Disclaimer: I don't own Witch.
There's a bit of fighting in here, not much, though. Sorry, anyone who likes long, descriptive battles, I'm not that good at that. Here's where the new character, but who obviously had to be in here, like a half OC, comes in.
Matt (with Huggles on his shoulder) crept through the kitchen and into the living room. The shape was looking around, holding the thing over his shoulder.
Matt went behind the robber, quiet as ever. In a flash, he jumped the man, wrapping his arms around his neck. "You picked the wrong house!" he said as the man bucked in surprise.
"Who are you?" he asked, surprisingly keeping his voice down. "What are you doing here?"
Matt remembered some of the training Caleb had given him before Nerissa and pulled down, letting his feet touch the carpet. That meant that the man got lifted off the floor, and was flung over Matt, onto the couch. The rEgent turned to face the surprised man.
"Could ask you the same thing," he growled. "What're you doing in my house? Everything valuable's in a safe deposit box."
"What are you talking about?" the man on the couch said. "This is my house! Who are you?"
Matt frowned. That voice seemed vaguely familiar… "How do I know you…?"
"Matt?" the shape asked. "Is that you?" Matt dropped his jaw, recognizing the voice. That was his dad's voice! But his dad had disappeared 5 years ago. He'd gone on a business trip to Taiwan and never came back. His mom didn't stop crying for a month, and Gramps had nearly given up on life, sending him to the hospital more than once. Matt had only been 10, but he'd had to learn to take care of himself fast afterwards. His mom was out of the house for a month or more, and his grandfather was either in the shop or in bed for the first year.
"Huggles, hit the lights!" Matt said. The dormouse jumped from the counter, grabbing the light switch as he fell.
Matt looked at the "intruder" as he stood up, and dropped his jaw even further. The man had his black hair, and his grandfather's kind brown eyes. He had a bit of black stubble, like he hadn't shaved in a few days, and his clothes would've been a top-of-the-line suit if it wasn't ripped at the sleeves, torn everywhere else, muddied up, and covered in purple leaves, used as patches. At his waist was a bag made out of purple leaves tied together with vines.
That was his father, after being missing for 5 years.
Matt gulped. "D-Dad?" he asked. Hold it, he told himself. If there's one thing we should've learned by now, it's not to trust anyone immediately. Especially if they've been missing for years. "Huggles, he good?" he asked.
The dormouse jumped up to Matt's shoulder, and squeaked happily. That was all the proof Matt needed.
"DAD!" he yelled, running up to the man. Both Olsens laughed, relieved at finally seeing each other. Matt pulled back first, grinning like mad. "What are you doing here? Where've you been?" he stammered. "It's been… five years! The courts called you dead!"
"I know, I'm so sorry, Matt," he said, hugging his son again. "I've never stopped thinking about you, wondering how you were growing up… you'll never believe my story, Matt, but that's for later, I've got to get to Helen…"
"No use," Matt said, shaking his head. "Mom's somewhere over the pacific. And," he added as his father opened his mouth to say something, "after you left, Grandpa caught a heart condition and he has to take these pills that put him out like a fire."
"Apparently, Helen didn't take my example and stay home for as long as possible," Mr. Olsen said, grimacing. "I'm so sorry, Matt, I shouldn'tve gone on that trip... Honestly, this little guy seemed happier to see me than you at first. Who is he?" he asked, putting a hand out to Mr. Huggles. The dormouse squeaked and ran up the man's arm, twirling around his neck.
"Oh, sorry, that's Mr. Huggles, my dormouse," Matt said. "He's been around the whole gang. I gave him to Will, who had to give him to Irma, and it went on till he came back to me. Its ok about the trip, it was work. Like mom's got work in... I forgot."
"Work is no excuse," Mr. Olsen said seriously. " We're missing--or missed-- your childhood, and one day you're gonna be out of here, discovering the world. For now though...Mr. Huggles isn't exactly the most boy-ish name."
"Doesn't really matter," Matt grinned back. "No one would mess with Mr. H. They get so scared, most of them live on other planets now." That was true at least.
"Really?" Mr. Olsen asked. "I think i can believe that. but trust me, you will never believe my story. No normal person would… except maybe a little kid. But you're not exactly 10 anymore."
Matt laughed. "There's only a couple things I don't believe, Dad, try me."
"You didn't seem to believe it was me at first."
Now Matt winced. "That's… a long story. I'll tell you one day, but not now. So what's our story?"
"You better sit down," his dad said. "First, I want to give you something. It may be a bit small now, but I had it made a little big anyway…"
He held out the black case. Matt raised his eyebrows, and looked at the gold inscription on it. "To Matt, from your father," it read. "Happy Birthday."
Matt blinked, and opened it. A 5 string, blue guitar was inside, never before used, though the case was a little worn. "I know I missed 5 birthdays, maybe 6 soon, but…" his dad trailed off.
"This is the guitar I asked for when I was nine," Matt said, looking at his dad. "I drew a picture of it and everything… Dad, this is perfect, thanks!" he said. "Wish I had something for you, I mean, we missed 5 or 6 of your birthdays, too."
"Seeing you again is present enough," Mr. Olsen grinned. The pair sat down at the same couch Matt had just thrown him onto. "By the way, how did you flip me over onto this old thing?"
"Um... lets just say I've been busy lately. So, where did you go for 5 years?"
He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "Well, I better start from the start. While I was in Taiwan, uh, I stayed in this hotel. I can't pronounce the name of it, but in English it meant "The Green Dragon", after this old Chinese myth about 4 dragons…"
"Who boiled water into clouds to make rain for the thirsty people," Matt nodded. "The Jade Emperor got mad, and jailed the four dragons. His daughter, Xin Jing, called him cruel and selfish and used her power to free the dragons, who turned into the 4 rivers of China, but all that was left of Xin Jing was a crystal. I know it."
"Someone's been brushing up on their mythology."
"That's myth's had a lot to do with real life. You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but it does."
"Hah, wait till you hear the next part. So, I ordered some Chinese food up to my room, with a fortune cookie, of course. When I opened the cookie, there wasn't any piece of paper inside."
"That's bad luck," Matt pointed out. "Hay Lin had one of those, and… her Grandma went to China for almost two months. Without telling her family or anything."
"Well, this is the hard part. When I opened the cookie, a blue circle flew out and stopped in midair right in front of me. It grew a bit until it was…hmmm… maybe the size of the grandfather clock over there. And," he took a deep breath in, making a sucking sound. "It sucked me in."
By this time, Matt was slack-jawed, eyes wide. Huggles chattered something in surprise. "Th-that was a portal," Matt stammered, barely able to say anything. "You opened a portal… with a fortune cookie! Where'd it go?"
"You know about this?" his father managed, just as surprised as Matt.
"That was a portal between dimensions!" He looked over his dad. "Purple plants… Zamballa! You were on Zamballa!"
"Zamballa?" Mr. Olsen asked. "Who named it? I thought i was the only one there. Well, except for the..."
"The Zamballans," Matt grinned. "The giant, talking, walking trees?"
"Well," rubbed his neck. "I sort of tried to stay away from them. I thought they would eat me, honestly."
"Nah, they eat… well, they're plants. Photosynthesis. Their mouths are just for talking. Well, actually, i don't think you're going to go back there anytime soon anyway."
"I don't think I would," Mr. Olsen said. "I'm glad to be back on Earth, and I'm gonna stay here."
"Yeah, me and the girls were banned from Zamballa a while ago... oh, the girls." This was going to be a hard sell. Cornelia would probably say they should glamour him to forget everything, but Matt was pretty sure everyone else would be on his side. Besides, he doubted the biggest glamour could erase 5 years of memories. And if Irma used her mind control, how would his dad's brain take it? "You should be safe," Matt breathed. "But wait..." he looked at the confused man. "How'd you get back to Earth? We opened a bunch of folds when we were there last, but Hay Lin and Will closed them all."
"All I know is that a few hours ago, it was sunny in the jungle… Zamballa, and next thing I know, there's a blue thing right in front of me, and I jumped in before it disappeared. I came out in Shell Cove, you know the cave?"
"Yeah, we use that for folding to Meridian and Kandrakar a lot," Matt nodded. "It's a good practice place, too. I'll tell you later. Did you see who opened the fold?"
"Well, when I reached the other side, I saw this blonde man and a black-haired woman a bit away, talking about something…"
Matt sat up straighter. "Black hair? Was she wearing purple? Striped stockings and wings?" If it was Nerissa, this could be a major problem. Major, as in, she probably already took over Meridian major.
"Wings?" Mr. Olsen asked. "No, it was just a woman in a black mini skirt and a white shirt. That's all I can tell you, though, it was dark." He yawned. Matt smirked. It wasn't Nerissa, it could just be a couple who were in the woods for a walk, and the fold opened behind them.
"Fold lag," he diagnosed. "Like jet lag, but between worlds. There's a 12 hour time difference between Earth and Zamballa, and you need to sleep."
"I'm fine, just a little…" He gave a huge yawn. "tired."
"Sure. Fold lag," Matt repeated. "We better get back to sleep anyway, Mr. H. I've got some stuff Mrs. Lin gave me in case we got called out to Zamballa. It can knock you out faster than Gargoyle can, though."
He stood, going to the kitchen. "Don't tell anyone about this," he winked at his dad. Matt reached up to the top cupboard and opened it, reaching inside to pull a hidden latch.
Part of a wall sprung open to reveal a bunch of jars. "She has something for everything," Matt grinned as his father did a double take. "Here," he said, throwing a bottle at him. "Don't drop it, it blows up."
"It what?!"
"Blows up, but only if it hits rug or ceramic. You don't wanna know how I found that out, trust me."
He nodded, carefully drinking the stuff in the bottle. "Eh… tastes like tea… Earl Grey tea, and the good stuff." Matt nodded.
"Well, it's in there, along with a bunch of other stuff she must've gotten from Kandrakar, cause it sure wasn't from Earth."
"How do you know? And what's Kandrakar?"
Matt smirked, as Huggles chattered. "Lets just say that we've got a connection with Earth. We can tell if someone's from Earth or not. Kandrakar's another world, well, more like a floating fortress of light, but still."
"Oh. Who's we?"
"Me, Huggles, and Napoleon, Lillian's cat." Matt grinned. "Questions tomorrow, huh? That stuff's gonna knock you out soon, anyway."
"So we're going to see these girls tomorrow?" Matt stopped halfway out of the kitchen. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Matt gulped. "Um… it's a really, really long story, but I've got to get to my room, like now, and I've got to stay there for the whole day tomorrow."
"Why? Are you sick?"
Matt blinked, hiding his hands behind his back. "Something like that… you see, there's these power spikes that're gonna happen tomorrow, and Huggles and I can't go out in public… I don't think you're even ready for this yet, we'll show you tomorrow, c'mon Huggles!" The pair ran up the stairs, making it into the bedroom in a few seconds. Mr. Olsen chased after them, but was locked out.
"Matt!" he hissed, banging on the door. "Matt, are you ok?"
On the other side, Matt swallowed again. His nails were turning black and quickly growing into claws that Shagon had. It brought back bad memories of him first being turned into Shagon, making him shudder. Huggles, though, seemed to be normal. He squeaked, brining his master back to Earth.
"I'm fine!" Matt called. "Just give me a sec!" Quickly, he pulled up a glamour around him, making him look like his normal self.
He sighed in relief, and opened the door. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "Got a bit freaked."
Mr. Olsen nodded slowly, then saw the condition of Matt's room. "Wow, you ever clean up in here?" he asked. "Looks like Helen's away a lot."
"Yeah," Matt said absently, letting him in. "Its been tough without you, Dad."
"Well, life did go on, right?" he asked. "You've got Huggles, and your grandfather, and your friends, like that Will boy…"
"Will's a girl, Dad," Matt grinned. "It's short for Wilma. She's my girlfriend." Mr. Olsen blinked.
"Girlfriend? Have I seriously been gone for that long?' he asked solemnly. "I missed my boy's first date."
"Well, you're gonna meet her the day after tomorrow, anyway," Matt shrugged. "And its no big deal, you were probably just busy running from some purple tiger or something."
"Not a tiger," he shook his head. "But there was this giant mosquito once that nearly sucked all the blood out of me…"
"Lets exchange battle stories tomorrow, huh?" Matt said, grinning. "You tell me about the mosquito, I'll tell you about the 20 foot snake monster, ok?"
He nodded, then caught sight of Matt's desk. It was covered in sheet music, with his guitar next to it and some CDs stacked nearby. "Wow, you write songs?" he asked, looking at a sheet of music. "Demon in Me… this is heavy stuff, Matt. Not like the songs you wrote when you were a kid."
"That?" Matt said, picking it up. "That was just a message to Will and the others that I was trapped. I kinda went through a bad time in life." He put down the music, and saw another. "This is our band's favorite, though."
He handed him another sheet. "Will to Love…now who does that remind me of?" he asked, grinning. "You wrote this song for Will?"
"Yeah," he said, turning red. "It's really special to us. Helped me get rid of a demon."
"Wow," his father said again. "Looks like you've been doing this for some time."
"Not really," Matt said. "I found out a while ago, like last school year. This is the girls' second, soon to be third year."
"What about the other three years I haven't been here? Anything big happen?" Matt shook his head.
"Just me and Nige forming Wreck 55, our band. It's me, Nigel, and Joel. Pedro was in it too, but he moved to San Diego over winter break. Eric's offered to do Sax in his place, though." Matt shook his head. "You better get to bed, Dad, before you fall on the floor right here."
"It's not that strong, is it?" Matt's look told him everything he needed to know. "Oh. Well, good night, son."
"Night Dad," Matt said, as the man walked out. "Oh, Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Mom kept a few of your clothes in the closet," Matt shook his head. "She kept almost everything."
"Including my razor?" he asked, smirking and rubbing his chin. Matt laughed.
"Well, I don't think so, but Gramps gave me one for my 14th birthday. You can use that, I haven't yet."
"Nice to know I didn't miss everything." Matt grinned at his dad.
"Good to have you back Dad," he smiled.
"Good to be back, son. Way good to be back."
I just noticed something. My chapters are getting almost double as long. Chapter one was almost 520 words, chapter 2 was over 1,300, and chapter 3 is over 3,000. Weird, huh?
I know, this had a bunch more fluffiness than actual fighting, but Matt throwing his long-lost dad onto a couch would be a shock to Mr. Olsen, huh? I've already got chapter 3 written up, so its ready, but i actually just finished it. So there may be a bit of a wait for chapter 5, sorry! There's nothing i can do about that.
And yes, there will be music in this story, sooner or later.
As for me, I'm outtie for now!
Tibki.