Watching the broadcast in her bedroom, effectively detained there by her mother (even though, or more likely because, she has crutches for the purpose of walking, for Titan's sake), Amity was jolted by the entrance of her older siblings, twins Emira and Edric.
"Hey, Mittens!" the two announced.
"What are you guys doing here?!" she cried out.
"We're here to get you out of this funk," Edric declared.
"Turn off the CB, or change it to another channel," Emira continued. "The news is so depressing."
"Let's try Morgul," Edric suggested. "There's a new episode coming up, it's where he tries to get a date with his manager at the bank."
"A sitcom?" Amity questioned.
"We all need a little escape in our lives," Emira said as she gave Amity a rub on her head.
"OK, fine," Amity said. "Thank Titan for scrolls."
"Hey, fine, but we're changing the channel," Edric replied.
"Hey, Willow!"
She turned around from the door and froze as her father stared at her.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Uh…" the young witch stuttered.
"Wait, wait, don't tell me," he continued. "You're going to the Conformatorium, right? Watching the petrification?"
She continued to look at him nervously.
"You know, I don't think you should go. It's pretty gruesome, so I hear. A witch gets turned into stone. Ooh. So painful. It'll be too much for people's psyche. It just gives me the chills, and I'm pretty sure that someone like you might not want that on their minds, and–"
"I'm going to stop it!"
He snapped out of his train of thought. Her? Stop a petrification ceremony? She must be on a loop again.
"Oh, you're going to stop Miss Eda from getting petrified?"
Willow strained to say, "Yeah." He paused.
"Well, you can try, but don't tell your dad about it. And I suggest you look away when it happens. Now run along."
"Wait," she replied incredulously, "you're letting me go?" She was surprised that her father would go along with it.
"I'm a bit of a rebel myself," he joked.
"Are you?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he simply knelt down to look at her eye level. "Just don't get into trouble, OK?"
"I'm going with Gus."
"Gus? Well, then, I've got nothing to worry about." He stood up, walked to the door, and opened it. "You better come back to do the dishes when you're done. You owe me a favor after this."
She hugged him. "Thanks," she said. Then she dashed off to who knows where. She's been getting better these days in stuff like school.
"Ah, Willow," he said to himself. "Always seeking adventure."
Aboard a coach bound for the Conformatorium, Gus was staring at the throngs of people that were walking with them. He sighed.
"First petrification in thirty years," he said forlornly, "and they had to pick Eda."
"It's just not right," Willow replied. "But who are we to question the Emperor?" She opened up her scroll and looked up petrifications. Apparently, there were rumors that the campaign against wild magic was harsher than they let on; that witches were being summarily petrified behind closed doors, often hidden away as statues, never to be seen again. No one could confirm anything, of course. The Emperor's Coven would often scrub and censor posts before people could push the question further.
The two teenagers looked out the window and saw Principal Bump walking down the road. Eda was his best student back at Hexside long ago, and was apparently old enough to remember the times before the Emperor's reign. She reckoned that a few thousand would probably be seeing Eda's petrification. That was probably more than enough to send a message to everybody.
The Conformatorium, that vast prison where delinquents were held, loomed ahead.