To say that Alador was having an odd morning would be a bit of an understatement. It started out like a fairly average Saturday. He was eating breakfast with his wife while going over the schematics of one of his ongoing projects in his head. Odalia was telling him about a business deal she'd recently finalized. They both knew he didn't really understand the details. He was great with technical jargon but not so much with the legal variety. Still, he was happy to be a sounding board for her. It wasn't exactly an interesting or heartfelt conversation, but even a mundane talk was a nice break from the tense and awkward silences that had dominated the Blight household over the past week. Amity hadn't spoken much with either of them since what happened at the party. The Twins seemed to be lying low as well. He didn't think they knew the details of what had happened at the party but they could probably tell that this wasn't a good time for their typical mischief. Or rather Emira could probably tell. Edric had inherited his father's general obliviousness so he might just be following her lead. Either way, the end result was that all three children were keeping a fairly low profile.
Of course, the moment Alador finished that thought was the exact moment Edric strolled into the dining room. This was the first real surprise of the day. Edric almost never woke up this early when he could avoid it. Even Odalia had long since given up on trying to turn the twins into early risers. The second surprise was the boy's strange demeanor. Edric entered the room with an uncharacteristically determined look on his face that only faltered when he met eyes with his parents. At that point his expression briefly shifted into something more complicated that Alador couldn't quite place before returning to the same determined look.
That was odd in and of itself. Alador was self-aware enough to recognize that he had little talent for understanding complicated things like body language and social cues, but Edric had always been something of an open book even to him. The boy usually wore his heart on his sleeve. He was generally only able to hide his emotions by mirroring his elder sister's mannerisms. But Emira wasn't around. Instead Amity was the sister who followed Edric into the dining room, holding tightly onto her brother's hand.
That was probably the most surprising thing about the situation so far. The relationship between Amity and the twins wasn't great and Alador couldn't really remember the last time he'd seen the two siblings hold hands like that. It would probably be rather adorable if it wasn't for how nervous Amity looked. She didn't meet her father's gaze but unlike her brother she seemed to be having no luck with hiding her emotions. It was obvious that she didn't want to be here but for whatever reason she was trying to tough it out.
"We need to talk." Edric spoke first, breaking the tense silence and drawing attention away from his sister. It was clear from his gaze that the words were mainly directed at Odalia, which made his firm and unwavering tone all the more impressive.
Odalia seemed completely unphased by their son's unusual demeanor or the strangeness of the situation. "And what is it you'd like to talk about Edric?"
"You forced Amity to end her friendship with Willow," Edric said flatly.
If she was surprised or offended by this direct accusation, Odalia didn't show it. She simply smiled politely as if she had no idea what Edric had been referring to. Odalia had always had an uncanny talent for controlling her expression and body language. She was also quite good at reading such things in other people. Both of these skills made Odalia a formidable negotiator but Alador sometimes wondered if being able to read people actually made her any better than him at understanding them.
"We didn't force Amity to do anything. We simply informed her of the consequences their continued relationship would have."
"You threatened to keep Willow out of Hexside." Edric had been doing a good job of keeping his emotions in check but Alador could finally hear some anger leaking into his voice. It was a little surprising to be honest. Alador had never seen either of the twins treat Willow as anything more than collateral damage in their pranks.
"Blights only associate with the best, Edric. It's not like that girl belongs at Hexside anyway. Honestly keeping her out would probably be doing her a favor. It might save her the embarrassment of becoming the oldest witch to never make it out of the baby class." That was a little harsh. Alador had seen the girl flub spells on more than one occasion but on most days she was still capable of basic magic and the requirements for joining the older classes weren't particularly high..
"Of course, now that Amity is no longer associating with her, there's no reason for us to do the girl any favors. Isn't that right Amity?"
Amity's head jolted up at the sound of her name and she met her parents' gaze for the first time since the conversation started. She'd already looked nervous and uncomfortable before but now it looked like she was on the verge of tears. But before she could stutter out a response, Edric placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and stepped protectively in front of her. He openly glared at Odalia for a second before schooling his expression and continuing the conversation himself.
"First of all mom, there's no way you could know for sure that Willow's untalented. She's five years old for Titan's sake. It's completely within the realm of possibility that she's just a late bloomer or that her gifts are more specialized than most." That was actually a fair point. Odalia might be taking for granted that not all children had access to the Oracle coven's talent readings. Alador himself had only discovered his gift and passion for abomination magic when he was around 7 or 8, Before that he'd considered himself fairly average in terms of magical talent. It was entirely possible that Willow could grow into a powerful witch in spite of her current struggles. But possible didn't mean likely and Odalia wasn't the type to be swayed by an argument like that. Unfortunately, what Edric failed to realize was that Willow's talents as a witch were more of a secondary issue to Odalia.
"But that wouldn't even matter would it?"
Or perhaps Edric did realize...
"I've met the girls you tried to force Amity to befriend. Am I supposed to believe you went looking for the greatest prodigies of the next generation and just happened to find them among the children of your business partners?
"Our business partners," Odalia corrected. "They are business partners with Blight Industries. The company you three will be running someday. Most friendships are pointless and temporary but worthwhile connections can be useful if you know how to leverage them. Though, to tell you the truth, having Amity befriend those two was more your father's idea than mine." Alador winced at the statement but couldn't refute it. "Amity will be starting to attend Hexside soon and I'd prefer to have her focus entirely on her studies without any pointless distractions. There'll be plenty of time to make connections when she's older. Alador was the one who insisted that she needed companions her own age for whatever reason, and that if I didn't like Willow then I should introduce her to some more acceptable peers." He hadn't phrased it exactly like that but that was pretty much what happened.
Alador hadn't wanted to hurt or isolate his daughter. Quite the opposite in fact. His own childhood had been fairly lonely. He wasn't bullied or particularly disliked. He just kept to himself more often than not. It wasn't until his teen years that he started to have anything comparable to actual friends. Most of those relationships hadn't lasted long past graduation but he still felt that they'd made him happier. And while Alador didn't exactly regret his introversion, he didn't like the idea of Amity taking after him in that regard. The twins had always at least had each other but Amity never had any close companions until Willow came along. Alador had actually been quite happy for his daughter when he found out that she'd made a friend.
So when Odalia brought up the fact that she didn't approve of the girls' friendship, Alador attempted to defuse the situation. He rarely argued with his wife when it came to decisions like that but this time he insisted that socializing would be just as important to Amity's future development as her magic training was, and that they should be encouraging their daughter to make more friends instead of taking away the one she had. Odalia had been resistant at first but he managed to sway her. In the end she'd agreed to invite some of the children of their closer business associates to Amity's birthday party. Alador had actually been proud of how he'd handled the situation. He hadn't really thought twice about Odalia's condition that Willow not be invited to the party. Apparently the girls she invited already had some kind of antagonistic relationship with Willow. Alador still thought that she was exaggerating about that, but it didn't really matter anymore. When Amity disobeyed her parents and invited her friend to the party anyway, the other girls' opinion of Willow became irrelevant. Odalia had gone from thinking Willow was dead weight to thinking she was a bad influence. She insisted that Amity cut ties with her immediately and in the heat of the moment Alador had agreed with her.
He regretted all of it. Everything he'd done had only made the situation worse. He'd wanted to defuse the situation but if he just hadn't gotten involved in the first place then things wouldn't have escalated this far. Amity would probably still be friends with Willow even if Odalia didn't let them spend very much time together.
"To be honest I couldn't care less whether Amity befriends those two. Another connection with their families might be useful in the future, but it's hardly a top priority. Though it would be a problem if she develops a negative reputation with them on account of that half-witch."
"So it's less about being the best and more about being useful to you?" Edric summarized in an exasperated tone.
"To Us Edric," Odalia corrected once more. "Witches who are useful to our family are the best witches. I thought that much was obvious..."
"You keep saying 'us', but I don't remember you threatening any of my or Emira's friends like this. Why are you being so hard on Amity? She just turned 6. She hasn't even started Hexside yet. Can't you just let her be a kid? What possible inconvenience could her happiness actually cause you?" Alador thought that was an odd thing to say seeing as Edric was only a year older, but he didn't disagree with the sentiment.
"First of all Edric," Odalia responded. "I never needed to vet your friendships because you never made any." Harsh but not exactly untrue. Alador couldn't remember the boy ever bringing someone home to play with, aside from the occasional stray animal which were never quite as friendly as Edric wanted them to be. "With you two it's always been more about making sure you don't overreach and make an enemy you can't afford. Secondly, I have high expectations for all of my children, but I will admit to holding Amity to a slightly higher standard. You and Emira will most likely end up in high level management positions at Blight Industries when you grow up. One of you will likely take over for me eventually. Amity, on the other hand, will presumably join Alador's division and eventually take his place as head of research and means her skills in abomination magic will have a direct influence on the quality of our company's future products. This isn't a secret by any means. Anyone who's done even the slightest amount of research on our company and family should be able to assume Amity's future role in the company. Therefore her performance as a student will be seen as a direct indication of Blight Industries future prospects."
"Are you serious? That's the reason you're so hard on Amity? You think your investors and clients are going to base their business decisions on your six year old daughter's grades? That's ridiculous!"
Truth be told, Alador kind of agreed with his son. Odalia clearly believed what she was saying and she was usually far better at understanding people than her husband was, but she also had a tendency to blow things out of proportion. She was frantic the first few times Alador visibly zoned out during an important meeting or event. She convinced herself that it would cause people to lose faith in him and the company as a whole. But in reality nothing ever seemed to come of it. Eventually she came to the conclusion that people saw Alador as an 'eccentric genius' or something so he could mostly get away with acting however he wanted, but Alador had always wondered if maybe people just didn't care about that type of thing as much as she thought they did.
"Our family is powerful, and the powerful are always under scrutiny. I don't enjoy seeing Amity miserable but I'm confident in her ability to persevere. I want the best for my children and I know that Amity has potential for greatness. It's my job as her mother to make sure she reaches that potential, but I can't do that if she's wasting all of her time slumming it with half-witches."
"Willow isn't a half-witch. And even if she was, why the hell would it matter? She's a good kid. She made Amity happy when her own family only ever seemed to make her miserable. It shouldn't matter whether she's rich or powerful..."
"And yet it does matter. Regardless of whether you think it should." Odalia replied, pinching her nose in annoyance. "Don't get me wrong Edric, I'm happy that you're willing to stand up for your sister like this, and I'm impressed that you were able to look me in the eye while doing it. You've obviously got more mettle in you then I've ever given you credit for. But this conversation is growing tedious. I made my decision and I'm standing by it. Did you really think you could sway me with emotional arguments?"
Alador expected Edric to either back down or lose his cool at this point. Instead the boy looked at his parents with a disappointed, but unsurprised expression. "Honestly, no. I didn't think I could convince you of anything with a normal conversation. But I felt obligated to give you the benefit of the doubt and try anyway. Really I just need you to understand that I don't think this should be a negotiation. That being said, let's negotiate..."
The boy's tone was more resigned than accusatory but the words still stung. At least in Alador's opinion. His wife didn't look particularly offended. If anything Odalia seemed further impressed by Edric's composure. Their son had never acted like this before. He wasn't exactly the most obedient of their children but he was usually the most passive. It was strange to see him stand up to his parents like this.
"You're saying you want to make a deal?" Odalia asked with renewed interest. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
"You already know that what I want is for you guys to stop meddling in Amity's social life. She should be allowed to choose her own friends, regardless of how good their business connections are. That goes for Emira too."
"What about you?" Odalia interjected curiously.
"As you so tactfully mentioned before, I don't really have close friends outside of Emira, and I don't intend to change that in the near future." Edric replied. "That said, if you do threaten to have someone I like expelled just for interacting with me, I hope you'll understand if I don't react to it the way Amity did."
That almost sounded like a threat, but it was vague enough that Odalia didn't call him on it. Though her next words had a bit of an edge to them.
"We Blights take deals very seriously, Edric. You're asking for quite a bit and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what you could possibly offer in exchange."
"You said you were doing all this because you wanted Amity to become her year's top student so you can brag about it to your investors and clients."
"An oversimplification but not inaccurate I suppose."
"So if I were to do that instead, then you'd have no reason to put this much pressure on her. You get your bragging rights and Amity gets her friend back. It's a win win."
"I think you're misunderstanding something. Of course I'd be happy if you started taking your school work more seriously but even if you became top student in the illusions track it wouldn't have anywhere near the same effect as Amity doing so in abominations. Also Emira already has that position for your age group, so it wouldn't really benefit our family's reputation if you took it from her."
"I think You're misunderstanding something. I was saying that I intend to switch tracks and become the top student in abominations."
"Is that right? You can barely keep up with your sister when it comes to Illusion magic. What makes you think you can dominate a track that you have less talent for? Pride is only natural for a Blight, but you shouldn't try to make deals that are beyond your power to keep."
Alador's eyes widened when Edric responded, not with words, but with magic. He created a small spell circle and conjured a fully formed abomination out of thin air. As he analysed the creation further, Alador's shock turned into awe. The abomination was smaller than most but it was also far more detailed. It looked like a slimy purple clone of his son. A few details were off but only an absurd perfectionist like Darius would bother dwelling on them. Odalia and Amity both also looked shocked, though not to the extent he was. Alador was glad he wasn't the only one out of the loop on this. He should maybe pay more attention to his kids.
"I think you'll find that abomination magic is and always has been the field I'm most talented in."
"But you said your main talent was illusion magic." Odalia protested.
"People say things," Edric responded with a petulant shrug. "I wanted to be in the same track as Emira and, to be honest, I kind of thought Abomination magic was lame at the time. Don't give me that face dad. I've come around to it since then, but watching you spend hours at your desk tinkering with beakers and test tubes didn't exactly appeal to me. And the nerdy labcoat didn't do you any favors either..." Alador hadn't realized he'd been making a face but he could only imagine it grew more offended at that comment. His lab coat wasn't nerdy.
"So you're telling me you've been lying to us for years and now you expect us to reward you for finally coming clean?" Odalia asked angrily, having finally processed Edric's words.
"I'm offering you pretty much everything you wanted in exchange for almost nothing," Edric countered. "I'll become the top student in the abomination track and the whole school if that's what you need. All I'm asking is that you give up a small amount of control and let your daughter be happy. So do we have a deal?"
"If you..."
"Deal!" Alador interrupted his wife. When the three of them turned to stare at him he realized it was actually the first time he'd spoken in this entire conversation. "We will still be expecting Amity to excel in her classwork, but as long as she achieves that she can choose how to spend her free time, along with who she spends it with. That goes for you and Emira too."
Amity's eyes widened in surprise and Odalia's narrowed a bit. Edric simply smiled and nodded to him. "Then if it's all the same to you, I'm going to go take Amity to see Willow."
"Right now?" Amity asked, still sounding rather shocked. It was obvious that she hadn't really been expecting such a positive outcome. Then again, there were plenty of reasons to be shocked about the previous conversation even if she had.
"No time like the present." Edric replied happily, already dragging her away. "It's a Saturday morning which seems ideal for this. Also if I'm going to be a nerd from now on I might as well get used to not procrastinating."
"That's fine," Alador said. "But take one of my creations with you. Yours is impressive but I'd rather you had something larger to look after you two." Alador created an abomination to follow the two children. Edric thanked him as they left the room.
"Now hold on..." Odalia started before Alador interrupted her for the second time in a row.
"Odalia," he said sharply. "A word please?"
Odalia looked irritated but let the children leave so they could talk alone. "I had the situation handled, Alador. There was no need to give into the boy's childish demands like that."
"I don't think you fully understand what just happened here."
"I understand plenty. The boy's a prodigy and has been hiding it to avoid having to apply himself. As embarrassing as it is that he got away with it for so long it's not exactly a complicated situation."
"Ignoring the latter part of your statement, prodigy isn't the right word. Darius and I were both called prodigies when it came to abomination magic. Edric isn't at that level."
Odalia gave him a strange look. "That's surprisingly arrogant of you. You're usually so quick to praise Amity's magic. But even if he's not on your level..."
"No, you're not getting it. Abomination magic has the steepest learning curve out of all 9 magic types by far. Do you know how old I was when I created my first fully formed abomination? I was 10! It took over an hour and I was using abomination goo provided by my teacher. I didn't just instantly manifest a complete abomination out of thin air. That's the kind of thing even prodigies can't normally do until their teens. And yet Edric just did that as a seven year old with no formal training. I am a prodigy. Darius is a prodigy. Amity is a prodigy. Edric is something else."
"So what does that mean?" Odalia asked softly, finally starting to understand the gravity of the situation.
"It means a lot of things. For one thing it means that we have no idea what kind of limits he has. Maybe you could pressure him into being the top witch in his track or in his school but you could never force him to reach his full potential because you'd never know where that potential ends. The only way for him to become truly exceptional is for him to be self motivated."
"Then what do you suggest? Edric is a lot of things, but self motivated is not one of them."
"An hour ago I might have agreed with that, but no one creates an abomination like that without a lot of practice. No matter how talented they are. That means Edric must have been training in secret for an unknown period of time. I don't know what his motivation for that was but I don't think it had anything to do with making either of us proud. If he wanted that he would've revealed his talents earlier. Instead he chose to learn abomination magic in secret while also struggling with his illusion magic. I say we allow the children to do as they wish for now and let the results speak for themselves."
Odalia mulled his words over for a bit before responding. "Ugh, fine then. Amity can keep her dumb friend. She'll probably get bored of her eventually anyway. As for Edric, I'll still be keeping a close eye on his progress but I'll hold off on commenting on it for a while."
Alador was glad to see that Odalia was in such a reasonable mood. He had honestly expected her to be more angry at him for agreeing to Edrics offer so quickly. Luckily the revelation that their son had ridiculous talent seemed to have improved her mood.
"You said Edric's more talented than you and Darius. Does that mean you think he can become coven head someday?" Odalia asked.
"If he aims for the position then I doubt anyone could keep it from him for long. He may very well end up the youngest coven leader in history." He wondered what Darius would have to say about that. Alador wasn't normally the type to live vicariously through his children but the thought of his seven year old son dethroning his rival was undeniably amusing. Of course, even with Edric's talent it would obviously take decades before that was a possibility.
This morning had been full of odd surprises but Alador couldn't really say any of them were bad. The conversation had been tense but things somehow seemed to work out in the end. Amity was free to reclaim her friendship with Willow. Edric had revealed his true potential. And Odalia had agreed to cut back on her controlling tendencies. All in all it was hard not to consider this a win.
Still a part of Alador couldn't help but feel guilty about how Edric had to be the one to fix all this. He also felt bad that he hadn't noticed Edric's talent sooner. Was he really that inattentive, a dad? Alador knew he couldn't change the past but he decided to pay more attention to his kids from now on. He didn't want to miss anything like this again. That shouldn't be too hard. He doubted his kids had any other secrets as big as this one anyway...
AN: So the finale is almost here. That's about as exciting as it is sad. I thought about waiting until after it aired to post this chapter but I can't imagine anything in it would affect this conversation.
It was actually pretty hard to decide how to write Odalia. I don't want to portray her as completely irredeemable but she doesn't have too many redeeming qualities in canon. Also we don't really have much in-universe information for why she acts the way she does aside from ego and greed. She seems like the kind of person who gets worse over time so I might use that as a justification to make her a little less awful than she is in canon. Still she's definitely not a good person or mother at this point. Maybe Edric will find a way to change that or maybe he won't.