#tiering d4dj was a mistake

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Internship Chapter 20: Day 17 - Amity

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A group of four young witches were all walking together, all headed to the same destination. They were going to see a bard troupe perform, to see what the Bard Coven was like.

It still felt strange for Amity to be hanging out with Willow, even after what happened with grudgby, but it wasn’t a bad sort of strange. She was mostly excited to spend time with Luz and her friends and to go visit another coven. The group was a traveling troupe that worked for the Bard Coven, though they weren’t that well known.

Amity first heard about them from Luz, who brought a flyer for the upcoming show to school. As far as she knew, Gus and Willow learned about them the same way. Regardless, the four of them were on their way to see the group perform. “Where did you hear about this troupe?” Amity asked Luz as they walked.

Luz was leading the group from the front, with Gus and Willow right behind her and Amity in the rear. She spun to walk backwards as she answered the question. “Eda told me about them.” She masterfully hopped backwards over a large crack in the sidewalk. “She said she knows the pianist.”

“I wonder if they’ll let us backstage.” Gus already had his flags out, ready to wave them with the music.

Willow shrugged, but didn’t look hopeful. “Maybe.” She said. Amity didn’t comment on the idea.

“Either way, it’s gonna be great!” Luz spun back to face forward, pumping one fist in the air.

“Yeah!” Gus echoed her motion, raising his flags high to the sky.

The conversation flowed easily as they walked.

“Oh!” Luz seemed to remember something, likely something she had forgotten. “I’m supposed to ask, Gus, have you heard anything about Lilith’s job being filled?” She just looked over her shoulder as she spoke, rather than turning around like before.

That question interested Amity too; she didn’t know the answer but she was very curious. Edric hadn’t been able to provide an answer to this question either.

“Umm.” Gus scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think I have. I can ask my dad, but I don’t think anything’s changed.” So that was a no then. It was unusual to leave the coven leader spot open for this long.

“Okay thanks!” Luz didn’t seem bothered by it. She switched topics easily, to something she had learned in school that day.

A couple minutes later and they reached the stage for the performance. It was set up in the market, with signs advertising the performers around it.

The stage was built tall, at least a foot over the heads of the young witches. It had a set of stairs leading up to it and a large curtain hiding the stage, keeping the instruments and performers out of sight.

For the crowd, it seemed to be standing room only. About 50 witches were already there, waiting for the performance to start. Amity and her friends joined them, getting a decent spot about halfway back from the stage.

“Have you ever tried bard magic?” Luz had settled next to Amity, directly to her left. In the tight crowd, their hands were dangerously close. Luz’s face as well, which was turned towards Amity to ask the question, was warming Amity’s cheeks with its proximity.

Amity tried to keep her cool as she shook her head. “I haven’t.” She admitted, thinking back to when she chose the abomination track. Though there were many tracks available, bard was not one on her parents’ pre-approved list. “Have you?”

Luz’s eyes were glimmering. “No but I really want to. I played the recorder in 5th grade, but it was so boring and not magical.” She stuck her tongue out in a mock vomiting gesture. “I wonder if I can even do bard magic.”

“Right,” Amity mused, trying to bring her left hand up to her chin. She bumped Luz’s along the way, sending a shock through her whole body. She recovered quickly,  forcing her hand up to complete the gesture. “Y-your glyphs might be difficult with music.” Amity’s face burned with embarrassment; it must’ve been bright red.

“Maybe if I drew them on the instrument.” Luz, bless her oblivious soul, didn’t seem to notice that their hands bumped. “Or taped them to it, that could work.”

“You should try it.” Amity suggested.

Luz opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Willow, who was standing on her other side.

“Shh, it’s starting.”

Both girls looked up towards the stage, where the curtain was being pulled back. The stage was then lit up with a few magical lights as three witches walked out onto it. These were the same witches that had been on the posters around the venue. They were each carrying instruments. One had a violin, the next a guitar, and the third a keyboard.

Each member took a position on the stage and set up their instrument. The keyboard, as it turned out, was set up to float in place. It looked cool to Amity, who had only experienced pianos that were firmly anchored to the ground. She glanced over at Luz, who was staring with wide eyes at the floating instrument.

The witches exchanged a look with the others, then began to play. The music was upbeat and lively as it spread over the crowd. It was a nice song; Amity enjoyed listening to it.

The violinist took the lead, playing a melodic line above the other two. As they played, the air overhead started to change. Large images that looked like music notes appeared and floated away from the stage. Amity watched them in wonder as they spun to the beat of the song.

She wondered if they were part of the bard magic, or if they were illusions. She’d seen her siblings make very similar looking images, but they didn’t move the way these did.

As the song continued, the music notes changed colors as well. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

When the song ended, the group quickly started another one. This one was slower, so the music notes changed to other shapes.

Amity looked away from them to watch the performers, specifically the violinist. She was smiling out at the audience, radiating energy. Even though Amity knew playing the violin was difficult, this witch made it look effortless.

As the second song wrapped up, Luz cheered loudly next to her. Amity cheered too and clapped for the group.

They took a minute to introduce themselves, and each showed off some of their music skills. The guitarist played a small solo, with visible sound waves radiating from the strings. The pianist followed after him with his fingers gliding smoothly over the strings. The violinist was last, but certainly not least. She played by herself for only a moment, but it was enough to send chills down Amity’s spine.

With their introductions done, they started their next song. This one was even faster than the first, with new visual elements on stage.

Amity couldn’t tear her eyes away as she watched the whole performance. She loved every minute of their playing, especially the violinist, and was glad she had come to see them.

She didn’t notice Luz stealing a glance her way, every once in a while, since she was so focused on the music.

When the final song ended, the performers bowed for the audience. Amity clapped for them, along with the rest of the crowd. They waved goodbye and then pulled the curtain back into place.

With that, the show was over. Amity felt a twinge of disappointment; she’d really enjoyed it. She turned to follow Luz, Gus, and Willow away from the crowded area, as many witches were trying to leave.

They were able to find a spot between a couple market stalls to stand in, away from the bustling path.

“They were very good.” Willow commented with a smile.

Gus had stowed his flags, likely after finding the crowd too tight to wave them. “The first song was my favorite.”

“I liked them all.” Amity contributed to the conversation, finding her spot in to fit in.

Luz was grinning, in very much her usual way. “I love the pianist, he was so cool when he was like, bah dah bah.” Luz mimicked playing the piano, moving her hands up and down in an exaggerated fashion.

“This was fun, we should do it again sometime.” Willow was speaking to the group, but her eyes were locked on Amity. A gesture, an extended hand of sorts, one Amity still didn’t think she deserved.

Amity nodded without a word.

“Absolutely we will!” Luz gave a high energy response.

Willow nodded slightly. “I’m glad. I have to head home now, there’s homework to be done.” She waved in a small gesture. Luz’s returned it with a much higher level of enthusiasm.

“I have to go too.” Gus cut in. “See you tomorrow!” He waved as well, and once Luz and Amity said goodbye the pair walked away into the market.

That left just Luz and Amity, still standing between the market stalls.

“During the show, I had an idea.” Luz immediately jumped into a new conversation topic. “We should try some instruments.”

Amity agreed, that was a good idea. It was hard to know if she was actually interested in the bard coven without trying out some bard magic. There was a problem though. “That sounds good, but how would we do that?”

Luz was still smiling, her brown eyes glimmering even in the shadows. “There’s an instrument shop in the market, I bet they’d let us.” Oh, so she had a place in mind. That did sound like a solid plan.

“Lead the way.” Amity couldn’t help but smile.

Luz did just that, stepping out from between the stalls to head across the market. Amity walked next to her, keeping an eye peeled for their destination. The crowds were considerably thinner than before, as most of the witches who came to see the performance had time to leave.

After a few minutes of walking, Amity spotted the instrument stand. It stood out for having a large number of instruments on display. There were brass instruments, woodwinds, strings, and even some keyboards. There was a sign overhead that said, ‘you break it, you bought it’.

Luz skipped over to it when she saw it, Amity right alongside her.

“Good afternoon.” The stall owner greeted them, “Please be careful with the instruments.” He gestured up at the sign, making sure they had seen it.

“We will be!” Luz said as she took a violin off the wall. “Want to try this one?” She asked Amity, moving to hand it to her.

Amity was floored, jaw dropping open slightly. How had Luz known? She hadn’t said anything about the violinist after the show.

After a moment of staring, Amity snapped herself out of it and accepted the violin. Luz reached back to the wall to get a bow, which she also handed to her.

Now that she was holding it, Amity was reminded how far out of her depth she was. She wasn’t even sure how to hold the instrument properly, let alone play it.

But Luz’s expectant eyes were on her, and besides this was what they came her to do. She held the neck of the violin in her left hand, lifting it to her shoulder like she saw the performer do. Amity then clutched the bow tightly in her right hand, bringing it to the strings.

She slowly tried to pull it across, making a faint noise in the process. Amity lifted the bow to reset it and try again, this time making what could almost be considered a sound. It would be fun to learn this instrument, but she was probably too old to start doing it now. That was a disappointing thought.

“You’re a natural!” Luz gave her wholly undeserved complements. Amity gave the bow one last pull, before bringing the instrument off her shoulder slowly.

“I don’t think so.” Amity said, handing it back to Luz who put it back on the wall.

Next, Luz took a small horn off the wall. It looked to be some kind of trumpet. She brought it to her lips without a care for who else had done so.

The sound that came out was somewhere between a goose and an elephant. It was loud and way too close to Amity’s ears for comfort. Amity resisted the urge to cover them, as it only lasted a moment.

Luz lowered the instrument when she finished, and burst out laughing. Her laughter was a much more appealing sound than the horn had been.

The stand owner was less amused. “Please don’t disturb the market.” He said firmly, insisting that Luz put the horn back.

“Sorry.” She was still half laughing while she did as instructed. Luz then looked at more of the instruments, but didn’t pick them up. She stopped at one box, looking intently at it.

“Do you want to learn one?” Amity asked, joining her at a box of small flute like instruments.

“Yup.” Luz selected one of the instruments, lifting it to her mouth to try. It made a tinny sound, not one that Amity had heard before. Luz’s face lit up in a grin when she finished. “I’ll take this.” She said to the stand owner, and asked what the price was.

It was surprisingly reasonable, so Luz bought it on the spot.

Amity looked around for a few more minutes, but she knew she wasn’t going to buy an instrument. She and Luz soon left the stall, walking through the market. While they walked, Luz played her new instrument.

“This is just like a kazoo!” Luz said as she examined it, bringing it close to her eyes.

“What’s a kazoo?” Amity had never heard of them; it must’ve been a human object.

“Err.” Luz’s smile dipped as she tried to think of an explanation. “You like, hum into it, and it makes cool sounds.”

“Sounds fun.” Maybe that was an instrument Amity would be able to play.

“It is!” Luz lifted her instrument towards the sky. “When I get good at this, I’ll figure out how to cast bard magic. It’s gonna be great!”

Amity believed her.

The two soon parted ways, each heading to their respective homes.

Amity wondered what Eda would think about the instrument, and how long it would last in the owl house before being in danger of destruction.

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