Encouragement
"Welcome to the Conformatorium. My name is Wrath, your warden here, and the single person responsible for deciding when your rehabilitation is deemed complete." Wrath paced before the row of inmates before him. All looked up to him with either fear or resignation. All except the two children at the end of the lineup. Years of experience has allowed him to recognize problematic inmates at a glance. The angry expressions lining their faces as they stared down at the floor was all the information he needed to know that these two would require extra effort.
"Most of you are wild witches that chose to go against the will of the Titan and refusedto join a coven. Some of you are simply troubled souls who simply need guidance back onto the correct path. Whatever the reason, you're stay here does not have to be a miserable experience. Provided, of course, you treat me and my fellow jailers with respect. And that means looking up when you're being talked to." Wrath stopped at the end of the line, looking down at the two teens who refused to meet his gaze.
"No." The girl sneered.
"I said, look at me!" Grabbing her by her chin, he forced her face up, but still she refused to look his way.Her brother though, did raise his head towards the warden. His fury from before intensified ten-fold and all of it was directed at Wrath himself.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" He howled, before charging at him despite his shackled hands.
Releasing his grip on the girl, Wrath easily stopped the boy in his tracks, his enormous hand completely surrounding the boy's torso. He effortlessly lifted the boy off his feat, yet he never looked away from the girl before him.
"Edric!" The girl screamedat the sight of her brother dangling helplessly in the warden's grip.
"Now, I'll say it again. Look. At. Me." Wrath demanded.
Hesitantly the girl finally locked eyes with Wrath's face mask. Like her brother, her face showed nothing but hate and disgust towards the warden. They still had a long ways to go before they could be rehabilitated. Regardless, they were finally giving him their undivided attention.
Dropping the boy back into his position in the line-up, Wrath warned, "Next time, I won't be so merciful."
Returning his attention to the rest of the line-up, Wrath continued with his speech. "As I was saying, so long as you show me the proper respect I deserve, I'm sure your stay here will be a pleasant one.
"You will be released from here once I deem that you've met all the following criteria. For you wild witches, the first on this list is joining a coven. Once you've decided, you will be branded with your chosen coven's sigil, sealing you off from any other form of magic.
"On top of this, you must also show a comprehensive understanding of the rules of our society. You will learn all about the governing laws that surround the Titan.
"And finally, you will need to learn absolute obedience to all your superiors: our glorious Emperor, me and my fellow jailers, the coven guards patrolling the city streets, any parents or guardians that oversee your growth-"
A dark, humorless chuckle sounded from the end of the line-up. Once again, Wrath's attention was diverted back to the two troublesome children.
"Our parents don't give a shit about us." The girl scoffed.
"They left us in here to rot and you expect us to do whatever they say?" The boy followed up.
Wrath could only shake his head at this, his warning from earlier having fallen on deaf ears. Without saying a word, he pulled out a device from his side pocket and pointed it at the two teenagers. With a flip of the switch the shackles around their hands began to light up in a blue glow. In an instant, the glow formed into an intense static that sent shocks throughout their entire bodies. Falling to their knees, the twins siblings let out pained cries as electricity continued to develop them.
The other inmates all backed away from the sight before them. They all gave the children sorrowful looks of concern, but none dared to intervene. Good. At least they had some sense to them.
"Guards. Take the rest of the inmates to their cells." Wrath ordered before returning his attention to the Blights. "As for these two, they're going to need an accelerated course-correction if we wish to rehabilitate them."
The following day, Amity headed over to the Owl House to spend the day with her awesome girlfriend. They sat side-by-side on the roof overlooking the Boiling Sea while Ghost took her rightful place napping on Amity's lap. Immediately though, Amity could tell that something was bothering Luz. She was far quieter and less lively than her usual self. Amity reasoned that it must have something to do with Luz's test with the portal yesterday as Luz has yet to tell her how that went. However, Luz kept insisting that nothing was wrong before quickly switching the subject, asking how Amity's day was instead.
Amity couldn't help but be concerned for the way Luz was acting, but she decided not to push the issue, at least not yet. She hopes that Luz will be able to open up on her own eventually if she just gives her some space. Besides, after how hectic and exhausting the day before was, Amity was perfectly content with being given the chance to share everything that happened yesterday.
"After Ed and Em helped me get away, I rushed to my room to plan my escape. I thought I'd have to runaway, go into hiding. It was honestly pretty scary." Amity admitted. Luz looked down pensively after hearing that before Amity continued on. "But in the end, my parents actually managed to come through for me. My mom showed up at my room as I was leaving and told me that she managed to pay the coven off. She said that despite our differences, she's always trying to do what's best for me. And then she hugged me. I can't even remember the last time she's done that. I'm not sure if she even has before. I don't know. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I was wrong about her and my dad all this time."
Amity turned at the sound of a barely repressed sob and was surprised to see tears threatening to fall from her girlfriend's eyes.
"Luz?" Amity tried to reach out to comfort her, but Luz only further curled in on herself.
"I'm sorry. This was all my fault."
Amity was taken aback at the sudden apology. "Luz, it's not your fault. You didn't do anything."
"That's the problem. You had to go get the Titan's Blood for me because I was too sick to do anything. You wouldn't have gotten into trouble if you weren't helping me with building a portal. You almost got arrested because of me. You were about to runaway from home because of me, and-"
"Luz, please." Luz's rant was cut short when she felt Amity's hand in hers. Tears were falling freely as she looked up at her girlfriend's eyes. "You didn't get me in trouble. I chose to help you get the Titan's Blood, because I care about you. I want to help you see your mom again. And while yesterday's events were a bit scary, I'd do it all again in an instant if it means helping you get home."
"But, what about your future? Your dream of joining the Emperor's Coven? You could ruin your entire life if you keep helping me with the portal."
"That was never my dream." She stated certainly, much to Luz's surprise. "I thought it was before, but I realize now that that was just what my parents wanted my dream to be.
"But lately, I've come to realize just how awful the Emperor and his coven system really is. Trying to petrify Eda just because she wouldn't join him, trying to steal innocent palismen and… killing them," Amity shuddered at the thought, pulling Ghost closer to her. "Converting people who disagree with him at the Conformatorium. Threatening you get the key. I don't want anything to do with the Emperor's Coven anymore. And that's why I'll keep standing beside you, and Eda, and King anytime you need it. So please, don't think that I'm ruining my life by being with you. My life is better now than ever before."
Streams of tears were still flowing down Luz's face, but she finally managed a small smile, the first one Amity had seen all day. Luz pulled her girlfriend into a tight embrace that Amity quickly returned. "Thank you for staying by my side."
"Always". The two stayed like that for over a minute as Luz's eyes dried out and her breathing slowly returned to a controlled pace. Eventually they broke the hug, but stayed hand-in-hand and spent the next few minutes just enjoying each other's company.
Luz was the first to brake the silence as she hesitantly asked, "Hey Amity. I'm just wondering, but what did your parents have to say about you not joining the Emperor's Coven anymore?"
Amity's eyes widen at the question while her grip on Luz's hand tightened slightly.
"I'm guessing you haven't told them?" Luz asked already feeling guilty about bringing it up.
"It's okay Luz. You're right, I haven't told them yet. Honestly, I'm kind of worried how they'll react when I do."
"Really? I didn't think you'd care so much about what they think anymore."
"I didn't either, but after yesterday I'm starting to reevaluate my opinion on them. Before yesterday, I wasn't sure if either of my parents even cared about me, yet here they are spending Titan-knows how many snails to keep my out of the Conformatorium. For the first time in a long time, I'm starting to hope that my relationship with them can be salvaged, and I'm worried that I'll ruin this chance if I tell them now."
"Oh, Amity." Luz's voice was soft, feeling that it's now her turn to comfort her girlfriend. "Family is suppose to protect each other, unconditionally. That shouldn't change just because you want something differently than what your parents want. You should just tell them your plans and if they truly care about you they'll… understand…"
Luz's voice trailed off, her eyes widening as if hit with a sudden sudden realization.
"Luz, are you okay?" Amity waved her hand in front of Luz's face which only got her attention a few seconds later than Amity would have liked. "Did you suddenly think of something?"
"What? No, it was nothing." Luz said, but Amity gave a look that said she was unconvinced.
"Is this about your test with the portal yesterday?" Amity asked. Luz's silence was confirmation enough. "You've been awfully quiet about it. Did something happen?"
Luz remained silent, simply staring at the roof tiles beneath their feet. Amity was prepared to change subjects, believing that Luz wasn't going to talk about it before she finally spoke up. "Actually, yes. It is about yesterday. We actually managed to get the portal working, at least temporarily before it closed in on itself, and I managed to talk to my mom in the human realm."
Amity resisted the urge to shout 'That's great' realizing that whatever happened isn't as great as it sounds right now.
Luz let out a deep breath before she continued. "Eda, King, and Hooty managed to pull me back to the demon realm as the portal was closing, but before they did I… promised my mom that I'd stay with her once I got a working portal ready."
"Oh." Amity was surprised and tried her hardest to keep the hurt out of her voice. "Do you want to?"
"No. I mean, not forever. I love my mom and can't imagine my life without her. But I've grown to love the Boiling Isles too. I don't know what exactly I want my living situation to be in the future, but I need to be able to freely go between my home and the Boiling Isles without giving either up.
"I'm just worried that my mom won't approve of the Boiling Isles. She already got a bad first impression of it. I've even been procrastinating on building another portal because I've been dreading talking to my mom about this."
Amity gradually relaxed hearing Luz say that she has no plans to leave the Isles for good, and she once again chastised herself for doubting Luz's kind heart. 'Of course she's not going to just abandon you like that.'
"You know," Amity said. "An awesome person I know once told me that you shouldn't worry about wanting something different than what your mom expects. If she truly cares about you then she'll understand."
Luz couldn't help but chuckle at that and playful pushed Amity's shoulder. "I know that! What do you think my sudden epiphany was about?" Then, more solemnly, Luz added, "Still, that's easier said than done."
"Oh believe me, I know how nerve-wracking it is to have a difficult conversation with one's mom. But, I can tell you from personal experience that putting it off until later only makes it harder." Luz nodded in agreement. "Honestly though, I think that once you got a working portal ready everything else will fall into place. I believe you can make this whole situation work."
"How can you be so sure?" Luz pleaded.
"Because you're you. You done so many incredible things these last few months alone. I'm sure you can manage balancing your life between here and in the human realm. But you know that you can't do that if you don't have a working portal, first." Amity responded sincerely.
"Wow, I'm not used to hearing you sound so positive and optimistic."
"I learned from the best." Amity finished by giving Luz's hand a tight squeeze. She was grateful to see all the tension that was curled up in her body finally release.
"You're right Amity. My first priority needs to be making a working portal. I can worry about talking to my mom afterwards." Luz said.
After a moment's pause, Luz looked back towards her girlfriend again, her cheeks lightly blushing and a sly grin on her face. "And besides… I still owe you that date in the human realm."
Instantly, Amity felt heat coursing through her cheeks before overtaking her entire face. "Oh, ri-right. Ya. Look-looking forward to it."
Luz giggled at her girlfriend's reaction which Amity joined soon afterwards. Leaning their heads together, they spent the rest of their time together gazing out into the setting horizon.
Over a week had passed since the whole Emperor's Coven ordeal had taken place and Amity had spent that time NOT talking to her parents and instead trying to avoid them as best as she could. Interactions with her mother were kept to a minimum, her father even less so, and it wasn't helped that they had canceled all family breakfasts and dinners together for the week due to work reasons. This gave Amity the perfect excuse to spend all her free time either at the library, or at the Owl House, avoiding her parents and cursing herself for not being able to take her own damn advice.
'I can tell you from experience that putting it off until later only makes it harder.' Gosh I'm such a hypocrite.
Amity was still afraid of ruining the sudden good-terms that she had with her parents. To her surprise, her mother had even become more amicable with Amity spending so much time with Luz. In her mother's words, "your friendship with the human may actually be helping you further grow yours skills as a witch worthy of the Emperor's Coven."
That's also when Amity realized that she still hadn't told her mother that she and Luz were dating now. She supposes that just another thing to add to the list of 'difficult conversations I need to have with my mom.'
Thinking back to her talk with Luz, Amity finally accepted the fact that she needed to get this conversation with her parents over with. If they did in fact care about her, like she so desperately hoped, then she just needs to be honest with them and hope for the best. And that's exactly what Amity was prepared to do that Friday evening. Amity spent an hour after the last bell shrieked completing all her homework for the weekend. She took the day off work at the library and already told Luz that she wouldn't be able to come over that day. She wanted to take away any excuse she could have to not go straight home and finally talk with her parents. With her head held up high, Amity exited the school and started her march back home.
She was barely past the front gates when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.
"Hey Amity. You got a sec'?"
"Oh, hey Gus. What's up?" Amity waved at the younger illusionist witch approaching her. Despite the inconvenient timing she couldn't decide if she was more annoyed or relieved with this distraction from her current goal.
"Hey. Sorry to bother you while you were heading out. Just wondering though, have you seen your brother and sister around lately?"
"Um, not today. Why?" Amity didn't think Gus even knew who Ed and Em were. She's certainly never seen them interact with each other.
"We had our monthly meeting for advanced illusionist students today but for some reason, Edric and Emira didn't show up."
"I didn't think Ed and Em would even care about going to a meeting like that."
"Oh they don't. But they've always crashed the meeting and pull some big prank on everyone. Like every single month, for the last two years. The members have even started looking forward to it. It's good practice for spotting and dispelling illusions. But today, there were no interruptions and the meeting proceeded as plan. We were actually a little bummed honestly."
That certainly wasn't like Ed and Em to miss out on pulling a prank whenever possible. Especially when they've dedicated so much time to it before.
Trying to think back to the last time she had seen them, Amity realized that it'd been several days now. While she hasn't been home that much, she still should have walked passed them at some point or seen them hanging around at school. In fact, the last time she definitely remembers seeing them was the day the Emperor's Coven showed up, nearly a whole week ago now.
"Amity? You okay?" Hearing that snapped her out of her thoughts, realizing that she's been quiet for a while now.
"Sorry. I haven't seen them in a while. But I'm sure they're around. I'll let you know when I see them."
"Okay. Thanks." Gus waved as he left and Amity parted ways.
As she walked the path back to Blight Manor, Amity's thoughts remained on her siblings as she tried to keep the concern from completely overtaking her mind. A million different scenarios intruded her mind about what could have happened to them.
'Just breathe okay. In and out. In and out.'
Her sister's voice echoed throughout her head, and Amity was able to calm herself down after a few deep breaths. Chances are good that they're just off causing trouble again and she's just overreacting. It wouldn't be the first time they just disappeared for a while without alerting anyone. Plus, she still needed to talk to her parents anyway.
Yet, when she was finally back home she couldn't do anything but stand motionless at the top of the stairs leading to her father's workstation. She tried to force herself to move, but she was still to distracted thinking on where her brother and sister may be. She wasn't sure if she was actually concerned for their safety or if she was just using this as a convenient excuse to continue putting off talking to her parents. Regardless, she knew she wasn't going to be able to focus properly until she figured where the twins were first.
Turning away from the stairs in-front of her, Amity headed upstairs to try and figure out where Ed and Em have been hiding this whole week.
A/N: And that's chapter 2 done. Amity is now investigating where her siblings are. What do you think she'll find?
Sorry if this update came later than expected. Unfortunately, I don't have the most free time in the world so I can't promise any sort of consistent upload schedule. But I can promise that this story will be completed eventually.