Epilogue

            “You got all the kids when they were little?” Shadow asked, tail twitching.

            Theia nodded.

            “So how come you’re all about the same age?”

            Theia rolled her eyes at her cousin-in-law-in-law’s stupidity.

            “Obviously,” said she, “Storm and I possess powers, the likes of which you will never understand. Now go to bed.”

            The popularity she had achieved moments before decreased significantly as the younger generation was herded towards the archway that led off to the winding castle corridors.

            Cara stopped.

            “Storm, how were you born?”

            “My siblings and I were magically born when some Mystic Godly Powers exploded.”

            Ellen nodded her agreement.

            Cara frowned. “Then how is Juliet-Ninja your Grandma?”

            “What did I tell you about going to bed?”

           

            The fire was lower, making the stone castle walls glow. They reflected in Nien’s eyes as she stared at the fire. Storm yawned, turning off Sherlock and hiding her face in a pillow.

            “I’m tired.”

            “Go to bed, idiot.” Theia didn’t look up from her video game.

            “Yeah, yeah.”

            Storm stood, and walked carefully. The carpeted floor muffled her feet as she squatted next to the fireplace. Nien waved.

            “Hi, Storm.”

            Storm patted the cat on the head as she glanced up.

            “Please tell me you didn’t get me another toothbrush this year.” Theia had abandoned her videogame and was squatting next to the tree, poking at the presents.

            “Don’t open em early,” Sheva mumbled, sitting up.

            Storm jumped. “I thought you went to bed ages ago.”

            “I did.” Sheva paused. “Well, I feel asleep. Until you two started being noisy.”

            “Lol.”

            “Theia.”

            “I mean, sorry. Storm, you’re absolutely sure this isn’t a toothbrush.”

            “I’m not going to tell. And if I remember that year you gave me a free keychain from the vet’s office. You can’t talk.”

            “A keychain is more useful than a toothbrush.”

            “You want gross teeth? Toothbrushes are a better investment.” Pause. “The guy who sold us the castle really needed one.”

            Theia grinned. “You shoulda given it to him instead. Oh my god, remember how he kept on creeping on Brock?”

            One of the great things about castles were that you could laugh loudly at midnight and it was unlikely that you would be heard. “He wasn’t creeping on him.”

            Brock looked somewhat offended.

            “No, really.” Theia said sincerely. “He kept on petting him and feeling him up and stuff. I still think that Brock was the reason he didn’t charge us too much. That or he knew how much we deserved it.”

            “Oh, totally. It’s a shame it didn’t come with maid service though.” After years of living there they had very easily turned it into not so much as a castle but a trash pit. Thorn had fallen into the habit of, when her room got too messy, merely taking the things she wanted and moving into another bedroom.

            “Don’t worry. One year we can hire someone to go clean it top to bottom.”

            “Might have to not eat for a month though. ’Snot a big deal. I’m just tired of going into rooms and finding molding clothes. No wonder you always wear the same jacket.”

            Theia pulled her hobo jacket tighter around her shoulders. “No hating on my jacket.”

            Silence again descended in the room as somewhere in the castle a clock chimed midnight.

            “Happy Christmas,” Sheva yawned. “I’m going to bed for real. I’ll probably get lost along the way. If you find me asleep in a random room I’m going to blame your lack of maps.”

            Storm glanced over her shoulder. “How many times do I have to tell you? You take a left then a right then go down the hall then take a left and go up two flights of stairs then take a right then take the shortcut behind the giant rabbit statue and then go down the ladder and it’s the first door you see.”

            “And you don’t want to go into random rooms. You might find Kay and all of her spouses. (Sans Kayla, of course, Storm.) You’re too easily scarred, Sheva hon,” Theia said helpfully.

            Rolling her eyes, Sheva trudged towards the door, muttering something about golf carts.

            “She has a point, you know.” Theia frowned. “I don’t feel like going all the way to my room… I think I’ll stay here and make sure Santa doesn’t leave us any more babies…”

            “Whatever.” Storm yawned. “I don’t trust you alone with the presents. Brock, Nien, guard her will you?” Pause. “You too, Mouse.”

            Theia grinned, glancing sideways at the cats. “If you don’t tell on me, I’ll give you some of my candy tomorrow,” she whispered, after checking that Storm was gone.