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Well this semester was off to a rousing start. Amity first had trouble with general alchemy, and now with general botany. Botany! The thing she had made fun of Willow with for such a long time! They’d had presentations today, and though she’d managed a bloom, it was one of the weakest she’d ever seen! By FAR the weakest in the class. Poor little thing nearly collapsed under its own weight. It might have been the most embarrassing moment of her life.
“Wow, Amity,” Boscha commented, looking over at Amity from her table, “ First glasses, now this?” He little cabal giggled, “ I thought hanging around Willow would’ve made you better at plants. But I guess her half magic just rubbed off on you.” The fact that Boscha had aced the test, with an impossibly gorgeous bloom, made the comments worse; Boscha was right.
Amity pulled the cloak of her winter uniform tight around her, trying her best to ignore Boscha’s comments. She tried to think about anything else. Like the cloak she wore. It made her feel like Hecate , when Azura gave her an enchanted cloak made from the fur of the dreaded Larnax. The Hearthcloak . Made to keep the wearer warm in the cold, and cool in the heat. A cloak like no other! Amity wished so bad to have that kind of cloak. Maybe if Luz got far enough in enchanting…
“I bet Hecate never had problems blooming a stupid little rose-AH!”
Amity caught herself as she tripped up the steps to the tower, scuffling her feet as she walked up the steps. She looked around, hoping, praying that no one saw what she’d just done. She’d had her fill of embarrassment for the day. She dusted herself off, and knocked on the door.
Amity was surprised to see a slit in the door shifting open. How long had that been there? Amity certainly hadn’t seen it. The person on the other end had to be Lilith, Amity could tell by the eyes. One gray, one bluegreen.
“There will be no lesson today.” The voice was raspy and meager, and followed by a rather horrific cough, “I’m sorry, Amity, but you shouldn’t see me like this.”
Amity gasped, “What?” Amity got closer to the slit in the door, “No! I’m going to help you through this, remember? I WANT to help you through this!” Amity begged, her hands pressed against the door. Concern was apparent in her face, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Even in the cold, her palms were sweating.
“Amity, the help I require is-ack...beyond your skill.” Lilith said, her breathing heavy. “I will be better next week, but you must go .”
“But we made the elixir last time, I could do it again! A-at least, I think I could try it! I screwed up plants, but I got better at potions, I promise I’d-”
“Stand aside, kiddo.” A new voice. Eda, from behind Amity. She herself wore a rather thick cloak to keep the cold out, and patted Amity as she walked past her.
“M-Miss Eda, could you just let me-”
Eda pushed Amity aside, “Trust me, kid, you do NOT want to know what we’re cleaning up in there .” Eda placed a thumb to Amity’s forehead, and Amity’s eyes, for a moment, glowed with a golden light.
“EDALYN,” Lilith sputtered through the slit in the doo r , “You did not just read my apprentice-” Another round of sputtering coughs followed.
“ Relax, Lily,” Eda said, pulling her thumb away, “Just wanted to know where to send her.” Eda looked down at Amity, “Go find Willow. She can help you with her plant magic.” Eda smiled softly, opening the door a tad.
“But-” Amity caught one glimpse of Lilith...cheeks stained with tears, lips stained black, with blood all over the main floor of the tower. Blood, bones, and the helmet of an imperial guard. Amity gasped, averting her eyes as quick as she could.
“...I-I’ll go find Willow-”
“Wait, I can exp-” Lilith weakly reached for Amity, but she was on her way for now.
“...I can explain…”
“I know you can, Lily, but let’s get you cleaned up first.”
Willow hummed gently as she set about her after school duties. With her homework finished and her bed made, it was time for her to see to her plants! She had a lot of them, though, most of them were in her room for now. Such cold weather didn’t bode well for carnivores like the Elsied or the Bricktongue. And those being some of her favorites, she wasn’t about to let them freeze. She reached under her table to find a box marked ‘pet food’. It was whatever bits of food the family ended up not eat, maybe a little pest or two.
As Willow finished feeding the carnivores, she set about fixing a fern she’d been having trouble with. As she ran her fingers along the leaves, letting them curl out in a much healthier green hue, a knock came on the door.
“Come in?” Willow asked, not sure why anyone was knocking on her door so early. Dinner wasn’t for a while.
She was surprised to see Papa’s glasses.
“Willow?’ he asked, “There’s someone here to see you?”
“Is it Luz? Gus?” Willow asked, not thinking of anyone else it could be.
“Um...Amity?”
Willow’s head shifted back on her neck, surprised painting her face, “ Amity? ” She didn’t come over when he pair were kids , and though they had sort of smoothed things over, Amity still didn’t come over. Didn’t she have lessons with Lilith, usually?
“I guess just let her in?” Asked Papa, still h olding the doorknob.
“Oh, yeah, send her up, no problem!”
A moment passed before Amity entered the room, shedding her cloak and folding it in her arms. “Um, Afternoon, Willow.”
Willow was spritzing a plant with a spray bottle, “Afternoon!” She walked over and smiled, setting the spray bottle down. “I hear you had an issue in general today?”
Amity groaned, “Does word travel that fast?” She asked, “I’m ruined.”
Willow shook her head, “Skara told me about it. This whole ‘double agent’ thing is turning out to be useful.” Willow said. “What were you trying to bloom?”
“A rose. NOT for what you’re thinking. If I gave Luz a rose as a confession, I don’t think Miss Lilith would ever let me hear the end of it.” She said, sighing gently and sitting on Willow’s bed, setting her cloak next to her.
“Okay.” Willow took a pot and filled it with rich, dark soil. She spritzed it with water, and repeated the process in another pot. She then handed one pot over to Amity, “Show me how you did it. Exactly how.”
Amity did exactly as she did in the class that morning; she formed a circle with her finger, then pushed roughly through it, before jerking her arm back at the elbow. The result? A perfectly dead rose. Willow couldn’t even tell what colors the petals were supposed to be! But Willow could spot the problem now.
“So,” Willow sat next to Amity, “You remember how bad I was at abominations?”
Amity nodded, “I remember that, yeah.” Amity winced as she thought of how poorly she’d treated Willow over all of that.
“It’s because Abominations aren’t organic. You have to be rough to form them,” She said, “strong motions, rough pulls, and serious concentration when you build one.” Willow noted, getting up from the bed. “Try forming an Abomination. Just a small one.”
Amity nodded, standing from the bed and planting her feet firmly. She outstretched her hand and made the circle, “Abomination,” She pressed her finger through the circle, “Rise!” before pulling it right back out, a jerking motion at the elbow.
The Abomination was small, but firm and steady, following Amity’s command and filling the room with the smell of warm pumice, before Amity set the thing down. She sighed, “I think I see your point.: Amity admitted, as she looked back at the dead rose in the pot.
Willow nodded, “Even with the strongest plants, you have to be mindful. Strength is important, but these are organic creatures.” She said, taking the empty pot and forming a circle, “You have to be really strong to wield vines because of that. They want to do their own thing, whereas abominations do whatever.” She gently tapped the circle before delicately pulling back. A beautiful pink rose bloomed from the pot.
Amity nodded, “If Abominations take initial strength and mental fortitude, Plants take initial mind and formidable strength?”
Willow nodded, “That’s why I try my best to stay strong .” Willow said, flexing her arm and staring at Amity with a smirk.
The pair both giggled at the comment, with Amity setting herself back down on the bed. She pulled up the dead rose from the pot, and spritzed the dirt once more with water. She formed a circle, gently tapped, and pulled slowly and softly back with her hand, concentrating on the form of the plant; its color, its shape, its stalk.
Amity pulled not one, but two yellow roses from the soil. And while they weren’t masterpieces, they were good enough for Amity to retake the test. “I think I did it! Did I do it? Is this good, are they good?” Amity asked, looking over to Willow with a glint in her eye.
Willow observed the rose, gently feeling its petals and sniffing it, “Oh, Amity, these are good! And the fact that a beginner did a double bloom like that is impressive!” She said. Willow leaned in and smirked, “sure you shouldn’t be in the plants track, Miss Blight?” She teased, raising her eyebrows.
Amity giggled once more, “I’m sure, I’m sure.” Amity smiled and rose from the bed, throwing her cloak back on and taking one of the roses from the pot. “I have an errand to run, and then I have to get back to the house before I miss dinner. If I do that again, Edric might actually kill me.”
Willow looked on, “Edric?”
Amity blinked, “DAD. I said dad.” She pulled the cloak tight around her. “Thanks for the help, Willow, I really needed it.”
Willow nodded, “No worries! But aren’t you gonna take the other rose?” Willow asked, taking the pot in her hand as she stood.
“Huh?” Amity blinked, then looked down at the plant. “It’s a yellow rose...Yellow is friendship, right?’
Willow nodded, “Sure is.”
Amity smiled, “keep it, then.” She placed a hand on Willow’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “You’re my friend, after all.”
Willow’s eyes softened as she looked at Amity, before pulling her into a tight hug. They were a Luz thing, but they were beginning to spread. Amity hugged back, squeezing Willow’s shoulder once more, before turning to leave.
As she left, Willow looked down at the rose, thinking for a moment, ‘Where am I gonna put you, little buddy?”
Eda stretched and groaned as she walked out of the tower, “Y eesh, Lily, did you have to do ALL of that to the poor guy?” She teased, looking back at Lilith as she wrapped her cloak around herself.
Lilith wore a black skirt, a white ‘low battery’ t-shirt, and had her short hair tied behind her head. She also wore a thick blanket, and a glare that could kill with its sharp, debilitating gloom.
“I did not.” She responded wryly, “but please, take every opportunity you can to remind me of exactly what I did. ”
Eda shrugged, “Okay, a guy broke into your house, you transformed, ate him, and then you-”
“I was kidding.” Lilith spat her words through gritted teeth, pulling the blanket tighter in the cold air.
Eda sighed, “Look, Lily, I know this isn’t exactly a fun process.” Eda said, “but it’s part of the curse. You’re going to have to deal with these transformations more.” She said.
“I know, I know. I just don’t want this.”
Eda sighed, “You’ve got it. We’ve got it. And we’re going to b okay. I’ll help you every step of the way, Lily. Promise.”
Lilith thought back to what Amity had said. Was it right to turn the girl away? Would she even come back? Or was the damage done? Would she ignore Lilith, or possibly avoid the Clawthornes all together? Washing her hands of such wretched beasts would hardly be the wrong decision.
“Do you think Amity will be back?” Lilith asked, following Eda fully out onto the porch of the tower.
Eda looked back, then looked at the tower door. She pointed to something taped to it…
A bright yellow rose, as well as a note.
‘For all you have taught me, and for all you have yet to teach.
You’re more than a tutor, a teacher, a professor.
You’re a friend. Thank you for that.
-Amity’
Lilith put her hand to her lips as she read the note. “She must have left this after I saw her. Did she grow this? It’s nice. Simple, but nice.” She smiled. “I like simple but nice…” Lilith pocketed the note, and beckoned Pyewacket to come and take the rose from her hand. As the bird flew to the top of the tower, Lilith looked on.
Eda, though, had her eyes glued to Lilith. “Well well, Lilith. Looks like YOU have a child now!” Eda patted her back.
Lilith looked over with a smirk, “Oh, look who’s talking, Edalyn ‘Luz forgot her lunch I have to get it to her NOW’ Clawthorne.” She laughed, “Aren’t children the ‘bane of your existence’?”
Eda rolled her eyes and grinned, “Hey, don’t change the subject miss ‘I teach, I don’t raise’!”
Lilith laughed as well, holding the door open as the pair walked back into the tower to chat, their moods both higher than before.
Another day of lessons, complete.