I stared there for a second confused before I realized where I was I sat up quickly, looking around to see a familiar sight. "Wait... Am I back on earth!" I yelled as I stood up. "Wait if I'm here then that means..." I said as I ran over to the side of the creek to see small dispersed bits glowing in the water. "Shit! This sucks, everyone's going to be so worried! ...Raine's going to kill me if I can't tell him where... That's right my scroll!" I said scrambling away from the broken portal as I scrambled to find my bag I found it near where I was laying previously I ran to it before rummaging through my books to find my scroll. "Come on, come on... found it! Wait what no signal! Ah damnit!" I said as I stuffed my scroll into my book bag before slinging it over my shoulder as I climbed out of the creek.
"Ok let's think, how did I find this portal again? Titans' blood should be scarce so there's no way that some just happened to fall into the water in the river so where..." I mumbled to myself before freezing in place remembering how I fell into the stream. "Wait does that mean... no no no, that can't be that's absurd!" I said to myself before I heard a branch snap and I saw a lizard on the ground trying to hide behind a rock. "Oh hey, little buddy. Sorry for scaring you, I was just thinking about something. Here let me just..." I said to the reptile which I think was a snake as I cast a beast-keeping spell. "There! Now that we formed a bond we can finally talk" I said smiling as the snake who I decided to name Hissby the 2nd slithered onto my body before wrapping itself around my neck like a scarf before hissing at me.
"Ah, you're hungry? Now that you mention it I'm hungry too. Hey, why don't we go find my parents? They haven't seen me in 6 months but I'm sure they'll feed us when we reunite." I said to Hisser as I started walking towards where I remembered the path back was before... "Chris?" I heard a familiar voice say from behind me causing me to turn around to see a girl standing on the other side of the creek one I recognized 'Is that...'
POV Change Luz, Several minutes ago
"Come on come on, there's got to be something," Luz said as she looked around a well-worn path before she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Mija we've been at this for hours, I know you want to find Chris but we need to get back before it gets dark," Camila said as she pointed towards the sun in the sky. "See the sun already setting, so come on I'll make you your favorite chicken tamales," Camila said as Luz turned to her before she reluctantly nodded. "Ok... but we'll come back tomorrow right?" Luz asked as her mother nodded. "Yes Mija, just like we always do," Camila said as Luz smiled before she stood up and walked with her mother as they made it to the edge of a clearing before they stopped walking, spotting a familiar brown-haired boy standing on the other side of the creek in nothing but torn black pants with a bag slung across his shoulders and what looked like a scarf wrapped around his neck. "Chris?" Luz said as the boy turned around before Luz saw his face. "Chris!" Luz yelled as she crossed the creek and ran towards Chris.
POV Change Chris
"Luz?" I said as Luz ran towards me before I saw Hissby turn towards her as he well... hissed. "Gah!" Luz screamed as she fell on her butt. "*snicker*, h-hey little buddy it's *snicker* okay, she's a friend." I struggled to say as I pet its banana-yellow head causing Hissby to calm down before I put him down on the ground as he slithered a bit of distance away as he observed. "Sorry about that Luz, you just scared Hissby a bit," I said holding out my hand to help Luz up only to see her jump up suddenly as she hugged me. "Chris, Oh my gosh! I'm so glad you're ok! Mama and I have been searching for you for so long!" Luz said as she hugged me with all her strength which for some reason I didn't even feel even though she was trying to squeeze the life out of me.
"Yes we were, so could I ask where you were all this time?" Camila asked as she walked over to us before kneeling to my height and smiling. "Ah, well I'd rather not say for now. Is it ok if I get back to my parents first?" I said smiling before I saw Camila's smile falter as she looked away. "Is something wrong?" I ask concerned as Luz lets go of me before looking at me with a frown. "Um, how do I say this..." Camila said as I grew concerned. "What?" I said as Camila turned back to me. "Your parents went missing a while ago after you disappeared only leaving a note saying goodbye and um if we ever found you, we should take you in," Camila said nervously as I stood there silently staring at nothing. "Wait what about you guys? Will you be ok with me staying with you at your house?" I asked snapping out of my shocked stupor as I pointed towards the path back. "Oh, Chris we... don't live there anymore," Camila said surprising me.
"What?" I said in disbelief at what she said. "Come here, I'm sorry to say but we moved after your parents disappeared because we... needed to find a better home," Camila said as I realized what she meant. 'Oh Luz's dad is...' I thought as I put on the best smile I could. "Hey, it's fine!" I said as Camila looked at me in surprise before a look of realization dawned upon her face as she smiled and patted my head. "So are we going to grab my stuff or?" I asked as Camila looked at my eyes wide in realization. "Oh right! I forgot to tell you I packed your stuff when we moved, it's at our house right now." Camila said before Luz sprinted towards me. "Yeah, your stuff is in the basement right now! When we get back home I'll show you around!" Luz said excitedly as she started to describe what the house looked like.
"Hehe, you're still the same old adorably energetic Luz," I said chuckling to myself about how excited she was before I noticed Luz freeze as she suddenly turned away for some reason I looked over to Camila to see her snickering a bit, confusing me. "Um, is everything alright?" I said as Luz looked back at me. "Huh!? Yeah, everything's A-okay no need to worry or anything!" Luz said frantically as Camila patted both our heads as she turned to Luz. "Hey honey, it's ok," Camila said as she whispered something to Luz who quickly walked towards what I remember as the path back. "What was that about?" I said as Camila only giggled as she patted my head again before walking after Luz. "Ok then..." I said as I started walking with them. "Oh wait! Come here Hissby! Sorry got distracted." I said as Hissby crawled up my arm onto my neck before I looked back at the creek.
'Raine and everyone... thank you for helping me, I hope to meet you all again in the future.' I thought before turning back, following Camila and Luz to the car as I pet Hissby on my neck thinking of Gregory. As I arrived at Camila's car I was greeted with the familiar sight of my previous home and Luz's sitting silently with for sale signs sitting on their lawns I got into the car without much effort before sitting down as I felt something odd, a feeling I couldn't identify. "Hey, Chris! Are you ready to see my new house? Oh, wait it's also your house now so... our house!" Luz said cheerfully as I politely smiled m. "Yeah!" I said as Luz cheered before sitting down and putting on her seat belt before I locked mine in as well. 'I wonder what's going on with Raine and everyone with me gone?' I thought as Camila started the car before I blankly stared at my old home as it started to grow smaller and smaller in the distance from the back of the car window.
POV Change Raine, Blight Manor, 2 hours ago
'I wonder how Az is doing making up with his friend, Should I go check on him?' Raine thought to himself as he ate a deviled griffin's egg from the plate of hors d'oeuvres he took from some servers walking around. 'This place is pretty fancy, sometimes I wonder how Az made friends with Amity who came from such a different background.' Raine questioned as he felt something run into his leg. "Huh?" Raine said as he looked down to see Amity rubbing her head as she looked up at him distressed. "You're Raine, Az's dad right?" Amity asked hurriedly. "Ah yes and you're Amity right?" Raine asked as Amity nodded before looking back towards where she came from worriedly. "Hey what's wrong?" Raine asked noticing Amity's distress. "Az is in trouble!" Amity said panicked as Raine's face suddenly turned serious.
"What happened," Raine said in an almost intimidating voice. "A-Az and I were walking towards a little spot I liked to hang out in when we were attacked by some... creature with red eyes and pitch black fur, uh I think Az told me to tell you something like, ummm it's here or something? Look I don't know but could you please help?" Amity said anxiously as she pulled Raine's hand before Raine smiled as he kneeled to the girl's height and patted her head. "Thank you for telling me Amity, now lead the way," Raine said as he stood back up before he followed Amity to a side yard as they ran to what looked to be the side of the forest. As they entered the forest Raine found himself in a clearing where he could see prints of some canine-like creature that seemed to be chasing another set of prints that Raine could only assume was Az's before he ended near the entrance. "Look more prints are leading deeper into the forest!" Amity yelled as she pointed to a set of paw prints going in the opposite direction that seemed to be following something, that thing most likely being Chris.
"Let's go!" Amity said as she turned to the tracks before she was grabbed. "No, you don't young lady! You're not coming it's too dangerous." Raine said as Amity tried to struggle out of his grip. "No, I need to help! I was the one who suggested we go out here where the thing was so I should help!" Amity said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as Raine loosened his grip and kneeled again. "Look if you want to help could you please get your parents to send out some of their abominations to help search," Raine said before Amity wiped her eyes and nodded before taking off back to the Manor once again. "Good now I need to make a call..." Raine said to himself as he pulled out his scroll as started to scroll through it.
Time skip 1 hour later
"*yawn* Hello? Raine?" A feminine voice said coming from a scroll floating next to Raine who looked extremely annoyed. "Eda do you know how many times I called you!" Raine yelled into the scroll as he heard another yawn. "Hey relax it's not like anything bad is happening over at that little fancy pants party that you and Azzy boy went to," Eda said relaxed on the other end of the line before Raine's face went red with frustration. "Except there is!" Raine yelled angrily into the scroll again. "Wait there is? What happened? Is it something fun like a fight or a disaster and now the parties are wrecked!" Eda said in an excited voice as she suddenly seemed interested. "No! Az was attacked! He could be dead or laying injured somewhere!" Raine said in an angry tone. "Wait my boy was attacked!" Eda said before both went silent, Raine in surprise at how much Eda cared for Az and Eda in embarrassment. "Forget I said that," Eda said seriously as Raine felt any leftover frustration dissipate as he chuckled a bit. 'Even in a situation like this, she can always find a way to make me laugh intentionally or not.' Raine thought before he heard clattering from the other end of the line. "I'll be there in 10 minutes," Eda said before Raine heard a chime from his scroll signifying the end of the call.
"Mr.Whispers! I'm back." Raine heard a young say as he turned around to see that young girl was Amity who was hunched over catching her breath with a few large abominations standing passively behind her. "Sorry *pant* for taking *pant* so long," Amity said between breaths as she stood back up. "So are we going to start searching for Az or what?" Amity asked as Raine shook his head. "I'll be going ahead with the abominations while you wait here for someone I just called," Raine said as he turned around intending to start walking towards the deeper areas of the forest before he noticed that there weren't any movements from the abominations. "Amity why aren't the abominations moving?" Raine asked as he turned towards Amity to see her frustrated face as she held back the abominations. "Why can't I go with you to help find Az!" Amity asked frustrated with how Raine was treating her. "I can help so why won't you let me do that!" Amity yelled as Raine walked over to her kneeling to her. "I'm sorry but I can't, I mean how would your parents react if you got hurt? I know if I saw my family hurt I wouldn't react too well." Raine said explaining why he wouldn't.
"I can just hide that I went out searching with you," Amity said trying to come up with a solution to the problem with her parents worrying. "No it's not just that either, you're just not old enough to do this so please just wait here," Raine said as Amity seemed to wipe some unseen tears off her face before reluctantly nodding. "Hey, Rai- What's going on here?" Raine heard as he saw Eda curiously staring at them. "It's nothing, let's go," Raine said as the abominations started searching around before he hopped behind Eda on her staff as she took off. "So where's my b-the kid at?" Eda asked before Raine pointed toward the direction the tracks led. "Over in that direction," Raine said as Eda nodded and flew towards where Raine was pointing before they saw a flash of light that made them cover their eyes. When the light died down they uncovered their eyes as they thought about what that was before they remembered that Az was in that direction.
"Let's go!" Raine said as Eda flew faster than before finally arriving a few minutes later in a clearing to see a scorched landscape with ice chunks littering the ground. "Az was here," Raine said as he got off Eda's staff. "But I don't see him anywhere!" Eda said panicked as she looked around. As Raine looked around he saw a corpse of a pitch-black wolf-like creature with its head cleanly cut from its body. "Eda calms down and looks at this," Raine said as Eda flew over. "Wait is that..." Eda started to say. "Yeah, this is probably what attacked Az, though it's surprising," Raine said before Eda turned to him. "What's surprising?" Eda asked curiously. "This thing attacked Az on the first night he snuck out of my house," Raine said as Eda smiled. "Yeah, I remember you telling me about how 'sneaky' the kid was when he did. Haha, yelling about sneaking out of your house like it was a prison before scorching that wolf thing's eye, so this is it?" Eda said thinking back on the interesting story Raine told her about the kid. "Yes, but what's confusing me is... if he killed it, why isn't he here?" Raine questioned as Eda started to fly around a bit as she wondered the same thing before she thought back to that light from before as a look of realization dawned on her face that quickly turned to concern.
"Hey, Raine?" Eda said in a distressed voice. "Yeah, Eda?" Raine said as he turned towards her to see her concerned face. "I think I know what happened..." Eda said as Raine rushed over to her. "What happened," Raine said seriously. "I think someone created a portal," Eda said as Raine narrowed his eyes. "Does that mean..." Raine started to say. "It probably means that the brat could be stuck anywhere in this world or maybe... another," Eda said with a frown. "Another? Eda, what do you mean?" Raine asked concerned as Eda had a conflicted expression on her face. "Eda what do you mean!" Raine asked a bit louder this time.
"Ok! Ok. I discovered this... thing when I was young." Eda said reluctantly. "Thing?" Raine said restating what Eda said confused. "A thing, a portal to another world and I think that Az fell into something like it," Eda said before a look of realization dawned on Raine's face. "Wait are you saying that Az could be in another world!" Raine said as Eda nodded. "Look we don't have to worry too much if it's the place I'm thinking of," Eda said as Raine took a deep breath to try to calm down. "And why don't we have to worry about it?" Raine asked feeling slightly worried.
"Because that world doesn't have magic," Eda said catching Raine off guard. "Huh?" Raine said confused. "Look it doesn't matter, for now, let's just get back to back home," Eda said as she waited for Raine to hop on her staff. "Wait! Before that, I need to tell Az's friend that he isn't here first so she stops searching." Raine said as he got on Eda's staff before they flew back to where Amity was and told her what they found as well as that Az wasn't there and that she should stop her search since he isn't in the area.
"Wait so am I supposed to just stop searching now?" Amity asked frustrated she felt a hand on her as she looked up to see Eda. "Look kid we're just stopping for now, we'll start searching again when we have more time, plus my kid is way too tough to let anything bad happen wherever he is," Eda said smiling as she seemed to genuinely call Az her kid. "Now we need to get going... see you later kid," Eda said as she took off back to the Owl House with Raine.