THE CRYSTAL HOUSE

¶Mareike¶

Mareike perched the steaming cup on her satchel bag, and looked around the room once more. The only couch in the room was brown leather and positioned between two armchairs, while the third of the triplet set sat opposite it forming a triangle. All had different colours of wool linen draped across them, probably to hide their condition, as well as a wooden coffee table on each side of each.

At one end of the room, a small glass bookshelf lined with books stood proudly against the wall. Half of the books were wide open, while others looked old and dusty–like they hadn't been opened in years. One stood out though; The History of Meissa–An Antarctican adventure. It was a closed one positioned at the edge of the shelf, and its white cover was embossed with gold letters which looked like they were moving.

Mareike squinted her eyes, and tried to look closer when a small cat ran across the bookshelf. She gulped quickly, and raised her legs trying to calm herself. When she looked back, both the furry creature and the book were gone leaving neat, dust free arranged books on the shelf.

She shook her head and diverted her attention to the ceiling, where tiny bulbs hung from different sections casting a soft yellow light on the room. Sadly, it was made unnoticeable by the natural light coming in through the open shutters. The room had a light feel to it, and in one word, it was cozy and smelled like hot bread.

She bounced her feet on the intricate rug, marvelled by its abundance of spiral patterns when a voice floated past her.

"Drink the tea, Mareike, before it gets cold. You won't like it when it's cold, dear," the old woman told her.

Mareike did not like to classify people by age, but this woman had surely lived a long life. Small eyes guarded by square glass frames stared back at her as she sat in the third armchair, her feet crossed with a wooden cane between them. A shawl lay across her lap, a hook in one frail hand while she extended the other towards Mareike, urging her to keep drinking.

She nodded her head and took a small sip, closing her eyes tightly as she fought the urge to grimace. It felt like she was drinking sand, sweet sugary sand.

"It's guatada tea. You'll learn to like it...eventually." Ace offered, clinking his raised glass to hers in a toast.

He walked over to their host, Ravka, and sat on one of the coffee tables. Mareike heard the soft creak it made, and looked on as the small chair wobbled under his weight.

"Ace, you'll break the table." Chiara pointed out immediately, but was replied with a chuckle.

"Nah, it won't. Watch." Ace responded and lightly touched one edge of the table, leaning back as the table turned into a wooden chair spotting another coffee table.

Priya clapped her hands in delight, and sat on another table trying to redo the trick. In less than a second, she was casually resting on a chair with her legs laid across the accompanying furniture.

Ace gave her a thumbs up, and turned to the woman with a grave expression on his face. "Ravka, you sent us a message to see you immediately we landed. Is there any trouble?"

She picked up the cloth laid across her lap and continued crocheting, her fingers moving at a leisurely pace as she wound and unwound wool. "There's always trouble, Larique, the problem is usually in the solution."

He gave a sigh and frowned. "You know what I mean."

She paused briefly and looked at him, shaking her head. "You didn't even clear the tables, boy."

Ravka raised her cane and rapidly mumbled a few words, while Mareike and the others watched as the cups flew upwards and zapped towards another room in a straight file.