The next few days felt brutal, as Amity was instructed to do chores that she had never even considered. Duties that the abomibutler; Vir, had always done, while Uncle Faust continuously looked on. He never seemed to go anywhere, other than his secretive shed, and was a constant eye wherever she went. Amity knew that she was fit from her time in Grudgby, but these chores were working muscles that she had apparently never used before, and she had gone to bed sore several night in a row.

But the chores were beginning to ease. It took less effort to wrestle the vegetables out of the garden, the lawn demon became lighter to push, and even washing dishes allowed her time to turn her thoughts to something mundane, away from schoolwork. Eventually, she found herself with some free time, and she was in the cool basement, looking through the pictures on the wall of her Uncle Faust's den.

She'd had no idea that her father had won the Champion belt from the Bonesborough Brawl. She had heard of the annual event, where Witches and Demons would gather to show off their magical combat skills in one on one duels. While there were very few rules, and quite a few injuries, fatalities were rare. She'd never had much interest in it before, rather spending her time training specifically for the Emperor's Coven. But now…

"I gave you my word that I would tell you about your parents." Uncle Faust hissed. He had managed to sneak up on her so often now that his horrifying voice didn't phase her anymore.

"My mom told me that they had met in Hexside." Amity said.

"I was neither aware, nor cared, about children's relationships during my tenure as Principal of Hexside. I left that drama to my Vice Principal Burt."

"You mean Bump?" Amity asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have no interest in other people's lives. I worked with him for ten years and never learned his name." he said casually. "Best friend I ever had. His office was within the walls of my own." he added. He turned, taking a spot on the couch that faced the crystal ball in the center of the room. "I do however, recall the accomplishments of my students, and despite your father's timid disposition, his talent for abomination magic earned him several accolades."

Amity sat cross-legged on the floor across from her uncle, letting herself relax. She felt the thick carpet in her fingers, and couldn't help but have her thoughts drawn to how it probably felt to feel Luz's thick hair…

She cleared her throat as she felt herself blush, turning her attention back to her observer. "What was he like in High School? My dad. You don't talk very well about him."

"Alador is a story of missed opportunities derived from not making his own decisions." Uncle Faust cryptically explained. "But for you to understand your parents, you're going to need to understand the circumstances around them."

Principal Mephisto Faust watched the gathering students outside through his office window, counting the ticks of the clock until the attendance bell would scream. He growled, and narrowed his eyes as the Porter boy sat on the grass, speaking to another student, and he made a mental note to assign him to the Detention Pit for undoubtedly having grass stains on his uniform.

Erabos and Charize, two girls in the Potions track, were sharing a glance that sent a shiver down Mephisto's flaming tail. Public Displays of Affection were also worth time in the Detention Pit.

Twin heads of red hair burst through the front gates of the schoolyard, as the Clawthorne sisters finally arrived, and Principal Faust's tooth-filled grin stretched even wider. He had been waiting for Edalyn to arrive, as it would finally give him reason to not only get her out of his proverbial hair, but Vice Principal Burt as well.

His tail flared, and a doorway filled with flame opened up before him. He turned his head to allow his majestic horns to fit and entered the door, exiting the main school doors a moment later just as the attendance bell sounded. He could feel the fear wash over the students, and he let out a low growl as they started to collect. The fiery door vanished and he pulled out a slate of student names, dragging his claws across its surface with an ear shattering screech.

Odalia Pernicial crossed the threshold first, followed by Darius Deamonne and Alador Blight. "Detention. Detention. Detention." he repeated, as each one slunk by him. "Suspension." he announced, as Perry Porter passed by, nearly in tears. As suspected, he did have grass stains on his uniform.

"Principal Faust, don't you think you're judging these students a touch… harshly?" Vice Principal Bunt asked, approaching from within the school. He was an older witch, with shiny black hair poking out from beneath the imp-like palisman that sat upon his head. It's lips wrapped around the upper half of his face like it was having difficulty swallowing him.

Mephisto spoke with annoyance. "Not at all." he growled. "These students are already late to being early, and that's a slippery slope."

"But if you keep expelling students, we won't have a graduating class." he insisted, his voice wavering in fear.

Principal Faust turned his head, a crackling of bones sending a shiver up the Vice Principal's spine. His black, beady eyes erupted in points of fire as he looked at his lesser with contempt. "I'm just enforcing school policy."

The Vice Principal was clearly sweating through his black robes, and he shrunk back as he stammered. "That you added to." he said, regaining his composure. "Y-you expelled the captain of our Grudgby team because his shoes didn't meet your appropriately squeaky regulation."

Faust turned back to the students that were sullenly filing into the school, thinking back on the event without remorse. "Too squeaky? A distraction. Too quiet? Can't hear them. Can't trust them. Some students are… irredeemable."

"None of them are beyond redemption." The Vice Principal looked down at his records, then returned his gaze with a frown. "I would stake my career on it."

Principal Faust turned his head slowly to confront the Vice Principal, his vertebrae audibly popping as he did so. He opened his maw to speak when an orb dived into him, its bat-like wings fluttering around his head. "Ah! What is that thing?!"

The orb continued to bite and claw with the talons on the tips of its wings, leaving little more than scratches on the two men before fluttering around for another attack. Principal Faust reached up with a clawed hand, catching the orb and pulling it in to inspect it. It was a leather bound Grudgby ball, stitched together with its one eye panicking at suddenly being caught. Someone had magically altered the creature to grow wings, and Faust had an inkling as to what students had yet to enter the school.

He descended the stairs, Grudgby ball still in hand, and the sound of bushes rustling caught his attention. Hiding out of sight of the main doors, was the thin form of Edalyn Clawthorne. The child wore the typical uniform of a Potions track student, with yellow sleeves and leggings beneath the black and grey tunic that consisted of a Hexside uniform. A large plume of orange hair shuffled around as she turned, unsurprised by the two men's presence. Her most notable feature however, was the smug grin on her face that Principal Faust had come to loathe.

"Hey, Fausty. Vice Princey B." she said casually. "What brings you handsome devils to a place like this?"

Principal Faust growled, clenching his fist around the squealing grudgby ball until it popped. Edalyn stood unflinchingly in front of him, rocking back and forth on her heels and Faust narrowed his already beady eyes. "Come with me." he ordered. "Let's have a conversation."

He escorted the girl through the halls of Hexside, earning her the attention of many students that were in the halls. They scattered at Principal Faust's passing, looking at Edalyn with pity as they passed until finally reaching his office. "Have a seat." he growled, gesturing to a collection of bones that made up a chair in front of his desk that Edalyn knew well.

The girl sat nervously. This was unlike most of her visits to the principal's office. Mephisto was eerily calm, and circled around his desk, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Miss Clawthorne? Do you know why I keep you around?" he asked.

Edalyn smiled. "My innate talents? My unbeatable charm?"

"No." Faust replied, cutting off any further comments. He pulled on a rope that hung from the ceiling, causing a stack of books, scrolls, and papers to fall into a neat column, tall enough to block his view of the student until he stepped forward. She frowned at it. "Because to fight evil, you must understand evil." He caressed the stack of records, adjusting a few pages so as not to allow them to crease. "All your misdeeds, pranks, schemes… They have given me insight into the depravity that lurks within the minds of children."

Edalyn looked on in an apparent state of shock. "This is really upsetting." she said, eyeing the stack of records before her expression returned to its normal smugness. "I thought there'd be more."

Mephisto's claws clenched at her lack of fear before composing himself. He pulled a select folder from the tower, and opened it, pacing back and forth behind his desk. "You're close with your sister Lilith, I see. Plan on trying out for the Emperor's Coven? Commendable."

Edalyn leaned back, propping her feet up on the desk. "Yeah, I do kinda rule."

"Too bad you'll be ineligible…" he said, his eyes blazing with fire and the corners of his maw lifting. "When I expel you."

Edalyn sat up in surprise, her usual cocky expression vanishing. "You can't do that! I'll be separated from Lily!"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before filling the Detention Pit with green gelatin." he accused, dropping the folder onto his desk.

"It was his birthday!" Edalyn cried, quickly scanning the report before meeting the Principal's gaze. "He liked it!" She frantically looked about, trying to find some semblance of the confidence she just had. "Please, Principal Faust! I'll do anything!"

The edges of Faust's fangs stretched back in a terrifying grin as he chuckled in satisfaction. Stepping aside, he rapped a knuckle on the wall behind him and a small cubicle opened to reveal the Vice Principal. "Uh, yes sir?" he asked.

"No child is beyond redemption. Didn't you stake your career on it?" The Vice Principal looked down at Edalyn worriedly before managing a reassuring smile. Faust let out a low, grumbling chuckle before turning his attention back to Edalyn. "Allow me to introduce you to your task for this weekend. Walk with me."

Principal Faust led the student and Vice Principal out of his office and down the hall to the school's predominant display case that held an assortment of trophies for achievements that he took personal pride in. While it was the students that came home with them, it was his direction and guidance as a principal and teacher that forced them to perform adequately. As he had come to expect, students of every level scattered at his approach, stuffing themselves into lockers, abandoning each other to escape, and even vanishing into the ceiling tiles.

"Every year, Hexside participates in a special training program called Instructing Future Witches of Tomorrow." he explained, opening the display case to carefully remove a silken blue ribbon from its place among many others. "I attend with out most gifted students and we return with blue ribbons as a testament to my…" he trailed off with a growl as he admired the item. "I mean, our excellence. Unfortunately…"

"You expelled our most gifted student for chewing too loudly in the cafeteria." the Vice Principal finished for him.

Faust narrowed his eyes in irritation. "Disgusting monster." he said to himself before tilting his head to the side in order to turn to face his guests. "This year, you can represent Hexside. Bring back a blue ribbon, and you can remain here. Come back empty handed, and I will savor the expulsion." He then shifted mechanically to look the Vice Principal in the eye. "And you go with her!" he ordered, turning away. "If anything goes wrong, I might have to find a new Vice Principal."

He had been meaning to promote the Pernicial woman from Teacher's Assistant to Vice Principal, but the position's current occupant was too committed to helping students… grow. Putting his career in Edalyn Clawthorne's hands however, might be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He could sense their hope fading as he walked away, and the Vice Principal began feeding the girl an inspirational speech that Faust tuned out. He had other duties to attend to.

He found his way back to his office, letting out a low growl in greeting to Calpurnia at her desk, who nodded and smiled in return as he passed. The green haired woman had been his assistant for a number of years already, and shown herself to be efficient, hardworking, and uncompromising, much like himself. She had even gleefully accepted the task of bringing in her younger sister that enjoyed not only bullying her classmates, but to inform him of other classmates that were being unruly in exchange for a class president position.

"Ms. Pernicial, please have the Deamonne child come see me immediately. I have a special assignment for him."

"Of course, Principal Faust." she replied, leaning in to the announcement demon on her desk. "Darius Deamonne, please come to Principal Faust's office. Darius Deamonne to the Principal's Office." she said, her voice echoing through the halls of the school.

Faust continued into his office, taking a seat behind his desk and feeling quite satisfied. Edalyn Clawthorne was highly unlikely to come back with another blue ribbon for the school from IFWOT, but it was a small price to pay to get rid of both that trouble maker and the Vice Principal, especially when he had another, more promising and compliant student to bring back something equally precious.

He traced out a spell circle, conjuring Darius Deamonne's records from the archive and looked them over. His known acquaintances, Odalia Pernicial and Alador Blight, were quite skilled in their respective coven tracks despite their family's differences in class. They had a tendency to manipulate the Blight boy, who due to his family's wealth, made him nigh untouchable to Faust's discipline. Informant students also noticed that the Pernicial girl and Deamonne boy were a romantic item.

Faust shivered. Despite how little he cared about the goings on in his student's lives, information was key in keeping them all in line and maintaining discipline within the walls of Hexside. Still, pregraduate romances were disgusting all the same. Perhaps he could slay two dragons with one lance.

A small, bulbous demon on his desk burped, announcing the Deamonne boy's arrival. "Come in!" he commanded, and Darius poked his head through the entryway.

"You wanted to see me Principal Faust?" he asked, approaching the desk and sitting in the skeletal chair. Darius had dark skin, pale green eyes, and his thick, black hair was tied back in a set of locs that hung above his neckline. He was well-kempt and confident, if lazy in his studies. He had an overly competitive streak that caused him to tear down his fellow students in order to succeed. Faust liked that, and it would be just what he needed for this special assignment.

"Yes, Darius." he growled, annoyed that the boy had taken a seat before he had offered it. "I'm sure you are aware of the IFWOT competition that occurs every year at this time?"

Darius grinned, keeping his surprised expression in check. "You want me to represent Hexside at IFWOT?!"

"No!" Faust snapped, watching gleefully as the boy's ego deflated. "I want you to win the Bonesborough Brawl."

"The Bonesb-? How do you even know about that? The competitors are some of the best witch duelists on the Arm."

Faust narrowed his eyes at Darius. "How I know about it is irrelevant, but your instructors consider you one of the best students in the abomination track. A prestigious accomplishment, considering both the track's difficulty to master, and your status."

"My status?"

Faust growled. He hated having to repeat himself. "The Bonesborough Brawl is this weekend. I suggest you get training."

"But I got a date with Odalia this…"

"I do not care about your frivolous plans. The best way to invest in your future is alone."

"But…"

Mephisto growled again, signalling that the conversation was over. He waited for Darius to leave his office, then knocked on the hidden door behind him that lead to the Vice Principal's office. It slid open to reveal the man collecting a few things for his trip with the Clawthorne girl. The closet sized space was dark, with no lighting save for a pair of candles on a small cabinet he was allowed for a desk. Faust grinned. "Bring me Eaglebeak."

Earnest, or Ernie, as the students called him, was a narrow boy with short, dark, greasy hair that was parted down the middle. He wore thick, black rimmed glasses on his large hooked nose that were consistently broken, often from his own clumsiness, but mostly from the predicaments that Principal Faust put him in. While other students at Hexside High wore the standard black tunic over coven track colors, as a senior, he preferred the black robes of a full fledged witch and a brimless pointed hat that added to his short stature, making him appear even more lanky.

He prided himself on being Principal Faust's eyes and ears around the school, despite the role earning him very few friends. Still, he gained the Principal's praise, and that was enough. For the moment, he was tasked with following a sophomore student named Darius Deamonne and his friends around the school and report back to the Principal everything they did. Fortunately, as a Potion track student, Ernie was quite adept at the task as it gave him access to all kinds of magic through the use of alchemy.

He was able to find the trio by lunch, sitting nearby at a table close enough to hear their conversation despite the noisy environment, with his only table mate being another sophomore girl with fluffy red hair and large round glasses. She stared at him, seemingly annoyed at his presence at the long, empty table before finally being absorbed in a text book while she ate.

"The Bonesborough Brawl?" Odalia asked. "Isn't that dangerous? Why would Principal Faust even consider signing up a student?"

"It's not that dangerous. It's not like anyone's actually died in it." Darius replied. "Besides, it didn't sound like he was giving me a choice."

"Well actually, a few brawlers have died, and many have come close. That's why it's a good idea to bring some magical healing with you." Alador interjected, absent-mindedly rolling a marble of abomination goo around his lunch tray. "Also, since no other school has ever entered a student, the Principal has probably guessed how prestigious an award the Brawler's Belt would be."

Darius's face fell for a moment before cracking into a wry grin. "Careful Alador, you're going to give Noah Ital a run for his snails."

"Hmm?"

"Oh, I hear he's up for an award this year as well!" Odalia said, hooking an arm into Darius' and picking a spider fry off of his tray. "So what do you plan on doing?"

"The Brawl is tomorrow night, so I need to practice. Alador, you want to help me out?"

Before Alador could reply, Odalia retreated slightly with shock on her face. "Tomorrow night? But we had a date…"

"I know." Darius said, "But this is important. You know how Faust is. If I don't win this thing, I could get worse than just a night in the Detention Pit."

"But I'm your girlfriend…"

"I'll make it up to you. Promise." Darius replied before turning back to Alador. "How about it, buddy?"

Alador was shaping his abomination marble into different species of faerie, his food now grown cold. "Hmm? Oh, sure." he replied distractedly, causing the small model of a two headed demon faerie to fly around.

"Hey!" Darius exclaimed, snapping his fingers to get his friend's attention. "Titan to Alador. Put your toys away. You're good for tonight, right?"

The abomination lost its form and dropped to the table with a thick splash. Alador looked up as though surprised that his friends were sitting across the table from him. "What's tonight?" he asked. "I mean, yeah. I can help." he added, as though his mind had finally caught up to the conversation.

"Well, I have homework to do." Odalia said coldly, removing herself from the table and leaving her tray behind as she left.

"Is she mad?" Alador asked once Odalia was out of earshot.

"She'll be fine." Darius assured him. "Now, you seemed to know a few things about the Brawl. Any ideas on how to win this thing?"

Alador stared off into the cafeteria, watching the various students starting to get ready for their next classes. "Any Coven track can participate, and a lot of wild witches fight in it too. Probably why it's still considered such an underground thing. Your best strategy is to do something no one's ever seen before. Be unpredictable."

Darius stared at him expectantly. "You mean like your abomination gadgets?"

The specific mention of abomination magic snapped Alador's attention back. "I'm just experimenting. Besides, I don't know if I could ever take part in something like that. You know I'm not a fighter." he admitted, forming a shy grin.

"Well it must be nice being a child of one of the most powerful families on the Isles and not having other witches want to mess with you. Eventually you're going to come across a slitherbeast or selkidomus that doesn't care about your status."

"My status?" Alador asked in surprise.

Darius looked at his friend, his anger giving way to reluctant apology. "Just something Faust mentioned. How winning the Brawl would be some big accomplishment, given my status."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Darius sat quietly for a moment before giving up. "Just… try to remember to be at my place tonight, okay?" he repeated, stacking his tray with Odalia's and leaving the table. "Winning this thing could be just what I need."

Alador barely noticed that he was one of the last students to leave the cafeteria until he was shaken back to reality by the student behind him returning to class.

"Anyway, the sun has cast its last shadow upon the Isles and the crescent moon has risen above the eastern ridge." Uncle Faust said, standing from the couch as Amity stared at him from her place on the floor with wide, incredulous eyes.

"It's like nine o'clock!" Amity argued, unable to keep an eye from twitching in frustration. "What happened that night?! Why isn't my dad friends with Darius anymore? How did my mom and dad wind up together? Did Darius wind up winning the Bonesborough Brawl?! How did he become a Coven Head?!"

Faust growled impatiently, stopping in the doorway of the den. "Don't you have chores to complete?"

Amity stammered, trying to protest before angrily relenting when her Uncle's eyes began to glow with yellow flames. She had been teased with answers that she never knew she had needed about her family's history. She reluctantly exited the den wordlessly, her face feeling flush as she realized she was holding her breath, but she couldn't let it out until she was out of her Uncle's sight.

She needed someone to talk to. Someone that cared about what she was suddenly going through, but she knew she had no one. Nevermind that she couldn't use her scroll, but who would she talk to anyway? She had isolated herself from Boscha and her other previous 'friends', and she doubted Luz wanted anything to do with her after that night on the Manor's porch.

All that she could do for now was continue the tasks that she had been assigned and try to sort through the feelings and thoughts that had cropped up that day.