A Castle Of Crystal

20. Crazy little witch

Since Jude had been so kind to cook for us the day before and it was technically dinner time back in Terra, Nova offered to make an Alchemian dish that Jules did her best not to drool over. It was strange to see her in this light, no makeup with her hair down, looking like she was straight from a fairytale, but in a way I liked it more than the usual Jules. The whimsy that became her in a world like this one was just something beyond compare.

"Holy shit, and you guys thought my cooking was good?!" Jude scoffed as he dug into the plate, "Nova is there anything you aren't exceptionally talented with?"

"Gardening," she laughed brightly, the sound echoing over her music, "I'm also terrible at singing and anything artistic."

"Maybe Kane stole all the artistic talent," Jules teased, "you should see his paintings, they're absolutely beautiful."

"I saw some when I was there, he's magnificent! I remember watching you doodle all day long when we were kids."

Jules grinned as she finished her plate, leaning back in her seat with a contented groan, "oh my God the last time I had paradise bird was when you smuggled it over in college, thank you so much."

"I thought I'd treat everyone, luckily the bastards fly over the Deadlands all the time so it wasn't hard to bring one down."

"Why do they call this place the Deadlands?" I started and she pointed out the window to the fog that surrounded her yard.

"This place is rife with dangerous wildlife but aside from that, anyone who enters the fog without a clear image of their destination will get lost and typically wander off the cliff edges. After my exile at thirteen my parents decided to do what was best and they uprooted the house to move out here."

"How the hell do you uproot an entire house?" Jude gawked at her.

"Advanced teleportation, my father was exceptional with it while my mother helped make the perimeter. Those crystals around the yard are empathic crystals that read emotional energy and trip an alarm. They're the same ones that they use to sense when Travelers come in, if anyone steps past them with malicious intent it'll alert me so I can scram or prepare for a fight. Has happened a few times but luckily the fog has only grown thicker over the years so my home is safe."

"Dom and Beatty are like security guards, she's got about four more all stationed around the place but those two are my favorites," the love in Jules' voice was as sweet as honey while she got to her feet, "I wonder if the salamander is still nesting out by the pond."

"If he is don't disturb him, I don't need an angry lizard trying to set fire to my house!" Nova shouted at her as she walked into the back yard. "Again!"

Jude finished his meal and trailed off after Jules to check out the magical creature— or just to keep watching her— but that left me to help Nova clean up and I was almost surprised to find pretty up-to-date technology in the home when it came to appliances. No microwave but she had a stove and a fridge-type item, plus actual plumbing. I retreated to the living room with her and while she perused her shelves for different books I read through the one about fire magic she'd handed over, the curiosity eating away at me while I gently thumbed to the next chapter. There was a list of magical creatures that were all gifted with fire and that included the six-legged salamanders Jules was hunting for as well as a mulciber, a type of bird and...dragons.

"There's dragons here?" I asked in awe.

"Not in Alchemilla, but yes there are dragons in the world," she explained from across the room, "just like you have countries and continents so do we. In Ustrina across the Coral Sea they actually tame wild beasts like dragons and griffins for transportation. Alchemilla currently has no political allies to any other country as we've sort of been outcasted due to Ravyn, but it's a much smaller planet than yours, that we've realized."