So this is pretty much an OC-centric fic. However, existent canon characters, seen or mentioned, still belong to their creators.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Inwell
"Great tidings, Inwell Islanders, this is Chuck Avery reporting to you on 'The Chuck Station.' The sun's clear, the waters are still scalding, and it's the perfect time for tourists trappers to open up shops and attractions for-"
Emily Tricks smashed her radio before she sat up in bed. She stretched out, then stepped out of bed and looked around her bedroom. While it was very plainly decorated, what made it hers was her collection of knick-knacks. Some were on her dresser, others on her windowsill.
Emily walked over to a mirror and checked herself. She removed her nightcap and let her hair fall down. Her black hair was now filled with streaks of red from her bangs to the end of her hair. Her sleepwear consisted of a white short top and black bell bottom pants with white swirl patterns around. She glanced at her lion Palisman, Pretty, and saw that he was still sleeping on her bed. She chose not to disturb him.
She started to get dressed, trading her sleepwear for a black and white striped short-sleeve shirt, gray pants, and beige sandal heels. By the time she finished getting dressed, she heard a knock on her front door and she went to answer it, spotting a certain pair of young witch boys…
"Hiya, Emily," Cups waved to her.
"Cups, Mugs," Emily responded. "What can I do for you two?"
"Well, we were wondering if you'd like to have breakfast with us and Grandpa Kettle before we go to work," Mugs said to her.
"Yeah, figured that you'd prefer eating with us over eating alone," Cups added.
Emily looked down at the two, considering the offer. Honestly, it would be a nice change of pace.
"You know, I would like that," Emily said with a nod.
The two brothers smiled.
"Great! You won't regret it!" Cups shouted.
"Gramps makes the best griffin eggs and flippyjacks we know!" Mugs added.
Later, in the Holder's apartment next door to Emily's, Emily sat down to have breakfast with them.
"Glad you decided to join us for breakfast, Emily," Kettle told her while holding up a syrup bottle. "Would you like more syrup?"
"Yes, please," Emily replied with a polite smile before taking a bite from the flippyjacks she had heard about. "Mmm, these are good, sir. You really know how to make good pancakes."
"Flippycakes, actually. Trademark pending," Kettle reminded her.
"See? We toldja they were good," Cups said as they all ate breakfast.
"So what are all of your plans for the day?" Kettle asked them.
"Eh, more work," Mugs said with a shrug.
"Yeah," Emily responded. "Our job as delivery witches keeps us pretty busy, but I am looking for another job to do on the side."
"If it's a side hustle ya need, maybe you can do street performin'," Cups suggested. "I can help you with that if ya want, Emily."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm thinking of something that would fit with my skills," Emily said while looking down on her sigil.
"Well, if ya lookin' for some use for yer talent, maybe try the circus," Cups suggested.
This piqued Emily's interest. "What do you mean by that, Cups?"
"Well, after my last delivery yesterday, I noticed a big tent being set in an open field near the shopping district," Cups said. "A big tent means the circus must be in town."
"Cool," Mugs replied before he turned to Emily. "You ever been to the circus, Emily?"
"Well, I do remember going once… with my sister," Emily mentioned, frowning as she thought about Sonya. Pretty, who was on the floor eating from his own plate, looked up when he heard Sonya being mentioned. "She used to work at the circus, though I don't think joining them would be in my forte."
"Well, after work, me and Mugs are going to check out the circus," Cups told Emily.
"We are?" Mugs asked in surprise, since this was the first time he's hearing this.
"You want to come with us?" Cups asked, ignoring his brother.
"Actually, I have plans to hang out with Zee later in the day, but I can see about going to the circus with you guys after that," Emily said.
"Great!" Cups declared.
"Well, I'm glad you all have your plans for the day," Kettle declared. "As for me, I think I'm going to just sit here and think about my golden years as a shoveler with Quakus. Ah, those were the good old days…"
Later, after breakfast, the trio of Emily, Cups and Mugs went to work as delivery witches for a mobile shop called 'Friz's Pits.'
"Alright, you three, I got you some packages for you to deliver," said a short, biped gerbil demon wearing a gray button shirt, an apron, an eye-patch, brown pants, and boots. He handed each of his employees a list. "Here are the addresses I need you to deliver packages to. There are also a few other errands on that list. Once you get through that list, you each get your earnings for the day. Any questions?"
"No sir, we'll have all of these delivered by the end of the morning," Cups declared as he, Mugs, and Emily saluted.
"We won't let you down, Mr. Friz," Emily said.
"I know you won't, Tricks," Friz said. "So far, my cousin Tibbles, hasn't been wrong about you. Now, remember to leave a good impression when you deliver your packages. Got it?"
"Got it, sir!" they declared.
"Good, now get moving!" Mr. Friz ordered.
Carrying a sack of packages over her shoulder, Emily used her staff to fly all over the Inwell Isles, going to and from to complete her tasks as a delivery witch.
She landed in front of one house and went to knock on the door. Soon it was answered. "Here's your package, Ms. Grams," Emily said as she handed the package for this house.
"Thank you, dearie," said an elderly witch lady with three eyes and u-shaped horns. "My kitty needed these ear-drops." She turned around. "Rupert! It's time for your ear medicine!"
"I don't need no ear medicine!" shouted a cat demon in response.
"Yer gonna get that ear medicine even if I have to fight ya!" Ms. Grams declared while Emily wisely chose to just leave.
At a local theater, Emily dropped off a crate, wiping sweat from her forehead. Delivering that with her staff had been especially difficult.
"Thank you, darling! With this equipment, I can spruce up my stage for my future shows!" declared a blonde woodpecker biped woman who was dressed like a movie director. "Say, you seem like a gal looking for new opportunities, are you interested in theatrics?"
"Um, well… maybe not at the moment, Mrs. Lantz," Emily politely declined.
"Very well, but here's my card in case you change your mind," Lantz told Emily as she handed her her card. "My theater is always open to new players."
Emily placed a box of kitchen utensils on a counter. "Here you go, Chef Siderland," she said.
"Thanks," said a gray-skinned demon who had white salt-spikes on his head and arms. He was dressed like a French chef. "I was running out of these since the tourists kept stealing them."
Emily smiled. "At least they're enjoying your cuisine."
"Hmm, I know they are," he declared. "Just not as much as my utensils."
Next, Emily flew down to another stop, which was in a large red tree in the woods. A large telescope popped up from the leaves at the top, while sticking out of the trunk she could see a window, a door, and a patio. But much to her surprise, the large tree also had some machinery attached to it, like pipes and wires that went into the ground. A large cog emblem with the letter W in the middle was on the door.
"What a… unique place," she said as Pretty agreed. She walked over to the front door and gave a knock. She then heard the sound of something being dropped, followed by a yell.
"Ack! Blast those inferno-gah!"
Emily winced at the noise before she heard footsteps and saw the door open.
"Yes, can I help you, ma'am?" asked a blue furred squirrel biped witch man with large white eyebrows and a mustache. He had black eyes with yellow pupils, a black button nose, and was wearing a white lab coat with a gray vest and dark-blue pants with pockets. His tail was large and bushy.
"Um, you must be Professor Walter," Emily indicated.
"Yes, that'll be me," he confirmed.
"Well, Professor, I'm here to deliver the parts that you ordered," Emily said while holding up a box of parts for him.
"Why thank you, Ms… um… what is your name?" he asked.
"Emily," she told him. "Emily Tricks."
"Thank you, Ms. Tricks, I needed these parts for my projects," he said.
Emily tried to look inside, her curiosity piqued. "What kind of work do you do, professor?"
"Oh, curious? I don't mind guests, so please come in and bring the box with you," he said as he led Emily in.
Once Emily entered, she looked around in awe. Inside the tree home, she could spot all kinds of machinery, gears, sprockets, and other lab equipment. There were crystal ball monitors and large mirrors running database analysis, parts of techno-organic robots laying around the floor, and jars of black liquid on the shelves. She was especially shocked to see large acorns with boney arms and legs walking around while holding up tools and fixing up some of the machinery.
"Wow," Emily said in awed shock. "I've never been to a place like this before."
"You haven't seen anything like this in the Boiling Isles then?" he asked her.
"No… wait, how do you know I'm from the Boiling Isles?" Emily asked in surprise.
"Your sigil is one clue," Walter said, pointing to her wrist. "The other is your Palisman. Palistrom wood doesn't grow here, so you'll be hard-pressed to find a Palisman here."
"That's… impressive," Emily noted.
"Eh, hardly," Walter said while holding up a trinket. "But here in my home, I have been busy with creating whatever inventions I can think of, take these for example." He grabbed an Acorn robot to show Emily. "Behold, my Acordons, I programmed them to assist me with my work."
The Acordon waved at Emily, who waved back at it, but then the Acordon shook and blew a fuse, falling from Walter's hand.
He let out a disappointed sigh. "Of course, I still have some wiring issues to work out," he said as he showed her another invention. "Currently I am working on a better means of communication, combining the scroll with the crow," he said, showing a black scroll with a crow's foot symbol. "I call it the Crow Scroll. It's more powerful than a scroll or a crow. With it, you would be able to talk to someone on the other side of the Demon Realm."
"Wait, really?" Emily asked in shock.
"Yes, one of the reasons why we're so isolated from each other is because we don't have a strong communication network. While you can talk to someone via crow, it takes longer the greater the distance is, and the magical interference from the different Titans messes with scrolls. If I can work out the kinks of the Crow Scroll and get them to link up with each other, communication will be faster and easier than ever."
"What else have you built?" Emily asked him.
"Well, I do have some other things in development," he admitted while showing Emily a wall filled with blueprints. "Such as finding better methods of travel other than using larger griffins or relying on boats or airships. Something like a… flying machine of some sort."
"A… flying machine?" she asked him.
"Think like riding a large griffin but not alive," Walter clarified. "I mean, something that doesn't eat you." He then almost bumped into a wheel. "Oh, I forgot that wheel was there."
"What's the wheel for?" Emily asked him.
"Another method of travel I'm working on," he said while showing Emily another blueprint which looks like a model of a crate with four wheels. "I'm working on creating a crate with wheels. Something where we won't be relying on ratworms or snorses. But I need to find a more efficient way of powering it besides our feet…"
"These are all amazing ideas, Professor," Emily told him. "Have you ever pitched these to anyone before? I'm sure some from the Boiling Isles would be interested."
"Oh, I know that, but that is also what I have been afraid of," he admitted. "In the past, I feared that Belos would try to weaponize my designs if he were to have them. I mean, can you imagine what damage he could do if he had a way of establishing a communication network throughout the Demon Realm and had a fleet of flying machines? He would be able to conquer the entire Demon Realm."
"Actually, you don't have to worry about Belos anymore," Emily assured him. "He's gone and his empire has fallen."
"Oh? Well, that's reassuring," Walter said. "Admittedly, I sometimes lose track of time because of my work. I don't tend to follow the news too closely."
As Emily looked around the room, she spotted a clock. "Unfortunately, it looks like I have to go, since I have more deliveries to make," she told the inventor. "But it was nice meeting you, Professor."
"Yes, I won't keep here," Walter responded. "It was nice meeting you too, Ms. Tricks. Don't be a stranger. Feel free to visit."
Emily smiled. "I think I just might," she said as she put down the box and left to make her next delivery.
Her last stop brought Emily to a store that had recently been bought by a new owner. When she went inside, she saw the shelves filled with occult items. She saw various artifacts, stones, jewelry, potions, and even shrunken heads.
"Here you go, ma'am," Emily said as she handed the crate to a woman dressed in a black and purple gown, with a black cowl around her head and a scarf around her face, which was completely covered except for her green eyes. "This place looks new."
"Yes, it is," she confirmed. "I am hoping to start up my own business in this shop."
"So you're new as well?" Emily asked.
"Yes," the woman confirmed. "I was hoping that I could have a new life here. A fresh start."
Emily smiled. "You're not the only one then," she admitted. "I also came to the Inwell Isles for the same reason. My name's Emily, by the way."
"You can call me Lucille," she replied, holding her hand up for Emily to shake. "Nice to meet you, Emily."
Emily looked around the shop again. "So what kind of business are you running?"
"Oh, I suppose you could call it an occult shop," Lucille said as she opened the crate and looked through its contents. "I've managed to collect some items in my travels and I was hoping I could sell them. I was also thinking I could do a little fortune-telling and potion-making on the side. I was thinking I would call this shop… Lucille's Dealers."
After finishing with her last delivery, Emily went back to Friz's Pits to collect her payment.
"I'm back, sir," Emily announced, but she stopped when she noticed her boss talking with someone.
"Ah, Emily, glad to see you," Mr. Friz replied while the person he was talking to turned to her. "I was just speaking with one of my regulars, um, Vinny, right?"
When his regular in question saw Emily, his eyes widened in shock. "Oh shi-!" Vinny shouted as he backed away. He was a strange guy wearing a large, blue hat and a patchwork scarf that covered his face, except his eyes and long nose. He also wore an overly large green coat with brown spats. "Um, I'm gonna have to take a rain check, Friz," he said while heading to the door.
"Vinny, wait-!" Friz shouted as he saw his regular customer walking out of the shop, passing by Emily in a frantic hurry.
"What was that about?" Emily asked him.
"Eh, who knows," Friz replied with a shrug before turning to Emily. "So how did the deliveries go?"
"All checked in, sir," Emily said while holding up a clipboard filled with signatures.
"Excellent!" Friz declared as he handed Emily her pay. "Here ya go, Emily. You've earned your pay for the day."
"Thank you, sir," Emily replied with a smile as she looked down at her earnings. Now that she was done for the date, she could go to see Zee on her own job…
At the beaches of the Inwell Isles, Emily flew down on her staff to meet up with Zee, who was currently on-duty…
Emily spotted a crowd of beach goers surrounding a pit of sand. When Emily noticed this, she saw that bursting from the sand pit was the blue dragon holding up a furry creature. The beach goers cheered as the dragon flew down to hand the creature back to a kid.
"Here you go, kid," Zee told her.
"Thank you, dragon-lady!" the girl responded as the beach goers cheered.
Zee smiled and changed back into her regular witch form. She now wore a blue top and short loincloth-skirt with bottoms.
When Emily saw her in her lifeguard suit, it made her blush. Seeing Zee's form and ample curves fitting the two piece, which highlighted her well toned figure and gorgeous abs, smooth biceps, and angular calves. Emily couldn't help but find Zee's attractiveness so… radiating.
"Alright, now everyone be careful about this spot on the beach! We'll have this fenced until this pit's filled in," she said as the crowd dispersed… except for someone she knew. "Mily!"
"That was a nice save you did back there," Emily responded with a smile as Zee walked over to her.
"Oh it was nothing, really," Zee said while walking over to Emily, intentionally swaying her hips towards Emily while brushing her hair. "It's just what being a lifeguard is all about. Saving people, swimming, surfing, and looking sexy while doing it."
"I can't disagree with that," Emily blurted out before she blushed at what she had said. Zee snickered before hanging her arm around her.
"I know," Zee said before she called out to some other lifeguards who had shown up to fill the sand pit. "Eyesner, I'm gonna take a break now!"
"Alright, Zee, but don't forget to clock out," spoke the eyeball-headed creature with a mouth on its stomach while he helped fill in the sandpit.
Later, the two were hanging out at an outdoor grill and juice bar as Zee went on a break.
"So how's your job with Friz going?" Zee asked while drinking her juice.
"Pretty decent," Emily admitted. "Honestly, it is a pretty good way to see more of the Isles and see some of its strange characters. For example, today I met a professor who has his own lab in the woods."
"Really?" Zee asked, her tone curious.
"Yeah, some inventor named Professor Walter. His ideas actually seemed pretty interesting, revolutionary even," Emily explained. "Why he could be on par with the geniuses back in the Boiling Isles."
"Hmm, I think I'd like to check out what kind of gadgets and gizmos this professor got for myself," Zee commented.
"So how has your day been, Zee?" Emily asked her.
"Well, before the sandpit, it was pretty normal," Zee explained as their plates were brought to them. "Thank you," she told the bar owner while eating a fry. "Like, I had to stop some shark kids from eating the beach goers, then had to help a mermaid that was washed ashore to get back to sea while she was trying to steal my whistle, and then I helped guide an elderly couple to the shade. You know, normal lifeguard stuff."
"Hmm, honestly it sounds like your day was more eventful than mine was," Emily replied while eating from her own plate.
"Come on, going around and meeting people sounds just as fun," Zee pointed out. "Although… have you ever thought of working at the beach?"
Emily looked surprised by this. "Me? You mean… as a lifeguard?"
"Yeah, when I got hired, they didn't care about my sigil. Eyesner said that as long as I know how to swim, learn CPR, and go through the training, I can get in. They're always looking for new guards at the beach."
"Hmm, is this just a way for you to see me in uniform?" Emily asked with a smile.
Zee blushed at her claim. "W-Well… I am trying to help you out by giving you suggestions, since you are still looking for another job and all…"
"Well… I'll think about it," Emily states while she took a sip from her drink. "So, is there anything else interesting going on?"
Zee remembered one thing. "Oh, well I finally got a message back about my friends coming here to visit. The ones I've mentioned before."
"Your… friends?" Emily asked her, suddenly looking nervous.
"Yeah. When they learned where I was, they decided to come over and check up on me," Zee said. "We haven't had a chance to hang out in a while since, well, everyone was busy due to the whole Day of Unity situation. But it looks like we'll be having a little reunion, and hey, it gives me a good opportunity to have them meet you," she said before noticing Emily's worried look. "Hey, what's wrong, Mily?"
"I'm… not sure if I want to meet them," Emily said while looking down in guilt. "Or at the very least, it wouldn't be a good idea. While I was staying with Lindsay and her family, she decided to introduce me to some of her friends. It was fine at first, but it ultimately didn't last. After that, I don't know if I should meet your friends. I'd probably just mess it up and then they'll end up hating me."
"Oh…" Zee said in realization before she reached over and patted Emily's hand. "But hey, perhaps things will be different this time. I mean, you've learned from your past mistakes, haven't you? You know what not to do. You haven't even given them a chance and you're already assuming they'll hate you. If you give them a chance, they'll probably give you a chance as well."
"I mean, they probably already heard about the shit I've done…" Emily muttered.
"But they may have also heard about the good things you've done," Zee pointed out. "Like helping my brother face that Grim Goblin fella, helping to wipe out the Tarot Guild, and helping to stop the Day of Unity and help fight against Belos and his forces. Plus, my friends trust me. If they see that I'm cool will you, they'll be cool with you too."
"Still…" Emily said in a hesitant tone before seeing Zee's face.
"Hey, trust me," Zee told her, gripping her hand.
Emily looked at Zee and she let out a sigh as she gripped her hand back. "Alright, I'd like to meet your friends."
Zee smiled at this. "Great!"
Later, at the docks, Emily and Zee, now out of her lifeguard outfit, waited for Zee's friends to get off their ship.
"You're gonna like them, Mily," Zee said while wearing an orange and black-striped shirt with ripped jean short-shorts, gray knee-length socks, and blue sandals. "When we're not out fighting monsters and capturing beasts together, we can also be a really fun group to hang out with." She was watching the witches getting off the ship when she spotted someone. "Ooh, there's one of them now! Hey, D.B.!"
"Hey Zee, glad to see you again," said the witch girl getting off the ship. She had tanned skin, blue eyes, and short black hair. She was wearing a white beanie cap that covered the top of her head, a black and white long shirt with a black skull with cat ears, and black pants with black stilettos. Once she had gotten off the ship, she and Zee happily embraced each other before she turned to Emily. "And you must be Emily, right?"
"Uh, yeah," Emily responded.
"Emily, meet Darcilia Blackpaws, or D.B. as I call her," Zee explained. "She's an expert markswitch and a bit of an introvert who keeps to herself most of the time, but she's nice when you get to know her."
"I have heard a great deal about you, Emily Tricks," Darcilia said while looking straight at Emily.
"Y-You do?" Emily asked nervously. "What have you heard…?"
"About all the lives you saved during the Torsa Villa fire," she revealed, much to Emily's surprise. "You did good work that day."
"Oh… um, i-it was nothing, really," Emily replied, still surprised by the compliment. "I was just… in the area to help out an old friend's family that lived there and I thought I would try to help out some other werecats while I was there."
"Regardless, you saved a lot of lives that day, and Zee also told me that you helped to stop the Day of Unity," she commended.
"No, no, no! That will not do!"
Everyone was startled as they looked up to see the next of Zee's friends walking down the ramp. This time, it was a blue and white-haired witch girl with yellow eyes, snow-colored skin, and a short white dress with a blue corset with a snowflake symbol on. She wore black ballerina shoes and heels combo. Her dress consisted of blue sleeves with white lines. She was currently talking on the crow. "I've told you that I want to schedule a private party spa day down here! What do you mean it's already been booked?!" she ranted over the crow. "Look, do you know who my family is?!" she demanded before the crow spoke to her with a nervous look and she turned to Zee. "I'm gonna have to call you back," she said before she ended the call and the crow flew away. "Zee! So glad to see you again!"
"Hey, Carmine," Zee replied as she and her friend hugged. "I want you to meet Emily. Mily, this is Whitney Carmine, the sword dancer of our group."
"Sword dancer?" Emily asked.
"A skill that has been passed down through my family for generations," Whitney explained. "We take much pride in our abilities as dancers, but we also want to be able to defend ourselves. In addition to using our magic, we dance while carrying our rapiers."
"Interesting…" Emily said before realizing something. "Wait… where have I heard of Carmine before? You wouldn't be…?"
"Heiress of the Carmine Trade Company?" Whitney asked, much to Emily's surprise. "Yes, I am a Carmine."
"Woah, that's… that's a big deal," Emily said, taken aback. "You're one of the biggest weapons manufacturers in the Boiling Isles!"
"Actually, the biggest," Whitney corrected. "Or at least, we are now. Two of our biggest competitors were SCORN and Blight Industries. The former was shut down after the Day of Unity, while the latter has decided to move away from weapons manufacturing. Because of that, my family's company is going to be the top arms manufacturer in the Boiling Isles and is going to have free reign over the weapons market!" she boasted proudly before she remembered herself. "Oh, nice to meet you, by the way."
"Yeah, you too," Emily said, still a bit dumb-struck as she shook Whitney's hand.
"Say, where's your sis?" Zee asked, looking around.
"Of course… Rebecca, come on down already!" Whitney called out.
"Sorry, just had to get my luggage!" a voice shouted.
Emily saw the last witch girl coming down. She had a pale complexion, red hair with white stripes, black eyes, a red decorative jacket with black lines, a black shirt with 'Led Blip' on it, a red skirt with black leggings, and red boots. She was carrying a large case of some sort. But as she walked down the ramp, she ended up tripping on it. "Whoa!" she cried out, only for Whitney to use her magic to catch her before she finished falling. "Thanks, Whitty."
"Just be careful where you step, Rebecca," Whitney scolded her as she levitated Rebecca down.
"Still have two-left feet as usual, Reba?" Zee asked with a smile.
"Zee… oh Titan, I've missed you!" Rebecca cried out as she went to hug Zee. "How have you been? I have been worried about you since we heard you left the Isles…"
"I haven't been gone that long," Zee said. "Oh, and I want you to meet Emily. Mily, meet Rebecca."
"Nice to meet you, Rebecca Carmine, right?" Emily asked as she stretched out her hand.
"Actually, it's Rebecca Knightcore," she clarified while shaking Emily's hand. "It's my mother's name. Me and Whitney have the same father, but different mothers."
"Yeah, it's the same with me and Cross," Zee pointed out. "Same dad, different moms, it's something we actually bonded over when we first met."
"I can't believe the whole gang's together again," Rebecca pointed out excitedly. "Team WZRD reunited at last!"
"Team Wizard…?" Emily asked.
"It's our acronym," Darcilia explained. "We did the whole acronym thing before LOWTH and BIG made it tedious."
"We are a team of Beast-Keepers who fought monsters and captured beasts together," Rebecca explained. "W is for Whitney, who provided her swordsmanship skills and financial backing."
"Here she goes again…" Whitney groaned.
"Z is for Zee, in addition to her charisma and top notch Beast-Keeping skills, she is the tough girl of the group!" Rebecca exclaimed.
"Well I am strong," Zee admitted.
"R is for me, Rebecca, who uses my trusty scythe, the 'Doom Slicer', to reap any threats we come across!" Rebecca declared as she made a maniacal laugh.
"That sounds a bit evil, don't you think…?" Darcilia commented.
"And then there's our 'D', Darcilia!" Rebecca shouted as she pointed to her friend. "A skilled markswitch armed with her trusty crossbow that shoots out magical enhanced arrows!
"And together, we make… Team WZRD!" Rebecca finished while striking a pose. "If there's a deadly beast attacking your area, we're the ones you can count on!" she shouted while pointing to Emily.
"…"
"Pretty great, aren't they?" Zee asked a speechless Emily.
"Well… you girls do seem to be a great group," Emily commented. "I think we are going to get along just fine."
"Great!" Zee replied happily before she turned to her old gang. "Cause I was hoping we could catch up. We've all been busy with our own stuff lately."
"Yes, it has been a while since we've all been together, hasn't it?" Whitney asked. "You were at Merlin Meadows, me and Rebecca had our private tutors, and Darcilia…" She looked over at her friend. "Honestly, I still have no idea what you do when you aren't with us. Or even where you live."
Darcilia just shrugged. "And you never will," she said in a slightly teasing tone.
Whitney looked slightly frustrated, but she brushed it off and turned to Zee. "And what have you been up to lately, Zee?"
"Yeah, like we heard rumors that you and your folks were at the Battle of the Titan's Skull," Darcilia said.
"Did you fight Belos?!" Rebecca asked in a worried tone.
"Calm down, one at the time," Zee told them all. "Honestly, I'm more interested in what you guys have been up to lately. D.B., still going under the radar?"
"You bet I am," she replied.
"Our parents actually kept me and Rebecca on lockdown during the Day of Unity," Whitney explained. "And even after it. The last few months really had them worried. It just seemed like one crisis after another."
"Yeah, but at least things have calmed down now," Rebecca said.
"Yeah, things did get really chaotic for a while," Zee admitted. "But thankfully we don't have to worry about Belos and his cronies anymore…"
Emily watched in silence as Zee talked with her friends. The jaded witch couldn't help but feel left out, since she knew that Zee and her friends had this history with one another, more history than Emily had with Zee…
It made Emily feel like an outsider.
After they were done at the docks, Emily and Zee brought Rebecca, Whitney, and Darcilia to the Inwell Isles visitor center. In addition to being a place for newcomers and visitors to ask for more information, it also functioned as a small museum, with exhibits that were dedicated to the history of the Isles.
"Wow, I've never been here before," Rebecca said in awe, looking around at all the witches and demons who were here for information. She spotted a large map that represented the Entire Isles.
"Yeah," Darcilia responded. "Though, I wonder if this place is consolidated with the Emperor's Coven…"
"Not exactly," Zee said. "Officially, the Inwell Isles operated independently from Belos and the Emperor's Coven. This place has its own magic system that doesn't really require sigils, although because of agreements between the Boiling Isles and the Inwell Isles, 'wild witches' can still be arrested and sent back to the Boiling Isles for sentencing." She frowned. "So Belos still had influence here."
Whitney noticed something that made her react in shock. "Dear Titan, what is that?!"
They turned to see a large, black, gooey-Abomination with a horn-like head, white eyes, and a mouth. It was carrying luggage for a couple of guests.
"Oh, that's an Inkid," Emily casually explained.
"An Inkid?" Rebecca asked.
"They're pretty much this Isles version of an Abomination. They're made of bones, flesh, and black ink that is drawn from the soil," Emily explained as she gestured to the map. The aerial map of the Inwell Isles showed a more octopus-like shape. "Said ink is the Inwell Isles's most valuable resource. In fact, most of the ink we have in the Boiling Isles comes from here. It's drawn from the mysterious Titan that makes up the Inwell Isles. However, because of how different this Titan seems to be from any other, some believe that it isn't a Titan at all. What exactly it is instead, nobody knows."
"While other Titans seemed to be mammalian, this Titan seems to have had features making it closer to a cephalopod creature of some kind," Zee explained. "But like the nine covens back home, the Inwell Isles has its own nine magic type system, although instead of sigils they have a registry where you can register what kind of magic you are proficient in. However, you can get in trouble if you're practicing magic you aren't proficient in. Like if you're pretending to be a professional healer when you aren't registered as one."
"So instead of Abominations, they have Inkids," Rebecca realized. "What are the other types of magic called?"
"Well, Beast-Keeping is called 'Creature Catching' here," Zee explained
"There's also Symphony in place of Bard, Seer in place of Oracle, Health in place of Healing, Fauna in place of Plants, Earth in place of Construction, Liquids in place of Potions, and they call Illusions… Flash," Emily explained, grimacing a bit.
"Wow… they really put in the effort in the naming," Darcilia said sarcastically. "Then again, the Boiling Isles once had a 'Forest of Fear'."
"There's been a lot of theories on what the Isles's Titan might have looked like," Zee mentioned as she showed them an artist's sketch of what the Titan could have looked like. It was a humanoid with a bunch of tentacles and an octopus-like head. "Some think it's a humanoid octopi, like this artist's interpretation."
"Or, hear me out, it's like a big humanoid with an entire octopus for an arm," Rebecca pointed out, earning some weird looks from Darcilia and Emily.
"That's… one theory," Emily noted.
"So does this place have its own Emperor?" Darcilia asked.
"Actually, this place is ruled by the Inwell Family, who are monarchists," Emily explained as she indicated a portrait of a previous Duke. "The Inwell Dynasty has been the ruling family in the Isles for centuries, starting with Grand Duke Warnerbug Inwell the First, who founded the earliest witch colony here. In fact, the witches here didn't actually spawn from this Titan. The previous generations were in fact immigrants from the Boiling Isles."
"Yeah, the Inwells realized that they could make a lot of snails off the ink, so they colonized the place and named it after themselves like the narcissist they were," Zee said. "And over the years, more and more Boiling Islanders have come here, either to start over anew or find better business opportunities."
"So there were no original natives?" Whitney asked.
"Well… that's not entirely true," Emily admitted. "There is some evidence of a civilization that existed before the Inwells got here." She gestured to some display cases, which showed various relics, mostly stone carvings. There was some writing on them, but in a language none of them recognized.
"Wait, you mean like the ancient civilization that built those Titan mechs which Belos tried to use to wreck the Isles?" Darcilia asked.
"Well, their language is different," Emily explained. "Although nobody has been able to translate it. We know very little about this early civilization and we don't know what its people looked like. They could have looked like us… or they could have been completely different."
"Anyway, when they took over, the Inwells also wanted complete independence from the Boiling Isles, though that proved difficult when Belos took over as Emperor," Zee continued to recap. "However, since the Boiling Isles still traded with the Inwell Isles, Belos let the Inwells keep their kingdom and the Inwells became allies of Belos, allowing the Emperor's Coven to have a presence in the Inwell Isles and turning over 'wild witches' to Belos in exchange for still being able to rule in their own name despite being so close to the BI."
"Interesting," Whitney said. "Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised they were willing to kill Belos's butt to keep their power."
"Yeah," Zee agreed. "Though after the whole Day of Unity fiasco, the Inwells were quick to denounce their allegiance to Belos, probably just to save face"
Darcilia rolled her eyes. "Of course."
"Is that the current Inwells?" Rebecca asked, pointing to a large portrait that the others turned to look at.
"Yep, that's them," Zee confirmed as the painting showed a family of four. "The ruling family consists of…"
"Archduke Katzingerg Inwell." The patriarch of the Inwells was a balding gray-skinned witch man with black eyes, pointed ears, and a black goatee. He was wearing a black suit with a snake tie, black pants, and black shoes.
"His Duchess, Sunbowa Inwell." The matriarch was a black haired witch woman with aqua-skin and two horns. She has noticeable violet eyes and fangs and was dressed in a strapless dark blue split dress and black heels.
"And their children, Don Blutholle Inwell-" The portrait showed a young witch man who resembled his mother, just without the horns. He had short black hair, green eyes, and wore a blue suit with black stripes, including his pants, and black loafers.
"And their youngest, Spearubi Inwell." Finally, there was a teenage girl with bobcut black hair, pink eyes, gray skin, and small horns. She wore a baby-blue dress with a white bow around her waist, white leggings, and black shoes with skull buckles. She held up what appeared to be a white demon cat with three eyes.
"They govern the Isles just as their ancestors had done in the past," Emily explained. "So yeah, basically we live under an autocracy."
"Do we have to worry about their influence and all?" Rebecca asked.
"Nah, they typically don't get involved in the daily going-ons around here," Zee reassured. "I don't think they even leave their estate much. They just live highly, throw parties, and do whatever weird shit rich people do. They pretty much give the other officials free reign to do whatever they want."
"So what is the law enforcement here like?" Whitney asked.
"Mostly volunteers, though I haven't seen a lot of them since I got here," Emily admitted. "There used to be a scout precinct here. When the Inwells were allies to Belos, they used to rely on him for protection, using the scouts Belos sent them to help maintain order and uphold the law. But after the Day of Unity, the Emperor's Coven is no more and nobody knows what happened to the scouts stationed here."
"Yeah, they just… vanished overnight," Zee added. "But you know, this place is better off without them anyway."
"Vanished?" Darcilia asked with an odd look. "That's… kinda weird."
"Yeah, well… maybe they fled from the Inwell Isles or maybe the Inwells banished them to another dimension or something, who knows," Zee replied, shrugging it off. "I mean, who needs them anyway?"
After they finished in the visitor center, the group walked in the street together. Emily and Darcelia hung out in the back, while Zee was walking in the front getting caught up with the sisters.
"No way… Cross has two girlfriends?!" Rebecca exclaimed in shock.
"You think you know a guy…" Whitney commented.
"Well, the thing was Lidnsay's idea, actually," Zee admitted. "Apparently she was inspired by some advice that I gave her, though this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I gave her that advice. However, I know that he'll be good to them. I mean, this is Cross. If anything, he's too much of a nice guy. But I'm sure he'll be okay with handling dating without my wise guidance."
"Hmm, say Rebecca, didn't you have a crush on Cross?" Whitney teased, making her half-sister blush.
"I-I mean, maybe once," Rebecca admitted. "But I'm happy for him, really. Besides, who needs to be in a relationship when you can live your life to the fullest!" she declared, raising her fist up with enthusiasm.
"What does that even mean?" Zee asked.
"Don't bother, she's probably jealous since she doesn't have a partner," Whitney replied, making Rebecca fume.
"Says the girl who can't get a date to save her life," Rebecca muttered, which ticked Whitney off.
"Oh, oh what was that just now?" Whitney asked her sister, pinching her cheek.
"Ow! Quit it!" Rebecca retorted while karate-chopping at her, resulting in the two sisters ending up fighting and Zee being forced to break them up.
"Calm down, you two! Ugh, not this again," she said while trying to break up the fight, all the while Emily and Darcilia were behind them watching.
"Is this… normal sibling behavior?" Emily asked while looking at Darcilia.
"Pretty much," Darcilia responded with a sigh. "Times like these I feel truly blessed that I'm an only child." She looked over at Emily. "What about you?"
"I… did have an older sister once, though we were nothing like that," Emily admitted while looking down. "She's… passed away."
"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that," Darcilia apologized, feeling bad.
"Thank you," Emily responded while looking down. "She and I weren't blood related, but we were still sisters, nonetheless." She pointed to Pretty, who sat on her shoulder. "Pretty was originally her Palisman, but I became his new owner after her death. So at least I have something to remember her by."
Darcilia nodded as she looked at Emily, trying to figure her out. "Hey, do you… feel left out?"
"Left out?" Emily asked.
"In this… friend group," she clarified while looking back at Zee as she tried to play peacekeeper between the sisters after their argument.
"I mean… kinda," Emily admitted, though she felt a bit embarrassed for even admitting it. "I mean, it's just… a lot. This previously existing dynamic that Zee has with all of you because of the history you share. I don't really know what my place in it is."
Darcilia nodded. "I know how you feel, honestly," she said. "Sometimes I feel a bit left out as well, especially since I'm not as extroverted as the other three."
"Is that so?" Emily asked, looking up at Darcilia.
"It actually took me a while to open up to them," Darcilia admitted. "But even though I occasionally feel like Zee, Whitney, and Rebecca don't need me around… that's not true and they still try to include me most of the time. Trust me, it'll get better for you the more time you spend with us," she reassured her.
"I… I guess it will be," Emily said while looking at Darcilia. "So… what can you tell me about yourself, Darcilia?" she asked, seeing this as the chance to connect with at least one of Zee's friends.
"Well… I don't know how much Zee told you about me, but I wasn't actually born on the Boiling Isles," Darcilia admitted, which surprised Emily.
"Really?" Emily asked her.
"Yeah," she confirmed. "I actually came to the Boiling Isles to start a new life, similar to why you came here."
"So… where were you originally from?" Emily asked.
"Eh, you wouldn't have heard of it," Darcilia said dismissively. "But I'm glad that I did come to the Boiling Isles, since I did end up meeting some incredible witches…" She gave a small smile as she looked over at her friends, Zee in particular. But then her smile vanished. "But I also saw how much the Emperor's influence affected the people there. He basically created his own cult of personality." Her fists tightened. "Then there was what happened at the Torsa Villa…"
Emily looked down. "I know, it was a tragedy…"
"I wish I could've done something about the fire, help out like you did," Darcilia mentioned, a pained look in her eyes. "But I was… completely off the grid at the time." She sighed. "I've seen how werecats were already being treated by the rest of the Isles even before the fire and I hated it. If the Boiling Isles weren't so segregated, the fire wouldn't have happened."
"I agree," Emily responded. "An old friend of mine, Nina, was a werecat who would talk about how she wanted to make a change by becoming the first werecat Head Witch. I agreed to help her achieve her dream. But then, we had a… falling out."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Darcilia said before realizing something. "Wait… Nina? As in Nina Fangs?"
Emily looked over at Darcilia, surprised. "You know her?"
Darcilia quickly realized how strange it was that she knew who Nina was and she tried to play it off, avoiding Emily's gaze. "I mean, I've never met her, but I did hear about her. She was placed under Head Witch Brooke's care, right?"
"Yeah," Emily confirmed. "I still regret how things went down between me and her…"
"Hey," Darcilia said as she patted Emily's shoulder and gave her a reassuring look. "Maybe it is too late to make up with her. But there's always a chance to make new friends, you just gotta give yourself that chance."
Emily smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said as she and Darcilia went to catch up with Zee and the sisters.
"How nice of you to finally decide to join us," Zee said while patting Whitney and Rebecca. "D.B., I could've really used your help with these two."
"Please, I'm not involving myself with their squabble," Darcilia scoffed.
"Well, I guess we shouldn't be fighting over something trivial," Whitney said. "We should be above that."
"Yeah, you got that right, sis," Rebecca agreed.
"Come and listen, children of the Titan!" a voice shouted.
The girls noticed that calling forth was someone wearing a black robe and standing on a soapbox while surrounded by a group of other witches whose faces were hidden in their robes. They managed to earn the attention of a small crowd of street goers.
"You've all been deceived," the speaker declared. "They tell you how Belos was wrong, how the Day of Unity was a way for him to gain more power for himself! But those usurpers are lying to you! Belos was right about magic!"
This set Zee off. "What?!"
"We know the truth, and the truth is that Belos was right about magic, it's too dangerous for everyone to have! Only a select few should have it and use it to protect the rest!" they preached.
"Bullshit!" Zee shouted at the preacher, who turned to look at her. "You idiots think Belos was right?! He was going to gatekeep everyone's magic for himself and his cronies!"
"No! All magic, wild or not, is a danger to witches," they declared. "What Belos was doing was for our sake! The Titan may have granted us magic, but we'd be better off without it!"
"Is that so?" Zee asked while drawing a spell circle behind her back. "Then how would you protect yourselves then?"
The preacher then smelled smoke and they looked down. "What in blazes?!" they exclaimed, seeing the bottom of their robe on fire. "Gah! My robe!" they exclaimed, trying to put out the fire. "You! You did this!"
"What if I did?" Zee asked with a glare. "What are you going to do about it?"
Suddenly, the other robed witches brought out spears and approached Zee, the other street goers clearing away, since they wanted nothing to do with this...
"You want a piece of me? Good," Zee said as she punched her own fist before she jumped up and launched a punch towards one of the robed witches. Another tried to stab her with his spear, but he got blocked by Rebecca's scythe.
"Nobody messes with my friend!" Rebecca declared before kicking the robed figure away. Then she twirled around her scythe to create a burst of red light that hit a few of the robed figures. She pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and grinned maniacally. "You guys wish to have your souls reaped?" she asked while holding her scythe.
Emily shot her own fireballs at the robed figures while Darcilia held up her crossbow to shoot her arrows at them. When the arrows struck the robed witches, they got trapped in plants or frozen in ice. The two were back to back as they fought off the preacher's allies. Emily summoned Pretty and used him to draw a spell circle that blasted the robed witches while Darcilia fired several more shots with her crossbow.
Whitney summoned her rapier as she waltzed towards her enemies. As they were about to dogpile her, she jumped up and drew a spell circle with her rapier, summoning a blizzard spell that buried them into a pile of snow. "Hmm, not so tough."
"Do these guys really don't use magic?" Darcilia questioned before seeing Zee kicking another robed witch down.
"We very strongly believe-" a robed witch started to say before Zee punched him in the face.
"Hey, whatever makes it easier for us," Zee said.
The preacher, seeing this, growled at Zee after he finished putting out the fire on his robe. "Why you, selfish, magic-grubbing, little-"
"Alright, all of you, surrender now!" shouted a law enforcement officer, whose uniform included a tall black hat which resembled the shape of the nib of a fountain ink pen, with a quill on the side. The law enforcement officers also wore red coats with black crosses, black gloves, and blue trousers with black boots. "Stop this commotion this instant!"
"Shit, the popo's here!" one robed witch exclaimed as they scattered.
The preacher ran off, which Zee noticed. "Hey, come back here!" she shouted as she was about to chase them, but was then grabbed by one of the law enforcement officers. "Let me go! You're letting them get away!"
"Zee, hey, calm down!" shouted someone that Zee and Emily recognized.
"Wait… Hendrick?" Emily asked while everyone stopped fighting.
"Emily, Zee, what's up?" Hendrick asked while in uniform. "Yeah, I know it's been a while."
"You know this guy?" Whitney asked, as she, Rebecca, and Darcilia put their weapons down.
"She's Lindsay's older brother," Zee explained while Hendrick lets her go. "But when did you join law enforcement?"
"Very recently, actually," he said while seeing his fellow witches in uniform apprehend the defeated robemen. "I had just lost another job and was looking for another one when I learned that the local law enforcement was looking for civilian volunteers. They've been understaffed ever since the coven scouts here vanished, so it was really easy for me to join them"
"Well that's great and all, but…" Emily said while she and the rest of Team WZRD were grabbed by the uniformed witches.
"Alright, according to eyewitnesses, this one started the fight," said a biped turtle man as he pointed at Zee. "We should take her and her accomplices back to the station."
"What?!" Zee exclaimed in shock. "But those guys-!"
"They will be dealt with as well, but you started this, miss," he told her. "And there must be accountability for everyone involved."
"Hey, hold up, Torque," Hendrick spoke up. "Look, I know these girls. They're still new around here and this is their first offense. Maybe we should just leave them with a warning."
"Well, I don't know…" Torque said while scratching his chin.
"Come on, isn't there a thing about first time offenders getting a slap on the wrist when it isn't anything too serious?" he asked him.
"Hmm, you do have a point, Shystream," Torque said as he looked at everyone. "Alright, everyone gets off with a warning! Both the girls and the weird hooded guys over there."
The witches looked at each other, as they let go of Emily, Zee, and their friends. However, the robed men who recovered ended up running off once they were let go.
"Hey, those guys are getting away!" Zee pointed out.
"Well, they weren't necessarily doing anything illegal," Torque said, which irritated Zee.
"But they had spears and attacked us!" Zee pointed out.
"Yeah, but eye-witnesses state that you started this by attacking one of them, so they were acting in self defense," he said. "Not to mention they were just using spears while you were using magic. Seems like you were the one escalating the situation."
"But… those guys were speaking about Belos! They're Belos supporters!" Zee told him.
"Well… that's not illegal either," Torque revealed. "Our new policy says that we can't arrest people over free speech anymore, so they were acting within their rights…"
"Within their rights?!" Zee exclaimed in anger before she got pulled aside by Whitney and Rebecca. "Why you no good, blinded-"
"Um, thank you for letting us go, sir," Darcilia said to him. "We'll be on our way," she said as she and Emily followed the rest of the girls.
"Thanks for the favor, Henry," Emily thanked her friend.
"No prob, always looking out for my friends," Hendrick responded as he saw Emily off.
"Alright, guys, let's move out!" Torque ordered before speaking to another witch. "Say, on a scale of one to ten, how do you think I did back there?"
"Um… I guess… eight?" guessed the purple dog demon as they walked away.
Once they had gotten away from the authorities, the girls managed to calm Zee down as they saw on a nearby bench.
"Are you alright, Zee?" Rebecca asked her in concern
"Yeah, that wasn't like you," Whitney said, just as concerned for Zee.
"I'm… I'm just… upset," Zee admitted while looking down and self-consciously rubbing her own sigil. "I don't get how after everything that happened, there's still people who support his bullshit…"
Emily looked over at Zee with a saddened look. She understood where that anger was coming from and she wanted to help Zee focus on something else, anything else. That was when she remembered her conversation with Cups earlier.
"Let's not let this ruin our day," Emily suggested. "You know, I heard from Cups that the circus is in town."
"The circus?" Rebecca asked as she lifted her head up, stars shining in her eyes. "Like acrobats and unicorns?"
"Yeah," Emily responded as everyone turned to her. "I think we should treat ourselves with a visit to the circus. That could be just what we need right now."
"Hmm, that doesn't sound bad," Darcilia commented.
"Ooh, can we go, Whitty? Can we?" Rebecca asked her with an excited tone.
"Well, a trip to the circus would be a good change of scenery," Whitney said with a smile. "So yeah, we could check it out."
Zee looked up at Emily, hearing the idea and seeing everyone agreeing to it did lift her spirit up. "You know what? Sure."
Emily smiled, seeing that everyone was in agreement with this. However, she did notice some writing on a nearby wall that made her smile falter…
'Belos Was Right!'
That evening, the circus officially opened to the public.
The huge main tent was black and hanging over its entrance was a sign that read 'The Dark Tent'. But while some witches were already heading inside, others were hanging out in the area outside the main tent, which was filled by a collection of smaller tents, stands, and wagons. Here customers would play games, eat food, and buy merchandise before they decided to see the show. Carnies were running the games, including the one being played by the Holder Brothers.
"Come on, Cupsy needs a new pair of cleats!" Cups declared while rolling a skee ball towards one of the holes. It ended up entering the top hole, which ate the skee ball, earning him a thousand points. "Yes!"
"Hey, this kid just made another thousand!" one customer pointed out as a small crowd gathered to watch Cups' winning streak.
"Yeah! I'm on a streak, baby!" Cups declared. "Hey Mugs, wanna get in on this?"
"Not really, I'm in the zone with this," Mugs said while playing a pinball machine.
Meanwhile, the girls were looking around and checking out the circus for themselves.
"Wow, the circus is so wonderful," Rebecca said as her eyes darted around. "Oh my gosh! Look at all the cotton candy flavors they have!"
"Hmm, I bet I could beat that," Darcilia commented while eyeing the shooting range games.
"I wonder what kind of menagerie they have here," Zee commented as she looked over at Emily. "Mily, what do you think?" Emily didn't respond right away. "Mily?"
"Huh?" Emily asked, being snapped out of her daze. "Sorry, this place is just bringing back a few memories…"
"I just hope they don't have any clowns here…" Whitney grimaced.
"Hiya!" one clown shouted as he jumped over, making Whitney shriek.
"Stand back!" Whitney shouted as she held up pepper spray to spray him in the eyes, making the clown scream in pain.
"GAAAAAHH!" he cried.
"Whitney!?" Rebecca exclaimed.
"What? I don't trust clowns," Whitney said. "For all we know, he could be a serial killer, or he watches…"
"That is a misconception and stereotype!" the clown cried while walking away, rubbing his eyes. "Sure, we can be kind of creepy, but just scary-creepy, not 'uncomfortable-creepy'..."
"Um…" Emily was gonna ask.
"Birthday incident," Rebecca whispered. "Her mom hired this terrifying-looking clown abomination. Like, his face melted off on her cake…"
"Right…" Emily said. She was still figuring out all of their quirks and apparently one of them was that Whitney had a fear of clowns.
Looking around, a flash of light caught Emily's eye. She saw a puff of blue smoke appear in front of a wagon, drawing the attention of a small crowd. Curious, Emily left the others to watch the performance.
"Come one, come all!" a voice shouted as birds flew out from the cloud, which cleared away, revealing a blue caped figure with a crystal ball for his head. He unveiled his cape, showing his blue bodysuit, white gloves and boots, and a white belt. "See my magnificent, mysterious, and mesmerizing tricks," he said as he created mini-tornadoes from the palms of his hands. "For I, the Great Imagino will bring your dreams into reality!" he shouted while seemingly summoning horses that ran around the crowd.
While the rest of the crowd was buying the act, Emily recognized that his tricks were just illusions. But they were still really good illusions. She leaned against one of the stands and smiled as she enjoyed the show, spotting an assistant that had shown up to help the Great Imagino with his performance.
She was a young woman a few years older than Emily. She had light blue skin, purple eyes, and pale purple long hair. She was wearing a black top hat, a tailor-coat jacket with a white collar, a blue ribbon bow, and a blue leotard with gray leggings, and silver shoes. With a twirl of her white gloves, she helped out with the illusions Imagino was making, summoning some lightning above him.
Emily watched the two perform their tricks for the audience. From making it rain to turning the cloud into a griffin to causing the griffin to twist and turn inside-out before becoming a pegasus. The crowd was shocked and amazed by his performance.
"Now this is just a preview for the show I will perform in the main tent. I promise that it will astound the naked eye," Imagino declared.
"Like me?" asked an actual eyeball with limbs.
"Yes!" Imagino declared while spreading out a mist to disappear into. "Until we meet again…"
The crowd clapped, as did Emily. Once the crowd cleared away, Emily noticed the assistant walking behind the wagon. Emily decided to follow her, wanting to talk to her fellow illusionists. But as she walked around the wagon, she heard yelling.
"Your timing was off, intern," spoke Imagino, who removed his helmet to show his bowl-cut black hair and goatee. "The lightning strike was supposed to be before the thunder, not after!"
"I-I'm sorry, sir," she replied nervously, holding her hat to her chest. "I'll do better-"
"Yeah, yeah, better. That's something you need to work on," Imagino interrupted. "Remember, the circus only needs Imagino, not Imagintern." He then levitated a broom to hand towards his intern. "Now, clean up the mess up front. I gotta be prepared for my next performance. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," she responded nervously.
"Good," he said before he went into his trailer.
The assistant just looked down and sighed before she heard Emily speak. "What a dick," she said, causing the assistant to turn to her, looking surprised to see Emily standing there.
"Oh… you saw all of that, didn't you?" she asked her.
"Yeah," Emily responded. "Want some help?"
The girl looked surprised by Emily's offer. "Y-You want to help me?"
"Lets just say I know what it is like to be in your position," Emily said, forming a smile. "Got an extra broom?"
The assistant looked at Emily for a moment, trying to determine if she was being serious or not. After a moment, she smiled and levitated a broom over to Emily.
And so, Emily helped out the assistant/intern in picking out the trash around the front of the wagon. "Thanks again, for helping me," she said.
"No problem," Emily said while dumping the trash into the trash can. "I know what it's like, having to work for an egomaniac. Trust me, that Imagino guy is no different."
"Yeah," she admitted. "Presto can be a bit much…"
"Presto?" Emily asked in surprise. "He calls himself Imagino but his name is Presto? Why not call himself 'Presto-Imagino', or 'Imaginifico'?"
"Hell if I know," she said with a shrug while looking at Emily. "I never got your name, by the way."
"Emily Tricks," Emily responded. "What's yours?"
"My name is Zara," she responded. "Zara Ziggs."
"Nice to meet you, Zara," Emily said. "So why do you even put up with him?"
Zara sighed. "Well, I became an assistant to Imagino because I wanted to learn from a great illusionist like him, but like I said, it ain't easy," she said, only to hear Emily snort. "What's so funny?"
"I mean, the guy is good," Emily said. "But I wouldn't call him great."
"Oh," Zara said. "By the way, what do you think of this outfit? I mean, you don't think it's too much? Too hoyden…?"
"I mean, if that's what you want to dress, I won't judge," Emily replied with a shrug.
"Thanks," Zara said with a smile. "So you said that you wouldn't call Presto great. Are you an illusionist yourself?"
"Yep," Emily confirmed as she raised her wrist up, showing her sigil.
"Well, it's nice to meet a fellow illusionist," Zara said, shaking her hand. "You must be from the Boiling Isles."
"Yeah, where are you from?" Emily asked her.
"The last Titan that the circus went through," Zara said. "So who was this egomaniac you said that you worked for?"
Emily was about to answer, but she hesitated as she thought about… her father. She mentally debated over whether she should refer to him as such before she answered. "His name was Adrian Graye, and I became his apprentice as a way to get myself out of a bad situation, but I had no idea what I was actually getting myself into," she said while looking down.
"Ah. Honestly, I understand how you feel," Zara admitted. "It's the same with me. I only recently joined the circus, left home to travel with them."
Surprised to hear this, Emily looked up at her. "What about your family?"
Zara looked down sadly. "I… have no family."
"Oh… I'm so sorry to hear that," Emily said sadly. "I have no family either, so I get it."
"Thanks," Zara said as she looked up at Emily. "I guess we're in the same boat, huh?"
Emily nodded, looking at Zara before she decided to tell her something. "Let me give you some advice… you're so much better than this. You have as much talent, if not more than that Imagino guy. I saw you back there. The show wouldn't have nearly been as good without you helping him. So you don't have to take that crap from your boss. You should try starting your own thing."
"Yeah… in fact, I would like to headline my own act, as soon as I learn what I need from Presto," Zara admitted. "I was thinking that I either be 'The Great and Powerful Zara', or 'The Great and Terrible Zara!'" She paused dramatically. "I'm still working on the name."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Emily encouraged.
Zara got an idea and she turned to Emily. "Say, could you show me a few tricks? Since you are an illusionist as well."
"Oh, well… I guess showing you a few tricks wouldn't hurt," Emily considered before she smiled. "After all, I am the most talented illusionist of the Boiling Isles," she boasted while birds flew up from her sleeve, followed by a sparkle. "I was even promoted to Head Witch."
"Whoa…" Zara said in awe. "You were a Head Witch?"
"Why yes, but I learned that I was even too good for that," Emily admitted, bragging a bit more. "Some of the most powerful villains of the Boiling Isles thought that they could use me, but not only do I cause their downfall, but I also outlived all of them," she declared while Zara looked at her in awe. "I even survived the bowels of the Underworld-" She then noticed something from the corner of her eye and paused. It was a pair of red eyes in the shadows of another wagon, staring directly at her. "What…"
"Everything okay there, Emily?" Zara asked her.
Emily looked away from the eyes for a second as she looked back at Zara, who was looking at her in confusion. Then she looked back at the wagon and saw that the eyes were gone. Feeling unsettled by this, she shook her head and turned to Zara. "Say, um, I should probably rejoin my friends. But I'll talk to you later, Zara."
"Oh," Zara replied, still looking confused. "But yeah. I'll chat with you later. It was very nice meeting you, Emily."
"Yeah, you too," Emily said before she went to look for her friends.
Emily was soon in the main tent, where she spotted Zee and her friends. She walked up the bleachers to join them.
"Hey, you're just in time," Zee said before noticing Emily's look. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just… fine," Emily responded, shaking her head.
"Well, here's some popcorn I saved for you," Zee said as she handed her some popcorn, which Emily accepted. "So where have you been?"
"Oh, I was talking to someone," Emily replied while looking around at the main tent. She felt a growing feeling in her stomach. "You know, there's something about this place… something that I can't quite put my finger on…"
"Alright, everyone! Be quiet and be still in your seats!" a voice announced.
Everyone turned their attention to the main ring in the middle of the tent, where they saw a puff of white smoke. "For the show is about to start," the voice said as a shadowy figure emerged from the smoke while the spotlights twirled around. "And now, the Ringmaster himself…"
"Greetings, boys and ghouls!" the Ringmaster declared. The Ringmaster was a biped goat man. He had yellow and red goat-like eyes, with long horizontal pupils. He had black fur, a goatee, and black horns. He wore a black wide -brimmed top hat with a golden snake around it, a popped-collared suit with eight golden buttons, a light red and black striped waistcoat with two golden buttons, and a small, black bow tie. He also wore black trousers and had hooved feet.
"Whoa…" Zee commented before she turned to Emily. She noticed Emily's mouth hanging open in quiet shock. "Mily? What's… wrong?"
"I… I know him," Emily said. "The Ringmaster…"
"You do?" Zee asked in surprise.
"Zee… I just realized where we are," Emily said while looking around the tent and finally recognizing it. "We're in Sonya's old circus."
Alight, so some author's notes.
We've established and introduced new OCs in this new spin-off series. Inwell Isles as an obvious stand in to Inkwell Isles, the OCs you see are definitely expies of the following characters that would be recurring faces:
Chuck Avery from the radio is a combo of the names, Chuck Jones and Tex Avery.
Mr. Friz who is a Porkrind stand in, also his name is a nod to Friz Freling.
Ms. Grams and her cat, Rupert, would definitely be the Granny and Sylvester stand-in.
Mrs. Lantz is pretty much a stand-in to Sally Stageplay. Her name is a nod to Walter Lantz, the creator of Woody Woodpecker.
Chef Siderland is an expy of Chef Saltbaker, and his name is a combo of Sid Sutherland.
And of course, Professor Walter who is a genius squirrel, established as a professor of Inwell Isles. He's pretty much like a male version of Sandy Cheeks, but is modeled after Merlin's squirrel form. His name is meant as a nod to Walt Disney.
Vinny is a stand-in for the mysterious Jerry from The Cuphead Show.
Eyesner, Zee's boss, his name is a play on to The Spirit creator, Will Eisner.
Torque the turtle demon is an obvious expy of Touche Turtle, mostly from the Jellystone cartoon.
And yeah, the Great Imagino is an obvious Mysterio expy, Quinten Beck specifically. Zara Ziggs is also based off of Trixie from MLP: Friendship is Magic.
Team WZRD, Zee's friends, are pretty much meant to be the RWBY expies, with Zee being the Yang stand-in of the group. We have Rebecca Knightcore, who is Ruby Rose's counterpart, Whitney Carmine who is Weiss Schnee-expy, and this time the two are half-sisters which makes a pretty interesting dynamic between them. And of course, Darcilia Blackpaws is a Blake Belladonna expy.
Originally, it was going to be Rebecca Carmine and Whitney Knightcore, but due to Whitney being a Weiss expy and her family ties to arm dealings, we've decided to switch up the last names between her and Rebecca, which results in them being half-sisters. And yes, it is that Carmine family…
As for Emily having her hair died with red streaks, it's mainly by the inspiration of Sunset Shimmer from MLP, who's probably Emily's closest MLP equivalent.
Firstly, Team WZRD. We have never seen Zee's friends before, or that none of you have heard of about WZRD. Well, Zee's friends mainly hang out during fall break, as their team are the equivalent of having a summer job. During the school semester, Zee doesn't see them as much since Rebecca and Whitney are privately tutored while Darcilia goes completely off the grid.
Also, if you wonder what an Inkid looks like, think of it looking like a black Abomination that resembles Bendy the Ink Demon.
As for the Inwell Family, they also have punny names like the first monarch, Warnerbug, is a combo of Warner Bros and Bugs Bunny. Katzingerg is a play on to Katzenburg, founder of Dreamworks and ruined Black Cauldron. Sunbowa is named after Sunbow Entertainment, one of the animation studios for GI Joe and The Transformers back in the 80s. Don Blutholle after Don Bluth, and Spearubi as a play on to Ruby Spears.
Review Section:
Matteso585: 1) We'll see how it'll be used. 2) Um… your point?
Crash X Fusion: That's just Zee's inner voice.
Shuffollower: They're pajama shorts. Let's just say they're both top students.
Cooki15xd: Well, Cups and Mugs will appear frequently, as they would serve as the comic reliefs.
Oh, and as a reminder, we have an OC Contest where we're looking for OC Descendants of Disney characters. Also we're still opened for Q and As so if you wish for some answers from Book 2, go check out Book 2's announcements as you'll only be asking some of the main casts: Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, Hunter, Boscha, Emily, Cross, Donna, Nina, and Skara. PMs to ask us is also good.