Lilith violently hit the tree with her sword. Stabbing it multiple times, the bruised tree accepted all her attacks. She turned and spined and striked again.
Back, then forward, and then strike.
The orders are loud and clear in her head. She follows them and thinks of new ones.
Spin, jump and strike from below.
Normally, Lilith would calculate the amount of force she would put into her attacks, but it is unnecessary now. She's practicing to get her frustrations out, not to train.
Rise, strike from above and fall back.
Lilith spins her sword and grips onto it tightly. She hits it again, letting all of her anger, confusion and frustration sink into the single force of her blade. Hoping that it would drown her thoughts.
The tree falls. Violently shaking the ground as it did. Lilith began panting, but took in a deep breath and combed her hair back. Letting her hand soothe her burning neck.
"Wanna tell me why you're beating the crap out of my trees?" her sister said as she walked out the back door.
"You don't own the forest." she grumbled, kicking the trunk in front of her.
"Eh, it's on my property."
"If I recall correctly you can't legally own land. Any unauthorized land immediately belongs to the Emperors Coven under the Property Management Wing. Which I manage, so technically it belongs to me."
"Then look at your pathetic butt letting me walk over your property."
Lilith sneered as she threw her sword to the ground, stabbing it into the earth. She huffed and sat down, bringing her knees close to her chest.
Eda rolled her eyes, "Does that scalp of yours not hurt? You're practically balding at the hairline"
"Oh for Titan's sake. I'll take the diadem off if it bothers you so much." Lilith complied as she hastily took the jewel off her head.
Tugging at the ribbon holding back her hair, it fell to the ground. She hasn't realized how much it's grown. The last time she had cut it had been ages. Now they were practically reaching her knees.
She really needed to cut that.
"So why are you bullying my trees again?"
"Just thinking." she mumbled under her breath.
Eda scoffed, "You've sure been doing a lot of that lately."
Lilith glared at her but loosened up nonetheless. She sighed as she ran her fingers through her loose hair. Her scalp felt a soothe aching to be freed from their confinement.
"What... do I do if I'm right?"
"I'm not sure. How can you even know you're right?"
"I don't know! It's just... I'd love to take her with me." Lilith whispered as she hugged her knees tighter.
"But... I'm afraid of what Belos would do to her."
Eda sighed. It was frustrating to see her sister so wrapped up over an idea she had no actual lead to. Odalia was petty and cunning in a way words could never convey, but she never did anything without a reason. And she simply did not have a reason to take Amity from her. Even if it was petty revenge, she simply lost more than she gained.
It's not that Eda didn't see why Lilith would think so, but she had a hard time actually believing the older woman.
Or maybe it was just the difference between someone who was used to accepting what life shot at her and the hope of a mother.
"Lily. Just... don't get your hopes up too much okay? You'll only get hurt."
There was a silence, but Lilith's eyes spoke so many words. Her voice could not vocalize her anger at what her sister had just said.
"You don't believe me... do you?"
Eda pulsed her lips, "No. I don't."
"Unbelievable," Lilith spat out.
"Lily,"
"Honestly I thought you'd actually get it! I just... everything makes sense. And this is the one chance I have at actually getting her back and you don't even have faith in me?"
Her eyebrows knit together, "Well can you blame me?"
She got up hastily, "I get cursed and on the same day you come home engaged and while you're stuck in that comfortable castle of yours I'm stuck here running from the law! And then you come out of nowhere to my home, dump a bunch of elixir on me and then drop a giant bomb on me saying your apprentice might be your long lost kid and expect me to just go along with it!?"
"Oh yes because I wanted to live in that stupid castle with that narcissistic abusive sorry excuse for a husband." she snapped, voice dripping with sarcasm.
She slapped her hands atop of her mouth at what had come flying out. Eyes darting to her younger sibling, she hopes her words fly above her head. But they don't, instead she's met with gold eyes that are full of nothing but anguish and worry.
Lilith hates the guilt that sinks into her heart.
"I... I don't actually mean that. He just- er... frustrated me the other day and I'm just being dramatic. Please don't take me seriously I-"
Eda cuts her off, "so it's true."
"What?"
She sighed, sitting back down next to her, "I always knew he was bad, but I never knew you were aware of it."
Lilith looked away in guilt. Edalyn knew too much. She always did. She knew too much about everyone and that's why she always got hurt.
"Why don't you leave if you know. You've never liked him."
The raveness still could not face her sister, afraid of what her eyes might say. She was ashamed, if only she knew why she stayed.
Eda sighed again, she knows Lilith is stuck. She understands, but she doesn't see why she stays.
"I don't get why you stay if you don't like him so much."
"It's not so bad. He does love me."
Eda dropped her mug onto the soft grass with shocked eyes. She couldn't be serious.
"I mean I don't love him. Never have and never will. But... he loves me at least. And he's promised me something. And only he can give it to me."
Eda was angry, she could feel the fiery rage building up in her chest. She snarls out like a raging bull and balled her hands into fists.
That bastard manipulated her so horribly that she thought- Eda doesn't even know what to say! She's at a loss for words, yet she could think of a million things she wanted to say.
Eda swallowed her insults, "What could be so important you would rather stay with him?"
Lilith was growing impatient herself. Her sister didn't get it. She was doing this for her . But how could she know that?
"I wouldn't expect you to get it."
The younger woman scoffed, offended at the statement. Lilith forced herself to bite back her words. She has to keep her composure. Lilith can't afford to lose her cool. That was not befitting for an empress.
"You're even stupider than I thought."
Lilith's head snapped back, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"If you think that tyrant is actually going to give you what you want then you're even stupider than I thought." she snapped with venom.
Lilith's eyes darkened.
"You don't understand. If you were in my place you would do the same."
"No I wouldn't. I would leave that bastard. You're even more miserable than you've ever been."
Lilith feels the familiar sensation in her lungs again. The aching pain that lit it up in flames. She wanted to scream. She wanted to yell.
She wanted to tell her the truth.
"You don't understand. It's the only way out. I've studied for years and still can't find an alternative. This is the only way out."
"A way out of what?" Eda asked angrily, getting up yet again.
She looked down at her sister who glared back at her. Eda didn't like it when people kept secrets from her. Her parents had done enough of that. She isn't foolish or weak, she can do with a little truth. She had thick skin.
Her patience grew thin as Lilith kept her silence. Looking away, the raveness pulsed her lips and gripped onto her skirts.
"ANSWER ME!" Eda yelled in desperation.
Lilith looked at her wide eyed. Never had she expected her to yell . And never had she expected it to sound so broken. She could see the tears building up in her yellow irises and Lilith immediately feels the soul crushing guilt rising. Her lungs are on fire again and her throat's gone sour.
"I... I can't."
"Yes you can. You- you can't just." Eda stopped to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"You can't just promise to be by my side forever and leave me only to show up and keep secrets from me. You know I hate that!"
Lilith doesn't know what to think. Her sister was usually snide, spiteful and angry. She doesn't let anyone see that they got to her even if they did. Vulnerability wasn't something she did with people. Yet here she was, acting like a child.
"Dang that kid is rubbing off on me." she mumbled as she brushed away her tear-stained cheeks.
She took in a deep breath and looked at her sister again. There was pity in her eyes and Lilith didn't get it. Her pain wasn't as bad or deserving of Eda's pity. If anything she should have been pitying her.
But Edalyn never liked that.
"Out of everyone, I deserve to know why. Why did you stay? Why do you allow yourself to be so miserable?"
Lilith held her breath as she stared at her. Biting down on her tongue, she was at a loss for words. Edalyn had suffered greatly, and all because she made a mistake.
This was all her fault.
"What could be so important to you that you make yourself so miserable. It isn't worth it." she begged, failing to mask the desperation that sank into her voice.
It isn't fair. It isn't fair that Lilith suffered like this. She could see the little fire in her heart burning out. She was growing tired, and Eda feared the worst.
"Lily please. It's not worth i-"
"YOU DON'T GET IT."
"THEN SO HELP ME UNDERSTAND."
Eda grabbed hold of her and yanked her up. Gripping at her shoulders, her fingernails stabbed her pearly skin. Lilith hissed at the pain and Eda loosened her grip. Shooting an apologetic look at her.
"Let me go, Edalyn." she whispered, trying to get out of her grip.
"No."
"I said let me go-"
"ANSWER ME GODDAMMIT LILY."
"JUST TRUST ME ON THIS."
"WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU WOULD DO THIS TO YOURSELF?" She demanded angrily.
Lilith hit her breaking point and couldn't stop the words that later came from her mouth, "BECAUSE IT'S MY FAULT YOU GOT CURSED!"
Breaking into a sob, she brought her hands to her face, hiding the tears and the shame that reached her eyes. Instant regret and fear plagued her mind and chest. She couldn't breathe. Her sobs echoed in the backyard of the Owl House as she dropped to the floor. Unable to carry herself any longer. The woman who had been previously clinging onto her had long abandoned their original placement.
It's my fault you got cursed...
It rang through her head and Eda doesn't think she's present on the earth anymore. She feels like she's trapped in an endless void where nothing but her voice echoed in her head.
It's my fault you got cursed.
Had... Lilith?
No. She wouldn't do that...
Would she?
A fragile voice broke her from her strance, "The day before you got cursed."
Eda faced Lilith again, no longer lost in her mental prison.
"He asked me to marry him." she explained, slowly regaining her composure. "But me being young and foolish I declined."
A gust of wind danced around their ears and weaved through their hairs. Their once vibrant hues of red and orange were gone and replaced with the greys and blues trapped in the sea. As if the water had come and devoured the flames that their hairs had possessed.
"He was upset with me, obviously. And... he... cursed you."
Before Eda could process any of her thoughts further, Lilith continued.
"I went and started begging him to heal you the same day. And he and I made an agreement. If I proved myself an exceptional wife, he'd heal you. I know I could look for potential cures, and I have! But... if I learned anything in Charms it's that-"
"Only the caster can take back a level 5 curse," Eda finished.
She was angry. It was reasonable. One didn't spend over 20 years of her life cursed and not get angry when she found out who caused her such suffering. Not only did this man curse her, but force her sister in a relationship with no intention of giving her her end of the deal.
So you could say that Eda was just a little tiny bit pissed at the man.
"I'm going to kill him."
Lilith looked horrified at her words, "Edalyn wait."
"No, I'm going to make him pay. No one messes with my family but me."
Grabbing her wrist, Lilith pulled her back, "Edalyn I know you're upset." When she tried to pull away she only tightened her grip. "But you need to understand that he's stronger than you and me combined!"
She began to struggle but the woman in black silk refused to budge, "It'll do more harm than good!" She cried, tightening her grip yet again.
"Let go of me!" she demanded, yanking at her own arm.
"Please! I can't lose you again!" She begged.
Tear stained cheeks glistened in the sunlight and something in Eda tells her that she's right. That if she acted on the anger she would be putting everyone she loved at risk.
Lilith's life could be in danger. And she would be risking her apprentice too. And perhaps even King, Owlbert and Hooty. And...
And Luz...
She'd never forgive herself if she did.
She stopped resisting, letting her arm hang loose. Lilith peared at her with sympathetic tear ridden eyes. It's what makes Eda break.
Eda falls into her arms, crying into her shoulder. Edalyn Clawthorne did not cry often. When she had 12 years ago, she did not scream, she bit back her cries.
But she did not do that this time.
She screamed. She cried and yelled and sobbed. Her ugly cries filled the empty valley of trees and distrubed the inhabitants in it. None of the two women could bring themselves to care.
Eda sobbed and cried like she did when she was a child. When she was broken and tired. Lilith had brought her arms to wrap around her younger sister. Caressing her hair and letting her own tears fall.
Sobs full of anguish, anger and sadness erupted from her throat until she was left heaving for air. She clung onto her older sibling like she was a lifeline.
When she calmed down later on, her breaths slowed. They continued to hold each other, exchanging soft touches of comfort and reassurance. To remind themselves that they were still grounded onto the earth.
"Please leave him." she whispered. "For me?" Eda knows it's stupid to ask, but she was getting desperate.
Lilith sighed in defeat, "You know I can't."
"Please." she whispered, voice weak from crying.
"I have to save you," she said sternly. "I just want to save you. Please just let me do that."
Eda rose from her place and held her sisters hands, beckoning her to look at her. She meekly returned her gaze.
"Lily..." she started.
Lilith forced herself to take in a deep breath and face her. Eda brought a hand to her face, caressing her cheeks. She felt the soft fingers wiping away her tears.
"I'm not the one who needs saving."
With no more tears left to cry, Lilith simply sank into her touch. Relaxing all of her tensed muscles. She was so tired. She had been working and working and working with no true intention of stopping. She was getting rusty, she supposed. If she wasn't so tired she might have laughed.
She remembers doing this multiple times in her youth. How on days she or Edalyn worked too hard, they would offer each other comfort no one else could. They had been best friends. And they had allowed a cruel man's words to get in the way.
For a while they stayed in each other's embrace. With nothing but the soft wind and light sniffling filling the silence. There was a sourness in their throats and they felt heavily melancholy.
But another part of them felt comfort. And freedom even. They were okay right now. There was so much wrong past the woods that led to the town. So much conflict and problems were outside the bubble Eda had built to get away from it all.
But for now it was okay. They were going to stay in their bubble for as long as they needed until they had the strength to go against the world again.
After all, it's always been them against the universe.
--x--
"You asked to see me mother?" Amity spoke as she entered the room.
Odalia sat impatiently in her seat. Amity could sense the tension in the room. It was suffocating. Like her eyes were sucking the air out of her lungs.
"Close the door." Odalia demanded coldly.
A shiver went down Amity's spine. She did as she was told and stood stiffly by the doorway.
"Sit."
Amity took a seat on the cushioned seat across from her mother. Fear rising in her chest under her mother's venomous gaze.
They looked like snake eyes. Predatory and angry.
It finally dawned on her that she had done something wrong. Panic and fear banged in her chest, making her heart beat faster.
"There have been rumours, Amity. Rumours of who you've been associating yourself with."
Another shiver arose in her, but she was quick to suppress it.
"They are just rumours mother-"
Odalia spoke calmly but Amity knew better than to trust her exterior, "Do not interrupt me."
Amity held her breath but did what she was told. She clung onto her uniform and set her eyes back onto her mother.
"Boscha has told me that you've been hanging around that human. And Ms. Park and Mr. Porter."
That snitch.
"No matter. I do not want you to associate with them any further."
Amity's mind went blank. She couldn't possibly have meant that.
"If you do not sever your ties with them, I will do it for you," Odalia said angrily upon seeing her reaction. No longer in the mood to be patient.
She got up from her seat and made her way to her desk, "Very well, you are dismissed."
"No."
Odalia did a double take as she stared at her.
Amity never talked back. One of the only things Odalia appreciated about the nuisance was her obedience. Unlike her prince and princess, she listened and did not question her motives. She simply did as she was told.
Never in a million years did she expect the wretched thing to talk back.
The girl before her looked as equally stunned at her action as her.
"What did you say to me?"
"No." she repeated, more confident this time.
Odalia pulsed her lips and tried to calm the rage rising in her chest. This child made her life hard enough. And now she dare question her now?
"That wasn't a question, Amity. You should know better. I don't want to hear anything more from you."
Amity took every bit of bravery she had left in her and spoke, "No. You don't get to choose my friends for me anymore."
"What did you say?" she snapped, practically fuming.
Lilith did not teach her cowardice. Lilith had taught her to be brave. She had taught her love and she had taught her kindness.
She would not fail her mentor now.
"I said you don't get to pick my friends anymore." she manages to say it without stuttering. Amity is nearly impressed with herself.
Odalia didn't seem to appreciate the sentiment.
"You ungrateful child. You've done nothing but ruin this family since you came here!" She bellowed in anger.
Darkening eyes stabbed into Amity's skin like needles and she realizes what she's done. Her breath hitches and shoulders tense. Her body prepares itself for any physical contact that might be done.
"I did everything to make you a perfect Blight and this is how you repay me?" She snapped, grabbing Amity by the wrist.
Amity winced at the pain. Trying to slither her hand out of her death grip. It doesn't work and it only aches the more she struggles.
"You've been nothing but a burden on this family. No wonder he wanted to get rid of you!"
Who... who was she talking about?
"You bring nothing but pain and suffering to everyone you meet! You pathetic brat I did everything and you still fail me. You fail everyone."
Odalia couldn't stop the anger that arose in all of her being. The words came spewing out of her mouth and she had no control over them anymore.
"That's not true!" she cried, trying to drown out her words.
It wasn't true... right?
Odalia continued to fume, "Everything was perfect until you showed up on my doorstep. We were perfect until you came and wretched it all!"
Amity... Amity didn't understand. What did it mean?
"You just have to ruin everything for everyone don't you!" she said, throwing the girl to the ground.
Amity hit the floor and winced at the growing pain at her side. Pushing herself up, she looked fearfully at the woman above her.
"That's not true. There are people out there who actually care about me!" she cried out desperately in an attempt to reassure herself.
She tried hard not to believe her mother's words. She tried to also recall all that she was saying. For the first time in a long time, Amity didn't understand her mother. Her orders and words were not clear and it didn't make sense.
What did she mean by appearing at her doorstep?
"Oh you mean those worthless friends of yours? Or perhaps that awful mentor you seem to adore so much?"
Odalia knew she had hit a weak spot in her. The girl was terribly protective of such pathetic people.
"DON'T SPEAK OF THEM THAT WAY."
Amity got up on her feet, though with difficulty at first.
Odalia hated her tone. She hated her . For years she had tried to care for her, but it simply wasn't possible. The girl was a thorn in her side. She looked so incredibly weak getting off of the floor.
"Your father had to come to me to get rid of you! You'd be nothing without me!"
Amity pretended that the words did not cut into her like daggers covered in boiling rain and blood. She kept a stern face, and looked into her mother's eyes.
She was not afraid of her, or that's what she hoped at least.
"Luz is hardworking and gifted! Willow is kind and strong! Augustus is optimistic and clever! And don't speak of my mentor that way! She is 10 times the person you'll ever be!" she ignores the way her mother's eyes go red in anger.
"They made me the person I am today. You didn't make me. They love me for who I am so don't you dare tell me I'm not!" Amity screamed.
"OF COURSE SHE LOVES YOU YOU'RE RELATED TO THE AWFUL THING!"
Time stilled for a moment when Odalia realized what she had said. Bringing her hand from her sides to her mouth, she looked at the girl before her in horror.
You're related to the awful thing.
The words ringed in her head and Amity stared at her mother, horrified.
Lilith... Lilith was her mother?
That... that would make her Princess Amity. That would mean that Edric and Emira weren't her siblings. And her mother and father not her birth parents.
That would mean she wasn't a Blight.
"What?" said a voice that did not belong to any of the residents.
Both women with green hair turned to see the empress standing there, bewildered at their screaming match.
If Odalia wasn't horrified before, she certainly was now. Her eyes filled with fear as she stared at the woman in a pearly white cloak.
Amity runs. She goes through the door on the opposite side and runs. She runs and runs until she can't see Blight Manor anymore. She runs from her mother, she doesn't know which one she's referring to anymore. She runs from anything familiar. She doesn't know where she's going, but all she knew was that she had to get away .
She stops when she can't tell where she is anymore and leans back on a great oak tree and cries. She's so confused. And she didn't understand.
Shouldn't she be happy? Shouldn't she be overjoyed to know the woman who loved her most was in fact her mother?
She's so conflicted. All her life has been a lie. It wasn't fair.
She doesn't understand.
Tears fall onto the roots of the tree, and she can no longer hold herself. She curls into a ball and lets herself cry. She wants to reach out and feel the cool metal of Lilith's earrings. But she isn't there. She was back in Blight Manor. And that was the last place she wanted to be.
Back in Blight Manor, Lilith was having a conflict of her own. She felt as though her entire body had fell into cracked ice and a suffocating cold ocean below. Like it had knocked all the air out of her lungs and she was drowning.
Amity was her daughter.
Amity was her daughter. She was right.
Odalia had taken her. She had known and watched her bring herself into ruins and had done nothing about it.
Amity was hers. Her daughter had been under nose this entire time and they had never known. Her heart ached, she couldn't imagine the amount of confusion Amity must have been feeling.
Who would do this? Why would they do this to her? Who could be capable of such an awful thi-
Wait... did she say Belos had gotten rid of her?