it will never get lost. Isn’t that lovely, Luz?”
Luz groaned and tried to pull it off. “No!” she shrieked. “I don’t want it!”
Startled, Healer Dawn got off the bed. Luz was scared when she saw the tears in the woman’s eyes.
“Luz, you have a special visitor,” Healer Dawn said, voice wavering as she slowly walked towards the door. “Be a good girl, okay?”
“Where are you going?” Luz cried. “Please don’t go!”
The sound of the door unlocking snapped Luz’s attention away from the clearly anxious healer. The door opened and a new face entered.
A stranger, another woman, waited until Healer Dawn hurriedly exited before she closed the door and locked it. She was dressed in a long black dress with a white cloak hanging from her shoulders. A blue gem rested on her chest. Her long hair was impeccably straight and was a dark navy color. Her green eyes were cold and impassive as she looked at the trembling child sitting on the bed.
“Luz Noceda, I am Lilith Clawthorne,” the woman introduced herself briskly. “I am the Deputy Head of the Emperor’s Coven. I have been put in charge of trying to locate your parents.”
Luz perked up. “Did you find Mami and Papi?” she asked desperately. “They told me not to play in the graveyard, but I was so upset because of Billy and I ran. Mami and Papi were looking for me when the furry guy pulled me in the water.”
Lilith Clawthorne regarded Luz with cold eyes. “Healer Dawn did inform me of the claim that you are human. It would be practical for both of us for you to be honest. Every scan done by Healer Dawn revealed that you are physically a demon. Which pack or herd are you a part of?”
“I’m not a demon,” Luz insisted. “I’m human!”
Sighing irritably, Lilith pinched the bridge between her eyes. “Emperor Belos has taken an interest in your story. By his will, you will be cared for while we figure out what type of demon you are.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Luz said angrily. “Not without Mami or Papi.”
“Why must children be so difficult?” Lilith complained to herself. She lowered her hand and frowned. “Your magical outbursts are the concerning factor now. Healer Dawn has explained that you show no control over your magic when you are upset. Because of this, we had to set up safeguards for your guardians until you can control yourself.”
This was too much for Luz to follow. But she knew that this woman was not someone Luz wanted to be around. She leapt off of the bed and ran around the woman to try and open the door. Predictably, the door was locked and Luz could not open it no matter how hard she pulled. Luz turned around and stared fearfully at Lilith who was watching her with a raised eyebrow. Every instinct was telling Luz to get away from this woman. Luz scrambled to the other side of the room and pressed herself against the mirror.
“I want to go home,” Luz cried.
Lilith sighed and raised her hand. In her palm, she held a watch. “I had hoped that you would be a rational child,” Lilith said evenly. “But you’ll soon learn to listen to the adults trying to help you.” Without breaking eye contact, Lilith pressed her thumb to the watch’s face.
Luz opened her mouth to shout at the woman when she felt something pinch at her neck. She looked in the mirror and her eyes widened when she saw that the metal spikes surrounding the jewel on the necklace had pinched her neck. Luz tried to lift her hands to grab at the necklace again when a sudden weariness overtook her.
This was worse than the candies that Healer Dawn had made her eat. Those made Luz feel a little sleepy. But now, Luz could feel her entire body slide down into sleep faster than she had ever experienced before.
Groaning, Luz fell to the floor. Her eyes were so heavy. She was so tired. Through blurry eyes, Luz could see Lilith approach her.
“Do not fear, Luz Noceda. Emperor Belos has taken an interest in you. He will ensure that you are well-cared for.”
Unable to do anything, Luz’s eyes shut and she sighed as sleep overtook her.