Hey everybody! Sorry this came out a day later than usual and it's not as polished. There's been some problems involving my job and I have to quit due to some stuff, so I'm in emotional hell right now. Already making applications and stuff to new places, so the job hunt shouldn't be as bad as last time. I was also sick for a couple of days, but I'm better now.

Hopefully ya'll enjoy this chapter and I'll talk to you after it ends. Enjoy!

"So, any idea how to get in there? Anyone?"

Officially standing outside the ruin's grounds, the group of ten looked over the outside of the building, noticing the lack of a proper entrance. Eddy himself was wondering if climbing the walls would be a good idea if it wasn't for the fact that most of them were wearing heels.

"I have to ask; whose idea was it to come to some dilapidated castle in the middle of the Enchanted Forest? I'm pretty sure this type of thing is left to those 'knights' that are taught at Ever After." Cleo raised an eyebrow, tapping her foot impatiently.

"It was mine, actually." Ghoulia said, tapping into the text-to-voice app quickly. "I figured that something like this would be a little less boring for those that crave more active hangouts. Plus, it would also encourage everyone here to work together."

"This is also to put some action into the fic and keep the attention of the readers." Maddie moved to the large front door of the place, ignoring the incredulous looks as she looked it over. She knocked on the door, attempting to pull at a handle. After receiving no response, she turned to the rest. "I don't think we're getting inside the normal way."

"That obvious?" Eddy turned and started to walk the buildings perimeter. "The place is old enough, so there's probably some wall busted down or a broken window to crawl into. Old buildings have those all the time."

"Why do you know that?" Apple said, following close behind. The Eds looked at each other uncomfortably but didn't necessarily give her an answer.

"Hey, Ghoulia right?" Cerise asked, easing at the zombie's nod. "What exactly did you find on this place?"

"Not much, to be honest. The adventuring website put up some information about some treasure, but none of it is substantiated by known proof." She clicked open the site where she found the coordinates. "It seems a few adventurers have attempted to come here before, but either were called out to something better or left for lesser reasons. Figured that it would be nice to take it off the list for good."

"Knowing Eddy, he'll love the treasure part." Double D kept his eyes open as they moved across the perimeter. No windows that they would fit into or reach without some reasonable climbing skill, as far as he could tell. "Well, depending on what definition of 'treasure' that article says."

Clawdeen rolled her eyes. "Don't tell Cleo about it. She might throw him out of one of those windows to get to it herself." This caused some laughter within the group, though it was slightly subdued after a questioning glare from Cleo silenced them. "Speaking of which, how long does it take to find an entrance to-"

"Found something!" Eddy suddenly piped up before moving into a large hole within the castle. Maniacal laughter could be heard as he moved in, sneakers hitting the cobblestone before his feet. "Better catch up before I call dibs on anything cool!"

"Wait up!" Ed ran on in as well before anyone could stop him. The rest shook their heads but joined on in much more coolly.

The inside of the place was remarkably well kept, despite the state of the outside. It looked like they had entered the dining hall, a large, wide open space that was sparsely populated by some furniture. Any signs of civilization were rare, but some chairs were scattered about as far as they could see, along with the occasional curtains covering the windows. Each one they could see had an insignia of a black bird, wings out and standing proud on a gnarled branch. Purple eyes lacking irises were seen glaring out to those who looked at it.

"Hey, Raven, look!" Apple moved to one of the curtains and stared at it closely, bouncing on the heels of her feet. "Isn't this one of your mother's old symbols?"

Said girl groaned at the realization, joining the blonde shortly. "I knew I recognized this stupid thing. Of course, my mom would put her label everywhere, it's her thing!" Raven grabbed the end of it and pulled it down roughly, coughing as dust fell onto her. She stared at the symbol hatefully. "This was probably one of her storage houses or something."

"I have to say, it's a very interesting family crest." Cleo looked it over. "Though, I can't help but feel like your mother was trying a bit too hard. If she's big and bad, then she most likely wouldn't need such garish decorations."

"You think this is bad?" Raven laughed, folding up the offending article. "You would not want to see what my castle looked like before she was imprisoned. She really got into her role, in more ways than one." She frowned afterwards, looking around herself with an almost cautious expression on her face. "Though, if this is one of her castles, we should probably be careful. Mom was always fond of traps."

"Ha!" Eddy was striding confidently further into the dark dining hall. "Traps, shmaps. If she's willing to hide some stuff here and forget about it, it's her loss. We might as well get some treasure out of-"

The boasting was cut off by a loud growl, causing him to yelp and leap backwards into Ed's arms. The group made a stop as the something within the darkness opened its eyes, glowing yellow. It was soon joined by another pair, then another, followed quickly by several others until five pairs were floating, staring at the group warily. Everyone tensed, ready to run at a moment's notice as Eddy pulled out his MirrorPhone, cursing as he turned on its flashlight.

The sight before them was... more pitiable than they thought it would be.

What stood before them was a small pack of wolves, all of them relatively adults. With gray, dirty fur and piercing, yellow eyes, they would've given off the aura of intimidation most canines possess, if there weren't several other things that the teens noticed.

For one thing, they were packed up within a cage that was relatively small for their numbers, crowding them together so there was little room for them. Their expressions were pitiful, some of them more scared than hostile, huddling behind the bigger ones in their pack. There were even some signs of malnutrition, with a fair amount of the teens guessing some of these wolves hadn't eaten in days.

"Who the hell?!" Clawdeen sped past everyone, looking at the wolves with a critical eye. She growled. "I don't know who left these guys here, but they'll be hearin' from me before the days over!"

"A hunting party probably stopped here and left without them." Cerise joined the werewolf, trying to keep the anger out of her voice as well. "Must've left them here after noticing the Evil Queens royal crest everywhere. Idiots!" She looked over the cage and noticed the lock. "Could've at least them out before running away like cowards."

Getting over their shock, the group relaxed minutely, though everyone couldn't help but agree with the two. Maddie and Double D moved forward as well, but the wolves instinctively tensed and growled at them.

"Hey." Clawdeen said calmly, reaching out a hand to the caged animals. "They're friends. They're not going to hurt ya'." She frowned deeply, giving the Legend and human a look. "Not sure how you're gonna' help, but any suggestions would be nice."

"I can provide some food!" Maddie took off her hat, rummaging through her personal Hammerspace. "A good hostess never leaves home unprepared. I don't know if I have any meat for the little guys, but I do have plenty of water." She pulled out a jug and put it on the ground before going through her hat some more.

"I can pick the locks." Double D said. As he received some surprised glances from everyone, he shuffled his feet and looked down at the floor. "I figured it would be a good life skill to learn. I swear!"

"Okay, learn something new every day." Cerise said, blinking at that strange revelation. She turned to the werewolf. "Calm them down enough and I'll find them a place in the enchanted forest not far from here. They'll survive out there pretty easily as long as they're careful. I know a lot of the other packs in the area, but they're friendly enough."

Clawdeen nodded, petting one of the braver wolves. Maddie cautiously moved forward, pulling out several bowls and placing them near the side of the cage farthest from the lock. Filling them up with water, she placed some meat next to each one and moved back to give the animals some space.

As they lapped up at the water, Double D moved in quickly to the lock, pulling a hairpin out from under his hat. Looking over it closely, he put it in and deftly used his fingers to move the hairpin inside. A few moments of concentration later, the lock opened with a soft click. The boy grabbed it and moved it away, opening the door of the cage slowly. Backing away, he made sure to motion everyone else to make a path for the wolves.

After they were done eating, the pack noticed the open door and moved out slowly. Cerise moved beside them and gave a whistle, catching their attention. They sniffed at her for a second before she moved forward, leading them all out of the castle shortly. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as, moments later, Cerise came back inside with a happy look on her face.

"That went smoother than I thought it would." She said, moving towards the cage and giving it a kick. "Still want to find out who left them in this thing."

"They'll come back eventually and find them missing." Double D shook his head. He looked towards the group and smiled awkwardly. "Now that we've got that out of the way, does everyone want to continue?"

The group hesitantly nodded, moving forward into the castle. The tension from the moment ebbed away as the feeling of adventure put a spring in their steps.

Headmaster Grimm prided on knowing many different subjects, especially on those related to his school. He made sure to know what exactly was going on within the school walls at all times, whether it be big or small.

Which is why, when on the rare occasion that something (or someone) was unfamiliar or strange, it drove him insane to figure it all out.

His two new students provided by that Headmistress were a definite anomaly.

Grimm was at his desk and sorting through the files of the two new students, looking over them carefully. While having their track records did provide a good background on just who they were, but it left out some vital information.

Just what in Ever After are their stories?

Milton looked over the file of this 'Double D' character. The dual student. A straight A student, mostly well-behaved, and definitely a teacher's pet. Very rarely goes against orders and is cooperative to people he respects. Most likely would fit in a hero or supporting role, depending if most of the facts were true.

"On the other hand," He said to himself, grimacing as he looked over the singular student. 'Eddy.'

While definitely noted as being intelligent, he was noted to be a troublemaker in anything he was ever involved, a bane to those in authority, and someone that is only loyal to a small few. A terrifying force to be reckoned with when angered, especially with enough tools at his disposal. He was fit to be in a villain role, clearly, but he just didn't know which one.

Grimm sighed, rubbing his hands down his face. They'd be considered Understudies for now, but their true roles would come out in time. Hopefully.

Here's to hoping that they don't cause too much trouble.

"Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"What the heck is this thing?!"

Eddy gestured to the door in front of them blocking their path. It had taken a good hour to get here due to stairs that led them down here. At its base, a carving of a wheel segmented into various parts stood in the middle, along with a formation of sticks and stones with similar symbols on them put up in a wheel in front of it. A puzzle of some sort.

"I told you my mom had a fondness for traps." Raven crossed her arms, looking it over. "Not to mention weird puzzles. Probably something that'll kill us if we do it wrong."

The group collectively groaned at the sound of that. "I'm really starting to not like your mom." Eddy said, kicking at a pebble on the ground.

"Join the club."

"Oh, come on, it isn't that bad. This doesn't look too hard to solve." Apple moved to the puzzle, looking over carefully. It seemed like it was one of those puzzles were if you move one part, it moves several others along with it, making it difficult to match a pattern. A simple mind games. "Plus, I'm sure if any traps were down here, they would've been disabled already."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Cleo looked around the place, noting details the other failed to see. "Take it from someone who lived in a pyramid rigged against grave robbers; a trap is never truly disabled or too old to work. Some get even deadlier over time." She noted holes in the walls and some places on the floor that looked warped or strange. "Spikes and darts. Very classic, if a little gory."

Apple winced. "I suppose I'll just have to make sure I don't get the solution wrong then." She turned to the puzzle, moving already coming up with some moves in her head. Tentatively, she moved one of them. "If you don't mind, would you help disable the traps?"

Cleo rolled her eyes but moved towards moved around the room. "Eddy, since you're the one who wants the treasure so badly, why don't you help me knock out some of these?"

"Whatever." He moved around and started to move around, plugging holes in dart traps and the like. He didn't necessarily enjoy himself as they did this, but he was always down for thwarting a few traps. Maybe even take note of some of the designs for himself.

Cleo was simply wrapped up in determining what was around them, determining what exactly was around them. It reminded her of all the times she attempted to escape her tomb for a second, making her believe she was solving the complicated riddle of "How Do I Get the Heck Out of Here?" Honestly, if this turned out to be a ruse, then she was going to give this 'Evil Queen' a piece of her mind.

Apple was simply having fun twisting the mechanism around and attempting to find the right shapes and the right symbols that matched the markings of the door. It was nice to actually let her brain do the work for once and be recognized for it. She liked being known as fairest of them all and all, but it was nice to know she could do stuff outside of it.

Of course, that line of thought came to a halt when she actually completed the puzzle.

"Oh." She stopped and looked it over again. "Some of the pieces are missing."

She was indeed right. Some of the pieces of the puzzle were indeed missing from the original solution. It was only a few, but it did bother her a little that it wasn't exactly right. Apple huffed and looked to the other two. "Are you all done with the traps."

"Yep." Eddy said, giving her a thumbs up. At that, she pushed the button in the middle and watched as the symbols started to glow faintly. It appeared everything seemed to be correct.

Except the room gave a sudden shake.

"Is everything alright up there?" Double D asked, gesturing for the others to move back. Eddy gave them a sign to wait as Cleo observed their surroundings.

"There it is." Cleo saw some of the traps they sabotaged activate but fail helplessly. "It appears they happen in a sequence. The first ones would've been a warning, but better safe than sorry, I suppose."

"You sound way too nonchalant for someone that would probably be scared out of her mind if you were in the same situation." Eddy said casually, looking over the puzzle himself.

"Can't kill what's already dead. Figures you wouldn't know that."

Eddy growled, still looking over Apple's work. "It looks like you got it right, Princess. What the heck happened there?"

"Some of the pieces are missing. The symbols in the back must need them to match up here, but that's impossible in its current state." The blonde tapped her foot, looking around the place. Trying it again would most likely send the traps down on her, but it wasn't like they could do anything else.

"Screw it." The boy started to pick up rocks, pulling out a glue and a marker. "The games rigged, so might as well cheat."

"Why were you carrying glue in your pocket?" The mummy asked, raising a disgusted eyebrow.

"Never know when you'll need it." He started to wright down the missing symbols on several corresponding rocks.

"This certainly takes the sport out of it." Apple said but watched curiously. If anything, if it worked, then it would make an interesting story to say the least. Then again, the same could be said if it doesn't.

"Like I said," Eddy put on the last 'piece' of the puzzle, making sure to hit the button and pray that he drew the symbols right. "If the game is rigged, you might as well cheat."

The symbols, old and new, started to glow ominously, but this time the result was much more in their favor. Instead of another jarring jump in the room, the door slowly slid open to reveal another hallway, longer than the last. Eddy turned and took a bow, smiling smugly at his workaround.

Apple clapped happily and made sure to head straight into the dark hallway, giving Eddy a hearty congratulations as she passed. Cleo looked surprised, only giving him a slight look as she passed him.

"Broken clocks are right twice a day, I suppose." She said as she passed. Eddy stuck out his tongue at her back.

He looked at the others and motioned for them to come forward. "Hurry up. I wasn't kidding when I said I'd call dibs if I saw something cool."

They moved forward, some more reluctant than others.

"You know, Bloodgood, it's nice that you called me out here today," The wrinkled hand of an old woman pushed the cup to her lips and took a sip of tea. "But I can't help but think you brought me over for more than just a friendly conversation."

Headmistress Bloodgood sighed and rolled her eyes at her longtime friend. "I know it's been a little while, but it's not that strange to call old friends, Baba Yaga."

The woman, Baba Yaga, was sitting on air with a raised eyebrow. Dressed in homemade clothing and adjusting the red shawl at the top of her head, she gave a low chuckle. "Yes, it is nice to catch up. You've always been good for conversation, but again, I feel like this isn't that."

Bloodgood frowned. "It can be two things."

"Indeed." Yaga took another sip of her Bloodmoon tea, letting it go to float in the air beside air. "Though, if you want to make any small talk, I suggest cutting to the chase. Neither of us are patient women."

"Indeed." Bloodgood set down her tea as well, leaning back into her chair with her arms crossed. "Have you found out where he is?"

"If I'm guessing correctly about whom you speak of, then no. Neither hide nor hair of him anywhere at the school." Yaga's expression turned into a genuinely sympathetic frown. "I would've said something by now if I did, I truly do. We had our disagreements, but he was a pleasant man."

"Is, Yaga. He's missing, not dead." The headmistress stood up and stalked to the window. She gave a deep glare to the other school in the distance, hoping it reached the headmaster. "Milton most likely knows, but we both know he isn't going to say anything. Especially when it comes to me."

"He's just been stressed. With your responsibilities, I'd think you'd understand that." Another sip and Yaga raised an eyebrow to her old friend. "It isn't helped that you brought some interesting students into his fold. Unplanned variables always make him nervous."

A hint of smirk came onto the horsewoman's face but was quashed. "I couldn't leave those three out there in the human world alone, if that's what you're suggesting."

"They're certainly going to be well-known. Saw it as soon as two of them came to me for their schedules." The mystic barked out a laugh. "The short one you delivered to us will probably be in my villain classes, soon enough. There's definitely been a gender imbalance after Gaston's son was expelled." She swirled her cup, looking into the leaves deeply. "The other one I'm not so sure about. He'll be interesting based on his 'status' alone, but any other tricks up his sleeve is yet to be determined."

There was a brief pause.

"Where did you find them? I certainly don't remember hearing about them before."

Bloodgood only paid half attention to her, eyes drawn to a light within the enchanted forest.

"Like all great things." She said coolly, eyes not moving away from the light. "In the middle of nowhere."

"...this is a trap, isn't it?"

"Most likely."

Raven looked around the room, attempting to detect any magic within the room with True Sight. While she nor Cleo could find any magic or mundane traps within the place, it still raised some alarm bells.

Mostly because it looked like a simple room.

The group was stood now in a room that was perfectly even on all sides, in almost a perfect cube. The walls were made of simple stone, imposing with the straight color of gray. They could hear the birds outside, meaning the walls weren't as thick as they appeared, but the sunlight was blocked out thoroughly.

And in the center of this plain looking room sat a plain, wooden, treasure chest with no locks on it.

"There's nothing around here that's magically connected to my mom. That doesn't mean there isn't something in the chest, though, so if any of you don't have any fear, feel free to open it." The magical girl let the true sight ebb away, sardonically kicking the chest.

"I volunteer!" Ed jogged up, face lighting up at the sight of the chest. "I have no common sense, which is practically the same thing!"

"I'll help as well. It seems everyone has done their part so far and I can't have myself be the only one that failed to contribute." Ghoulia followed closely behind, though stayed the farthest away from the chest. "I can't say I have any mastery in magic, but I always have a chemistry set on hand."

"Where are you keeping a chemistry set?" Raven only received a shrug in response to her question, which she decided to roll with. "Fair enough. Want to do the honors, Ed?"

"Yes!" He pumped his fists into the air, moving to the chest and opening it up with one big flourish.

The occupants of the room instinctively tensed, but the ensuing silence was all that resulted from the dramatic opening. It only kept going when they got a good look inside the chest.

An assorted amount of jewelry of different makes, colors, and even several brands were labeled. Necklaces, bracelets, and a couple of rings could be seen within the chest, each with their own unique jewel sets.

"Weird." Raven looked over the contents with a suspicious look. "All of this for a bigger jewelry box. I've never even seen her wear half of these things; she was always more the 'dark and mysterious' type. It was never her scene."

"This could be nest egg in case something ever happened to her kingdom. She was probably preparing for things to go wrong and put away some things that she could sell if she had to go on the run." Ghoulia smiled a little as Raven nodded, though she gave it a more critical eye herself. "However, it doesn't explain why she went to so much trouble for a single nest egg."

"Honestly, I don't know what she was thinking." Ed shrugged, reaching out for a necklace. "Just means more for us when we split it. You think we should go three ways for each group, or would ten ways be-"

As he touched the necklace and started lifting it from its position, the room startled to emit a low rumble from its foundation. Quickly putting it back, Ed stood up and grabbed the other two, pulling them back from the chest quickly.

"It's a trap!" Raven yelled, instantly moving to the open doorway to the others. "Everybody get back!"

The group made a collective retreat as the room kept shaking behind them. Despite some hesitation, it was quickly dispelled after something began to break through the floors of the room, claws reaching and pulling the body it was connected to out with it.

Made of bones, a creature with the features of a lizard rose out of the ground, feet clacking against floor. With the pointed head of a dragon and the body of a lizard, the being rose on its hindlegs and stood over the group, letting out an echoing roar.

"Alright!" Eddy smiled sardonically, smile strained. "I have officially moved on from not liking your mom, to absolutely hating her!"

"Again, join the freaking club." Raven held back, looking over the creature. "It looks like my mom stashed a familiar of hers here. Probably just to mess with anyone that decided to come around here."

"Anyone have any ideas how to deal with that thing? Especially from Ghoulia!" Cleo was hiding behind said zombie, holding up a random artifact she was keeping on her person. It wasn't one that would particularly help in this situation, but she felt safer having it.

The zombie's eyes narrowed, noticing the magic moving out of the head like smoke. "Is the enchantment making it sentient located in the head?"

"Looks like it." The thing moved carefully in the now open space, thankfully not noticing the castle's occupants just yet. "I can probably 'turn it off,' but I'd have to get to it directly."

"That shouldn't be that hard." Ghoulia turned around to face the other. "If no one here minds, I'd suggest grabbing some of the vines laying about and be prepared to possibly trip and tie the creature up. Of course, distracting the creature may be difficult."

Ed smiled and immediately made a run for it. "My time has come!"

Followed by some yells of surprise and his friends telling him to come back, Ed slid to a stop a few feet from the creature, an excited look on his face.

"Hey, big guy!" He yelled, catching the creature's attention. Before it could make a move towards the intruder, Ed held his hands and gave off, what could only be called, a cocky smirk. "Get a load of this!"

As the inky black of the swirled around him, covering him, he laughed like a madman the entire time. His voice warbled and wavered as shadows coalesced into a tentacles and scale, a head forming and slowly. As it finally took a physical form, it blinked once or twice before letting out a loud roar.

Meanwhile, back at the group, everyone was terrified.

"Hey Double D." Clawdeen started quietly.

"Yes, Clawdeen?"

"You said that he didn't transform because he wasn't comfortable yet, right?"

"That's correct."

"Now, was that because he didn't want to reveal it yet, or because he wouldn't fit inside the freakin' library?"

"Both."

Ed, immediately taking the initiative, took a swing at the creature in front of him with several of his tentacles, the rest moving him to the side. The creature in question took the brunt of the blow before letting out a shrill shriek and attempting to swipe at the offending appendages.

Already on the move, however, the swipe missed broadly as Ed moved up onto some trees, climbing through them with disturbing ease. He swung out several times, hitting his opponent several times with only the occasional miss. After the third or fourth hit, the bone lizard moved backward, attempting to wait out its next moved.

"Okay, I think I'm up for Ghoulia's plan. Anyone who isn't, stay inside the castle!" Eddy ran outside, already attempting to move around the perimeter for the building to find vines that were easy to grab, followed shortly by a majority of the others. Only Raven and Ghoulia were left behind.

"I'll figure out where exactly our compatriots should go to set up a trap. Raven, how long do you need to prepare the spell?" Ghoulia asked, getting ready to get on the move.

"This isn't the first time I've taken out some of mom's enchantments on things." Her hands started to emit the purple glow of magic fire. "It'll take only a few minutes. Just hope Ed's good at distracting it."

"I'd worry more about that thing getting loose." Double D was already holding a vine and wrapping it, starting to create a pile. "As worried as I am about Ed, he's had a house dropped on him before and he walked out of it unimpeded."

The two shrugged, deciding to believe him since his friend did turn into… whatever he was right now and got to work. Raven started compiling the energy for the spell while Ghoulia directed the others into moving the items she wanted into their proper place.

Ed had moved away from stalking within the trees to suddenly lunge out, throwing his body against the thing at full force, sending it tumbling backward. It caught its footing, but the creature only got angrier and attempted to make a lung of its own, missing broadly as Ed only moved to the side quickly. It went face first into a tree. Anyone there would've swore they heard deep chuckling from Ed's direction.

It turned around in a daze, biting at Ed again with increased ferocity, murder clear in its dead eyes. Ed did his best to slither away, but when the bites started to get too close, he wrapped a tentacle around its mouth and gave a it a headbutt, growling heavily. This caused the creature to back up, causing them both to start prowling, watching each other closely in a circle.

"Ed!" Ghoulia waved towards the transformed Ed boy, catching his attention temporarily. "The spells ready! We need you to get that thing inside that nest of vines right there!" She pointed to a long grouping of vines spread out into rows, stretched out between the pillars. No one else could be seen.

The boy-turned-monster nodded, taking a sudden move forward at the enchanted creature before him with a roar. It met with him in the middle, making its own attempt push Ed back, roaring it it's face. Neither of them gave each other room to move, making it a stalemate.

The familiar attempted to bite into Ed one last time, breaking the stalemate, causing him to move backwards to the vines. Taking a few 'steps,' Ed then stopped, slithering downward and grabbing its torso. Before it could so much as utter another roar, Ed flipped the creature upside down and move it onto its back with a loud boom, right onto the vines.

Ghoulia's trap was set off instantly, wrapping itself around the monster without hesitation, trapping it. The familiar screeched, thrashing within its confines, attempting to strongarm its way out. Raven slid out of her hiding place, hands alight and putting them against the creature's head. The familiars head brightened temporarily before the lights in its eyes turned off and the collection of bones fell apart.

The moment was calm as everyone looked at the pile of bones begin to dissipate, becoming a mist that flowed further into nothingness. As the calm came down on the battlefield, Ed walked up, his monster form having flowed into darkness behind him, he looked around at the wreckage before something.

"Hey, the chest is okay."

Before the rest of the group could bother to look at him, they were interrupted by a group of knights led by a very ticked off Headmaster Grimm.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Eddy frankly wasn't fond of the fact that their little adventure had to end in the principal's office.

He certainly didn't appreciate being yelled at for something that they were informed was a completely legal activity.

"I know that you three are new around here, I do." Headmaster Grimm paced behind his desk with a controlled look on his face. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that you went into an unidentified ruin without some form of permission from local authorities."

"Uh, Headmaster Grimm?" Double D spoke up, catching his attention. "We did look up the rules and they did state that it was fair game to go into those ruins. Especially since previous adventurers admitted the situation was benign at the time."

"Yes, and good on you for looking those up." This caused the boys to feel some relief before it was snatched away. "However, you have to be licensed in order to fight beings like the one you met before. Not to mention that you brought several princesses along with you who could've been hurt."

"Not to burst your sexist bubble, pal, but they did their part too." Eddy leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes. "Apple helped solve a puzzle, Maddie, Cerise and Clawdeen got the wolves out, and Raven and Ghoulia took the familiar out. Heck, even Queenie pitched in." He moved forward, giving the man the stink eye. "Which means they're just as much to blame as us. Why aren't they getting punished?"

"They're getting a talk as well, Mr. Edward." Milton stopped behind his desk and looked him in the eye. "And while your concerns are noted, they aren't necessary. There's still the matter about how the situation will reflect on the rest of your time here in my establishment."

"That it means we're going to have a great time here with lots of adventure?" Ed asked cluelessly, earning a strange look in response.

"If I have anything to say about it, that will be somewhat true."

The four occupants of the room heard the voice pop up, turning to find Headmistress Bloodgood entering the office with a smile on her face. "I hope you haven't started yet, Milton. I would like a word with my students."

"This doesn't concern you. I was just about to punish these three before you came in." The headmaster stood up and gave her a cold look. He was met with an equally cold look in response.

"And these are my students as well, so I believe anything that happens to them should go by me as well. Besides, did they do anything particularly wrong?"

Grimm winced at that. "Not exactly. But it was dangerous, what they did."

"Was it something any other student here would be expected to handle?"

"Only in some cases." Grimm felt his resolve weaken as Bloodgood advanced on him, glaring right into his eyes.

"Have they caused any damage to school, town, or anything considered private property?"

Milton sputtered on for a few seconds before pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. I won't punish them for now." He looked at the three boys and gave them a pronounced frown. "I would be on your best behavior from here on out, though."

He stalked out of his office, giving the door a slam as he left. Bloodgood sighed before moving to stand in front of the boys.

"You do realize that it isn't a good thing to be called into the principal's office before the school year begins?" She said, raising an eyebrow. She received a few embarrassed looks in response. "None of you truly did anything wrong here, but it is a little risky to bring attention to yourselves like this."

"It wasn't like we meant to cause trouble, ma'am." Double D said carefully. "We were just attempting to figure out how to move forward on some of our goals to fit in."

"Yeah, things just got a little out of hand." Eddy nonchalantly waved off the accusations. "I mean, we got some Monster and Legends together for something and we got some cool loot out of it that'll set us up for a while. I'd say today was success."

"While I do applaud you three on your efforts, I do have some bad news." Bloodgood handed them a paper. "The jewelry your group found uncovered that nearly every item in there was cursed."

"What?!" The three said in unison, Eddy grabbing the paper so all three of them could look it over. As she said, every item in there was a catalogued and organized based on the piece of jewelry, type of curse, and their severity. They each let out a disappointed groan at the sight of it.

"I wouldn't let that discourage you. You can salvage them by taking the cursed jewels out of the items. It won't look as pretty but selling the gold would earn you a pretty penny." The headmistress shrugged. "Also, it's all yours, by the way. The girls said to keep it since apparently Ed 'fought the familiar back.' Which I want to know how you did, by the way."

Ed shrugged. "I used my monster form."

"Excuse me?" Bloodgood narrowed her eyes.

"Monster form." Ed flicked his hand to grab a book from the other end of the room, a tentacle forming out of misty darkness for a second before it was pulled back. He smiled at her innocently as she processed what she saw.

"…I see you three are very overqualified for this." She said faintly, wavering as she stood up. "Hopefully, this type of luck continues. Considering now you three have the rest of the school year, we'll all need it." She stood up and moved towards the door before making a brief stop.

"That reminds me," She gave them a critical eye. "With the school year coming up, I'm trying to give something to the students of both schools that I believe will make it start uproariously. I'm ironing out the details, but don't be surprised if anyone comes to talk to you three about it. It would be a good way to advertise your new business."

"You can count on us Ms. B." Eddy gave a salute, which she only gave a nod to before moving out. He sighed and melted into his seat, rubbing at his eyes. "Too bad that whole adventure was a bogus. Would've been nice to have a higher payday."

"Hey, come on guys!" Ed lounged in his seat and started counting off some things. "We made some friends, had a few laughs, did a few good deeds; we even had a boss fight at the end."

"Plus, the gold from the jewelry should make us some quick cash. Only the jewels are cursed, so it won't take too much time to get them out of there." Double D supplied helpfully. He leaned back in his chair too. "Though, I suppose the issue then would be to determine what exactly w do with the jewels afterward. Can't have those lying around."

"Yeah, yeah." Eddy looked out the window, deep in thought. Probably some way to get those things to work for them, right? Otherwise they're just useless as they are, which is something he wouldn't be happy with.

Imagine a rechargeable battery…

…why I stick with cursed items.

…have to find the right use for it.

Eddy blinked. Then he blinked again.

Blinking a third time, he gained a large smile on his face that made his friends immensely nervous.

Standing up from his chair and sauntering towards the door, he let out a bone chilling statement.

"Boys, I believe I have an idea."

Alright, while I can't say I'm satisfied with it, I think this chapter went okay! Hopefully you all enjoyed it enough to keep reading.

The job stuff will be hell, but I'll get through it. Might do some stuff online to make up for any loss in revenue, but it'll be good. I'm applying and making sure to not be picky (might be better off too; some of these jobs have better pay and actual benefits). If you want to ask any questions about anything I plan to do online, ask me on my new twitter at /LemonHelpless. If not, I'll see you next chapter within the next few weeks.