There was a reason why Manuel tried to make the bathroom on the first floor as soundproof as possible. When the water wisp got to work on the little imp, Cia screamed more than when the swamp creature tried to eat her. Unfortunately for her, not a sound of that reached the friends' ears.

"Ah, there you are," Airo called out to Jin and Kaili, who were resting on a small bench on the balcony, staring up into the night sky. When they turned around and spotted their friend, however, their previous conversation topic was quickly replaced by hysterical laughter.

"Oh my god! What is that?" the dryad mumbled when she finally managed to take in a proper breath.

"What is what?" Airo didn't understand.

"You've got a dress!" Jin coined in.

"This isn't a dress! It's a nightgown."

"Looks like a dress!"

"Well, it's not. It's the breeziest form of pyjamas you can find."

"And the hat?" Kaili asked, her wheezing forcing her to take breaks between words.

"It's perfect for keeping my hair in place. Do you have any idea how much it tends to float around when I sleep?"

"It's got a fluffy ball on top!" Jin yelled out and rolled off the bench.

"That's a decorative pompon!"

The word prompted another burst of laughter out of the two.

"Savages..." Airo muttered and sat down in Jin's place. He crossed his arms and waited until the two would have enough of comedy for the night.

"Oh wow, I haven't seen you like this. That's an amazing dress," Kaili said and slowly began picking herself off the floor.

"It's a–"

"I know, I know, a nightgown. No need to say it twice." She and Jin took a few deep breaths to finally calm down a bit and joined the young Cloudfolk on the bench.

"What were you two doing here? I mean, before you decided to mock my choice of outfit."

A giggle crept up on Jin, but he quickly managed to swallow it down and respond. "We were just watching the Great Lane."

The three pairs of eyes turned to the sky. A giant golden lay-line ran through the entire world. Its arms were like branches of a massive tree. A large bundle of ley energy would travel around its circular form, illuminating different parts of the world and bringing about what was known as the day-night cycle. Now, when the light dimmed and travelled away to the other side of the world, the Grand Lane was so pleasant to look at.

"Guys?" Jin spoke after a moment of a silent appreciation of nature. "If you could visit any other plane of existence, where would you go?"

"Simple. To the Centre," Kaili replied immediately.

"Really? Despite the dangers? What is there even to be seen? It's five realms that collapsed into one. Nothing but ruins and destruction."

"I don't know, I find the ruins fascinating. Don't you? They once belonged to the great minds that created the Grand Lane. Everything we know and love came to be because of those ancient civilizations."

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"Heh, does that all you love include me?" Jin smirked at her.

"Yes, yes, of course, it includes my favourite human." She leaned closer and gave him a noogie.

"Wouldn't you want to see where the creators of humans came from?" Airo asked, trying to speak over Jin and Kaili's friendly squabble.

"Not really. The idea that we're the only species created artificially gives me the creeps. I wanna stay away from that part of history as far as possible."

"And where would you want to go, Airo?" the girl asked.

"The Endless Skies."

"Ah, home sweet home of the Cloudfolk."

"Exactly. Imagine how clean the air there must be. Besides, my family does technically come from a royal bloodline. I'd probably be greeted with proper ceremony."

"Eh, pish posh," Jin muttered.

"Oh yeah? And what amazing place would you like to visit, Mr. Homunculus?"

"Anything. Anywhere we go, there's gotta be so much to see. Just think about how far the ley-lines go. How many realms there are!"

"Thirty-six"

"That we know of."

"That we can visit without risking a one-way trip."

"Touché, my royal friend, but that is still a lot of worlds to see." Jin looked to the sky and reached into his pocket, pulling out a dirty Whispa root.

"No! Not you dare put that to your mouth! It's been in the bog!" Kaili yelled at him and almost wrestled him off the bench, with the boy laughing at how easy she was to tick off.

"Bathroom's free. And it's a real magical experience," Cia's voice came from behind them.

The moment they all turned around, their hearts melted.

"Awwwww!" Kaili squealed and approached the little imp with a spark in her eyes.

"Touch me and I'll bite you," she warned her.

"You're so fluffy now!" the young dryad sang when she saw her friend, who, due to the bubble bath, puffed up to almost twice the size.

"Oh, you finally washed away the wet dog look," Jin smirked at her.

"May I pet you?" Kaili asked.

"What do you think?" the imp frowned at her.

Airo stayed quiet. To him, even funnier than her sudden fluffiness was the yellow onesie. He knew how fond she was of it, but also how little tolerance she had of anyone making fun of it, and so he pressed his urges to smile all the way to the back of his head.

As the remaining two kids survived the trial of shower, provided by Manuel's water wisp, they headed off to their rooms, as instructed by the wizard.

Jin smiled when he saw the sheer size of his bedroom. Even their living room back home wasn't as big and certainly didn't have so many books.

"Ooh yeah, a king-sized bed even for a farmer. That's my kind of kingdom," he muttered to himself as he lay down, almost immediately sinking into the mattress. He wasn't sure what it was made of, but lying on it felt as if he was gently being carried away by waves. A mere moment of shutting his eyes to get a feel for the bed very quickly turned into a full night of sleep without the boy even realizing it.

Kaili was expecting many things, but none of them could compare to the actual reality of her room. The walls and roof were painted to look like forest and night sky, but with so much realism that if it wasn't for the entrance door, she would truly think she had stepped through a portal. Her bed as if it was a giant tent. She took a few steps forward, surprised at how much the floor felt like real grass. Her first instinct was to only try the tent out and then go grab a book from downstairs that she might read, but fatigue claimed her so fast she couldn't bring herself to get up.

Cia frowned at the construct in front of her. It was round, fuzzy, and with an entrance point so small she'd have to crawl inside. The nature of her bed, however, wasn't the issue. It was the question of how exactly Manuel came up with it. She loved making nests and pillow forts ever since she was a tiny child. Up until now, this fondness never left her, which is why she would often grab all pillows placed on her bed and would simply burrow with them under the duvet. Here, there was no burrowing needed. The place seemed like a big comfortable nest on its own.

Airo couldn't help but smile at his own room. For a Cloudfolk, it wasn't uncommon to accidentally float away during the night, and so he often had to sleep under a weighted blanket that would make sure he wouldn't fly out of a window. Here, it almost seemed as if flying was encouraged. A sleeping bag hung from the ceiling, open and inviting him to rest after a busy day. He did not let himself be tempted for too long. For someone so weightless and light, sleeping upright or lying down made little difference. All that mattered was the freedom of movement. Throughout the night, Airo found himself floating inside his bag, back and forth through the room, yet still firmly anchored to the ceiling. The dreams this freedom brought him were the best he had in years.