“They’re actually both really good cooks, despite what you might think,” Viktor explained as we made our way in to the kitchen. As expected, the kitchen was absolutely massive. They didn’t actually have stoves in the same way as back in the mortal realm. They were created using a little bit of fire magic, as one might guess. The oven was created in the same way. I couldn’t find anything that resembled a dishwasher which did surprise me at least a little bit.

Much like the rest of the house, the kitchen was quite clean and well kept. It was joined with the dining room which had a large window lining the back wall. Through it, you could see in to the forest surrounding the town. There were also a few windows in the kitchen, but they were smaller and lit up the kitchen in an interesting way. They did have a lighting system, but we didn’t have it on since there was enough natural light to look around as it was now.

Once we reached the edge of the kitchen, we found the staircase leading to the upper and lower floors.

“What do you have in the basement?” I asked as we started up the stairs.

Viktor smiled. “We have a super amazing workshop down there with all kind of awesome tools and stuff. It’s really cool!”

“Wait… How do you know the layout of this house so well? You didn’t even know this was here, so then doesn’t that mean that they moved or something?”

“Well yeah, but they can rebuild the house exactly like it was. I mean, it’s a little different than when I was last here with all kinds of new technology that’s been created in the past few years, but the layout is identical. Actually, the basement could be for something different now… Probably not though. Momma really likes to make things and I’m sure she’d want to do so here,” he answered as we reached the top of the steps.

We were met with a fairly simple second floor. There was another floor above us, but this seemed to be the main floor. Ahead of us, there was a long hallway with four doors, two on each side.

“All the bedrooms are on this floor. We have little markers on the doors for each person, but that was mostly for fun than any kind of practicality.”

Viktor made his way to the end of the hall and turned to face the door on the left wall. On the door, there was a little golden plate. On it there was a leaf and diamond-shaped crystal. I could guess that the leaf was meant to be Viktor’s nature magic, but I couldn’t guess what the crystal was supposed to mean.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long for the answer as he pushed open the door and we stepped in to a bedroom containing two beds. Both sides of the room looked very different. They were extremely wildly decorated and it brought so many ideas to me on how I might be able to change my room back at camp.

The left side of the room was almost like a crystal mine. There were all kinds of shining crystals all over it with much of it being made of stone. There was even a massive set of shelves made of stone. The bed was a loft bed with a desk underneath and the mattress above it almost being displayed like a trophy. It was interesting to see, but it seemed like it might not have been that comfortable to walk around on. Unless, of course, you were an earth apprentice with weird tough skin.

The right side of the room was a little bit more welcoming, looking instead like a forest. The floor on the right slowly changed from stone in the middle to regular grass. In the far right corner, there was a large tree that had been molded to not only hold a bed, but also several bookshelves. There was a desk opposite the back wall that almost melded with the wood behind it.

Viktor walked over to the right side of the room, hopping on to the bed and crossing his legs as I stepped inside. Much to my surprise, the grass on the floor was completely real. It was also very soft. I could only guess it was being maintained with some form of permanent seal somewhere.

I stayed standing as I looked down at Viktor on the bed. “This is the room that Sam and I shared. We decided that we wanted to make our room look really cool, but we had very different visions for what that meant, so we ended up designing the sides ourselves. Needless to say, my parents were a little surprised when they came home to find out what we’d done.”

I chuckled. “Yeah. I remember I once moved my bed in to the living room of our apartment once while my mom was at work and she was a little confused when she came home.”

“We went through a few different versions and this is the last one we decided on. I’m kinda surprised that Sam hasn’t changed her side at all since I’ve been gone…”

“It’s also a little funny that they kept the sheets made while you were gone. After all, there’s no dust or anything on them. They must be cleaning and making the bed somewhat regularly.”

“Momma always makes the bed,” a voice said from behind us.

When I turned around, I found there was a boy standing behind the door, peeking out at the two of us. He looked almost exactly like Viktor, but smaller. He stepped in to the room, circling around me and taking a seat on the bed next to Viktor. Viktor smiled wide and squeezed the boy tightly. He returned the embrace. I watched and smiled a little before a frown crept in. My only sibling was kinda crazy. I wish I could try and get closer to her. I knew there was a good person inside of her. I wanted to try and find it, after this all was over.

When they released their hug, Viktor gave the boy a confused expression. “Why does momma make the bed, Gabriel?”

“She hopes you’ll come back. I hear her crying in her workshop sometimes… She cries about you.”

I could see a mix of emotions washing over Viktor’s face at hearing that and I honestly couldn’t blame him either. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t have the words. I would only make it worse, in all likelihood.

He sniffed once before standing up and then suddenly realized something. “Oh right. Avien, this is my younger brother, Gabriel,” he said, gesturing to the boy sitting on the bed.

Gabriel hopped off the bed and walked up to me, reaching out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Avien.”

I took his hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you too, Gabriel.”

“Hey, Gabriel, is Cynthia in her room?”

Gabriel nodded. “Yeah. I think she’s practicing though.”

With that Gabriel left, his footsteps disappearing down the hallway. Viktor hopped off the bed and gestured to the door. “Shall we?”

I made my way out of the door and stepped aside, allowing Viktor to close the door. He then walked across the hall to the door across from his room. The plate on the door was marked with a dragon. I was a little confused at this, but figured I would understand soon. Viktor raised his hand up and knocked on the door three times.

After a few moments, the door creaked open, a small girl peering from in between the crack. “Hello… Viktor!”

She quickly burst from the room and jumped up to hug Viktor who met the hug with a warm embrace. “Cynthia! It’s great to see you.”

“Are you finally coming home?” she asked.

Viktor placed her back down on the ground, kneeling down and shaking his head. “No. I’m just passing through. I have a mission I’m on with my friend here,” he pointed to me.

“Hi, I’m Avien. It’s nice to meet you, Cynthia,” I said, smiling.

She backed a little away from me, somewhat uneasy. “Hi…”

“Cynthia, he’s okay, I promise,” Viktor attempted to reassure her.

When Cynthia stepped back, she had gotten closer to the window at the end of the hallway and I noticed something strange. Her skin seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. I then realized that there was a reason for that. Cynthia had scales in patches all over her body. It was similar to Lilith, but they were a little less obvious and more spread out. Most of Lilith’s scales were around her upper body, especially her face. Cynthia was clearly some very small percent Drac.

“Okay… but… I need to go back to practicing…” Cynthia rushed back in to her room, closing the door quickly behind her.

Viktor shrugged. “I wouldn’t let it get to you. She’s just a little shy. I thought that was just ‘cause she was young though. She was really young when I left, so we never really built much of a relationship. Even Gabriel and I don’t have much of one, but it’s more than Cynthia. I’m a little surprised she even remembered me…”

“Clearly can’t have had that little of a relationship if she remembers you so well. Anyway, where to next?”

“Well, we already saw Gabriel,” he said, pointing to the door right next to the stairs on the same side of the house as Viktor and Samantha’s room. He walked over to the door across from it. There was a wing design carved in to the plate on this door. “And, according to Sam, Ezrael isn’t here, so checking his room is a bit pointless. That only leaves Misra.”