Still sitting on the giant cushion of the living room couch, Greg looked towards the clock that hung on the wall. It was nearing 3pm. Parvati would be home soon.

Not for at least an hour, though, so Greg laid back on the couch and continued to think about their day at the beach. Or rather, after Trish had carried him off into the island's forest.

Greg now sat on Trish's left shoulder, keeping a firm grip onto her shirt as she walked on a narrow dirt path through the forest. With the leaves of the trees covering from above, barely any sunlight was shining through, though it was still quite humid. The cries of several of the native animals and bugs could be heard from both nearby and further away, though Greg could not see any of them, aside from the flying insects.

"Can we leave now?" Greg asked a bit nervously.

"What, afraid?" Trish said in a teasing manner.

"I just think that something's going to come out and eat me," Greg responded.

"Quit being paranoid. We're not even halfway in, and you're acting like a little girl."

"Well, that's half-true. They'll toss me around like a piece of fruit!"

"Shut up, or I'll throw you in there," Trish pointed to her left, towards the dense vegetation, "and let nature decide what to do with you."

"Please don't," Greg begged. "Parvati would be steamed."

"I'll just tell her that you ran off on your own."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're a curious person. Too curious for your own good."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't-"

"Par know's it, I bet. She'd probably believe me."

"Man..." Greg looked forward. The path did not seem to have an end in sight. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"No..." Trish answered. "But this path can't be here for nothing, can it?"

"What if you're going in a circle?" Greg asked. "We have made a few turns, all in the same direction."

"If we were going in a circle, we'd probably see the beach."

"Not through these woods... We'll be in here forever..."

Greg was silent for several minutes as Trish continued her trek through the warm forest. He scanned through the trees off to the side, half-expecting an animal of some sort to swoop in and tear him from Trish's shoulder.

Before long, Greg looked forward and saw that this path was indeed coming to an end.

"Forever, runt?" Trish said as she headed towards the exit.

~~~

Trish emerged from the passageway and into a clearing in the forest. Before her and Greg was a small lake, with water splashing down from a waterfall from the now near mountain. There was also a stream that led from the lake and into another side of the forest.

"This is nice," Trish said in awe.

"Yeah," Greg agreed. "I can see why Parvati likes this place so much."

Trish turned her head towards Greg on her shoulder. "Aren't you happy now that we came out here?"

"No." Greg flatly said.

Trish sighed. "And you say I'm no fun..."

"I just don't want to get killed out here."

"Nothing's going to kill or eat you. Because I'll stomp the life out of anything that tries to."

This statement caught Greg by surprise. "Wow... Really?"

"Of course. Par likes you, and Par is my best friend. So I have to protect her stuff, don't I?" She smiled.

"...You're lucky PETA wasn't around to hear you say that about you stomping the animals."

Trish scoffed. "Fuck PETA. It's either us or the animals, and I'm not dying anytime soon!"

"My sentiments exactly."

Trish walked closer to the lake. The light from the sun was reflecting off of the surface. Greg had to avert this gaze so that he would not be blinded by the light.

"Hey, Trish?" Greg called.

"What?" she answered.

"I just had a question come into my head... When you got your powers, how did you tell Parvati? I mean, I doubt you knew that she was a witch."

"Hmm... Yeah, I guess you have a point."

"So..."

"I guess you could say we knew right away."

"Come again?" A baffled Greg said.

"Well..." Trish sat down on the ground and grabbed Greg from her shoulder, and held him in her palms. "It goes like this... You humans can't see it, but witches give off some kind of aura that only we can see."

"Is that right?" Greg said in a somewhat surprised tone, though by now, he had gotten used to the magical aspects of this life.

"Yeah. I woke up one morning, went about my usual business, and met Par in the kitchen... Except that she had a pinkish aura around her. I thought I was seeing things, because I stayed up too late. What was odd was that she was surprised to see me as well; her mouth dropped as soon as I walked in, and she nearly dropped the cup of coffee she had."

"I asked her why she was staring at me like she was. She said that I was a witch. I thought she was insulting me, but then she explained everything to me. I tried using my new magic, and I liked what I saw. Of course, Par told me not to tell any human, or not to use them in public."

"Do you?" Greg asked.

"Of course not!" Trish retorted. "What do you think I am?! Stupid?!"

"Just asking..." Greg responded, defeated. "Sorry..."

"Whatever." Trish looked towards the lake. She seemed to be focusing on an object across the lake, as she squinted her eyes. "Damn."

"What's wrong?" Greg asked.

"I think I might need glasses soon. Things are getting a bit blurry for me..."

"Why don't you just use your magic to fix that?"

"I would, but Par wouldn't like that."

"She doesn't have to know."

"She knows about my eyesight. Even back in high school, I had trouble, but it wasn't as bad as it's getting now. Plus, Par is right about me having to learn how to do things on my own without magic."

"Oh yeah... She told me about that before."

"She did? ...Anyway, I've managed most of my life without magic, and I think that I can do without it."

"So, if you could give it up tomorrow, would you?"

"...No." Trish flatly said.

Greg chuckled. "Of course."

"I mean... It's great protection. Like, if someone tried to mug me, I could just do to them what Par did to you."

"You mean shrink them?"

"Yeah. Except I wouldn't make them squash-proof."

"...If that happens, you should bring them to Parvati and make her step on them." Greg said with a mischievous grin on his face.

Trished laughed. "You weirdo. I don't think Par would do something like that."

"...I wouldn't be too sure about that..." He responded.

~~~

Once again riding on Trish's shoulder, Greg held onto her as she walked back onto the beach. He was unsure as to how much time they has spend at the island's lake, but the sun was lower in the sky than it was when they first made their trek into the forest.

Standing at the coast was Parvati, who was looking out at the sea, with the wave of the sea splashing on her bare feet. As Trish neared her, Parvati turned towards her, and greeted both her and Greg with a smile.

"You're both back," she said. "Went to see the lake?"

"Yeah," Trish responded.

"She dragged me along," Greg said, pointing his thumb towards Trish's head. "I wanted to stay here with you."

"He was practically wetting his pants over the thought of a wild animal eating him," Trish said.

"You LIAR!" Greg retorted in a half-teasing manner.

"Don't deny it, runt," Trish said, "or I'll throw you into the ocean."

"...You're an evil person..."

Parvati laughed. "Life is never boring with you two around." She turned back towards the sea. "...I think I made the right decision, bringing you both here."

Trish had somewhat of a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about, all of a sudden?"

Parvati once again turned towards the two. "Nothing. Just thinking out loud."

She then walked up to Trish, and grabbed Greg off of her shoulder.

"When we go back home," Parvati said as she addressed him, "I want you to give me a foot rub. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course, my Goddess!" Greg eagerly said.

"The hell?" Trish replied, apparently surprised at how Greg addressed Parvati.

Parvati smiled. "Thank you, my pet. I really look forward to it."

"So am I," Greg responded gleefully.

~~~

The three stayed on the island for a few more hours, eventually witnessing one of the most beautiful sunsets that Greg had ever seen in his life. The sight of the sun setting over the sea-filled horizon, complete with the crimson and orange sky, was truly a sight to behold.

Soon after, the trio warped back home. Due to the time difference, it was well into the middle of the night when they returned, so, unfortunately for Greg, there was no time for him to give Parvati a foot rub right away, as she decided to go straight to bed. Same with Trish, so he decided to retire for the night as well.

That was two months ago.

Greg stood up on the couch's cushion. Looking at the clock, Parvati would be home any minute now. He made his way to the edge of the giant couch, and began to climb down to the floor. Once there, he began to make his way into the front hallway.

As luck would have it, as Greg walked into main hallway, he heard the front door unlock, and soon open. He looked towards the now opening door, and sure enough, Parvati walked inside of the house. Noticing him right away, she closed the door behind her and walked up to him.

"Good afternoon, my pet," Parvati said with a smile. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing much," Greg responded. "Just reminiscing about stuff."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah. ...So, how was your day?"

"The same as always. Loads of work, my boss being a headache, people calling in for petty reasons; the usual." She sighed.

"Glad to be home, though, right?" Greg said as he approached her sandal-clad left foot.

"Of course. Plus, it's the weekend, so I can rest easy. ...And entertain you, of course."

"Perfect," Greg said cheerfully.

"Grab on," she said as she pointed to the foot that Greg had neared. "I'm sure you were going into the room, so you'll get there faster this way."

"You're truly a Goddess," Greg said.

Parvati giggled. "I know that, my loyal pet."

Greg then climbed onto her foot, and grabbed ahold of the straps of her sandal. Once he was in place, Parvati began to make the trek into her room. One that would take mere seconds for her, but would take much longer for someone of his size.

It had been a bit over half a year since that fateful night, when he had first met Parvati in that nightclub. In that time, he had his deepest desire, to be shrunken down by a beautiful woman, fulfilled; a dream that he had once believed was impossible. He had experienced many more amazing things thanks to both Parvati and her roommate and best friend Trish. Luckily, he had not seen Lily in that time, and from what Parvati and Trish told him, he planned to keep it that way.

Despite the possible danger of Lily, Greg was completely satisfied with his current, maybe even new life. Sure, he had many friends and his own life before he met Parvati, but to indulge in his deepest fantasy was worth the trade off of possibly never seeing his friends and family again.

He was determined to make the best out of his new life, for as long as he could.

~~~

Heidi walked down the marble road, feeling the cold stones pressing against her bare feet. A young woman with shoulder-length blond hair, and a small pink flower on the side of her head in her hair, she wore a white summer dress that exposed both her arms and her knees. Such attire would be considered somewhat odd for someone in the Aurora Realm, especially when one would consider her rank.

As she walked, she looked towards the sky. Unlike in the Human Realm, the Aurora Realm's sky always seemed watery, and its color constantly shifted and changed as if it were face-to-face with the northern lights of the Human Realm's polar regions. Such a sight would be a bit unnerving to first-time visiters to this realm.

Suddenly, sparkling dust began to gather in her path. She stopped walking as the particles took shape into a robed humanoid figure, complete with their head covered by a dark hood. Though she could see that this figure's skin was a greyish color: not unlike one of the Head Witches' errand-running dolls.

"Ms. Light," the doll said with a deep, male voice.

"What is it?" Heidi asked.

"The Council wants you to make a report on these two." He handed her a sheet of paper.

Heidi looked down at the paper she held in her hand, then back to the hooded man. "Is that all?"

"Yes," he responded. "I shall be on my way now, Ms. Light."

In an instant, the man disappeared in the same manner that he arrived: by disintegrating into a dust of sparking particles that was soon blown away by some force not unlike wind.

Heidi looked down at the sheet once more. On it were protraits of two young women, with their names and address. Only one address was listed, as they lived in the same house.

"Parvati Singh... Trish Hubbard... It has been a while since I've seen them. I guess I could visit them as a cover for this report."