The next morning, I woke up about an hour before dawn. Not by choice, either, as a tremendous racket echoed through the house. Meleri, who was sleeping next to me, sat up, her eyes bleary. “What the hell is going on?” I shook my head. “No clue. Just a moment, and I’ll check.”

I threw on my clothes and staggered into the hallway, still over half asleep and more than a little grumpy. When I found the one making the racket, I would turn them into a frog and have Meleri make frog legs for dinner! I didn’t get too far, however, before I bumped into someone in the hallway. A robed man? Woman? I couldn’t tell, as their face were androgynous to the point it was impossible to say.

The person looked up from the scroll they were reading. “Ah, Morgana, I apologize for the racket. Turns out, this spell is making far more noise than I expected.“ That voice sounded… familiar. ”Do I… wait, I remember that voice now. You’re the one who blasted me to smithereens back on earth!” He… she? Shrugged. “I did, and I have repaid that debt in full, barring a few more chores the boss put down for me to do. Which brings me to why I am here. My boss figured your house could use a pick-me-up after so long, and so I was tasked with adding to it.”

By now, I wasn’t the only one present, as the racket woke up everyone else too. “By boss, I take it you mean the one who punished you for sending Meleri over without clearing it with them first?” They nodded. “Indeed. As such, I will be adding another bedroom, and a few other rooms to the house, without adding to the external footprint. Again, I apologize for the racket, everyone. If I knew it would be this loud, I would have done this during the day, rather than try to be stealthy about it while you all slept.”

I glanced down the hallway and noticed it expanded quite a bit, with four new doors and a T-intersection where it disappeared out of view. “How many more rooms, exactly?” They looked up from the scroll. “Four bedrooms, a library with books, some of which are for your sister.” They lifted a hand as they saw me open my mouth.

“Don’t ask. I don’t know what that was about either. The boss just told me she would need them in the future. There are also two studies, one for you, and one for your sister, a teleportation chamber that can circumvent the dimension lock spell preventing teleportation around the area, provided you have the right glyph key. And a few other miscellaneous rooms, you can use for whatever. Well, when everything is done at any rate, shouldn’t take more than another hour, or so. And no, I can’t pause the spell now that it has begun. You’ll just have to deal with it.”

I took a few deep breaths. While I was still tempted to at least attempt to turn them into a frog, I suspected that flat-out wouldn’t work. They glanced at me. “As… amusing as that notion of yours is, that would indeed be a very unwise idea. The spell wouldn’t work, for one. And I would be obligated to blast you, and everything else within a mile of this location, to smithereens in response.” The matter-of-fact way they said that was… more than a tad unnerving. The others seemed less sure exactly what that exchange was about.

“First, mind laying off with the damn mind reading because this time I have a mouth to speak with. Second, I’ll… take your word for it. Well, nothing to it. Might as well make an early breakfast.” Our guest just shrugged. “Can’t make any promises. After all, it’s not like I’m doing it on purpose. I have to make a concentrated effort not to.” The others gave our guest a wary glance, then followed me into the living room, leaving our uninvited guest behind. Where I left them behind as it made my way into the kitchen, to put some distance between me and that infernal racket. I began preparing some omelettes. It was simple, easy and tasty, and it kept my mind off things.

As I was grabbing some veggies for the omelette, Ivy flew in. She looked uncomfortable as she landed on my shoulder. I glanced over at her. “Something wrong?” Ivy shuddered as she glanced towards the living room. “That… thing… gives me chills. There is something horribly wrong with it.” I arched an eyebrow. “Well, I can venture a guess when I say you are probably reacting to its… otherworldliness. Maybe you are more sensitive to such things, being a fey and thus more in tune with the natural world.”

Ivy looked thoughtful for a moment, then just shook her head. “I don’t care why, I just don’t want to be near it. Can I stay in here?” I looked up from the veggies I was cutting. I could use magic, but since I needed to kill time anyway… “Sure, just don’t eat any of the ingredients, or you won’t have any breakfast.” Ivy nodded. “Can do. Need me to fetch anything?” Hmm “Yes, actually, mind grab some sausage from the pantry. Might as well put some in the omelette.” Ivy perked up at that news.

It didn’t take long to get a proper omelette cooking, and after leaving the rest to the enchantments, I entered the living room and joined the others. We could still hear the racket from the hallway, so things were still being put up, it would seem. Winter landed on my lap and gave an annoyed hoot. I began stroking her feathers. “I know, Winter, the racket is annoying, but our house will get bigger for it, not to mention Meleri gets her own bedroom and study, for free, no less. So we can’t really complain about it.”

The gentle strokes seemed to calm her down, and she was soon joined by Soot as well. While Midnight jumped into Miva’s lap for pats and scratches. “Now then, while we wait for the racket to end, why don’t I continue where I left off?” Everyone seemed eager to get a distraction from the noise. “Well then, how about going out on the porch for some more quiet as well? We can eat the omelette out there, too.” As if on cue, several plates filled with omelette and sliced bread with thin layers of butter floated in from the kitchen along with accompanying cutlery.

We each took our plates and moved onto the porch, where the racked was much diminished, but not entirely quiet. “Well, then…” I paused and took a bite out of my omelette. “As I was saying earlier…”

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It took a few days before there was a knocking on my door. It was Nettle, and she looked… annoyed more than anything. “We need you over at Nettledale. Several Geomancers have arrived in town and are arguing about what to do with the volcano, despite your instructions earlier. It has become so bad I’ve been asked to fetch you to help handle the situation.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I could already feel a headache coming. “I…” I took a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll come along. I doubt I’ll be of much help, but if I can prevent that volcano from popping its lid, I’m all for it.” A few moments later, Me, Soot and Midnight were all heading towards Nettledale. Nettle was riding with us, as we could fly faster that way.

When we arrived in Nettledale, it didn’t take long before we were swarmed by the many Fey Geomancers present, everyone speaking over each other. “Ms. Morgana, what exactly is—” “We should just…” And so it went on and on for several minutes, until my patience was at its end. “ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!” My magically amplified voice burst forth with such forth, it actually pushed everyone present back. And in its wake, a deafening silence fell over the square.

“Now then, you!” My was voice strained as I fought to keep my temper under control as I pointed at a wizened old brownie. “What exactly is going on here, and by that, I mean, why haven’t you already dealt with the volcano?” The brownie looked around as if surprised he was singled out, then startled as he realized I expected an answer. “U-um, well, you see…” His voice trailed off. “Anyone else among you able to actually explain what’s the holdup, or have I no choice but to assume you are all incompetent?”

I could see some of them murmur, but no one spoke up. Just as I was about to explode on them again, there was a sudden gust of wind and in a shower of leaves both Ilmahir and Erydhe appeared out of nowhere. “They can’t seem to agree…” “… Oh, how to deal with… “… The Magma Chamber.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Exactly what is it they can’t seem to agree upon? I think I already gave pretty explicit instructions on the best cause of action.” The two nodded. “So do we, but it would seem many of them disagree. Some of our ‘experts’ here even said we could crack open the chamber to vent the pressure.” What? I didn’t say it out loud, but my expression clearly said it all.

I turned towards the assembled Geomancers, and they all seemed to shrink away from me? Though, I wasn’t sure what expression I was making, they all seemed terrified. Good. “Well then. Let me show you what that would be like.” I conjured up a magic soap bubble, that floated in the air. “Imagine this bubble is the mountain and magma chamber. “And this happens to the mountain should you give the magma chamber free access to the surface.” I poked the bubble with a finger, causing it to pop. “Questions?”

A hand slowly crept up. “Yes?” A small Fae stepped forwards, a Hob maybe? I honestly couldn’t tell. “So… Umm. Are you… you know… certain that the mountain will blow up if we do that?” I took a deep breath. “Look, have you ever seen a teakettle?” The small Fae nodded. “Now imagine if someone filled it with water, magically sealed all the exits then set it to boil. Then, once it was boiling until all the water turned to vapor, what do you think could happen if you removed the seal?”

There was a pause, then a quiet… “Oh, same thing will happen to the mountain, that what you’re saying?” from the small Fae. I nodded. “The sheer amount of pressure inside that chamber even before the eruption happens is insane. The eruption simply happens when the chamber can no longer withstand it.

“But that’s just a hypo-” I spun around towards the Brownie who spoke up and glared at him. I walked over and bent down, so I was eye level with him. “Listen and listen closely. If I am right, and you crack open that chamber, every living thing between here and the human town of Nekkal will be wiped off the map. All things, the forest, this village, my house, and your court, EVERYTHING. All that will be left is a blasted ash covered hellscape, and the burnt remains of everyone and everything you love and care about. Got it?” The brownie turned a pale shade of green and nodded. “Good, now can you really take the risk, knowing this?” The brownie and everyone else there shook their heads.

As I stepped back from the brownie, he and the other Geomancers huddled together and whispered between themselves. “Well then, I am certain you all have much planning to do, so unless you have further need of me I will be returning home again.” The brownie hesitated for a moment. “Actually, Ms. Morgana, if we could bother you for some potions, preferably heat and poison resistance…” He piped up.

Heat resistance? “I can do the poison resistance one easy enough, made that before for the Fauns over at Apple Ridge, but heat resistance won’t be enough. Lava is one of the few things hot enough to melt adamantine metals. You’d need flat-out immunity for something like that.” The Brownie and the other Geomancers deflated.

I looked at them for a moment. “Now I can brew a fire immunity potion, as I have a recipe for it, but I don’t have the ingredients. There are some semi-rare items in there that I don’t have ready access to.” I looked over at Ilmahir and Erydhe who glanced at each other and nodded.

“We will get a hold of the ingredients and… “… Have them sent to your home…” “… As soon as we know what they are.” The two responded in tandem. “Great. Once I know what I need, I will send Soot to Nettledale with a list of what I need.” As I spoke, Midnight and Soot returned from Ivy’s since they wanted to visit her while we were here. The whole Volcano incident made Nettle keep everyone in the village in case the Geomancers needed their help. So unless they were leaving on official business, the pixies were effectively grounded.

Midnight looked at all the unfamiliar faces that were milling about. “I take it you’re done here, then?” Soot landed on my shoulder. “I would say so. Also, Lady Nettle, Ivy’s sulking.” Nettle took a deep breath. “Of course she is. However, since she is a courier, she has to stay here in case we… actually…. Ms. Morgana, why don’t you take her with you? You can send her back here with the list. It will make her stop sulking for a bit, and Soot won’t have to take the trip here and back again.” That seemed like a good idea to me.

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Just then, the door to the house opened. “Done and done. Your new rooms are all complete. I’ll get out of your hair now. Take care and enjoy yourselves.” The guest made an overly exaggerated bow, then made a sweeping motion with one arm which rent a rift in the air itself. Then they grabbed the edges of the rift into a strange, multicolored foggy place. After a moment of hesitation, they pulled it a part like a curtain.

Then stepped inside and then slammed the rift closed behind them without a sound, leaving no trace they were ever there. Midnight pranced over to where the rift just was. “Hmm, I can’t sense any traces of mana. Do you see anything, Soot?” She looked over at the Raven and tilted her head.

Soot hopped back and forth while staring at the spot for a few moments, but then shook his head. “Whatever that was, it didn’t use mana, likely some kind of racial ability or quirk, or maybe just magic on a higher level than we can sense.” I rose from my chair. “Either way, the construction is finished, so why don’t we look at what we’ve received?” Both Soot and Midnight agreed on the spot.

Winter landed on my hat. “I want to see as well, Mother. Meleri and Miva got to their feet. “It sounds good to me, Sis.” Miva grabbed Meleri’s hand. “Me too!” Ivy hopped down from her wind chime swing. “Me three!” she trilled. Jaira got to her own feet. “Far be it to be the only one against the idea, then. Lead the way, Darling.” I took a deep breath, then headed inside to see the things that were changed.