Part 1. Archimagus.
There was a courier hanging in front of Steve. More precisely, it was supposed to be a courier. Although the object in front of him more like a revived picture of a surrealist. This is a multicolored cloud, twisted in a ribbon of Moebius, with several branches of the arms.
- Will there be an answer? - The courier sang in a faceless voice.
— Э... No... You... can go," Steve answered, "hardly understanding how to address this creature.
The courier wasn't going anywhere, he just disappeared, as if he never existed.
- Where does Mom get ideas for these things from? You can't say she's got such a wild imagination," Steve said, not counting on the answer.
- If she sends them here from the Crossroads, I wouldn't be surprised if I were you. Teleportation just deforms them," Sofia explained. - She creates a ghostly deer, for example, and the deer turns into this.
They were sitting downstairs in the sales floor and enjoying the idleness. They spent the whole week preparing for their parents' arrival without rest or breaks. The house was brought to a decent appearance in a thin and poor way. Squeaking his teeth, Steve even allowed the warehouse, which by the efforts of the Succubus was empty, to be transformed into a small living room.
At the same time, it turned out that they had another room. It turned out the door to it was hidden behind the closet the whole time. It was stuffy, dusty, and completely uninhabitable inside. As a vivid confirmation of this, a mummified rat was lying in the middle of the room, pawing upwards.
- Ah! So that's where it went! - Then Steve said, at a time when he was brushing his hair, and explained, "The former owner gave it to me as a gift. I think I forgot to feed her...
And then came the day "X": everything was cleaned and cleaned, Costa began to cook dinner, and the rest of the monastery benches froze in a tedious wait. Forlie was the first to fail - the last hour he was tirelessly trying to measure the shop steps. Steve noticed that his brother was acting restlessly, as if he was afraid of something. He had prepared himself for the scandal, though he hadn't shown it. But Sophia was as calm as a boa. Although the day before, she and Steve ran around the city looking for the right dress.
- And why not do something beautiful with magic? - Steve asked her near another store.
- You really don't understand? - she was amazed. - Oh, yeah, you're not a magician. With the help of magic, with the right skill, you can create almost anything. And so the value of such things is zero.
Steve only snapped. He loved to hang around the city, even if it meant standing next to another tailor and waiting for an hour.
"What difference does it make a dress made of fabric or magic if it looks normal? - He thought, looking at the Succubus, who finally found what she wanted.
- Oh, that's how! - read his thoughts demon. - To your mother, the magic dress will look like I'm wearing a paper bag. And don't you think it's strange that the former maid of honor didn't have a normal dress?
That's where the discussion ended. The idea of the former maid of honor belonged to Sophia herself. This should have closed many of the possible questions.
Another courier, the fruit of the forbidden love of the cube and candelabra, said that the parents would soon arrive and need to draw a guide runway. He explained with his father's voice that otherwise they could teleport into the wall or underground, and then the city could be seriously damaged.
Runa, armed with a textbook, took up Forlie. After the embarrassment with a deer magician carefully double-checked all the runes. Drawing a sigh, he took a deep breath and went back to the rest. Nothing happened for a minute and a half, and then parents appeared without any warning.
Dad, of course, was in a regular red robe, as if he had teleported directly from his library. Mom, on the other hand, wore a strict dark dress. Steve realized that they had grown old with the unpleasant cold. Dad got wider and lower, and though his mother looked as if she was going to throw herself at the enemy right now, it was impossible not to notice the gray hair in her hair.
The newcomers were confusedly looking back. And my father was just looking around, my mother glanced at Sofia, looked closely at Forlie and stopped at Steve.
- Hello...those of the archimagus," Steve greeted her. - How did you get here?
- It's okay, it's been worse," Dad said cheerfully. - And you have a nice, cozy place here.