Hello! Welcome back. This will be the first chapter after the conclusion of the show, and what a conclusion that was. I'm rarely apart of still-alive fandoms, so this was an experience to say the least. But enough about that, you're here to hear about my fanfiction. I know, took longer than I said I would. I added a lot though. And I also scrapped a lot. Most of this chapter is actually those additions I added. Due to the increased length, I have no choice but to split the chapter YET AGAIN. I think this "episode" will take up the most chapters by far. To be fair, it is quite eventful.

Let's see, you got some in-world explanations about the jacket to look forward to, Amity pops up, pasts are alluded to (and basically spelt out), drama is started, cliffhangers are left. Yeah, I think you'll like what I got in store. But, before that happens, you should know by now what I have to do first.

My response to LostKagamiWitchInTheIsles: Yeah, I can relate to that. Not much of a reader in the fanfiction realm cause I'm very picky (which is why reading your fic is taking me ages), but every once and a while I have authors that decide to upload on the same day. Always interesting when that happens. I try to keep up with the show in its world building strides. The Boiling Isles is a amazing, completely unsafe, but amazing, place. Age thing is going to affect some things, but I'm mainly just going to give some stupid, easy to explain situation to solve the issues it arises. There are very much curse shenanigans in this chapter, so you were on the right track. Next chapter will have some pretty cool interactions with the curse, but I'm thinking too far ahead. I worked hard on that magic detector scene, so glad to see it paid off; wanted to make it feel like the show as much as I could. And yeah, Eda might not use illusion magic in canon because of her curse, but I personally think she just doesn't care in canon if she gets caught. Had to make her slightly more responsible in this version to add some tension. Luz's guilt will only get stronger as the chapters grow, at least that's the plan; sometimes my mind throws me curve balls that work way too well, like a curse plaguing the MC for instance.

And that's all. Only one this time, but I'm not complaining. Anyways, hope you all enjoy-

Chapter 13: The Talk

To say Oliver found the Covens passing him by intriguing would be an utter lie. He was so incredibly bored. Such amazing selections like "Rock Collecting Coven," or "Public-Speaking Coven," and even "Watching Paint Dry Coven" passed him by; the last one was made up, but he wouldn't bat an eye if he ended up seeing that name plastered out on one of the stands. And Willow didn't seem to be too far behind him in boredom, her eyes entirely focused on what was in front of her instead of anything passing them by. The two of them were walking down another column of stands, but not the same one that their previously large group went through. The banner at the end this time around, as opposed to the prior red, was purple, with the symbol on it being a wide-open eye with very thick eyelashes, staring down anyone who walked through the column. Oliver, for some reason, couldn't help but shiver at the sight of the drawn symbol.

His head turned to face Willow while his legs kept on moving forward; he had become so desperate for entertainment that he decided to ask Willow something. "Please tell me we're going to get to something more interesting then-" His eyes darted to the coven stands around them, his eyes squinting as he tried to read a certain one through his shattered glasses. "Observing Animals Coven..."

A tiny giggle escaped Willow at his obvious boredom, her head just barely moving up and down. "Yeaaah, we're in the boring section right now." She lazily gestured at the banner in the distance. "But we're heading to the Oracle coven, so that'll change pretty quickly."

Oliver took a second to process her words, eventually scratching his head as he tried to remember why he recognized the name. "Oracle coven, huh?" He finally pieced together where he heard it, his eyes drifting to the floor as began to speak. "You know, I've only had one interaction with Oracle magic, and it didn't end too good. Don't know what that tells me about the coven."

Willow moved her head to stare at Oliver, one of her brows raised. "Are you talking about that emotion changing spell you guys did?" He simply nodded, causing Willow to roll her eyes and cross her arms. "Well, I wouldn't doubt Amity was the reason that was a disaster." She let out a sigh while shaking her head, she too now staring at the floor. "I can't believe her."

Even though he could infer what she meant, he still couldn't help but squint at her. 'What do you mean?" he asked.

She smacked her lips together. "I was beginning to think she had actually changed." Her head drifted back up, her eyes looking to the side. "Sure, I didn't believe it at first. I even got mad at her when she appologized because I was so convinced it was some lie. But after I saw how willing she was to help you guys, or how thoughtful she seemed about my situation despite my aggressive responses…" Her shoulders drooped as her eyes drifted to the floor. "When I looked back at her apology to me, it seemed genuine. She worded it terribly, but I thought for a moment there she actually meant it." She let out a sigh, looking to Oliver with a tiny smile, her eyes conveying the opposite emotion. "Looks like I was wrong, though. Seems she's the same as ever."

A cringe crept up on Oliver's face as he heard just how much Willow had misunderstood the situation. Amity had changed, that much he could tell based off how she acted in their first meeting. And she had every right to be pissed at what had happened. The boy shook his head, looking away from Willow. "I wish it was that simple," he said.

Now Willow was the one squinting. "What do you mean?" she repeated Oliver's question from just a few moments ago.

"Amity has a good reason to be mad at Luz," he let out plainly. "The spell I was dragged into a magical school for?" He smirked a little. "I had no idea it existed. Luz didn't tell me about it because she knew I wouldn't want to do it." He looked back at Willow, wide eyes staring back at him. "So I had no idea why we were at Hexisde the entire time I was there. She did eventually tell me about it after we just barely escaped the school. And even though she lied straight to my face, I wasn't mad at her. I mean, I know you haven't known her for long-" He gestured out to the direction he had last seen Luz walking down. "But it's Luz for crying out loud! I doubt she'd ever try to hurt much of anyone, let alone the only other human in the entire realm!" He relaxed his arms, shoving his hands into his jacket's pockets. "So I went along with the whole spell; I really doubted it was going to work, but it was worth a shot." He began to have a staring contest with the floor. "Well, apparently, Oracle magic sometimes let's the caster see the memories of the person their casting the spell on, which is what happened with Amity." His eyes closed shut. "I don't quite know how much she saw, but it clearly included Luz lying right to my face. And, uh, she didn't have the same opinion about the situation as me." He couldn't help but let out a sigh. "She said some really hurtful stuff to Luz, then stormed off. Haven't talked to her since."

Willow blinked a few times as he finished, her shock apparent. She didn't say anything for a moment, likely compiling her thoughts, before one of her brows raised. "Wait, so… Amity's in the right here?" She could barely get her question out, taking half a second to say each word.

The boy looked from side to side as her words entered his ears. "Well, she did act way more hostile than she needed to, but-" He shrugged, his eyes meeting Willow's. "Yeah. Luz did kind of use her to almost emotionally manipulate me."

Her head slowly made its way to the floor, her hand coming up and rubbing her chin once they arrived at their destination. "What does Luz think about the whole thing?" she eventually asked, her eyes glancing up at Oliver.

He looked to the side, halting his walk with Willow short to follow. "She knows she fucked up. I can see that every time I look at her face. But she's really beating herself up over it. Her eyes are distant, most of her energy is practically gone, and she always seems deep in thought." He returned his eyes to the front, making sure he wasn't about to bump into anyone. "I know Luz messed up, and so does she, but she doesn't deserve what Amity told her. I know that there will be hell to pay if they cross paths again. So, please-" His head faced Willow. "Cut her some slack and help me keep them as far away from each other as possible."

She didn't seem to need much more convincing, nodding her head just a tad. "I already said I would, so don't worry-"

Before Willow could finish her sentence, an alien voice cut through her words. "Excuse me," a man said, his voice sounding quite aged. Oliver's eyes drifted around before eventually settling on an elderly man walking from one of the coven stands; his hair was gray, and he had a plethora of wrinkles bulging from his face. He stood quite a few inches shorter than Oliver. His heavy eyebrows covered the majority of his eyes, the few parts that could be spot out locked onto Oliver. "Young man," he said, stopping not too far away from Willow. "May I see your jacket?"

The boy's eyes grew a little wide as processed the man's abrupt question. "What?" was all he was able to say.

"May I see your jacket?" the man repeated himself. "The material it's made of… if I'm right, it's quite rare."

Willow turned to face the old man, her suspicion apparent as she squinted at him. "I'm sure you're a nice, lovely person, but how does he know you just aren't trying to steal it?"

A chuckle simply escaped the man in response. "Oh, that's a good one." He gestured down to his skinny legs, Oliver only then noticing how they were rapidly shaking. "These old legs have long since lost the ability to run, and can barely stand as is." He looked back at Oliver, a small smile on his face. "Please, I mean no ill-intent." He brought his hand back and pointed at the coven stand he came from. "I'm the coven head of the Cloth Coven, and just simply wish to see how rare the fabric you're wearing might be." Sure enough, when the boy's eyes looked at the coven stand, he saw "Cloth Coven" in plain text spread across the temporary wall.

While Willow's suspicion only died down slightly, Oliver's completely vanished. There was something about the way the man spoke that made Oliver believe him. He walked past Willow, stopping in front of the man and reaching to the rim of his jacket. Yet, as he began peeling his jacket off of himself, he noticed that the material around his head never moved. And as the jacket came off his arms and was now being held in his hand, he understood why; his hood was missing from the jacket, still latched around his head and covering his ears. Good thing too, as he had entirely forgotten about his disguise. The old man simply smirked, looking up at Oliver's detached hood. "Well, it looks like I'm right about one of it's attributes." He looked Oliver in the eyes. "You must like hoods."

He cringed a little as he reached up and rubbed his hood, making sure he wasn't imagining things. "Uh, yeah. I guess you could say that."

The old man took Oliver's jacket from his hands, turning around and walking towards his stand while gesturing Oliver to follow. "Come along. You don't seem aware of what this fabric is truly capable of."

The boy nodded, looking back to Willow. She simply shrugged. "You go ahead, I'll stay here," she said. He gave her a slight nod before chasing after the man.

The old man quickly got behind his stand, laying Oliver's jacket on top of it. He then crouched down and began digging around under the table, things audibly clanging together as he searched for whatever he was looking for. Oliver took in the full stand while the man was occupied, noting how empty it was. "Where's all the other coven members?" he asked. "The other stands usually at least have a few."

The man briefly halted his searching, looking up to Oliver with a plain stare. "Son, ask yourself something for me. When you hear Cloth Coven, are you thinking "Man, I really want to join that?"" Wanting to be truthful, the boy slowly shook his head, causing the old man to smirk as he brought his gaze back down. "That's precisely why there are no other coven members here." He reached back into the underside of the table, pulling out a few tools and standing back up. He laid them on the table next to the jacket, revealing them to Oliver. He had brought out a knife, a magnifying glass, and a glowing white liquid locked inside a potion bottle with a cork keeping it sealed. The old man gestured at Oliver's head. "Your hood has proven to me that this jacket is made of shape-shifting fabric, but I'm more curious about it's potential properties."

He brought the magnifying glass up to his eye, bending down until he was a few inches away from the fabric. He simply stared at it for a few moments, before his eyes suddenly grew wide. "By the Titan…" he mumbled to himself. He looked up to Oliver. "Son, I don't think you realize how rare this material is. You wouldn't be wearing it if you did."

The boy simply raised a brow. "What do you mean."

The old man looked back at the jacket. "The fabric is woven in such a way that it is virtually impenetrable. It has the ability to shape shift into any form. And, if my suspicions are right…" He reached down and picked up his knife, raising it high in the air before attempting to slam it down onto the jacket. Moments before it would make contact, the fabric briefly turned into a liquid and shifted itself out of the knife's trajectory. The old man gained a wide smile as he dropped the knife, looking back up to Oliver. "They are! The fabric has some form of sentience!" The old man reached over to the bottle of glowing liquid. "And if that's not impressive enough-" He popped the cork cap off with his thumb, raising the liquid up and tilting the bottle so the liquid flowed out of it. The second the liquid touched the jacket, it began to almost glow, the fabric beginning to wave around like wind was pushing it. Instead of pooling on top of the coat much like you'd expect, It instead vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of it's existence. Now the old man was ecstatic. "It's also a magic reservoir!" he said, finishing his sentence. He smiled at the jacket for a moment longer, then looked up to Oliver, his eyes full of curiosity. "Young man, you must tell me where you got this from. I haven't seen such a rare specimen in… well, since I was born!"

Oliver was a bit shocked by what the man had said. Sure, he had pieced most of what he announced together long ago. But he wasn't aware it was rare, especially with how nonchalant Eda was about giving it to him. "Oh, uh…" His eyes looked around for a possible excuse, eventually landing on a familiar wanted poster plastered onto a pillar in the distance; the incomprehensible number below Eda's poor drawing never ceased to amaze him. "It was a gift from my… Mom," he hesitantly said, finishing his sentence. It felt wrong calling Eda his mother, but there wasn't much else that came to his mind in that moment. His mind focused back on the old man's statements, most particularly on the last attribute of his jacket. "Wait… what do you mean by magic reservoir?"

The old man looked from side to side. "Well, it's kind of in the name." He gestured at the jacket. "This coat acts as essentially a second bile sack, any magic it absorbs being stored in the fabric until the wearer tries to cast a spell." He looked at Oliver. "Useless for a youngster such as yourself, with a bile sack pumping juices out like it's nothing-" He brought his hand up and pointed at his own chest. "But for a old geezer like me? It comes in handy when your bile sack finally decides to give out."

Oliver's eyes grew twice there size, his mind running wild as he finally pieced together why he was able to cast magic. It all makes sense! he though. But, he had to make sure. "So, theoretically speaking-" He grabbed his jacket and began putting it back on. "This coat could let a human cast magic?"

The old man blinked a few times at his question, eventually shaking his head as if he was physically shaking off the shock. "A human, huh? Haven't heard of that species in a while." He sat there pondering his thoughts for a moment, eventually rolling his shoulders. "I suppose so." His eyes grew wide for a moment, smirking as he looked back at Oliver. "In fact, it might have happened in the past."

Oliver squinted at him. "Really?"

The old man simply nodded. "Yes. Long before my time, and even long before my grandparents, there was a human in the Boiling Isles." His eyes drifted up to the ceiling. "Phillip Wittebane. I've only heard of him from stories of my grandparents, but, supposedly, he was able to cast magic." He began to scratch his chin. "It could be because of magic reservoirs like your coat, but then again, this was hundreds of years ago, back when wild magic was easy to attain. It's very likely he had some other way to cast magic." He continued to scratch his chin for a moment longer before quickly smiling, resting his arms at his sides while bringing his gaze back to Oliver. "Excuse me, I was rambling about information that's useless to you."

The boy quickly shook his head, making a cross gesture with his hands. "No, no. I really don't mind. Love hearing stories from my elders." As he finished, his mind began to wonder about what the man told him. A human casting magic, huh? Worth looking into. I may have a way to cast magic, but Luz… well, I don't feel like sharing my jacket every time she wants to cast something. His eyes looked at the old man, smiling a little. "Well, thank you for the information. I don't really need it, but it's nice to know."

The old man slowly nodded his head. "My pleasure, young man." He brought his hand out and gestured at the eagerly waiting Willow behind the boy. "Now please, go return to your friend. She's waited for far too long."

The boy gave him a thumbs up before spinning around and following his directions. Willow was happy to see him approaching, stepping up to him with a smile. "Well, how'd it go?" she asked.

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, I learned a lot." He quickly glanced around at his surroundings before leaning in close to Willow, putting the back of his hand up to his mouth in an attempt at preventing outside observers from hearing. "Apparently, the last human here before me and Luz was able to cast magic."

Her eyes grew a bit at his words. "Really now?" He nodded in response to her question, causing her head to drift to the floor. "Never heard of that before." A chuckle escaped her, a tiny smirk just barely spread across her face. "Then again, I didn't hear all too much about humans before I actually met one." She stared at the floor for a few moments longer, then looked back up at Oliver, turning around and beginning to walk down the column as her eyes locked onto the boy. "Well, we can talk about that in a more... private location." She gestured out in front of her. "For now, though, we have a coven to-"

Much like earlier, Willow's sentence was quickly cut short. Although this time it was from a completely different cause, one Oliver just barely noticed before Willow went ramming into them. While he couldn't see their face, he could recognize that green hair from a mile away; Willow had run into Amity, of whom had her back turned to the duo. That didn't last for long though as both the witch's brains began to process the impact, Willow's glasses falling off her face and clattering against the floor as Amity turned to meet her. Anger was the first emotion spread across her face long before she had even seen Willow, her eyebrows furrowed with a heavy frown on her lips. "Either you watch where you're going, or I'll-" She cut herself off once her eyes finally met Willow's. Her lips became straight and her eyes grew slightly. "Oh, Willow..." she said, her voice barely above a mumble.

Willow's surprise quickly vanished, being replaced by a mixture of emotions Oliver couldn't quite pinpoint. "Hi, Amity," she said, her voice thankfully lacking hostility.

As Willow bent down to grab her glasses, Amity simply stared at her, seeming to have not fully rid herself of shock. "Why are you here?" she eventually asked as the other witch returned her glasses tom their rightful spot.

Willow rolled her eyes in response. "Amity, it's the Convention. It'd be weird if I wasn't here."

The green-haired girl quickly shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just didn't expect to see you after…" Her eyes drifted to the floor. "… after last year's competition."

The amount of anger that bubbled up onto Willow's face after one sentence… it was enough to startle Oliver, let alone Amity. She jolted up from the floor, giving Amity quite the death stare. "You better shut your mouth right there before you piss me off more." She leaned in closer to Amity, her arms crossed. "Last year was last year, it's in the past and needs to be left there. The last thing i need you reminding me of what I already know."

At first, Amity seemed to retreat to her mind, not responding to the aggressive outpour from Willow. Yet, that only remained for a moment, her eyes quickly darting up to meet Willow's with her brows furrowed. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve? Titan forbid I actually try and have a conversation with you!" She balled her fist up, flailing one out to the side. "First you got mad at me when I tried to fucking apologize to you, and now I'm given the death penalty for having dared brought up how you miserably failed in front of all of Bonesborough! Why Do I Even Bother With You?!" she shouted, her voice getting louder with each word.

Willow's lips gained a snarl, her aggression showing no signs of slowing down. "You think you're so smart, huh? Well you're not! You're just a bitter, jealous, stuck-up princess who just wants to seem cool, when in actuality, You're Just A Huge Bi-"

While Oliver had hoped the situation would solve itself, it was clear that was not going to happen. Not wanting to draw any more attention to the group than there already was, he quickly rushed up to the witches, grabbing onto each of their shoulders and yanking them a good distance from each other. "Okaaay, that's enough!" he said at a moderate volume, his head glancing between the two. "You two need to calm the hell down."

Amity's eyes quickly grew as she saw Oliver, a good chunk of her aggression disappearing. "Wait, you're here too Oliver?" Somehow, she had failed to see the boy standing slightly off to the side.

A little bit of frustration built up in Oliver as he nodded his head, although his was directed at no one in particular. "Yeah, yeah. I was just having Willow give me a tour-" He leaned in to the two witches, gesturing out at them with fingers in the process of making a fist. "- Before you two decided to fucking crucify each other!" he said, releasing his frustration with each word. "Seriously, what the hell was that meant to be? It's pretty obvious you two have a lot of baggage about each other, but for the love of god could you at least play nice in public?"

Willow crossed her arms and looked to the side, most of her frustration still remaining. "You're right," she said plainly. "I should've kept my mouth shut." Despite her verbal agreement, her entire expression made her look like she wanted to punch Amity in the face.

Amity, meanwhile, had seemed to genuinely lose most of her hostility since Oliver revealed himself. She nodded her head. "I know, you're right. I've just had a rough day." She turned away from the boy, facing Willow. "I'm sorry, Willow. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories." Her eyes moved to the side, a tiny chuckle escaping her mouth. "I think you know by now that I suck at small talk. "

As Willow's eyes looked back at Amity, they widened ever so slightly, her jaw following suite. Oliver couldn't help but smirk. There's no mistaking that apology as a hidden scheme. He shoved his hands into his jacket's pockets. "I'm glad you two were able to sort that out." As he finished, only then did his brain began to realize that he had Amity right in front of him, one of his biggest worries about the entire Covention. And by the looks of it, she had yet to meet Luz. If he was able to get her to forgive Luz, then he could finally just relax. He turned to Amity. "Hey, uh, Amity? I need to talk to you." He gestured off to the side. "Privately."

Amity didn't seem all too surprised by his gesture, maybe even expecting it considering a wave of relief washed across her face. "Yeah, sure thing," she said with an amused tone in her voice before walking off with Oliver in tow.

He tried his best to find a secluded place before stopping, but it was challenging considering how many people there were. But he did eventually find a small parting in the stands where seemingly no one had set up, very few people passing by. He halted his walking and turned to his new companion, simply staring. He let a few moments go between them, staring at each other with a silent conversation passing through their eyes. Finally, Oliver took a deep breath. "So... how are things going?" he asked slowly. "You don't seem like yourself today." It was only then that the boy saw the heavy amount of makeup on one of her cheeks; even with the pounds covering it, he could still see it was slightly discolored, just barely purple.

She likely saw how intensely Oliver was staring at her cheek because she began to rub it, almost like she was trying to cover it. "No, I'm all good. Just had a stressful day, is all."

He shook his head, sighing. "Come on Amity, no one puts that much makeup on their cheek for show." He got a little closer to her, getting as best of a view of the bruise as he could. "When did it happen?" he asked.

Her eyes drifted to the floor, her hand finally leaving her cheek. She almost got a word out, but quickly hesitated, letting the air sit in silence. Eventually, though, she continued. "Earlier today," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I was helping her and the rest of Oracle coven set up their stand when, out of the blue, Emperor Belos stopped by. I had never seen him in person before, so I was speechless when my mom told me to introduce myself." She reached back and scratched her neck, one of the fakest smiles Oliver had ever seen creeping up on her face. "Must've made her mad because she gave me... it the second we were alone." She remained silent for a moment, letting her final words linger in Oliver's ears; he couldn't help but clench his fists in response. But then she looked up, her mood seemingly back to normal. "What about you? What's been going on in the day-to-day adventures of Oliver?"

His mind failed to change topics, still entirely focused on her bruise. "Amity, you can't just ignore it. Believe me, I know what that does to you. You have to talk about it-"

"And what exactly's going to happen if I do?" she snapped back at him, the aggression she showed Willow bubbling up again. "Is some brave soul going to just march up to my Mom and tell her how horrible of a parent she is? And, if by some miracle someone does, will she even listen?" She shook her head. "No. My mom's too selfish to care about anything but herself. Everything is always about her, or her company, and no one else. She'll pretend that nothing happened and continue living her life as if everything is okay." She rolled her eyes. "And that's assuming there's someone else that cares about this other than you. Because, let's be real, there's no way anyone else would give a shit."

Oliver's eyes widened, a little taken aback by her sudden outburst. He stared at her for a moment before responding. "Well, not everyone is like your mom, Amity." He tried to smile, but he was failing miserably. "And even if there isn't anybody else that gives a damn, you should at least talk to somebody about it. It can't be healthy to keep all that bottled up."

She huffed, crossing her arms. "It's fine. I don't need anyone else's advice. I'm already over it." She narrowed her eyes. "Now, can you please drop the topic and move on to what I asked? I'm trying to enjoy the Con, and I'd rather not waste my time talking about something irrelevant."

Oliver wanted so badly to continue, but he recognized that it was not the time or place. "Okay," he said, nodding his head a little. He didn't say anything for a moment, almost as if he was waiting for the conversation to restart itself. "Well, surprisingly, I've had a lot happen recently, but it's not been important really" he finally answered her question. "I guess I've been talking to Luz." Oliver watched as Amity's expression completely shifted, her eyes widening slightly at the mentioning of her name. "We've gotten really close as of late. She's..." He paused, not sure if he wanted to bring Luz up so shortly after Amity's outpour of aggression. He eventually shook his head, determined to solve their little feud. "She's really hurt by what you said. She feels awful about it."

He waited for a reaction, but none came. Instead, she just stared at the floor blankly for a while. "Hurt by what?" she finally asked, looking up at him. "I only told her the truth."

A sigh escaped the boy. "I know you don't know Luz all too well, but what you said was nowhere near the truth." He looked to the side, rubbing his shoulder. "Look, I get why you're mad. You think she used you to manipulate me, and in a way, she kind of did." He returned his gaze to Amity. "But I know, without a shadow of doubt, that she was only trying to help me. She did it in the most Luz way possible, but she meant no harm." He paused. "I think you're the only one who doesn't understand that."

Amity narrowed her eyes at Oliver. "You're right," she said flatly. "I don't understand because I don't know her. I don't want to know her, either. If she is so willing to lie to one of her closest friends, all the while manipulating another right behind his back, then I think it's best if we never speak again." She took a long breath. "I don't even understand how you're so forgiving of this! She lied right to your face, Oliver! And you're just-"

"You're mad at her cause you saw my memories, right?" he said, cutting right through her sentence.

Amity was silent for a moment, her brow furrowed. "What? No, that's not why-"

"Yes, it is," he interrupted again. "I don't know how much you saw exactly, and hell, I probably don't even remember what you saw, but clearly it was bad. You lived through so much trauma in the span of a few seconds, and I think that's distorting the way you're looking at the situation. I know what Luz did was messed up, but the way you reacted to it..." He looked to the side. "It's pretty clear you were caught up on what you saw. But I'm telling you, she didn't mean any harm. None at all."

The girl's mouth fell open, almost as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She stared at him for a moment, her lips pursed tightly together. She opened them slowly, shaking her head. "So what exactly do you want me to do, Oliver?" she asked. "Just act like she never manipulated me? Look past it like it's nothing?"

Oliver simply shook his head. "No. You have every right to be hurt by what she did. Don't forget what happened..." He smiled a little. "But try to forgive her. At the very least, give her a second chance."

Amity sighed. "She hasn't earned a second chance, Oliver."

"Then don't do it for her. Do it for me," he said softly, placing both hands in his jacket's pockets. "Do it for you." Amity raised an eyebrow. "That anger you feel for her now will turn into hate. Hate will become bitterness and then resentment, and eventually it'll grow into something that you won't even realize is hurting you until years from now. So just... please just give her one more chance before it gets too late. If she messes up again, go ahead and kick her out of your life. But don't hate a good person over one mistake."

Amity remained quiet for some time after the boy finished speaking, the silence growing evermore uncomfortable with each passing moment. Eventually, though, she began to speak. Her voice was softer than normal when she responded to him. "Okay," she said. "One more chance. That's all I can really offer her." She took a deep breath. "Just promise me this: if you see her lying or doing anything else to hurt you in anyway, you tell me immediately so I can end things right away."

"I promise."

She held his gaze. "And no matter what happens between me and her, we'll keep being friends, okay?"

Oliver nodded. "Of course."

She nodded, releasing a big breath of air. "Okay." She looked to the floor. "One more chance."

It felt like a weight had lifted off of Oliver's shoulders as she finished. He was almost surprised he was actually able to convince her. "Thank you," he said sincerely. Part of him didn't know why he cared so much; he had only known Luz for a little over a week, why should he put his neck out to help her? But that was a stupid thought. Even though they had only known each other for a little bit, they were still best friends at heart. There was something special about her that made them click in ways he couldn't understand. She was different from any other friend he'd ever had. And while her differences sometimes annoyed him, those same traits always brought a smile to his face; there wasn't anyone else who could match how fun and energetic she was.

Oliver shook his head, attempting to come back to reality. Now that his biggest worries were alleviated, his mind thought to more fun activities. "Hey, Amity?" he said, causing her to look up from the floor. "Me and Willow are going to meet up with Luz and her group at the stadium in about-" He brought his watch to his face, 30 minutes having passed since he had left Luz. "-30 minutes or so. We might watch this competition I've heard so much about." He stretched his arms out, shrugging as a smile spread across his face. "Wanna join?"

Amity was quiet for a moment. Her brow furrowed slightly, her eyes staring down. She seemed conflicted. Eventually, though, she responded. "I can't," she said plainly.

That wasn't the response Oliver was hoping for. "Why not?"

She refused to look at him. "Because I'm going to be in the competition."

His eyes widened a little bit, not entirely sure if he should be happy at the revelation. 'That's great!" he eventually said, assuming it was something good. From what he understood, you had to be top of your class to get into it. But when Amity continued to stare at the floor, her arms now crossed, he was able to piece together that it wasn't anything to celebrate. "Why... why aren't you happy?"

She finally met his gaze. "Because my mom is forcing me to be in it." Before the boy could get out another word, Amity had already spun around, beginning to walk away from him. But, before she got too far, she stopped. "Oh, and-" She reached down and dug into her purse, taking a moment to find whatever it is she was looking for. Eventually, she began to pull it out, Oliver already knowing what it was based on the few words on the cover visible to him. "The Good Witch." She took the thick book out and chucked it his way, the boy just barely able to catch it due to his surprise. "Here's her dumb book." And with that, she walked off, not looking Oliver's way again.

He stared at where Amity once stood for a moment before looking at the book. He hated to admit it, but he had forgotten it existed. Still, he was glad he would finally be able to return it to its rightful owner. He brought the book up to his chest and waited for his jacket to open up, shoving it inside the hidden pocket once he did. Don't want to carry it all day. Once it closed back up, he turned around and began making his way back to Willow.

Willow looked half asleep by the time he got to her, only realizing Oliver had approached when he stood a few feet away from her. "What took you so long? You were gone for ten minutes," she said, crossing her arms. She raised a brow, leaning to the side as if she was trying to see something behind Oliver. "And where'd Amity go?"

The boy simply rolled his shoulders. "I don't really know, she ran off." He turned to the side and restarted his march down the column, focusing back on her first question. "We talked about Luz," he said, making sure to leave out the entire bruise discussion. "I was able to convince her to give her a second chance, so they should be good now."

Willow joined his side, a little surprised at his statement. "How'd you do that? Amity's one of the most stubborn people I know." When Oliver took a few moments to answer her question, she simply shook her head. "Nevermind, it's not a big deal. Gus is still on high alert though, so I doubt they'll be talking today."

Oliver looked at her, smirking a little. "Is Gus that good of a guard?"

She looked from side to side. "Well, he can just cast a spell that makes Luz invisible, sooo-" Her gaze returned to the boy. "Yeah. Probably the best one you could ask for."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Fair point." He brought his wrist back up just to make sure he read the time right. "We got 30 minutes until we have to meet up, so what do you want to do?"

Willow gave him a blank stare, eventually gesturing out in front of her. "Go see the Oracle Coven station, duh."

The boy felt like facepalming. "Oh yeah. Forgot about-" He cut himself off, his throat suddenly burning. He brought his arm up and coughed, hoping to alleviate the sensation. "I forgot-" He couldn't even get two words out before another cough escaped him, this time involuntarily. His hand came up and grasped his mouth, trying his hardest to halt the coughing. But it didn't work. More and more coughs left him, his legs having no choice but to stop their march as he gripped onto his chest with his free hand. It felt like he was suffocating. They just wouldn't stop coming. It got so bad that his legs began to feel weak, shaking ever so slightly.

Then suddenly, they vanished. He took a moment to recompose himself, noticing how wet his hand felt. He looked at his palm, the black substance from the day prior covering his skin once again. Confusion ran through the boy. Why would his coughing fit suddenly vanish? Then he looked up, Willow still having her index finger out as her completed spell circle began to dissipate. "Cough drop spell," she said with a smirk, lowering her hand back to her side. "Everyone's required to learn that one, although I probably won't be able to use it after I join the Abomination coven." Concern grew on her face as Oliver fixed his posture. "What's going on? Are you sick?"

He shook his head. "No." He paused for a moment. "Well, I was sick. Got the stomach bug. But it's gone now." He shrugged. "I'm not too worried about it; it's probably from the stomach bug decomposing."

Willow raised an eyebrow. "The stomach bug?" she said almost hesitantly. When Oliver nodded, she frowned. She gestured down to her stomach. "I've had that thing 7 times, and it hasn't made me cough once." Her confusion never left. her head tilting to the side. "When did you get it?"

Oliver looked up to the side, scratching his chin as he tried to recall the night he threw up. "A few days ago, I think? It's been a minute."

Willow shook her head at his sentence. "The stomach bug gets decomposed after a few hours. It's not from that."

That made his eyes grow wide. "Really?" He brought the hand he covered his mouth with up, turning his palm to Willow. "But isn't that from the stomach bug?"

Now her eyes were wide, her jaw agape even. "Oh my Titian," she mumbled, just barely audible to Oliver. Her head began to move left and right, slowly shaking it while her eyes remained locked onto his palm. "No, Oliver. Black goo is not a symptom of the stomach bug."

"Well, then what the hell-"

His words cut off as another coughing fit overtook him. This time, though. there was nothing covering his mouth as he coughed away. After each spasm, he would wipe some more black substance from his lips, desperately trying to recover. Strangely, his ears began to ring, his body following suit by giving him jolts of pain in random sections of muscles. His legs restarted their shake, the muscles straining in such a way that it made it feel like he was trying to lift a boulder. He didn't doubt they were only moments away from collapsing.

This time he saw as Willow hurriedly drew a spell circle, his urge to cough vanishing as it was completed. Yet, all the other symptoms remained. "I don't know what it is, Oliver," she responded to his incomplete question, her voice barely audible to him due to the ringing taking over his hearing. "But if it made you cough even after a cough drop spell, then it's nothing good." Willow stared at him as he wiped the black goo on his pants. "Have you..." Her voice trailed off, as if she wasn't sure what to ask. "Have you been experiencing anything strange? Besides coughing up black stuff?"

He nodded weakly, his mind thinking back to the whispers, or the constant nightmares, or what he was feeling right in that moment. "There's voices in my head," he finally responded.

"Voices?" She looked concerned. "What do you mean?"

He stared off in the distance, his eyes empty. "I've been hearing whispers for the past few days. But, when I look to see who's talking, no one's there." He brought his hand up and reached over, gripping onto his shoulder in hopes that it would stop the jolts of pain spreading through his body. "I usually can't understand them, but, when you came to get me and Luz, what they said was crystal clear." His eyes slowly moved to Willow. "'My eyes are everywhere.' I don't know what that means, but it's what they told me."

Willow kept her composure, not showing any visible signs of worry as her face went blank. The boy thought it odd; he knew damn well that he sounded like a mad man, and, truth be told, he felt like one. "Okay," she simply replied after a moment of silence. "Oliver, I don't want you to take my words as undeniable proof, but..." She sighed, clearly not wanting to say her next words. "I think you have a curse."

"A-" He stopped himself mid-word, trying desperately to form his response. It didn't take him long to give up on it altogether, letting out a desperate laugh despite Willow's stern face. "You're joking." He shook his head, looking to the side. "That has to be what this is. A very misplaced joke." When Willow only responded by looking at him with dead eyes, he gained a frown. "R... right?"

The girl sighed. "I'm not saying it's necessarily true, Oliver," she said in an almost reassuring tone. "But I am telling you that what you've told me your experiencing-" She scoffed, looking to the side. "-and, knowing you, I can guess you've only told me the bare minimum-" She returned her gaze to the boy, her eyes full of worry. "-It's not like anything I've ever heard before. I'm not an all knowing Oracle, but, considering the symptoms, I'm pretty convinced it has to be a curse."

Oliver felt himself initially wanting to panic because, as much as he wanted to believe what he was hearing was some grand prank, he knew it wasn't. He was aware how strange his symptoms had been the entire time, almost choosing to ignore them in hopes they'd solve themself. But that hadn't happened, and it was likely it would never happen. So, he tried his hardest to keep his emotions in check. After all, he was only aware of one curse, and considering how Eda talked about it, it was clear what she was experiencing was far from the norm. So, with hopes that his curse would be benign, he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Well, what do we do now?" he asked, his eyelids fluttering open as he finished his last words.

Willow's lips parted like she was going to respond, but her voice failed to say anything. Instead, she brought her hand up and rubbed her chin. It took her a solid minute of thinking before she finally slipped her response out. "Okay, so you said this all started a few days ago, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. That was when I threw up." He shivered as he recalled that terrible day. It was also the day I met Adegast…

She began to rub her temples. "Right, so, if I was you-" She brought her hand out and gestured at the purple banner off in the distance. "I would go visit the Oracle coven station and get one of them to place you inside your memories of that day. That way, you can figure out who cursed you to begin with, what type of curse it even is, and what the cure may be."

Oliver eyes blinked a few times as he tried to process her sentence. "Wait, Oracles can put me inside my memories?"

Willow moved her head up and down. "Yeah. Oracle magic is anything that deals with the mind. They usually use the mind to predict your future, but they can basically do anything with it." She cocked her head to the side, one of her brows raised. "Why? Is that not how it works in the human realm?

He quickly shook his head, letting out a chuckle. "Oh, hell no. Besides the fact that we don't even have real magic, Oracles are just big scams there that rub a crystal ball and say some crappy future." He gained a smirk as he recalled all of the depictions of human oracles. "They look real stupid, too-" Just before he would finish, another cough escaped him. It wasn't a fit this time, but there was quite a few more that followed. Once they subsided, he wiped the black goo from his mouth and onto his jeans, a newfound determination within him. "Okay, enough messing around. We have a coven station to visit."

He briefly restarted his march before halting, a thought appearing in his head as he turned to Willow. "Oh, and don't tell anyone about this, alright? Especially not Luz, Eda, or King." He reached back and scratched his neck. "No point in worrying them over something that may be cured in a day."

Willow nodded. "I understand. I know I wouldn't like all those eyes on me."

And with that, the duo reoriented themselves so they were facing the purple banner, beginning their stroll.

Thankfully, the walk wasn't too eventful. Outside of the occasional cough from Oliver, it was a mostly straight-forward trip. The covens advertised on both his sides got progressively more interesting with each step he took. Things like fire-spewing witches showing the Fire Bending Coven, or the Dancing Coven, which, while it sounded initially boring, somehow cast a myriad of spells with their feet alone. He wanted so badly to stop and ask the covens questions, to at least try to get a gist for them. But, then he felt a jolt of pain wash through him, and figured there would be a better opportunity later.

He was so focused on the covens around him that he almost ran straight into the tail end of a massive line. Willow thankful grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back before he would've collided, causing him to take in what was in front of them. Without him even realizing, they had reached the end of the column, the purple banner of the oracle coven hanging above them. Directly in front of the boy was the aforementioned line, stretching out far with at least a hundred witches all eagerly standing there. At the very end, pushed up against the Convention's wall, were three huge tents. Each was roughly the size of a two-story home, their color being the same purple as the banner. Directly to the left and right of the tents were even more tents, each the respective color of the banner they were under. Looks like we reached the coven stations, he thought.

A few dozen witches surrounded the line, cladded in robes holding the same purple. Some were showing off their magic others were talking to members in the line about the Oracle coven. One in particular, though, caught his eye as she stood on a box with what looked like a megaphone to her mouth. The bright green hair was the first thing he noticed, but it wasn't Amity. No, it was someone he had heard much about. While he had seen her briefly once, he had struggled to get a feel for her. But as she stood there, shouting a multitude of promises out to the line with a smug smile on her face, he knew her type exactly. It was all too familiar to someone he had to suffer for, and that fact gave him chills.

"Hello, ladies, gents, and all things in between!" She shouted down the line. "Welcome to the Oracle coven station! I hope your prepared to have your mind explored like never before." She rested her free hand on her hip. "And, as a special treat from me to you, all who sign up for the Oracle coven today get a one time discount on a purchase of your choice from Blight Industries!" He saw through her fake enthusiasm with ease, he was all too good at recognizing it. "Consider it a special gift from me, to you. So come forth and show some love for this wonderful coven!"

Willow gained a face of disgust as she saw the women. "Oh, Amity's mom is here? Damn..."

Oliver felt his stomach twist, recalling what his last interaction with the woman was like. She just seemed like a worried Mom who made a one-time mistake. But then she had to go and hit her again today. Part of him wanted to be that person Amity fantasized about, the one to put her Mom in place. But he couldn't be; he failed to compose himself around people like her. Instead, he focused on trying to forget about her entirely so she wouldn't distract him in from his possible curse.

The duo waited in line for quite some time, 15 minutes assuming Oliver's watch was correct. Up until then, they had succeeded in going unnoticed. Oliver was trying his hardest to keep his mind off all of the horrible curses he might have running through his system, only just barely succeeding. But he was brought back to reality by the sound of footsteps echoing from just behind him. "I feel like I know you from somewhere," the woman's voice said, his entire body freezing once his brain processed that it was Amity's Mom.

He didn't know what to do, his eyes darting over to Willow hoping she had a plan. She simply stared at the woman. Oliver wanted to turn around and greet her, but he failed to move a muscle, instead continuing to look forward. "No, I don't think you do," he eventually let out.

He could feel her eyes piercing his back. "No, no. I swear I've seen you before." The boy jolted when he saw the woman peek her head around his body, her eyes flashing with recognition once she saw his face. "Oh! You're the boy that was with my daughter the day she got kidnapped..." Her tone... it was filled with the fake enthusiasm, a far stronger emotion buried under it. "Terrible situation to be in, so sorry you had to go through that."

Oliver shook his head, still refusing to meet her eyes. "It was fine actually. The Friend Maker was harmless-"

She didn't let him finish his sentence, her head now facing his companion. "And... is that? No, it can't be." Willow's disgusted face was just poked into the corner of the boy's vision. "Willow Park! Oh my, it's been years since we've seen each other. How have you been?" She stepped closer to the pair. "You're looking wonderful as always. Your hair looks beautiful today!"

Oliver felt himself shrinking away from this woman. He wanted nothing more than to push past her and sprint as fast as he could. She reminded him too much of them... their personalities matched to a tee. Right now, she had her front up. She acted nice, like she cared, but that was only because there were people around. He could only wonder what her true self was like. It made his stomach twist in on itself, fearing that, if he stayed longer, he may yet see what type of person was hiding behind the smiles.

"Fine. I've been fine," Willow said, stepping forward in between Oliver and the woman. "Wasn't expecting to see you at the Oracle station."

She rested her hands on her hips; she seemed to like doing that. "Nor was I expecting you to be here." She gestured at Willow's clothes, likely pointing out the color of her sleeves. "My daughter shares plenty of stories about your failures in the Abomination tract. Out of all places, that's where I thought you'd be."

Willow furrowed her brow, a new intensity appearing within her eyes. "You call it failing, I call it learning."

She nodded her head. "Ah, I see." She stepped closer, gaining a smug smirk. "So, last year's competition was just a learning experience then? That's good to hear... " She brought both hands together with an audible clap. "It's truly a shame how costly such a lesson was. Then again, I remember hearing that the Plant Coven celebrated when you lost. You know, the one you so desperately fought to join." She giggled. "I suppose they never wanted you to begin with! Makes sense considering you were only chosen to compete due to luck of the draw."

Oliver watched as his companion balled up her fists, her anger building from inside her. But instead of doing what she so clearly wanted, she instead took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Are you done picking on children?" she asked as calm as she could muster.

The woman looked to the side for a moment, her brow raised. She eventually shook her head. "No, not quite." She spun around, facing Oliver. "Oliver, I have some choice words for you." A shiver went up the boy's spine as she said his name. How does she know my name? She leaned close to Oliver's ear. "If you talk to my daughter again, there will be hell to pay," she whispered. "I don't know what you did to her, but she has not been herself since she's met you." Oliver had to hold back a scoff at her last words. More like she's not being who you want her to be.

Amity's Mom fixed her posture, looking at Oliver with emotions he couldn't pinpoint. One thing was for sure, none of them were positive. But they only lasted for a moment, her mask quickly slipping back on as a smile spread across her face. "Now please, both of you follow me." She stepped out of the line and turned towards the tents, still looking at the duo. "Such…honored guests don't deserve to be sitting in this terribly long line." Without another word, she began to walk away from them, her eyes now locked onto the tents.

Oliver stared at her for a moment longer before turning to Willow. "Should we really follow her?"

Willow shrugged. "I mean, do you feel like waiting in this long line?" When he didn't respond, she began to walk after the woman. "Amity's Mom is an asshole, but it's not like she's going to harm us or anything."

Oliver didn't say anything for a moment, failing to follow the girl. "I guess," he eventually said, beginning to follow in her footsteps. "We probably wouldn't have got into the tents inside if we waited in line, anyways."

A/N:

Another Covention chapter done. Next chapter should be the last. As you can tell, I lied about the fight scene; had to move that over to the next chapter unfortunately. But there is a fight scene, I can assure you. There will also be curse shenanigans within Oliver's mind, so get ready for that. Plan for it to be trippy and utterly transmuting for Oliver. You'll also be seeing Amity again as there is a certain scene I feel is basically mandatory for her to start getting close to Luz. I'll leave the rest as a surprise, so until then,

See you soon!