by Cassiopeia had boarded a ship and sailed from Amber Island to the nearby Peace Village on the coast of Minstrel. She was on her way to a Job that looked to pay well given how easy the work seemingly was. As only a D-Rank mage of Dies Irae, the Kaijin woman was currently stuck mostly doing the meaningless labors on the job board that were well beneath the rest of her guild. Still, even lowly Jobs paid decently enough. That was the main thing she was after lately, Jewels. More influx of personal wealth would allow her to buy more things, plain and simple. As a wandering guildless mage, Cassiopeia's ability to find work had been severely limited. But since joining Dies Irae she'd had access to the plentiful Jobs that crowded their Job Board. And each one she undertook was good exposure for the guild.
Though she received plenty of nervous looks from the citizens of the village as she arrived, Cassiopeia brushed it off as she always did. She meant them no harm, and so long as they didn't give her any trouble she didn't care what the villagers thought of her. The Kaijin made her way to the address from the job flyer, knocking twice on the door. She waited patiently as she heard hurried footsteps coming her way. "One minute!" A frantic sounding woman called out. A moment later the door opened, and the woman that greeted her's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
The woman likely hadn't expected her guest to be several feet taller than herself, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the Kaijin's long tail, which Cassiopeia never made any effort to hide. "Oh my." The lady said, blushing slightly when she realized she was staring. "You must be the mage from the guild." She asked, and Cassiopeia simply nodded.
"Chimera's blood." The Kaijin said simply in reply, moving her tail around for the woman to get a clearer look. "Get enough in your wounds and strange things tend to happen." She added nonchalantly. It was a lie, it always was. Cassiopeia found that giving humans a comfortable lie about her own origins set them at ease. It was much easier than explaining she was part of an ancient long forgotten race that dwelt at the edge of the known world.
"Oh I see." The woman said with a nod. "Well hopefully my boys are less work than slaying a chimera. Please ma'am, come inside." With that the woman ushered Cassiopeia inside her come. The first thing the Kaijin noticed was the general mess the house was in. Toys were scattered all over the living room and it looked like a tornado had gone off. "The boys are outside playing." The woman said simply, as she offered a seat on the couch for her guest.
"I'm Cassiopeia Gojira by the way." The Kaijin said simply, extending her hand to shake. "Neophyte of Dies Irae, and D-Rank Mage." She hadn't given the woman a formal introduction yet and it only felt polite.
The woman accepted her handshake. "Annabelle L'more, a pleasure to meet you miss Cassiopeia. You have a lovely name." The woman said sweetly. "Anyways, I should probably tell you a bit more about what you'll be doing. There's an amusement park down on the boardwalk that my children have been begging to go see. But I just don't have the time. I'm almost late for work as is. I'll need you to take them for me, I'll give you some spending money for tickets and food. Bring them back at closing time."
"The boys are twins..." The woman continued. "Chris is the calmer of the two, but his brother Zack is a wild child. If Zack causes trouble Chris almost always follows him. Chris is usually a sweetheart though, but that means Zack might run off on his own. If they do that just keep Chris within arm's reach." Annabelle let out an exasperated sigh, thinking of how troublesome her twins were. Cassiopeia just smiled, she had siblings, but she wasn't much close to them. Kaijin laid eggs, and raised them in communal nesting sites. Elders watched over them, while the parents continued on with their lives.
"Well, I've handled worse than rowdy children." Cassiopeia said confidently. "Consider them in good hands. It's an amusement park, it shouldn't be hard to keep two children entertained for half a day. If I can't keep two kids happy at an amusement park for crying out loud, then I'm a truly terrible babysitter."
Annabelle chuckled to herself at the joke. "Well, it seems you'll have no problems then. I'll be off now, spare keys are under the mat, be home no later than nine." With that the woman stood up, heading over to the back door. "Boys, your sitter is here, come say hi to miss Cassiopeia." The two boys dropped what they were doing an ran up to their mother. She hugged them both and kissed their foreheads. "I have to run along now, but you two be good while I'm gone ok?"
The twins nodded yes, "Alright mom." They said, before turning to see the towering Kaijin woman standing arms crossed in the hallway. "Oh my gosh you're tall!" One shouted, running up to inspect her. The other poked at her tail, which twitched away reflexively. "What are you lady, some kind of half dragon?" He inquired, the 'd-word' irked Cassiopeia, but it was an innocent child so she held her tongue.
"No, it's from Chimera's blood, actually." She said, repeating her earlier lie. "Now, come along you two. There's a lot of rides we're gonna miss if we don't leave right now. You can ask more questions on the walk over." She paused, flashing the children a fanged smile. "If you're really good and on your best behavior I might buy you ice cream and funnel cake for dinner." Cassiopeia turned to their mother, giving her a look that said this was all just false promises to keep the boys in line.
Eager to head to the amusement park, the twins quickly followed after her. True to her word they barraged her with endless questions. Where she was from, what she did, if she was tall, if she'd seen a dragon. Cassiopeia answered them all as best she could, embellishing the stories when it made them more interesting. They arrived at the park and three tickets later they were eagerly looking for the first ride to go on. Naturally, Zack wanted to do the biggest, tallest looking roller coaster first. Chris seemed nervous, so Cassiopeia managed to convince the two to opt for a smaller, 'warm up ride' first on a tamer coaster.
The three spent the better part of the day enjoying the rides. Lines were long, and one time Zack ran off Cassiopeia grabbed Chris under one arm and chased after his brother. She slammed her tail down in front of Zack, stopping him dead in her tracks. "If you run off like that again I swear I'll find a spell to turn you into a newt." She threatened, scooping the boy under her other arm. She didn't actually know any magic of the sort, but it was enough to scare the boy into line.
Hours passed in fun and fancy, the trio ate hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch, and Cassiopeia won the two a gigantic stuffed dragon toy at a strength testing contest, easily destroying both the sledgehammer and the machine with one swing. As the sun grew low in the sky and the park began to empty of guests she informed the boys they'd be going home. By the time they'd reached the house, Zack and Chris were both fast asleep in her arms, their boardwalk prizes coiled tightly in her tail. Cassiopeia passed the two children off to their mother, collected her payment, and wished the family goodnight. Another job well done, except she was so tired she too was about ready to fall asleep. She could rest on the ship back to Amber Island she supposed.
Word Count: 1,440 | Double Trouble!
Though she received plenty of nervous looks from the citizens of the village as she arrived, Cassiopeia brushed it off as she always did. She meant them no harm, and so long as they didn't give her any trouble she didn't care what the villagers thought of her. The Kaijin made her way to the address from the job flyer, knocking twice on the door. She waited patiently as she heard hurried footsteps coming her way. "One minute!" A frantic sounding woman called out. A moment later the door opened, and the woman that greeted her's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
The woman likely hadn't expected her guest to be several feet taller than herself, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the Kaijin's long tail, which Cassiopeia never made any effort to hide. "Oh my." The lady said, blushing slightly when she realized she was staring. "You must be the mage from the guild." She asked, and Cassiopeia simply nodded.
"Chimera's blood." The Kaijin said simply in reply, moving her tail around for the woman to get a clearer look. "Get enough in your wounds and strange things tend to happen." She added nonchalantly. It was a lie, it always was. Cassiopeia found that giving humans a comfortable lie about her own origins set them at ease. It was much easier than explaining she was part of an ancient long forgotten race that dwelt at the edge of the known world.
"Oh I see." The woman said with a nod. "Well hopefully my boys are less work than slaying a chimera. Please ma'am, come inside." With that the woman ushered Cassiopeia inside her come. The first thing the Kaijin noticed was the general mess the house was in. Toys were scattered all over the living room and it looked like a tornado had gone off. "The boys are outside playing." The woman said simply, as she offered a seat on the couch for her guest.
"I'm Cassiopeia Gojira by the way." The Kaijin said simply, extending her hand to shake. "Neophyte of Dies Irae, and D-Rank Mage." She hadn't given the woman a formal introduction yet and it only felt polite.
The woman accepted her handshake. "Annabelle L'more, a pleasure to meet you miss Cassiopeia. You have a lovely name." The woman said sweetly. "Anyways, I should probably tell you a bit more about what you'll be doing. There's an amusement park down on the boardwalk that my children have been begging to go see. But I just don't have the time. I'm almost late for work as is. I'll need you to take them for me, I'll give you some spending money for tickets and food. Bring them back at closing time."
"The boys are twins..." The woman continued. "Chris is the calmer of the two, but his brother Zack is a wild child. If Zack causes trouble Chris almost always follows him. Chris is usually a sweetheart though, but that means Zack might run off on his own. If they do that just keep Chris within arm's reach." Annabelle let out an exasperated sigh, thinking of how troublesome her twins were. Cassiopeia just smiled, she had siblings, but she wasn't much close to them. Kaijin laid eggs, and raised them in communal nesting sites. Elders watched over them, while the parents continued on with their lives.
"Well, I've handled worse than rowdy children." Cassiopeia said confidently. "Consider them in good hands. It's an amusement park, it shouldn't be hard to keep two children entertained for half a day. If I can't keep two kids happy at an amusement park for crying out loud, then I'm a truly terrible babysitter."
Annabelle chuckled to herself at the joke. "Well, it seems you'll have no problems then. I'll be off now, spare keys are under the mat, be home no later than nine." With that the woman stood up, heading over to the back door. "Boys, your sitter is here, come say hi to miss Cassiopeia." The two boys dropped what they were doing an ran up to their mother. She hugged them both and kissed their foreheads. "I have to run along now, but you two be good while I'm gone ok?"
The twins nodded yes, "Alright mom." They said, before turning to see the towering Kaijin woman standing arms crossed in the hallway. "Oh my gosh you're tall!" One shouted, running up to inspect her. The other poked at her tail, which twitched away reflexively. "What are you lady, some kind of half dragon?" He inquired, the 'd-word' irked Cassiopeia, but it was an innocent child so she held her tongue.
"No, it's from Chimera's blood, actually." She said, repeating her earlier lie. "Now, come along you two. There's a lot of rides we're gonna miss if we don't leave right now. You can ask more questions on the walk over." She paused, flashing the children a fanged smile. "If you're really good and on your best behavior I might buy you ice cream and funnel cake for dinner." Cassiopeia turned to their mother, giving her a look that said this was all just false promises to keep the boys in line.
Eager to head to the amusement park, the twins quickly followed after her. True to her word they barraged her with endless questions. Where she was from, what she did, if she was tall, if she'd seen a dragon. Cassiopeia answered them all as best she could, embellishing the stories when it made them more interesting. They arrived at the park and three tickets later they were eagerly looking for the first ride to go on. Naturally, Zack wanted to do the biggest, tallest looking roller coaster first. Chris seemed nervous, so Cassiopeia managed to convince the two to opt for a smaller, 'warm up ride' first on a tamer coaster.
The three spent the better part of the day enjoying the rides. Lines were long, and one time Zack ran off Cassiopeia grabbed Chris under one arm and chased after his brother. She slammed her tail down in front of Zack, stopping him dead in her tracks. "If you run off like that again I swear I'll find a spell to turn you into a newt." She threatened, scooping the boy under her other arm. She didn't actually know any magic of the sort, but it was enough to scare the boy into line.
Hours passed in fun and fancy, the trio ate hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch, and Cassiopeia won the two a gigantic stuffed dragon toy at a strength testing contest, easily destroying both the sledgehammer and the machine with one swing. As the sun grew low in the sky and the park began to empty of guests she informed the boys they'd be going home. By the time they'd reached the house, Zack and Chris were both fast asleep in her arms, their boardwalk prizes coiled tightly in her tail. Cassiopeia passed the two children off to their mother, collected her payment, and wished the family goodnight. Another job well done, except she was so tired she too was about ready to fall asleep. She could rest on the ship back to Amber Island she supposed.
Word Count: 1,440 | Double Trouble!
