"So, this is just like the maze at the Fall Festival?"

Emerald looked between the two Daemos with her, thinking about how to best explain. "Sort of. The Fall Festival maze was more of a 'spooky scary skeleton' type of event, whereas this is more child friendly." At their confused looks, she let out a small laugh. "It won't have anyone hiding inside trying to scare us: it's just a maze."

Rhys looked a little disappointed. "I wish I could have experienced the other maze properly."

"Don't worry. Maybe next year we can go visit again as a group and take our time to explore it properly."

Pierce glanced behind them, noticing Leif and Asch seemed to be competing against each other at one of the booths. Noi, Ava, and Marlene were cheering them on while shoveling more of the candy into their mouths as quickly as they could. "The others seem excited about the games."

Following his gaze, the veteran laughed again. "Yeah, the sugar's probably hitting them pretty hard right about now. They'll be able to keep themselves occupied while we take a break and do the maze." She led them to the entrance, motioning for them to go first.

"You do not wish to lead us?" the spectacled Daemos asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"No, I think I'll let you two figure it out. This maze tends to be almost the same every year and I don't want to spoil it for you guys." She flashed him a challenging grin. "Of course, it shouldn't be any problem for you, Rhys."

Bolstered by her words, he took the bait and marched on ahead. Pierce looked between the two of them, then followed along.

Emerald shook her head as she tailed after, the smile on her face growing a bit wider. In a way, it was refreshing to see them all having fun outside of the apartment: it definitely made her job a lot easier. As long as everyone stayed inside the confines of the park, she was certain everything would go smoothly.

Naturally, the peace didn't last.

Emerald continued to follow along behind Pierce and Rhys, the latter confidently navigating his way through the maze. The large Daemos went along dutifully, his attention on the other people they passed on their way towards the center.

It seemed a lot of the kids were disappointed in the lack of planning for the party, so they'd taken to making up their own games. A large crowd of them apparently decided the hay bale maze looked like an obstacle course from a new video game called "Bumbling Buddies" and were running around the corners trying to get to the middle first.

A small group of young teenagers came barreling along, pushing their way through and jostling the veteran into the side of the maze.

"Excuse you!" she called after them in annoyance, trying to pick herself up from where she'd fallen. She was suddenly stopped when a sharp pain hit her across her temples, making her instantly dizzy. "W-whoa..." she muttered, awkwardly taking a knee and supporting herself with one hand on the ground.

"Emerald?" Pierce knelt by her side, one hand already under her shoulder to help her keep her balance. "What is wrong?"

"I'm...stuck..." she tried pulling her head away from the hay bale, only to let out a soft curse and wince in pain. "What is - ?"

"Remain still." Rhys was on her other side, one hand on her back as he tried to keep her from moving. "Your horns appear to be a bit more realistic than we intended." She heard him swallow hard. "D-do I have permission to touch them?"

"Huh?" Emerald began turning her head to face him, but was stopped as Pierce's hand was at her cheek to hold her still.

"Please do not move. It will only hurt you further." The Daemos general paused, also apparently uncomfortable. "Rhys needs to touch your horns, but it is, uh..."

"Do whatever you have to, just get me out!" She let out an involuntary shudder. "This is getting really uncomfortable." There was silence for a moment, then the veteran felt fingertips ghosting over where the horns were stuck in the bales. A few soft tugs, then a hand on her shoulder gently pulling her away.

"A-are you alright?" To her surprise, Rhys was blushing and avoiding her gaze.

"Yeah, I'm fine now." Emerald carefully stood up, giving her head an experimental shake and relieved to find she was finally free. Both Daemos quickly jumped up as well, looking around as if afraid someone had seen them. "What's got you two so worked up?"

"Touching horns, for Daemos, is...um..." For once, the spectacled Daemos seemed at a loss for words.

"It is a...private thing," Pierce finished, noticing his hand was still under her shoulder and gently letting go.

"Oh, so it's - " She cut herself off, annoyed to feel a blush creeping onto her own cheeks. "Okay, well...thank you both for helping me out. How about we just focus on finishing up this maze before Asch gets bored and burns down the entire park?"

"Agreed."

"Yes."

"Oh, you've got to be shi-" Emerald barely cut off the curse, taking in the scene before her.

As expected, Rhys had made short work of the maze. It turned out there was another booth at the center giving out more goodie bags to anyone who managed to complete the challenge, along with directions for a shortcut back out to the park. Weighed down with even more sugary prizes, the last thing the veteran expected to find was the chaos playing out now.

The others had somehow managed to win almost every game in park, piling up all of their own goodie bags at the top of the playground. Asch sat atop it, idly picking out treats and devouring them as he watched Leif and Ava setting up what looked like an obstacle course for Noi and Marlene to run through. So far it consisted of several of the hay bales from the maze, although it looked like they were aiming towards one of the benches to use as a hurdle.

Rhys let out an exasperated sigh. "Should we initiate Damage Control?"

The veteran nodded tiredly. "Yeah, I think they've all had enough candy for one evening. We'll probably need to bring some of it back to the apartment just to bribe them into following." She sighed as well. "Let's get them all rounded up and tell Mrs. Oates where Marlene will be, then we can go home."

Pierce nodded. "Okay."

The spectacled Daemos copied the gesture. "Leave it to us."

While Pierce and Rhys went to gather the other Daemos, Emerald approached Ava and Marlene. "Hey, you two! Having fun?"

The shorter adult started guiltily, a crazed look in her eye as she turned to face her roommate. "Hey, Em!" She gestured behind her. "See, I kept them occupied and out of trouble and now we're making an obstacle course and no one's been set on fire and - "

Emerald stepped forward, putting a hand over Ava's mouth. "Okay, okay. I get it." She shook her head, a wry grin on her face. "You guys all finished up with the party? From the looks of Asch, you guys got a pretty good haul."

Marlene ran up, nodding vigorously. "We got soooooo much candy! Asch and Leif won a bunch of games and made a big treasure pile. Like a dragon!"

"Oh yeah?" The veteran removed her hand from Ava's mouth, kneeling down to straighten the girl's princess hat. "Everybody sharing nicely?"

"Yeah! Leif wanted to keep everything for him and Asch, but Ava distracted them so Noi and I snuck in and took some of the bags for ourselves!" She pointed to a nearby bush. "We hid them over there!" she whispered dramatically.

Noi chose that moment to run up as well, practically vibrating from the candy sitting in his gut. "Em, this place is amazing! There are so many tasty things to eat and so many interesting humans to look at and so many - "

"Noi, hon," she interrupted gently, taking his hands in hers. "I know you're really excited and have about ten pounds of candy running around in your veins, but I need you to focus." She waited while he (somehow) managed to rein himself in. "I think you guys have seen just about everything there is here, so how about we go home and I show y'all some special Halloween shows on the TV?"

His eyes lit up brighter than the lanterns strung up across the trees. "There's more things to do during Halloween?!"

"Yep. So the sooner you guys get all your stuff together, the sooner we can get going."

Marlene tugged her sleeve gently. "We get to keep all the candy?!"

"As long as you can carry it, it can come along."

"Guys, move it!" Ava grabbed both of their hands, dragging them back towards the play area. "If we're too slow, someone else might find our stash and take off with it!"

Emerald watched them scatter off towards their treasures, letting out a huff of laughter. A quick glance over at the playground showed Pierce and Leif gathering the additional candy bags while Rhys was in deep conversation off to one side with Asch. As she looked on, Noi and Ava ran up, the former boosting Marlene up on his shoulders so she could climb up and start tossing more of the bags down to them. 'Takes care of that,' she thought, turning to find Mrs. Oates and her Crochet Club booth.

"... so, I'm taking Marlene and the others back to the apartment. They've had so much candy, they'll probably be bouncing around for the next three hours. I'll make sure she drinks some water and has a few crackers before the Sugar Crash hits."

"Oh, Emmy, you don't need to do all that. I'm sure you have some plans with your Boy Toys later tonight, don't you?" The elder gave her a sly wink. "You wouldn't have put so much effort into your costumes if you weren't planning on going out and showing them off."

"Mrs. Oates..." Emerald paused, taking a deep breath through her nose before continuing. "I promised you I'd keep an eye on Marlene while you were busy with the party. If you want me to take her out for some proper trick-or-treating, I'm more than happy to - "

She let out a happy laugh. "I'm just teasing you, dear. I know you've been so busy with Ava and your friends, you haven't had any time to yourself. Marlene will be fine with Ava in the apartment, and I'll come pick her up as soon as we're done here."

"Are you sure? I mean, I can always - "

"No, no. I insist." Mrs. Oates patted the taller woman's arm affectionately. "You go out, take some of your friends if you want, have some fun. The world won't end if you let loose for one night, Emmy."

Before she could answer, Marlene ran up and wrapped her arms around her grandmother. "We're gonna go watch Scooby Doo in Ava's apartment!" she announced excitedly, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. Emerald noticed several bags clutched tightly in her hands.

"Oh really?" The old woman smoothed out her granddaughter's hair. "That sounds like a lot of fun!"

"It will be!" Ava siddled up with all five Daemos, each of them loaded down with the last of the candy. "These guys don't have Scooby Doo where they're from, so everyone's excited to watch some old-fashioned cartoon mystery-solving." She tugged at the veteran's arm. "Come on! We're gonna miss the start if we don't go now!"

"Okay, just let me - "

"Have fun." Mrs. Oates gave Emerald one last wink. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"You all settled?" Emerald leaned over the couch as she passed a bowl of popcorn to Ava and Marlene, then a second one to Asch, Leif, and Noi. All of them had claimed the entirety of the living room, equipped with salty snacks and large glasses of water. Rhys had removed the shorter woman's horns almost as soon as they'd gotten back to the apartment while the little girl had gone to the bathroom to get changed into her pajamas.

"Yep." Ava took the bowl, placing it on the blanket wrapped around her and Marlene. "You sure you don't want to join us?"

The veteran shook her head. "I've pretty much seen every Scooby-Doo episode ever made. And as much as I enjoy your company, I'm overdue for a night out to see some of my other friends." She grinned widely. "Plus, have you seen how awesome this costume is?! I'd be stupid not to go out and show it off a bit."

"What time you think you'll be back?"

"Probably sometime before one. I volunteered to help clean up the park tomorrow, so I can't get too loaded." She looked to the Daemos on the couch. "You guys good to go?"

"Shh!" Leif and Asch whispered harshly, eyes glued to the TV as the theme song began to play.

"We're good. Thanks, Em!" Noi added, flashing her a quick grin before focusing back on the show.

Emerald shook her head, a grin on her face as she took in the scene in front of her. Satisfied they'd all be okay while she was out, the veteran turned and walked towards the front door...

...only to stop suddenly as she saw Pierce and Rhys waiting for her. "I thought you two went through the portal. You guys need something before I leave?"

"We would actually like to accompany you to your event," the spectacled Daemos answered simply.

Pierce nodded. "Yes."

"Oh." The veteran was taken aback: she definitely hadn't been planning on doing more babysitting for the evening. However, the open curiosity on their faces was enough to change her mind. She let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a sigh. "Okay, then." Emerald walked by them towards the front door, motioning for them to follow. "Let's go. I'll fill you in on the details of the party on the way there. Just stay close to me and you should be fine."

The small grin on her face grew wider. "You two are in for a real treat."