Damn.
How do parents out there deal with crying kids? Is there a secret handshake I need to learn? A manual? A cheat code? Because right now, Mika was sobbing into my shirt, and I could feel the dampness spreading. She was like a faucet with no "off" button!
"Uno! What do we do?!" I turned to my equally frazzled clone. Uno, for all her "I'm-so-serious" demeanor since we rescued Mika, was still me, so of course, she was panicking alongside me
（￣~￣;）
"I don't know!" Uno flailed her arms. "Maybe… food? Food fixes everything, right? How about I bake you a cookie later? Would you like that?" she added, looking at Mika with the desperation of someone trying to talk down a bomb.
Miraculously, Mika's wails downgraded to sniffles. Progress!
"How about a chocolate chip cookie?" I chimed in, eyes wide with hope. "If you stop crying, I'll bake you a whole batch later. Snacks, okay? Snacks are life!"
Mika hiccupped, and her crying finally stopped.
Ha… Crisis averted. For now.
"Uno," I muttered, still holding Mika, "remind me to buy chocolate. Serena better have some, or I'm throwing the next tantrum."
And so, after bribing Mika with promises of cookies, we—me, Uno, Mika, Leah, and Titan—made our way to Serena's house. Leah and Titan, the responsible adults, were our reluctant babysitters for the day.
When we arrived at Serena's house, which we'd helped build near the town square, I knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Serena answered, her eyes narrowing the moment she saw us.
"Oh, look. It's you again," she said with a smile so fake it could've been sold at a discount stall. Her gaze flickered between me and Uno, who immediately pretended to admire a nearby tree. Meanwhile, I avoided eye contact like my life depended on it.
Okay, so… maybe the last time my clones and I were here, things didn't exactly go smoothly. We may or may not have accidentally triggered a flash-bomb potion inside her house while shopping for Mika's floral dress and my hakama.
In our defense, who leaves volatile potions lying around like that?! It wasn't our fault! …Okay, it was.
Anyway, the explosion temporarily blinded us, and while flailing around, we may have spilled a few more bottles. The result? Chaos. Lots of it.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Serena banned us from her house after that. But desperate times call for desperate measures—and cookies.
"Can we come in? I promise to compensate for… last time?" I said, channeling my inner puppy.
Serena sighed, long and loud, like she was already regretting her life choices. "Alright. What do you want?" she asked, her tone flipping to professional indifference.
"Um… first things first—do you have chocolate?"
Serena raised an eyebrow so high it practically left her face.
"What? Priorities, Serena. We're talking cookies here."
Without a word, she turned and headed upstairs. We waited awkwardly until she came back with a small box.
"This is the latest product in the kingdom. Unlike the usual bitter ones, this chocolate is sweet, nutritious, and replenishes mana as you eat it. 10 gold coins."
I squinted at her. "10? Are you trying to scam me? The bitter ones were fifty silvers for two bars!"
"9 gold coins and eighty silvers," she shot back, smirking.
"One gold coin and sixty-five silvers!" I countered.
"5 gold coins and fifty silvers. I'll throw in some dough for free."
I groaned. "Fine."
After handing over the money, I passed the chocolate and dough to Titan, who was grinning like this was free entertainment. Mika, on the other hand, lit up like the sun.
"Okay," I said, turning back to Serena. "Now for the second most important thing. Where's your sister? Specifically, where did she find that stone slab?"
Serena froze. "…"
"You should've asked that first!" she snapped, smacking me upside the head.
"Ow!"
She gave me a look usually reserved for particularly slow children. Fair.
"My sister's an adventurer," Serena began, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't know which dungeon she got the slab from, but I do know she won't meet you."
"Why not?"
"She's… unique. And by unique, I mean she's the kind of person who'd rather wrestle a dragon than talk to someone like you."
"Please!" I dropped to my knees and clung to her leg like a barnacle. " That's better than nothing after knowing that a black corruption mist thingy is out there on the loose possibly turning Grumpy and the others into brainless monsters." To hell with dignity! Can that save us? No! I'll beg their empires monarch if I have to!
Author: Hm~
"Leah! Get this thing off me!" Serena yelled, trying to shake me off.
"Nope! "I'm not leaving 'til you say yes!" I declared, dodging a slap coming my way.
"What the fuck are you?! A sticky gum?!" She said as I stuck to her.
"I prefer 'determined negotiator,' thank you very much!"
"Argh!!! Fine!! Serena finally snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "But don't blame me if anything happens!"
"Yay!" I let go, throwing in a victory pose for good measure O(≧∇≦)O
Serena glared at me like she was seriously considering selling me as the sticky gum.
"Her name's Selene," Serena muttered, clearly regretting every decision that had led to this moment. "Last I remember she was going to the western dungeon. We'll leave at sunrise. Now get out before I change my mind!"
Mission accomplished.
As we left, Mika happily munched on the chocolate, Titan chuckled at my antics, Uno kept looking smug for no reason, and Leah just shook her head in silent judgment.
All in a day's work.
Little Theater:
Aria *holding up a cookie*: "I'll trade you one for the location of the dungeon!"
Serena: "Nobody's gonna be bribed with cookies, Aria!"
Mika: *holding out her hands trying to get the cookies from Aria*
Serena: "...."