Heidi sat at the kitchen table, sipping tea out of her mug, as she stared out of the kitchen window and into the morning sky outside. It was nearing 8am, and despite the fact that she only got a few hours of sleep overnight, she was not drowsy in the least.

She looked to her side, and saw Trish walk from the back hallway and into the kitchen. She headed for the refrigerator, and opened its door, then pulled out a carton of orange juice, opened it, and began to chug down its contents directly from the carton.

"Trish," Heidi called. "Why don't you get a cup?"

Trish pulled the carton away from her mouth, and looked towards Heidi. "What for?"

"Don't other people drink from that carton? That's rude to them."

"Well, the runt has his own stuff in his house. Plus, I doubt that he could even open this fridge. Par barely drinks OJ at all. So that just leaves you, Ms. General Witch."

"...I'm drinking tea right now."

"There, see?! It's all good! I'm not hurting anyone!" Trish then began to drink out of the carton again, before closing it and putting it back into the refrigerator. Then, she let out a small burp.

"You're an animal," Heidi stated.

"Whatever." Trish shrugged.

Heidi took another sip of her tea. "You look like you're going out today." She took notice to the clothes that she was wearing: the same grey hoodie jacket from yesterday, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

"Yeah," Trish answered. "I'm still trying to find some place to hire me, but with the way the economy is..."

"Why don't you go to college? Then, when you finish, you'll have more opportunities available to you."

Trish shook her head. "No. I barely made it out of high school. Why would I want to spend another 4 years learning stuff that I'll just forget about sooner or later? Plus, the costs are insane."

"There're community colleges, and trade schools, and the like. They can finish up in just two years."

"I think I can get by just fine how I am now."

Heidi sighed. "Fine. Do what you want with your life. Just don't come crying to me when you end up a failure."

Trish tilted her head slightly. "Do you have that little faith in me?"

"You have no idea," Heidi starkly answered.

Trish sighed, and headed for the kitchen doorway leading into the front hall.

"Leaving already?" Heidi asked.

"Yeah..." Trish replied. "They say that it's best if you're out looking earlier in the day."

"Well, good luck, and don't use your magic."

"I know that! I'm not stupid!"

"Hm."

Trish walked into the front hall, and was soon out of Heidi's sight, before she heard the front door open and then shut. Heidi took another sip of tea from her mug, and then looked back out the kitchen window. She stared at the passing clouds in the morning sky, each one being moved along by the wind. She knew just by looking at the sky that it was going to be a nice day, albeit a slightly windy one.

Or rather, it would be a nice day. Unfortunately, that would prove to be a problem.

"...Perhaps I should take care of her right now," Heidi said to herself. "She's been waiting outside for an hour now. ...No... I'll wait. I'll wait until she makes her move."

~~~

Greg sat on the edge of Parvati's red flip-flop as he patiently watched the closed bathroom door. She would be leaving for work in a few minutes, and with Trish gone as well, that would leave him alone in the house with Heidi. That was something that he was not looking forward to. He considered waiting out the day in his dollhouse, but he never did like spending his time cooped up in thre for so long. Especially now that Heidi practically lived with him in there.

He still could not believe that he was rooming with Heidi, or that Parvati had known about it as well. He wondered what she was thinking, letting her live him. Though, he would not be surprised in the least if Heidi had demanded it, and that Parvati had no choice but to go along with it.

He was snapped back to reality as he saw the bathroom door open, and Parvati walk out from inside. She wore a red tube top and white skirt, a combination that Greg found to be particularly sexy. All it needed was one final touch, one that he believed would match perfectly with her red toenail polish.

Parvati looked towards Greg. "Oh? Why are you sitting there?"

"I don't know," Greg lied. "I just thought that it'd be a nice place to sit while I waited."

Parvati walked towards her bed. "Or are you trying to tell me that those are the shoes that you want me to wear today?"

Greg chuckled. "Kinda."

She smiled, before kneeling down on the floor and reaching under her bed beside him. Then, she pulled out a beige-colored shoebox. Afterwards, she stood up and then sat on the edge of her bed.

"Well, too bad," she teased. "I have something else in mind."

She reached down and removed the covering off of the shoebox. Then, she pulled out a pair of white ballet flats and placed them on the floor in front of her feet. Upon seeing the shoes, Greg's anxiousness gave way to disappointment.

"Oh, come on~n," he said as he jumped off of the flip-flop. "Not those!"

"What's wrong with them?" Parvati asked.

"Your toes need to breathe!" Greg said as he walked towards her feet. "It's still pretty hot out!"

Parvati giggled. "I know, but I bought these a few weeks ago, but never wore them."

"You did?"

"Yeah. They look too cute to not wear, so I'm going to wear them today. Besides, I decide what I wear, not you, my pet."

Greg sighed. "Man..."

Parvati nudged him in the chest with her big toe. "I want you to be on your best behavior today. You're going to be here alone with Heidi for most of the day."

"I know... I'm not looking forward to it... Maybe I should hide somewhere."

"No. She might need you for something."

Greg folded his arms. "Didn't you tell me to stay away from her yesterday?"

"That was before she told me that she would be sleeping in your dollhouse."

"I see..."

Parvati moved her left foot into the mouth of the left shoe, and shoved it inside. Then, she reached down, grabbed the back of the shoe, and then pulled on it to keep the shoe tightly on her foot. Then, she began to do the same with her right foot.

"Hey," Greg said. "Can I at least kiss it before you put it away?"

"Sure," Parvati answered.

"Awesome." Greg smiled, before turning to her right foot, and planting a kiss on her instep. Then, he looked towards the empty ballet flat nearby, and stared at it for a few seconds.

"What's wrong?" Parvati asked.

"I was just thinking... What if I go with you? I could hide out inside of your shoe!" Greg was getting a bit excited. "All you'd really have to do is make me a bit smaller, and I'll just stay inside and be a good little boy! What do you say!?"

"...Sometimes, I take my shoes off at work."

"...So?"

"I can't risk anyone seeing you, no matter how small I make you. Plus, if I make you too small, I might lose you. So, sorry, but that's not happening."

"Aww man..." Greg dropped his head in disappointment.

Parvati leaned forward. "...I'll tell you what. When I get home, I'll take a walk around the neighborhood, and I'll let you come along. Deal?"

Greg looked back up towards her, his excitement returned. "Really?!"

"Yeah," she nodded with a smile.

"Awesome! I can't wait!!"

"I bet you can't, my pet." Parvati put her right foot into the empty flat and pulled it tight on her foot. Then, she stood up. "...I think I'm looking forward to it, too."

"Great," Greg said. "I'll make sure to be a good little boy and not disappoint you!"

Parvati giggled. "You're so sweet." She grabbed her purse from her bed, and then stepped over Greg and headed for the bedroom door. "I'll see you later, my pet."

"Same here, my Goddess," Greg replied.

Parvati waved, before opening the door, and walking out of the room. She left the bedroom door open, most likely for Greg's convience, so he could see her walk through the hall, before turning left and walking into the kitchen. Then, he heard her exchange a few words with Heidi, who also seemed to be in the kitchen. A minute later, he heard the house's front door open, and then shut.

"...What now...?" He asked himself. He had something to look forward to when Parvati got back, but until then, he would have to wait it out with Heidi in the house. Heidi... It did not matter where he went, be it out around the house or in his dollhouse, she could and would be there.

He sighed, and walked towards the open doorway. He figured that he could at least go for his daily morning walk around the house.

~~~

Irene sat on a bus bench that had been set on the grass near the street, holding her cell phone open in her hands and feigning texting geistures. From there, she eyed the house that stood two doors down from the house that was right in front of her.

Once she had gotten closer and closer to the house, she could sense not only Heidi's aura, but the aura of two other witches, though they were significantly weaker. She was confident that she could take down both of them, but decided to wait to make her move. Twenty-five minutes ago, she saw a red-headed young woman, the source of one of the weaker auras, walk out from the house. She glanced in her direction, apparently seeing the aura eminating from her body, before walking the other way.

Then, ten minutes afterwards, a young woman who looked to be either South Asian or Middle Eastern, appeared from within. Like the redhead before, she was also a witch, and she looked towards Irene as well. Then, she stepped into her car, pulled out of the driveway, and drove down the street in the direction that Irene was in. She was not paying much attention, but she could tell that the woman was looking at her as she passed her by.

With both of the weaker witches gone, all that remained was Heidi herself. Irene was a bit relieved that she didn't have to deal with the other two witches, even if she could defeat them in no time at all.

She waited on the bench for a few more minutes, before standing up from it. Closing and shoving her phone into the pocket of her black leather pants, she began to walk towards the house.

A minute later, she was standing on the doorsteps of the house. She looked around her for any of the neighbors or passer-bys. Then, a smirk formed on her face.

"Prepare yourself, Heidi," Irene said. "You're going down."

Then, she stepped forward, towards the door. Instead of being stopped by the door's surface, her body passed right through the closed door.

~~~

Greg exited from the kitchen, and stepped into the front hallway. He was a bit surprised, and relieved, to see that Heidi was not in the kitchen. The back door was open, so he figured that she was out in the backyard, as usual. There was no guarantee that he would not run into her on his way back, but for now, he could at least enjoy being out from her judging eyes.

As he made his way into the center of the room, he heard the sound of magic crackling to his left. It was a sound that he had since become accustomed to, considering how long he had been in this house, but something about this magic seemed... different. He stopped his trek and looked to his left, towards the front door.

Yellow sparkling light that seemed to have taken a humanoid form had appeared on the door. Then, something seemed to be coming out of the shape.

Greg backed away. Was it an intruder? An intruder who was also a witch? Lily? Had she stooped so low as to break into their house?

Soon, the light faded, and Greg found himself gazing at the image of the invader. It was a young woman, and, remembering Parvati's description of Lily, he knew that it could not have been her. For one thing, this woman certainly did not look to be of European and Asian descent; she appeared to be full-blooded European. She had long blue hair that extended past her shoulders, and with a lock of hair on each side of her face. She wore a white tanktop, black leather pants, black fingerless gloves with silver bracelets on each wrist, and black platform boots. She also had a necklace around her neck, with a black crucifix that was turned upside-down, and the left side of her lower lip pierced with a ring. Nope... No way this woman was Lily.

Nevertheless, that did not make this situation any safer.

"Now... Where is Heidi?" the woman said to herself as she looked around.

Heidi? What did this woman want with her? Was that way she was there?

As she slowly walked forward, Greg began to back away from her. Unfortunately, he was still out in the open, and it would only be a matter of time before the woman saw him. Yet, he continued to pull away from the giantess invader.

The woman looked downward, towards the floor... and right at Greg. Greg gasped as the two locked eyes with each other. Her eyes were a bright green... and seemed to pierce right into his soul. At that moment, he wanted to make a break for it and run away from her as fast as he could.

The woman bent down, and had a look of curiosity and disgust on her face as she watched him.

"What the hell is this thing?!" she said.

Against his better judgment, Greg responded with, "I'm not a thing!! And who are you, and what are you doing here?!"

The woman chuckled, and stood back upright. Her expression had changed into a more malicious one. "You're not important. I'll just step on you and be done with it, before I find that bitch."

The woman stepped forward, and before long, he was completely shadowed by the sole of her black boot. He braced himself as it came down upon him, and pushed him into the floor. The woman stepped full weight on him, pressing his tiny body against the hardwood floor, before stepping off of him and walking away. She must have thought that he was nothing more than a flattened mess of blood and organs now, not worth another thought.

Picking his aching body off of the floor, he yelled, "Hey!"

The woman stopped, and looked behind her. An expression of shock appeared on her face as she saw that Greg had not been killed as she had thought. Aside from the pain that he had since gotten used to thanks to Parvati and Trish, he was not seriously harmed at all.

"What?!" the woman said, before she turned around and walked back to him.

Then she lifted her foot high above Greg and stomped down on him. Once again, Greg was forcefully pushed onto the floor, being pressed underneath her boots. This second stomp was much more painful than the first one, thanks to both the force she put into it and to the boots that she was wearing. Greg then felt her twist her foot on him over and over again for several seconds; she probably wanted to make sure that he was dead this time.

Finally, he felt her weight increase even more--her walking on him again--before she stepped off of his body.

His body twitched in place. He was bruised, but not seriously hurt. She looked back towards him, and gasped in frustration as she saw that he still was not a crushed mess on the floor.

"What the hell!?" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," Greg said as he stood to his feet and dusted himself off. "That's not going to work on me."

The woman grunted, and turned to face him. "Is that right, you freak? ...Then take this!"

She rose her right index finger and pointed it towards him. A point of orange light then appeared on the tip of her finger. Greg, knowing that the woman's next attack did not bode well for him, turned around and began to run away from the giantess. He then heard the sound of magic being fired from behind. He looked behind him, and saw an orange bolt of magic flying right towards him.

He quickly made a sharp right turn, evading the bolt that struck the floor right behind him. Left in its wake was a round, smoking charred spot on the floor.

"Grr... You're faster than I thought," the woman said.

She fired off more magic bolts. Greg tried his best to dodge each of the blasts that were fired at him as he ran for the kitchen. Unfortunately, one of the bolts grazed the left side of his abdomen, burning a hole into his shirt in the process. The searing pain of the magic caused him to keel over and clutch his side, screaming in agony as he laid on the floor.

He may have been impervious to being crushed to death, but that did not mean that he was immune to death at all.

He watched as the woman approached him and then stood over him, with a look of pure malice on her face. At that moment, he truly believed that this woman would end his life, in the most horrible of ways possible.

"Step away from him," said a familiar demanding voice from the kitchen. "Right now, if you know what's good for you."

Greg turned towards the kitchen doorway, and say Heidi standing there, her arms folded and with an angry expression on her face as she looked at the woman.

"Ahh..." The woman took a few steps back from Greg. "Heidi, there you are."

"I was wondering when you would make your move," Heidi said, "Irene Bradshaw."

Irene chuckled. "So, you knew that I was out there?"

"Of course," Heidi answered. "It should be no surprise that I am able to sense other witches around me. After all, I AM a General Witch."

"Yes, that's right... ...You ruined everything Kevin and I had planned."

"No. I saved the world from your flawed dictatorship."

"Dictatorship...?" Greg said to himself. He then remembered what Heidi had told him last night, about the witch and her boyfriend who wanted to overthrow the government. Was this Irene that same witch? Why did she hunt her down? Revenge, perhaps?

"Our world would've worked for you witches in the Aurora Realm, too," Irene said. "You wouldn't be so worried about us anymore. You could focus on fixing up that hellhole of a world instead of watching us all the time."

"If we stand by and let you peons in the Human Realm have your way with the world, what would make us think that you all would not get overconfident and try to take over the Aurora Realm? That... is a risk none of us are willing to take."

"We can't get overconfident over overpowering the weak humans. Many witches believe that we should be ruling the world, not them. After all, power is everything, and we have lots of it!"

"Stop it. Against me, you will find that your 'power' is severely lacking. I'll give you one chance: Leave now, and never show your face in front of me again."

"Heh." Irene shook her head. "You think you're better than me, and the rest of us, but I'll show you."

Heidi sighed, "I don't think I'm better than you," she said as she walked into the hallway, took a spot at the back of it, and then faced Irene. "I AM better than you."

Irene gritted her teeth in frustration, and then brought up her right arm and pointed it towards Heidi. "Die!!"

A white blast of magic burst from her hand and charged towards Heidi. Heidi merely stood her ground as she glared at Irene, seemingly not caring of the blast that had just been unleashed on her.

"W-what are you doing?!" Greg yelled out in worry. "Dodge it!!"

Heidi did not budge, and the magic beam was soon just a foot away from her. However, right before it made contact with her body, Greg gasped as the beam seemed to become neutralized in the air just inches away from her body. It was almost as if she was surrounded by an invisible force field.

Irene was bewildered as well. "What?!"

"I told you," Heidi said. "I'm better than you."

"Grrr-AHHHHH!!!" Irene then began to rapidly fire magic at Heidi. Unfortunately for her, each one of her beams also found themselves to be useless against Heidi.

Heidi then thrust her left arm forward. An invisible force pushed Irene into the door behind her. She yelped in pain as she sloutched onto the floor.

In awe, Greg struggled to his feet, still holding his burned side. "Whoa..."

"Are you alright?" Heidi asked Greg as she looked toward him.

"...No. She burned me."

"I see." Heidi pointed towards him, and a blue light burst forth from it.

Greg soon found himself engulfed by a blue light. Very quickly, he noticed that the pain that had been ailing him vanished. He looked towards the spot in which he had been burned, and saw that the hole in his shirt had been mended. In fact, it was almost as if he had never been attacked at all.

"Better?" Heidi asked.

"Yeah," Greg answered. "Thank you."

Heidi nodded, and then looked back towards Irene.

"I held back," Heidi said. "If I wanted to, I could have sent you over the horizon."

"Quit lying!!" Irene barked. "You can't possibly have that much power!!"

"...I'm a General Witch. You have no idea how much power I have. I didn't just get my rank because they chose my name at random."

"You..." Irene stood up, furious as ever. "You think you're so hot! Well, I'll show you!! I've learned something that will bring even you to your knees!!"

Irene then started to make several hand signs and geistures with her hands, each one seemed to have some kind of rhythm to it. Greg stared at the woman, confused as to what she was doing. He always thought that witches could just think of whatever spell they wanted, and then utilize it. What Irene was doing now seemed to be overly complicated.

Suddenly, he heard something odd: a gasp... from Heidi. Before he could turn to face her, she dashed across the hallway and grabbed Irene's right wrist. Irene tried to pull her hand from her grip, but Heidi seemed to have a very light hold on her.

"Let go of me!!" Irene ordered.

"You've learned that?!" Heidi blurted out. "I need no futher proof of your corruption!! In the name of Karma, I silence you!!"

From the hand that Heidi gripped Irene's wrist with, a bright white light shined forth and engulfed Irene's body. The light was so bright that Greg had to shield his eyes with his arms. He heard the woman scream quite loudly as the entire room was bathed in the light from Heidi's spell.

As the light faded away, Greg uncovered his eyes, and looked toward Heidi and... Just Heidi. It seemed that the other woman had disappeared.

Then, a small object fell to the floor in front of Heidi. It looked to be a small wooden figure that stood on some kind of pedestal. However, the figure seemed to bare a strong resemblance to that Irene woman.

Greg approached Heidi, as she looked down at the figure.

"What did you do to her?" Greg asked.

Heidi looked towards him. "I turned her into this wooden doll. Her soul is trapped inside."

"What?" Greg was slightly surprised.

Heidi reached down and picked the figure up. "I have to deliver her to the Aurora Realm's Special Defense Force, so I'll be gone for a few hours."

"What's going to happen to her?"

"She's a threat now, so once I explain things to the Head Witches, they'll probably excommunicate her, which means that she would lose her powers and any memories relating to them. However, I'm going to recommend that they execute her."

"What?!" This was what shocked Greg. "Isn't that a bit much?! What about her family?!"

"Even with her memories and powers gone, she still has the potential to cause problems for humanity," Heidi answered. "...And I couldn't care less about her family. We'll just erase any hint of her existance from their minds, as well as from the minds of anyone who has had contact with her long enough to be acquaintances."

"That's cruel..."

Heidi stepped over Greg, and then stood at the center of the hallway.

"You may consider it cruel," Heidi said, "but I consider it justice. No witch who knows that spell should ever be left alive. Ever." She turned her attention to the figure in her hand. "This is what you get for thinking for even a second that you could match a fraction of my power."

"What spell is that, anyway?" Greg asked.

Ignoring him, she made a motion with her right hand in front of her. Greg curiously watched this geisture, and upon finishing it, something of what looked like a hole in space slowly opened up in front of her. He tried to peer inside, but could not see anything other than flashing colors.

Heidi walked into what he assumed was a portal to the Aurora Realm, and once she was completely inside, it closed up behind her and disappeared from sight.

Greg looked around the room, from the door behind him to where the portal once was to the charred spot on the floor from Irene's earlier attack.

Then, he said to himself, "...What just happened?"