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the blight twins

As we walked through town, it seemed... different. Like I was seeing the world through different eyes. No one stared at me weird, or ran when they saw me, like they did whenever I wore my Golden Guard mask. 

"Alright. The library." Luz said, hauling the books behind her. "Y'know, you could help." 

"I could." I shrugged. "But I won't."

She glared at me before walking into the library. 

The librarian scanned each one as late, then put everything on Eda's already overflowing tab of damaged and overdue books. 

"Alright. Now we get to go find Amity!" Luz said with big smile. 

"Ugh. Her? I didn't like her." I said with disgust. 

"Amity hates you, too. I've heard all about it." She said, rolling her eyes with a grin. "C'mon." 

As we walked to the fiction section, we found two kids, who looked about my age. They each grabbed one of Luz's shoulders. 

"Hey, cutie!" The girl said. 

"Long time no see, human!" The boy said. "What's up?" They looked like twins, both with green hair, the same amber eyes, and evil grins that made me fear for my life. I recognized them, though. They were the older Blight twins. 

"Hey, guys!" Luz said. 

"Who's this?" The boy said, looking me up and down. 

"This is Hunter! He's a friend of mine, he'll be staying with us for a while." Luz said. "Hunter, this is Ed and Em. They're Amity's older siblings." 

Well that explained where I knew them from. The more I thought about it, the more they started to look like Amity. But for some reason, I couldn't help myself from staring at Ed. There was something about him that seemed... different. 

He must've seen me staring, because he winked at me with a smirk. I averted my stare as I felt my face get hot.

"You two look like you could kill someone." I said, trying to play it off. Luckily, Ed didn't seem to want to pry. 

"We almost did that one time, right Em?" He said. 

Em rolled her eyes. "Let's... not talk about that. So... are we gonna go get Mittens now?" 

"Oh! Yeah!" Luz said, practically bounding towards the kids' section. Em followed, leaving Ed and I walking like normal people. 

"..Mittens?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, we call Amity that." He said. "It feels weird just to say her actual name anymore. Amity. Amity.. Amity.. A-mi-ty..."  

Well this guy was kind of an idiot. 

"So, how come I've never seen you around before?" Ed asked. "You just kind of... y'know.. appeared."

"I.. uh.." I thought about whether I should tell him the truth. 

"Are you a runaway? Escape from a circus? Escape to a circus?" 

"Well.. I did run away.." I said. 

"Really? Cool!" Ed's eyes lit up. 

"But I'm not staying." I added quickly. "I'll be going back soon. I just.. needed some rest." 

"Oh." Ed said, a little disappointed. "Well.. how long are you gonna be staying?"

"I-I dunno.." I said. I didn't want to think about that.

"Amity!" I suddenly heard Luz yelp. 

"Hey, Luz." Amity said. 

"Hey, Mittens!" Ed said. 

"We missed you, little sis!" Em said, putting an arm around Amity. Amity pulled away, rolling her eyes. 

"Ugh. You two. And... you." She glared at me. Oh yeah. I forgot Amity hated me as much as I hated her. 

"Oh! You know Hunter?" Ed asked. 

"Unfortunately." Amity said. "Why is he here?" 

"Hunter's gonna be staying with us for a little bit." Luz said. 

"Why? What if he betrays us again? He's always betraying us. This isn't a good idea!" Amity said, glaring at me.

"He deserves a second chance. And... he's my adopted brother now." Luz responded. 

"Uh.. we never made that official." I said. 

"I'm making it official now!" Luz announced. 

"How many children can the Owl Lady adopt?" Ed asked. 

"Don't worry. You guys are next. Then we can hang all of our wanted posters in the living room together. And... Lilith's one poster of the Emperor's coven." Luz said. 

"Hey, Ed? I just got an idea." Em said suddenly, perking up. 

"What? Are we gonna fill the coffee machine with Abomination goop?" He asked. 

"No! We can.. improve the posters they put up for the Emperor's coven." Em said. 

"Oh yeah! The new ones, right? With the Golden Guard on it?" Ed said. 

"Yeah! I don't like that guy. He's so mean whenever he buys from Mom and Dad." Em said, rolling her eyes.

I smirked. "Yeah, I hate him too." Luz and Amity stared at me with deep concerning looks.

"Uh... you are him." Amity said. 

"That's why I hate him." I said without hesitation. 

Luz raised her eyebrows. "Ok...we're gonna get you some therapy.." She put a hand on my shoulder. 

"Wait a sec.. you're the Golden Guard?" Ed asked. 

"Yep."

Em frowned. "I was expecting someone... older. And someone who looked like they actually slept once and awhile." 

"Yeah, I look the farthest from that, hence the mask." I said. 

Luz suddenly looked down at her watch and jumped. "We should probably head back to the Owl House! We were supposed to be back ten minutes ago! Eda's gonna kill me!" 

"Bye, you guys!" Em said, walking away with her siblings.

"Bye, Golden Guard!" Ed said in a mocking tone. He winked at me again, and I started walking out of the library before Luz could notice how red my face was.