"Luz, we need to talk."

Luz almost jumped in a nervous panic when she saw Eda sitting on the couch. She had just finished walking home from school, and still had potions on the mind. Luz cautiously set her bag down, filled with essay drafts and potion ingredients, as she strolled over to Eda.

Luz liberated a heavy sigh. "Mama, is this about the covens again?" Luz felt her nerves tensing. There was only one month left for the senior class of Manubrius to commit to a coven. Eda had talked with Luz many times about how she was only going to school to socialize and study potions deeper, and how Luz would not be joining a coven.

Eda had never revealed to Luz the real reason why she was going. "Yes." Eda shifted on the couch to make room for Luz, then continued. "First though, how was school?"

"Oh you know, same old witch school stuff. Oh, but my Capstone project is going really well! I think I made a breakthrough on my new potion, but I still need King to test it later." Luz's voice slowly evaporated as silence filled the room, knowing there was something else she wanted to tell Eda. Luz felt as though she couldn't.

"You still want to join the Potions Coven, right?" Eda awkwardly shifted her head away from her daughter, refusing to see her expression.

"Actually," Eda's ears perked up as Luz slowly emphasized each word. "I think I might want to, maybe try out for the Emperor's Coven?"

Eda slowly closed her eyes, put a hand to her face, and sank into the couch. "Well. At least now you don't want all your practice with me to go to waste." She lazily let an eye drift open, and focused on Luz.

"Do you remember when you were still a kid and we went to all those dumb Grudgby games? You would always yap on the way home, about how this play would've been better if they just knew how to combine it with a simple fire spell. Or, if they just pulled a plant through the ground, they could've easily increased their range? Yeesh, and I thought I hated the coven system. What happened, Luz?"

Luz avoided her Mama's eyes, hiding a sorrowful, yet nostalgic smile. "I know. I'm the daughter of one of the most wanted criminals in the land, yet I want to join a system that hates you. I know that sounds terrible." Luz miserably stared back at Eda.

"But I want to try and fix it, Mama. You've always told me I'm one of the greatest witches on the Isles, but to never let anyone at school know that. I have no idea if it's even true or if you're just being a mom, but, I swear that they can see something!" She stood up on the couch, her hands emoting every word.

"They always talk to me about how I'm destined for something greater than the other students. They even said I could easily join the Emperor's Coven if I wanted! And I know you never wanted me to join a coven because it's evil, or because it seals away magic, or whatever other reason you listed off. But you never tell me why, why is that a bad thing? What's wrong with only learning one type of magic, and putting every part of yourself into it?" Luz dejectedly flopped back onto the couch.

"The only reason why I can do all these spells and such is, is because I'm alone with you and King and Mami. You know I'm not very good with the kids at school." Her head drooped down. "They all have all these things to do, friends to chill out with, they have lives! And I'm just here. And I love learning magic with you but, is that all I am?" Tears started to spill out of the corner of her eyes.

"This world is so strange sometimes, it almost feels wrong to be here. I don't know what I'm doing here most of the time." She let her head rise to face her mother again, whose face was unreadable. "But that's why I want to join the Emperor's Coven. To fix every bad thing they stand for. To help find a cure for your curse. I don't love what the Boiling Isles are, but I love what it could be." Luz's voice finally slowed down.

"And if I don't join the Emperor's Coven, what do I do for the future? I love potions but, I don't know. It seems like it'd be boring now to just do that. Who am I? I just, I want a purpose. And. Staying here with you and Mami doesn't feel like that purpose."

The air grew thick, as Eda let the weight of Luz's words spill over her. Every time her daughter spoke a monologue about something she was passionate about, Eda swore she could see Camila in Luz's eyes. But it was different this time. Eda didn't like what she was hearing, at all. She hated what she had let Manubrius turn Luz into.

"You are, without a doubt, the strongest witch in the Boiling Isles. And you know that as your mother, I will tell you that everyday until the day I kick the bucket. I have no doubts that you could lead the Emperor's Coven. But, I know that in reality, you can't. A lot of things are terrible here, and we can't change them. They might let you join, but they won't let you set an example."

Eda squirmed in her seat, as her face scrunched up, almost rejecting the words she was about to say. "They still see you as a human first, witch second. It's terrible. But there is nothing we can do to change that. And I care about you too much to encourage you to join something that will only bring you down. You have so much more potential than those members ever had, Luz." Eda settled down again, looking at Luz's emotion-filled face.

"But, I know I can't stop you either. You're your own person, you can do whatever you want. I won't support it, but I won't force you to stay with us."

Luz's hands started to shake, as she slowly balled them into fists. The hot tears continued to stream down her face. Her teeth grimaced, and she couldn't keep her feelings in check any longer.

"Why did you send me to school if all you want to do is keep me here?! How is staying here in the woods giving me more potential than joining the highest coven in the Boiling Isles?! There's something else, isn't there? What aren't you telling me?! You knew you and Mami could've taught me potions here, and you knew you would never let me join a coven. But you still let me go to school, even though I don't have any friends! Tell me what I don't know!"

"They pay us!"

The air in the room stopped dead. The two of them glared at each other, a mix of rage, disgust, sadness, and pity filling their eyes.

Luz quietly, yet sternly replied. "Who."

"The school. Manubrius came to us when you were young, after the Emperor's Coven raided our house and almost killed Mami." Eda could no longer stare at her daughter, fury toward the coven filling her face. "Rumors had spread in town of a human-witch child. They wanted us to enroll you in their school, and promised us that Emperor Belos would have no issues with it. Mami and I kept refusing, but." She stopped. It was too late to leave the room now, Luz finally needed to know the full story.

"One day, they came back and said they would pay us. A steady income of Snails to aid us in living, while we continued to sell our own potions. And we couldn't refuse." Eda's knuckles went pure white as the blood ceased flowing to her clenched fist. "They knew we couldn't refuse. The way to Earth was lost, so we couldn't move there. And we wouldn't have been able to live otherwise."

Luz stood up and walked out of the living room. Eda's eyes were closed, she had no idea what her daughter was feeling. Eda couldn't move any longer, as the emotions that came to her thirteen years ago finally resurfaced.

Amity didn't know what day it was. She had no concept of a calendar, only occasionally being reminded of her age. She just woke up, did what Lilith said she had to do, and slept. Every day. The only thing she knew about days was that the sun went up, and it eventually went down.

This day was no different from the rest. Today she woke up. She took her medicine for her left lung pain. She showered. She took care of her other hygienic needs. She ate the sterile nutrients Lilith provided.

No enjoyment. Just train daily. And stay alive.

So she did. For thirteen years she did. Thirteen years in the same small house, only going outside to practice spells and meditate. There was no need to do anything else. Go anywhere beyond her home. Because Amity knew what she was. Knew what she had.

She read textbooks that Lilith provided her. The same material any growing witch needs to become strong. Some of it was blanked out, but she didn't question it.

Lilith didn't teach Amity. Lilith only told her what to do. What the tasks for each day were. What Lilith expected from her.

Lilith gave Amity everything she ever needed. All a human really needs is food, shelter, and education. That is all Lilith ever gave her. Amity asked for nothing in return. She never argued. She never emoted. She was everything Lilith needed her to be.

Lilith hadn't visited her for a few days, which was standard. Sometimes she wouldn't visit Amity for weeks on end, knowing the human could handle herself. Today, Lilith was visiting to see Amity's progress on a spell.

Lilith never complimented Amity, and Amity didn't expect the witch to do so. Lilith knew the human would work at her own pace, and never demanded anything that she couldn't accomplish. Because Lilith knew Amity would practice whatever she requested to the best of her ability.

Practice. Accomplish. Determine weaknesses, and get rid of them. Take more medication to ease the pain. Combine spells to create more power.

Weakness. The other witches were weak. Lilith told Amity that she was more powerful. Amity didn't know if she was telling the truth, but there was no reason to think she was lying. Lilith would never lie.

Amity knew little about where she was. All she knew was this house, and the forest that surrounded her. She knew she could perform magic, and she knew she was human. But she had no sense of something being out of place. At the end of the day, she was Amity. The human.

Lilith didn't want her to acknowledge that. Lilith forced Amity to always have an illusion spell cast to appear more witch-like. If anyone ever found out where Amity was, they had to think she was a witch. So Amity obliged. No questions asked, for Lilith told her and she obeyed.

Magic is made to be mixed, Lilith says. The textbooks don't say that. Amity never questioned it, for the textbooks were wrong when Lilith said they were wrong. So she mixed her magic. And today, she was finalizing a complex sequence spell, a union of many magic types.

First, she summoned a Plant Abomination, combined with a simple fire spell to set it aflame. The kindling of the Abomination, Lilith explained to her, made the fire spell a large, mobile threat. A spell would then be cast below the Abomination, raising the ground to make it airborne.

Amity would then cast a dry ice spell over the opponent's entire body, instantly giving the opponent frostbite. The burning Abomination would then land onto the immobilized enemy, raising their temperature rapidly.

If all went right, which Amity certainly would not falter on, the foe would instantly die. This was due to a combination of the dry ice causing the body to cease movement, and the Abomination engulfing the body, searing their skin.

It was fairly simple for Amity to accomplish this, with the only issue being the limited time to execute all the spells. A burning Plant Abomination had a very limited lifespan, acting as a projectile instead of a tool. The entire string of moves had to be completed in less than 20 seconds, and it required 4 entirely different spells to be cast in rapid succession.

It had taken Amity weeks to perfect it. Every time Lilith came back, she evaluated her spells. But for the past year or so, Lilith told her to focus on one complex spell at a time. Lilith would then evaluate Amity's progress, never being upset. Never being proud. Just critiquing a spell, having Amity cast it as many times as she was comfortable, then leaving.

Amity perfecting a spell wasn't a celebratory experience, it was simply the end of a goal. An expectation. A requirement. There was no option for failure, because there was no way for her to fail.

There were many spare objects Lilith gave her to practice, such as large pieces of wood and flesh-like subjects. Amity spent the morning studying her books as usual, and going over the spell in her mind. She was finally ready for Lilith to see it, as was the expectation.

Raise a Plant Abomination. Cast a Fireball spell on it. Elevate the floor below it, aiming it toward the subject. Cast dry ice onto the subject. Prepare the next spell if necessary.

Raise a Plant Abomination. Cast a Fireball spell on it...

Luz's brain was filled with static. All this time, did her parents even care about her? Surely they did. Mama spent a lot of time helping Luz train, teaching her magic that she couldn't learn in school due to the one-track rule. Mami helped her with deeper personal feelings and affirmations, giving Luz a connection to the humanity she hadn't experienced since infantry.

They knew Luz was alone here. Not just at school, but the entire Isles. Luz knew deep down she never needed to be in school, everything she needed was at home. But what about what she wanted? She never wanted much, just a place to belong.

And now, she might just be a paycheck to her parents. A valued price to let them live. Would they have disowned her if she quit school before? Did they even care that she ended up liking school?

Her body walked without thought into her Mami's study. Luz's eyes were still glazed over, but she attempted to break out of her dissociation. King was in the room with Mami, but scampered out of the room when he saw the look on Luz's face.

Camila stood up from her chair, shuffling over to her daughter. "Mija, what happened?" The words flustered out of her mouth, trying to pull Luz into a hug.

Luz cautiously stepped back. "You used me." Her voice was slowly shaking, filled with fear.

Camila opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words to communicate with Luz. Luz wasn't looking at her, she couldn't find the strength to. Luz felt like she was in the room with a stranger. It took every fiber of her being to not bolt out of the room, to leave the danger she desperately wanted to be false.

Camila always had trouble fitting in on the Isles, but she found comfort in her daughter. A reminder that humanity still existed. But now, she could only feel her gut dropping. She saw a vast distance in Luz's eyes, as though she was only physically alive.

"Mama told me everything. The school pays you to let me go there." Luz struggled to get those words out. If she didn't speak those words, then they couldn't be true. She wanted to say so much more to her Mami, but she felt like she wasn't even in the room with her.

"Luz, that-" Camila sputtered. She wasn't wrong, despite Camila's wishes that Luz simply misunderstood whatever Eda had said. Luz was an adult now, it was time she learned the truth. She could handle it. Camila slowly sat back into her chair.

"There wasn't any other option, you know we lost the way to the Human Realm. We never wanted to accept their offer, and we refused it for weeks. But when we ran out of human goods to sell, we discovered that selling potions wasn't enough to make ends meet." Camila wanted to stop, but Luz was now staring directly into her eyes.

"If we didn't enroll you, we wouldn't have had time to raise you. But with the extra income, your Mama had time to train you, I had time to study the Isles, and we both could spend the time with you that you deserved." Camila slipped her glasses off her face, raising a hand to her forehead in an attempt to ease her mental anguish.

"If you ever said you wanted to drop out of Manubrius, we wouldn't have stopped you. But even with all the terrible things your classmates said, you still loved it there. And we couldn't take that away from you, even if Mama hated what the school stood for. I'm so sorry Mija. We should've told you before."

Luz fell to her knees, some feeling returning to her body. So much of this world felt against her, and she thought she had finally lost the one part that kept her grounded in reality. The fear of being used by her parents, it was never true.

But the school was a different story.

"I- I need to go for a bit. Thank you Mami but, you needed to tell me earlier. I- Have to feel this one out on my own. I'll be back, whenever. I promise." She turned to leave the room.

Camila shot up from her chair, hesitating to step forward. "Wait, Mija! Where are you going?!"

Luz walked on. "I don't know."

Lilith rhythmically tapped her fingers on the table, ready to be done with this painstakingly long meeting. Just another standard meeting with the main coven leaders, determining budgets and reports on recent happenings around the Isles. It was all a farce, but none of them knew. Only Lilith was aware how wrong it was that they kept up Belos's reign.

All she wanted to do was shoot up out of her chair and shout "This is all wrong! You're killing yourselves and the people of the Isles!", but that would only strengthen Belos's rule. A witch that didn't know any better would take Lilith's place, and she would be petrified for conspiracy. No, she was smarter than this. The past thirteen years couldn't be wasted, not now.

It was coming to a head. Amity the human, Lilith's apprentice. She never expected Amity to obtain such strength. In the original plan, Lilith was supposed to lead the charge on Belos. Amity would be protected by her, Lilith would distract Belos in some plan she hadn't figured out quite yet, and Amity would deal a fatal blow with her basic magic.

It all changed when Lilith used a bile sac scanner on the child, soon after injecting her with the coveted bile tube. It's a very common tool in the Isles, used to view the level of magic in the bile sac of a witch. It simply scanned the chest with X-rays, and displayed the amount of magic present.

Many witches refuse to check their own levels, as it could psychologically destroy one's mind. Knowing that you could never have as much magic stored as another witch, simply due to genetic variation. That you could be more powerful if only you were luckier.

The average bile sac is filled approximately ¾ of the way with magic. Witches with higher volumes tend to be leaders, with the highest ones often joining the Emperor's Coven. If your peers find out you have a low volume, however, you usually have less opportunities for a job within a coven, and less pay.

The capacity of a bile sac grows with a witch, until one reaches adulthood. But Amity was different. She didn't have a bile sac, she had a lung.

And it was filled entirely with magic. Amity's left lung already had more magic in it compared to the average witch when she was just a young teen. But now, when Amity was eighteen years old?

Amity was a machine. The textbooks Lilith stole from archives were now only mere suggestions. They were still useful for Amity to study, but were limiting. Lilith had to create spells for her, to create a new style of magic casting.

Witches were taught in combat to only cast powerful spells, not to waste time with gambits that could throw off an opponent. Amity, however, could cast magic for long periods of time. The shackles of a bile sac were never present on the human.

Lilith was still waiting for her meeting to end, ready to see Amity's progress. She still needed to work on the plan, which had changed immensely from the draft she found over a decade ago. The time needed to be right, and Amity needed to be perfect. It was coming soon, and Lilith decided that Amity finally deserved to know the truth. Today, Lilith would finally reveal her purpose.

And so, with the meeting uneventfully drawing to a close, Lilith swiftly exited the room. Off to the Gladiolus forest, off to her apprentice.

Camila let Luz leave, knowing that of all times to stop her, now was not one of them. Her and Eda had made the wrong choice in letting their daughter live in ignorance. Camila only hoped that Luz would forgive her. She stepped out into the living room, and saw Eda sitting motionless.

Camila decided it would be best to sit in silence with her wife, giving her a hug in solidarity. Unexpectedly, her wife soon spoke.

"We are terrible parents, Cami." Eda let her head sink into Camila's shoulder, all energy being drained. "She was gonna find out eventually but, I didn't want it to be like this."

In her younger years, Camila may have interrupted Eda to give advice. But she knew her wife needed to let it all out, with no intervention.

"She wants to join the Emperor's Coven now, and it breaks my heart." Eda glanced at her wife, with her own eyes glazed over. "What are they teaching our kid there? I still don't get why they're paying us to let her go there, why did we even do it in the first place?!"

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Camila pulled Eda into a closer hug. "Whatever Luz wants, we need to let her do. You know how smart she is, I trust her in making the right decision."

Eda started to pull away. "It's not that simple, Camila! They- I don't know what she's learning beyond potions, but it's obvious there's something we don't know going on here." Eda ran her hand through her hair, distressed by the oncoming thoughts.

"I've tried to not think about it but, really why did they want her there so badly? They wouldn't leave us alone for five seconds before slamming their fists onto Hooty again, offering us more snails every single time we denied. I tried to ignore it but, now I can't."

Camila gave her wife some space, recognizing the intense emotions coming out of her. She slowly spoke. "I don't know, but. We can figure this out together, like we always have. And, I think Luz will be okay. But we need to give her some space."

Eda suddenly jolted her head around the room. "Wait, where is she?"

"I don't know. She just left, and said she'd be back. I trust her though, and I know you do too. We should get some rest now, we'll feel better when we wake up." Camila extended her hand to her wife, guiding them toward their bedroom.

Eda, still frazzled, accepted the offer. Despite Camila's emotional intelligence easing her woes a bit, Eda still felt terrible. "We are terrible parents."

Lilith walked into Amity's house with no warning, as expected. Amity was simply studying on her bed, though she set down her book when her mentor arrived. Lilith put down the standard supplies Amity would need for the next few weeks, and walked back outside. Amity followed, not saying a word.

Outside were the three targets Lilith always set up for Amity's tests. First was a large, thick piece of wood, approximating the size of an adult witch. The other two were identical representations of a witch's physical body, flesh and all.

Lilith would be animating the last one, giving Amity an extra challenge she would certainly face in combat. Amity hitting a mobile target was always essential to her training, but this combination in particular absolutely required it.

Amity closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. For the first target, she tried to cast the spells with no visual information. She completed the spells in only ten seconds, and opened her eyes to a pile of ash.

She didn't look back at Lilith for any confirmation, there was no reason. Lilith would let Amity prepare for the next target without interruption, giving critique at the end. For the human target, which Amity noticed was set back a bit farther, she kept her eyes open. When summoning the Plant Abomination this time, she tried to make it a bit smaller. While the reduced size would require her to cast the spells even faster, she would be able to launch it further with ease.

As soon as the second target was destroyed, Lilith started to animate the remaining witch imitation. When Amity was younger, Lilith would simply move it side to side. However, as Lilith's own skill of controlling an object with magic improved, she started to move it in complex patterns.

Amity predicted where it would move next, and launched the Plant Abomination far into the air. She was a bit off initially, as expected, but her dry ice spell solidified the target in the exact spot the Abomination would land onto. Amity's chest was starting to become a bit sore, but she ignored it as always. Pain was only a sign of weakness, not a stopping point.

"I have no more spell patterns to teach you at this time, Amity. You may continue to invent your own and show them when I return in the future. However, I have information to tell you. Come inside."

Amity was taken aback by this comment, but quickly followed her mentor. "Yes, Lilith." Information? Amity had no prediction for what she was about to hear, for Lilith had never said anything like this after a test. It must be of the utmost importance.

Lilith sat at the table, and waited for the human to do the same. "You are now ready to be told why I have been training you. While you are only human, you are more powerful than all real witches." Amity tried not to fluster a bit at this comment. She felt so much like a witch now that whenever Lilith told her she was only human, she felt something. She didn't know what, but it didn't feel good.

"You have read about Emperor Belos in the textbooks, and you know that his ways of running the Isles are wrong. That he orders all witches to choose one track of learning." Amity nodded, she hated Belos. She was glad that Lilith taught her the truths of magic, but why was she bringing it up now?

"As you also know, you are impervious to the barrier spell. All witches on the Boiling Isles are stopped by it, but you. You are a human. That is why I have been training you."

Of course, this made sense to Amity. All of Lilith's actions have been logical, this came as no surprise. Lilith seemed to have an obsession with the barrier spell, which in the past seemed odd to Amity. She now was fully confident in her mentor, there was no need to doubt her methods.

"Years ago, when I first took you in, I found a series of plans. Although many parts of it are inaccurate, which I have amended, one of them I have been unable to disprove. It revealed to me Emperor Belos has a barrier spell around his entire body, meaning that no witch's magic can harm him." Lilith stopped speaking for a moment, shifting her eyes to the side.

"It appears that while all witches are led to believe that the bile sac is a witches greatest strength, it is actually a detriment to our skills. A witch needs to perform multiple types of magic to keep a bile sac healthy. And it is the one thing that prevents witches from going through a barrier hex." Lilith stood up, continuing to stare at Amity.

"But your left lung is the key to everything, Amity. I have been training you to kill Emperor Belos. So we can take over his rule, and start a new era in the Boiling Isles. One that takes the good parts of Belos's society, and combines it with the power that the witches of old yielded." Lilith sat back down, refusing to let her emotions show too much in front of the human. It would be a sign of weakness.

"The time is not ready yet. However, all you have to do now is continue your studies. I will return in about a week, and I will continue to update you on the plan to take over Belos. If all goes right, you will have a high place in the new society. An example of what a witch can become, if they have the right teacher."

With that, Lilith stood up and left. There was no need to discuss the plans any further with Amity, for she knew all she needed to know for now. Amity had been working toward this goal unknowingly for years. A plot to kill Emperor Belos.

Amity attempted to shoot a quick fireball at the ground to display her own fury at the ruler, but her stomach shot up in pain. She took another pill to dull it, and continued with her studies instead. A new era would dawn upon the Isles soon.

Luz left through the back door, not strong enough to face Eda right now. While she was slowly accepting that her parents truly did care about her, it would still take a while to process the revelation. That the only reason she was going to school was because of a paycheck.

Luz started to stroll in the forest, letting her mind wander. Head down, hands in her pockets, thinking. Mami always said that when something's on your mind, you can't stuff it down. You have to let it pass through you entirely.

The first big thought to come to her was, why? Why did the school want her that badly? She was only a kid when they took interest, and there was really nothing special about her. Her bile sac magic didn't come in early. And, being a human-witch didn't matter much to her. Witch-human? She never knew, it was so confusing. Why couldn't she just be Luz?

It was truly a miracle that, as she had picked up in school, the Emperor's Coven doesn't have a real grasp of what happens on the Isles. She always found it a bit funny how she could go to school despite her Mama being the most-wanted criminal. It was so weird that they lived relatively close to the castle. Maybe it was a power move from Eda.

Luz thought back to how at lunchtime in school, she would sometimes stare at the other kids. Wondering what their parents were like. Their home, what it was like to be fully witch. Did any of them train all kinds of magic outside of school like her? Probably not, they had other obligations.

She could always understand what was being taught in a classroom when she walked by. But instead of pride, she felt guilt. Was she privileged? It was so confusing, she lived outside of town and didn't have much in terms of physical possessions, but she felt so loved at home that it didn't matter at all.

But her magic. Mama always boasted that her family was the strongest in the Isles, but she destroyed their reputation. And sometimes, during conversation, she slipped out the name of her sister. Lilith, the head of the Emperor's Coven. Technically Luz's Aunt, but Mama never admitted that. She was so curious what Lilith was like. Maybe she wasn't as bad as Mama said.

Focus. Luz got off-track, both physically and mentally. Okay, why did the school want her to enroll so badly? All the other kids didn't really care about her, but the teacher's always gave her so much weird attention. She didn't think about it then but, after her outburst at Mama, she realized how confusing her life at school was.

This added to her guilt, she realized. All the witches at school seemed to try so hard. Manubrius, while not a large school system by any means, was prided for its academics. So many of Luz's peers sneered at her whenever she walked by them, making her feel incredibly small. It wasn't her fault she was a witch-human. Human-witch?

Luz didn't realize it now, but she was starting to jog. Mami always noticed that Luz's emotional state directly affected her physical abilities, and Mama taught her how to use it to her advantage. But that wasn't important right now. What if those teacher's didn't have the best intentions, like she always thought?

No, that couldn't be true. They saw her potential, the one Mama always spoke about. But Luz never thought herself to be anything special. She really wasn't, her bile sac level was only a bit above normal. Standard for the Clawthorne bloodline. She just got lucky with where she was in life.

So lucky, so very lucky to have two loving parents. How could she ever doubt that? Her pace slowed down to a standard walk again. Her mind had figured it out. Her parents should've told her earlier, but they had to take the money. It wasn't their fault that the key was gone, that they couldn't make a living otherwise.

But Manubrius. Luz decided that the next day, she could talk to her potions professor about the situation. Surely, it was all some misunderstanding. Surely, it-

Luz froze in her tracks. A monster was in the distance, and it didn't look happy. She instantly prepared a spell circle, ready to face it head on. She smirked, knowing that she could take her emotions out on this simple target with ease.

Amity stepped outside, ready to meditate for the day. Usually, she reflected on her studies and potential spell combinations, but today was different. For the first time. She sat down in front of the destroyed wood and fake flesh, and closed her eyes.

Peace. Amity could always feel peace, even when other emotions tried to take hold. This small shack in the woods, it gave her immense comfort. Nobody could ever hurt her here, even if they tried. Amity enjoyed the process of deep meditation, as it gave her a strong sense of self.

She wished that Lilith would stay to meditate sometimes, but of course she was busy with her own life. Lilith was the perfect mentor. Always pushing Amity further, but still letting her grow at her own pace. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way she treated Amity.

And her mentor would soon be leading the Boiling Isles. Amity knew her role in Lilith's life, there was no question where she belonged. Peace. Knowing that she had no troubles at all. That-

A blast of ice soared over her head, forcing her to turn around. A large monster was behind Amity, and she couldn't focus on its physical traits. Amity was unbothered by its roar of pain, but her ears shot back at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"Hey! Look out!"

Name: Luz Clawthorne Noceda

Age: 18

Species: Human & Witch

Bile Sac Level: 80%

Report: The subject's studies are continuing as expected, no abnormalities to report. It is two months until Graduation at Manubrius, and one month until the subject has to select a coven. Right now, the school reports she still wants to join the Potions Coven. They will continue to push her toward the Emperor's Coven.

Kikimora set down her quill, and slammed her head onto her desk. It's been thirteen years, and she still has to report on this child. Hopefully she would be done soon, and Belos wouldn't force her to keep stalking that annoying hybrid.

She knew she still needed to report on the hybrid, but it was honestly hard for her to care about. The hybrid didn't progress at the rate Belos had expected, but assured Kikimora that the child was still of utmost importance.

Hopefully they could find that stupid key soon, or find some other way to travel to the Human Realm. Titan knows that it's been long overdue. How could those idiot guards still not find the key? She groaned in a deep annoyance.

Kikimora's scroll lit up, the shock forcing her head to knock into the back of her chair. Belos was calling, and she swiftly answered.

"Kikimora. You must make contact with the hybrid as soon as possible. Report back to me with your plan of contact before the day's end."

"Yes, sire."

Belos hung up, as no more needed to be discussed. Kikimora slammed her head back onto her desk.