Note: This was posted in Archive of Our Own and Wattpad, so I've made the decision to post it here too.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wizard101 (or Pirate101)

Zel wasn't that worried about being in a totally different place. Like Dawn (or Isabella), he had an adventurous sense that rose within him, only he was a less worried adventurer.

He now sat down on a couch that somehow looked like it had been sunk below the floor level. The room he was in looked lively, like some sort of club, only the lights weren't colorful and there was no music. To his relief, it wasn't time for clubbing just yet as he was pretty much not the club type of guy, as he just woke up from a worryingly long slumber.

Another figure sat next to him on the couch with two glasses of fruit juice on hand. This figure looked pretty peculiar, he looked like some sort of creature but not even Zel knew what kind of creature he or she must be, if they do have some sort of gender, that is.

"Where do you come from?"

Yup, it was a guy. Still don't know what kind of creature, though.

"Uh, earth?" Zel answered with a tone that seemed like the person he was asking should know by now.

"Earth, hm? Where is that, exactly?" asked the creature.

"Haha, you don't know what earth is." Zel laughed, before his voice raised after the realization. "Wait, you don't know what earth is? What on earth… where am I then?"

All kinds of chitter-chatter seemed to stop at that instant, as if they were thinking that either Zel himself just disrespected the authority or he was just crazy as hell.

"Well, if I must say where you are currently at to avoid all levels of confusion, you are probably not at… whatever this 'earth' is you're talking about." said the male creature. "You are in the world of Empyrea. The city of Zanadu to be exact. And you are talking to the alphoi king of Zanadu, who goes by the name of Khan. "

Zel nodded along, the fact that he was not on earth not hitting him yet. "King Khan, that sounds so badass. Zanadu, haha, sounds like some top secret area where all the agents would hide and yada-yada, wait— what were you saying again about earth?"

The alphoi, Khan, took a disappointed sigh before repeating himself. "You are probably not on earth currently?"

The black haired boy finally winced at the thought, looking at all the creatures surrounding him drinking fruit punch. "Yikes."

Silence ensued as Zel looked at his surroundings around him. Guess these kinds of clubs exist back on earth, which is probably why he thought he was on earth until Khan's presence approached him at the very least.

"Well Khan Academy dude, at least I wounded up in a pretty fine area, I wonder where my classmates are—"

Zel's sentence had cut off as music started to boom throughout the room. The creatures cheered before they began dancing as if they were in some sort of club… which they are in one anyway.

"So, what is your name? You have not introduced yourself yet." Khan asked. However, Zel could not hear due to the loud music coming from the front of the club.

"What?"

"What is your name?"

"Khan, I can't hear a thing. Speak louder."

Khan gave him a face that looked like he was so done with his life as he reiterated his question again. "WHAT. IS. YOUR. NAME?"

Zel began to understand how pissed Khan was because the boy himself couldn't hear him and was unable to answer. He glanced at the people, or creatures, partying off to the side but their cheers erupted as loud as market vendors.

"Gosh, shut up!" Zel yelled, his finger pointing towards the crowd and what seemed like some sort of rocket shooting bubbles and playing disco music. What he didn't know however was the mere fact that a purple, stormy lightning bolt shot its way to the bubble-producing, music playing rocket. The sound of electricity cackling was the sound that erupted throughout the whole club this time, causing everyone to stay put in their places with surprised looks on their faces.

"A wizard." One of the other creatures said, almost dropping his fruit punch in the process but was luckily able to place it on the table in front of him.

"Wizard?" Zel shot back in a questioning tone that sounded like he was offended or something. "What do you mean wizard? That— that piece of lightning just struck out from my finger, that's all."

Khan looked at him amusingly. "That's all?" He chuckled. "Perhaps another world sent you to this place?"

Zel was getting annoyed at how many questions he had to answer, even though Khan technically had to answer his questions as well.

"Another world? Tsk." Zel scoffed. "Like what kind of world, Khandy cane?"

Khan did not answer this time. Instead, he just sat there dumbfounded.

"Oh… right. I'm not on earth, got it."

"Well, you have not answered my other question yet." The alphoi reminded him. "What is your name?"

Zel hung his mouth agape, thinking of what to say. "Denzel. Denzel Ford. But people usually call me Zel. It saves you time, plus it can roll off the tongue well."

Khan didn't look too convinced. "That is your name? Are you sure you're not a wizard?"

Zel was getting tired of being bombarded with even more questions. "What do you expect me to be, Khandall Jenner?"

"No, you cannot not be a wizard, a Diviner to be specific… there was lightning that struck from the top of your finger." Khan shook his head.

Zel raised a brow. Should he really play along? Because if he keeps on spilling them the facts, then they will never be convinced that Zel isn't a wizard. Having some knowledge from television shows and movies about how they make the names magic-y, he thought of the first full name that came to mind.

"Dustin Shadowsword. Are you happy now, Khanny Rogers?"

"I see, I see. Yes." Khan nodded in affirmation. "Dustin Shadowsword." He repeated, making sure he got it right.

Zel, now Dustin, sighed in boredom. "Is there anything to do here besides, you know, party?"

"You can check outside." Khan suggested. "See if Zanadu looks like your home, Earth or whatever its name was."

The black-haired Asian boy looked at the alphoi then nodded at his suggestion. He stood up from the couch, (tripping on his way to the door because of the couch being below floor level if that makes any sense) and approached the large door that he did not remember entering. When he exited, all he could see was a city with the dark sky reigning above him.

"Wow."

He walked just outside the gate of what seemed like the garden of the club and checked his surroundings, until he stumbled upon what seemed like a fancy house with its front door open.

Its front door is open.

"What the barnacle, what kind of person leaves their front door open?" Dustin asked himself, but he made the riskiest decision, and that was to enter it. Yes, entering a house he doesn't know who it belongs to, let alone in a different world. Definitely not dangerous.

Stepping gingerly into the beautifully abandoned house, he walked into the hallways, admiring every single painting that hung on the walls.

There was a painting of Khan, then a picture of a female creature. On the right were paintings of different places: green plains with windmills, a valley that looked like a wheel, and a colorful painting of what looked like Zanadu.

By the end of the hallway, there was another painting that had a large tree and around six buildings surrounding it, all with different colored roofs from clockwise: green, yellow, black, red, blue, and purple.

"What's this? The door's not locked!"

Dustin stood there mortified. Looks like someone was home. The next thing he knew, he could hear footsteps running.

"Shit!" Dustin swore. He looked at the paintings, hoping that going into them could be transported to a different place. They are in a magical world after all. Plus his knowledge of magic and fantasy most likely helped him.

So he jumped. Into the painting with the tree and six buildings surrounding it.

And he disappeared.

When he woke up, the first thing he thought of was that his assumptions were right. He warped.

There is no one inside the tree, so the next thing he needed to do was figure a way out of it.

End chapter.

*The upcoming few chapters will introduce the fates of the rest of our group just to give a heads up.

Main cast introduced so far:

1. Frankester "Frankie" Harris / Paul Hawkbane

2. Dawn Izunia / Isabella Dawn

3. Samantha Juniper / Paige Shadowshard

4. Denzel "Zel" Ford / Dustin Shadowsword