After school ended for the day, Amity went to the library with Luz. They hadn't spent time just hanging out in a while, since they'd been visiting covens for the last month. There was still one coven left, the healing coven, but Amity felt different about this one. It felt like things would change when they went, like this time spent with Luz might come to an end.
That was silly; Luz wasn't only hanging out with her because they visited covens. Still though, the thought hovered in the back of Amity's mind. The nagging fear of being left behind.
Today though, she tried not to think about that. This trip to the library was dedicated to the Azura book series.
Luz had brought all of her books to school in preparation, so she would have them for the discussion. She showed them to Amity while they walked, going into detail about how she acquired each one. They all had different origin stories, which Luz told with gusto. Amity always enjoyed listening to her tales, to the way her eyes sparkled as she spoke.
At the library, they went to Amity's secret room. She had acquired another chair for it, so she and Luz could sit in there together. Once the two settled down, they dove into conversation about the books.
Amity was enjoying the peace and quiet, but of course that couldn't last.
She was flipping through the pages of Azura 3, looking for a specific passage, when a magic bird fluttered through the wall. It was small enough to fit in one hand, with bright blue feathers that glowed in the low light.
It fluttered around the room for a moment, drawing the attention of both teens, before settling on the table. Now that it had landed, Amity could see that there was a note tied to one of its legs. The magic bird lifted that leg and chirped.
"Are you expecting a message?" Luz asked, eyes locked on the small creature.
"I'm not." Amity shook her head, a bad feeling settling into her gut. She stood from her chair to approach the bird, and carefully untied the note from its leg.
Once the note was loose, the bird chirped again and flew away, vanishing back out through the wall.
Amity slowly unrolled the paper, which had to then be unfolded. This was what it said:
Hi Mittens,
Em and I are at the clinic near the market. They won't let us leave. Please help. Do not tell parents.
-Edric
Amity wasn't quite sure how to react to that, her first impulse was irritation at the nickname but it was quily followed by worry. Hopefully they weren't injured too badly.
Ed had mentioned that morning that they had big plans, but she hadn't thought that included getting injured. For both of them to be hurt, it couldn't be related to the internship. Or could it, Amity wasn't sure what to make of this.
Regardless, she hoped they were safe. It was usually Em who took the lead, so for the note to come from Ed meant that she was hurt worse than him. That only increased Amity's worry.
The clinic by the market wasn't too far from the library, so if she left now she could be there within fifteen minutes.
Wait, the clinic was part of the healing coven. That was the last one, the only one she hadn't visited with Luz yet. Regardless of her reservations, it was time to go.
Amity turned back to look at Luz, who had been watching her read the note. "What's it say?" Luz asked as their eyes met.
"Ed and Em need help. They're at the healing clinic." Amity frowned as she looked back down at the note, reading the words again to search for hidden meaning.
Luz closed her book and stood. "Let's go then." She said without hesitation. She put her books back into her bag, mouth set in concern as she did. Amity followed suit, stowing her books on the shelf.
Within a minute, they were heading out.
"Have you ever been to the healing coven?" Amity asked as they walked down the sidewalk, side by side. She had never succeeded at casting healing magic. Besides, it wasn't one of the Blight family approved tracks.
Luz shook her head. "Nope, not yet." Considering all of the antics Luz got up to, she was lucky to have avoided any serious injuries.
"That's probably a good thing." Amity chuckled, remembering her most recent visit. It hadn't been that long ago, after she fractured her ankle while playing grudgby.
"I'm still excited to see it." Luz picked up the conversation, kicking at a rock on the sidewalk. "Even though the circumstances aren't ideal." That was an understatement.
Amity took the note out of her pocket again. The writing was straight at least, so Ed couldn't be that badly hurt. That's what she told herself as they neared the clinic.
It was a single story building, with no fancy decorations on the outside. There was a set of doors at the front, with the word Clinic written above them on a large sign.
The two teens entered, looking around the lobby. Straight ahead of the doors, a witch sat behind a counter. There were a couple doors along the left wall. To the right, in a larger space, there were a few rows of chairs. That must've been the waiting room. Amity went straight to the counter.
"How can I help you?" The witch behind the counter asked, glancing between Amity and Luz.
"I'm here to see Edric and Emira Blight." Amity figured she should ask where they were instead of just trying to search for them.
"Ah yes, they're expecting you." The witch glanced down at a binder, eyes skimming over an open page. "Through the door on the left, just down the hall in room 5."
"Thank you." Amity stepped away from the counter and walked to the designated door. She pulled it open and entered, with Luz close behind. The hallway ahead was lined with closed doors, each with a number on them.
They only had to walk about ten feet to reach door 5. Amity knocked, to be polite, and was surprised when the door was pulled open.
A witch dressed in the Emperor's Coven uniform was on the other side. Amity didn't know this witch; he wasn't the witch Ed had introduced to her when she visited the coven.
"Your sister's here." He turned back into the room, saying that to those present inside.
"See, I told you she'd come." Ed replied, sounding the same as he usually did.
The coven member stepped away from the door, allowing Amity and Luz to enter. The room was small, just big enough for two beds with a couple chairs between them. The coven member immediately sat in one of those chairs.
Em and Ed were each on one of the beds, both awake and wearing bandages. Ed had his leg and arm wrapped, but otherwise looked unharmed. Em, on the other hand, was wearing a loose shirt and had large bandages wrapped around her waist. Her face was paler than usual, and she was hooked up to an iv. The iv bag was almost empty.
"What happened?" Amity crossed her arms as she looked between them, settling her glare on Ed. He seemed much better equipped to respond.
Ed smirked, an expression that did not calm Amity's ire. "Just internship things." He said, drawing a scoff from the Emperor's Coven member. Amity just raised an eyebrow at Ed, prompting him to continue. He looked over at Em, prompting for her to jump in.
"We got in a fight." Em said, though that still didn't help much. "With an Emperor's Coven member. It's complicated." That didn't make any sense.
Amity must've been making the strangest face, since Ed quickly tried to explain. "It was to help Frederick, and we won." He said that like it justified getting hurt like this.
"That's so cool." Luz stepped over to the open chair, taking a seat. "What kind of magic did they use?" She leaned excitedly towards Ed.
"Fire magic." Ed made an exploding motion with his hands, to represent the fire. "Which, believe it or not, hurts when you touch it."
Amity lifted one hand to her forehead, trying to gather her thoughts. She stepped over to Em's bed, leaving Ed and Luz to discuss the magic. "Are you okay?" Amity asked, trying to put aside her confusion for the time being. She sat down at the foot of it, taking a good look at her older sister.
Em seemed to be making a real effort to smile, though she looked even paler up close. Her bandages were white, with no sign of blood seeping through. "I'll be fine. It's just a burn." She gestured at her bandaged side, wincing as she moved.
Amity wondered, if she knew healing magic, would she be able to help her? She wanted to, even if she couldn't.
"Do you need to stay overnight?"
"I don't think so, only if Mike detains us." Em replied, tilting her head slightly towards the Emperor's Coven member.
Amity's confusion came right back. "Why would he detain you?" She felt a headache coming on.
"They picked a fight with a well-respected member of the coven." The coven member, whose name must've been Mike, responded dryly. "All of the information has been sent to Kikimora, including the video they took, but until I hear back they are both detained." That explained why he'd been sitting in the room.
"He was sabotaging Frederick." Ed cut in, likely having heard what Mike said. "I couldn't just let things end like that."
"Yeah, yeah, you already told me." Mike sounded annoyed, though it was hard to tell how he really felt through the mask.
A knock came at the door, which was then opened by a healing witch. She was carrying a clipboard, and looked surprised when she entered the room.
"I see you have visitors." The healing witch commented, eyes flicking from Luz to Amity.
Ed nodded, now smirking smugly. "I told you someone would come pick us up."
The healing witch stepped around the side of Emira's bed, where the iv was set up, and checked the bag. "You were right." She said, focused on her work. "Would all visitors mind stepping out for a minute?"
Luz practically jumped out of her chair. "Of course."
Amity stood as well, following Luz towards the door. The healing witch directed her gaze to Mike, who sighed.
"Fine." He said, rising to his feet. He was the last out of the room, so he shut the door. He leaned against the wall next to it, arms crossed. Amity figured this hadn't been the first time he was kicked out of the room.
Luz was looking around the hallway with wide eyes, taking it in now that they weren't trying to go somewhere. "This place is so impressive; I wish I knew a healing spell." She said, fingers tapping over the pocket where she kept her glyph paper.
"It is very useful." Amity thought about her attempts to heal in the past, and how badly those ventures had gone. She moved a couple steps away, and then settled against a different portion of wall. "I've never done one either." She admitted, drawing Luz's bright brown eyes back to her.
"We can practice together!" Luz practically hopped over to her, clearly excited at the prospect.
Amity couldn't help but smile at her. "I'd like that." To keep doing things together with Luz, like she had been for the last month, was a much better prospect than any of the covens they visited. Healing magic could be the route, or at least the starting point, that kept them together. "Thanks for coming with me today, I know this wasn't how you planned to spend the afternoon."
Luz reached forward and took one of Amity's hands in her own, drawing a flush of hot red to Amity's cheeks. "I wanted to." She said, gently and softly, eyes locked on Amity's. Amity thought her heart would beat out of her chest as she fought to keep her hand from shaking.
A beeping sound distracted her from the conversation, which was coming from Mike. Luz let go of her hand to look over as well. He took a small object out of his pocket, flipping it open and holding it up in front of his face. "Ma'am." He said to the device.
A familiar voice came out of it, just loud enough for Amity to understand. "We have finished interrogating Nick. Starting tomorrow a full investigation will be done into his conduct." That was Kikimora's voice; Amity was certain. "You may release the Blight twins."
"Yes Ma'am." Mike said briskly, before closing the device.
This was good news; it looked like Amity might actually get to take the twins home. They still needed to be cleared by the healing witch, but at least they wouldn't be detained.
"Ed told me they fought an abomination too." Luz picked the conversation back up as if nothing had changed. "It was huge, but they tricked him into hitting it."
"They always were good at that." Amity said with a small shake of her head.
The two talked a bit longer, about the battle and the story Ed told, until the door to the room opened once again.
"When they're ready, bring them up to the front to sign out." The healing witch said as she walked out, directing the comment at all three of them.
"Thank you." Amity was the first to step back into the room. Ed was on his feet, though he looked slightly unstable. Em had fresh bandages on her wounds, with more color to her cheeks than before. She was still sitting on the bed, though with her legs over the side and feet on the ground.
Mike was just a step behind Amity. "You're being released." He said, drawing a fist pump from Ed. "Try not to cause any more trouble." With those words he turned to leave, brushing past Luz and down the hallway.
"Can you handle that Ed?" Em asked in a lilting tone, rising slowly to her feet.
"Might have to break it a few times, just to make sure." Ed laughed, though Amity didn't find it nearly as funny.
"Let's go you two." She gestured at the door. Both of her siblings moved slower than usual, but they made it out to the front. The witch at the counter gave them both tubes of cream, to be applied on the burns for the next couple weeks.
They then signed out, and the whole crew went outside.
Luz parted ways with them in front of the clinic. "Let's meet up tomorrow to finish book club, see you back at the library at noon!" She had said, which Amity agreed to do, before walking away.
As Amity turned her back on the healing coven, she wasn't sure if she wanted to join it. Right now though, there were more pressing matters.
Now Amity had to walk the twins home, and also figure out just how they intended to hide this whole incident from their parents. It wasn't going to be possible, of that she was sure.