A Krampusnacht Carol

Chances

"Amity, no!" Luz shouted, reaching out in an attempt to pull Amity away from Camila until a small abomination materialized between them. The words Amity chanted were vividly familiar to her, as the spell that Lilith used to share Eda's curse. The operative word of course, being shared. The faint purple glow that had began at the clasp of Amity and Camila's hands and spread across both of their bodies retreated again, and Amity opened her eyes. The abomination at her side diminished and vanished, and Amity let go of Camila's hand and stood. "Amity, what did you just do?" Luz asked.

"I told you earlier that if we had caught it sooner, there was something we could do for her." Amity said quietly. "I just gave her a chance."

"Mom would never have wanted you to do this for her!"

"Luz, the Boiling Isles have been dealing with tumors far more dangerous than the ones in humans for millennia."

"Amity! You can't just go around making these decisions for everyone! We're not..." Luz raised her voice, searching the room for the words she was looking for. "We're not abominations that you can just control, and you're not the Emperor!"

Amity met Luz's gaze, but was rendered speechless by the accusation, and her eyes wavered for a moment as she caught her reflection in one of the steel cabinets, draped in white and gold and wearing a gold mask with narrow antlers stretching upward. She gasped and staggered back. "I... I have to go." she said suddenly, nervously moving toward the door.

Luz moved into her path and spread out her arms. "No. You don't get to just run away again." she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose with pinched fingers. "Look, this is confusing, alright? I'm grateful for everything you've done for Earth, and for mom, but I never asked you to walk away, or sacrifice yourself. You mean the world to me, Amity. Do you understand what that means? This world... my world, it's just... surviving, without you."

"Luz..." Amity said, her eye catching the movement of a shadow beneath the room door.

"No, listen." Luz said, beginning to pace beside her mother's bed. "I know something must have happened that you seem to think I wouldn't understand, but I'm sure if you just tell me, I can handle it."

Amity looked down at her hands that were beginning to fade as the tall and imposing form of Emperor Belos passed through the door, his glowing blue eyes focusing on her specifically. "Luz, if I don't make it back just know that I..."

"Amity?" Luz asked, looking up from her monologue.

"Luz?" Camila asked, waking with a groggy voice.

"Mom?!"

"Luz, where's Amity? She was just here, wasn't she?" Camila asked.

"She... she healed you, sort of. But..."

"Luz, she's in danger. There was a man here in a white cape and a horned mask that took her. You have to find her."

"Mom? We defeated Belos. Years ago. He's gone."

"No. This was something else."

"You're dead." Amity said, standing in a dark void with the intimidating presence of Emperor Belos her only companion. "We brought an end to you, your reign, and your empire."

"Did you?" he asked, that hauntingly intelligent voice sending a chill up Amity's spine. "Or perhaps you only inherited my ambition, carrying on my goals as I saw fit?"

"No!" Amity shouted. "I am not you!"

Belos let out a quiet laugh. "As you say, but why don't we have a look at what will come to pass?" he asked, his floor length white cape parting down the middle to expose the black void of his body beneath it as he extended an arm. The entirety of the environment shattered into pieces to reveal a stone ramp that curled around the inside of a great tower with bars cells built into the outside wall. "This is..."