Finally! I was able to get this thing published. Sorry for the long wait, I do have an explanation for later. Hopefully you guys were at least slated with the side stuff beforehand.

I'll see you at the end of the chapter!

Double D wouldn't call this an interrogation, but if Eddy didn't back off from Alistair within the next few minutes, it might as well be. And Eddy was making it work as the bad cop.

"What do you mean you just 'found it?' You don't just find random magical artifacts like as if they came off the street." Eddy's hands twitched. He couldn't believe the Book of Legends was found already. He barely started his experiments. It wasn't fair for it to be found now. "This is one of the most powerful books in the world, and it was lying in a puddle?"

"I keep telling you, man, that's how we found it! It's not rocket science." Alistair was keeping his own, but seeing a maniac nearly spitting magic, ready to tear your throat out was not a fun thing to be greeted by. "I didn't even know it was missing in your world, with the cruddy internet we seem to be getting."

"That- that is true. We were on a treasure hunt and ended up striking gold." Bunny could hear Eddy's neck crack as his head snapped to her. It was very off-putting. "Then the Cheshire Cat got her hands on it, and we ended up here. Honest!"

"I think maybe it's about time we get Eddy away from them. I'd like to spend some time with old friends before they're transmuted into frogs." Maddie said it as a joke, but Double D could tell she was a little serious. "Or he lights the building on fire with the book inside. Can't have him destroying it for his own means."

"I'm sure he wouldn't do something like that. Not with so many witnesses around." Double D was sure of that part at least. The two hadn't let go of the book, obviously wanting to get it to the proper authorities, and he was sure Eddy would at least try to take it first. He was glad to be watching it from a distance at least. "Kitty, does all of that sound like something your mother would do?"

"Sounds about right, to be honest. I'm pretty good at coming up with some schemes, but mom is honestly top tier." Kitty was happy to see the two, but a lot less happy it was due to this. "Though, she only does this type of thing when she has a reason for it. Messing with people is one thing, but she's messing with the actual Book of Legends. That's- that's a little out of her comfort zone."

"Well, we at least have it now. If that's the real thing, of course." Clawdeen was ready to tackle Eddy down if things got ugly, but she hoped she wouldn't have to. She nudged Maddie, still keeping an eye on the frantic movements of the boy. "Cerise should be getting the other Wonderlandian's in soon. They'll want to hear this too, I'm sure."

"Good. I don't think I'd want to face Lizzie if she was left in the dark about all this. 'Off with your head' this and 'I'll take away your tea set if you don't stop letting Earl Grey eat my dresses' that." Maddie huffed fondly. "She'll be happy about this, though, so we won't have to worry about it."

"Fine by me." Double D put his fingers to his mouth and whistled sharply, cutting off Eddy before he could get any crazier. It wasn't their fault they'd found it after all. "Eddy, lay off. They only did what they thought they were supposed to do. And if you two wouldn't mind, we can hand the book off to Giles Grimm from here."

Alistair gave him a look, but he did hand over the book carefully to Eddy. On the other boy's part, he didn't snatch it, but still firmly taking it away to give a once over. He frowned as he felt it over.

"This feels weird." Eddy didn't know why, but he figured the Book of Legends would be a lot heavier. Could be magic, though something about the stuff around it didn't show it that way. "I don't know why, but it feels weird."

"It is one of the oldest magical artifacts that's currently known. It isn't going to be a paperweight." Alistair had remarked sarcastically, only to receive a glare from the other boy again. "And you said you'll turn this into the authorities now?"

"As soon as possible. I'll admit, this is pretty anticlimactic. I thought there'd be an entire search, some weird epic quest for it." Clawdeen didn't necessarily want that to happen, but somehow this felt like a letdown. Still, never a good idea to look a gift horse in the mouth. "…why was it in Wonderland, though?"

"That's an excellent question. It must've appeared there recently, though, if it was able to be found so quickly." Double D was hesitant to say that aloud. The Evil Queen was an element they could rely on not being a problem due to her current imprisonment. Another party being at work was a more frightening. "At the very least, it doesn't matter since whoever tried to send it over failed. If you wouldn't mind, Eddy-"

"Uh, wait!" Bunny raised a hand, waving it nervously as he eyes drifted back to the book. "Shouldn't we check it first before we do anything with it? Kitty's mom- and I don't mean any offense by this- might've cursed it."

Everyone did stop and give the book a pensive look, with Kitty actually looking down at it with visible hesitation. That did sound like something her mom would do just to put one final prank on someone.

"Yeah, I wouldn't open it just yet." Maddie remembered so many stories from her father that mentioned something involving Cheshire's pranks. Not all of them were wholesome or childish. "Eddy you mind doing your thing with it? I don't want to deal with skin that itches on the inside, thank you. Once was enough."

"I said I was sorry!" Kitty huffed as she crossed her arms. No one wanted to know what that was, even if Eddy was tempted to ask for that curse himself.

With a sigh, Eddy's hands lit up, floating the book away from him before focusing on any magic around the tome. A standard magical scan did show that something was obviously attached to the book, as if it had been almost soaked into it completely. Eddy had to bite back a growl, knowing that there was something deeply wrong with it.

That was before he noticed a smaller, but more surface level spell.

"Okay, first things first; this thing is cursed like there's no tomorrow." Eddy didn't know what that said about the Book of Legends, but that was how it felt. "But there is a simpler spell around it and- you know what, let me just pull a thread here."

Eddy didn't listen to the sound of protests coming his way, mentally reaching out for the spell, and wrenching at it. It held firm at first, but he could get a better feel as the book seemed to flicker. Another book took its place for a second, prompting him to pull on the spell even harder on instinct. It felt like he was pulling off a sheet off a table without disturbing its contents.

With a flash, the Book of Legends turned into a much smaller, black book that had silver etchings on the cover. It was intricate and weirdly beautiful, silver vines going along the edges while the image of a crow with wings spread seemed to almost ready to fly out of the center of the book. It looked directly forward, and it gave the effect of something scowling.

"…Are you kidding me?!"

Alistair was the one to break first, falling to his knees in anguish. He started to curl up in a little ball, covering his face with his hands.

"She switched them out." Bunny patted her friend on the head, still looking at the book with utter contempt. "Of course she did. I can't believe her."

"I can. This sounds exactly like something my mom would do for fun." Kitty meant it. Her mom could be a cold-hearted genius when she wanted to. "This is utterly hilarious."

"Yes, absolutely. I'm laughing on the inside." Double D wondered if it would be too late to get another session with Carmine. "That book does look familiar, though. Not exactly the same design, but…"

"Raven might know more about it. At least, I hope she does." Maddie heard a beep, watching closely as Clawdeen picked out her phone and made a face. "Something up?"

"Nah. Looks like something's going down at Monster High. You'd think it'd be a school event, but no." Clawdeen put her phone away, sighing deeply. "Ed texted me to come help with something. Don't have too much fun while I'm away."

Clawdeen figured things were going to be fine here. Maybe Monster High would be a good way to decompress.

…She was wrong. This was somehow way worse. She wanted to go back to the cursed book and Kitty's mom insanity.

"I honestly didn't know she was planning this. I'm being truthful here." Clawd looked ready to panic further as Clawdeen raised an eyebrow. "This was as big of a surprise to me as it is to you."

"I don't even know how she took my phone." Ed was pretty impressed with that. The first they'd learned on the road was how to spot a pickpocket at any time of the day. "Think she'd be willing to do a job or two for us if we asked?"

"We're not the heads of a criminal organization, so I don't think we need those skills just yet." Ghoulia raised a finger as Clawd was ready to open his mouth. "And yes, I know how that sounds since we broke into a government building that one time."

"No one needs to worry about where their phones are located. They're right where they need to be." Draculaura clasped her hands together in order to properly beg. "Now, Clawdeen, I know that you're angry, but I really don't think you have anything to lose by doing this."

The 'this' that she was referring to was the sign above the door to the creepateria… with the words "Speed Dating" printed upon it. Draculaura made sure to stand in front of the sheet showing that Clawdeen had reportedly signed up to do the entire course. Of course, it wasn't in her handwriting, but that didn't matter that much.

"Oh, I have nothing to lose? I can name three things off the type of my head." Clawdeen counted them off on her fingers, smiling with fangs to make sure her teeth were shown off. "My patience, my dignity, my temper-"

"I would say this is a departure from how she was since we last saw each other, but I think that would be considered a lie." Valentine seemed oddly calm as he watched this display, raising an eyebrow at the argument. "I think she tried something like this, and it didn't work either."

"Don't start." Clawdeen pointed a finger at the boy's face, causing him to quiet down. She didn't have any patience for a would-be playboy right now. "Draculaura, try and fix this or at least put me at the bottom of the list. I will tear someone a new one if they start getting cheeky, and that'll be on your head."

"Alright, fine! I'll see what I can do." Draculaura grabbed Clawd's arm as she moved back into the room. "I need some muscle, though. You'd be surprised how desperate some of these guys are."

"Yeah… wait a minute, you were going to set them up with my sister." Clawd tried to stop, but he was being dragged out either way. "If you already knew that, why would…"

His voice trailed off, and everyone watched them go silently. Valentine looked around awkwardly, realizing he was now stuck in the hallway alone with the other three without Draculaura as a buffer. He cleared his throat, ready to say something witty to win them over-

"Sit."

Valentine blinked, looking down at the werewolf in front of him. She was pointing behind him, a stern glare across her features. He spared a glance to see that a chair was indeed behind him, though where it came from, he wasn't sure.

"I beg your pardon-"

"Ed."

The big guy was surprisingly fast, as he felt the chair suddenly shoved into the back of his knees, causing him to fall into it. He let out an inelegant shout as he fell into it, and he was met face to face with Clawdeen as she had summoned a chair of her own. Ghoulia was standing beside her with a clipboard, and he could still feel Ed standing behind him.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions. I'd suggest answering them quick since Draculaura won't be busy for all that long." Clawdeen didn't bother wasting time. "What intentions do you have with my friend, and how much do I need to tell you not to even try?"

"I don't believe I understand what you're asking." Valentine had already settled more into a casual act, but he clearly was uncomfortable. "This must be a misunderstanding. I haven't been trying anything-"

"You've brought up previous dates with Draculaura in front of Clawd, have shown some affection to her, and have generally pretended me, Ed and Clawd don't exist," Ghoulia had a list of these incidents in front of her, checking off some as she said it. "Some of this can be written off as being nostalgic, but it is rude to ignore your ex's new boyfriend."

"He's feeling a bit uncomfortable, okay? It isn't really you; it isn't really Draculaura, but we want to make sure." Ed put his hands on Valentine's shoulders, causing the boy to jump. "Or tell you to stop. Depends entirely on your answer."

"Alright." Valentine had to remember he was sitting in front of three dangerous people, and they obviously weren't pleased with his behavior. "I can understand why you would… construe that type of behavior as scummy, but-"

There was a loud growl coming from Valentine, though not the feral kind. Everyone had to pause as they heard his stomach growl, much to his immediate embarrassment.

"…I'm starving right now." Valentine licked his lips, adjusting his glasses until they were presentable again. "As an emotional vampire my way of feeding is a lot more complicated than drinking from blood bags. I do have some pills that are good substitutes, but I've been busy and didn't have time to take them."

"Ah. I didn't factor that into account." Ghoulia was an expert in many things, but Valentine's specific nature wasn't one of them. "I'm not that well versed in how emotional vampire's work, but I suppose that would make sense."

"Right. I do apologize for my behavior, and I will aim to correct this. It's been a while since I've fed, so I should probably just… go." Valentine was able to finally get up and move as Ed let off the pressure. "I promise when I come back, I'll be in a more appropriate mood."

"…Okay, fine by me." Clawdeen figured she'd let him go for now. It wasn't like they could legally trap him here after all. "Bathroom's right over there if you need some water. Take your time if you need to."

Valentine simply nodded and walked off at a brisk pace. The three let him go out of earshot before making some final notes.

"Do you think he could've been lying?" Ed wasn't entirely sure himself. If that was a performance, it was a pretty convincing one. "You can't really fake something like that without being really dedicated to the performance."

"We don't know enough about emotional vampires to say he's lying. That's not something you can say without risking a lot." Clawdeen was dissatisfied, but it'd be convenient. And she'd be happy with that for once. "Honestly, I'm more worried about the speed dating thing right now."

"Ah. Right. Do you have a plan for that, or would you be partial to some sabotage?"

"Relax. I know a few people…"

Valentine had made it to the bathroom before anyone could see him stumbling around and accuse him of being drunk. He wasn't, but he couldn't afford attention like that just yet.

The boy's bathroom was deserted, and as he took off his glasses enough to see his fallow face, he couldn't be more appreciative. His hands grasped his phone, dialing the most recent number, and nearly slammed it into his face.

"Pick up." He hissed, biting out the words. The rings were giving him a headache and he almost destroyed he phone in his rage. "Dammit, I swear to every vampire lord that has and will exist, if you don't pick up the phone-"

He slammed his hand onto one of the sinks, cracking the ceramic. Valentine flinched, the shock of it snapping him out of his anger. He licked his lips as the rings finally turned into a connection.

There was a moment of silence as a deep breath was heard on the other side. The speaker only said one word.

"Valentine."

Said boy scowled at the greeting. He pursed his lips and spat the man's name back.

"Stoker." Valentine stated. "We need to have a talk."

Sink or swim. Apple had been thinking on it, and she hated that. It was effecting her work and it was clear as to how and why.

Raven being around as a physical reminder of that fight wasn't making anything better.

"Apple, you're writing on the clipboard. We're done with the forms, so you can stop writing your name."

Apple did stop, looking down at the defaced clipboard with a grimace. At least Briar was trying to keep her steady through this.

"Sorry." She handed it off to Briar, rubbing at one of her eyes. She felt so tired, and there was still so much of the day to go through. "I'll get a new one before we head out to the next thing. Maybe we can put that in the auction since autographs sell high there."

"Yeah, those weirdos will do a lot for your signature." Briar was planning to throw it away to keep it away from said weirdos. She carefully put into the nearest trash can before giving Raven the side eye. "I'm starting to think I should keep you guys apart. She seems to get worse every time you guys have a fight."

"Yeah, that's fair. Though, we are trying to work on it." Raven watched as Apple nearly wrote on her arm this time, only catching herself last minute. "As it turns out, Eddy and Apple are very vicious people when they're both angry. Ever seen that before?"

"It's been a very long time, but maybe once or twice? It'd be interesting to see how he's able to get her like this if it wasn't for the result." It was interesting. Apple wasn't static, but it did take a lot for her to change herself, or at least think something over. She was stubborn like that. "She's been talking about destiny a lot to herself lately too. Something about swimming too."

"That's… probably a good thing?" Raven figured at least Apple was thinking about Eddy's words. If Eddy was giving that same consideration, then maybe it would be a cinch to at least get some reconciliation. "Anything specific outside of that?"

"Not really. Or, at the very least, nothing I wanted to talk about myself." Briar had heard plenty of questions that she herself wasn't willing to ask herself. That and she knew she'd slip. If she dared to talk too long… "I just- destiny has become really complicated for me lately and I don't think I'd be able to help."

Raven raised an eyebrow at that. Briar wasn't the staunchest Royal, but it had been clear where her loyalties were. Then again, her behavior had been pretty shaky as of late.

"Having some doubts about sleeping for 100 years?" Raven noted a flinch, and her eyes shift away. Not the reaction she'd been expecting. "Sorry, it was just- I don't know you that well, but whatever's happening with us is apparently infectious."

"Maybe. I might have brought up a few complaints to my family about how maybe we can lower the number a little bit." Briar had done that. She still had mixed feelings about that conversation. "And my mom agreed with me."

After she threw the book in the well, she was able to get together with her family for a brief amount of time. Unlike everyone else, they were instantly able to tell that something was wrong and hadn't left her alone for too long. Everyone had assumed that it was the book being missing (a half-truth), and Briar had jumped on it. She had brought up her doubts, and out of all possible things to happen, most of her family agreed with her.

That should've been great. The book being missing gave them time, something her mom and dad had pointed out. And wow, did that make everything she did so much worse, despite it being exactly what she wanted.

"That's actually great. My dad is pretty supportive of what's going on with me, even if my mom isn't." Raven took that as a good sign. She figured Briar didn't want to bring it up with Apple since it would've touched a nerve between the two, especially since it was almost like the situation with Ashlynn. "I get it. Apple probably can't deal with that right now either, but I do think she'd support that. One thing at a time, though."

Or maybe it should never be brought up. Not like Apple would approve of her throwing the Book of Legends away to never be seen again.

"I'm not sure if that's going to work out."

Briar jumped out of her skin at the sound of Cerise's voice. Despite wearing such an extravagant dress, she was apparently a master at stealth.

"Cerise?" Apple seemed to snap out of her work induced trance long enough to note that something was out of place. "You're supposed to be getting ready for the parade. What are you even doing here?"

"I promise I'll get to that, but we're facing some bigger problems right now." Cerise waved around a book with a surprising amount of dismissal. "I have some good news and some bad news; we may know where the Book of Legends is."

The statement cut off every thought going through everyone's heads short. Briar was the first to say something, a blank look on her face.

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to confirm anything outright, but we did get some info that it might be Wonderland. People came through the well and it's a long story after that." Cerise handed off the book to Apple, who hadn't moved since the announcement was made. "We could be wrong, so if you want to check that out yourself, you can go where Eddy texted you to go. I have a thing I apparently need to be at for Monster High for."

"Oh my god, it's in Wonderland!?" Raven was excited for a few moments before she remembered what the latter part of that statement meant. "Oh my god. It's in Wonderland."

Raven teleported out almost instantly, making Apple and Cerise wince. Cerise was already planning to walk off before Apple grabbed her.

"You're sure that it's there?" Apple's intensity, something that had been missing all day, took Cerise back. "Someone at least recognized it for what it was. You're sure?"

"As sure as we can be. We'll be able to confirm a lot more later." Cerise didn't want to get her hopes up too high, after all. It all could've been a wash for all she knew. "Look, don't get too excited. Maybe you can even take this as a chance to talk to Eddy and-"

Cerise's phone rang and she looked down at her pocket briefly. She smiled awkwardly before slipping out of Apple's grasp, waving her phone at her. Apple did let her go, knowing she must've been in a rush.

"Briar, you heard that, right? We can actually sign the book this time!" Apple turned around to face her friend, eyes beginning to sparkle. "We don't have to worry about disappearing or losing out on our…"

Apple realized she was talking to empty air where Briar used to be. Wilting, she realized that she was now alone again, and she didn't have anything to show for it.

"Didn't even bother saying goodbye." She didn't know who specifically she was talking about, but it applied to everyone. She understood the urgency, but something in her twisted at how casually they did it. "…At least everything is going back to normal."

Except that wasn't exactly true. The Ed's were still human to her knowledge, and Eddy wasn't going to give up on his pursuit of changing it. The book was still out of their reach, and that meant Eddy had a chance of doing that. And that meant she also didn't have a chance to claim her role either.

"You going to learn to swim? Or are you going to let the current drag you down?"

Apple reflexively shivered. Eddy really knew how to leave an impact.

Forcing herself off of that topic to avoid risking another depressive trance, she fiddled with the book Cerise had handed her. It looked ominous, but the warning signs didn't register in her overworked brain. The bird on it was intimidating, but almost beautiful.

"With your personality, you're a better villain then Raven ever could be."

Apple's curiosity won over, and with a flick of her wrist, she opened the cursed book.

Alright, I hope you enjoyed that. I do apologize for taking so long to come back again, but there's been a lot going on lately.

As for what happened, it's relatively simple; things at my work imploded on itself. Basically some changes in management occurred and this meant some changes in how we do things and some new projects people weren't thrilled about, which resulted in some people quitting. New people were hired, then other people quit, and it was all a mess for a while so I didn't have much free time. Even when I did have free time, it was spent either too tired to write or didn't want to spend it writing (as it's a big part of my job). This resulted in me not posting anything to my big fics for literal months until now.

I can't guarantee that things will be updating on the regular once again, but I'm working on it. I need to post to the other two fics and say the same thing too as well. But here's to hoping that it works better this time. Make sure to keep an eye on my side fics and my tumblr in case I post anything. I've been getting into Hero Forge and making some playlists again, with some creations I made listed below. I hope to see you guys more in the future!

Blending In Hero Forge: the-helpless-lemon/702970644775796736/i-decided-to-see-what-hero-forge-was-all-about-and

Mutated Ectoplasm Hero Forge: the-helpless-lemon/703045308749414400/alright-i-decided-to-make-more-fanfic-based