Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Amity’s face was bright red as she stared into the camera, her ears pointed straight down in embarrassment as Luz pushed a kiss against her cheek. The human had one arm wrapped around her flustered girlfriend, and the other grasping her phone and extending her arm out in front of them. The overgrown grass tickled their legs, and the summer sun warmed the backs of their necks.

Perfect. Everything was so perfect.

Amity let out a small huff as she quickly tucked the photo into her duffel bag. 

Three months had never seemed like a lot to her; she had lived her life in a calculated, repetitive way that made every day blur into the next, making months insignificant and interchangeable. But then a human stumbled into her world, and suddenly, three months were enough to change everything.

In those three months, a non-witch had revived a forgotten form of magic. An energetic young girl encouraged a stranded witch to wander back into society. A round-eared outcast had managed to spin Amity’s life backwards, practically forcing the Blight girl to fall head-over-heels. A boiling rain storm started their relationship.

And worst of all, a human, a young, energetic, round-eared human, had turned the Boiling Isles on its head.

Amity sighed, biting back tears as she shuffled clothes into her bag as quietly as possible. 

Luz’s arrival hadn’t been the starting point of all of this. Rather, it was more of a tipping point. The Isles had been tense for nearly as long as Amity could remember, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before people finally snapped. And now, after Luz had left her rebellious footprint on the Isles, tensions between the Emperor and his subjects had reached an inevitable boiling point.

Amity knew it was coming. She’d always known, always been prepared for the fighting.

But Amity had never pictured herself like this. Running, fleeing the Emperor’s Coven, in fear of what they’d do to her.

No, no, no. Amity shook her head, her first tear drop sliding down her left cheek. This is all wrong. This was my destiny. I was going to join the Emperor’s Coven. Work for them. Achieve power and status through them. Live my family name. Why am I running from them? Why am I scared of them?

As Amity felt herself nearing her own breaking point, she managed to steady her breath. She couldn’t break down, not here, where someone was bound to hear her, and not now, in the single most defining moment of her life. Amity needed to escape now; she could cry about it later.

 Her duffel looked like it was going to burst, and Amity quickly decided that she’d packed all she needed. As she zipped her bag shut, Amity Blight cast one last long look at her bedroom. The place had been stripped of everything of value, and so, the space felt more cold and empty than ever.

Amity shuddered, before turning to the door, and shrugging her bag over her shoulder. With one last shaky inhale, the young girl stepped into the hall.

Amity’s eyes darted around fearfully, scanning for her parents. Nothing, so far. She was safe.

The girl quickly moved down the hallway and wove down the stairs, sure to make as little noise as possible. 

As she reached the bottom of the stairwell, Amity’s eyes locked onto the front door. Just a few more strides, and she was free...

And then, a sharp voice froze her in her tracks.

“Amity Blight.”

The girl lowered her head as the sound of footsteps approached her. Her stomach knotted as she realized that there were at least four pairs of feet coming towards her; her parents weren’t alone.

“Amity, please, stand up straight. We have guests here to see you.”

Her mother’s voice was clear as day. Amity straightened, and met eyes with her always-unreadable parents. Gathered around them were four guards of the Emperor’s Coven.

I’m dead. Amity thought to herself, a sob swelling her throat. Titan, I’m dead.

“Amity, dear!” said Mrs. Blight. “We’ve excellent news for you and your studies!”

Amity tensed. Her mother sounded...cheerful. Joyous. More so than the girl had ever heard from the woman.

“The Emperor’s Coven has come to take you to the palace!” Odalia purred. “You’ll be training under the Emperor Himself. Doesn’t that excite you, Amity?”

The girl was shaking now. She knew where she was going, she’d heard stories of the new “program” the Emperor had started for gifted students. He would steal pupils from their families, and ship them off to his palace. Supposedly, it was all to train the next generation for the coven. But rumors had escaped, rumors of torturous dark magic being used on the students, of kids being forced against their will to obey the Emperor’s every command. 

Although, those were just rumors. After all, nobody ever heard from students once they were taken.

No freedom, no visits, no way of contact.

No return.

Amity swallowed as she stared into the lifeless, beaked masks of the Coven Guards. She nodded.

“Yes, mother, it does excite me.”

A moment of silence. And then:

“Were you aware that you were chosen?” came the amused voice of Alador Blight. He gestured to his daughter’s duffel bag, still over her shoulder.

“Oh,” Amity muttered under her breath. “Yes, I had overheard some rumors the other day, that the Emperor’s Coven would be here to take me. I packed my things, just in case.”

It was clear that the explanation hadn’t cut it for the Blight parents. Where amusement and even slight excitement had stood on their faces, there was now skepticism.

“Well then,” Odalia said. “Since it is already agreed upon that you will be attending the Emperor's program, you may-“

She was cut off by a scuffling noise coming from the stairs. The group turned their heads.

Standing on the staircase was Edric Blight, frozen in place as he stared at the Emperor’s guards. A horrified expression crossed his face for a moment as he looked from the guards, to Amity, and then back again. However, all emotion quickly disappeared.

“Edric!” Odalia called, a small, taunting smile dancing across her face. “Amity has been accepted into a training program held by the Emperor’s Coven! Isn’t that wonderful?”

Edric sent a worried glance Amity’s way.

“Yes,” he said numbly. “It is.”

“Amity will be leaving for the palace in only a few minutes. Would you go get Emira, to say her goodbyes?” Odalia sent another manipulative smile towards her son.

“Oh- Of course,” Edric mumbled. “Though, are you sure you won’t allow Amity to say goodbye to her friends first?”

Amity could feel her heart swell in her chest. Her brother was trying to save her.

“There’s no need.” Odalia simply brushed off Edric’s question. “She is sure to make new, better friends within the Emperor’s Coven.”

Amity’s breath caught in her throat.

Edric went pale, but only nodded in return. He then turned around, and walked up the stairs to get his sister.

Emira was studying in her bedroom. It was a rare occurrence, despite her parents’ insistence on her focusing only on academics. In reality, neither she nor her twin brother were usually at school. They were able to cover for themselves easily; the Illusion Course had its perks.

Emira was disturbed, then, by her brother barging into her room.

At first, she shot him a death glare. Of course, the one time she was actually studying, her brother had to disturb her. Then, she noticed the panicked expression on his face.

“The Emperor’s Coven.” Edric breathed. “They’re here. For Amity.”

A moment of horrified silence, before Emira spoke, voice shaking.

“They...they can’t be here already.” Every word was filled with fear and disbelief. “Eda and Lilith are close, they said that by next week-“

“This isn’t next week.” Edric’s voice was firm. “They’re here for her now. Em, you know what they’ll do to her if they catch her. We can’t let the Emperor get to Amity, we can’t.”

Another moment of silence. The twins were staring at each other now, each with a horrified look on their face as they stared at their sibling. 

For a second, it looked like Emira was about to speak, but she was interrupted by a series of yells from downstairs.

The twins exchanged nervous glances. 

Then, Emira waved her hand. 

“I’ll go check up on Mittens,” the girl said. “You need to pack our things. Only the essentials, okay? Clothes at the very least, and...well, I’m sure you know what the most important things in here are.”

Edric nodded uneasily, more yells coming from below him. 

“Alright. I’ll meet you outside in about ten minutes, okay?”

Emira nodded, and then, without a second thought, took off out of her room and down the stairs.

When she finally reached the bottom of the stairwell, Emira wasn’t sure what she was expecting. But it wasn’t this.

The front entrance of the manor was gaping open, and outside, her sister, Amity Blight, was fending off some of the strongest witches on the Isles.

Four of the Emperor’s guards, plus the Blight parents, were teamed up on Amity.

The young girl was managing to hold them off with an enormous abomination, but it was clear that Amity was getting tired. She was backed against a tree, panting. Through her labored breaths Amity was crying, and screaming at her parents for mercy.

“Please! Don’t do this!” The girl’s voice was shrill and terrified. “Don’t let them take me away! You don’t-“ -Amity took a moment to catch her breath- “You can’t let them. PLEASE!”

But Amity’s pleas got her nowhere. The attack continued. Viscous spells bit at the giant abomination, the gooey creature weakening after each blow. What spells missed the abomination would hit Amity, leaving the girl covered in burns and bruises. Amity’s attackers showed no signs of stopping.

That was, until a dozen copies of a teenage girl popped up across the battlefield.

All heads turned to one Emira Blight, standing in the entryway of the manor with a murderous glow in her eyes.

Alador was the first and only one to speak to her.

“Emira, please,” he said in a low, desperate voice. “You don’t have to do this. Neither of you has to do this!” His voice raised into an angry yell, and looked towards a sobbing Amity. “We just want what’s best for you.”

Amity raised her head at that. Hope shot through her shaking body. Her parents just wanted the best for her, right? There was no way they’d send her off to be tortured.

Right?

Watching Amity slowly let her guard down only filled Emira with fury. Deep down, the girl knew her parents really did want the best. But their good intentions mixed with their perfect reputations and their massive egos turned “the best for the children” into “the best for the family name.” And right now, that put Amity in danger. Emira wasn’t going to sit back and watch. 

“No.” Emira’s voice rang loud and clear. Her mother’s face curled into a disappointed scowl. “I’m not letting you send Amity away. Back away from her. Now.”

Nobody moved. Amity’s abomination stood idle, its towering figure waiting for a command.

And then, in one swift movement, one of the guards lurched forward and grabbed Amity, wrapping themself around the screaming girl and restraining her.

The abomination exploded into a pile of purple goo.

Emira took a stride forward to help her sister, but another guard turned their head.

“I wouldn’t, child,” the guard warned, tilting a masked head at Emira. “Amity Blight is needed for the Emperor’s training program. We will be taking her. Should you make any movement to stop us, we will punish her for your stupidity.”

To make the point clear, the guard nodded towards the witch restraining Amity.

Emira watched in horror as the witch raised a hand to her baby sister.

Amity screeched when the hand made contact with her skin. She was already bruised up, as she had taken a few blows during the fighting, so this strike stung worse than the others she had received. 

Emira fought back tears as she stared at her terrified, pained little sister. Emira only managed to mouth the words I’m sorry as she raised her hands in surrender, a desperate attempt to earn her sister’s freedom.

It didn’t work.

The guard pulled Amity up against them, then scooped the small witch off her feet. Amity was kicking and screaming, throwing weakened punches at the guard who held her against their chest, but it was no use. Amity’s cries were agonized as she continued her pointless struggle, punches simply bouncing off the guard’s armor, tears running down her face, and voice growing hoarse as she continued to scream.

Tears had finally gathered in Emira’s eyes. It’d been a month ago, when Edric had first caught news about the “training program,” that Emira swore she wouldn’t let her sister be taken away. The siblings had conspired with the fugitives at the Owl House to devise Amity’s escape plan, and just this afternoon, all three young witches had been silently preparing to flee their only home. And yet, here Emira was, watching her sister desperately writhe in the firm arms of a coven guard, knowing there was nothing she could do. 

Sobs were swelling in the back of Emira’s throat. She’d said to herself this morning, while preparing to run, I’ll be damned if this is the last day I see my sister. 

She couldn’t keep a damn promise, not even to herself.

Emira finally broke, crying out as her tears burst forward, collapsing as her parents and the accompanying guards stared at her in clear disdain. Emira wanted to care about what they thought, wanted to prove to them that she was more than this, but she simply couldn’t muster the energy to give them her attention. Instead, she silently begged for a miracle to help her, and more importantly, Amity, escape.

That miracle came in a chorus of mournful shrieks, thundering out around the group of witches.

Even through her sobs, Emira’s lips quirked upwards in satisfaction as her parents’ eyes widened, quickly identifying their threat.

Seven enormous abominations were staring down on the front green of the Blight Manor. Odalia cast a bewildered look towards her youngest daughter, now motionless in the guard’s arms, but Amity just stared at the abominations in complete and utter awe.

All at once, the towering heaps of goo surged forward, and the Blight parents, as well as the guards, readied themselves for a fight. 

Emira’s body tensed. She had this, this one chance of redemption, and she only had a few moments to enact it.

The abominations lurched towards the guards, and Emira lunged at her sister.

The guard holding onto Amity cried out in surprise as Emira knocked the younger girl from their arms. Amity tumbled onto the ground but just as quickly stood back up, shaking, but clearly still physically capable.

Desperate for any possible escape routes, Emira whipped around back towards the house and felt herself go numb as she spotted her brother standing in the doorway, three duffels, one for each sibling, slung over his arms. 

Horror slowly gathered in Emira’s body as she realized what was happening. But just as quickly, she snapped herself out of her trance and grabbed Amity’s wrist.

“C’mon!” Emira cried, cringing as she yanked on her little sister, but still refusing to slow down.

Amity picked up a run and the two girls sprinted back into the manor. As soon as all three children were inside, Edric slammed the doors shut and locked them.

The boy was shaking and panting, but there was a look of satisfaction on his face.

“Amity,” he huffed, “I can’t keep those illusions up forever. You got it in ya to make us a real abomination?”

Dumbstruck, Amity simply nodded, and Edric nodded back.

“Perfect. Great. We need to get out through the back door.”

There was hardly a moment of hesitation before all of the siblings made a break for the unlocked back door of the Blight Manor, which opened up into the woods.

As soon as they were out of the manor, Amity wasted no time in summoning another enormous abomination, this time allowing it to take a somewhat deformed state in which it stood on all fours.

The three siblings hauled themselves onto the creature’s back, and Amity gave a mumbled command. At her words, the abomination lurched forward, and ran off into the woods.

The chaos of the ride was silent.

Amity’s unusual abomination ran in a frantic, bumpy, lopsided-at-times way, as if its stride reflected the siblings’ feelings about this whole situation.

Even still, nobody spoke. They simply clung onto the abomination and stared out into the woods ahead, desperately awaiting their arrival at the Owl House.

Thankfully, it came far quicker than any of them had anticipated.

After around twenty minutes of nonstop running, Amity allowed the abomination to disintegrate itself, and the thing melted into a miserable pile of sticky purple goo. The Blight siblings were all covered in the stuff, but currently, that was the least of their worries.

They stared wearily at the odd building in front of them, before exchanging glances and walking forward.

The bird-tube didn’t bother with the trio, having had more than a few angry encounters with the youngest Blight sibling and smartly choosing to avoid another. The door-demon bent around, shoving his head through one of the windows.

“ EEEEEDA! We have gueeeests!”

The door promptly swung open to reveal an exhausted looking Eda dressed in slippers and a nightgown. Her expression was one of fatigue and overall irritability, but she washed all negative emotions away when she inspected her houseguests.

Amity was leaned up against Edric’s shoulder, skin darkened in various places from her brutal beating, still breathing shakily, and refusing to meet Eda’s concerned eyes.

The twins didn’t look scared in the way Amity did. Rather, they looked scared in a desperate, helpless way that combined on their faces with anger and exhaustion.

After observing them for a moment, Eda only managed a single sentence.

“Wasn’t expecting you for a week.”

Emira snorted. “Yeah, well, plans change.”

Eda waved her hand, beckoning the siblings forward, and the three of them slunk into the warm house, immediately seating themselves on the couch that was always either too firm or too soft at any given time.

Eda simply sat down on the floor in front of them.

“So the Emperor caught up to you, huh?”

A series of slow nods. Eda simply sighed in disappointed exasperation.

“Should’a seen this one coming, honestly. Should’a taken you all in before all hell broke loose.” Eda quietly growled to herself. “So much for keeping you all safe.” The woman took in a deep breath, then fixed her sympathetic eyes on the three kids in front of her.

“The portal’s not done,” Eda said bluntly. “You all know that Lily and I still need a week or so to complete it. But there’s a good chance that we’ll be found before it’s finished, and the Emperor’s Coven’ll be here for Amity.” 

Eda sighed and glanced around awkwardly, unsure just how to convey such distressing information to the Blight children. Finally, she took a breath, and spoke. 

“This might be hard to hear, but...there’s a good chance you’ll all be separated. As of now, the portal can only take one person at a time, and even then it still has a good chance of breaking down after the passage. Whoever ends up in the human world-“ Eda’s eyes landed on Amity “-may be cut off completely from the Boiling Isles.”

Amity felt her blood go cold.

There were a few paces of silence before Edric spoke up in a small, horrified, and unsteady voice.

“By ‘cut off completely,’ you mean…”

“No way back, no way of contact to speak of, no way of finding out about anything happening here on the Isles.” Eda’s voice was solemn. “I don’t want this to be a reality any more than you do, but the odds certainly aren’t in our favor.”

“You’re saying that, by tomorrow, Amity will be gone? For good? ” Emira was trying not to break down again. She’d already come too close to losing Amity tonight, and she couldn’t bear the idea that even this safety, this togetherness, would be short lived.

“Maybe not for good, ” Eda tentatively reassured, “but definitely for a while. For however long it takes for us to get that portal stable, which could be weeks, months, years, maybe, depending on how much Belos meddles. A long time.” Eda’s face softened as shocked tears began to run down all three of the Blights’ faces. The woman glanced down, her own bottom lip slightly quivering. When she spoke, it was nearly a whisper. 

“I’m sorry that things happened to turn out this way. Don’t go blaming yourselves, there’s nothing you could’ve done. The Emperor wanted Amity. He came for her. Her only way out of this is, unfortunately, one that completely severs her from the Isles.” 

Eda reached into her hair and offered Amity a map. There was a red X on one side of it, and in front of the X, a red circle around one of the poorly-drawn houses.

“Luz gave this to me, before the portal was destroyed,” Eda muttered. The melancholy in the older woman’s voice was overwhelming as she talked about the girl she’d come to know as her daughter. “The X there, that’s us, that’s where the portal lets out. And the red circle is Luz’s house. She said to come there if we ever wanted to find her.”

Amity clung the map to her chest, trying to keep it safe from her tears. The girl raised her eyes to meet Eda’s, which flinched away uncomfortably.

“Under any other circumstances I’d suggest that you all get some sleep, but I assume that you’ll want to spend the night together.” Eda sighed softly. “Just…don’t get up to too much. Amity’s got a pretty tiring couple of days ahead of her.”

The siblings all nodded, still numb with horror as they realized their circumstances. A growing feeling of dread blossomed in their chests as they slowly began to digest the fact that they were going to be separated.

The three of them hadn’t always gotten along well, nor had they always had the best views of each other, but they had always been constants in each other’s lives. Whenever something happened, within the Blight home or outside of it, they’d always had each other, no matter the circumstances. They couldn’t always stand up for each other or stand at each other’s sides, but they were always there, each sibling’s presence unwavering. The world could’ve been ending around them, but they had always been confident that they’d endure everything alongside their siblings, whether they wanted to or not.

And now they sat gathered on the couch, anticipating the moment in which their world would be shattered. In which the youngest Blight sibling would be shipped off a dimension away, and no one could do anything about it for a long, long time. Not to mention, Edric and Emira were probably fugitives now for aiding in Amity’s escape. Three months ago, this wouldn’t have been as big of a deal; tensions were still on the low side, and the Emperor had, to some degree, ignored the Owl Lady so long as she continued only to sell her products on the night market. If Edric and Emira had been fugitives then, they still could have gone to school and lived somewhat ordinary lives. Now, however, the Boiling Isles were teetering on the edge of civil war, and criminals, especially those who stood between the Emperor and his plans, were of top priority. 

At the absolute best, the twins would be restricted only to living in the Owl House and a small patch of the surrounding woods, where they could lay low.

At the worst…

“Here.” Eda set three cups of apple blood on the table in front of the couch. “You’re welcome to have as much as you like. Or none at all, that’s alright too.”

Unsurprisingly, Eda got no response.

Amity had her head laid in Emira’s lap. The young, bruised-up girl was staring at the ceiling with glossy golden eyes, as though she couldn’t, or simply refused, to accept her reality.

Edric was slumped into the opposite corner of the couch, pretending he wasn’t crying. He let what hair he could loosely hang over his face in an attempt to hide the fact that his eyes were filled with unshed tears. 

The Blight siblings desperately wanted to stay awake. But the events of the day had taken a toll on all of them, and heavy fatigue was beginning to set in. It wasn’t long before their bodies had gone slack, and their minds had drifted off into sleep.

Eda stood in front of the couch, staring solemnly at the pile of dozing teenagers and sipping quietly at her apple blood. She hated to think it, but seeing the Blight siblings here nearly filled the human-shaped hole in the woman’s heart. 

Nearly.

Destroying the portal had been Eda’s decision.

Luz had stood in front of the gaping magic door, staring back into the Owl House where Eda, King, and Hooty watched her go. There had been tears- oh, so many tears -but the job was done quickly and efficiently. The portal was out of Belos’s reach, and the human was safe- just as Eda wanted. 

Eda had left the portal, in its broken state, crumbled in the corner of the living room, prevented from fixing it only by the intention of keeping Luz safe.

And then, Eda caught the news about the “training camps.”

Lilith had appeared on Eda’s doorstep, bloodied and frantic. The black-haired woman spoke quickly, but it didn’t take much to understand the general gist of what Lilith was getting at.

Belos, who Lilith had been passionately serving for years, had started a “camp” at his palace, in which the most gifted children of the Isles were practically tortured into submission, and taught powerful spells through dark magic and force.

It was when Lilith heard that Amity, her star pupil, would be sent away to this camp, that the woman once fiercely loyal to the Emperor had finally broken. Lilith fought her way out of the palace and sought shelter and assistance in the Owl House.

It wasn’t a day later that Edric and Emira Blight came to the house to report the exact same thing Lilith had come to prevent: Amity’s recruitment into the “camp.”

Eda liked the Blight girl, Amity, just fine- she’d humorously adopted the “over-protective mom” stereotype to mess with Luz and her lovebird, but Eda really had enjoyed Amity’s company (which was becoming worryingly common in the weeks leading up to Luz’s escape, Amity appearing at the Owl House even when Luz wasn’t home). 

Alright, maybe Eda liked Amity a little more than just fine- but she wasn’t about to adopt another lost puppy that she couldn’t get attached to.

It was the overwhelming urge to protect, the same feeling that Eda had experienced with Luz, that inspired the Owl Lady and a newly-treasonous Lilith to plan Amity’s escape, and rebuild the portal.

And look where that got them.

Eda sat down on the table in front of her sleeping visitors, silently watching with a heavy heart. None of them deserved to be in this position, they were kids after all, but here they were, their fates unfairly decided by a cruel dictator. 

Eda often toted the fact that she was the strongest witch on the Boiling Isles, but deep down, she knew she would never be able to topple Belos and his forces. Not alone, anyway.

With Lilith somewhere hiding out in the woods, and Eda herself growing older and seemingly weaker by the day, it felt like there was nothing that could be done to slow the Emperor’s siege across the Isles. And that was why Eda needed to succeed in getting Amity Blight into the human world, and why Eda would dedicate herself to protecting Edric and Emira with her life- the act would hardly make a dent in Belos’s power, but it was the best display of rebellion that Eda could think of.

He can’t have us all.

The woman took another long sip of her apple blood. 

No matter what happened in the coming hours, Eda assured herself of one thing.

I’ll get this plan to work, even if I die trying.

The Blight children expected to be woken up by a violent attack, or the crackling of an activated portal, waiting to take Amity away. However, they were gently pulled into consciousness not by the Emperor’s Coven, but by the soft, golden rays of the morning sun.

Emira was first to rise, her tired eyes peeking open to glimpse a still-sleeping Amity in her lap.

Under any other circumstance, Emira would have been somewhat annoyed by this. The girl liked to move around right after she woke up, taking time to stretch and prepare for the day ahead. Now, though, Emira was content to sit in place.

She slowly ran her fingers through her little sister’s hair, which was perfectly combed out. Emira gently caressed the brown roots on Amity’s head, not sure whether to frown or smile sadly at the chocolate color of Amity’s newer growth. 

The Blight parents- Odalia especially -had taken plenty away from the twins, but the extent of Ed and Em’s mistreatment could hardly compare to what Amity was subjected to. And it all started with her hair- the soft, brown hair that was so uniquely, beautifully, and unacceptably Amity -being stripped away from her. It was then that marked the beginning, the first days when the young girl stopped being Amity Blight, and simply became Blight. A miserable tale, but a familiar one in the Blight Household.

Still, it brought some reassurance staring at those brown roots. It reminded Emira that no matter how hard their parents tried, they’d never truly be able to take Amity away from herself.

Amity was the next one awake, but she didn’t let her siblings know it. She didn’t want to move again, not for the rest of her life- she just wanted to lay here, pressed against her sister, warm and safe from the Emperor’s forces.

Eventually, though, all three of them had to rouse.

It was the smell of food that finally woke Edric up.

Eda was cooking in the kitchen, preparing a meager breakfast for Amity’s send off. The meal would have been grander if they’d had any time, but an attack was imminent, and food was the least of their worries.

As the siblings walked into the kitchen, Amity leaned heavily on Emira’s shoulder, the true soreness of her body finally sinking in. She wanted to be grateful when she was lowered into a chair, but the hard surface of the seat didn’t help the aches. More than anything, Amity just wanted to lay down in her bed and pretend that none of this was happening. Pretend that she could go back in time, and act like everything was okay.

The tense feeling at the table reminded her that it wasn’t.

Everyone at the table pretended to eat, but nobody really had any appetite. Their stomachs were, instead, churning with anxiety as they awaited catastrophe. Any second now, an abomination would smash down the door, or a horde of guards would crash through the windows.

Eda was the first to speak.

“So, how’d you all sleep?”

No response. The Blight siblings only continued to nibble at their food.

Eda sighed.

“That’s to be expected, I guess. I’ll take it that no one here’s hungry?”

Still, no answer.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Eda pushed her full plate away, and stood up.

“Kids,” she said softly, “I think it’s about time you started saying your goodbyes. We need to get Amity out of here as soon as possible. I’m gonna go get that portal runnin’.” Eda promptly turned and walked back into the living room to attempt to start up the portal, leaving the three Blights alone in the kitchen.

For a few moments, there was silence.

Emira then opened her mouth, ready to speak, but before she could do anything, the sound of claws tapping against the floor came from around the corner.

King walked into the kitchen, eyes low, head hung. He slowly approached Amity, looking quickly away before flinging himself into her arms.

As the tiny demon slipped back down to the floor, he handed Amity a piece of paper.

“Give that to Luz when you see her, okay?”

Amity nodded solemnly. “Sure, King.”

With that, King scurried away, and Amity looked back to her siblings.

This time, Emira actually managed to speak.

“I’m so sorry, Amity.”

Amity’s eyes softened. “Emira, this isn’t your fault-“

“I’m not talking about this. ” Emira’s voice wavered, tears filling her eyes. “I’m…not talking about this. I’m talking about everything else.”

Amity just blinked confusedly.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Emira growled. “We weren’t any good to you. We knew what kind of pressure Mom put on you and we still tried to shut you out. We always pulled those awful pranks on you and…we failed you, Amity.” Emira was weeping now. “And I’m sorry.”

Horror had made its way onto Amity’s face. “Em, you don’t-“

“She’s right.”

Amity whipped around as she felt Edric rest his hand on her shoulder.

“We didn’t have any right to do what we did to you.” Amity felt her throat clog as her older brother hung his head. “And I always thought I’d have time to make it up to you, but I don’t.”

Edric exchanged watery-eyed glances with Emira, but he managed to hold back the tears, and keep his voice stable.

“I just want you to know that we love you, Mittens, and we always have, no matter what idiotic shit we pulled.” Edric wrapped his now-crying little sister into a hug, which Emira joined immediately. “We’ll always be there for you, no matter how bad it gets or how far away you are.”

“Got that right,” Emira muttered.

As the three of them squeezed into each other’s embrace, it was all they could do not to acknowledge the crackling of the portal as it opened in the other room. They desperately wanted, when Eda called them over, to pretend that they didn’t hear.

But they didn’t have enough time. Apparently, they never would.

As the embrace broke up, Amity could only produce one shaky phrase as she was guided towards the portal.

“I love you guys, too. So much.”

Edric smiled sadly. “We know, Amity. And we’ll be here when you get back.”

“And you will be back , ” Emira added firmly.

The portal hissed and howled, flashing sporadically as the siblings approached it.

Eda stood beside them, staring at the somewhat-unstable but very-much-alive gateway to the human word.

The woman spoke softly.

“You all ready?” 

Amity exchanged glances with her siblings, who only nodded encouragingly.

“Yes,” Amity said quietly.

“Alright then. Get at it, kid.”

Amity took one shaky step towards the portal, tears flooding back to her as she felt Eda, Emira, and Edric watching her go.

The jarring interruption of a high-pitched shriek barely registered in Amity’s mind.

“EEEEDA! WE’VE GOT VIIISITOOORS!”

Hooty’s voice was followed by a series of yells, and panic flashed through Eda’s face.

“Kid, you need to go. Now. ”

A loud thud thundered against the side of the Owl House.

Amity knew she should’ve been running through that portal, trying to get away from the Emperor. But she only found herself frozen in shock and fear, unable to take her final step forward.

“Kid, what are you waiting for? Go!”

Amity still couldn’t move. 

My family. I can’t just leave them. I can’t just leave them! I have to stay. I have to…

A force slammed into Amity, spinning her around and wrapping her into a tight hug.

She only had a short few seconds to glimpse her siblings’ faces.

“We love you, Mittens,” Edric said, smiling.

There were still tear tracks on her face, but Emira smiled too.

“See you soon, Amity.”

And with that, before the girl could even process what was going on, Amity was shoved into the gaping portal, and the door shut behind her.

Amity tumbled into the human world, and turned to stare tearfully at the blank wall where the gate had once been, before she fell to her knees and sobbed out the phrase that had gotten caught in her throat.

“ I love you too. ”

Camila Noceda had a love-hate relationship with working night shifts.

On the one hand, she loved picking Luz up from school and getting the opportunity to talk with her daughter in the afternoons.

On the other hand, trying to get sleep during the day would never be convenient.

It was, first, two short knocks.

The sound roused Camila, but it wasn’t enough to get her out of bed. She was used to the occasional delivery or door-to-door salesman attempting to get her attention when they saw her car in the driveway. Annoying, and strange for them to be out this early in the day, but not uncommon.

The next two knocks were loud and fast, almost frantic.

Camila groaned, rolling into her pillow. If she ignored them, they’d go away.

Another set of knocks came, this time weak and quiet, but very much still audible.

Camila grit her teeth, swearing to herself that if she was met with a stupid salesman at the door, she’d punch him in the face.

The woman grabbed at her glasses and rolled out of bed, before thundering down the stairs yelling, “Coming! I’m coming!”

Her glasses had only just settled onto her face when she reached the front door and whipped it open.

“If you have a delivery you can just—“ Camila stopped short.

There wasn’t a delivery worker waiting at the door, nor a package, nor a badly-dressed man attempting to sell a new AC unit.

Instead, Camila was met with a chilling scene.

There, leaning into the front doorway of the Noceda household, was a young girl. She was sitting on the ground, tucked into the corner of the doorframe with her knees drawn up to her chest and fresh tears running down her face.

Camila felt her heart drop into her stomach.

“Who…are you alright, cariño? ” Camila reached out for the girl, who only flinched away, eyes wide.

Camila drew back her hand, face twisting in worry.

The child steadied her breath, stopping her tears and managing to mumble out a few words.

“Are you…Noceda?”

Camila nodded, confused. “Yes, I’m Camila Noceda. Do I know you?”

The girl simply shook her head and quietly whispered, “No.”

Camila studied her visitor, puzzled as to how and why the girl had ended up here, knowing Camila’s name, but never having met her.

Quickly, though, Camila pushed all her questions away. Those didn’t matter right now; the only thing of any importance was helping this poor girl with whatever she’d come for.

“Here.” Camila offered the girl a hand, which the child studied warily. Eventually, though, she slipped her shaking hand into Camila’s and allowed the woman to pull her up.

Camila kept one hand on the girl’s back as she guided the small figure into her home, quietly shutting the door behind them.

The girl allowed herself to be lowered onto the couch, still in a seemingly numb state. Camila knelt down on the floor in front of her.

Amity cringed. This position was the exact same one Eda had taken, back on the Isles. Back with her siblings. Back home…

“Hello?” Camila’s voice snapped the girl out of her trance.

“Oh,” Amity muttered quietly. “Sorry. I should’ve been focusing.”

Camila shook her head. “That’s alright, it’s not important right now. I need to know, though, are you hurt?”

The girl eyed Camila skeptically. “Luz said…you were a healer.”

“ Luz! ” Camila exclaimed, ignoring the girl’s strange term. “You know my daughter?”

The girl nodded, slowly. “Your daughter and I…” Amity quickly shut herself up, deciding to withhold her relationship status for the time being. “I’m Amity. Amity Blight.”

Camila’s eyes widened. The woman tilted her head as she felt all the pieces fall into place. The green hair with brown at the roots, the black nails, the winged eyeliner. “Amity. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Yeah. Luz and I…” Did Camila know about the Boiling Isles? 

“Went to camp together, I know.”

That would be a no. “Yeah, camp,” Amity said, nodding frantically. “We were at camp.”

Camila nodded back slowly. Now she knew who this girl was, but it didn’t explain Amity’s situation in the least. Camila had never even figured out where Amity lived, and yet here she was, sitting in Camila’s house, having seemingly appeared out of thin air.

“Alright, Amity. ” Camila smiled gently at the shaking young girl. “Now that we’ve been properly introduced, I still need to know: are you hurt?”

Camila didn’t wait for an answer when she spotted a dark bruise peeking out from under Amity’s shirt sleeve.

“Where are you hurt?” The softness had left Camila’s voice and it was now firm and commanding.

Amity didn’t respond, leaving a silence to which Camila only sighed.

“Amity, I want to help you, but I can’t do anything for you if you don’t tell me what’s going on. Luz told you I’m a doctor, right?” For animals, maybe, but Camila still knew her way around medicine. “I can help you, Amity, you just need to let me.”

Camila’s voice was full of concern, and Amity felt guilty for not saying anything.

“It’s only bruises,” Amity reassured. “It’s not bad.”

Camila frowned, trying to stave off the creeping suspicions she had regarding Amity’s situation. “Where are the bruises?”

Amity went silent for a moment. The girl kicked out her feet and stared at the ground as she mumbled, “ Everywhere. ”

Camila wanted to cry just seeing the expression on Amity’s face, one of pure pain and despair. The woman sighed sadly, and rested a gentle hand on Amity’s knee.

“Amity, I think it’s best if we get you to a hospital. They’ll just give you a physical to make sure you’re not hurt too bad, and then they can help you get away from whoever did this to you.”

Amity teared up, and felt her body go rigid. Slowly, the girl shook her head.

Camila tilted her head confusedly. “No hospital? Are you in some sort of trouble with the police?”

“Hospital.” Amity rolled the word over her tongue, trying to recall its meaning. “Like…a healer’s office?”

Horror shot through Camila like a lightning bolt. “You don’t know what a hospital is?”

“I’m not from around here.”

“Well, there have to be hospitals where you’re from, Amity.” What did she call it? A healer’s office?

“What’s a physical?”

Panic surged through Camila’s body.

“Amity, do you remember anything that happened to you?”

Amity tensed. This was a perfect opportunity. She hated the idea of lying to Luz’s mother, who seemed so kind, but what else could she say? Hi, I’m your daughter’s girlfriend from the demon realm?!

“No, I don’t.” The words felt wrong in Amity’s throat, but she said them anyway.

“Amity, we really need to get you to a hospital.”

Amity only doubled down on her previous question. “What’s a physical?”

Camila’s face softened. “It’s not anything bad, Amity. A physical is when a doctor looks over your body to make sure you’re healthy.”

“You’re doing that now. Why do I need a hospital?”

“I don’t mean just looking, Amity. They’ll just feel around a bit, check your blood pressure, your pulse. Nothing too extreme, but more than I’m doing now.”

The very thought of being touched right now was enough to scare Amity. Healer’s office or not, she would not let herself end up in the hospital.

“No.” Amity’s voice was firm. Her head had stopped spinning now, and she finally remembered what a physical was. She remembered that, at some point, the healer would check her ears. Her very non-human ears.

“Amity, please.” Camila’s voice was desperate, her concern for Amity growing by the minute. “I need to help you.”

“I’m not going to a hospital.” On a normal occasion, Amity wouldn’t dare dream about standing up to an adult like this. But now, the adrenaline pumping through her veins, fueled by the idea that her very life depended on keeping her witch-hood a secret, was more than enough to motivate her.

And then, both Camila and Amity made fatal mistakes.

Camila reached out towards the clearly distressed girl in front of her.

And Amity panicked.

The young witch drew a circle in the air, which glowed a fluorescent purple before fading out, and a small abomination emerged from the floor between Amity and Camila.

Camila screeched out a curse and backed away from the gooey creation before the thing sunk back down into the floor.

Camila raised her shock-filled eyes to Amity.

The young girl was panting heavily, slowly keeling over on herself.

Amity clenched her teeth, and Camila’s heart stopped when she glimpsed two tiny, razor-sharp fangs in Amity’s mouth.

The girl wrangled her hair back behind her ears in a motion intended to calm herself down. Amity’s mind was clouding with fear, pain, and exhaustion.

Amity’s ears ended in a sharp point, and, to Camila’s amazement, pinned themselves back as Amity cried out in pain.

Amity managed to let out a final, soft groan before she slumped forward limply onto the couch.

Camila stared at the girl, if that’s what this thing was, in terror and bafflement. 

Amity was clearly unconscious now, laying face-first against the couch, completely limp.

Camila, slowly, approached. 

Everything about this creature looked human. It had even talked, and taken the form of one of Luz’s camp friends. And yet it had summoned some thing out of thin air, and it had fangs, and…

Camila pushed away Amity’s mint hair to reveal a large, pointed ear that wiggled slightly when Camila touched it.

It was in that moment that, finally, Camila’s horror got the best of her, and she too passed out onto the floor.

Fall was, decidedly, the best existing season.

Maybe it was the cool, crisp weather, or the warm and well-spiced cuisine, or the fact that the best holiday ever, Halloween, took place in it, but Luz had loved the fall for as long as she could remember.

For this reason, she didn’t at all mind the fact that she had to walk home from school today. She’d anticipated that her mother would pick her up, but maybe plans had changed and Luz simply hadn’t received her mother’s text message: school WiFi could be finicky.

Luz trotted down the sidewalk, smashing any dead leaves she could find, inhaling the cool autumn breeze, and generally luxuriating in the fact that she was out of school.

Of course, Luz’s general school situation hadn’t improved at all since the previous year. If anything, it had gotten worse after Luz returned from the Boiling Isles. Really, how could human school ever be enjoyable after attending Hexside, where they’d taught actual magic? How could Luz pretend that she enjoyed her human peers’ company when she’d finally figured out what real friendship, and even love, had felt like?

Luz felt awful, knowing that her mother was still under the impression that Luz had attended some summer camp intended to fix her, completely oblivious to the fact that her daughter had started a life for herself in another dimension. 

I can’t dwell on that, though.

As much as Luz tried to ignore it, one simple fact remained: Eda had destroyed the portal. Now, Luz didn’t even have access to the Boiling Isles, much less a future there. On the Isles, life would move on without her, her friends would forget her, and Amity?

Amity would find someone else to love.

Luz’s heart sank.

I can’t dwell on that.

There was, Luz decided, no time to be despaired. It was fall after all, and it wouldn’t last long, so Luz had to soak up every minute of these walks home from school.

Luz adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and stamped down onto another crunchy leaf, exhaling into the chilled autumn air.

Camila had wholly expected to wake up in her bed upstairs, recovering from the insane nightmare she had just experienced, about Luz’s friend from camp, and whatever demon was taking her shape.

Instead, Camila picked up right where she’d left off: on the floor next to the couch on which “Amity” was still unconscious.

Camila’s heart stopped beating for a moment as she stared at the creature in front of her. She wasn’t out of danger. Not yet, at least.

I need to call the cops.

To Camila’s knowledge, the police were the best people equipped for handling forgein human-like creatures.

The woman quietly pushed herself up onto her feet and prepared to walk over to the table by the door, where she’d left her phone.

She got to the table without making a sound, and slowly picked up the small device that her life currently depended on.

Camila opened the phone and began to dial the numbers.

9-1-1

The call began to process and Camila tapped her fingers against the phone anxiously.

Finally, the call went through.

Unfortunately, Camila had completely forgotten to turn down her volume.

“NINE-ONE-ONE, WHAT’S YOUR EMERGENCY?” The dispatcher’s voice blared.

Camila felt her blood run cold as she watched the creature’s ears perk forward. It lifted its head, and turned its golden eyes to focus on Camila.

Suddenly, the words were caught in the woman's throat.

“Hello?” The dispatcher chirped.

A look of what seemed to be pure fear washed over the creature’s face. 

“There’s…something in my house.”

“Something in your house? Ma’am, is it a person?”

Camila’s throat clogged. The woman hadn’t broken eye contact with the thing laying on her couch.

“No,” Camila said quietly.

“Okay, ma’am, it’s an animal? How big is it?”

“It’s…not an animal.” Camila’s voice was monotone and numb. The creature was starting to stand.

“Ma’am, if it’s not human, it has to be an animal. If you can see it clearly, can you describe what it looks like?”

Fangs. Golden irises. Moving, pointed ears.

“It-“ Camila was cut short by the most terrifying sound she could imagine.

“Mom, I’m home!”

Luz cheerfully strode into the house, shrugging her backpack off at the door.

“Sorry I forgot to text you that I was on my way back, I kinda got lost in the scenery. Is it alright if I have a snack?”

Luz pushed past Camila, walking towards the kitchen. Before she made it far, though, she noticed someone on the couch.

“Hey, I didn’t know we were having anyone over!”

Camila, impulsively, shut off her phone.

“Luz, could you stay over here, please?”

“ Luz? ”

Camila tensed when she heard that voice. It was the creature’s, high and hopeful, probably trying to appeal to her daughter.

As Luz peeked over at the couch, she felt her heart stop on her chest.

There, covered in grime and bruises, hair loose and messy, face stained with tear trails, and eyes wide with hope, was Amity Blight.

“Amity!” Luz cried, rushing forward towards her girlfriend.

Just as quickly, Amity forced herself into a seating position and jumped forward, charging towards Luz.

Just as they neared each other, coming within inches of each other’s embraces, another force threw itself between them.

Camila surged forward at Amity, slamming her fist into the witchling’s chest.

Amity screamed in agony, and Luz stared on in horror.

“Luz, please, leave, ” Camila said urgently. “You’re in danger here. You need to go get help.”

“Mom, what are you doing? ” Luz’s voice was shrill and terrified.

“Luz!” Amity gasped. The mint-haired girl hauled herself forward, trying to get off the floor.

Camila spun around and landed a kick to Amity’s temple, before stomping down on the witch’s fragile head to make sure that the damned creature finally stayed down .

The young girl’s eyes fluttered shut, slipping back into unconsciousness.

“ Amity! ” Luz’s cry was agonized. Before Camila could stop her, the human girl rushed forward and took her girlfriend’s head into her lap, crying now and caressing Amity’s face.

Amity herself was flickering in and out of consciousness, hardly moving.

“ Amity, ” Luz whispered, pulling her girlfriend up and pressing the witchling’s battered body into her chest. Luz turned her horrified eyes to her mother.

“What did you do? ” 

Luz gently tucked Amity’s hair back.

“Luz, look at her ear.” Camila was almost as horrified with herself as Luz was, but she had to remind herself that the outburst wasn’t unfounded. Some creature had charged towards her daughter, and now, that creature lay limp in said daughter’s arms.

Luz traced her finger along the angled shape of Amity’s ear. “Mom…”

“This is not Amity,” Camila said in a low voice. “This thing isn’t human. We need to get out of here and call the cops, now. ”

“Mom,” Luz said again, voice steadier now. She glanced away, heart beating at the speed of sound. “I…This is Amity.” Luz looked at the floor. “And you’re right, she isn’t human.”

“ Mija, what do you mean she isn’t human? Amity is your friend from camp, remember?”

“Mom…I never actually went to camp.”

“Luz, what do you-“

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Luz said sharply. “I can explain everything later. Right now, you need to help Amity.”

“How can I help her if I don’t know what she is?! And why would I? Whatever Amity is, she’s a danger to us both!”

Luz didn’t listen. She gently lifted Amity up and laid her on the couch, propping the witchling’s head up with a pillow.

Luz ran her hand into Amity’s hair and frowned when her fingertips came out stained with blood.

“I think she has a concussion.”

Luz shot a death glare towards her mother. “Why are you standing over there? You’re the doctor here, come help me! ”

“Luz-“

Camila’s daughter wasn’t listening. Instead, Luz was leaning over Amity, whispering quiet words of reassurance.

Camila sighed, and inched forward.

Amity’s eyes were glazed, but as soon as the witch caught sight of Camila, fear took over her face.

Amity began whimpering.

“No, no, please don’t hurt me.” The girl’s voice was desperate and terrified. Amity shifted on the couch, trying to get away from Camila. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll leave, I promise, I’ll get away from you. Please, I…I don’t wanna die.”

Luz was tearing up again now, and even Camila couldn’t deny that Amity’s pleas struck a maternal nerve in her.

“You’re not going to die, Amity. You’re going to be okay. Just focus on me, alright?” Luz offered Amity a small smile, which, of course, Amity didn’t return.

Slowly and somewhat reluctantly, Camila raised Amity’s head to inspect it.

Thankfully, the symptoms were only moderate. The bleeding was light and had seemingly stopped, but there was some swelling in the area.

“Luz, could you go get me an ice pack?”

Luz nodded urgently and darted over to the kitchen.

Camila turned back to focus on Amity, who had her eyes squeezed shut in fear.

“Amity, I’m going to need you to open your eyes, okay?”

“Okay,” Amity whispered.

When Amity’s eyelids fluttered open, Camila’s heart skipped a beat. The woman wasn’t sure how she’d missed it when she first saw Amity at the door, but the girl’s eyes were a deep, inhuman gold.

Thankfully, though, her pupils were the same size.

After giving Amity a quick lookover, Camila determined that Amity’s condition wasn’t severe. The girl had a moderate concussion, but not one she couldn’t recover from.

Luz slipped back to sit at Camila’s side, and pressed the ice pack against Amity’s head. The young witch cooed softly as the cold object was gently applied to her throbbing injury.

Amity turned her eyes to look at her two caretakers. They lingered, softly, on Luz, before shifting to look at Camila.

It took all of Camila’s will not to break eye contact with Amity, who looked utterly shaken and miserable. Finally, Amity turned her eyes away.

“I’m sorry.” Amity murmured.

Camila didn’t respond.

“For what? ” Luz sounded appalled that Amity had even thought of apologizing to them.

“I shouldn’t have come here. I’m not human-” -Amity glanced at Camila through the corners of her bloodshot eyes- “-and I have no right to be in your world. I’m a burden to you. I just didn’t have anywhere else to go. I’m sorry.”

“ Amity .” Luz slipped Amity’s pale hand into her own. “Please don’t apologize. I’m so happy you’re here.”

“Yeah, but not everyone is.” Luz followed Amity’s eyes, until both girls were staring at Camila.

Luz’s face was full of anger and confusion, but Amity only looked tired and scared. 

“I’m sorry, Miss Noceda. I had no right to intrude on your realm or your home.” Amity looked down.

What am I supposed to say? The creature, Amity, seemed genuine. And, even worse, Luz had known that Amity wasn’t human.

What had happened during the summer that led to Luz meeting some otherworldly elvin creature?

“Amity,” Camila said slowly, struggling to find the right words in this absurd situation, “I don’t know what you are. I thought you were some… thing that had taken the form of my daughter’s friend, but clearly you’re something else.” 

“She’s the best person I know,” Luz said earnestly.

“You’ve been telling me that, mija .” Camila looked back to Amity and sighed. “I still don’t know what you are, Amity, but I’ve heard a lot about you, and how much you mean to Luz. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that I attacked you. I thought you were going to hurt my daughter.”

Amity didn’t say anything. She just nodded slowly.

Luz then let out a long sigh. “I owe you an explanation,” she said, looking up at her mother. “About this summer.”

“I’d appreciate that, Luz.”

Luz drummed her fingers on the couch. “There’s a lot to say, so I’ll just tell you the… abridged version.”

Camila nodded encouragingly, and with another sharp inhale, Luz began.

“When I was waiting for the bus to camp, I saw this little owl stealing trash from behind the house. I was kinda weirded out by it, so I followed him into this shack in the woods, and he walked through some glowing door. I followed him, and when I stepped in, I realized that I'd walked through a portal, into a place called the Boiling Isles. That’s where Amity’s from.” Luz nodded at her girlfriend. “I met this woman, Eda- I think I told you she was a camp counselor?- who’s a witch, which is what exactly Amity is.” Luz sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “I didn’t want to go to camp, Mom, I really didn’t. So I begged Eda to teach me magic, and she said yes.”

Camila sighed. She wanted to be surprised or disappointed, but that- staying in another dimension to learn magic- was a very Luz thing to do.

“While I was there I got enrolled into a magic school, called Hexside,” Luz continued. “That’s where I met Willow, Gus, and Amity. And I stayed in the Boiling Isles for months, learning magic. But my ways of doing it were a bit… unconventional. It angered Emperor Belos, who’s the ruler type person of the Boiling Isles. By the end of the summer, Eda decided that when she sent me back home, she’d destroy the portal behind me, so that Belos couldn’t hurt me. And now I’m here.”

Camila nodded, head spinning. “So you expect me to believe that you spent your entire summer in an alternate realm, learning magic?”

“There’s a witch on our couch right now. I don’t think you have any choice but to believe.” Luz smiled shyly.

“Okay,” Camila said slowly. “But if Eda destroyed the portal, how did Amity get here?”

“My question exactly.” Luz looked over at the dazed witch beside her. “Amity, if you’re alright with it, do you mind telling us how you got here?”

It was Amity’s turn to sigh heavily, but she just nodded. 

“After you left, tensions with the Emperor were extremely high. He started a training program, where he’d take the most talented witchlings on the Isles and ship them off to his palace, where he’d ‘train’ them by torturing them.” Amity’s voice shook. “The second we heard about the camps, we knew he’d be coming for me. So Ed, Em and I made a plan. We asked Eda and Lilith- who defected, by the way -to rebuild the portal so that we could all get into the human world. We were planning on coming here together.” Amity took a breath. “But things got intense really quick, so yesterday we all decided to leave a week early, just to be safe. The portal wasn’t done yet, but we wanted to get away from my parents and the Emperor’s Coven.”

“But they found you,” Luz guessed.

“Yeah. They tried to take me yesterday. I got away, but…” Tears had regathered in Amity’s eyes. “…Because they were already onto us, I had to go through the portal today, when it was still unstable. Ed and Em couldn’t come with me. The portal’s gone. I’m stuck here. And I had nobody else to go to, so I came here.”

Amity reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

“My map,” Luz murmured.

Amity nodded.

“So, if I have this right, you came here to escape the Evil Emperor, or whatever his name was, and have no way back?” Camila asked.

“Emperor Belos,” Amity corrected, “and yes.”

Camila took in a sharp inhale, staring at the ground and slowly shaking her head.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Luz sounded hurt.

“I don’t know what I believe,” Camila murmured. “I’d think I was going insane, but Amity exists. She’s tangible. And I have no other way to explain her existence.”

“Amity can prove that she's a witch!” Luz blurted. “She can do abomination magic! Right Amity?”

The young witch on the couch looked away, and Luz raised her eyebrows in concern.

“You can do magic here, right? Eda told me you could!” Luz’s eyes widened. “Do you still have your magic?”

Amity nodded silently.

“She did something earlier,” Camila said. “She made some weird creature come out of the carpet.”

“An abomination! That’s the type of magic Amity specializes in.” Luz turned back to Amity, eyes bright. “You can do it again, can’t you?”

Amity studied her hands, before quietly whispering, “ No. ”

Concern returned to Luz’s face. Why couldn’t Amity do magic again? Did it have something to do with yesterday’s attack? Maybe the concussion?

Luz’s voice was soft. “Why not?”

“It…hurts. Bad. ” Amity shifted her eyes towards Luz. “I could only make a small one, and even when I did that it just…sucked everything out of me. I couldn’t breathe, and everything hurt, and I was so tired, and eventually I just passed out.”

Luz nodded slowly. “Okay then. No magic.”

“No magic,” Amity confirmed.

“But you saw her, right?” Luz looked back at her mother. “You know that she can do magic.”

“I saw her,” Camila reaffirmed. 

Luz nodded again, looked as if she were about to say something, but then turned back to Amity.

The room fell into tense silence.

Luz was holding Amity’s hand, gently rolling her thumb over the witch’s knuckles. 

Camila simply stared at the floor, brain moving a million miles a minute. Her common sense told her that this couldn’t be real, that everything she’d ever been taught contradicted the idea of witches and magic and alternate dimensions.

But her eyes told her a different story, because here, in front of her, was a magical witch from another dimension. And here was her daughter, seeing the exact same thing.

Camila wanted this all to be some strange dream that she’d wake up from. Then she could pick Luz up from school and talk to her about normal, human things, and go on with her life.

But she knew, in her better judgement, that it wasn’t. Amity was physically, tangibly, and undeniably real.

Camila wanted to trust that better judgement, and do something about this. Get this creature away from her family. Turn Amity over to the authorities, and let her be dealt with.

But the idea of that made Camila’s stomach churn.

It was becoming more apparent with every passing moment that Amity was, despite being an otherworldly creature, very human.

The fear in her eyes, the tremor to her voice, and her shaky, labored breathing didn’t portray the image of a powerful magic being, who could and would attack if given the chance.

In Amity, Camila only saw a terrified, hurt, and desperate child , not unlike her daughter, who needed help more than anything.

Turning Amity over would have been the more sensible decision.

But Camila knew that, if anything, Amity’s treatment would probably be worse than all those sci-fi movies she’d watched, in which the alien is captured by the government.

Amity would be pricked and probed, tortured, and treated as nothing but a lab rat. Experimented on, caged and chained, and probably, eventually, dead on a dissection table with her insides exposed.

Camila looked back to the witch on her couch.

Amity’s eyes were shut now, and her head was tucked into the crook of Luz’s arm. Amity didn’t look peaceful, still shaking like a leaf, but there was a sort of contentment on her face as she huddled into Luz, who was gently stroking Amity’s hair and tucking it behind her pointed ear.

No, Camila couldn’t doom Amity to that terrible fate. 

Taking in a traumatized girl from another dimension didn’t seem like a great idea, but for now, it was the only one Camila had.

Camila could sort out the details of it all later. For now, she just had to come to terms with her new reality.

“Luz?” Camila asked softly.

Luz slowly turned to her mother, and Amity’s eyes blinked open.

“Yes?”

“Could you bring Amity upstairs, to your room, maybe? It’s a bit quieter up there, and she needs to get some rest.”

Luz's eyes widened with shock and hope.

“She can stay?”

Camila nodded slowly, and Luz looked like she was about to cry tears of joy.

Amity simply stared at Camila, dumbstruck, with tears of relief slipping out of her eyes. Amity opened her mouth and attempted to choke out a thank you, but the words were stuck in her throat.

Luz was buzzing now, but she didn’t let her excitement come through too strongly, so as not to overwhelm Amity.

“Oh, I can’t wait to show you my room!” Luz squeaked. In a fluid, swift motion, Luz scooped Amity up into her arms.

Amity’s face flushed bright red. “Luz, I can walk- “

“No, you’re already hurt. I’m carrying you.”

Amity let out a high-pitched, “ Okay ” as she was carried up the stairs.

Camila raised her eyebrows.

Something told her there was more to their relationship than simply friends from school, but she could ask those questions later.

Camila collapsed onto the couch, dropping her head into her hands and rubbing her temples, questioning how exactly she’d ended up here.

She was abruptly interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

“Miss Noceda? It’s the county police! You cut off your call earlier, we wanted to check up on you!”

For a moment, panic surged through Camila. But she brushed that away, and stood up to answer the door.

There was a single officer standing on her doorway. The same doorway where she’d found a scared, crying girl just hours before.

“You called to report something in your house.”

Camila nodded tiredly. “Turns out it was just a raccoon. I’d never seen one that big before, but I managed to shoo it out the door.”

“And that’s all it was? Nothing else out of the ordinary here?”

Camila sighed softly as she heard her daughter’s excited voice talking upstairs. She’d have to remind Luz that Amity probably wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

“No sir, just a raccoon. Everything’s perfectly normal.”

Chapter Text

“What exactly do witches eat?”

“A lot of things, but I don’t think we have any of those exact items.”

“Would an omelet work?”

“Probably.”

Luz was sitting in a chair against her kitchen counter, talking to her mother, who was trying to plan breakfast.

The girl’s head was still spinning after the previous day’s events.

Amity. Amity was here . In her house.

Luz wanted to be excited (and, ashamedly, knew that she was, to some degree), but then she remembered the state of her girlfriend yesterday.

Small, tired, scared, and hurt.

Currently, the young witch was sleeping upstairs. Amity hadn’t stayed awake for too long after Luz had first carried her up there, as she was clearly fatigued, in pain, and desperate for rest. She’d curled up in Luz’s bed and fallen asleep within the next ten minutes, before Luz slipped into bed beside her, falling asleep almost just as quickly.

By all regards, nothing about this situation should have garnered any excitement.

And then there came the elephant in the room, one Camila Noceda.

Luz loved her mother to death. Despite everything that had happened between them, she always had, and always would.

But the image was still burned into her brain.

The horrific image of her mother’s foot coming down on Amity’s head. The wail Amity released as it happened. The fear in Amity’s eyes whenever they came to fall on Camila. The desperate bargaining the young witch had made in an attempt to avoid further injury.

Luz had always, throughout her time on the Boiling Isles, fantasized about her mother’s introduction to Amity. A family dinner, maybe, with homemade food or tacos from the shop down the street that made Luz’s mouth water just at the thought of it.

They’d talk, and laugh, and Camila would love Amity just as much as her daughter did.

But now, Amity had a concussion, the outcome of a brutal attack from Luz’s own mother.

Luz’s stomach twisted as she realized that she didn’t trust her mother alone with Amity- she hated knowing that the two most important people in her life right now were a danger to each other.

Camila was talking now, but Luz only chose to hear the quiet sizzle of the eggs against the frying pan.

Something about making a scramble instead. Potatoes. Cheese. Bacon.

The smells flooded Luz’s nostrils, and her mouth began to water. 

Camila continued to speak.

Something about sensitive to light. Loss of consciousness. Swelling. Bruising.

Anger suddenly settled itself into the pit of Luz’s stomach. The girl pushed her chair away from the counter and hopped down.

“I’m going to check up on Amity,” she said dryly.

“Okay, just remember to look out for any worsening symptoms, alright? And come down for breakfast, it’ll be ready soon.”

“Mhm.” Luz was already halfway up the stairs.

The girl gently pushed open the door of her room and slunk in.

Amity was still curled up on her side, sleeping in a ball like a cold kitten. 

Luz couldn’t help but give a small smile: this was the most peaceful she’d seen Amity since yesterday.

Without thinking, Luz reached out and ran her hand through Amity’s soft hair.

The witch startled awake, scrambling away from Luz’s hand and eyeing it warily before looking up to glimpse her visitor.

As soon as Amity realized that whoever had touched her wasn’t a threat, the fatigue returned to her features.

“Sorry, I’m so sorry!” Luz whispered frantically. “You can go back to sleep!”

Amity just stared up at Luz with tired eyes.

Finally, the witch looked away and mumbled, “It’s okay, Luz…Could you sit with me?”

Luz blinked once, before seating herself next to Amity without hesitation. “Of course.”

Amity leaned up against Luz. Within moments, the witchling took up the shaking that had been her constant for almost two days straight.

Luz simply kept an arm wrapped around Amity, gently rubbing her girlfriend's shoulder.

The moment was so serene, it was almost as if the girls were back on the Isles, waiting out a boiling rain storm in each other’s arms. For a short moment, the previous day’s problems didn’t exist. There was simply Luz and Amity, and nothing else.

The two of them sat there, quiet and content, before they were interrupted by another voice.

“Luz, breakfast is ready.” Camila gently tapped Luz’s door before making the announcement.

Immediately, Amity stiffened, and a surge of protectiveness flushed through Luz.

“Mom, I don’t think I’ll be ready for a little while longer.”

There was a beat of silence.

Camila wanted to release a sharp sigh, knowing that the food would be cold by the time Luz decided she was hungry. But the woman was already on unsteady terms with her daughter, and expressing any disapproval right now would only worsen things.

“Alright,” Camila huffed. “It’ll be down here when you want it.”

The woman quietly walked back down to the kitchen.

In Luz’s bedroom, Amity was gripping Luz’s hand desperately, knuckles white, eyes wide, and shaking more intense than ever.

Luz ignored the pain of Amity’s fingernails digging into her palm, instead feeling her stomach twist with concern and sadness.

“She’s gone,” Luz quietly reassured.

Amity said nothing. She just released her grip on Luz’s hand and slumped into the human girl tiredly.

Luz gently squeezed Amity closer.

They sat there for a few long moments, quiet and still, before Luz felt Amity’s body jerk beside her.

Luz spun her head around quickly to make sure that Amity was alright, but the human only felt her heart drop in her chest.

Amity was heaving silent sobs into Luz’s shoulder. 

It was impressive, really, how quiet the young witch kept herself. It was a talent Amity had been practicing for years.

Luz sighed. She had never really been the best at comforting people. She liked to tell jokes to lighten the mood, and she was always willing to listen when somebody wanted to talk. But this situation was a whole different beast.

Here she was, confronted with her sobbing girlfriend who, in the past three days, had fled her only home (and barely escaped the Emperor, and even her parents, while doing so), abandoned her siblings and her native realm (possibly forever), and then ended up here, in a foreign land, only to be attacked by the one person she thought she could trust (Luz’s own mother, no less).

Quite simply, there were no jokes to be made, no rambles to be listened to.

There was only Luz, Amity, and the dead silence of the room, only interrupted when Amity shuffled her face further into Luz’s shoulder.

Luz wanted to say something. The right thing.

But was there really a right thing to say here? A perfect line of dialogue that could pull Amity out of her sorrows, or at least comfort the poor girl?

It didn’t matter. Nothing meaningful could manifest in Luz’s head, only generic phrases of reassurance that would never be enough to soothe this hectic and horrific situation.

The frog in Luz’s throat dislodged sprang forward in the form of one of those pathetic, generic, unhelpful phrases.

“What’s wrong?”

It was a stupid question.

Too much is wrong.

Everything is wrong.

Amity looked up at Luz miserably, with watery eyes and a still-quivering lip. She opened her mouth, buffering for a moment. What was wrong? 

Despite having more than enough reason to be doing so, Amity couldn’t identify the cause of her crying.

Instead, she just choked out a simple sentence.

“My head hurts.”

Luz frowned. “Yeah, my mom said that stimulating the brain can make your symptoms worse. You still need rest. Can you lie down?”

Amity just looked up at Luz desperately.

“Please don’t leave.”

Luz was biting back her own tears now, but she managed to hold it together. “I’m not going to leave you, Amity. But I need to help you get better. Just lie down and close your eyes, I’ll be right next to you the whole time.”

Amity still looked uneasy, but she hesitantly lowered herself onto the bed, keeping her eyes on Luz and the door behind her.

The bed was, admittedly, the softest Amity had ever slept in, and so she had no trouble settling back down into it.

Beside her, Luz took Amity’s hand into her own.

The headache was still present, but it was beginning to fade.

Either that, or Amity was drifting back into sleep.

It was, of course, the latter.

Luz came down for breakfast about half an hour after it was called.

The food still smelled fantastic, and Luz placed it into the microwave to heat it up and almost return it to its former fresh glory.

Camila was already seated at the kitchen counter, slowly picking at her food.

Luz sat down next to her mother to eat, but neither of them spoke. They just nibbled at their meals, heads tilted away from each other.

Even when the bulk of their food was gone, they still scooped up every last potato, strip of cheese, or grain of pepper, simply to keep themselves occupied and silent. They were, decidedly, better off ignoring the tense feeling in the air.

Eventually, though, their forks were only scraping ceramic, and their ability to preoccupy themselves was dissipated.

Confrontation was inevitable.

It was Luz who spoke first.

“She went back to sleep.” Luz turned her head away from her mother, trying to hold back tears of anger and confusion. “She said her head hurts.”

Camila didn’t attempt to meet her daughter’s eyes. Instead, the woman just nodded.

“Headaches are normal. Just make sure not to overstimulate her.”

Luz squinted and grit her teeth, the unspoken rage she’d been suppressing finally coming to a head.

“ I wasn’t the one who overstimulated her.”

Camila stiffened in her seat. Through the corners of her eyes she looked over at her daughter, who was still turned away from her.

“I was just sitting with her. She was okay.” Luz’s voice was shaking.

Camila knew the bitter words were coming before Luz even opened her mouth.

But that didn’t make them sting any less.

“ You were too much for her.”

Camila gently laid her fork down on her plate, tenser than ever. Luz had balled her fists, and there was the slightest crack in her voice as she spoke.

“She’s terrified of you, Mom.”

Camila took in a deep breath and exhaled it in a heavy sigh. She looked down at her plate: not a scrap of food was left over. 

Her heart dropped when she heard the sound of her daughter’s quiet sniffling. Luz was huddled over on herself in her chair, head in her hands.

The woman wrapped her hands around the edge of the counter and gripped it with all her strength, pressing her eyes shut and clenching her teeth.

“Why would you do that?” Luz’s voice was high and heartbroken. “What if she never gets better? What if she dies? ”

“She won’t die, Luz.”

“You don’t know that! ” Luz paused, her shaking body freezing for a moment.

“But you don’t care, either.”

Camila lowered her head, stomach twisting and eyes beginning to water. It hurt her, seeing her daughter like this. Luz’s attachment to Amity was undeniable, and maybe even vice versa.

But one simple fact stood.

Camila still didn’t trust Amity. Witch or not, school friend or not, child or not , Amity was still an inhuman being.

Camila wanted to deny Luz’s statement. Yesterday, she’d seen something in Amity, something human, that had convinced her to keep the creature in her home. Something about Amity’s face, eyes, and fear had struck a protective nerve in Camila, one that willed the woman to keep the creature safe.

Camila hadn’t reported the witch to the authorities. She’d offered Amity her hospitality.

She did care.

But Camila knew, deep down, that she probably didn’t care enough. Because in the very pit of her stomach, in the darkest corner of her mind, Camila knew she wouldn’t be truly sad if Amity died.

More than anything, Camila would be relieved. 

But Luz didn’t need to know that.

The pair sat in silence for what seemed like a century, Luz still facing away, seething. 

Finally, the girl harshly pushed her chair forward and jumped down onto the floor.

“I’m going upstairs,” Luz muttered. “Don’t come up anytime soon. Amity’s sleeping. I wouldn’t want her to be overstimulated. ”

The young girl stormed up the stairs, leaving Camila alone in the kitchen.

Once Camila heard Luz’s door shut, the woman finally let herself collapse, bringing her hands to her head and slumping over the counter in her chair.

There was a sort of desperation in her, an intense desire to truly accept Amity and finally accommodate her daughter’s wishes. But she could barely bring herself to believe in Amity’s existence, let alone the idea that the witching was harmless.

It was a good thing that Amity had arrived on a Friday, because come Monday, Camila wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

Amity drifted in and out of sleep throughout the day.

Whenever she opened her eyes, her body filled with a small burst of panic. But whenever that happened, her eyes would drift off towards the window, under which Luz would be sitting, reading a book. 

Luz would smile, mouth it’s alright, and Amity would peacefully slip back into slumber.

Eventually, though, Amity was fully roused by the smell of hot food. It was stronger than it had been at breakfast, closer.

Luz was sitting at her bedside, holding a white bag with a logo on it.

“You need to eat,” Luz said. “We got some sandwiches. I don’t know what you like, so I just bought you a grilled cheese.”

Amity leaned forward as Luz pulled out the sandwich, wrapped in greasy white paper.

Luz carefully unwrapped it and revealed to Amity a perfectly toasted grilled cheese, cut into two triangles down the middle.

Amity stared at it.

“I’m not hungry.”

Luz frowned. “You might not be, but you need to eat, alright? And I brought water too, to keep you hydrated.” Luz tilted her head at Amity. “Please, just eat a little bit.”

Amity stared at the sandwich, before slowly taking it from Luz’s hand.

Luz had described a “grilled cheese” before, saying that it was her favorite thing on her human school lunch menu.

“I mean, it’s basically impossible to mess up a grilled cheese,” Luz had said, shrugging. “It’s just cheese and bread.”

The sandwich was warm in Amity’s hand. It smelled great, but the thought of eating anything right now made Amity squirm.

The only thing that got the witch to take her first bite was Luz’s pleading stare.

After that, though, the flavor was enough to get Amity to finish.

The thing was delicious, the bread perfectly buttered and crisped and the cheesy insides warm and creamy.

Before Amity knew it, she’d devoured the whole thing, letting its warmth settle in the pit of her stomach. Luz offered her a napkin, which she used to gently brush the crumbs off of her face.

She had to admit, she did feel much better after eating.

Luz was now smiling approvingly. “It was good, right?”

Amity nodded. “It was really good.”

“Yeah, basically everything from that sandwich place is good. They don’t serve one bad meal. Not that I know of, anyway.” Luz gently took the napkin out of Amity’s hands and dropped it into the bag. “You feeling a bit better?”

“Yeah, less tired.”

“Good, that’s really good,” Luz said, nodding. “You’ve been pretty lethargic all day, which is a bad sign, so I’m glad you’re more awake.”

Amity just nodded and looked away. She didn’t feel great, but she didn’t feel miserable anymore. Even still, Amity’s subtle sickness stubbornly persisted.

Amity's now full stomach churned as she sat in silence next to Luz. A single nervous question tugged at the back of Amity’s mind.

“…I’m going to get better, right?”

Luz’s face softened. “Of course you are, Amity. You just need to take it easy for a week or so. This’ll blow over, I promise.” Luz intertwined her fingers with Amity’s and gave the witchling’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Soon enough, you’ll be back to normal.”

Amity went silent for a moment, before quietly whispering, “And then what?”

Luz felt her heart drop.

And then what?

Amity didn’t have a life here in the human world. It was simply too dangerous for that.

One wrong move, and it was all over.

An injury that led to hospitalization. What happened when the doctors figured out that Amity’s physique wasn’t human?

A run in with the law. What happened when the police found out that, legally, Amity didn’t exist?

Or, worst of all, a magical outburst. What happened if someone saw, or worse, if someone filmed it?

What happened when the government found out that there was an alien being living freely in the Human Realm?

Luz didn’t want to think about what would happen to Amity then.

Instead, she just let out a long, low sigh.

“I’m not sure, Amity. But we’ll figure it out like we always do, okay?”

“Okay,” Amity whispered.

“I’m gonna make you say it.”

“Luz-“

“Say it with me, Amity.”

“Luz, this doesn’t-“

“ We can do this together. ”

Amity groaned playfully.

“Say it Amity, I’ll be here all day. We can do this together. ”

Amity blew out a breath, but then smiled to herself. “We can do this together.”

“That’s the spirit!” Luz grinned at her friend, and Amity, shyly, smiled back.

“For now, though, we need to focus on getting you better.” Luz held up a water bottle and handed it to Amity. “Dehydration is a recipe for disaster, so you need to drink some of this.”

Amity didn’t try to protest this time. She unscrewed the cap and, impressively, managed to down about a third of the bottle in one go.

Luz watched with wide eyes. “Alright then, I think I’ll always keep some water by the bed.” Luz squeezed Amity’s hand again. “How’s your head?”

“Better,” Amity said, nodding. The pain wasn’t completely gone, but it was duller now, less noticeable. “I think the sleep helped.”

“I bet it did. You did a lot of that.” Luz tilted her head. “Plan on doing any more?”

Amity sighed heavily and turned her eyes up to the ceiling. “I’m not tired,” she said, “but I’m not sure what else there is to do.”

Luz clucked her tongue. “Yeah, Mom said that it’s best to limit most activities for now. I mean, we could try something.”

“Like what?”

“I dunno, whatever you want! As long as it’s not too overwhelming.”

Amity pondered for a moment. What was there to do?

“Hmm.” Amity continued to stare at the ceiling, before turning her eyes to land on Luz. “Could you read to me?”

Luz’s eyes widened and a blush flashed across her face. She fiddled with her hands a bit, chuckling nervously.

“I, uh, yeah Amity! Sure, I can do that! What, uh, what book do you want me to read?”

Luz’s face was still beet red.

Why can’t I stop being awkward around her? We’re dating, I’m not supposed to be flustered anymore!

At Luz’s pathetic floundering, Amity only giggled.

“What about the Azura books?”

Luz grinned. “Man, I haven’t thought about those since the beginning of the summer!”

“Yeah,” Amity muttered. “The last time I touched one was when-“

“I lent you the fifth installment.”

Both girls were blushing furiously now, and they stayed that way, until Luz cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Yeah, sure, Good Witch Azura. Which book?”

Amity blew out a long, contemplative breath. 

“Any. I don’t really care.”

“How ‘bout we start at book one?”

Amity smiled. “Sure. Let’s do that.”

Days were already starting to get shorter.

It was barely 6:00 PM, but Camila was still here at the window, watching the last flash of the sun dip below the horizon.

The woman had a steaming mug of tea between her hands, its gentle warmth staving off the briskness of the coming autumn night. 

Camila sighed and lightly blew against the surface of the liquid, more so out of habit than fear of the heat, before raising the mug to her lips.

The last time she saw her daughter was an hour ago. And even then, the visit was brief.

Luz had come down the stairs and taken the sandwich bag off the kitchen counter, only acknowledging her mother with a mumbled “thanks for dinner” before quickly scampering back up to her room.

She hadn’t been down since, and Camila hadn’t been up.

The woman knew better than that.

Even when Camila had ordered Luz dinner from one of her favorite restaurants, there were still hints of sadness and hostility in Luz’s usually warm eyes. The girl’s voice was cold as ice when she lingered on the last part of her order request.

“ And one grilled cheese. ”

Camila had felt a chill creep down her spine as Luz said those words. It was partly due to Luz’s tone, but that wasn’t what truly shook Camila. As long as she could remember, that sandwich order had only requested two meals.

One for Camila, and one for Luz.

It was consistent, it was comforting, and it was theirs.

Camila and Luz Noceda. Mother and daughter. Them against the world.

And now, there was a third step to their order.

One grilled cheese.

Amity Blight.

Camila shook her head, taking another sip of tea. The idea of Amity was still settling uneasily in her mind. The woman was still unnerved by the witch’s existence and clear magical capability. 

Camila still didn’t like the idea of living with a creature with fangs in its mouth.

Amity.

The name bounced around in Camila’s mind again.

Amity. And Luz.

Camila’s daughter loved the creature.

Amity and Luz.

Camila froze, then lowered her mug.

That creature was upstairs, alone with her daughter. Again.

Camila desperately wanted to think that nothing was wrong. That Amity would never hurt Luz, and that they were peacefully enjoying each other’s presence as they’d been doing all day.

But Amity wasn’t human, and Luz was.

Camila stood, pushing in her chair and looking warily towards the stairs.

Silently, the woman made her way up to Luz’s bedroom.

Noises. There were noises coming from Luz’s room.

Camila tensed. Amity had been asleep all day, but clearly, something had changed.

The human woman approached the door and pressed her ear against it, ready to kick it down if she heard yelling or crying or anything else that could indicate that her daughter had been hurt.

There came a quiet cry from Luz’s room.

“‘My leg!’”

Camila tensed, clenching her teeth and preparing herself for another attack. She reached for the doorknob and wrapped her hand around it, prepared to twist it and-

“ Azura reached down and gripped her thigh, crying out in agony. Hecate released an evil cackle. 

‘Stupid witch, you could never defeat me!’

Azura looked up at her opponent angrily. ‘Hecate! Why must you insist upon this rivalry? With your immeasurable strength and my unyielding will, we would be the most powerful allies to exist!’

Hecate simply shook her head. ‘You don’t understand, Azura. By defeating you, I’ve already proven to be strong enough on my own.’

Hecate lowered her head and bared an evil grin as she stalked away from her injured opponent.

Azura called out after her.

‘This isn’t over, Hecate!’

‘No,’ Hecate said, turning to smile at Azura. ”

“ ‘It’s only just begun.’ ” This voice was Amity’s.

“ Hey ! That’s my li-“ Luz cut herself short, and worry made its way into her voice. “I’m sorry. Too loud?”

Camila assumed that Amity had nodded.

“Sorry, I just get so carried away in the story-“

“Don’t worry about it, Luz, I like it when you get carried away.”

“Really? Even my dumb character voices?”

“ Especially your dumb character voices.”

Camila felt a wave of bittersweetness wash over her. She could hardly remember the last time she’d heard Luz like this, so enthusiastic about sharing herself, so bright and excited to share her passions with someone her own age.

And Camila simply couldn’t remember the last time someone had done this . Sat and listened to Luz, admired her, and so earnestly adored Luz’s various eccentricities.

Camila couldn’t recall Luz having a friend like this. Really, she could barely remember a time when her daughter even had friends.

“D’aw, thanks Amity! You want me to keep going?”

Amity went quiet for a moment, then sighed heavily.

“I think it’s best if we stop now. My headache’s been coming back. Sorry, I know we were just getting to the good part, but-“

“Don’t worry about it, Amity.” Luz’s voice was soft. “You’ve already read this book. Your health is way more important than some fictional enemies-to-lovers arc.”

“I wouldn’t say way more, I mean, their love story is-“

“Fantastic, I know.” Luz chuckled quietly. “Are you going to go back to sleep, or just rest?”

“I’m not sure. I’m just going to close my eyes and see what happens. I think I just need to give my brain a break.”

“Alright. Just remember that I’m right here, ‘kay?”

“Mkay,” Amity mumbled.

Camila heard a quiet rustling, presumably the sound of Amity settling into bed.

The woman slowly pulled herself away from the door and walked back down the stairs, dragging her feet.

I still don’t trust Amity.

But that creature, that girl, was the best friend Luz had known in years, maybe in her entire lifetime. Camila already felt cruel for the previous day’s attack, wherein Luz had almost had that friendship stripped away from her at Camila’s own doing.

What if she dies?

Amity Blight was a witch. An interdimensional, gold-eyed, pointed-eared, fang-growing, magic-wielding witch. She was a danger to the Noceda household, a foreign creature who could do unthinkable things to Luz and Camila if she wanted to.

But Camila, in all her distrust for Amity, was finally letting a simple fact sink in, one that had saved Amity’s life yesterday and would undoubtedly continue to be the witch’s lifeline. 

Amity was still just a scared little girl, who loved the Good Witch Azura, stupid character voices, that romance plotline that Luz refused to stop talking about, and, most importantly, who loved Luz Noceda.

Maybe, Camila finally considered, everything Luz (and Amity) had said was real. Maybe Amity was just an innocent victim to an unfortunate and dangerous situation. Maybe the young witch wasn’t a threat.

What if she dies?

Camila still didn’t trust Amity Blight. But she could see now why Amity meant so much to the person Camila loved most.

Despite everything, Camila felt a swarm of butterflies batting around in her stomach as she realized that, even if only for her daughter, she would be sad if Amity didn’t make it.

Camila would have to make sure that didn’t happen. For Luz’s sake.

The Sunday morning sunrise was a brilliant cascade of reds, pinks, and oranges, which beamed through the windows and gently bathed Luz’s room in golden light.

As the gentle curtain of vibrant color draped itself over the room’s sleeping residents, one of them stirred.

Amity never slept in.

Her parents had conditioned her not to do so. She woke up when the sun rose, so she could cram as much activity into a day as possible. Yesterday, she’d managed to keep her eyes shut; however, yesterday had been an exception, because Amity had spent most of it sleeping (which was anomalistic, to say the least), suffering from a skull-splitting headache and the general fear of acknowledging her situation, especially the presence of Camila Noceda.

Today, though, as soon as the sun brushed over Amity’s face, the girl woke.

Not everyone in the room was an early riser, though.

Luz Noceda was curled protectively around Amity, her arms instinctively wrapped around the witch’s waist and her soft breath beating against the back of Amity’s neck.

Luz was still very much asleep.

Amity let out a soft, shuddery breath, knowing full well that she didn’t have it in her to move and risk waking Luz.

Amity needed to rest, anyway.

The witch contently settled into the human’s arms, shutting her eyes and allowing herself to be overwhelmed by Luz’s warmth.

In her sleep, Luz tightened her grip around Amity, who smiled softly.

Camila woke up with a tight feeling in her chest.

She was suddenly consumed by an overwhelming, horrifying notion that her daughter was somehow in danger.

Camila scrambled upright, barely thinking in her state of paranoia, and practically jumped out of bed and raced down the hall.

She opened the door to her daughter’s room, still on edge, still unsure of what had gotten into her.

And then she remembered.

Amity.

Camila turned her eyes towards the bed, tense as ever, once again expecting to see something horrible.

However, this time, she couldn’t help but let her face soften at the sight in front of her.

Amity was curled up in Luz’s arms, a small smile on the witch’s face. Luz was still sleeping heavily, but was holding onto Amity like her life depended on it, face buried into the mint hair that fell over Amity’s neck.

Camila’s heart sank.

She so desperately wanted to trust Amity, wanted to truly believe that the foreign creature meant no harm to anyone. After all, why would an evil, powerful creature be so scared of a human woman? How could a girl who looked this content in Luz’s arms intend to hurt the human girl?

Camila remembered Amity's tears the day she arrived. She remembered the witch’s desperate pleading after Camila had attacked her. She remembered Amity’s soft, childlike giggles as Luz read Azura aloud.

Everything about Amity seemed sweet and genuine.

But the fear still tugged at Camila’s mind. The fear of the unknown, of Amity’s power, of the witch’s true intentions, and of the day that the magical being would finally snap.

Amity still couldn’t be trusted. She was still a danger.

Camila was beginning to think that she’d never see the witch any other way.

Camila sighed lightly, shaking her head.

The woman froze in place when she saw Amity’s ear twitch.

The young witch opened her eyes slowly. At first, her golden irises were glazed and groggy.

And then they came to focus on Camila.

Amity’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Every muscle in the witchling’s body tensed, and a look of sheer terror washed over the girl’s features.

Camila felt a small pang of sadness when she realized that there was a slight tremor to Amity now.

The girl was shaking.

Amity continued to stare at Camila, frozen like a deer in headlights.

Camila could do nothing but stare back.

Finally, Amity released a small whimper, curled into herself, and squeezed her eyes shut, as if trying to block out a bad dream.

Luz instinctively tightened her grip around Amity.

Camila knew she had outstayed her welcome. The woman cast one last wayward glance at Luz and Amity, before silently creeping out of the room.

Beyond the morning’s Camila Incident, which Amity had stubbornly reduced down to a nightmare, Sunday was pathetically uneventful.

“Luz, can we do something?”

Amity hated wasting time. And despite the fact that Luz insisted on calling it important rest, Amity still felt like she’d accomplished nothing by staring at the ceiling all day.

“Do you feel good enough to do something?”

“Luz, I feel fine!” The headache was still clinging dully to the back of Amity’s head, flaring up every now and again, but it wasn’t enough to completely debilitate the girl.

Luz sighed, nervously tugging at her shirt collar.

“Alright, we can do something. But you need to take it easy, okay? I know you’re bored, but it’s only going to get worse if you don’t let yourself recover.”

“I know,” Amity said softly. “But I think I might go insane if I just keep sitting here like this.”

Luz nodded. “I know, I get it.” Luz drummed her fingers against her knee, trying to think of something. “Have you tried standing up yet?”

Amity thought for a moment, finding herself mildly horrified at the fact that she hadn’t stood up and walked around in a solid two days.

“No, I haven’t.”

“I think you should try. Just a few steps, nothing extreme, but it’ll be good for you.”

“Yeah,” Amity muttered, “it will.”

“Okay. Make sure not to stand up too quickly, ‘kay? I don’t want you to-“

“I’m okay, Luz.” Amity offered her girlfriend a comforting smile. “I’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” Luz breathed. “You do.”

Amity, slowly, raised herself upwards until she was standing. She then took a step- it was shaky, but more progress than Amity had made in the past 42 hours. She took another step. Less shaky, this time. Another. She was now confidently walking over to Luz.

Luz, in response, stood up and hugged Amity when the two collided.

“So, we know I can walk,” Amity giggled.

“Yup, and you can do it in a straight line! That’s pretty important.” Luz leaned back and smiled fondly at Amity. “I’m so happy you’re feeling better.”

“Me too. I mean, I don’t feel great, but it’s the best I’ve been since…”

Luz’s face fell, and Amity quickly looked away.

The two girls faded into uncomfortable silence, the things Amity hadn’t said processing in their heads.

In Amity, it was a sudden strike of fear. A reminder of the fact that it wasn’t just her and Luz in this house, but that there was someone else, someone far more dangerous, sharing the space.

In Luz, it was a spike of anger as she remembered what her mother had done. It was the stark memory of Amity’s cry of pain as Camila’s foot came down on her-

“I’m sorry.”

Amity didn’t meet Luz's eyes. She wanted to reassure her girlfriend, tell Luz that it was okay, but it wasn’t. Luz’s mother had attacked Amity, and because of that, Amity was stuck with this concussion. Nothing about it was okay.

Luz continued.

“My mom…I never expected her to act like that. I’ve never seen her act like that. She’s usually so nice and caring but something changed in her when you came up to me. It’s-“

“It’s because I’m not human.” Amity said dryly.

Luz swallowed hard, looking down at the floor.

“Yeah. In the human world, nobody really knows about witches. She’s never seen anything like you. I think that scared her.” Luz’s throat was now clogged with choked-back sobs, and Amity immediately took notice, heart dropping in her chest to see Luz so upset.

“Amity, I’m so sorry.” Luz clenched her teeth, looking up at Amity before immediately looking away angrily. “I should have protected you. That never should have happened on my watch. If I’d known she was going to hurt you I would’ve-“

“ Luz. ” Amity’s voice was saddened, but sympathetic. “There’s no way you could have known. It just came out of nowhere. You don’t get to blame yourself for this, it wasn’t your fault.”

“I could’ve stopped her, though! I could have prevented this! ” Luz was crying now. “But I was too dumb and oblivious to get up and-“

Amity suddenly pulled Luz tighter into her embrace, cutting off Luz’s teary rambling.

Luz wanted to keep going, keep reciting all the ways she could have saved Amity, but instead, she just cried into her girlfriend’s shoulder.

Amity was starting to cry now, too. Damn it, haven’t I done enough crying this weekend?

“I’m sorry,” Luz said again, voice barely a whisper.

“I know you are. This wasn’t your fault. And either way, it’s behind us.” Amity pulled away from Luz just slightly, so that they could stare into each other’s faces.

“You’ve been taking care of me, and making sure I’m healthy and awake and drinking enough water and you read Azura to me- everything. I don’t think I’d be getting better without you.” Amity smiled softly. “It doesn’t matter what you think you did, Luz. You’re still my fearless champion.”

Luz blinked the tears from her eyes and managed to offer a smile back at Amity, before Luz swung forward and pulled the two girls tighter together than ever.

Luz continued to smile into her girlfriend’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, you got that right.”

Whatever Camila was making downstairs, it smelled heavenly.

Luz knew better than to expect an outcome that lived up to such a smell: her mother had been experimenting with different recipes lately, and, needless to say, not all of them came out well. But her stomach was rumbling, as she’d had a relatively small lunch (a shared PB&J with Amity), and was now desperately hungry.

Amity also wanted to admire the smell of the food, but she couldn’t will herself to, because dinner meant that Camila would come upstairs. Even Camila’s simple act of talking to the girls made Amity nervous.

Thankfully, Luz knew her girlfriend well.

“I’m just going to head downstairs for dinner now,” Luz said. “That way, Mom won’t have to come up here and disturb you, okay?”

Amity nodded, keeping her eyes on the ceiling.

“I’ll be back in a little bit,” Luz reassured. “If anything’s wrong, just yell for me, alright?”

“Sure.” Amity looked over at Luz and smiled softly. “And don’t forget to bring me some dinner when you get back!”

“‘Course! Only if it’s good, though.” Luz smiled back, before standing and quietly exiting the room.

When she heard Amity sigh softly as she left, she had to fight the urge to turn back and stay with her injured girlfriend. But Luz knew better than that: she had to keep her mother as far away from Amity as possible, for both of their sakes.

Luz walked down to the kitchen to find her mother tending to a large pot of some sort of soup.

The girl bit back the anger that was slowly beginning to resurface inside of her, and instead sat down at the kitchen counter.

“Food’s just about ready,” Camila mumbled. “Tell me how you like this one, okay? It’s a new recipe.”

The food smelled as delightful as ever when Luz was served a bowl of it. The girl dipped her spoon into it, blowing on it gently before taking a sip.

To her complete shock, the food tasted better than it smelled.

“Yeah, you should keep this recipe.” Luz had barely said the words before she dipped for another spoonful.

Camila smiled. “I’m glad you like it.” The woman slid into a seat next to her daughter, who tensed when she did so.

“Luz, I think we need to talk about tomorrow.”

Luz froze, then shook her head and looked away. “No, no, I should really bring some food up to Amity, she’s expecting me-“

“ Luz, ” Camila said again. “I’ll make it quick.”

Luz sighed heavily, trying to make it clear to her mother how little she wanted to have this conversation.

Camila ignored it.

“Luz, I know you’ll want to stay home from school tomorrow.”

Luz went silent and her body went rigid as she realized what her mother was implying. She stayed quiet for a moment, before saying, “Yeah. I do.”

Camila’s face softened. “It’s good that you care about your friend, mija, but I think you still need to go.”

Even though Luz’s face was turned away, Camila could tell that her daughter was foaming at the mouth.

“I’m not going to school.”

Camila sighed. The woman wanted to cry. This shouldn’t be happening. Why us? Why me?

She, deep down, wanted her daughter to stay home, too. Camila was still deeply uncomfortable with the idea of being alone with Amity, especially for a whole day. If the timing had been any better, she’d keep Luz here all week- but of course, things refused to work out in her favor.

“Luz, it’s almost October,” Camila murmured. “Under any other circumstances I’d let you stay, but this week they’re starting to teach new material for the quarter exams, and I don’t want you to fall behind.”

“Mom, I already am behind.” Luz had been doing particularly awful this school year, finding it almost impossible to adapt to human school after her time at Hexside.

“I know, Luz.” Camila’s voice was soft. “But I’ve seen the effort you put in, and I’m so proud of you for it. This isn’t about your grades.” Camila reached out and rested a hand on Luz’s stiff shoulder. “I know how much it stresses you out when you have to do all those makeups. And with Amity and her situation, I just…I don’t want you to get overwhelmed, Luz.”

Normal school workloads were hard enough on Luz. But Camila’s heart always broke when Luz had to do extra credit or makeups or whatever extra work her teachers assigned- the way the girl hunched over her paper, pencil fiddling into nothing, silent tears dropping onto the page as Luz pretended that she didn’t know there was more to do.

Camila feared that the extra workload that came with skipping school, plus the stress of caring for Amity, would fully tear Luz apart.

Camila never wanted to know what happened then.

Luz’s muscles had loosened now, and she was slouching forward, trying to hold back tears.

Her mother was right. She already felt overwhelmed by everything going on right now. The added work from school would probably send her spiraling.

Luz dipped her head.

“I won’t get overwhelmed.”

“Luz,” Camila said sympathetically, “everyone has their limits. That’s okay. I just want to make sure you don’t push yourself over yours. Both you and Amity will be better off for it.”

Something about hearing the name Amity come out of her mother’s mouth made Luz’s blood boil. 

She has no right to say what’s good for Amity.

Finally, Luz mustered the energy to speak her mind.

“I don’t want you to hurt her.”

Camila’s heart sank like a stone in her chest. 

“She’s still terrified of you,” Luz continued. “She had a nightmare of you last night. She thinks you want to get rid of her.” Luz raised her eyes solemnly. “And I think so too.”

Camila frowned and squeezed her daughter’s shoulder. 

“Luz, when I… attacked Amity, I thought she was going to hurt you. I thought that she was some creature that had possessed your friend from camp. I thought you were in danger, and I acted on instinct.”

“A demon who possessed my friend.” Luz let the statement marinate in her mind. “That sounds so stupid.”

“Any more ridiculous than the answer you gave me?”

Camila had her there. “Demon” wasn’t any less far-fetched than “ sentient witch from another dimension.”

Luz sighed. “Do you still think she wants to hurt me?”

Camila rolled her tongue in her cheek. “I’m still not sure what to make of her, Luz. I don’t know what- who -she is. But she clearly means a lot to you. I’m willing to learn.”

Luz sucked in a breath. She wanted to hope that her mother meant what she said. She wanted to ignore the image of Friday’s attack.

But she still didn’t trust her mother alone with Amity.

Luz didn’t need to say anything to portray her feelings on the matter. Camila could tell just from the look on Luz’s face, the sadness that was desperately fighting off the girl’s hope.

Camila quickly made one last desperate bargain.

“What if I talked to her?”

Luz looked up, surprised.

“You’d stay in the room with us,” Camila added. “I just want to help you- both of you -feel more comfortable.”

Luz looked back down. “I’m not sure if Amity’s ready for that but…” For the first time all weekend, there was hopefulness in Luz’s voice. “…but I could ask .”

“Sure, you can go do that. I just want you to know that I’ll keep her safe while you’re gone. That way, tomorrow, after school, you can give her your undivided attention.”

Luz nodded, and it was the most enthusiastic she’d been towards Camila all day.

She quickly got up and filled Amity a bowl of soup, before eagerly trotting up the stairs to offer her proposal.

When she opened the door she found Amity in the exact same position as earlier, laying on her back, staring at the ceiling.

The witch perked up when Luz came in.

“Finally,” Amity chuckled. “I’m so hungry! What is it?”

“A new recipe my mom tried out,” Luz said, handing the bowl over.

Amity took it into her hands and sat upright, before scooping up a spoonful and taking a tentative sip.

Her eyes widened.

“It’s good!” She said, immediately going in for another spoonful.

“Yeah, I thought so too!” Luz sat down on the floor beside the bed and started to take sips of her own soup, which she had brought with her. The two girls sat in silence as Luz tried to figure out how exactly to ask Amity about a conversation with her mother. 

Eventually, when both girls had finished eating, Luz just decided to go for it.

“Amity, I might not be here tomorrow.”

Amity stiffened, a horrified look crossing her face.

“What do you mean?”

Luz sighed, reaching to touch the back of her neck anxiously. “My mom wants me to go to school tomorrow, so I don’t get swamped with makeup work.”

Amity could feel tears of fear gathering in her eyes. No. Luz couldn’t leave. Luz, the only force standing between Amity and Camila. Camila, who had attacked Amity. Camila, who would probably do it again…

“I know it’s scary,” Luz said. “I know you’re scared to be here with Mom. That’s totally justified, I would be too- but she doesn’t want to hurt you.”

Yeah right. Amity stared at Luz through the corners of her eyes.

Luz rested a hand on the bed. “She said that she wants to talk to you. Try to make you feel a little safer around her. I’d be with you guys the whole time, so you don’t have to worry about talking to her alone.” Luz smiled sadly. “I really…both of you mean the world to me. I just can’t stand seeing both of you like this around each other. Just…could you give this a chance? For me?”

Amity was still apprehensive. But she felt miserable whenever Luz was sad, and couldn’t bring herself to say no to those sweet brown eyes.

Amity sighed. “You’ll be here the whole time?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll make sure nothing bad happens?”

“I’m not letting anything bad happen on my watch again.” Luz reached for Amity’s hand and gently squeezed it. “I’ll always be with you, and I’ll always keep you safe, okay?”

Amity sucked in a breath, casting a sideward glance towards the door she’d been so afraid of. She then turned back to Luz, and stared into those deep, loving eyes.

Who knew: maybe Luz had inherited them from her mother.

Amity intertwined her fingers with Luz’s, blowing out a fearful breath, then offering her best attempt at a smile.

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

Amity was already starting to regret her agreement to this when she heard Camila’s footsteps ascending the stairs.

The witch clung tighter to Luz’s hand, squeezing with all her might, while the human simply rubbed circles across Amity’s back.

“I promise, I’ll be right here, Amity. I’ll do most of the talking, too. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you, I swear.”

Deep down, Amity knew that what Luz was saying was true. But that still didn’t dissipate the girl’s growing fear.

Amity’s heart did a somersault in her chest as Camila’s shadow spread across the wall of the hall outside of Luz’s room. It looked like one of those shadow monsters that Amity’s parents had always told her would come to her room at night if she didn’t finish her homework.

The shadow was huge, sprawling, and intimidating, and Amity desperately wanted to shut her eyes and hide from what came next.

The source of the shadow stepped into the doorway.

Camila didn’t look like a malicious shadow creature. She just looked like a tired middle-aged woman, a completely normal, totally harmless mom.

But Amity knew better than that.

She knew what Camila was capable of. What she could do to Amity if she wanted to.

The witch was almost certain that she would’ve died under Camila’s feet if Luz hadn’t desperately intervened. 

And tomorrow, there wouldn’t be a Luz to intervene. There would be no more “fearless champion,” not until the school day was over.

There would only be Amity and Camila, and nothing else in between them.

The woman hesitated in the doorway for a moment, before Luz nodded, and Camila took it as a signal to come into the room.

Amity squeezed Luz’s hand harder, finding extra strength she didn’t know she had. The witch pressed into the human, desperate for security and trying to hide her violent shaking, which had, of course, resumed.

Camila sat down on the floor in front of the two girls, backlit by the light from the hall behind her.

Now she really looked like a shadow creature.

Amity let out a strained breath.

“Mama, could you turn on the lights please?”

“Oh, of course. Sorry, Luz.”

Camila looked far less intimidating when she was fully lit. But that didn’t reassure Amity; the witch had been attacked in broad daylight down in the living room. Camila didn’t need to be made of shadows to be a monster.

The woman sat back down and stared uncomfortably at the two girls in front of her. When she attempted to make eye contact with Amity, the witch panicked and her eyes turned down towards the floor, wide and terrified.

The awkward silence lasted for far too long, but it was Camila who finally spoke first.

“I know I’ve done this before, Amity, but I still feel like we haven’t had a proper introduction.” Camila forced a smile onto her face. Amity’s eyes had only slightly raised. “I’m Camila Noceda, Luz’s mother.”

Camila hadn’t been expecting a response from Amity, and she didn’t get one.

The shaking witchling just nodded slightly. Her eyes had raised a little more, though, to the point where Amity was now fully looking at Camila.

The girl still looked utterly terrified, but it was a start.

Camila sighed and looked away. What am I supposed to say next? When she’d offered to have this conversation, it had been in a moment of desperation, trying to get Luz to go to school for the human girl’s own well-being. Camila hadn’t actually had time to plan what she wanted to say, or anticipate Amity’s reactions.

She was simply left here, wordless under the stares of the two girls in front of her, one watching with newly reignited anger, and the other with sheer, overwhelming fear.

Camila couldn’t bring herself to look at Luz.

So, she looked towards Amity.

Shaking had practically become the girl’s trademark at this point, and it was clear that she wasn’t stopping anytime soon. Amity was essentially vibrating as she looked at Camila, her golden eyes wide enough to pop out of her skull. 

As she silently gazed at Amity, Camila’s head began to spin.

I don’t trust her. I can’t trust her.

Amity moved her hand out of Luz’s and up the human girl’s arm, desperately gripping now at Luz’s shirt sleeve like her life depended on it.

She’s a magical creature, who could hurt my daughter and I badly if she wanted to.

Amity’s pointy witch ears drooped just slightly, like those of a nervous puppy.

Dangerous magical being-

Amity then dropped her head and choked out a sob, tears slowly rolling out of her eyes. The girl immediately tried to correct herself, attempting to suppress her sobs, but they only came out as terrified whimpers as she stared at the ground through tear-blurred eyes.

And with that, with those pathetic, helpless noises, and with that crippling, all-consuming, childlike fear, Camila’s heart snapped in two for Amity.

A level of sadness and sincerity, one that had been repressed in Camila by her overwhelming fear and apprehension, bubbled to the surface.

“ Hey. ” Camila’s voice was softer than it had been since Amity’s arrival. That caught both the girls’ attention. The anger on Luz’s face wavered for a moment.

“ Hey, it’s alright. ” Camila desperately fought that maternal urge to lean forward and wipe Amity’s tears. Instead, the woman just sat back and watched with warm, caring eyes.

Amity raised her head, just slightly. 

“ Amity, ” Camila said softly, shocked to find herself slightly choking up, “I’m so sorry for what I did to you when you got here.”

Amity kept her eyes fixed on the ground, but her tears had stopped flowing.

Camila continued.

“I did what I did, I hurt you, because I thought Luz was in danger.” Camila hung her head. “But that’s not an excuse for causing you this much pain, or making you this nervous around me.”

Luz’s eyes were wide now as she stared at her mother. The girl’s anger had seemingly disappeared.

“I can’t make it up to you, Amity. I know that trust will take time, and I’m okay with waiting if that’s what you need.” Camila leaned forward a little, expecting Amity to flinch away.

Shockingly, the girl only raised her eyes to meet Camila’s.

The woman offered a gentle smile.

“In all honesty, I was scared of the idea of having a supernatural being in my house. And, I’ll admit, it still is a little scary for me, having you here.”

Amity looked away, and Camila rushed to correct herself.

“But it took me a moment to remember that this was everything I wanted when I was your age.” Camila smiled softly. “Having befriended a real-life witch, especially someone as good a friend as you, Amity, would’ve been my dream come true. I’m sure it’s Luz’s.”

Luz blushed a little at that, but continued to stare at her mother.

“I suppose that, as I got older, it was harder to believe in people like you existing. And when you showed up, Amity, I assumed the worst.”

Amity still kept her eyes on the floor, but they weren’t as wide anymore. More than anything, they were saddened.

“I know better now.” Camila sighed, looking away from the girls for a moment. “Trust won’t come easy, Amity. I’m not expecting you to like me, or forgive me. But I want you to know that I’m deeply sorry for hurting you, and that as long as you’re in my home, I want to protect you.”

The tears had returned to Amity’s eyes, but she now looked up and stared at Camila.

Camila still wasn’t expecting a spoken response. She still didn’t get one.

Instead, Amity only batted at her tears, and nodded firmly.

Camila smiled, and nodded back.

“Alright,” Camila said breathily, standing now. “I’d suggest you two start getting ready for bed now. And no staying up, Luz, it’s a school night.”

Luz stared up at her mother and gave a dumbstruck smile.

“Sure, yeah. No staying up.”

Camila smiled and nodded.

“Night, girls,” she said, before stepping into the hall and shutting the door behind her.

The two girls sat in silence for a long few moments after Camila left, trying to process what had just happened.

Finally, Luz blew out a breath and slumped over, pulling Amity a little closer.

“See? Not so bad.”

Amity just nodded, head still spinning after that conversation. 

Amity knew Camila wanted to harm her. The woman had already proven that, and there was no way Camila had simply changed her mind about Amity in a weekend. 

But the woman’s tone of voice had been so sweet and nurturing, not unlike the voice her daughter used whenever offering Amity comfort. 

Even Amity’s own mother had never used such a maternal tone of voice.

Amity leaned into Luz’s arms. 

Her life would be so much easier if she could just trust Camila.

But she knew better. She’d seen that blind rage in Camila’s eyes as she brought her foot down on Amity’s head. 

Amity’s mother had always wanted the best for her daughter, had said that almost every day, but even she wouldn’t have been that angry with someone simply on the idea of her daughter being in danger. 

Amity pushed back her quiet desperation for trust, her silent longing for another shoulder to lean on. 

Whatever Amity had seen in her assaulter, it wasn’t real. 

That sweet, soothing voice had been nothing more than a decoy for a lost, terrified little fly. 

And Amity, of course, was not going to let herself be caught in the flytrap.

Amity tensed, jerked out of her thoughts when Luz pulled away from her.

“Do you think you’ll be able to get ready for bed today?”

Amity’s fatigue and splitting headache had both faded. She assumed she was in fine enough health to brush her own teeth.

“Yeah, I think I can.”

Luz’s face brightened a bit. “Great! You should-“

She stopped short, quickly glancing around the room, before her saddened eyes came to fall on Amity.

Luz’s voice was quiet and tentative as she asked the question.

“You didn’t bring anything, did you?”

Her things. Amity hadn’t even been thinking about her duffel bag of supplies when she’d bolted through that portal.

She didn’t want to leech off of the Nocedas’ hospitality any further, but right now, she didn’t have much of a choice.

Amity hung her head and shook it slowly.

Luz only nodded, then smiled again reassuringly.

“Don’t worry about it, Amity! For now, we’ve got plenty of extra stuff for you to use. I’ll grab you some pajamas!”

Amity cringed when Luz stood up and moved away from her, suddenly terrified to be lacking the warmth and support her girlfriend offered.

Luz returned quickly, though, and handed Amity a set of bright red clothes plastered with the print of a strange head covered in cobwebs.

It was odd, but Amity didn’t dare to question it. She was lucky to be given supplies at all.

“You can change in here,” Luz said. “There’s a mirror over by my desk, if you need it. I’ll change in the bathroom in the hall. I’ll be back in just a sec, okay?”

“Okay,” Amity replied meekly.

Luz smiled, nodded, and walked out into the hall, a ball of wadded-up clothes in her hand.

As soon as the door shut behind Luz, Amity took a nervous, shaky breath.

The witch still didn’t like being alone in here, especially without knowing where Camila was, but the girl desperately needed to change clothes. She felt disgusting, still wearing what she had been two days ago.

Amity made her way over to the mirror Luz had mentioned, and cringed when she saw her reflection. The bags under her eyes were huge, her hair was still loose and messy, and her overall appearance was disheveled at best.

Quickly, Amity stripped off her tattered clothing, and returned her eyes to the mirror once more.

When Amity looked herself over, her breath hitched. The clothes had kept the worst of the damage hidden.

The bruises, while fading, were still dark and prominent against her pale skin. Their soreness hadn’t yet gone away; it had simply become Amity’s new normal. The girl was beginning to forget a time when she wasn’t pained and miserable. 

There were smaller things, red patches where Amity had been hit by fire magic, cuts from the girl’s desperate scramble away from her parents (and later out of the woods around Luz’s house), but the most striking and horrific injury on the girl’s body was the raw burn across her upper shoulder.

Though Amity’s shirt had been singed and torn there, for the most part, the patch of damaged skin had been concealed by fabric.

But now, it stood starkly against Amity’s complexion.

That pain in her shoulder hadn’t gone away, but she’d completely forgotten its cause. She’d been too preoccupied with her fear of Camila, her concussion, and Luz’s constant tending to take note of her other injuries. But now, looking at it, it was more painful than ever.

Amity brushed a finger over it, and yelped when it made contact with the wound.

Amity knew she shouldn’t have left the burn raw and exposed. Infection could be painful, deadly, even, and it was better if the girl cleaned and bandaged it right away.

But she pushed back her common sense in favor of Luz’s sanity. Amity wasn’t about to pile more stress on her poor girlfriend.

Instead, the young witch just slipped into the strange red pajamas she’d been given. Despite their odd design, the clothes were very comfortable, she had to admit.

Luz strode back into the room not long after, and grinned broadly when she saw Amity.

“Never in a thousand years would I have thought I’d see Amity Blight wearing Spider-Man pajamas!” 

Spider-Man? What sort of horrific hybrid demon was that?

Luz giggled. “C’mon, we’ll go brush our teeth in the bathroom, okay?”

Luz must have seen the apprehension on Amity’s face as she said that.

“Here, I’ll be right next to you. And I’ll close and lock the door behind us, yeah?”

Amity pushed back her fears, once again entranced in Luz’s soft brown eyes, then nodding and taking the human girl’s hand. 

Amity couldn’t really remember much of the small hallway. She’d been too dazed and in pain to take note of her surroundings when she’d first been carried up to Luz’s room, which she hadn’t left since she arrived.

It was cramped compared to the halls of the Blight Manor, but not in a constricting way.

At the end of the short hall were two doors, one on the left and one on the right.

Luz opened the right door and ushered Amity inside, where she found a sink in front of her with two toothbrushes on the counter, one green and one pink.

Luz slipped into the bathroom, closing the door and locking it behind her, before coming up to stand next to Amity.

“I’ve already brushed my teeth,” Luz said, shrugging and gesturing at the pink toothbrush. “But I thought you’d like it better if I stayed with you.”

Amity did feel much better, and she appreciated the gesture.

Amity took the toothbrush into her hands and started brushing as Luz watched off to the side.

The human girl could feel butterflies inside her stomach as she watched Amity get ready for bed. There was a certain level of intimacy to seeing someone’s routine like this. It somehow felt vulnerable in a way, and it was mundane and domestic in the best way possible. 

Something about seeing Amity like this as she silently brushed her teeth and washed her face made Luz’s heart skip a beat. 

When Amity was done, Luz smiled.

“Alright, ready to get back to my room?”

Amity nodded, hoping she didn’t come off as overenthusiastic. She followed Luz out of the bathroom, back down the hall, and into her room.

Luz stretched as she closed the door behind her, a wave of fatigue suddenly hitting her like a ton of bricks. The stress of the day had definitely taken its toll on her, and her stomach twisted when she realized how much worse it must have been for Amity.

Who was she to keep Amity up to this much activity?

“Nine-forty-five,” Luz noted, looking at the clock on her desk. “We should probably get to sleep soon.” 

Amity’s heart stopped in her chest. She was tired, so tired, but the last thing she wanted right now was sleep. Sleep meant waking up in the morning, to a day in which Luz, the mediator between Amity and the woman who had attacked her, would be missing.

“I’m not that tired,” Amity piped nervously.

Luz eyed Amity skeptically, but decided not to argue.

“Okay,” Luz said, seating herself on the bed and patting it, inviting Amity to join her. “What do you want to do before bed?”

Amity sat down next to Luz and took a moment to ponder, before peeking up and smiling at the human girl.

“Read more Azura?”

Luz’s face lit up.

“Of course! ”

Fear. Raw, unbridled fear.

That was all Camila had seen in Amity when she’d had her conversation with the girls earlier.

The small, pathetic sobs that had escaped the witch’s throat, the tears slowly rolling down her face. The way she held onto Luz like her life depended on it- that especially had broken Camila’s heart.

Fear.

It was still the primary emotion overtaking the woman. Amity still couldn’t be trusted. Amity was still a strange creature. Amity was still dangerous. 

But by god, she’d looked so scared.

Camila didn’t want to be alone with Amity. If the magical being decided to take advantage of Luz’s absence, Camila wasn’t sure what she would do. She wouldn’t be able to fight, not without breaking her daughter’s heart again- and that left her vulnerable to whatever Amity had in store.

But there was a nagging voice in Camila’s head, one that told her that Amity wasn’t planning anything sinister. That Amity Blight was just as she presented: a scared, hurt little girl.

Camila’s nerves were getting the best of her. 

For Luz’s sake, for her own, and even for Amity’s, Camila had to give the witchling a chance tomorrow.

Camila rolled over in her bed, sighing heavily and reaching to flick off her bedside lamp. Her “common sense,” her fear, was bubbling back into her again.

Foreign creature. Magic being. Dangerous.

Camila sucked in a breath, trying to calm her churning stomach. She’d already let her paranoia get the best of her once. 

Maybe, she thought, she had protected her daughter.

But, more likely, she’d only further traumatized an already terrified and injured girl, who’d desperately needed Camila’s support more than anything.

Camila’s stomach twisted at the thought of that, the very idea that she had hurt an innocent child so brutally making her head spin. It was likely that it would take months, if not longer, for Amity to fully trust Camila. And even then, it would probably be near impossible for the girl to ever trust again.

If Amity was as she presented (and this possibility was becoming more likely every day), she seemed so sweet and genuine in everything she did. Even her terror had a level of earnestness to it. And her soft, gentle giggles as Luz read Azura aloud the previous day had been anything but sinister.

If Amity was as she presented, the sweet, genuine girl she was around Luz, then it led to the uneasy conclusion that what the witch needed most right now was support. She was alone in a strange world, betrayed by her home realm and her parents to match. 

Camila’s heart sank as she realized that, if all of that were true, it left Amity with no parental figure in her life. No family.

And not only had Camila deprived the girl of that, but she had provided the exact opposite: another adult figure who’d offered Amity only pain. 

The poor girl was probably so utterly hurt and lost.

Camila clenched her fists.

No matter how terrifying the idea of Amity was, there was a good chance that she needed Camila more than anything right now. And to leave a teenage girl without a family, isolated in what would otherwise be a welcoming home, would be beyond cruel.

Amity could be a horrifically evil, insanely powerful, enormously dangerous creature.

Or, she could be a scared little girl who needed a shoulder to cry on.

Camila was beginning to realize that it was, most likely, the latter.

“‘ And so, the two powerful witches begrudgingly shook hands, and started off on the path of allyship. ’”

Amity jumped when Luz snapped the book shut, yawning as she did so.

“I think that’s enough for tonight,” the human mumbled. “I need to get some sleep.”

Amity was just as, if not more tired than Luz, but her dread of the coming day was enough to keep her awake. However, the headache had returned, and the crippling fatigue was eating away at the edges of Amity’s vision. She wasn’t going to be able to fight it much longer. 

Amity rolled over in bed as Luz laid herself down next to her. 

“We should probably invest in your own mattress,” Luz chuckled, gently wrapping her arms around Amity’s waist. “This is nice, but…I don’t think we’ll feel that way once summer rolls back around.”

Amity never wanted to abandon her nightly ritual of cuddling with Luz, but another mattress was a sensible idea.

Amity didn’t say anything on the matter, though.

“I don’t want to be alone tomorrow.”

Amity could feel Luz stiffen at that comment, but just as quickly the human girl relaxed and squeezed Amity tighter.

“I’ll be back, Amity, I promise. It’ll be okay.”

Luz didn’t want to leave Amity alone tomorrow, but that wasn’t what Amity needed to hear. She needed reassurance more than anything.

Amity adjusted herself in Luz’s arms.

“What if your mom hurts me?”

Luz went silent for a moment, the possibility of that scenario finally weighing down on her. But then she remembered how her mother had been earlier that night, gentle with Amity as if she were her own child.

Camila Noceda’s fear was blinding her actions, but it was moments like those that reminded Luz of who her mother was, and who she could be to Amity. 

“She’s not going to hurt you, I promise.”

Amity curled into herself further, and Luz frowned.

“You trust me, right Amity?”

“…yeah.”

“I’m not letting anything bad happen to you here, okay?”

A moment of silence before a small whisper of an answer.

“Okay.”

Luz nuzzled into Amity’s neck, and the witch couldn’t help but smile as Luz’s warmth encapsulated her.

“G’night, Amity.”

“Night, Luz.”

Luz wished that Amity would’ve woken up as early today as she had the day before. But when Luz stirred on Monday morning, the witch was still fast asleep.

For a while, Luz didn’t move. She didn’t care that the clock was ticking past 7:15 or that she had to catch the bus in an hour, she just wanted to stay here next to Amity, and never worry about school again.

School.

Amity’s arrival, however tense and however stressful, had provided Luz a much-needed distraction from the situation she’d desperately been trying to ignore.

After all, if Amity was here, there had to be a way back to the Boiling Isles.

Right?

Luz felt a small chill run down her spine when she remembered her reality. Amity had come through the portal, sure, but it had been destroyed behind her. There was a chance that it would never be rebuilt again.

Luz kept telling herself it wasn’t true, that the life she was living now was impermanent. No matter how hard reality forced itself upon her, Luz’s mind still remained convinced that this wouldn’t last forever. Amity’s being here only reinforced that notion.

But Luz wasn’t escaping her human life that easily- and so, she rolled out of bed, careful not to wake Amity in the process, and began to prepare for school.

Luz hadn’t touched her backpack since Friday, when Amity first arrived, which saved her a good amount of time in preparations, since her books were already packed away.

Shoot. Homework.

The thought of it hadn’t even crossed Luz’s mind over the weekend. There had been too much happening in her life to care about such trivial things as algebra or grammar- but her teachers were going to be pissed.

Luz was already on thin ice with almost everyone at her school. Her inability to focus or keep up with work tended to irk her teachers, and her chaotic antics had long ago tainted her name to most of the student body- Luz Noceda had become the social outcasts’ social outcast.

She shivered as she checked everything over in her backpack, that familiar feeling of Monday-Morning Dread settling inside of her. By the end of the week she’d be numb to the dull, excruciating experience of school, but every Monday, after the weekend’s cruel tease of freedom, the idea of it crushed her again.

Before leaving the room, Luz glanced around and noticed that Amity had left her old clothes on the floor by the desk. Luz frowned, realizing that if Amity found out she’d been anything other than neat and tidy at her hosts’ house, she would probably never let herself get over it. Her parents had always harshly disciplined her for even the smallest missteps, and so Amity always walked on eggshells, and beat herself up over the most pointless things.

Luz scooped up the bundle of clothes, which smelled overwhelmingly of smoke and sweat.

Amity couldn’t afford any other stressors right now.

As Luz went to put Amity’s clothes in with her next laundry load, three small sheets of paper slipped out of the pile.

Curiously, Luz set her load into the washing machine and reached for the papers.

Her heart sank as she looked at the first two.

They were photos, one a rather serious-looking Blight family portrait, the other a recent-looking one of Amity, Edric, and Emira, all red-faced and laughing.

Luz peeked over at the third piece of paper, and her eyes widened when she realized that it was a note, addressed: DEAR LUZ

Luz picked it up, and quickly read it over.

And for the first time that weekend, Luz truly sobbed. These weren’t the sniffles she’d pressed into Amity’s shoulder- they were full-on, body-jerking, debilitating sobs.

DEAR LUZ,

We love you and we miss you! Always thinking about you, and hope to see you again one day soon. 

-Eda, King, and Hooty :)

The real weight of Luz’s situation was sinking in. Luz was stuck here. Amity was stuck here. The one place where both of them had fit in was now restricted, the people Luz loved so much now a dimension away. Now, the human girl was back stuck with the drab, crushing existence that was the life of a human in the human world. No matter how hard her mind tried to fool her, Luz ached as she finally processed the fact that the Boiling Isles was as far away as it had been when she didn’t know it existed; maybe even farther.

But just as quickly as the breakdown had started, Luz wiped away her tears, standing and gently pinching all three papers in her hand. 

She couldn’t break down, for her own sake- and for Amity’s.

She left the Blight family pictures next to the bed, and slipped her letter into one of her drawers.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she trotted down the stairs just as her mother called out her name.

“Luz! Come get your breakfast!”

Luz winced, hoping her mother’s yell hadn’t woken Amity, and arrived at the bottom of the stairwell.

Breakfast was leftovers from Saturday’s scramble, just as it had been for the past two days. Luz wasn’t mad about that; the food was delicious and well-seasoned, and far better than the toaster waffles Luz would scarf down on a normal school day.

“Are you all packed? I already filled up a water bottle for you.”

Luz smiled softly. “Thanks, Mom. And yeah, I’ve got everything.”

“Alright, good. You should probably be off to catch the bus- you don’t want to be late again.”

“Yeah.” Luz sighed heavily, and slowly raised her eyes to meet her mother’s. “Just…be gentle with Amity, okay?”

“I’ll take care of her, Luz.” Camila smiled and squeezed Luz’s shoulder. “Have a good day at school, alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll try.” Luz tried to keep her solemnity out of her voice as she stood up and walked towards the door.

“Remember, you’re taking the bus home today!” Camila called just as Luz slipped through the doorway.

“I know! I’ll see you later, love you!”

“Love you too!”

And just like that, Luz was gone. The house’s dutiful mediator had been relieved of her post, and that left just two beings in the Noceda household.

Camila swallowed. She tried to push her fear back down, the way she had done last night. She told herself again that Amity needed help more than anything. That the witch wouldn’t try to hurt her.

But the fear was more alive in Camila than ever. The woman just hoped that whatever humanity she’d seen in Amity was real, because she wasn’t sure what she would do if it wasn’t.

Camila stayed downstairs for a long while, trying to process the situation again. She was home alone with Amity, a foreign, magical creature who could probably do serious damage if she wanted to.

Amity, who had powerful capabilities beyond Camila’s belief.

Amity, who was scared to death by Camila’s very presence.

Amity who, for the first time this weekend, was completely on her own.

Camila sighed, slipping her head into her hands. No matter what she felt about Amity, she’d promised her daughter that she’d take care of the witch, and she wasn’t about to betray Luz’s trust again so soon.

Camila quietly stood and walked up the stairs.

Luz’s door was cracked open slightly, and Camila leaned against the wall to peek in.

As she did so, the floor creaked loudly beneath her weight.

The woman tensed when she saw Amity, who was seemingly still asleep in Luz’s bed, finally stir.

“Hmph…Luz?” Amity’s voice was soft, and her movements slow. The girl reached out for Luz, only finding a pillow in the human’s place.

The young witch shifted in the bed, and Camila could see the girl’s body go rigid when she realized that she was alone on the mattress.

“Luz?”

Amity’s voice was still hushed, but more urgent now. 

When she got no response, the witch jerked bolt-upright.

“ Luz?! ” Amity’s voice raised to a panicked almost-yell and she frantically looked around the room. She was hyperventilating and her eyes were wide and teary, before a look of realization washed over her face.

Amity defeatedly hugged the pillow, burying her face in it.

“ Luz. ”

Camila’s heart throbbed in her chest. She wanted to do something, wanted to offer Amity some sort of comfort or safety, but was held back by the looming feeling of fear.

Camila’s fear of Amity, and Amity’s fear of Camila.

Instead, Camila stepped back and gently knocked on Luz’s door.

“Amity? Are you awake?”

There was no response. Camila couldn’t say she was surprised.

“Okay, Amity. You still need to eat something, so I’m going to bring you a plate of food. I’m going to open the door wide so you know I’m not hiding behind it. Once you take the food I’ll shut it, okay?”

For a minute, there was no answer.

Then, to Camila’s honest surprise, she heard Amity’s voice, soft and shaky.

“Okay.”

Camila blew out a breath, nodded, then turned and walked down the stairs.

She filled Amity a plate of food, the last of Saturday’s leftovers, and carried it upstairs.

“I’m opening the door now, alright?”

Camila didn’t wait for the response she knew she wouldn’t get. The woman slowly pulled the door open, leaving it gaping wide.

Amity was still sitting on the bed, clinging to the pillow. She watched Camila with frightened eyes, stiff and too scared to move. 

The woman simply placed the plate on the floor a little ways into the room, watching Amity flinch as she stepped past the doorway, and subsequently stepping out and shutting the door behind her.

“I’ll be just down the hall, Amity, and I’ll be back to check on you in a little while. If you need anything, just call for me, okay?”

Camila waited. It felt like years that she stood there, head pressed against the door.

Finally, the small, nervous voice spoke up again.

“ Okay. ”

Camila smiled to herself. It wasn’t a lot, but this was progress, for both of them. The woman slowly pulled herself away from the door, and quietly walked back to her room.

“Remember, everyone should be preparing for their quizzes on Thursday. And before you all ask, yes, the study guide is mandatory.”

A series of groans bounced around the classroom, but Mrs. Hickleson just rolled her eyes. 

“You’ll all thank me when you’re prepared.” The schoolbell blared, and Hickleson sighed. “Alright, you’re free to go.”

In one collective movement, all of the students stood up and rushed out the door, tucking their books back into their bags and chattering amongst themselves.

Luz, having been placed at the front of the classroom, was one of the last kids to exit. She hugged her textbook to her chest, trying desperately to ignore the fact that she had nobody to chatter with. Her stomach was rumbling, and she couldn’t say she wasn’t excited for her lunch period. 

Mondays were pizza day, which meant everyone was served a thin slice of soggy cheese pizza from the local chain pizza restaurant. It wasn’t good by any means, but it was better than a lot of the food they served at the school. At least it wasn’t the yogurt parfaits that always ended up being a few days past their expiration date, and thank god it wasn’t Mexican Food Day, which was often rumored to be the student body’s greatest threat.

Luz sat down at her lone table in the cafeteria, nibbling at her food and trying to figure out what would be less painful: listening to the happy chatter of the other students, or listening to her paranoid thoughts about her mother and Amity.

Luz tried to push both away, and instead focus on the greater Amity situation. What was she supposed to do, now that she had a literal alien refugee living in her home?

Amity’s words still nagged the back of Luz’s mind.

And then what?

How was Amity supposed to live her life without any resources, or even an identity?

Luz sighed, crunching down on a carrot stick. This wasn’t the type of thing you could easily look up online, or ask for casual advice about. She’d watched every TV show and movie with this plot line, so what could she do now? Sit back and hope for the best?

The answer slapped her in the face.

Books.

She’d always loved books, and there was no way she’d read every single human-hosts-inhuman-creature story there was. She hadn’t even seen her highschool library yet, but she could guess that the selection was huge.

Luz scarfed down the rest of her pizza and quickly slung her backpack over her shoulders. 

The library was open during lunchtime, and she’d have plenty of time to browse the selection if she left now.

Luz let out a contented sigh as she left the bustling cafeteria. She could bet that the library would be a nice change of pace, too.

The longer Amity stared at it, the worse it got.

It wasn’t too large, and her skin wasn’t charred or anything like that, but the burn was still red, raw, and blistering. And the longer Amity stared at it, the more apparent it’s painfulness became.

And what was she supposed to do about it? Amity had no idea how to treat a burn. Whenever she’d been injured back on the Boiling Isles, the healing coven took care of her. She’d never had the opportunity to learn anything remotely resembling a home remedy, especially not for something this impressive.

Amity let out a sharp breath, continuing to inspect her injury, when a low voice caused her body to go rigid.

“Amity? I brought you lunch. I’m just going to open the door and leave it for you, okay?”

Camila silently waited for an answer, and Amity desperately tried to muster up the courage to give one. She wanted to tell Camila not to come in, wanted to tell the woman that she hadn’t even touched her breakfast, but she was sure that that would only further cause Camila’s trust in Amity to crumble.

Instead, the witchling stood numbly in front of the mirror, stomach twisting as she anticipated Camila’s reaction to such a moment of weakness.

Camila pulled the door open and cautiously stepped in, setting down a plate with a sandwich on it.

“I just made you another grilled cheese, since Luz said you seemed to like them- Amity?”

Camila was looking at the girl now. Amity didn’t turn to look at Camila: she simply watched the woman through the mirror.

“Amity, is that a burn?”

No response. Amity was shaking now, holding back tears as Camila slowly approached.

Amity shut her eyes, finally letting small teardrops slide down her cheeks.

This is it. This is where I die. This is where she kills me. She’ll blame it on my injuries, and throw me out into the woods somewhere, never to be-

“Amity, please, sweetheart, open your eyes.”

Amity didn’t want to. She squeezed her eyes further shut and clenched her teeth, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

“It looks like a second-degree burn. How long have you had it?”

No response. Amity was fully crying now, small whimpers of terror escaping her quivering lips as she tried to block out Camila’s voice.

“You’ve had it all weekend, haven’t you?” Camila’s voice was saddened.

Still, Amity didn’t answer. The girl just cried in fear, horrified by how close she was to Camila.

Camila’s heart sank. She wanted to give Amity the space the girl so desperately needed in order to build trust, but Camila couldn’t bring herself to ignore the open wound that sat on Amity’s shoulder, probably causing her sickening amounts of pain.

As if she hadn’t experienced enough pain this weekend.

Amity choked out a sob, and that was the final straw.

All the fear inside Camila dissipated. Suddenly, it didn’t matter whether or not Amity was a supernatural being, whether she could do any damage. 

Camila had seen it all while working at the hospital, but it was cases like Amity’s that always broke her heart. Seeing a child like this, beaten and bruised and scared of her own shadow, never ceased to shake Camila to her core. She’d always wished she could do more to help those kids, and now there was one in her home, who desperately needed care and support.

Camila’s reservations about Amity disintegrated as she stared sadly at the crying girl, covered in black and blue bruises and probably suffering immensely from the burn on her shoulder.

Camila sighed.

“Amity, I really need to treat that burn. I’m going to go and get my first aid kit, okay? I’ll be right back, I’ll help you, and then I’ll let you be, alright?”

Amity slowed her panicked sobs for a moment, managing to hiccup a quiet, desperate spurt of words.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I don’t want to hurt anyone. I’m sorry I came here, I’m sorry I-“

“Amity.” Camila’s voice was melancholy. “You don’t have to apologize for coming here, I know you didn’t have much of a choice. I now know that you don’t want to hurt me or my daughter, and I’m sorry that I thought otherwise. Don’t apologize to me, Amity. I hurt you. ”

Amity went silent, and her face contorted.

“I want to try and help you, Amity, and after that I promise that I’ll leave you alone. Is that okay?”

Amity kept her eyes pressed shut. It wasn’t. But she didn’t have it in her to say no.

Amity nodded, and Camila smiled softly. 

“Alright, I‘ll be right back with my supplies. You can take a seat somewhere, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Luz had genuinely expected to see more people in the library.

There had to be at least some other kids who came here to escape the hellish setting that was the lunch room, right?

Luz wasn’t sure whether to be saddened or relieved by the fact that she was the only kid in here, except for an older girl reorganizing books, probably as some form of punishment if Luz knew anything about her school.

When Luz stepped into the library, the girl turned and looked her way, a smile flashing across her face.

“Hey!” The girl called, practically floating over to Luz. “Welcome to the library! Need help finding any books?”

Luz raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. Maybe it wasn’t a punishment.

“Uh, yeah, I am, but it’s kinda specific.”

The girl just shrugged. “That’s fine, I know about basically everything in here. What’re ya looking for?”

The girl was older, maybe a sophomore or junior, and practically a head taller than Luz. Her smile was wild, but warm, and she seemed genuinely enthusiastic about her work at the library.

“Alright, ah, this is really niche, but do you have anything about families hiding supernatural beings from the government?”

The girl’s eyes widened, and for a moment Luz thought she’d made a mistake, before the girl laughed, “How’d you know that that’s my favorite trope? C’mon, I’ve read all of those. I’ll give you some reccs!”

The library girl beckoned Luz to follow, and of course, she did.

The high school library was enormous compared to the one at Luz’s middle school, and cozier too, with beanbag chairs tucked into the corners and small reading nooks by the windows. 

The library girl eagerly trotted along into the large selection of fantasy novels. 

“I’m Elizabeth, by the way,” the girl said as she drew a book from the shelf. “Most people call me Lizzie.”

“Oh, okay. Lizzie. I’ll call you that.”

Lizzie smiled and nodded, then handed Luz a book.

“If you’re looking for a story where a family harbors an alien animal, this one’s for you.”

The book was titled The Wild Side of Wilkins Street and had an illustration of a dragon-like creature on the front cover.

While the premise was obviously interesting, dragon-creatures weren’t really going to help Luz get a better grasp on her Amity situation .

“Actually, I was looking for one where they host something more like a human?”

Lizzie’s eyes lit up with a mischievous sparkle, and she quickly walked over to another shelf, brushing her hand along the spines of the books and tentatively pulling one out.

Lizzie delicately placed this book into Luz’s hands.

“ This is your holy grail.”

The book didn’t have a color illustration, only its title in bold font.

Odds for Odds.

“It’s about a man working for the government who saved an alien girl from experimentation, and now has to hide her with his family.” Lizzie grinned. “It’s got everything. Angst, romance, comedy, magic- the whole lineup. The only thing I’d really worry about is the descriptions of the experiments, but it’s not the worst thing ever. This is one of my favorite books of all time, I’m sure it’ll scratch your itch.”

Luz’s stomach twisted. The idea of reading through the experiments sounded brutal to say the least, but this was the exact type of story Luz was looking for. She wanted to be ready for anything, even the absolute worst case scenario. And the comedy wouldn’t hurt, either.

“It sounds great!” Luz said quickly. “I think I’d like to check it out, if that’s okay?”

“Sure! I’ll go do that now.”

Luz followed Lizzie over to the scanning counter, where the girl promptly checked out Luz’s book and handed it back.

“You’re welcome to stay in here to read,” Lizzie invited. “We’re open all through lunch period. I know the cafeteria can be… loud. ”

“That’s an understatement,” Luz chuckled. “I think I will stay here, if that’s okay?”

“More than okay! Take whatever seat you want!” Lizzie gestured out to the empty tables scattered around the library. “I’ll be around, shelving books and whatnot. Just call me if you need something, ah- sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Oh! I’m Luz! Luz Noceda!”

“Luz.” Lizzie smiled and nodded. “Alright, so just call me if you need me, Luz!”

Lizzie then disappeared back off into the seemingly endless shelves, and Luz settled down at one of the tables.

Before she opened her book, Luz looked around the room and found herself overcome with a strange feeling of familiarity. 

Her heart throbbed when she realized how much this place reminded her of the library back on the Boiling Isles. Sure, the atmosphere was a bit less magicky, but something about it reminded Luz of the other world she’d come to love. The books, the tables, the small corners where the library’s inhabitants could hide and dissolve into their stories, and everything else about this place.

The friendliness of the employees hadn’t hurt, either.

Luz settled into the wooden chair and rested her book on the desk, sighing with joy as the laminated hardcover squeaked when it was opened.

This place wasn’t the Boiling Isles- but maybe it was something close to it. A sort of purgatory between two worlds. 

Either way, Luz found herself more comfortable here than she had been for her entire first month of high school. For a moment, the numerous stressors in Luz’s life disappeared. No, she hadn’t found her way back to the place she belonged, but she’d found a refuge, and what could be the beginnings of a new friendship.

Right now, that was all she needed.

Chapter One: Pins and Needles

A part of Amity wanted to put up a fight. 

The thought of Camila touching her was unnerving enough, but the idea that the woman would be treating Amity’s injuries really put the witch on edge. Amity wouldn’t put it past Camila to purposely infect the burn, or just kill Amity here and blame it on her past injuries- the woman wanted her dead, after all.

But Amity couldn’t fight. Her head was still sore and spinning, and the rest of her body wasn’t much better. Plus, that didn’t even touch on the fact that Amity was too stiff and scared to move, or the fact that hurting Camila would break Luz’s heart, the last thing Amity wanted to do-

“Amity? I’m going to come in, alright?”

Amity didn’t answer. The girl just waited, tense and afraid.

Amity could hear Camila sigh heavily into the silence, before the woman opened the door and walked in with a box of medical supplies in one hand, and a wet washcloth in the other.

Amity was seated on the bed, her shirt still laying on the floor by the desk, leaving her battered body exposed to the woman who had given her a concussion just two days earlier.

Camila moved slowly so as not to spook an already-terrified Amity, and sat down in front of the girl.

The woman offered a reassuring smile as she opened her first aid kit, pulling out a roll of gauze. Then, Camila held up her washcloth.

“Amity, I’m going to have to clean the wound first, okay? It’s going to sting a little bit, so I’m going to try and distract you.”

Amity nodded slowly. The young witch still didn’t trust the process, but she was too scared to protest. 

Camila, gently, dabbed the washcloth against Amity’s skin. As she did so, the woman struck up conversation.

“So, I hear you're a fan of The Good Witch Azura.”

The washcloth did sting, but the mention of Azura managed to take Amity’s attention away from it for a moment.

“Yes, I am.”

“Who’s your favorite character, Amity?” Camila gently continued on with her job, inspecting the burn as she did so. 

Amity hesitated for a moment, sucking in a breath as Camila brushed over a particularly raw patch of skin.

“Hecate,” Amity finally managed.

“Ah, the former-bad-girl.” The wound definitely looked bad, but wasn’t the worst it could’ve been. A particularly severe second-degree burn, but not a truly dire injury. “Why is she your favorite?”

“I…I like that she turned good when she used to be bad. I like it when characters do that.” Amity winced as Camila finished up the cleaning.

“Luz likes it when that happens, too. She loves it when the hero befriends the villain in the end.” Camila put down her washcloth and began to bandage Amity’s shoulder. “Have you seen any of the Azura movies?”

“Only a few, but they were really good.” Amity had almost completely forgotten that she was talking to Camila, of all people. Her own parents had never asked these questions about her interests, and Amity was always willing to discuss Azura. “I’d love to see more of them, though.”

Camila chuckled, wrapping the bandage one last time around Amity’s shoulder. “Just tell that to Luz, because you’re in luck. She owns a copy of every single one of them.”

Amity could feel her heart flutter at the thought of having an Azura movie night with Luz.

“Alright Amity, you’re done.” Camila leaned back and smiled gently at the girl.

Amity didn’t smile back, but her lips quirked upwards. Considering that Camila hadn’t seen Amity’s expression as anything but fearful all weekend, that was a major step.

“Luz knows how to treat a burn,” Camila said, “so just tell her about it. She knows how to clean and rebandage-“

Camila stopped short when she realized that Amity had gone stiff. The woman frowned.

“…you don’t want me telling Luz, do you?”

Amity shook her head, opening her mouth and stuttering out a few shaky words.

“I…I don’t want her to be anymore stressed than she is.”

Camila softened at that. Truly, the woman couldn’t remember her daughter ever having a better friend than this.

“Well, I don’t think you’d be comfortable doing it with me-“ the way Amity’s eyes dropped confirmed that statement “-but I could teach you how to do it yourself, if you’d like.”

Amity perked up a bit at that, and nodded at Camila, who smiled. 

“Alright- the cleaning is pretty straightforward. I’ll give you this washcloth to use for it. Just wet the cloth and use a little bit of this soap-“ Camila handed Amity the bottle from the first aid kit “-and you just gently wipe it down, and then dry it off by gently patting it with the cloth, like I did.”

Amity nodded in understanding.

“Do you know how to bandage your shoulder?”

Amity hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head shamefully. Camila’s heart sank at the girl’s ashamed reaction.

“It’s okay not to know. Here, I’ll teach you.”

Amity felt a bit nervous as Camila quickly scanned the room, and landed on something behind Amity on the bed.

The young girl didn’t dare turn to see what it was.

“Amity, could you toss me that stuffed Azura plush over there?”

Amity was more than a little bewildered by the request, but she was too scared to decline. She grabbed the plush off of Luz’s bed and handed it to Camila.

“Thank you.” Camila smiled and unwound some gauze. 

“ So, Azura here has been injured in battle, and she needs to bandage up her shoulder.” Camila raised the plush up to Amity, playfully flailing the toy’s arm. The nurse then picked up her gauze. “So, she wraps her shoulder like this. She goes under her armpit, up and around her shoulder. And she does that a few times over.” Camila demonstrated the process by wrapping Azura’s arm. Amity watched dutifully.

Once Camila was finished, she unwrapped Azura’s arm and smiled. “Does that make sense, Amity?”

Amity nodded.

“Do you want to try it for yourself?”

Camila offered Amity the plush.

For a moment, the witchling eyed it warily. However, she was unable to come up with any idea why Camila would be doing this, other than to genuinely help Amity, and so she took Azura into her hands.

Camila smiled. “Alright, brave Hecate, your friend Azura has wounded her shoulder on the battlefield! It’s up to you to bandage her and heal her, so that you can take down the evil Dragonlord together!”

Amity’s lips twitched upward into an almost-smile, and Camila found herself proud of the progress she’d made with Amity in just a day.

Amity tentatively picked up the roll of gauze, looking towards Camila for approval.

The woman nodded encouragingly.

Amity then unrolled the gauze and slowly wrapped it around Azura’s shoulder. Under the armpit, up, and around- a few times over.

Camila was smiling proudly now. 

“Phenomenal job, Hecate! You have healed your friend and are now ready for battle!”

Amity flinched as Camila impulsively jerked forward, pulling Azura out of Amity’s hands and thrusting her into the air triumphantly. Seeing Amity’s reaction, Camila regretted the action immediately, but continued to smile at the young witch.

Camila lowered the doll and handed it back to Amity.

“So, does the bandaging make sense?”

Amity nodded. There was a sort of animation to her now that she’d been lacking around Camila all weekend- it wasn’t trust, not even close, but it was something. Right now, something was enough for the both of them.

Camila picked up her first aid kit, leaving Amity with the soap and the gauze.

“I’ll remind you when to rebandage it in a little while, but now you can do it without Luz’s help. I’ll check on you in a bit, ‘kay?”

Amity looked up and met eyes with Camila, before giving a still quiet, but stable, “ Okay. ”

Camila smiled. “ Okay, ” she repeated.

And with that, Amity was on her own again.

She still couldn’t trust Camila. The woman tried to kill her, and would probably do it again.

But the room somehow felt colder now without the woman, and Amity couldn’t help but feel like she had just glimpsed something, a chance at what life with Camila could look like, only for it to slip through her fingers like everything else good in the world.

Amity sighed and leaned back against the bed.

Things were starting to feel different here in the Noceda household. The fear that had been so persistently gripping its residents was slowly beginning to disappear.

Amity was shocked to admit it, but for a brief few moments there with Camila, she was starting to believe that maybe she could grow to like it here.

‘Emilia let out an agonized screech as the needle punctured her skin, tears filling her eyes as the terrible liquid pulsed through her blood. The girl writhed across the steel floor, screaming in pain. The chains bound to her neck and wrists were wound tense as she desperately pulled away from them. As she suffered her horrific punishment, she locked eyes with me, face teary and desperate.’

Luz shut the book as the bus came to a stop. She was shaking, and hardly thinking as she exited the vehicle.

The human girl rushed into her house, panic overtaking her. She needed to get to Amity, now.

“Luz! How was your school day?”

“It was good, Mom!” The girl hardly had time to respond to her mother before she bolted up the stairs. 

Luz flung open her bedroom door and there, lying on the bed, was Amity.

“Amity!” Luz panted, rushing forward and taking her girlfriend into a hug. “How are you? How was your day?”

“Not particularly eventful,” Amity admitted, choosing to leave the whole burn situation out. “How was school?”

Luz shrugged, finally catching her breath. “I dunno, it was… school, I guess. I did finally see the library, though.” Luz desperately tried to hide the panic that had overtaken her when she first barged in. Maybe checking out that book had been a bad idea.

“Your human school has a library? ” Amity’s eyes were wide with excitement and intrigue.

“Well, yeah,” Luz said sheepishly. “It’s not much, I mean it doesn’t even have a-“

“Tell me all about it.”

At Amity’s enthusiasm, Luz only smiled. The idea of a library probably reminded Amity of home, too.

Luz cleared her throat.

“ Well, unlike witch libraries, ours actually have some really cool computers.”

“…what’s a computer?”

All tension in Luz’s body released as she let out a laugh.

“Oh, Amity…I’ve got a lot to show you.”

Chapter Text

“Luz!”

Amity bolted towards the human girl desperately, tears in her eyes and panic written all across her face. Luz wanted to call out a warning, tell Amity not to come any closer, but it was too late.

The net came out of nowhere, slamming Amity down against the pavement. Amity screamed in terror, writhing, trying to escape, but it was no use.

The officers moved in, guns all pointed at Amity’s head.

“Luz!” Amity screamed again, tears streaming down her face.

Luz wanted to run forward and help, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even speak. Luz could only watch in horror as the officers began to beat her girlfriend into the ground as she desperately cried for help.

Amity was panting heavily now, fighting to keep her eyes open.

The only sound Luz could hear was the barked commands of the officers.

“Pin her arms!”

“Hold her head!”

“Keep her down!”

About five officers were holding Amity to the floor now, as one of them pushed an enormous syringe into her neck.

Amity choked out a broken scream as the needle punctured her skin, but she made no further attempts to fight. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and her body finally went limp. 

The yells of the officers were indistinct to Luz now as they lifted Amity, who was still entangled in the net, and placed her into some sort of steel crate in the back of one of their vans.

The officers then slammed the doors of the car shut, and just like that, Amity was gone.

“Luz.”

There was no life left in Amity’s eyes.

Her skin was so pale it was practically indistinguishable from the white hospital gown she wore. Her thick metal shock collar was hooked to a heavy chain bolted into the concrete wall behind her, her hands bound behind her back in a similar fashion.

Amity’s golden eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and her voice was weak and hoarse.

Luz wanted to help her, break her out of that cage or at least try to offer her reassurance, but again, she could do nothing.

Amity’s eyes then went wide, trained on something behind Luz.

The human girl couldn’t turn around.

“No.” Amity scrambled backwards, her face contorted with terror. “No, not again. Please.”

Suddenly, there were people coming at Amity from all directions, opening her cage and stepping in.

“Please don’t do this again. Please.” Amity was crying already.

Her faceless tormentors swarmed her, undoing her chains and forcing her off of her knees and to her feet. One of them wrapped themself around Amity, who was now kicking and screaming.

“No! Don’t do this!” Luz had never heard Amity sound so terrified. 

The figure pulled Amity out of her cage, and Luz watched as the witch was laid against a medical table and promptly restrained.

Amity’s tearful pleas pierced the air, but nobody seemed to listen. 

One of Amity’s captors strapped something to her face. 

It looked to be an anesthesia mask.

An unfamiliar voice rang out through the room.

“Just take deep breaths, Amity. It’ll be done soon.”

Amity’s screams only amplified as her lungs were pumped full of whatever horrid gas was being used to torture her.

Luz could only watch as Amity’s movements became infrequent, and the witch’s screams began to die in her throat.

When Amity had stopped moving, Luz finally felt her feet dislodge from the ground they’d been glued to. The human shot forward towards the medical table, and towards the now-motionless witch she so desperately loved.

As Luz pushed through the crowd of nameless torturers, she saw Amity’s body give a violent spasm.

Luz pushed forward, practically touching the medical table now. She leaned over, trying to glimpse her girlfriend’s face, and-

“ Amity! ” Luz jerked upright, cold sweat running down her neck and her sudden shriek echoing off the walls of her room. 

Something startled awake in Luz’s arms.

“Huh? Luz?!” Amity sat up too, looking around frantically for any signs of danger.

Tears filled Luz’s eyes and the human let out a relieved huff as she realized that Amity was alright.

Nobody had caught her. 

Nobody had hurt her.

She was here, safe in Luz’s arms.

“Luz! What happened?” Amity gasped, panic fully infecting her voice.

Luz sighed and pulled Amity a little closer. Amity was slightly mortified to find that, for the first time this week, Luz was the one shaking. 

“It’s nothing,” Luz muttered. “Just a dream.”

Amity frowned, leaning into Luz’s embrace. “Was it bad? Do you want to talk about it?”

Luz swallowed. She did want to talk about it, just not with Amity, who would surely be scared out of her wits by the idea of being captured by the government.

She’d talk to her mom about it in about…

Luz looked over at her clock, and sighed when she saw the time.

She had to be up and getting ready for school in about three hours.

Luz wanted to groan, but instead she rolled over, and Amity did the same, facing Luz this time.

The two girls had barely just settled down when Camila barged into the room.

“I heard a scream! Luz, Amity, are you okay?”

Luz drowsily raised her head and smiled at her mother.

“Yep, all good. Just a nightmare.”

Camila furrowed her brow. “That’s all it was?”

“Yeah Mom, sorry for waking you up.” 

Camila sighed. “That’s alright, Luz. Hope you sleep a bit better.”

Camila offered a tired smile as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Luz let out a soft groan and settled back down into bed, Amity doing the same. The witch’s breathing was still quick and panicky, and Luz was still shaking, but both girls had calmed down from the initial shock of Luz’s waking. 

Amity fell back to sleep quickly, but Luz wasn’t so lucky. She was still overcome with that feeling of dread that tended to linger after nightmares, even when your better senses told you it was all fake.

Luz smiled weakly as Amity buried her face into the human’s chest, then pulled Amity closer and played with the witch’s hair.

On a normal occasion, this type of affection would have been buried under flustered awkwardness from both girls. But now, it only offered Luz reassurance. 

Odds for Odds was a great book. But Luz was certain that it’d drive her insane.

She couldn’t lie about her prior fantasizing of this situation, in which Amity could come and stay with her in the human world, but Luz had never really considered the risks of it all. The horrific danger that Amity was in just for existing as a witch in this realm was crushing Luz, and the awful reality of it all was starting to sink in.

Amity would never be able to live a normal life in the human realm, not without extreme caution and an impressive case of identity fraud (which Camila would probably be against). 

Luz gave a shuddery sigh and squeezed Amity closer.

“We’ll figure this out, Amity. I promise.”

Luz squeezed Amity a little harder, and suddenly, Amity reawoke with a gasp. 

Luz flinched, loosening her grip and looking her girlfriend over in concern.

“Amity? You okay?”

Amity looked around the room, eyes wide. She then fixed her gaze on Luz and forced her face to soften.

“I’m okay. I just…need to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh.” Luz sat herself upright, ignoring the fatigue starting to tug at her limbs. “Do you want me to come with you?” Amity had gone to the bathroom by herself the previous evening, but Luz figured she’d feel a little less safe in the dark.

To Luz’s surprise, though, Amity shook her head.

“I want to try and do it myself.”

“You sure?”

Amity nodded firmly. “Yeah. I need to try and do things myself.”

“You know, it’s really okay to ask for help, Amity, I’ll always be here.”

Amity smiled softly. “Thanks, Luz. But I still want to try.”

Luz nodded, and couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of Amity’s efforts. “Alright then. I’ll keep watch over the room.”

Amity carefully rolled out of bed and walked over to the door, offering Luz one last smile as she opened it, before slipping out and closing it behind her.

Amity made her way down the darkened hallway, trying to keep her nervousness at bay. Thankfully, it was easy, because the pain was starting to block out Amity’s senses.

The girl made it into the bathroom and finally let out a sharp gasp of pain. Desperately, Amity took off her shirt and began to pull away her shoulder’s bandaging. The first wrap of bandaging, the one actually touching Amity’s wound, was stained with a strange liquid.

Amity inspected her burn to see what exactly had gone wrong, fighting to keep the tears of pain out of her eyes.

There was a wet spot on the burn, seemingly where the strange fluid had come from. It looked awful, even more so than the rest of the wound.

Amity, against her better judgement, touched the sensitive spot, and drew in a sharp breath as she did so.

Yeah. That was the source of Amity’s sudden pain.

Amity cursed herself for not being stronger, for not holding in her tears. But in this moment, as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, the events of the past few days all came crashing down on her.

The pain of her burn definitely contributed to the tears, but it wasn’t just that. Amity’s fear, anguish, and exhaustion, as well as the dull soreness of her whole body, and the fading-but-still-constant headache thundering behind her eyes, all swirled together in a whirlwind of emotion that Amity suddenly couldn’t take.

Amity leaned forward against the sink counter, dipping her head and biting her tongue, trying to keep her tears at bay. But it was no use, and quickly, the hiccuped sobs that had become so familiar in the past week had returned.

Amity only stopped when she heard a knock at the door.

The witch stiffened. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this. She couldn’t let anyone see her like this.

“Amity? Are you alright?” The voice was barely a whisper, but Amity could recognize it anywhere.

Camila.

Panic surged through Amity as her sobbing resumed, panic and pain colliding in a hurricane of uncontrollable emotion.

She was stuck in a house, injured, with a woman who wanted to kill her. That woman was standing behind the door, listening to Amity cry.

The girl couldn’t stop herself. She was so tired.

Amity fell to her knees and leaned backwards against the side of the bathtub behind her. The piercing pain in her shoulder was starting to overwhelm her, and so her tears just came faster. 

Amity’s head was spinning. Why couldn’t she control herself? Why couldn’t she stop? She had to stop. 

But Amity was exhausted. 

A quiet squeak came from the door. Amity wanted to tense up and prepare herself for the inevitable attack, but she couldn’t will herself to do so. She only drew her knees to her chest as she realized that she’d left the door unlocked, and tucked her head against her chest as Camila stepped in.

The past four days had been a rollercoaster for Amity Blight: that fact was being made more clear by the day. But Camila had never, not even when Amity’s trauma was still clear and fresh, seen the girl like this.

“ Amity? ” 

The witch was curled into a tight ball, leaning against the bathtub. She was heaving ragged sobs against her knees, her body jerking with every gasping breath.

Camila quickly realized that the girl was no longer wearing her shirt, and last night’s bandages were on the floor.

Camila let her eyes wander to the girl’s injured shoulder, and felt her heart sink when she saw what was undoubtedly the cause of the problem.

One of the larger blisters around the burn had burst.

“ Amity, ” Camila said again, gentler this time. 

The girl curled further into herself, her sobs growing more intense.

Camila sighed. To Amity, she was still, understandably, an untrustworthy figure. Even after yesterday, the young witch still had a look of terror wash over her whenever she came too close to Camila, as if at any moment, the woman would repeat her first attack on Amity.

Camila kept telling herself that she could never hurt Amity like that again. And despite the fact that her lingering fear of the witch still tugged at her every thought, the woman was confident in that notion.

However, Camila wasn’t sure whether or not to approach Amity. 

The girl was clearly in pain, and Camila wanted to help her, but the woman was hesitant to do so when Amity was in such a clearly unstable headspace.

“Amity, hey, it’s alright,” Camila quietly reassured, kneeling in front of the crying girl.

Amity didn’t look up. She just sobbed harder.

Quickly, Camila stood up and quietly closed the bathroom door. Her stomach twisted as the witch tensed, but Camila had decided that it was better if her daughter didn’t see Amity like this, especially after a nightmare that Camila suspected had involved Amity getting hurt.

The human woman sat down on the floor in front of Amity, and remained there.

She offered no words, and definitely no physical contact- only her presence.

They sat there for a long time, Amity crying, Camila listening. Eventually, Amity’s sobs died down and the girl’s trembling limbs went slack, her legs slipping away from her chest and her arms falling to her sides.

Amity still kept her head hanging low. She sniffed a few times, before exhaling heavily and steadying her breath.

The girl raised her tearful eyes slightly, and as she felt the witch’s stare burn into her skin, Camila smiled.

“Are you okay, Amity?”

The girl sat and stared for a little while longer. The fear was still clearly displayed along her face as she studied Camila.

Eventually, Amity nodded.

Camila sighed softly and tried to give another warm smile. The physical toll of tending to a traumatized witch at four in the morning was beginning to take hold of the woman, but she wouldn’t let the fatigue win this fast.

“Is your burn bothering you?” Camila knew the answer, but she wanted to give Amity the initiative here.

Another patch of Amity’s tense, fearful silence.

Then, the girl managed to respond in words.

“I can bandage it myself.”

Camila frowned. “I know you can, Amity. But it looks like one of your blisters popped, and I know that hurts a bit. Can I try to help you?”

Amity sat stiffly, still staring at Camila. The terror in the girl’s eyes had now mixed with desperation. Camila knew that Amity wanted to accept help.

But in Amity’s eyes, Camila couldn’t be trusted yet, and so, Amity stared.

Finally, the girl caved.

Amity slowly nodded her head, her desperation overwhelming her fear.

Camila made her smile a little bigger. “Okay, my first aid kit is in this bathroom. I’m just going to turn around and get it.”

Camila acquired her supplies slowly, trying not to scare Amity with any sudden movements.

Finally, the woman turned around, holding a newly-wet washcloth, some ointment, and a new wad of gauze.

“We’re going to do the same thing we did last night, okay Amity?”

Amity nodded again. The girl still flinched a little when Camila approached, but for the most part, she remained still.

As Camila cleaned up the burn, she again tried to distract Amity from the pain through conversation.

“So Amity, what’s your favorite food?”

The girl was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was shaky.

“Sometimes, Hexside would serve us slugsicles for dessert after lunch. Those were the best thing they made.”

“Ah, so something like a popsicle?”

Amity’s voice quieted. “I’ve never had a popsicle.”

“Hm.” Camila gently applied the ointment to the site of the bursting. “We have some in the freezer downstairs. I’ll let you try one tomorrow, okay?”

Amity didn’t say anything, she just nodded.

The pair sat in silence as Camila wrapped up Amity’s wound. The girl’s body was still trembling, her eyes still wide with fear, but she was letting Camila help her, which was more than the woman could’ve asked for.

When Camila was done, the woman sighed and smiled. 

“I’ll leave now, Amity. Get dressed and get back to sleep, okay?”

Amity nodded. “Okay,” she mumbled.

Camila stood and left, quietly shutting the door behind her. 

Luz was still shaking, staring at the door.

Tiredness was pulling at her body, blurring her vision and causing her eyelids to droop. The adrenaline from her nightmare had been the only thing keeping Luz awake up until this point, but now, said adrenaline was rapidly depleting.

Luz didn’t want to let sleep take hold of her. Her fear of Amity’s capture was still fresh in her mind, and her paranoia had yet to die down. 

Amity still hadn’t returned from the bathroom. Luz knew that it was extremely unlikely that anyone could have hurt Amity here, but that unrealistic, dream-induced fear still clung to Luz tightly.

She couldn’t fall asleep. What if Amity never came back? What if she was dying at this very moment?

Luz shook her head, trying to wake herself up.

It was no use.

The past few days had been so exhausting, Luz’s body simply couldn’t afford to lose any rest.

Luz’s vision grew spotty, and slowly, sleep took hold.

Amity had endured years of relentless training, designed to push her to her absolute physical limits.

But never in her young life had Amity felt anything more taxing than these last four days had been.

Amity was still leaning against the bathtub, staring at the floor. Tears had returned to her eyes, however, they refused to fall; they simply sat there, clouding her vision.

Amity’s sobbing had taken everything out of her. She felt like she couldn’t move, her body completely slack and numb. She wanted to get up off the floor, but her limbs felt too heavy to carry, as though her bones were made of iron.

Amity quickly gave up trying to fight it. She didn’t have the energy to do so.

Amity slumped against the smooth surface behind her and allowed her eyes to shut, quickly drifting into sleep on the freezing bathroom floor.

Camila, no matter how hard she tried, could not get herself to fall asleep.

Instead, she stared at the dim yellow light that slid in through the slit under her bedroom door, coming from the bathroom.

Camila kept her eyes on that light, waiting for it to inevitably flicker out as Amity went back to bed. 

It never did.

Concern blossomed in the woman’s chest. She couldn’t hear Amity crying anymore, either: had something happened?

Camila waited a little while longer, not wanting to needlessly disturb Amity any further. But the lights remained on, and as long as that tiny strip of brightness bled through under the door, Camila knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

The woman quietly groaned and rolled out of bed, going to open her door and step into the hall.

Her hesitancy returned as she stared at the bathroom door. She didn’t want to scare Amity any more than she already had, but she couldn’t ignore the worry that was slowly consuming her as she stood in front of the lit, silent bathroom.

Finally, Camila sucked in a breath and knocked on the door.

No response.

That wasn’t unusual of Amity, in fact she rarely responded to Camila’s attempts at communication, but it definitely didn’t do anything to reassure the woman.

“ Amity? I’m going to come in there, ” Camila whispered.

Again, nothing.

Camila heaved another heavy sigh, bracing herself for the wide-eyed, terrified expression she’d be met with when Amity saw her, then twisted the handle and opened the door.

Camila’s heart dropped into her stomach when she saw the witchling.

Amity was in the same spot she’d been left, still limp, and head lolling to the side.

Camila quickly shut the bathroom door behind her and approached Amity, trying to ignore any of the horrible scenarios she was imagining in her mind. But as the woman got closer to Amity, she couldn’t help but smile sadly.

Camila could tell from the peaceful expression on the witch’s face, and the slow rise and fall of her chest, that Amity was asleep.

The poor girl hadn’t even had the energy to get off of the floor before sleep took hold of her.

Camila knelt down next to Amity and reached for the girl’s shirt, which was still lying in the corner of the room.

Camila couldn’t help but chuckle as she picked it up. Of course Luz had put Amity in the Spider-Man pajamas.

The woman gently pulled Amity’s shirt back over her, careful not to move the girl too much. Camila wasn’t particularly worried about waking Amity up, though; if the girl had been tired enough to fall asleep on the cold bathroom floor, she probably wasn’t in any danger of being roused.

As Camila finally guided Amity’s injured arm into its sleeve, Amity’s head flopped towards Camila and took the girl’s body with it, causing Amity to fall towards the ground.

Camila let out a small gasp of surprise and caught the girl’s head before it collided with the tile flooring. Amity groaned softly in her sleep and, to Camila’s surprise, leaned heavily into the touch.

Camila tentatively took Amity’s head into her lap.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows when the girl’s pointed ears wiggled. Camila wasn’t sure what the gesture meant; she hoped it was a sign of contentment.

That same small voice, the one that hadn’t left Camila’s mind since Amity’s arrival, was still nagging her.

There is a foreign creature asleep in your arms.

It could turn on you at any moment.

It could kill you. It could kill your daughter.

It cannot be trusted.

Camila studied Amity’s face. There was a small bruise along her jawline. It was hardly noticeable compared to the girl’s more severe injuries, but still undeniably prominent against Amity’s ghost-pale skin.

Camila gently caressed Amity’s head. The head that housed a brain that loved the Good Witch Azura. A brain that so deeply cared about Luz Noceda.

The head that Camila had brought her foot down upon, and slammed against the floor.

At any moment, it could kill you.

It could use its magic to hurt you.

Your daughter is asleep down the hall.

Luz wouldn’t even know what hit her.

It’s not human. It’s a danger.

Wouldn’t it be better?

Wouldn’t it be easier, if you just killed it here?

Camila’s eyes widened in horror at herself, and she jerked herself out of her thoughts, returning her gaze to Amity.

Even in her sleep, the girl looked nervous. Amity seemed so small and afraid, her head tucked against Camila, body shaking.

She’s probably cold, Camila noted. 

The woman hesitated for a moment, a pang of fear shooting through her mind, before she chased it away and gently pulled Amity closer, so that most of the girl’s body was now lying in Camila’s lap.

Off of the cold tile, and now offered some sense of security, Amity’s trembling stopped.

The girl huddled a little further into Camila, and the woman’s heart did a somersault in her chest. Camila felt a new wave of disgust towards her mind for even considering harming Amity again. 

Again.

Camila’s heart broke again for all the pain and fear she’d inflicted upon Amity. The crushing weight of the attack, of what Camila had done to this innocent child, finally came crashing down on the woman.

Camila bit back tears and hung her head over Amity, again beginning to caress the girl’s fragile head.

“ Dios mío Amity, ” Camila murmured, voice thick with held-back sobs. “ I’m so sorry. ”

Camila slowly began to stroke the hair out of Amity’s face and tuck it behind the witch’s ear, mimicking the motion her daughter had done to soothe Amity before. 

In response, Amity huddled further into Camila, melting at the woman’s touch.

Camila wished Amity was this willing to receive affection when she was awake: the girl really seemed to enjoy it. The physical affection she’d been so terrified of seemed to reassure her now, even though she didn’t know it in her conscious mind. Camila desperately wanted to offer the girl something like this when she needed it most, when she could feel it. 

But that idea was unrealistic for the time being. Amity tensed up whenever someone came near her.

Camila frowned, finally starting to truly consider the implications of Amity’s situation.

The girl hadn’t only mentioned that evil emperor when she’d talked about running away. She mentioned her parents, too.

Camila’s stomach dropped as she thought back to the bruises covering Amity’s body. The burn, too. The woman hadn’t really thought about where Amity would have received them, having then been preoccupied with the idea of keeping the witch in her home.

Camila felt nauseous as she realized that Amity’s fear of her probably went deeper than Friday’s attack. A surge of protectiveness washed over the woman.

How strange. Amity- a magical creature from another dimension -needed protection. And Camila- a woman who was previously terrified by the very idea of Amity’s existence -was there to provide it.

Camila sighed as Amity’s face was bathed in a streak of golden light.

Dawn.

It was probably around 5:00 AM, if Camila were to guess.

The woman looked back down at the sleeping witch in her arms, who curled away from the light as soon as it touched her.

Gently, Camila readjusted Amity in her arms, and then slowly stood up. 

The woman carried the girl, who was still limp with sleep, back to Luz’s bedroom.

Right before Camila pulled Luz’s door open, she felt Amity’s shoulders flex in a small stretch. The witch’s golden eyes fluttered open.

However, Amity was clearly too tired to truly function.

The girl tilted her head, studying Camila with glazed eyes.

“Luz?”

Camila chuckled, pulling the door open and laying Amity down in bed. 

“You can go back to sleep, sweetheart.” Camila gently tucked Amity in just as the girl’s eyes widened in realization.

“ Camila? ”

The woman smiled softly. “It’s okay, Amity. Just get some rest, alright?”

Camila hadn’t missed the bug-eyed, fearful stare that chased her as she left the room. She’d almost forgotten that the girl who had slept so peacefully in her arms was terrified of her presence.

Camila sighed heavily as she returned to her room and sat down on the bed.

I’m not going back to sleep, am I.

Camila shook her head. Now, with the sun rising in the sky, there was no way she’d be able to get any more shut-eye.

Instead, Camila decided to be more productive with her time.

Camila couldn’t remember the last time she’d called out of a shift. She hadn’t been planning on changing that today, even with Amity still new to her home.

“Hello? Yes, I’m sorry, but I can’t make it into work today.”

When Luz woke up, Amity was in her arms.

She must have returned from the bathroom at some point; maybe she’d done so quickly, as time did seem to be warped in that almost-dream state that Luz had been trapped in.

This morning, both girls were awakened by Luz’s 7:00 AM alarm. 

Luz felt insanely guilty about that: neither of them had slept well last night, and Amity would’ve had the chance to sleep in, if only Luz had silenced that stupid alarm.

Luz tried her best to stay positive about it, though.

When Amity stirred in her arms and turned to face Luz, Luz smiled.

“Morning,” the human mumbled.

Amity just blinked tiredly, then mustered her best attempt at a smile. “Morning.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, absorbed in each others’ presence, before Luz let out a long sigh.

“I have to start getting ready for school.”

The small traces of happiness on Amity’s face wavered when Luz said that. “Oh, okay. You should start getting ready, then.”

“Yeah,” Luz breathed, but she didn’t move. The pair sat and stared at each other for a little while longer, and Luz’s heart throbbed in her chest at the thought of leaving Amity alone here.

Finally, Amity gave a small giggle. “What’re you waiting for? Get ready Luz, you don’t want to be late!”

Luz chuckled back. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” The human girl rolled out of bed and began to rummage through her dresser, looking for clothes to wear.

As Luz turned to go to the bathroom and change, she looked back at Amity sadly.

“I’m really sorry that I’m leaving again,” Luz said, hanging her head. “When I get back, we should totally watch a movie downstairs. What about Spider-Man, in honor of your pajamas?” 

Amity smiled. “Yeah, that sounds good.” She had no clue what a Spider-Man was (in all honesty, it sounded like a horrifying nightmare creature), but any activity with Luz sounded like a good one to Amity.

“Okay, perfect! The Spider-Man movies are my favorite Marvel movies too! Well, them and Thor: Ragna-“ Luz cut herself off when she noticed Amity’s eyebrows raising playfully. “ Right! School! ” Luz whipped her bedroom door open and quickly shuffled out. “I’ll see you in a few hours, Amity!”

Amity tried to match Luz’s enthusiasm, attempting to make her smile larger than ever. “Yep! See you in a few hours.”

Luz slipped out the door with a final two-fingered salute, before the girl closed the door and trotted down the stairs.

Amity flopped back against the bed, letting her smile drop.

Another day alone with Camila.

Wonderful.

“Luz! Sit down and eat your breakfast before you leave!”

Luz was already at the door, about to pull it open, when her mother called her back.

“Mom, I’m not hungry!”

“I don’t care what you are, Luz, you’re not leaving this house without eating!”

Luz sighed heavily as she turned around, but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she did so. This morning, the tension that had been hanging over the house felt a bit looser, more normal. Luz had missed normal.

Luz sat down at the kitchen counter just as her mother slid her a plate.

“Toast and scrambled eggs.”

Simple as small meals like these were, Luz was going to miss her mother cooking for her. Usually, Camila was-

“Wait,” Luz said through her mouthful, looking up at her mother inquisitively. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

Luz knew her mother’s usual shifts well. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

Camila simply shook her head. “Don’t worry about that, Luz. I’ll be home today.”

“Oh.” Luz tried to keep her eyes from widening. She couldn’t remember the last time her mother had taken a day off.

Luz then simply continued to eat her food, practically swallowing the eggs whole and crunching down on the toast.

The eggs really didn’t taste as good without any seasoning on them. But the toast was buttered, at least.

Luz quickly scarfed down her breakfast and sprang up again, not bothering to tie her shoes as she slipped them on, and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

“Okay, Mom, I’m gonna go catch the bus!”

Camila smiled a bit to herself. It was refreshing to see that chaotic energy come back to her daughter, after so many days of peace and quiet.

“Alright, Luz! Have a good day!”

“See you after school!” Luz called. And with that, the girl jumped out the door and shut it behind her, once again leaving Camila alone in the house with Amity.

Yesterday, this moment had overwhelmed Camila with apprehension and nervousness. But today, Camila felt calm. She didn’t fear Amity anymore, not after yesterday’s encounters and last night’s incident. Instead, she wanted to at least try to make the girl feel more comfortable here.

Amity, in her mind, was still frantically trying to figure out what exactly had happened last night.

She remembered the pain. When Luz had hugged her, a burn blister popped, and she’d hurried to the bathroom to address it. Her pain and fear and overwhelmedness had gotten the best of her. She remembered sinking to the floor, sobbing.

During her breakdown, everything had come in a blur. Her head was too foggy for her to remember much.

She did remember Camila, though. 

Camila had come in and treated the blister, washed it and rebandaged it- and then she had left.

Right?

The events of the night were getting fuzzier the harder Amity tried to remember. She had walked back to Luz’s room that night, hadn’t she?

But then how did she end up in Camila’s arms, being lowered back into bed and tucked in?

That did happen, right?

Amity groaned. This was all making her already-aching head spin.

Amity trained her eyes on the ceiling above her, and sighed heavily. Luz had said that it would take around a week for her concussion to come close to being healed up. Until then, she was supposed to take it easy, and not stimulate her brain too much.

That had been easier in the first few days after the attack, when she’d still felt so sick and sluggish. Now, though, she was starting to feel more herself.

That was a problem, considering that Amity was going to be bored out of her mind, and yet was still too afraid to leave the room.

Amity felt that familiar tightening of her muscles when she heard a knock at her door.

“Amity, do you want anything for breakfast?”

Amity raised her eyes in slight surprise, looking at the door. Up until this point, Camila hadn’t really been giving her any choices. Now that she was offered one, though, Amity didn’t know what to say.

Both options here were equally terrifying. She could accept the food, meaning she’d have to see Camila, and have the woman come into the one space where she felt safe, or she could do the unthinkable.

“Amity, it’s okay to say no if you’re not hungry. I don’t mind.”

The very idea of that sent shivers down Amity’s spine.

No was not an acceptable answer. It never had been. 

When an adult asked something of you, the word no was a simple act of disrespecting them. 

Amity had learned that long ago, in her first experimentation with that word.

*She’d only been seven years old. At that time, her loss of Willow was still fresh and poignant. Her best friend was gone. And for a brief period, she’d been furious at her parents for it.

Amity couldn’t even remember what prompted most of her tantrums. She only knew how they ended.

She’d try to tell her mother no. 

Without Willow, Odalia didn’t have anyone to threaten in order to get Amity to behave. So, whenever Amity tried to tell her off, the woman would grab the young girl’s wrists and squeeze.

Amity would apologize over and over, she’d struggle to free herself of her mother’s grip, but Odalia would hold on firmly, not letting Amity go until the girl was practically begging for forgiveness.

And the next morning, Amity would wake up to black and blue ringlets around her wrists.

She’d tried to say no many times over the years. At best, Amity would end up in obedience due to the threats her mother would impose upon the people she cared about.

At worst, she’d be tugging down her uniform sleeves to conceal as much of her arms as possible, hiding any evidence of her ordeal.

*And if Amity’s own mother had been so brutal on the topic of disobedience, Amity didn’t want to imagine how Camila, the woman who had so violently attacked Amity, would react to any semblance of disagreement.

Amity jumped when Camila knocked again.

“Amity?”

Despite her being given a choice, Amity couldn’t find any right answer in this situation. Instead, she just faded into that familiar silence that she had been using since the attack.

She heard Camila sigh heavily. “Amity, please, I just need to know if you’re alright in there.”

Amity shuddered. She knew what would happen if she didn’t respond: Camila would come into the room to check on her. She wanted to at least try and avoid that.

Amity took a breath. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

“No breakfast, I take it?”

Amity hesitated on that. It all circled back to the terrible decision of yes or no.

Amity still couldn’t muster up an answer, and so, she didn’t provide one.

Camila let out another long sigh into the silence. “I’ll bring you lunch in a few hours, okay?”

Camila never expected replies anymore. Amity almost never gave them, and this moment was no exception. The woman made sure that her footsteps were heavy as she walked away, so that Amity knew she was leaving.

Despite the care and worry for the girl that had recently sparked in Camila, the woman decided to leave Amity alone for the morning, and instead prepare to make adjustments to her own life in accommodation for Amity’s arrival. It had never been established exactly how long the witch would be staying, though the reactions of both girls seemed to imply that it was, simply, forever.

The portal back to Amity’s home world was gone, if Camila remembered Amity’s explanation correctly.

And even if Amity hadn’t been forcibly stuck here, Camila wasn’t sure if she would have felt comfortable sending the girl back home to the Burning Island, or whatever Luz had called it. Even beyond what Camila expected to be a rough home situation, the political climate of the place didn’t exactly seem safe, especially if it had prompted Amity to cross dimensions in order to escape it.

But even still, Amity wasn’t safe here either. If Amity’s true identity was discovered, there was a good chance that the girl would end up in a horrific situation, one that there was almost no escape from.

Camila’s heart throbbed for the poor girl. Being caught between a rock and a hard place was an understatement.

Right now, though, it was best not to dwell on that. What mattered at the moment was the fact that Amity would be staying in the Noceda household for the foreseeable future, and such a situation undoubtedly required some preparations. 

There was, first, the issue of supplies. Amity didn’t have any. She’d been wearing Luz’s clothes, sleeping in Luz’s bed, and in terms of entertainment, Amity was left with nothing. 

That was a problem, considering the fact that Amity probably wouldn’t be able to leave the house alone for a fair amount of time, and both Luz and Camila would be out of the house.

Camila sat down on her bed and opened her laptop, more than a little nervous to start calculating costs. She was thankful that she wasn’t tight on money, but taking on another child would definitely take its toll financially.

Camila then sighed to herself. Whatever the toll, the woman intended to make sure Amity was as comfortable as possible while she lived here. 

Camila opened up an online spreadsheet, and began to fill out her list.

1: Clothes

“Alright, everyone, I want you all to take out last night’s homework and partener up for reviewing.”

Most of the class obeyed without argument, locating their friends and pulling out crumpled pieces of paper and red-ink pens.

Luz, however, stayed still and silent. She knew she had no friends to partner with, and worse yet, no homework to correct. 

Luz’s stomach twisted as Mrs. Hickleson strode by her, and the woman’s cold eyes fixated on the girl.

“Luz? Where’s your homework?”

“I, ah…” Luz’s heart was about to beat out of her chest. All weekend, homework had been the least of her worries. And now, that fact was about to come back and haunt her.

“You don’t have it, do you?” Hickleson’s voice was monotone as ever.

Luz shook her head and swallowed hard.

Hickleson’s sigh came out as more of a hiss. “Luz, you’ve only been in school for a month, and you’ve already forgotten homework assignments four times.”

“I know, I know, it’s just-”

“I’m going to call home this week, Luz. I think I need to have a discussion with your mother about this lack of work, and about what you can do better.”

Luz hung her head, panic quickly overtaking her. Her mother was going to kill her for getting in trouble like this again so soon. 

“Okay,” Luz mumbled. 

Hickleson nodded, that permanent disapproving stare turning away from Luz.

Luz didn’t want to cry. She couldn’t cry here, in math class of all places. Instead, she firmly held herself together, taking out her notebook and preparing for the inevitable lecture to come. The girl took a deep breath, trying to reassure herself.

This is my last period before lunch. I can make it through this.

Hickleson made her way up in front of the class, preparing to give that monotone presentation that math classes were known for.

As soon as she started talking, Luz did as she’d always done in school: faded back into her thoughts, her pen fiddling doodles across her paper.

Luz had never once in her life been so excited to hear the lunch bell.

For one, it meant escaping the ice-cold glare of Mrs. Hickleson. It also meant that she was a little more than halfway through the school day, and that she could return home soon. Home, where she would sit on the couch with Amity in her arms and badly explain the lore of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Home, where the food would actually taste good (probably). Home, where Luz didn’t have to think about all the misery school caused her.

Home, where her mother would receive a call from the school to discuss Luz’s lack of effort.

Luz shivered as she walked out of the classroom, cursing herself for not being a better student, for not being the type of person who could sit down and get things done. Maybe, if she didn’t procrastinate, and maybe, if she could actually focus on anything but the fantastical stories in her head, she could avoid these painful situations.

But she wasn’t that person. Every year, the crippling expectations of the school system reminded her of that. And now, she was faced with yet another confrontation about it.

Luz tugged her thumbs under the straps of her backpack, sighing heavily as she was served overcooked steak with a side of cold mush that the school had the audacity to call mashed potatoes. 

She returned, as usual, to her lonely lunch table, and began to eat the “food” she’d been given.

Today, though, she ate faster than ever.

There was one other thing she’d been looking forward to after math class.

The library.

As soon as Luz finished eating, she practically ran out of the cafeteria and through the halls. When she got into the library, she was again greeted by Lizzie.

“Hey, you’re back!”

“Yep!” Luz declared enthusiastically. “Where else am I gonna get the time to finish this book?”

Lizzie grinned. “You like it so far?”

“Definitely! I mean, you were right about the experimentation descriptions, they are kind of brutal, but besides that, it’s exactly what I was looking for!”

“I thought you’d like it! I reread that one all the time, it’s just so good. ”

Luz smiled. “Yeah, for sure. Is it okay if I take one of the beanbags?”

“Help yourself! I’ll be around, just enjoy the book!” Lizzie smiled again, and Luz nodded, making her way over to a cozy-looking nook in one of the corners of the library.

She pulled the book out of her backpack, preparing herself for the paranoid thoughts she’d soon be bombarded with, and opened it up.

Chapter 7: No Man's Land

Camila’s knocks were, slowly, becoming less intimidating. Amity now knew when to expect them, and, so far, Camila hadn’t attacked her again when she came to check on Amity.

She still didn’t feel safe around the woman, not by any means. She still watched Camila with wide, fearful eyes, and she was still wary of the woman’s every movement. But that immediate sense of danger Amity had felt on prior days, the terror that would cause her whole body to shake, no longer came when Camila was around.

Amity was expecting her when Camila stopped by to give Amity her lunch.

The woman ran through her usual routine of announcing her arrival before walking in.

“Amity? I brought you some food. I’m going to come in and give it to you, okay?”

Usually, Amity was too scared to respond. But in her growing confidence (and rising health), she managed to mumble an “ okay ” in response.

It wasn’t much, but the girl had barely hesitated this time, and Camila couldn’t help but smile at her progress.

The woman slowly opened the door and walked in.

“I just rewarmed the grilled cheese from yesterday, since you didn’t eat it. I hope that’s alright.” Camila smiled a little at Amity. “ And I brought you something for dessert.”

Amity couldn’t deny that the offer had piqued her attention. Her parents had always scolded her for it, but the girl had an enormous sweet tooth, and nothing seemed more comforting now than the idea of dessert.

Amity flinched away as Camila came a little close, at which the woman only smiled apologetically and backed away, setting the plate of food down on the floor, and offering Amity something strange covered in white wrapping.

The girl studied the offering nervously.

“It’s alright, Amity. It’s good, I promise.” Camila’s smile grew a little wider. “You mentioned loving slugsicles back in the witch dimension. This... isn’t that, but it might be something similar. It’s called a popsicle.”

Without taking her eyes off of Camila, Amity tentatively reached for the foreign object the woman was holding out to her.

“You’ll need to unwrap it,” Camila said.

Amity looked the object over confusedly, trying to figure out how to do that. Camila chuckled softly.

“Want me to do it for you, Amity?”

Amity’s stomach churned. She wasn’t five anymore, she wasn’t supposed to need help with things. She was Top Student, for Titan’s sake! Why couldn’t she figure out the stupid wrapping on a human dessert?

“Here. May I?” Camila reached out her hand, offering to take the popsicle from Amity.

The girl tensed, her distrust of the woman bubbling back up inside of her. But she couldn’t identify any danger in the idea of letting Camila unwrap her food while Amity watched. If anything, seeing a demonstration would prevent further contact in the future.

Amity gave Camila a slow, calculated nod.

In response, Camila only smiled and took the wrapped dessert from Amity.

The woman delicately pinched two opposite sides of the wrapping and pulled them apart, causing the popsicle’s encasing to open a gaping hole in the middle.

Amity watched in confusion as Camila pulled from the wrapper a flat wooden stick.

Something told her that human desserts were going to be far different than they were on the Isles.

Then, the rest of the dessert revealed itself to be a bright red rod of sorts. Amity tilted her head curiously as Camila flipped the popsicle, with the red part facing upright.

She then handed it back to Amity. 

“All yours,” Camila said, smiling again.

Amity took the popsicle, but only stared at it in confusion, unsure of how exactly to eat it. 

“It’s...not moving.”

“As a note, Amity, if your human food is moving, you probably shouldn’t eat it.”

A strange practice on the humans’ part, but Amity didn’t comment on the matter.

Just as she was about to attempt to eat the popsicle, a mortifying thought ran through the witch.

“I’m so sorry,” Amity said, suddenly reaching for the plate of grilled cheese in front of her.

Camila’s eyebrows raised in concern. “Sorry for what, Amity?”

“I was going to eat my dessert before the meal you fixed me, I’m sorry, I should’ve-”

“Amity.” Camila’s voice was a mixture of amusement, sadness, and bafflement. “I just want you to eat right now. I don’t care what order you do that in.”

Amity felt her body go stiff. She looked over at Camila, fear now written across her features.

Camila felt her heart sink. “Go ahead and eat the popsicle, Amity. I’m not going to punish you.”

Amity looked from Camila, to the slowly melting popsicle in her hand. Back to Camila. Back to the popsicle.

Then, the girl slowly leaned forward, and took a bite.

Immediately, Amity yelped in surprise, almost dropping the popsicle and raising one hand to her mouth in response.

“Oh, I should have mentioned that,” Camila huffed. “Popsicles- they’re just frozen juice, essentially. It could hurt to bite it if you have sensitive teeth.” Camila smiled softly. “It’s okay, it hurts me too. You can just lick it instead.”

Amity did as she was told, taking a small lick at the popsicle.

The girl’s eyes widened. 

The popsicle was as sweet as nectar, its syrup staining Amity’s tongue red, and its coldness making her shiver.

It was incredible.

Camila smiled as the girl started licking the popsicle with more enthusiasm, the smallest hint of a smile dancing across Amity’s face. Deciding that her job here was done, Camila stood and turned to leave the room.

“If you like the popsicle, there’s plenty more where that came from. They’re all left over from summer, and I want to get rid of them before it gets too cold, so just ask me if you want another one, ‘kay?”

For a fleeting moment, Camila thought she saw excitement flash behind Amity’s eyes.

The girl nodded. “Okay.”

Luz steadied her breath, trying to stop her mind from spinning as she set the book face down in her lap.

She stared numbly out into the library in front of her, where Lizzie caught sight of her and chuckled.

“Taking a moment to process?”

Luz nodded.

“Chapter nine, wasn’t it?”

Again, Luz nodded, and Lizzie approached her, a smile on her face.

“Yeah, that chapter shook me when I first read it.”

“I just…” Luz shuddered. “ Wow. Does...Is Emilia okay after that?”

Lizzie smirked. “I’m not spoiling anything.”

“ Please spoil it. For the sake of my sanity.”

Lizzie snorted in amusement, coming to sit in the other bean bag beside Luz.

“Fine. Emilia... recovers. Slowly. ”

Luz blew out a breath of relief. “Good! Now I can keep reading.” Luz made no effort to pick up the book, though.

“Yeah. The first bit is rough, but it gets better after this.”

Luz nodded, blowing out another long breath and leaning back.

“It seems intense, doesn’t it? Having some weird alien live with you?”

Luz tensed as Lizzie went on.

“I mean, what would you do in that situation?”

Lizzie looked over at Luz curiously, and Luz tried to hide her nervousness.

“I, uhhh, have no idea!” Luz chirped. “I don’t know. Seems like a tough situation to be in, y’know?”

“Oh, come on,” Lizzie teased. “You asked for this specific premise when you came in here. You have to have thought about it a few times at least.”

“I mean, yeah, I’d, uh…” What was Luz doing now that she had an alien creature living in her home? Was she really doing much of anything differently?

“I’d probably want to read books like these, just to be prepared for the worst,” Luz said sheepishly. It was an honest answer.

Lizzie nodded contemplatively. “Not a bad idea. Feel like it’d make me paranoid, though.”

Luz let out a strained laugh. “Oh, definitely. But is that a bad thing?”

Lizzie shrugged. “Dunno, guess we never will until it happens to us, right?”

Luz tried her best to play the comment off. “Yeah! I mean, not that it ever would.”

Lizzie reclined back in her bean bag, folding her hands behind her head. “I think if I was hiding an alien being, I’d try to move out to a small town and settle down there. Everyone would know everyone, so after a while, nobody would really take note of it when the alien moved around there. They could find a job, or something. And then, if the secret got out, the townspeople would like the alien enough to protect them.”

“Huh.” Luz raised her eyebrows, thinking the plan through for a moment. “You know, that’s a really good idea.”

How did this random girl in the library have a better plan for hiding an alien than the person who was actually hiding one?

Lizzie shrugged. “I mean, yeah, but it’d be really hard to do, mostly considering how hard it’d be to find an alien. You never know though, do you?”

“Nope!” Luz piped nervously. God, she was bad at this.

Lizzie opened her mouth to say something else, but just then, the bell blared out.

“Aw, damn. Lunch always goes by too quick.” 

“It sure does,” Luz agreed solemnly. As she began to pack up for her next class, Lizzie stood up.

Before she walked away, the girl turned to Luz and tilted her head. “Well, I’ve gotta get to class.”

“Yeah, me too.” Luz looked up at Lizzie and smiled. “See you tomorrow?”

Lizzie grinned. “Yeah, definitely. We need to expand on our alien-hiding plans, right?”

Luz grinned, and her heart jumped in her chest. She didn’t think that she would ever find someone who wanted to befriend her again. And yet, somehow, in the midst of one of the most stressful times of Luz’s life, she’d managed to find someone. And they had good ideas about hiding alien beings from the government.

Maybe high school wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

“Right!”

Both girls went their separate ways, sending each other off with wide, chaotic grins.

Slugsicles.

Camila said that Amity had mentioned them last night, but Amity couldn’t remember such a conversation.

Really, the only thing Amity could recall from last night was her panic as Luz awoke from her nightmare, her fear when her blister burst, and the tidal wave of emotion that washed over her in the bathroom. 

Camila had been there at some point, Amity knew, to bandage the worsened wound. But she’d left.

How had Amity ended up in the woman’s arms? Why had Camila been holding her? Why had she bothered to put Amity back in bed, and even tuck the girl in as she did so?

Amity growled to herself, cursing her exhaustion and pain for clouding such an important memory. She looked over at the clock, beyond ready for Luz’s return.

2:30 PM

Amity sighed. Only thirty minutes left.

Thirty minutes of horrible, painful contemplation about a gaping hole in her memory.

What had Camila been doing to her?

Why hadn’t the woman just killed her there?

Amity curled in on herself, groaning again. Camila already had too many unknowns surrounding her, and this one managed to make it all so much worse. 

Something had happened last night, between Amity and the woman who had attacked her. But the girl couldn’t remember what.

Amity’s stomach lurched when she heard that familiar knocking against the door.

“Amity? I just wanted to remind you to change your bandages.”

Amity sighed through her teeth, nodding to herself. 

“I also wanted to ask you something.”

Amity stiffened, though her mind filled with curiosity. She looked over at the door through which Camila was talking.

“I’m going to go and pick up Luz in about ten minutes. If you’d like to, you’re welcome to join me.”

Amity’s eyes widened, her heart beating faster at the idea of getting to see Luz sooner, and get out of this room. Her boredom had been eating away at her today, to the point where she was sure she’d go insane if nothing changed.

“You’re perfectly fine to stay behind, too,” Camila added. “Either way works.”

Amity was already running through all of the dangers that came with going to pick up Luz. Really, the only risk the girl could identify was the fact that she’d be alone with Camila.

However, she’d already spent the past two days alone with Camila, and nothing bad had come of it. Nothing bad that Amity knew of, anyway.

For all the fear that was running through Amity, the prospect of Luz managed to overwhelm her better senses, as it always did.

Camila was almost shocked when she heard the small reply from behind the door.

“I’ll come.”

Camila genuinely hadn’t expected Amity’s agreement. She tried to keep the excitement out of her voice as she responded.

“Okay! Go change your bandages first, though. I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.”

Amity listened as Camila’s footsteps retreated.

When the woman was gone, Amity blew out a heavy sigh.

What did I get myself into?

Reluctantly, the girl stood and made her way to the bathroom.

Sure not to repeat last night’s mistake, Amity locked the door behind her. She then took off her shirt, pulled off her earlier bandages, took her washcloth into her hands, and turned on the water, rinsing the cloth with the special soap Camila had given her.

Camila.

Amity stared into the mirror as she gently wiped down her burn.

Why had Camila taught her how to do this? The woman had attacked her, Amity remembered that vividly. If anything, Camila should have wanted Amity to stay injured. 

And yet, the woman had not only patched Amity up, but taught her how to do it herself.

Camila knew that Amity had nowhere to run. She knew how much control she could have over the girl. And yet, the woman ignored all of her opportunities.

Camila wanted Amity dead, didn’t she?

Why was she helping the witch?

Amity began to bandage her wound.

Under the armpit, up and around. Repeat.

Camila had taught her that.

No matter how hard Amity tried, she couldn’t identify anything sinister about Camila’s actions in the days after the attack. If anything, Camila had been better to Amity than her own parents. And the girl had no idea why.

Titan, what Amity would give to remember last night.

Amity desperately wanted to decipher Camila’s motives. The idea that the woman cared for Amity was simply inconceivable after Friday’s attack. There had to be some deeper meaning at play here.

Maybe Amity could ask Luz about it tonight.

Amity tugged her shirt back over herself.

For now, Amity could focus on getting her girlfriend back.

Amity opened the bathroom door, and stepped out into the hall.

For a long few moments, the girl stared at the stairs that awaited her at the end of the narrow hallway. She hadn’t been down those stairs since she was brutally beaten in the living room. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to revisit them.

Amity sucked in a breath.

She needed to do this. 

For Luz.

Amity, slowly, made her way down the stairs. And for the first time all day, her characteristic shaking returned. Seeing this place made her nervous out of her mind, especially considering the fact that Camila was seated at the kitchen counter.

When the woman saw Amity, she smiled gently. The girl’s hair was still ruffled and messy, and she was still dressed head-to-toe in Spider-Man attire, sincerely looking the part of “I haven’t left the house in days.”

Luz would be ecstatic.

“Ready to go?” Camila asked softly.

Amity nodded silently.

Camila twirled her keys around her finger, standing and preparing to approach the front door, when a thought crossed her mind.

Camila took a short detour to the freezer before she left.

“What’s your favorite color, Amity?”

The girl looked confused by the question, but she answered it anyway.

“Purple.”

Purple. Those were the grape ones. Camila despised them, but they’d always been Luz’s favorite.

Camila rummaged through the box, trying to find what had become a very rare commodity after Luz had combed through it.

“Sorry, I don’t think we have any purple left- does green work?”

Amity still looked a bit weirded-out, but she nodded.

Camila pulled a green popsicle out of the box, and handed it to Amity.

“It’s a different flavor. We’ll see how you like it, okay?”

Amity was staring at the still-wrapped dessert with wide eyes. She nodded numbly.

“Alright then, let’s get to the car, shall we?”

Camila opened the front door and gestured for Amity to walk out. Amity eyed the street outside warily, before taking the few cautious steps outside.

Camila slid out behind her, shutting the door as she did so.

Amity yelped when Camila’s car beeped, unlocked using the button on her keys. She almost chuckled as she realized that Amity had probably never been in a car before, and it was definitely going to take some coaxing to get her inside.

Camila pulled open one of the car doors to the backseat. 

“Okay Amity, you’re going to sit back here, okay?”

Amity nervously approached the car, looking up at Camila quickly before she slipped into one of the seats inside.

Camila reached into the car to buckle Amity’s seatbelt.

The woman felt that familiar pang of sadness return when Amity flinched away from her hand.

“It’s okay, Amity. I’m just buckling you in.”

Amity sat stiffly and watched as Camila stretched the seatbelt across Amity’s body and clicked it into place. The woman then backed out and shut the door, before getting into the driver’s seat.

Before Camila started up the engine, she decided to give Amity a warning.

“Okay, Amity. When I start the car it’s going to rumble, and then it’s going to move. But I promise it’s not going to hurt you, okay?”

When Amity nodded in the rearview mirror, Camila took it as an okay to start the car. 

Amity couldn’t hold back her whimper of fear as the rumbling began.

“It’s okay, Amity,” Camila reassured again. “Just focus on that popsicle, okay? The car won’t hurt you.”

Focus on the popsicle. 

Amity took Camila’s advice, putting all her attention into unwrapping, then licking the frozen green rod she was holding.

The world began to roll past Amity at a terrifying speed. Though her fear of it all was overwhelming, her curiosity managed to get the best of her. Amity watched in fascination as the world zipped by, houses and parks and various other buildings shooting past in an instant.

Finally, the car slowed down in front of a large, square building.

And there, waiting in front of it, was Luz.

The human girl barely gave a second thought as she got into the car.

“Hey mom, can we not make steak for dinner tonight? ‘Cause-“

Luz stopped short as she glanced sideward. Then, she lurched in her seat.

“ Amity! ” Luz gasped, flinging her arms around the now-flustered witch.

Luz went on mumbling into Amity’s shoulder about something or the other, but Amity wasn’t really listening. She was just enjoying the sound of Luz’s voice, and leaning into her embrace.

Yeah. This was definitely worth it.

“So basically, Iron Man recruited Spider-Man to help fight against Captain America and his team, and that’s how they know each other.”

“ Oh. ”

Camila chuckled. She could tell from Amity’s tone of voice that the girl had no idea what any of Luz’s explanation had meant, but the witch just took it and hid her confusion, clearly content just to be sitting next to Luz.

Camila was sitting at the top of the stairs, listening to the girls as they watched one of the newer Spider-Man movies downstairs. However sad she was to feel this isolated from their lives, she felt happy to hear the two of them interacting with each other. It was refreshing to see Luz present herself so openly to someone else, and it was relieving to listen to Amity outside of a context in which she was afraid of everything that moved.

I would like you to discuss with your daughter better solutions for keeping up with schoolwork. At this rate, she won’t be able to pass my class.

Camila sighed. She’d received the phone call just an hour ago, when the girls were back upstairs. 

Maybe it would have been more responsible to talk to Luz about it then.

But Camila couldn’t bring herself to ruin this for the girls, who were both more happy and enthusiastic than she’d seen them in a long while.

Camila smiled sadly as she stared down the stairs.

She had so much she wanted to talk about with Luz. 

But those conversations were for another day.

For now, she’d let the girls enjoy themselves. God knew they deserved it.

Chapter Text

“I can’t watch.”

Amity tightened her grip on Luz’s hand as she stared wide-eyed at the TV. Luz chuckled, pulling the witch a little bit closer.

“You have to watch. It’s the final fight!”

Amity whimpered, huddling into Luz’s chest, but refusing to take her eyes off of the screen.

At some point during the scene, Luz stopped watching the movie entirely, instead focusing on Amity’s adorable expressions as the movie went on, the witch’s eyes widening as a fiery explosion flashed across the screen, panic and relief flashing on and off her face as the fight continued.

When it was over, Amity breathed out a relieved sigh.

“He made it out.”

“‘Course! He’s the hero, they can’t kill him!”

It was an ironic statement, considering what happened to many heroes in future movies, but Luz couldn’t break that to Amity yet, considering how happy she looked about Peter Parker’s survival.

The two girls finished the rest of the movie in silence, curled in each other’s arms. Their blushes never really left their faces, still flustered even though they were technically dating, but the two of them were beyond content.

Neither of them moved even when the credits began to roll.

Luz justified their sitting through the seemingly endless scrolling of words by mentioning the end-credits scene that they simply needed to watch.

Amity had no idea what that was, but she was happy it gave her an excuse to stay like this. Whenever she found herself wrapped up in them, Amity desperately wished never to leave Luz’s arms again.

But, of course, life pushed on. Eventually, the credits ended.

Luz stretched and shrugged off the blanket that had been wrapped around the two of them, and Amity’s heart sank as she realized that her blissful time alone with Luz was coming to an end.

“I can’t be up too late. School night, yknow?” Luz groaned. “Ugh, if school didn’t exist, we could’ve watched the other ones.”

Amity’s heart fluttered in her chest. “There’s more? ”

In all honesty, Amity had enjoyed the movie. Spider-Man wasn’t at all as horrifyingly nightmarish as she had imagined, and she’d really liked the plot overall (what parts of it she could understand, at least). If more meant more of this, she couldn’t say she wasn’t excited for it.

Oh, who am I kidding. That’s not what I really want.

More meant at least another few hours cuddling with Luz, and Amity would give anything for that.