Have I mentioned that I am wearing pants again? I am getting used to this body. I have designed something that deals with my tail. For my torso I am wearing something like a wide cloak. A shirt turns out to be very uncomfortable when it presses on my wing covers. It does not hurt. I just feel constricted. This body may have instincts that call for always being able to fly away, never mind that my clothing comes from [Equip the Army] and can be dissolved at will.

I steel myself and ring the door bell.

Stjepan opens the door. I should have expected that, yet it feels anticlimatic.

P: Hi, can I come in?

S: Sure, it is good that you are back. I am afraid mommy is a bit preoccupied right now.

Zora emerges from the kitchen.

Z: O hi, there you are

Z: Maria, our wizard is back!

Z: We are having a girls night for newly bald girls

Maria yells something in her language back. That is beyond me.

P: Maybe we should speak tomorrow

Z: Sure. I am afraid we’ve eaten all the noodles.

P: Don’t worry, I have sandwiches in storage

She heads back to the kitchen.

S: I’ll show you our new floors

P: Sure, but we should feed the cats first.

S: Right, they are in the garden playing with Natalija.

At this rate my stored cat food won’t last long.

S: Do you want me to show you the new floors?

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

P: I thought you’d show me your garage and your car first.

S: Cool. Did you know that I can get it to float? Mom had me try that out.

P: Good. If worst comes to worst, you may have to drive it.

S: Do you want to leave us?

He sounds a bit scared.

P: No, no, but look at how many people we are. If we want to leave together, we’ll need two cars. At least if we also have luggage.

S: You are right. I should have thought of that.

P: Here take those and take good care of them.

I give him five iron coins

P: The transformed cars run on them. Do you have the key rod for your car?

S: No, but the spare key hangs on the hook next to the door.

We proceed to the garage.

The boy is quite adept at controlling the car. We fuel it with another coin I give him. I want him to actually do the full process.

S: How far will it travel on a coin.

P: I have no idea. We may have to try that out. Have you found other cool stuff here?

S: Yes! Hoverboards! Two of them. I can ride them.

P: Can I see them?

S: Not here. We’ve brought them inside. Do you want to see them now? Can we go?

P: I think we should check the rest of the stuff here, lest we overlook something important.

S: If we must …

P: Hey, I promise we will hover, but something important happened here and gave us new things. We must understand them.

S: But … Yeah.

Trinkets. A lot of trinkets. Who makes a magically adjustable spanner?

P: You have already put that stuff into a box. That allows us to easily take that stuff with us.

S: Mom made us do that, but she did not explain why we were doing that.

P: These tools may be very valuable for a wizard who wants to copy them. So they may be a better way to pay than money with wizards. And thi stransformation will draw wizards in.

S: Like it has drawn you in?

P: No, no, I had no idea this transformation would happen.

S: Why did you come?

That makes me hesitate.

P: I was lonely and looking for friends.

S: But don’t you have friends at home?

P: I do. But the police was looking for me. They could have watched my friends.

S: Like a bad cowboy?

P: I would like rather think of myself Fletcher Christian rising up against Captain Bligh.

S: You mean on a ship or what?

P: Yes, on a ship.

S: So you are a pirate? Like on the Black Pearl?

P: Not that either. The only treasure I found was guarded by monsters and other pirates.

S: Tell me about that!

P: Operational security, need-to-know basis only

S: Unfair

I grin.

S: Very unfair.

P: By the way, what is that strange box with straps doing behind the car? That looks dangerous, like you would crush it, when you take the car out of the garage.

S: No, you need to go there to open the garage.

P: My bad. You are right. Do you mind if I use my cool wizarding analysis tool on it?

S: No problem. We found it in the car and took it out, because we had no idea what’s in it.

Xuronian transport box (attuned to Xuronian hover vehicle)

I think you can get your car into this and transport it on your back like a backpack.

S: No way

P: Try it out