"Wait, you're just going to leave?"
"Well....I have to. With the portal being reactivated, I have to see how my mom is doing..."
The witch sighed as she stared at those warm brown eyes of her now newly found girlfriend, which was still a weird feeling but it definitely helped her to be motivated with life.
"But Luz, you have your new and exciting life waiting for you right here! And you told me that humans didn't want you there, or you didn't fit in with them so why bother going back?"
"It's not the humans that I've missed. As what I've said...mom.."
"R-right..."
Amity's lips failed to utter any much words. She felt her heart aching for her upcoming loss of the humam whom she dearly loved.
"Promise me one thing please..."
"What is it, querida?"
"Come back..."
She felt her heart is going to shatter at any minute. The thought of losing Luz and her life going back to normal, without the human's presence. It was too much for her to handle.
This is much worse than the pressure her mom and dad had her endure throughout her entire life. With them being gone and held in the conformatorium for the atonement of their sins, she honestly doesn't care at all but Luz...
Luz is the sole person she really cares about.
All these years, Amity worked hard not just because she wanted everyone to be proud of her nor show that she was a very powerful witch but also to gain validation to anyone she cared for. Parents, siblings, anyone who knew the Blights. Her siblings were seen as perfect, getting away with things while she has to be perfect so she HAD to work hard.
But ever since Luz...
Luz accepted her for who she was. Her flaws, even if they had a rough start but Luz insisted to push herself just to be her friend.
Her genuine friend after Willow...
No wonder why she fell in love with the human so quickly... Luz made her feel...important...
She made her feel safe, one thing she never really experienced.
She made her genuinely happy.
Smile...
Brighten her life...
Anything about Luz is just so...Luz.
Imagine what life is without that adorable dork of a human.
"I promise...I'm not just going to leave you here alone."
"When are you coming back? Please...let me know so that it won't hurt..."
"Hmm...A year. After my school year..."
"Promise?"
"I promise..."
Suddenly being pulled back from her own thoughts, she shook her head as she dressed into her own nightgown, trying to ease her mind from everything.
Exhausted
That's what I'm feeling right now.
Arriving in her room in the Blight manor, Amity flopped onto her bed as night arrived. Serving under Lilith who is the current empress was exhausting but she enjoyed helping the citizens of the Boiling Isles, especially because what she was doing are making those people happy. She had been enjoying these changes especially after she and the rebellion took down Emperor Belos.
Good old times.
Closing her eyes, she drew a spell circle, releasing her scroll as texts popped up in her message box in Penstagram. Wondering where the texts came from, she tapped the messages as Willow's face appeared.
'Huh? Willow? Oh yea she suddenly disappeared after assisting me with some 'traffic' problems a while ago.' she thought.
Willow: Amity, I know you've been busy lately and after your...uh nevermind but maybe we could visit Eda tomorrow afternoon!
With Willow saying that out of blue, the brown-haired witch raised an eyebrow while reading her messages.
Willow: Yeah yeah I know you're wondering why and it's out of blue, especially about what happened earlier but Eda actually asked us for some help with her package deliveries.
Groaning, Amity buried her face onto the pillow, letting go of the scroll as it floated in the air.
Great job Willow. I have to be reminded with...her...again...
"Are you still thinking about her mittens?"
A yelp escaped from Amity's lips as she swipe the scroll up, vanishing it into the thin air as she turned around to witness the mischievous grins of her older siblings.
"I don't know if you two had grown up or remained the same. That must have been too low for you both." Amity muttered in annoyance but the twins chuckled at her remark.
"Growing up is not in our vocabulary Mittens." Edric snickered, making Amity groan.
The twins had never really changed except that they do less pranks and they had been keeping their eyes on their parents in the conformatorium who were still infuriated with the Emperor's defeat years prior. Although with that slight change, teasing Amity was still their favorite thing out of their overall habits.
"So you'll be seeing your girlfriend's mentor tomorrow? Imagine if Luz stayed." Emira stated, which Amity tensed up.
Thinking about it, it wasn't Eda's decision to make Luz leave the demon realm but since Eda was the closest person Luz has in connection ever since her stay, she wouldn't deny that seeing her will really remind her of the human.
"Ugh...tell me about it. And...How much did you guys see?"
"Oh pretty much nothing. Nothing left to be unseen." Emira told putting that mischievous grin on.
"Mittens you dodged our 'what ifs' edition. Imagine if your girlfriend stayed..." Edric added as Amity rolled her eyes on them, just wanting them to give her some solitude.
"I honestly don't know if I still want her to be my girlfriend. After that broken promise, she doesn't deserve to be called one."
Gasps filled the room after a moment of silence from what Amity said.
"Wow Mittens. I know you've been cold but not that cold. That made me shiver" Edric pointed out but obviously, Amity didn't care.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes once more as she adjusted her position with her arms wrapping around her legs which pressed closely to her chest.
"What if Luz has her reasons? She...she always has been that person who doesn't conceal her emotions entirely." Edric asked but now, this makes Amity more infuriated with her mess.
What reason is valid for the human to leave her hanging for five years. The promise whom she always told that she'd make before she left. She spent years of waiting for her girlfriend to return only to find out that it has been years since they last heard of her.
She doesn't even have the slightest idea if Luz still likes her. What if Luz found another guy or girl in the human realm or if they are still in that relationship untouched, unimproved nor grown for those years. It was driving Amity to insanity that the only thing she could do was cry every night. These thoughts lingering to her weren't helping either.
She snapped, pupils dilating as she glared towards her siblings. "What reason?! She could have just VISITED even just a DAY if she truly cared! Leaving her girlfriend hanging?! What...What kind of a doofus is SHE?!"
The twins we're taken aback, holding their hands in defeat as they tried to reach out to her but was stopped when Amity talked again.
"You know what, you two should leave me alone...Please...I need to think on this..." she looked away from their gaze as tears started forming in the corner of her eyes.
"A-alright Mittens...If you ever need us...we're right here.." Emira told before she and Edric left her alone.
Amity avoided their gaze, thinking about it. Luz has never break a promise before. If she did, she would say sorry or she would have any plausible cause for breaking it.
What could have been so important?
What could have been going on in the human realm?
Grabbing a nearby pillow, she then covered her face with it, making a muffled groan noise as she laid down, tears started to form again.
"I could have visited the human realm myself but I didn't... I always believed she could fulfill that promise to me..."
Maybe I was being selfish...
Luz deserves better...
Calling it a day, Amity gently closed both of her eyelids, crying herself to sleep and hoping for the pain to fade away sooner.
:):):):):):):):):)
"Hoot hoot, see you my beloved frieeeeeends..."
"Okaaaay Hooty. You can stop talking now."
Willow and Gus waved at Luz, Eda, King and also, Hooty. Gus walked forward first, leaving Willow behind and grabbed Luz in her right arm, making sure that Eda and the others went back inside the house.
"Ow!" Luz flinched as Willow tightened the grip.
Willow noticed something unusual in her arm.
"Luz, did you fall into something hard a while ago, or maybe days ago or yesterday?" Willow asked, seeing an unusual blackish, purpleish bruise formed in the very spot where Willow grabbed her.
"Oh uhhh.... Kinda...Maybe? But it just pops up in my body... and you know how clumsy I am. Falling to everywhere."
Willow felt assured with her explanation.
"Things never changed huh?" lips chuckled as she elbowed Luz as the other girl laughed as well.
"Never!"
Silence filled the night, bright stars showing up in the sky and the moonlight shines brighter than anything else above.
"So uh...why did you drag me here? I thought you're about to go back home?" Luz asked.
"Luz... I want an answer...A straight one presumably..."
"Uhh...ok?? What is it?"
Inhaling deeply, she then started. "Where were you for those five years?? I need full information..." she interrogated, much to Luz's shock, avoiding her gaze and looked on the ground.
"Willow...I...I was... I'm sorry but I might have to answer that late-"
Willow took one step closer towards Luz, glaring at the taller girl with her fists clenched tightly on her sides.
"You BROKE your promise and you act as if nothing hurts?!"
Luz winced with how Willow is yelling, noticing the tears forming around the corner of her friend's eyes.
"We...We've been waiting for ages... You can't just...come back and act as if you didn't make your promise. Leaving us hanging with no single information of where you've been...and... Amity...You broke her heart!"
Voice cracking with full of heartwrenching emotion building inside Willow, she wiped her tears using her right arm.
Luz looked away. She knew how hard it was for her friends to wait. But her reason...she doesn't want to bring that up.
But what hurts the most is that...Amity...
She broke her promise she made for Amity...
The girl she cared for during her journey in this terrifying fantasy world.
"Is this...why she never came?" Luz asked, a bit hesitant at first.
"Yes Luz...She's mad...She's broken... All because of you."
Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks, lips quivering, not knowing what she has to say. Just because of one stupid yet inevitable reason that caused her not to come back anytime sooner.
It was one of the most difficult hardships she ever had gone throughout her entire life.
After a few minutes of silence, Luz managed to speak up. "If I tell you the whole information, will you forgive me?" her left hand meeting her own right arm, rubbing it up and down gently while avoiding the plant witch's glare.
Willow's face softens as she sighed deeply.
"If...if it's truly understandable then.... I guess..."
"I'm sorry..."
With all this tension, Luz suddenly felt lightheaded but was trying to maintain her composure and balance. Unfortunately, Willow noticed this.
"Luz? Are you alright?"
She has to make up with a lie. "Yep!! Totally am!" with her voice louder, she immediately regret doing that as it caused her entire head to tremble within.
Willow's eyes widened as she saw something within Luz's face.
Crimson red...
"Luz!!!"
The younger teen came back to his two friends. "Willow, let's go! We're gonna be-" he was unable to continue his sentence as Willow clutched Luz into her arms who happened to just lost her balance without any warning.
"Luz! Your nose is bleeding!"
The boy approached them and kneeled by Luz's side, his hand reaching its way up to Luz's forehead.
"She's warm...Abnormally warm. My knowledge about humans may seem..outdated but they're usually not THIS warm!" Gus stated.
"Call Eda inside the house Gus! Right now!"
Gus nodded and followed Willow's desperate command.
Luz was still conscious but her face scrunching in pain, her nose slowly yet continuously bleeding. Willow performed a healing spell that might ease or much better, heal Luz's unknown condition.
After drawing a spell circle and focusing on healing her now half-conscious friend, the bleeding did stop, but her friend's condition didn't get much better.
"What!? But basic healing spells also work on humans! Why are they not working anymore?!"
Luz stared at her friend's eyes which were full of worries and was craddling her like it was the end of the world.
"Luz...hang on... Eda knows what to do... Please..."
With Willow's soothing voice, Luz's eyelids felt heavy and had given up, fully losing her consciousness.
Eda and King alongside Gus bursted out from the owl house, hoping to somehow help their friend recover.
The owl lady gently grabbed Luz from Willow's care, caressing her apprentice's cheek.
"Luz? Luz! C'mon kid! Talk or I'll cut your tongue!"
Noticing how warm the human was, she performed some healing spells but wasn't working at all, which was totally odd since it was discovered years back that healing spells can work on humans and they also had helped Luz a lot during their battle against Belos.
"Ugh! I should have listened more about healing spells when I was in Hexside!" Eda muttered, standing up and carrying Luz in a bridal style.
"Kids, you must go home or you'll end up rotten in the forest."
"No!"
Willow refused to leave Luz's side.
"I wanna see her recover. Please Eda. She's our friend. She's hiding something and we want to know about it...And about this!"
Eda sighed. That desperate voice coming from the young adult is enough to convince her to come with them.
"Fine but if you get hurt, I'll take no accountability. Understood?"
A smile crept up on the lips of the younger witches and they followed Eda to get Luz to the healers.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Warm brown eyes with beautiful eyelashes started to stir, slowly opening both of them.
"Luz?.. Luz can you hear me?"
That voice sounded familiar, making Luz groan but her headache somehow wasn't that painful anymore.
She slowly moved her head lefr and right, averting to the source of the voice.
"Viney?!"
The older witch chuckled, now wearing an official healer uniform with Puddles as her sidekick.
Luz sat up but felt sore. Her skin and lips were paler and her bruise wasn't helping either.
"Easy Luz, moving much won't help. Here." Viney handed her a glass of water which was gladly accepted by the human. The feeling of water flowing through her throat was somehow relieving.
"And you have some visitors too..."
Eda, King, Gus and Willow then showed up, hugging Luz but not that tight.
"Luz! We're so glad you're okay!" Gus said, cupping the human's cheeks, which earned him a giggle.
"Hey...uhm...What happened?"
"We should be the one asking you that!" King told as he went on Luz's lap, hugging her with his small arms. "I thought I've lost my booboo buddy! Now I demand belly rubs!"
Luz rolled her eyes while smiling, gently rubbing King's belly.
"But Luz...your nose were bleeding and you were warm and you lost your consciousness. What happened kiddo? Are you under some kind of curse?" Eda asked, gently rubbing her own chin with her index finger, still processing what happened.
"And according to our studies, this is a pure human illness and as witches, we have no idea what it is. We tried different healing spells to eliminate the disease but with no use. It's like... your DNA was refusing to do so..." Viney explained, confused on what's causing the human in agony.
Sighing deeply, without any hesitation, she has to tell the truth.
"When I came back here, I wasn't being completely honest. You guys asked why my head is bald and I said it's because of my sense of fashion but it wasn't entirely true..."
What she said earned some gasps around the room. Luz avoided their gaze, hoping they'll understand.
"And Willow, about the bruise. I did not fall down. Yea I maybe clumsy but this bruise came from a different...origin... and my nose bleeding, headaches... those five years I've spent in the human realm. I supposed to keep my promise of coming back here but..."
Inhaling deeply, she then looked towards them, hoping for them to accept this news.
"I have...acute myeloid leukemia..."
I have blood cancer guys...
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter guys. I actually have an exam tomorrow but eh, I decided to write this first lol. See you in the next chapter!