Unimpressive Cabin and a Mouse

My brother would hope that this cottage suits all your needs, he would offer chambers in the main building but all the rooms and beds are God sized and though for humans you are giant this cabin will still fit you better than anything in the main palace." Hades said as he walked the trail alongside us. His black leather cape flowing behind him, still with an unfelt wind blowing it around him. Now his hair seemed caught in the same wind, as his light cast shadows on the ground around us. Little lizards and small rodents stole away from under the dancing shadows of the stones and bushes littering the ground. A snake-like creature with four legs half slithered and half ran to catch a little gray mouse that was out of place, just before its mouth snatched it up the gray mouse vanished out of existence and I suddenly felt a weight in my breast pocket that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Haha, what are you doing here little fella?" I asked as I reached in with my forefinger and my thumb to pet his little head. Two beady eyes peeked out over the hem of my pocket and small fragile whiskers tested the air. He stuck out a paw and a little piece of paper was tied to it. "What's this little buddy?" I asked him as I took the paper from his leg. I could see the small scribbled writing as sure as if it was day. "Sir, House has healed from the explosion and is in better condition than ever. It is different. The walls and the rooms are all the same but House has a different attitude and approach to achieving its goals. Some of its lighter touch is gone and far more direct than it ever was before." The scribbled handwriting was without a doubt Pogs tiny hand. There was a post-script. "P.S. The greenhouse has sprouted giant glass branches and we didn't know what we should do. Do you think it is left over magic from the House or is this something we should guard against?" The note asked with a slightly more manic scrawling script. "Little house mouse, I had no idea you could teleport so far and between realms. What else don't we know about you?" I asked him as I folded the tiny letter in half and put it in my left pocket. We all walked into the cottage, the entry suddenly expanded as an expression that was disguised as the door knocker sprang to life. The growth and changes felt very much like House's ability to produce and change depending on the needs of the beings in our home. Unlike our family's living house though, this cabin lacked a noticeable intelligence and soul that House displayed on a regular basis. The finishes didn't flush out with any noticeable fashion, conviction, or art. Our home had a style that it was proud of, this cottage was accommodating but the lack of commitment could be seen in the hem around the edge of the drapes. They were finished but the fold of the hem didn't look pressed or ironed over, the thread of the hem was plain, matching the grape color of the cloth itself. There was a lack of print or design on the drapes. There were other signs of this building lacking intelligence. The candle's sticks were beautiful silver but they were all exactly the same size, though the silver was polished but there was no filigree or relief decorating any of the sticks. The flames that provided light danced and moved in the sway of the air but there was no character to the flame. The rugs in the room were beautiful, the designs were amazing but there was no personality to the colors, the flow of the lines though beautiful had nothing special about them, House would have added a bead of blue along the walls of black lines or a blush of silver interrupting the center of one or two of the outlines surrounding the greens and blues of the feathered patterns. It was still a beautiful room. There were four rooms, with two beds each, for us to share. David and Matt have shared a room their entire lives, Steven and I were no strangers to living in the same room leaving a room for our Eldest brother and one for Robbie and Karen to share, those two would be in conversation about the herbs and plants that were new or unusual to them anyway.

I sat on my bed for the night, as I sat there I pulled out a few tiny items from my satchel, it looked like a napkin and a pin cushion. I had used magics to shrink them before we left and returned them to their real size with a flick of my finger and a tiny push of essence. "Comforts of home?" Steven asked me as I arranged my pillow. "I have specific requirements for sleep, these are enchanted to the support I need and my blanket doesn't allow me to get too hot or cold." I explained to him while I got ready for bed. We've slept in strange places and my blanket can protect me from a volcano or a glacier and my pillow could lay on the rocks or underwater and it would support my head and shoulders the same. The gray mouse stuck his head out of my pocket and teleported to the night stand where I had a bit of bread and some cheese in case I needed a late night snake, and it stole bites of both ignoring us entirely. "What is he doing here, did you bring him?" Steven was surprised to see him and asked. "No, he teleported here on his own with a note from Pogs." I said as I filled Steven in on the note and what was going on with House. "I suppose it is a problem we will deal with when we get home." My brother, always pragmatic and he states the facts and the truth all in one. He laid down to get rest. As I laid down I reached out with an open fist and pulled the candle flames away and into my hand as I clenched my fist. Only the moon's lazy light was left to fill our room, oddly the light had phased out of its silver blue. Here in the Gods realm it cast a purple hue as the night progressed.