Pib stayed in Wil’s cottage while he waited for him to come back. After discussing it, they had decided it would be better if no one saw Pib and recognized him before they were able to get into his—or rather their—home, so Pib had pulled the hood back up and stayed indoors. They needed to take ownership of the cottage before the others remembered that it existed, and once they recognized Pib, they’d start remembering his family, the land, and the family home.
Pib was literally climbing the walls when Wil walked into the cottage some time later. “Pib, what the hell are you doing?”
Glancing over his shoulder, Pib saw Wil standing in the open doorway, a bewildered expression on his face. Smiling, Pib did a backflip off the wall, twisting in the air, and landed on his feet on the floor facing Wil.
“I was bored.”
“You were bored?” Wil asked in a somewhat shocked tone from what Pib was able to tell, so he just smiled and nodded at his best friend.
He watched as Wil ran a hand down his face. “How could I have forgotten to leave you with something to do, like, oh I don’t know, helping me pack? No, that wouldn’t have worked. I should have left you a ball of yarn. That would have kept you busy for hours.” The sarcasm was dripping from each word, but Pib just stood there and smiled until Wil sighed and walked off muttering too low for even Pib’s sensitive ears.
With a bounce in his step, he followed Wil and started helping him. There was a surprising lack of things, so being the curious cat that he was, Pib asked why.
“I never saw the need to clutter this place up,” Wil replied.
“I can understand why I would not have a lot of things, seeing as I didn’t have a home, but I don’t understand why you don’t.” He met Wil’s eyes and saw the fury in their depths, but he didn’t know the cause, so he silently waited for Wil to speak, which wasn’t long.
“I want to rip apart whoever is responsible for you not having a home, and when we finish moving my stuff, we’re going to sit down and have a good chat.”
Pib rolled his eyes. “Fine, but it’ll take longer than one night to catch up on nine years. In the meantime, explain to me your lack of junk.”
While Wil snorted and shook his head, Pib continued to put the clothes into one of the packs Wil had.
“In answer to your question, the reason I don’t have junk, as you so nicely put it, is because I never saw this place as home. It’s a house I’ve lived in, but it’s never been a home, so why bother filling it with memories?”
Glancing at Wil, Pib saw him getting some things from the kitchen. “The cottage will be our home, now and forever,” he vowed, only going back to what he was doing when Wil nodded his agreement. They finished packing in silence. Soon, the inside of the cottage was left bare and they each had two packs to carry.
“Come on, I left a note and this month’s rent with the brothers’ butler. Let’s get going before he actually gives it to them,” Wil said, picking up his packs.
Pib followed suit. “How do you know he hasn’t already given it to them?”
“Because they don’t like being disturbed until late afternoon. That’s when they’ve had time for the lunch they’ve gorged themselves on to settle.”
“So in other words, they eat like pigs?” Pib asked.
“Nope.” Wil turned and smirked. “Pigs have more manners than those three.”
They burst out laughing and started the trek to the cottage that would soon become their home.
When they finally came around the corner at the bottom of Dragon’s Keep, Pib let out a sigh of relief at seeing the stairs that led up to the cottage. The plants had grown around the steps, and without knowing they were there, a person would easily miss them.
“I can see them! I remember this place now!”
The excitement in Wil’s voice was catchy, and when Pib met his gaze, the two of them took a firmer hold of the packs and started running up the stairs, trying to beat each other to the top. Thankfully the steps were wide enough for their adult bodies, but only just. They both reached the platform at the same time, and while Wil tried to catch his breath, Pib walked to the edge and looked out over the view before him.
The cottage was built on a platform on Dragon’s Keep. The front rooms were on the platform itself, allowing the natural light to shine inside, while the back of the cottage was built into Dragon’s Keep itself and that’s where the bedrooms were. Not only would that provide them with as much darkness as possible when they wanted to get to sleep, but each room had an escape route that went into Dragon’s Keep and eventually led to an exit on the far side of the mountain. Pib couldn’t wait to explore the tunnels and see where they led to and if he could still fit into the ones from his childhood. The space was given to them by a dragon king after one of Pib’s ancestors saved the king’s child. However, there was a condition attached to the land, which was that it could never be sold for anything other than an astronomical price. The amount would fill up all the carts for each remaining dragon of the Keep. Additionally, at least one dragon would have to confirm that the sale price was sufficient. In other words, the land could never be sold unless the whole world wanted to lose all of its jewels and gold to the dragons.
“How is it that you’re not even winded?” Wil demanded as he walked up beside him.
Pib smirked over at the man. “Because I’m obviously much more physically able than you.”
He ducked and evaded Wil’s arms, then walked over to the front door of the cottage. “Come on, Wil, we’re going to open the door together.”
Once Wil was beside him again, they reached for the handle and together they turned it, pushing the door open. Expecting stale air, Pib was pleasantly surprised by the crisp, fresh smell. For a second, he even thought he caught a whiff of his mother, but that was impossible.
“Wow, it smells just like it always used to,” Wil whispered.
“I guess that answers the question of whether the enchantment aired out the space,” Pib remarked, taking a step into the room with Wil right behind him.
As he looked around, a sense of contentment filled him and the day finally seemed to catch up with him. “Which room do you want, Wil? Because I’m seconds away from crashing.”
“I think we should just keep the same rooms we had before, don’t you?”
Pib nodded as he made his way to the hallway and the room on the right. “Sounds good to me. I’m going to bed. Make sure you close the door.”
The sound of the door closing and the lock engaging was comforting. Realizing he still carried Wil’s bags, he gently placed them on the floor where the hallway branched off. He stumbled to the right, and his door opened for him. Seeing his childhood room, emotions overwhelmed him, and he was crying by the time he made it to the bed, the door magically closing behind him. He cried for the loss of his parents, the loss of his best friend for nine long years, the horrors he’d endured and done in that time, and he cried for the pure relief he felt at finally being where he belonged. In no time at all, sleep overtook him, and Pib willingly surrendered.
****
Within the mountain, in a room filled with treasure, a plain Taaffeite gem lit with an internal fire.