" Hand them over, I don't got all day!" The lady yelled. Luz handed over the measurements that she had gotten over to the tailor, a bit frightened by the aggression. She looked them over, then nodded. " These will do, leave and return in 15 hours, I will be done by then." She shooed Luz and Amity away with her hand.

Once they were out of the large room and the door was shut behind them, Luz breathed a sigh of relief. " Who knew getting a uniform was gonna be so much work? I think taking those measurements threw out my back." She straightened her back out with her hands, wincing a bit as it cracked. " Do they do this for all the coven members?"

" No, just usually the ones that either need specific types of clothes or those appointed by the Emperor himself." Amity gestured to herself. " Also, don't take Tanka's attitude too hard, she's just got pride in her work. Trust me, it's worth it." Amity flashed her cape so Luz could see all of the hand sewn details that were laced into the threads. Craftsmanship like this only comes to those willing to work for it. As an artist, Luz knew this very well. She could only take in the glow of the work that was presented.

Once the showing off was done, the duo made their way back to the main halls of the Emperor's castle. A bit of chit chat was necessary as the halls were very long and very boring, even with the many tapestries lining the walls.

" So," Luz pipped up, " do you have any plans with that wood thing? We gonna make your staff tonight?"

Amity thought, " Mm, I don't know. Making a palisman is a hard thing to think about. You need to put your whole being into it. It's gonna be like a familiar. It has to be perfect. I don't know what I want it to be yet, if I'm honest." Amity shrugged.

" If I had one, it would make it a bat, just like my phone," Luz whipped out her cell, showing off the bat case it had with a grin. " The little buddy would fly around being all cute with its squeaky, ooo I would love that!" Luz shook her arms, stimming along with her excitement of the idea.

" Well I'm glad you know what you would want. I'm too picky." Amity replied.

They came to the main lobby of the castle, ready to make their exit when Luz stopped.

" Something wrong?" Amity asked.

" Hm, you know, I haven't really gotten to see this place since i've been cooped up in the castle or the barracks. Maybe we could look around."

" I don't know, Luz. People might get suspicious with a human walking around."

Luz smirked then donned her hood, using her fingers to poke up the ears on top. It was a cat hoodie overshirt, and it just covered her ears.

" Tada, perfect disguise."

Amity chuckled. " Okay, fine. One day only. Once you get your uniform, then you can walk around all you like. For now, no one can know a human is in the Boiling Isles, especially not seen with an Emperor Coven member."

Luz gasped. " Are you famous?"

" No, but people know my face well enough." They exited the castle, the guards standing watch over the gate as they left. Some watching a bit too closely. They hopped on a cart and rode off towards the many towns in the main area. Luz looked at her surroundings in awe, completely starstruck. She didn't get to see much of the Boiling Isles aside from a bit of the market, so this was a nice change of pace. The streets were lined with witches, demons, and beasts of all kinds hanging out and working together. Some weren't so kind, but even then, Luz knew she was safe.

The town was full of life and unity. It remind Luz of all of those shows she watched and books she read about the village outside of the walls of the great castle for the kings that ruled them. She was used to being on the side of the village, yet now she was with the king. It felt odd, almost like selling yourself out, but she knew it was out of necessity. She couldn't really go home, and she had to choice but to stay with those with the power. She hoped she could find a way home, at least to let her mom know where she was and that she wasn't coming back. She didn't really want to leave, as it was her dream to exist in such a magical world, but she didn't want to leave her home and family behind. There's no use dwelling on it now, as she doesn't have any choice at the moment anyways.

The cart stopped in front of a large building. Amity flipped the driver a few coins and they hopped off at their first destination. The building was bustling with activity as witches and demons that looked to be the same age as Luz and Amity walked in and out of the doors. Some were playing together, others were training with magic. Luz was taken aback.

" Woah, look at all that magic. I thought you guys were the only ones who could do that."

" We're the only ones who can use all magic. Hexside is one of the schools on the titan and teaching the students how to work within a coven."

" Coven?"

" Yeah, normal witches can't use all types of magic and are bound to one type. There are quite a few to choose from, and once they know which one they're happy with, they're get a tattoo that keeps them from doing any other magic outside of their range."

" That doesn't sound right. If you ask me, everyone should be able to explore all the different types of magic." Luz rejected the idea.

" Belos says it's the will of the titans. Besides, before Belos established the coven system, the Boiling Isles were full of chaos in the Savage Ages. Witches using magic they were unstable with, and misusing it. This way, it's more controlled and stable. Everyone has a part to play." They walked into the school. The halls were grand and enormous. It reminded Luz of the descriptions of one of the magic school she would read about in her Azura books. The halls were filled with students wearing almost the same uniforms but with different colors on their sleeves and leggings. This must be to differentiate the coven system each one belonged to.

Amity led Luz through the halls, telling her about the history of the school. " When I went here-"

" Wait, you were a student here? I thought you were always in the big coven with the big dogs?" Luz's eyes glittered as she put her hands on her cheeks, " Are you an underdog story?" She asked with excitement.

Amity chuckled, " No, but yeah I went here not that long ago. I was the opposite of an 'underdog'. My magic was a bit stronger than my classmates and I gained the attention of the Emperor's Coven. Lilith saw what I could do and took me in, and here I am now."

" Woah, that's so cool! I guess you're just good at everything, huh?" Luz looked around, giddy at the conversation along with the things she was seeing. She never guessed her new friend had so much history.

" Speaking of which," Amity led Luz down a hall of lockers where two students were seen chatting to each other, " these were my friends." She gestured to the two and they looked back with a smirk.

" Were? We still are, Blight." The witch closest to the lockers spoke up. She was heavy-set with her dark green hair put up in a messy bun. Her glasses flickered some of the light off, but you could still see her confident stare through them. She wore the same uniform as the rest of the students, but with plants painted along the cowl, vines wrapping themselves around her.

" Luz, this is Willow and Gus. When I went here, we became friends."

" Yeah, then you ditched us for the good life," Gus joked. His voice was very light, as if he hadn't hit puberty. He was much shorter than the rest of them. His dark skin and thick, dark hair helped the light blue streak in his hair and the tattoo on his hand stand out. The tattoo looked like a bright eye, almost like an illuminati eye. His hair had a nice face from the back, and stood up strong.

" Yeah, yeah." Amity couldn't really think of a comeback, it didn't seem to be her thing.

" I bet you got lots of fancy new friends, like you." Gus held his hand out, " Youngest student of Hexside, proud leader of the Humans Affiliation Club here on campus, and best illusionist in the school." He was cocky, but also kind. He had a very lighthearted and comedic feeling about him. Luz shook his hand, eyeing his tattoo.

" Wooah, my mom would never let me get a tattoo."

" By the way, why are you here, Amity?" Willow interrupted, " You usually have studying today."

" Oh, just showing Luz here around. Thought we'd stop by."

Willow and Gus examined Luz closely. They seemed to be thinking a bit before Gus spoke up to break this awkward silence.

" You're a human, aren't you?"

Luz was taken aback. " Whaaat? Noooo. No, of course not. Wha-What's a human?" She tried to play it off, but the sweat on her brow was more than enough proof they needed.

" Yeah, that doesn't work on me." Gus mentioned briefly.

" What? How did you know?" Luz asked.

" Leader of one of the biggest human clubs in the area, guh-doy." He said sarcastically. " I can spot a human from a mile away. Wait, what are you doing with a human?" Gus turned to Amity.

" She uh..She kinda came here from that wild witch out near the market."

" The Owl Lady!?" Willow and Gus chimed in surprise.

" Shh! Keep it down. Yeah. Luz kinda proved her worth to the Emperor and now she's in the coven."

" I'm training to be a witch." Luz pulled out a glyph from her pocket, to which Amity swiped it from her hand immediately.

" Luz! You're not supposed to have those anymore!"

" Sorry, forgot." She chuckled, trying to clear the air a bit.

Gus and Willow were dumbfounded, and could do little but stare. Gus moved in a bit closer to examine Luz a bit more.

" You do know wild magic is forbidden right?" He asked.

" That's kinda how I got into the coven. Oh! But i got a cool looking staff so I can do magic without glyphs." Luz was about to pull out her staff, but remembered. " Ah, dangit. I left it in the dorm. But i swear, it's super cool and has these awesome lights inside."

Willow and Gus nodded, then Willow spoke up. " So, you're telling me that the Emperor's Coven let a human, who showed up with the one magic they hate, get into the coven in what, a day?" She sounded a bit upset, but more in awe and curious.

" Well, it was actually a week," Luz tried to say.

" I don't know either. The whole thing was weird. She didn't have any info on the Owl Lady's whereabouts, but they gave me a chance to prove her worth. I still have no idea why the Emperor let her in. He even gave us staffs, staffs people!"

" Hmm, yeah that does seem odd. Maybe he was just impressed?" Willow tried to reason with the idea.

" I don't think so. I don't know, it's all just super weird, but at least I didn't have to have her death on my conscious."

" Yeah, I prefer to be alive, thank you very much." Luz pipped.

" Well, I guess we'll see you guys later. We still have quite a bit to see before dusk." Amity waved goodbye to her friends and left with Luz. On their way to another cart, Luz asked a question.

" Do you really think there's something up with the Emperor guy? You guys looked surprised."

" I don't know. I mean, I don't want to jinx this, if it really is just a good moment, but it's just too weird. He hates wild magic. I mean the whole coven system is centered around that, and even then, your performance wasn't too impressive by coven standards, much less his." A cart pulled up and they hopped in the back, making sure to keep their conversation quiet.

While they were heading to the next area, they decided to rest for a bit until they arrived. Looking up at the sky, Luz was pointing out how cool each monster was.

" You know, monsters are nothing but myth in my world. Except Area 51, or like the Bermuda Triangle or anything. I know for a fact there's something magically going on there, or at least weird enough to not be another boring Earth phenomenon." Luz sighed. " I wish we had more stuff like this world. Not to the crazy extent this place does, but enough to make life a bit more interesting."

" Yeah, that would be nice."

" You ever want normal, Earth-like stuff here?" She asked.

" I don't really know what normal is. We don't talk much about Earth, except for the occasional club like Gus, but from what I heard about your realm, it does sound nice. It's more peaceful. There's no magic, so there seems to be less issues."

Luz cringed. " Yeah, no. We still have plenty of issues. Not nearly as messed up as here, but messed up enough." She sighed. " I miss the normal though."

" Yeah. When Gus would tell me about Earth, he mentioned so much about how mundane life must be for humans. I mean, you all get so bored that you have to keep little creatures in your house."

" Oh pets? Yeah. Oh what I would give to have one. I've always wanted a cat or a dog, even a bird to keep me company. I don't really have much else in that regard."

Amity thought on that for a moment. " What do you mean?"

Luz took a moment to respond. " Back in my world, I'm not really the most popular kid around. I don't really have any friends. I just have my mom and my stories. I love these magically worlds because I can just get lost for hours in something so extravagant and crazy, but that usually has a happy ending. Earth doesn't have many of those on its own." The mood of the conversation shifted. " Here, I've already made some cool new friends. I do miss home, but this place is just so amazing. I wish I could have it all."

" I know how that feels."

" You do?"

" Gus and Willow are my only friends. Even then, I lost touch with them once I joined the Emperor's Coven. I don't have too much time to see them. I'm glad we're still in touch every so often, but I miss our connection. I've missed so much."

Luz and Amity laid there for a bit, watching the creatures above fly by, feeling the bumps and turns in the road. They could feel the tension sort of subsiding, but being replaced by understanding. They knew how it felt to be alone, even if it seems like they're living their dream. Nothing so amazing could ever replace connection.

" Is this why you humans keep pets around? To not feel so lonely?" Amity asked.

" Kinda. Sometimes it's just a cute little creature you want to hug and pet, other times it's a friend or a family member. I guess we're all just a little lonely."

Amity thought about that for a bit. It stuck with her. The loneliness. She had finally met someone who understood how that felt, and could stick around even in her professional time. She shot up, a realization hitting her. " That's it!"

Luz sat up, shocked at the sudden turn in the vibe. " What? What is it?"

Amity looked a Luz, a new smile growing along with some sign of hope. " I know exactly what to make my Palisman."