Always by your side

Chapter 12 - A cave, an Oath, and finding yourself

Limping through the cave with Amity leaning on me I was trying to come up with any sort of a plan regarding getting out of here. It didn't look promising considering I had no idea where we were or if there even was an exit. Nevertheless, I wasn't going to give up hope, though I couldn't say the same thing about my companion, she looked like she'd already given up.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked.

"Outright great. Stop pretending that you care."

"I know it's surprising for you, it is surprising even for me, but I do indeed care."

"Ugh, whatever, I'm tolerating your presence only because I have no other option, but to just, stop speaking, I don't want to talk."

"Oh come on, there are at least a few hours of..."

"Shut up human. Can't you understand a simple sentence?!"

That hurt me, more than I would have expected. As she wished, I stopped talking but deep down I craved a conversation. I mean, we really have at least a few hours together in front of us, I can't stay silent for that long. Anyway, I have to do my best not to piss Amity off. She has it hard enough already. I feel a tear forming in my eye and going down my cheek. I swipe it off, ensuring Amity won't see it. We are stuck in this painful silence for an hour and a half, or maybe two hours? Who knows, time passes weirdly when you are alone in a cave.

Another tear goes down my cheek, not only I'm still kinda hurt after the brief talk with Amity but now I'm also starting to feel helpless, stuck god knows where. This time Amity takes notice of that. For a split second, it looks like she feels guilty, but she tries her best to mask it. If she already noticed why should I bother, I let a few more tears out, maybe to some extent I'm trying to guilt trip her, but mostly I'm just losing hope.

Another 10 minutes pass and now Amity looks like she is battling with her own emotions. What's sure is that she seems concerned, at least a little bit. Finally, she brakes and asks;

"Do you need a break, Luz?"

I look at her and nod. Making a bigger light glyph, I find a shelf we can sit on and help Amity rest.

"Luz... I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just..."

"It's okay, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Amity asked, and woah... was that genuine care in her voice? Now I was conflicted, I still felt hurt, but maybe I pushed her too far back then, maybe I should give her a chance...

"You know what? Not really." I said. "But there is not much I can do about it right now."

"I- I don't know what to... no, I shouldn't befriend you, you are a fugitive." Here she was, back to her old self.

"It's not like I'm gonna rat on you to the emperor's coven, ya know?"

"I know, but I... You know I will still have to arrest you one day?"

"Whatever, I don't care, we are in a shitty situation, both of us. At least for now, we can be here for each other, will it hurt you that much Amity?

"I suppose not."

"See? Not that hard. Do me a favor, be here as Amity, not an emperor's coven colonel or whatever your rank is. Just human to human, or rather witch to human conversation."

She was hesitating, probably calculating all the options in her head.

"Fine. Let's give it a shot and see how it works."

For the first time, I saw Amity smile, and not in a mocking way, a true smile. I smiled back at her, trying to show her that she doesn't have to hide behind an emotional mask.