Hey everybody! How's everyone doing? I'm doing fine, and that's only a bit of a lie. I may have done something very stupid to my ankle and it's effecting how I walk. From what I can tell, it's a pretty bad strain and it has a lot of bruising, but I think the only thing that hurts more than walking without a cane is the fact that I got it from walking off a curb wrong.

I'm sorry for complaining, but I feel like I should just say this since it's being such a bother. Hope you're all doing well.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, though!

Ed wasn't entirely sure how to start what was going to be a tense conversation, but he was running out of time. It wasn't like he could keep blowing off Ghoulia forever while everything was going on.

It had been about a day since Ghoulia talked to him about… well, what they talked about. He tried shutting things off in his mind but repressing it did very little to actually make him think about it, at least from an outside perspective.

Ed understood what Ghoulia was talking about, he really did. And he wasn't lying when he said that he wouldn't mind actually dating her. They got along great, they had plenty of the same interests, and they definitely hung out a lot already. But there was also the fact that he was, y'know, a human pretending to be a monster.

While he wasn't exactly Double D or Ghoulia levels of smart, he knew that wouldn't be a good combination. Which left him with a choice; should they include Ghoulia into the fold?

His immediate thought was "yes, they should," but he was also really biased and stuff. The only reason Double D was allowed to have Cerise know was because she had just as big of a secret to keep too. Ed wanted to bring Ghoulia in because he wanted to trust her.

That also opened up a can of worms about whether the others should know too, and how'd they all react, and he honestly didn't want to deal with all of this-

"Hey Ed."

Ed immediately abandoned the train of thought, happy for the distraction. Even if it was related to the dilemma he was having.

"Ghoulia, how's it going? Good to see you too, Cleo." Ed really was glad that the mummy was here too. She definitely worked as a buffer for any awkward conversations he was hoping to avoid. "I was just… I actually forgot what I was doing here. Was I supposed to meet you guys?"

"Sort of. We wanted some help showing a new student around and we figured it would be good to have you around as muscle." Ghoulia gave a light tap his arm, seemingly just as awkward as he was. "He's going to raise some alarms, unfortunately, so having someone around to scare them off would be good."

"Are you forgetting we're already scary without him? Because I'm willing to remind some people if need be." Cleo patted a side pocket that had a storage enchantment placed on it. She never left anywhere without her staff anymore, much like the others with their own tools. "I've got Eddy working on another part of the staff right now and I wouldn't mind giving a demonstration."

"Can we please not become corrupt with power already? I'd like a few more years of bliss before going dictator." The zombie sarcastically said. She as joking, though she did give Cleo the evil eye. "Besides, Bloodgood forbid us from using that on school grounds unless it's an emergency."

"Aw. That's no fun." Ed had wanted to test Double D's glider later and hopefully not crash immediately. "I was hoping to lord them over everyone like gods. Angry gods."

"Exactly! At least it would get my father and sister off my back if I were allowed to show off some power." Cleo let out a frustrated sigh, huffing loudly. "They've been so annoying lately. I think my fame is bothering Nefera and Daddy wants me to actually use it for the family business."

"Well, maybe actually doing some community service would help you get away from them long enough." Ghoulia ignored her friend rolling her eyes, deciding to move down the hallway. "Come on, let's go find the new student. He has a cousin here, but I don't know if Heath knows where he's going."

The other two followed behind, if only to get this over with. Might as well prevent someone from hazing whoever decided to transfer in the middle of the year, especially by someone like-

"Manny, put him down!"

…Manny Taur. Looks like he was acting up again.

Ed moved ahead, deciding to nip the problem in the bud. Manny had been quiet for a while, but that didn't mean he wasn't likely to try stuff when they weren't around. When he got around the corner, he could see the minotaur holding up some poor sap that practically screamed nerdy target. Heath was at least trying to mitigate the situation, not as hard as he should be.

Ed didn't waste time getting behind Manny, smiling serenely.

"Hey Manny!" Ed saw the minotaur freeze up, along with Heath. The boy clapped a hand on his shoulder for good measure. "I think you're supposed to be doing anything but this right now. Wouldn't want to put that off, would you?"

"Nope, certainly need to get to it." Manny dropped the poor guy he was hassling and already moving down the hallway at increased speeds. "Please don't follow, please don't follow, please don't follow…"

Ed watched him go in silence before looking at Heath with a raised eyebrow. The fire monster just shrugged nervously before quickly following behind.

"Well, hopefully that wasn't the worst welcome Monster High could've given you." Ghoulia got the poor new student, brushing some of the dust off of him. "I'm going to guess you're Jackson Jekyll?"

"Is it that obvious?" Jackson sighed as he fixed himself up. He didn't seem to have a very monster-like appearance, which would've been odder if Ed wasn't around. "I bet Holt doesn't have these kinds of problems."

"If you want to survive around here, maybe try to find a few friends on your side. You play sports by any chance? Never mind, you look like the mathlete type." Cleo just handed the boy a club list quickly. "Some of them might still be looking for members."

"Oh come on, Cleo, maybe give the guy a few minutes to breath?" Ed gave Jackson a clap on the back good naturedly, almost knocking the guy over. "That's Ghoulia and I'm Ed. Need any help heading towards your next class?"

"Maybe?" Jackson looked very, very confused, and that was honestly pretty valid considering the whirlwind of information that was just thrown at him. "It's Biteology… Have I seen you guys before?"

"Never met in our lives. I think Frankie and Deuce are in that class, right?" Ed received some nods, causing him to smile wider. "The class is a few doors down. If you see a guy with snake hair and a girl made up of body parts, ask them for one of our numbers. We'll show you around when break happens."

Jackson blinked, unsure how to take the kindness. Before he could even give them a proper thank you, he was washed away by a sudden crowd of students with a yelp.

"Oh, that guy is going to have either the worst time here, or the best. Doesn't look very good though." Cleo and Ed gave a confused look to Ghoulia, who only sighed. "He's half human. That doesn't get you in with any welcoming crowds."

"Ah, well that's a shame. When was the last time a half-human person came around here?" Cleo questioned before waving it off. "Nazz, right, almost forgot about her. Really risky for her to come along with that boyfriend of hers."

"It… It can't be that bad, right? I'm sure everyone's more mature than that." Ed tensed at the sudden bark of laughter that came from Cleo after he said it. "I'm serious! Isn't this school built to bring Monster races together?"

"Yeah, but not humans. Last one that tried to get in was aiming to get everyone killed." Cleo turned around, already bored of the conversation. "If it's alright with you two, I'm going to see the best places to hide from my relative. Ciao!"

Ed huffed at the dismissal, trying not to let it bother him. Cleo was usually like that, and it wasn't like she was wrong. But considering everything that was happening, why did she have to be callous-

The boy stopped, realizing where his thoughts were going. He shook them out, suppressing them before they could get out of control. Everything was fine. Everything was good.

"I wouldn't let what she's saying get to you. I'm sure Jackson will be just fine as long as he makes some friends fast." Ghoulia checked her phone before sighing. "We'll talk later. I need to apparently do some tech support on the Legend's side. Somebody messed up their internet."

"Sounds good." Ed gave a shaky smile as she left. "Things will be good later."

That was the biggest lie Ed ever told.

The walk towards Badwolf's classroom wasn't long, but it did seem to drag on with Cerise trying to make sure nobody was following them. Double D would've found it funny if it wasn't kind of sad.

"I'm sure no one else is going to appear, Cerise. Everyone's either in class or trying to show off to their parents." Double D found that sad too, honestly. Everyone seemed to want their parent's approval a little too much around here. "I'm not even sure why you want to bring me."

"Considering you not only know the whole 'family thing'." Cerise put the words in air quotes while they kept moving, making sure they were out of people's sights. You can never be too careful, in her opinion. "Besides, I'm more or less making sure Ramona doesn't track you down herself."

"Ah, your sister. I actually almost forgot about that." That wasn't going to be fun. He was lucky that he was able to avoid one wolf-like sibling getting overprotective since Clawd knew Clawdeen could kick his butt if he did something stupid. "How much have you told her about all of our friends?"

"Only a little. She kept getting her phone confiscated in reform school." Cerise stopped as they made it to the door. "I'm not sure if I told her about the 'Oh Cerise' thing, so be prepared just in case."

"I knew there was something I forgot!"

Cerise just rolled her eyes, stifling a groan as she opened the door. She walked in first, staying quiet as Double D followed close behind.

Double D wasn't surprised as, after the door closed behind them, he was roughly pulled and then pushed against the wall by a very ticked off, wolfish girl.

"…You must be Ramona."

"You're damn straight." Ramona's was a little ticked by the fact the human didn't seem bothered by the display. That was just plain arrogant if you asked her. "Surprised a human was able to sneak onto campus, much less three. Got anything to say for yourself?"

"Not much, honestly. I wouldn't say it's my most impressive lie, actually." Double D casually shrugged before putting a hand to his chin. "I think the best lie I ever told was making up all those scientific facts saying the moon wasn't real. Then again, I didn't really want him to believe me."

"You can beg all you- wait, what?" Ramona blinked at the absolute nonsense that just spilled out of the guy's mouth. This wasn't how she envisioned this going. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, some lunatic tried to convince me that the Moon landing wasn't real. Unfortunately, since I was at a convention for conspiracy theorists, that was the third insane theory I'd heard that day." Double D chuckled, gesturing animatedly. "You should've seen the look on his face when I asked him if he really believed in the moon! Can you imagine?"

"I-I guess?" Ramona was thoroughly weirded out now. When she'd got the call about three humans knowing about her family, she figured they'd be insane. Guess she was right. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because it shows that it can be really distract people when you say something completely inane." Double D pointed behind Ramona, raising his eyebrows. "I mean, I was able to do that with the desks while telling you this."

Ramona just stared before turning to see that the desks in the classroom had been stacked into a mini castle. She looked at it, dumbfounded, as Double D then walked towards Cerise and her parents. Notably, Cerise had her face in her hands.

"You could've just played along or told her to back off. Instead, you decided to do that." Cerise really started wondering if this was a good idea. "And right in front of my parents too. You're the one with some self-control, right?"

"Yes, but I also don't like being threatened right out of the gate." Double D smiled, reaching out shaking Badwolf and Mrs. Hoods hands. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Badwolf. And I guess it wouldn't be too much of stretch to assume you're Cerise's mother?"

Badwolf could only mumble to himself about the boy's apparent insanity while the elder Red Riding Hood was able to snap out of it long enough to respond.

"Yes, and I've heard quite a bit about you. Quite a character, from what I've been hearing." Mrs. Hood gave a look to her daughter, who had finally snapped out of her stupor long enough to realize what happened. "Seems like that's true."

"He has a tendency to make an impression." Badwolf ran a hand down his face, much like Cerise did. "Out of all the things I've seen, that isn't the weirdest thing you and your friends have done."

"I'm glad to hear that you have such a high opinion of me." Double D was admittedly just flying by the seat of his pants here. He didn't exactly know why he was even brought here. "And as much I'm glad to finally meet every member of the family, I'm not entirely sure why you want me here."

"Oh, I may have a few questions…"

Ah. Here we go.

"What exactly went through your head to come here?" Ramona decided to jump in, still doing her best to play bad cop. It was almost a little endearing, if slightly annoying. "Humans don't just decide to room up with Legends or Monster just because they want to."

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to do this. You know, interrogating him over all of this stuff?" Cerise gave her sister a tap on her shoulder, glaring at the rest of her family. "He hasn't exactly drilled us about anything, so maybe we're supposed to do the same?"

"They are genuine questions, and ones we do need to address right now." Badwolf looked at the boy, raising an eyebrow. "We honestly just need to know whether or not your parents- and the other twos for that matter- are coming here."

"Of course not. Do you think I'm mad enough to attempt something like that?" Double D shook his head. "And Ed and Eddy's parents aren't arriving here either. It's not like they know where we are. It took Nazz and Kevin months to find us, and one of them was half human."

"…What was boy then?"

"Nothing to worry about, dad." Cerise waved it off, not wanting to cause another incident. "Anyway, you met him, and you know he isn't going to say anything. Satisfied?"

"No. I still want to know how he's been able to fool everyone so easily." Ramona pointed a finger in the boy's face. "And you won't be able to get out of it a second time."

"I know you're supposed to play up the big and bad routine, but you haven't really done much research on me outside of this, have you?" Double D did nod, though. It wasn't like he didn't feel like boasting, and it would be good to keep both of Cerise's parents on their good sides. "It's not exactly mystical, but I'll start explaining."

"Excellent! I've heard so much, I actually can't wait." Mrs. Hood leaned down then, grabbing Ramona's cheek. "And dear, what have I said about threatening your sister's friends? I understand you want to help her, but that tends to do the exact opposite."

"Mom, not right in front of the guy." Ramona weakly swatted at her mother's hand but didn't exactly shy away from it. "And I only went overboard that one time. It did get me into reform school but still…"

"That guy was a bit of a creep, to be honest, but I think running after him and ripping the steering wheel out of his car was a bit much." Cerise looked to her dad. "Do we still have that, by the way? Or did someone confiscate it?"

"No, we still have it. Don't understand why both of you want to keep it as a trophy." Badwolf did seem amused by the memory, even if was doing his best to remain stern. "The fact that it's hung above the fireplace shouldn't be celebrated. I'm serious."

Double D watched the interactions with a raised eyebrow, finding it cute that the secret family was at least still somewhat normal. He may not have had siblings, but he figured this is what a healthy version of sibling relationship would look like. Same thing went for the parents.

Lucky them.

Double D blinked at the thought that crossed his mind, something coiling in his gut as he thought about it. He decided it probably was for the best he stopped thinking about it for now. He had a feeling that would lead down an ugly road.

Besides, there were other matters to attend to after this.

"You know, I get that there's a lot of steps to tea prep and all that," Clawdeen raised an eyebrow as she watched Maddie stir the tea. On the ceiling. "But does this batch really have to be made upside down?"

"It's a Wonderlandian recipe, so yes." Maddie hummed, the laws of gravity not having an effect on what she was doing whatsoever. "And trust me, messing up a Wonderlandian recipe usually ends with people injured, so I'd rather not mess this up."

"I guess I'd like to avoid that. Clawd's floundering out there." The werewolf peaked outside, watching as her parents, Hatter, and Dracula talked to the panicked forms of Clawd and Draculaura. "A little soon to meet the parents, honestly. I'd actually feel bad for bringing them here if they hadn't hidden their relationship."

"Are you really still on that? I thought you got over that arcs ago." Maddie got off the ceiling, moving toward the oven where she was baking some scones. "I think your parents thought the same thing earlier when you introduced me, Cerise, and Double D to them. Probably wondered if we were dating or something."

"Who was dating who in this situation? I'll admit to kinda liking guys, but I didn't always look at the fashion magazines because of the clothing designs." Clawdeen paused, embarrassed at how easily that slipped out. "You can forget that, right?"

"Nope! Besides, I swing every direction, in both sense of the word. My color scheme does kind of match the Pan flag." Maddie booped the other girl on the nose, getting some batter on it. Clawdeen was a little ashamed to admit she licked it off immediately. "Double D definitely likes girls. Cerise can't be straight either since she always blushes at the 'Oh Cerise' thing."

"Yeah, we haven't done that in a while. She might start getting too comfortable." Clawdeen chuckled before narrowing her eyes at Maddie. "You still haven't explained who my parents think I'm dating."

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know poly exists."

*Ahem*

The two girls looked at what they expected to be a rude customer, but it was just an awkward Daring doing his best to not look directly at them. It was clear he'd heard a good amount of that.

"Daring, what a surprise! I don't think I've ever seen you in here." Maddie put on her customer service personality, which really wasn't much different to her normal self. "Can I interest you in some green tea? It usually helps best after workouts."

"N- Actually, I might have some of that." Daring stated before shaking his head. "No, later. I actually wanted to talk to you two about something."

"We're not interested in dating right now, Charming. And you're not exactly my type either." Clawdeen sniffed before scrunching up her nose. "I can smell the hairspray on you, and that's not exactly a positive in most girls books."

"What- No! I wanted to talk to you about the Ed's! Or at least Eddy." Daring rubbed the back of his neck. "I was hoping to discover something that-"

"Daring, we're not helping you try to one up our friends. Besides, at this point, going up against Eddy is paramount to suicide." Maddie had lost all interest in the conversation, going back to her work. "Besides, trying too hard to get your popularity back will bite you in the butt."

"Last I checked, Eddy has a lot more tools compared to your swordplay." Clawdeen scoffed, helping Maddie again. "Double D is definitely smarter than you, and I'm pretty sure Ed would be unkillable in every sense of the word."

"Not to mention he hangs out with your girlfriend more than you."

"Alright, I get it! Look, all I want is one chance to do something here. I'm not going be in high school forever and I want to enjoy it as much as I can." Daring pointed at the two with narrowed eyes. "And Apple is my fiancé. That's completely different."

The two girls looked each other, not sure if that last statement made any sense. They decided to move past it, with Clawdeen just shaking her head.

"Look, Daring. I don't know a lot about you, but I think you're ok. Despite being a bit of a womanizer, you're an okay guy who actually does try to help when he can." The werewolf looked him in the eyes, honestly intimidating him a little bit. "Don't try and do something monumentally stupid here. The Ed's are decent people, and that even includes Eddy at his worst."

"You're just setting yourself up for failure here. Trust me, the narrative is not on your side here." Maddie was being genuine, if only having some amount of her wackiness wane. "I can't help but sense something is coming soon, and maybe you don't want to be in the blast zone for it."

Daring frowned, doing his best not to be frustrated by the situation. His own brother and sister said the same thing earlier and it felt like nobody was trying to help him out here.

"Fine. I'll figure out how to do something myself. I need to do something to get some attention back." Daring started to move out before stopping. "…Can I still have some of that green tea? To go, of course."

"I'll go make some." Maddie gave an exasperated look to Clawdeen as she moved to start a cup. "Just have to wait a few moments."

Clawdeen just waved the guy off to a table, wondering if the guy had a screw loose. Did every Legend outside of Maddie get like this? Apple was acting a bit cagey earlier, so that would explain some things.

Clawdeen was starting to think she lucked out having her parents. She couldn't even imagine wat the Ed's parents were like if they ended up here.

Raven had never been too familiar with what her mother would "The Other Family." Really, her mom had just meant Snow White and the rest, but her mother's feelings on the matter were made obvious before she got put into a mirror prison.

She liked Apple when she wasn't going on about destiny. But she was starting to get why her mother didn't like Snow White.

"Remember, dear, this is a once in a lifetime thing." Snow White had been hovering around her daughter all day. "I know things have gotten out of your control lately, but I'm sure after this, things will go on track again."

"Nothing is out of control, mother. Just a little touch and go, that's all." Apple denied. It was obvious that she was at least a little irritated by all of this. "I'm still at the top of my class, remember?"

"I'm really starting to understand Apple now, and I don't think I like it." Eddy mumbled to Raven, who just nodded in agreement. "What exactly is that living Barbie doll talking about?"

"We're heading down to Heritage Hall. It's where our parents put gifts they believe the next generation will use." Raven sighed, wondering what kind of atrocity her mother had planned on giving her. "It could be a whole lot of things, honestly. Probably just a hand me down weapon from my mother."

"Is she even supposed to be here then? Seems like she'd be giving away the surprise." Eddy relaxed as he could see the woman stop near the steps of the place, waving at her daughter as she left. "Thank god- hey, Princess! I'm starting to get why you're so wound up all the time."

"Oh, she's not always like that." Apple stopped, stumbling over her words a little. "Not that I mean her acting like that is annoying! It's just that she gets a bit intense when things aren't going the way they should."

"Well, she's a grown woman who needs to get with the program." Raven wouldn't have been so rude but hanging out with Eddy must've rubbed off on her. "I've seen her talk about modernity and everything. Think she would practice what she preaches."

The silence that came in after that was awkward, especially as Apple huffed at the rebuttal and Raven guiltily looked away. Eddy just rolled his eyes, not exactly sure how to break the silence as they moved up to the building.

When they finally made it to the entrance and were able to look inside, at least some of those bad feelings went away as they got a look at the inside of the place. Large stained-glass windows depicting each individual destiny, each section filled with different decorations and boxes.

Eddy almost felt excited before the cynical part of his mind had to remind him that this wasn't exactly for him. He didn't have a destiny to prepare for, which somehow hurt despite the fact this had been a scam from the start.

"You two can go on ahead and find your little gifts. I think I might stick back and enjoy the scenery for a while." He didn't want to explain why there wasn't anything for him to them if at all possible. "Once in a lifetime, right?"

"Well, I suppose you have a point there." Apple moved on ahead, Raven following behind. "I really hope mother didn't just leave some jewelry instead of something useful…"

"Don't cause too much chaos while we're gone!" Raven pointed at him with narrowed eyes, "I'm being serious, don't do anything too stupid."

"No promises!"

Raven just shook her head as Eddy cackled, turning to follow Apple again. Eddy just sighed before taking a stroll in a different direction, looking at all of the other places in passing. It didn't take long to come to find what could be considered a center piece to the place.

In the middle of the long hall, there was a giant book that was floating in the center of circular platform. He oozed magical energy from it, looking like the Book of Legends in its worn pages and general design. It felt ominous to Eddy, though he couldn't exactly tell why.

"Hey!"

Eddy turned to see Briar moving up to him somewhat hurriedly. Which was unusual since she wasn't exactly the type to rush anything. She waved a neck pillow at him with a sarcastic look on her face, raising an eyebrow.

"I hope you're going to get something much better than what I got. Seems a little morbid if you ask me." Briar looked at the giant book with some trepidation. "I've heard a lot of stories about the Storybook. Maybe don't touch that for now."

"Noted. Kinda surprised to see you here, honestly. Doesn't seem like your scene." Eddy smirked, though he was being truthful there. "Your parents drag you here too?"

"Not really. Just figured I might as well get this over with before the Thronecoming dance starts. Everyone's gotten pretty… festive." Briar sounded uncharacteristically underwhelmed at the thought of a party. It was actually almost concerning. "I've actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Make it quick. Not sure when Princess or Ray is coming back, and I don't think you'll want to stay around for the latest argument." Eddy raised an eyebrow, keeping a side eye on the Storybook. "I don't have much of a choice, so feel free to save yourself the trouble."

"Of course they're getting up in arms again with parents around. I've been doing my best to avoid Apple's mom." Briar looked at the Storybook too, laughing softly. Her face twisted as she thought of something. "Remember when you were kinda out of it and may have mentioned a few things about my destiny?"

Ah. Of course that was coming back to bite him.

"I wasn't exactly in the best place, but I can't say I wasn't lying to you at all at the time. It never made sense to me." Eddy gestured vaguely, though it showed his irritation. "One hundred years? I think you're story really does have the only bad consequence here that can't be solved that easily."

"It's not like I can really go against it. Faybelle and everyone else don't want to go against it either." Briar had been thinking about it for a long time, and she really didn't want to sleep for that long. She understood wanting a happy ending, but that seemed too bittersweet for her tastes. "Not to mention Apple and others aren't going to be happy about it."

"I'm going to tell you what I said to Ashlynn; Apple is a big girl." Eddy sighed, looking at Briar with an annoyed look. "Worst comes to worst, you can get the time limit changed, right? Revisions have worked before. If it didn't, Raven would technically be Apple's aunt."

"The problem with that is that it takes way too long to actually do anything about it, and the curse could happen at any time." Briar kept her hands close to herself, as if she expected a needle to shoot out at them. "If I see the spindle spinning and touch the needle, I'm gone. I'm literally cursed to make sure I try and touch it."

Eddy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. God why did drama always have to happen around him.

"Look, All I'm going to say is that you have a choice here. Whether you go Rebel or not isn't up to me, and it really shouldn't be." Eddy turned around, heading towards where Apple and Raven went. "You have options. I'd suggest trying everything before somebody else makes that choice for you."

Briar watched him go before taking one last look at the Storybook. She hadn't signed the Book of Legends yet, but that didn't mean doom wasn't on the horizon for her if she didn't do something about it.

She needed time to think. She didn't know if she actually had it, though.

You know, this chapter was fun to write, especially since I so stupidly got injured. Hopefully you all think it's good too.

Either way, I'll see you all next chapter!