Chapter 24: Movie Night

"Sarah," I sighed. "As much as I’d love to follow through with..." I paused and gestured toward her entire being. "Whatever this is. I can’t. Right now, I have two women waiting on me downstairs."

She balled her fist and pouted. "I see how it is. Leave me up here all alone," she complained, still dripping water. "Then why are you here?"

I sighed. "I wanted to invite you to movie night."

Explaining the situation proved to only make her more upset. She was incredibly pretty when she was mad, however. Complimenting her hair seemed to stave off some of the negative energy she had been festering on.

Out of nowhere, she clapped her hands, producing an ear-shattering sound. Her face was lit up, and a grin had taken over the frown she was wearing just a moment earlier.

"I have an idea," she said, scurrying off into the treeline, quickly returning with something in her hand. "I’ve been working on something ever since you showed up," she explained, showing me her hand. "This is me."

In her palm stood a 1:20 ratio’d figure of her own likeness.

"You made me an action figure?" I asked, something pulling hard at the side of my lips. "That’s really nice..."

"Watch!" she blurted.

She began chanting in a foreign language. Each word that she spoke kicked up the wind, jostling her hair. A pale blue aura appeared around her, swirling around her entire body.

She placed her hand above the figure and finished, dousing it in the blue aura. The figure came to life immediately. It grew little wings and began flapping around.

"I may be too afraid to leave the Hot Spring, but with this," she gestured to the animated figure, "I may eventually overcome my fear."

"That’s great, Sarah. I’m proud of you," I said, opening my hand for her homunculus to land on. "I’ll try my best to help you with whatever you need. All you have to do is ask."

We exchanged goodbyes, and I left her in the hot springs. The moment I crossed the border, it began talking and flying around, inspecting everything with a furious curiosity.

The walk took an extra ten minutes as I stopped to explain anything she asked about. By the time we made it to the living room, she had already worn herself out, choosing to sit on my shoulder for the rest of the walk.

"Oh my god! That is adorable," Damara shouted, spotting the micro-sized Sarah. "How is this possible?"

As Sarah went in on the explanation, I grabbed my phone again, navigating to the entertainment section of the market. Unsurprisingly, it had it all, from VHS to Blu-ray discs, along with the necessary devices to watch them with.

"Ladies!" I interrupted, grabbing their attention. "I had several favorites back where I came from," I explained, looking over the titles. "But none stood higher than this one."

Clicking the buy button, a large rectangular box appeared from thin air, landing in my hand. It had the Celestial Market branding written all over it. I peeled the tape back and pulled the item from it.

"We have eight of these bad boys to watch," I said, showing them the discography of Harry Potter. "Angry parents called this the guide to black magic, but it’s clearly not."

Before placing the first disc into the player, I returned to the market and ordered some ritualistic movie snacks. Literal buckets of popcorn appeared in front of each of the women. On top of the popcorn sat a bag of gummy worms.

Next, I ordered a massive pile of plush throw blankets, oversized pillows, and a gigantic memory foam floor mat materialized on the rug.

Damara didn’t hesitate, kicking her boots off and burying herself in the cushions. Katrina circled the fluffy mound twice before curling into a tight ball, her tail twitching in pure satisfaction as she claimed the softest corner. Micro-Sarah flew off my shoulder, landing squarely atop a fluffy pillow near the snacks and staring up at the screen with wide, glassy eyes.

"This is going to be so much fun for me," I said, watching them get comfy.

The screen bloomed to life, showing the setup screen for the movie. I clicked play and found my spot in the center of the mat. Damara nestled her chin against my shoulder as she watched.

Micro-Sarah had already fallen asleep by the scene with the troll. When it yelled from the wand being shoved up its nose, Sarah shot up screaming. It took a few moments to calm her back down.

Once the end credits rolled, playing the gentle orchestral closing music, the room had gone quiet. The warm glow of the television screen washed over a pile of sleeping beauties and empty snack wrappers.

"Movie night was definitely a success," I whispered, my mouth spread wide.

I gently scooped the sleeping mini-goddess up with two fingers, walking her gently upstairs to her room and set her down safely on a dry patch of warm moss by the pool.

Returning to the living room, I carefully picked up Katrina, her head vibrated against my chest, a soft rumbling purr vibrating through her ribs as I carried her up the stairs and laid her down beneath the soft leopard-print comforter in her new room.

Finally, I made my way back down for Damara. She instinctively wrapped one drowsy arm around my neck as I hoisted her up.

"Movie night was good, Sam," she mumbled into my shirt, barely awake enough to form the syllables.

"Glad you liked it," I whispered.

I navigated the dark corridor one last time, tucking her under the covers of her bed. Standing in the quiet hallway with tired muscles and an empty parlor below, a deep sense of calm settled over me.

It wasn’t the heroic conquest the gods probably had in mind, but for the first time in a very long time, it felt like home.

From behind me, I heard a door creak open.