Sorry that it took this long to get it out, but things started popping up in my personal life and it killed my motivation a bit. It isn't much, but it should be enough for now.

Either way, I hope you enjoy and you have a nice day!

Ghoulia had been reading the files whenever she had a spare moment of rest. While many of the writings were jumbled and out of order, it was easy to figure out the gist of it.

It didn't make it seem any less insane.

What Bloodgood and Giles were planning technically wasn't illegal, but it was risky enough to almost consider being dangerous to virtually all of supernatural kind. If they were planning on starting soon before headmaster disappeared, then maybe the disappearance happened for a different reason than anyone suspects.

And this was something she felt should be brought to everyone's immediate attention after they officially marked the place for the Well of Wonder.

"We're almost done, correct?" Ghoulia would almost be considered impatient right now, the uncharacteristic behavior catching attention quickly. "I can't think that something like this would take much longer."

"We have the path mapped out and a signal should be flaring up so some more official business can be done with it." Double D stated, sitting down onto a pile of large bricks. He smiled, though the look on the zombie's face dampened it. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"She's always got something on her mind. She's practically carrying half of our schools braincells." Clawdeen joked, crossing her legs as she looked over at what the zombie was holding. The files weren't with them before and the fact Ghoulia was holding on so tightly was enough to catch her interest. "Ghoul, maybe you should calm down. Those files will be confetti if you squeeze them even harder."

Ghoulia did force herself to relax. Clawdeen had made some slabs of unused concrete into rudimentary seats and table, which she put the files on. She tapped her fingers on the tables as everyone looked them over.

"Can anyone tell me what these are?"

"The Human Integration Project and the Broken Script Protocol?" Maddie picked the second one up, looking it over with a quizzical eye. She didn't notice Ed and Double D immediately straighten at the mention of the first. "Pretty weird titles. These look pretty official."

"Did you take these from Bloodgood's desk? It looks like her letterhead." Cerise fought the urge to hide project folder, knowing it would catch everyone's attention. She had a good idea on what this entailed. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't overlook taking some of her official documents."

"You found this in the room we were searching, didn't you?" Ed clenched and unclenched his fists, an exit strategy forming in his mind. He wasn't consciously aware he was doing it. "We should probably put those back. We don't even know what's in them."

"Technically, I already do. I've been reading through both of them, and I have to say, we have a lot to talk about." Ghoulia grabbed the project folder from Cerise's hands, pointing at it. "You want to know what Bloodgood, and Giles have planned? They're thinking about introducing humans into the schools."

Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard that, some taking the news worse than others. The Ed's themselves remained as quiet as they could be, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Clawdeen coughed, trying to break the silence that had descended on them.

"Uh, and? No offense, but that seems like something Bloodgood would want to do." Clawdeen kept a measured eyes on Double D as he squirmed and Ed as he shrunk. She couldn't have this happen now. "And you found that in the bargain bin, so it's most likely not something they wanted to do."

"I'd think that to if I that hadn't been the biggest folder I found in the pile that was in there. They have full on plans, procedures, and other ideas that they floated around with each other." Ghoulia flipped to a page, shoving it into everyone's faces. "Look! This one is how they plan on faking records if anyone decided to investigate on a teacher or student."

"And again, it was probably not put into place." Cerise pushed the book away from her, feeling twitchy. The zombie had never been this edgy before. "If anything, Giles vanishing probably killed the project."

"Yes! That makes a lot of sense. Why continue going forward without having one of the people in charge there to help things along?" Double D latched onto it, hoping that it would work. "And not to mention Bloodgood wouldn't necessarily take that kind of risk."

"It seems like she might have to if any of this is actually real." Maddie handed the protocol book over to Ed. "Look at what they wrote for some of this."

Ed read over the passage that Maddie had highlighted carefully, the unfamiliar handwriting catching his attention. It only took him a few lines to figure out what had made her worry.

"It says here that the Monster and Legend communities have been talking about revealing themselves." Ed read it over again, clearing his throat. "They started worrying after the internet started becoming popular and cameras started getting everywhere and are coming up with a plan just in case something breaks the masquerade."

"They plan on revealing themselves in ten years, and apparently Bloodgood and Giles knew about it when they made it official last year." Ghoulia slammed her hand on the makeshift table, eyes going around everyone frantically. "And absolutely no one has been told about that either. They're going to start the clock soon, and apparently they want to be prepared for it."

"How? Prepared how?" Clawdeen did have to admit that the masquerade break happening in her lifetime wasn't something she expected. But she'd have time to think about that later. "It doesn't make any sense for them to pull a bunch of humans into the school."

"Maybe Bloodgood tried with a human and that turned out to be Hellscream. She probably figured that he would be a good candidate but didn't know he was a monster hunter." Maddie latched onto the understandable, if still wrong, conclusion. "Or they could try to go for students. Young minds are impressionable."

"Okay, that would not go over well at all." Double D ignored the irony of that statement coming from him. He'd been doing well for participating in said plan after all. "Teenagers are way to chaotic to control. A ruse like that wouldn't work past a day."

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about teenagers like we aren't ones ourselves. Even if you got a point." Cerise did figure that was a sticking point to the plan Bloodgood hadn't considered. "Again, probably nothing to deal with. Worst case scenario, we'll just tell Bloodgood not to do it."

"You guys don't understand!" Ghoulia got up, pacing as she thought over every possible thing that could happen. With her intelligence, she came up with plenty. "No matter what, we're all going to be revealed! That should frighten you considering how humans have been in the past."

"…why are humans so bad?"

Everyone jumped at the sound of Ed's question. He got serious all of a sudden, and the fact he almost looked contemplative threw some of the people inside off.

"I mean, it's good to be prepared, right? If humans are going to figure out about everything, Bloodgood having a backup plan would be a good idea." Ed chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "We should be ready for anything. Who knows, someone might weaponize the secret thing and end up causing everything to go down."

"That isn't how this works. Humans have never dealt with the supernatural well, before or after their collective memory was wiped." Ghoulia started listing things off the top of her head. "There's the Salem witch trials, exorcisms, and virtually way too many things to count. Many of them weren't even due to actual supernatural causes, some were just natural process!"

"Ok, I think we're all getting a little heated. This is just a bunch of words written on paper. Bloodgood most likely hasn't done anything." Clawdeen was pretty sure they'd have to burn this stuff later so the headmistress wouldn't get into any trouble. "And maybe avoid the diatribe…"

"It's not a diatribe! I'm just saying, this is all too risky. And if any of it is true, then we don't have a choice but to roll with it." Ghoulia didn't want to live through what was going to be a massive mess like the masquerade break. She'd seen simulations about this, knew how the numbers fell. "We're outnumbered too. We don't stand a chance if they decide to go to war."

"It's the 21st century! I'm sure that wouldn't be their first idea." Cerise could see Double D and Ed getting more upset as everything went on. "It's going to be rough; we might need to actually look at the positive side here."

"Right! All we have to do is look at the positives. Really like this change in attitude today." Maddie hoped it would carry through before someone had a breakdown. "We also have a quite a few things to do right now, so maybe we should move on-"

"Are we really not going to talk about this? I get that the Book of Legends is important, but this goes beyond that." Ghoulia felt like she was being ignored, and that wasn't the only time she felt that today. Nobody was telling her anything, people trying to get out of this, it was all piling up. "Humans can't find out about us. That's how it- Ed?"

The zombie's indignant rage dissipated when she saw Ed looking withdrawn and obviously... well, down. He did give her a look, hiding anger and obvious distress as he scooped up the papers.

"Maddie's right. We have to keep looking right now so we can find the book." Ed didn't leave any room for discussion, already heading towards the next section they were going to investigate. "Let's go. I'm not waiting for anyone else."

The tone caused everyone to flinch, and the uncharacteristic behavior wasn't something they could just sweep under the rug. Double D jumped up, moving where Ed went.

"I'll go make sure he's okay. He's probably just getting frustrated on how long the search is taking." Double D waved it off, laughing tinnily. "We usually get this stuff done by now! Hard not to get a little stressed."

The lie wasn't a good one and they figured it was only to make Ghoulia feel better. It didn't exactly work.

The zombie was doing her best to figure out what she said wrong as Clawdeen moved beside her, patting her on the back.

"I don't know if you realize it now, but you kinda screwed up there. But I don't think you did it too badly." Clawdeen figured that Ghoulia wouldn't want anyone to lie to her. It would just be insulting her intelligence. "I'd probably start looking for some new comics for him sooner rather than later."

"What did I even say that was wrong? Ed isn't unintelligent, he knows the risks." Ghoulia truly didn't. She usually had all the answers and yet every time she dealt with Ed, something else would come around and mystify her more. "I'm not the only once concerned about this, right?"

"Yeah, you're not. But don't worry. If things work out after this, you won't have to wonder about anything. Just..." Clawdeen struggled on how to phrase it before just shaking her head. "Just make sure to have an open mind. Just trust me on this."

"...Okay. I will."

"Good." Clawdeen turned, moving for Cerise and Maddie to get up and follow. "Come on, girls, we need to make sure those two don't get lost. We both know how Ed can get, even with a map."

"Yeah. You got it." Cerise was really puzzled by what Clawdeen said to Ghoulia but figured that she'd explain later. She could trust her on that. "Maddie, lead the way."

"Goodie, I'll be the bloodhound today." Maddie instinctively knew where to go, bouncing off. "If only it was that easy to find the book."

The last one to leave was Ghoulia, who was still dazed from the surprisingly emotional conversation. She hoped that Clawdeen was right about things finally getting explained at the end of all of this. The Book of Legends was also still top priority, so they couldn't dilly-dally any more than they'd already have.

The wait was already beginning to kill her.

Everyone that had joined up in the Labyrinth search party were able to find one lead so far, which was better than they could've hoped for. Of course, not everyone believed that it was as significant as anyone thought.

"I don't really think this is anything too significant." Daring looked over a granola bar wrapper with skepticism, turning it over once or twice. "It's just some ration that some animal probably got to."

"Daring, just- just listen to me." Apple's patience was admittedly running a bit thin, no that she'd admit it out loud. She took the wrapper back from him, pointing at it with a stern look on her face. "If an animal opened this, it would be torn to shreds. This one looks like it was opened by someone with opposable thumbs. That's proof someone is down here, and we need to find them."

"Jeez, even Apple is starting to lose patience with him. Maybe we should've brought Hunter along instead." Briar watched with open fascination as her longtime friend seemed to slowly lose it over Daring's stupidity. "I'm sure he would've tracked down the litterbug in half an hour."

"I'm starting to think I'm doing those two a favor if I'm the only one not letting them get their happy ending together. Doesn't look like Apple would be happy for too long." Raven found that to be an excellent positive. Heck, Apple might be more flexible if the engagement breaks off. "Who do you think she'd go after if this didn't work out somehow?"

"Not sure. She seems pretty attached to a by-the-book prince, so she might have to widen her horizons." Cleo thought it over before shaking her head. "Yeah, she's doomed if she doesn't find another one. I think Daring is all she's got if she wants to stay in the typical formula."

"You are making me feel way too sorry for Princess right now, so please stop." Eddy looked into another hallway, stopping as he noticed a few more wrappers on the ground. "Hey, maybe you two could stop arguing and get a move on! Whoever's down here left a trail!"

"We're not arguing-"

"Thank goodness. Feel free to lead the way." Apple didn't waste any time heading towards the hall, grabbing Eddy by the arm as well. "You wouldn't happen to have a tracking spell memorized, right?"

"If I did, we wouldn't be having this problem. I'm pretty sure they don't exist either if we haven't found the book by now." If they did, then some actual professionals would've done this hours ago. At least he got to see Charmless's offended face. "I'm really starting to understand why you two don't hang out much."

"We hang out plenty! We just have our own things to do most of the time. It's not like our families don't have dinner together occasionally." Apple didn't seem to notice the others shaking their heads before they fell into casual conversation. "We'll have the rest of our lives to get to know each other after our story ends."

"Getting to know each other doesn't mean falling in love. I'm pretty sure most cases of that end with them hating each other's guts." Eddy patted Apple on the back as she deflated from the comeback. "Just giving you fair warning, Princess. If you actually want a happy ending, it actually has to be happy for it to count."

"Says the villain of his own story." Apple did pause to think about what story he actually fit into, but only shook her head. "I appreciate the concern, I suppose. But Daring isn't a bad person, so you shouldn't be afraid for me."

"I'm not afraid. I'm just saying, you should consider the idea of a substitute in case you realize you can't stand him." Eddy flicked a finger on lazily, checking her reaction. She only shrugged at him, which was enough of a go ahead for him. "Speaking of substitutes in stories, I was wondering-"

"Hey, does anybody hear that?"

The interruption from Cleo nearly caused Eddy to trip over his words and his own feet. He turned to give the mummy a glare before stopping himself. Pervading the silence that came over the room, he could've sworn that he heard… a typewriter?

The clacking of keys made everyone move slowly so that they could continue to hear it, but quick enough to actually make some progress towards it. The trill of it resetting caused them to grow bolder until they could see a light at the end of a hallway, too artificial to be the sun.

They came to a stop when they arrived at a more serene scene.

Surrounded on all sides by wooden walls was a room fashioned to be an office and living area, with a decent number of furnishings. Most if not all the furniture was made of wood, the metal typewriter where an old man sat being the only exception. The man himself wore slightly ragged, but formal, clothing, completed by books surrounding him and an outcropping of gray hair that stood up behind him.

Briar just raised an eyebrow, giving everyone a brief look before clearing her throat. "Uh, hello?"

The old man almost leaped from his seat, hitting his knee on the bottom of his desk. He was quick to start muttering curses, which honestly made everyone relax. That was at least some familiar behavior.

"Jeez, give a man a heart attack, why don'cha?" Eddy snickered before giving the old man a long look. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm pretty sure Milton wouldn't like squatters in the school. Unless you're meant to be here."

"If penguins dance on Sundays, do preachers tell them no?" The man got up from his desk, grumbling that amount of nonsense with a straight face somehow. "They let them dance until early morning."

Eddy blinked, wondering if he just had a stroke. "What?"

"Oh god, he's speaking Riddlish." Raven pinched the bridge of her nose, groaning. "It's a Wonderlandian language where they only speak in riddles. It's generally hard to figure out and I'm pretty sure Maddie is the only one that knows how to speak it."

"Oh, come now, I'm sure it isn't that complicated. If we just put our heads together, we can come up with a rough translation." Daring stuck out a hand, sword rested on his shoulders. "It's nice to meet you, sir! We've come to ask a few questions if you don't mind."

"Ah, questions. Few nuggets found in the dirt are worth gold." The old man leaned forward, squinting as he looked over the boy. "Sparkling smiles are blinding and used as masks. Apples certainly don't fall from trees."

Daring just nodded, immediately turning around with the same smile on his face. "I didn't get any of that."

"This has to be some kind of curse. I'm guessing you wouldn't normally talk like this?" Apple received a nod from the man, causing her to perk up. "You didn't have to speak that time! It's only a verbal curse then. All we have to do is give yes or no questions until we can get a reliable translator."

"Or we could root around through most of this guy's stuff. Don't know if it works in writing." Eddy could only guess whoever made the curse didn't think it through. Obviously not someone well versed in magic. "Though, you mind us asking a few questions before we start? Nod for yes, shake your head for no?"

The rules being set made the old man clap in happiness. It seemed he didn't have many visitors, judging from his state of dress, along with not controlling his own looks. And honestly, the state of the place looked to be controlled chaos.

"Are you trapped down here as well? It doesn't look like you've been keeping house all that well." Cleo received a huff and nod. It wasn't a far-off description since the place was a mess. "How, though? That doesn't make sense. There are plenty of ways to get in and out of here and it would be easy to make a map."

The man paused before holding a finger up to make them wait. He grabbed a piece of paper, setting it on the table so they could all see it. He started drawing a simple looking maze with multiple ways out, briefly pointing on it before adding more to it. He started crossing out previous entrances and exits, making new ones before giving them a look.

"And he's cursed on that front too. Fantastic." Raven sighed. She did give the man a once over, a thought occurring as something about him rang a little too familiar. "Are... Are you Giles Grimm? Did your brother do this to you?"

The old man looked startled at the question, but he hesitantly nodded. The man- no, Giles- didn't seem to want to say it, even if there was a possibility he could have done so in plain English.

"Oh. That's good. I mean, it isn't good that you're stuck here, it's good to know that you're okay and why you've been gone!" Apple felt that information sink in, knowing her headmaster had done something... well, something like this. It was honestly frightening. "Can you show us why he put you down here? We also need to find the Book of Legends too."

Giles pointed at the books stacked onto the table, all looking to be handmade. Some of them were labeled as research notes and others more focused on magic. The pile was high, causing everyone to mentally groan at the thought of going through them all.

"Books. It's always books that have to try and kill me." Eddy picked one up anyway, grumbling all the while. He opened it, happy to find that none of it was in the same Riddlish that Giles was being forced to speak. "At least we can probably get Milton fired after this. That's what I'm aiming for personally."

Everyone reached for something fairly quickly, keeping an eye on Giles in the meantime. Just because he was cursed doesn't mean he couldn't possibly be lying, though they knew that it would be easy to check. Apple even sent a message to Ghoulia to properly do so just in case. Then again, who would imprison someone inside a school?

Giles himself looked around at the students and sighed deeply, wondering if they knew what they were getting into. They weren't just walking around and messing with all of this on impulse, right? He hoped that wasn't the case. If he was right about who was messing with things around here, he wouldn't want to have some children caught in the crossfire.

He looked towards the mirror with a glare that none of the kids caught, having it dissipate as he glimpsed at Raven. He hadn't met her before, but he could already see her parentage as clear as day. She'd be the most effected if things turned out like he thought they would.

Despite those thoughts, though, Giles would realize that he wasn't entirely correct about the situation. Maybe later he'd realize he jumped the gun, but things would get complicated long before then.

Things should get better in the next chapter. Hopefully they'll come out on time, right?

I'm also planning on starting another story that I'll publish once a month. It'll be a BNHA x Persona 5 thing, so if you like that, feel free to ask about it in the reviews.

Thank you and I hope to see you next chapter.