Monday 2:00 pm
Luz's POV
I felt relieved to hear that we found a sign of where Amity could be at. Not only that but we found the exact location of where she could be. I felt a second emotion of anger and I had the urge to hurt those men who had taken Amity hostage. I didn't feel like waiting any longer and just wanting to barge right in.
"I'll give you a boost up, Firelight," Eda began calling me by my hero name.
I nodded and climbed the large dumpsters gently to prevent noises. Eda went on top and proceeded to connect her hands to push me up on the roof. I set my foot on Eda's hands to indicate that I was ready to be tossed and there I was standing at the first floor on the actual rooftop. I held out my hand for Eda to grab and pulled her up with my strength next to me.
"Thanks kid. Now let's crawl and check through the windows to see the layout of the building from the inside," The Owl Lady whispered.
I nodded and crawled to the other side of the window so both Eda and I could get a good view of the inside. The entire place didn't have any sections that were divided. There were stairs that lead to the second floor and there may be an opening from the second roof. The inside was all spacious with no rooms involved. I didn't care about all of that because there were four people in total who were wearing capes and huge masks on their face although you were able to see their eyes. Sitting in the middle of the first floor was Amity with her school uniform on. She was tied up with a rope from her legs to her upper body. The green haired mage appeared to be asleep from the looks of her heading hanging down and not moving an inch.
"She's in there Owl Lady," I whispered with a saddened voice.
"I know, kid. I really hope they didn't harm her at all."
"What should we do now?"
"I say screw it and attack them. I'll take three of them while you knock out the other and get Amity out of this horrid place," Eda said.
"Are you sure that you can take down three of them? Who knows what we're going up against?"
"Damn it, you're right. We'll focus on those guys and until we're able to stop using our magic, we'll grab Amity and get the hell out of here."
"Let's jump down through the window and go after them right away," I urged.
"You got it, Firelight. Just be careful because who knows what weapons or spells they have in their sleeves."
"I will. On a count of three. One. Two. THREE!"
My partner and I jumped through the windows, making it shatter, and land onto the ground. I activated my magic and I felt pumped to fight those who took Amity as a hostage.
"What the hell was that?!" the four criminals turned around in our direction.
"Your worst nightmare," my eyes glowed.
"Crash Wave!" water came out of Eda's hands that created a giant wave.
She managed to prevent her spell from going at Amity and was able to hit the four mages. They weren't completely knocked out but it did swipe them off their feet.
"Ha! Is that all you got, Owl Lady? I'll show you what true magic looks like," the guy behind the mask got up and his eyes began to glow a dark red.
'This can't be good.'
"Red shadow!"
Suddenly, he disappeared into the ground. I never heard of this spell before so I wasn't ready to figure out which spells to use in my defense. Eda somehow knew what to do when a red shadow person began fighting her. It was a fist to fist battle but I turned away from the situation just to be punched on the right side of my face and forehead. I stumbled back and slightly affected myself, though my mask kept my face from becoming bruised.
"Why the hell is your mask so damn hard?!"
"It's to prevent my pretty face from being destroyed by someone like you!" I said before striking him with lightning.
It knocked him out rather quickly which surprised me. The third person went after Eda and the fourth criminal came to me.
"Finally you're here Firelight so I can kick your ass. Rock monster!"
The ground started shaking underneath me and I backed up quickly. A ten foot tall figure, made of big boulders, arose from the ground. I wasn't sure how to go into battle with this monster.
"Destroy her!" the guy commanded the rock monster and pointed directly at me.
The monster began running at me at full speed. Once it was close to me, it jumped and it's hands were ready to crush me. There was no way in hell I would let that happen.
"Iron armor," my magic flowed through my arms and hands which then turned into iron.
The monster's hands clashed against mine but I didn't cause any injury to me. It was very heavy but I managed to push away and move beside it.
"Time to end this madness. Air crush!"
"Cancel!"
I said my spell but it didn't work.
"Hahaha! Sorry to say but I canceled that specific spell of yours. You won't be getting it back for the next few hours," the fourth guy who came to me, uttered.
I clenched my teeth in anger as I tried figuring out what magic to use.
I got distracted and whipped my head to Eda when she shouted, "Firelight! The shadowy guy is taking Amity away. Leave these guys to me!"
I turned my head to see that the guy was indeed snatching Amity and ran upstairs with her.
"I got this! Iron giant!"
Iron from the inside of the building flew straight in front of me like there was something magnetic. After everything was settled, my giant stood almost close to the ceiling.
"I order you to defeat that monster made of boulders and their owner!" I shouted at my iron giant.
It did what it was told, blocking the rock monster and the caster from going after me. I told Eda to be careful and ran upstairs to the second floor. The red-eye kidnapper was nowhere to be seen with Amity and the only place they could be at is the roof. I searched quickly to see a little set of stairs at my left side and sprinted to it. I prayed that the criminal and Amity were still up there. And I was correct. There they were, outside, on top of the roof, with me. His arm was around Amity's neck as she stood in front of him, unconscious but stirring around. Both of them were very close to the edge which worried me. I kept my eyes on them and was ready to attack if there was any movement made from the stranger in front of me.
"What are you doing with her?" I questioned my opponent.
"It's none of your concern. I'm quite shocked that you found us here. How did you know that this girl was missing?"
"Don't worry about it. My job is to take her back home safely, so I prefer that you let her go."
"I can not do that, but if you want her back, then come get her," the evil mage intensely stared at my eyes.
I wasn't sure what to do. If I made the first move, he could harm her in any way he can. If only Eda was here to help me in this situation. What would she do?
"I hate you and your partner with so much passion. Because of that, I am willing to throw this girl off the roof without caring and kill both you and The Owl Lady. Haha! Say goodbye to the first civilian you won't be able to save!"
After he was done talking, it was like slow motion. He pushed Amity off the building with her front facing at the sky. My instincts kicked in and I ran across to where the criminal was at. He was expecting me to attack but I instead used ice magic to freeze his lower body as I jumped off the roof after Amity. I went faster than Amity and was able to grab a hold of her hand. There were vines hanging on the wall of the building and I took that as my advantage to make them thicker with my magic and grabbed it tightly. I held the kidnapped girl close to me while I lowered us down to the ground.
I sighed in relief that we didn't die from being hit to the ground at such a high building. The only thing I was worried about was Eda. I know her first priority was to save Amity but it's already been done. The good news was that my ears detected the sounds of sirens that were coming in our direction.
'I wonder who called them.'
All of a sudden, I heard a door crash down from the other side of the building and a sound of footsteps were approaching us. I laid Amity down in preparation to fight whoever came out of the structure. There was no need for it when Eda popped her head out.
"There you are! I was worried that you were struggling without me," Eda ran to me.
"I was okay actually. I saved Amity when she was pushed off the roof by the shadowy guy," I went to pick up Amity, bridal style.
The ambulance, along with police officers and firefighters surrounded the building.
"Who called them?"
"I'm not sure. You can ask them and tell them about the situation. I'm going to take Amity to an ambulance to get her checked out," I faced Eda.
"I'll come back to you after," my teacher ran off to a police officer.
I stared at Amity as she was starting to move around a bit. Her facial expression showed me that she was scared.
(It's horrible, I know, but I did my best to draw the scene😭)
I held her close while I walked to an ambulance. Two of the workers noticed me coming to them and walked fast to take Amity for a check up.
"Do you need any medical attention, Firelight?"
"Not right now. Just take care of her first before attending to me," I declined their help.
I stayed with Amity when she began waking up. My heart was beating fast as her eyes opened. All I wanted to do was give her a hug even though I can't right now. I felt very happy that I was able to save Amity and to see that she is okay.
"W-what...happened?" Amity rubbed her head.
"Before I answer your question, let these guys handle you first. We need to make sure that you're okay first," I informed the girl.
She nodded and remained quiet. I latched my hand onto Amity's to let her know that I was there for her and that there's no need to be afraid. She gave me a small smile that caused a feeling of butterflies in my stomach. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned my head to see Eda.
"So the police said that they got a call from a nearby neighbor who heard ruckus in the building. Oh and I told the officers about what happened between us, the girl, and the four criminals. I am so stupid that I completely forgot that I can take those idiot's mask off," Eda looked pissed.
I giggled and replied, "It's fine. But did they arrest them?"
"I don't know but they went inside to investiga-"
"Owl Lady! You said the criminals were inside the building correct?" an officer jogged to us.
"Yeah, why?"
"None of them are there."
"What?! Are you serious?! I swear I knocked those three guys down and tied them up. How could they have escaped!?" Eda was in disbelief.
"I'm not sure but neither is the fourth criminal at the rooftop. There are no signs of the rope that you used but my partners saw a puddle of water on the roof."
"That guy must've melted my ice. I used my ice magic to freeze him in place so he wouldn't attack me while I went after Amity as we fell off the rooftop," I explained my situation with the red-eye criminal.
"I fell off the roof?" Amity asked.
"Come with me Owl Lady. I'll have a word with you later Firelight," I nodded and paid attention to Amity.
"Actually, the guy who was with us on the roof pushed you off. I jumped off as well to save you."
I watched as her eyes went wide with a mix of fear and sadness.
"You were kidnapped, Amity. I'm not sure why or how. Luckily, someone who had your school ID came to Owl Lady and I and told us about you missing," I handed the ID to Amity.
"Who found my ID? I need to know."
I paused for a second as I came up with a believable story and told Amity, "It was a girl named Luz from your school. She was at a coffee shop when two men were leaving the property and she noticed that they dropped your school ID. Apparently one of your friends told her that it wasn't like you to miss school so I'm guessing Luz went on a search for you. The good thing is that she found us a block away and told us about your situation, so my partner and I came to find you for Luz and well, it turned out successful."
"Oh. I'm glad to hear that," Amity looked upset as if something was bothering her.
I didn't want to push her into telling me what was wrong.
"Were you ever awake when those kidnappers held you hostage?"
"I was but somehow I blacked out out of nowhere. I'm not sure why. I also couldn't use my magic to escape."
"That's because they used a drug known as powerless syrup. It prevents the person's magic from being used for a couple of hours. It doesn't affect the level of your magic so there's no need to worry about it. In an hour or two, you'll get your magic back," the EMT worker clarified the problem with Amity's magic.
"That's good."
"Firelight, I need you quick!"
I heard my name come from the same officer who was talking to Eda and I earlier.
"I gotta go. Thanks guys for helping check up on her."
"No problem, Firelight."
"Wait! Before you go, I'd like to thank you and The Owl Lady for rescuing me," Amity thanked me.
"I'm just doing my job. There's no need to thank me, Amity. Take care of yourself," I gave her her quick smile and ran to the officer.
"What's up?"
"The Owl Lady explained to me about everything that happened from the beginning to the end."
"What did she say about it from the beginning?"
"Something about a girl who heard about Amity was missing since she didn't attend school and went to find her when two criminals at a coffee shop dropped a school ID of Amity and the girl took it and found you guys to tell you about Amity being kidnapped. Is that what happened?"
"Yes sir. That is exactly what had happened."
"Alright then. I'll have a word with Amity and see if she can help us with this situation. Thank you for your and Owl Lady's help. Who knows what would have happened to Amity if the girl who found you, didn't find you at all."
"I know. She's the true hero," I chuckled.
"She is. Well, that is all I need from you and Owl Lady. You guys can continue doing your duty while we take care of this matter, alright?"
"Yes sir. Thank you for coming and please thank the person who called you guys," I waved at the officer.
"Will do."
I saw Eda leaning against the building, waiting to finish talking with the police officer.
"Are we able to go?" Eda interrogated me.
"Yeah we are."
"I almost forgot that I brought my car with me. I wonder how we'll get in without anyone noticing us."
"We will figure out a way. Also, did you get hurt?"
"I got kicked in the stomach by the shadowy dude. He was a pretty tough opponent to go against. Other than that, I'm fine. I see you have some marks on the right side of your forehead and chin," Eda grabbed my face as she examined it.
"It's nothing. I got punched but I'll be alright. I just need to hide so no one will suspect anything."
By now, we were away from everyone who was surrounding the building and weirdly, there was no one around Eda's car.
"Don't get any injuries on your body or else someone is bound to ask you about it. Especially when you're going to dress up for P.E. in the girl's locker room."
"You do have a fair point. I do have perfect excuses to use for whenever I get a bruise or cut on my body," I quickly went in Eda's challenger.
"As long as someone doesn't touch my face, I won't have any explaining to do," Eda started her car.
"That's right."
"So what did you tell Amity about her being kidnapped and how we found her?"
"All I said was that a girl by the name of Luz figured that Amity was missing because Amity is not the type to ever miss school according to Amity's friend. So Luz went to search and found her school ID on the floor at the coffee shop that was accidentally dropped by the two criminals who kept Amity hostage and told Firelight and Owl Lady about everything and went to rescue her," I summarized.
"If you said something totally different from what you told her siblings, she would be very suspicious and think that you, as Firelight or Luz Noceda, are a liar."
"Yeah I know. I'm very happy that we actually found Amity and none of those guys have hurt her."
"Me too kid. I was worried about both you and Amity when you were above me. By the way, your giant got destroyed a bit at the end but luckily the boulder monster was taken down along with the caster who created it."
"Good thing my giant won against that stupid monster."
"Heh, and good thing we won but also lost at the same time considering the kidnappers are loose. I wonder why they kidnapped Amity," Eda wondered.
"From what the EMT told me about Amity's health, they detected a drug called powerless syrup that prevents you from using your magic for a few hours."
"I've heard about that drug before. You can either drink it or use a syringe for the drug to work."
"They used the drug on Amity because she has a high level of magic. The thing is, how did they know that she is that strong?"
"Beats me. But they may have used a syringe so they can probably use her as an experiment or something like that," my mentor guessed.
"Maybe. Whatever it is, it won't happen again to Amity."
"You are right about that. We're here to serve and protect our city."
"We're not allowing people to lose faith in us. I'm the symbol of peace and fire while you're the symbol of wisdom and honesty."
"Oh don't worry kid. I'm not planning to let our people lose a single drop of faith in us. After our school days are over, we will be training extra hard to show every criminal that we're not playing around. Playtime is over for them," Eda smirked and became determined.
"I'm glad that you're my partner in hero duty. It's so much better to have someone fight alongside me and not be alone all day."
"And I'm happy to be working with you both as a teacher, mentor, and a hero."
I smiled widely from her words and held out my fist. Eda gave it a quick glance before fist bumping mine. I retrieved my hand back to where I had it before and continued to smile throughout the car ride. My teacher and I were able to save Amity from four kidnappers in total. I almost died and probably Eda too, but at least we came out with nothing but some minor injuries. Amity on the other hand will probably be traumatized from what had happened today. If she is, I'll be there to help her in any way possible. I'm not sure why but there's something about Amity that makes me want to protect her more. I hope soon enough I can figure out why I'm feeling this way.