"𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦."
A brunette girl held a Hexes Hold'em card in her hand, reading to a boy that lay on his side, sprawled across the grass.
"Yeah," He muttered while scratching his side. "That sounds about right."
The girl then placed a skeleton card down, Vee kneeling in front of it as she smiled.
"Hello!"
"Ohh..." Luz groaned. "She's gonna embarrass herself, I can't watch–"
"Oh, hey, Luz!" The brunette grinned, the Latina looking up at the cube in surprise.
"Good to see you outside of prison," The brunette joked, Vee grinning. Luz looked around in confusion, trying to remember the brunette but her eyes widened at Vee's next sentence.
"Come on," The girl chuckled. "Camp wasn't that bad."
"Camp?" The Latina placed a hand on the cube.
"We did have the best cabin," Vee looked at the others before chanting a group cheer.
"Cabin seven! Hoo ha-ha!" They all cheered before breaking into laughter, Vee clutching onto the hand mirror as Luz watched closely, a small frown on her face.
"Cool cards," Vee exclaimed before looking down at the pieces of paper.
"Where'd you get them?"
The shape-shifting demon placed a hand on the paper before her brunette friend slipped it away, picking it up while waving it.
"Uh-uh-uh, let me give you a reading first," She smiled. "I wanna practice!"
The girl then placed three cards down, the first being a face (or a moon), the second being a fish with three arrows behind it. The final card was then placed down as it was a skeleton, a crown atop its head while it had a chalice in its hand, eyes crossed out.
"Whoa..." The group gasped, Luz pressing her face close to the cube as she stared at it, intrigued.
"You're running from your past. From a previous life that was not kind to you," The brunette read, Vee getting uncomfortable as her friend continued to read the cards.
"However, the guilt and fear you carry will eventually catch you in a self-fulfilling prophecy that you won't be able to escape from..."
Vee squeaked, Luz glancing at her in worry before the brunette smiled at her, a brow raised before she pointed a finger at her friend.
"You're gonna need some bath bombs, girl," The girl chuckled before picking the cards up. The group looked at her.
"Anyway, I got the cards over at the Gravesfield Historical Society."
The girl pointed her thumb behind her, the building in view as Vee solemnly stood up, clutching the mirror close to her. The group looked at her with slight empathy, watching the girl as she left.
"Thanks, I'll see you around..."
"Did you see the look in her eye?" The brunette frowned before smiling. "I got to find out where she bought those contacts!"
Another group member nodded before they continued their readings, Vee now at the steps of the building.
The door shut as the girl walked in, sniffing around for magic before sneezing into her arm, a voice ringing out as a male walked up.
"Is it that dusty in here?" The male adjusted his glasses.
"Welcome to the Gravesfield Historical Society," He smiled. "Let me guess, you're here to buy those weird cards, right?"
Vee gasped, walking forwards.
"How did you know?"
"Well, they've been really popular with high-schoolers," The man walked over to the desk. "I saw an old lady try to dump them in a river a while back, but I bought them off her instead. It was really odd though, she kept asking for snails."
Luz listened in before smiling brightly, holding the cube.
"This is it!"
"You want a set?" The guy asked, Vee smiling.
"Yes, please!"
"Well, I'll be just a minute, so, feel free to look around," The guy smiled, holding a box before entering the staff room.
Vee looked around, wandering as she walked down the hallways of the place, pocketing the hand mirror as she stared at the reflection, Luz appearing as she stared empathetically at Vee.
"Are you okay?" The Latina then smiled, starting an attempt to soothe her new friend.
"Hey, forget what that girl said," The Latina waved a hand. "I know what it's like to want to run away from home. I did the same thing."
"You and I are not the same!" Vee hissed, tearing up. "You had a mum that loved you, a home, a life. You had it good! And you still wanted to run away! I– I didn't have a choice!"
The girl whimpered before sighing.
"My real name is Number Five, I'm a basilisk and technically, I– I shouldn't exist."
The girl pulled her glasses and beanie off, remembering her past as the flashbacks appeared.
•
"My kind went extinct a long time ago, but we were brought back."
Vee sat in a cage along with a few other basilisks, the girl forced to take the magic from the rats as the Warden watched from afar, taking notes.
"They wanted to know how we drained magic."
"I met a basilisk once," Luz sighed. "She hurt a lot of people."
The basilisk girl stood before her prey, tears forming as she refused to hurt any more of the innocent beings,
"For many of us, all we knew how to do was feed. Some of us escaped, but, I knew it was only a matter of time before he caught us again."
Vee wandered through the market, a cloak around her shoulders as she laid her eyes on Luz.
"That's when I saw you and– and I realised there might be a way out of this."
Vee snuck into the small store, sneaking to the back as she spotted the portal door. Her eyes were shut as she was teleported. The basilisk gasped, now in a different room as she opened the door, seeing lush trees before slithering out.
"Luz? Where are you?" Camila called out, searching for her daughter.
Vee gasped, quickly shifting as Camile searched for Luz, the woman walking through the bushes as Vee thought of something to say.
"Luz, there you are!" Camila exclaimed, seeing her daughter's purple and white shirt.
"Hello, fellow human," Vee smiled nervously. "Um, skin's sure weird..."
The girl pinched her skin, Camila chuckling as she neared the girl.
"Very funny," She smiled. "But I was thinking, instead of taking the bus to camp, why don't we drive? I got the day off from work. And you'll have full control of the playlist."
Camila held her hand out, Vee looked at it before taking the woman's hand, having a small smile on, Camila smiling down at her daughter.
"I didn't mean to keep playing this role, but Camila was so nice to me."
•
"I resent you for running away," Vee shut her eyes tight. "But I'm also thankful that you did. I don't know, it's confusing."
The girl placed her beanie and glasses back in place, looking down as Luz realised Vee's point of view.
Guilt began to pool in her stomach before Vee perked up, the Latina pressing her hands on the cube's surface, eyes wide at the basilisk.
"Do you smell something?"
Vee sniffed around, soon walking off as Luz followed after, her image in the reflection disappearing.
Vee stood before the staff room's door, opening it as the darkness entered her eyes. The girl strained to find the light switch, grunting as she searched.
"Where's the light?"
The girl then successfully found the switch, flicking it before she continued to sniff around, the mirror in her hand before she cried out.
Her eyes were widened at the sight of malicious tools, an image of a witch hunt framed up as more witch-related items appeared.
Vee looked around, walking closer to the corkboard, red string connecting images as her curiosity drew her in.
A deck of Hexes Hold'em cards lay in front of a fan, Vee spotting more images of Eda that had been marked all over the place. Vee backed away, fearful.
"What is all this?"
The girl then crashed into a device behind her, crying out as things began popping up, a video of her in her basilisk form appearing before her eyes were wide.
"Have we been followed this whole time?!"
Vee cried out, running before she unknowingly stepped onto a laser. A cage appeared, the mirror crashing out of the girl's hands, breaking as the cage covered the girl.
The image on the cube then disappeared, Luz exclaiming the girl's name in fear.
"Vee?! Vee! Vee!"
•
A storm began to brew over the Gravesfield Historical Society, Vee struggling within before she began to panic, Luz appearing in the reflection of a painting.
"Vee!" Luz cried out in relief.
The basilisk blocked her name out, struggling as she ripped the beanie and glasses off, breaking out before she turned into her true form, terrified.
"Whoa..." The male from earlier appeared, peering from the door crack as a stick was in his hand.
"It worked?"
Luz ducked below, the male walking forwards.
"I can't believe it! Are– Are you real?"
The man hit the stick on the cage, Vee whimpering as she swatted the stick away, shutting her eyes in fear.
"After all this time, after setting up all those traps, I-I finally caught a living, breathing, demon!" The man cheered before smiling down at Vee, the girl looking at him in fear.
"Oh, don't be surprised. A few years back, I had a chance encounter with another one of your kind,"
The male smiled, pulling out a photo of Eda in her beast form from his pocket, her eyes glowing.
"Yeah, a-at first, I couldn't believe what I saw, but after watching a few Mew-Tube videos I learned the truth," He placed his hands on the cage's bars, then crossing his arms.
"Witches and demons are real."
Luz gasped, covering her mouth before the male continued his sentence.
"And they're all sent from Mars to harvest human teeth to power their time machine!" He pointed an accusing finger at Vee, Luz then taking in a deep breath, placing her fingers on her mouth, ready to judge the man.
"You... don't actually know anything about us, do you?" Vee glanced up, the male narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, I know enough. I'll expose your vile plans on Mew-Tube and finally get my account verified!" He smirked. "Get comfortable demon, 'cause you'll be in cages for the rest of your life."
Vee slumped down, Luz looking at her softly, placing her hands on the glass.
"Don't worry, Vee. We can get out of this."
"Go back to the Demon Realm, Luz," Vee frowned.
"Huh?"
"Even if I get out, he knows what my disguise looks like. He'd out me to Camila, and it would just cause her more trouble than if you just disappeared!"
"Vee," Luz frowned. "You're giving up too quick!"
"I'm being realistic," The basilisk frowned before smiling a sad smile.
"It's okay, I'm... used to living like this. Goodbye, Luz."
The girl then used her tail to break the glass, Luz's reflection disappearing while the girl cried out in anguish.
"No!"
It wasn't long before the cube had shattered, Luz cupping her mouth as she called her new friend's name.
"Vee! Uh, Five! N-Number Five!"
Luz slammed her fists into the liquid in frustration, upset as the cubes continued to flow upwards, a voice then calling from the distance, silently.
"Noceda."
Luz lifted her head, taking in a deep breath before opening her eyes in determination.
"Camila Noceda."
Her mother's name slipped her lips, a cube appearing from the murky waters below as it glowed, enveloping the girl in its golden glow.
•
"Boop."
Laying on the counter was the box Vee had taken out, a tinfoil swan in her hands. The woman smiled softly, poking the creation's nose as she chucked, Luz appearing in the reflection of her phone.
"Mum?" Luz called out. "Are you there?"
Camila snapped up, facing her phone with wide eyes before smiling at it.
"Huh, Luz? I didn't even hear you call."
"Mum, it's so great to hear your voice," Luz smiled softly.
"Oh, it's great to hear you too," Camila smiled wearily. "What's wrong?"
"I found out who's been setting up those traps," Luz frowned. "And he's hurting a friend of mine. But first, I gotta tell you the truth, about the last few months..."
Luz looked away, finally owning up as her mother pulled the chair out, sitting down as she heard her daughter's story.
"Let me tell you about a place called Boiling Isles."
•
"You know, if you wanted me to pick you and your friend up, you didn't have to make up this elaborate story about the Demon Realm," Camila smiled, standing before the Gravesfield Historical Society, her phone in her hands.
"I'm not making it up mum!" Luz frowned, her palms pressed against the glass.
Camila then chuckled, smiling down at her daughter's image.
"Don't worry, I'll play along."
Camila walked in, smiling as she spoke to her daughter, the door creaking.
"I know this stuff made school difficult, but I'm glad you're still being creative," Camila looked around, spotting a statue of a witch, an axe soon piercing the piece of rock.
Camila looked up, spotting Jacob, the male that had capture Vee, lift a box, placing it on the counter.
"Are you the curator here?" Camila raised a brow. Jacob adjusted his glasses, frowning deeply.
"Who's asking?"
"A little birdie told me you caught a demon," Camila winked. "I would love to see it!"
"Wait," Jacob shook his head. "How did you know? Do you work for the government?"
"Oh," Camila responded. "I'm a veterinarian, actually."
"So," Jacob walked from behind the desk, inspecting Camila.
"The president sent a vet to study the demon's anatomy, huh?"
The man placed a hand on his chin before smiling.
"Sure, I'll show you. But first, I'll need verbal confirmation that I get to publish my findings first," Jacob held a recording device out, pressing a button before holding it out to Camila who looked at it, uneasy.
"Uh... 'kay."
"Good. Now you're bound by law. Follow me."
"You even made me a part of your game!" Camila smiled down at her phone, squealing. "This is so fun!"
Jacob then opened the staff room door, Camila walking in as she smiled brightly, looking around in curiosity.
"Ooh! Is this one of those escape rooms?" Camila asked. "Or um, what do you call them? A LARP! Oh, sorry. Don't wanna break the illusion."
"Let me start by telling you the secret history of Gravesfield."
He placed his hand on Camila's shoulder, the woman uncomfortable as she peeled his hand off.
•
:)
thank you all for reading once more and I hope you all have a wonderful day/night or week/weekend ahead!
-sam