The still of the library clashed with the sound of our footsteps. The shadows of the lobby peaked from around every corner, the moonlight making them hide. It was odd to not see someone at the front desk but also nice. Felt good to know no one was there to yell at us for messing around.
The wailing star was supposed to fly by any minute. We weren't too sure it would help us find a way to get Amity out of the amulet, honestly, we just told the ghost that so she'd let Luz come with us, but it would still be cool to know what it did to the library when it passed by.
"A dimly lit lobby. Don't you guys know how to party?" Luz chuckled as she looked around.
"Should we let Mittens out?" Emira asked with a smirk. "Or should we have a little fun first".
The gem around Luz's neck began to flash and buzz. I could practically hear all of my little sister's angry shouting.
"Guess we're letting her out now" I said with a roll of my eyes.
"Amity, rise". Luz's words spawned the familiar burst of pink flames. When the flames disappeared, the spirit glanced around the lobby before her gaze found me and my sister.
"Really?" she huffed. "Should we have some fun first?".
"So, you heard that?" I hmmed while I glanced over at Luz.
"Hey," the human argued. "Just because she's locked in an amulet doesn't mean we should leave her out".
"Besides," Amity added. "Somebody has to keep an eye on you two".
"All you said was no vandalism. You didn't say anything about troublemaking" I reminded. "You can't expect us to break into a library and not mess around".
"Just don't forget why we're here".
As if on cue, a cry rang through the air. A bright light turned the entire lobby a loud green, the reflection of the stained-glass window above us covered the floor. A flash quickly shot through the sky creating a large tail behind it.
"Look," I called as I pointed upwards. "It's the wailing star!".
Instantly, everyone's eyes moved around the room. I didn't notice anything different, and by the looks my two sisters were giving me they didn't either. Luz on the other hand spotted something odd. She crept up to one of the nearby bookshelves, letting out an "uh," to catch our attention.
She grabbed a book and looked it over for a moment. It was glowing a lime green, just like the shooting star that had just gone by. She then opened it, causing a flock of birds to pop from the pages and brush past her.
"No way" she gasped as the sight took her breath away.
"The wailing star magiced the books to life" I murmured, just as dumbfounded.
Emira grabbed a magazine off of the rack next to her. Upon opening it, a colorful feathery dress and a hat, of course topped with plumage, replaced her red vest and legging. She spun around a bit to show it off.
"This is perfect". Amity's burning eyes widened with hope. "If we find the right book, we can just ask it how to free me".
"But first,". Emira tossed the magazine to the younger witch. It fumbled around in her hands before she got a good grasp on it. "Don't you want to try?".
"We don't have time," Amity snapped.
"We have all the time in the world," I argued with a sly smile. "You know we're planning on staying the whole night here".
When the spirit said nothing, Luz lightly bumped her on the side of the arm. Surprisingly her hand didn't phase through.
"Com 'on. It won't hurt anything".
After another moment, my sister flipped through the pages. She stopped halfway through the magazine, making a new outfit appear. It was a simple lace dress. Just like the goop she used to command; it was abomination purple. A small darker colored scarf hung from her neck along with a skinny gold necklace.
"You couldn't go for something flashier?" I teased.
"I think she looks great!" Luz jumped in. "I mean you always look great, but purple is really your color!".
Amity's cheeks flushed red. Luckily for the easily embarrassed witch, the human didn't notice. But my twin and I, on the other hand, saw it clear as day. It was hard to believe that the oh high and mighty Mittens would ever waste her time on a crush but here we were.
"She's finally growing up" I thought as a feeling of pride hung in my chest.
Emira turned towards the rest of the library. Her ear flicked as she looked onwards.
"I wonder what else we can do with this".
"There's only one way to find out" I purred.
My sister and I took off, Luz and Amity both straggling behind. Luz's inner geek led her straight to the manga section. She opened one, causing her hair to get dramatically spiky-er. On her back a giant sword was sheathed. Its massive weight made her topple over. She had to shut the book before she got back up.
Amity grabbed one for herself. The book made two sharp daggers appear in her hands. The spirit twirled them around a few times before she started doing tricks. She threw them in the air, striking daring poses as she caught them. Her battle training with Miss Lilith all naturally came back to her. It brought her back to a time before this whole fiasco.
Her human friend flinched at the blades. A bad memory flashed in her wide scared eyes. Amity soon noticed Luz's and quickly closed the book. The latter tried to apologize but the former beat her to it.
"That day she broke into school left her a few scars" I silently deduced. It was odd Luz was the one scared of knives though. Yeah she almost got cut open, but Amity was the one stabbed that day.
"Hey, Ed".
When I turned around, a flurry of snow flew into my face. I hit the ground as I rubbed it off. My sight quickly came back, my eyes going directly to the book in Emira's hands. "Snowballs: A History".
She tossed me and Luz a copy before she disappeared behind the bookshelves. I followed suit, quickly ducking behind the closest bunch of shelves. My footsteps were light and barely audible. I kept my pace swift and quick. Stopping for a moment risked getting hit.
I made it halfway down an aisle before Luz jumped out from around the corner. I had a split second to re-act, which I took advantage of. I hit the ground and fired off some snowballs, but the younger human was just as agile. She swerved to the side before pelting me with another attack.
In the midst of her celebration, she pointed a thumbs up to above the shelves. From where she was sitting above it, my little sister gave her one back.
"No fair," I puffed. "That's cheating!".
That just made the human laugh more. All her chuckling set up a great opportunity to strike, but before I could take it Emira raced up behind her and attacked first.
We spent a few hours exploring everything. The four of us split up in search of anything cool we could show anyone else. Luz ended up finding the kid section. She spotted an old book lying on the floor. I crept up behind her as she read it, curiously peeking over her shoulder.
Drawn on the pages was a small pink mouse like creature with a threaded nettle and a book. I smiled at the sight. I recognized the book right away.
"You know that book was Mittens' favorite when she was little". My sudden sentence surprised Luz. She jumped a little before she realized who was behind her.
"Really?" she awed.
"Yep. She even had a little plush Otabin".
"Do you have pictures?" Luz asked all the starry eyed.
"You bet your ass we got pictures".
"I need to see them! I'll die if I don't!".
I chuckled at that. That wasn't a bad idea. It'd be fun to go through Amity's baby pictures with Luz while Amity stood all flustered in the corner.
Luz flipped to the next page. Unlike the previous one it was covered in pen marks. Otabin's eyes were scratched out and blueish black gashes covered his body. All around him the name "Amity" was sloppily written.
"Looks like someone beat us to vandalizing" I pointed out. "I hope Amity doesn't blame us for this. She'll be pissed.
"Hey". Speak of the demon. From behind my baby sister glared at the both of us, her entire face now flushed in embarrassment. "We didn't come here just to look at books".
Sadly, she was right. We had something more important to do. Luz set the book on the wooden chair beside her. She stood it up, the book partially stayed open as it supported itself.
Amity led us to the second floor, the part of the library that had all the books on ghosts and the spirit realm. Emira was already there. She had a weathered leather book in her hands.
"I think I found something".
The four of us settled at a nearby table. Emira laid the book out in front of us after opening it. There was a small pause. For a moment I didn't think anything was going to happen, but then flames began flying out of the pages. They all built up in the air, then parted to the side.
An old rotting spirit hovered in front of us. Their eyes, just like Amity's, shone like a candle. Their stained fangs stuck out, since the lips hiding them had turned to dust. The sight made a chill shoot up my spine, but not for the reason you'd think.
"Would Amity look like that one day?". My quiet question physically hurt. Just the thought of my little sister someday looking like that…
"Forgive me if you find my appearance quite hideous". The phantom's voice was worn down by time. I flinched in shock. It was as if she knew what I was thinking. "I know a ghost's appearance can frighten some".
The ghost noticed me glance at Amity. They could feel the bit of pain my worry caused me. Yet instead of pity the phantom simply stared at me.
"You will always see her as you did when she was alive. If you were an oracle you would know that, but none of you are. What are you doing reading something like this?".
"We're trying to help our sister" Emira spoke up, her voice confidently clear. "Our mother attached her to an amulet, and we want to help free her".
"You wish to help her to the spirit realm? Is that what you're asking?".
"Yes" Amity answered. Just like her big sister, her voice was also strong. "I want to move onto the spirit realm, but I can't stray too far from this amulet. Can you help us?".
"It takes a powerful oracle to attach a spirit to something, one that is more powerful than the soul itself. But there are more powerful things out there than even that. That power would be enough to pull you from your hold, and you could move on".
"Like what?" Amity pressed. "Do you know anyone who's strong enough?".
"Bonds can be quite strong. Is there anyone you're very close with? A family member or a lover".
Amity deflated like a balloon. I'd never seen a witch look so lonely.
"I mean, I love my siblings and Eda, Luz, and King are great too but I don't think I'm that close enough to anyone that our bond would be stronger than mom".
"There has to be another way," Luz pushed in. There was a desperate hope shining in her eyes. The phantom shook their head.
"There is not. You must find someone you are bonded with, and that someone must then go to the spirit realm".
"So what, you're saying is she needs to get really close to someone who then has to die?" I incredulously shouted. "There's no other way at all?!".
"Me saying it over and over again won't make you accept it. Only you can do that. Now do you have any other questions?".
"No". Amity's voice was now weak and broken. "Thank you for your time".
Emira closed the book, then let out a sigh. The look she gave our little sister was heartbreaking. My frown matched her's. That news had to've hit Amity like a rabid griffin.
"Amity?".
Luz held her hand close to her ghostly friend's shoulder. She cautiously moved it closer, as if Amity might've turned around and bit her at any moment, before she finally grabbed it. She moved Amity's attention to her. She locked the witch in place so she could comfort her as much as she could.
"You know you'll always have a home with us" she hushed.
"But one day you'll have to move on to the spirit realm. Then what am I supposed to do?".
"We might not always be here," Luz admitted with a sigh. "But there will always be someone there to care about you, and we aren't going to ever stop".
The human grabbed Amity's hands, a white tooth smile urging her to cheer up.
"Repeat after me. We can fix this together". Amity stayed quiet, prompting Luz to say it again. "Go on. We can fix this together".
"We can fix this together". Despite how awkward she felt, a small smile appeared. For the hundredth time of the night, Amity's face flushed.
"You seeing this" I whispered as I leaned towards Emira.
"Oh yeah" she whispered back. "Mittens' got it bad".
Luz's grin quickly fell while a distant noise rang through the air. Someone was shouting. Their voice was throaty, and their speech was slow and drained. A panicked agony made their cry crack like a shattering vase.
The noises it was making almost sounded like…a name! They were calling someone's name, though none of us could make out whose name it was.
"Time to go" Emira ordered while she tried to sneak out of the aisle. She stopped for a moment. The loud noise had suddenly ceased.
We were all hesitant to move until we heard the cries start again. They told us where the stranger was, and where we didn't want to be.
Suddenly a bunch of large thuds came bounding towards us. A large claw filled hand hooked around the corner, scooping Emira up. My twin let out a howl of her own while a giant beast held her up to his face.
He was grotesque. Huge masses covered his body including a huge hump on his back. Both his finger and toenails were long and curled as if he never clipped them, a similarly yellow fang poked out of his maw. But most notably was his ears and what color he was.
He was a lighter pink with long floppy ears, just like Otabin. And just like the marked-up page we found, his eyes were scratched out and he was covered in gashes.
Otabin threw Emira to the ground as if she were a piece of trash. She harshly hit the ground, rolling over a few times. The beast then stared at the rest of us. When his eyes landed on Amity they went wide.
That's whose name he was calling out. He was looking for Amity!
"Get Amity out of here!" I yowled as I jumped in between them and Otabin. "Now!".
"What about you?" Amity shouted back.
Otabin leapt towards me. He dug his nails into my side, my skin tearing underneath them.
"Run, Amity! Get out of here!" I begged.
At the sound of her name, the beast abandoned me. Otabin tried to race towards my younger sister, but I moved the shelf in between the two with my magic. It collapsed on top of him, the falling books blinding him for a few seconds.
I used the time to retreat back to Emira. She was struggling to stand up, stuck on her hands and knees. One of her arms was pressed up against her chest. Her breathing made it heavily rise and fall.
I grabbed her underneath the arms and drug her away. As quickly as I could, I propped her up. She tried to say something but her words had to push past her shaky breath.
"It's okay," I reassured in a rush. "Just, don't move!".
Before she had the chance to respond I bolted in the other direction. It didn't take that much time to move Emira to somewhere safer, but it was enough time for something disastrous to happen. Who knows what the hideous monster had done to both Luz and Amity?
I found both of them cornered into the wall. Despite her being the alive one of the two, Luz stood bravely in front of her friend. She had her arm lifted up like she was trying to tame Otabin.
"You want to see Amity? She's right here".
"Luz!" Amity whisper shouted. "What are you doing?!".
"Trust me" she pressed while she momentarily looked behind her. "See? Amity's right here. But you have to be nice".
Otabin slowly crept up to the spirit. He began to snivel as tears fell from his missing eyes.
"Amity?" he sniffled.
"Hi buddy". Said witch melted. She softened as if she were talking to a small child. "It's me".
"Amity? Why did you leave?".
Amity held her breath for a second. A lump of sadness made it harder for her to answer.
"I didn't want to but…sometimes accidents happen and…well".
"I miss you! I want you to come back!". A small tear ran down Amity's face.
"I wish I could, but I can't".
"Please, Amity! Don't go! Please!". Otabin's weeping hit Amity hard. More and more tears escaped her eyes.
"I'm so sorry. I can't come back for story time anymore" Amity's voice was shaky and as fragile as glass. "But no matter what, I will always be your friend".
"Really?".
"Of course,".
My younger sister leaned up against Otabin's giant hand. She wrapped her arms around it, causing Otabin to pull her closer. As the large beast continued to bawl, Amity gently shushed him. She sat with him while the sun rose in the distance. The green hue around the grieving giant disappeared, before he faded back into his book.
I admit it. I got teary eyed too. I don't think I'd ever seen Amity so happy then when she was reading to the kids. It was clear she really missed them, and it turned out they really missed her too.
I walked over to my sister's side and put my hand on her back. In response she latched onto me. Her grasp shook while she let all of her sadness out. I was hesitant to move. If it were just the three of us, I would have sat there as long as Mittens needed me to.
But we needed to get back to Emira. The younger witch was probably worried sick.
"Amity" she called, fear overwhelming her as soon as she saw our little sister. "What's wrong? What happened?".
"I'll tell you when we get back to the manor" I murmured. I carefully lifted her up to her feet. It knocked the wind out of her, but she was able to stand steady.
"Are you ready to go?" Luz questioned.
Amity had calmed herself down by the time we made it back to Emira, but she still had to fight the additional sob threatening to break out.
"Yes" she simply answered before bringing her attention to us. "Thanks for helping me out tonight".
"No problem" Emira wheezed. "It's our job to take care of you. We are family after all".
"We'll call you the first chance we get," I added. "And we'll keep looking for another way to bust you out. There has to be more than one way".
After a small siblingly hug, Amity went back into the amulet. The silence that filled the room right afterward just felt so… haunting.
We both said our goodbyes to Luz, then began our very long walk back to the manor. My twin and I ached, both physically and mentally. Despite our injuries our mind was on Mittens. Everything was looking pretty bleak for her.
But a thought nagged at the back of my mind. As the recent memory of Luz comforting our sister resurfaced, I got this really strange feeling. It was obvious my sister thought the world of Luz, and she was quickly growing on the human. Maybe…
Who knew? So many crazy things had happened that month and it didn't look like that was going to change. It was best to just take everything one step at a time, to see where the future led us.