InsaneJournal

WHO Lottie Addens and Luz Martin
WHERE Catacombs
WHEN Wednesday, Dec 21st, about 3:30pm
RATING TBD
SUMMARY Lottie and Luz meet a mysterious older woman!!!
STATUS Complete (Mini)



Luz was waiting for Lottie at the bus stop close to the Church that contained the entrance to the Catacombs. She didn’t want to wait in the Catacombs and the bus stop was a little ways away so, Luz thought it was probably safer. She was still in her school uniform, messenger school bag over her shoulder and everything. In truth, she hadn’t been going to the Catacombs that much since this whole demon thing started. Except for work on Saturdays really but that wasn’t really even in the Catacombs, and to be painted by Brady. But she couldn’t think of another place to buy charms, and she and Lottie would be together.
That made the risk worth it.

Lottie was excited for their little outing to the Catacombs; it was the first time she’d been since that messy business with Sunny at Hip’s place and that had been ages ago. Of course, going there now was a bit dicey, but it was also the reason she was going now. Luz had the brilliant idea to grab some anti-fire charms, which would make life a little less chancey for the time being. She was late getting off work, and she shot a quick text to Luz to explain as she rounded a corner, only to find the girl in question in front of her.

“Oh. I just texted you. Am I very late?” she asked, tucking her phone into her jacket pocket.

Luz’s phone made its normal texting noise no sooner than Lottie put hers away. Luz smiled and ignored the phone in her bag, holding on to the strap of the bag where it crossed over her chest. Seeing Lottie was like spring after a long winter. Just every time. Luz liked seeing her. Liked going places with her. Liked waking up next to her.

“No, you are just on time!” Luz said walking over to the church. “Thanks for coming with me. I want to get three anti-fire charms, and maybe something so you can’t feel pain.” No, that was depressing, don’t mention that. “I want some anti-fire charms for my mom and dad as well. I just hope they aren’t expensive due to demand.”

That was a lie, a sweet one, but a lie. Lottie felt bad about being late, but she’d make up for it later. She pulled her coat tighter around her as they headed into the church. The weather was awfully cold lately, not as cold as it was at home, but still. Then again, if the alternative was being set on fire, she could deal with some cold. That made Lottie frown at her own thoughts. It was far too soon for that.

“I don’t mind tagging along,” Lottie replied, “this is what Catacomb buddies are for, right? I want a charm for myself, but if there aren’t enough, you can have them.” Luz’s mom was pregnant and definitely needed it more than Lottie did.

Luz smiled widely at her as they entered the church and made their way to the entrance to the Catacombs. “I appreciate the thought but it’s more important you have one. You are a demigod, it seems like the demon is only attacking demigods. So, you should have one. Really.” She didn’t want Lottie to burn. That... it was horrible to even think about. Like a world without spring, really.

The Catacombs did not seem changed by the threat of burning, although people did look to be moving around more in pairs and groups. Luz felt like grabbing a hold of Lottie’s hand, so not to lose her as they made their way toward the Magic Guild, but decided against it. That might be moving too fast. “How was work today? Do you... do you still have flowers to sell?”

”I’m not going to lie, I’m really happy you said that. Not that I don’t want your mom to have one, but I really don’t want to be lit on fire.” It just seemed so...radical. There had been zombies and vampires and sins, but setting someone on fire seemed really harsh in comparison. So final.

“It’s pretty busy down here,” Lottie commented lightly. That was almost surprising. Then again, tell people that there was a lunatic running around lighting people on fire and they would flock, in the hopes of seeing someone else - and this was an important note, someone else - get burned to a crisp. It was a depressing thought, but true. “Yes, I brought them all back,” Lottie said, blushing lightly as she thought back. That had been embarrassing, and quite difficult to explain.

It was busy, and up ahead of them looked like a big, congested crowd. Luz frowned slightly, and grabbed a gentle hold of Lottie’s wrist, and stepped immediately out of her senses. For s brief moment, Luz forgot there was a danger walking around and lead Lottie into a short cut Luz knew, which looked a lot like a dark and empty alleyway.

It wasn’t until Luz saw the older, gray haired woman walking toward them that she remembered why they had a buddy system in the first place. She came to a dead stop, eyes wide.

Lottie didn’t mind at all when Luz grabbed her arm and started leading her around. She figured that she knew her way around and besides, Lottie didn’t mind a shortcut. Or, at least, she didn’t mind safe shortcuts. Shortcuts that didn’t lead them down alleys where a woman was waiting at the end to burn them both into crisps.

“Luz, get behind me,” Lottie said firmly, gently pulling her necklace free and keeping it at hand. She’d taken to wearing the necklace at all times, just in case, and now it was coming in handy. The sword didn’t extend just yet, but the woman wasn’t very close either, and it only came out when danger was near.

Luz swallowed hard and moved where Lottie told her to, out of fear, out of not having a problem with being the damsel in distress for a nice strong person. She moved her bag in front of her for protection. “What do we do? What do we do?” she kept asking, muttering.

The woman approached, stepping farther under one of the few lamps that lit these back streets. The light was unflattering, revealing every gray hair, every wrinkle. “You ladies shouldn’t be wandering these alleyways. They aren’t safe,” she said, her voice calm and authoritative.

”We keep calm,” Lottie whispered back out of the side of her mouth. Of course, that was much easier said than done when the idea of certain death was standing right in front of you and getting much closer.

When the woman advanced, Lottie took two steps back, taking care to keep Luz behind her. She had to keep them safe. The sword extended, no doubt due to the mounting fear that had her heart beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings. “We’re well aware of that,” Lottie said, fighting to keep the tremor from her voice. That wasn’t easy at all. “So you just stay back.”

Luz did not know that Lottie had a sword. For a very split second she forgot she was about to die and was very impressed. That was very cool! Daisuke with a sword was cool but a chick with a sword was even really cooler. Her heart beat very fast in her chest for a completely other reason before she remembered to be afraid.

But the old woman had come to a stop, looking at them, looking at Lottie’s sword. “You should put that away, you are likely to hurt yourself.”

She was quite aware of the fact that she was more likely to accidentally cut her own arm off, but she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Besides, she had to make sure nothing happened to Luz either. “You just stay back,” she snapped.

Her eyes darted from the old woman long enough to look around the alley. They could always go back the way they had come, but that probably meant turning their backs to her. Or they could try to go around. Neither option was particularly appealing.


Luz had no intention of dying like this, and certainly no intention of Lottie dying like this. From still behind Lottie, using Lottie more as to hide her rather than as a shield, Luz dug around in her school bag until she found one of her gym shoes. She immediately chucked it at the woman. “Lottie run!” she yelled, already running back the direction they had come, throwing the other shoe at the old woman.

The old woman yelled out in surprise at the first shoe which hit her shoulder, and raised her arm in time to stop the other from hitting her in the head. Amongst this shoe barrage the only thing she could think was ‘I should have brought my grandson with me to save me from crazy people.’

Lottie ran until she was out of breath, then bent over and wheezed. She started to laugh, with just an edge of hysteria in it, then she tossed an arm over Luz’ shoulders. “I think we’re going to need ice cream as a reward for not dying.”