Double Trouble - Chapter 1 - Failings and Fallings

“I can’t believe they kicked us out,” MIkaela muttered, for the upteenth time. “After all the work I’ve done, all the effort I’ve put into being the perfect princess, they’re just going to shove me out the door?”

“It’s not like it’s permanent,” I reminded her. “You’ll be back and running the show in no time.”

“I know that!” she snapped, glaring at me. “I just… It’s just…” she hesitated for a moment, before letting out a sigh. “It’s just a lot to take in, alright?”

“Really?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “I think it’s pretty simple. It might even be fun - you do remember what fun is, right?”

“Of course I remember what fun is,” she muttered, crossing her arms. “We just have very different definitions of it.”

“These days, maybe. But I for one still remember the days you’d actually join me for mischief. Back before you got a stick up your butt. Maybe you can think of this as a chance to remove it? Let go a little! Have fun!”

“Yes, because putting our lives on the line as adventurers and camping outside without a soft bed in sight is such great fun,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I mean, it’s not like we’ll actually be putting our lives on the line,” I pointed out. “We’re literally demi-gods. It would take an actual god just to deal us an injury, and even then I’m not sure they could actually kill us.”

“They can,” Mikaela replied, her voice low and warning. “War between gods is unusual, but deadly. And we’re not even full fledged gods, so long as the restrictions on our powers remain…”

“You mean the restrictions that let us actually live in the mortal realm?” I countered. “Unless you want to activate the timer on getting kicked upstairs?”

Mikaela didn’t have an answer to that. Which meant this conversation was my victory. A pretty rare treat.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t do a victory dance to rub her nose in it - what with us being thousands of feet up in the air, perched atop a dragon. Speaking of said dragon, though…

“Hey, Jahara!” I called out. “How much longer on the flight?”

“We’ll be there in a minute!” she declared, voice booming as she craned her neck to get a good look at us. “Also, you girls have got to be the most casual dragon riders of all time… Even your Mama let out a whoop or two when she rode me the first time!”

“Yeah, well, what do you expect from us?” I asked. “We can fly faster than this under our own power!”

“Speaking of which,” Mikaela added, “why in the world did Mama ask you to ferry us to the village, anyhow? Surely it’ll draw far more attention than if we simply flew in ourselves.”

“What can I say? Your Mama’s a worrywart, and I’m the strongest servant she’s got at her disposal.”

“And yet you’re still weaker than us,” Mikaela pointed out. Which… Yeah, okay, harsh but true.

“You don’t have to point it out,” Jahara muttered, grumbling. “But like I said, she’s a worrywart. Do you have any idea how many supplies she packed into that magical bag of yours?”

“Way more than needed?” I suggested.

“Bingo! And that’s not even including the stuff she strapped to me. Though most of that’s just supplies to trade… You might not be aware of this, but I’m actually a pretty big deal in Derrin Village! In fact, I’m the main courier of supplies and personnel!”

“I know,” Mikaela said. “Which is sort of the problem. How many people flock to you when you land? How many will see us getting off your back? Most of the people you transport are official staff members of the trading post, while we’re meant to be just a couple random adventurers. We’re not even supposed to reveal that we’re demons!”

“Which is why your Dam told me to tell you to get off a little early. Everyone will be too distracted by my arrival to notice yours.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Mikaela murmurred, before nodding to herself. “As expected of Dam. Always thinking things through.”

“You mean always cleaning up after Mama’s messes,” I teased. Mikaela shot me a horrified look, which had me rolling my eyes. “Oh come on, you know it’s true. Mama’s great, but she never really thinks anything through…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mikaela declared. “Mama is… Well, she’s…”

“She tries her best,” I conceded, “but she’s a mess, and you know it.”

“Well… she did a good job of raising me at the very least,” Mikaela replied.

“I’m not saying she isn’t great or anything, but you do know it’s fine to admit our parents have flaws… right?”

“But… but… What if it gets back to them?” Mikaela asked, worry clear in her voice. “Dam and Mom can take the criticism, but Mama…”

“Isn’t that fragile. …Probably….” I mean, sure, she could be a bit… sensitive. I still remembered the look on her face that one time I’d screamed, “I hate you,” as a teen. The sheer despair. The days spent crying. The relapse into self-hatred. She’d tried to pretend that everything was normal, after, but we all knew what my dumb ass exclamation had done to her.

Still… “I think it would hurt Mama a lot more to know we’re walking on egg-shells around her, compared to just admitting she isn’t perfect.”

“That’s…” Mikaela hesitated. “Okay, fair, but… I just… I don’t know. I don’t want her hurt…”

“Well, it’s not like Jahara’s going to say anything,” I pointed out. “Are you?”

“Nope!” Jahara confirmed. “I prefer the boss happy and chipper. Mostly because she always has the chef cook really salty shit when she’s upset. I prefer it when she’s happy, and the kitchens are full of sweet stuff like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies… so good. I didn’t even know chocolate was a thing before I met her, and now whether I get to chomp down on it is decided by her royal whims? So unfair…”

“As expected of the dragon Mama tamed through her stomach,” Mikaela declared, nodding solemnly. 

“From dangerous beast to gluttonous mount… how the mighty have fallen!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jahara grumbled. “Look, I’m going in for a landing, now, so… now or never if you wanna take off.”

I traded a look with my sister, shrugged, and - with a quick ‘bye’ for Jahara - leaped off the dragon’s back.

***

Mikaela

***

Flying through the air was a wonderful thing. Falling through it, on the other hand was… Well, a bit unpleasant. Also undignified. My skirt was flapping all over the damn place, and my hair - currently red, and carefully braided - was threatening to escape its confines as the wind whipped it about. So, of course, I wasted no time conjuring my wings and breaking my fall.

My sister, on the other hand, plummeted straight down while screaming at the top of her lungs, only summoning her wings after her feet had already penetrated the foliage below. That, and the tree branches she crashed through on the way down, broke her momentum enough to avoid a disastrous crash - but it was still a bit too close of a call for my liking. If she’d actually hit the ground, the resulting impact likely would have alerted the entire town to our nearby presence.

Still, I wasn’t going to say anything - not when I could already hear her rolling her eyes and telling me what a spoilsport I was. Instead, I gracefully flew down, pushing branches aside and making room for myself as needed until I was able to alight upon the ground.

“Wooo!” Charlotte cried. “I haven’t had fun like that in… ever, I don’t think? Mama doesn’t usually let me dive towards the ground.”

“That’s because she takes flight seriously. Invulnerable or no, the damage we can do through reckless sky-diving is-”

“Yeah, yeah, spoilsport,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes.

“Why do I even bother?” I muttered, pressing fingertips to my forehead. I’d heard mortals could sometimes suffer from something called a ‘headache,’ and while I’d never personally experienced one… Well, if anything could possibly have given me one, it most definitely would have been my sister.

“Anyway, we should check out the supplies Mama gave us!” Charlotte exclaimed, next.

“...That’s actually a reasonable idea,” I replied, pleasantly surprised.

“Don’t get too excited,” Charlotte warned me. “I mostly just wanna see the weaponry. And to find out what sorta snacks she packed.”

“...Of course you do,” I muttered, shaking my head. “Very well… I believe she included an inventory list in the bag…” 

Saying so, I reached into the seemingly empty pouch at my side, and pulled forth a… scroll? A rather long one, too, from what I could tell. With tiny little handwriting, detailing a list of everything she’d given us.

It was mostly food and clothing. Clothes for every single occasion we might possibly run into, and every form of weather we might come across, and enough food to let a small village throw a feast. At the bottom, though, there was mention of something interesting - weaponry, so that we could look like proper adventurers.

“There’s apparently two daggers, and two swords,” I murmured, reaching into the bag and pulling the aforementioned items out. The items were sheaved, but… something about them gave me a bad feeling. “You don’t think they’re the same ones Dam had made for Mama, do you?”

“You mean the bloody sword and the unicorn’s dagger?” Charlotte asked, arching an eyebrow. “I hope so. But there’s two sets, right?”

“Right…” I muttered, hoping against hope that I was wrong. Alas, reality was cruel - though I was technically mistaken, it was only because Mama had apparently added a unicorn sword and bloody dagger to the mix, to make two full sets.

“I call the bloody ones!” Charlotte declared, immediately grabbing the aforementioned weapons. They had been forged by an orc - a species whose magic allowed them to forge with any material, as if it were weaponry. Despite the grim name, though, they hadn’t been made with actual blood, but rather the blood red horns of a horned wolf. Something Mama apparently had plenty of, due to her past adventures.

Similarly, the unicorn blades weren’t actually made of unicorn horn, but rather a material Mama referred to as ‘nacre.’ Also known as mother of pearl, the iridescent material had been carefully scraped from countless sea shells, then forged together with diamonds in order to create a proper blade. One that shone like a rainbow under the light.

Mama had never used either weapon, her adventures coming to a close before she ever could. Which was probably for the best, considering how eye catching they were. Yet now we were expected to wield them in battle?

As much as I hated to admit it… “Mama… You really need to start thinking things through!”

~~~

Author's Notes

Not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter. It's short, for one thing, and maybe leans a little too hard into being a sequel? Referencing characters and making jokes that maybe aren't as funny if you haven't read the original...

That said, it's also a heavy depression day, so I can't entirely trust my judgement one way or the other. Hope you enjoy anyway?