A/N: I'm tired, and I don't have a lot left to say here besides my utter amazement over the reception to the interquel last chapter. Maybe I should go back to short oneshots if they get that much attention, wow.
I'd also like to go over my writing process, and hope it encourages others to write more as well.
In school, I was always taught that before writing, you started with an outline. This was basically a bunch of ideas about what you wanted in the order you wanted them in.
Then, you took that outline, and used it to make a rough draft. Basically just a more detailed outline that fleshes out the ideas. If an outline is a description of events, the rough draft is a full, detailed synopsis.
From there, you make a first draft. The first draft is terrible and you're a horrible person for writing it. It's only use is to be discarded, or used as a reference for your second draft.
Your second draft is better, but might be tainted by the first. Repeat above step and burn it for a third.
Same as second draft, ad nauseum, until you're either too tired to write anymore, or you're satisfied.
How I write:
Outline, followed by a short rough draft of each individual chapter as I come up with them. These will change a lot as more ideas flow into my thinkflesh, yet I'll never get around to updating the outline or the rough drafts.
First draft.
First draft was okay, instead of throwing it out, build on it. Polish that turd until it shines. Change bits and pieces, but never throw it out.
Re-read your draft a dozen times over with a highly critical eye. Hate yourself and it on one reading, and love it the next, repeat as often as desired.
Throw in an author's note on the top and bottom that no one will read, and call it complete.
See, isn't that much easier? Now that you know how simple it can be, I hope we can get more Lumity out of you so I'm not picking up your slack.
Amity was having an amazing morning. In the days since she'd discovered the ice glyph, it felt like an entire world of magic had opened up to her. Miniature ice sculptures littered the Owl House over the past few days. Sure, she hadn't discovered any new spells, but Eda had been giving her potions lessons while she searched for new glyphs to supplement her limited magic lessons. As soon as Amity could find a second glyph, she'd be off to Hexside.
The prospect of learning beside Luz made her positively bubbly. Well, Luz and her other friends. She couldn't possibly forget about Gus and Willow, even if she often did forget while daydreaming about classes with Luz.
She wasn't crushing. She swears. Would she lie to her diary?
Besides, after what happened on the Knee, Luz needed a good friend to support her, not a girlfriend to distract her. Luz had seemed a bit more rested after her visit from Azura, and Amity hoped that as more time passed she'd get even better. She trusted Camila would see to it that Luz returned to her usual bubbly self in the future.
Until then, it was high time for another trip back to the dump to replenish Eda's stock. The witches and demons ate her human garbage up when Eda had her pick of the higher end stuff, rather than whatever Owlbert could nab out of random trash bins. Amity had even managed to scavenge a few electronics in one of their previous trips, and introduced Luz and the others to a few Disney films. They loved the Lion King, but found anything with witches in it to be a tad offensive in how they were portrayed.
Still no bikes in working condition though, meaning Amity still had to suffer the indignity of walking everywhere when she wanted to explore Bonesborough, or run errands for Eda. Every time she had to deliver potions(ignoring the old Wizard's house, which looked a bit more run down and empty than the last time she'd been there), the idea of sneaking into her old home to steal her old bike back sounded more and more appealing.
"Come on, kid, we don't have all day," Eda urged, standing impatiently by the opened portal door, tapping her foot.
Amity finished putting on her shoes, then lifted up the hood on her borrowed shirt to hide her face. Despite having her own clothes, Luz had left her hoodie here for her to wear on her Earth trips for some reason, not that Amity was complaining. It made her feel comforted, like Luz was right there with her. She wished she could be there for Luz right now and give the girl the same comfort.
Eda cleared her throat, and tapped at her watch, the meaning not lost on Amity. Shaking her head to clear her embarrassing thoughts, she bounded over to and then through the door, appearing all at once in the Gravesfield dump. Eda was right behind her, collapsing the door being them, folding it into a briefcase that was quickly stored in her hair.
"Alright, let's start looking around. If you find anything you think might be valuable, bring it over here-ish. We'll start a pile, and take it all back to my place when we're ready to leave."
Amity nodded, a cheerful grin on her face. A month ago, the idea of scrounging through a garbage dump for things people had thrown out would have sounded like her worst nightmare, and yet she found she actually enjoyed it. There was a sense of exploration in it all, and she loved the banter between herself and Eda, especially. She dug her hands into a pile, pulling out an object, "Look at what I found!"
Eda peeked over at her and scoffed, "Shoes? Really?"
Amity laughed, tying the shoelaces of the shoes together, then swung them around like nunchucks, "No, I think these can be marketed as a human weapon. One blow from this will not only incapacitate an opponent, but poison them with it's stink. Well?"
Eda snorted, giving a thumbs up. The tied together shoes were tossed into the 'keep' pile, "I think Luz's overactive imagination is rubbing off on you, human."
A few electronics, an unfinished set of billiard balls, a weight set and more CDs than Amity could count later, and the haul was starting to look pretty good. Another hour or so and they'd have more than enough to keep Eda's stall running for another week or so. Seeing a bit of shiny metal under some plain black garbage bags, Amity grabbed and heaved them away, hoping to hit the jackpot. Eda's words of praise always made the human girl feel utterly accomplished.
Instead, Amity sucked in a breath at what she found. Under the piles of smelly trash, there was a bike. Not just any bike, but the same model she used to own, with three major differences. This one was silver, rather than the purple Amity had picked out. This one also had a large basket just behind the seat, above the back tire, just like Amity had been hoping to find for her chores. And lastly, this one was utterly wrecked.
The body was mangled, probably run over by a car. Utterly unusable. The tire spokes were bent, and unsalvageable. Even the basket was just a bit beaten up. But unlike the rest of the body, it was usable. And with a bit of work, removable. Amity quickly ran to the 'keep' pile, searching through it for a screwdriver, giving a little cheer when she found one in a rusted old toolbox and returned to the bike's side, carefully removing the basket.
It was fairly big for a bike basket. If someone wasn't careful, it'd mess with their balance and make them fall off. Amity didn't care, though, since it was just big enough that she could use it for her deliveries… if she had a bike to attach it to.
Once more, the idea of breaking into Blight Manor popped into her head. It was a school day, during school hours. The twins would still be away, earning their education. There were so little obstacles in her way to retrieving what belonged to her anyway. All she had to do was go through the side door that was attached to the garage, which she still had the key for. From there, she just had to get back to the dump without letting anyone know she'd been there, or for Eda to ask any questions about where it had come from…
Amity could just tell Eda she'd stolen it from someone. She'd get a pat on the head and more words of praise for that, knowing the witch.
Mind made up, Amity returned to the pile, tossing her new basket into it and calling out to Eda, "I'm going to head into town real quick. Don't leave without me!"
Eda's detached head poked out of the trunk of a dilapidated car, held aloft by one of her hands, "Wouldn't dream of it. Take your time, there's plenty of trash still here for the taking."
Amity waved, and took off, leaving the dump behind. It was a good twenty minutes walk if she wanted to get to Blight Manor from here, so if she was quick she'd be done and back in less than an hour.
The walk was tense, but uneventful. Amity kept looking over her shoulder the whole way, a paranoia settling over her about being discovered that hadn't been there when Luz accompanied her into town a few weeks prior. Being alone with her thoughts was awful, especially when they kept whispering this was a bad, terrible, no good idea.
She could still just walk away, and never have to go back there again. Never had to even come to the Human Realm ever again, much less her old family's house. The only reason she did so now was to help Eda out at the dump, and the only reason she was going now was to help with the potion deliveries. It made her feel useful. It made her feel wanted.
So she kept trudging on, until she made it to the gates that bared the way, that the common folk her parents felt were so below her couldn't get through without a passcode. Not that Amity was going to bother using it, their security camera also took pictures of anyone who used the front gate. No, Amity was climbing it. She wasn't allowing the cameras to catch anything but her backside as she was leaving the place on her bike, if she could help it.
The climb was a bit of a struggle, unlike the last time Amity had hopped it. She wasn't fueled by righteous anger aimed at an owl this time, after all. When she jumps from the top of the fence and lands on the ground below, it makes her knees shake and she almost falls over, but she's on the other side and that's all that matters.
After ensuring that her kitty hood is still up and over her head, Amity makes her way to the house proper, eyes darting around frantically to make sure no one could see her. No gardeners out working in the yard today. No staff cleaning inside with a view out of the windows who would see her. She allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief when she made it to the garage and the world hadn't ended, or collapsed beneath her feet.
Amity digs through her pockets, knowing she still has the keys somewhere. She'd kept them in case Eda hadn't been satisfied with the junk heap at the Dump, a bargaining chip to secure her a place in the Owl House if all else failed. Her family had a lot of stuff Eda could have stolen to sell back at the markets, and it would have been untraceable with the portal, after all. With this last act, she hopefully wouldn't need it anymore. Keeping it in the lock so she could relock it behind her when she left, Amity stepped inside the garage.
It wasn't like your usual garage, that fit only one, maybe two cars. This was more a small warehouse, filled to the brim with cars the family both collected, or worked on themselves. A large array of tools lay scattered around hollowed husks of vehicles, torn apart or in the middle of being put together. One of Amity's father's hobbies. Alador Blight had an innate curiosity inside of him that compelled him to dismantle everything he could get his hands on, then try to reproduce the results on his own. It's why his company manufactured a little bit of everything these days. The man couldn't just make one type of thing and be happy.
Of her family, Alador was probably Amity's favorite, or at least the one she could tolerate the most. He wasn't invasive and demanding like Mother, or in her face and annoying like the twins. However, he was hardly in her life at all, preferring to be in his workshop, or the garage, taking things apart and putting them back together ad nauseum. She couldn't find it in herself to blame him for his love of his work and the solitude that came with it, seeing as she'd run away from home to get away from the other members of her family as well, but he'd hardly been a father to her all the same.
She resented that she couldn't really resent him for that. When she had called this place home, she'd take every chance to get lost in her own fantasies, no different than Alador did with his hobbies. If circumstances were better, she'd almost think of him as a kindred spirit.
Still, she was happy he wasn't in the garage today. He usually spent his later hours working here, so it hadn't been exactly something she'd expected to find at this time of day anyway. She wondered if he had been here if he'd have even noticed her presence, but filed it away as an issue she'd work out sometime never. She had Eda and Luz and King now, she didn't need the attention of her old family anymore.
Amity left the garage's side door open as she cautiously stepped further inside, her footsteps echoing off the concrete that made up the floor. She cast her gaze around the place, searching for her bike. She hadn't put it away like mother had asked, didn't have time when she was chasing after Owlbert, so it could be anywhere. Perhaps the twins had put it away in her stead, or maybe one of the servants? Or maybe her mother had just left in there on the grass where it had fallen, expecting Amity to come home and carry out her orders like nothing had happened, and Amity's trip to the garage had been for nothing?
Amity's brain couldn't help but conjure up images of her bike, rusted after being exposed to the elements for weeks. It would be just like her mother to do something spiteful like that, if only it didn't look like an eyesore on her lawn. Amity shook her head to get rid of the mental picture, and in doing so caught a glimpse of purple. A grin appeared on her lips.
Her bike had been parked near the front entrance to the garage, by the big metal doors that allowed the cars to enter. It glimmered and shined like it had been newly polished, unrusted and untouched, except by the faintest layer of dust on the seat. Her helmet hung from the handles by their straps, ready and waiting to be put on and ridden. "There you are, how's my girl been while I was away?" Amity cooed, running a hand over the smooth metal frame.
The bike, of course, remained silent, and a bit of Amity was worried she'd spent too much time in the Demon Realm if she thought her bike would just magically talk back to her. Without wasting anymore time on the silly fantasy, she took the helmet off the handles, and plopped it on her head, then straddled the seat and retracted the kickstand, wobbling just a moment when the bike was on nothing but it's two tires, before she started to peddle over to the door.
It felt freeing to be able to do this again. To be able to take back what was hers. That bit of freedom her mother had tried to take away just before she'd left, now reclaimed. Amity had to hold back whoops of joy as she biked out the door, leaving the key in the lock and the door wide open as she did so. She didn't care to cover her tracks, she'd be gone like the wind long before anyone would notice.
She raced across the lawn, pushing her limits as she picked up speed, the wheels kicking up a bit of grass and dirt as she went and ruining the perfect lawn her mother prided herself on. The gate was in sight, and she skidded to a halt in front of it, cackling to herself like a madwoman. She'd done it. All she had to do was wait for the gate to open, and she would be out of their reach permanently.
Unlike when entering, which needed a gate code and took a picture of whoever put it in, this side of the gate had a motion sensor for leaving. Amity bounced in her seat as the gate creaked open at her approach, the happiness she felt bubbling over inside of her to the point it was overwhelming. She could do anything! She could fly! She could-
"Amity?"
Amity nearly fell off her bike in surprise, as on the other side of the gate were her siblings, the Twins, Edric and Emira.
Whatever sense of victory Amity had felt was fleeting, as cold terror welled up inside her instead. The two stared at her, transfixed, and she stared back, unblinking. They were still clad in their school clothes, bags over their shoulders. The summer wind swept through their golden hair, their mouths were agape, but they otherwise looked the same as Amity remembered them.
No, that wasn't right. They weren't smiling. Their stupid grins were gone as they looked at her, unmoving, but not in her way.
"Amity, where have you-" Amity didn't wait, pushing against the pedals with her feet and getting the bike moving again. The bike kicked up gravel, gliding past the two dumbstruck teens, and Amity kept going, hoping they'd quickly become dots on the horizon. Instead, she could hear their shouts and screams from behind her, and looking back she saw them chasing after her on nothing but their own two feet, waving her down as they called her name.
Amity paled, and went faster, pushing herself to go beyond her normal limits. They couldn't catch her. She wouldn't let them take her back. And with all the noise they were making, it was drawing far too much attention to who she was for anyone in shouting range to hear. Her breathing became panicked, and she turned her head towards them, yelling back, "Go away!"
They didn't seem to listen, but the distance between them was growing. Edric had been on the track team, so he could run fast, but he couldn't outpace a bike. Still, the two weren't giving up, still following Amity even as she got further away, putting more and more distance between them.
Blood pounding in her ears, heart in her throat, and sweat beading down her face, Amity kept going until she'd made it back to the Gravesfield dump. Out of breath, she climbed off the bike, nearly collapsing to the ground as she tried to hurry over to Eda. The Owl Lady noticed her rushed in, eyeing the bike as she approached, giving a whistle, "Who'd you steal that from, missy?"
Amity shook her head, panting, "No time. We have to go. Now."
Eda put her hands on her hips, "No, wait a minute-"
"No time! NOW!" Amity screeched, practically lunging for Eda's hair to get the portal door from it herself. Eda stopped her, placing a hand on Amity's forehead to hold her at bay, the girl fighting against the witch to no avail.
Eda frowned, checking behind Amity and seeing nothing to panic about yet, "Hold your hippogriffs. We came here to do a job, and I'm gonna do it. Let me get our stuff, and we'll go."
Reaching into her hairdo, Eda took the door out, and set it up, opening it with the key. She gave a swirl of her finger, and the trash she collected started to float, slowly hovering above the ground and through the opened door into Eda's living room, where it crashed down to the floor. While this was going on, Amity hopped impatiently from foot to foot, this process taking entirely too long, so she grabbed the basket she had salvaged and began filling it with the scraps Eda hadn't gotten to yet, and pushed it through the door when it was filled.
Eventually, everything was gone. With a gesture for Amity to follow her, Eda walked on through the door herself, Amity all too eager to join. Only to stop. She'd forgotten the bike. Turning around, she saw where she'd left it, laying against the ground with a few more scratches against the body from it's collision with the ground. And voices were beginning to rise up around it, the twins still following, still calling her name.
Amity hesitated, looking between the bike and the door. She closed her eyes, took a breath, then raced for the bike, grasping it's handles and lifting it back onto its wheels, pulling it beside her as she raced for the portal. Edric and Emira's voices were getting closer, she had to be fast.
Turning her head, she could see them, and knew she'd been spotted. She'd run out of time, but it wasn't too late. Panting and pushing the bike, the front wheel went through the door, but no more as the handles got stuck against the portal's doorframe. Grunting and pushing, trying to turn the handle to an angle it would fit, Amity tried again, "Come on, you stupid thing."
Eda on the other side was trying to help, eyeing the approaching figures who were racing after her student. "Come on, Kid. Just leave it behind and get through the door!"
But Amity wasn't giving up. She needed this to stay useful to Eda. She could get so much more done in the day! She just needed it to fit, and-
She came crashing through the door. Herself, the bike, and the set of twins who had tackled her, all crashing to the floor in a heap, covered in garbage and bruises. They lay there, grunting and groaning in pain and out of breath. Amity didn't have time for the reality of her situation to set in before Emira had recovered enough to grab her by the scruff of her borrowed shirt and started shaking her, "Where did you think you were going?"
Edric, who landed with the bike on top of him, tried sitting up to join the conversation, "ouch… Mittens, why did you run?"
Before either of the Blight twins could say anymore, they found themselves floating in a glowing field of magic, hovering above the ground much like the garbage had been when Eda was transporting it. The clacking of Eda's heels joined the sounds of their screams of terror as gravity abandoned them, Emira flailing her arms and Ed upside down and clawing at the floor to make it take him back.
The Owl Lady didn't look happy to see them, a stoic expression on her face. Her hair bristled up dangerously, like the owl she took her name from, and in her hands was her staff. Her golden eyes were cold as she eyed the teenagers who had intruded upon her house, promising danger, as she spoke, "Well, what do we have here? Are you terrorizing my kid?"
Emira started to spin, looking green in the face. Eda rolled her eyes, and used Owlbert to prop her still, pressing the Palisman to her ribs to stop her momentum. Em almost looked grateful, if not for the fact she looked ready to pass out in fear, not understanding what was happening, or where she was. "Who- what are you?"
Eda ignored her, turning to face Amity. She offered the girl a hand up, which Amity took, the human girl not able to look her siblings in the face. "Thanks, Eda," Amity murmured quietly, almost lost among Edric's wails.
"No problem, kiddo." Eda assured her with a gentle smile, clapping a hand on Amity's shoulder, "Now, what do you want me to do with these two? Toss 'em back out, or you want me to get all smitey?"
Amity considered the first option. She could have Eda just toss them out back to the dump, and that could be the end of it. But they had chased her the whole way. As much as they hadn't gotten along, Amity knew the twins were smart. Cunning. Not to mention extremely dedicated when they put their minds to it. If they wanted to find a way back to the isles, back to her, they'd find it with enough time and effort, and there wasn't much they could do to stop them. Not unless Eda gave up on her trips to the human realm altogether.
Not that she was thinking about having them smited, either. Nervously, she glanced at them, seeing the terror on their faces. They had no idea what was going on. All they understood was that their sister had disappeared, then shown up, then tried to run away again. Looking back at Eda, Amity swallowed, and asked in a small voice, "Actually, could you leave them alone with me for a little bit? Please?"
Eda pursed her lips for a moment, then snapped her fingers. The twins came crashing back down to the floor, back into the trash pile, moaning and cursing. Eda ruffled Amity's hair, and gave her a nod, then handed Amity her staff, "I'll head upstairs. Yell if you need me. Blast 'em with Owlbert if they get too out of hand."
"Thanks, Eda," Amity sighed, not taking her eyes off her siblings as Eda walked past her and up the steps. Amity didn't speak or move until she heard Eda's bedroom door close, stepping forward as the twins were pulling themselves back to their feet. "Uh, hi?"
The twins looked around the place, which was a bit of a mess. It always was on trash salvage days. Instead of any awe or wonderment, like Amity had when she'd arrived, she only saw fear and confusion in their eyes. Edric was the first to recover, a question directed towards Amity, "Where are we? We were in a dump, and this place is a dump, but it's not the same dump…"
Emira wasn't far behind him with her own. Her gaze snapped to Amity, eyes stern, "Hi? That's all you have to say after disappearing for almost a month, then running away when we found you?"
Amity instinctively took a step back, swallowing. Her hands shook a little under her sister's gaze, her hardened eyes too much like their mother's in the moment. Edric came to Amity's rescue, placing a hand on Emira's shoulder, the teenage girl's body beginning to shake as the anger left her.
Amity watched in astonishment as Emira, her big sister, began to cry. Not openly weeping, but the same stifled tears Amity would shed in secret, where it was clear every fiber of her being was trying to hold them back, to not be weak, and failing. Blight's didn't cry. Yet Emira was. Ed wrapped an arm around his twin, pulling her close and whispering comforting words until she began to calm down.
Amity, not knowing what to do with the silence and the tears, answered Edric's question. "You're, uh… you're at a place called the Owl House. Specifically, outside the limits of a town called Bonesborough, located on the Torso of the Titan, on the Boiling Isles, in the Demon Realm."
Emira clenched her jaw, wiping her face with her sleeve, "All this time away, and you can't even be honest with us about where you've been? You have to make up some bogus place, with a ridiculous name, and-"
"Hoot, no one told me we had guests!"
Emira shut her mouth as Hooty pressed his face against hers, slithering his neck around to pull Edric close as well, wrapping both Blights up in his grasp. The two began to gasp for air as their bodies were squeezed, bound by Hooty who began to rant, "Oh, we're going to have a grand old time, Hoot! First, I'll tell you about all the bugs I ate. And then, we'll have a tea party together. Maybe I can even introduce you to all my other pals! Then we'll-"
"Okay, okay," Emira sputtered out, unable to breathe and barely able to talk, "We believe you!"
"Hooty," Amity warned, fists tightening and baring her teeth, "Let them go, and get out of here."
Hooty froze upon hearing Amity's voice, and immediately loosened his grip. "Gosh, ever since the scary girl moved in, I haven't been able to have any fun! Geez! Hoot!"
Hooty snaked out of the living room, settling back into the door and shutting it behind him, complaining loudly, though muffled now that he was outside. The twins breathed in heavily, sucking in lungfuls of air as Amity patted them on the backs.
"Was that a bird tube?" Edric choked out, looking back at the door at the entrance of the house.
"It was an annoyance," Amity corrected, rolling her eyes. The group lapsed back into silence once more, and Amity led them to the couch, the only place free of trash.
On taking their seats, Edric and Emira squirmed a little, taking the occasional glance at either the door, or the stairs, expecting Eda or Hooty to return and make things worse. Eventually, they settled in enough to resume speaking to their sister. "So… Demon Realm, huh?" Emira began.
"How did you even end up here?" Ed asked, still not taking his eyes off the door.
Amity paced, still on her feet, "That's a long story. To sum up, I found it by accident, and ended up staying here with Eda."
"That creepy demon lady?" Emira cocked her head, gesturing towards the stairs the woman had retreated up.
"She's a witch, actually." Amity corrected. "I'm staying here with her and her friends and daughter."
"Why?"
"I saw a chance to leave, and I took it. I know, you're probably thinking, creepy place, I must have been kidnapped by the witch and her annoying bird-tube-door-thing, or something. But I chose to stay. I didn't want to go back."
"And she just let you stay? What about us? What about your family? Didn't she care about that?" Edric asked, not caring for what he was hearing.
Amity bit her lip, "I told her that I didn't have a family to go back to." She lowered her head as she spoke, unable to meet either of her siblings' eyes.
"Oh," Edric said shortly, unsure of what to say to that.
"Oh." Emira uttered softly, understanding exactly what Amity truly meant by that.
There was a silence that built in the room, almost suffocating with its presence. The three avoided each other's gaze, Amity looking at her shoes as a bit of shame built up in her chest. Ed broke the silence, asking quietly, "We're we really that bad, Mittens?"
The shame burned away hearing that old nickname being uttered, and Amity glared at him, a fire in her eyes, "Bad? Bad? How about that time you put a bucket of water over my classroom door, and framed me for it when it fell on my teacher?"
Ed opened his mouth to defend himself, but Amity didn't let him, "Or how about when you replaced my shampoo with red hair dye, and mother was furious with me for 'rebelling against the family look,'" she shot at Emira, who shrunk under Amity's words.
"Or, how about that time you stole my diary, and put up photocopies of all the pages around the school, huh?" Amity clenched her jaw so tightly she could hear her teeth creak. "That was a real fun prank, wasn't it, watching me run around in tears, trying to find them all before the rest of the school could show up that morning. Did you even read it before putting them everywhere?"
The twins remained silent and pale, unable to meet their sister's eyes. Amity continued to rant, "I bet you did, and you just didn't care. You didn't care that I wrote about my crushes. You didn't care that you almost outed me in front of the whole school, let them know I like girls, didn't let me tell anyone the way I wanted to. No, you just wanted a laugh!"
She breathed out her nose, anger exhausted. "So yeah, I told Eda I didn't have a family. Because maybe I don't."
Amity wiped at her face, a few stray tears leaking from her eyes as she yelled. Her throat felt raw, and it felt so good to have gotten that out, to finally confront them for everything they had done to her. Yet they still just sat there, unmoving.
The oppressive silence resumed, worse than ever. Eyes glued on their shoes, the twins shifted uncomfortable, then…
"I'm sorry." Emira uttered, her voice broken and full of shame. "I'm so, so sorry, Amity."
Ed nodded slowly, "I am too. We were awful to you. I'm sorry."
The twins glanced at each other, then slowly pulled themselves off the couch, and approached Amity, pulling her into a hug. "We knew things weren't great for you at home. Mom put so much pressure on you, on all of us, but especially you, and we didn't even think about helping you." Emira admitted.
"And we also screwed up, by taking everything out on you instead of helping you. We teased you, and pranked you. We'd pin our mischievous acts on others on you so you'd take the fall. You were just such a goody-two-shoes rule follower, it all seemed like good fun at the time. But we went way too far. We knew that the moment you disappeared that a lot of that was our fault." Edric mumbled against Amity's hair.
"Ed and I were a team, united against the world. And we didn't include you. We lumped you in with everyone else, and drove you away. We were cruel, and horrible, and we're so, so sorry. I was a terrible older sister to you."
"And I'm a crappy older brother. Can you ever forgive us?"
The two squeezed Amity once more, but this time, Amity managed to get her arms free. Instead of shoving them away like she had planned, to call them idiots and yell at them, she found herself hugging them back, huddling up against them, trying once more not to cry.
She failed again, but for once she didn't feel weak for doing so. It felt good. She cried, and sobbed, clutching them to her as her body was wracked by old grief and present elation, until her eyes were red and nose was leaking onto their shirts. They held her close the whole time, until everything was out, then kept on holding each other.
"Thank you," Amity murmured against Emira's shirt, "For apologizing. I can't forgive you, not yet, but I'm still happy to hear you finally say it."
"It's the least we can do. We'll try to be better from now on. We'll work for your forgiveness."
"If you'll have us?" Edric amended on his sister's behalf.
Amity paused, weighing her options. Then she nodded, slowly, "I'd like that. I want us to- to try again. But I'm still not going home. I will never go back home. And if you ever utter a word about this place to Mom or Dad-"
"You'll kill us?" Emira supplied.
"I was going to say I'd feed you to Hooty, but that's about what would happen either way." Amity uttered darkly.
Edric glanced once more towards the door, "Wait, can he eat us? His mouth seemed pretty small."
"More than his neck can stretch. He can swallow you whole if he wants."
"Noted." Edric gulped, wishing he'd never asked.
Wiping her eyes once more, Amity pulled away from her siblings, who let their arms fall to their sides. "We try and do a run to the dump about once a week. Eda sells human trash as rare and exotic treasures here. I don't have my phone anymore, I trashed it, so if you ever want to see me, it'll have to be then."
The two nodded, reaching out and putting their hands on Amity, Ed's on her shoulder and Em's on her head. "Do you mind if we stay just a while longer? Before you kick us to the curb?"
Amity faintly smiled, "Fine, but just for a little while. I'll be hanging out with Eda's daughter later. She's my age, and her name is Luz. We get along pretty well."
The two twins exchanged glances, Edric grinning, "Ooh, do tell? Is she pretty?"
Amity blushed, "Ed, it's not like that!"
To Amity's surprise, Emira elbowed their brother, giving him a look, "We just promised to be better, Ed, no teasing."
Amity laughed, making the two look at her funny. "It's nothing, you guys. I just should have run away from home sooner, is all."
Eda rested in her nest, browsing through a magazine with one hand and nursing a bottle of elixir in the other, when Amity came knocking on her door. Lowering her reading material and chugging the last of the potion, Eda sat up, "Come on in, kid."
Amity stumbled in through the door, looking tired, a bit worn around the edges, with eyes that were still red from tears, but she looked a little more content than Eda thinks she's ever seen her. "Did things go well down there?"
Amity nodded, looking a little meek, "Yeah. They're back on the other side of the portal."
Eda raised a brow, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Amity pursed her lips, mouth turned downward in a frown, "Not really. But yes. I think I owe you an explanation. And the truth."
Eda rolled her eyes at how dramatic Amity was being, "You don't own me any more answers about your past than I've ever given you about mine, Amity."
Amity shook her head, "No, I've been lying to you the whole time I've been under your roof, and I owe you an explanation about what happened today."
The two stared at each other, until Eda conceded, gesturing for Amity to continue. The teenager took a deep breath, and started, "I lied about not having a family. Those two were my older brother and sister. And that isn't all. I have parents as well. I ran away from home. I saw a chance to disappear, and I took it."
Eda stared at her blankly, then raised her magazine back up casually, "I know."
Amity blinked, disbelief painting her face, "You- what?"
"I knew the whole time you were a runaway, Amity." Eda clarified, looking over the pages of her magazine to meet her eyes. "And do you wanna know something else?"
Eda didn't wait for Amity's answer before continuing, "I was one too. The circumstances were probably a little different, in my case it was because of my curse, but I took off from my home when I was fifteen. Never looked back. I knew the moment I looked into your eyes that you were running from something, because I saw that same look every day in the mirror."
Eda flipped to the next page, "So you don't need to explain anything to me. My door is always open to you. You have a home here. You have a job here. If you want, you even have a family here."
Amity sniffled, rubbing at her already raw eyes, "Do you really mean that?"
Eda's mouth became a line as she threw aside her magazine and stood up from her nest. Stepping in front of Amity, she nodded deeply, "I mean it. And I'll prove it to you. You want into Hexside, right?"
Amity smiled weakly, nodding her head in confirmation, "More than anything."
"Then I'm getting you into Hexside." Eda grinned, "I was already planning on going in this week to get you signed up. I know you only have the one spell, but that's what the potion lessons have been for. I'll go today, when I pick up Luz from school, if you want?"
The arms thrown around Eda's waist was her answer.
Principal Bump sipped at a cup of tea he had brewed. It had been a quiet day, relatively speaking. No one had needed to be thrown in detention. There was only one killer plant incident in the Greenhouse that resulted in zero casualties, and the Grudgby game against Glandus had ended in victory, even if the entirety of the Hexside Banshees had needed a trip to the Nurse's office afterwards.
It was days like this that made him glad to be in the field of education.
Suddenly, a cold chill went down his spine, and the warm drink in his hand did nothing to fix it. Something was coming. Something terrible. Something horrific. Something-
The door to his office was kicked open, and in stepped in a face he'd hoped to never see again.
Eda Clawthorne.
Groaning and setting aside his mug so he could bury his face in his hands, Bump moaned out, "I thought we all agreed that any school matters concerning your daughter would be handled by your Ex-wife, Miss Clawthorne."
"Ex-girlfriend, Bumpy," Eda corrected, taking a seat in front of his desk. "I'll even allow Ex-baby-mama, but we never tied the knot. Marriage is about the only thing that's ever scared me in this world. Besides, this isn't about Luz."
He could already feel the headache coming on. "Then pray tell, what could be so important that you'd come back to your old place of learning, just to bother me?"
"I have a new student, one that might interest you." Eda began, smiling brightly. "Her name is Amity, and get this, she's a human who can do magic!"
Bump briefly wondered if this was a con. He wouldn't put it above Eda to do so. Still, the idea was intriguing enough to capture his curiosity. "I'm listening…"
A/N: I love Bump and Eda in scenes together, so despite it not being needed, I still threw that last scene in just for the heck of it. It also allows me to bring up how Eda deals with the school since Luz has been going there since she's been small, and the answer is that Luz got to go to school at Hexside for as long as Eda never had to attend to school matters.
One thing I hope I've made obvious without hammering you all over the head with it, is that Amity wants Odalia's acceptance, and Alador's attention. But more than that, she wants to be useful to Eda. I'm horrible at writing mean spirited characters. I can't sustain early-Amity levels of jerk, but I worry I made Amity 'too nice, too soon." So the acceptable answer to that was that as soon as she knew she'd never have to wear her mean girl mask again, she became the person she always wanted to be. But that's too easy, and she knows it. So she tries to stay useful, in particular to Eda, working towards a redemption only she knows about while fearing she'll be sent back home if she can't do what's asked of her. And it's leading her to become a little self destructive.
Ed and Em are brats. They almost took things too far in canon, and they did so here in this AU. Amity didn't exactly have a secret room to stash her diary in, which made it a lot easier to steal. Makes a lot more sense why Amity wanted to get away from them in this AU, they weren't very good to her. But they'll be better from now on.
Next chapter will be "The First Week," and will, well, be about Amity's first week at school. We'll get a better look at how Luz being the witch changed some stuff in her world next time.
As always, I love comments, tell me what you thought about the twins, or what your favorite color is. I can't stop you from saying whatever you want. I'm not the police.