Among Us

It was a mostly quiet trip to the Blight household, for once Ed and Em had spared her from their teasing. It didn't sit right with her. And with how they hung back to speak to Luz...

"Just what are you two planning?" Amity asked them abruptly. She watched them exchange a familiar grin, one she had seen plenty of times before.

"Jealous we get to play with your little friend?" Edric cooed.

"We aren't friends," She replied coldly, "I just don't get what you both want from someone like Luz."

"Well she is cute, I might have to get her before anyone else does."

Amity gave her sister a withering glare, "You shouldn't make anyone from here a part of your games Em."

"Games? No," Emira chuckled lowly, "for a human she checks off a few of my boxes.~"

"Don't," She grit out at Emira, "you dare."

Edric whistled, "Mittens is all claws today isn't she?"

"I think I might have struck a nerve Ed." Emira smirked at Amity, "And what claim do you have that will stop me? Luz isn't your friend, no need to be so protective."

"I'm not!" She growled in frustration, "I know you both. No one should be pulled into your messes."

They both just laughed, "Chill out Mittens. You could come if you wanted. Maybe then you could make an actual friend."

She her grip tightened on the lunch bag at the not-so-subtle dig, "I've never stayed out late here before. Like hell I will just to watch you hang out with some human."

Edric ruffled her hair, definitely just to annoy her further, "Don't come whining to us later cause you turned down the offer. We're looking out for you, Mittens."

She shoved her brother's hand away and fixed her hair, "Whatever. Don't do something stupid."

Amity still had a bad feeling about tonight.

Luz made it to the library quickly, she knew she couldn't stay for very long. She still did have school in the morning. 'Hopefully this is worth it...maybe I'll find new things to put in this mess.' She thought, looking down her short notes.

New things:
-Amity has older siblings (more possible witches)
-Why didn't the siblings have pointy ears too? (Maybe it's a spell or something, something Amity hasn't learned yet that makes the siblings appear more human) maybe not all witches have pointy ears)

'I wonder what happens if I get definite proof that Amity and her siblings aren't human. Would they have to kill me like in those other books about secret supernatural societies?' Luz mused far too casually, 'If I find out without them knowing probably not.'

She put her notebook in the small bookbag she brought, you know, just in case. She had her own snacks and drinks, in the event alcohol was involved for whatever reason. No way would she drink with strangers. Or ever. 'Cool or not, peer pressure isn't something I'll cave to. Not even if they're witches.'

Luz came to stop at the front entrance, no one appeared to be here yet. 'But playing the part of undercover investigator means I have to blend in to infiltrate their ranks. If they're cool, I gotta be cool too.'

She tried resting her elbow on one of the pillars, "Cool? No," she leaned on it instead, "Still no," and then mimicked a silly pose she saw on a show once, "Ugh not that either..."

"You seem like you're having fun."

Luz yelped in surprise, tripping over her own bag. 'Nailed it Luz, you really did.' She stood up quickly, dusting herself off as calmly as possible, "So...what's the plan?"

They shared a glance, Edric gave Emira a piece of paper overed in odd symbols as they approached the library door, "A little bit of..." A familiar expression crept onto their faces. "Magic."

She shrugged, a small smile played across her features, as if it were some inside joke as she said, "Magic."

Luz watched, fascinated, but confused. "Um, what--"

Emira pressed it to the door, and for a moment nothing happened. And it...started dissolving on it's own? Soon after whatever that was, the door flung itself open wide. Edric and Emira faced her, there was a look in their eyes she couldn't read.

"Still in?"

'Major tone shift here, and I'm pretty sure that was magic...roll with it. Coolly.'

"Of course!" Luz began to ramble, "Was that--what did you do?! That was magic wasn't it, you guys are so cool--"

'That was not cool, that was nerdy. But we'll work on it...if they won't kill me.'

"--please don't kill me because you showed me something you weren't supposed to!"

Edric and Emira shared a look, then burst out laughing. It took them both a minute to settle down. But when they did, Emira addressed her, "Silly Luz. You're so funny. We aren't going to kill you."

Luz's shoulders sagged in relief, "But...why? Why would you show me this stuff?"

"Because we're on a little mission you see..." Edric said, they began to lead her into the library, passing through shelves, "and we needed a human who would cooperate."

"Why me?" Luz asked, bewildered beyond belief.

"Well," Edric said in amusement, "you're the only one who Mittens hasn't sent running away on the first try. She's not great at friendship, ironically. Little sis doesn't exactly live up to her first name."

Emira nodded, "We're going to ask you a big favor."

"Look out for her, will you?" They asked in sync.

Luz will admit to being thrown off by the concern in their voices. "...what?"

"Listen, Mittens has to make it in this world." Emira looked a little somber, "And she thinks she has to all alone."

"Whoa...I can't believe you're trusting me with this!"

"Mhm, fail and we'll all probably get killed." Edric commented casually, as if speaking about the weather.

"Huh?!" Luz exclaimed, horrified, "Why?!"

"Not important." Edric waved off, "Will you look out for Mittens when we're not around?"

"Yes, with everything I have!" She said without hesitation, surprising herself a little at how much she meant it.

Emira grinned, "Cool. Now with the heavy stuff out of the way...the fun begins!"

"You know, I've been meaning to ask why you brought me to the library of all places..." Luz mentioned, looking around the dimly lit building. Some would call it eerie, she thought it was neat.

"If you didn't cooperate, we'd have locked you in a horror novel so you could relive it endlessly until you did." Emira said all too cheerfully.

She gulped, "Uh..."

"But enough about pre-planned torture," Edric came up beside his twin, he twirled his hand in a small circle, a glow appearing out of thin air, "want to see something cool?"

Her worries and anxieties immediately took the backseat. An offer to be shown something no other human has every gotten the chance to see?

"Hell yes!"

Amity looked at the clock for what had to be the millionth time. It's ticking grew more and more annoying by the second, echoing in the house that was unusually quiet.

She forced herself to focus back on her paper, but her tapping pencil and growing scowl gave away her nerves.

It wasn't...right. Every other time Ed and Em went out to do whatever mischievous ideas that strike their fancy, she didn't worry this much!

'Maybe it's because it involves--' She cut that thought right off. No, it doesn't matter who is involved. She gets annoyed and frustrated at her siblings all the time when they cause trouble that reaches her door but...

Amity's pencil lead snapped, and she ripped her paper out of anger, throwing it into the waste bin with a little too much force. She let's herself take a breath, "Whoa, I almost passed out there...ugh."

Somehow she knew that it would bother her until she went to see what was going on herself.

Amity groaned, "I hate my life," and began throwing on the nearest comfy jacket, "I hate cleaning up after my siblings," she kept grumbling as she tried to tie her shoes as quickly as possible, "and I hate how that stupid human somehow keeps getting involved."

Luz was having the time of her life. Her night would have been made at just knowing for sure magic was real. But now--

--Luz whooped excitedly as she jumped from floating book to book, the twins thought it would be a good idea to show her a witches version of tag--

--she was sure almost nothing could top this!

"Not bad for a human!" Edric said from behind her, it was his turn to be it.

"Ha!" She laughed, "you'll never catch me--oof!"

She slammed into Emira, who kept her from falling 20 feet to the ground by catching her around the middle of her back. The older witch smirked down at her, and Luz only realized why when she felt Edric tap her on the shoulder with a "boop."

"Hey! That wasn't fair Ed, Em helped!"

They helped her steady herself again, sniggering. "Sorry Luz, I couldn't bring myself to betray my brother."

Luz sighed, "I see how it is...you had to betray me instead. I thought we had something Em!"

"We did Luz," Emira put a hand over her heart, "but that was before things became so complicated. I had to make my choice."

They all broke out into a fit of giggles, and Luz was convinced it couldn't get any better.

The library came into view surprisingly fast, but maybe that was because Amity was rushing a little.

Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the opened door. 'I can't believe--no, I definitely can believe how reckless they are.' She ran to the door, completely ready to find a horrible mess. Some debris, some fire, and possibly a body.

What Amity did not expect was to see was her siblings and the human standing on books floating 20 to 30 feet in the air and laughing together like old friends. She also didn't like how Luz was using Emira as support, leaning in too close for Amity's taste.

"Really?!"

Luz was startled out of her sisters grasp, she nearly fell over if not for Edric catching her. The twins just casually waved to her, "Hey Mittens."

"Nice of you to come."

Luz didn't really say anything she could understand, she just kind of rambled in what Amity assumed was Spanish.

She growled, drawing a small circle in the air. The books, the twins, and Luz began to descend. "You two are the worst! I knew you both were reckless but this?" She gestured to Luz, "This is just dangerous!"

"Would you relax Mittens? If it didn't go as planned, we'd have given her something to erase her memories. Or trapped her in a book."

"That is not the point! She could have decided to expose us all!" Amity marched up to Luz, grabbing her and pulling her to a stand by the collar so her siblings weren't holding her up, "How do we know you're not just playing nice until we leave?"

Luz held her hands up defensively, "I swear I'm not playing nice!" Amity's stare at a distance was intense enough, but being held literally just inches away? She was sure her face would resemble a red pepper if she wasn't let go soon.

"Ease up on her will you?" Edric put a hand on Amity's shoulder.

She huffed, letting go of Luz, only to grab her wrist instead, "I'll believe you human...if you take an oath."

Emira gave her sister a look, and a worried one back to Luz, "Is that really necessary?"

Luz took a deep breath, calming down. She looked at Amity with a genuine seriousness that caught her off guard, "If I take an oath, will you really believe me?"

The young witch nodded.

"Then oath away."

Amity rolled her eyes at the phrasing, "Speak a word of this to any other human who is unaware, all of your memories of us will disappear." She drew a circle of magic around the human's hand, taking it in a quick handshake. "The Everlasting Oath is bound." Amity declared with finality.

Luz rubbed her wrist, it felt tingly. "So uh...are you still going to tutor me on Thursdays?"

The witch felt her eye twitch, "I just bound you with an Everlasting Oath that will erase your memories if you betray it...and you're concerned about tutoring?"

"I like how you teach." Luz admitted, unknowingly causing Amity to blush slightly. And of course her siblings took notice.

"Oh I see~," Edric whispered teasingly from his younger sisters right.

"See what?" Amity asked sharply.

"Why you're so possessive of the human of course~," Emira joined from the left. "Because she's your human, hm?"

Amity whirled around, her ears going down much like a cats, "I am not, she's not--shut up!"

Luz watched Amity begin to throw little spells at the twins, who blocked or dodged with an ease that told her this happened often. Though she didn't quite catch what started the little spat...or what she assumed was a little one. She really didn't know what witches were capable of.

'Well, somehow, I got ones who can answer my questions!'