(Chapter Thirty-One: Feels like a Home)
'Months had passed; so many things had happened since helping out DJ with his movie. Honestly, I was glad it was over and can assure you I'll never partake in another movie again;' Julia sat in her newly built house, scribbling away in a notebook.
'Things always happen in that studio when I'm in it. It was also hard trying to find a good effect or replacement for the monster since Doppler was taken care of.' Julia remembered suggesting that Zephyr could help out, but he said something about the camera stealing what was left if his souls and vanished for the remainder of the time.
The final time Julia set foot in dead bird studios was for the award show. All done up in a dress, it shocked a few folks. 'Gabriele was ecstatic that he was able to wear something other than his normal attire during the award show at the end of the season...'
'Even after the trouble and finding terrible replacements... Grooves won the gold trophy.' Julia smiles fondly at the memories as she continued to write 'and surprisingly, the Conductor wasn't even mad. Hmm... almost nearly hit him on the head thinking he was the doppelgänger instead.'.
'Button had been adopted into the family as well, Gabriele was the one who decided to adopt her. Even though the horrific situation was over, My boyfriend and I felt bad just thinking about leaving her in the studio. So, she eventually came along for the ride.' Julia could hear the commotion of the children playing outside, finally back to what would be normal peace around here.
'Kero was happy about that.'.
'On another note, the house me and the others will be permanently staying at had come along nicely.' When the house was completed, the woman just couldn't comprehend how nice it was. She had thanked Melody for the design.
And there she was, in her new living room space looking around the place. The first part of the house was mostly a living room, actually. The way in was a nice sliding glass door with drapes, a skinny window to the side of the door shining whatever light it was catching onto a soft couch, and another thicker size window on the other side of the glass door.
There was a place for a kitchen, but none of the electronics were implemented yet, so empty it will stay for now. They still weren't sure how to power the place. There was, however, a ladder that leads to a second floor that was mostly a catwalk around the main room but large enough to be a workspace for Julia. On the right side of her space, was another ladder that leads up to a deck on the side of the roof.
On the said second floor, Julia's workspace had a desk in front of two circular windows, one larger and one diagonally higher and smaller. A few stand up manikins next to the desk was for her new hobby. Julia had taken an interest in making clothing, nothing magical, she just liked making new bodies and styles for the minions ever since Button had chosen what she wanted to look like.
Kero's little gang had been the first ones to test with, they had given each other names like Cobalt, the minion who was stationed inside the manor and had taken a liking to Julia; Melon, Malone, and Piper who were the three minions that wanted Julia's hat when she first arrived in Subcon with Melody. It turns out that... Malone really does have a hat addiction.
On a few occasions, he'd ask her to make one for him.
She'd say the same thing every time: "I'm still learning."
The place was nice and lively despite it being in a dead forest that was still half-frozen and on fire.
But home it was. Surprisingly.
Continuing with the thought of the house, there was a little rope bridge that leads to a second house that was designed to be the sleeping area. It had a loft where the actual bed would be, but the loft was propped up by stilts so that eventually Julia could make a pillow pile of her own. Melody had given her a few, as a "starter kit".
Julia just shook her head at that but smiled.
The bed area had only two windows, one faced the front and the other in a small room above the loft that will probably serve as an attic. A place Zephyr had been spending most of his time. He just found it... roomy. The small attic also had a deck, a door leading out to it. That was pretty much all there was to the house for now.
There was a calm peace about the place.
'Zephyr has been trying to readjust to reality and causality, the poor guy didn't know the majority of electronics that were in the world, so that's saying a lot.' Julia hummed as she wrote that down, face scrunched up in a frown 'we, and I mean Me, Melody, Bonnie, and Lynn tried to introduce him to the ocean and Mafia town... uh.. in the first few moments he tried to kill some.'
'I had to stop him and his reasoning behind the attack was that "he was looking at us with threatful eyes" and I had to explain to Zephyr that's how they always look- poor goon now has a fear of clowns, jester and harlequins.' Julia shook her head, taking a moment to overlook her writing then kept going. 'Lynn tried to encourage him to scare more folks. I don't think taking him back to Mafia town is a good idea anymore.'
'And on a sadder note, there is a reason why I'm making this journal now. It's come to my attention that there is something really wrong with me. I thought I was going to be some sort of threat... a liability for many things, but it turns out that- it's not entirely my fault.'
'I'm losing control of myself, yes, but it's an after effect of absorbing magic that was never was mine to even begin with. I was never meant to have these gifts, but I used them anyway. It had proved to be more helpful over the toughest times I've been here.'
'I don't know when it will happen, but this journal with have my contingency plan. My Thoughts, and a possible goodbye. It seems bleak, I know, but I'm thinking this plan might just work...'
Julia closed her journal and hid it away for now. Her plan will be written out once she had a better grip on the situation. The woman had been feeling much better over the course of months as they passed, but she could feel that something was still wrong with her. It felt different than the time when she was disappearing...
Almost like a mental count down, vague as it was.
True to Gabriele's word, he had been doing his best in finding books and figuring out different methods on how to channel magic without it horrifically killing the host. They've even tried making her a staff for better control but every time Julia was to pick it up, it would splinter into pieces.
With a sigh, and hand through her hair, Julia stood up from her spot. She gave the house one last look before leaving out the front door. Now that everything about the inside of the house was practically done, she'd have to get to work with the outside.
Just because Snatcher enjoys the dead scenery, doesn't me she has too. "I just hope the soil isn't too sterile." She mumbled to herself as she climbed down the rope ladder.
The children, that had been playing in front of the house not to long ago, had noticed that Julia finally came out to do stuff. With excitement, the group of six ran in her direction.
Kero and Button had latched onto the women while the four minions had started to run circles around her, all laughing and giggling. Julia smiled at all of them hugging the two that were currently climbing.
"Oi you lot, where's Gabriele?" She asked raising a brow, he said he'd be watching them earlier.
In the distance, you couldn't hear a faint 'here' as Julia turned her gaze to see him recuperating on the floor.
"They dog piled me..." he said, brushing off the dirt and sand.
Julia gave him an amusing look "Gabe, you're a titan of a man, how did these children manage that?"
"With Button as their leader, they've become quite a crafty little clan." Gabriele pointed out grabbing a scarf limbed child from Julia, making the smallest and apparently leader of the group burst out is more giggling. "She also zapped me."
"I zapped him!" You could hear the smile on her face as she held up her hands once Gabriele had a good grip on her.
"That's why you look fluffed up..." Julia held a hand to her mouth to hide her smile.
"Love, I honestly think you should let me do the heavy lifting..." Gabriele huffed as he carried a couple of stone slabs around. "I don't want you getting hurt."
"I'm perfectly fine, don't go sounding like MoonJumper when he's overly worried about me..." Julia stated as she made sure to carry the ones that she can handle.
The two had been rearranging the old stone slabs around their section of the forest to make a proper fenced-in area. Perhaps build a nice gateway with it. So far, there were two exits, one at the front and one to that side that led to the dock in the swamp.
"Besides, I need to do something distracting before Melody and Bonnie figure out where exactly the last bunch of Time Pieces will be." The women then huffed as she placed down a few more slabs. "Not sure what they're gonna do afterwords... probably leave back to their home planet."
"Is that really what it's about, or are you trying to forget about..." Gabriele glanced at the children who were digging in the dirt with tools "about your condition...?"
"...Maybe a little bit of both." She sadly smiled.
"And what of Zephyr, is he still up in our attic?" The doctor looked over to one part of the house and froze for a moment before going back to work.
Zephyr had been watching them the entire time from the balcony. Unmoving and rather unnerving to Gabriele. Sure, he still hasn't gotten used to him, but Zephyr surprisingly kept his promise about not murdering anyone or causing nightmares. The children also seem to be having a better time getting used to him, but they are still wary... except for Button.
She doesn't seem to be scared of him at all.
Julia looked up from her spot in the yard and yelled up to him "hey, you just wanna be a scarecrow, or are you going to come down and help?" The woman placed her hands on her hips as she watched Zephyr slowly making his way back inside the house.
"Hmm, Stubborn. Just like someone I know." Gabriele joked.
Julia huffed and turned around to get back to work.
Shortly Jumping with a yelp as she found Zephyr had quietly made his way down. "Oh! You... you actually came down!"
Zephyr gazed around, everyone's eyes on him. "Are... you making a garden?" He asked, turning back to Julia, who once again, went back to work.
"That's right," she said, giving Gabriele a look to stop him from staring "not sure how well things will grow here, but it's worth a shot to try."
Zephyr glanced over at the small plot the children have been digging, then glancing back over to the doctor and diamond child. The only time he had seen other plants were in a book he and Allen had seen long ago, even then, he wasn't quite sure where that book had come from.
Not too much diversity on a planet made out of mostly sand, and even less water. "Zephyr highly doubts you'll be able to grow any sun thriving vegetation..." but he tapped his chin in thought. This place was chock-full of magic, and plant life is still very much growing...
Even the part that's on fire, plants still seem to grow.
He tilted his head and looked over the surrounding area once more; With a small wave of his hand, he was able to conjure up something that stunned everyone.
In the radius of the house, glowing green plant life that was just overflowing. A small tree of white Angel's triumph to the right of the house, a few Hydrangeas in every possible color littered around, Bougainvillea vining across the unfinished stone fencing, and a small batch of coral red Chaenomeles to the left where the children had been digging.
Gabriele dropped the stone he was carrying in shock and awe as well as Julia who's brain nearly had a meltdown of seeing so much color in one place. The group of kids gasped and cheered looking at all the flowers they hadn't seen before.
Julia looked over at the jester, then attempted to touch a single plant. That only resulted in her hand fazing through the entire thing.
"Do not get too excited, this is merely an illusion..." he said with pride, listening to all disappointment from the children. "It's only a 'what if' scenario if you were to go along with your idea."
"Oh yeah? Well- how come this blueberry bush is real, huh!?" Button had pipped up and pointed out.
"Blueberry...? Zephyr did not conjure up-" the doll looked over towards the scarf limbed child and leveled himself with said bush she was standing next to.
A single paw was softly placed on his face as a head popped out.
"Hey- it's that Rough Patch." Kero pointed out.
"Melody, come in- you there?" A voice from the communications grabbed the hatted child's attention. Quickly, she answered the call and was immediately greeted by Timmy.
"There you are!" The boy with the blue marking said.
"What is it, Timmy? Normally you're not allowed to call unless it was urgent..." Melody tilted her head at the large screen.
Timmy shuffled around a few papers and stacks from a previous job he was given and looked up to see Bonnie giving him a smug face. Choose to ignore his friend's intentions to annoy him, he gathered his thoughts.
"A few things, mostly CEO related." He said, and the two girls froze up. Now that Timmy had both of their attention, he cleared his thought. "He wants an update on your progress with the leftover timepieces, and.. an audience with Julia soon."
"What-? Why?" Bonnie asked, heading over to stand next to Melody.
"Not sure, he wouldn't tell me," Timmy said, taking off his hat and scratching his head. "And if he refuses to tell me anything, it's something no one needs to know."
"That's very... disconcerting." Melody folded her arms with a worried face.
"Very..." Bonnie had the same look on her face as her friend.
Next chapter, It'll now be time for the Metro, strap up kiddos! Who'll lead the charge into the underground?