AN: Full disclosure, I actually had this chapter ready to post weeks ago. But then for some reason FFN decided that it didn't want to let me upload anything to the doc manager. Thanks, site.

Amity woke up with yawn. At first she wondered why she was laying in a random alley of all places, before the events of the previous night came back to her. She unzipped her sleeping bag (one of the things she packed aside from her clothes) while chuckling, despite how her back ached from the hard ground. She actually did it; she managed to get away.

For now, at least; she had no illusions on anything being easy from this point going forward. And as much as she'd like to turn to someone else for help, everyone she could ask would probably just turn her right back in.

(Well, maybe not everyone… but any chance of Willow wanting to help her had long since burned away.)

But even ignoring the fact she had no one to rely on now, it's likely that the moment anyone recognized her she'd be right back where she started (expect even worse because Titan knows what kind of punishment Odalia would inflict on her for this). She'd probably need a disguise or something. Still though, no need to worry about that immediately; Odalia's pride wouldn't let her admit her oh-so-dear daughter was missing, let alone had left of her own volition. She probably had a few days before the Blight matriarch got desperate enough to make her disappearance public.

So for now, she had other matters to attend to. Right now, she needed to find something to eat; she was starving.

After purchasing a quick meal of bread from the market, her next stop was a clothing store. While there, the only thing she bought was a black, nondescript cloak. It was also a few sizes to big, and the hood almost covered her entire face when pulled up.

In other words, it was perfect. As long as she kept her distance, no one would recognize her. Hopefully.

It was only that evening when Amity had a revelation.

"I can give it to you for three snails, no less," said the shopkeeper to her, ending their bargaining.

Amity sighed before handing over the requested price. Even finding the absolute cheapest food, she knew the total costs would add up fast. She didn't know how long exactly, but soon she simply wouldn't have enough money to even eat. Yeah, she had a relatively large amount tucked away, but she'd rather spent as little as possible – finding passage to somewhere far away wouldn't pay for itself, after all.

Amity mulled this over as she gnawed on her loaf of bread, when she saw a stall which had a small sign reading "On lunch." Aside it was a basket of fruit, full enough that surely no one would notice if one or two pieces were… missing.

The young witch made a snap decision to take a quick detour over, and as she passed by she quickly snatched one of the apples from the top and slipped it into her cloak. There was no cries of alarm and nobody tried to stop her, so Amity just continued down the street. And when the owner returned to his stall a few minutes later, he was none the wiser to his loss.

It's not like stealing was something Amity enjoyed doing. But for it being something she only started doing yesterday, she was actually somewhat good at it (in her own opinion, at least). Right now, she on the lookout for stall owners who were distracted, and who had full enough carts that they wouldn't notice if one or two things disappeared. It was honestly quite nerve-wracking, and for the first time in her life she found herself wishing she had joined the twins in the illusion track, or at least knew of some other way to hide what she was doing.

(Not that it'd matter for her now…)

"This is ridiculous!" she heard someone cry out. Looking over to the source she saw an irate witch slamming his hands down on the table of a nearby stall selling baked goods.

The red-skinned biped on the other side from him crossed his four arms. "On that, we can agree."

Amity smiled. 'Perfect.'

"Do you honestly think you can just sell me bad food and get away with it? I demand a refund!"

"And I would gladly give you one, except that – as I've told you several times – I did not sell you anything!"

As Amity passed them by, she cast a quick spell that drew a small loaf of bread into her hand. A sharp pain hit her heart, but it was minor enough to just be ignored.

"I have the receipt right here!"

"Yes you do, which clearly shows you did not buy it here!"

Amity left them to their bickering and double-checked to make sure her food wasn't bad. Hopefully they were loud enough that nobody noticed h-

"Hey, you in the cloak!"

…She really needed to stop jinxing herself.

Turning to the source of the voice, Amity saw a gray-haired woman beckoning the girl over to her stand. The runaway swallowed before walking over. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that," the woman said, before spreading her arms across the table of… honestly, Titan knows what; Amity couldn't even guess what even half this stuff was. "How would you like take home some of the finest wares the Human Realm has to offer?"

Amity raised an eyebrow. She had to admit, she was a tad curious… But if she were really into stuff like that, she would have joined the HAS back at Hexside. "Not interested." she said, turning away.

"Really? Not even this delicious human snack?"

Amity turned back around, on just barely managed to catch the gray, squarish tube thrown at her. She looked at the label on it. "Deeo… door-ant?"

"Yep; a single bite will keep you going for hours! And it can be yours for the low price of ten snails!"

Amity thought for a moment before sighing and placing the container back on the table. "Sorry, I don't have any money on me…" Not true, but she'd rather not spend her limited cash on what was probably a scam.

The saleswoman frowned before giving a dismissive wave. "You know what, take it."

"Wait, really?"

"Consider it a free sample."

Amity gave her a hesitant look before taking the tube back. As she walked away she read the rest of the label on it, including the fine print. 'Wait a moment, this doesn't sound like fo-'

"Hold on a second," the woman said, causing Amity to look back at her. "Sorry for prying, but… you don't have anywhere to go, do you?"

"…No," Amity admitted, narrowing her eyes.

The woman behind the counter hummed. "Tell ya what; I might be able to help you out a bit. You know, give you a roof over your head, a bit of food… what would you say about that?"

Amity crossed her arms. Even at at young age, Odalia had it drilled into her head that if something sounded too good to be true, it probably was. "I'd say 'what's the catch?'"

"No catch; though I'd if you could… help out with a few odd jobs here and there, that'd be appreciated."

"Like what?"

"Oh, just a few simple things; potion deliveries, housework… the occasional distraction, that kind of thing."

Now, Amity wasn't ignorant here; she knew exactly who this woman was, and not just because she had decided to set up shop right next to her own wanted poster (which… shouldn't the guards be doing something right now?). Heck, she had even studied under her sister for a time (even if Miss Lilith did try to downplay their relationship, it was still a bit of an open secret).

Lilith… Titan, what would she think if she knew Amity was even considering this? What would Bosha or Skara think?

Heck, what would her parents think?

. . .

"Okay."

"Great!" the Owl Lady said before using her thumb to point at the tent behind her. "First job, get in there and start sorting things."

"…Sure," Amity said before going to do just that. Once inside the tent she called out "Wait, sort by what?"

"Whatever looks the most valuable!"

Eventually the Owl Lady had to close shop, somehow without anyone trying to arrest her (seriously, were all the guards asleep or something?). She was also nice enough to not only accompany Amity in picking up her suitcase from where she stashed it, but to also both it and the witch it belonged to on her staff.

A short flight later found the pair shorty touched down in front of what Amity assumed was the Owl Lady's house. The older witch dismounted first while the younger slid the handle of her baggage off the staff. The staff then flew back into its owner's hand, who walked in the direction of the front door. Amity readjusting her hood before moving to follow suit, but stopped when a hand was held in front of her.

"Hold on," the criminal said, "let me go introduce you first, before-"

"NEW FRIEND!" Amity barely had any time to process the new voice before something slammed into her with the force of a battering ram.

"…That happens."

The whatever-it-was then wrapped around her and lifted her up, leaving her unable to do anything but struggle as it chocked the life out of her, completely helpless and at its mercy as it-

"Hooty, let her go!" Mercifully the thing listened to the criminal, dropping Amity like a sack of poretatoes. "Sorry about that, he can be a little… friendly…"

Amity just laid there, curled into a fetal position while hyperventilating.

The Owl Lady frowned. "Are… you okay?"

Amity didn't answer, and the older witch knelt down and gently reached out to her shoulder. The sudden contact jerked Amity back to the present. "Wha- Ye-yeah, I'm fine."

"If you say so…" The Owl Lady looked at the bizarre owl-faced worm thing. "Anyways, this is…" And then she turned back to Amity. "Actually, I don't think I caught your name."

As she pulled herself to her feet, Amity said "Oh, it's Am-" Wait, using her real name probably wasn't the best idea, was it? "-y. My name is Amy"

…Look, she was still a bit dazed alright?

"…Riiiight," the other witch said slowly before turning back to the thing. "This is Amy; she's going to be staying with us for a bit."

The thing gasped before wrapping around Amity once more, though this time it was (probably supposed to be) affectionate. "What a coincidence; I'm a 'me' too!" it exclaimed.

The only response Amity gave was a soft whimper.

"Hooty, NO!" the Owl Lady cried, smacking the monstrosity with her staff, then yanking its face close as soon as it loosened from Amity. "Never do that to her again!" she hissed.

The thing looked back to Amity, who stood there paralyzed, and drooped its head(?) in shame, if it were even capable of such an emotion. "I'm sorryyyy…" it cried (as in, literally crying, tears and all), before pulling back into the door it extended from.

"Sorry about him," said the Owl Lady, before extending her hand. "But let me introduce myself properly; most people call me by my title, the Owl Lady, but I'm sure you already know that, what with me being the most powerful witch in all the Boiling Isles and all," Amity raised an eyebrow skeptically, "but you can call me Eda. And the thing back there with no concept of personal space is Hooty." Amity looked at the outstretched hand for a moment before hesitantly shaking it. "Right. Anyways, come on in, I'll introduce you to my roommate." Eda noticed how Amity was eyeing Hooty warily and said "Don't worry he won't bother you again." Then she turned to glare at the bird tube. "Right?"

Hooty just looked down in shame.

Eda walked over to the house and Amity followed after a moment's hesitation; she still didn't like the idea of getting closer to that "Hooty" thing, but really what other alternative did she have?

Thankfully the house demon (Amity was fairly certain that's what it was) didn't react to Amity approaching, and she got inside without incident. The door closed itself behind her, and Eda said "Anyways, welcome to the Owl House!"

Amity looked around the living room of the so-called "Owl House." It was rather unkempt, with random paraphernalia scattered haphazardly around. Was she really wanting to stay here? And with a wanted criminal, no less?

…But, it was still better than the streets. And Odalia would throw a fit if she knew, so that was two points in favor.

"You already met Hooty; we… try not to talk to him, but it doesn't help much. But there's also…" Eda looked around with a frown, before calling out "Hey King, come here; I've got someone I want you to meet!"

Heavy footfalls came from the hall, which made it rather surprising when what walked into view was a very small demon, only a couple feet tall.

"Amy, meet King," Eda introduced the tiny black-furred demon. "King, this is Amy; she'll be staying with us for a while.

The skull-headed demon hummed as he looked Amity up and down. "I see… it's nice to meet you, Amy; I am the almighty King of Demons! …But you can call me King for short."

Amity gave him a befuddled stare before whispering to Eda "'King of Demons?'"

"Just go with it," Eda whispered back.

"Okay…" Amity said before turning back to King. "It's nice to meet you too, your… majesty?"

"That will suffice

"I'll let you two get antiquated later," Eda said. "For now though, let me show you to where you'll be staying."

The woman led Amity down the hall, up the stairs, and into a bedroom, though currently it seemed to be used more like a storeroom. "Here you are; I'll let you get unpacked, then you can come back down and we'll discuss things further."

Amity pulled her suitcase into the room, but then she just stood there. "…Why?" she eventually asked.

"…Gonna have to be a bit more specific there," Eda said flatly.

"Why do… this," Amity gestured all around the room, "for me? You don't know me, and I don't know you, so why are you just… taking me in like this?"

Eda smirked. "Well, that's because… because…" And then her smirk fell and she sighed. "Because I know what it's like to have no one on your side. And… I mean, living in the streets? Feeling like the only way you can get a meal is to steal it? No one should have to live like that."

King poked his skull into view. "Yeah, you should be stealing because it's fun! Like us!"

Eda's grin returned once more. "Exactly."

Amity lowered her head. "Oh, you… saw that."

"Yup… if it makes you feel any better, you actually did a pretty decent job, for an amateur."

"Uh… Thanks?"

"You're welcome. Oh, and word of advice? You might want to lose the cloak."

Amity pulled the garment in question tighter around herself. "What's wrong with my cloak?"

"You mean aside from the fact that it just screams 'look at me, I'm suspicious?' Really, I'm surprised you didn't get arrested day one wearing that thing." Well that was a sobering thought. "Don't worry though, by the time I'm through with you you'll be able to pick pockets with the best of them. By which I mean me, obviously."

"…I can't wait…" Just what had Amity gotten herself into here?

Once Amity was finished unpacking (which really only comprised of unrolling her sleeping bag), she went back down to meet Eda at the dining table.

"Okay, so here's the deal," said the wanted woman, "if you're going to stay here, then you're going to have to earn your keep."

"I understand," Amity said.

"Good. First of all, what can you do? Magic-wise, I mean."

Amity pulled her hood even further down. "Abominations, mostly, but…" The young witch sighed; there was probably no way around this, so may as well get it out of the way now. "I have a damaged bile sack; the healers say it will get better eventually, but right now I can only cast a few spells at a time before getting tired." Amity closed her eyes and prayed she wasn't about to get thrown out.

"I see… I can work with that."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, there are plenty of things you can do for me without magic. Helping out with customers, cooking, cleaning…" Eda looked around at all the junk laying around. "Okay, that last one might be a bit tricky, but you get the point."

That sounded rather reasonable to Amity (though wouldn't the "most powerful witch in all the Boiling Isles" be able to do any of those things effortlessly?), so she said "Okay… when do I start."

"Tomorrow."

Amity looked up. "Really? You don't want me to start right away?"

Eda shrugged. "I figured you'd want a day to relax before getting to work. But if you want to start right away…"

"No, no, tomorrow's fine." Amity was just surprised a bit; after all, getting a full day's (though maybe "afternoon's" would be more appropriate, given the time) rest would have been far to much to wish for back there.

Maybe… things were actually looking up for once.

When Amity descended the stairs next morning she was greeted with the mouth-watering smell of freshly-cooked eggs. She followed this smell straight to the table, where a steaming plate was already waiting for her.

Eda was also at the table. "Oh good, you're finally up," she said.

Amity sat down, saying "It's not that late, is it?"

The Owl Lady shrugged before taking a sip of apple blood (which Amity really hoped was the soft variety, given the time of day). "I mean, it's already ten-ish."

That late? "And you didn't wake me up?"

Amity's question was met with a shrug. "You looked like you needed the rest. Nice to see you without the hood for once, by the way." Amity clutched for her cloak before belatedly realizing that she'd left it back in her room. "Anyway, I'm going to get to work; when you're done eating you can get started cleaning… I don't know, whatever looks like it needs it."

Amity didn't inquire about what that "work" entailed. She didn't think she wanted to know.

Time passed surprisingly fast for Amity, and she was so involved in her work that she didn't even notice Eda making diner until the older witch came out to say it was ready. It was a rather basic meal, not as good as what she was used to back at the manor, but still leagues better than whatever she might get on the street. Amity made sure the thank Eda profusely, though her response was just "Don't mention it."

After eating, the two witches, plus King, found themselves in the living room. The CB was on, though Amity wasn't paying much attention to it in favor of her book. "Whatcha reading?" Amity looked up and saw King had taken a break from playing with his stuffed toys to ask her that question.

"It's The Good Witch Azura," Amity answered, flashing the cover at him.

King hummed. "Is it any good?"

"Yeah, it's actually my favorite series."

"I see…" Then King hopped up on his feet and pointed at her. "In that case, I demand that you read it to me!"

Amity frowned, giving him the look she gave to the kids at the library whenever they started getting rude. "Say 'please.'"

"I demand that you read it to me… please?"

"…That's good enough for now." Amity stood up. "But let's go to my room, we don't want to disturb Eda."

"Wait!" King said, grabbing a few stuffed animals. "My minions want to come too!" With his "minions" secured, he looked back at Amity expectantly.

"Okay, let's go."

"Carry me!"

Amity crossed her arms. "What did I just say?"

"…Please carry me?"

"Sure." Amity tucked her book under her arm and picked the diminutive demon up.

King laughed before pointing at the stairs. "Onwards!"

As the pair left Eda looked over at them, then quickly turned back to the CB before either could notice the smile on her face.

Upstairs, Amity took King into her room before turning on the light.

"Hi!" Hooty said. Amity yelped in surprise and accidentally dropped King, who thankfully landed on all fours. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for yesterday; Eda always says I can get overly friendly, and normally she's wrong but this time I think she's right.

"O-okay," Amity said, taking a step back.

"What are you doing?"

"Amity's going to read to us!" King answered.

Hooty gasped. "Can I listen too?"

"…Sure," Amity said slowly. "Could you just… do it from out there?" she asked, pointing at the window Hooty was stretching through.

"You got it!" Hooty pulled back until his head was outside Amity's room once more.

Trying to ignore the demon outside the room, Amity grabbed her book from the floor, opened it, and took a seat. "Okay, here we go, Chapter One…"

The next couple of days proceeded much the same; Amity got up, ate breakfast, did a bit of housework while Eda brewed and delivered potion orders (Amity was rather relieved to hear that's all she was doing… usually), then ate dinner with her and King before reading King to sleep. And despite the mundanity of it all, it felt… nice.

It really was ironic, wasn't it? Here she was, living under the roof of the most wanted criminal in the history of… ever, and yet having only spent a short while here she felt more at home here than even the library. Honestly, without the expectations constantly heaped onto her (minor obligations aside), even something as simple as watching the morning news felt liberating. And yet here she was, watching the Crystal Ball with her two new housemates. It was almost enough to make her feel… normal.

"Breaking news," Perry Porter said from the CB, "Late last night a group of assailants raided the Conformatorium. This group, which has yet to be identified, infiltrated the prison under the cover of night, reportedly rendering several guards unconscious, before releasing countless inmates from their cells."

Eda threw her arms up. "Oh, come on!" she cried, before cupping her hands to her mouth and letting out a loud "BOOOOO!"

"Huh," Amity said said with a frown. That… did sound somewhat alarming, she had to admit. Though even knowing her for a short while, she wouldn't have expected that kind of reaction from Eda. "…You know, I'm actually surprised you disapprove of that."

"Well yeah; they didn't invite me!" Ah, there it was.

"I bet they didn't even try to find my crown," King grumbled.

On the crystal ball, the reporter went on with his story. "Although thankfully there were no serious wounds reported, many inmates remain at large. The Emperor's Coven has offered a reward for any information leading to the recapture of any escapees, or the perpetrators of this attack."

"You know, if they want people to be on the lookout for someone, it might be a good idea to give a picture so they know who to look for," Amity said. But then, as if the ball had been listening to her complaint, a picture did appear.

Her own, to be specific.

"In other news, the search continues for fourteen year old Amity Blight, who disappeared from her home late last week. Amity Blight is the youngest child of the affluential Blight family, who is also offering a reward for the safe return of their daughter."

Amity paled as she slowly turned to meet Eda's eyes. Eda just stared at her blankly before looking back at the crystal. Then back to her. Then back again. "Huh… So that's why you looked so familiar."

"You… you're not going to turn me in, are you?" Amity asked, already trying to judge her chances of escape in case Eda said "yes." (The results? "Not good.")

In response, the Owl Lady just laughed. "Oh, yeah; I, the person with the biggest bounty in the entire Isles, am going to go turn in a bounty. Because surely that will end well!" Well, when she put it like that… "Plus, if your Mom's even half as bad as she was in school, I can't say I blame you."

Amity blinked at that casual revelation. "Wait, you knew my mom?"

"Oh yeah, she was probably one of my favorite targets back in the day," Eda said with a grin. "Want to hear some embarrassing stories of her?"

The young girl would be lying if she said that wasn't tempting, but she shook her head all the same. "Actually, I'd rather just not talk about her at all."

"Fair enough. One question though."

"Hm?"

"'Amy?' Just… 'Amy?' Is that really the best you could come up with."

Amity turned red. "W-well… Shut up!"

Eda and King just laughed.

Eventually Eda caught her breath and said "Anyways, I've only got a few more orders to work on for the week, so I should probably take care of those."

She stood up and left, but then Amity said "Wait."

Eda turned around. "Yeah?"

"I was just thinking… you don't need to cast spells to make potions, right?"

Eda raised an eyebrow. "Depends on the potion, though they do generally require less power than other branches; why?"

"Well, I can't cast spells very well right now, but if potions don't need that then… maybe you could teach me? Please?" Amity gave a hopeful smile.

Eda leaned back and crossed her arms. "…I should probably warn you, I doubt I'll be that great a teacher."

"That's okay, I'm a good student, so maybe that will even things out."

"That… doesn't make much sense."

"Yeah, it sounded better in my head."

"But, if you're sure… I'll have to finish these orders up, but we can get started tomorrow. In the meantime, you've been cooped up here for a while; want to help me deliver things later today? Just to get out for a bit?"

"…You know what, sure."

That afternoon, Eda waited for Amity at the door. "You ready?" she asked when the later arrived.

"Yeah," Amity said, adjusting her cloak.

"You're really going to keep wearing that thing?"

"Why not?"

"I'm pretty sure I explained that your very first day here."

"So wearing a cloak is more suspicious than walking with the Owl Lady?"

Eda opened her mouth to give a response. When she couldn't think of any, she closed it and shrugged in acceptance. Then her, Amity, and King rode Owlbert (apparently that was the name of Eda's palisman) into Bonesborough.

"Now remember," Eda said during the ride, "you don't get as famous as me without making enemies – and I'm not just talking about the guards, though there annoying too – so keep an eye out for anyone who might try to get to me through you."

"Uh…" Amity was suddenly a lot less sure of this excursion.

"That said, most of them are smart enough to leave me alone, so anyone who tries to mess with us is probably going to be dumb enough to beat no problem."

"You mean like Adegast?" King said.

"Who?" Amity asked.

"Yeah, who?" Eda agreed.

"You know, puppeteer demon, looked like a giant squid, tried to trap us in an illusionary castle to steal your customers?" Maybe Amity should have stayed home…

"Not ringing any bells."

"I'm pretty sure you ended up eating him?"

Amity paled. "You what?"

"…Nope, still got nothing," Eda said with a shake of her head.

"Alright, so it looks like we only have a couple more deliveries before we can head home," Eda said.

Amity gave a halfhearted hum as she looked around. This block looked… familiar, for some reason. And that house there, wasn't that…

Amity quickly made her way over to the house in question and gazed up at it. Gathering her courage she took a single step forward… before sighing and shaking her head. She then turned around… And found herself face-to-face with her oldest friend.

Willow gave Amity an unamused glare with her arms crossed. "May I help you?" she asked curtly.

There were several things Amity wanted to say; most of which were some variation of "I'm sorry." And Willow was right there, so there was absolutely no excuse for not saying anything.

So with that in mind Amity took a deep breath and pulled herself together, before immediately deflating again. She adjusted her hood so it shadowed even more of her face, and brushed past Willow with naught a word. She just… wasn't strong enough. Not yet.

It didn't take long to find Eda again, as she hadn't moved from her position. Seeing Amity approach, the older witch said "There you are; you okay?"

"…I'm fine…" Amity grumbled dejectedly.

Eda looked to where she came from, and saw Willow staring at them a few moments longer before entering her house. "That girl over there didn't try anything, did she? 'Cause I can hex her if ya need me to."

"No… she didn't do anything… How many more deliveries do we have to make?"

Eda checked her list again. "Looks like just one more, then we can go home."

"Good." Amity's had enough outdoor time for one day. Maybe once they got back home, she could unwind by reading some more Azura to King.

Sure enough, the next day was Amity's first potion lesson. "We're going to start you off with a simple fog-brew," Eda decided, flipping through a well-worn potion tome. "It's easy enough for beginners, and quite useful if you need to make a quick escape." She found the page she was looking for and placed it on the table, then she started pulling the required ingredients from the shelves. "Now, normally I wouldn't say this, but since you're just starting, I'd suggest just following the… instructions." Eda gave an exaggerated shudder and used a quick spell to start a fire under the cauldron. "Anyway, I'll be right outside if you have any questions. Good luck."

Amity nodded and Eda left the brewing room. It was only a few minutes later when a loud *BWUMPH* sounded from that same room. The door swung open and a cloud of smoke billowed out, followed shortly by Amity, now completely covered in soot.

Eda ran up to her apprentice(?) and in a surprisingly calm voice asked "Okay, what happened?"

"I don't know!" Amity protested, "I was just adding in what the instructions listed and it… exploded!"

"All at once?"

Amity nodded.

"Why would add everything all at once? I mean… oh, right… abominations student…" Eda sighed while placing her head in her hands. "Okay, lesson one, potions and abominations are not the same. Each ingredient has to be carefully prepared before hand and you have to do it a different way for each. In hindsight I think that particular book assumes you already know the basics, so I'll probably have to get you started on that first. But basically, you can't just mix things together like you would in an abomination, understand?"

"Yeah, I get it," Amity grumbled. Then her head shot up and she gained a thoughtful look. "Wait… what if I did?"

"Well, I think you just saw what," Eda said, pointing to the smoke-filled room.

"No, I mean… you know how abominations are powered by the caster's magic, right?"

"Well yeah, everyone knows that."

"But potions get their magic from their ingredients."

"So?"

Amity started pacing. "So, what would happen if I added some potion ingredients… or maybe even a full potion to an abomination mix… and then used that as a power source?" Amity focused on Eda. "Would that… even do anything?"

Eda remained silent of several moments as she though about Amity's proposal. Then a wide grin grew on her face. "Now you're thinking like a wild witch," she said approvingly.

Amity frowned. "But… would it?"

"I don't know!" Eda happily admitted. "Let's find out! …Right as soon as I teach you the basics." She then looked her ash-coated apprentice up and down. "Though first, you might want to get cleaned up a bit."

Amity looked herself over. "Yeah, probably." Then she started making her way to the bathroom. As she did, she rubbed a small lock of her hair between her fingers. "You know, I always hated this color," she mused as she walked off.

Amity hummed to herself as she stirred her latest batch of abomination goo, the purple sludge pairing nicely with her newly dyed hair. Confident that the consistency was just right, she removed the stirring stick from the pot. On the counter nearby was a potion she and Eda had mixed together earlier, which she grabbed and removed the stopper from it. Now all that was left was to… mix it…

Suddenly, the full weight of what she was doing came crashing down on Amity.

"Something wrong," Eda asked from behind her after several seconds of just standing there.

"We're about to mix potion magic with abomination magic." Amity said softly.

"…And?"

"And that's something you just don't do!"

Eda groaned. "Are you about to start reciting coven nonsense at me? You seemed just fine about it earlier."

"I know, it's just…" Amity looked at the bottle in her hand. "…if I do this, there's no going back, is there?"

"…I suppose not…" Eda agreed. "Listen, I'm pretty sure you can guess my opinion on this, but… in the end, the only person who can say if you want to go through with this is yourself."

"…Yeah…" That was true, she could still back out of this. She wouldn't even have to abandon the idea completely, she could easily find a power source that didn't rely on a different branch of magic. After all, that's what Alador was working on last she'd heard; maybe she could try to do the same.

. . .

Amity's gaze hardened. "But I've already come this far." Not giving herself any more time for doubts, the young witch emptied the bottle into the cauldron and stirred several more times. Then she stepped back and waited.

". . ."

". . ."

"…I think you need to give it a command," Eda pointed out.

Amity facepalmed in embarrassment before giving the first command that any abominations student learned. "Abomination, rise." Immediately upon saying those words, Amity felt the familiar draw of magic from herself that came with commanding an abomination. And yet, it was a far weaker draw than she would feel normally.

Though aside from that, nothing happened… for a few seconds, then the abomination goo started bubbling. It was slow at first, but only intensified as it went on. A purple hand burst forth, struggling to pull itself of of the pot, and something vaguely resembling a head partially emerged. And then it stopped, and the half-formed features melted back down.

The two witches stared at the once more lifeless goo. "…Was that it?" Eda asked.

"Yeah…" Amity responded. "It… I think it actually worked."

"I'm not sure I'd go that far, but…"

The younger witch appreciated her project and ran her hand through it. "I think it needs a bit more power… and the potion watered down the consistency, I'll have to account for that next time, but…" a smile crossed her face. "Yeah… yeah, I can fix this."

"Alright, Abomipotion test four; I think I've got the mixture right this time, and the potion I mixed in should have more than enough power to keep a stable form for several minutes."

"Who are you even talking to?" Eda asked.

"Oh, I'm having King take notes," Amity said.

"I'm helping!" King said from a nearby chair, a pen and clipboard in his hands.

"Anyway, here goes; Abomipotion, rise." The effect this time was far more impressive than any of the earlier attempts, as a moderately-sized yet impressively formed abomination practically leapt out of the pot to stand at attention. Amity could hardly believe her eyes. "It… it worked." She turned to Eda and repeated "It worked!"

And she barely felt any drain of magic.

"Yup, it sure did," Eda said, the ghost of a smile on her face. "How about that? Great job, kid."

"Uh…" King interjected, "is it supposed to be bubbling like that?"

Amity raised an eyebrow and looked back at the abomipotion. "Wait what do you mean bu-"

*SPLAT* Suddenly all three of them were coated in goo as the abomipotion exploded.

"…Okay, I think I used too much power that time," Amity noted as she wiped slime off her face.

"I'd have to agree," Eda said. "Although… that gives me some ideas…"

Amity did not ask her to elaborate.

For the next test they'd learned their lesson, as all three of them were now both outside and wearing goggles.

"Abomipotion test five, I'm using a fire bee honey-based potion as a catalyst this time, which should provide a less potent but more stable output. Abomipotion, rise."

The figure which rose from that command was rather impressive for a first attempt. Although slightly deformed (more so than normal, at least) and a tad smaller than what Amity would have created a sort time ago, it was still a perfectly passable abomination. Honestly, if Amity hadn't been the one to create it, she might have mistaken it for just a normal one.

Well… aside from one minor problem, that is.

Eda whistled appreciatively. "I don't know about you, but I'd call this a complete success."

"…But it's on fire…" Amity pointed out.

"Exactly," Eda said, eyeing the flaming construct with glee. But then said construct collapsed, and the glee went away. "Doesn't seem to last long though," she noted, conjuring a small wave of water to put out the lingering flames.

King then said "What I want to know is what would happen if you mixed other potions into it. Like, if this one makes it on fire, what other effects could you have?"

Amity pondered that for a bit. "You know… that's a very good question…"

Eda smiled. "Do you want to find out?"

"Heck yeah I do!" King said enthusiastically, flinging his hands up in excitement. In doing so, he lost his grip on his clipboard. Impacting the ground,

"It might be interesting…" Amity concurred.

Eda reached into her hair and pulled out her tome of potions. "Let's see, what are our options…"

"Nothing too fancy; I don't want to spend days brewing a potion that won't do anything."

"That narrows it down a bit…" Eda said as she examined some of her notes. "Though there's still a lot of options to choose. Let's see what about…" Then she just started started flipping through the book at random, which was made a lot easier when a strong gust of wind suddenly sent its papers flying. When things died down, she allowed herself to see what the result her highly methodical way of choosing was. "…Liquid nitroskin?" The older witch then showed her apprentice the page for the brew in question.

"…As good as any other, I suppose," Amity said after brief consideration.

"What about my idea?" King asked excitedly, offering a picture he drew. Said drawing showed an abomination, then an arrow pointing to a big explosion. "It's like that other one you made, except it actually explodes, not just splatters everywhere."

"I'll… keep that one in mind."

"And I definitely will," Eda added.

Sitting on the living room couch, Amity hummed to herself as she reviewed her notes. Said notes consisted of several potions listed down, as well as theorizations on what their effects might be when used as an abomipotion. Though out of all the potions listed – aside from her initial slaypalm accident – only the liquid nitroskin idea had been tested so far (Amity refused to remember the other one she tried, given what happened with Hooty).

Unfortunately she was having a hard time concentrating with the ruckus outside. Eventually she just gave up and walked over to the window. Making sure her hood was up, she looked through the glass and watched as her mentors, both current and former, did battle with each other. Although, the word "battle" might be a bit of a stretch. Really, Amity had no clue why Eda had suggested settling their differences with grudgby of all things, nor why Lilith decided to agree to it. But weird circumstances aside, it was nice to see the coven head again, even if it was only from a distance.

Though honestly, seeing the two siblings having genuine fun – even with high stakes involved – gave Amity a melancholy feeling. If things had been different… maybe it could have been her and her siblings out there. Although, two-on-one wouldn't have made for a fair game, so she'd probably need someone else on her team. Maybe… Willow?

Willow… Amity really needed to go talk with her, preferably sooner rather than later. But that could wait for another day, Amity still wasn't ready for it yet.

Eventually the game ended with Eda's victory, and the two sisters shared some kind of discussion before Lilith left without further complaint. But as she did she gave one last look back at the house, and just so happened to lock eyes with Amity while doing so. There was a large part of Amity that wanted to go out and greet the elder witch.

The rest of her simply pulled her hood further down before turning away.

Eda stretched her arms as she entered the front door. "Sorry about that, had to deal with my obsessed sister, you know how it is."

"Yeah…" Amity said wistfully, looking back out the window. "…You know, I actually studied under her for a while," she admitted offhandedly.

"Y-you did?" Eda's look of surprise turned into a smug grin. "And now you're working under me. I… that's…" The wild witch snickered, before barking out "HA! Now who's mentoring the next generation? SUCK IT, LILY!" When her apprentice didn't respond, her smile faltered. "You know… you could go out and say hi, if you wanted."

"…No," Amity eventually said, stepping back from the window. "It's better this way." Looking for a way to change the subject, she found a surprising one on Eda herself. "What's that on your arm?"

"Hm?" Eda questioned, looking down at the feathers sprouting from her arm. "Oh, shi-" She quickly reached into her hair and pulled out a vial filled with an orange potion, drinking it without delay. She then shook her arm furiously, causing the feathers to fall off, and sighed in relief.

"…Eda?" Amity questioned. "What was that?"

". . ."

"You should probably just tell her," King said.

Eda sighed before looking at her apprentice. "Okay, look, I'm… I have a curse, alright?"

Amity winced. "Oh… I'm sorry to hear that. Is it… you know, bad?"

Eda laughed. "I mean, it wouldn't exactly be a curse if it was good!"

"You know what I mean," Amity said with a sigh.

The older witch's smile dropped. "…Okay, yes, it's a bad one, but I have it under control!"

"Glad to hear that."

"But…" Eda sighed, "I guess I should probably tell you that if it gets bad… like, really bad… forget about me; just run."

Now that sounded concerning. "How bad is 'really bad?'"

"…You'll know it when you see it."

"Well, the last time it happened wasn't terrible," King said. "She basically turns into this big owl-demon thing, but it's a big softy at heart. And I don't just mean the feathers; e had a lot of fun at the slayground together… for a while. Then things got a bit… messy, but it turned out fine, don't worry."

Eda turned away from the group. "…And let's hope we never have to see if that stays true," she muttered.

It was the end of the week, which meant it was Amity's first time helping Eda out at her Human Collectibles stand. Though really she wasn't doing much, mostly just standing there silently.

"You know," Eda eventually said, "if you're going to help me sell stuff, you might find it helpful to actually talk."

Amity protectively pulled her cloak tighter. "But what if they find out who I am?" she whispered, making sure no one else was close enough to hear.

"It's not like everyone knows what you sound like," Eda argued.

"But what if it's someone who already knows me?"

"Well, then you don't have to say anything in front of them." When Amity failed to reply she sighed. "Fine, but could you go help King in the back? I'm pretty sure you're scaring the customers by just lurking there."

Amity nodded and headed into the tent behind them. There she found King fiddling with a multi-colored cube. "What's that you got there?" she asked.

King turned to look at her. "Ah, you see, this is a Cube of Insanity. Legend has it that merely laying eyes on one is enough to drive even the most steadfast warrior to madness. Humans apparently use them as weapons because of that." Then he he offered it to her. "Here, you try."

Amity hesitantly plucked the cube from his hands and examined it a moment. She didn't feel any different, so she tried rotating the sides like she'd seen King do, but all that happened was that the color pattern was rearranged slightly. "…I don't feel like I'm going mad," she eventually said.

"Yeah, they never seem to work for some reason; that's probably why Eda finds them in the trash so often."

"Actually, that reminds me, where does Eda get all this stuff anyways? I've been meaning to ask."

King rolled his eyes and pointed to a nearby free-standing door. "Uh, hello, portal?"

Amity looked at the door in shock. "Wait, that's not just another relic?" As if in answer to her question the door slowly opened, revealing Owlbert pushing against it with a bundle of trash carried in his talons. The palisman ignored them and flew out front to his owner, leaving the portal door ajar behind him.

"Nope," King said, "it's an actual portal to the Human Realm." Then he walked over to it. "Wanna take a look?"

Amity slowly wrapped her hand around the doorknob. "Maybe… just a peek won't hurt, right?"

"I mean, I've done it before. Just… don't tell Eda."

Amity hesitated a moment more before pushing through the door. Then there was a flash of light, and Amity found herself in a forest. A very… weird forest. "Wow, it's… so green," she muttered. Then she took a deep breath, noting a distinct lack of rotting in the air. "And it smells so weird…"

King chuckled. "Yup. And that's not the only weird thing about it, if you believe some of the things Eda says." He turned back to the old shack the portal apparently led to. "But we should probably head back before she notices."

"…Yeah…" Amity said, following him.

"You know, if you want you could ask Eda to show you around sometime."

"…Maybe." Amity wasn't all too into humans, but taking a look around a whole other realm would at the very least be an interesting experience.

Arriving back in the Demon Realm, the pair heard Eda deep in an argument. "Listen, I appreciate that you're still not trying to use force, but my answer's still the same no matter how you ask!"

"Edalyn, please!" Lilith said back. "Why can't you see this is the only way?"

"Huh, weird," King noted. "Usually she waits a few more days before trying something again."

"Why can't you see that Bonehead would never help a wild witch."

"He would if you would just join his coven!"

"Oh, yeah, sure, become a lapdog for a tyrant. I'll pass, thanks."

"Eda, please!" Lilith begged once more. "I'm serious here, this is your last chance! If you stay on this path then I can't be held responsible for whatever happens next!"

"I think we all know what's going to happen next; the same thing that always does. So can we just skip to the end already?"

After a long period of silence Lilith spoke up once more, this time adopting an official tone of voice. "Right… If you still refuse to listen to reason than I have no choice but to take you in by any means necessary!"

Amity frowned upon hearing that. "Should we… do something?"

"Nah," was King's dismissive reply. "This happens all the time; if she needs help, she'll ask for it."

"Up yours!" Eda shouted.

"…Excuse me," King said, darting out of the tent.

"I… I expected a better comeback, if I'm being honest," Lilith eventually said. "But nonetheless, Sister, I challenge you to a-"

"WEH!"

"Wh-wha?"

Suddenly Eda charged into the tent, King running right behind her. "Time to go!" she shouted, pulling Amity by the wrist and dragging her out the opposite end. She also did something that caused the portal door to collapse into a briefcase and fly after them. Before they passed through the fabric at the back of the tent, Amity took a glimpse out the front and saw Lilith furiously struggling to untangle herself from her cloak.

Owlbert flew ahead of the trio and turned into his staff form, taking off the moment the three were seated. Once they were airborne, Amity looked back in the direction of her former mentor. "What was that about helping you?" she asked Eda.

Eda scoffed. "Oh, she thinks that Belos would be able to heal my curse if I were to join a coven."

"Wait, is that why she's always so desperate to capture you?" King asked. "I always thought that she was just jealous."

"That too."

"But you don't believe her?" Amity said, though it was more a statement than a question.

"…I believe she believes it," Eda eventually said. "But assuming he could, do you really think Mister 'All-Wild-Magic-Is-Evil-And-Must-Be-Clensed' would be willing to help someone like me even if I were to join up with him? Which, by the way, hard pass." Then Eda decided to change the subject. "Speaking of wild magic, how are your experiments going?"

The reminder of exactly what kind of magic Amity was using caused her to lower her head in thought. Though, bizarrely enough, she didn't seem to actually care that much any more.

Back at the marketplace, Lilith had freed herself and was looking over the now-abandoned stand. Though rather than getting angry at her target escaping yet again, the coven head just gave a disappointed sigh. "Oh, Eda," she sighed, shaking her head in dismay. "If you insist on being so stubborn… then I guess it's time for Plan B."

Amity was working on her latest formula when someone knocked on the door behind her. Then the door opened, and without looking back Amity said "You're back early."

"Yeah," Eda said from behind her, "King was feeling a bit tired, so I brought him back for a nap. How's it going with you?"

Amity responded with "Pretty good, I think I've finally worked out how to make just a basic Abomipotion." She still didn't look back though, as she was busy making sure she was adding exactly the right measurements.

"Well, glad to hear that." Then Eda sighed. "Listen, I… need to go run a few errands real quick. If King gets up before I get back, could you… take care of him for me?"

"Yeah, sure," Amity agreed, while double-checking her notes.

"Thanks… oh, and uh…"

Finally reaching a point where she could take a break, Amity lifted her goggles up and turned around. "Something wrong?"

"No, no… it's nothing," Eda said. "Go ahead and just keep doing what you're doing; I'll be back real quick."

"Right, see you soon." And with that Eda left the room, and Amity turned back to her work.

"Okay, let's see if this one will work," Amity muttered to herself. "Abomipotion, rise." Her command was answered by an abomipotion which came up to roughly chest-height. Amity nodded in satisfaction before pulling out a stopwatch. And then she just waited.

Eventually her creation ran out of power and returned to lifeless goo and amity checked her timer. The abomipotion lasted three minutes this time; not terribly impressive by normal abomination standards, but considering her previous best abomipotion lasted less than half that, Amity considered it a win in her books.

She actually had a few more uses worth of this particular formula mixed already, so maybe she could… no, it was getting late, she should probably save more testing for later. With that in mind she carefully moved the rest of the mixture into several glass bottles, and placed them on the shelf where she kept her ready-to-use concoctions.

…Huh, that was weird; she could have sworn she had a few more bottles than were on the shelf. Or maybe her mind was just playing tricks on her; after all, she had been working down her for – Amity pulled out her scroll – several hours? Wow, she had no idea she'd been cooped up for so long. That's actually happened a few times lately; maybe she took after Alador more than she thought (though that was still better than taking after Odalia, she supposed).

Shaking off those rather disturbing thoughts, Amity left the brewing room, with the first thing she noticed being just how quiet everything was. "Eda?" she called out, but got no response. "King?" still nothing. Odd… you'd think Eda would have been back by now… and Amity had never known King to take a nap this long.

No, no it was fine. They were fine. Eda was just taking longer than expected and Kind was just really tired; they wouldn't have just left Amity alone without warning. Keeping this in mind, Amity made her way to the living room. Bizarrely enough, when she arrived, she found bars covering all the windows. Okay, so this was looking a lot worse than she's fist thought… maybe it was time to do something drastic. "…Hooty?"

The house demon in question appeared outside one of the barred-up windows. "Yeeessss?" he asked.

"Where's Eda?"

"Oh, she said she had to go pick up King."

"…King wasn't with her?"

"No, she said he was busy playing with friends." Hooty then drooped in sorrow. "I wish I could go play with my friends," he mused.

Pretty much everything about what Hooty was saying raised several red flags for Amity. "…Do you know when they'll be back?"

"Eda said she'd be back soon, and that was…" The bird-worm took several seconds to think before continuing with "…actually, I don't know, I lost track of time because of this really interesting bug I found, or maybe it was a leaf, or maybe-"

"Okay, thanks." Amity tuned out the rest of Hooty's ramblings and tried to think things through rationally. As she did so she also turned on the CB. On it was a reporter talking about the Owl Lady's petrifaction or something; Amity didn't really care, she just needed some background noise that didn't involve a certain traumatizing house demon.

. . .

Amity bolted back over to the CB and turned up the volume. "Despite having the highest bounty in all recorded history, Eda Clawthorne has always evaded justice… Until now, that is. And in just a few short hours, the threat that this dangerous wild witch poses shall be ended once and for all."

"…Oh, fuck!" Amity hissed before running to the front door. Yet no matter how much she kicked and shoved it refused to budge, and she eventually resorted to just slamming her fist against it repeatedly. "HOOTY!" she shouted, "Hooty, open this door right now!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Mitty," Hooty said from the window, "but I'm afraid I can't do that."

"What are you talking about, just… let me out!" Amity punctuated her demand by throwing her entire weight against the entrance.

"Eda said that I wasn't allowed to open up for anyone that isn't her or King until morning," Hooty said, still in his carefree manner.

"Oh, Eda, you…" Amity grumbled before taking a deep breath. It was fine; this was Hooty, remember? She's seen Eda deal with him enough to know how he worked. "What if… I got you some bugs to eat?"

Hooty's gaze snapped to her with intensity. "…How many bugs?" he asked slowly.

"How about… five!"

The demon's eyes narrowed with interest. "…Big bugs?" he asked.

"The biggest," promised the young witch.

"Oh boy! Five big bugs! Yum yum yum!" Hooty smacked his lips (beak, technically) in anticipation as he pulled his head out of view."

Amity waited several seconds for something to happen. "…Hooty?"

Hooty's head came back into sight. "Yeeessss?"

"Aren't you going to let me out?"

"Oh, no; Eda also said that she'd double whatever you offered me when she gets back… so please, keep going!"

Amity screamed in frustration as she kicked the door once more. "Oh, for- if you don't let me out then she won't be coming back!" she yelled.

"…What do you mean?"

Amity pointed at the CB. "I mean she's about to be petrified, for Titan's sake!"

"Wha?" The bars on the window Hooty was looking through retracted, allowing him to stick his head in to examine the orb. After several seconds the rest of the windows opened as well, and Amity heard a click from the front door. She didn't waste any time bursting out of the house at full speed, but she didn't get very far before slowing to a stop.

Even if she could get to the conformatorium in time (most likely impossible on foot, and it's not like she had a palisman to use), what could she do? Her, a witch who had trouble casting even a light spell, and who had to rely on potions do anything worth mentioning. And yeah, she had a fresh batch of abomipotions ready, but what use would that be against the elites of the empire?

(A small voice in her head – which sounded suspiciously like Eda – snarked about the Coven's so-called "eliteness.")

The young witch slumped her shoulders and trudged back to the Owl House in defeat. "Aren't we going to help?" Hooty asked as she entered.

"What's the point?" Amity grumbled, turning off the CB and cutting short the extensive list of Eda's crimes being recited. "I can't help her, I can't help myself… I can't help anyone. I'm just…" And then despite everything, Amity laughed. "I'm just 'Half-a-Witch.'" Her laughter quickly dissolved into sobs as she stumbled over to the couch. Collapsing onto it, she then noticed an envelope on the coffee table.

Taking a break from her self-pity, the teen reached out for it and extracted the paper within, then proceeded to read it.

Hey kid,

If you're reading this, then either you finished up earlier than I expected, or something's gone very wrong. If it's the former then please ignore the rest of this letter and feel free to yell at me as soon as I get back, but if it's the latter then I probably owe you an explanation.

Yeah, I took out King like I said, but then a bunch of goons decided to ambush me at the slayground. I fought them off easily enough, but I didn't realize they were just a distraction. Anyway, long story short, now I need to go save him and/or beat up my sister, wish me luck.

But I know this could very well end badly, so in case things go sideways I wanted to apologize for leaving you like this. I know we've only known each other for a couple weeks, but in that short time I've seen you do things that no other witch has done before, and I can't even begin to say how proud I am to call you my apprentice. Whatever happens to me, I want you to know that, and don't feel you have to be anybody's witch but your own. Who knows, may one day you'll be the most powerful witch on the Isles.

That said, I know how this must feel for you. I told you the truth before, when I said I knew what it felt like to have no one on your side. I hate having to put you back in that position, but I can't have you get involved in this; this is my mess, and I have to clean it up. I'm sorry.

If you need help with anything I left a list of people who'd probably be willing to help on the back of this note; call them if you need anything. You know how to take care of King, so I'll leave him in your hands (don't worry, once they have me they won't need him any more). I also have a survival kit prepped if you need to lay low for a bit; it should last you for a couple weeks at least. Ask King where it is, he'll know what you're talking about.

Anyways, I should probably finish this before you finish your work, so I guess this is goodbye. If all goes well you'll never read any of this but if not then I just wanted to let you know that I truly am sorry it had to end this way. But I know you'll get through this on you're own, you've already proven you have what it takes to be a great witch. And I never want you to forget that.

-Eda

Drops of water splashed on to the paper from Amity's eyes as she read it. "Oh, Eda, you… you…" Then she crumpled it into a ball and flung it away with a sob. "Why didn't you tell me!?" she screamed. "I could have come with you! I- I could have… oh, who am I kidding?" Amity curled into a ball. "I would have just made things worse."

Hooty slid up and rubbed against her. For once, she couldn't bring herself to throw him off. "Don't worry," he said, "Eda's been captured plenty of times before and she always manages to escape; I'm sure she will this time too." Though despite what the house demon said, his tone made it sound like he wasn't too sure about that. And as much as Amity wanted to believe otherwise… she couldn't help but feel like this was the end.

Because of course it was; she finally found something good in her life, and yet it didn't even last two weeks. Really, she shouldn't even be surprised anymore.