The Sisters' Family Vacation:
Daughters and Mothers: P2
Amity slipped out of the kitchen as the Noceda sisters began their game of Abomination, Plants, Construction to see who watched Camila for the day. She walked into the living room and found things unchanged; Camila and Lilith were still reading. Eda was still upside down and now looked like she was napping.
Amity thought about uprighting the current witchling but decided against it. Instead, she sat next to her mother and enjoyed this moment of silence.
Amity's eyes drifted around the room and eventually stopped on Camila. She giggled under her breath when she saw how engrossed the "knocked-down" mother was. Camila probably had read that book many times, but it didn't stop her from enjoying it.
"She's just like Luz with Azura," Amity whispered fondly.
Speaking of Luz…Amity looked in the direction of the kitchen when she heard some noises. Luz and Vee entered the living room a few seconds later. Amity saw that her fiancee looked pleased with herself while Vee was saying something under her breath.
Amity took that as her cue and stood up. She clapped her hands twice, and the "knocked-down" mothers looked at her. Except for a groggy Eda, everyone had given Amity their full attention.
"Okay, since it's such a nice day out," Amity said, "The girls and I decided to have a fun mother/daughter day out."
Amity looked at her future wife and sister-in-law and nodded. Luz and Vee returned the gesture and got behind Eda. The ex-wild witch looked up at her daughter and niece with confusion as Amity got close.
"But," Amity said seriously, "Before that, there's something we need to take care of."
Eda didn't like where this was going. She didn't, however, get the chance to act as both Luz Vee grabbed her by the legs.
"Ahh, farts," was the only thing Eda could think of saying as she was lifted into the air.
(SC)
Amity giggled at the sight; her mom was skipping slightly as they strolled up to the Gravesfield's Historical Society building. The young witch knew her mother would love to visit this place, and if Masha was right, the Society had just updated their exhibits.
"I take it you're happy, Mom?" Amity asked warmly.
Lilith looked at her mother and nodded eagerly. The "knock-down" historian realized what she was doing and became a little embarrassed by her actions. She calmed herself to the best of her power and held out her hand.
Amity giggled as she took Lilith's hand, and the two entered the building.
The young witch looked around, getting tense. She was on the lookout for Jacob. If there was one person who could ruin a witch's day out, it was that human.
"You don't need to worry about my son," Danna said as she left the staff room. "I gave him the day off."
Amity sighed with relief and relaxed at this information. She looked at the historian with a smile.
"Thank you again for this private tour, Mrs. Hopkins," the witch said politely.
"Please," the historian said warmly, "It's Danna. And think nothing of it."
"O-Oh, okay," Amity replied with a faint red to her cheeks.
Danna continued to smile as she led the witches to the newest exhibits. Amity and Lilith's eyes widened, and they looked around the room. All around them were different displays of the town's witching-hunting past.
However, the two modern-day witches notice something about one of the displays; a group of hunters chasing after "witches" and they notice that some were actual witches. They also saw that some of the hunters were witches.
Like sensing their growing curiosity, Danna began to narrate.
"Like most small towns at the time, Gravesfield was involved with the witch hunts," Danna explained calmly. "Unlike those other towns, Gravefield had actual witches roaming the land. And despite the magic the witches wielded, a few were caught."
Danna moved the tour to the next display, and the witches gasped. The display showed actual witches burning at the stake. But that wasn't what shocked them. What had shocked them to the core was the other witches gleefully watching as their fellow witches burned.
Amity and Lilith reacted similarly; both moved to cover the other's eyes. Lilith stopped when she realized she wasn't tall enough to reach Amity's eyes. Amity stopped because she remembered who her mother was and what her job was before adopting her.
The two looked at each other and shared a quick laugh. They were now calmer, and they returned their attention to the tour. Danna took that as her cue to continue.
"Though still unclear, it was believed that some rogue witches from the demon realm were involved," Danna explained, her tone turning grim. "No one knows why they would willfully hunt their kinds. One theory is that these rogues were trying to take over the town as part of something larger."
Danna left things at that and moved to the next display.
"But, no one could predict when a family of travelers came to town and decided to take matters into their own hands," Danna continued, her voice filling with pride, "The House Black, as my family was known at the time, came, and using the powers they gained through the witch blood in them to try and help those poor souls."
The two witches were now giving the historian their full attention as they moved to the next display. Lilith nearly had her face pressed against the glass as Danna continued, her voice turning a bit grim.
"Unfortunately, things didn't turn out as they hoped. It seemed that my family was always a step behind everyone else. They saved as many as possible, but it was never enough, especially after the Wittebane Family returned to their roots."
Amity blinked as she stared at the crests belonging to the House Black and Wittebane Family. She remembered overhearing Masha talking about the Brothers Wittebane and how they were orphans.
"Umm, Mrs. Hopkins?" Lilith asked shyly, raising a hand.
Danna giggled at the sight and said in a motherly way, "Dear, this is a private tour. You don't need to raise your hand."
Amity couldn't help but giggle as her mother's face turned a little red, and Lilith brought her hand down. The "knocked-down" witch took a moment to collect herself before she spoke.
"I thought Belos and his brother were orphans?" Lilith inquired and squeaked when she realized what she said.
Danna seemed to understand what her fellow historian was implying, however. She sighed as the humor left her face. She looked at the display.
"That's where things start to get a little fuzzy," She muttered somberly and looked at the witches. "You remembered the flood I mentioned yesterday?"
Amity and Lilith nodded awkwardly, and Danna smiled at this and moved the two to another display.
"The flood did a lot of damage to the town," Danna explained, "That includes the library and original Historical Society building. This entire building was rebuilt due to the first one collapsing."
Danna looked at the display as a distant look crossed her face. It was clear to anyone looking at the human that she was lost in an old memory. So, Amity and Lilith waited on their guide.
With a sigh, the human turned her attention back to the two.
"That flood caused a lot of documents to be lost," Danna explained, a shadow of a smile crossing her face. "Because of that, it's unclear if the Brothers Wittebane were just wayward children who stumbled into the town or if they had family ties here."
The three fell quiet as Amity exchanged looks with her mother.
The silence didn't last long as they heard a loud crash followed by someone screaming. Curious, the two witches and the human went over to the door. Danna opened the door, and bard magic filled the room.
Lilith and Amity got annoyed when they instantly knew who was behind this. The three exited the room and went to the building's front. They groaned when they saw Eda brisking in her glory as she made the different exhibits in the building dance. They could also see someone hastily exiting the building.
Amity sighed in irritation as she stepped up to her "knocked-down" aunt.
"Why did we think that lash would work?" she grumbled as she put her hands on her hips and glared at Eda. "Edalyn Clawthorne! Stop this, this instantly."
Eda did stop, only to blow a raspberry at her niece, and then went back to her mischief-making. Amity growled as an eye began to twitch. She got closer to Eda and summoned her harp.
"This is your last warning, young witch," Amity stated, "End this right now, and we might go easy on you."
Eda stopped her mischief-making and looked at her niece. Amity recognized that look immediately and felt like cursing herself. She had forgotten this was Eda, The Owl Girl she was dealing with; no matter the age, Eda wasn't one to back down.
The "knocked-down" bard put her thumb and finger in her mouth and blew. Amity kept herself composed as a wave of bard magic surged toward her. She played a few notes on her harp and sent her bard magic to counter Eda's.
The two waves of sound-based magic collided in the center of the room and canceled each other out.
Eda growled and made a spell circle. Her mandolin appeared and dropped into her hands. Before she could play anything on it, a wave of magic hit her, and the mandolin was lifted into the air. Eda glared daggers at Amity as Lilith took her sister's instrument.
"Sorry, Aunt Eda," Amity said, some smugness seeping into her voice, "But I'm skilled in bard magic, just like WHOA!"
The young witch dove for the floor as a potion vial soared over her head. She looked over her shoulder as the vial shattered on the wall, and weeds and other plants began to grow. She looked back at Eda, and her eyes snapped open when she saw her Aunt with a potion in each hand.
"Where did you get those?" Amity screamed as she jumped to her feet. "We picked you clean!"
Eda offered her niece a mysterious smile as she threw the two potions. Amity tried to use some bard magic to stop the vial in the air. She stepped back and fell when the rapidly growing weeds tangled her foot.
Amity lost her harp as it dropped from her hands. She looked up and saw the vials coming at her fast.
However, Amity acted quickly; she used her left hand to make a circle and summoned an abomination. The creature rose and ate the vials as it roared. At first, nothing happened. Then, the abomination began to bulge in different places, and vines emerged from the creature.
Then, with what sounded like a moan, the golem exploded in a mess of plants. Amity covered her head as a mess of plant life flew around her. She lifted her head and looked around once everything had settled.
The young witch's eyes widened as she took in everything around her. The plants were growing faster than she first thought. This led her to realize the kind of potion her aunt had been throwing; it was an aggression growth potion!
If she remembered her potion lessons, this kind of potion would keep working for a few minutes, and this caused her to worry. She knew the plant growth wouldn't cause any damage to the building, but what Danna had said was still fresh in her mind.
"Mrs. Hopkins!" Amy called, jumping to her feet. "Get my mom and anyone else in the building out of here!"
Danna gave the witch a quick nod and grabbed Lilith by the hand. The "knocked-down" witch didn't protest much as the Historical employee hurried her out. Still, Lilith looked at her daughter and sent her a silent message.
Amity got the message and smiled reassuringly as Lilith was led out of the building. She got serious as she looked at Eda. Amity could tell she was about to bolt from the building. She also noticed her aunt's hands were empty.
"Okay, young witch," Amity said challengingly, making spell circles. "If you think you are slipping away after making trouble, you have another thing coming."
Amity summoned two balls of abomination goo, and one went to her left hand. The goo wrapped around the young witch's left hand and formed into claws. The ball stretched and picked up Amity's harp from where she dropped it.
The goo with the harp returned to its owner and wrapped around Amity's free wrist. The harp came to rest in front of Amity's hand so that she could play it one-handed.
Eda was impressed with the setup and whistled her approval. Still, she took out two potions from somewhere and got ready for a fight.
The "knocked-down" witch made the first move; she threw both potions at once. Amity had expected this and played a few notes on her harp. Her abomination claw glowed with Bard magic and extended outward. Two gloops shot out and caught the potions mid-flight.
The abomination goo wrapped tightly around the vials, and the potions exploded a second later.
Eda was shocked by this, and Amity took the opening. She used bard magic to boost her speed and dashed at her aunt. She called off both her abomination claw and harp as she tackled Eda.
Amity's momentum carried the two out of the building, where they landed in front of it. The witch pinned her aunt to the ground and stared at her. Amity couldn't help but feel proud as she looked down at her aunt with a smug smile.
"Now, are you going to behave-eek!" Amity suddenly recoiled as Eda somehow threw a potion into her face.
The potion exploded a second later, and Amity fell off the "knock-down" witch as she got a face full of pink smoke. She heard a familiar cackling as she went into a light coughing fit. She rubbed her eyes to clear them and blinked a few times to get them to focus.
Amity looked around and growled when she couldn't find her aunt anywhere. She stood up and did a more thorough search of the area. She could feel her temper flaring as Lilith walked up to her.
"Are you okay, Raven?" Lilith asked, concern filling her voice.
"I will be," Amity growled, "When I find that aunt of mine and give her a good scolding."
She looked around the area again and caught sight of her mother's concerned face.
"Is everything okay, Mom?" Amity asked.
Lilith didn't answer with words; she just pointed at Amity's face. Amity was confused by her mother's actions but felt her face nonetheless. She felt something wet on her cheek. With a growl, she used a simple illusion spell Gus taught her.
An illusion mirror appeared in front of Amity, and she looked into it. Amity's face twisted with anger when she saw her hair standing up again, and her face was covered in pink dye.
Lilith took a few steps back when she saw her daughter begin to shake angrily. Since her face was covered, no one saw Amity flush with anger. Amity growled and canceled the spell with a wave of her arm.
"AUNT EDAAAAA!" Amity screamed to the skies as the building behind her was overrun with weeds and plants.
(SC)
After coming down from their fit, Luz and Amity entered the theater, as they figured that's where their mothers went. After getting Amity a ticket to the movies, they reached the lobby.
"...You bumped into my sister, and you want her to say sorry?" an angry Camila asked. "You must be loco!"
Luz and Amity immediately saw their mothers confronting a man in a hood. Lilith was on the ground, holding her right elbow. The engaged couple quickly walked up to their mothers. Amity got down on her knees and looked over her mother's elbow.
The young witch was relieved; it was just a scrape. It wasn't even bleeding. However, Amity planned to ask the theater staff if they had a first-aid kit.
With the crisis with her mother over, Amity turns her attention to her future wife and mother-in-law.
Luz had gotten behind Camila and held the "knocked-down" mother by the shoulders. She was glaring at the person, and Amity could tell her fiancee was using all of her willpower to keep herself from attacking this fool with a spell.
"Hey," Luz said pointedly, "my mami's right. You bump into my aunt, and you want her to say sorry. You are loco!"
"Please," the guy scoffed and crossed his arms. "Anyone who isn't my darling daughter doesn't deserve to be near me. Now, have that wild one say sorry so we all can get back to our days."
Amity cocked an eyebrow as she looked at the guy. There was something familiar about this guy, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Not that it mattered; Camila and Luz wore matching angry looks. Suddenly, and without warning, Camila ran up to the guy and kicked him in the shin.
The guy screamed as he grabbed his leg and quickly fell to the ground. "Not again!" he shouted in a high-pitch, girlish voice.
Amity helped her mother to her feet, and they joined the Nocedas. The young witch looked around. She was surprised that no one was bothered by all that had happened. Then again, the people of this town had grown used to the oddness the demon realm brings.
Amity and Luz looked at each other, and a message was sent between the two. They guided their mothers away from the scene and into the room where the Cosmic Frontier movies were playing.
No one, not staff or movie-goers, paid the groaning Shin any mind and went about their days.
(M Corner)
Well, Witches and Demons, now you know why Amity was so worked up in the last chapter. And don't worry, the next chapter is where you learn where Eda's keeping her potions.