Amity opened her eyes and felt the unfamiliar sensation around her. Her mind slowly stirs as she feels around the sheets. "Wha... This isn't my bed..." she yawns, "Oh, right. I was in a hotel and then..."
Groggily, she lifts her head and rubs her eyes. Her vision blurs slightly before bringing the room into focus. Luz's room. Oh, the memories finally caught up with her as she stretched out her arms, that's right, I'm staying over at her place. And I was just sleeping in the same room with... The color rises in her cheeks at the realization that Luz is sleeping on the floor by the bed. Amity couldn't help to wonder what sleeping Luz would look like. Would it be cute? No, she can imagine her looking sloppy and drooling on her sleeping mat. Still, Amity couldn't help but to satiate this curiosity of hers. She crawls forward and peers over the edge only to find the mat empty.
Oh, is she already up? Then where-
She turned to her left and found herself looking directly at a human girl holding a phone up between them. "Boop," Luz triggers her camera and snaps a shot of closed-up Amity.
"Ahh!" Amity jumps back and pulls on the covers up to her face.
"Sorry! I couldn't resist missing out on 'Bed hair Amity,'" Luz explains then shows her the photo. Saved for the tomato color on her face, her hair actually looked more stylized than messy. "Look how cute it is, it's like you just got back from a hair stylist."
"I am not-! You better not put that on Penstagram or I'm calling my siblings to come pick me up!"
"No, I wouldn't! I'll delete it! See?" Luz quickly taps onto her phone and shows her the gallery album as proof. Amity says nothing and crosses her arms but her expression relaxes. "I was going to wake you to ask what kind of breakfast you'd like, but you just got up and I... couldn't resist, sorry."
Amity looks away and crosses her arms, "Just... don't do it again. And I'm fine with whatever."
"Pancakes it is!" Luz beams and dramatically marches to the door, but before she could leave she sticks her head back in and asks, "Oh, did you sleep well last night? And... is it any better than some five-star hotel?"
Amity rolls her eyes and scoffs, "I never told you it was some extravagant place. But... yeah, I did. And, it is."
Luz grins and closes the door behind her. Amity takes a moment to herself and relaxes back into bed. The same bed Luz's been sleeping right before she showed up. It's definitely not the same bed as her's back at home. It's pretty stiff, the sheets don't breathe much, and it's probably stolen from somewhere. And yet, it couldn't feel any more comforting.
Amity lifts the covers above her head as her mind begins to wander. She doesn't know why but she wonders how come it doesn't seem to have any smell. Not that she's saying Luz smells. In fact, what does Luz smell like? She brings it to her nose and takes in a deep whiff.
Her eyes shot open and she immediately threw the covers off of her, "And I just did something that will haunt me for the rest of my life."
~/~
"Due to the oncoming weather, recent criminal activities, and a freak piranha accident, the fair will unfortunately be canceled for the week. We will now turn to our local weatherman outside who is still currently screaming in agony-" Eda switches the channel and takes a sip from her coffee. The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs pulled her attention to Amity waving while still rubbing her eyes with her other hand.
"Morning sleepyhead. I figured a prep like you would be the first one up," said Eda before taking another sip.
"Morning Ms. Eda. I like to thank you for letting me stay over for the week. It's really nice of you."
"Eh, apparently my home is some sort of getaway for girls from their own families," Eda smiles down at her cup, "Guess that's why it's hard for me to say no. Just don't give me a reason to make it easy, got it?"
Amity dryly swallows, "Of course, um... I'll be in the kitchen, if that's alright." Eda watches her go and laughs to herself, "So is that what it feels like to assert authority? No wonder I hate it."
Luz slides another cake for King's plate who watches it eagerly as the stack slowly rises to nearly his own height. Luz finishes it off by placing a tiny flag on the top with a drawing of King's face, "There you go, buddy. A tower fit for a ruler!"
King whips out his knife and fork and shouts, "I am a merciless god!" and digs in.
Amity came in just in time to witness the carnage and whispers over to Luz, "Isn't that a little too much for him?"
"Surprisingly no, guess he makes up for it with that energy of his. Here, I got you something special," Luz gestures her to the counter where another plate sits covered by a white cloth. She pulls it off dramatically and bows, "Your Azura pancakes, for my fellow club member!"
Amity looks in amaze at the artstyle on the cake, "Whoa, did you learn some new spell to do this?"
"No spells," Luz proudly stuck her chest out, "Just hard work and a lot of digestible food dyes. I'll show you how later, I still have yet to make Eda's." Amity takes the plate and goes to sit down with King who is already down to half of his sugary tower. Unlike his animalistic table manner, Amity gently takes her knife and fork and silently apologizes to Azura as she cuts a small piece of her.
The first bite hits her with a blast of sweetness. She almost lets out a sound before she quickly goes for another bite.
"We're so lucky Luz knows how to make great pancakes. They're like a bajillion times better than Eda's."
"Uh, excuse me," Eda walks in and leans against the doorway, "I didn't hear you complaining the last time I made them."
"That's because I was too busy chasing after it!" exclaimed King, "And I did! When you weren't around to listen!"
"A little exercise before eating never hurt anyone," Luz offers a finished plate to Eda then hops over to Amity's side.
"So I was thinking for our first day, we could get with Willow and Gus and enjoy the fair together. Then maybe we can show off our skills and learn some new tricks," Luz says with a playful punch to Amity's shoulder, "Then when it gets dark, we can make some hot chocolate and binge a bunch of Azura movies."
"Sounds like fun," Eda commented.
"I know right!"
"So where are you gonna fit the 'get burned alive' into the schedule?"
"Get what now?"
Eda whistled and held out her hand to catch her staff flying towards her. She gives it a spin then draws a large magic circle and finishes it with a snap of her finger. A large barrier forms from the top of the house and spreads down covering the entire place just as the first wave of boiling rain came down.
The Owl Lady triumphantly pumps her fist, "Nailed it! Oh, uh, the fair's canceled and it's gonna rain all day. Sorry, kids."
"No! Ohhh, why does nature hate meeee..." Luz drops her head onto the table and lets out a sob. Amity reaches over and comforts her, "Hey, it's no big deal. We still got a week ahead of us."
Eda nods, "That's right, there's plenty of fun things to do here."
Luz bolted up with stars in her eyes as an idea came to her, "You mean like games!?"
"I was referring to sitting around and watching whatever comes on the crystal ball, but I guess that's what we're doing now..." Eda, King, and Amity finished their meals and walked into the living room as Luz excitedly ran by to where the games are being kept. "Make sure not to grab one from the cursed games pile, those rules are way too strict," Eda calls out before plopping down in her chair.
Amity sat down in the middle of the couch with King joining her on the left. "Since you're our guest and Luz's friend, I suppose I can go easy on you if you beg hard enough," King offered.
"Aww, I definitely won't do that but I appreciate the gesture," Amity reaches over to pet him but King lightly slaps her hand away and folds his arms. "We're not at that level yet," he states.
"It's not like you could tell the difference anyway," Eda snorts and watches Luz bouncing over with several games in hand, "So whatcha got for us, kiddo?"
Luz holds up the first board with a picture of some female detective and other characters standing in front of a dark manor on a hill, "I was thinking we could start with 'Mysterious deaths at Mystery Manor: The Mystery Game.'"
"Ooh, I'm afraid not," said Eda, "All the pieces are missing because someone ate them all. Which is why he's BANNED FOR LIFE!"
Hooty swings open into the living room, "Oh come on, I said I was sorry! Hoot hoot. I can still try to get them back. HA-ACK!" The Owl Door forcefully coughs out his lungs in an attempt to vomit before King quickly slams the door shut.
"What else you got?" he asks.
"Well, I haven't heard of this one but it has a pretty cool evil guy on the cover: The Soulmaster-whoa!" The box shoots out a dark fog as soon as Luz opens the lid and violently swirls around the room. The fog takes the shape of a large man by only the upper torso visible while the bottom is still fog emitting from the box.
"Finally! After all these years I am free!" the spirit exclaimed, then pointed at Eda, "Now, Fowl Witch! It is time we resume our battle for the fate of the-wait, wait nooooooo-!" The spirit immediately gets sucked back into the box by Eda's nonchalant clap, trapping the strange being inside once again.
Eda dusts her hands off, "You wouldn't want to play that one anyway, it gets pretty repetitive."
Everyone stares at her in silence before Luz forces a cough, "O-okay, guess that just leaves us with 'Life! Because apparently that's what humans have.'"
King groans, "Come on, I don't want to play games that make you pay a mortgage. Even Eda doesn't have to pay a mortgage!"
"Ha ha ha, hey King," Eda leans over and loudly whispers, "What did I say about announcing my financial information in front of people?"
Luz sets the boxes down and rests her chin trying to think of something else. She suddenly lets out a gasp then slaps one of her paper spells onto her head, conjuring the light orb above her like a lightbulb. "I know! I'll be right back!" Luz runs up the stairs leaving the three alone in the living room.
No one said a word to each other as they waited. Amity felt both eyes directed at her yet whenever she looks at either of them they suddenly cast them away to whatever direction they stick with.
Deciding to break the awkward silence, Amity starts "So... how long have you known Luz for?"
"Pfft! What kind of an icebreaker question is that? What are you her parents?" Eda snorts.
Amity's face turns red in annoyance as King busts out laughing. "Yeah, shouldn't we be the ones asking that?" he said through his tears.
"Oh pipe it down, you rascal," Eda tosses a pillow at him, "Sorry, hun. We didn't mean to be rude about it. We're just having fun is all."
"Yeah, making fun of others is how we do our icebreakers. But seriously," King turns his body to Amity and rests his head on his hands, "What intentions do you have with our Luz?"
"Intentions!? Nothing, why would you even ask me that? I mean, I'm just here because we got spiders in our home. I could've stayed anywhere I want. It's Luz who begged me to come here after all. Not that I want to, I mean not saying that I don't want either, but I don't. You understand?"
Amity shuts her mouth as the two stare back in silence. King frowns and shrugs it off, "Not the reaction I was expecting. Welp, the moments ruined, back to finding snacks."
Eda on the other hand narrowed her eyes at Amity who is currently watching in concern and disgust at whatever he may find. "Huh..." she mutters.
Luz finally came back down with a game console. "Back home when there wasn't anything else to do, this baby helped pass the time with brain numbing fun!" she sets the electronics down onto the table. Amity glances at the machine with interest, "Oh wow, why does it have two tails?"
"Ha! So I wasn't the only one who thought that!" chimed Eda.
"Those are the controllers, it's how you can interact with pictures on a screen! I showed King how to use it and he got hooked ever since," Luz explains as she sets the crystal ball down and tries to figure out where to plug the cords in.
King lays onto one side and snidely remarks with, "Yeah, Luz said I got what it takes to go pro. Crushing casuals and going for MVP awards with my top tier elite gaming skills."
"... what?"
"I should probably put some control on what he watches on my phone," Luz said as she finally connected the console to the crystal ball, thanks to Eda's magic, and got the game running.
The crystal reflects a little man running up to a giant bomb and trying to carry it off screen before it explodes, launching him to the screen then fades to black. The title card appears, 'Explosion Man!'
"This game is a classic multiplayer. I always just go against the AI back at home since I didn't have anyone to play with before King. Want to play, Amity?" Luz sat down next to Amity and handed the controller over to her. Amity takes it with an awkward hold and stares at the multiple button layouts on the alien device.
"If you're having trouble figuring it out, I'll show you as we go. Actually here, give me your hand and I'll-"
"NO!" Amity swings her hands away from Luz's, "I-I'm a fast learner! I'm fine with just watching!" Eda raises an eyebrow at the reaction as Luz eagerly takes her control and starts the game.
"So the game starts with both of us placed at opposite corners of the map. The goal of the game is to eliminate each other with bombs, but there are a lot of blocks in the way so we have to destroy them with the bombs. But you have to be careful of the explosion range, you can get blown up with your own bombs."
"Oh, I see and you can hide behind those columns to avoid the blasts?"
"Yeah, that's it!"
"So then how do we eliminate each other then if we could just run behind them?"
"You can't walk through the bombs, so the best way to win is to trap your enemy between them and watch them struggle desperately before they blow up."
"That's... sounds pretty morbid."
Luz thinks of it to herself, "Huh, when you put it that way, I guess it is... Let's start!"
Amity watches Luz enter her into the game as Player 2 who must be the little man appearing at the top right corner from her. Luz decides to let the game start off slow by destroying the obstacles around her instead of going for Amity. One of them revealed a power up which Luz began to explain before a sudden explosion sound went off and the screen shows 'Round Over! Player 1 wins!'
King drops to his back laughing, "She blew herself up!"
Amity's face flares up, "I'm still getting used to the controls!"
"That's okay, it's a common mistake. It's not like we're in a competition or anything."
"Yeah," King said while wiping a tear from his face, "Otherwise I would totally destroy you."
Amity growls but focuses on the game as it starts the next round. It was a terrible start but after a few minutes she began getting the sense of the controls. Luz takes notice as Amity begins blasting her way to her, "A bold strat, Amity! But do you know what happens when you corner a human?"
"What? You'll start barking and snarling?" Amity grins as she finally enters over to Luz's side and tries to trap her. Luz didn't expect her to pick up the game this quick and panic. "Uh oh! No, no, no, no!" she cries and moves frantically around. Her body pressed against Amity causing the girl to freeze in her tracks, letting her character trap itself between her own bombs. Once again, losing the match.
"Noob!" shouted King.
"I don't know what that means, but it sounds degrading," Amity pushes Luz away from her, "And stay at your side!"
"Come on Luz, let me play!" said King, "I could barely watch this trainwreck."
Luz scolds at him, "King! Be nice! Sorry he likes to get competitive."
"It's fine, just because he played this game longer than I have, doesn't make him better than me."
King checks his nails and snidely remarks with, "Mmm, pretty sure it does, sister. If it was me you're going against, you'd be blown away with the skills I have."
"Oh? Then why don't we play a round then," Amity offers.
"Oh ho! Now it's getting interesting!" Eda intervened, "But if we're going to do this, then we'll need to do it right. How about a wager match to get the blood pumping?"
"Yes!" King pumps both his fists, "Unnecessary conflicts! We'll play best out of five! If I win you will have to refer to me as 'Grandmaster King!'"
Amity rolls her eyes, "Okay fine, but if I-"
"No, wait. Supreme Grandmaster King!"
"... sure, but if I win then you can't object to me and Luz dressing you up in whatever we want," Amity grins.
"I'm fine as long as everyone is having fun but I would love to see that too," Luz admits then hands the controller and her spot to King.
The game started and both players began racing to get to the other side as fast as they could. King broke the last barrier between them and went in for the rush. He laughs seeing Amity backing away, "Go ahead and corner yourself! It'll just make it easier to-"
The sound of an explosion stops him mid-sentence when he sees his own character getting launched at the screen.
'Round Over! Player 2 wins!'
"What!?" he cried.
Amity chuckles to herself, "I knew you were going to charge at me the first chance you got, so I preemptively placed bombs on the side and lured you into them."
"You just got lucky! This next round is mine!"
The next round was definitely not his as it ends with his character getting blown out of the map again. King cries in frustration and kicks his feet.
"Don't feel so bad, I did say I'm a quick learner. But I suppose I could go easy on you if you beg hard enough..."
"Don't use my own words against me for ironic justice!" Amity laughs and focuses on the next round again.
The wager kept on going, with King losing round after round much to Amity's delight. Luz smiles seeing her genuinely enjoying herself. Amity averted her eyes away when she looked back with a nervous smile of her own. Eda gently elbows Luz for her attention and whispers, "Hey Luz, why don't you cheer your friend on?"
"Which one?"
"The green one, silly. King's got enough ego to last him for winter. Say something like:" Eda whispers the words Luz's ear. She shrugs and cups her hands around her mouth and says, "Go get him, girlfriend!"
Amity's heart seized all motor controls of her body upon hearing the words. King didn't notice the reaction but definitely took the opportunity to surround her character in explosives. "You're done!" he cries in victory as her character breaks the screen, "I did it! I won! Woohoo!"
"Congrats," Amity says, monotoned, "You won one round."
"And you better believe it! Time for the ultimate comeback!"
Luz clicks her tongue and sucks in her teeth, "Actually King... you already lost."
"What?"
"It was best out of five, and Amity already had won more than that since you guys started. I guess I should've said something but it was really intense and I was afraid to get pulled in."
King drops his arms by his side feeling the satisfaction deflating like a balloon. "Oh King~" Amity pulls his attention to show the little dress she conjured out of thin air.
"No..." he mutters, "Nooo!" King runs over to Eda and hugs her leg, "Eda! Please by the power of our codependent relationship I beg you, save me from these girls!"
"Oh quite being so melodramatic, you'll be amazed with the amount of legroom that skirt will offer."
"I'll do anything! I'll wash Hooty for a week! A month even! Please~" he pleads as he slides down her leg.
"Oh alright, but only because watching you two go at it made my competitive blood flowing," Eda stands up and stretches out her arms. She casts a malicious grin at everyone and summons her staff to her side, "But if we're going to settle this, then we'll do it on my game."
~/~
Eda expands her barrier outside large enough for the others to get outside. She conjures a beam from Owlbert's staff drawing a white line across the muddy ground. The little owl frees himself from the pedestal and takes the whistle from Eda's hand to play the referee.
"A game of Magicball ought to do the trick, we'll divide into teams of three. Me, Hooty, and King against the girls and that weird purple thing she can make." Amity frowns at the comment but conjures up her Abomination.
"So... how does one play Magicball?" Luz asks, still reeling from the escalation of everything.
"It's quite simple," Amity explains, "Each person will get a ball and have to strike the opposing team out by hitting them with it until no one is left. If someone catches a thrown ball without it touching the ground once, then the thrower is out."
"Oh, we got a game like that back at home, but we just call it dodge... ball..." Luz's eyes widened when she realizes what the name means considering her firsthand experience with Grudgby.
"Alright team, remember we're doing this for King's sake," said Eda, "Hooty, are you alright dealing with the little green fireball?"
"Hoot hoot! Yup, I realized that my paralyzing fear was the result of me overstepping my boundaries and not respecting her private space which rightfully caused her to savagely attack me. I learned my lesson and promise to do better when dealing with other's-"
"Yeah, yeah, that's great. Just don't hesitate to knock Luz down, the hot mud will soften the blow," Eda tosses the ball and catches in one hand, "Alright let's do this thing! Start us off Owlbert!"
The little owl blows his whistle and Eda kicks it off by engulfing the ball in flames and launches with incredible force. The Abomination holds out his hands ready to catch it but the ball easily tore through its head, scaring the daylights out of the girls.
"Woo! Just so we're clear it's not illegal since Abominations are not sentient, intelligent lifeforms!" Eda quickly remarks then low fives King.
"I'm terrified," Luz comments.
"Just stay behind me, I got you covered," Amity warns. She runs over to grab the ball then conjures a large hand to boost her up into the air. She spins and throws the ball at Eda who dashes out with her magic to let the ball hit the ground. King runs over and grabs it and aims it at Luz.
"Sorry to do this to you, Luz, but my innocence is on the line! You will regret the day you ever crossed me!" King arches his arm back and throws the ball with all his might at the young girl.
Who proceeds to catch it no problem with them being only five feet apart.
Owlbert blows his whistle and points at King who stomps his feet and cries, "Dang it!"
"Oh no, who could've seen that coming..." Eda said with an obviously feigned surprise. She then gestures at Luz, "Come on girl, show your master what tricks you picked up."
"I don't know," Luz hesitates, "I don't want to hurt you and..." The ground beneath Luz trembles before a certain long, neck head pops out knocking the ball out of her hands. "Oh you're too kind, Luz!" Hooty says as he bounces the ball with his head.
"Hey!" Amity cries, "Stay over at your side!"
Hooty stretches over to her face and gestures at the door he's emerging from, "Technically, I am still on my side!" Amity glares at Owlbert who just shrugs back at her.
"My turn!" Hooty slams his head at the ball sending it down towards Amity. She ducks out of the way just nearly in the nick of time which afforded Hooty to tunnel back underground and reappear to launch the ball this time towards Luz.
"Luz, watch out!" Amity cried out. The human girl quickly tosses her ice magic onto the ground and summons a pillar of ice, launching the ball back into the air then down onto their side of the court. Amity goes for the opportunity but Hooty pops out the ground and coils her body with his neck and takes the ball.
"Hey Amity! I'm so glad we made up and are now hanging out like the best of pals! What do you want to do after this?"
"Can't... breathe...!"
"What? You can't read? That's okay, neither can I! Huh?" Hooty hears shouting coming towards him and looks up in time to see Luz flying from a freshly conjured ice pillar. He quickly bounces the ball high into the air and ducks for Luz to sail through and straight into the mud.
Luz lifts her dirt-caked face from the ground and holds it, "Ugh, thought that would work..."
"My turn!" Luz got smacked in the back of the head by Hooty's sudden throw, causing her to skid a couple of feet forward. Owlbert whistles then hurriedly flies over to her side.
Amity gasps, "Luz!"
"Man, I am glad her mother doesn't know I exist," Eda comments.
Hooty looks down at Luz laying on her face, not paying attention to Amity forming a spell with her free hand. "Wow, that looks like it hurts a-AGH!" A large, purple hand emerges and squeezes Hooty's elongated neck forcing him to let go of Amity.
With anger burning inside her, she runs and conjures another summoning spell forming an Abomination to grab the ball and hurls it into the air. She jumps and uses its back as a step and slams her fist against the ball sending it directly at Hooty's face. The door bird's face caves in from the impact and drops to the ground like a giant, weird-looking noodle.
Amity breathes in heavily but runs over to where Luz is knocked down. She flips the girl over, seeing her entire front side covered in mud. "Luz? Are you okay?" she asks.
The girl coughs out mud and rubs the muck off her eyes, "Ohh... Amity? Hey, it's fine the really, really hot mud softened my fall. Actually do you think it will make my skin look good."
Amity lets out a sigh of relief, "You already look great."
"What?"
"CAKED!" Amity flips, "in dirt! Because, wow, that ball sure got you good. You should probably, like, get off the field. Now..."
Luz nods but feels a light headache coming, "Sure... but do you mind helping me to my feet?"
"Y-you mean like... c-carry you?" Amity gulps, "Of course! Just let me... uh..." She reaches out but her hands stop short before her as if they were pressed against some invisible force. Luz glances down at them then back at her with concern.
"Heh, sorry I might've... pulled a muscle or-"
King shouts, "What's the hold up! Get off the field and lose already!"
Amity grits her teeth and summons her abomination to carry Luz for her. The girl waves and says, "Good luck, Amity! You got this!"
After a hard swallow, Amity looks around to see where the ball might've ended up at before Eda whistles for her attention. "Looking for this?" Eda spins the ball with one hand then lets it roll from her shoulder into the other hand, "I gotta say kid, I'm impressed with how you handle Hooty there. Not even the Emperor's guard can stop him."
"I doubt that," she says, crossing her arms.
"Heh, wouldn't blame you," Eda lets the ball drop and bounces it with her knee, "You know, Luz told me a lot about you."
"She has!?" Amity said too quickly before clearing her throat and feigned disinterest, "Oh, I mean, yeah we're... friends. But uh, what did she say about me exactly?"
"That you are really good at Grudgby," Eda bounces the ball and catches it with both hands.
"I mean, I used to be good. Hehe, I mean I was captain at some point..." Amity crosses her arms confidently, "Luz told me that you like to play dirty."
"What? Me? Pfft, nah!" Eda waves her hand, "I got no interest in cheating against a teenager, just some good ol' tossing the ball at each other to pass the time. On an unrelated note, how about a little encouragement to get this match going!" Eda conjures a glyph with one finger then shoots a yellow beam directly towards Luz standing at the side.
The girl shouts and covers herself as the beam hits her but feels no pain or anything strange besides something occupying both her hands. She opens her eyes to be greeted with pom poms and a new cheerleading outfit. She gasps and checks herself, "Whoa! Magic beams that create cute clothes!"
"Hey!" King yells at Eda now adorning the same attire, "Why did I get hit by it too! Have you forgotten why we're doing this?"
Eda laughs, "That one was for me. Now I'm feeling motivated, what about you, kiddo? Kid?"
Amity didn't respond as her headlight-like eyes are glued to Luz's new attire with a deep shade of red washing over her face. Eda frowns then aims with her thumb, wondering if she should just take the shot now and end the game but says, "Eh, too easy. Heads up!"
She blasts the ball with her magic directly at the ground next to Amity causing the girl to break out her trance as the impact knocks her off her feet. She wipes the mud off her face and sees the ball rolling towards her before Eda calls out again.
"Tell you what!" Eda rotates her position on the field until she is standing in direct vision of Luz waving her pom poms around, "Since you're our guest, I'll just make it easy for you and not use any magic to avoid it. Come and get me!"
Amity fiercely grips the ball in her hands but couldn't help getting distracted by Luz bouncing up and down and cheering out her name, "Amity! Amity!"
"Am I having a heart attack? Is this what a heart attack feels like?" Amity shakes her head then turns her back to them. She thought of a plan and summoned a large Abomination hand in front of her. She throws the ball at it for the hand to slap it across the field for her, but unfortunately with no clear visual contact the ball hits the ground with Eda nowhere near it.
"Weird idea, but you got this girl!" said Luz, having no clue about her choice of actions. "Maybe it would help if you actually look where you're aiming, just a suggestion!"
Maybe it would help if you stop being so cute in that outfit! Amity desperately wanted to say but wisely kept it to her head.
Eda levitates the ball towards her and laughs, "Want to give it another go?" she offers.
"I don't know what your game is, but I expected better than cheap tricks from some wild witch!" Amity blurted.
Luz drops her arms, "Oh no, she should have not said that..."
Eda only smiles at the girl and spins the ball on one finger, "Some wild witch, huh? Sorry to disappoint you, but tricks are all I got. Like this one for example." Eda floats the ball above her and duplicates it into eight other copies before engulfing them with yellow flames.
"I should have not said that..." Amity gulps.
"Play ball!" Eda thrust her hands out and launched them one by one. Amity screams and uses her abomination hand to toss her across the field before it gets obliterated.
"Keep your eye on the ball or you'll lose that eye of yours!" She conjures more copies and launches them into the air this time to strike down like mortars. Luz bites on her hands watching Amity running wildly around the field like a headless chicken.
"Uh... Eda isn't trying to kill Amity... is she?"
"Tear that witch apart!" King cries.
Amity turns her head back after one of the balls lands dangerously close to her before tripping over Hooty, still unconscious from earlier, just as another hits the ground causing her to fly through the air before skidding across the dirt.
She groans and feels the shivers of a desperately needed bath for all the dirt and grime in her hair and clothes. Her eyes caught the white line Eda drew then noticed a shadow looming over her making her look up to see Eda holding the ball over her head.
"As much fun as this was, Captain, I think it's about time we end this." Magic swirls around the ball then swells the size of the ball into a huge inferno. "Any last words?" Eda said with unintentional grim and finality.
"Mercy?"
"That's quitters talk."
There comes a time at least once in everyone's life when they think about how they'll go out of this world. Getting killed by the mentor of your crush? It's strange, but would be fitting in the Good Witch Azura series. She genuinely wonders if Eda would listen if she shouted her surrender but it sure beats getting pulverized.
Amity opens her mouth ready to plead for her life until her eyes caught something poking out of Eda's right arm, "Is that... a feather?"
Eda goes wide-eyed and immediately dissipates her magic then quickly covers it with her other arm. "Nope! It's uh... a really thick arm hair, yup that's what's gonna happen to you when you get as old as I am. So uh..." Eda lightly tosses the ball towards Amity for her to catch with ease, "Woops, hand slipped! I lose. You win. I'm going to go take a power nap now, send the pictures of King to me later. Bye bye!"
Amity watches in disbelief at the Owl Lady rushing inside the house with Owlbert in tow and slams the door with Hooty's still stretched out neck through the ground. King chases after her and screams, "Get back here you coward!"
Luz walks up and plops down into the ground next to Amity, "Aw, you have the same traumatized look I usually get here. Now you're officially one of us!"
She pulls Amity in for a hug but the girl merely blinks and still keeps her arms locked onto the ball for dear life. "Please change out of that," she mutters. King's shouting took both of their attention to him kicking Hooty to get him awake.
"Stop resting and fight for me!" King looked over at the girls and stopped with just one more kick. He coughs and chuckles nervously, "Haha, that was a good game back there! GG, or whatever that means! You girls hungry? I'm going to go whip us some nachos-"
He turns ready to make a break for it until a purple creature pops out of the ground and grabs him. King shouts and tries to kick his little legs to free himself before being forced to turn around to the girls making their way to him.
"No! Stay back! I'm warning you! Stay back! NOOOOOOOO!"
~/~
"You know what, Eda was right. This legroom really is amazing," admitted King as he takes on various poses for the girls taking pictures in the living room.
Amity laughs, pulls the towel from her freshly cleaned hair, "Hey, is Eda okay? She seemed really unnerved when I mentioned that... weird hair."
Luz forces a grin, "Uh yeah! She's REALLY self-conscious about it. It's fine, it's already been a couple of hours and nothing has happened yet."
"What's supposed to happen?"
"Nothing! Didn't you hear me?" Amity rolls her eyes and elbows the lovable dork. She cast her eyes out the window with the boiling rain still pouring down. "You know, despite the madness and everything, I really had a good time today," she said.
Luz beams at her words, "I'm glad to hear that! I'm still sorry that Eda probably was trying to kill you."
"It's... fine, I should definitely apologize to her later," Amity goes to take another picture of him. An itch in her mind came up causing her to suddenly frown, "Are we... forgetting something?"
Luz tries to think what she meant but shrugs, "I don't know. If it's not important then we'll worry about it tomorrow. Ooh, King how about you put this one on?"
As the three are spending their time inside, Hooty still remains on the ground sleeping soundly like a regular nap unaffected by the hot pestering raindrops. As the evening rolls in, a cloaked stranger walks up to the sleeping owl and inspects the creature.
"Curious..." the husky voiced man said then turned his face to the house, "Are you making this easy for us, Owl Lady? Well, don't mind if I do then."