Amity Blight was pouting.
She wasn't happy to admit it, but she was. She lived in her family's manor, slept in a comfortable bed and ate some of the best food that The Boiling Isles had to offer. She was surrounded by things that she found joy in, such as shelves full of fictional tales of heroes and romance that filled both far-off lands and the stars themselves. She had posters on her walls of landscapes from across the Titan's corpse that every Witch called home, as well as small photographs of the family. A figurine of The Good Witch Azura was placed on one of her bookshelves as well. It was an item that she had thought was a one-of-a-kind piece of art based upon a character from a rare young adult series of books she had discovered.
It was a fictional series that she had found to be shared only by one other person on the Boiling Isles that she knew of: Luz Noceda; a human girl from another realm that had found her way here through some kind of portal that her mentor, Eda the Owl Lady, guarded as a secret. She was also a human for whom Amity had developed a confusing assortment of feelings.
First, Amity had been frightened by the prospect of a human on the Boiling Isles. Years of media had painted the creatures in a terrible light as brutal if frail savages in such pictures as The Creature From the Bloody Lagoon, Planet of the Humans, or the simply titled HUMAN that she had been far too young to see as a child. But fear had given way to curiosity and then to respect and friendship before mutating into an infatuation that had come to occupy nearly every thought, even after Luz had made it clear that she only sought to be friends.
So, Amity pouted.
Her attitude had more to do with current circumstances, however, as she lay in bed with her knee in a cast. After negotiating with her mother for leniency on her grounding for freeing her enslaved genie, Amity had instead decided to visit Luz at her strange home, The Owl House, rather than the local Library in Bonesborough. She had spent most of the afternoon there, despite her injury, with Luz, Willow, Gus, as well as Luz's adoptive family of Eda, King, and Hooty. She had felt safe for a change. Accepted. Happy. For a few hours, she had fun.
When she had returned home, she found both of her parents, Odalia and Alador Blight, waiting for her. They had, of course, called the Bonesborough Library to make sure that she had been there and, upon discovering that she had never arrived, claimed to fear the worst.
Alador had been worried at first, but seeing that his youngest daughter was not only safe but had the remains of a fading smile on her face, he became distracted by a colorful faerie that fluttered by. Odalia had set aside her annoyance at her distracted husband long enough to scold Amity about not only lying about where she had gone but getting caught in the lie so easily. Her previous grounding rules had been reinstated, and she had been sent to her room.
It had been bad enough that she was missing school because of the injury she had received from her former friend Boscha during an after-school Grudgeby game, but now she would be missing the coveted field trip to the Emperor's Castle. She had been looking forward to it all year, and now that she could have impressed Luz with her knowledge of both the structure and the Emperor's Coven, she was instead bedridden. Lilith Clawthorne, the Head Witch of the Emperor's Coven and her former mentor, looked down at her with arrogant judgement from a large recruitment poster on her wall for the last year.
"Shut up." Amity told the poster, tightening her folded arms around herself. She had only seen Lilith once since the woman had attempted to use her to capture her sister Eda at the Covention a few months ago. She had barely spoken to the Coven Head before she had rescued Amity from the captivity of Tibblet-Tibbly, a small demon that had planned to hold her for ransom.
Amity blew out a dramatic sigh, conjuring her scroll from the ether to check her Penstagram. She had started to follow Willow's profile, primarily as a way to check in with whatever adventures she was sharing with Luz. To her surprise, the trio had confronted the Bat Queen while Amity had been in Acetabela facing her own demon named Bria Bradley, a fellow Witch that delighted in manipulating her. Tibblet-Tibbley had also shrunk them at the carnival while Amity had been crawling around the ventilation system of Hexside trying to escape a swarm of pixies.
She swiped through Willow's pictures, smiling fondly at Luz as she seemed intent on writing in a purple notebook covered in decals. They were already on their way to the Emperor's Castle, with Hexside School of Magic and Demonics in the distant background. Several photographs of excited students cheering were posted on Penstagram as they rode the dragon bus, waving Emperor's Coven flags and wearing various paraphernalia in the recognizable white and gold colors.
Amity banished the scroll in a puff of smoke and spun a spell circle to summon a small abomination, commanding it to bring her the crystal ball that sat upon her desk. "Thanks." she said absently, then caught herself. She had never thanked an abomination for its service before, and she looked up at the thin construct. Without thinking, she had given it messy hair, larger than usual eyes, and its usual grimace was turned up slightly in a familiar smile.
The knob on her door wiggled, and she gasped, transforming the 'Luzomination' into a thick puddle of ooze on her floor as her father stepped into the room. "You could knock, Dad!"
Alador stood at the door, confused. He was holding a small lilac-coloured plate with a sandwich on it that rotated its one eye at her when she spoke. He looked down at the puddle of abomination goo that crept toward his boots before returning his attention to his daughter. "I brought you lunch," he said, scratching his stubbled chin with a hand stained purple from his extensive work with abominations. "Are you having trouble with abominations again?"
"No," Amity replied, trying not to let her irritability show. "You just startled me. I was just getting it to bring me the CB so that I could watch something."
"Very well," he said, spinning a quick spell circle to magically lift the puddle into a neat cube and placing it back on Amity's shelf. "I have to get back to my workshop. If you need anything, you know how to contact your mother." He added, placing the sandwich on the nightstand beside her bed. "Enjoy."
"Dad, this is so boring! I can't stay locked up in here. This isn't fair!"
"You know how we feel about squabbling, Mittens. You defied your mother twice in as many days, and neither of you will tell me why your mother decided to ground you in the first place."
Amity wasn't sure what she could tell him, especially if her mother wouldn't corroborate the story. Her brother had stolen a vial of what he thought was a potion that would liven up the Grom Night dance, and Amity had taken it home to discover it was a genie that her mother had enslaved for years. After making several wishes that had all wound up in failure, she had decided to wish that Luz would just wind up happy in her life. With all of her wishes fulfilled, the genie had gone free and with her wish being a selfless one, her curse had been broken as well. Unfortunately, that means no proof that the genie, her bottle, or any of Amity's or Odalia's wishes had been real.
"It's…" Amity started before turning away. "It's girl stuff."
Alador's pale complexion reddened for a moment. It was a trait that Amity had inherited along with his hair color and propensity for abomination magic, although Odalia insisted that she keep her hair dyed green. Her father frowned but nodded. "Very well. Make sure you feel better enough to assist us with the Blight Industries sale next week." He said, stopping in the doorway. "I think I can convince your mother to shorten your grounding if it goes well." he added, closing the door behind him.
Amity watched the door for a moment before turning her attention to the crystal ball on her bed. She let out a bored sigh again, tapping the smooth surface to activate it, only for a commercial to appear.
"SCAPULA CITY! The Day of Unity is quickly approaching, and we're the closest location to the sacred mandible! Located on the Titan's right shoulder, Scapula City is known as the most divine place on the Boiling Isles that you can visit!" shouted a handsome demon with well-quaffed black hair, a chiselled jaw, and a sparkling earring.
Amity rolled her eyes and tapped the orb again to change the program. Scapula City was known to be full of witches and demons that were a bit more extreme in their worship of the Titan as a deity, her retired Uncle and his family included. It was also home to the Salivation Army, a group of witches that, while unassociated with the Emperor's Coven, had made it their mission to bring as many wild witches into the fold as they could with the promise of shelter, food, and a sense of belonging.
A McClauneck's ad appeared as the channel changed, listing their menu as well as their standing bounty on demon meat and a disclaimer that their employees were no longer for purchase. Likely a result of Boscha's stray pixie that she had bought from the local Bonesborough branch that had nearly destroyed Hexside.
Finally, the crystal ball found a channel with an episode of Scryscape, a favorite science fiction program of Amity's. It was about a Witch that found his way onto a human ship by accident by falling through a portal and eventually learning how to live in his new environment. Now that Amity knew a human herself, she wondered just how close the writers of the program were to getting the human realm right.
Amity finished the episode, ate her sandwich, and began reading her Trekking the Stars novel before rechecking her Penstagram, hoping to find more pictures of the field trip. There were several posts from some of the students, such as Poe and Solis, but Willow's account was curiously empty until just a few minutes ago when she had repeated Gus's last entry.
"We just flew back from the Emperor's Castle on the Head Witch's palisman!" Gus explained, the view from his scroll bouncing as he ran. It was challenging to determine where he was exactly until the recognizable face of Hooty came into view.
The front door of the Owl House opened to show a crooked view of Eda, her expression of joy turning to one of confusion and then anger. Gus's scroll caught the flash of light as the grey-haired woman summoned her staff and vanished in a moment of golden magic. The implosion of energy scrambled the feed from Gus's scroll, and the scene went black.
Amity sat still, her mouth hanging open in a silent gasp. What had just happened? She hadn't seen or heard any sign of Luz in the post, and the students should have returned to school hours ago, so why had Willow and Gus arrived at the Owl House only a short time ago? Why had they been travelling on Lilith's staff?
She swung her legs off the bed and stood, wincing as her knee threatened to buckle when she put weight on it. The healing sigils glowed in response, and she reached out for her crutches. She had to do something. She had to help. It was what friends do.
She peeked out her door, ensuring that the hall was clear, before making her way to the top of the stairs with a loud creak that caused her to grimace. She paused, listening for anyone that might have been alerted before beginning her descent. As awkward as going down the stairs might be on crutches, she knew using any abomination magic in the house would instantly reveal herself to her father. Their squishy, heavy footfalls made a distinct sound as well, and she knew that stealth would be critical if she wanted to escape the house.
As she reached the middle of the stairs, Amity could hear speaking in the Dining room, and the smell of dinner made her stomach growl in protest of her plan. It was enough to make her hesitate, forcing something to click in her mind at the ridiculousness of what she was trying to do. She was on crutches and was going to hobble to the Emperor's Castle?
The sudden distraction of reality made her stumble, and one of her crutches missed the next step, sending her sliding down the hard steps on her rear and shooting pain go through her already injured leg as she stopped at the floor. She cried out in surprise and pain, and the cacophony of chairs squeaking across the floor filled the dining room.
Emira and Edric were there first, followed by Alador and then her mother. "Amity!" they shouted before their words of concern or condemnation became mixed.
Alador wore a frown as usual but commanded the abomibutler to break down into a puddle and reform beneath Amity, lifting her in its arms. "Emira, please call the Healing Coven again," Odalia ordered her eldest daughter before gracefully pushing her way to the front of the group. "Really, Amity, what were you thinking? You're being as careless as your brother lately!"
"I…" Amity began, choking down the pain that was threatening to cause tears. "I was just trying to get some exercise and join everyone for dinner." she lied. Maybe she would be able to follow Willow's or Gus's Penstagram for more news. Or watch the news. There had to be some way of finding out what was going on.
"We'll have one of the servants bring something up for you as planned," Odalia replied. "A Healer should be here shortly, and hopefully, they'll strap you down if needed."
Amity looked down at the rest of her family from the arms of the abomibutler carrying her back up the stairs. Her siblings wore concerned expressions, her mother looked little more than annoyed, and her father was already distracted by his research notes. He was probably trying to come up with a way to make sure she stayed in bed.
She hadn't slept at all that night, both out of worry for Luz as well as the fact that her injured leg was now in a sling suspended above her bed as well. She had managed to twist her knee slightly, and the Healer had added more sigils to her cast and recommended more substantial measures to make sure she stayed in bed. So Amity remained bored, searching her crystal ball for any news on what was happening outside the manor.
"… Emperor's Castle. Edalyn Clawthorne, known commonly as 'Eda the Owl Lady,' has been captured and brought before the Emperor." said the reporter for the Boiling Isles News, and Amity paused her channel changing. Gus's dad was usually very professional in his career, remaining non-bias in the stories he would report on, but it was clear that he was very concerned.
The camera demon then flew up to a massive stage where a short-statured demon stood, flanked by Emperor's guards. She had ruddy skin and a dark blue, clawed appendage attached to her scalp with clawed digits that covered one eye and was balled into a fist like a bun on the back of her head. A unique white and gold uniform covered her petite body, signifying her as a direct assistant to the Emperor. The name Kikimora was displayed on the bottom of the orb.
"For the crime of attacking a coven leader and refusing to join a coven, Edalyn Clawthorne's body shall be petrified in stone! Today, sundown, at the Conformatorium," Kikimora announced.
The camera demon panned back to Mr. Porter, and his face fell even more. "Today is a grave day for Bonesborough."
Amity gasped as several statues of previously petrified witches and demons were shown by the camera demon. Eda was sentenced to petrification, and Luz was still nowhere to be seen. She quickly summoned her scroll, but all of Penstagram was abuzz with the news. All except Willow and Gus, who were mysteriously absent from the reticulum.
She tossed her scroll across her room in frustration, only to have it unsatisfactorily poof into pink smoke when it struck the wall. She looked at her suspended, injured knee and let her face fall into her hands. "I finally found people that I care about. People that care about me! Now they might disappear! And there's nothing that I can do about it!"
A knock at her door caused Amity to take a breath, sniff, and rub her eyes. "You okay, Mittens?" Emira asked, her voice somewhat muffled by the thick door.
"Go away!" she rasped in reply, still trying to steady her breathing.
Predictably, the door opened anyway, as there was little privacy between siblings when one was upset. "We'll take that as a no." Edric said, entering the room behind his twin sister.
"What do you two want?" Amity sobbed through clenched teeth, trying to bury her tears in front of her brother and sister.
Emira sat on the edge of Amity's bed while Edric wandered around the room, searching for any changes Amity had made to her decor. "We heard the news about The Owl Lady." Emira said, placing a hand on her sister's.
"It's not fair!" Amity cried. "Eda's the only family Luz has here. Where's she going to live? Who's going to look after her? Is she just going to go back to the human realm?"
Edric gave her a quizzical look. "That's not really your problem," he said before frowning at the pair of angry looks he received. "Is it?"
"Amity, I know you like Luz, but she's a human. It's not like she poses a threat to the Emperor, so I'm sure she'll be okay. It's too bad about Ms. Eda, but she is a criminal. For all of our pranks, we're not about to get involved in open rebellion. Right, Ed?" Emira asked, turning to her brother. He seemed to ponder the question longer than was comfortable. "Right, Ed?!"
"Yeah. For sure." he replied.
Amity let out a sigh. "I just wish I wasn't stuck here." she said, also wishing she had known the moment was coming so that she could have kept a few of Jinn's wishes in reserve. Perhaps what bothered her most was the guarantee that her final wish for Luz to live a happy life had been so short-lived.
"I'm sure we'll hear something soon," Emira assured her, standing to leave. "Don't forget to eat something, stay in bed, and try not to worry."
Amity nodded. "Just… don't tell mom and dad, okay? I'm not really sure of anything right now." Emira nodded back and snared her brother by the arm to drag him out of the room and close the door behind them. "C'mon, Luz. Be okay."
Amity spent most of the day watching her crystal ball, rereading her books, and constantly checking her Penstagram for any information on what was going on at the Emperor's Castle. People from all over the Boiling Isles gathered at the Conformatorium to watch. While Eda's public petrification was being held off until sundown, there were new petrified remains of wild witches being hauled out of the building regularly and situated on either side of the drawbridge.
Wild Magic had been outlawed for some time, and Witches that refused to join a Coven by the age of eighteen were considered fugitives by the Emperor. Amity had never questioned this idea before. Both of her parents had joined covens out of school, and her extended family had as well. She'd had every intention of joining the Emperor's Coven, but this all seemed wrong somehow.
Her bedroom door opened, and her mother stepped in, followed by the abomibutler carrying a tray of food. "Is it dinner time already?" she asked, uncertain if she was being sarcastic or not herself. A day of being stuck in bed was agonizingly long, and yet she didn't feel hungry either.
"How are you feeling, Amity? I trust you've learned your lesson about leaving your bed by now?" Odalia asked, spying the crystal ball on the bed. "Watching the news, I see? Isn't it exciting? Finally, that criminal will get what's been coming to her for years."
Amity opened her mouth to protest but remained silent. She wanted to tell her mother how Eda was more of a witch than she would ever be, but she knew what the consequences of disagreeing would be.
"Oh, don't worry. Soon you'll be a part of a Coven yourself and not have to concern yourself with all these villains. Despite your recent… mistake, I was able to guarantee this family's security for a long time to come."
"Yes, mom." Amity reluctantly replied, taking the tray from the abomibutler and setting it on her nightstand. Talking to her mother about her concerns for Luz or the Owl Lady was clearly useless, and her father tuned out everything but his work.
"Keep your eye on your Crystal Ball. Sundown at the Emperor's Castle should be coming very shortly." Odalia said, following the servant out of the room. "Another day or two, and you should be back at school."
Amity watched the door close and felt her chest tighten. Of course the sun set earlier at the chest than in the right palm where Bonesborough resided! She listened for her mother's footfalls descending the stairs, then immediately grabbed her crystal ball.
Gus's father appeared on the orb again, his expression dour. "Well, folks, Eda the Owl Lady has appeared on stage, which means the petrification process is about to begin."
The camera demon panned up to the stage to reveal a giant, white feathered beast locked inside a glowing cage ascending on a platform. She resembled a stout gryphon, but its face was unmistakably Eda's. The platform reached the stage level with Kikimora standing at attention nearby. The demon walked crisply over to a set of levers, pulling the first one. In the center of the stage, a large, disturbing statue of three witches begging for mercy rose. As she pulled the second lever, the statues' eyes started to glow, and a loud gasp was heard through the crowd.
The statue crackled with power, and Kikimora grasped the last lever, eager to pull it, when two more figures, flanked by guards, appeared on stage. Lilith Clawthorne and the little demon, King, were suddenly thrown into the cage with her.
"And in a shocking turn of events, head Coven leader Lilith is now in the holding cage! Escorted by what appears to be a deranged cat…" the reporter said. A small hand began tugging his sleeve, and the camera demon panned down to show Gus pleading up at his father. "Augustus?! I'm live!"
"Dad, you have to stop!"
Willow stepped in front of Mr. Porter and addressed the camera demon directly. "Yeah. What's happening to Eda isn't right. She might not always follow the rules, but she hasn't done anything worthy of petrification! The Emperor should let Eda go."
Gus raised a fist and began chanting, "Let Eda go!"
The impressive crowd that had gathered for the spectacle joined in but were quickly silenced when Kikimora finally pulled the last lever. The statue groaned, and its green eyes crackled to life, firing a terrifying twin beam of magical energy at the cage. The camera demon zoomed in, catching the transformed Eda moving to intercept the beam and stopping it from striking Lilith and King.
Eda let out an agonized screech, and a stony-grey surface began to creep up her legs. Her body began to grow stiff, and Amity leaned in close with tears filling her eyes.
After a few minutes of having to watch the Owl Lady suffer, the view on the crystal ball blurred as the petrification statue became entangled in vines before being crushed. A small figure in a purple cape appeared behind Kikimora, holding a small fireball in one hand and a palisman staff in the other and the camera demon zoomed in.
"Oh my Titan!" Amity shouted, likely loud enough for the entire manor to hear.
Kikimora looked up, the fire in Luz's hand shimmering in the little demon's eyes. She reluctantly drew a spell circle that dissipated the glowing cage surrounding Eda, Lilith, and King. The camera demon followed Luz across the stage to where Lilith was concentrating, holding her hands against Eda's partially petrified form and driving back the hostile spell.
The camera demon couldn't pick up the sound of what all was occurring, but it was clear that Luz was ready to defend the three prisoners with her life against numerous Coven Guards that approached. Instead, Eda snatched Luz's cape in her mouth and tossed her on her back, with Lilith and King climbing on after her. Enormous wings swept out from Eda's monstrous form, and she leaped into the sky and into the darkness.
Amity found herself biting the corner of her pillow and clutching her plush Otabin doll in her arms as the camera demon followed them as long as it could before panning back to the stage where the Emperor himself appeared. His typically regal, golden mask with long, stag-like horns that protruded high above his head and a chin that came to a point was cracked vertically over one eye, its contents glowing a frightening blue within the darkness.
"Children of the Isles!" he shouted, addressing the crowd below him. "The Titan has told me to spare the Owl Lady's life, but in return, her curse will strip away all her powers. Let her monstrous form be a lesson about the dangers of wild magic."
Her fangs had torn a hole in her pillow, and she spat out a mouthful of stuffing, laying back in her bed and releasing the breath she didn't know she had been holding. "It appears that Eda the Owl Lady and her fellow fugitives have escaped Coven custody once again." Mr. porter announced, having gained control of his news story from Gus and Willow. "Could this result in a greater reduction of wild witches in the days leading up to the Day of Unity?" he asked, hesitantly looking back and forth as the shadows of Coven guards came into view. "Uh, only time will tell. This is Perry Porter with Bonesborough News, signing off…"
Amity giggled uncontrollably to herself. It was an odd sensation that she hadn't experienced in a long time, but Luz the Human had just defied the Emperor, rumored to be the most powerful Witch that ever existed, and lived to tell the tale.
Crush be damned, she was in love.