It was nice to be welcomed into my new home. We spent a few hours at the library until Ilya came in to take over for Katie. I got to play with Aza after she woke up. She was adorable! Her big grey eyes and her tiny black pigtails were too cute! She had Al's coloring due to the Mountain Spirits of the Kanta Clan, but she got Katie's nose and lighter skin tone. She looked like a little doll.
I never had kids, but I loved my nieces and nephews. I was the 'fun aunt' until my health declined. Katie had a 4-year-old son named Adam and a 6-month-old daughter, Aza. I knew from the ending in the novel that she would have a few more babies with Al, and Abby would have a couple of babies with Blaise. I would love to be a fun cousin for these kids!
We spent the rest of the time in the library discussing a few of my ideas to improve this town. She had already improved it drastically from what it used to be. Without Katie, there may not even be a town now, but there was always room for improvement. I was technically from Stanarussi, so we could use that as an excuse for any new inventions that I contributed.
Katie was particularly interested in my map of the world. Abby had a few local maps on the walls of the school, but there was no world map. I had started further north in this world than Abby did and had read about Blaise's travels. I was able to piece together a rough map of the known world, but there may be other parts of this world that are still undiscovered.
"Abby and Blaise will be interested to know that they made it into the story. I wonder how many changes we made." Katie confided in me. We could talk about it with everyone at dinner. Katie had invited me to stay with her since we were technically related. Her house was bigger than Abby's. Adam and Aza each had their own room. She had a 4-bedroom house, so there was an empty guest room available for me. It would be nicer than staying at the inn.
The biggest contribution that I brought with me was the hot air balloon. "It's just outside of the town. I had to find a relatively flat place to land when Kel spotted us, but we could move it later." I told her as I gently bounced Aza on my knee. She loved it!
Blaise and Abby had been married in the Spring and were still in their honeymoon phase. Yet another reason why I was glad to stay with Katie at her house. Katie and Al were still very affectionate, even after all the years of marriage. I may want to build my own house next year. For now, I could help out with the kids and help around town.
There was a big clock in the town center to count the hours, and they used the lunar calendar to keep track of the months. This world didn't have a traditional calendar, so it was harder to keep track of time. They mostly went by the seasons, and each year has 4 seasons.
We could make calendars if Katie wanted, but for now, it worked. This novel was an alternate world inspired by the Victorian Era, which used the Gregorian Calendar. For now, we had other things to focus on, like air travel!
After we left the library, we headed to Katie's home, overlooking the town. It was a beautiful four-bedroom stone house with a fully stocked kitchen, large living room, and most importantly, a bathroom with indoor plumbing!
She had figured out how to run water throughout the house without needing to retrieve water from a well, but she didn't know how to heat it without boiling water. I could share some of my knowledge from Stanarussi to help with heating water. Their steam-powered technology would work well with the system that was already in place.
Katie was excited to hear all about my ideas about the upgraded technology from Stanarussi. "I had always heard about their inventions, but no one was allowed to visit their kingdom. Blaise brought a music box for Abby when he traveled around there, but he never went inside the kingdom." Katie talked as she started to prepare dinner. I helped as much as I could, but she handled most of it.
"Don't worry, you are my guest, and new to this place. Just relax, and dinner will be ready soon. Al should be home with Adam any minute now. Abby and Blaise usually head over for dinner after work. I'm sure that everyone will be fascinated to hear about your journey!" She had me sit in a comfortable chair near the kitchen to relax. I played with Aza while she cooked.
A few minutes later, Al came home with an adorable little boy who looked like a miniature version of him. Both had black hair and grey eyes. That must be Adam, their firstborn child, and future leader of the Kanta Clan. He had a serious look on his face that did not match his cuteness for a little boy. So cute!
Al was happy to see Katie, but was momentarily confused to see me in his living room. "Hi, you must be the cousin of Katie's that I heard about from Kel and the new warrior, Zed. I'm Alamar, the Kanta leader, but you can call me Al. This is Adam, our son." Al introduced himself and his son.
Adam looked at me with his head tilted to the side as if he was trying to figure out if he liked me. "Hi, it's nice to meet both of you. My name is Elisabeth Blanchard, but you can call me Alisa. I'm so happy to be here. It was a long journey from Stanarussi." I cheerfully greeted them both while still seated with Aza on my lap.
Katie came out of the kitchen and gave Al and Adam hugs and kisses. Aza raised her hands to be picked up by her father, so Al took Aza and lifted her in his arms. She giggled and squealed in delight. Adam looked like he wanted to be picked up as well, but held back his desire because he was a big boy now.
Katie gave me a knowing look and whispered to Al, "She is like me, from the original place." His eyes widened in surprise, and he looked excited to know more. The kids were still too young to understand transmigration, and we wanted to keep it a secret, so we had to talk in code.
Abby and Blaise came over almost as dinner was ready. I introduced myself as I got up and hugged Abby. "Hi, Abby. I'm Elisabeth Blanchard, but you can call me Alisa. My mother was Arabella Du Pont, a cousin of the Earl, which makes us distant cousins. I have read about you, and you look just like I imagined from the description."
Abby looked confused and gave Katie a questioning glance with a raised eyebrow. Katie mouthed, "California," and Abby understood immediately that I had been transmigrated like her and Katie. Blaise seemed to understand as well and looked slightly alarmed.
He was worried about more people coming over from Abby's home world. What if it were a two-way portal? Would Abby choose to leave? She hadn't died like Katie, so it might be possible. He hoped that she was happy in her new life with him enough to stay, but he was a little insecure.
Abby noticed his tension, and her response to me reassured him, "I'm glad that you found your way to our peaceful little town. I hope you will be as happy as I am here. I never want to go back!" He sighed in relief, and the tension in the air disappeared.