Chapter 5: From the past
Lilith stood in absolute terror as she witnessed her greatest fear.
Her mother was showing Amity baby pictures from the family album.
"And here is Lilith eating spaghetti, oh she got it everywhere."
Amity giggled at the adorable picture. Lilith groaned utterly humiliated "Dear Titan strike me down." Eda snickered at her expense "Don't you laugh, your pictures are coming next."
Gwen who either didn't hear or wasn't listening turned the page "And here is Lilith on her first day of school. Oh, she looked so precious with her little outfit and Otabin toy."
"Otabin?" Amity asked.
"It was her favourite book when she was a kid, she used to carry that little toy around everywhere she went."
Gwen giggled when she saw a picture of Lilith carrying an Otabin toy. She giggled again when she saw a picture of a group of bullies trying to take the toy from her. She giggled enthusiastically when she saw a picture of Eda going in to fight them. She giggled less enthusiastically when Eda lost control of her powers and sent orange lightning everywhere. She giggled hollowly when she saw the minor forest fire her powers created. She barely giggled when she looked at the picture of Eda on her lap getting her bum belted by Gwen.
"Ahem." Eda coughed. Gwen and Amity looked up.
"Amity!" Luz yelled rushing towards her girlfriend; Amity did the same. They hugged each other tightly.
They then shared a tender kiss before leaning their foreheads against each other "When Odalia came to the house I was so, so, so worried about you! I feared the worst."
"You mean mom?" Amity paled.
They all gather around to explain what had happened that morning.
Amity rubbed her hands on her head "Of course, my mom would do something like this. I am so sorry everyone for my mother's actions. I swear I will make up for them!"
Luz rubbed her shoulder affectionately "Don't worry hermosa, we are all fine. It is not your fault your mom is completamente loca."
Amity smiled; Luz seemed to always instinctively know what to say to cheer her up.
Luz continued "By the way are you alright? Lilith explained on the way here. You have been through an ordeal. I just want to know if you are fine or not?"
Amity smiled wider so touched by Luz's concern and eager to tell "I am glad you care so much about me, but I am fine. Better than fine, in fact, Mr. and Mrs. Clawthorne have been so kind to me. They really made me feel welcomed."
Gwen and Dell smiled proudly knowing that they had aided the battered child.
Amity had not felt so welcomed since she visited the Owl House with her broken leg. After Luz's grudgeby game with Boscha, Amity was invited over the Owl House with all the people she had previously wronged. She fully expected them to ridicule or scold her for her past misdeeds, but shockingly they never spoke of them. She was so used to people holding her mistakes above her that the idea that people would just accept her with open arms and smiling faces seemed alien to her.
It was a feeling that she quickly found herself addicted to.
Luz stroked Amity's hair with a forlorn look. In the excitement, she forgot her mother had ruined her hair. Amity all of a sudden felt very naked.
"Esa vil mujer! I can't believe what she did to my cotton candy-haired goddess." Luz then puts on an optimistic grin "But there is always a silver lining." Luz squeals in joy "Now we have an excuse to do your hair. Oh, we will do a full makeover, with nails and make-up and…"
Amity shushes her "A haircut will be fine."
Luz kisses her on the cheek "Whatever makes you happy hermosa." They head off to the guest room to give Amity a haircut "Hey King you want to come along."
King who was currently being cuddled by Gwen leapt out her arms in a hurry "Coming, boo-boo buddy." The three of them headed to the guest room.
The adults found themselves alone, Dell looks at Eda and smiled. Eda looks at his scared face in revulsion.
"Listen it was lovely to see you all again, but I got things to do and…" The door slammed with a mighty bang. Dell had used his construction magic to control the house, since it was his construction magic that built the house, his magic had complete control of it "Edalyn Marylin Satanica Clawthorne, we need to talk NOW!" he stared at the rest of his family "We all need to talk!"
Not wanting to anger him they all sat at the table.
"Eda there is something I have wanted to say to you for a long, long, long time." Dell breathes out "Eda, I don't blame you for what happened that day."
Eda stared at him unblinking.
"Eda, I know you have avoided me for all these years because you believe it was your fault, but it wasn't."
Lilith almost cried in realization, that all this time Eda had hated herself for injuring their father. And injury that never would have occurred had it not been for her short-sighted malice.
"(It was my fault for cursing her. We would all be one big happy family if it was not for my pettiness.)"
Sensing Lilith's distress Dell rubbed her knuckles "Lilith dear, I don't blame you either. I don't blame ANYONE for what happened that day. I want us all to put this ugliness behind us and be a family again."
Eda and Lilith took a moment to contemplate his words before moving in to hug him. Dell stroked his daughter's hair.
Gwen's eyes started to water at the sight of it "(At last we are whole again.)" she looks up the stairs to where she assumes the kids are "(With little additions too.)"
In the guest room, Luz had just finished cutting Amity's hair, the result was a crew cut. Amity was looking at the hairdo through a hand mirror they brought in.
"Well, hermosa what do you think?"
Amity ran her hand through her hair, or lack thereof "Well it is not really my thing but considering the alternative. I'll take it."
Luz giggles "Great so after going through all… that, I think some girl time is just what the doctor ordered."
"Yeah, girl time!" King squealed.
Amity felt overwhelmed when she first heard it, but a makeover was starting to sound really good after everything that happened "What a minute do you even HAVE anything for a makeover?"
Luz thought for a moment "Well I am sure abuela has some makeup. I am sure she won't mind us using it."
Amity chuckled "I doubt Mrs. Clawthorne has anything that girly." Amity realized that when Luz said "abuela" she immediately knew she meant Gwendolyn "Hey Luz what does abuela mean?"
"Oh, it means "Grandmother" in Spanish." Luz answered casually.
"You really think of Mrs. Clawthorne as your grandma?"
"Of course." Luz said proudly "Eda is like a second mom to me, so it only makes sense that Gwen would be a grandmother."
"And since I changed my last name to Clawthorne, that makes her MY grandma as well." King curls up in delight "I have grandparents now! I am going to make them spoil me rotten!"
They all laughed at King remark, Amity sighed gleefully "It must be nice to have loving grandparents."
Luz cocks her head "Don't you have grandparents?"
"My dad's parents died a while back; I don't think we were ever that close, and mom never spoke of her side of the family."
"Well, then I am sure Gwen and Dell would love to be your grandparents!"
Amity stared at Luz in astonishment. A series of picturesque fantasies involving loving grandparents that she read about or watched on the crystal ball flashed across her mind. She then shook her head to dismiss them "Don't be silly, they have only known me for a day. There is no way they could have developed such strong feelings for me."
"Sweetie sometimes all it takes is a day."
Amity dared to ponder Luz's words. Could it be possible, could she have the loving grandparents she had no idea she needed? Thanks to Luz she was getting things in her life she never thought she would have. Real friends, an amazing girlfriend, an active social life. Maybe thanks to Luz she could have grandparents too.
"Do you really think they would grow to love me?" Amity asked meekly.
Luz put on a wide toothy grin "They already do. Everyone in this house loves you. Including Lilith."
Amity's whole face light up at the thought of Lilith loving her, "Luz we have discussed this before me, and Lilith weren't… AREN'T that close. We just don't have the whole loving mother-daughter thing you and Eda got. We are just tools to get power."
"I don't believe that for a minute. I mean look at how Lilith took care of you recently."
Amity lets out a little breath "Look Luz, I am beyond grateful for what Lilith has done for me but… Lilith is just doing her duty, it's not like she wants to adopt me or anything like that." Amity chuckles "If Lilith wanted to adopt me, she would have done so by now."
"I think she cares about you more than you think she does."
Both Amity and King eye her curiously.
"What makes you say that?" Amity asked.
"Yeah, boo-boo buddy what makes you say that?"
"You see it happened after you saved me from that abomitron…"
FLASHBACK
Luz awoke in the middle of the night with a gasp. She looked down under her sheets and stared at her pyjamas.
"Oh dear." She blushed.
Luz changed out of her pajama shorts and into pajama pants "(I had my first wet dream; I really am becoming a woman.)" Luz found herself unable to fall back asleep as thoughts about the green-haired tsundere assailed her.
It was hard to grasp specifically when Luz developed feeling for Amity, was it when they dance-fought against Grom, when she saw Amity's true colors at the library or perhaps it was as far back as when she saw her on the back of her abomination with a book in her hand.
"(Why are the mean girls always so hot. Is what I thought when I met her.)"
In retrospect, there had always been a spark, but now there was a fire.
Luz tossed and turned in her bed as her newly exposed feelings jumbled in her head. Realizing that she needed aid to get some sleep she went to the kitchen for some warm milk.
Right before entering the kitchen, she paused.
There was Lilith.
Lilith had a bottle of strong apple blood, and her eyes were bloodshot. It was clear that she was "spiralling" as Eda called it. Luz deduced that she was having an even more difficult time sleeping though for different reasons.
The almost drunk and hopelessly depressed Lilith stared at Luz. They awkwardly made eye contact.
There was still A LOT of unresolved tension between the two revolving around Eda's capture. Luz was a forgiving person, but she had her limits. The two never really spoke of it, the whole debacle was a heavy burden on Lilith's soul and Lilith preferred to just not talk about it. And Luz put up with her not wanting unwanted drama.
Ever since Eda strongarmed her into living with them the two had not been alone. It was always Luz, Eda and Lilith or Luz, King and Lilith or Luz, Hooty and Lilith. This was the first time it was just Luz and Lilith.
"Knives are on the counter, if you decide to you want payback no one will blame you, not even me." Lilith said in a mostly sober drawl.
Luz was ashamed to admit it, but a dark part of her mind was very tempted to do that. Luz did not feel one hundred percent safe around Lilith which is why she always made sure to have a glyph in her pocket at all times. Still, Lilith meant the world to Eda and Luz would never deny her that.
Within the tense awkward presence, Luz got some milk, poured it into a saucepan and heated it on the stove. As she waited for the milk to boil, she would open her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. Lilith's presence made the whole thing more of an ordeal than it should have been.
Once the milk was warm enough Luz procured her drink and headed off to bed.
"Wait human could I have a moment of your time?"
Luz's eye twitched and she breathed out "Luz, my name is Luz."
Lilith exhaled "Luz could I please have a moment of your time."
Luz turned around and saw Lilith looking desperate. Ever the snob even in defeat Lilith had tried to maintain a certain stern authority presence in the house. Seeing Lilith in a vulnerable state was a real shock.
"I have a favor to ask."
"A FAVOUR!" Luz spat "After all you did to Eda you have the nerve to ask for a favour?"
"It's not for me it is for Amity!"
Luz was worried now so she sat down.
"By now I can assume you have gauged the type of woman Odalia is." Lilith put on a serious face "There is no way that she is going to let Amity's defiance go unpunished. I am terrified of what she might do to her."
Luz gulped as she recalled some hearsay. Half-heard rumours about Amity coming to school with a limp in her step. Or kids seeing bruises in the locker room. Luz steeled herself for the question she was always afraid to ask "Is it true what they say at school. Does Odalia beat Amity?"
Lilith nods.
The entire back of Luz's head burned with rage at the thought of her sweet, sensitive, nerdy Amity being abused. Was it happening right now? Was Odalia beating Amity at this very moment as punishment for her courage? Amity was a smart girl she would know that defying her mother would lead to abuse, but she was still willing to do so. Luz felt a combination of admiration and guilt knowing she would go through such things for her sake.
"While I was her teacher, I did what I could to keep Odalia at bay. I would scold her, berate her, even threaten her if I was in a bad mood."
"Amity never told me that?" Amity always described Lilith as a passive presence in her life. The image of Lilith fighting for Amity did not fit the narrative that was described to her.
"Amity does not know. In order to prevent a scandal, the whole thing was dealt with in the shadows. And without me looming above Odalia's shoulder I shudder to think what she has put that child through."
"I don't understand." Luz tried to make sense of things "If you knew about the abuse, why didn't you just arrest her?"
"Odalia is a powerful woman with her fingers in a lot of pies. If she was a peasant woman, I could just snap my fingers and send her to the conformitorum. But Belos figured she would be useful and stayed my hand. Apparently, HE thought it was all too inconvenient for him."
"I was sent to the conformitorum for stepping on grass?"
"Luz you are a human. They would have arrested you just for saying hello."
Luz furiously slammed her hands on the table "Esto es un monton de tonterias! The poor get sent to jail every time they sneeze too loud, but the rich get away with everything?" Luz slumped into her chair with a pout "Buen senor! This place is more like earth than I thought."
"Luz, I can't protect Amity anymore she needs you now more than ever." Luz was shocked but Lilith actually sounded like she was about to cry "Just promise me you will be there for her."
Luz puts on a serious face "I swear in the name of almighty Titan I will do anything, everything to keep Amity safe."
Lilith rushed towards Luz and hugged her. Luz was scared at first knowing what Lilith was capable of if crossed, that is until she felt a strong sense of relief coming from Lilith. The same sense of relief she felt from Eda when Eda hugged her after her battle against Belos.
Luz hugged her former enemy back letting her know that everything was going to be alright.
BACK TO PRESENT
"So, you see Lilith really does care about you!"
After Luz's story, Amity held her heart in shock. Lilith was watching from the shadows this whole time.
"(Belos whore isn't here to protect you anymore.)"
Odalia's word rang ever more clearly now.
"(She was protecting me this whole time. Why didn't she tell me?)"
"(She didn't want you to know! She was trying to protect her career!)"
"(She was fighting for me this whole time!)"
"(She was only doing her job; she doesn't actually care about you!)"
"(She begged Luz to protect me?)"
"(She was probably just drunk. A sober Lilith would never ask that.)"
"(Has she really changed? Could I have the mentor I always wanted?)"
"(You don't want Lilith. You saw her true colors the day of the argument!)"
Amity found herself on two minds screaming at each other, her eyes started to glow, and small bits of flame came out of her.
"Hermosa is everything alright?" Luz asked.
Amity realized she was losing control and calmed down, using the breathing technique Lilith taught her.
King stared at her "Hey your eyes glowed like Willow's do when she gets upset."
"It's called a poltergeist." Amity explained, "It happens when extraordinarily powerful witches get into an overly emotional state."
"Wow!" Luz looked worried "Is it dangerous?"
"Potentially yes." Amity continued "Our bile sacks are connected to our hearts, when we are in a poltergeist state our bile sacks go into overdrive. If a witch were to stay in that state for a long time the bile sack could pop, thus destroying our hearts."
"Kids could you come down please?" Gwen asked from downstairs "I have something I want to ask you three?"
Luz and King gleefully rushed downstairs to see their… grandmother. Amity came down much more slowly the realization of what Lilith was doing for her ringing in her mind. When she got downstairs, she saw Lilith.
The two made eye contact. As if sensing her distress Lilith offered her a small smile to comfort her.
Once Amity had caught up Gwen continued "I have decided to make a big family dinner tonight and I want you three to help me with the ingredients."
"Grocery shopping." King groaned "This is going to be so boring."