Later that afternoon, Alex was busy with unpacking in his new bedroom, when he heard a knock on his door. Grayson let himself in.

"Manners much?" Alex said with crossed his arms.

Grayson chuckled. "Oh come on, don't be like that, Lex. I knocked, let that be enough." Alex gave him one last disapproving glare before returning to unpacking. "Now, where the gondola have you been all night and day?"

"Making friends. Isn't that why we moved here? It's like I've been meeting someone new each second. I think you'd be proud."

"Hey now, I've always been proud of you. And now that you're making some real friends, I'm extra proud of you!"

Alex grumbled and launched a blue pillow at Grayson. "Grow up old man."

"Grow down young man." Grayson brought another pillow up to defend his face as Alex readied a larger pillow to throw.

The front doorbell suddenly rang, making Alex lower his pliable weapon and soar out of the room to go answer it.

Grayson disarmed himself as well, but flinched when he was swatted on his back by another pillow. "Cheater!"

Alex grinned to himself and ditched his pillow before heading downstairs.

When he opened the door, he saw a daring looking Carsyn dressed in short black boots, leather pants, and a leather black jacket, with her hair down, flowing in the light wind. "Ready to go, Lexy?"

Alex recalled earlier when Ziro told him that Carsyn would come for him later in the day, and also when Jeremi had shouted something about a party. He was about to answer her when Grayson came galloping downstairs.

"You know what? I'm insanely not proud of you throwing things at me! Not cool at all, Lex! And who's at the door?" He peeked over Alex's shoulder and caught sight of Carsyn. "Oh...miss, are you really comfortable wearing an outfit like that-" Alex harshly nudged him in his waist. "Ah, sorry...nevermind. Our neighbor told me that the kids in town like to dress in a 'vulgar' way."

Carsyn erupted into a tumultuous laughter, leaving Grayson confused. "So you must be the 'polite' dad of Lexy's. Oh, the things I've read in the letters must be true now that I've met you for real!" She laughed again, and even Alex chuckled a bit as well.

"W-what things? Wait...letters? Are you...Carsyn? That Carsyn? Holy jalapenos...And uhm, oh, your eyes...they're very pretty."

"Aww, thanks. It's nice to finally meet you, papa Prior. Now come with me, both of you. A celebration awaits."

"Celebration?" Grayson asked.

"Yup! Whenever someone new moves to Moonhaven, the whole town gets together to plan the most exuberant party that will go on for hours into the night. You may not decline to come."

"We're ready," Alex declared.

"Wait, we don't have our shoes on-" Grayson started to say as he pointed to both his and Alex's socks and sandals covered feet.

"You won't be judged for your foot attire, papa Prior. Promise." Carsyn giggled. Grayson blushed and nodded. "Follow me." She turned and started off into the dimming day, with Alex and Grayson close behind.

A ten minute walk had led them to a huge house in the most north-eastern part of the town. The majority of it was a soul-stirring black and grey. There was no fence around it, but instead two sizeable stone statues of wolves acting as an invisible surrounding barrier as well a guard to a short path that led up to the porch.

The house seemed undeniably spine-chilling, Alex thought.

"Welcome to Umbramoor Manor," Carsyn announced. She continued down the path and up to the porch.

Alex was mesmerized by the house, so he followed along slowly to scan every inch of its outer appearance. Grayson couldn't help but gaze into the eyes of one of the wolves, and noticed that they both had amber colored eyes. The quaint sound of a bell being rattled by a door broke his attention away, and he hurried to catch up.

"Finally! The guests of honor are here!" shouted a woman with strawberry blonde hair and freckled skin, who came to greet the three at the door. "How handsome you both look! Come, come in now. My name is Aoife Morales. Welcome to our fantastical, Moonhaven."

"Uhmm...hello. Thank you. Is this your house?" Grayson asked.

"Oh no, it's not. But I'm a much better host than the people who do live here," Aoife said.

"Hello!" shouted a man with suavely combed, dusty brown hair, and a hairy beard to match. "Newest citizens of Moonhaven, I am Emilio Hale. Let me be the first to say, welcome to our fantastical, Moonhaven!"

"Mrs. M. beat ya to it, Mr. H." Carsyn said with a mocking grin.

Emilio stared disappointedly at Aoife. "We agreed that I would get to say it first! Have you no shame, Aoife?"

"Don't be so dramatic Emilio! You seemed to be taking a long time over there, setting up with Evan and Ridley. And I thought maybe you'd forgotten to do the big introduction when I saw our new neighbors come in."

Emilio looked prepared to argue back, when a woman with lengthy jet-black waves and pale blue ends, appeared from behind them, and placed a hand on both their shoulders.

"Relax, please. You two had a deal, Aoife. You shook hands, looked each other in the eye, exchanged word-binding phrases and everything. Now how about an apology, and then some flavored soju, to bring back the peace?" the woman offered.

"Alright, alright. I'm so deeply sorry, Emilio," Aoife said.

"Mhm...'pology accepted. Dibs on the grapefruit soju." Emilio beelined for the kitchen, and Aoife dashed right after him.

The woman beamed as she watched them go. "Peace has been restored."

"Hmm...flavored soju, you said?" Carsyn asked.

"Saved you some peach flavor under the fridge, Syn," the woman said.

Carsyn nodded before heading off to the kitchen. "I'll leave these two in your care for now then."

"Ah, the newcomers. Hello at last! I'm Ridley Acera. You must be Alex, and the father, Grayson. Oh how alike you two look." First she shook Alex's hand, and when she shook Grayson's next, her face grew curious. "Mhm, your hands are quite rough. You do construction, perhaps? Or some kind of building or handy work?"

"Well, I own a hardware store. Nice sense of touch you got there, and really soft hands too." Grayson blushed, realizing what he'd said, but Ridley giggled. Alex stifled his own laugh.

Ridley scooped up both Grayson and Alex's hand and pulled them down the corridor. They passed by dozens of people who waved and cheered hello, and the two waved back very flustered by the welcoming.

Soon they reached a spacious living room. The walls were made of onyx and colored a fossil grey. The floor was polished brown maple wood, and the only carpeted area was beneath a glass coffee table that stood over a black wool rug. And covering multiple spots on the walls, hung numerous authentic paintings.

Through the horde of loitering bodies, Ridley brought them to small group near the middle of the room. A man lounged in a coin-grey armchair, while another perched on an inky black sofa. Both were busy watching a wide flat screen.

"Hey everyone, meet our new neighbors, Grayson Prior and his son Alex," Ridley announced to them.

The man in the armchair shushed her. "Not now Ridley! Savvy Talks is on. At least wait till commercials." His ash-blonde hair was styled short, and matched his five o'clock shadow.

The man on the sofa had messy sable-shaded hair, which contrasted with his bright silver eyes. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table in front of him, and paused the program.

The man in the armchair glared at the man on the sofa. "Out of bounds, Iker."

"Is this really the kind of impression you want to leave on our new neighbors?" questioned the man on the sofa.

"You can't hide true colors forever. Better to see who they're coexisting with now than later," grumbled the man in the armchair.

"You're pessimistic life lessons are always anything but false, Arthur," Ridley said. "I'll make your introductions quick for now. Gentlemen, the frank individual in the chair is Arthur Valis. And over there is our valiant, Iker Steele."

"It's nice to meet you," Iker said as he stood to shake hands with the Prior men.

"Likewise," Grayson said.

"Hey! It's Moonhaven's newcomers! Nice to see you two made it here all a-ok," said Martin, as he materialized from behind and gave the Prior men each a hug. "So you've met the rest of the townspeople, and our own main crew as well." He patted them hard on their backs, making Grayson cough a bit, and Alex chuckle. "Speaking of 'main crew', guess who's finally back in Moonhaven?"

"Oh! Silas? Has he really returned? Perfect timing!" Ridley cheered.

"Yeah, he's almost here. You two will love him. He's a wizard, a magician, and a sorcerer when it comes to food."

"There all the same thing, Martin," Iker said.

"Uh-uh! That's why they're all different words. People think just because I'm a lawyer, I know nothing about literature." Alex chuckled yet again and nodded in agreement. "Oh, I nearly forgot. Alex, you young man have been summoned from above by the vulgar youths."

"Huh?" Alex and Grayson both questioned simultaneously.

"Ziro and his group are upstairs in his room, and they're calling for you," Ridley translated. She guided Alex in the direction of the stairs. "When you get up these, it's all the way down the hall and to the right."

"Thanks, Ms. Acera." Alex gazed up at the spiraled stone-grey hardwood staircase, and started to climb.