The last of the homes, which was this large pumpkin orange, squat tower, wrapped in gardens with a bright purple roof and a slight greenhouse like wing off to the right that served as the front room of it, brightly flashed from within as the door opened and a tall, elongated male figure stepped out, his limbs faded to black at the elbow and knee, an extremely long and sleek black cat tail swirled out behind him, bright neon green eyes with slit pupils, long black hair with oversized cat ears atop his head, graying hair off his temples and graying whiskers blended into a short, thick goatee with twin gray shocks down the front, a wide shock of white was right off-center from his hairline, cat like paws and a large gold framed monocle resting over his left eye with a gold nose-piece over a slightly cat-like nose, he has cat teeth and very feline features, but was dressed in extremely vividly patterned robes of purples and greens, all heavily embellished in silver, massive sleeves that trailed out behind him and he almost looked a little weighed down by everything he was wearing.

              “Liz, there you are” Apricot laughed as she motioned for the extremely old looking cat man, there was an energy on his magic that could feel, it rested on your shoulders like the gravity around you tripled if not grew stronger than that.

              “Yes, yes, Calico was confused as to why we requested a bit of his time, but he should be here soon.” The man, Fisloan, said, all of them had an odd accent that I’m guessing was just the neutral accent of Glimmerstand, it was like what any high fantasy movie or book depicts as a “noble accent” where it’s a weird mix of almost Shakespearian theater voices mixed with various other elements of other accents that people liked making an almost indistinguishable accent that just confused you a bit.   

              “…why are all of you doing this?” I asked extremely confused and starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable with how they had already called someone and how involved with me they were making themselves.

              “We’re fey, we’re supposed to help those traveling our world and if someone needs to hide here, we do what we can to ensure they stay hidden” Liri said with a soft shrug, “Do you want to be able to…stop running? We could tell that you have been on your own for a long time.”

              “Handful of years” I sighed, “Started soon after I turned twenty three”

              “But deary, don’t you feel…tired of running? Nobody could find you here unless they have the power of an archfey or stronger” Apricot said, softly resting a plump hand on my arm, I sighed.

              “I’ve thought about it, but…I just don’t know” I added looking towards the sky above, “Everywhere I go…I feel people staring at me, I can’t do things like the warlords do where I can make myself look like a regular human or something, I can’t hide what I am, so not matter where I go…I always feel eyes on the back of my head like I’m a walking target.”

              “Oh, honey” Dahlia said

              “And…I’m sorry, I’m Quinten” I said, “I don’t think I mentioned my name yet.”

              “It’s alright” Fisloan said sitting on a large chair, crossing long cat like legs as he folded paw like hands over his knee, “If it’s not uncomfortable…who or what are you running from?” he asked, I bit my lower lip as I reached over my shoulder where some scars started to burn at the idea, “You do not need to tell us if you aren’t comfortable telling us.”

              “Please” I said quietly

              “I can tell that whomever they are…they very painfully etched themselves into your mind, that kind of reaction is not done easily at the idea of their memory” he added as he took out a long, swirly pipe and rested it between his cat like teeth, heavier brows slightly knitted to keep his monocle in place as almost powder blue smoke started to wisp off the pipe, ears softly twitching in the way that cats do when listening.

              “They did, I can confirm that”

              “Apricot and the others are correct, Quinten, you would be safe here. Glimmerstand has always been a safe haven from those who only desire one thing in their life.” He added after a few puffs on his pipe.

              “And that is?”

              “Freedom” he said, “All of us were born here and there are billions of people in each capital, let alone the entire realm, but there are always people wandering into or out of our realm, some don’t realize they’ve spent a lifetime here till they leave and only a moment has passed or they think they left for moment only to come back and a lifetime has gone by” he sighed wistfully, “Time is something that Glimmerstand has a shaky relationship with, time is not a set ratio here, depending on the person and why one is here, it feels like a normal rate while you’re living your life, but the moment you enter a different realm, there is always something that is a little cattywampus.” He said before laughing.

              “Freedom” I sighed quietly looking at the dark tea filled mug in my hands, “I…I don’t think I ever truly free…I was always under someone’s thumb, save for when I was at school, but then there were the rules of the school and all I had to follow.”

              “The motto of Glimmerstand does translate to “Fun and Fancy, Free” Liri laughed, “Some people even say we’re more hedonistic than those of the levels of the hells.”

              “I’ve heard things like that too” I laughed, “They…really couldn’t find me?”

              “Are they are powerful as an archfey or a warlord or more so?” Dahlia asked

              “No…no where close” I laughed, if either of my parents were that powerful I’d long be dead.

              “Then they cannot and with some favors or if you’re able to get a audience with the lesser court of Hallowed Mire, you could work your way up to the court of Harvest and get a pardon so that even if they were that powerful, you’d be a ward of Glimmerstand and thusly untouchable.” Fisloan said, there was something very unique about him; he was obviously an older man by how he sounded, the way he acted and other elements, but his face despite the feline elements, he looked like his couldn’t be more than his mid-forties, though…fey are strange and him looking that old could make him centuries old.

              “I’d…be able to have a life here?” I asked, “Stop running…utterly vanish from the mortal plane?”

              “Precisely.” He added, “My grandson, Calico, will be able to fill in some of the details of Glimmerstand if you wish, but all of us are more than willing to call on one of your grandchildren or for some of us, great-grandchildren or other family members when a wanderer needs a couch to crash on.” He added, a pointed look and crooked smile in Apricot’s direction, who just rolled her eyes softly.