Jace sat on the ground and stared up at the sky. It was dark and cold. He didn't like being cold. He didn't know where he was but that didn't bother him. What am I doing? I'm an idiot. I have to find the third piece of the treasure. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and studied it. It glowed with a dull light. It provided enough light for him to see by but no more. He looked around. It looked like he had stopped on someone's farmland now that he could identify the plants that were around him. Long tall fields of corn and wheat rose in front of him. He was sitting near a small group of apple trees. He got to his feet and sat beneath one. He couldn't see the mountains anymore so he assumed he was pretty far away from Elendeth City. He sighed and stared at the ring. The aura of the object was very much similar to the aura he'd picked up from Michael and David but much, much more powerful and yet much more subtle at the same time. It'd be easier to concentrate if I wasn't so tired. He looked around dully, "Well I guess it's as nice a place as ever." He put the ring back in his pocket and curled up under the tree.

"Is he alive?"

"I don't know. It looks like it though."

Great. Probably should've taken into account the fact that people probably lived around here. Jace kept his eyes closed.

"Are the ears attached?" He felt a small hand brush against his ears. His eyes snapped open and he pulled away from them. He saw seven kids. Some looked related to each other while others looked like they came from a different family. The oldest appeared to be maybe a year older than him while the youngest was maybe three. He felt his back brush up against the tree trunk. Ah damn. He looked at them carefully.

"Well he's a live," one of the older girls said, "and it looks as though his ears are in fact attached."

"Does he understand us?" One of the younger boys asked. There were four boys and three girls. The boy that had spoken waved at Jace, "Hi."

"Uh," Jace waved back slightly, "Hi."

"Whoa! You're accent is weird!" the middle girl stared at him in shock. "Where are you from?"

"Uh," Jace realized he had no idea what kind of accents these people would be used to. He knew Elendeth was used to interesting accents but this place obviously wasn't. He looked around, "Well...uh. I've been in the US for as long as I can remember." He hoped they bought it because he had no idea how else to respond. The elder two kids didn't look like they believed him but remained silent. Jace sighed in relief as the questions on his origin ceased.

"Are you hungry?"

"How old are you?"

"Are those ears really attached?"

"Wow! You have a tail!"

"Really?"

"Why?"

Jace felt his head begin to spin as he was bombarded with question after question without being given time to answer properly. It was probably just after dawn if the lighting was anything to go by. The kids stood between him and the horizon though so he didn't know exactly.

"Alright. Alright," the eldest had to raise his voice to be heard over the chatter of his younger siblings, "He is obviously a little overwhelmed. Leave him be for now."

The oldest girl held out her hand to him, "Do you want to come to our house? You can take a shower and eat something at the very least."

"Yeah!"

"Please?!"

"It's been cool talking to you!"

"Yeah. C'mon!"

Jace was beginning to feel crowded and trapped. He gritted his teeth, "Fine. Fine. I'll come." He got to his feet and followed the kids as they led him through the fields of wheat and corn. In the distance he could see someone who appeared to be the kids' father letting the farm animals out of their nighttime homes and into the early morning sun. The family dog instantly came running for the kids as they approached. Jace's ears flattened but he remained calm. Don't like dogs. I've never liked dogs. It was a brown creature with relatively long fur though it was probably medium length for a dog. It growled at him but he just watched it dully. Sure dogs were loyal but they were entirely too incompetent for him to be able to put up with.

"Mom!" the eldest girl called.

"What is it?!" her mom came out of the house that they lived in with her hands covered in flour.

"Are we having homemade biscuits for breakfast?" the youngest girls squeaked in excitement.

Their mother nodded, "Who's this?"

"We found him sleeping under one of the apple trees," the middle girl said.

"He has actual cat ears and a tail!" one of the younger boys said.

Jace cringed. I'm sure she's noticed already. He suddenly really wished he had a hood or the ability to create realistic illusions still. Why did I agree to this again? I don't need their help. There's no point in-

"C'mon!" the youngest two boys grabbed both of his arms and dragged him into the house. Jace growled softly but followed.

The oldest followed quickly, "Hey! You don't have to drag him around everywhere." He ruffled the two kid's hair.

"Alright, what's your name?" their mother asked.

Jace looked at her, "Amaryllis."

"A flower? A very pretty name for a boy," she nodded. She motioned to the kids eldest to youngest as she named them off, "This is Ruby, Jade, Emerald, Platinum, Silver, Quartz, Pearl."

Jace watched each kid welcome him in some way or another.

"Can I pet you?" Pearl asked. She was the youngest of the entire family and probably used to getting what she wanted. Jace knew he was assuming but every youngest child that he'd met was used to being spoiled. He sighed and knelt down in front of her.

"Your hair's soft!" she squealed. She was maybe four. Quartz was probably nine while Silver and Platinum were the youngest boys and appeared to be twins at the age of nine of ten. Emerald appeared to be twelve and had a perpetual frown on his face. Jace was probably fourteen and looked like the stern big sister type while Ruby was probably sixteen. He reminded Jace of Chandra's older brother in multiple ways but was also very much like Onyx.

Their mother returned to making the biscuits, "If you kids want to eat you better take care of your morning chores."

"Yes Mom!" The kids all scurried out of the house.

"You can help as well if you like," their mother said to Jace.

Jace shrugged and studied the floor, "I don't know. I didn't intend to stay here longer than one night."

"Are you a runaway?"

Jace paused. The silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity, "You could say that. It's not like I had a family to begin with though." I mean Chandra always said that the whole group was family even though we aren't related by blood. I don't know what it means to be in a family. I doubt she understands what a family is either. None of us really do. We were all orphaned at some point in our lives. That's what a planeswalker is, an orphan desperately searching for their own place in the multiverse.

"An orphan? Are you sure you don't want to stay with us? Pearl, Silver and Platinum are orphans."

"I don't know," Jace shrugged, "I might eat something if you don't mind me doing so." He felt so awkward. He hated asking people for anything. He didn't really know how to articulate a desire for help.

"Of course I don't mind!" the woman said as though the idea that she would mind was blasphemous.

"Who's this?"

Jace jumped and whirled around. The kids' father was a large, burly man. He was obviously strong and easily twice Jace's size. Jace felt his ears flatten warily and he stepped back. The man smirked and ruffled Jace's hair, "C'mon Kid. I wouldn't hurt a fly." His hand was definitely bigger than Jace's face and handily mess up Jace's already messy hair. Jace shook his head. Their father looked at his hand, "Those ears of your attached?"

Jace looked away from the man and didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a yes," the man looked at his wife, "Did he give you his name?"

"Amaryllis," she said simply.

"Amaryllis huh? That's a cool name. I'd give it to a girl first but as you can see our kids don't exactly have gender fitting names either," he flopped onto the couch, "Those biscuits smell like burnt sausage."

"The kids like them and they aren't poisonous so shut your trap," the woman snapped.

"I was teasing," he laughed.

She smiled warmly, "I understand that. Make yourself something if you don't like my cooking."

"You know I love your cooking. I'd burn the house down and we all know that."

"Only because you weren't taught to cook growing up." She looked at Jace, "If you want to there's games upstairs. You'll have to ask Ruby to use his PlayStation though."

"PlayStation?" Jace asked. Like Ral? He walked up the stairs. It was easy to identify Ruby's room. The room was nice and neat with a quick glance but if someone looked deeper they could see how disorganized he was. The only thing that was organized was all the games he had. The walls of the room were red, in accordance to his name. Different game, TV show, and movie posters were hung up all over. Jace saw a PlayStation and an Xbox sitting on the floor near the TV that sat on an upside down crate. The crate smelled very faintly of apples, suggesting it was a crate the family had used to gather apples for themselves from the trees. What the hell am I doing here? I was only going to sleep under the apple tree and then leave. Why am I still here? He wandered out of the room and through the halls. Outside Quartz's window he saw a small vegetable garden. This garden probably only supplied for the family while most of the crops grown in the farm were probably sold locally. He saw two cars in the driveway. One was a small sleek car while the other was a van, fit for holding seven kids. He wandered down the stairs just as their mother went outside to call them in for breakfast. He saw biscuits sitting in a pie pan on the table.

"You've got a glass of orange juice on the table," their father told him.

Jace looked at the table and saw all eight seats had a glass full of orange juice sitting just to the left of an empty plate. He blinked in surprise. I guess I did ask them to feed me. He sat at the head of the table that was closest to the door. He sighed as his legs swung. His feet barely scraped against the ground. At least no one will be sitting next to me. Well...directly next to me. The other kids crowded around and Ruby and Jace served up the biscuits.

Jace smelled it first feeling incredibly awkward. What am I even doing here? Why am I still here again?

"Can I call you Kitty?" Pearl asked, "Ama-Amaral-Amarel-"

"Sure," Jace shrugged. I should probably leave right after eating.

"Hey! You guys wanna race horses after this?" Silver asked.

"I'd rather not. Horses are cool and all but I promised my friends I'd hang out with them after my morning chores," Quartz said haughtily.

Platinum stuck his tongue out at here, "Well we didn't want to ride horses with you anyway." He looked at Jace, "Have you ever ridden a horse?"

Jace shook his head slowly. I'm not going to ride one thank you.

"Great! We'll teach him how to ride a horse instead," Pearl squeaked.

"Well-"

"It'll be fun!" Silver insisted, "Ruby's great! He'll make sure you don't fall."

"I wouldn't have to worry about falling in the first place if I just didn't do it at all," Jace kept his tone neutral so as to not appear mean. Maybe I'm just being an idiot. Maybe I should go back to Elendeth and just act like nothing happened. But they are there. I'll just wait until the end of the year. Then I'll go back. They should be gone by then. After all the guest students only stay for a year.