Holy and Hellish brothers

by NinjaTurtle

18 The long journeys end

Chapter 18
The long journeys end

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Jesse
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Jesse woke up with a yawn, stretching as she got up. She looked around tiredly as she checked to see if anyone was up. Unsurprisingly, Charles seemed to be up already with Quill still asleep. She was surprised, however, when she saw Harry's bed empty.

She slowly walked to the cart door as feeling returned to her dead limbs. She had to cover her eyes as the sun shot light straight into them but she recovered quickly enough to not trip and fall.

She looked for the boys, but there was no sign of them anywhere. That was until a huge shadow passed over her. She looked up to see two huge figures darting in the sky above her.

At first, she was impressed by the sight of their huge size in flight. But upon closer inspection, she saw just how clumsy and crude their flight style was.

She spread her own wings before flapping and shifting into the air. As soon as she roughly reached the same height as the humans, she called out to both of them.

"Morning Charles. Morning Harry. " she called.

It took the two a bit of time before they could stop what they were doing and to start hovering next to her. Even though she was just looking, she could already see how clumsy, awkward and crude their flying style was.

"Morning...Jesse. How are...you this morning? " Charls said, out of breath. Jesse looked over at Harry to see he wasn't any better.

"I'm fine, just wanted to see what you were doing. " Jesse replied.

Charles panted a bit more before pointing to the ground. All three got the message and slowly hovered down to the ground. Harry and Charles started gaining their breath back as they sat on the ground.

"What happened to you two? It looks like you flew a marathon. " Jesse joked.

Charles answered first, seeming to be the least tired out of the two.

"Practicing our flying. Normal humans don't have wings so...we were practicing how to use them. So far…we have the basics and...we were just playing around with them. " Charles said through his attempts to get enough oxygen.

"Well, your flying is about the same as some young teenage Griffin's if that helps. " she said with a smile.

"Thanks. " Harry muttered sarcastically.

"Your welcome. " Jesse replied.

Charles, seemingly back to normal, stood up and stretched. His feathered wings extended to their full length as he did so. Harry copied his action as he extended his own leathered bat wing.

Jesse looked at their wings. "Jeez, I forgot just how big your wings really are. They're huge. " she said. Both boys stopped and looked at each other.

Harry cut in before Charles could respond. "They are, aren't they. Compensating for something Charles? " Harry said with a grin.

"You're just jealous I have one. " Charles quipped immediately as both brothers laughed.

Jesse couldn't help but blush and laugh as the two humans bantered back and forth with no hesitation or pause. It was so natural, it was like a well rehearsed act.

"OK, enough, you two. Stop arguing. " Jesse said, hoping that they would stop.

"We're not arguing, are we ginge? " Charles responded as he turned to Harry.

"No, we're just having a conversation. " Harry said with a smile.

Jesse could only sigh at the humans.

Charles quickly changed the subject. "We should be getting close to Huntingdon. Maybe another few hours away. " he said.

"Finally. I was wondering if we were there yet. " Harry said. Not a second later, something clicked in Harry's brain.

"Wait, did you say Huntington? ".

"Yep. Something wrong? " Jesse asked..

"No. It's just that me and Charles used to live in a town called Huntington before we moved house. I find it weird that there would be a town with the same name in a different world. " Harry explained.

"Yeah, same here. But I've just given up seriously questioning things here. " Charles said.

"Huh, that's weird. " Jesse said. Charles and Harry said nothing as they looked at each other and shook their heads.

Quill was apparently woken up because of the talking as he quietly appeared behind Harry. All of the golem pets were also up, climbing on or following their respective owner. The four of them continued to talk and walk, just like they had gone for the last few days.

Jesse was surprised at just how well they had adapted to Equis. They had apparently gone through so much that she could feel sorry for them. Harry was always open, never hiding his feelings whether you liked it or not. Charles on the other hand was calm and kind at all times, only showing his more questionable side when it was needed and hiding his emotions expertly.

How such complete opposites could be brothers and friends baffled her. They were completely black and white when compared to each other but, when they were together, they melded into a shade of grey. They were perfect for eachother.

It was another hour of walking until they reached Huntington. It was no different from when she left, still busy with ponies, griffins, minotaurs and a dragon or two all over the place. The air traffic was just as full as the ground traffic.

It wasn't long before they reached a cart park, which was also busy. After they had parked the cart and locked it, Jesse started to head towards her shop with the boys not far behind. She pulled out her key and unlocked the door, allowing them to enter as the bell above the door rang.

She turned on the lights before she used her wings to jump over the counter. "Could you two come over here please? Quill, if you want, you also come or you could go exploring. Just stay out of trouble. " she said.

"I'll try, but trouble usually finds me. I'll be back soon, bye. " Quill said before he left, the bell above the door ringing again.

Charles and Harry let their pets, which had been riding on their shoulder, off as they followed behind Jesse while she showed them around. "These are the shelves of different furs and fabrics, folded and labeled. Over there are the draws with the string and other sewing bits. And this is where I keep other bits and bobs like jems, bendy wire, mannequin and glitter. ".

She turned around to see Charles nodding. "Okay, I got it. Fabric and furs over there, sewing stuff there and other bits here. ". Harry just nodded, only partially paying attention.

"So, my turn to uphold my end of the deal. You still want a job here? " she asked. Charles nodded. "I'm sure. When do we start and what are we doing? " he asked.

"You could start today if you want. I just need someone to clean the place and sort the occasional shipment of supplies. " Jesse explained.

"So, we're cleaners, basically. " Harry stated. Charles facepalmed before he shook his head.

"Yeah. There is a cupboard over there, next to the button draw. " she said. Charles wordlessly walked over to it, opened it, looked around for a few seconds before pulling out a broom, cloths, cleaning spray and a dustpan and brush.

Watching Charles move was like watching a drone from a bad horror movie. Harry reluctantly followed his brother's example and grabbed his own cloth and spray before getting to work, with more emotion than his brother.

Jesse then turned around and headed to her door that opened to the stairs to her apartment. She slung her bag off her back as she started to unpack. It felt good to be back after nearly two weeks away. Knowing her luck, some of the local hunters will be in need of repairs to their coats or need new ones entirely.

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Harry
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It had taken almost half an hour to completely clean the front part of the shop. Harry hadn't even actually done that much. He cleaned the counter and dusted the mannequins. In that time, Charles had swept, cleaned all the inside windows and dusted most of the clothes racks.

Charles was finishing the last of the clothes racks while Harry took his time sweeping behind the counter. At the rate they were going, they could have this place cleaned in just under an hour.

Throughout this time though, Charles hadn't said more than a single word at a time. This wasn't uncommon as he usually would go silent while doing something important. In this case, it would be cleaning the shop to perfection so he could get the job here for now.

Aran and Sid were playing on the clean floor, chasing each other and play fighting. Their stoney bodies clacked as they ran, similar to the sound of dog claws on hard flooring. It was actually quite cute to watch. Even Aran was a bit cute despite being a spider bigger than a cat with legs longer than Sid's tail.

"Hey, Charles, I'm bored. " Harry said.

"And? " Charles replied as he gave him a deadpan look.

"What are we doing after we are done cleaning? " he asked.

Charles just hummed a 'i don't know' as he collected all the cleaning stuff before walking to the cupboard to put it away.

"Do you know how much we're getting paid? " Harry asked.

"No. ".

"Are you even listening? " he continued.

"No. " Charles said with a grin, obviously answering like that to annoy him.

Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You're an asshole. " he said.

"Yep. " Charles replied sarcastically as he closed the cupboard.

"Hey, are you two done already or are you just standing there talking? "Jesse said from behind Charles. Harry had been focused on sweeping and talking to his brother, he didn't even notice her come down.

Charles showed no reaction to the sudden appearance of Jesse. He probably heard her come down the stairs and just didn't say anything. Harry seriously wished he had the awareness his brother had, but that was just him being jealous.

"Why don't you see for yourself? " Charles said, motioning to their work.

"Wow. How did you get some much done in only half an hour? I've just finished unpacking. " she asked.

Both brothers looked at each other. "That's a secret. " they said in unison.

Now that Jesse was down, Harry took this time to ask her about their work.

"So, how much are we being paid? What days do we do? When do we get our new clothes? " Harry went on.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on there. One at a time. Ask me again. " sh said.

"What are our work days? " Harry started.

"Okay, better. You only need to work four days of the week, so what days do you want? " she asked.

Charles spoke up now, having made himself a chair out of his magic. "How about we work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday? That should be good, right? ".

Jesse thought about it, then she started nodding. "They should be fine. As for pay, how about 4 bits an hour? That's the average pay rate around here. ".

"Okay. When do we get our new clothes? " Harry continued.

"Harry, she's only been here for half an hour, give her time. Jeez, you're impatient. " Charles scolded, only to get a huff in return.

"I'll start working on them the day after tomorrow. Anything else? " Jesse said.

It was Charles' turn to ask a question . "What are the work hours? ".

"You'll be working six hours a day from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon. " she said.

"Okay then. I don't have any more questions. You got any, ginge? " asked Charles as he turned to Harry.

"Nah. " Harry replied.

Jesse smiled. "Good. For now, there isn't much for you to do here. If you want, you can go. ".

Harry and Charles were about to leave, but as they reached for the door, Jesse called out to them. "Oh, wait! Could you two do something for me please? " Jesse asked.

"Um, sure. What is it? " Charles replied.

She pulled a package, which was some folded clothes wrapped in the typical brown wrapping paper, out from under the counter. Harry had seen it but ignored it. She lightly tossed it over to them, Charles catching it.

"There's a friend of mine that ordered something before I left but I couldn't give it to him before I left. Now that I'm back, I can get it to him. There's a shop called 'The metal working claw'. Just go right and keep going straight down. It should be on your left. It's quite obvious, you can't miss it. " she explained, pointing down the street.

Harry and Charles both gave her a thumbs up as they left. Aran climbed to his spot on Charles' shoulder while Sid walked beside Harry. The streets weren't as bad as the dock town back in Equestria but it was still really busy. Charles took the lead as Harry followed close behind, heading down the street.

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long. I've been going back to college. I've also gone back to check the previous chapters. Enjoy.