As the sun shone brightly down upon the residents of the Boiling Isles. Screams of laughter and joy could be heard as witch and demon alike found themselves relaxing at the local beach. Families, couples, and even those by themselves were having fun splashing around in the water; some played games and others surfed, while others relaxed on the beach, soaking in the sun's rays or reading a good book. All in all, most beach attendees seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Most attendees.

"I've been here for less than five minutes and already I wanna die."

"Will you quit being so dramatic?" Amity sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, already tired of Kevin's whining.

The duo had just arrived at the beach and were currently waiting for Luz to show up before they could start having fun. In the meantime, Kevin's clones were hard at work preparing a little area for them by laying down towels, setting up umbrellas, filling up a cooler with the ice they made by freezing the water, and keeping people away to keep the area perfect. Of course, while they did that, Amity had to deal with Kevin and his complaining.

"You can't tell me you actually like the beach, right? The sand gets everywhere, the people are loud and annoying, especially the little kids, and I hate the heat. I'll take the cold over the heat any day of the week."

"Then why did you have the beach as a suggestion?"

"Every anime has a filler beach episode. I thought it would be funny to have one of our own. But I forgot how much the beach sucks. I knew I should've suggested karaoke instead; at least they have air conditioning."

"Hmm. Karaoke would've been fun, actually."

"Right? So let's go do that instead. I'll buy the drinks," Kevin said as he turned and started to walk away, only for Amity to reach and grab him by the collar of his shirt before pulling him back.

"Nope! We're staying here and doing this. Any idea how much longer until Luz shows up?"

"Eda sent her and King to deliver some potions, and she told me to go ahead and meet you here. I'm sure it won't be much longer before she shows up," Kevin said. "And a bit of advice? Try not to gay panic when she does? You can barely control yourself when she's fully clothed; I'd hate to see how you react when she's half naked," Kevin warned, causing the greenette to roll her eyes.

"Trust me, I'll be fine," she said, causing Kevin to raise an eyebrow.

"You got a nosebleed when she put on your Grudgby jacket. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you have a stroke from seeing her bareback or something."

"I… shut up!" she hissed threateningly, causing him to snicker.

"Kevin! Amity! There you guys are!" a familiar voice shouted from behind them. The duo turned to see Luz running towards them at full speed, smiling from ear to ear with a small bag draped over her shoulder. She came to a screeching halt right in front of them, kicking up sand into the air. "Sorry for the wait! I had to fight off a few fire golems to deliver the potion!"

"Yes, we can tell," Kevin said as he licked his thumb and index finger before reaching over and putting out the little flame that was slowly burning away at the tip of Luz's hair. "You really should be more careful when I'm not around. The last thing this dimension needs is me going on a rampage because you got hurt."

"You being overprotective of me is really sweet, but don't worry! I got around just fine before we met; I can take care of myself!" Luz exclaimed with a cheery smile. Kevin and Amity both raised an eyebrow before looking at one another.

"Let's keep a better eye on her," they said in unison. They nodded before shaking hands in agreement, causing Luz to let out an annoyed whine.

"You guys are so mean," Luz pouted.

"We're mean because we care about you. Now c'mon, let's get changed so we can get this godforsaken day over with. Bloody hell, I hate the heat," Kevin grumbled as one of his clones came up from behind and handed him his bag.

"You should work on your tan! I know a certain three-eyed girl might like it," Luz teased, and she and Amity snickered when Kevin growled and blushed.

"Let's just go get changed," he grunted before sauntering off, prompting both girls to follow close behind him.

"He's so cute when he gets all mad and pouty," Luz whispered to Amity, just loud enough for the boy to hear. Amity frowned slightly at that before Kevin spoke up again.

"Watch out Luz, you're gonna make Amity jealous," Kevin said, trying to redirect the conversation.

"I'm not—"

"Don't worry Amity, you're just as cute!" Luz grinned as she wrapped an arm around Amity's shoulders before bringing the witch close, causing her to blush.

Today was going to be a long day.

(Several minutes later)

Luz cocked her head to the side, utter confusion written across her features as she stared at her friends. Her two friends stood rigid, Kevin's cheeks were pink and he was seemingly refusing to look at her, while Amity was the opposite with dark red cheeks, eyes wide, and mouth slightly gaped. She couldn't keep her eyes off of Luz.

"Are you guys okay? Your faces are really red. You're not getting sick, are you?"

"N-No, we're fine. Right Amity?" Kevin stuttered with an uneasy grin. When Amity didn't respond, still too frozen as she drank in Luz's appearance, Kevin elbowed her in the side, shocking her back to reality.

"Y-Yeah! You uh, you just look really nice," Amity laughed weakly. Luz grinned widely and giggled happily at the complement.

"Thanks! You two look nice as well!"

The trio were in their swimwear, getting ready to have some fun in the sun. Amity wore a one-piece pink swimsuit, Kevin wore a pair of black swim trunks and blue t-shirt, and Luz wore a purple two-piece, a totally innocent choice of attire that had her friends smitten.

"So, what do we do first? I had my clones bring a ton of stuff from my workshop, so anything's on the table."

"How about we do some snorkeling!" Luz exclaimed with a grin. "I loved that one time we went snorkeling back in the human world. And I'm sure there's a ton of cool underwater life here!"

"There aren't any, like, killer monsters, or sharks with lasers, or some other kind of bullshit in these waters, right?" Kevin asked as he turned to Amity.

"Close to the shore? No. But the further we go out, the more likely we will see something dangerous. We just have to play it smart and not go out too far," she said, and Kevin nodded in understanding.

"Snorkeling it is then. And if we run into trouble, I'll just use my water bending to keep us safe," Kevin said as he clapped his hands. "Clone Nine, the snorkeling gear, please."

As ordered, clone Nine came up to the trio and proceeded to hand them something each. Amity stared at the pink square in her hand, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Candy?"

"A special kind of candy," Kevin answered as he and Luz chewed and swallowed their squares. "When I was younger, I watched a cartoon about a kid genius who made special gum that allowed him to breath underwater. I made my own version; it'll allow us to breath and talk underwater for the next hour."

"Kevin's a kid at heart, and a giant dork," Luz teased, causing Kevin to scowl at the insult. Luz giggled before running off towards the water. "C'mon slow pokes! Last one in the water in a rotten egg!"

The duo stayed behind a bit deliberately, their eyes drifting south as Luz ran towards the water. Kevin felt his blush deepen before a clone handed him some tissue, which he passed towards Amity.

"You're bleeding, again," Kevin said, snapping Amity out of her staring. She muttered a quick 'thanks' as she took the tissue and wiped her nose clean.

"This-this isn't weird, right?"

"What? Uh, no, no it's not. Looking is… completely natural," Kevin said before clearing his throat. "C'mon, let's catch up before she gets into trouble."

"How come you don't freak out or get a nose bleed from seeing her like… like that?" Amity asked, confused how he could compose himself so well.

"After seeing her half naked plenty of times, you kinda get used to it." Kevin shrugged before following the Latina. Amity nodded at the logic before stopping, eyes widening in surprise before narrowing in anger.

"You've seen what plenty of times?!"

(Underwater)

A family of crabs were relaxing on top of a medium sized rock on the bottom of the ocean floor. They were a bit larger than crabs from the human world, with purple skin and rows of spikes sitting on top of their backs. Little bubbles floated from their mouths up towards the ocean's surface as they slept, no fear of predators thanks to the spikes. While asleep, they didn't notice the face that slowly rose from behind their rock.

"Hi there!" Luz shouted, causing the crabs to wake up and scream in fright. They turned, claws snapping, ready to fight off any attacker when all they saw was Luz. They let out little sounds which sounded like they were grumbling in annoyance before they walked off of the rock and away from Luz. The human giggled as she set foot on the ocean floor and started crab walking with them. Amity giggled as she watched before swimming down toward her friend.

"Luz! Leave the crabs alone please; their spikes are full of poison that can kill you instantly!" Amity warned. Luz stopped her crab walk and hunched over, trying to mimic the crab's sound of annoyance before nodding and swimming up to Amity.

"You and Kevin are no fun sometimes. It's always 'Luz, leave the spikey crabs alone' or 'Luz, stop poking the sleeping dragon with a stick' or 'Luz, get your head out of the lion's mouth.' Why can't you guys encourage my reckless behavior once in a while?"

"Because we care about your safety and don't want you to get hurt," Amity answered plainly, causing Luz to pout. "Speaking of reckless, where's Kevin? I lost track of him when he was studying a family of explosive starfish."

Thumping on the ground below them caught their attention, and the two looked down to see a large, blue clam jumping up and down on the ground, kicking up sand as it bounced. There was a strange sound coming from it, and the two screamed in surprise as a blue sword suddenly speared itself through the clam's shell from the inside. The sword cut downwards, opening the clam up, and out popped Kevin with a gasp.

"Kevin!" Luz exclaimed as she and Amity swam down towards the boy. She reached out and grabbed his hand, helping pull him out of the shell. "What happened to you?"

"Do you have any idea what you just did? You just killed a rare, giant clam! The blue ones are females, and they only came around every 100 years to lay their eggs for fertilization!" Amity exclaimed in shock from seeing the gutted creature in front of her.

"Fuck your giant clam! It tried eating me!" Kevin exclaimed in anger and disgust as he wiped the clam's saliva and insides off of him. "I was studying some of the local animal life when that fucker got the drop on me and swallowed me whole. But the joke was on her; that wasn't my first time being eaten, so I knew how to escape," Kevin said before reaching through the crack in the clam and pulling out a large, blue pearl. "This is mine now, by the way. I've earned it."

"What did I tell you guys about being careful down here? The waters of the Demon Realm are different from the waters of the human world, and much more dangerous. You never know what could be hiding behind the rocks or inside the sand itself," Amity said with her arms folded across her chest, reminding them both of how a middle school teacher would react to her students misbehaving. Kevin rolled his eyes and stuck the pearl under his arm for safe keeping.

"Oh relax, as long as I'm around, nothing bad is gonna happen," Kevin said in an attempt to calm the greenette down. A large shadow loomed over them and there was a loud slam behind them, causing the two humans to freeze. They turned to see a gigantic, pink tentacle wrap around the dead clam before raising it out of the water; the trio could hear a loud crunching sound as the clam was presumably eaten by whatever this creature was. "I have a very bad feeling about this," Kevin said before another tentacle wrapped around all three of them.

Kevin and Luz struggled against the binding and shouted in surprise as the creature started raising them out of the water. Amity, however, wasn't freaking out or trying to escape, which was odd. Usually, she would be screaming at Kevin right now and demanding he try to get them free.

"Why the hell aren't you freaking out right now?" he asked the witch, who looked as clam as could be.

"Relax; I promise nothing bad is going to happen," Amity said.

Then they were tossed into the creature's mouth.

It was dark and wet inside the creature's maw, and Kevin summoned a weak flame to give them some light. They currently rested on the creature's large tongue, inches away from several rows of razor-sharp teeth. And worst of all, the monster's breath was terrible.

"And we're being eaten. Wonderful," Kevin said while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm pretty sure this is like, the 10th time this has happened to me."

"I'd rather be eaten than the alternative," Luz said with a shudder of fear.

"You watch too much hentai, I'm cutting you off," Kevin said before turning to Amity. "Mind explaining what is going on right now?"

"This is how she plays with the guests at the beach. Don't worry, you'll enjoy what happens next," Amity said with a small, giddy smile, causing her human friends' confusion to grow. The creature rumbled before a hole opened above them.

"The fuck is that?" Kevin asked before the creature started to shake. He was the first to be shot through the hole, and much to his surprise, when he exited the hole, he found himself in a giant bubble. He ran his fingers across the inside of the bubble and poked it, and he was surprised when it didn't pop. He could hear screams coming from below and watched as Luz and Amity soon followed in bubbles of their own.

Like underwater, three tentacles wrapped around their bubbles, and Kevin was finally face to face with the creature. It was a gigantic, with an oval shaped head, bright pink skin, and a giant, singular yellow eye. It reminded him a lot of the purple trench monster from the first Spongebob Squarepants movie, only with more tentacles. The creature smiled down at Kevin and the others before tossing them from tentacle to tentacle, juggling them.

"Amity, explain, now," Kevin ordered as he was tossed back and forth from inside his bubble.

"This is the Barbbrood, but beach goers just call her Gertrude," Amity answered with a laugh as she was tossed around. "Every day, she visits the beach to play with the guests. She's been doing this for about 20 years now!"

The Barbbrood, or Gertrude, as the residents apparently called her, started shuffling and throwing the three of them around faster and faster while simultaneously grabbing more willing attendees to play with. Luz and Amity laughed in delight as Kevin cursed repeatedly, sometimes in a language Amity wasn't familiar with. Gertrude tossed them into the air before placing her tentacles on the beach, allowing the three of them to roll down them. Amity's bubble was the first to make contact with the beach; it popped instantly upon touching the sand, freeing the witch as she landed perfectly on her feet.

Luz shortly followed, her own bubble popping and she landed on her feet. Her momentum would have sent her face first into the sand had Amity not caught her in time. The Latina looked up and grinned at Amity as the witch held her close, causing the greenette to blush.

Kevin was the last to make landfall, and he continued cursing as his bubble popped and sent him bouncing off the sand like a stone over water. Eventually, he came to a screeching halt and landed on his side. He groaned as his clones came over to help; one grabbed the pearl to put it with the rest of his belongings while two others helped Kevin to his feet before dusting him off. He batted them away before dusting himself off as he approached his two friends.

"Can we agree to not do that again?" he asked, leaning his head towards the left and tapping the right side of his head, causing sand to fall out of his ear. "So what's next? I vote we do something that doesn't involve a giant-ass sea monster," he said before a loud whistle suddenly rang in his head, making him flinch.

"Hooooold it right there!" Clone Three exclaimed from right behind Kevin. The clone wore a pair of bright and vibrant red shorts, a white t-shirt with the word 'LifeGuard' in big, bold red letters, and a red visor cap. "What do you three think you're doing?"

"I-I have so many questions right now I don't even know where to start. Why the hell are you a lifeguard? When did you become one? I never told you to do that!"

"Nevermind all that. What are you doing playing around without any sunscreen?" Three asked, causing Kevin to raise an eyebrow.

"Is that what this is all about?" he asked before Three grabbed him by the ear.

"You may not care about your own health, but your clones do! Now c'mon you!" Three said as he started dragging Kevin away. "You two aren't off the hook either. Apply this to yourselves," Three said while tossing them a bottle of sunscreen. Luz caught it with ease and they watched as Three dragged Kevin away.

"Welp, his clones know best, I guess. Sit down and I'll put some on you," Luz said, surprising Amity and causing her to flush.

"Luz I'm not a child, I can do it myself."

"Yeah, but what about your hard-to-reach spots? I'm sure I can get my fingers deep inside where you can't reach," Luz said, causing the witch's blush to darken.

"Phrasing!" they heard Kevin shout from off in the distance.

"Shut it!" Amity hissed at the human teen.

"Make sure to curl your fingers and flick the—OH SHIT!" Kevin ducked as a ball of fire was thrown his way. As he ducked, the fireball hit and barreled through several of his clones, destroying a total of eight of them with one shot. "You're so mean!"

"And you're so annoying!" Amity shouted back as Luz grabbed her hand and guided her down onto the towel. She sat down as requested, grumbling over Kevin's stupid and highly inappropriate jokes and comments. She heard the cap of the bottle open and waited for Luz to start. She yelped when something surprisingly cold hit her back.

"Sorry! Is it cold? Just relax for a second; you'll get used to it."

Amity nodded and tried her best to relax. She felt strong fingers dig into her back, spreading the sun screen against her pale back. Luz worked diligently, making sure to cover every inch of Amity's back that was exposed. Amity hummed as she let the human do with her as she pleased, sometimes leaning into Luz's finger because she liked the feeling of them gliding against her. She bit back a moan as Luz started on her shoulders; it felt like a massage.

"You're being such a good girl, Amity! You're doing a good job, I'm proud of you!" Luz giggled, and Amity felt a shiver go down her spine as a result. It wasn't from the cold sun screen; was it from what Luz had said? Did... Did she like being called a 'good girl' and being praised by Luz?

Titan help her, she was a mess. Could things get any more embarrassing?

In short, yes, yes they could. Because she could feel Luz inch up and start on her ears, and the second the human's magical fingers touched them, she melted in her hands. Amity leaned into the calming touch, and before she could stop herself, a purr could be heard coming from her throat. Her eyes snapped open at that, and she quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands, face turning a very dark red as Luz gasped.

"You purr when someone touches your ears?"

"W-What? N-No, of course not! That's ridiculous!" Amity tried to argue, only to be drowned out of Luz squealing in delight.

"Let me touch them again!"

"Wha—No! Luz, stop!" Amity felt the human pounce on her back and started touching her ears yet again. More purrs emitted from the back of the witch's throat, and she refused to lean into the touch as she tried batting away the giggling human. "L-Luz! Please stop!" she begged with a small whimper, causing the human to freeze and scramble to get off of her friend.

"S-Sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?" Luz asked worriedly as Amity breathed in and out, trying to calm her wildly beating heart.

"N-No, you didn't. W-Witch's ears are just sensitive, and you really shouldn't touch them without asking," Amity lectured. "Plus... purring is really embarrassing! I don't want to do it in public!"

"So does that mean you wanna do it when we're alone," Luz whispered in her ear, causing the witch to shiver from feeling her breath on her sensitive ear.

"That-that is not what I said!"

"No, but you definitely implied it," Luz giggled as she handed the flustered witch the bottle before laying down. "My turn!"

Amity grumbled to herself as she opened the bottle, muttering something about how the old Luz would never make such embarrassing or crude comments in the past. She had a feeling Kevin and his big mouth and perverted mind were to blame. What in the name of titan had he taught her in the mere nine months they had known each other?

Amity did for Luz as the human girl did for her. She started working on her back and felt the human shudder under her touch, probably from the cold lotion. She paid no mind to it and continued her work, fingers dancing across caramel skin, sometimes lingering at certain spots when she could feel the human's back muscles. The girl had definitely worked out in the nine months they had been apart.

The witch blushed heavily and nearly choked on the air when the human below her openly let out a small moan. She saw Luz was glancing back at her with a prominent, mischievous smirk and twinkle in her eye. She growled in annoyance, not paying attention to her hands as they glided in the human's sides. Luz started to laugh as Amity accidentally dug into her sides, surprising her. She took her hands away, allowing the human to calm down for a second before digging into her sides again, making her laugh uncontrollably once again.

Apparently Luz was ticklish... perfect.

Amity continued her assault, grinning to herself as the human thrashed and laughed from her fingers. She could hear Luz try to make breathless pleas for her to stop, but she wouldn't show any mercy, not after Luz messed with her ears or made Kevin-level jokes. One Kevin was bad enough; she did not need to deal with another.

Eventually, Luz rolled onto her back, tears welling in the corner of her eyes as she continued to laugh. Amity moved with her, climbing on top and straddling her waist to keep her from escaping as she continued her attack. Luz tried to reach up to grab Amity's ears as a counter, but the witch grabbed her by the wrists and ended up pinning her hands above her head.

After another minute or two, Amity decided the human had had enough and stopped her tickling, allowing the human to finally take a deep breath to calm herself. Amity watched Luz's chest rise and fall with every breath, face flushed red from all the laughing she had done. Eventually she let out a small giggle, and Amity cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"What's so funny?"

"Couldn't you have least bought me dinner first before getting me into this position?" Luz asked with a small smile. "Not that I'm complaining; I'm loving the view right now."

Amity froze, blush returning in full force as realization finally dawned on her over their current position. She was on top of her crush, pinning her hands above her; a complete opposite of some of the dreams she had had.

"What's wrong, Miss Blight? You have me completely under your control; don't you want to take advantage of it?" Luz asked in a silky-smooth tone, causing a shiver to run down Amity's spine. She leaned up as best as she could with a smirk on her lips. "Or, would you rather be under mine?"

From the sidelines, Kevin watched the whole scene transpire.

"This is like a bad set up to a shitty 70s porno. Wait, technically I set this whole thing up. Would that make me the director?" Kevin asked himself.

"Is there a reason you're by yourself on a crowded beach talking to yourself about porn?" a voice asked from behind. Looking to his right, he smiled when Boscha, in a yellow two-piece, laid out a yellow beach towel next to his own before sitting down. "Wait, when the hell did you dye your hair?"

"Yesterday. I was hanging out with Emira and Edric and they kept pestering me about dyeing my hair. Eventually I gave in and let them," Kevin said while running his hand through his new blue locks. "Ya like it?"

"You look like a fuckboy," she answered bluntly, causing Kevin to laugh at the unexpected answer. "But... it's cool, I guess," she mumbled the last bit, but he could still hear.

"A fuckboy? As in, a boy you'd like to—" Kevin started to say before Boscha slapped her hand over his mouth, her cheeks turning a dark red.

"Finish that sentence and I'm setting you on fire," she threatened with a glare. She could feel him smiling into her hand before she let him go. "Can't you go one day without making an inappropriate or stupid joke?"

"Hmm, nope, don't think so. I think I would actually, literally die if I go one day without meeting my 'at least one inappropriate joke' quota," he said, causing the three eyed girl to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"I've told you that you're insufferable before, right?"

"And yet, you can't stay away from me. You've got it baaaaaad for me," he teased. He didn't flinch when a small flame poofed right in front of his face.

"Say another word, and I'll burn you alive."

"Kinky."

The witch pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a loud, exasperated sigh of annoyance as he laughed. How someone could be so cute annoying and obnoxious was beyond her; perhaps it was a human thing?

He did have a nice laugh though... not that she would ever admit it out loud.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" she asked, and he nodded once he calmed down from his laughing.

"Sure, shoot."

"Why are you wearing a shirt at the beach? Not many guys do since, ya know, it's the beach."

"Wow, you're eager for me to take my clothes off. Can't you at least wait until we get to my place?" he joked, and laughed again as she pushed him, her face practically glowing red. "No but seriously, I'm... a bit self-conscious, ya know?" he said, surprising her.

"What in the name of titan do you have to be self-conscious about? With the shit you say, I didn't think it was possible for you to feel shame or embarrassment," Boscha said. Kevin chuckled and rubbed the back of his head before looking over both of his shoulders to make sure no one was closeby. "If I show you, you promise not to laugh or say something stupid or tell people? Only other person who knows why I'm self-conscious is Luz."

"Yeah, sure. I won't say a thing," she said, more confused about why he was being so secretive. How bad could it be?

He took a deep breath to calm himself, trusting her words. He grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled down, just slightly. Her eyes widened and she flinched from the sight, a reaction he had come to expect; it's how most people reacted. From the angle she could see his upper chest, which was riddled with jagged, miscolored, and horrid scars of countless shapes and sizes. Some were large slices and others were jagged zig-zags. "All over my back, stomach, and chest, in case you were wondering."

"What happened to you?" she asked softly as he let go of his collar, letting it snap back into place around his neck.

"Not every dimension I've been to has been friendly."

"Every dimension?" she asked, and Kevin smacked his forehead in realization.

"Right, you weren't there when I told Amity. Uh, how do I explain?" he hummed and clicked his tongue, trying to find the best way to explain or represent what he was going to talk about. Finally, he ended up drawing a circle in the sand. "Okay, so this right here is your dimension, filled with witches, magic, demons, and everything else. And this right here represents Luz's dimension," he drew another circle, this time roughly an inch away from the original one. He then drew a line from one to the other, connecting them. "And, thanks to certain factors like Eda's portal, these two dimensions are connected. While they're connected, they're different. Every dimension is different; doesn't matter if the change is big or small, no dimensions are the same. In this dimension, you're a witch and Luz is a human. I'm sure there's a dimension where it's reversed, where you're the human and she's the witch," he said, causing Boscha to shutter at the horrid thought of not being a witch. Not being able to do magic sounded like a fate worse than death.

"Obviously, these aren't the only dimensions. There're, well, countless of them, an infinite amount, and they're all connected." He drew more circles before drawing one alone at the top and placed the letter 'N' inside it. "This is my home dimension, and from it I've traveled to other dimensions."

From his home dimension, he started drawing a line from one circle to another before stopping at his original circle, which represented her dimension. "Some dimensions are peaceful—" at random he drew little heads with a halo above them in some circles "—and others, well, they're not. Some are in states of war when I arrive, or getting attacked by bloodthirsty demons, or invaded by aliens—you get the gist." In the other circles he drew heads with little X's for eyes.

"When I arrive in dimensions like those, I help out however I can. And, as you can see, sometimes it doesn't end well," he breathed in and breathed out again before grabbing his chest. "These scars are a reminder of what I've been through, the sacrifices I've had to make. The first few I didn't really care about, but the more and more I've received, the more self-conscious I grew. Sometimes I feel like a freak or a monster because of them."

"I-I'm so sorry," she muttered, not expecting any of this. It was a lot to unpack, and she really did feel bad for him. "If you travel to different dimensions, what about your family? Don't you have a mom or dad or something? Don't they miss you?" she asked, causing him to smile sadly.

"I haven't had a family for a long time."

Oh…

OH!

"That's one of the reasons why I left my home dimension; there was nothing left for me there. Well, one of the reasons. The other I'd prefer not to say," he muttered the last part under his breath. "Some dimensions I considered staying in, but none of the people there really cared about me. Some saw me as cannon fodder, someone they could send into a dangerous area because they knew anyone else wouldn't be able to make it. I truly thought I would always be alone, but that was before I came to Luz's world. She was the first person who genuinely cared about me, who saw me as a person and not a weapon; she makes me feel like I belong here. When she first saw my scars, she wasn't afraid or showed disgust or anything like that; she hugged me, said I was beautiful as is." He smiled fondly at the memory.

"So, are you happy you came here?"

"I am, yeah. I've met some amazing people here, like Luz, Eda, Amity, Willow, Gus." His fond smile turned into a teasing grin when he turned to stare at Boscha. "And yeah, I guess even you," he said.

Boscha could feel her heart flutter at that as she smiled right back, her cheeks darkening a tad. "Despite you being unbelievably annoying and always making dumbass jokes, I guess I'm happy I met you too. And...I don't think you're a freak or monster or whatever for having those scars. If anything...I think they kind of make you look cool...or whatever," she was quick to add, and it was his turn to blush this time.

"Thanks, that means a lot…" he trailed off, not really sure what else to say, causing an awkward silence to fill the air. He had thought today was just gonna be him, Luz, and Amity hanging out at the beach, with some teasing of Amity sprinkled in. He hadn't expected to tell his whole life story to the girl he liked tolerated. Tolerated. She was still an annoying brat that he loved to tease and embarrass. This heart-to-heart didn't change anything; he was still going to tease her about her obvious crush on him, and he was sure she'd continue making death threats against him.

But...he would admit she looked nice in yellow.

The ground started to rumble underneath them, and they watched as Gertrude frowned suddenly before letting out a noise of... pain? Discomfort? It was hard to tell what it was, but the look on her face told them she currently wasn't feeling well.

"She doesn't do that normally, right?" Kevin asked the witch next to him.

"No, no she doesn't," Boscha said. The noise, it sounded very familiar, like she had heard Gertrude make it before. "Hey, what day is it?"

"Uh, the 25th I think? Why?" he asked, watching as all three of her eyes widened in surprise, and a bit of fear it seemed.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, oh shit," she repeated to herself as she stood up, causing Kevin to raise an eyebrow at how she was reacting to this information.

"Mind filling me in on why you seem so freaked out?"

"We have to go, now," she said, reaching down and grabbing his hand before yanking him to his feet. He was surprised by her reaction and let her drag him away for a few feet before planting his feet firmly onto the ground, stopping them both.

"You're more eager than I expected," he joked, causing her to turn and glare at him.

"Enough with the stupid jokes! I'm trying to save you, dumbass."

"What the hell from?" he asked and noticed as she turned her attention away from him to look past him, eyes widening in horror. She grabbed his head and turned it around so he could see.

"From that," she answered, his own eyes widening in shock from the sight.

A tsunami sized wall of water, its color no longer a cool and calming blue but an angry, bloody red, was currently heading straight for the beach. Current beach goers were quick to gather their families as they ran for their lives past the human and witch teens.

"Oh the fuck is that?" Kevin asked, sounding tired from having to deal with even more Demon Realm bullshit. He really should've stayed in bed this morning. Taking a vacation seemed more and more appealing every day.

Boscha was quick to act, seeing as how it was too late to run away to safety, and cast a spell circle. From the ground rose a yellow bubble that closed around the two, trapping them inside and keeping them safe as the tsunami finally made landfall. It crashed upon the shore, tearing through and taking away any belongings that had left behind by the other attendees. Kevin watched as his clones were swept away as well, all of them getting destroyed by the sheer power the tsunami had. Boscha's bubble held strong and didn't budge, taking the full brunt of the water's force. The two were fully submerged under the red water, so thick it completely obscured their vision of the outside world.

After a few minutes, the water's level started to drop, and it went away as quick as it came, back into the ocean. Once they were in the clear, Boscha dropped her bubble, freeing them from its confinement. The once tan-colored sand of the beach was now soaked red from the water, besides the spot where Boscha's bubble had been.

"You mind telling what that was all about?"

"Ok, so... you know how Gertrude is a girl, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And, remember how I asked you what time of the month it was?"

"Hard to forget when it literally happened like a minute ago, but yes. But I fail to see how the two...are connected…" Kevin trailed off, realization slowly but surely hitting him like a train. His expression shifted and turned from confusion to disgust. "Oh no, please tell me that wasn't—"

"It was."

"Ew! Why-What-EW! What the fuck? Why would she come here if it happens around the same time every month?" Kevin asked before he remembered something. "Oh shit. Luz! Amity! Are you guys okay?" he turned to where they once were and saw a bubble of purple Abomination sludge in their place. The bubble opened and fell apart, revealing Luz and Amity, safe and sound, prompting Kevin to let out a sigh of relief. "I hate the beach."

(Several hours later. Amity's secret library room)

"And, here I thought I couldn't get any more scarred for life than I already was. Once again, this dimension had proven me wrong," Kevin said as he kicked his feet up onto the table. "At least you and Luz got to feel each other up. So I guess today counts as a win?" he said, causing Amity to splutter and blush.

"We weren't 'feeling each other up'! We-we were just applying sunscreen to one another, nothing more, nothing less."

"And you pinning her hands above her head was what, exactly?" he asked with a smirk, causing her to groan and bury her reddening face into her arms.

"That was...shut up! Go flirt with Boscha or something!" she hissed at him, causing him to laugh.

"I would, but staying here and teasing you is way more fun," he said with a grin. "Now c'mon, let's pick your next option. We only have a few more left, so make it count."

Amity grumbled as she stood up from her desk and made her way to the board. She eyed the final four options, feeling her gut twist with anxiousness and nervousness as she looked at them. It was hard to imagine they had already blown through six of the original ten, and so far, she hadn't had a lot of luck. Swallowing her nerves, she picked up the marker and circled her next choice.

"Alrighty then. Well, if we're done for today, I'm gonna head out. It's my turn to cook tonight and if I'm late, I'll have to deal with King's whining again," Kevin said as he stood up from the chair.

"Not so fast. We need to talk about something first," Amity said in a tone that made the temperature in the room drop drastically, causing a shudder to run down Kevin's spine.

"Ominous tone, temperature in the room dropping," Kevin listed off as he turned towards the witch, a furious fire in her eyes. "You're pissed about something."

"You've seen what plenty of times?" Amity growled as she stalked towards Kevin, a threatening aura radiating off of her. "What do you mean that you've seen her half naked plenty of times?!"

"It's not what you think! It's not what you think!" Kevin tried to argue as he slowly backed away from the girl. "And, really? I said that hours ago. Why are you bringing it up now?"

"Answer the question," she said, tone turning demonic.

"Okay, okay! So earlier this year during the Spring, Luz's hometown was hit by a bad storm that knocked the power out for a week, and if that wasn't bad enough, a really awful heatwave hit the town next. I was the only one on the block with power, so she'd come over to escape the heat."

"Half naked though?" she asked, and watched as Kevin opened and shut his mouth several times, trying to find the best way to phrase what he wanted to say.

"Look, look. Luz and I are... very, very comfortable around each other. We have next to no shame when it's just the two of us. So, she would come over fully clothed, and then she would... ya know, lose some articles…" he trailed off he watched flames spark to life in her hands. "I never asked her to do it!"

"You never stopped her either!"

"I... you got me there! But am I not the true victim here? Sure I got a show, but I was the one who had to deal with the smell! Let me tell you, her feet alone could probably kill someone with how bad they smelled. And—"

Thump!

Kevin blinked at the sudden sound and looked down, staring at Amity's now unconscious body as it twitched, blood flowing freely from her nose, just like when Luz wore her Grudgby jacket. His facial expression turned from confusion to disappointment when he realized what had happened.

"Oh come on now. This is just embarrassing, even for you," Kevin said as he walked over to the unconscious girl before picking up the glass of water that sat on her desk. "Oi! You horny little bastard, wake up!" he shouted while splashing the water on her face, causing her to wake up with a gasp.

"Wha-Wait, what happened?"

"You passed out from me talking about Luz's feet." Kevin shook his head in disappointment. "So, smell and feet do it for you, huh? I don't often judge people for what they're into, but feet is definitely one of the things I judge."

"Hey, don't shame me for this! It's totally natural!"

"Am I gonna have to invest in a spray bottle and use it on you whenever she's barefoot?" he asked, half joking, half serious. He yelped and ducked under a weak fire ball that had been thrown at his head. "Not cool, Blight! You could've hit me!"

"That was the idea!" she shouted, fireballs forming in either hand before she tossed them again. Kevin dodged them again before running out of the room, with Amity close behind continuing to throw them at the human teen.


The "giant clam" and "oi wake up" scenes were definitely my favorite scenes from this whole chapter. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did, and I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter overall. :)

Y'all finally got some more info about Kevin. Hope you enjoyed that part, it was fun to write and I was happy to finally say some things about him. There's still more I'm keeping secret, but it will be revealed one day.

I can't really think of what else to say? Check out my Instagram ghost509_ to check out the art I post, and check out my bio for my linktree account to you can check out what other websites I'm on. Thank you all for the recent support, I hella appreciate it!

Join me next time when Kevin and Boscha make an embarrassing bet, and Luz shows her Banshee pride. See ya in chapter 13!