Work Text:
Amity picked up her mug and took a sip from it, flipping to the next page of her abomination studies textbook. Bad enough that she had had a fever the previous day and wasn’t able to attend Hexside’s field trip to the Emperor’s Castle, but she couldn’t afford to fall behind in class either. Amity reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll.
Hey Amity! Sorry, you’re feeling under the weather. I know just the thing to make you feel better, but it’s a surprise! Get well soon and know that I’m thinking of you, mi Cariño.
Luz still hadn’t responded to Amity’s reply, which was odd. Luz had been so excited when Amity gave her one of her old scrolls in order for the two of them to keep in touch better. While her human cell phone had much of the same functionality, the technology simply wasn’t compatible with The Boiling Isles’ scroll network. There had been many a night that ended with Amity curled up under her covers trying to stay quiet lest her parents overhear Luz making her laugh. Amity smiled as she set her pen down. The last few weeks of dating Luz had been some of the happiest she could remember. It felt so precious and fragile, like that at any moment the other shoe would drop, and it would all be taken away. In spite of that feeling, or perhaps because of it, Amity made sure to make the most of the time they were able to steal away together without arousing the suspicions of her parents.
Suddenly, Amity’s crystal ball lit up as a breaking news bulletin began to play. She went over to adjust the volume, and her heart began to sink as the information swept over her. Edalyn Clawthorne. Petrification. Sundown.
“Oh no…” Amity uttered as she sat down. This was why Luz hadn’t replied back. Growing up, Amity had dreamed of joining the Emperor’s Coven, the exclusive coven that only took in the best and brightest. It was one of the few things that she and her parents were able to agree upon. After being forced to end her friendship with Willow, Amity had doubled down on her efforts to excel and succeed in an attempt to make that sacrifice worth it. If she wasn’t good enough to join, it meant that all of her efforts, the persona she crafted for herself, were all for naught. But lately, Amity had begun to have some doubts about the Emperor and his coven system. She had heard all the tales of the infamous Owl Lady and how she was a danger to society. But after actually spending time getting to know Luz’s mentor, Amity had found that while Eda was certainly a wild witch, she was also talented, knowledgeable, and brave enough to forge her own path. Amity finally understood why Luz looked up to her teacher so much. There was a bond of affection between the two of them that Amity wished she had with her own parents. Which meant that Luz was about to do something stupid and almost certainly get herself hurt. Amity ran over to her scroll and started calling Luz.
“Please, Luz. Pick up, pick up…” she murmured anxiously as the scroll buzzed repeatedly. After several long moments, the scroll defaulted to the voice recording system, and Luz’s prerecorded message played through Amity’s scroll.
“Hey! This is Luz Noceda! And this has to be the best voice mail message I’ve ever made because it’s on a magic scroll! I mean how cool is this? Speaketh, and I shalt return thy summonings post-haste!” Amity hung up as her mind began to race. If Luz wasn’t picking up, she would have to try something else. If her crystal ball had turned on from the news bulletin, it meant that the broadcast had probably gone out throughout the entire Boiling Isles. Which meant Willow and Gus would have seen it too! Amity was already sliding through her scroll when she realized that she didn’t have Willow’s contact runes. Back when they had been friends they had been too young for scrolls. While they had been slowly mending things since the memory erasure incident, they had not gotten to the point where the exchanged scroll runes. Amity scratched the back of her head as she tried to recall Willow’s home scroll runes. It had been so long since she had called. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, she inscribed the runes onto her scroll. After several long moments, Amity heard the click of someone answering the call.
“This is the Park residence, how may I help you?” Amity suddenly froze. How much had Willow told her fathers? Did they think they were friends that drifted apart, or did they know how Amity had treated Willow over the years? Finding her voice and steeling her nerves, Amity responded.
“Hi, Mr. Park. This is Amity Blight.” There was a long moment of silence, and Amity feared the worst.
“Amity Blight… Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in years! You used to play with Willow when you were little girls, isn’t that right?” Willow’s father asked cheerfully. Amity let out a small sigh of relief.
“That’s right, sir. Willow and I are actually working on a school project together, and I was hoping I could have her scroll runes to call her.”
Mr. Park chuckled over the scroll. “It must be some important assignment because Willow just ran out the door yelling about working on a group project.” Amity smiled at the fact that the two of them had somehow landed on the exact same excuse.
“It certainly is.”
Willow’s father gave Amity the runes and entreated her to come over to their home for dinner some time. Amity reluctantly and guiltily agreed that she would try to find the time to do so. So Willow hadn’t told them what Amity had done. She kept it all bottled to herself. Amity stared down at her scroll for a moment as she pulled up the rune entry page. She had felt so guilty and ashamed at what she had said at her birthday party to Willow. Years later she would mock and bully Willow in an attempt to distance herself from those feelings. Sometimes Amity wondered if she hadn’t met Luz, how much longer would she have continued down the path she had been walking? The answer, whatever it may be, frightened her. But Luz needed her, so Amity quickly transcribed the runes onto her scroll. After a moment, the call was answered.
“Hello?” Willow’s voice asked over the scroll.
“Willow! It’s Amity. Have you heard from Luz? The Emperor is going to petrify Eda, and I just know she’s going to try and do something reckless. She won’t pick up her scroll.” Amity had begun to pace around her room, her nervous energy no longer able to be contained.
“No, I haven’t heard from her either,” Willow replied. “Gus and I are already on our way to the Emperor’s Castle to see if we can help.”
“Okay,” Amity said as she began to put on her shoes. “I’ll meet the two of you there as soon as I can.” Amity was halfway out her bedroom door when Willow spoke again.
“Amity.” Amity suddenly stopped. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she was suddenly nervous and afraid of Willow might say next.
“Yes?” Willow gave a small chuckle over the phone.
“I was just thinking about how much you’ve changed recently. And I suppose I have to thank Luz for that.” Amity gripped her scroll a little tighter as she leaned against her door frame.
“I’m sorry it took so long to happen, Willow,” Amity said quietly. “Everything just seemed to so predictable and unchanging. And then… Luz happened.” Willow laughed again, this time louder, and Amity couldn’t help smiling in turn at the sound of it.
“She certainly has a knack for disruption,” Willow admitted. “Don’t worry. We’re going to save your girlfriend, Ami.” Amity felt a wave of nostalgia at the use of Willow’s childhood nickname for her, her throat tightening as she struggled to find the words to say in response.
“I know we will,” Amity was finally able to choke out. “I’ll see you soon.” Amity ended the call and left her room. She was halfway across the foyer when a voice called out that stopped her in her tracks.
“Amity, where do you think you’re going?” A pit forming in her stomach, Amity slowly turned around to see her father looking at her with a most displeased expression on his face. Palms sweating and heart racing, she did her best to try and calm herself.
“Father,” Amity replied more faintly than she would have liked. “I was just heading out to the library to retrieve a text to aid in my abomination studying.” Mr. Blight clicked his tongue as he slowly walked towards her, once again reminding Amity of a slitherbeast stalking its prey. He came to a stop several feet from Amity, looking down at her as one might look upon a dog that had torn open a couch.
“Ridiculous,” he said, folding his hands out in front of him. “You’ve just barely recovered from your illness, and I will not have a Blight fall further behind in their studies.” He cocked his head to the side. “Unless… that’s not really where you’re going at all, is it?” Amity did her best to try and hold his gaze, finally settling on a point just past his ear.
“Pardon me, Father,” Amity said as she felt the pit morph into a sense of dread and foreboding that threatened to overwhelm her, “I don’t know what you mean.” Mr. Blight held out his right hand and with a flash of light his staff suddenly appeared in it, snake palisman fitted on top. He leaned on it as he spoke once more.
“Amity, I’ve been hearing some very distasteful rumors about the type of company that you’ve been associating with. Seeing as how I thought we nipped this issue in the bud when you were but a girl, I was hoping that you could satisfy me that these rumors are utterly unsubstantiated.” Amity’s thoughts began to race. In her heart, she always knew it was only a matter of time before her parents found out about Luz. It was easier to keep pushing off that concern, particularly when Luz kissed her underneath their Grom tree or messaged her every night and first thing each morning. She knew this would happen, but she did it anyway. And as hopeless as that particular thought might have been at first, it made Amity feel brave. She had opened herself up to caring about someone else more than she cared about herself. Allowing herself to be who she was rather than a mold of her parents’ oppressive expectations. Luz was going up against the most powerful witch of The Boiling Isles. The least Amity could do was stand up to her father.
“What do these rumors say, Father?” Amity asked him, her voice more firm this time. Mr. Blight unscrewed his palisman from its perch on his staff, the wooden snake animating and slowly moving its way up past his arm to coil lazily around his neck.
“They say you are consorting with a filthy human,” he said as he absentmindedly stroked the head of the snake with the tip of his finger, his cold eyes never once leaving Amity’s. Amity scoffed.
“Luz isn’t filthy.” Mr. Blight froze for a moment. Amity was sure that he must be able to hear the pounding of her heart; the room had suddenly gotten so deathly quiet.
“Child,” Mr. Blight said quietly in a way that sent a shiver of unease down Amity’s spine, “I want you to consider your next words very carefully. Am I making myself clear?”
“Crystal, sir,” Amity said balling her hands into fists defiantly. Every second she wasted here was a second she wasn’t helping Luz. “What would you like to know?” Mr. Blight gripped his staff so tightly that his knuckles started to whiten.
“I’d like to know,” he said through clenched teeth, “why you are besmirching the Blight family name. If it is a romantic partner you seek, rest assured your mother and I have been creating a list of suitable suitors from well-placed families. You needn’t lower yourself to the dregs of a magicless, filthy human-”
“Don’t talk about her like that! You don’t even know her!” Amity shouted, her face flushed, her body trembling. “Luz is kind, loving, positive, and makes me happy. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” Amity felt tears beginning to well up, and she angrily tried to will them away. A vein appeared on Mr. Blight’s forehead that Amity had never seen before as he rushed forward and grabbed her roughly by the arm.
“You’ll find one day, Amity, that everything your mother and I have done has been for your own good!” Amity whimpered as she tried to break free of his grip, but that only made him tighten it further. “This world isn’t a fairytale where feelings can help you overcome everything. This world is cruel, and you only survive by rising to meet that expectation.”
“Stop!” Amity cried as he began to drag her away from the entrance door. “You’re hurting me!” Mr. Blight looked over his shoulder at her.
“I will do whatever is necessary for this lesson to sink in. If the Emperor is wise, he’ll petrify the human along with the Owl Lady and save me some trouble,” he said venomously. Amity felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She went limp and sunk to the floor. She would have fallen completely if her father hadn’t been holding her by the arm. Amity resisted as hard as she could as her father tried to drag her back to her feet; she needed more room to move her free arm. One of the basics of spell casting was that the bigger the spell circle, the more powerful the spell. As she completed her circle, Amity looked up at her father. For a moment, he almost seemed to be taken aback by the anger he saw in Amity’s eyes.
“Abomination, rise!” Amity spat at him. Purple sludge began to rapidly rise out of the spell circle and take form, a hand shaping and reaching out towards Amity’s father. He released her and swung his staff, dispelling the abomination’s arm. Amity rolled back, trying to put as much distance between herself and her father as she sent her abomination towards him. His palisman leaped from its position on his neck to reform on the staff, the snake’s eyes glowing red as Mr. Blight spun his staff and struck down Amity’s abomination with a blast of lightning. He turned towards Amity, visibly seething.
“Spare the rod, spoil the child,” he muttered as he raised his staff into the air. Or rather he attempted to. A blue illusory chain had shot out and coiled itself around the staff, forcing it down.
“Hey, Pops!” Edric said cheerfully as he stepped in from the other room, hands securely holding the other end of the chain. “I didn’t know we were having a family meeting tonight.”
“This doesn’t concern you, boy!” Mr. Blight growled angrily. “Release me now or so help me-”
“Or what dearest? What is the meaning of this?” Walking down the staircase was Amity’s mother, looking incredibly displeased at Mr. Blight. “How dare you lay your hand upon our youngest daughter!”
“You know just as well as I how unseemly and disgraceful her dalliance is!” he said, turning to look at her. Mrs. Blight dramatically raised her hand to her face.
“I know nothing of the sort!” Amity frowned. This wasn’t right. Her mother would never… Suddenly a pair of arms from behind was helping Amity to her feet.
“You have to go, Mittens! He’s going to figure it out any second now.” Amity turned around to see her older sister.
“Emira!” she gasped. Emira smiled at her.
“Edric and I will keep him busy,” Emira said as she walked her illusion of their mother down the stairs in an attempt to distract Mr. Blight even further. “You need to go help that cutie of a girlfriend of yours, right?” Amity nodded, suddenly overwhelmed. Her parents hadn’t given her much in her life, but they had given her a brother and sister. Amity pulled Emira in for a quick hug before releasing her.
“Thank you,” she said gratefully. “Both of you.” Emira suddenly shoved Amity towards the door as a bolt of energy shot their way. The illusion of Mrs. Blight was fading, and Mr. Blight had broken free of Edric’s chain.
“Say hi to Luz for me!” Edric called towards Amity as he began to rapidly cast a series of illusions and sent them barreling towards his father.
“I will!” Amity shouted as she rushed out the door.
By the time Amity had reached the Emperor’s Castle, a massive crowd had already gathered around the Petrification Grounds. It had been a good 30 years since there had been public petrification, so the morbid curiosity of The Boiling Isles was out in full force. Although there had been a number of rumors about what happened to the wild witches that the Emperor’s Coven captured, none of them good. Clearly Emperor Belos wanted to make an example of Eda. As Amity drew closer to the crowd, she realized that they were all chanting something.
“Let Eda go! Let Eda go!”
That was an encouraging sign at least. Amity forced her way to the front of the crowd, eyes anxiously scanning for Luz or Willow. Suddenly the petrification statue began to glow green and shot a bolt of energy at the cage on the platform. An ear-piercing scream filled the air, and Amity’s heart sank. She was too late. But then a caped figure holding a staff rose up from beneath the platform. Amity shoved her way past a witch that was standing in front of her. As the figure turned to throw something at the statue, Amity was finally able to clearly see the face. It was Luz! Vines burst up from the ground and wrapped themselves around the petrification statue, crushing it slightly as its green energy slowly faded away. Amity’s knees nearly buckled as she felt herself able to breathe freely once more. Luz next moved to the Emperor’s assistant, threatening her with a fire glyph before she unbound the magic caging the prisoners. Luz ran over to the cage to what must have been Eda in her cursed owl beast form, based on Luz’s account of how she learned her first spell. Luz, along with King the demon, and much to Amity’s shock, Lilith Clawthorn hopped onto Eda’s back as she spread her wings wide and took to the sky. The Emperor’s guards futilely tried to bring her down with their spears, but Eda was quickly out of their range. They were safe, for now. And Amity knew exactly where they would be going.
Panting, Amity finally rounded the hill that led to the Owl House. The sun had sunk long ago, and the stars were coming out. Amity hadn’t run this much since her last active grudgby season, and she made a mental note to try and exercise more. As she approached the door to the Owl House, the annoying bird tube of a house demon began to elongate and stretch towards her. He cocked his head to the side as he regarded her before quickly retracting to his position at the door.
“Luz!” he called out in his shrill voice, “Your girlfriend is here! Hoot!” The door to the house swung open and standing there in the doorway was Luz. Suddenly Amity wasn’t tired anymore. The next thing she knew, Amity was rushing forward, nearly colliding with Luz. She wrapped her arms around the human as tight as if she was afraid she would slip through her fingers like sand or water. The roller coaster of events of the day finally catching up to her, Amity buried her face against Luz’s necks as tears begin to flow freely. Luz returned the embrace and for several long moments, the two of them remained just like that in the cool evening in air. Having definitively proved to herself that Luz was okay, Amity suddenly felt another emotion boiling to the surface: anger. Amity abruptly and forcibly broke free of the embrace, holding Luz at arm's length as she looked her girlfriend in the eyes.
“What is wrong with you!?” Amity demanded. “Do you know how incredibly stupid that was?” Luz appeared taken aback. She opened her mouth to say something but Amity was nowhere close to finishing. “You could have been killed or petrified! What were you thinking? Why didn’t you tell me what happened? Did you even think about me at all?” Amity took a shuddering breath that was half a sob before continuing. “I’m your girlfriend, aren’t I? And I find out that your teacher has been captured through a news report, and I know you’re hatching some harebrained scheme to rescue her.” Amity’s anger was dissipating now, leaving her utterly exhausted. “Why didn’t you call me?” Amity finished quietly, closing her eyes and lowering her head.
“Oh, Amity,” Luz breathed as she cautiously reached out to take Amity’s hand into her own. After a squeeze of affirmation from Amity, Luz gently tipped Amity’s chin up with her finger so that they were eye to eye once more. “I made a mistake. I was trying to find a way to cure Eda’s curse. Instead, I was taken hostage and used as bait to draw Eda out. I thought she was trapped forever as the owl beast and that the emperor would do something awful to her. I thought because it was my fault, I had to be the one to fix it.” Luz began to gently brush away Amity’s tears as the witch continued to sniffle quietly. “I’m so sorry.”
“I went you know,” Amity told her. “I was at the Emperor’s Castle, trying to see if there was some way I could help.” Luz bit her lip and looked away.
“I know how much you wanted to join the Emperor’s Coven,” Luz said quietly. “I didn’t want to put you in a position where you might have to go up against them.” Amity lifted Luz’s hand to her lips and placed a kiss against her knuckle.
“After today, I am not joining the Emperor’s Coven,” Amity informed her with a small smile. “Not after what they almost did.” Luz’s eyes widened in shock.
“But it was your dream!” Luz protested. Amity shrugged, feeling almost a strange sense of giddiness at the thought of not having to work herself to the bone to achieve their exacting standards.
“I’ll dream another dream then,” Amity said. “For the longest time I thought I knew what I wanted in life and the direction it was going in.” Amity leaned forward and kissed Luz softly. “And then a human girl in an abomination pot sneaked her way into my class and changed everything,” she murmured gently against her lips. Luz leaned forward ever so slightly, and then they were kissing again, Luz’s hands in her hair, Amity’s hands on her hips. After several long, breathless moments they broke apart again. Luz’s cheeks flushed, eyes dilated, lips slightly swollen. Amity knew she must look the same.
“Your parents won’t be very happy about that,” Luz said worriedly. Amity shook her head. That was the least of her problems right now.
“They already aren’t happy with me,” she told Luz. “Before I left today… they found out about you and I. It wasn’t good.” Luz’s face quickly morphed to one of concern.
“Oh no. Are you okay?” Amity considered the question for a long moment.
“I will be,” she admitted. “It was going to happen sooner or later. It’s strangely a relief to have it out in the open.” She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Luz’s. “I almost forgot to ask, but are you okay?” Luz closed her eyes as tears began to well up.
“Belos wanted Eda’s portal to the human realm. He said he wasn’t going to invade it, but I can’t trust him.” Luz opened her eyes and Amity was shocked by the pain she saw there. “So I destroyed the portal.” The implication hung between the two girls for a moment.
“Oh, Luz,” Amity muttered gently. “Your mom…” At this point, Luz’s tears were spilling down her cheeks as Amity pulled her into the kind of hug that Luz had so often given her. “We’ll find another way to get you back home, don’t you worry.”
“I know,” Luz said quietly against her ear before pulling away from the hug. “I’ll find a way back to her somehow. But this is my home too now,” she said turning around to gesture all around her. “The Boiling Isles, the Owl House, Eda, King…” Luz gave Amity a smile that made her heart skip a beat. “You…” she finished softly. Sometimes Amity wondered how she had gotten so lucky, what were the odds that it was Luz who stumbled through that portal that particular day. Amity started to rub the back of her head nervously as a sudden thought occurred to her.
“I don’t think I can go back home right now,” Amity admitted.
“It was that bad?” Luz asked. Amity gave a rueful chuckle at how much of an understatement that was.
“Edric and Emira were actively fighting my father so I could slip away.”
“Yikes!” Luz exclaimed. “Are they going to be okay?” Amity nodded.
“I think so. My parents are more used to being disobeyed by them than me. And they are talented and gifted. They won’t want to completely burn that bridge now that I’m no longer in play.” Luz walked up to Amity and took her hand, smiling widely.
“I’m sure Eda wouldn’t mind if you stayed with us,” Luz told her happily.
“The more the merrier!” Hooty exclaimed, startling both of them.
“I always forget he’s there,” Amity muttered.
“You and me both, sister! Hoot!”
And with that Luz led Amity into the Owl House, Hooty closing the door behind them. They walked into the kitchen where they found Eda unsuccessfully trying to offer Lilith a drink.
“Oh come on, Lily! You’ll like it! It’ll put hair on your chest. Literally and figuratively.” Lilith examined the bubbling concoction before setting it down on the counter.
“Another time perhaps, Edalyn.” Amity’s eyebrow raised at their appearance. Both of them had one of their eyes turned gray, and Amity was certain there hadn’t been those gray streaks in Lilith’s hair the last time she had seen her. She would have to ask Luz about it later. Lilith noticed the two girls first, her eyes widening at the sight of Amity.
“Amity Blight? What are you doing here?” Eda began to grin and gently elbowed Lilith in the ribs.
“Didn’t you hear, Lilith? My apprentice is dating your little protege. What can I say?” Eda intoned proudly. “All you prim and proper types can’t resist a bad girl.” Lilith’s face fell as she looked at Amity.
“I’m afraid I haven’t been much of a mentor to you, have I, Amity? I never apologized for cheating during that witch’s duel,” Lilith said as she rubbed her arm out of habit. “I was caught up in a childish competition and didn’t consider your feelings. I am sorry.” Amity was reeling. Here was Lilith Clawthorn, leader of the Emperor’s Coven apologizing to her. Amity had looked up to her as long as she could remember, even had a poster of her in her bedroom.
“It’s- it’s okay,” Amity managed to stammer. “Luz only challenged me to the duel because I was…”
“A real jerk to me?” supplied King as he walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the pantry looking for a snack. Amity could hear Luz cover up her giggling with her hand as Amity’s ears began to burn.
“Yes, I’m sorry about that,” Amity told the small demon as he finally succeeded in opening a bag of chips.
“It’s fine,” he said as he began to happily munch away as he walked out the room. “Eda’s done way worse than you.” Luz leaned over to whisper in Amity’s ear.
“That reminds me. I have a video of him in a cheerleader’s outfit that you absolutely have to see later.” Amity broke into a grin at the thought of it.
“What are you two lovebirds smiling about over there?” Eda asked as she came over to the two of them. Amity opened her mouth but nothing came out. As strained and unhealthy their relationship might have been, her parents were still her parents. Amity suddenly felt acutely uncomfortable at the idea of laying out her issues with them to somebody else. Luz gave Amity’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“Eda, is it okay if Amity stays here for a while?” she asked the older witch. “Her parents found out that we’re dating, and they didn’t take it well.” Eda frowned thoughtfully and turned towards Amity.
“Is this true, kid?” Amity nodded silently, feeling almost a perverse sense of guilt. “Hey,” Eda told her gently, “don’t ever be ashamed of loving who you love. When I was your age, most of the parents of the people I dated didn’t approve of me either. And let me tell you, Luz is a much better girlfriend than I was back then. You can stay as long as you want.” Luz rushed forward and hugged Eda.
“Thank you, Eda! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Eda patted Luz on the back.
“Alright, alright, you’re very welcome. Now, this is the third one of the day, you know the rules, no more after this.” But nevertheless, Eda hugged Luz back. Releasing Eda, Luz ran back to Amity, the joyful look on her face was contagious.
“Amity!” Luz exclaimed, nearly hopping with excitement. “This is great! We can have sleepovers every night, stay up late, you can listen to all of my music…” Lilith came around the kitchen table with a look of concern on her face.
“Sister, it’s hardly appropriate for the two of them at their age to be sharing the same bedroom.” Eda blew a raspberry at her.
“Oh please, Lily,” she said waving her hand at her dismissively. “Like you never got up to any fun during one of your sleepovers.” Lilith’s face turned red and she began to sputter.
“I hardly see how that’s relevant to this,” she said embarrassed. Eda sighed.
“Fine, fine, I’ll go lay down the rules then,” she said as she walked towards Luz and Amity. “Alright you two,” she said nodding at both Luz and Amity. “My house, my rules, got it?” The two girls nodded. “Great!” Eda said clapping her hands together. “I trust that your parents both gave you ‘the talk’?” Amity froze. Then her face heated up, and she wished the ground would swallow her whole. This was not happening right now.
“Eda!” Luz protested with a mortified expression on her face.
“I’ll take that as a yes?”
“Yes!” Luz vehemently declared. Amity didn’t trust herself to speak so instead she just violently nodded, her eyes fixed on the floor.
“Good, good,” Eda said, nodding happily. “And if you’re not ready to talk about it, you’re not ready to have it. And seeing how the both of you turn red as tomatoes at the mere mention of sex-”
“Eda, stop!”
“Then we still have a while,” Eda continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “I’m all for youthful exploration and growth. What I’m not all for,” she said fixing her gaze on the two embarrassed teenagers, “is the two of you rushing into something that you aren’t emotionally prepared for.” Eda paused for a moment. “That and accidentally stumbling across the two of you.” Amity had never wanted a conversation to end more than she wanted this one to end. “Down the line, when you feel you’re ready, the two of you are going to talk to me, and then you’re going to talk to each other, that sound fair?” Luz nodded, and Amity was able to mutter something approximate to verbal confirmation. “Okay then. It’s been a long day. You two should go get some sleep.”
Their ordeal finally over, Amity followed Luz up the stairs to the second floor of the Owl House. Echoing from the kitchen, Amity could hear Eda’s laughter.
“See, Lilith! I told you I’d make a great parent!”
Luz opened the door to her room and Amity stepped inside. Luz leaned against the wall and slid down, pulling her hoodie up over her head and hiding her face in her hands.
“That was so embarrassing!” she moaned peering at Amity through her fingers. “I’m so sorry you had to be there for that, Amity.” Amity gave a small laugh as she took a seat next to Luz, the mortification already fading and the absurdity of the scenario rising to the top.
“It was very embarrassing,” Amity admitted. “But also very sweet. Eda really does care about you, Luz.” Luz pulled her hoodie back down as she got up to turn on one of her lamps.
“She does,” Luz agreed warmly. “And the more time you spend here, the more she’ll care about you too, Amity.” Amity didn’t know how to respond to that. It was one thing to have Luz care about her. To also have an adult do so… It sounded strange. Nice, but strange.
“You think so?” Amity asked hopefully as Luz began to root through her closet, looking for a change of clothes for Amity.
“I know so!” Luz answered as she threw several shirts to the wayside before selecting a pair of pajama pants. “Eda sometimes likes to pretend that she doesn’t need anyone else, but I know it’s not true. Weirdos have to stick together after all,” Luz declared a matter of fact as she handed Amity her pajamas. As Amity reached out to take them, she winced as a dull ache shot up her arm. Luz noticed immediately.
“Amity, are you okay?”
“My arm just hurts a bit is all.” Luz took Amity gently by the hand and had her sit down on her mattress. She reached for the cuff of Amity’s sleeve before stopping and looking up at her girlfriend for permission.
“Is it alright if I take a look?” Luz asked softly. Amity nodded. Luz very slowly and carefully rolled up the sleeve. Amity grimaced as it came into the view. Her father had left a very nasty looking bruise on her arm from when he grabbed it.
“Amity…” Luz said in a voice that Amity had never heard her use before, “what happened?” Amity swallowed, unable to meet Luz’s eyes.
“My father,” she began, “he grabbed me by my arm. He was dragging me further into the house.”
“Has he ever touched you like that before?” Luz asked quietly. Amity shook her head.
“No, this was the first time.” Luz reached down and kissed the palm of Amity’s hand before fixing her with a determined gaze in her eyes.
“And it’s going to the be the last time,” Luz declared. Amity was hit with a such rush of affection for Luz that it left her feeling almost dizzy.
“I may have set my abomination on him to break free,” Amity admitted. Luz began to smile a little bit.
“That’s my girl.” Luz took out a piece of paper and began to draw a small ice glyph. Activating the circle, Luz broke off a small chunk and wrapped it in a piece of cloth to make a makeshift icepack. She gently placed it against the bruise, causing the dull ache to slowly start to fade. “Better?” Luz asked. Amity couldn’t remember the last time that someone had treated one of her injuries with such gentle care and love in their eyes. Amity leaned forwarded and pressed a kiss against Luz’s nose and was immediately awarded by the adorable expression on her face.
“Much better,” Amity told her as rested her head against Luz’s shoulder. The two of them just stayed like that for a little while, enjoying the other’s company after such an emotionally exhausting day. Amity almost felt herself drifting off to sleep, Luz was so comfortable, and although Amity had been embarrassed to admit it at first, she loved the way her human smelled: lavender with a hint of vanilla. Luz shifted and helped Amity to her feet, showing her the way to the bathroom so that she could get changed for bed. As Amity pulled the shirt over the head, she smirked at her appearance in the mirror. So this was the infamous Bad Girl Coven shirt: Eda wearing sunglasses, a backward cap, standing astride her staff while lightning bolts were emanating from the text. Much better than The Emperor’s Coven. When Amity returned to Luz’s room, she saw that Luz had also changed for bed. And that she had amassed a ridiculous amount of blankets and pillows. “Is all of that for me?” Amity asked wryly
“Oh, um…” Luz looked up from her work of fluffing the pillows. “I’ve never really had a sleepover before, and I figured it’s always easier to get rid of what you don’t need.” Amity nodded as she came to sit down next to Luz.
“Thank you, Luz. It’s perfect.” Luz blushed, and once again Amity was amazed that she was able to have the same effect on Luz that Luz had on her. That Luz felt the same amount of yearning and warmth as she did. A bit of nervous energy began to develop between the two of them as they both suddenly found themselves incredibly interested in a divot on the floorboard in front of them. “I could go always go sleep on the couch if you’d like…” Amity volunteered after a moment.
“No!” Luz protested suddenly. She immediately began to walk it back. “I mean you don’t have to sleep here if you’re not comfortable. You can sleep wherever you’d like. I mean, I could even sleep on the couch, you are the guest after all!” Amity reached over and placed her hand over Luz’s, which seemed to calm her down a bit.
“It’s okay,” Amity told her. “I’m a little nervous too.”
“Was it that obvious?” asked Luz frowning. Amity couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing. After a moment, Luz joined in. Amity wiped back tears as she gazed at her incredibly dorky girlfriend.
“Luz, you are many things. One thing you are not is subtle.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Luz agreed grinning. Amity took her hand off of Luz’s hand, turning it over invitingly. Luz reached out and Amity intertwined their fingers together before gently laying down on her side of the bed, bringing Luz down alongside her. Amity reached forward and tenderly brushed a stray strand of hair that had fallen over Luz’s eye.
“It’s just the two of us,” Amity reassured her quietly. “We don’t have anything to worry about. Today, you stood up to Belos, and I stood up to my father. The least we can do is sleep close to each other.” Luz moved forward to close the gap between them and pecked Amity sweetly on the lips before reaching down to pull a blanket over the two of them.
“I just realized something,” Luz happily informed Amity. Amity raised her eyebrow.
“What is it?” Luz adjusted her pillow for a couple of moments before laying her head on it and half closing her eyes. She stifled a yawn as she gazed affectionately at Amity.
“You’re going to be the last thing I see each night, and the first thing I see each morning.”
Amity’s heard started thudding painfully in her chest. Oh Titan, why did Luz have to be so cute? How was she able to say such explosive things as if they were the most obvious thing in the world? Amity resisted the urge to bury and hide her burning face in her pillow. When she had first started having these feelings towards Luz, she was afraid of the loss of control it signified. Now she was starting to learn to relish the feelings that the human girl evoked in her.
“I like the sound of that,” Amity told her, as her eyes felt increasingly heavy. Amity had almost drifted off to sleep when Amity felt Luz stir slightly next to her.
“Amity?”
“Yes, Luz?”
“Is it okay if I come a little closer?” Amity opened her eyes to see Luz looking hopefully at her. Amity smiled and opened her arms invitingly as Luz eagerly scooted closer to her. Soon, Luz’s arms around were wrapped gently around Amity’s neck, Amity’s arms were around Luz’s waist, and their legs entangled together. Her girlfriend was so warm, and Amity swore she could feel Luz’s heart beating comfortingly against her. Luz nuzzled closer to Amity, her soft breath against Amity’s skin raising goosebumps as Amity buried her nose into Luz’s hair.
“Good night, Luz,” Amity breathed softly.
“Night, mi Cariño,” Luz replied in turn.
Amity wasn’t sure what the future held in store for her. Once upon a time, that would have frightened her. She was a Blight; her path had been firmly established since birth. But as she drifted off to sleep in Luz’s arms, the possibilities that unfolded in front of her seemed endless. She could choose whatever she wanted. Amity merely had to determine what that was. One thing was certain though, whatever future she chose would have Luz in it, for as long as Luz would have her. And with that fleeting thought, Amity slept better than she had in a long time.