It was the standard lower-middle class efficiency apartment for those RhyDinians who came from multiple worlds. The common room was big, but there were no walls between the living room, kitchen, and dining room areas. The kitchen area was tiny, had linoleum flooring, and consisted of a sink, refrigerator, gas oven, cabinets, countertops, and a microwave. Locke wondered whether or not his mother and step-father had added any ?magical? tweaks to those objects yet: a stove that reduced cooking times by half, a fridge that never let food spoil, counters that cleaned themselves. He shook his head. Probably not. If they could afford those things, they'd live in an apartment or house with a separate kitchen and living room. The dining room table was new, though. Slightly smaller, and with one fewer chair than before, wedged in between the kitchen and living room. The living room itself hadn't changed much, though. Hardwood floors, off-white painted walls, the same cream colored couch and loveseat with the matching ottomans. The television was new, though. The screen seemed wider, yet when he looked at it, the body was actually thinner than the old TV. And there were all kinds of electronic gizmos and gadgets nearby: stereo equipment, video game systems, combination VCR and DVD player. The only things in the room that might have been magical were the incense burners and the candles on the glass-topped coffee table. The walls were decorated mostly with picture frames, full of small snapshots of his mother, step-father, and half-brother. His eyes deliberately avoided those pictures, focusing on a framed print of a tidal wave threatening several men and the long boats they were sailing in. Finally, his gaze snapped over to the four doors on either side of the room. The one closest to the entrance was the bathroom. The only one on the right side of the room, facing in from the entrance, was his parents bedroom, larger than the other rooms. That left two doors on the left. Locke walked over and opened the door to what had been his bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks.

What had been his bedroom had apparently become his younger brother's. The walls were plastered with posters of his favorite football players and football team: Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Chelsea F.C. The room was also painted the same blue color as the team's jerseys, and Locke just shook his head, fuming. Liam's probably the only person in RhyDin who even knows the rules to football, let alone watches it, or has a favorite team. I mean, Arnand watches it now and again, but this is ridiculous! This was probably his doing. Arnand's relationship with his own flesh-and-blood son was much stronger than between him and Locke, and that was probably why Locke no longer had his old room. He stamped his foot down once, sighed, then stepped over to where his brother's room had been.

The room had been painted a peach color, and Locke's bed had pastel pink sheets and a comforter full of embroidered flowers. They must have converted it to a guest room. The only possessions of Locke's that were out on display were some picture frames, portraits of himself and his family members when they were younger. Again, he avoided looking at them, choosing instead to scan the rest of the room. Everything else must have been in the closet, although Locke hadn't left too much behind besides old clothing and various knick-knacks and trinkets from his past. He opened the closet, half-expecting everything to fall out, but nothing did. Down at his feet was a beat-up old shoebox. He popped it open, and instantly grinned widely again. Inside were love letters and notes that had been written to him by fellow classmates and neighborhood girls, who had fancied him back in...better times. He dug around inside. Buried deeper inside were two jewelry boxes, which stirred up more memories. He quickly pushed those aside as he opened the boxes, confirming their contents. Inside, there was a pair of snowflake earrings he had worn when he was a teenager, and a silver link necklace with the two halves of the snowflake ring he used to wear folded into smaller circles and attached to two of the links. Locke would have to go to a piercer if he wanted to wear the earrings again, but in the meantime, he slipped the necklace on over his head.

That done, he quickly snapped his fingers. While his clothes were enchanted to keep him comfortably cool no matter what the temperature, it was no match for actually chilling the room itself down. He thought for a second about having the entire apartment cooled off, but decided against it. That would probably stretch his magical capabilities, and his family might not be too happy to have their home made inhospitable. He settled for walking back into the main room, making sure the heat was off and the air conditioner was set to blow the coldest air it possibly could. Then, he re-entered the guest room, stood in the center of it, and closed his eyes. He could feel a icy breeze entering the room, whipping at the clothes on his body. The air around him quickly became colder and colder and colder until finally, the temperature inside was closer to that of a meat locker than a bedroom. His eyes snapped open, a broad grin on his face. Perfect! He quickly stripped down to nothing but a pair of white boxers with hearts on them, and laid on the bed, relaxing, his hands folded behind his head and resting on the pillows. He wanted to spend a little time thinking about what he was going to do now that he was back in RhyDin.