It seemed like ages had passed since Swith had stood in the pavilion and asked people to be patient. The wooden structure was still there, the last bastion of Tent City. A street had been laid and new buildings sat cozily on in a row but the lot itself, the actual heart of Tent City, was still vacant.
The breeze kicked a small
bit of paper over the ground. Minerva stooped and picked it up. She chuckled. The old advert was from the back of one of Swith's
Underworld Times. It was the original ad for the last building on 42th Subabsurdus Street, Vaffelhelm. The cultist leader often laughed at the numerical error and street name, but now it just seemed so fitting in retrospect.
"Subabsurdus Street. That's what we'll name our street."
She threw her head back and shouted, "O.C. Demens, you
wanker, you said the Building was indestructible. We want our bloody deposits back!"
"That can be arranged," a soft voice carried on the wind.
Minerva turned to find the odd man standing on the street in front of the empty lot.
"Yes, my dear, that can be arranged, but I have a business proposition. I need tenants."
She listened to him, her smile growing wider as he spoke.
Demens' magic was entirely foreign to Minerva but his style was spot on. She placed a hand on the front door and stepped through to the lobby. It was all there. The Thinking Bench, the phone booth, the mail boxes... the stairs leading up to the communal dining room and kitchen. The rooftop party area had returned, and even the boiler room. Demens had gone the distance this time and the gym was now fixed in place and had a pool and spa. There was even a library filled with odd books. All was there and just waiting for people to sign their leases and move back in. Doors would appear, as they always did, when tenants signed on. Now they would have their choice in spots again.
Minerva toured the empty halls and smiled at several doors that had materialized on their own. Bones & Co was a bastion of better days. She paused to slip a note under their door inviting them to Thriller and Swith's Blessing Ceremony. She continued on her tour and found a cheery location for Thriller's room. She gingerly plucked the spare key from her pocket and unlocked it so the quarters could once again appear in that dimension. She went down the hall a bit further and found the perfect spot for the new family. When she opened the door, she found that the apartment resembled the suite in Thriller's palace. "Home away from home," Minerva laughed.
Klaus was in the lobby when she returned. He was screwing a new plaque next to a door that materialized where the old Sanctuary door had been. The plaque read, "Chaos Apartment". She laughed.
"Don't knock it," he chided her. "Ogoti brought everything back from the restaurant. It's just as it was only with a bit more added. Now, about that offer to hang my clock on your wall?"
"The offer's still good, Klaus," Minerva replied.
They journeyed down the stairs and into the Chaos apartment. Ogoti had indeed been busy. There were a few new rooms added... one for himself, specifically. Atosh, Yoshi and Sutra were not invited to live in that space. She let herself into her new bedroom (which actually contained a bed in addition to all her cache, for once) and Klaus hung his mended coo-coo clock in its new home.
The wooden pavilion still remained in the back yard, as did the post. The map fluttered from its nail and came to rest on the dewy grass. O.C. Demens picked it up and put it back in place before vanishing into the early mist.