Light in the Darkness vs. Hollywood

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: And here's my first for Luz.
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To some degree, La Pequeña Luz had an idea of what her wife must have felt like she was going through now.

If anything, it only made the burden on her own mind even worse.

On the SCW front, she had only competed in one match since losing the United States Title to Meghan Strader inside the Thunderdome. All the talk that Meghan and many others had put forth about Luz deserving a spot in the discussion for the World Title picture, and she'd been given barely any opportunity to prove it, or at the very least start working her way towards something else. She tried to justify it to herself as needing to recover from the injuries she sustained in that match, but she proved with her win over Chris Lawler, even despite her mind being elsewhere for a majority of that match, that she was ready and raring to go. And yet, she had nothing on the Hubris card, nor had she been booked until now heading into Taking Hold of the Flame. It rang almost eerily similar to how desperate Amelia had grown to try and prove herself only to seemingly be ignored.

The fact that Lawler had now seemingly made the same decision Amelia did and went all-in on an alliance with a CEO that clearly had his own agenda didn't help, as it had Luz wondering if that was her fault as well. Never mind the fact that she had been looking to rebound, but that win had come at the expense of a man she once respected who seemed like his own frustrations were eating him alive.

Just like what had happened to Amelia while she had just been trying to be the best U.S. Champion she could possibly be.

Honestly, Luz wished that this was as complicated as everything got, but somehow it never seemed to be that easy when it came to Supreme Championship Wrestling.

Fans have likely been confused about why Luz was still trying to be supportive of Amelia when it was painfully clear she had issues with the path her wife was walking, but Luz had her reasons and a plan to go along with it, and she was hopeful that plan would work. Ideally, despite the questions surrounding the couple, Luz was already mentally preparing herself for what she was certain had to happen come Taking Hold of the Flame, that being Amelia retaining the World Title in the obvious rematch with Gavin that was in the plans (which she knew her beloved could pull off) while she found a way to win the battle royal. With the main event of SCW's biggest show pitting the couple against one another for the first time in an SCW ring, she knew in her heart that she could capitalize on the support she was still showing for Amelia and, through hopefully one of the greatest matches in SCW history that she knew they were capable of putting on together, she could once again pierce through the darkness and help Amelia remember who she truly was.

Obviously, she knew that her part of making that happen was going to require a Herculean effort on her part to actually win the infamous battle royal against who knows how many other people who were simply hungry for a World Title opportunity and a Rise to Greatness main event... but she'd have felt more confident in her chances of finding a way if two women she knew she wasn't a fan of from the moment she first crossed paths with them hadn't decided to throw a giant wrench into everything for their own twisted pleasure.

From the moment Luz and Amelia had that brief encounter with the Glimmer Sisters last year, it had taken all of her willpower to not just be outright disgusted with them, and having a front row seat to see Gina steal a win from Amelia under rules that were already questionable during Fatal Fortunes at the start of the year had only deepened those feelings. Given how much of a ray of sunshine Luz was, there was a very good reason why the list of people Luz genuinely hated barely existed at all and was only reserved for people who were truly irredeemable, but this latest stunt the Glimmers wanted to pull? It had put them on the list.

It wasn't lost on Luz that they shared a place on that list with a man who would absolutely detest everything the Glimmers stood for and would no doubt try to end them the first chance he got, but they were two extremes on opposite ends of the spectrum and Luz was growing to hate the arrogant twins as much as she hated the religious zealot who, arguably, felt like the heart of all her problems.

As Luz sat in her hotel room in Washington, D.C., she couldn't help but feel bothered by how quiet things had been outside of SCW. Obviously, the fact that Amelia wasn't here was painful enough, and it didn't help that Luz still had no idea where her wife was disappearing to beyond shows. She had tried following her after Hubris went off the air, but had to step away when Amelia met up with Frank Delatosso and hadn't been able to find her again afterward, nor could see find her after the Seattle Breakdown had gone off the air to discuss the mess they were now in together. Last week had Luz feeling even more conflicted, considering Amelia had been given the night off altogether and apparently hadn't even traveled to Milwaukee at all. It had Luz wanting to desperately grasp at any hope she could find right now that despite being a part of the group of wrestlers siding with Delatosso, Amelia had wanted no part in what had happened to CHBK after the main event had concluded.

Her wife aside, the fact that things had been so quiet in regards to a certain major issue they'd all been dealing with had her more on-edge than usual.

Considering the kind of brilliant strategist Caleb White liked to fancy himself as, and knowing full well he kept tabs on their SCW exploits considering the multiple times he'd offered, either directly or through someone acting as a proxy, to use his own wrestling experience and expertise to 'help' them when they'd found themselves in ruts before, the fact that The Empire had gone completely silent again when the unknown status of where exactly Luz and Amelia stood right now seemed like the perfect time to make a move was not sitting right with the luchadora at all. She didn't want to think the revelation of the cult's splinter cell still being active would have thrown them off that much, especially if they seemed to be operating without a leader at the moment.

Luz could only take a deep breath and try to ground herself. For all she knew, the lengthy period of inactivity was a trap Caleb was banking on to get her and everyone else to lower their guards... and if she was right, she could only hope Amelia was keeping her own eyes peeled for Caleb's 'holy army,' wherever she was.

“I really hope you're alright Ames,” she mumbled, her gaze locked onto her phone... specifically, the background of the two of them happily standing side-by-side on their wedding night. “I just... I wish I...”

Before Luz could figure out what she wanted to say, seemingly more to try and reassure herself right now, she heard a knock at the door. She quickly wiped away the tears that had been forming in her eyes and set her phone aside before standing up to answer it. She honestly hadn't known who to expect, though maybe she was blindly hoping to see the love of her life waiting for her on the other side, but she wasn't disappointed to see both Ivy and her mom as the ones who'd come to check on her, and they didn't even need to say a word before she stepped aside and let them in to get comfortable, closing the door behind her before she returned to her seat on the edge of the bed.

“How are you holding up, Luz?” Ivy broke the silence first as she leaned against the little desk in the corner of the room.

“And please be honest, mija,” Camila lightly scolded. “I know you don't want anyone to worry, but how can we not?”

Luz sighed, knowing she should have expected this. Her mom wasn't wrong... even since the reveal of Amelia's allegiance with this power-hungry CEO and her subsequent disappearance aside from at the shows (and even then, it was obvious Delatosso was trying to keep the two of them separated at much as possible), Luz had been trying desperately to keep up the illusion that she was alright when she very clearly wasn't. She had a feeling they weren't buying it, but had probably let her believe it was working just because they didn't want to make her feel any worse.

In a weird sort of way, she couldn't blame them... after all, she was trying the exact same strategy with Amelia right now, albeit with an entirely different endgame in mind.

“I... could be doing better, to be honest,” she finally admitted, and doing so already felt like it had removed a heavy weight that had been crushing her lungs for months now. “I just wish things in SCW weren't such a mess right now, mostly...”

“No sé qué estaban pensando,” Camila growled, her instincts as a mother bearing their fangs. “I don't care if they're letting you keep your mask on for the sake of tradition, there is no reason my little girl should have to be so exposed in public like this! How could they let this happen?”

“That's the unfortunate reality of a Trios contract, mamá,” Luz lamented, the disgust in her voice impossible to miss. “As long as the Board of Directors approves it, that contract can literally be used for any match with any stipulations. It doesn't matter if it's as straightforward as when Amelia used hers to take a shot at the World Title or as... 'elaborate' as this estúpido game the Glimmers want to play. And the worst part is that I have to play along, no matter how much I wish I didn't, because if I don't...”

“Then Amelia loses her title,” Ivy finished for her, having also paid attention to the exact terms of the match that had been laid out.

Luz nodded at that. “I hate that those two get to use their contract to dictate the terms of the title shot I won months ago, the one I wanted to wait on until things got better because there's nobody I want to hold those titles with but Ames, but... I just know that if I don't bite my tongue and just deal with this, things could be so much worse if my refusal to participate costs her the title that should finally be undisputed proof that there never was a 'weak link' between us, and there never will be.”

“I want to say that Mr. Delatosso person at least has a good head on his shoulders about taking issue with this, but after what happened at your last show...” Camila openly pondered.

Luz couldn't keep herself from sighing at that.

“He's probably just trying to protect his vision of how things should be and his investment in Amelia to be the face of it going forward,” she managed to say after a moment. “I have my issues with how much CHBK overlooked Ames despite all the hard work she was clearly putting in, and I could tell by the tone of his voice he wasn't too happy with having to let the Glimmers make their Trios announcement and was just doing his job, but he didn't deserve to be attacked like that... and I can only hope Amelia doesn't agree with that happening either., given that she wasn't even there last week.”

“Speaking of Amelia...” Ivy cut in, and she immediately saw the apprehensive look Luz shot her in response to just that. Ivy's response was a sigh of her own. “I know you probably don't want to talk about this Luz, but I just want to understand what you're planning so we can all try to support you as best as we can.”

“Planning? What makes you think I've got some sort of plan?” Luz replied, definitely a little too quickly and awkwardly to be convincing in any way.

“Luz...” Ivy just gave her a blank stare, immediately making it obvious that she wasn't buying it. “In the time I've known you since you went out of your way to try and repair my friendship with Amelia, you're always coming up with plans, or schemes, or plots, or ruses, or anything else you like to call some of your antics to get around when people tell you not to do something.”

“She's got a point, cariño,” Camila added with the amusement of a mother who's played that game with her daughter far too many times over the years, which helped bring some much-needed positive energy into the room.

“We've all seen the way you've been acting in regards to Amelia on shows,” Ivy pressed onward. “We also know that there is no universe that exists where you would ever actually agree with any of what Ames has done, especially when she's been acting so much like the kind of person you both fought so hard to keep her from becoming.”

“I know...” Luz said before Ivy could keep going. Her tone was wary, but neither Ivy nor her mother pushed her into answering until she was comfortable doing so. “I've just been thinking back on how this got so messed up in the first place. Amelia fighting her heart out only to fall short time and time again, me trying to prove myself a worthy U.S. Champion and getting all this praise about how I'm supposedly a World Champion in the making. I know she got so frustrated over all of it that she's doubted herself so much more than usual, and I know Delatosso's preying on that just like her parents did with their constant gaslighting over how she was good but could still do better. I can't catch her to try and talk things out, and I'd prefer not to have to use SCW air time to finally do that... as much as I hate the path she chose to get there, she still earned the right to be World Champion, despite what she has in her corner now, on nothing more than those skills she's been working on all this time. I just...”

“You're hoping that if you show her that you're genuinely proud and supportive of her accomplishment, it might help her come back around,” Camila noted, picking up on where Luz was heading, and a nod from her daughter confirmed it.

“Maybe it's not the best plan, and for all I know Amelia might not see it that way,” Luz admitted, “but it's the best I could come up with until I can hopefully get a chance to try and finally talk this out. Despite everything, I truly am proud of her and she does deserve this... I just hope her head isn't so clouded that she knows I genuinely mean that.”

While Camila walked over and gave her daughter a hug, praising her to try and help reassure her efforts, Ivy just sat there for a moment in contemplation. She recalled the conversation she had with her old friend back in New York City on the night she revealed her alliance with SCW's CEO, and just a week later, Amelia had suddenly disappeared on them with the only trace of her being to fulfill the obligations of her SCW bookings. Something had seemed off to her back then, especially when she'd found that note Amelia had left for Darius specifically, but even now, she had a strange feeling the thing Amelia was doing that not even Darius would've approved of wasn't simply turning to a more questionable path just to finally get to where she believed she belonged. Even still, she had no idea what Amelia could be up to outside of SCW, nor did she feel any better about doing exactly what Amelia was doing when it came to keeping things from Luz. All she could do was trust in her old friend that whatever it was, she knew what she was doing.

“For what it's worth,” she finally said as she stood up and walked over to where Luz and her mom were hugging, placing a firm hand on Luz's shoulder. “I think she knows and appreciates it far more than she's probably been instructed to show. Who knows? Maybe this week's Breakdown will prove that you two are still the queens of tag team wrestling when you face those Hollywood guys again. For now, though, I say the play should be to get something to eat.”

Luz opened her mouth to argue against Ivy's suggestion, but the words died in her throat as her stomach betrayed her with a loud and desperate groan that had her thankful that her mask hid her blush fairly well. It didn't stop Ivy from putting on a knowing grin as the three women left Luz's room behind and made their way down to the lobby, figuring they could take advantage of the restaurant attached to this hotel since that's probably where everyone else was right now, hoping that Ivy and Camila would succeed in getting Luz to join them.

Sure enough, by the time they made it down to the first floor, the rest of their found family was gathered near the doors that led into the attached restaurant.

What surprised the trio, though, was the familiar face talking with them they weren't sure they would be seeing again anytime soon.

“Paul?” Luz called out as they approached, and the familiar bearded face turned to offer her a weary smile. “I thought you were making sure your family was alright?”

“Ah, Luz!” he chuckled, though nobody missed how tired it sounded. “They're safe and sound, and I made sure they're someplace The Empire could never think to find them to use for any sort of leverage. It's so good to see you again, and that you still seem to be in good spirits despite everything.”

“I mean... things I could certainly be better, but we're working on it,” Luz claimed, though Paul didn't seem to share her enthusiasm, even if it was much weaker than usual.

“Have... have you not heard?” he finally said, and something about it seemed to negatively resonate with the entire group as they all felt on-edge now.

“Heard what?” Luz asked nervously before looking back at Ivy and her mom, neither of whom seemed to know any more than she did. She looked past Paul at the others before addressing them. “What is he talking about?”

“We've got just as much of a clue as you do,” Avery was the one to answer, but the concern in their voice made it clear they had a bad feeling about whatever bombshell Paul was about to drop.

“Oh dear, I had hoped you already knew...” Paul lamented, though something about the way he said it rubbed Luz the wrong way and she didn't know why. She shelved that issue, though, as Paul pulled out his phone and scrolled to something. “I managed to capture this while I was on my way over here, just because it felt odd to see... I didn't think I'd be using it to break some truly awful news.”

Luz audibly swallowed, more worried than ever before about whatever Paul had to share with his sudden reappearance. Her hand was trembling as she took the phone from his hand, but the moment she saw what he'd pulled up, the phone slipped out of her hand as she began trembling.

“No...” was all she could find the energy to mutter, and as Paul shared the picture with everyone else, their reactions ranged from fear to concern to barely-restrained frustration.

There was no denying the clear image of Amelia Nevado, Luz's wife and the light of her own life, walking into a different hotel here in D.C. alongside Caleb White and his remaining collection of elites in The Empire.