Chapter Text
Seventeen year-old Amity Blight was well revered in the Emperor's Coven. From her sudden appearance three years ago, she proved to be quite helpful. Her interests mirrored those that the Emperor coveted. In fact, she has worked up quite the reputation.
Despite being one of the youngest members of the coven, her work was well known. With the guidance of her mentor Lilith, she was a force to be reckoned with. Her arrest records were unmatched and she was particularly proficient at getting information out of people. Her methods weren’t conventional but also weren’t overly brutal. They always left a mark however, as both a warning and as signal to others that someone had messed with the notorious Amity Blight.
Her methods of extraction consisted of almost tortuous behavior. The convicts were trapped, either constricted tightly by vines or held by an abomination. Amity used the rest of her magic to be quite threatening. A burn or gash was the most common result of interrogation.
Amity Blight was fond of her reputation. She enjoyed being feared. As she strolled to meet with Emperor Belos, the guards in his castle made sure to stay plenty out of her way. She heard quiet whispers to her left and right as she entered the throne room. Belos sat on his throne, shaken but vastly intimidating.
“Mrs. Blight, it is a pleasure to see you.” He crooned, moving to look at her.
“The pleasure is all mine, sir. I am your loyal servant.” She replied, kneeling before him.
The emperor gave a chuckle.
“I wish more in this place were like you. You are the embodiment of my mission, my word shall I say. I will cut the flattery as you are here to complete a special mission for me.” He explained, getting out of his throne and walking down towards her.
“Of course, sir. I’m prepared for anything, especially to help crush that disgusting rebellion.” She replied, giving a grin beneath her mask.
“Lovely! Remove your ridiculous mask for a moment. I’d like to speak face to face.” He stated, stopping a foot in front of her.
Amity lifted her mask and looked up at him. Belos leaned down, cupping her chin in a demonstration of his power.
“Now, your reputation precedes you. I would like you to kill the rebellion’s leader and as many members as you can. They have largely exaggerated their numbers and getting rid of their leader extinguishes that spark. Anyone else that falls victim to you is collateral damage. Do you understand me?” He recalled, his eyes looking directly into hers.
Amity nodded vigorously.
“Absolutely, sir. I will do my best. Do we have any idea where these rebels have been hiding out?” She replied.
Belos released his grip of her chin and stood up straight.
“Excellent. Kikimora will fill you in on the details. You will be rewarded handsomely upon your successful return. Don’t let me down.” He ordered, returning to his throne.
Amity nodded once more before getting up. She bowed before him and turned to leave. As she made her way towards the door, she heard his curse acting up. The sound of his flesh rearranging, his coughing up of black sludge, resounded behind her. But she kept moving and quickly closed the door behind her.
Kikimora stood next to the door. “There you are. Walk with me now, quickly.” She ordered. Amity followed her, matching her pace as they strode down the hall. Once she was sure Amity was with her, she began.
“It appears the rebels have situated themselves on an island in the Boiling Sea. They believe themselves to be hidden but we were able to gain their location. You will receive it when it is time for you to report. You leave at dusk, to minimize the chance of being spotted. Are we clear?” She explained, looking up at the girl who’s height was twice her own.
“Affirmative. I’ll go prepare.” Amity responded.
With that, Kikimora strode away. Amity was left in the hallway. She relaxed her posture, lowered her mask down and made her way towards her quarters.
While being of prestigious position, her quarters weren’t particularly impressive. It was small room that only contained a full sized bed, a desk, a nightstand and a shelf on the wall opposite her bed. A large window took up a substantial portion of the same wall. A small bathroom was attached as well. She had few personal belongings: an old amulet from her mother, a picture of her family, her awards for her work and a book who’s cover has been scribbled out.
Once she arrived in her room, Amity collapsed onto her bed. She was more tired than ever. Her nightmares, that for a moment she thought had dissipated, came back and with full force. The thing was, the nightmares weren’t necessarily scary but unsettling. She was in situations she would never in the right mind be in, like helping rebels. Other nightmares consisted of a younger version of herself, just before she joined the coven. Her memory was fuzzy of that time, in fact months of her life from that time were blank. She assumed it must’ve been uneventful. But in those dreams, she saw the rebel leader. That dirty human Luz Noceda. In those dreams, they talked like they were friends. Whenever she woke up, she’d be in a pool of sweat.
To say those dreams stressed her out was an understatement. She knew that she was loyal to the Emperor and even the thought of aiding the rebellion made her sick. But those dreams made her think she might not be deep down. That’s what terrified her the most, not being able to control those feelings.
She remembered that her brother and sister used to help her, whenever her feelings felt unpredictable. But they’d barely talked since she joined the coven. Whenever she was around them, they look at her in pity as though they were sorry that she’d become who she was. But that made them weak, which reinforced her belief that she was stronger than them. Her mother, however, was a more frequent visitor.
Her mother was not a pleasant person to be around but she was tough because she cared, at least that’s what Amity knew. She always pushed her to be her best. Occasionally, she’d mention those lost months of her memory, claiming she’d saved her from going down a dark path. She’d never explained what it was but she knew it had to be for the best.
Time seemed to pass quickly as Amity laid on her bed. Eventually, she saw the sun begin to set. She dragged herself off the bed and made her way down to the armory. Kikimora stood inside, waiting impatiently.
“Finally, now we can get down to business.” She exclaimed. “Now, here’s your staff.”
She snapped her fingers and a guard held out Amity’s staff. Amity took it and thanked the guard. Kikimora brought her over to a table that was covered with a map of the Boiling Isles. Kikimora slammed her finger down onto a small island that was miles from the mainland.
“They have set up camp here. It’s been exceptionally hard to locate but I trust it will be easy for you. Return once you’ve massacred everyone on that island.” She stated.
Amity nodded and boarded her staff. She gave an affirmative nod to Kikimora and took off into the evening.
***
Luz was spread thin. Between planning their next attack and recruiting more people, it was hard to finish anything. Gus and Willow had offered to take care of a portion of recruitment, which had taken a huge weight off her back. Eda had seen Luz become increasingly stressed, so she had taken over strategizing for the time being.
Since she’d become the leader of the rebellion, she felt a swelling sense of pride but also a massive amount of fear. The fight against Belos rested on her shoulders, which was a lot for one seventeen year-old.
Founding the rebellion had been fairly easy, joining forces with that of Raine Whispers. In the beginning, there had been a massive amount of people join. Even Boscha and her crew were apart of the fight. But as time went on, people became more wary of him and of his protege. Of Amity Blight.
Luz had been heartbroken to learn of Amity’s allegiance to the Emperor. She’d spent hours digging into what had happened. She’d even approached her parents, who proved to be very little help. At least, Odalia did. Alador kept repeating the words ‘forgot’ and ‘cursed’ as he spoke to her. Luz got the message. Someone, or as it seemed to be Odalia, had forced or rather cursed Amity to forget her and to forget being good.
So she’d continued her researching, trying to find some way to break the curse. Eda had convinced her to help, saying that as someone who was cursed she could likely help. And she had. Eda explained the intricacies of being cursed and the varied effects. She referenced books on curses. After three years of searching, Luz had figured out what was happening to Amity and possibly a way to help her.
Luz had been the one to suggest the brilliant idea of faking their base of operations on some desolate island in the Boiling Sea. It was perfect. And the guards they had covertly fed the information to didn’t suspect a thing. Their actual base of operations was split between the island King was from and the Owl House.
Luz laid in bed her mind racing. It was nice to be free from responsibilities for a moment, but it left her alone with her thoughts. She wondered how things would’ve been if Amity had been fine or if she’d actually gone back to the human realm for good. She didn’t have much time to think before Edric opened her door.
“Luz, you’re needed. There was a guard sighting, heading towards the “base”.” He stated, gesturing his fingers accordingly.
She nodded and sat up. The two walked and made their way towards the meeting room. Edric sighed. “Wonder what things would be like if they hadn’t changed.” He stated aloud, obviously referring to Amity.
The twins weren’t big on discussing the topic, partially because they physically couldn’t. Amity’s induction to the Emperor’s Coven had drastically changed the balance of things. She had put the Emperor ahead. They had also lost a sister in a way, their dorky but hard headed little sister had turned into a cruel cold hearted lackey for the most evil man in the realm. Luz missed her too, in a long lost love way.
The two arrive in the meeting room, which was functionally the basement of the Owl House. The group in the room looked at the two as they entered. Luz gave a nod to encourage them to begin. Eda took charge.
“Owlbert spotted one the Emperor’s Guards heading towards our fake base. We thought it would be a good idea to subdue someone and figure out what the Emperor is planning.” She explained.
“I’ll go.” Luz replied.
Willow rested her hand on her shoulder. “Luz, you deserve a break from doing everything.” She responded.
“No, I need to do something. I feel like i’m not doing enough work. Plus, it’ll be pretty easy. The Emperor doesn’t hire the smartest guards.” She explained, staring at her friends.
Raine gave a sigh from the background.
“Just let her do it. She is our leader after all and she deserves to have her opinion respected.” They suggested.
Raine had been a welcoming addition to her new family. Eda and Raine had reignited an old flame and had married the past year. Raine acted as a somewhat logical and rational parent while Eda focused more on the emotional well-being part. Together, they’d made the weight of carrying an entire rebellion slightly easier.
The rest of the group murmured, Eda and Raine discussing amongst themselves. Eda turned to Luz.
“Okay, you get to do this. But you have to rest afterwards! We’ll take care of the interrogation.” Eda explained.
Luz nodded in agreement. With that, the meeting disbanded. She raced upstairs, grabbing her staff and taking off out the door. She lifted the hood of her cloak before shooting off towards the sea.
Determined, she sped her way across the boiling ocean below her. Eventually, she saw the island come into view and just above it, a figure floating on their staff. Quickly, she zoomed towards the person. Using a fire glyph, she sent a fireball careening towards the person. They barely had time to react before another fireball was coming towards Luz. It was the mint green hair she saw revealed as the person fell that made her freeze, allowing the fireball to send her flying off her staff and towards the ground.