Greg sat on the couch in his dollhouse's living room, flipping through TV channels with the remote in his hands. It had been nearly three hours since Parvati had come home, and he was already bored. Indeed, Heidi's arrival had put a damper on his usual daily plans; she knew about his fascination with feet, but would she actually like seeing him indulge himself?

The good thing was that it would only be for a few days. He figured that now would be a great time to practice some form of self-control; self-control he had boatloads of back in his "normal" life, but seemed to have lost most of during his time here.

"...No," Greg said to himself. "Who am I kidding? I can't withhold myself from Parvati. She's just... beautiful."

Greg flipped the TV off and then set the remote onto the coffee table in front of him. Then, he stood up and walked out of the room and then out of the dollhouse. As he walked towards the open floor, he wondered where Heidi was. He had not heard from her since she had confronted Parvati a few hours earlier. He knew that she was not in the room; that he could take solace in.

He stepped out of the shadow of Parvati's bed and looked around the room. The door was open, but Parvati was nowhere to be found. Greg assumed that she must be out in one of the other parts of the house. ...Probably with Heidi as well.

"...I guess I'll wait for Parvati to come back," Greg said, before turning around and starting to walk back towards his dollhouse.

Soon, he heard footsteps approaching the bedroom. He stopped and looked towards the open doorway. He was expecting to see Parvati step through the doorway in a matter of seconds.

Unfortunately, he was greatly disappointed when, instead, Heidi entered into the room. She seemed to spot him immediately as he began to run towards Parvati's bed.

"There you are," Heidi said.

Greg heard her walking closer to him. He knew that there was no escape, as she could easily pull him out from under the bed if she wanted to. Therefore, he stopped in his tracks, and turned to face the approaching woman.

"I thought I would see you out there with your 'owner'," Heidi said as she stopped in front of him. Like the other women, she towered over him like a tall skyscraper.

"I was busy," Greg responded.

"Oh really? Doing what?"

"...Uh... Well... I was watching a TV show."

"What show?"

"Is that important?"

Heidi folded her arms. "I already know that you're lying. Aside from the fact that you were obviously thinking of something to tell me, Trish told me that you're usually at Parvati's feet at this time."

"Ahh..." Greg sighed. "I just don't want to do my usual stuff when you're around. You got kinda pissed off when you found out what the girls use me for, so I figured that seeing it in action would send you over the edge."

"I doubt it would. I've seen much more disturbing things in my career."

"I bet you have, but I still don't want to do anything around you."

"I'm sure you will eventually. If Parvati wants you to."

"She wouldn't do that."

"How do you know?"

"'Cuz she told me that my time with her would be cut."

"Is that right? ...We'll see about that." Heidi then unfolded her arms, and then walked out of the bedroom.

Greg stared at the open doorway for a few seconds. As he stood there, he wondered what Heidi meant by her last statement. Did she have a plan to make him lose himself in her presence? That was something that he did not want her to see. At all.

With nothing else to do, he turned around and headed back towards his dollhouse. He knew that Parvati would be back eventually, so until then, he would wait patiently in his house.

~~~

Greg laid on his bed, having awoken from his nap. He looked towards the digital clock on his nightstand. It read 10:39pm. He could not believe that he had been asleep for that long. The lamp in his room was switched off, so nearly the entire room was bathed in darkness. Though through the windows, the light from the much larger bedroom outside shone in a bit.

He sat up and stood up from his bed. He found his brown Timberland boots nearby and placed them onto his feet. Then, he headed out of his room and was soon once again outside of his dollhouse.

He stepped out into the open bedroom. The door was closed, at least from what he could see.

"You're up."

Greg turned behind himself, and saw Parvati laying on her bed with a hardcover book opened in her hands.

"You knew I was sleep?" Greg asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I can see into your house when I want to."

Greg silently stared at her in slight belief. He should have expected it, being that she is magic, but the idea of her being able to spy on him anytime she wanted did not sit well with him.

Parvati smiled. "I'm kidding."

Greg breathed a sigh of relief.

"I called you, and you didn't come out, so I just guessed that you were sleep. I guessed right."

"Where's Heidi?" Greg asked.

"Out there with Trish," Parvati answered. "At least, she was the last time I saw them."

"Good. ...Could I get a lift up there?"

Parvati nodded, and moved her right leg from the bed and placed her foot on the floor near Greg. He walked towards it, and then stepped onto it and held onto her leg as she pulled her foot back onto her bed.

She then placed her book down besides her, keeping it open so that she did not lose her place, and reached for him and grabbed him from her foot.

"Hey, is Heidi always like that?" Greg asked as she drew him closer to her face. "All serious and stuck-up like that?"

Parvati nodded. "I've only met her three times before today. She can be a nice person, but she's all about her work."

"Are you two friends?"

"Kinda. She's an acquaintance, that's for sure, but I don't know her as well as I should. She keeps her private life secret. I don't know where she was born, or even how old she is."

"Really? That's odd."

Parvati shrugged. "I never really had any good reason to ask her about even the simpliest things about her."

"You don't need a reason just to ask her where she was born, or when."

"Yes I do. With her I do."

"I wonder what she has to hide about herself?"

"I don't know, but I'm not going to push it with her. I don't want to get on a General Witch's bad side, acquaintance or not."

"Hmm..." Greg sat down in her palm. "Hey, Heidi also told me something else."

"What was that?"

"She said that if I ever leave here, you would have to erase my memories."

Parvati nodded. "That's right."

"How come you never told me about that?" Greg became a bit agitated.

"I thought it was better that you didn't know."

"But..." Greg stood up. "That's not fair! Over seven months here, and if I left, what would I have to show for it?!"

"Nothing," Parvati answered.

"Exactly! Couldn't you just leave my memories alone? I promise that I would never tell anyone about this."

"Greg," Parvati said, "are you worried that Heidi might send you home?"

"Yeah! You saw how she reacted when she found out about what you and I do, right?!"

"Yes, I did. But don't worry too much about it."

"How can I not worry about it?!"

Bending her legs in archs, Parvati laid Greg on her bed, between her feet.

"Maybe I should calm you down a little," she said in a cunning tone.

Her left foot lifted from the soft mattress and hovered over Greg. He did not try to move even an inch; he merely waited there for the feel of her bare sole on his body. He did not have to wait long, as a second or two later, her foot descended on top of him, and began to press him into the mattress.

He had been waiting for this moment all day. The moment when he would have his fun with Parvati's feet, despite what she had said earlier. It may now be late at night, but better late than never, he figured.

"You know," said Parvati, her voice muffled through the flesh of her foot, "I miss when you would actually struggle and run. I know that you were faking... or rather, acting, but it was fun chasing you down."

As his face was buried in her sole, Greg remembered one such time that Parvati was refering to. Three months ago, when he pretended to be a food thief in the kitchen. She "found" him in there, and began chasing and stomping after him. He tried hiding under the table, behing the potted plant, and in other places, but he just could not escape. In the end, he was caught, and stepped on; with the combination of the hard-tiled floor and the sandals she was wearing at the time, it was quite painful. And yet, he had fun, and so did Parvati.

He pulled his head as far back as he could, and began to kiss her sole. It was all that he could do at that point, as the force she was exerting on his body made it somewhat hard for him to move his arms.

After several seconds, her foot withdrew from his body, and set down beside him.

"That's all for tonight," Parvati said.

Greg sat up, disappointed and a bit confused. "Why? I was just getting started."

"What did I tell you earlier? You're not going to have as much time with me as you usually would."

Greg dropped his head and let out a sigh. "I'm starting to wish that I should have gotten my time in this morning instead of asking for my dreads..."

Parvati leaned closer to him. "Just wait, my pet. Once Heidi leaves, you'll be able to have as much as you want to with my feet. It's only a few days."

"I know, but I might go into withdrawal before then."

Parvati giggled. "Maybe I should enroll you in Foot Lovers Anonymous," she joked.

"Maybe you shouldn't!" Greg retorted, before standing up, walking around Parvati's right foot, and heading for the edge of her bed.

"Going to bed?" Parvati asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Let me help you down, then."

Suddenly, Greg found himself gripped between the big and second toes of Parvati's left foot as she turned her body on her bed to her right, and then set Greg onto the floor. He was released from her hold, and gained his footing on the floor as he turned to face her.

"Consider that a bonus," she said, smiling at him.

"...Thank you," Greg said.

She nodded. "Oh, and one more thing before you go. You're going to have a bit of a surprise tonight."

"Really?" Greg became curious. "What is it?"

"That would ruin the surprise."

"Can I get a hint?"

"No. You'll find out soon enough." She then stood from her bed.

"Where are you going?" Greg asked.

"Out there. Do you want to come with me instead?"

Greg shook his head.

"Oh. Okay, then." She bent down and patted him on his head. "Good night, my pet," she said with a warm smile.

"You too, my Goddess," Greg responded.

Parvati giggled a bit, before standing upright and walking over him. Greg watched as she opened the door, or rather pull it open as it did not look to be closed completely. Then, she walked out of the room, this time completely closing the door behind her.

He then walked back under her bed, towards his dollhouse. During his trek, he could not shake his disappointment. While he did indeed get to indulge himself, it was severely limited from what he was accustomed to. Of course, all of the blame for that went straight to Heidi. He really could not wait until she left the house.

"She's cute," Greg said to himself, "but she's ruining everything. ...I'd tolerate her more if she cleaned her feet..."

Greg sighed as he approached his dollhouse's front door.

~~~

Parvati stepped out of her bedroom, and closed the door behind her. She leaned her back against it, and then sighed.

"What did you think, Heidi?" she asked quietly.

She looked towards her left, towards Heidi, who had shrunken herself down to a similar scale as Greg, and was levitating in the air at head level. Parvati had left the door cracked slightly open so that Heidi could watch what happened in the bedroom a few minutes ago. It was all Heidi's idea, and she had no choice but to comply.

"You didn't do much with him," Heidi said.

"Well, I did say earlier that he wouldn't have as much time with my feet as he usually would. He would think it weird that I went back on my word so fast."

"True... Anyway, all I saw was a young woman playing with a toy in there. Or maybe a pet, as you called him. Either way, I don't see a problem. Not yet, anyway."

"Good." Parvati breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't get too comfortable. This was only the first day."

"Right..."

"Parvati," Heidi called. "You should have expected this when you saw me here. Hell, you should have expected this from the beginning. If not me, then another Head Witch. Some are even less forgiving than I am, and they loathe that rule of owning human. They could have ended your 'fun' with Greg as soon as they saw him."

"I know... But I just wanted to let him live his dream. But if it ever came to it..." Parvati paused for a second. "I'm fully prepared to send him home if you order me to."

"Good."

Heidi floated several feet in front of Parvati, and then began to glow with a white light. She began to rapidly grow until she stood at her original height of 5-foot-4.

"One more thing," Heidi said.

Parvati stepped away from the door and walked a bit closer to Heidi. "What?"

"How exactly did you 'take care' of Greg's life outside of here?"

"...Can you promise me that you won't tell Greg this?"

"Sure, but why don't you want him to know how his friends and family are responding to him being gone for so long?"

"I have my reasons. ...In fact, let's talk about this outside. I don't want to risk him hearing me here."

"Fine."

Parvati pointed towards her feet, and a bolt of magic shot from her index finger and engulfed her feet. The light faded, revealing blue sandals that were now on her feet. Then, both she and Heidi walked into the kitchen, and out of the backdoor there and into the darkness of the backyard.

~~~

Laying in his bed, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, Greg found himself being awakened for some unknown reason. The light in the bedroom was on, which was odd as he switched it off before going to sleep. As he opened his eyes, his vision was soon taken over by the image of a blond-haired, green-eyed woman.

"Oh God!" He jumped back as he realized that the person he was looking at was none other than Heidi. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Don't take that tone with me," Heidi scolded. "I'm here to ask you a few things."

"Can this wait?" Greg looked towards his digital clock. It read 2:48am. "It'll be morning in a few hours."

"I could, but I don't want to."

"Sheesh..." Greg sat up and moved to the side of the bed.

"If I were to put an end to this right now," Heidi started, "would you be prepared to go back to your old life?"

"I wouldn't have a choice, would I? But having a big space in my life would bug me."

"Your memories?"

"Yes."

"Mm. I think you'd do just fine."

"How do you know?"

"Next question." Heidi quickly changed the subject. "Let's say that I didn't end this. Do you plan to live with Parvati forever?"

"Yes," Greg answered. "I've come this far, I might as well stick it out until the end. After all, if seven months of no memories would bug me, just think about 5 years. Or 10. And so on."

"But what if Parvati gets married?"

"Ahh..." The prospect of Parvati finding another man to spend her life with was one that Greg had never put much thought into. It was not like she even dated anyone in the time he's been here, either.

"Did you really think that Parvati would put her life on hold to fulfill your fetishes?"

"I kinda hoped that she did..."

"Selfish. So, if she did ever get married, AND she kept you, what makes you think that her husband wouldn't use you to his hearts content? Or even torture you?"

"That's..." Greg shook his head. "No. Parvati wouldn't let that happen to me! She'd protect me. Or hide me from him."

"She couldn't protect you forever. Plus, married couples go through each other's stuff all of the time. How long do you think it'd be before he found you? ...Parvati would probably get rid of you before she got married. It'd save her a lot of grief, not being torn between her husband and living doll for the rest of her life."

"Heidi," Greg stood up. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"I just think that it would be better off that you didn't get too much more used to this," Heidi answered. "I still haven't decided if I'm going to let Parvati keep you here yet. And if I did, I'm letting you know that even then, you may not even be able to stay with her."

"Then could I at least keep my memories of what happened here?" Greg asked. "Since you're a General Witch, could you make an exception?"

"No. Sorry, but I don't make the rules. Once you leave, your memories are wiped."

"Then what's the point?!" Greg blurted out. "Everything I've been through here... I couldn't even relive them in my mind! Don't you think that'd be robbery of the worst kind?"

"Look, Greg," Heidi said, folding her arms. "Parvati's mainly at fault for revealing her powers to you for such a trivial reason, but the second you stepped into our world, you began to walk a dangerous, uncertain path. Humans tend become drunk on the power that their witch friend, lover, what-have-you has. We witches are supposed to be secret. After all, the public already believes that we're just a fairy tale. But if humans learn of us, and try to exploit us, likesay a major world leader marries a witch and use her powers for his own ends, then the world could very well be engulfed in a kind of war that has never been seen in history."

"But I'm not like those other humans," Greg said. "I would never use Parvati like that."

"I've heard that before," Heidi said. "In fact, in one of my more recent assignments, I met a human who was living with his witch girlfriend. They looked like a fairly normal couple... Until I overheard them planning to use magic to overthrow the government and create a dictatorship where witches could freely use their powers. It was mainly the human's idea, but he seemed to sway his girlfriend towards his way of thinking. Before this could go any further, I erased the human's memories and sent him back to his 'normal' life. I then warned the witch to never use her powers to carry out the man's plans, or she'll face the full wrath of the Aurora Realm military."

"Wow..." Greg was stunned. "All of that for one witch? Couldn't just one of you handle her easily?"

"The Head Witches consider a potential upheaval of any Human Realm government at the hands of a witch a serious offense. The perpetrator could have her powers removed... Or worse."

"Worse? You mean... They kill her?"

Heidi unfolded her arms and headed for the bedroom doorway. She stopped halfway there, and turned back towards him. "By the way, I'm going to be living here with you."

Greg's mouth dropped in shock. "What?! Why?!"

"There's no more rooms in the bigger house, and I don't like sharing a room with anyone."

"Can't you make a tent in the backyard?"

"No. I don't want to draw too much attention from the neighbors. Besides, this house is much like the one out there, and it's not like you're using the other bedroom." Heidi walked towards the door, and before she stepped out, she said, "Now, try to get some sleep."

She flipped the switch on the light switch near the doorway, which then cloaked the room in darkness. Heidi then walked out of the room, closing the door as she left.

Greg laid back on his bed, and grunted as he covered his eyes with his right hand. After what Heidi had told him, it seemed that it did not matter whether she let him stay here or not, as sometime down the line, he would be sent back to his old life with not even a shred of knowledge as to what went on within these walls. That worried him, not being able to relive those moments in his mind any time he wanted.

In a way, he hated Heidi for bringing all of this up in such short time. He wished that he could have stayed away from her for the rest of the time she was here.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he would be closer to Heidi than he had originally planned.

~~~

Irene stepped out of the cab that she had hired, and onto the sidewalk outside of the local post office. She watched the cab drive off down the street, and then looked around herself at the scenery as it was bathed in the light of early dawn.

She lightened her fingerless gloves on her hands, and made sure that her two-inch platform boots were tightly fastened. Then, she ran her fingers through her dyed blue hair and chuckled devilishly.

"No doubt about it," she said. "Heidi is somewhere in this town. She messed everything up. Everything me and Kevin had planned. ...Well, I'll show her."

Indeed, Irene was determined to convince Heidi that she was wrong, that witches are the ones who should be ruling the world, not humans. , She had been waiting for Heidi to show herself again since she had put a stop to her ambitions, having since trained herself to sense out the aura signiture of witches, and now that she appeared in a town close to her hometown, she felt it necessary to make her trek here to confront her.

She looked down both directions of the sidewalk, before she started to walk down the left path. With each step, Heidi's faint aura signiture became slightly stronger.