"You're seriously moving?" said Hermione.
"If I want Teddy and Lia to have something close to a normal childhood, I have to," said Melody. "Andy agrees, especially since Teddy still doesn't have any control over his gift yet."
At least in the other realm, Teddy wouldn't have to hide his ability to change his appearance at will, and he could get quality pre-Hogwarts magical education.
Though the main reason she was moving was to protect her son. If the Weasleys felt it necessary to test him on a slight suspicion, then Morgana only knew how the rest of the magical community would react.
The fact she might have the chance to meet up with Lilia again was just bonus.
The only issue was that she couldn't just up and leave England. There was an application process, not to mention loose ends that she had to tie up before she could leave.
One such issue was converting some of her funds to the local currency. No one used galleons in Twisted Wonderland, after all.
With a deep, heavy sigh, Melody prepared herself for 'battle' with the goblins once more. They were always so tetchy over that incident with the dragon, even after repaying the damages.
Several hours later...
In retrospect, if she had known that weird guttural language that she sometimes used when insulting people under her breath was something that humans weren't supposed to know or be able to speak would have such an impact on the goblins, she would have used it sooner.
She had gotten frustrated in hour six from not having nearly enough sleep or food in her that she started bitching under her breath while waiting, yet again, for the appropriate goblin to be 'found' long enough to help navigate yet even more red tape and bullshit.
It had taken her a full minute too long to register the expression on the goblin's face and realize he not only heard her bitching but understood every single word.
To her complete bafflement, the goblins became far more cooperative and she was out within thirty minutes. They also charged her considerably less than what she anticipated.
In all fairness, they probably noticed smoke almost literally coming out of her mouth by the end of it. Ever since she finally unlocked her animagus form, things had gotten weirder than normal.
Hermione officially hated her new party trick of breathing fire without a spell, because it meant they often had to leave fun bars far too early whenever she got too tipsy and someone pissed her off.
In retrospect it was rather odd that the only time her girl's night slash bar crawl hadn't lead to multiple fire trucks being called and copious use of the flame freezing charm being used was during their vacation to the Briar Valley.
~*~*~*~*~
Molly was visibly unhappy that Melody was moving to another realm entirely with the boys, but understood they were still on thin ice for their stunt in trying to figure out if Lia was a changeling or not.
Melody didn't understand why they needed a test in the first place. Last she checked, pointed ears were not common among humans unless cosplay was involved.
Either way the family was throwing a big going-away party, with plenty of promises to keep in touch via mirrors, among other things.
It was exhausting, but in a good way.
A few weeks later...
Melody was very glad for expanded trunks, because it meant that they had a place to sleep and live until the house was furnished.
Lia and Teddy were very excited, as they were going to have their own shared room, and the backyard was fully fenced in so they could play outside to their hearts content. Melody fully planned to get bunk beds once they were a bit older, as she was sure they'd love it.
Did not change the fact that they had a ton to unpack, even with magic, as well as stocking the house with essentials, food, getting to know the neighbors...it was a hassle she hadn't wanted to do twice in five years.
Amusingly enough, her closest neighbors happened to be a fae woman, her dentist husband, and their children. Two of them were grown, but the youngest she almost immediately recognized from that night at the bar.
He was out training at the moment so she didn't interact with him directly at the initial meeting.
Her new neighbors were suitably impressed with how good their oral hygiene was, which made her laugh because there was no way Hermione would have let them live down having bad teeth. Not with her parents anyway. Besides, Teddy found it hilarious to act like a feral wolf cub foaming at the mouth whenever he brushed.
It was a good thing there was a decent pizza place that delivered, because she was too tired to properly cook by the time she got the basics set up. The first thing she put together were two of the couches and a table after clearing a space for them in the living room. They'd be living off them for the next week anyway, and she refused to make any of the kids sleep on the floor.
It was by week two that she knew she had to look for a job. While the goblins had allowed her to convert a small amount of galleons into the local currency, it was pretty much wiped out when she bought the house and the bare necessities.
Oddly enough, it was Sebek who provided the answer to what she could do to make some extra cash. For whatever reason, he got along swimmingly with her children and they latched onto him like an older brother figure. Teddy was absolutely fascinated with the idea of a mage knight, and Sebek found a willing audience to his love of "Malleus Draconia", whoever that was.
She later learned that it was the name of the next in line to be king of Briar Valley, and that for some reason Sebek had been personally selected as a potential knight. He still had to finish his training.
"Wait...so there are actual adventurer guilds in Briar Valley?" said Melody incredulous.
"When the war between the humans and faerie was called to a ceasefire, there was still an issue of magical beast attacks. Both sides were overwhelmed, and the distrust was strong between both factions," explained Sebek. "So Queen Maleficia came up with a solution that she hoped would mend the bridges."
That solution was the formation of the adventurer's guild, which would issue permits for humans to be on faerie lands and vice versa to hunt magical beasts for a profit. The Queen also permitted very, very limited access to the mines the humans hadn't stripped bare with their new machines, and they were monitored very, very carefully.
It had taken some time, but eventually the bonds forged between adventurers hunting down the more dangerous beasts helped to mend things between the two factions. Then again it really didn't help that the humans Champion, who was responsible for the death of her only daughter and later married their king's sister, was murdered by his own people.
Queen Maleficia had generously allowed the barest minimum of supplies to be shared with humans who settled in their territory and were willing to obey her as their Queen. As the infighting grew worse, the more people flocked to the one ruler who wasn't trying to conscript the peasants into their petty squabbles.
It was ridiculously easy to oust the idiot nobility who caused such a big mess, even if it meant she had to tolerate humans under her rule. She regained most of the lands the humans had taken, and life went on until the faeries slowly began to mingle with their now tolerable human neighbors.
Either way, the guild had helped to ease a lot of the tensions, and there were still quests to deal with magical beasts who became too big of a nuisance to tolerate.
Melody went into the guild hall, and found out the requirements to become an adventurer. She really didn't want to work customer service, and honestly this would keep her skills from being rusty later.
"So I just have to pass a competency test and I'll be given a rank according to my skill level?" said Melody.
"We'll bypass the written exam, since that's mostly to help some bolster their scores," said the receptionist.
Melody could figure out the reason why, and it had everything to do with the fact she only recently moved to the Briar Valley from the other realm. Any information she might have had would almost certainly be out of date, or just plain incorrect.
Since she didn't really know what she wanted to do as an adventurer, she signed up for the three that caught her eye, as you could only chose three. So she chose tracking, survival and combat.
As it turned out, you didn't need to be an adventurer to issue a 'daily life' quest, or to request a specific adventurer to take it.
It didn't feel right to force Sebek to give up valuable training time without compensation, and long experience with Ron made her avoid offering it to him directly.
This gave him some pocket money, and gave him some extra experience to help him rank up later at the guild. Considering he was already close to reaching the rank that would allow him to become a full knight like Silver, this meant she would have a chance to settle in properly.
A few days later...
Sebek honestly didn't mind babysitting. It was somewhat relaxing, and he found himself with an avid audience when it came to his admiration of Lord Malleus. Plus he was only a few hundred points from reaching C-rank, which would allow him to be registered as a fully fledged junior-ranked knight.
Imagine his surprise when the odd neighbor returned three days later, bearing a D-ranked card shortly after registering. Most were lucky to be ranked E.
"How?" he asked, baffled.
"They were doing a Scout-proficiency test, and since the survival one was delayed I took that instead. They were very impressed at how quickly I busted the examiners and that I was able to stay awake so long," she shrugged. "Officially, I can take up to D-ranked quests, but I'm listed as a B-ranked scout."
It would take a few years for her rank to equal out, but for now she had her license and a way to make money that wouldn't drive her batty.
"Were the boys okay?" asked Melody.
"They were excellent squires!" said Sebek proudly. "Though Lia was a bit of handful during bathtime, and Teddy was difficult to get to sleep."
"Lia likes to make a bit of a mess, and both of them are more nocturnal than morning people," said Melody.
She pulled out a contract. It took Sebek a moment to recognize it as a long term mission of sorts.
"Would you be open to acting as their babysitter whenever I'm on missions? It'll give you time to hone your skills and earn a steady paycheck, and it would give me peace of mind having someone trustworthy to watch them."
Sebek looked it over and found it to be a fairly simple contract. It would allow him to break it off at any time and still earn the points he needed to be eligible for the ranking exam, and it was easy money. It was what Melody commented on next that sold him on the idea though.
"Imagine how impressed your future king would be if you had prior experience handling rambunctious children? After all, his future heir could be a major handful, and this could put you on the shortlist of trustworthy guards for them," said Melody coyly.
The idea of being trusted with his lord's future heirs because of experience appealed to him greatly. Besides, this gave him a chance to refine his skills and prepare for the exam early, as the next one wasn't due for another two months anyway.
~*~*~*~*
Baul was very curious as to who had convinced his grandson to a long-term babysitting detail. You could imagine his surprise when he heard Sebek's voice coming from over a sturdy wall, followed by the gleeful laughter of mischievous children.
He attempted to look over, but found a very impressive privacy spell placed over the top. It obscured the view of anyone attempting to look in, but likely provided a clear view from outside.
To that end, he decided to knock on the door instead. He wanted to be sure Sebek wasn't neglecting his training after all.
He was not prepared for what greeted him.
"Hi!" said a small child with teal colored hair.
Sebek was clearly panting, having chased the children from the garden to the front door.
It was the youngest child behind the one who opened the door that had his full attention.
Hair as black as night with colorful highlights. Skin that was tanned from time spent in the sun, with deep red eyes that had a vertical slit. Ears that had a slight point to them, revealing a close fae heritage.
Baul knew those features anywhere. The child couldn't be more than a year or two old from the look of things.
The shock from realizing exactly who's child that was, coupled with the near certainty his General likely had no idea of his progeny had him struck silent for several moments.
"Hey mister, are you okay?" asked the teal haired one.
"Grandfather!" said Sebek, having caught his breath.
The children looked to Sebek, and it was clear they were taking their queues from him.
"Who's at the door?" asked a voice. This one was female.
Baul did his best to tear his eyes away from the child, and to it's likely mother. He nearly had a second heart attack, because the young woman looked incredibly like Queen Maleficia's lost daughter Meleanor. Or at the very least could have been her human twin.
She couldn't be older than twenty at the most, with deep green eyes that held an ancient gaze behind them. She had deep black hair held back in a messy ponytail, and wore well loved clothing.
Baul did his best to collect himself, but was having a time of it.
"Apologies miss," he said politely. "I merely came to see how well my grandson's training was going."
The woman brightened, before calmly scooping up the youngest.
"Well, you're in time for lunch and it would be rude to keep Sebek's family outside. Why don't you join us?"
Baul felt very out of place, and wondered what exactly he had consumed that day for such a surreal experience to befall him.
