"And it might conceivably tick off the giant snakes. Yeah, let's avoid that for now."

"I think wild animals are generally scared of fire? And I'm not really scared of the giant snakes, they would probably not be difficult to behead."

"I'm not that scared of the giant snakes, but, hmm, I'm not in a hurry to find out how scared of the giant snakes I should actually be, you know?"

"I guess."

Shrug. Flying flying.

That looks like it might be a house off in the distance!

"Do we want to try dealing with locals?"

"Locals might know how scared we should be of the giant snake! Of course they probably don't speak English..."

"And we don't know if they'll be friendly, or have magic of their own...but we're not going to magically learn their language by not talking to them and only interacting between the four of us until and unles we can find a way home seems...excessive."

"Yeah. Okay, I vote talk to the locals."

"Same."

"Agreed."

They change course housewards.

"Big house," comments Anna.

It's not quite as big as the one they were in an hour ago, but it's still undeniably mansion-like. It does at least seem to be built on a human scale, with recognizable architectural elements like rectangular windows and hinged doors.

"Yeah, could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on a number of factors we have no way of knowing in advance."

"Hooray," sighs Anna.

Flying flying.

A woman steps out onto a balcony and sees them approaching.

Huge white feathered wings appear at her back, and she takes off and flaps gracefully toward them.

"Definitely magic. Also, pretty."

The woman greets them in, predictably, a language none of them has ever heard of.

Yep.

Wonder twin powers activate! Form of: Well, I have the black rose's skill-learning enhancements, that should help with languages, right?

"Sorry, I don't speak your language," she says, mostly as a demonstration.

She says something else, in an agreeable tone, and then beckons and turns to glide back to her balcony.

She follows.

She lands. She says more things. She opens a door and waves the four of them inside, where there is a comfortable sitting room. She vanishes her wings and sits down, looking contemplatively at them.

Sitting looks like it will happen, then.

They make an odd picture, sitting here in their odd clothing. Emily especially; she's wearing the same dark-to-light petal gown as when she greeted the Canadians at the start of the summer.

Anna stands awkwardly next to a couch.