Archive of Our Own

“Three droplets of griffon tears…” the tired girl mumbled as she read over a laundry list of ingredients, mixing a cauldron full of purple goop as the twilight sky fluttered overhead outside of a spanning library. Huddled inside of the gigantic library, in a hidden alcove, a girl with soft mint green hair continued to stir her bubbling concoction, her tired eyes fluttering as she kept on with her recipe. Surrounding her was an array of books on making abominations, be it instructionals, books on the history of abominations, books on commanding abominations, all flipped to different pages, with little scraps of paper marking important pages in each tome.

But, no matter the time, no matter how many books she’d wasted her time going through, this girl was determined to keep up her attempt to make something that would finally be deemed ‘perfect’. She’d had too many straight 90’s, too many failures recently. She needed to change it. And, with how distracted she was in school after everything with Willow’s memories and holding Luz’s hand…

No. She couldn’t let anything distract her.

So, as Amity Blight had done many times before, she kept her frivolous search for perfection. Sifting ingredients, stirring until her arms were numb, not arriving home until her concoction was to finally meet the standards of the word that always evaded her. Perfect. Such an idea, isn’t it? To have not a single flaw, to not have one thing that could be deemed slightly incorrect. An abomination with no mistakes. Not one extra drop of ectoplasm. Not one less second spent stirring than what was necessary. Not a hint of baggy eyes to make a ‘perfect girl’ show how much she struggled.

But she couldn’t get distracted. Her mix had to be perfect, and then everything would be fine. She’d get the sleep she needed. She’d get a smile of approval, maybe a pat on the back.

And her foolish, impossible desires would flutter away.

So, she soldiered on, mixing, mixing, adding ingredients. “One litre abomination quick-mix…”

“Two droplets vole blood…” she let out a soft, high-pitched yawn.

“One Otabin…” she mumbled, lifting the closest thing to her and nearly dropping it in the concoction before she realized what she’d almost dropped in the cauldron. Her eyes bulged open, and before her, in her hand, just barely keeping from dropping into the pot, was a soft pink bunny plushie. Her Otabin.
As soon as she realized her mistake, she immediately pulled the beloved plushie away from the pot and hugged it softly, feeling a gentle calm flow over her as she held the gentle bunny in her arms. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, I’m so sowry O’abin…” she mumbled to her plushie, her voice getting a soft lisp as she reached the end of her sentence.

After spending a few moments softly cuddling her plushie, she remembered herself and quickly put the plushie down, blushing faintly. ‘Again?’ she wondered, rubbing her eyes, ‘Did I really slip again? Pathetic.’

Well, it looks like she had more work on her plate, as always, for there was always another flaw to iron out. That’s just how she saw it. It’s how her parents saw things, and she needed to be like them if she was to ever succeed.

So, sensing her distraction was starting to get out of hand, Amity disrupted her work, standing from her spot in the alcove and gently setting a top over her cauldron, (so it didn’t spill), before beginning to head outside of the secret room, pulling the bunny plush along with her. Sensing the opportunity was right, and that she couldn’t stall this any longer, she pushed out the secret shelf door, gently closing it behind her and making her way outside of the library, noting it was later than she thought it was, but she shrugged away that thought.

She turned a corner, heading to the left of the library, just to the side of it, where a quaint park lay, sparkling under the night sky. And, right under a leafless, jagged tree, she found her bounty. What would allow her to remove her foolish flaw.

Before her, not extravagant nor especially special, was a small trash can, next to a thin wooden bench. She then held up her- no, the plush, lofting it above the trash can, just barely keeping it from plummeting away. She held it there for a moment, just barely keeping it up by one of it’s soft pink hands. For some reason, she just couldn’t drop it. For every bit of her mind that was determined to be perfect, there was something else pushing back just as hard.

In that battle of minds, a thin, tall figure, perfectly kept, with a lime green hue, stood before a soft lavender figure, tiny, unorganized, but not as cold as the one before it. These two bickered for as long as Amity had been alive, but the green figure had almost always won. But this time, something was different.

Seeing Otabin, a plushie the girl had valued so much, held above it’s own doom, was horrifying to the part of her she always kept down, always kept from showing off. And so, when she meant to drop it, when she felt the time was right, the plushie didn’t move an inch from where she held it. But, finally, in one desperate attempt to throw away her beloved comfort item and throw away what she deemed a flaw, she closed her eyes, and let go.

But as she expected to hear a sound of it hitting the trash can, there was only silence. When her eyes opened, she saw the plush hadn’t moved at all, and a soft pink hue surrounded it, the glow of… magic. But she hadn’t drawn a spell circle, she hadn’t done a thing. And yet there it was, her magic, saving her plushie from being trashed.
With that, her little side won out, and she grabbed the plushie, hugging it tightly, as her supposed ‘perfection’ was sullied, but she couldn’t care one bit. She needed her Otabin.
Could she truly be blamed for it?

“Mittens?” she heard a voice cut through her stupor, causing her to jolt backwards. She hadn’t really expected anyone to be out, considering the sun had long since set, and the bitter cold winds at night weren’t too enjoyable.

But, as she turned to see who it was, she saw Edric and Emira, who rushed over to Amity and wrapped her in a big bear hug, nearly crushing her. “Mittens, what are you doing out here so late?” Emira questioned, hugging the girl tighter.

Amity was bedazzled, and tried to get her thoughts together to form some kind of response, but her tiny side shone through, “Um, I was wo-.. working on h… homewowk…” she mumbled, but was overpowered by Edric’s voice.

“You didn’t even come home after school, we had no idea if you were ok!” he bellowed, causing the girl to shudder from the sudden loud noise.
“And hold on, you said you were here for homework? Couldn’t you have at least told us that?” Emira fretted, not noticing the tiny one’s lisp, causing the girl to shudder again from the noise.

But, the twins’ shouting was interrupted by a softer noise that, though faint, hushed them instantly. As the two looked down at Amity, who was shaking from the cold and from good ol’ fear, they heard a quiet sob. The poor girl was clinging to Otabin tightly, letting out shaky sobs and shivering rapidly, hiding her eyes behind her plush as she was overwhelmed to the point her brain could do naught but get tinier and tinier as the world around her bellowed, her senses blasted.

Seeing their sweet baby sister so terrified, the two immediately quieted down and stepped back for a second, giving the girl a bit of space. Emira then quickly squatted down closer to Amity’s level, “Oh, Mittens, we’re so sorry, neither of us meant to scare you…” she whispered, trying to catch the girl’s attention but not be so loud that she would scare the girl again.

“Yeah,” Edric began, being just as quiet as Emira, “We aren’t mad at you, it’s just that we were worried, okay?” he explained, which was surprisingly mature for him. But, in all honesty, when it came to Amity, the twins were willing to throw away their goofs and pranks to keep her safe and happy. Sure, they pick on her, but she matters to them more than being funny.

Amity then calmed down a little bit, and her sobs quieted, going near-silent as she still shivered. “Oh, sweetie, are you cold?” Emira pondered, to which she got a nod in response, so she promptly took off a jacket she’d been wearing, gently draping it over Amity. “There, that should help a bit,”

Soon after, Amity’s shaking slowed and she made grabby hands up at Edric, who promptly scooped her up. “Now, I think it’s a bit past someone’s bedtime, isn’t it little one?”

Amity shook her head and pointed back at the library with one hand while holding onto Otabin tightly with her opposite hand. “Hm? What’s back at the library, bun bun?” Emira pondered, thinking for a moment,

“Oh, her homework…” Edric recalled, to which the groggy little nodded in response.

“Hm… eh, her homework can wait.” Emira decided, “Because little babies like you don’t need to worry about homework.” she continued, booping Amity’s nose, which caused the little to let out a giggle.

“Aw, now, how about we head home, get you some sleep and then we can have fun tomorrow?” Edric posed, to which Amity let out a happy nod and ‘mmhmm!’

So, the trio headed for home, with Edric gently carrying Amity, the moonlight above them glistening as the night kept on, far past Amity’s bedtime. As they kept on, Amity let out a tiny yawn, her eyes beginning to flutter, and she almost nearly dropped Otabin, but Emira stepped forward, catching the plushie. “Oh, baby sis, you seem so tired… Do you wanna try and sleep now?” she softly questioned, to which the response was another adorable little yawn.

“Alrighty, well, you get your beauty sleep, mmkay?” Edric whispered, gently rocking her as he carried her, causing the girl’s eyes to flutter closed. And, after just a few seconds, the supposed ‘Little Miss Perfect’, who always got her homework done and was top student, fell asleep holding a plushie while in her big brother’s arms.

- ~ -

The next morning, as the sun rose above Blight Manor and dawn’s pink light flowed over the Boiling Isles, another arose along with the sun, her hair jostled and her eyes drowsy. As Amity awoke, she let out a grumble, sliding out of bed as she noticed something was laying on top of her. As she looked down, she saw Otabin, her plushie, was laying on her chest, as if she had snuggled it the whole night. “Wait.. what hap’en wast…” she lisped, rubbing her head before realizing she had something in her mouth. As she reached up to her lips, she then felt something soft and… Oh. She’d fallen asleep with her pacifier in? Eh, Ed and Em probably put it in her mouth while she was asleep, since she was little last night...

Oh. She was little last night.

With a jolt, she recalled what happened last night, waking herself from her groggy state as she spat the pacifier out of her mouth, (lightly) tossed Otabin to the side and scrambled out of bed. She promised herself she’d get that project done, she’d promised, and now she was at home and getting sleep before it was done? That’s preposterous!

So, the determined girl jumped to her drawer, threw on some clean clothes, grabbed her backpack and then began to make for the door, but as soon as she opened it and tried to go through she was stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh, good morning,” Amity murmured, as she was met by Edric and Emira, who were currently standing right in the doorway.

“Mittens, where are you going?” Edric pondered, looking down at his little sister, concerned.

“Oh, well, I was just gonna head out to get that project done at the library, I won’t be long at all,” she answered, trying to push her way through but Emira stopped her.

“Amity,” Emira blurted, which was rather odd for her. She almost always called her Mittens. Unless she was really concerned about her. Since not only was it a cute pet name for her little sis, but it also meant she could baby her without anyone batting an eye, which Amity honestly needed far more than her ‘determined top-student’ demeanor let show.

“Look, I know marks really matter to you, but you haven’t been getting much sleep lately, and it’s been weeks since you were last little like you were there…” Emira continued, her voice laced with concern over the little one. Amity was usually able to keep her little side down, but the fact that she slipped so hard last night meant something major was up, and in all honesty, Emira wanted her to be little more often. It made her genuinely happy. Which, well and truly, was a bit hard to do.

“Well, I don’t need to be little, okay?” Amity declared, her voice almost loud enough to carry to downstairs, but thankfully her parents weren’t there to hear the outburst. And with that, Amity made another attempt to shove her way through, but was picked up by Emira, who found it a bit too easy. “Hey!”

“Wow, you’re a bit lighter than usual, bun bun, have you been eating enough?” Emira pondered, carrying Amity further into the room, sitting her on the bed, and as soon as she went to get up and leave, Edric plopped her lavender pacifier in her mouth, which got Amity distracted for a second.

Since the moment was right, Edric spoke up, “Look, Mittens, we know you’re saying you don’t need to be little, but you’ve been so stressed lately.”
Sure, Edric was sometimes a bit of a wreckless goof, but he looked out for Amity when she needed it. And lately, he’d been noticing how she dodged every family dinner and every time he’d ask her how she was, she’d just say she was busy and storm off. “Something’s off, and if you need to relax, we’re here for you.”

“But-”

“Mittens, we promised to give you a fun day today, since you clearly need some time to relax.” Emira concurred, putting her hands on the little’s shoulders. “Please, we’re really worried about you.”

And with that, Amity didn’t know what to do. Her heart yearned for a day to just relax and be tiny, but that was unrealistic of her to think. She couldn’t just be little. She had a reputation to uphold, people to please, and being tiny would only make everything worse. Plus, the more she pushed down her little side, the more she succeeded, so she could just keep going and keep succeeding, she had to. But… if she gives up her little side…

Does that mean she has to…?

As she thought for a moment, she then looked down to see where she’d tossed Otabin on the floor. Some part of her prevented her from throwing Otabin out the previous night. Was that weakness or strength? Was it her or who she needs to escape becoming?

Looking at her plushie, looking at Edric, looking at Emira, she made a decision. She knew this could turn out bad. It could be a mistake, she could be throwing away a day acting like a foolish child. But, the joy she felt when she was little… She knew, deep down, that she needed that.

Despite her big girl act, she needed to feel safe, to feel secure. To feel like a kid. So, hesitantly, and yet excitedly, she nodded. “O… otay, a uh, l… littwe day its is then…” she mumbled behind the pacifier that had been placed in her mouth, and she was quickly wrapped in a hug.

“Alrighty bun bun, then how about we get you some breakfast? You must be starving,” Edric posed, since Amity hadn’t really eaten since lunch the previous day.

“Buh- but can’ I get it mysewf?” she wondered, looking up at Edric, who could barely keep from cooing at how adorable she looked with her pacifier. Still, despite how cute she might be, and even though she was going to be little, she was determined to not be a burden.

“Well, cutiepie,” Emira began, booping Amity’s nose, but the girl was a bit too big to burst into a fit of giggles, “Since you’re just an itty bitty baby, we should make you breakfast,” she declared, scooping up Amity and starting to make her way downstairs, causing Amity to whimper softly, with every step causing her scared whimpering to get louder. For all she knew, her parents could be home, and if they saw that she wasn’t always the perfect honours girl they raised…

But, Edric, who was following behind, quickly brushed away her worries. “Hey, bun bun, it’s okay, Mom and Dad aren’t home, you can be little all you want.” he assured, gently patting her head.

With that, Amity relaxed more into Emira’s arms, letting out a content sigh and smiling from behind her pacifier. Emira then continued to carry Amity, bringing her over to the dinner table, where she sat the little one down in a chair as Edric went over to cook something. As Emira kept the little entertained with some little abomination-looking illusions which danced around on the table, Edric tried a fire spell, but as soon as he drew the spell circle, it lit up like a flame and burnt his finger a little. As was customary with him, he hadn’t spent much time on spells other than his illusions. So, as he looked towards the stove and went to turn one of the burners, so that he could make some eggs, Emira quickly summoned a ghostly hand which gave him a light slap.

“Nope, you’re not cooking this time.” Emira declared, glaring at her brother.

“But you were playing with Amity so I thought that meant I would make breakfast,” he explained, but Emira was not having it.

“The last time you cooked anything, you lit the stove on fire, froze all of the apple blood and nearly melted one of the abomibutlers!” Emira recalled, using one of the trio’s names for the abomination butlers that kept Blight Manor tidy.

Edric let out a huff, “Well, okay, fine, you got me there, but who says I won’t do better now?”

“Ed,” Amity mumbled, making grabby hands at Edric as she did so.

“Oh, what’s wrong, bun bun?” he wondered, coming over to the little,

“Wan’ youw iw… il…” she babbled further, struggling to say ‘illusions’ due to the pacifier in her mouth and her childish state of mind.

Edric then smirked at Emira as he made an array of illusions with a single spell circle, making a floating train which flowed around Amity, which went on a track made of blue clouds. This caused the little to giggle happily, softly clapping her hands.

“See, I’m the one who’s better at entertaining her.” he declared with a smirk.

“And I’m the one who can actually cook.” Emira retorted, making her way to the stove and cooking up some eggs.

Edric then continued to entertain Amity, creating little trains, rollercoasters and boats which zoomed around in a blur, causing the little one to giggle at all of the amazing illusions before her. To be truthful, she hadn’t been this little in quite a long time. With how dedicated she was to marks, the chances she had to be a kid were always marked off, always dismissed in favour of homework and studying. But, with the stress of everything with Luz, and her worries surrounding that, in tandem with Ed and Em’s support, she was able to just be tiny, at least for a little while.

So, rather than cram another week’s worth of studying in one long night and fire through assignments, Amity was able to simply relax, and be herself. Only the soft summer sun’s light dripping over the manor that surrounded her had mattered to the little girl, no homework, no papers to write, nothing. Just her, her siblings, and their fun day together.

As Edric entertained the little one with his display of illusions, Emira quickly cooked up some eggs and waffles, cutting the food into smaller pieces so it was easier for Amity to eat. Before long, she put the plate before Amity, who happily giggled, thanked her and then began to dig in after Edric took the pacifier from her mouth. “Why’s there only one plate?” he questioned, dismissing his illusions so they wouldn’t distract Amity as she ate.

“You and I already had breakfast, Ed,”

“But what about second breakfast?” he posed, looking at Emira with puppy dog eyes. Well, not exactly super good puppy dog eyes. Amity was the one who was best at that.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, there’s only one breakfast,” Emira grumbled, finding it a bit too early for Ed’s shenanigans.

“Well, how about we ask Mittens?” he declared, looking at the little girl, who was quickly eating through her waffles, and had syrup all over her face. “Oh, you’re one messy baby…”

Amity then giggled joyfully, trying to lick some of the syrup off of her face, but Emira quickly got out a napkin and started to clean up the syrup, to which Amity replied with more giggles, “Hehe, dat tickwes!” she babbled, causing the twins to ‘aww’ at their adorable baby sister.

“Well,” Emira started, after cleaning all of the syrup off of her face, “what do you think, bun-bun? Should there be a second breakfast?”

Amity thought for a moment, cutely bringing up a finger to her chin, before speaking up “Um, can secon’ bweakfast have ice scweam in it?” she pondered, looking up at her siblings with a cute tiny smirk.

“Of course!” Edric quickly replied with a mischievous grin, causing Emira to let out a groan.

“Den yea!” Amity shouted, getting quite excited, but Emira quickly hushed her for a second by putting a finger to her lips.

“Hey, bun bun, remember to use your inside voice, mmkay?” Emira reminded, to which Amity replied with a nod.

“Okie, am sowwy…” she mumbled, looking down for a second.

“No worries, baby sis, it’s all good,” Edric assured before regaining his grin, “Now, how about we get you that ice scream?” he offered, getting an extremely fast fit of nods from Amity and a sigh from Emira, but as soon as he went to the freezer, Emira quickly stopped him by grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back a bit..

“Look, I’m all for giving Mittens a fun day, but we can’t give her ice scream this early.” she explained, “you and I both don’t want her getting a sugar rush.”

Edric then let out a whimper, “But ice scream is so good…”

Emira chuckled, “Well, no ice scream for either of you two yet.” she declared, casting a spell to make Amity’s dirty dishes float over to the sink, though she didn’t clean them. “I’m surprised you aren’t the baby here, Ed, considering how much you want it,”

Edric then blushed a bit as Amity giggled a little, but he quickly changed the subject. “Anyway… how about we have some fun at the fair today, since it’s still in town?”

Amity then let out a joyous squeal, but quickly quieted it down so she didn’t get in trouble for being too loud. “Well then, looks like it’s a plan!” Emira beamed, scooping up Amity and heading upstairs to get the little one ready for the fair.

As Emira arrived in Amity’s room, she sat her down on the bed, and began to pack Amity’s little bag with some extra supplies, including some sunscreen, a couple band-aids and some candies, (because who wouldn’t need some extra candy).

Finally, she cleaned off Amity’s pacifier, put it in a little case, and went to put Otabin in the bag, but Amity tugged at her sleeve, letting out a whimper. “Nu,”

“Oh, do you wanna carry around Otabin while we’re there?” Emira posed, with Amity happily nodding. Though she was glad to see Amity was letting herself be littler than usual, carrying around a plushie might not be the best idea, in case she runs into any of her ‘friends’ at school. Well, she knew it’d probably be fine if the trio ran into Luz or Willow or the two’s other friend, (Was it Gustopher? Gustaban? Goops? She didn’t remember his name), but if they ran into Boscha’s squad, that wouldn’t end well.

Still, Amity was insistent on keeping Otabin with her at all times, so it would stay that way. Plus it was adorable.

So, Emira quickly put a bit of sunscreen on Amity, just so she didn’t get any sunburns while they were out, picked up the little girl once again and then headed downstairs where Edric was waiting. “Are you two finally ready?”

“Yep!” she declared, setting down Amity, who impatiently looked back up at Emira, making rapid grabby hands “Sorry baby, I can’t carry you all the time,”

Amity then let out a tiny whimper, being quite disappointed, even though she had her favourite comfort item, Otabin, in her arms.

“Hm, well, bun bun, maybe you could hold my hand?” Edric offered, which Amity quickly accepted, and before long, the trio then headed off to the fair. But, as they arrived at the fair, it seemed to be a bit more crowded than usual. Since it was the weekend, the fair was nearly packed to the brim, with its colourful stands dotting the expanse of the area, people of all sizes, be it witches, elves, fairies, something akin to a jagged-toothed goblin with seven toes, the place was insanely busy. And, seeing so many people, a certain little started to get a tad panicky.

‘Wait, hold on, I can’t be little in front of this many people!’ she pondered to herself, hugging Otabin closer as her steps got shaky and slow. ‘What if Boscha’s here and gets mad at me for being childish?’ her worries grew and grew, making everything around her louder and louder. ‘What if…’ all the noise was silent for just a second as a realization hit her. Dead silence, just before she realized…

‘What if Luz is here? What would she think of me if she saw me as a stupid baby?’ her mind raced, she couldn’t focus on what was around her, as it all felt too fast and overwhelming. ‘She won’t go to Grom with me if she sees how pathetic I am!’

Her frantic thoughts raced and raced, until eventually all she could do was nervously hobble forward, her feet shaky, her balance just barely teetering from a full collapse to the dirt floor beneath her. Everything around her blared, every sensation a blur of loud, inescapable blasting of sounds, colours, smells, sights, all warring against her until finally a voice cut through the chaotic symphony.

“Bun bun, are you okay?” Emira whispered, gently putting her hand on the little’s shoulder, slightly pulling the tiny one away from her anxious thoughts.
“Yeah, you haven’t gone on one ride or done any of the games in the time we’ve been here,” Edric commented, worry laced in his and his twins’ voices.
Great, well, looks like she messed up even more. Now both of them were worried about her!

To try and not get them to worry about her any further, Amity got up what little courage she had and tried to use her best, biggest voice to make it sound like everything was a-okay. “U.. um.. I- I’m fine..” was all that she was able to manage, her voice barely audible as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt to try and calm herself a bit.
“Mittens, we don’t need to stay here if it’s stressing you out, we could take a step away if you need it,” Edric offered, but the little one was intent on not ruining their trip to the fair, so she shook her head, denying Edric’s offer. She’d already messed up enough, and having to sit around when they were supposed to be having fun would be a waste of time. Well, she thought her being little already was a waste of time, but her views on being little were far removed from what was true.

Still, the thought of messing up on such a simple thing as going to a fair terrified her. She was supposed to be having fun, playing games, getting cool prizes and whatnot. But her anxious brain was just stuck in her head, and she could barely focus on anything.

Trusting Amity’s judgement, or at least what she said, Edric and Emira went onwards, going through the fair and playing a couple games, being a ring toss, one with hitting targets with a spell and finally, they arrived at the best part of the fair, the roller-ghoster. Being a gigantic ride, with twists, turns, loop-de-loops, the roller-ghoster at the fair was one of the main reasons anyone went, it was terrifying and amazing!

And, as Edric and Emira went over to go on it, Amity froze. She couldn’t go on that! While yes, she’d gone on it before, her in-between headspace of being very tiny but wanting desperately to try and be big and not terrified made her stop dead in her tracks. As she didn’t follow along with them, just standing there and desperately clinging to her plushie, Edric turned back to her.

“Mittens? Are you coming?” he asked, causing the little one to get more and more nervous by the second. But, finally, her little side won out, and she nervously shook her head, looking up at Ed and Em with tears forming in her eyes. As soon as they saw that the little one was crying, both twins rushed over and gave Amity a big hug.

“Oh, bun bun, what’s wrong?” Emira softly asked, delicately putting a hand through Amity’s hair, brushing it to try and calm the little one down.

“I… um… I kin’a scawed…” she mumbled, desperately clinging to Otabin as she looked down at the ground below her.

“Oh, poor baby… do you want to take a step away for a minute?” Edric posed, and Amity meekly nodded, nervous that she was just making everything worse.

But, not mad in the slightest, despite the little girl’s worries, the twins took Amity away from the crowds, and they all sat down on a little bench to the side, relaxing from the blur of the fair. As they relaxed, Amity let out a shaky breath she’d been holding in and gently tugged at Emira’s sleeve.

“Hm? What is it, bun bun?” she asked, to which Amity, who was a bit too tiny to speak, held up Otabin and then pointed at the bag Emira had been carrying. “Oh, are you sure?” Amity then nodded, and as Emira understood, she then picked up Otabin and softly put the plush in the bag, gently zipping it back up as she did so. Amity let out a tiny whimper, since she didn’t want to put her plushie away, but she couldn’t risk anyone seeing her with such a childish ite-

“Amity!” a voice called out.

Speak of the devil.

Though she couldn’t discern who it was at first, all became clear as a familiar magenta-haired individual came close, with her three eyes gazing at Amity, and an apathetic grin plastered on her face. “Hey, what are you doing here?” Boscha wondered, causing the little one to let out a tiny squeak, but thankfully Boscha didn’t notice.

Amity then took in a deep breath, trying to make her voice deeper and more mature, but struggled. “Oh, I’m j- just, uh, about to go on the w- w- roller-ghoster!” she stammered with a nervous smile.

“Heh, you sure?” she mused, absentmindedly checking her penstagram as she talked. “You don’t look like you can handle it, even with it being a baby ride.” Boscha jeered, causing Edric and Emira to glare her down, but she paid no mind to the twins.

“Of couw.. I mean, of course I can handle it,” Amity mumbled, blushing with embarrassment as what was the top student of the social hierarchy mocked her.

Boscha then let out a chuckle, “Sure, sure you can.” she joked, the smirk growing on her face as she still absentmindedly scrolled through her scroll. But, suddenly, the girl came to a realization. “Wait, is this because of how you used to go on the ride with Willow?” she blurted, looking up at Amity for a quick second before glancing back down at her scroll. “Well, I don’t blame you.”

“Anyone would be scarred if they had to think about a time they hung out with that half-a-witch.”

And with that, Amity’s heart sank. She’d almost forgotten about everything with Willow, about how guilty she felt, but Boscha’s bothering sent her guilt on an all-time high. No wonder inner-Willow hated her. Amity was just a pathetic, friend-betraying idiot who got away from all her problems by acting like a baby. And she hung out with Boscha, of all people. Well, the match fit. Both of them were awful people, and Amity thought she deserved to be stuck with her.

But, seeing how bad the situation was getting, Edric then quickly drew a spell circle behind his back, causing an illusion to pop up a couple meters away, just outside of Boscha’s view.

“Still, why don’t you come with me and we can go on some actua-” Boscha began, but her smug retort was interrupted as something far too distracting for the witch to handle appeared just in the edge of her vision. “Hold on, I see a cute ghost, and I have got to meet them,” she declared, darting off near-immediately towards Edric’s illusion.
As Boscha made her way away, Amity let out a shaky sigh and whimper, now shivering a bit, still struck with guilt, but Emira quickly swooped in and gave the little one a soft hug. “Shh… there there, bun bun, Boscha can’t bother us now…”

Amity then slowly began to calm down as she was there in Emira’s embrace, and Emira then looked to Edric with a confused gaze. “How did you know that would work?” she whispered.

“No one could resist a cute ghost, trust me.” Edric explained, smirking as he kept up the spell circle behind his back, which led to the ghostly illusion floating away from Boscha, causing her to frantically chase after it, and eventually the illusion hit a wall, floating through it and disappearing into a wave of dust.

And, even from far away, the trio could still hear Boscha shout; “COME ON! I JUST WANTED TO KISS A CUTE GHOST!”

Even as distant as she was from the teen, Amity shivered at the noise, gently nestling herself into Emira’s embrace as she tried to calm down, but her anxiety was starting to get the better of her. Even with how well things turned out with Willow’s memories, with how she was partially forgiven, she still couldn’t shake the guilt she felt about how she treated her and well… Luz.

She’d always had a funny feeling about Luz. She didn’t know what it was, but she just couldn’t stop thinking about her, with her stupid grins, how brave she always was, and how she always tried her best to be nice. Even to her, of all people. Amity didn’t really think she deserved a chance like Luz had given her. She only picked a handful of associates who were scarcely considered friends, (though those were her parents’ choices), and Luz wasn’t on that list, so she just didn’t treat her with an ounce of respect. But Luz still found a way to be kind to her. Despite how… awful she could be.

It made her think she almost had a chance of being with her at Grom… but, that was just an almost.

Sensing their little sister’s dismay, the twins looked down at Amity, with Emira still softly hugging her and Edric gently coming in to give her a hug as well. After a couple minutes of staying like that, with Amity stuck in her tidal wave of worried thoughts, she stopped shaking and after which, Edric and Emira slipped out of the hug. “Mittens, do you wanna go home…?” Edric offered, to which Amity meekly nodded. Even though yes, she didn’t want to ruin their visit to the fair anymore than she already did, she needed a chance to calm down.

So, following her cue, the twins got up, leading Amity out of the fair, with the girl’s eyes looking down near constantly as she went, her gaze hollow and regretful, the opposite of the one she went to the fair with earlier that morning. For, her tiny self, bubbly and happy, had been replaced by the ‘big bad top student’ she wanted to get away from. The ‘little miss perfect’.

As she was taken home, neither Edric’s illusions or Emira’s jokes could phase her from her contemplation. Edric, to try and get her to calm down a bit, tried to do a joke where he had two little illusions of himself on his shoulder, one with a halo and the other with devilish horns. “Should I eat the waffles, little me’s?”

“Oooh yes Edric, eat all the waffles!” the horned one proclaimed, cackling maniacally.

“Yes indeed! Blessed be the waffles!” the one with the spectral halo agreed,

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to disagree with me?”

“They are banger waffles.” the angelic one conceded, leading to Edric then scarfing down the waffles in question, being some leftovers from earlier.
Emira let out a chuckle, but Amity merely looked away, slowly making her way up to her room. As she went, she was stopped by Emira, who gently put a hand on Amity’s shoulder. Amity turned to face her, as her face was coated in concern.

“Do you wanna take your little bag up with you, bun bun?” Emira offered, smiling softly, trying to help Amity get into little space to calm down. But, unfortunately for her, being tiny was the last thing on Amity’s mind.

“No, I don’t need it.” she quietly declared, with her heart sinking down as she made her way up to her room and gently closed the door. She didn’t make a big fuss or angry remark, not a speck of rage in her body. For all she could feel is regret. For how she treated people, for how she kept this cycle up of always getting angry and bitter over the smallest things just to cope with how bad she felt.

For how she needed to act like a baby to cope.

So, deciding she’d wasted enough time trying to be little that day, Amity then picked up her backpack, filled to the brim with books and tomes on all of her courses, and, without hesitation, made her way back downstairs, sneaking around the kitchen so she wouldn’t run into her siblings, but as she reached the front door, a noise startled her.

“Heading off, Mittens?” Edric questioned as he stood in the foyer that connected to the front door, seeming to appear out of nowhere, with Emira at his side.

Amity then nodded, “Yeah, I’ve got to finish that homework at the library,” she explained, her voice barely anything beyond a whisper, a defeated voice.

“Mittens, are you sure that’s the best idea?” Emira probed, her concern weaved with conviction. “You could still be litt-”

“I know what I’m doing.” she cut her off, stepping through the door, making one last turn to the twins before leaving. “... bye,” she muttered before shutting the door behind her, beginning to make her way away to the library.

She walked down the pathway to the library, going across bridges and through Bonesborough’s sprawling streets as afternoon turned to evening, with the girl’s walk taking far longer than her usual route. With every step she took, she felt her legs wobble, shakily moving forward in a nervous toddle as she kept going, feeling every step getting harder and harder to take, taking a near eternity just to get to the library.

Finally, she arrived, using her library card to allow her entry inside, where, after a few minutes of shaky walking, trying not to be noticed, she made her way to the secret room and lifted the correct book, just barely sneaking inside without anyone seeing.

Once she finally arrived inside, she let out a shaky breath and nearly collapsed into her chair, closing her eyes and simply relaxing. In her solitude, all was well. But, quickly, she shook herself from her stasis, determined to get something done. For, she was Amity Blight. She needed to do this. She wasn’t meant for someone like Luz, she wasn’t meant to be Willow’s friend. She wasn’t meant to be a good person. She was meant to succeed.

As she went back to finally mixing her abomination, gently melding it together, with her arms aching after the monotonous action repeated over and over, her hand slipped. Stumbling, her right hand let go of the ladle she used to mix her concoction, and as she realized and tried to remedy the issue by grabbing the ladle again, she did so a bit too forcefully, sending the rather large ladle bashing into the shelf behind where the giant cauldron was, which was exactly where she held her prized The Good Witch Azura collection.

As soon as she realized her mistake, she let go of the cauldron, shooting her arms out to make sure she caught any fallen books, and thankfully only one fell, being The Good Witch Azura 3. As it softly plopped into her arms, she opened her closed eyes, looking down at it. She let out a shaky sigh, thankful that none of her books had fallen into the goop, and with a smile, she put her beloved book back up on the shelf.

Thinking of her beloved series, and of how it affected her, always made her beam with joy. For, it’d been one of the reasons she’d been able to get closer to Luz. They’d been able to bond over the series, and Amity was so happy that she could have a way to connect with such an amazing person.

Luz, despite their state as shaky friends, mattered to her immensely. Despite the covention, despite the incident with Otabin, (which, granted, she was a little bitter about, considering Otabin was her favourite book character ever), she couldn’t shy away from Luz one bit. Just being around the girl made her heart flutter. That’s why she wanted to go to grom with Luz, even if it was impossible.

Luz just had a way of sneaking into people’s hearts like that.

Amity, since grom had been coming up, had even tried to write some kind of note to ask Luz to grom. She’d written letters, tried some goofy things where she’d have a note in a copy of The Good Witch Azura, she’d tried so many things to try and seem like the perfect solution. But all of them lay crumpled on the floor, with the exception of one.
On her desk, a small, pink folded note lay waiting. On it, a simple message, no fanciful writing or anything. She hadn’t even taken the time to tear it up, she just pushed it aside after writing it. But, as she mixed and mixed, her ‘perfect’ ideals pushing her to keep working, something else brewed in the back of her mind.
Something truly magical.

As she kept stirring, her focus occupied on the abomination and nothing else, a soft pink glow enveloped her bookbag. In a gentle motion, it opened, and before long, the soft pink glow shifted to another object. As her magic had done before, it sought out her heart’s desires. So, the note began to softly glow, and it then began to float over to the bookbag, then resting inside of it. And, little did the girl know...

Her time as ‘Little Miss Perfect’ would soon end.

And her true self, little as could be, would finally be let out.