Chapter Text
“Whoooooohoooooooo!”
Luz cheered loudly as wind whipped through her hair, denizens of the Isles grumpily jumping out of her way as she shot through the street on her staff, shaking their heads as they watched the human zip through the city.
She was raised by the Owl Lady, after all.
Normally, Luz would just fly higher or run through the city (which, if you asked anyone who had seen her, was somehow equally disruptive), but she was just brimming with too much energy to care. After all, today was the day!
Today, she was going to ask Amity to marry her.
She couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face. They had been together for eight years now and had decided to wait until they were done with their education to get married. Knowing her girlfriend, Luz was absolutely sure Amity was planning that to the note, waiting until after graduation to even think about it (well, to think about actualizing it- she had a pretty massive notebook on what kind of wedding she wanted Luz pretended not to know was hidden under Amity’s nightstand), but Luz couldn’t wait.
They were all but graduated at this point, with only the ceremony left, and Luz was ready to make the plunge. Tonight was their normal date night, but Luz got them a reservation at one of the nicest restaurants in Bonesborough. Willow and Gus were going to help out and set up some decorations by their Grom tree, and with the lights floating in the air, the pink tone setting the mood, Luz would drop down on one knee, and-
She sighed dreamily, spinning around on her staff as Stringbean piloted for her. Amity was the love of her life, and Luz didn’t know how to explain the elation she felt even just from thinking about the witch. She felt the mental pull of Stringbean’s voice- something she learned was unique to the owner of each palisman- laughing at her antics.
“Hey,” Luz laughed, pointing down at her palisman. “Don’t try to pretend that Ghost isn’t your best friend either. You come by it honestly,” she said with a smile, her mind drifting back to Amity.
Before she could fall down that rabbit hole again, though, Stringbean came to a stop, making Luz look up. Tinker’s Tinkering, Enlargement, and Shrinking stood in front of them, the sign a whole mishmash of neon lights and colors, letters of varying sizes sitting in front of rings, hats, and what Luz was certain had to be a telescope, but she couldn’t figure out why it had claws.
She reached under her cloak and into her satchel, smiling at the glittering crown inside. While Amity had wanted to go to Grom with Luz originally (which, that was an embarrassing conversation- Luz had to admit how dense she was, plus a whole load of unpacking why she felt there was no way Amity could see her that way at the time despite the overall signs) and saved hers in a keepsake box for years, Luz had been a little more… preoccupied after their first Grom. Heck, she hadn’t even realized her crush yet! Despite that, though, she was able to convince King to let her have it back and had been fortunate that the small titan had left it with his stuffies to look after.
For a few frightening moments, she thought Hooty might have gotten to it, which made her shudder thinking what the house demon would have done to get it back to her.
Luz shook her head and smiled, stepping off her staff as Stringbean transformed, floating beside her as she walked into the store. Way back when, she stood out- well, she still did. While the exchange program was working well for witches exploring the Human Realm, there were still only a handful of humans they were comfortable with letting into the Isles, so she was pretty noticeable on the whole species front. But after starting school here, she had all but moved in with Eda, Raine, and King in the Owl House and finally, after years of begging, had ‘witchy’ clothes.
Brown boots led up to purple leggings that peaked out from under a mid-thigh length, sleeveless black tunic. She wore fingerless gloves that went up to her bicep, and a black cloak over her shoulders, which, while it had recently come back into fashion, she wore because it just felt magical.
The store was filled with nicknacks, from clocks to hats, jewelry to… Luz would have to ask Eda what that was, but it was definitely a nicknack, despite the growling teeth that the item bore. Luz continued her way to the counter, where a kind old man was peering through a magnifying glass, casting a spell on a ring, cleaning it quickly. He glanced up as Luz approached and smiled, putting his glasses on the top of his head and wiping his hands on his apron.
“Ah, Miss Noceda!” He stood to address her, his voice filled with curiosity. “What brings you to my shop today?”
Luz blinked at him, wide-eyed. “You know me?”
“Of course,” the old man chuckled. “Everyone knows the Hero of the Isles.”
Luz grimaced, blushing in embarrassment at the name. She had tried so desperately to make sure it hadn’t been a thing, but life had had different plans. After the whole Belos thing, she, naturally, had to tell her friends what had happened. So, she started telling them the story- from the nightmares, the time with the collector, meeting Papa Titan, and beating Belos.
But Eda decided she wasn’t telling it correctly. She was lacking ‘flare’ and ‘being too modest,’ apparently. So the Owl Lady took the story into her own hands, with Luz grumbling that she was romanticizing it too much and that it wasn’t nearly as impressive as what she was describing.
She couldn’t remember who it was, but someone then suggested going into her mindscape and just watching the memory. Luz had been pretty against it until Amity expressed interest, at which point she caved. Her friends went in, saw the memories play out in front of them, and came out even more impressed with their human friend (though, Amity didn’t let her out of her sight for a month after seeing her ‘die’).
Luz immediately made them promise not to treat her differently or like she was a hero or something like that, and they agreed, but… Well, Gus is a showman at heart, and he had a story he wanted to tell (when Luz wasn’t around, of course). It didn’t take long for the Isles to know the story, be it by word of mouth or a very well-made illusion. Her friends never called her a hero, but that didn’t stop others on the Isles from picking it up. Everyone knew the human now, whether she liked it or not.
“It does help that you’re the only human that lives here, dear,” the old man laughed, breaking Luz from her memories.
“Oh, right, yeah, that makes sense,” Luz replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.
“So what brings you in today?” The old man asked, laughter still twinkling in his eyes.
“Oh, um,” Luz reached into her satchel, pulling out her Grom crown. “I was wondering if you could shrink this down to a size six ring?”
The man looked at the crown for a little bit, humming as he pulled his glasses back down and inspected the metal. He glanced at Luz’s hands, noting the size of her fingers, as he inspected the gemstones embedded in the crown.
“A gift for Miss Blight?” He asked, glancing up at Luz.
Luz blinked a few times, wondering just how much this old man knew about her life when he broke into a smile.
“Your old principal, Hieronymus, used to be a frequent customer of mine,” the old man explained, answering the unasked question as he brought the crown under his magnifying glass and started casting spells. “He was always very keen to talk about his students, though a particular human and her group of friends may have come up more often than most of the others.” He chuckled, taking a moment to glance up at Luz and nodding at her hands. “And a size six wouldn’t fit you.”
Luz nodded with a light blush at being caught, watching the old man work and getting drawn into his conversation. After a few minutes, she realized it was no wonder he knew so much about the Isles- he was very good at remembering things and drew out conversation like it was second nature. Before Luz knew it, he was handing her the now shrunken Grom crown in a small ring box.
She paid for the service, stepped outside, and started her flight back to the Owl House. She let Stringbean guide them along as she opened the box, looking at the glittering ring shining back at her. Her heart fluttered as the moment became a little more real- it was one thing to talk about getting married, but to actually take the first step…
Butterflies filled her stomach and she swallowed some nerves. She was going to make tonight one of the best Amity had ever had!
Soon enough, the Owl House came into view, and Luz stepped off Stringbean gracefully, going through the back door so as not to activate the portal to the human realm.
“Eda! Raine! King! I’m home!”
“In here, kid,” Eda’s voice replied from the living room.
Luz hung her cloak by the door and walked through the kitchen, surprised to find her mom sitting in the living room with Eda and King.
“Mami?” Luz glanced between them as she took a seat, King rushing over to her to sit on her lap. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, when Eda told me that my daughter was planning to propose to her girlfriend tonight, I had to come to find out why I was learning it from her and not you,” Camila explained with a pointed look.
Luz shrunk in her chair as Eda cackled. “Sorry, Mami. I’ve kind of been in a rush to get everything ready, I just forgot, and-”
“Luz,” Camila interrupted gently, smiling. “I’m just teasing. This is great news. That girl’s the best thing that ever happened to you.”
Luz blushed, unable to argue. “Yeah…”
“Feeling nervous?” Eda asked before taking a sip out of her thirty and flirty mug.
“I wasn’t for a while, but then I got the ring…” Luz shivered, a gentle nervousness settling over her. “Now it’s like… I don’t know, kind of like if I accidentally drank some milk or something. My stomach is all… squirmy.”
“That’s normal, Bebe,” Camila smiled, reaching over to pat Luz on her knee.
Luz smiled, but her nerves were still there. She glanced at Eda, chewing on her lip. “What did you do with Raine?”
“Oh, well,” Eda chuckled, running her thumb against her mug gently as she blushed thinking of the bard witch. “You know we don’t really believe in that institutional crap-” She paused as she watched Luz’s smile fall, and quickly moved to correct herself. “But it’s great that you do! And if that’s what you and Amity want, then you should go for it.”
“Yeah, but like… What should I do? What should I say?” Luz asked, running her hand through her hair. “Amity’s smart, cool, and classy… I don’t know if I can do something that’ll be good enough for her.”
“Déjà vu,” King muttered from her lap, rolling his eyes gently.
“Kid, she’d love it if you showed up in your jammies and gave her a ring, just because it’s you,” Eda laughed while Camila nodded along with a smile. “Besides, being gross and overly sappy is what you do.” Eda shook her head fondly, looking at Luz with a motherly smile. “Trust me, kid. She loves you. Whatever you do will be more than enough to make her happy.”
Luz still looked nervous, but Camila’s hand on her knee made her look up, her mom smiling at her gently.
“You know- your father was so worried about making things perfect when he asked me to marry him,” she started, getting Luz’s attention. Manny was still a difficult topic for them to talk about, so there were a lot of stories Luz had never heard, including how they got engaged. “He was adamant about making it Cosmic Frontier themed…”
“Don’t tell Hunter or he’ll get ideas,” Luz muttered, thinking of how Willow would be too smitten to say anything about it.
“Okay, Miss ‘maybe I dress up as Azura,’” Eda said with a laugh, making Luz erupt into a fierce blush.
“Anyway,” Camila interrupted with a smile, trying to save her daughter some embarrassment. “He went out of his way to make sure we were in costume, had rented out a replica of the set, everything you could imagine- but then on the way there, his car broke down. By the time we made it to the set, our reservation time had ended and we were running late for dinner and still in costume. He was going to give up until I asked him what the big deal was.” Camila looked into the distance, smiling at the memory.
“He pulled out the ring, explaining it and getting down on one knee to ask me anyway,” she continued with a chuckle, shaking her head. “It wasn’t perfect, but that’s what made it perfect. You don’t need to worry about the details, mija,” Camila said, bringing her attention back to Luz. “As long as the two of you are together and happy, that’s what matters most.”
“Yeah,” Luz said with a smile, looking down at her hands as she thought about Amity. The lavender-haired witch had her heart in a vice grip, and that’s exactly how Luz wanted to feel for the rest of her life.
“Have you two talked about what you’re going to do afterward?” Camila asked innocently, bringing Luz down from her daydreams.
“After?”
“Well, I’m guessing you’ve talked about marriage,” she laughed. “What do you plan to do after?”
Luz froze. They had talked about it, but she hadn’t brought it up with her mom yet. Once she started at the University of Wild Magic, she had been living more in the Owl House and staying in the Boiling Isles. Even though finishing high school had been easier after making her friends in the Demon Realm and having Vee beside her, she still never really felt at home the same way she had in the Boiling Isles, so it hadn’t been much of a surprise that she and Amity had planned to live here in the Demon Realm. But to tell her mom that…
Eda seemed to sense her discomfort and looked around the room for something to change the topic.
“Hey, you know what, while you’re here,” she said, eyes falling on a box on the other side of the room. “We’ve got a present for you!” She motioned for King to go grab the box, smiling at the surprise they had in store. “Normally we’d wait for your graduation party, but-”
“We’re impatient!” King called out, grabbing the box and bringing it over to Luz.
Luz looked at the box curiously before glancing at Eda to make sure it was alright for her to open it. When the older witch nodded, Luz turned back to the box, ripping the lid off quickly and gasping as she looked at a familiar, velvety purple fabric.
“Is this-”
She lifted the fabric up, eyes going wide as a witch’s wool cloak, similar to the one Eda had given her all those years ago, dangled from her hands.
“We made you a new cloak!” King shouted excitedly, bouncing on his feet.
“One that actually fits,” Eda said with a smile and pointed look.
It had taken a lot longer than Luz would like to admit for her to stop wearing that cloak after it became too small- and it had taken a very strained conversation with Amity to make it happen. Now it hung in her closet, waiting for the future. Maybe if they had kids…
She shook her head, blushing. They weren’t even engaged yet!
She stood up, draping the cloak around her shoulders and admiring the fit- Eda had gotten it perfect, and the material felt just as comfortable and light as she remembered. It was amazing to think it could block magic.
“Eda, King, this is amazing, you didn’t have to-”
“Hey, hey, none of that,” Eda interrupted. “It’s not every day that your kid graduates from the university you founded.”
Luz reached inside, smiling as her fingers found a bunch of small pockets woven inside. “You even remembered the pockets!”
King tapped his chin as he watched Luz. “Why do you like having all those pockets, anyway? Your current cloak weighs so much because of all the stuff you have in it!”
“Oh, well,” Luz hummed. “It’s just really useful. I can carry potion ingredients, glyphs… Oh! And also…” She smiled, reaching into a pouch at her waist and throwing her hand into the air, a ton of small, colored squares flittering into the air. “Confetti!”
King squealed in delight as the paper fell down, while Eda rolled her eyes.
“You’re cleaning that up later.”
Luz shrugged sheepishly, unable to help the smile on her face. King tugged at her hand and brought her attention down to him. “Look at the hood!”
Luz pursed her lips, pulling the hood up, trying to figure out what could have the small titan excited when she realized it went over her head and down to cover her eyes. She pulled her scroll out, flipping the camera around to give her a view of the hood, and gasped.
The purple fabric had holes to let her see through, while it draped down over her face with a nose resembling King’s, as well as small little horns that jutted up from her skull, resembling a titan. She looked at herself in wonder as King scuffed the floor with his toe.
“I know it’s not a cat hoodie, but…” The small titan started, looking up at her and trying to gauge her reaction.
“King, I love it!” Luz shouted, picking him up off the ground and twirling around.
King giggled as they twirled, pride surging through his body at Luz’s reaction. “That’s not the only thing that’s special!”
“It’s not?!” Luz asked, eyes twinkling in wonder.
“Yeah, kid,” Eda said with a smile, glancing at Camila to see her smiling at the display as well. “We were really impressed with your ability to find new glyphs with King, and relating them to the old glyphs so quickly, too. King is still growing into his power, but he was insistent that you needed the ability to use glyphs where you were, so he donated some of his blood to be woven into the fabric.”
Luz glanced between them in wonder. “So… it’s not just witch’s wool, its got titan magic too?!”
“Yep!” King declared with a smile. “Now you can do magic wherever you go, as long as you have on your cloak!”
Luz looked between them as tears started to grow in her eyes. It was just so thoughtful, so sweet…
Eda stood up with a sigh and smile, knowing what was coming. “Alright, go ahead-”
She was cut off with an oof as Luz pulled her and King into a tight hug, crying gently on their shoulders. “This is so nice, thank you thank you thank you thank you!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Eda said, trying to play it cool but loving every second of Luz's hug. “You deserve it. You've worked hard these last few years to become the best witch you can be, and I'm-” Eda swallowed, tears forming in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Luz. “I'm so proud of you.”
They stayed like that for a bit, these three who had gone through so much together, until finally Eda stepped back and patted Luz's shoulder.
“Now, those little pockets of yours aren't going to fill themselves- well, unless you found a glyph for that,” Eda hummed before shaking her head. “Go empty your old cloak out.”
Luz practically vibrated with excitement as she rushed to the kitchen to empty out all her pockets. Eda watched with a smile as she sat back down next to Camila.
“You raised a hell of a daughter, Cam.”
Camila smiled proudly, listening to all the noise coming from the kitchen before looking at her watch.
“Hey, Mija!” She shouted, trying to be heard over whatever racket Luz was making. Seriously, what was in those pockets? “You better hurry or you'll be late for your date!”
A startled yelp came from the kitchen making the two older women laugh. They fell back into their easy conversation until a purple blur ran by, Luz stopping by the door only to blurt out a hurried “bye!” before she was out of the house and silence took over again.
“Like a hurricane,” King said with a stretch, laying down where Luz had been sitting. “Just,” he yawned, “packed into human form.”
—
Luz went through her mental checklist one more time. Ring? Check. Mints? Check. Dinner reservation, nice clothes, and a text from Gus and Willow saying everything was set up?
Check, check, and check!
Now, all that was left was a beautiful girlfriend to ask to spend the rest of her life with her. Just as she thought it, Amity came down the stairs and Luz’s jaw dropped. She was dressed in a long black dress, with a slit on one side up to her mid-thigh. Her moon pendant necklace hung against her collarbone, and she had donned some elbow-high black gloves to match. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with a few strands of lilac hair framing her face as she looked at Luz with her golden eyes.
“How do I look?” Amity asked as if she wasn’t the most beautiful thing that existed in the universe.
“Amor,” Luz breathed out, her brain stalling. “You’re… you look… Wow.”
Amity blushed under the praise, tucking one of the stray strands behind her ear. “You look pretty wow yourself, handsome.”
Luz blushed, waving the comment off despite the way it made her heart flutter. It was hardly nicer than her normal attire, a purple dress shirt tucked into black slacks, with black suspenders and shoes to match. Standing with Amity, the two looked perfect together, as they often did. Like two puzzle pieces destined to come together, their fingers interlaced and they began walking to town, catching up on Amity’s day as they went.
“I swear, Hooty almost ate something priceless, and even with her endless love for him, I don’t know if Lilith would have let him live it down,” Amity laughed, recounting her time at the museum earlier.
Honestly, Luz just counted herself lucky that she wasn’t off on an expedition. If she was this nervous now, she couldn’t imagine how she’d have felt if she had two or three more days of waiting between now and the moment. A shiver went down her back, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Something felt… off.
She shook her head, opting to ignore it, attributing it to her nerves. The two continued to walk, conversation flowing just as easily as it had for eight years, and, if Luz got her way, how it would continue to flow for the rest of their lives.
Soon enough, Bonesborough peeked over the horizon, and Luz felt her heartbeat pick up. Dinner, then the Grom tree for the big finish. Easy.
She hoped.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Luz was blown away. She had heard how nice the restaurant was, but that was entirely different from experiencing it in person. The sign stood out tall above them: Bones Apetite. The maître d' took her name and quickly brought them in to be seated. Luz’s breath was taken away by the tall walls, the elegant decorations, the beautiful table sets… All of it coalesced into something more than just a fancy restaurant.
They were quickly seated, Luz feeling her nerves spike up again. She knew Amity would say yes- they had talked about it so much that she had no doubts in her mind about that. It was still a big step in life, though, and Luz couldn't help but feel the weight of the ring in her pocket. She reached out with shakey hands to look at the menu, desperate for something to distract her from her nerves.
The restaurant was boasting about their gore-met meats, their bloodberry desserts, and… dragon fruit?
“Wait, you guys have dragon fruit too?” Luz asked, anxiety successfully stuffed away by her curiosity.
Amity chuckled, glancing up from her own menu. “I thought you knew? Where do you think dragon fruit comes from?”
Luz’s eyes went wide as she leaned forward excitedly. “Amity Blight, if you tell me there's an honest-to-gosh dragon in the Boiling Isles I might scream!”
“Don't scream, we're in a restaurant,” Amity reminded, laughing at the sparkle in Luz's eyes. “I don't think they live on the Titan, though. Remind me to ask Lilith and maybe we can plan a trek out there together!”
The rest of the meal went smoothly, with Luz forgetting about her worries and instead focusing on the beautiful witch in front of her. Amity's eyes were gorgeous golden pools, her hair framing her face in just the perfect way, and Luz could fall asleep listening to the gentle tones of her voice- in fact, she had, several times in their years together. All her emotions were replaced with infatuation as she looked at the woman she loved and smiled.
This is what she wanted for the rest of her life, with no doubt in her mind. She wanted to be with Amity Blight.
All too soon, the meal was over, and Luz couldn’t stop gushing about how delicious everything had been. She paid an eyebrow-raising amount of snails, and the two walked out of the restaurant hand in hand, with full bellies and full hearts.
Amity turned to go back home but was surprised to meet resistance from Luz, who was turning in the other direction.
“Uhhh, batata?” Amity asked, smiling at her girlfriend as she quirked an eyebrow. “Home’s this way. Where are you going?”
“We have one more stop, Amor,” Luz replied mysteriously, waggling her eyebrows at Amity and making the witch giggle. “A surprise!”
Amity smiled, wrapping her arm around Luz’s and resting her head on the other girl’s shoulder. “Alright, lead the way.”
Stars twinkled in the night sky as the two began their pleasant walk through Bonesborough and toward the cliff that held their tree. Luz felt her heart dancing in her chest with every step, glancing down at the witch holding onto her arm. She smiled, letting the relaxing aura of the night wash over her.
And then a shiver went down her spine, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It felt eerily similar to the one she had had before dinner, but her nerves were more under control now…
She looked around, noticing clouds in the sky swirling in ways she had never seen on the Isles. She swallowed as a pit formed in her stomach. Now was not the time for Boiling Isles weather.
What she got was worse.
Four figures seemed to appear out of nowhere through the clouds and Luz, Amity, and several others in the city stopped to look up. They wore hooded cloaks that resembled the night sky, with twinkling lights on them resembling stars. Each had dual-toned faces, similar to the one of their spacey friend.
The only thing denoting a difference between them at a glance was the tassels on their caps: one had a cyan, crescent moon, one had a yellow star, one had an orange, ringed planet, and the last was a red star.
Luz felt herself relax. They must be friends of the Collector, here to visit the Isles with their friend.
It was when she realized the Collector wasn’t with them that things went horribly wrong.
Magic waved over the town, several denizens getting turned into puppets instantly and pulled into the sky by two of the figures, as two others shot off to parts unknown. Luz and Amity immediately ducked into cover, the former grabbing glyphs from her pockets while the latter was already summoning abominations.
Luz cursed herself for the formal attire, having left her belt and cloak at home meant less in her arsenal to fight back. She cursed harder when she saw Amity’s abominations were destroyed with a snap. She stepped out of cover, throwing a fireball at the entities and staring, surprised as it connected so easily. Beside her, Amity did the same with a magenta fireball, but it was swatted away with ease by the unknown attackers.
Luz sent up vines, wrapping the two assailants up before igniting them from the base, watching the fire burst around them as Amity’s spells were still deflected.
Then suddenly, it clicked.
“Amity, here!” Luz shouted, tossing some of her glyphs to her girlfriend. “They’re like the Collector, only Titan magic works!”
Unfortunately, her last attack had gained the attention of their visitors. The building around them was stripped apart piece by piece, as were several on the block they were standing on, as magic started to shoot out toward them. Luz and Amity both dodged, but that seemed to be exactly what their attackers wanted.
Luz threw a glyph down at her feet as another wave of magic washed over them, a shield springing around her just in time to block whatever attack they were sending. When it ended, Luz dropped the shield, looking desperately for her girlfriend and finding her.
Or something that resembled her.
Amity lay, collapsed on the ground. A quick glance and it could be believed she had just passed out, but as Luz looked closer, she realized with horror what had happened. Amity’s dress had shifted, showing symbols of moons, stars, and suns on it as her body stiffened. Her joints moved as though they were made of wood, and as Luz got a look at her face, her heart sank.
The face of a puppet looked back at her, unable to move before getting yanked up into the sky by the attackers and disappearing into the night. Rubble sat around her as Luz looked up, the last few seconds still processing as she dropped to her knees, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks as she fell to the ground, hands desperately gripping the dirt in front of her, the ring in her pocket suddenly weighing a lot more than it had all evening.
“Amity…” she muttered as tears fell to the ground, soaking into the dirt. She leaned back, looking up into the sky with tear-blurred vision, calling out in vain.
“Amity!”