Well, I SHOULD be studying, but I'm writing this instead. Sorry for another long wait. The good news is my essays are now done…the bad news is, I have exams next week.

This chapter is a bit shorter then I expected, but it reached a natural end point so I stopped it. I'm going to launch right into the next chapter now (because I'm excited about it) so if all goes well, more should soon follow.

Thanks for the reviews last time. They keep me inspired!

Enjoy!

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Half an hour later…

Dylan and Ethan walked out of 'Pricilla's Potion Emporium" with the necessary ingredients in hand. I had taken them less then fifteen minutes to find what they needed for the power restoration potion and they were now ready to begin the more exciting part of their shopping trip.

"Okay," Ethan began as the two friends began heading down the sidewalk. "There are a couple of places we can go to get you a few more normal outfits. "Warlock Wear" has always been my favourite, but "Magical Apparel" has some good stuff too."

Dylan shrugged and tried not to show his apprehension. "Er…either is fine I guess." He paused. "Or we can just go back to campus. We don't have to do this today…"

"Yes. We do." Ethan decaled "I realize that this marks the beginning of a big change for you, but putting it off isn't going to make it any easier. We're here, and you CAN do this."

Dylan sighed. He knew that his friend was right. Embracing his magic wasn't easy for him, but he had already spent enough time in denial. It was time to finally accept it- accept himself- and be proud of what he was.

"Alright." Dylan agreed. "Let's do this. I'm not chickening out now."

The blonde boy smiled. "Good." He said happily before grabbing Dylan by the arm and dragging him into a small shop the corner of the main street.

Dylan was slightly taken aback by his friend's insistence, but his surprise was forgotten as he began to take in his new surroundings. At first glance, the shop didn't seem all that different then the mortal shops he was used too…but upon closer observation he began to notice the subtle, but important, changes.

Many of the clothes were brighter then anything he owned- items in purple, orange, yellow and every other colour under the rainbow hung on the walls and racks. Even stranger (by his standards), many of them were embellished by spider, pumpkin, and other Halloween related patterns.

There was one mannequin in the middle of the store and Dylan took a step towards it to get a better look at the outfit it was displaying. Before he had a chance to fully inspect it, however, the orange suit it was wearing suddenly began to fade away and was magically replaced by another completely different outfit.

"Woah…" he muttered, looking at the mannequin in shock.

That certainly didn't happen in mortal stores…

A quiet chuckle behind him distracted his attention away from the magical display and Dylan turned to see a petite, and very pretty, sales girl standing behind him.

"Never seen a magical mannequin before?" she asked, a slight grin on her face.

"No." Dylan replied honestly. "I'm new here. It caught me a little off guard."

The girl continued to smile. "I could tell." She paused and brushed a long strand of red hair behind her ear. "Is there anything I can help you guys with today?"

"No, I think we're just…" Dylan began, but before he could finish Ethan took a step forward and cut him off in mid-sentence.

"Yes, we could use some help." Ethan declared, sending the sales girl one of his charming smiles. "My boy Dylan here has finally decided to embrace his inner warlock and he needs a few outfits that don't scream 'mortal.' Any suggestions?"

Dylan shifted nervously as the girl gave him the once over. "You're a warlock?" she asked, raising her eyebrow in apprehension. "I don't remember ever seeing you in school."

"I grew up in the mortal world." He replied. "But I just started Witch U and I've noticed that I…er…well, stick out a little bit. Ethan seems to think that changing my clothes will help me blend in a bit more…and even though I don't really wan-"

Ethan took another step forward and elbowed him in the side, cutting off his sentence once again. "Don't listen to him." He said, shooting Dylan a look. "He's still in a bit of denial over this whole magic thing. He keeps trying to back out, even though he really does want to change."

Dylan opened his mouth to protest, but he shut it again when he realized that his friend was right. He wasn't sure why he was acting like this.

He DID want to change.

But, he supposed, after all of those years he had spent trying to be normal it was difficult to finally let his defences down and embrace the inevitable. His instinct was still to resist the weirdness, even though that wasn't really what he wanted anymore.

The sales girl looked back and forth between the two friends, obviously a bit taken aback by this strange circumstance. "Okay then…" she began slowly. "I'm sure I can come up with a few things. Just give me a second."

"Sure." Ethan replied. "Take your time."

The girl nodded and began looking around the store. Every few seconds, when she spotted something appropriate, she would summon the item to her with a flick of her wrist. After a few minutes, she was holding a substantial pile of clothing and she turned to pass it to Dylan.

"There you go." She said. "These should be about your size, and I tried to pick things that I thought would complement your hair and eyes."

"Alright." He said quietly as he took the pile out of her hands and walked towards the small change room. He was feeling more and more nervous by the moment, and he tried to ignore Ethan's satisfied looking smirk as he entered the change room and closed the curtain.

He hung the clothes on the hooks inside the room and took a second to step back and survey the girl's choices.

A dark purple blazer with silver spider shaped buttons…and orange button up shirt with a pumpkin embroidered onto the pocket…a pair of grey and black pinstriped pants with matching black coat and bright red shirt…a bright green tie…a purple belt with a spider clasp…

Much to his relief, there were also a few more normal looking pairs of pants and a couple of plain black t-shirts.

He decided to try those first…

After pulling on a pair of plain black pants and a plain black shirt, he reluctantly opened the curtain to find Ethan and the sales girl waiting expectantly.

Upon seeing his friend, Ethan shook his head in amusement. "Yeah Dylan…really daring outfit there…"

Dylan folded his arms in annoyance. "What? It's more black then I usually wear. That's a change."

The sales girl smiled in amusement. "It's a start." She said, walking towards the change room and summoning a few more garments into her hand. "I put the plain black in there so that you could pair it with more traditional elements." She handed him the purple blazer and the purple spider belt. "Here. Put these on too."

Reluctantly, Dylan did as he was told and, after shooting a glare in Ethan's direction, he turned to take in his reflection.

As he stared into the full length mirror, his eyes widened in surprise; he had to admit, the clothing did make a pretty big difference. This outfit was much different then his usual kaki's and neutrally tones sweater vests. The black had a clean classic feel to it, and the purple (which he never would have picked out on his own) added a definite Halloweentown touch.

Dylan shifted the blazer slightly and turned to get a fuller view of the outfit.

No, he certainly didn't look like a mortal anymore.

He looked like a warlock…

And he looked good.

"Do you like it?" the girl asked.

Dylan turned around to face her and Ethan, trying very hard to hide the smile tugging at the sides of his mouth.

He did like it. He liked it a lot…

"Yeah, I guess its okay." He replied, not allowing himself to appear too enthusiastic. "I suppose I could get used to it."

Ethan gave him a knowing grin. "Good. Now go try on some more."

Dylan nodded and returned to the change room, suddenly excited to experiment with the rest of the outfits.

He had not been as reluctant as he had made himself seem, but even he was surprised by this new surge of enthusiasm.

His new look had, somehow, felt right.

It made him feel confident…

It made him feel happy…

And most of all, it made him feel like he could finally be himself…

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A/N Not much plot…but an important part of Dylan's self discovery. Hope you enjoyed it.

If you want more, PLEASE REVIEW!