𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐛𝐢𝐞 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝

[74]

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙙𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩-𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙤𝙪𝙩.

Hunter walked into the living room smiling as he greeted the others, lifting his hand to wave at them.

"Hey, we're back!" Hunter grinned with a chuckle. "And we bought some, uh... cars!"

Luz narrowed her eyes at the boy, elbowing him as he winced slightly. Georgia sighed as she saw the others unpacking boxes of clothes, curiosity taking over her as she neared the other witches.

"What are you guys up to?" Georgia questioned, pulling a shirt out of the box.

"Luz, Georgia! We're designing our costumes for the haunted hayride!" Amity grinned.

Gus popped up beside Hunter, hiding something behind his back. The brunette beside Hunter glanced at the illusionist curiously as the younger boy winked at her with a grin. Georgia nodded, winking back at him.

"Guess what I've got planned?" Gus queried, placing a headband on his head. "I'm gonna be Captain Avery, and you're gonna be..."

Gus pulled out a small box from behind him, a little remote within as the blonde boy before him gasped in awe.

"Chief Engineer O'Bailey?!" Hunter let out a little squeal, hugging the box close. 

Seeing the props, Camila gulped, trying not to choke on her drink as she gripped the mug in her hand a little bit tighter.

"Uh, how do you know about Cosmic Frontier?" Camila asked nervously. 

"All the books in your basement!" Hunter replied cheerily, Georgia kneeling next to Amity as she pulled out a purple cloak from the box, the girl humming in excitement.

"Oh!" Camile let out a nervous laugh. "Funny how things just show up in basements, right? Without you hiding or putting them there."

Camila let out more nervous laughter, the woman's voice becoming more shakey with her laughter as she swung her mug around. Droplets of her coffee flicked out of the item.

"Life sure is full of surprises!"

Hunter, Luz and Gus watched the woman smile nervously at them, their eyes wide as they've rarely ever seen Camila this nervous. Gus then broke into a smile.

"Cool! Humans freak out just like us!"

"It'll be fun!" Willow grinned, rummaging through a box. "We want to experience your weird human traditions."

The plant witch pulled out a set of fake fangs, placing them over her teeth. She waved her fingers around and let out a fake sinister laugh to fit the image she had created.

Amity pulled the TV remote as Ghost slept by her side.

"And I thought you and I could take inspiration from..." The purple-haired witch clicked a button, an image appearing on the TV.

"Good Witch Azura The Movie 2: The Betrayanning!"

Amity grinned, playing the movie as the others watched. Smoke filled the scene and Azura clutched Hecate close, a blast of magic shooting from her hand.

"Hecate! I'll protect you!" Azura exclaimed.

The main villain swiped her staff at the magic, staring down at the two protagonists, her hand pointed at Hecate.

"Give her over, Azura!" The villain exclaimed. "It's for your own good!"

"NEVER!" Azura glared as Amity put the remote down, pulling a piece of paper out, her drawing of Luz and herself as Azura and Hecate on it.

"I could be the Hecate to your Azura!" Amity walked over to Luz with the paper, Willow watching with a grin. 

"What do you think?"

"Oh, wow!" Luz held Amity's hands before embracing her. "Yeah, let's do it!"

The two hugged each other tight as the movie continued to play, the next scene capturing Luz's attention.

"How could you do it, Villainous Lucy?" Azura questioned with tears pouring down her cheeks. "How could you betray your friends? Now everyone is gone!"

"It was for the greater good," Lucy smiled, almost as if she hadn't cared about her actions.

"We'll never forgive you," Azura grimaced, her next line ringing in Luz's ears, her frown deepening once she heard it. 

"Never!"

–––

Luz lay in her bed once more, her arm raised as she reached for the glow-in-the-dark stars that were attached below Vee's bunk. She rolled over, trying her best to sleep.

The Latina rolled over again, turning to see Amity as she smiled softly. Just beyond her girlfriend, she saw Willow sprawled on the bed next to Amity's, and Georgia's figure bundled up in blankets after.

At least now the oracle witch was getting sleep.

Her smile then dropped as her vision darted back to Amity, a heartbreaking truth entering her mind. 

Slowly, she crawled out of bed, pulling her laptop from her desk as she walked downwards to the kitchen. The blue light of her screen lit up as the computer softly chimed, the girl clicking on the video recorder while smiling softly at the wallpaper she made of her and her girlfriend.

Her smile dropped as she stared at the camera, thinking of what to say as she clicked the record button on the app.

"Dear diary," She began with a frown, resting her head in her hand.

"All I ever wanted was to be good at something, to be around people who also liked that something. And when I found the demon realm, I thought, 'Wow, I found it! I can learn magic, I can be a witch! I won't be the dummy in the principal's office anymore!'"

Her smile dropped, her enthusiasm following. Tears gathered in her eyes and she rest her head on her forearms.

"But I messed up too much," She muttered. "And put everyone in danger. Mama says I have to learn from my mistakes."

The Latina wiped away her tears and sat upright once more, unaware of the last tear that trailed down her cheek.

"So I know what I have to do now."