LC Presents: Brimstones and Broomsticks Chapter 8: 7: Diamond Cats, a X-overs + Owl House Crossover fanfic

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 7: Diamond Cats

Years ago…

Rays of sunlight passed through a window and entered a bedroom. The walls of the room were decorated with wallpaper with cat paws over it. Also on the walls were framed pictures. Some were of family, others were of friends. On one side of the bedroom was a bookshelf filled with tons of books. Actually, too many books to be contained on just one shelf, with there being several piles on the floor in front of the shelf. On the other side of the bedroom hung a poster of what appeared to be a feline band. And, of course, the bedroom would not be incomplete without the bed and its sleeping occupant.

The alarm clock on the dresser next to her bed screeched, which caused the girl's tail to instinctively swipe it off her nightstand. The female werecat sat up, let out a yawn, and stretched. She sported a white tank top and red shorts.

She quickly climbed out of her bed and went to check herself in her mirror. Her hair was just as messy as her fur, which she planned to get straightened out.

"Darcilia! Breakfast is ready!" a voice called out from downstairs.

The young werecat girl, Darcilia, turned to the door of her room. "Coming, mom!"

This was Darcilia Blackpaws and this was her home.

Soon she got dressed in a black shirt with a white vest, black pants, and white heels. She was in her witch form when she went downstairs to join her parents for breakfast, leaping over the last few steps on the stairs. "Morning mom, morning dad."

"Morning, little cub," said her father. While in his witch man form he appeared to have black pointed hair connected to his beard, blue eyes, tanned skin and a scar across his nose. He was an overly large, tall figure of a man with well-built muscles. He was clad in a black robe with a white jacket, white pants, and sandal boots. He was eating noodle-like substances from shells. "How'd you sleep?"

"Really well," Darcilia replied as her mother handed her a plate of food. She smiled. "Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome, now eat up. We have to leave for service soon," said her mom. Darcilia's mom was a short witch woman, almost the same height as her daughter. She had skin as pale as the moon, golden eyes, and black bobcut hair with bangs tied around behind her neck. She wore a white sleeveless split gown with black leggings and red slippers.

Darcilia nodded and went to sit down at the table next to her dad, her mother joining them soon afterward. The three ate together, though their breakfast was anything but quiet.

"So what else is going on today?" Darcilia asked them.

"Well, the Midnights have been looking for someone to fill their open seat since Tim Ragmufflin stepped down, so I'm looking to get a promotion for the seat," her dad declared.

"That would be good for the clan, Darclaw," Darcilia's mother replied, eating her fish strips. "Though do you think they'll consider you?"

"Your faith in me is reassuring, Selina," Darcilia's father joked. "But I'll chat with some of my associates after the temple service."

"Oh, and Darcilia, don't forget about your Youth Group later today," Selina told her daughter "Mrs. Yawnball wants you to be more involved with its activities."

"Ugh, but most of what we do in that youth group is boring, mom," Darcilia complained.

"Now, don't give me that sass, you kitten," Selina scolded her daughter. "Besides, isn't your little friend, Hayden, part of that group?"

Darcilia hid a blush, turning away from her mother. "Mom! Don't mention him like that…"

"Oh, is our little Silly Darci eyeing a certain boy?" Darclaw teased.

"I am not!" Darcilia claimed, embarrassed by her parents bringing up Hayden. "Ugh, you two are the worst…"

After that, the Blackpaws left their estate. Their estate was a large, multilevel block-like home with black fronts and sides, connected-bone sidings, and twin trees at the front entrance. The family walked down the walkway toward the road, passing by a duo of black-garbed werecats who stood by the front gates.

"Our lordships," the guards said as they bowed to the family. "Would you like either of us to accompany you to the temple?"

"That won't be necessary. At ease, men," Darclaw told the guards before he and his family continued on their way.

During their journey, the Blackpaws family passed through a forest that was filled with trees with luscious blue bark and blue leaves. A few animals noticed them, including little kiwi-like eyeballs and striped deer with skeletal antlers. Flapping over their heads were some birds and miniature griffins. They also passed by some other homes as well, which were cube-shaped huts.

Once they passed through the forest, they entered the town which was the capital of their home island… Moggie Reef. The town was dominated by architecture with golden and white color schemes.

The Island itself was made up of different reefs, making it an archipelago, which at the bottom was connected to the back of a Titan, which appeared to be laying down with its skull twisted unnaturally.

The capital of this reef was known as 'Tabby Road', since it consisted of one road decorated by larger houses on each side. The populace consisted entirely of werecat-witches who went about their day, either in their werecat form, their witch form, or some in-between. A number of werecats were fishermen who were now selling their fresh catches at the market.

There was one werecat on the street playing the fiddle, using his own bard magic to make music notes appear around him, which wowed the werekittens watching him in awe. The fiddling cat was tossed a coin by Darcilia, the werecat catching the coin and tipping his head at Darcilia. "Thanks for the nip, little Blackpaws!"

Darcilia smiled and nodded as her family passed by 'Catnap Park'. In the center of the park was a huge statue of a demon pirate with a large beak, standing with his sword laid down. Beneath the statue was a plaque that read: 'Captain Mitchell 'Moggie' McScabburn.'

Finally, Darcilia and her parents made it to their religious temple, which was a large pyramid structure with what appeared to have a sphinx with a cat's face for the entrance. They entered the temple by going underneath the sphinx, filing in with a bunch of other werecats in their witch forms as they took their seats.

The inside of the temple was very dark, at least until a spotlight directed everyone's attention to a balcony. Everyone fell silent and looked up to see a figure stepping into view. It was a tanned-skinned woman with black curly hair and a red and purple gown.

"Presenting your highness, your grand duchess herself!" she declared as she moved aside with a bow. "Duchess Bastilla Moonstar!"

All the werecats cheered and clapped as their duchess appeared on the balcony. She was a beautiful witch woman, wearing a black-headdress that covered her blonde hair. She also had gray-pink skin, blue eyes, and ruby-red lips. In addition to her headdress, she wore a white, sleeveless long royal gown with a golden ring collar, golden arm bands, and a golden waist-belt. Her gown was split to the side, with golden bands around her legs and golden sandals on her feet. She held up a golden staff with wings coming from the side and a cat's head with a red ruby on top.

"Thank you, Vizier Lumasta," Bastilla told her vizier before looking down at her subjects. She gave them a warm smile. "My brothers and sisters of Moggie Reef! Isn't today a wonderful day?"

At this, her werecat audience cheered and clapped until she motioned for them to fall silent.

"Yes, today is a wonderful day," Bastilla repeated. "But we mustn't forget what we have gone through to make our home a place of peace and security…"

Darcilia looked up at the Duchess in awe while she listened to her sermon. The Duchess summoned a tapestry which hung above her, the tapestry showing an Egyptian-style illustration of witches rowing a boat. And the images on the tapestry… began to move.

"Long ago, our ancestors arrived on this archipelago and settled here to start a new life for themselves. These settlers, who were just simple witches, made this archipelago their home and they paid tribute to the Titan, praying to them for a bountiful harvest," Bastilla declared as the tapestry showed the settlers building a new life in Moggie Reef, with the happy laughter of children being heard. However, then she frowned. "And so it was… until the night that he came ashore."

The tapestry changed, revealing a pirate ship coming to the reefs and a pirate captain leading his crew ashore and finding the witches settled on the archipelago. Darcilia's cat ears, which appeared despite her being in her witch form, lowered when she was reminded of this part of their history.

"Captain Moggie McScabburn and his crew saw what our ancestors had built for themselves… and they decided to make it theirs," the Duchess said while the laughter of children was replaced by the sound of screams and a much crueler laughter, all the while the tapestry showed images of settlers being killed and enslaved by the pirates, some of the islands being thrown into the Boiling Seas and others being fed to demongators. "These outsiders came here to destroy our ancestors' way of life. Our colony was devastated, our people slaughtered. And despite our prayer, despite our tribute… the Titan refused to come to us in our time of need. All would've been lost… if not for our goddess."

The tapestry showed two women fleeing from the pirates and attempting to hide. Once they were away from the pirates, the image of a cat goddess appeared before them. The two women bowed and prayed to the cat goddess, who took pity on the witch women and transformed them into werecats.

"Our abilities are a gift from our goddess," Bastilla explained while indicating a large cat idol that was in the temple. "And with them, we were able to strike back at the outsiders who wronged us, the outsiders who hurt us."

The tapestry changed to show the werecat women attacking and slaying the pirates. More and more settlers were changed into werecats, until Captain Moggie found himself standing alone and completely surrounded. He screamed as the werecats pounced on him, tearing him apart.

"We avenged our kin that day and rebuilt our society into the flourishing civilization it is today," Bastilla finished while the tapestry rolled up and vanished. She looked over the crowd before her. "But perhaps you wonder why we have a statue to Captain Moggie, why we've named our home after him. It is to serve as a reminder. We must never let ourselves forget the time we were nearly destroyed by outsiders…"

She paused for a moment, her expression and tone becoming more grim. "And we can never let this happen again," she told everyone. "Captain Moggie was just the first threat we've had to overcome. There are far too many like him, far too many outsiders who would destroy us if given the chance, outsiders who are guilty of mistreating the descendants of the werecats who chose to leave the Reef long ago." She shook her head. "We can't become complacent. So I ask you all this… are you to fight to preserve our peace, our livelihood, and our culture?"

The werecats cheered in agreement and Bastilla gave a smile as she raised her staff up.

"Good, because never forget, our lives have been made possible, not just by the trials faced by those early settlers, but by the actions of all of our ancestors and of all of us now. We all have a role to play!"

Everyone clapped for their leader, including Darcilia and her family.

Bastilla lowered her head, hiding her face as she gave a final line "And we will never be hurt again…"

After service, Darcilia went to meet with her youth group. As she entered the room, she could hear the sound of music playing.

"Darcilia, hey!" shouted a blonde haired witch girl. She was currently dancing to a music box that was playing an upbeat musical tune. She had black spots on her hair, red eyes, and peach skin. She was a yellow vest over her black top, a yellow skirt, black leggings with sandal heels, and she was sporting a cheetah tail. "We were all just dancing to Felince's new album."

"Not everyone's dancing," said the dry voice of a young witch boy who looked to be of Asian descent… or at least the Demon Realm equivalent of Asian descent. He had blue spiky hair with jaguar ears, blue eyes, a blue collared shirt, baggy gray pants, and black sandal boots. His face was buried in a book he was reading.

"Echo, Yagill, good to see you two," Darcilia said as she walked over to them. "Where's Snick? I'd thought he'd be here."

"Over here!" waved a young boy who had brown, spiky hair, black stripes around his orange-skinned face, and green eyes. He wore a red t-shirt with black torn pants and red sandal boots. He was lazily lying back on a bean couch. "We were all just hanging here until you showed up."

"Yeah, you're the spirit of our group," Echo, the blonde girl, said with a smile.

"Yeah, nice flattery," Darcilia said, rolling her eyes as she went to stop the music. "So how was your guys' weekend?"

"Terrific," Yagill said sarcastically. "I had to spend time at Bellport with my grandma at the knitting store. Let me tell you, it is the best place to nap, but besides that there is nothing to do… or read."

"Aw, but the knitting store's a fun place!" Echo chimed in happily. "It has some of the most decorative craftsmen in the Isles. It's where I got this neat vest."

"And how was your weekend, Echo?" Yagill asked her.

"Oh, I spent it mostly with my parents during a retreat up at Lumbar Grove," Echo said. "We played drums while it was raining over at the pepper plantation. Then a nice farmer offered us some peppers for our performance."

"Well, that sounds… interesting," Darcilia said before turning to Snick. "What about you, Snick?"

"I still got my job at the fish stew restaurant," Snick said as he stood up, his hands in his pockets. "I'm still trying to figure out what I should do after I take the exams. Like, do I want to work at the restaurant forever, or try to do something more? Have you guys thought about the exams?"

"I'm not too worried about them," Yagill commented. "I've already figured that I'll end up working in politics."

"Well, I have a lot of options, like as a teacher, or a doctor… oh, maybe a crafts-witch," Echo said before turning to Darcilia. "What about you, Darci?"

"Well… I guess I always thought I would just work for the clan," Darcilia said. "Or I could just work in the library so I can read all the books I want."

"Your head's always in the books," Snick said.

"So is Yagill," Darcilia said as she pointed to Yagill.

"Yeah, guilty as charged," Yagill shrugged.

"Geez, all this boring talk about books and careers… when is Hayden going to show up?" Echo asked.

"H-Hayden's here?" Darcilia asked her. "I mean, I know he'd be here, he's always here."

"Someone called?"

Everyone turned to see a new figure enter the room and Darcilia immediately spoke up.

"Hayden!" she shouted before she tried to collect herself. "Um, hi."

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Darcilia," said Hayden, a light-skinned witch boy with brown and black striped hair. He had blue eyes, a black jacket buttoned up over his crimson shirt, and a lynx-like emblem on his left shoulder. He sported black pants and black sandal boots, while his lynx tail was sticking out behind him. He was holding a banner rolled up underneath his arm. He smiled warmly at his friends. "Hope I didn't miss the party."

"Oh not at all, Hayden," Echo replied, clasping her hands.

"Yeah, you're just in time, man," Snick told him as he patted Hayden's back. He pointed to the banner. "What's that?"

"Oh, this? Well, this is supposed to be a surprise for our little group," Hayden said as he placed the banner on the table.

"Oh? Is this…?" Yagill asked, putting aside his book as he watched Hayden unravel the banner, causing him along with Darcilia, Snick, and Echo to look at the banner in awe.

"Whoa… Hayden this… this is incredible," Darcilia commented.

"Yeah… I'd like a t-shirt of that," Snick commented.

"How'd you come up with this, Hayden?" Echo asked him.

"Well, I just thought it… felt right," Hayden said as they all looked down at the symbol on the banner. The symbol on the red banner depicted a black, cat face with its jaws opened, fangs out, while being surrounded by a circle with three claw marks across it.

Darcilia stared at the symbol, finding herself drawn to it…

In the present day, Darcilia opened her eyes and let out a groan.

Reluctantly, she began to stir from her slumber, sitting up and letting out a yawn. She checked the time and then looked down at herself, seeing that she had fallen asleep in her werecat form. She sighed and changed back to her witch form.

"Just another day," Darcilia muttered as she went to take a shower.

Once Darcilia was dressed, she headed downstairs and went into the hotel's dining hall, where she found the Carmine sisters waiting for her.

"Over here, Darcilia!" Rebecca shouted, waving to her while Whitney was checking her scroll.

Darcilia waved back at Rebecca before heading over to the breakfast bar. Once she had a full plate, she went to sit with the Carmine sisters. "Morning, Reba, Whitney. How did you sleep?"

"Well, me and Whitney didn't need to sleep in this time because of early morning clubbing," Rebecca replied. "That took a lot out of us. Well… mostly Whitney."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Whitney said as she looked up from her scroll and ate some of her breakfast. She glanced at Darcilia. "I hope you get enough rest, Darcilia."

"Oh, I had plenty, thanks," Darcilia responded while using her fork to play around with her griffin eggs and sausages, which Whitney took notice of.

"And… what have you been up to lately?" Whitney asked, looking up at her friend.

"Oh, I was just looking around the Inwell Isles," Darcilia admitted with a shrug.

"I hope you saved some exploring to do with us," Rebecca said as she ate a buttered biscuit. "I really want to check out the forests or find some ruins or… maybe pick up some bounties from the bingo books."

"I am not doing the last one without Zee," Whitney said before she looked back at Darcilia and noticed how slowly she was eating. "You've hardly touched your food."

"Hmm? Oh, I didn't realize," Darcilia responded as she made an effort to take some more bites from her sausages.

"Is everything alright, Darci?" Rebecca asked her, becoming concerned now that she noticed this behavior.

"Yeah, you're more… broodier than usual," Whitney said.

"Oh, um… I'm not," Darcilia denied.

"Then what's wrong?" Rebecca asked her.

"Nothing's wrong, let me just… eat," Darcilia told her.

"You know, dodging our questions isn't going to help," Whitney said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, and neither is pestering me with questions in the first place," Darcilia responded, sounding slightly agitated as she looked up at her friend.

Whitney just stared at Darcilia for a moment before she noticed some flapping winged-envelopes enter the dining hall. They flew over to their table and landed in Whitney and Rebecca's hands. "What's this?"

"Ooh, air mail!" Rebecca shouted as she immediately ripped the envelope open. "Do you think it's from dad?"

"Possibly… wait," Whitney said as she took a closer look at the emblem stamp on the letter. It was a symbol of a black-ink drop. "This isn't the Carmine symbol," she said as she neatly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter to read it.

"Who's it from?" Darcilia asked them.

"'To Whitney and Rebecca Carmine, you two have been coarsely invited to attend a private get-together with the other visiting heirs from the Boiling Isles aristocratic youths…'"

"'Hosted by the heirs to the Inwell Isles, Don and Spearubi Inwells,'" Rebecca finished as she lowered the letter. "Wow, looks like we're invited to a private party!"

"Sounds like you two are spoken for," Darcilia declared as she got up. "Rebecca, you can have the rest of my food. I'll be going."

"Darcilia, what about our questions!" Whitney called her out, but Darcilia just kept walking away. "Darci! Darci?!"

"Just let it go, Whitney," Rebecca told her sister, though she still looked after Darcilia in concern. "You know what Darcilia is like."

"Yeah, you're right," Whitney said under her breath as she watched Darcilia go. "I do."

Rebecca grabbed Darcilia's plate, pulling it over to her. "We can't force her to discuss stuff that she isn't ready to talk about."

Whitney gave a huff… before looking down and letting out a disappointed sigh. "I guess…"

In another hotel room, Tabrella Diamantos was currently asleep in her bed. But her beauty rest was interrupted… by the sound of Katie's crying.

"WAAAAHH!"

Tabrella opened her eyes and gave a tired sigh. She looked over at Katie's crib, which had been set up next to her bed. After a moment, Tabrella sat up, let out a yawn, and climbed out of her bed while wearing a white gown. She walked over to Katie's crib, reaching down into it and pulling out her crying child.

"There, there, Katie, I am here now," Tabrella assured her as she rocked her daughter in her arms. She then took a sniff of her and gave a look of disgust. "Oh… oh you need to change, don't you? Well, you do need a clean up anyway."

After changing Katie out of her dirty diaper, Tabrella went to give her a bath in the tub with little water. Katie just splashed around while Tabrella tried to clean her.

"Now Katie, let me just-oof!" Tabrella shouted as she got splashed with water by her daughter, who just giggled in response. "Now, you'll be getting mommy's hair wet if you-" Katie kept splashing water at Tabrella, causing her hair to get wet. Tabrella groaned while Katie let out another giggle.

Katie was now sitting on the bed, wearing new clothes and a freshly changed diaper as Tabrella tried to brush her hair.

"Now then, just let me brush your hair and we can finish with a bow for you," Tabrella said as she went to brush Katie's hair. "One stroke, two strokes," she said while brushing her daughter's hair until she felt Katie grabbing her hair. "Oh, now Katie, don't pull mommy's hair-OW!" she cried as Katie kept pulling Tabrella's hair. "Katie! Stop!"

In the dining hall, the group of Jackie, Andrea, Lindsay, Cross, and Donna were sitting at a table, waiting for Tabrella.

"You think Tabrella's going to miss breakfast?" Donna asked.

"Oh, she's probably just running late because she was taking care of Katie," Jackie pointed out.

"I don't envy her," Andrea replied.

Cross then noticed someone coming over to them and his eyes widened. "Is that… Tabrella?"

"Yes, I am here," said Tabrella as everyone turned to see her… not looking like her usual self. Her hair looked undone and was a mess, while she was not wearing any of her usual make-up. She was holding Katie while using her magic to move a baby seat over to their table. "Sorry that I'm so late and that I look… like I do. I had to get Katie ready and I didn't even get a chance to freshen myself up," she said while sitting down before realizing something. "Oh, excuse me while I get food for Katie… and me."

After going to get breakfast, Tabrella began to feed Katie some baby food while helping herself to some coffee brew and breakfast pastries. She sighed. "Now then, how is everyone's morning… and where's Tracy?" she asked, looking around.

"Oh, she already went out on her morning jog," Lindsay informed Tabrella while eating her vegan breakfast.

"Yeah, probably not related to what went down between you two-ow!" Andrea mentioned as Jackie nudged to her arm.

"Um, anyway, what's everyone's plans for the day?" Jackie asked them, trying to redirect the conversation away from the drama between Lindsay and Tracy.

"Well, me and Cross are going on a date today," Lindsay said, causing a shared 'ooh' to come from her friends.

"And what are you planning to do together?" Tabrella asked, invested.

"Oh, we're just going to explore the Inwell Isles some more, doing some more sightseeing," Cross answered as he ate his toast, causing Tabrella to look slightly disappointed.

"Yes, there are a few places in particular that I want to check out," Lindsay said while sipping her juice.

"That sounds fun," Donna said with a smile, being supportive.

"Yeah, that's great for you two!" Andrea shouted as she popped up between Cross and Lindsay, patting the two on the shoulders. "Try not to do something I'd do on a date."

"We'll keep that in mind…" Cross said in a deadpan tone.

"I hope you two have a lovely date, Lindsay," Tabrella told her before turning to Cross. "And I expect you to give Lindsay a good time, Cross. Treat her like she deserves."

"Oh, um, thanks," Cross replied before he began to feel a certain dark aura radiating from Tabrella. And that made him begin to feel afraid…

"Because if you didn't give Lindsay a good time, darling, or if she comes home crying…" Tabrella didn't finish, nor did she need to. She just gave a terrifying, demonic glare towards Cross as the shadows covered half of her face, her messy hair and no make-up helping with the intimidation.

"R-Right, y-you don't have to worry…" Cross replied nervously.

"Tabrella, you don't need to scare Cross like that," Lindsay told her.

"Is she always this intense?" Donna asked Jackie and Andrea.

"Never get on her bad side, even Emily is scared of her," Andrea whispered, which surprised Donna.

"Eh, she's just being overdramatic," Jackie said with a shrug.

Before anyone could say anything else, winged envelopes flew into the dining hall and towards Donna and Tabrella, landing in their confused hands.

"What's this?" Donna asked.

"Looks like air-mail," Tabrella said while she noticed the wax seal. "Ooh, it's from the Inwell family! I recognize their wax seal!" she shouted as she opened her envelope and pulled out the letter to read, Donna doing the same. "'To Tabrella Diamantos, we would like to coarsely invite you to…'" she read as her eyes widened. "Oh this is splendid! I've been invited to meet with the Inwell siblings."

"Hey, me too," Donna replied after reading the letter. "An invitation to the Inwell manor."

"An invitation?" Cross asked her.

"Yeah, apparently, the Inwell heirs are inviting the visiting rich kids like me and Tabrella to a little meet and greet at their place," Donna said. "It could be interesting… though my moms told me that if I ever get roped into some marriage proposal scheme, I get my ass out of there… their words, not mine."

"Oh, but Donna, this is so exciting," Tabrella told her. "Just think about how fortunate we are to have this chance to meet witches so well-connected, perhaps even befriend them. Their family rules over the Inwell Isles and they want to meet us!" she declared with a smile, though she then paused. "But also… it really has been a while that I've been invited to these kinds of gatherings. I don't think I've done this… since I've had Katie." She looked over at Katie, who was getting baby food all over herself, and she realized something. "Oh, I can't take her with me, meaning I have to get someone to watch over Katie for me."

"Well, me and Andrea have nothin' to do today, so we could babysit Katie for you," Jackie volunteered.

"Yeah! You know how much Katie likes hanging out with us," Andrea said while making silly faces towards Katie. "Don't you, Katie?"

Katie responded with a smile and a laugh.

Tabrella let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Jackie, Andrea, I appreciate you two taking Katie out of my hands," Tabrella said before she felt her hair and gave a frown as she rose up from her seat. "Now then, if you excuse me, I'll be going to do my hair and put my make-up on. I can't go out and let the Inwells see me like this. Ta-ta!" she shouted as she rushed out of the dining hall before anyone could say anything else.

Tabrella had run into the nearest bathroom, summoning her conditioner, her hair dryer, and her make-up kit.

"Now then, time to look beautiful," Tabrella declared as she opened her make-up kit while looking up at herself in the mirror. She brought out her facial cream and began to apply it to her face, rubbing it in before having her face powdered. After that, she focused on her eye-liner, looking at herself in the mirror while thinking about how she was about to go visit the Inwell family. She knew that it was going to be a splendid experience, especially since it had been a while since she had been invited to these things… since before Katie came into her life.

The young witch paused as she looked at herself in the mirror, remembering her past…

"Hey, 'Brella!"

Tabrella looked up. She was in her St. Epiderm uniform and was standing in front of her locker in the hallways of her school. When she saw the group of girls approaching her, she smiled.

"Hello, girls!" she shouted as she walked over to join her friends. "I must say, I love how you did your nails, Britt."

"Why thank you, Brella," replied Britt, a light-skinned witch girl with violet and white hair, cerise eyes, and a flower hairpin on the side. She wore her St. Epiderm outfit, which had the oracle track sleeves and leggings, along with black boots with purple gemstone buckles. She showed off her black claw nails to Tabrella. "I heard that sharp-black is so in season."

"You said it, Britty!" shouted an excited witch girl with indigo eyes, long red hair tied into a ponytail, and yellow furred skin with narrow horns on her head. Her St. Epiderm uniform marked her in the Abominations track and she also had twin tails. "You always kept up with the latest fashion… while I just missed out on the trends," she added in a suddenly cynical tone.

"Hey, look who's walking over," pointed out a lime-green haired girl with pinkish skin and yellow eyes. She wore headphones over her neck, her uniform had the colors of the Bard Track, and she wore blue boots.

Tabrella looked over to see Lindsay walking by with Minerva, both of them chatting with each other while walking down the hall, though Lindsay's voice was much quieter than Minerva's. "Who are they?"

"Oh, that's the farm girl in Sienna's track," said a green-skinned girl with blonde sparkly hair, indigo eyes, and a St. Epiderm uniform with the colors of the illusions track. "Looks like she's made friends with one of the Undergrounders."

"Not just any Undergrounder, Juniper, this one's a classical bard wannabe," the bard girl replied while rolling her eyes. "Right, Sienna?"

"Yeah, Scarlota, though I suppose it makes sense that the underground bumpkin would get along with a farm bumpkin," said Sienna, who was a pale blue girl with white hair that was tied into pigtails that were actually snakes. She had orange eyes, wore glasses and mary-janes, and her St. Epiderm uniform marked her in the Beast-Keeping Track.

"Ugh, they'd let anyone into St. Epiderm these days!" complained the Abominations Track girl. "I mean, whatever happened to class? I thought this was only for the elite witches!"

"Oh, I agree, Sharon," Tabrella said with a nod. "I mean, I have one of those undergrounders, the big guy with the shell and large hands, in my track. I can barely pay attention to the teacher's lectures with his big shell always distracting me."

"Yeah/Totally/You speak the truth, sister," the other girls spoke in agreement as they walked down the halls together. These six girls made up an infamous clique of the most prestigious rich girls in the school. They were known as… the Shallows.

A group that Tabrella was once a part of.

In her construction track, Tabrella exceeded in her classes. She was listening to the St. Epiderm construction teacher, a biped hammerhead shark demon in academic clothing.

"Who here can give me examples of materials that we can use in construction-" He spotted a hand raised up. "Yes, Ms. Diamantos?"

Tabrella stood up as she cleared her throat. "Well, there are the obvious materials, like wood and stone. But there are also materials that we mine. Iron, gold, copper, silver, crystals, diamonds, gemstones, you can name it. I think as a constructionist, our role is often simplified, but it isn't just about building stuff. It is about managing resources and knowing how to best utilize them."

"That is correct, Ms. Diamantos," the teacher nodded with a smile.

In another one of her classes, Tabrella was writing down a mathematical equation on the teacher's chalkboard.

"And if you subtract the stonehenge and divide it by the quartz, you get the perfect crack for breaking a geode," Tabrella said while holding up a small pickaxe over a large rock. "Like this," she said as she gently tapped on the rock, which cracked and immediately opened up, showing the insides of the geode to the class.

"Amazing, Ms. Diamantos!" the teacher declared. "Excellent work!"

Hearing the praise of her teachers, Tabrella sported a proud smile.

As part of her construction classes, Tabrella also took 'Titan Geology.'

"Titan's blood isn't the only resource the Titan provides," the teacher told his students. "Who here can tell me what can you find- yes, Ms. Diamantos?"

"Well, my father's company has found many valuable minerals that we can use as resources. There are cellulite, tumorites, carbonated potassium, and crystallized cancer. You can also find valuable magnesium below the stomach mines of the Titan," she explained. "But if you really want the good stuff, you look for calcium diamonds in the aftermath of a Titanquake."

"Excellent, Ms. Tabrella! Keep this up and I would say you'd be a top pick for the Student Council," he declared.

"Well, I can't think of anyone more qualified than I am, Professor Teabones," Tabrella said, flaunting a bit of her vanity.

At her Skinnis practice, Tabrella spotted Donna Masterskull coming onto the field.

"Is this the right place?" Donna asked her. "For Skinnis practice, I mean."

"Oh, are you Donna Masterskull?" Tabrella asked her, looking interested in the silver haired girl. "I heard we would be having a new member."

"Yup, that's me," Tabrella replied, greeting Tabrella. "You must be Tabrella Diamantos, I've heard about you from my friend, Tyrone. You two are in the same track together."

"Oh yes, the young Ironwood gentleman," Tabrella replied with a nod. "And I must say, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Donna. Your mother was an alumni here in St. Epiderm. So nice to meet another prestigious young witch like yourself."

"Uh… yeah. You too as well," Donna replied awkwardly as she held up her skinnis racket, "Anyway, I've been looking for an outlet to try out, and I thought of trying out Skinnis."

"Oh, of course," Tabrella said. "We're always happy to have another Skinnis player on the team, darling."

Donna smiled. "Thank you for accepting me in, Tabrella." she said, "So how do you play?"

"Easy, darling," Tabrella demonstrated by holding a ball made out of skin. "You just throw the skin ball up, and hit it over the net with the broom!"

"You mean this racket?" Donna asked, holding the racket with teeth in the net.

"Well, we call it the broom in basic Skinnis terminology," Tabrella said as they walked onto the court. She bounced the ball and then hit it towards Donna's side. "Now you hit it!"

Donna held her racket broom and stepped towards to hit the ball, only to hit the net between them. She frowned. "I hit the net."

"Well, that gives you a negative point, but that's alright. Practice takes time, dear," Tabrella said.

Donna nodded and they continued to practice together, Donna gradually getting better at it while Tabrella helped her. Eventually, the two were laughing as they had fun, a new friendship forming between the two girls.

Later, Tabrella went to meet up with her friends, who were hanging out under the bleachers of an empty sports field, though Juniper was not with them. One of them, Sharon, was huffing what appeared to be a cigarette.

"Ugh, do you have to smoke those, Sharon?" Tabrella asked in disgust.

"It helps with calming me down after a stressful day," Sharon defended herself while huffing out smoke.

"So Brella, I hear that Donna Masterskull joined the Skinnis team," Britt brought up.

"Yes, she has, and she's quite a delight," Tabrella said with a wave.

"Did she offer you some goods?" Sienna asked bluntly.

"Pardon?" Tabrella asked her, blinking in confusion.

"Didn't you hear? Word around school is that the silver sniffer just came back from rehab," Sienna informed her. "Apparently, she overdosed on dildeleeches. A total drug-addict."

"Drug addiction?" Tabrella asked in surprise. "I… had no idea."

"Happened at a St. Epiderm party I was at," Scarlota explained. "One minute, she was partying out, the next she was wigging out on the floor. Man, you girls should've seen that."

Tabrella looked slightly uncomfortable about the subject and how her friends were making light of it, but before she could speak, Britt spoke up.

"Regardless if she was a crack-addict, or a charity case, she's still a Masterskull," she said while closing her book. "It's good that you're friends with her, Tabrella. At least, better her than the Blights."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I remember when those twins visited my home and they pulled an illusion prank that gave me nightmares!" Sharon complained.

"At least they don't go to this school," Sienna pointed out.

"Girls!" Juniper shouted as she ran towards her friends while looking excited. "You're not gonna believe this! I just heard Headmistress Midday talking to some teachers about a transfer program out abroad!"

"Abroad?" Britt asked her.

"Yeah! Like, the Emperor's Coven is offering sponsorship to schools on our neighboring Titan, Inwell Isles, to have students from the Boiling Isles to study there. One of the schools includes Inwell Prep!"

This surprised the Shallows, gaining their interest.

"Inwell Prep is one of the most prestigious schools, they only accept students from the most esteemed families, the ultimate private school," Britt said.

"Ooh, that sounds like my kind of school," Tabrella said in excitement. "I can study both my construction and start my fashion career over there!"

"Not to mention, you won't find any charity cases there like the Undergrounders and the Shystream girl," Britt added.

"So we better start writing our applications, girls," Sharon said while putting out her cigarette. "Cause we're going to that school by any means necessary…"

Andrew had just come out from his class as he went over to his locker. Once he opened it, a lot of rocks came tumbling out of his locker.

"What the-?!" Andrew asked in shock.

"Gah!" Minerva shouted as she opened her locker, seeing it was also filled with rocks. "Why are there rocks in my locker?!"

"Oh, I thought you Undergrounders would feel more at home here with these rocks," said Britt, who was there with Tabrella and the other Shallows. She smiled at them mockingly.

"That wasn't very nice," Minerva hissed, glaring intensively at the posse.

"Hey, we're just being generous, trying to help you feel more at home, right Brella?" Britt asked.

"Of course, we thought this was closer to what you are used to and we wanted to help make St. Epiderm feel more welcoming to you," Tabrella said with a slight smirk. "Even though I still can't figure out poor Andrew's fashion choices with that overly-sized shell of his."

This made Andrew feel self conscious about his shell, which Minerva noticed.

"You don't talk to him that way! Who do you think you all are?!" Minerva yelled at them.

"We're the Shallows and we didn't need to be handed a pity scholarship to get in here," Sharon declared while staring back at Minerva. "What do you say to that, honey bunny?"

Minerva wanted to retaliate, but Andrew stopped her.

"Let's not further any conflict, Minerva," he told her.

"What? But Andrew-"

"Come on, let's just head to our next class, and then find someone to fix our lockers," Andrew told her as they walked away, while the Shallows just smirked at their backs, the hallway becoming filled with their mocking laughter.

Minerva was just minding her own business, trying to find a corner of the school where she could tune her cello. But her peace and quiet was soon ruined when she was covered by mud.

"Gah!" Minerva shouted in shock. She looked up and saw Britt and Tabrella holding up a large can of mud. "You two!"

"Hey, Minerda," Britt mocked with a grin. "What's wrong? I thought you Undergrounders liked dirt and mud? Right, Brella?"

"Hehe, yeah, of course," Tabrella responded, looking down at the now dirty Minerva, who gave them an icy glare that intimidated Tabrella.

"Pathetic, isn't she, Brella?" Britt asked Tabrella.

"Y-Yeah, pretty pathetic indeed," Tabrella replied, a bit nervously.

Later, Tabrella and the Shallows were hanging out and shopping together at the mall when they spotted Lindsay alone by herself.

"Hey, it's the Shyster girl," Sienna said as she pointed to Lindsay, who was window shopping while wearing a green sweater with pink butterfly patterns, a denim skirt, and white boots. "You girls thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Oh, I think I know," Tabrella said as they decided to walk over to Lindsay, calling out to her. "Lindsay Shystream! What a surprise to see you here outside of school!"

The cyclops girl noticed Tabrella. "Oh, um… hi," she said shyly.

"Why so shy, dear? We've been seeing each other a lot in school," Tabrella said. "And I must say, that is quite the… sweater you have on."

"Oh, thank,." Lindsay replied. "This sweater was a gift from my aunt who made it for me."

"Oh, your aunt made it for you," Tabrella said while looking down at the sweater. "That really explains it."

"Explain what?" Lindsay asked in confusion.

"Your fashion tastes, dear," Tabrella told her while patting Lindsay's shoulder. "Look, I know about you being from a farming family and all, but no one is going to take you seriously wearing clothing like that. Especially if given by your grandma or someone old."

"But my aunt put in the effort in making this sweater-" Lindsay said before Tabrella interrupted her.

"Well, that's cute and all, but I don't think butterflies will make the other Beast-Keepers take you seriously, darling," Taberlla told her. "I mean, I can see the cross-stitching on your sweaters, and not to mention that you look like you came from the baby class."

"Yeah! You don't want to look like a baby, do you, baby doll?" Sharon mocked while hanging her arm around Lindsay.

"Um… no-"

"Speak up!" Scarlota shouted at her, which startled Lindsay. "Wow, are you that scared over a shout? What kind of Beast-Keeper are you?"

"You're not as tough as you think you are, are you, Shyster?" Britt commented while walking up in front of Lindsay, who backed away.

"I-I'm not…" Lindsay said, sounding extremely nervous as she was ganged up on by the girls.

"Let's be real here," Sienna said while joining Britta, her arms behind her back. "All you do is hang out with animals, you hardly ever tame them or even control them, you can't even transform yourself to look more beastly despite being a biped, and you can't even fly despite having wings!"

"I… I don't use them much…" Lindsay said in an even quieter voice while backing away from them, not realizing Juniper behind her and getting on all fours.

"St. Epiderm is supposed to be a school meant for the most high-class students. Most of our Coven Heads have attended there and became the best," Britt declared. "But the fact that they have started to allow witches like you in is a fucking joke."

Lindsay continued to back away until she tripped over Juniper's back, causing her to fall back into a nearby fountain…

SPLASH!

"Oh look, baby's all wet!" Sharon shouted as she and her friends laughed at Lindsay, who was now sitting in the fountain, completely soaking wet.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Britt said as the Shallows began to walk away.

As the group walked, Tabrella turned around to see Lindsay getting out of the fountain, completely soaking wet. When she saw Lindsay start to cry, she felt a tinge of guilt…

Tabrella stared at her reflection in the mirror as she finished applying her make-up. She gave a conflicted look, remembering just what kind of a witch she had been before she had Katie. She had been vain, spoiled… and mean. Especially to Minerva, to Andrew… to Lindsay.

She felt shame wash over her at that moment. Shame for her past actions, for her past self. A past that she thought she had left behind, yet here she was reminiscing on the days before she had her daughter.

Tabrella shook her head. "Now, now, no need to fret about this," she said to herself, though she still felt like she had to do something for Lindsay…

When Tabrella returned to where her friends were, she immediately went over to Lindsay. "Lindsay, might I borrow you for a sec?" she asked.

"Um, sure, what is it, Tabrella?" Lindsay asked her.

"I would actually wish to do something for you, dear," Tabrella suggested while grabbing Lindsay's hand. "Come now, I'm going to help you pick out something to wear for your date with Cross."

"Oh, really?" Lindsay asked in surprise as she let Tabrella take her away. She turned to look back at her boyfriend. "I'll see you on our date, Cross."

"Yeah, I'll see you then, Lindsay," Cross replied, seeing Lindsay get pulled away. He turned to the others. "So… do I need to dress just as stylish or casual-"

"If Tabrella's picking an outfit for Lindsay to wear, I would suggest wearing somethin' nice for her, Tomcat," Jackie suggested.

"Yeah, no pressure though," Andrea said as she helped to feed Katie, who giggled.

Cross sighed and looked down. "Great," he muttered.

Over at the Inwell docks, Darcilia was currently standing, looking at the ships docked before her. She seemed… hesitant. Like she wasn't sure whether she wanted to take the next step or not.

"Darci!"

The secret werecat looked up and saw a familiar blue dragon flying towards her. Zee changed back into her witch form, landing next to Darcilia. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Zee said. "Whitney called me and said that she and Reba were worried about you."

"Of course Whitney called you…" Darcilia muttered. "But I'm fine, Zee."

"No, you are not," Zee told her off, placing her hands on her hips. "Something is up, and you're not telling us what is wrong and why you keep being so secretive. I thought that we'd all trust each other by now. I mean, I trusted you girls with my dragon heritage, so there should be a good foundation of trust."

"It's… it's something you wouldn't understand…" Darcilia said as she averted her eyes away from Zee's, only for Zee to get right in front of her face.

"Try me, sister," Zee told her. "If not, I might have to handcuff you."

"Now where would you find handcuffs?" Darcilia asked, before seeing Zee holding up a pair of handcuffs. "…where did you get those?"

"I'm the one who's asking questions here," Zee said, making Darcilia sigh.

"Fine, if you insist," Darcilia told her. "To keep it short, I'm leaving the Inwell Isles."

This surprised Zee. "W-What? You're leaving?"

"But not for a long while," Darcilia quickly clarified. "I just got to take care of some business back to the Boiling Isles."

"What business?" Zee asked.

"I need to talk to someone there," Darcilia explained. "And it is something that I need to get done as fast as I can. That's what's been bothering me. Unfinished business."

"Oh, well… I'm fine with that," Zee replied, sounding relieved that Darcilia wasn't really leaving her. "Maybe I can come along."

"Oh no, that's not necessary," Darcilia insisted.

"No, it's fine, really," Zee told her. "Hell, we can ask Emily to use her magical bedknob to teleport us to the Boiling Isles and back, making the trip even quicker."

"Wait… magic bedknob?" Darcilia asked in confusion, wondering if she was hearing her right.

"Yeah, it turns out that Emily has this magical bedknob that will teleport her to anywhere her heart desires," Zee explained. "Like, she already used it to teleport herself to the Boiling Isles and we used it to rescue Kay from those goblins."

"That… would be a quicker way to travel," Darcilia admitted, though she still looked reluctant. She didn't want to take Zee or Emily with her, since she both worried for their safety and feared the risk of exposing who she really was. However, she also knew that she didn't have much choice in the matter. Zee was stubborn and would probably come along one way or another, and she was running out of time…

"Very well," Darcilia said while looking up to Zee. "It would be better to get to the Boiling Isles faster."

Zee just gave a smile. "Next stop, Emily's place."

Later, at Emily's apartment, Zee and Darcilia were in front of Emily's door, knocking on it.

"Hello, Emily?" Zee asked while knocking on the door. "Huh, I thought she'd be home."

"So now we have to look for her…" Darcilia said with a frown.

"Oh, hello. Were you expecting to find Emily here?" Grandpa Kettle asked as he came out of his apartment while in a tracksuit.

"Hi, Mr. Kettle, do you know where Emily is?" Zee asked him.

"Oh, she went to work with my grandsons," Kettle informed her. "So she should still be on a shift with them."

"She's at work, of course," Zee said, almost slapping her own forehead. "Thanks for the notification, Mr. Kettle, and nice tracksuit by the way," she complimented. "Are you planning to go for a jog?"

"Oh no, I'm wearing this for an anonymous sex party," Kettle declared, causing the two girls to pause out of shock. "Though I am mainly going there for the buffet. Oh, I almost forgot my mask," he said, going back into his apartment and coming out with a plague doctor's gas mask. He waved at the two girls and started walking away. "Later ladies."

As Kettle left, the two girls looked at each other in silence.

"Let's… promise to never speak of this again," Zee suggested after a moment.

"Agreed," Darcilia responded before they set off to Emily's place of work.

The two girls stepped inside Fritz's Pits, where they spotted Mr. Friz restocking while Cups and Mugs were off to the side playing with a pinball machine.

"Excuse me, are you the owner of this shop?" Zee asked Mr. Friz, who turned to the two girls.

"Why yes, what can I do for you two young witches?" Mr. Friz asked them. "We have a good sale on fingers and firebee honey, or maybe you're interested in the exquisite stuff, like Wart-Be-Gone!" he shouted as he held up a spray bottle. "Helps clear your skin of any unwanted warts on your face."

"Um, we're not here to buy anything," Darcilia said.

"We're friends of Emily's," Zee explained. "We're wondering if Emily's here so we can borrow her."

Mr. Friz looked disappointed by this. "Oh… well, Ms. Tricks is currently on her delivery runs for me," he informed them as he started to head back to his counter. "So you'll have to wait until she gets back."

"Seriously?" Darcilia asked, sounding frustrated. "Do you know where she is?"

"Sorry, it's against company policy for me to reveal the delivery routes I send my employees on," Mr. Friz told her before he paused, considering something. "But… once she gets back, I guess I can let her go early, since she is more than pulling her weight around here… unlike those two bums," he said while sending a glare at the two nearby witch boys.

"Alright, Cups! Keep it up!" Mugs cheered when he watched Cups play the pinball machine, where the eyeball bounced around, the machine making ding noises from each point.

"I'm gonna get the highest score here!" Cups declared.

As they waited for Emily, Darcilia and Zee began to look around the shop. Darcilia looked over some potions on a shelf, while Zee spotted some items of interest such as large hooks hanging on the walls and some books.

"Inwell Beasts Log," Zee said as she picked it from the shelf and looked at it before she turned to Friz. "Say, how much is this for?"

"Ten snails," Mr. Friz said dismissively. He was reading a magazine until he heard the bell ring when his door opened and he looked up, spotting Emily coming in. He perked up. "Ah, Ms. Tricks! How did the run go?"

"It went well, sir," Emily replied before noticing Zee and Darcilia there. "Zee? Darcilia? I wasn't expecting to see you two here."

"Hey, Mily," Zee said. "We've been looking for you."

"Yeah, we need you for an emergency run," Darcilia told her.

"Oh," Emily said. "Well, I wish I could help, but I need to get ready for my next run and-"

"Don't worry about it, I already told them that they can have you for the rest of the day, Emily," Mr. Friz told her before he snapped his fingers. "Cups! Mugs! Quit playing around, it's time for you two to do the next batch of deliveries!"

"Oh, we'll be on it, sir!" Cups declared as he stopped playing the game.

"Yeah, you can count on us!" Mugs shouted as the two brothers saluted.

Friz just groaned and shook his head before turning to Emily. "You're free to go with your friends now, Emily. You did good today."

"Thank you, sir," Emily replied as she went to punch out her time-card.

After she clocked out, the trio of Emily, Zee, and Darcilia walked out of the shop together.

"Must be easier to make all of those deliveries with that bedknob of yours, Mily," Zee commented while walking next to Emily.

"Actually… I didn't use my bedknob," Emily admitted, which surprised Zee.

"Really? But wouldn't it be useful?" Zee asked her.

"Sure, but… I don't want to cheat my way out of work," Emily told her. "I like to do honest work. I don't want to feel like I'm only good at my job because of a magic gift someone gave me. I want to feel good about doing the work."

"Oh… well, I guess I can't blame ya for being an honest worker," Zee commented with a smile.

"So what brings you two here?" Emily asked them.

"Well, we actually came here for your bedknob, actually," Darcilia admitted. "We want to go to the Boiling Isles for a quick… thing I need to do."

"I'm coming along as back-up in case Darcilia needs the support," Zee said. "And I suggested you could help us. What do ya say, Mily?"

Emily looked surprised by this… and then reluctant. She was quiet for a moment, biting her lip before speaking. "Well… is it something important?"

"Very," Darcilia told her.

Emily was quiet for another moment before she took a deep breath. "Then… I will take you to the Boiling Isles," she agreed with a nod. "Although, I am going to be needing a disguise first…"

Meanwhile, Donna and Tabrella stood in front of the gates of Inwell Manor, both having flown there with their staffs. The Carmine sisters arrived shortly afterward, having come by carriage.

"Nice dress you're wearing, Tabrella," Donna commented while wearing a blue sleeveless gown that stopped at her knees, a white jacket, a white ribbon around the waist, and blue strap heels.

"Why thank you, Donna," Tabrella replied while wearing an extravagant dress. She wore a velvet, shoulder wrapped dress with a pink blouse and pink knee-length skirt and a velvet bustle connected to her maroon waist belt with a golden buckle. Her bustle contained stones of topaz, amethyst, and rubies in patterns over the yellow lines. She also wore decorative velvet heels and a velvet pop collar along with a topaz necklace and earrings. Her hair was tied down with a single small ponytail at the end. "Though yours is quite pretty as well."

"Yeah, it looks nice," Whitney replied as she walked over to them. She wore a white sleeveless dress with a snowflake-patterned mesh collar around her neck. She had white arm-gloves, the end of the dress stopped at her mid-thighs, and she wore white strap heels. Her dress was snowflake patterned all around the end.

"Glad you all like your dresses, because mine is tight," Rebecca complained as she wore a short, ruby-red sleeveless dress with a thick black sash around the waist and black trim along the bottom. The bodice of the dress was split vertically to the sash and laced with black lacing, the yoke was transparent mesh with an opaque collar and hem, along with opaque lines connecting the collar to her shoulders, black stockings, and red heels "I'm still struggling in these heels you gave me, Whitney. You know I don't like shoes like this."

"We've been invited by the ruling family of this Isles, Rebecca," Whitney reminded her sister. "We have to look extravagant."

"But Donna isn't going as all out as the rest of us," Rebecca pointed out. "No offense, Donna."

"None taken, Rebecca," Donna responded with a shrug. "Honestly, I think because I wasn't born into wealth, I don't feel like I need to try too hard. I'm more comfortable dressed like this."

"But this is the Inwell family, dear. Clearly, we have to at least make a good first impression," Tabrella declared as she marched up to ring the doorbell. This caused a small window to open up, showing the gatekeeper.

"Hey! Why are ye ringing the doorbell?! Can't you read the sign!" the gatekeeper asked.

"What sign?" Tabrella asked in confusion.

"What sign? The one over-" The gatekeeper looked over to find no sign on the gate. "Oh great, forgot to… look, the bell is out of order, use the buzzer."

Tabrella and Donna looked at each other before Donna went to press the buzzer.

"That's better… now what do you girls want?" the gatekeeper questioned.

"Well, I'm Tabrella Diamantos, and these are Donna Masterskull and Whitney and Rebecca Carmine," Tabrella explained.

"We're here to see the Inwell siblings, since they invited us," Whitney said.

"Let's see my list," the gatekeeper said as he pulled up a list and looked over it. "Oh yeah, you're those Boiling Isles rich kids. Diamantos, Masterskull, and the Carmines?"

"That's us," Rebecca said.

"Alright, come on in!" the gatekeeper shouted as he closed the window.

Moments later, the gates opened. The girls stepped through and saw the Inwell Manor, a large black mansion with Victorian-like décor. It was a four story tall building. In front of it was a courtyard filled up with a garden and four fountains. Each of the four fountains had tentacle statues that sprayed black ink, with the center resembling an octopus's head.

"Well, this place is… unique," Rebecca commented as the girls walked up the courtyard together. Of course, Rebecca started to fall behind as she began to trip over due to the heels she wore. "Gah! Stupid heels…"

After the walk across the courtyard, while Rebecca kept tripping over her heels, the four made it to the manor. The guards opened the door, letting them into the entrance hall. There, they saw the white cracked tiles on the marble floor, the black and gold decorative wallpaper, the tall windows, a chandelier hanging above them, and wide steps that led two ways.

"Welcome, heirs of the Boiling Isles!"

The girls looked up to see the Inwell siblings on the main steps above them. One was an aqua-skinned young witch man with short black hair, green eyes, a blue suit with black stripes, blue pants, and black loafers. Next to him was a young witch girl around Rebecca and Donna's age, with bobcut black hair, pink eyes, gray skin, and small horns. She wore a black dress with a blue waist-belt, gray stockings, and black boots.

"Welcome to Inwell Manor," said the boy as the two siblings came down the steps to meet their guests. "My name is Don, and this is my sister…"

"Spearubi. Pleasure to meet you," Spearubi introduced herself, giving a bow.

"A pleasure to meet you two as well," Tabrella greeted. "I am Tabrella Diamantos."

"Hi, I'm Donna Masterskull," Donna greeted the Inwell siblings.

"And we are the Carmine sisters," Whitney declared. "I am Whitney…"

"And I'm Rebecca!" Rebecca greeted as she walked forward with her hand up… only to end up tripping over her shoes again.

"It is a privilege to meet you all," Don said. "We have heard a great deal about your families, such as the Diamantos Mining Company and SkullToys Co."

"And the Carmine Trade Company, the best arms manufacturers in the Boiling Isles," Spearubi commented, causing Whitney to give a small prideful smile. "Like my brother said, it is such an honor to have you all here."

"Well, thank you very much," Whitney said, feeling flattered.

"We must admit, when we heard that all four of you were on our home-Titan, we couldn't believe it. Very rarely do we get such… esteemed guests. And we just knew that we had to invite you over and introduce ourselves," Don said. "Although, we weren't able to find out why you were on the Inwell Isles. Business or pleasure?"

The girls looked at each other before answering.

"Pleasure," they said.

"We kinda wanted to take a break after all the craziness in the Boiling Isles," Donna admitted.

"Ah, yes, we heard about that," Don said. "You have our sympathies. The Day of Unity… it couldn't have been pleasant."

"Would you all like to have a tour around?" Spearubi asked, stepping up.

"Oh, we would love to," Tabrella replied

"As long as we go somewhere with chairs," Rebecca requested while struggling to stand up, Whitney having to help straighten her up.

"Rebecca, pull yourself together," Whitney scolded her sister.

The Inwell siblings began to lead the girls down the hallway, chatting with them in the process.

"I must say, Tabrella, I really love your dress," Spearubi complimented. "Who are you wearing? I must know the designer."

"Why, you're looking at her," Tabrella told her with a smile, surprising Spearubi.

"No way… you designed your own outfits?" Spearubi asked.

"Of course, I have a passion for fashion design," Tabrella said while Spearubi looked at Tabrella with awe.

"Now that sounds peculiarly swell," Don said as he turned to Donna. "You look nice in your dress as well, Donna."

"Uh, thanks," Donna said. "You don't think I'm underdressed? I wasn't sure how formal this was going to be."

"Um… right," Don said, a bit awkwardly, causing Spearubi to step in.

"Don't mind him, my brother isn't as much of a socialite as I am," Speraubi said. "Though all of your dresses look good."

"Thanks, winter is my season," Whitney said while Rebecca kept limping behind her with her heels.

"Yeah, and I'm a fall girl," Rebecca added before tripping and falling over, causing Whitney to go back and help her up. "Gah!"

"So what about you two?" Donna asked them. "What can you tell us about yourselves?"

"Well, we're the heirs of the Inwell legacy, for one thing," Don said. "Me and my sister are being raised to be the future rulers of the Isles, but it does come with benefits. Private tutoring, lots of luxury…"

"You know, the usual rich kid stuff," Spearubi added. "But we have a lot to show you…"

They all entered into the family room, which was a wide space with a fireplace and a grandfather clock off to the side. The wallpaper was teal with black droplet patterns all around. The floor was white with black splotches all over it. A large mirror hung up on the wall above the fireplace. There were three couches and wall décor like a painting of a ship and the mounted skull of some unknown beast.

"What's with the stains on the floor?" Donna asked.

"Oh, that's just how the floor is," Spearubi explained. "It is part of the ink aesthetic."

"We are just passing through here to get to somewhere we actually wanted to show you," Don said as he led them across the room to another door, which he opened. "Such as our private art gallery."

The girls went inside and looked around the art gallery. The walls were covered with ink paintings of the sea and drawings of strange figures, while in the center of the room was a skeleton sculpture doing a pose. They all looked around in awe at the art.

"My, they look so good…" Tabrella commented while looking at the paintings.

"Did you paint any of these?" Rebecca asked while looking at the ink sketch of a cat while Whitney stared at the ink sad clown painting with a look of dread.

"Yes, we've dabbled in some artistry in our spare time," Spearubi said. "I'm the painter, Don's the sculpture."

"Yeah, like this one I made when I was ten. I call it 'Father's Love,'" Don said as he pointed to a sculpture of a black heart oozing ink on a plate.

"Um… is it about your dad?" Whitney questioned.

"No relations," Don denied while Spearubi rolled her eyes.

Next, the Inwell siblings showed the girls a stable filled with animals in their pens.

"This is where we keep our pets," Spearubi said as a white cat demon crawled into her arms. "This is Miss Eerie, she's a pedigree white scourgian cat."

"And these are our devil dogs," Don said as he pointed to a pen filled with pitbull demon dogs with horns and large jaws. They all barked and looked excited when they saw Don, who knelt down to pet and feed them. "They were trained as our guard dogs, but I like to think they're more than that."

"They're very lovely creatures," Tabrella commented while petting a unicorn. "Lindsay would love this place, she's very good with animals."

"Aw, they're so cute," Rebecca said as she watched the rabbit demons in their cages eating their meals.

"Would you like one?" Spearubi offered.

Rebecca was about to answer, but Whitney quickly cut her off. "No, Rebecca."

They entered another room which was filled with art.

"Wait, didn't we already go into an art gallery?" Donna asked.

"Yes, but this is the artwork our family has acquired through auctions and charity galas," Spearubi explained. "A lot of this was bought by our parents from the Boiling Isles during their diplomatic visits."

Tabrella noticed a sculpture of a purple eyeball with a tail. "Say, isn't this one of Peter's works?"

"Yeah, you're right," Donna replied, also recognizing the sculpture. "He did the Eye-Tail for a contest last year."

"Yes, father was into it for some reason," Don said as he sighed before moving on.

While Spearubi and the Carmine sisters followed him, Donna lingered at the statue, which Tabrella noticed.

"Donna, are you alright?" Tabrella asked.

"Yeah, it's just… we never found out what happened to Peter after he left St. Epiderm with the Emperor's Coven," Donna confessed while looking up at the statue. "I hope he's doing alright."

Tabrella sighed and nodded. "Me too," she said as the two girls went to follow the others.

After that, the Inwell Siblings led them into a greenhouse.

"And here is our greenhouse," Don declared as the girls looked around at the different flora.

"Are those… ink flowers?" Rebecca asked as she pointed at the black bowl-shaped flowers.

"Ah yes, the Ink-Blots," Spearubi explained. "The ink that flows within the isles has given birth to these dark and unique flowers, along with other species of plants that you won't find on the Boiling Isles."

"We have the tentacle-blooms," Don said as he pointed to the blooming flowers shaped like tentacles, then he pointed at the stem flowers with black swirls. "Ink-stem swirls, and the ink-roses. Go ahead, pick one for yourself."

Tabrella looked at the ink-roses, which were black roses. She carefully picked one to sniff it. She reacted with a wince. "Oh… such a … strong smell they have."

"Yeah, we don't recommend smelling them," Don told her. "They smell like markers."

"I had no idea that the ink was affecting the plant life here," Whitney said as she looked around. "Has it affected the wildlife at all?"

Don and Spearubi shared a quick look before Don answered. "Not as far as we know."

Next, the Inwell siblings showed the girls a large ballroom. They all looked around in awe at the place.

"My goodness," Tabrella said as she spun around, looking at the large white hall with pillars at the entrance and back, along with a stage. Tables and chandeliers were also spread out. "Now this is what I call a ballroom."

"This is bigger than the gym at Epiderm," Donna commented.

"This ballroom has been used for our many extravagant parties," Don explained. "Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries…"

"There is an upcoming dance event we'll be having soon, if any of you wish to attend," Spearubi offered. "We can arrange for you to be put on the guest list."

"Eh… I think I'm good," Donna replied. "These kinds of things aren't my forte."

"A dance does sound like fun, doesn't it, Whitty?" Rebecca asked her sister.

"Yes, it would," Whitney agreed.

"Oh, I'd love to partake in this ball," Tabrella said, already liking the idea.

"Great! We'll be sure to let our parents know that you would like to come," Spearubi replied with a smile.

"Oh, and just so you know, the dance is a masquerade ball," Don told them.

"I can work with that," Tabrella replied while thinking over ideas for what to wear…

Next, the Inwell siblings decided to show the girls their bedrooms.

"And here's my bedroom," Spearubi said as she showed it off. Her bedroom was a pink and black striped room with a queen-sized round bed filled with stuffed animals and a large drape around it. The room had a pink floor with stars on the ceiling, a pink dresser, and two mirrors. One for watching CB, the other was a regular make-up mirror. There were also posters of bands spread around the room, along with a pop-bard group.

"Wow, big room," Rebecca said while looking around as Donna looked at the plushies.

"Nice plushie collection," Donna noted.

"Thanks, they're very therapeutic to have when I have trouble sleeping," Spearubi said.

"You do have a very extravagant room, Spearubi," Tabrella complimented before noticing one of the posters. "Say, are you also a fan of Boiling for Soup?"

"Yes! I have all of their albums!" Spearubi declared, Whitney looking intrigued as well.

"Wait, you girls are also Boiling for Soup fans? They've helped me go through some tough times," Whitney said.

"Same!" Tabrella replied as the three girls squeed. "Now, say who's your favorite member on three. One… two…"

"Giga/Florence/Wicked-3!" they all said as the three squeed some more.

"Well, looks like sis found her people," Rebecca commented.

"Yep," Don said dryly while standing next to her.

"And this here is my room," Don said as the girls looked into his room.

It was a blue and black striped wallpapered room that was mostly filled with evidence of his achievements. The walls were covered with certificates and there was a display case filled with trophies. His bed was just black covered bed with a large headboard. A black nightstand sat beside it with a lamp. There was a mirror up on display to watch CB, along with a crystal ball on a desk. There was a cardboard standee for an action hero witch of some sort. There was also a bookshelf filled with books and a grudgeby ball. Posters of famous witch bands and poets were also up on display.

"Well, this is an… interesting room," Rebecca said while looking at the certificates and trophies. "You… have a lot of trophies."

"Thanks, I've been known as an overachiever sometimes," Don replied with pride.

As she looked around, Donna leaned over to Tabrella. "Looks like he'd give Danny a run for his money," she whispered as Tabrella nodded in agreement.

Whitney looked at the standee. "Is that the famous movie star Bruce Coldron?"

"Oh yes! I'm a huge fan of Bruce Coldron!" Don declared excitedly. "They filmed one of his movies, 'Wicked Free, Fly Hard II: Mercer's Revenge', here and they did a triple explosive effect down at the marketplace. I was there to watch him in action! Even got his autograph on my scroll!" he said while showing them his scroll real as he unrolled it, showing the autograph. "Totally cool, isn't it?"

"It really is…" Whitney said with an unsure look.

"I have all of his movies in my echo-mice collection," he said as he opened his closet, which was filled with echo-mice. "I got 'Boil and Rumble', 'Witch's Duel Club', and his romantic stuff like the 'Rip My Heart Out' trilogy, and that family flick he's in, 'Three Scouts and a Baby'…"

The girls just looked at each other uneasily while Don kept listing his movie memorabilia.

After that, the girls were led by Spearubi into a large dress room.

"And this here is my wardrobe," Spearubi showed them as she pressed a button, causing dozens of outfits to pop out of closets. Some were being tailored, others were displayed on mannequins.

"Oh… oh this is… magnificent!" Tabrella declared as she looked around in awe. "This silk… these threads! This dress! It's like I went to the other side! Who tailored these?!"

"Our personal tailor does the work," Don answered. "You see, our tailor is the latest generation of the finest traditional Inwell Isles weavers that make our cultural clothing here. And most of it is organic and environmentally friendly."

"Is it wrong that I wish to steal away the entire wardrobe?" Tabrella asked while looking like a kid in a candy store as she rubbed her face on the fabric.

"Yes. Yes it is," Don said bluntly.

"Can I at least buy them all?" Tabrella asked, the rest of the girls looking at her weirdly.

"I don't think our parents would appreciate that," Don told her. "But maybe you could get in contact with our tailor to talk about his craft."

"Oh I would love that, darling," Tabrella replied excitedly. "I can't wait to meet him!"

Finally, the Inwells showed the girls to one last door.

"And now, the moment we've been waiting for," Don said as he opened the door so the girls could see inside. "Behold… our personal ink stock."

The girls looked inside the stock with surprised looks. The rooms were full of shelves of bottles of ink. The ink came in all kinds of colors, though most of it was black.

"This is where we keep our family's prized ink in reserve," Spearubi explained while her brother went in to pick some of the bottles off the shelves. "Now, we can't let you in since we don't want to risk an accident…"

"Yes, we don't want to get ink stains on you all," Don said as he came back while holding up four boxes of ink bottles "But we wish to give each of you some ink to take home with you."

"Oh, thanks," Donna said after receiving the ink. They all accepted it out of politeness, though they weren't sure what to do with it. They were not as into ink as the Inwells clearly were…

"Never thought I would get ink as a souvenir, but alright…" Rebecca muttered while looking at the box of ink.

"Hope they're to your liking," Spearubi said as she and her brother stood there in silence.

"Yeah… they are," Tabrella replied politely. "So is… that all?"

"The tour? Well… yeah," Don replied.

This was followed by a moment of awkward silence. The girls just looked down while the Inwell siblings waited for the awkward moment to cease. Eventually, Donna spoke up.

"So… what do you guys also do? Like, have you played any sports?" Donna asked them.

"Why yes, we fancy ourselves with sports as well," Don replied. "We may be future rulers, but we also like to challenge ourselves physically."

"Yeah," Spearubi agreed. "So what do you girls play?"

"Does scythe wielding count?" Rebecca asked awkwardly.

"Well, me and Tabrella play Skinnis," Donna brought up. "We're on the same team at our school."

"It's good for varsity recommendation," Tabrella added.

"And I fancy myself with fencing," Whitney said, which intrigued Spearubi.

"Really? So do I!" Spearubi replied, becoming excited. "I fancy myself with fencing too."

"Well, now that's interesting," Whitney said with a smile, "If there's one thing about me…"

"And the one thing everyone at Inwell Isles knows…" Spearubi said at the same time.

"That I'm the best duelist on the Isles!" they both replied simultaneously. Hearing what the other said, the two paused to look at each other.

"The best, you say?" Spearubi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, and I assume you believe that as well?" Whitney asked.

Don gasped and turned to his sister while the two girls stared each other down.

"There can only be one best duelist in this Isles," Spearubi said while sporting a grin, her eyes flaring. "Unless you're too scared to face me, snowflake?"

"I should ask you the same thing, shorty," Whitney replied while giving an intimidating smirk, her eyes flaring up as well. "Perhaps we could settle this in a friendly duel…"

"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree," Spearubi said as everyone felt their auras spreading around the room. They all felt a sudden chill running down their spines… except for Rebecca, who just let out a sigh.

"Oh boy…" Rebecca said while looking at her sister with a weary look.

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the hotel, Cross was waiting for Lindsay.

"I hope this is good enough," Cross said while looking at his own reflection in the hallway mirror. He sported a black jacket with an olive and white striped shirt, a gray scarf, and light-brown pants and black shoes. He adjusted his collar a bit. "I mean, no pressure on the right outfit… it's at least seasonal, right?"

"I think you look good."

Cross turned to see Lindsay. His eyes widened in surprise upon seeing her in the outfit that Tabrella helped to pick out. "Wow…"

"You look nice, Cross," Lindsay said as she wore an off-the-shoulder, long-sleeve green sweater top, with pink-line patterns that resembled butterflies. She also wore an orange skirt, with black stockings and red mary-janes. She was holding a handbag. "What do you think?" she asked him.

"Y-You look great, Lindsay," Cross replied, his face blushing because of Lindsay's appearance. "Especially your top… I mean, your top is nice!" he stammered nervously. "You look… beautiful."

"Thanks, and I like that scarf of yours," Lindsay replied while also looking flustered. "You look handsome in it."

Cross smiled. "So, um, what's the plan for this date? What do you want to check out?"

"Well… there is one place I had in mind," Lindsay replied.

Later, Cross and Lindsay were in a district known as West Mumbo. It was an art district, filled with witches selling their arts and crafts along the sidewalk, in front of the many stores and cafes that lined the street.

"Wow, this place is like the Dark Arts District back in the Boiling Isles," Cross said, looking around and seeing the different artwork being sold.

"I know, which is why I wished to check it out," Lindsay replied while looking around, her eyes wide with interest. "I've always liked going to these kinds of places. Seeing all of the talented artists and their artwork. Even when I don't buy anything, I feel rewarded, because places like this can be just so… enchanting."

"Yeah, I can relate," Cross admitted. "Me and my mom sometimes go to these garden shows to check out the different plants that the members of the Plant Coven grew. Our favorites are the singing lilies that are used for entertainment."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun," Lindsay replied. "I think a friend of mine from my youth group, Treezie Huggins, mentioned going to a garden show on one occasion," she said as she and Cross continued to look around at the different art pieces.

"Whoa, check this one out," Cross said as he pointed to one painting, which depicted a blue haired witch boy with a fiery arm and tree-root arm. "I never thought I would see Elemental Hiro fan art here."

"Elemental Hiro?" Lindsay asked him.

"Oh, it's this old show I watched a lot as a kid," Cross explained to her. "See, it's about this guy in the painting, Hiro Upkeep, who has elemental magical powers that he uses to cure cursed witches known as 'Cursewalkers', and he's partnered with a wizard chimp named Mr. Pentacle, and they go on adventures to cure cursed witches while fighting against villains on a weekly basis. Three great seasons, based off of a 12 issue comic run, and it even had a crossover special with Oracle-Max-" He stopped himself before turning to Lindsay. "Um… I hope I'm not boring you with the details, since it is pretty niche…"

"Oh no, I'm actually interested," Lindsay replied genuinely. "I've never heard of Elemental Hiro before, but I am now curious about it."

Cross sighed in relief. "That's great. Zee would sometimes make fun of me about it, stating there's no way girls would be interested in an obscure cartoon. I've only known one other witch who has ever watched it."

He stopped himself from saying who this other witch was, since he really didn't want to talk about Teri at the moment…

"Well, I think I'd be interested in giving it a watch when we have the time," Lindsay assured, making Cross smile. "I think I would enjoy it."

"…you really are one of my favorite witches, Linds," Cross said, which immediately made Lindsay become flustered.

"Oh, I-I don't think that I'm that amazing…" Lindsay said before she noticed some posters on a nearby wall. The posters intrigued her as she walked over to them, Cross following her and reading what the posters on the wall were advertising.

'Inwell Isles 20th Annual Battle of the Bards: Coming Soon. Sign-Ups at the Inwell Outdoor Theater.'

"Battle of the Bards?" Cross asked, curious. "I don't think I've ever been to one of those."

"Yeah, this does look really enticing," Lindsay replied while looking at the posters. "This looks like something Tracy would sign up for… she is into bard-related stuff like this. It's one of her passions other than sports. She keeps trying to get us to play in a band together."

As she said this, her smile fell and she looked down as she remembered her recent fight with Tracy. This was noticed by Cross, who looked at her in concern.

"Do you… wish to talk about Tracy?" he asked her.

Lindsay sighed before nodding. "I am still angry with her, even though I don't like to be angry with my friends," she said as she looked down while twiddling her own fingers. "But while I do think Tracy went too far by saying that we should've left Emily in the Underworld, a part of me… a part of me thinks that she may have had a point about me being insensitive about Tabrella's feelings…"

"Has Tabrellla ever told you that she has a problem with your friendship with Emily?" Cross asked her.

"She hasn't," Lindsay answered, shaking her head. "Though, I haven't asked."

Cross nodded thoughtfully. "Well, from what I have gathered, maybe Tracy also hasn't asked Tabrella about how she feels about it as well," he suggested. "Maybe Tracy hasn't really been speaking for Tabrella and her feelings, only herself." He watched Lindsay as she considered this. "And if it really bothers you so much, you should talk to Tabrella about it."

"I should… though, should I also talk to Tracy?" she asked while looking up at Cross.

"Do you want to or feel like it?" Cross asked.

"Not really…" Lindsay admitted.

"Then you should talk to her when you're ready," he suggested. "Take your time and all."

"Yeah," Lindsay nodded before she looked back up at Cross with a gentle smile. "Thank you for the advice, Cross. It does make me feel a bit better."

"Glad to be of service," Cross replied, returning her smile. The two linked arms and continued on their way down the art crawl together.

However, once they had left the spot, three girls went over towards the posters. One of the girls grabbed a poster, pulling it off the wall and looking at it closely…

"A Battle of the Bards, eh?" asked one of the three girls, who had puffy orange hair and a sinister smile. "Looks like this will be our debut, right girls?"

"Oh totes to that, sister!" replied the bubbly girl with aquamarine hair.

"Inwell Isles will learn to submit to our… siren song," said the purple-haired girl as the trio began to walk away with the poster in their hands…

The sirens were now on land.

Years earlier…

Darcilia and her friends were now on a small boat, where they spotted a cargo ship up ahead.

"Everyone ready?" Hayden asked after putting on a tribal black mask with a yellow mane, yellow eye-lids, and large fangs. The mask covered the top of his face, though his mouth and chin were still visible.

"Ready," Darcilia responded while putting on a black mask with shades that also covered the top of her face. Echo, Snick, and Yagill did the same, putting on a yellow, red, and blue mask respectively.

"We go in, take down the crew, find the shipment…" Snick listed off while holding a pair of nun-chucks.

"Yeah, we've already been over this plan," Yagill responded while holding a pair of toftas.

"Um, I think they see us," Echo pointed out while having her staff on her back. She pointed up to some of the ship's crew, who were up on deck and had spotted them.

"I need an illusion," Hayden told them before the ship's crew placed them under the spotlight. "Help! Thank the seas you've found us!"

As the group of disguised werecats were hit by the spotlight, all the crew saw were a trio of normal-looking witches. Their boat was made to look far more worse for wear, while their weapons were nowhere in sight. And both Echo and Snick were noticeably absent.

"We've been drifting for days! One of ours is really sick!" Darcilia shouted while pointing to Yagill, who looked sick and was coughing up.

"Hang on! We'll get you on board!" the sailor told them as he turned to the rest of the crew. "Open the hatch below."

Soon, a door on the side of the ship was opening up. But as soon as it was opened, Hayden gave the signal.

"Now," he said as he leapt from their small boat and into the larger cargo ship, grabbing the top of the door frame and swinging his legs into the crew member, sending him back against the wall, knocking him out.

The others followed his lead, Echo and Snick dropping the illusion as they also traveled from their small boat into the larger ship.

The crew didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. The werecats had already begun to make their way through the ship, attacking the crew. Darcilia used her crossbow to shoot bolts that burst into nets, trapping the crew against the walls. She saw one sailor down the hall, shooting spells at her. She ran right at him and was hit by several spells, but instantly vanished. This confused the sailor until the real Darcilia popped up behind him and did a karate chop on his neck, knocking him down.

As the group rushed through the ship, they had to split up to deal with the crew. Snick ran into a larger room and saw a group of the crewmen sitting down, playing cards. When they saw him, they started to get up. Snick just smirked and closed the door to the room behind him.

"Who are you?" one of the sailors asked.

Snick drew a spell circle around his mouth. "Your worst nightmare."

The sailors began to draw their spell circles to attack him, but then they… stopped. There was a red glow around them and they found themselves unable to move. Almost like they were paralyzed, frozen in place.

"H-Huh?"

"I-I can't move!"

Snick gave another smirk and swung his nun-chucks to draw spell circles before he let out a loud roar, which created a large wind that blew the sailors away.

Elsewhere, Echo was running through the halls of the ship with her speed while leaving behind a yellow trail of speed mirages of herself: echoes of where she had been. When she saw some sailors in her way, she pulled out her bo-staff and swung it around to knock down the crew, immediately taking down a bunch of sailors. One of the few left standing stared at this in shock, not seeing Echo as she ran behind him.

"Hey," Echo said as the sailor wheeled around, bringing out a knife to swing at her. Echo easily dodged the swings, except for one… which just passed through her. The sailor was confused, not realizing that he had only stabbed a speed mirage until Echo kicked him from behind, knocking him to the floor before using her staff to finish him off.

In another part of the ship, Yagill leapt off from the walls, using his toftas to knock out some of the crew. He began drawing a bunch of spell circles, but they didn't fade away as he flipped through the hallway, dodging and weaving through sailors while leaving a trail of spell circles behind him. Once he was at the end of the hallway, he snapped his fingers. Blue fists came from the spell circles, punching and knocking out many of the sailors. When one of the sailors tried to dodge, one of the blue fists bounced off the wall and caught the sailor in the chin, knocking that crewman unconscious.

"Gotta learn your angles," Yagill said with a smirk.

Hayden, meanwhile, had managed to get up to the bridge, where he found a group of sailors waiting for him. They pointed their fingers at him, their spells prepared. "Freeze!"

"Really?" Hayden asked as he drew the hilt of his sword. A red beam of light burst up from the hilt as the crewmen shot their spells at him. Hayden dashed left and right, but he wasn't trying to dodge the spells… no, he was trying to absorb them with his saber. With each spell it absorbed, the saber glowed brighter and brighter. Hayden gave a smile before he swung his saber in the air with a single slash, creating an arc of magic that knocked all of the sailors back, wrecked the bridge, and shattered the windows. Hayden paused to look around the now destroyed bridge, taking a moment to admire his handiwork before he walked around the bridge, casting glances down at the defeated crew. When he failed to see the captain, he grew frustrated.

He heard a groan and he looked down to see one of the sailors still conscious, though barely. He growled and picked the hurt witch up, slamming him against the wall and pinning him there. "Where's this ship's captain?" he demanded to know, holding his saber up to the witch's neck.

Meanwhile, on the deck of the ship, Darcilia was now with Snick, Echo, and Yagill, the four of them fighting crew members together. "There you guys are."

"Hey, Darci," Snick said with a smile. "Having fun yet?"

"Honestly, this was a lot easier than I was expecting," Echo admitted as she confused the crew members with her speed mirages.

"This isn't over yet," Yagill told her.

"He's right," Darcilia said as she turned toward Yagill. "Now where's Hayden?"

She paused when she noticed a sailor behind Yagill, drawing a spell circle. Her eyes widened, but before she could shout a warning, Yagill was hit by the spell, knocking him to the floor as the sailor pulled out a knife and lunged at the downed Yagill.

"Yag!" Darcilia shouted. Instinctively, she held her crossbow up and fired a bolt which hit the sailor right in the chest.

"Gah!" the sailor cried out as he was knocked back… and sent flying over the rails of the ship. "YAAH!"

"Wait!" Darcilia shouted as she rushed over to grab the sailor, but she was too late. The sailor screamed as he fell out of sight and then she heard a splash. "Oh no," Darcilia said as she went to the railing and looked over, gazing down into the Boiling Seas…

There was nothing. Not even a body.

Darcilia covered her mouth while backing away from the rails. "Nonononono… I… I didn't-" she said as she turned to her friends, who had finished fighting the last of the sailors. "This… this wasn't supposed to happen…"

Nobody was supposed to die.

"Hey, Darc, it's okay," Echo reassured her as she popped up in front of Darcilia and patted her shoulder.

"O-okay?" Darcilia asked as she pulled away from Echo. "I just killed someone!"

"I know," Echo said. "But Darc, it was in the heat of the moment. You didn't know the guy would fall. These things happen."

"Yeah, you were just saving me," Yagill pointed out as Snick helped him up. "Thanks for that, by the way. What you did was just self-defense."

"Nobody here is going to blame you for this," Snick reassured her.

Darcilia knew that Snick was right, that none of them would blame her for this. But as she looked at her friends, she still felt guilty about the death of the sailor… and she was a bit bothered by how none of them seemed to have a problem with it, even if it was an accident.

"You did what you had to do, Darcilia."

Everyone turned to see Hayden, who was dragging the ship's captain out onto the deck. Hayden tossed the captain in front of him while holding a hot iron brand in his other hand.

The captain looked up at Hayden, terrified. "P-Please, don't hurt me!"

Hayden paused, but it wasn't hesitation. No, he was memorizing the look on the captain's face, the fear in his eyes. Then he growled and thrust the end of the iron brand into the captain's face.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Darcilia, Snick, Echo, and Yagill all gasped in shock, too shocked to move as the captain screamed, clutching his face as smoke came from it.

"Hayden… what have you done?!" Darcilia asked him.

"Are you nuts, man? This wasn't part of the plan!" Snick told him off with a glare.

Hayden was quiet for a moment while the captain whimpered in pain at his feet. Then he turned to look at his friends and they could feel his gaze from underneath his mask.

"We needed to send in a message," Hayden said. "An eye for an eye."

As he said this, the rest of the group looked away, unable to look Hayden in the eye. After a moment of silence, he started to move.

"Come on," Hayden said as he walked away. "It's time to finish what we came here for and go."

As the group followed Hayden, Darcilia glanced back at the captain that Hayden had branded. When the captain moved his hands, Darcilia recognized that the symbol the captain had been branded with was similar to the symbol Hayden had put on their banner back in their youth group days.

Then, after looking at the captain for only a moment, Darcilia continued to follow her friends, her head down…

"Darci? You alright?"

"Huh?" Darcilia asked, being snapped out of her thoughts as she turned to Zee, who was looking at her in concern. She, Zee, and a disguised Emily were now in a forest on the Boiling Isles. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Well, you've been awfully quiet since we came here," Zee said. "More quiet than usual, I mean."

"Oh," Darcilia said, looking down. "I guess that's just because of where we're going…"

She trailed off as they reached the edge of the woods and saw a large group of tents in the distance amongst the burnt out ruins of a village.

"The Torsa Villa…" Emily muttered. She was using an illusion to disguise herself, having changed her skin to red while her hair was blue and tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a gray gown with a blue pendant. "You should have told us we were coming here. Especially since there's a chance that someone I know might learn that I'm here…"

"Uh, right," Darcilia said, looking down. "I'm sorry for not giving you the head's up."

"Darcilia, you have to tell us what's wrong," Zee said. "You clearly have a lot going on right now and we just want to help."

Darcilia looked up at Zee and sighed. "You remember the Birmans?" she asked.

"Those werecat acrobats we saw at the circus?" Zee asked.

Darcilia nodded. "Ever since I saw them, I couldn't stop thinking about the Torsa Villa," she began to lie. "And it has just been bothering me, nipping at my conscience. I just had to come here, take care of some unfinished business."

"I… get it, actually," Emily said, causing Darcilia and Emily to turn to her. "The first time I used the bedknob, it happened after I realized that I never apologized to Glinda, my ex-girlfriend. Like you, I had some unfinished business in the Isles."

Darcilia looked at Emily and then sighed in relief, giving a small smile. "Thank you for understanding," she said, sounding appreciative. "And I'm sorry that I didn't communicate this better."

"Okay, I think I get it now too," Zee said, nodding. "And I guess I'm not the best at talking when there's something bothering me as well…" Realizing she said too much, she quickly changed the subject. "So what business do you have here at the Torsa Villa?"

"I know someone there that I need to talk to," Darcilia explained. "A friend of mine who was the bodyguard of the Torsa Villa's last leader. I… can't tell you what we're going to talk about, that has to remain between us."

Zee and Emily were surprised by this, both of them looking at Darcilia in surprise.

"Whoa… you knew someone that was close to the leadership here?" Zee asked.

"Well… we stayed in touch. Since I was sympathetic to their situation here," Darcilia admitted.

"Yeah, I remember you mentioning that," Emily said as Darcilia moved forward.

"Come, let's go," she told them as the trio moved toward the camp. As they walked, Zee kept glancing over at Emily.

"What?" Emily asked, noticing how Zee was looking over at her.

"Nothing, just… getting used to your new disguise," Zee noted. "Honestly, your old one kinda made you look like Zara."

Emily paused briefly. "Huh, you're right," she said. "I never noticed that before…"

Soon, the trio was in the Torsa Villa camp. Since it had been weeks since the Torsa Villa fire, the camp was much more organized now and the girls noticed that the few ground-level buildings that had been mostly spared by the fire were also in use, mostly as places to store food and other supplies. The werecats were clearly trying to make the most out of their current situation, using everything they had salvaged from the fire and putting to good use the supplies they had received from the rest of the Boiling Isles. Very few of the werecats took an interest in the girls. While the girls noticed that a few werecats were still too depressed to leave their tents, others were moving around, performing different tasks, or helping others.

"Is this it, miss?" asked one young adult tuxedo werecat. He had a black furred face with yellow eyes. His stomach was white, the tip of his tail was white, and the rest of his fur is black. He wore a red shirt and beige trousers. He handed a werecat woman some jewelry.

"Oh, it is," the werecat woman said to him with a smile. "This was my mother's. Thank you."

"No problem, madame," the tuxedo werecat said while sporting a smile at her. "Happy to be of service."

"How did you find it?" the werecat woman asked, causing the tuxedo werecat to sigh.

"I found it on the black market," the tuxedo werecat admitted. "It was probably taken from the ruins of your house by scavengers who took everything valuable they could find after the fire. We are trying to track down as many of these stolen items as we can, but… we'll probably never find them all."

The werecat woman frowned at this. "They're stealing our culture and for what? A few measly snails?"

As they continued to look around, Emily and Zee also spotted some non-werecat witches helping out. Volunteers from other parts of the Boiling Isles. But Emily and Zee also noticed some of the werecats showing signs of distrust toward the volunteers, troubling them. There was clearly some tension hanging over the camp, which Darcilia noticed as well and it seemed to bother her especially.

Nearby, they noticed a lone werecat man taking care of a young werekitten, performing BISL (Boiling Isles Sign Language). The werecat man was a long-haired Japanese bobtail werecat with orange patches of fur, including at the tip of his stubbed tail and under his nose, making it look like he had a mustache. He had blue eyes and wore a dark colored t-shirt, well-worn cargo pants, and work boots. But he only had one arm to perform sign language with as he attempted to communicate with the young werekitten, who signed back at him. The werekitten was a blue Cornish Rex werecat with golden eyes. He wore a white shirt and a pair of shorts. He had a burned scar on the tip of his left ear and at the base of his tail.

Noticing the scars on the child, both Emily and Zee looked saddened by the situation and they exchanged a look.

"You know, I think this is the first time I've really been to the Torsa Villa," Zee admitted. "I hate that I have to see it like this, that I never got to see it before the fire."

"It was beautiful," Emily admitted, her tone sad. "I visited the Torsa Villa many times when I was going to see Nina. It was a very unique community…"

Zee looked around at the werecat camp. "I don't get it," she confessed. "Why haven't they already moved or started to rebuild?"

"That's the thing," Darcilia spoke up as she started to explain. "It's because the community doesn't know what to do next. It doesn't look like much has changed since I've last been here. Before I left for the Inwell Isles, some of the population here had moved into that Eclipsa woman's temple, taking her up on her offer, while some other werecats decided to move into the cities. But most of them have decided to stay here, maintaining a camp outside and inside the ruins in the Torsa Villa, living in these temporary tents and shelters while volunteers from the cities help them. There's no general consensus about what to do beyond that. Some of the werecats here believe they should rebuild their old home, but…" Darcilia noticed a gathering of werecats up ahead and she came to a stop. "Some have very… different ideas."

Emily and Zee came to a stop as well and they noticed that the gathering of werecats was around one werecat woman who stood on a soapbox.

"Tell me… look at the ruins of our tree homes. What is responsible for the fire?" she asked as she gestured to the burnt out ruins behind her. This werecat was of a Bengal tiger breed. She had yellow eyes, a red chakra on her forehead, and short black hair. She wore a sleeveless black armored top with a red sash waist belt, black and white arm-bands, and white baggy pants. Her tail was noticeably burnt at the tip, while her shoulders had burn marks along with her left ear. "The obvious answer would be Firebees, but it was not just a man who destroyed our home, no, it was complacency."

Darcilia couldn't help but wince at this, being reminded of Bastilla's sermons back on Moggie Reef. She couldn't help but see a bit of Bastilla in this other werecat woman.

Said werecat woman looked out at her fellow werecats as she continued. "We placed our faith in the Emperor's Coven, but when the fire broke out, the captain in charge of protecting us decided that saving the Villa was a losing battle, that saving our lives wasn't worth it." She gave an angry expression. "Instead, he ordered a withdrawal and prioritized keeping the fire from spreading to the rest of the Isles, to the other cities, and left us to our fate!"

The crowd whispered amongst themselves in agreement, believing that she had a point.

"I will admit that there were some scouts who disobeyed their orders and there were other good samaritans that day, including some members of BIG," the werecat woman pointed out. "I know that I can't downplay their efforts in saving us that day, nor should I. But where was everyone else? Where was the rest of BIG? Where was the rest of the Emperor's Coven? We depended on the protection of the Emperor's Coven, and yet when the day came that we needed that protection most, we were let down. I don't want something like the Torsa Villa to happen ever again, but even before the fire, the Villa was a sign of our complacency. It was given to us an act of mercy by Belos, who defined our role in witch society. A role we played out just as expected."

She held her hand to her chest as she continued. "Generations of werecats allowed our identity to be decided by Belos, by his religion. The message he sent to us was clear: werecats were inferior to other witches, and we were only allowed to exist because of him." She looked down, her face torn between anger and sadness. "And for generations, we just took it. Even now, we're continuing to depend on the mercy and pity of other witches. And yet there are some werecats who believe that we should work with the other witches to rebuild the Torsa Villa to its former glory… but what glory?"

She looked around at her people as she continued. "No, I believe that what we need is to carve out our own place in the world instead of continuing to let it be decided for us," she suggested. "Because if we do let the other witches help us, there is the risk of becoming complacent again. And what if this new government that replaces the old one lets us down once again? What if they prioritize the rest of the Boiling Isles first? How can they guarantee that history won't repeat itself, that there won't be another Torsa Villa fire? The answer is… by establishing our own independence, by becoming more self-sufficient. It is time for a change and we should be the ones to decide that change for ourselves!"

As she finished her speech, a few in the crowd shook their heads and continued on their way, but others raised their paws and began to cheer and shout.

"You said it, Belmont!" one werecat shouted.

"Man, Bengal sure has a way with words, doesn't she?" one werecat teen asked.

Zee clapped along, nodding. "Great speech."

"Yeah," Emily responded in agreement.

However, Darcilia wasn't clapping. She stared at the werecat speaker for a few more moments before she turned away. "Come on," she told the two other girls. "Let's find someone who can help us."

The three girls moved over to another tent, which was filled with werecat children sitting on the ground. They were in front of a young werecat man who was trying to keep them busy.

"Alright, now who here can tell me about the difference between a griffin and a hippogriff?" asked the grey Carthusian werecat. He had gray fur with yellow eyes. He wore a white button shirt with black trousers and a bowtie. He was also missing his left hand and tail, which had been replaced by an abomination prosthetic hand and a tail. One werecat student raised her paw up. "Yes, Ms. Daisy?"

"Um… the griffin… has a feline body while having a bird's head," replied the ragamuffin werecat girl. "And hippogriffs have horse-like bodies."

"That is correct. Of course, properly they have the back halves of the lion and horse individually," he pointed out. "Now, if you hypothesize the difference of their behaviors-"

"Ahem," Zee spoke up from the entrance of the tent and the Carthusian werecat turned to see the trio of girls standing there.

"Um, excuse me, children," the Carthusian werecat said before he stepped out of the tent to speak with the trio of girls. "How can I help you three?"

"Sorry for interrupting your… lesson," Emily said while glancing back into the tent. "Although isn't it fall break?"

"And you can't keep learning during fall break?" the Carthusian werecat asked with a smile, though that smile quickly vanished. "I was tasked with keeping these kids busy and since I'm a teacher, I'm keeping them busy the best way I can… by teaching them. It at the very least keeps them distracted from everything else going on."

"Then we'll let you get back to your students," Darcilia told him. "We're here to see Jagheera. Do you know where we can find him?"

"Of course, he's that way, about three tents down," the Carthusian werecat told them, his abomi-tail pointing in a direction while it shifted into an arrow, much to the surprise of the girls.

"Thank you," Darcilia replied as she moved on, the other two girls following her while the Carthusian werecat went back into his tent.

Soon, the group spotted Jagheera outside of a tent, stacking up a few boxes of supplies. His ears picked up footsteps and he turned around to see Darcilia with Zee and Emily. When he saw Darcilia, he looked surprised.

"Darcilia?" Jagheera asked, recognizing her.

"Hey, Jagheera," Darcilia said as she greeted him with a bow.

"Please, there is no need for the formalities," Jagheera told Darcilia before smiling. "It is good to see you again. Though something tells me you didn't come back just for a reunion."

Darcilia sighed and nodded. "Can we go somewhere private? There's something that I need to tell you…"

Back in the Inwell Manor, the Inwell siblings and their guests were now in the home gym. Whitney and Spearubi were preparing for their spar while Donna, Tabrella, Rebecca, and Don watched from the sidelines.

"Go, sis!" Rebecca cheered before losing her balance on her heels. "Gah!"

Whitney and Spearubi both took a bow before holding their fencing position. As they locked eyes, Whitney was the one to say "Un-guard!"

The two then started their duel, with Spearubi launching her fencing rapier towards Whitney, who raised her rapier to deflect the attack. The two clashed their fencing rapiers against each other, Whitney holding hers in one hand while the other hand was behind her back..

"Hmm, nice form," Whitney commented. "But I can do this with my hand tied behind my back."

"Oh, I can see that," Spearubi said while swiping her rapier at Whitney, who jumped up, flipping her body over to end up behind Spearubi. The Inwell girl turned around and swung her rapier at Whitney, who raised hers to block the attack as they continued to duel.

"Go Whitty, go!" Rebecca cheered.

"Yes, go Whitney!" Don cheered, causing Donna and Tabrella to turn to look at him strangely.

"You're cheering against your sister?" Tabrella asked him in confusion.

"Well, I want my sister to have a good opponent, someone to actually make her struggle," Don pointed out before they turned to continue watching the fight.

"I like your footwork. You leave very few openings…" Spearubi noted.

"Um, I think you mean no openings," Whitney corrected.

"I know what I said," Spearubi commented with a smile as she stepped back from Whitney and drew several spell circles, summoning black ink spears that came flying at Whitney.

Fortunately, Whitney drew spell circles as well, creating an ice wall to block the ink spears coming at her. She then turned to see Spearubi gone. "Huh?" she asked before she saw Spearubi launching herself from above with her rapier aimed towards her. Whitney knocked the rapier away before stepping to the side while Spearubi landed on the ground. "Wow, that was… almost impressive."

"Almost, huh?" Spearubi asked as her hair hid her eyes. She gave a chuckle. "I could say the same about you," she said before lunging at Whitney with her rapier once more, forcing Whitney to defend herself. "Especially since I keep getting you on the defense."

"Well, then it's time I stop that," Whitney declared before drawing spell circles to summon ice blocks that she sent sliding toward Spearubi. The Inwell girl responded by doing flips to avoid the blocks, which hit the wall behind her as Spearubi drew another spell circle to create a fire spell, melting the second to last ice block. But then she saw Whitney riding on the last ice block, forcing Spearubi to leap out of the way as Whitney swiped at her.

"Woo-hoo! Go Whitty!" Rebecca cheered before almost tripping over her heels again, if not for Tabrella helping her out.

"Maybe withhold from jumping around…" Tabrella advised.

As Whitney and Spearubi split off, the Inwell girl gazed at the Carmine girl with an intense look, despite her smile. "Looks like I have to get serious…" she said as she formed spell circles while spinning her rapier around, summoning blocks that came out of the ground and flying towards Whitney.

Whitney channeled her magic through her rapier, slashing several of the blocks into two. She swung faster and faster, cutting the blocks into smaller and smaller then blasted an ice spell towards Spearubi, who dodged it before twirling towards Whitney, their rapiers clashing against each other once more.

"You call that serious?" Whitney asked before drawing a spell circle with her boot, creating an icy floor that she slid across while shoving Spearubi to the other side of the arena. She then pressed her hand to the floor and drew another spell circle, creating ice spikes towards Spearubi. The Inwell girl dodged the spikes, then swung her rapier at it, shattering the ice and sending the ice shards towards Whitney, who deflected the shards with her rapier while sliding across the floor and shooting ice blasts towards her opponent.

"Okay, I'm not a fencing expert, but… are any of these legal fencing moves?" Donna asked while turning to Rebecca and Don, who just shrugged.

Back to the duel, Spearubi tapped her feet and was suddenly sprung up from an inkwell that appeared from the spell circle on the ground beneath her. She spun her rapier around to deflect Whitney's attacks, then drew another spell circle, summoning a burst of ink that came out from the ground behind Whitney, who turned and saw the ink, quickly encasing herself in an ice sphere to protect herself from the ink. Spearubi just laughed at this.

"What's wrong? Afraid of getting a few ink stains on your dress?" Spearubi questioned with a grin. "We Inwells don't fear a little ink on us…"

"Oh, so that explains the dark stains on the bottom of your dress," Whitney commented before seeing herself surrounded by large black tendrils that squirted ink at her while she was in her sphere. She performed some spells to strengthen her sphere.

"Really? Retort to gross out humor?" Spearubi asked with an eye-roll as she started slashing at the ice sphere while Whitney kept it up. However, the ice sphere began to crack. Whitney still kept up her shield until Spearubi summoned more black tendrils to pierce through the shield, causing it to shatter and break. Spearubi then lunged at Whitney… who exploded into ice shards, much to her confusion. It took her a few moments to realize that she had just destroyed an ice sculpture of Whitney, which the real Whitney used as a distraction while she distanced herself and took a few seconds to catch her breath. Spearubi narrowed her eyes at Whitney and the ink rose around her, forming into the shapes of different blades.

"Dodge this!" Spearubi shouted while launching her ink swords at Whitney.

Whitney looked up at the ink swords, her expression slightly tired. "Alright," she said before she spun her rapier around, creating dozens of spell circles that she used to blast the ink swords with ice, freezing them up. She kept it up, creating enough spell circles to create a small blizzard while the spectators watched her in awe. By the time Whitney was done, the dueling arena was decorated with frozen ink statues while Spearubi gaped in shock. Whitney turned to look at her, lifting her rapier and pointing it at Spearubi.

"Only you and me now," she said, her tone challenging.

Spearubi did not respond as she launched herself at Whitney yet again, their two rapiers clashing against each other.

Whitney was actually sweating, not used to facing a challenging opponent like this. Spearubi just smiled as she kept pressing Whitney, wearing the Carmine girl down. For a while, the two just went at each other. They parried, dodged, and attacked, over and over again. And yet despite how spent the two became, they kept going, refusing to accept defeat. Their spectators began to wonder if this duel would ever end.

SLASH!

The two paused, breathing heavily as they looked at each other. Whitney noticed a small bit of blood on her rapier and felt a cut on her left cheek.

"I think… we should call this… a draw," she said while catching her breath.

"Yeah," Spearubi agreed, seeing the small blood on her sword while also feeling the cut on her right cheek. "A draw would be fine… for now."

The two lowered their rapiers, but the tension between them was so thick. So thick that Donna, Tabrella, and Rebecca could cut it through it like butter. Finally, Don ended this tense moment by clearing his throat and getting everyone's attention.

"So… who's hungry?" he asked.

The Inwell siblings brought their guests to the dining hall where they seated themselves at a black table with a white decorative blanket over it. Don and Spearubi sat at one side of the table, while their guests sat on the other side.

"Hmm, this is easily the best food I've had since coming here," Rebecca said while eating what appeared to be calamari.

"I'll have to take your word for it," Whitney replied as she ate her salad. She wore a healing patch on her cheek.

"We hope you like what we provided," Don told them. "Our chefs are the finest cooks in all of the Inwell Isles."

"You… really have the best of the best, huh?" Donna asked, looking up from her food at the Inwell siblings.

"Of course," Spearubi said while wearing a healing patch on her cheek. "You know, Donna, we have been curious about you."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Donna asked.

"We heard about your exploits, your role in fighting against the Emperor's Coven, your part in taking down the infamous Tarot Guild," Don explained. "You were the leader of a team called… what was that name again?"

"LOWTH?" Donna asked.

"Ah, yes," Don said, nodding. "That was what it was called. LOWTH."

"Yeah, I was one of the founding members," Donna replied as she ate. "Me and my friends started it because we wanted to do something about the crime in Metropelvis, especially after one of my friends was mugged. I didn't think it would become as big as it ended up becoming, but the last few months have been crazy."

"What about your hand?" Spearubi asked as she pointed to Donna's purple hand. "It's… a prosthetic, isn't it?"

Donna looked down at her own hand, remembering Lupe biting it off. Her hand tightened and she gave a sigh. "I lost my old hand to a dangerous enemy. But I made sure to stop him for good," she explained. "The job I do… there are risks." She looked down. "One of my best friends was even killed, being stabbed to death right in front of me."

Tabrella gave Donna a sympathetic look, while Whitney and Rebecca looked surprised, but also sympathetic.

"I… can't imagine doing what you do," Don said while staring at Donna in shock. "Risking your life like that… I would never put myself in that position."

"Me neither," Spearubi said, shaking her head. "How do your mothers feel about it?"

"They worry about me, of course. But they're still supportive since they know that this is the kind of witch I want to be," Donna replied.

"I see," Spearubi said before looking at Rebecca and Whitney. "And what kind of activities do the two of you do?"

Rebecca and Whitney looked at each other.

"Well…" Rebecca said as she began to explain…

Rebecca, along with Whitney, Zee, and Darcilia, were all standing off against a large wurm. The wurm came up from underneath the ground to do battle with the group.

"Alright, let's take this wurm down!" Zee declared as she created steam clouds to blind the creature.

"We have to prioritize protecting the village from it," Whitney said while holding her sword.

"I say we slice it into a million pieces!" Rebecca suggested while holding up her scythe.

"Cool, I love getting its guts all over me," Darcilia said sarcastically.

Inside a warehouse, Team WZRD was facing off against one of their recurring enemies.

"Team WZRD..." said a tall, slim witch man who wore a white fedora hat, a white suit and pants, a blue button shirt, a white tie, and black boots. He had light blue skin, curly black hair, and dark green eyes. He was holding a cane. "You just keep being my problem, don't you? Well, I think it's time we settle this!"

"You're not getting away this time, you not so smooth criminal!" Rebecca declared as she and Zee charged in head-first. "YAAAH!"

The witch glanced at his henchmen. "What am I paying you for?" he asked, gesturing to Rebecca and Zee. "Stop them!"

Spells began to fly through the air, prompting Team WZRD to defend themselves from the criminal and his henchmen.

In another instance, Zee was flying her staff with the rest of the team on it as well. Darcilia was hanging from the staff while Whitney, who was in tears, held her arms around Zee as Rebecca shot spells back at their pursuers.

"How the hell did we accidentally rob a bank?!" Zee questioned.

"I don't know! It all happened fast!" Rebecca cried out as she shot more spells at the pursuing scouts. "You'll never take us alive, coppers!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Darcilia said as her face began to turn green.

The entire table fell silent as Don, Spearubi, Donna, and Tabrella stared at the Carmine sister with looks of quiet shock.

"Your lives sound… eventful," Don said with a strained smile.

"I haven't even told you about the time we were turned into chibi versions of ourselves," Rebecca said with a grin.

"That wasn't a fun experience," Whitney muttered while looking down at her tea.

"So your parents just let you go on these adventures?" Spearubi asked them. "I couldn't imagine our parents letting us go off on some insane quest…"

"Well, our dad doesn't mind as long as we keep up with our studies," Rebecca mentioned. "And Whitney's mom-"

"Step-mom," Whitney quickly clarified while sipping her tea, her tone having a slight venom in it.

"Oh, right," Rebecca replied bashfully. "Anyway, Whitney's step-mom is fine with us going out on adventures as long as we don't take our step-brother with us."

"Wait, you have a step-brother?" Donna asked in surprise while turning to them. "I don't think I've ever met him. What's he like?"

"One word, three syllables: annoying," Whitney muttered.

"Well… you three are certainly… eccentric," Don told Donna, Rebecca, and Whitney. "But hey, I guess we all have our eccentricities, right"

"And what about you, Tabrella?" Spearubi asked the Diamantos girl. "What can you tell us about yourself?"

Tabrella, however, wasn't paying attention. Instead she was staring down at her food, poking it absently with her fork. Her thoughts were elsewhere…

At one of their usual hangout places around St. Epiderm, the Shallows just hung around and chatted with each other. Tabrella was looking at diamonds, Britt was checking her scroll, Juniper was playing with a hacky sac, and Sharon and Sienna were arguing with each other.

"Come on, Tyrone obviously has more on the biceps and abs game," Sharon commented while smoking.

"Please, Roxy's the one who's the most cut," Sienna argued. "Tabrella, back me up here, since you're in the same track as them."

"Um… I don't know, aren't they just equally cut?" Tabrella asked, not really paying attention as she focused on her diamonds.

"Girls!" Scarlota shouted as she rushed towards them, getting them to turn to her. "You're not going to believe this! I just heard that the Duke of the Eadbeaton family is coming to our school!"

This got the girls' eyes to widen.

"Duke Eadbeaton? As in, one of the last royal families of the Boiling Isles Duke Eadbeaton? Whose family has been allied with the Emperor's Coven for years?" Sharon asked in surprise.

"Yeah, that's him!" Scarlota declared. "I heard that his folks are allowing him to attend St. Epiderm as a way to further his education beyond private tutoring. We're legit going to have one of the chosen drafters to the Emperor's Coven attend here!" she explained as the Shallows squeed in excitement. Well, except for Sienna and Juniper, who showed disinterest.

"Why aren't you two excited?" Sharon asked them.

"I mean, it's cool and all that he's coming to our school…" Juniper said.

"But we're not into him as much as you girls are," Sienna said bluntly.

"If you want to miss out, fine with me," Tabrella said with a shrug. "As for me, I would love to socialize with the most eligible bachelor in all of the Boiling Isles," she declared with a dreamy look as she fantasized about her meeting with the Duke. "Just imagine… courting royalty…" she said while imagining Duke gifting her a diamond ring and sweeping her off her feet in a fairy tale romance. She let out a sigh.

"Yo, Tabrella, you still there?" Juniper asked, snapping her fingers in front of Tabrella. She got no response. "Great, I think we lost her."

"Still… getting in contact with Duke would help us with getting ahead," Britt told her friends with a nod.

Soon, the day came when all of St. Epiderm students saw the arrival of their new Epidermite. It was hard not to notice the commotion.

"There he is now, everyone!" Felicia Fox reported while keeping her scroll up. "Duke Eadbeaton has arrived at St. Epiderm!"

Walking through the halls was Duke Eadbeaton. He was a young blonde and pale skinned witch teenager who had blue eyes and was wearing a blank sleeved St. Epiderm uniform. Quickly he became swarmed by a group of girls and guys.

"Duke, you honor us by being here," said June.

"Have you decided on a track yet?" asked another girl. "You should join oracle."

"No, abominations!" Sharon declared.

"He should join potions!" shouted a male potions student.

"Guys, guys, give me some air," Duke told them while holding his books up as he moved forward. It was then that Tabrella walked past him, making him stop. He eyed her and watched her pass him by while Tabrella dropped something on the floor. He looked down and noticed the handkerchief. "Hey, excuse me!"

Tabrella turned around, using her charms by brushing her hair back. "Why yes, how can I help you, dear?" she asked him.

"Why, you dropped this, miss," Duke responded as he handed Tabrella her handkerchief back, looking at the gemstone encrusted sheet. "I must say, this is quite unusual. A gemstone stitched handkerchief, and this emblem…"

"Yes, my family's emblem," Tabrella declared. "Tabrella Diamantos, a pleasure to meet you in this totally not-planned out meeting."

"Hmm, well it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Diamantos," he said to her with a smile before he was once again swarmed by a group of girls and guys.

"Hey, Duke, if you wish to check out the school, I'll be happy to give you a tour!" June declared.

"No, me!" Sharon shouted as she bumped her by the hip.

"Mr. Eadbeaton, as a member of the Student Council, I'd be happy to show you around the school," Danny offered, stepping up.

"Hmm, I'll think about it," Duke said before he turned his attention back to Tabrella. "So what do you guys do for fun here?"

Tabrella was about to reply. "Well, we-"

"For one, we like to study!" Danny answered, much to Tabrella's chagrin.

"Oh, I see," Duke said with a sigh as he looked around at the gathered students. "Welp, looks like it's once again the responsibility to corrupt my fellow students falls… to me," he said while moving through the group as Tabrella followed him. "The trouble with school is, they always try to teach the wrong lesson. Believe me, I've been kicked out of enough of them to know…"he sang as he took notice of Tabrella following him. "They want you to be less callow, less… shallow." He winked to Tabrella, who gave a giggle. "But I say, why invite stress in? Stop studying strife, and learn to live the unexamined life…!"

"Dancing through life, skimming the surface~!" he sang while dancing through the halls. "Gliding where turf is smooth…! Life's more painless for the brainless," he sang as he pointed to his own head. "Why think too hard when it's so soothing?"

"Dancing through life, no need to tough it~!" he sang while flexing his arm, which wowed Tabrella and the girls and guys behind him. "When you can slough it off as I do! Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters, it's just life, so keep dancing through~!"

"Dancing through life," Duke sang as Tabrella and the others struggled to keep up with him. "Swaying and sweeping, and always keeping cool. Life is fraught-less, when you're thoughtless. Those who don't try, never look foolish."

He then snapped his fingers as he spun around, leaving a blue, magical swirl. "Dancing through life, mindless and careless~! Make sure you're where less trouble is rife!" He pulled Tabrella aside, spinning her around until he caught her to stop her from falling. "Woes and fleeting, blows are glancing, when you're dancing through life~!"

He looked at Tabrella. "So what's the most swankified place in town?"

"Well, that would be the Stardust Ballroom," Tabrella told him. "A hit club where a lot of the witchings here come and dance."

"Sounds perfect," he replied.

After school, Duke and Tabrella headed down to the Stardust Ballroom together, Duke singing on the way.

"Let's go to the Stardust Ballroom, we'll meet there later tonight!" he sang while grabbing a lamppost and swirling around it. "We can dance until it's light, find the prettiest girl, give her a whirl." He looked to Tabrella with a smile, who smiled back at him. "Right on down to the Stardust Ballroom! Come on, follow me, you'll be happy to be there!"

The two entered the ballroom, where they saw their classmates dancing and having a fun time.

"Dancing through life, down at the Stardust!" they all sang as they danced to the music.

"If only because dust is what we come to!" Duke said while pulling Tabrella into a dance.

"Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters! It's just life~!" Duke and everyone sang as they kept dancing.

"So keep dancing through~!" Duke declared as he and Tabrella dance around the ballroom.

The two swung around each other and danced around the ballroom, which drew the attention of the other students there, including the Shallows, who watched Tabrella dancing with Duke. Everyone cheered for them as they took the dance floor for themselves. All of the Shallows, but for Britt, who had a stoic look.

After dancing for what felt like hours, the two stopped and looked at each other in their eyes. They gave each other heartfelt smiles. It was like… they were made for each other.

"So…" Duke said. "Would you like to go out with me, Ms. Diamantos?"

Tabrella grinned. "Of course, Duke! After all-Now that we've met one another."

"It's clear we deserve each other," she and Duke sang together.

"You're perfect," Tabrella said.

"You're perfect." Duke replied back.

"So we're perfect together, born to be forever~!" they sang as they ended up levitating up in the air thanks to their magic, whirling around with their hands together as they looked at one another. "Dancing through life…"

"Tabrella? Tabrella?"

"Huh?" Tabrella asked as she lifted her head up and saw everyone staring at her. "Pardon?"

"I was asking you what you could tell me about yourself," Spearubi repeated.

"Oh, well… I do have a thing for fashion," Tabrella answered. "You already know that I design my own dress. I am in the Construction Track… of course, I don't do much of the heavy lifting. Construction Magic isn't just about lifting rocks. Plenty of constructionists actually go into archeology, while others are about managing diamonds, rubies, gems, and all kinds of valuable resources. I use many of them to make decorations for my fashion line."

"You know, our parents are very interested in your family's mining company," Spearubi said. "How many mining operations does your family have on other Titans?"

"I… don't know," Tabrella said while looking down. "I'm not involved in the affairs of my family's business."

"Hmm, well, that's fine," Spearubi said. "I also think that the Inwell Isles could use some new fashion senses. How long are you staying here?"

"Oh, all of fall vacation," Tabrella responded.

"That's great," Spearubi replied. "Although there is something else we're curious about…"

"Oh, what is it?" Tabrella asked.

"We want to know more about your relationship with the deceased Eadbeaton boy," Spearubi said, which caught Tabrella by surprise.

"U-Um what?" she asked with a nervous stammer. "What about him?"

"We heard what went down in the weeks leading up to the Day of Unity," Don explained. "Including the whole scandal between you and Duke Eadbeaton, including his murder, and… your daughter."

"We thought you could clear up a few things for us," Spearubi said while Tabrella looked visibly uncomfortable. "For example, you didn't actually order him murdered, right?"

"I… I wasn't," the Diamantos girl said as she gripped the table with her hands.

Donna, Rebecca, and Whitney noticed Tabrella's uncomfortable looks and it was Donna who decided to do something about it.

"I mean, I've heard the rumors about your family," Don said. "A few employees getting offed for talking too much is one thing, but a royal-"

"SO!" Donna shouted out loud, which startled the Inwell siblings as they turned to her, drawing their attention away from Tabrella. "Um, I just thought of something we should talk about! Your… crime rate."

"Our… crime rate?" Don asked as he and Spearubi turned to look at each other in confusion.

Tabrella gave a sigh of relief as she sank back into her seat, glad that Donna saved her from answering their questions. Especially if it was about Duke… and her parents.

Meanwhile, Cross and Lindsay had entered a new location… the Inwell Prep Academy. While the Inwell Isles had several schools, this one was for only the most prestigious witches. It is a large purple school building with black roofs, three stories, and five wings.

"So this is the Inwell Academy that I've been hearing about," Lindsay said in awe as she and Cross entered the school grounds.

"Yeah," Cross replied, looking around and seeing some students in uniform walking around. "Though, there are still some students here."

"From what I've heard, that's because the students live here," Lindsay said as they entered the building. "Even though classes are over, many of them chose to live in the dorms during the fall break. The campus is also open to the public because of its historical significance… this place is basically like a museum."

The two teens explored the large building, finding themselves in awe of the statues, artifacts, and other artwork that was displayed in the hallways. Eventually, they entered a large room that was filled with weapons and suits of armor. Amongst the weapons were battle axes, swords, and what appeared to be a large blade in the shape of an ink pen.

"Wow, I didn't think this school would have a large weapons collection," Lindsay said, looking both curious… and concerned.

"Some of these weapons were brought to the Inwell Isles by expeditions to other Titans, while other weapons were held by the defenders of this Isles," Cross said after reading the plaques. "Huh, according to the info, the Inwell Isles actually used to have a military."

"Oh?" Lindsay asked, looking at Cross. "Why do you think that's no longer the case?"

Cross shrugged. "Probably an agreement with the Emperor's Coven," he guessed.

Lindsay and Cross then looked at some of the suits of armor that were on display. "Wow… we've never seen armor like these back home."

"Yeah," Cross said in agreement. Some of the armor was black knight armor, but there was also some chainmail armor with silver helmets with wings, some white helmets and ruffle hats, some red and white soldier suits, and there were even uniforms similar to the volunteer's uniforms. "It's hard to imagine a witch wearing anything other than scout armor."

"You think our new government will work on new uniforms?" Lindsay asked him.

"I guess we'll see," Cross admitted. "Although I hope fashion isn't their priority."

"Hmm," Lindsay said, getting a thought. "I wonder what uniform Tabrella would design if given the chance…"

"Shyster?" said a voice behind them.

Lindsay's eyes widened in surprise when she heard that familiar old nickname of hers. Turning around, she was even more surprised to see someone she used to know from St. Epiderm. "Sienna?"

"I thought it was you," Sienna responded as she stood in the doorway. She wore the standard uniform of the school, which was a purple button coat with a white line down by the black buttons, and the ink-pen symbol on it. She also wore an orange tie, a purple and black flannel skirt, orange leggings that stopped above her ankles, and black boots with orange buckles. "Of course, you're the only one I know with pink hair, one eye, and wings."

"Hey, isn't that Lindsay Shystream? Never thought in a million years that we would see her here!" Shanon shouted in a peppy tone as she appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a black tie and leggings with black mary-janes. "Don't tell us that you're attending Inkwell Prep now," she said in her sudden cynical tone.

"I'm not…" Lindsay said, her tone awkward.

"Well that's good to hear," Britt said while wearing a purple bow and short leggings. With her were Juniper, who was wearing a light-blue bow and short leggings, and Scarlota, who was wearing a red tie and leggings. All were wearing boots with buckles that matched their ties, bows, and leggings. "One less commoner. I'm so glad we don't have to deal with those here like we did at St. Epiderm."

"You girls are from St. Epiderm?" Cross asked them.

"We are the Shallows, we were quite popular back when we used to attend," Juniper said with a prideful tone.

"I go to Epiderm and I have never heard of you girls before," Cross said, which irked Juniper.

"Oh, you think you're so smart mouthed-" Juniper started to say before she was stopped by Britt, who looked at Lindsay and Cross.

"So it's been a while since we last saw each other, Lindsay," Britt said before glancing at Cross. She smiled. "And I say, who's this dashing looking fellow you're with? Is he single?"

"He's my boyfriend, Cross Drakescale," Lindsay responded as she turned to Cross. "Cross, these are-"

"Britt Gemstone," Britt introduced. "And the rest of the Shallows are Shanon Blake, Sienna Bluntington, Juniper Stormweaver, and Scarlota Loit. We're from some of the most prestigious families in the Boiling Isles."

"Speaking of home, we heard a lot about what went down during this whole Day of Unity," Scarlota said. "Thank the Titan that we weren't there."

"Yeah, glad we got transferred before they could try to brand us and try to drain our magic," Shanon agreed.

"Not to mention the donkey witchling thing, the school war, the terrorism, and being almost turned into trees by Snapdragon," Sienna pointed out bluntly as everyone turned to her. "What? Am I the only one who stays caught up with the news?"

"But enough about that, I'm surprised that you snagged yourself a boyfriend, Lindsay," Britt commented with a smile. "I never knew some bumpkin girl like you would get yourself with some fetching witch… thought he would have higher standards."

"Yeah! Like, how did you get him to date you, Shyster?" Shanon asked her. "Like, what do you have on him?"

"Honestly, I don't see the appeal," Juniper said as Sienna nodded in agreement.

"Okay, that's enough," Cross said, his patience running thin as he stepped forward while Lindsay stayed quiet.

"Wait… Drakescale… I remember you," Scarlota remembered. "You were given a scholarship, right? And you were one of the top three witches in the Plant Track, weren't you?" Scarlota asked. "You were like, next to Veronica and Beel back in Epiderm. And you hung out with the Oscorne kid. Honestly, that Oscorne kid was always kinda off…"

"Don't talk about Teri!" Cross growled, surprising the girls.

"Wait, aren't you the one whose family are apparently dragons?" Sienna asked, her friends looking at her again. "Also heard about that from the news."

"And what if I am?" Cross asked, crossing his arms with a glare. "You got anything to say about it?"

"Yeah, like how hung are you in your dragon form? How good are you in bed?" Shanon asked with a lustful look, which disturbed Cross and quickly made him very uncomfortable. "And if you're willing to share…"

"Enough, Shanon," Britt told her off. "There's no need to hound Lindsay's little boyfriend. Not like we'd see why he'd ever date her of all witches."

"You don't get to talk to Lindsay like that," Cross told her off. "She's cute and kind and-"

He stopped when he felt Lindsay pulling on his sleeve.

"Don't mind them, Cross," Lindsay told him before she looked over at the Shallows. "They're not worth our time."

"Tsh, typical Shyster," Sienna said. "Always avoids confrontation. No wonder you're such a weak witch."

Cross glared at her, but then Britt cleared her throat.

"Now, now, that's enough hostilities for today. You can stick around the school if you want, Shystream. I know it's impressive. But I do have to ask… how is Tabrella?" she asked her. "We heard about the… unfortunate scandal she and her family got roped into."

"Honestly, I'm not surprised that Tabrella got the guy killed for knocking her up," Juniper jabbed, which irked Lindsay as she shifted her eye to them. "She is just like her par-"

Juniper stopped when she saw Lindsay glaring at her intensely, startling her.

Cross was also looking at Lindsay in shock, seeing her shooting a glare at the girls before she shook her head. Turning around, Lindsay looked at Cross. "Come on, Cross. Let's go." She looked back at the Shallows. "It was… nice seeing you girls again."

The Shallows were surprised by Lindsay's reaction and they got out of the way as Lindsay and Cross walked past them, Lindsay wrapping her arm around Cross. The Shallows watched the two before Britt scoffed and she and the rest of the girls continued on their way.

Cross looked down at Lindsay, noticing how tightly she was gripping his arm and his hand. "Lindsay…" he said, looking worried for her.

The Torsa Villa, before the fire…

Mao Purrsian resided in her office, sitting behind her desk. Standing beside her desk were Jagheera and Clockwork Cab. And in front of them… was Darcilia.

"So… you wanted to see me?" Mao asked while looking at Darcilia curiously.

Darcilia looked a bit nervous as she stood in front of the trio of werecats. "Yes, ma'am," she said. "Thank you for your time."

"Well, I had an opening in my schedule," Mao said. "And you said that what you wanted to tell me was important, so I indulged in my curiosity."

"Mine as well," Clockwork Cab said. "We don't get many young witchlings around here… well, unless they're from Glandus."

"You're not from Glandus, are you?" Jagheera asked as he studied the seemingly normal witch girl, his brow furrowed.

"No," Darcilia said, shaking her head. "I'm not even from the Boiling Isles, I'm from-" She stopped herself. "Honestly, it would be easier just to show you."

With the werecats watching her, Darcilia took a deep breath… and transformed into her werecat form, right in front of them.

Mao, Cab, and Jagheera stared at her in shock.

"A-Are you seeing this?!" Jagheera asked.

"My word… how is this possible?" Cab asked while looking at Darcilia in surprise.

"It can't be…" Mao said before she tried to calm herself. "Unless… are you an illusionist?"

"I… dabble in illusions, but I can assure you that this is quite real," Darcilia said as Jagheera came up to her and she shifted between her witch form and her werecat form, allowing Jagheera to feel her arm as the fur vanished and reappeared.

"Yep," Jagheera confirmed. "It's not a trick."

Mao stared at Darcilia before touching her forehead and shaking her head. "A werecat hasn't been able to transform like that in centuries," she said as she processed what she had just seen. "Explain yourself. Who are you and… how were you able to keep your witch form?"

"My name is Darcilia Blackpaws," Darcilia responded. "And I wasn't born on the Boiling Isles, like I said earlier. I came from another Titan called Moggie Reef. There the werecats aren't trapped in their lycan forms like the werecats here are."

"Fascinating," Cab said, staring at Darcilia in wonder. "A werecat from a different Isles…" He turned to Mao. "Our ancestors were not originally from the Boiling Isles. They most likely came from a place like Moggie Reef."

"I… never thought I would see a werecat like you," Mao admitted, still shocked. "But… what is your reason for being here?"

Darcilia paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "The main reason why I'm here is because I want to warn you three… about Moggie Reef," she said, confusing Mao, Cab, and Jagheera.

"But… you're from Moggie Reef," Jagheera pointed out.

"I know, but," Darcilia said with a sigh. "Because the werecats of my home Titan are able to hide in their lycan nature, they're able to walk amongst other witches undetected… and they take full advantage of this. Moggie Reef sends infiltrators to communities on other Titans that are deemed to be potential threats to our home isles… and these infiltrators are not just spies."

Darcilia's fists tightened as she said the next part.

"They are also tasked with destroying these communities from within through sabotage and division."

The three werecat adults were shocked into silence by this, until Jagheera broke the silence.

"My word… this… it can't be true," Jagheera said.

"It is… unfortunately," Darcilia admitted, her voice pained. "Moggie Reef has been doing this for a long time. Our leaders consider these missions to be pre-emptive strikes, taking out potential dangers before they could threaten Moggie Reef. That way, we destroy their ability to destroy us, leaving them weakened while being none the wiser about who really caused their downfall. And this has led to the fall and collapse of entire civilizations, all because they were thought to be too powerful and too dangerous and all so that Moggie Reef could remain safe and secure from outside threats. Our leaders deem all of this… as necessary sacrifices to protect our own, since they don't even want to give our possible destroyers a chance to be our enemies. And as for me…" She looks down in guilt. "I was meant to be an infiltrator."

She paused, wondering if any of the adults were going to interrupt her. When they didn't, she continued her explanation, though her tone was uneasy.

"I was sent to this Isles with the mission of espionage and. eventually, sabotage. But now, I don't want to go through with my mission, since I don't want innocent people to suffer because of me. And once I decided to not go through with my mission, I knew that I needed to warn the werecats who live here. Because I knew that there was a chance that someone from Moggie Reef would reach out to you in the future and try to include you in the plan. And if they did… I wanted you to know just what kind of werecats you were dealing with."

She stopped and everyone was silent, the adults taking in the information they had been given.

"This does sound grim," Jagheera said, frowning.

"I'll say," Cab replied. "Maybe we should bring this to the attention of the Emperor's Coven and-"

"No!" Darcilia rejected, shocking the adults, before adjusting her composure. "Please, don't. The last thing I want is to place my people in danger, and that includes my friends and family. You have to understand, they're not evil, they're just… misguided," she admitted. "I'm telling you three because I don't want the werecats here to get mixed up in this, to get mixed up with someone from Moggie Reef. I don't think that would end well for you. And… I don't think I can go back to my home either, since I abandoned my mission and betrayed my people." She sighed and looked down. "I might as well be dead…"

She then looked up. "But as long as I'm here, I want to help," she offered, patting her paw to her chest. "I promise that I can be useful to you and your community."

The three adults looked to Darcilia before turning to each other.

"What do you think?" Cab asked them.

"Well, if what she says is true, then we're dealing with something big," Jagheera said while turning to Mao.

"Bigger that potentially Belos, if the Emperor doesn't know," Mao said thoughtfully. "But… I don't want to be responsible for the spilling of innocent werecat blood. On both here and Moggie Reef. None of us wants a war between nations." She glanced at Darcilia. "And a werecat with the ability to shift between her forms could be useful to us."

After a few more minutes of quiet discussion, Mao stood up, crossing her arms behind her back while walking around her desk and toward Darcilia.

"I want to thank you for coming forward to us with this information, Darcilia," Mao said, her voice kind. "I understand that it must have been hard for you, but we appreciate your bravery. We will have to discuss this further and discuss what to do with you, but I promise that what you told us will not be told to anyone else outside of this room. And above everything else, I want you to know… that you did the right thing."

Darcilia gave a small smile. "Thank you, ma'am."

The Torsa Villa, during the fire…

Darcilia was there in her werecat form, fighting through the flames as she tried to help as many werecats as possible.

"Go! Get out of here!" Darcilia shouted as she tried to lead a group of werecats to safety. "There's a clear route to escape the flames that way!"

"Help me!" someone shouted.

Darcilia turned to see a werekitten surrounded in flames. "Don't worry, I got you!" she shouted as she rushed over, leaping into the fray and grabbing the werekitten, shielding him in her arms as she tried to carry the child in the direction she had pointed the other werecats in… but then she tripped and fell. "Gah!"

Having fallen, Darcilia looked up to see a burning branch about to fall down onto her. The burning branch broke off from the tree and Darcillia's eyes widened as she held onto the werekitten, shielding him with her body while shutting her eyes, waiting for the inevitable…

But it never came. Instead, when her eyes opened, she was now in a different part of the Torsa Villa. She was confused… and then she saw the figure who was standing over her.

Emily Tricks.

The black-furred werecat looked up at Emily in shock, but before she could even say anything, Emily was gone, stepping away from Darcilia and teleporting away.

Darcilia blinked twice before shaking her head. She then remembered the kid she had been shielding and she decided to make sure that he got to safety, rather than dwell on who saved her. She still had a job to do…

Inside one of the still remaining Torsa Villa structures, Jagheera and Darcilia entered a room together. Darcilia looked around, seeing that it was a makeshift break room.

"Have a seat, Darcilia," Jagheera offered, closing the door behind them while Darcilia went to sit on a couch. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked as he walked over to a table and began to pour drinks.

"I would, thank you," she replied as she received a cup from Jagheera. "I will admit, the situation doesn't look that much different from the last time I saw it."

Jagheera gave a tired sigh. "The community just isn't united anymore, I'm afraid. I have tried to step up and be the leader in light of Mao's passing, but I've faced some… opposition."

"Like that lady in stripes making the soapbox speeches?" Darcilia pointed out.

"You must mean Belmont." he replied and Darcilia nodded in confirmation. He gave another sigh. "Bengal Bermont has become more vocal with each passing day, having very different ideas than me for what the future of our community should look like. I don't agree with her, but I do still understand where she's coming from, at the very least." He then looked over at Darcilia. "So how about you, Darcilia? How have you've been-"

"Stop right there," Darcilia said, stopping him. "I want to cut to the chase right now. I came here not for a visit, but to warn you. It is about… Moggie Reef."

Jagheera's eyes widened at this. "You… have my attention," he said while sitting down.

Darcilia nodded and continued. "I've just learned that I have been replaced and my replacement has already been sent to the Boiling Isles, and they're moving onto Phase Two."

"Phase Two?" Jagheera asked, frowning. "What is that? And how did you learn that you have a replacement?"

"I… have a source," Darcilia told him, deciding not to go into too much detail about the Birmans. "As for Phase Two, that's when the infiltrator moves from observer to saboteur, working directly to undermine their target. I heard that it was because of the Torsa Villa that my replacement is already moving onto Phase Two, which makes me even more worried about what I saw out there in the camp," she told him while Jagheera looked at him in concern. "If the werecat population is more divided, that would make it easier for them to become radicalized. To be encouraged to do something awful."

Jagheera acknowledged this with a nod. "I will admit, I hoped that I would have been able to control our people. But the fire and the Day of Unity has seemed to spark this… change in the populace, a change that I've been noticing more and more. They're becoming more rowdy, more… resentful."

"That is what the infiltrator is going to take advantage of," Darcilia explained. "They're going to try to spread that resentment. Especially with the rest of the Boiling Isles as vulnerable as it currently is without a well-defined government to replace the old one. After all, it won't take much to start a new fire."

"So what do you think we should do about this?" Jagheera asked her.

"My suggestion, keep watch of your people closely," Darcilia told him. "Keep your eyes open for anyone that you don't recognize, since that could be this infiltrator."

"Should I tell Raine Whispers about this?" he asked her and Darcilia fell silent.

"I… don't know," she admitted, looking conflicted. "I think… I think I'll leave that call to you. This infiltrator is especially dangerous at this moment, with the current state of things being the way they are, but if it becomes too well-known that there is a werecat trying to bring everything down… that could mean more backlash against the Boiling Isles werecats."

"So there is a risk either way," Jagheera indicated. "And you have no idea who this infiltrator is?"

"No…" Darcilia said while looking down at the floor, which Jagheera noticed.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

"When I saw all the work out here that still needs to be done… I felt bad for leaving," she admitted, looking down in guilt.

"Oh," Jagheera said, considering his next words. "Well, it was because you left that you learned this information, right?" he started to point out. "And don't forget that you already did a lot in the weeks after the fire, Darcilia. You helped us find the missing and the dead. Though I want to ask… what did you do after you left?"

"Well… I went to check on a friend who's been living at Inwell Isles," Darcilia explained, looking awkward. "This friend of mind… she's suffered a lot during the week of the Day of Unity. She got branded with a sigil and lost something that had belonged to her dead mother. At the moment, she needed her friends."

Jagheera nodded, his expression understanding. "You have my condolences for your friend, Darcilia," he told her sincerely.

"Thank you," Darcilia replied, though she still looked saddened. "I should have helped my friend, I should have been there for her, but I was so focused on the Torsa Villa that I neglected my friend until I learned that she was on the Inwell Isles. So I decided to go check on her and I saw how much of a rough state she's in." She paused. "Now I'm conflicted between wanting to stay here and help the Torsa Villa, especially with this infiltrator around, and going back to the Inwell Isles to help my friend…"

For a moment, Jagheera was silent . He looked over at Darcilia before speaking. "How important is this friend of yours?"

Darcilia was also quiet for a moment before speaking. "This friend… isn't just a friend to me and… I am incredibly worried for her."

Jagheera gave a nod at this and he reached over to pat her shoulder. "Darcilia, it's okay for you to prioritize your friend if you think she needs you. I can take care of things here and I can always contact you if I need to. But it is important for you to take care of the people you love as well."

Darcilia was shocked to hear this, but it did help ease her mind and she gave a small smile. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Anytime, Darcilia," Jagheera said as he and Darcilia hugged.

Darcilia then looked down again. "I… miss Mao and Cab."

Jagheera sighed. "I miss them as well," he said as they released each other the hug. "So does your friend know you're a werecat?"

"Well…" Darcilia said, hesitating. "She… doesn't."

Jagheera was surprised to hear this. "Really? Well, I think you should tell your friend the truth about you if she really means that much."

Darcilia sighed. "Honestly, I haven't even told my friend how I feel and I'm not even sure if now would be the right moment," she admitted. "Especially considering what my friend is going through right now. At the moment, I just want to be a good friend and help her through this incredibly rough patch."

"I understand," Jagheera told her. "Just… think about it, okay?"

Darcilia nodded and started to get up. "I will," she said before she made her leave. "Thank you for having me, sir."

"No problem," he said as he saw her leave. Once she was gone, Jagheera gave another sigh and he shook his head. "Teenagers…"

Outside, Emily and Zee were both hanging out while waiting for Darcilia. Zee noticed the discomfort Emily was showing by being here, especially this long.

"Yo, Mily," Zee spoke up, getting her attention. "Anything on your mind that you wanted to talk away?"

Emily thought about it before she sighed. "Honestly, I am worried about the possible chance of meeting Nina again. If she sees me, she's gonna know it's me. My illusions… they don't really work on her."

"Oh, why is that?" Zee asked.

"She knows my scent," Emily asked.

"And… what do you smell like?" Zee asked, curious.

"I…" Emily said before she paused. "You know, I've never actually asked her that."

"So do you think Nina is here?" Zee asked her.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised," Emily said. "Though Nina is not the only thing that bothers me. It's… this place, the Villa… it just reminds me of the fire, brings me back to that day," she admitted as she struggled to take a deep breath. "I can still remember the taste of smoke. I can still remember seeing the death and destruction firsthand…"

Emily trailed off and Zee didn't answer right away. She wasn't sure how she could answer.

"It… must've hit you completely differently, Emily," Zee admitted, feeling bad for bringing Emily here. "I… I'm sorry for having to drag you all the way back, I… I know I can't understand how you feel, since you had a personal connection to the Villa that I lack…" She looked down. "And you were there when it burned."

Emily looked over at Zee. "Has Cross ever talked to you about the fire?"

"He… doesn't like to talk about it," Zee admitted. "I don't blame him. though. I can tell that he was shaken up by it."

Emily sighed. "The fire took most of the forest. I… I tried to save as many lives as possible, but it wasn't enough." Her voice became shaky. "Most of Nina's family still died, along with so many others."

"Come on, Mily, you did the best you could and you shouldn't forget that," Zee pointed out.

"I know," Emily acknowledged as she looked around the area, at all the tents. "And you know, as long as we're here, we might as well pitch in. Try to help."

"Yeah," Zee replied after thinking this over. "We should."

And so, the two girls began to go around to help out the Torsa Villa. They volunteered to help with a food giveaway, filling up boxes with food and handing out the boxes to families who were lined up.

"Here you go," Zee said as she handed one of the werecats a box of food.

"Thank you," he replied as he took the box.

"Thank you, miss," one werecat woman told Emily as she got a box.

"It's no problem, ma'am," Emily replied before she noticed a young werekitten hiding behind her mother. She gave a small wave to the werekitten, who shyly waved back.

After they finished with the food give-away, Zee and Emily were in the tent with the werecat teacher from before, helping him keep the werekittens entertained. Zee shifted into her dragon form and showed it off, wowing both the children and the teacher.

"Incredible," he said as he tried to get a closer look at Zee.

After Zee finished showing off, Emily used her illusions to put on a show with animated characters to entertain the kids.

"And then the pixie told the goblin 'Stay away from my home!' while hiding in her house made of shrooms," Zee described while doing narration. "But the goblin said 'then I'll lift, and I'll shift, and knock your house down!' and with a swing of his club, he knocked down the pixie's mushroom home!"

Emily directed the illusion of the goblin to knock down the mushroom home while the pixie flew out of there for her life. The kids were in awe at the show while Darcilia stood at the entrance of the tent, watching the two girls perform for the werekittens. She couldn't help but give a smile at their efforts.

After they finished performing the show, Emily and Zee noticed Darcilia coming towards them,

"Hey, are you finished?" Zee asked.

"Yeah, and I saw what you two have been up to… perhaps I can pitch in," Darcilia suggested. "If you don't mind."

Both Zee and Emily formed smiles.

"I wouldn't be against it," Emily admitted.

"Me neither," Zee said.

After the three helped out around the camp some more, such as by moving some new supplies they had just gotten from Bonesborough and Metropelvis, the three stood in front of a monument that was in the middle of the Torsa Villa. This monument was a recent addition… and it was a huge stone wall with names carved into it. The names of those who died during the fire.

Emily searched the wall, eventually finding the names of the Fang family members. She bowed her head out of respect, sucking in a deep breath.

Darcilia, meanwhile, found the names of Mao and Cab. She gently touched the names and let out a sigh of her own, though Zee didn't notice since she was looking at Emily.

"Are you good, Em?" Zee asked her.

" …yeah," Emily replied after a moment. She looked at Zee and Darcilia before reaching into her pocket and pulling out the bedknob. "Who's ready to go now?"

After a moment of silence, both Darcilia and Zee nodded before they reached over and placed their hands on Emily's shoulder.

Emily looked down at the bedknob and began to follow the instructions to make it work.

"Take us home."

Back at the Inwell manor, the girls were preparing to leave.

"Thank you for having us here, Don, and Spearubi," Whitney told them before she elbowed Rebecca as a way to remind her.

"Yeah, and thank you for the ink bottle gifts," Rebecca said while rubbing her side and giving her sister a dirty look.

"You're welcome," Spearubi replied. "We enjoyed having you here."

"You should come by here again… with your parents, perhaps," Don suggested.

"Well… maybe when things are settled back in the Isles," Donna told him.

"I'll mention you to my father," Whitney said with a nod.

Tabrella realized that everyone was looking at her again. "Um, yes, I might bring my parents with me next time," she said, trying to be polite.

"We look forward to it," Don replied with a smile. "I believe that a working relationship between our families would be most-"

"Spearubi, Don Blutholle," said a male voice.

The two siblings immediately froze up. They and the girls looked to the top of the stairs… where they saw the Inwell parents.

Archduke Katzingerg was a balding gray-skinned witch man with black eyes, pointed ears and a goatee. He wore a black suit and snake tie, black pants, and matching shoes. His wife, Duchess Sunbowa, had aqua-skin and two horns, violet eyes, fangs, long black hair, and wore a strapless dark blue split dress and black heels.

"You weren't going to let your guests leave without introducing us to them, were you?" Katzingerg asked, his gaze on his children.

"O-of course not!" Spearubi and Don responded as they both tensed up, their expressions becoming stiff.

Rebecca, however, finally seemed to be putting something together. "Blutholle…" she quietly whispered before she gave a small chuckle. "Hehehe, it sounds like butthole!"

Don shot Rebecca a quick glare, silencing her, before he immediately tensed up again.

"Oh, you two must be the Archduke and Duchess of Inwell," Tabrella said as she, Donna, Whitney, and Rebecca took a bow. "A pleasure to meet you."

"It is a pleasure to have you in our house," the archduke told them.

"We hope that our children were good hosts," Sunbowa said as she turned to her children with a wide smile "Were you?"

"Y-Yes, mum! We were," Don said.

"We showed them around the mansion, gave them complimentary bottles of ink, and gave them dinner," Spearubi added as her parents walked toward her.

"Hmm," Katzingerg said as he noticed the healing patch on his daughter's cheek. He lifted his hand to touch Spearubi's cheek, then looked over at Whitney and saw a similar healing patch on her cheek. He frowned. "What happened?"

"I-it was just a friendly sparring match!" Spearubi insisted while turning to look at Whitney. "Tell him, Whitney!"

Whitney was surprised to see the desperation on Spearubi's face, but she quickly nodded. "Yes, we were fencing with each other. Nobody was seriously hurt."

"I'm glad to hear that," the archduke said as Spearubi visibly relaxed. "Apologies, my daughter can be a bit… competitive."

"Only as competitive as I am, sir," Whitney replied, causing the archduke to chuckle.

"Then she may have found a suitable companion," he said. "You're… a Carmine, correct?"

Whitney nodded. "Whitney Carmine," she told the archduke. "And this is my sister, Rebecca."

"Hi, I… have no idea what to say in front of a royal family," Rebecca admitted.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Sunbowa said with a wave. "I doubt our titles mean anything to you Boiling Isles natives anyway."

Donna stepped forward. "I'm Donna Masterskull, sir," she introduced herself.

"Tabrella Diamantos," Tabrella said.

Katzingerg nodded. "A pleasure to meet all of you and we hope to see you all again, perhaps with your parents," Katzingerg told them. "Please, have a safe night."

"Thank you, sir, and we will consider it," Donna replied.

"Yes, and I'll be sure to check out your upcoming masquerade ball," Tabrella said.

"Well, that would be wonderful," Sunbowa replied with a smile. She turned to her children. "Don, Spearubi, say goodbye."

"Goodbye," both of the Inwell siblings said in sync.

And so, the girls departed from Inwell manor. Once they passed the gates, they all rode together in the carriage that the Carmines rented, using it to take them back to their hotel.

"So… what do you guys think of the Inwells?" Rebecca asked them.

"They… really like flaunting their wealth," Donna admitted. "Like, I got the impression that they were really trying to impress us with all of their stuff. I think they really want in with the upper class of the Boiling Isles."

"I think so too," Whitney said, nodding. "I think this whole thing was a ploy for relevance. I will admit though that Spearubi is quite the formidable opponent," she said while tapping her bandage. "Though the way they reacted to their parents…" She shook her head. "I don't know them well enough to jump to any conclusions."

"I… did get a vibe from them," Donna confessed. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Inwell family was a mess behind the scenes and they're just trying to present us with the best version of themselves."

Whitney turned to her sister. "What do you think, Rebecca?"

"Um, I thought they seemed friendly?" Rebecca asked with a shrug.

"What do you think, Tabrella?" Donna asked her friend.

Tabrella was quiet for a moment as she looked at her reflection in the window of the carriage. "This is the first time I've done something like this since having Katie… and it just reminded me of what I was like back then," she said while looking down to her own hands. "Back then, I used to hang out with other kids who were like me, just like the Inwells. And that was before I befriended Lindsay, Andrea, Jackie, and Tracy…"

About a year ago, in St. Epiderm, Lindsay was taking her things out of her locker when her ears picked up a noise.

"Huh?" Lindsay asked as she looked around, listening more closely. She realized that what she was hearing… was crying.

'Who's crying?' she thought to herself as she wandered down the hall, looking for the source of the crying. Following the sound, she stopped in front of a classroom door. She pressed her ear against the door and heard the crying coming from inside.

After finding the door unlocked, Lindsay entered the classroom, looking around until she spotted someone sitting on the floor, her back against the wall. To her surprise, Lindsay recognized it was Tabrella, who was covering her face as she cried her eyes out. Lindsay didn't know why she was in this state, but she could see that Tabrella was clearly in a state of distress. So she went to check up on her.

"Tabrella?" Lindsay spoke up, causing the purple-haired girl to look up at the cyclops girl.

"L-Lindsay?" Tabrella hiccupped in surprise as she kept crying, her mascara running.

For the moment, the two just looked at each other. Both of them were surprised to see the other here and neither of them spoke. After a few seconds, it became awkward and Tabrella averted her eyes away from Lindsay.

Despite this, Lindsay went to sit beside Tabrella. Quietly, she offered her hand to Tabrella, who turned her head to look at it. Tabrella said nothing as she looked down at the hand, then up at Lindsay's face. Lindsay nodded for Tabrella to take her hand and after a moment of hesitation, she did. She held onto Lindsay's hand and squeezed it as she cried. Lindsay squeezed it back and it made Tabrella feel a bit better, helping her to calm down as she wiped away her tears and managed to look back up at Lindsay.

"I… thank you, Lindsay." she said quietly.

"Do you want to talk?" Lindsay asked her.

The Diamantos girl hesitated. "Why? Why do you care?"

"I care… because you are in distress," Lindsay answered calmly. "And I want to help you,"

Tabrella fell quiet again, debating with herself over whether she should tell Lindsay or not, whether she should trust Lindsay or not. But as she looked at Lindsay, any mistrust she had quickly faded away.

She took a deep breath. "I'm… pregnant," she revealed.

This shocked the cyclops girl. "Really?"

"Yes," Tabrella said with a nod. "I was supposed to apply to Inwell Academy with the rest of my friends and enter a long-term relationship with Duke… but then I got irresponsible. Then I missed my cycle and I ended up testing positive on my pregnancy test. I… I told my friends about it, and then Duke learned about it." She wiped her tears, the hurt and pain still fresh as she recounted her story. "That was then they all decided to… leave me behind."

Lindsay's eye widened. "They… they all abandoned you?"

Tabrella nodded. "My so-called friends all left to attend Inwell Prep Academy, and Duke… he didn't want anything to do with me," she said. "Saying he couldn't raise a child while working for the Emperor's Coven… and that's when he left! Just… damn them!" she cried as she wiped her eyes. "They left me… alone."

Immediately, Lindsay embraced Tabrella. The Diamantos girl blinked, shocked that Lindsay was hugging her.

"You're not going to be alone, Tabrella," Lindsay reassured her. "I promise."

Tabrella just looked at Lindsay in surprise… and then she started to tear up and cry again. She embraced Lindsay back while crying onto her shoulder. This was what she needed…

She needed a friend.

Back in the present, Tabrella let out a sigh after she finished remembering how Lindsay was there for her.

"Don't get me wrong, there are parts of my old life that I do miss… like the parties and the dances, but I don't miss what I was like back then, or how I treated other witches," Tabrella admitted.

"I can relate to that," Donna mentioned as Tabrella turned to her. "I'm not proud of what kind of person I was like before we met each other."

Tabrella nodded, remembering Donna's struggle with addiction. "We are better than our pasts," she told Donna, who smiled. "I am better off now than I was back then, especially since now I have friends who really do care about me… and I do have my Katie. And it's about time that I return to my daughter."

Meanwhile, Cross and Lindsay were now in the library hall of Inwell Prep Academy. To say that the library was massive would be an understatement.

"Wow, this place is as big as the Bonesborough Library," Cross commented while looking around with an impressed whistle as Lindsay looked around at the shelves.

"Yes, I heard that Inwell Prep has the largest library on the Inwell Isles," she said while looking at some of the titles. "Of Mice and Mandragoras, The Great Ghastly, Witchood of the Traveling Cloak…"

"They even have art books and plant encyclopedias here," Cross said while looking at a shelf.

"This place is a sight," Lindsay said with a smile while turning into another book aisle… where someone carrying a stack of books that covered her face was walking, causing her to bump into Lindsay. "Ah!"

"Whoa!" the girl shouted as she and her stack of books fell onto the ground. "Ow…"

"Whoa, Lindsay are you alright?" Cross asked as he helped his girlfriend up.

"I should ask the same to the one I bumped into," Lindsay said as she knelt down. "I'm sorry that I bumped into you, can I help you get your books?"

"Oh, I should be the one apologizing," said the girl as she brushed herself off. "I wasn't looking with all the books I had in my face."

"I still wish to help you," Lindsay said as she started to pick up books.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," said the girl, who wore the standard female Inwell Prep uniform, with a purple bow, a vest and long skirt, a light-blue button shirt, purple knee-socks and purple-buckled boots. She had toffee-colored skin with moderate violet eyes and moderate sapphire blue hair with streaks of violet and brilliant rose streaks. Her hair was tied into a bun with bangs at the side of her face. She wore a pair of rectangular glasses and had a purple chakra stone on her forehead.

"Are you also a student here?" Cross asked while helping Lindsay pick up the books.

"Yes, I am," she replied as she used her magic to levitate the books up. "In fact, I actually live right above the library."

"Live in the library?" Lindsay asked in surprise.

"Yup, though I can't stay for chat, I got a lot of reading to do," she said as she levitated Lindsay's stack, then Cross's tack. "Thanks again for helping me with my books," she said as she got a better look at Lindsay and Cross… and when she saw Cross, her eyes sparkled with recognition "Oh, um… it was nice to meet you," she said before she quickly walked away. Cross and Lindsay watched her go, Cross having not noticed the way she had looked at him.

"She seems nice," Lindsay said.

"Nicest student we've met so far," Cross muttered as they continued to venture through the library. He looked over at Lindsay. "Linds, do you… want to talk about what happened earlier? With the Shallows?"

Lindsay stopped in her tracks and sighed. "They used to bully me," she admitted. "All because I got into St. Epiderm because of my own magic and my own achievements, not because of who my parents were or because of how many snails they have."

"Ah, I think I get it," Cross said, nodding. "They want to make you feel like you have less worth so they feel like they have more worth. But just so you know, you are easily worth more than all of them combined."

Lindsay smiled. "I know," she said as she and Cross continued their walk.

Outside of Emily's apartment, after making it back to Inwell Isles, Emily and Zee stood there, Darcilia having already left for her hotel.

"I want to thank you again for helping me and Darci out, Mily," Zee told her. "Even if it meant going back to the Villa…"

"It's fine and I was happy to be of help, Zee," Emily replied as she was about to head into her apartment… but then she stopped herself. "Actually, Zee… there is something I should tell you."

"Oh?" Zee asked her, curious.

"On the night when we saved Kay from the Goblin King, Andrea came to my apartment and… offered sex," Emily admitted, turning to Zee. "And I took up that offer."

Immediately upon hearing this, Zee's eyes widened in shock, her face fell, and her heart broke a little. "Oh…" she said. "I… see. So you and Andrea are like, going out?"

"No, nothing like that!" Emily quickly clarified, panic stricken when she saw Zee's reaction. "Titan, I should have phrased this better. Neither me nor Andrea were looking for a relationship, just a good time. She had given me those coupons for my birthday party and suggested that I cash one of them in and I just… went for it," she told her. "And I'm telling you this because… because I want to be honest with you, Zee, because I want you to hear it from me instead of learning about it another way and getting the wrong idea."

"Oh… well…" Zee said as she looked down, processing what she had been then looked up… and had a huge smile on her face "That's great, Mily!" she praised, patting Emily's shoulder. "Congrats on scoring that night. You deserve it."

Emily gave a surprised smile. "Uh, thanks Zee, I… was worried you'd react differently…"

"What? No," Zee said as she waved it off. "I mean, if you want to be in a 'friends with benefits' thing between us as well…"

"No, we can't," Emily interrupted, shutting the idea down immediately and startling Zee. "Look, while I know that Andrea didn't want anything deeper, you do."

Zee paused. "That is true…" she admitted.

"If we slept together and tried to keep it casual, I'd just feel like I was stringing you along with sex and you'd end up getting hurt, which is the last thing I want," Emily told her. "I just think… it would be too complicated. I hope you understand…"

Zee was quiet for a moment, thinking about what Emily told her. "Honestly, that is probably the best call," she said while looking down. She then shrugged. "And hey, since we're not together, it's not like you were cheating on me or anything when you slept with Andrea, so it's all good."

"So we're both on the same page then?" Emily indicated, her tone hopeful.

"Yeah, same page," Zee replied while giving Emily a smile.

Emily sighed in relief. "Well, I guess it's goodnight then," Emily told her as she began to walk into her apartment. "Goodnight, Zee."

"Goodnight, Mily," Zee replied with a smile and a small wave. She watched as Emily closed the door… and then her smile fell slightly as she turned to walk away, beginning the journey back to her place.

Back at the hotel, the rich girls had finally returned.

"We're back!" Tabrella announced, seeing Jackie and Andrea with Katie in the lobby. "Katie! My dear daughter, how have you been?"

Katie giggled happily when she saw Tabrella, who took her from Jackie.

"It took a while to get this little sugarcube to take her nap," Jackie said while looking tired,

"But we did have a fun time with her!" Andrea replied.

"Thank you, I knew I could count on you two," Tabrella said while nuzzling Katie's nose with her own.

"Finally, I can get out of these heels!" Rebecca declared as she took off her heels and threw them into the trash.

"Rebecca! Those heels cost me three hundred snails to get for you!" Whitney told her.

"Then you can have them," Rebecca said before noticing Cross and Lindsay coming in. "Oh, Cross! And Lindsay! How was your day?" she asked, hiding her nervousness around her crush.

"Oh, it was pretty good," Lindsay replied. "We looked around the town's own art district and visited the Inwell Prep Academy."

"Inwell Prep Academy?" Donna asked. "I heard about the place. What's it like?"

"A dormitory school, a museum, and a large library all rolled into one," Cross explained. "But how about you? How was the day with the Inwells?"

"Well, it ended without a hitch," Donna replied. "Although Whitney had to show off her swordsmanship."

"I had to defend my honor," Whitney replied with a wave.

"It was really impressive," Donna admitted. "Would you and your sister consider a membership with LOWTH?"

"Thanks for the offer, but we'll respectfully decline," Whitney said. "I don't really see myself as the hero-type, honestly."

"But Team WZRD will always be here to assist," Rebecca added.

"Well, it sounds like you all had a great day," Lindsay said before turning to Tabrella and walking up to her. "Excuse me, Tabrella, but can I talk to you alone?"

"Oh… of course, darling," Tabrella replied while carrying Katie. She followed Lindsay to another part of the hall where they could speak. "What's on your mind, Lindsay?"

"I… wanted to inform you about something," Lindsay said. "When I was at Inwell Prep, I… ran into your old friends."

Tabrella's eyes widened, immediately knowing who Lindsay met. "Oh… the Shallows," she said with venom in her tone. "They didn't do anything to you, did they? Or say anything crass?"

"They did make jabs at me for dating Cross," Lindsay admitted. "But honestly, I could care less for what they say about me… but then they asked me about you."

As she said this, her tone had a touch of resentment, which Tabrella noticed.

"You resent those girls, don't you, Lindsay?" Tabrellla asked.

"How could I not?" Lindsay admitted with a quiet growl. "I could care less for what they did to me, but what they did to you? How they abandoned you in your time of need?" Her fists tightened. "It took me all of my willpower to stop Madstream from getting out and teaching those girls a lesson. It's why I've decided they're not worth the trouble. But still… they actually have the gall to ask about you and accuse you, it just makes me… peeved." She gave Tabrella an apologetic look. "Pardon my language."

"It's fine, I don't think Katie knows what that means," Tabella said while looking down at her daughter, who just giggled. "To be honest, I don't really think about the Shallows anymore. Those girls weren't my real friends, after all. And if they don't care about me, then, well, I shan't give a carcass about them." She then frowned. "Still, I used to be no better than them. I know I've said this before, but I have to say it again. I am really sorry for how I treated you back then."

"It's okay, Tabrella," Lindsay reassured her. "You know that I forgave you a long time ago."

Tabrella smiled at this. "You still didn't have to help me back then, Lindsay."

"But I did," she counterpointed. "Because at that moment, I was in a position to help you, therefore I had the responsibility to help you… just like when I was in a position to help Emily."

Tabrella fell silent for a moment, reflecting on this. She thought about how Lindsay had helped her when she was at her lowest despite how much of a… bully Tabrella used to be towards her. She was now a better witch thanks to Lindsay and her influence… just like how Emily is now a better witch thanks to Lindsay and her influence. She didn't want to admit it… but perhaps she and Emily were more alike than she thought.

"Do you wish to talk about Emily… and Tracy?" Lindsay asked her.

Tabrella nodded. "What's on your mind about them?"

"It's just… I've been worried about whether I've been insensitive to your feelings by still wanting to be friends with Emily, given the trouble she got you and your family into," Lindsay admitted, looking worried.

Tabrella saw the concern on Lindsay's face and she took a deep breath. "Lindsay… I'm not bothered by it at all."

"You're… not?" Lindsay asked her.

"Please, I'm not going to stop you from making the unlikeliest friends. I wouldn't be surprised if you befriended the devil himself," Taberlla assured her before sighing. "Look, I may not know how I feel about Emily at the moment… but I'm fine with you being friends with her."

Lindsay smiled, feeling relieved. "That's good to hear."

"As for Tracy… I think we should give her some time to cool off before we talk to her," Tabrella suggested.

"I agree," Lindsay said, nodding. "In fact, I don't believe that I've seen her all day. Honestly, if we try to talk to her now, she would probably just avoid the conversation, just like she has done before."

"Yes, that is like her," Tabrella admitted. "So we'll just have to be patient with her… and patient with ourselves."

Back in the library at Inwell Prep, the same girl that Lindsay had bumped into earlier was currently studying some texts while in her room. The room was a wide space attic that had a purple ceiling with swirl patterns around and hanging from the ceiling was the model of the planetary system. There were four bookshelves all around the room and there was a large maroon carpet on the wooden floor. There was a telescope by the window, a bed with purple covers with stars and moons on them… and a second bed right next to it. The girl was currently at her desk, reading a book with strange-looking symbols in it.

"Hey, Amary."

She stopped reading the texts and turned around, looking at the young boy who called out to her. He was shorter than her. He had spiky green hair, green eyes, brown skin, and a purple hoodie jacket with an olive green shirt, blue trousers and gray boots.

"What's up, Raihan?" the girl, Amary, asked him.

"You know that dragon teen we saw a few days ago?" the boy asked with a smile. "I saw him again today. He was in the Academy."

"Yeah, I know," Amary said. "He and his friend literally bumped into me today." She paused. "You didn't… talk to him, did you?"

Raihan's smile immediately vanished and he looked down, disheartened. "No… but I wish I had," he said. He saw Amary give him a look. "I would have been careful…"

"Sorry, Raihan." Amary told him, shaking her head. "But you know we can't risk exposing ourselves right now. It's already risky enough, having three dragons so close to each other like this, and with the two of them being out in the open." She sighed. "They're so reckless. The last thing we need is to get involved with those siblings. I just know they're going to bring dragon hunters here…"

Raihan gave a pout, but he nodded. "I understand."

Amary heard the tone in his voice and she looked at him, her expression sympathetic. She sat up from her desk, walked over to him, and knelt down in front of him, patting his shoulder. "Hey, I understand, Rai," she told him. "But they're not the reason we're here. We have to prioritize our responsibilities."

Raihan just sighed as he walked over to his cot and collapsed onto it while Amary returned to her desk to continue with her reading.

"It's just not fair," Raihan muttered. "It's not fair…"

Back at the Inwell Mansion, Archduke Katzengerg Inwell walked over to his personal study. He paused in front of the door, looking around to make sure there was nobody in the hallway before he opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He sighed and turned to address his three guests who had been waiting for him in his study.

"Sorry for the delay," he said to his guests. "I had to see my children's guests before they left."

"It's no problem, sir," said a witch woman in a red button shirt, gray trousers, and sandal boots. She had a tanned face, rustled brown hair, black lips, and a scar that ran across her right, blank eye. She was sipping a glass of apple blood. "Thank you for the refreshments. I can't remember the last time I had a good glass of apple blood."

Archduke Inwell nodded, beaming slightly. "I have it shipped directly from Satorius Acres," he boasted. "I want only the finest in my house. Is the rest of the food to your liking, Captain?"

The witch woman with the scar across her eye sighed. "Not Captain," she said. "Not anymore." She turned to one of her companions. "How are the snacks, Pugsley?"

"Oh, they are delicious," said Puglsey, the pug-bulldog biped demon who instead of a scout uniform wore a grown cap, blue red striped white shirt with brown overalls, and black boots. His hands were full of cookies. "The snack bar is delicious!"

"Enough commenting about the refreshments!" shouted the impatient Kikimora, who wore what appeared to be a large fedora that covered her clawed-hair, a blue bowling shirt, and trousers. "I've waited too long for this meeting to commence!"

"Kiki, behave," Wolffe scolded her.

"She's right, Kiki," Pugsley said. "You gotta be polite to our host."

"Pugsley…" Kikimora growled.

"Now, now, let's not make a fuss," Katz told them as he took his seat at his desk while bringing up his inkwell pen and giving it a twirl. "Now then… let's discuss our business…"

In another part of the Inwell Isles, a group of four witches were currently together running through the forest, their actions desperate and panicked.

"Come on! This way!" one of them shouted.

"I knew we should have left earlier!" another responded as the group ran through the forest, attempting to put as much difference between themselves and their pursuer as possible.

Unfortunately for them, they did not run nearly as fast or as far enough.

"Found you," said a voice.

The four witches immediately froze in their tracks and looked around, fearful.

"Who… who said that?" one of them asked.

"Look!" the last of the four shouted as he pointed up at the silhouette of a figure in the tree above them. Immediately after being spotted, the figure leapt down and landed in front of them, revealing themselves to be a masked witch holding a sword.

"You four are in so much trouble," the masked witch said. She wore what appeared to be a black mask with white circles around the eyes. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she wore a light gray bodysuit with white cross lines, a blue armored top with shoulder pads, blue skirt strapped with a white button, and white heeled pointed ballerina shoes. "You stole from the Carmines and you really thought you could get away with it?" She wagged her finger at them, like they were naughty children. "You really should have known better. After all, haven't you heard the stories? Those who try to cheat or steal from the Carmines are never heard from again… if they're lucky." She sighed. "Perhaps that was my mistake. I need to at least leave part of your bodies behind as a warning to other would-be cheats and thieves…"

"We… we're not afraid of you!" spoke one witch who drew a spell circle, shooting light blasts at the masked witch.

The masked witch immediately jumped to the side, dodging the blast, before rushing towards the witch who shot at her. She jumped up and kicked the witch man, making him fall down. She then spun around to slice through a large vine coming at her, summoned by one of the witches. She brought out her sword and quickly slashed at the witch's hands.

"YAAAH!" the plant witch cried out before the masked witch cut her down.

The third witch formed constructs while the first witch got up and kept shooting light spells. The assassin danced around, avoiding the spells and the constructs being hurled at her. She noticed the last witch attempting to draw a spell, but she shook her head and clicked her feet together, causing blades to come out of her ballerina shoes. She raised one of her legs and slashed at the witch with the bladed shoe, cutting him across the chest deeply.

"No chance," she said as the witch fell. She then dashed towards the two remaining witches. The construction witch attempted to summon statues to block her path, but the assassin jumped up over the statues, did a flip through the air, and landed on the constructionist with a downward sidekick.

He tried to shield himself, but he felt the sharp edge of her shoe piercing through his arm, causing him to instinctively grab it. "GAAAAH!" he cried out before the assassin used her sword to swipe at the witch, slashing his face and throat. The constructionist fell down to the ground, blood oozing from him.

She then turned to the last witch, who was shaking where he stood. "Now it's just you…"

"No… I'm not going down like this!" he shouted while shooting more light spells towards the assassin.

The assassin easily dodged the attacks, then drew her own spell circle before she gave a twirl and added a slash to the spell circle, summoning a large ice slash that instantly went towards the witch…

SLICE!

The witch's eyes widened as he felt the slash run through to him. He then backed away for a few steps… before half of his body fell away from the other half, hitting the ground.

The assassin put away her sword after wiping the blood off. She looked around at the four dead bodies. "Mission accomplished," she said as she removed her mask. "That's what you get for trying to screw over my father. Now to dispose of the bodies… eh, I'll just let the wildlife have them. That should still send a message."

And with that, the assassin also known as Whitney Carmine departed into the night, intent to return to her hotel room where her sister was none the wiser…

Lastly, back on the Boiling Isles, a group of werecats were holding a secret meeting in a tent in the woods.

In this lantern-lit tent, the group of werecats were gathered around a table with a map on it. The map displayed all of the Boiling Isles, with different locations on the map marked. Amongst the werecats was the one armed Japanese bobtail werecat that Darcilia, Emily, and Zee had seen at the camp earlier.

"I hope you all haven't started this party without me, Nyax," said a voice.

The one-armed werecat, Nyax, turned to see another figure step into the tent from outside. "We were just waiting for your arrival...Hayden."

"Great," Hayden responded. He was still wearing his mask from the ship raid, but now he was in his werecat form, revealing himself to be a brown-furred lynx werecat. He wore a black button coat with a large collar, red ascents and trims, and a black belt with black trousers. He looked around, taking notice of everyone in attendance. "Is this everyone?"

"This is everyone for the moment," Nyax responded, giving him a nod. "But there will be more."

Hayden gave him a nod and smiled. "There will be more," he repeated as he walked over to look at the map. "But for now, we will have to do."

And as Hayden looked over the map, he wasn't just thinking about the future. He thought about his past, about his friends, about Darcilia… and about the promise he made years ago.

An eye for an eye.

So a lot of character introductions are in order.

To start with, there's Darcilia's parents, Darclaw and Selina. They're based off of Blake Belladonna's parents from RWBY, and yeah, it's too obvious to why I named Darcilia's mom after Catwoman.

Then we have the official introduction to Moggie Reef itself, and their duchess, Bastilla Moonstar, and her vizier Lumasta. Both are based off of Simone Lenoir and Lena Dupree of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. We've in fact based Moggie Reef after Moonscar Island, especially having the pirate, Moggie McScabburn, to be an expy of Morgan Moonscar.

Darcilia's friends from Moggie Reef, Snick, Echo and Yagill, are all based off of the Jungle Fury Rangers, Casey, Lily and Theo, respectfully. As for Hayden, well we can confirm that he's based off of Adam Taurus from RWBY, with their group being based off of the White Fang.

And then there's the Shallows of Tabrella's past, the friends she used to have before Katie. Think of them as the St. Epiderm's own Heathers or The Plastics, but they're all based off of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts from the Equestria Girls. They all consist of Britt Gemstone, who we can confirm is the older sister of Jen Gemstone from Luz Clawthorne 2024, as well as being an expy of Sunny Flare.

As for the rest there's Sierra Bluntington, the Sugarcoat expy. Sharon Blake is the expy of Sour Sweet. Scarlota Loit is the Lemon Zest expy. Finally, there's Juniper Stormweaver, who's an expy of Indigo Zap, and mixed in with Lightning Dust since Lightning Dust was originally going to be in the Equestria Girls: Friendship Games movie as part of the Crystal Prep's Shadowbolts, and Spitfire was also considered in the role, but the writers wanted a new character and thought that Spitfire was "not mean enough"(which I heartily disagree, since personally, Spitfire was a terrible pony).

Give credit to Crash X Fusion for the suggestion of what would be Cross's own interests would be. Elemental Hiro is pretty much like an in-universe Demon Realm show that is pretty much a parody of Generator Rex, all be it's own equivalent.

New werecat OCs have also shown up. Starting with Bengal Belmont, who is an expy of Sierra Khan from RWBY, but unlike in RWBY, this won't be a one-time appearance for her, so she won't be as underutilized as Sierra Khan.

The rest you see are other OC creations of Jack_Skeletron, who provided us werecat OCs to make for the chapter. Nyax being one of them, while the others that Emily, Zee and Darcilia spots and met are early-bird cameos. The new werecat characters will have roles for future Torsa Villa storylines in the LOWTH spin-off.

We've also gotten a full introduction to the Inwell Family here. We've decided this would be perfect to flesh them out and introduce them here.

Amary and Raihan are obvious expies to Twilight Sparkle and Spike, which we've decided to introduced them here.

For musical references, "Dancing Through Life" is a song from Wicked, which is used as Duke Eadbeaton's musical number for his introduction.

And now, we have an annoucnement to make. We've come to decided to delay the LOWTH spin-off to 2025. Originally, we were going to have it out on the same day as Book Three, with Book Three showing Halloween in the Human Realm, while LOWTH opens up with the characters celebrating Halloween in the Boiling Isles. However, until we decided to delay the LOWTH spin-off because we wnted to make more progress on both B&B and HD before jumping into another spin-off. Cross, Donna, and Lindsay are still in on Inwell Isles in B&B, and we thought it might be confusing if they appeared in The Adventures of LOWTH while their storylines in B&B are still happening. Not to mention it would be off to have them appear in two stories coming out at the same time while Luz is only one, and Cross, Donna and Lindsay needs to be in B&B, since there are storylines there that benefit from having them on the Inwell Isles. So until they resolve those storylines, the LOWTH spin-off is on hold.

But to make up for it, B&B will get a Halloween appropriate chapter instead.

Anything else… oh, the title of the chapter is pretty much a 'Diamond Dogs' reference, to refer that this chapter is both focus on Tabrella and Darcilia, as we see both of their backstories that lead up to where they are now.

Guest Reviews:

Matteso585: 1 and 2: Just cameos. 3: No, we never made any hints or indications to her parents being mauled by wild animals as not accidental. These incidents would happen depend on certain conditions the circus treats its animals.

Crash X Fusion: Well, we hope this answers what Phase Two is. Since Darcilia is believed to be dead, Moggie Reef sent out her replacement.

Cooki15xd: What evidence would Felicia provide? Nothing in that trial was something the Tarot Guild would mostly got involved, especially the Blight's testimonies were true, especially since it downplays Odalia's previous actions as CEO of Blight Industries, since she's still guilty on her cutthroat business practices and emotional abuse towards her family. And the backlash won't just go away. As for the second, we'll get into more as revealed in this chapter, and as for third, there will be lemon scenes, but it's not really going to be regular.

Shuffollower: Whitney and Rebecca were probably on a sisterly spa day. Tracy just distrust Emily after what she did that hurt Tabrella. The rest we can't answer.

Ultimate-drax: time will tell.

Spantidem7: 1) Will the new Goblin King be an expy of Jareth the Goblin King from Labyrinth?

Yes, we've been wanting to reference Labyrinth for a long time. We actually had an idea for a Labyrinth homage that we were never able to use in Book Two, so now we're using it here.

2) Does the rest of Team WZRD have a palisman?

No.

3) Just curious, how the fuck do you manage to constantly update all the books you have? I've seen fanfictions with not even a quarter of the content of one of your chapters that take years to be updated.

We have the time and the passion.

4) Will someone get killed by overkill? I think that's one of the funniest killing methods!

I mean, did you see how Zee killed the old Goblin King?

5) Seriously, does Leuce exist in the LCU?

Probably.

Guest: Nick Troll is the same character who appeared in the chapter "Emily's Eighteenth". He's just another one of the residents of Inwell Isles, and yes he has a description in the chapter. His name is a pun to Nick Kroll.