A week passed since Varian had landed on Inkwell Isle's from his world or dimension. Alicia was very grateful to him for helping to save her, even though they hardly knew each other. But the fox did not mind and even liked it. Finally he was not seen in a bad light just because he was a fox.
No he was accepted as he was and that pleased him very much. Well, there was one thing that bothered him. And that was the constant questioning of the three cups that asked him again and again questions about questions.
The questions not only annoyed him but also Alicia, Blood and Elder Kettle who kept stopping the three from asking the poor fox questions. He was happy to answer the questions, but seemed to be annoyed himself until Mugman asked him one thing that changed his mind. "Did you invent that yourself?" and pointed with his fingers to the bracelet Varian wore.
"Yes I did" he answered him and hoped that the cups would leave him alone. However, they now wanted to know how he had built it. His annoyed face was hard to miss. At least for Alicia and Blood who were watching from the kitchen. On the one hand, the wolf was glad that he was no longer bombarded with questions. But on the other hand Varian should not suffer the same.
That's why Alicia and Blood decided to help him and grabbed the three cups by their handles, giving the fox some space he needed. Since he has been living here, a lot has changed in the household. Everything was technically more advanced than it should be. The radio, for example, not only played music but also displayed a hologram that showed what could not be seen on the radio. For example, an orchestra or someone reading a story.
However, that was not the only thing Varian had changed. The stove could now cook by itself without anyone having to touch it. Well, let's be honest. The entire kitchen had been redesigned so that all you had to do was say what you wanted and it appeared. And so it was in the entire cottage, which also had a security system in case the devil showed up and tried to mess with Alicia or the cups. However, the technology did not seem to work without problems. Every now and then a robot arm seemed to get stuck or the wrong one was taken. So instead of a coffee, Alicia got a bowl of ice while Cuphead got a cup of coffee.
Also, the radio seemed to like jumping back and forth at times, changing the radio program as it did so. Instead of smooth jazz, "Roll the Dice" or "Dirk Dangerous" would play.
Of course, Varian had to fix it every time, which always frustrated him. "Why do I always mix up these two buttons?" he muttered as he worked. Alicia couldn't help him because she didn't know what to do and had no idea about technology since she wasn't an engineer. Also, Blood and the others had no idea about this and let it go. Well, all except Mugman who became Varian's helper when it came to repairing.
However, Alicia wondered how Varian had ended up here in the first place. He seemed different and resembled Blood very much. But this one came from Vudetopia. A kingdom that came from a fantasy realm and where technology was not as advanced as here in the Inkwell Isles or Alicia's world. Varian's world or city was called Neo Mildfam and as he explained it was a city the size of New York City only with more plants.
He told her and the others that in his world everything was technologically advanced but that nature remained as it is and was not destroyed. One might think that in the future there were no plants, but Varian's statement quickly changed Alicia's mind. "We have only changed the buildings and improved the transport routes so that Mother Nature is not harmed.".
This confused Alicia a little bit, because normally futuristic cities consisted less of nature but more of metal or other materials that looked futuristic. The nature was in most cases rather gone or there were only endless deserts with dead trees and plants like in the anime Wolf's Rain. But probably this was again a typical stereotype that was known all too well. A world that was technologically advanced, but the nature wiped out so that everything around the cities was just bare and extinct. This also applied to most animal species that no longer existed.
But as Varian explained it, his world was completely different from what Alicia had imagined. The vehicles used an environmentally friendly fuel that emitted little exhaust like the vehicles from Alicia's world. Or rather dimension? Well, there was one thing about Varian's dimension that Alicia's dimension did not have.
The best and most used way of transportation for the inhabitants of Varian's world were portals.
There were two types of portals. Organic and inorganic portals. The former was used for transporting people and food, while the latter was used for transporting goods. As a result, some means of transportation were almost wiped out, such as train and air transport. But these were still in operation for transporting goods that did not pass through the portals, such as parts of buildings or large machines.
Of course, there was just one problem with the portals. They were always in one place and were difficult to transport or even move from one place to another. Many experienced engineers have tried to find a way to solve this problem, but unfortunately it always failed. Until Varian did it. "Tell me Varian how did you end up here anyway?" asked Alicia curiously as she thought about how he ended up here if he was an engineer and inventor. Actually, he shouldn't have had any problems. Or did he?
"Well..." his nervous looking face was hard to miss. The young fox found it a little hard to admit that he had made a small mistake that he himself didn't know about. "I was working on a mobile portal and wanted to test it..." he swallowed before continuing "...and well, after exactly 300 failures the portal worked and I wanted to share this news with the world" Alicia realized that there was probably a problem because his face was bright red with nervousness.
The fox had something to hide that he was embarrassed about. Alicia knew this feeling only very well. That's why she wanted to help him feel good and not bad. "Hey you can tell us, we won't laugh at you" her eyes fell on Cuphead who rubbed his finger under his nose and didn't notice anything. "Isn't that right Cuphead?" she asked him when he looked at her startled and realized that everyone was staring at him.
He nodded nervously and grinned at the group. Alicia just rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Varian. "Well there was a problem when I turned it on" he sighed, exhaled and went on. "The portal sucked me in and that's how I ended up here" he looked from Alicia to the others and noticed that the group was staring at him in shock.
"Wait you ended up here through your portal?" asked Mugman curiously. Varian nodded. Both brothers looked at each other, and to the surprise of the other four, the two Mugs were very pleased to hear that. "Well, that's a bummer!" the two said. Varian was confused until he realized that the two were very excited about his invention as was the rest of his equipment that was in the guest room.
This equipment consisted of a shoulder pack worn across the back with several pockets, his wristband with the monitor and a large rod that has a handle with grip protection and at the tip was a wrench head. This was Varian's omni wrench. A tool to fasten larger screws or to use as a weapon. Varian, however, used it only for the former. He thought nothing of hitting others with an object. However, one should not underestimate the fox after his size and physique.
He could punch anyone who got on his nerves. No matter how big and muscular his opponent was. "Yes, it may sound great, but unfortunately I have to get back to my world and close the portal before more damage can be done." Varian knew he wasn't alone in his lab when the portal sucked him in.
Someone was still with him in his lab. Someone Varian had been good friends with and in love with since childhood. "Is everything all right?" asked Alicia. She noticed that the fox was not well. His ears lowered and he sighed sadly. Something was going on in his head that worried him. As if something was crushing him. "Varian I know how you feel" the fox already wanted to look at Alicia who was now standing next to him. A tear was slowly flowing down from her right eye, as it had from Varian himself, which he did not notice.
"I know the feeling of what you're going through and..." Varian and the others noticed that it was not easy for Alicia and that she was about to cry. However, she pulled herself together and swallowed it before she continued to speak. "I also miss someone who is very special to me". And this someone knew the three cups. Well, actually Cuppy, but Cuphead and Mugman found out from him and Alicia, which is why they knew that the someone was none other than Lucifer.
She missed him very much and he missed her too. Both were separated from each other and did not know how they could find themselves again. Alicia would do anything to be back in the arms of her husband. Varian looked at Alicia who was wiping away her tears. The fox thought about how he could help Alicia.
He grumbled until an idea came to him and a light bulb appeared above his head and began to glow. Or rather the lamp behind him that Blood had turned on. "I have an idea" everyone looked at him with different expressions on their faces. Alicia and Blood looked at him in confusion while the three cups tilted their heads, lowering their straws to the right. "What idea?" asked Cuppy who wanted to know what the fox was up to. He trusted him, but the cup had a bad feeling. A feeling he only had when something bad was about to happen. This was not the first time he had felt this feeling here, but already when Lucifer stood in front of the front door to take Alicia who was turned into a demon or when he had to fight Saltbaker.
It was like a grumbling in the stomach only much worse. As if he would have digested something heavy. "I was thinking that I could build a portal that could bring you back" Varian pointed at Alicia and Cuppy. The latter swallowed nervously, confusing the former. Alicia had never seen him like Cuppy was now. "Is everything alright Cuppy?" she asked him while kneeling down to be at the same eye level as him.
"I'm fine Alicia you don't have to worry about me" he explained nervously scratching the back of his head while grinning at her with a nervous smile. Alicia, however, knew that something was wrong with him. But she didn't want to poke at it, because there was another thing they had to clarify anyway. "And how should we build the portal?" Alicia already knew or suspected that normal material would not be enough to build a portal. In addition, they needed a special ore called Portalium.
An ore that strongly resembled bismuth and shimmered bluish like the sky. That is why many called it sky ore. But this ore is not naturally formed but artificially by an old mine that had emitted strong rays that turned the stones in this mine to just this ore. The special thing about this ore was that inside it was a liquid that made it possible to transport materials and even living beings from one place to another. Just like a portal.
Therefore, it was a very important material to be able to build a portal at all. And Alicia feared that Varian did not have such a thing with him. However, her eyes widened in amazement when she saw the ore in his hand and could not close her mouth. "Don't worry, I always have something with me as a spare," the fox explained while the group decided to gather the rest of the materials they needed before they could build the portal.
After all, the portal needed a framework to function at all. "Hmm let's see I guess you don't have cynium here?" Everyone shook their heads. "But we can offer you these loose wooden boards that Elder Kettle doesn't need anymore" Mugman explained, pointing outside to the garden. In front of the shed there were several wooden boards that were not lying straight on top of each other, some of which were already cracked or didn't look quite as neat as they used to.
"Well better than nothing" whistled Varian while Alicia herself was now getting a bad feeling. "Oh um..." Varian noticed that something was bothering Alicia. "Don't worry, I already built an alarm clock out of a cotton ball, a rock and a drill cable that didn't explode, so I can build a portal out of some wooden boards" that didn't really make Alicia feel better, but she didn't have any other choice.
There was only one way back home and that was just this way. Alright, what could probably happen? Alicia thought as she followed the others outside. They could use the wooden boards, but there were other things they needed that Elder Kettle didn't have, like certain tools, screws and the like. They had to get all that in town before they could even make a blueprint. For this they also needed a special paper. So they decided to go to the city to get the materials they needed for the portal.
Arriving in Inkwell City, Varian was more than thrilled with the size of the city. "Wow this city is small" he said while the others were confused about this statement until they realized that Varian came from another world where the cities were probably bigger.
However, he was very enthusiastic about the appearance of the city and wagged his tail with joy while looking at everything like a curious child standing in front of a candy store, looking at all the sweets that were displayed in the window. Instead of candy, Varian peered into every shop window and surveyed every nook and cranny of the city while the others just stared at him in confusion. Alicia smirked and giggled when she saw Varian climb a tree quickly and look out of the crow's nest like a pirate before he went down and joined the group.
"Well, did you see anything that piqued your interest?" asked Alicia. Varian nodded "Yes, I found two stores not far from our location" before Alicia could say anything the fox grabbed her hand and dragged her behind him. Unlike a cartoon character who always held Alicia very tightly when dragging her behind him, Varian held her gently. He didn't want to hurt her because, after all, he had found a place to sleep thanks to her.
However, the anticipation quickly disappeared when Varian entered the store and the owner, a humanoid figure with a clock for a head that looked very much like the boatman from the book, seemed less than enthusiastic about the fox. "Oh, another lousy thief and trickster," the shopkeeper growled softly so no one would hear. However, Alicia quickly picked up on this and glared angrily at the owner with her yellow demon eyes.
Varian ignored the statement or had not heard it, which was a relief to Alicia since she herself was not a friend of such people who judged others only by their appearance, gender, race or in this case species. Not for nothing is the saying "Never judge a book by its cover". Alicia had always remembered this. But she was still angry at the salesman and wanted most to tell him what she thought. But Varian had priority because they were here to collect materials for the portal. And the fox had found them and was ready to pay for them. But as Alicia and the others already suspected, the seller seems to see this differently.
"That will be all," Varian placed the box with the materials in it on the counter. The shopkeeper looked at the materials and examined them before his eyes fell on the fox, who took what looked like money out of his pocket. "This should be enough," Varian handed over the "money". The vendor looked at it and immediately gave it back to the fox. Now not only Varian, but also Blood and the three cups were confused.
"Is something wrong?" asked Varian nervously while the salesman took the box from him and swatted away his money. "I don't do business with people like you!" these words fell like stones on Varian who now no longer looked so pleased but shocked. His ears lowered and his tail stopped wagging. Alicia realized or suspected that this was not the first time Varian had been judged for his species. Probably he was already called a troublemaker in his world, although he was quite different. He was smart like a fox is, but he was not a bad one. And that made Alicia angry. That's why she stood in front of Varian to give the shopkeeper a piece of her mind. "If you have a problem with him, you have a problem with me!".
The last sentence sounded very threatening and also slightly demonic. Well, for good reason, because Alicia began to grow bigger with every second she got angrier, changing her shape and even overshadowing the shopkeeper who was slowly trembling with fear. Oh yes, he knew he had messed with the wrong person.
Or in this case demon. Alicia was no longer a human, but in her demon form, which reacted to the shopkeeper with fear. He was about to scream in fear, but before he did, he handed Varian the materials before disappearing behind a door that was behind the sales counter. Varian was a little confused as to what had just happened. But he did not care at the moment. He was very saddened by the store owner's statement. Sad and angry at the same time. "Are you okay?" said a voice next to him to which he looked. It was Alicia who was a normal person again. She looked at him worriedly while he felt her hand on his.
"I'm a little down about the statement" the fox answered her question and walked out the front door while the others looked after him. The damage was unfortunately already done and could not be undone. Alicia knew this as well as the others who followed the fox outside and saw that he was sitting on the curb in front of the store, paling into a puddle of cloudy rope.
However, this did not stop the others from joining him so that the fox was well. Not only that. They also hugged him which surprised Varian who started to blush and his tail wagged again. He liked this feeling very much and it pleased Alicia and the others. "Thanks guys," Varian thanked them, dropping a tear that landed in Mugman's head and mixed with the white liquid in his head.
"You don't have to thank me" said Alicia who slowly stroked his head making Varian's tail wag even more. This feeling that went through his head reminded Varian of a childhood memory he had repressed for a long time that still made him sad and angry.
Many years ago, when Varian was still a little fox, his dream was to become a great inventor like his idols. But all the people always advised him against it or told him that a fox could never become an inventor. But the little fox was not intimidated. No he would not admit defeat.
One day, the young fox was invited to a meeting at his school. It was not just any meeting but a meeting for young inventors. This was the opportunity for Varian to get one step closer to his goal of becoming a successful inventor. But on that very day something happened that Varian would like to forget.
On that very day, Varian became a victim of a false judgment.
When the young Varian opened the door to the meeting place, he found that all the other participants were herbivores and he was the only carnivore. There was a hippopotamus, a parrot and a horse present who welcomed Varian with open arms. Or that's what he thought. "Okay, Varian ready for initiation?" asked the horse. "Yeah! Pretty much born ready" the young fox walked towards the group, high fiving the hippo and the parrot.
"Okay. Now raise your right paw and deliver the oath" the young Varian raises his paw with two fingers up, standing infront of the horse. "I Varian Stormwood, promise to be a brave, loyal, helpful and trustworthy!". The smile on the horse's face fades and a smirk appears on it confusing Varian. "Even though you're a fox?".
Before the young Varian could say anything he gets roughly pushed to the floor and is held down by the parrot and the hippo. The horse moved up to his head and looks down to him like the others. They all glare at him like he did something wrong. "No, no! What did I do wrong, you guys?!" none of the three gave them an anwser as the horse held something in his hooves. It was a muzzle. "No, please Tell me! What did I do wrong?!" Varian asked in panic, trying to free himself.
But it was to late. The fox wore the muzzle as the horse puts it on him like a rabid dog. Both the parrot and the hippo looses their grip on him as Varian trys to stand up and to remove the muzzle while watching to the others. "If you throught we would ever trust a fox without a muzzle, you're even dumber than you look!" the young Varian runs outside the room panting, struggles to remove the muzzle before throwing it away with a grunt.
The muzzle lands infront of him on the ground, mocking him as he heard the voices of the horse, parrot and hippo inside of his head. The words they said and what they have done to him was enough for him to break down in tears as he leans against a locker in the school hall and sobs quietly in the darkness.
On that day Varian learned that there will always be people who judge you by your looks and that character doesn't matter. Since that day, Varian had also changed and seemed to be more considerate than before. Also his character was no longer so cheerful but rather calm. He was like a changed man. Or changed fox to be exact.
Only to one person he was still the old. And he was worried about this person, which is why he decided to swallow his sadness and frustration again and concentrate on what was more important.
The construction of the portal.
Therefore, he pulled himself together, wiped away the tear and went purposefully with the others who noticed that the fox was fine and that he was back to his old self. "Come on, guys, let's build a portal!" the three cups, the wolf and Alicia, who was happy that he was feeling better, did not say no to this. On the contrary, she was happy that she would soon be able to go home again and end up in the arms of Lucifer, her husband. Lucifer I can't wait to have you with me again. Positively charged, she followed the rest of the group back to the cottage.
There in the backyard, Varian began to assemble the portal with the help of the three cups and Alicia. Well, rather the framework to hold the liquid of the portalium ore. Otherwise something worse would happen. At least that's what Varian said when he explained to the group why it was so important to build the scaffold. Besides, he had to test whether the portal was safe for living beings to pass through or not. After all, Alicia should go through without problems and not end up as a jello.
Alicia swallowed nervously when she heard this statement. "This is a joke, right?" Varian, however, disagreed with her and explained what mistakes had already happened from his world. A lynx was accidentally turned into a toaster while a human could peel off his skin like a tangerine. All things that Alicia did not want to hear. The three cups didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it either.
"That's why whenever we build new portals, we test them before they can be used as a means of transportation for the public." with the last screw Varian turned with his omniwrench, the framework for the portal was complete. Only a few small things were missing, but the fox had quickly assembled them. These "little things" were a remote control for the portal and another bracelet with a monitor on it which Varian handed to Alicia while he switched it on.
On the screen appeared three looking up dots that disappeared briefly until a writing appeared that greeted Alicia. Confused, she looked from the bracelet to him. The fox, however, screwed on his bracelet, which began to vibrate when he pressed a button. The same thing happened to Alicia's bracelet. Confused, she looked at the screen and saw that her wristband was connected to Varian's. "So we're connected, we can communicate with each other and I know where you are in case something goes wrong".
"Right, and now what?" asked Alicia, curious and afraid at the same time. Well, the fox answered her question by reaching into his pocket and pulling out the portalium ore. He broke off a piece and smeared it on the inside of the scaffold. These were covered with a bluish liquid that reacted to the electrical energy of the remote control and the built-in electricity.
Like a baloon, the liquid inflated until everything in the inner area of the framework was filled and became a sea of blue tones that changed their colors like waves. It looked almost hypnotic as the whole waves slowly moved from one corner to the other. These were interrupted when Varian pressed a button on the remote control and the waves that previously went from left to right changed their movement and now went from right to left while slowly spinning in circles, resembling a typical hypnotic gyroscope used in cartoons.
Cuphead and Mugman got all dizzy as they followed the movement of the waves and fell to the ground. Cuppy, however, seemed unaffected and picked them both up by grabbing them by the handles. "Okay, let's see if this does any good" in Varian's right paw appeared an orange that he had tied to a thread. He threw it into the portal and immediately pulled it back to him.
She landed in front of the group and still seemed to look normal. Nothing looked different. But that still did not mean that with the orange could not be wrong. Therefore, Varian peeled the orange and tasted it because it looked normal from the inside. "And?" asked Alicia curiously. "The orange tastes like it should and not different" Varian answered her question with a full mouth.
The portal was therefore secure and could be used. Finally! Alicia had been waiting a long time to return home. Or at least to the Inkwell Isle's in the book. She liked this one too, but the other one had something that this one did not. Her godparents, the former debtors, guardians of the ingredients and her husband. And no unwanted lovers.
"Okay the portal as well as your bracelet are ready for use" However beautiful this may sound to the ears of Alicia and Cuppy. Both knew that it would not be so easy to return home. It felt like something was still waiting for them. It also seemed to Alicia that there was still something to be done here. As if she had only reached the halfway point of her adventure in this world.
Or was this just her gut telling her that to talk her into conscience. Would not be the first time. Therefore, Alicia took a deep breath and went to the portal next to which Varian was standing with the remote control in her hand. "And how do we know that it will bring me back to my world?" as an answer she received only a shrug from the fox. "Unfortunately, without a portal navigator, I can't tell where you'll land, so you'll wear the bracelet so I know where you've landed".
Alicia nodded to him and approached the portal. She knew that the portal could take her to a strange place. "One more bit of information before you go through the portal" she looked at the fox. "Since you don't have portal protection on you, you may be exposed to radiation for a short time, which could cause some side effects." Side effects? "What do you mean by that?" asked Alicia curiously.
"Alicia swallowed nervously, "But don't worry, they will come back during your stay, but you won't be able to control them for a moment, so I advise you to avoid contact with other people" Alicia nodded, understanding what he meant. Not everyone will be happy to hear that Alicia is partly a demon. That's why she always tries to keep these powers a secret.
And who knows who she will meet when she goes through the portal. In any case, I hope for nice people. Alicia hoped so, because she had already disappeared halfway through the portal. The other half looked at the group who wished her good luck. She could use that, too, because when Alicia went through the portal she found herself in a bluish vortex again. The wave patterns went from top to bottom and seemed almost hypnostic. At the bottom of the vortex through which she fell, Alicia saw another portal open.
"Oh please let it be Inkwell Isle's from the book" Alicia said several times in a row as she fell through the portal that closed as she fell through it.
On a forest path the portal opened from which Alicia fell and landed softly on a pile of leaves. "She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky. "Where am I? What is this place...Ahh My brain hurts!" she said, scratching her head until the pain disappeared. Varian had been right about the momentary loss of memory she had just felt while coming to herself. She also felt that part of her strength was blocked. She could still transform, but her demon powers were not usable at the moment.
"Okay, well, that settles that, but the question is where am I? Am I really back in the book?" Alicia's question was quickly answered when she suddenly heard something behind her. Confused, she looked around and got a bad feeling. Oh please don't tell me it's something bad.
I think it would be best if the author notes are down here to avoid spoilers. But now let's move on to what will happen next with Alicia. I'm not giving anything away but you'll have to be patient about that. Where exactly she will end up will look very familiar. Just be curious about it and you can rub yourselves in the head where she is now.