The Runaway Boy and The Abnormal Girl

by canthatewhatyoucantsee

There once was a boy. This boy never had it easy, and after a traumatic experience, he was left running, more than likely never getting another chance to stop. He was helpless, scared, and alone as he ran and ran. Then one fateful day, he found a girl head-first into a trashcan looking for her book, and his life changed forever. Also on AO3

2. The Runaway Boy and the Not So Nice Girl

Okay, um, hi! I was not expecting the traction I got, like at all. At most, I was expecting 4-5 favs/follows, not nearly four times that. Most of the fics I've made don't get this much traction until chapter five at least. Don't get me wrong, I was proud of what I wrote, but I very rarely experience people agreeing with that sentiment. So, thanks, I guess. I hope I can live up to all the sudden expectations that were thrown onto me. Anyways, we got some reviews, and the way I usually respond to them is via Author Notes such as these. So, I'll give a quick response, and then we'll get on to the chapter.

Two of them are simply stating that they're interested, and thanks for leaving those; it's letting me know I'm doing something right. Two dive into more of what I wrote, so I'll only be giving a direct response to that. Alright, here we go

My response to Kagaminelover657's review: Thanks for spending the time taking a more in-depth approach to what I wrote. I appreciate any review at all, but ones like this are what I really love. I'm glad my opinion on the state of OC's here isn't something I exclusively share, and I'm twice as glad that you feel Oliver is a good counter-balance to Luz and her antics without overshadowing what she does. I really struggled with trying to give Oliver a tangible impact without making Luz seem like a background character, so seeing that I succeed with that once gives me hope I'll do it again. As you'll see in a few paragraphs, the lack of physical description was on purpose. You learn more about Oliver as a character in this chapter, so I thought it'd make sense that you also learn his hair and eye color.

My response to LightDusk16: Wow. I can't believe I got two in-depth reviews on the first chapter. I really hope I can live up to the expectations. Anyways, I appreciate your comments. Changing up the dialogue was one of the hardest things to do because I had to make it fit, while at the same time being completely original with it. But, I knew it was a requirement to capture people's interest; reading the same lines of dialogue you've already seen a thousand times gets really boring after the first five. And, um, yeah; you were spot on with Eda. Although, she also noticed... something else.

And finally, one last thing; as I mentioned last time, this chapter will feature and star Amity. Keep in mind this is before she meets Luz and goes down her redemption arc, so she's going to be a bit of an ass. Just wanted to remind you of that so you didn't think she's out of character; you will see her softer side as well, so don't worry about it. Once again, thanks for leaving the reviews, and without further ado:

---

Chapter Two: The Runaway Boy and the... Pissed-Off Girl?

The boy stared at the door for a little longer before sighing, leaning against the wall with the broom still in his hands. He stared down at the cleaning utensil, then crossed his arms, his eyes drifting down to the floor. There were barely any crumbs or dust as is, certainly not enough for an on-the-run "Witch Criminal" to care about. He shook his head. "This is ridiculous," he mumbled. "How was I supposed to control where I landed? I didn't even think I'd live!" His rant to the empty air got him nowhere. With a sigh, he got off the wall, broom in hand, and put it on the floor. "Guess I got nothing better to do," he said as he began sweeping back and forth.

If there was one thing Oliver knew how to do, it was clean; he was used to cleaning fast since he normally had the threat of being bea-

...

He pushed the thought aside and continued, not wanting to focus on the past.

In almost no time at all, he was done with the living room, mainly due to the fact that there was next to nothing on the floor. After checking one last time, he made his way into the hallway. It had a far thicker coating of dust, but he too finished that before he could even blink. He passed a standard bathroom door along the way with the word "Ladies" on it, like what you'd see in a public restroom. A little sign sat below it with "AND KING" on it, making Oliver chuckle when his eyes passed over.

Many closets lined the walls, filled with what he could mostly make out as human junk. Strangely, one was pushed wide open, a bunch of cartoony witch clothing inside. They actually wear this stuff? he thought as he looked at one of the crooked black hats. Most of it, he'd never dream of putting on, but at the very end sat a piece of apparel that caught his eye. Like everything else in the closet, it was a dark color, but it had more of a jacket look than an evil witch robe. In fact, he was pretty sure it was just a jacket. It was dark blue, border lining between straight-up black, and had a surprisingly sharp collar. It had two pockets in the chest area, another two being where you'd typical find them, and another two on the arms. The best way to describe it was that... it was a tactical jacket.

A thick layer of dust covered it, making it quite clear that no one had used it in some time. Oliver looked behind his shoulder before staring at it once again. "Well, I am cleaning your house..." He snatched it off the hanger, walking out of the closet. "The least I deserve is a piece of clothing." He walked into the living room and threw it on the couch before going back to cleaning.

One end of the hallway led to a staircase, way too many pictures lining the walls on the way up, the other leading to what looked like a kitchen; strange meat and... spices sat in jars. He decided it was best to leave upstairs alone, going into the kitchen and finishing what little there was to sweep. Soon, he was done. He walked into the living room, throwing the broom against the fireplace, and picking up the jacket he found. He made his way into the bathroom, staring at the blue eyes in the mirror that greeted him. He ran his hand through in his brown, messy hair, his hand being a greasy mess when he pulled it back out. "Man, I need a shower," he said as he stared at the dirt that covered his face.

He turned on the sink and splashed his face with the water, feeling refreshed as he dried it off with a towel nearby. His eyes drifted down, looking at his filthy hoodie one last time, then he stripped it off. The jacket looked almost too small as he picked it up and compared it to his body. Despite this, he threw it on over his white t-shirt. It felt really tight at first, but when he looked up at the mirror, he saw the piece of apparel... grow, like a liquid would when trying to fill a container. And a few moments later, the jacket fit like a glove. He stared at it with wide eyes. "Woah," he mumbled.

After his shock wore off, he experimented with the look a bit, trying both zipped and unzipped. His eyes liked unzipped the most, so that's what he kept. His fingers traced the material; it felt like a strange mixture of cotton and silk, taking on the appearance of the former. Despite its soft feeling though, whenever he pulled on it, it felt incredibly strong and resistant. He put his hands in his pockets and was surprised to feel that they were way bigger than they looked.

Due to the... admiring of his own reflection, he failed to notice the creature just outside the mirror's view. He was still taking in his newfound appearance when he heard a voice that nearly made his ears bleed. "Shouldn't you be clea-" The voice didn't get to finish before Oliver turned to them and punched down as hard as he could. They let out a vocal "Ow" as his eyes drifted down to get a better look at them. It was... Hooty? He stretched out from the window like a snake, leading all the way back to the front of the house.

Oliver gained a face of disgust, backing up to the door. "What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted at the creature.

Hooty furrowed his eyebrows, a quickly forming bruise on his face where Oliver's fist landed. "I was just trying remind you to clean! Geez!" He slithered back a little. "You didn't have to punch me!"

He began to feel a little bad about his sporadic reaction as he began to process the situation. He scratched the back of his neck. "Um, sorry, I guess," he said. A sigh escaped him. "It's just-" He looked towards the floor. "-You can't surprise people like that, especially since I didn't know you could do..." His finger came up and pointed at his long tube-like body. "... That."

Hooty seemed to quickly forget about the punch, one of his eyebrows raising. "Really? I do it all the time."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Then you're going to get punched a lot by me." He fixed his posture, looking back up at the owl creature. "Anyway, I'm not cleaning because I'm done, actually. The floor was basically clean before I even started."

Hooty nodded his... tube body. "Yeah, that's because I usually eat the stuff off of it when I get hungry."

His eyes got wide, a little bit of anger entering his mind. "Then why did Eda make me-" He stopped himself with a sigh, turning to the door. "You know what? Nevermind," he said as he left the room. He walked to the living room, Hooty slowly slithering through the air after him. "So, Owly... wait, no, Hooty," he said, sitting down on the couch. "What do you do to keep yourself entertained around here?"

The creature looked from side to side. "Well, I usually just stare at the tree line, eating bugs that pass my face."

He stared at him for a moment before rubbing his eyes. "Okay, let me rephrase my question." He pointed at his chest with his index finger. "What should I do to keep myself entertained?"

A wave of realization washed over his face. "Oh! You could've just said that." The owl thought for a moment, not moving a muscle while he did. "Well, you could always practice your magic," he eventually let out, much to Oliver's dismay. "I always have a fun time watching Eda do that... even though the spells are usually casted at me."

The boy stood up and nodded his head, resting his hands on his hips. "Great idea." He looked in a random direction and drew a circle in the air with his finger, mimicking what he saw Eda do. Of course, nothing happened, but a small part of his mind was hoping something did. "Oh wait!" he shouted in a sarcastic tone. He turned back to Hooty. "I almost forgot! I didn't even know magic existed until 30 minutes ago!" He shook his head, gaining a serious expression. "Seriously, what did you expect? For me to suddenly know spells?"

If Hooty had arms, they would be crossed. "Okay, geez! I get it." He went back to his motionless thinking for a few seconds. "I guess you could always go into the city. You should be able to find something in there."

Out of all the things he thought he'd say, this one surprised Oliver the most. "Really?" Hooty nodded as Oliver waved his finger towards him. "And you aren't going to like, I dunno, stop me?"

Hooty shook his body. "No. Why would I do that?"

"Because Eda wants me to-" He stopped himself as he realized what he was about to do, waving air away from him. "Nevermind." He reached over and grabbed Luz's book, which still sat on the coffee table. Could stop somewhere and read this, he thought as he looked over the cover. "But I don't have anywhere to put it..." he mumbled. Just as he did, he felt movement on his chest. He looked down and saw his jacket... it was opening up, almost like it could hear his request, spreading out and morphing the way a liquid would when being repelled. It only took a few moments before it stopped, being the perfect size and shape to fit the book. Hesitantly, he put the book in the hole. The second he let go of it, the jacket morphed back around it, eventually completely obscuring it. You couldn't even see a bulge from it or anything, and the boy certainly didn't feel the extra weight the book would otherwise add. His eyes locked onto the spot for a few more moments. "Magic jacket..." He looked back up. "Cool."

He turned to the front door and left the house, witnessing Hooty slowly slither back into his spot on the door. He gave him a wave. "See you later... owl thing."

Hooty's black orbs stared him down. "Goodbyeeeeee!" he said in a very enthusiastic voice. And with that, with him not even asking directions, the boy turned around and walked down the path he originally came from.

Memories of the guard trying to arrest him for simply being human crossed his mind mid-way, so he reached back and tried to pull up a hood. Much to his disappointment, there was nothing more than a collar. "Shit," he mumbled. "I really need something to cover my ears." Just before he was about to turn back and grab a hat, he felt something brush against his neck. He turned his head back and saw the collar of the jacket slowly change and morph just like it did with the book, eventually growing out into a hood. "I'm already in love with this jacket," he said as he reached back and pulled it over his head.

---

Oliver's walk to the city that he didn't know was mostly uneventful... at first. All he did was follow the path into the thick forest, hoping it led to where he wanted. But then, he began to hear noises around him. They were quiet at first, but slowly picked up in volume as he went along. His eyes kept picking up on figures in his peripherals, but every time he turned to them, there was nothing but bushes and trees. Only when he began to hear faint whispers was when he decided he had enough. He spun around, fully convinced he was going back to The Owl Lady's house, but as his eyes looked up, they caught something big. Big, red, and scaly. It was a full-blown dragon, exactly how he had imagined, with scales and everything, seemingly patrolling the area he just came from. He kept his eyes on it for a little longer, then turned around and sighed. "Yeah, okay. I guess I can deal with creepy whispers," he mumbled.

The creepy figures and whispering did eventually stop as he got further down the path, the forest around him following a similar pattern. It wasn't long before he found the city he originally landed in, staring at him off in the distance. It was big, filled to the brim with buildings that had strange architecture. Certain parts looked somewhat like what he thought a fantasy city would, but at the same time, it was nothing like what he had expected. After around an hour of walking in total, he finally approached the entrance, but due to his weeks of walking on roads, it felt like no time at all. A variety of creatures passed him, some almost identical to humans, minus their pointy ears of course, and some being literally blobs rolling across the ground. Multiple guards sat around the entrance, staring at Oliver as he strolled on in. Due to his morphing jacket though, they were none the wiser that he was, in fact, a human.

The boy was completely awestruck as he walked down the now stone path. Whimsical creatures he thought he'd only see in his dreams casually passed him, on their way to work or just walking about. Fairies, minotaurs, gnomes, dwarves... hell, even a few actual elves went by without even a second glance. What Eda told him was true; the Boiling Isles really did have every myth out there. The buildings around him were a nice even mix of medieval buildings and crazy, fantastical structures; he swore he could even see a school, only rivaled by Hogwarts, off in the far distance. Even if this wasn't entirely what he had expected, it was close enough to put him in, as Luz put, "a state of shock."

He was so focused on his surroundings that he forgot to look two feet in front of him. He got lucky, most moving out of his way, but it wasn't long before he bumped into someone. Both he and the person fell to the floor, landing a little ways from each other. After checking to make sure his hood hadn't come off, Oliver pushed himself off the floor. "I'm really sorry about that," he said as he spun around to face the person. They were one of the humans with pointy ears, their hair a bright blue-ish green and tied up into a ponytail. They turned their head at him, revealing to Oliver that they were a girl around his age... if they even aged the same as humans did. She had what appeared to be a fresh bruise on her cheek, wearing a black short-sleeved dress. The boy cringed. Hope I didn't cause that. He offered her his hand, attempting to be friendly after their bad first interaction.

She eyed it down for a moment, then looked to the side with furrowed eyebrows, completely ignoring his gesture and instead getting herself off the ground. She crossed her arms as she once again stood on her two feet. "Is it really that hard to see people in front of you?" She asked with quite a... vulgar tone.

Oliver was surprised at her mean-spirited response, but felt he could still save the situation. He gestured down at the floor they were just on. "Like I said, I'm sorry. I... I'm new here, and I didn't know where I was going." That's not even half of it.

The girl rolled her eyes. "You should still be able to see a person that wasn't even walking towards you."

Now Oliver was starting to get frustrated. He rubbed his eyes, sighing as he did. "Look lady, what would you like me to say? It was an accident. I said sorry. Could we just leave it at that and not have a pointless argument?"

Her eyes got a little wide. "Pointless argument? You could've seriously hurt me just now!" She finally uncrossed her arms, bringing her hand up and pointing at him. "You're lucky I didn't get a scrape on me."

The boy looked to the side and shook his head. "Pointless argument it is." He turned back to the girl. "Yeah, sure, I could've, but that didn't happen. You're not hurt and neither am I, so why are you mad?"

She gestured at their surroundings, anger building on her face. "Because you're stumbling around like an Abomination! You've probably fell into a lot more people judging by that huge scratch on your face!"

He pointed right at her with both fingers, wide, angry eyes across his face. "You're the first person I bumped into! It Was An Accident!" he borderline yelled. "What don't you get about that?"

She leaned in a little closer to him "It Doesn't Matter if it was an accident!" she full-on yelled, waving away the air in front of her. "You Still Did It!"

Oliver sighed, looking up into the air. "Oh, Boohoo! I bumped into your precious body!" He turned to the passersby around him, gesturing to the girl. "Did You Hear that? I accidentally ran into her! Someone call the police!" They gave him a weird stare as they continued along their way.

The girl got even closer. "You are the most rude person I've ever met!" she yelled.

He replicated her action, getting up and this time pointing right into her face. "And You Are The Most Overdramatic, Fucking Bit-"

Thankfully, his sentence was cut off before he could get the final words out, a booming voice from above them being the cause. "So much anger," they said in an overly expressive voice, similar to what one would put on while putting on a character in a play. "Far more shouting." Oliver was dragged out of his feud, both him and the girl looking up to see the origin of the voice. They were met with a figure looming in shadows... even though the sun was right above them, sitting high and mighty on one of the more tall buildings. Oliver couldn't make out much of their appearance, but there was one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb; their long and flapping cape. "Never-ending rancor with frustration clouding." They sat still for a moment, then, with one huge jump, they went flying into the sky, far higher than any normal person could ever even hope of achieving. They seemingly sat frozen in the air, continuing with their speech. "But under all that rage and hate, I sense creation." Gravity seemed to finally catch up to them and they began falling down, but instead of freaking out like anyone else would, they simply put their hands on their hips. With a loud thud, they reached the ground, the stone cracking underneath them from their impact. They barely even flinched. "Perhaps great exchange, with even better conversations."

The girl slowly turned to them, staring them down dead in the eyes, then wildly gestured at them. "What The Hell Are You talking about?!" Her anger clearly hadn't worn off from their argument; either that, or she treated everyone like that.

Pretty much summed up what I was thinking, Oliver thought. He faced the strange figure as well. "Yeah, what do you even mean when you say you-" He made air quotes. "- 'sense creation.' "

The figure chuckled and took a step forward, still covered in darkness that shouldn't exist. "I sense a friendship looming on the horizon, waiting to be formed." The shadows finally began to dissipate, revealing quite the dapper man underneath. They wore a black tux, bow tie and everything, with a golden monocle resting on their right eye. Dress pants and the shiniest shoes Oliver had ever seen covered his lower half. The cape they wore was made out of a silky material and had the color of a deep red. He had pointy ears like any other humanoid creature there, and in his hand sat a cartoony wand, crooked and bent like a stick. "It's yelling out, wanting to rise and be adorned."

Oliver scratched his chin, piecing together the man's speech pattern. "So, you speak in rhymes, huh?" He rested his hands on his hips. "Well, I got a few of my own." He paused for a moment, his brain searching for something that sounded even remotely similar. He hadn't fully found them, but still continued nonetheless. "But I'm... all out of time. So, we have to... groan?" The girl looked like she wanted to groan as she rolled her eyes. "Hey! I tried my hardest, okay?" he said as he looked over at her. He gestured to the strange man. "He takes a solid minute break between each of his sentences, so it's pretty impressive I came up with that it, what, 10 seconds?" The girl didn't look any more impressed, or any less annoyed, for that matter, so he gave up on her with a sigh and turned back to the man. "Who are you anyway? Some sort of guardian?" He looked down to the floor "They usually speak in rhymes," he let out as a mumble

The man shook his head, moving his wand around. "Guardians are not my taste, for my father is one. Taught me all he knew without an embrace, then went on the run."

The boy slumped down. "Oh." The child of a guardian having a neglectful father... sounds like a good backstory. He scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I guess?" His head drifted to the side. "Doesn't really answer my question though."

The girl looked over at him with even more anger on her face. "Could you stop entertaining whatever game he's playing?" She "whispered" so loud that it made whispering pointless.

The man glossed over what the two of them said and decided to finally answer the boy's question. "I have gone by many names, from The Loony to The Raker. But the one that remains, and what you shall call me..." They pointed at their chest with a serious expression that perfectly matched their overdramatic voice. "... is The Friend Maker."

Oliver instantly began bursting out into laughter, believing what he heard was a joke. When he saw "The Friend Maker's" face never gaining a smile, though, he began to have his doubts. "Wait, are you being serious?" He nodded, the boy squinting at him in response. Sounds like something out of a Doctor Sues book. "So, let me guess... you make people friends?" He nodded yet again, causing Oliver to rub the corner of his eyes with his fingers. "Out of all the names you could've chosen..." His voice trailed off as he decided it was best not to finish his sentence, instead gesturing at the man, resting one of his hands against his hip. "Welp, you're out of luck, buddy." He pointed over to the girl with his thumb. "I would be perfectly fine, maybe even happy, if I never saw her face again."

Her eyes looked over to him, giving off a "death stare" vibe. "The feeling is mutual," she mumbled.

The Friend Maker let out a little laugh, shaking their head. "Oh, but this is an amazing fact. The best friendships through time come from a squabble. But I must swiftly act, for not too long now, the potential friendship will die with a hobble." They raised their cartoony wand up, drawing a circle in the air like Eda did with it. Unlike what happened when Oliver did it though, a green line began following where his wand went. Once both ends connected, Oliver's surroundings became a blinding white. He covered his eyes and slammed them shut, but even with his arm in the way, he could still see the color through his eyelids. It remained for a few seconds, just a pure, blinding white all around him, but then in the blink of an eye, it vanished.

Cautiously, the boy brought his arm down. His surroundings... they had completely changed. Instead of being on the bustling streets of a city, he now stood in a room; it looked somewhat like a lounge. The strange thing was, there were no doors or windows. A couch sat pushed up into a wall, two bean bags on the floor facing each other right in front of it. There was a bookcase filled to the brim with novels, a picture of the stereotypical cat with words next to it saying "hang in there" sitting hanged and framed right above it. Candles lit up the place, giving off a nice, calm smell. The floors were carpet and the walls were smooth wood. If it had been any other situation, the boy would've been happy to see it. It was comfy, sure, but he was too focused on how he got there to enjoy it.

The Friend Maker still stood right in front of him, the aggressive green-haired girl in her same position as well. But besides those two, everyone else had vanished with the street. The Friend Maker looked around with a smile. "Now the potential has been saved, trapped within this room. For the only way out is to engage; leave here as friends and your time will resume."

Oliver was still a little shocked at his sudden teleportation, so it took him a minute to process what he said. But due to his love of Sci-F, he quickly gained excitement. "Wait, did you, like, put us in a dimensional pocket outside of time?" He pointed at him. "Cause if so..." He waved his finger back and forth, trying to figure out a nice way to say what he wanted. "... You are a lot cooler than I thought you were." The man simply smiled in response, giving him all the information he needed.

The girl looked like she wanted to punch him. "Why are you complimenting him?! He just trapped us in this room!" She began stomping over towards the man, her finger up and rigid, pointed at him. "You better bring us back right now, or else I will report you to the guards!"

The Friend Maker began to become uneasy as she approached, grabbing his shirt and pulling it out to let air in. "Um... N-no time to speak, for I m-must go!" He quickly drew a circle and, almost instantly, the lower half of his body began to turn into... dust? It slowly spread up his body as the girl kept getting closer. "But soon you will reach your peak, so I-" He was quickly interrupted by the girl raising her hand up and slapping what was left of his face. "Ow," he said as he fully vanished to dust.

The girl stared at where he once was with wide eyes. She began frantically looking around the room, almost as if he'd be there. "You get back here right now!" she shouted to no one but Oliver. "I-I..." Her voice finally began to waver, but she quickly regained her composure. "Do you even have any idea who my parents are?" She nearly shouted almost... hesitantly, like she was trying to avoid saying it.

Meanwhile, Oliver stared at the floor, scratching his chin. "Huh," he let out as he overlooked everything that had happened. " 'Go' doesn't rhyme with 'ow.' "

The girl spun towards him, anger buried into her eyes. "You're not even taking this seriously!" She gestured at their surroundings. "We're trapped in a room with no way out, and you're making sarcastic remarks!"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Like screaming at an empty room is going to help." He spun around and walked to the wall, getting on his knees once he did. He began to pat it down and feel around, looking for a possible hidden door.

The girl squinted at him for a moment before shaking her head. "This is all your fault, you know. If you hadn't bumped into me, I'd still be outside and not wherever that lunatic put us." Oliver clenched his fist, trying to control his anger, as she continued. "And now you're patting all over the walls like it'll help. Who even raised you-"

He couldn't hold it back anymore. He jumped up on his feet and began approaching her. "Please, For The Love Of God-" She backed up into a wall, seeming somewhat scared as she did, but he didn't stop his approach. He got right in front of her, only a few inches away from her face, before continuing. "-SHUT! THE FUCK! UP!" he shouted as loud as he could, fear spreading through her face in response. He held his position for a few more moments, taking deep breaths as he did. As the anger left his eyes, he realized what he did. He spun around and walked away from her, slightly embarrassed. Still, he tried his best to keep his angry facade. "I don't give two flying shits about how we got here, and I certainly don't want to know about how it's 'all my fault.' " He returned to his spot in front of the wall, going back onto his knees. "Go sit down and talk about how your parents and their trust fund will hurt me all you want, but please, stop... stop talking about the past." Even though she seemed to not get what he meant at the end, what he did worked; judging by her expression, she wouldn't be talking for a while. She stared at him for a moment, looking like she wanted to say something, but eventually gave up and sat down into one of the bean bags.

With a nagging voice finally going silent, Oliver finished his search. There was nothing but wood across the entire wall, he found that out on his first search. But even after learning that, he still continued looking, hoping, praying that he missed something. He knew that wasn't the case though. After a few hours of searching, he finally lost all hope. He turned around and made his way to the couch, not wanting to sit and stare at the girl still in the bean bag. She seemed to notice him approaching and looked up to him. "Find anything?" she asked in a far more passive voice than he had grown used to.

Oliver rolled his eyes, expecting to be berated for his response. He dropped down on the couch, refusing to meet her gaze. "No," he said, waiting for her to throw some insult his way. He waited, and waited... but it never came. Somewhat surprised by the silence, he continued. "It's just wood all across the wall; no secret entrance or riddle anywhere."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't we just break through the wall? There's enough furniture to do it." She looked down at her hand. "And it'd only take a few spells."

He shook his head in response. "We're in a pocket dimension. Even if we did, it's probably just an empty void out there."

She slumped down a little. "Oh."

And after that, silence filled the room. The boy did nothing more than sat there, void of all hope and stuck in thought about, well, everything. He didn't take serious situations... seriously most of the time; not unless it was literal life or death. Call it a coping mechanism if you will, but it just made him feel better where he'd otherwise be panicking. Now though, he began to realize just how much trouble he truly was in. He was stuck in a room outside of time itself, with a girl who he had to become friends with to get out, but that more than likely would never happen, so he would just sit in this room, never aging and never getting hungry.

Wanting to pass the time, he reached to his chest. The jacket he wore began to slowly morph open, eventually revealing the book still inside. Good thing I brought you with me, he thought as he grabbed it. The jacket closed itself as he opened the cover, turning to the first page. He didn't even get through half a paragraph before his reading session was cut short by the girl's voice. "Is that a Good Witch Azura book?" she asked, a surprising amount of interest behind her voice. It reminded him of how Luz reacted when she saw the Griffin.

This time, Oliver was sure she would mock him for his reading choice, even though the book wasn't even his. It just felt like something she'd do. "Yeah, it is," he said as he closed it.

Instead of the insult he expected to be thrown his way, even more intrigue came from the girl. "How did you get your hands on one of them? They're so rare."

Surprised by her reaction, he slowly pondered what to say. "Umm, a friend gave it to me. I haven't actually got past the first page yet."

A slight amount of disappointment entered her eyes. "Oh." It did not take long for it to be buried under even more layers of even more enthusiasm, the girl sitting up straight as they did. "Well, I'd say it's a good book all around. The plot can definitely be contrived at certain points, and the ending kind of sucks, but the characters make the book." She scratched her chin as she appeared to think even more about the subject at hand. "The way it portrays witches also isn't really that accurate, but it's pretty good for human standards. The genre mixing is really good as well, and..."

She kept going on and on about this book Oliver hadn't even read, going into detail about plot points while somehow beating around spoilers. Words only an English scholar would mutter casually came out of her mouth. The boy was somewhat impressed considering her review was being made on the spot. If the situations were different, he'd be really eager to give it a read after the praise he had been told. Who knew she'd be a bookworm? he thought with a slight smile. Still feeling bad for what he did earlier, his eyes traced over the cover for a moment. Eventually, he turned to face the girl as his mind knew what it wanted to do. "Catch," he said as he threw the book her way while she was still mid-speech.

She was quite clearly surprised by the sudden gift, but was still able to grab it before it would hit her face. She held it close to her chest as she looked at him with wide eyes. "You... you're giving this to me?"

Oliver shook his head. "Give is a strong word; I do expect to get it back after we're out of here." He leaned back into the couch. "But, you seem far more interested in the book than I would be, so feel free to give it a read."

The girl seemed to still not have pieced together what he said. "Really?" He nodded, and she held it in her hands now, her eyes examining all over the cover. "Thanks... I guess," she said, barely a mumble.

He brushed off her appreciation and began to have a staring contest with the wall in front of him. How long am I going to be here? He thought. Will I ever even get out? His mind gave him no answers as he continued to intensely compete with the wood in front of him. I won't even be able to die since I'm not aging. I'll just be stuck here, forever. I'll live longer than the heat death of the universe, and yet, at the same time, I won't ever see it happen. Is this my life now? Sitting on this couch, staring at the wall? At least if Luz gets thrown in jail, she get's to die, but me? I'll be stuck here forever-

His grim thoughts were cut short by the girl's voice, who was now currently staring at the ground, playing with her fingers, with the book in her lap. "Look," she said, her eyes drifting back up to him. "The way I acted earlier... I'm sorry for it." That made Oliver surprised; that was the last thing he expected from her. "A lot of bad things have happened to me today, and you bumping into me kinda made me explode. Then us being getting abducted into this room was my tipping point. But, after you screamed in my face, I realized how much of a jerk I was being." She seemed unsure of what she was saying judging by how she went back to looking at the floor. "So yeah, sorry."

The boy was somewhat skeptical at what he just heard. People like her, they usually don't have a nice side. But, despite that, he couldn't help but feel she was being genuine. He looked at her. "Do you actually mean that? Or, are you trying to trick the room into thinking we're friends?"

She returned his gaze. "I mean it. I hate bullies, so when I see myself acting like one, I start to hate myself."

Her words intrigued him. "You say that like you normally are a bully."

She scratched the back of her neck. "Well, looking back on it, I am more times than I'd like to admit. I feel like I'm being forced to most of the time, or that I have to in order to get noticed, but that doesn't really excuse my actions." She looked to the side. "Sometimes it's ex-friends, and other times it's random strangers like you." She faced him yet again. "Speaking of, what's your name? We're going to be here for a while, so it'll be helpful."

The boy was still hesitant to give her any personal information, but something as harmless as a name couldn't be used to hurt him. With a sigh, he spoke. "Oliver."

"Oliver? Like the tree?" The boy was surprised to hear that, and his face showed that. They have Olive trees here? The girl clearly read his face as she leaned back into her bean bag, although she mistook it for a different emotion. "Never heard of them?" Confusion. That's what she thought it was. "I don't blame you. I've only ever read about them in books that wash up on the coast. I think they're from the human realm." Oh. She rested her hand on her chest, as if gesturing to herself. "I'm Amity."

The boy smirked to himself. Kind of like calamity. "Well Amity, I'd say it's nice to meet you, but..." He coughed into his arm. "... you know."

Amity nodded. "Yeah, I don't blame you," she said, staring back down at the floor. As awkward silence filled the room, Oliver could see Amity gain a tinge of curiosity in her eyes. "You said you aren't from around here," she stated, still continuing to look down towards the ground. "Where are you from then? I've never really heard of much outside of the Boiling Isles."

The boy began to get nervous. "Umm, I'm from a place called..." His mind wandered through fantasy towns he knew, but none of them sounded realistic enough. His brain continued its frantic search, the girl getting more and more suspicious of him the longer he took to answer. Eventually, he sighed, brushing away some air. "You know what? Screw it." He reached back and pulled his hood down, revealing his perfectly round ears. "I'm human, alright?"

Amity's eyes grew to the size of golf balls. "Wait, What?!" she nearly yelled. She stared at his ears as if to confirm his words, then gestured towards him. "Why were you confused at what an Olive tree was then?!" she asked, almost more shocked than Oliver was when he fell down into the Boiling Isles.

He gestured right back at her. "I wasn't! I was just surprised you knew what it was!"

Some of her surprise left her face as realization washed over it instead. "Wait, so I was right?" He nodded, but she had seemed to already forget what she asked, instead gaining back all the shock she lost. "How did you even get here?"

The boy chuckled a little, looking up towards the ceiling. "Now that is a story and a half!" He sighed as he thought of the best way to put his long adventure into words. "Basically, I busted a door down and fell into this place. There's another one of me wandering around; she's a girl."

She leaned in closer to him, clearly interested in the conversation. "So you two came here together. Are you like... siblings?"

He quickly shook his head, pushing air towards her. "No, no! Definitely not. I just met her today, actually."

"Then why did you follow her here?"

Oliver didn't take time to think of her question before he answered. "Well, I..." His voice trailed off as he realized. He looked down to the floor, scratching his chin. "I don't actually know... huh." He tried his hardest to come up with a reason, really struggling. "I guess it's because I needed directions after I ran away from-" He was so deep in thought that he almost spilled all of his guts out to her. Thankfully, he realized before he finished, but she probably had enough to piece together what he was going to say. He turned to her, ready to change the topic before she thought more on the subject. "I've told you a lot about me, but I still don't know anything more than your name." He sank into the couch, attempting to not look panicked. "So, care to share?"

Amity looked surprised at the sudden shift of focus. "Oh, um..." She sat up, fixing her posture. "You did share one of the biggest secrets I've ever heard, so alright, I guess." The boy let out a sigh of relief as she began to ponder to herself. It took a few moments, but she did eventually continue. "I don't really have anything groundbreaking to share like you did. Besides for a few details, I'm a lot like everyone else." She rested her head on her hand. "My parents are rich, and they own a massive company. I'm the best student in my school-'

Oliver cut her off, pointing towards her from his laid-back position. "I'm not even from here, but I can definitely tell that is not like everyone else."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. But if I didn't tell you that, you'd never be able to piece it together; that's what I meant when I said I'm like everyone else."

He raised a finger up. "Actually, I kind of could."

Some of the surprise from earlier returned on her face. "Really?"

He looked from side to side. "Well, I wasn't 100% sure, but judging by how you treated me, and how you talked like you were better than everyone else, it was one of my first guesses."

Her eyes got a little wide as she blinked a few times. "Wow... I didn't think I was being that bad," she said, gaining a progressively bigger frown. "Have I... have I always acted like that? I mean, I guess I have." She seemed to be having a discussion with herself, all but completely ignoring the boy's presence.

Sensing that this wouldn't lead to anywhere good, the boy searched for a change of topics. He seemed to find it when his eyes passed over her heavily miscolored cheek. He quickly pointed towards it as the girl continued to debate with herself. "Where'd you get that bruise from?" he asked as he tilted his head, squinting to get a better look at it. "It looks pretty nasty."

That seemed to instantly suck her out of her mind. She turned to face him, a little bit of surprise in her eyes. She reached up and touched her spot. "This?" she asked, as if it wasn't the only bruise visible to him. The boy nodded and that only seemed to make her more surprised. "Oh, well, I..." She seemed to realize something as she stared at Oliver, a little bit of that shock leaving her. "I'll tell you if you tell me where you got that cut from," she finally finished, a little smug smile going across her face.

He certainly wasn't expecting that. He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, sighing. "Touché," he said as he looked to the side. His brain searched for what to say as he continued to stare at the wall. His first instinct was to lie, that she'd make fun of the true reason it happened. But, at the same time, he really wanted to get it out. A part of him had to get it out. Bottling up a secrete as big as his, even if it was only for a little bit… it was excruciating. Besides, it might be the only way they would get out of the room. He sat up, prepared to get the words out. But as he tried to formulate them, he realized something. He couldn't. They refused to come out, no matter how much he tried. His tongue refused to make the words he wanted even though he was giving every ounce of energy he had left.

The Girl raised an eyebrow at his obvious struggles. "Are you okay?" she asked. She gestured down towards his hands. "You're hands… they're shaking."

He hadn't even noticed until she mentioned, that's how hard he was trying. He brought them up to his face; they were indeed shaking, and a lot at that. In fact, his entire body was shaking, but his hands were the easiest to spot. He tried to make it stop, but they only got stronger, so he brought up his other hand and grabbed it. That didn't help at all though, instead causing only more shaking. He looked down to the floor, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. He tried to focus back on the words he wanted to say, ignoring his ever-shaking body. "I-I… m-my parents. T-they-" That was all he could get out before his brain physically stopped him from continuing.

Out of options, he tried to think of another way to let her know. He thought for a moment, then, with desperation in his eyes, he pointed up to his cut, hoping she'd get the message. She seemed to be confused at first, her eyes squinting at him. But, after only a little bit, she quickly pieced together what he was trying to get at. "Are you saying… you're parents? They caused it?" Amity asked, and he quickly nodded in response, much to her dismay. She looked towards the floor. "I…" Her voice trailed off, genuinely speechless. "Wow." She sat staring at the floor, quite clearly deep in thought. Whatever she was thinking about, judging by the faces it made, it wasn't pleasant.

She did eventually face him once again, looking somewhat sad. She scratched the back of her head. "Well, I was going to lie to you and say I got it when you bumped into me, but, after what you told me…" She shook her head a little. "I feel like you deserve to know. Besides, you'll learn the truth eventually if we are going to be here for the rest of forever." She let out a sigh, closing her eyes. "My Mom gave it to me."

That surprised Oliver, to say the least. Out of all the things he expected her to say... no. She must've misheard him; there's no way that actually happened to her. He still had a hard time speaking, but was able to get a few words out. "S-s-she hit you?"

She looked over to the side. "Yeah. Yeah, she did." Silence filled the room and, when the conversation didn't continue, she slumped down a little. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

He quickly waved his hands rapidly, attempting to show her he was interested. "N-no! I'm... I'm glad you did." He closed his eyes as his composure slowly returning to him. "I-I know how hard it is to share something like that." He shook his head, attempting to smile. "You're actually the first person I told, and knowing that you shared a similar experience makes me confident I was right to trust you." That seemed to change her attitude on the subject, and he nearly let out a sigh of relief because of that fact.

He began to think back on what she said, still barely believing what he had been told. It just didn't sit right with him. He thought he was the unlucky one, that no one else got to experience what he did. He would've preferred it like that; that he was the only one that got to suffer. And let alone in the fantasy world of his dreams. His family had nothing; just the dim ruins of a building that they called home. But... her parents, they had everything. Money, fame, power, a family. Thye had everything anyone could ask for. And yet, they threw it all away. They still...

He rubbed his face as his composer yet again vanished, trying to force out his question. "I... why? Why would she do that?" was all he could muster.

The girl shrugged. "I really don't know; I guess she got mad." She scratched the back of her neck, looking away from him. "It was... it was the first time too. I ran onto the streets after, and, well, that's when I ran into you. Felt like the entire world was against me, and released all of that on you." She looked over the boy for a moment, letting out a little chuckle as she finished. "Guess we have more in common than we thought, huh?"

He would've protested that comment mere minutes ago, but now; he slowly shook his head. "Y-yeah. I guess we do."

Amity gained a grin as she twidled with her thumbs, clearly thinking about something. She quickly looked up to Oliver as she finally pieced together what she wanted to say. "Hey, Oliver, I just wanted to say-"

She didn't get a chance to finish due to a blinding white light flooding the room, almost exactly the same as when they entered. Oliver was quick to react, shielding his eyes with them tightly shut. He swore he could feel the couch he was sitting on all but vanish as the light got even brighter. It grew, and grew, and grew, until, just like before, it all vanished in the blink of an eye. The boy slowly brought his arm down but didn't get to open his eyes before he went falling down onto his butt. They shot open as his head jolted around in a panicked frenzy. He couldn't believe his eyes... he was back in the same exact spot he originally vanished, now on the floor instead. Amity sat in front of him, even more awestruck than he was judging by her gaping jaw. Although, the time had most definitely passed. It was the dead of night now, only some blue being visible in the mostly black sky, white dots strewn about.

His pondering was cut short by an all too familiar voice. "It is done! You're time is complete!" The Friend Maker shouted as he came strolling on in from around a building's corner. He had gained a cane since their last encounter, twirling it with the enthusiasm of a child. "For the friendship has won, you have returned to the street!"

Amity and Oliver eyed each other down before pushing themselves off the floor. "You know, I have to hand it to you," Amity said as she brushed her hands on her pants. "You... you weren't wrong."

Oliver pointed into the sky, staring up at it. "Yeah, but didn't he say that time doesn't pass in that room? Cause I'm pretty sure it did."

The Friend Maker was now aggressively twirling his cane. "It was a lie! A bluff! For without it being applied, there simply wouldn't be enough!" He began circling the two... friends? "But rejoice! Give celebration. The friendship now has a voice, even without this situation." He spun around to the two of them, a wide smile on his face. "Enjoy what you've been given, and don't deny. Even without you being driven, you will still-"

A familiar, manly voice flooded Oliver's ears before The Friend Maker got his final words out. "There He Is!" he shouted as fastly approaching footsteps echoed all around them. "Get Him!"

The boy, worried they were talking about him, initially flinched, bracing for the eventual tackle. When he heard a grunt come from in front of him though, he realized who they were. He looked up to see the guard that chased him, Luz, and Eda in the process of falling onto The Friend Maker. A few more dozen guards appeared around them as Oliver quickly brought his hood up; thankfully, they were far too focused on the strange man to pay attention to the shape of his ears. Before long, all the guards were piled on top of each other, completely burying The Friend Maker in their bodies. "Charles the Friend Maker!" the first guard to have fallen on him shouted, his voice muffled due to all of his friends being on top of him. "You are under arrest for the kidnapping of two civilians and the use of wild magic! You are hereby sent to the conformitorium!" If The Friend Maker, or Charles, was saying something back to him, he was impossible to hear.

Strangely, none of the guards ever moved, instead choosing to stay on top of the poor man. The boy chuckled a little at the sight, then turned to Amity. "Well, guess that's that." His eyes drifted to the side, shrugging. "Weird way to make first introductions, but I'd say it went well."

She never answered back, instead staring at the pile of officials with squinted eyes, deep in thought about something. "The guards wouldn't be here on their own," she eventually let out, like she was talking to herself. "They're too incapable." Her eyes got wide as realization washed over her face. "So, that must mean that she-"

"Amity Blight!" a... snobby voice shouted out from the distance before she ever got a chance to finish. They were a woman and, well, you know how Eda described Elves? She sounded exactly like that. The girl seemed almost paralyzed while Oliver turned to the source. She certainly looked like a Mom, no insult intended. She wore far nicer clothes than anything Oliver or even Amity had on, and had bright green-ish blue hair tied into a bun, much like what Oliver assumed was her daughter; who else says a full name like that? There was also this look in her eyes, like she thought was better than everyone in the room. Judging by her current facial expression, she was pissed. Maybe even more than pissed. She began stomping her way to the group, eyes locked on Amity. "What have I told you about wandering the streets at evening?" she yelled at her as she approached. She eventually stopped right behind her. "I sent the every guard in this city to look for you, but you were nowhere! And then I learn that this man had abducted you and-" She paused, staring down at her daughter for a moment, who's back was still faced to her. She grabbed onto her shoulder. "Are you even listening to me?"

Oliver, on the other hand, got to see just how… uncomfortable Amity was. She quickly pulled her shoulder away from her mother, crossing her arms. "Yeah, I'm am. You're blaming me for getting kidnapped." She rolled her eyes. "What a surprise."

Her mother shook her head. "Now, Mittens, you know that's not what I meant-"

Amity spun around before she could finish and walked down the path, arms still crossed with her head looking at the ground. "Let's just go already."

The woman gained a face of surprise, maybe even having a bit of a tender emotion in her eyes. "I…" Her voice trailed before her stern exterior came right back on. She paid Oliver quite literally no mind, not even a second glance, and turned to walk after her daughter. "If that's what you want," she said as she caught up to Amity's side. Before the two of them would've disappeared into the now empty city, the girl looked back at the boy, as if to check if he was still there. Thinking back to what Luz did for him, he tried his best to give a genuine smile, motioning a little wave with his right hand. The girl gained a tiny, but still very much apparent, grin and, while she never returned the gesture, he could tell she wanted to deep down.

And with that, they vanished from his sight, leaving Oliver alone yet again. Well, that is if you excuse the pile of guards next to him. His eyes drifted down to the bottom of the pile, looking for the strange man. While he didn't find it, he still felt like saying what he was going to. "Thanks, Charles," he said to empty air. He turned to the road he originally came down, noticing how weird it felt with the lack of people. Luz is probably done now, he thought as he began to walk down it. Should head back If I ever want to return to the human realm.

That is exactly what he did. He walked out of the city and back onto the dirt path. He was praying that there would be no creepy whispers this time, especially since it was dark, and he got his wish. Nothing disturbed him, not even a tree branch scratching against his neck. The dragon was gone as well, so now he just had to walk. Before long, he was back to the Owl Lady's house, Hooty's black orbs staring at him as he approached. "Password, please!" He shouted as the boy walked up to him.

Oliver scratched his chin as he thought back to what Eda said. "Um, open the door or I'll poke your eyes out?" He said, slightly unsure of himself.

Hooty looked from side to side, juggling what the boy said. "Close enough," he eventually let out, opening the door, or himself, fully.

As the boy walked in, he let out a sigh of relief. No one was home yet. He walked over and collapsed on the couch, ready to pass out at a moment's notice; not only was this day chalked full of events, but he hadn't slept in over 24 hours. He stared at the door, waiting, with his mind analyzing everything that happened. He never thought that out of all people, he'd call a rich kid his friend. And while they certainly had more to learn about each other, what they had now was a good start. He felt bad for Amity. Seeing her be dragged back to her house like that, it just didn't sit right with him. But, there was nothing else she could do. Only a few people are brave enough, or stupid enough to run away like Oliver did.

As he was finally starting to close his eyes, the door to the house busted open, sucking out all tiredness he had. He sat up and looked towards the commotion only to find Luz in the flesh, stomping in with a huge grin. She glanced around the room for a moment, then walked over to Oliver when her eyes met his. "That was amazing!" She nearly shouted as she reached the boy. "There was this big barrier I had to go through, then a bunch of guards came marching in! Then the Warden chopped Eda's head off!" That one caused the boy to scoot back a little with wide eyes. It didn't take Luz long to realize what she said. "Oh, no, she's not dead. She can reattach her limbs." She looked towards the door as she continued her summary. "So, like, the Warden asked Eda out but she said no, so he chased us." She enthusiastically punched the air in front of her. "And I got to throw a firework in his mouth!" She took deep breaths, her summary clearly taking quite a bit of energy. "Yeah, it was amazing."

Oliver chuckled a little at the recovering girl. "I'd say so." She almost reminded him of an excited child coming back from their first day at school.

Eda walked into her home with her staff in hand, rubbing her neck. The tiny creature that was King latched onto her back, like how you'd carry a baby. "Speak for yourself. Sure, I don't die from loosing my head, but it hurts like hell still."

As she leaned her staff against the fireplace, King hopped off her back, landing on his two feet. He rested his hands on his hips. "And my crown was destroyed! That is definitely not amazing."

The boy smirked a little as he pointed over to him. "That explains why you're still cute and cuddly."

King crossed his arms and looked like he was going to say some rhetoric, but Eda got her words out first. "I'm impressed," she said while her eyes drifted over the wooden floors. "You really did clean the floors." Her eyes landed on him, tilting her head to the side slightly. "You stole my jacket, though."

Oliver instantly became flustered, trying to pull the piece of apparel off of him. "O-Oh, I just thought-"

Eda pushed air away from her, shaking her head slightly as she walked up to the boy. "I'm just pulling your leg, kid; haven't used that thing since I stole it from that wizard." She crossed her arms as she looked down at him. "It fits you better anyways."

The boy lost his panic. "Oh," he said, slowly pulling his sleeve back on. "Um, thanks. It's a really nice jacket."

The Owl Lady let out a chuckle. "It's a lot more than that!" She thought for a moment, scratching her chin. "I'm kind of in need of a suit right now," she eventually said to... open air? Nothing happened at first, but then Oliver felt movement across his entire torso. He looked down and saw the entire jacket this time morphing and changing like a liquid, almost exactly like when it made his collar into a hood. Before long, the once casual-looking jacket now resembled more of a suit, a tie made of the same material hanging from his neck. It had the same general feel of the jacket though, with the color still being the same dark blue. "It's made of a material that can change into basically any shape, and the wizard that used to own it made it so it listens to your requests. So, it can be any clothing you want."

Luz stared at the apparel, awestruck. "Man, you get magic clothing," she eventually said, gesturing towards him. "That's so cool."

The clothing began to change back into the jacket as Oliver looked at Luz. "And so is fighting a deadly warden in another realm."

She didn't say anything for a moment, eventually nodding her head in agreement. "Alright, yeah. That's fair."

Eda brought her hand up. "Speaking of other realms..." As her voice trailed off, a key of sorts began to levitate out of Luz's pocket, slowly heading towards The Owl Lady's hand. It had a yellow eye resembling that of a lizard on it. When it reached her hand, she pressed down on the eye, causing what appeared to be a suitcase to fly out of one of the corners. It stopped a few feet behind Luz, revealing to Oliver that it had the same eye on the front of it. It slowly began to collapse out, eventually fully forming into a door of sorts. Without anyone touching the doorknob, it drifted open, revealing the white void Luz had disappeared into when she originally came here. "A deals a deal. You two are free to go."

As Luz turned to face the door, she seemed to almost slump down a little. "Oh yeah... home," she said as her eyes locked onto the doorway to another realm.

Oliver stood up, with a slight amount of hesitance at that. He... he had nothing to return to. Nothing but walking, at least. He slowly made his way to the front of the door. "Yeah, home."

Eda raised an eyebrow. "You two are way less happy than I thought you'd be."

Luz shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy to go see my Mom. It's just-" she looked down to her hand, clenching it a little. "She's not really, well, happy with me right now. I mean, I'm meant to be at Summer Camp. I don't even want to imagine how mad she'd be at me if she realized I never went."

The Owl Lady raised yet another eyebrow. "Summer Camp?"

Meanwhile, Oliver was scratching the back of his neck. "I'm, uh..." He definitely wasn't going to tell the truth about his predicament. They probably wouldn't understand. He let out a little sigh as he continued. "I'm in the same situation."

Eda squinted at the two of them as she tried to process what they told her. "So, are you saying you want to stay in the realm where you can get arrested for existing?"

Luz answered before Oliver had even processed what he was going to say. "Yeah! I mean, if you're okay with that, of course." She looked down to the floor. "And it'd be cool to learn magic on the side..."

Eda's eyes drifted over to Oliver, so he slightly nodded to show that he felt the same way. She stayed in thought for a moment as King went up to her, pulling on the lower end of her dress like a child would when trying to talk to their parents. "Let them stay!" he loudly whispered. "I always need more subjects."

She smiled a little, then leaned against the wall, rolling her eyes. "Fine. You can stay... if you do a few odd jobs for me every once and a while." She gave the two of them a wink. "I've been needing someone to watch this goofball anyways." Luz almost jumped at the news, rushing over to her and quickly wrapping her up into a hug. Oliver, on the other hand, wasn't much of a touch person, so he did not replicate the action. He did show his gratitude on his face, though. Eda sat there, arms on her side, quite clearly confused at the human girl's gesture. "What? What are we doing? Why are you holding me?" she asked, causing Luz to let go of her.

Oliver shook his head with a smile. "It's called a hug; just something happy humans do."

Luz gestured back to him with her head. "He's spot on."

Eda raised her hand with the key and pressed the eye yet again. "Good to know, I guess," she said as the door began to quickly compress back into a suitcase. Before long, it was floating back to its corner, being nicely stashed away. Eda looked over to the tiny, dog-like creature that sat by her side. "King, show our guests to their closet."

He was happy to oblige, stomping out in front of Luz and into the hallway, almost like he was leading a marching band. "Follow me to your chambers, royal subjects!" he shouted out at the pair as he disappeared around the corner.

Luz giggled before following right after him. "Right behind you!" her voice echoed from the hall.

Oliver was about to do the same, but he felt something against his shoulder before he could get anywhere. He turned and saw Eda grabbing onto it, staring at him with a more serious expression than he was used to. "Not so fast; we need to talk first."

The boy, confused and maybe even slightly scared, turned to the lady. "What is it?" he asked with a somewhat shaky voice.

Eda rubbed her eyes, sighing. "Look kid, I don't know a lot about you. But there are two things I know for sure. One, you're more than exhausted, and two, the cut on your cheek isn't from anything natural." Oliver was shocked to hear this, wondering how she got it so right. Eda simply gave a smug little grin in response. "I know blade wounds when I see them." She looked to the side, going back to thinking. "I don't know why you have it or who gave it to you, but I just wanted to let you know-" She stared him dead in the eyes. "-I'm not like them. You don't have to ever share what went down, but keep in mind that I won't beat you down for it."

The boy nodded, looking away from her gaze. "I... I know." Just going off how she let them stay, she was leagues better than his family. He scratched the back of his neck. "I'm just not comfortable sharing it yet."

"And like I said, that's fine." She slowly loosened her grip on his shoulder before her hand just eventually fell off. "But if you're ever ready, I'll be here to listen." They looked at each other for a few more moments, then Eda gestured towards the hall. "Now go get some sleep. You clearly needed."

The boy nodded and, with that, he turned to the hall, following the distant sounds of Luz's laughter up to the closet.

---

A/N:

And that, boys and girls, is chapter 2. I really hope it lived up to your expectations. Yeah, Amity's parents, or just parent, are slightly abusive now; I feel, if this show wasn't written with kids in mind, that they very well would be in the actual continuity. Maybe it's just me, but her Mom gives me the "I hit my kids" type of feel. I've obviously made it more deep than that, if you couldn't tell, but that's the gist of it. It was pretty unrealistic for her to just throw that out there, but I couldn't think of a better way without the two of them being stuck in that room for literal chapters, and that's just boring to read and write. I want you to keep in mind, because some readers think a boy and girl talking about personal stuff automatically means they're being shipped, that I am not doing that. I plan on these two becoming good friends, but nothing more than that; it would kind of destroy part of Amity's character if she had a thing for anyone else but Luz.

Next chapter will pick up right in the morning of the human's second day in the Boiling Isles. You'll get a little summary of what happened before Oliver passed out because I just didn't feel like it fit here. And, remember, Oliver never got Luz's book back from Amity; yes, I did do that on purpose. Was not an oversight on my part.

Oh, and in case you missed it, Oliver actually has "triggers" because, well, his... we'll say traumatic past, left a mark on him, figuratively and literally. One that you should be able to have picked up on by now is that when someone mentions parents or past, even if it's himself, he either completely stops the conversation and tries to change topics, or freezes and fails to say anything. You'll get to see more that will point to what actually happened the night he ran away, but for now, that's the main one.

Alright, I want to thank you all for reading up to this point, and I hope this was interesting enough for you to stick around to the next chapter because I got some plans for that one. Some big ones. Okay, see you, fingers crossed, then.