Jack put a hand against the wall to steady himself as another tremor shook the room. Bran and Ronin lifted off the ground and hovered like wraiths in the air while the others grabbed whatever they could to steady themselves. The shaking increased as the fabric of reality twisted and the house continued changing its physical shape and appearance. The horrid green carpet melted into shiny dark hardwood floors, and the tacky yellow-striped wallpaper burned away to a beautiful soft yellow paint with a tapestry of a lake scene hung against the far wall. The bed became a canopy bed of deep cherry, and a fireplace grew against the wall and angled perfectly to warm whomever would sleep in the bed. The desk took on a colonial style with curved legs and an ink well complete with a feather quill. Jack looked beyond the window outside. The cornfield was gone and replaced with neat rows of apple trees sprouting up in full bloom as far as the eye could see. The little barn was also gone and replaced with a much larger cider mill with a big water wheel on the side being powered by a river that now ran across the property. There was even a big red and white steam engine paddle boat docked next to the mill. “I think it’s an Apple Plantation,” shouted Jack, looking back and finding Jon was now jumping on the bed and doing somersaults. “I think The House at the End of the Universe is changing to reflect Cael’s home,” said Ember. “Hey Jon, where’s Cael?” asked Jack. “I don’t know,” replied Jon. “You’re supposed to be watching her,” shouted Jack. “Chill out, she’s fine,” said Jon. “No, she’s not,” said Jack, staggering towards the door. “If she opens the wrong door all kinds of bad things can happen, trust me, I know.” Jack ran out into the hall and whipped his head back and forth looking for the new Cael. His heart leaped into his throat when he saw the door open to the room he had encountered the Lord of Death only ten minutes earlier. Jack drew his sword and ran, bracing himself as the tremors continued to rock the house. The hall was now also a hardwood floor, and the walls a soft off-white paint with tapestries hung at even intervals. He slid around the corner of the door, leaving scuff marks in the polished floor. “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER!” shouted Jack as he barreled into the room with his sword held out in front of him. Cael turned around and looked at the armed soldier. “You’re scuffing the floor.” Jack stopped and stared in confusion. The room looked like a sewing room. There were bolts of cloth stacked against the pale blue walls, a loom, a spinning wheel, sacks of wool, and every wall had a tapestry hung on it… but no black void or Lord of Death. “What…?” Jon walked passed Jack. “Did you think the House would let her open the wrong door? She can’t be harmed inside this House? All the bad stuff has been moved out of her reach for now?” Jack’s face was red as he sheathed his sword. “Oh dear, you thought I was in danger,” said Cael. “Aren’t you just the sweetest thing, I have my very own Knight.” “Pffft, I’m your Knight,” said Jon. “He’s the head of your army.” Jack shook his head. “No, Jack Warrior is the head of your army, I’m just the Dreamer.” “Aw, and humble too,” said Cael. Bran was now at the door and rolled his eyes. Jack was anything but humble, but maybe this wasn’t the right time to mention it. “There’s a lot of people outside that are waiting to meet you. Do we call you the Lord of Chaos, or the Lady of Chaos?” Akot entered the room next. “I believe the word Lord is a title and gender neutral, so she would be called, Lady Cael, the Lord of Chaos.” Cael pursed her lips thinking. “Are you sure that’s right, it sounds funny.” Ember followed behind Akot. “He’s right. My world got rid of the feudal system long ago, but we kept the honorific titles to honor our history. I believe Jack’s world has done the same thing.” Ember glanced at Jack. “Isn’t that right, Jack, I think your official title is Lord Aestar?” “Yes, that’s right, but I never use it,” replied Jack. Ember went to the loom to inspect the odd device. “In some places on my world, the mayors are called Lord Mayor, regardless of whether they are male or female.” “My title was Pharaoh,” said Taku, also entering the room. “But we didn’t use that term often, they mostly called me King.” “I was a princess,” added Anat, following her brother into the room. “My dad was the Huntsman for an Earl,” said Bran. “I think the old Cael had a thing for nobility.” “That is possible,” said Jax. The room was getting crowded now, everyone had followed Jack over. “Though, I think he did it to diversify the way we see things as a team. Jack is unimaginably wealthy and comes from a world at a level of technology that looks like magic to me, but I’m just about as poor as possible, and the highest technology I’ve ever seen is a covered wagon. We see the world from two different views.” Cael shooed Ember’s hands away from the loom. “You’re going to get it all tangled. My mom and I used to make tapestries, I’ll teach you how.” Cael turned back to the others. “Can I just be called, Cael?” “I think you must at the least be called Lady Cael,” said Akot. “The people that live here are frightened and need something to hold to, this is the Land of the Dead and it is not what they expected.” “Aren’t there any grown-ups, let them decide?” said Cael. “It is just us now,” replied Akot. “I will soon be eighteen, as well as Ember, Jack, Jax, and Alani.” “Jon, who’s going to take care of Cael?” asked Ember. “I don’t know. What’s for dinner, I’m hungry,” replied Jon. Ember glanced at each of the Dreamers, none of them had thought about the real everyday problems that were going to come up. They had already seen what happened leaving the Akot/Anat group on their own without supervision, it was going to be worse if Cael and Jon were left on their own. “Guys, we have bigger problems than what title to use. Who’s going to take care of them?” “I can make soup,” offered Alani. Ember grinned. “From a can, or from scratch, because I don’t see any grocery stores around. Bran, would you call the leaders up to the house, please.” Bran closed his eyes for a moment before replying. “Okay, they’re on the way… hey, what a meanie, Warrior broke my sunflower again. What’s wrong with him, does he have a problem with sunflowers?” “Naw, it’s just his way of hanging up the phone,” said Jack. “What’s a phone?” asked Bran. “I’ll call you later and tell you about it,” replied Jack dryly. “Let’s head downstairs,” said Ember. “Ronin, you stay up here with Cael and Jon, I’ll have Bran tell you when to bring them down.” The narrow farmhouse stairs were now gone, replaced by a curved staircase with a landing halfway down. Another tapestry hung in the stairs depicting a picnic with children playing. To the left of the stairs at the bottom was a wide entrance leading into a dining room, and to the right, a matching entrance into the living room. The living room was hardwood floors, as much of the house was, but with a large intricately patterned rust colored rug that covered all but a walking area around the room. Against the walls were plain wooden sitting chairs, bookcases, and a baby grand piano, and hung on the wall opposite a large fireplace was a beautiful tapestry of a woodland scene with a Huntsman on horseback. Placed on the carpet were green floral patterned cushion chairs with little tables set between each chair. The couch was gone, as was the coffee table Cael used to draw at, and all the crayons were picked up and in glass jars placed on three shelves of one of the book cases. Ember noticed the crayons were on the lower shelves so to be easily assessable by children, with the drawing paper located on the lowest shelf. “This is a lot better than before,” said Bran. “It’s a colonial plantation house,” said Alani going over to the piano and striking a few of the keys. “Can you play?” asked Ember. Alani sat down at the piano and began a piece. “My mother taught me.” The piece Alani played was a haunting piece, a piece so beautiful it drew all the Dreamers around the piano to listen. After years of such hardships as they had endured in the Crystal Universe, the music was like a cool rain during the heat of the summer. They were so hypnotized by the music Alani was playing that they didn’t notice the adult leaders arriving and letting themselves inside. Dr. Alani Kay recognized the music, of course – she had never thought to hear it again. Clay, the leader of the Lone Dreamer group took his wife, Dr. Kay, into his arms and held her as Alani Dreamer played. Some of the group leaders found a chair to sit in and enjoy the music, and others stood around the piano listening. Nobody noticed as Ronin and Cael came down the stairs. The two girls had heard the music and decided everyone had forgotten them. Cael wiggled through the crowd to the piano and took a seat next to Alani. She put her hands on the keys and began a counter harmony to the melody. She played underlying cords of chaos that fit perfectly with and against Alani’s melody. Harmony and melody pulled and pushed at each other in a technique that professional musicians could spend a lifetime trying to master. Both girls were Dreamers of Creation, and through their hands the magic flowed like a waterfall that had been frozen and was now thawing in the warmth of spring. Their combined music echoed out beyond the Crystal Universe, and on hundreds of worlds in real space that had been waiting in the darkness for the light of inspiration, the Renaissance began. The music ended as softly as it had begun, the last notes trailing away with the promise of what the next 10,000 years would bring. Ronin took a deep breath. “Everyone, I would like to introduce Lady Cael, the Lord of Chaos.” And as if on cue, the front door opened and young Jon Black entered with his hair damp and clinging to his forehead. “Hi, everyone. I was patrolling the perimeter, is dinner ready yet?” Ember frowned at the boy. “You were supposed to be watching Cael.” Jon ignored the rebuke. “I thought I heard monsters and went to check it out.” Warrior stood up from the comfy chair he’d found. “Hello, Jon, is it raining on the perimeter?” Jon turned a worried eye to Warrior. “As much as I’d like to see how this plays out,” said Cloud. “I better go find the kitchen and see what there is to eat.” “I’ll help you,” offered Ash. “I do hope they have a well-stocked pantry.” Ronin whipped her head back and forth. “Umm… didn’t you guys hear me, this is the new Cael.” Clay chuckled. “We heard you, however, we already know who she is.” “How?” asked Ronin. “Lady Cael brought her own magical friends with her,” said Clay. “Huh?” Ronin glanced around searching for ‘magical friends’. She saw the white picket signs peeking through the windows, but those were the old Cael’s magical friends. Where were Lady Cael’s magical friends? Warrior was now standing in front of Jon. “You left your post to go swimming at the river, it won’t happen again.” Jon’s eyes narrowed and his head jerked around to stare at the tapestry on the wall. “You snitched on me… but…” Jon turned around to the little white picket signs peeking in the window. “You traitors! You’re working with the thread heads!” The Dreamers looked at the tapestry in confusion, trying to figure out what Jon was talking about. Ronin’s eyes widened as the Huntsman on the horse in the tapestry turned his head and winked. “Oh my gosh!” said Ronin. “The tapestries were watching us the whole time!” Jack Dreamer laughed. “And they were telling the picket signs, who were then telling the adults. Jon's busted.” Ember turned to Clay. “Do you guys have a plan how we’re going to take care of Lady Cael?” “Yes we do,” said Clay. “We’ll tell you over dinner.”