LC Presents: Brimstones and Broomsticks Chapter 4: 3: Emily's Eighteenth, a X-overs + Owl House Crossover fanfic

In memory of Wilbert Francisco "Bill" Cobbs, and Martin Mull. Both hold a great part of entertainment.

So as a reminder, our OC contests are still up. We're looking for MLP-expies, Descendant OCs, and HR counterparts of the Boiling Isles characters. Submit your OCs to either in your reviews, PMs, or DMs.

So this is pretty much an OC-centric fic. However, existent canon characters, seen or mentioned, still belong to their creators.

Chapter 3: Emily's Eighteenth

It was morning and Emily was starting to wake up. She opened her eyes, but as her blurry vision cleared up, she saw something in front of her. It was someone… smiling at her.

"Good morning, Emily!" Andrea declared.

"YAAAH!" Emily screamed, backing away and hitting her head on the back of the bed accidentally. "Ow! Andrea!" she shouted, rubbing her head while looking at the pink-haired girl. "What… what the fuck are you doing here in my room?! And how did you even get here?!" she asked while Pretty was woken up by the commotion, looking just as surprised to see Andrea here.

"Oh, I let myself in," Andrea replied simply. She was wearing a pink blouse with a yellow smiling icon that sticks its tongue out, a short pink skirt with blue and yellow striped knee-length socks, and blue boots.

Emily narrowed her eyes at Andrea. "You do know that's called breaking and entering, right…?"

"Heh, that does remind me of what the coven scouts have told me before," she replied, looking thoughtful for a moment before quickly brushing it off. "But that's not relevant."

"But why are you here?" Emily asked her.

"Oh, that," Andrea said, catching on. "Well, ever since you left the Boiling Isles, I've been very uneasy since you left without celebrating your birthday." She then showed her tired face with her baggy eyes. "I've lost a lot of sleep just thinking about it…"

Emily sighed. "Well, to be honest, Andrea, I wasn't in the mood to celebrate my birthday…"

"I get that," Andrea told her. "But I do feel like you should at least have a party. After all, you only turn eighteen once, and it's a huge deal!"

"Look, I do appreciate your concern, but I don't really need a party," Emily told her.

"Oh," Andrea told her. "That might be a problem, because I already planned a party and even sent out invites and they're all coming here."

Emily's eyes widened. "Wait, what? Who did you invite…?"

"I invited Zee, her friends, Cross, Le'Belle, and the Shystreams, including Hendrick," Andrea listed off. "I even booked a ship for Cross, Le'Belle, and the Shystreams."

A surprised Emily took a moment to process this. "Are they already on their way?" she asked Andrea.

"Yup!" Andrea confirmed.

Emily thought this. Honestly, she wouldn't mind seeing Cross, Le'Belle, Lindsay, and her family again. But then she remembered something else. "Look, I really appreciate this, Andrea. I really do. But I have work to go to-"

"Oh, I already took care of that," Andrea revealed. "I got you the paid day off."

Emily was shocked by this. "What?! But, how did you get Friz to give me the day off?"

"Well… I bribed your boss with some of my baked goods," Andrea said before realizing something. "Oh! I almost forgot I left something in the kitchen! BRB!"

Andrea rushed off while Emily waited in her bed. She looked at her Palisman, who looked back to her. She sighed. "Can you believe this girl?" she asked while Pretty shrugged. "Did you also hear her squeak when she hopped around?" she whispered before hearing the door open up as Andrea came in while holding a tray of food.

"Here's some breaky-breakfast for the belated birthday babe!" Andrea declared while holding a tray of breakfast for Emily ."Griffin eggs omelet, waffles, bacon grilled to perfection, with berries to add, and good tree-sap syrup, and avocado toast! All for the birthday girl!"

She handed Emily the tray of food, placing it on her bed. Emily stared at the food for a few moments, stunned, before grabbing her fork and taking a bite of the waffles. Her eyes widened before she quickly shoveled another bite of her food in her mouth. "Mmmm! Mmm, Andrea this… this this good!" she moaned from eating the food. "So good…"

"Thanks!" Andrea declared, smiling.

As she ate, Emily looked up at Andrea. "So um… why are you going through all of this effort just for me?"

"Because we're friends, aren't we?" Andrea asked her.

Emily thought about it while gulping down her food. She knew that she could probably count the times she met Andrea before this on her hand and yet despite that… she was willing to go to such great lengths for her. "Of course, we are."

"And friends help friends, and one of the ways I help my friends is by giving them the best parties ever!" Andrea declared while patting Emily's hand. "I really do feel bad that you didn't get a proper party on your birthday, and I won't rest until that injustice has been corrected!"

"Well… if you insist," Emily said while finishing up her food. "Okay, I'll let you throw my party. What do you have to lose?"

"Huzzah!" Andrea declared. "Mark my words, Emily! You will have the best, sweet eighteen you'll ever have!"

Emily couldn't help but smile, actually looking forward to seeing what Andrea had planned for her belated birthday party.

Later that morning, at the docks of the Inwell Isles, Andrea and Emily waited for the invited guests to disembark from the ship that was now pulling into the harbor. Waiting with them were Zee, Hendrick, WZRD, and Zara.

"Ooh, I can't wait for them to get here so we can really get your birthday started, Emily!" Andrea said while jumping up and down in excitement.

"It would be nice seeing my fam," Hendrick said, smiling.

"Yeah, and my baby bro," Zee replied.

"Um, thanks for inviting me to come along," Zara said. She was wearing a blue blouse with a black vest, black skirt, and black heeled boots. "I don't really get invited to a lot of birthday parties… or any parties, honestly."

"Hey, it's no problem, Zara," Emily replied. "Besides, I wanted to introduce you to some of my other friends."

"I look forward to meeting them," Zara said with a smile.

"Here they are now!" Andrea shouted as she pointed up at Lindsay, who waved to them as she got down from the ship.

"Hi, Andrea, hey Emily," Lindsay waved to them while wearing a green and pink tie-dye shirt, jean shorts, and green boots. After walking down, Andrea went to hug her.

"So good to see you here, girl!" Andrea declared.

"Hey, can I get a hug as well?" Hendrick asked as Lindsay went to hug her brother.

"It's good to see you too, Hendrick," Lindsay said before turning to Emily. "Hi Emily, happy belated birthday."

"Thank you." Emily said to her with a smile before hugging her. "It's great to see you again."

"You too, Emily," Lindsay replied as she hugged back. "Have you been doing okay? The whole family has been worried about you."

"They have?" Emily asked in surprise.

"Indeed, we have," Aunt Dorothy said as she along with George, Bloom, Colt, and Jojo got off the ship and joined the others.

"Hi, Emily!" Jojo waved to her.

Emily looked excited to see them. "Hey, guys!" she said as she went over to give Aunt Dorothy a hug. She then took turns hugging Bloom, Colt, George, and Jojo. "I'm so glad to see you all here! How are things back at the farm?"

"We have been doing great, despite some still leftovers from one of them weird robots left behind," George said.

"Woah, so this in the Inwell Isles?" Jojo asked as he looked around, his tail wagging behind him. "I've never been to another Titan before!"

"I'm really glad you could all make it," Emily said. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Well, Andrea made the arrangements and we asked the Cortlands to watch the farm for us while we were gone," Bloom said with a smile. "Besides, we have been wanting to come and check up on you anyway. You and Hendrick both."

"And we're glad that you and Hendrick are doing alright," Colt said before turning to his son. "Do you have a job yet?"

"I actually do!" Hendrick quickly answered with a proud smile.

"Thank you all for coming," Emily told the Shystreams before noticing another guest that made her light up even more. "Le'Belle!"

"Emily!" Le'Belle shouted as the two embraced each other in a hug. Le'Belle was wearing a black button sweater vest with a green collar button shirt underneath, her sleeves rolled up, and khaki pants with black boots. "It's so good to see you again."

"Same," Emily replied warmly.

"Hey, Emily," Cross said as he came down while wearing a green and white long-sleeve shirt with an upside-down blue star. He also wore black pants with his black boots on.

"Cross!" Emily shouted as she went to hug him as well. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Yeah, and happy birthday," Cross said as he hugged her back. After they broke the hug, he turned to Zee. "Hey, Zee."

"What's up, baby bro?" Zee asked as she hugged her brother. "How's mom, dad, and gramps? They couldn't make it?"

"They've been doing good," he said. "And yeah, unfortunately they couldn't come because of stuff going on back at the Boiling Isles, but I told them I would give them an update on you." After they hugged, he turned to address Team WZRD. "Wow, I haven't seen you three in a while."

"Oh, um… hi, Cross," Rebecca said as she gave him a shy wave.

"Hey, Rebecca," Cross said, while feeling a pat from Whitney.

"It has been too long," Whitney told him. "Fortunately, Zee and Emily brought us up to speed on everything that you've been up to."

"Uh… what did they say, exactly?" Cross asked them, a bit nervous.

"Relax, nothing too scandalous," Darcilia reassured him with a small smile. "But Emily did tell us that you met her in the Emperor's Coven, that you went to the Underworld to save her, and you fought Belos. All really impressive stuff." She then turned to Lindsay. "Oh, Zee also told us about you, Lindsay."

Cross sighed. "Of course she did," he said.

"So you're Zee's friends?" Lindsay asked.

"I'm Whitney and this is Darcilia," Whitney introduced as she pointed to each of them. "And that's my little sister Rebecca."

"Y-yeah, and we have history with Cross," Rebecca said nervously. "As friends, of course."

"But it is nice to meet you, Ms. Shystream," Whitney said while shaking Lindsay's hand. "I hope that we can get to know each other."

"Yeah, I would like that," Lindsay agreed before she and Cross heard someone clear her throat. They turned and saw Zara.

"Emily, weren't you going to introduce us?" she asked.

"Oh, right," Emily said. "Cross, Lindsay, this is Zara Ziggs, a new friend I made during my time on the Inwell Isles. Zara, this is Cross and Lindsay."

"Nice to meet you," Zara said as she extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Cross responded as Zara shook his hand, then Lindsay's.

"Are you from the Inwell Isles?" Lindsay asked her.

"Actually, I came here with a traveling circus," Zara explained. "I'm an illusionist who's going to be big, thanks to Emily's help of course."

"Well, that's everyone's," Emily said with a smile as she looked over at all her guests, seeing the Shystreams talking with Hendrick while Lindsay and Cross spoke to Zara.

Lindsay and Cross shared a look. "Well… almost everyone," Lindsay admitted.

"What do you mean…?" Emily asked her.

"She means me," said a voice.

Emily, Zee, Andrea, and WZRD looked up in surprise, seeing her of all witches…

"I'm here," Donna said as she came down from the ship with her suitcase. She was wearing a blue St. Epiderm jacket with a white midriff shirt with a blue cross, black short-shorts with white and blue striped leggings, and white strap blue boots.

"Donna…" Emily said in shock. "You're… here…"

"Donna Masterskull?" Whitney asked in surprise as Donna turned to see her and Rebecca.

"Hi, Whitney," Donna said. "Hi, Rebecca. I haven't seen you two in a few years. I hope you've been doing well."

"Yeah, you too," Rebecca said with a nod.

"Donna, hey!" Zee shouted while walking up to her. "Can't believe you're here. Well, maybe I can, since you're also Cross's girl. What brings you to Inwell?"

"Well, when I heard that Cross and Lindsay were coming here, I decided to tag along," Donna explained. "To spend more time with them, to see the Inwell Isles for a change of scenery, and… to see her." She turned to look at Emily, her face neutral and difficult to read. "You know, this is the first time we've seen each other face-to-face. Without your mask, I mean."

"Uh… yeah, it is…" Emily replied in a very awkward tone. "So… you know Whitney and Rebecca already?" she asked, trying to make polite conversation.

"Yeah, my parents are in the same social circle as their parents," Donna explained.

"Cool, cool," Emily said. "So… how have you been?"

"Oh, you know," Donna responded, her tone and face still neutral.

"Yeah," Emily said awkwardly, things getting more awkward between them with each second.

"Okay!" Andrea shouted as she suddenly popped up between them, breaking the tension and ending the awkwardness. "Now that we got everyone plus one all together, we can now begin our party-crawl!"

Their first stop on the party-crawl was the amusement park located on the Inwell Isles Boardwalk, a famous attraction for visitors and denizens alike.

"Alright, party people! The party starts at the boardwalk!" Andrea declared as everyone looked around in awe.

"This place is just as impressive as the one back at Palm Stings," Zee commented.

"Wow, look at all the sights! The games! The food!" Rebecca shouted, her mouth almost drooling over the food available to her.

"This place does look fun," Lindsay said while holding Cross's hand.

"This place is the perfect start for Emily's birthday crawl!" Andrea declared while pulling Emily aside. "Come on, Emily! I got some rides reserved for ya!"

"Wait, you mean all the rides?!" Emily asked while getting dragged away.

"That Andrea girl… is she always like this?" Whitney asked Lindsay.

"Yes," Lindsay said with a nod.

"Well, we're just going to look around and see what fun we can find around here," Bloom said.

"Ooh, can we ride that one, mom?" Jojo asked, pointing up a spinning wheel ride.

"Hmm, let's go see if we can," Bloom said as she and Colt took their son over to the ride.

"Hey Uncle George, wanna hit the food stands? They serve the best cold brews here," Hendrick suggested to his uncle.

"Hmm, why I think I'd like that, Henry," George said while following his nephew.

"I'll follow them to make sure they don't cause any trouble," Aunt Dorothy said with a sigh before tailing Hendrick and George.

Everyone else went off to look around the boardwalk, leaving Cross, Zee, Lindsay, Donna, and Darcilia together. Zara had gone off to look around on her own while Le'Belle went to follow Emily and Andrea and Rebecca pulled Whitney somewhere else (so as not to interrupt Cross's dates).

"So what ride do you think Andrea took Emily to?" Darcilia asked Zee.

"Probably the Obliterator," Zee said. "They say the ride is so fast, waivers had to be signed that if your heart exploded, the operator legally owns your soul… but I think that's just a rumor."

"Say, um, Zee," Cross said to his sister. "I've been wanting to ask… how have you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing great," Zee replied. "I've been really enjoying the change in scenery and I got myself a lifeguard gig, so it's just been going swell."

"That does sound great," Cross said with a nod. "But, how are you doing with the… um, you know…" He gestured to her sigil.

"Eh, they didn't mind. Just gotta know CPR and swim to get the job," Zee said with a shrug. "Plus I think having a dragon form helped, since it would count as a 'unique skill'."

"Okay, but I was asking how you are doing with-"

"Look, I get your concern, baby bro," Zee interrupted him, sounding a little annoyed. "But right now, I'd just like to celebrate Mily's birthday crawl. We're here for her. So try to focus on that, okay?"

"Sorry, I'm just… worried about you," he said while looking down.

Zee looked over at her brother, seeing that he was only concerned about her. She sighed, but then saw something that gave her an idea. "Hey, look at that," she said, pointing at a spooky house ride further down the boardwalk. "That would be a good place for your dates."

Cross looked where she was pointing. "Um, are you sure? Because-"

"Oh, I'm sure," Zee said. "You'll love it, trust me."

Behind them, Lindsay took notice of Donna being quiet. In fact, she had barely spoken a word since they left the docks.

"You've been very quiet, Donna," Lindsay pointed out.

"Oh, um… I guess I have," Donna replied, a little awkwardly.

"Are you… okay?" Lindsay asked, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, I am," Donna quickly answered while looking around. "But this place is interesting, to say the least."

"Yeah," Lindsay agreed, though she was still wondering if there was something on Donna's mind at the moment. Probably something to do with Emily…

"Lindsay, Donna," Cross said as he walked up to them. "There's a Spook House further down the boardwalk, would you two be interested in riding it?"

"A Spook House?" Lindsay asked, sounding unsure.

"I've never been to one of those before," Donna admitted. "But from the sound of it, it's like one of those haunted house rides."

"H-haunted house?" Lindsay asked, a bit nervous.

"I mean, it's just fake monsters," Donna pointed out, noticing Lindsay's tone and trying to ease her. "We've dealt with much worse."

"Y-yeah," Lindsay nodded while turning to Cross. She tried to look confident. "I mean, how bad could it be?"

"YAAH!" Lindsay screamed while she, Cross, and Donna rode through the Spook House in their cart.

"It's okay, Lindsay. It's nothing to be afraid of," Cross assured her before turning to Donna. "Are you scared, Donna?"

Donna just sighed, sounding bored. "Nope."

Suddenly popping up from the shadows was the cardboard cutout of a werewolf, howling at them.

"YAAAAH!" Lindsay cried out in fright before hugging Cross and pulling him close to her, making Cross blush.

Now I'm starting to see why Zee wanted me to go on this ride, he thought to himself.

Donna, however, just looked at the werewolf cutout with a bored expression.

"Not impressed," Donna dismissed while rolling her eyes.

The star attraction of the boardwalk was the Obliterator, a large roller coaster with an incredibly long line of witches and demons waiting for the chance to ride it. Amongst those waiting in line were Cups and Mugs as Andrea walked over with Emily to get in front of the line.

"Hi! I have a reservation for Emily Tricks! She's the birthday girl!" Andrea declared.

"Emily… yes, she's on here," the operator said as he checked his clipboard, causing some line-goers to complain.

"Hey! No line-cuttin'!" Cups cried out.

"Yeah! Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting?" Mugs asked.

"Hey, hey! I got a reservation ahead of time for the birthday girl!" Andrea shouted as she pointed to Emily, who looked slightly embarrassed about this. "She has a right to not wait in line!"

"Um… Andrea, is this really alright?" Emily asked her.

"Come on, Emily, it's your birthday, technically speaking. You just gotta be a little selfish every now and then," Andrea said.

"That's what I constantly feared about myself…" Emily muttered.

"Come on, Emi, just go along with it," Andrea pleaded.

"Alright, if you insi-"

"Great!" Andrea shouted as she pulled Emily to the front row of the coaster, where they took their seats. "Have you ever been to a roller coaster before?"

"Well, once at a carnival trip with the rest of Glandus, since the Graux sisters had connections with the owner," Emily said before looking confused. "Or was it blackmail…"

The coaster started as it rose up on the track, Emily looking down to see how farther up they were. She turned to Andrea, who was just smiling in excitement.

"You know, I hear that once we get to the drop, we literally go through the astral dimension!" Andrea revealed.

"Wait, WhAAAAAAAA-!" Emily shouted while the coaster dropped down from the high track, Andrea cheering the entire time while Emily screamed.

After that, Andrea took Emily to a water splash ride called 'Blood-Splatter Mountain', where they rode on large bones through the red-colored water. With them were Zee, Le'Belle, and Zara.

"I always love the wet rides," Zee commented with a smile.

"Yeah, if you consider getting splashed by blood fun…" Emily said nervously.

"Wait, the water isn't made of real blood, is it?" Le'Belle asked, looking wary.

"Who knows?" Andrea asked with a shrug before they went down a drop, the red liquid splashing all over them and Emily trying to keep her mouth closed so she didn't accidentally swallow any of it just as their picture was taken.

Next Andrea took Emily and the others to ride on the swings. Andrea laughed along while Emily as they were joined by Zee, Lindsay, and Jojo.

Next were the bumper carts. Emily bumped into Hendrick, who spun wildly, before bumping into Whitney from behind.

"Enjoying yourself, Emily?" Andrea asked while bumping into Cross from behind.

"Yeah! I love this!" Emily shouted with a smile as she went around bumping into others while crackling in laughter "Eh! Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!" she laughed while getting into the zone, eventually bumping into Zara.

"Eh!" Zara cried out while turning to Emily and laughing as well. "Heh-heh-heh-heh…" She quickly covered her mouth and turned to see Emily, who was already gone and driving toward others to bump them.

"Emily's really gone into the zone, doesn't she?" Zee asked as she rode up, Zara turning to her.

"Y-Yeah, she does…" Zara replied nervously.

Eventually, they were on the Spin Cycle as Emily, Zee, Andrea, Cross, Donna, Lindsay, Jojo, Hendrick, Zara, Le'Belle, Darcilia, Whitney, and Rebecca all reacted to getting spun around. Even Aunt Dorothy was enjoying herself.

"Woo-hoo! How are you enjoying yourself, kids?" Dorothy asked them as they got off.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Rebecca said while looking in a daze.

"Please don't barf, please don't barf, please don't barf…" Whitney said while looking concerned…

"Wahahaha! Now that was a great ride, wasn't it?" Andrea asked Emily.

"It was… until Whitney threw up on Zee," Emily said while they turned to see Whitney helping Zee clean up while looking apologetic.

"I'm so, so, sorry, Zee," Whitney continued apologizing.

While that was going on, Zara stepped in front of Emily. "Say, who's up for the games? There's a lot to try out, maybe we could even win some prizes."

"Yeah, that does sound great," Emily said with a nod.

Emily, along with Andrea, Le'Belle, and Zara, went over to try some of the game stands. First, Emily tried out the ring toss while Andrea cheered for her.

"Go, Emily! Show that carny what you can do!" Andrea declared while suddenly in her cheerleading outfit.

"When did you change…?" Le'Belle questioned Andrea while Zara stood next to Emily.

Emily focused on the ring and on the spikes on the boards. She threw one ring and it looked like it was about to land… but the ring narrowly missed the spike. "Hmm," she said as she threw another ring over to the spike, but that missed as well. "Okay, third time's the charm," she said as she threw the ring over, hoping it would land on the spike. She saw that it was about to go through the spike… before it flipped and fell on the board, away from the spike.

She frowned, which Andrea noticed. "Hey, don't feel bad. It's just a boardwalk game."

"She's right," Zara said. "These games are practically rigged…"

"Still, I want to win something…" Emily muttered.

They moved onto the next game, where Emily held up some darts to aim at some balloons. Andrea kept cheering while Le'Belle and Zara stood by to watch. Unfortunately, each time that Emily threw a dart, she ended up missing. One dart even ended up bouncing off a balloon.

"Oh, come on!" Andrea complained. "She really has that!"

They moved on to a game where Emily held up a ball and tried to knock down some bottles. She threw the ball and it looked like it was going to hit… before changing direction at the last moment. Emily frowned and tried again… and again, but each ball barely missed the bottles. This frustrated her and she threw her last ball straight at the bottles… and it bounced off.

"What's the big idea?!" Andrea shouted as she pulled the carny's shirt. "Are these bottles glued?!"

Next was throwing eyeballs at a bucket. Emily was determined to throw some in the bucket, but each time they somehow missed. Emily was not the only one frustrated at this, since Andrea was shaking the carny in charge of the booth.

"Why do you keep rigging the games!?" Andrea ranted.

They tried other games like knocking over the ducks, ski-ball, basketball, fishbowl, and even one of those machines where you earned a prize by the right push of the button… but every time she missed. Andrea ended up shaking the machine as Le'Belle pulled her away from it.

"Okay, so many of these games are a bust and snail waisters, and rigged," Andrea said.

"I'm not convinced," Emily said. "I feel like my game is off today. Like my perception is totally warped. One second I see things one way and the next I see them another. It keeps throwing me into a loop."

"What do you think is causing it?" Zara asked, looking concerned.

"Maybe I haven't been getting enough sleep or maybe I haven't been drinking enough," Emily suggested. "Or maybe today just isn't my day…"

"No!" Andrea refused to accept. "Today is your day! Look, let's try dunking this guy!" she shouted as she pointed at a Dunk Tank. Sitting over the water was a troll.

"Hey! Come and try to knock me down! Nick Troll!" the troll cried out. "Which of you want a shot? Only three throws!"

"You don't have to try to win them all, Emily," Le'Belle tried to tell her.

Emily smiled. "You're right, but I think I need a win at least once," she said as she paid for three balls and narrowed her eyes at the target. She held up one ball and made the pitch, but even though the ball hit, it wasn't strong enough to drop the troll.

"Oooh, so close! Almost had me there," Nick Troll said.

Emily narrowed her eyes at the target and threw her second ball, only to miss.

"Oh come on, are you even trying?" the troll asked in a mocking tone. "But hey, one more shot."

"You got this, Emily!" Andrea cheered while Emily looked at the ball.

"I don't… know, maybe I'm just not at the top of my game today," Emily said, sounding unsure while Le'Belle patted her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay," Le'Belle told her. "Win or lose, it's not the end of the world, isn't it?"

Emily looked at her before looking back at the ball. She sighed. "Win or lose, it's not the end." She eyed the target before throwing the ball, watching as it flew towards the target. Le'Belle and Andrea watched in anticipation, even Nick Troll watched the ball heading towards the target.

Everything felt like it was in slow motion. Emily felt her heart sink as she saw the ball about to miss… until it suddenly changed direction and hit the target hard enough to knock it down.

"WAAH!" Nick Troll shouted as he fell down in the tank, making a splash.

Emily looked surprised by this as Andrea jumped towards her. "Woo-hoo! You did it, Emily! You've made the shot!" she cheered.

"Um, I didn't think it would hit," Emily admitted, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Actually… it was me," Zara said as she raised her hand up, looking rather sheepish as Emily turned to her. "I'm sorry, it's just… I felt so bad about you losing, so I wanted to help you. Just like the way you helped me." She rubbed her own arm. "I hope that you're not mad…"

"Mad? No, Zara," Emily assured her. "I'm not mad. Honestly, it isn't like I would have won without you anyway."

Zara gave a smile, a smile of relief. "I guess that's true…"

After they finished with the games, they went to rejoin the others.

"Are you sure you didn't want to take a prize, Emily?" Le'Belle asked her.

"I mean, I didn't really win that game fairly, did I?" Emily asked. "Since Zara helped me, it didn't feel right to take a prize… even if the games are rigged and impossible by design."

"Strange, I've tried out some of these games, and I won most of them," Cross said.

"Me too," Lindsay replied while holding her stuffed animal.

"Wait, really?" Emily asked, surprised and also frustrated that apparently she was the only one who struggled with the games.

"Um, you could have my prize if you want," Lindsay offered, but Emily shook her head.

"No, it's fine. You can keep it, Lindsay," Emily told her. "I think it's just bad luck on my part. Yeah, that has to be it." She sighed before deciding to change the subject. "So how are things back at the Isles?"

"Well, things have really calmed down lately," Lindsay said. "Since school is out, I do a lot of volunteer work. Helping those who lost their homes, like the werecats of the Torsa Villa. I have been helping them move into a temple that was offered to them by this Eclipsa woman."

"And… how is Nina?" Emily asked her, trying to not look at Donna, who was silent with her neutral, stoic expression.

"She's doing fine," Lindsay responded. "Though she has a lot on her mind lately…"

"I even considered inviting her to join us, since I thought that she could use the break!" Andrea revealed, which surprised Emily. "But then I remembered you two still have… a thing going on between you both and that it wasn't a good idea to bring you together at the time."

"Does she know that you're here…?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, but she's okay with it," Andrea assured her, which surprised Emily. "Well, she didn't seem mad about it or anything. If she is and I didn't notice it, I'll try to make it up to her when I help set up her next birthday party."

"I guess I won't be around for that, huh?" Emily asked.

"Oh… yeah, I guess you won't," Andrea said, a little sad.

Emily looked over at Donna, expecting her to say something. But she just stayed quiet, alone in her thoughts.

"So Cross, how have things been with you lately?" Emily asked while turning to him. "I bet you and your girlfriends have been on a lot of dates…"

"Oh, well, yeah, we've been on a few casual dates," Cross said. "Like we went to the park and we flew around the Isles. Oh, that one time we took on a jogging-"

"Wow, you three go on some boring dates," Zee interrupted. "You three didn't have fun, like going to the pool? Seeing a scary movie? What have I taught you, Cross?!"

"What dad taught me, to do the opposite of what you'd do," Cross said, ignoring Zee sticking her tongue at him. "Also… I went to see Teri."

Emily paused, remembering Teri Oscorne… and his alias. "Oh… Teri…"

"I know how you feel about him, I know how all of you do," Cross said, looking over at Lindsay and Donna. "But he was just another victim of the Inner Demon's influence. He is getting the help he needs, and I've talked with him… though, sometimes I ended up talking with his other persona…"

"The Goblin," Emily guessed, frowning as she remembered their previous fights. "But let's not talk about him. How is Teri doing now?"

"It… depends on the day," Cross admitted, frowning. "Some days he's very coherent. Other days… not so much. He is getting help, but not enough."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Ever since Padlock became the new Oracle Head, things have been a little… disorganized," Cross said, giving a sigh. "The Oracle Coven has been in disarray ever since the Day of Unity, with members fighting amongst themselves and selling each other out to avoid persecution. It didn't help that Osran didn't surround himself with the most moral witches…" He shook his head. "Because of this, I'm just worried that Teri might end up relapsing."

"Oh… I'm, sorry, Cross," Emily told him. "I hope that Teri gets the help he needs. Really, I do."

Cross smiled. "Thanks, Emily. That means a lot to me."

Emily gave him a nod before turning to Le'Belle. "What about you, Le'Belle? How have you've been?"

Le'Belle smiled. "I've been rekindling with some of my old friends, including some who I haven't spoken to in years. It's… been really good. I thought I had burned a lot of those bridges a long time ago, but apparently not."

"Is BIG still a thing?" Emily asked.

Le'Belle shook her head. "We're all just former scouts now, but we're all trying to do our part to help the Isles recover. Well… except for Alburno. I don't know what happened to Alburno after he went off grid."

"Alburno went off grid?" Emily asked her.

"Yeah, nobody has heard from him since around the time you left," she admitted.

"And what about Meg?" Emily asked, remembering seeing Meg a few times during her stay with Le'Belle. "Are you two still talking?"

"Oh, well… yeah, we're still talking," Le'Belle said. "We've been talking a lot, actually." She smiled, but then sighed. "Of course, we ended up meeting Judd…"

"Judd?" Emily asked her.

"An ex of mine… and Meg's ex," Le'Belle mentioned with a groan. "I don't like talking about him much, but he's been doing some community service from what I've heard."

Recognizing that Le'Belle doesn't like talking about Judd much, Emily decided to change the subject to something that she had been meaning to ask about. "Back in the Boiling Isles. Have you had any trouble with… Belos supporters?"

This alarmed Le'Belle. "Belos supporters?"

"Yeah, people who believe that Belos was right," Emily mentioned. "I've been seeing them around the Inwell Isles, preaching about Belos and the dangers of magic."

"Wait, they're doing this in the open?" Le'Belle asked, even more concerned. "What about the authorities here? Are they doing anything?"

"Nope," Zee huffed in annoyance. "The local authorities just let them talk and the authorities are filled with volunteers that are pretty much useless."

"Hey!" Hendrick shouted, overhearing this.

"Are you having this problem in the Boiling Isles?" Emily asked.

Le'Belle shook her head. "Or at least they aren't doing it in the open. A lot of witches are afraid of being labeled a Belos supporter, maybe because they're afraid that Raine will do to them what Belos would have done to them."

"That would explain it," Emily said. "Because they definitely aren't afraid to act openly here, away from Raine's eyes and outside their authority…"

After they finished up on the boardwalk, Emily's party headed over to a boat restaurant that was anchored at the boardwalk.

"And this is where we're going for lunch!" Andrea declared. "I made sure to get reservations at this restaurant just for you, Emily!"

"Um, thanks, Andrea," Emily said as they walked onto the boat and saw tables set up on the deck. "So what do you know about this place?"

"Well, it was set up by an old schoolmate and his dad…" Andrea said before seeing the restaurant owner and his son coming over. "Hiya, Levi!"

"Uh, hey, Andrea," Levi responded with a wave, blushing a little. He and his father, Goonla, were both wearing black and brown suits. "I'm Levi, this is my father, Goonla, we're the Thians."

"And we hear that you're the birthday girl," Goonla said, pointing at Emily.

"Thians…" Emily said. "That name sounds… familiar."

"That could be because we came from the Boiling Isles just like you have," Goonla explained. "I decided to move us here to set up a family restaurant."

Suddenly, it clicked in place for Emily where she heard the name before. "Wait, you're Kay's family!" she realized.

"Wait, you know Kay?" Levi asked her.

"How did you know who Kay is…?" Donna asked Emily.

"Oh, they met before when I invited her to help Tabrella while she was watching Kay for Luz," Lindsay answered, Donna turning to her in confusion. "It was, um, after we saved her from the Underworld."

"And before she rejoined the Emperor's Coven to take down the Guild…" Cross added.

"Well, if you know Kay, would you like to see her again?" Goonla offered while Levi walked inside to get her.

"I'm… I'm not so sure about that…" Emily said hesitantly before Levi strolled out with Kay.

"Hey, Kay, here's someone who remembers you," Levi said to his baby sister, who looked up to Emily, who paused.

"I… I don't think…" Emily said as she looked down at Kay, who recognized the green witch… and bounced in joy, surprising Emily.

"Ba!" Kay cried out while bouncing out of her stroller and landing in Emily's arms. Emily looked down at Kay, surprised by her reaction.

"She looks happy to see you again, Emily," Lindsay said with a smile.

"Yeah, I… I'm happy to see her too," Emily responded with a heartfelt smile while looking down at the gill-child. "I'm so glad to see you again, Kay…"

Donna watched this, surprised by the interaction between Emily and Kay. It wasn't something that she expected to see from Emily…

After lunch, they went to the shopping district, where Emily was seen trying out different outfits and showing them to Andrea, Zara, and Le'Belle.

"Ooh, you looking good, girl!" Andrea declared as Emily stepped out while wearing a purple long-sleeve and shorts romper, with black and white striped leggings and purple boots. "Purple is so good on you!"

"Yeah, it really is, isn't it?" Emily asked while picking out another outfit. Instead of placing it on, she cast an illusion on herself to wear to show what she'd look like with it on. "What do you think?" she asked, wearing a fancy blue ball gown with red shoes.

"You look good in it as well," Le'Belle said with a nod.

"I agree," Zara replied. "But you know what could also look good on you? Some black."

"Well, I've already picked some black outfits, but it is my favorite color," Emily said as she used a spell to turn the blue gown black. "Though I'll admit, it does make me look a bit… sinister."

"What? Come on, it compliments your eyes," Zara pointed out.

"Ooh! How about pink! Let's see if you could try out pink!" Andrea suggested.

Emily looked around. "Say, where's Zee? I thought she was with us."

"Oh, I think I saw her go off with her friends," Zara said. "I think she went to spend time with them or something."

"Oh…" Emily said. She couldn't help but look a bit disappointed…

Meanwhile, Zee was going through several shops, her friends coming along with her.

"Come on, we gotta find the perfect gift for her!" Zee shouted while looking at a shelf. She shook her head. "No, she's already got this one!"

"So… why are we knick-knack hunting again?" Darcilia asked.

"Emily loves knick-knacks and I want to find one that is very special for her!" Zee declared. "The perfect birthday present! Emily has been through a lot in her life, so she needs something special for her birthday! She deserves it!"

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Zee worked up like this…" Rebecca commented, seeing Zee frantically going from shelf to shelf.

"Maybe Emily means a lot more to her than we realized," Whitney replied.

"Yeah," Darcilia said with a nod as she walked over to Zee. "You want to talk to us about it, Zee?"

"About what?" Zee asked, not even looking at Darcilia while looking for a knick-knack.

"Your thing with Emily," Darcilia brought up, which made Zee pause. "Look, it's obvious that Emily must be special to you. More special than you let us on. Especially if you're going through this much trouble in getting her a gift. So what haven't you told us about her?"

"Yeah," Rebecca said as she stepped up with a smile. "Like, what does Emily mean to you?"

"Well…" Zee sighed, knowing that she had to let it out. "Okay, I do like Emily. Like, I like-like her. She's… she's not just another weekly fling, she's… I feel like we both get each other. I mean… I don't know if it's because we both suffered under the Emperor's Coven, or because we're both branded, or because… both of us are unsure about the future." She patted above her lips. "I… I kissed her…"

"Oh my Titan, tell us more, girlfriend," Whitney said with a smile, Rebecca and Darcilia also looking curious.

"It was when she saved me when I was being held in the Emperor's Castle. She… she came to my rescue and helped me and my brother to escape. She had to stay behind and I didn't know if I would ever see her again, so I-" Zee paused, remembering how she made out with Emily. "It was like something out of a romance film… but then after that, and before she left…" She looked down, remembering Emily's leave and their interactions back at the Boiling Isles. "When I asked about us, she… she rejected me."

"Wait, what?" Darcilia asked in surprise and concern. "She rejected you? Why?"

"Yeah, I was so into it now!" Rebecca shouted while in tears.

"Look, it's not that she didn't like me or anything, just that… she wasn't ready to date yet," Zee explained.

"Really? Why wouldn't she be ready to date?" Whitney asked in confusion.

"Well, she has her own… personal reasons," Zee states while being vague.

"Like what?" Whitney asked her.

"Look, you're just gonna have to ask her yourself," Zee said respectfully. "It's not right to talk about it without her present."

"Fair enough…" Whitney said

"But… I will admit, I still like Emily," Zee declared. "I came here to be with her and I'm fine with waiting for when she is ready to date…" She sighed. "Whenever that is."

After they finished at the shopping district, Andrea took them to a local roller-skating rink.

"Woo-hoo! Yeah! How do you like roller skating, Emily?!" Andrea asked, already rolling around the ring in her skates while Emily was struggling to find her footing.

"Pretty fine," Emily said as she kept her balance, almost slipping before she managed to catch the railing. "Whoa!"

"You okay? Is this your first time skating?" Andrea asked in concern as she skated over to Emily.

"No, I've skated before," Emily admitted while trying to keep balance.

"Has it been a long time since you've skated?" Andrea asked her and Emily just nodded.

"That must be it," Emily said as she let go of the railing. "I just haven't skated in a while."

"Are you sure?" Zara asked while easily skating around Emily. "I mean, this is my first time skating, and I'm doing perfectly well. Perhaps you're just out of practice?"

Emily saw this and grumbled to herself. "I am not," she said as she looked down at her skated feet. "Easy… easy…" Emily tried to balance herself… only to slip and fall down. "Ow… maybe I am out of practice."

"Come on, I think you're doing okay," Zara admitted while Darcilia skated over to her.

"Yeah, you're doing better than them," she said as she pointed to those who were having trouble skating.

"Yaaaahh!" Rebecca cried out as she tripped over her feet and hit the wall. "Ow…"

"How do you control these things?!" Whitney cried out before she crashed into Le'Belle, who crashed into Hendrick, who fell over into Colt, who was skating with his wife.

"YAAH!" they cried out as they fell, Whitney just wincing at the accident she caused.

"Sorry…" Whitney apologized.

"Come on, come on, ah shit!" Cross shouted as he slipped and fell down face first on the ground. "Ow…" he winced as Donna and Lindsay rolled over to help support him.

"Are you alright, Cross?" Lindsay asked while she and Donna helped him up.

"I've… never tried this before," he admitted, sounding embarrassed.

"Want us to hold your hands while you skate around?" Donna asked with a teasing smile as Cross just looked down in a blush and Lindsay giggled.

"Geez, make out, why don't ya?" Zee asked them while rolling past them. She then noticed Emily struggling to skate. She decided to go help Emily out, only to feel her skates stop suddenly. "Gah!" she shouted as she tripped over Zara, who fell down as well.

"OW! Zee!" Zara cried out as they both ended up on the floor.

"Crap…" Zee winced before seeing Andrea helping Emily up, offering her hand.

"Come on, I can help you skate," Andrea offered.

Emily just sighed while taking Andrea's hand. "Thanks, Andrea," she said as the pink-haired witch pulled up her green friend and put her arm around Emily, helping her keep her balance. As Zee witnessed this, she couldn't help but feel a little envious.

"Zee, you alright?" Darcilia asked while helping Zee up.

"Yeah, just fell," Zee responded while letting out a sigh. "Thanks, D.B."

"And nobody's helping me…" Zara muttered while still on the floor.

Andrea and Emily were now skating around together, Andrea holding Emily by the waist, which Emily blushed at.

"So, Emi, when was the last time you skated?" Andrea asked her.

"Well… it was when I was still dating Stella," Emily admitted. "Back when it was just me, Stella, Nina, and Tito. There was this skating ring back in Latissa that was one of our hang outs." She smiled, thinking fondly of the memory. "It was before I was the Queen of Glandus. Tito would always take the spotlight and show off his skating moves, killing it everytime. Me and Stella would always skate together and a lot of the time Nina just watched us while eating junk food. But she would jump into the skating rink whenever someone picked a fight with us…"

"Alright everyone, get with your partners, cause it's time for the slow dance…" spoke the DJ, who was actually Franky the winged monkey, who held up a record to play some slow dance music.

Everyone looked up at the disco ball as slow music started to play. Emily looked around to see Zee on the opposite side of the rink with Darcilia. Emily wished that she was partnered with Zee, but she saw that she was already skating with Darcilia…

"Come on, Emi," Andrea said to her. "Do you want to dance with me? You don't have to if I'm not your first choice…"

"I… don't mind," Emily responded. "Besides, a slow skating dance sounds… easier than regular skating."

"Alrighty, you're the birthday girl," Andrea said while the two slow danced around the rink, skating by Bloom and Colt.

Zee watched Emily and Andrea dance around and Darcilia noticed her look. "Hey, you alright?" she asked her.

"I'm fine," Zee responded before grabbing Darcilia's hand. "Come on, we should have fun for ourselves."

Darcilia blushed as Zee pulled her aside, the two were paired up as they slowly skated around the rink, passing by Donna, Cross, and Lindsay.

"How are you holding up, Cross?" Donna asked him while Cross was keeping his balance.

"I-I think I got it," Cross said before he almost slipped, which was only stopped by Donna and Lindsay helping him balance. "Thanks, girls."

"We're here for you," Lindsay assured him, the two girls holding Cross's hands while slowly skating around.

After the skating rink, Andrea brought the party to the Inwells Community Center, taking them to a room she rented out.

"And now for the final stop at Emily's birthday crawl!" Andrea declared.

"Oh, please tell me it's a pool party," Zee said.

"Sorry, that place was rented out by the seniors today," Andrea said while opening the door. "But I think you'll really like this, Emily!"

As Andrea flicked on the lights, abomalloons and streamers rose up from the floor. Emily gasped when she saw a banner that read 'HAPPY 18th, EMILY!' and that the room was decorated with a farm theme. There was farming wallpapers, decorative pumpkin stickers, food and cake at the tables, and party games.

"Andrea… this is wonderful…" Emily said in awe while looking around.

"Yes, this is very nice, Andrea," Lindsay agreed.

"Thanks! Honestly, I wasn't sure about the theme at first, but since you stayed with the Shystreams at their farm, I thought, why not a farm-themed birthday party?" Andrea asked her. "If that's alright…"

"Alright? This is perfect!" Emily said in excitement. "I mean, this is really great, Andrea. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

Andrea smiled. "Great! Let's party like it's 1999 B.E.B.!" Andrea declared before leaning toward you, the readers. "That means Before the Era of Belos, by the way."

Thus the party began, with music playing as everyone enjoyed themselves.

Emily took a bite out of some of the food that was on the table. "Mmm, these are good, Andrea."

"Wow, these are delicious," Cross said while eating one of Andrea's baked goods.

"Yeah, I've never tasted Andrea's baking before," Donna admitted.

"Oh, baking is one of her passions," Lindsay said while Jojo helped himself to some of the food.

"Yeah, she makes the best food for parties!" Jojo added.

"I am so totally going to hire her on our birthdays," Whitney said as she and Rebecca enjoyed the food.

"Oh, don't worry, I already know when your birthdays will be up!" Andrea revealed, earning some looks from the Carmine sisters.

After they enjoyed some of the food, they started playing party games. Zee, Andrea, Rebecca, Whitney, Lindsay, Cross, Donna, Zara, George, Jojo, and Cups and Mugs (who were also attending the party) gathered in a line while in different positions, Emily in front of them with her back turned. "Green light," she said as everyone slowly walked down towards Emily before she turned around. "Red light!"

They stopped, only for George to take an extra step. "Uncle George is out!" Andrea declares.

"Hehe, well that's my due," he said as he walked over to sit with Aunt Dorothy and Darcilia, who were also out of the game. Bloom and Colt were just watching.

During another game, Emily was blindfolded while everyone stepped away from her. "Mosco… Mosco…" she said while Zee, Cups, Mugs, Le'Belle, Zara, and Andrea tried to avoid being tagged.

"Polio!" Zee shouted as Emily turned to her.

"Polio!" Mugs shouted.

"No, Mugs! She's supposed to say Mosco first," Cups reminded him before getting tagged by Emily.

"Looks like you're it," Emily declared, taking off the blindfold and handing it to him.

"Aw man…" Cups replied while he blindfolded himself.

Next was a game of Pin the Tail on the Ratworm. Emily was once again wearing a blindfold as she was spun around before she held up the tail to try to pin it to the paper ratworm on the wall.

"Alright, Emily! You can do this!" Andrea cheered. "Just follow your instincts and pin that ratworm!"

"On your left Emily, on your left!" Zee cheered.

"You're getting cold, Emily!" Zara told her while nearby.

"I think… I'm close…" Emily said while holding up the pin. Suddenly, she felt her arm change direction. "Woah!"

"Uh…"

Emily removed her blindfold and her eyes widened in horror when she realized that she had pinned the tail… on Hendrick's arm. "Oh my Titan!" she shrieked.

"Henry, are you alright?!" Lindsay asked in shock.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm fine," Hendrick said as he pulled out the tail from his arm. "See?" he pointed out before his arm squirted out blood. He looked at his bleeding arm. "Huh," he said before his eyes widened in realization. "YAAAA-!"

"Well, in hindsight, I should've bought the ones with velcro," Andrea mused while Donna was bandaging and healing Hendrick's arm.

"Sorry that I bled at your party, Emily," Hendrick said to the birthday girl, who sighed.

"No, I'm sorry for pinning you like that," Emily apologized. "I don't know what happened back there. I swear, I usually have good aim. I must be really off today…"

Deciding to hold off from doing anymore games, everyone spread out to chat amongst themselves and have some refreshments while Emily leaned against the wall and watched everyone. She saw Zee chatting with her friends, Cross and Lindsay talking with Colt and Bloom, Donna talking with Whitney, and Andrea talking with Prince Stolas-

"Wait a minute?!" Emily shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Is that a Goetian?!"

"Oh yeah, I invited him!" Andrea revealed.

"I was told there would be cake," Stolas said before seeing Lindsay and Cross. "Ah, Ms. Shystream and Mr. Drakescale, how have you two been?"

"Hello, Prince Stolas," Lindsay greeted him politely. "It's nice seeing you again, and we're doing good."

"Yeah, it's a surprise to see you here," Cross said to the tall owl demon.

Emily just stared at this, blinking before shaking her head. She knew she would have to ask Cross and Lindsay about this later. She then noticed Hendrick talking with Le'Belle and Uncle George. She saw his bandaged arm and she felt a sting of guilty. Looking down, she silently stared at her own brew until someone walked over to stand next to her.

"Hey, what's with the long face?" Zara asked her. "Still bothered about what happened with Hendrick?"

"Yeah…" Emily responded while drinking her brew. "I feel really bad about it."

"Hey, I'm sure he won't hold it against you," Zara said.

"Yeah, but it's also not the first time I hurt someone I cared about," Emily muttered.

Zara looked sympathetic for Emily before deciding to change the subject. "So… some party, right? You ever had a birthday party like this before?"

"Well… not exactly how Andrea set them up," Emily admitted.

"Oh really?" Zara asked, curious. "What was your last birthday like?"

Emily tensed up, lightly squeezing her cup. "It was back when I was… not a pleasant witch…"

Emily's 17th birthday.

In Glandus, there was a huge pile of presents given by the school's student body. Emily sat on a throne, having cronies bring her each of the presents so she could look at them while Sonya stood by and Stella was sitting next to her at the seat of her throne, although Stella looked absolutely miserable. Nina and Cain were also standing by, watching both Emily looking through the presents and Tito's little bard show with the bard students.

"Who's the leader of our school, that's made for kicking ass? E-M-I-L-Y T-R-I-C-K-S!" the bard students sang in chorus while Tito was their maestro. Emily was barely paying attention to them, instead looking through the junk.

"This one looks like it's junk," Emily said in a dismissive tone, throwing her gift away without even opening them. She grabbed another box and shook it. "Tsh, this is broken," she said while throwing it away, a loud smash being heard.

"You've hardly opened any," Sonya said in a bored tone while Emily just sighed in annoyance when throwing another present away.

"Aw, that one was mine…" Nina muttered.

"Was it a dead animal?" Emily asked sarcastically and Nina fell silent. "Yeah, I figured…" she said as she leaned back in her throne. "All of these gifts, all these disappointments," Emily said. "What's the point in getting so many of them if none of them look interesting? I expected better."

Nina flinched while Cain stayed silent. The two just stayed in their posts while Emily looked down at Stella, getting an idea.

"Hey Stella…" Emily said to her in a seductive manner.

"Um, yes, Emily?" Stella asked her nervously, feeling Emily tapping her finger on her chin.

"Why don't you sit on my lap and give me a birthday kiss?" Emily asked her, patting her own lap.

"Um…" Stella hesitated, but when she saw Emily's gaze narrow, she quickly got up and went to sit on her lap.

"There, isn't this comfortable?" Emily asked while having Stella in her arms, making the glasses-wearing girl look uncomfortable. "You know it's my birthday, you don't want to disappoint me now, do you?"

"N-No! I don't-" Stella was then forcefully kissed by Emily, who brought her closer to her.

Sonya, Nina, Cain, and the others walked away to give the two some privacy as Emily kept making out with Stella, who kissed back after a moment. She was afraid of what Emily might do to her if she didn't…

Emily had fallen silent. She looked down at her brew and saw her reflection in the liquid. She saw her own disgusted face looking back at her. Disgust in herself.

"Excuse me," she said while walking away, Zara watching her with a confused look.

Emily stepped outside of the party for a moment, finding herself outside of the community center. It was night now. She took in some fresh air, taking a deep breath as she tried to forget the awful memory she just recalled…

"Is that it?" a voice asked.

Emily turned and was surprised to see Donna outside with her, though she wasn't looking at her. No, she was looking up at the stars. "No, that's not it…" she muttered to herself.

"Donna?" Emily spoke up, surprising the silver-haired girl.

"Emily," Donna said as she turned.

"What are you doing out here?" they both asked in unison.

"You go first," Emily said.

"Well, I just came out here to, well, look at the stars and think," Donna responded. "I mean, the party's great and all, but I wanted to take some time for myself and get some fresh air."

"Oh, well… I thought the same thing," Emily admitted.

"So… yeah, guess we had the same idea," Donna said.

"Yeah…" Emily said awkwardly.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. The two stood in awkward silence, looking down at the ground. Donna just stared down while lightly brushing her shoe on the ground while Emily rubbed her own arm. Emily then glanced over at Donna and saw her hand. Her purple hand.

"So… what happened to your hand?" Emily asked her. "If you don't mind me asking…"

"Oh, this?" Donna asked as she raised her Abomi-hand up. "It's made out of abomination matter. I lost my original hand after Lupe attacked me and bit it off."

"Lupe…" Emily said, her eyes widening in realization. "Oh shit… Lupe ate your hand?"

"Yeah, and I killed the bastard," Donna muttered before she then realized something. "Wait, did you know Lupe?"

Emily sighed. "Well, he knew my sister in the Tarot Guild," Emily explained to her while looking uneasy. "He… he used to 'train' me. Sonya wanted him to toughen me up, but I think he just used that as an excuse to abuse to beat the crap out of me. I… I hated him for it."

"Oh… I'm sorry about that," Donna responded before sighing. "You know, he's also the reason why I was an orphan," she revealed, shocking Emily. "He killed my birth parents, so I killed him in response."

Emily stared at Donna in shock. "Titan… I'm sorry about your parents, Donna. I know what it's like, losing your parents…" She looked down. "But I'm glad that bastard is gone."

"Yeah," Donna agreed with a nod. "He won't be bothering anyone else anymore."

"Yeah…" Emily said, which was followed by another moment of silence as the two girls stood next to each other, neither of them noticing a pair of red eyes watching them in the darkness…

"Donna… did you know that it was me when I came to St. Epiderm as the Golden Guard?" Emily asked, thinking back to her first meeting with Donna, back at St. Epiderm.

Donna looked at her and nodded. "Yes, I did."

"So… it was you who told Lindsay that I was the Golden Guard," Emily deduced before adopting an expression of guilt. "Donna… I am so sorry for what I said to you, for trying to get you to turn against Nina. It was wrong and incredibly petty of me."

Donna was silent for a moment, looking up at the stars again before looking back at the former Golden Guard. "Emily… I forgive you," Donna told her, which surprised Emily.

"Really?" Emily asked.

Donna nodded. "I'm over it, it's all in the past," she said before sighing. "And look, I didn't come here to crash into your party, if that's what you've been worrying about."

"So… why did you come here?" Emily asked.

"A few reasons," Donna admitted. "One, to see the Inwell Isles. Two, for Cross and Lindsay. Three, for Nina."

"Nina…?" Emily asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I talked to her about it before leaving with Cross and Lindsay. She wanted to know how you've been doing, but she couldn't bring herself to come in person. So I came in her place," Donna explained, surprising the emerald witch. "So how are you doing, Emily?"

"Well… I've been doing good, but some days are harder than the other," she answered.

Donna nodded. "Do you want me to give a message to Nina from you?" she asked.

Emily thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No, there's nothing that I can say. I've already told Nina that I'm sorry, but sorry isn't enough." She sighed. "But how is Nina doing?"

"Good, but some days are harder than others," Donna said, repeating Emily's answer. "Honestly, I don't think she knows how to feel about you right now."

"I can't blame her," Emily said quietly before looking at Donna. "Do you… hate me for what I did to Nina?" Emily asked her.

Donna didn't answer right away. Instead, she was quiet for a moment, thinking about her answer before she gave it.

"I'll admit, I do hate what you did to Nina," Donna told her while Emily looked down in shame before Donna continued. "Like Nina, I honestly don't know how to feel about you, I just know that I don't hate you, Emily." This got Emily to look at her in surprise. "I don't hate you because I know that you were there at the Torsa Villa, saving lives. And I know that you were there during the Day of Unity, helping to stop Belos. And I know how much you mean to Cross and Lindsay, two witches that you and I both care for a lot. So no, I don't hate you."

Emily nodded. "Thank you," she said. "For coming to my party, I mean."

"You're welcome," Donna said before pausing. "And… I was made aware that the Torsa Villa fire happened on your actual birthday. I'm sorry. That day… it must have been horrible for you."

Emily just sighed. "Honestly, that day was far worse for Nina than it was for me."

"I think we can agree on that," Donna said with a sad nod.

Once again, neither girl spoke for a moment. It was Emily that broke the silence.

"Sometimes, Donna, I don't think that I deserve this. That I don't deserve love."

Donna scoffed at that. "Oh please, that's just nonsense," she said. "I mean, just look at how many witches were willing to cross the Boiling Seas just to be here for you. Even if you don't think that you deserve love, there's an entire room full of people that believe otherwise."

Emily looked up at Donna and hearing her words did make her feel a little better…

"Hey, there you are," Zara said as she stepped outside, Emily and Donna turning to her. "Are you ready to come back inside? It's cake time."

Emily and Donna looked at each other before the former turned to Zara. "Cake would be nice…"

"By the eye of the Titan! You were born during this day! Dear Titan bless the child of the Isles…! Happy birthday, dear Emily~!"

Everyone sang as Andrea came over with the cake, which was shaped like the number eighteen with the candles. "Make a wish!"

Emily smiled and blew out her candles. Everyone cheered as they clapped for Emily.

"What did you wish for?" Mugs asked her.

"Hey, come on, you know it's bad luck to reveal your wish," Cups told him.

"Honestly, my wish has already come true," Emily said with a smile. "Being surrounded by witches who care for me. Witches who gave me a chance. Witches who saved me. Seeing everyone here to celebrate my birthday, even if it is belated… I wouldn't wish for anything else," she said while Pretty nodded in agreement.

Everyone looked touched by this, some teary eyed and others feeling proud of Emily. All her new friends and family here with her… that is all she ever wanted.

"Now then," Andrea said as she clasped her hands together. "It's time to open presents!"

Emily looked excited as she went over to the presents. She picked out some that she looked excited to see. They were knick-knacks that were modeled to resemble the Shystreams. "Oh Lindsay, these are nice."

"Thank you, I spent a few nights making them," Lindsay said as Jojo handed Emily his gift.

"Ooh, open mine!" Jojo told her as Emily grabbed his gift and opened it.

"Oh thank you, Jojo," Emily said, holding up a new sunhat and putting it on.

"Ooh! Here's mine!" Andrea shouted as she handed Emily her gift.

Once Emily unwrapped it, she saw that it was… a coupon book. "'Pinkjoy Coupons'? What are these good for-" Emily stopped when she started flipping through the coupons, looking at what they were for. Reading them made the jaded witch blush hard.

"If you want, you can start cashing them in tonight," Andrea suggested.

"Um, right…" Emily said, still blushing. "Who's next?"

"Here's mine," Zara said as she handed Emily a gift. "I know you like knick-knacks, so I found one that I hope you'd like."

Emily opened Zara's gift and her eyes widened at the snow globe. Inside the snow globe she saw a city with emerald green buildings. "Whoa. This is a wonderful snow globe, Zara. Although, I don't recognize the city in it…"

"Me neither, but maybe you'll see it one day," Zara suggested.

"Maybe. But even if I don't, I like this gift a lot," Emily said while turning to Le'Belle, who handed her a gift.

"Here, I commissioned this from Meg as a gift to you," Le'Belle said as Emily opened it and unrolled a painting, looking at it with a smile.

"Wow, a portrait of… me," Emily said while looking at the abstract painting. "Meg's work is incredible. Thank you and thank Meg as well."

"I will," Le'Belle said. "She said she misses you, by the way."

"Ooh! Us next!" Cups and Mugs both shouted as they came up to hand Emily a present. After she opened it, she looked at it… strangely.

"A skull?" Emily asked while holding it up.

"Not just any skull, a skull that rhymes," Cups declared.

"It works as a piggy bank, something to put snails in," Mugs said.

"It is thee, the birthday girl named Emily," the skull spoke to her. "Insert your snails and see, the savings you'll build up with no fee!"

"Wow… thanks, guys," Emily told them, though she still wasn't sure how to feel about the gift.

George walked over to her next. "Now I know you like your knick-knacks, so here's something I made," he said while placing down a knick-knack of a model made out of brew cans, which somewhat resembled a person waving. "I call him Little Brew Man. Made it out of the apple blood brew cans I've been drinkin'."

"Wow, thanks Uncle George," Emily said as Aunt Dorothy handed her a gift as well.

"And here's mine, darling," Aunt Dorothy said as Emily opened it, seeing a decorative picture frame. "A picture frame for that lovely painting you just got."

Emily smiled, seeing the frame decorated with dandelions and flower pedals, with her name scripted in the wood. "Wow, thanks, Aunt Dorothy," she said.

"We also have something special for you, Emily," Bloom said as she and Colt handed Emily their present to her. Emily unwrapped it and saw that it was a journal with a blue cover. It came with an attached pen.

"A journal?" Emily asked them.

"A magic journal, a Magibook," Colt clarified. "See, with this book, it works similar to a penstagram, or a crystal ball, but it only works with a second book." He held up a second journal. "And we have the second copy. If you write a message in one, it appears in the other."

"This way, you can stay in touch with the Boiling Isles," Bloom said. "You can send messages to us anytime you want and vice versa."

"I… heard about these," Emily said while looking down at the journal. "But I heard they're really rare… and expensive." She looked up at the Shystream parents. "And you got it for me?"

The Shystream parents nodded. "We've been worried about you," Bloom explained. "And Hendrick as well. And we wanted a way that we could stay in better touch with you two, make sure that you're alright."

"Hey, why don't I get one?" Hendrick asked.

"Can we trust you with one?" Colt asked, giving Hendrick a look.

"I… good point," Hendrick said.

"This… really means a lot," Emily said as she went to hug the two Shystream parents, tears in her eyes as they hugged her back. "Thanks, guys."

"Okay, me next!" Hendrick declared as he walked over to Emily, handing her his gift. "Now, I consider you pinning my arm and everything under the bridge and I wanted to show you my appreciation for everything you have done for me and my family, so I wanted to give you this!"

Emily opened it and saw that it was a decorative dress. "Whoa, I love this dress, and," she said before she noticed a cement mug that was also in the bag. "Wow, did you make this mug?"

"Yup, with my construction magic," Hendrick declared. "I thought about just giving you that… but then I thought I should probably buy you something as well so I don't come across as cheap and unwilling to spend snails on you," he said, unable to tell that Lindsay was glaring daggers at him behind his back.

"Well, I love them, Henry," Emily said with a smile as he smiled back.

Next up was Cross, who handed her a wrapped gift that Emily noticed felt flat. She opened it up and gasped in surprise…

"My Silver Sentry mask…" Emily said, feeling the mask in her hands. "You managed to fix it up…"

"Yeah, found some of the pieces and, well, I thought you'd like to keep it as a memoir," Cross said with a smile. "After all, you did a lot of good as the Silver Sentry, didn't you? You took down the Tarot Guild and helped me stop Teri from hurting himself any further."

"Yeah, you're right," Emily said with a smile. "Thank you, Cross." She then saw Donna handing her a box. "Oh, you also have a gift?"

"I thought it would be rude if I didn't," Donna said as Emily opened it, the jaded witch looked surprised.

"A Silver Sentry action figure?" Emily asked, seeing the Silver Sentry action figure in the box.

"Whoa…" Cups, Mugs, and Jojo said, looking in awe.

"Mint condition," Donna said, "SkullToys was asked to produce these along with figures for the rest of BIG… but they never made it to the shelves because of the Day of Unity and everything that happened after it. So I asked my mom if I could give you one."

"Thank you," Emily replied as Stolas walked up to her.

"You know, seeing everyone giving you all these gifts made me realize how rude I would be if I didn't offer you a gift as well," Stolas said as he summoned something from his hand. It was a potted plant, with a large, purple mouth-like bud. "I grant you this plant, Ms. Tricks. Happy 18th year of your birth," he said while handing the plant to Emily.

"Wow, thanks," Emily replied before looking worried. "This isn't cursed, is it?"

"Oh no, it's harmless," Stolas assured her. "Unless you're a small vermin, since it is carnivorous."

"Well, thank you, Prince Stolas," Emily said politely before turning to Team WZRD. "You four are the last ones."

"Well, I didn't know what to give you, honestly," Whitney said while holding up an envelope. "I never know what to give people on their birthday, so… here are some birthday snails."

"Um… thanks, Whitney. I guess…" Emily said while taking the envelope.

"Here's my gift!" Rebecca shouted as she held up a lion backpack. "When I saw this lion backpack at the store, it made me think of your Palisman, so I wanted to have the honors in handing it to you!"

"Wow, thanks Rebecca," Emily said while being handed the backpack before Darcilia handed her a book. "What's this…?"

"'From Dusk Til Drawn To You', a good young adult book to read," Darcilia said.

"This wouldn't be a dirty book, is it?" Emily asked her, a bit suspicious.

"I… can't promise you it isn't," Darcilia said.

"Well, thanks anyway," Emily said while Zee came over last.

"Okay, here's mine!" Zee shouted as she rushed in, handing her gift to Emily. "Here! At first, I was going to give you another knick-knack, but when I had the idea to give you something really special, Mily!"

When Emily opened the box, her eyes widened. "Whoa… Zee…" she said as she held up the black leather jacket with red track lines on each upper arm sleeve. On the back is a royal style red 'E'. "This is… this is wonderful!"

"I… I thought you deserved something like this, Emily," Zee told her with a smile. "A special girl like you deserves a special gift."

In response, Emily went to give Zee a hug. "Thank you, Zee. I love it," she said.

And so everyone went to enjoy the cake and refreshments. Stolas definitely enjoyed the cake while chatting with Andrea, Lindsay, and Cross. "Hmm, this cake is so delicious," he said.

Emily was sitting down with her own cake, watching everyone enjoying the party. She spotted Zee talking with Darcilia and was thinking about going over to her when Zara walked over to sit beside her.

"Hey, what's up, birthday witch?" Zara asked. She noticed the look on her face. "Oh no, what's bothering you this time?"

Emily looked over at Zara before sighing. "I've been debating with myself."

"Debating over what?" Zara asked.

Emily looked down at her cake. "About whether I should ask Zee out or not."

"Really? Where's the problem there?" Zara asked her while pointing to Zee. "I mean, you can't say no to that…"

"Zee isn't the problem, it's… me," Emily admitted. "It's just… I'm not really sure if I'm ready to date again or not."

"Oh? Again?" Zara asked, her tone curious. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

Emily hesitated before sighting. "Sure," she said. "The first girl I was in a serious relationship with was named Stella," she admitted before looking down. "She was sweet, nerdy, and if you remove her glasses, she had the most wonderful eyes. We dated for several years, ever since we both started attending Glandus. It started out great and I did love her, but…" She paused as shame washed over her face. "I was… a bad girlfriend. I became very abusive towards her. Both emotionally and… physically." Emily shut her eyes, but mustered the strength to continue. "After our break-up, I started to develop feelings for Lindsay, and then we went on a date. But I was afraid of hurting Lindsay just as I hurt Stella, so before the date ended, me and Lindsay decided to just stay friends, which was the right call. But now… there's Zee."

She looked over at Zee, who was still chatting with Darcilia. "I know that she has feelings for me. Hell, she even kissed me. And… I have feelings for her as well. But I've told Zee that I wasn't ready to date yet, and I'm still not sure." She gave a fearful look. "And I'm not sure if Zee is going to wait for me to be ready or not…"

After hearing all of this, Zara looked surprised. "Wow, that is… I honestly didn't think you were like that…"

"And I was like that fairly recently, even if it isn't something that I'm not proud of now," Emily admitted. "I… I hope you don't think any less of me."

"Oh… well no," Zara said. "This doesn't change how I feel about you. But after hearing all of that, I do think… you're right." She patted Emily's shoulder. "I mean, it sounds like it's too early for you to date again. Especially if you were really as horrible to Stella as you said you were."

"I was…" Emily said.

"When was the break-up?" she asked her.

"It was this summer, so not too long ago," Emily said, shocking Zara.

"Oooooh… oh yeah, it's definitely too soon for you to date," Zara said. "Look, forget about dating altogether right now, cause it sounds like what you need is to focus on yourself before deciding on getting back in the dating game."

"I guess that does sound practical," Emily admitted.

"And if Zee does decide to start dating someone else in the meantime… you should just let her," Zara suggested. "Because honestly, it seems unfair to let Zee wait when you don't know when or if you'll ever be ready to get into another serious relationship. It's unfair to lead her on and you shouldn't ask her out either if you're not confident enough that you won't hurt her. It's probably for your own good and her own good that you don't rush into something you might regret, especially if you're worried that you might fall back on bad habits. Because you don't trust yourself, do you?"

Emily looked at Zee one more time, thinking about Zara's words. As much as she wanted Zee, she started to remember the things she did to Stella in the past. The gaslighting, the emotional abuse, the hitting, the unwanted advances…

What if she did the same to Zee?

Taking a deep breath, Emily turned to Zara. "You're right, Zara. I think… Zee deserves better. I still love her, but… I can't do this to her."

"Hey, I know it's hard, but you're doing the right thing," Zara assured her, patting Emily's back. "Trust me…"

After the party, everyone started to leave, walking out of the community center.

"I haven't partied like this since we used to have the Arborgeist," George said.

"Yeah, and that was a long time ago," Aunt Dorothy replied.

"Well, I thank you all for the cake," Stolas said to them. "Now, I must be off."

"Thanks for coming, Prince Stolas!" Andrea waved to him as Stolas opened his portal to exit out of the realm.

"Thank you all for coming," Emily told them all. "Today may not have been perfect, but it didn't need to be. It was great to see you all again."

"You too, Emily," Le'Belle said as she gave her a hug. "Wish we didn't have to return to the Isles so soon, but duty calls…"

"But it was worth coming here," Bloom replied as Emily hugged her and Colt, who was holding a sleepy Jojo.

"It's going to be sad to see you all gone by tomorrow," Zee said, while rustling her brother's hair. "Especially you, baby bro."

"Actually, not quite," Cross admitted. "Me, Linds, Donna, and Andrea aren't going back right away."

"Yeah, we'll be staying here for a lot longer," Donna said. "It's fall break, after all."

Emily looked surprised by this. "Really? But what about your families…"

"Don't worry, they're cool with it," Andrea said.

"Yeah, we don't mind if Lindsay stays here longer," Colt said while turning to his daughter. "Just be safe and take care of yourself, okay? No going to the Underworld or the other side of the Demon Realm this time please."

Lindsay nodded. "Yes, sir."

Colt then turned to Cross. "Cross, I expect you to keep her safe."

"Don't worry, sir, I won't disappoint!" Cross declared with a salute.

Andrea turned to Lindsay and whispered to her with a smile. "He's definitely a keeper…" she said while Lindsay nodded.

"Well… so long, and happy birthday, Emily," Zara said as she started to walk out, with Hendrick, Cups, and Mugs heading out as well.

"Yeah! We'll meet'cha tomorrow's!" Cups shouted as they walked out.

"We'll be turning in as well," Darcilia said while she and Whitney helped up Rebecca, who was full from the food she ate. "Later Zee, and happy birthday, Emily."

"We'll be seeing you guys around," Donna said as she, Cross, Lindsay, and Andrea headed back to their hotel.

"Later guys!" Zee shouted as she waved to them, seeing everyone leave before realizing that it was now just her and Emily. The two of them started to walk together to Emily's apartment. "A lovely night for a walk, eh Mily?"

"Yeah…" Emily replied, her tone awkward.

Zee picked up on this and looked worried. "Hey, what's with the tone?"

Emily looked at Zee and took a deep breath. "Zee… can we talk about… us?"

"Oh?" Zee asked her, wondering if Emily made her decision. "Um, sure."

"Do you remember what I told you about my relationship with Stella?" Emily asked her.

"Yeah, I do remember you saying that your relationship was abusive…" Zee replied.

"Well… I don't think I told you the full extent of the abuse and how… I was the abuser," Emily clarified. "I… I hit Stella, I made her scared of me. I kept her to myself, even keeping her away from her own family." She looked down in shame. "I hurt Stella so much, I even… forced her into things that she wasn't comfortable with. I… I was a rotten girlfriend to her."

Zee was a little taken aback by this and having it all dumped on her like this. "Oh… oh man, wow… but hey, you're not that bad anymore," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I've made a lot of progress… but it still wasn't that long ago," Emily pointed out. "I don't want to be that witch again. And I don't want to hurt anyone like that again. And I especially don't want to hurt you, Zee. Hell, I was worried that I would hurt Lindsay if we started dating, but she dodged that bullet."

"Mily…" Zee said as she tried to comfort Emily, but she moved away from her.

"I… I don't know when I'll be ready or even if I'll ever be ready," Emily said while looking at Zee. "Which is why I think you shouldn't wait for me…"

Zee was shocked to hear this and she looked down, saddened. "But… the reason I came here was for-"

"Zee, listen," Emily said to her. "You honestly have a lot of options besides me right now. It's unfair for you if I lead you on and I can't make you go through that. Not when there are others you can have. So please… if you find someone else, don't miss that chance because of me. Because I still want you to be happy and I'll be fine if you decide to move on. At least… think about it."

Zee wanted to protest, but she realized from the look on Emily's face that Emily was serious about not being ready for this. So the Drakescale girl just sighed sadly.

"Alright, Emily, if that's what you wish… then I will respect it," Zee told her.

"Thank you, Zee," Emily responded as the two shared a hug. But though their faces remained hidden from the other, their expressions were the same as they looked down at the ground.

After returning home to her apartment, Emily began setting up her presents around her bedroom. She placed her new knick-knacks on a shelf, hung up the painting on the wall, placed her Silver Sentry mementos on her dresser, and placed the journal on her desk along with her carnivorous plant, new mug, and the skull.

"There, that should do it," Emily said while looking around her room. She then noticed the bedknob on her night stand, the one Pryce gave to her. "I wonder why Pryce gave me this?" she wondered out loud before walking over to pick it up. She looked at it before sighing. "Probably a joke gift," she said while turning it over her shoulder toward the trash can without even looking at it… and hearing it land perfectly inside. She turned to it in shock.. "What the… oh now my aim is good?! What was up with my aim before?!" she exclaimed before she took a deep breath and brushed it off. "Whatever."

After she changed into her pajamas, Emily began to get ready to go to bed. But as she stepped onto her bed, she heard a rumbling noise.

"What in the hell…?" Emily asked as she turned around and saw the trash can making the noise. She saw it shake around, which prompted her to walk over and check it out. She reached into the trash can and pulled out the bedknob. "Why was it…?" Before Emily could say anything else, the bedknob started to sparkle in her hands. "The fuck?!"

She looked at the bedknob again, inspecting it. "Is this bedknob enchanted?" she asked before giving a sigh. "I'll worry about this tomorrow," she said while walking back to her bed and laying down in it, the bedknob still in her hands.

Emily reflected about her day, thinking about the new memories she made during her belated birthday. But she also thought about old memories and her thoughts ended up on Stella, causing her to realize something.

"I… I haven't apologized to Stella, have I?" Emily asked herself. "I… I need to apologize to her… I need to see Stella," she said while absently playing with the bedknob in her hands without looking at it, tapping on it and turning it. "Titan, if only I could talk to her…"

Suddenly, the bedknob started to glow and Emily felt it start to shake in her hand. She wondered what was going on, but before she could do anything, she felt her whole world warping around her. Emily began to twirl and spin around, still holding the bedknob. "YAAAH!"

As Emily screamed, she suddenly found herself lying in a street. She gasped, rising back up as she looked at the bedknob. "What the… why am I in the street?" she asked herself, slowly getting up, trying to figure out what just happened.

Emily looked around and realized that the buildings looked familiar to her. "Wait… I recognize this street," she said before hearing a door open. Turning around, her eyes widened when she saw someone coming outside…

It was Glinda, who came out to take out the trash. As she put the bag in the trash can, she heard her name being called out.

"Stella!"

Glinda turned toward the voice and her eyes widened when she saw Emily there… in her pajamas.

"Stella…" Emily said.

"Emily, you… no, nononono!" Glinda shouted in shock. She backed away and then ran back into her home.

"Stella, wait!" Emily called out to her, seeing Glinda just about to close the door. "I'm sorry, Glinda!"

This caused Glinda to stop and Emily used the moment to give her heartfelt apology.

"I'm so, so sorry for all the shit I did to you over the years!" she cried out as Glinda turned to Emily, watching her in shocked silence. "I… I shouldn't have hurt you, I shouldn't have hit you, I shouldn't have kept you from your family and forced myself on you!" she cried out. "I'm not asking to get back with you, I just… I just want to say I'm sorry! Because you deserve an apology! You deserved better than what I put you through! And even though I blamed you when I abused you, it wasn't your fault. It was mine!"

Emily was silent for a moment, tears running down her face. "I know it's too late for us. You don't have to forgive me, you don't have to want to ever see me again. But… can we talk? Please?"

Glinda looked at Emily, the shine in her glasses covering her eyes. After a moment of silence… she opened the door

"Yeah… let's talk," she said as she came outside, causing Emily to look up.

Emily and Glinda looked at each other, both of them finally willing to talk to each other for the first time since Glandus.

Emily's night was about to get a whole longer.

Well, things got interesting in today's chapter.

Questioning about Stola's appearance is that we grew inspired from the recent Helluva Boss episode, "Apology Tour". So we used that as a reference to his presence. We both had another special guest to appear in this chapter, but we've decided to save them for later.

As for the Bedknob, that item is definitely a reference to Bedknobs and Broomsticks. How is it able to work with Emily? Well, it'll be explained later…

"Also, this chapter touched upon something we wanted to address more. As shown in the flashback, Emily forcefully kissed Stella. And we have been thinking back to their relationship in Book 2…

During the Glandus War arc, the two were shown to have a… close relationship. They shared an apartment and a bed. Stella was afraid of Emily, too afraid to tell her no on many occasions, so consent was... dubious. And when Emily did kiss Lindsay, it was without her permission. The implications are there and they aren't good. But just to clarify… Emily and Stella did not have sex. They did not go that far, not before they graduated.

They did share a bed and they slept together, yes. But in the same way that Luz and Amity did. However, what Emily did do was sexually assault Stella by kissing her and touching her without her consent. This is sexual assault. She did go as far as she could have, but what she did was still to Stella was inappropriate and awful and we don't want to whitewash this or sweep it under the rug.

This is why we brought in Glinda back, because those two need to talk about their relationship. They both need that closure.

And while we know you all expected and wanted Emilzee to get together, like Emily decided, it shouldn't be right away."

But for now, we'll leave off this chapter while working on Helluva Dad. Until next time.

Review Section:

Crash X Fusion: Already talked to you about it through the DMs.

Matteso585: 2) Um, yeah. Way to state the obvious. Everyone and their mothers fear her. 3) They probably don't. 4) Yeah.

Shuffollower: Glad that you've clarified.

Cooki15xd: In a future chapter, yeah.

Moheart7: You are righty-o.