King let out a big yawn and curled himself up on the couch. "Man, bolting everything down sure made me sleepy."

"Hold up, crony." Eda picked the little demon up by the nape of his furry neck. "Are you sure everything is bolted down?"

"Yes. Now put me down."

"All the cupboards, chests, and bookcases locked?"

"Yes."

"All the fragile items are cushioned?"

"Yes! Now less talky and more nappy."

Eda brought King closer to her face. "They better be. Because if I hear a single thing break, I'm having you for dinner tonight. And I bet you taste like moccus."

"I am positive everything is secure." King began to sweat. "But it wouldn't hurt to double-check." Eda dropped the little demon, and he scampered down the halls on all fours.

Eda smelt the signs of boiling rain in the air, and she knew which direction it was coming from. She tried not worrying about the kids; they were probably below the ship while the master witches conjured a barrier around it.

That reminded her. Eda twirled her staff then slammed the butt on the ground. A shockwave spread throughout the Owl House, and a translucent amber dome enveloped it. The Owl Lady grunted as she wobbled back onto the couch. Putting up a massive barrier always took a lot out of her, more so when throwing in some modifications.

After taking a minute to regain her focus and letting out a tired yawn, Eda leaned back on the couch with one leg over the other and her arms lounging on the cushions.

King came scurrying back into the living room. "I double-checked, and everything is secured."

Eda nodded, then looked up at the ceiling and shouted, "Wake up, Hooty! We're moving!"

The door opened with a loud thump. "Moving? Hoot!" The house demon asked as she slinked in with a look of excitement. "Where are we moving to? Is it a nice place? Will there be yummy bugs? Hoot!"

"Just follow the ship that Luz, Willow, and Gus are on!"

"Nope! I ain't going near that boiling rain! Hoot!"

"The barrier I put up is mobile! Get a move on, already!"

"I'll do it if you let me share one of my stories with you! Hoot!"

"Oh, Titan almighty." Eda pinched her forehead, suppressing her want and need to destroy the bird-tube for even suggesting such an awful idea. But she didn't have time to argue. She gritted her teeth and forced the friendliest smile she could. "You got a deal."

"Okey dokey! Hoot!" The house demon responded and slithered out, slamming the door. The Owl House began shaking and ripped itself out of the ground. The house itself was Hooty's body, which meant he had an enormous pair of bird legs and feet underneath. With each step Hooty took, Eda bounced up off the couch by about six inches. "Hooray! It'll be nice to share my stories with you! Hoot! Okay, one time, a sparrow flew into my mouth, and then I…"

Eda let out a groan and slumped against the couch. She could feel a migraine growing. This was going to be the longest trip of her life. And she wishes she was exaggerating. "I hope those kids are having more fun than I am."

The ship swayed as the storm raged on. Fortunately, the captain heeded Viney's warning just in time. A barrier was put up as the participants were moved below deck to wait it out. Luz sat in a circle with her new friends, with Viney and Barcus working on some potions together. The human girl looked around. She noticed many of the participants were teenagers, but most of them were adults. A bunch of them didn't even look like witches. She saw an ogre, a centaur, humanoid bats, and other fantasy creatures.

"I wouldn't stare at them for too long," Jerbo advised. "They might get the wrong impression."

"Sorry, it's just I've only seen this happening in my dreams," Luz said with an embarrassed blush. "It's incredible. And I'm the only human here. There must be a reason for that, right. Why am I here?"

"What are you saying, Luz?" Willow asked.

"What if I, Luz Noceda, average teen, actually have..." Her eyes lit up as she gasped. "A predetermined path of greatness? Just like Azura!"

Barcus gave a questioning bark while Viney and Jerbo asked, "Who?"

"Oh, right." Luz pulled out her book and showed it to them. "This is Azura."

Luz couldn't wait for the Trials to begin. It was killing her. If what she's seen and heard of the Emperor's Coven is an indication, Luz imagines they're like knights in shining armor that live inside a fantastical castle. She imagined seeing fair maidens and handsome squires wandering the halls and making sure the valiant warriors are well cared for and prepared for future battles. She imagined Emperor Belos being a cross between a benevolent and charismatic king and a wise and powerful wizard. A lot like the Grand Wizard, who bestowed the map to Azura, beginning her epic five-book and beyond quest.

"I wouldn't go and get your hopes up," Viney said as she continued working. "Take it from someone who's lived here for almost all their life; there's nothing special about life on the Isles. It's nothing but a cesspool of despair for everyone who lives here."

Luz was more than a little put off by that nihilistic outlook but quickly regained her cheer. "I see it more as a cesspool of delight." There was a long silence between them. Luz snapped her fingers. "Hey, wanna see something cool?"

Viney raised an eyebrow. "Something cool?"

"Yeah." Luz turned away from her new friends, making sure they couldn't see her face. And when she turned back around, she had her eyelids turned inside out. "Bleep, bloop, bleep." The group all blinked in shock, but then it quickly changed to laughter. Her fellow students back home would run away, screaming from the trick; it even landed her in the principal's office one time. So, it put the biggest smile on her face to see people amused by it.

Viney let out remaining chuckles and regained her composure. "You're alright, Luz."

"Thanks. So, if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to take the Trials?"

Viney's smile faded, and she let out a sigh. "I'd rather not say. It's kinda personal."

"Oh… okay."

"And don't take it the wrong way," Jerbo told the human girl. "Viney's always kept things close to her chest… when it comes to people."

"When it comes to people?"

"Yeah. You should see her when she's alone with Barcus, Puddles, or any other cute and furry creature; she's a real chatterbox." Barcus woofed in agreement.

Viney punched both her friends' in their arms playfully. "And how's that any different from you talking to your abominations?" She asked Jerbo. She then turned to Barcus. "Or to yourself from a possible future?" The three friends then broke out into shared laughter as Viney twirled a flask of potion in her hand. The liquid changed from a murky grey to a bright purple. "What do you think?" Viney asked Barcus, who barked with approval. "Great."

"Hey, that looks like that potion you gave Jerbo earlier." Gus pointed out.

"It is." Viney handed the potion in her hand over to the witchling, then took another flask and twirled around until the liquid turned purple. She handed that one over to Luz. "I want you guys to pass these out to as many passengers as you can. It'll help them with their airsickness." Viney finished the third potion and gave it to Willow. "If we get on their good sides, it could come in handy down the road." She finished the fourth potion and gave it to Jerbo. "Pass out what you have, then come back for another."

Luz and her friends passed out as many of the potions that Viney and Barcus could prepare to the participants who were in desperate need of them. They delivered several brews each and got a "thank you" here and there. Even the most menacing-looking of them were friendly fellows. This was surely keeping them busy and killing time until they arrived at their destination. Luz also guessed the storm outside was growing worse, as the ship has been swaying harder than ever. While on her way back to get the next potion, the boat took a hard-left lean, and Luz lost her footing. "Woah! Woah!" She shouted as she tried balancing herself. But ultimately fell right into someone, knocking them both down.

"Watch it, nitwit!" The person, a girl, angrily shouted. Luz got a look at her and saw she was a pale skinned witch with aquamarine hair — that had brown roots — and golden colored eyes. She wore a black short sleeve dress with orchid leggings and black pointed shoes. Around her neck was an amulet with an orchid gemstone. On the floor next to her was an opened pink bag, and jars full of strange stuff spilled all over the floor. "Do you have any idea how valuable all this is?"

"I… I'm sorry." Luz apologized. "Let me help." She went to reach for one of the jars, which looked too big to fit into the bag with the others, but the witchling snatched it away.

"I don't need your help!" She placed the jar inside the bag, and much to Luz's surprise, it fit in with the other with no hassle.

While she was picking up her belongings, Luz then noticed something that immediately caught her eye. There was a Good Witch Azura on the floor. But it's cover was different from the one she owned. Which could only mean… "Is that yours?" Luz pointed at it.

The girl spotted it, and her face flushed a bright red before she grabbed it and dropped it into her bag. "Just watch where you're going next time." She stood up and turned her back to Luz.

"You okay, Luz?" Gus asked as she and the others ran over to and helped the human to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Luz assured her friends.

"You sure?" Willow asked.

Upon hearing her voice, the witchling garbed in black stopped and turned to face the group. "Willow? Wow, I didn't believe Boscha and Skara when they said you were on the ship." She folded her arms and smirked. "So, I guess they are letting half-witches take the Trials now."

"Hi, Amity," Willow growled.

"You know her?" Luz asked.

"Everyone knows who I am," Amity said smugly. "Amity Blight, the top student of Hexside Academy, and future member of the Emperor's Coven."

"I'm Luz Noceda." Luz extended her hand out. "I'm a human."

But Amity didn't take it. "Yes, I was told about you, too." Luz lowered her hand.

"Don't waste your time on her, Luz," Willow said in a low tone. "She's nothing but trouble."

Amity glared at Willow. "You know, it would be appropriate for someone like you to give a real witch the respect she deserves. You must have some parents if they didn't bother teaching you proper manners."

Luz and Gus gasped at what she said. Willow's eyes flashed green for a moment, and shouted with a startling amount of anger, "You take that back!"

The smugness on Amity's face grew. "Take what back?"

Willow didn't care if she was insulted by the likes of her, but there was no way she was going to put up with them insulting her dads. "You know what! Now take it back!" Amity walked past her and the others, with Willow not taking her eyes off her for a second. "I said, take that back, Amity!"

The black-garbed witchling turned her head to Willow as she was heading above deck. "Why don't you make me, Half-a-Witch. Let's settle this with a Witch's Duel. That is if you're not afraid of a little bad weather." Willow balled her hand into a tight fist and followed Amity.

"Willow, wait!" Gus shouted, but his friend ignored him.

"Is this really happening?" Luz asked with worry. "Are they really gonna fight?"

"This isn't good. Willow doesn't think things through when she's angry." Gus ran after her, with Luz beside him. "Willow, please wait!"

"I'm gonna make sure no one gets hurt," Jerbo said.

"Barcus and I will keep passing out potions," Viney said, with Barcus woofing. "And Jerbo, be careful."

Jerbo eventually caught up with Luz and Gus and stepped out onto the deck of the ship. The rain bounced off the giant amber sphere that enveloped the entire boat. Witches gathered around every corner in a stoic stance with their hands held high, keeping the shield intact. Some of them noticed the young participants step onto the deck, but they could do nothing about it now.

"Take back what you said, Amity!" Willow demanded as she stood several feet away from her opponent.

Amity reached into her bag and pulled out a dozen jars, setting them on the ground. She drew a pinkish-purple circle in the air and shouted, "Abomination, rise!" The jars' contents exploded out almost like they were sentient and merged, slowly building up and finally taking a roughly humanoid shape. It let out a gargled roar. "Are you going to summon one of your own? You do have one, don't you?"

"I don't need an abomination." Willow reached into her pocket and pulled out a seed the size of a golf ball. Eda gave it to her before they departed. Her eyes glowed green as she drew a circle over it, and a similarly colored aura surrounded the seed. Willow slammed it onto the deck, and a large bundle of thorny vines sprouted out. It followed in sync as she swayed her arms around and attacked first by slamming it down on Amity. But the abomination was quick to defend its master, using its body as a shield.

"Not bad." Willow wasn't going to be a pushover like Amity thought. "Now, let's see what else you can do."

Willow growled and pulled the vine back before going in for another attack. She swiped the abomination away, sending its goo all over the place, then threw a punch. The vine came forward at Amity, but the witchling drew a circle. A barrier surrounded her, deflecting the vine. As soon as she lowered the barrier, Amity drew another circle, and a fireball blazed to life. She tossed it at Willow, but the plant witch recalled her vine, blocking it. But some parts of the plant got burned off as a consequence.

Willow thrusts the vine right at Amity again, but her abomination comes tumbling in and shapeshifts itself into a wall. The abomination also hardened its body as the vine bounced off upon impact. Willow wrapped the vine around the abomination and tossed it over the ship and out the barrier, where the boiling rain ate it away. She sprouted vines from the vines and slammed them down on Amity, smashing the deck.

Luz, Gus, and Jerbo gasped. The glow left Willow's eyes, realizing what she may have done. "Oh, no!" She quickly lifted the vines, but there was nothing on them. Willow and her friends all let out sighs, relieved that she didn't kill her. But where did she go?

"That would've got me if I was an amateur." Willow jumped and turned to see that Amity was behind her. Willow leaped back as Amity snapped her fingers, and an abomination climbed over the ship, to everyone's surprise. "That abomination you saw get destroyed by the rain; that was only half of it. The other half attached itself to the ship." The goo glopped over to its master and remolded itself back into a humanoid form.

Willow regained her focus, and her eyes glowed green again, resuming her attack. Amity drew another circle as the vine was about to hit her face, and it shot ninety degrees up. "What?"

"You're not the only one who can do plant magic. I can see why you were accepted. I don't know where you've been hiding this power the whole time. But power won't do you much if you don't have the experience to boot."

"Just take it back, Amity! Take back what you said, and I'll forfeit the duel."

"I will, only if you win."

The ship swayed harder than it did before, knocking Luz, Gus, and Jerbo down. But Amity and Willow grabbed onto the edge of the boat to steady themselves. The sudden shift sent knocked down one of the witches holding up the barrier, causing it to flicker and let some of the rain and wind in. Luz screamed as she felt a searing pain on her arm and noticed a burn mark. "Are you okay?" Gus asked, checking on the human.

Before Luz could answer, Jerbo said, "We've got bigger problems." Luz and Gus turned to where he was looking, and they saw the main mast of the ship was on the verge of collapse. Jerbo then looked at the abomination goo and separated vines on the ground. He drew two circles in the air simultaneously; one was pinkish purple, and the other was green. He then joined them and shouted, "Abomination, rise!" The goo converged in one spot and merged into a plant-abomination hybrid.

"You can combine spells?" Luz asked, but Jerbo didn't answer, maintaining his focus.

As if it knew what to do, the plant-abomination slogged over to the mast and used its vines to pull the mast back into place. It moved over to the base and molded itself around the mast before hardening.

Though the mast won't collapse on top of them, the ship still swayed from the strong winds and leaned. The sudden change threw Jerbo off his footing and sent him toppling down the deck. "Jerbo!" Luz and Gus shouted, running after him. He kept tumbling until he reached the edge of the ship, in between the dueling witches, and was tossed from the boat. "No!"

Without a moment's hesitation, both Willow and Amity dove forward, extending their hands out to try and seize him by his ankles… but missed. Suddenly, Luz vaulted off the ship, much to the surprise of everyone who saw. She grabbed Jerbo's ankles, and Willow and Amity grabbed Luz's just before reaching the edge of the barrier. "Pull us up! Pull us up!" The human screamed. Willow and Amity planted their feet onto the deck. They pulled the two teens back on board with all their strength, falling onto their rears.

"Luz! Jerbo!" Gus shouted as he ran up to them, relieved to see they were back onboard.

"We're okay," Jerbo assured.

"That was insane!" Willow told the human, both as a compliment and reproach.

Luz gave the plant witch a smile of certainty. "I knew you would pull us onboard, Willow." She then looked at Amity. "But I didn't think…"

The barrier then stabilized for good this time, no more flickering, and the ship stopped swaying. "Alright, you four!" The ship's captain, who was a witch himself, shouted from above. "Get back below deck, now!" The group got onto their feet and returned to where all the other participants waited.

Viney and Barcus immediately greeted them. "Are you okay?" Viney asked. "We all felt that down here."

"We're fine, thank you," Luz assured her. But Viney noticed the burn mark on her arm. She took the limb and drew a blue circle around it; the burn mark disappeared. "You have healing magic?"

"Don't look so surprised."

"If it's all the same, I'll take my leave," Amity said as she proceeded to walk away.

"Hold up," Willow said. "Why did you help save Luz and Jerbo?"

Amity huffed. "While I don't like the idea of weak witches being allowed to participate in the Trial, that doesn't mean I want to see them go, like that. But if our duel was an indication, you are not a weak witch, Willow."

"And what about us?" Luz asked as she, Gus, and Jerbo stepped up.

Amity looked at Jerbo first. "I saw his display of plant and abomination magic. It could use some refining, but there is potential." She looked at Gus. "I didn't see you cast any spells." Then to Luz. "And humans can't do magic, so I don't know why you're even here. But I guess I'll have to wait and see."

The black-garbed witch began to walk away again as Willow stepped forward. "You still haven't apologized." She reminded her.

Amity stopped and looked back at Willow. "I said I would, only if you win. And considering our duel ended before there was a winner…" Willow continued to glare at Amity, who smirked. "How about this." She took the plant witch's hand and drew a circle over both of theirs. "I just placed an Everlasting Oath on us. Here's the condition: If you survive the first test, then I will apologize. Not before."

Amity turned and walked away again; Luz tried to reach out for her, like she had something to say, but pulled back and just watched her go. As Amity kept walking, she was eventually greeted by both Boscha and Skara. "How did your little match with Half-a-Witch go?" The triclops asked. "I bet you put her in her place." Amity didn't answer.

"It must've been awkward," Skara said. "Seeing her on board, I mean. You were friends with Willow, right Amity?"

Amity then gave the witch dressed in red a glare that made her and Boscha back up. "I'm a Blight; we only associate with a select few. Keep annoying me, though; I'm happy to select fewer." She left them behind and turned down a corner into a private spot where no one else would bother her before stopping in her tracks. "How much of that did you see?"

From behind, a cloaking spell wore off as her twin siblings Edric and Emira, appeared. They were both garbed in their favorite, matching grey and burgundy tunics with black boots. Emira brushed her natural green hair back as she said, "Enough."

"We also heard you insult your friend's dads," Edric added.

"She's not my friend!" Amity snapped.

"Just saying, a little harsh considering that you have met them before. They're nice folks. Unless you planned on getting her riled up."

Amity looked at her older brother. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you wanted to see what Willow would do." Emira theorized. "You wanted her to duel you and see just how strong she really is."

"You can deny it all you want, Mittens," Edric said, getting a low growl from Amity as her face turned red. "But we know how you still feel about Willow."

"I don't have to explain myself to either of you. You don't see me examining how you pull your pranks."

"Whatever," Emira smirked. "By the way, what do you think of her cute human friend?"

"Why would I think anything? She's just a human."

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" Edric asked. "A human is taking the Emperor's Trials. We're just saying; it's gonna make things a whole lot more interesting."

Amity hmphed. "If she survives."