Charlotte

“Alright, everybody gather around the summoning disk! For this to work we’ll all need to be making contact with it. Usually I’d suggest nudging it with your foot or something, but considering how many of us there are it’s probably better to go with something small like a finger.” I gestured to the metal disk I’d placed on the forest floor as I spoke. It wasn’t a solid circle, but rather made use of empty space to create a complicated pattern, matched perfectly to its mate in the tower.

“Wouldn’t it be better to hold it up in that case?” Singh asked, glaring at the disk sitting in the dirt as if it might rise up to bite her or something. It was kind of a struggle to hold myself back from joking about it, actually - not that I was entirely sure what I’d even say. Maybe something about it being the least likely thing here to take a nibble out of her?

“We need to be able to picture the ring’s exact location for the return trip,” Mikaela explained. “If we hold it and then it falls to the ground, we won’t have a detailed enough mental image to teleport back.”

“Uh… hold up a sec!” Reckt interrupted. “Is that safe? What happens if an animal thinks it’s shiny and moves it or something?”

“Then we won’t be able to initiate the trip back, I’ll get an earful from Dam, and we’ll have to find the damn thing ourselves afterwards…” I replied, already imagining the future headache. “But it’s not like it’s dangerous or anything. The spell will just fizzle out without taking us anywhere.”

“It’s a security measure,” Mikaela explained. “There are variants of these same circles placed in important areas throughout Dimona Tower. In order to transfer between spots, you need at least one person who can clearly visualize where its twin is kept.”

“So just touch the circle and stop complaining!” I said testily, determined to get us going before Mikaela could go any further into explain-y mode. She had a bad habit of treating anything and everything like an excuse for a lecture.

“Shouldn’t we at least put up some countermeasures to keep it from being moved?” Singh suggested. “Maybe make a groove for it in the ground, or something, so that animals will have a harder time grabbing it?”

“…Fiiiiine,” I grumbled. It was mostly just for show so that I wouldn’t have to actually admit that the munchkin made a good point. In fact, I decided to go a step further, not only perfectly fitting it into a groove but raising a foot high wall of earth around the disk. Being able to directly manipulate the dirt with magic really did make things simple~.

“…And here I thought I was volunteering myself to dig it out by hand or something,” Singh said, staring at the pristine circle of earth.

“Forgot who you’re traveling with, huh?” I teased. “Seriously though, crouch or bend or do whatever you need to do to get a finger on that circle.”

“Can’t you just raise a pedestal or something out of the ground so we don’t have to bend?” Singh asked. “I mean it only took you a second to do all that, so it should only take a few more to make something more convenient, right?”

“It’s best to keep the circle firmly on the ground,” Mikaela said, speaking firmly. Which was probably for the best, since I’d been about to let out another loud sigh before proceeding to do what Singh had suggested. “Generally speaking, when you teleport from one circle to another you maintain your relative position to it.”

“Meaning?” Singh asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Meaning that if you’re standing on one circle, you’ll be standing in the exact same place on the other after teleportation.”

“So?” Singh pressed, her lips pressed into thin lines. 

She clearly wasn’t getting it, and honestly neither was I. Didn’t mean I wasn’t going to roll my eyes a bit at how Singh was acting, though.

“I mean that if we’re standing upright to touch the pedestal in the forest, and try to teleport to a circle that is touching the ground the spell will fizzle out - at best.”

“What about at worst?” Reckt asked nervously.

Mikaela shrugged. “I wouldn’t know and I’ve never heard of anyone being stupid enough to test it. If I had to hazard a guess, and the spell didn’t fizzle, you might very well end up embedded halfway in the ground.”

“And that’s why we’re leaving the disk on the ground!” I declared before Singh could argue any further. Personally, I was actually pretty curious why Mikaela hadn’t brought this up when Singh had asked about just picking up the damn thing, but it was entirely possible I’d simply cut her off before she could. “Everyone kneel down, now!”

“Won’t that get us dirty?” Reckt asked, looking worried. “I’m not sure I want to meet the Demon Queen while my clothes are all dirty.”

“You’ve met her already, though?” I pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t know it was her at the time so it’s different!”

“It’ll be fine,” Mikaela reassured her. “I can simply magic any dirt off of us when we reach the tower.”

“Magic it where?” Singh asked.

“To the floor? The maids will clean it up.”

“Or we can put it in the trash ourselves?” I suggested. The maids had enough work as it was, they didn’t need us making things even tougher on them.

“Wait,” Reckt interjected, “where does trash in the demon tower even go? Do you all just… throw it out the window or something?”

“Nope! The tower has a way of removing trash from existence.”

“Which only breaks every law of physics we know of!” Mikaela grumbled. “I think it’s converting the matter into holy magic.”

“Then where’s the unholy half of it going, huh?” I countered.

“Maybe it gets sent up to heaven? We could always ask Granny Liz?”

“Can you please keep your incomprehensible demi-goddess conversations to yourselves and just transport us already?!” Ruby asked anxiously, having apparently knelt down while I wasn’t paying attention.

“Come on then everybody, here we go!” I declared. “Off to the tower!”

***

Singh

***

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I followed the demon princess’s instructions and put a finger on her ‘teleportation disk,’ but I definitely expected something to happen. And it… did, I guess? Just… not in a flashy way. One second I was standing in the forest, kneeling in the dirt, and the next second I was kneeling on a soft floor, with racks upon racks of clothes all around me - strange circular racks that held all sorts of clothes on metal triangles.

“What is this place?” Reckt asked, getting up to her feet beside me. A bit of a dumb question, but I was grateful that she’d asked it. It meant I didn’t have to look like an idiot when Mikaela answered.

“It’s our parents’ closet,” Mikaela said. “We keep our private teleportation circle hidden here since it’s the one place the maids aren’t allowed to go.”

“You mean your parents keep a secret closet?” Reckt asked incredulously.

“It’s not secret,” Mikaela objected, “it’s just off limits.”

“Due to the secrets it hides,” I pointed out.

“It has caused all sorts of rumors,” Charlotte chimed in conspiratorially. “The general consensus seems to be that since our Dam was originally Mama’s personal maid, she’s still jealous of the position and doesn’t want anyone else to fill it…”

“Your Dam was a maid?!” Reckt asked in shock.

“What’s a dam?” I asked at the same time.

“The parent that doesn’t birth you,” Mikaela replied. “Technically we have two of those, but we call our second one Mom since she was raised human.”

“Right… Your Mom… the traitor Heroine.”

“…Care to repeat that?” Mikaela asked in a completely flat voice. I think I could actually feel the air around me starting to freeze.

Crap. Now everyone was staring at me, but… “That’s what they call her, isn’t it?” I held firm. “The Heroine who sided with demonkind.”

“To end a pointless two thousand year old religious war orchestrated by traitorous angels!” Charlotte replied heatedly. “Granny Liz was completely in favor of ending the war! Also, the war was kinda trying to exterminate my people? You know, demonkind?”

“Hello?”Another voice interrupted us before I could respond. “Do I hear someone in there?”

My eyes went wide as the closet door opened. The surprisingly well lit closet some part of my brain idly noted even as the entity I’d grown up knowing to be the absolute anathema of humanity stepped inside. I didn’t notice any light fixtures, but maybe the tower just had some sort of magical ambient lighting?

“Mama!” Charlotte called out, her rage instantly doused as she raced towards the woman. To my surprise, even Mikaela’s icy expression softened and the air thawed as Ruby let out a wry smile. Only Reckt mirrored my own nervous expression as I took in the newcomer.

She had violet eyes and white hair - just like her daughters now sported, I noticed, the red dye having apparently disappeared from their hair while I wasn’t looking. The similarities didn’t end there, either, as I could see hints of her in the shape of the girls’ faces. If you told me they were sisters, I’d likely believe you, but their mother? That was harder to swallow. She didn’t look any older than her daughters.

Then again, she was supposed to be an ancient entity of pure evil that regularly died to Heroines only to be reborn anew due to the weight of mankind’s sins. However, even by that logic her last death and rebirth should have been over forty-five years ago at the hands of Heroine Jodeyne - the first Heroine in history to defeat a freshly reborn Demon Queen. 

Usually victory was only possible thanks to the hard work of multiple Heroines, each one of them doing her best to weaken the Demon Queen’s current incarnation, each going to their deaths knowing that they had done their best to pave the way for the next generation - hell, even the lucky Heroine who actually managed to take her down inevitably died alongside her. Jodeyne had been no exception to that last bit, but the fact that she’d been able to take a freshly reincarnated Demon Queen down with her had nevertheless made her the stuff of legends.

“So?” the woman asked. “Are you going to introduce me to your friends?”

“‘Friends’ might be too strong of a strong word,” Mikaela said, shaking her head. “And you already know Reckt.”

“Reckt?” the Queen asked, turning her eyes to the blonde. “Ah… Well. I suppose this means the twins told you of my real identity?”

“Yeah,” Reckt said, rubbing at the back of her neck. “So you’re not just my dam’s big eater friend, huh?”

“I’d like to think I’m a lot of things,” the Demon Queen replied, “but the one I love most is being a mother with two lovely daughters. …If you’re referring to the fact that I’m also the Demon Queen, though… Yes, I suppose I technically am.”

“Technically?” I asked, unable to help myself. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Well,  I’m honestly more of a figurehead than a true ruler. Abigail, one of my wives, is the one who actually keeps things running around here. But I suppose that’s not the sort of thing I should be discussing in front of random humans, is it? More importantly, I believe we’ve yet to be introduced.”

“I’m Singh,” I said begrudgingly. “Your daughters’ captive.”

“Do you have to put it like that?” Mikaela asked with a sigh.

“Yeah! If you’re going to create misunderstandings, you could at least try a bit harder and turn it into a bit or something…” Charlotte grumbled.

“That’s what you’re mad about?!” Mikaela demanded.

“What? I’m just saying. We’re not going to get her to stop pushing our boundaries, so why shouldn’t we have a little fun with it?” Charlotte asked, completely unfazed by Mikaela’s outburst.

“Ah-hem. What’s this about a captive?” the Queen asked, faking a cough to get them to focus.

“It’s not like that!” Charlotte hurried to explain. “I mean… it kinda is? But… it also isn’t?”

“She caught wind of Charlotte’s identity shortly after Charlotte caught her stealing,” Mikaela clarified. “We can’t trust her to keep our secrets, and she is a thief, so we’re making her accompany us on our adventure until we’re satisfied she won’t tattle or steal anymore.”

“And yet you brought her here,” the Demon Queen noted, eyeing me up and down. “As a friend. Alongside Reckt, and… Is that you, Ruby? I almost missed you, hiding in the clothes like that…”

“Hi Aunty Devilla,” Ruby replied, laughing a bit nervously. “I’m uh… just going to get going, alright? I don’t feel the need to get involved in any family drama.”

“You are family, though,” the queen pointed out. “Though of course you’re free to leave if that’s what you desire. I’m sure Chloe and Nivera would be as happy to see you as I am to see my own children.”

“Right… I’m going to have to deal with so many hugs, aren’t I?” Ruby muttered to herself. “And she’ll be prodding Dam into speaking… ugh. I guess it’s not going to get any better if I put it off…”

“That’s the spirit!” the Queen laughed even as Ruby scurried off.

Then she turned her attention back to me.

“…I’m Singh.”

“Devilla Satanne,” the Demon Queen replied calmly. “Though I suppose you might have already known that.”

“I’ve heard the name,” I replied, trying to keep my cool under the Demon Queen’s watchful gaze. It was hard not to flinch when she smiled at me. A benign, normal looking smile that seemed completely out of place on an unholy abomination’s face.

“I’m afraid I can’t say the same,” Devilla remarked. “But I’m sure that we’ll get to know each other in time. For all that my daughters are forcefully carting you around, I still think it says something that they were willing to take you home with them.”

“It says we didn’t trust her enough to leave her by herself!” Mikaela said.

“And yet you didn’t leave her in someone else’s custody, but instead brought her here,” the Demon Queen pointed out.

“Can we maybe discuss this over dinner?” Reckt asked. “I haven’t had anything good to eat since breakfast and I’m kinda starving.”

“Hmm… It’s a bit short notice to manage a full family dinner, I’m afraid,” the Demon Queen murmured, “but I’m sure my wives can at least make enough time for an impromptu feast of sorts.”

“A whole feast?!” I asked, flabbergasted. She was throwing feasts on a whim when humans out there were starving? Not to mention the fact that she was going to apparently whip it up instantly, somehow? Probably through overworking her poor servants.

“Well, I say ‘feast,’ but it’s really going to be more of an ‘eat it as I cook it’ affair. I think I’ll be cooking in large enough batches to fit the title, though.”

“Wait,” I protested. “Wait wait wait. You cook?!”

“Of course!” the Demon Queen - an unholy abomination of pure evil - declared as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “I had to learn how to contribute somehow, didn’t I? Keeping our bedroom clean and cooking the occasional meal is really the least I can do, especially now that the twins don’t need so much looking after…”

“I’d argue we don’t need any looking after,” Charlotte said with what could only be called a pout on her face.

“I’m sure you would,” Devilla replied with a smile, “but come now. Let’s head to the kitchens and have ourselves a ‘feast.’”

~~~

Author's Notes

First off, I just wanna give a big thanks to FallingLeaf, who edited this chapter. It is worth noting that I made further changes based on the edits he suggested, though, so if there's any proofreading problems they're probably new (and my fault) rather than him having missed something

Now that my motivation to write Double Trouble has come back, I'm hoping the next update will come sooner than later... But we'll see! Hoping to do MOV in the morning, either way... For now it's past 2 AM though so I should really be winding down...

Hope you enjoyed!

EDIT: Some final editing/proof reading from FallingLeaf has been done since I revised so much~