Alright, this chapter finally introduces some people to each other and brings out interactions between previously unmet parties. Hopefully, for the Ed's sake, they won't mess this up somehow. Enjoy!

It was after a few days of intense research, cultural binging, and setting up the workshop that the boys would admit to one thing; this scam of theirs was going to simultaneously easy and extremely difficult.

One the one hand, the research into the history and culture of both schools showed that while Humans, Monsters, and Legends were somewhat separated, they were still intertwined. Many historical events in the world were connected to the supernatural somehow, with some being influenced or directly caused by some element. Cultural norms were also somewhat universal, meaning that they wouldn't have any trouble dealing with manners or social cues until they landed themselves into very specific situations.

(Double D almost had a seizure when he figured out that Abraham Lincoln was a vampire-hunter-turned-vampire, but Ed and Eddy were able to calm him down.)*

On the other, there was plenty of pop culture that they would have to gloss over before the month is over, leading to them having to watch popular movies, know certain slang pertaining to both races, and catch up on memes nearly over night. While some pop culture instances were insanely close to some things in the human world (some which Eddy even claimed were practically plagiarized), knowing the differences between them was key. While they could claim ignorance for a while, if they didn't eventually acclimate to it, they would get caught.

There was also the matter of actually making themselves seem supernatural as well, leading to their current project.

The three boys worked silently, a MirrorPhone playing music as they moved throughout the room. Double D moved about, tightening up screws and bolts, followed shortly by Eddy checking on the state of the machinery as a whole. Meanwhile, Ed improved on the design slowly, checking for any imperfections on the leather and paint that would cover the exterior.

Finishing up the final touches, the boys started to connect the two separate pieces, carefully putting them together so there wouldn't be any malfunctions. Once they were satisfied, the dark green cloth on the machine fitting perfectly. The smart Ed boy picked up a clipboard, going over the list of objectives for the project.

"Engineering check is done." He mumbled to himself, circling the device. Looking over the cloth for imperfections, he checked another objective off the list. "Disguise check is also done. Moving on to the testing phase."

"Finally!" Ed ran over to a table, grabbing a small piece of back armor from the table before heading towards the device. Slipping off his trench coat, he put the armor on before moving into the center of the device. Moving his hands into metal gloves, he squeezed them with glee apparent on his face.

The machine moved around him, surrounding Ed and moving into a familiar shape. The cloth tightened, appearing to be skin as a head, body, and tentacles formed to create a monstrous appearance. Horns on top of its head, fabricated scales stretching carefully over machinery, and fake eyes blinked slowly as everything began to boot up. The tentacles rose at Ed's command.

Eddy shuffled his feet as he watched all of this. 'Edzilla' was back in business.

"Alright, it looks like things are working at an acceptable level." Double D noted every movement of the tentacles and the new head, noting the clamps on the end of each tentacle opening and closing themselves slowly. "Everything is working at a modest ten-foot height. Will have to check on the twenty-foot form later."

"Hey, Lumpy, you hear me in there?!" Eddy yelled, catching the attention of the head. It nodded, signifying that Ed was in full control. He had to make it crouch so that it wouldn't hit the ceiling of the garage but was doing just fine with moving and adjusting the fake body. Eddy couldn't help but note that as Ed tried to make it smile that some parts of the mouth twitched. "Emotes aren't working so well, but Ed can hear me in there. Gonna' have to work on that when we have the chance."

"Noted." Scribbling it in, Double D looked into the head's eyes. "Okay, it seems that almost everything is at an optimal level, Ed. Now, we need you to try out the enchantment on the armor. You remember how it works, right?"

A claw was waved at the question accompanied by a nod. Ed went still for a second before the machine became surrounded by shadows. As it engulfed the machine, it slowly dissipated it as, flowing backward as it moved, showing Ed with a concentrated look on his face. The shadows soon flowed into the armor on his back until it was only him there.

Looking around himself, he raised his hands up in victory. "A complete success!" He did a little victory dance, much to the amusement of his friends, laughing all the while.

It was a good sign that their first invention in the new workshop worked perfectly.

Ed really did pick out something good, even if the two had their doubts. They had a nice clean front office that would be used to host clients, a small back office done for business, with the other half of the building as an open space for projects. They could probably put in several cars here and still have some wiggle room for side projects if need be. A basement big enough to house a lab (along with more discreet experiments) was also something they hadn't thought of until he showed it to them. It did have to be fixed up in some places, with some structure damage and electrical wiring being messed up, but it wouldn't take that much time to fix it all up.

Though, a little doubt did trickle in Eddy's mind even if the experiment was a success. "You sure Ed's going to be able to handle this? Last time we gave him that costume, we ended up having to get the Chunky Puff's smell out of our clothes for a week."

"Don't remind me." Double D shivered, keeping an eye on Ed as he put his coat back on. "However, I do believe that he is mature enough to deal with the responsibility now." His friend still had an apprehensive look on his face, prompting him to add an extra detail. "I also made sure we can remotely turn off the suit if he gets out of control." This appeased the short Ed for now.

"So, I guess we'll be focusing on what we do for ourselves." Eddy said. Ed had moved into the group talk, still smiling all the while. "Got any ideas for us, Ed?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't know. Double D doesn't really need a disguise right now, and I thought you were going for magic."

Eddy's demeanor physically sagged at the reminder. "Yeah, trust me, I've been messing with that all I can. The books on it are confusing as heck and there's the whole 'no magical core' thing I gotta' work with."

At Ed's confused look, Double D explained, flipping the papers on the clipboard to some of Eddy's notes. "A magical core is a trait some Legends and Monsters have where they can call upon some force within themselves that extends into various forms of magical power. They generally vary from one to another, either through some form of species difference. For example; fairies and dark fairies, despite originating from some ancestral points, have very different methods for their magic."

"They're also genetic, so they vary from person to person." Eddy continued, frustration mounting. He anxiously moved onto the balls of his feet, frowning deeply. "Since I don't have any magical people in my family or something, that means I can't use magic at all. Which is just so annoying."

"I don't understand why you're so obsessed with this." Double D shook his head, glancing at the books lined up at one table. While most of them consisted of subjects he was looking into, some of the ones relating to magic were ones Eddy had thumbed through himself. "From what we studied, not every Monster or Legend has a magical core or even uses magical objects all that much. We only got Ed's storage armor because we fixed up the shop owners air conditioning. You could settle with studying magical artifacts if you're that curious."

Eddy rolled his eyes. "You don't get it."

"What's not to get?" Ed asked, not understanding what was going on. Didn't Eddy have the easiest way to disguise himself? It seemed like it to him.

"Look," Eddy rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting their eyes. "Thing is here, I'm kinda at a disadvantage. Sockhead, you have the whole 'confidential information' deal and you can just invent stuff anytime you want. Hell, I saw some plans of you were considering for your 'disguise'." The boy in question moved nervously at that. "Even if Ed didn't have the suit, he'd probably pass off as a Monster with his freakish strength alone."

"And?" Double D raised an eyebrow, not expecting the conversation to take this turn. Eddy wasn't exactly the most open about his feelings.

"What I'm saying is, you guys can do cool stuff already that makes you impossible to touch." The short boy pointed to himself. "While I can talk the talk, it'll be weird if I can't actually do anything particularly special. Magic seemed like a good way to make myself untouchable."

"I thought it was because you wanted to do stuff like blasting bad guys, with you going like 'pew, pew'!" Ed 'pewed' a few more times, causing Eddy to laugh.

"I mean, that too." He stopped laughing and sighed. "But I do need something that makes me 'special.' Otherwise, we're screwed."

The other two hummed in agreement. That was actually a good point. The more they could make their lies airtight, the better. Wiping out any doubts from people's minds would be in their best interests and in Bloodgood's as well.

To quote a movie; the best trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And they were the devil's in this case.

Not a very uplifting thought to be completely honest. But that was life now.

You can't win me,

I can't be beat.

I won't, hurt you,

Unless you cheat.*

The ringtone startled them briefly, with Ed suddenly grabbing the iCoffin out of his pocket and clicking it. He smiled and had a cheery voice as he heard the voice on the other line.

"Ghoulia, what's up? We were just fixing up the garage." He said, chattering away with the zombie on the other line, his friends watching with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, seriously, how are you two the ones getting girls numbers?" Eddy looked at Double D accusatorily. "I mean, Ed gets the zombie and you get the werewolf's number, but I get squat!"

"Well, we have spent out time mostly working ourselves to near death." Double D put the clipboard down at a table and picked up another history book, turning to the page he'd left it on. "Though I did make sure to grab Cerise and Maddie's numbers before leaving them yesterday, while they also gave me Apple's and Raven's. Mostly in case we're in need of future reference information."

"What?!"

Double D chuckled as he heard Eddy frothing at the mouth behind him. "I can give you some of them if you want. Though, I would suggest that you only contact them if you have any questions about anything."

"I don't need your pity." The short Ed boy waved the offer away. He plopped down into a chair and put his feet onto the table. "Who knows, maybe I'll even get a girlfriend this year."

"Considering how we need to make sure our identities are hidden, I wouldn't suggest doing that." The hatted boy shifted through the pages, finding any new information he could. He was moving on to World War II, he believed.

Eddy huffed but offered no response to that. He could live with that. It was them against the world, right? They didn't need anyone else as far as he was concerned.

Just like always.

"Hey, guys!" Ed shouted, moving towards them. He waved the phone, catching their attention as talked. "Ghoulia wanted to see if we could hang out. Wanted to check how things were going for us."

Eddy gave a quick look to Double D, raising his eyebrows. "Anything against making some friends?" He asked cheekily, a smug grin on his face.

Grumbling, Double D responded by rolling his eyes. "It is one of our objectives, I suppose." That, and they did need to present a facade of 'normality' while they were here. Of course, this caused an idea to spring to the forefront. "If you don't mind, do you think we could bring some friends from Ever After? I've only talked to them on and off throughout the past few days and it might be good to check up on them."

He could see Eddy straighten out of the corner of his eye at that one. Though, he focused more on Ed nodding and moving away from the group as he went back to talking with Ghoulia.

"Why do we need to invite them? I mean, some of them are cool and all, but I don't think half of them will want to hang out with Monsters." Eddy said lazily, looking at the ceiling.

"That's because they're our classmates, Eddy. Besides, Headmistress Bloodgood did want us to start uniting the schools together. This will set up some building blocks for her to work with in the time being." The smart Ed boy pulled out his own MirrorPhone and moved around some things on his digital schedule. He sent a brief side eye to his friend. "Not to mention you need to get over your irrational mistrust of Ms. White."

"She rigged the housing up so she would get a room with the girl who is supposed to be her enemy!" Edd waved his arms in the air incredulously. "How does not ring any alarms for you?"

"I can't say that it isn't strange that she would try something like that, but it's not our place to judge. It could be that she wants to have a good working relationship with her in the future." Double D put down the phone and turned to face his friend. "And need I remind you that one of our stipulations while here was to make powerful friends? I would think someone born into royalty would be a powerful friend indeed."

Eddy groaned and rubbed his hands down his face. He sighed and nodded, as if to convince himself he was fine with this situation. "Okay. We'll go for it." He moved out of his previous position, putting his arms and head on the table. "If anything goes wrong though, I'm the one that gets to say I told you so."

"Fair enough." Double D sat back into his chair, satisfied when the conversation ended. That was one problem out of the way.

"Hey guys, would either of you be okay with Cleo coming along?"

Feeling Eddy bristle behind him without needing to look, he figured another problem would have to be dealt with.

Cleo would claim that she wasn't one to complain, but she was self-aware enough not to make that declaration. However, Ghoulia did put a form of gag order on her not to say anything horribly derisive for now.

However, the longer she sat here under the too bright lights and a cavalcade of colors that considered itself a coffee shop, the more she could feel a headache forming.

It had started out innocently enough, with Ghoulia inviting her out for undisclosed reasons. Naturally, the zombie failed to mention that Clawdeen would be here as well.

Not to mention those three lunatics that decided to join the school.

And several Legends.

There really needed to be some more honesty in this relationship.

"So," The red one (Apple, she figured) started, messing with the coffee cup in her hands and attempting to make eye contact. To the Legends credit, she'd been polite and held herself with poise that many of Cleo's peers failed to have. Her friends were friendly as well, but she'd gravitated towards someone who looked to be the least frustrating.

"If you have a question, Princess, I'd ask Queenie before she blows a fuse."

Then there was this guy.

"I'd answer the question if you'd let her ask it." Cleo looked pointedly at Eddy, who smiled in a way that reeked of sarcasm. "Maybe if you bothered to listen to anyone, you'd actually learn something." She really wished the boy with the hat hadn't made the seating arrangements. Why he set them up like this, she would never know.

"I'd put in the effort if what you're saying is actually interesting." He said smugly. The only response to her glare was more snickering on his part. Apple didn't seem to know what to do as she watched them banter, but she attempted to move forward in the conversation despite the downward spiral of the conversation.

"Um," She forced herself not to flinch as their focus drifted to her. "You mentioned that you were a princess, correct? I mean, of a far different era, sure." Apple really wasn't sure how to move this conversation forward, if she was completely honest. "I was wondering if you had any real advice on the matter of running a kingdom. I mean, they might not completely comparable..."

She quieted down after Cleo raised a manicured hand. "I appreciate the question, but there isn't much I can give you on that. I was the second born child, so I wasn't the one groomed to take the throne." She stirred the liquid inside her cup, the smell of decaf accompanying the statement. "Plus, the rules were quite different thousands of years ago."

"Right," Eddy shifted a bit at the admission. His expression didn't really portray any mirth at the situation. "Forgot that you were older than everyone here. Or this building." He'd have to ask a few questions on the whole immortality thing. It wasn't that appealing to him now, but it wouldn't be bad to have some options down the line. "How old are you anyway?"

"First of all, it's rude to ask a lady that." Looking him over, Cleo narrowed her eyes. "Though I'm not surprised someone like you doesn't know that type of courtesy." Looking over at Apple, she continued. "I do have some experience when it comes to dealing with public appearances and royal events. Though, it appears you do as well."

"Started learning since I was a baby." The princess looked to the ceiling in thought before sighing. "I have to admit though that it is really tiring sometimes. Luckily, I like a lot of the aspects of it, but it can run you down if you let it."

The pharaoh's daughter frowned but nodded along. "Understandable. Several royal families from around my time still exist and it gets tiring to posture at the right times, pretend to believe in the right things." She sipped her coffee. Legends apparently liked their coffee sweet here. "It's all a little annoying, to tell the truth."

"They're politicians, what do you expect them to do? Tell you how you really feel?" Eddy said sardonically. His input caused them to jump. "I mean, that's how the world works. People lie all the time. Especially if they're close to you."

"I don't." Apple protested, caught off guard by Eddy laughing at that. "I really don't! I try to be as honest as possible while remaining polite. That's how a princess is supposed to do it."

"Then you and I have had very different teachers." Cleo said wistfully. While she mentally agreed with Eddy, though she wasn't going to say it. His ego was inflated enough as it is.

Especially if they're close to you.

...Hm. File that line for later when she had the patience to figure that out. It might even turn out to be good blackmail material for later.

She also made a mental note; don't explicitly trust Apple. She was as sweet as her namesake and that was truly suspicious.

Then again, who could trust a Legend on their word anyway?

Meanwhile…

At a table for four, Maddie watched the interaction with a pair of opera glasses firmly placed against her face. "It looks like everything is going well over there. No one's trying to kill each other."

"Kinda cruel to put them at the same table. Feel pretty sorry for blondie over there." Clawdeen raised an eyebrow, keeping an eye on Cleo's annoyed expression. She honestly expected Eddy and her to throw hands at each other ten seconds into their first conversation, but she had to give the mummy some credit for her rare show of patience.

"I kinda get it." Cerise sipped her iced coffee slowly, posture casual as she watched the show. "Got to send in a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter in order to keep the peace."

"I feel guilty enough as it is, please stop reminding me." Double D sighed as he fidgeted nervously in his seat. He was overlooking some blueprints again, ignoring the fact he was literally sitting with three girls and his friends being too far away to be used as a buffer. It was probably something he would have to get used to, though it was going to nerve wracking until then. "I figured that maybe they could resolve their differences if they just hashed out things in a more casual environment."

"You sure that'll work?" Clawdeen asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, but at least Apple might prevent things from escalating. That's why I arranged the seating like this."

"You sure it wasn't because you wanted to hang out with three cute girls like us?" Maddie said jokingly, giving a little wink. She laughed as she saw Double D choke on his drink.

"She's got a point there." Clawdeen wiggled her eyebrows, causing Double D to blush further and put his head gently down on the table. This caused her to snicker and give a light kick to the boy's shin. "Just messing with you. I get it, but damn does she look uncomfortable right now."

Cerise figured the poor nerd needed some form of mercy before he lost his head. Attempting to look over the guy's blueprints, she could see a mess of numbers and other things she didn't necessarily want to understand. "What are you working on, anyway? Looks like something out of a comic book."

"It's an invention I want to finish before the school year begins." Double D looked over them again, changing a few minute details every few seconds. "I suppose you could call it as what'll make sure I 'fit in,' so to speak."

"Monster High isn't all about fitting in, you know." Clawdeen clacked her claws against the table. "It's about standing out. I mean, sure, some Monster aren't gonna' fully trust you at first for the whole 'two schools' thing, but they'll get over it pretty fast."

Cerise winced as she noticed Double D's face sour a bit at the mention of that. She figured it would be good to speak up. "He doesn't have to do that if he doesn't want to. I mean, blending in has its own advantages. I definitely don't want people watching me all the time."

"Both good points," The boy said carefully, making sure their attention was caught. "But I think I'll decide on what I'm willing to show for the time being. Can't play all my cards at once."

"He's right. Wonderland is famous for its card games so have to be careful how you play." Maddie said, then leaning in to whisper. "You'd be surprised how many of our trials end in card games. Prosecutors and lawyers get really serious about it."

The other two at the table blinked at the pink girl, who only moved to take a look at the blueprints herself. "Looks like something a Spiderman villain would use."

"Thank you." The hatted boy said gratefully, moving it so she could get a better look. The werewolf and the hooded girl gave each other a look, shrugged, and moved along with the conversation.

"Speaking of designs, do you and your friends have any idea on what you want for clothes? I can't really start until I know what you want." Clawdeen casually asked. Double D slid over several papers to her, which she picked up, critical eye already scanning over them. She raised an eyebrow at some of the choices but nodded.

"Might have to make some adjustments on some stuff, but it looks like a start. I'll run them by you first, but you guys do have an eye for design." She looked over the one related to Ed, squinting her eyes. "Ed's looks a little plain though. Could do with something a little more out there."

Cerise took a glance and gave a small frown. Fashion wasn't her strong suit, but she still had her own sense of style to look out for. "Maybe adding some kind of wild element would be cool?" The suggestion didn't come out as confident as she would've liked, but the anxiety was assuaged when Clawdeen actually smiled a little and looked her in the eye.

"Be careful, I might actually start to like you." She said it in a way that made her smile back, though she attempted to hide it under her cool persona.

Though, if anyone could agree on one thing here, it was that the feeling was mutual between all parties.

At another, semi-chaotic table...

"Ed, are you sure that the base is supported enough? I don't believe we've used the right number of toothpicks in order to keep standing for very long."

"I'm sure it's fine. Just gotta' put a few more around here, maybe some there..."

"I really don't know why we're doing this."

The last one to speak was Raven, who was watching as the two in front of her were attempting to finish up the impromptu toothpick recreation of the Empire State Building. Or Vampire State Building. It was honestly lost in translation to her as she watched the boy stand on his seat, putting the final touches whatever he was making.

"Apparently this is to create some form of group bonding. At least, that's how Double D phrased it." Ghoulia had begun typing into a text-to-voice app on her phone after figuring out a good amount of the Legends didn't know sign language; much less zombie speaks. "As for what Ed's doing, I'm not entirely sure why. Very entertaining though." Raven couldn't help but nod along with the zombie and watch as Ed kept his tongue out and put another stick up into slowly growing structure.

"Seems like he knows what he's doing." She handed off some more of the toothpicks. "Though, I don't think this type of stuff is going to exactly bring us closer. I mean, sitting around and talking is nice, but I think Cerise and Maddie would like some action."

"Yeah, I totally get it. Eddy's getting antsy." Ed gave a brief look to said boys table, watching as Eddy was physically holding himself back from retorting to whatever Cleo had said. "You find anything to do, Ghoulia?"

"There are reports of a castle nearby that hasn't been explored yet." The zombie said, tapping away at the iCoffin screen. "No reason was stated as to why it was abandoned, but there might be something to look over while we're there."

"Seems like a major step-up." Raven gave the best smile she could, struggling to come up with something to say. Only Maddie and Cerise were comfortable talking to her, so having two other people just casually talking to her like it was nothing was strange. Stick to something normal, Queen, something they can count on. "Any plans for the upcoming year?"

"Nothing much, to be quite honest. I'm already getting prepared for this year's Mad Science Fair and coming up with some projects that will capture the judge's attention." Ghoulia shrugged along with it, though the Legend couldn't help but feel a tad bit intimidated. She did science fairs for fun? She was either really good at science or just extremely confident in herself.

"I'm just planning to survive." Ed said vaguely. "Don't really know what the Eddy and Double D are planning, but I'm probably going with them on stuff."

Raven nodded nervously, tapping the table with earnest. "I don't know either. Not a lot going on this year, so I'll probably just hang out with Maddie for the semester."

"Isn't the Book of Legends signing supposed to happen this year?" The zombie winced internally as she saw the other girl's expression turn sour. "Touchy subject?"

"No, it's just..." The future queen sighed, sinking into her chair. "I'm not exactly looking forward to it. Lot of expectations for me when I sign it and none of them are anything I'm eager to fulfill."

"Evil queen stuff?" Ed asked. He slowed in his work, being more critical of each toothpick's placement. He made minor adjustments as he went, just some minor tweaks.

"That's right." She sank into her chair even further, watching him silently as he moved. "That stuff hasn't really made me a lot of friends in the past- surprising, I know - so I'm not exactly looking forward to it this year, ceremony or not."

Ghoulia nodded along, though she obviously couldn't relate. She still tried to extend an olive branch out to the girl in front of her. "Well, maybe after getting the story over with, people might just leave you alone? I mean, isn't it supposed to be a role you play and just that?"

Raven frowned. "If only it was that simple."

"If everything was simple, we wouldn't be here. And that would be horrible." The two looked up in surprise as the boy made another vague remark. Ed said, putting the final touches on the project. Sliding into his chair, he smiled proudly at the monstrosity he created. "Ok, now I'll just take a picture and-"

Before he could finish, the door to the café opened up suddenly, when a dude with a goatee slid on in, strumming guitar loudly and shouting.

"What's up everybodyyyyyy!"

Ed let out only a single tear as the toothpick building collapsed and Eddy threw his coffee at the visitor in a panic.**

"Well," Apple said tentatively, keeping a steady pace as she watched Eddy mumble to himself and Double D rubbing Ed's back in a comforting way. They had made it a good distance into the Enchanted Forest before she had decided to speak up, attempting to breach the tense silence among them. "At least you got to meet Sparrow Hood."

"Yeah, he did a real good job of introducing himself while he was screaming. Nice job aiming for the face, by the way." Cleo remarked to Eddy, who just gave a glare back. "It was especially impressive when he tried flirting with everyone while we were treating his burns."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Cerise rolled her eyes, sighing in disgust. "My cousin is nice and all when you get to know him, but that requires getting to know him."

"Would you be offended if I said I was sorry he was your cousin?" Clawdeen asked. All she got in response was a shrug from her, which she chuckled at softly.

"Look can we forget how I may have burned a guy's face. I feel guilty enough as it is." Eddy stomped forward, sending a quick glance to Ed. "You gonna' be alright there, Lumpy? Can't go exploring if you're gonna' be glum all day."

"I'll be fine." Ed sighed, his form conveying his depression. "Just really wish I at least got a picture before he opened the door."

"Actually," Ghoulia gave a smile as she showed something on her iCoffin. "I was able to get one out before the sudden interruption. I've been told I have a sixth sense when it comes to situations like this."

"Really?! Let me see!" Ed zipped over to her and looked at it, his demeanor doing a complete one-eighty. Everyone shook their heads at the sudden change, the Ed's doing so fondly.

"I'm guessing this is pretty normal for him?" Raven asked Eddy, raising an eyebrow.

"Define 'normal'." Eddy said with a laugh, rolling his eyes. He looked around himself briefly before settling into a more conversational tone. "I've actually been meaning to ask you something. Y'know, about magic."

Curiosity peaked, Raven raised an eyebrow and motioned him to continue.

"I've only seen you do it a couple of times, but how exactly do you use it? I mean, channeling it through yourself or something, not just how it feels."

This caused her to pause and give him a quick once over. "Are you really trying to get into magic?"

"Just humor me." He said, kicking at a lone rock. He sent a quick look up to her face with a pleading expression.

She sighed but decided to roll with it for the time being. Raven wasn't sure if he had a magical core to work with, but she couldn't fault him for being curious.

"It's like," She stopped, shaking her head softly. "Imagine how a rechargeable battery would feel being used and replenished all the time. Every time you put the batteries into something and use it, it'll slowly drain until there's not much else to squeeze out of it. Whenever that happens, it feels like you decided to run a marathon with none of the glory behind it.

"Of course, since they are rechargeable, that means they aren't useless when you use them." Raven wasn't sure about the metaphor at first, but it felt right to her now. "It can recharge, though you don't have to plug yourself up to anything. It'll eventually fill up until it's whole again, or at least as high as it can until you use it next time."

Eddy frowned. "So, it's a power source you draw energy from. Doesn't sound that complicated when you put it like that."

"It only gets complicated when you figure what you want to use the magic for. Things can get messy if you don't concentrate on the spell hard enough." She winced, as if the thought physically hurt her. "It's kind of the reason why so many enchanted items do mostly simple stuff and have only a small charge. Plenty of spell casters don't want to put in the effort to make a complicated enchantment that'll need to be recharged every once in a while."

"That's why I stick with cursed items."

Eddy jerked his head to Cleo, who had been filing her nails as she walked next to them. "This is a private conversation, y'know."

"Yes, but I happen to know a thing or two about cursed objects. Commissioned one a time or two as well." She flicked to nail file close to the boy's face, giving him a sneer. "I wouldn't turn down what I know. I'm rarely this generous."

The black-haired girl looked between the two, deciding to interrupt the possible argument before it got worse. "Any reason why you like cursed objects? I wouldn't think they're useful at all since, well, they're cursed."

"They are if you find a way to use them right." She went back to filing at her nails, making each perfectly even. "If there are thousands of loopholes in a business contract that people can exploit, the same could be said for the occasional troublesome medallion. You just have to find the right use for it."

"I was never a fan of cursed items to be honest. Usually when people make any of those, they really have to hate the person that they were willing to use it on." Raven shivered. "You spend so much effort and time into something, making it all your own, only to use it to ruin someone's life? That's honestly creepy."

Cleo shrugged, not bothered by the thought. "Like I said, even cursed items can be used constructively. Drawbacks can be dismissed by cursed items used in conjunction, shortcomings can be improved, and a cursed item never runs out of energy. Of course, having the right people helps as well." She laughed haughtily, causing Eddy to roll his eyes. He was about to make a snide comment but was intercepted by Double D shouting something.

"Hey!" The hatted boy shouted out to the people behind, pointing to something out in the distance. "I think I see the building from here."

Looking forward, the group saw a small sized castle out in the distance, not even fraction of the size of Ever After or Monster High. It looked as big as a standard office building, with the building blocks long rotten and having lost its previous shade of white. It had one stereotypical tower at its side, standing proud with vines reaching to its top, only a story or two higher than the rest of the building. Despite having one side crumbled, it stood proudly in its ruined glory.

"Alright, let's go! We're burning daylight!" Maddie said, jumping forward past the rest of the group. As they quickly tried to move forward to catch up with the mad girl, Eddy looked over at the castle again and frowned.

"Better have some good loot inside." He said walking closely behind as a pit in his stomach started to grow.

*The first is a reference to a book you will find absolutely insane, but is near and dear to my heart. The second reference is just more of my musical taste bleeding into the fic. Look up "Lemon Demon - Cabinet Man" and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Also, for people that are looking forward to heading for canon stuff, I have determined that the Prep Arc (as I call everything after the prologue) will be coming to an end relatively soon at Chapter Ten (whenever that may be). So rest assured, you won't have to wait long. I feel like adding this just in case anyone is starting to wonder. Either way, I'll see you all again in about two weeks with another chapter! It'll have a little more action to give a clue as to whats to come!