Last Day
It's been three days now and it's officially the longest break Amity had since her promotion. It's a shame that it was spent in a jail cell. It's nothing compared to basic training. Oddly, she's enjoyed the forced downtime.
Slow footsteps alerted her. Only one of her visitors comes alone. Amity wandered to the bars to look at her and she just realized that the human was a little taller than her. Just like the last two times, she paused in front of the cell to take a long deep breath. "Hey," Amity blurted out.
The human jolted in shock, then she politely smiled at her. Before she said anything, Amity continued, "Instead of random chit-chat, can I ask you a few questions?"
She pouted and moaned, "I like random chit-chat, but okay."
The visitor turned and pressed her back to the wall. "Short answers, okay?" Amity demanded.
"Got it," she enthusiastically replied.
"What are these paper light spells?" Amity held one up as an example. The first question was the one she forgot to ask yesterday.
"They're glyphs; the symbols come from nature and a simpler way to perform spells…"
"Short answers," Amity bluntly interrupted her.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"No," Amity grunted. She didn't want to be mean. "Five minutes, remember?"
"Right,"
"How long have you been in the Boiling Isles?"
"Ten years, going on eleven."
The answer surprised her, but there was no time for follow-up questions. Maybe one, "Do you miss the human realm?"
"No," she answered annoyed and crossed her arms. "I choose to be here and I have friends and family here now."
This may not be the first time someone asked her that. Amity had to remind herself that she doesn't time to ask for context. "How long have you been married?"
"Three years,"
"Does your family know about the Boiling Isles?"
"My mom does and she loves batata."
"And you and your mother-in-law?"
The human hesitated. Her pitch became higher when she answered, "She'll come around eventually."
Could have guessed that. Amity said in a somber tone, "Good luck with that."
"Thanks. I get along with everyone else."
Amity stopped herself from what she meant. She doesn't want to forget another question. Especially this one. "Where did you meet your wife?"
"Hexside,"
"You went to Hexside?!" Amity blurted out.
"Yup, I was banned twice and graduated from there."
How? Another question almost escaped her. The human kept surprising her. The vague timeline she constructed seemed interesting, but she is running out of time. "What's your name?" she finally asked.
"I'm sorry, I can't answer that; one of my wife's conditions."
"It's just your name."
"I know and I tried to debate it."
"Even if I asked?"
"She said and I quote 'Especially if she asks.' But she had really good reasons."
Amity sighed because she could guess why the limitations were put in place. The Other Amity must think very poorly of her. "I'm married too," Amity confessed.
The human froze. "And you probably don't know him?" Amity continued.
"Him?!" That part surprised her.
"So, you don't have anything to worry about and you could at least look at me."
The human didn't turn around. Amity has no idea what to expect from her; she can't see her reaction to the news. She eventually took a long sigh and confessed, "As long as you're happy with your life; I'll be happy for you. Also, I'm not trying to be rude, it's too sad to look at you while you're in there."
She glanced up and said, "And we're out of time."
"That was five minutes?'
"No, it was actually seven and I have to go."
The crystal ball in Hunter's office has not been working properly since the Fake Amity arrived. More especially after the portal's leftover was spilled on it. He hasn't told anyone about that, because it still works. But, it would continuously make a call to an unknown person. The worst part is that it would show an empty apartment. He usually stops the call, but his own voice came from the room, "Hello?"
"Hello?" he echoed back. "Who's there?"
Just like what he expected, another Hunter came into the frame. They could have been identical except for slightly different haircuts and scars on their face. "Is this a prank?" Other Hunter demanded.
"No," Hunter quickly answered.
He had to summarize everything as fast as he could. "By any chance, are you missing Amity? Because over here, we have two. One appeared from a white portal three days ago."
Other Hunter stared back puzzled. He sarcastically asked, "You have two Amities?"
Hunter grinned and playfully answered, "Yeah, they hate each other and got into a fight. So, we can't keep them in the same room."
Other Hunter shook his head and muttered, "Oh my titan."
"We can recreate the portal now and send her back."
Other Hunter sighed in relief and responded, "Everyone would be happy to hear she's okay."
The sound of a door opening alerted the two Hunters. One looked out of the frame and beckoned someone over with a smile. Willow's jaw dropped when she saw the Other Hunter. She leaned on Hunter's shoulders to get a good look at the other one. "It's another Hunter," she said in bewilderment.
Amity walked next to them and said, "This is getting insane."
Other Hunter stood tongue-tied. He barely recognized Amity with her long purple hair, but the woman had her arms wrapped around the other self's neck and could have easily strangled him now. Yet, his other self was calm, almost happy that she was close to him. "Now, we can double-check if Other Amity made it back safely," she cheerfully stated.
"And before you do that," purple-haired Amity stated, "I going to get my wife out of here."
Wife, Other Hunter mouthed the word.
"We should call again right afterward."
"Okay," Other Hunter answered.
The phone call was cut off right there.
