"What do you want to eat?" Amelia asked as Joey yawned and stretched.

He was last to wake up. He always was.

Toby and Amelia were snacking on breakfast bars. Andy was eating a small breakfast pizza. Holly was eating an omelet.

"Uh, scrambled eggs," Joey said. A plate of scrambled eggs with a fork appeared in his hands.

Joey stared at his plate. "How can you do that?" He asked.

Amelia shrugged. "Years of practice. You want anything, Roxy?"

Roxy stared at her, as if she was considering it.

"I mean, only if you don't think it's poisoned..." Amelia laughed.

Roxy glared at her. "Breakfast bar." It appeared in her hand. 

"Thanks."

Amelia smiled. "No problem."

Roxy hesitated to eat it, but she did. Joey wolfed down his food, then sat next to Holly at the table. His plate and fork disappeared.

So did all the beds. There were now several, large, blue couches.

When Andy and Holly finished eating and got up, the table disappeared. They all sat on the couches.

"We should get to know each other a bit more," Amelia said. 

Roxy narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Why should we trust you with any information about ourselves?" Roxy demanded.

"Well, this one here didn't have any problem spilling your secrets!" Amelia pointed at Andy.

"Uh, what? What'd I do?" Andy said, alarmed. Amelia laughed.

"You really shouldn't. I'm not asking for trust. We're stuck here together, so we might as well get to know each other." Amelia brushed her hair out of her face.

Roxy tugged at her ponytail. "Fine." She stopped messing with it.

Amelia smiled. "Who's starting? I guess we can just ask questions about each other."

"I will," Roxy said. "Why did you want to help?"

"I was bored. It's May. Nothing to do in May. No fairs or festivals or anything. Honestly, I didn't trust you at all. You all looked like you wanted to stab me in the back. I was really wary around you guys. Always ready to attack you if you attacked me or my brother. I tried hard not to show it. I like you guys now! You're trusting, kind, and funny." Amelia smiled at all of them.

Roxy was silent. Joey and Andy smiled back. Holly went next.

"Do you like people?"

"Me and my brother hate people. Roxy, do you like working, or having a good time?" Amelia asked.

"Having a good time," Roxy answered slowly. 

"Do you love your country?" Joey asked.

Amelia nodded. "Yes."

"Why do you love it?" Andy said before Joey could. 

"In every small town, it's cozy, and you're friends with everyone. We always have fair and festivals and holidays. We eat and play games. Every day's a party, and everyone's happy and hopeful and kind. The few that break the law are locked away for a certain time, depending on what they did. Everywhere is beautiful. Every animal is amazing. Everyone is unique. It's such a great place to live. You can do anything, dance at clubs, do magic, practice archery, and knife-throwing, anything!" Amelia rambled on about how great Rasso is.

Andy, Roxy, and Holly stared, awed. They listened intently.

When Amelia was finished, she laughed. "Sorry, that took forever!"

Andy raised his hand. "I wanna live here."

Roxy looked shocked. "The drinks!"

Andy shrugged. He smiled at Amelia.  "This place sounds perfect."

Amelia smiled and nodded. Then, it disappeared. "It's not perfect anymore. The laws have changed. It's easier to kill and hurt people. Innocent people. Part of why I took my job. To keep people safe. The bad people here are growing. When King Peter died, his son Henry took his place. Henry's controlling everything. He's an awful king. You can't stay here, he'll kill you. He publicly shames, beats, and kills anyone who breaks the law. Murderers, real monsters, run everywhere. It gets worse every day. I'm telling you, here, a mercenary is a good thing." She went pale.

"Why didn't you just say that?" Roxy asked. "When you said you were a mercenary?"

Amelia shook her head. "Not out in the open. And look, I'm a great wizard, but against all the king's magicians, I don't stand a chance."

Roxy nodded. "How about a few? With all of us fighting?"

Amelia smiled. "That, maybe. At least, some of us will make it."

Joey laughed. "Roxy and Amelia, you two are the same people! And you hated each other!"

Amelia and Roxy shook their heads. "We're not the same," they said at the same time.

Joey laughed again.

"Who cares? Let's overthrow the king, and get a new one! One like King Patrick or whatever!" Andy offered excitedly.

"Peter. And it's not that easy," Amelia said. "We still have to fight him, and none of us would last a second."

Andy frowned and shook his head. "If we came up with a plan..."

"Toby has a plan! We'll get you home, safe. And we'll come with you," Amelia insisted.

There was no point in fighting a battle that was already lost, so he gave up, mumbling.

"What is his plan?" Roxy said.

Amelia and Toby exchanged glances. Toby whispered something in her ear. She looked confused. 

"Now's not the time? Then when is?" Amelia said to more of Toby than the rest of the group.

Toby leaned in again. Amelia sighed.

"He says to trust him. Don't worry guys, it'll work out. But since he's the only 'man with a plan,' try to keep him safe." Amelia grabbed her metal ball and observed it. She smiled, so Joey thought that meant things were good for the time being.

"Still think she's gonna kill us?" Joey whispered to Roxy.

"A little less now," Roxy whispered back. "She might still."

"Uh huh," Joey said.

"Hey, we want our parents to come to your world too. Being our adoptive parents, they'll be questioned, and if they can't give the right answer, they'll be killed." Amelia looked sad.

"Of course. And Amelia, we're going to save our wasteland of a world," Joey promised.

Roxy rolled her eyes. "Don't make promises you can't keep," she muttered.

Joey glared at her.

For the rest of the day, they talked. They even played a few games, like tag, freeze dance, and night at the museum. They all became fast friends. Even Roxy started to warm up to Amelia (although she still denied it), seeing how similar they are.

The only one they didn't talk to was Toby, who was remaining silent, like he took an oath.

They all got ready for bed. The same beds appeared, in their original spots, each climbing into the same beds they had last night.

"Sleep well," said Amelia. "Big day tomorrow. The wizards passed us, so I know where they're heading. It won't take long for them to find us, though. So we'll have breakfast, and we'll be on our way. Only three. We might be able to take three, all together." She smiled.

"Hey, Holly, wanna see a magic trick?" Amelia asked.

Holly sat up and nodded eagerly.

Amelia held out her open palms in front of her. A fire-like ball took shape above them, a mixture of blue, purple, pink, and red.

It shot upwards until it nearly touched the ceiling. Then, it curved inwards until it looked like a great raven. It turned blue, then orange, then red, then, it exploded into a whirl of color. Amelia smiled.

They were all amazed. The light danced in their eyes, and the colors reflected on their skin. 

They didn't say a word, but they all fell asleep with smiles on their faces.