The days passed quickly, and in no time a whole week passed after the little incident at the library. Luz spent a week constantly hanging out with her new 'probationary friends', as she used to call them.

Now that Amity and her group had accepted Luz as part of their circle, the puppet's social life had improved a lot. No one was afraid of approaching her anymore, since no one feared incurring the wrath of the most popular girls in school in the case, and this had allowed her to meet and form bonds with many people. Luz, however, had spent little time with these people, preferring much more to try to improve her friendship as much as possible with Amity, Skara, and partly also Boscha even if the latter didn't seem at all interested and actually she didn't hide that she considered her an annoyance, but at least she tolerated her presence (even if Luz suspected that she did so solely because Amity asked her to). By now she spent almost all of her time with the three girls; sometimes others also joined the group, including Cat and Amelia, but from what Luz had understood these people were to be considered more 'backup friends' than real friends: even if Amity, Skara and Boscha clearly cared about them, the relationship the three of them had between them was on a whole other level. Luz, unlike them, tried to make less distinction and spoke the same way to everyone she met, which allowed her to gain a certain popularity.

Her school life was also improving: thanks to the effort she was putting into her studies, her grades were rapidly rising. She still didn't reach Amity's level but she was close. If someone had once told her that one day she would become one of the best girls in the class she would never have believed it and in fact she would have laughed in that person's face. Yet that future had come true and Luz had discovered that she didn't mind it at all; every time the teacher complimented her she felt her heart warm. She wished her mother could see her… she would be happy to see that she was finally acting like a good girl. "Wow, Luz! Another great achievement!" Skara exclaimed as they left the school with the last tests they had done. "At this rate you'll surpass Amity one day!"

"Tsk! As if that were possible" Boscha grumbled from the sidelines.

Luz ignored her. "And you, Skara? How did you do?"

"Oh, great. As usual" the girl said haughtily.

"You copied everything from Boscha again, didn't you?" Amity asked her without even changing her expression, a sign that she had already asked that question so many times that she had even lost the taste for it.

Skara blushed visibly. "I didn't copy everything"

"I confirm. She wrote the name and surname entirely in her own hand. You can't say she didn't put in the effort, she didn't even make a single spelling mistake" Boscha teased her, making Luz and to a small extent Amity too giggle; they all knew that Skara had practically zero desire to study any subject other than music and the arts, and that she took advantage of the fact that Boscha allowed her to copy to use her to get good grades. No one knew what Boscha got in return, but rumors claimed that she had sometimes seen her try to act with Skara acting as her teacher in terms of expression.

"Oh, come on! You could at least try to cover for me!" Skara protested.

"Sweety, 'covering for you' is something I could do if people didn't already know that you copy from me on every test in class. It's not a secret" Boscha said with a sneer, and then she became inquisitive. "And speaking of secrets..."

"No" Skara nipped the conversation in the bud. Luz and Amity giggled when they saw that: ever since the incident at the library Boscha had been trying in every way to make Skara confess the secret that she was about to tell her when they were about to be fried, but she didn't want to do so in the slightest. From Luz's point of view it would have only been right for her to reveal it, since Boscha had told her hers, but Skara didn't think so at all and by now she seemed to be intent on taking that secret with her to the grave.

Just in that moment Amelia appeared in their field of vision. "Hey, Luz, girls! Did you hear? The Titan has been sighted again!"

Luz was dumbfounded, not having the faintest idea what she was talking about. Instead Amity rolled her eyes and let out a bored sigh. "Again? It must have been at least two years since someone said they had spotted it, but coincidentally when people go to check it's never there"

"Who knows? Maybe this is the right time! I've always wanted to see a powerful Titan!" Skara exclaimed dreamily.

Amity didn't seem convinced at all. "Come on, Skara, you should have realized by now that it's just a legend. How can a creature like that hide? A thirty meter giant should be visible to everyone. And why should it hide from is? It's a Titan, it shouldn't be afraid of nothing"

"Um... sorry, what are you talking about?" Luz asked confused.

The other girls looked at her for a moment in surprise, then Amity slapped herself on the face. "Oh, right, you're new in town. Well, you should know that for some time now every now and then someone has come back to town shouting that they had seen a Titan near the northern beach. Initially this created a lot of excitement, but by now almost everyone has understood that it's just a joke"

Luz was quite interested in that story, however she was still missing several pieces. "What is a Titan?"

"You do not know?" Boscha asked in a deliberately mocking tone, clearly trying to make her feel ignorant.

But Luz didn't fall for it. "You know I just started going to school. I'm lacking in many things". She had learned by now that the best way to deal with Boscha was not to react to her provocations but to turn the tables on her and pretend not to have been affected by her words. Eda was absolutely right, indifference hurted more.

And indeed Boscha immediately became angry, but before she could say or do anything Amity spoke up: "A Titan is an almost mythological creature, created by one of the Four Magical Rulers when they first descended on the world"

Luz was understanding less and less. "Excuse me, could you tell me the story from the beginning? I would like to avoid making another gaffe"

The other girls looked even more surprised, but in the end they pretended nothing had happened. "Looks like it's time to tell a story!" Skara exclaimed as she pulled her trusty portable harp from her satchel and began composing a soundtrack as she spoke. "Legends say that after the world was created, the gods realized that the magic that permeated it was too out of control; so they caused it to take shape in four powerful entities, each representing one of the categories of magic. They were Papa Titan for light magic, the Great Archivist for death magic, the Collector for life magic, and Grometheus for dark magic. With these entities finally keeping magic in balance, the world could finally flourish, and life was born under their gaze. Many populations began to venerate them, and even today there are cults about them scattered around the world, despite the fact that these entities had made it clear that they weren't gods... and unfortunately, recently this statement has been proved correct, because a creature from this world managed to surpass even their own power: Belos, the Cruel Emperor of the Sea!"

Amity noticed a strange tremor coming from Luz as soon as she heard Skara's last words; the puppet was quick to hide it, and no one seemed to notice, but she had clearly seen Luz's arms flail and her fingers crush each other. She wondered the reason for that behavior: ok, Belos was scary, but it seemed excessive to her to react that way just by hearing his name mentioned. "However, in reality this last statement of mine was conceived only based on reports and comparisons between the powers of these entities, because the Four Magical Rulers and Belos have never clashed" Skara continued. "They had in fact abandoned this world many centuries before the appearance of Belos; they had in fact retreated to realms beyond the mortal plane, for reasons no one knows. However, they did not leave the world without the right protection, and thus created four different species who were meant to act as their heralds; in order, the Titans spawned by Papa Titan, the Archivists spawned by the Great Archivist, the Trappers spawned by the Collector, and the Nightmares spawned by Grometheus. These creations were tasked with maintaining the balance magical while they lived in this world... and because of this they were the first to try to oppose Belos, and they were also the first to be defeated and devoured. It is thanks to them that Belos was able to become so powerful in such a a short time, to the point that now even if one of the Four Magical Rulers would challenge him it would probably come out defeated. However, it would seem that some of these creatures have survived and are hiding around the world... and sometimes it happens that people spot some of them"

"Wow..." Luz murmured when she was sure that Skara was indeed done. "So... the Titan that is spotted at the beach could be one of the ones still alive?"

"No, simply that's just a fairy tale" Amity replied sourly. "The Titans are majestic and wonderful creatures. They are up to thirty meters tall, although Papa Titan reached one hundred, and have black fur like that of a raven and long horns, symbol of their power. Just their walking around makes the earth tremble. If such a being appeared near Bonesborough, we would all notice it"

In fact, such a creature didn't exactly have the ability to hide. It would have been like trying to hide a hill. "Did you ever go looking for it?" Luz asked.

"Of course not. It would be a waste of time" Amity replied.

"And who tells? Maybe we could find out something. It would still be a good experience" Luz said.

Amity doubted it, but Boscha seemed strangely interested, even though she didn't say a word. Amelia, who had listened to everything up until that point, shrugged: "I did it once, but obviously I didn't find anything. Well, I have to go look for Cat; bye Luz, bye Amity, bye girls! See you again tomorrow!" and having said this she ran away.

Amity gritted her teeth without being seen. She had noticed very clearly that people were now starting to say hello to Luz before her. Before then she had always been the one who was greeted with reverence and respect before all the others, but within a week Luz had insinuated herself so well into her life that everyone began to treat them as equals and perhaps even better than her. Furthermore, the way people greeted Luz was not the same as the way they greeted Amity: it was decidedly warmer and friendlier, completely different from the reverential respect they reserved for her.

Amity was intelligent enough to understand very well the reason for this: while she was always perfect and rigid like a marble statue, who inspired respect but was seen by everyone as unattainable and made people feel inadequate even to even speak to her, Luz was quite the opposite. Ditzy, always smiling, with a uniform that was often in bad shape, messy hair and a certain propensity to make mistakes: a person who was decidedly more approachable from the point of view of others, who felt she was one of them. And then there was her warmth…everything Luz did seemed to warm the hearts of those around her. Every joke, every laugh, every comment, even every step: everything about her seemed to bring light. If the people around Amity became nervous and felt frozen by the pressure, around Luz they felt at ease and felt like they were next to a lit fireplace. It was only natural that everyone, even the teachers, seemed to prefer Luz over Amity.

Amity couldn't understand it. From her point of view, if a person found themselves in front of someone who seemed perfect they should only be grateful for being able to at least admire that perfection; at least that was what her mother had always told her, and if her mother, who was never wrong, said it, it must be true. On the contrary, an imperfect person like Luz should at most have been seen as something funny, a bit like clowns who only served to make people laugh; but then, why instead did people seem to become so fond of her, to the point that they now treated her on an equal footing with her?

Amity was starting to obsess over such questions. Initially she hadn't noticed, but for a few days the situation was starting to really bother her. She felt as if Luz was taking what was normally only hers, indeed what was rightfully hers. She had worked her whole life to be perfect so that the Blight name would shine like a beacon in the school, but it had only taken Luz a few weeks to be admired as much as she was. The other students greeted her earlier, spoke to her much more often, asked her for advice; and even the teachers seemed happier when they complimented her than when they did Amity, even though Amity's grades were definitely better, still perfect as usual. But even that was slowly changing... Luz was getting better and better, and even Skara had taken into account the possibility that she would become even better than her. Well, better was impossible given that Amity's grades were already the maximum achievable... but if the teachers already preferred her now that she was inferior to her, when she became her equal she would undoubtedly be considered the best in the school.

"He will take your place soon..."

"It won't take long..."

"If you're not at the top, then what are you? You can't let her do that..."

Amity couldn't stand it. That puppet couldn't steal the throne that had always been hers. Blight always had to be the ones on top, always! She had thought about kicking the puppet out of the group, so that the whole school would start to relate to her less, knowing that she was back at loggerheads with the popular girls, but from her point of view it would have been like admitting that she couldn't defeat her... and then something deep in her conscience told her it would be mean. And even if she didn't want to admit it, she enjoyed Luz's company a little too... and besides, she wasn't willingly defying her, she was simply too naive to realize what she was doing, like when she humiliated her in front of the class without realizing it. She didn't want Luz to leave, but she would have liked her to learn to be in her place. She could do whatever she wanted, even pursue that absurd dream of becoming a real girl, but on the condition that she was always satisfied with second place, never with the central pedestal which instead belonged only to her.

"You have to do something..."

"You can't let her take what's yours..."

"You have to teach her to stay under you..."

She was so absorbed in these dark thoughts that she almost didn't notice when Luz said goodbye to her: "Well, I have to go too, Eda is waiting for me to help her clean the house. Yesterday Hooty regurgitated something in the attic again and now we have to deal with it! See you tomorrow, girls!" and having said that she ran away.

Amity watched her disappear with mixed emotions in her eyes: on the one hand she was sorry not to spend more time with her, on the other she would have very much liked to see her reappear again. It was the first time ever that someone was able to generate such a conflict in her head: on the one hand there was a haughty she who demanded that the puppet step aside and leave to the Blight what was due to the Blight, on the another was a calm girl who just wanted to treat Luz as a friend without any of the class distinctions she was used to. Boscha added further fuel to the fire: "Tsk! Did you hear Amelia? She greeted Amity's loser first, how dare she?" she growled. "We should remind you who's in charge at this school!"

"It would be useless, Amelia isn't the first to do it" Skara commented. "You should be careful, Amity. Even though you are unsurpassed, if this situation continues people might forget it"

"They noticed it too... how much longer are you going to wait?"

Amity frowned. "I'm aware of it, thank you. You don't need to remind me"

She tried not to speak with hostility, but Boscha and Skara noticed immediately. "Mh... I understand that it's not okay with you either. Who can blame you, who would be okay with a loser becoming more popular than the perfect Blight?" Boscha said, then she added in a malicious tone: "Maybe we should teach her to stay in her place. Nothing too extreme, just... a little joke. It would also be a chance to get revenge for the trouble she put us through in the library"

Amity thought that the idea wasn't bad at all, but nevertheless she felt a bitter taste in her mouth and it felt like a needle was pricking her heart. "I don't know... I wouldn't want him to get hurt..."

"And who said anything about hurting her? I said it'll be a joke. What crazy person would hurt someone as a joke?" Boscha pointed out. "We'll just prank her a little. Nothing serious or dangerous, we'll just teach her a lesson"

"If no one risks getting hurt, I'm in. I also don't mind the idea of remembering her who's in command" Skara said. "And then I admit that I still didn't like the risk of being fried alive by that crazy fisherman. At least a little revenge will make me laugh"

Amity bit her lip. The idea didn't seem too bad to her... after all, what was wrong with playing a little joke? People made them all the time... but...

"You can't risk falling from your throne..."

Amity was quite indecisive, and a side of her seemed to be practically screaming at her to stop and think well about it, but after all, she also wanted Luz to learn to be in her place. If Boscha really had something in mind where Luz wouldn't get hurt, then that might be fine with her. "Do you have a plan?" she asked.

Boscha nodded. "That puppet seems to think it's very important to come to school and do well in your studies, almost on par with you, so we can use that to our advantage... and then she herself said she'd like to go look for the Titan, right?"

Spoiler: get ready to hate Amity for a few chapters... and love her after that. Trust me, you will really love her. So, since you forgave her for trying to kill Luz in canon, forgive her for what she will do in this AU too.

About the Four Magical Rulers, what you have now is just a small taste of the lore of this world that will be better explored later in the story, and yes, sooner or later we will see some of these entities in action (I know that all of you are eager to see the Collector, I know you by now). I know that the story of the Titans and the other magical creatures generated by these beings might seem similar to that of the basilisks... and the answer is that yes, it is, because Belos during his golden years literally devoured all the magical creatures he could find, and is the reason why many of them are on the verge of extinction (if you think about it we have also only seen two fairies so far, namely Eda and Lilith, despite fairies have the same reproductive capacity as humans, so the fact that there are so few of them means that someone has decimated their population). So yes, in this world Belos is the reason why even though magic is real there are very few magical creatures left. And no, the fact that Belos is superior to the Four Magical Rulers is not just a guess, it's reality: let's make it clear once and for all, in this AU literally no one can defeat Belos (not alone at least) and the only reason why he does not tear everything to pieces is because he is bound in the sea by his own nature. So even if we'll see the Collector in the future, don't expect him to snap his fingers and disintegrate Belos like he did in season 2; even though he would still have to fight a bit, Belos would ultimately prevail and devour him as he has done with pretty much everything else that has ever come his way.