Work Text:
To: TVA Records
From: Analyst TOH-115
Subject: Unusual Timeline Branch (Major Character Death)
Like many similar branch timelines, this one deviates before Luz Noceda wanders into the demon realm. However, it then deviated again due to the intervention of an outside force, and solidified before agents could enter. None of us know what happened to this variant of Amity, and none of us want to.
Additional Notes: "What the f**k?" - Agent Mobius M. Mobius
Amity Blight hunkered down in her bed, heart jumping at every shifting shadow. "Why," she asked herself again, "Did I read that stupid horror story?"
First posted on Penstagram two days ago, and quickly going viral, Blackbird told the story of an aspiring writer named Nole who finds himself haunted by his own creation as punishment for his cruelty in middle tame for the Boiling Isles, but one line of the story wouldn't leave Amity's head.
What secrets could the Blackbird get out of you?
Against her will, Amity's mind drifted to Willow Park, the girl she had left in the dust on her mother's orders and kicked into the dirt since then to seal the deal. Unbidden, memories of their many confrontations came back to her, weighing on her conscience more each second.
If there was ever a crime worthy of the Blackbird…
"Stop that." Amity chided herself, "You have an exam tomorrow, you don't have time to be freaking out over a children's tale!"
There. Something had moved.
"Edric…" Amity cursed, steadfastly ignoring the fact that her brother couldn't possibly have known what was bothering her. She flipped on her bedside lamp, ready to dispel the illusion, because that's all it was, an illusion.
It was just an illusion
It was just-
It was-
It was right there.
Amity gasped as a crushing weight appeared on her chest. There, staring down at her with hatred in its eyes, was the beast from the story, hooked beak, yellow eyes and all. She struggled, but she couldn't so much as look away.
The Blackbird screamed.
This was fine.
Amity was pretty sure she had bombed her exam due to sleep deprivation, and it was unsettling how nonchalantly mother had reacted to the news that she was cursed, but the important thing was, she was safe.
Whatever that…thing last night had come from, it was either an oracle curse, or some manner of Beast demon, and Odalia had warded Amity's necklace with absurdly potent charms against both. Only the best for a Blight after all.
So what if she saw feathers every time she looked at the trees? So what if she constantly heard the telltale swish-thump sound of dragging wings behind her, or glimpsed a shambling avian form from the corner of her eye? It couldn't get her.
"It can't get me." she reminded herself as the storm raged outside that night, the echo of a screech in each thunderclap.
"It can't get me." she thought again as something scra-aa-ped against her window.
"It can't-"
CRASH! Amity's window flew open as the Blackbird swept in, its cruel claws digging into her arms as it grabbed at her. It beat its wings as it lifted her a foot off her bed, then it spread its talons apart and pulled.
And pulled.
And pulled.
Amity woke, choking back a scream. The charms hadn't worked, and the monster had gone beyond keeping her awake. It had just tried to tear her in half!
In half…
Half-a-witch.
Amity knew what she had to do.
"And that's the real reason I threw you out all those years ago." Amity finished. "Mother didn't give me a choice."
Willow just stared.
"I-i'm really sorry for…everything. I just…anyway, anything you want from here on out, it's yours. Just ask."
"Thanks for telling me, I guess," Willow said, expression unreadable.
Amity breathed a sigh of relief as Willow walked away. That was incredibly awkward, but Willow knew the truth now. The nightmare was over.
Swish-thump, swish-thump…
"Dammit."
"STOP following me!" Willow snapped. Amity had been following her all day, doing her favors and giving her increasingly outlandish gifts in a desperate attempt to erase the malice Willow obviously still held towards her. "And quit it with the gifts! I can't be bought!"
"But-"
"No." The plant witch said firmly. "None of this makes up for what you put me through for 8 years. I haven't forgiven you, and I'm honestly not sure if I can!"
"No!" Amity gasped. Without Willow's forgiveness, the Blackbird would keep haunting her, growing more and more powerful until…what? Until it got sick of toying with her? "You have to forgive me! It won't let me go if you don't!"
"What won't let you go? Your conscience?" Willow laughed sadly. "You've lived with it this long, haven't you?"
Amity huddled in the corner of her room, lights on and surrounded by protective charms. The last two attacks had happened when she fell asleep, so her last recourse was staying awake.
She just
Had to
Stay….
Creak… went Amity's door.
"No…nononono!"
Swish-thump, swish-thump…
"Just get it over with!" Amity yelled at the monster looming over her. "It's over, you won. Willow hasn't forgiven me, and-" Tears filled her eyes as the truth hit her. "I don't deserve to be forgiven. I don't deserve Willow. Apparently, all I deserve is…this." Amity bowed her head. "Just make it quick."
The bird cocked its head. "You want quick?" Amity imagined it was saying, "Fine."
The demon opened its beak, and a horrid sucking sensation stabbed into Amity's chest. A human like Nole would have no idea what was happening, but Amity knew a soul-stealing spell when she felt one. Dimly, she realized that the Blackbird could have her for all eternity this way, but she was too busy watching her life flash before her eyes, a life she wasted on pointless bullying, to care.
"Wow, you're so un-noticeable I almost rolled into you!"
"I'm sure you'll get a passing grade someday, keep it up superstar!"
"This is why people call you Half-a-Witch."
"It's not her fault she was born without talent."
"You can't do magic, so I don't wanna be your friend! Now go!"
As memory after memory crashed into Amity's fading consciousness, she began to accept that her last words were true. She really did deserve this.