Summary:
What to do when stranded
Chapter Text
Camila idly stared at the microwave lasagna she was making, watching the numbers tick down. The only sounds around her were the rain, and the tv. The house was empty tonight, as it should be. She was grateful for the shoulder Greg provided for her, but she couldn't spend so much time with him, at least when he was still drinking.
She was lucky that Steven boy was willing to spend so much time with her … what a bright soul, simply caring about the needs of others. Even Connie visited on occasion … but none of that really seemed to matter when she was caught in this limbo.
Her daughter, trapped in another world, unable to come home. All because Camila didn't try to understand her. She felt embarrassed by Luz's need for fantasy when she herself had a long history of sci-fi books and conventions. She should've been more open about her own interests.
But her daughter promised to come back, and thus, she was willing to wait years for that day to come. It was up to Camila now to be ready for that day. She would clean herself up and be ready to welcome her daughter with open arms the moment she came back.
The trash was gone, the bottles were away … she couldn't go cold turkey so she only drank once a day now. And Greg … well, it wasn't like she'd just get rid of someone who helped and understood her. All that was left was for Camila to bid her time and wait.
Knock Knock
Who was at the door at this hour? If it was Greg, then she would have to begin the process of breaking things off slowly, which was awkward for everyone. If it was Steven; then she needed to tell him to go home and rest. And if it was a jehovah's witness again, she would need to break out the chancla.
Camila moved to the door, opening it up … greeted by a wondrous face she hasn't seen in months. "Hey mom …"
"You're back!" She hugged the girl so tightly. "You're back, you're back." She cried. "You're finally home …"
"Yeah, I'm back..just like I said." Her baby was clearly tired and worn, so she would give her all the love she had missed out on all these months. "And…and I'm not alone."
"What was that?" She looked to the back of her daughter…and saw six other kids. Three girls and three boys, one of which looked familiar "Steven?"
"I get that a lot." The lookalike responded. "I'm Lucci. We're all from the Boiling Isles."
"Oh … the witch world." She nodded. "I um … can order pizza before they head home …"
"Uh…we….don't really have a home to go back to." The girl with glasses said despondently. "The portal we used to get Luz home…it's not…working anymore."
Camila stared at them all for a moment, before sighing. "I'll get some camping matts ready. We can work out a longer solution in the morning."
"Thank you, thank you mom…" Luz hugged her back. "You already met Lucci, but these are my other friends. Willow, the powerhouse plant user, Gus the master illusionist, Hunter…" Luz paused. "He's complicated."
"Fair enough." The blonde haired kid nodded.
"Boscha….Lucci's dating her, so we try to tolerate her."
"Screw you to Luz." The girl rolled her three eyes. That already complicated this complicated situation.
"And last, but certainly not least, Amity." Luz presented the last girl. "It's thanks to her I've been able to get through the toughest days on the isles."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms Noceda." The purple haired girl bowed. "I hope to make a good impression and win your trust." So formal.
"So you are my mija's little friends…" Those were words she never thought she would get to say. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you for watching over her. I hope she wasn't too much trouble."
"Trouble might as well be her middle-" The three eyed girl began to say, only for the glasses girl to elbow her in the chest.
"She's a riot." The smaller kid noted. "Luz is a delight in our lives."
"We should get inside. We're covered in rain … and Belos." Her daughter spoke.
"…Please don't tell me you and your friends are on the run from the witch police." Camila begged.
"It's a bit more complicated then that … considering that there … are no more witch police." Lucci sighed … so, SO many concerns.
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Boscha took another bite. "Huh…human pizza actually tastes decent." It didn't fill her up but … MAN did it taste good. She might as well get comfortable if she was stuck in this dumb world.
"So after that, we ran to the portal, at which point King used his sonic scream to launch us through the door, sealing off the Boiling Isles." Luz spent this entire time trying to explain the full story of her rotten life in the Demon Realm as they both set up beds and ate food. Not to mention whipping off the corpse … grossest blood of an enemy she's ever had on her.
"I'm….still a bit lost…." Luz's mom slowly shook her head, clearly just overwhelmed with the snorseshit she had to absorb in the last half hour.
"I can help answer any questions if you need them." That Golden boy offered, wearing a strange shirt about 'Cosmic Frontier' he deemed 'amazing'.
"So…you were all fighting an evil emperor named Belos whose main goal was genocide…." The woman droned on."
"Yes. Something about 'human witch hunting'." The boy nodded.
"He's an immortal from the sixteen hundreds." Luz added.
"But now he's dead…but now there's another threat with that child thing?"
"That one actually caught us off guard." Gus admitted, also wearing a shirt like Golden Boy. "Lucci, do you know anything about that?"
"I vaguely remember meeting him in my dreams, he always popped up after a stressful day." Her boyfriend rubbed his head. "He pretended to be my conscience, and I would basically just bounce whatever thoughts I had on him. The titan trappers referred to him as some sort of god that also knew my womb donor…it's all just one big headache."
"There there." She rubbed his back, trying her best to caress him. "We'll work it out, my crystal."
"Other than that, we don't know anything else." Amity sighed. "We were barely able to escape his notice coming here, and without titan blood, we're going to be in the human realm for the foreseeable future."
"Away from family and friends who are suffering as a cosmic maniac tortures them all for his twisted sense of fun." Lucci groaned, getting stares from everyone. "Come on, I know I'm not the only one who doesn't want to sugarcoat it."
"Yeah … so that's going on." Luz sighed. "Would it be too much trouble to ask them to stay?"
"Miha, these people cared for you, of course they can stay." The woman smiled … before getting a look. "Although I am concerned about the large amount of pyromania near my house."
"Don't worry Mrs. Noceda, we only set fire to put enemies." Boscha reassured. "Enemies and hecklers."
"...I'm just going to set a no flames in the house rule right now and expand upon it at a later date." The woman sighed. "In the meantime, sleeping arrangements. Boys will stay in the basement while the girls will share Luz's room. I want absolutely no hanky panky underneath this roof." That got blank looks from the witches in the room.
"Is that a … human expression?" The golden boy asked.
"I don't think I've heard of that one." Gus rubbed his chin.
"Think mom used that expression once, but never got an explanation for it." Lucci scratched his chin.
"Pretty sure only Boscha got the … birds and bees talk." Luz whispered to the mother.
"I still have ears, you know." She rolled her eyes. "Luz is more likely to break that role with how lovey dicey she is with-"
"Why don't we give you a full tour of my room so you all can get comfortable! Ladies, come along with me!" Luz shouted, getting up and pulling her by the arm as Amity and Willow followed. "Okay, I never told mom I had a girlfriend and I don't want to freak her out."
"Should … when should we tell her?" Amity asked with a hint of shame.
"I…I don't know. I already struggled trying to say im bi, so laying that on top of everything might be too much for her right now."
"You have trouble saying you're bilingual?" Boscha had to ask.
"Keep forgetting you all don't know this. That's what we call people who are attracted to men and women."
Half a witch rolled her eyes. "Luz, people aren't going to hate you because you like both genders. That's stupid right?" There was a moment of silence. "... Right?"
"Uhhhhhh…Remember how I said Amity's Mom didn't have the worst reason for rejecting me?" The human laughed brokenly.
"...Seriously?" Boscha raised an eyebrow. "Half the isles people like both, that's like, the most mundane thing ever. How backwards are you people?"
"You have no idea." The girl sighed as she opened the door. "This is my room." She showed off a space filled with posters, half made toys, and papers scattered along with clothes. "You guys can choose who takes the bunk beds, I'm gonna stay over by the wall."
Boscha looked over the situation. Sleep on the floor, or sleep on something Luz had likely drooled over for years? "…You two take the bunk, I'll stick with the ticks and lice on the ground."
"I'm too exhausted to be shocked how uncharacteristically nice that is of you." Half a witch climbed to the top bunk and planted herself on the bed.
"I'll take the bottom then." Amity said, before turning to a strange thing. "What's this number displayer?"
"Oh, that's just the alarm clock. It's like a morning screamer that shows you what time it is."' Luz walked over and pressed one of the buttons. "When you set the alarms, it's make a sound like this.
Beeep, beep, beep
"Bomb!" ! All three witches shouted as Boscha took it and threw it out the nearest window, followed by the other two stabbing it with plants and abomination muck.
"Phew, it's dead." Half a witch panted in relief. "That….that was a close one."
"... I'm just … gonna rest now." The human stated, before falling flat onto the ground. Weirdo.
"..So….this is our lives now." Boscha herself slumped on the floor. "Stuck in a whole backwards dimension where nothing makes sense." With her boyfriend and a group she could barely tolerate.
"We'll … get through it." Amity said, resting on the bed. "For everyone's sake." Those words rang super hollowly at the moment…but Boscha really… really hoped it would be true.
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Hunter watched as Gus squealed with joy. "The human world! So many possibilities, so many opportunities." He pulled out a metal stick. "Imagine what this strange cylinder holds." With a button pressed, it shot a red laser into Hunter's eye.
"Ah! Light spell!" Hunter fell over backwards, his vision getting blurry as he hit the ground.
"Sorry that it's so cluttered, I mainly use the basement for storage space." Mrs. Nocdea explained, helping him up.
"Actually about half the rooms in my house are exactly like this…at least…they were…before my house was destroyed." Clawthorne looked down at the ground. "So much human junk we used to sell for highly inflated prices for the wrong purpose …"
"...So I hope you three aren't too inconvenienced." The human woman proceeded to talk, likely trying to avoid thinking about anything the criminal witch was saying.
"It's alright, I've had to sleep in more crowded rooms on harder floors. In fact, part of my formal training was learning how to sleep outside in the snow." Hunter reassured, leaning down on the bag. "It's like a fluffy griffon that snuggles you to rest…I never knew beds could be so cozy."
The woman looked at him just as strangely as she did with Clawthorne, before turning to Gus. "Are there any concerns I should know about for you before I begin scheduling therapy appointments?"
"They're just new to stuff. I swear they'll get used to it." Gus shook his head. "Thank you for all your help mam."
"Yes, thank you, I promise this kindness will not go unpaid." Hunter politely bowed, as his instincts told him to do in the presence of those in power.
The woman looked flustered for a minute. "No need, just rest…and never do that again." She began making her way up the stairs. "Goodnight. I'll have breakfast ready for you all in the morning."
There was a moment of silence as they all stared at the door. "You can come out now Flapjack." Luz wanted to keep the palisman at bay in order to not freak out her mother anymore than she already was.
"Chirp!" Something they were … probably going to add to their list of hate against the hu-the girl. That was an annoying habit he'd have to break soon.
"This is why it pays to have your hair be a backpack." Clawthorne nodded as his snake slithered out.
"Hhss." They rubbed the boy's face.
"There there, it's alright Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo." Gus pulled out a chameleon, who preened against him.
"Do you have to say the full name every time?" Hunter questioned. "Kind of a mouthful."
"She only responds when I say the full name. Otherwise I'd assume she's ignoring me or dead."
"Chirp." Ah, it's an ego thing.
"She has an ego….when she barely does anything when she's not in staff mode?" Clawthorne asked.
"Hsssh." Oh, she's not all there…gotcha, handle with caution.
"So since we're going to be living here for a while, whataya say we do some human exploration tomorrow?" Gus asked, probably the only one of the group who could see any brightside to the situation right now. "There's no boiling sea, so we could actually swim in the water! And the fruits and vegetables don't have blood. Apples with no blood. Think about that."
"I think it tastes bland." Lucci groaned as he hit the floor. "And I'd prefer nobody see my face actually."
"Yeah, when you're as ugly as you, I'd want to hide it too." Hunter ribbed the boy, and got a pillow thrown in his face. "Worth it."
"I'll go easy on you because you don't know….but….I'm half gem and…half human,not half witch." Clawthorne groaned. "And my human dad is alive…and from what I've heard, a huge ass."
"Bad family …" Yeah, Hunter could relate, given … everything . He would make sure to keep it underwraps. The last thing he wanted was for his new friends, the ones that didn't know already or were Clawthorne, to know he was a…clone….of a witch hunter's brother. "We'll keep it quiet." They've been quiet about his secret, it be hypocritical of him to blab his.
"Thanks….now if you excuse me, I'll just head to the roof and sleep there."
"The roof?" Gus asked.
"I….I can't be here…too much human junk…too many memories of home." Clawthorne went back up the stairs. "I'm better off sleeping in the rain. Can't get sick anyways."
"Sleeping in the rain." Gus got sparkly eyed. "The wonders of earth." … Definitely the one guy to see the positives in all this. Best to stick around him for a while, hopefully that optimism would rub off on him.
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Luz blinked her eyes open … coming face to face with a silently snoozing Boscha. "Just…going to roll away and avoid dying." She whispered. If she messed up, either Boscha would kill her or Lucci would kill her. Either way, this was not how she wanted to die.
Although given how much she's screwed up their lives, maybe it would've been better if she wasn't born at all. No Luz meant no time travel, which meant Philip would never learn the light glyph or find the collector. Not to mention messing up relationships like Amity and Lilith, or bringing King to see how messed up and existential his backstory really is. Or separating Lucci from his mom by bringing him here.
The mistakes just piled up endlessly, over and over. It was exhausting in the end. She moved downstairs, seeing her mom smiling as she cooked breakfast … happy for what seemed like the first time in so long after Luz left. Being in the Boiling Isles ruined things for her mother … Connie was probably happy though. Which meant that now that she was back, her mother could be happy, but Connie would be miserable just by seeing her….there was no winning, was there?
"Hey…mom." She walked up to her, still not use to saying those words after all this time.
"Morning Mija." The woman smiled, her body having a small twitch. "I'm just making breakfast for everyone. How long do witches usually sleep in … also considering how much pizza they devoured, is this enough waffle batter?"
"Well, to answer that first part, the time from here to the boiling isles is the same, though we don't have the some months or seasons weirdly, but considering the day we had, they'll be asleep for about two or three more hours." She answered. "And secondly, witch food is…tougher for lack of a better word compared to human food, so…you should probably have another bowl of batter ready."
"Gotcha." Her mother answered like it wasn't going to be a problem on her wallet, which Luz knew better. "Speaking of which, do I need to schedule a doctor's appointment for you? I want to make sure you're healthy from the whole ordeal.
"I am, Lucci's a healer, from scratches, to concussions, to broken bones." Luz nodded.
"... I'm getting you an appointment tomorrow." Of course she was. "That also reminds me, you're friend, Lucci, he reminds me of someone…"
"I know, and it's a long story." The boy wasn't going to be happy from explaining it, but better they break through that wall early.
"You can tell me all about it later, when you get him off the roof."
"...Huh?"
"I woke up this morning to go to the store, and I found him sitting on the roof." Her mom explained. "He wasn't causing trouble, so I didn't mind, but I'm concerned about how long he's been there."
Right, of course he was. "I'll go get the ladder." Luz walked to the backdoor, opening up as she made her way to the shed. This was really happening. She was back home. That was her whole goal for three months…and she felt worse than ever. The only good thing about this was seeing her mom again, and having her friends around…and even then, the latter was horrible because she uprooted their lives.
She climbed up the ladder, making her way over to the boy. She glanced at the Palisman on top of his head, before turning back to Lucci. "Homesick?"
"Yep."
"Miss the red grass and humidity?"
"Uh-huh."
"Thinking about your family?"
"King was being pulled to a childish god with no concept of calming down, and Mom is surrounded by psychopathic Coven Heads." He groaned. "Not only that, she was branded, so now even if we do ever cure her, she'll never have her magic again."
"At least…at least Celine's vision was wrong." Luz stretched to find an upside. "She said there was no day after the day of unity…and…there is….a playtime apocalypse day….but…still a day."
"Yep … even suffering they'll still be alive … hopefully." The boy groaned as he sat up. "And until then, we don't have a way to go after them."
"We went from having no titan blood, to having ALL titan blood without knowing it, to having none again." Luz sighed. "On the plus side….I got my sword back…and I think your powers with titan blood created time travel."
"You know, I tried making an illusion to see their faces again …" A tear came out of his eyes. "I can't use magic Luz."
"What, but your gem…"
"Is from space…here….not from the boiling isles." More tears fell. "I don't have my bard magic….the strongest connection I had to home….what got me through my years of loneliness….it's gone."
"Hey … I don't have magic either … so I guess we're both broken." Luz tried to suggest.
"Hsss." Sugar cuddled the boy, glaring at Luz. Of course she made it worse, once again.
"I swear Lucci." Luz patted his back. "I'm going to get you guys back to the Boiling Isles, no matter what it takes."
"We're all going back." He stated resolutely, looking at her. "I said I couldn't leave my whole family…that means you too."
"Lucci…I don't belong there…I messed up everyone's lives…"
"Snorseshit, Luz! I blame Belos for screwing everything up, I blame the Collector for forcing us into this situation, I don't blame you!" He yelled, before crying again. "You're the only family I have left now…I can't lose you…I won't lose you."
"Well I'm not exactly leaving." In any sense of the word right now. "We are going to get out of this. We're going to get back to the Boiling Isles, and we're going to save Eda, and King, and Lily, and everyone else…" Before….before giving them up forever.
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Greg made his way over to Camila's house, pulling out the keys. Today had been pretty bad, since some teens decided drawing graffiti on his work space was a fun idea. This whole town sucked. He literally met the only decent person living in it within the past few months. Although he has a sinking feeling that Camila was about to break things off with him.
He didn't want that to happen. Sure he wasn't exactly the most…upstanding guy at the moment, and he made his fair share of mistakes, but he could still change things around. Greg shook his head as he opened the door. He could talk her into staying together, that wouldn't be an issue. He just needed to be persistent, and speak to her alone.
"Blueberries!"
"Chocolate chip!"
"Blueberries!"
"Chocolate chip!"
"One day and we've already devolved into a food war."
From the sounds of it, it looks like that last part was going to be difficult. Camila said her daughter was coming back, and if the sounds of younger people was any indication, that day had finally come. Her kid made the picture a little more messy to work with, but as long as he talked with Camilia herself, he could salvage things.
"Chocolate chips are clearly the superior filling. Sweet and tangy taste flooding the mouth."
"No way, Blueberry fills the mouth with a natural favor of sweetness that melds the soul."
"Just put both and stop complaining, that's what I did."
"You're used to putting arsenic in your goatmeal, you don't have a stake in the argument." … The kid ate arsenic?
Greg moved in to see the commotion … watching multiple children with pointy ears sitting around the dining room table, including … "What the hell are you doing here!?" Greg yelled.
They all turned to him with surprise. "... Eating waffles for starters." The child deadpanned. "Better question is who the hell are you?"
"Oh no." The only teenager with round ears began to sink in her seat. "I knew this was going to come."
Greg growled as he walked forward. "Look here, buster, if you think I'm going to let you ruin another part of my life, then you.." He grabbed the boy by the arm..
Something he instantly regretted when Steven grabbed him by the neck and slammed him on the floor, cracking the tiles. "Look bub , I've had a really shitty month, and I'm not going to let some sun dried bastard push me around."
"Gah!" First his leg, now his back. They really did ruin e verything , didn't they?
"Lucci!l" The girl with a slight resemblance to Camila came up from behind. "That's Mr. Universe, that's your dad!"
"... Cool." The boy simply smiled. "Now I'm not gonna be guilty about this." He pulled out a pink disk out of thin air, which began to spin.
"What, since when can you do..!" He dodged out of the way as the disk sank into the floor, in the spot where his head was. "Are you insane!?"
"Yes. Now stay still while I vent all my frustrations out on you."
"Lucci no!" The girl grabbed the boy. "Guys, murder is illegal and mom does not need the heat. Help contain him!"
"Okay." The girl…with three eyes lit up a ball of fire in his hands. "I'll kick his ass outside and then set him on fire. No murder needed."
"Seriously, Amity, Willow, back me up here!"
"I mean..I hate my mom, and we all joined in on beating her to a pulp." The girl with purple hair said. "I don't really see a problem with this."
"And he does seem a bit like a jerk." The bulky glasses girl shrugged.
"You're all crazy!" Greg shouted in horror, trying to pull himself out of the boy's grasp to no avail.
"You get five seconds to leave the house. After that it's open season." The bastardgrinned like it was a game, letting him go. "Five, four, three…"
Greg did his best to run with his bad leg, crawling out of the house. "Nut jobs, they're crazy!"