Luz and Amity woke up very late the next day; they had slept so long that the sun was already high in the sky. Even though they were both early risers, the tiredness accumulated the day before had made them sleep like logs, and since there was no adult to wake them up they hadn't opened their eyes well after the normal time for them to get up. Both of them would have gladly remained immersed in the blankets for a little time longer, given that the mattress was really comfortable and it felt like they were sleeping on a cloud; and in fact the temptation was strong, also because in that position they could bombard each other with kisses, which only made everything more pleasant. In the end, however, they forced themselves to get up, since they had to catch the ship; but they found that it was already half past ten in the morning, and that the tide had turned again. "Damn... we overslept" Luz commented.

Amity sighed. She had hoped that Philip would tell them that there was no problem in leaving, but from where they stood she could see the harbor in the distance, and she could clearly see that the sea level had changed and that it was basically impossible to set sail by ship. She certainly couldn't blame the owner of the amusement park: after all, he had told them the timetable very well straight away, it was their fault for first getting too distracted and then sleeping too much. "Yeah... damn, there was even school today"

"So what, little sister?" Emira said appearing behind them. "What's the problem? One day more or less, what difference does it make?"

"Yeah! It wasn't even our fault this time!" Edric commented satisfied.

Amity rolled her eyes, not at all surprised by her siblings' behavior. "Actually it IS our fault. We're the ones who overslept..."

"No, it's the tide's fault!" Edric answered her.

"Yeah, if it wasn't there we could leave at any time!" Emira added.

"What kind of logic is that!? Geography doesn't have a mind!" Amity blurted out, but quickly let it go when her siblings started giggling. It was clear that they were just teasing her.

Luz bit her lip. It was the first time she had skipped a day of school since she had moved in with Eda and she had promised herself to behave like a good girl, except for that time Amity, Skara and Boscha had played a trick on her. "Well... it's only for one day" she murmured, even though she felt quite guilty. "I doubt it will be a big problem"

"Yeah. Come on, guys, let's not make a fuss about it" Gus said as he arrived, followed by Matt. "It's like this now. And then we're not the only ones... basically no one got out of bed in time today"

In fact the hotels were still as full of kids as they were the night before; in fact, some of them were already returning to have fun at the park. Cat and Amelia remained there too. "Guys, since we have to wait for tonight now, how about we continue having fun?" the latter asked.

"Yeah! There are still so many parts of the park we haven't explored. We have to stay here all day, so let's have fun!" Cat said bouncing in place.

No one could blame them, and in fact they couldn't wait to go back and have fun on the park's rides. Even Luz and Amity, despite being a little guilty for missing a day of school, were champing at the bit at the thought of having fun together. Their young kids' bodies begged for more play. "Well, let's go have breakfast first. What do you want, pizza or ice cream?" Gus proposed.

"Why not both?" Luz said licking her lips. "Man, I never thought I could have breakfast with such delicacies!"

"Well, there are no adults here telling us not to indulge in sweets, so let's take advantage of it!" Emira exclaimed raising her fist in the air with a wide smile. "No adults telling us we can't do this or that... ah, this is the dream life!"

"Yeah. I almost get my share of the inheritance sent now, I pay the ticket for life and I move here" Edric commented, and from his tone of voice he didn't seem to be completely joking. "This is the place where kids like us belong, other than school!"

"Holy words, brother!" Emira said giving him a hard pat on the shoulder.

Amity didn't really agree with her siblings' behavior, and she seriously hoped that they weren't serious, but she had to admit that spending her life there was a really nice prospect. "Well, let's go have breakfast then. By the way, where are Boscha and Skara?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen them around" Cat replied.

"Neither I" Amelia said. "They had taken a room together. Maybe they are still sleeping or..."

"We are here!"

The kids turned to see Boscha running towards them, dragging Skara by the arm, who seemed to be in ecstasy. "Sorry, we stayed in bed longer than we should have"

Everyone found such arrival a bit strange, especially for Skara's expression. "Were you asleep?"

"Well... not really" Boscha admitted. "You know, in our room there was a clock, and so when we woke up we realized that it was already past the departure time... so we stayed in bed a little longer... and... well... our faces were so close... one thing led to another... let's say we exchanged a lot of saliva" she concluded with a chuckle. Skara nodded slightly, who seemed to have hearts coming out of her eyes and ears.

To which Luz protested: "Oh, come on! Why do you have a watch and we don't? I wanted to kiss Amity until I dropped this morning too!"

Everyone laughed at those words, including the puppet. "Don't worry, Luz. I'll let you do it very soon" Amity said pressing a kiss to her ear and blowing inside, making the puppet blush and feel her heart take flight. "Come on, let's go eat now!"

And so they did, and with gusto too: after all, the thought of the sweets and delicacies of the Boiling Islands had made them all work up an appetite, and since kids' appetites develop quickly, it hadn't taken long before they became truly hungry; and when the sweet aroma of cotton candy, sugared almonds, ice cream, sticks of butter, buns, pizzas, hamburgers, fries, candied fruit, sweets, biscuits, and anything a kid could ever want touched their noses, they couldn't help less than salivating. Not wanting to miss any of those foods, they took a bit of everything and ate it greedily, until their bellies were so full that it was practically impossible to fit anything else in; at that point they left the shops behind and rushed to visit the attractions to have fun. As they were leaving, Gus noticed that Matt had stopped for a moment and was looking around. "What's up?"

Matt shrugged. "Nothing. I just noticed Steve, you know... the helmsman"

"Oh..." Gus remembered that Steve had told them that he didn't come to the Boiling Islands often because he didn't appreciate that kind of entertainment. "Well, maybe his boss asked him to do something. I mean, Philip can't think of everything on his own, and now that the ship can't sail Steve could help him a little"

"Yes..." Matt had a strange expression. "It's just that for a moment I thought he was looking at me"

Gus raised an eyebrow. "Looking at you?"

"It was only for a second... but I'm sure he was staring at me" Matt said.

Gus rubbed his chin a little. "You are just guessing it. He was probably just looking at the building behind you. Maybe he noticed something amiss, or it caught his interest for some other reason"

Matt had to admit that that explanation was quite plausible. "Yeah, maybe you're right. It's just me being paranoid" he admitted.

"Nah, you're just a little observant, which is technically good!" Gus responded by punching him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's not waste any more time. Let's go have fun!"

And so they did. Since there was a beautiful sun and not even a cloud could be seen in the sky, and the heat was immediately felt, the one that attracted the most attention was the swimming pool area of the Boiling Islands; and of course Luz, Amity and their friends went there too. Luckily there were changing rooms with a supply of swimsuits in all sizes, so they didn't have to get their clothes wet; and these costumes were really comfortable, so much so that it felt like wearing pillows. And they were super cute too, in fact it was impossible for Luz not to feel her heart start doing somersaults as soon as she saw Amity in an adorable bikini that made her look like a goddess in her eyes... even though she had the most comical and exaggerated reaction no doubt Skara when she saw Boscha also in a bikini, since she turned red as a pepper and smoke started coming out of her ears. The boys wasted no time and jumped into the pool, whose water turned out to be pleasant, and the temperature was sufficient so that even Amity, despite her witch's blood, didn't get burned; and since they urgently needed to release the boiling spirits, this was the beginning of a life-or-death water-squirting contest, and soon all of them were drenched from head to toe even though they hadn't completely submerged themselves. Edric dared to hit his sister, and as a result he received so many splashes that he could no longer see; Emira at least received the welcome from Gus and Matt, who, moved by a sort of brotherhood towards their fallen comrade, punished her properly. In short, the end result was, like the day before, a lot of laughter and fun.

After they got tired of spraying each other, they took a ball and started playing; and soon the game consisted of making exactly seven passes, and the seventh who received the ball could use it to hit one of the others, who obviously had the task of dodging it. Needless to say, this game also soon turned into a battle, which especially saw Boscha and Luz competing for first place, even though no one was keeping score. When they got tired they instead had a freediving competition: but in that case Luz and Amity were accused of cheating, given that to better conserve oxygen they had adopted the system of continuously kissing under water and continuously passing air to each other, and consume each one only a little at a time. "Best method ever!" Luz had commented as soon as they resurfaced. "We absolutely have to do it again!"

"No way! That isn't fair" Gus protested.

"Yeah! You're supposed to hold your breath, not share it!" Cat said.

"Why not? There's no rule against us" Amity pointed out to them. "At least, I never made such rule, nor did I hear anyone make it. What about you, Luz?"

"Of course not!" the puppet replied with a sneer.

Their friends looked at them badly, but also a little tenderly. "Well, if you're cheating a lot, then this isn't worth playing" Matt said. "I'm going to the slides. You guys?"

"WE ARE WITH YOU!" everyone responded in unison. The slides turned out to be the most fun thing they had ever tried: there were all kinds of them, from the classic and straight ones to the imaginative ones all twisted into spirals, and some of them even landed on trampolines which then the force of the impact sent them flying straight into the pool. They were definitely awesome, and all the kids went around each of them at least five times before getting tired. And then they also tried a swimming pool where there were simulated waves, which made it seem like they were swimming in the middle of surf. And yet another that was full of bubbles that tickled them and at the same time made their limbs relax so much that Luz almost fell asleep, amid general laughter.

Towards the late afternoon, since it was starting to get colder and Amity started to fell a little brning on her skin, they decided to leave the water games, they dried themselves, they got dressed and then they went to look for some other attraction. And they found a truly singular one: it was a building that looked to all intents and purposes like a school, but inside which it had nothing but toys and games; and furthermore it was allowed to tear up books, break pencils, draw on desks and walls, and there were even special mannequins dressed as teachers, who took on the appearance of whoever the kids wanted, and who could be given a good beating in face. "Wow, this is so liberating!" Boscha laughed as she beat up a mannequin with the face of a master she particularly disliked. "How do you think they change their faces?"

"Philip told us that he also used some magic to build this place" Amity told them as she crushed an encyclopedia into crumbs with Luz's help; even if their behavior wasn't exactly exemplary, she had to admit that seeing the pages reduced to confetti gave a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Yeah, that's probably how it works. Do you think he's a wizard or a magician?" Edric asked as he was drawing a real work of art (at least from his point of view) on the wall.

"Well, for me he sure is! A magician of fun!" Luz screamed joyfully, and threw all the fragments of the books she had torn into the air, making them fall like snow and making everyone burst into laughter.

In short, they had so much fun and laughed and played so much that they once again completely lost the concept of time; and when they remembered that they should return to the boat, it was three in the morning again. "Damn, looks like we'll have to stay here another day" Luz commented scratching her head. "Poor King... I hope he doesn't worry too much about me"

"Yeah, we'll both have to apologize. I left Ghost at home too" Amity muttered feeling a little guilty.

"And you call these problems? When we return our parents will probably not let us leave the house for at least a month" Boscha complained distraught, and her friends fully shared their thoughts. After all, their families were almost certainly getting a scare given that they had been missing for two days. "Well, at least we will be able to say that it will have been fully worth it. Come on, let's go to sleep"

And so they returned to the hotels and their rooms. Just like the night before Luz and Amity fell into bed, but this time Amity wasn't about to sleep right away. "Look... hearing Boscha and Skara talk this morning inspired me a little. I have to admit, it's really nice to see your face so close to mine" she said to the puppet. "What do you say, let's kiss for a bit before we go to sleep?"

Luz blushed. "But... we should sleep if we want to wake up in time tomorrow morning..."

In response Amity blew lightly on her face and blinked. "Oh, come on. What difference does a minute more or less make?"

Luz's heart did a flip: she loved it when Amity showed the enterprising side of her. She couldn't refuse anymore: after such an invitation her lips were screaming to be placed on Amity's. "Okay. But only five minutes!"

Those five minutes were a full hour in which they did nothing but exchange saliva and play with their tongues, and they both would have continued if their exhaustion hadn't gotten the better of them and made them fall asleep with their lips still touching.

As the two girls closed their eyes and fell into a deep sleep, the ceiling changed again and an eye appeared in it, and some of the furniture stirred and opened into long tentacles. These tentacles gently lifted Luz and seemed to examine her thoroughly. "So soon? Extraordinary. Never had the seed grown so quickly! This body could really be the right one"the booming voice said with satisfaction as the tentacles put Luz back in their previous position and then went back to being simple furniture. "At this rate, she might be ready in two or three days. Well... all I have to do is keep entertaining her and these other brats until then, and then I can enjoy my favorite show. And then we'll see if her body will be really suitable!"

For those who don't remember, a few chapters ago it was specified that Amity, despite being a witch, doesn't burn with water like Odalia thanks to her human half, provided that the water in question is sufficiently hot