((Y/n)'s POV)
Luz and I are in the room, I'm struggling to move around just because I'm starting to not be able to bend my knee. I look over to Luz for some assistance but I choose not to ask because she is currently looking at the echo mouse, she is also still in her pajamas even though we should be leaving for school soon.
"Oh, little echo mouse. You ate the diary that can get me home. Can't you cough up a teeny bit?" Luz asked the mouse just as King came into the room.
"Just squeeze it out!" He grunts as he squeezes his teddy bear so hard, the head pops off.
"Hmm. Maybe I just need to be patient?" she presses her face on the glass and whispers. "Please tell me your secrets"
Eda enters the room, wearing a blazer, which I found slightly strange. "Hey, knuckleheads. You're gonna be late for school" Luz doesn't respond, focused on the echo mouse. "Alright. I guess you won't be getting a magic staff with your classmates"
As soon as she finishes that sentence, Luz zooms out of the room dressed for school. I don't know how she did that but whatever.
"Hey Eda, I already got my staff, do you think maybe I could sit this one out?"
"Come on kid, it'd be fun, plus maybe you can get us to the school super fast, I'm sure Luz is already halfway there by now"
"Come on, Eda. We gotta fly!" Luz shouts from downstairs.
"We'll meet you there kid, go on without us" Eda yelled and all we heard was the sound of the door closing.
"Eda I don't think I can get us there, I barely got myself back to the owl house last time"
Eda looked at me before giving a warm smile, she placed a hand on my shoulder. River seems to have got the message too because he had transformed into my staff.
"Just focus on the place you want to be. Don't focus on getting there just focus on being there"
"Okay I can try,'' I took a few deep breaths before hitting my staff on the ground. I was focused on the grudgby field, but when I opened my eyes we weren't even at the school.
I looked around for a second, we were on a street corner, not just any street corner but the one where Eda found me. The one where I sat for days. The one where Odalia abandoned me.
"Oh, (Y/n)" Eda looked at me, she came in for a hug but I took a step away.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take us here..." Eda put her hand on my shoulder which honestly kind of made it worse so I moved away but still looked at her.
She didn't try to put her arm on my shoulder again but still looked at me. "It's okay I promise, let's just try again okay"
She had remained so calm, I took a breath in and out before looking towards Eda again. She had her hand stretched out to me, I reached out and took it before hitting my staff to the ground again. This time we ended up in the grudgby field and principal Bump was there.
"Ahh nice to see you Eda, I was awaiting your arrival. Is your proposal set in motion?" Bump asked and I wasn't sure what he was talking about.
Eda pulled out the whistle and blew it. Seconds later the Bat Queen showed up with some sort of nest thing. It was honestly kind of cool.
River had become alive again and was perched on my shoulder. I smiled at him, my staff remained and acted like a walking stick.
The bat queen was currently talking to Eda, I hadn't really tuned into the conversation until River croaked and the Bat Queen had looked at us.
"Oh so this is where you have gone little one" She got closer to me and River croaked again. "He's helping you? Yes?"
That question was directed at me. "Yes, Bat Queen, he is helping move around, it's been hard with my leg and all"
"I'm glad you two found each other" River croaked, causing me to smile.
"Yeah me three" I added and then the Bat Queen flew away as many students came over and stood in front of the nest.
I'm currently standing next to Eda. I should be standing with the other students but to be honest I don't want to move, it's too difficult.
I do see Willow and Luz thought I was close enough to hear their conversation "Hey, Willow. Shouldn't Amity be here?"
"Oh, sorry, Luz. I heard she stayed home today." Interesting, but not surprising, Luz told me what happened after the two of them were at the library.
"Oh." She chuckles. "That actually makes sense" she looks down, saddened.
"Good tidings on this momentous day. You're all about to receive your witches' staff and, more importantly, meet your palisman. This is a crucial step in your magical development. Palismen are lifelong partners. They can be both your good friends and a powerful tool. In my case..." Principal Bump snaps his fingers and Frewin opens his eyes, jumps off his head and turns into a staff, revealing Bump's body length black hair and the scar on his right eye, his left one closed. The class gasps in awestruck.
"Holy Titan!" Luz gasped.
"Frewin here, helps me see."
Eda nudged my shoulder slightly, I looked towards her and she gestured towards River on my shoulder.
I sighed before looking at the crowd. "And in my case, River helps me get around" I looked towards him and he moved to the staff again. I hit it on the ground and just ended up directly next to Willow, guess that tagging thing worked.
Eda stepped forward. "Now, traditionally, young witches carve their staffs from the branch of an old palistrom tree"
"But sadly, palistrom trees are becoming more rare. And those that remain are guarded covetously." Bump added
"That's why I've teamed up with Bumpy-poo..."
"Never call me that."
"...to bring you..."
The Bat Queen flies down and lands on the nest. "Palisman adoption day!" A door opens on the nest and several palismen emerge from it.
"They're so cute!"
"Thanks for the favor, BQ. Here's your whistle back." Eda handed the whistle toward the Bat Queen
"Save it for another time. This was my pleasure. What a wonderful idea."
I hit my staff and stood next to Eda again. We watched as many of my peers got their palisman, it was actually really nice to see. That is until Luz went to get hers, and none of them connected with her.
Luz was bummed for the rest of the day and when we got home she went straight to our room without saying a word. I decided to give her some space so I sat on the couch.
Eda sat next to me, "hey can we talk, kid?"
Eda was being surprisingly serious and that worried me. "What about?" I asked skeptically
"This morning, you took us to the corner.." as she was talking I raised my knees to my chest and hugged them. Well only one of them, I couldn't lift the other. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I know it probably brought back some memories being back there..."
I cut her off "I'm fine Eda, I promise" I forced a smile but I don't think it was very convincing because I saw the slightly hurt look on Eda's face.
"Are you sure, it's okay to not be okay sometimes kid"
"I promise I'm fine" I stood up off the couch and dragged myself to the middle of the room, trying to escape the conversation but I stopped when I heard Eda start talking again.
"(Y/n)" I turned to her and found her looking at my leg with a very concerned look on her face. "Kid is the...your leg...please tell me it's not" Eda had trouble forming the words but I know what she was asking, she noticed the spread.
"It's fine Eda I promise, everything is fine" I could hear my voice rising slightly.
"No it's not!" Eda had raised her voice as well, matching mine. "You act like everything is fine all the time, but it's not, I'm worried about you kid!"
"I don't want you to worry about me, I don't want anybody to worry about me, why doesn't anyone believe me when I say I'm fine?"
"Because you aren't fine!" Eda yelled back. "Why won't you just let me help you"
I gasped slightly, "I am fine, I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help, just leave me alone!" I yelled, I hadn't even realized that I had been holding my staff, nor did I realized that I had just hit the ground in anger, suddenly I wasn't in the owl house anymore, I wasn't facing Eda anymore.
I looked around to give me some sort of clue as to where I was, I looked to be in a bedroom, I didn't know who's yet.
"(Y/n)?" I heard a voice act.
I turned to face the voice and was shocked to find Amity sitting at her desk. "Oh Titan" I started to panic slightly, I was in the Blight mansion "no no no no please titan no"
Amity was quick to rush to my side, "hey what's wrong?"
"I can't be here" I looked towards her "I can't face them, I can't be here"
"Hey, it's okay, they're not here I promise" Amity rolled her eyes "there out of town at some sort of conference"
A laughed slightly at that, "Why am I not surprised?"
Amity laughed slightly too. "So what brings you here?"
"I don't know, one moment I was at the owl house, the next I was here" she didn't need to know everything.
"How did you get here so fast?" Amity asked.
I looked around trying to find River but he was nowhere in sight, "well River, my palisman, helped me get here, but now I have no idea where he went"
Amity smiled at me "well I guess we should try and find him them"
I started to get up but Amity ended up having to help me, we left her room as I was dragging my leg around. Amity didn't comment on it and simply just kept pace with me as we walked down the hall.
"It's been a really long time since I've been here" I mumbled to myself but I guess Amity heard
"I'm sorry" she apologized.
"For what exactly?" I asked
"Everything, just everything, I really wish none of this bad stuff had happened to you, you're so kind and don't deserve any of it"
I smiled at her as soon as I saw a painting on the wall. I stopped in front of it.
It was almost identical to the memory that was pulled from my head not too long ago. But now it was just Edric and Emira, it's like I've been erased. "That's not right" whispered, causing Amity to spot as well.
As I stared at the painting, the frame caught me off guard, there was a stone that was in the center of the bottom of the frame. I reached out and pulled out the stone, it was a concealment stone.
When I pulled it out the picture changed, I was back in the picture, my bright smile present, so happy, so naive.
"I think I like the picture better this way," Amity said as she looked at the picture.
I smiled at her comment before putting the stone back in the frame and the picture goes back to what it was before. "To bad we have to turn it back"
We continued down the hall looking for River, I was starting to remember more and more about this mansion the more we walked around.
I spotted River at the end of one of the halls. "There he is," I pointed to the runaway Palisman.
Amity took off after him and went into another hallway. I dragged myself over there and found that the hallway was dead end and Amity was holding River.
She handed him back to me. "Thanks for catching him"
"No problem" Amity looked around the hallway, like she had never been here before. I was too focused on River though.
"Why did you run off like that?" I asked, which he croaked in response. "What do you mean look around?" I looked around the hallway, "oh that what you mean" I placed River on my shoulder before walking to an open spot on the wall.
I placed my hand on the wall and Amity looked at me confused.
"There is supposed to be a door here" I muttered
Amity looked confused "what do you mean?"
I didn't answer her and just looked around the wall, I looked up and there was another concealment stone sticking out of the wall. I couldn't quite reach it if I extended my arm as far as I could. River got the message and climbed up my arm and was able to get the stone.
It ended up being exactly where the top of the door frame would be and as soon as the stone was pulled out a door appeared.
I took a deep breath before placing my hands on the door knob and turning it, opening the door.
I dragged myself in the room, it looked like the room of a two year old. There was a bed with a railing around it, it looked like it hadn't been touched in almost 13 years.
"Is this..." Amity started as she entered the room.
"My old room? Yeah" I dragged myself over to the desk, it was more of a small table with a lamp on it, rather than a desk though.
There were drawings scattered across the table. One in particular stood out, it was a drawing of me and Alador, we both had goggles on and were in matching lab coats on.
I picked up the picture and looked at it. Amity came and stood next to me. "We were close, me and him"
From the corner of my eyes I saw that she had a saddened look on her face. As I stared at the drawing longer and longer I couldn't help but be angry. I could feel the tears burning the sides of my eyes. "Obviously not as close as I thought though" I took a deep breath. "He abandoned me, he never cared about me at all," I cried.
Amity just hugged my side, I don't think she knew what to do. I just cried, with everything that's been happening I just feel alone.
We stayed there for a moment until we heard a noise downstairs in the mansion.
The two of us quickly made our way out of the room, well as quickly as I could.
"Can't believe that conference ended so soon" we heard a distant voice. "Mittens, we're home!"
"You need to get out of here" Amity looked frantic letting me know exactly who was downstairs.
River formed my staff and I was about to hit the ground before I looked toward Amity and handed her the concealment stone that I still had. "Thank you" I quietly thanked her as I hit the ground and I was in the mansion anymore.
(No one's POV)
Amity quickly used her magic to put the stone back on the wall and the door disappeared as if it was never there.
Amity then walked away to the voice of her mother who had called her again, what she hadn't noticed was that when (Y/n) and her had left the room the drawing had left with them and was not on the floor of the hallway.
Later that night Alador was walking down that hallway as he did. Sometimes he didn't know how the room had vanished all those years ago and he would occasionally walk down that hallway to find the room that wasn't there.
He noticed something on the ground and when he went to pick it up he saw what it was. It was a drawing, he remembered it fondly.
One day many years ago, his daughter came and proudly showed off the drawing of the two of them. Alador smiled for the first time in a while as he folded the drawing and placed it in his pocket.
He went down to his lab that same night and when he got there he made sure the coast was clear when he went to a little secret compartment in his desk. He pulled out a picture frame. It was a picture of him with a little girl on his shoulders. He smiled again as he pulled out the drawing again.
He placed the two back in the secret compartment on top of my newspaper clipping, a few pictures, and a few other drawings.
He closed the compartment again and before getting back to work and the project that his wife had him doing for the emperor.