Emerick Diggs' POV

"Okay, so this will either teleport us to Emerald City or murder us shamelessly," Emerick told his group bluntly. He had unofficially appointed himself as the team leader because they were all relying on his realm-hopping device to work. It should work, but this was his first test.

"Pardon?" Marigold Sun said, blinking blankly. Her long blond hair was braided to reduce drag and a sun necklace dangled on her chest. Emerick wondered how much force and weight Rapunzel's hair would logically take to actually pull someone up a tower, but stopped that train of thought when he knew he was getting distracted. "This is safe, right?"

"Forget I said anything." They were bookball field behind Ever After High where Emerick could safely conduct his experiment. They planted the big device on the field and Emerick stooped to the ground, making some last-minute adjustments.

"This will end badly," Aurelio Stiltskin said. "Have you considered the logical side of this?"

"Of course I have," Emerick protested. "Sort of."

"Let's just get started," Scout sighed as they set up Emerick's machine. It was quite large, it took all of them to heave it across the field. His machine was a creation of knobs, antenas, and whatnot. After some quick tinkering, Emerick grabbed the remote from his pockets.

"This isn't dangerous though, right, Emerick?" Scout asked once Marigold and Aurelio were out of earshot.

"I'd give it a 50% chance." The device was supposed to replicate the tornado that sent Dorthy to the Land of Oz. Of course, it was possible that the machine could fail and whisk them away to somewhere else entirely or rip them to shreds. Once noticing Scout's nervousness, Emerick assured him. "I was kidding, my research on this has been flawless. Even if it does fail, the chance of us getting harmed or worse is very small."

"Right..."

"Okay, guys, ready for this?" he declared, holding up his remote device. Marigold and Aurelio exchanged worrying glances, but nodded regardless. Emerick pushed down on the button, holding his breath.

Nothing happened.

"Uh," Emerick said anxiously, cracking an awkward smile. "Give it a sec." After waiting for a few minutes, it was a fruitless attempt. "C'mon, you stupid machine," Emerick swore under his breath, jabbing his finger on the button. "Why won't you work? Work, you piece of shi—"

Suddenly, strong gusts of wind erupted from the machine's opened sprout, almost like a teapot. Emerick yelped as he was carried by the currents of wind, floating around in the sky. In a blur of chaos, he heard Marigold scream, her braid coming undone and her hair whipping in the wild wind. They were swept away in the rapid tornado, spinning round and round until Emerick was dizzy.

Emerick spotted Aurelio who was uncontrollably being tossed around the wind. Wait, where's Scout? Shit."Scout? Scout!" he yelled, his voice muffled over the loud whips of the breeze. Pressure squeezed his chest as they spun viciously around the building tornado, losing sight of Ever After High. His ears popped as he tried to scream, but nothing came out. They were thrown around the skies like ragdolls. Where's Scout? Emerick thought of all the horrible things that could have happened, and Willow would never forgive him if something happened to her twin brother.

"What the hell is going on?" Aurelio's voice bellowed from below him, though it was faint.

"Hold on tight!" Emerick shouted drowsily, his energy taken away from him. He shut his eyes, clamping his hands over his ears, letting out a wordless wail. Through the slits of his eyelids, Emerick saw a growing glow above them as they were swept away by the tornado. "Brace for impact!" he screamed. The pressure rushed to his head, and it was unbearable, but then, Emerick realized he was falling.

Suddenly, Emerick landed on the ground hard, pain shooting up his legs as he cried out in agony. Fuck, he thought as the world spun in his eyes. Forcing himself to sit up, Emerick groaned and held his head in his hands, adjusting to wherever they were. Glancing around, he realized they were in a meadow. Next to a yellow brick road. We're in the Land of Oz, he thought. "G-Guys?" Looking around, he saw Marigold passed out on the grass.

Shit, is she dead?

Emerick tried to stand, but pain overwhelmed his right leg, making him fall back down. He must have sprained his ankle or something. Groaning in frustration, Emerick crawled over to Marigold with his good leg. "Marigold? Are you okay?" he asked, shaking her by the shoulders.

Finally, she stirred and regained consciousness. "Emerick?" she ventured, rubbing her head as she sat up. Her golden hair looked like a bird's nest. "Oh my Grimm, where are we? This isn't Ever After High."

"My machine worked, remember? It summoned a tornado and sent us to the Land of Oz! Now, we need to find Aurelio and Scout, they should have landed somewhere close to us. Help me up, will you? My leg got injured during the fall and I'll be surprised if none of us gets brain damage." At least they didn't land on top of a witch during their fall.

Marigold supported Emerick with her shoulder as they hobbled over the meadow, spying both Aurelio and Scout at the bottom of a hill, conscious and anxious. Thank Grimm, Scout isn't dead.

"We're over here!" Marigold exclaimed, waving them over. "Are you both alright?"

"We almost died," Aurelio panted, out of breath. He had a bloody nose, but otherwise, he seemed fine. The same with Scout, he appeared uninjured. Aurelio wiped the blood away with the sleeve of his sweater, squinting his eyes towards the distance. "Is this the Land of Oz?"

"It's beautiful," Marigold said, impressed by the landscape. Lush green meadows and hills surround them, divided by the vivid yellow brick road. At the end of the road would be the Emerald City and the Royal Palace of Oz, where Emerick's father, the Wizard, could aid them with their quest. Well, hopefully. "I would love to paint a portrait of this when we get back home."

"We can worry about your artistic skills later," Emerick said, gesturing to his leg. "It looks as if my ankle is a bit swollen, I must have injured it during the fall. I bet there'll be a healer in the Emerald City though."

"Will you be able to make the journey?" Scout asked worriedly.

"I'll manage." Emerick smiled victoriously. His experiment had worked, they had successfully hopped from one realm to another despite Grimm sealing all portals. Finally, a machine that doesn't explode and end in disaster, he thought to himself. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's follow the yellow brick road!"

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Ravenna Rown's POV

They had been travelling throughout the day, their travelling continuing in the night. Ravenna had to admit she was a bit anxious on their mission to the Dark Forest. She hadn't seen her mother in a while, not since Dad dropped her off at the orphanage. Where's Dad now? That question wavered in her mind. Rav knew it wasn't her dad's fault, they were poor; he was giving her a better chance at life. But she still felt a sense of abandonment from both sides of the family.

Apple held the map in her hands. "Just up ahead, there'll be a forkway that leads to the Dark Forest, and an extension, the Hood Hollow." The Hood Hollow group was travelling with them until they had to split up; they'd go visit Hood Hollow while the rest went to the Dark Fairy's old castle.

Rav looked around her, taking in the Dark Forest's scenery. Dank trees hung over them and shadows loomed, causing them to stumble around blindly. Rav's eyes were still adjusting to the darkness as she heard crickets. This is the start of every horror slasher movie, she thought.

"The Dark Forest is so spooky," Stella Prince said, shivering slightly. She was the teacher's pet from what Rav heard, always putting her grades first. Brown-skinned and with large doe eyes, Stella looked gorgeous. Shame she would have to kiss a frog.

Rav had to admit there was a cold draft passing by them, almost like a bad omen. It sent chills down her spine, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Stop jinxing yourself, she shuddered. "It is," she allowed.

"The Dark Forest isn't very scary though," Jameson countered.

"If it isn't," Essie agreed, "because I'll be the thing that the forest should fear." She exaggerated wringing her hands, crackling loudly. "Mua-haha-haha," she said obnoxiously and loudly.

"Not helping, Essie," Joy reminded her.

"There's wolves though," Ana said, her eyes wide with fear. She wrapped her arms around her waist, looking around as if there would be a wolf to jump from the trees any second. Rav tsked, but wondered in the back of her mind if it was true. Although the Dark Forest was technically her homeplace, she had been raised in the orphanage back in the village of Book End. She wasn't used to the Dark Forest, it was daunting.

"Not scary," James repeated insistently.

Rav rounded on him, her fairy wings giving a defiant beat. "You grew up in Hood Hollow, which is arguably better than this shit," she told Jameson bluntly. She had a problem with that; being brutally honest didn't gain any allies, just enemies. James averted his gaze. "But Hood Hollow is the center of wolf packs, so..."

"What?" Ana asked, mortified.

James pursued his lips. "I'll deal with it, don't worry." He seemed rather anxious about the subject, so nobody decided to press him further. Rav always found James as a bit strange, becoming a Rebel for an unknown reason, though she couldn't be one to judge. She had become a Rebel to focus on finding her family again, even if attempts were fruitless. Where did you go, Dad? Rav often wondered. It was almost as if her father had disappeared completely. I'm trying to find you, but I can't be the only one doing all the work.

At least, they arrived at the forkway. "I guess this is where we part ways," Apple said, folding the map neatly. "Goodbye, I hope your journey ends well. Once you finish gathering all the pages, come back to Ever After, okay? With or without us."

"N-Nothing bad is actually going to happen though, right?" Ana squeaked.

Essie laughed. "As if. Though, I won't be surprised if you all get eaten by the Candy Witch."

"Candy Witch?"

"But the chance of meeting wolves or the Candy Witch is low," Nik reassured her, though he was hesitant. "Well, we'll see you on the other side of the mirror," he said, going on the left side of the forkway. James, Joy, Ana, and Essie joined Nik, following his lead.

"Hex you later," Apple replied, turning to her group. Of course, blondie over here had appointed herself as team leader since she was a Royal and an overall perfectionist. The only ones that remained were Bree, Stella, and Rav herself. "Well, let's get going, right? Rav, do you know where the Dark Fairy's castle is exactly?"

"Should be near the end of the forest, it'll take us a lot of walking."

Bree took the map from Apple's hands, reading some of the landmarks. "The best and quickest route to the Dark Fairy's castle is going off-trail. It's dangerous, but that way, we don't have to encounter Orgetown, which can get... complicated."

Stella peered over Bree's shoulder. "Then it's decided, we're going off-road."

A/N: Emerick is the type of guy to create a manmade tornado outside of Ever After High 😭