Dear Diary,

I don't think I want to be in the Emperor's Coven anymore.

That's probably one of the boldest statements I've ever made in here, and from everything I've seen these past few days, I'm beginning to stand by it even more. I'm not sure if there will even be a Coven for me to join by the time I have to try out for it, seeing that its head almost got petrified earlier.

Yeah, I didn't believe it at first either, but here we are.

It looks like I did, in fact, miss a lot by staying home from the field trip to the Emperor's castle yesterday. I mean, it wasn't my decision to skip the trip, but Emira caught me trying to sneak off to school after the nurse that checked me over yesterday bound me to my bedroom.

Okay, so it wasn't so much as sneaking since the thud of the footsteps of the abomination that I summoned to carry me downstairs could be heard echoing throughout the house, but you get what I mean, right?

Anyways, I was forced back to bed, and Emira hexed the door to only let me out if there was a fire, gorenado, or Titan possession, none of which were going to happen anytime soon (at least, I hoped they wouldn't happen soon, but with the Isles who knows what could happen?) Her and Ed went off to school, leaving me alone with myself.

As usual, I was caught up with my homework and readings, so I didn't have anything I really needed to do. I was at the point where I could get ahead in my classes, so I decided to sit and read though a few of my books, marking down some of the key details and some questions I would ask my teachers later. I soon grew bored of studying, and I collapsed back into bed, reflecting on what I did to get here. I soon realized that it wasn't what I did, more like what Boscha did when she landed on my ankle during the grudgby match. I really gotta thank her for all this when I get back to school, whenever that might be. At one point, I glanced over to the wall, where the poster I had of Miss Lillith silently mocked me for not being able to go on the trip. I told it to shut up, wanting to feel superior in my moment of inferiority.

When I was done with my pity party, I hopped over to my bookshelf and grabbed one of my Azura books, picking up where I left off the last time I got a moment to myself (which feels like forever ago). It was the part where Hecate and Azura were learning about how Villainous Lucy double-crossed them by working with the Sisterhood of the Inferno. While I was reading, my mind began to wander, and I mayyyy have inserted Luz and I into the scene.

I mean, come on. Azura and Hecate are destined to be together, am I wrong for wanting to see myself in their shoes?

Anyways, I wondered if Luz enjoyed the castle tour. She's so eager to learn everything she can about the Isles, and I know there are things in there that Eda would never have had access to. Who knows, maybe they had something that could help her curse?

A little while later, Ed and Em came home from school, coming upstairs to greet me. They caught me up on what had happened on campus that day, nothing too out of the ordinary. A rogue pixie bit a few kids in the hall, but that ended up being the only big news school-side. Ed ended up grabbing some of my homework from my teachers, so I started working on it after they went to go start their own work. It felt like an average day at Hexside, as average as one could be, anyways.

Except it wasn't.

I was working on my anatomy homework when I got the first Pensta notification, a message in a class groupchat that I never really talk in.

"Did you guys hear what happened at the castle?"

I swiped it away, thinking someone was sending some Emperor's Coven gossip post or something like that. A few pings came after it, so I silenced the chat and went back to work. I quickly got interrupted again by another ping from my scroll. This time, it was a livestream from an artist I like. I decided to let her livestream play, thinking it would just be some background noise for me while I studied.

"Did you all see those giant lights in the sky? It looked like it was coming from-"

Okay, no background noise for me, I guess, I thought as I quickly swiped out of the video. At that point, I started to get nervous, thinking something bad had happened to someone on the field trip. It would be an understatement to say that the Emperor's castle is well guarded, it's the most secure place on the Isles, other than the Conformatorium. Maybe someone just tripped on the bridge and fell into the rocks underneath. I feel like a teacher would have been able to help them, so it probably wasn't that.

Consumed by the what-ifs fueled by my scroll, I decided that I had enough of everything for the night. I sent Ed and Em a text letting them know I would be off the grid for the rest of the night. After I calmed myself down, I went back to my homework, finishing a decent chunk of it before Ed and Em came up to my room with some dinner. We ended up hanging out and playing some games for a while before we split up for the night, with the twins heading out to go see some friends and me deciding to call it an early night. I headed to bed, any anxiety of what may have happened in my absence gone from my mind.

The next morning, I woke up feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time. After I was conscious enough to do so, I carefully hopped out of bed and grabbed my scroll off my desk. I went through the notifications I missed through the night. Nothing was really interesting, except for the one that instantly caught my eye.

Breaking news: Clawthornes duel it out, ends in capture

Holy Titan.

I don't think I've ever clicked on a notification so fast.

I'm so glad I was at my desk, because I really needed to sit down after reading that headline. My heart sank to my stomach as I clicked the article, which was sent to my scroll almost immediately after I decided to log off for the night.

Great timing, Amity!

According to a press release from the Emperor's Coven, Eda and Lilith got into a huge fight against each other, and Eda ended up being taken to Emperor Belos by her sister.

I was always taught that wild witches were horrible people, only insolent agitators who want to see chaos and the destruction of the Isles. But,Eda doesn't fit into anything we'velearned about in school. Sure, she tends to cause some havoc, but she never uses her powers for evil.

Okay, maybe she uses it to scam a witch or two to make some money, but I'd say that's just natural selection at work.

As for Miss Lilith, I know she has a job to do for the Emperor, but her own sister? That's a type of low that I don't think I'd ever be able to go with my own siblings, despite what they've done to me. Of course, I'm not one of Belos' top officials, and I don't know too much about her childhood with Eda. She's never really gone into depth about it, she likes to keep our lessons strictly business. Speaking of lessons, is this why I haven't had a training session with her in a while? I've overheard her calling my mom and saying that she's been "tied up" with some tasks for the Emperor lately.

And Luz, holy Titan Luz... she must be feeling so much right now, I have no idea where to even begin with her. Whether Eda wants to admit it or not, I can see that she's the closest thing to a mom that Luz has right now. Luz has gone on all about how much Eda is helping her learn magic and how she's the best mentor ever. I can't begin to imagine the pain she must be in right now. But, knowing Luz, she was gonna do something to make things right.

I got back into bed, ready to stare at my ceiling and hope everything would magically work out (both literally and figuratively). I knew I as much as I wanted to help Luz, Boscha ensured otherwise. Wanting to see if there were any updates, I clicked the crystal ball on, immediately being met by Gus' dad reporting live from the castle. The feed quickly cut to one of Belos' assistants reading off the crimes Eda was charged with, ending her speech with one of the worst things I have ever heard: Eda was to be petrified at sundown.

What the actual fuck?

As long as I've known Eda, she's done nothing truly worthy of petrification. I know other wild witches that have been caught were just forced to get a sigil, and maybe spend some time in the Conformatorium. But petrification? That's way too far, even if there was an attack on a Coven official. I'm not sure why Eda fought Lilith, but I've learned from Luz that Eda never fights unless provoked.

After leaving the crystal ball on mute all day and trying and failing miserably to distract myself with other things, all while periodically checking it in hopes that Eda would somehow be freed, sundown eventually came. I reluctantly grabbed the ball, turning the volume back up and getting myself ready to... well, I didn't fully know. Obviously, I knew I was about to see Eda die. But, everything else just seemed like a blur to me.

I'm so glad the twins decided to walk in before I could spiral any deeper into my thoughts.

I made space for them on the bed, allowing them to sit on either side of me. We just sat and watched wordlessly as Eda was lifted up through the platform in her cage. She was stuck in her owl form, so massive that she almost took up the entire width of the cage. We were waiting for Belos to emerge from the castle to begin the "ceremony" when suddenly, Lilith and King were dropped into the cage with Eda.

Why were either of them dropped in?! I mean, didn't Lilith bring Eda to Belos under his command? And yes, technically King could potentially be considered an "accomplice" of sorts to Eda, if someone were wanting to play with semantics, but he's still a little kid! What could he have possibly done wrong?

Almost as soon as they were tossed into the cage, the livestream was hijacked by Willow and Gus, and they started talking about how Eda did nothing wrong. I didn't know that either of them had that in them, I'm so proud of them both for helping stick up for Eda! They seemed to have started some sort of revolution on their end, as I began to hear a chant of "LET EDA GO" emerge from the crowd. The twins and I joined in, albeit from our house. I wish I was able to be down on the ground helping them.

A few moments later, a bunch of loud crashes were heard off screen. Just as the camera panned to the commotion, I saw Lilith, King, and Luz all hopping onto Eda's back and flying straight out of the mess, nearly getting hit by the spears that the Emperor's guards carry with them. I have absolutely no clue how exactly Luz ended up in the fray, aside from the fact that I knew that she somehow would. For my sanity, I've decided it's best not to dwell on it until she decides to tell me about it, which I know she inevitably will.

Belos finally came on screen, and he said that the Titan told him to spare Eda from petrification, for her curse would be enough of a punishment for her. So if the Titan would just release her, was it even his plan to capture her in the first place? I'm never one to question the Titan's will, but something just isn't adding up here.

In the midst of all this, we heard Mom stomping around downstairs, shrieking to seemingly anything that would look like they were listening to her about who would replace Lilith as my training tutor. "My princess was taught by a traitor!" and "how will that look when she's trying to get into the Emperor's Coven?" were some of the only screeches I could understand.

Because yes, the best thing to focus on right now was me. Not the two women and the child who were almost MURDERED on live television.

I think writing all that down just made something click.

I'm done. With everything. I can't support these people monsters anymore, not after what they tried to do to some of the best and strongest people I know.

Fuck the Emperor's Coven and everyone in it,
Amity