The Glimmer Sisters vs. Light in the Darkness

[Wisteria Waltz]

Sometimes, there's an issue that you can just feel crawling beneath your skin, threatening to tear you apart from the inside-out. There's no quick solution, no magical cure, and no guarantee that even time will completely eliminate that feeling.

Amelia thought she already knew what that felt like, having spent years hearing the echoes of her parents' voices in her head, berating her for being a “failure” just because she didn't turn out to be the Blythe they had planned for her to be. She thought she'd faced the worst of it when those echoes evolved into an inner critic that used her voice, her face, and tried to claim that she was the “true” Amelia all along, dragging her down a path she now looks back upon with shame and regret.

Luz thought she knew what that felt like whenever she recalled every instance of bullying she'd endured growing up, claiming that she was just too much or that her parents deserved a better child, especially her father in regards to his lucha libre legacy. Over the course of the past year, she was certain she'd faced the worst of that feeling every time she had a nightmare about Stephen Crane, the leader of The Empire's splinter cell who'd attempted to kill her and her family, and who had fallen dead at her feet with no amount of reassurance enough to convince her that she had nothing to do with his demise.

As it turns out, fearing you were responsible for someone else's death was torture... knowing you were responsible, even if there was no other way, was hell itself.

Amelia and Luz had every reason to feel frustrated right now. They weren't being booked too often in SCW despite wanting to get back out there, especially Amelia in her efforts to redeem herself, and they could only hazard a guess that Frank Delatosso was to blame in some petty attempt to convince Amelia she'd made a mistake walking away from his influence. When they finally did get an opportunity, the Glimmer Sisters had to go and ruin it in their desperation to prove that they were the superior team despite all evidence to the contrary.

And yet, those rightful frustrations paled in comparison to the blood they constantly saw staining their hands, the reminder crawling through their brains that they were murderers, never mind the exact details that made it clear it was not only in self-defense, but the only thing that would ever truly stop the deranged wannabe god that Caleb White considered himself to be.

It was getting so bad that Amelia was even openly wondering now if the reason Other Amelia had been so silent in her head lately had less to do with her clear statement at Rise to Greatness and more to do with the inner critic being drowned out by her own guilt.

“How do Avery, Darius and Evie live with themselves whenever they have to resort to taking a life to end a hostile situation?” Amelia found herself openly pondering.

“To be fair, they gave me a very clear warning about this when I told them my intentions,” Luz admitted. “Unfortunately, I had to ignore it because it had to be us... we were the only ones who could truly put an end to this.”

Amelia nodded, knowing her wife was right, but that didn't ease any of the guilt eating them alive.

They could only hope being able to wrestle again would help be a good distraction from the feeling, because they certainly needed one right now, despite that coming with its own problems.

As much as Luz wanted to just chalk it up to the fact that the last Breakdown was in Boston and that was the hometown of one of their opponents, Amelia knew that was only part of the reason the fans reacted the way they did. She wasn't expecting them to come around to her trying to redeem herself overnight... she had been quite the bitch in the time she'd lost her way and she accepted that it was going to be a long and difficult road to regaining the fans' trust and admiration, but it still hurt to see how much it was bothering Luz that not everyone seemed to have the same flexibility of forgiveness and understanding that she did.

The Glimmers certainly weren't helping matters, and the fact that they hadn't dropped their antics even after a painfully clear defeat back at Taking Hold of the Flame under circumstances that were completely in their favor on all accounts only infuriated the couple. Apparently, the twin acrobats were just incapable of humility and desperately hiding behind any excuse to paint their losses as anything but a reason to do some self-reflection and actually grow as both competitors and people, and the attack that had gotten their match with The Vision thrown out entirely followed by the intimate “warning” afterwards made the two sick to their stomachs.

If they thought they could simply walk into Indianapolis and prove at Apocalypse that they could outwrestle two women who defined themselves by how much this business and their contributions to it meant, then they clearly hadn't learned a thing from Taking Hold of the Flame.

While Indianapolis would see the couple address that problem and hopefully knock the Glimmers out of their orbit for a good while, that was a matter for Apocalypse. Until then, there were other distractions that were far healthier to quiet the war drums of guilt that had been pounding in their heads for months.

Like Halloween the day before. Like Día de Muertos the day after. And like their two year anniversary of officially being married, despite the rockiness of this year so far.

With all of that in mind, and knowing that making it down to Tulancingo in that short a time span was likely impossible, Luz and Amelia were doing the best they could to still celebrate the holidays. They had dressed up as witches, with wide-brimmed pointy hats and dresses and all, knowing their friends were all dressing up as well before gathering together to watch classic horror movies and just enjoy a relaxing night in before they got down to business tomorrow night. In the meantime, they kept themselves busy working on a little ofrenda to Luz's dad, hoping his spirit would appreciate the gesture and be able to come and watch over them as they endured more of whatever shameless antics the Glimmers were no doubt plotting for tomorrow night.

“I hope he appreciates it,” Luz couldn't help but say as she carefully wove some marigolds Ivy had given her into a little wreath that surrounded her father's portrait. “I hate not being able to be back home for such an important holiday, but SCW keeps finding ways to schedule shows right around the time it happens.”

“I know he'll love it, Lulu,” Amelia reassured her wife as she arranged candles at the base of the ofrenda. “And I know he'll watch over us tomorrow night. It's... good to be able to fully put our minds back on the things we want to focus on.”

“Yeah...” Luz said, though her tone clearly wasn't fully in agreement as she took a good, long look at the masked face smiling back at her from the picture frame. “Ames? Do you think mi papá will understand why we had no choice? Why we had to... to...”

Amelia reached over and gently shushed her wife, though the look in her eyes made it clear the thought haunted her as much as it did Luz. “I'm sure he understands more than we may ever know, mi amor. I just... hate that we can't just kick the thought out of our heads for very long.”

Luz nodded, trying to let Amelia's reassurance sink in, but it didn't land with the impact either woman was probably hoping for. They had tried to see if they could get even a phone session with Dr. Bolton to get a solid start on their mental health recovery after everything, but everyone seemed to have underestimated just how quickly her schedule was going to fill up courtesy of now-former members of The Empire who needed therapy to cope with how easily they were led astray and how far they had gone believing in something far greater than had been sold to them by a very convincing fraud who was only interested in his own ambitions and saw them all as expendable fodder to his own “ascension.”

It left them in a very awkward and unwelcome silence as they put the finishing touches on the small ofrenda, questioning everything they wanted to say. Even the tender love and affirmations were starting to feel hollow and useless, not because the love had actually died between the two women, but because it was all drowned out by the thunderous drumming of what felt like the heartbeat of Caleb slowing to a stop that gave their thoughts no peace.

The guilt, the trauma, all-encompassing and threatening to cast them into a void they knew would swallow them whole if they stopped fighting, but saying they wouldn't give up was far easier said than done in this case.

Still, they stood up and held each other close as they looked down at the little alter paying homage to El Espíritu Angélico, feeling for a brief moment like there was finally peace within the storm that was raging in their heads. It wasn't much, but they had genuinely put their hearts and souls into this project beyond just needing a distraction, and they truly hoped his spirit appreciated that.

“Who's ready to Scream!?”

The peace of the moment was interrupted as Gage opened the door to Amelia and Luz's hotel room, dressed up exactly like Ghostface himself as he seemed excited, considering the group had opted to spend the night watching through the entire Scream franchise. The moment he saw Amelia and Luz staring down at the ofrenda before glancing in his direction, though, he stopped and slowly pulled off his mask.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the moment,” he apologized, sounding genuinely guilty. “We're all set up in mine and Henry's room, but if you ladies need a few more minutes...”

“No, no, we're good,” Luz quickly insisted as she retrieved Amelia's witch hat and placed it upon her beloved's head before Amelia returned the favor.

“You sure?” Gage asked.

“It would do us some good to try and get back into doing something normal,” Amelia admitted. “Or as normal as life can get when you're a wrestler constantly on the road.”

Gage didn't argue that as he put his mask back on and the couple followed him down the hall to the room where everyone was gathering, but that didn't mean he wasn't concerned. He'd been a good friend to Amelia and Luz for many years now and he rightfully had his concerns, but while he was a veritable encyclopedia of wrestling knowledge that made him a great commentator for the sport, matters of trauma were clearly not his forte as he was just as lacking in answers for how to help as anybody else.

The concern for the couple was very much there, though, and that became apparent the moment they entered the hotel room Gage and Henry were sharing and all eyes turned to them. Henry, Ivy, and even Edward and Emily all stopped whatever conversation they were having and turned to look at Amelia and Luz as they entered the room, perhaps looking a little more self-conscious as a result despite everyone being dressed up for Halloween.

“You sure you guys want to watch the Scream series with us?” Ivy carefully asked.

“We won't blame you if you change your mind,” Edward added, holding up his hands in innocence. “I won't even joke about you two being scared or anything, and I'll make a sibling promise to Amelia if I have to.”

“We're sure,” Amelia firmly said, though she did acknowledge her brother's words. Considering Edward was the more likely of the twins to fall back on pranks and jokes, the fact that he was being completely serious about shelving the urge for their sake was still appreciated.

“Are you, though?” Emily gently pressed. “We'd hate to make you two feel like you have to just to appease us.”

“It's fine,” Luz insisted, maybe a bit more harshly than she intended, but no one gave her any flak for it. That made Amelia feel like something stirred in her thoughts, but it vanished just as quickly. “We appreciate the concern guys, we really do. We're just... tired of everyone feeling like we're made of glass and feeling you need to be careful around us.”

“It's because they love you,” Henry pointed out as he carefully stood up, his Star Trek inspired costume almost feeling oddly fitting given the recent passing of Sir Patrick Stewart. “Trust me when I saw that whatever you two are feeling? It's alright, and things will get better with time. And if I've learned anything from being around you guys after you got me away from my uncle, it's that time definitely helps when you have people worried for you and wanting to help you along the way.”

It was advice that Amelia and Luz knew all too well, admittedly. It was advice they had followed after befriending each other, becoming the other's rock when it came to the abuse Amelia grew up enduring or Luz losing her father and the strained relationship she had with her mother in the immediate aftermath, not to mention any time Caleb had sought to escalate his sick plans over the years. But to hear it from Henry, Caleb's nephew, a man who had suffered immeasurably in the time the religious hypocrite had raised him... for just a moment, it helped immensely, remembering that when it came to trauma at the hands of Caleb White, they weren't alone.

With that moment of relief settling in, Amelia and Luz reaffirmed that they wanted to do this, believing that a scary movie night to celebrate Halloween with their closest friends and found family was a healthy distraction to put their minds at ease and help them to heal.

That belief lasted roughly twelve minutes.

As the first Scream movie played through its iconic opening scene that flipped what everyone knew about the horror genre on its head, Amelia and Luz had started off invested in what they were watching, both of them sharing a love of horror and the macabre that helped make Halloween such a beloved time for them.

But then they got to the second kill of the movie, watching as Ghostface choked and stabbed Drew Barrymore's character to death. That's what they saw at first: the costumed slasher villain increasing his kill count to build up the threat he posed. But with every stab, the visual changed in their eyes. Ghostface found himself replaced by Amelia or Luz, depending on whose perspective it came from. The character of Casey Becker was replaced by Caleb, pleading for his life as if he was actually an innocent soul and not the vile, twisted monster they knew he truly was. Back and forth the visions flickered, and the sight of the sheer sadistic glee growing on Amelia and Luz's faces as they stabbed and stabbed and stabbed became too much for them to handle.

Before anybody realized the traumatic spiral that was taking hold of them, Amelia and Luz abruptly stood up and bolted for the door, the worried calls of their friends lost to the static that played in their ears... a static that was only broken by the occasional thump... thump... thump... that belonged to a dying heartbeat.

They barely registered that they had tumbled back into their hotel room in their haste to get away from the sickening image, didn't realize they'd slammed the door and probably alerted the oldest members of their found family that something was wrong. The calls from the other side of the door that followed not too long after went unheard.

All Amelia could register was Luz, held tightly in her arms as if it would somehow help to ground her.

All Luz could register was the same, and that she was on her knees in front of the small ofrenda they had finished barely a half-hour prior.

“Papá... papá, lo siento,” Luz managed to say, her voice trembling as she felt tears spilling over the eyeholes of her mask. She was certain the wetness on her neck was from Amelia's tears, and she couldn't blame her as they both fell apart. “Lamento haber deshonrado tu imagen y manchado mi alma.”

“I'm sorry, too,” Amelia choked out. “I'm sorry I had to do what I did to protect your daughter. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough, I'm sorry I lost my way and became a monster...”

“No, mis niñas preciosas... I'm sorry that my problem had to become your burden.”

A chill briefly ran through the room at the sound of another voice with them, but it was quickly replaced by an understanding warmth, wrapping around them like a weighted blanket neither woman knew they needed right now. They didn't stop crying, but they did pull themselves together just enough to look up... meeting the gentle smile of El Espíritu Angélico.

It wasn't the framed picture at the heart of the ofrenda, though they could see that through his translucent body. It was the spirit of the luchador who flew with such grace that his peers called him an angel.

One might believe that the weight of what had been haunting them was causing them both to see things, but Luz would argue otherwise and even Amelia had become a believer over the years. To those who live in Mexico, the belief that the spirits of the dead will walk the mortal plane again if you invite them to was strong, and that formed the heart and soul of Día de Muertos. The holiday may have been two days away still, but El Espíritu Angélico knew his presence couldn't wait, not when his daughter and her wife needed someone like him right now.

“Lo siento,” he apologized again. “You two should've never had to endure what Caleb was capable of. That was my burden to bear... not yours.”

“It's...” Luz started to say before she got so choked up at her father actually being here before her now. “It's not your fault papá. Caleb was...”

“I know, my little light,” Angélico reassured his daughter. “That still doesn't mean either of you deserved to deal with any of this. I can promise you that man lost his place in Heaven a long time ago, and no delusions otherwise will change that. But the two of you still have bright futures and full lives ahead of you. It won't be easy... trauma never is, but I swear to you both that I'll be guiding you from the other side every step of the way as best as I can, and you have so many who love you that can help in ways I cannot.”

“Even... even me?” Amelia questioned, and Angélico felt the heart he no longer had breaking as he looked at her. “Even after I lost my way?”

“Especially you, Amelia,” the spirit firmly reassured her with that caring, fatherly tone that Amelia never got to hear growing up. “It's easy to lose sight of what's important when nothing goes your way and someone is in your ear, promising everything you deserve and more. To accept your faults and rise above it, to admit that you were wrong and learn your lesson... that is true strength. Strength that Caleb never cared for, strength that people like those twins do not understand.”

Amelia trembled more at those words, feeling all the dark clouds that had been suffocating her brain and only grown worse parting at long last. Luz tried to say “papá” but found herself getting too choked up to speak, but the spirit only held them closer.

“I can promise you both right now, straight from God himself, that your souls are still pure,” he continued. “You may feel like you've stained them with Caleb's blood, but God knows the difference between malice and necessity. You did what you had to do in order to stop a dangerous man... you've saved so many in the process, yourselves included. Never forget that even in the deepest darkness, there is always a light to guide you to the truth. Continue to be that light for the wrestling world, and I will continue to be the light that helps you through this. I've seen what awaits you two at the end of this tunnel, and I can promise you both that the effort will be well rewarded by the time you join me here on the other side.”

By the time their loved ones managed to unlock the door and peek inside, they found Amelia and Luz holding one another tightly, breathing through the traumatic thoughts. They didn't see the spirit of the legendary luchador who brought Luz into this world, but the couple knew he'd been there for them, helping to save them from the spiral and remind them of who they truly were... no matter what they endured.