the closest thing to impossible

Summer in Sunny Bay has never been so... eventful. But with another year of high school about to begin, Iris has something she needs to get off her chest.
Alternatively: fulfilling the daydreams of little kid-me, who loved this show and hated the secret identity nonsense, and wanted a little more out of the two seasons we were given

Notes:

heeey.. how y'all doin...
so it's been a bit less than a year since ive been on this account, but this fic has been in the works since january 2024. at first i was just making a lolirock chatfic, because the style of the show doesn't really give the characters any downtime and the fandom is so barren there are tumbleweeds. but then i was rewatching the show and was like "huh. aren't they supposed to be in school??"
and the rest of the premise for this fic was born! it's going to (mostly) follow canon, with my own little twists here and there. and hopefully, by the time we get there, i can also add a bit of season 3!!! because WE all saw the announcement and WE are all super hype.
this is a super abbreviated version of what i really want to say, rest is in end notes as well as some extra info for the chapter. as always, i hope you enjoy, and feedback and criticism are appreciated!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: you give me butterflies

Chapter Text

there’s 17 days of summer vacation

DOUGwithablog

did u guys do ur prgms yet??

eyeris27

yeah? like last spring before auditions for the musical
did you not do them in homeroom when they told us to?

DOUGwithablog

lmao

bignate27

LMFAO HOW DID YOU GET AWAY WITH THAT
The counselor wouldnt stop calling my parents when that happened to me last year and i got put in baseball for gym :(

eyeris27
that’s how you ended up on the team!!!!
I was so confused like hmmm I know nate hates baseball so why would he choose it for gym
that explains so much

V0LT4N

I just looked up what baseball was!!! I don’t know why you would hate it when it looks so fun!!!
You get to run around and hit stuff with a metal stick!!! And you don’t get in trouble!!!

K88
Auriana is so precious OMG
Yes that’s why I love baseball

bignate27
All that did was make me wonder what she did with a metalstick to get in trouble
Her arms are really really buff tho so i think she could be a softball player this year if she tried

DOUGwithablog

auriana has run into me soooooooo mny times she could be a nfl legend

eyeris27

truth!!!

V0LT4N

I don’t know what that is but thank you!!!!
Nathaniel it’s so surprising you think I have big arm muscles!!! I haven’t seen them in forever but last I checked my siblings were way stronger than me!!

bignate27

Back to this again oml

eyeris27

???

DOUGwithablog

bettr than interobang tbh

eyeris27
don’t test me because I will interrobang you

DOUGwithablog

ITS SO UGKY STOP

bignate27

Every time auriana or talia if shes online says something its just so concerning like i haven’t seen my family in forever what do you mean by that????/??//

TALiA
Cope

K88

Talia I worship the heel of your boot and all the bless’d land it graces but WTF

And she’s offline again

eyeris27

I hear her giggling at your confusion dw it is on purpose

but yeah Doug you really need to submit yours asap before they put you in some random class

DOUGwithablog

im guranteed apush and lit but my bio teacher was so salty i dissed her on my blog and now she wont rec me for ap chem >:(
i stg im gonna do smth drastic if she doesnt rec me

eyeris27

pretty sure its not the blog thing
Missy asked you out before her weird obsession with Nathaniel and you rejected so she may be retaliating

her uncle is the head of the science dept

DOUGwithablog

WITH MY GPA???? IM TRYING TO GET INTO COLLEGE

V0LT4N

Oh do I have to do this programming thing? I’m not actually enrolled in a school! But it sounds super fun!!!

TALiA

Aunt Ellen is taking us to do programming at your high school on Monday. We won’t be in the same year, but she said she would try and put us in the same lunch and gym blocks.

bignate27

Oh your bday is pretty late im honestly surprised they didnt push you down a grade

K88

Thank God that didn’t happen to me

Nate your year is strange

bignate27

I wouldnt say all that

DOUGwithablog

i have clips dont even

bignate27

eyeris27

if anyone needs community service hours they have tours for the middle school tomorrow afternoon!!!
and then we’re hanging with some kids for a charity carnival tonight ^^

K88

Says the one with 80 hours before her sophomore year even starts…

eyeris27

I like to help people!!
and these kids are sooooo cute

DOUGwithablog

i need like 15 more for honor society in winter so sign me up for the tour
but im busy tn i have some editing to do

V0LT4N

How do you see how many hours you have???

eyeris27

you aren’t in our district yet but I can help you log what we did this summer when we get you an id

V0LT4N

YAY!!!

bignate27

Does anyone else ever see like a random shape and then have a violent reaction to it for no reason at all or is that just me lmao

DOUGwithablog

no no wait i get that alot
liek i literally saw a drawing tut and they drew a moon and i almost shat myself

K88

For me it’s butterflies and dark red. Something about it just sets me off even though I’ve never seen a butterfly up close like that before

DOUGwithablog

might make an apt w maisley she can prob help
my parents dont think its anything srs but its freaking me out

like yeah mom i went to a concert yestrday I CAN STILL B FREAKED

TALiA

That sounds like really serious trauma. Have you given any thought to desensitizing yourself to those images?

bignate27

Yes absolutely!! regular people do that all the time

eyeris27

or therapy!!

that helped me when I was little

DOUGwithablog

yeah im booking w maisley rn

neway i went to ur charity thingy for a little bit cuz i finished early and i saw the finest specimin EVER OMG

strangely attracted to hr eyebrows they were so sharp
whole face was sharp tbh

serving face and allat

V0LT4N

I know someone like that!!! She’s really pretty but she’s really mean too >:( !!

But if it’s not her you should totally go out with her!!! Earth dates are so much fun!!!!

K88

As opposed to Mars dates? LMFAO

bignate27

Auriana should totally take astro n/l for her elective if its still open she talks abt space so much

V0LT4N

I LOVE SPACE!!!! AND THE STARS!!!!! AND THE MOON OVER THE BEACH!!!!!

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE!!!!!

TALiA

She found the capital letter lock…

V0LT4N

bignate27

When your situationship leaves you in the middle of your romantic ass hike making superhero excuses again

eyeris27

IM SORRY :(((
but tbf I didn’t leave :( we needed sunscreen!!!

bignate27

Spf 400 spray sunscreen
Just say youre batman atp ill believe it

V0LT4N

Batman? Why not a magical princess from another planet sent to fight the forces of evil on Earth?

DOUGwithablog

:o liek the anime i sent you!!!!

V0LT4N

YES!!! I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!! I FINISHED BOTH SEASONS IN ONE NIGHT!!!

bignate27

Magical princess batman whatever just give me an explanation pleaaaase

Starting to think you dont value my time cuz im constantly waiting for some of yours :/

eyeris27

thats

I don’t know how to respond to this so I don’t think I will

V0LT4N

Iris :(((

Nathaniel :(((

K88

And we did this in the group chat… why?

bignate27

She never answers in dms just magically dodges the question

DOUGwithablog

pts for magic princess lol

also tht was a whole ass bar

K88

No we’re not pretending like that wasn’t totally cringe. JFC please do this anywhere but here!

DOUGwithablog

dont listen to this loser give me aaaaall the drama

LoliRock!

Talia

No Iris, you may not tell Nathaniel about our mission

Iris

gimme 3 good reasons rn I can and will disprove them all

Talia

He’s enough of a distraction as is, which will become more problematic when we’re forced to attend your school in two weeks.
He will concern himself with your safety, requiring us to spend more energy protecting him when it is already difficult enough to regularly combat the twins, practice for LoliRock, and make ourselves available to help humans at all times.

He may sell this information to LoliRock fans or Earthling scientists. We can’t focus on Gramorr if we’re constantly worried about being followed by your military. Your country is extremely corrupt.

Iris

okay 1. he’s only a distraction because I have to juggle all the lies you make me tell him every day and teachers dc as long as you get good enough grades so school is a nonissue
2. he’s not stupid??? like no he will always concern himself with my safety because he’s been my best friend since day 1 but if he’s knows he’s outmatched he’ll back off

doesnt matter that much tho since he’s p strong by human standards and can handle himself

Auriana

Against Mephisto and Praxina?!

Iris

not going that far but he can probably get away from the average crystal monster

and 3. he’s my literal day 1. even if we weren’t in whatever we’re in now he’s still my longest and closest friend besides you guys (of out of necessity) he won’t sell our info or let us get kidnapped by the government

Talia

Still not entirely convinced. The safety of humans, while important, isn’t our priority. The possibilities are too varied for us to take that risk. You can’t tell him.

Auriana

Wait what do you mean out of necessity??? Do you not think we’re your friends Iris???

Iris

read at 7:24pm

Direct Messages with nathaniel <3

nathaniel I’m really sorry I’ve been avoiding your questions I just

this is so hard to explain :(

I really wish you would just tell me the truth

and I wish you would understand that I can’t

Yes you can

You know you can tell me anything? it doesn’t even have to be over text just

Please talk to me? im getting more worried about you every day

Are you in danger? is this a family thing or lolirock or?

yes to everything in a way

it really is complicated and I don’t understand it all myself but

the second I can tell you I will I promise

right now I think it would be worse if you knew

I see

Well i dont but

I want to trust that you can handle it and will come to me when you’re ready

No more blowing me off with bad excuses though

And tell me when i can help please. i want to take this off your shoulders one day

And im sorry for putting our business on blast like that i just worry about you a lot

dawww nate ilyt

there’s 14 days of summer vacation

K88

So I said “you can’t go behind the counter ma’am it’s dangerous” AND SHE BITCH SLAPS ME

Part of me is kinda like “damn my bad miss”

DOUGwithablog

like the little bitch you are

K88

True!

But the other part wants to throw her over the saw and just make wood chips out of her stomach

God I need this job robotics is so expensive :(

V0LT4N

Talia won’t say anything but if you did that it would be really hot!!

eyeris27

romanticizing violence??

DOUGwithablog

ONG

to auriaan not u iris booooo party poopr

K88

>///<

bignate27

Day 2800000 of the talia notice me campaign

TALiA

We’re going to a bookstore tomorrow evening. They have an attached shop that allegedly boasts the best chai in the west. I’m so excited.

V0LT4N

weirdsmiletalia.jpeg

SHE REALLY IS!!!!

K88

Guys she wants me so bad you just can’t tell

DOUGwithablog

me when im trying to prove i have a gf

V0LT4N

I love dating!!!

There are cute people everywhere!! Like at the smoothie bar!!! And the gym!!! Why limit yourself to just one!!!

DOUGwithablog

PREACH!!!

all fax no printer

bignate27

Oh my god youre so corny

You dont even get dates what are you agreeing with

eyeris27

nobody has said that since two years ago doug

DOUGwithablog

bringing it back just you wait

does anyone wanna hang out tmmr :D

bignate27

Cash is getting a bit sparse so unfortunately i cant hang out for a while

Gotta get this overtime to afford all this protein

DOUGwithablog

its so hard being hot isnt it

eyeris27

must be a true struggle

K88

Oh to have fans as dedicated to me as Nathaniel’s…

DOUGwithablog

alr nath quit the hax

how are you pushing 18 hrs a day the smoothie bar isnt even open for 12???

bignate27

Get on the grindset little boy you cant handle this motion

DOUGwithablog

i get more donos than you can dream of stfu

eyeris27

he works at the sub shop near the downtown construction site during lunch time and the 24hr coffee shop since everyone is cramming for placements

bignate27

And anyway i work 20 hrs technically they cant say anything about my power naps on the clock

Plus the nighttime tips are straight out of dreams

5k in two weeks here we come B)

V0LT4N

But you don’t ever spend any money! Unless it’s for Iris ;) But still!!! You don’t need any!!!

K88

In America we have this thing called inflation, so if Nathaniel wants to afford lunch and concert tickets for the next month, he needs to work a lot more.

TALiA

We can always give you guys the free tickets we get. You don't have to pay if you can't afford to come

DOUGwithablog

no!! we all agreed to support u guys all the way

so u can keep givign ur free tix to the little babies that need them more

eyeris27

what about your clean the beach day?

you cant work and run the event at the same time

bignate27

Doug is taking pictures of my surfing and im selling them to missy and internet strangers as art refs and stuff

Like of but i dont have to be gross

TALiA

You remind me of the Hustlers shows Aunt Ellen plays on Friday nights

K88

@bignate27 Are you safe? I saw that giant sandstorm that kind of

Ate you??

Is he alive???

eyeris27

we’re looking for him right now

DOUGwithablog

no sign of him tho

its getting really scary

might be hallucinating tbh but i keep hearing evil cakcles like witches or smth

TALiA

Stay on your side and keep searching. It may be a hallucination or something much more serious.

DOUGwithablog

aye aye!!

K88

Okay I’m out of the area now

But that sandstorm was so weird

Sunny Bay is so weird :D (with terror)

Oh thank God it finally stopped

bignate27

New nightmare fuel unlocked i can no longer look at the red lights at the garage without freezing

The trauma is real

eyeris27

but thats the entire decor theme! red neons everywhere

and you love the garage :(

bignate27

I can deal iris

Takibng doug’s advice and booking w maisley before she fills up too fast

V0LT4N

Today was really scary :((((

You guys should all come over!!! We can have a sleepover like they do in movies!!

TALiA
A what.

Absolutely not.

V0LT4N

Like containment but with pillows and more room and gossip and snacks!!

And Aunt Ellen said yes so you’re outvoted!!!!!

K88

Another clue for my whiteboard

eyeris27

you are the type of person to walk around with red string

I bet you think 9/11 was an inside job

K88

I do believe that aliens built the pyramids

DOUGwithablog

this is a grown ass man gyus

K88

Please don’t remind me I still don’t know where I’m going for college

Oh yeah there are other exchange students coming so for everyone except the younguns sign up for shadows

eyeris27

I resent that

DOUGwithablog

die

K88

bignate27

Sleepover it is

But if you guys are using led then please dont turn them to red i might actually start crying like little bitch boy

eyeris27

of course not nate <3

K88

I love how you didn’t say a little bitch boy just little bitch boy like you’re referring to someone specific

bignate27

Yes

You

V0LT4N

supercutedresses.jpeg

[Talia is wearing a red dress reminiscent of a Latin dancer’s. The asymmetrical frill on the waist is bordered by black with an orange underside that matches the marigold in her hair, her golden hoop earrings, her peachy lip gloss, and her heels, exposed by the slit in the right leg. She’s leaned forward, resting both arms on her raised knee with a smile.

Auriana is wearing a glittery purple and black dress, with a yellow underside visible as the ends of the dress flutter around her feet. The black makes up the skirt and shoots up her front, wrapping around her neck and bisecting the purple top that only reaches to her collarbone. Her usual side ponytail is curled in a bun, and she looks like she owns the world, mid-strut in glittering purple heels.

Iris’ dress is a matte purple, with a lighter and more vibrant shade on the underside of the back cape. The chest of the top has a feathery pattern matching the headpiece in her blonde curls and earrings she wears. Her hand is on her hip and the other hangs in front of her lips. She looks important in this dress.]

DOUGwithablog

OH MY GOD?!

ive fallen and i cant get up only you can save me

good googly moogly

HIPS????

V0LT4N

:DDD

Thank you!!!

My new friend Carlos taught me! He’s going to be in a fashion show today!!

DOUGwithablog

is he just as hot (O)u(O)

V0LT4N

;)

DOUGwithablog

i love fashion people

if hes in txt this year i might start stalking tbh

bignate27

Not this again

One day youre gonna get reported and im going to say i told u so

DOUGwithablog

not today im not

I FOUND HIM ON INSTA GUYS

his wholef amily is hot wtf WTF

V0LT4N

You should come to the show and tell him in person!!

DOUGwithablog

im already here XD lmao XD

eyeris27

oh so THIS is where you were

Auriana come downstairs for practice please

Talia’s eye is twitching again

V0LT4N

Oops!!!

K88

Isn’t he in your class Nathaniel?

Also good morning simp nation

WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME TALIA HAD SOCIALS

Giggling kicking my feet twirling my hair

screenshot934.jpeg

[Talia is in the same dress, but her pose has changed. Her back is facing the camera with her hand on her hip, and only a portion of her face can be seen as she looks over her shoulder to the lens.]

bignate27

You have waves my good sir what hair

Also yes what about it

K88

Shhh

TALiA

How did you even!

Auriana I’m going to put scorpions in your pillowcase

V0LT4N

Oops!!!!!

DOUGwithablog

guys he models his own clothes sometimes

like hes hot and nrmally he dresses like a cute dork but

hhhaaaa FUCK

screenshot2657.jepg

[Carlos’ hair is jet black, but the top part that's left unshaven is dyed blonde. It's styled upwards with gel and pomade, remaining upright though his head is tilted downwards. His usual green glasses have been replaced by sleek golden circle frames. His suit is a cream colored example of elegance, with multiple chains and layered pieces to the once simple tuxedo. A bit of his chest is shown from the intentionally loose tie and open buttons, and he looks up seductively through his eyes at the camera.]

eyeris27

alright take that out of the group chat

K88

Nah keep it in

Got me biting my lip

screenshot935.jpeg

[Another image of Carlos in the same outfit, though he's laying in a grassy field and looking off into the distance, as if dreaming.]

bignate27

You all are so strange

eyeris27

screenshot78.jpeg

this you?

bignate27

I did not make those comments

That is not me

eyeris27

“He can do things to me in that shirt that I could never repeat to God”

bignate27

Tbf

He did do things to me in that shirt that i cant repeat to god

How do you think i realized i was bi

DOUGwithablog

when is it my turn

V0LT4N

Carlos really is the sweetest!!!

We should add him here after the fashion show!!! Because we’re all such good friends!!!

DOUGwithablog

if he sees these messages ill explode in front of you and make you relive it everydya

V0LT4N

I showed all of them to him!!! He says hi and thank you!!!! And his face is really red lol

K88

Not me fleeing the country haha

See you all in the Philippines

eyeris27

LMFAO

V0LT4N

He called me generous and I started swooning

I love this city teeheehee

DOUGwithablog

weak i wd kiss his toes

K88

Guys my Talia fanpage is getting so much content

We’re being FED

loml20.jpeg

[Another image of Talia, though this time she's jumping in midair. She's wearing a black top that ends just below her bust, a light blue jacket of slightly longer length, and black pants with a blue diamond accent pattern along the side of the leg. A white belt keeps them sitting comfortably low on her waist, so her toned stomach and hip bones are visible. She's midjump and elated.]

bignate27

Wowie

Alr never saying that again

But you guys look amazing

eyeris27

ty! we have a performance really soon so cant talk but everyone says ty

DOUGwithablog

WHEN IS IT MY TURN

K88

I’m done being surprised about the freaky that happens in this city

I know it’s Cali but WHY ARE THERE EARTHQUAKES??

bignate27

Extremely worried since thats where the girls are suppsoed to be for their camp

Also giant flashes of light in the sky not new at all

DOUGwithablog

this is our lif now :D

cMontana

My grandmother used to say that there were spirits watching us to protect us and keep us in line, but also to cause mischief. Maybe there are tricksters in the forest.

bignate27

Not tricking me out of the grindset

We are making bank tonight earthquakes be damned

DOUGwithablog

preach except i hate you because the internet keeps bugging

bignate27

K88

Wait

Who added Carlos to the chat?

DOUGwithablog

GELP

PLESAE DONT BACKREAD

bignate27

He already saw your thirst twts calm down

cMontana

I’m very flattered you appreciate my work! The next time I have a show, I’ll be sure to give you front row seats.

DOUGwithablog

does he not know i want to worship his abs

cMontana

I’ve worked very hard on all my designs. Sharing them with the world is my dream! And you’re very attractive too, Doug. :)

DOUGwithablog

OMG HE NOTICED ME

what ifd i die rn

bignate27

Good riddance more for me

DOUGwithablog

>:(

K88

Okay, nice to know we have no concern for the weird shaking and explosions and light

Just checking

Oh nice another duststorm that lasted for all of a minute

bignate27

Average sunny bay experience

DOUGwithablog

this is why we never get tourists

bignate27

Except for the concerts

Theres another one tomorrow night btw

cMontana

Auriana, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while. Is your pet cat a pokemon?

K88

Another cryptid that only comes on for weird ass questions or vague ass responses

TALiA

You love me. And no. What is a pokemon?

K88

OMG OMG OMG

GUYS GUYS LOOK
She wants me so bad proof proof

bignate27

Lmao

Pokemon are little animal things that have superpowers and repeat their own names over and over

Basically amaru

eyeris27

Amaru is not a pokemon he’s just silly

leave him alone

V0LT4N

Exactly!!! Superpowered animals are an entirely different species altogether!!!

eyeris27

she’s also silly did we mention that

V0LT4N

Don’t embarrass me in front of Carlos!!

bignate27

*my man

You can embarrass her all you want he wont care cuz thats my man

DOUGwithablog

the girls are fightingggg

except your all wrong thats MY man

cMontana

Actually, I’ve been in a committed relationship with Talia for several months. We’re planning on getting engaged once we graduate high school.

TALiA

Because my superior intelligence is evident in my eyes which makes me “wifey material”.

K88

Excuse me for a moment while I jump off a bridge

My life is over

V0LT4N

WHAAAAAAAAT!!!!

bignate27

DOUGwithablog

NO MY LOVE

PLEASE I CAN BE BETTER

TALiA

Joking. I only have room in my heart for studying and Aunt Ellen’s hot cocoa.

V0LT4N

THAT’S EVEN WORSE!! AFTER ALL WE’VE BEEN THROUGH!!!!

eyeris27

no no she has a point

I would die for aunt Ellen’s cocoa

bignate27

So would everybody thats not the point

I still have a chance

K88

Oh to have fans as dedicated to me as Carlos’

Except I’m the number one fan

eyeris27

legally obligated to tell you all that lolirock is opening for the teen talent showcase tonight!!

show some support!!

bignate27

Im already here

eyeris27

wjat

bignate27

#lolirockday1

The rest of you are fake for not sleeping in the audience waiting

DOUGwithablog

bro is risking it ALL

bignate27

Im just better

DOUGwithablog

isnt zack brady gonna perform?

im excited to see

eyeris27

WHAT

REALLY???

TALiA

We see him right now outside of the shopping district.

cMontana

Is this normal? How did the instrument just fly off stage like that?

K88

Average Sunny Bay experience

DOUGwithablog

smth in the water

look evn tho it would be prime content for my blog if i tried to explain

EVERYTHING

that happeend in sunny bay i would go cuckoo

bignate27

Judging by how quiet lolirock is ig theyre trying to help

Knowing them itll be solved by tomorrow

eyeris27

you know me so well <3

can’t talk though

cMontana

If you’re sure… my mother is making cakes tonight if anyone wants to come by? My entire evening is free since the show was canceled.

DOUGwithablog

sign e

PLEASE

ME ME ME

K88

Can’t, Zack is really upset about the show and I promised to get on Guitar Hero with him

Have fun though!!!

bignate27

More stuff for the consipracy board ig

Its like i know whats happening but the answer is

Right there

I feel stupid

DOUGwithablog

magic? i dont know anymore

maybe the gov is starting to test us

maybe were the ctrl cityyyy :0

bignate27

Any answer is better than nothing atp

Direct Messages with iris <3

You okay?

:((

nooooo :(

Is this part of that thing you cant tell me about

Cuz you and auriana are uncharacteristically mopey rn

I lost something really important

like really really important

never felt so much like a failure in my life

Youre not a failure

You have never been a failure

it’s like whenever something good happens I always have to

stay on guard

like something bad is gonna happen immdiately after

That doesnt make you a failure iris

Thats just life

Whats important is that you never give up so that you can make it better

I’m so tired

of losing things

and not being good enough

But youve been good enough

Youre not perfect but you try your best to be

Everyone agrees that youre brilliant like that

no but I’m not

and I haven’t been trying hard enough because

UGH

if I WAS good enough I could stop lying to you

I could tell you everything and not have to worry because I would be good enough to protect you

Dont ever feel guilty for trying your best evenn when you dont think its good enough

I dont need you to be indestructible iris i just need you to be you

I love you

Not this untouchable fearless protector you want to be

You made a mistake and the world didnt explode so be happy youre alive to fix it

promise me something

~~Everything~~

Anything

if something happens to me I need you to run and never look back

because if you don’t then you’ll get hurt and I’ll never forgive myself

that’s a mistake I could never go back to fix

Ominous asl but sure

Nothing will catch me

I love you so much Nathaniel

even if I’ll never be good enough to protect you I will always love you

Shhhh stop it

Youre always good enough

Better than that

One day i hope you believe me

me too

there is 1 day of summer vacation alvarez squad rise up

DOUGwithablog

WHAT WE DOIN THIS WEEKND

other than ignoring the mystrey earthquakes XD

AGAIN XD

K88

LMAO seeing Doug this worked up will never not make me giggle

cMontana

I’m busy preparing my stuff for tomorrow. So excited for school to start!

bignate27

Only you bro literally only you

K88

One more year until college :(

I cannot do this hahaHA

DOUGwithablog

heehee old pepo

K88

Okay Mr. 73 APs. YOU should be in college.

DOUGwithablog

im never leaving sunny bay lmfao

i cldnt imagine being anywhere else

i have too many fans here

bignate27

You also have a lot of fans in dubai why dont you live there

DOUGwithablog

i do???

bignate27

Intelligence is chasing you

But youre so much faster

DOUGwithablog

>:(

anyway

i got tickets for sled mountain!!!

shady dude with amazing pecs sold em to us at half

bignate27

That i paid for??

DOUGwithablog

i gave him the money you were too busy oogling

if anyone wants to come were abt to meet at lolirock’s

K88

I can’t see my queen today, I need to pick up my band uniform and clean my trombone

Focusing on tenor and robots this whole summer was very stupid of me

DOUGwithablog

boo bitch boy

fine :/

you suck at trombone anyway >:(

cMontana

Like I said, I’m busy with my preparations. I might be able to join later if my mother doesn’t need my help with dinner. My cousins are coming to stay with us for the first semester until their house’s renovations are complete.

Have fun though! See you all tomorrow for sure!

DOUGwithablog

:0 can i come for dinner!!!

cMontana

Of course! Our doors are always open :)

DOUGwithablog

carlos is the only one i love

we’re getting married tonight guys none of you are invited

bignate27

That was my man first homewrecker

So insulted rn i cant believe you would leave me for THAT

DOUGwithablog

excuse me???

bignate27

Day 7092 of lolirock being weird

Just to clarify idc if iris looks like a bergen i would still hit :(

Talia

What is a “bergen”? And why did we need to know this information?

DOUGwithablog

like frm trolls?? wtf vro

K88

MY ONE TRUE LOVE!!!

Talia

I am a hallucination.

K88

She knows I dream of her <3

DOUGwithablog

you are disgusting

V0LT4N

I can definitely go!!!

But Iris and Talia can’t!!!!

eyeris27

yeah the face thingy didn’t work at all

breaking out in hives rn and I can’t let the world see me

Talia is staying behind to help me

cMontana

That’s so kind of her! You really are lucky to have her as a friend.

K88

>:(

bignate27

Whatever you say

See you soon auriana

DOUGwithablog

YAY

we’ll meet u by the pickup on the west side and go around to the top!!!

V0LT4N

Can’t wait!!!! See you soon!!!!

DOUGwithablog

photo9834.jpeg

[From the top of the mountain, a blurry photo of a second slide diverging from the first.]

a second slide just appeared? out of nowhere?

for all i joke about sunny bay being crazy this is actually making me shit myself

hello??

anyone???

im calling the cops omg

IT MOVED

HOLY SHIT IT MOVED

WHY IS THERE A CLIFF

nevermind ig

okay if i sent these texts im not hallucinanting but that means auraina and nate just teleporyant wtf

WTF

okay

this is fine

14 messages have been deleted

cMontana

Did someone ghost ping? I have a bunch of notifs but I don’t see anything. Is everyone okay?

DOUGwithablog

lmfao yeah that was me

sorry man i was just testing something

cMontana

No worries! And if you still want to come for dinner, we have that rice pudding you liked last time whenever you want it.

DOUGwithablog

god is real and he is carlos montana

ill be there before the lolirock show tnite

“Iris, may I speak to you for a second?”

The girls of Lolirock stood in various states of confusion as to why Nathaniel wanted to see their lead singer just minutes before their show. It wasn’t to offer good luck or congratulations, as Iris was insanely superstitious for a magical princess and praise is usually reserved for after the show. Seeing his eyebrows upturned over his teal eyes gave Talia and Auriana the impression he was about to confess something important… like maybe his love for Iris?

Everyone knew they were very close and had exchanged some platonic “I love you”s, but they weren’t officially together as a couple. They had grown up together, after all, without anyone else fending for them in the playground. He protected Iris through her formative years of magical mishaps that gave her a horrible reputation throughout town despite how often she tried to help people. It was Auriana’s favorite romance trope, and there wasn’t even ongoing rampage and destruction via Gramorr to ruin it! At least not actively on Earth.

But Iris knew differently. He wasn’t nervous, but worried. Nathaniel’s shirt was wrinkled from fidgeting with the hem the way he always did before talking about something serious. His eyes never went bloodshot after crying, which Iris cursed every day because she was a very ugly crier, but she could see the faint streaks of tear tracks that hadn’t been properly washed away on his cheeks. The corner of his bottom lip was an irritated red, probably because of his habit of chewing on it when he had to confront someone.

Nathaniel was amazing at playing the tough guy act with an almost impenetrable poker face, but he had tells that showed his true face. His terrified, confused, guideless face. The other girls couldn’t see this, though, so Talia immediately took Auriana by the shoulder and led her towards the door. “Auriana! I think there were some… fans that wanted autographs.” She winked, and the Voltan immediately caught on, since Talia hated the public relations part of their gig enough to avoid autographs altogether. “We should totally go.”

Nathaniel sighed in relief, finally able to speak to Iris alone. Iris herself tried to stay positive, a weak smile with halfway applied pink lip gloss on her flustered face. She could be wrong, even though she knew in her heart she wasn’t, but it didn’t hurt to be optimistic.

“So… what’s up?”

“Um…” He stammered for the best way to phrase what he was about to say, knowing it would be crazy to anyone else who hadn’t seen what they had. Who didn’t know what they did. “N-Nothing, really. I mean, it was a pretty harsh day, with the sliding and all… for a moment I thought it would end badly.”

Iris’ eyes widened. They were a different kind of blue than his, more vivid and ethereal. “Yeah,” she breathed heavily. “Auriana told us. It was quite impressive, I guess?”

Nathaniel paused, leaning back against the counter without even noticing the powders and glitter coating his palms. Normally he would be sensitive to such sensations. He hated those kinds of things. Iris grew less confident.

“I had this weird dream, or vision. That when we were going down the slide, it suddenly morphed in front of our eyes. It was moving into impossible loops and curves that should’ve thrown us off and down the mountain, but we were literally glued to our seats.”

Iris moved closer, now leaning against the same table to set her hand on his forearm the way she usually tried to comfort him. “I’m sure that was terrifying, but the actual ride wasn’t that bad. You probably just had the jitters!”

He met her eyes dead on, and she found herself trapped in them the way he was earlier that day. “I thought I was going to die, Iris. The slide jerked us to the side and suddenly we were falling, and I thought I was never going to see you again. Mr. Allen, our friends, my parents, even Missy! I–” he choked on a deep gasp of a breath, like he was suffocating just by talking about it.

“I thought we were going to die in another freak Sunny Bay accident, but then I saw this bright light, and Auriana was shaking me awake in our cart. And you were there, and nobody was screaming, and Auriana was happy and cheery the way she usually is. So I must be crazy.”

Iris could feel the tears building in her eyes, but she didn’t notice Nathaniel’s now calmed expression while he soaked them up with a towel before they fell. Even now he was hopelessly attentive to her, always trying to make things right. He really was amazing.

He continued, a bit less frantic now, less hurried and rushed like someone was going to silence him if he didn’t get it all out at once. “It was just a really bad dream. I’m used to them by now, we all are. But if it wasn’t, then it seems that, somehow, someone managed to set things right. I wish I knew who to thank, him… or her .”

His muted and serene teal met her sharp and widened eyes. He knew. She knew he knew. Or he at least suspected, but that was good enough to be wary, because if he suspected then he could eventually figure her out. This was dangerous territory. If Talia were here, she would wipe his memory before Iris snapped her fingers, then ship him off to another city or country where he couldn’t be a distraction to her mission.

But Talia wasn’t here. Which means it was Iris’ turn to make a decision, instead of letting them make ones for her. She took a deep breath and checked the clock overhead. With only two minutes to showtime, a deeper discussion wouldn’t be appropriate, so she gave him a quick hug, squeezing tight around his abdomen.

“I want to tell you,” she whispered in his ear, only because she couldn’t bring herself to say it too loud in case it made everything even more daunting. “I want to tell you everything. But there’s no time right now. I’ll meet you by the dock after the show?”

Nathaniel squeezed back. “Does this mean you trust yourself now?”

She giggled, pulling back to rest her head on his chest. “I grew a lot stronger today. But somehow, I feel so much weaker. I think some support is long overdue. And after I tell you, maybe-hopefully things get easier from there.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he said. “Now go, everyone’s waiting for you.”

“We’ll be sure to play your favorite!”

“Iris, every song is my favorite.”

She laughed, finally pushing away to finish the application of her makeup and checking to see if her hair was properly done. “Liar, I know how much you love Celebrate . Now go!”

Lolirock!

Iris

hey girls

not gna be back home right after the show so dont wait up :p

Talia

Got it.

Auriana

Where are you going Iris? I thought tonight was movie night! We were supposed to watch all of the high school girl movies you grew up with!!!! :(((

Iris

and we still can!

but probably tomorrow :( Nate wants to talk

Auriana

Awe, okay :((((

Have fun!!!

Talia

No, wait, I know where this is going.

Iris, if you’re doing what I think you’re doing, absolutely not. You’re coming straight home.

Iris

and if you’re talking about what i think you’re talking about

consider: no

Talia

Did our last conversation about this not clue you in to how dangerous this is?

Auriana

Waaaaait a second I see where this is going!

Iris!! We said not to tell!!

Iris

and I never agreed!

Auriana I literally felt you two screaming on tge slide

I thought you were going to die today

if I hadnt’ forced my shanila like that you WOULD have died today

and

he would’ve died without knowing that a lot of what he knew about me was a lie

I was never able to be fully me around him and he would have died tumbling down a cliff because I was too weak to stop it

Auriana

Iris :(

You’re not at all too weak! The twins are trained in a different type of magic than you are, and they’ve been fighting for a lot longer. Raw power and experience can’t be beaten in a day, but just because you haven’t beaten them doesn’t mean you’re weak.

Compared to even Talia before her Shanila, you’re way farther along!! And nobody’s ever completed their Shanila in a day!!!

And we wouldn’t have died!! Have some faith in me, I could have saved us if it came down to that. Things would have just been a bit complicated after.

Iris

thanks

but still

I need to tell him sooner or later and I would rather it be sooner

you girls are great but having that support from him just

would mean so much

so so much

Auriana

I get it. If I couldn’t tell my brother something so important, I don’t know what I would do.

Just be super duper careful!!! Make sure you’re alone so Mephisto and Praxina don’t target him, and watch your back!!

Talia

I am still extremely opposed to this.

But you’re going to do it regardless, and you didn’t come here to ask for permission.

Do what you must.

Iris

thanks Talia :)

Talia

Don’t be out late. We have school tomorrow.

The water was calm, with a few ripples from the wayward dragonflies displacing the surface. Iris used to be terrified of them, spending most of the time swatting them away instead of fully enjoying the water that served as her backyard. Nathaniel would tease her endlessly, pretending to be her knight in shining armor against the monsters threatening his princess.

Ironic how the princess turned out to be the protector against monsters much larger than dragonflies.

Now, she kicks her feet lazily over the various insects buzzing about. They didn’t pay her any mind. She didn’t know why she was so scared of them before, but having faced the things she has, it was hard to be afraid of earthly things now. Dragonflies couldn’t compare to the first time she was attacked by the twins, how terrified and confused she was before she understood her mission and transformed, fulfilling a part of herself she didn't know existed.

There was some shuffling to her right, and when she looked up from her lap, she saw Nathaniel, looking out at the moon’s reflection over the water. The view was beautiful and distracting. “We haven’t looked at this together in a while,” he started, still staring intently at the waning moon. “Not since your… problem started. Now that we’re dropping the excuses, what were you really up to?”

Iris laughed humorlessly, more of an exhale than anything. “It was funny when you called them superhero excuses, because you were right, in a way. I just save the city during the day more often than Batman does. Mind if I tell you a story?”

“By all means,” he started, but then her unwavering somberness in her tone began to settle in. Whatever fantastical tale she was going to recite was going to have to be taken as the absolute truth.

“Iris…?”

She started to weave a tale about a beautiful planet nestled somewhere in the stars, too far away for mankind to ever reach on their own. Aliens, similar to humans in every way except their much longer lifespans and magical ability connected to the crystals that built their world. Many smaller kingdoms with their own specialties, all led by the main overarching kingdom of Ephedia, the planet’s namesake.

The heirs of each family were trained to be valiant warriors in defense of their kingdom against threats within and outside of their world. The planet maintained a beautiful harmony with mild rivalries, such as the one between the levitating kingdom of Borealis and the tempestuous kingdom of Calix.

A military based state, one with a name that was so scorned it could not be repeated, and therefore a name Iris was never taught, was visited by a dark sorcerer that had discovered the new possibilities dark magic could bring. Dark magic could manipulate life itself. It could change the way living things operated, enhance them, make them all better.

The Ephedian king did not respond well to this, as dark magic tended to deeply corrupt its users towards evil. The powers of the planet even seemed to reject it, repulsed by the energy. But this sorcerer was already long past that phase, and decided to gather his forces to overthrow the king.

Along the way he plagued the neighboring kingdoms, poisoning the minds of the nearby creatures to spread his evil ways. One of his experiments was in manipulating Ephedians to his cause with dark crystal, which worked for a set of twins that had been exiled from their own decimated kingdom for treason against their house. Their names were Mephisto and Praxina.

The sorcerer’s hostile takeover reached the head kingdom, and the Ephedian king fought hard. As a failsafe, his queen sent their only heir to a small, inconspicuous world called Earth, where she would be nurtured and loved away from war and fight later when she was ready to take back the kingdom. Her crown’s jewels were scattered with her baby, as to limit the power the sorcerer would have when he inevitably toppled their kingdom.

The sorcerer was outraged when he found out that his takeover wasn’t fully complete, and sent his minions after the child. Two heirs were also sent after the princess, having escaped his initial attacks, and were now tasked to help the child grow into a warrior that could take back the planet. They both searched the cosmos, until they eventually reached Earth.

Meanwhile, a young girl in the small town of Sunny Bay, California, was plagued with bad luck. She was notoriously clumsy, and every time she even hummed a tune there was a catastrophe. Still, she saw an audition for a new girl group searching for a lead singer, and she decided to give it a shot, thanks to the encouragement of her best friend. Of course things immediately went south, but her destructive disturbance led to an even greater attack, one led by the twins, who had been following the heirs on their mission across the cosmos.

She had transformed in the fight, activated by the heart pendant left by her mother when she sent her away and encouraged by the heirs sent to train her. She was the estranged princess of Ephedia, destined to one day take back their world from the evil sorcerer. But she couldn’t tell any of her earthling friends, because of how dangerous it would be if they were targeted by dark magic.

Until now, where Iris, princess of Ephedia, looked Nathaniel dead in the eyes and admitted her nature as a magical alien princess from another world. Like that really cheesy anime that Doug had gotten Auriana hooked on for a week.

He stared at her, awestruck. Normally, he would immediately push all of this to the side to try and comfort her, assuring her that it wasn’t a big deal—despite all of this being a very big deal—and he would be her support. But here she was, sitting on the dock and waiting for a response with open arms. She would be the support this time, and he welcomed the weight being lifted from his shoulders with a shuddering sigh.

“Every time Auriana said something about a mythical beast, or evil twins, or something weird happened around you three… it was your alien stuff? Your fights?”

Iris nodded. “You’ve gotten caught up in them a few times,” she said quietly, fighting the urge to start freaking out over just how many times it really was. “The freak sandstorm, the earthquakes, the instruments flying offstage. That’s all the twins and their dark crystal monsters. Sometimes you’re encased in a crystal stasis, which messes with memories a bit. It’s why you only remember it as dreams or subconscious fears.”

“So that means…”

“Yeah, you really did fall off that cliff today.”

Nathaniel struggled to breathe for a few moments. How could someone almost die and never fully remember? Over and over again, his life was in danger, and he didn’t know. They were just freaky accidents that were becoming the new normal in Sunny Bay that he didn’t think anything of, because he knew trying to find the truth would drive him crazy. Or maybe it was that the truth itself would push him over the edge. Indirectly, Iris was responsible for many of his sleepless nights and panic attacks over small things in his everyday life.

He was scared of butterflies now. Butterflies!

She could see him starting to spiral, feeling her heart pang from his hyperventilating, like she could sense the echo of his panic. “It was so scary to see you like that. I was so weak then, I could barely climb the hill. Then time just stopped. I was so lucky—“

“Lucky?”

When Iris truly met Nathaniel’s gaze, she saw how scattered his pupils were, darting across the whites of his widened eyes. Tears pricked the corners, and his eyebrows were upturned in disbelief. He hadn’t brought himself to swallow the saliva pooling under his tongue in fear that he would choke. “So my life was always at risk. I really could have died at any point today. Or yesterday. Or all freaking summer.”

He wanted to scream. Wanted to grab her by the front of her dress and shout in her face, “I was saved by chance . By luck . I was lucky that you were there, and lucky you were strong enough to stop time and get rid of the evil twins that targeted us because you’re a magical princess from another fucking PLANET! And you didn’t want to tell me because I would be a liability, and clearly you were right not to, because I should be at the bottom of a cliff somewhere, or a stain on the street, or monster food!”

But he didn’t.

Instead, he accepted Iris’ hug and just sobbed, feeling some of the tension released in his shuddering exhales into her chest as his body went limp in her arms. “We’ll figure it out,” she muttered into his hair, though her voice was also thick with unshed tears and the effort needed to stay strong. “I-I’m sorry to have… to put all of this on you tonight. There’s already enough stress that comes with junior year, but I couldn’t keep this from you any longer. I’m sorry. I’m so, so , sorry.”

They separated once Nathaniel had gotten enough control over himself to not break out into even more tears. Both of their eyes were different hues of red and slightly swollen, though Iris’ face had flushed in several spots. He took her hands in his own shaking palms and steadied his breath. “I promise I won’t say a word,” he swore, to her relief. “Not even to Doug or Kyle or my parents. Not a peep. I know this secret means a lot to you.”

He loved her too much for that. But he had a lot to think about that night.

Chapter 2: transfixed, bewitched, spellbound

Summary:

The beginning of the school year, for everybody

Notes:

finally finished editing this... school kicking my ass man :(

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

alvarez stans international

DOUGwithablog

WOOHOO WE MADE IT GUYS

new year new me

eyeris27

guess who said that at new years and didn’t change at all

bignate27

Lmao

DOUGwithablog

shit yourself

nate youre not as suspicious today

bignate27

Communication actually works apparently and my therapist wasnt just saying generic stuff off the internet

Who knew

DOUGwithablog

world’s first boomer discovers healthy communicarion

V0LT4N

Yay!! Communication for the win!!

( “Wait, so is that why Auriana’s username—?”

“Yes, she’s the princess of Volta, though she’s nowhere near in line for the throne. She has, like, twenty sisters!”

“Woah! That’s just overkill. Talk about a big family.”

“I knew you would say that when I told you!” )

K88

I got my uncle to give me temporary custody of the minivan so we’re all going in the Burger King drive-thru this morning

V0LT4N

YAY!!! Funny shaped breakfast sandwiches!

bignate27

Why not chickfila like normal people bk is nasty

eyeris27

says the one that eats at the east buffet every day

bignate27

Some of us are broke and dont have aunt ellen mystery money

DOUGwithablog

if you eat around the nails and mystery bugs its yummers

and anyway bk breakfast isnt horrific

HEKP

photo1783.jpeg

HES OUTSIDE MY HOSUE

TALiA

I thought it was custom to avoid white vans that advertised free sweets?

cMontana

It’s okay, we’re just being taken to school and we know the driver. Plus, there will be sweets in the form of mushy french toast sticks!

K88

Okay enough with the murder van propaganda it's a MINIVAN

This is the soccer mom express over here

bignate27

I already ate breakfast but ill tag along for a free ride

DOUGwithablog

oh yeah hot people arnt allowed to consume our peasant gruel

eyeris27

he cooked some for me too <3

DOUGwithablog

when is it my turn

i want a buff housewife to cook my meals

bignate27

Get gud

DOUGwithablog

kys

i cant believe how lucky i am to get alvarez for ap lit this year

TALiA

Oh, is that your fourth period class? If so, we may have it together.

DOUGwithablog

YAY I GET A NERD IN MY CLASS

eyeris27

as you have a full ap schedule

DOUGwithablog

f+v isnt ap

K88

My queen :(

Oh wait nevermind we have the same lunch and electives

WAIG NO WE DON’T :(((

cMontana

We haven’t done a schedule swap!

V0LT4N

WE HAVEN’T??!!

Someone send them all to Talia so she can make a spreadsheet!!

eyeris27

Auriana, we’re probably not going to all have the same classes

we’re in different grades and Doug is hyper advanced >:(

DOUGwithablog

not my fault i was born a genus

bignate27

You cant even spell genius

DOUGwithablog

and your gay

TALiA

Kyle, we see you outside. Give us approximately 284 seconds to find Auriana’s handbag and matching sweater.

K88

Yes ma’am :D

cMontana

I’m almost ready to go as well. Can we continue coming to get me last? I have many things to pack for fashion.

K88

No problem

bignate27

Uh actually the correct answer is of course my beautiful heavenly king of the worldwide fashion empire do you need me to hold them for you too

You would know this if you were his man

eyeris27

new year not a new you apparently

bignate27

I am temporary carlos is forever

cMontana

Power over the masses feels so good. :).

DOUGwithablog

HE KNWOS AHGK

V0LT4N

COMING DOWN!!

DOUGwithablog

holy shit that was 280 secs

eyeris27

did you ever doubt my queen?

K88

Did you ever doubt my queen?

>:(

HEY!

eyeris27

Doug was immediately pushed out of the passenger seat when Talia came to the door. He migrated to the farthest row next to Auriana, where Carlos would also join them when he was picked up next. Iris and Nathaniel sat together in the two split seats of the middle row, which Kyle gagged at, but Iris only teased him back by sticking her tongue out. He couldn't talk when his girlfriend was holding his hand over the console.

“Is everyone buckled in?” Kyle called, looking through the rearview at his friend’s bright, yet sluggish faces. Sleep still clung to them after having to wake up early for the first time in months. “I really don’t want to get pulled over for having a bunch of rowdy kids in the back.”

Nathaniel snorted. “Oh look, the big shot senior is suddenly too good for us rowdy kids .”

Kyle rolled his eyes, shifting the gear out of park and making his way out of the small driveway and towards Carlos’ home. Small conversations overlapped and filled the car in seconds, growing even louder once Carlos was finally picked up, but Iris wasn’t focused on them.

Sometime during the ride, something in her stomach dropped, a feeling much different from hunger. The unease kept her from even touching her french toast sticks, and she didn't object like usual when Auriana swooped in to steal them.

Nathaniel seemed to notice her mood immediately, resting a warm hand on her cold arm. She looked over and gave him a small smile, but that feeling didn’t go away. It traveled deeper into her core, creeping up towards her heart, which squeezed violently. Her pendant didn’t glow, which normally came with any sort of anxious feeling like this. It was confusing.

The car rolled to a sudden stop in the school parking lot, making her realize she had been zoning in and out of her head for almost thirty minutes.

Sunny Bay was too much of a small coastal town to have a big high school, and their local high school was basically a trade school built to keep people in the jobs that kept the town running. Most parents sent their kids to the high school in the next town over, which boasted well-accomplished teachers and nationally acclaimed courses fit for the best and brightest academic minds, as well as one of the best athletics programs in the state.

The clubs offered at the school were all extremely community oriented and had ended up on the news several times for their work. The performance and visual arts programs consistently received opportunities to perform at high class events across the region and often gained scholarships to prestigious art colleges nationwide.

The science program worked regularly with some of the best researchers in their fields on experimental studies and internships. There weren’t even any stereotypical bullies that featured in every high school teen drama, just healthy competition for different accolades and college attention.

The teenagers of Sunny Bay weren’t the only ones that took advantage of having such a wonderful school in reach. Students from Forest Creek and the north side of East Ocean City also occupied the halls, along with the hundred others from out of town sent by their parents for the best possible education, creating a diverse student body that the school was happy to plaster on their admissions website. Transfer students from other countries weren’t unusual at all.

Doug had explained all of this to Iris at some point during the previous school year, but it all flew over her head. Maybe because she didn’t care, but probably because she was studying for something history related. She had a horrible memory when it came to dates. But today was the start of the new year, and she needed to get out of her head already!

“Everybody out!” Kyle commanded. His parking pass was already lodged in between a slightly crooked windshield wiper, and she wondered when he had time to do that. Iris was soon tugged out of her seat by Nathaniel. Talia paused to check the time once everyone was out, and her eyebrows raised in shock.

“We’re going to be late for first period if we move at this pace,” she muttered. Grabbing Doug and Kyle by their arms, she motioned for Iris to follow. “All of the math classrooms are in the same hall, right? Let’s go, then.”

They waved goodbye to the remaining three, who walked through the leftmost set of double doors with another crowd of almost-late students. “We can walk with you to the gym since it’s on the way to the stairs under the science department,” Nathaniel told Carlos. “Auriana and I share a class for the first semester.”

Auriana waved to her newest friend, giving him a tight hug. “I hope you have fun in physical education! Sports here look so much fun, I can’t wait for the end of the day!” Carlos laughed at her enthusiasm, and they took a brisk walk towards the school’s gyms, where a crowd of about 30 other students were already gathered outside of a locker room waiting for it to be opened by their coach.

After dropping him off, Nathaniel and Auriana ducked into a crowded stairwell, packed with students trying to exit and enter and go up and down. The Voltan girl chattered the whole way up as they pushed and shoved their way to the top, never raising her voice higher than the general buzz around them, but enough to carry her peppy excitement to Nathaniel’s ears.

It was kind of silly how excited she was for something as boring as high school, but then again, she was an alien princess with an endless curiosity. He supposed that if he were in her shoes, he would feel the same. She would make Anatomy a bit more interesting, at the very least.

Their classroom was connected to the lab behind it by a cramped little hallway that also served as an office and storeroom, depending on who used it. Attached to the other end of the lab and forming the corner of the building was another classroom with a slightly different decor. Auriana would be in that classroom starting second semester for her physics credit.

It was a strange arrangement. On the left and right sides of the room, desks sat in pairs trailing from the front to the back of the classroom, while in the center, they sat in rows of four. It was obvious they would be doing a bunch of partner work, but the setup felt too… elementary school for Nathaniel. It was like he was in 5th grade again.

Auriana loved it. She fluttered from empty desk to empty desk, ignoring the ones that had people sitting in them already to admire them. Her fingertips grazed the cold, smooth surface of each table ever so lightly, almost reverently, and it finally occurred to Nathaniel that this girl had probably never seen a desk like this in her life.

And if Iris’ assumptions about the lives of her bandmates were correct, she had also probably never gone through anything as mundane as traditional schooling before. Classrooms weren't kept open in warzones.

If she could be so enamored by the unknown in her new school life, he figured he could make it through another year leaching from that positivity.

The warning bell gave a piercing ring that echoed throughout the halls, and the two made their way to one of the center rows not too far from the back of the room. Both sat on the inside, giving Auriana the chance to branch out on her own with her partner while having Nathaniel there to help her with adjusting to Earth schooling. Hopefully the teacher wouldn’t notice anything too strange.

Students filed in through the door almost immediately after the bell, most likely lingering with their friends closeby until the last second. One of which was Michael, one of Nathaniel’s English classmates from last year and a member of the rowing team. He slid into the leftmost seat next to him.

A grin spread onto both of their faces. “Nate!” the other boy cheered, meeting him in a handshake and hug. “What’s good, man? You disappeared over the summer!”

Michael had dark skin that contrasted the neon accessories he wore nicely, forming the fun aesthetic he was known for. Most of the time, he only wore such bright colors because they glowed in the black lights of the arcade he and his friends frequented. He also tended to throw parties in his parents’ massive basement, soundproofed from the paranoid war era it was built in when it was meant to be a bomb shelter. He was a generally fun guy, with a younger sister in the grade below theirs and a sweet younger cousin that they lived with.

Today, the shorter top layer of his dreads were pulled into twin ponytails tied with bright orange ribbons, which matched the bright orange jersey over his white shirt and the orange straps hanging off his black cargo shorts. There was also a sticker on his jaw of some kids cartoon character that his cousin probably left on him.

“Working hard at the smoothie bar, as always,” Nathaniel responded. “Mr. Allen gave me a raise and is focusing on trying to open his new location now, so I do most of everything except paperwork.” He moved back in his seat a bit to give his friends view of each other. “This is Auriana, one of our new regulars. She moved here last summer as an exchange student, lives with Iris.”

The Voltan waved cheerily with a big smile on her face. “Hi! I’m super excited to be here, the city is so much fun!”

Michael laughed, noticing her orange blouse. “Hey, twin, I bet! Living with that disaster must make life pretty eventful. Where are you from?”

“A small country off the… coast of…” Auriana’s voice quieted as her words trailed off, and there was a spacey look in her eye. Nathaniel almost panicked in case she had already forgotten their cover story, but following her gaze, his heart jumped for a different reason.

She was breathtaking . Her light brown bangs were in a natural side part, clipped behind her ear to show her deep blue eyes, tied into low pigtails secured by wide silver bands that hung over her shoulders. A shiny cuff with a sparkling silver chain dangled from her ears, a little red gemstone hanging down from her earlobes.

She wore a black and white striped tube top that exposed her toned stomach, with a dark jean jacket for the chill of the classroom that matched the jean skirt over her black tights. Despite her nervous expression and the worrying of her dark red painted lips, she just looked effortlessly cool .

And yet, with all of that, she still sent an unnerving feeling through Nathaniel’s skin. Black butterfly hairclips littered the upper half of her hair, which was almost red under the right lighting. Something about the arch of her eyebrows was cold and calculating, even if the rest of her radiated first day jitters. Part of him wanted to desperately be friends with her, but the other half screamed at him to run away and never look back.

Nathaniel resolved to keep her at an arm’s length for now, but Auriana was immediately taken by her, flushed and stunned into silence along with many of their other classmates. For the first time ever, the bright-eyed and talkative member of their group had actually lost her words. The blush spreading across her tanned cheeks only grew as the girl inched closer to the empty seat on her right, tentatively placing her maroon messenger bag by the desk.

“Is this seat taken?” Even her voice was nothing less than angelic. Kind and light, though with a harsh undertone that promised a bolder, more assertive side.

“N-No! Um, it’s all yours! If you want it, that is!”

Nathaniel furrowed his brows a bit. Auriana had never been so shy before, and it set him on edge. Everything about this mystery girl set him on edge. He had never seen her before, though that wasn’t technically a bad thing. She could’ve been one of the new exchange students Kyle was talking about. Despite that, she felt so familiar to him. It was an offputting sense of deja vu that had him edging closer to the end of his seat to run, giving into that paranoid whisper in his ear.

He was brought out of his musings by Michael’s dragging whistle and raised eyebrows. “Hot damn,” he whispered. “You think your friend would mind switching seats? Nothing against you, man, it’s just…” Nathaniel punched him lightly in the arm, causing both of them to quietly snicker while Auriana fumbled her way through her introductions.

Her eyes kept averting themselves so she wouldn’t be caught staring for too long at the beautiful girl sitting next to her. “Uh, I’m Auriana! I’m new here, to, um, this school. And Sunny Bay. Nice to meet you!”

The girl’s eyes softened even more, and it did something to Auriana’s chest, twisting her heart and melting her ribs so her posture weakened into something looser and less battle-ready like she had trained herself to be. “My name is Penny, nice to meet you too. I’m also new—I’m spending my senior year here so I can see the universities in the area more easily. Apparently this is a really good school for internships.”

“Oh, that’s so smart! I haven’t even started thinking about university yet!” She turned back to Nathaniel with a worried unspoken question. Is that something I should know more about?

He supposed she wouldn’t be thinking about university if she didn’t plan on staying after their mission was over, which got him thinking about whether or not Iris would stay after that evil sorcerer was defeated. He shook his head. “You’re still a junior, you’ve got time,” he eventually responded. “Kyle doesn’t even know yet and common app opens in, like, a week. But going to this school is a free ticket to most public universities, so I wouldn't worry regardless.”

Penny laughed, and something about it felt wrong, but Nathaniel would have to save those suspicions for when class wasn’t about to start. “Good to know being uncertain isn’t weird here. I hope class goes smoothly, this was the only science elective open when I applied…”

“Don’t worry too much about it, smaller classes are always more fun.” A voice rang out from behind, and every head in the room turned to meet their teacher for the semester.

He was a deathly pale and slightly scruffy looking man, with unevenly cut hair that had more than a few gray streaks and an almost permanent stubble. His bushy eyebrows and scraggly hair covered up the little of his eyes Nathaniel could see behind his hideous glasses, but he thinks his eyes are some shade of green. He wore a dark brown jacket and a polo shirt that was the ugliest shade of green he had ever seen and clashed horribly with his slacks. “I’m Dr. Kanievsky, but since all of my students last year insisted, you can call me Dr. Kenny. Nice to meet you all.”

Michael’s honey brown eyes widened in recognition, and he turned frantically to Nathaniel. “Keisha always talked about him last year, said he was the best teacher she had. We’re so lucky, dude!”

Nathaniel chose not to focus on the fact that his friend’s girlfriend tended to exaggerate when it came to school. “Keisha had Miss Kang last year, that’s not a high bar to clear,” he muttered back, though he shut up when he read the syllabus and skimmed his way to the pizza party policy . Never mind, this semester was going to be amazing. He definitely deserved this, after dealing with alien crystal monsters and their freak natural disasters and shitty customers all summer.

alvarez stans international

bignate27

God is great god is good

We got dr kenny for a+p this year is gonna be so free

DOUGwithablog

lucky fucks

i have ms KANG

V0LT4N

AAAAAAAH XD

bignate27

Excuse her she met a really pretty girl today

Theyre lab partners

eyeris27

awwww that’s so cute

K88

Lab partners to lovers when?

V0LT4N

You think?

She’s so sweet you guys! I could listen to her talk about muscles for hours!

Well maybe not talk about them. We looked at different movements today. So I got to see her move her muscles!!!!

They had lots of funny names!

DOUGwithablog

haha gay

cMontana

That’s very cute Auriana! I hope you two have a great semester together. :).

DOUGwithablog

OMG MY KING

how was ur gym ahaha

i heard the gym shorts sre criminally short this year

cMontana

They are, LOL! It’s a bit uncomfortable at first, but I had a lot of fun.

We just did beginner level warm-ups to start. It was a great opportunity to chat and make new friends!

DOUGwithablog

why cldnt i have gotten p1 gym

god doesnt love me like he loves nate

bignate27

Lmao

I know exactly what you mean tho

But if you were a true fan you would know that his insta has a post from two months ago with a gym pic on slide seven

You dont know him like i do >:(

eyeris27

should i be worried

bignate27

I am temporary my glorious king carlos is forever

DOUGwithablog

i have that post as my home screen widget you gaylord

UGH I WANT CARLOS GYM

cMontana

We can go to the gym together on the weekend, Doug! Or a morning run on the beach tomorrow morning, if you’re up for it?

DOUGwithablog

YES YESYE S

i mean

sure!:! :D

TALiA

This is really gay.

K88

HSUSHHDUH

TALIA???

eyeris27

LMFAO

Talia you can’t just say that even if it’s true

TALiA

My bad, I’m still getting used to common slang here. Doug informed me of what that meant, but he didn’t mention it was taboo.

DOUGwithablog

stopc alling me out like taht omg

i am NOT gay i just love my sunshine

bignate27

You mean the twinkle in the stars and our eyes

The light of the land beautiful carlos

DOUGwithablog

STOP HE DOESNT WANT YOU

bignate27

WERE LITERALLY MARRIED WDYM

V0LT4N

Penny asked for my number! What should I do?

eyeris27

oh my god I’m surrounded by the pride parade

Auriana, your number should be on the back of your phone case

ladies you’re both pretty get over it

DOUGwithablog

shut up iris arnt you in trig

eyeris27

SHUT IP OMG ITS NIT MY FAULT

DOUGwithablog

taste this ratio

K88

Okay enough out of you dorks

What are we getting for lunch?

cMontana

We should go out! Maybe get

K88

???

Carlos?

TALiA

Class just started. He may be focusing on that right now.

bignate27

Ill ask in p4

But going out sounds fun

eyeris27

we shouldn’t make a habit out of it tho

I can’t waste all my money like last year :(

bignate27

I can buy for you

DOUGwithablog

oh to have a rich buff hot housewife

eyeris27

taste this ratio

DOUGwithablog

DIE

Their shared lunch during fifth period brought them to a food cart that sat at the entrance of the nearby park trail, where they each bought a hot dog or burger to get them through the rest of the day. Kyle was busy showing Carlos and Talia the joys of dipping salty fries in a sweet, creamy milkshake while the others found a place to rest their legs and eat. If the smoothie bar made the best smoothies in the state, that food cart definitely had the best milkshakes.

They settled on a bench not too far from the exit for when they would have to walk back to school at the end of the hour. Iris leaned on Nathaniel’s broad shoulders, already working on the short set of notes her teacher demanded of her for her next AP U.S. history class with a hot dog lodged in between her teeth.

Doug looked over in pity, sucking air in between his teeth harshly. “You already have homework? It’s only the first day!”

She mumbled beyond her lunch, which Nathaniel took out for her with his free hand so she could properly chew and swallow. “It’s not anything super major, just looking through the syllabus to find a topic we like and writing a page of notes on it. I think we do a project on it at the end of the year before the test.” Iris opened her mouth again to take a bit out of the hot dog her sort-of-not-really boyfriend held in front of her, and Doug winced at another reminder of how single he was.

From her side, Nathaniel spoke up around his own mouthful of beef. “We have some too, from physio and polisci.”

Carlos groaned from the opposite end of the table, also working on his own text document from his rose gold laptop that was adorned with all sorts of stickers. “It is going to be hard to focus on my projects for the year with three APs,” he complained. “I wish I thought that part through a bit more, but hopefully it is beneficial for my college applications. Still…” He groaned into his burger, taking a frustrated bite.

Kyle’s hand dragged over his face as he took a long slurp of his milkshake. “Ugh, don’t remind me. I have, like, a week before I need to start drafting essays and dealing with FAFSA. Which is stupid because I probably don’t even qualify for half of the financial aid anyway! Fat loans, here I come…”

Doug patted his back. “Your grades and test scores are basically perfect, though. And you build robots in your free time! Any scholarship you apply for is yours.” Kyle smiled around his straw, but it was weaker than intended.

Auriana’s head popped up from where it was resting on her free hand that had been propped up on the table by her elbow, the other mindlessly dipping into Talia’s fries. “Wait, we had homework?”

“You would know if you were actually paying attention instead of staring at Penny,” Nathaniel teased, dragging the other girl’s name out mockingly. “I’m sure she appreciates you studying her anatomy .”

The redhead’s normally tanned face flushed a bright red as she dramatically moaned over her own pining. “I can’t help it! She looks like an angel! Have you even seen her face?”

“Of course I’ve seen her face. We sit in the same row.”

Auriana shook her head, a goofy smile spreading without her control. “But have you seen her face? Those eyes… and her voice! And her eyelashes! And her clothes! She’s so nice, but I kinda want her to be mad at me just so I can see her frown, you know? I bet it’d still be super pretty.”

Doug nodded in agreement. “I feel you. This guy in my lit class, he’s so freaking sweet, and his eyebrows are amazing too. Everything about him is so… put together!”

Iris snorted around the last of her hot dog. “So everything you’re not?”

He swatted at her pen so it smudged over the line she was writing, then continued. “When Miss Alvarez asked us to do introductions, he did a full bow and shook her hand, then offered to carry all of the books to her desk and pass them out! His ass was so squeezable.”

“Gross!” Iris swatted at Doug with her ink covered hands, as if she hadn’t thought the same about Nathaniel on several occasions. “I mean, seriously? This is another level of down bad.”

He continued on unperturbed, eyes hazing over in a dreamy glaze. “His name is Maddox, which is a super cool name, but he’s such a dork. Total math nerd too, apparently he’s in stats. A man after my own heart!”

“Wait, did he have really light brown hair, like almost red but not really?” Auriana asked.

“Yes! Yes he did! I wanted to touch it really bad it looked sooooo fluffy!”

Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head with her own excitement, and her hand movements became so frantic that Talia had to grab them to stop them from knocking everything off the table. “No way! Penny said she had a twin brother named Maddox in advanced math. I can’t believe you know him!”

“Twins?” Doug groaned. “Double the adorable hotness! What did we do to deserve such a fate? God, I love pretty people.” The two high-fived, already thinking who-knows-what about their new obsessions.

Talia rolled her eyes, finishing the last of her burger and wiping at the ketchup on her lips with a napkin. “You both are so pathetic,” she scoffed. “All this over your classmates? You haven’t even known each other for a whole hour each.”

Auriana stuck her tongue out at her best friend. “You don’t get it, Talia, you weren’t even there! Plus, we have math and English together! I can’t wait to go back to class!”

“First time I’ve ever heard that be said unironically,” Kyle muttered, and Nathaniel agreed with a pained nod.

“So freaking lucky!” Doug shouted in jealousy. “Auriana, you have to investigate for me. Find out if she’s single? If her brother’s single? I need a chance here!”

“Of course I will, Doug!” Auriana smiled. “You’re my friend, of course I’ll help you! But I’m totally going to ask one of them out by next week, so good luck.”

Nathaniel clapped his hands, gathering everyone’s attention. “Okay, we have twenty minutes to talk about literally anything else. You two are embarrassingly shameless. How was everyone else’s day?”

In a cave within the cliffside of a mountain not too far from one of Sunny Bay’s forest preserves, two twin teenagers sat surrounded by boulders. Their names were Mephisto and Praxina, evil servants of the great sorcerer Gramorr sent to Earth to aid in his quest of domination by eliminating his only opposition. With their magical abilities and the large waterfall in their living quarters, they usually spent most of their time spying on the princesses of Ephedia, searching for a weakness to exploit or inspiration for a new monster to create.

Currently, they were watching them with bored expressions on their faces. First, the princesses had spent most of the day sitting around in a building with other pathetic humans, not even going out of their way to help them for oracle gems the way they normally did these past few months. Now they were sitting on their behinds writing things while talking on the phone, then reading things and talking on the phone, then typing things and talking on the phone. Nothing productive, that was for sure.

They couldn’t even manufacture a problem to help with like they did before, since many humans were spending their time in similar buildings and writing things. Their in-depth human research (movies from the 2000s) called this task “school,” where adolescent humans spent their days learning pointless things and shoving each other into lockers, or something like that.

“Ugh, this is getting boring!” Mephisto groaned. He was floating upside down, staring wearily at the waterfall while his dark cape hung behind his head. “School is boring, homework is boring, watching humans is even more boring! Can’t we do some training or blow up a city, or something?”

Praxina sighed at her brother’s antics, but she was also mind-numbingly bored herself. “Gramorr said we weren’t to draw too much attention to ourselves, and that includes intense training, remember?”

Mephisto muttered to himself. The little practice they were able to do was almost as boring as watching humans scribble nonsense in their notebooks. “We should join a club or something. Those films made school look so much more fun, with their sports competitions and social hierarchies. More humans will probably make it easier to take their oracle gems… or at least give us something to do…”

Though he was just running his mouth as per usual, Mephisto’s complaining gave Praxina a seed of inspiration, which burrowed into her mind and began to branch out into the beginnings of a plan. If that was all the humans and the disguised princesses wanted to do with their time, fine. She would ensure their victory this time, with something much more effective than dark crystal. “Mephisto, you genius! Help me cast this spell, I know how to defeat the princesses!”

alvarez stans international

K88

So, not that I want them to start happening again

But there haven’t been many crazy earthquakes or freak disappearances lately

DOUGwithablog

sunny bay senioritis lmao

no but ur right thats kinda weird

eyeris27

it is a little strange but well timed

nobody wants to deal with that when they have 3 pages of apush notes

DOUGwithablog

real

eyeris27

heart eyes

whoever let me submit this schedule needs to be fired

bignate27

So extremely real i am NOT cut out for political sci

cMontana

This may be rude of me to say, but I think Mr. Lee is a sociopath.

bignate27

Youre not wrong

V0LT4N

All of my teachers are really nice, and most of the homework is easy!

Well, except for all the reading, but it's still fun!

You all must have really bad luck :(((

eyeris27

weird flex but okay

DOUGwithablog

ANYWAYS i dont wanna work today so

smoothies?? beach?? park??

bignate27

Im working today so come whenever

DOUGwithablog

when are you ever not

bignate27

Im scheduled every weekend and afterschool odd days

The grind never stops

DOUGwithablog

EW you cornball

delete that rn

bignate27

Well if thats how its gonna be ig i can tell maddox youre not coming in today

V0LT4N

SUJSIDIK

MADDOX??

Is Penny there too??

bignate27

Maybe

DOUGwithablog

YOU SNAKWE

IM COMIFN

TALiA

I guess we’re going to the smoothie bar today.

K88

We as in you as well??

On my way!

eyeris27

I hope you all know the deep shame I carry being around you all

like it’s getting embarrassing to be seen in public with you

DOUGwithablog

shut up???

i can see your location you poopypant YOUR EALREADY HALFSAY THERE

eyeris27

we’re not talking about me rn

The smoothie bar, as it usually was on a Saturday afternoon, was packed with teenagers and young adults. Some were working individually at the high-top bar facing the window, searching for brain fuel and a change of scenery to be productive, but most were chatting with their friends at the various couches and tables to avoid their work.

Nathaniel was currently multitasking, scribbling in equations and punching numbers in his secondhand graphing calculator in between orders while cursing his past self for deciding to take Calc BC. He exchanged a few passing words to customers he recognized either as regulars or fellow students, but he focused diligently on his workload for the most part. Not even his boss could give him too much flack for it, since Mr. Allen had many nieces and nephews in the same boat.

That was, until the doorbell rang with a new arrival, and his hands paralyzed themselves in a trembling terror that ran deep in his bones.

The cup of blueberries he was carrying to the blender fell and clattered to the ground, sticky with other kinds of fruit juices, snapping Nathaniel out of his spell. The damage was already done, as the two siblings approached the counter with concerned looks on their faces. “A-Are you okay? Sorry we startled you!”

Penny, the girl in his anatomy class and Auriana’s English, whose name he had heard all week because her and Doug wouldn’t shut up about how pretty the two were. Now that he was meeting Maddox in person—or at least the boy he assumed to be Maddox, based on how similar they looked—he couldn’t say they were wrong to be so obsessed.

They still made him uneasy, and he swore he felt a strong sense of alarming deja vu whenever he talked to Penny in class, but they weren’t hard on the eyes and were extremely kind to him and his friends on multiple occasions. It was enough to make him drop his guard despite his suspicions.

He shot off a few quick texts to the group chat his friends were in and did his best to clean what he could of the spill. “I’m fine,” Nathaniel finally said, a bit amused at how frantic they seemed. “You must be Penny’s brother. Maddox, right? I’ve heard a lot about you from Doug. All good things, I promise.”

The taller boy seemed to flush at his words while his eyes widened. “Really? I…I didn’t know he liked my company.” Was he… surprised that someone spoke highly of him? Considering how polite he apparently was, according to Carlos, Nathaniel would’ve thought he was no stranger to compliments.

“Well, he does say that you talk a lot in English,” Nathaniel continued, and Maddox seemed to droop before his eyes with a more dull look on his face. Ah, that makes more sense, he seemed to think, and Nathaniel wondered where such a low self esteem could come from.

He continued on unphased, though he would definitely tell Doug later. “You make the class a lot less boring for him, with how passionate you are about the subject. He needs someone like that, who loves to learn as much as he does. Thanks, man. I worry about him sometimes.”

Before anything could get more mushy, the bell rang again with a familiar influx of voices following right after. The gaggle of Nathaniel’s friends stopped at the empty corner of the counter that wasn’t occupied by other people waiting for their drinks, and their excitement instantly improved his mood. “Speak of the devil. Hey, Doug, we were just talking about you.”

Maddox’s eyes twitched and his arms waved in front of his face, trying to find the words to say he didn’t mean any harm, while his sister hid giggles behind her manicured hands. Doug’s face erupted into a pink blush, and he glared at Nathaniel. “Seriously?!” he cried, embarrassed. He turned to Maddox, face still burning. “Look, man, ignore everything this prick told you. He likes to mess with me, and if he says anything he’s lying! Not that I don’t think you’re spectacular or anything but—”

“ Spectacular! ” Kyle snorted, and Doug blushed impossibly harder at that, matching the flush appearing on Maddox’s face at his words. Nathaniel almost felt bad for him, the poor boy could barely handle being told that someone didn’t think he was a nuisance, Doug accidentally singing his praises was far too much.

“Oh, shut up! You say the same about Talia!”

“Talia deserves nothing less.”

Penny interjected, though the smile spreading across her face against her will showed how little she wanted this silly little interaction to end. “Um, Auriana talked about this place a lot after class, and we were in the area, so… can we get two large Berry Blasts?”

It was Auriana’s turn to go pink. She had no idea that her crush paid any mind to what she said, and it warmed her heart in the unique way only the twins seemed to be able to. Normally, people took one look at her and wrote her off as too carefree, never thinking about what she had to say, but the other girl took her words to heart for almost a week. Didn’t she say they live in Forest Creek? That was almost an hour long drive, just to humor her!

“You sure?” Nathaniel asked. “Our larges are pretty big. They’re not really meant to be finished in one sitting, especially this close to lunchtime. Drink at your own risk.” The only ones able to put away a large smoothie in such a short amount of time were the Lolirock girls—because they’re aliens, he now realizes—and Kyle when he was on a liquid diet after a bad football injury.

Penny just smiled, looking at the display cups available by the cash register. “We’re sure. A big smoothie sounds perfect right about now. I didn’t expect it to be so hot out!”

Nathaniel just shrugged, content to let them make their own decisions and watch his friends embarrass themselves by making goo-goo eyes at the twins. “Two large Berry Blasts coming up. Just let me finish this order. I got a bit sidetracked…”

finals: t minus NEVER

DOUGwithablog

imv going to dieeeeee

rotting away as ee speak

eyeris27

we have a show in 2 mjnutes what could POSSIBLY be this serious

DOUGwithablog

i forgot aboutmmy freaking journalism project and i have nothing to write abt

K88

???

You have a whole blog dude

DOUGwithablog

has to be original :(((

i alr got in trouble once for doing that cuz the ai checker recognixed it as preexisting on the internt

like fuk u bro chatgpt is an insult to my genisu

bignate27

You cant call yourself a genius if you cant spell genius

DOUGwithablog

DIE

TALiA

I’m sure there’s a story somewhere in the city. You just have to look for one.

DOUGwithablog

kyle dont @ me byt talia ive been doing that all day

nothing interesting happens here except the freak stuff and liek

sports >:(

cMontana

It has been a while since something supernatural has occurred in Sunny Bay…

V0LT4N

AHH! Don’t jinx it! I really hope it stays that way!!

DOUGwithablog

lowk me too but also

i need this grade

god if you hear me make something crazy happen

actually nvm all i write about on my blog is freqk stuff i would get flagged AGAIN

god i lied

eyeris27

lmao

DOUGwithablog

you are FAILING apush dont talk to me

eyeris27

KYS I AM TRYINF

i see notes and 1691 in my dreams

something something british something something slavery something something capitalism something something Mr. A’s bad toupee

V0LT4N

What’s capitalism?

K88

Never change, Auriana XD

bignate27

Cringe ew ew ew

Explode right now

Also iris i have apush notes from last year if you want them

eyeris27

No offense but your notes kinda suck

bignate27

Theyre not mine

eyeris27

I think I love you

DOUGwithablog

BARF EW CRINGEE

eyeris27

so if Maddox randomly finds out about the plastic duck collection under your weird Reddit mod fedoras don’t be surprised

DOUGwithablog

iris is so mean to me guys

cMontana

What? Really? I haven’t seen her be rude to a fly!

DOUGwithablog

AFTER EVERYTHUNG WE’VE BEEN THRIUGH

CARLOS :((

MY KING

bignate27

I told you he doesnt want you

TALiA

Doug, if you want, I can help you go through town to find a good story for your assignment. When is it due?

DOUGwithablog

see someone actually cares

all of you kys exceot talia

due thursday

K88

MY QUEEN :(

TALiA

Alright. We can start tomorrow at lunch and after school.

DOUGwithablog

yippee!

TALiA

But I will need your Calculus notes. 1.7 is very… perplexing.

DOUGwithablog

oh i dont have those lmao thats my nap class

but i can explain it while we walk!!

Notes:

is carlos doug gay? perhaps. i don't really know. carlos was one of my favorite one-off characters and i feel really bad they didn't do more with him. i feel like if lolirock actually went to school in the show, we would see more interactions with the characters of the week. having a super hot friend that everyone in your friend group collectively objectifies (as a joke) is pulled from personal experience, so i wasn't really writing it with the intention of it being a crush. but if you see it that way, go ahead! i can't stop you. the experience of having no classes with any of your friends and having to actually make new ones is also pulled from personal experience, but i decided to be nice and give them all the same lunch period.
is anything going to happen romantically with auriana, doug, and these new characters? probably not. i just feel like, of all the recurring characters, these two and praxina don't get a lot of love. mephisto is a fan favorite, but doug and auriana kind of get sidelined. i have a lot of ideas for everyone, though! i actually finally fleshed out a plot for this beyond "complete rewrite while adding gifted kid public school" which im both excited and dreading to write. chapter 3 is about halfway done, so see you then!

Chapter 3: artificial, from the earth (part one)

Summary:

Labor day weekend kicks off with a bang, an exciting sweepstakes is held, and Iris learns something new. Things aren't exactly what they seem. (Part one)

Notes:

yes it took me a whole month to work on this. i got halfway through this chapter before realizing that, if i finished the rest of the outline, this would be waaaaaay too long. what i have now is already 13k!! so i cut it up into two parts and will post that when i finish.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dark crystals shattered against the lethal attacks from each side, dissolving into a muted light. In a way, the beautiful shimmers it left over the battlefield made everything a bit less awful.

Unless you were Praxina. Nothing could make being replaced any less unacceptable.

“Stay still, you shoddy copy!” She growled countless insults, but her swift Aterodere was still a step behind Deinos. Or Kakos? Whatever, one of those annoying twins was evading her attack, which was a problem. “Ugh, quit scurrying about so I can crush you like the bug you are!”

One of them laughed as he once again sidestepped a crystal spike to the throat. Behind him, the other had pushed Mephisto back by attacking his shield with great force. He wasn't allowed a second to think of an offensive spell, much less actually counterattack.

“What a–”

“–fitting metaphor! It seems that we–”

“–both have a pest problem.”

The way they finished each other's sentences was off-putting to Praxina and downright disturbing to Mephisto. Though he secretly envied that level of synchronicity and the implied closeness the brothers must have had, she found it suspicious. Nobody was that in-tune with anyone unless they could read minds, which meant there was an even bigger problem.

Even worse, she thought as she narrowly deflected his first attack towards her, they even finished each other's spells. It took a different level of mastery over magic to execute a spell without guiding words to manipulate them. Simple enough for weak magic, but near impossible for the output of the replacement twins.

Praxina had seen enough. Loathe as she was to admit it, they couldn't beat these two. It would be smarter to retreat until they could better understand them, or until the princesses inevitably came to handle the issue for them. In a perfect world, maybe they would take each other out and solve all of her problems. She teleported to her brother and got them out of there as quickly as she could.

The two slammed into the ground of their cave, coughing up quite a bit of dust that had coated their throats. Mephisto was disoriented, reeling from the shift in space that he hadn't initiated. The sting of black crystal echoed through his cheek and scalp until Praxina brushed off the remnants of their replacements’ attacks.

When the world stopped spinning and he didn't feel like he was going to melt or vomit, he turned to his sister with a scowl. “What was that for?! Retreating like cowards… no wonder Gramorr replaced us!”

The elder of the two was unusually pensive, staring at the scraps of blue and yellow on the rocks that had yet to dissipate with a strange, focused intensity. But the grating whine of her brother snapped her out of her musings, and she immediately matched him with a ferocious frown of her own. “Gramorr replaced us because, like always, you were too incompetent to keep up, constantly bringing me down with you!”

“Oh, real rich, coming from the one who couldn't even land a shot against that blue pretender.”

“Says the one who couldn't block the yellow one!”

At times like this, the waterfall would morph to reflect their master’s evil mask and strike their hearts with a familiar, comforting fear. They would relish in the shame of being caught in their foolishness if it meant Gramorr still cared about their progress.

The absence of his scolding voice made their insults hurt even more.

finals: t minus NEVER

bignate27

Guess who has labor day off B)

DOUGwithablog

okay so NEVER do that again bro

B) died in 2015

bignate27

Me! i have labor day off

eyeris27

oh wait that's perfect!!!

we can all go to Keisha’s party tomorrow

K88

Michael’s girlfriend? Do I have to wear neon?

V0LT4N

WE CAN ALL MATCH!!

TALiA

Probably, but it should be fine. What time is the party?

eyeris27

starts at 7

we can be a little late tho

DOUGwithablog

they live in freaking east ocean city

we wernt making it on time to begin with

bignate27

Wernt

DOUGwithablog

actually kys dpmo rn

bignate27

Sybau :P

K88

Children and their brainrot… </3

DOUGwithablog

you are sooooo lucky talia can kick my ass

TALiA

As long as you know it.

K88

HEART EYES

<33333

cMontana

Can we all meet at LoliRock’s house to get ready once Nathaniel gets off work? I started experimenting with colors that glow in black light and I would really like you all to model them!

V0LT4N

Of course!!! I love glow in the dark!!!

DOUGwithablog

ofc my king <3

eyeris27

there might be some neons in that kid makeup that got left here last time I babysat

K88

Talia glowing in the dark… DUIAIFYAJWNGDGSHSG

bignate27

Rabies??

Ill text mikey and tell him were coming

V0LT4N

Ooh! I’ll text Penny!

DOUGwithablog

EHAT

YOU AHVE HER NUMBER???

V0LT4N

Mhm! We’re partners in anatomy and we have the same English class!

I asked her for her number on the second day but I haven't had a reason to use it yet.

DOUGwithablog

ure so crazy

STUPID COUNSELOR i shouldv taken langgg

K88

Only hot people can take lang, Doug

V0LT4N

But then you wouldn't be in the same class as Maddox?

bignate27

Okay wow asshole youre literally in research

cMontana

DOUGwithablog

true trye

HEY U MADE MY GLORIOUS KING SAD

eyeris27

Talia is litrally taking lit but okay go off

TALiA

We're breaking up.

K88

We were never dating?

Talia??

Did you think we were dating???

DID YOU WANT TO DATE ME????

WAIT COME BACK ILY I WAS WRONG PLEASE :(((

bignate27

Oh my god this is so pathetic just kill me

DOUGwithablog

onb this is so embarassing for you

eyeris27

screenshot2945.jpeg

[Text messages from the group chat a few days ago. Doug is gushing over how hot it was that Penny picked up some trash from a lunch table and threw it out during a passing period. Auriana is doing the same, but it isn’t shown in the screenshot.]

DOUGwithablog

what have i EVER done to you

and yoh cant rven talk miss “omg nathaniels hot abs oh his hair oh his eyes and his butt in baseball pants”

heathen

eyeris27

I don't even care anymore cuz that’s my man now!!

bignate27

Yeah i get objectified to my face now instead of in the group chat

Wait no i still get objectified here

K88

@eyeris27 @V0LT4N Can one of you talk to Talia? I didn't mean what I said I hope she isn't upset :((

V0LT4N

She’s not upset!!!

She thinks this is really funny actually XD

cMontana

Haha! As do I!

bignate27

All bald people are stupid

Okay wait final confirmation

Were ALL going to this party right?

And meeting at lolirocks at 6?

TALiA

Sounds like a plan. Let us know when you arrive.

K88

TALIA!

Wait where’d she go?

DOUGwithablog

oh kyle never change

too funny lmfao

Nathaniel wakes up at 5:30 most mornings. It gave him time to think before his jog through the trail behind his neighbor’s house, which he squeezed in before he had to get ready for school. Or work, since it was a Sunday. For thirty minutes, he could try to wrap his head around his dreams and scattered thoughts before he had to pull himself together.

He was glad Iris told him the truth, he really was. It removed so much of the strain from their relationship and he could tell she was more relaxed without that weight on her shoulders. Granted, she still hid this from all their friends and Aunt Ellen, but it made something flutter in Nathaniel’s chest that he was different. Special. She chose him.

But that meant that every foggy nightmare of bright flashes and monsters and an opaque dark red tint over his eyes was real. They stopped being hazy glimpses of a hyperactive imagination and became terrifying memories. Clear and vividly dangerous, every moment he saw played out in graphic detail, every moment he didn’t was twisted from spiraling “what if”s.

Nathaniel hadn’t slept through the night in a week.

He was sure it would get easier. Everything does with time, or so he’s told. Waiting for the day the memories would inevitably lose their novelty is agonizing after so many sleepless nights, though. At least he gets his homework done, with nothing else productive to do while his brain refuses to chill out long enough for a good night’s rest. It’s probably all incoherent scribbles and nonsense, but he has a few days to not care until his teachers actually check his work.

There was an influx in people scheduling with the school’s counselor for the first week of school. Nathaniel hated most of the others, since they were convinced he was somehow setting himself up for failure. Either they hated his career aspirations or the fact that he refused to take any more arts or language electives, and were generally unhelpful in every conversation he was forced to have with them.

Maisley actually cares about the mental health of the students. She almost exclusively wears long dresses in different shades of gingham with frills along the bottom seams, and occasionally a soft, thin sweater if it’s too cold in her cozy office. But on the days she doesn’t, everyone can see her giant biceps, which almost make him feel as safe as her eternally patient smile.

Almost. Even top tier muscles that he would kill for can’t protect anyone from dark magic. Only Iris could do that, and he was the only one who knew.

He wonders if all those kids are suffering from mysterious, unexplainable nightmares like he was a week ago. The only thing that’s changed for him is that the previous adjectives no longer apply to his nightmares, but they jolt him out of his sleep in a cold sweat all the same. Or maybe it’s just stress, since that tends to be abundant in high schoolers. Some of them definitely just wanted a designated block to talk to Maisley for the sake of talking—she was nice like that and would always have a delicious cookie and sweet tea for you to complain over.

Nathaniel mulled over whether or not he should schedule an appointment himself, but what would he even say at this point? Telling the truth was stupid, but dancing around the truth made it sound like Iris was either in serious danger or getting ready to take a trip to a padded room. He had been in her chair before. Staying vague would just lead to perfectly formulated probing questions that would eventually make him more suspicious than sympathetic, or he would be just comfortable enough to spill everything indirectly.

There was no time to debate the matter with himself any more. The digits on his phone, set up on its side in landscape view and showing him the time and weather, were displayed in bright red against black. It was 6:01, more than enough time for thinking had passed. It was time to clear his mind and run until his legs felt ready to detach themselves, then bring them back to life with a hot shower before torturing them some more at work, until it was time to punish them even further at a party.

Nathaniel drags himself out of bed with a stretch and a groan. Good morning, world!

As if answering his internal call, his phone buzzes on the lone nightstand beside his bed. It’s silent right now, but the familiar vibration pattern lets him know it’s a text from Iris. With so little free time in between school, concerts, and saving the world—he’ll never get over that, will he?—they had gotten in the habit of meeting for runs on cool mornings when she didn’t feel like sleeping in. They were quiet affairs, but the background noise of the slowly rising town and their presences near each other were enough at such an early hour.

His…whatever-they-were was on her way, giving him enough time to quickly wash up, put some sweatpants on, and find his wallet so they could get breakfast afterwards. It was his turn to pick the place they’d grab a quick bite from after their three miles, and Doug had posted on his blog about a place that just opened downtown.

Iris would probably get a parfait while he got whatever had the most protein powder or caffeine, they would alternate between scarfing down their meals and feeding each other small samples of their own food, and part ways at the intersection that divided their neighborhoods wanting something more.

What did he want with Iris? The water from his washrag rolled in unnoticed droplets down his tanned chest as he pondered. Nathaniel loves her, that’s an uncontested fact he knows to be true from the bottom of his soul. And he’s pretty confident Iris feels the same. If it weren’t for their endless responsibilities and his humanity, there would probably be a better chance of them being an item.

The connection they have is a stronger bond than simply boyfriend and girlfriend. He accepted ages ago that they would be together in some capacity for the rest of their lives. That still doesn’t muffle the selfish voice in his heart that begs for that bond to be acknowledged and labeled, given a name Nathaniel can proudly declare with a stupid, lovestruck smile on his face.

He decided while he slipped his shoes on at his door, leaving a note for his father in case he actually woke up before noon on a Sunday to find his son gone before the weather reached 80 degrees. By the end of the school year for sure, he will have asked Iris to be his girlfriend. Assuming neither of them died a crystallized death or something equally morbid.

“Ready to go?” the girl he’s been thinking about all morning calls from the other side of the open door, hair in a wavy ponytail with a towel around her neck and a matching water bottle strapped to her hand. Neither of them have had the chance to really sweat so early in the day, but her face still has a shine to it in the fresh sun. There’s a yellowing bruise on her forehead, probably from a fight or training or not looking where she was going while rushing to class.

She’s beautiful. “Yeah, let me just lock the door.”

Sunday morning was filled with practice, both magical and musical. After practicing for their concert Monday night to raise money for union healthcare organizations, or whatever Labor Day was about, LoliRock found themselves on the upper level of their library battling a crystal copy of their least favorite twins.

Iris’ offensive attack was swiftly evaded by the fake Mephisto, who rose into the air in silence to launch his own. It wasn’t like they were incapable of making noise, but the copies were mostly meant for battle as disposable soldiers. Giving them the ability to speak was a massive waste of energy, and they had a long day ahead of them. Plus, even though there hadn’t been any attacks for a while, it was best to be ready for anything. That was why they trained so hard, after all.

She flipped over a few protrusions that erupted from the ground. The black crystal was fake, so it wouldn’t sting in the awful way a real attack would, but it was best to treat them as if it would. “For stand-ins, they’re pretty good!”

“Thanks,” Talia accepted the compliment as she summoned her kingdom’s wand. “If we want to improve—hup!—that’s the way they should be!” Her wand glittered in the magical light of the training floor as she broke away and cleared the fake Praxina’s crystal. Eventually, the wand itself flickered off in fragments of her signature blue, waiting to be summoned once more.

“I must say,” Auriana slipped between a barrage of attacks from the false younger twin, sending off her own offensive attack, “Mephisto has never looked better!”

Iris leaped away from the dark crystal spikes erupting from the floor underneath her. “Yuck, I hope you realize how that sounds. And regardless of his pretty boy status, he's still the weakest link, with how easily distracted he is.”

The false Praxina had pushed Talia to the edge, but she fended the copy off with graceful technique as per usual. The other girls were effortlessly dodging Mephisto’s sloppy spells, cast away into the void without a proper target. Her creations were starting to run out of steam. It would be best to finish this sooner rather than later.

Getting into proper stance and focus, she called out to the other girls. “Sparkle and twine spell!” Quickly, they adjusted themselves, their bodies and eyes matching Talia’s intensity. When she locked her amber eyes with their blue and green, she spun into the casting position with the magic required charged underneath her skin.

“Go!”

A burst of light erupted into a powerful aura around each princess, alarming the crystal copies. Each party charged their attack, but the twins were a moment too late. The girls zipped past each other in a blink, leaving the copies reeling with crystal covering their mouths and tying together their limbs. Weakened to their limits, the bound copies dissolved into pale blue shimmers in the thick air of the library as the girls landed and celebrated the successful execution.

Talia smiled at their giddiness. They were right to be proud, especially Iris. She had come so far in her magical studies in such little time, which gave them real hope of actually defeating Gramorr one day. Just a few months ago, she wouldn’t have been able to properly hum in the shower, much less pull off an advanced synchronized technique like the Crystal Legare spell.

“Good work today, girls. As long as we keep this perfect timing, we can’t lose!”

Iris went upstairs after detransforming to help her aunt with setting the laundry out to dry while the other two did some homework. Auriana had quite a few notes to catch up on since she spent most of anatomy making goo-goo eyes at Penny, according to Nathaniel, and most of her English class making a thousand friends.

She wasn’t bad at anatomy, she was used to having an intimate understanding of the body in order to tend to the injuries and illnesses of other people running from Gramorr. But all of her knowledge was limited to alien bodies not quite like the one she impersonated, and she almost blew her cover after asking Dr. Kenny where the other stomachs on the anatomical model were. One positive of someone else knowing their secret: someone could awkwardly laugh at her “jokes” and cover for her lack of knowledge.

When Nathaniel mentioned the incident at lunch later that day, all he said was, “It explains how she can put away so many sandwiches and stay so little.”

Her English also wasn’t the best outside of conversation, which wasn’t the greatest thing for someone taking an AP class. Auriana did love to read, though, and had seen summaries of the class’ readings online. She demanded Iris sign her up for the class so she could get the books, then struggled her way through the first chapter of the first reading a few days before school started with a homemade Ephedian-English dictionary and an actual Merriam-Webster. The Voltan princess is pulling it off so far, albeit rather slowly. Very, very slowly.

Talia was often caught in the late hours of the night staring at her calculus textbook while on the phone with Doug and Kyle. The latter was really only there for moral support, having passed the honors version of the class by the skin of his teeth and a prayer or two. Doug and Talia were geniuses with a primal understanding of numbers, but she had never received a formal education beyond the Earth equivalent of middle school. Algebra was easy enough to teach herself, geometry was essential to their magic, and trigonometry was just more algebra to her.

Derivatives were what stumped her. The shame of failing any sort of test, or not being deemed absolutely excellent, weighed heavier than the shame of having to ask a human for help in anything. Not by much, but enough to force her through hours of her more insufferable blond friend’s explanations through a digital whiteboard. If doing well in school wasn’t essential for their cover story, Talia would never have voluntarily done this to herself.

“You did choose an AP class, you know.” This was Kyle’s response every time she complained, and while it is true that her suffering is self-inflicted, she still has to stop herself from instinctively doing something to shut him up when he says something about it. “There, there,” he would eventually try to console the anger he incurred. “You can always drop out and move down?”

Talia would scoff. “And admit defeat? Absolutely not! There is nothing those humans—er—hubris filled know-it-all assholes can do that I can’t do with perfection. Besides, why wouldn’t I strive to prove my worth among the best of the best?”

Kyle would then soften into a cheesy smile, and no matter how often they did this song and dance, Talia would never grow tired of seeing that handsome expression. “Of course, of course. I could never forget just how brilliant you are. My mistake.”

Iris finished all of her work the night before, minus a few last minute things she left for the morning before school started. She offered to help them in any way she could, but her friends’ determination far exceeded her own in academics. It was admirable, and brought a little grin to her lips while she snapped the clothespins on the spare sheets.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house until it reached the open patio door. Aunt Ellen was wrestling a giant throw blanket, a fluffy plush maroon monster that stretched across the entire couch and was perfect for movie nights and blanket forts in the living room. “Could you get that, Iris?” she managed to ask, though muffled by the sheer amount of blanket in her face.

“Are you sure you don’t want help with that? Whoever’s outside can probably wait…”

More blanket covered her aunt, and all she could see was her reddish-brown hair bobbing in a nod. “No, go ahead. I can do this just fine by myself.”

Shrugging, she walked to the door, hearing the creaks from the floorboards above her approach the stairs. The others must have heard the doorbell as well. When Iris opened the door, she looked down to see a vaguely familiar little girl. Her afro had been sectioned off into cute pigtails with pink bows, and when she finally looked up to face her, they framed her round face that looked just like someone else’s she knew.

Squinting, she asked, “Aren’t you Michael’s little cousin?”

The girl looked shocked to be recognized. “Wait, y-you–you’re Iris from Lolirock!”

Or maybe for a different reason.

“Wow, this is so cool! I didn’t know this was your house, or that you knew my big cousin! My name is Lisa, nice to meet you!” She shook Iris’ hand with both of her own, overeager and excited to meet the local celebrity. Though nowadays, Lolirock was well known in other parts of the state thanks to videos of their concerts being played on local TV and reposted across social media.

At that moment, Auriana had peeked past Iris to examine the guest herself. She looked out across the street both ways before looking down, shocked to see such a young visitor. Lisa, of course, was just as surprised.

The young girl gasped and immediately began to express her awe. “Wow, Auriana?! No way!” The redhead giggled to herself. It was always nice to see their fans, but the children tugged at their heartstrings in a unique way. “D-Does that mean… Talia is here too?”

As if on cue, since the girl herself was waiting patiently behind her friends in the doorway, Talia stepped in between her bandmates to meet their visitor. “Nice to meet you,” she says, while Lisa’s jaw drops. She may start squealing at any second. It takes everything to even shake her hand.

When her hand is reverently released, Talia begins her questioning. “So, what brings you here?” It's a long way from home to be here all by yourself, is what goes unsaid. From what she knows about that household, the two adults in the house work long hours and don't have the time to take their kids to the neighboring towns.

Still, her older cousin could have come with her to their door. Sunny Bay is a relatively safe city, minus the presence of the twins, but anything could happen. It was dangerous for a little girl to be wandering all by herself.

“Oh, right, I forgot.” Lisa digs into her little blue bag with a smile, and emerges with some red and white tickets. “I’m selling raffle tickets to raise money for my school’s band uniforms!”

Auriana jumps with an unmatched glee that only comes from the opportunity to spend money on something she really doesn't need. Even if it is for a good cause. “Raffle tickets? Awesome!”

Her joy holds for a brief moment before it morphs into confusion. “What do you do with them?”

“There's a drawing, and you can win a prize!”

She claps excitedly, as the chance to win prizes can brighten anyone's day. Amaru comes out of the house next to inspect the noise, capturing the heart of Lisa who drops down to her knees in a blink to pet what she thinks is an adorable, funny looking cat.

Iris resists the urge to coo at the sight of an adorable kid holding an adorable pet. “So, you're in the school band?”

“Yeah! I’m the drum major for our pep band and the lead percussion for our class.” Iris has no clue what that means, but Lisa looks so proud of herself, so it must be good. “We’re competing for a spot in the annual summer county parade. It's our first time trying, but we've been practicing since last year and all summer! I just know we'll win!”

Talia nods her approval. “Practice makes perfect. We do it all the time. That discipline will serve you well in the future.”

The girl looks like she's going to faint at the praise from her favorite member of the band. “The parade performers get brand new instruments, and the raffle winner gets lunch with Chad Chazwick. My big cousin saw him at the beach and asked if he could help us, and he said yes! Isn't it so cool?!”

Auriana grabbed a ticket, and she took on a delirious expression. “Chad Chazwick~ The hottest new singer in the universe? Haaah…”

“I’ll take ten! Make it twenty!” The redhead shoved miscellaneous coins and bills at the young girl from her purse, and Iris joined in, shouting her similar order for the tickets.

Lisa’s eyes widened and brightened, and her smile stretched even larger than before. She accepted the money with watery eyes, crying out, “Oh, thank you, thank you! Now I only have five more booklets to sell before we reach our goal!”

The raffle tickets were passed to each screaming girl. They clapped their hands together, each probably fantasizing about what a dinner with a pop star would be like. Talia, ever the responsible one, made sure Lisa’s older cousins knew where she was and gave her directions for the bus stop that would take her to the park, so one of them could pick her up later.

The smoothie bar wasn’t as busy on Sundays as it was on Fridays or Tuesdays. Usually, teenagers made pacts to themselves not to spend any money that week eating out in order to save, only to crack on Tuesday and berate themselves when the taste of blended fruit finally faded. Friday was payday, so everyone’s inhibitions when it came to spending were dropped.

Saturdays were consistently active, but never bustling, and Sundays were lazy days all around. It was many people’s dedicated study day, or chore day, or lounge around the house in pajamas day. It was slow enough for Nathaniel to get the rest of his homework done from behind the counter, and even start up a mostly uninterrupted conversation with Doug, who had come in to finish his reading for class.

When Lolirock came in when the sun was at its highest, neither were surprised. Auriana was practically addicted to smoothies, and Iris was always looking for an excuse to see Nathaniel. The bar was practically empty, save them and a blonde girl scrolling on her phone, so their orders were handled quickly.

“The usual?” Nathaniel had already begun loading ice and fresh blueberries into his blender, starting Talia’s order. She always got the large Rhythm and Blues with no sugar, a tart mix of blueberries, dragonfruit, and cranberry juice with a bit of dye to make it truly blue.

Talia nodded her approval, already sliding the cash across the counter. Seven dollars exactly, which made their way into the register with one hand while the other scooped cups of cubed fruit into the blender. By the time she had received her receipt, her drink was already mixing away and Nathaniel had moved on to his least predictable regular.

Auriana somehow never ordered the same thing twice. They were always large drinks with additional sugar, and she always asked that orange vitamin C powder was added, but that was where her consistency ended. Once, she asked for a chocolate/peanut butter/spinach/apple smoothie, which smelled like death and looked like a sewer monster in gestation, but she slurped it down with a smile all the same. Today, it’s orange, banana, and coconut, which doesn’t sound half bad.

Iris usually got something green or something with strawberries, oftentimes a Garden Special or a slightly altered Berry Blast. It depended on the day or the kind of mood she was in, but rarely did she deviate from those two choices. She deliberated for a bit before choosing the Berry Blast with half sugar and extra raspberry.

The girls made their way to a set of couches in the back of the smoothie bar by the TV, sipping away at their drinks and gossiping about the tickets they had just bought. Specifically the prize that would await the winner.

“And seriously, Chad’s guitar riffs are, like, the coolest ever!” Iris gushed as she brought her straw to her lips.

Auriana agreed with a giant smile. “Ever! And his lyrics…” She sighed dreamily, her body relaxing and slouching into the cushions behind her. “They’re soooo deep, soooo real. It’s like he’s speaking right to me!”

Talia sipped at her smoothie, unimpressed as her bandmates leaned their heads back with another longing sigh. Their eyes slipped shut as they daydreamed, and their keytarist fought the urge to roll her eyes and scoff. What a pathetic sight for the girls meant to be the future saviors of their planet!

Nathaniel and Doug, having overheard snippets of their conversation and now curious as to what their friends were talking about, strolled up to their seats. Leaning over the couch and peering at their cheesy grins, Nathaniel asked, “What’s with the funny faces?”

“Didn’t you hear? There’s a raffle to win lunch with Chad Chazwick!” Auriana was near breathless, and Doug matched her enthusiasm in an instant with eyes that began to grow wide.

“Chad Chazwick? Oh, wow, if I interviewed him, my blog readership would go through the roof! And I could actually use the story in my drafts for my journalism project!”

He clenched his fists in glee, but then paused to get closer to Auriana. “Wait. Where can I buy a ticket for the raffle?”

The redhead frowned and averted her green eyes from the determined brown ones in front of her. “Sorry, Doug. A girl came by our place earlier but she’s gone. And the drawing is this evening…”

Iris chimed in as she saw Doug grow more and more discouraged. “But she was Michael’s little cousin, selling tickets for her school band. I’m sure you can find her and buy a booklet!”

This had the opposite effect, as the blond’s eyes began to water and his lip began to quiver before he ultimately groaned in defeat. “They live all the way in East Ocean City, and that’s two hours on the bus if I’m lucky. There’s no way I’ll find her.”

Somehow, he collapsed further into himself in his own misery. Auriana felt increasingly sorry for her friend, who was likely scrambling to find a way to complete his assignment in time and had his one chance ripped away from him. Talia had done her best to look for a scoop alongside him after school, but there wasn’t even a cat stuck in a tree.

“Here,” she finally said, handing over one of her several booklets of tickets from her purse. “You can have some of mine if you want. I have lots!” Doug gingerly reached for the tickets, breaking out into silent tears when they were in his hands and reaching across the small table to grab Auriana in a crushing hug. Well, crushing to someone who wasn’t more durable than concrete.

“What about you, Nathaniel?” she managed to offer when she had finally gotten her face out of Doug’s shoulder. “Did you want one?”

“Uh… sure, why not?” He reached out to take a ticket, but not without noticing a pink glow from the corner of his eye that was quickly covered by Iris’ hand around her pendant. She met his eyes with a slightly panicked look before awkwardly sidestepping from their table and abandoning her near-empty cup.

When everyone stared at her, minus the entirely uninterested girl at the front of the store, she stuttered her way through a shoddy excuse. “Oh! Uh—I just remembered I promised Aunt Ellen I would… help her weed the garden!” She slipped out the door so quickly everyone else was left stunned.

They recovered quickly enough, and Talia dropped her own empty cup to the table. “Well, we better get going too. Thanks again for the smoothies, and good luck with the raffle.” Her and Auriana’s exit was much more graceful. Still, Doug raised an eyebrow at their odd behavior.

“They’re so weird,” he finally muttered, though he was obviously still preoccupied by the tickets he was currently putting into his wallet.

Nathaniel nodded. “So weird.” But at least now he knew the truth of why, so it left him a little less off-kilter.

Iris waited until all of them were in her room and the door was shut before she threw herself onto her bed, infuriated. The total humiliation was enough to make her forget to take her shoes off! “I can’t believe—how the hell are they so strong? We hit them with everything we had and they just—just—!” Her complaints sputtered out into a guttural scream into her pillow, and her face was flushed pink when she finally emerged for air.

Lisa’s remaining booklets had been stolen by “two teenagers in weird costumes” who hadn’t even bothered to fight them. They had left that pleasure to a different set of twins, somehow even more capable and unfeeling than the last. Deinos and Kakos were brutal, almost too efficient in their takedown and synchronization. As Mephisto had said, they were the perfect team.

For Iris, a lot of this magical stuff was still unbelievable to her, clashing against the reality she had known until a few months ago. But even still, these new twins just didn’t feel real. With her magic, she could feel the pulsing of the energy underneath her skin and thrumming through her heart, burning the air next to her as enemy attacks whizzed past her. Underneath those cruel cackles and sadistic taunts, there was nothing.

Talia and Auriana were just as confused, which was equally unsettling to Iris. And on that train of thought, Deinos’ crystals were eerily similar to Talia’s own, only much darker. Did that mean they were from the same kingdoms? Even if Kakos’ crystals were more of a corrupted yellow than orange, could he be related to Auriana in some way?

“So that’s why Mephisto and Praxina were so upset,” Talia finally muttered into her knee, raised to her chest in a pitiful curl. “They’ve been replaced.”

Auriana sighed, slumped over against the bed. “And for good reason. These new twins are so much tougher! All that practice for nothing…”

Iris groaned. “They take the pow- out of my power! How are we supposed to beat them?”

Silence rang loud between the three.

The stifling air of defeat was suffocating. Iris breaking it was a welcome reprieve after those long few minutes. “Talia, I was wondering… what do the colors mean?”

Talia stared. “Colors? What colors? Is there something wrong with your vision?”

“No! No, nothing like that. I mean, what do the colors of our magic represent? We’re all from the same planet, and I would assume we’re all huma—er, the same species, but I’m pink. I thought it was based on our favorite colors at first, but now that I think about it, my magic has always been pink, even when I liked purple more.”

Auriana laughed a little at that, but the brief bit of amusement was still tainted by her frustrated mood. “Sorry, sometimes I forget you aren’t really from Ephedia. Otherwise you would’ve known the legend.”

“Yeah,” Talia said afterwards. “That’s kind of a stupid question back home, but it makes sense you wouldn’t know. We didn’t really do a good job explaining things to you, huh…”

She cleared her throat, then rose from the plush chair she had been curled up in. Her hands slammed into the carpet as she dropped to her knees, and a pale blue spell circle quickly blossomed from her fingertips. The room was enveloped in that glow as it began to morph, and Iris was reminded of the day she met them, in that dank cave with magical images projected onto the rock when they told her about her identity.

The pink walls of her room and the various photos and posters she had on them became the visage of a beautiful woman. The world around her looked almost like Earth, except the sky during the day were the colors of an eternal sunrise, and the grass underneath her feet was a deep magenta. She was a giant, towering over all of them with a stern gaze that wasn't actually directed towards them, but her image wasn’t unkind.

She seemed almost maternal, and the wispy outer eyelashes on her glowing face reminded Iris of the few times she had seen her own mother. Her hair was almost white, with hints of purple slipping through. Her clothes had no such impurities, a shimmering white robe that draped over her outstretched arms and almost grazed the ground past her ankles. Golden rings encircled her head and wrists, floating so as to not quite touch her skin.

Her eyes were what really brought Iris awe. She had faint impressions of pupils, but they were almost invisible. It looked as though they were entirely white. Could she see at all?

The vision had finally finished forming, and Talia looked incredibly strained. Still, she rose to her feet and began to tell the story.

“Ancient magic was too volatile to be contained in mortal bodies, so it wasn't always common in Ephedia. Only a few great sorcerers had access to it, like Lady Morianne. She was a traveling practitioner, healing people and exploring with her gift. According to legend, she was the first master to not be killed by her own growing power before she became of age.

But early on in her life, a failed spell caused her to go blind. She could only sense vague figures, nothing helpful for her travels. But she was too stubborn to quit. Her goal was to explore all of Ephedia, no matter what. So she studied natural magic, the energy of the microscopic crystals that rested within all of the surrounding flora. That was how she made her way to the kingdom of Borealis.”

“They actually worship her as a Goddess!” Auriana chimed in, though Iris wasn’t listening as she watched the vision of a young Lady Morianne tenderly caressing a green flower in a forest, and smiling at the feel of the crystals on her fingers.

“To easily find her way to places she had been before, and avoid returning to them while on her quest, she embedded a bit of her own magic into the soil of each kingdom's center. Gradually, these embers combined with the natural magic surrounding these early civilizations and grew into sources of great power. This is how the seven original realms were born. Calix, Borealis, Thalassa, Volta, Xeris, and Ephedia.”

“Wait, but that was only six–”

Talia ignored her. “Children born in each realm will absorb the magic of each Great Crystal in utero. Whichever source they're closest to determines the type of magic they'll have. I was born in the palace of Xeris, near our Crystal, so my magic is blue. Voltan children are born in the waters surrounding their Crystal, so Auriana’s magic is orange.”

“And much more potent!” the bubbly girl chimes in. “One of our first kings actually worked with a disciple of Lady Morianne to create the pond, so our realm would remain strong. It… it didn't work out so well for a bit, but we definitely pack a punch now!”

The vision of Lady Morianne, adored by her peers, students, and the early stages of Ephedian royalty, faded away into the familiar walls of Iris’ room in Sunny Bay. Talia looked winded when the magic finally dissipated, and she slumped back into the plush chair. “Did that answer your question? We’ll be sure to teach you more about our world’s history, when we have more time.”

Iris nodded. “Yeah, that helped a lot. But that still doesn't explain the twins—either of the twins—having different colors. If they really were twin siblings, they couldn't be born next to two different crystals…”

Auriana gasped into her palm. “So Deinos and Kakos aren't really brothers? But then why do they look so similar if they come from two different kingdoms? I’ve never seen a Thalassan with that kind of hair!”

“Mephisto and Praxina have two different colors, too,” Iris added. “Maybe they aren't twins either.”

Talia shook her head. “Mephisto and Praxina are an anomaly that's already been studied. It's much more likely that these new twins aren't actually twins at all.”

“Well, whatever it is, we can't quit now,” Iris said, standing from her earlier position on the bed. “We're LoliRock. We can't give up against these guys!”

Auriana cheered, and they gathered downstairs to find some sort of strategy in the library.

finals: t minus NEVER

DOUGwithablog

hey so abt that raffle

MY TIX ARE GONE :(((((

bignate27

Lmao iris did you get scammed again

eyeris27

okay first of all that “again” is misleading

and also Auriana bought them first

and no!!

bignate27

So we got scammed by a 5th grader great

I hope you guys have enough money for the party cuz mike asked us to bring ice

K88

Uh, no? Not in my car.

The trunk has a soft base, we’re not growing mold in my trunk.

bignate27

Your truck

K88

A truck currently in my possession :/

cMontana

Wait, tickets? What did you guys buy tickets for?

TALiA

We bought raffle tickets to support Michael’s little cousin and her marching band. The tickets have since gone missing.

K88

TALIAAAAA!!

TALiA

Hello, Kyle.

K88

Im gonna die

DOUGwithablog

yea so not the time for simp hours

MY INTERVIEW

MY GRADEES

CHAD CHAZWICK

eyeris27

calm down buddy

we’ll find whoever took the tickets so hold your horses

DOUGwithablog

uh oh do i need my bomb sheltr

whenvr you say smth like that we get mysterious earthquakes

bignate27

I think its the government weather machine

DOUGwithablog

wtf

how many times do i have to tell u that thats not real

conspiracy theory motherfucker

bignate27

A government weather machine is more likely than a teenage girl group causing earthquakes

K88

Two months ago I might have believed you. Now I’m more skeptical

bignate27

Can you be skeptical of something useful like my math hw that you said you were gonna help me with yesterday

K88

Oh right I did say that

Uggggggh

Direct Messages with princess iris <3

nate I have a theory

But thats just a theory

A gaaaaame theory

this is for realsies right now

like I have evidence?? and a thought??

but nothing concrete so I just

Okay serious mode on

Hit me and ill tell you if you sound insane

thank youuu

okay so I learned something pretty big today

about like my history and stuff

Your princess history? or your aunt’s human history

princess

apparently the color our magic manifests into is based off the kingdom we're from

which makes a lot of sense but i didn’t know

Neither did i

But i guess its different if you don't know since its basically world history 101 for you

yeah when I asked they said it was a stupid question :(

but ANYWAY

the colors are based off where you were born

so I’m pink and Auriana is orange and Talia is blue

Right

but the twins we usually fight are red and green

which is weird because they're twins so they would be born in the same place

right??

That would make sense

Also wdym usually fight

There are more bad guys??

gimme a minute with that part

Talia says that's an anomaly but there's an explanation she won't tell me so whatever

but today we were fighting a new set of twins that replaced the other ones

Did they steal the raffle tickets?

yeah idk why

their colors are blue and yellow but like a darker one

but twins shouldn't have two different colors

As we have established

RIGHT

but they do

and Auriana said something about how one of them had weird hair for where he should've been from

but they look identicaaaaal

and it's so unlikely to look identical to someone you aren't related to

esp since we’re all kind of human ish looking

Did they say they were twins?

Or did you just assume because they look alike

not alike the same

carbon copies

they said they were brothers but for the sake of my theory I’m assuming twins

Okay im following you

they finish each other's sentences for spells and use the exact same ones the other twins use

Talia says they were created by evil sorcerer man himself

and they don't feel real

Im not following that part

Is it because theyre unusually in sync?

Do they look funny?

Well youre aliens but

it's okay i get it

hard to describe

empty??

like something pretending to be a person

if a machine were too human that it was obviously inhuman

except for aliens

Okay

and they're too focused

like they never get sidetracked for anything

they're the perfect team!! but in a weird way

Is this where your theory comes in?

To me they sound like super soldiers

Or like sleeper agents but magical

Are you hurt?

no just my pride

we left before anything could get too bad

and we're watching them so they don't hurt anyone else

but even that's weird because they're just stationary

WAIT

you read my mind omg

Oh shit you were actually thinking super soldier?

some kind of brainwashing yeah

I think Gramorr is testing prototype minions on us

don't really know how that helps us but it was bugging me

if you think it makes sense tho…

No yeah it makes a lot of sense from what you told me

But why the twin thing then?

Unless he just has a thing for twins

eww he's like ancient and we’re all teenagers

I think

no idea for both honestly

but thank you for this I thought I was crazy

Ofc iris

Like i said before you can always talk to me

And im happy you came to be about this stuff even if its still kind of crazy to me that youre talking about an intergalactic war

But at least youre talking to me and youre safe

this helps me more than you could ever know

thanks Nate

Always

hey Nate?

Yeeeees?

we have a half day next thursday and i know you don’t start work until 3

wanna get lunch together by the top part of the lake?

YES

Yes yes yes

it’s a date!!

okay see you at the raffle!

Im squeeing rn

You cant tell but i am

Be safe and see you soon <3

Praxina huffed from her perch on the cliffside, surveying the ground below with her brother. She could sense that their replacements were lurking somewhere nearby, but they weren’t visible from above. If the princesses came now, dropping in from the back of their transforming fleabag, all they would see is the dark crystalline beast stomping about below. It was the setup for a perfect ambush, with adequate fodder as bait and the true power hiding in the shadows. A strategy they had never been able to properly implement, but one Gramorr had emphasized in his teachings.

Deinos and Kakos were truly the perfect operatives. And as bitter as she was to be forced to acknowledge that truth, Praxina was equally suspicious of it.

As if on cue, the pegasus orchestrated a divebomb from behind the creature, but the magic was formidable. The princesses’ pet was swatted like the nuisance it was, but its quick recovery gave them the opportunity to transform in a wave of bright light. Deep down, a part of her rejoiced at the increase in magical power her enemies received, even if it would be detrimental to Gramorr’s plans for them to defeat this monster.

“The enemy of my enemy is the perfect pawn,” she muttered to herself, garnering a confused look from her brother. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Mephisto shook his head, blinking away his momentary shock. “You’re acting stranger than usual,” he said, then summoned a worn spellbook into his palm. Praxina left him to his studying, though the irritation still persisted. Things weren’t going well, but the day was still young. If her brother wasn’t a total moron, they could still turn this around in their favor.

“Crystal collidum!” The shout rang out from Auriana as she fired off the giant orange spike, but the beast absorbed the attack with a grunt and slammed it onto the rock. All of the princesses were blown back by the attack, amplified by her magic still reverberating through the beast’s claws.

It didn’t hold them down for long, much to Praxina’s dismay. Or satisfaction? This fight was too confusing for her to watch. Regardless of her feelings, the princesses were slowly finding their bearings, with the exception of Iris. The beast had locked onto her, taking giant strides to her supine body twitching on the ground in pain in an attempt to flatten her. She had rolled out of the way at first, but the second gargantuan footstep appeared to meet its mark. Everyone watching gasped, either in fear or delight, or some twisted combination of the two.

The shock was short-lived, as somehow, the Ephedian heir had slipped behind the creature, creating enough distance for a running start into its behind. She leaped up and shot a hole through its center, screaming, “Crystempactus!” as energy gathered around her tightened fist. By the time she landed, all of the strange slips of paper the princesses were after had poured from the entrance and exit wounds, creating a bed for the beast to crash onto.

Apparently, this was a perfect chance for a dramatic entrance. The second the beast rose, its outstretched palms revealed the source of Praxina’s current ire. Identical smirks split to release the same, grating voice.

Deinos started. “Well, well, well. We—”

“—meet again!” Kakos finished. Their synchronization, a trait she and Mephisto shared to a much lesser extent than these two, was another reminder of how perfect they were as harbingers of Gramorr’s vision. It made her seethe, air hissing between her teeth as she furiously inhaled. Mephisto didn’t look up from his reading, but his hand still found its way to her shoulder, and she relaxed a bit. Not enough to ignore her persistent anger, but her muscles still released some of their tension.

Iris postured with her hands on her hips. “If it isn’t the tough guys that pick on little girls selling raffle tickets!”

It kicked the other two into gear, though Talia was always on guard. “We’d say it’s a pleasure, but we’d be lying!” Auriana frowned at the two, but neither felt too intimidated by her tone, soft and light even when upset.

They dropped to ground level with the princesses, landing perfectly opposite of each other, and fired off a wave of magic without casting any specific spells. Their magic circles were even identical, excluding the differences in color. Each princess countered with a different spell, combining into a spiky mass of a shield that was quickly dissipated by a perfectly synced wave of spiraling dark magic from the replacement twins. It was something Praxina had only ever seen Gramorr execute before. Just who were these usurpers?

Nothing the princesses did could counter their attacks, and an artificial avalanche created by Kakos separated them across the battlefield. They were at a complete disadvantage, and a complete loss as for what to do. They couldn’t even gain the advantage of a familiar location without knowing where their furball was, so they hid in different brushes, quietly and independently strategizing while the replacements gloated to themselves. Even while celebrating their victory, their movements were still methodical and synchronized.

“They finish each other’s sentences in spells,” Iris said to herself, not knowing about the audience above her. “It’s just like Mephisto said… that’s it! Their strength is actually their weakness!”

Mephisto’s head raised from the book at the sound of his name, but he was only met with Praxina’s deepening scowl. “‘Just like Mephisto said?’ You helped the princesses?!”

“It was an accident!” His sister only growled at his defense, eyes narrowed. “But someone’s gotta get rid of those replacements. Who cares who does it as long as it gets done?”

Her eyes narrowed further, but it wasn’t like he was wrong. That was exactly how she had felt, traitorous as it may be to wish for the downfall of one of their master’s plots. Mephisto’s bumbling was forgivable this time, if only because it would be less annoying in the end to have to deal with the other twins themselves.

The princesses regrouped after another failed attack, with Iris sharing a new strategy to divide and conquer against the duo. They focused the brunt of their attacks on Kakos, binding his mouth in a blur whenever Deinos decided to begin to cast an offense to interrupt the spell. Praxina didn’t know what a “sparkle and twine” was, but it was working well. Seeing it now also meant they wouldn’t fall victim to it in the future.

Being bound in that way seemed to break whatever focus the two had. While Kakos panicked to release his gag, Deinos grew sloppy and started desperately casting spells, leaving him open to receiving the same treatment. They were quickly tied together by the princesses, struggling helplessly with frantic looks in their eyes.

The beast approached, as if sensing its creators in danger and rushing to their rescue. It slammed giant fists down onto them, but the princesses leaped out of the way and began their infernal finishing move to destroy it. Before they could return their attention to the lesser twins, they vanished into a plume of dark smoke, still bound and gagged.

While the princesses celebrated their victory of the day, returning the raffle tickets to their owners with a burst of bright light, Mephisto and Praxina watched from their ledge on the side of the cliff. “I have… mixed feelings about this,” she finally admitted. He was just happy the impostors were gone. They both phased out of sight, returning to their temporary home.

Even though they were gone, Praxina’s mind still lingered on those replacement twins. They were too perfect. Carbon copies of each other, extensions of one another, even if there were small differences. Nothing about them made sense. But those were thoughts for another day. Right now, they had more important things to prepare for.

Good riddance.

Notes:

i think that, even though they only appeared once, deinos and kakos being contracted agents and never talked about again in canon is such a waste. lev shows up after as another hired muscle, but even the implication that people are selling their labor to a dictator and usurper of the crown is so cool to me. can we look more into that? how many genuinely evil people are there in ephedia? do they all work for gramorr? are they like lev and jodan where they're just doing what they have to to survive? TELL ME MORE!!!

even though i don't end up going that route here, i still think it's cool as hell. there are so many little things in lolirock that have so much potential to be expanded on, if only it ran a little longer. or they decided to sell something more profitable like dolls instead of music. even if it were invested into more as a show, there's so much potential. i love this show guys.

also, the lore!! i made all of that stuff up lmao. lady morianne is supposed to be like an ancient morgaine, so i hope i captured that well. i always wondered why mephisto and praxina had different spell circles and magic colors if they were twins, same with deinos and kakos. the reason i came up with works for me, and im excited to flesh it out more. later. much much later :)

and lisa. the adorable lisa omg. im a total band kid and i love parades with marching bands. is a middle school drum major incredibly unrealistic? yeah, but in my mind this county has plenty of money to invest in a good band program. also i know that drum majors don't actually play percussion, but in my band the band leader was our tenor player, so lisa is going to be one too. she's also super outspoken in the episode, so she deserves it!!

anyways, look out for part 2! hopefully that doesn't take another month...

Notes:

heeey.. how y'all doin...
so it's been a bit less than a year since ive been on this account, but this fic has been in the works since january 2024. at first i was just making a lolirock chatfic, because the style of the show doesn't really give the characters any downtime and the fandom is so barren there are tumbleweeds. but then i was rewatching the show and was like "huh. aren't they supposed to be in school??"
so the fic evolved. i worked on it on and off over the past year and a half, but life has been life-ing. really hard. a very close family member of mine passed away and everything has been MESSY. i had no motivation to do much of anything, and my life kind of spiraled.
but then i saw that the creator announced plans for a real season 3!!! then i started working on and revising this fic more, and slowly things turned around. progress was slow, but i felt amazing for the first time in a while.
i wanted to publish this when i had more done, only 2 chapters are actually complete and i made them horrendously long. plus the beginning of this chapter... yeah. and the formatting mess between ao3 and the google doc is too much to properly edit right now. it was going to be posted and polished right when season 3 dropped. but i got overexcited and here we are.
ANYWAY, long preamble aside, i really hope you enjoyed this. this is what i wish i had when i finished the show for the first time and wanted more, only to see clickbait and nobody actually talking about the show. i love this show. and ignore how everyone is criminally ooc, but i did want to make them feel more like real high schoolers, especially since the male characters that i kind of made main characters don't get much depth.
if it wasn't super obvious, the events in this chapter are from season 1 episode 13 (Batty!) to season 1 episode 19 (Shanila Surprise). all past episode events are implied to have already happened, but im pretending that all of those were their "summer break" of a regular american public high school year. s1e20 has them discuss band uniforms, and s1e21 is literally halloween. and i will add copious regular school filler to reflect that!!
iris and doug are sophomores (10th graders), nathaniel, auriana, talia, and carlos are juniors (11th graders), and kyle, praxina, and mephisto are seniors (12th graders). that isn't super relevant right now but hopefully that gives you an idea of their classes. i made a lot of stuff up when planning their schedules.
see you all next time :)

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