Chapter 3 - We Really Doing This Dad?

Night having fallen, a girl in her teens slipped into the small home and quietly clicked the door shut behind her. Her hands deftly sealing each of three different locks with an obviously long practiced ease.

“Were you followed?” A deep voice called from further in the room.

“I don’t think so.” The girl pulled back her hood, letting her blue, shoulder length hair cascade down around her face as she took a slow, steadying breath.

“You think or you know?” The man walked into the light and raised his eyebrow expectantly. His tone was harsh but the welcoming smile on his face made it clear he was happy to see her.

She sighed. “I. know.” She puffed her cheeks as she replied.

Pulling off her cloak she tossed it on a nearby chair. “It’s hardly the first time I’ve done this…Orpheus.” The last word was clearly uncomfortable in her mouth.

She wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned her head onto his chest. “Do I really need to call you that dad?” she whispered so low only he could hear.

“You know you do…Ariadne.” He emphasized her name as he looked down at her face. “You know as well as I do that we have to be careful. But at least this identity has a ward, Ariadne, so we can be seen going out together. ”

“I know. And I do like that part. And it’s been fun for the last six months that we’ve been able to adventure together and stuff. I’m just not sure about this new information broker role you’ve been working at the same time.” She hugged tighter. “I know I said I agreed, but maybe it’s too exposed what with everything going on. You know the Demon King’s spies like Taia are always on the lookout.”

He nodded and motioned for her to join him on the couch.

“She is at that. But that’s the point. We’ve done well hiding. But now it’s time to make a move. And to do that, we need even more information. We still don’t know who or what might be able to send us back to Earth, but we know something was able to bring us here. And we’re finally ready to follow up and find out more.”

She balled her fingers into an anxious fist. “Will this plan work?”

Tussling her hair Orpheus chuckled. “Ariadne. No…” he leaned in closer to her ear. “Callie” he whispered.

Hearing her name, her real name, for the first time in ages made her sapphire eyes go wide.

“You know my philosophy.”

She answered, clearly imitating his voice “A plan should never succeed or fail. A good plan means that, whatever happens, it will benefit us in some way.” She flicked her index finger into the air like a conductor to punctuate each syllable.

“Exactly. And we’ve been over this plan again and again. Why all these questions?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, laying her head on him.

“I don’t know. I guess it’s just weird we’re finally ready to do something. We’ve been stuck here for two years. TWO YEARS. And with what happened today I guess it just kind of hit me that we’re really going to do this. We’re really going to put ourselves out there and make a move.”

“Don’t worry. Things will go as planned. Or according to the back up plan. Or the back up plan to the back up plan.” He nuzzled her head. “You know as well as I do that for some reason we didn’t get to be all overpowered when we first arrived and who knows why…but now we have enough knowledge to put a plan into action. What do I always say?”

“If you can’t be strong, be smart.” She recited.

“Exactly. And whether we find our way home right away or not, by the time we’re done we’ll have a mole inside the Viscount’s castle and a pipeline to whatever information we need to start hunting down clues to a way back to Earth. Maybe along the way even find out why these demon overlords are surprisingly measured in their whole world domination thing. I mean, that’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Besides. It’s not all bad.” He stroked her hair and pushed it behind her pointed ear. “You got to be a cool, blue haired elf and didn’t even need to dye your hair. And I get to be like twenty years younger in this body. Which is great, because this world does not understand a good ergonomic setup and my middle aged back would be killing me right now if I had it.”

She giggled slightly at his joke, “It’s true. This body is weirdly strong and fast. I still don’t get why I have it and why you look different too.”

“You and I have read enough fantasy to know there’s only a fifty-fifty chance the reason isn’t horrifying, so better not to think too much about it.” He paused, his tone becoming more serious.

“Now, you saw what happened in the city today. Tell me what you observed.” He turned so he could look her in the eye as they got down to business.

She responded, her own tone becoming more business-like. “The Defiant group hit multiple targets. Most like the counting house and a library were completely destroyed. The bombs used spread the fire in a way that burned quickly and was extremely difficult to put out. Some of the initial responders threw water over the fire and that only seemed to help spread the flames. The only building attacked that weathered the flames is the adventuring guild hall.”

Orpheus nodded along. “Who would have thought this world had a recipe for something like Greek fire.”

“Is that what the stuff they used is called?”

“Well, where we’re from anyway. Supposedly it even burns on water but the recipe on Earth was lost ages ago. Naphtha, quicklime, some resin and who knows what else. Judging by what I saw myself, and based on the difficulty the city had putting out the flames, I can only assume it’s rare here too or the city would be better prepared to respond.”

“I’m glad the guild master knew how to handle it or we’d have been looking for another source of adventuring work for a while. Plus he’s our best…customer.” She smiled.

“Casualty count?”

“Surprisingly low. Most of the bombs seem to have been thrown on the roofs to maximum building damage but the occupants inside had time to flee as the fire started.”

“Sounds like whomever threw the bomb at the guild hall had a grudge. Maybe against our good guild master for hanging out with demons so much?” He mused before continuing. “See anything strange about how the demons reacted?”

“Two things.” She held up two fingers to count off of. “First, the response from the fire brigade and the castle guard was incredibly slow.”

“It was. There were carts upturned in just the right streets to slow down their teams. It was subtle enough that I’m not sure that most demons even noticed.”

“And secondly,” she continued after lowering her first finger, “even the greater demons avoided the fire.”

“Good eye.” He smiled proudly. “I noticed that seneschal Euryale avoided the flames, but she’s so timid that wasn’t quite sufficient to be sure. But when even that beastly Captain of the Guard Xorn stayed back, I was certain.”

“Taia also avoided the flames. Which means we observed all three confirmed greater demons, all the greater ones we know of other than Viscount Malakai himself, being cautious of fire.”

“Good. Demons are hard enough to kill. But now we may have come across a way to hurt even a greater demon without magic. What did you think of the Warlock’s speech?”

She thought a moment, searching for the right words. “Amateurish, I guess. And definitely over the top. Just the kind of speech I would expect from an idiot who doesn’t understand that the demons took over even when everyone was trying to fight them, let alone now that he has a little hit and run band.”

Orpheus chuckled. “Too true. But I suspect they will be useful. Zealots are predictable if nothing else. Plus, given the side business I started a few months back as an information broker I expect we may have several customers as everyone in that castle runs amok trying to figure out this Defiant group and its next target.”

As if to punctuate the point a knock came to the door. Orpheus pursed his lips and raised a finger to them to silence Ariadne.

“Who goes?” He called out.

A woman’s voice rang through the door. “The guild master sends a message. He’s hoping to meet in the usual place to discuss…current events. He wants information and he’s willing to pay.”

As Orpheus reached for his helmet he flashed a swaggering grin and Ariadne rolled her eyes.