Chapter Text
Disgust: marked aversion aroused by something highly distasteful, like abomination slime or pity towards oneself
Amity remembered the first lesson she took on how to make an abomination. First, since one cannot create matter out of thin air, one must know the ingredients necessary to create an abomination. The purple golems are usually created with a mix of demon fat, ghoul wax, ogre hair, cockatrice saliva, claws from a blighted wolf, a harpy eye and witch blood. Then, pour it all on a big cauldron, add some mud for consistency and cast a bonding spell that would bond a witch with the creature they want to summon. As a witch becomes more and more adept at this particular type of magic, they end up needing less and less materials, until they become able to cast an abomination using only tiny traces of that repulsive concoction.
Casting an abomination means that fights between these creatures usually end up being quite messy, which is the reason why nobody uses them for more delicate affairs, such as servitude or helping elderly people. However, they result extremely useful when it comes to construction or dangerous activities. Of course, if a witch in training wishes to use them for those type of activities, the abomination would surely fail, as the bond with its caster is what gives them the strength and stability to survive. When an abomination sustains great damage or the bond with its caster is not strong enough, it will explode, leaving behind an ugly mess that someone would have to take care of.
Which is exactly what happened to Amity.
She was training under the shadow of a big tree near a cliff. It was a normal day, warm and with no traces of dark clouds on the horizon. Most people would spend a day like this with friends or relaxing themselves, but not Amity Blight. She wanted to see how many abominations she could cast and have under her control at once when her eyes caught a single pink leaf that fell from one of the branches, her strength faltered for a second and, although she tried to banish them, they exploded, covering her in that sticky, slimy purple substance.
She stayed silent for a minute, her mind completely blank over what had happened, when she moved and began to brush the traces of abomination goo off her indigo hoodie, if they were to harden under the candid spring sun, she would have to throw her clothes to the garbage, something she did not want to do. There wasn't something exceptional about the clothes she was wearing and, compared to the rest of her wardrobe, they weren't as near as expensive. Still, they were special to her, mostly the hoodie, a purple piece of cloth with pointy triangles on top that resembled the ears of a cat.
She was so busy cleaning all that goo, she didn't notice when a tall figure approached the tree and studied her with a cynical grin on their face. When Amity finished brushing the remains of her abominations, she looked up to see the one and only Owl Lady, with her silver hair shining like a fine piece of jewelry and smiling at her, showing that golden tooth so characteristic of her. Amity muttered some curses under her breath. The last thing she wanted was for someone to make fun of her after such a pathetic display of ability. Still, she went to Eda, as running away would only made her look even more pathetic.
"Hey." Amity, with severe disgust due to the taste of abomination goo, greeted the older witch. She must have had some funny expression on her face because Eda couldn't contain her laughter any longer and let out a loud cackle. Amity's anger increased as she waited patiently for Eda to regain her composure and asked: "Was there something you needed?"
"Oh, don't look at me with that face. If you had seen the condition you were in, you would have laughed too. Or maybe not, seeing how gloomy you always are." Eda said, trying to avoid the question asked.
"I'm not gloomy. I can be joyful when I want to. Just you try to be happy when having some goo on your mouth and then we'll talk." Amity pouted, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Okay, okay. I'll give you that one, if only because I could never get my head around abomination magic. Too damn complicated and disgusting for my taste. I can't understand how anyone could create them willingly, much less spend their free time around them" Eda pull something out of the small bag where she put all the items she needed on a daily basis. It was small, old, smelled like wet cats but somehow it could carry more than it seemed. Some would call that magic, Eda called it 'good management'. And magic.
Amity didn't say anything, she simply grabbed the napkin Eda offered her and dry her face. Even with her eyes closed, Amity could feel the older witch's gaze on her, studying her, analyzing her, looking for any weakness she could exploit. It made her feel uncomfortable and shrugged a little. An action so small, most people would not even notice. But for the sleazy eyes of a thief like Eda, it was clear as the bright sun.
"Everything's alright, kiddo?" Eda asked in the most uninterested tone she could fake.
"Like I said before," Amity, for once, answered not angrily but rather in a tiresome way, as if she were repeating her explanation for the thirtieth time, "I was training, I got abomination goo on my mouth. So no, I'm not exactly alright, I'm exhausted."
"You know that's not what I meant." Eda replied with a serious face. Amity tried her best to hide the rising anger she felt creeping up on her chest but failed miserably.
"Well, Eda. If you wanted me to understand your question, perhaps you should've elaborated better, don't you think?" Amity snapped and tossed the dirty napkin to Eda, who put it back in her small bag. The older witch sighed. If she were another person, like Willow, Gus or even Amity's own siblings, she would have felt offended by the rude way she had spoken to her. But she had been an angry teenager before and decided to take a more direct approach.
"I know you've been hurting ever since she left the Isles. But that doesn't mean you should overdo yourself by training too hard." Eda was expecting all sorts of things from Amity, so she was not surprised at all when Amity shouted at her.
"And what makes you think you have the moral ground to come here and give me a lecture on how to deal with things? You, the same witch who last week had to get her ass dragged out of prison? I mean, you're a fucking drunk and a bum. Lately you've spent your time drinking yourself to death. I've heard the rumors of a wild witch looking for fights at Darktown. That's how you deal with her gone. You're no better than me, Clawthorne. Why should I listen to you?"
Eda knew she should feel hurt by Amity's words. She should be angry, she should scream at her, say hurtful things. But she knew exactly how Amity felt. And the young girl wasn't exactly lying. She had become more and more careless, and it would be a matter of time until she got caught by the guards or worse. "I only said that because I'm worried for you. It's been a while since the last time you went to the Owl House. I miss you, King misses you, Lily misses you. You know you have a family there. You don't have to act like a cold-hearted witch with me. I'm not like your parents; I'm not going to hurt you."
There it was. The second most disgusting thing for Amity. The thing she hated the most, as she was raised to never show weakness. To never let another person see how pathetic she was. To always be that strong, cold witch she had to aspire to be. The thing she found to hate the most today.
Pity.
She hated to see the pitiful looks on the faces of her peers whenever she showed weakness. Whenever she seemed as if she were about to cry, there would be always someone reminding her that she had people who loved her and cared for her. Whenever people remembered about the kind of parents she had, those abusive pieces of crap that had dared to call themselves mother and father, they immediately felt an urge to console her, to tell her things like how nothing that had happened was her fault, that it was a disgrace that her parents were so abusive towards a poor little girl like her.
She should feel grateful that there were people in the Isles who cared for her, she knew that. But she hated feeling useless and vulnerable with other people.
"Leave me alone, Clawthorne. I don't need anyone's pity, specially not yours." With these words, Amity began to walk away from Eda.
"I know, I know. Just so you know, if you ever feel like talking, you can come to me or-" Eda was interrupted by the young's witch shouts of anger.
"I don't want to, I'm alright, yes? And, honestly," Amity looked one last at Eda before leaving her standing alone in front of the tree that marked the place where she had defeated Grometheus. "You're the last person I'll ever be talking about this. So just leave me alone. I'm not in the mood of talking with a criminal like you."
Eda sighed, she looked at the sky and let some bitter tears flow from her eyes.