Double Lives - the multiverses collide

Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you guys for all the reviews, follows and favourites. glaedr-is-awesome has asked me to make my chapters longer. I have done that for this chapter, but I would like to know if you guys want shorter chapters, but more frequent updates, or longer chapters, but then it will take longer between each chapter being uploaded? This chapter excluded, all my previous chapters averaged at 1686.6 words per chapter.


John pulled Ashikia towards him as his mom entered the room, but it was pointless. She saw Ashikia and froze. "Mom, I can explain," said John, to no avail.

His mom stepped backwards, out the door, shouting "Charles! Come here quick!" This drew Ashikia's attention, and she looked at John's mom.

"Coming, Helena! What is it?" John heard his dad's heavy footsteps coming down the passage, then he saw his dad come into the room, next to his mom. Charles froze, just like his mom had, then said slowly, nervous under the gaze of the cat-sized blue winged lizard, "John…move slowly away fr-"

"Dad, mom, it is ok," John interrupted, "she is a friend." John stroked Ashikia to make a point that he was not getting hurt. He sensed Ashikia enjoyed being stroked, but she was very nervous under such intense attention. Ashikia lost her nerve and ran to the safest place in the room, behind John.

"John…what is it?" his mom asked, clearly puzzled. In all her years as a vet, she has never seen any creature like it.

"She- is a dragon. Her name is Ashikia." John glanced behind himself to the blue dragon sitting behind him, trying to make itself small. John looked back at his parents, noticing they were both still tense and standing dead still. "It is ok, you can move. She won't attack. She and I are partners. I will tell you more once you have calmed down," he added.

John's parents breathed again, then moved a few steps closer to his bed, though they kept quiet, so he decided to explain. "It started on Wednesday night. Remember on Thursday I asked you whether some dreams don't fade? Well, on Wednesday night I woke up in a forest, and soon found out I was in a world that seemed to come out of a fairy tale: A fantasy world where Dwarves, Elves, Dragons, Urgals, telepathy and even magic exist. But I didn't believe it was real at first. I went to sleep there and woke up here again. Then on Thursday night, it happened again. Then I started to wonder if it might be real. And it happened again Friday night, last night.

"In that fantasy-like world, I ended up on an island that was home to the Order of the Dragon Riders. Their leader is a half-elf named Eragon, and his blue dragon, Saphira. Yesterday…err…last night… they took me to the hatchery to see whether a dragon would hatch for me. One did. Mom and Dad, meet Ashikia," he turned around, picking up Ashikia from her hiding place and holding her where his parents could see. She squeaked a couple times at them, and then wriggled out of John's grasp, curling up against him, this time in the front, watching them.

"Uh…hello Ashikia…?" said Helena. Ashikia squeaked again, which caused John's mom to laugh briefly. She walked forward, reaching out her hand to the little dragon. Ashikia got up and walked forward, sniffing John's mom's hand and then arching her back as she got a back-rub. Charles walked a bit closer, watching his wife and the winged reptile.

"Cute little pet you have here, John," John's mom said.

"She isn't my pet, she is my partner," John corrected.

"Sorry. What do you mean by that?"

"When a dragon hatches for you, the first time you touch it is incredibly painful, but your mind and the dragon's get bonded together. The dragon naturally had telepathy and every now and then can briefly use magic. The person who bonds with the dragon, gains the abilities of telepathy and magic. Eragon is training me in sword-fighting and telepathy. Eventually he will also train me in magic. I am not sure why he has not started yet."

John's dad shook his head then said "Wait, besides Ashikia here, how is there proof that any of this exists? And who is this Eragon fellow? How can you trust him? He is teaching children sword fighting and these other things…"

"Relax, dad, he is the leader of the New Order of the Dragon Riders. And we are training with sticks. And if you want proof, I can show you…"

"Why is it the New Order?"

"A Dragon Rider turned against the Old Order and essentially destroyed it. Eragon defeated him, ending centuries of the dictator's tyranny. The man was called Galbatorix."

"Oh…now for that proof you offered…"

"Sure," said John. He closed his eyes and concentrated on extending his mind towards his dad and mom. His tendril of thought reached their minds soon, and he opened his eyes. Their minds felt familiar, yet different to him. Since he was their child, his mind was a mix of each one. Hello, mom and dad, he projected his thought to them and watched their surprised expressions as they realised that was him. "Cool, huh?"

"…uh…yeah…" said a distant-looking Helena. Without touching her mind, John could tell that she was deep in thought, then her eyes refocused on him and she said "Well, that is pretty…cool… now, let us have breakfast. The bacon and eggs are probably cold by now. And I need to wake up George. He is so lazy on weekends…" She walked out the room.

"I presume Ashikia eats meat?" asked John's dad.

"Yes, I think we are going to have to buy a lot more soon, after seeing how much she eats…"

"Ok…for now there is some frozen meat. I shall defrost it quickly." Charles walked out of the room, heading to the kitchen.

John sighed then got up and closed the door to his bedroom, so he could get changed in private. Well, not actually in private, Ashikia was in the room as well, but she didn't count since their minds were literally bonded and it wouldn't make a difference if she was in another room. Anyway, she was not interested.

Once John had finished getting dressed, he headed out his room, Ashikia following him. Then he remembered that Saphira had said he would need to teach Ashikia English, so he made sure she was paying attention with a mental prod. He then thought of the name and purpose of each item he saw on the way to and in the kitchen.

Helena soon arrived at the kitchen as well, soon followed by George, who, upon seeing Ashikia, had a similar reaction as his parents, freezing at the sight of Ashikia. "George, relax," said John.

"But-but-but, that can't be real. Dragons don't exist. John is this some kind of prank?"

"No it is not." John, not wanting to explain it all over again reached out mentally to George and showed his memory of his and their parents' conversation about Ashikia. George at first reacted with disbelief. John noticed that so far, Georges mind was the most similar to his that he had yet encountered. It made sense, since they were brothers. Their minds, however, were not a match for each other, like his and Ashikia's, which fitted together perfectly."

Charles arrived back from re-heating the bacon and eggs and defrosting a hunk of meat. "Breakfast is served," he said.

"Oh, John, remember you invited your friends for a visit. They will be coming over at about 12 o' clock."

"Oh…" said John, hoping that he would not have to explain Ashikia to anyone else for a little while.

They ate breakfast, and afterwards they did many different things, All involved Ashikia. Most of the time he was letting her explore the house, explaining mentally each object she showed interest in. Thus, they passed the time until Charles left to fetch their guests.


John heard the car pulling in at the driveway, then told Ashikia to go to and wait in his room upstairs. He ran to, and out, the front door. He went to the car and greeted his friends as they got out. "Hi Guys! How's it going?" he asked to Cornelius, Emily and Frank.

"We're good!" came the chorus of replies form his friends.

"Come in!" said John smiling. He gestured to the door and stood aside, allowing them and his dad to go in. Once they were in, he followed them inside. They headed to the lounge where they chatted idly about different topics. Once John felt they had settled in, he waited for the current topic in the discussion to end, before he said "Guys, there is something I need to tell you."

"Yes?" asked Emily, curious.

"Well, it started on Wednesday night…" started John. This time, he found it easier to explain, probably because he was giving the explanation before showing them Ashikia. There were general gasps from the three when he mentally called Ashikia downstairs to the lounge. They were also quite amazed at the telepathy and the idea of the magic, even though John was not able to show them any.

"I really wish you guys could come with me, so I can show you the awesome place," said John.

"Yeah…sounds awesome!" said Frank.

They continued talking for some time, then started playing together, each getting one of the three computers in the house. Frank had brought his own laptop. They played multiplayer games together for some time, but after a while, they stopped and went and played some stuff outside, like soccer in the garden, swimming, board games and lunch on the deck table.

The time flew, and before they knew it, it was time for them to go home. Their parents came to fetch them in the late afternoon.

After supper, John went to sleep with Ashikia on his bed. He also thought about the day's event. It felt like a weight had been taken off his chest after telling his parents and friends. He had asked them not to tell other people, but to keep it a secret between them.


John woke up back in his room in Alagäesia. Yesterday Eragon had said that he would be showing John around the island. His breakfast somehow made its way to his table every morning without his noticing anyone coming in. After eating it, John headed straight to the training field where Eragon had asked him to meet. As he walked past other riders in the streets, he got some odd looks. John's best guess was that the news had spread that he was from another world.

When he arrived at the field, he saw Eragon was already there, looking awake and ready as ever. John ran to him excitedly when he caught sight of Eragon. "Eragon!" he said.

"Hello John. What is it? You seem quite excited…" Eragon said, looking at John wondering what was causing the excitement.

"Ashikia came with me to my world!"

"That makes sense…since you two are bonded," he said. Yesterday, they had not been sure whether John and Ashikia's bond would enable Ashikia to travel between worlds. Now he saw that she did indeed. "I'm happy for you two. Though, let us not tarry. There is much to show you on the island and I do not wish to spend all day on it," said Eragon, climbing onto Saphira. He had already put an extra-large saddle on. Those saddles were usually used when taking new riders from the main continent across the ocean to the island, Vroengard. There were straps on it for two Riders and a baby dragon.

Once Eragon, Ashikia and John were strapped in, Saphira took off. She flew around the island and Eragon talked to them mentally, to avoid shouting over the thuds of Saphira's wings. He told them about each place they saw.

And there is the spot in the forest you first arrived in, Eragon said, mentally indicating a patch of forest below them. They flew for some time when Eragon stopped in mid-sentence and said There are three people below us. From what I can tell, they are from your world. Their names are Cornelius, Frank and Emily. Saphira dived down, landing in front of them with a heavy thud.

They screamed and started to run, only to be stopped in mid-step by one of Eragon's spells. Apparently they could still talk, since they were screaming and Frank was shouting "Please don't eat me!"

John sighed deeply then unstrapped himself and Ashikia while Eragon did the same. He slid off the side of Saphira, bending his legs to absorb the impact from the ground a few meters below. He waited for Eragon to come down, much more gracefully, holding Ashikia. Eragon put Ashikia down and watched John as he walked from behind Saphira towards the three who were stuck in thin air.

"Guys, relax. It's me," said John loudly and he patiently waited for them to calm down.

After a while, Cornelius said "John, is that Ashikia? And how did she just get supersized?!"

"That is not Ashikia, she is Saphira. She is Eragon's dragon." John gestured to Eragon who came around from behind Saphira. Ashikia followed Eragon and, upon seeing her, ran to Emily who had been stroking her a lot the day before.

"I take it you know them?" said Eragon.

"Yes, they are my friends. They came to visit my house yesterday. My parents, my brother and these three are the only people I trust enough to tell about Ashikia."

"Ok." Eragon released the magic holding the three still. Cornelius fell over, and Frank and Emily stumbled. "Well, come. We should head back now. We'll walk, since Saphira can't carry all of you."

John talked with his friends as they headed back home, walking behind Eragon and Saphira. Ashikia was running around them, being her energetic little self. After walking for a while, they arrived back at the Riders' city. Eragon took John's friends to one of the more comfortable guest rooms and asked them to stay there while he talked to John.

John and Eragon went and talked a bit further down the passage where they wouldn't be overheard. "John are you sure you can trust them?"

"Yes, I am completely sure. Apart from my close family, they are the people I trust most in the modern world."

"Ok. I still need to ask you a bit about them. I also need to know how much they know." Eragon asked John about his friends then they went back to them and Eragon asked "How would you three like to see if you can become dragon riders?"


About an hour later, the four modern Dragon Riders were busy practising stick sword-fighting against each other on the training field. Their Blue, Red, Orange and White dragons and their two instructors, one half-elf and one dragon, watched them and gave them advice.

A little later, the four trained their telepathy against Eragon. All four of them against Eragon hardly dented his mental defenses when he was only half trying. Anyway, that was not the point of it, as the whole time Eragon was instructing them in different methods and techniques.

After their training had finished, the four went to the dormitory. They all ate in John's room, where they talked excitedly about the day's events. Just before they headed to bed, they agreed that they would all come to John's house the next day again, at 2 o' clock. They would all talk to their parents to get permission, of course.


"But they visited just yesterday…" his dad said.

"Yes, I know, but last night… they were there…" said John

"Where?"

"In Alagäsia! They were there! Dragons hatched for them too!"

"So your friends also ended up in this Alagäesia place and dragons hatched for them too?" asked his mom.

"Yes. Yesterday, or last night, we agreed to meet again today."

"Ok…I guess that is fine…" said John's dad. John briefly touched his dads mind, wondering what was bothering him and found that his dad just had no clue how to deal with the situation, so he did what seemed best.


Later, John's friends arrived in his dad's car, having carried the dragons on their laps on the way there. Cornelius had an orange one, Frank a red and Emily the white one. Of course, his friends had to explain about the dragons to their families as well. They played with the dragons inside, to avoid being spotted. After a while, they got tired and sat down on the couches and talked while the four dragons played, mainly wrestling with each other for fun.

Then a troubling thought occurred to John, and he said "we won't be able to keep them hidden for long. Eragon said Dragons grow fast, especially when they are young. I think that, sooner than later, we will have to make ourselves publicly known, so the Government can't just make us disappear. If the public knows about us, then if the government makes one of us 'disappear' for tests and experiments, the others will be able to help. The government won't be able to do it as easily."

After much discussion and brainstorming, John and Frank began work on the website and video they would use to publicise themselves, Emily helped refine the style and the grammar.

After a few hours of work, they finally managed to get it done and published the site and video, putting the video on the site and YouTube. With that, they got dropped off at their homes again, and went to sleep, eagerly awaiting training the next day, despite it being tiring.


A/N: So, do you want long less frequent chapters, or shorter more frequents chapters? PM/review to vote. I know some of you might think that publicizing might not be the best idea. But it keeps the story interesting, and considering what I have planned for tomorrow, it seems to be the best plan. I also thank shizzz for some ideas for the plot. Hope you enjoyed!