Author's note: Well. that's it. Again after 3 years I can't believe I actual finished it. Even back when I was writing it, I never thought I would be able to get it done and now it is. It feels weird, kind of like a wights been lifted off of my chest. And now I find myself struggling with what to do next even though I already know what's coming next. I know I said I was going to do a Muppet story next, but I think I want to push that back quickly for another shorter story I had in mind. I just seen the last episode of amphibia, and I think i want to get this idea I've been having off my mind while it's still fresh.

Oscar walks out of his bathroom and slowly wanders across the floor of his cabin. He'd just finished showering and getting himself ready for the day to come. He didn't know if anything would be happing today, but he would stay prepared, nevertheless.

Even on slow days, summer camp Island never ceased to subvert his expectations. There was always a trick or two up its figurative sleeves. What could be a day of relaxation could quickly spiral into every kid in camp, competing with the witches to get free wishes, helping a ghost rediscover lost memories, or traveling back in time just to avoid getting pants, then doing so again because the timeline turned out to be awful.

There was never a slow day on the island, never a dower moment. One thing could turn into another, into another, and so forth. Oscar had grown used to its antics. At first, he truly thought he couldn't handle any of it. Now he couldn't wait for what the days might bring.

Oscar steps over to his bed, grabbing a picture frame before plopping down on the old springs. He holds the frame out in front of him, and a smile forms as pleasant memories of him, Max, and Hedgehog come fluttering into his mind.

He'd like to think he was more mature for his age, that he wasn't so naive, and that his decisions could be made without the input of others, but in truth, he needed his friends. Not to tell him what to do, how to do it, and when to do it by, but to help guide him down the right path. To be there for him when he was in trouble or had made a mistake. To love him despite all his faults.

Oscar drops the frame on his chest and turns his head to the window. It was a beautiful day out, multicolored butterflies flutter through the air, birds soar above without much of a care for the world below, monsters played with kids, and trees sang along with the gentle wind. The day even seems a bit brighter, the sky was the deepest shade of blue he'd seen to date. He couldn't wait to get out into it.

A sudden ringing gives the boy a quick start. It was the camp phone, given to them by the witches so parents could call and check up on their kids or the other way around. Though the phones were unpredictable, only working on certain days, several days in a row during certain circumstances, or not at all.

He brings his legs over the edge of his bed and sits up, taking a few seconds to gather his rose-tented thoughts. When he walks over to the phone to inspect the caller ID, he can see it was his dad calling. He presses a button, and the ringing comes to a stop.

"Hello?" Oscar spoke softly with a bit of hesitance echoing in his tone.

"Oscar? Thank goodness, it's about time. I was starting to get worried." His dad bellows excitedly over the phone. The relief in his voice nearly sends Oscar off his feet. It makes him smile to hear his dad so happy.

"Uhh, yeah... sorry. I've been kinda busy for a bit." He was apprehensive in his admission, touching his fingers to his forehead and nervously scratching.

"Well, I've been trying to reach you about the moon. It's been blood red for days." His dad spurts out with all the excitement of an energetic child. The man reminded Oscar of himself. That was his dad, after all, there was bound to be some resemblance between the two. "It's got professionals baffled on how a blood moon could last for an entire week. I've been trying to reach out to you about it. Too bad it's over now."

Oscar raises a brow as he dawns a conflicted smirk. "Days huh?" He hadn't realized he'd been gone for that long, a week if he's heard correctly. "Oh, well like I said, I've been a bit busy lately. I'm sorry we couldn't talk about it, Dad." He said, holding a thumb to his mouth and biting down carefully.

"It's Alright. I got platy of picture of it." He goes silent and Oscar stays a bit quiet as well. "Well, I won't keep you long. Love you, son."

"Love you too Dad." Oscar could just barely get the words out before the phone hangs up. Oscar and his dad were never really so close. They do love each other, that much was true. They were just nervous around one another; Oscar could tell and he's sure dad could tell too. He'd like to change that someday. That was his dad, they shouldn't have to feel awkward around each other.

He goes back to sitting on his bed. His mind goes from thoughts of his friends to focus on his dad and what he'd told the young elephant. A blood moon for the past week? He thinks back to the night he was taken and what he could remember of the woman in the woods.

Of where she had taken him and the overwhelming bliss he'd experienced once there. It all seems like a dream he could hardly remember now, but the feeling was there and very much real. He doesn't like it as much now.

Before Oscar could fall into deeper thought, another distraction, a slight tapping at his window, pulls him out. He looks over to see Max smiling at him from the other side. Needless to say, the boy didn't need any more prompting to rush over to the waiting bat.

"Hay Max." He teases when the window is opened. "What can I do you for?" Max gushes at him though manages to bring the emotions back down under a cool facade.

"Oh, not much. I was just on my way to wake sleeping beauty, but it looks like he's already awake." He smirks and leans on the windowsill.

"Aww, how sweet. My prince charming out to rescue his fair damsel." Oscar touches the back of his hand to his head in a dramatic fashion.

"It's what I'm here for baby." Max chuckles as Oscars' eyes roll over at the other boy, though his smile was still brilliantly displayed over his lips. "The others are meeting up to do something. You wanna go? Or we could just stay in."

Oscar leans back from the window to stretch an arm out. "Hmmm..." He hums at Max. "Maybe, maybe..." He brings seductive eyes around to rest on the other boy. "If you..."

"What?" Max snickers. He already knew what Oscar wanted.

"I just want to hear you say it again." Oscar teases him, leaning his body out of the window and over to Max.

"Again huh?" Max laughs while Oscar waits patiently with his sultry eyes continuing to stare the bat down. "Okay." He gives in instantly. "I love you, Oscar Peltzer."

He hums in delight. "Okay, I'll come. It's beautiful outside anyway. How could I avoid it?" He retreats back to the inside of his cabin to make way for the door.

"Owsca." He nearly reaches it before being stopped by his talking pair of pajamas giving him a look that could equal his own mother's disappointed gaze.

"What? What did I do?" He questions with a defensive frown.

"Clean youa floowa." Jamas narrows their eyes at the boy.

"Fine Jamas, I'll do it..." Oscar begins to surrender when a thought crept into his mind. "When I come back." He says, swinging the door open.

"Wha-" Jamas stammers. They try to stop Oscar from leaving but the boy keeps going, grinning, blushing, and offering up an endless torrent of excuses while slowly slipping past the open door. Eventually, he gets fully past it and shuts it behind him. "That boy is gowing to kill me..."

Oscar chuckles and turns his sight to the withing bat. His leg was wrapped in a cast with a bunch of names from kids all over camp signed to it. "So, ready to go?" He asked, stepping beside Max as he locks their arms together.

"Sure," Max responds though he would stop shortly right after. "Actually... before we go..." The bat rubs at the bridge of his nose. He has a question on his mind, but it also came with some uncertainty to ask it. "Back in the castle... in the throne room with Elizabeth, we saw you smiling." He rubs the back of his neck. "What was it about? Like what were you seeing that we couldn't?"

"Oh..." Oscar's first instinct was to change the subject and put what'd happened behind him. Though when he tries, he finds himself unable to follow through. He'd always asked Max to be open and honest with him. To not do the same for him would be wrong. Besides if he couldn't trust his own boyfriend, who could he? "Well... it was like the island actually, except it was much brighter, more welcoming, like being home. Everyone I loved was there and they loved me, adored me." Oscar's eyes wander off. "We had done so many things together, you, me, and Hedgehog. It was so overwhelming I couldn't help but cry. I could have stayed there forever..." He looks to Max. "But I couldn't... you know."

Max was at a loss, his eyes shifting to the ground. "I'm sorry." He mutters to Oscar as his eyes remain away. Oscar reaches out a hand and places it against Max's cheek. He slowly guards the bat's head back up to him.

He looks at Max, with soft eyes, his face seemingly getting closer and closer to the bat's. Max felt his cheeks light up, he has no idea what was about to happen until Oscar sticks his tongue out and blows a wet raspberry at him. "Oh, Okay." Max was less than amused but Oscar would quickly rectify his actions by planting a kiss on the boy's lips, getting his entire body to heat up.

Oscar chuckles at his reaction once he retracts. "Come on." He nods in one direction with a sly smirk.

'Y-yeah, yeah..." Max was bamboozled, his mind shuffled up and handed out like a deck of playing cards. He couldn't believe what had just transpired. Either he was having the best dream of his life, or he had died and gone to heaven, though something tells him he was both awake and alive.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Hedgehog walks up the witches' cabins, barreling straight towards Susie's. She steps up the small stairs and plants the edge of her knuckles on the wooden door. Knowing the witch, she'd probably been sleeping right about then.

Ever since the blood reckoning, is what she liked to coin Elizabeth's return, things had gone fairly back to normal for the island. Thankfully, once they were able to defeat Elizabeth, anyone and anything turned by her magic reverted back to its normal state of being.

Heartford was back to normal, and Barb Junior was jailed. Hedgehog had heard that they were undergoing an investigation to see if Junior actions were a result of an altered mind or of her own accord and that Dylan was at the head of it.

After the invasion, the yetis in the mountains were working more closely with the witches to prevent anything like that from happing again. Turns out they had a certain affinity for ripping evil things to shreds and they would offer to the witches.

The werewolves had figured that isolation maybe wasn't the best thing for building relations with other beings. They had come to an agreement to share their most luxurious findings with Susie, though only sometimes. The head witch would take the deal, nonetheless.

After their victory, the aliens would erect a statue of the six kids on the island for their bravery during the invasion and in fighting Elizabeth. The king himself had even bestowed gifts, medals of honor, and an all-expense paid vacation if they wanted it. Susie was slightly jealous but happy all the same.

The castle was gone but the town that had been inside remained. It had become a sort of extension to the island. One, the kids loved exploring.

Everything was fine again. There were a few dead elves, more than a few dead aliens and her and her friends had developed a phobia for portals and teleportation. But beyond that, everything worked out in the end. Say for one small thing.

"What- oh..." The door had swung open and Susie steps out in her pajamas, already prepared to tell whoever it was at her door to buzz off when she realized it was Hedgehog.

"Hey, Susie." She greets the witch with a wide smile.

Susie squints one eye to the girl and rises one brow. "This isn't about the wand, is it? I already told you; you're not getting it back."

"What...?" She blows out an excessive gasp. "This is not about the wand Susie." Hedgehog laughs out anxiously, rubbing the back of her neck. "I just wanted to talk... may I come in?"

Susie kept her eyes narrow at the girl, though moving aside and waving the girl inside the cabin. Hedgehog doesn't waste any time as she rushes in and plants herself on Susie's big comfy couch.

The witch kept her eyes trained on Hedgehog. The girl's constant scanning of her cabin doesn't inspire any kind of trust either.

"This is actually a nice place you got here." She brings her head around to observe the cabin she's been inside of multiple times. "You know I was thinking of getting one myself but..." She looks over to Susie next and sees that the witch's tolerance was quickly wavering. "Right, what I was here to talk about." She mutters. "So about Elizabeth, nice display of power by the way. I loved the bit where you disintegrated her... or whatever you did..." She rambles off-topic for a bit.

"Yeah, well... three hundred years of experience would do that." Susie folds her arms over her chest. "What is this about now?"

"Right," Hedgehog said, getting back on track. "I was just wondering. How did she come back exactly? I thought you said you dealt with her a long time ago."

Susie gazes away from the girl. Her eyes close for a while before opening again. "...I think that calls for a story." Hedgehog winces when Susie says this. "A sort one, relax." She walks over to the sofa and parks a seat next to Hedgehog. "Way back when, when I had left the Masons, the journey to wiping them completely out was a long one. When I had finally caught up with Elizabeth, I was angry and so was she. The fighting was intense, she was so much more powerful than I could ever be. I could hardly stack up... but I managed... somehow." She trailed off like she normally did during a retelling of her own history. "When I had bested her I had a chance to kill her, but I didn't... I couldn't. Instead, I banished her to a realm called the oblivion spire. Thinking back though... that was probably a worst fate than death."

"Oh..." Hedgehog let out a downhearted moan. "How did she manage to get to you then?"

"Blindsided me. Took me off guard when I was looking for you lot."

Hedgehog puffs out guilty breath. All of it could have been prevented so easily, instead, everyone just played right into Elizabeths hands. "But you did it this time right?" She asked the witch with some hope in her heart that slowly diminishes when the answer doesn't come instantly. "Right...?"

Susie sighs and stands up from the couch. "Best you don't think about that Hodgepodge." She gestures for the girl to get up. "Just worry about having fun with the ones you love. You'll never know when it all might come to an end. So, cherish it while you still can." She walks Hedgehog to the door, opening it for the girl.

"Right, Susie." She begins to walk, though she would turn back to Susie before setting foot outside. "Can I please have my wand back by the way... please." She begs, flashing an innocent smile at the witch that doesn't go too far.

"Nice try Hedgehog." She reaches into her pajama pants and pulls out the girl's wand. "But I'm keeping this with me at all times."

Hedgehog grimaces at her wand and then turns her sight to Susie. "But seriously one more thing." She stops the witch from closing the door on her completely. Susie decided to hear her out a bit more. "When me and Max were making our way through the place..." She stops suddenly. "I... actually kinda liked it... is that wrong to say?"

Susie shuts her eyes and shakes her head. She steps closer to the young girl. "Hedgehog..." She touches her hand to Hedgehog's shoulder. "As witches, it's the life we have to live with. You may not like the things I like now, but the more you live the more those similarities start to become apparent. It's a part of your magical identity." Hedgehog sighs heavily. For all the reasons she could have found for liking the castle then, that wasn't the one she was hoping to hear. "Now beat it."

"Okay, okay fine." She huffs as Susie slams her door and walks back to her sofa. She spins the wand in her fingers as her mind drifts off to nothing and everything all at once. The sudden sound of ringing would drag her back to her cabin, however.

She got up from her couch and slowly made her way to the mirror. It was Ramona. It was always Ramona, calling the check-up on her or maybe to warn her about another apocalypse she'd completely ignore. Either way, she felt like she needed the company.

"Hello, Ramona." She answers the phone for the elderly witch.

"Oh, Susie." She was shocked, looking at the mirror closely to make sure she hadn't been making things up. "You answered."

"Yeah well, after everything. You taking the reins after my... disturbance. I figured I at least ow you a chat."

"Oh..." Ramona hummed. "You mean defeat." She chuckles.

"Hey, she blindsided me." Ramona continues to laugh until she was satisfied enough. "Anyway, I should have listened to you. I thought it was impossible to escape from the spire, but I guess I was wrong on that too. Maybe I should have just done the deed a long time ago."

Ramona's smile falls from her face. She didn't like seeing Susie so down. "Susie. I know you like coming off as the heartless one. It helps keep you from getting too close to anyone. You keep yourself closed off to avoid any more heartbreak than you've already suffered. But you and I both know you don't want to be like that."

Susie looks up with a raised brow. "You care. You care for these kids, and you care for your friends even if they don't turn out to be the best. The reason you didn't kill Elizabeth all those years ago is because, despite her being who she was you loved her. You like to think you're heartless but that's not true. You want to open up, your heart wants to open up. Let it open and flurry hedgehog. Just like you did for Elizabeth in that tower. When you sent her to a realm where she could learn to forgive you and herself so her hatred would subside, and she could start loving."

Susie gazes at her in shock. "How did-..."

"I can see the future... remember," Ramona smirks, tapping a finger to her head.

Susie huffs and turns away. "Don't know what you're talking about." She keeps a frown on her face and her eyes away from the mirror.

"Sure, you don't Susie." She smiles at her friend. "I'll talk to you later." The mirror hangs up leaving Susie huffing and puffing in front of it.

"Open my heart." She mutters. "Blah!"

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Hedgehog sighs at the closed door and gently taps her head on the wooden surface. Now that she knew Susie had her wand on her, there was no chance she was getting it back.

She brings her head up and turns away from the cabin. She might not have gotten her wand but at least the day was still in her grasp. She leaves the cabin behind and walks toward her friends who hadn't been waiting too far away from her.

Oscar, Max, Oliver, Jason, Aubrey, and Michael. All of them were standing about and chatting with each other about what to do next after accompanying Hedgehog to Susie's.

"So, how'd it go?" Oscar asked as she walks up to the group.

"Not good." She huffs. "Turns out she just gonna carry it everywhere she goes. Talk about no faith, paranoia, am I right?" She folds her arms and puffs out her cheeks.

"Oh, that's foul." Aubrey agreed with her. "Why don't we sneak back in later while she's asleep and jack it then?"

"Aubrey, are you crazy?" Oliver spoke up. "That's just gonna make things worse, then she'll never see that wand again."

"Now hold on." Micael jumps into the conversation next. " This could work out. Just give me and Max some time ta come up with something good. You'll get ya wand back."

"Woah leave me out of it." Max throws up his hands with a smirk.

"I don't know Max, I think you'd come up with a great plan," Oscar said cuddling up closer to Max, making his already hot day even hotter as the heat in his body rises.

"Come on guys." Jason stops everyone in their tracks. "We've already gotten into enough trouble with the witches as it is. I think we can let this one slide. They all stare at him, most of them thinking it over say for Oliver who agrees outright.

"Well think about it," Aubrey said. "Well think about it and come back to the question later."

"Fine sure, think on it." Jason rolls his eyes, and the group continues their walk away from the witches' cabins. "So, what are we doing now anyway?"

"I say we go to the softball field." Michael offers his suggestion getting the entire group to groan.

"You are literally going to destroy everyone here." Oliver makes mention of the koala's skill in the sport.

"Not completely true. Oscar has a chance to dust me." He points over to Oscar.

The boy blushes "Aww, thanks, Michael." He holds a hand to his cheek. "Hey, who wants to be on my team?" Some of them let out hesitant moans though Max would raise his hand. "Thank you, Max."

"Max your leg is still hailing. What are you really gonna do?" Jason pointed out.

The bat stops to think about that. "I-I'll manage." He shrugged.

"Well watch from the sidelines," Hedgehog says walking ahead of the others. "After all there's no greater feeling than having a friend's support and as you know, our love for you is unmatched Oscar."

Oscar chuckles at the girl. "Wow... corny... I love it." They all laugh as they make their way to the softball field. To think this all started with a crush she had on Max. A crush that proceeds to roller coaster into jealousy and nonsense.

She likes where they are now though. Coupled with a few new friends and a boy she couldn't get enough of. If Hedgehog had to do it all again, she'd gladly go without any ancient evil witches.