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Ivy let out a distressed cry, "Goddess help me, my roommates have lost their minds!"

But Lila only grinned wolfishly, replying, "At least you still recognize us as your roommates."

Ivy shot her a glare, but it wasn’t half as fierce as it should have been; her defenses were already crumbling.

Daisy said, "Defeating Elsie won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible."

"How?" Ivy demanded. "Have you forgotten who Elsie is? She’s basically the mate for one of the cardinal alphas. She’s got the Alpha King’s backing. You? Us? We’ve all got none. She won’t even need to lift a finger; she’s got power, influence, and people to do her bidding."

Violet’s eyes flashed with determination. "Then we’ll cut off that backing. We’ll dismantle those influences one by one. Without them, she’s nothing."

Ivy scoffed. "And the Alpha King?"

"We’ll figure that out as we go," Daisy said with forced optimism.

"Thought as much," Ivy shook her head, unimpressed.

But Daisy persisted, "We won’t achieve this in a single day, but this is our plan for now, and we’ll work toward it.

For the moment, we’ve got bigger worries, like finding a place to actually live.

" She glanced up at the rotting ceiling just as a drip of nasty water landed on her cheek, making Ivy recoil with disgust.

Daisy wiped it off, grimacing.

Violet told them, gesturing to the broken window where the rain wreaked havoc outside. "It’s still pouring out there. Even if we manage to hire workers, they can’t do repairs in this weather. And it’d take days, maybe weeks, to fix this place enough so we can start actually living in it."

At that point, Lila piped up, "I can help with that."

"You can?" three startled voices echoed in unison, their gazes snapping toward her.

Lila cleared her throat. "My magic can help."she said.

At that, Ivy’s eyes lit up. "So you can just... clean this place up?"

Lila’s brow furrowed, clearly offended. "What do you mean clean up the place? I’m not some witch about to chant ’bibbidi-bobbidi-boo’ while waving brooms and mops. I work with the elements, Ivy. Nature provides, and I merely guide its hand."

Before everyone’s eyes, Lila lowered herself, resting her palm on the warped, rotting floorboards beneath them.

"Like this. The woods were once strong here. I’ll call upon them to reinforce what was lost so that no one falls through."

A hush fell over the room as they watched Lila begin to work. The wood beneath her hand gave a soft, drawn-out creak, as though waking from a long, deep slumber.

Then, before their eyes, the decay began to reverse. The splintered planks smoothed out, their brittle, discolored surfaces darkening into a rich oak. It spread like creeping frost, the weak, termite-infested wood seemingly consumed by something new and whole, growing over it like armor.

When the effect reached their feet, the girls tensed, half-expecting to be swallowed up. But all they felt was a soft tingling, like the brush of a cool breeze against their skin. Nothing else.

The transformation simply moved on, securing the rest of the floor with a protective overlay.

"That’s... incredible," Daisy breathed, eyeing the difference. There was no sign of the gaping cracks that once tried to snap under their weight.

But that was only the beginning because Lila wasn’t done.

The musty air that had clung to the room like a second skin suddenly changed. The stale, heavy scent of mold and decay gave way to something fresher, as if the house itself was taking its first breath in years.

All around them, cobwebs thick as cotton twisted in on themselves, unraveling like thread being reeled back into an invisible spindle. Dust motes danced in the air as they lifted, swirling like tiny ghosts before vanishing into nothing.

The moss clinging stubbornly to the walls peeled away and withered before dissolving into fine powder.

Thin lines of new growth traced over the rotted beams, merging with the decayed wood.

As the layers fused, crumbling plaster filled in, cracks sealing until the house’s skeleton looked less hazardous.

There was a gaping hole in the ceiling where rain had been trickling in steadily, forming a grimy puddle on the floor. With eyes narrowed, Lila pressed her palm against the nearest beam, and tendrils of fresh wood spiraled up to meet the ragged edges.

One moment, there was a hole letting in the rain; the next, there was an almost seamless seal where the roof had melded itself back together. The leftover water, tinted with brown sludge, drained away into cracks that instantly sealed behind it, leaving only damp footprints.

And even the rusted gutter that had been clinging precariously to the eave outside? They heard a screech of metal that made them jump.

Then, through the broken window, they saw the gutter’s pieces shifting, shedding flakes of rust like an old skin. Though not fully repaired, it reattached more securely, no longer threatening to tumble down at the slightest breeze.

By the time Lila stepped back, wiping sweat from her brow, the difference was clear like night and day. Though the house wasn’t as grand as their previous rooms, especially with much of the paint still chipped, and the dull lighting, the worst of the decay had been tamed.

"Good enough?" Lila asked, her tone almost challenging as she glanced at Ivy.

Ivy’s gaze swept across the newly-stabilized floor, the receding cobwebs, and the sealed-up holes in the ceiling. "I—this is..." She swallowed, momentarily at a loss for words.

Daisy smiled, placing a hand on Lila’s shoulder. "It’s perfect for now. You’re incredible, Lila." she gave her a thumbs up.

But unlike the others, a cold shiver ran down Violet’s spine instead. Watching all this was like watching time rewind itself.

"I don’t think I can get used to this." She muttered.

But Lila waved off her concern. "Oh, don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. You’re the princess, after all, you’re supposed to do more than this." She declared it as if it were a blessing, not a burden.

Violet, however, shuddered. The gods only knew what she might do with a power like this.