Chapter 40: Chapter 38: Family Feud?

Lilith gripped Siph’s hand nervously as the two stood in front of the cave. They were out deep in the wilds of Havens, where Siph’s parents had made their home. She was looking for relatively safe places to put up the portals connecting Haven and Earth, and the area around a dragon’s home was just such a place. Any truly dangerous monsters would have long since been driven away, if not by the dragons themselves, then by the lack of suitable prey for them to eat.

Siph squeezed Lilith’s hand gently. “It’ll be fine.” She reassured. “Dad may give you a bit of trouble, but he should settle down once he realizes how strong you are. And I’m sure mom will love you, so it’s fine.”

She faced forward and called out in her family’s private language. “Mom, dad, it’s me! And I’ve brought a guest!”

There was the sound of shuffling from the cave, and then two young-looking people walked out.

The woman rushed over to Siph and caught her in a hug. She was the spitting image of Siph, and the two looked like they could be sisters. Benefits of not aging, Lilith assumed.

“It’s been so long!” The woman said, clearly delighted. “What have you been up to? And who’s this?” She let go of the hug and turned to face Lilith, then stopped in her tracks, tilting her head in confusion. “Lilith?” She asked.

“Yes, mom, this is Lilith, the daughter I was telling you about.” Siph said hurriedly, giving the woman a meaningful look.

The woman paused for a moment as she appraised Lilith. She frowned deeply, taking a step or two closer to Lilith. “As I thought.” She said gravely. “You’re adorable.” She reached up and pinched Lilith’s cheek, frown morphing into a huge smile. Letting go of Lilith’s cheek, she turned to her daughter. “And I thought the day would never come. Who’s the father? What’s his race? Obviously, he’s a hybrid of some sort, but I’m dying to know who produced a cutie like this.”

Siph smiled happily. “His name’s Mike, and he’s a human. He’s the sweetest thing, though, and–”

She was cut off as her father forcefully dragged her away, and Lilith was only able to hear the beginning of what he said, a hushed “What daughter?!”

Lilith’s grandmother looked back to Lilith, raising an eyebrow. “Oh?” She said inquisitively. “If that’s the case, does that mean that Siph didn’t give birth to you?”

“No. She’s still my mom, though. It’s…complicated.”

Her grandmother snorted derisively. “It’s really not. You say she’s your mom, she says you’re her daughter, case closed. I’m really happy she taught you our language, though. It means she’s serious about this. What happened to your birth mother?”

“She didn’t teach me the language. And my birth mother is married to Siph and my dad. Again, it’s a bit of a long story.”

Her grandmother threw a glance at her husband and Siph, who were clearly beginning to have a fight. “They’ll be a bit, we have time.” She pulled Lilith into the cave, leading her into a small room that had some simple furniture in it. She dragged a couple of chairs around so that they faced each other and sat in one, prompting Lilith to sit in the other.

“I haven’t really introduced myself, sorry. My name’s Tiamat, but you can call me Grandma!”

Tiamat? That was, by her recollection, the name of a very old and very powerful dragon, perhaps the most famous of her kind. Slightly more nervous now, Lilith spoke. “And I’m Lilith Clements. Nice to meet you.”

Seeing Lilith’s expression, Tiamat laughed. “I’m not that Tiamat, it’s just a common name among dragons.”

“Oh.” Lilith replied. “That’s…good to know. Um…so, how’d you know my name? Mama’s dad seemed pretty confused about this, and I thought mama hadn’t talked to you in a bit, but she also said she told you about me?”

“You can just call him Grandpa, it’s fine.” Tiamat reassured. She paused for a moment longer before continuing. “And as for talking with Siph, I reached out to her a while ago and she mentioned something about having a daughter named Lilith.” She looked a Lilith for a moment longer, eyes lingering on her wings. Then, understanding of a sort dawned on her face. “Ah, that’s where I had seen you before, you’re the one from the broadcast, right?”

Lilith nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Tiamat gave her a smile. “In that case, tell me everything. I believe in the broadcast you said you were a human living on Earth, right? Start from there.”

And she did. They talked for upwards of an hour before Lilith actually reached meeting Siph, as Tiamat was very interested in what her life on Earth was like before she was introduced to magic. Several times Lilith had to explain what something was, usually leading into tangents as she explained other things.

Eventually, though, they did reach meeting Siph and the circumstances surrounding Siph’s entry into Lilith’s family.

“That’s a wonderful Skill you picked up, dear.” Tiamat said once she found out about Familial Bond. “Could you add me too? I don’t want to be left out.”

Lilith nodded. “Yeah, as long as Grandpa agrees to come in too. I don’t want to cause a fight between you two.”

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Tiamat rolled her eyes. “He’ll agree, but he’ll probably complain about it first.” She paused, then gave Lilith a worried look. “He’ll probably want to fight you. Can you handle that? I know you seemed pretty strong during the broadcast, but he’s no slouch either.”

Lilith laughed. “It’ll be fine. Let me get through the rest of the story and you’ll see.”

And so, they kept talking for another hour. They finished Lilith’s story after another thirty or so minutes, briefly discussed what to do about Tiamat’s husband, and after that was done, they just talked to get to know each other better. They would have talked even longer if Tiamat’s husband didn’t storm in furiously.

“You.” He barked, pointing at Lilith. “Outside. Now.”

Tiamat stood up and walked over, placing her hand on his arm. “Kirdin, honey, shouldn’t you talk to her first? She’s a lovely young lady and I think if you listened…”

He brushed her hand off. “No, Tia. Siph’s gone too far this time. I want that girl out of my house, and then I want her to watch and see as I beat some sense into our daughter. After that, I’ll make her understand that Siph is not her mother, no matter what the two of them might think.”

Lilith stood up and walked over, giving Kirdin a cold look. She didn’t want to greet her grandfather like this, but it had been her grandmother’s suggestion, so she went along with it. Besides, he was threatening to beat her mother, and she couldn’t let that slide.

“I won’t accept that.” She said frostily. “Mama has done nothing wrong. If you want to fight anyone, you’re going to fight me, understood?”

Kirdin glared at her. “Watch your tone, missy. I don’t want to have to beat a child, but I will if you keep acting like this. Siph’s clearly been too soft on you.”

Lilith snorted. “As if. You couldn’t beat me if you tried, old man.”

“I’ll give you one chance to take that back, and then I really will beat you.” He growled.

“You can keep that chance, you don’t scare me.” Lilith replied levelly, locking eyes with Kirdin.

“Fine. Have it your way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Tia, make sure she comes outside.” He said, turning and stomping out of the room.

Tiamat smirked and patted Lilith’s arm. “Told you he’d be like this. Go teach him some humility, will you? He hasn’t lost in far too long.”

Lilith followed her outside, to where Kirdin and Siph were staring daggers at each other.

Kirdin pointed to the entrance of the cave. “Siph, go stand next to your mother. You’re going to watch while I discipline this kid for you.”

“Make me.” Siph retorted. “I’m not letting you lay a finger on her, got it?”

“It’s alright, mama.” Lilith called out. “I was the one who wanted to fight him.”

Siph shot her a look. “Are you sure?” She asked, concerned. “You really don’t have to, this is between me and him.”

Lilith smiled. “Don’t worry about it. This is, in a real way, my fault, and I’m pretty sure I’ll have an easier time of it than you.”

“Trust me, she’s a lot stronger than he is.” Tiamat soothed. “The only one getting hurt here will be him.”

“Alright.” Siph conceded. “I’m going to step in if it looks even a little dangerous, though.” With that, she stepped over to Tiamat, and the two began a hushed conversation while Lilith walked over to Kirdin.

For his part, Kirdin took a step back and shifted into his dragon form. Unsurprisingly, he was even bigger than Siph, and absolutely towered above Lilith, who didn’t even flinch as she stared into an eye that was as big as she was.

In response, she sent him a Geas.

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