One morning, we decided to help Eda at the marketplace. "Emboldened by the dishonor Hecate had shown, Azura lifted her staff to the cotton-candy skies and shouted, "I challenge you to a witches duel."" Luz read to King. "And look, I drew a flip book." I laughed as I saw her creation. "Show me the picture." King begged as Luz showed him. "I can draw better than that. You know, they once called me the King of Artists." "Wait, I thought you were the King of Demons. Are you just making this up now?" I asked. "Doesn't matter, what's important is that my followers would leave me offerings in fear of me." King replied. "Well, I can offer you more of this tantalizing book." Luz said. "Ugh, please stop reading that." Eda groaned, tapping my nose with a feather duster. "It's flowery language is an insult to witches, and driving away all our serious customers." "Um, Eda, what customers?" I asked. "There aren't even any other stands around." "What's going on?" Luz added. "This is a bad omen, there must be something horrible happening today." Eda explains as Gus and Willow came by the stand surprisingly. "Luz, Peter, something amazing is happening today." Gus said. "Gus, Willow, hey." Luz greeted. "It's the annual covention." Willow replied. "Student witches get to see all the types of covens before they're placed in one. There's even a mystery guest this year." "A job fair for witches!" Luz exclaimed. "Eda, can we go?" I asked. "Absolutely not." Eda replied. "I never joined a coven for a reason. Sure, it's like a fun club for witches, but you're also giving up your magical independence to be part of a crooked system. Eh, but, you know, no judgment. In any case, I haven't been to one since we were girls." "We?" I asked. "I mean..." Eda trailed off. "Who's we? You have a mysterious past." Luz said. "Now we gotta go." "No." Eda refused. "Okay, then you leave us no choice." I smirked at King, who picked up the Azura book and began reading aloud. "'You shall not doeth no more harm,' Azura callethed out..." King reads. "So flowery, so awful." Eda groaned, opening the portal to the human realm as Luz throws King inside to follow her. "Stop it, stop it, I will literally do anything to stop this!"

Eda took us to the covention. She decided to wear a cowl to keep a low profile. "Is this cowl really necessary?" Luz asked. "Do you think all my wanted posters are for petty theft?" Eda asked as a bunch of crap came out of her cowl. "Partly, but, the big whammy is I disobeyed the law and refused to join a coven. If I'm seen, I could go to jail, again." "Maybe this informative event will inspire you to join a coven." Willow suggested as Eda pulled her hood in front of her face. "Let's just get this over with." Eda complained as we walked inside. "Whoa, was I even alive before now?" Luz asked. "Those are the main nine covens, but there are hundreds of other ones you can join." Gus explains, pointing to banners hanging from the ceiling. "There's flower coven, artist coven, big dog coven, small cat coven, tiniest cat coven..." Willow explains as Eda groaned. "Also the grumpy coven." "What was that?" Eda asked as we left to explore the covention. "Ooh, what's that?" I asked. "That's the Construction Coven, one of the main nine." Willow replied. "They use power glyphs to increase their strength." The construction worker placed the glyph on the conspiracy theorist, known as Tiny Nose, and she started to destroy stuff. "Yowza-wowza." Luz said. "Yowza-wowza." She repeated. Turns out it was an illusion. "Ah, you've been taken in by the allure of the Illusionist Coven." Gus said, casting an illusion. "We like to magic with a hint of showmanship." "Illusions, huh?" I asked. "Do you know how to make a person reappear? It's for a friend of mine who made his brother disappear." "Wow! Acceptance? Camaraderie? A sense of belonging?" Luz asked. "Covens sound incredible!" "Eda, why haven't you ever joined one?" I asked. "Watch closely, kiddos." Eda replied, showing us a student joining the Illusionist Coven. "When you join a coven, all your other magic is sealed away. From now on, that kid will only be able to make illusions. Since I never joined a coven, I can do every kind of magic. That's why I'm the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles."

We walked up to a crowded panel. "That panel looks popular." Luz said. "It's the Emperor's Coven." Gus gasped. "Do you think they'll sign my forehead?" "Probably not." I replied. "Only one way to find out." Willow said as she ran inside after him. We were about to go inside, but Eda refused. "Aren't you coming, Eda?" I asked. "No way. Of all the covens, they're the worst. I'll wait out here." Eda declined. "We get it, Eda. Covens bad, individualism good." Luz said. "But Peter and I are still figuring this world out, so we're going to check it out for ourselves, okay?"

We went inside to check out the Emperor's Coven. Eda caught up with us inside the panel. "Alright, let's see this mess." Eda grunted as she sat down next to me and the panel began. Principal Bump appeared to announce the panel. "Hello, Bonesborough. Students ask me all the time, Principal Bump, what's the height of magical achievements?" He asked the audience. "Is it this?" A student asked, casting a spell that bloated his head. "Wow. I've failed you as a principal." Principal Bump replied. "It's being selected to join the best of the best. And there are none better than the jewel of the coven system and the enforcers of his will, The Emperor's Coven." "Whoa." Luz and I gasped as we saw Willow and Gus, who apparently got the coven to sign his forehead. "Feast your eyes on this elite force, each member handpicked to help usher in a new age of controlled magic." Principal Bump explains. "When does that elite force get here?" Eda asked the other person sitting next to her and began to laugh. "Members of the Emperor's Coven have access to all, yes, all forms of magic. But, only the best can ascend these ranks, someday, that could be one of you." Principal Bump continued, pointing to the crowd as Luz and I recognize two of the young witches as Alexa and Amity Blight. "And now, I am pleased to introduce the esteemed leader of this coven and this year's mystery guest. You know her, you love her, Lilith!" Eda stopped laughing as she heard Lilith's name. As everyone was clapping for her, Eda was just speechless. "You know her?" Luz asked. "You could say that." Eda replied. "Ooh, mysterious past!" I gasped. "Thank you all." Lilith said. "It wasn't easy for me to rise to the top, I also started from humble beginnings. Now I have the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor's will. So be more. The Emperor's Coven awaits you."

As the panel finished, Eda left the room and was about to leave the covention. "Eda, where are you going?" I asked. "I'm gonna head home and wash the con funk off my skin." Eda replied. "But we haven't even taken the quiz to determine our coven type." Luz explains as Eda burns a hole through her book. "Ooh, a punky potionist." "I could see that for you." I said as I accidentally bump into one of the Blight twins. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." "Watch where you're..." Amity complained. "Oh, it's you two, Willow and Alexa's abomination things." "Amity, what's going on?" Alexa asked her sister. "Oh, hey guys." "Hey, Amity." Luz and I greeted. "What are the abominations doing here?" Amity asked. "So, funny story, they're actually not abominations, they're humans, that's Luz, and this is Peter." Alexa introduced as we put our hands out to shake with her sister. "Ugh, put those things away." Amity groaned. "You're the ones that got me in trouble with Principal Bump, and I never get in trouble." "Can you blame them, sis?" Alexa asked. "You were completely fine with him dissecting us." I added. "You two can't be here, this covention is for witches only!" Amity shouts. "Well, we're both learning how to be witches." Luz explains. "We're receiving magic lessons from a powerful witch and a ferocious demon." "Is that your ferocious demon there?" Amity asked as we turned to see King showing off a bunch of free stuff. "Luz, Peter, look at all these offerings." King said as he tripped on the scarf he was wearing, dropping a cupcake. I tried to pick it up, but Amity smashed it before I could. "Amity!" Alexa shouted. "Oops, that was an accident." Amity said sarcastically. "Why are you being so mean, Amity?" I asked. "Because you two and your pet are giving witches-in-training a bad name." "I am not a pet!" King snapped. "He's a very good boy, and the King of Demons." Luz said. "I'll tell you what, Amity, it's one thing to say me and Peter can't be witches..." "Because you can't." Amity groaned. "...But it's another thing to bully my friends, just like the good witch Azura said when facing her rival Hecate at the Bog of Immediate Regret, I challenge you to a witch's duel!" Luz continued. Alexa and I gasped along with a few other people who were there. "I accept." Amity replied. "Let's set the terms for this duel, shall we?" "One, if I win, you apologize to King for squashing his cupcake, and two, you admit that humans can be witches, too." Luz explains. "Fine by me, but when I win, not only do you have to tell the entire covention you're not a witch, both of you have to stop training forever." Amity replied. "Do it, Luz!" King exclaimed. "For my honor." "Fine, let's shake on it." Luz said as Amity and her shook hands, creating an oath. "The everlasting oath is sealed." Amity explains. "That's probably fine." I said nervously, knowing for a fact that she was screwed. "Meet back inside the theater in one hour." Amity instructed, walking away. "Let's see what kind of witch you are." "Peter, we can win this, right?" Luz asked. "I believe the question you're trying to ask is, can you win this?" I replied. "My sister's oath is between her and you, Luz, I'm afraid that the only thing Peter is a part in is when Amity wins, he also is unable to learn magic." Alexa added. Luz whimpered. She was dueling Amity on behalf of both of us to continue our magic education.

While looking for Eda, I overheard her having a conversation with Lilith. "Sister?" Lilith asked. "It's been so long since I've seen you last. What are you wearing? You look like some sort of trash collector, oh, right, you are." Holy shit! Eda and Lilith are sisters?! "Oh, Lily, I just had to see the leader of the Emperor's Coven in action." Eda replied, kneeling down to the young witches beside her sister. "You know, when we were kids, Lilith was so excited to see the Emperor's Coven, she peed a little." The kids laughed, and Lilith blushed in embarrassment. "That's all for today." Lilith said, dismissing the kids. "You shouldn't even be here. You're a wanted criminal. Unless, I don't believe it, you're here to join the Emperor's Coven." "In your dreams." Eda snickered. "You think being coven-less makes you so much smarter than everyone else. But while you run from the law like a degenerate, I'm mentoring the next generation of powerful witch students into the world." Lilith explains. "Well, I have two students, and I bet they could wipe the floor with any of your prissy little blue bloods." Eda brags. "Is that a challenge?" Lilith asked. "Oh, it's a promise." Eda replied as we run up to the sisters. "Eda, we need your help." I explained. "Luz accidentally challenged Amity to a witch's duel." "And I think she's gonna kill me, all the way dead!" Luz panicked. "Hm, it seems your students have met my strongest protégé." Lilith said, examining our ears. "And look at those ears, are they humans? Where did you even find them? Okay, Edalyn, for one day, you won't have to hide from the law, because I want to see how good of a teacher you really are." As Lilith walked away, Eda decided to comfort us. "Ah, c'mon, kiddos, time to prepare for bloodshed." Eda said. "But, who's blood?" Luz asked. "Anyone's guess." Eda chuckled. "We're in deep shit." I mumbled.

Eda took us to a somewhat private area of the covention. "Alright, kiddos, let's start your training." Eda said. "Now, I'm coming at you with a blast of fire. What do you do?" Luz just hides inside her hoodie in fear. I crossed my arms and glared at Eda. "What exactly can we do?" I asked. "Oh, that's right." Eda remembered. "I haven't taught you many spells, huh?" We nodded. "Boy, I hope you didn't make an everlasting oath to stop learning magic or anything. You'd be toast." "Is there a glowy hand thing that happens, or..." Luz started as we turned to see Amity training with Lilith. "Oh boy." Eda mumbled. "I can't believe we're both gonna give up learning magic if she loses." I sighed. "Listen to me, kiddos, we are not gonna let those snobs win that easy." Eda explains. "We are not gonna let them win at all. I've got an idea."

After Eda told us her plan, we met inside the theater. "Beloved citizens, the Emperor's Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the sort of witch we seek every year." Lilith announced. "Introducing Amity Blight vs some human girl." "Eda, what am I going to do?" Luz asked. "Calm down. You see those mounds?" Eda explains. "Get Amity to land on one of those and she'll set off my magic traps." "That's cheating." I whispered. "Nobody'll know, to all eyes up there, it'll look like you're performing magic, just trust me." Eda replied. "In case you forgot, because of Amity's oath, I can't do shit." I explained. "And I will know in my heart, even if I win now, I lose." Luz added. "That's the spirit!" Eda exclaimed. "Good luck Luz." I said as I head up to the bleachers to sit with Gus, Willow, and Alexa.

A bell went off as the fight was about to begin. "Abomination, rise." Amity commands as her abomination formed, frightening Luz. "Show me what you got, human!" "I'm not good under pressure!" Luz cried. As Luz was back along the wall, Amity's abomination stepped into Eda's trap, catching on fire. Eda was right, from the bleachers, it looked like Luz was using magic. "How did you do that?!" Amity asked. "I, uh, magic?" Luz questions herself. All of a sudden, King came back to where we were sitting, wearing a bunch of merch from the different covens. "What did I miss?" King asked. "Luz is in a witch's duel." Willow explains. "Against my sister." Alexa added. "Yeah, and she could win it all!" Gus exclaimed. "Either that, or she's gonna die." I said. "Wha?" King asked. I watched as another abomination stepped into another trap, this time blowing it and Amity back. "I saw you that time!" Amity complained. "You didn't use your hands! What are you getting at?!" "Not dying." Luz replied. "KICK HER ASS, LUZ!" I shouted. "This I gotta see." King said as another young witch was rooting for Amity. "Hey! You root for Luz or nobody!" Suddenly, King tripped on a scarf and began falling towards Luz. "King!" I shouted. "How are you doing that?" Amity asked, walking towards one of the traps. "No, Amity, don't step any closer!" Luz warned. "Why, Luz?" Amity asked. "What happens if I step closer?" King falls on the trap Amity almost stepped on and summoned spikes, which none of them pierced him surprisingly. "Spikes?!" Luz exclaimed. Eda gave her a thumbs up. "I knew it!" Amity shouted. "You were cheating!" "Amity, no!" Luz begged. Lilith touches one of the spikes as it disintegrates to dust. "Oh, Eda, I do believe this means you lose." She said. I joined them at the bottom. "It wasn't my idea to cheat, and when I found out, I tried to stop it, but..." Luz explains. "Who could believe anything you say?" Amity asked. "You're  looking at him." I replied. As Amity walked away, Eda saw something at the back of her neck. "Wait just a sec, Miss Protégé." Eda said, lifting up Amity's turquoise green hair to find a glyph. "A power glyph from the construction coven." Everyone gasped. "She cheated." Willow gasped. "Aha, yes, yes, yes!" Eda bragged. "You cheated. Perfect Prissy Lilith cheated. Hot dang, I love coventions!" "I only did that because I knew you would cheat." Lilith argued. "Still cheated. Welcome down to my level." Eda joked. "But, I didn't know." Amity said, running away in tears. "Luz, Peter, help me!" King begged as we freed him from the spikes. "My offerings." "You'll get more offerings, King." Luz said.

Luz and I decided to run after Amity. We found her hiding by a bathroom in tears. "Amity, I'm sorry." Luz apologized. "Seriously, just leave me alone." Amity scoffed. "Luz is just trying to apologize, she didn't mean to embarrass you." I said. "That's all you do, both of you. First at school, and now, this." Amity cried. "You both made me look like a fool in front of the Emperor's Coven, my future! You both think it's so easy to be a witch, I have been working my whole life to get to the top. You lost! You cheated! Say it, say you're not witches!" "We're not witches." Luz sighed as we both pulled out some paper to draw out our glyph. "But we're both training really hard to be one." I added. "That's nothing, a child could do a light spell." Amity said. "But, I've never seen it cast like that." "It doesn't come naturally to us like it does you and Alexa." I explained. "So, we both had to improvise." Luz added. Amity makes a spell circle and grabs Luz's arm to pull inside. "The oath is unbound." Amity sighed. "Did it work?" Luz asked. "Can Peter and I still learn magic?" "Humans have no magical ability, but I doubt that will stop you." Amity replied, walking away and King came over to us. "Guys, you left me!" King cried. "Sorry, your legs are just so tiny." I apologized. "Shall we get you more offerings?" "Nah, that stuff just weighed me down." King declined. "But I have something for you guys, and it's the best thing because it's free, comes from my heart, and I always have more than I need." "Is it love?!" Luz asked. "Ugh, no. Tote bags." King replied, getting inside one of the bags. "And they have so many uses. Away, fair chariot, away!" "We gotta go." Eda said. "How'd you get away from Lilith?" I asked. "Let's just say she had a real snack attack." Eda joked. "Eda, do you think we'll ever be true witches?" Luz asked. "What? I don't know. Who's a true witch? These suckers?" Eda explains. "According to them, that means being in a coven, but I never joined one and I'm better than all of them combined. You both gotta be your own witch." "My own witch." Luz and I said in unison. "Now, let's go before my sister realizes I tied her pointy shoes together." Eda explains as Lilith screams at the top of her lungs. "And, that's our cue." "Sister?" I asked. "Now that's a mysterious past payoff." "You think that's all the mystery I got?" Eda asked. "Wait till you hear about my parents." "What?! You got parents?!" Luz exclaimed. "I need to know more!" "Me too." I added. "You very much don't." King explains.