Amity stood with her shoulders raised and her arms crossed in quiet rage between her father, Alador, who was hunched over and yawning in response to working all night again, and her mother, Odalia, who looked as calm as ever about her decision to send Amity off to stay with their extended family in Scapula City. Amity's Uncle Faust, the former Principal of Hexside, was a demon that had only ever scowled at her the few times she had met him. It was an impressive feat considering he had no lips to speak of and only a jaw full of fangs. They would dominate his head, which was little more than a wad of flesh with small, black beady eyes if not for the horns that grew out beyond his shoulder width to either side. A long, barbed tail wreathed in flames stuck out from the back of his slacks, and he wore a black sweater over top of a burgundy dress shirt.

Her Aunt, Odalia's eldest sister Calpurnia, stood a few inches taller than her baby sister, with darker green hair and a subtle streak of grey that ran from just in front of her pointed ear and back to where it reached her shoulders. While Faust was dressed for retirement, his wife was dressed more for gardening, with rugged pants, a loose-fitting blouse, and darkened glasses that were propped up on her forehead

The pair stepped off their airship and approached, Calpurnia speaking to her husband, who remained expressionless until they were within earshot of Amity and her parents. "Sister! So lovely to see you again!" Calpurnia said happily, reaching out to take Odalia's reluctant hands. "I was so surprised that you'd reach out to us with your, er, family troubles."

Odalia frowned for a moment before regaining her composure. "Well, I am running a highly successful abomination manufacturing company, Calpurnia. I'd say you know how that is, but… you don't." she said with a smirk. "In fact, we just brokered a deal with the Emperor himself. Unfortunately, I'm simply far too busy to deal with… whatever Amity is going through right now."

Calpurnia looked down at Amity, noting the new hairstyle and color that was significantly different from Odalia's. "Oh my, you've grown so much since I saw you last. And you have your mother's penchant for coloring your hair, I see." She directed her gaze back at Odalia and smiled. "It's no problem at all, little sister. Right, Mephi?"

Faust growled through his exposed fangs, looking down at Amity with tiny yellow flames in his oily black eyes. His gaze suddenly snapped up to Alador, who had let out another yawn. "Alador. Still hunching, I see, despite my attempts to instil any self respect, unlike your cohort, Deamonne." he said with a wheezing hiss.

Amity's father instinctively stood up straighter with the sound of stretching ligaments and muscles. "Of course." he grumbled. "Sorry."

Uncle Faust continued to look at him with disdain for a moment before looking back to Amity. "Don't worry, child. We will make sure you go no further down this slippery slope of disobedient behavior." he gasped. "Follow me while your Aunt and… Mother, catch up." He tilted his head ninety degrees to turn without striking anyone with his horns and stepped away enough to return his head to its normal position. Amity swallowed, shakily lifting her bag of clothing, homework, and books she was bringing for her exile.

Her aunt and mother continued to talk in veiled deprecations while Alador wandered off, his attention grabbed by a tiny purple worm that had crawled its way out of the ground of the Blight estate. Amity frowned. Neither of them even seemed to notice that she was leaving, and even her brother and sister were nowhere to be seen to bid her goodbye. She was on her own now, she had found a new identity for herself, and she would stick with it, no matter what her Aunt and Uncle tried. Amity squared her shoulders and caught up to her demon uncle to walk beside him. Then, after a few moments of silence, she spoke up. "It's, uh, been awhile."

Faust let out a low growl in response.

She had often heard several adults, from her parents and teachers attending Hexside as teenagers, reminisce about how strict Faust had been. He had added several arbitrary rules to the curriculum at the time, handing out detentions to any student who stepped out of line for any reason and expelling those who dared show any behavior not to his liking. Amity dreaded to think about what he had come up with in his time of retirement.

Travelling silently, they entered the passenger compartment of the airship and turned to watch Odalia and Calpurnia end their passive-aggressive conversation. "I had expected that my niece would have been able to stay in line, being Hexside's Top Student, but it would seem that you have lost the title I introduced during my time as principal there."

"You started the Top Student position?" Amity asked, finding herself unsurprised.

"Of course. It fostered competition and behavior befitting a Head Witch. Obedience and ruthlessness."

Amity subtly rolled her eyes and frowned. That sounded about right, she thought as she recalled her behavior only a few months ago. She pressed her lips together to keep herself from replying while her Aunt Calpurnia boarded the airship. "Ready to go, Mephi!" she called, pulling up the entry ramp by the corresponding rope.

"Mephi?" Amity asked.

Faust growled, though he didn't turn, continuing to look out over the bow of the ship with his hands clasped behind his back. Calpurnia grinned and approached the controls. The airship lifted into the sky, and Amity watched as her mother had already turned and was walking away. Edric and Emira were waving from Emira's balcony and she smiled, returning the gesture until they were too far away to recognize. Amity frowned and rested on the railing of the passenger compartment as the wind blew through her lavender hair. Getting used to her chosen new style and color took some time as it tickled her forehead, and she swept it to the side with a hand.

She wondered what Luz would think today at school when she didn't attend. She almost couldn't remember what had happened the day before. Their quest through the Forbidden Stacks, getting fired from her new job at the library, Luz risking her life to get her rehired, the Human diary, and finally, her kiss on Luz's cheek. It had come out of nowhere, but she was ready to confront her again today. To finally share her feelings, no matter what happened. Now that she was flying off to the Titan's shoulder for who knew how long, her conviction was waning. She had no idea what to expect with her Uncle's behavioral boot camp. Amity sighed, contemplating her circumstances, then jumped when she realized her Uncle was beside her. "Ah!" she gasped.

Faust somehow grinned. "Still got it." he said to himself. Then, after a moment's pause, he spoke again. "You seem… upset about having to leave your home for an undetermined amount of time."

Despite the turmoil of the last few months that had shaken up her life and the increased pressure to choose between being herself and who her mother wanted her to be, she had made new friends that cared about her, so of course she was upset. "Yeah. I was just getting used to some of the changes going on lately."

He let out a low growl and held up a hand to stop her. "I have little interest in caring about your teenage social issues. You have been brought to us to improve your discipline that has been waning."

Amity let out a grunt in indignation. "I've been 'disciplined' enough to get your Top Student badge…" she said under her breath.

"As well as cheat in a Witch's Duel." her Uncle added.

"I didn't…" she growled. "That wasn't my fault." she corrected, resting her chin on her forearms as she leaned against the airship's railing. Despite Lilith's help with being rescued from Tibblett Tibley and helping get Vir out of Bonesborough, she still didn't trust her old mentor for making a fool of her at the Covention.

"Excuses are a creation of the weak to explain their failures." Faust hissed. "Lesson one of staying in our home; you will conduct yourself with honor, integrity, and respect."

"Yes, sir…" Amity mumbled in response. Faust growled. She could feel his beady eyes boring into her, and she stood up straight, brushed her bangs to the side as the wind caught her hair, and spoke louder. "Yes, sir!" Faust let out a hiss and turned his body away while still eyeing her suspiciously before aligning himself with his direction and moving away. "Well, this should be fun."

Aunt Calpurnia approached Amity with a smile. Much like Odalia, she walked with dignity and pride, despite her more rustic fashion sense. "Oh, don't mind him. He gets grouchy when he's pulled away from his hobbies."

Amity thought of her study room at the library and all the books she had in progress. "I get that." she replied, though it didn't make her feel better. "But what exactly does Uncle Faust do now since he was Principal at Hexside? My mom always told us how unfair his rules seemed, but now credits him for her business sense."

Calpurnia stood quietly for a few moments. "Mephi was a different person back then. The Empire was new and exciting, but even after a decade, people were still getting used to not being in the Savage Ages anymore. Surviving those times required witches to be a little tougher. The Isles were split into several warring factions and there was a lot of distrust. When the Emperor appeared and brought everyone together, there were a lot of people that had a difficult time setting their grudges aside, and the example he set was harsh. It can be hard to grow out of old habits."

"No kidding." Amity whispered, recalling how difficult it was to set aside her prejudices against Luz. Now, she couldn't imagine where she would be if Luz hadn't arrived on the Boiling Isles. The human had made her question everything she had believed about her place in the world, but now she was starting to feel directionless. For a brief instant, she hadn't a thought about her future other than being a part of Luz's life and kissed her cheek, immediately regretting it. Amity rested her head on her folded arms again as she leaned against the railing of the passenger compartment. "Any clues as to what I can expect from this 'discipline boot camp'?"

Calpurnia placed a hand on Amity's shoulder and smiled. "You have nothing to worry about, Amity. Consider this more of a time to get away from my sister and that little Bonesborough town."

Amity returned the smile as best she could despite feeling a twinge of offence at Bonesborough being called 'little'. She passed the feelings off as little more than a side effect of her irritability at being shipped off by her parents, and she continued watching the landscape go by as her aunt walked away.

After several hours of awkward tension, the skull of the Titan loomed, casting the airship into shadow as they approached Scapula City. Illusory advertisements popped up along their path, informing them of places to visit, products to purchase, and crystal ball programs to watch that were famously made here. Amity rubbed her eyes. While airships could transport multiple passengers and cargo, they were notoriously slower than flying by staff. Still, with the growing shortage of palismen, it had become a far more common method of travel. Finally, a loud voice called out from one of the illusions as the airship descended, shouting, "Scapula City! Scapula City! Welcome to Scapula City!"

Amity already found herself becoming annoyed by the bright lights and loud fanfare. The city was primarily built in and around the Titan's collarbone, with large homes built into the top of the giant's shoulder, using precarious stilts of bone and sinew to keep from sloughing off into the Boiling Sea. The city was spread out more than Bonesborough, which only had the Titan's palm to grow into, and had once been the place to go for palistrom wood from being so close to the mandible. The tracts of forest that had once served as a right of passage for many young witches were barren, with little more than stumps covering the chin and neck of the Isles. Scapula City had to turn to tourism, media, and the Emperor's propaganda machine to keep its population up.

The airship continued to glide between the expensive homes that hung off of the Titan's chin and horns before its trajectory curved back toward the clavicle. It landed on its perch in the backyard of the Faust's surprisingly modest house, at least compared to the Blight Manor. It was a single-level home, carved out of a hardened mole and overshadowed by the Titan's jawline. The yard was large enough, though it only had the airship perch and a single large shed occupying it as structures. The rest of the area was dominated by a cleanly trimmed red and orange grass yard and a sizeable fenced-off garden full of dangerous flowers and vegetables rummaging around.

Amity jumped as her Uncle appeared beside her, his breath hissing between his fangs in annoyance. "While you are here, you will follow our house rules. Do you understand?"

His tone wasn't as threatening as the words made him sound. It was clearly a genuine question seeking confirmation. "Yes, sir." Could staying at her aunt and uncle's really be worse than home? At least in Bonesborough, she had her books, and her library sanctuary, and school. Still, she was a Blight. She would adapt, and she would succeed.

"Good. You may place your possessions in the guest room under the stairs. We will go through your schedule, from chores you'll be expected to perform, to time to study for your exams."

"Exams?!" Amity asked. "But I don't have any…"

Uncle Faust bent at the waist to lower his gaze and look her in the eyes, small fires burning in them. "Don't worry." he grinned. "I have my own." Amity's shoulders slumped. The best she could do is suffer through it. They couldn't be intending on keeping her here forever, could they? She traced out a spell circle, pulling Jinn's bottle from the aether to her hip, and began pulling abomination fluid from it in order to carry her books. Before the bottle could be emptied, it was recorked, and she looked up to see Faust with his own spell circle and a telekinetic grasp on the bottle. "You will not be using your magic as a crutch during your stay here."

"Wha? No ma? Why?!" she gasped, finding the concept of not using her magic unfathomable.

"I have known many abomination track witches in my time as principal of Hexside, and they have all become soft, weak willed, and undisciplined adults. Your own father barely has a spine to stand with."

Amity could feel her face flush and her hands clench into fists with anger. "My dad…" she began before trailing off. She loved her father. He was one of the most powerful abomination Witches on the Isles, but they had barely spoken to each other over the last several years; ever since he had taken her mother's side in banishing Willow from her life. Her angry defensiveness drained quickly, and she could feel tears begin to well up at the corners of her eyes.

Uncle Faust stood straight again, smugly confident in Amity's speechlessness. "Your discipline begins now. Calpurnia will show you to where you'll be staying, and you will meet me in the garden where you will tend to the vegetables."

"But it's nearly night fall!" Amity protested, gesturing to the sun that was quickly disappearing behind the Titan's skull.

"And you are wasting daylight arguing."

Amity held her uncle's gaze for a moment before relenting, and lifted her bag to sling over her shoulder. It was taking all of her effort not to audibly grumble about her circumstances as she followed her Aunt off of the airship. She was focusing on her surroundings, rather than the walk to the house with the heavy bag. The rust colored grass was stiff, and it crackled under her shoes. The various flora in the garden were snapping their jaws, salivating as she walked by.

The shed next to the house grabbed her attention the most, with its large size, blacked out windows with a light seeping from inside around the edges. The single door had an impressive lock keeping it closed, and a KEEP OUT sign hung on the latch. While it piqued her curiosity, she wasn't here for any kind of adventure. She just needed to stay out of trouble, get back to Bonesborough, and deal with everything there.

She could still feel her Uncle watching her as she entered the house through a patio door behind her aunt. It opened into a kitchen area with a connected dining room, not even half the size of the manor's. The floorplan was open and spacious, and far more bright and cozy than her own home. "You have a lovely home, Aunt Calpurnia. But, Uncle Faust said the guest room was under the stairs?"

"Thank you, Amity!" Aunt Calpurnia said without skipping a beat in her tour. "Bathroom is down this hall, breakfast is at six." she explained before coming to the top of a staircase just off of the living room.

"Bathroom… singular?" Amity whispered to herself. "Wait, I'm staying in the basement?!"

"Please come along." Aunt Calpurnia directed, descending the stairs ahead of her. Amity struggled to fit her bag down the narrow stairwell, hooking its multiple straps on the banister and nearly losing her footing before reaching the bottom. "Please be careful, Amity. I wouldn't want your mother to have any reason to worry."

"Sorry, I…"

Aunt Calpurnia opened a small door under the stairs to reveal a room barely the size of Amity's bathroom at home. She traced a spell circle, lighting several candles inside the small room to reveal a narrow mattress on the floor, and barely enough space for Amity's bag. "You'll be expected to keep your room clean, pick up after yourself, and perform regular chores to earn your keep, as well as keeping up with your studies."

"Uhm, okay." Amity said quietly, surprised by her Aunt's sudden change in demeanor since arriving at her home. Her hope of getting any respite was quickly dwindling.

"You'd best stash your things. Mephi will be waiting for you in the yard." Aunt Calpurnia said, ignoring Amity's short and uncomfortable reply. She ascended the stairs again to leave Amity alone in the basement, who turned to stare at her small cubicle of a room. It was cool here, far more than any room in the manor in the palm of the Titan. She supposed that the property was rarely in direct sunlight, being situated under the Mandible. She heaved a sigh, dropped her bag in the cubicle, and turned her attention away to the darkness surrounding her.

She was currently in a hall just off from the stair landing, with a ridiculously wide, open doorway at either end, presumably for Uncle Faust to get through without having to pivot his head. Drawing a small spell circle to ignite the multitudes of candles in the next room, she entered to find a den, covered in Hexside memorabilia.

There was a large crystal ball in the center of the room, darkened smoke swirling about within it. There were a number of instruments placed delicately on stands along one of the walls, a low table surrounding the crystal ball with a small glass tray full of ashes, and an old couch within reach of it. Pictures of recognizable locations within Bonesborough, Hexside, and various other schools on the Isle that seemed to be pulled directly from Uncle Faust's memory. One in particular caught Amity's attention. It was of her father, holding the trophy belt from the Bonesborough Brawl that she had found in the attic of the Manor. He was maybe a bit older than she was now. He was skinny, filthy, and already hairy, but he was happy. She saw her mother in the crowd behind him and looking up at him fondly, as well as teenaged versions of many of the adults she knew. "Dad…" she whispered, taking it down from its place on the wall.

"I've been waiting." Uncle Faust growled from behind her, causing Amity to jump in surprise. She quickly hid the picture and turned to face her uncle while carefully folding it behind her back and stuffing it into a pocket. "You were instructed to do chores as soon as your things were stowed. Why are you here?"

Amity looked away, both embarrassed and intimidated at having been caught exploring. "I'm sorry. I… I was curious."

Uncle Faust took a step forward to stand beside her. "I'm guessing your parents don't teach you much of their past, do they? Some of it can be quite… embarrassing." he hissed with the hint of a chuckle.

"I've heard a few things." she replied, recalling some of the information about how her mother had enslaved a genie to get where she was today.

"History has many teachable moments. Should you find yourself with spare time…" he grinned, his fiery tail swish back and forth. "I could regale some of my experiences with your parents."

Amity remained quiet for a moment, surveying all of the pictures hanging before her. There was Wrath, before he was the warden of the Conformatorium. The Owl Lady, with the same plumage of hair, only bright orange, and sitting next to one of the Bards that Amity recognized from the Coventry in Latissa. Gus's dad, Boscha's mom's, and even a nearly unrecognizable Lilith Clawthorne with large glasses and the same red hair as her sister, sitting alone and surrounded by books in the library. "I think I'd really like that."