Soon after eating, King excused himself, saying he had an enemy to conquer, before scampering off and cackling maniacally. Luz waved goodbye to him and told him to have fun, but he was too focused on his goal to notice.
Amity dug the small vial of sun potion out of her bag and took another swig, grimacing at the awful flavour and sludge-like consistency. She washed it down with water before reminding everyone to take their own doses, as the first ones had probably worn off. They all begrudgingly followed suit. Lilith and Eda both returned to their beach towels and the children stood up, considering what they wanted to do next.
Luz paused, remembering something. "Hey, do you guys have the 30 minutes rule on the Boiling Isles?"
"I don't think so," said Willow. "What is it?"
"Well, there's this myth in the human word that if you go swimming without waiting at least 30 minutes, you'll get cramps so bad that you'll drown and die."
"Wait, what?" asked Gus, incredulously. "Is there something dangerous about human water or are your bodies just weird and easy to destroy?" Amity and Willow looked a little bit concerned too.
"No, don't worry," said Luz. "As I said, it's just a myth. My mom is a nurse- that's like a healer- and she said it's fake. The worst that would happen is an upset stomach or very minor cramps, the same as if you did any other kind of exercise right after eating. She said it's still a good idea to rest after eating anyway to avoid those problems."
"Well," said Willow, flopping down on the blanket and lying on her back, "I think that's a great idea. I was already considering suggesting we rest." Luz followed suit, resting her head on the witchling's stomach. Willow wasn't even startled by this action, getting used to the human's physically affectionate nature over the past few months. Gus reclined next to them, and Amity sat primly on an empty corner of the blanket. Willow closed her eyes and basked in the sound of the waves mingling with the noise of her friends making small talk about their shared classes.
Her moment of peace didn't very long, however, as she soon felt Luz getting fidgety against her. The human stood up. "I'm having trouble sitting still again. I'm gonna go see if King needs any help, if anyone wants to come with."
Gus was the only one who considered the offer. "Nah, I'm probably gonna rest here a bit more. I might join you in a few minutes, though. Go have fun."
Luz jogged over the diminutive demon, who was using a stick to draw so-called battle plans in the sand. Mostly, it was just various doodles of cartoonish crabs with Xs over their eyes, dead. She knelt down next to him.
"You need any help with… whatever this is?" the human asked.
King contemplated for a moment. "Well… it would be nice to have a one-person army under my command. Then again, I would have to share the glory. Hmmm…" he looked conflicted before placing a solemn hand on her arm. "I'm sorry, boo-boo buddy, but some battles are things a demon just has to fight on his own."
She put an encouraging hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, I understand. I wish you great victory in your battle." She gave a mock-salute before standing up and returning to her friends. She had an idea of what she wanted to do next.
"Hey! Do any of you wanna get buried in the sand?"
Willow and Amity looked concerned, whereas Gus looked delighted. "Is this some kind of human funeral reenactment and death worship?"
Luz laughed. "No, silly. It's just something we do for fun, I'm surprised it's not something you do too. We just dig a shallow pit and someone lays down in it and we cover them in sand, except for the head."
The explanation did not dull his enthusiasm. "I would LOVE to play your weird human burial game!"
Luz looked to the two girls. "Either of you wanna join?"
"I'm good," said Willow, "but you two enjoy your, uh, burial." Luz and Gus ran a bit closer to the sea, where the sand was less hot.
Willow rolled herself over to one end of the blanket, making plenty of room for Amity. She patted the newly-created empty space, wordlessly inviting her ex-best-friend to lie down next to her. Amity complied, moving slowly to make sure that was what Willow wanted.
The two laid in silence for a few moments, staring up at the sky, before Willow let out a soft chuckle, remembering something. "Hey, Ami?"
"Yeah?"
"Remember that time, probably the second time we skipped swim lessons, when I snuck my dads' entire cookie jar into my swim bag?"
Amity giggled a bit. "Yeah, eating that whole thing in one sitting was not a good idea."
"The swim instructor was so mad! He made us swim all those laps as punishments."
"Worst laps of my life! And then he looked even angrier when after your fourth one you climbed onto shore without asking."
"Titan, yeah! He looked like he was about to start yelling at me and then I just started puking all over the place." Willow was full-blown laughing at this point.
"And then a flock of seaskulls came down and started EATING it!" Amity was laughing now too.
Willow had to deliberately catch her breath to continue "And when Skara saw it, she puked right in the water."
"At least 3 kids started crying and we all got to go home early. It was great." The two girls lost themselves in fits of laughter until they were breathless.
They spent some time in companionable silence after that before Amity spoke up. "Hey, Willow?" Amity rolled onto her side to face her friend, using her elbow to prop herself up slightly.
Willow mirrored her action, making gentle eye contact. "Hm?"
"I missed those days. I… I missed you. I was lonely and miserable for years after I had to stop being friends with you." Amity paused for a moment, searching for the right words to say. "I'm not saying that because I want you to pity me or anything. I know my struggles are nothing compared to yours, especially since I was partly at fault for how badly you got bullied. I just… I want you to know you were really important to me, even if I didn't act like it. You're an important and amazing person in general and anybody would be lucky to be your friend."
Willow was a bit shocked to hear all this. She had been getting better self-esteem lately but still had trouble really accepting that other people liked and respected her. "That's… that means a lot to me. Thanks, Ami." There was a beat of silence before she reached out her free hand and placed it on Amity's shoulder. "But don't belittle your own problems just because I was hurting too, or because you made mistakes."
Amity looked at Willow in stunned silence.
Willow continued. "It still hurts sometimes, and I wish you would've told me the truth and protected me from your so-called friends and not been so condescending when I failed in class. But the more I've been talking to you lately, the more I understand it."
Willow retracted her arm and sat up so she could look at her friend more directly. "It's like you just said, you were a lonely, sad, scared little kid. You were afraid your parents would punish you if you let anyone know how they treated you. You were afraid of losing your so-called friends and being even more alone. You were afraid that if you didn't act like an untouchable perfect student all the time, then you'd have nothing left to cling to. I get it. It doesn't retroactively undo all the pain I've felt in the past but it makes me less upset today. "
By now, Amity had sat up and curled into a ball, one arm hugging her knees to her chest and the other fidgeting with the blanket beneath her. Her eyes looked downwards, refusing to meet Willow's face.
The plant witch sighed. "I can only imagine how bad it all must have felt for you. I always had two loving dads at home, and years later I got Gus as a friend. You had a complicated home life and no real friends. We both suffered in our own ways and both of our feelings matter. It's not like only one of us can have the right to feel hurt; I can certainly share."
Amity pointed her watery eyes up to Willow. "I… thanks."
Willow looked down at her. "Do you need a hug?"
"...Yes." It came out closer to a whimper than anything.
Willow's embrace felt different than it did 7 years ago, of course. Both girls had grown a lot, physically and mentally, over the years. However, the comforting, homelike feeling it brought to Amity remained the same. One hug couldn't solve everything, but it eroded a small fraction of the calcified loneliness that had made its home in her chest, and that was enough for now.
Willow pulled away after giving her friend a gentle pat on the shoulder. "It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back," smiled Amity.
"I guess things have started looking up for both of us, huh? People at school think I'm cool and you have me, Luz, and Gus to be your friends now."
"Yeah, ever since Luz came into our lives, things have changed a lot, for the better."
"You really like her, huh?"
"Of course I do, she's a great friend."
"Not what I meant," smirked Willow. "Come on, I haven't seen you blushing this much since that older girl who read to us at the library. What was her name, Valor? Valerie?"
"Valencia, and I don't know what you mean about her."
"I mean that every week for months you'd make me distract the wild snapdragons and twolips so you could pick a few without getting bitten and give them to her before storytime."
"Okay maybe I had a silly, childish crush on her back then."
"Your feelings towards Luz are more than that, though, aren't they?"
Amity hid her face in her hands. "...Yes. Please don't tell her."
Eda looked up from where she had been practicing drawing glyphs in the sand. She directed a devilish grin at her sister. Lilith totally owed her ten snails. Before Lilith could protest, Eda gave her the shhh gesture. She didn't want to alert the girls, both of whom had clearly forgotten that the two older women were lounging on their towels just a few meters behind the blanket the entire time, to their presence.
Willow smiled coyly at Amity. "Oh, your secret is safe with me. I may have to keep teasing you until you confess, though."
Amity was saved -or perhaps further endangered- by the object of her affections bounding up to the blanket where she sat, with Gus in tow. Both of them were covered neck-to-toe in sand. Apparently, after Luz had buried and unburied Gus, he decided to return the favour and bury her.
"You've gotta try this!" shouted the illusionist. "I've got sand in places I didn't even know existed !" For emphasis, he tugged at his t-shirt, dumping a comically large quantity of sand at his feet.
Amity grimaced. "Thanks but… I think me and Willow are good out here." Willow nodded vigorously in agreement.
"It's almost definitely been a half hour by now," said Luz. She pulled the goggles out of her bag and closed it neatly. "We can go in the water and play some of your Boiling Isles games. You wanna play sea serpent with us, Eda?" Amity startled at that last part; she had forgotten how closely the two sisters were sitting to her and Willow. She hoped they didn't overhear their whole conversation, especially the part about her crush.
Eda shrugged. "Nah, I was prolly just gonna stay here and keep workin' on my glyphs. Or take another nap. Maybe both."
"Come on, please?" pleaded Luz. She hadn't yet brought out the patented Noceda puppy eyes, but was prepared to bring out the big guns if Eda didn't agree. "I wanna spend time with you."
Luz had definitely not intended it, but those last words felt like a punch in the gut to Eda. She remembered all the times she's been in Luz's position, only to be brushed off by an annoyed parent. She wanted to break that cycle. She couldn't be expected to always have the time and energy to keep up with the energetic young girl, but in situations like these? It certainly couldn't hurt to play a few games with the kid; Eda wasn't particularly busy at the moment and had spent all morning resting. "Alright, fine. But don't expect me to go easy on you pip squeaks."
Luz excitedly pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! Thank you, Eda!" She grabbed her mentor's hand (which, luckily, stayed attached to her wrist), helping the older witch to her feet. Then, without letting go, she sprinted out to the ocean, dragging Eda behind her. Her three friends tagged along after them.
Meanwhile, King had long since given up hope on tracking down and enacting revenge upon the crab that had wronged him. He had given up on capturing any creatures to live in his sand kingdom, and instead decided to create his own sand subjects. They looked like tiny, misshapen snowmen. Unfortunately, there was a major drawback to such citizens.
"Tremble before your god!" yelled King.
The sand citizens, being made of sand, did nothing.
"I said tremble!"
They continued to just be nonliving, misshapen lumps of sand.
King stamped his feet angrily. "Tremble or I'll destroy your homes!"
They did nothing, predictably.
"That's it! You brought this upon yourselves!" King laughed maniacally as he crushed the sand houses beneath his paws. He basked in the destruction before looking down at the sand people expectantly.
They did not move, except for one. The shaking of the ground had caused its twig-arm to fall from the salute King had carefully placed it in, plopping unceremoniously to the ground.
"Oh! You are going to regret that! I gave you a chance for mercy but you refused! Now you shall face the king of demons' wrath!" King angrily kicked over his sandmen, only briefly pausing when a twig jabbed at his paw. "Perish! Watch as I, your god, usher in the end of days! Weep, knowing you could have prevented this!"
Once he was done with his tirade, he looked down and sighed. None of his kingdom remained, except for the so-called treasure pit. "Oh well, who needs loyalty when you have material wealth." He dug through the shells and shiny rocks in the pit before soon growing bored. He picked a few of his favourite rocks and shells and put them in his pail, before heading back to the blanket, intending to put them in Luz's bag to bring home with him.
Inside the bag, on top of everything else, he saw a small bag of Hex Mix. He let out a small squeal of delight. Lilith looked up from the pages of the bodice-ripper she was reading, wordlessly scolding him for the noise.
"Oh, just can it!" he said, ripping open the bag.
Lilith looked alarmed, pointing above him. "King, there's-"
King ignored her. "You don't get to complain about me after I saved your life." If he had only listened to her, he would realize she was pointing to a small flock of see-gulls gathering above him, ready to swoop. (See-gulls were creatures much like earth seagulls, but with a few dozen too many eyes.) The horrible birds descended upon him, stealing his snack before he could even eat his first bite. Lilith held back a giggle as the small demon got swarmed.
"Not a word." said King, glaring at her, before attempting to chase after the birds. He screeched at them as he ran, threatening vengeance.
