Amity had to hand it to Luz. She must have been very good with love potions, because Amity couldn't stop thinking about how pretty Luz looked as she led her inside her home. Her skin was so smooth, her face was so beautiful, and her ears…well, Amity just yearned to stroke them and find out if human ears were as sensitive as the legends said they were. Of course, these weren't her real thoughts, she knew. She was straight. She liked boys…even if she'd really be hard pressed to tell anyone exactly what she liked about them. But only degenerates liked girls, and Amity was not a degenerate, so she must have liked boys. QED.
Luz certainly didn't act like a nefarious ensorceller. She had a seemingly endless amount of enthusiasm and energy about her. It was exhausting to keep up with her, really, as she chattered about all sorts of things, like if the Mariners were going to win the World Series (whatever either of those things were), if Azura was really going to end up in a polyamorous love triangle like Ensorcelled Amity (Ensorcity?) had apparently said, and whether it was possible that the Boiling Isles weren't in an alternate dimension, but rather in the same dimension, in another galaxy. Amity couldn't really understand a word of it, but Luz didn't really seem to notice she wasn't getting it.
"Luz, have you seen my – oh, hi, Amity!" a familiar voice called out, and Amity turned to see none other than Half a Witch Willow in the flesh. Of course she was in on this nefarious conspiracy up to her eyes.
"Half a Witch Willow," Amity said flatly, directing her coldest glare at the pathetic abominations witch.
Both Luz and Willow stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. Oh, crap, that was right. Ensorcity had probably been tricked into thinking Willow was cool or something. You thought she was cool once, a voice in the back of her head reminded her. Yes, she told the voice, but that was before she learned the truth about her. Willow was raised by queers. When Amity learned that disgusting piece of information, she realized that her mother was right to persuade her to sever her ties with Willow. And, of course, Willow's participation in Luz's monstrousness only bore that out.
"Uh, I mean, isn't it great I don't call you that anymore?" Amity said with a nervous laugh. Luz didn't seem suspicious at all, but Willow's eyes narrowed. "Uh, what's up…Full Witch Willow?"
Willow just gave her a cool gaze. "Not much. Just trying to figure out where I'll go on my date with Vee tomorrow." Wait, Willow was dating that basilisk Agent Johnston mentioned? That was just…disgusting. "Say, Amity, are you okay? You're acting a little strange."
"I'm fine, of course," Amity said with as much dignity as she could muster. "Why wouldn't I be?" She looked her "girlfriend" in the eyes, and Luz quickly looked away from her, looking horrified. Crap, looking humans in the eyes was probably a sign of dominance or something, and she was supposed to be playing a submissive role. This spying stuff was hard!
"Why indeed?" Willow said with a sudden smile. Amity couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Say, Amity, would you mind giving Luz and I some privacy? Maybe go up to her bedroom while we talk." Ah. Well, Amity had been expecting the bedroom to come up sooner or later. She would just have to grit her teeth and bare it. Surely Mother would not have sent her to infiltrate this house of sin if Luz's bedroom proclivities were too dangerous. And who knows? Maybe Amity would enjoy – NO. She was straight, and in any case, she was being forced into it. There was nothing sexy about that.
Amity walked up the staircase and started looking into various rooms until she found Luz's room. At least, she presumed it was Luz's room. It was the smallest of the two bedrooms, and Luz probably did not live all by herself – hadn't Agent Johnston mentioned a woman named Camila? – so logic dictated it was likely Luz's room. The room certainly didn't come across as one a sadistic rapist would use. Perhaps Luz hid her degeneracy from everyone else, maybe even Willow. That made sense. She would likely be singing a very tune when she got her hands on Amity's body soon.
Amity took off all her clothes, even her underwear, and sat down on the bottom bunk of the bunkbed. It definitely did not strike her as a very comfortable bed to have sex on – surely there wasn't enough room for both of them on it? She looked down at her foot and found that she was uncontrollably tapping it. Damn it. She'd lost control of her actions again, acted like a freakish degenerate, as she so often did. Next thing she knew, she'd be flapping her arms!
But…everyone she was spying on did think she was a freakish degenerate like they were, didn't they? They probably did the exact same satisfying freakish hand and foot movements that she did. That was the way of sinners, wasn't it? So…since she was trying to infiltrate them, didn't it make sense that, just for the sake of her con, she might have to pretend to do those accursed movements and even act like she was enjoying them? Not that she would. Good girls controlled themselves.
She made an experimental flapping motion…and it felt good. It felt like she was releasing tension that she hadn't even known she was there. But just because it felt good didn't make it any less dangerous, she reminded herself. The Titan demanded one obey one's parents, and Mother had forbidden undignified movements. Still…the mission came first, didn't it?
Amity looked around the room, trying to pick up clues of what made her girlfriend – no, her ensorceller, she had to remember that – tick. Luz seemed to like realistic fiction, like…no, it couldn't be. But it was! Luz was an Azura fan, just like Amity was! Holy shit! What were the odds? Was this how she had initially lured Amity in, with a shared love of Azura? Had she offered Amity a drink spiked with love potion while they discussed theories?
Amity's speculation was immediately cut off when she realized that in the time that she couldn't remember, a new Azura book had come out! All thoughts of her upcoming fate immediately faded as she grabbed the book and opened it. Man, it was long. Just for the heck of it, she looked at the last page (it was a bad habit of hers to look at the ending of a book first, but she hadn't yet managed to break it) and then she did a double take at the last lines of the book.
Azura held onto her girlfriend's hand as if it was the only thing connecting her to the mortal world. She knew that together, she and Hecate would be an unstoppable team. The Dark Lich would never see it coming.
What. Did. She. Just. Read?! WHAT THE GIRAFFE?! It wasn't possible. Azura was the greatest hero to have ever graced the pages of literature. And she had chosen a path of lesbianism? No! Surely it wasn't possible. Wasn't she afraid of burning in hell? Azura being a sinner just didn't make any sense! She was the champion of the light, the defender of the Verdant Lands, the person that Amity wanted to be more than anything else. A towering figure of strength and beauty and compassion. And she'd thrown it all the way to be a pervert?
If Azura did it, maybe it wasn't so bad? No. Those were bad thoughts. Amity shouldn't even be thinking them. There had to be some explanation. Hecate must have ensorcelled Azura. Yes. That made sense. She was a dark witch, after all. Sure, she'd helped Azura many a time, but one could never trust a dark witch. If one could, they'd be a light witch. In fact, perhaps that was where Luz had gotten the idea of ensorcelling Amity from. She had to remember that despite their shared interest, her so-called girlfriend was the enemy. She would always be the enemy.
Amity started searching further through the room. She opened up a drawer and was bewildered to find several stuffed animals inside. Her mind couldn't help but remember her Otabin plushy, which she still, shamefully, sought comfort in sometimes when the expectations on her got too big. Luz's other belongings were just as innocuous. She didn't find any instruments of torture, no sex toys, nothing that one would expect to find. Luz's room wasn't anything like Amity had been expecting. Neither was Luz. Was it possible that Luz wasn't ensorcelling her? That Mother was wrong?
No. That would be ludicrous. That wasn't exactly something one could make a mistake about, was it? And what possible motivation would Mother have to lie about that? But maybe it was more complicated than that. Maybe Amity had been ensorcelled…but not by Luz. Maybe it was the Owl Lady who was responsible. That made more sense, she had to admit. The Owl Lady probably wanted to reward her apprentice's loyalty and gain a spy in the Blight family, so she bound Amity to Luz's will. Luz could very well have been a hapless pawn in everything, unaware that her girlfriend wasn't with her of her own free will.
It would certainly fit Luz's behavior, Amity had to concede. But she had to be cautious. Until she was absolutely certain Luz was innocent, she couldn't let her guard down. She had to be suspicious of absolutely everything that Luz did. There was no other way. Everyone was a potential enemy. Luz. Willow. Everyone. For pity's sake, they'd even destroyed her bile sac. But if she was right, then that meant Luz had thought so much of her that she wanted to be her girlfriend. Even though she was, of course, entirely straight, Amity couldn't help but be pleased by that.
Maybe she should try to have Luz kiss her. Purely to sell the con, of course.
Amity was looking through what she presumed was some sort of guide to Luz's mysterious second language when the door opened and Luz walked into the room with a chirpy grin that Amity suspected was her usual facial expression. "Sorry about taking so long – HOLY GOD, WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!" Luz looked like she was torn between being shocked, horrified, and aroused. Amity couldn't help but be flattered at the last one.
Well, it was time to see if she was as good an actress as she thought she was. "You don't like it?" Amity said with a seductive pout. "It's all for you…" She struggled to remember any pertinent words from the book. "Batata?"
Luz's lips twitched in a smile. She was trying her best to look anywhere but Amity's naked body, Amity realized. The theory that Luz was a just a pawn was definitely gaining steam. "That means sweet potato," she said. "I kind of like it." She shook her head hurriedly. "But never mind that, don't change the subject! Why the hell are you naked?! Are you trying to, like, seduce me?"
"You don't like it," Amity said. It was not a question. What was she doing wrong? Oh, of course, she was being too forward. "I'm sorry, mistress." Luz's jaw dropped open. "You should punish me for my insolence. I am yours…every part of me…" Was she going too far? Oh, Titan, she probably was. It wasn't as if Amity had any guide for this stuff other than romance novels and smut fanfics.
Luz just stammered incoherently for several seconds. "You know, Amity, this is…it's a lot," she said, eventually, talking so quickly Amity could barely comprehend her words. "I mean, it's not like this isn't hot, and I haven't fantasized about literally this exact situation, but…yeah. Um, you know what…you just stay here for a second. I have to…do something… I'll be back." She sneaked a look at Amity's breasts just before walking to the door, and then looked deeply ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I'll just…give you some privacy. God, what sort of a pervert am I?"
As the door slammed behind her, Amity couldn't help but muse that this was an exceptionally good question. Well, if she wasn't going to be ravished just yet, at least she could enjoy a good book while she waited. She plopped her bare bottom on the chair at Luz's desk and started reading through the new Good Witch Azura book. Oh, yeah, she thought to herself. This is going to be good.
In Camila's opinion, there was no more enjoyable form of literature than adventure novels, the cheesier the better. Right now, she was sitting in her armchair in her bedroom, reading a copy of the newest novel in the Oregon Files, and savoring the experience immensely. Luz could keep her fantasy novels. With her life so unstable, Camila had a hankering for literature where the good guys were guaranteed to win the day, the bad guys were guaranteed to lose spectacularly, and, most importantly, no magic was involved in any way whatsoever. Of course, with the immense changes occurring in society, that was likely to change, but Camila would savor the escape from her magical life while she still could.
And then there was a knock on the door. Well, it had to be important, because she had been most clear to Luz and Willow that no one was to disturb her during her scheduled reading time unless it was an emergency. Even Luz had come to accept this, though only through quite a few years of trial and error. (And, no, a fanfic that made her sad was not, in fact, an emergency.) So Camila steeled herself, hoping that no one was injured, and threw open the door to see Luz looking freaked out on the other side. She was almost in a panic.
"Luz, what's going on?" she said urgently. "Are you hurt?"
"I don't know!" Luz said, keeping her voice down. This was very unusual for her. Normally, Luz and volume went together like two peas in a pod. "I went into my room and Amity was naked! And she was coming onto me! And it was really, really hot, don't get me wrong, but she wasn't acting like herself."
Camila put up a hand, feeling somewhat queasy. "Luz, the only thing I want less than for you to have a sex life is to hear about it."
"Didn't you say you wanted me to confide in you more?" Luz retorted. Damn it! Hoisted by her own petard! She should have known that would come back to haunt her. "Besides, it wasn't just that. She was acting really strange. She called Willow Half a Witch again and she looked me in the eyes!"
Camila blinked. "You really should have led with that, you know." Amity trying to seduce Luz wasn't all that suspicious. It certainly didn't make Camila very happy, but it wasn't out of the ordinary for a girl of Amity's age to start becoming bolder about her sexuality, although, granted, she had no idea if that was the case for witches. But Amity knew that Luz hated eye contact with the burning passion of a thousand suns. She'd never do it under ordinary circumstances. "All right, Luz, I'll talk to her. And, Luz? Thank you for trusting me."
If Amity wasn't acting like herself, Camila's best guess was that she had taken some sort of aphrodisiac, either deliberately to psych herself up for seducing Luz or completely by accident, with an innocuous human food having an aphrodisiacal effect on witches. The other option was, of course, that Odalia was mentally manipulating her, but that didn't seem to track. Why would the ultimate homophobe try to force Amity to seduce a girl?
Camila walked over to Luz's closed bedroom door. "Amity, sweetie, are you decent?" she called out.
There was a few seconds of silence. "I'm not a bad person," Amity said, her voice almost a whisper. "I'm a good girl." Well. This didn't bode well.
"I meant, are you dressed, dear?" Camila clarified.
Amity let out an embarrassed squeak. "Uh, yes! Definitely! Why wouldn't I be?" Camila knew she was lying, so she gave her several minutes to put her clothes on before she came into the room. When she entered, Amity was fully dressed, but her shirt was backwards. Camila decided not to tell her just yet. Amity looked…scared, as a matter of fact, and with a sinking feeling of resignation, Camila realized that Luz was right on the money about something being wrong with her.
"Sweetie, why don't you go downstairs and put on a jacket from the laundry room? We'll go on a walk. It's drizzling a bit, but I think some fresh air will do you good. We need to have a discussion, woman to woman, if you know what I mean." It was clear that Amity had no clue what she meant. Moreover, if she looked scared before, then she'd taken on a whole new dimension of fear. Did Amity think Camila was going to hurt her?
Amity walked down the stairs as if she was marching to her execution. It took her quite some time to locate the laundry room. "I was right, wasn't I?" Willow said softly from the living room couch. "Something is wrong with Amity. I told Luz, but she didn't believe me."
"I'm afraid so," Camila admitted. "I'm going to find out what it is, don't you worry."
Amity finally emerged from the laundry room with the heaviest coat in the room on her. Camila was tempted to question that, but decided to pick her battles. She gently led Amity out of the house and they started walking. Amity let out a shriek as the rain hit her bare skin, and then a puzzled look came on her face. Camila's brow furrowed in puzzlement. She was acting like…like she didn't know that Earth's rain wasn't boiling.
Oh. Shit. Odalia had messed with her memories, hadn't she?
It made so much sense. She looked Luz in the eyes because she didn't remember that she wasn't supposed to. She didn't know where the laundry room was because she had no memory of it. She called Willow by that demeaning name because the last she remembered, Willow had been her enemy and Amity had been a bully. And she feared the rain because she didn't know it was safe. Camila still had no clue where the whole seduction thing had come from, but she was pretty certain she was right about the rest of it. At a guess, Amity's memories had probably been reset to before she met Luz…so why would Odalia have sent Amity back to Luz instead of keeping her close at hand? It was a recipe for failure.
Which, Camila realized a second later, was the point. Odalia had been setting Amity up to fail, because she wanted to isolate Amity from everyone who cared about her. She wanted to turn Camila against Amity, to see her as just a dangerous spy, and a liability. Because that was how Odalia thought – solely in terms of assets and liabilities. She couldn't comprehend that Camila would never, ever give up on Amity, no matter what. Camila would fight a thousand monsters to return Amity's memories, even if Amity was, in this state, blindly loyal to Odalia.
"Ma'am?" Amity called out. God, had she even been told Camila's name? "What are you going to do to me?"
Camila was tempted to just tell Amity the truth there and then, but she knew it was a bad idea. She had no idea exactly how Odalia had messed with Amity's head. For all she knew, Odalia had planted a command in Amity's brain to kill herself if she learned the truth. No, for now, she had to trick Amity into thinking that her deception was working.
"Cariño, I'm not angry at you," Camila said in her most caring voice. Amity didn't believe her, and it broke Camila's heart to see it. "And I'm not going to hurt you. I will never hurt you." She put a friendly arm around Amity's shoulders. Amity flinched from the physical contact, and Camila quickly withdrew it. Screw witnesses or publicity or whatever, Camila was going to murder Odalia on the spot if they met again.
"Then what do you want from me?" Amity said, her voice trembling.
Camila gave her a warm smile. "I just want to talk. Amity, I remember being your age. I know there are…urges that come with the territory. And I know that, as much as I try, I won't be able to stop you from acting on them if you're truly determined. But I want you to be sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Why did you feel you had to…go so far with Luz?"
"I just…thought it was what was expected of me," Amity mumbled. Huh. Camila didn't know what to make of that in terms of what was really going on in Amity's head. Maybe she was convinced that she was walking into a den of degeneracy and thus had to be correspondingly sexually loose if she was going to blend in? Camila had no clue. But in terms of the role Amity was pretending to play, Camila at least knew what to say next.
"Society does make a big deal of those things," Camila said, lamenting the truth of that statement. She herself had allowed herself to be pressured into going farther than she'd like during her teenage years. "But, Amity, there's nothing wrong with taking things slowly. You and Luz have the rest of your lives. You're not in a rush. There's no deadline here."
Amity nodded jerkily. "Sweetie," Camila went on, "I know you had the best of intentions, but Luz was simply not ready to go so far, so quickly. You made her uncomfortable. So if you do decide to go any farther in your relationship, you have to talk things out with Luz before you make any moves. But I strongly recommend that you avoid going that far, and absolutely not under my roof, am I understood?" Amity nodded again.
"Ma'am…why are you being so nice to me?" Amity asked her, her voice quiet.
"Because I love you," Camila said simply. "I love you as if you were my own daughter." Amity looked awed, just as she did the first time Camila had made that abundantly clear. "Now I think this has been a difficult discussion for us both, so how about we spend some time together without awkward conversations getting in the way? Where would you like to go?"
She mentally slapped herself after asking that question. Of course Amity didn't know anything about where to go in the Human Realm; she was a stranger in a strange land! But Amity, as she so often did, surprised her. "The library, please," she said. "I'd like to go to the library."
"Of course, Amity," Camila said. She reached out and stroked Amity's hair a bit, ready to stop the instant Amity showed the slightest discomfort. But Amity just leaned into the motion and purred. Maybe this would be easier than Camila thought.
"I need your help," Luz said without preamble, as she walked into Dustin's office. It had been a difficult decision for her to return to therapy with Dustin. The words he said at the custody hearing still rankled. The sheer depth of the betrayal, even if it was not actually his fault, had been like a knife to Luz's heart. It had taken her so much time to trust him, and a part of her worried that her trust would be ripped away from her once more. But there was no other choice. With Amity under Odalia's thrall once more, Luz needed all the help she could get, psychologically speaking, and she was pretty sure lightning would not strike in the same place twice.
Thankfully, Dustin was not with another patient at the time, because that would certainly have been awkward, to say the least. He looked exceptionally relieved to see her. "Luz, I am so sorry. I…I tried my hardest to resist! I really did! And I must have succeeded too, because she tried to get me to lie, but I wouldn't. I told the truth instead…not that that was much better."
"I'm sorry I had to use the recording," Luz said. She was genuinely sorry about that. Dustin was a good man, and he deserved better than to have her wreck his reputation.
"First of all, that was Rachel's choice in the end to use it against me," Dustin pointed out. "And that was precisely why I had you make that recording in the first place." He shrugged. "It didn't really matter in the end, actually. The media circus seems to be avoiding me. I don't think much of anyone knows about it, and I certainly have no intention of telling them." Luz breathed a sigh of relief. She certainly had not wanted Dustin to lose his job.
"What happened?" she wondered.
"I don't remember," Dustin admitted. It disturbed him intensely, Luz could tell. "One moment, I was in my house, the next moment I was walking into that courtroom with Psycho Green Haired Lady's voice in my head. Thank God Näkijä fixed me up. One hell of a lady – is she single?"
Luz's jaw dropped open as she tried to process the many, many things wrong with that statement. Dustin laughed. "Nah, just messing with you. I'm married and my wife is very territorial. So what's on your mind?"
Luz sat down on Dustin's couch, like it was just a normal session. "Odalia messed with Amity's memories and now we think she doesn't remember anything after I first met her. And what's worse, she sent her in as a spy, and Amity is terrified of me! I think she thinks I'm gonna rape her or something!"
Dustin swore long and loud. "God, I hate that woman. Hate her so much. I know it's not professional, but goddamn it, I hate her guts." Luz couldn't help but smile at Dustin's bluntness. "Uh, so what can I do to help?"
"Isn't there anything you can do to get back her memories?" Luz begged him. "I don't know, hypnotize her or something?"
Dustin shook his head. "I'm not a hypnotherapist. There are a few people I can recommend but…I don't think it's gonna be quite that simple. I mean, look, like I said before, witch neurology and human neurology could vary widely. And even with humans, recovering repressed memories with hypnotherapy is kind of a crapshoot." He tilted his head. "What about Näkijä? Can't she help?"
Luz shrugged. "We're gonna be having a meeting later today to discuss that among other things." She was being purposefully vague, mostly because it was still taking time to get back her trust in Dustin. She didn't actually believe he was a threat now, but…it was still best to keep these details quiet, in her opinion.
Dustin seemed to get that immediately. "Okay, well…once more, you've found yourself in a highly unique situation. In all honesty, I'm impressed at how many unprecedented situations you find yourself in." Luz gave him an unamused stare. "Right, sorry. You want something concrete…let's see here…maybe there's some way to jog her memory? Some sort of physical symbol of your relationship, something like that? Sorry, I'm kind of flying blind here."
"Well, like you said, I don't think you've got the tools to help her," Luz said, regretting that the words sounded almost spiteful the moment they came out of her mouth. "Can you help me, then? My own girlfriend probably thinks I'm a monster…"
"Show her you aren't," Dustin suggested. "Do some nice things for her. Stay as far away from physical affection as you can. Maybe buy her something nice? Write her a poem, draw her something? I know you're an artistic person."
Huh. Luz didn't think about that. But it seemed sensible, it certainly wouldn't raise any suspicions as being out of the ordinary, and it might help reassure Amity. "Yeah. I think maybe drawing her something would be nice. Maybe when we danced at Grom?" That would help ease Amity into the idea that she was happy with Luz, that Luz was her ally in facing off against her worst fear.
"Well, I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but you did drop in unannounced," Dustin said, sounding genuinely sorry, "and I have another appointment in about ten minutes. But, please, have your mother call me and set up a regular session; I have plenty of room for you. And thank you, Luz, for returning. It means a lot to me."
Luz wished they had more time, but he was quite right in that he was being very generous in giving him the time he'd given her, especially since he was also doing it for free. And she felt better now that she had a specific, tangible step to take, even if it was a small thing. As she rode the bus down to the consulate, her mind was filled with possible drawings she could make for Amity, records of their shared past. Maybe something would spark memories. They had to still be there in her head, right? They'd gotten memories of Luz getting born from Luz's head, bypassing the infantile amnesia. There had to be some way of getting Amity's memories back.
It was all hands on deck for the meeting at the consulate, for the most part. Agent Johnston was very explicitly not invited for reasons Camila said she'd explain at the meeting, but must have been extremely urgent, because Luz had been very thoroughly warned against interacting with Agent Johnston in any way whatsoever, and especially about telling him anything about Amity's current predicament. The other Johnstons weren't invited either. Nor were the MacKinnon parents. But Clara was, along with everyone else involved in the exchange program, Sean, Avery, and Steve. Luz felt bad about having the meeting without Caroline, but Sean had been adamant that she needed to stay behind. Edric was also not at the meeting, having to look after Amity during it, but he would later be briefed on it.
"Let's cut right to the chase," Camila said as soon as the pleasantries were done and everyone had arrived. "We have two major issues at hand. First and foremost, Amity's memories have been tampered with, and we believe she's been made to forget everything that's happened since Luz first met her. She's been sent in as a spy – probably a mission doomed to failure to isolate her from everyone."
"What's the second issue?" Luz wondered. No one had told her there'd be a second issue being discussed.
Camila took a deep breath. She looked like she really didn't want to say what she had to say. Raine saw the look on her face and decided to pick up the slack. "It's Agent Johnston. We've received confirmation that he's actually Swaard in disguise. He faked his death somehow and is now impersonating Agent Johnston, perhaps with a body swap spell." Luz let out a gasp. Caroline would be absolutely devastated when she found out. Speaking of which…
"Then shouldn't Caroline be here?!" Luz demanded.
Raine sighed. "I'm sorry, Luz, but we don't know if she can be trusted. Swaard has had nearly unrestricted access to her and that could very well mean that so did Odalia. We're bringing in some members of the Oracle Coven to cast spells that will boost our resistance to oracle magic, as well as to ascertain what enchantments were laid upon Caroline and Amity. We're trying to get Näkijä, but she's stalling. Doesn't want to make it look like she's at the beck and call of the government. She'll come around eventually."
The conference room of the consulate suddenly felt like it was much smaller than it did before, as if the walls were closing in on her. Her friend could have been potentially turned against her, just as Amity was. Well, not as thoroughly, no doubt – Luz was pretty sure she would have noticed it if she was. But maybe Caroline had just been enchanted with more subtlety. Though Luz doubted it. Subtlety didn't appear to be a word in Odalia's vocabulary.
"Odalia's planning something big," Steve informed her. "She and my…my ex-wife," it looked like that admission physically hurt him to say, "and Swaard, they're all working together. Havik's in on it too, no doubt. They're going to strike at T-Mobile Park during the World Series, probably." He shuddered. "Luz, it was horrible. There were corpses nailed to the walls. Kids! I can't believe I didn't throw up just looking at it."
"Uh…shouldn't you have told the cops about this?" Luz suggested.
Steve laughed caustically. "Yeah. Actually, I did just that. For some reason, they didn't buy the whole T-Mobile Park is a locus of mass sacrifice and is strewn with invisible corpses nailed to the walls theory. I can't imagine why." Okay, that was fair. Luz probably wouldn't have believed it either in their shoes.
"What do we do about Amity?" Luz demanded. "We can't just leave her like that! We need to get her deprogrammed now!"
Raine looked sympathetic. "Luz, if we could, we would. But none of the oracles on my staff specialize in the kind of magic necessary to do that. For now, we have to pretend as if we're not onto Amity."
Gus had been staring at the ceiling, lost in thought for a while, but then he suddenly looked at Raine. "We have to feed the mole," he said. The Demon Realm denizens looked confused at the reference to slang that only humans (and the espionage obsessed Gus) knew about. "I mean, we have to make it look like Amity's spying is working."
"I think Gus has a point," Camila admitted. "If Odalia thinks she's failed, there's no telling what she'll do. She may kill Amity or imprison her or something even worse. She didn't think Amity would succeed, but if she believes Amity could be more useful as a spy than something else, we'd have some room to work with." A vicious smile suddenly formed on her face. "And I think I have the perfect place to start with: Swaard. We mention that he's thinking about defecting to us, and suddenly, Odalia realizes that Amity is of use to her."
All of this sounded very logical. Very coldly logical. And Luz could definitely see the cold logic behind it. She didn't disagree with it. But at the same time, this was Amity they were talking about. Odalia was already manipulating her, and now they were going to be manipulating Amity too. True, it was for her own good, but still…they were going to ask Luz to lie to her own girlfriend.
"You do know that if we turn her against Swaard, she's going to kill him," Luz reminded Camila, trying to keep her voice gentle. Luz didn't know if she wanted that or not. Swaard had killed Eduardo. But then again…Luz was getting really sick and tired of violence. Would Eduardo have approved of this plan? Luz suspected not. "His blood will be on our hands…on Amity's hands."
"It would be Odalia's choice to kill him," Camila said, her voice harder than stone. "Just as it was his choice to kill Eduardo. I have a responsibility to keep Amity safe since her own mother abrogated her responsibilities. That supersedes most everything else."
Raine looked at her carefully, seeming slightly disappointed. "This sounds more like it's about revenge than safeguarding Amity. But I don't see another way, at the same time. Unless anyone has any other suggestions?"
"Can't Vee, like, eat the spell that's blocking Amity's memories?" Clara suggested. "Xe feeds on magic, right?"
Vee shook xyr head, looking genuinely regretful that xe couldn't help. "If it had been as it was being cast, sure, but the damage is done. It's like trying to absorb the electricity after someone's been struck by lightning." Clara looked impressed, and with good reason; Vee sure seemed like xe'd been paying close attention to xyr science textbooks. "I bet I could strip Odalia of her power if I got my hands on her, though. Isn't there some way we can lead her into a trap?"
"It's an idea with potential," Raine admitted. "But I'd have to run it by Lilith; she's much better at these strategic matters than I am. We'll circle back to that at a later date, I think."
Luz felt frustrated and angry that no one was able to help Amity. That no one was willing to help Amity. The fact that they had very good reasons for this didn't make it any better. If anything, it made it worse, because she didn't have anywhere to focus her anger on. They were just talking about her like she was a pawn in Odalia's game, and even if they were technically right, that wasn't all she was! There was a good person in there. Amity liked to credit Luz with the person she'd become, but the truth was that while Luz had helped by showing her a path to her best self, it was Amity's decision to walk down that path and pursue it to its end, despite the fact that it was easier, much easier, for her to avoid it.
Surely she could do it again, right?
"I'm not participating in killing Swaard," Luz informed everyone. Most of them winced at her bluntness. They were trying to console themselves by saying that it was Odalia's doing, but it was their choice. Did Swaard deserve to die? Almost certainly, from an objective standpoint. Would Luz be sad if she killed him in self-defense? Well…yes, knowing her, but still, there was a difference between doing that and cold-bloodedly sending him to his death. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I just can't. I couldn't shoot him back in New York, and I can't do this now."
"Luz," Raine began, their voice very gentle.
"No!" Clara yelled. It was so unexpected that Luz jumped. Clara was coming to her rescue now? What, had she fallen through the looking glass or something? "If she said no, she said no. She's fifteen years old! She shouldn't have this on her conscience." She looked down at the table, looking ashamed. "I know what that's like. I killed Erik. And it was the most justified killing ever. He deserved it and if I didn't kill him right that moment, he would have killed Luz. And it still haunts me after all this time. Luz may not be pulling the trigger herself on Swaard if you get her to do this, but it will still hurt her."
Camila nodded. "You're quite right, Clara. We will not ask you to do this, Luz. Just bring her to the house and make an excuse to leave. Then I'll have Amity 'overhear' Willow and I fighting about using Swaard as a spy." Luz's stomach rolled at the thought of participating even indirectly, but it was probably the best she was going to get.
The rest of the meeting was quite uneventful by comparison. Luz was eager to get back to her hometown as quickly as possible. She had some drawings to make. She was going to get Amity's memories back by hook or by crook. Luz was not so naïve as to believe they had a connection based in true love or anything like that, but they'd been through a lot. Surely that must mean something.
As Luz was walking out the door of the conference room, someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around to see, much to her surprise, that it was Clara. "Hey, Luz, you want to hang out?" she asked, her voice timid. "I just feel like…I mean, I know you said you forgave me, but there's still this big chasm between us, and I kind of want to bridge the gap a little?"
Luz narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure whether or not being suspicious of Clara was a good idea. On the one hand, Clara was legitimately trying to do her best to change and be a good person. On the other hand, what if it was a trap of some kind? Luz thought Jessica and the other bullies had changed, only to find that they'd gotten worse in the worst way possible. "I don't know, Clara. What's in it for you?"
Clara made a disgusted face, but it wasn't Luz she was disgusted at. It was herself. Luz knew that expression. She'd seen it on her own face often enough. "Luz, I really just want us to be friends. That's all. If you don't want to, I'm not gonna force you. I'll understand."
"If you want my opinion, I think you should go, mija," Camila offered. "I think the two of you have the potential to be very good friends." She turned a fierce glare on Clara. "A potential that she squandered before." Clara gulped. Camila stepped over to Clara. "If you ever hurt my little girl again, Clara, you will experience the full power of la chancla."
Clara widened her eyes. "What's that? Luz, what's that?" Luz just gave her an angelic smile. "I promise, I'll be on my best behavior! I swear!"
"Okay," Camila said. "I believe you."
And so did Luz now. Having Clara as a friend sounded like an excellent idea, just as it had back in the past. Honestly, Luz kind of missed the old days when Clara had been sort of her friend – no, an actual friend, or at least more than a passing acquaintance. Before Clara had rejected her so cruelly. With Amity out of her life, at least in all the ways that mattered, Luz had a feeling she needed all the help she could get.
The two of them and Vee took the bus back to Luz's hometown and then got picked up at the bus station by the MacKinnon parents, who took them back to Clara's house. Vee left the two of them alone to spend time together. It was awkward at first, spending one on one time with Clara. Luz felt reluctant talking about Clara about nerdy things, for fear of being made fun of, despite the fact that Vee had informed her that Clara was into some fairly nerdy things herself. She knew she had a tendency to infodump, and she'd scared off a lot of other friends by doing it too fervently.
Eventually, Clara had decided to trot out some board and card games in an effort to give them something to do other than making awkward conversation. This proved to be the right stratagem, as it seemed to break the ice between the two of them. Luz decided to bite the bullet and talk about her love of the Animorphs series, and much to her shock, Clara turned out to be a huge fan of the series. They discussed what books they liked, who their favorite characters were, and so much more. Luz was appalled to find that Clara was not a fan of Rachel. How could you not be a fan of Rachel? Honestly. But still, in the spirit of friendship, Luz would overlook this gigantic flaw in Clara's character.
From there, the floodgates opened, and they talked about all sorts of things. Their ambitions for the future (Luz wanted to be an author, and Clara was interested in teaching). Their fears for said future (Luz was afraid of never getting Amity's memories back, and Clara was scared Vee might decide it wasn't worth having a long distance relationship and break up with her). Their mutual hatred of the last season of Game of Thrones. Normal stuff. It felt calming, in all honesty, especially given the panic and fear Amity's condition was causing Luz.
"Clara…I am so sorry I used the Empathy Spell on you," Luz blurted out later in the afternoon. It had been percolating in her head for hours. "It was a really cruel thing to do to you, especially since you've changed."
"Luz, you didn't force me or do it without my consent," Clara reminded her. "And…I needed it. I needed to see that my actions had consequences, so I'll know what's at stake if I'm tempted to backslide. Hey, don't worry about it. It's gonna be fine. We're friends now, right?"
Much to Luz's surprise, Clara was right. They were indeed friends now. It honestly felt great, especially since Luz didn't have a crush on Clara looming over her head anymore. There wasn't any pressure on her to be concerned about her feelings. It was just simple, platonic friendship. "Yeah," she said, with a wide, sincere smile. "We are. Thanks, Clara. I needed this. I just wish there was something I could do to tell Amity our story without blowing her cover. I know that if she knew it, she'd turn against Odalia."
"I wish I knew your story," Clara lamented. "I mean, I know bits and pieces, but there's so many rumors out there that it's kind of hard to really get a handle on what actually happened. And, honestly, it sounds so cool, like one of those isekai animes, you know?"
A brilliant idea occurred to Luz, and this one was the work of a certified genius. And the best (and most unusual) part was that it wasn't even dangerous in the slightest! She would make videos where she talked about her experiences in the Isles, and she'd post them online for the entire world to see. That way, Amity could watch them without having to worry about blowing her cover and know the truth about the time they shared together. Better yet, Amity could participate in the making of the videos! It wasn't as if it was an out of the ordinary thing for her to do, after all. And on top of it all, it'd be good PR for the Isles. Well…PR anyway. Wasn't there no such thing as bad publicity?
When she explained her whole plan to Clara, she was very enthusiastic. "Oh my gosh, Luz, that is such a cool idea!" Luz beamed. "So much better than your griffin model."
Luz pointed a finger at her face. "Hey, for your information, that griffin model was anatomically correct. I have seen the proof with my own eyes. I should have gotten an A on that assignment!"
"Yeah, but you didn't know that at the time," Clara reminded her.
"Technicalities!" Luz shouted with great melodrama, and Clara let out a giggle.
"You know what you should do?" Clara said. "You should totally use those illusions to set the scene, show people what the Isles looks like." Oh, that was a brilliant idea. And better yet…it provided a perfect excuse to bring in Emira. Emira had been notified of Amity's condition, but they didn't have a plausible excuse to bring her in yet. This would give them one.
Luz abruptly tackled Clara with a hug and almost knocked her to the ground. "Thanks for being my friend, Clara. You're just awesome. Vee's one hell of a lucky basilisk!"
Amity had never been more confused in her life before. For all of her mother's warnings about what horrible, degenerate criminals wild witches and those associated with them were, they didn't really do anything horrible or degenerative. Well, not the people she was spending time with. Clawthorne was back in the Demon Realm, and no doubt she was plotting the further corruption and downfall of civilization. Was it impossible, though, that everyone she'd met so far were just her unwitting pawns?
Because, honestly, as wacky as the idea sounded, it was starting to sound a lot more plausible than the alternative. Everyone had shown her so much kindness and respect since she had, from her perspective, arrived in the Human Realm. Even Edric was being nice to her. Suspiciously so, honestly; Amity kept expecting some sort of grand prank to be played on her, and it never came, and she was honestly starting to wish it would so she'd know when the other shoe would drop. But it wasn't just Edric. It was Luz and Agent Johnston's daughter and especially Mrs. Noceda. Heck, Mrs. Noceda treated her just like she was another one of her children…and, though Amity would never admit it aloud, she kind of liked the way Mrs. Noceda was treating her.
But these people were filthy degenerates, she reminded herself. And frequently, because the words were sounding more and more hollow in her mind. Why, Mrs. Noceda, despite all her kindness, had not only encouraged her daughter's homosexual activities, but was in a homosexual relationship herself with two witches, one of whom was Clawthorne.
At least she was not expected to fornicate with Luz. Amity realized, in retrospect, that she had made a massive fool of herself having expected that she was. But how was she supposed to know that? There was so much promiscuity among these heathens – two sets of polyamorous relationships, for pity's sake! It had been reasonable to expect that she and Luz had been fornicating. (And, no, she wasn't curious about what it would be like. Not even a little bit.)
In fact, Amity realized that she'd made Luz intensely uncomfortable with her seduction efforts. Luz was planning on saving herself for marriage, it would seem – a sharp contrast to what Amity had expected. Where was the debauchery? Where were the depraved lesbian orgies that Amity had not fantasized about participating in for even one second, no way, no how? It was just profoundly odd.
But Mother had made it clear that all of this was being done to lull her into a false sense of complacency. They'd lure her in with their pretty lies and their façade of respectability and then, only when it was too late, would they trap her in an inexorable web of sin and depravity. Homosexuality was a road that led only to one place, and that was eternal damnation. As the Titan had declared it, so mote it be.
(So why in the Titan's name did she get butterknifeflies in her stomach whenever she looked at Luz? WHY?!)
Mother had been keeping careful track of Amity through the enchanted promise ring, according to her. She'd been listening in on all of Amity's conversations, listening to all her thoughts. (Wasn't that…invasive? Mrs. Noceda wouldn't have done that, would she?) And she'd sensed Amity's disloyalty. She'd sensed it growing, and she was very, very displeased. (What else was new there?) Each time Amity thought a disloyal thought, she would be punished.
And so, for the next few days, a jolt of pain smashed through her brain on a regular basis, whenever she rebelled against her true path. At least, she'd assumed that at first. It wasn't an unreasonable assumption, because Amity, despite herself, did a lot of rebelling these days, especially inside her head.
Take, for example, what had happened when Luz had given her that sensational drawing of the two of them dancing at Grom. As much as it churned Amity's stomach to think of her dancing with another girl (and in an unpleasant way, obviously…or was it?), she had to admit that the two of them struck a quite a dashing pair. She thought Luz looked astonishingly beautiful in the outfit she was wearing in the drawing and it…it…oh, damn it all, she was attracted to her! It made Amity want to cry and shout in joy simultaneously, and then pain echoed through her skull.
Luz seemed to ignore her internal pain, both emotionally and physically. "Say, Amity," she said in a teasing tone, "maybe you want to tell me now who your Grom crush was?" She elbowed her conspiratorially. "You know, the person you wanted to invite to Grom but were too scared to?"
"Uh…it was you, of course!" Amity bluffed.
A flash of anger appeared on Luz's face the first time that Amity could remember, and she couldn't help but flinch. "That's – that's not funny, Amity." But as soon as she saw the look of fear on Amity's face, Luz's mood changed immediately and she did everything she could to sooth Amity. Without touching her, Amity couldn't help but note. Luz hadn't touched her at all since that embarrassing day when Amity failed to seduce her.
So, yeah, it was moments like that when Amity wasn't surprised to get shocked by Mother. But there were moments when it just seemed to happen randomly. Like, she'd been eating her breakfast, thinking about her upcoming math test, and buzz, electric shock. What was up with that? Was Mother just hurting her for fun? Surely not. Mother loved her. She wouldn't do something like that…would she? No, of course not. That was evil, and Mother was fighting for goodness and righteousness. Amity had to make sure she didn't lose track of things.
It was strange, though. Mother had been hurting Amity, sure, but she hadn't been doing anything else about Amity's sinful thoughts. She hadn't gotten any lectures about them. In fact, if Amity didn't know any better, she'd assume that…
Oh. Oh! Mother couldn't hear her thoughts at all, could she? She could only hear what she physically said. It sounded like a very wild theory, but it did fit the available evidence. That wasn't to say that Amity was right to have such thoughts. Mother may not have been able to hear them, but the Titan could, and he was preparing a slot for Amity in hell right that very moment. But, still, it did seem odd. Why would Mother lie about such a thing?
So the next time Mother contacted her, Amity decided to test her theory. I hope you have something useful to say this time, my dear, Mother said inside her head. You haven't yet provided me with much in the way of actionable intelligence. I would hate to think that my own daughter is interested in betraying me.
Am I really your daughter? Amity thought back. Or am I just a tool to you?
And nothing happened. Mother didn't react at all. That sort of thing would have gotten Amity locked in her room for days with only minimal bread and water if she'd said it to Mother's face. (Which was normal, right? Except Mrs. Noceda didn't do that…) Her theory had to be correct. Mother could not spy on her thoughts with the promise ring.
Answer me, Amity! Do it now!
"I overheard a conversation between Half a Witch Willow and Mrs. Noceda recently," Amity responded, succeeding in keeping the triumph she was feeling out of her voice. "They were arguing about whether or not to accept the defection of a man named Swaard. Mrs. Noceda was unhappy – it seems Swaard murdered her husband." She wasn't sure who this Swaard was. Perhaps it was an alias Agent Johnston was using?
There was silence in Amity's head for the better part of a minute. You have done very well, Mittens. Despite Amity's increasing doubts about her mother, Amity couldn't help but feel a surge of joy at the praise she was receiving. Continue gaining their trust. Remember, your participation in this plan could very well save our worlds.
Ordinarily, this would be a source of joy to Amity. And yet…it wasn't. Not anymore. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen to Luz and Mrs. Noceda and everyone else after Mother's plan – whatever it was – succeeded. Somehow, Amity didn't think Mother would accept the possibility of Luz being a hapless pawn of Clawthorne. And as sinful and perverted Luz's love for Amity was, it was genuine. Amity didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
The door to the apartment she was sharing with Edric opened and Luz strode in, whistling cheerfully. Perhaps a bit too cheerfully. A lot of the time, Luz's behavior with Amity had seemed…strained. As if she was trying to force herself to put on a happy face with Amity around. Amity would almost suspect Luz was suspicious had she known better. Of course, that was impossible, for Amity was a master of deception. She'd learned by watching the twins, after all, hadn't she?
"Hi, Amity!" Luz said with a cheery wave as she flopped down on Edric's sofa. One thing Amity liked about the Human Realm was the furniture. It was so much more comfortable than the furnishings she had back at Blight Manor. "Ready to get started with the brainstorming?"
Luz had pitched the idea of telling her stories as if it was an animated show, complete with Emira providing "animation" with illusions. She'd get as many of her friends and family to play themselves as possible, including Amity. Amity had no idea what an animated show was in the first place, but she had nodded eagerly nonetheless. She would call it The Owl House, and she was confident it was going to be a huge hit. Maybe even a big studio like Disney would want to do an adaptation, though Luz couldn't envision them wanting a show with a bi protagonist.
"What's that mean, bi?" Amity asked, and then cringed. Of course she was supposed to know that already!
But luckily, Luz didn't appear to notice. "Oh, it's a type of sexuality. We've got a lot of them here. So, like, there's being heterosexual or straight, like Sean and Caroline, who are just attracted to the opposite gender. And then there's being homosexual, or attracted to the same gender. Gay for men, lesbian for women, though gay can also be used as a sort of catch all term for homosexual too these days. You're a lesbian!"
Amity's eye twitched, not because she disagreed with Luz, but because she was starting to think she might be right, and her denials were sounding flimsier and flimsier to her. "Okay, and bisexual means you like both genders, right?"
"Two or more, that's right!" Luz said, looking pleased Amity had figured it out. "Another similar term is pansexual, where you like all genders, like Willow. And some people don't like anyone like that, like Gus."
"What about Avery?" Amity wondered.
Luz shrugged. "Avery doesn't do labels, though I know they just like girls. They say labels are just chains holding us down. I like labels for myself, though. I like to be able to have a firm sense of who I am." God, how Amity wished she had a firm sense of who she was. "Anyway, enough distracting me! It's time to start with the brainstorming!"
Amity cleared her throat. This was going to be an embarrassing conversation, and possibly even blow her cover, but it had to be had. "Um, I don't…quite remember all of the many adventures you had without me. I mean, it all kind of blends in together?" She gave a nervous laugh.
Luz just gave a grin. "Sure! Yeah, once you've heard about tons of near death experiences, they start blending together, don't they?" Did they? That was a disturbing thought. "Yeah, I think it'd probably help to tell the story to you as if it's the first time you've heard it – so I know how the audience may react. So! Episode one: A Lying Witch and a Warden."
And so Luz started telling her story. If Amity had any doubts that Luz was a mere hapless pawn of Clawthorne, they were completely obliterated by the end of the first "episode" alone. Clawthorne had threatened to strand Luz in another dimension, away from her home, from her mother, unless she participated in a supremely illegal prison heist to recover a powerful demonic artifact for the King of Demons. And then, on top of that, she'd masterfully manipulated Luz into trusting her and becoming her apprentice, heedless of the fact that she'd be putting this young child into constant danger!
As Luz's story went on, Amity saw a consistent pattern: Luz went on seemingly whimsical and character building adventures that were secretly plots for Clawthorne's evil rise to power. She "accidentally" sent Luz straight into the clutches of one of her enemies, then rescued her, further securing her loyalty. She used reverse psychology to get Luz to go to Hexside, disguised as Willow's abomination so she could spy on people there. And then she almost killed her in an effort to force Luz into coming up with a new form of magic, blaming it on her so-called curse, which was no doubt just an pretense for Clawthorne to hurt people.
Lilith and Clawthorne then used their combined low cunning to force Luz and Amity into a duel, both of them cheating to ensure that neither Lilith nor Clawthorne would lose their apprentices. Oh, it was crafty, making it look like they were enemies in public, while secretly plotting against Belos the whole time. How could they not be working together, even then? Lilith was Clawthorne's deputy now. It was kind of obvious. Amity wondered if it was there that Clawthorne first came up with the idea to ensorcell Amity.
Over and over again, Clawthorne manipulated Luz, and Luz had no clue. Each episode that went by, Amity watched with dawning horror as Luz got sucked into a web of sin and corruption that she had not yet escaped from. Amity wasn't sure exactly when she'd gotten sucked in, but her best guess was that it was probably sometime between the library incident and the slitherbeast incident. Certainly, despite Luz's offense at her asserting that, Amity suspected Luz had indeed been the person she wanted to ask to Grom.
The whole thing was just profoundly shocking. Luz had never stood a chance. She was as much a victim in this whole mess as Amity, probably a lot more, because as wonderful a mother as Mrs. Noceda was, she was clearly also under Clawthorne's thrall and would not rescue her daughter from the eternal damnation that awaited her. Or herself, for that matter.
"So what do you think?" Luz asked when she was finally done explaining everything, which had taken the better part of an afternoon.
"I think it's a miracle you survived all that," Amity said, completely honestly. She took a deep breath. "Luz, didn't you ever worry that you were…you know, sinful for liking girls?"
Luz grimaced. "Kind of? A little in the beginning. But we've never been a very religious family, so, you know, the whole burning in hell worry was never a factor." Lucky her. "But I figured, hey, I've never cared what people thought of me and I wasn't about to start with that. And, well, I'm an honest to goodness witch now, so if God's got a problem with me, I think it'd be about that more than something out of my control."
Amity blinked a couple of times. "Out of your control? You mean…you weren't infected with it?"
Luz flinched. She turned her head so Amity couldn't see her face, and then a few seconds later, turned it back. Her usual easygoing expression was back on it, but it was strained. "No. You're born with it. It's not a choice."
Not a choice. Well, that didn't make any sense. Mother had always said it was a choice and that it was the wrong one. That the Titan had damned everyone who chose a path of homosexuality. But perhaps that only applied to witches. Maybe, since the Titan hadn't created Luz's universe, he didn't have jurisdiction over it, and this God character did, and he had created humans to have their sexual preferences hammered in at birth. How much simpler it would have been for Amity if that was the case for her.
"Okay, so now that we've gotten a good handle on the storyline, we just need to wait for Emira to show up so we can start figuring out how we're going to animate it. She should be here any –" There was a jangle of keys and then the door to the apartment opened and Emira stormed in, looking incredibly furious, to an extent Amity had never seen on her face. " – moment," Luz finished, and then gulped.
Emira pointed at Luz's face. "What the hell were you thinking about keeping it from her?"
Luz blinked repeatedly. "We…we thought it'd be best. We really shouldn't be having this conversation in her earshot, you know."
Emira's eyes twitched. "You thought it'd be BEST?! What in the Titan's name gives you the right to make these decisions? You have no right! None at all! I am her guardian! Not you, not Edric, me!"
Amity tried to give her most reassuring smile to Emira, but Emira saw through it instantaneously. She leaned down and gave Amity a sympathetic expression, like she'd done when Amity was younger. "Amy, sweetie, how are you communicating with her?"
Oh, shit. Her cover was blown. Amity's cover was blown. "You can't do this!" Luz said frantically. "She'll be in danger!"
"No!" Emira shouted. "I won't let her hurt Amity! Not anymore! Never again! Amy, please tell me. I can protect you."
There was no good reason for what Amity did next. She was surrounded by sinners. Her mother was the only person who would protect her…right? At least Mother was trying to save her. Amity kept on telling herself that. But it must have not sunk in, because instead of continuing to deny everything, she whispered. "The ring. It's the ring. She can hear me through it. But not my thoughts. Oh, Titan, what have I done?"
Emira kissed her on the forehead. "The right thing, baby sis. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, not at all, but you did the right thing." She slid the ring off of Amity's hand, and she felt a weight she hadn't even known was there lifted off of her.
As Emira walked over to the kitchen, her expression just got more and more furious. "You listen to me right now, bitch," she snarled at Mother through the ring. "You won't have her. You won't have her ever again. You can play your little games, and trick her, but you will lose! I will keep my sister safe from you. I hope you rot in hell, you demented excuse for a witch!"
And with those words – the most vitriolic Amity had ever heard directed at Mother – Emira tossed the ring into what Edric had called the garbage disposal, and with the grinding of metal and a flash of blue light, its power was broken. Amity felt like she could breathe much better now.
Emira rushed over to her, put her back on the couch, and started cuddling her, like she did back in the old days, before she'd destroyed all the trust Amity had given her with her malicious pranks and endless teasing. "Oh, Amy. I know this has been difficult for you, but you're safe now. Mother lied to you. Everything she's told you has been a lie. Luz loves you – we all love you, and we want to keep you safe. She wiped your memories. You were free, happy, safe, and in love, and she stole that from you." Her lips tightened. "She'll die for that. I vow it to you."
Amity didn't want to believe it. But…she couldn't deny it anymore. Mother loved her power more than anything else, and Amity was just a pawn to her. She realized that now. "I believe you. I…I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should have known better."
"This was her fault," Luz asserted sharply. "Not yours. And I'm sorry I kept it from you. We all thought it'd do more harm than good…but we were obviously wrong." She gave a huge grin, much less forced than all the other grins had, in retrospect, been. "But it's okay now! We're going to get your memories back and –"
"No."
Luz blinked repeatedly. "What do you mean, no?"
Amity stood up. She was trembling. It wasn't from fear. It was from anger. "I don't want my memories back. I don't want to remember being in love, because if I do, I'll be damned to hell! Staying away from you, giving up on this sinfulness is the only way I can avoid eternal hellfire!"
"That's not true!" Luz shouted. "It's a lie! Your mom was lying to you! Belos was lying to her! Homosexuality isn't a sin! There's no such thing as hell, and Belos just pretended there was so he could keep his power." This was just a bridge too far in Amity's opinion. It was one thing to admit that Mother was the villain of this scenario. But Belos was the mouthpiece of the Titan. What Luz was saying was blasphemy.
Amity took a few steps backwards. "It was you. You infected me."
"What?"
She pointed her finger at Luz's face. "It's true! I never used to think about girls this way before I met you, and now I can't get your gorgeous – your face out of my mind!" Her hand was trembling and she put it down. "You turned me into a lesbian!"
"Would you stop it?!" Luz snapped at her. "That's not how it works!" She took a few deep breaths. "No, okay, I'm being unfair. Look, Amity, you need your memories back. You're not you without them! You're my girlfriend. And you're my friend. We've gone through so much together. Don't throw it all away."
"I don't know you, Luz!" Amity shrieked at the top of her lungs. "You're a complete stranger! I'm not your girlfriend. I'm not your friend. I don't want to have anything to do with you. Just leave me alone!"
Amity ran into her bedroom and closed and locked the door behind her, as tears flowed down her face. Emira had no doubt thought she was helping Amity by revealing the truth. But if that was her intention, it had failed. Amity was surrounded by people who loved her, and she'd never, ever felt more alone.