Whatever it takes

Chapter 5 - Whatever It Takes

To say that the living room was quiet would be like saying that the Titanic was simply a boat. No one spoke; everyone contemplated.

Or mourned.

Someone had to break the silence, but neither Lilith nor Amity could bring themselves to do so. It was a lot to take in, Eda's basically adopted child going missing without a trace.

Finally, with a stern look, Lilith got up and halted Eda's frantic shuffling with a hand on her shoulder.

"Edalyn, pacing won't help anything, " Lilith told Eda to try and tame the storm in her mind.

"Well, what are we supposed to do, then, Lily?" Eda shot back, her voice raised, her tone sharp, her eyes glistening, "Luz is out there cold and alone. What if she's lost? Or hurt? Or worse?!"

"Eda!" Lilith yelled, snapping her sister's focus back to the here and now, "I know you're worried about Luz, but we aren't going to find her by panicking. Our best bet is to calm down... Okay," she nodded and Eda did the same, "Take a deep breath..." she inhaled, then exhaled, Eda mirrored her, "and figure this out slowly."

"'Slowly'?" Amity repeated with venom, "Hmph, almost sounds like you want to keep us away from Luz." Her tone was suspicious. She knew deep down, though, that she was just taking out her worry for Luz on Lilith. Then again, Amity had good instincts - usually - and she knew foul play when she saw it.

Lilith turned to face Amity. "Oh. What exactly are you implying, Miss Blight?"

"How do we know you aren't the cause of all this, Miss Lilith?" Amity retorted, the blade of her tone still as sharp as when she entered the Owl House.

She gave Amity a look and put a hand to her hip, "I'm assuming I'd be capturing Luz for the Emperor. In that case, let me ask you a question: I'm still here, aren't I?"

Eda sighed. "Lilith's right, kid," she vouched, "she's not too smart, but she's smart enough to not seek the approval of a bone head like Belos - again." She shot a look at Lilith, who shamefully laid her eyes on the ground. "In any case, Luz is out there somewhere, and it's our job as her friends to find her and help her."

Amity took in a deep breath, then released it, before saying "Okay," she glared at her former mentor, "But I'll still be keeping an eye on you. I don't trust you after what you did."

"She can live with that," said Eda.

The team stood in silence to consider their next move. They all knew that finding their human friend was not going to be a cakewalk - it would take days, weeks, months of searching, plus they didn't even know where to start looking - but Eda reminded everyone that they had to stay positive, like Luz would have wanted them to.

Luz.

She must be so scared and alone. Where could she be? How are we going to find her? No matter how hard she tried to follow her own advice to stay positive and come up with a plan, Eda kept drowning in a dark sea of doubt.

Suddenly, Lilith eyes lit up and she snapped a finger as an idea came into mind. "What if," she said, "we seek out a guard and inform him of Luz's dissappearance? The Emperor's forces are far better-equipped to track down the human than we are."

Eda crossed her arms. "Oh, wow, what a wonderful idea, Lily! How's that gonna go? 'Hello, sir? I know we're wanted criminals and all, but could we put that aside this one time so that my dear sister and I can report a missing child?'."

"Well, what other ideas do we have? Find her ourselves? It's not like we're detectives, Edalyn."

King stroked his chin in thought, "Wait, Lilith, you may be on to something with that one."

"You're not actually saying that two fugitives walking up to an Imperial guard and politely asking for help is a good idea, are you?" Eda asked, dumbfounded.

"What? No! That plan's stupid. I mean finding Luz ourselves."

"That's even more idiotic!"

"What other choice do we have?" Amity bluntly asks.

Their options were limited, Eda knew. Come on, be positive. For Luz!

"Alright, I'm in. " Eda stuck a hand forward.

"Me too," King did the same.

Amity stuck her hand on top of King's paw.

The trio looked over at the one hesitant Clawthrone sister, waiting for a response. After a brief moment, Lilith's hand took its place on top of Amity's.

"Whatever it takes," Eda said, "we will find Luz."

Then Amity added, rather ominously, "Or avenge her."

. . .

As much as Eda hated to admit it, even this group of fugitives (and Amity) would have a hard time finding one human on an entire isle. That's why the Blight girl called for backup. She said they were trusted friends of hers.

Reassuring. Now, if only they would show up, Luz wasn't going to find herself.

Well into fifteen minutes of Amity sending out the call, Hooty reported a figure, a young girl, at the door - it was the Willow.

"Hey, Willow. Thanks for coming," Amity greeted professionally.

"I came as soon as I could," replied Willow.

"Where's the other one?" Eda asked from behind Amity, "didn't you call him too."

"Not sure. He doesn't live too far from here. He should've been here before me."

"Sorry I'm late, ladies," a male voice called from behind the girls, making them look up and towards the source, "I was kinda busy."

Busy in his closet, by the looks of it. Instead of casual clothing, Gus wore a light chocolate-colored inverness cape, topped by a deerstalker hat of equal colour. In his hand, he held a small pipe, only, as he blew on it, only bubbles came out instead of smoke.

"Uh, Gus, what are you wearing? " asked Willow, the first to speak up.

"What? This is what all great detectives wear. That's what we're here for, right? Besides, I look good." Gus said with vanity, posing in many awkward positions that neither of the girls knew how to describe.

With a facepalm, Willow sternly said,"Gus, please take this seriously."

"Yeah," Amity chipped in, "Luz is out there somewhere. Who knows what might have happened to her or where she is now? If we're going to find her, we need everyone to take this seriously."

Gus looked at the ground, pondering Amity's words for a moment. "You're right," he said finally, with shame in his voice.

"Thank you," said Amity.

"Can I still keep the outfit, though?"