As soon as Briar burst out the front door, She stopped dragging and leaned over the railing to get a better look.

"Careful! Teacher didn't bring her yard with her this time, so there's nothing to catch you if you fall!"

Kael warned. But when he glanced up, he was also stunned by the appearance of yet another house which floated nearby, and was slowly drawing closer. Accompanying the house was about 4 acres of greenery. The house itself was also somewhat familiar...

"WAIT, ISN'T THAT ROSE MANSION!!!???" Kael suddenly exclaimed. "And isn't that our old playhouse that mother made?! Why...."

Briar nodded. "Rothema turned the mansion into a flying house! Isn't this great!? It'll be like Howl's Moving C*stle!" She laughed merrily, her eyes twinkling with glee. "The very best present!" She agreed.

Kael noticed people at the windows. "Hold on, isn't that Martha?"

"And James?"

"I see Jean, too..."

"OH! And there's Becca!" 

The two looked at each other, an idea beginning to form in their heads. 

"...She wouldn't!" Briar exclaimed, in disbelief, as she nearly fell over the railing. 

"This is Teacher, we are talking about, right?" Kael replied, raising a critical eyebrow as he caught her just in time.

"But she couldn't have-!" Briar, replied, visibly shaken.

"I do believe she already has. And you'll need to take off your disguise soon." Kael noted, slightly more serious. "If I'm not mistaken-"

"If the staff are here-" Briar nodded.

"-Then the family's here, too." Kael ended. 

"Oof. Well...Might as well get things over with..." Briar said, a bit more subdued. She glanced at Kael.

"Together?" She asked.

"Mmff! Together." Kael nodded.

A window was opened upstairs, and the voice of a yawning Laura sounded out. "Hey, what's with all this racket-HOLY SMOKESTACKS OF THE NORTHERN DWARVES! Is that another flying house!?"

Kael and Briar burst out laughing below. 

"Who's laughing!? Is that you, Thera!? Did you make up a fanciful illusion to trick me again!?You wait right there, you! Don't go anywhere, you hear?!"

"Again? When was the first time?" Briar asked, mirthfully. However, Laura had already vanished from the window.

"Shall I head her off?" Kael asked.

"Not necessary." Briar said, removing her scarf. "Oof. I had gotten used to the taller field of view. Now it feels like I've shrunk!"

"Visually, it seems that way, too." Kael agreed.

"It can't be helped. I am only twelve." Briar shrugged, as she placed the kerchief into her magic bag, becoming Thera once again. Yuki silently slipped out the door, and jumped up onto Thera's shoulders.

"Hullo there! Where have you been all this time?" Thera scratched under Yuki's chin. Yuki was about to answer, but paused. The thumping sound of running steps quickly approached behind them, alarming Yuki.

"Thera!" Laura yelled as she charged out the front door. By reflex, Thera dodged. But, Laura was going too fast. She shot across the porch and almost sailed out into open air if not for...

"Oof!" Laura slammed face-first into a barrier that Thera conjured a split second later, at the bottom of the stairway. Rothema also had a barrier set up. But, as it was two feet away from the steps to allow for people to climb up the rope ladder, Laura might well have slide down twenty feet before hitting the open air of a 1,000 ft drop.

"You know, part of being in a flying house means the absense of ground nearby." Thera pointed out.

"You..." Laura rubbed her red nose.

"What me?" Thera fluttered her eyelashes with a laugh. "Oh, and the house is real, by the way. I have reason to believe that my parents are in it."

Laura stared blankly. "You're kidding, right?" She asked incredulously.

"It seems this is Teacher Rothema's doing." Keith added, "But it is real, I assure you."

"Wait...you're not kidding!?" Laura exclaimed, surprised.

"Kitty, come back here!" A call came from behind them as Rien ran out the door, with Karu close behind, in case she got too close to the edge.

They both stopped in the doorway when they saw Thera, and stared.

Thera was wondering what was wrong when Karu blinked and asked.

"Hello! My name is Karu. Who are you?"

Thera blinked in surprise until she realized that this was the first time they were meeting her without the magic disguises.

"You...you're Briar-nii, aren't you?" Rien asked. "You were also Briar-Nee for a bit. But I can recognize that strange mana pattern anywheres."

"What? Cool! How could you change sizes like that! Please teach me!" Rien exclaimed, her eyes shining eagerly.

"Sorry to disappoint, but this is my actual size, kiddos. So shrinking is beyond this is beyond me." Thera shrugged.

"Hey, Briar-nee, you're also a kid, too!" Karu pointed out.

"When I look like this, I am called Thera." Thera pointed out. "And I've only got half a year left before I turn thirteen, when I can be considered a young adult."

"No way! You're only a bit taller than I am!" Karu snorted. 

"A fact that will soon be remedied once I hit my growth spurt." Thera added.

"By this time, the building had drawn close enough for other people to be recognized from the 2nd story windows.

"Hey, Laura, isn't that your mom?" Kael asked, pointing to a window on the second story.

Laura's face paled as she recognized the bright and cheery smile beaming down at her and her friends.

"Do you think your dad is here, too?" Thera asked. In all this time, she had never met Laura's father. So now she was somewhat curious.

"I, uh...I gotta go change!" Laura said, as she realized she was still in her sleepwear. Slipping past Rien and Karu, she vanished back into the house.

"What do you think the Murloughs will feel now that Laura has become a tomboy?" Kael chuckled.

"Headache, nausea, and a possibility of developing an ulcer, with increased scolding? But she never really became a tomboy, she always was one." Thera replied musingly. While her mother had done her best, Laura was a strong-willed girl, despite her delicate features. 

"What's with that? Those symptoms sound like they would really happen!" Kael laughed.

"Why does it sound like Laura is making her family sick?" Rien asked. "Does she not like her family?"

"No, she does, but their care and worry for her can feel a bit smothering to someone with her personality." Thera replied. "That's because they have high hopes for her, and she hates to disappoint them. But she also wants to set out on ventures of her own, so she can't help but disappoint them." 

"She doesn't want to, but she has to?" Rien asked, summarising Thera's words.

"Something like that, yes." Thera replied, smiling at Rien.

"Oh." Rien replied, still slightly confused. "Lookit, Karu! They have green grass and trees over there! And what is THAT!?" Rien stared wide-eyed at the green, gourd-like structure in the yard.

"That, Rien, is the promise of much fun." Kael chuckled.

"Is it a fruit?" Rien asked.

"You'll know later. For now, it's a surprise~." Thera replied, tapping Rien's forehead.

"Okay, heheh! I can't wait to see what it is!" Rien laughed in anticipation.

----

After initiating the docking method, the barrier in front of Rothema's house was removed, and the front steps were firmly secured to the pavement that led up to the mansion.

It felt quite strange to be standing on ground that wasn't...well, on the ground. Thera knew that they were thousands of feet up in the air, but the earth and the stone pavement surrounding the mansion was still just as solid.

Master Thales came out about that time as well, completely cool-headed, with no sign of any surprise.

"You were expecting this to happen?" Thera asked him as everyone came outside behind him to see the mansion.

"I was. Rothema's signature original spell is the flying house. That's why, as her student, you were probably going to be getting one of your own, sooner or later. She probably set this up right after you left out training with me." Thales nodded.

"I see...looks like this is one spell I absolutely have to learn!" Thera smiled, interest gleaming from her eyes.

""Well, first, shouldn't we welcome the visitors?" Kael asked.

"Right." Thera reached her hand in and pulled out the Rose mansion key. She walked up to the gate, where she met a rather pale-faced James the Gardener.

"Long time no see, huh James?" Thera beamed up at him. "You look somewhat pale. Is anything the matter?"

"Indeed, it has been a while, young mistress." James smiled. "I'm all right...it's just that the full speed of the flying house can be a bit much. The Missus would have come too, excepting these past three days she has had very bad morning sickness."

"Morning sickness?....!?" It took a few moments before Thera realized what those words meant. She was going to be a big sister, soon!

Forgetting all semblance of protocol, Thera grabbed Laura and Kael and ran into the mansion.

"Which room is mother in!?" She asked her older sister Margie, who was wearing a rather becoming magician's robe.

"3rd floor, master bedroom..." Margie immediately said, slightly dazed at her energy.

"Thanks!" Thera called, as she rushed up the stairs.

"Careful! Don't rush or you'll trip and fall-Ah!" Margie called in warning, but it was too late.

Thera tripped on the last step, only avoiding getting her face planted because Kael and laura held her up. Thera thanked them before rushing off the the second stairway. Margie stood there, watching until her younger sister vanished from sight.

"Haah! Still as energetic as ever, huh?" Maggie sighed, then smiled fondly as she turned back towards the entrance to greet the guests.

...Wait, wasn't one of her friends just then a boy!? Margie's eyes widened as she looked back towards the stairwell, thoughtfully.

--------------------

"Mom! Am I gonna be a big sister!?" Thera asked the moment she burst through the double doors. Her mother, Helen, was sitting up in bed; her father sitting on a chair by her side.

Laura had been clotheslined by her own family, which effectively separated her from Thera's grasp. In Thera's haste, she abandoned Laura to the demise of a family reunion hug. And so, now only Thera and Kael had successfully made it to the room.

"Arah? That was certainly quick. I take it you heard the news from James?" Helen smiled. 

"Mnn!" Thera nodded.

"More importantly, Thera, could you please introduce your new friend here to me?" Helen asked Thera, noticing the ever growing impatience of her husband, whose polite mask was slipping by the moment.

"Ah! I had forgotten!" Thera laughed, nearly overcome by joy. Kael was also happy, though slightly hesitant to show it.

Thera's smile became a bit more subdued as the topic was serious to her. In her hopes that Kael would also be welcome to the family, she used the only method she could: childish mischief.

"Mom, this is Briar Mikhail. But everyone just calls him Kael. Can you guess how old he is?" She asked, cheekily.