Luz snorted, thinking she was far less likely to actually do something Eda would do, then wandered off to find King. Willow and Gus were still having fun watching the Coven Scouts do their thing, so Luz was alone until she saw a familiar face.
"Amity!" she cried happily, running over to the youngest Blight, who was reading a pamphlet.
Amity jumped as she heard Luz call her name; "L-Luz! Oh, you're here too. Of course you are, this is the Covention and everyone is here, so why wouldn't you be too?" she rambled, slowly getting redder.
Luz just giggled; "Hi Amity. Having fun?"
"Um, yes. I was just at the Emperor's Coven show. Did you see it?" Amity asked, trying to regain her composure.
"Yep! It was pretty cool, though I'm still not sold on the whole coven thing." Luz said, not letting on how bothered the whole thing actually made her. She remembered how excited Amity had looked at the show and didn't want to ruin it for her. "Say, Willow and Gus are off doing their own thing at the moment, so I thought maybe I could hang out with you? I'm new to the Boiling Isles, so it'd be nice to walk with a friend who knows what everything is."
Amity blushed again, then nodded quickly; "O-Of course! I'm alone too, so having a friend around would be nice."
"Great!" Luz beamed, moving to Amity's side and hooking the other girl's arm in her own; "Then let's go!"
Amity squeaked and went tomato red, but didn't try to pull away from Luz, who seemed oblivious to the girl's predicament. "I just need to find my other friend first, okay? I promised my Mentor I'd watch him. He's a mighty and ferocious demon!" Luz grinned.
Amity, forcing herself to calm down a bit, thought about Luz's mentor. She'd seen the woman when she'd helped drive off the Mandragora back at Hexside, and recognised her as the Owl Lady. Based on the wanted posters, Amity guessed the "ferocious demon" was the little skull-headed demon dog that was with her on most of them. With that in mind, Amity looked around and quickly spotted King.
With a small smirk, she pointed him out to Luz; "Is that your "ferocious demon" there?" she asked teasingly.
Luz looked over and giggled as she saw King with a couple of witches from the Baker's Coven. He was wearing a whole bunch of paraphernalia given out by the other coven booths, making him look smaller thanks to the oversized clothing. King spotted her and devoured the cupcake he was holding, chomping it down quickly, then swiped two more from the baker's tray and ran over to Luz.
"Hey Luz! Look at all these offerings! I snagged you one too!" he yelled. Unfortunately, the scarf he was wearing was too long and he tripped on it, making him fall flat on his face with a loud "Weh!" as the cupcakes went flying.
Thinking fast, Luz lassoed the cupcakes into her hands with a pair of vines summoned from her hands, then handed them to Amity so she could help King up.
"You okay there?" she asked.
"Yeah; my new followers didn't think to adjust their offerings for my diminished form. I'll forgive them though, if only because these cupcakes are great!" King said, before making grabby hands towards Amity, wanting his snack back.
Amity, a bit bewildered by the adorable little demon, just silently handed them back, whereupon King handed one to Luz and began messily eating the other. Amity grimaced at the mess he was making, but was soon distracted by Luz.
"Here, Amity. We'll split it." Luz said, breaking off half the cupcake for her, "Snacks are best when shared with friends."
Amity took the snack with another blush; "T-Thank you." she said, taking a bite. It was sweet and delicious, as expected from the Bakers Coven, and eating it alongside Luz somehow made it taste better. Or perhaps that was just seeing Luz's wide smile and shining eyes as she enjoyed her own treat.
When the girls were done, Luz grinned at Amity and suddenly wiped her finger over the girl's cheek, making Amity freeze. Luz pulled her finger back to reveal some icing that had gotten on Amity's cheek, then licked it up with a noise of satisfaction.
"L-Luz!?" Amity cried, turning crimson as she covered her cheek.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want some of that?" Luz asked.
"N-No, but you can't just go doing stuff like that!" Amity said, completely flustered.
Luz lowered her head; "Oh, sorry. I've always done stuff like that; I can be bad at boundaries sometimes. Once when I was a kid and my class had cupcakes, I did the same thing to another girl, only I licked the icing straight off her cheek! I didn't realise that could make people uncomfortable at the time. That was an awkward conversation."
Amity's blush spread to her whole body as she imagined a tiny cherub Luz licking icing off her cheek. "Oh my Titan, I am going to pass out if you keep being adorable!" she hissed.
Luz blinked; "What was that?"
"N-Nothing." Amity said, quickly catching herself, "So now that you've found your friend, where did you want to go next."
Luz hummed in thought as she picked King up and put him on her shoulder; "I have no idea. How about you decide. I'll happily follow you wherever you want to go."
"In that case, I was going to find and speak to Miss Lilith." Amity said, before puffing her chest out proudly; "She's my mentor, and I am her protege! I wanted to ask when she's next available for training."
Luz whistled; "Wow, you're the protege of the Head Witch of the Emperor's Coven? I knew you were amazing, being a top student at Hexside and all, but you're even more amazing than I thought!" she complimented. Inwardly, Luz felt it kind of ironic that her friend was the protege of her own mentor's sister. Did that make her and Amity like Apprentice Siblings? Or Cousins or something?
Amity preened at the compliment and used the boost in confidence to join arms with Luz again, managing to contain her blush enough to lead the Half-Human, Half-Angel girl off in search of Lilith. Amity couldn't wait to introduce them… if only she could find a good time to ask Luz about her secret identity…
Meanwhile, Eda was doing her best to sneak through the crowds undetected. Her disguise wasn't exactly foolproof and now that the Emperor's Coven had finished their little introduction show, there were a lot more scouts wandering around, so Eda had to be careful. Eventually, she saw the front door to the convention hall and began making her way towards it, but just as she was a few paces away, a familiar voice sank her hopes of escaping unnoticed.
"Sister?"
Eda groaned and turned to see Lilith standing there, surrounded by Hexside Students, including Willow and Gus. They were all waiting for autographs, making Eda roll her eyes.
Lilith smirked; "It's been so long since I've seen you last!" she said, finishing an autograph for the kid who'd swelled his head back at the show (it had since been shrunk again). She walked over to Eda with a condescending smile, followed by the students; "What are you wearing? You look like some sort of trash collector. Oh wait, you are."
Eda felt a brief flare of anger, before she returned Lilith's smirk; "Oh Lily. I just had to see the leader of the Emperor's Coven in action." she leaned down to whisper to the kids; "You know, when we were kids, Lilith was so excited to see the Emperor's Coven that she peed a little."
The children all giggled and Lilith blushed. Forcing a false smile on her face, Lilith shooed them away; "That's all for today students." she said. The children obediently left, though Willow and Gus didn't go far, wanting to see their friend's mentor bantering with such a powerful and important witch.
Lilith then turned back to Eda with a glare; "You shouldn't even be here, Eda! You're a wanted criminal! Unless…" she suddenly gasped with delight and grabbed Eda's hands; "I don't believe it! You're here to finally join the Emperor's Coven!"
Eda snorted and laughed in her sister's face, pulling her hands free; "In your dreams, sister!"
Lilith narrowed her eyes; "You think being covenless makes you so much smarter than everyone else! But while you run from the law like a degenerate, I'm mentoring the next generation of powerful young witches!"
"Big deal!" Eda grinned, "I've got an apprentice of my own, and she'd wipe the floor with any of your prissy little blue bloods!"
"Is that a challenge?" Lilith glared.
"Oh, it's a promise!" Eda glared right back.
Lilith scowled, until she noticed a couple of girls approaching them. It was Amity, her strongest protege, along with another witchling Lilith hadn't seen before.
"Ah, here comes my most promising student now. Amity, come meet my sister, Eda the Owl Lady. A covenless wild witch and trash collector." Lilith said.
Amity briefly beamed at the compliment, before it registered who Lilith was introducing her to. She then paled, having a bad feeling about this.
"Well what a coinky-dink! She's with my apprentice too! Luz, come over here and say hi to Prissy Lily." Eda smirked.
Luz gulped, sensing the tension in the air, while Lilith eyed the girl closely. Her sister's "apprentice" had the same amber eyes as Eda herself, and her complexion was quite similar to a certain bard's… a bard Lilith knew Eda had been intimate with for many years. The girl was also around the same age as Amity, which means she'd have been born sometime very shortly after Eda and her Bardic Beau had broken up… Was this girl Eda's daughter? The one who'd helped her break into the Conformatorium a couple of weeks ago and inherited her curse? The hair was the wrong colour, but Lilith was more than familiar with hair dye.
"Um, hello Miss Lilith!" Luz greeted nervously.
Amity nodded to Eda; "Good day to you. It's nice to see you again, Miss Eda."
"Again?" thought Lilith. Had they met before? Come to think of it, how had her protege become friends with her sister's apprentice/daughter.
"Soooo… are you guys catching up?" Luz asked.
"We are. But what about you two. I wasn't aware you were friends with my sister's student, Amity." Lilith said, looking to her protege.
"We only met just over a week ago." Amity explained, "We were just looking around the Covention together."
"Ah, how nice. Eda and I attended them together when we were girls too. Are you enjoying yourselves?"
Amity nodded happily; "Oh yes, your show was especially amazing! I can't wait until I'm old enough to join the Emperor's Coven!" she gushed.
Lilith smiled; "I'm glad to see your enthusiasm hasn't wavered. What about you, Luz? What do you think of the Emperor's Coven?"
"I-It's interesting! The members all look amazingly powerful, and you're the strongest of them all!" Luz complimented, feeling like Lilith was trying to lead the conversation somewhere she didn't want to go, "I'm not really decided on the whole coven thing though. I was raised in the Human Realm, and we don't have stuff like this there."
Lilith frowned; so Eda has been keeping her niece in the Human Realm? That would explain why there had been no sightings of her until the Conformatorium incident… It was too bad though; from Luz's lukewarm response, it was obvious Eda had infected her with her wild ways and disdain for covens. Oh, she was nicer about it than Eda, but it was still obvious she had no desire to join one. That was a problem; Lilith needed them both in the Emperor's Coven! That was the only way the Emperor would fulfil his promise and cure them of the curse!
Lilith hated to do this, but if she was going to get her wayward niece to rejoin proper society and be cured, she was going to have to play dirty!
"Come now Luz, surely you want to become the best witch you can be? Like Amity here. She is my greatest protege! If you want to catch up to her, you'll need to start training with a proper mentor."
Amity beamed at the compliment, while Luz felt a spike of defensiveness for Eda. Meanwhile Eda just snorted derisively; "I already told you Lily, my apprentice could wipe the floor with any of your students! Including Baby Blight here."
Luz paled; "Eda, don't say stuff like that…!"
Lilith grinned; her hot-blooded sister had walked into her trap. "If you're so confident in your apprentice, then why don't we find out which is the more powerful? I propose a witch's duel between Luz and Amity."
Amity's eyes widened; "W-Wait, Miss Lilith! I don't think this is-"
"A duel between Luz and Baby Blight? Ha, why not? I've got some time to kill and I know Luz isn't gonna lose!" Eda smirked.
"Eda! I don't want to-"
"Then it's settled. Our proteges will face each other in the theatre where I was introduced earlier. Now how about we make this interesting?" Lilith smiled like a serpent, "If Amity wins, then both you and Luz have to join the Emperor's Coven."
Luz and Amity gasped, and Eda actually paused for a moment, shocked by the suggestion. "Are you serious, Lily? You want me to bet something like that on a children's duel?"
"Of course. Unless you're not as confident in your apprentice as you claim to be." Lilith said, poking at Eda's pride.
The Owl Lady grit her teeth, then spat back; "Fine, I'll take that bet! But when Baby Blight loses, both you and her have to become wild witches for the rest of your lives!"
"Eda, no!" Luz cried, completely horrified. Poor Amity looked almost catatonic beside her.
Lilith nodded confidently; "It's a deal."
Ignoring their proteges' distress, the two sisters clasped hands and made an Everlasting Oath, just as Eda had tried to do after the fight with Adegast. Luz and Amity just stared at their mentors with open-mouth shocked; Luz felt like she was going to be sick, while Amity was on the verge of hyperventilating.
Eda and Lilith finally turned back to their students, and Eda immediately noticed Luz's ashen face. In an instant, her hot blood cooled down and the realisation of what she'd just done hit her like a cannonball. Before the Owl Lady could say anything though, Lilith (much more oblivious to her own student's condition) happily took Amity by the shoulders and began to steer her away.
"We will meet in the theatre in one hour, sister dear. And when the duel is over, you and your apprentice will take your proper places in the Emperor's Coven." she said confidently, leaving Eda, Luz, and a largely ignored King behind.
As Lilith escorted the silent Amity to one of the private rooms the convention hall had set aside for the Emperor's Coven, she couldn't help but smile and hum happily. Her plan, as impromptu as it had been, had worked out perfectly! She's successfully goaded Eda into a wager that Lilith was sure to win, and once she did, Eda and her daughter would be forced by Eda's oath to join the Emperor's Coven. Lilith was sure they'd be bitter about it for a while, but once the Emperor healed their curses, they would come around and thank Lilith for her actions. She just had to keep her eyes peeled for any attempts at cheating, because in her mind, there was no way Luz could possibly beat Amity. Amity was the best of the Blights, groomed for perfection and hand-picked by Lilith for advanced instruction; she was, bar none, the strongest witch of her generation. Luz on the other hand was a completely homeschooled witch trained solely by Eda, and with Eda's curse inherited by her daughter (something that still caused stabs of guilt for Lilith), that training had likely been sporadic and frequently interrupted by transformations.
Arriving in the room set aside for her, Lilith finally turned to Amity, whereupon her confident smile became an unsure frown. The green-haired girl was dangerously pale, shaking slightly, and seemed to be flitting back and forth between holding her breath and hyperventilating.
"Amity, are you alright?" Lilith asked.
Amity shook her head, "I can't believe you did that!" she cried between panted breathes, "You gambled your future! MY future! I'm not going to be able to join the Emperor's Coven! Oh Titan, I'm going to be forced to be a wild witch! Mom and Dad will kick me out! I'll go to prison! No, I'll be petrified! No no no no no!" she began to spiral, collapsing to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
Lilith couldn't believe her eyes! Amity had always been confident and skilled! How could she be so afraid of losing to a half-trained witchling?
"Amity, be calm! Have confidence in yourself! Your victory is certain, that's why I made the bet in the first place!"
"Victory is certain!? Maybe, but not for me! I can't beat Luz!" Amity cried. "All I've got mastered is Abominations, and there's no way Luz will get taken down by one of those! The rest of my spells aren't going to be enough either! Not after what I've seen her fight!"
Lilith blinked in surprise; "What do you mean?"
"Luz went toe to toe with the Mandragora we found under Hexside! It's thanks to her that Boscha and I got out with our lives!" Amity yelled.
"So that was her…? No matter, you could have done the same! You were only at a disadvantage because it was the end of the school day and you were tired and had no abomination slime. Today you're fresh and prepared! Besides, Luz didn't actually defeat the Mandragora." Lilith reasoned.
Amity shook her head with a haunted look; "No… but she beat that bird monster out in the rain."
Lilith's mind began racing; "Bird monster?"
"Yes. I'd never seen anything like it…" Amity said, before explaining what she'd seen during the boiling rain storm. She only omitted Luz's true nature, not wanting her mentor to know that particular secret.
"That sounds like…" Lilith began muttering. It was the Owl Beast; it had to be! Amity's description was a dead wringer! But if Luz had fought and defeated Eda in her cursed state, and in the middle of the boiling rain to boot, then she had to be far stronger than Lilith expected. "Tell me what magic Luz has. Leave nothing out!" she ordered.
Amity gave a shaky nod and listed the magic she'd seen Luz use since that day in the rain; "She can fire powerful light blasts that burn things, create plants that she can control, and heal most physical injuries. Boscha also said she was good at brewing potions, but I've never seen her use any. She's also got a handful of smaller, weaker spells, but I don't know how good she is with those."
Lilith frowned severely; "Ah… we might have a problem."
"You see! Even if I do the impossible and win, Luz will hate me forever for forcing her to join the coven!" Amity cried. And that was if Luz even could join the coven… would the sigils work on an angel? What if Luz was exposed!? Who knows what could happen to her! "Please Miss Lilith, can't we just call off the bet? I'll still duel Luz if I have to, just not with the bet in place!"
"I'm sorry, but I doubt we'll be able to convince Eda." Lilith frowned; "She's too proud, and she's wanted to drag me down to her level for years. The Titan themself could order her to give up the bet and she'd refuse…"
"Then I'm doomed." Amity whimpered.
"Not necessarily…" Lilith said, an idea coming to her. Eda was sure to pull something, so Lilith would play her game. "Just do your best out there, Amity. I have a feeling you'll find yourself stronger than you believe yourself to be."
[Meanwhile]
Luz was pacing back and forth outside the convention centre, panicking as Eda, King, Willow, and Gus watched on, all looking grim.
"I can't believe this! Why did you make that stupid bet, Eda!?" Luz cried, heart beating wildly.
Eda winced; "Sorry kid, my sister knows how to push my buttons. I got so worked up that all I wanted was to wipe that stupid smug look off her face, then before I knew it, my mouth got away from me… Lily played me." she said, adding that last part bitterly.
"And now Amity and I are stuck dealing with the consequences!" Luz yelled.
"Come on Luz, you can't seriously think you'll lose to that girl, can you?" King asked, missing the point. "You're crazy powerful now! Even if she gets in some lucky hits, you can just heal yourself up! What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that whoever wins, someone's life gets ruined!" the young angel cried; "If I beat Amity, then she and Lilith become fugitives who can't join a coven! Amity was so excited about joining the Emperor's Coven; if I beat her then she'll never be able to! And if I lose, then Eda is going to have to give up her entire life style to join the Emperor's Coven, something she hates! Not to mention I'll be forced to join too!"
Gus, trying to look on the bright side, said; "Well what's so bad about joining the Emperor's Coven? Sure it's not what Eda wants, but this is kinda her fault. No offence."
"None taken, Goops. You're right." Eda sighed.
"Gus does have a point. Most people would kill to be in the Emperor's Coven, and you basically got scouted to join by the Head Witch herself. Would it really be that bad to just throw the fight and join? No one becomes a criminal, Amity gets to keep her dream, and you get to join it with her." Willow said, smiling coyly as she brought up Amity's name.
Luz felt her anger spike, but quickly smothered it; Willow and Gus didn't understand. They were raised in this system and saw the Emperor's Coven as a good thing, so Luz couldn't hold it against them. "Willow, I'm only supposed to be in the Demon Realm for the summer. In ten weeks time, I've got to go home. But if I'm stuck in the Emperor's Coven, I can't go back to the Human Realm! I won't be able to see my Mami again!"
She also wasn't entirely sure if she even could join a coven… the Emperor's Coven Sigils didn't restrict a witch's magic like the others did, but they were still designed for witches and biped demons, all of whom had bile sacs. Would they even work on an angel like Luz? If not, how would the Everlasting Oath react to someone being unable to fulfil the requirements? Would Luz be punished by it, or would Eda suffer as the one making the oath? If Luz was spared, would Eda just take the punishment for breaking the oath rather than join the coven? She seemed like the "death before submission" type… Come to think of it, what was the penalty for breaking an Everlasting Oath!?
"Ugh, what a mess… can't we just agree to drop the oath? I'm sure Amity would agree!" Luz asked hopefully.
Eda shook her head ruefully; "Sorry Kid, but Lilith made the bet because she's confident she'll win, so there's no way she'll back out. Getting me into the coven is something she's wanted for years; there's a higher chance of Ol' Belos himself dancing around Bonesborough in a tutu than there is of Lilith agreeing to take back the bet."
Luz groaned and collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands; "Why did Amity and I have to be dragged into this… I just wanted a fun day at the Covention…"
Eda felt her heart ache with guilt, knowing this was her fault. Her temper and pride had gotten ahead of her, and now Luz was the one suffering for it. She cursed herself for her stupidity, but it was too late now; she had no choice but to send Luz off to fight her friend, and hope she'd win. Sure it would suck for Amity and Lilith, but hey, Eda could survive as a Wild Witch, so her big sister could too! And Amity could come and live at the Owl House; it was the least Eda could do if her actions led to the poor girl being kicked out.
She tried to sell this idea to Luz, but the girl had just glared at her mentor, very much unamused. Willow and King's attempts to cheer Luz up with flowers or "offerings" also failed, leaving it to Gus to actually lift Luz's spirits a bit by teaching her more illusions. Luz was good with purely visual illusions, but illusions that effected the other senses were still a bit out of her wheelhouse, so Gus focused on trying to teach her how to make sounds with illusion magic. They didn't make much progress, but it helped Luz calm down and focus until the hour of time before the duel was finally up.
As the hour of prep time came to an end, a reluctant Luz marched back into the convention centre with Eda, King, and her friends behind her, and headed to the Emperor's Coven theatre. Inside, they found quite the crowd waiting to watch the duel, the news having apparently spread fast through the Covention. On the stage was Lilith and Amity, the former looking calm and smiling while the latter looked ready to throw up or pass out.
Lilith's smile widened slightly as she saw Luz and Eda, making Luz gulp nervously. "Ah, right on time. Let's get this show on the road." Lilith said, before announcing to the audience; "Beloved citizens, the Emperor's Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the sort of witch we seek every year! Introducing Amity Blight!"
She nudged Amity forward amidst the cheers of the audience, and the girl descended from the stage to stand on the sandy battlefield that had been laid out for the duel. Amity briefly looked up at Luz, before averting her eyes with an expression of regret.
"And her opponent in today's duel; a young witch being trained by the notorious wild witch known as the Owl Lady! Introducing Luz Clawthorne!"
Luz almost tripped as she prepared to step forward. Did Lilith just say Clawthorne? Did she think Luz was related to Eda somehow?
"Uh, actually my name is Luz Noceda." Luz corrected.
Lilith blinked; her name was Noceda? Not Clawthorne or Whispers? How strange… was Eda still trying to hide the connection? "No matter." she muttered to herself, before announcing; "Both witches, step forward!"
Luz and Amity both walked to the centre of the field, and for the first time since their mentors made that stupid bet, they looked one another in the eyes.
"Luz… I'm sorry, but I can't throw this fight. I need to win, for my future." Amity said miserably, "Please forgive me…"
Luz gave her a sad smile; "I understand, Amity. I don't want to fight you… but I need to win too, so I can see my Mami again. Can we agree that no matter what happens after this, we'll have each other's backs?"
Amity managed a tiny smile; "I'd like that."
A demonic bell suddenly began screaming, and Lilith shouted; "BEGIN!"
"I'm sorry. Abomination, rise!" Amity cried, drawing a large spell circle. A massive abomination rose out of the circle, shocking many in the audience with its size. Strangely, even Amity looked shocked for a moment, before recovering and ordering the abomination to capture Luz.
Luz yelped as the abomination reached for her with surprising speed, and rolled out of the way. Before the abomination could try to grab her a second time, Luz flattened her hand as if going for a karate chop and extended her light magic through it, forming a beam sword from her hand. When the abomination did reach for her again, Luz just flailed the beam sword and slashed off its fingers, the intense heat cauterising the gooey stumps and leaving the lost fingers as useless, burnt slag on the floor.
Amity grimaced and had her abomination rip off its own burnt segments so it could regrow its fingers, but the process left one arm noticeably shorter than the other. The abomination then tore off its own head and threw it at Luz, but the young angel just sliced her hand upward and cut the head in half down the middle, letting the two halves fall into piles of mush on either side of her. Again, the abomination was forced to reform its shape with less goo, making it smaller.
"Ugh, try this!" Amity cried, ripping her own abomination in half and making it reform into two separate abominations, which moved to flank Luz. Luz briefly panicked as they closed in, and slapped her free hand on the ground to summon a thorn vault, launching her into the air over the two abominations. While in the air, she abandoned the beam sword and shot vines from both hands, wrapping the two abominations up and yanking them into the air with her. When they reached her, she jammed her feet into them and used them as cushions to soften her landing. The landing made the abominations splatter a bit, and sent a painful tremor up Luz's legs, but the girl finished her attack by launching light blasts from her feet, utterly vaporising the two abominations.
Amity gasped and backed off a step as Luz staggered towards her, using her flower-based healing magic to fix the sprains caused by her hard landing.
"A-Abominations, rise!" Amity cried, drawing a huge spell circle and summoning up as many abominations as she could. She ended up with a small army of nine, but each one was just barely the same height as Luz, and Amity looked noticeably paler from the effort.
"She's panicking!" Gus exclaimed in the audience.
"Panicking or not, Amity made all those abominations with just her magic! That takes a lot of power… I knew she was strong, but I didn't think she was that strong." Willow frowned.
Eda scoffed; "Who cares! She could summon a thousand of those things and it wouldn't matter! This is the problem with the coven and track systems; it makes witches into one-trick ponies! Luz's light blasts can take out an abomination easy, but since that's the only magic Baby Blight knows, she's got nothing else to fall back on. Luz is gonna kick butt!"
Eda's comments were heard by those around her, who began to mutter and repeat them until almost the entire audience was talking about it. Most were still cheering for Amity, but a few began to heckle her, demanding she use some other kinds of magic.
Amity grew flustered, and her control over her abominations wavered for a moment. In that moment, Luz recreated her light sword and spun in a circle, bisecting all nine abominations as they'd been surrounding her. Luz then dismissed the light sword and pointed her palm at Amity, aiming to immobilise her with some thornless vines.
To everyone's surprise, Amity suddenly slapped the floor like Luz had a moment ago and recreated the same thorn vault, launching her into the air.
"I'm not a one-trick pony!" Amity screamed, manipulating her surviving abomination goo so it would rise up and to create a slide for her to land on and slide down. As she slid down it towards Luz, the parts of the slide she'd already gone past quickly followed after her, forming a heavy gauntlet of slime around the young Blight's fist.
"Whoa!" Luz cried in amazement, before being forced to duck below Amity's punch. Amity whirled around and tried to punch Luz again, but Luz stopped this one by conjuring a wall of vines to block the blow and then tie Amity up. For a moment it looked like it worked, but Amity was able to twirl her finger to make a spell circle, which caused the vines around her to disintegrate, letting her continue her melee assault.
Luz yelped and backed off, but another spell from Amity resulted in a cage of blue magic to appear around the two girls, boxing them both in and leaving Luz unable to escape. She backed right into the cage, crying out as the magic shocked her, and dropped to the side to avoid Amity's abomination-covered fist. With Luz lying prone on the ground, Amity drew a spell circle with her heel, causing the rest of her abomination slime to pool around Luz and bind her limbs, as well as cover her mouth.
The young angel was completely immobilised, trapped inside a magic shock cage, and with Amity stood over her with a heavy abomination gauntlet to slam into her if she tried to escape. Things looked grim for Luz.
"Please surrender! I don't want to hurt you." Amity begged, her stern expression wavering.
Luz looked up with sad eyes, and shook her head. Amity closed her eyes, and with a pained look on her face, she threw a punch at the trapped angel. Before the blow could hit her however, Luz revealed that she'd sent some plant magic into the ground, creating a large Venus Fly Trap to burst out of the ground between the girls and immediately grab Amity's gauntlet. While Amity was distracted by that, Luz released a weak burst of light magic from every part of her body, vaporising her restraints and allowing her to use both hands to summon a second large plant. This one, looking like a carnivorous flower, appeared below Luz and closed around her, before sinking into the ground and re-emerging outside of Amity's barrier.
Amity watched with disbelief as Luz stepped out of the plant and pointed her palm at her, a light blast ready to fire.
"I'm sorry Amity, but please give up! I don't like fighting or hurting people, especially my friends, but as stupid as Eda was to agree to Lilith's bet, I can't just let her be forced into a coven she doesn't want to join." Luz said imploringly.
Amity bit her lip as she shook her head; "I can't do that, Luz."
With surprising strength, Amity then ripped her hand out of her gauntlet to free herself from the Venus Fly Trap, then reshaped the slime (which was all the abomination slime she had left) into a curved sword that she used to slice the plant apart. She then lowered her own barrier and ran at Luz, screaming out a battle cry as an aura of power appeared around her.
Luz gasped in surprise, giving up on her light magic to instead use plant magic to create a wooden sword to parry Amity's blow. "Whoa! Auras and swords? This is like the Good Witch Azura and anime got mixed together! If it weren't for that stupid bet, this would be awesome!" she couldn't help but cry. As serious as the situation was, it still made Luz's blood pump with excitement.
However something was bothering her… that aura looked strangely familiar.
Apparently Luz wasn't the only one who thought so, as Eda immediately got to her feet.
"Hey, time out for a second!" she demanded, marching down to the pit.
Amity and Luz pulled back their magically created weapons, while Lilith glared at her sister and stomped over to meet her. "What is the meaning of this, Edalyn?"
Eda just ignored her sister and began walking around Amity, who looked confused and nervous. Eda quickly spotted what she was looking for and lifted the back of Amity's hair, revealing a familiar sticker on the back of her neck.
"Hey, what are you-?" Amity protested as Eda pulled the sticker off. The instant the sticker was gone, Amity's skin paled and she staggered as a wave of exhaustion hit her. Her abomination sword shrank down to the size of a tiny pen knife, shocking the girl.
"W-What?"
"I knew it!" Eda proclaimed, waving the sticker in the air for the audience to see; "A power glyph from the Construction Coven!"
Luz and the audience gasped in shock, while Lilith went red in the face. There was some outraged mutterings from some of the audience, as Willow said; "I can't believe it! Amity cheated!?"
"N-No, I didn't know!" Amity protested, just as shocked as everyone else. Was this what Lilith had meant when she'd said Amity would be stronger than she believed herself to be?
Eda ignored Amity entirely as she began to dance around her sister with a victorious grin; "Ha! Yes, yes, yes! You cheated! Perfect, prissy little Lilith cheated! Hot dang, I love Coventions!"
"I-I only did that because I knew you would cheat!" Lilith spat, humiliated.
Eda grinned like a Cheshire Cat; "But I didn't cheat this time, did I? All that was Luz on her own! Which means you lose!"
Lilith went pale, and a glow began to spread over her hand as the Everlasting Oath took effect. Amity gasped as she too felt the magic constricting around her, and tears began to flow down her face.
"No no no! Please, I didn't know! I didn't cheat! I would never! Please! Not like this!" Amity cried.
Luz, honestly believing that Amity would never cheat, felt her chest tighten painfully. She didn't want this! She was an angel; her role in life was to help people! She couldn't let Amity suffer just because their mentors were being pig-headed!
"Wait!" Luz suddenly cried, "I didn't win! It's a tie!"
The magic effected Lilith and Amity stopped, and everyone turned to her with looks of confusion, curiosity, and in the case of Lilith and Amity, hope. Luz reached into her pocket and pulled out the power glyph she'd been given by Mason earlier, and waved it in the air. She then braced herself for a very painful experience…
"A-Amity and I both have one of these! W-We agreed to it before the fight, and just forgot to tell our mentors!" Luz lied, tearing up as the most horrendous burning feeling filled her throat. It was like she was drinking acid, and it took every bit of willpower she had not to start sobbing and choking. "Amity used hers, but I haven't used mine yet! And since we agreed on it, it isn't cheating! The duel is still in a tie!"
Eda, King, and Amity, the only ones in the room who knew what Luz truly was, noticed the pained look on Luz's face and the tears in her eyes, and knew she was lying. Amity felt a rush of pure affection for the other girl, who was hurting herself to save Amity from a horrible fate.
Lilith knew it was a lie too, and assumed it was a show of kindness from her niece towards her only aunt and one of her friends. She smiled gratefully at Luz and said; "You see, Sister? It wasn't cheating at all. Though you coming down here and interfering could be seen as such… however I'll let it slide due to your apprentice's honesty. Shall we step out of the ring so they may continue?"
Eda scowled and nodded, but Amity shook her head. Luz wasn't in a state to keep fighting, so it was time for the young Blight to start paying the girl back for her kindness.
"Y-You interfering with the fight means my power is running low, and I don't have another power glyph. So Luz and I are going to take a ten minute break to recharge. Consider it my time out too, if you have to." Amity said, wiping her earlier tears away.
Without waiting for agreement from the Clawthorne sisters, Amity grabbed Luz's wrist and began gently pulling her out of the ring and into the convention hall's back rooms.
"A-Amity…" Luz croaked, only for the other girl to lean back and gently put a finger over Luz's lips.
"Hush for now, Luz. Let's get you some water first." Amity said softly. Luz felt her cheeks heat up a bit as she nodded; she wasn't exactly in a position to argue anyway.
Amity led Luz to the same room Lilith had taken her earlier, and sat the girl down before hurrying over to a water cooler to get the girl a drink. Luz happily gulped down three cups of ice cold water, then created her Healing Lotus and held it over her open mouth so the healing pollen could go down her throat. It didn't exactly heal her (the burning from an angel lying wasn't accompanied by actual physical injuries) but it did help take the edge off the pain, and combined with the water, Luz felt well enough to talk.
"Thanks, Amity. That wasn't fun…" Luz said.
"I can imagine. I was close enough to see how pained your expression was. I guess that old wives tale about angels not being able to lie was true after all." Amity replied casually.
Luz blinked, then went pale as Amity's words registered; "Y-You…!"
"I know, Luz." Amity nodded, taking a seat beside her.
"But how?"
Amity blushed as she reached into her shirt and pulled out a feather from Luz's wings, tied to a string and worn like a necklace. Luz gasped, recognising it immediately. Angels didn't tend to lose their feathers naturally; they had to be plucked or knocked out, and there was only one time that had happened since coming to the Boiling Isles.
"You were there… that day in the rain." Luz realised.
Amity nodded; "I was. I saw you fighting that huge bird monster. I didn't think it was you at first, but then you landed right in front of me before your big kick."
"You never said anything… not then, or any of the times I've seen you since." Luz said.
"I wasn't sure how to bring it up. I didn't know who you'd told and this is the first time we've been truly alone together. I didn't want to expose your secret; who knows what the Emperor's Coven would do to you if they found out the notorious Owl Lady had an angel apprentice? And…" Amity blushed; "… I didn't want you to get hurt. You're my friend… you saved my life even after your only impression of me was bullying Willow or standing by while Boscha tried to bully you. And you're the first person I've met in years who isn't just kissing up to me because I'm a Blight."
Luz looked confused; "Are the Blights a big deal or something?"
Amity couldn't help but giggle; "You see? You don't even know who they are! You like the same books as me, and you're nice to everyone and even protected Boscha from the Mandragora… and you hurt yourself by lying to protect me from losing the duel, even though it would mean you didn't suffer for that stupid bet."
"Aw, Amity." Luz edged closer to the girl, gently bumping shoulders with her; "You're my friend too. The truth is, back home in the Human Realm, I'm kind of considered a screw up. I tried to help people like an angel should, but it always backfired. I'm too chaotic, so I never fit in there as either a human or an angel. So I'm not used to having friends. Eda and King were the first to know what I was and accepted me for it, and I haven't told Willow and Gus yet, and now I know for certain that I have you too. That means a lot to me. And for the record, a sore throat is worth it to not have to see you cry like that again." she said, punctuating her words by wiping away the residual tear tracks on Amity's cheeks.
Amity went beet red; "T-Then I'm glad! That we both feel the same about each other. Being friends, I mean."
Luz smiled; "Me too, Amity." she then sighed; "But we're going to have to go back out there and fight… It's not fair; I wish Eda and her sister would just give up this stupid bet."
Amity wilted as she remembered their predicament; "I do too. But Miss Lilith said the Owl Lady was too proud to ever give it up."
"Huh, Eda said something similar about Lilith. She said she was so sure of your victory that she'd never take the bet back." Luz said.
Amity groaned and rubbed a hand down her face; "Great, we're both stuck fighting each other and trying to ruin one another's futures because those two are too stubborn to give it up! What do we do… I can't beat you, Luz! You were winning even while I was powered up! But I don't want to be a wild witch, or force you to join a coven!"
Luz frowned as she nodded in agreement. However after a few moments of thinking, she began to grin as an idea came to her. "Actually, I think I have a plan. Listen to this." she said, before whispering in Amity's ear.
The Greenette blushed as she felt Luz's breath on her ear, but soon began grinning as she listened to her idea. "Do you really think it'll work?"
Luz nodded with a grin; "I'm sure it will! It's just a matter of how long it takes."
"Alright, let's do it then." Amity agreed.
Feeling cheered up, Luz happily got to her feet and offered Amity her hand; "Then let's go!"
Amity took the offered hand (blushing in the process, naturally) and allowed the excitable young angel to pull her to her feet and out of the room. As soon as they left Lilith's prep room, they came face to face with a surprising figure.
Mason, the Head Witch of the Construction Coven, was waiting right outside the door.
"O-Oh! Mr Mason! What's up?" Luz asked with a nervous smile.
The bearded witch stared at Luz for a long moment, before taking off his hard hat and pulling another power glyph sticker off of the stack he had there. He silently handed it to Amity, then nodded and walked off.
The two girls blinked in surprise, unsure of what to make of the odd interaction. "How long do you think he was there…?" Amity muttered, "He was looking at you really intensely."
"Hopefully not too long." Luz replied, feeling a little creeped out.
The two girls shrugged it off and hurried back to the theatre, where they found the audience chatting away to each other while Eda and Lilith stood in the ring, making snide comments to each other. When they saw their proteges returning, Lilith smiled while Eda looked mildly concerned for Luz.
"You okay there, kid?" Eda asked, obviously referring to Luz's throat.
"I'm okay. Amity and I had a talk and some water. We're all ready to finish this pointless duel." Luz answered, a bit of bite in her words that made Eda cringe. She was still not very happy with her mentor… the Owl Lady was going to have make today's fiasco up to her later.
Amity nodded in agreement; "Shall we get this over with?"
"Of course. Take your positions." Lilith said, nearly dragging Eda back out of the ring. Luz and Amity obediently took their positions on opposite sides of their battleground, then waited for Lilith to trigger the bell to recommence their duel. The audience began to cheer, with their shouts of support being equal for both girls this time around. King, Willow, and Gus clapped for Luz, though all three noticed the determined look in the girl's eyes, which had replaced the reluctance and fear she'd shown earlier.
"BEGIN!" yelled Lilith.
Both girls let out a battle cry and ran at each other, throwing their fists back. No spell circles or magic was in play, leaving the audience wondering if they were about to watch two witches pummel each other with their fists. However, right before Luz and Amity were about to crash into each other, they both skidded to a stop with a smirk and threw their fists forward. Amity extended two fingers, while Luz flattened her hand.
The audience went silent as Amity smirked and Luz pouted.
"Scissors beats paper. Round one goes to me!" Amity boasted.
A wave of disbelief came over the audience, as everyone stared with open mouth shock at the anti-climactic "clash".
"I'll get you next time!" Luz said, pulling her hand back and preparing to throw it forward again. Amity did the same, and her smirk soon faltered as she threw rock and Luz threw paper again.
"Ha! That one is my win!" Luz cheered.
"You haven't beaten me yet, Luz!" Amity retorted.
The girls pulled their hands back and prepared to throw them forward again, before Lilith stopped them.
"Hold on one moment! What are you two doing!?" she yelled.
"Duelling." Luz answered cheekily.
"This isn't a duel!" Lilith retorted.
"Maybe not, but Luz and I decided we didn't want to hurt each other over a duel we didn't even want to fight. You and your sister dragged us into this, so we've decided to settle the duel our way." Amity said.
"With Rock-Paper-Scissors?" Eda asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yup! First to 100 wins is the winner of the duel. Amity and I agreed on it." Luz said.
The audience began to groan and protest, obviously wanting to see blood and combat. Luz and Amity didn't care though; they didn't want to fight, so they wouldn't. Eda was one of the ones groaning, though not for the same reasons.
"100 wins? That'll take hours!" she complained.
"Only if one of us gets really lucky." her apprentice said casually, making both Eda and Lilith frown.
"What do you mean by that?" Lilith asked.
"It's not 100 wins. It's 100 consecutive wins. So even though I won the first round, because I lost the second one, my streak has to start again. Speaking of…" Amity threw paper as Luz threw rock, giving her the win; "Ha! The third round is mine! Now I just have to beat you 99 more times. Feeling the heat yet, Noceda?"
"In your dreams, Blight!" Luz smirked.
Eda and Lilith watched, dumbfounded, as their proteges played Rock-Paper-Scissors for several more rounds, with neither getting more than a three win streak before having to start again. The audience, already realising where this was going, namely nowhere, began to walk out in droves, loudly complaining that the fight was ending on such a dull note after the exciting first half. Soon only the "duellists", their mentors, King, Willow, and Gus were left watching the "duel", along with a strangely enthusiastic Coven Scout who cheered for both girls with each victory.
A total of twenty rounds went by before someone finally lost their patience, though to Luz's surprise, it was Lilith who lost it first.
"Enough of this! You are both just wasting time! This "duel" will never end at this rate!" she yelled.
"Too bad. We don't want to hurt each other, and we can't give up because of your stupid bet." Luz shot back.
"If you and Miss Eda were to cancel that bet, then one of us could surrender and end things here." Amity added.
Realisation dawned on Lilith; so that was their plan. Force them to either give up the bet, or trap them in a never ending duel. Considering the consequences if either lost, Lilith couldn't blame them… Meanwhile Eda was just smirking, secretly proud of her apprentice's cunning. Still, she knew either her or Lilith would have to bite the bullet and actually ask to get rid of the bet, and that felt like losing in its own way.
Sighing heavily, Eda decided it would be her; she owed Luz for getting her in this mess in the first place. "Fine fine. Lily, let's agree to call off the bet and the Everlasting Oath."
Lilith smirked, taking the petty victory she was being offered; "As you wish, dear sister. With how old you're looking, I can imagine why you'd not want to waste more time here."
Eda's eye twitched. She looked great, and younger than she had in years thanks to the lingering effects of the botched curse cure. But she kept her cool and offered her hand; "Come on then."
The sisters clasped hands and Lilith drew a spell circle, which made their joined hands glow before vanishing. "There, the oath is unbound."
"Great. I surrender." Amity said quickly. Lilith frowned, but didn't argue; that was Amity's own payback. The Head Witch was certain that wouldn't be the last of it either… Amity would hold today's debacle over her head for a while.
"Yay, I win!" Luz giggled, "Thanks for the help, Amity."
Amity blushed and smiled; "You're welcome. This was your idea in the first place. You're pretty good at helping people in unconventional ways."
Luz returned the blush, Amity's compliment meaning more to her than the others could ever know. King, Willow, and Gus hurried over to join them, each smiling happily.
"Luz! Thank goodness! You managed to win without ruining Amity's life. You never fail to surprise us." Willow said.
"It's gotta be that half-human ingenuity! No way would a normal witch think of that." Gus added.
King scoffed; "Luz's victory was a guarantee from the beginning! No offence, Baby Blight. You actually put up a good fight there for a while."
"Uh, thanks? I think."
Luz giggled; "Trust me, that was a compliment. You should be honoured; King doesn't hand them out often."
Amity rolled her eyes good-naturedly; "Whatever you say, Luz."
Willow, seeing that the two looked even closer now, smiled knowingly and said; "There's still a bit more time before the Covention is over for the day. Why don't we all hang out together. I think those two could use some time alone to talk anyway."
She nodded in the direction of Eda and Lilith, who were watching each other tensely. Not wanting to risk getting dragged into another fight between the Clawthorne sisters, Luz and Amity immediately nodded.
"Eda, we're going to go explore! Meet you outside when the Covention is over! Byeeee!" Luz yelled over her shoulder, dragging her friends off.
Eda watched them go with a grin, then scowled back at Lilith, who was shaking her head.
"Ugh, this has been a bad day." Lilith complained.
"Yeah, well you don't have to deal with an angry apprentice when you get home! I'm gonna have to get Luz a bribe or something after this screw up."
"Oh please, you don't have to deal with the Blights. If Amity tells her parents about today, I'm going to be hearing it from them for the foreseeable future. I'm at her mercy, and she's angry with me!" Lilith grumbled, "I never should have made that stupid bet… I was just so desperate to get you to finally join me in the Emperor's Coven!"
"I figured something was up." Eda said, leaning against the stage, "You've never been quick to drag others into your dirty work before. So what's up? Why so desperate?"
Lilith shot her an unimpressed glare; "Like you don't already know."
"If I knew, I wouldn't ask. I'm good Lily, but I'm not omniscient. So spill; what has your robes in a twist."
"You have a daughter who is cursed, Edalyn!" Lilith snapped, making Eda's eyes grow wide; "I know you're trying to hide it, but it's obvious that Luz is your child. You'd never take a random witchling as a student, and she's half human! The only one with access to the human realm is you, so who else could be her witch parent?"
Lilith began to pace in front of her sister; "And I know you're trying to hide her curse; I could sense that concealment stone around her neck. You really need to put a shielding enchantment on that by the way, or everyone will be able to detect it. I have a report from the Conformatorium break-in where she is described as having white hair and undersized feathery wings. Now who else do you know that has prematurely greying hair, feathers, and amber eyes?" she asked rhetorically.
Eda stared at Lilith in shock, which did nothing to dissuade her sister from her theory. So Lilith had acted so rashly because she thought she had a cursed niece… it made a weird amount of sense too. Taking Luz in had been out of character for Eda, and the girl did have the same eye colour as her. Combine that with the feathers and hair, and Eda could see how Lilith fooled herself into believing Luz was her cursed niece. Angels were virtually myths on the Boiling Isles too, so it made sense that no one would expect Luz to be one.
Ultimately, the Owl Lady decided not to deny it; better Luz be thought of as a cursed witch rather than an angel. Otherwise some opportunistic scout might kill her for a payday in ingredients, or worse, take her straight to the Emperor. There were rumours that Belos had an interest in angels, which was the chief reason Eda wanted to keep Luz's identity a secret.
"Fine, so you figured it out." Eda lied, "Luz's other Mom is a human, and she usually lives with her in the Human Realm. She's with me for the summer to learn magic. Her curse isn't like mine though; she doesn't transform into the Owl Beast, but she is stuck with those feathers all the time. Her magic is also a little different, but we're working out ways for her to use it safely; you saw that yourself when she kicked your protege's butt."
Lilith growled, but didn't deny it; "Eda, the Emperor has promised to heal your curse if you just join the coven! I'm sure he'd heal Luz too! Then she wouldn't have to walk around hiding her true self behind a concealment stone! I mean think about it Eda! If anyone who didn't know of your connection saw her without it now, they might mistake her for an angel!"
The irony of that statement was killing Eda, but she kept a straight face; "Luz is fine. She's happy and doesn't want anything to do with the Emperor or his little club of fanatics. Now stay away from her; you didn't exactly make a good first impression "Auntie" Lily."
Those words stung, and Lilith looked ashamed as Eda walked away. Before the younger Clawthorne could leave the theatre though, Lilith spoke up once again; "I WILL capture you Eda. I will save you from that curse, and your daughter too. Nothing will stop me."
Eda felt a spike of fondness; her big sister, for all her flaws, did always look out for her. Even when she didn't want her to.
"Best of luck, Lily. You'll need it."
And with that, Eda left Lilith alone, neither sister knowing when they'd next meet, but both knowing it would be in battle.
[Meanwhile]
A certain Coven Head was sighing to themselves as they finished their work for the day. Slaving away at the Covention was always the most annoying day of the year for them, and they always worked up far more of a sweat than usual. The fact they'd had so few decent recruits to their coven just compounded their annoyance, but that was to be expected. Their coven was for people who got their hands dirty, and it certainly wasn't as glamorous as the Illusion or Abomination Covens…
In fact, they would have considered the entire day to be a waste of their time… if they hadn't seen her.
The half-human girl that they'd heard rumours about; the one who'd apparently been taken in by the Owl Lady and was rumoured to be her daughter and share her curse. When they'd first heard the rumours, they'd largely been disinterested; who cared about some little witchling, even if she was part human? But then they'd actually seen her…
The girl had looked so familiar; a dead wringer for the woman they'd loved in their youth. The one they'd lost.
They rubbed their hands together, ignoring the callouses they'd built up in their work; Edalyn Clawthorne's days were numbered, the Emperor or her curse would see to that, and when the Owl Lady was out of the way, the girl would be without a master to guide her. She'd be ripe for them to come along and take her for themselves.
If she was related to their lost love, then she could lead them to her, and if her appearance was just a coincidence, then maybe she'd make a nice replacement!