They walked down the steepest canyon Luz had ever seen.
"Wow" she whispered peering down. King was clinging to her back, pretending he wasn't scared.
Suddenly, she lost her footing and almost careened off the cliff, but Anne grabbed her at the last second.
"Oop" Anne pulled her back onto the path.
"whew. Thanks" Luz wiped her forehead. King trembled, clutching her head tightly. Eda and Hop Pop ran to them.
"Can I not leave you for a second, kid?" Eda said worriedly, checking to see if Luz was hurt.
Hop Pop put his hands on his hips "Do you kids know the meaning of the phrase self preservation?"
"We do not" Sprig chimed in from the front of the group.
"Nope!" Polly agreed.
Hop Pop sighed.
"Tell that to the death wish twins other here" Bow pointed to Glimmer and Adora. Adora grinned and punched him lightly. Glimmer gave him a noogie.
"I mean" Catra said "You guys do almost die a lot"
Adora put her in a gentle headlock and gave her a noogie as well.
"Cut it out, Adora! Hey!"
"The King of Demons does not fear heights" King insisted weakly.
"I'm a ninja at stopping people from falling" Anne said proudly as she and Luz caught up to the rest. "Back home, it was practically a full time job making sure Marcy didn't hurt herself too bad. You do not want to know how many volleyballs I've taken in the face for her"
Luz laughed sheepishly. "I could have probably used someone like you back home. In retrospect, fireworks and live snakes were not a safe choice for a book report"
"Heh. Respect" Anne grinned.
Hop Pop made grunt of disapproval.
Bow broke away from Glimmer's teasing and turned to them.
"Welcome to Dryl"
"Holy…"
They stared up at the fortress.
Anne shivered "This reminds me of toad tower"
As they got closer, Anne hung back, averting her eyes
Catra gave her a concerned look. She slowed down to talk.
"You're thinking about your friend"
Anne nodded miserably.
Catra almost pat her on the back but stopped herself self conscientiously. Before she could say anything they were at the castle.
Luz stopped at the front door's place mat and deftly stepped over it. As she did spikes rose up sharply, impaling air.
"Eda taught me a thing or two about booby traps" Luz said.
"Yeah, I did" Eda smiled proudly.
"Good, because this place almost killed us the first time we were here" Bow said, slinging his quiver over his shoulder.
"I just realized I still don't remember most of that" Adora said with wide eyes as they all passed the front gates.
The halls were cavernous, echoing and...empty.
"I hope her robots haven't revolted again" Glimmer said cheerfully.
"Again?" Luz asked in horror. She saw a defunct robot and jumped.
"Cool" Sprig poked it.
"Sprig!" Polly complained.
"What? What are the chances they'll attack again?"
"Pretty high, knowing Entrapta" Adora muttered quickly, chuckling.
Catra laughed heartily. Bow gave her a stern look.
"Right. No more making fun of Entrapta" she said contritely.
"I don't trust machines far as I can throw 'em" Hop Pop said nervously, eyeing the robot.
"Me neither." Eda agreed "Luz once showed me a video on her phone of a cat that was four hours long! It's unnatural"
"Please send me that video" Anne whispered to Luz.
"Already done" Luz whispered back. Anne glanced at Luz's lock screen, a picture of her and her friends. Willow was laughing and Gus was shouting something. Amity was blinking awkwardly, Luz hanging onto her arm.
Anne grinned slyly and pointed at Amity. "She's cute"
Luz blushed. "Uh...I guess"
"Um...Entrapta?" Glimmer called uncertainly.
"Heh. Maybe she fell asleep at her computer again" Adora smirked.
"Oh no she's not here, we better go home" Catra said unconvincingly, making to leave.
"Hold up" Adora grabbed her arm.
Bow glared at her. Glimmer raised her eyebrows.
"Ugh, fine" Catra complained, throwing up her hands in defeat, turning to go deeper into the labyrinth.
There was the sound of crashing, an explosion and crazed laughter.
Anne and Luz looked at each other in alarm.
"What was that?" Sprig asked, excited. "a monster we can fight?"
Bow sighed. "That would be Entrapta"
In Entrapa's computer room, the princess was doing some calculations. She turned and took off her mask.
Entrapa's eyes lit up and she pushed herself with her hair right into Luz's face.
"Oh, is that the artifact?" she asked as Luz startled. "Can I see it? Can I touch it? Can I have it?"
"Um" Luz helplessly held out the broken palisman for the princess to inspect.
Entrapta cackled excitedly.
Catra twitched in annoyance and Adora nudged her. Bow cleared his throat.
"Entrpata, these are our new friends. They come from a…"
"Another world, yes!" Entrapta shouted. "This is so exciting!" she shuffled back to her computer and seated herself on her office chair.
"I've suspected for a while now that the First Ones have visited more worlds than we initially thought. Anomalies in historical records also suggest people from other worlds have occasionally gone through First One portals to Etheria"
"Hold on" Eda snapped, snatching the palisman back. "I don't care what this weird kid says, if a witch had found this place, we would have heard of it"
"They may never have come back" Bow pointed out gently. "Portals are...unreliable." he glanced uneasily at Catra and Glimmer. They both looked down.
Anne shrugged. "Meh. I believe it. If I can find a portal to a frog world in a thrift store who knows what these things can do?"
"Precisely!" Entrapa cried, spinning on her chair, making Anne jump. She squeeled with delight "An artifact from a distant planet from the wider universe! There's no telling what capabilities this baby will have in my research"
"Maybe...a way to get our friends home?" Glimmer suggested.
"Potentially!"
"...a way to fight an evil magic maniac from Luz and Eda and King's world?" Bow ventured anxiously.
"...potentially."
They waited.
"Oh! You want me to elaborate!" Entrapta realized "Well, it'll take some time but I can run some tests."
Entrapa snatched Owlbert out of Eda's hands. He hooted softly in protest. Eda growled.
"I'll have to borrow this too. You guys can stay in the guest wing in the meantime."
"Dryl has a guest wing?" Bow asked.
"Sleepover!" Anne and Sprig shouted.
Luz whooped.
They ran off. Polly and King gave each other bemused looks.
Eda yawned and stretched to scratch her back. "Is there nest material around here? Preferably straw?"
Glimmer groaned. "I guess we're here for a while. Can we even survive spending the night in this death trap?"
Bow kissed her. "We've faced worse things."
Anne and Luz raced each other to the guest wing and claimed a room with two beds.
They lay awake showing each other pictures from home. Willow showing off a plant monster, Gus an illusion of himself, Amity an abomination. Anne snort laughing at something Sasha said as Marcy played her switch, oblivious.
"I miss them" Anne said, smiling wanly.
"Me too."
Luz laughed sadly. "I promised Amity I'd lend her another book this weekend. She's such a fast reader."
"When I saw Marcy last, I promised myself I'd see her again soon. And Sasha…" Anne faltered, hugging her phone to herself. "Catra gave me some advice about her. I hope I can make things right with her"
They fell asleep thinking of home.
Late into the night, Entrapta, fueled by too many caffeinated sodas, was monitoring her computer. Suddenly, a beep made her take her mask off.
Unusual magic energy readings from the Whispering Woods.
She put her tape recorder to her mouth with shaking hands. "Update. This is not good"