Amity still hadn't met Edric and Emira despite spotting them; or at least illusions of them perhaps, in the audience of the witch's duel earlier that day. Her parents still weren't home, and the house was quiet except for the squishy foot falls of the abomibutler that took Amity's cowl and offered her tea. She was still exhausted and hurt in every which way from the events of the Covention, and having a silent evening in the house sounded perfect. School was still tomorrow, and she would need to study for her Shaping class. The Moonlight Conjuring she had planned for the night after was still a thing as well, though if her old Grudgeby team still wanted to be associated with an embarrassment like her remained to be seen. She frowned, finding that she had already made her way to her room and was cuddling her Otabin plushie despite not recalling the climb up the stairs. Her mind was truly frazzled, and she cursed that human for ever arriving on the Boiling Isles. Amity began running a bath, placing her Magic 101 text on the side for the tub to grab in a claw like appendage. Being able to soak and relax with no one to bother her was exactly….

A knock on the door made her pause. Her older siblings of course had keys, her parents shouldn't be home until far later in the evening, and the local cult solicitors knew better than to enter the gate, let alone manage to get to the front door of Blight Manor. She started down the stairs, able to hear the abomibutler shamble to the door to answer it. "I swear, if it's somehow that human, I will destroy her." she said aloud, reaching the corner of the staircase as the door was opened. The abomibutler moved aside to allow a hulking, grey skinned demon wearing a white tunic, grey cowl, and black pants and boots step through. Beneath his cowl where most witch's had a face was nothing more than a fang filled maw that turned toward her as she continued to descend the steps. "Mr. Wrath, what are… I mean, what can I do for you?"

"I apologize for such short notice, Ms. Blight. I've come to ask if you would be willing to look after Braxas tonight as I have been called for an emergency to the Conformatorium." Mr. Wrath said. He was the Warden of the Emperor's rehabilitation center for wild witches and anyone that couldn't bring themselves to conform to civilized society. He was also a single parent, his partner having met a tragic end some time ago, leaving him to take care of his son alone. Rumor has it that he had high hopes for a new relationship, but had old fashioned tastes that modern witches and demons didn't share.

Amity looked away, feeling guilty. She really needed this time to recuperate, but at the same time, every situation was an opportunity to learn, grow, and make oneself useful. "I…" she hesitated.

Wrath turned, showing the small toddler in his arms. Braxas was the mirror image of his father, aside from his brimstone red skin and cute dimples on either side of his maw when he was trying not to smile. He whispered something barely audible to his father, who leaned in closer, asking the toddler to repeat his words.

"I like her green hair." Braxas repeated in such a deep gravelly voice that Amity could feel it ripple the air around her.

"Why thank you, Braxas." Amity smiled. She was tired, but hoped witchling sitting for the evening wouldn't be too hectic. The Warden set his son down, who looked up at the large abomibutler and then reached out for one of his father's powerful legs to cling too. "Don't worry about him. He's like a big gooey pussycat." Amity assured him, reaching the bottom of the stairs. "Is there a crow I can contact in case of emergency, and when do you think you'll be back to pick him up?"

Wrath nodded. "I knew you would be the one I could trust, Ms. Amity. Again, I do apologize for the short notice." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a live crow, its wings flapping and its beak nipping at the Warden's fingers. "Ugh, these things never work for me!"

"Here, let me." Amity chuckled and gently took the shiny black bird in her hands, cradling its wings. Once it was calm, she let it perch on her finger and she handed it off to the abomibutler.

"I hope to return before darkness takes hold." Wrath answered. He kneeled down, patting Braxas on the head and urging him to let go. "Ms. Amity will take good care of you. You be good, alright? No fires."

"I'll protect him with my life." she agreed. She bent down to Braxas' height and smiled, offering a hand to the little demon. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun tonight, right Braxas?" Reluctantly, Braxas nodded and took her hand, releasing his father's leg cautiously. "I'm sure we'll be fine, Mr. Wrath. You should probably get to that emergency." Wrath nodded, again apologetic to Amity and giving Braxas one more hug before leaving through the door. The abomibutler closed the door behind him, and paused to look at the staircase with a groan. "What's…" Amity started to ask before she realized it was looking at a small trickle of water cascading down the steps. "Oh no…"

Sprinting up the stairs, Amity rushed to her room to find the floor flooded. "OhnoOhnoOhno!" She repeated, splashing into her bathroom to turn off her still filling tub. So far, the evening was following closely in the footsteps of the day. Knowing she wouldn't have a chance for a bath until Braxas was in bed or his father picked him up, she began to drain the tub. She sat on the edge of the tub, putting a hand down on her now soaked through text book and sighed. She slipped off her wet socks and hung them on the edge of the tub, holding her head in her hands and letting out a breath of frustration. "Of all the days… Abomibutler!" She called, stepping back into her room to find Braxus lying on her bed, playing with her Otabin doll.

"Why is the floor so wet Ms. Amity?" The toddler asked, dropping the Otabin doll on the floor into the water and splashing over to her book shelf. "Who is that?" He said in his growling voice, pushing a few of her books to the side to look more closely at her Azura figurine.

Amity picked up the Otabin doll, gently squeezing the water out of it. "That is the Good Witch Azura." She said, crouching down as close to Braxus' height as she could to pick up the figurine. The illusion had thankfully faded, and Amity admired the decoration with Braxas. "Azura is a heroic witch that uses her magic to make friends of her enemies, destroy evil, and with the help of her allies and her magical staff, bring peace to the land."

"She's very pretty." Braxas growled, holding his tiny clawed hands to his chest, being careful not to break the figurine. Azura, according to the book series cover artwork, had long green hair similar to Amity's dyed color, with a dark complexion and dark green eyes. Atop her head rested a tall, pointed white hat that flopped backward with a gold crown that wrapped around the brim. A white and blue dress hung on her slender frame down to her ankles, and her white, gold trimmed oaken staff was topped with a brilliant blue gem the size of her fist.

Amity smiled in agreement. "Yes, she is, isn't she?" She said, placing Azura back on her pedestal. "Maybe you can come to the library and I can read you her stories with the other kids."

"I'd like that." He said, clapping his hands adorably.

The abomibutler finally reached her room and looked at the wet floor. The water had thinned now for the most part, having drained down the steps and probably into Edric and Emira's rooms. "Abomibutler, this mess will need cleaned immediately." She ordered.

"Ha ha! Bumi!" Braxas called, trying to repeat what Amity had called the servant. The abomination looked down at Braxas and groaned before moving into the room and getting to work. Typical spills and clean up duty was no problem for a servant abomination, and it began soaking up every drop of water from the floor through its feet as it walked about, storing it in its slowly inflating body until it put a tendril-like arm in the bathroom drain and poured itself out. It would take time, but eventually it would be unnoticeable that any water had been spilled at all.

"Come on, Braxas. Let's go outside and let… uh, Bumi clean up for us."

"Outside! Yay!" The toddler shouted, clapping his hands again before taking Amity's and following her carefully down the steps.

Unfortunately, the Blight estate was short on playing equipment for toddlers since shortly after Amity had been born, and she had to improvise with a pool of abomination mud for Braxas to play in. The little demon was enjoying it at least, as she formed tiny buildings and beings out of the ooze for him to stomp around in, pretending to be a terrifying Titan himself. Amity was sitting crosslegged beside the pool, manipulating the tiny abomination people to scream and flail when she could feel her eyes drooping. Sitting still was allowing her body to relax and come down from the power glyph surge and she was having difficulty staying awake.

Her eyes shot open when the scream of what she assumed was another toddler snapped her awake, forcing her to her feet. "Braxas!" She shouted, but the demon toddler was still playing in the now dormant mud. Her concentration must have slipped enough that the make believe buildings and toys had melted back into mush. Her shouted snapped the young one's attention to her, but he only froze in place. "Are you okay?"

Braxas nodded slowly, uncertain if he had just done something wrong. His bared teeth clamped shut and a low reverberating rumble began to emanate from his throat as his chin began to tremble.

Amity kneeled down beside him and hugged him close. "It's okay, Braxas. I just thought I heard a scream and was worried you were hurt. You're okay."

"I heard someone too." He sniffed.

Amity looked at him confused. "You did?" She lifted her head and surveyed what she could see of the estate, her pointed ears perking up out of reflex in an attempt to find any out of the ordinary noises. Another scream, far more distinct this time, followed by a call for help. She stood, and Braxas latched on to her leg, shivering. "I'd better check this out." She said, more to herself. She was fairly confident in the Blight Manor's defences constructed by her dad, but if there wound up being a mess, she would have to assign another one of the abomination servants to the task. She drew a casual spell circle in the air, commanding the pool of mud that Braxas had been playing in to reform itself into a biped and follow along.

They reached the front of the manor at a cautious pace, Braxas now holding onto the tail end of her shirt. The screaming had turned into crying and shouting now, and Amity could see a brown haired boy with a vaguely square head being hung upside down by the fake abomination tree that guarded the walkway. While one of the tree tendrils had itself wrapped around one of the boy's ankles, eight others had narrowed into sharp blades, at least double Amity's height in length and were pointed at the boy from various angles. "Help!"

Amity's face was scrunched up in irritation and she folded her arms. "Who are you?" She asked, the boy slowly rotating and wincing as the purple blades twitched and moved around him.

"My… my name's Mattholomule! I'm here to talk to Amity!"

"That doesn't tell me anything. What do you want with me?"

Mattholomule slowly rotated to face Amity again and opened one tear filled eye. "Can you let me down?" He asked.

Amity rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh. Fine." She said, snapping her fingers. Mattholomule screamed again as he dropped head first onto the path and the abomination slowly reverted back to its disguised state as a tree. "Now. What do you want?"

Mattholomule rested for a moment, his face in the dirt, before picking himself up and brushing himself off. He had landed on a now flattened bouquet of flowers that he had presumably dropped upon his capture, and he whined when he picked them up. "I wanted… ugh. I wanted to give these to you."

Amity stood her ground beside the manor, Braxas still clinging to her shirt with one clawed hand. "Why?"

The boy looked exasperated. "I thought maybe I could ask you out? Take my shot, as my brother said."

"I don't even know who you are!" Amity growled back. She could feel her cheeks reddening and had to wonder if her siblings had put the boy up to this in an effort to embarrass her. "Go away! I'm busy!"

"C'mon! I think I hurt my leg! I'd never make it back home like this!"

"That's not my problem!" She shouted back. "Take another step and I'll sic the tree on you again!" Mattholomule sat down in the road where he had fallen, rubbing his ankle where the abomination had snagged him. His pants were torn and the skin beneath was reddened, but other than just being dusty, he looked like he would live. Amity growled. She didn't have the time or energy for this. She had never even noticed this boy, let alone have any interest in him. "My parents are going to be home in a couple of hours and if you're still here when they get back, my mother will literally give you nightmares for the rest of your life! She's an Oracle, she can do that!"

"I just thought, being the new kid, maybe I had a shot at a new beginning. Take a chance with the cutest girl in school."

"New kid?" She asked, and finally approached him near the gate of the manor. "You're from Glandus, aren't you?" He nodded. Glandus High was a sister school to Hexside, and the biggest rival to the Banshees, Hexside's Grudgeby team. "I remember you now. You dived into the water table trying to catch a fire ball."

Mattholomule smiled, pointing a thumb into his own chest. "You do remember. Nice!"

"You're an idiot." Amity paraphrased.

The boy growled. "Whatever. I'm here, I'm hurt, I brought…" he held up the ruined bouquet. "I brought flowers?"

"Go. Away."

Mattholomule frowned and slumped just as Amity's scroll chimed. She growled again, summoning the glowing, palm sized parchment that unrolled itself to show an incoming call from Boscha. "Boscha, I'm bus…"

"Amity, you have to help me! You're the only one I can trust!" Boscha said, fear apparent in her voice. Each of her three eyes were moving to and fro in unison, as though she was watching for an attacker from the shadows.

"Boscha? Where are you? What's going on?"

"I ran away." she replied, matter of factly.

"You what?!" Running away was a pretty common threat among kids in the Boiling Isles that was rarely a practical solution given the amount of dangers on the Titan. Amity herself had certainly considered it more than once, but where would she go? Especially now that her future with the Emperor's Coven was practically just a dream now.

"I'm in Latissa! You need to come get me, like right now!" Boscha said, spinning around suddenly. "Seriously, this arm pit of a city is so creepy, you don't even know!"

Amity closed her eyes in an attempt to force calm. "Boscha, I can't do that. I'm witchling sitting for Warden Wrath. And I have an intruder to deal with!"

"My. Life. Is. In. Danger! I don't care what you have to do, but you need to do it now!"

"If my parents find out I went all the way to Latissa; or if Warden Wrath finds out I left his son alone…"

"Leave him with the intruder, then. Or bring him with you!" Boscha suggested, then gasped. "Amity, there is someone staring at me. He has a wand, Amity! It looks like he wants to turn me into something he can serve his friends for dinner or something. Oh my… oh my Titan, he just… Ew! Put it away!" she shouted to someone Amity couldn't see.

"Boscha, there's a guard post there. Just stop there and they'll get you home."

"Ugh, I don't think so. Can you imagine what people would say if I was in a guard post? Then my parents would for sure know I can't fend for myself out here. Amity, please."

"Boscha…"

"Amity, please…"

Amity bit her lip. This was the worst day. Ever. She growled and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to think. She wanted to scream, but instead she could only pace and push her frustration down deep. She could feel her face turning red as she held in her anger, well past the point of becoming light headed. Finally, she let out her breath and glared at the scroll again. "Fine. Where are you?"

"I'm at the hookworm station but I don't have any snails on me for a ticket."

"Why would you… nevermind. Nevermind! I'll find a way. Somehow."

"Thank you, Amity! I will not forget this. Whether you get here soon or not, I will remember. Assuming I'm not already something's lunch by time you get here. Please hurry." Boscha said, then her third eye seemed to catch movement from the side and she let out a disgusted scream before the screen went dark.

"Okay. Braxas, we're going to go for Eye Scream, okay?" Amity asked the small toddler that was still hanging on to the bottom of her shirt. "You," she continued, pointing a finger at Mattholomule, "Are leaving."

"Oh, I don't think so." He replied with a smirk. "I've never been to Latissa. It sounds fun."

"What?" Amity asked, her face going from simply annoyed to dead serious in a heartbeat.

"You're taking Warden Wrath's kid into Latissa, probably with your parents palisman or something? I want in. Or they're both going to find out."

"Are you kidding me? I should have let the tree turn you into fertilizer!"

Mattholomule shrugged. "Besides, I help you, you admit we had a date. Everyone wins!"

Amity approached Mattholomule, whispering into his face in the hope that Braxas wouldn't hear. "Understand this, you little twerp. There will be no fun. There will be no date. There will be no winning. If my parents or Warden Wrath find out about this, I will personally sacrifice you to a dragon, understand?"

Mattholomule couldn't hold Amity's gaze and looked away, crossing his arms uncomfortably. "So that means I'm going?" He grinned.