Page 9 of The Dark Labyrinth

"I may have helped here and there. Mostly, it was Aelia. She's the one that insisted on decorating," he replied and kissed her cheek. "The surprise I put together with my magic is yet to come."

Penelope raised an eyebrow at him, but he only grinned. There was no way to get a surprise out of Alexis until he was ready to give it to you.

Aelia herself glided through the snowy gardens, dressed in a long red dress adorned with gold, her golden hair pinned up with red holly. She looked like some kind of Christmas faerie queen. Penelope could only smile because Aelia could wear a paper bag and still look like a queen. At moments like this, Penelope could see the Atlantean princess she had always been.

In contrast, Penelope was wearing a dark purple cashmere dress that had appeared mysteriously on her bed while she had been showering. She still wore her orichalcum bracelet with a trident and book design that had belonged to Nereus, her lapis lazuli ring from Alexis, and her Phaistos disc ring. She still looked at it and thought about all the unsolved mysteries of the world. Maybe she would have time to find the answers to a few.

"Where is my little bird? I thought he was right behind me," Aelia said, looking about.

"I am here, Aunty. I was waylaid in the kitchen," Elazar replied. He was carrying a steaming jug of spiced wine and a plate of thin ginger cookies. Penelope waited until he placed them on the table before gathering him in a hug.

"It is good to see you looking so well, Elazar," Penelope said, squeezing him harder. She had great affection for the older man and worried about his health like everyone else. It was ridiculous because he was in excellent shape for a man in his sixties, but his brush with Thevetat's priests was still too fresh in everyone's minds.

"I am better than well. I swear, between Abba and Uncle Constantine, I'm in better health now than I was in my forties," Elazar replied and accepted a kiss on the top of the head from Alexis. "I'm starting to think they are slipping Atlantean potions in my food."

"Seems like a lot of trouble when we can just do some magic on you while you're sleeping," Aelia commented and started pouring out the steaming wine.

Galenos and Lyca came in next and added their welcome homes to Penelope and Alexis. Lyca was still a little stiff when giving hugs, but that wasn't enough to stop.

"Marco sends his greetings. I tried to get him to come tonight, but his sisters have dragged him off to some family thing on the mainland," Lyca said and studied Penelope's face. "You still haven't found whatever is calling to you?"

"No, not yet. Why? Do you think you might know what it is?" Penelope asked.

Lyca shrugged. "It could be anything. The magicians and artificers made all kinds of crap. There were some objects Nereus had destroyed or locked up, but that was only what she could contain within the citadel. That doesn't mean people weren’t creating things in their own houses."

"I'm sure whatever it is, it won't be malicious," Galenos said, but he didn't sound sure. He added, "It will be better if you find it before anyone else does. The world is changing quickly again. Satellites and other new technology find more of what is buried daily. History will have to be rewritten, and all of the academic ideas held up as sacred idols by the white men who have tried to use the past as a vehicle of oppression will be pulled down."

"And not a moment too soon," Penelope said. She had suffered under the aforementioned white men during her academic career.

Alexis raised his cup. "I welcome it. Maybe they will get some of it right this time."

"This from the man who worked so hard to stop Atlantis from being found," Penelope couldn't resist mentioning.

"Amore mio, Atlantis is a very different matter from the most basic history," Alexis said, kissing her cheek.

"I see Alecto is starting his 'origins of man' debate, and I'm arriving just in time to save you all," Constantine announced.He was carrying heavy-looking platters of food and was followed closely by Phaidros and Zo.

As usual, Zo had cooked like he was feeding double the number of people, and Penelope knew she would be in a food coma by the end of the night.

Soon, everyone was relaxing around the table, drinking and eating, and catching up on news that they had missed out on during their time apart.

Slowly, the nervous lump of anxiety that had been in Penelope's stomach about 'doing Christmas' unraveled.

Of course, things would be different with the magicians. They always were. She and Alexis had gotten into a comfortable routine while they had been away, and she had forgotten just how dazzling they all were when they were together. How they talked and argued and reminisced about things that had happened a thousand years (or more) like it was yesterday because, to them, it was. They knew each other deeply, and it reflected the most when they started giving presents.

"I have been saving this to give to you one day. It was one of the ones that Antonio made out of gondola oars," Aelia said, presenting Phaidros with a red leather case. He opened it, and his eyes lit up. Inside was a beautiful violin. He ran his fingers along the wood. It had a unique pattern of the original wood in it.

"Antonio always did such lovely work," Phaidros said and plucked a string. "You tuned it already?"

Aelia's smiled at him. It was a soft, affectionate smile that Penelope had only seen her grace Phaidros with. "I thought you could play me something."

"Who was Antonio?" Penelope asked curiously.

"Oh, Antonio Stradivari was a luthier friend of Aelia's," Alexis said like it wasn't groundbreaking.

"You're talking about Stradivarius?" she squeaked.

Elazar, the only other half-normal one amongst them, reached across the table and patted her hand. "It's okay, Penelope. You know what they are like. Have another drink."