Owls & Butterflies

Chapter 1

Luz was running, bolting towards the portal door right in front of them, her friends and Amity were right by her side, but then..suddenly.., she ran alone, Luz abruptly stopped and it was as if time itself stopped with her, as she looked behind her.

"Neeeew frieeeeends.", zoomed The Collector, effortlessly hovering few feet above the ground, holding everyone that was dear to her, beside her mother and Eda, it was as if her heart was being torn from her body, The Collector...he had her friends, as if bound by invisible ropes they laid on the ground struggling to get back up.

She would fight for them, their plan to escape thru the portal forgotten, she fully turned around, showing only anger and conviction to the god-like deity, but before she managed to say another word, she attracted his attention.

"You..are not from here.", he said, sudden change of tone emanating hostility, that not even Belos himself had to face, "The rules say I should get rid of you, but well whooooo cares about any ruuuules.", he said, while his grin emitted insanity, "Goodbye!", and with that Luz felt her feet leaving the ground, as she was flunked thru the portal.

Rain, it rained in her face as she got up, Luz had no idea how long she laid there, but it felt like no time at all had passed, ignoring the pain in her back she struggled to walk towards the ruined remains of a house.

'I am going to open the door and save them, it's going to be alright, it's going to be alright.', but only desperation and a desolate room awaited her when she opened the doors, 'No', she closed the door and opened them again, hopping with all her heart she would see the collapsing remains of the titan skull, but only the same cold uninviting room awaited her.

'The egg...the egg she had in her pocket...', Luz patted herself down, she didn't have it, it must have fallen out of her pocket while she was tossed around.

"no", she whispered weakly, before getting louder and louder, "No no no no Noooo, I left them there, I I I", she slid to the cold ground, unable to see anything but the rotten wood and tears which were streaming down her face, 'Its my fault'.

"No it's his fault, he did this.", she growled thru gritted teeth, hate and anger overwhelming her, she struck the wood, again and again until no more anger remained.

And as soon as even the anger left her, she remained feeling even worse, she should get up, she should get out of this place, it was raining and the leaky roof offered little to no protection from the downpour, but her strength was gone, she could not leave them,'I can't leave them', her friends, King, Amity she wanted to get up, but her legs seemed as broken as her heart, so she slowly crawled forward, finding a corner in the shack.

Her friends faces, were as if burned into her eyelids, she could see them if she just closed her eyes, she laid there back home, home where her mother, she was so close to her, closer than she ever was in those long months of recording messages, but she was unable to leave her corner, wishing with all she had left to have never returned.

The night that followed was the worse night of her young life, sleep avoided her, it seemed even it did not want anything to do with this package of misfortune, but the freezing cold and depression where her constant company, not letting her have even a blink of sleep, however nightmarish it would have been, crying for so long she no longer had tears, was worse.

But in the end her strength did no fail her, her friends, King and Amity, they were not gone, just away, far away and they needed Luz and Luz needed them, as the rays of the sun, fell on her face, her resolve was made, with intense strength of will she got up, before once again dropping to her knees in front of the empty door frame, "I.. I will get back.", she said, weakness and shiver rocking her body, 'No, that was not good enough.', "I WILL get back to you all", she said, her fists clenching, "I GOING TO GET BACK, WE WILL DEFEAT HIM AND ....", she thundered before losing her voice.

With new found resolution she stood up, turned around and steeled herself for the hike that awaited her and for the moment she would arrive in her old home.

The trail was wet, uneven and treacherous, but no matter how many times she slipped and fell, getting up was all there was on her mind and albeit slowly she was progressing forward.

And then she saw her, Luz just left the cover of the trees seeing her old house again and saw a figure through the front window, her mom.

She looked happy, on the outside, but even at this distance regardless of the state Luz was in, she could tell her mother was not really alright, the barely concealed dark circles under her eyes, the wrinkles, so different from the ones from laughter her mother usually wore.

Her double/imposter/sister came to view, school bag in hand and worried expression on their face.

She was trying to offer kind words to the older woman and Luz could see a small smile appearing on her mothers face, the words themselves did not mean much, but the genuine worry was what Camila and Luz were both grateful for.

"Mom", said Luz in a broken voice, her cry somehow overcoming the noises of the busy morning and reaching Camila's ears, or maybe it was her motherly instinct that told her Luz needed her, she turned to her, as if hoping she would finally see someone, when she looked out the window.

And there she saw her daughter, clothes ragged, pale as a ghost, shivering in the morning chill, with bruises on her hands from hitting the wood of the shack and all over the rest of her from the slippery trail she walked to get back home.

Luz could see the tears in her moms eyes as she dropped the coffee she was holding and run straight for her girl, but before her mom could reach her, the exhaustion of the night coupled with all her guilt did, her body went limp and mind flew away, her mom arriving just in time to catch her before she hit the ground.