Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Luz exited the supermarket, both arms currently holding two bags packed with snacks and other goodies for the weekend. A smile crossed her features as she ran through the list of things she had planned.

It was time for Amity to spend her weekend in the human realm, and this was going to be extra good

Camila was going to be out of town for a veterinary clinic three towns over, and Vee was going on a camping trip with her friends she when she first arrived in the human realm

That means Luz and Amity were going to be alone, with no adult supervision

Which meant one thing…..

THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH SUGAR!!!! DIETARY RESTRICTIONS WERE OUT THE WINDOW BABY!!!!!

She strolled over to the car, and opened the back door and placed the goods in the back seat, she buckled them in for safety, she then closed the door the sign across the way that read grand opening catching her eye

The small complex added a new store, why had she not heard of it. She looked at the bags through the glass, realizing there was nothing time sensitive to get home, and she decided that she could take a look

She looked both ways, before hurrying across the street to the new storefront and peered in through the glass window at the interior. It seemed filled to the brim with various items, most of which seemed knick-knacky. It sort of resembled Eda’s old stall in the market which filled Luz with a bit of nostalgia.

The elderly gentleman sat behind the counter, his eyes skimming the magazine in his head when the sound of the bell that hung above the door drew his attention. He looked up to see the young teen enter the store, and he offered her a genuine smile

“Welcome whipper-snapper. Looking for anything specific?”

Luz grinned and shook her head, “Not really, just thought I would just browse.”

The man nodded, “Well, take your time, never know what you might find.”

Luz started to wander the shelves that were haphazardly placed around the area, looking at several snowglobes, cassette tapes, she did find some old cosmic frontier action figures and added the to a small empty box she found on a shelf, seeing as Gus and Hunter might get quite a kick out of them. She noticed a bookshelf near the back, and decided to give it a once over before she headed back home. To her surprise, it contained old computer and console games. Her eyes went over the spines, her eyes widened at one particular

AZURA: HECATE’S REIGN

She had heard of this game through rumors in online forums, it was considered to be lost to time as the company that had made it went under long ago and the source code was thought to had been erased

She picked up the box, looking over all the sides but could not see a sticker or tag anywhere on its surface. She looked up towards the front desk, deciding that it would not hurt to ask….

The old man heard the footsteps, looking to see the teen walking towards his carrying the old box, he grinned

“Find something that piques your interest?” He asked, as Luz set the box on to the counter and slid it towards him. He started to pull the items out of the box and write down the numbers on the tags attached into a small book

He picked up the game box next, flipping it over in his hands, eyes narrowing

“Yeah, that one did not have a price.” Luz said, the old man looking up at her

“Hmmmm….” He muttered, “Well, no tag, no problem. Just take it.” He said, setting it down and opening the box, and making sure the cd’s for it were still inside. “Seems to be complete, so you should be good to go…”

“You….your just going to let me have it?” Luz asked, awe in her voice

The old man shrugged, “Eh, these games are too complex nowadays, give me a simple game of solitaire any day” He stated with a grin. “Would you like a bag for these?”

Luz nodded, and the man accepted the meager amount for the action figures, placing all the items into an old plastic bag and handed it over to Luz.

“Enjoy your day!” He said, as Luz pushed the door out and headed back to her car.

Luz could not believe her luck, she and Amity needed to play that game ASAP, and she was sure going to be getting some clout in the Azura forums for her find!

Luz arrived home shortly after, walking into the house, nearly tripping over the luggage sitting by the door when she entered her home.

Camila peered around the corner from the kitchen, giving her daughter a small smile. “Mija, did you get what you needed for the weekend?”

Luz grinned, “That and more!”

Camila raised an eyebrow at that, as Luz walked into the room and set her bags on the counter. “I found a cool antique store at the strip mall, and got some neat things!”

“That’s nice, now before I go….” Camila said narrowing her eyes at Luz

“I made several meals that you girls can heat up for dinner and supper. I marked them in the fridge.”

Luz nodded, and Camila turned and pointed at the small note attached to the fridge

“Emergency numbers are written down in case…”

Luz shook her head, “Mami, I know how to handle things in case something goes wrong.”

“I know Mija, those are for Amity.”

Now it was Luz’s turn to narrow her eyes, “What could I do that would require….”

Camila raised her eyebrow with a smirk, “Do I need to pull out the old family videos, or as me and Manny called them, the Luz Noceda Blooper reel?”

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM” Luz let out a mock wail, getting a chuckle

“Allright, I kid, I kid. But Amity will be shown those later, or gifted them the day of your wedding ....”

Luz scurried to the back of her mother, gently pushing her towards the door at the front of the house

“You can leave now!”

Camila grinned, turning on the spot and hugging her daughter.

“Okay Mija, just behave okay?”

Luz wrapped her arms around her mom, returning the hug ten fold. “I will. Promise”

Luz and Camila walked to the door and the duo packed up the car, and Luz watched as Camila pulled out of the drive and headed down the road. Luz sighed and looked at the King watch that Eda got her, she had several hours to get things ready for Amity’s arrival. She better get too it

She headed back inside, grabbing the plastic bag from the kitchen counter and hurried up to her bedroom. Collapsing into her chair, she spun and opened the box and removed the cd. She grinned and she put into the disk tray, waiting for it to be read

Several mouse clicks later the installation process had begun, and she sprinted from her seat to put away the food she had gotten on her trip.

Chapter Text

Amity exited the door attached to the old shack and stood on the porch of the small hut in the middle of the woods, she stood for a minute as the gentle breeze blew through the trees. She pulled the shoulder bag closer to her torso and headed down the now well worn path that led to the sidewalk that was located close to the Noceda household.

Amity could not help but smile, she much enjoyed her stays in the human realm. It was much less chaotic than the demon realm, and more time with Luz was always a good thing!

A smile creeped across her features, as she walked out of the spotty shade of the trees and onto the concrete path, turning to the left she saw the familiar house several feet down and she had to fight her urge to sprint to the house, as she wanted to appear calm, cool and collected.

She walked up the path, stopping in front of the closed door and reached out and rang the doorbell. The gentle electronic chime echoed from the interior, as Amity stood and waited, she knew that it would take less than 5 seconds for Luz too…..

The door was pulled open with such force that Amity was surprised that it was not ripped off of its hinges. She was soon embraced in a bone crushing hug and being spun in a circle. Honestly, Amity would not have had it any other way

“SWEET POTATO!”

After a moment, Amity was placed back onto the ground, the face of favorite person filling her vision. She felt her cheeks already growing hot, damn, she thought she was getting that under control

“Hi, Luz…” She said, as Luz pulled her into the house and shutting the door behind her

Amity walked further into the small house, which filled her with a sense of belonging. Ever since she spent the months there while stranded in the human realm with the others, Luz’s house started to feel like a second home to her. The duo entered the living as Luz pulled her towards the couch, and plopped down on one of the cushions

“So…..I have a whole inventory for things to do this weekend! But first, we need to get the most important thing out of the way….” Luz said, leaning in closer to Amity

“Wh ... .Which Is?” Amity said as Luz leaned in closer, she felt her face heating up once more

“You need to tell me all that I missed while I was stuck in boring human school! Gosh, I miss the chaos of the demon realm sometimes….” Luz groaned, flopping back onto the couch, covering her eyes with her forearm as Amity let out a small giggle

Okay, so….” Amity began, making Luz sit up and give her the most undivided of attention. After about half an hour, Luz leaned back, laughing at the last tale that had been shared.

Luz wheezed between her laughs, trying to form a sentence

“Okay…w…wait, how did Edric….get out of…. the tree?”

Amity grinned, “The branch he was on snapped.”

Luz slapped her hands over her mouth, letting out a snort as she rolled off the couch and hit the hardwood floor of the living room with an audible thud.

“LUZ!!!!” Amity said, shooting up out of her seat, waiting to make sure that her girlfriend was okay

The human waved her hand “Fine ... .I'm fine….” Luz said, her eyes going to the open curtain of the living room window seeing the sun starting to disappear over the horizon.

Luz got up off the floor, holding out her hand to Amity

“Care to join me for dinner Ms. Blight?”

Amity grinned, placing her hand in Luz’s rising to full height as the two worked their way towards the kitchen. Luz pulled Amity to the fridge, and opened the door and saw the prepared meals that Camila had left them

“Oh, Mom made your favorite!” Luz said, reaching in and removing the plate and showing it to the pale witch

Amity perked up at that, her eyes landing on the plate of cheese sandwiches in front of her.

Amity took the plate and headed towards the table, as Luz removed her meal and placed it in the microwave and tapped the numbers on the side and started to heat it back up. She then joined her guest at the table

“So, what's next on your agenda?” Amity said, removing the plastic wrap covering the plate

“You’ll see, it's something really special!” Luz said with a knowing grin, making Amity ever more curious

They continued their meal,. Amity inquired on Stringbean's whereabouts, seeing as she had yet to make herself known and she was informed that she sent her with Vee, thinking that her palisman would love not being cooped up in the house all weekend, and besides, she wanted this weekend to just be her and Amity.

Amity had the same idea, and left Ghost in the care of her brother and sister for the weekend, as she too wanted it to be just the two of them.

After they had finished their meals and washed and dried the dishes, they decided to head upstairs.

Luz opened the door to her room, Amity smiled upon entering, seeing her cot up next to Luz’s bed. Sure, she could have had the top bunk since Vee was at camp, but something about it felt comforting to her.

Luz walked over to her computer that sat on her desk, and sat down in her chair.

She dragged the mouse across the pad it sat on, clicking at the screen

“Wait until you see this!” Luz declared, proudly

Amity walked over and took her seat next to Luz’s and saw the window open up on the devices screen, she raised her eyebrow

“A…game?” Amity said, unsure why that was so special

“Yeah! Let me explain.” Luz said, clearing her throat, “This is one of the first Azura games that was ever made, or so everyone online thinks. It was never officially released, seeing as the company that made it closed before it shipped. I believe they used the game as a tax write off and never released it to the public.”

Amity listened to Luz’s explanation, then at the screen in front of her

“Wait….then why do you have it?” Amity asked, confusion in her voice

“Get this, I found it a shop similar to Eda’s old stall in the marketplace. I guess some had been made before the studio got shut down. How lucky is that?”

Amity stared for a moment, “Pretty lucky.” She stated, sensing Luz’s enthusiasm

“I figured we could play it together, seeing as how it is a game where choices you make affect the story of the game supposedly…..if you want too?” Luz said

Amity placed her head on Luz’s shoulder, Luz seemed to desperately want to play this, she could hear it in her voice, and Amity was not going to be the one that ever rained on Luz’s parade. She gave Luz her most genuine smile

“I would like that, Batata.”

The human’s eyes lit up, and she dragged the onscreen cursor over towards the button on the lower left of the screen and selected BEGIN GAME

Chapter Text

The screen faded in from black, revealing the small interior of a building, npc’s sat around the various tables, making janky movements that were meant to represent conversations with one another. The game camera panned over slowly to the door of the building, it opened and in walked a robed figure.

The character options popped up, and Luz looked over at Amity

“Okay, so who should we play as?”

Amity looked at Luz, and then back at the screen

“Wait….” Amity said, “This is the character creator? Where are all the option?”

Luz chuckled, “Ah, see, this game is really old. Back in the ancient days, things were a lot simpler.”

Amity did not say it, but this seemed like a better choice. She really did not want to spend over two hours perfecting her avatar.

Her eyes went over the options, Luz and her having discussions on certain builds, and after about five minutes had agreed on one of the avatars. Luz clicked on the option and the window closed, the figure reached up and lowered the hood, revealing a low polygon face that sort of resembled their choice and walked up to the counter at the far end of the room

The figure lowered into a chair, a text box appearing on the lower part of the screen

“Has anyone suspicious passed through here in the last several days?”

“....”

The Bartender turned towards the character, walking across the small gap between them

“What’s it to you?”

“A horde of bandits came through and pillaged my village, they kidnapped some townsfolk. I have been tasked to….”

The preordained conversation was cut short when the door to the tavern flew open again, and a man stumbled in

“H…Help….”

The NPC collapsed onto the floor of the tavern, and Luz piloted her character over to him

No options popped up that would allow her to interact with him, but a text box popped up none the less

The image of the man seemed more detailed than the other two that she had seen thus far, and words of text began to fill the box

“You…need to…...STOP PLAYING…ITS FOR…YOUR…OWN…GOOD…”

The avatar then stopped moving, and Luz and Amity stared blankly at the screen

“That’s weird? Maybe the game is trying to be Meta?” Luz stated moving the cursor to the fallen NPC and tried clicking on him; any attempt was useless as no text box or options to interact popped up.

Undeterred, Luz sent her character back to the bartender and tried to continue her conversation, but clicking on him was the same result as with trying to interact with the now deceased NPC, nothing would trigger an interaction

Amity tilted her head, “Maybe the game glitched?”

Luz nodded, “Yeah, let's see if we can leave and continue anyway…”

Her avatar exited the tavern, and found themselves in the overworld map. Luz moved the cursor over several landmarks nearest to her

The Weeping Forest

The Cursed Mines

Lake of Sorrows

“Where should we check first?” Luz asked, looking over at Amity

“How about the…. Mines?” Amity muttered, after a moment of contemplation

“Sounds good to me.” Luz agreed, clicking on the location

The screen faded to black, and for a brief moment the girls imaged their reflections on the screen of the monitor

What was unexpected is when Amity let out a small squeak and spun in her chair and stared at the wall that was behind them

Luz looked at the witchling, whose eyes were now glancing around the small room

“Amity? What’s wrong?”

The pale witch took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She then looked over at Luz

“I…thought…never mind. My mind’s playing tricks on me.” Amity stated “Let’s just keep playing

Luz gave a small frown, but turned back to the screen as game faded back in, not seeing Amity slightly turn and look behind her once more

She could have sworn that when the monitor had gone black, she had seen something standing behind Luz, it had only been for a second, but she was sure whoever it was had a sinister smile

Luz found herself at the entry of a dimly lit tunnel, and she started her way down it, after about a minute she found herself standing in a large cavern. The walls were speckled with sparkling gems, the sounds of grunts were coming from slightly ahead of her

Another text box appeared on the lower part of the screen

“INTRUDERS!!!!”

A small group of goblins armed with pickaxes and other mining equipment rushed Luz’s character, and an intense sounding theme began to play.

The screen switched to a battle screen, and Luz looked at her options.

She had flee, attack and items at her disposal

Luckily she had the advantage of her turn being first, so she decided to see if flee was an option

However, she was told the group had her surrounded, so winning this battle was going to be her best chance

She clicked on attack, clicked on her fire spell

She sent a wave of fire, luckily hitting two out of the four goblins on the screen, lowering their HP to one, and inflicting one with a burn status

Her enemies attacked, and both Luz and Amity hissed when they realized how much damage they were dealing, soon finding themselves lowered down to only remaining hit points, as Luz tapped her chin debating her options

Luckily the burn effect dropped one of the goblins HP to 0 and removed them from the board, but the three remaining were still a threat. Healing would not allow her to attack, and she did not think that she would survive the next turn of attacks that most likely would come her way. She decided to risk it, thinking that she was a fool for not saving before entering the mine

She clicked on her fire spell once more, and felled the one that was caught in the first wave, and luckily hit the other two, fate was on her side this time as the words critical hit appeared over both their heads and reduced them to 0 and they faded off the screen.

“That was really lucky.” Amity stated, leaning back in her chair as Luz hummed in agreement

Luz’s level rose by one, increasing several of her stats, and then went back to the exploration screen. In front of her character were now the fallen goblins, as she walked over to one and clicked on it. An option box popped up with one word on it

LOOT

She selected it, and an inventory panel popped up, a meager amount of gold was all this one had, but she took it anyway as it would most likely be useful later down the road.

Amity smiled, “Looting corpses Luz? Eda would be so proud of you…”

Luz let out a snort at that, and continued to check the other fallen enemies, one was carrying something called a strange key, so she took it

Another text box appeared, with the word “HELP!!!!!!”

Luz raised her eyebrow and started to walk around the cavern, on the far right side was a door, and Luz clicked open it, but was informed that it was locked

She grinned as she selected the key from the inventory and the sound of a latch clicking was heard. She entered the small space, nothing but dirt lined walls and…..

The visage of a small boy was sitting on the ground, a chain wrapped around him and was secured to the wall holding him in place. Luz moved her character over to him, and before she could click on him the text box popped up

“HELP ME, PLEASE. I WANT TO GO HOME, I WANT MY MOM!!!!!”

Luz waited for conversation options to pop up, but they never did. More words filled the text box

“Wait, are you a new player?…..You can't help me, it's too late for you….she’s going to take you too…..”

Amity sat up, looking at the words on the screen, Luz raising her eyebrow in confusion

“Stay away from mir…”

The game froze, and a shrill sounding shriek came from the computer tower, making Luz and Amity cover their ears at the sudden noise. The everything around them went dark

Luz looked around, “Damn it, did we lose power?” her eyes adjusting to the dark, and rose from her chair and flicked the light switch on the wall near her door, her room remaining engulfed in darkness

Amity got up, and walked over to the window and peered out into the street, the other houses seemed as dark as theirs, but the skies seemed clear of any clouds

“It might be the whole block.” Amity stated, turning back to Luz

“Drat, hopefully that didn’t damage anything…” Luz said walking to her desk and lowering herself and unplugging the cord from the outlet, just to be on the safe side

She rose to her full height, dusting herself off

Amity let out a sigh of relief, she wasn’t going to say it, but she glad they no longer were going to have to play that game, it was starting to give her was Luz would have called the Heebie Jeebies

“Although…” Luz said, taking Amity’s hand in hers “This means we can do one of the other activities I had planned!”

Luz pulled Amity from the room in excitement back towards the stairs towards the lower level with a giggle coming from both girls

Chapter Text

Amity stood at the entry way of the small guest room in the lower level of the house, as Luz struggled to carry the small table to the center of the room

“Do you want me to he…” Amity said, trying to be of some use

“No…I…got…this… Luz said, obviously trying to hide the strain in her voice as she slowly shuffled to the rooms center

After a moment, Luz set the table in the middle of the room and hurried into the hall, yelling behind her as she did

“Okay, stay right there, “I will be right back!”

Amity stood, a smile creeping onto her face at Luz’s goofy antics

Seconds later she reappeared, carrying several of the scented candles that were always stored in the hall closet, and a lighter

“Luz, should you really be playing with fire?” Amity muttered, concern on her face

“Really?” Luz asked, as she placed the candles onto the table she had carried a moment before

“I mean, this seems like one of the reasons your mom left me that list of emergency numbers….”

Luz let out a faux hurtful gasp, “BETRAYED BY MY GIRLFRIEND?”

Amity shook her head in amusement, “Okay, just be safe please.”

Luz lit the candles, and stepped back as the wall across from them filled up with a soft golden glow from the small dancing flames

“What exactly are we doing?” Amity asked, strolling over to Luz’s side

“We are going to put on a shadow puppet show!” Luz declared proudly

“What are… shadow puppets?” Amity asked, confused by the human terminology

“It’s….wait…..are you telling me you’ve never made shadow puppets?” Luz asked

Amity shook her head, “...No?”

Luzz placed a hand on her shoulder, “You sweet child, come here.”

Luz guided Amity over closer to the wall and took her hands in hers and started to bend her appendages into an odd formation, stepping after a brief moment and looked at the wall and then backed to Amity’s hand, not seeing the red that had appeared on the witches cheeks

“There we go!” The human declared, making Amity confused as she stared down at her hand

“I don’t…” She muttered

“Look at the wall, silly!” Luz said, making Amity’s eyes drift over, seeing what her hands were casting onto it

“It’s a bunny rabbit!” Luz said with a grin, “Oh! Bend your fingers a bit!”

Amity did just that, and the shadow followed suit

“Oh, he’s got little floppy ears!” Luz muttered with a coo, making Amity grin

Luz then placed her hand a safe distance from the candle, and began to bend place her hands into a strange formation, Amity then turned her view to the wall and glimpsed the new shadow next to her “rabbit”

Luz bent four fingers on each of her hands, letting out a “Caw-Caw!” as she did

“Ah, that’s cute.” Amity stated, Luz’s expression changed into one of seriousness

“What do you mean cute? I’m a bird of prey, I am fierce!” Luz stated

Amity leaned over and gave Luz a small peck on the cheek, “Sure you are…um…..”

Luz dropped her hands, “What?” She asked, seeing Amity look down at her own hands instead of the shapes they were projecting onto the wall

“What other kinds of animals can we make?” She asked, as Luz’s expression brightened at the inquiry

“I will show you, but we are going to need supplies!” Luz said, scurrying back into the shadowy hallway, leaving Amity alone once more

She heard clattering coming from a room that was hidden in the dark

“Luz, are you…”

Amity’s question died in her throat, as Luz bounded back into the room holding a bag in her arms, packed to the brim with the junkiest food she had ever seen

The next hour Luz showed Amity how to form different animal shapes by adjusting the way she bent her hands, and Amity caught up seeing as she was a fast learner, and soon using abomination goo by adding extra appendages to her hands she was able to create shadow facsimiles of certain Boiling Isles wildlife

However, it did not take long for the girls to basically eat themselves into a sugary induced food coma and were gently snoring on the floor, wrappers of fun sized candy bars and the open package of oreos resting on the table next to the now extinguished candle

Luz sprinted down the rocky tunnel, the sounds of the creatures were drawing closer, she glanced back, which was a mistake

Her foot collided with a rock sticking out of the ground, sending her onto the hard ground with a pained grunt

She then felt the swarm of creatures writhe over her, enveloping her body, she squirmed trying to get out from under them, but it was useless endeavor

Amity’s eyes opened, adjusting to the darkness of the room and rose up to a seated posistion

She looked over to see Luz, covered by a blanket she had grabbed from the hall closet before sleep had overtaken them both

Amity spun a small circle with her finger, giving herself just enough dim light to see that Luz’s expression to be one of worry, her legs moving under the fabric that was covering them

She was clearly having a nightmare, Amity threw the blanket off of herself and crawled over to where her girlfriend was laying and gave her a gentle shake hoping to startle her out of the terror that plaguing her

“Luz, wake up sweetheart…” Amity muttered softly

Luckily, at the sound of the other voice, the humans eyes opened

“A–Amity?” Luz groaned, “Whe…Where…”

“It’s okay Batata, you were just having a nightmare, everything is….”

Amity’s eyes drifted back to the half of Luz’s lower body that was covered by the blanket. It was still moving

Amity quickly reached out, pulling the fabric off of Luz’s

It took all her energy to not let out a shriek of fear

Luz, however was not so brave when the sight revealed itself

Her pajama bottoms were covered by at least twelve slithering snakes, each hissing rather aggressively at the annoyance of being discovered

Luz could not help but kick her legs out of panic, making the creatures hiss and lunge at the teen’s legs, fangs bared as they did

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” Amity screamed, reaching out and creating a small magenta circle that sent a ring of fire out towards the creatures. Luz blinked for a moment, and in the small time it took for the blink to occur, the snakes had vanished

However, some spots of her pajamas were now singed due to how close the spell had been to her legs

“Oh my titan Luz! Are you alright? I didn’t mean….”

“Im fine ... .except for the mental trauma.” Luz said, trying to use humor to diffuse the situation

Amity stood up and held her hand out to Luz, helping the other girl to her feet

“This is serious, Luz.”

Luz looked at Amity, and for a moment her eyes went to the full-length mirror that was behind the witch, and her stomach dropped. She saw her reflection in the glass, and for a moment she could have sworn that someone was behind her

She let out a less than dignified squeak and spun on her heels, her eyes darting around the room, but there was nothing. She felt the reassuring touch of Amity’s hand on her shoulder

“Luz, what is it?”

Luz shook her head, “Nothing, nothing….I just to perk myself up.” She stated, heading towards the hallway

Amity could sense that something was wrong, staying close to Luz as they entered the corridor and headed towards the bathroom at the far end. Amity stopped for a brief moment, her eyes going up the stairs to the second floor

Luz entered the bathroom and stood in front of the sink, she turned on the faucet, as the sound of rushing water filled the small space. Cupping her hands under the water to catch a small bit she splashed it onto her face, the shock of the cold water jolted her senses, as she looked up into the mirror

In the reflective surface, she saw herself, the door behind her slightly ajar, and….

Her stomach dropped. A woman was visible in the space that showed the hall, her eyes glistening the dark, and a sick twisted smile on her face

She could have sworn that it…..

“LUZ?” Amity’s voice echoed from the hall, making the teen jump in place

She did NOT need jump scares at the moment

“Yeah?” Luz yelled back

“Is the power still out?”

Luz tilted her head, that was a good question, she reached over and flipped the light switch on the wall, the bathroom staying dark

“Looks like” She shouted

“Then we have a problem?” Amity stated, confusion in her voice

Luz stepped back into the hall, and saw the witch at the landing of the stairs, looking up at the second story of the house

“What kind of problem?”

Amity pointed up, as Luz walked over curiously

“If the power is out then explain what that is?” Amity asked, voice shaky

Luz’s eyes went up to where the other girl was pointing and saw the light coming from somewhere upstairs

Chapter Text

Amity and Luz slowly walked up the stairs, Amity conjuring spiked gauntlets of goo around her hands in case there was anything dangerous awaiting them at the top of the landing

They arrived at the top of the staircase and peered around the corner of the landing into the hall

Luz raised her eyebrow, was the glow coming from her room?

Her bedroom door was open, and a soft blueish tint was coming from within, she shot Amity a worried look as the headed down the hall

As they neared the room, Amity held out her hand, stopping Luz from going any further, and then looked back at her

“Let me check it out first for safety, okay?”

Luz nodded, the events that had occurred in the last fifteen minutes had her rattled as it were anyway, and she did not want to lose her cool anymore than she had

Amity peered into the room, and after a minute of investigation asked a simple question

“You unplugged your computer, “Didn’t you?”

Luz peered around Amity, clearly confused, she had seen Luz do it so what kind of question was

Her stomach dropped when she noticed thee monitor sitting upon her desk, clearly on and displaying her desktop

That didn’t make any sense

The duo walked into the room, approaching the device carefully, unsure what to expect

As they did, an eerie hiss filled the room that seemed to be coming from the tower that was on the floor near the desk. The monitor display flickered for a brief moment, and then went back to normal, however the game they had been playing was now filling up the entire screen where Luz had left off

She walked up to the desk, and knelt down, Amity trying to look around her

She stopped, her eyes locked on the area under the desk, and seemed to be stiff as a board

“Luz?” Amity asked, “Is everything okay?”

“No, no it’s not.” She responded, turning so that Amity could see the problem more cleary

The outlet that plugged into the wall dangled in her hand, an expression of worry on Luz’s face

Amity’s eyes shot back up to the monitor as she walked forward

She then noticed the their character was in was drastically different

The boy that had been there was gone, and his spot was an area of pixelated red squares

“What in the…” Amity muttered, as Luz looked up and saw what she was seeing

The girls jumped when the text box popped onto the screen

“ITS MY TURN TO PLAY WITH YOU”

Amity grabbed Luz pulling her away from the device, unnerved by what was happening

“Amity, I think I might still be having a nightmare…” Luz said

Amity shook her head, “Then me and you are having the same one.”

Luz looked back at the screen, as another line of text popped up

“IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I’VE CLAIMED ANOTHER, I LOOK FORWARD TO ADDING YOU TO MY COLLECTION.”

Amity stepped in front of Luz, eyes narrowing

“Who are yo…”

Luz tugged at Amity’s shirt collar, making the witch look back to see that Luz was now looking across the room at the mirror that was attached to the front of her closet

Amity’s looked over, and noticed the figure that was visible in the mirror

She recognized her immediately

A tall woman glared at Luz, her pale complexion seemed to glow in the dark, a blue tunic draped around her body. In her hand, she held a staff that was topped with a golden sphere, the most distinguishing feature, however, was her face

Or, faces as it were

“...Hecate?” Amity muttered in confusion

“INDEED” appeared as a line of text on the monitor screen, both girls however were more focused on the image in the mirror

“This….this can’t be real…” Luz whispered

The visage of Hecate grinned, eyes alight with gleeful intent

Luz sprinted past Amity and over to the computer, quickly grabbing the mouse and hitting the X on the upper part of the window that closed the game

“Luz, what are you…”

“What if I uninstall the game then maybe…” Luz said, righting clicking icon on her desktop and tapped the uninstall option that popped up

The icon remained for a moment, then vanished

Both her and Amity then peered back over at the mirror, to find nothing reflected in surface but them standing in the room

Luz let out a sigh of relief, at least there was a simple solution to

The tower of the computer let out another shrill noise, causing Luz to look at the monitor

Error icons began to flood the surface of the screen, however they did not contain a normal error code as they usually did, they all read

NICE TRY

Luz jumped from her chair, moving away from the screen

The game reopened, however the screen was now displaying a throne room of a castle. Several NPC’s were prostrated before the woman sitting upon the throne, most looked like villagers, but the more that Luz observed them, she no’t ticed their clothes seemed to be more modern in a sense

Several were in suits and ties, one was a smaller child with a backwards baseball cap, and

A text box popped up once more

“IT WOULD BE MUCH EASIER FOR YOU TO JUST ACCEPT…”

Luz could not read the rest, because Amity lunged forward swinging her spiked gauntlet into the monitor

Luz stood shocked for a moment, as Amity now looked at the screen, the spiderweb like cracks going across the glass the splotches of black on the monitor

“That should shut her up!” Amity snarled, turning back to Luz, who was clearly shaken at the whole ordeal

She reached out and grabbed Luz’s hand

“Come on, we need to go!”

Luz stammered as Amity dragged her into the hall with all the strength she could muster

“GO? GO WHERE?” Luz asked

“Maybe if we get to the demon realm, she might not be able to follow us there!” Amity retorted

It was a long shot, but she wanted to try. She NEEDED to keep Luz safe from whatever the heck that thing was

They hurried down the stairs, and entered the living room to get to the front door of the house. Amity wrapped her hand around the doorknob, and gave it a hard pull

The door didn’t budge, Amity tried again, only harder this time

Still, nothing as the door remained closed

Luz hurried around Amity, grabbing the handle with hands and let out a groan of effort as she pulled with all her might

A small chime came from her pocket, making Luz stop and fish her phone out of her pocket

The pixelated version of Hecate was on her lock screen, above her was a notification icon

“DON’T BOTHER, THE DOORS HAVE BEEN MAGICALLY SEALED”

Luz grimaced, as another notification popped up

“MY PETS HOWEVER WANT TO PLAY….”

For a moment, everything was silent, then Luz and Amity heard it, the hissing

Luz’s eyes drifted back to the door, it seemed to be coming from other side of the door, if she couldn’t open it then they should be fine

However, the small flap that was used for the postman to stick letters through lifted slightly as snakes began to pour out of it onto the floor

Amity grabbed Luz and dragged her close, the hissing reptiles lunging at their socked feet

Amity dragged Luz back into the living room and gently pushed her towards the couch, she then turned to the entryway and spun both her fingers. A wall of Abomination goo rose from the ground, sealing off the snakes entryway

She let out a sigh of relief, and turned back to Luz

The human stood, arms wrapped around her torso, and seemed to be trembling

She rushed over, and placed her hands on Luz’s shoulder hoping that it would ground Luz for just a moment.

“Luz, Luz…..deep breaths, like Willow taught us okay?”

The human girl closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and held it for a moment before she slowly exhaled, her trembling lessened slightly, but Amity was going to consider that a win for now

“Any idea what is going on?” Amity asked, hoping Luz would have some sort of human realm explanation on the strange goings on at the moment

“”I—-”Luz said, stopping for a moment and clearly pondered, stepping away from Amity and began to pace the living room carpet. “It —- I—--no, there is no way it could be that—-” She whispered

Amity raised her eyebrow in confusion, “It couldn’t be what?”

Luz let out another small exhale before popping down on the couch, and buried her face into her hands for just a moment, shaking her head, and then she looked up at Amity

“There are these on the internet, they are supposedly nothing but ghost stories that people tell for fun called creepy pastas….”

Amity blinked at that “So….this is food related?” She asked, now more confused at the goings on

“No, not…. There are several that are about certain games that are cursed. But like I said, they are just ghost stories.”

“Well, we might be living one, so maybe we should start taking them seriously.” Amity said, as she walked over and joined Luz on the couch and wrapping her arm around her shoulder

“If it is, whatever we are dealing with is operating on Hecate’s rules.” Amity stated, Luz turned and looked at her

“What do you mean by that?”

“Think Luz, what does Hecate rule over?”

Luz stopped and stared at her feet, “I…..’ Then it clicked in her head, she snapped her fingers “Of course, the Kingdom of Mirrors and Snakes!”

“Right, but what I don’t get is why she is acting so hostile, she is on the side of good in the books, I mean she joined Az…”

Luz shook her head once more, “I said the game was old, it was made before she went through her redemption arc, she was still nothing more than an antagonist at the time.”

The pair sat in silence for a brief moment

Then Amity had to ask, “In these….creepy pastas….the monster loses….right?”

Luz could not make eye contact, and instead looked down at her feet, she could try to lie. But Amity could read her like a book, she loved her for that

Much to Luz’s surprise, Amity stood up and turned to look at Luz. Her eyes ablaze with a fiery determination

“Well, I Vow to make sure that nothing will do you harm Luz, I swear on my ability to be an AWESOME GIRLFRIEND, I WILL BE YOUR FEARLESS CHAMPION!!!!!”

Luz chuckled as Amity raised her voice at the last several words for emphasis, then reached out and grabbed the blanket that was used for decorative purposes of the back of the couch and walked over to the television

Luz tilted her head as she watched Amity throw the blanket over the appliance, not following the logic behind the witches actions.

“What are you doing?” She asked, as Amity walked back over to the couch

“Just testing a theory, if Hecate can see us through reflective surfaces, if we cover them we might be able to in theory blind her…”

Luz thought about it for a moment, it might be worth a try

She rose up joining Amity’s height, “Okay, what do we do now?”

Amity looked at the barrier she had conjured, and cracked her knuckles

“We go on the Defensive”

Chapter Text

The snakes pressed against the barrier, hoping they would break through. They only had one objective, and they wanted to please their master

Without warning, the barrier vanished, the effect was immediate

The snakes began to rush in like water escaping a broken dam, hissing striking out at anything in their path. The creatures however, were not expecting the wall of flame that was conjured by the girl in the center of the room

Luz and Amity sprinted as fast as they could as the creatures writhed and faded away as the flame had washed over them entering the hallway the hurried to the room where they had been performing puppetry earlier in the evening, Amity slammed the door shut behind them as they entered, in case if any of the snakes survived her attack

Luz grabbed one of the blankets from the floor and threw it over the mirror in the corner of the room, and then grabbed the small pile of blankets she had put in the corner, in case the dream of making a fort with her girlfriend was to become a reality later in the evening.

“So, which rooms have mirrors we need to cover?’ Amity asked, hand on the handle of the door, readying herself to head back into the hall and go into attack mode just in case.

Luz walked over to Amity, the blankets tucked in her arm, “Explaining would take too long, Just follow me.”

Amity nodded and opened the door, and peered her head out

The halls were silent, no hissing and no sign of danger

The two walked into the hall, working their way room to room, covering anything that they could see reflections in as they did, Luz heard the chime after the third room, and grabbed her phone

She saw the notification on the screen

“I ADMIRE YOUR ATTEMPTS, BUT EVENTUALLY YOU WILL FAIL”

Amity grabbed the phone and placed it screen side down on the table, she turned to Luz

“Sorry Luz, but I don’t want her playing head games with you. Besides, you can see yourself on the screen if the display goes dark

Luz opened her mouth to argue, but she had a point. She needed to listen, it was for her own good at the moment

“You’re right, as always.” Luz said, and followed Amity back into the hall

They continued room to room, and soon found themselves standing at the base of the stairs, readying to head upstairs. Amity raised her foot when she heard the noise, it grew louder, and her eyes went wide, she should have known. It had all been too easy thus far

A wave of snakes emerged from the shadows, slithering their way down the stairs. Amity pulled Luz behind her and summoned another wave of fire, several were hit by the blast, but the witch could have sworn that for every one that fell, 10 more emerged from the shadow to take its place

Luz could only help but watch as Amity summoned wave after wave of magical fire, she felt so helpless as she could do nothing but watch.

Amity grimaced, she could feel it, the exhaustion of using so much of her magic in such a short amount of time. She was not sure that she could keep up as more and more snakes flooded the stairwell, She raised her finger, attempting to spin another circle, but that proved to be a bad idea

She felt her legs buckle, her vision going blurry. Her eyes began to flutter closed as she fell awkwardly to the side.

“AMITY!!!!”

Luz’s voice was the last thing she heard, as she felt someone’s arm wrap around her midsection. Then everything went black to her

Luz scooped Amity up in her arms, looking at the witch. Bags had formed under her eyes, and she seemed paler than normal. She sprinted down the hall, the snakes close behind, trying to strike at her heels. She could only think of one option and sprinted into a small closet where they stored household supplies.

She shut the doors by leaning back against it and quickly and carefully set the exhausted witch on the ground. The grabbed a set of towels and began to jam them into the small gap at the bottom of the door in case the snakes tried to slither under it

After she was sure it had been sealed, Luz lowered herself onto the floor. Nothing but darkness and sounds of hissing coming from the other side of the door. She curled herself into a ball, and buried her head onto her forearms

What was she going to do? She had no magic, no palisman to help her, and now Amity had worn herself out trying to be the hero.

Luz felt the tears build up in her eyes, what was she going to do?

“L…Luz?”

Luz raised her eyes, and in the dark saw Amity trying to force herself into an upright position.

Luz quickly crawled over, “Hey, no. Just relax okay?”

“What…happened?” Amity muttered, straining as she tried to sit upright

“You just need to rest for a moment okay?”

Amity heard the worry on Luz’s voice, as raised her trembling hand creating a small circle, that wavered for a moment, but then transformed into a ball of light

She focused on Luz’s face, and saw the tears that were now threatening to fall from the human's eyes. Amity could not stand it, and pushed through the exhaustion and rose up. She gently reached out, and cupped her loved ones face with her hands

“I’m….okay Luz…” She whispered

“You’re clearly not.” Luz said “This is my fault, I am always getting you in some sort of dangerous situation.”

Amity lifted Luz’s head up, “Luz look at me, okay?”

Luz did, staring into Amity’s eyes.

“I would rather be in a dangerous situation at your side any day of the week, because you are worth it. Plus me and you always make it through, no matter what. We’re awesome like that…..understood?”

Luz, in spite of everything, smiled and wiped the corner of her eyes brushing away the unfallen tears

“Thanks Amity, I….” Luz said, her eyes going back to Amity’s

However, that is when her fate was sealed

For the briefest of moments, she saw her reflection in the young witches pupils. Her stomach dropped when she saw the visage of Hecate behind her

Like she said, it was just for a second but that is all it took

Luz felt something wrap around her midsection, and felt like she was pulled backward

Amity blinked, as Luz slid away from her, her cupped hands were soon holding nothing but empty space.

Her eyes widened, as she crawled forward and placed grabbed at the air where Luz had been standing

“L…Luz?”

She felt her hands make contact with a lower shelf of the closet, and she slowly rose to her feet

“Luz?”

She turned in place, and realized that it was now just her confined in the small space

“LUZ!”

Chapter Text

The sun rose over the horizon, light breaking through the windows of the house

Amity knelt on the floor of the living room, Luz’s phone gripped in her hand. Shortly after Luz had vanished, so had the snakes, and the power came back shortly after

She could only deduce that loss of it had to be magically related

Through her exhaustion, she had spent the night searching every corner of the house, hoping to find Luz somewhere within it.

She uncovered every mirror, seeing no sign of Hecate in any of them

Her eyes were locked on the notification that popped up onto it hours ago

“SHE’S MINE NOW”

Amity felt sick, who knows what kind of torture Luz was being put through

Her eyes drifted over to the plastic bag that she had found in Luz’s room during her search. The receipt on the floor next to it. Her eyes narrowed at the location of the store written atop the paper, she was going to get some answers one way or another

The elderly man heard the bell chime, and raised his eyes from the game of Solitaire he was playing the counter in front of him

He smiled at the young girl, who just stared at him with a frown

“Can I help yo….” He began to mutter

The girl turned, and flicked the securting latch on the door and flipped the sign on the glass door to closed

The man stood, “What are you—-”

He was cut off, when the girl turned and spun her finger in the air and created a glowing circle. A purple creature rose from the floor and lifted the man by the shirt collar and pinned him against the back wall

Amity walked forward and reached into the bag in her hands, pulling out the game box and throwing it onto the counter, her eyes narrowing at the man

“EXPLAIN THIS.” She snarled, causing the man’s eyes to drift to the box, he let out a defeated sigh

“Put me down and we can have a reasonable conversation.”

She snapped her fingers, and the purple being stepped away as it lowered the man to the floor

He calmly sat back in his chair, and gave the girl his undivided attention. Amity looked at him

“Why do you see so calm, I just made a creature rise from…”

The man waved his hand, “Not my first time dealing with magical weirdness.”

Amity stood for a moment, “Okay then. Talk.” She declared, leaning against the counter

The man explained that in his younger days, he was hired as tester for a small game company. It was fine at first, but one day he and a small group of coworkers had been hired to test a project the company had been working on.

Things were fine at first, but then odd things began to happen, Several of his coworkers snapping at work, shattering the mirrors in the bathrooms, claiming SHE was stalking them. Snakes appearing out of nowhere and biting his colleagues.

Then, people not showing up to work without warning. They went to their houses or apartments and found them empty or deserted. Missing people reports were filed, but authorities could never track them down

“...After the fifth disappearance, I started to experience the strangeness too.” The man claimed, lowering his head

Amity narrowed her eyes, “Why were you not taken as well?”

The man rubbed his hand over his balding head, “I…I made a deal.”

Amity slammed her fist onto the counter, “What kind of deal?”

“One day I heard the higher ups talking about the weirdness, and how not releasing the game might be in the interest of public safety. It’s like they knew that whatever was happening might be supernaturally related. I was able to sneak out of the only few games they had printed…”

The man shook his head, “One night I was playing it home and was able to reach Hecate’s throne room. That is when I recognized some of my coworkers' pixelated forms bowing before her. I…then entered into a contract with her. I informed her about the studio's plan and offered to allow her to claim others if I was allowed to stay.”

“Getting people’s addresses is easy enough nowadays, I would wait a couple days and go and retrieve the game so I could keep the cycle unbroke…”

Amity snapped her fingers, and the creature grabbed the man and lifted him from his chair and slammed him against the wall, the force of which knocked several items of the shelves around the store

“SHE TOOK SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO ME, TELL ME HOW TO GET HER BACK!!!!” Amity snarled, not able to contain her rage at the revelation

“I…I’m sorry. Whoever she claims is forever lost. Trust me, i’ve spent years trying to see if there was a way to undo this. But whoever installs this game willingly eventually vanishes.”

Amity glared at him, “There…has to be a way….”

“I’m sorry, but there really isn’t.” The man said, genuine sorrow in his voice

Amity lowered her head, and the creature lowered the man back to the ground

There was only one option then…..

Amity lowered herself into the chair of the small back room of the store where the man kept items yet to be put out onto the shelves. She stared at the disc in her hand, and sighed

She could not let Luz suffer alone, she needed to be there for her, no matter how bad things got

She placed the disk into the tray and pressed the button to close it, several seconds later the option to install the game appeared

Amity dragged the mouse over and clicked on the affirmative

The man rose from his chair, it had been an hour since the girl had gone back into his office area. He entered the space and looked around

Empty, just as he expected

He ejected the disk from the tower, and placed it back into the box. He headed back to the front of the store, placing the item back onto the shelf as he did, hoping that someone else would come along soon enough who wanted it