030.005

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Vacationing

Home Away From Home

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Alyssa sat on the living room couch. The cushioned leather seats were a stark contrast compared to everything that existed outside her transplanted house. Padding just wasn’t much of a real thing in Lyria. They tried. The people of this world definitely tried. And they even tried in different ways. Some inns or homes used straw stuffed into burlap-like sacks. Yzhemal’s inn, perhaps because of the many sheep that the village tended to, filled their beds with wool. Alyssa wasn’t sure how the palace softened the beds in the guest rooms, but they came the closest to Earth comfort.

It was a welcome change. Not just from being on the road from Lyria to Teneville, but from the world itself. Alyssa had visited Earth a few times, but that had been a while ago now. And only the first visit had really provided the opportunity to relax. The second visit had provided some good food, but that was it. The final visit had just been disastrous no matter how she tried to look at it.

Because of that final visit, she had been somewhat apprehensive approaching this version of her house. But this was the version of her house that she knew. Her room hadn’t been torn apart. The bed was still in its right place. Her dresser was full of her clothes. The fridge, food, and other supplies were just how she had left it all that time ago. It was more familiar than the real thing, oddly enough.

She had been surprised at how little it had changed. Aside from the one pane of broken glass at the front door, which had been broken by the burglars, everything was intact. Even the thin bit of saran wrap and tin foil she had taped to the hole hadn’t been damaged. Either nobody from Teneville ever hiked a day south of their town and no wild creatures or monsters cared about a giant house out in the middle of nowhere or Tenebrael had done something to ward off most things. Judging by how Izsha had been hesitant to approach until Alyssa specifically told it that it was okay to get closer, Alyssa was betting on the latter option.

Still, aside from some vines climbing up the side of the house, it was pretty much exactly how she had left it.

A part of her wondered why she had ever left. The cool air conditioning kept the heat of the day away. A movie was playing on a much larger screen than her phone. She had even popped some microwave popcorn for herself and Fela. Mostly Fela, as the hellhound wound up eating practically the entire bowl in only a few handfuls.

Which, really, was the best part about having left the house. Alyssa didn’t regret venturing out into the real world in the slightest. It had been scary at times, but she had also had a fair amount of fun. If not for venturing out, she wouldn’t have Fela chomping on expired food, packages included, at the moment. Her feet wouldn’t be resting on Kasita’s lap. She never would have met Tzheitza, Irulon, or any of the others. Sure, she could have done without the Taker and the Juno Federation. The demons too, though those jerks had been as close as Teneville.

It was entirely possible that destroying Tenebrael’s temple had been in the demon’s plan book for a while now. If Alyssa were a demon disgruntled with the lack of effectiveness of her plague because of faith in Tenebrael, destroying the temple would have been a very high priority. Taken in that light, destroying the temple at the same time as she had met with the demon might have actually been coincidence. If not coincidence, then perhaps as a direct attack against Alyssa in an attempt to weaken her faith in Tenebrael.

Alyssa wasn’t sure that she actually had faith in Tenebrael to begin with. At least not in her existence. In Alyssa’s opinion, the concept of faith required a lack of proof. It required belief despite uncertainty. And Alyssa was absolutely certain that Tenebrael existed. That wasn’t faith.

But it probably worked to the same effect as far as demonic infection was concerned. Or perhaps her connection to Tenebrael had washed away any initial infection that she might have acquired after contacting that demon. Either way, Fela hadn’t complained about her smelling like demons, so Alyssa wasn’t too worried.

“I don’t get it.”

Alyssa blinked, lifting her head from the couch’s armrest to look at Kasita. “Get it?” she said slowly, completely confused as to what the mimic was talking about. “Get what?”

“This movie.”

Blinking again, Alyssa turned her head to find green text scrolling up the screen. “Oh. It’s over.”

“I mean, it was neat when those people turned into those guys with sunglasses—it reminded me of myself—but all the plugging into computers is a bit confusing. Maybe there is some human element to it that I’m missing.”

“Probably the computer element, really.”

“I know what a computer is.”

“Yeah, but you only know from an abstract point of view. You’ve never really interacted with a computer aside from my phone, and my phone isn’t like the things in the movie at all.” Alyssa pulled her feet off Kasita, sitting up on the couch properly. “What did you think, Fela?”

The hellhound jerked, eyes snapping over as she slowly pulled a sharp nail from the giant tub of peanut butter that had been sitting in the closet for who knew how long. Her black fur around her claw was matted brown. “It’s good,” she said, running a tongue along her claw. “Is there more?”

“Well, the next two movies aren’t that good and would probably just be more confusing.”

“I meant this stuff,” she said, waving the tub around.

“I know,” Alyssa said, dropping her head back to the armrest. There could be another thing of peanut butter in the pantry, but Alyssa might want a jelly sandwich at some point, so she didn’t mention it. Not just yet.

Instead, she stood and walked over to the side window. It was still night out. Or rather, it was early morning not long before the sun would rise. She couldn’t actually see the statue in the distance—thankfully, as she didn’t know that she would be able to relax all that well with Tenebrael’s giant eyes peering over the hilltop—but the light from the halo and the magic circle gripped in the statue’s hand did coat the edges of the horizon in that strange black-white light. It wasn’t as bright as a real halo, which was probably a good thing. The entire land south of the mountains would be permanently washed in daylight if that were the case.

“Think the others will get here soon?”

“You didn’t actually tell them that you were leaving.”

“I figured they would notice and guess where I went.” She could have sent a message, but at the same time, she had been enjoying herself. When her mother and Irulon inevitably arrived, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to relax around them. “Also, I just couldn’t stick around there anymore. I don’t even want to see how Lazhar and Yzhemal will look at me if we ever see each other again.”

“Ufu~ Not planning on going back?”

“Not if I can help it. Ugh.” Obviously, if another demon were to show up, she would help out. But Fela had run around the entire village several times and hadn’t smelled anything wrong. And now, with Tenebrael’s giant face greeting the village every morning and night, it was hard to imagine that there would be a second incident.

Though whether or not the village remained populated was another matter entirely. The people here were highly religious. More than anyone else, as far as Alyssa could tell. But if she had lived here, she would definitely be making plans to move somewhere else. Even if that somewhere was just the first village north of the mountain pass.

Alyssa tensed as she heard the front door creak open. One hand drifted to the pistol holstered at her hip as she pushed herself off the couch with the other hand. It took Kasita resting a hand on her arm for her to realize her heart was hammering.

There was nothing to worry about. This was Nod, not Earth. She had magic, she had looted more guns from the gun safe, and she had allies. It wouldn’t matter if a burglar, assassin, or even demon walked around the corner. She… They would deal with it.

It wasn’t any of the three. Alyssa knew it wouldn’t be. Even before she recognized that familiar cadence to the heavy footsteps, she knew that there hadn’t been anything to worry about. The house had been untouched for months. Obviously no one would disturb it now.

Sure enough, her mother stepped around the corner, looking wide-eyed and bewildered. Her fingers brushed over the calendar that hung on the fridge—date still unchanged from when the house had been transplanted to this world several months ago. It took her two steps into the kitchen before she noticed Alyssa standing near the couch. She started for a moment before her face softened.

“You had us worried, you know? Running off like that…”

“I’m alright mom,” Alyssa said, slumping back down onto the couch. “I just… I’m sure you can understand why I wanted to get away from those people.”

“You could have said something,” she said as she walked closer. Only when she crossed over the linoleum dining room onto the carpet of the family room did she seem to notice that there were others in the room. “Kasita,” she said with a nod of her head. “And Fela?”

“Hi,” the hellhound said, waving a peanut butter-covered paw.

Lisa wrinkled her nose.

“She smelled me leaving and followed after,” Alyssa said, answering a question that her mother might not have even had. “We put on a few movies, though I think I fell asleep for most of them.”

“At least you got some sleep.”

“Yeah… So, what happened in the town? I didn’t really stick around to see them get over their initial shock and awe.”

Lisa leaned up against the side of the couch—the couch without Fela—and sighed. “The one with the funny hat—”

“Lazhar.”

“Yeah. Him. He declared that the next three days would be purely for celebration. Then he brought out big kegs on a cart and stared pouring ale for everyone that asked.”

“That… sounds like him, I suppose. Maybe a bit subdued compared to what I was expecting, but I guess I don’t really know what I was expecting.”

“I believe this village is going to have a boom in population in around nine months.”

Alyssa pressed her lips together, searching for the joke in her mother’s eyes. A joke she couldn’t find. “Okay. Maybe a bit less subdued. I think I’m glad I left.”

Lisa nodded slowly. “I could have gone without witnessing an orgy. At first, I thought you were a part of it all. I’m much happier now knowing that you came here to watch movies with your sister and…” She trailed off, looking to Fela.

Alyssa waited, but she never finished the sentence. It wasn’t that her mother disliked Fela. She just didn’t know how to act around monsters. Kasita was easy, she looked like a human and acted like one. She was amicable and good natured. Fela was good natured too, in Alyssa’s opinion, but her appearance definitely made some people act strangely. Alyssa might have even been intimidated if she hadn’t met all those other monsters. Compared to a gaunt, Fela was just a fluffy little puppy.

She could only hope that her mother would never have to encounter a gaunt.

“What about Brakkt and Irulon… Or maybe I don’t want to know what they did.”

“Irulon was with me. She expressed, in quite harsh words, how disappointed she was in the disrespectful behavior of the town. I think she was tempted to do something, but we ended up retreating to the inn… where she sat by the window all night, not sleeping as far as I could tell. She was just watching that… statue you made.”

“Tenebrael made it. I didn’t want to make a goth parody of the Statue of Liberty.”

Lisa just shrugged. “Don’t know what happened to Brakkt. He showed up a half hour ago, a bit worried that two of his draken were missing. He was going to Message you, but Irulon took a wild guess and said that you would be here with the draken.”

Alyssa leaned to the side, glancing around her mother. There were no princes or princesses standing around, making her raise her eyebrow. “So, you came alone?”

“I don’t really know why, but they’re having trouble coming closer. Even Irulon was confused.”

“Oh. Izsha, Fela, and Dasca were having that problem too. I just said that it was alright to go closer and the problem went away.” Alyssa stretched and yawned, unable to help herself. She probably hadn’t gotten nearly as much sleep as she should have. “Guess I should go invite them in too, huh?”

“Probably,” Lisa said, turning away from Alyssa. She looked around the room, eyes mostly drifting. Every so often, she would pause on something. The photograph from Egypt. A vase on the end table with a gold-dipped rose. A family photograph from a few years back. “This is… surreal.”

Her voice was soft. A whisper under her breath. Alyssa wasn’t sure if she was supposed to have heard it, but she did.

“Just when I thought I was getting used to this world, we come here.”

Alyssa nodded slowly, not sure at all what to say. Alyssa didn’t really find the house itself to be surreal. Maybe that was because she had started out in it and knew it well enough. But if she closed her eyes for a moment and then really looked, she could almost forget that she had ever left at all.

Which just made the presence of Fela and Kasita all the stranger.

Shaking her head, she headed out to the front door. Before she even opened it, she could see a few draken and a few humans puzzling about why they couldn’t get much closer than about a hundred feet away. It was a bit odd to see Irulon walk forward only to hesitate, look around like she had forgotten why she had come in the first place, then turn back to Brakkt.

Deciding to pull them out of their misery, Alyssa headed out. She didn’t need to go all the way. About halfway to them, she cupped her hands around her mouth and called out. “It’s alright, you can come on in.”

Shaking her head, Irulon hesitated. But, one step followed another. Like the spell was broken, she walked right up to Alyssa without any of that hesitation or forgetfulness.

“Hm.”

“That’s it? Hm?”

“I have the weirdest headache right now.”

“Well, we have acetaminophen inside. Come on. Brakkt as well. Unfortunately, the draken will not fit inside. I think Izsha and Dasca headed to that lake that’s a ways behind the house.”

“Acetaminophen?”

“Medicine. Or a drug. It’s good with headaches. Makes them fade away after about thirty minutes. Come on,” Alyssa said with a gesturing wave back to the house. “You might not have been able to experience your visit to Earth, but you wouldn’t have seen much more than what is inside this house anyway. It’s a little slice of another world.”

After a woozy shake of her head, Irulon started following. Brakkt and Tess followed along as well, the former looking around with mild caution while the latter just walked in Irulon’s wake with her hands clasped together. Alyssa opened the door, but Irulon paused out on the front porch.

“These plants, I don’t recognize them.”

Following Irulon’s gaze, Alyssa found herself staring at the little potted plant shoved into the corner of the porch. For having been neglected for over two months, the plant was doing surprisingly well. There weren’t any flowers blooming on it, but Alyssa could honestly not recall if it was even the kind of plant that produced flowers. But its leafs were large and thick in a roughly triangular shape.

“Can’t help you,” Alyssa said with a shrug. “My dad was the one who tended to all the plants and the garden. Maybe my mom knows? I doubt it.”

“Hm.” Irulon’s eyes lingered a moment longer, making Alyssa wonder if she saw something magical or useful in the plant, before she turned to the rest of the house. Her eyes quickly found the broken pane of glass that Alyssa had patched up. She stayed looking at that long enough that Alyssa wondered if she should say something about it, but ended up moving on to the doorbell.

It was an intercom system, one of the cheap ones without a camera. No one had actually used the voice part of the intercom in years. The only use the entire system got was ringing the doorbell through the speakers set in each of the bedrooms. Well, ringing most of the bedrooms. Alyssa had kept her volume turned all the way down unless she was expecting a package.

Deciding to show it off, Alyssa tapped the button. With the door open, the chime was clearly audible from the front porch.

“It lets us know we have visitors even when we’re on the opposite side of the house.”

“They don’t use your phones to contact you? I thought everyone in your world had them.”

“Not everyone everyone, but sometimes visitors will be unexpected, or have no way of knowing how to contact us by phone. So we have the doorbell.” Alyssa didn’t think that it was that strange a concept, but Irulon was staring with her draconic eyes. Here in Nod, Irulon would have a servant replace the function of a doorbell. Well, Earth had butlers and live-in maids that might have performed the same function, but they weren’t prevalent in modern society. Especially not among the low to middle class. Peasants here wouldn’t need doorbells, really, because most houses were single-room. Shops like Tzheitza’s should have used actual bells rather than the modern electronic equivalent, but now that she thought about it, the potion shop had nothing of the sort.

Irulon reached out and tapped the tip of her finger against the button.

The chime rang again, identical to the first time. Except, an indistinguishable shout from Lisa accompanied the noise.

Before Irulon could ask how it worked or push the button again, Alyssa grabbed her arm and started guiding her into the house. “If that’s a shocker, wait until you see the rest of the place. I’m sure there are tons of little things I don’t even notice as being strange that you’ll like. And…” Alyssa turned to Brakkt and Tess. “If you don’t want a tour, Fela and Kasita are sitting in one of the rooms. They got to look around last night. I’m sure there is some edible food from my world to entertain you. There is usually a tub of ice cream in the freezer, though it might be a bit freezer burned after two months.”

“Actually, I would prefer a tour.”

“I will stay by Princess Irulon’s side.”

“Alright,” Alyssa said, nodding slowly to each of them. “My house isn’t nearly the size of the palace’s first floor, so this won’t take long.”

After five minutes of trying to get Irulon to stop flicking the lights on and off, Alyssa decided that she had never said a more ignorant statement in her entire life.

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