Amity stared at Luz without blinking for over a minute. The puppet in turn didn't move an inch and remained still in that position, returning her gaze. "Do you… want me to hug you?" the young witch whispered.

Luz nodded. "When we were at the beach... you hugged me, remember? That's what made the fear go away"

The memory immediately returned to Amity's mind: her and Luz, their feet deep in the water, and the puppet shaking from what she was experiencing because of her trauma, and the same words she had just said repeated with the exactly same tone. "Yes... why do you want it now? Are you afraid...?"

"I'm not" Luz replied. "But you are"

Amity's face twisted in anger. "I'm not afraid!" she growled. "I have no reason to be afraid! I am powerful now! I am THE fear! I am the Fear Witch! I can do whatever I want! I can defend everyone! No one can control me anymore, no one can make fun of me anymore, no one can insult me anymore!"

Anyone faced with that display of anger would have felt fear, but Luz only felt a great pity towards Amity. It was as if all her wounds were being exposed: the way she behaved was revealing all the scars she had kept hidden for a long time. Every mental abuse she had suffered in her life was pouring out like a flood, amplifying the anger, fury and delusion of omnipotence she found herself in. Even though Amity was yelling at her, to Luz that sounded more like a desperate cry for help. "You know that's not true. Having great power doesn't stop you from being afraid"

"Well, that's how I'm supposed to be! And you need to stop confusing me!" Amity's anger was seriously starting to get uncontrollable; even she no longer seemed able to handle it. "You should have been happy, you should have supported me! Instead you do nothing but distract me and prevent me from thinking! I can give you everything! I can make sure you are safe forever! There will never be any more monsters who can take your loved ones away from you, no there will be no more deceptive criminals who will try to kill you, there will no longer be fanatics who will want to burn and sacrifice your friends! I will eliminate them all! I will finally make the world a safe place, for you and for everyone else! Wars, abuses, miseries, famines, overpopulation, catastrophes, I can stop it all! There will always be peace! You just have to listen to me... you just have to listen to me! You have to submit to me!"

"And how are you going to stop this?" Luz asked her. "How do you plan to end every war, every abuse, every misery?"

"I will eliminate those who cause them!" Amity responded with a wide grin, showing her teeth as sharp as a crocodile's, except for the front canines which had become as long as a viper's. "I will establish that these things will be taboo, and every time anyone breaks this taboo they will be punished by me!"

"And will this be enough? What about those who annoy others? School bullies? Those who simply speak badly of others?" Luz asked her almost defiantly.

"I will eliminate them too!" Amity answered her.

"And when will you stop? When just one word out of place will be a death sentence?" Luz told her. "Amity, what you condemn people to will no longer be a life! You will turn them into... into puppets!"

Those words seemed to trigger a reaction in Amity, as her eyelid quivered; the smile faded from her face. "I don't care! I will create a beautiful life for all of them, all they have to do is respond to my orders! I will give everyone a life that fits exactly with the others, where everyone will put themselves at the service of others! I will create a world of absolute..."

"…perfection?" Luz anticipated her.

"Yes exactly!" Amity responded jovially, but soon after her eyes seemed to lose their light. "No... wait a minute... what did I just say?"

Luz shook her head. "Amity, a safe life is not automatically a happy life. I learned that from Gus and Willow, and even King and Eda... and you. True, there are many dangers in the world, but there are also a lot of beautiful things that cannot be try without having the courage to leave your refuge and face an absolutely uncertain future where everything can go wrong, but also straight. The perfect life that you plan for everyone would be achievable only at the price of the freedom of others. How could anyone be happy to be nothing more than a puppet in a theater, with you holding the strings of everything?"

Amity was now visibly shaking. "No... no, it's wrong! It can be done... you can be perfect and be happy...!"

"Like you were before you met me?" Luz asked her.

At those words Amity snapped like a spring: she let out a roar and one of her tentacles moved towards Luz. She realized too late that she was about to hit her, but fortunately King jumped in between and used his sound wave to disintegrate the tentacle. "Girl, the love of ypur life is right" the young Titan told her. "I had my whole life planned out perfectly: I would remain hidden until I reached adulthood, emerge from my lair, and then wander the world demanding obedience. I thought my life would be that straight line. But then I realized that I was wrong. Leaving the original path... facing the world when I'm still so young and fragile... it scares me, but it made me discover beautiful things. I discovered friendship, family love , the fun, the playing with other people. It was... nice, to stop being a puppet of my own insecurities"

"Mittens, being perfect isn't nice" Emira told her as she walked forward. "Look at me and Edric. We are full of defects, I could make a list telling you one every second and I wouldn't be able to finish even after the sun rises. Yet, we are happy. It's true, in life you have to set yourself rules and follow a right path, something in which Edric and I are a little lacking, but we must also let ourselves be governed by unpredictability"

"If the world became perfect, Mittens... there would be no point in living anymore" Edric added. "I know that sometimes it's nice to think that everything is planned, that all you have to do is follow a script knowing that if you do it everything will be fine... but that's not life. Losing all freedom, even that of making mistakes, in exchange for a safe and perfect existence, is not life. It is just a bad copy of life. In life you have to make mistakes... without them, there is nothing to learn from, and if not you have to learn nothing, so what's the point of growing up and living?"

Amity's dark tentacles slammed on the ground, creating cracks in the ground and kicking up grass-covered clods; some of them exploded as if they were overinflated balloons. "N-No... no, you're wrong! Being free isn't nice, it's scary, I don't want it! No, wait... why am I talking about myself? What am I saying!?"

Luz walked towards her again, still with her arms wide open as if inviting her to hug her. "Amity… I already told you… hug me. Let me help you get rid of your fear"

"No! Get away from me!" Amity screamed as she recoiled; her magic seemed to go completely out of control and the tentacles waved randomly, and pieces of the ground rose up around her and flew in every direction; fortunately Luz, Edric and Emira had King to protect them, who banished any danger with his powerful sound wave, otherwise they would have risked being hit. The confusion in Amity's mind also caused the spinning blade-shaped Abominations she had hurled at Eda and Lilith to slow down for an instant, and this was enough for the two fairies to finally stop running away and recite a quick spell that allowed them to disintegrate their pursuers.

Having finally freed themselves they flew back towards their pupils and landed next to them. As soon as she saw them, or rather as soon as she saw Lilith, Amity almost seemed to get burned. "Go away!" she screamed. "All you do is scare me and put strange ideas in my head! I'm not afraid! I have no reason to be afraid! I am powerful! I can do anything I want!"

"Amity" Lilith told her, advancing towards her with a slow but steady step. "You have to stop now"

"Don't come any closer!" Amity screamed, and her magic lashed out at Lilith, but both Eda and King protected her from behind, stopping any strikes before they reached the fairy. "Argh! Why can't I hit you? I have the soul of Grometheus! You shouldn't be opponents as good as me! What's stopping me? What...?"

She froze as she felt a hand covered in soft feathers touch hers. "Amity" Lilith told her. "That's enough"

"L-Let me go!" Amity screamed, but for some reason she couldn't find the strength to free herself from the fairy's grip. "Do as I say! I am at my command! I will shape this world from scratch! I will rule it! I will put it in order...!"

In response Lilith also took her other hand and looked her straight in the eyes; Amity trembled when her gaze mirrored that of the fairy, but again she couldn't break free. Maybe she wasn't even really trying. Lilith was silent for a moment, then she said to her: "Amity... putting the whole world in order... won't put your emotions in order"

Amity was desperately trying to free herself from Lilith's grip, but she couldn't. Her hands and fingers were completely refusing to listen to her; it was as if they didn't want to move away from the pleasant and loving warmth that the fairy's feathers gave off. She tried to hit her with magic, but her powers were almost no longer responding, as if they were completely short-circuiting. Unable to free herself, Amity simply looked in another direction. "Stop staring at me like that!" she growled. "Don't look at me as if you pity me, or feel sorry for me, or want to help me! I don't need these things! I am powerful now! I... I am..."

Lilith took another step towards her, and slowly she raised one of her hands, placing it on her cheek; at that touch Amity felt her heart do a somersault. Even though she didn't want to, her cheek instinctively sank into the fairy's hand, as if she wanted nothing more than that maternal touch. "Amity" Lilith told her. "I know how confused you are..."

"You're the ones who are confusing me!" Amity screamed, but she didn't believe it anymore either.

"... but controlling everything won't make you any less confused" Lilith continued ignoring his protests. "Amity... I know what you're doing, it's obvious to everyone. You want to control everything in this world, make everything perfect and manipulate everything, because you want to create the illusion around you that you have everything under control"

"It's not an illusion! It's reality!" Amity replied. "Now I have this power! I can... I can control everything... I can decide everything!"

"And do you really want it?" Lilith asked her in a somewhat sympathetic and apologetic voice. "Do you really want to take away everyone, including your friends and girlfriend, of their freedom? Or do you just want to control everything because you hope that doing so will remind you less that you can't control yourself?"

Amity stiffened as if she had just been hit with an electric shock. "Shut up!" she shouted. "Stop saying that! Everyone stop saying that! This is nonsense! I control myself! I'm doing this because I want to!"

"It is not true!" Luz screamed as she took several steps forward even though Eda was trying to hold her back. "You don't want it! You never wanted it! What you are feeling now is only due to your insecurity which is amplified by that kind of parasite you now have inside you!"

"INSECURITY!?" Amity roared, and her eyes flashed again. "I'm not insecure! I'm confident in everything I do! And everything I do, I do because I want to do it!"

"Really? Just like you always wanted to be perfect and immaculate like a statue all the time? Just like you wanted to play a horrible prank on me by making me cry? Just like you wanted to win a rugby match by almost destrying your body just to feel suited to the role daughter?" Luz answered her back. "You're making the same mistake! You're listening to your fear and insecurity because you want your mother's approval, and you're believing everything she tells you! But what you're doing is wrong, and you know it!"

"It's not true! It's not wrong!" Amity protested. "I'm just scaring a few people with the purpose of eliminate a greater evil! Or do you think Belos will just kill himself? Sometimes in life you have to make sacrifices!"

Luz was about to retort, but just then Lilith knelt down slightly to bring herself up to Amity's face. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then the fairy said to her: "No, Amity. Sacrificing someone else is always wrong. The sacrifice is right only if it is made by the one who sacrifices themselves. In any other case... that is not right. It's just depriving someone of their life, or whatever they've sacrificed"

Amity's face twisted into a grimace. The tears were now pouring so heavily from her eyes that she could barely see. "Sometimes there is no choice..."

"There is always a choice" Lilith answered her. "And now you have to do yours"

"I've already done mine!" Amity said in a squeaky voice.

"This is not your choice, Amity. Everything that is happening now is not your will" Lilith pointed out. "This is the will of Grometheus... and your mother. You are only following their orders"

Amity froze and her breathing became labored. She looked like she was on the verge of fainting and suffocating. Any remnants of dark magic around her seemed to dissolve, and the tentacles made of dark matter completely disintegrated. Her eyes had almost lost any reddish hue by now and were returning to their beautiful golden color.

Seeing this, Luz moved even closer to her, and consequently so did Eda; Amity slowly turned her gaze towards them and stared at them as if she were looking at ghosts. Luz thought that she looked really fragile at that moment, and again she opened her arms and invited her to hug her. Amity was clearly eager to do so, but she was still trying to hold back a little. Seeing that stalemate, Eda spoke up for the first time and said: "Girl, remember what I told you? You may be made of flesh and blood, but if you don't understand what it means to be real, you will always be just a puppet. in the hands of others". She let out a sigh. "And unfortunately for you... now you're just a puppet"

"I-I'm not a puppet! I'm real! I can choose! I... I..." Amity's voice became increasingly faint.

But at that point Luz completely closed the distance between them, almost touching her with her body. They both looked into each other's eyes in silence, and then Luz whispered to her: "Amity... hug me. Please. Let me help you"

And at that point Amity completely collapsed. She leaned into the wooden girl's body and wrapped her arms around her, holding her as tight as she could; Luz returned that hug and hugged her back. The puppet could feel her girlfriend's trembling body on hers, which only enticed her to hold her tighter. "I-I can't do this" Amity whispered as she cried into her shoulder. "I can't make this choice… I can't!"

"Amity, you can" Lilith said stroking her hair. "You are much stronger than you think. You can reject Grometheus if you want. It is you who can decide"

"I-I can't do it! Deciding... it's scary!" Amity sobbed in despair. "If... if I decided to push Grometheus away now... I would lose the chance to eliminate Belos forever, and protect Luz and everyone else from him... but if I don't... everyone will suffer, and that's wrong , I know... making a choice is horrible! I don't want... it's easier to let... someone else decide..."

"I know it's easier" Lilith told her in a maternal but firm voice. "But it's not right. It's not right for the others... and it's not right for you"

"You're not a puppet, Amity" Luz whispered in her ear. "Make the choice you really want. You will have my support whatever it may be. I trust you"

Amity pressed closer to her. It was as if those words were a hot needle inserted into her heart, but at the same time, despite the initial pain, they warmed it with a pleasant and loving warmth, which made her more secure and calm. The cold that filled her heart before that hot needle was plunged into it was decidedly more painful.

Suddenly there was a shift of air, and the moonlight was for a moment covered by a shadow; and soon after a familiar voice reached Amity's ears: "Mittens, what are you doing?"

Odalia came down from the sky riding her flying broomstick. Lilith immediately looked like she was about to jump on her and claw her face off and throw her guts to the crows, but she avoided doing so because she knew that wasn't what Amity needed. She had to make that decision herself.

However, the twins were not so forgiving. "Mom, I knew you were a manipulative bitch, but I didn't think you were such a bastard" Emira commented, with Edric's agreement.

Odalia didn't even spare them a glance. "Mittens, Grometheus has sensed a change in your mood. If you continue like this you will end up sending him back. You should focus on providing him with more fear!"

Amity trembled, and she felt fear creep into her heart; but Luz held her tighter, giving her more warmth. This gave courage to Amity, who whispered: "Mom... I don't want to do this anymore"

Odalia's eyes widened. "What?"

"I don't want to do this anymore" Amity said. "All of this... is wrong"

Odalia gritted her teeth. "Why? Did they convince you? Did these two fairies and that puppet bring you to their side with nice words? Have you really learned nothing from what I taught you!?"

"They didn't convince me!" Amity answered her, and she broke away from Luz's hug and walked towards her mother. "I don't want to do this, I never wanted to! I obeyed you because I was afraid, because I didn't want to disappoint you, because it seemed to me that you were right, but now I don't want to do it anymore! I don't want to do something I don't believe in!"

"What's going through your mind, Mittens? This is our chance!" Odalia exclaimed furiously. "Do you have any idea how much I would like to be in your place? You were born with the purpose of saving this world and being able to rule it as you wish! Together, we can restore the witches to their former glory! We can give a new future to this world! We can build power and wealth for ourselves like no one else has ever had!"

"But I don't care! I don't want this... I don't want this fate!" Amity protested. "I'm stopping here, Mom. I don't want to go any further, no matter what you think!"

"How dare you!? You really think you can choose to deny the reason you were born!? The only one among billions to have such privilege, and you want to back out!?" Odalia screamed, and her eyes became dangerously bright. "I am your mother, you will do what I say! Stop throwing tantrums and go back to feeding Grometheus!"

But Amity remained still where she was. And as much as her mother's gaze and stern tone scared her, she didn't waver and held her gaze anyway. Mother and daughter didn't move for at least half a minute. And then Amity gave her answer. "No"

Odalia opened her eyes wider than before, and for a fraction of a second she seemed surprised; but immediately afterwards, her gaze became murderous. "Oh, no... if you don't want to learn the easy way, then I'll have to discipline you the hard way!"

Odalia closed her hand into a fist, and suddenly Amity felt as if something had broken inside her; Thousands of claws gripped her mind and began to seal her in a barrier, making it increasingly difficult for her to think. She looked at her mother, who gave her a smug look. "You made a contract with me, don't forget it. I have direct access to your mind" she told her with a slight hint of displeasure in her voice. "Believe it or not, Mittens, I never wanted to use it to control you. You forced me to do it"

Amity couldn't hear anything else; her mind shut down completely and she felt like she was falling asleep. Her body meanwhile moved on its own and he got back on her feet, but now her eyes were empty and glassy.

"NO!" Lilith screamed as she launched herself towards Odalia, but the witch moved her hand and generated a shockwave that threw her and everyone else away and sent them tumbling at least five meters. Then she looked at Amity and said: "Take your siblings and take them away with you. Go to Grometheus and complete the summoning of the Collector!"

Amity nodded and almost mechanically raised her hands, concentrating the dark magic and forming prehensile tentacles again which she wrapped around Edric and Emira, dragging them through the air; then some of them coalesced onto her shoulders, creating a pair of bat wings, and she took flight towards Mirkwood, taking her two older siblings away with her.

Lilith was livid. "You... how could you do that!? She's your daughter...!"

"You forced me to do it. You put some stupid ideas in her head" Odalia replied without empathy. "Amity will be fine, her mind won't be damaged. If I had to control her it's your fault. You turned her against me"

"Of course, your daughter makes a different choice than you and that automatically means she is against you!" Eda grumbled as she raised her wand. "Sorry if I ask, but do you have a heart?"

"I have waited too many years to give up now just because you had to interfere with my daughter's education. Everything would have been fine if you had never appeared in her life. You fairies are truly an ongoing problem!" Odalia growled, and suddenly in her left hand appeared a long green whip that seemed to pulse with energy, while in her right hand appeared a trident surrounded by fire of the same color. "You know what? I don't mind that much. I can finally teach you two a good lesson, little fairies!"

I know you were all waiting for that duel. Check