Lumity - The witch and the well

The Key

Following directions was one of Amity's greatest skills, in her humble opinion. Be it following a recipe or using a map to get somewhere, if it was written down somewhere, Amity could follow it. She never missed a detail crucial to what she wanted or needed, yet seemed to forget everything else for a while when doing so. It was the best way to get her head empty. That's why, when following the signs simply saying Noceda was distracting her from just where she was wandering.

She was pulled out of her trance when the area around her dimmed even more than what the dreadful weather had done to this summer day - she looked around, noticing she'd entered a forest. Weird, there wasn't supposed to be a forest - nor should the journey have taken this long...

"Luuuuz!" She called in a desperate attempt to prove to herself she hadn't gotten herself lost. She spun around on her heels, trying to find the last sign she'd passed, only to notice they were gone. What, how could that be? She hurried to where she came from, not even finding the edge of the forest. Her heartbeat quickened and her hands got clammy. 

Meow.

The sound of a cat nearby nearly gave her a heart attack, but when she looked to the ground to see which feline had scared her so, she was elated to see King. "Oh, thank goodness it's you." She sighed aloud, earning a purring sound from the little hairball. She realized that, if King was here, then Luz shouldn't be far away. "Can you get me to Luz? I reeeaally need to speak with her, please?" She asked as nicely as possible, unsure whether he would even understand. She had her way with animals, but felines seemed to have an unexplained hatred for her.

Still, the cat stuck his nose in the air and trotted away - Amity hot on his heels. The further they went, the darker the forest became. A coldness settled over the land, making the hairs on Amity's arms stand straight up. She hugged her arms, breath visible and foggy. She shivered, but still the pair went onward.

"Are you sure this is the way to the Noceda residence?" Amity asked as her teeth clacked. The cat spoke not and proceeded to not even spare her a glance. He seemed confident in what he was doing, but Amity wasn't so sure.

"Look, I appreciate your help, or whatever you want to call it, but I really do need to see Luz and... tell her... I'm..." She trailed off, entranced by a little wooden box with golden accents. It was almost like a treasure chest in a stereotypical pirate film, only this one seemed to be calling out for her. Amity blinked at it, then knelt beside it. She ran her fingers across the patterns, the box so intricately designed it couldn't possibly have been made by a mere human.

To her surprise, when she tried to open it, it did so without even a struggle. There was no lock or password to reveal the treasures within, glowing brightly enough to create a halo around the crack that had opened. When she opened it further to take a look at what she'd discovered, all she found was a tiny little key with an owl-shape end to hold.

She stood up, her eyes not leaving the key, but when she turned to King for guidance - he was gone. And so was the cold. A few steps away, she already spotted the forest edge despite having wandered for at least an hour. 

The key, unlike everything else, hadn't disappeared before her very eyes. It was the only proof she had to show herself it had really happened. Her fingers rubbed the key, hoping to find comfort in its touch, its tangibility. None was found, just an empty feeling in her stomach. She had to find Luz.