Chapter Text
Sunlight streamed through an arched window, lending detail to the room as it grew in intensity. Two dressers, a wardrobe, a great rug dominating the center, and a desk set in the corner. The light slowly crept across the floor before finally coming to a stop at the far wall, illuminating an elaborate four-post bed, and a certain green-haired witch nestled under its blankets. Amity Blight groaned and turned into her pillow as her eyes were assaulted by the creeping advance. And then, a single thought;
“Today’s the day!”
Immediately, the witch threw herself from her bed. Leaving any sense of grace behind, she rolled out of her blankets and onto the floor, picking herself up with reckless speed and trying desperately to ignore the popping in her joints as she did so. Amity was fairly certain that she wasn’t supposed to pop that much at her age, but she supposed that’s what grudgby at a young age would do to you. Her eyes turned to the mirror against her door, taking in her disheveled appearance. The wide smile that split across her features was impossible to contain.
Today’s the day.
Crossing the floor with a few giddy strides, Amity threw her door open, only to be met with a familiar face staring back at her, shocked expression matching her own.
“Eep!” she shrieked, in a totally collected manner, falling onto her back to avoid running into her mentor.
“Ami-” began the older witch, her hand raised to knock on the door, though slowly falling to her side as she beheld her pupil’s graceful transition to the floor. Silence hung heavy between them before Lilith finally interjected.
“I was coming to wake you up, but it seems that’s no longer necessary,” she observed, the faintest hint of a smirk creeping into her voice. “You must be quite excited.”
Amity felt her cheeks kindle to life, a quick motion with her finger and the barest hint of will summoning the levitation spell that pushed her to her feet. She wanted to be embarrassed, or apologetic, or anything resembling the calm, collected exterior of her mentor, but she just couldn’t. Not today.
Today’s the day.
“Yeah, well you know. Big day. Lots of plans. Weekend and all.” she stammered.
Lilith’s smirk left the “barely concealed, mildly taunting you” stage and fully entered the realm of “oh yes, I totally believe you.”
“It couldn’t possibly have to do with my sister’s pupil returning to the Isles, could it?” she teased lightly, enjoying the faint blush that grew darker with each word.
“Nope, not at all. No ma’am. I’m just really excited to study. I’ve got a big test coming up and I’m just ready to…” Amity trailed off as soon as she saw the disbelief on Lilith’s features. She mumbled something to herself. The sort of half-whisper that could have been an audible word if one had the ears of some bird of prey.
“What was that Amity? How many times have I told you not to mumble?”
“Mmbmm”
“Again please?”
“Maybe…”
“Maybe what?” Lilith asked, no longer attempting to hide the grin from her own face.
“Maybe I’m a bit excited about that,” Amity responded, her blush upgrading from salmon to tomato in an instant.
“Well, you should be.” the older witch conceded. “Luz is a powerful witch and an ally to the Isles. It will be good to have someone else that we trust by our side. I’d imagine it would also help with my sister’s bad attitude.”
“And of course,” she began, letting the word hang, “I’m certain it will help my apprentice’s attitude as well…”
“Well, I should probably get ready then!” Amity quipped excitedly. “Wouldn’t want to be late for my attitude adjustment.”
Rushing past her mentor and smacking her forehead for that particular metaphor, Amity ducked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Slowly, she slid down against it before coming to a rest on the floor. Her hands rubbed light circles around her cheeks, attempting to massage the blush away to no avail. Suddenly, a faint nagging sensation pulled at the back of her mind, and with another turn of her finger, her scroll appeared in front of her. Amity keyed her passcode in, the blush strengthening for a moment, and opened the first of three messages.
~---~
So, are you a blushing mess right now?
I habe absolutely no idead what your talking about.
...
Amity, you just misspelled two words and used the wrong your
No, I didn’t.
-Message Deleted-
Already screenshotted it
Busted
Is there a reason you’re harassing me, Miss Park?
Ooh, Miss Park. Ur mad.
Sorry, your* mad.
Anyways, was that a yes or a no?
I am most certainly not a “blushing mess” right now.
If we’re not going to get to the point, this conversation is over. I have to get ready.
Have to get nice and cleaned up huh?
Save some light for the rest of us Am
Alright, this is done. It was nice being friends with you again Willow, but this is over.
Yeah, yeah, you say that now.
You going to wear the perfume I gave you?
…
yes
I rest my case.
This conversation is over.
Goodbye.
~---~
Amity snapped her fingers, dismissing her scroll and pushing herself to her feet. There was no way she was even going to entertain the idea of opening either of the other messages. Willow was bad enough. Talking to either of the twins was a surefire way to push her over the edge. Instead, she focused on getting the shower adjusted to just the right temperature before stepping in.
Today’s the day.
The thought immediately brought the smile back to her face. The perfume Willow had brought her had indeed been very nice. Though she could have done without the smirk on her face as she handed it over. Now she’d have to figure out what to wear. Maybe something formal? No, that was an awful idea. Truly terrible. As she rubbed the shampoo into her hair, green and brown strands alike whipping across her vision, Amity realized just how harsh she was being.
Was she really that obvious? What was she saying, of course she was that obvious. If it wasn’t a blush her ears would have given her away, and if they hadn’t then she absolutely would’ve started stammering and, oh Gods, how was she even going to talk to Luz? An image crossed Amity’s mind, of her younger self standing at a door in an empty clearing, watching as her closest friend walked through, unsure if she’d ever be back.
She’d be fine. There wasn’t another option.
Now dressed in black leggings and a simple pink blouse (one of 38 outfit options she’d run through in the previous ten minutes), Amity descended the stairs into the small dining room where Lilith already sat, a stack of reports to one side of her and a single piece of fruit, sliced but untouched, on a plate in front of her. Where Amity usually sat there was a bowl already waiting, a box of cereal and a pitcher of milk set next to it. As she prepared her breakfast, the young witch glanced up at her mentor, her attention clearly commanded by the report she was reading.
“Good news?” Amity asked hopefully, though she already knew the answer.
“We should be so lucky,” Lilith responded, voice already sounding so tired that Amity wondered just how early her mentor had awoken this morning. She was inclined to not sleep at all these days. The Isles had always been a mess of administration, even under the Emperor, and she had no idea how the older witch managed to maintain it all. Her thoughts were disrupted by Lilith taking a long, loud sip from the mug in front of her.
Ah, right.
“There are further reports of fights breaking out in the northern Isles between different families of witches.” Lilith suddenly replied, breaking Amity out of her thoughts. “Some nonsense about ‘ancient grudges made anew.’ If they spent half as much time fighting monsters as they did each other I wouldn’t have to send so many peacekeepers.” She sighed, placing the report down at the table and looking towards her ward. “But perhaps such complaints are best saved for another time. Today’s the day, after all.”
Amity’s nod in agreement quickly cut off, her spoon halfway to her mouth. Slowly, the blush came back. “When did I?…”
“Before you opened the door. You shouted it rather excitedly before rushing out of your room like it had caught fire.”
“Ah, well…” Amity trailed off. The glitter in Lilith’s eyes was positively dangerous. That sort of look that seemed to imply that, with one word, she could reduce her to a gibbering mess. Amity waited for the other shoe to fall.
“You’re dripping milk onto my table.”
“I’m dri- Oh. Oh!”
Blushing for an entirely different reason, Amity quickly made a circle with her finger and willed the milk to evaporate. Which, due to her emotional state, made a spill-shaped burn spot on the table. “H-hold on, I’ll fix it!”
“Hmm?” asked Lilith, already getting up from the table and condensing her stack of reports into a suitcase far too small to hold them all that nevertheless managed to. As she moved towards the back door, grabbing her raven-capped staff from where it rested against the wall, she turned and regarded her ward. “Oh, it’s no matter. If you’re not up to the task of defeating the dreaded milk spill then I can certainly handle it later.”
As Lilith turned to leave, Amity suddenly perked up, voice coming out far too high for her liking. “Wait!”
“Yes, Amity?” Came Lilith’s reply, infinitely patient.
“Did Eda tell you when she was bringing Luz back?” Amity replied back, soft and embarrassed.
Lilith grew severe. “You want to know if Edalyn Clawthorne, The Owl Lady, most powerful wild witch in the Boiling Isles, former fugitive, and literal agent of chaos gave me a specific time as to when she was wresting her ward from the human realm?”
“I suppose it was a silly question.” Amity began, looking down at the table.
“Very shortly.” Amity looked back up in surprise at her mentor. At the full-blown smirk that crossed her features. “I would imagine that she’s just as excited to see Miss Noceda as you are.” Her smirk grew devilish. “Though for entirely different reasons.”
The other shoe.
Amity skipped everything from pink to brick on the color spectrum, settling somewhere firmly in “tomato” territory and staying there as Lilith lightly chuckled.
“You’re as bad as Ed and Em,” Amity muttered.
“Hardly. Your siblings are giving my sister a legitimate run for her money on the ‘Agent of Chaos’ front.” Lilith countered. Amity mumbled something under her breath, causing Lilith to raise an eyebrow. “Language, Miss Blight.”
Sufficiently chastised, Amity glanced back down at the table, a moment of calm and another circle with her finger clearing the burn from the table.
“If you need me, I shall be at my office. You know how to get through to me.” Lilith opened the back door, taking a moment before turning back to her ward. “Oh, and Amity?”
The younger witch looked towards her mentor again, expecting one last tease before she left. Instead, she found a genuine smile waiting for her.
“Enjoy your day. You’ve waited long enough.”
Amity’s grin returned, the blush fading to light pink. As the back door closed, she set her head on her crossed arms.
Today’s the day.
Today was the day that Luz Noceda returned from the human realm. Amity pushed herself up from the table, taking her now-empty bowl to the sink. The first day in two years when Amity would actually be able to see her in person, rather than the letters and margins that they’d used since she’d left. Magicing the bowl and other associated silverware back into their proper places, the grin spread even further. Today was the day.
The day when she was finally going to tell Luz exactly how she felt about her.