Education at its finest
"Eda, I have no idea how this helps me with learning Magic... but I do know it's incredibly depressing" Luz was knee deep in trash and bile that Eda made the washed-up slug spit out. No matter how many of these things they found, they were always filled with human trash. She was picking out anything she thought she could fix or looked useful, whereas Eda was busy chucking whatever was intact in a pile to collect. "My teaching may be unconventional, but so is wild magic! Besides..." The older witch's tone shifted from almost a sales pitch to a questioning tone. "You still have the light spell to play around with, right?" Luz sighed, "Yeah... It works on every surface, depending on how large the circle is it varies, but I also noticed it will change depending on what I'm picturing when summoning it!" Luz was about to continue to explain the finer points of her experiments with the glyph, but Eda suddenly cut her off with a yell. "Haha yes! Another black box of sadness... intact too" she was holding up a small TV in good condition. "Sorry Luz, what were you nerding out about?" She asked casually, earning a squinting glare from the younger girl. "Never mind, I'm going to go for a walk..."
Before Eda could protest or agree Luz had already trudged off, she debated for a moment going after her but that thought was quickly dispelled when the slug gave another violent heave, and more trash came flowing out. "Haha I can smell the snails... Urk... not the worse smelling snails but, not the best" She gagged and went right back into her trash picking, this was their main source of income after all.
As Luz walked through the forest she thought back on the last couple of days, its been just over a week now since she arrived here, and it seemed at every turn Eda has something better to do than teach her magic. I'm her apprentice but I feel more like her assistant... Or slave She couldn't help but let out a pent-up sigh of frustration, pulling off her beanie and running her hands through her hair to help sooth her a little bit plus between the trash diving and heat of the day she was getting her beanie wet with sweat. Tonight I'll tell her how I feel... I'll show her the different things I've figured out with the light glyph and maybe then she will see I can't do much more with it, I need to le- her thoughts were interrupted by a frustrated sounding huff on the other side of some of the bushes and trees she was walking near.
Curious, she crept over to the bush and peeked around a tree to see what was happening, in the small clearing was a girl she could only assume was her age. She was of similar height, if not a bit shorter with dark navy hair that flared out at the bottom just above her shoulders. She was pale like Eda with a rounder face and large round glasses, making it difficult to see her light green eyes, she had a medium size build as if she worked out. What is she doing out here? WIth... Ugh that Luz stuck her tongue out at the purple goop that the girl was trying to control, only able to get it to rise before it started to shake and fall back down into the cauldron, she was transporting it in. "Ugh! Why can't I just get this …" The green haired girl let out another frustrated huff as the abomination dropped back down into goo for what felt like the seventh time today.
Just as Luz was debating on introducing herself, she sunk deeper into the bush to get a better look at what was stomping its way into the clearing. Another goopy abomination, ay dios mío, why are they so popular Luz shuddered a bit remembering being tossed around by the one on her first deliveries and how terrible it felt. As she got a better view she saw the large purple mass walk into the clearing, stopping just short of the green haired witch, whose demeanor had completely changed. It was a mix of fear, anger and something Luz couldn't put her finger on, either way the witches seemed to know each other. Oh... they are wearing the same thing? she couldn't be more interested in the situation, hoping that she could get some answers.
The other girl finally spoke, her tone cold and calculated, "It looks like your compound is incorrect, didn't you study the mix?" her eyes only then pulled away from the book she was reading, Luz couldn't quite make out the title. The other girl was sitting on the shoulder of her abomination, peering down at the other witch with intense golden eyes, she looked to be the same age, potentially older judging by the air of superiority she gave off. Her green hair went down to the middle of her back, brown roots showing where her hair was half pulled up, somehow the girl's hair managed to look both wild but well cared for. She was slender and looked to be built athletically, Luz was admiring her different aesthetic but the next words out of her mouth caused Luz to refocus on the situation.
"Of course, I did!" The dark-haired witch called, frowning and looking towards her abomination avoiding the other witches piercing golden eyes. "Listen, we both know you aren't good at this Willow, why don't you save yourself the embarrassment and drop out now? There is no way you'll pass this and the entrance exam... I'm not even sure how you made it this far" before Willow could answer the green haired girl spun her finger in a circle, making her abomination resume walking, "Seriously, you don't need more failures, everyone already calls you half a witch Willow. Do yourself a favour" her words were cold and venomous, the 'nickname' clearly struck a deep cord in Willow as her eyes welled up and she faced the ground. Hands clenched tight at her sides, when the green haired witch was finally gone, she let out a groan and held her face in her hands.
"Why can't I do this? How am I so worthless that I can't do even this right, I studied so much and I'm still a failure!" Willow whisper yelled, her voice filled with resentment and anger. Luz took a deep breath and was starting to stand up when she noticed that around the witch's foot were green vines, she gasped and went to tell Willow to look out thinking it was a creature of the boiling isles. However, before she could make that move the girls' eyes snapped up and focused on Luz, making her freeze in place, her eyes were a glowing angry green. I've never seen Eda do that before the human thought with a gulp, putting her hands up towards the witch trying to let her know she was harmless. "Oh... Sorry" was all the girl mumbled before her eyes went back to normal and the vines retracted into the earth.
"So, you saw that whole thing?" Willow asked as Luz stepped out from the brush, her hand rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "I didn't mean to spy, I'm new here and I wanted to introduce myself to you but then that other girl came and I didn't know if you were both friendly and -" Willow cut her off with a small giggle, finding the rambling amusing. "It's okay, I'm sorry you had to see that... you uh said you are new here?" Willow asked with a small tilt of her head, her eyes clearly on Luz's human ears. Oh no... she mentally face palmed, she had taken her beanie off and pocketed it when she was walking. "Ah.. Haha yeah, I came from the human realm, I'm here to learn magic!" she proclaimed, hoping that it sounded normal enough. "Oh, neat, I didn't know human could do magic!" that's it? I mean... okay! That's it! "Uhh I can't really, not in the same way anyways but I'm learning a lot still and I can do this..." Luz let her voice trail off as she bent down to the ground to draw in the dirt, receiving a questioning look from the witch.
Luz used her finger to draw out the light glyph she had discovered the other day, just a small one to show her point, she knew it was the most basic spell out there, but she had pride in it. As the little light floated into the air Willow leaned forward to take a better look at it, "Oh... That's strange! Well, welcome to the Boiling Isles. Are you planning to go to school here?" SCHOOL! Yes, I was right those are uniforms! Why didn't Eda mention this? Luz felt like she was asking that question a lot the last few days. "I didn't even know there were schools here!" Luz almost yelled, getting excited about the prospect of a magical academy where she could learn the mytic arts. "Your mentor never mentioned Hexside? Or Glandous? Maybe Saint Epiderm? Those are some of the main schools here, both high school and college." Luz's mouth was watering with all this new information about the isles, she wish she brought her notebook.
"I have so many questions!" Luz took a step forward, stars in her eyes as she stared at Willow who was only able to laugh at the situation, not sure how she went from getting told to drop out to having a Q&A with a human. "I'd love to but, I have to get to class, like you heard we have our exam … and I need to go fail" She said with a heavy sigh, causing the humans smile to falter. "Hmmm what if you didn't fail? I've had a few run ins with these things, they're like weird people and I will have you know, I am a very weird people" Luz said as she wiggled her eyebrows, the offer catching Willow off guard. "Think of it as pre-payment for all the questions you are going to answer for me, hm?" Can't be that hard right? "I-I guess that wouldn't be a terrible idea, my fathers will kill me if I fail this... Well, they'll at least be disappointed, there is a lot of work in this field." Willow mumbled the justification, but all Luz heard was the approval. "haha yes! I'm Luz by the way, Luz Noceda, apprentice of the great Owl Lady!" Ahh whoops... too excited
If Willow had caught who her mentor was she didn't make a comment on it to Luz's relief, "Pleasure Luz, I'm Willow Park! If we are going to make this work, we need to get to work asap, I have someone who can help us!" she happily replied, gesturing for her new human friend to follow her. "Here Luz, climb in, be one with the goo. You are going to be a teenage abomination after all!" Even though Luz offered it she still groaned mentally and climbed her way into to large cauldron of goo, as she settled into it and covered herself up she had a small realization. "This is way different than the other goo I encountered the other day" Willow picked up the cart that was holding her project and quirked an eyebrow up before remembering Luz was new here. "Oh that's easy! All abominations have a different composition, you can make special compositions that have different attributes, I needed to just make the basic so its sort of rubbery... what did the one you touch feel like?" She wondered, starting to push the cart towards school. "Oh uh... It felt cold, wet, sticky and would leave this residue on my hands or wherever it touched... Uhh thinking about it makes me sick" She shuddered and rubbed her goo covered arms in comfort. "Yuk, that doesn't sound like something I would ever want to encounter" Willow agreed with Luz's disgust.
After some time of idle chatting about her current school track and why it was important to her parents, and how the school system is a lot like the coven system Eda told Luz about. Soon they arrived, going around the back where Willow had messaged her friend on a magical floating scroll. Luz was fascinated by its ability to disappear and reappear with nothing more than a flick of Willows finger, the reaction to it made Willow laugh, the way Luz was reacting was like a child seeing these things for the first time. Willow let out a small gasp as their principal rounded the corner, he was never here this early and why would he be taking the back way into the school, he always avoided where the sports teams were due to their rowdiness. "Ah Hi! Principal Bump, good morning" Willow panicked, which had caused Luz to duck down as much as she could into the cauldron hoping their plan hadn't already failed. "Hello Willow, why are you back here? Looking guilty?" Luz couldn't see the principal, but he sounded like a strict guy. "I-I-" Willow stuttered and before she could get another answer out the apparent principal disappeared with a faint poof "Ahh Willow you should have seen your face!" A boy's voice rang out, his chuckle indicating to her he was close by. "Agustus! I was terrified, I already ran into Amity, I didn't need to run into Bump too!" She whined, looking at her friend as he approached still chuckling, "Well, I didn't mean to scare you but uhh... I did get you! It was sort good, right?" He smiled up at his friend, who quickly caved and giggled nodding along with him. "Yeah okay, that you did... Now I want you to meet our new friend and my abomination project! Luz!" Willow pointed to the cauldron with renewed energy, when Luz popped out of the cauldron the shock on his face was evident.
Luz couldn't help but laugh with Willow at the boy's reaction, his eyes were wide, and he was stammering random things, but nothing seemed to be coherent. "Human!" He finally got out, pointing at Luz, still just starting in awe of the round eared being in front of him. The boy standing before Luz was definitely younger, his voice had cracked slightly when he yelled 'human' at her, he was almost the same height as willow but had a much darker completion. Luz was a Dominican American Latina, but his skin was still shades darker than her caramel coloured skin. He had short tightly curled afro hair that he had started to twist at the end to style into a couple points across his hair, almost giving it a wave. He had a uniform matching Willow and 'Amity' but instead of purple sleeves and pants it was light blue. After a moment of nothing following the 'human' comment Luz leaned forward and looked into his big dark brown eyes I don't think he's blinked yet... Willow beat Luz to the punch and waved a hand in front of his face, trying to bring him out of his thoughts.
As Agustus was pulled from his thoughts Luz extended a hand out to him, "Hey Gus! It's nice to meet you, I'm Luz, Luz Noceda!" A nickname! A human nickname! I'm going to die. His thoughts were jumbled and loud but he was finally able to make his body function, reaching over and shaking Luz's hand, cringing at the feeling of the abomination goo squishing between their hands. "Bleh... I need an explanation, and LUZ, I have SO MANY QUESTIONS I'm the president of the 'Human Appreciation Society' your local H.A.S!" As soon as the goo was gone from his hand, the stars returned to his eyes and he stared at Luz with big eyes, as if pleading for her to answer all of his questions. "Oh well... Of course, I'm more than happy to share, Willow will you do us the pleasure of filling him in on the plan?" Luz sunk back into her spot in the cauldron, kind of enjoying the weird feeling, "Yes Ma'am! Alright, Agustus"- "Gus" quickly interjected, liking his new nickname. "Oop... Alright, Gus Luz has offered to help me pass my abominations test, she can play the part and mostly look the part … " she trailed off hoping Gus would pick up what she was asking, "and I can finish the look with my illusion... Riiiisky" Gus was rubbing his chin, staring between Luz and Willow. "Exactly! What do you say?" both Willow and Luz were eyeing him hopefully. "Ah what the heck! I'll help, I'll have my illusion clone take notes for that period" In an instant Willow was giving him a big hug and Luz was cheering from the cauldron. "Alriiight! Yes Gus!" Luz cheered, smearing more abomination goo on.
The trio spent the rest of the time before their first class discussing the plan, Luz just had to do what Willow commanded and stick to the plan. I got this.. Luz stretched her limbs out and then dunked herself back into the goo, ready for transport to Willows class, trying to pretend the feeling in her chest was only excitement rather than the reality of it being a mixed bag of excitement, anxiety and fear of humiliation. Plus, the fear of being discovered by the wrong person, she had forgotten to ask about that. They have the H.A.S … that's a good sign, right? she tried to assure herself as she lurched back and forth gently, Willow pushing her down the hallway to her first class before the bell rang and the hallway is flooded. Gus had cast the spell on Luz already, she was able to see through the illusion but there was a sheen to it that told her she was inside of it, Gus was just outside of the classroom now that the bell had gone off, his illusion sitting in on his first few classes for him. Willow's abomination class was the length of three of Gus's regular classes that day due to the exam, so this would be a long spell. Gus used another illusion to hide himself against the door to the classroom, needing to be able to see what Luz was doing or else they would be out of sync.
The class began and Luz could hear all the different voices in the room, she closed her eyes remembering shes doing this for her new friend Willow, she didn't deserve to be treated how that other witch had treated her this morning and by the sounds of it, she wasn't even the worst bully. We'll show them … she smiled at the thought of Willow showing up the class with pride, putting herself in Willows shoes, knowing all too well what she was going through. The class went by surprisingly fast considering her anxiety. "Excellent job miss Blight, Miss Park if you could?" Professor Hermonculus gestured for Willow to come up, letting out a sigh that was mixed with relief and gut-wrenching worry. Willow looked through the small glass in the door, knowing that even though she couldn't see him Gus was outside. You can do this … No more half a witch Willow the girl nodded to herself, pushing her cauldron up to the front of the classroom.
Professor Hermonculus looked at the liquid in the cauldron with disgust – hopefully that meant he couldn't see past Gus's illusion. "Go ahead Miss Park" he said, a tone insinuating she was taking too long already. "Yes, sir" Willow muttered, the Professor was one of the worst at Hexside, not only was his attitude towards his students awful he always sucked up to Amity and her parents because they are in the Abomination Industry. He often would degrade his students who made accidental – or intentional depending on the student – remarks about his body, he was a very small man, with a bulbus head and incredibly short legs and a small body, he uses an abomination to get around. Not something Willow has ever judged or even wondered about; however, she messed up one time and simply looked up to the abomination's face when speaking to him. An honest mistake that got her taken to the detention pit, the only reason she wasn't scared for life was Principal Bump found out and was able to get her out before the monster inside got her.
As she watched the professor's Abomination walk away, she really hoped they could pull this off, she took another deep breath and made a spell circle however instead of trying to keep it up she dropped it and pretended, so Luz could take control. "Abomination! Rise!" Willow commanded, surprised at how confident her voice sounded. Once hearing the cue Luz started to wiggle up out of the goo, woah Gus... Good job! Now they just need to stay in sync, and we'll be home free Willow thought with a small smile, which only got bigger as Luz got out of the cauldron, looking more Zombie like than probably intended. "Well done Willow, this is the most structurally sound abomination you've done.." Professor Hermonculus had a mix of pride and shock clear in his voice, as he examined the blob, all three teenagers were praying to Titan that he wouldn't touch it.
"Abomination, walk toward me" Willow called louder than she meant, eyes wide, as she saw the professor reach out towards Luz. The human quickly complied and walked forward, doing an awkward shuffle, trying her best to stay in character. Dumb empty thoughts Luz... you can do this, think of math! Or.. Social Studies. Luz let out a small groaning sound, pretty abomination like, maybe not as deep as normal but hers never made ANY sound before. "Now, Miss Park the technical side, what did you decide for your abomination as its 'trick'" Willow stared dumbly at the professor, she had completely forgotten about this section of the test, "Oh uh..." She stuttered, looking at Luz trying to picture where the girls' eyes were.
Luz could see there was clear panic on Willow face, they didn't practice this, but Gus had boasted about being a prodigy so let's hope it's true. "Ddddaaaaaaanncccceee" Luz groaned out the word trying to make her voice go as deep as possible, she could almost hear Gus behind the door cursing her name. "Dance?" Willow repeated in a whisper, leaning forward, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. "Well Miss Park, we don't have all day... Is that its trick? Groaning? It's better than anything else you've done but Miss Park this is your final e-" I can't fail, I can't disappoint my dads like this … I can't have put Luz and Gus through this for nothing Willow cut him off before he could continue. "Abomination!" Willow commanded, making Luz freeze, waiting for the command.
"Dance!" she commanded, putting her hand out towards Luz. Her professor quirked a pointed eyebrow up at her before backing off again, his hands reaching for a clipboard for notes on the performance. Gus groaned internally; he was getting exhausted already, but he wouldn't let his best friend down. Willow never asked for anything, she had always been good to him, even though he was younger and different, even when he got picked on, she pushed aside her feelings towards her bullies to help him. Making things worse for herself. Come on Agustus, be the gifted wiz you know you are! He let out a small sigh, narrowing his dark eyes on Luz, the teenage abomination.
Luz could feel a thick lump in her throat as Willow went through with her idea. estúpida! she mentally scolded herself, she had just made these friends and she wasn't about to let anyone feel how she had for years, not when she could make a difference. Luz reached her hand out, Gus was ready and pulled back on the illusion just enough it looked like Willows hand only sunk into the goo rather than disappearing through it to grab Luz's real hand. As they connected, Luz pulled Willow and gave her a spin, smiling as she heard her newfound friend laugh at the gesture. Continuing small moves at the front of the room, not moving from a stationary position aside from a small awkward twirl.
All the while this was happening the class was in awe, murmurs were spreading around the room like wildfire, some complimenting Willow while others were calling her a showoff and a faker, for making it seem like she was struggling. One green haired girl in particular couldn't take her eyes off what was happening in front of her, she had run into Willow this morning, she watched her struggle to get her abomination to take a shape, let alone move! This can't be right... She isn't a good liar, but there is no way to make such significant improvements in such a short time. her thoughts were going wild with theories, assumptions, motives to lie about her struggles. Normally she wouldn't give Willow a second look, but this, this was making her look bad. Being the top of her class, she didn't think to make a performance out of her exam, she had done so much throughout the year to prove herself. A small spart of uneasiness hit her as she pictured Willow getting a better grade than her, especially on a final exam.
She must have been in her head longer than she thought, before she even could register what happened Willows abomination was returning to its cauldron, Strange... She didn't dispel it before having it return. Whats her game here? typically a witch would release the abominations form, making them liquid and putting them back in your selected container. Amity sat patiently now that the professor was reviewing the class results, numerous classmates had clapped for Willows performance, making her visibly nervous, but just the same her bullies made every attempt to mitigate any joy she got from the praise.
"Well now, not a horrendous as I would have thought class, I guess I must have been doing something right with you all." He often said anything that would boost himself up, even if it was riding on someone else's successes. "Now, let's take a look shall we, these scores are important to your future. Eyes forward!" The professor snapped, commanding everyone's attention, especially that of two young witches. Both eyes filled with anticipation and anxiety. "Let's see..." He mumbled, using a spell to pull up calculations, slowly every student's name appeared on the board. One by one numbers would appear next to the student's name, Amity, being a Blight was right near the top of the class list. Her score rolled into place, the digits setting felt incredibly slow, however after they had settled, and she took a moment to really soak them in she felt her confidence come back and an easy breath came from her as she relaxed. She had scored a 96, not perfect but nothing below a Blight's standard.
The scoring went on for a few minutes, just as many students who let out a sigh of relief had a counterpart who groaned, failing at this point would mean additional summer classes. They got to Willow's name, the girl was both excited and terrified, how could she be so excited about something that was barely her accomplishment? Her mind was sinking into panic, regret seeping into the cracks of her selfdoubt. "My my! Amity, who would have thought you would lose your place in our last exam!" Professor Hermonculus exclaimed, earning many audible gasps, the eyes of the students were darting between Amity and Willow. Their professor seemed oblivious to this tension as he made a big deal out of Willows' performance. Willow was ecstatic at seeing the number 98 appear on the board, she had grown so used to 54, 58, that she forgot how amazing it felt to achieve. However, the victory was short lived as her professor seemed to thrive off the tension he created, What have I done... Willow swallowed hard, able to feel Amity's intense gaze on the side of her head. Before she had to endure another minute, their lunch period bell rang – screamed – releasing the students.
A hole felt like it had been punched into Amity's chest, there were too many feelings to deal with, she was enraged at herself for not trying harder. Her mother always told her to do her best even when no one seemed to be looking, because really, someone is always looking . She didn't even hear Professor Hermonculus's voice anymore, it was just muffled sound. She could tell her emotions were getting the best of her, if she didn't calm down tears would begin to form from anger, resentment and everything in between. You're a Blight, and a Blight is always in control of their feelings, no scenes she knows, her younger self would have lashed out, slammed her hands on the table, accusing Willow openly about being a cheater. Not now, she will handle this in a different way. With that, she allowed Willow to scurry out of the room with her cauldron in tow, seemingly oddly attached to it as most students left theirs behind to pick up after school.
Luz felt like she was in a frenzied mob when Willow carted her out into the busy hallway, students bumping into one another and causing her to almost tip out several times on their way to, well, wherever they were going. Gotta trust Willow on this one, I can't even poke my head out... despite being cramped, it felt good to not have so many eyes on her and it was a lot of pressure off her shoulders. Next time she offered a public performance she needed to make sure someone was there to talk her out of it. After what felt like forever, she was happy they were outside, despite the uneven ground causing her to tip and shake. "Okay, Luz you can come out" Willow whispered, carefully the human girl lifted her head out taking a peek to see where she was, it was a nice wide field, she could see the school close by, a track circle and some sort of court in between them. "Alright! Finally!" she exclaimed, letting her body flip itself out of the cauldron, landing with a thud on her back, her limbs outstretched. "So good...!" she groaned, looking up at Willow.
Before Willow could even think about relaxing, she needed to thank these two, she couldn't believe what they had pulled off and even though she had some reservations about Amity, school had less than a week left and then they would have weeks of space before potentially seeing one another again. "Gus!" the boy jumped, he had been leaning on the cart for support, he looked tired. "Gus, thank you. You did amazing, I don't even know how you did it! The dance you did and keeping in sync with Luz... Thank you" Willow went from almost shouting her gratitude and amazement to putting her hand on his shoulder and trying to convey just how much it meant to her. "You know me Willow, happy to help and always happy to show off!" He winked, giving a weak 'finger gun' that Luz had taught him this morning at the same time.
The three of them sat together, they had a nice spot under a tree, Willow had taken the time to explain to the other two the difference in trees beside them, grass they laid on and even went on about some magical root system. She always had an interest in these beautiful, dangerous and interesting plants. Gus knew something was up when this was all she could manage to talk about, when in doubt Willow would try to control the situation more than intended, filling the silence with facts and avoiding questions with a small demonstration. The odd topic had Luz completely enthralled, anything about the isles was something she could listen to all day. "Look, Willow" Gus finally interjected, causing both girls to look at him with a bit of confusion, as if his serious tone was out of the blue. "I know you. You only talk this much about plant when you have something on your mind, Luz and I couldn't see into the classroom afterwards... did something happen?" Despite being young, Gus had grown to be perceptive of his friend, having spent too many of his early years being taken advantage of just because he wanted to fit in, not letting himself see the signs.
Luz looked back at Willow and tilted her head, her smile she had been wearing for most of the day faltering as she saw Willow struggling with something. Her eyes were cast down at the ground and she looked almost withdrawn into herself, "was it a bully? Did they say something?" Luz asked, she may be projecting some old feelings onto Willow from her realm, but it was still viable given all her new friend had gone through.
Willow was silent for a few moments more, gathering her thoughts, she pulled her knees up to her chest hugging them. "I scored higher than Amity" While Luz was struggling to understand the issue Gus seemed to have caught on right away. "We're doomed" He whispered, eyes wide, "I thought she would have scored higher, she is always perfect!" Willow protested, going back and forth with Gus as Luz sat between them still covered in goo and feeling like she was missing a piece of the puzzle.
"Hey guys" Luz leaned forward, pushing herself forward so she was on her knees and her hands pressed into the ground, leaning closer to her new friends "I feel like I am missing something" she admitted as soon as she was given the space to speak. "Whats so bad about this Amity chick getting a worse score than you? She should have done better" She shrugged, not grasping the reality Gus and Willow lived in. "You don't understand Luz..." Willow whispered, sighing in defeat. "What Willow means is... Her family is powerful, they can make things happen and here Amity is one of the 'queen fire bees' if you know what I mean." Okay... so she's a bully... but a rich and well protected bully... who can also do magic. "I think I understand but what's going to happen, all you did was pass a test with a slightly better mark!"
Willow sighed sharply, her body going tense. "She saw me this morning Luz, she knows I can't do what I did up there, but I got so caught up in the moment and the praise felt so nice... I wanted to keep it going and, and now I'm in this mess because I'm just a stupid half a witch" the witch was looking down at her pulled in knees, feeling drained and defeated, she was so close. "If I had just tried harder" She whispered, "Hey! None of that, you are not half a witch, you are an amazing witch. Look at what you just did with all these plants, you made it seem like nothing and you know so much about them, maybe abomination isn't for you! Or maybe you could do both" Luz moved closer to Willow, who could only muster a small chuckle as she touched the couple of plants, she had pulled up from the ground to show Luz. "She won't stop until she finds out I cheated and then I probably won't even have to worry about school" before Luz or Gus could give any other protest or words of comfort the bell rang – screamed – for afternoon classes.
The rest of the day was uneventful, Luz was carted around by Willow, who got a strange look when she had to make an excuse up about feeling sick so she could take Luz to the bathrooms without seeming totally out of her mind. She knew people already thought it was weird she had taken her cauldron with her all day; it was bulky and awkward. Luz sighed happily, having needed to use the bathroom for far too long. "Sorry Willow, about pushing you during the performance and … well for making you fake sick so I could use the bathroom" she said quietly, feeling silly as she dryed her hands only to be submerged back into the goo. "Don't apologize, you have nothing to apologize for, I'm the one who decided I needed to do all that. I put everything at risk just because I was tired of not feeling good enough, I used to excel in school but ever since my dads 'convinced' me to enter abomination... I've just been, been bad at it..." Luz didn't know what to say, her heart was aching for her friend, she was never good at advice so offered Willow her hand. "It'll be okay, I promise, you have Gus and now you have me! We did this, I bet we could do anything if we put our minds together." She felt a bit cheesy for her words but didn't regret them as her new friend gave her a tight hug. She returned it and then quickly pulled back, remembering she was covered in goo. Willow gave a small giggle, drawing a purple spell circle in the air with her finger, pulling the goo off her clothes and dropping it back into the cauldron.
Willow checked her scroll and took a deep breath, the day was almost over, she could get through it. I can do this she thought with confidence, pushing her cauldron out of the bathroom and into the hallway, nearly running over another student who was on their way in. "Oh sorry..." Willows voice was lost by the end of her apology, Amity was standing in front of her, her arms crossed and her face expressionless set like stone, her golden eyes half lidded as they pierced into Willows soul. "No problem, Park" her voice gave Willow a chill, however it was limited confrontation, it seemed like Amity was only interested in using the bathroom and wasn't going to bother her. "Next time Park, when you want to talk to your abomination, talk somewhere more... private..." Willow almost choaked and she was positive she heard Luz sputter on the inside of the cauldron. "I-I-I d-don't kn-" "there are eyes and ears everywhere, don't make this harder than it needs to be." That was the end of it, the minty haired girl disappeared into the bathroom and Willow was frozen in place, her heart felt like it was going to explode.
The teenage abomination couldn't believe what she was hearing, how had this Amity girl figured this all out so quickly It has to be a bluff... We only spoke for like... A minute or two and it was quiet, she probably couldn't even hear... she was trying any way she could think to remedy the situation, despite her thoughts racing a mile a minute, she wasn't fast enough to catch Willow before she bolted. Where is she going? as the pale girl ran away, Luz did her best to follow along, having difficulties keeping up as the abomination goo was causing her to slip and fall. "Willow! Willow wait, maybe we can talk to her or, or we can figure something else out" She called, trying to make it a whisper yell knowing classes were currently in session.
Willow's mind was slowly getting darker, all the freedom and space she felt in her mind was fading, the darkness boxing her in. She could hear little voices in her mind, they used to be encouraging, tender and loving. Now just ugly, dark and repetitive. Can't even own up to your own mistake Willow? What a joke, what would your fathers say the voices taunted her, overlapping one another with queries to seed doubt. She couldn't even tell where she was running anymore, everything was fading away, the voices just getting louder, if she gave in to these feelings would she be strong for letting go or weak for indulging in her pain. They would all be better off without you in their life Willow, how can you make your dads proud if you can't even create an abomination, you are worthless in this world now. As her mind faded into its own inner struggle, Willow could feel just for a moment her body becoming cocooned, this had been one of the only pleasant feelings within this nightmare scape called her mind.
Luz had finally caught up to her friend, they had somehow made their way around the other side of the building and into what looked like a rundown greenhouse project. As she caught up, she could see something snaking around Willows leg, just like this morning... when she was upset by what that girl said the recognition kicked in, however Willow was in a frenzy, what could the human girl even do. I need to figure it out soon... that vine is getting close to- "Willow!" Luz yelled again, frantic, in s blink of an eye the vine had swallowed Willow in a matter of seconds, wrapping her up completely, nothing like how it was this morning. All she could see now from where she stood inside the old greenhouse was a faint green glow between vines. This is bad...