Youthful Adventuring Gone Awry

20260426

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

Lance was distantly aware that this probably wasn’t the worst day of his life - or at least, that it could’ve gone much worse than it had. Was that a sign of growing up? He felt that being grown-up would involve less sulking.
It was a good thing he’d gotten off that magic flare, he told himself. It was good another, more experienced guild member had been close enough to help. It was good they’d gotten there in time to save him and his friends.
And it wasn’t a bad thing that the adventurer in question had been his mother, he just… really wished it’d been anyone else.
Would it have made much difference, though? Pretty much the whole guild had known him his whole life. Most still called him “Twiglet”, for element’s sake! And he was starting to think he’d never shake that nickname, not while mess-ups like this were on his record.
Mum gave that pensive “hm-mumph” which meant she was about to try Being Encouraging. Lance braced himself.
“I know this didn’t go the way you wanted-”
No shit! Chuck blundered straight into a pit trap, he’d flubbed his ward casting, then Lottie managed to hit Rhea with a smoke bomb and knock them both out! The whole thing had been a cascade of terrifying humiliation, topped off by his mother levitating into the midst of the fray and resolving it with a few confident gestures.
“-but I think you recovered well. And, you know, spriggans are a challenging foe to cast against-”
That really hadn’t been the problem. Not tripping over his own tongue in a panic had been. And, though spriggans being challenging to defeat with magic matched what he’d learned, hearing it from someone who’d just flattened a whole pack of spriggans with pure spells made him feel worse.
“Everyone has bad days! Sometimes Lady Fortune decides to test us. I’m glad you kept your cool-”
Sure, mum, let’s pretend I wasn’t literally crying when you got there…
“-and held out for backup.”
After a long pause Lance realised his mother actually wanted a response. He gave a grunt and a lopsided shrug, not taking his eyes off his feet.
Silence. He relished it. Silence let him wallow in misery in peace.
Then she said, in a small voice entirely unlike the invincible adventurer he knew, “You could tell everyone it was going fine, then I butted in and threw you all off. That I was being overprotective, or-”
“Wha?” Lance’s head shot up to stare at her.
She looked… uncertain. Something entirely unlike her. Worse, she looked guilty, which made him go from miserable to feeling terrible.
“No, no!” He stammered, at a loss for how to comfort the demi-god-like guardian who’d always comforted him. “I wouldn’t want to, to make people think you’re something you’re not…”
Mum laughed. But it didn’t sound right. “Oh, people already assume.”
“They… Why? You’ve never,” Lance waved his hands helplessly, “never been smothering at all.”
“I tried not to be.” Mum said quietly, though her brow had smoothed somewhat. “Always swore I wasn’t going to be my parents. But, well, perhaps it’s the sort of thing you can’t notice yourself doing.”
“Well, I’d notice.”
“Would you?” Mum’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “If it was all you’d ever known?”
That made Lance falter, suddenly uncertain.
Mum sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear. I shouldn’t be putting more on you after a day like this. Just, you give the report, and I’ll follow your lead. Alright?”
“…Alright.” Lance mumbled. Resolving not to even suggest that his mother had done anything other than save him and his friends. After he signalled for help, even!
Not that she would’ve stood there and watched them die if he hadn’t gotten a signal off, but that was true of anyone. It had nothing to do with her being his mum.
Wait, was she second-guessing how she’d raised him after seeing how badly he’d messed up?? The thought knotted his throat and brought lurking tears to the surface again.
“I-I’m sorry I-”
“Hey now!” Mum plucked a handkerchief from her sleeve and made as if to wipe his face, then checked herself and pressed it into his hand instead. “Don’t apologise. It happens to the best of us. You’ve heard all the embarrassing stories.”
Yeah, he had, but those tales had never felt real before. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to laugh at them again.
Mum squeezed his shoulder with a bracing smile and said “You’re doing so much better than I was at your age.”
“As if!” Lance scoffed, shrugging her off.
“No, really! I was a mess at sixteen.” Mum pulled a face, rueful and exasperated. “Always throwing myself in way over my head, living it up wild everywhere I went with no thought of the risks I was taking, constantly skint and in trouble… it wasn’t until I went to study under the Astrals that I got my life on track. And that was while pregnant with you. I wanted…”
She faltered, then quietly confessed “I wanted to be a mother you could be proud of.”
“I am!” Lance stammered earnestly. “If, if anything I don’t think I’ll ever live up to you.”
“Oh, piffle. You’re a decade ahead of where I was, and have a far steadier head on your shoulders. Whoever your father was, I got lucky and he passed down being sensible.”
Lance rolled his eyes, though in his current emotional turmoil the old joke didn’t even phase him.
“Don’t let one bad outing get you down, Tw-Lance.”
She was the only adult who respected him asking not to be called that anymore. Wouldn’t let anyone else use it either.
“You and your friends are in one piece. And I’m sure you’ve learned from this. You’ll keep getting better. I know you will.”
Lance forced himself to smile and meet her gaze. But his “Thanks, mum” was entirely sincere.

Prompt was “On a quest gone wrong, your protagonist is rescued by someone they really don't want to see…”