“Excuse me, miss, but… could I please see the Guild Master?” I asked, my smile bright and my eyes focused fully on the girl in front of me. This was the proper way to greet someone, so far as I was concerned. For some reason, though, the girl didn’t seem to be quite meeting my eyes - more like looking slightly to the left of me.

“The… guild master?” she asked nervously. “May I ask if you have an appointment?”

“I believe so,” I confirmed. “At the very least, he knows we’re coming.”

“O-oh,” the secretary whispered. She seemed… relieved? “I’ll go get him then.”

“That would be lovely,” I said with my best smile… which only seemed to make the girl more nervous for some reason.

“Psst. Mikaela. Your eyes,” Charlotte whispered from behind me.

“My… eyes?” I asked, frowning. What was wrong with them? I mean, other than the fact that they were pitch black, but I always did that when greeting someone new. Leaning into my succubus side helped me detect emotions directed towards me, which was important information when deciding how to approach someone. I wouldn’t have known just how nervous I was making the girl, otherwise - or that she’d been lusting after me, for that matter. Albeit barely.

“We’re supposed to be pretending we’re human, remember?”

…Ah. Right. Humans… can’t do that, can they? I blushed, embarrassed by my mistake, and even more so by my sister being the one to point it out. She was normally the screw up, always getting into messes, and yet…

“It’s fine,” she tried to assure me. “Just turn them back to normal, alright?”

I acquiesced, the darkness receding from my eyes until my violet irises were once more on display. “Just so you know, I would have figured that out on my own… eventually.”

“Sure, Sis,” Charlotte laughed. It grated on my nerves, but there wasn’t anything I could say or do about it. Not when I’d been the one to make such an obvious mistake…

“Seriously, Sis, it’ll be fine,” Charlotte continued, still trying to put me at ease. “Everyone’s allowed a mistake or two. This just isn’t your element.”

“Not my element?” I demanded, hands going to my hips. “And what is that supposed to mean, dear Sister?”

“It means that you’re too used to being treated like a princess,” Charlotte replied, rolling her eyes. “I mean, it’s been years since you did anything fun with me.”

“That would be because we have very different ideas of fun,” I replied, rolling my own eyes right back at her. “Just because I don’t like slumming it on the lower floors, or playing video games all day when we could be studying Earth’s history or culture to learn from it, doesn’t mean I’m incapable of acting like a normal person, you know.”

“That’s what I thought too until you went and showed off your succubus eyes to the first person you talked to,” Charlotte said. “And failed to cast a privacy barrier around us. I mean, that’s just sneaking 101.”

“Yes, well, maybe I just knew you’d do it,” I muttered. “...You did cast one, didn’t you?”

“Of course!” she scoffed. “Seriously, Sis, what’s gotten into you? You’re usually on the ball.”

“I’m usually not adjusting to being kicked out of my home and forced to mingle with human peasants,” I replied.

“Right. Peasants. Is that how you think of everyone below you?” Charlotte demanded sternly, her own hands now gravitating to her hips.

“That’s… I mean… I didn’t say it was a bad thing?” I muttered back. “I just think it’s a fact that we’re above them in station and power.”

“Uh-huh,” Charlotte replied, clearly unimpressed. In fact, I got the distinct impression that I was losing this fight - at least in her mind. 

Unfortunately the secretary returned before I could figure out a way to turn things around.

Winning an argument with my sister was sweet. Too bad there weren’t any witnesses. I mean, as far as most people were concerned, we were just a couple crazy women mouthing silently at one another. Maybe some of them would pick up the fact that I’d been using magic to keep our conversation silent, but they still wouldn’t know I’d won.

Which I had, in fact, done. …Won, I mean. Even if Mikaela would never admit it in a thousand years.

Come to think of it, I’d won our last argument, too… back when we were riding Jahara. My sister must have really been out of her element to be flailing so hard in our arguments… not that I was going to let that stop me from enjoying my victories, but… Yeah, maybe I’d keep an eye on her mental well being? I mean, it would cause trouble for me if she broke down or whatever. And I was technically the older sister, which sort of made it my responsibility to play nice with her… Not that I’d ever been that great at taking care of my responsibilities.

Plus, it wasn’t as if Little Miss Perfect actually needed my help… Right?

“We’re here,” the secretary we were following told us, coming to a stop in front of a wooden door atop a flight of stairs. She knocked on the door.

“Come in!” bellowed a deep voice. “It’s unlocked.”

The secretary swung the door open, revealing the speaker - a burly looking old dude sitting behind a desk. He had no obvious muscles - either because he was a desk jockey, or because he’d gained enough supernatural strength through training that his body now struggled to get a proper workout. The latter was more common than you’d think - I mean, neither me, nor my sister, or even our parents showed a hint of muscle, and we were literally the strongest people on the planet! 

There was also someone standing behind him - a purple haired woman with blue eyes and a super friendly smile that was… actually just a tiny bit off-putting? She was staring at me like I was some sorta celebrity, despite being easily twice my age.

“Guildmaster,” the secretary said, bowing her head to the dude behind the desk. “I brought the twins, as you requested. Miss…” she trailed off, apparently realizing she’d never actually collected our names. It was a wonder the guild master had even agreed to see us, under the circumstances - unless he’d simply latched onto the fact that we were twins.

“Mikaela and Charlotte-” my sister started speaking before cutting herself off. From the way her jaw clenched halfway through her sentence, she’d probably caught herself right before saying our last name was Satanne. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Denden,” the Guildmaster replied, frowning. “And while I’d like to say the pleasure is mutual, this is honestly just one big headache your parents dropped in my lap…” 

He sighed, shaking his head before turning his attention towards the secretary. “Don’t tell anyone I said that. Or anything about our guests. Do get me Reckt, though, would you?”

“As you wish, Guild Master,” the secretary said, with obvious respect in her gaze as she bowed her head and closed the door.

“Reckt?” Mikaela asked, frowning. “May I ask who that is?”

“A guide,” Denden replied. “For the city - and, more importantly, for your rookie requests. Assuming you’re going to want to do like your parents and actually go through the proper procedures?”

“Of course,” Mikaela said, her back straightening. “If our parents followed the rules, then it only makes sense for us to follow in their footsteps.”

“Personally, I’d prefer to just take the guild cards and leave,” I confessed. “I mean, isn’t it pointless to test us when you know we’ll pass?”

“Your strength isn’t in doubt,” Denden said, frowning at me, “but what isn’t certain is if you can follow the rules of the guild and complete requests in a timely manner. I’m willing to give you a little leeway due to your circumstances and the truth is that if you demand I give you full membership… Well, not even the guild would want to make enemies of your parents.”

“That’s our parents, though,” Mikaela noted. “We haven’t done anything to deserve such accommodations.”

“Just so,” Denden confirmed with approval. “Which isn’t to say that I don’t have your full membership cards already prepared, but if you want to be a proper adventurer…”

“Then we’ll do the rookie requests?” I finished for him. “I mean, Sis seems interested enough in it for both of us, so… What do we even need to do, anyway?”

“Complete at least two requests,” the guild master informed us. “The first of which must involve gathering magic plants. The second onward can be anything you wish for, but you’ll need to gather enough money to pay for your full membership. It’s only three virtues - that’s the copper coins - to become a rookie, but you’ll need to pay an entire saint - a gold coin, equal to ten crosses, or a hundred virtues - to become a full fledged adventurer. And you’ll need to earn at least that much as a rookie adventurer before you’re allowed to pay your way forward. It’s how we ensure that only dedicated, professional types can gain full fledged memberships rather than allowing people to simply bribe their way up the ranks.”

“Of course,” Mikaela said, bowing her head a little. It might have been a pretty big deal for a princess, but it seemed to me like Sis was just behaving as she always did with authority figures. That meant she’d accepted him as one… and would probably faint at the mere idea of trying to cheat our way around his tests.

“Why not?” I shrugged. It didn’t sound that hard - hell, it might even be fun! I mean, sure, being a ‘rookie’ didn’t sound nearly as glamorous as being a full fledged adventurer, and the trials were definitely a little… dull for my tastes. You know, compared to something like beating up a dragon to prove my worth. Still, it made sense, and we weren't here to cause trouble, so… why not?

“There’s a bit more to it,” Denden warned us. “Namely, rookie adventurers have to be accompanied by full fledged members on their missions.”

“Let me guess - that Reckt person you called for?” I suggested.

Denden nodded. “They’re not our most… professional member. Or our most accomplished. Or are smartest, or our best, or… anything, really. But they’ve got a good heart, and they’ve been bugging me for a while about wanting to give back to the guild… Plus, they’re too dense to figure out what’s going on with you, no matter how badly you mess up, which I figure will be a plus.”

“We won’t let you down!” Mikaela declared, putting a hand over her heart. “I swear it.”

“Says the girl who went all dark mode earlier,” I muttered, too low for the humans to hear. More than loud enough for my sister, though, from the way her cheeks flushed bright red.

“Before they get here, though, there’s one other piece of business I’d like to attend to,” Denden continued. “An introduction of sorts. Between you and the town mayor.”

“The town mayor?” Mikaela asked, blinking. “Wouldn’t she be too busy to meet a couple random adventurers?”

“She knows who you are,” Denden said, shaking his head. “Don’t worry - she’s got your parents permission to know… which is good, since she probably would have strangled me if I didn’t tell her… She was a… friend… of one of your mothers, you see.”

“One could even say that I’m a big part of how two of your parents met,” said the purple haired woman who’d been standing in the back. Had she been waiting the entire time just to make a dramatic reveal of herself…?

“Does that mean you’re…” Mikaela frowned, no doubt thinking back through the stories we’d been told. “...I’m sorry, I have no idea who you are.”

The woman’s expression froze, but only for a moment before bouncing back. “Come on, they must have mentioned me! Lissera? The one who saved Devilla from being discovered back when she first came here? Not to mention tried to keep her safe when the Heroine randomly showed up…”

“Doesn’t that mean you did more to keep them from one another?” I pointed out.

“Uhh…” Oops. Lissera looked like she’d taken a shot to the heart, dramatically grabbing her chest. “That’s… I mean, I suppose one could look at it that way, but… are you sure your parents didn’t mention me?”

“They don’t like to talk about their adventuring days,” Mikaela said apologetically. “Though Mama did say something about a village girl taking care of her when she ran out of magic?”

“Yes!” Lissera squeed. “That was me! The village girl! …But also, seriously? Village girl?!”

“She also mentioned that you helped her with figuring out how to dye her hair,” I added.

“I did!” Lissera agreed, seeming to snap back to happiness. “In fact, one could say that I contributed quite a bit to her adventures among humans! Honestly, though, part of me thought she was going to conquer the whole world back then…”

“And you helped her anyways?!” Denden demanded before either of us could.

Lissera shrugged. “She saved my village! Everyone I ever knew… I wasn’t sure if she was evil, but honestly, I probably would have doomed the whole world in return back then…”

“And… now?” Mikaela asked.

“...Oh, hey, I think I hear someone coming up the stairs! Bet you’re excited to meet your new adventurer mentor, right?”

I stared at her.

Mikaela stared at her.

Denden stared at her.

Lissera bit her lip. “Look… your Mama’s hot, alright? Like, really really hot…”

Lucky for Lissera, a knock came on the door before any of us could reply. Unluckily for Lissera, there was no way I wasn’t going to eventually follow up on that absolutely amazing bit of drama!

 

~~~

Author's Notes

 

Many thanks to FallingLeaf for the editing! 

I wasn't entirely sure whether Mikaela's little slip up was in character, but it felt right/natural during the writing, and she really is out of her element... as Charlotte has repeatedly pointed out. She's used to specific rules of engagement that she can rely on, and right now? Not so much.

If you'd like to see what happens next, please consider supporting me on Patreon! You can read two chapters ahead for as little a a dollar - though the chapters haven't been edited yet.