Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Amity woke up with a startled start. A growl leaving her throat as she quickly sat down on a soft, fluffy surface she was resting on.

Her head was hurting excruciatingly, and it took her 1 or 2 moments to assimilate that she was lying on a bed.

Blinking, she tried to see where she was, which didn't help a lot since her vision was terribly blurry, but at least she could make out a slight source of light coming from somewhere out the room. A window probably.

'A bedroom...?' She rambled, turning her head to try and get her bearings while working to remember what happened earlier.

They had just returned to the Boiling Isles... to Hexside to be more precise. And they also discovered that Kikimora had manipulated Boscha to control the whole school with an iron fist. And after being separate and reuniting again, Luz gained a palisman and they created a huge teleportation glyph to take them to the Titan's skull...

Alright, how did all of this result in her landing up in this room?

And not just any room, the more her views cleared, the more Amity was sure that this was her old bedroom at the Blight manor.

"What the..?" Her confusion only gradually increased as she took a closer look and noticed things that shouldn't be there. "Didn't I throw that poster away?" Her eyes narrowed in an attempt to make sure she was really seeing the yellowed paper from some manicure that Boscha recommended to her a long time ago, lying on top of her dressing table.

"Wait... Do they still produce Lilith posters?" She hissed turning her head to the opposite side of the room and coming face to face with the caricature of her former mentor, complete with the straight blue hair and her emperor's coven robe.

'Seriously, if this is a Edric and Emira's prank I swear I'll put abomination goo on their mattress the next chance I get.' She huffed grumpily, getting out from under the bed covers.

Despite all the weird feeling around her, none of it explained why she was here at the first place. Did the glyph go wrong? Where was everybody else then? Where was Ghost by the way? He never left her side if it isn't to play with her friends' palismen, and she doubted everything was so calm for him to be doing this right now.

Amity unconsciously raised a hand to scratch the back of her neck, only to freeze when her fingers touched a familiar collar.

And it wasn't her moon pendant necklace, she had taken it off when she wore her Hecate costume in the human world.

With her mind slowly and surely entering a spiral of fear, the Blight swept her eyes around the room in search of the nearest mirror, refusing to look down until she reached it, afraid of her mind playing tricks on her vision.

Not that it did anything in the end.

Amity's eyes widened in horror as she stared at her own reflection in the mirror, golden eyes with obvious dark circles adorning them greeting her back, without her usual makeup to disguise it like she always did MONTHS AGO.

And her hair. Oh, her hair...

The witch covered her mouth with both hands, fearing that she might vomit if she continued to look at the mint green monstrosity with the brown root barely beginning to appear underneath.

Her hands brushed the collar around her neck once again, making her release the breath she didn't know that was holding and take the lilac stone off her without bothering to try to open the clasp. She wasn't in a very methodical frame of mind to try anyway.

Letting the necklace fall carelessly to the floor with a small clatter, Amity retreated back with shaky steps, blindly looking for the wall of her room to lean on something that wasn't painfully out of place.

Was this a nightmare? Because that was the only plausible answer she could think of. Perhaps some deity (Collector?) was playing games with her tortured memories! They were heading straight to fight some kind of childish god after all, so... Perhaps this was just an illusion!

Even if that wasn't a pleasant thing to think about, it would be better than the possibility that this could all be real. Thinking that she could be dead and that this was some kind of limbo was not something worth imagining.

Her ragged and labored breathing was starting to make her dizzy as Amity instinctively tried to dig her nails into the wall behind her. There was no way this was actually happening, right? No, she swore to never again Odalia's shadow that her mother tried to mold her into for so many years, there was no way-

Luz... What would Luz think if she saw her in this state? Where is she by the way? Gus, Willow, Camilla, even Hunter! Had they been caught too?

Was she the only one there? She was...

Alone?

"Mittens!" Emira's voice behind the bedroom door made Amity's soul leave her body for a moment, almost knocking over the lamp on her bedside table. "Are you done getting ready? Mom wanna know why you haven't gone to school yet!"

Choking on her own saliva, unable to formulate a response or even say anything, Amity staggered to the door, her shaky legs not being reliable for the task and leaving her with no alternative other than to lean on the wood to prevent Emira from entering in case it wasn't locked. She didn't want her sister to see her like this... But she also wanted to know what in the world she was doing there too!

Finally recapping what the older Blight had just said, Amity almost racked her brain to try to understand what she meant. School... Why would she need to go back to school? Hexside was falling apart and was only a shelter for survivors of the Collector disaster now!

"I..." Amity tried to respond, wincing a little when she noticed how hoarse and small her voice was. "I'm almost ready, I'll be coming down soon."

Amity didn't know why she lied. Maybe because if this really was an illusion by the Collector it would be pointless trying to get Emira to explain what was happening? Was she just in too fragile a state of mind to try to voice out any of the doubts she hadn't even finished elaborate yet?

She didn't know, and was honestly one step away from give up.

"Wow, looks like someone didn't had sweet dreams again, sis?" Emira tried to joke on the other side of the door, although Amity could hear a note of concern in her voice. "If you want more makeup to cover the dark circles, don't forget to ask! I'll be waiting in my room."

The younger girl didn't respond, just stared at the door tiredly as she tried to breathe properly and heard footsteps slowly moving away from her.

Well... Now she urgently needs a shower if she wants to wake up for good or at least stay sane enough to live in this illusion... Or whatever this is.

Amity always arrived at school early.

And when she says that, she means she's literally the first person to step on Hexside soon as Principal Bump opens the school gates. The latest she's ever been in her entire life was 10 minutes before first class started, and that was because the twins had dragged her by force to downtown Bonesborough to buy half of a slush store.

Now she wouldn't mind being the last one to arrive if it meant not looking the witch in front of her in the eyes.

Because none other than Willow Park was staring at her like she just had seen a ghost, kneeling in the middle of the road that led to Hexside in front of a small sapling that she was trying to strengthen with her magic.

Amity had already identified which day exactly she had been forced to relive when Edric gave her a huge barrel full of abomination goo, saying that she asked for it for some school test or something. However, she only remembered what that also implied when she saw her... Ex-best friend(?) with the colors of the abominations's coven on her uniform instead of the green in which she should have been.

And Amity was absolutely screwed, because this has nothing to go well for none of them.

"...Amity." Willow greeted her with a voice so low it was almost a whisper, and the Blight's heart ached at the way she was crestfallen in her spot, trying to remain small even after standing up, her eyes fixed on the ground where the little plant now lay withered.

Swallowing the lump in her suddenly dry throat, the golden-eyed girl forced something out of her mouth, anything to break the tense silence, hoping that all the guilt and anguish she was now feeling wouldn't leak out into her voice. "You're early today, Willow."

The witch's head ricocheted upwards immediately (at an incredible speed by the way), green eyes wide and surprised by something. And it took Amity a minute to realize that it was the tone of voice she used. There was no disdain, mockery or sarcasm in sight, just a awkwardly cheerful and soft voice that the girl probably hadn't heard from her in years.

Great, another addition to her growing shitself list.

"Witch drama..." Her ears perked up when she caught a new voice coming from some bushes near the clearing where they were, and the time traveler felt her blood run cold as she immediately recognized who it was.

Luz.

She's there.

Does she also remember what happened? Willow clearly doesn't, but she...

Would she still-

"Amity?" The aforementioned was dragged out of the reality of her out-of-control heartbeat by Willow's still shy voice, although this time it seemed a little louder than before, as if she was evaluating whether it was worth putting her hand in the fire. "Are you... Uh... Fine?"

"... Yes." She slurred, backing away until her back touched the cold clay of the barrel. "I-I better get going! In case we meet again in Hexside I'll-

Her abrupt goodbye was cut off by the sound of something falling to the ground behind Willow, which with a quick glance from them turned out to be her own barrel of abomination goo. Now cracked from the fall, its gooey contents spilling onto the floor.

Suddenly, Willow looked as small as she had when Amity showed up there, and they were back to square one.

Oh, she's expecting some mockery about her lack of control over her own abomination...

Amity's lips curved downwards, her eyebrows furrowing.

Moving on autopilot, Amity took an empty bottle out of her uniform (sometimes Emira or Edric used to put some prank in her backpack before she went to school, this must have been one she forgot to throw away), opening her barrel for a moment to put a decent amount of abomination goo into the bottle before closing it again.

"You can have this one." She said, offering the partially filled barrel to the witch who now found herself staring at her perplexed. "I don't need such a big container to store my abomination until class, and this little guy here is usually pretty obedient to anyone."

Willow blinked. 3 times. Before rubbing her eyes with both hands and pinching herself to make sure it wasn't a dream (believe her Willa, Amity had been wondering the same thing since she woke up!), swallowing hard as she looked up and saw that her ex-best friend was still there, one hand raised with the offer still standing.

'It's too good to be true.' A bitter little voice whispered in the back of her head, and the green-eyed girl found herself slowly agreeing with it. 'Yes, this can't be real, she just woke up in a good enough mood to tease you for longer than usual. Surely this barrel will be full of fire-breathing flying snakes or-

Using her breathing technique that she had been perfecting over the years, Willow took a few deep breaths and closed her hands into fists, drawing courage from somewhere unknown to her to provide Amity with a real answer.

"I'm sorry, Amity. But I can deal with what I have... Thank you very much." She muttered walking towards her abomination sprawled across the ground, trying futilely to get the creature back to the damaged barrel and refusing to look at the other witch again.

Amity felt something inside her sadden. But in the end she had to give in with a sigh, lowering her hand and turning on her heels to get back on her way to Hexside, seeing that she couldn't convince her otherwise now. "If you insist..."

When she was practically out of the clearing, Amity cursed her keen ears for being able to hear the sound of rustling bushes and the excited whisper-screams of a certain human to Willow.

And this time not even the confirmation of Luz's presence there could lessen the guilt that pressed against her head like cold and insensitive hands.

It was only when Hexside's annoying bell screamed that Amity was finally able to focus on something other than the jumble of thoughts that was her mind at the moment. Her hypotheses about what the hell was going on were put to rest soon after the witch remembered that her next class would be on "how to control an abomination". Something that was practically natural to her now after all the things she'd seen and done with her friends during her adventures.

Sure, she wasn't at Darius' level yet and it might take a while to get there, but, modesty aside, Amity doubted that a review from last year would revive any interest or challenge in her.

She always sat behind Willow, who was just as huddled and nervous as she had been at their first "meet" earlier, although this time her nervousness actually seemed more like anticipation, and Amity knew very well that the cause of that was inside the barrel beside her.

This wasn't the talented plant witch Amity knew. Willow was strong and brave, her magic being compared to a Coven Leader several times. But not this Willow. This Willow showed weakness, insecurity and submission. And Amity felt like the worst piece of trash in the world whenever she remembered that most of this behavior was her fault.

Professor Hermonculus entered the room with a cheerful greeting to his students, his strangely pink abomination holding him by the waist in an attempt to make the wizard taller and more intimidating. Everyone knew that this didn't work, and although the students still felt a certain fear of the dwarf, it was still something undeniably ridiculous.

And if she's honest with herself, her distracted mind didn't pay attention to any class today, and this one was no exception. She registered an explanation there, a difficult term here, but the real context was too far from her for the witch to bother caring.

Drumming her fingers against the old wood of her desk, Amity pondered what she had gathered so far, ignoring Boscha's whisper beside her, probably some rude comment about the class.

Assuming this wasn't an illusion or projection from the Collector or something of that nature, Amity believed she'd won and lost the lottery at the same time. On the one hand, she was literally back to the beginning of everything, she could fix all the shit she did and was going to do, relive and enjoy the best moments of her life and much more. Now, for this to happen, there were also doubts and the realization of everything she lost overnight.

Could she still reconcile with Willow (preferably without having to almost burn all her memories and involve Luz in it)? Could she even talk to Luz knowing she would be a complete stranger to her own girlfriend? Would it be possible to prevent the Collector from being released or stop Belos before the Day of Union?

Ugh... Those questions were making her head throb...

"...The biggest abominations here are all of you!" Looking up, Amity stared at her teacher, trying to understand what she had missed. She should probably stop rambling and pay attention, but...

Looking around quickly, the witch noticed that her classmates seemed afraid and nervous about something, especially Willow, by the way she was in a cold sweat at her seat. "If the next abomination is also a failure, you all get extra homework for a month!"

Hermonculus' stern look showed that he would be willing to truly fulfill his promise, and the Blight's eyes shone with understanding.

Oh, here they go again.

The dwarf wizard stared at the row where she was sitting. His gaze passing by all the students, stopping on her for a second (or maybe it was on Skara touching up her makeup behind her) before continuing until his eyes landed on someone else, which made a wicked grin appear on his face.

"How about…" A pause in his sentence and everyone's anticipation was through the roof. Such a feeling that was soon replaced by disbelief as he gestured to the witch right in front of Amity. "Willow Park? Come here and show us what you prepared."

The witch quickly stood up as soon as her name was called. Amity looked at her and felt bad at the clear tension Willow was showing. And then she felt a pang of fury at how petty the students were being, whispering about Willow and her... Problem with abominations.

I mean, it's not like she's to blame! Willow was just in the wrong coven.

Once again, a thanks to Luz for making Amity realize how despicable she was before it was too late back then.

And speaking of the human, she was in position inside the barrel and being taken by Willow to the front of the class, who flinched at every mean word she heard coming from all directions. Hermonculus himself seemed to have made this choice on purpose as he looked at his student mockingly.

'Such professionalism...' Amity thought sarcastically, suddenly feeling an immense desire to shoot an abomination arrow into the old man's huge forehead, but she forced herself to stop when she noticed the lid of the barrel lifting slightly, probably Luz saying something encouraging for Willow. She was in good hands.

The witch's green eyes were wide as she turned to the class, stressed by all the attention to her imminent failure. And then...

"Abomination... Rise!"

The top of the barrel flew away (far and hard enough for Amity to worry a little about the state of Luz's fingers at this moment) and the creature covered in purple goo jumped out of it, the untamed hair and brown eyes Amity knew very well saluting her vision.

Her cheeks heated considerably and she covered them with both hands to hide the redness that was definitely on her face now. That was Luz. Amity simply had been so worried about everything that was happening and might happen that she forgot that it was there where she "met" Luz.

In case by some chance trying to dissect your future girlfriend counts as meeting someone.

It was weird, to say the least, having to look at her clumsy and energetic figure again. Her Luz was not like that. This Luz was happy, naive and optimistic. None of them liked to talk about it, but Luz wasn't like that anymore. So being able to revisit this phase of hers left a strange and bittersweet feeling in Amity's stomach.

The professor was impressed, even shocked. And not only him, but all the other students besides Amity were also stunned, no one expecting that the nicknamed half-witch would be able to create something as difficult as a humanoid abomination.

A proud (and extremely hypocritical) smile appeared on Hermonculus's face, as if that incredible "abomination" was there because of him. Amity could only roll her eyes in response, even though she was holding back her own urge to congratulate Willow. Unfortunately, she seemed to be the only one who actually noticed this change in her teacher.

"Incredible! Absolutely stunning!" Hermonculus exclaimed in wonder, touching Luz's cheek (who honestly deserved an award for remaining practically motionless with this). The Latina was being convincing enough by the rather... Well, ridiculous expression on her face, but being a damn professor trained in abominations, Amity was a little surprised that he hadn't recognized the anatomy too unique to have been done by a beginner or how Luz's cheek was clearly not made of goo.

Or maybe not really, it wasn't uncommon for Amity to find weird inconsistencies and inaccuracies in some of the work he passed to them.

Willow was still extremely nervous, and didn't seem to believe that such a bad idea was actually working out, but she still couldn't contain her joy in a little sweet smile. "T-Thank you... Teacher."

"Does it speaks?" He let his curiosity speak loudly as he continued to stare at the human, a huge fascination written on his face. Luz and Willow quickly looked at each other, apprehension clear between them. And seeing that the plant witch was more forsaken than her, Luz forced a mischievous smile and Amity knew something stupid was about to happen.

She shivered when heard Luz's horrible pun on the pronunciation of abomination, even more so when Hermonculus could laugh at it! No, he didn't just laugh, he looked like he was about to cry!

For the Titan's sake, if they somehow brought this topic up again later, Amity was unsure whether she would kiss Luz for getting out of a situation like this or pinch her for her questionable sense of humor. It would probably be better to do both.

Twirling her pen between her fingers, Amity once again dredged up her old ability to ignore the boring things people spouted around her (she owed Odalia a thank you for helping her hone this particular talent) when the teacher began a long, really long inspirational speech about Willow's performance today.

She never thought she would say this, but it was frustrating. Sitting here with nothing to do but attend a useless class and relive all her life regrets while an annoying threeclop who insisted on continuing to make mocking comments beside her. She was seriously one step away from kicking Boscha under the desk or trying a more direct approach like telling her to fuck off and leaving her alone.

Really, what could she be doing if she didn't have to come to school today? She could run away from that toxic house for the rest of the day until she was forced to return; could be looking for answers about how she landed in the past without a fricking time pool; organize her own thoughts in a quiet place or throw herself off the first cliff she came across, literally anything other than being there with just her anxiety and restlessness to keep her company.

But here she was, right in this terrible situation plus pretending to listen to whatever bullshit her teacher said.

"... And that's why we should always be inspired by our exemplary students!" The young Blight jumped when Hermonculus seemingly materialized next to her, barely giving her time to react properly before he took something from her uniform, returning to the front of the class unceremoniously.

She blinked in surprise for a few seconds, now a little regretting not paying as much attention to the wizard as she should have. And looking down at herself, it took Amity a few seconds to realize what exactly he had taken from her.

The best student's pin.

Deliberately touching the place on her chest where the old golden star used to be, Amity looked up to where Willow, Luz, and Hermonculus were. Watching her teacher casually place the star on Willow's uniform and then taking a red marker to write a big A+ on Luz's forehead (who surprisingly managed to stay on her role throughout the professor's monologue).

Oh.

Oh.

Amity chuckled humorlessly, a bit embarrassed with herself. She had forgotten about this part of the day...

Well, and apparently she wouldn't be able to do it again either, if the way Willow stared at her completely terrified was anything to go by.

That poor child is definitely going to sleep with one eye open tonight.

A little too conscious about the other students in the room, staring at her with such intensity that they seemed to want to dig a hole in her soul, Amity let out a long sigh and buried her face in her palms.

"I was a fucking piece of shit..."

Her exhaustion makes her body heavy.

Amity was no longer used to going to Hexside and having everyone (especially Willow) fearing her presence. Hell, she wasn't even used to go to a school! In the human world they stayed at the Noceda house most of the time or in the abandoned cabin trying to figure out a way to make a portal, as it was risky and unnecessary 5 witch children attending a human school without any need.

And if she thought it was hard enough reviewing Willow and Luz's performance, the rest of her morning was much worse. All the students and eventually herself had to perform, so you would think that she'd used all her experience and skill in abominations to do something pyroesque and incredible to get her brooch back?

NO! Not. at. all!

Amity bit her lower lip, still nervous even though her time in Hexside was already over. All she did was a simple and boring abomination so she could earn her equally boring grade and get out of there. Willow deserved that little treat much more than her after everything her past self made her suffer. And it wouldn't be Amity who would take that away from her now, again.

However, then she had to see Willow, Luz and Gus at the same time in the cafeteria during break! And once again her guilt and self-discomfort were back in full steam. What a wonderful day, huh?

It was just... So painful to watch them talking and laughing while (not so) discreetly giving slices of bread to Luz hidden in the barrel. Seeing how they were so happy, how Luz seemed so happy after everything she went through in the future...

Seeing how well they were without her. How she only joined their little happy group because Luz decided to give her a second chance despite everything she did-

Amity paused on her way back to the Blight manor to calm down, forcing the frustration tears burning behind her eyes not to spill over as she did her best to control her breathing and not sniffle.

She couldn't afford to arrive with a crying face at that place, where she would inevitably have to confront her mother about the broken collar at some point...

With an exhausted sigh, the witch shuffled into the mansion when she felt ready enough, being too tired to even take a second look at the man talking to her mother in the living room.

She knew it was rude not to greet visitors but hey, maybe she could come up with some excuse later to escape Odalia's lecture, saying she was in a hurry to do her homework or something like that. There were days when it was a strategy that worked.

The said oracle seemed excited. And quite anxious about what her face-tearing smile indicated. Amity had to try hard not to laugh at her mother and her clear display of inferiority in front of that golden mask.

...

Wait.

The teenager froze in place just in time for the two other ones turn to look at her, and if it weren't for that shitty mask, Amity was sure the brat would be looking at her with a smirk right now.

"Oh, if it isn't Little Miss Perfect." The Golden Guard greeted her with a hint of mockery, and Amity felt a sudden urge to trap him in a ball of abomination and throw him into the boiling sea, balling her hands into fists. "We were just talking about you, Amity! Could you have a word with me in private?"

Chapter Text

Whoever invented the concept of homework, Amity wished with all her heart that they would burn in the depths of the Boiling Sea right now.

The witch narrowed her eyes at the book in front of her, feeling her remaining neurons evaporate one by one as she tried to comprehend the letters printed on the page. Amity was pretty sure she still remembered the universal formula that described the properties of abomination goo somewhere in the back of her brain, so it wasn't like she really needed to study as hard as before. But Titan, she had forgotten how tiresome this routine was.

Even the sky seemed to be in a bad mood today. The acidic deadly storm falling in torrents outside her window had already been going strong for at least more than six hours from what Amity could remember.

She really missed the cool and harmless rain of the human realm. Of running with Luz through the wet grass with a stupid smile on her face. Of Luz...

Damn, she really missed Luz.

"Screw it, I need a damn break from this." The Blight decided, closing the book with a loud thud and leaving it on her desk. It was already nighttime (or so it seemed. The dark clouds covering the sky made it difficult to tell the time precisely), and Amity should probably be sleeping since she would have to face Hexside once again in the morning. But she just couldn't sit still, not while her brain continued to replay the previous day's events on a loop like a broken crystal ball.

"You're tense." The Golden Guard pointed with a calm that was unnerving in its fullness.

Amity let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, glancing at her mother's portly silhouette disappearing into the kitchen nearby the living room. Odalia had said that she would make Amity's favorite tea to settle in better and continue their overly demure conversation, leaving the two teenagers alone in an uncomfortable silence.

How fun. As if her mother knows what her favorite tea is. Or knows how to prepare it if that were the case.

"You must be mistaken." Amity answered resting her sweaty hands in her lap, knowing that her words sounded false even to her own ears. "For what reason would I be tense about having such an illustrious presence in my house?"

'Use sarcasm to mask your nerves? Ugh, you've seen better days, Blight.' The witch bravely resisted the urge to grimace.

"That I can't be sure of." Hunter tilted his head slightly, playing with the red shiny jewel on the end of his artificial staff. "But you do always seem nervous whenever it comes to your mother."

'Always?' Amity could feel her ears perk up. Had he ever seen her like this before even knowing who she was?

Dragging herself out of her room and muttering a muffling charm (she wasn't going to deal with Edric or Emira late sleeper asses if she had something to say about it), Amity stretched, feeling each vertebrae in her spine pop as she let out an inelegant yawn. 

She was hungry. The tiredness of the previous day had made her miss breakfast after oversleeping and her lunch was limited to half a fairy pie and some snacks that she found in her backpack. It wasn't like the Blights ate together often (having a workaholic father and brothers who were mostly busy getting into trouble really made things like that a rare event), but Amity supposed she could have asked one of her abominations to make her a proper meal or put into practice a little trick or two she'd learned from the culinary of the human realm.

"Where do you want to get with all this, Golden Guard?" She asked, tired of preambles. A small hypothesis as to why Hunter had suddenly decided to visit her home was beginning to form in her mind, but it was quickly squelched by the still surprisingly sane part of her. It can't be...

Hunter turned his head towards her, presumably to look at her eyes (it was impossible to be sure with the mask on), and his hands stopped fiddling with his staff, his chest falling in a long, silent sigh.

"...I have a question for you, Amity." He began, slowly and cautiously. The witch's hand twitched as she registered the use of her first name. It couldn't be... "And I would like you to answer it with all your sincerity."

Amity stared into the empty black eyes of the golden mask before her, feeling her heart kickstart as if it wanted to jump out of her ribs. "Proceed."

Without breaking eye contact, the Golden Guard leaned towards her, his voice lowering until it sounded more like a whisper than anything. "Who is Luz Noceda for you?"

"A bully." Is what she should have said without hesitation. It was something that version of her would have said, maybe even something worse. An insignificant ant in her path, a pebble in her shoe, a stranger.

But Amity saw through the Golden Guard's question, what he really wanted to know with this whole visit. The only reason why he would go in there in the first place. And she couldn't lie to him or herself like that.

So, possibly after an eternity of staring at him with shocked yellow eyes, Amity blinked, looking away to some random spot on the expensive carpet of the living room.

And then, slowly and surely, she smiled sadly at Hunter.

"Luz Noceda is a girl I would burn the entire world to the ground just to see her smile. Even if..." Her voice trailed off. "Even if she doesn't know it anymore..."

The path to the kitchen was permeated with silence, broken only by the constant sound of rain hitting the protections around the mansion. The lights were off, but Amity had no problem finding her way down the stairs to the ground floor. She had learned with Luz that apparently witches' vision at night os slightly better than humans, just as they are also unable to be born with purple eyes or green hair naturally.

It was a shame, really. Luz once told her that one of her childhood dreams was to be a draconic half demonic angel fairy and she was sure that the human would look stunning with sky red eyes.

One of her parents' abomination servants leaned lazily toward her, as if asking what she would like. Amity dismissed it with a curt wave of her hand and turned her attention to her intended target: The Refrigerator.

It was a bit different from the human realm version, running on magic instead of eletricity, having way more compartments inside of it and of course, an giant purple eye carved in the main door to protect the food from any intruders (usually her sibilings).

The eye probably noticed the bad mood she exuded and didn't want to try its luck, because its tapered pupil widened in a funny way and immediately opened all the refrigerator doors in a hurry as she got closer.

The machine's magenta light was the only source of light in the kitchen as the witch fiddled with it, pondering her options. Cyclops loin, demon cheese, apple blood, some tortillas probably from last week...

'Too bad, I really liked the human food Ms. Noceda makes...' She sighed, picking up the loin plus some cutlery and the jar of apple blood before sitting down at the counter next to the stove. The idea of sitting at the dinner table didn't sound very appealing to Amity, knowing that it would only worsen the feeling of how alone she was in that house. A fact she was not yet ready to accept.

The delicate silver fork between her fingers trembled. No, she wasn't alone, not after what happened yesterday. And Amity was more determined than ever to get back what she lost. Luz gave her a chance when she was still a complete asshole, how difficult would it be now that she was fully aware of her mistakes? She didn't even try to dissect her this time and is trying to patch things up with Willow!

Willow.

Suddenly, all the hunger Amity had felt seemed to exorcise itself out of her body as a huge realization hit her like a brick wall.

Willow is still in the abomination coven.

The witch's pointed ears twitched as the clink of a fork falling to the floor was heard.

Fuck.

A loud clap of thunder echoed through the window.

"Fuck." Amity hissed, black nails gripping the edges of the counter and scraping the expensive wood. Her breath hitched in her throat and she could feel the magic pulse through her veins as her horrified agitation grew at an alarming speed.

The abomination guarding the kitchen door grunted in confusion as its goo began to shudder wildly in response to the overhealmed witch just a few feet away.

"Fuck!" A third time, just to be sure.

Willow. Crap she completely forgot about Willow! She wasn't in the plant coven and the Covention was just around the conner!

Throwing her head back in frustration, Amity allowed herself a few moments to wallow in her self-pity. It's her fault, she knows she's the only one to blame for letting this happen. Or not happen, actually. She should have followed the damn story lines. To hell if she lacks the courage to point a dagger at Luz, or to be a bitch to Willow, or to get a well-deserved slap across the face. Her cowardice created an even bigger problem for her to solve now.

If there is a way to resolve this mess, that is.

The kitchen lights came on, and Amity was thrown back into the present. Blinking disoriented at the sudden light that assaulted her eyes, the witch looked up at the kitchen door, finally noticing the purple goo melted in a large viscous puddle on the floor.

'That's... I did that?' The young Blight swallowed. However, she didn't have much time to register her apparent ability to implode other people's abominations, as her attention was stolen to the tall, hunchbacked figure standing in the doorway, practically inches away from the purple puddle.

Amity felt her mouth go dry as she met golden eyes identical to hers, but oh so tired and dull.

Alador stared at his youngest daughter, obviously surprised to see her there, and all Amity could do was to croak a single word, almost like a plea. Although she didn't even know for what.

"Father..."

Hunter shifted his weight from one leg to the other nervously, hearing the heavy metal doors slide tortuously across the floor, revealing a dark room that just a few days ago, he thought he would only see again in his worst nightmares.

"Come in."

That voice. It was still the exact same way Hunter remembered it. Dragging, reverberating, almost mocking, almost like it was mocking him. Two mere words were spoken from the opposite side of the room, and the Golden Guard could already feel his legs wobble in their sole job of keeping him upright.

And yet, somehow, Hunter forced his suddenly leaden feet to shuffle forward. He was sweating cold beneath his uniform, feeling like a suicidal mouse running into an empty mousetrap, knowing exactly what his final destination would be.

A green, veiny and ridiculously huge heart pulsed above the white and gold throne, rusty and twisted pipes could be spotted as far as the eye could see. Coming out of the walls, the floor, the ceiling, or connected to the dying heart of a Titan.

The entire room was lit by the two large torches burning just below the heart. The fire crackled swirlingly, casting shadows in all the right and wrong places and, most importantly, highlighting the despicable creature sitting in the middle of it all.

Belos waited patiently for Hunter to approach him, tapping a metallic finger rhythmically against the arm of his throne and making no other movement to indicate that he acknowledged his presence. And this only served to amplify the suffocating feeling that Hunter was heading towards his eminent doom.

'He doesn't know.' The Golden Guard reminded himself for what felt like the millionth time, feeling his hands shake like a leaf in a storm. 'He doesn't know, there's no way he knows. He doesn't know you came from the future, doesn't know that you know what he really is. He has no real power over you, over your friends, over anyone.'

'You can deal with this.'

By some divine miracle, Hunter managed to reach the base of the throne without stumbling or vomiting, finally allowing his weak knees to give way and leaving him kneeling before a monster.

A monster who is also his creator.

A creator who has been his killer. Dozens of times.

Swallowing his disgust, Hunter kept his gaze fixed on the ground, his artificial staff placed before him meekly. And so he waited, waited for the moment Belos would break the unbearable silence, or when Hunter finally losts his last thread of restraint and thrusts that staff into the gooey neck of this fraud of an emperor.

Unfortunately, neither happened. Both remained silent, the staff remained on the ground and the throne room doors closed with a loud creak behind him, sealing the fact that he was now alone in a room with the object of his greatest fears, insecurities, and contempt.

Yes, that was the key word. Contempt.

Pure, complete, unadulterated contempt.

Belos tilted his head at his nephew's uncharacteristic silence. There were no greetings, no bows and no apparent anticipation of being at his uncle's presence after so long without seeing him. He just sat there, kneeling on one knee as he awaited his ruler's next command.

Well, that just won't do.

Smiling fondly, Belos removed his own mask, dropping it nonchalantly on his throne and standing up to face Hunter from above.

"I hear you've been venturing out of the castle quite often these days, my nephew." The Emperor paused, letting the words sink into the Golden Guard's consciousness before continuing. "Would you like to explain why?"

Hunter was two steps away from loosing his mind. Chills ran up and down his spine with every word the disgusting man said, and he feared that all those horrible feelings would leak into his voice if he dared to respond.

"Hunter?" Belos frowned slightly, and a younger version of the boy would have interpreted that as a sign of concern.

'Liar.'

"...I've heard rumors that Blight Industries is working on a new design for their Abomatrons. One involving combat as its central theme." The blonde said through gritted teeth, forcing his voice to be louder than a bitter whisper. He felt dirty being at this man's feet once again like some docile mutt, but he couldn't afford to waver. Not here, not now. "Odalia Blight has been acting suspiciously for some time now and we don't trust her true intentions. I was just probing a possible threat to our military power."

'Lies.'

"A wise move indeed. I am proud of your growing acumen, my nephew." Belos' smile grew, and he began deliberately walking down his throne's stairs towards Hunter. But all the Golden Guard could see was rotten green skin and countless glowing blue eyes staring at him, judging him. "But I ask you to be careful with these... probes. Blight is selfish, but not stupid. It would be disastrous to have her as an enemy now."

'Hypocritical'

Hunter was content to just nod in agreement, fighting the overwhelming need he felt to run away without looking back, to scream, to fight. The proximity of Belos hovering directly in front of him made him realize that his tremor was becoming more and more apparent and his mouth seemed to be coated in ash.

"And since we are here, Hunter..."

The blonde's soul may or not have left his body for a moment when a bony hand landed heavily on his shoulder and squeezed. And the Golden Guard felt his skin tingle like thousands of insects were devouring him from the inside out as he was forced to lift his rigid neck to meet the face of his nightmares.

And there he was.

It was terrifying to realize how normal Belos seemed now. No protruding bones sticking out of his skin like spikes, no jagged and sharp teeth in a lipless mouth, no eyes bulging and black like a bottomless pit of darkness, nothing. The only thing that betrayed his image of normality was a thin strip of green skin staining the bridge of his nose, which was still nothing compared to what he would become (became) in the future.

He seemed human.

Seemed sincere.

Seemed to care.

And air has never felt so difficult to pull into his lungs as it does now.

The emperor stared into the black slits of his mask as if he could visualize his soul. As if searching for something and fuck, at this point Hunter was sure he could still very well be an open book for this monster, regardless of the timeline.

'He has no real control over you?'

After a few excruciatingly long instants of the most absolute silence, Belos seemed to find what he was looking for in him, once his grip on Hunter's shoulder loosened and something wicked lit up behind his empty eyes.

'What a bunch of nonsense.'

"There's a second reason I called you here today. A question of mine, to be more precise." The emperor explained lightly, starting to look for something inside his cloak with the hand that wasn't holding Hunter's shoulder captive.

'Flee'

A faint clink of metal was heard as Belos revealed a tiny bird cage to the blonde.

"Tell me, my nephew..."

A terrified and unfortunately all too familiar chirp echoed between them.

'No...'

"Is there any reason for why I found this plague sleeping in your quarters this morning?"

'No!'

Hunter's heart dropped as he saw his dread reflected in that red cardinal's single eye.

Belos's hand tightened around the rusty cage, and any facade that was left in Hunter was immediately thrown out the window.

He lost It.

"NO!!"