TRIGGER WARNING: The following chapter will explore the topic of abuse. Some parts may be triggering to our audience. Viewer descretion is advised.

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 4: Understanding Glinda

Years ago…

It was morning in Latissa. The sound of an alarm clock blared before it was smashed by a blue hair extension that formed into a fist. Groaning as she woke up from her sleep was a young, blue-haired girl who reached out for her rectangular glasses.

Her name was Glinda Stella Northstar.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, she walked downstairs to meet up with her parents. "Morning, mom."

"Morning, Glinda," said a witch woman with blue hair and peach skin. She wore oval-shaped glasses, a purple cloak, and a white gown. "Are you ready for your first day of school?" she asked in a monotone voice

"Yes, I am, mom," Glinda replied as she saw her dad on the couch, reading a newspaper. "Good morning, dad."

"Hmm? Oh, good morning, Little Star," her dad replied, looking up from his paper. He had black spiky hair, a unibrow that moves on its own, pale skin, and a black goatee with gray streaks. He also wore a Construction Coven uniform. "I see that you're ready for school," he said, noting her uniform.

"Yeah, I am," she confirmed. "I just hope that Glandus won't be as bad as they say."

"Hey, you got into one of the best schools on the Boiling Isles, consider yourself lucky," her dad told her. "Me and your mother are proud of you, everyone's going to think of you as 'Glinda the Great Witch.'"

Glinda smiled awkwardly at that, since she didn't really like her first name.

"Well, you better eat up before we go," her mom said, holding up a plate of breakfast for her.

After eating breakfast, Glinda and her mom get ready to leave. Her mom brought out her staff while Glinda turned to her father, who was getting ready for work.

"Goodbye dad, good luck at work," Glinda said while getting on her mom's staff.

"Thanks, and good luck with school, hon," he replied while he turned to his wife. "Good luck with work, Burka," he said before catching his ratworm.

"You too, Francik," Burka replied as she got her hornet staff.

And so they both went their separate ways.

Burka has successfully landed at Glandus to drop her daughter off for her first day of school.

"Here it is, Glandus High," Burka said while turning to her daughter "Nervous?"

"Y-Yeah, I am," she replied while looking up at the old castle-like school before her.

"Well, Glinda, think of this as an opportunity," her mother told her. "And try to make friends here. Friends that will help you to survive the school years and can help your career after graduation. Everything is made easier with friends."

Glinda nodded as she stepped off her mother's staff, thinking over her words as she followed the other students into the building…

"To new students and returning students, welcome to the first day of the school year at Glandus High! This is your Principal Acne speaking, reminding you of our school's decree… those who strive to be strong shall be worthy to join a coven someday, perhaps even the Emperor's Coven! And the weak… well, you'll learn that soon enough!"

Glinda walked down the hallway, clutching her belongings close to her while looking at her classmates around her. They were either mingling with each other or threatening each other. To say the least, it did scare her. She was a first year and not exactly the most physically intimidating witch, which meant that it wouldn't take long for her to be singled out as prey. But she kept her cool, looking for someone she could be friends with. Someone who could protect her. Maybe she wasn't the strongest, but she was smart. She could offer to do someone's homework in exchange for protection. All she needed to do was find someone big enough…

"Excuse me," she said to one student whose back was facing her. She tapped the student on her shoulder. "I was wondering if you'd like some help with anything-"

"Huh?" asked a larger female student with bushy brown hair, gray fur, and a Beast-Keeping track uniform. She turned to look at Glinda and her four eyes immediately recognized her. "Well, well, if it isn't Northstar…"

Unfortunately, Glinda recognized her too late, her eyes widening. "M-Merkle?! I… I didn't recognize you-"

"Yeah, well that's what happens when you molt!" the demon bully shouted as she snapped her fingers. "Girls, pin her down!"

Glinda was suddenly grabbed by the two cronies of Merkle. "Hey, stop! Please, no!" she shouted as they pinned her to her locker. "Stop! Let me go!" she cried out in a panic while everyone else either diverted their eyes or walked away, not wanting to interfere.

"We told you what would happen if you showed your face around here, Northstar!" Merkle declared, bringing out a knife as she held it up next to Glinda's face.

"But… but I go here now!" she replied while her pigtails were grabbed by Merkle, causing her to wince. "Ow! That hurts!" she cried out. Tears streamed from her eyes, not just because of the pain, but because she also saw that nobody was willing to help her. She realized that it was true, that here in Glandus it was survival to the fittest…

"Hey!" someone shouted.

Suddenly, all eyes turned to a green-skinned witch in an illusions track uniform. She glared at Merkle and the others as she walked up to them. "Let her go… now," she demanded.

Merkle just scoffed at her. "Or what, puke face?" Merkle asked her while the green-skinned witch gave a smirk.

"Why don't you take a look at my flames…?" she asked while her hands burst with blue flames, which she put up in Merkle's face.

"Gah!" Merkle cried out, shielding her eyes and feeling her face as the flames blinded her. "After them!" she ordered, pointing at Emily.

Her cronies went to attack the girl, shooting their spells at her. The green-skinned witch neatly dodged the spells before sending a wave of her blue flames at each of their faces.

"GAH!" they cried out, blinded, giving the green-skinned girl an opening to rush past them and get to Glinda.

"Come on!" she told her.

"But what if they come after us?" Glinda asked.

"Oh, they won't," the green-skinned witch said with a smirk as she pointed back at Merkle and her cronies, who appeared to have recovered. Their faces didn't look burned, but they looked at each other with hatred.

"Why I outta!" Merkle shouted, seeing one of her cronies as the green-skinned girl. She punched her own crony, who saw her attacker as the green-skinned girl rather than Merkle.

"Imma get you!" she shouted while trying to shoot a spell at Merkle, but was then shot by another crony.

"That's for burning my face!" she shouted.

Glinda watched in shock as Merkle and her henchgirls proceeded to beat each other up. She would have kept watching, but the green-skinned girl grabbed her and pulled her away from the chaos.

"Are you okay?" the green-skinned girl asked once they were safe.

"Y-Yeah, thanks for saving me," Glinda responded looking at the green girl with a look of awe. "I-I wasn't expecting anyone to step in."

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad that you're alright," she responded. The two were quiet for a moment and when the silence began to feel awkward, the green-skinned girl put her hands in her pockets and started to walk away. "Um, anyway, I should get going to my class. You should probably do so too."

"Yeah…" Glinda agreed as she saw the girl walking away. But as she watched her, she remembered what had gotten her into a mess with Merkle in the first place. She had been looking for a friend. Someone who could protect her. And this green-skinned girl had come to her aid, despite having no reason to. She had also managed to save her despite being an illusionist, which was certainly impressive. Glinda saw an opportunity and she knew she had to take advantage of it.

"Wait!" she shouted, putting her hand on the green girl's shoulder and stopping her. "I never got your name!" she shouted as the green-skinned girl turned to her, immediately making Glinda feel awkward. "And maybe we could… I don't know… hang out or something?"

"Really?" the green-skinned girl asked, taken aback by this. "You… want to hang out… with me?"

"Of course, I want to show my gratitude for, you know, saving me," Glinda said while pressing her fingers together. "And… I could use a friend here, somebody who could watch my back. And maybe… you could use someone too?"

As she said this, she reprimanded herself internally for making herself sound like she had ulterior motives. Hopefully, she didn't offend the new girl or drive her off by being so forward.

"My name's-" Glinda stopped herself, quickly realizing that her name would sound old and, well, she didn't want to be made fun of "-Stella Northstar."

The green-skinned witch looked her over, like she was trying to figure out if this was a trick or not. After a moment, she gave a smile and extended her hand. "Emily Tricks," she said to Glinda, now Stella, as they shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Stella."

"So… what did you do to those bullies?" Stella asked after the handshake. "I mean, I've never heard of illusion magic doing like that before."

"Well, usually an illusionist doesn't reveal their tricks… but I guess I can make an exception with you," Emily told her as she explains "You see, I have a very unique illusion spell. My flames can hypnotize them and play with their senses."

"Their senses?" Stella asked, curious.

"Yeah, like my illusions are so good, some witches aren't even aware when I use them. I'm like a silent assassin."

Stella couldn't help but giggle at that. "But that does sound like a really interesting way to use illusion magic. I don't think I've heard that before."

"Thanks," Emily replied before noticing the brown sleeves in Stella's uniform. "So you're in construction? No offense, but you don't exactly fit the stereotype."

"Yeah, I know," Stella admitted while looking down. "I'm only here because, well, it's my dad's coven. I mean, I'm good with puppeteer magic. But most witches don't really find that impressive. I didn't know which track I should choose, but… I don't know if I'll be good in any of them."

"Puppeteering?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, moving stuff with either construction magic or my hair," Stella explained, proving her point by moving her hair around. "It's animated."

"Huh," Emily said before she thought of something. "Well, if you ask me, I think both of our magic has its advantages, since other witches will underestimate us. They will underestimate me for being an illusionist and they will underestimate you for not fitting the typical construction mold."

"But that doesn't mean that I'm good enough," Stella said before Emily patted her shoulder.

"Only if you let them tell you that," Emily told her. "Take my advice, Stella. Exploit your unique abilities instead of just doing what is expected of you. You seem like a talented witch, so if you got the talent… use them however you see fit."

Stella looked at Emily while thinking about her advice and a way she could use her unique magic…

Sometime later, Stella stood by her locker, waiting. Coming down the hallway were Merkle and her cronies, all looking bandaged up.

"I don't know what came over me," Merkle muttered before spotting Stella. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Northstar…"

"Merkle," Glinda glared at her while Merkle stepped forward.

"Look at you, waiting around for another beating?" Merkle asked as she grabbed Stella's shirt. "Well then, you know what happens when I see your face?!"

"I don't know why you have a problem with me, Merkle," Stella said. "We're not in middle school anymore…"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Merkle shouted as she smacked Glinda across the face. "I can't stand the sight of plain girls like you who think she's smarter than everyone else!" she shouted before she smacked Stella's head… and caused it to fall off. "Oh shit!"

"Ack! What did you do, Merkle?!" the cronies cried out, seeing Stella's head popping off.

"It-it was an accident, I swear!" Merkle claimed before seeing Stella's headless body… standing still. "Huh?"

"Hmhmhmhm, so easy…"

Merkle's arms suddenly moved on their own. "What the…?" she asked before she suddenly punched one of her cronies down, causing her to cry out in a scream.

"Gradine!" cried out the crony, before getting hit by Merkle, making her hit the wall. "Merkle… why…?"

"It wasn't me! I'm not in contro-" Merkle couldn't finish as she ended up punching herself, over and over again. "Gah! What the hell?!"

"Don't like it, do you?" asked Stella's head, now revealed to be a puppet version of her as it turned to face Merkle. "You don't like it when you're on the receiving end for once, do you?!"

Merkle kept being forced to punch herself while behind her was the real Stella, watching her old bullies get what they deserve for bullying her back in middle school while using her hair to control the puppet version of her, as well as getting Merkle to beat herself and her cronies up.

Eventually, after Stella made her beat herself up, Merkle fell onto the floor, knocked out like her cronies. Stella then quickly walked away, trying not to get spotted. However, she stopped when she heard someone slow-clapping.

"Impressive."

Stella panicked before turning around and seeing it was Emily. "Emily! What are you-?!"

"I saw the whole thing," Emily said with a smile while walking up to her. "I mean, not in a stalking way, but I did see how you used your talent against those girls. That was really cool."

"R-Really?" Stella asked, sounding nervous. "Well… it's not as good as your illusions."

"The results are the same, are they not?" Emily asked, gesturing to the comatose bodies. "Don't sell yourself short, Stella. Face it, you're a one of a kind witch."

Stella blushed at this. "Y-you gave me the idea."

Emily was still smiling as she put her arm around Stella. "You and me, I think we're going to get along just fine."

Sometime later, the two were walking home together after school.

"Thanks for walking me home today after my mom couldn't pick me up, Emily," Stella told her.

"It's no problem," Emily responded while walking alongside her. "When living in a place like Latissa, there's safety in numbers. Better safe than sorry, right?"

The two walked over to Stella's neighborhood, where they stopped in front of her house.

"This is my stop, my parents should be home from work by now," Stella said before turning to Emily. "Would you like to meet them?"

Emily was surprised by this. "You want me… to meet your folks?"

"Yeah," Stella responded. "I'd like them to meet my new friend."

Emily gave it some thought before smiling. "Yeah, I would like to meet them."

"I'm home! And I brought someone over!" Stella loudly announced as she brought Emily inside.

"Glinda?" Burka asked as she and Francik looked up to see their daughter with a new friend. "My, is this your new friend that you've been telling us about?"

"Yep, this is her," Glinda confirmed. "Meet Emily Tricks. Emily, this is my mom and dad."

"Nice to meet you," Francik said with a smile before turning to his daughter. "About time we get to meet her, Little Star,"

"Wait, why did your mom call you Glinda?" Emily asked in confusion, turning to Stella who looked down in embarrassment. "I thought your name was Stella?"

"It is… my middle name," Stella admitted, looking embarrassed. "The reason I went with my middle name is because, well… Glinda makes me sound a bit old," she whispered.

"What? Glinda's your grandmother's name," Francik pointed out.

"I know, dad, but… I didn't want to sound like I'm an old witch," Glinda replied before turning to Emily. "I hope you're not mad…"

"Over something like this?" Emily asked with a wave. "I can still call you Stella. And honestly, I understand. I also have a name that makes me sound like a grandmother… well, a middle name."

"Really?" Stella asked her, curious. "What is it?"

"Mildred," Emily said with a groan.

"Oh…" Stella said, suppressing the desire to laugh. "Well, knowing your middle name does make me feel a lot better about my first name," she said while Emily playfully rolled her eyes and looked at her with a smile.

"Glad I could make you feel better about your name," Emily said.

"Would you like to join us for dinner, Emily?" Burka offered. "We're having spaghetti and eyeballs."

Emily's smile grew at this. "I would love to, Mrs. Northstar."

"Your parents won't mind?" Burka asked, causing Emily's smile to falter slightly.

"They'll be fine with it," Emily said.

And so, Stella and her parents welcomed Emily to their family dinner. As they sat around the table eating, the Northstar parents began to ask Emily some questions.

"So what can you tell us about yourself, Emily?" Burka asked her.

"And how did you and Glinda meet?" Franik asked. "She hasn't told us yet."

"Well, I am part of the Illusions Track back at Glandus," Emily replied. "As for meeting your daughter, well… I saved her from some bullies."

"You did?" Burka asked in surprise, looking concerned. She turned to her daughter. "Why didn't you tell us, Glinda?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry," Glinda said while avoiding her mothers gaze. "Besides, I'm fine. Emily was there to protect me."

Burka still didn't look thrilled by this, but she turned to give Emily a smile. "Well, why thank you for helping our daughter."

"Yeah, thank you, Emily," Francik added. "We feel better knowing you're watching our daughters back."

"It's no problem, sir, ma'am," Emily replied politely. "But what about you two? Stella told me that you're in the Construction Coven." She pointed to Francik. "But besides that, I don't know much about either of you."

"Oh, well, I am part of the Oracle Coven," Burka explained. "My job is to be a crystal ball customer service provider. I help witches when their CBs need fixing."

"And as Glinda told you, I'm from the Construction Coven," Francik confirmed. "I take building constructs. A simple construction job with an honest pay."

"What about you, Emily? What does your family do?" Burka asked her.

This caused Emily to pause while looking down on her plate. "My family's… a sensitive subject."

Stella noticed Emily's sudden expression change. "Emily…?"

"Is everything okay?" Francik asked in concern.

"It's fine, really, just… I came from a foster home," Emily revealed. "My birth parents… left me."

This shocked Stella and her parents as Burka quickly apologizes. "Oh my… I'm so sorry, Emily. I didn't intend to ask you something so sensitive…"

"It's fine, Mrs. Northstar," Emily assured her. "It happened years ago. I do have a foster father and foster sister. My father is a businessman and my older sister works for the Beast-Keeping Coven. They've both been very good to me and I owe everything that I have to them. Without them… I would have nothing. My father's connections even got me into Glandus."

"Well, that was wonderful of him to do," Francik said. "He sounds like a good witch."

"Yeah… and I do plan on making him proud of me." Emily replied while looking down on her eyeball served on her spaghetti. "He's done so much for me, that… I want him to see that I can be worthwhile."

A year had passed since they had first met. Emily and Stella were both now in their sophomore year. And at the moment they were hanging out in the hallway by the lockers, Stella on her scroll while Emily looked deep in thought.

She had an idea.

"Stella, now that we're in our second year, I think we could use some new friends," Emily revealed, getting a surprised Stella to look up from her scroll.

"New friends? But… but I thought we're doing just fine with each other," Stella pointed out.

"That may be at this moment, but now we're sophomores, so we'll be seen as bigger threats," Emily pointed out. "And there is safety in larger numbers."

"Well… I guess you do have a point," Stella admitted. "But who do we get as a new friend?"

"What we need is a freshman, someone new here," Emily suggested as she looked around. "Someone impressionable and with a lot of potential that we could take under our wing and mold to our liking."

"Such as who?" Stella asked while following Emily's gaze as they both looked at the nearby students, seeing some of the newer ones walking around until Emily singled out one.

"Her," Emily said as she pointed to a student down the hall.

"That's… Nina Fangs, the werecat kid everyone's talking about," Stella realized, seeing Nina as she went through her locker.

"Yes, I heard that she stood up against the Top Beast-Keeper, Silas," Emily mentioned. "Of course, it didn't end in her favor, but you gotta admire her audacity. But clearly, she needs our help."

Stella looked at Nina and then at Emily. Honestly, Stella wasn't sure about Nina, though she didn't know much about werecats in general. And it had only been just the two of them for a year now, so she was reluctant to add a third member…

After some consideration, Stella decided that Emily must know what was best for both of them. "Yeah, she could use our help," she agreed. But how do we approach her? I don't know if she could trust us."

"We'll just have to wait for the right moment," Emily said.

Sometime later, Emily and Stella had been keeping their distance, waiting for the perfect opportunity to introduce themselves to the werecat and they only stopped following when they saw Nina heading to the restroom. However, after a moment they noticed some guys also walking towards the girls restroom.

"Um, why are they going in there?" Stella asked.

Emily also looked confused, until her eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen. "Oh no… we have to move in!"

Stella did not question her. Instead, she quickly followed Emily toward the girl's bathroom, where they now heard Nina's screams. "NO! LET ME GO!"

Emily angrily kicked the door open as she and Stella saw what those boys were about to do to Nina, which sent Emily into a rage.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" she shouted while grabbing a student and curb stomped him to the sink, breaking his teeth and knocking him out.

The other boys looked shocked at this, but they still tried to fight back against Emily. However, she conjured her illusions and used her hypnosis spells on them, making them fight amongst each other. This allowed Emily to walk up to them and take them out one-by-one, all the while Stella stood and watched. She looked at Nina, who was shivering in fear, and saw that her uniform was almost taken off…

"Oh Titan…" Stella said as she covered her mouth, feeling awful for Nina.

After Emily finished taking care of the guys, she went over to Nina, being careful while approaching her. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked her, as Nina, who was crying, looked up at her. She didn't say anything, but Emily helped her up. "Come on, let's get you out of here. Stella, help her out!"

Stella went to help Nina and the two escorted the scared werecat girl out of the bathroom.

"Hey, it's okay, we won't hurt you," Emily assured the werecat. "Can you speak?"

Nina just shook her head while shivering.

"It's okay, you're safe with us," Stella said. "My name is Stella Northstar."

"And I'm Emily Tricks," Emily told Nina. "You must be Nina Fangs, right? We've heard about you. Don't worry, everything is going to be okay."

Sometime later, Stella went to meet up with Emily under the bleachers of the gym.

"Hey, Nina told me to meet you up here," Stella said while confronting Emily. She then noticed how nervous Emily looked. "Hey, what's… wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Emily assured her. "Just… I want to… ask you… something," she said quietly, looking uncharacteristically shy.

This both confused and surprised Stella, who had never seen the normally confident Emily like this. "What do you want to ask me?"

Emily looked down while pressing her fingers together, second-guessing herself even now. But she took a deep breath and finally let it out. "Willyougoout withme?!" she shouted rapidly. "O-Out with me? Like, go out… I mean… shit,"

Stella blinked, taking a moment to process what Emily had actually said. "Wait, are you… asking me out?" Stella asked her.

Emily looked up at her with a nervous expression. "Y-Yes," she admitted in a quiet voice.

"Well… of course, I would love to," Stella replied to Emily, smiling. "I'd like to go out with you too."

Emily stared at Stella in surprise, blinking a few times before relief flooded her and she threw her arms up in the arm. "Thank Titan!" she praised.

On their first date, Emily and Stella went to a fancy restaurant outside of Latissa. They were seated right in front of a window.

"Wow, Emily, how did you manage to get us on the list here?" Stella asked in awe as she looked around at the fancy restaurant. She was dressed in a light-pink dress gown and white heel boots.

"You can thank my sister for this," Emily responded with a smile, back to her usual confident demeanor. She was dressed a white pantsuit with a black bow. "She had some connections and pulled some strings to get us a table at this window. The best view in the house, she told me."

"It is nice," Stella said while looking out of the window in amazement, seeing a part of the Boiling Isles up to the sea.

The date went on pleasantly, with the two chatting about their day and their classes while enjoying their food.

"Really? You saw a teacher get turned into a mouse from a spell?" Emily asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, Mr. Smalls is Mr. Mouse now," Stella replied as the two shared a laugh.

"If you think that's funny? Hogart from illusions ends up casting an illusion model of the professor… naked," Emily said as Stella snickered. "He got sent to the detention dungeon after that."

"Oh man, poor Hogart," Stella said. "When you told me he had a crush on the professor, I didn't think it was that bad."

"Yeah, she didn't take it well," Emily said as she finished her food.

While they were eating, Stella looked across the table at Emily. There was something on her mind and she decided to ask it now.

"So, I know we're still two years away from graduation," Stella commented. "But do you, um, have any plans for the future, Emily?"

"Well… I have thought about joining the Emperor's Coven," Emily answered. "Like many witches before them, I want to be among the greatest witches in the Boiling Isles. To be the best of the best. And I… want to show the Isles that I'm not to be underestimated. That I shouldn't be looked down upon for being an illusionist. When I'm part of the Emperor's Coven, I hope to be seen as part of something great."

Stella stared at Emily in awe. "Wow, that sounds… so much better than what I was thinking."

"Oh, then what about you?" Emily asked her. "What do you plan to do after graduation?"

"Well, it's nothing big, really," Stella admitted, sounding almost embarrassed. "I'm not like you, so I think I'll just get a good job to help support my family, probably in construction."

"Well… you can be more than that," Emily pointed out. "Don't underestimate yourself, Stella. You're just as good as me. I've seen your magic and I think you have great potential."

Stella looked smitten by this. "Thanks, Emily. Although," she said as she looked at Emily. "I do want to know… why me? Why ask me out of all witches?"

Emily smiled at Stella. "Well, I… may have been crushing on you for a while now."

"Really?" Stella asked, looking stunned.

"Yeah. You shouldn't really sell yourself short, Stella," Emily told her. "Because you're one of the sweetest and smartest witches I know. Plus, when you remove those glasses, you have the most beautiful eyes."

Stella blushed from Emily's compliment. She never thought that someone as cool and graceful as Emily would tell how her eyes were beautiful.

"Thank you, Emily," Stella replied. "For the compliment."

"Hey," Emily said as she reached for Stella's hand from across the table, touching it. "You're welcome."

Stella's heart skipped a beat that night.

After the restaurant, the two walked together, Emily escorting Stella back to her home.

"And now the great Emily Tricks will perform for her beautiful audience," Emily declared as she put on a show, summoning illusions of butterflies that flew around Stella.

Stella couldn't help but laugh in joy as Emily performed more illusions. This time Emily pulled a hat out of thin air while drawing a spell circle.

"Can I give the lovely lady some flowers?" Emily asked while flowers burst from the hat.

Stella clapped. "Bravo, Emily! Your illusions are good."

"You think so?" Emily asked as she made the hat and flowers disappear. "I was worried that I was going a little too far."

"You're a natural, Emily," Stella said. "You could make Head Witch Graye jealous. Perhaps you'll take his place one day."

Emily actually scoffed at this. "Head of the Illusions Coven. Please, my ambitions are higher than that. I aim to take Head Witch Lilith's place someday," Emily replied as she made a mini Belos illusion and gave a Belos impression. "My dear Emily, beloved daughter of the Titan, not only have you impressed me with your masterful illusions, but your awesome partner, Stella Northstar, has impressed me as well! Both of you should be Heads of the Emperor's Coven!"

Stella laughed from seeing Emily's little show and she clapped for her. "Bravo, Emily. Bravo."

"Thank you," Emily replied while taking a bow. "I do admit, I can be a bit of a drama queen sometimes."

Soon, Emily and Stella had managed to make it at the Northstar home.

"Well, we're here," Emily said with a sigh. "The date's now over, so how did you like it?"

"Well… I'd like to go on another," Stella responded.

"Really?" Emily asked in excitement.

"Yeah," Stella admitted as she stepped toward Emily. "Because I like being with you, Emily. You make me feel… good."

Emily smiled. "Thanks, Stella."

"Thank you for the date, Emily," Stella replied while the two were close. "I had such a great time with you."

Emily and Stella locked eyes with each other. After a moment, they came even closer and kissed each other. Once they ended the kiss, they looked a bit flustered. But they smiled at each other nonetheless.

"Goodnight," they said to each other Stella headed inside her house. Once the door closed, Emily started to walk away from the Northstar house when she noticed someone coming down from her staff.

"Hey there, little sister," Sonya said as she came down on her staff. "How was the date?"

"It was great," Emily replied with a smile as she got on the staff with Sonya. "And Stella says that she wants to go on a second date."

"That's wonderful," Sonya said, smiling as well while the two sisters flew off into the night together.

The next day at Glandus, Nina met up with Emily and Stella, this time bringing a friend.

"Emily, Stella," Nina said, getting their attention. "I want you to meet a friend of mine."

"Greetings," Tito Jackwitch said as he waved at them.

"H-Hold on," Stella said with a gasp, recognizing him. "Aren't you-"

"Tito Jackwitch, young and aspiring bard," Tito declared while doing his own dance moves, including a flip and then the split. Then he rose back up again while his feet slid on the floor "Nice to meet'cha. Nina has told me all about how you two helped her out. Which makes you both good in my book."

"Oh really now?" Emily asked with a smile. "Well, it's nice meeting you, Tito. I'm Emily, and this is Stella, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you both," Tito replied. "And I am grateful to you for helping Nina, even if I wish I could have been there to beat their asses myself. But just like how you helped me and Nina out, I can help you out. If there's anything you need, just let me know."

Sometime later, Stella was having lunch with her friends at Glandus.

"I'm telling you, those Witch Aptitude Tests was killer," Nina said while laying her head on the table.

"It almost ate me," Tito replied as the four laughed at the joke. "But Emily and Stella are the real smarties out of all of us."

"Aw, thanks," Emily said before they heard the sound of a crow cawing.

"Stella! Stella! Please, pick up!" the crow cawed as Stella quickly held it up.

"Hello?" Stella asked before hearing the other line. "Mom? What… what happened?!"

Emily, Nina, and Tito watched Stella with a worried look as Stella's eyes widened. "No… no… no… no!" Stella stammered as she sat up from her seat, visibly shaken. "Is he alright?! Tell me that he's alright?!"

"Stella…?" Nina asked with a worried look.

"Stella, what's wrong?" Emily asked as Stella looked at Emily with a distraught expression, tears coming from her eyes. She could only muster a few words.

"Dad… had an accident…"

Stella, Emily, Nina, and Tito rushed to the Healing Coven, where they met up with Stella's mom as she was talking to a healer outside of a room.

"Mom!" Stella cried out in a panicked tone as Burka turned to see her daughter and her friends. "How is dad? Is he alright?"

"Honey, don't worry, your father's going to be okay," Burka reassured her daughter. "But Stella… his arm got hurt really bad."

"What… what happened to his arm?" Stella asked while turning to the healer.

"Well, it's hard to say this…" The healer took his glasses off, looking at Stella with an expression of sympathy and guilt. "Your father's left arm was crushed. We've tried to mend the bones, but I'm afraid that he's going to… lose his arm."

Stella was in shock as she heard this, tears running from her eyes as she took off her glasses. "Oh Titan… no…" she cried as Emily went up to hug her.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. We're here for you, Stella," Emily assured her as she, Nina, and Tito all hugged Stella, who hugged them back.

As horrible as this news was, she took some comfort in knowing that her friends were with her.

As soon as she was allowed to, Stella was let into the room where her father was. She saw him all bandaged up, with his left arm in a cast.

"Glinda… is that you?" Francik asked.

"Yes, dad," Stella replied quietly as she stepped up. "How are you… feeling?"

"Numb," Francik said while looking at his own arm with a sigh. "I guess this is what happens when you try to grab a wrench stuck between the gears. Should've used a levitation spell to lift those gears, but unfortunately they're made up of Abominations. What fool came up with that?" He then noticed his daughter's worried look. "Hey, I'm going to be alright, Little Star. It's just an arm…"

After his release from the Healing Coven, Francik went home with his family. His left arm had to have been amputated, replaced by a stub. While Francik readjusted to being home, Emily was with them, helping out the family.

"Oh Emily, thank you for being here," Burka said while they were at the table drinking tea brew, which Emily poured for them.

"Yeah, it means a lot that you're here," Stella said.

"It's no problem, Stella," Emily replied. "I just thank the Titan that your father's okay. If there's anything I can do for you and your family, Mr. Northstar…"

"Oh, there's no need, Emily," he reassured her.

"But I insist," she said. "In fact, I can help support you guys financially. I know how expensive the Healing Coven bills can be, so I want to help out by clearing your debt and support you financially since Mr. Northstar is unable to work."

"Oh… well, thank you for the offer, Emily, but we shouldn't…" Burka said.

"No. You guys are important to Stella and, by extent, important to me," Emily told them, "Besides, you guys… you're a second family to me. My father and sister will help clear things for you guys, cause I don't want to turn my back on the people important to me. Please, this is the least I can do."

Burka and Francik looked at each other, wondering if they should take Emily's offer. After a moment, they nodded to each other and turned back to Emily with their answer.

"Alright, if you insist, Emily," Francik said.

"We'll accept your deal," Burka told her.

Emily smiled. "I promise to give you guys anything you need…"

And that's how it started.

Emily Tricks was a witch of her word. Thanks to her connections, the Northstars no longer had to worry about their financial debts. But it did not end there, since Emily decided to spoil them with her generosity.

"Wow Emily, you didn't have to give us this new twelve inch Mirror," Francik said while seeing the mirror installed in his living room.

"But how else would you entertain yourself during your rest, Mr. Northstar?" Emily asked while a recliner was being placed down by some movers. "Here's a recliner also."

Francik said no more after that.

Emily's generosity held no bounds, since she even helped to remodel the house for the Northstars.

"Wow, the bathroom looks so… fancy," Burka said in awe while looking around her brand new, remodeled bathroom.

"It also comes with an installed spa music, with complimentary candles to help you relax after a stressful day, Mrs. Northstar," Emily declared with some pride in her voice, having remodeled the bathroom herself.

Stella, Burka, and Francik all stared in awe at what their yard looked like now. It was filled with animal-modeled hedges and a water fountain for the birds to play in.

"Emily…" Stella said as she looked around. "Did you do all of this… for us?"

"Of course," Emily responded. "Consider this another gift. I figured this yard could use some sprucing up."

As much as Stella enjoyed Emily's generosity, she did admit this was a bit much. But she wouldn't in front of Emily and she still appreciated everything Emily did for her and her family. Her parents didn't complain, enjoying all of the gifts Emily gave them.

It had been some time since Francik left the Healing Coven. He hadn't been able to go to work since then because of his arm, but fortunately Burka still worked and Emily helped out.

One day, there was a knock on the door. Stella went to answer it and when she opened the door, she saw this weird stitched-up lady.

"Greetings, you must be the Northstars, no?" she asked in an accent. "My name is Dr. Bride. I have heard about you missing an arm, are you?" she asked Francik, who had come over.

"Yeah…?" Francik answered while looking confused by Dr. Bride.

"Great! I am what you would call a… specialist in my field. I work with prosthetics and I was hoping to help you by offering you a unique prosthetic to help you feel like you have two arms again!" she declared. "Many would have hooks, or metal claws. But what if I could install a snake-arm into your stub?"

"A snake-arm?" Burka asked, a bit wary.

"What do you mean by that…?" Stella asked her, worried.

"Why, I mean having an actual living cobra connected to your arm," Dr. Bride explained. "I can make it that you and the cobra would have a mind link through the nerve system. I know what you're thinking, what could I do with a snake-arm? Well, you can grapple, stretch, bite unwanted door-to-door salesmen who want to sell you insurance, and more! Quite useful!"

As Bride continued her sales pitch, the Northstars listened intently while Stella looked unsure. However, it looked like her parents were seriously considering it. Then again, Stella knew that her parents weren't the most confrontational. Press them long enough and they tended to fold pretty easily.

"Well… I guess it couldn't hurt, would it?" Burka asked her husband.

"I do feel a little phantom limb, so I guess it wouldn't be bad to have a living prosthetic," Francik replied while turning to Bride. "Alright, I think we can consider this snake-arm deal."

Dr. Bride smiled. "Great! You won't regret it, Herr Northstar!"

In Dr. Bride's clinic, Francik laid on a table and saw a discarded snake next to him. He looked slightly nervous as Dr. Bride marched over to him while wearing a sterile hat, gloves, and apron as Iggy pushed over a cart with a tray of tools on it.

"Now, first we need you to be put in anesthesia so you won't feel the pain of the procedure," Bride said as she put a mask over Francik's face. "I promise you, Herr Northstar, you'll feel good as new when I'm done…"

Once Francik was put to sleep, Dr. Bride proceeded to start the surgery. She asked Iggy for different tools as she began attaching the snake into the stub of his arm.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, a nervous Stella held her mother's hand, who tried to comfort her daughter. They could hear a lot of noise coming from the operation room.

"I'm scared for dad," Stella said in a low tone while her mom patted her hand.

"It's okay, sweetie," she reassured her daughter. "This nice healer is doing the best she can for him."

Once the operation is done, Dr. Bride went over to get Stella and Burka, removing her gloves to set them on the tray.

"Alright, Herr Northstar is ready to see you now," Bride told them.

Stella and her mom went in to see Francik, who was now in a wheelchair. He was awake and they saw his new cobra-arm attached to him. The cobra has stitches around its body while also being attached to the stub of Francik's arm.

"Dad, how are you feeling?" Stella asked him.

"Oh, I'm feeling great," Francik replied, though he was still under the effects of anesthesia. The snake from his new arm rose up, looking at the two. "You guys can pet it, don't worry. He shouldn't bite."

Stella was amazed to see the snake attached to her dad's arm move around. Of course, she was also a little freaked out. Slowly, she reached to pet the snake-arm and, much to her surprise, it seemed to like it. "He's pretty friendly."

Burka nodded in agreement and she smiled while turning to Dr. Bride. "Thank you, Dr. Bride. Is there any way we can repay you?"

"Being my first patient to have a snake for an arm is enough payment, Frau Northstar," Dr. Bride declared. "The success of this experimental procedure is all the payment I can accept."

After the successful operation, Emily went to visit the Northstars and check in with them. She knocked on the door and Stella answered, smiling when she saw her.

"Hey, thanks for coming, Emily," Stella said.

"You're welcome, how is your father?" Emily asked while coming in.

"He's doing well," Stella said as she led Emily to her dad in the living room. "Hey dad, guess who showed up?"

"Oh, Emily, hey," Francik said as Emily saw his new snake-arm. "How do you like my arm?"

"Wow, Mr. Northstar, it's… definitely unique," Emily replied in a polite tone, though she really looked unsure about the new arm...

"Yeah, and I talked with Ulrich about it. He says that with this snake in my arm, they want me to use the fangs to puncture appliances. So I'm still useful," Francik explained.

"Francik is back to his job, so things worked out for us in the end," Burka said with a smile.

"That's good news, I'm happy for you guys," Emily said with a smile, looking around to see that the Northstars looked happy and relieved, more so than she had seen in a while. "Hey Stella, you know I've been thinking about something…"

"Oh? About what?" Stella asked her.

"Well… I've been thinking that we could get our own place to stay," Emily suggested, which surprised her girlfriend and her family. "Just the two of us."

"A place to… stay?" Stella asked, looking flustered at the thought. "Oh… wow, Emily, that does sound great… but it is too soon and I should really stay with my family."

Emily formed a frown at that. "Oh… okay, I understand," she said while looking down. "I just thought that after all the generosity I've given to you and your family, you could owe me a favor."

Stella and her family looked at Emily in confusion. "But… you did all that for us without asking for anything in return, Emily," Stella said.

"Yeah, and you guys still don't need to pay me back for all the gifts I've given you, which included remodeling your home," Emily told her. "I just thought… it meant more to you guys."

"But Emily-"

"I mean, do you know how much love I've given to you guys?" Emily questioned while the Northstars fell silent. "What's wrong with living together, Stella? Sorry, I thought that as my girlfriend, you'd be excited by the idea." She shook her head and then looked at Stella's parents "Don't you two agree that Stella should be with the one girl she loves? Haven't I proven myself over and over again?"

Burka and Francik gave a look of guilt as Emily reminded them of her generosity and how they accepted everything she had given them. Stella, however, just looked down as her parents replied.

"Well… I think Stella could use some independence away from us," Burka said nervously. "I mean, we'll both be fine."

"And we do want what's best for Stella," Francik admitted while turning to her daughter. "What do you think, Stella? What do you want?"

Stella looked at her parents before slowly turning to Emily. Did she really want to leave her home for another? Or did she want to refuse Emily's generous offer and make her feel unappreciated after everything she did for her family when they needed help the most.

After some consideration, Stella folded. "Well… I guess, it wouldn't hurt to have our own place."

Emily smiled again. "Then we all agree?" she asked as Burka and Francik nodded. "Excellent. I'll make sure you won't regret it, Stella…"

Later, Emily brought Stella to see their new apartment complex.

"Here we are," Emily said as she showed Stella the apartment, which had a lot of wide space, couches, a large mirror, a kitchen in the other room, and so on.

"Wow, Emily, this place looks great!" Stella said in awe while looking around.

"You can thank my family for providing this place for us," Emily said. "And I can have your things delivered here if you wish."

"Um… yeah, sure, that sounds good," Stella said while looking around.

"Great, let me finish giving you a tour guide around here," Emily said while patting Stella's shoulder as she led them around their new living space.

After settling in, the two had their first night together…

"Come on, Stella, time for bed," Emily said while in her red pajama shirt and pants. "Stella…?"

"I'm… here," Stella said while coming out in her white gown, looking rather nervous.

"You look lovely," Emily complimented while walking up to her. "Come on, we need some rest for tomorrow."

"In the… same bed?" Stella questioned, sounding nervous.

Emily looked at her girlfriend, noticing her nervousness. "Something the matter?"

"Um, well… I guess… I know we're living together and all, but-" Stella said while looking down and holding her own arms. "I was wondering if… you were also thinking about…"

"Sex?" Emily asked bluntly, which caused Stella to blush. Emily gave her a reassuring smile. "Stella, you don't have to worry about that, it's not the case here."

"It… isn't?" Stella asked.

"No, we're just sleeping together, and maybe a little cuddling," Emily said while brushing Stella's face. "You don't have to worry, I'm not at all interested in sex. Not until after graduation, of course. Which is still a long way off."

"Oh, well that's good to hear," Stella said while Emily cupped her hand on the side of her face.

"Hey, all I'm asking is to be close to the girl that I love," Emily told her "So what do you say?"

Stella couldn't help but form a smile. "Yeah, I don't mind."

Emily smiled as she held Stella's hand and led her into the bed. Once they got in bed, Stella set her glasses down on the nightstand while Emily turned off the lights. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Stella replied as she laid on the pillow. As she started to drift off to sleep, she thought about her new situation. 'You know, living with Emily won't be too bad…'

SLAP!

"Ah!" Stella cried out as she was struck in the face by Emily, who was lashing out after losing the Flyer Derby game. She was knocked into the lockers and proceeded to cry. Emily suddenly realized what she had done and was horrified.

"Oh no…" Emily said as she knelt down to her girlfriend. "Stella, oh Titan are you alright?"

"I-I-I…" Stella felt her bruised shoulder while a red mark on her face was shown. It was really painful for her.

"I didn't mean to do that!" Emily insisted as she went to hug Stella. "I am so sorry, babe. I didn't mean to hurt you! It was just… the captain's gotten on my nerves and that Riley really riled me up!"

"I-It's okay, I understand," Stella replied as she winced. "It really hurts…"

"Come, let's take you to the Healing ward," she said while helping her girlfriend up. "We can say that you tripped over something…"

"Yeah," Stella nodded in agreement, accepting this as an accident that wouldn't happen again.

"Where are you going, Stella?" Emily asked, seeing Stella heading for the front door of their apartment.

"Oh, I'm going to visit my parents, see how they are and let them know how I'm doing," Stella replied.

"Oh… I thought we were going to the bazaar today," Emily pointed out.

"We were?" Stella asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to help you pick out some clothes for the season, but I guess we could reschedule," Emily said while looking down with a saddened expression. "I was… really looking forward to it."

Stella looked over at Emily, feeling bad about seeing Emily looking down. "Oh… well, I can just visit my parents another time," Stella said as Emily looked up to her.

"Really?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, after all, I could use some new outfits," Stella said with a shrug.

At the clothing store in the bazaar, Emily sat down while Stella came out in some new swimwear.

"What do you think?" Stella asked shyly while wearing a blue tube top and short loincloth.

"Wow, you look beautiful, Stella," Emily replied as she got up and walked over to check her girlfriend out. "I mean, you do have such clear skin in that two piece…"

"Heh, thanks Emily," Stella replied as Emily moved behind her.

"Don't thank me, thank the Titan for giving you such a wonderful figure," Emily said while feeling Stella's shoulders, which took Stella by surprise.

"Um… are you… massaging me?" Stella asked her nervously.

"Oh, I'm just showing my appreciation for my beautiful babe," Emily said while her hands roamed over Stella's back, which made Stella shiver. Emily noticed this. "My hands aren't cold, are they?"

"Um… no," Stella lied. Emily's hands were cold, but she still didn't say anything, despite how uncomfortable she was at the moment.

"You really are beautiful, you know that," Emily told her with a smile, turning Stella's face to hers and planting a kiss on her lips.

Stella and Emily were enjoying a meal together when Emily noticed a mess on Stella's face.

"You got something on your face, Stella," Emily pointed out.

"Oh, really? Where?" Stella asked. However, instead of answering, Emily leaned in and licked the spot from Stella's lip, surprising her. "E-Emily!?"

"Got it," Emily said with a smile. "What would you do without me?"

Stella nervously smiled back while also feeling her own lip that Emily licked.

Stella was walking to the front door when Emily stepped in her path and stopped her.

"Where are you going, Stella? I was hoping that we could help each other with our homework," Emily told her as Stella looked down.

"Um, yeah, I guess we should," Stella replied as she followed Emily away from the front door. She could check in with her parents later…

"I want you so much…"

Stella was pushed against the wall by Emily. Stella looked nervous as Emily reached out to slowly remove her glasses. "E-Emily…"

"You are so beautiful, you know that?" Emily asked before she forced her lips onto Stella's. The Northstar girl couldn't move out or go against Emily. She could only go along. The green witch pressed her hands onto Stella's shoulders and then her hands started to roam down to Stella's hips. Stella was brought closer to her…

A crow was ringing before Emily picked up. "Hello?"

"Emily? It's Burka, Stella's mom," responded Burka. "I'm just calling to see if Stella's alright."

"She's fine, Mrs. Northstar," Emily responded while looking over at Stella, who was taking a nap on the couch. "She's been very busy with her studies, so it's best not to bother her right now."

"Oh… well, I don't want to disturb her…"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Northstar. Your daughter's in good hands," Emily said before she hung up on the crow. She then walked over and looked down at the sleeping Stella. Her hand caressed Stella's face. "All in good hands…"

Things only got worse over time, like when Emily was pulling her out of the theater.

"Come on, Stella, we're out of here," Emily said with a frustrated look. "That movie was a waste of snails."

"Ow, Emily aren't you being a bit too rough?" Stella asked while feeling Emily's strong grip on her arm.

"I just want to go home, now come on," Emily said while pulling on Stella's arm, digging her nails into it.

"Ow! You're seriously hurting me!" Stella cried out as Emily suddenly let go.

"Sorry, Stella," Emily replied. "I forgot that you're not physically strong. Perhaps we should toughen you up in training next time."

Stella didn't say anything in response to this. Instead, she just looked down at her own arm and saw the nail marks…

Emily and Stella were at the mats doing sparring training. Emily grabbed Stella and flipped her down, sitting on her back and pulling her arm and leg up in the air.

"Ow! Emily, you're hurting me!" Stella cried out.

"Tap out," Emily told her while pulling them up. Stella tapped on the floor, but Emily kept restraining Stella. Despite hearing her tapping on the floor, Emily didn't comply.

"E-Emily…" Stella was then suddenly turned over so that Emily laid on top of her. Emily pinned Stella on the floor and dived down to forcefully kiss her.

"What happened to the shirt I gave you?" Emily questioned while seeing Stella in a different shirt.

"Oh, um, I thought I could try this on today as a change of pace," Stella replied. "I got it from the market-"

"So the shirt I picked out for you wasn't good enough?" Emily questioned while Stella looked up at her in fear.

"W-What? No! I didn't say that! I just thought it'd be nice to-"

"So what other things have you bought without notifying me about it?" Emily asked while gripping Stella's arm, digging her fingers in. "I can give you anything you want without you worrying about paying for yourself. Is my generosity not good enough for you?!"

"I… I didn't mean…" Stella wanted to pull away, but she was afraid of what Emily would do to her if she did.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Emily blamed Stella as she pushed her girlfriend against the wall. "Why do you make me feel this way?! Like I'm not good enough for you?! You know I hate it when I get like this to you, don't you?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Emily!" Stella cried out while looking away, but Emily grabbed her face and made her look at her.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Emily scolded her.

"Blech!" Emily coughed, Stella helping pat her back so she could cough out the food she was choking on.

"Emily, are you alright?" Stella asked in worry.

"You… were you trying to poison me?" Emily accused, turning to her in anger.

"W-What?" Stella asked, taken aback by this. "N-No! You just ate too fast-"

"Oh, so you're pinning the blame on me?!" Emily demanded as she stood up and grabbed Stella's arms, squeezing them.

"O-Ow! Emily! You're hurting me!" Stella cried out before she got pinned to the wall, hard.

"Enough of your whining! I am asking if you are trying to poison me?!" Emily shouted at her while Stella whimpered.

"No! No, I'm not!" Stella replied while tears ran down her face. "Please, Emily, you have to believe me!"

Emily looked at Stella and after a moment she started to calm down her anger. She saw her girlfriend looking scared and Emily sighed as she let her go. But she still didn't apologize. "Clean up this mess, and do better with your cooking next time," she said as she walked away, leaving Stella with the mess in the kitchen…

Stella came into one of the classrooms at Glandus. The other top students weren't there yet for their meeting, but she did see Emily waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" Emily asked her, suspicious. "I called you to appear in the meeting earlier."

"I did come here before everyone-"

Before Stella could finish, she felt Emily's tight grip on her arm again.

"You were supposed to come here at the same time as me!" she shouted at Stella. "Were you with someone?! Why do you worry me so much!?" she demanded as Stella looked at her in fear.

The abuse continued to get worse. At one point, Emily threw Stella into a closet and then locked her in.

"Emily! Get me out of here!" Stella cried out while trying to open the door, but Emily wouldn't let her out.

"This is for your own good, Stella," Emily told her while keeping the door locked. "You'll thank me for this someday…."

One night, Stella was outside, looking around while wearing a cloak. She walked away from the school, attempting to make her escape as she ran off of the school grounds.

Inside the school, Emily was rummaging through her office. "Where is she?!"

"Calm down, Emily," Nina told her. "She couldn't have gone far."

"Then why are you still standing there?! Find her!" Emily shouted as the werecat, who winced before she did as she was told, setting out to find Stella…

Sometime later, Emily was still waiting in her office as Nina kicked open the door and came in carrying Stella over her shoulder.

"Here she is," Nina said as she put down Stella, who got up and looked at the irate Emily.

"Thank you, Nina. You're dismissed," Emily told her. Nina was about to say something, but she decided otherwise and she walked out of the room. Once she was gone, Emily walked over to a fearful Stella.

"I-I'm sorry, Emily… I didn't-"

"Don't you know how worried sick I was when you ran away!" Emily scolded her, pinning Stella to the wall and grabbing her face. "I don't know what I'd do with myself without you! Don't you ever leave me again!"

"I-I-I-" Stella shivered before getting smacked across the face by Emily, causing her to fall down.

"Why…" Emily said as she glared down at Stella. "Why do you make me do this to you?!"

"Why did I make her do this to me?" Stella asked herself.

It was after the Glandus war. Stella was laying down on a cot while dwelling on Emily's words. She was in a coven station in the aftermath of the Glandus war with Hexside. She was in her own cell, thinking about what happened. Naturally, she blamed herself and tears streamed down her face.

"Why… why did I let her go this far?" Stella asked herself, "If… I was strong enough, maybe… maybe Emily wouldn't have lost. I… I can't do things right without her," she reprimanded herself as a scout walked over to her cell.

"Glinda Stella Northstar," the scout said to her. "You're being released, your parents are here to pick you up."

"My… parents?" Stella asked, sitting up and seeing her parents coming over to her cell, much to her surprise.

"Glinda?" Burka asked as she and Francik walked over to the cell. "Glinda! Oh, thank Titan you're alright!"

Glinda Northstar began to tear up even more. "M-M-Mama… daddy?" she asked as the door to her cell was opened. Burka and Francik ran over to hug their daughter.

"Glinda! We're so glad that you're safe!" Francik said while in tears.

"We've missed you, we didn't know…" Burka heard her daughter crying. "Glinda…?"

"Mom… dad… I'm so sorry…" Glinda cried as she hugged her parents. "This is my fault. I… I didn't mean for Emily to keep me from you two. If I had done better than… Emily wouldn't have done those awful things."

"Glinda… Glinda, it's not your fault," Burka told her while looking down. "Don't you ever blame yourself for this."

"She's right, Little Star," Francik said, while hugging her daughter "Look, Glinda, we should've come to you, we should've done more to help you."

"We promise that we'll figure out a way to make things better for you, Glinda," Burka told her as she and her husband held Glinda's hands. "We're going to make things right, for you, and for all of us."

Back at the Northstar house, Glinda was back home for… well, the first time in a long time. She was in her old room, looking around and realizing that it had changed very little since she had last been in here. She saw the same bed, the same desk, the same walls…

"Glinda, dear," Burka spoke up and Glinda turned around. "She's here."

Glinda followed her mom into the living room, where both of her parents were along with a new witch. It was a guest that she didn't recognize.

"Hello, young Northstar. My name is Ms. Karvan," said a witch woman with pink hair. She was wearing a black and golden dress and holding a clipboard. "I'm a social worker from the Emperor's Coven. I'm here to check in with you and your family after what happened during the Glandus-War. Now, you're not in trouble or anything, we've got all of your testimonies about the school. I'm just here to help you and your family get readjusted."

Glinda stared at the social worker, looking conflicted and feeling nervous. But both of her parents came to her.

"She just wants to help you, Glinda," Burka assured her. "That's all any of us want to do."

"So, what was yours and Emily's living situation like?" Ms. Karvan inquired while she and the Northstars were seated in a session.

"Um, well… Emily and I were doing fine back then," Glinda said. "She made me feel special. I mean, sometimes she would get upset, but it wasn't really her fault."

"What do you mean by that?" Burka asked her.

Glinda hesitated, remembering all the stuff that she had never told anyone about before. She looked around the room, seeing the concerned expressions, and took a deep breath. "Well… there was that one time at Flyer Derby…"

At another point of their session, Glinda's parents were shocked by what they heard..

"She… touched you without your consent?" Francik asked her.

"I… I didn't think it was that bad," Glinda admitted. "I thought that since we were dating… it was okay."

"Did you feel uncomfortable when Emily touched you that way without your permission?" Ms. Karvan asked her.

Glinda looked down. "Y-Yeah…"

"Glinda, if you don't feel comfortable with the way she touches you, you're supposed to say no," Ms. Karvan told her. "Even if you're dating, that's no excuse for her to touch you inappropriately without your consent. It's unacceptable and sexual assault can still occur between two parthers while they're in a relationship."

"She's right, Glinda," Burka said. "You're not in trouble, but we just want you to understand that what Emily did to you… was not right. She shouldn't have touched you like that and she must have realized that it made you uncomfortable."

"Did she do anything else like that?" Francik asked with a worried look.

"Well, we didn't have sex," Glinda quickly assured them. "She would just… kiss me without asking sometimes. And touch me in some places…" She shook her head. "I mean, it isn't her fault. I didn't stop her from touching me…"

Her parents shared a worried look before turning back to their daughter. "Glinda… what Emily did to you… wasn't right at all," Francik told her. "And it isn't your fault."

"It… isn't?" Glinda asked in realization.

Glinda continued to talk about her history with Emily while Ms. Karvan wrote down notes on her clipboard.

"And then when she pinned me to the wall, she told me how much I made her worry," Glinda said while her father held on to her. "And… I did feel really awful about it, since I knew that Emily would get really upset if I wasn't there for her…"

"Glinda, it's not your fault," Ms. Karvan reassured her. "Emily shouldn't have said those things to you or hurt you like that. She wanted you to feel that way in order to make it a lot easier for her to control you."

"She's right, Glinda," Burka agreed. "And Emily… she had us all fooled."

"And let me assure you, Glinda, that you're not the first witch who has gone through something like this," Karvan revealed. "I know many witches who, like you, have been trapped in abusive relationships that are not too different from your situation. And you were in an abusive relationship. Abusers like Emily use their victim's insecurities and situations to control them. They make them think they owe their abusers, they isolate and alienate their victims so they depend only on them, and they make them believe that if their abusers hurt them it's their fault and not the abusers. You try to justify how she treated you, but let me make something clear. You don't own Emily Tricks anything. And it is not your fault that you were abused."

Glinda listened to them while looking back and reevaluating her relationship with Emily, slowly coming to the realization that… they were right.

It was Emily's fault, not hers.

In Dr. Bride's clinic, Dr. Bride was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of the Northstars.

"Ah, zhe Northstars! What can I do for you? How is your snake-arm, Francik?" Dr. Bride asked while smiling at her old patient.

"It's been doing fine, Dr. Bride," Francik responded while he and his wife stood with Glinda. "Though we're not here because of the arm. We have… a request."

Dr. Bride looked intrigued. "A request? Do you need another appendage? I hear gorilla arms are all the rage these days," Bride suggested.

"It isn't anything like that, we were actually hoping you could take Glinda under your watch and let her work for you," Burka clarified. "See, after the whole ordeal with Glandus, we want to give her a new outlet in order to keep her out of trouble."

"She's almost old enough to join a coven, but we're not sure if she's ready for that yet," Francik explained. "So we were wondering if you could consider taking her as an assistant."

"Hmm… and what does Ms. Northstar feel about this?" Dr. Bride asked while looking at Glinda, who spoke up for the first time.

"I… I would be honored to work for you, Dr. Bride," Glinda said, making Dr. Bride smile. "I'm a good worker and I promise to do anything you need me to do."

"Excellent!" she said enthusiastically. "Don't worry, I do take new assistants every now and then. Show them the ropes and train them. You can be my latest assistant."

"Thank you, Dr. Bride," Burka said. "We owe you."

"Oh, you absolutely do not," Dr. Bride reassured her. "This is my pleasure."

On her first day of the job, Glinda was tasked to do some jobs for Bride.

"Alright, first I need you to clean out these jars now that I've taken the organs out," Bride instructed. "I want to reuse these jars and I don't want to risk the organs being contaminated."

"Um, right," Glinda replied while looking at the jars. Some of them looked quite nasty and she chose not to ask what had been in them…

Glinda had restocked the salves when she noticed Bride and Iggy coming in from the back.

"Hey, guess who just found a new stock of body parts from some unmarked graves!" Bride said while using a cart to wheel in the body parts. "Probably some poor saps that got on someone's bad side and that someone wanted them to 'disappear'."

"Um… is that legal?" a concerned Glinda asked. "The body taking part, I mean."

"Hey, there's no law about body parts from unmarked grounds," Iggy shrugged as they went to restock the body parts. "We're just doing the community a service."

However, Glinda still couldn't help but be slightly disturbed by this.

Glinda was carrying over some books for Dr. Bride.

"I got the books you wanted me to get, Dr. Bride," Glinda said while looking over the titles. "There's 'Witch Anatomy Volume 30', 'Demon Anatomy Volume 46', and 'Book of Diseases and How to Cure Them, New Edition.'"

"Thank you, Glinda," Bride replied while working on a body that was on a slab. "Just put them on my desk."

"Yes, Dr. Bride," Glinda replied as she left the mad scientist to her work.

Glinda had just finished sterilizing the operation room. As she left, she turned around and bumped into Max.

"Oh, sorry, Max," Glinda apologized.

Max didn't respond, well, he did give a groan. Glinda just stepped out of his way and went into the lobby, where she noticed another person watching.

"Oh, are you here for an appointment with Dr. Bride?" Glinda asked.

"Yeah, I just needed a little tune-up," she replied. "I know the doc here, since she made me."

"Really?" Glinda asked in surprise as she looked this new witch over. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Glinda. Dr. Bride's new assistant."

"Nice to meet you, Glinda," the witch replied while extending her hand. "The name's Helga."

Glinda was organizing gloves when she heard Helga coming out from one of the rooms with Bride following her.

"Now, are you sure there aren't any more problems with your joints or nerve system?" Bride asked her.

"I'm fine, Eliza," Helga reassured her. "I just needed a little work on my elbow. Nothing else."

"Okay…" Bride replied, though she still sounded concerned. She then spotted Glinda. "Um, Helga, have you met my new assistant?"

"Glinda?" Helga asked as she turned to Glinda, who stopped working when she heard her name said. "Yeah, I met her."

"She is a very good worker," Bride praised, which made Glinda swell with pride.

"So how was your check up, Helga?" Glinda asked Helga.

"Oh, it was fine. Nothing to worry about," Helga replied. She then got an idea. "Say, Glinda, would you like to hang out with me when you're not working here? I'd love to get to know my mo-" She stopped to correct herself. "My creator's new assistant better."

"Oh, um… I don't know…" Glinda said while looking down. "I am needed here…"

"Oh don't worry about it, Glinda," Bride reassured her. "I know you've been working hard today, so you can take the rest of the day off if you'd like. No sweat, as the saying goes."

Glinda was surprised to hear that. "Oh, um… then I guess it would be alright to hang out with you, Helga," she said, making Helga smile. "Just give me a moment to finish up here."

Later, at the Newt Burger, Glinda and Helga were getting to know each other over burgers and fries.

"So how did you end up working for the doc, Glinda?" Helga asked Glinda while they were at the table. "Do you hope to learn her secrets about life and death?"

"Um… not quite," Glinda admitted. "I don't really intend to follow Dr. Bride in her… field. My family already knew her, since she helped give my dad a new arm… a snake-arm."

"That tracks," Helga said in an unsurprised tone as she took a sip of her drink. "My creator has her… eccentricities."

Glinda nodded. "I only started to work with her because…" She fell silent for a moment. "Well, it was a way for my parents to keep me out of trouble."

"Oh, what are you, some kind of delinquent?" Helga asked while looking Glinda over. "Cause to be honest, you don't look the part."

"Yeah… I'm… actually from Glandus," Glinda revealed, much to Helga's surprise.

"Whoa, really?" Helga asked. "Huh, I wouldn't have been able to guess." She then noticed Glinda's look. "Um, look, if you don't want to talk any further about it, I understand. It sounds like a hot topic to you."

"Thanks," Glinda responded with a sigh. "So, um, what about you, Helga? What's your story?"

"Well, I am one of the doc's creations," Helga responded. "Probably one of her biggest successes. Not only was she able to give me life, but I was intelligent and able to speak clearly as well, a big improvement over some of her other creations. Like have you met Max?" Glinda nodded. "He can follow commands, but he isn't the brightest and he can barely talk."

"Wait, he can talk?" Glinda asked in surprise, having not heard Max speak once since she started working with Dr. Bride. Helga nodded and Glinda decided to ask her next question. "So… why did she create you?"

"She's been playing God for about two hundred years now," Helga explained. "It's what she's good at. She's always trying to improve her work. She probably thought she was improving your dad when he gave him that snake arm."

"Ah," Glinda said with a nod. "And what is that screw bolt in your eye for?"

"It keeps me from going, well, dumb," she admitted as Glinda realized something.

"Wait, so if Dr. Bride created you, how come I never saw you around before today…?" Glinda asked.

"I don't live with her," Helga admitted. "She helped me set up my own life, which includes getting me a patio and enrolling me in Merlin Meadows, but besides that she leaves me to my own devices by my own request. I mean, sure, she's my creator. But I like my independence."

"So you have a place… for yourself?" Glinda asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, and I throw parties there with my friends," Helga said while looking at Glinda, an idea coming to her. "Say, why don't you come to my next party?"

"Me?" Glinda asked in surprise. "I… I don't know…"

"Hey, it'd be fun," Helga encouraged. "There's going to be free food, I know a good DJ who plays some remix bard music, plus party games. Have you… been to a house party before?"

"Um, not unless they're birthday parties for… former friends," Glinda muttered.

"Well… you don't have to go if you don't want to," Helga replied. "I mean, it'd be cool if you were there and I could introduce you to my friends, but it's up to you. I'm no pusher."

Glinda contemplated this. Honestly, she was still used to making her own decisions instead of having others decide for her. And while she barely knew Helga… maybe it would be a good idea to go to her party, meet new witches, and broaden her own social scene.

"So, you don't mind if I decide not to go to your party?" Glinda asked her in surprise.

"Um, just say no if you don't want to go, it'll be fine," Helga said.

"Well… yes, I would like to go to your party," Glinda responded with a small smile. "Maybe it's just what I needed."

Glinda had been dropped off at Helga's patio by her mom.

"Call me when you're ready to leave, Glinda," Burka told her. "And please, try to enjoy yourself."

"Thanks, mom," Glinda replied. Once her mother was gone, she walked up to the patio and knocked on the door. Opening it was Helga.

"Hey, Glinda, glad you made it!" Helga shouted as she invited Glinda in. "Come in, it just got started."

Glinda came in and looked around, seeing many of Helga's classmates hanging out. She saw Dog Harwitch playing bard music and overheard Tracy Speedemon talking with Fan Burndil.

"No way, you're going to compete in the Brawl?" Fan asked her.

"Yeah, I thought I could use the opportunity to show off my speed," Tracy replied.

Glinda continued walking around and was not noticed by a nearby Zee Drakescale, who cheered for herself after beating a party game.

"Woo-hoo! Now this is a party!" Zee declared while looking around with a grin. "So who's up for a game of spin the flask?"

"Are all of them from your school?" Glinda asked Helga, who was leading her over to where her friends were.

"Yeah, most of them are my classmates, but there are a few from the other schools," Helga said while leading Glinda to her friends. "Hey guys."

"Hey, Helga," spoke the Ghoul Girls. With them were Korn and the Ceberus Sisters.

"Is this the girl you've been telling us about?" Drusilla asked.

"Yup," Helga responded. "Girls, meet Glinda Northstar. She works at my creator's clinic. Glinda, meet Drusilla, Belawolf, Ester, Brenda, Gnashley, and the one crashing on the beanbag chair is Korn, and those are his Cerberus sisters Cindi, Blondie, and Patty."

"Um, what's happening to him?" Glinda asked, noticing that Korn was looking out of it.

"Oh, it's nothing, he just ate a bad mushroom before coming here," Blondie said.

"Which we told him not to," Cindi added.

"Um, do you guys have a chaperone for this party?" Glinda asked in concern while looking around.

"Oh, don't worry, this patio has a house demon so she's got this covered," Gnashley said as she pointed to a large eyeball connected to a tendril that was keeping watch on everyone.

"Hey, be careful now!" spoke the eyeball. "This house is new, and I won't- hey! Two feet away while dancing, you two!"

"Huh, thought I would have noticed that earlier," Glinda said before turning back to the Ghoul Girls.

"You don't have to worry though, there's no drugs in the party if that's what you're thinking," Helga reassured Glinda.

"So Glinda, what can you tell us about yourself?" Drusilla asked.

"Yeah! Helga mentioned that you used to attend Glandus!" Ester shouted as she popped in. "Is that true?"

"Y-Yeah, that is true," Glinda replied awkwardly as she managed to sit down. "Um, I guess, my name is Glinda, which you already know… I do work at Dr. Bride's clinic down in Latissa, and I used to attend Glandus before its downfall. Right now, I'm home-schooling while assisting Dr. Bride on the side… sorry, I'm rambling and these are things you already know."

"Hey, don't be nervous," Ester reassured her. "We're all friendly here."

Belawolf made non-English speaking sounds, which Drusilla translated. "Bela said that we understand that you're nervous around new witches."

"Um, thanks for understanding," Glinda said before she noticed that Brenda had been quiet the whole time. She stared for a bit too long, since Brenda realized that Glinda was looking at her and she seemed embarrassed.

"So… if you were from Glandus… then you must have known the top students…" Brenda said while looking down.

"Um, yeah," Glinda admitted while rubbing the back of her head. "I did." She then took a second look at Brenda and realized she looked familiar. "Wait… do you have an older sister by any chance? One that attended Glandus?"

"Yes…" Brenda admitted. "My sister… is Bangles."

Glinda's eyes widened and she did a double take. "You're… Bangle's sister…"

"Yeah," Brenda replied while looking down ."Though, I'm not proud of my relationship with her, not after what she's done. But despite whatever damage she's done… she is still my sister. And I do feel like I'm also responsible for her actions, including the witches she hurt…"

This caused Glinda to be reminded about how she was back when she was dating Emily. How she used to blame herself for Emily's actions.

"Hey, Bren, don't be like that," Gnashley told her. "What your sister did, it's not your fault."

"Yeah, you had nothing to do with what she did," Helga reassured her. "It's not your fault, it never is."

"But I can't help but think…" Brenda said as she looked down before Glinda spoke up.

"They're right, it's not your fault," Glinda reassured her, making Brenda look up. "Your sister's actions have nothing to do with you. Even if they make you feel that way sometimes. And I-" She paused, thinking about how Emily used to gaslight her. While Brenda and her friends looked at Glinda, she looked down with a frown. "I have experience with those kinds of witches."

Sometime later, Glinda went to get a drink. She grabbed a spoon from a cauldron, using it to pour her some punch brew into her cup while she looked around the party at all the witches who were mingling with each other and playing games.

'Did I make the right choice coming here?' she thought to herself, having doubts. 'This… isn't my scene. I'm not used to going to parties like this… well, going to parties like this without Emily around. I guess I'm not used to doing a lot of things without her. She… she was my rock. I depended on her…'

"Glinda?"

Glinda heard her name and she turned around, seeing that Helga had come over to check up on her. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm… just, going thinking to myself," Glinda replied while sipping her drink.

However, Helga could tell that something was bothering her. "You're not enjoying this party that much, are you?"

"Um… I don't want to seem impudent," Glinda said while looking down at her reflection in her drink. "Your friends seem nice, but… I feel out of place here and I… don't know if coming here was a good idea…"

Helga looked at Glinda before giving a determined expression. "Okay, I might be failing as a party host, so I'm gonna need to spice things up around here."

"How exactly…?" Glinda asked before Helga got an idea.

"Have I mentioned I have the voice of a singer?" Helga asked. "Like, literally. I have the vocal cords of a singer."

"Um…" Glinda said, not sure what to make of that.

Dog was busy mixing music until Ester whispered into his ear. He gave a nod. "Alright, it's time for the host of the party to put on a show for us! Give it up for the host of the party… Helga!"

The spotlight turned to Helga, who stood in the center of the living room while Ester got some bards to play some music. It was then that Helga started to sing.

"I was built in a lab, late one night, when my eye looked up at this stitchful sight," Helga sang, Glinda being surprised by just how beautiful her voice was. "I am the monster from her slab, I began to rise, and suddenly, to her surprise…!"

"She did the mash!" Drusilla, Gnashly, and Brenda sang as Helga danced.

"I did the Monster Mash," Helga sang as she danced.

"The Monster Mash!" the girls sang while the guests started to dance.

"I was a graveyard smash," Helga sang.

"She did the Mash!"

"It caught on in a flash!" Helga declared while Ester played the guitar.

"She did the Mash!" Ester sang along with the Ghoul Girls.

"I did the Monster Mash!" Helga declared.

"Wa-oooh!" Bela howled as Helga continued to sing.

"From a laboratory in the Latissa east(Bela: Wa-ooh!) I ran out of there wondering if I am a beast?(Bela: Wah-wa-ooh!) But these Ghouls came seeing my distress," she sang as she pointed to the Ghoul Girls in the background. "(Bela: Wa-ooh!) And they help me out through this process!"

"We did the mash!" the Ghoul Girls sang.

"We did the Monster Mash!" Helga declared.

"The Monster Mash!" they sang as they danced along with Helga.

"It was a graveyard smash!" Helga declared

"We did the Mash!" the girls sang as they bopped their heads.

"It caught on in a flash!" Helga sang while almost crashing into a wall, but she was caught by her friends.

"We did the Mash!" they declared as Helga sang. "We did the Monster Mash!"

Glinda looked around to see the other students dancing. And she couldn't help but get into it as well, tapping and bopping along. Though, she couldn't help but think that some of the lyrics were… personal.

"Wa-ooh!"

"My new friends knew how to have some fun(An-a-shoop! Ah-ooh!)" Helga sang. "Our party had just begun. (An-a-shoop! Ah-ooh!) Meet Drusilla, Ester, Belawolf(An-a-shoop! Ah-oooh!) Brenda and Gnashley too."

"The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds. They let me into their little crowd. That was when I knew that I had found my own tribe, in Merlin Meadows which is where I vibe!" Helga sang.

"We did the mash!" the Ghoul Girls sang.

"We did the Monster Mash!" Helga declared.

"The Monster Mash!"

"We had an all time blast!" Helga sang.

"We did the Mash!"

"It caught on in a flash!" Helga sang.

"We did the Mash!" they declared as Helga sang. "We did the Monster Mash!"

"Wa-hoo!" Belawolf howled as Helga continued to sing.

"Out of the blue, Drussy's dad came in, he looked at his daughter and her friends like we did a sin."

"He looked at us and he shook his fist," Drusilla sang. "And he said-"

"What did he say?" Gnashley, Ester and Helga asked.

"'Why aren't you girls doing the Transylvania Twist?'" Drusilla answered as everyone laughed. "So we say-"

"It's now the mash!" the Ghoul Girls sang.

"It's now Monster Mash!" Drusilla sang.

"The Monster Mash!" they sang.

"It was a graveyard smash!" Helga sang.

"We did the Mash!" the girls sang.

"It caught on in a flash!" Helga sang.

"We did the Mash!" they declared as Helga sang "We did the Monster Mash!"

"Now everything's cool, her dad took pity on me," Helga pointed out. "He asked 'can I call somebody'? I say, I was created by Dr. Bride' so he called…"

"He called…" the guest sang as they drew closer.

"Then she called…" Helga said as she gave a pause.

"She called… and…?" the guests asked while Glinda looked curious as well.

"They talked, they planned a brunch, and I spent the night there without a fuss," Helga said with a shrug before she started singing again. "But that's not all-!"

"We did the mash!" the Ghoul Girls sang.

"We did the Monster Mash!" Helga declared.

"The Monster Mash!" they sang as everyone danced along, including Glinda.

"I got to crash!" Helga sang.

"We did the Mash!" the girls sang.

"I caught on in a flash!" Helga sang.

"We did the Mash!" they all sang. "We did the Monster Mash!"

"Wa-ooh!" Belawolf howled as everyone at the party had fun. Ester played her instruments while Helga ended up dancing with Glinda, Drusilla ended up dancing with Gnashley, and Brenda and Belawolf danced together. Everyone at the party was having a good time…

Including Glinda, who was glad she came here after all.

It was sometime after the Day of Unity. While the Boiling Isles was still rebuilding, Glinda had chosen to work as a volunteer in helping out the werecats at the Torsa Villa. While she did this, she looked over to Nina, who was also there and helping to recover belongings for her fellow villagers.

Nina had been on her mind for a while, ever since the fire. They had all been there during the fire. Her, Cain, Tito, and even Emily. They had all been there, together for the first time since the Glandus war… to help Nina. After the war, Glinda didn't think that she wanted anything to do with them. But now, after they all came together to help Nina and her family during the fire… she wasn't sure. And Glinda had seen what Nina had gone through, and despite how she may have felt about her in the past… she did feel really bad for her right now.

So with a deep breath, Glinda made a decision. She decided to go up to Nina… and finally talk to her.

"Nina," Glinda called out to the werecat, who turned to her.

"Stella… hey," Nina replied, her tone awkward. "Um, what's up?"

"I… I just want to give my condolences to you," Glinda responded. "I'm sorry for what happened to your family, and your village."

"Oh… um, thanks," Nina responded while struggling to look Glinda in the eye. "I really appreciate it. Along with you being here then and you being here now. It… means a lot."

Glinda nodded. "How is your family doing?"

"Well, my mom and younger siblings are being cared for, so they're going to be okay," Nina replied. "They moved in with the Brookes. Though my mom's been a lot quieter since the move…" She paused for a moment. "Um, how about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, thanks for asking," Glinda replied, also trying to avoid making eye contact with her.

But after another awkward silence, Nina took a deep breath and forced herself to look at Glinda. "Stella… I just want to say… I'm sorry, for all of my actions back in Glandus," Nina said as Glinda looked up to her. "I helped Emily keep everyone in line, including you. I… knew that Emily wasn't treating you well and yet I stayed loyal to her… even though you were my friend. I know how messed up it was and I understand why you don't want anything to do with me, and that's fine. I didn't deserve your friendship, Glinda. You deserved better."

Glinda was surprised by this and she didn't respond right away. "Oh… Nina, I… I thank you for the apology, which I do accept. But… I'm not sure if I'm ready to forgive you. Not yet."

Nina just sighed. "That's fair," she said as she looked down. "But then there's… Emily. How did you… feel about seeing her again?"

"I… I think it's complicated for me," Glinda replied. "At first, I hated her for what she did to me, how she made me feel, and what she put me through. What she… put all of us through. But… she came to save you and your family, just like me, Tito, and Cain did. And I… don't know how to feel about that and that makes me frustrated, because I want to hate her and yet… I can't completely bring myself to hate her, despite everything. I think… a part of me even still cares about her." She looked up at Nina. "What about you?"

"Well, same. Complicated and frustrating," Nina said while looking down. "Hell, when she came to my school with those scouts, I tried to kill her."

"You did?" Glinda asked in surprise.

"Yeah…" Nina admitted, not sounding proud. "And I could tell she was holding back, like she didn't want to hurt me." She scoffed. "I had her at my mercy, but I… didn't go through with it. There was a part of me that wanted to kill her after what she did to me, but… another part of me couldn't because… I don't know, maybe I didn't think she was worth losing myself over or maybe there's still a part of me that still cares about her or something." She fell quiet. "She… she saved me, then she tried to kill me, then went to save me and my family despite the fact that I tried to kill her… I don't even know what to feel about her now."

Glinda gave an understanding look. "Yeah, I think I know the feeling," she admitted. "And… it has been hard, being without her."

Nina turned to Glinda in surprise. "Really?" she asked.

Glinda sighed and nodded. "Like, I'm so used to having Emily as my rock. Having her as the one to decide things for me because of how smart she was. Having her as the one to protect me." She fell silent. "I do wonder if I had done things differently, like if I had been more assertive, things wouldn't have become so bad between us. Even though I know it isn't my fault for being abused." She then let out a small laugh. "And like I said, despite everything that happened between us… I do still care about Emily." She shook her head. "How messed up is that?"

"Very," Nina told her. "But I think we're both in the same boat."

"Yeah," Glinda said as the two looked at each other. "And Nina… I still care about you too, Nina. Like with Emily, those feelings just aren't going to go away." Nina looked surprised by this, but then Glinda quickly corrected herself. "I mean, I do still care about you, but I don't think I'm ready to be friends with you again."

"Yeah, I got it," Nina accepted. "I'm sorry again, Stella. Really, I am."

"And another thing, I prefer to go by Glinda these days. That's my first name," Glinda told Nina.

"Wait, Glinda's your first name?" Nina asked in surprise. "How did I not know that?"

"Yeah, I never used it because, well, I thought it made me sound like a spinster," Glinda said. "But these days… I'd rather be called Glinda than, just to distance myself from who I was and what I was back in Glandus. You know, give myself a fresh start."

"Trust me, I get it," Nina said with a nod and sigh. "But… it is nice to meet you, Glinda Northstar. I wish you well."

Glinda gave a little smile. "Thank you, Nina… is it still Fangs? Or did you change it?"

"Oh, it's still Fangs," Nina confirmed. "I haven't changed it… yet." Before Glinda could ask what she meant, Nina remembered something. "Oh, there is something I think you should probably know about Emily… something that will come as a shock to you."

"How shocking is it?" Glinda asked…

Now.

Outside of the Northstar home, Emily and Glinda were sitting together on a bench. Of course, they still left some space between each other. A silence hung over them and they looked at each other awkwardly before Glinda decided to break the ice.

"So… Emily," Glinda spoke up. "How did you get here? I thought you were off the Isles."

"I was," Emily admitted as she pulled out her door knob, showing it to Glinda. "But… it was thanks to this door knob that I was given by someone as a belated birthday gift. It was weird, but it teleported me back to the Boiling Isles when I wished that I could see you again and apologize to you."

"Huh," Glinda said while looking at the door knob, not completely sure if she believed what Emily was telling her, given Emily's track record. "So… how have you been?"

"Well… I've been doing good," Emily replied. "Some days are harder than others. But how about you? I mean, you look great." She immediately chastised herself for saying that. "I mean, what have you been up to these days?"

"I have a new job," Glinda answered. "I work at the clinic where my dad got his snake-arm, Dr. Bride's, remember?" Emily gave a nod and Glinda continued. "Thanks to my new job, I've made some new friends who are pretty cool when you get to know them. I've… also been going by my first name nowadays and I have grown more comfortable using it."

"That's great to hear, Ste… Glinda," Emily said, correcting herself.

"But where have you been living?" Glinda asked her. "I heard that you left the Boiling Isles… but I don't know where you've been all this time."

"I've been living on the Inwell Isles, actually," Emily revealed. "Right now, I have been working as a delivery witch there, although I have been meaning to do other work as well."

"That… sounds swell," Glinda replied. "You were always a good worker, Emily."

"Um, thanks," Emily said. "So… have you been seeing anyone new lately? Not that I want us to get back together, since that is a really bad idea. I'm just curious if you've been seeing someone since we… broke up."

"No, I'm not seeing anyone," Glinda admitted. "I haven't had time for dating lately and I'm not sure when I'll be ready for dating again."

"I understand that, but maybe… maybe you should still consider it," Emily encouraged her. "You deserve to find someone who will treat you well, Glinda. Someone who doesn't gaslight you, hurt you, or keep you from your family."

Glinda was surprised to hear this, especially from Emily of all witches. "Well… maybe. There is someone, but… I don't know…"

"You should go for it," Emily told her. "You deserve to be happy, Glinda."

"Okay…" Glinda said, feeling a bit weirded out as she looked over at Emily again. "Can I… ask you something?"

"Sure, anything," Emily said with a nod.

"Why… did you hurt me?" Glinda asked.

Emily fell silent. She looked uncomfortable with the question, but she still took a deep breath and tried her best to answer it. "I… think I was afraid," she admitted. "I was afraid of you leaving me, of losing you." She then shook her head. "And I wanted control over my life and everything in it… including everyone in it. And I liked having power over others. But… I know that is no excuse. I mean, you were my girlfriend. You… deserved to be treated better."

Emily was careful with her answers, not wanting to blame anyone else for her actions. Glinda was looking at her carefully, as if trying to figure out how sincere or honest her ex-girlfriend was being with her. Glinda did know her better than most witches, including her background and the chip she had on her shoulder because of it. But at the same time… Emily had never told her everything, even if Glinda had a few ideas.

"Emily," Glinda said. "Back at your home, were you ever… abused?"

Emily was surprised by this question, but she managed to give her answer. "…yes," she said while looking down and thinking about how the Boss and Lupe treated her. "I was." She looked back up at Glinda. "B-but that doesn't make what I did okay or excusable!"

"I know it doesn't," Glinda said, remembering the words of her social worker. "Being abusive… was your decision. A strategic one. To make me feel… less."

Emily looked down in shame. "I-it was…" she said. "I'm so sorry, Glinda."

Glinda nodded and the two were silent for a moment. "So… how have you been doing, Emily? Like, really doing?"

"I've been… doing better, I just celebrated my belated birthday with my new friends," Emily replied with a sigh.

"Oh, that's good," Glinda said before she remembered something. "Wasn't your birthday on the same day that the Torsa Villa was burned down?"

"Don't remind me," Emily said with a groan. "Poor Nina…"

Glinda nodded in agreement. "You know… I've actually been talking to Nina again."

"Oh, really?" Emily asked her in surprise, looking up at Glinda. "T-that's great. Um, what have you two talked about?"

"Well, we've mainly been reflecting on a lot about our past friendship, leaving Glandus behind, and…" She paused, remembering what else Nina had told her. She looked over at Emily with a sympathetic gaze.

"Emily… she also told me about Graye," Glinda revealed, causing Emily's eyes to widen. "Is it… true then? That Graye is…?"

"…my biological father," Emily slowly revealed with a nod, confirming what Nina had told Glinda. "A father who… left my parents to get petrified."

Glinda looked concerned for her. "How do you… feel about that?"

Emily sighed. "Right now, I'm honestly still processing it," she said while fidgeting with her fingers. "Like, I'm having a hard time seeing him as my… 'dad'. Especially after how he treated me and my parents." She paused. "When I started working for him, he was cold to me, stern, and seemed to be more worried about his own self-image. He even… hit me at one point." This shocked Glinda, though she stayed silent as she listened to Emily. "He was someone that I didn't like all that much, but when I came back to the Emperor's Coven after the Brawl, he was suddenly… completely different. Like, he became overprotective and I assumed that he was trying to make up for earlier, that he felt guilty for what happened to me and how he treated me… but after what I learned what he did to my parents, I just lost it," she admitted while looking down at her own hands. "Him being my father… the whole thing is just… messed up."

"It… really is," Glinda agreed.

"I kept thinking about this over and over, but it was because of Graye that I ended up suffering alone, getting taken in by the Tarot Guild, and being raised to be just as messed up as them," Emily said while slumping back on the bench. "I may not know what happened to him, hell, I don't even know if he's alive or dead. But I know one thing for sure, while he is my father… he isn't my family. And I'll never forgive him for what he did to my parents."

Glinda nodded. She did feel sorry for Emily, even though she felt like she probably shouldn't. But she was careful to not lower her guard too much, since pity was a tool that Emily had used in the past when they were in a relationship. However, Emily bringing up the Tarot Guild and her family made Glinda remember something else.

"By the way, I heard about what happened to Sonya, and I'm sorry for what happened to her," Glinda apologized.

Emily sighed again. "Honestly, she probably had it coming," she admitted, which surprised Glinda. Emily saw her surprised reaction. "Don't get me wrong, Sonya may be my sister and I did love her, but… she was a terrible witch and so was I. We both hurt and ruined so many lives, including yours and Nina's. Hell, I probably don't deserve to even be talking to you right now," she said while crossing her arms.

"You… probably don't," Glinda admitted. "But… I appreciate that you're here. I appreciate that you're taking responsibility for what you did wrong. It doesn't fix anything, but… it's still nice."

Emily nodded. "Honestly, I don't even know if I should ever try to be in a relationship again after what I did to you," she confessed, surprising Glinda.

"Is there someone you're interested in…?" Glinda asked.

"Well… there was this girl, Lindsay Shystream. She was kind and understanding, she managed to befriend me despite knowing fully well who I was," Emily revealed. "Hell, she is still one of my best friends at the moment. I fell for her because of how much she helped me, but… she was too good for me. We did go out on a single date once, but I couldn't bring myself to commit to a relationship because of my issues… because if I could hurt you, then I could have hurt her as well. And I still think I made the right decision."

"And then there's Zee Drakescale," Emily brought up. "She's very different from both you and Lindsay, since she is a lot more brash and flirtatious. But after getting to know her, we realized that we pretty much got each other. Hell, she came to the Inwell Isles for me and I did think about dating her since we knew that we both have a thing for each other… but then I remembered what happened between us and I had to turn her down because I don't trust myself with dating. And I feel like she shouldn't be forced to wait for me, because I have no idea if I will ever be ready. Like Lindsay, Zee deserved to be with someone else, someone who could be with her and will treat her like she deserves."

Glinda looked over at Emily, seeing how distraught she was about the subject. "I… to be honest, Emily, I'm not the one to tell you if you're ready or not," Glinda said. "I think only you can do that. You… didn't come here for permission to date again, did you?"

Emily shook her head. "No, I didn't."

Glinda looked at Emily. "Then why did you really come here?"

Emily looked down. "I honestly really did want to apologize to you, even if I wasn't expecting forgiveness. Because you deserved an apology. And I was hoping for some closure. So that maybe… we can both move on with our lives."

"Yeah, moving on is on my to-do list," Glinda admitted with a sigh. The two fell quiet as Glinda looked over at Emily. "Though, I will say this. After this talk… I don't ever want to see you again," she said, causing Emily to slump down. "While I think this has been good for me, I still don't feel comfortable having you around here or me and… I'm not even sure if I can ever forgive you, Emily."

Emily didn't look surprised. "I understand, Glinda. I promise to leave you alone. This is the last time you'll be seeing me, but just know that I'm… genuinely happy that you're doing well."

"Thanks," Glinda said as she saw Emily get up from the bench and start to leave. "Emily… while I don't… trust you, it does seem like you have changed a lot. And for what it's worth, if you're that self-aware of how bad our relationship was, maybe it would be okay for you to date someone else, as long as you remember to not treat that person like you treated me. Just… something to think about, I guess."

Emily acknowledged this with a nod. "Thanks, Glinda. Maybe… our bad relationship can be a lesson that we both can learn from."

"Yeah…" Glinda said in agreement as she saw Emily walk away. "I… wish you luck, Emily."

Emily nodded. "You too, Glinda," she said as she held up the door knob and started messing with it in her hands to try to find a way to work it. "Take me back," she told the door knob, which finally started to sparkle. Moments later, Emily was gone.

Glinda looked shocked to see this, but then she sighed. She got up from the bench and started to head back inside, where her parents noticed her.

"Is everything okay, Glinda?" Burka asked.

"Yeah, you really took your time taking out the trash," Francik said.

"Just… met an old friend," Glinda admitted, not sure if she wanted to tell her parents about Emily or not. She wasn't completely sure how to feel about the conversation with Emily either, but she did believe it had been a good thing… right?

Walking into her bedroom, Glinda closed the door behind her. She sighed while slumping down onto the bed. She then noticed something falling off from the bed. When she looked down, she noticed an invitation card and went to pick it up, looking at the invitation and seeing that it read:

'FUCK EMILY TRICKS'

Glinda sighed, remembering receiving this invitation earlier this week…

Not too long ago…

Hearing a knock on the door, Glinda walked over to answer it. "I got it," she told her parents as she opened the door and saw a young adult witch woman standing on her front porch. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Linnia Gardener, but you can call me Lin," said the young woman with long, aquamarine hair with light gray skin, tangelo-colored eyes, and forest green lips. She wore a green turtleneck sweater with blue pants and brown boots. "You may not recognize me, but I used to attend Glandus."

"Really?" Glinda asked. "So were you at least a year before me…?"

"I used to be… Top of the Plant Track," Linnia revealed, which caused Glinda to realize who she was as her eyes widened. "Before my plant tried to eat me, that is…"

"Oh my… oh dear Titan, I'm so sorry," Glinda responded. "Did you know…?"

"Oh, I know that it was caused by Emily Tricks," Linnia said with a grim tone. "But don't worry, I'm not holding you responsible for what she did. Actually, I think that we have something in common. And since you were her girlfriend, I wanted to be the one to personally give you this." She held up an invitation, handing it to Glinda, who looked at it.

"A 'Fuck Emily' party?" Glinda asked as she opened the invite and read it. "'You are invited to the 'FUCK EMILY TRICKS' party. If you have issues with Emily Tricks, whether it is because you are a victim of her tyranny and trickery or you just don't like her, come down to vent out your hatred for the witch who ruined your life in any shape or form. Hosted by previous Glandus alumni, Linnia Gardener. Party is located at 666 South Breath Ave at the Rager.' Wait, you're inviting me to party with the purpose of hating Emily?"

"That's right!" Linnia confirmed gleefully. "I'm inviting everyone who ever fell victim to Emily. Whether they be previous students of Glandus or students from other schools or any who feel like Emily should've gotten the justice she deserved. And seeing that you were Emily's ex, I figured that you'd want to come to this. There's going to be food, cake, music, games, and witches who were hurt by Emily, just like you were."

"Oh, um…" Glinda said as she awkwardly looked at the invitation. "This is, um, generous of you… but… I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask," Linnia said with a smile. "I do hope to see you around…"

After Linnia left, Glinda closed the door and walked back to her room. She sat down on her bed, holding up her invitation and looking at it as she questioned whether she should go or not.

'It was generous of her to give me this, and it would be rude to not go,' Glinda said. She looked down, thinking about all the awful things that Emily had done, including all the times she had hurt her. Maybe being around others that Emily had also hurt would help her. And yet at the same time… she felt kinda bad for even considering it.

She remained seated on her bed with her invitation in her hands as she looked conflicted about going.

"An Anti-Emily Tricks party?" Burka asked as Glinda shared the invitation with her parents.

"Yeah, this girl who used to attend Glandus invited me since Emily is my ex. A party filled with those who hate Emily," Glinda admitted. "Though, I don't know if I should go or not. I don't know if it's, like, my scene or something."

"Well… maybe you should go," Francik suggested. "It could be good for you as an outlet for any pent up anger you have toward Emily."

"He's right," Burka said while looking down. "Emily Tricks… she's hurt a lot of witches. You don't owe her a thing, Glinda. And if you go, you could find commonality in witches who were hurt just like you were."

Glinda was silent as she thought about her parents' words and looked at the invite. She still looked reluctant. "Well… I should at least check it out. Though I don't think I'll stay that long…"

Soon, Glinda was at the Rager, where she showed her invite and was let in. Inside, she paused when she saw just how many witches were there and she realized that this was the largest gathering of Glandus students she had seen since… well, since before the school fell. Some of them had been still attending Glandus during the war, others had graduated in the years before then. While guests mingled and talked, there was party music playing in the background and Glinda noticed the Emily-themed décor…

As she looked around, Glinda noticed some of the guests throwing daggers at a cardboard Emily-standee. The daggers hit the standee in the head and the chest, making Glinda wince slightly. She then noticed an Emily pinata being hung up before some Glandus students started to beat it with bats, not even stopping when the pinata was on the floor. While there were plenty of unfamiliar faces, she did recognize some of the students there, like Gor and Mek, who were once the top construction students. They were chatting up with the Rumble Brothers.

"No way, Emily hurt you guys too?" asked one of the brothers.

"Yeah, lost my finger and my friend was framed for it by her," Mek replied.

Glinda looked over at the food table and was especially surprised to see Cana, the former Queen of Glandus, and her twin sister Bela. She thought about going over to talk to her, but then she noticed that Cana was getting a slice of cake… that was shaped like a deceased Emily.

"Hey sis, would you like some cake?" Cana asked while holding up the cake-knife. "Should I start with the neck? Or down to her puss? You know, since nobody's gonna fuck her that way anyway," Cana said while repeatedly stabbing the crotch area of the Emily cake.

"Did… that Oracle Institute help you?" a disturbed Bela asked while seeing her sister stabbing the cake with a deranged look.

Glinda also looked disturbed by this and decided to walk away from the food table, looking around and spotting the Graux sisters, who had set up a stand that was selling anti-Emily merchandise.

"Get your shirts, hats, and coffee-cup for ten snails each," Muka said while Gorelei and Ashey passed some merch to the guests, which included Batters.

"Whoa nelly! Best snails I spent!" Batters declared while wearing a lot of anti-Emily merchandise.

Glinda was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable as she continued to look around until she spotted Ukla there as well, chatting with Gavin, Angmar… and Boscha. Glinda was surprised to see Boscha there and when the triclops witch noticed her, Glinda quickly looked away and moved on, not wanting to talk to her.

"Huh… so she did come here after all," Boscha said while sipping her drink.

Glinda kept walking around the party, seeing more familiar faces… including the face of her former bully.

"Glinda?" Merkle asked in a surprised tone, causing Glinda to stop in her tracks. "Wow, it really is you… I didn't… think I would ever see again."

"Merkle…" Glinda replied as she looked at the bully, sounding just as awkward as she felt. "Um, how have you been?"

"I've been… doing good," Merkle replied, though she sounded just as awkward as Glinda and she seemed to realize how awkward this was. "I'll just… get out of your hair," she said as she walked away from Glinda, who was left surprised by her reactions.

"Let me guess, former bully?" someone asked.

Glinda turned to see a dark-skinned witch boy with shaved hair, blue eyes, and a black turtleneck with black pants and boots. "Y-Yeah, um… you are…?"

"Ray Cuttler, former captain of the Rottons," Ray said as Emily's eyes widened.

"Oh my… I remember you," Glinda realized. "You were Emily's captain!"

"Yeah, and she was the one who put me in the Healing Coven," Ray said in a bitter tone while looking at Glinda. "I heard about what Emily did to you, Stella. You have my sympathy."

"Oh… thank you, but I go by Glinda these days," Glinda corrected. "So how have you been, Ray?"

"Well, after I was checked out of the Healing Coven, I had a steady job as part of Salty's crew for a while. Even tried to hunt down the Selkidomus, but that didn't turn out well. These days, I'm a treasure hunter."

"Treasure hunting? Ha!" shouted a lime-skinned young witch man who had red hair and wore purple glasses, a purple button shirt with a black tie, purple pants, and black shoes. "Pop quiz, what is a bed that is without sheets and when you lay in it, you're always dirty?"

"Flowerbed," said a bald, blue-skinned young man with orange eyes. He wore a black vest over his white shirt, black pants, and boots. "Don't mind Paul Quizlow here, he was once the top of his studies until Emily cursed him. He can only speak clearly if you solve his riddles, which are fortunately fairly easy."

Glinda recognized him. "Hey, I know you… Taylor Toothor."

"Yes, but I prefer 'Tex' these days," Tex replied while eating his cake. "And you're Stella Northstar… or Glinda Northstar now, from what I've heard? Good to see you here."

"Um, same," Glinda replied. "How have you been doing, Tex?"

"Oh, I've been doing well, thank you," Tex responded. "After graduation, I hopped around the place, interning from one company to the next, the last one was… SCORN, before it got shut down. But I saved enough money to have my own personal lab."

"Oh, that's great," Glinda replied while looking around the room.

"See someone else you recognized?" Tex asked her.

"Well, I know him as the former top oracle student," Glinda said as she pointed at the pale young witch man with black dots around his head. His eyes were glowing purple and he was wearing a purple shirt and black trousers.

"Ah yes, Caesar Starr. Heard his head was bashed so much, they had to transplant those circular plates in his head to keep from suffering seizures," Tex commented. "And there's the former Top Healer, Barbara Pestilence, who had a bunch of diseases spilled all over her."

Glinda spotted the former healer, who was a young biped orange cat-demon with red spots, green eyes, and human-like features. She was wearing a black sports bra and shorts.

"Luckily she's cured, but the trauma still lingers," he said before he pointed at another student, a short pinkish-skinned young witch man wearing a black t-shirt, jersey pants, and socks with sandals. "Former top abomination student, Erik Snotweiler Jr, nowadays makes Abomi-Toys at his parents' shop. And over there's the former top in potions… Crane Bolger."

He pointed to a young witch man who was wearing a gas-mask and was dressed as an alchemist. He was smashing a pumpkin with Emily's face on it. Glinda was disturbed by his appearance.

"He became an alchemist?" Glinda asked.

"Yes, after Emily sabotaged his potion project, he was kicked out. I heard he worked as an alchemist at Hieron Labs, both when it was under Nicole and when it was under Head Witch Vitimir. But now, he just works at a pharmacy," Tex said with a sigh. "So much talent, wasted all because of how Emily Tricks ruined their lives. You must share the same feeling, right?"

Glinda was silent for a moment, not sure how to answer. "Um… excuse me," she said before she excused herself, walking away from Tex.

She kept walking, trying to avoid the other guests until she bumped into someone. "Oof, sorry," she said.

"Oh, no worries, darling," said Tabrella, who was at the party with Tracy and Jackie.

"Say, do I know you from somewhere…?" Tracy asked Glinda, trying to get a closer look.

"Um… not really," Glinda said nervously. "Enjoying yourselves…?"

"Oh yeah, this party is awesome!" Tracy declared as she let out a cheer before spotting something. "Hey Jackie, want to try out that dance machine? Bet I can beat you at it!"

Jackie turned to Tabrella, who looked a bit uneasy about being here. "Maybe a bit later. I want to stay with Tabby for a bit."

"Oh go ahead, Jackie," Tabrella told her, patting Jackie's back. "You don't have to worry about me. Go… compete with Tracy. I'll be fine on my own."

"Alright… I'll be nearby if ya need me," Jackie said before correcting herself. "If ya need me and Tracy! Yeah, of course," she said before she went to follow Tracy.

Glinda noticed Tabrella's uneasy look. She looked like Glinda felt. "You don't look like you're having fun yourself, are you?"

"Hmm? Oh, um, it's nothing of the sort," Tabrella replied. "I'm sorry, I never got your name."

"Just… Glinda," she replied. "I used to attend Glandus."

"Really? Oh, that's surprising, I never figured… well, I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover," Tabrella said. "My name's Tabrella…"

"Oh yeah, I've heard about you," Glinda replied. "Well, everyone in the Isles has heard of you by now…"

"Don't I know it," Tabrella said with a sigh.. "So um, what brings you here to this… suave? I bet you… um, hate Emily as much as everyone else."

Glinda wondered if she should talk about her relationship with Emily. Ultimately, she decided against it. "It's complicated," was all she said. "What about you? How did Emily… hurt you?"

Tabrella looked down. "She… did something that I never asked her to do. She went after someone who, admittedly, hurt me in the past. But I never asked her to do that for me and I don't think she even did it for me. I think she did it just for herself and it… caused me so much grief…"

As Glinda listened, she remembered the scandal story around Tabrella and the death of her ex… and it clicked. "Oh… ooooh, I am so sorry, Tabrella. Emily… she shouldn't have done that."

"Thank you, darling," she replied. "I was invited here because of all of that, but honestly I only came just to check it out. Tracy and Jackie came with me while the rest of my friends… they wouldn't come here. They still care about Emily despite everything."

"Are you mad at them for it?" Glinda asked her.

"Not me, though Tracy is slightly mad at them for still being in contact with her," Tabrella admitted. "But she can't stay mad at them forever. My feelings about Emily… well, I guess I'm like you. It's just… complicated for me."

Glinda gave an understanding look before she noticed some other familiar faces. After seeing the Emo-Teens passing by, she saw that behind them were Nina, Tito, and Cain, hanging out and chatting with each other. Before Glinda could look away, she was spotted by Nina, who reacted in surprise to seeing her.

"Glinda…" Nina spoke up, causing Tito and Cain to both look over at Glinda, who didn't feel like she was ready to talk to either of them, but felt like she had no choice now.

"Hey, Nina," Glinda waved to her as she decided to walk over to join them. Tabrella decided to follow her, also recognizing the werecat. "So… you three decided to come to this party too, huh?"

"I was surprised when I got the invite, but I decided to check it out just for the heck of it," Nina replied.

"Yeah, same for us," Tito said as he and Cain nodded.

"Boscha texted me that she saw you," Cain mentioned. "How… have you been?"

"Oh, you know," Glinda said, looking a bit uncomfortable. She gestured to Tabrella. "Um, this is Tabrella."

"Hi, nice to finally meet you, Nina," Tabrella said as she and Nina shook hands. "Andrea, Lindsay, and Tracy have told me about you. And so has… Emily."

"Nice to meet you too, Tabrella," Nina replied, deciding not to bring up that she already knew who Tabrella was. "So… what do you guys think of this party?"

"Well… it's… something," Glinda said as she looked around.

"If Andrea were here, she'd consider it a bit… tacky," Tabrella said with a sigh. "Honestly, while I do get the point of this party is to vent out your frustrations about Emily…"

"Yeah, I mean, Emily has done something to hurt each of us," Tito said as he looked down at his own drink. "Like leaving you to rot in prison…"

"Or imprisoning your cousin," Cain mentioned.

"Or getting back-stabbed," Nina said as everyone looked down.

"Or trapping you in an abusive relationship," Glinda mentioned, which caused Tabrella to look at her.

"Relationship? Wait, you mean, you're…" Tabrella said as she realized who Glinda was.

"Her ex," Glinda revealed with a sigh. "Me and Emily used to date… back when I was known as… Stella Northstar."

Tabrella had a surprised look, but that surprise quickly morphed into sympathy. "Oh dear… I am so sorry, Glinda. I… I can't imagine what you've been through."

"I've… tried to move on from it," Glinda said while looking down. "After the war, I was able to come to terms that what me and Emily had wasn't healthy and that it wasn't my fault that I was being abused."

"I mean, we're not saints either," Nina admitted as Tabrella turned to her. "I'm surprised how everyone is just fine with us, even though we were in Emily's inner circle."

"Yeah, you'd think we'd at least earn some glares," Tito replied.

"Probably because we all share a common… enemy?" Cain suggested, though he sounded uncertain. "I mean, what exactly is Emily right now?"

"Dead to us?" Tito suggested.

"An ex?" Glinda added.

"Yeah," Nina agreed. "An ex-friend."

"So that means at one point, you were friends?" Tabrella asked. "And that was… real?"

Nina was silent for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, it was real," she admitted.

"But that was… a long time ago," Tito said as he looked down with a saddened look. "For all of us." He sighed. "Why did we even come here, really? Why did we want to be reminded of Emily, of what she did to us?"

"That's… a good question," Glinda admitted. After all, by coming here wasn't she admitting that Emily was still having a say on how she lived her life?

"Maybe we thought it would help, finding others who were affected by Emily," Cain suggested. "But… it isn't like we can use Emily as a scapegoat for everything. We hurt each other as well. We can't blame Emily for all of our problems."

Nina nodded as she looked around the party, spotting Boscha. She sighed. "As easy as that would be…" she muttered under her breath.

"So perhaps we're here because we're hoping to find a way to move on," Cain suggested. "To get closure. Or… maybe some of us just want to find others to validate their feelings. To put those feelings on a pedestal and celebrate them, even."

Everyone fell silent at this. Glinda looked around at her former friends, and then at Tabrella. Before any of them could speak, they heard a loud announcement.

"Attention, party goers!"

Everyone turned to see Linnia up on a stage, holding up a mic. "I just want to say thank you all for coming here to this suave. Seriously, I love seeing so many witches here, brought together by our mutual hatred of the girl who has unfortunately touched all of our lives… Emily Tricks."

Almost everyone booed at the mention of Emily, though some like Glinda, Tabrella, and the former Top Three didn't. Of course, Tracy was amongst the former. "Yeah! Screw her!"

"Emily Tricks has been a thorn in our side for a long time," Linnia declared. "And she has avoided the justice that she rightfully deserved thanks to the Emperor's Coven's corruption. But even after it was dissolved, Emily still got to walk away without facing her just deserts! Do you know how fucked up that is?!"

"Yeah! Really makes me angry!" Batters shouted.

"I hear that," said the Surreal Serial Killer Specter.

"I mean, are we just supposed to let her walk free?" Linnia asked. "But fortunately, I have been able to learn where Emily is hiding: our neighboring Isles. And out of all of us here, I'm sure that a few of us would be more than willing to go down there and give Emily the payback she deserves! Not just for what she did to us, but what she did to everyone she hurt! Who's with me?!" Linnia shouted.

The crowd was shocked by her suggestion. Some looked into it, others looked uncomfortable.

"What do you think?" Tracy asked, turning to Jackie.

"Sounds like a waste of time," Jackie admitted. "Ah mean, why should we just drop what we're doing now just to go after this one girl who's not even on the Boiling Isles? What would be the point of all of that?" she questioned as others overheard her.

"Plus," Boscha said out loud. "It's not like she can hurt us now. This party is nice and all, but I would rather just… go on with my life."

"Uh, but aren't you all interested in vengeance? Show Emily that she can't escape the consequences of her actions?" Linnia pointed out, trying to convince everyone.

"You got any cash to pay us?" Muka asked.

"Um… no, but…" Linnia said as she looked around at the crowd, seeing them whispering to each other and looking uncertain. She spotted Glinda. "Hey, what about you, Glinda! I'm sure you want to see Emily face justice, right?"

The spotlight suddenly fell on Glinda as everyone turned to her. Glinda felt incredibly nervous, having all those eyes on her. "Um… well… the thing is… I don't want to be part of anything that involves Emily, honestly," she admitted, looking around at everyone and not liking the turn that this party has taken. "And, uh, thank you for the party, but I should really go now…"

And with that, Glinda hurried to the nearest exit, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. Fortunately, nobody stopped her and Glinda exited out into the streets, catching her breath as Nina and Tabrella followed her out.

"Glinda, wait!" Nina called out to her and Glinda stopped "Hey, are you…?"

"Okay? No, no I'm not, Nina," Glinda responded, the anger in her tone surprising the werecat. "I thought that party would be a good place for me to work through my feelings, but I really didn't like the direction it was going in. And it reminded me of how much I'm defined by Emily. Everyone at that party knew me only as Emily's ex, nothing else."

"Glinda…" Tabrella said, looking sympathetic.

"Coming here was a mistake," Glinda declared. "I mean, it was kinda nice seeing everyone there. But… Linnia wanting to make some kind of Emily Revenge Squad and putting me in the spotlight… is this what my life will be now? Everyone asking me about being Emily's ex? I… I don't want her to define who I am." She looked down. "Not anymore…"

Nina and Tabrella looked at Glinda for a moment before the latter spoke. "So what do you plan to do about it?"

Glinda looked down, unsure. But then she did think about Helga and her friends. There were people on the Isles who would want her for her, not want her because of her association with Emily. But those witches… she wouldn't find them at this party. But they were out there.

After a moment, she looked up at Nina and Tarbrella. "Stella Northstar was Emily's ex. But Glinda Northstar is her own witch…"

Glinda looked down at the invitation in her hand, remembering her declaration. She gave a determined look as she got up and threw the invitation in the trash.

Throughout her life, Glinda Stella Northstar had been just a plain witch girl who didn't like confrontations that much, just like her parents. But unfortunately, that had made her the perfect victim for Emily, who made her dependent on her…

And some witches will always just see her as Emily's ex.

Well, that was going to change.

She looked at herself in the mirror and took her glasses off. She looked at her own reflection, looked at her own eyes…

It was time to start a new chapter… for Glinda Northstar.

Meanwhile, in the Swampy Toes at the Left Foot of the Isles, an old Emperor's Coven base resided. Resembling Belos's mask, once it was used as a precinct, but a while ago it had been abandoned for an unspecified reason. Or at least… it was abandoned.

But that had changed.

Inside the base, a group had entered its large hallway.

Walking inside are a group that came into a large hall. Caesar, Merkle, and Ray looked around.

"So you got called here as well?" Ray asked Merkle as they looked around. "And you don't know the reason either?"

"I know just as much as you do," Merkle responded. "Which is nothing."

Caesar spotted someone in the shadows. "Well, look who dropped in…"

"Oh, you guys," Paul said as he came in with Barbara and Erik. "So you got an invitation too?"

"What is this place?" Barbara asked while looking around.

"This was a coven precinct, and from the looks of it, it was abandoned, and not recently either," Erik said, also looking around.

"So you guys are here too?!" someone shouted.

Everyone turned to see the new arrival and Barbara groaned. "Oh great… the scream queen."

"Well, hello to you too, Pesty," Cana responded as she crossed her arms. "So do any of you know what this is about?"

"I believe we can answer that," said a voice.

Everyone turned to see Linnia, Tex, Bolger, Gor, and Mek coming out of the shadows. Linnia had been the one to speak and she gave a smile. "I am so glad that all of you could make it."

"So this meeting was your idea?" Paul asked. "Here at the Swampy Toes of all places…"

"This base is mine," Tex said. "Me and Linnia got together to discuss the Emily thing, working out the details. That's why we're all here today."

"To plot our revenge against Emily?" Cana asked, smirking when Tex nodded. "Sweet."

"So how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Caesar asked.

"With my help," said a new voice that none of them recognized.

Everyone turned and saw a new witch who was lurking in the shadows. A witch with a pointed hat. "I hear that you all have it out against Emily… and I can offer you all my assistance," the pointed-hat witch told them.

"Um, who are you?" Ray asked, curious yet cautious about the new witch

"Someone who can… sympathize with all of you," the new witch said while forming a wicked. smile. "Like you all, she wronged me at some point. And I can only take so much. Emily Trick's days are numbered…"

Linnia looked over at the wicked witch while forming a smile. It was high time to make Emily pay for what she did…

Once and for all.

The song used for today's chapter is "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett, sung by Helga and the Ghoul Girls.

Okay, so let's talk about the OCs we have.

Burka and Francik Northstar makes their debut here in this fic. Burka's name is a play on to Billy Burke, who played Glinda the Good Witch in the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie.

Ms. Karvan is made as a social worker from the Emperor's Coven. An OC just for this chapter who helps Glinda and her family out.

We've also decided to bring back some of the past victims of Emily Tricks into the story. We got Merkle who is Glinda's former bully and we saw how both she and Emily dealt with her.

Among Merkle are a new… rogues:

Linnia gardener is a expy of Wallflower Blush from the MLP Equestria Girls special: Forgotten Friendship. She's going to be a new antagonist for this fic. She was the Top of Plants.

We've decided to name the victims of those who were victims of Emily's victims. Such as her Flyer Derby captain, Ray Cuttler. Devil of a treasure hunter, he is…

Paul Quizlow, who is cursed to speak in riddles by Emily. He's sort of a… riddler in some way.

Taylor "Tex" Toother, a smart, scientific genius on the field. He does feel like a homage to a certain… cake-stealer.

Ceasar Starr, former Top in Oracle. Also a sort of a genius, you could say he's sort of a brainiac…

Barbara Pestilence, a cat demon who was a Top Healer, now she's been traumatized by all the diseases and poisons spilled on to her.

Erik Snotweiler Jr, an Abomi-Toymaker. Formally Top at Abominations, a man who loves making his toys…

Crane Bolger, Top at Potionists. Students say he looks dreary with that gas mask. Some steps away from him due to his fearful appearance…

And now, let's talk about the chapter itself, as it shows the life of Glinda Northstar. We've decided to make this a Glinda-focus chapter because this is a response to the criticism we got from Book Two about Glinda not being as well developed as the other Glandus kids, which some of you readers feel like she was underutilized. So this chapter is a way to help make up for that.

A good takeaway to get from this chapter, is what it tells you about being in an abusive relationship: It's never the fault of the victim that they're being abused, and abuse is often learned behavior but it is still a choice that is used to create a desired power dynamic between the abuser and abused.

And one more thing to add, is to let you readers know that for the Q and A, we don't accept late entries. All your questions towards to the previous characters will not be answered at the next Q and A responses. You may be confused from the recent responses but that's due to having to answer missed questions, which as a reminder, don't post different questions in both AO3 and FF, it makes it damn confusing and hard to keep up.

Review Section:

Crash X Fusion: How Andrea knew Stolas is simple… Rule of Funny

Matteso585: 1) Probably not. 2) That's already taken care of. 3) Sort of. Since he didn't appear in this chapter.

Cooki15xd: No spoilers.

BlueKnight-X2: Yup

Ultimate-drax: Yeah, and it might lead to some things…

Shuffollower: We'll see.

Spantidem7: 1) Rule of Funny. 2) Through other universes, just not in a multiversal scale. 3) Maybe. 4) I get the reference, but no.