I don't think I'd ever seen the marketplace so busy. Witches and demons crowded both sides, everyone having to squeeze around each other. It was a good thing Emira and I weren't staying long. We were just going to grab a few things before we met up with our little sister at the refuge.
Other than the scare with Katif, she had been doing really well living with the owl lady and Luz. She even said her and Willow started reconciling after conjuring night. I can't believe they were actually able to bring Amity back to life for a short amount of time. And even more surprisingly she was completely cool with being in a trance all night.
Amity was pretty lucky. If we would've been in control of her, we would've made her do the most embarrassing things possible.
"What did mom want us to pick up again?" I asked my twin. She quickly weaved around someone before answering.
"Mom wanted toad's fungus incense. She says it'll help with the stress".
Of course, mom flipped when she couldn't find the amulet. Someone kidnapped her kid. Her precious witchling assassin, her successor, had disappeared without a trace. In spite of the heavy interrogation, we both got, she didn't seem to suspect it was us. Though she didn't really make what she thought that clear.
"Stress," I repeated with a roll of my eyes. "It must be horrible not being able to abuse your child".
"Yeah" Emira chuckled back. "Now all she's got is the other two".
"Not the other two. They'll never amount to anything".
"They'll never be an angry little dork like their sister".
We both took a moment to laugh. After years of mom's sugar-coated disappointment, we learned not to feel too upset about it. Who needs the praise of a hellhoundish businesswitch anyways?
"Best just to do what she says. Don't want a half-an-hour lecture".
"Or worse," I added. "Maybe she'll try to put us inside of amulets too".
"Do you really think mom would kill her own kids?". When I didn't answer, Emira continued. "You're right. We shouldn't risk it".
Suddenly Emira stopped. Her golden eyes went wide as if she had spotted some rare beast. I followed her gaze, finding a group of three Hexide students. I only recognized one, a gray, spotted construction track student with a scar over his eye.
"Surprised to see Katif out in public after the ass beating Luz gave him" I joked to Emira. She didn't respond to my words or the small shove I gave her. She just kept on staring.
"Em?" I prodded. "Are you good?".
Still nothing. The only thing she heard at that moment was Katif's conversation.
"I don't know what that human's problem was. I just went up to her to talk and she got pissed at me".
"Didn't it have something to do with Amity?" a witch next to him asked.
"Yeah. I swear she…". Katif grimaced as he shoved his finger into his ear. "Her and Amity…". He dug into it like he was trying to pull something out.
The name Amity irritated his ear every time he heard it. Or more accurately, the name Amity made the worm inside his ear irritate him every time it heard it.
From what Amity said about that night, it was safe to assume that the owl lady had one put in while Amity walked in her former schoolmate's nightmare.
"Never mind" he finally spat. "It's just a shame she's on that hellhound's side. I mean honestly, name one person who isn't glad she's dead. I'll wait".
His last comment made Emira spring to life. In a few bounds she raced up to the younger witchling, snatching the collar of his shirt and holding him up. She flashed her fangs, warning him not to say another word.
I was right behind her. As I ran, I called out her name over and over again, begging her not to do anything rash.
"Haven't you learned your lesson yet you titandamn cerberus?! Leave my sister alone!".
"I don't think I'm bugging her much. I think she's a little too busy being dead to be bothered".
"She may be dead but I'm alive enough to kick your ass. Talk bad about my sister again, I dare you!".
"Emira, no" I pleaded as I tugged on her arm. "Luz already did the ass kicking, so let's just go".
"No!" Emira hissed back, her eyes refusing to leave the cocky witchling in her grasp. "I'm tired of him saying nobody loved Amity. I love Amity! And I'm done standing by while this sorry excuse for a witch keeps spitting on her name!".
"I don't see why I should stop," Katif growled back with a smug grin on his face. "She was a burden to everyone. Would you really care about someone like that if she wasn't your sister?".
The answer to that question disturbed me. What would our thoughts of Mittens be like had she not been family? We probably would've just chalked her up as some prissy kid, training to be another uptight witch like our mom or her mentor. We would've never known the different side of her, the loveable nerdy side of her.
But neither Em or I would ever wish death on someone, no matter how much of a hellhound they acted like. That's just horrible!
"And what about you?!" Emira shouted. "Unlike Amity, I don't give a shit about you".
"Then why are you so angry? Did I hurt your feelings?". At that, my sister threw Katif to the ground. She stomped on his chest, knocking the wind out of him and pinning him down with her foot.
"Emira!" I cried in surprise. I grabbed her arm again and pulled her off the witchling. "What's gotten into you?!".
"I told you not to badmouth my sister" she snarled as if I wasn't there.
"Stop! Emira, please! This isn't like you!". My begging finally moved Emira's attention to me. Her glower instantly fell, the hurt in her eye's doubling. "Please. Let's just get to the refuge".
She tried to look back over at Katif, but I didn't let her. I held the side of her face, making sure her gaze didn't leave me.
"Let's go to the refuge," I repeated. "They're waiting for us there".
My sister let all of her anger out with a deep breath. Gently, she moved my arm away from her and started walking forwards. She refused to look back at the scene she was leaving behind, but I had a few words of my own for the younger witch.
"You keep going on and on about how Amity's dead. It's time to stop living in her shadow".
As he rose to his feet, Amity's old rival said nothing. He simply glared at me and dusted himself off. I decided to leave it at that. Believe me, I wasn't too happy with him either, but I was more concerned about Emira than I was some trash talking twerp.
The both of us stayed completely silent until we made it into the woods. My twin didn't look interested in talking about what had just happened, but it wasn't healthy for her to ignore it either.
"What was that back there?".
"I wish I knew," she admitted. Fear subtly lined her voice. "But I'm glad you were there. I'm afraid of what I would've done if you weren't".
"Don't talk like that, Em. I'm sure you wouldn't've done anything too bad".
"I wanted to. I really wanted to".
I slowed my sibling to a stop by grabbing her shoulder. I kept my voice as quiet and calm as I could.
"Even the sanest of people lose it sometimes. It's been a really rough couple weeks, and he was trying to set you off".
"I guess," Emira murmured. "Titan, things must be bad if you have to be the voice of reason".
"When am I not reasonable?" I hmphed hoping to lighten the mood. Emira didn't respond, instead taking a minute to swim in her thoughts.
"Do you think I'm a bad sister?".
"Where the hell did that come from?!".
"It's just, I don't think Amity even knew I cared about her half the time. I mean, I should've told her more". Emira looked towards the sky in an attempt to keep her tears in.
"Well, do you think I'm a bad brother?". My question made my sibling flinch.
"Of course, I don't. Why would I?".
"I'm Amity's sibling too, and I treated her about the same as you did. Do you think I'm a bad brother?".
Emira didn't respond. Her certainty had faded away, along with her previous answer. She just didn't know what to say.
"I know. It's much easier to blame yourself than it is to blame me" I sighed. "I can't answer for Amity, but you've always been a great sister to me".
My twin flicked her ear, silently thanking me. A couple of tears ran down her face as she filled with relief.
At a split in the pathway, my sister and I abandoned the trail, diving deep into the brush. It didn't take long for the two of us to find broken branches and trampled down grass, both signs that Luz had beaten us to our destination. I figured she would. Unlike us, she had finished all of her errands by the time we called.
Soon we found a small clearing full of stones. They all ranged in sizes though we instantly b-lined to the largest boulder there.
With the help of a levitation spell, I shoved it to the side revealing an opening. We were barely able to squeeze through it, but we both made it to the much larger space underneath us. It was ridden with glowing stones. A slight chill hung in the air along with some stalactites.
"Is it just me?" I said as I popped my back. "Or is it getting harder and harder to get down here?".
"We definitely aren't little kids anymore" Emira replied, popping some joints of her own.
Up the way, Luz and Amity were sitting on a large stone. The former had cast a few light spells that surrounded them. They noticed us approaching and hopped down.
"It's about time" Amity greeted, stopping in front of us.
"We told you we had errands," Emira greeted back. "Nice to see you haven't gotten any less impatient".
"So, what have you two been up to lately?" I asked, having no clue how they'd answer.
"Not much since the moonlight conjuring," Luz responded. "It's been pretty peaceful".
"Peaceful? Luz, just yesterday you almost got eaten by a swarm of fairies because you changed your perfume".
The human rubbed the back of her neck as embarrassment. She chuckled.
"At least we got a fairy pie out of it".
"Was it any good?" I questioned, genuinely curious.
"We didn't have any. Us humans can't digest bones and Amity can't have normal food".
"It didn't look very good though. Eda's not the best chef" my little sister added. "What have you two been up to?".
My attention wandered to Emira. Her eyes instantly fell to the ground. I said nothing. If what happened earlier was to be brought up, she would be the one to do it.
"There was…an incident at the market this afternoon".
"Is everyone alright?". Luz's question made Emira's ears flatten.
"No one got too hurt," I answered for her. "Katif got kicked in the chest though".
"Katif," Amity snarled. "Of course, he had to be involved".
"What did he do this time?" Luz scoffed.
"He said some shitty stuff about Amity, so I… sort of… jumped him".
"You attacked Katif!" Amity howled in shock. She didn't seem angry, yet her shouting still got to her older sister.
"I mean, so have we" Luz jumped in when she noticed Emira's discomfort. "You tore out his eye in his dream, with your bare hands even".
Amity finally looked over towards Emira, spotting how hurt the witch looked about it. She let out a sigh while she silently reprimanded herself.
"I'm just surprised, that's all. I don't think I've ever seen you get angry before, let alone get violent".
"She's never lost a loved one before" I pointed out, trying to be as calm as I could. "She literally watched you die".
"And Katif is very good at pissing people off," Luz continued.
"I know," Amity grumbled. "I'm really starting to regret not tearing out his other eye".
When Emira stayed silent, Amity went on. "You said you wanted to talk about something. Something concerning the library, right?".
"Right". Emira's voice was softer than she probably wanted it to be. "The wailing star's tomorrow night, and rumor has it, it has a special effect on the library".
"So what? You two want to break into the library tomorrow night?".
"No," I answered excitedly. "We want the four of us to sneak into the library tomorrow night".
"No". Amity's answer didn't surprise me. Breaking in sounded fun, and that witch was against any form of that.
"Com 'on, Mittens. It's not as if you could get fired anymore".
"Fired?" Luz turned towards the spirit next to her, asking for her to elaborate. "You used to work at the library?".
"At the kids' corner" my older sister confirmed. "She read to them a few times a week, then did some tidying up until Malphus let her go home".
The human's brown eyes lit up like a light spell, excitement making them go wide.
"You read to kids? I knew you had a sweet side!".
"It was for extra credit" Amity argued, quickly getting flustered. Her face turned tomato red.
"You can drop the griffin shit, Mittens. We all know you're a softy". Emira's laugh was soon joined by mine.
"She's not just a softy" Luz purred. "She's our softy".
Amity grew even more red. She flung her hands over her face as an attempt to hide it.
"Look. We aren't just going there to screw around" Emira pressed. "The wailing star might help us find a way to break you free from the amulet".
"Haven't you asked any oracles?".
"We've only found one that we trust" I sighed, my enthusiasm faltering. "He knows mom, but he hates her guts. Says she's not a real oracle".
"And…" Amity pressed impatiently.
"He's looking into it, but we haven't heard anything from him since".
"Then this is our chance" Luz agreed, her gaze moving towards her ghostly friend. "We should go".
"You're seriously okay with breaking in– Oh right, I forgot you were a criminal".
"And so are you now," Luz reminded while trying, and failing, to poke Amity in the arm.
"Fine," my little sister groaned with a roll of her starry eyes. "But no vandalism, WHATSOEVER".
"Yes, we get it. No fun allowed" Emira huffed jokingly. "Meet us at the library at eleven tonight".
"But that's after hours. Shouldn't the doors be locked?". Luz's question made the both of us chuckle.
"Don't you worry about that, cutie. Edric and I will handle that".
"We better get going, Em". It pained me to say it but it was true. "Mom's waiting for us".
The mention of the wicked woman made Amity's annoyance freeze. Her worry made it hard for her to speak.
"She hasn't been too hard on you two, right?".
"She's been about as bad as she's always been, maybe a little more on edge. Nothing we can't handle, though" I reassured.
"We'll see you tonight, Mittens". Emira's voice grew soft and comforting. "Hopefully we can find a way to help you".
"Hopefully" Amity murmured. She then nodded at Luz, signifying she was ready to be put back into the amulet. "See you tonight".
It was still pretty painful to see the fire engulf her, to see her disappear. Hurt hung in the air along with silence. The three of us stood in it for a moment without saying a word.
Then Luz spoke.
"Don't worry, Amity" she told the stone around her neck. "You'll be free someday. I just know it".
…
"Children?".
Just the sound of my mother's voice made me shiver. From that one word, I could tell her patience was paper thin. We had just walked through the front door of the manor for titan's sake. It was like mom could smell our fear.
"Yes mom?" my sister and I answered in unison.
"Have you got the incense I asked for?".
Titandammit. What happened in the marketplace earlier that day made me completely forget why we were there. I shared a glance with Emira. She'd obviously forgotten too.
"There was an incident in the marketplace". The look mom gave Emira made my heart stop. The distrust in her icy eyes mixed with a hatred I'd never seen before.
"An incident?" she growled.
"Katif, a witch Amity used–".
"I know who he is. What about him?".
"We saw him at the market today with a few of his friends" I continued, trying to pull my mother's attention away from my twin. "He was talking about Amity. What he said was…awful to say the least so…".
"I attacked him".
I couldn't help but gape at the witch next to me. Why would Emira just admit that out right, especially with the way our mom had been acting recently?
"You attacked him?".
"He called Amity a burden. He said nobody cared about her, and I just lost it". My sister refused to take her eyes off our mother. Though shame radiated off of her, she hid her fear rather well.
"That's no excuse, Emira!". Her voice exploded in anger, shocking both of us. She was never that quick to let her emotions show. "You should have more self-control than that! What are you, an animal?".
"I'm sorry mom. I'll see it doesn't happen again".
Emira's apology cooled mom's rage. She suddenly realized she'd just had an outburst of her own that she quickly stifled.
"Emira. Go to your room and stay there for the night. Don't bother coming down for supper".
"But mom she–". Emira stopped my cries with her hand. She shot me a concerned glare before nodding to our mother and climbing the stairs.
I followed her, all the while I kept my eyes on mom. The way she stared at her daughter brought me back to the night we took Amity to the Ovises. We didn't see what happened, but the sounds of Amity's screams were ingrained in my head. I could hear them as clearly as I did that night.
In that moment, I was certain. Mom wanted to hurt Emira, just like she had hurt her other daughter. And the scariest part of all, Emira had no amulet to hide in.