In the upstairs living quarters of Crowley House, four women were currently in residence there. They were all part of one family, the Crowleys of the planet Terranthea. The oldest was Amalthea Crowley. She was currently in residence. Along with two of her younger sisters and her niece.

Amalthea was a darker skinned woman with long black hair and golden eyes. She adapted well to Emphyralis in less than a month. She wore a long skirt and a simple shirt. Her hair was braided and pulled into a bun. She, as the representative of her family, had testified the most before Upper Parliament. She didn't complain much since they were the ones that needed help.

She was currently in the living room of the top floor reading a magic book she'd borrowed from the Mage's Tower.

Honora and Helena were the third and fourth oldest sisters. Honora, also called Nora by her friends and family, had much lighter skin than Amalthea and her hair was golden blonde. Helena, also known as Lena, was nearly identical to Honora but her hair was a deep auburn. Both had hazel eyes. They were also reading magic books.

The sisters weren't completely human. Their father was a fallen cat deity. This unusual parentage not only granted them more powerful magic, but also the ability to shapeshift into cats.

The niece in residence was the daughter of the second oldest sister, Deinira. Delaney Crowley was not only part witchborn and deity, but also part Shadow Demon, which granted her the ability to move through the Shadow Dimension. This allowed her to traverse multiple worlds, realities, and planes of existence. Delaney's skin tone was somewhere between her oldest aunt and younger aunts with deep red hair and green eyes. It was thanks to her that they were able to come to Emphyralis because she met up with Britiana and Darius. She had the most involvement, so she had to testify to the Upper Parliament as well.

She wasn't reading magic books. She'd scoured the library looking for any information on Shadow Demons and the Shadow Dimension. There actually wasn't much information beyond what they already knew. Shadow Demons were beings from the Shadow Dimension, a hellish place. They could travel anywhere to make mischief. They were unlike the demons of the Lower Realm Terranthea.

Amalthea took a break from her book and decided to make some tea. "I'm making sweet iced tea, anybody want some?" she asked.

Delaney glanced at the time. "It's lunch time. How about we make brunch?" she suggested. "Pancakes, sausage and eggs?" 

Nora perked up. "Waffles," she declared. Lena nodded to agree with her twin.

Amalthea chuckled. "Alright. Y'all come help. I ain't making it all by my lonesome," she instructed. 

The younger sisters and niece obediently put down their books and headed to the kitchen. "You heard from your momma, Delaney?" Lena suddenly asked. Deinira had been invited to visit Treestar a few weeks ago, and she was still there.

Deleny snorted. "She's having a blast. She even said she might bring me home a Bronze step-daddy," she complained good naturedly. Her aunts giggled at that.

"I've seen Bronze Dragons. I wouldn't blame her," Thea said, tutting slightly as they busied themselves in the kitchen.

Helena poked Nora's side. "When the time comes, what kind of step-daddy you thinking about bringing Phryne?" she asked.

Honora was the only one of the five sisters to get married. Her husband had been a witchborne man named Clancey Kyteler. They had a daughter together, Phryne. However, due to the conflicts on Terranthea, Clancey had been killed a year ago. It had been hard on both of them, especially Phryne. They knew it would probably be a long time before she sought another relationship, but teasing and joking around were fine.

"Oh, girl, have you seen Amber Dragon men? I ain't talkin about li'l Quinlan. I mean real men," Nora suddenly said. "I was down in the taproom the other day and this big, tall, fine brother came in to order some neckbones, greens, black eyed peas, and cornbread to go. I asked around and found out he comes by often to take food back to his sister," she said, eyes sparkling briefly.

Her sisters glanced at her. "Who is he? How do you know he's an Amber Dragon? And why you ain't told me about him?" Lena grumbled.

"Just because we're twins don't mean we gotta share everything," Nora replied smartly. "Anyway, I asked around about him. He's from Myrkir. His sister is the Amber representative in the Conclave of Scales. She's also the steward of the Amber Dragon Territory in the Desolate Rises. He's the sherriff there. Jasper Flamespirit. They once stopped by the House after giving testimony a couple weeks ago and decided to try some food and fell in love with southern soul food. Since then, they've been coming to get some every few days," she explained. "That man has been put in my back pocket for now. When I feel single again, I'll strike up a conversation," she declared.

Lena laughed slightly. "Well, you keep an eye on him. Maybe I'll check out his sister," she said thoughtfully. 

Nora snorted. "We ain't gotta keep it that much in the family," she scolded lightly. 

Delaney listened to her aunts banter with a slight smile as she was making waffle batter. "What about you, Aunt Thea? What kinda uncle you bringing me and Phryne?" she asked teasingly. 

Thea gave her a glare as she was boiling water for tea. For now they were using things from Terranthea, but there were already plans to grow Terranthea produce on Emphyralis if there weren't alternatives. There were readily available types of tea but for the Crowleys, nothing was quite right when it came to the basic black tea for southern sweet tea, so they had to stock up from Terranthea until the tea trees were analyzed and studied and brought over to grow.

"I don't have a preference. Let's just say I ain't seen an unattractive Dragon yet," she finally answered.

Nora made a face. "Boring," she and Lena declared at the same time.

Delaney laughed. 

Thea snorted. "Anyway, it won't be the same as anyone else," she declared as she poured the boiling water in a pitcher and put the tea bags to steep. "Besides, there's so much variety, why limit oneself?" she said.

The others laughed at her. Delaney shook her head. Once she had the batter finished she handed it off to one of her aunts to cook. A chime sounded from the other room. "Looks like someone's calling," she said and went to the living room where she was working. A semi-translucent green stone was glowing in tune to the chiming. She touched the stone and her mothers face was projected above the stone. "Hang on a minute, momma," she said, and grabbed the stone and went to her bedroom to take the call in private.