Amity flopped onto her bed and bounced on the soft mattress. Her lips seemed to have frozen into a smile so wide it touched her ears. She felt that if she tried to take a leap she would take flight.
She couldn't believe it. It had happened... it had happened! She was Luz's girlfriend now... and she called her 'awesome girlfriend'... and also cotton candy hair goddess... and they kissed...
Amity put her face in the pillow and stifled a cry of joy. Her stomach was doing somersaults and her heart was celebrating like it was at a party. She could still taste Luz's lips on hers, and she absolutely wanted to taste it again. She promised herself to shower her with kisses every time they saw each other again; she felt as if Luz had become a drug and she was going through withdrawal even though they had said goodbye not even an hour before.
She wouldn't be able to sleep that night, she already knew it. Her body seemed full of energy, so much so that she felt the urge to get up and run. Every time she tried to close her eyes she relived one of the magnificent moments she had experienced during that spectacular day. Even though she knew she should rest for a day at school, she was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep a wink.
Ghost was leaning on her nightstand and looking at her strangely. On the one hand he seemed very touched, on the other he seemed to be holding back from giggling. Seeing herself look that way Amity thought that by the cat's point of view she must probably seem like a complete idiot at that moment... but after all it was well known that love made you lose cognitive functions, so it was fine with her.
Suddenly someone knocked on her door. Amity pulled herself out of bed in confusion, not expecting anyone to come visit her at that late hour, and she was surprised to see her mother come into the room. "Mom! What is it?"
"Sorry, Mittens. Did I wake you up?" Odalia asked as she closed the door behind her.
"No, I was still awake" Amity confessed with a small hint of shame in her voice, as she should have already been asleep at that moment. "Why did you come?"
"I wanted to talk to you... in private. I couldn't do it in front of your siblings" her mother replied, sitting on the bed next to her. "But first, what happened on the beach today? I've never seen you so happy"
Amity blushed visibly. "I... I got together with Luz" she confessed.
Odalia looked at her surprised for a moment, then she giggled: "Uh... so you've also fully entered adolescence, hm? Then, what's it like to be in love?"
Amity was surprised. She didn't expect her mother to approve her relationship with Luz. "Are you... okay with it?"
"Why shouldn't I? You're grown up now. It's right that you have your experiences... and I know for a fact that first loves are the best. I was young too" Odalia told her, ruffling her hair, then adding: "I don't deny that I have some doubts that this relationship could create a disturbance in your concentration for magical balancing... but I don't think that will happen. I see you as too happy for that to happen"
Amity smiled even more. She felt encouraged by her mother's approval. "Thank you... I'm glad you agree"
"I don't want to control your heart anymore, Mittens. I already tried and it didn't go well. I want to trust you" Odalia answered her. Those words created mixed emotions in Amity's mind, but they were quickly dashed when her mother asked: "So, do you want to tell me how it went?"
Amity blushed a lot. "Well… sorry, but it's a bit… personal" she stammered. "But... it was really nice... I couldn't think of anything but Luz, it was the best experience of my life!"
Her mother smiled at her, but it was a strange, almost nostalgic smile. "Yeah... being in love is nice and makes you forget everything else" she murmured.
Amity immediately closed her mouth. She remembered that her mother hadn't exactly had luck with love. But she still couldn't stop herself from asking: "Mom... were you like that with dad too?"
"It's not important" Odalia immediately ended that conversation, and she shook her head as if she were swatting away an insect. And then I immediately change the subject: "Sorry, you're right, I shouldn't have asked you something so personal. In any case, I'm happy for you, Mittens"
Amity bit her lip. She was sure that that reaction hadn't been faked; she had awakened something inside her mother, something she desperately wanted to forget. It wasn't hard to understand why given their family's situation. "Yes... thank you. And sorry" she replied; she felt guilty for asking her such a thing.
Odalia sighed, then her face darkened: "Mittens... the reason I wanted to be alone with you... is because I wanted to talk to you about yesterday" she told her.
Amity stiffened at those words, and seeing that her mother quickly said: "I don't intend to take back what I told you this morning, I don't want to lock you up or stop you from seeing your fairy godmother, you can continue to do so. But... this morning you and your siblings were in a hurry to go to the beach, and I didn't want to risk ruining your mood with serious talk. But I think we need to address this now". She looked her straight in the eyes: "Mittens... yesterday you saw a part of me that I hoped you would never know"
Amity swallowed. "Mom, I know it was your magic..."
"That doesn't make me blameless. It was my duty to control my magic instead of losing control like that. True, it was a critical situation and I was worried about you, but that's no excuse". Odalia paused briefly, then asked, "Mittens... tell me the truth: did I hurt you yesterday?"
Amity felt a shiver run down her spine as she thought back to the way her mother had grabbed her face the night before. She wasn't sure what to answer, since she didn't want her mother to feel even more guilty, but in the end she decided to be honest: "Yes... but only a little, really"
Odalia looked down. She took a long pause, then she whispered: "I scared you, don't I?"
Amity nodded. "A little" she admitted. "Don't get me wrong, I know it wasn't really you who was behind your actions and that your magic was to blame, but... you scared me"
Odalia placed a hand on her face. She looked terribly tired. "If you're mad at me, I don't blame you. I should have protected you… not been the one you felt you needed to be protected from". She grimaced and gasped. "Sorry. Your fairy godmother was right... I'm a terrible mother"
"Mom..." Amity couldn't remember ever seeing her mother in such a fragile state. "You're not terrible..."
"Yes, instead. I should have been different for you. I should have given you more freedom, I should have been more present in your life, I should have been honest with you right from the start" Odalia rubbed her temple. "When you were born, I promised myself that I would give you everything this world had to offer... but a puppet was able to make you happier than I ever could. For what it's worth, Mittens... I'm sorry. For yesterday, and for the rest of your life. I should have been different for you"
Amity was silent for a moment, then she approached her and said: "But... you're different now. You haven't stayed the same. As soon as you realized that what you were doing was wrong, you tried to change. And this It shows that you're not terrible... you're just... well, I'd like to say human, but that's not exactly the case, so... let's say you're normal. Everyone can make mistakes, the important thing is to learn from them". And saying this she curled up on her chest and hugged her: "And even if you scared me yesterday... and I'm still a little scared... I'm still proud to have you as a mother"
Odalia was completely speechless by Amity's behavior, as if she hadn't expected such a reaction at all. She had clearly pictured in her mind that the conversation would be very different. Almost instinctively she raised her right arm and wrapped it around her daughter's body, and lightly rubbed her hair; her movements were jerky, as if she was in the grip of an internal conflict and wasn't sure how to act. Ghost had observed the whole scene with a strange look in his eyes, almost reproachful towards his mistress, but as soon as he saw her perform that small gesture he seemed happier and jumped on the bed and started giving small bites to Odalia's left arm, as if to invite her to complete the hug. She, taking advantage of the fact that Amity wasn't looking, threw a dirty look at the cat, which however returned it with the same intensity, and clearly said something to her with a meow that made Odalia turn away and cause a light blush to appear on her cheeks.
Mother and daughter remained in that position for a while, then finally Amity ended the embrace. Odalia looked conflicted for a moment longer, then she shook her head and said: "Look... I've been thinking that... maybe we should both do something together. Maybe, to make things easier for you, I should let you know how it feels to possessing and using magic"
Amity's eyes lit up. "But... I can't still use magic"
"No... but I can pass mine to you" Odalia answered her albeit with a slight reluctance. "Do you want to make a contract with me, Mittens?"
Amity was more excited than ever. She remembered how her mother had explained to her that it was possible to use the contract to give magical powers to those who didn't have any, but she didn't expect her to ever suggest such a thing. "Really? Can we do this?"
"It won't be like having your own magic, but you can at least understand what it feels like to have it and use it" Odalia replied. "Here's the contract: I will give you a hundredth of my magic for... let's say an hour, and in exchange for the entire aforementioned hour you will not move away from me for more than six meters, so I will always have you under my eye and I can stop you if you use magic in a dangerous way"
The smile on Amity's face widened, even as her eyes lost some of their light. "Just one hundredth of your magic?" she asked, fearing that this meant she would be able to just shoot a few sparks and do anything else.
Odalia evidently understood her concern, because she explained: "Remember, 'my magic' is both that which is within me at this moment and that which is held in all the people with whom I have performed a contract all these years. Even just a hundredth of it is an abnormal amount. Giving you more could be dangerous... you wouldn't be able to handle it, and I don't want you to risk getting hurt"
Those words were enough to erase any doubts from Amity's mind. By now she was champing at the bit to be able to do that thing. "Okay, then! Let's do it!"
"Give me your hand. I will take this opportunity to show you how to make a contract" Odalia said holding out her hand; Amity immediately grabbed it, and as soon as she did a beam of magical energy formed around their palms and created a perfect circle of pulsating pink. "With this everlasting oath, we pledge to abide by these terms: I will give Amity exactly one hundredth of my magic for one hour, and she will not move more than twenty feet away from me for the same period of time. This is the deal"
As soon as Odalia finished speaking, the magic circle exploded and took the form of a fluorescent rope that wrapped around their arms and fused with their skin; Amity felt a slight tickle when this happened. Immediately afterwards a green energy emerged from her mother's chest and like a beam of light flew until it entered her heart.
Amity felt like a sun had just exploded inside her heart; she felt no pain, it was a different sensation, which was definitely... intoxicating. Suddenly every part of her body seemed in the grip of a feverish delirium, and her mind seemed to tremble as she was hit by a madness of new sensations that she couldn't even describe. All this lasted just ten seconds, which were among the most intense of her life; and when that was over, she still felt that something had changed. She felt different, stronger, more energetic... more powerful. "Did... Did it work?"
"Yes, it worked. Come on, try to do some magic" Odalia replied.
Amity had already memorized many magical formulas, at least the most basic ones, that she had read in the books her mother kept; however, they always expected the witch to 'extract the magic' from herself, and she had no idea how to do it. "Um... how...?"
"Do as I always taught you, Mittens: concentrate" Odalia replied. "Feel your body, understand where the source of your magic is, and then grab it and drag it out"
Amity closed her eyes and tried to do as she was told; she listened carefully to her body, to every breath, to every heartbeat. At first she felt nothing, but then she began to perceive something else: a strange flow that flowed through her as if it were blood and that gave an intoxicating sensation to every single cell. She concentrated even more and followed that flow, and found herself right in front of the heart, where she found what seemed like a huge source of energy that pulsated continuously. For some reason she felt perfectly at ease, as if this were a normal thing... as if it were her nature. And instinctively she knew exactly what to do: using her mind she took it and dragged it to the palms of her hands, and then she shouted the first magic formula that came to mind. She immediately felt a sudden warmth on her hands; she finally opened her eyes and saw that suspended two centimeters above her palms a small purple flame had appeared and danced in the air, giving off heat and light.
Amity almost cried when she saw it. Her breath caught and she struggled to articulate even a few words. "I did it... I did it!" she exclaimed with a big smile. "I did a spell!"
Odalia nodded, and she looked quite proud. "You did well, Mittens. But now put out that fire, or you'll end up burning the bed" she told her, and she wasn't entirely wrong about the last part, and in fact Amity quickly obeyed and made the flame disappear. "Come on, try again. Get some practice"
Amity didn't have to be told again and jumped out of bed, running all over the room and working magic on practically anything she found; after the first four or five attempts, extracting the magic from the source in her heart had become natural to her, and she had to concentrate very little to do so. She didn't know if this was because being a witch she was biologically suited to such things or simply because as her mother had told her when she summoned Ghost she possessed a high magical affinity. Within a few minutes the room was filled with books fluttering like birds, pillows walking like animals, multicolored sparks of light flying from side to side, papers erupting from desk drawers like volcanoes, pencils that did their homework on their own, sheets that changed color every five seconds, and even the bed that shook from side to side like it was dancing. Amity couldn't stop doing every spell she had studied, and she even made Ghost fly like he was a balloon, much to the cat's annoyance. "This is amazing! Oh, I feel like I'm the protagonist of a fairy tale!" she exclaimed, doing a pirouette. "Will I be able to do all this once I unlock my magic?"
"You will be able to do much more. I will teach you magic that is much more powerful and complex than these" Odalia replied. Until that moment she had remained on the sidelines watching her daughter have fun, and from time to time she had canceled some of her potentially dangerous spells, especially those related to fire.
Amity was shaking like she was in fibrillation. "Oh, I really think I'll like being a witch!" she exclaimed as she turned a door of her closet into a mirror and watched herself continuously change the color of her hair, turning it yellow, red, blue, orange, and black, before returning to lavender. "I'll make a two hundred and fifty meter tall statue of the protagonist of my favorite book, with the villain at her feet and her shouting in victory! No, even better, I'll make it with Luz as the protagonist!"
"Anything you want" Odalia told her; she seemed almost touched by her daughter's enthusiasm.
"I'm going to do some really weird things" Amity said in an excited voice as she looked at her hands that continued to emit sparks from her fingers.
But just at that moment her mother approached her and closed her hands: "Mittens, I understand that you are happy, but now please listen to me"
Amity could tell from the seriousness in her mother's voice that she wanted to tell her something important, so she fought to contain her excitement and nodded. "Okay. You have my attention"
Odalia remained silent for a moment longer, then she said to her: "Mittens, you must understand that this power is also an enormous responsibility. You don't realize it now because there are only the two of us in this room, but once you find yourself in the middle to other people... you will have to make choices. Humans also make choices, but they are... limited. You are not. You are much more powerful than others... and this will always lead you to have to decide in what a way to act. You are more than just a person... you are a judge"
Amity wasn't understanding. "What do you mean?" she asked astonished.
Her mother smiled and then raised her hand; Ghost looked like he was going to protest, but he flew into her palm and turned into a flying broom. "I think a practical example will be easier" she replied. "So? Do you want to do a little mother-daughter activity with me?"
Amity was undecided for a moment; it was as if a part of her instinctively wanted to back away. But she was too curious, so she ignored that feeling and got on the flying broom; her mother climbed in behind her and made sure she was holding on tight, and then with a snap of her fingers she opened the window and the two of them zoomed off into the night sky.
Unknown to both of them, someone had been watching everything through the keyhole. As soon as they were gone, Alador turned away from the door and leaned against the wall; he was sweating and breathing hard. He tried his best to calm down, but it was really difficult for him.
"Hey, what are you doing there?" Edric's voice came from behind him; Alador turned and saw his son standing behind him with a glass of water in his hand. Edric was glaring at him, as he always had done since he had denigrated his younger sister, but as soon as he saw the state his father was in he immediately abandoned his severity. "Dad... are you okay?"
"Yes... yes, everything is fine" Alador replied hastily. "What are you doing up at this hour? You should be in bed sleeping"
"I just wanted to drink a glass of water" Edric replied, but his expression didn't change: "Dad, seriously... you seem strange. Are you sure that..."
"I told you everything's fine! Now go back to sleep!" Alador exclaimed, and then quickly walked away down the hall.
Edric was left speechless; his father had never raised his voice at him or Emira, and he certainly didn't remember ever seeing him so worried. He didn't understand what was bothering him so much, but something told him it wasn't anything good. Very reluctantly he returned to his room, his mind crowded with a thousand questions and with the strong impression that there was trouble ahead. And the fact that his father had stood in front of Amity's room while she was in that state only made the bad feeling Edric was feeling worse.
This is officially the end of the second story arc of my own invention and the beginning of the third. From here onwards "Amity's decision" arc starts.
I also inform you all that today at 9:30 pm in Rome (3:30 pm New York) I will publish my first multiple-chapters story about Hazbin Hotel, entitled "If Hell is forever then Heaven must be a lie". Anyone of you who is interested and would like to read it, or even leave kudos and comments, will make me very happy.
Remember, this will happen on the site "Archive of Our Own", not here.