Two Humans on the Boiling Isles (Rewrite)

Chpt.1: A lying Witch and a Warden

    Luz stand outside of her house with Mary at her side, both standing silently. Luz's mother, Camila, comes out of the house, her purse over her shoulder as she got ready to leave. "Oh! Oh, my baby!" She hugs her for a moment before standing back up. "Now, don't worry. Summer camp is only going to be for three months. You'll be so busy balancing checkbooks and learning to... appreciate public radio, the time will fly by!" She tries to cheer her up but Luz looks up at her, giving a disappointed look. "But I don't like any of that stuff. I like editing anime clips to music and—and reading fantasy books with convoluted backstories." Camila gives her a look before speaking. "Mija, your fantasy world is holding you back. Do you have any friends other than Mary?" She gestures to Mary, though not looking at her. "Real ones, not imagined or drawn or reptilian?" She added the last part as though she were trying to prove a point. Luz wanted to argue but didn't, only dropping her book to her lap and slowly making her way to the trashcan, Mary standing to the side and only watching, not wanting to get involved. "Summer camp is a chance to make some friends, but you have to try. Can you do that?" Camila speaks and Luz hesitates before sighing softly. "Yes, mom." With that, Luz drops her Good Witch Azura book into the trashcan, taking a few steps back. As she did, Camila's phone vibrated in her purse, grabbing her attention. "Oh. I gotta go to work." She kisses Luz's forehead. "Your bus is coming soon. Text me when you get there. Cuídate mucho, mija. ¡Qué te vaya bien!" As she passes Mary she waves and leaves, heading off to work. Luz watched her mother leave for a moment before speaking softly. "Bye, Mom." She quickly turns around and goes though the trash, surprising Mary slightly. "Where is it? Where is it?" She muttered, before Mary gasped softly and pointed, getting Luz's attention. "Luz, Look!" The two look up, seeing a small owl carrying a bag hoot, her book sticking out of it. Before they could do anything, the owl hoots again and turns, flying away. "Tiny trash thief!" Luz exclaims and rushes after the owl. Mary follows close behind, making sure not to loose her. The two pursue after the owl, though Luz pauses momentarily as the owl continues hopping towards the abandoned house. As Mary joined beside her Luz huffed softly and pushed her nerves aside, quickly making her way into the abandoned house with Mary beside her. As they do, the door shuts behind them all, shining lights visible from the openings and windows of the house. After a moment and a flash of light, the two pushed back a few parts of a tent cloth, and Luz and Mary followed after the owl. "Stop adorably hopping away, you- huh?" She trailed off, standing up and looking around, Mary catching her breath. As Luz looked around the tent, she noticed a lot of different items. "Whoa. I thought I had a lot of weird stuff." She commented, picking up a doll. "But this- this is impressive." "Finally, you're back." Suddenly the two heard a voice and immediately dropped down. Luz peeked back up, moving forward slightly and gesturing Mary to follow. Mary held a bit of the tent flap aside to reveal the back of a tall woman with greyish- silver hair, big round gold earrings, and a dress torn at the bottom, holding a wooden staff. "Now let's see what we've got here." As the woman spoke, the little owl hopped up onto the woman's staff, and as she turned it around, it became a small wood figure. A small gasp sounds from Luz and Mary gestured for silence. After a moment, the woman started going through the bag the owl and brought. As she does, she finds many different items within it, taking things out like rings, a phone, and even a golden chalice, though to each one, the woman just dismissed it as 'garbage'. After a bit of rummaging she gasp. "Now this..." She pulls out a pair of joke glasses with springy eyes and chuckles. "This will make me rich." After a bit more rummaging she pulls out Luz's Azura book and raises an eyebrow. "And this...." She hummed, seeming as though she were thinking about it. "This will make good kindling." She casually holds the book over the flame of a candle beside her on the stand. Before Mary could do anything, Luz jumped out from behind the tent and quickly grabbed her book, taking it from the woman's hand. "Excuse me, sorry, that's mine, thank you." She chuckles nervously and quickly makes her way back into the tent, grabbing Mary's hand and making her way back towards the door, though before they could make it in, the door folded up and disappeared right in front of them. As they turn, they see the woman standing by the tent's exit holding a key with the same eye that was on the door. "You're not going anywhere." In a panic, luz shoved her Azura book into her messenger bag and kept Mary's hand in her own, running and ducking out of the back of the tent. As the two run, Luz suddenly stops and Mary, helps her back away from the edge, only inches from falling off. Mary looked around, and as they did, she realized they weren't on Earth anymore. The land below them both was composed of colorful hills, many arms, and teeth. As she was examining everything, a small dragon flies by, and an arm grabs it. As she continued, she only noticed more; a cloaked figure holding an ice cream cone which eats someone, the legs of what appear to be a giant chicken, a centipede-looking thing opening its mouth to let a winged creature fly out, the centipede thing and winged creature then kissing and going their separate ways. As Luz looked around, she backed up a bit from the cliff, the grip on her bags' sash tight. "Oh no no no no no! What's going on?" She muttered, Mary trying to calm her. "Luz, it's fine, really-" Before she could finish, she was cut off by a small yelp sounding from her. After a moment Luz looked slightly relieved. "Oh hello little fairy, are you going to tell me this is all a fantastical dream?" She said hopefully. After a moment of silence the fairy growled, it's face slightly distorting. "Give me your skin!" Both kids scream, and in an act of instinct Luz smacked the fairy away. "Where am I- Did I die?... Am I in the bad place?" She muttered mainly to herself. The two jumped as the woman appeared behind them both, placing a hand on their shoulders. "You wish."