POV, Chris, Human World
As the car stopped I turned to see a familiar house front that I'd only seen through a TV.
'Huh, so this is what the house looks like in real life... It's plainer than in the show.' I thought as I looked at a two-story house with a mix of light blue and beige wood as well as a reddish brick with a windowless door covered with a secondary door made of screen mesh to protect from bugs and for the cherry on top I looked towards a bell that hung above the door. "Come on Chris let's go inside!" I heard someone say as I turned to see Luz hopping out of the open car door on her side before I opened my side with ease as I got out. "Good job Chris, I was expecting to have to help you with the door like Luz but you were just fine, good job!" Camila said as she walked around the car closing the door behind me.
"Ah, thanks," I said smiling as I turned to Camila before following her toward the house. Entering the house the first thing I was a small foyer with some stairs leading upstairs and two empty doorways leading further into the house. "Welcome my... I mean our house!" Luz said suddenly rushing in front of me as she grabbed my hand. "Hey, do you want me to show you around? I totally know where every room in this house is like my hand!... I mean the back of my hand! Thanks, Mama." Luz said correcting herself before whispering the last part to her Mother. "Sure," I said smiling as Luz pulled me towards the stairs causing me to stumble before I caught myself. "The first stop of our tour is my room! It may not be quite as big as my last but it's pretty great!" Luz said as she showed a few spots like her desk, bed, and weirdly enough her window which had little doodles on it of random things ranging from animals to vegetables with faces on them as well as some smaller messy drawings of herself wearing a witch hat in the corner.
"Cool?" I said unsure of how to react before she dragged me to the bathroom, a guest room, and her mother's room but we weren't in there for long due to being driven out by Camila who had just come upstairs. "Ok onto the next floor!" Luz said as we went to the first floor and she showed me the living room, kitchen, and again another bathroom. "And finally I'll be showing you the basement!" Luz said as she dragged me down the stairs to a relatively clean basement with a little bar area where I saw a bunch of boxes. "This is nice and all but I should probably start unpacking my stuff, thanks for the tour though!" I said feeling a bit overwhelmed by Luz's excitement right after getting back to Earth. "B-but I wanted to-" Luz started to say before I stopped her. "It's ok, we can do whatever you want later after I get my stuff unpacked," I said calmly smiling as Luz's face morphed into a disappointed pout.
"Fine but you better be done quickly or I'm coming down here to help you!" Luz said as her face slowly turned into a smile as she rushed upstairs. "Phew finally some time to myself-" I said before being interrupted by the door being slammed open as I turned to see Luz holding it open. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this new book I got! Can you read it with me? Of course, I mean later but Can you...?" Luz asked looking at me expectantly. 'It's probably that Azura book she had in the series that she got from her father.' I thought a bit sadly looking up at Luz before smiling. "Sure just let me get this stuff organized," I said as I saw Luz's face light up before she slammed the door closed leaving me alone in the basement. "Hah, that girl seems to always have energy to spare," I said to myself as I started to unpack my stuff.
"Oh nice, a bat!" I said as I pulled out a baseball bat from the box I was rummaging through. "It's been a while since I used one of these!" I said backing up to a more open space as I took a batter's position and swung it, remembering how my original one was melted from a fire glyph. "In hindsight maybe I should've probably tried to create fire through a spell circle but I wasn't that experienced at the time and Stalker already knew how I could draw glyphs on the ground," I said as I placed my bat in the corner. "Speaking of stuff that happened in the Boiling Isles..." I said as I pulled out my scroll and looked through it. "Looks like there's no connection," I mumbled to myself as I heard a hiss from my neck. "Oh! Hissby! I forgot you were there for a second, sorry for ignoring you I've just been distracted." I said before I heard a hiss. "You're right, it's no excuse for ignoring you when you've been curled around my neck this whole time," I said agreeing with Hissby before I heard another hiss. "Nice right now? Fine but you'll have to catch them on your own, I think I saw some over in that direction." I said before pointing towards the counter as Hissby slithered off me and behind the counter. "Well now with that settled let's get back to unpacking," I said as I started to unpack more of my stuff.
Time skip 1 hour later...
"Whoo! Finally done, you know despite how many boxes there were it was surprisingly easy to unpack all of this." I said to myself before sitting on the ground as I heard a hiss from behind me. "Huh?" I said as I turned to see the Banana colored snake that is Hissby slithering towards me as I lowered an arm for him. "Hey, Hissby! So how did it go?" I asked as he hissed. "That's good, that's good," I said as I got back up after taking a breather as I walked back upstairs to the first floor. "Hey, I'm finally done!" I said as I closed the door to the basement behind me. "We're in here!" I heard a voice that sounded like Camila's say as I walked over to where I heard her calling from. "Hello Mrs.Noceda, hey Luz." I said greeting them as I smelled an appetizing scent coming from the stove where Camila was standing. "What smells so good?" I asked before wiping a bit of drool away as Camila turned around smiling. "I'm making some Chicken Tamales," Camila said as she turned back to the stove. 'Man that smells like heaven.' I thought as I realized how hungry I was after skipping lunch back in the Boiling Isles. "You bet my Mama's Tamales are delicious!" Luz said as she put her arm around my neck before noticing Hissby's discomfort and shifting it lower before explaining how they usually only eat them on special occasions since they take so long to make from scratch.
"But finally finding you after almost 6 months is a special occasion!" Luz said as her arms shot up into the air before she seemed to realize something as she grabbed me and led me over to the table she was sitting at. "Hey remember what I said what we would do when you were done with unpacking?" Luz said as my face turned thoughtful for a second before looking at Luz. "You said that you wanted to read a book?" I said as she pulled out a colorful book from nowhere. "Tada!" Luz said as she opened it to the glossary. "Now you may say "Luz how did you get such a cool book?" Well, I..." Luz said trying to imitate my voice before explaining that she got this book from her dad recently and she just started reading it. "Ah, that's cool," I said smiling at Luz as she went on to explain what she knew about the book so far and its really convoluted magic system.
'Seriously why do you need five flutes to summon a powerful monster when you could just cast a beast-keeping spell to summon a large monster from nearby.' I thought as I transitioned from Luz explaining the book to me, to reading it. 'You know despite the magic being overly complicated and the weird Victorian way the characters speak it's actually pretty clear plot-wise with a decently bearable protagonist.' I thought as I read more until I heard Camila say that dinner was ready an hour or two later. "Mmmm... this ish sho good," I said stuffing my face with a piece of a Chicken Tamale before I swallowed it. "This is pretty good Mrs.Noceda," I said complimenting Camila's cooking. "Oh please call me Camila, I've known you since both you and Luz were babies. You're practically like the son to me at this point and since you'll be living with us from now on with me taking care of you I expect you to be calling me that." Camila said nicely making it hard to refuse as I looked at her nervously. "O-ok Camila..." I said reluctantly as Camila smiled. "Good job, mi Nińo, now let's get back to eating," Camila said as she went back to eating I turned to see Luz's smug smile as I ignored her and ate my food.
Time skip, after dinner...
Finishing dinner I took my dishes over to the sink before handing them to Camila as I turned around and made my way to the family room. "Let's see what's on." I said as I turned on the T.V. To see some old off-brand shows on a channel called Animation Network before Luz joined me in the family room as she explained what channels had good shows on them including her newfound interest... Anime. After watching some shows for a bit, I started to get bored and decided to go to the backyard to look for that abandoned shack I remembered from the show to see if I could get lucky and figure out how that portal opened. As I walked off towards the forest alone since Luz was distracted by an episode of some random anime that just came on. 'Now to find that door.' I thought before I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see M-... Camila standing there. "Where do you think you're going, Chris?" Camila said as I smiled nervously. "I-I wanted to explore the forest a bit for anything that stood out." I said as Camila's face showed reluctance. "Chris, mi Nińo, I think you should stay away from forests for a while..." Camila said as I heard someone yell from the house "Don't go!" Before I turned to see Luz yelling in the direction of the tv. 'I can't just ignore Camila she's been kind to me throughout my life... Whelp here's something I never thought I would rely on.' I thought as I started to make puppy eyes unsure if it would work like in shows that exaggerated it. "Please, Mama Camila?" I said in the cutest voice I could muster.
'God this makes me want to barf.' I thought internally cringing at myself and my shamelessness. "N-no I won't fall for t-those adorable child eyes!" Camila said confirming my theory about cartoon logic. 'But to what extent does it work?' I thought before I turned back to Camila who was struggling to not give in. 'Wow, this works!' I thought even more surprised than before as Camila suddenly hugged me. "Ugh, I can't take it your just too adorable!" Camila said to me as she rubbed the side of her face on mine making me cringe even more than I did before. "S-so can I?" I ask as Camila nods. "I'll let you but..." Camila said as I listened intently. "But?" I said repeating the point she left off at. "But I'll choose the location you can explore for now." Camila said as she walked beside me. "Now I think I know a good place for you to explore." Camila said as I followed her somewhere. As we arrived I saw a run-down shack riddled with holes. 'Oh yay... I found it.' I thought unenthusiastically not being able to muster the enthusiasm I should do to how weirdly I acted a few minutes ago. 'I guess now's not the time to feel embarrassed since I achieved my goal.' I thought in a more focused state.
"Now remember to be back before 10:30 or you can say "bye-bye" to exploring alone." Camila said seriously before I nodded as she smiled. "Ok then see you later Chris!" Camila said as she started walking back to the house. 'Ok let's-" I thought more seriously before I heard something behind me that interrupted my thoughts. "Please Mama Camila, awww." I heard Camila say causing me to cringe as I waited for Camila to leave. After waiting a few minutes I finally started walking towards the door. "Ok let's see here." I said as I looked at the door before I opened and closed it acting as if something would happen. "Ok well, that was pointless." I said as I tried to remember how the portal was created when I was transported to the Boiling Isles. "Of course, this is just to see if I could do the same thing I did when I fell through the portal. So I was running with a wounded leg as Stalker chased me before jumping on me, pushing me into the water where I felt... pain from my leg..." I said as I turned to my leg which was healed already.
"I remember from the show that Titan's blood could open portals between the earth and the Boiling Isles but there was also that episode where Luz went to that world in between where I think the collector was since there was another episode where it showed a similar..." I said as I continued rambling. "But is it even possible? It may have just been a coincidence, right? The Isles hasn't run out of titan's blood from that lake yet right?" I said questioning myself. "Well, I'm not going to get anywhere rambling to myself." I said as I looked at my finger. "Ok, so how can I test this?" I said to myself. "Oh right that one form." I said as I tried to remember how I transformed the last time. "Maybe if I try this..." I said closing my eyes as I imagined my hand with those sharp nails as I felt a piercing pain from a clenched hand. "Ow!" I yelled before I stopped as I saw myself bleeding.
"Well, that works." I said as I smeared some blood and tried to shape it like some kind of teleportation glyph which ended up looking more like a frog instead. "Now I wait." I said before standing there a few minutes with nothing happening to the door. "Well, this was a waste of time." I said as I turned to leave. 'Doesn't that kind of look like a character from that other show with that one girl?' I thought before seeing a small flash of light from the edges of the door. "Huh?" I said as I turned back and looked at the door with wide eyes. "I was not expecting that to work." I said as I walked back to the door and opened it. "Why is there a suburb?" I said as I turned my head to see a familiar trio of girls around my age playing together in the front yard of a house. "Is this..." I said before I saw one of the girls look toward me.
"Shi-oot." I said as I saw a girl with messy brown hair run up to me before her friends noticed where she was going and followed her. "Uh hey whoever you guys are. Do you know where this is?" I asked awkwardly. "You're in Los Angeles, why?" A blonde-haired girl said answering me as she stepped forward. "Ah no reason, well back to Connecticut I go." I said as I tried walking back inside the door before I felt a few hands grab me as I turned around to see the trio with stars in their eyes as they looked at me. "You're magic right? This looks magical." a black-haired girl said. "Hey, what's with your nails, and is your hand bleeding? Do you want a bandaid?" I heard the blonde-haired girl say as she seemed to have ulterior motives. "Is this door magic as well? Why is there a weird frog on it? Also, what did you mean by back to Connecticut you go?" The last girl with black hair said as I pulled away my hands and change my transformed one behind my back before changing it back as I was bombarded with questions.
"Ok ok before I answer any more questions could I get your names? And no my hand is fine." I ask before they realized what they did and apologized. "I'm Sasha Waybright, nice to meet you." The blonde now Sasha said before I turned to the brown-haired girl. "I'm Anne Boonchuy." The newly introduced Anne said. "And I'm Marcy Wu!" The last girl, Marcy said as they finished introducing themselves. "Well, I'm... Chris Berming." I said before I took on a thoughtful look. 'Wait if this is Amphibia then does that mean this a parallel earth or...' I thought intrigued. "Hey if you don't mind I'm going to go try something oh by the way what's your house's number?" I asked as Anne gave me a number to her house which is next to this door. "Ok be back in a second." I said as I closed the door and ran back to the house where I dialed the number I was given before I waited for it to ring as I heard a click. "Boonchuy residence, Mr.Boonchuy speaking?" I heard an accented voice from the other side of the line before I heard noise from the other side as I heard a voice or rather voices from a minute or two ago.
"Hi, Chris!" Came screaming in unison from the other side of the line. 'Looks like it wasn't another world but actually in the Los Angeles, California of this world.' I thought confirming that. "Hey who's this Chris you are talking to you three?" The voice of the man from before said in the background. "Hey don't tell him anything weird!" I whispered into the phone realizing that I left some girls who discovered I could do magic... in Los Angeles. "Ok guys I'm going to come back now so please hang up." I requested as I heard a quick "ok" from the other line before I hung up. 'Let's hope nothing happens.' I thought before I noticed Camila standing near me. "Chris, who were you just talking to?" Camila said with a curious smile. "Uh, just some friends I met in Los Angeles?" I said causing Camila to become more confused. "Los Angeles in California? Was that where you were when you were missing?" Camila asked as I nodded. "Yeah, I got there somehow after someone found me in the deeper part of the woods." I said making up an excuse that probably didn't work as Camila looked at me suspiciously.
"Ok, but I'd like to talk to your friends soon to see if they're... ok people." Camila said as I gave her a thumbs up. "I'm going to go back to the shack is that ok Camila?" I asked as I looked at Camila. "Yeah you've only been there for about 20 minutes or so, so yeah go for it." Camila said her face turning back from suspicious to smiling. "Thanks!" I said as I went back to the shack where I reopened the door only to see the inside of the shack. "Oh wait!" I said as I saw the blood dry. "Ok, so it looks like this portal stuff requires imagining the person or place and my blood." I said remembering how I transformed when imagining my form and opening that door when thinking of that show Amphibia which is apparently in the same universe. "I wonder how many shows are in this universe?" I questioned before pushing the thought aside as I put any fresh blood on my wrist onto the door this time drawing that same teleportation glyph better and less like a frog before imagining Anne's house causing the door to glow.
"Nice got it to work again!" I said as I opened the door to see the three girls... and the person who I assume is Mr.Boonchuy standing behind them. "Welcome back!" Anne and the other two said cheerfully. "G-glad to be here." I said awkwardly as I saw Mr.Boonchuy staring at me. "Hello, there sir." I said as I opened the door fully waving. "Who are you?... and why is your magic door sitting in my yard!" Mr.Boonchuy said as he asked about the door. 'Well since they're going to be exposed to the supernatural... and are across the country it wouldn't hurt to be a bit open.' I thought as I focused back on him. "Ah well, I-" I started to say before I was interrupted. "And how did you make this? It's like from a video game I play!" He said the last part in an oddly interested voice contrasting his previous one as he started examining the door. "Well that's a secret for kids my age only and to your previous questions, I got here because I accidentally created a door from Connecticut to here." I said answering one of his questions while refusing to answer another before I realized I had blood on the door.
"Wait is that blood!? Where did it come from and why is it there?!" Mr.Boonchuy said slowly lowering his voice and whispering into my ear. "Well this is kind of awkward but that's my blood." I explained awkwardly whispering into his ear. "I'm sorry if I caused some panic." I said apologizing. "Well can you leave for now? I don't want unnecessary attention drawn to me or my family." He said before I nodded. "Ok, sir sorry for bothering you." I said as I turned to close the door-. "Wait! Couldn't Chris come visit again? His magic's cool!" Anne said as the other two nodded. "Uhhhh..." I turned to Mr.Boonchuy who gave me a shrug. "Sure? I'll come back over here if I have the time tomorrow." I said as the girls... cheered? 'I don't get what's cool about this... ok maybe the door but the rest is kind of mediocre compared to that.' I thought as I noticed the blood glowing making me nervous. "Got to go! see you guys tomorrow hopefully!" I said feeling rushed as I closed the door and the blood stopped glowing before it quickly dried up.
"While that's concerning but I don't have time to worry about that since I probably have to get home now since it's been a long amount of time I think?" I said unsure as I walked towards the house before noticing Hissby was gone. 'Where could he be I wonder?" I thought as I remembered seeing Hissby slither off my neck at some point when I was using the portal. 'Better give them a call later to tell them about Hissby.' I thought as I walked back inside to spend the rest of the evening with Luz and Camila or at least I wanted to only to feel lightheaded as I noticed I was bleeding a lot more than expected as I fell to the ground. 'Well, this is gonna be a long night.' I thought as I finally went back inside before asking for some gauze as I spent the rest of the night feeling fuzzy.