Total Eclipse

Chapter 11

They were back in the hall again, still set in its grayscale but the chandeliers were lit, making the room seem less empty. They flickered, but glowed nonetheless, Luz blinking in the stark change in lighting.

The figure was floating in the middle of the hallway, her aura glowing and finding like her environment.

"Where next?"

The Guardian said not a word but opened and widened her arms.

"Oh. Guess it's my pick, huh," she said with a slight smile. She walked towards one mirror, a decadently decorated one, likely made of graying fool's gold. It had petals etched in the frame, petals that started fresh but fell and died.

She went headfirst in, the guardian trailing ever so slightly behind. She was in Amity's room, but not the one she had now. It was reminiscent of what it used to be, what it looked like when Luz and Amity snuck around her parents to spend time together.

Old photo frames were still there, from school and book club and grudgby matches. Amity was smiling in all of them. She had a cork wall overflowing with drawings and pictures. There were old photos with Ed and Em, pictures of her as a little kid with glasses, a stack of books next to her.

Luz's eyes crinkled as they smiled.

She did notice one thing. Luz was not in any of the photos. Instead, the corkboard was littered with empty spots. She looked at them, taking a step forward, gently caressing the curling photographs. She took a careful step and leaned over to reach it. Her eyes crinkled and cringed when she heard a crunch from the rolled-up paper she had stepped on. Carefully, she backed up and knelt to reach it, holding it tenderly in her palm.

There she was.

It was the grom photo of the four Hexside students. Willow's eyes were gleaming, her glasses sliding down her button nose. Gus was jumping to feel taller, his microphone in hand. Luz's arms were holding Amity close to her. Her eyes were shut in the photo, but Amity's were wide and nervous. Her cheeks were the same pink as the skirt of her dress, and though it felt like everybody was staring at Amity, she only had eyes for Luz.

Luz opened the drawers in a wicker desk, digging for tape, a clip... a thumbtack!

She pinned it to the board the center spot, clear of any memories or photographs. Her fingertips felt a tingle as she placed it on, as its edges began to glow a soft gold. It spread to other photos, the boards empty spots being filled with photos. Young Willow and Amity at camp, Amity and Luz in oversized cat onesies, Lilith and her practicing, her reading at the library.

The light reached the corners of the wall until it crept to the floor. Luz walked to the center of the room, the glow surrounding her before the brilliant beam emerged and let the scene commence, letting it unfold like reading your favorite book for the first time.

Amity came in hurriedly, carrying pots and pots of flowers and plants. Dirt fell from the rims of the ceramic and water splashed from the crystal vases. Her hair was a muddy sort of purple, her roots obvious and leaking into the lavender hair. She placed the plants down, trying and failing to be careful, holding an elastic in her mouth and tying her hair up in a choppy ponytail, her grown-out bangs left around her face. She noticed she dropped a folded piece of paper and carefully reached down to get it.

"From Willow" was signed in a green marker, the "i" dotted with a flower. Amity smiled weakly before trying to lay out the plants.

Human plants, to be specific. There was a small batch of herbs like rosemary, thyme, and basil. Succulents with soft and reddened tips were amongst flowers like forget-me-nots, daffodils, butterfly weed, and pink camellias.

Luz knew these like the back of her calloused palms. She used to help her elderly neighbor with her garden in exchange for pocket money and a cold glass of lemonade. She'd buy the latest Azura book or merchandise with her savings.

Amity sighed and crumpled the note into the garbage. She noticed that the witch wasn't doing anything with magic, shaking with the slightest use of her powers. There wasn't any moon jewelry in sight, her eyes felt dull compared to the glaring gold she had now. They looked like the same gold as a woman's faded brooch, her lover's eyes clasped to it.

She collapsed onto her bed and covered her pillow with her face, feathers flying everywhere.

"Willow is not making forgetting you any easier," she said with a stupid smile and a cracked sigh. She played with a run in her tights, picking at her chapped lips.

She gently lifted her hands and turned on her crystal ball, open to some radio station. She sat silently through an ad for a new teen novel until the music returned. Luz's ears perked up as she heard the familiar melody. The grom song.

Amity chuckled and got up, dancing in her boots all alone, as if Luz were right there.

And she was. She just couldn't do anything.

Amity leaned in for a dip, catching herself with a messy glob of abomination goop through harnessing what was left of her seemingly exhaustive powers.

Her boots were loud as she kept and twirled and Luz knew that these walls were paper thin.

Odalia came in, staring with her terrifyingly brilliant blue eyes. Her hair, normally slicked back into a perfect and neat bun, was sloppily placed with small green hairs curling and frizzing.

"Is this about the human again, dear?" She said, oozing with fake sympathy that was reminiscent of the fake happiness Amity had now.

Amity was taken aback and fell on the ground, literally spinning out of control.

"She's no good for you. You're a Blight, for Titan's sakes," her mother chided before smoothing her hair and looking around the room.

She flicked the leaf of the foreign plant.

"I thought we had gotten rid of Ms. Park by now, Amity,"

Amity began to say something but was sharply cut off.

"I suppose we have to do this again. We'll start by getting rid of these plants. The dirt will be a nightmare, anyway,"

She lifted a single finger and tossed the plants into a bag with golden threads. She went to the wall, plucking photos of Amity with her friends and placing them in her hands, taking them and neatly putting them in her pocket.

"If you're to focus on your future, you'll know it's best to get rid of these," she said sternly.

The music finally ended here, leaving a deafening and crushing silence.

"But—" Amity weakly protested, but Odalia placed a finger over her lips.

"You know I love you. This is for the best of our family... the best for you. They're holding you back, as always. A sun does not revolve around a moon,"

Odalia sent the things always and left after placing her hand under Amity's chin, lifting her face up to make sure they were seeing eye to eye.

She left Amity, who held the grom photo crinkled in her palm. She stared at it with blank eyes, the photo reflected from the pools of tears in her eyes. She watched the gold in her eyes rust as she gently smoothed the paper and placed it in the top drawer of her desk.

She collapsed on her loft and turned off the crystal ball, pulling her hair down and throwing her boots off. She felt the place where her mother had held her and smiled slightly.

She had fooled her again.

The guardian came through the same door as Odalia and took Luz's hand softly.

She looked at the crestfallen witch.

"There's nothing I can do to help her, is there?"

The guardian shook her head, melancholic yet assured.

"I know. Doesn't make it hurt any less,"

The guardian looked like she almost blinked, but said naught a word.

She led her back to the hall of mirrors, watching the color fade.