The town of Fish wasn't really visible from far away. The road wound through a forest, more or less following a river, so the town just appeared out of nowhere upon turning a bend.

  The whole group stopped abruptly when they saw it. There was something… off about it. It looked like…

  Luke smiled, feeling silly about not having realized it immediately. The town looked like it had been flattened in an earthquake, then rebuilt almost but not quite exactly the same.

  The buildings were all in the same places, but the walls were different. The stones were in different orders. The paint was all new. Some houses had an extra room. Some were one room smaller. It was almost the same, but very much not.

  Shaking off the feeling of weirdness, Luke started walking again.

  “Where should we go first?” Maeve asked, taking his hand.

  “Will we stay together?” Cali asked, walking beside them.

  “I don't think that’s necessary,” Maki said. “We should all just go find our parents. Meet at the diner for dinner?”

  “Sure,” Luke said with a nod.

  “What should I do?” Echo asked nervously.

  Maki smiled at her. “Stay with me.”

  “Actually… Maybe you should go with Luke,” Maeve said. “I know his parents aren't going to freak out, but our families… Yeah, stay with Luke.”

  “Are you sure?” Echo asked. “Won't that give people the impression I’m dating him?”

  “No,” Luke answered. “My parents are going to build the wagon, so you’re just a new client of theirs.”

  “Besides, by tomorrow everyone and their cousin will know Luke is mine,” Maeve said with a predatory grin.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Echo laughed. “Ok, sure.”

  An alarming, high-pitched screaming sound suddenly reached their ears. A small neko came running down the road at approximately the speed of light, and barreled into Cali. Luke was pretty sure he saw her feet leave the ground as she flew back from the impact before landing on her tail.

  “You’re back!” Wisp yelled at the top of her lungs, hugging her sister tightly. “You’rebackyou’rebackyou’reback!”

  “Help,” Cali squeaked out.

  Wisp jumped to her feet, grabbed Cali’s hand, and started dragging her into town, talking so fast the words didn't even make sense to Luke. Cali managed to get to her feet, and stumbled down the road after her.

  “Cute kid,” Echo decided.

  “Yeah, a troublemaker, though,” Luke said.

  There was a puff of black teleportation magic, and suddenly an older neko was standing in front of them, glaring. Luke let go of Maeve’s hand in self-defense. Another puff of magic, and Luke was left alone with Echo.

  “By the void, that cooldown was only like two seconds!” she said, her face going oddly pale. “What level is that man at? Please tell me he isn't Maki’s dad.”

  Luke shrugged nervously. “Ok, I won't tell you that.”

  “Is their mom…”

  “Equally as scary? Yes,” Luke said. He would have said more, but was distracted by the sight of someone walking casually towards them. Smiling, he jogged to meet him.

  “Hey, you made it,” his dad said, smiling.

  “Yep,” Luke agreed.

  “You made a portable pocket dimension?” Calvin asked, looking at the thing on Luke’s back. “Out of a… Oh, that is smart. It works with the runes oriented like that?”

  “Yeah, I was worried, but it works fine,” Luke said, getting it off and handing it over.

  “So how does-” He stuck it over his head. “Oh, cool.”

  Echo, having caught up at some point, started laughing. “Ok, Luke, you are obviously exactly like your dad, so I have no idea what your mom is like.”

  Calvin returned his head to this dimension, faintly embarrassed. “Sorry. We haven't met, have we?”

  “Nope,” she said, holding a hand out. “Echo. Nice to meet you.”

  “Calvin,” Luke’s dad said, shaking the hand. “Likewise. Bonnie talks about you a lot.”

  Echo froze, then her eyes went wide. “Oh, you’re the banished- I forgot-” She turned to stare at Luke. “Yeah, I have to meet your mom.”

  “Right this way,” Calvin said, motioning in the direction of their house.