Chapter Text
“Ok, Ms. Blight, your brother has a significant sprain this time. He’ll need to stay here for a couple hours.” Professor Asclepius looked over their glasses at Emira, “You should really keep a closer eye on him. This is the fifth time we’ve seen him this month.”
Emira sighed. She’d heard that one before. “Yes, professor. Thank you, professor.” Asclepius just rolled their eyes at her, but she was used to that too. She turned and called deeper into the Healers’ ward, empty but for the twins, the professor, and the student healer on duty, “Thanks, Cat! I’m not waiting for you, Ed! Try to be home for dinner!” Edric started to whine dramatically, but Emira was already walking out.
Well now what? Without Edric, Emira would be breaking into the beastkeeping track’s menagerie for its own sake. Edric had wanted to get up close and personal with some weird, new bat Hexside had just gotten; Emira had mostly gone along to stop him from getting himself eaten. The healers could probably handle that now that he couldn’t walk. Emira wandered towards the entrance to the school. Maybe she could kill some time shopping in town.
As she approached the doors however, a much better option presented itself: teasing Mittens. She and Luz were sitting there on the front steps. Luz was in the middle of a story and gesturing wildly with one hand. Emira looked closer and saw that her other hand was holding Amity’s, how cute. She turned herself invisible and sat down on Luz’s other side.
“Hi, Luz!” said Emira, loudly. Luz yelped and jumped away from her, directly into her girlfriend’s lap. “Hi, Mittens,” said Emira, at a more reasonable volume. She wasn’t sure if Amity heard her; she was a bit distracted at the moment. Emira chuckled while Luz and Amity got themselves untangled.
“Emira! I told you to stop that!” yelled Amity, still very red.
Emira kept laughing, “You make it so easy, Mittens.”
Amity huffed and turned away from her. Luz sat back down on Amity’s other side. She put a hand on Amity’s shoulder to calm her down and said, “What’s up, Em? Where’s Ed?”
Emira threw her head back and groaned, “He’s in the healer’s ward again. Sprained his ankle. And then Asclepius gets on me for not keeping Ed safe, like Ed wouldn’t be breaking his arm every other day without me.”
Amity shot her a suspicious look, “What were you two doing?”
Emira just grinned lazily back at her, “Breaking into the menagerie. Ed wanted to play with the bats.”
Amity just raised an eyebrow at her sister, but Luz’s face lit up, “Oh, they’re so cute! My class learned to handle – wait. How exactly did Ed sprain his ankle?”
“Jumped off the roof.”
Luz blinked, thinking, and then nodded, “Yeah, there’s no way in up there. I checked.”
Emira started laughing again, “Remind me not to leave you and Ed alone, Luz. I think the Owl Lady would kill me; throw me back to the slitherbeast or something.” She shuddered at the thought of Eda’s wrath. Instead of dwelling on that, she asked, “What’re you two up to?”
“We were just hanging out before Amity’s shift. Willow and Gus’s flyer derby practice is almost over, too.” said Luz.
Amity checked her scroll. “Speaking of, I need to get to the library.” She kissed Luz on the cheek and stood up. “See you later, hermosa.”
As Amity left, Luz looked after her with a soft smile. Emira reached over and pinched Luz’s cheek, “Awww, you two are so cute!”
Luz giggled and swatted Emira’s hand away, “Stop it, Em.” Once she’d fended off Emira’s teasing, Luz said, “So hey, if you don’t want to keep taking Ed to the healers, why not just learn some healing spells yourself?”
Emira blinked. “Huh, I hadn’t thought of that.” She looked thoughtful. “It would save me a lot of trouble.” She frowned as the immediate problem with the idea presented itself, “I’m not sure Asclepius would teach me, though. Ed and I have a bit of a reputation with them.”
Luz gasped excitedly and clenched her hands in front of her, “I bet Viney would teach you!”
Oh, Emira knew that tone; Ed sounded just like that before each trip to the healers’. Well at least the preceding shenanigans were always fun.
Luz apparently failed to notice the flash of apprehension on Emira’s face, “Come on, flyer derby practice is almost over!” She jumped up and started running towards the field, Emira following behind her.
Emira had some time to think on the way. On the one hand, it really would be nice to avoid the actual healers. It would save a lot of time, and no one would be able to tell their parents Ed got hurt again. Titan’s bones, even though the healers could fix pretty much anything, it was still scary whenever Ed got hurt. It might be nice to know she could do more than carry him to witches who were actually useful.
On the other hand, it sounded like a lot of work. As easy as illusions magic was, Emira knew that starting a new track from scratch would be a huge challenge. And then there was the issue of mixing magic. Sure, some Hexside students were in more than one track, but she’d be willing to bet none of their parents were both accomplished oracles and obsessed with getting in the emperor’s good graces. Even she and Ed had their limits; there was a difference between bending school rules and bending the foundational laws of the empire. The difference was in how long their mom’s lecture would be.
So yeah, fully joining the healing track would probably end up being more trouble than it was worth. Emira still didn’t have anything else to do for the afternoon, though. Might as well just go along with it, maybe learn a basic spell or two.
As she and Luz approached the field, Emira was surprised to see a familiar face in the stands: Skara, one of Amity’s parent-assigned friends, was standing there staring intently at the group of witches flying above the field. Luz ran up and tried to get Skara’s attention, but she didn’t seem to respond at all to Luz’s greeting. By the time Emira caught up, Luz had tried saying Skara’s name louder and louder, poking her arm, and shaking her by the shoulder. Skara only moved to make notes on the clipboard she was holding.
Before Luz could wave a hand in Skara’s face Emira said, “Better not. I saw her like this a few times when me and Ed would pick Mittens up from grudgby practice.” Emira grimaced at the memory, “She does not appreciate being distracted.”
Luz froze, looking back at Emira with her hand still outstretched halfway to Skara. Luz slowly lowered her hand and moved to rub the back of her head, looking abashed and giggling, “Thanks for the warning heh heh…” She leaned against the railing facing the field instead, "So, do you know anything about this game? Cause whenever Willow tries to explain it to me Gus gets super excited telling me about some cool move he wants to try and we get distracted."
Emira took a spot next to Luz, “Beyond ‘get the flags, put them on the thing, and wear a crazy outfit while you do it’? Not really, no. Mittens is the closest thing our family has to an athlete.”
“Hmm…” said Luz, squinting up at the game, “Then we get to watch in the same way I watched every sport in the human realm: making up our own rules!” Luz grinned at Emira and put on her best sportscaster voice, “What a beautiful day it is, folks, perfect weather for some flyer derby.”
Emira blinked and grinned back, “That it is, Luz. Now who’s derbying today?”
“Well, we’ve got Willow, Gus, Viney, and Jerbo, but that’s the great thing about this game, Emira, no one knows who’s on which team.” Luz tried to point out the players as she named them. They were all flying around too fast for Emira to really follow, but she knew Willow and Gus, and Viney must be the one in the healing sleeves, so Jerbo must be the scrawny guy.
Above them, Gus conjured two illusory copies of himself, and the three of them started flying as fast as they could in a complex pattern. Emira’s eyebrows shot up. She knew this kid was good, but that was a complex spell to work while flying.
“Now Luz, as you know, illusions like that are against the rules, but if the referee calls out the wrong copy, all of the rules stop applying.”
The three Guses started trying to take Viney’s flag, attacking her from all different angles. Viney held her ground and managed to ward off the Guses by casting a net spell whenever one got too close. One of Viney’s nets landed and trapped a Gus, stopping him dead. Viney darted forward for his flag, but before she could get there, he stuck his tongue out at her and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“And Viney has vaporized one of her opponents. I’m not sure why the ref hasn’t called a foul, but I guess we’re just gonna keep going.”
Viney had turned her back on the other two Guses, and they were closing in on her flag. Before they could capitalize, though, Willow flew between them and Viney with Jerbo right behind her, forcing them to pull up and giving Viney enough time to reset. Jerbo fired blobs of his abomination mud at Willow, but she dodged all of them. Willow pulled up until she was flying upside down. She flew like that until she was above one of the Guses and then let go of her staff. Luz gasped. Clover kept rising to pull Jerbo away, and Willow grabbed Gus’s flag as she fell.
“Of course, in a real game the field is lava. As long as Willow doesn’t touch the ground, this is a legal move.”
Clover was diving towards Willow, easily outpacing Jerbo now that she was riderless, but she still wasn’t going to make it. Willow called out, “Viney, catch!” and pulled a plant glyph out of her pocket, sending vines growing up around her own arm and shoulder and towards Viney. Viney cloaked her own arm in healing blue and reached out to catch the vines. They wrapped around Viney’s arm, and she swung Willow back up into the air. Clover caught Willow, and they sped off towards the post, Jerbo falling further and further behind.
Instead of more commentary on the action, Emira heard a slow gasp from beside her. Luz’s eyes were wide and shining, and her mouth had fallen open watching Willow’s move. “Em, that’s… that’s my magic. I taught her that!” Luz was getting more excited now, speaking faster and faster to the point where Emira couldn’t really follow, another reason not to let Luz and Ed encourage each other: no one would be able to understand enough to stop them.
Willow scored Gus’s flag on the post, and Luz started cheering and shouting, jumping up and down. Emira spun a spell circle, and the words “Get Wrecked Porter!” appeared above herself and Luz in glittery illusion blue. Skara began scribbling furiously on her clipboard. The Entrails looked over, surprised to have an audience. One of the remaining Guses rolled his eyes good naturedly at Emira. The other blew a raspberry at her before vanishing. Willow waved her team over to the stands.
Gus got to Emira and Luz first. “Hey, Blight.” He said, “Looking for pointers?”
Luz turned to Emira, excited as ever, “Oh, I didn’t know you knew Gus!”
Emira nodded, examining her nails lazily, “He’s in ‘Illusion of the self’ with me and Ed. He’s pretty good I guess.” She made a mental note to really get that clone spell down this weekend.
Gus bowed, still standing on his staff, “High praise from the track princess herself.” The sarcasm was practically a visible aura around the two of them.
“Alright, Gus good work with your clones.” Emira jumped, turning towards Skara. She’d forgotten she was there. “We should find a way for you to close the deal without sacrificing one.” Skara looked up, apparently used to seeing unexpected people after zoning back in, “Hey, Luz. Hey, Em. Where’s Ed?”
Emira felt a twinge of annoyance. Why was that everyone’s first thought? She pushed that feeling down, “That’s why I’m here, actually. Luz suggested I talk to Viney which I believe,” She spun back towards the field and looked at Viney with a wink, “is you, cutie.”
Viney raised an eyebrow, looking amused, “Oh? And what can I do for the illustrious Emira Blight?”
Emira was impressed. People usually didn’t play along. “I just need a little favor. An afternoon of your time.” She put her hands up, “Nothing that’ll get you in trouble, I promise.” She noticed Luz’s eyes flicking from her to Viney and back, paying a lot of attention.
Viney looked questioningly at Luz who nodded vigorously. “Beautiful and mysterious, how could I refuse? Just give us a few minutes to debrief.” She shot Emira a finger gun and flew over to the locker room where Willow had already gathered the rest of the Entrails.
Silence fell between Emira and Luz once she was gone. Emira decided to break it after a minute or so, “Learn anything, Luz?” She side eyed Luz, smirking.
Luz blushed, “It’s just… you make it look so easy!” She was almost whining, hands covering her face, “Hooty had to almost destroy the owl house before me and Amity could ask each other out.”
Emira’s smile softened as she shifted big sister modes from teasing to comforting. She put a hand on Luz’s head, “You’ll get there. It’s just confidence, and if the way Mittens acts around you doesn’t give you that confidence, you’re not paying attention.”
Luz smiled up at her, “Thanks, Em.”
The comfortable silence returned for the next couple minutes before the Entrails came out of the locker room. Once she saw them, Luz wished Emira luck and vaulted over the stands’ railing. Emira watched her collide with Willow and Gus, her hands already gesturing wildly. So then where’s…
“Alright, Blight.” said a voice behind Emira. She turned to see Viney sitting down a couple steps above her. She’d put in an earring to match her spiky headband, “What’s this favor?”
Emira gave Viney an appraising look, “Well first off, love the earring, it really pulls the look together.”
Viney snorted, “Thanks, but I already agreed. No need to keep buttering me up.”
Emira shrugged, “What can I say, I love a girl that can accessorize.” Viney just raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, “Got it, I’ll stop. So my brother Ed gets hurt a lot.”
Viney nodded, “I’ve heard. The stories make it around the healing students pretty quick.”
“Right, so Luz suggested I learn some healing spells myself.”
Now both Viney’s eyebrows were up, “Ok, I see.” she said slowly, “And professor Asclepius complains about you two all the time, so they probably won’t teach you.”
Emira nodded, “So? Wanna help a pretty girl out?” she said, batting her eyelashes at Viney.
Viney squinted at her and tapped her chin thoughtfully, apparently unaffected by Emira’s flirting. “I’m so busy…” she said under her breath, “but I can’t just not…” After a couple seconds she said aloud, “Alright, I tell you what, if you do me an illusions favor, I’ll tutor you in healing.”
“Oh, sure. Deal” said Emira immediately, holding out her hand for Viney to shake. A chance to show off and the favor she’d asked for? That went better than she’d expected.
Viney looked surprised, but she smiled and shook Emira’s hand. “Not even gonna ask what the favor is, huh?” she asked, playfully, “What if it’s weird?”
Emira shrugged, “I saw my sister get swallowed whole by the Owl Lady’s house demon, and then when she got home, she had a girlfriend. The bar for weird is pretty high.”
Viney blinked once, twice, and then she burst out laughing, full and loud. Emira gasped lightly. Viney was cute before; she hadn’t been flirting this whole time for nothing, but now, late afternoon sun playing off the hair escaping her bun from the force of her laughter, she was breathtaking. Emira gulped and made another mental note to thank Luz for the introduction.
Eventually, Viney got herself under control. “Holy Titan…” she said breathlessly, “I don’t even know where to start with that…”
“Yeah…” Emira flinched at how hoarse her voice was. She cleared her throat, “Yeah! Never a dull moment.”
“I bet.” Viney chuckled. She stood up, stretching her arms above her head with a content sigh, and said, “Alright then, let’s go get started.”
She started walking back towards the school. Emira took a second to process the sudden change in topic. She scrambled up and hurried after Viney, “Right now?”
“Sure, I’m free.”
“Well who says I am?” said Emira, catching up to Viney.
“Ed’s in the healers’ again, right? That’s why you’re here on your own?”
Emira would have been more annoyed by the implication if Viney weren’t right, “You got me there.” she said with a sigh, “Lead the way.”