Adventures in the Boiling Isles

Reaching Out

I woke up to the sound of Luz's alarm one morning. I put my pillow on top of my head, but it still kept me awake. "It's too early for this." I yawned. I looked over to Luz, who was freaking out about a message on her phone. "Luz? What's wrong?" "Huh? Oh! Nothing!" Luz quickly replied. "Just thinking about my mom." "Uh, okay." I said, falling asleep.

When I actually got up, Luz was rummaging through paper with possible theories. "Holy shit. She's gone insane." I whispered. "Do we have therapy here?" "Uh, feeling okay, Luz?" King asked. "I feel great!" Luz replied. I could clearly tell that she was lying, but I wasn't going to say anything. "Today's gonna be a productive day of problem solving. Look!" Luz gives a list to Eda. ""Successfully build a portal to the Human Realm. Learn every glyph combination. Figure out what Belos is planning and tell him what for."" Eda read. "Look, I've already learned a new combo. Excuse me, Francois." Luz said, borrowing King's toy. "I call it the safety hover!" She tossed Francois, only for him to levitate above the ground for a few seconds. "Interesting." I commented, confused. "Ooh, that'll work great when birds try to fly away with me." King said. "And I'm already on my way to building a second door." Luz added, pointing at Hooty, trying to put the door together. "It's a work in progress. But look at this!" "Did you steal my Penstagram?" Eda asked. "I borrowed it, because I've got a castle insider getting info on Belos." Luz explains. "Willow gave me Hunter's contact." "That bastard won't tell you shit." I replied. "You're avoiding something." Eda added. "Spill it." "I am not!" Luz lied. "Maybe I am. Okay, I definitely am. Every year, me and my mom have this little ritual we do. It's nothing big. I just miss her. That's all." "What you need is a healthy distraction from your problems." King suggested. "Like breakfast." "Yeah, okay." Luz nodded. "I could go for a griffin egg." "Well, let us know if you need anything, okay?" Eda asked. "I'll meet you guys in the kitchen." Luz replied. As Eda and King went into the kitchen, I turned back to Luz. "Hey, Luz. You know you can always come talk to me." I said. "You don't need to hide anything." "Thanks, Peter." Luz smiled. "But there's nothing wrong. I would tell you if there was." "Luz! I have a problem and it could distract us all day!" Amity exclaimed, coming through the door. "Tell me all about it and don't spare a single detail!" Luz gasped. "Wait! What's happening?" I asked. "It's an emergency." Alexa replied. "Tell them, Amity."

Amity told us how her dad expects her to tryout for a coven instead of competing in something called the Bonesborough Brawl. She even said something about an Abomaton as her bodyguard. "I don't even want to join a coven anymore." Amity explains. "And this thing is so embarrassing, we even tried disguising it." "Yeah, I actually think Eda has the same outfit." I commented. "The Bonesborough Brawl is the one cool thing our dad did before joining the Abomination Coven." Amity sighed, looking at an old photo of Alador, although I did see Eda and Raine in the background. "It would've been nice to share something with him." "Sis, you share a lot of things with him." Alexa explains. "Well, hey. We're here to help." Luz said. "You both ditch the tryouts and enter the brawl!" "I'm not doing that, actually." Alexa corrected. "What?" Amity asked. "C'mon, you know Peter and I always go for the chaotic route." Luz explains. "And if you win, maybe you can use it as a chance to tell your dad that you don't want to join a coven anymore." I added. "Did somebody say Bonesborough Brawl?" Eda asked. "I used to love going to those. Your pops was great in duels. Plus, if you go, you can get that ugly thing out of my house." "You know what? I'll give it a shot." Amity said. "But, what about the Abomaton?" I asked. "Oh, that's easy." Alexa replied, casting a spell circle to disguise her voice to sound like Alador. "Abomination, fetch me a, uh, rare and difficult to find emerald dagger from the Night Market!" The Abomaton leaves the house, following Alexa's orders. "That'll keep him busy." Eda said. "But Dad can't find out that I missed tryouts." Amity explains. "Not until I win that belt." "Don't worry. I gotcha, boo." Luz replied.

"Hey, Mittens." Edric and Emira greeted at the brawl. Amity glared at her twin. "What? Just be glad I didn't invite Mom." Alexa said, fidgeting with her faded green highlights. "We're proud of you, sis." Emira compliments. "Yeah, you're becoming more of a delinquent every day." Edric added. "Alright, Ed. Hand over your concealment stone." Emira said. "Like I need one of those." Edric scoffed. "Don't play games, Ed." Emira rolled her eyes. "I saw you take one this morning." "Well, you saw wrong!" Edric snapped. "What the fuck is happening?" I asked. "This won't take long." "What's that supposed to mean?" Edric asked. "Found it!" Emira exclaimed, taking the stone to reveal Edric with glasses and a change of clothes. "Here's mine, too. For a little extra flair." Emira removes her stone, revealing some acne on her face. Amity merged the stones together for a new look. "Not bad." Amity said. "Ooh, so pretty!" Luz squealed.

As the others went to help Amity with the brawl, I was still feeling suspicious of Luz. I know she's still hiding something. "Peter?" Alexa asked. "Is everything okay?" "I'm not sure." I replied. "Why do you ask?" "I want to see if I can help." Alexa replied. "Luz told us about a ritual she does every year with her mom, which she couldn't do this year. And as her best friend, it's killing me to see her upset like this." I explained. "Have you tried talking to Luz?" Alexa wondered. "I tried, she won't say anything." I replied. "Maybe she's telling the truth." Alexa said. "Have you considered that?" "I can usually tell when she's lying." I explained. "She hides in her cat hoodie, she overworks herself, and she finds a way to change the subject in the most shitty ways possible." "What about your Oracle magic? Maybe you could figure out what she's hiding." Alexa suggested. "But, I can't just invade her privacy." I replied. "And besides, wouldn't I have to be close to Luz to go in her mind?" "Don't you see some of Eda's memories in your mind?" Alexa asked. "Fair enough." I said, grabbing a blindfold from the pocket of Lilith's jacket. "Remember, I'll be able to hear you while I'm in there, but I need to concentrate. For Luz." I tied the blindfold around my head and took a few breaths.

Everything around me was black. I couldn't see anything for a while, until I noticed a small flower on the ground. "Do you see anything?" I heard Alexa ask. "A flower." I replied. Suddenly, I noticed someone. A man was holding a small bouquet of flowers and he picked the flower I found. "There's a man picking flowers from a field."

Shortly after, I saw that same man walk up to Luz's house. He unlocked the door. "¡Hola, mis amores!" He greeted. "¡Papá!" A young Luz shouted. That man is her dad. "Happy Birthday, Camila." "It's Luz as a little girl." I explained. "She's with her mom, and her dad."

The memory faded away to black, but that's when a new memory appeared. It showed Luz standing beside Mrs Noceda, holding flowers in front of a grave. I gasped as I returned to normal. "What else did you see, Peter?" Alexa asked. "A grave." I said. "The grave of Luz's father. He died a few years ago today. Oh, God. She must be devastated." "Maybe you should talk to her." Alexa suggested. "Possibly after the brawl."

Back at home that night, I grabbed a page from my journal. I thought about brainstorming some ideas for new stories, but I decided to try writing something different.

Hi, Dad.
I'm not sure if you'll ever get this letter, but a man can dream. Where to begin. Well, I discovered this portal to the Demon Realm with my best friend, Luz Noceda, which we had to destroy to stop the evil bastard, Emperor Belos. Believe it or not, he tried turning Mom into stone! Unfortunately, he's still planning something big for the Day of Unity. Yeah, I should probably mention that I found my mom, Edalyn Clawthorne, and my Aunt Lilith. I even have a little brother now. His name is King and he's also trying to find his dad. I also can't forget about my badass girlfriend, Willow Park. She's one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. She gave me some flowers a few weeks ago. And there's Gus, Alexa, and Amity, some more friends that mean the world to me. Just a few months ago, I discovered that I had powers like Mom did, before she lost them to her curse. Anyway, if you miraculously get this letter, I wanted you to know what I've been up to in the Demon Realm. Hopefully we can meet one day.
Love, Peter.

As I finished writing the letter, Luz came into our room in tears. "Hey, Peter." Luz greeted, still crying. "It's gonna be okay, just tell me what happened." I replied, hugging her. "Just you and me, Luz."