When Wisp and Ike emerged once more from the treasury, burdened with almost more loot than they could carry, they found themselves standing in an entirely different place.

A stone city stood around them. In its center stood a modest castle, but this castle had no walls. Instead, shops and homes clustered close. All stood empty. Not a single puppet nor person was anywhere in sight.

Ike and Wisp exchanged a glance. Ike shrugged first. “Let’s go find Shopkeep.”

It wasn’t a hard mission. The sound of steady thudding lead them in his direction. At the edge of the new stone city, Shopkeep stood. He pointed, directing the stones into the earth to form the new streets. On either side of the freshly-built streets, stone houses piled up on themselves. As he walked, the new city formed around him.

Ike watched in silence, amazed. Beside him, Wisp yawned, bored.

Shopkeep alerted and turned at the sound. His eyes landed on them, and he smiled. “Hello! Have you taken all the loot you desire?”

“Hell yeah,” Wisp said, nodding.

“We have,” Ike confirmed. “What are you up to?”

Shopkeep gestured. “Building a new city. I know it’s mere egoism, but perhaps if I build houses, people might come and think it’s a good place to live. I’d like it if this place became lively once more. Not the puppet show’s kind of lively, but truly lively. Full of people I’ve never met, truly living true lives.”

Ike nodded. He smiled. “I think I’d like that as well.”

Shopkeep nodded at them. “What about you two? You can pick any house you like.”

Wisp shrugged. “We’re the travelling type. We don’t really settle down.”

“That’s fine! Even if it’s just a place to lay your belongings, or come back to from time to time. It’s the least I can do for my saviors.”

Ike and Wisp exchanged a glance. At last, Ike shrugged. “If he’s offering it for free, no reason not to take him up on it.”

“Do you ever plan to come back?” Wisp asked.

Ike shrugged. “I don’t know. I never planned to come here in the first place. How am I supposed to know if I’ll want to return here, centuries in the future?”

“I suppose that’s true.” Wisp shrugged. “I won’t stop you.”

“And will you pick a house?”

She shrugged non-comitally. “If one strikes my fancy, perhaps.”

Ike chuckled at her. He shook his head. “You had a home back in the forest. What’s the hesitation now?”

She pointed at him. “You!”

“Me?” Ike asked, startled.

“Not you.”

“Is it me, or not me?”

“Yes. It’s you. Humans. With all your annoying rules and laws. What if I get hungry, and a tasty little morsel runs by my door? In my forest, I snatch it up and eat it. But if humans see me do it, they start screaming about the child-devouring spider monster,” Wisp said, crossing her arms.

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“Ah. Yes. I can see how that could cause conflicts,” Ike said, grinning.

“So I don’t really want a home in a human city. I’m happier out in the wild.” She paused. From the corner of her eyes, she cut a look at Ike. “But if you had a home, I might visit you once or twice.”

“Oh? I’m honored. As long as you don’t eat any children in front of it,” Ike amended.

“You humans and your dang rules,” Wisp grumbled, but she grinned at him.

Ike grinned back. “Help me pick out a good house.”

“What do you want, a biggun?” she asked.

“Big and fancy.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Wisp said, with an approving nod.

“You can turn down all the free loot you want, but I’m taking the biggest house I can,” Ike said, nodding.

Wisp jolted. She whipped around. “Houses are loot?”

“Yeah. They’re pretty damn expensive. At least as expensive as a Bronze skill. A big one might run as much as a Silver or Gold skill,” Ike asserted.

She stared at him, completely still. Big eyes gazed up at him. “Really?”

Ike pinched his chin. He looked around at the mansions around them, with their stone walls and big, open windows. “Actually, these mage houses might even cost more than that. Houses can be really, really expensive.”

Wisp stared at him for another moment. Abruptly, she ran off. “I’m getting a house!”

“What happened to accidentally eating children?”

“That’s the children’s problem!”

Ike chuckled. He watched her run off, then shook his head. “They aren’t going to run away, you know.”

“I’m getting the biggest one!” she shouted back.

Ike jolted. He chased after her. “Wait up! I was looking at houses first! I get the biggest one!”

Across the town, Shopkeep looked up. A smile spread across his lips. He made a subtle gesture. Ahead of Ike and Wisp, around the corner where they couldn’t see yet, stone flew toward two houses. They grew larger. Verandas attached to their side. Broad porches and a broad courtyard spread around each. Another story piled on top. Two grand, beautiful houses grew out of the otherwise somewhat cookie cutter surroundings.

As the last stone landed on the walls, Wisp and Ike turned the corner. Wisp gave a quick glance, then raced for the further of the two. “This one’s mine!”

“I’ll take this one, then,” Ike said, perfectly satisfied. The houses were more or less the same, after all. Their layout was a little different, so that one appeared grander from the road, but a moment’s glance proved that their contents were equivalent. He rested a hand on the gate and gazed at the house. His house.

I have a house. The words flowed through his mind, then settled into his heart. A weight lifted off his shoulders, one he hadn’t even known had settled there. He had a house. A place to stay, and call his own. A house.

“Insane,” Ike murmured aloud. He’d never imagined he’d have a house. Not in his wildest dreams. He’d known, working for his uncle, that he’d never make enough to own a house, and there was little hope that the mortal him would outlive his mage uncle. Out in the wild, wandering around, he’d had no use for a house. But now… now, he had one.

He took a deep breath. He didn’t know how to feel. Happy? Proud? Anxious? Excited? To tell the truth, he felt a little of all of them at once. He clenched his hands and released them, grinning to himself.

“There’s a pond! For eating fish!” Wisp shouted, already running around inside hers.

“I think it’s for admiring fish!” Ike shouted back. He lifted his hand off the wall and stepped inside.

Instantly, thick aether whirled around him. Startled, Ike drew to a halt. He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, feeling the aether all around him. It whirled past, rushing all around him.

“A mana vein?” Shawn asked, sitting up on Ike’s shoulder. He let go and ran into the house. “Mana vein!”

“Don’t you have to ask to—” Shawn was gone. Ike shook his head. He’ll ask if he needs to, I guess. Moving more slowly than his smaller companion, Ike took in the house.

As Wisp had said, there was a shallow indentation in the earth for a pond. It hadn’t yet filled with water. Likewise, there was a vast space for a garden or lawn, but no plants grew yet. Ike hummed. He could do that. Put water in the pond. Seed the earth. Plant bushes, flowers, trees. This land was his. This house was his. He could do everything he wanted.

He stepped into the house proper. It was simple for now, little more than stone walls and a stone floor. He drew a few items from the treasury as he walked. A gilded love chair sat under the entry windows. A set of fine shovels and rakes for the fire went beside the chimney. Upstairs, he put a bed frame in one of the bedrooms, and put a few of the kingly clothes he’d looted from Clarina’s city in the closet. Ike walked to the window and gazed out.

His house.

He couldn’t help it. Couldn’t stop thinking about it. His house. He ran his hand along the windowsill and felt the cool stone under his palm. His stone. His windowsill.

A shiver crawled up his spine. Ike laughed aloud, not knowing what else to do. It was so surreal. This moment was impossible. But it had happened. He had a house. He had a house!