Amity watched over Bonesborough from atop the cathedral which rested at its heart. The stained glass was cold against her back, even through her cloak, while her feet hung over the edge. She sat on a smooth stone terrace, hundreds of feet above the ground. Ghost rested in her lap, her chest slowly rising and falling with each breath.
Warm, moist wind blew across the stone bricks, but curled to avoid her as it impacted an invisible barrier, marked only by the thin ring of glimmering magenta sparks which danced along the masonry in a small ring surrounding her. The zephyrs carried with them the promise of an oncoming storm—messengers sent by the dark clouds which menaced the city from overhead.
She gently stroked her fingertips along Ghost's smooth white fur as she looked upon the city.
This had become one of her favorite spots to come and think. Even though it was rebuilt following Belos' soldiers razing it and half of the New Quarter, the library had lost that sense of privacy and safety that she needed so desperately when she was younger. And the Grom tree… she had spent enough time stuck in the past.
She still liked to visit on occasion, but it would no longer be her instinctive retreat.
Amity had found a new purpose. One that she couldn't afford to be distracted from, and one which she wouldn't be able to achieve if she was stuck feeling sorry for herself.
She glanced at her scroll, which rested curled on her leg, a black ribbon wrapped around its diameter. The time, 12:39, was etched into its surface, while a single notification glimmered beneath it—Penstagram's logo, with a small red dot pulsing beneath.
Amity knew what the messages were.
She ran her tongue across the fronts of her teeth, taking note of every groove and contour of their surfaces, and the way the tips of her fangs gently traced along her soft flesh.
She dispelled the scroll and shifted her weight, trying to usher Ghost from her lap. The feline mewled dramatically as she limply peeled herself from her legs, only standing as Amity's fingers crept beneath her stomach, forcing her up.
Ghost groggily returned to her wooden form as Amity rose to her feet, taking one last look over the city before mounting her staff. She circled the building before flying north. No longer dispersed by her wards, the wind was free to tear at her hair and clothes, forcing her to secure her voluminous lavender mane into a loose ponytail with a strand of abomination clay, revealing the brown roots which grew several inches from her scalp, and the short hair on the sides of her head.
The market rested just beyond the scarp, and guarded by a prismatic umbrella of multicolored energy, which shielded the building and shoppers from the brief plague showers.
As she touched down at the cliff edge, she immediately started scanning the crowd. Despite most of the city preferring to hole up and wait for the inevitable storm, the market was as busy as ever, with the ever-shifting sea of shoppers making it nigh-impossible to navigate in a timely or efficient manner.
Amity's hand subconsciously reached beneath her cloak to guard her coin purse. The constant movement of shoppers not only made it extremely difficult to maneuver through the open market, but it also made it a hotbed for pickpockets and muggers. Several dozen guards watched over this street alone, but their effectiveness was questionable.
The wind changed, and the hair on her neck stood on end. A second later, she felt a pair of invisible arms wrap around her.
On instinct, she threw herself to a knee, dumping her grappler over her shoulder and to the hard cobblestones below. They landed with a familiar grunt, and a puff of smoke revealed her brother lying flat on his back, a surprised expression on his face.
"Oh Titan!" she gasped, quickly helping him back up. "I should've known it was you, you jerk."
"I did warn him," tutted Emira as she walked towards her siblings from the edge of the crowd, a messenger bag protectively cradled beneath her right arm. Her bangs and braids waved gently in the wind. Amity spotted a few pale streaks shot through the darker mass of her hair. "So, what kept you? We've been waiting for, like, ten minutes."
"Just… lost track of time," Amity answered vaguely. "Got distracted."
"Sitting on your tower, you mean?" The older sister cast a side-eyed smirk.
"Dammit Willow…" She exhaled loudly through her nose, glancing around. "Where's Dad?"
Emira pursed her lips. "Hunter decided he wants him up at the castle to make sure the new security stuff gets installed properly. He really tried to get Hunter to let him come with us, but you can't exactly blow off the Emperor. I thought I texted you about it."
Amity frowned. Her dad had gotten far better at making time for his family after Odalia was locked up, but there were still a lot of times where work still took priority.
"What I want to know," Edric started, massaging his rapidly-bruising thigh, "is where you even learned to do that!"
"Lilith."
He stared at her for a moment. "Huh. I expected something more dramatic. Well, it's still cool. Could I pay you to be my bodyguard?"
"That reminds me," Emira said, taking a moment to glance at her pocketwatch. "What are you doing for work right now?"
Amity shrugged. "You know, odd jobs. I'm kinda taking it easy right now."
The twins gasped in unison. "Taking it easy?! What have you done with the real Mittens?"
She rolled her eyes. "I spent all of high school a step away from a mental breakdown. I think I've earned a little downtime." She paused to give her sister another lookover.
The Blights were notoriously pale, but Emira could make any of them look tan by comparison. And considering how much makeup she had on, Amity could only imagine the size of her eye bags. "Besides, it looks like you're stressed enough for the both of us. When's the last time you slept?"
A boom of thunder interrupted the three. The entire market immediately stopped, as the shoppers and merchants alike froze in place.
Silence rang out, as hundreds of sets of eyes sat trained on the clouds above, waiting to see if they would be tormented with another searing drizzle, or if the dam would finally burst and bring the full force of the storm down on the city.
Amity remained unphased, however, watching the countless fearful and apprehensive faces with mild amusement. She knew, when it finally decided it had grown to sufficient strength, the storm would not be so polite as to give a warning before drowning Bonesborough.
It took only a few moments for the normal bustle and noise to return, as the shopkeepers resumed shouting about their wares to anyone in earshot, and the crowd's low murmur rose to a cacophonous mix of inquiry, outrage, and discussion.
Amity never liked the open market. She always found it too loud and chaotic, even before the fabric of the city was irreparably marred. Of course, she liked to treat herself with some harmless indulgences every once in a while—who didn't?—but she was much more partial to a nice, quiet storefront than the borderline-anarchy of the streets.
Unfortunately for her, the twins thrived off of chaos. At times, she even considered the possibility that they could survive entirely off of it, like a plant nourishing itself with sunlight. Or one of Willow's plants with the blood of her enemies, as she has claimed on a number of occasions.
Amity was only half-sure she was joking.
"Let's get this over with," she sighed. "I don't want to risk being boiled alive any longer than I absolutely have to."
Emira chuckled, "You make it sound like we're forcing you to be here."
"Oh no! Baby sis doesn't like us anymore!" Edric cried, placing the back of his hand on his forehead as he leaned his entire weight into Amity.
With a twirl of her finger, a single cartoonish tear began to roll down Emira's cheek. "I can feel my heart breaking already."
Amity glared at her sister as she shoved Edric away. "I hate both of you."
Despite her words, she had found herself missing their pranks and general mischief during her months spent traveling. It was funny, in a sad sort of way. She had wanted nothing more than to be free of them for much of her childhood, but as soon as she was on her own, she found herself longing for their company. Of course, she texted them regularly, but it wasn't the same.
Emira took the lead, directing her siblings through the market. "Come on, we're gonna get you some new clothes."
"You've got to be joking."
"Nope! I've seen you in Willow's timeline, and you have, like, three outfits. Besides, we're paying, so you can't complain."
"I come back for the first time in—what?—almost ten months, and you want to play dress up. Unbelievable." Amity shook her head. "What's wrong with my clothes, anyways?"
The twins turned and cocked their heads in perfect sync, staring at her incredulously as they walked backwards through the street.
"Sheesh, point taken." She self-consciously crossed her arms.
The three increased their pace, the twins pointing out stalls they wanted to check out after they finished defiling their little sister's wardrobe. Emira was far more animated in this regard, talking and gesturing almost constantly. Though Edric was far from silent, however, he was distinctly more reserved, and he seemed to be fidgeting more than usual.
Amity, meanwhile, followed a few paces behind, deftly weaving through the crowd as her eyes flicked from person-to-person, a hand trained on her money at all times. Ghost had returned to her natural form and climbed onto her shoulders, now lying across the back of her neck like a furry collar. Her pale blue eyes scanned the crowd with the same suspicion that was painted across her master's face.
Eventually, Emira brought them to a halt at the far end of the street, in front of a small tent manned only by a garishly-dressed, four-armed gremlin. Their claw-like "hair" framed their face with its digits, while their pale green skin contrasted heavily with the maroons and lilacs of their attire.
They perked up as they spotted the Blight siblings approaching, hopping onto their countertop in order to greet them. "Ah, the Blight twins! What can I interest you in today? We have a sale going on for coats and jerkins this week, and I just got an order of hats that you have to see, Edric."
Emira swept behind her sister and pushed her up to the counter. "Actually, Zash, we're shopping for our baby sis, actually. The state of her wardrobe is embarrassing."
Amity instinctively grabbed the hem of her skirt, scowling as her heels slid along the pavement despite her efforts to the contrary. Ghost batted at Emira's fingers.
"Hey!" Edric warned, pointing a finger at the feline. "No scratch—"
She swiped at the outstretched digit, barely an inch away from drawing blood.
"Mittens, you've got to get this thing under control. Those claws could do some real damage."
"I'll do some real damage if you don't stop bothering my palisman," she shot back, reaching a hand over her shoulder. Ghost raised her head to meet her approaching fingers, eyes closed happily as Amity's fingers gently scratched behind her ears.
Not at all put off by the sibling squabbling going on in front of them, the gremlin excitedly rubbed both pairs of hands together. "Oh, she's fiery! You are going to be an absolute delight to work with, I can tell. In fact, I think I've already got a few outfits that will be perfect for you."
They hopped from the counter, still talking. "I'm thinking we build the colors around your hair—it is rather striking, after all. That shade of… lilac?" They briefly peeked around the counter. "No, it's more of a lavender. Or maybe an orchid."
They disappeared from sight once more, still mumbling to themself. Amity shot a questioning glance to her siblings, unsure of what to make of the eccentric little demon. Her older sister gestured for her to be patient, while Edric was still prodding at Ghost, the swipes getting closer each time.
After a few moments, Zash walked around the countertop carrying a thick leather-bound book. They handed Amity a smooth teal gemstone bound in a brass ring as they moved between the siblings and into the tent. An identical stone dangled from a thin chain attached to the book.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get in here!"
Hesitating for a moment, Amity followed the gremlin as her siblings shared a knowing look. As she passed through the curtain, she found herself enveloped completely in absolute darkness, devoid of sensation. She immediately knew what was happening, and mentally prepared herself. A moment later, a jolt shot through her spine as her senses returned.
She found herself deposited inside of an immaculate store interior, several dozen displays spread around, bearing a wide variety of clothes of all makes and styles, while more mannequins that she could count—well, not really; there were 54, by her measure—decorated the displays and showed off outfits in alcoves set into the walls. Colorful balls of light hovered in the air several feet overhead, some small enough to rest comfortably on her fingertip while others were larger than her head, illuminating the shop with bright magical light.
"Huh," she grunted.
"Really? That's all?" Edric questioned as he appeared at her side. "You're not surprised at all? Like, you enter a tiny little tent and come out into a noble's walk-in closet, and this seems completely ordinary to you?"
"Yep. It's a pretty standard anchored demiplane, actually. Nicely decorated, but… not anything special," she shrugged. The brief satisfaction of getting to flex her bountiful knowledge was already beginning to wear off. "Well, at least it doesn't let sound in."
Zash directed her towards the nearest mannequin as they flipped through their tome. "Now, let's try this out. Tell me what you think."
Pressing the smaller stone to one of the pages, Amity watched as the wooden figure in front of her shimmered. Its polished exterior warped, and a moment later, she was face-to-face with herself, wearing a rugged black outfit accented by wine red, with a dark blue cloak draped over her shoulders.
Her eyebrows raised as she inspected the outfit. "You know what, I don't know what I was expecting… but I can work with this. But can we swap out the corset for something less… spine-bending? Maybe a vest or jerkin."
"We absolutely can." The gremlin flipped to another page and tapped the stone to it. Again, the illusion shimmered for a moment, before the outfit shifted to match her recommendation.
Amity and the shopkeeper cycled through a few outfits, as Zash started rambling. "Believe it or not, I won this place from a wandering merchant in a game of cards. He's a strange fellow, a collector of all sorts of marvelous oddities from across the Isles—not the least of which is his assistant—but claims to specialize in Savage Ages artifacts. Says he was 'keeping them safe from the Emperor's grubby mits', I believe was his exact wording. I'm not sure I believe that claim, but his stock is certainly something to marvel at, if you ever happen to run into him."
Now, this piqued Amity's interest.
"Who is this guy, exactly?" In her peripheral vision, she noticed the twins share another look.
The four-armed clothier briefly looked up from their book, the "fingers" of their hair drumming against the sides of their head apprehensively.
"Now that I think about it, I don't believe I ever got his name." They pursed their lips, before dismissively waving a hand and returning to the task at hand. "Well, no matter. His shop is unmistakable: a triangular cabin with an eye-shaped window. I believe he calls it his 'Enigma Cottage', or some similarly delightful sobriquet."
"What kinds of 'oddities' does he have, exactly? A demiplane anchor is one thing, but you make it sound like he's got some really rare inventory."
"Oh, I can tell you what he says he has, but what he actually has? That's another story entirely. Just walking into the store, he tried to sell me a gurt-hide cloak, the severed hand and eye of some undead wizard, a spear that stabs you in the back if you miss with it, and 'dreamstalker venom'. What even is a dreamstalker?" They shook their head dismissively.
Amity looked to her brother.
"Beats me. Sounds like an anti-hero from some crappy CB movie."
A half-smile played on her lips for a moment as she turned back to the merchant. "Do you know if he has anything portal-related?"
"Oh, I'm sure he'll tell you he does. However, I wouldn't bank on it. Aside from the rifts that have been showing up the last few years, I don't think you're going to be doing much dimension hopping without finding a pool of Titan's Blood to dive into."
The twins froze.
They had very deliberately tried to avoid bringing up any topics which might dredge up painful memories, but they hadn't factored in Zash's unfiltered, stream-of-consciousness manner of speaking.
They held their breath as they waited for the inevitable breakdown.
Emira glanced at Edric, who met her gaze. She narrowed her eyes. His widened, then briefly flicked towards Amity. She nodded. Ed shook his head. Em scowled, and he lowered his eyes. After a moment's thought, his gaze rose back to meet hers, and he gave a short nod.
Their wordless planning came to an end as they fixed their eyes to the back of Amity's head. She was still checking out the line of outfits which were cycling by in front of her as Zash continued to waffle on. While they were preoccupied, she had evidently pulled Ghost from her shoulders and was currently cradling the feline in her arms. The palisman was in the midst of licking herself clean.
"Maybe we should go do something else," Emira started quietly.
"Why?" her sister asked, looking over her shoulder. Both twins were surprised to see the totally neutral expression on her face. "I've already listened to this guy ramble for, like, ten minutes, so we might as well actually leave with something."
She heard Ed let out a sigh of relief behind her, but her concerns had yet to be abated. "Are you sure you're okay? If you're not comfortable here, we can go, like, pick out some books or something. There's a nice little place a couple streets over, and…" She briefly trailed off. "I didn't think he'd start talking about… you know."
Amity gave her a small, slightly tired smile. Its warmth surprised Emira; she had barely seen her sister smile over the past five years, especially in the last few months before she left to travel the Isles, and never like this.
"I'm fine. Seriously," she assured her. "I get that you're worried, but I don't need you guys fussing over me. I can handle myself. Besides, I've had a lot of time to think while I've been away, and I've… come to terms with a few things."
Maybe she was reading into her words too deeply, but Emira didn't like the vagueness of that statement. "Like…?"
Amity glanced back towards the gremlin, who was still animatedly talking to himself. "I don't think this is really the place for this. I'll tell you after we're done here, alright?"
"Alright. Just… if you want to go somewhere else, let us know."
"If I didn't want to be here, then I would've already left." Her smile tilted into a smirk, but the sincerity remained unchanged. In her arms, Ghost started gently purring as Amity gently scratched beneath her chin.
Their attention returned to the display in front of them. Zash continued to monologue as they watched the outfits scroll by in sequence, Amity offering her opinions and alterations as she built up a rather sizeable selection of potential attire.
Eventually, Edric and Emira started wandering around the shop, checking out the various displays. Unlike the mannequins at the front of the shop—including the one Amity and Zash currently stood in front of—these ones maintained their featureless wooden appearance, while the various clothing items which were displayed around them cycled across their bodies. Each one had a programmed concealment stone resting on a small cushion at its base, while a length of enchanted twine attached it to the mannequin itself.
Edric absently lifted one of the stones and touched it to a pile of clothes. He didn't look up as the mannequin shifted to display the outfit, idly moving to the next, as a smile steadily grew on his face.
"Did you hear that?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice down. "No more Miserable Mittens!"
Emira was also smiling, but hers was still underlined with clear worry. "She definitely seems like she's in a better place, but don't you think what she said was a little… ominous?"
"I mean, yeah, it's a little disconcerting, but I'm just happy she's feeling better now."
His twin sighed. "I just don't like her phrasing. It makes it sound like she…"
Ed's eyes widened. "No, no no no. Not in a million years. We both know that she would never give up like that."
"But does she?"
He stared at her blankly for a second. "Okay, I don't think we're on the same wavelength. We're talking about Luz, right?"
"No shit, Merlock," Emira responded, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, there's no way that Amity gave up on seeing her again. She literally just asked Zash about if Mr. Mystery—or whatever his name is—has portals."
"I was more worried about Mittens thinking Luz gave up on her. We both know that Luz is one of the most stubborn people in the Demon Realm—and probably the Human Realm, too—but… it's also been five years, and the Human Realm doesn't have magic."
"What's that got to do with anything? She found her way here once, I'm sure she can do it again."
"She only came here because of Eda's portal, and that got blown up. Twice. Sure, there's the random portals, but I've read your research, and they can show up anywhere in the Human Realm. If it's the same size as the Demon Realm, what're the odds of one showing up… wherever she happens to live, and sticking around long enough for her to find and use it?"
"Pretty decent, actually. They tend to show up in places with previous interplanar activity, and the one I found literally connected to her hometown, in the same place where Eda's door used to. As soon as we find a way to open it back up—"
"That's not what I'm saying." She paused for a moment, not wanting to admit this possibility, but she knew it had to be addressed. "What if she doesn't want to come back?"
Whatever remained of Edric's grin fell from his face, and he stared at his twin with deathly seriousness. "Don't say that. Especially not around Amity."
"I'm just saying that a lot can happen in five years. What if she realized that it's impossible to come back and gave up? What if she's already moved on?" She paused for a moment. "I don't think Mittens will ever give up. Even with all the dead ends, there's always more things to try. But the Human Realm doesn't have magic. How many things can Luz try before just… running out of options?"
Edric stared at her, his face flat. Finally, after a few moments, he sighed. "Okay. There's a big hole in your theory. If Amity thinks Luz gave up, why's she still trying to find a way to her?"
"Because she needs closure."
Emira let the words hang in the air.
To leave loose threads untied, to have questions left unanswered… it was the most painful thing, even more than knowing what you've lost, to go on wondering whether you're chasing a dead end, or if you're giving up too soon. If you know that you've lost something, you mourne and you grieve, then you move on. But without that definitive answer, it eats away at you, and anchors you in place, preventing you from making any progress.
Amity's voice broke the silence. "Yeesh. Who died?"
Edric and Emira jumped and whipped around. Amity carried a leather bag and had a new jacket over her dress.
"If you two are ready to go, Zash said to meet 'em out front."
"Uh, yeah. We're good!" Edric answered quickly. "We were just, you know, talking about the company while you were doing your thing."
Amity snorted as the three started to walk towards the exit. "With the looks on your faces, maybe I should pay for this myself."
"Nah, Hunter's paying for this stuff," Emira smirked, her disposition much more composed than her brother's. "Besides, we've got a deal with Zash. They give us a deal on clothes, we give him a deal on our products"
"That reminds me." Amity plucked one of the stones from its resting place. "Are these the same types of stones that you gave me for my birthday?"
His face lit up. "Yeah! Well, later models, obviously, but they're part of the same line. How are those stones treating you? You still got them?"
"Yep. Well, not on me. They're at Willow's." She took a moment to consider her words. "I like them a lot. They're way stronger than normal concealment stones, so I can do a lot more with them, but they're a pain to reset. It takes, like, two hours to change it to something new, so I usually just stick with normal ones unless I need something big."
"That's why those ones never went into full production. The newer models aren't as powerful, but you can change the enchantment in, like, ten minutes. Besides, most people really aren't going to be using the full extent of those ones' power, anyhow. But I figured that you could find a use for them."
"You hear that?" Emira teased. "Ed gave you the reject stones. Can you believe this guy?"
They passed through the curtain, once more vanishing into the void for a brief moment before returning on the other side. The sounds of the street returned at full volume. Amity wasn't sure, but she thought that they may be even more densely packed than before.
Emira walked to the desk, already pulling the company card from her bag.
"With your discount, this comes out to 46,209 snails," Zash reported, plucking the card from her fingers and placing it into the reader.
"For how much of a fuss you raised coming here, you're an expensive shopper," Emira tittered.
Amity simply rolled her eyes and summoned her scroll. She noticed Ed was still fidgeting. He had drawn some contraption of his pocket and was tinkering with it.
"Anyways," Em continued. "I think you had something to tell us."
There it was.
Amity had been trying to put her recent revelations into words which her siblings would understand without freaking out, but had gotten nowhere in the past few minutes. After all, she was sure they had already made up their minds on what she had alluded to, so the odds of convincing them were slim to none.
"Alright," she exhaled, the twins turning to face her. "I know that what I'm going to say is going to sound… concerning, and that I'm not going to be able to explain it properly, but please, just hear me out. Okay?"
The twins nodded.
Amity took a breath. "Alright. While I've been away, I've realized that…" Another pause. "...Luz probably isn't coming back."
Her siblings gasped in unison. The brief flicker in Emira's eyes told her everything she needed to know, as she instinctively went to put on her "I told you so" face towards Ed.
"But it's not what it sounds like! Don't jump to any conclusions!" she quickly added. "I know that she's definitely still trying. That's just… who she is, and I don't see that changing about her, even after all this time. But, at the same time, I'm not sure that there's any way for her to come back from her side. Because there's no magic over there."
"So you're trying to find a portal," Edric said. His fists were thrust deep into his pockets.
"I'm not trying. I will find one." Her siblings were taken aback by the resolve in her voice. "I was miserable without her, but I had you guys, and Willow and Gus, all here to help me. From what she told me about her life over there, she only has her mom. I can't imagine how hard it's been for her."
Deep concern rested behind her eyes. "I just want to make sure she's alright. Even just seeing that she's happy… or, I don't know… I don't want her to throw her life away trying to come back here."
Both siblings were fidgeting now. There was something going on. Amity could tell, but she knew she shouldn't press them on the matter. Not yet, at least.
Suddenly, a person burst from the crowd. He wrenched the bag from Emira's shoulder and continued running.
"Hey!" Em shouted. The twins immediately started to trace spell circles into the air, but couldn't finish their castings before the thief shoved their way into the mass of pedestrians.
Amity sighed and handed her own bag to her brother. "Gimme a sec. I'll get him."
"Wait!" Edric called, watching as she sprinted after him. "What're you—"
With a flick of her wrists, twinned streams of abomination clay began to spray from her heels, propelling her forward. She weaved between groups of people, her eyes trained on her target. The cacophony of sound faded away to a distant murmur as her senses focused onto the task at hand,
In a strange way, she was glad that this happened. Well, not her sister getting robbed, but that something had pulled her away from that conversation. Judging by how anxious both twins were by the end, she could tell that there was something they weren't telling her. Something about Luz, or about the Human Realm, or portals, or… something.
As much as it hurt her that they would keep a secret this big from her, she knew that she couldn't be mad. After all, she had plenty of secrets of her own. Ones arguably even bigger, and certainly more dangerous, should they ever come to light.
She quickly closed the distance, summoning a viscous tendril in her main hand.
He dove through a stall before she could grapple him, throwing a poultice behind him as he came out the other side. A thunderous bang rang out as the pouch struck the ground, and the unfortunate shopkeeper's wares flew from the counter.
She batted the debris out of the way as she pursued him, using the violet fluid streaming from her feet to launch herself into the air, soaring over the line of stands. The thief ducked into an alleyway as she landed on the other side, her magic cushioning her against the impact.
"Get back here!" she shouted after him, paying no mind to the Isle Watch scouts who were idly watching on, making no effort to resolve the situation.
She threw her left hand forward. Her whip coiled around the thief's bicep, then she wrenched him back down the alley. He tumbled onto the ground, throwing a second pouch as he crashed against the cobblestones. Frigid shards of ice burst forth as it hit against the tendril, shattering it.
Amity threw a second lash, but it was blocked as a giant leaf appeared partway down the alleyway. Growling with annoyance, a pulse of flames erupted from the end of the whip, reducing it to ashes. At the far end of the alleyway, a second witch held open a metal door, a bright green spell circle around his wrist.
The thief ducked inside before Amity could reach him. Before they could pull the door closed, Amity's lash whipped into the crack, wrapping around the plant witch's arm. With a panicked shout, they were pulled back into the alley. The thief didn't hesitate before slamming the door closed.
The witch tried to exert their control over a weed growing from a crack in the ground, causing it to writhe and grow. Amity flicked her wrist and counterspelled, causing the plant to wither and die as the magical energy dissipated.
Amity drove a knee into their stomach, then threw them against the wall. They slumped to the floor, groaning in pain.
Not wasting a moment, she summoned a gauntlet of hardened clay around her hand and repeatedly drove it into the door. The metal bent under the force of her assault, threatening to fold. Its top hinge broke from the masonry as the upper half of the door buckled. Despite the thickness of the door, it was quickly relenting beneath her onslaught.
She grabbed the warped edge of the door and wrenched it towards her, ripping it slowly out of its frame. The metal groaned and shrieked as if in pain it bent and twisted, until it was finally torn free and slammed against the opposite wall.
Her staff appeared in her off-hand as she dashed into the building. The hall descended into a staircase, winding below the ground. The sounds of the streets faded away behind her, replaced by muffled voices, echoing off the smooth stone walls.
"...sure it's from the Blight twins?" asked a gravely, vaguely-feminine voice.
"Yes!" responded who Amity could only assume was the thief. "Snatched it out of the boss lady's hands! Just take it and go before her sister gets here!"
Quickly making an invisibility glyph with some leftover clay, she gently activated it and took a silent breath, before peering around the corner. Her suspicions were confirmed as she saw the thief anxiously pacing in front of an immense demon woman whose fanged maw dominated most of her face, the room's poor lighting disguising her features.
Amity estimated that there was at least a two foot difference between herself and this woman, maybe even more. In her massive hands, she held Emira's bag, fumbling with the latch.
Behind, a rusted door not unlike the one she had just destroyed rested open, revealing only darkness beyond its precipice. The stomach-turning scent was obviously coming from there. This must have been an entrance into the sewers, Amity concluded.
Sneaking into the room, she crept up behind the thief and, in a single practiced motion, swept his leg and drove his head into the stone floor. He immediately crumpled, his body going limp as he was immediately incapacitated.
A moment later, she appeared before the surprised woman. "I think you have something belonging to my sister."
Standing closer, she took a closer look at the woman. She wore a black, tailored suit, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal her burly forearms. A tattoo of a wolf's head was emblazoned on the back of her right hand. Its lines were dark and clearly defined against her crimson skin.
The larger woman quickly regained her composure. "You must be the prodigal daughter we've been hearing so much about. Your return's the talk of the town, you know."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Oh, you must have heard about us." She proudly flashed the symbol on the back of her hand, her face distorting as she grinned. "We're the ones who're gonna fix the Isles."
"Really? From where I'm standing, it looks like you're just a thug who paid off some no-name"—she nudged the unconscious thief at her feet—"to steal my sister's stuff."
"You just don't see the big picture, up in your little estate. You can't see how bad the 'Golden Emperor' has let things get." There was near-tangible venom in her voice as she spat Hunter's title. "The Isles need change if they're going to get better, and your family might be the first step. Believe me when I say that we'd much prefer it if you'd just help us, instead of making us need to work with honorless criminals like him, but your siblings have already made their stance clear."
"You can't actually believe any of that, right?" Amity asked incredulously. "That doesn't make any sense. Yeah, the Isles need change, but stealing my sister's bag isn't going to suddenly turn Hunter into a competent leader." She exhaled in mild annoyance. "Just give me the bag and get out of here. I don't want this to turn into a fight."
"You didn't seem to care about violence when it came to him." The Wolf gestured to the thief. "Or, presumably, the guard upstairs."
"He stole from my sister, and the one up top was also clearly just a criminal. They deserved it. You, though? I don't know what to think about you, but if you don't hand over the bag, I'm going to make up my mind real quick."
"Tell you what. I'm only after one thing, so just let me take that, and I'll hand over everything else. No fight, no problem."
Amity's eyes narrowed. "Hand it over. With everything in it."
Annoyance flashed across the Wolf's mawed face. "Alright, little girl. You want to pretend to be tough? I'll play your game."
She tossed the bag into a corner as she squared up. Amity did the same, gauntlet-laden forward, staff held behind. Fortunately for her, in the time spent talking, she was able to form a plan.
Unfortunately, she hadn't been expecting to get in any fights today, so she hadn't worn anything with pockets. That meant no glyphs, unless she could create a pretty sizable opening.
The Wolf's hand disjointed and reformed into a spiked mace, which she swung at Amity. She ducked beneath and fired a fireball at her face. The violet flames harmlessly splashed across her crimson skin, barely phasing her as she swung with her other arm, which had separated into a mass of amorphous, writhing tentacles.
Amity batted them away with an energy barrier before launching a second fireball, and a third, then a fourth. She kept dodging attacks as she circled her foe, landing a handful of jabs to the ribs for good measure.
It didn't take long until her enemy started to slow down, even as she grew increasingly frustrated.
She swung at Amity's head, only to meet the thick stone wall. Her weaponized hand embedded itself in the wall. Amity continued to batter her with strikes and flames, taking full advantage of these few advantageous moments.
Debris sprayed across the floor as she ripped her hand free, Whipping around, she saw Amity jump backwards, standing with her back towards the rusted doorway. Ghost's eyes glowed atop her staff, dimly illuminating the sewer tunnel on the other side.
The Wolf shouted as she charged. Amity tried to dodge, but a moment too late, as a meaty shoulder met her ribs.
Or, at least, it should have. Instead, the purple-haired witch vanished into purple smoke, and her foe fell to her face at the edge of the water channel. A strip of abomination clay had been fastened across the bottom of the doorway, and was now tying itself around her ankles.
Inside the room, Amity stepped from behind the wall, her sister's bag over one shoulder. A small flood of abomination clay flowed from her feet towards the prone Dire Wolf, who immediately tried to scramble to her feet. However, the growing weight of the material pulled her back to the ground, then bound her arms to her sides.
In a last-ditch attempt at offense, she tried to exhale a gout of flame at Amity. Without even making a spell circle, Amity caught it in a free hand and spun, before throwing it down the length of the tunnel. "Nice try, but fire's kinda my thing."
She crouched down next to her defeated enemy, abomination clay spreading to cover her mouth. "Now, I just kicked your ass, so I'm going to take my sister's bag back to her, and you can find your way out of here yourself."
Adjusting the bag's strap, she slowly rolled the demon into the fetid water, ignoring her protests. She landed with a heavy splash, before beginning to float down the tunnel.
As she vanished beyond the range of Amity's darkvision, she called into the gloom. "Tell your friends about this. I want them to know what happens when they mess with my family!"
A few moments later, she was back up on the streets. The crowd gave her a wide berth as she made her way back to the twins, who were talking to a Watch scout. They waved away the guard as they spotted Amity approaching them.
"Here you go!" she announced, tossing the bag to Emira.
"Oh, thank the Titan you're okay!" her sister exclaimed, stepping forward to give her a hug, before recoiling as tbe stench reached her nose. "Ugh, where were you? The sewer?"
"Yep. He really didn't want me to catch him."
Amity debated telling the twins the truth about her encounter, but decided against it. Until she knew what the Dire Wolves wanted with her family, she didn't see any point in causing undue alarm.
What's one more secret?
Sorry this one took so long to get out. I had to sort out some personal matters, and that ended up taking up most of January. I knew that this was an important chapter for two reasons, and wanted to make sure it came out right:
Firstly, this is Amity's much-anticipated (I assume) reintroduction, so I wanted to make it special and make sure I got the dynamic between her and the twins right. Though there's definitely a lot of things to touch up in future revisions, I think this is good enough to publish.
Secondly, my Google Doc version is now over 100 pages! So, that's a big milestone for me, personally.
Hopefully this was worth the wait.
Art inspirations & credits below (unfortunately, no links due to website limitations):
Amity is obviously inspired here by Dana's Beta art, though there's also a few specific other drawings I use as references: namely a drawing by hermi_lin in Instagram, and another by u/ArtisticFeliXd on Reddit.
I also personally imagine Emira as having taken Zelda's hairstyle from Twilight Princess, in keeping with the Zelda/Link design influences between her and Edric. Regarding him, he honestly gives me the vibes of those dudes who get one style and just stick with it for as long as they can, so he's largely the same as in the show, albeit maybe with slightly better stubble. And maybe some sideburns.