[1st POV | Wanda]
Watching the child explore the bookstore was...certainly an amusing sight. She was looking around in such awe, childish awe. With every book that she looked at, Amity seemingly found herself more and more absorbed.
It was adorable.
She was making a bigger and bigger stack, especially when it came to Abomination magic.
I had personally been making some books in that particular art, as while bored I thought it'd be neat to mimic it. Turns out abomination magic had quite a lot of potential, and was closely connected to manipulating life and biology.
So, with it one could potentially revive the dead if they delve deep enough into the art. Instead of just using the abomination goop that they use in Owl House. It had a lot of potential for growth, and with Amity's love for the type of magic, I'm sure she'd love to learn all the neat little discoveries I have found over the past few days.
But I've also noticed that she was hesitating quite a lot when grabbing more than 2 books. They were cheap, even by the standards of her world. being equivalent to around five dollars each in their currency. It was cheap, but...I'm beginning to think that perhaps she is not getting money from those horrid little parents of her.
Poor thing.
I've got a few ideas in regards to helping her. Chief amongst them was an internship here with me. She'd be an excellent helper, and perhaps I can even begin to offer reading classes to younger children through her. Expanding my business and making the place a bit more lively.
While also keeping it quiet for those that like privacy. Magic is very good for that particular part.
In regards to the money, I can't say I mind making it cheaper for the girl. She was a kind thing, that much I could very easily tell. She also seemed like she needed it.
I doubt she noticed, but all the wounds that have been slowly but surely effecting her form was healed the moment that she had entered my shop, the moment I had noticed.
The abuse and bullying was...grating on my nerves. Few things angered me more than child abuse and neglect. And Amity was under both at the same time to a truly terrible level. Had it continued longer without me healing her, I am absolutely confident that she would have died from internal injuries or something similar.
She was that hurt. With bones not properly healed, and scars littering her form underneath. From bullying and abuse and supposed "Accidents". As well as from all sorts of magical events that she had been forced to endure.
Truly, her teacher was a joke. Lilith, Eda's sister, was an ignorant woman, that much is clear. She is not the type to ignore this sort of thing if she had noticed it, but perhaps she was so wrapped up in her own mind that she was not noticing the clear signs of heavy abuse that was being pushed onto her student.
And it would seem that Lilith's teaching methods were...subpar at best. The girl was a genius, I can tell just from looking at her. The potential and magic that wafted off of her was truly incredible. So to see her struggle this much...it meant that Lilith was not teaching her right at all.
I'd have to fix that, should Amity be willing to intern with me. Perhaps she can be my new protege? Raven is...well, already doing her own thing when training. Milim and Naruto mostly piggy back off one another for training, leaving me alone.
Well, besides Teekl. But that cat likes to wander. I'm pretty sure I've seen it sneak out and wander into other universes a few times too.
Who knows what chaos it caused in One Piece.
Amity soon began to finish up her shopping. Grabbing a handful of books. Most of them were ones that I had written on Abomination magic, but there was a book on enchanting and another on potions. I suspect she wants to find a way to merge the effects of a potion into the abomination that she creates.
Genius.
"Is that all, hon?" I asked with a warm smile, trying my best to not make the poor girl uncomfortable.
She nodded slowly in response.
"Y-Yes ma'am. This is um-20 snails, right?" She asked, as she began to bring out the currency of the Boiling Isles, known as a "Snail" , it was basically a gold coin. In their currency 5 snails was very cheap.
I noticed pretty quickly that she was beginning to grow nervous, realizing that she likely didn't have enough.
"No, hon, it's 10 snails. Each of those books are just two snails" I responded with a small smile, as the girl looked up at me.
"I-I'll just put them back then. I don't want to get them cheaper than anyone else just because I don't have the money for them" Amity responded, looking embarrassed at this but also resigned.
She should not be resigning herself to something like this. She was a child.
"Honey, you don't have to do that" I softly said.
"Sorry for wasting your time ma'am, I'll put the books back and get out of your hair" Amity said, looking like she was about to cry as I bit my lip before speaking.
"How about instead of paying, you do something else for me?" I asked, stopping the girl as she was prepared to walk back to the bookshelves to put them back.
Amity looked back upon hearing this, tears still in her eyes, but stilled.
"W-what?"
"I've been in need for an intern, someone who can help out here and do some pricing for me when I'm busy. And as much as I love my children, they are not interested in that sort of thing. And my partner is busy with her own things. Thus, I need someone that could help in this regard, and I do believe you'd be perfect for it" I said.
It was the truth.
Milim and Naruto still of course helped once in a while, but that was mostly with the baking and helping kids pick out good mangas or comics to read. While Raven was mostly out here for book club, as she had been taking part in it for the past couple of weeks.
The only real employee I have at this point is Ivy, who comes every other day to do the plants. And that's all she really does, but it was the plants in the bookstore and in my dimensions, so it's a lot more than it sounds like.
"A-Are you offering me a job?" Amity asked with wide eyes.
"Hmm, you can think of it like that. In return for working for me, I'll let you read any book in the store for free - barring specific ones that are restricted to adults only - and you can get breakfast and lunch for free as well. On top of that, I'll pay you...hmm, lets say 25 snails an hour. How does that sound?" I offered, the girls eyes widening the more she heard.
25 snails an hour was quite a bit for them. At least for an hourly wage.
And the food part was...sadly what made her most excited. The girl was malnourished, obviously. So she was that desperate for a good meal.
"And all I'd have to do is help out around the store?"
"Mmhmm, you'd be helping me put up new books, organize shelves, at the counter, and some other things. When you're not busy with your job, you're welcome to study or whatever else" I responded. I was tempted to bring up the idea of her becoming my student, but I decided against it. It was a bit soon to bring something like that up.
I'd give it a few days to weeks before asking her such an important question.
The only other person in the Boiling Isles that I'd be interested in giving such an offer to is Luz herself. And that would mostly be riding on whether or not she had been mistreated by her mother, but I am pretty confident at this point that she wasn't. Thus, Amity was the perfect student and new worker to have.
And potentially a new member of my family, should it get that far.
With that I silently watched the girl contemplate her decision, before my face warped into a smile as the girl gave me the response I was hoping for.
"...When do I start?"
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That's the end of the chapter!
Nothing to really say for the AN.
Anyways, have a good day!