Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

👑 The Beautiful Tyrant: Chapter 2👑

In the Mirror Chamber, the housewardens are gathered, patiently waiting for Crowley to appear. After a few moments, footsteps are heard, and the door opens, the person in question heading to the center of the chamber, looking around. "All housewardens are present, then?" He asks, seeing the familiar faces, and pad, around him.

"Malleus isn't here yet," Vil says as he looks at Lilia.

"Sorry about that," Lilia says with a sigh. "I knew where he was up until lunch break, but once school let out, poof- he was gone."

"He pulls this every time," Idia says with a sigh. "It has to be on purpose, right?"

"I wouldn't say that. Time just flows a little...differently for us fae," Lilia explains. "And if I might add, he's got quite a streak of bad luck when it comes to these things."

"Aha ha," Kalim laughs. "I know just what you mean! Jamil gets onto to me all the time for forgetting to attend meetings."

"Khee hee hee..." Lilia chuckles. "As his vice housewarden, I'll be representing Malleus today, with your leave."

"Hmph," Leona scoffs. "Who cares if that pretentious punk is here? Can we get this meeting started or what?"

"AHEM," Crowley clears his throat, everyone looking at him. "I now call this assembly to order. We've spent quite a while preparing for the National Arcane Academy Culture Fair. It takes place in less than two months. Management Committee Chairman Rosehearts, your progress report, if you please."

"Yes sir." Riddle steps up, paper in hand. "If everyone could refer to the papers I handed out at the start? Applications are still open for students admissions and presentations from magical academies nationwide. Vendor booths for food, drinks, and crafts are limited in number and all fully booked."

"Hm?" Kalim asks in confusion. "The food and drinks part I get, but what's this about crafts?"

"That covers art club products: clothers, pottery, engravings, paintings, and so on," Riddle explains. "They'll be selling some and exhibiting others. We also has applications for live painting and independent films."

"Oooh, that all sounds delightful!" Kalim happily says.

"Moving on, regarding the venues for speech contests and research presentations, we plan to install three stages on campus for this event. The red stage will be on the sports field, blue stage will be in the gym, and the purple stage will be in our largest spot, the coliseum. We are still accepting press coverage applications for all presentations, both for domestic and foreign sources, but..." He looks closely at the paper with a slight frown. "...Mm."

"What is it, Riddle?" Kalim asks. "You look pensive."

"There's a musical presentation on the Purple Stage called the Song & Dance Championship," he says. "We've been flooded with applications from external media outlets to cover this program. To what I would call an excessive degree."

"I imagine so, yes," Azul says. "Song & Dance Championship, or SDC for short is a global-level competition between the most talented singers at schools in every part of the country."

"Considering that it's categorized as a musical presentation, I was envision something more along the lines of a simple choral contest."

"That's all the SDC actually was, back when the culture fair started," Vil speaks up. "But as time went on, it came to encompass greater and greater varieties of musical expression. Now dances and other such productions fall within its purview. It's been changing steadily over time. Nowadays, it's a music festival widely regarded as a gateway to the big leagues."

"The audience votes for the finalists in real time as well," Azul adds. "This keeps the event from feeling staged. There's no small number of stars who got their start here. Incidentally, Vil will be participating this year. Small wonder the press is swarming the event," he says with a smile.

"...Hmph," Vil slightly scoffs.

"Interesting," Riddle says with thought. "I never knew."

"Tsk, tsk, Riddle," Azul says. "Considering you're at the top of your class, I thought you'd be more up-to-date on trending topics. Were you not aware that Vil is a global celebrity?"

"Must you always couch your words in barbs?" Riddle says with a slight pout. "I don't live under a rock. I know my upperclassmen is in the entertainment industry."

"Indeed he is," Azul smiles. "he's a highly popular figure who does everything from modeling for fashion magazines to acting in movies. When Fashion Week kicks off, he's flooded with offers from big-name brands. He held the record for runway appearances in last year's fall and winter seasons. Plus he's a Magicammer with over fie million followers. All this while still a student! They say whenever he plugs a piece of merchandise, it flies off every store shelf. He's the textbook definition of an 'influencer.'"

"Goodness..." Riddle says in slight shock, with a hint of appreciation. "I didn't know he was THAT famous."

"Hmph," Vil says as he glares at Azul. "Ever the chatterbox, Azul."

A/N: So many of you were wondering about the process of anymore side stories being added to the book. The question to that is...THERE IS! Most of it is going to be added at the end of Book 5 (I know Book 5 and Book 6 is like hours apart but side stories take priority) but again some will be added to the previous work. If you guys want to see the list, here's what I got so far:

"A Moonlight View"- Angel, Rook, Trey

"Noodles of Fun"- Angel, Deuce, Grim

"Err to Growing"- Angel, Epel, Vil, Leona, various

"Secret Ingredient" -Angel, Azul, Vil (based on Azul's vignette)

"Curious Case"- Ace, Deuce, various

"Talking to Animals"- Angel, Riddle, Trey

"A Crowing Problem"- Angel, Jack, Grim, fairies

"Hair Show"- Angel, Kalim, Jamil (?)

"The Untrendable"- Angel, Riddle, Cater (based on Riddles vignette)

"Movie Night Pt 2"- Vil, Epel, Rook, Kalim, Jamil, Ace, Deuce, Grim, Angel

"Let's Get Ready to Football!"- Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel, Angel, Grim, Vargas

These are some of the side stories I got planned to release at the end of Book 5 and other books. Do know the titles will change (give me time to think about it) and not all of them will be written. I'm just throwing ideas out there. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll try and get back to writing more chapters when (hopefully) I don't drown in schoolwork (only written 7 chapters so far when chapter is released. School is killing me 😓). (2/14/24)

Which potential side story are you anticipating though? 😺