Always by your side

Chapter 32 - Meet your foe

"Don't worry, both of you did great, at least she walked out of her room, though it was still far from normal. Any idea for our next course of action?"

"I... might have an idea." Gus said.

"Spill the beans, Goobs, what is it?"

"I'm not sure if it would be possible, but maybe we could try to get Luz's mother here. From what she's told us their relationship is better now."

I wasn't sure if getting Luz's mom involved was the play here, but I had no other ideas so I just shrugged my shoulders and waited for Eda's response.

"It's worth a shot, I will get you to the portal and give you directions." Eda said, "Hooty, King, we are going out for a while, take care of Luz, and don't burn the house down."

After making sure that King was up to the task we left the Owl House and followed Eda. I expected that we would have to go somewhere far, yet it turned out that the portal was in the shed adjacent to the main building. It was kind of anticlimactic to keep a portal to another realm in such a place, but well, who am I to judge?

Eda gave us a hand-drawn map and we stepped through the door frame. Honestly, the human realm wasn't much different from the Boiling Isles, I expected something more... wild. At least Gus was happy, even ecstatic. I wasn't surprised considering his fascination with humans.

Much to his disappointment, we had a certain objective, meaning that it wasn't a time for an exploration tour. I took the map and we headed straight into Luz's house. It was a ten-minute stroll through the forest and I have to say, I found the trees here so captivating. They were so similar, yet so different. I still felt all the plants around me, strengthening me, but at the same time, it felt a little off. If it weren't for our mission I would try a few spells here, maybe when we are done here I would get a chance to do so.

It didn't take us long to find the right house, and now the time has come, for us to meet Luz's mom. We rang the bell waiting for someone to answer. In the meantime, Gus went to examine the weird contraption standing in front of the building. It looked like a carriage, but different, well, I had no idea what it was, and I figured that Ms. Noceda would tell us more.

At last, the door opened and I saw Luz's mom for the first time. She looked similar to Luz, just with glasses.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked.

"We are Luz's friends, and..." I said but Ms. Noceda interrupted me.

"Luz is not home, she left after finishing high school."

I figured she took us for Luz's human friends, "We know, we came here from Boiling Isles."

"Oh..." the look on her face changed, "...do you want to come inside?"

"Sure thing." Gus said and we went inside.

The inside of the house wasn't anything extraordinary, if I had to describe it I would say, cozy. Ms. Noceda took us to the kitchen and pointed at the chairs, "Take a seat, I'm Camila by the way, and you?"

"I'm Willow and this is Gus, we are Luz's friends from the Boiling Isles."

"Do you want anything to drink, water, tea, coffee?" Camila asked.

"I would like to try this coffee thing." Gus said while I told Camila that water would do for me.

After she provided us with beverages, she sat at the table with us, "So, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well, things went south on the Boiling Isles and we think Luz could use your help. Before you freak out, she is safe and sound, at least physically. The problem is... well, she lost someone close to her and we are unable to cheer her up even to the slightest extent."

"I see... so what do you need me to do?"

"We were wondering if you could come with us and we hope you could find a way to make Luz feel a little bit better." Gus said.

"That won't be so easy, I have work... You know what? Give me a second, I have to make a few calls and I will be ready to go in about two hours."

I looked at Gus, trying to figure out his stand but similarly to me he had nothing to add, "I guess we will wait then." I said.

The wait turned out to be quite a delightful experience. During the breaks between the calls, Camila brought us snacks and more drinks. I even went as far as to try out the coffee thingy. It wasn't quite as impressive as Gus put it out to be but I couldn't say I hadn't enjoyed it. As Gus was finishing his 3rd cup of coffee Luz's mom showed up with a suitcase and told us that she was ready to go. Even though we would have liked to stay a little longer, it wouldn't be the right thing to do.

We led Camila to the portal, which stayed open for the whole time. I hoped that Eda was guarding it properly so no one would get accidentally stuck here or on the Boiling Isles. All three of us stepped through the door and we were back in the demon realm, it felt good to be home. Eda was already waiting for us, greeting us with a head nod, "Hi, Ms. Noceda, how you doin'?"

"I'm fine, I should ask you what happened to Luz that I'm needed here?"

"Well, there has been a girlfriend incident so to say." Eda said.

"Did Amity dump her?" Camila asked.

"Something worse, you will see for yourself when you talk to her."

Without wasting more time for small talk we all went back to the Owl House to find Luz. When we got there King told us that she went back to her room right after we left and hasn't come out since. Camila decided she would go in. In the meantime, I and Gus sat with Eda and waited for further development.

After almost two hours got out of her room with her mom. This time she looked much better, much more alive. The flame of optimism and determination once again appeared in her eyes.

"We are going to find Amity." She announced.

"Heck yeah kid, that's what I wanted to hear." Eda said.

It was refreshing to see Luz so energetic. I think her optimism got into me since even I was determined to go and look for Amity. Although it would be nice if we had some clues regarding her whereabouts. Of course, as soon as I thought about it Lilith stormed into the Owl House with some fresh news. It seemed like coincidences were on our side today.

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This time the Blights were making trouble in the villages around the emperor's castle. From our early intel, it seemed like the action was much better organized than the attack on Latissa. It got to the point that we started to get overtaken by the coven scouts. Luckily for us, Raine came with reinforcements and we managed to clear most of the villages and apprehend the perpetrators.

By the time we rescued most of the towns, our numbers had dwindled. Some witches were occupied with dealing with captured scouts and some were wounded. It was much harder than in Latissa, mostly due to the almost flawless movements of our enemies.

When we reached the last attacked village I was there only with Willow, Eda, and around 20 other witches. It was still possible to pull off the rescue but we had to split up and I did not like this idea at all, considering my recent experiences with that kind of tactics. Nonetheless, it was the only way. While Eda and Willow went to retake the areas around the main square my job was to check on the major in his residence. I didn't have much backup, only 4 witches, but my paper stock was at an all-time high so I wasn't too afraid.

Although everything changed when we reached our destination, that was when I saw her again.

Amity...

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Here we go, Chapter 32 is finished, and I hope you enjoyed it. The climax is finally here, only 3 chapters left. Don't worry, you won't have to wait long for resolution, just after I post this chapter I start working on the next one. Nevertheless, if you have any questions, use the comments. That's all for now, once again I hope you enjoyed the read and see you very soon.