Ki sat cross-legged by the lake, still processing the breathtaking origin story of Spiegelbild as narrated by Amphitrite. She gazed at the shimmering waters, her mind swirling with thoughts of Elder Gods, spirits, and a world entirely unlike her own. But her musing was cut short by a tug on her sleeve.

“Human! You promised us sweets!” Amphitrite, in her adorable child-like form, pouted and stomped her foot.

Ki blinked, jolted out of her reverie. “Oh, right... But, uh, there’s a tiny problem. I don’t have the ingredients.”

The dragon girl narrowed her eyes. “Are you lying to us?”

“No, I’m not!” Ki waved her hands defensively. “Look, I can’t just conjure sugar and cocoa out of thin air! We need to find a village or something to get supplies.”

Amphitrite tilted her head, considering this. “A village? Do you mean the human settlement nearby?”

“You know one?!” Ki sprang to her feet, excitement sparking in her eyes.

“We… might,” Amphitrite said coyly, brushing a strand of blue hair from her face. “Though that was over 500 years ago.”

“Five hundred years?! Do you even know if it still exists?” Ki asked incredulously.

Amphitrite sniffed. “Of course, it exists. Believe us, We are a goddess, after all! ”

Ki folded her arms, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Right… Well, if this village is still there, we could definitely check it out. I need more than just ingredients. Maybe someone there can tell me more about this world… and about spirits.”

Amphitrite nodded slowly. “Then it’s decided. You shall provide us sweets, and we shall lead you to the humans!”

A grin spread across Ki’s face. “Sounds like a deal, Amphi.”

“Amphi?” Amphitrite frowned.

“Yeah, short for Amphitrite. It’s catchy, don’t you think?” Ki teased, already enjoying how the nickname annoyed the self-proclaimed goddess.

“We do not approve!” Amphitrite huffed, crossing her arms.

“Well, too late. It’s sticking,” Ki said with a playful shrug. “Now, lead the way, oh great ‘Amphi.’”

.......................

The warm sun filtered through the dense canopy of leaves above, casting scattered patches of light onto the forest floor. Ki trudged along, her gaze drifting between the odd flora dotting the path and the dragon-girl bouncing ahead of her. Amphitrite—no, Amphi, Ki had decided—was humming to herself in a distinctly upbeat tone.

“Amphi,” Ki called out, trying the nickname again to see if it stuck.

The little girl stopped abruptly, turning around with her hands on her hips. “Oye! We said not to call us that! It’s Amphitrite!”

“Amphi’s easier to say,” Ki teased, smirking. “Besides, doesn’t it sound cuter?”

“Cuter? We are not cute!” Amphi puffed her cheeks, but her voice cracked just slightly, betraying her flustered demeanor. “We are majestic! We are a Goddess!”

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“Uh-huh, sure,” Ki replied, clearly unimpressed. “Majestic goddesses totally throw tantrums over candy.”

Amphi crossed her arms and turned her back with an exaggerated “Hmph!” but didn’t object further. Ki suppressed a chuckle and hurried to catch up as they continued down the winding path.

“So,” Ki said after a moment of silence, “we have a deal, right? You guide me to this village, and I’ll make you sweets. But I need the ingredients first.”

“Obviously! We are a dragon of our word,” Amphi declared proudly. Then, her tone softened, almost shy. “But they must taste as good as the one from before. No tricks!”

“Got it, got it,” Ki replied, raising her hands. “No tricks. Cross my heart.”

Amphi seemed satisfied, her mood lifting again. As they walked, the two began to talk, mostly about nothing in particular.

“Why do humans wear clothes all the time?” Amphi asked out of nowhere, tilting her head.

“Uh… modesty, protection from the elements, that kind of thing.”

“Hmph. Sounds impractical. Scales are much better.”

Ki laughed. “Yeah, well, not all of us can turn into giant dragons, so we make do.”

Amphi smirked, clearly pleased by the mention of her dragon form. “That’s true. You’re quite a weakling.”

“Hey!” Ki protested. “I fell out of the sky and survived, didn’t I? That’s got to count for something.”

“Only because of your spirit,” Amphi quipped, sticking her tongue out.

Ki rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling. The banter felt oddly… normal.

As they walked, Ki couldn’t help but marvel at the strange flora around them. Massive flowers with glowing petals that shimmered faintly in the dappled light. Trees whose bark shifted colors, blending seamlessly into their surroundings.

“Wow,” she muttered, stopping to see a peculiar plant with spiral-shaped leaves. “This place is incredible.”

“Of course it is,” Amphi said smugly. “Spiegelbild is full of wonders. Humans just forget to appreciate them sometimes.”

“Spiegelbild…” Ki repeated. The name felt oddly significant, like it carried more weight than she could understand....

after walking for a few minutes something caught Ki's eyes she crouched to inspect a glowing blue mushroom growing at the base of a tree.

“Do not touch that!” Amphitrite warned sharply. “That is a Mooncap. If you so much as brush against it, you’ll be hallucinating for hours.”

Ki jerked her hand back. “Good to know.”

Amphitrite smirked. “Humans are so clueless about their surroundings. How do you even survive?”

Ki shot her a look. “By not sticking my hands in glowing mushrooms, for starters.”

Their banter continued as they reach a sparkling brook, where silver fish leapt gracefully from the water, and a cluster of enormous butterflies with iridescent wings flitted through the air.

As they passed the brook, Amphi slowed her pace, her expression softening.

“You know,” she began, her voice quieter now, “the shrine you crashed into… it wasn’t always in ruins.”

Ki glanced over. “Oh?”

“Hundreds of years ago, the humans in the village built it to honor us,” Amphi said, her gaze distant. “They prayed for rain, for bountiful harvests. And we answered. We were important to them once.”

“What happened?” Ki asked gently.

“They… forgot,” Amphi replied, kicking a pebble along the path. “They stopped coming. Stopped believing. Eventually, they didn’t need us anymore.”

Ki frowned, sensing a tinge of loneliness in Amphi’s words. “That must’ve been hard.”

Amphi shrugged, though her voice betrayed her. “We are a Goddess. We don’t need humans to feel important. But… it was nice to be remembered.”

Ki didn’t press further, letting the silence settle between them as they continued walking.

The forest began to thin, and Ki caught sight of rolling fields in the distance. A faint silhouette of rooftops, chimneys and windmills appeared on the horizon. The village.

Amphi stopped and pointed dramatically. “There it is! The human settlement! Prepare yourself, Ki, for you are about to enter our domain.”

“Your domain?” Ki asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, it was our domain,” Amphi muttered, dropping her arm. “But now it’s probably full of smelly humans who don’t even know who we are.”

Ki chuckled, patting Amphi’s head playfully. “Hey, maybe they’ll surprise you.”

Amphi swatted her hand away with a huff. “Don’t patronize us!”

As they stood on the edge of the forest, gazing at the village silhouetted against the fading light of the sun, Ki felt a flicker of anticipation. Answers, however small, were waiting for her in that village.

“Ready?” she asked, glancing at Amphi.

“Always,” the dragon-girl replied, puffing out her chest.

With that, the two began their descent toward the village, their journey—and their partnership—truly beginning.