Chapter Text
This was why Amity always dreaded new students.
The semester was coming along nicely and they were halfway through the year when her archenemy arrived on campus.
The very first time she saw her was in potions class, and right away, she knew exactly what she was up against. But she hadn’t known her biggest secret yet. That one, tiny little detail.
That she’s a human.
Mostly, Amity was used to students being attracted to her . She was always the center of attention and she always had a crowd around her, one that she wasn’t concerned about losing because she had nothing to compare.
But then, that human showed up.
No one could compare to Amity Blight, top student of Hexside University. And especially not a human. Never in a million years could she have any concern with a human for losing her spot at the top. Anyways, this was the Boiling Isles, and it was no place at all for a human. So even if she lost her crowd to her, even if she had the entire student body at her feet, Amity was almost certain that she’d disappear and not show up to school one day.
And if the acid rain or the conformitorium didn’t take her, then Amity would do it herself. She would not let a human steal everything she’s worked for in just the first day of arriving.
But the first time her eyes met hers, and she saw that stupid, lopsided grin on her face, she knew she had to put an end to this before it was too late.
That human transfer student gained a large following from the very beginning, not for her academic accomplishments or her straight A’s, it was merely the stigma around her that drew people in.
She wasn’t talented and to put it simply, she could not do magic. She couldn’t cast a light spell. She couldn’t control a wand and she couldn’t summon an abomination. She couldn’t even mix a simple potion or conjure a demon for a class presentation. She was so… incompetent that it irked Amity. She couldn’t see why everyone was so infatuated with her.
And anyways, watching from the sidelines as Luz explained the way rain worked in the human world on a particularly acid-rainy day, a good portion of Amity’s friend group and then some crowded around her, she had formed a great plan in her brilliant mind.
If they wanted to pick sides, then pick sides they would.
But how dare she come here and think she could belong with some of the most competent witches of the Isles headed straight for a top spot at the Emperor’s coven? The audacity of the human baffled Amity every day.
How dare she enter the auditorium for abomination track mid-presentation and sit down like she belongs here or even knows what the professor is talking about. Amity glares venom across the room at her as she takes a notepad out of her backpack, scribbling notes down here and there and acting like she’s doing something.
And how dare she raise her hand and interrupt the professor as he’s speaking.
“Excuse me,” she clears her throat loudly and stands up, her voice strong and curious. Heads turn to watch the new student and hear her burning question.
“What is it, Noceda?” The professor asks, his tone even and pinched as he tries to stay patient. Noceda. So that’s her name? Amity feels confident being able to place a name to her new rival, even if she hadn’t cared to know in the first place. Her attention turns back to her when she speaks again.
“Could an abomination be made with Ox powder?”
The professor blinks, baffled and genuinely impressed by the question. “Why, yes. It could. What a terrific question. Great observation, Luz.”
Amity’s jaw drops open and she feels severely diminished as she watches Luz Noceda take her seat once again, a satisfied smirk on her face. What an imbecile. Everyone knows that abominations aren’t made chemically. They’re a combination of magical fluids mixed together to create a sentient companion under the creator’s constant control. They aren’t made with Ox powder. What—
“Thanks to that wonderful observation by Luz Noceda, I suggest that we conduct an experiment to try and note all of the ways that an abomination can be made chemically,” the professor says with great giddiness. Everyone’s aggravated facepalming is audible throughout the large auditorium.
How dare she influence the student curriculum?
After the lecture lets out, Amity makes a beeline to catch up to that human and give her a piece of her mind. She pushes and shoves people out of her way, ignoring the curses and screams it elicits from her fellow patrons. She finds her standing gloomily against the building by herself, watching the students filter out and head to their respective classes with her arms folded over her chest.
This is her first time seeing her up close. She hadn’t had any real interest prior to this to talk to her let alone be in the same vicinity of her if she could help it. She clears her throat rudely, catching Luz’s attention. Amity sticks her hand out and with a raised eyebrow, the human shakes it confusedly. “Um, hi?”
She’s one of those. Ugh. Amity uses all of her will power to shove the anger pooling inside of her gut back down to where it came from. It’s years of self discipline that keeps her from conjuring up her biggest flame and melting her filthy human flesh right off of her stupid smug face. Instead, she smiles.
“Hello. I’m Amity Blight,” She stops to await her reaction. Surely she’d be honored to have just shaken the top student’s hand.
“Cool, cool. Luz Noceda,” she grins knowingly at her, teasingly wrinkling her nose. “But you probably already knew that.”
“Of course I knew that,” she makes a conscious effort to keep her tone cool and even, polite and inviting. “After all, it is my duty as head of the student council to introduce myself to all new students.”
“Oh, nice,” she says, sounding frustratingly unimpressed. “Well, I’ve been here for what, a week now and I’m just finding out about the student council?” She nods her head slowly. “Not a good look.”
“Of course. My apologies.” She stammers, her inner cool is boiling and she wants nothing more than to snap her in half right now and make her regret ever coming here. “So, human. May I ask about your background and reason for transferring to our lovely and prestigious university?”
“First of all, I’d like it if you didn’t call me human,” she pauses to unabashedly size Amity up. “That’s a bit racist. And no, I don’t think I owe you the knowledge of my academic background, Blight.” she smiles obnoxiously, using a mocking voice and saying her last name like it’s some kind of vicious hex.
What a goddamn moron. How dare she have the audacity to refuse me? She takes a quick but deep, steadying breath and pulls herself back together. “No problem,” she tilts her head and returns the gesture of sizing her up. “Though I can’t help but notice how lanky you are. Are you sure you’re fit to participate in a place like this?”
“Lanky?” Her eyes widen and she chuckles, thoroughly amused. “Haven’t heard that one. Yeah, I think I can handle a cracker like you if I had to.”
“Excuse me?” Amity’s hands ball into fists at her sides and she sniffs, she can smell the ash from her flame as she seethes with rage. The mere nerve of this girl is unfathomable to her. She is going to kill her. “You will not disrespect me at my school, human. And I don’t know who or what you think you are, but I am not happy about your participation here.”
“What are you gonna do about it, bitch?”
“As head of the student council, I can and will have you expelled.” She smirks, satisfied at the nervous flinch it elicits from the human. In one swift and jerky motion, Luz pushes Amity away by the shoulders and she bolts around the corner of the building. Amity stands, stunned for a moment by the delicious challenge she’s just been proposed. She’s not usually one to lose her composure over such trivial things but this human’s really got a grip on her and she loves it.
She sniffles, wiping her running nose. Her entire body is engulfed in heat and her palms burn from the flame she’s conjured, burning hot anger spilling out of every portion of her body and with pent energy and excitement, Amity runs in the direction of that foolish human to really show her what she was up against. She runs aimlessly for a moment, pushing people out of the way and almost tripping with how fast she’s running. The heels on her uniform’s shoes don’t help much with keeping her balance, but she loves the challenge and the pain and the burning in her legs as she pushes herself faster than she’s ever gone before.
Suddenly, her eyes lock onto her meek target as it flings itself into a coffee shop that wasn’t far from the auditorium. There’s a no-magic barrier spell cast in every building, so Amity wouldn’t be able to do much damage there. So she waits, hiding with her back to the side of building so that when Luz exits, she can jump her and slam her stupid head to the pavement and give her a concussion. Then she’d have to leave campus. Perfect plan made by a perfectly beautiful witch.
She waited a long time and got many weird stares. She was thinking about leaving after calming down and her senses came back to her, but she remembered Luz’s face, her smugness, her snooty little princess complex. The way she so inappropriately looked at her body. The way she dethroned her so quickly. She was not about to let her get away with that. No one stands up to Amity Blight. No one.
The bells on the coffee shop doors chime and Amity lunges for attack. She jumps onto her back and wraps her legs around her waist, catching her by scrumptious surprise. Luz shrieks and she falls to the ground under her weight, dropping her cup of coffee and landing right on top of it. She wastes no time, yanking her soft, brown— stupid, ugly, hair and bounding all of her weight on Luz’s neck to try and decapitate her. She relishes in her screams, frenzied and panicked as she tries to scramble out of Amity’s grip—
They sit side by side in the security office, Luz has a black eye and she rubs at the back of her neck tenderly, hissing in pain.
Amity looks down at her bruised hands, trembling with nervousness and shame. She doesn’t know what came over her. Amity curses herself, upset that she let anger get the best of her, all over a measly human girl. She’s never been in the security office before. Not for something like this. She’s never been the one to be at fault before. Oh Titan, she’s just committed a crime.
All in the likes of a human. Who knows what else she’d do if she continued coming here, working Amity’s last nerves. Sabotaging her reputation.
They’re both let off with a warning and Amity, with a gnawing shame aching in her chest at the sight of the girl she’s deeply injured, helps Luz limp out of the office and across the lawn to the healer’s cabin. “Nice to meet you,” she mumbles sarcastically, hopping on her left leg and keeping her right leg off the ground, an arm slung over Amity’s shoulder.
“A pleasure,” she sighs. It goes quiet for a moment as they struggle under the setting sun, the campus either settling down for the evening or preparing for an onslaught of dorm parties.
“Rivals?”
“Rivals.”