sibling rivalry
“Cleric, interesting.” Dick said, looking at James with his ridiculous looking goggles. “Can’t tell which god chose you, but you are certainly chosen.”
“What does being a cleric mean?” James asked nervously, tucking his wing carefully in the cramped shop.
“It means you’re a divine healer and warrior.” Dick answered, “although most Clerics find their own answers as to what they are.”
“That’s… vague and unhelpful.” James sighed.
“Don’t worry, in time you’ll find how to commune with the god who chose you, all Clerics do. Now how would you feel about buying some… weapons?” Dick smiled.
“Well… if I’m going to be rolling with you guys then I should.” James shrugged.
“Don’t worry James, I’ll pay.” Lydia spoke up. Vastly improving James’ mood. He ended up getting a mace shaped like a lion's paw, and a bow that creates its own magical ammo. He took it for a test drive in the alley and wrecked house. He was murmuring to himself in Spanish, admiring the beautiful weapons. And he never expected Lydia to respond in perfect Spanish, making fun of him for talking to his weapons.
“Of course you speak Spanish.” James pinched the bridge of his nose, “now I won’t be able to talk shit.” he mumbled dejectedly. Lydia just stuck her tongue out at him and said something in a string of spanish that James replied to heatedly. Both Aloice and Samantha had no idea what was happening.
“Hey kids, I’ve got a job for you if you’ll take it.” Dick said.
“What’s up?” Lydia asked, ignoring the fuming James.
“That park I told ya about, there’s an owlbear loose there, can ya take care of it for me?” he asked.
“It’ll be a good way to test drive your abilities.” Lydia shrugged at James who had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.
“Fine.” he grumbled. The quad then made their way out of the Starside and to the park. The wide open field was mostly empty, except for a massive animal. It had the body shape of a bear, but the feathers and head of an owl. Everyone was tensed and ready for a fight, except for Samanth.
“Oh look at the poor guy, he’s so confused.” Samatha frowned, casting a spell and walking nonchalantly towards the owlbear. Samatha began speaking in a series of roars and owl screeches. The owlbear replied in kind.
“He’s way over heated,” Samantha relayed, “and he’s lost.” Samantha continued talking to the owlbear in a soothing roar and screeches. “Ok, I told him we’re friends, but don’t do anything to spook him ok?”
“He’s huge.” James breathed, hovering in the air with his wings spread wide. This beast was truly terrifying. But looking at it he could see how miserable the creature was here.
“Poor guy, I wonder where he’s from?” Lydia wondered while she used a small spell to try and help cool down the owlbear, at least a little bit.
“He says he came out of those woods?” Samatha pointed towards a small cluster of trees in the park, “although I don’t really know how he would've gotten here.”
“Let’s go investigate, little guy.” Lydia cooed at the owlbear. Samantha spoke to him and the beast sluggishly began lumbering towards the trees. When they made it to the treeline the owlbear stopped, looking around confused. It then said something to Samantha.
“He says that a bad man chased him here.” Samatha explained. Right as she said that a man appeared from in between two trees, running and holding a long spear. James screeched and pulled out his bow, firing a magical light arrow that plunked into the warmly dressed man's arm. The man cried out in a language that none of the assembled party members could identify. But before they could do anything to ask questions the owlbear lunged forward and in one swipe sliced the guy's head nearly off. And then he was dead.
“Holy shit.” James muttered, “I’m glad he’s our friend.”
“That must be a portal, see the rune up there in the tree?” Aloice pointed at something that nobody could see.
“Uh… no?” James said, squinting up into the branches.
“We should send someone through, see if it’s safe for Berry.” Samantha said.
“Berry?” James asked bewildered.
“That’s what I named him.” Samantha said proudly.
“We should send James through.” Lydia smirked.
“What? No way.” James said, backing away, “what if I get lost on the other side?”
“We’ll tie a rope around your waist.”
“Who carried a rope around in their ba- of course you do. Of course you have a rope THAT LONG in your bag.” James huffed as Lydia smugly pulled a fifty foot rope out of her magical bag that was bigger on the inside than the outside. Soon James had a rope tied securly around his waist and he was pushed through to the other side of the portal. On the Park end everything was all good, just a floating rope in space. But on the other end a full blizzard was going. The wind caught James’ wings for a moment, but in a flash of instinctual magic they became almost transparent and unaffected by the wind. There didn’t seem to be anything out here. James could hardly see a meter in front of his face and he was freezing. So he tugged on the rope once. A bit too forcefully Lydia yanked on the rope and pulled James back through.
“It’s fucking freezing over there.” James’ teeth were chattering.
“That sounds just like what Berry's home is like!” Samantha said excitedly. She then relayed the news to Berry in his tongue and nervously the owlbear stepped forward, sticking its head into the invisible portal before stepping fully through. Once that happened Lydia scratched the tree where the rune was and the portal almost soundlessly disappeared. It would have been soundless had a stick not been half in and half out and torn in half by the closing portal.
“THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ME!” James shouted.
“But it didn’t.” Lydia said with a smirk.
“I WILL KILL YOU.” James shouted.
“What’s these twos deal?” Samatha asked Aloice as James and Lydia continued to bicker like siblings
“I don’t know, but I chopped off a piece of the tree with a knife.” Aloice answered, showing the piece of the tree that had the rune on it held in his hands.
“Wait what? How did you do that?” Samantha asked, “I didn’t even see you do that.”
“I’m sneaky.” Aloice replied with a little laugh.
“Ok sparkle boy, let’s find out who’s opening portals in parks.” Lydia finally said.
“Do you have any idea what you’re going to do Bubblegum tits?” James shot back.
“I’m gonna go ask if anyone in the starside strip knows what this rune is.” Lydia replied, “did you have any ideas?”
“As a matter of fact I do.” James said smugly, taking the rune from Aloice. He said a few words in an odd language, his hands glowed, and then he said, “now I know where this thing came from.” he held onto it as he smugly floated away.
“Showoff.” Lydia grumbled, following after him. The quad made their way through town, twisting and turning through the suburban streets until they found their way to a house that looked like all the others.
“It came from there.” James said, handing the rune back to Aloice who put it away in a coat pocket.
“Alright then, let’s do some breaking and entering.” Lydia said smugly, walking up to the door ready to kick it down. But before she could James put his hand on the doorknob and just pushed it open.
“We could also just… enter.” James said smugly, floating horizontally on his back with his arms behind his head leisurely, “there’s no need to be so brutish.”
“There’s no need to be such a smug bastard." Lydia growled, marching past him into the house. The house was fairly normal for the starside. It was filled with mid century academia decor and more books than whoever lived here could possibly need. But other than that the house seemed normal.
“Cast another spell to find whatever it is we’re looking for, why don’t you?” Lydia asked smugly, “or are you already out of spells?”
“I have plenty more spells.” James huffed, “I just wasn’t able to find anything more specific than this house.”
“Maybe it’s another portal in here?” Aloice asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
“Hey guys, this painting is moving.” Samatha said. Everyone else gathered around the painting. There was a lighthouse on a big rock at sunset. A very par for the course generic painting with beautiful clouds and little m’s for birds on it.
“Do you want me to go through this portal too?” James asked with an exasperated sigh.
“Be my guest, we don’t even know if it’s a portal.” Lydia hummed thoughtfully as she studied the painting.
“Well I’ll be my guest.” James said, touching the painting with his hand. Suddenly in a burst of flame a bird on fire Flew out of the painting.
“EVIL BIRD!” Samatha shouted, pointing her finger at the bird and casting a frost spell that seemed to do little to nothing. Soon after, two other birds came out of the painting. Aloice pulled out his gun and killed one in one shot.
“WHY IS IT ALWAYS BIRDS!” Aloice cried out, reloading his gun. Lydia pulled out her two swords and began hacking and slashing at the birds wildy.
“I FUCKING HATE BIRDS!” Lydia roared, cutting one of the flaming things in half.
“What the fuck do you guys have against birds?” James squeaked as he batted a bird out of the sky with his mace.
“They’re fucking EVIL!” Samantha shouted, casting the same frost spell again and this time striking true, and killing the last of the flaming birds, “NOBODY TOUCH THAT PORTAL” Samantha commanded.
“Ok ok, I’m glad I wasn’t here to get this bird related trauma.” James said innocently looking at the ash covered bones.
“Be glad James.” Samatha said with a shiver, “I don’t have eyelids, and the birds went right for my eyes.”
“Note, be thankful for eyelids.” James mumbled. That’s when he heard something. The creak of a floorboard that wasn’t anyone in the quad. James whipped around back into the main hall to see someone in a furry coat running out the back door. “We’ve got a runner!” James said, racing after the guy out the back door.
The other three ran after James who stayed airborne, getting a good angle on the guy. James pulled his bow and fired an arrow. The small guy fell to the floor with the arrow in his shoulder and cried out in pain. And in a moment he was surrounded by all four of them.
“Looks like the newbie saved the day.” James said smugly.
“Mmhmm.” Lydia rolled her eyes, “hey punk, are you the one opening those portals?” Lydia asked him.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” he groaned, sounding much less intimidating than he probably intended.
“Do I need to motivate you with another arrow?” James asked with a smirk.
“Ok fine yes! It was me! I’m sorry!” he squealed in fear.
“Hey, wait a minute, this coat is a OWL BEAR PELT.” Samantha gasped, “HAVE YOU BEEN TRAPPING AND KILLING OWLBEARS TO MAKE COATS?”
“Um… yes?” the man said meekly.
“Owlbears are an ENDANGERED SPECIES!” Samantha roared, “and it’s thanks to PEOPLE LIKE YOU!”
“I’m in trouble aren’t I?” the man groaned.
“You’ve incurred the wrath of… the lizard.” James answered, snorting seeing the enraged Samantha with little sparks of electricity between her fingers.
The quad brought the man to the local sheriff, where he was dealt with accordingly. Samantha still wanted to kill him right then and there. But she held back. And instead enjoyed the rest of her day in the Starside with her friends and now new friend.
“Oh man my mom’s gonna kill me, I’ve been gone for hours!” James realized when they were on their way back to the Arlington.
“Oh, don’t worry, time moves differently here. It’s been like half an hour in the mundane world.” Lydia assured.
“Ah, ok…” james sighed as they made it back to the starside strip. “Despite… you know, all of this. Today was nice. Flying feels good.”
“You’re surprisingly strong for a newbie. We almost died to like eighteen seagulls when we first got here.” Aloice said.
“Yea, now that you mention it you are weirdly strong.” Lydia pondered, scratching her chin.
“Well maybe I’m just that cool.” James winked as they made it to the Arlington. The quad passed through. But something felt different. Samatha was the first to discover that even though she was on this side of the Arlington portal she could freely transform from her lizard self to her human self. The others discovered this as well.
“We’re all a lot stronger.” Samantha said, “maybe I can finally transform in the mundane world.” in a horrible crunching of bones that lasted only an instant Samantha had transformed into a raccoon. Then she changed back. “Dudes! We can do magic on the other side now!”
“Rememebr what I said though, a lot of really powerful people would come after us if we started to flippantly use our magic in the mundane world.” Lydia warned.
“Yea yea, i’m not worried about it.” Samantha shrugged, “nobody’s gonna see me do magic. And I promise I won’t show my brother.”
“Good,alright gang, let’s head out.” Lydia sighed, leading the charge out of the Arlington. James hopped in his beater car and drove home. All the way to practically the outskirts of Seal Beach where he and his mom lived. He parked the car, only to see his moms car wasn’t there. And when he went inside he saw a note on the fridge.
“Hi mijo, surprise shift at the hospital, dinner is in the fridge.” James picked the note off the fridge and smiled. Pulling some cold Pasole out of the fridge and warming it up. He felt so… weird. He’d just been an asimar. And now he was just… James. But he pushed the thought out of his mind and enjoyed his moms cooking before heading to bed exhausted.
Meanwhile Samantha dropped off the rest of the crew at their places before heading home. By the time she was wending that way it had gotten dark. But her stomach dropped when she saw the old squarebody truck in the driveway. Dad was home. She parked her car next to his and carefully entered the house, closing the door behind her, only to see her father Jeffery sitting on the couch a few beers deep. He had a bad combover and liver spots on his slightly saggy face. He was just wearing a wife beater and jeans, watching TV.
“Hey dad, you’re home early.” Samantha said cautiously.
“Lost my job.” he said in his gruff voice.
“Oh.” Samantha said, a million things running through her mind. “Alright.” Samatha then darted upstairs to her brother's bedroom and gently knocked. “Johnny, it’s me.” the door opened just a crack, with Johnny looking either way down the hall before speaking.
“Dad’s not happy,” he said meekly.
“Do you have a friend's house you can stay at until dad cools off?” Samantha asked quietly.
“No.” Johnny replied.
“Ok, I might have a friend who can help, pack a bag ok? I’ll talk to dad.”
“Be careful.” Johnny pleaded, closing the door. Samantha just stood there for a moment. Took a deep breath, and turned to walk down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she began to speak.
“Hey dad, Johnny’s gonna spend the long weekend at a friends house.” Samantha said.
“Cool.” he said plainly, as he idly watched some sport, “oh COME ONE!” he shouted, throwing an empty beercan at the TV. Samatha flinched at him yelling. “Can’t you make one goddamn point?” he was obviously very drunk, and Samantha needed to get Johnny out of here fast. Samantha waited at the bottom of the stairs until she heard Johnny creeping down with a backpack on his back. Samantha held out her hand and he took it, gripping it tightly.
“See you later dad.” Samatha said, creeping out of the house with Johnny. She piled him into her little car and drove out of there as fast as she could. She dialed Lydia's phone. It rang twice before Lydia answered.
“Dude what’s up, I’m trying to sleep.” Lydia yawned.
“It’s kind of an emergency,” Samantha answered, “my dad got home early and he’s pretty drunk right now, I don’t want Johnny around that. Do you have a spare room or something he can stay in for a bit until dad cools off?”
“Oh shit, uh yea, he can have the poolhouse, nobody’s in that right now.” Lydia answered.
“Of course you have a poolhouse. Alright well I’m on my way. See you soon.” Samantha hung up her phone and put it down. “When you start driving don’t drive like this.” Samantha pleaded with Johnny. Johnny just nodded. It was maybe a twenty minute drive, not terrible. But even so the landscape had changed from small cramped cookie cutter houses to massive monoliths of architecture.
“Sammy, who’s your friend?” Johnny asked in awe as the front gates onto the grounds opened.
“Lydia, she’s from school.” Samantha answered. Johnny raised his eyebrow suspiciously, knowing his sister well enough to know she wasn’t telling the full truth. But he didn’t press, instead deciding to stare in awe at the incredible place. Lydia was standing in the driveway, wearing a full silk nightgown and matching bonnet. Samantha parked her car and immediately started speaking.
“Lydia I’m so sorry about such short notice but dad came home unexpectedly said he’s lost his job he was yelling at the tv and throwing empty beer cans and he’s really drunk and-”
“Samantha!” Lydia interrupted, “it’s ok, follow me, we’ll get you guys set up in the pool house. It’s no big deal, I’ve let my dad know too. He’s alright with it.
“I just… I don’t know.” Samantha deflated a little bit, “thanks Lydia. Can I stay the night too?”
“Of course, the pool house has like three rooms.” Lydia chuckled, “now come on, I’ll show you guys through. Oh and what toppings do you like on your pizza?”
“Olives.” Johnny said timidly as we stepped into Lydia’s grandiose house, past the staircases in the massive front entrance and through a living room that could fit Samantha's entire house.
“Meat lovers.” Samantha said, feeling like she didn’t really belong in such a huge fancy house. The three of them then stepped into the backyard that contained a huge kidney shaped pool complete with a diving board and all. The pool house was just about the same size as Samantha’s two story house. The inside of the house was cozy, but it also had plenty of fancy amenities. An expresso machine in the kitchen, a massive TV, and even a bunch of gaming consoles.
“Smash bros?” Samantha asked Jonny. He just nodded.
“Mind if I join?” Lydia asked, plopping down on the couch.
“That sounds fun.” Johnny said, smiling for the first time that night.