Light in the Darkness vs. The House of Frost

[Wisteria Waltz]

For two women who were doing their best to try and keep their mental health in good standing, the past few weeks had almost seemed like they were unintentionally inviting stress to their doorstep and couldn't figure out why or how to make it stop.

After Amelia had lost the Television Title in SCW, she and Luz had strived to lift her spirits by shifting their full focus to the House of Frost and their upcoming Tag Title opportunity, the first one they would receive in either run with the company. They knew full well that Selena and Deanna would respect them as much as they respected the married couple and the four of them would put on a match worthy of showcasing what tag team wrestling was all about and why SCW's tag division was far from dead. It should have been as simple as the two sides exchanging words and vowing exactly that, maybe with a bit of friendly competition to try and show the other side what they can do leading into the pay-per-view.

All parties, however, had found themselves distracted by the reveal that Mr. D was vetting potential buyers and that SCW might find itself under new ownership at some point in the near future.

Amelia and Luz weren't as shaken by this revelation considering they hadn't been back for too long in the grand scheme of things and had barely been with SCW long enough the first time to start growing attached. For the most part, they had never been concerned with who was running the show so long as they got to just go out and do their thing, having had a bit of experience early on in their careers with owners who got a little too invested in their careers to the point that it sabotaged their matches. That said, considering the only two buyers they were aware of at the moment were Jenni Anderson and Blake Mason, two individuals they had not heard good things about, they had a right to be concerned about how they would be treated if either one of those two became the new owner.

They could also understand why Deanna and especially Selena did not take too kindly to this revelation, to the point that what should have been a simple road to their title match became tainted by concern over this matter. Selena had been busting her ass to be the Face of SCW for many years, fighting to always be that one beacon of hope you could count on to do the right thing and help others who needed it. The idea of all that work being for nothing if she now had to answer to an owner who, as far as Luz and Amelia knew, could care less for her and was likely to abuse their power to try and drive her out of the company or screw with her career for their own amusement... they couldn't blame the Frosts for being upset. Hell, they'd be upset if they were in their shoes, and they were already a bit upset by how much this news had threatened to ruin the atmosphere surrounding the long-awaited clash between their two sides.

The Light In The Darkness had promised a distraction from that issue in the form of both teams wrestling the match they knew they could have together, and even if that was the best they could offer, then they were going to provide it for both the Frosts and the fans. Everyone, especially Selena and Deanna, deserved to see proof that being able to compete at the highest level with no ulterior motives or strings attached wasn't a lost art just yet.

Truth be told, the match was just as much a distraction for them as it would be for the Frosts, though not for the same reasons.

After turning away the man who had been sent by Amelia's mother to try and court her, the couple and their friends had started digging to try and figure out what exactly Ophelia Blythe was up to now. The fact that she seemingly had information about her daughter's life that hadn't been public knowledge was concerning enough, but none of them could find any signs of having been spied on in any capacity. Couple her cryptic words regarding Luz and that guy claiming she had actually given him permission to pursue Amelia because what they had was “just a gimmick” despite there being no physical way Luz could have ever gone to Britain behind Amelia's back and made such a claim even if she wanted to, and there were a lot of things that weren't adding up. Amelia had tried to reach out to her siblings to see if they knew anything about any of this, but for some reason that only made her even more concerned she couldn't get a hold of them. One or two failed attempts would be understandable given that they might've just been busy with something, but roughly two weeks of no word from them was not a good sign.

The best their efforts had yielded so far was going off of that guy's claims of “Luz” helping out with some new stable, to which Gage had managed to get them some semblance of a possible answer. Recently in the British promotion Amelia had spent most of her time competing for, a new stable simply called The Empire had started rising to power. They were led and managed by a man named Caleb White, an old man who had wrestled back in the 1960s during what was known as the Golden Era of British Wrestling and had established himself as perhaps one of the finest grapplers to ever lace up a pair of boots. Caleb's faction had one clear goal: to cleanse the wrestling world of its “impurities” and return it to “the way things should be,” supposedly referring to the way wrestling was back in his day where it was purely about who was the better grappler and without any of the theatrics or showmanship that had helped it evolve into what it is today. From what they could find, the stable was mostly composed of people they didn't recognize. The only ones they did were Ophelia and Aleister Blythe, who were serving as trainers and extra managers for the group. Watching through a couple of shows had revealed attempts to try and recruit the various members of the former Banshees stable to their ranks, but all of them turned it down for one reason or another and had made themselves enemies of the stable because of it.

While the idea of seeing a reunion of the group that had originally been formed by her parents to erase her and Luz's success over there for a much more noble cause was an interesting one, Amelia was confused as to the lack of any further leads regarding this group. The only sign that her parents were hoping to use this to somehow drag her back was the implication that once the stable had “purified” the current landscape of British wrestling they were going to start branching out to other companies across the globe, meaning they could possibly try to invade the SCW roster down the line. Beyond that, there was nothing that seemed to indicate anything directly regarding her or Luz, at least in front of the cameras.

Since the last Breakdown had taken place in San Diego and they had a little over a week before they needed to be in Dallas for Retribution, the couple had decided to stay put in Anaheim for a bit to not only prepare for the biggest match of their SCW careers to date in an environment where they felt the most comfortable, but also kind of distract themselves by showing Ivy and Gage around the city they had come to call home over the past few years. It made for a great bonding experience as the friendship between the four of them only grew stronger, especially when it came to Amelia and Ivy mending their bridge with each other.

That said, it was also hard not to think about the shadows that were currently haunting their lives.

“I just don't get it!” Amelia spat in frustration.

“Still trying to figure out what your mom's up to?” Ivy questioned before taking a bite of her salad as the four of them had decided to go out and get something to eat.

“I wish my brain wasn't so fixated on this anymore, especially with this title match Luz and I have coming up,” Amelia vented. “But the more I try to ignore it, the more I hear her voice mocking me.”

“That woman is way too good at getting into people's heads and it makes me sick,” Luz added. “For all we know, her words have been hollow this whole time but she knew it was going to throw us off so bad if she said the right thing to make us think.”

“If I didn't know what I do now about your parents Amelia, I'd probably say this whole thing was a stretch at best,” Gage admitted.

“There's a reason my dad fell in love with her and it wasn't because she was just as talented and cruel as he could be in the ring,” Amelia groaned. “If he didn't try to break me in half while training me and care only about creating a family legacy through his kids now that he's retired, I might've held out hope that I could get through to him to get mom out of my life.”

“Maybe there's another world out there where that may actually be the case,” Luz pondered. “This isn't it though, and that sucks about as much as the radio silence from your siblings... or the fact that we're having this title match at Retribution of all shows...”

Luz seemed to slump in her seat at that, and whatever frustration Amelia had been displaying over the latest round of issues with her parents slowly faded as well as she seemed to pick up the implications of that realization. Ivy and Gage exchanged glances in response before turning back to them.

“I know this is the first shot you guys have at SCW's Tag Titles, but isn't it natural to have these kinds of opportunities on bigger shows?” Ivy asked.

“Yeah... but why did we have to get it for this particular show?” Luz lamented.

The gears in Gage's brain kept turning as he mulled over SCW's upcoming pay-per-view, and after a moment the light bulb finally went off as he remembered something. “I get it... this is the same pay-per-view where your SCW run ended the first time, isn't it?”

Ivy's eyes widened as she processed that while Amelia nodded, both her and Luz hanging their heads a bit more. It had been Retribution 2021 where they had competed against the Golden Boys, Vengeance, and Doom & Groove for a shot at tag team gold, and not only had Luz eaten the fall that allowed for the Golden Boys to steal that opportunity but both she and Amelia had sustained serious injuries that led to them opting not to return to SCW once they'd recovered under the belief that they simply weren't ready yet. It was clear that while they'd taken plenty of time to rebuild themselves and had come back to SCW stronger than ever, this particular pay-per-view still had a dark cloud hanging over it for the couple.

“Well... maybe this is a sign?” Ivy offered. “Like fate is giving you both a chance to prove how far you've come since that event?”

“Yeah!” Gage latched onto what Ivy was throwing out with enthusiasm. “Think about it: the 2021 show may have ended horribly, but you've both come so far since then! You've evolved in the ring, Amelia had that TV Title run, Luz scored the pin for your first pay-per-view win in SCW... heck, this match isn't to try and become number one contenders for the Tag Titles, it's actually for the Tag Titles! You guys are already in a much better spot this time around than you were before!”

“I don't know...” Luz let slip. While their friends certainly had some great points, it was hard to shake off the memories of how that night had gone down two years ago and how badly it had rattled them. They at least knew that the Frosts weren't the kind of competitors that would go out of their way to intentionally injure them like the Golden Boys had done, but that didn't change the fact that they were still going up against not only the Face of SCW but also her partner who had accomplished quite a lot in her own rookie year with the company. On any other night, they knew this would be an uphill battle, but on the very same show where they had arguably their most damaging failure of not just SCW but in their entire careers?

“Didn't you guys make a point about not dwelling on past issues when you addressed Polly and Aisling recently?” Ivy pointed out. “How can you guys expect to truly give this match your all if you aren't going to bother taking your own advice? Not only would you be letting the Frosts down after all that talk of both sides giving 100% and helping to distract from all that 'potential new owner' nonsense with a fair and competitive match, but you'd be letting yourselves down if you worked so hard to prove you were ready to return to SCW and let it all go because of a bad experience with one single event.”

Luz and Amelia's eyes widened as they looked up at one another, silently agreeing that Ivy had a very good point. Yeah, that Retribution had been catastrophic for them, but it had been the catalyst for why they decided to take a step back from SCW and rebuild themselves, allowing for the evolution that had already brought them so far in this second attempt. Besides, would losing at Retribution again really be the end of the world? Yeah, maybe they wouldn't walk out as Tag Team Champions, but what was stopping them from making an impact even in defeat so they could build toward the next opportunity? Hell, there was nothing saying they couldn't pull it off on their first chance except for those lingering doubts they'd been trying to fight past in the first place, and they had never been the kind of women to ever give up when doubt began to creep in. They couldn't dwell on those injuries forever and let that worry dictate their futures.

Luz's mind also followed Ivy's words down another path as well. She found her thoughts drifting back to that fateful show where she and her mom had watched her father take a botched move in the worst fashion that had ultimately cost him his life. In the wake of that, her mother had vilified the wrestling business for taking her husband from her and had constantly butted heads with her daughter over wanting to keep pursuing a career in it to honor his memory and do her best to maintain that last lingering connection she held to him. As a doctor, she knew the risks that came with doing this, as well as all the advancements and precautions that had been taken since those days to keep incidents like that from ever happening again. And yet, while her mother had the right to continue grieving her husband's death, Luz knew she would have to let go of that incident eventually if she was going to move on and the two could finally reconcile, especially since she had lasted this long without coming anywhere close to that same fate befalling her. That possibility alone gave Luz some motivation to consider reaching out to her mom sometime soon in hopes that they could try to talk and see where it went.

“You're right,” Amelia slowly said as she looked over to Ivy and Gage with a fire in her eyes. “You're both absolutely right. We wouldn't be The Light In The Darkness if we kept letting ourselves be swallowed up by the very thing we strive to fight against every day, both in the ring and in our own lives. We are the light for one another and together we want to be that light for wrestling and beyond. We've never let ourselves linger on past trauma but instead used it to motivate us to a brighter future for ourselves, so why should now be any different?”

“¡Demonios si!” Luz yelled while pumping her fist, getting a laugh out of everyone and a few apologies to all the other patrons that had turned to look at them for the outburst. The locals who had crossed paths with Luz and Amelia in town just laughed and shrugged it off as they'd grown used to this being the norm for the couple, those who recognized the pair because they were wrestling fans did the same but had to restrain themselves from interrupting the group to bug them for photos and autographs, and those who didn't fit into either category just rolled their eyes or let out annoyed grunts before turning back to their own meals and conversations.

As things settled down for the friend group, Gage couldn't resist looking around to clock all of these reactions for himself. Growing up as a long-time wrestling fan and trying his hardest to get into the business so he could lend his voice to commentary, he relished the chance to see how other people acted in the presence of wrestlers who worked somewhere they could easily be recognized. He knew that before he met the couple and really got to know them, he likely would've been one of the many people still shooting glances at their table because they were struggling to be respectful in exchange for potentially losing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The tables that still shot more negative glances their way bothered him, but from what he'd learned about Luz's life growing up beyond just being the daughter of the late great El Espíritu Angélico, this was such a normal reaction to her just being herself that it barely even fazed her anymore, which made him sympathize for his new friend as he was no stranger to being bullied himself growing up.

As he was scanning the dining area of this restaurant, he took note of one particular table not too far away, though he was a pro at looking like he was just casually scanning a room and used the fact that everyone had been looking at their table just a moment ago as a perfect excuse to do so. Throughout the rest of their lunch outing as the conversation lightened up between the four of them, Gage kept glancing over at that table out of the corner of his eye whenever he could. The lone man sitting there certainly seemed inconspicuous enough, wearing a three-piece suit and tie outfit with the jacket draped over the back of his seat and looking to just be enjoying a light lunch and a coffee as he scrolled through something on his phone, but his head was at the perfect angle that he could keep watch of them out of the corner of his eye at all times. The fact that he was close enough to be within earshot of their conversations unless they switched to whispering coupled with the occasional jotting down of something on a nearby notepad raised his suspicions.

Given that his father was a news reporter renowned for presenting only the honest facts and refusing to sacrifice the integrity of his craft, Gage had met his fair share of investigative journalists growing up and learned some of the tricks of their trade. So he knew the telltale signs of someone being a private investigator when he saw them.

As the group finished up their lunch and settled the bill, Gage took the opportunity to discreetly jot something down on one of the napkins and slide it to Ivy while the man's vision was somewhat obscured by the body of the waiter. She skimmed over what was written on it and shot him a confused glance before turning to look towards the man in question, but Gage subtly motioned with his hands to trust him on this, to which she nodded. It wasn't long before their meals were paid for and the group stepped outside into the sunny Anaheim afternoon.

“So, what do you guys want to do next?” Luz cheerfully asked.

“Actually...” Ivy started to say, piquing the couple's interest. “Given that you guys were worrying a bit about your big match coming up, maybe it'd do you both some good to get a good training session in. I know a lot of my negative thoughts about what I can and can't accomplish in the ring have faded after a good workout to remind myself that I can, in fact, do this.”

“You know, that's not a bad idea,” Amelia admitted, though the twinge of sadness her voice carried wasn't lost on her old friend given that they both knew her words from long ago had been the cause of a lot of those negative thoughts in Ivy's brain. “Were you going to be joining us? You've got a match coming up yourself this week before we all head off to Dallas for Retribution, right?”

“I do, but I can get a workout in later,” Ivy responded. “I actually need to touch base with that owner to confirm some details because he said there might be some sort of stipulation added that he wants to surprise the fans with last second. That way I can tailor my training accordingly for whatever I'm getting into.”

“And she was going to take care of that while helping me out with something,” Gage added. “When you were showing us some of the stores around here, I saw one of them had this really cool desk that I think my dad would love for his home office. I know he loves the one he's got, but it's on the verge of collapsing and I don't want him to get hurt while he's trying to fact-check for an upcoming report. His birthday's coming up, and Ivy offered to help me get it loaded up since I was planning to swing by next month to celebrate it with him.”

“We could come and help out!” Luz offered. “Between the four of us, we can get it taken care of quicker before heading back to our place to get some training done!”

“I appreciate the offer Luz, but Ivy and I are kind of in agreement that focusing on your title match should probably take priority over loading up a desk,” Gage replied. “With Ivy's strength, it still won't take long at all, and you two could use the boost so that when we meet back up with you all we're hearing is how the two of you are going to kick ass and take names and titles at Retribution!”

Luz and Amelia couldn't argue with that, especially since they were still a bit new to the idea of having actual friends beyond just one another and didn't want to risk ruining anything by being too clingy, even if Ivy and Gage assured them that wasn't the case and were more than understanding. With that, the two groups bid each other goodbye for now and parted ways, though as the couple started walking back home they didn't notice Ivy and Gage turning the corner behind them only to peak back around to watch them... or the man in the suit who casually stepped out of the restaurant not too long afterward and looked around before following after the couple, making sure to keep a safe distance that made the whole scene appear natural to the untrained eye.

“Thank god we have friends now who can help us out when we're struggling to help ourselves and each other, huh?” Luz pondered out loud to have a conversation going as the two walked.

“It's taken some getting used to, but it's definitely a nice feeling,” Amelia admitted. “I missed it... Ivy was always so supportive of me when we were kids even if she didn't fully know what was going on in my family, and up until that incident I'd always supported her even when she kept making mistakes. It's hard to think that there'd been a time before you where the real me was present... and then my parents had to ruin it like they do with everything that doesn't fit with their vision of how our family should present themselves.”

“I have a feeling I know what the answer is already, but I wanted to ask anyway if it's alright,” Luz said, and Amelia took a second before she nodded, appreciative that her partner was willing to check with her before asking any questions that she might not feel comfortable answering. “Did you ever actually bond with your family over anything?”

“Well, I bonded with Edward and Emily over our mutual hatred over the way we were treated growing up,” Amelia confirmed. “Though that was after you'd gotten involved... we'd tried bonding as siblings before then, but our parents were masters at making sure we were always competing with each other for the smallest hint of affection from them, to the point where they hated me for being the 'true golden child' of the family and I hated them for how quickly they started racking up accolades and holding it over my head while I destroyed myself trying to get so much as a single one of those opportunities.”

She paused to sigh heavily as Luz reached over to take her hand, her thumb immediately going into the familiar comforting routine of rubbing circles into the back of it.

“As for my parents... wrestling is probably the only thing I ever truly had in common with them, and I can't exactly say we bonded over it after everything they put me through to get the 'wrestling machine' they thought I had to be to represent the family name. My mom tried to force me to adopt some of her interests but would always berate me when I never embraced them to her exact specifications, and wrestling and being a bit of a socialite were practically all my dad ever cared about.”

“That just sounds like a lonely life to live,” Luz lamented. “One you really shouldn't have needed to endure for as long as you did. Especially all that bullshit about deciding who you can and can't have in your life... who the hell does that?”

Amelia chuckled a bit at Luz's reaction, always appreciative of the enthusiastic responses of her girlfriend. “What about you? I know you and your dad bonded deeply over wrestling... was there anything else? Or anything you and your mom had in common.”

Luz took a deep breath before flashing a smile to Amelia, though the other woman knew her well enough to see the pain she was trying to hide behind it.

“Papá and I had a lot in common, even beyond wrestling. He was a creative soul who always encouraged my more artistic exploits and wanted me to have a vivid imagination I could always rely on growing up, even if wrestling didn't work out for me. He's also the one who got me obsessed with the fantasy genre and even introduced me to anime and manga after he brought some home with him following a tour of Japan. He and mom were also both really into Star Trek, if you can believe it, and they tried to get me into it too... I just never took to it as well as I did anything that had magic and epic high fantasy adventures. Mamá and I did have one big thing in common though... we both loved animals. She may be a doctor, but she had also considered working to become a licensed vet as well. She was always encouraging me to love and respect those little critters like I would another human being, especially anything that seemed dangerous but wouldn't bother me if I didn't bother them. I also picked up a few things from her from a medical standpoint, though not enough for me to ever be interested in pursuing a medical career or anything like that... her trying to force me down that path so I wouldn't become a wrestler certainly didn't help that out...”

Amelia frowned at this before she flipped the script, allowing her thumb to be the one to rub comforting circles into the back of Luz's hand now. Luz looked surprised at first before giving her girlfriend a more genuine and appreciative smile.

“We'll figure something out, hermosa,” Amelia reassured her. “If you two just had a chance to talk things out without it devolving into a shouting match, maybe you could better understand each other and be able to rebuild from there, kind of like how Ivy and I are still getting back to where we were before.”

“Actually...” Luz started to respond, wanting to tell her about what had run through her head back at the restaurant regarding her mother and the plan she had started to piece together about that very suggestion, but she found her attention being diverted when she thought she heard something behind them. She quickly turned around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary... just a family walking out of a store next to the alleyway they had just passed by, but the noise they were making didn't match what she thought she heard.

“Something wrong?” Amelia asked her as the two stopped walking.

“I thought I heard something...” Luz admitted before she sighed and shrugged. “Must've been my imagination.”

“Well, maybe once we get back home we can put that imagination to work trying to come up with some new combos and strategies we can practice to try and catch the Frosts off guard,” Amelia suggested, and that seemed to be all the motivation Luz needed to get the two of them back home as quickly as possible so they could throw themselves into training with renewed vigor.

They never noticed the man who had been tailing them for the past several blocks, or the fact that he was no longer following them. Instead, he'd found himself yanked into that nearby alleyway. Standing in front of him was Gage, wearing a stern look that just seemed wrong to see on his face. Standing behind him, arms folded as her imposing physique blocked his only way out, was a very pissed-off Ivy.

“So, buddy,” Gage addressed the man, using a cheery tone that sounded very fake and did not hide the anger that fueled him right now, “you want to tell us how long you've been spying on our friends and why you're doing it? And don't bother trying to say you weren't... if you know me then you definitely know my father, so I know an investigator when I see one.”

The man opened his mouth as he tried to make himself as intimidating as possible, but the sound of Ivy cracking her knuckles and slowly approaching him from behind immediately halted whatever he'd planned to do. He could only hold his hands up in surrender and accept that he'd been caught, knowing that whatever was about to happen wasn't worth the hefty pay he'd been given for this job.