The clicks of the uneven sidewalk under hard wheels were rhythmic, and Amity found it relaxing. She could feel each bump beneath her feet as she steered her skateboard toward Gravesfield High School, with students approaching from every direction for the day's studies. One teacher glared at her for winding her way through the crowd, scolding her for endangering other students with her mode of transportation. She neared the double doors and leaned back on her board, flipping it up to catch it by the front wheels where she was again glared at by another teacher.

The glares and scolds were nothing new, and came with such regularity that Amity just ignored them now. Word never seemed to get back to her parents, and detention was a joke, and so she continued to do what she wanted so long as her grades were consistent. As this was rarely a challenge, she continued to coast through each day out of expectation and boredom. She blew a bubble out of the gum she had been chewing, popping it as she met the teacher's gaze.

The halls of the school began to fill with students, and Amity took her place among them, following the flow of people until she reached her first class of the morning and took her seat just off center of the room, beside the 'weird kid' that was always doodling in her notebook and making odd diorama art projects for every class. Luz Noceda was already seated, as per usual, as she tended to evacuate the halls as quickly as possible to avoid her more judgmental peers.

"What are you drawing this time?" Amity asked, trying to peek over her shoulder.

The intrusion made Luz jump and she sniffed, rubbing her cheek as she sat up, eyeing Amity suspiciously. "It's just some art for a story I'm writing."

"What's it about?" Amity asked in a whisper as more students began to enter the room and take their seats.

Luz's voice caught in her throat as she hesitated with excitement. "Have you ever heard of The Good Witch Azura, by Mildred Featherwhyle?" she asked.

Amity was about to nod when one of the other students took a passing interest in their conversation. "That sounds like a kiddie show… like a cartoon or something."

"Actually, it's a book. But yes, I have been reading it since I was a kid. I just got book five. I think it really grows with it's audience."

Amity gave her a look of disbelief as a student passed. "Seriously?"

Luz retreated again, her excitement of someone taking an interest in her work subsiding. "Nevermind." she said, hiding her artwork under her arm again.

Amity growled at herself for not standing up for Luz, and was readying herself to stand when the same student tapped her on the shoulder. "Why are you talking to this freak, Amity? Did she try flirting with you again? That's so weird."

"What?" Amity asked, turning in her seat while side eyeing Luz, who seemed to attempt to shrink into her school desk even more.

"Speaking of, are you and Luke coming to my party?"

Amity took her attention off of Luz and eyed the student speaking to her. "What are you talking about B…ella?" she asked, the name suddenly coming to her. She was wearing a sunny-yellow shirt under a black vest, and her red hair was separated to frame her face, covered by a Third Eye Blind band cap. "What's with the retro hat?" Amity asked, suppressing a snicker. "Have to borrow one from your mom?"

"Ugh. What's with the 'tude this morning?" Bella asked. "I like them, okay?"

"Well Luz likes her books." Amity replied, causing the girl next to her to turn and smile gratefully. She could feel her chest pounding and her skin sweating, standing up to Bella, but it felt good all the same.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just make sure your boyfriend comes to my party. He's still cool, isn't he?"

Amity felt like she had just been slapped and she recoiled in surprise. "My… what?"

"Don't tell me you broke up again. Hey, it's too bad you don't play for the other team, you and freakzilla here could have been a couple!" Bella laughed, earning a number of snickers from students in the immediate vicinity.

"I heard she plays for both teams!" chided another student, pointing a finger at Luz.

"Amity, you really don't have to do this." she whispered, leaning over in her desk. "I'm sorry I gave you those flowers…"

"I don't…" Amity began, feeling her face begin to warm and blush, an unfortunately visible indication of her embarrassment.

"Wow!" Bella continued to laugh. "How embarrassing! Hey, was Luke jealous when she asked you out?"

Amity had enough by now, and she stood, glaring at Bella as the other girl retreated in surprise. She extended a finger and traced out a circle in the air, then pointed at Bella, fully expecting a plume of fire that would burn that ridiculous hat off of her head. Unfortunately, all that she had managed to do was draw attention to herself as the classroom went deathly silent, with no flames or burning being accomplished. Instead, Bella simply laughed; a high pitched chortle that only served to annoy Amity even more.

She let out the breath that she had been holding in anger, flicking her pointed index finger and knocking the cap off of Bella's head to reveal a botched, pink dye job that she hadn't been able to wash out. It resulted in a collective gasp before a raucous of laughter filled the room and the instructor finally entered. "Amity, Bella! Office, now!" he shouted. "I'm sure you know the way."

"What?! I didn't even do anything!" Bella argued, replacing her cap to cover her hair.

Amity crossed her arms, speaking under her breath. "I could have done more."

The instructor said nothing more; only glaring and pointing a finger at the door. Amity led the way out of the class, with Bella following reluctantly behind. The walk to the Principal's Office was quiet aside from Bella's grumbling; the halls empty while classes were in session. The pair reached their destination, with Principal Hal himself standing outside his office door. He was an older man, with a salt and pepper colored moustache and short haired afro. He always wore a short sleeved, button up shirt and tie with grey slacks and brown shoes that attested to his boring adult style. Amity and Bella entered the office ahead of him, and he followed them in, closing the door behind them. "So ladies, to what do I owe the pleasure of yet another visit?" he asked, taking a seat behind his desk.

Bella didn't hesitate. "She nearly hit me!" she shouted.

"Bella was picking on Luz Noceda, and I stepped in."

The Principal rubbed his eyes out of frustration. "Of course this has to do with Noceda." he sighed. "Look, was there any physical contact involved?"

The girls looked at each other before replying. "No."

"Then give me a thousand word essay on what this fight was about, and stop bothering the Noceda girl. I still have to deal with her runaway snakes; and frankly after this, I don't even have the energy to recommend Summer Camp to her mother after this."

Both girls looked at him quizzically, uncertain what he was talking about. "Can we go now?" Amity asked, feeling uncomfortable witnessing Principal Hal's apparent break down.

Principal Hal shook himself out of his apprehensive state. "Can you stay out of trouble?"

Bella nodded while Amity shrugged, and the Principal dismissed them with a heavy sigh. The pair of girls stood and exited quietly back into the hall. Amity allowed Bella to move ahead of her until they were out of sight of the office before grabbing her by the shoulder. "Stopping picking on Luz, got it?"

Shrugging off Amity's grip and moving away, Bella glared back. "Why? Why do you suddenly have an infatuation with her after leading the charge?"

Amity recoiled. "What?"

"What's wrong with you, Amity?" Bella asked. "You're the one that targeted her after she gave you those flowers at the dance. You convinced the whole cheer squad to get her kicked out for wearing that stupid furry costume. Feeling guilty all of a sudden?"

"No… no, I…" Amity stammered, backing away. Of course she was the one that made Luz's life miserable; all because she was embarrassed that Luz liked her and… and she didn't reciprocate. Amity focused on her thoughts, and on the memories that weren't really hers. She didn't feel any of her old feelings for Luz, just feelings for some boy she didn't really know. She reached into her pants pocket, pulling out Jinn's bottle. "Bella, I don't know if you'll still exist after I open this, but if you do… please be nicer to Luz. She… she deserves it."

Bella looked at her quizzically, taking a step back as Amity opened the bottle and was engulfed in purple, gold speckled smoke.

"Y'know what?! This is ridiculous!" Amity protested, charging out of the cloud of smoke to find Jinn at the front of a class room at Hexside; her Astronology class, to be specific.

"I beg your pardon, Ms. Blight?" the Genie asked, adjusting a pair of round spectacles. She was dressed in Oracle Coven colors with a gold sash that ran over her shoulders; the mark of a professor of their subject. Her long blonde hair was pulled back for a more professional look than she'd had before, and a number of strange constellations resembling a moon in its different phases were drawn on the board behind her, each with a cherub-like face that were magically rotating around a larger face. "Did you have something to add?" she smiled as all of the students turned to stare at Amity.

Amity could feel all of her classmate's eyes on her, and she blushed. "Uhm, no…" she replied, sitting down at her empty desk just as the dismissal bell screamed.

Jinn traced a spell circle in front of the board, erasing the silly graphic off of its surface as the students exited before turning and approaching Amity. "No luck, huh?" she asked, taking a seat in the next desk.

Taking a breath, Amity chose her words carefully. "I don't get it. The human realm isn't actually like that, is it? That was just some weird fantasy you constructed, right? Luz wouldn't have been treated like that if I wasn't there."

"You're not like most witches, are you?" Jinn asked, a sad tone to her voice that Amity hadn't expected. "And especially not like your mother."

The mention of Odalia caused Amity to raise her eyes. "What exactly did my mom do?"

It was Jinn's turn to take a deep breath this time, and she looked away from Amity to collect her thoughts. "Your mom found me when she was around your age. She is… very patient, and very meticulous."

"Is that why you're pushing me to use all my wishes?"

"Not… exactly." Jinn replied. "Odalia has only used a few of her wishes, locking me in this bottle until she makes all seven. Her first was to be noticed by Alador. Her second was for a powerful legacy, and her third… is in motion."

"What happened to Genie/Master confidentiality?" Amity asked.

"Maybe some things are more important than rules."

"So me, Ed, and Em?"

"You may be the product of a wish, but you're as real as anyone else in this realm or the next."

"I think I know what my next wish should be."

"Amity, I…"

"I think if I was someone powerful. Not personally, but in a position to affect real change. Like an advisor. Not the Emperor himself, but someone close to him. Someone that could possibly convince him to change how things are on the Boiling Isles."

"Please, you don't really…"

"Jinn, I wish I was in the Golden Guard's position."

Amity looked down at her black gloves and white cloak through a narrow eye slit in a mask that covered her face entirely. She held an impressive looking staff that was topped with a red gem that she could feel magic coursing through, with cables running from the gem and into the shaft. She stood in the Emperor's Palace, flanked on either side by stone walls decorated with gold trim and plaques of the Emperor's Coven sigil. The hall was quiet and empty, except for the tall cloaked figure that walked slowly ahead of her. "Emperor Belos!" Amity exclaimed, whispering his name in awe beneath her mask. "Uh, my lord! I-I-I…" she stammered, catching up to walk beside him. "My lord, I'd like to ask a few questions and make some recommendations, if I could."

A low growl seemed to emanate from the Emperor for a moment, sending a chill through Amity's spine. "And what recommendations would that be, niece?" he asked; his gold, horned mask surprisingly leaving his voice unmuffled. His voice was smooth, though it had a hint of menace in it that instilled Amity with the familiar fear of disapproval.

"Well, uh… Uncle. I've come to learn of some wild witches… specifically ones that have no interest in joining a Coven, and I was thinking that maybe punishing them for that choice doesn't have… to…" she trailed off, noticing that the Emperor had stopped his progress, and was glaring down at her with glowing blue eyes that shined through his mask. "Uncle?"

Amity attempted to step back from the Emperor, but found her feet immobilized, and she looked down at her boots that had begun to transform into pitted stone. "I truly thought you'd last longer than the rest, but it seems a replacement is again in order."

She fell onto her back, feeling the agony of her legs go numb as they solidified and she tried to crawl away from the being that was towering over her; a feeling of absolute trust being shattered as the petrification climbed up to her waist. "Nonononono…" she said, removing the Genie bottle from her belt pocket before it was caught in the encroaching spell.

"What have you there?" the Emperor asked, raising a finger. A red glow enveloped the bottle and Amity could feel it being pulled from her grasp and she clenched her fist around it, flicking the cork off with her thumb.

Landing on her rear with a grunt, Amity immediately sat up; watching her legs transform from stone grey to the pink leggings of her school uniform. "What was that?!" she asked herself, her heart still pounding in fear from the encounter that she had barely escaped. She shivered uncontrollably before searching around frantically for Jinn's bottle.

"Amity? Did you find something?" she heard Emira ask.

She was in the Blight Manor's attic, surrounded by boxes of business paperwork, antiques, and other junk from her mother's side of the family that no one had looked at in years. Spying Jinn's bottle under a shelf, Amity reached out to grab it just as a familiar pair of boots appeared at the end of the aisle. She looked up to find Odalia glaring down at her, arms crossed; and she reluctantly left the bottle where it sat and picked herself up off of the floor as Emira appeared behind their mother. "No, I just tripped. There's a lot of, uhm, junk in here. What are we doing up here again?"

Odalia gave her a skeptical look, taking a moment to survey the area around Amity before speaking. "I felt it was time to organize up here, since it seems that someone has removed an item of importance to me and is refusing to fess up. So, you three will be cleaning all of this until it's returned."

Amity couldn't meet her gaze, instead deciding to inspect a box that contained a leather belt with a gold buckle; the word CHAMP etched into it, surrounded by purple gems. "What is this?" she asked, digging further into the box to find a collection of photos of her parents when they were younger.

Her mother scoffed as she approached. "I thought I had told your father to throw that out. Nothing more than memories from before he became successful." she said. "But that has nothing to do with your current task."

Edric rounded the corner of the shelf as well, lazily looking into boxes as he slowly moved along. "What exactly are we looking for again?" he asked nervously, meeting both of his sister's eyes.

"There is a very important potion that I had stored up here. It's a very dangerous concoction that should not be played with." Odalia replied, peeking into Alador's box and frowning. "You'll all continue cleaning the attic to my satisfaction, but whomever brings me the potion will get a reprieve. It's filled with a purple and gold smoke. Just be certain not to open it."

"Can I ask what it does?" Amity asked slowly, still focusing on her father's collection of memorabilia, removing a photograph of Alador on a stage and holding the belt she had found. He looked… happy; an expression she hadn't seen in a long time.

"That isn't any of your business." Odalia said. "Just bring it to me as soon as it's… found."

"We will, mom." Emira said when it was clear that Edric and Amity weren't going to reply. The twins watched as Odalia left, descending the step from the attic, and they turned to Amity once her footfalls faded. "Amity, what happened to the potion?"

Amity remained quiet for an awkward amount of time before replying. "I… I lost it." she lied, pocketing the picture of her father.

"Y'know, lying to an illusionist is almost as useless as lying to an Oracle." Edric said, stepping up beside Amity. "C'mon, hand it over so we can get out of here."

"I can't." she replied, turning away from the shelf and sliding down to sit crosslegged on the floor. "Not yet." She eyed the bottle that was still barely visible under the shelf across from her. "There's no reason that you guys should be wasting your time though. I'll keep working here."

"Amity, what's going on?" Emira asked, matching her brother's position opposite of him. "You know more than you're letting on."

"What do you guys know about how mom and dad met?"

Edric and Emira looked at each other in confusion. "Not much." Emira said, sitting down next to her sister. "They met in high school, and inherited Blight Industries just after graduation."

"We came along a few years after." Edric said. "If you need more details about that, you're out of luck."

"All pretty normal, huh?" Amity asked with a light chuckle.

The twins shrugged and nodded. "I guess." they said in unison. "For the Blight family, anyway." Edric added.

Amity let out a sigh. "I… I need some time alone. Thanks, guys."

Emira placed a hand on her sister's shoulder and smiled. "Okay. Just… don't blame us if mom catches you alone up here." she said, nodding at Edric and standing before they quietly descended the stairs.

Once Amity knew they were gone, she reached out and extracted Jinn's bottle from its hiding place and removed the cork. The purple smoke poured out of the bottle again, condensing into Jinn's form where she materialized in front of Amity, looking down at her. "That one didn't go like you wanted either, did it?"

"Not exactly. You really don't have much control over the repercussions of a wish, do you?"

"Playing with fate is hard." Jinn said, sitting down next to Amity and frowning. "You'll get used to it eventually. Seeing witches and demons make all kinds of wishes tends to make you jaded pretty quick."

Amity lifted her head. "What do you mean, I'll get used to it?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, and I'm probably going to regret it, but… when I fulfill seven wishes, I get to go free." Jinn said, looking away regretfully. "And whomever made those wishes is cursed to replace me."

Amity gasped, the realization hitting her suddenly. "That explains the myths around genies, then. 'The most selfish witches are the ones cursed to be in the service of others.'" she said, recalling the children's fable. "I guess I deserve that after being so impatient."

"No, Amity. You really don't. All you want is to be loved, and that's not something anyone should be cursed for. I'm sorry I pressured you so hard to make your wishes. I just wanted to be freed so badly from being stuck in that bottle for so long. Most of the masters I've had have absolutely deserved to be in my place."

"What happened to them?" Amity asked in a whisper, swallowing the lump forming in her throat.

"Not everyone survives their early wishes." Jinn replied.

There was a very long pause that they sat together for before Amity closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I think I know what I want my last wish to be."

Jinn raised her head in surprise and stared at Amity with wetness in her eyes. "Look, you don't have to do this. Just… throw the bottle away or something. Just don't let Odalia get ahold of it again."

Amity let out a short, knowing laugh before continuing. "I wish for Luz to find her place, and to wind up happy." she smiled, wiping her cheek with a hand. "Who knows? Maybe she'll find me like I found you."

Jinn perked up suddenly, looking down at her own hands. "Nothing's happening."

"Told you that first wish didn't count." Amity said. "I still get one more then, right? Maybe I could wish you free. If that last one works, I'll already have everything I want."

"No, it counted. But I should feel something happen by now."

"Amity, are you still up here?" Odalia called.

"Quick! Get back in your bottle!" Amity whispered, holding up the container.

Jinn was still looking down at her hands, confusion clearly on her face. "I… I can't."

Before they could move, Odalia rose out of the stairwell; her eyes falling on Amity first, before shifting to Jinn. "You!" she said, panic and rage filling her expression. "Amity, what have you done?"

Jinn stood, and stepped closer to Odalia as the older woman reached the top of the stairs. "Your daughter has become a better person than you, is what she's done." she smiled. "By actually being selfless for the first time in the Blight family line, Amity managed to break my curse. My power is no longer yours."

Odalia pushed past Jinn and stood over Amity, clutching the pink Oracle orb connected to the necklace she wore, causing it to glow. "Amity, you will use whatever wishes you have left to fix this! Now!"

Amity stood, though she kept her gaze low, clutching the hem of her shirt as she shrunk into herself.

"It's too late, Odalia." Jinn said, grinning. "It's already done."

The woman glared down at Amity, snatching the empty potion bottle out of her hand before turning to Jinn. "You still owe me! We had a deal! Seven wishes! No less; and a Blight always upholds their end of the deal!"

"The deal has been altered." Jinn said, clearly unintimidated by Odalia's presence. "By a Blight, no less."

Amity could hear her mother's teeth grinding in frustration. "I expect my last wish to still be fulfilled, you little brat! I made it for the good of my family!"

Jinn rolled her eyes. "Oh please."

"Get out of my house." Odalia hissed. "And never speak to anyone in my family again."

"Word of advice, kid." Jinn said, addressing Amity without taking her eyes away from Odalia's. "Get off this island as soon as you can. Before things go bad."

"Enough!" Odalia shouted.

Jinn drew a spell circle in the air, though it no longer sparked with as much power as when Amity first met her. It was enough to make her vanish in a plume of gold smoke, however, and once she was gone, Odalia turned back to Amity. "As for you, young lady: you're grounded. You will be returning home directly after school."

"But!"

"There will be no library time, no after school activities…"

"For how long?!" Amity protested.

"Until the Day of Unity, for all I care! You have no idea what you've done to this family by releasing that… that creature!"

"Who was she?"

Odalia's face contorted slightly at the unexpected question. "She's a… was a…" she said, turning away. "Nevermind. Clean up this attic! Dinner will be waiting for you when you're done." she added, descending the stairs again.

Amity stood there alone, still holding her shirt in her fists and keeping her shoulders raised as she continued to feel small and invisible. She had made her wish a selfless one; for Luz. She had to hope it would come true.