Wise man say
only fools rush in
but I can't help
falling in love, with you
- Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley
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Amity is running. Running from what, she can't tell. From her life, her parents, her so called "friends", from the pressure, from Lilith...from everything. Her breath comes out in frantic gulps, sweat running down her brow. Her feet make squelching noises as she struggles through the marsh. She makes a circle in the air, as she'd done a hundred times before, attempting to summon a small beam of light but...nothing. Her brow furrows as she attempts again. Still nothing. Panic rises deep within her. Where was her magic?
Suddenly, her ears prick. Amity hears something. She stands at attention, scanning the forest. Terror pumps through her, inexplicably. Something is walking towards her...or someone. She grabs some dirt from the ground, and holds it in her cupped hands.
A figure appears, short, around her height. "Amity!" they say, and Amity's ears perk up at the familiar sound. A tiny orb of light appears near the figure, showering it in bright light, like a glowing lamp. Brown hair, tan skin, brown eyes the color of warm earth, and a purple hoodie with cat ears. Luz.
Amity sighs and drops the dirt, her mouth widening into a smile." Luz," she chokes out, relief flooding her bones as she runs up to the human and gives her a hug. Luz lets out a small "oomf", and after a moment, wraps her arms around Amity as well.
Of course Amity, being the bumbling, love-struck fool that she is, immediately pulls away, flustered. "W-what are you doing here?" She asks, looking away at the ground. Luz had been warm, she thought, crossing her arms, as if she could keep Luz's warmth close to her. Luz's brow furrows, and she presses a hand towards Amity's forearm.
"Amity, your freezing." Luz says worriedly, taking Amity's palms between her own and warming them. Amity blushes. "It's...it's fine." she says, and pulls away. "Answer my question, Noceda. Why are you here?" Amity repeated, looking her straight in the eyes.
" I...don't know." Luz says, frowning. " I just had a feeling I had to come out here." Amity cocks her head. " A feeling?" she inquires, and Luz nods.
"I don't know. Maybe because I knew I'd run into you?" Luz asks, only to chuckle afterwards. Luz feels a warm feeling spread inside her stomach. Luz, coming into the forest because she thought Amity would be there? It was cute, honestly; like something out of a romance novel.
"Come on, we can go to the owl house! I have hot chocolate." Luz says, beckoning Amity to follow her. Amity scrambles to her, careful not to trip. "Hot chocolate?" Amity asks, raising an eyebrow. Luz looks at her, shocked. "You don't know what hot chocolate is?!?!" she asks, incredulous. Amity shakes her head, feeling embarrassment well up inside of her. Was this something she was supposed to know? What if Luz thought she was stupid for not knowing what hot chocolate was?!
Luz suddenly grabs Amity's hand and quickens her pace. "Hot chocolate is a popular drink back in the human world! It's amazing, I'll give you some when we get back! Hmm, that kind of explains why I couldn't find any places that sell hot chocolate here..." Luz talks on, filling the once silent, eerie woods with chatter. Amity smiles, feeling, for once, safe. At home, in the dark, foreboding woods, with this lively, warm girl.
Amity, suddenly, stumbles, her arm falling out of Luz's grasp. She falls, landing on her hands and knees. Luz's warmth leaves her, like a punch to her gut, as she cowers on the boggy, wet ground. "L-luz," she calls out, fear gathering inside of her. Nothing. Not a sound to be heard. "LUZ!" She yells once more, attempting to hold her head up. She painstakingly raises her head, and her eyes widen. The forest had disappeared, turning into hard steel and gloomy skies. Tall spires rose in the distance.
She was in the Emperor's palace. Her eyes scan the courtyard, filled to the brim with magical creatures. "W-what..." Amity coughs out, struggling to her feet. " What's happening?" she asks, her voice coming out in a hoarse, cracked whisper. Despite that, someone looks down and shushes at her. " The Petrification of the human is about to start!!" Amity's eyes widened.
"Petrification?" she asks, her eyes widening as she stands. Her legs wobble, and she holds out a hand to steady herself. The person who had shushed her nods quickly, and gestures towards the podium. "Yes, yes! A human- I believe her name is Luz Noceda- is getting petrified!" Amity felt herself go cold. it was almost as if her spirit had left her upon hearing two things that should never, under any circumstances, be in the same sentence- Luz Noceda, and petrification.
Amity begins to push through the crowd, ignoring the "heys" and "watch it girlies" that accompanied her. She manages to make it to the front of the crowd, and looks up, begging the Titan to tell her that it wasn't true, that Luz wasn't...she wasn't going to be hurt. Amity could feel her heart break in her chest as she looked up, and met Luz's eyes. Luz Noceda was about to be petrified.
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Amity gasped, waking up, sweat beading her brow. She laid on the hard, damp earth, the cold seeping into her. Shivering, she rose up, her arms crossed.
This was a really bad idea. A terrible, terrible idea, in retrospect. Why had she thought that she, Amity Blight, Alador and Odalia Blight's favored child, the golden girl of Hexside, would be able to sneak out of Blight Manor and track down the Owl House? She'd never disobeyed her parents in her life, much less sneaked out the house...
Behind her, she heard a tree branch snap, followed by the sound of a voice- Edric's- yelling as he slammed into the ground, followed by a groan of pain and a yell of, " Shut up and let me sleep!" from Em. She groaned and smacked her forehead.
Of course she needed to drag her siblings here. Granted, she did need their expertise on sneaking out and tracking down the Owl House. The Blight Twins practically lived to break any and all rules they encountered. Taking them was incredibly important if she wanted to find Luz.
Luz. Luz Noceda, the human who had bought life and warmth into her life. Amity smiled softly as she thought of her, a faint blush coating her cheeks. It was strange, the feeling that rose inside of her when she thought of Luz. It was a ruse of happiness that shocked her to her core, warming her as if she stood under the sun. If her feelings for Luz was a color, she mused, it would be....daffodil. Daffodil yellow, like the plant from the Human World Luz had once shown her and Willow.
Luz held a photograph in her hand. Eda had gotten it from one of her trips to the Human World, and given it to Luz as a present. There was a strange smattering of yellow leaves- at least, what Amity thought to be yellow leaves- as the focus of the photo. "What're those?" she heard Willow's soft, crackly voice ask. Luz startled and turned to look at the two witches.
"Oh, hey there guys! Didn't see you there!" Luz exclaimed in her lively, warm voice. Amity could spend all day listening to her talk, hearing her blanket warm voice waft over her. It was soothing, reminding her of good things to come.
Unbeknownst to Amity, while she was fawning over Luz's voice, the human in question had already moved on to answering Willow's question. "It's a plant from the human world, Willow! It's called a daffodil." Luz explained to the young plant witch, who nodded sagely.
"A daffodil." Willow repeated, and inspected the photo. " It's pretty! What does it eat?" Luz laughed and shook her head.
"Plants in the human world don't need food, Willow. All it needs is sunlight, water, and a little bit of love!"
Amity snapped out of her thoughts, and focused back on the conversation on hand. " No food?" she asked curiously. In the Boiling Isles, the plants, while beautiful to look at, were terrifying. With sharp jaws and even sharper teeth, flowers were capable of taking off the heads of demons when hungry- which was usually all the time. Amity remembered once, when she was younger, playing in a field of flowers with Willow. They'd been picking Mollywug flowers- Willow had taken a fascination for Mollywug's back then, Amity remembered. They each had a handful of Mollywug's, and had been planning to decorate their rooms.
Of course, then the plants sensed it was time for their lunch, and who better for the first course than little Amity Blight and Willow Park?
The two had been incredibly lucky to escape with their limbs intact that day. Amity shuddered slightly, then turned her attention to the plants in the picture. Luz nodded. " No food- well, I mean, technically there is plant food," Luz continued, musing on, " but the plants don't really eat-eat it." As Luz rambled on and on about the specifics of human world plants to Willow, Amity gazed down at the photo. It reminded her of Luz, in some strange, roundabout way- the flowers were comforting. Warm.....
"..AMITY! Boiling Isles to Amity!" Em's loud voice snapped her out the memory. Amity scowled as her older sister poked her cheek. Waving her away, she stood, wiping her clothes. They were dirt and leaf stained, which would be a true hassle to clean. They were also becoming incredibly uncomfortable, Amity realized, a feeling of griminess sticking to her skin. She sighed.
What she wouldn't do for a bath.
She heard Em snicker next to her. " Thinking of your girlfriend, huh Mittens?" the older girl teased, and Amity rolled her eyes. "She's-she's not my girlfriend, Em." Amity replied, playing with a lock of dyed green hair. What if she was, she thought. What if she wanted to be your girlfriend-She banished that thought away, quicker than it had appeared. You can gush about your crush later Amity! What's important is making sure Luz and Eda are all right. She chastised herself, then turned to Edric, who was with their packs. Well, pack, plural, since someone- where all eyes turn to Edric-lost his in a ravine, meaning that they were down a few supplies. Normally, it wouldn't be anything too serious, but since they were going to be hunting down the Owl House for who knew how long, those supplies could make all the difference.
Or maybe she was overthinking it. After watching the news in which Luz saved Eda, Amity and the twins had hurried down to the spot where the Owl House had been, only to realize that it had moved. After that, Amity had slowly been biding her time, waiting for a chance to sneak away and find it- then the twins had found out about her plan and wanted in.
"We're not letting you go alone, Mittens."Edric had said, when the two had found Amity in her room attempting to escape out the window. "You're our sister-wherever you go, we go."
"That's right." Em had added, grabbing a random pack laying on Amity's floor and heading out the room, looking for more supplies. " And besides," she continued, popping her head back in, " you've never snuck out of the house once. Who knows what mess you'll get yourself into."
And that was how they'd ended up in the woods. It was practically a miracle that they hadn't run into any monsters or carnivorous plants drooling after their blood. Hopefully, it would stay that way. Hopefully being the key word. Amity headed over to Edric. " Ready to go?" she queried, and Edric nodded.
" All ready to go, Captain Mittens!" Edric said, and mock-saluted her. Amity glared as she heard Em giggle behind her. Grabbing and hoisting the pack, she adjusted the straps and turned. " Well then, let's go." Amity declared, and off they set out.
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After a few hours had gone by and they still hadn't found a clue as to where the house could be, Amity leaned against a tree, sighing. Ed and Em were splayed out on the ground, groaning.
How was it so hard to find a massive, walking house?
"Well, this is fun." she heard Em mutter, before the older girl hoisted herself up and reached towards their remaining pack. Opening it, she took out a small, sealed container of dried fruits and shook it. "There's still some food in here. C'mon, I'll give you guys some." Em said, prying open the container. Ed and- she was ashamed to admit it- Amity practically dove to Em, stomach's growling. Em stepped out of the two teens way, letting them fall down to the ground in an audible whump.
"OW!" The two whined in unison, crashed on the ground. Em rolled her eyes and popped a piece of greenish-purple fruit into her mouth. " You'll get some when you stop acting like idiots." She admonished. Ed huffed and sat up, crossing his arms like a child, with Amity following soon after.
Emora dropped a few pieces of fruit onto their open palms. Amity greedily shoved it into her mouth, relishing the burst of sour spreading across her tongue. She hadn't eaten in hours- which, normally she'd be able to ignore (she usually went without food much longer when she was studying) but hiking over craggy cliffs and down slippery slopes did that to witches, she assumed.
The three ate in comfortable silence. As Amity took a sip from their canteen, she thought back on the past day. It was strange really. If Luz hadn't come into her life, who knew if she'd do something similar to this with the twins? She probably wouldn't even talk to them enough to even arrange something like this. There was definitely no way she would've acted childishly enough to squabble over fruit with Ed.
She had Luz to thank for this sibling bonding time (which, it technically was, if you ignored the outside factors that led up to it). She had Luz to thank for a lot of things.
Unbeknownst to her, the twins had stood up and were gazing at the horizon. The two stared at a yellow gold thing in the farthest corner of their vision, moving towards them at rapid, breakneck speed. Ed's eyes widened as he moved back, only to trip over the log, and Em turned to Amity. Amity raised her eyebrows and followed her sister's stare.
"Mittens, we gotta go." Em said, quickly scooping up their pack. She made a circle of blue light, and nudged Ed to do the same. "Listen, Mittens, we're going to cast an illusion over here. It'll make the thing think that we're still sitting here. On the count of three, make an abomination to jump it. We'll use the decoy to escape-" Em instructed, only to realize her younger sister was not listening. Instead, said younger sister was starting to move towards the object rapidly speeding towards them.
"Amity- Amity!" Em yelled at her sister. "What are you doing-" Amity held up a hand, silencing her sister. "It...looks familiar." Amity responded, narrowing her eyes. " I think..." her eyes widened as she realized who it was. " It's Hooty!!"
At that moment, Hooty arrived, in his tube, bird beaked glory. "Hooty hoot hoot!" the demon hooted, it's loud, overtly friendly voice ringing in her ears. She winced, staring down at a face only a mother could love.
"...Hooty."
"Hey there Amity! What you doing here, hoot?" Hooty asked, his wide, pupil-less eyes staring straight into her soul. She scowled, struggling to suppress her feelings of unease. Do not punch your one link to Luz, Blight. "Uhm, nothing much." Amity replied, forcing her face into a neutral expression. "My siblings and I", she gestured towards the twins, who were staring wide eyed at Hooty, " were searching for you guys. Say, is the Owl House over there?" Amity queried, pointing a nail polish coated fingernail in the general direction Hooty's tube was coming from.
Hooty cocked his perfectly circled face, and-Amity swore on the Titan's right nostril- she saw a flash of mischief spark in his eyes. " Oh, maybe. I'm not going to let you go, though! First, you have to speak to me, hoot hoot!" The owl tube demon declared, and Amity hissed, feeling malice rise up inside her.
She was certainly entertaining the notion of breaking his beady little eyes in.
Suddenly, a familiar, daffodil yellow voice wafted over the field. " Hooty! Who are you talking to-" A gasp cut the person off as they stepped into the light. Dark hair, earth brown eyes, tan skin, and perfectly round ears.
Luz Noceda.
The two stood there, for a seemingly long, long time, staring at each other before, like in a romance movie, Amity took off towards Luz. She effulged the human girl in a hug, burying her face in the girls sweater, burying down her sobs of joy. " I found you." she muttered, and felt Luz's arms encircle hers.
Amity Blight had found Luz Noceda, and she'd never let her go.
---------
Once the group was safely in the Owl House- and after Luz sternly admonished Hooty-had taken nice, long baths and had been served soup, Amity lay on Luz's sleeping bag. Luz curled up next to her, laying on a blanket.
"I-I can't take your bed, Luz." Amity said, standing in the doorway to Luz's room. The twins had taken the couch downstairs- their request. Apparently, they wanted Luz and Amity to have some "time to talk", whatever that meant- and now Luz was offering up her sleeping bag for Amity.
"Oh, it's fine! I don't mind- I can just sleep on the blanket here, see?" Luz replied, unrolling a thin blanket onto the floor. Amity still hadn't wanted to take the bag-it was only because of Luz's insistence that she had to give "one small thing to you!"
Pfft. Luz had already given Amity so much, but she didn't even know it. Luz had planted the seeds of warmth and happiness into the cold, barren soil of Amity's life, and was watching at the tree of Amity's new future began to sprout. Granted, it was growing incredibly slowly- bonding with the twins, taking some time off from studying, leaving her stilted relationship with Boscha and her crew, starting a friendship with Gus and rekindling her friendship with Willow- but it was starting. Thanks to Luz's kindness and optimism.
She was getting sentimental, ugh. Amity rolled over to Luz, and stared at the girls peaceful face. She didn't know why exactly- be it her half sleeping state, or her new-found sappiness- but she felt the need to list the many reasons why she'd ran away from "home" to Luz. To lay her feelings bare, to this wonderful, wonderful girl right next to herm who'd dared her to question every belief she'd ever had, and come out better for it.
Luz seemed to have sensed her feelings, because she opened her eyes slowly, to meet Amity's gaze. Silence reigned for a few moments, before Luz broke it. " You're staring." she voiced, and Amity quickly looked away in panic. What in the Titan's arse had she been doing, staring at Luz like that? And wanting to confess her feelings to Luz, completely unprompted, like some lunatic? Everyone knew the only suitable way to confess to your crush was out in the rain, in the middle of a downpour, laying your feelings bare to your lover as you begged them not to leave, to stay with you because your love for them was all-encompassing.
She might have been reading way too many romance novels.
Suddenly, she heard Luz laugh quietly. " No it's fine." Luz replied, and Amity turned back to Luz. There was a small smile on her face, and her hand lay next to her. Amity wanted to grip it. She wanted to feel Luz's palm in hers- or hers in Luz's, any way was fine really- and caress it, feel a smile blooming on her face as she ran over the lines and traced the indents on it. Of course, she probably couldn't-it would just be rude, to suddenly grab Luz's palm out of nowhere, right?
"You know," Luz began, " I kind of couldn't believe it, when I first saw you guys in the forest earlier today. I thought you were back in Blight manor, having your parents," Amity noticed Luz's face screw up at the mention of Amity's parents," lecture you about being friends with a 'common criminal', or something like that. Or maybe training for the Emperor's Coven. But instead, you decided to hike all the way out here to...see me. Why?" Luz voiced the question, one she'd been dying to know.
" I'm not-" Amity gulped, then finished. " I'm not going to join the Emperor's coven, not anymore." She braved on, past Luz's shocked gasp. Well, if the Titan wants me to confess to Luz, then I'll do it. Here goes nothing. " After what they did to you- capture Eda, and try to petrify the two of you- I'm not going to try out for them. Ever." she stated matter-of-factly. " You're my f-friend," she stumbled on the word friend, " a very, very special friend to me, and I care too much about you."
"But wasn't joining the Emperor's Coven your dream?" Luz asked, her eyes wide. Amity blinked, then looked at the ceiling. " My dream..." Amity muttered, a feeling, similar to that of hopelessness but not quite, slowly pooling up inside her. Yes, yes it had been her dream ever since she was a child and her parents had first introduced the concept of Emperor's covens to a young, 4 year old Amity.
"An Emperor's Coven, dedicated to the best of the best-fit for a Blight." Adalia had tutted, to which Olador had replied. " Fit for Amity Blight. Remember dearest, we're the best of the best. Whatever a Blight aspires towards, they will get. And you wouldn't want to bring the shame of failing to get into the Emperor's Coven unto us, would you?"
"My dream," Amity repeated, then shrugged. " It wasn't just my dream. It was my future. My parents- since I was a little kid, they raised me to believe I was the best of the best. I was a Blight, and I had to act like one. I had to aspire to be the best of the best. They'd always question me, ridicule me if I had an interest that didn't fit into the stereotypical image of a Blight. It was amazing that they didn't stop me from reading the Good Witch Azura books. Maybe because they were books, I don't know. And, since I'm a Blight, I could only aim for the best coven- the Emperor's Coven. The twins, by the time I was born, had already started their pranks and shenanigans, so they ignored them and focused their attention on me. In their eyes, I was their last source, their last reach to create a perfect puppet. So, I don't know. Was it my dream, or was it the future my parents assigned to me, and like a puppet, I tagged along, not questioning if I was truly happy? Did I ever know what happiness was?" Amity turned to look at Luz. The humans eyes were the size of saucers, staring at her intently. Moment of truth now Amity, here we go.
"Of course, I only thought of that when I became friends with you." Amity began. " I remember when I first met you. I...I hated you." It ashamed her to admit it, but she had. " I hated how you always questioned the rules, how you did what you wanted, and how...happy you seemed. How carefree. I thought you were mocking the idea of being a witch; magic never came easily to me, and I used to spend nights practicing spells until my fingers went numb. But, as time went on, and we kept meeting and talking, I started to admire you. Admire how you, a human who wasn't even supposed to know about magic's existence, strolled into the Boiling Isles as if you belonged there, as if nothing could stop you from doing what you wanted. I remembered thinking how someone could have that much confidence and passion to do something, even if no one was forcing them to do it. How someone could bring so much happiness with them everywhere they went. And you're such a kind person Luz- honestly, if I was stuck talking with myself back then, I'm not sure if I would have continued to be so nice and friendly. I'm not sure if I would have wanted to be friends with me, sad as it is. But you did. You never gave up. And, when we became friends, things got...so much happier for me. I don't know how to explain it but because of you, my life is so much better. I don't think," Amity paused for breath, then rushed to finish her last sentences, " I don't think I'd survive it, if you ever disappeared from my life. I keep on having these nightmares where you get petrified, and it's terrifying. Because you're my light, Luz. You're the light of my life, making everything warm and hopeful after a long bleak winter."
"I love you, Luz. Not as a friend, but as something else." Amity finished, laying her heart bare. Silence-tense, tense silence- was in the room, as poignant as a knife. Resolve turned to fear the longer Luz stayed silent, staring at her face. Uneasiness twisted inside Amity.
Had she driven Luz off? Oh Titan, driving Luz off...the mere thought turned Amity's stomach inside out. If Luz decided that she couldn't stand being near Amity anymore, everything good in her life would crumble. Like a tower of building blocks, it would crash, all at once- her friendships with Willow and Gus, bonding with the twins, sunlight and laughter and light spells- all gone in the blink of an eye.
Turns out, she didn't have to worry about that. Arms encircled her waist, and Luz held her, close. A soft kiss on the cheek- Amity's ears turned bright red- and three words, Amity never thought she'd hear.
"I love you."