Chapter Text
it’s all gonna be magnificent
Chapter One
Where the Rain Doesn’t Boil
To future Amitys whom it may concern (and to any cute humans she may have with her),
It’s been three whole days since we’ve been stuck in the human realm.
Three whole days since the Draining Spell, the baby star god, and all our families… no, I’m sure Luz is right. They’re fine. They have to be fine.
That… kid. That wasn’t Belos. I don’t think they hurt anybody… I don’t think they wanted to. They had the biggest smile when they were using magic, but I saw that look in their eyes. I know that look, better than anyone. They just seemed… lonely.
I have to stay positive. Like Luz said. There have been portals to the demon realm before, completely natural ones, and we – me, Willow, Gus – we all have magic. Hunter is a magicless witch, but we all have our palismen with us, too, even him. We’ll find a way home, we’ll deal with the Collector, and everything will be fine. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but… it will.
Ugh. I can’t go down this road again. That’s not what this is supposed to be about. If I filled this thing with nothing but my worries and fears, then it’s of no use to anybody, not even me. It’s better I talk with the others about these things, I know that. It’s better I talk with Luz about it. I think she needs it, too, more than she’s willing to say.
No. I know Luz just wanted me to have something I could use to vent and organize my thoughts, but I decided earlier today that’s not what this was going to be about. If Luz could stay positive and fall in love with a whole other world and all the people in it, even after losing her only sure way home maybe forever… then so can I.
So that’s what I want this to be about. A place to talk about and organize my thoughts on all the strange sights and wonders of the human realm, and through that, maybe learn to understand my awesome girlfriend just a little bit better.
Originally, Luz offered to let me use her “lap top”, I think she called it, to write a new diary of sorts. She told me she could create a second account for me so I could write in private, and she wouldn’t be able to read anything. I told her I don’t mind if she reads my diary, that there’s nothing I’d put in it I wouldn’t be open to share with her, but she insisted I be allowed some privacy. I really, really appreciate that.
But I did mean what I said, batata.
The truth is, I’m writing this as much for you as I am for me. I know how you are. You’re probably beating yourself up about trapping us all here as if it were your fault and you ruined everything. Well, I want this to stand as a permanent record that you didn’t, and that even in the moment, I was still finding ways to have fun, and I was still happy.
One day I’ll share this with you. Maybe when you need it most, or maybe on a rainy day here or on the Isles – because we will make it back – when we’re feeling all loving and cozy and I’m looking at your cute little face and your round little ears and your big brown eyes and just reveling in how wonderful and amazing and beautiful and awesome you are, and we can sit on our couch in our home together and read it. Together.
Titan, I’m glad you can’t see how red I must be getting just thinking about that right now, let alone writing it all out…
Anyway, I did try using your lap thing at first, but it was very confusing and honestly kind of intimidating. So, you helpfully gave me this old Azura-themed journal you had instead. It’s surprisingly big for a child’s first diary, as you put it, but that’s just fine. I asked you why you never used it, and you said you started using your laptop for your diary around that time instead, so it’s just sat on the shelf for years. I’m glad Vee didn’t end up using it. Now it feels like another thing you and me get to share together.
I have to say, the human realm is really weird. Weirder than I expected. I always wondered what kind of world you could’ve come from, what could’ve made the wonderful girl I get to call my girlfriend, and I’m not really sure what I expected, but, even after everything you’ve told me about it over the last few months, I never expected this.
Here, all the plants are green, all the time. The grass, the bushes, the trees – though, you say those will be changing color soon, which??? I didn’t know that was a thing human trees can do??? That’s so weird! I have so many questions about that! I have so many questions about everything, actually. You told me I could also use your “lap top” to look up any questions you, your mCamila, or Vee can’t answer, I just needed supervision since not everything on the… winter? net? is 100% true.
I found that kind of weird at first, but I guess not everything we read on our scrolls back home is necessarily true, either… thinking back, there was a lot of Emperor’s Coven propaganda.
Anyway, that thing about leaves changing color really intrigued me, so I did ask Vee about it later. She told me it has something to do with human seasons. Instead of hot, hotter, even hotter but with plagues now, and kinda warm, apparently human realm seasons have a lot of variety. She said the trees learned(??? Trees can learn things?) how to save energy to prepare for the coldest ones, so they stop feeding their leaves and let them die and fall off. Then when it gets warm again, they grow new, green ones. She said they turn yellow, red, orange, and brown when they die.
It sounds really, really pretty. She told me that Camila told her they’ll start changing sometime in the next month or so, and I look forward to seeing that. It’s kind of sad that it means they’re dying, if only for a little bit, but I think that’s also kind of beautiful, in a way? That they get to go with grace and beauty instead of being ruined by the cold. And with all those colors, they sound like they might look a little more like the trees I’m used to back home… I’m not sure how that’ll make me feel if it’s true, but. It’s a sight I’d like to share with you, batata.
The air here is so clear and crisp compared to the Isles. Growing up my whole life there, you sort of get used to it, but it’s always so muggy and doesn’t often smell the best there. But here, everything smells so… clean. It’s still warm right now, but it’s not as hot as the Isles, and it isn’t muggy at all, either. I didn’t know there could be a warm that wasn’t wet!
It actually kind of made my nose and throat feel dry that first day. You thought it had been from crying, but I couldn’t speak much the other day because your air is just so different. Not in a bad way! I can breathe just fine now. But, it took me a moment to adjust. I wonder if you had trouble adjusting to the Boiling Isles’ humid air? You never mentioned anything, so maybe not. You definitely mentioned how it took you a while to get used to all the smells, though. Maybe the human realm can get humid too, and it just isn’t right now? Something for me to investigate, I suppose…
But I remember back when you and I were first getting closer, you said you noticed how smooth my skin is, even for a girl. I was really confused at first, but then you said humans all have hair all over their bodies, boys and girls alike though boys usually have more. I didn’t believe you, so you rolled up your sleeve and told me to take a closer look at your arm and I had to pray you didn’t see how red my face got when I started seeing how toned you were starting to get. But to my surprise, you had little hairs all over!
Witches with body hair aren’t unheard of, but they’re not exactly common. I think it’s mostly just witches who descended from those who lived on or around The Knee for generations. Feeling how dry and temperate your air is compared to ours, I guess it makes sense humans would adapt to keep warm, especially if it isn’t always as nice as it is right now and gets colder.
You asked me if I thought it was weird, and I asked you if you thought I was weird for being so “smooth”, as you described it. You said it was kind of cool, actually. I told you I thought the same. And I do! Even if a lot of witches don’t have body hair, a lot of demons do, and witches and demons get together all the time. I think it’s interesting how similar and yet how different you are from me. Humans and witches are so close to each other on the surface, and yet…
It’s not just the humans, either. The houses here look so different from the ones back home, even yours. They’re very homey, but mostly made of wood, which would be pretty rare back on the Isles. It’s not like we don’t use it of course, you’ve been there, but not to this extent. I guess since your rain doesn’t boil and you don’t have to worry about seasonal burnicanes, you don’t need anything sturdier than that.
I’m glad you showed up after storm season, by the way, they can be pretty scary sometimes, even when you’ve lived there your whole life. I don’t know how we’d survive them without magic. A burnicane is when a bunch of boiling water, wind, and fire come together in a giant storm that can last up to a whole day which ravages the Isles. Whenever one’s approaching, the Coven Heads have to all come together and set up a giant barrier around the Isles, but it doesn’t stop the winds or the heat, and it has to be constantly maintained, so it’s still an ordeal.
You’ll probably be completely terrified the first time you see one, but don’t worry, I’ll be there to hold you and keep you safe <3
Besides, once you’re used to it, it’s kind of… pretty, honestly. Looking outside as the flames and steam lick the edges of the barrier? All the different colors and sparks? I used to watch it for hours as a kid. I’d love to share that with you, someday.
I wonder what human realm storms are like? Do you even get storms? Your rain doesn’t boil, so I have no clue what they would be like. Everything here so far seems so much… gentler, than on the Isles. The weather, the bugs, the plants, the few animals I’ve seen so far. I’m beginning to realize just how much of a culture shock the Isles must’ve been for you. I’m also beginning to realize why you’ve reacted the way you have to certain things. Your world is so much softer and more tame than mine.
But I know you’ve got a lot of strength, too, and that this place also made Belos. I’m sure there’s harsh and scary things here, too, though I don’t know what they could be yet. I was saying how, during your first burnicane, I’d be there to hold you – I’m sure for anything like that here, in your world, you’ll do the same for me, too. And maybe then it won’t be so bad. Maybe it’d actually even be kind of nice…
Food here is so different, too. There are so many new flavors and textures I’ve never experienced before, and some that are really rare back home. I can’t lie and say I’ve enjoyed all of it so far, but, I guess you must’ve had trouble adjusting to the Isles’ cuisine too, right? It’s amazing to me though how sweet so many things are here. Back on the Isles sweetness is kind of rare. You have fruit, a few confections, and that’s about it. Sugar is renewable, but not exactly cheap, or common. The human realm must have it in abundance. Definitely not a bad thing, if you ask me.
I look forward to more oddities and discoveries like this. Things are really weird, and scary, and uncertain right now, but… I’ve always wanted to see where you came from, and now I’m here. With you. I could focus on how bad things might be right now, but I think I’d rather learn to fall in love with you even more by falling in love with your world, instead.
This is just the first of many entries into the weird and wonderful discoveries of a young witch in a human world, and whenever I decide to share this with you, Luz, I hope it puts a smile on your face the same it puts one on mine.
Yours always,
- A. Blight