LUMITY: illuminate

Chapter One: Building

CHP 1

Amity

    "Ow ow ow!! This wood that Hooty brought us SUCKS! I already have like, 4 splinters."

    Luz's complaints had been getting louder and louder the longer we slaved over the arduous task of creating this Spirits-forsaken portal. I laugh as I set down my tools, tired from the labor. I gaze up at her, taking in her flustered state: She stands on a ladder, her face contorted in a mixture of pain from her scarred, splintered hands, and pure determination. Luz's regular purple and white tee has been exchanged for an old red gown of Eda's, which she had promptly cropped into a tattered fabric that somewhat resembled a shirt, delicately exposing the smallest sliver of skin. The girl is creative, but she's no seamstress, as made apparent by the ragged cuts on the hem of the makeshift top. A matching red hair scarf created from the extra fabric holds back her bangs as she works.    

    I watch as she grabs a small piece of wood, the last piece needed for the section of the portal's frame she was forming. "Ok, and now for some vines to tie it all together and make sure it stays in place!" She pulls out her notebook and hastily scribbles a plant glyph. She presses it and foliage flies from the paper. The vines stretch out and wrap around the wooden frame, holding everything in place. She smiles and rubs her hands together in excitement.

"And now to activate it!"

    I watch as Luz produces a water and light glyph, pressing them and throwing them both into the frame at the same time. The portal sparks to life and a clear haze fills the frame. I grin at her, my heart full of pride. According to Phillip's journal, all that's left is to create a destination spell to designate where the portal will take us!

She smirks, brushing off her hands in satisfaction before she begins descending the ladder. "HA! Let's see Belos do that! We make a great team, Amity! We'll have this portal finished in no ti-"

Her bragging is abruptly cut off by the sound of cracking wood. I gasp and whip my head back up to the portal frame, which is quickly being crushed under the strength of the vines. Before either of us can cast a reversal spell, the wood splinters under the pressure, and I quickly realize it's about to send shards of sharp scraps of wood everywhere. I grab her arm, pulling her off the ladder. Luz yelps as she falls, her body slamming against mine as we tumble to the floor. I roll on top of her, shielding her body with my own as I make a spell circle and cast a protection spell over us.  There is a crash, and we are surrounded by a cloud of sawdust.

When the air clears I see the hundreds of splinters that would have been embedded into our skin had I not completed the spell in time. I let out a sigh of relief as I release the spell and the wood shards fall to the ground. I begin to calm as I listen to her adrenaline-filled heart beating just as fast as mine. It is then that I become aware of my head against her chest, and of our somewhat compromising position. She seems to come to this conclusion at the same time as me as she gives me a sheepish grin, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"EEP- sorry about that!" I squeak as I quickly scramble off of and away from her, painfully aware that my skin is as red as her shirt. She smiles at me as she brushes herself off. "It's ok, mitones. I'd rather be slightly embarrassed at my mistake than severely in pain and pulling out splinters from every inch of my body," she says with a soft chuckle. We sit cross-legged facing one another, our knees almost touching. She brings her hand up to gently sweep my bangs out of my face with the back of her fingers, her warm skin brushing ever so delicately against my forehead. It's a small, yet intimate moment for us. It's one of the very few we've had since we officially started dating. Our relationship is still so new, so intimidating, even after almost a month together.